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Urgent action to prevent an exchange of offers on a new trade deal between the EU and the Mercosur countries of South America has been called for by the Irish Farmers Association (IFA), warning that a settlement would be unequivocally negative for European agriculture.

In a call directed at EU farm commissioner, Phil Hogan, the IFAs chairman Jer Bergin also said that a Mercosur trade deal would undermine the political credibility of current EU/US negotiations.

Focusing mainly, but not exclusively, on beef issues, Mr Bergin said a Mercosur trade deal which could result in the EU market being flooded with cheap product from South America would totally unacceptable.

Production standards in South American countries such as Brazil fail to meet EU standards on the key issues of traceability, animal health and welfare controls, the ban on hormone growth promoters and environmental controls, he said.

Urging Commissioner Hogan to insist on a new impact assessment of a Mercosur Trade deal for European agriculture before proceeding with discussions, he said there was a need to secure guarantees that EU farmers will be fully protected as part of whatever is agreed.

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Lacking the industrial aesthetics of its peers in favour of sports car inspired lines and curves, the Canyon Sender is easy on the eyes, but behind those good looks resides a bike with a defined agenda; speed and control.

Details:

 Intended use: downhill

 Travel: 200mm

 27.5" wheels

 62 - 64 adjustable head angle with included headset cups

 430 - 446mm adjustable chainstays

 12 x 157mm rear spacing

 Carbon main frame and 6066 T6 alloy swingarm

 4-Bar Suspension System with MX Link

 Integrated seat clamp

 Internal cable routing

 Integrated fork bumpers



 Removable fender

 Removable frame protection

 Sizes: S, M, L, XL

 Weight: 16.2kg (claimed) size Medium

 For more:

Prices - EUR / GBP / AUD:

 CF 7.0: 3599, 2899, $5599

 CF 8.0: 4299, 3499, $6599

 CF 9.0: 4799, 3899, $7399

Colours:

 CF 7.0: Blue or Red

 CF 8.0: Black or Red

 CF 9.0: Black or Blue

 Removable fender Removable frame protection Sizes: S, M, L, XL Weight: 16.2kg (claimed) size Medium For more: www.canyon.com  CF 7.0: 3599, 2899, $5599 CF 8.0: 4299, 3499, $6599 CF 9.0: 4799, 3899, $7399 CF 7.0: Blue or Red CF 8.0: Black or Red CF 9.0: Black or Blue

While some brands focus on stiffness, Canyon have worked extensively to deliver a carbon frame that helps to resist fatigue on punishing descents or long days in the bike park. The wall thickness of the carbon main frame differs from one end to the other and is set out in a precise manner to deliver an appropriate strength to weight ratio and work harmoniously with the linkage and alloy swingarm.

Canyon chose to use an alloy swingarm simply because it can take a lot of abuse. Seeing as it's the widest part of the bike and repeatedly hits the ground, not to mention all the forces applied through the transmission that it endures, it's a nice touch and I think we've all seen our fair share of cracked swingams... The adjustable chainstays offer two positions: 430 and 446mm. Fabien (Barel) said he'd switch between the 62 degree headset cups and the 446mm setting for steeper, more natural trails - think Champery - and the shorter 430mm setting and the slightly steeper 63 degree headset cups for mellower tracks.

The two-piece chainstay guard is constructed of two materials - a harder plastic underneath to protect and a softer one on top to reduce noise. For those of us who rock the flat pedals or indeed ride with your right foot forward, you will no doubt welcome the addition of a heel protector on the non-drive side chainstays.

A familiar sight on carbon DH bikes and a welcome one on the Sender nonetheless, offering protection from rock strikes and trail debris that can always turn your smile upside down - the designers at Canyon also added a touch of flair to all the frame protectors with a gloss black to matte black finish.

The Numbers Game

Sender Suspension

Before work began on designing the Sender's suspension system, the engineers at Canyon understood the importance of creating a dynamic ride feel that would allow a good degree of connection with the terrain. While this might sound obvious, there is a fine line between 'pilot' and 'passenger' when it comes to some DH bikes and indeed some DH specific dampers. To do this, they first of all looked at the best suspension design currently out there for mountain bikes - that's your arms and legs. Understanding the relationship your body has with the terrain, they began to look at how they could amplify it through the Sender's suspension system. Aside from the obvious traits of a good suspension curve - sensitivity in the beginning of the stroke and a nice progressive curve at the end - the team at Canyon wanted to develop and harness support in the mid-stroke - something which they felt is often overlooked in full suspension designs.



Doing so would help to achieve a heightened level of balance and stability from which a rider could attack. Another element they wanted to use was the adjustability and suppleness of an air shock. With both RockShox and Fox offering suitable units, designing a linkage around the natural progression of an air shock over that of a linear coil shock was a logical step to make. At its core, the Sender uses one of the most proven linkages out there, but this is no ordinary 4-bar design. By using a secondary linkage system to drive the shock in a given path, the engineers at Canyon could effectively create a suspension curve independently of anti-squat, anti-rise and pedal kickback.

Inspired by the linkages found on motocross bikes, the additional link within the Sender's system allows for a leverage ratio that is independent of anti-squat, pedal kickback and anti-rise. Throwing an air shock into the mix allows for even more refinement, which Canyon refer to as TIPS or Triple Phase Suspension.

The moto-inspired 'MX Link' in all its glory.

TPS  Triple Phase Suspension:

Sender by name, sender by nature. Fabien shows the way...

Form and Function

This cutaway shows the 'cable pit' - a unique way of routing the gear cable through the bottom of the frame and over the BB housing, using a larger radius to avoid kinks and the dreaded cable growth we've surely all seen and the damage it can cause to your frame. The foam pipe you can see here with a cable poking out of it is called the 'cable cushion' and is one part of a system, which ensures that the Sender is deathly quiet as it tears down the mountain, by preventing the cables from rattling and moving within the frame.

Unlike all the other pivots on the Sender, which are fitted with industrial bearings, the 'MX Link' uses polymer bearings which allow it to float within the main linkage, taking the brunt of lateral forces passing through the bike and away from the shock, furthering performance and boosting durability. Another close up of the MX Link's polymer bearings and the two-tone finish 'Sender Fender' - this is removable and made from a rigid yet flexible plastic, which deforms easily only to return to its former shape.

The main pivots run on oversized industrial bearings, which can be accessed using a cassette or freehub removal tool. You're probably thinking what that little circle is? Well, it's a small rubber bumper so that when you remove the shock from the bike, the swingarm won't damage the main frame and vice versa.







This photo only shows the half of it, but trails were most certainly what you could refer to as 'proper DH tracks' and when you don't know all the lines, as I did, you certainly know something else, and that's when a bike is helping or hindering you.



The first track we tackled was supposed to warm us up for what was to come and while it was the least savage of the day, it was savage none the less. But there was one particular section that stood out - steep as you like, wide and littered with lines, boulders and packed with small drops with blind landings. Coming in hot and picking lines on the hoof, the Sender remained poised and surprisingly planted taking both the drops with ease as it did the rocks that were pretty hard to avoid. Putting a few pedal strokes in to gain speed before a road gap and the Sender proved that it's no slouch when you put the power down, giving no noticeable cause for concern, reacting well to both smooth landings and cases alike. After a few runs and at the point where you're getting a feel for things, another trait of the Sender became abundantly clear.



They say silence is golden and so is the Sender - even for a carbon bike. As the day progressed, so did the trails and as things got decidedly steeper and wilder from the get-go. And as ante upped with the trails we encountered, so did the Sender's persona, delivering confidence in spades. Run after run and the Sender didn't skip a beat - I was, unfortunately, a tad worse for wear this day and would surely have been in a world of hurt had it not been for the bike I was on. After a day on the size large Sender, I have no doubt in my mind that while its suspension is up there with the best, it is the geometry of the Sender that really makes it stand out. Balanced, poised and above all else, comfortable to ride with the ability to turn it on - and off - as you command. This bike doesn't want a passenger, it wants a pilot.





It could be argued that what Canyon are missing is not a bike, but a World Cup team to put them on the downhill map, but rest assured, Fabien is working on that one...



While a single day on a new bike is far from enough to form a conclusive opinion, it certainly made a number of things abundantly clear. From the welcoming Renthal cockpit to the superb SRAM X01 7-Speed drivetrain, consistently brilliant Guide Ultimate brakes to the light and fast DT Swiss wheels, Maxxis rubber and outstanding Fox dampers - from one end to the other, there is literally no gap in the Sender 9.0's spec. And while the middle spec 8.0 will appeal to those who like the feel of RockShox dampers, the 7.0 stands tall, representing a serious piece of kit which could become a firm favourite with privateers looking to make a dent in the results sheet at their local races. Looking at the Sender, I'm struggling to find any discernible negatives.



It's fast, it's light and it's packed with more tech than you shake a stick at and away from that, you just need to look at it. It's a great looking bike and if you don't like the blue and black, well, there's options there too. Perhaps the direct sales platform might be an issue for some, certainly for those living in territories where access to Canyon's range comes into play. Canyon are expanding all the time, having recently moved into Australia and New Zealand with their crosshairs soon to be focused on the North American market. But business model aside, you have to look at what you're getting with the Sender and not just on a scale of economics as this is one hell of a bike full stop.





Wheels on or off the ground, the Sender was easy to muscle around and was most certainly helped in part by the geometry, which really is in a league of its own, at least as far as DH bikes are concerned.





The Canyon Sender represents one of the most advanced downhill bikes currently on the market and while their direct sales model might put some off, it will certainly turn others on and for good reason. But putting costs to one side if we can, this bike ticks all the boxes a great downhill bike should and then some. - Olly Forster



Visit the high-res gallery for more images.

MENTIONS: @Canyon-PureCycling





Ride Portugal

Riding the Canyon Sender



Portugal has become synonymous of late with off-season riding, especially downhill, boosted in part by the surge in holiday companies offering access to this Westerly part of Europe, once overlooked in favour of Malaga (Spain) or San Romolo (Italy). But in no time it's quickly become the place to shred in the winter months. Our destination was to the South and about an hour inland from the vacation friendly town of Faro, with mountain bike fun facilitators; . We asked for gnarly trails to ride and that's exactly what we got...The first track we tackled was supposed to warm us up for what was to come and while it was the least savage of the day, it was savage none the less. But there was one particular section that stood out - steep as you like, wide and littered with lines, boulders and packed with small drops with blind landings. Coming in hot and picking lines on the hoof, the Sender remained poised and surprisingly planted taking both the drops with ease as it did the rocks that were pretty hard to avoid. Putting a few pedal strokes in to gain speed before a road gap and the Sender proved that it's no slouch when you put the power down, giving no noticeable cause for concern, reacting well to both smooth landings and cases alike. After a few runs and at the point where you're getting a feel for things, another trait of the Sender became abundantly clear.They say silence is golden and so is the Sender - even for a carbon bike. As the day progressed, so did the trails and as things got decidedly steeper and wilder from the get-go. And as ante upped with the trails we encountered, so did the Sender's persona, delivering confidence in spades. Run after run and the Sender didn't skip a beat - I was, unfortunately, a tad worse for wear this day and would surely have been in a world of hurt had it not been for the bike I was on. After a day on the size large Sender, I have no doubt in my mind that while its suspension is up there with the best, it is the geometry of the Sender that really makes it stand out. Balanced, poised and above all else, comfortable to ride with the ability to turn it on - and off - as you command. This bike doesn't want a passenger, it wants a pilot.While a single day on a new bike is far from enough to form a conclusive opinion, it certainly made a number of things abundantly clear. From the welcoming Renthal cockpit to the superb SRAM X01 7-Speed drivetrain, consistently brilliant Guide Ultimate brakes to the light and fast DT Swiss wheels, Maxxis rubber and outstanding Fox dampers - from one end to the other, there is literally no gap in the Sender 9.0's spec. And while the middle spec 8.0 will appeal to those who like the feel of RockShox dampers, the 7.0 stands tall, representing a serious piece of kit which could become a firm favourite with privateers looking to make a dent in the results sheet at their local races. Looking at the Sender, I'm struggling to find any discernible negatives.It's fast, it's light and it's packed with more tech than you shake a stick at and away from that, you just need to look at it. It's a great looking bike and if you don't like the blue and black, well, there's options there too. Perhaps the direct sales platform might be an issue for some, certainly for those living in territories where access to Canyon's range comes into play. Canyon are expanding all the time, having recently moved into Australia and New Zealand with their crosshairs soon to be focused on the North American market. But business model aside, you have to look at what you're getting with the Sender and not just on a scale of economics as this is one hell of a bike full stop.

Canyon sayand for a bike designed to be pushed hard in the most extreme of environments and scenarios, that certainly makes a lot of sense. But what attributes are needed to deliver these traits in a downhill bike, especially one being released in 2016? For the engineers, designers and product managers responsible for bringing the Sender to life, that meant developing the best suspension and geometry while similarly choosing the best parts to complement their new creation. While we've all heard that before, Canyon's popular Strive enduro bike and its 'Shapeshifter' technology and 'Race Geometry' certainly proved that Canyon like to push the envelope when it comes to bikes that don't follow the rules of convention. But would their new DH bike live up to the mantle set by its little brother? We headed to the South of Portugal to find out...Canyon really have hit the nail on the head with the Sender's geometry by offering solid numbers in reach and BB height, coupled with adjustability in wheelbase and head angle. Not to mention a stack height figure which increases with each size to keep taller riders and those with a sizable ape index happy. The question begs to be answered - is this the blueprint for modern DH bike geometry? I think it's pretty damn close and with a reach-adjust headset in the works from Canyon, fine tuning the 'fit' of the Sender should allow many riders who frequently find themselves between sizes the option to fine tune reach in the desired direction. All of the above resonates Canyon's understanding of dynamic ergonomics when it comes to bike design.: Air shocks require more force for activation than coil shocks. To overcome this, the MX Link transmits more power at the start of the stroke, resulting in an increased amount of responsiveness, small bump sensitivity and traction around the sag point, which should 'feel' a lot more like a coil shock.: Support through the mid-stroke provides a stable platform to reduce momentum loss, enabling the rider to actively pump for more track speed and make decisive line choices.: Combining the progressiveness of air shocks with a more moderate progression at the end of the stroke to avoid blowing through the entire travel and to give the suspension its bottomless feel. Using volume spacers (), the rider can further fine-tune the shocks progression to their needs.The Sender is literally packed with ingenious innovations that deserve some attention. And while these incremental additions to what is already a rather special machine could be considered as marginal in terms of their benefit to the rider, they also show - and quite clearly - how much thought has gone into the development of this new bike...
Another talk by Alex Patthoff examined the relative age dating of Enceladus surface to work out the timescales for intense geologic activity inferred from the presence of fractures and grooves. The team suggested that the cause of the extensions that formed these features was the freezing of the entire subsurface liquid ocean, and that the time between periods of geologic activity could be as long as 2 billion years. This echoes the talk by James Roberts, in which he argues that Enceladus ocean wants to freeze, and can do so in a timespan as short as short as 16 million years if certain assumptions about the heat flux are made. This is consistent with the observations that indicate Enceladus ice shell is not in thermal equilibrium at all, which opens up entirely new questions on why that is.

Cryovolcanism is important to study because the material ejected out from the plumes comes directly from within the planet and contains clues for what may lie beneath the icy exterior. But the ice shell itself holds mysteries too. Chaos is a feature unique to Europa, but the mechanics behind its formation are still unknown. All models agree it has something to do with melting, shifting, and refreezing at least the top layer of the ice shell, but how deep does that melting go? The models must also explain why chaos only occurs on Europa, as far as we have seen in space missions to date.
Sunday Briefing: Former EPT Grand Final Champ Nicolas Chouity Wins Sunday Supersonic

April 05, 2016 Matthew Pitt Editor

Former European Poker Tour Grand Final champion Nicolas "niccc" Chouity was one of the big winners online on Sunday thanks to walking away with a victory in the $215 Sunday Supersonic on PokerStars.

The Sunday Supersonic is a hyper-turbo structured, six-max tournament that typically takes less than two hours to complete despite attracting almost 1,500 entrants. This weeks Supersonic saw 1,401 players take to the felt. After only 117 minutes, Chouity was the only player who had chips in front of him, meaning he had won the $47,334.20 first-place prize.

A tournament that takes far longer than two hours to complete is the Sunday Million, which this week took 12 hours and one minute to whittle the 6,271 entrants down to the winner. The final four players decided to strike a deal, which locked up at least $90,000 for each of them.

Finishing in fourth place was the United Kingdoms "HKongBanker" ($90,000) and he were followed to the rail by Brazil's "neto gol" ($142,082.26), "Lekerov" ($125,000), with Greece's "AlexanGeo" finishing on top ($144,100.20).

Some of the other big results enjoyed in PokerStars' Sunday majors this week included:

"RocketMaro12"  winner of the $109 Sunday Kickoff for $29,072.65

 winner of the for $29,072.65 "bjartefau"  winner of the $215 Sunday Warm-Up for $77,610

 winner of the for $77,610 Cesar "Ce$ar$pa" Garcia  winner of the $109 Sunday Rebuy for $33,820.86

 winner of the for $33,820.86 Joao "JP_Braga81" Braga  winner of The Bigger $109 for $26,463.92

 winner of for $26,463.92 "prebz"  winner of the $530 Sunday 500 for $50,849.12

 winner of the for $50,849.12 "MarkusG91"  winner of The Bigger $162 for $29,738.85

 winner of for $29,738.85 "cantstopmeAA"  winner of the $215 Sunday 2nd Chance for $40,356

 winner of the for $40,356 "burasss"  winner of the $162 Sunday 6-Max for $22,178.81

Nicolae Brawls Out a Victory On Full Tilt

Over at PokerStars, sister site, Full Tilt, Romanias Bogdan "phantomQQ" Nicolae claimed 10 bounties of $50 each on his way to winning the Sunday Brawl for a total score of $5,681.87.

Also on Full Tilt, Joao "joaoMATHIAS" Mathias emerged victorious in the $250 Sunday Major for a $10,500 addition to his bankroll.

Big Winners On 888poker

There were also several sizable scores at 888poker, where players have begun flocking to, particularly on a Sunday. This week saw the $150,000 Whale take place and attract 385 players, a $600 buy-in tournament. Argentina's "Wes.C.Addle" walked away with the $41,743.04 first-place prize after 11 and a half hours of grinding.

Another South American claimed top honors in the $120,000 Mega Deep. From his home in Brazil, Fabian "ChicoShove" Kovalski secured a $26,139.24 payday after a three-way chop involving "VirusXRom" ($25,113.02) and "sally_os" ($18,356.14).

Also at 888poker, the UK's "GreyPoupon" triumphed in the $50,000 TURBO Mega Deep, a result that netted them $13,351.50, while Germany's "overthetop43" secured the title of $100,000 Sunday Challenge champion, an accolade that came with a $22,237.56 score.

Closing Out the Party

Completing the Sunday Briefing for another week are the results at partypoker, where jackpot sit-and-go tournaments were released this week.

The $50,000 Weigh-In tournament there ended in a heads-up chop with "PrettySteph" finishing second for $10,302.10 and "suzka" winning $10,753.99 for their first-place finish.

Partypoker's $150,000 Main Event once again hit its guarantee and awarded its $28,656 first-place prize to "RiverRad", while "HereToPartyy" claimed the $37,537.50 top prize in the $150,000 guaranteed High Roller.

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Hillary Clinton spent her Sunday in New York campaigning in front of black congregations during which she continued to reiterate her support for retraining police officers.

Clinton has made police reform a recurring theme in her bid for the Democratic nomination. She was endorsed Sunday by Nicole Bell, wife of Sean Bell, a man who was killed by the NYPD in 2005. No officers were found guilty of any wrongdoing in the incident.

Today, I was endorsed by this beautiful young woman, Nicole Bell, whose fiance was killed by the police right before she was to be married. When I was a Senator, I tried to help. I tried to stand up about what had happened, the former secretary of state said at the Brown Memorial Baptist Church in Clinton Hill, NY.

In an interview with The New York Daily News she said, [Hillarys] against racial profiling. And she wants to make investments to improve training for police officers. Those issues hit home for me and my family.

Hillary repeated these comments almost verbatim at her church visit saying, We have to end racial profiling and we have to retrain our police officers so they can do a job that doesnt require reaching for their gun when it is absolutely unnecessary.

On Clintons website she describes the sort of reforms she wants to enact on policing, all of which require federal government involvement at the local level. The solutions she prescribes are rather vague, the Daily Caller reports.

Hillary will make new investments to ensure law enforcement officials are properly trained on issues like implicit bias, conflict resolution, and use of force so theyre equipped to protect their own safety and the safety of others, it says on her campaign site.
PBA President Patrick Lynch took to the airwaves Sunday to blame recent spikes in shootings and slashings on an anti-police atmosphere in New York City.

When you hear that were going to not go after quality-of-life issues on the street and were in an anti-police atmosphere, what happens is the perpetrators on the street, they get emboldened, the Patrolmens Benevolent Association chief said in an interview on John Catsimatidis 970 AM radio show.

We have shootings on the rise, and we have slashings on the rise, and its because the criminals on the street feel emboldened, empowered to go out and commit these acts, he said.

Shooting victims increased by 24 percent  from 62 incidents to 77  over the 28-day period that ended last Sunday, March 27, according to the latest NYPD data available. Shooting incidents increased 14 percent  from 57 to 65 incidents  in the same period, the New York Post reports.

Lynch said criminals know theyre not going to be stopped and frisked, so they are carrying weapons.

NYPD Chief William Bratton said in the middle of last month that there were 916 slashings since Jan. 1. Thats a 22 percent increase for the same period in 2015. More recent figures werent available.
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Democratic primary voters are in for another treat as Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have agreed to an April 14 debate in Brooklyn, NY on CNN.

CNN announced that the Democratic presidential candidates have finally agreed to a date for their New York debate, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton have agreed to meet for a Democratic debate on CNN and NY1 on April 14, five days before a crucial primary election in New York state. The debate will take place in Brooklyn and will be moderated by CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer, who led two GOP debates earlier this election season. CNN chief political correspondent Dana Bash and NY1 political anchor Errol Louis will join in the questioning of the candidates.

Michael Briggs, Sanders spokesman, reacted to the news on behalf of the campaign, Sen. Sanders has accepted another invitation to debate Hillary Clinton in New York. We are glad that she finally has agreed. Sanders all along has pressed for a debate on television in prime time so the greatest number of New Yorkers and Americans may listen to the candidates and decide for themselves who has the best ideas about how to reform our rigged economy and the corrupt campaign finance system. Its great for the people of New York that there will be a debate in Brooklyn, something that the Clinton campaign has long opposed.

In the end, the Clinton campaign got the date that they wanted (April 14), and the Sanders campaign got the location that they wanted (Brooklyn, NY). The two campaigns have been posturing and bickering for weeks over the details for the next Democratic debate. The good news for Democratic primary voters is that they are going to get to see the two contenders for the Democratic nomination matched up days before the high-stakes primary in New York.

The Democratic debates have been the best and most substantive gatherings in either party. Unlike watching a Republican primary debate, the Democratic debates have made voters smarter. Clinton and Sanders dont spend hours trading insults. They spend their time on the debate stage discussing the best path forward for the country.

The Clinton/Sanders debates have been good for democracy, and the real winners are the viewers who will get to watch two excellent presidential candidate debate.
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Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is not impressed with Republican senators right now. Reid, a staunch believer in old school traditions and process, must be beside himself to see Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) shred regular order in a maniacal effort to obstruct President Obama. Today on the Senate floor Reid accused Republicans of bowing to the Koch brothers with their SCOTUS blockade against Judge Merrick Garland.

Reid blasted Senator Grassley for refusing to do his job, Senator Grassley is overreaching  the senior senator from Iowa continues to overreach by turning the Senate Judiciary Committee into the Benghazi Committee  a narrowly partisan committee masquerading as an independent body.

The Judiciary Chairs tenure has been marked political stunts, Reid said. It was a political stunt when he demanded the maternity leave records of one of Secretary Clintons staffers. Another stunt was blocking confirmation of State Department Legal Advisor Brian Egan. Another political stunt was blocking the promotions list of career foreign service officers. And his latest political stunt is preventing the Senate from considering President Obamas Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland.

Reid pointed out all of the special interest driving the Republican obstruction (not the least of which is Heritage Action and the Judicial Crisis Network), Senator Moran was for meeting with Merrick Garland and holding confirmation hearings until the Judicial Crisis Network and the Tea Party Patriots threatened him. Reid blasted Republicans for taking orders from the Koch brothers, It will surprise no one to learn that the Koch brothers and their dark money help fund both of these radical organizations.

Reid is correct, as pointed out by my colleague RMuse:

For example, a Koch-founded organization, the Wellspring Committee funds another Koch 501(c)4 social welfare organization, the Judicial Crisis Network. The Judicial Crisis Networks only purpose is issuing Koch propaganda to influence public opinion, and to either reward or punish Republican Senators depending on whether or not they vote in lockstep to advance the Koch Brothers interests. Since the Kochs interests are founded on abolishing all federal regulations as unconstitutional, specifically those affecting the oil, gas and coal industries, it is crucial that the Kochs maintain control of the Supreme Court; it is why they desperately want to keep their conservative majority intact. It is also why Republicans immediately obeyed the Kochs and began telling Americans it was their right to decide who nominates the right kind of prospective Justice. The Judicial Crisis Network invested seven-figures for an ad buy that features a 30-second television spot entitled Let the People Decide. The narrator parrots what Republicans in Congress quickly learned was the Koch brothers plan to convince Americans that Republicans in the Senate, and not the Constitution decide who, when, why, and how Justices are nominated and confirmed.

Instead of caving to the Republican leader and the Koch brothers, its time for Republican senators to take a stand and do their job, Reid charged, no doubt disgusted with the divergence from regular order and process. I hope the remaining Republican senators who were open to a meeting will stand firm. I hope they will meet with Judge Garland and then take the next step in the process  hold confirmation hearings.

Thats what the American people want, Reid demanded. They want Republicans to stop cowering before the most extreme forces within their Party and just do their job. Thats all were asking. Its as simple as that.

Now this could all be partisan games, except that what Grassley is doing is unprecedented and it is in service of the Koch brothers and special interests. This has been noted in newspaper editorials around the country and in his home state. Grassleys own constituents showed up to his town hall events angry and confused over his refusal to do his job.

Republicans are defying their Constitutional duty in order to delegitimize President Obamas powers as president. Powers granted to him in two elections in which he also won the popular vote. The public has spoken and they want President Obama to pick their next SCOTUS.

But big business has other ideas and so Senator Grassley cant do his job because the Koch brothers are pulling the strings.
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* The following is an opinion column by R Muse *

There have been a rash of so-called religious liberty laws passed in mostly Southern Republican-led states that many Americans think are harmless because they think they only target the gay. However, none of the over-a-dozen Republican state legislatures ever mention or allude to the word gay in the text of the license to discriminate laws, by specific design. Those theocratic religious freedom laws are created solely to allow the religious free rein to target anyone they believe is not living up to their standards.

Apparently, in super-religious Mississippi, living up to their standards means marrying who the religious folks allow and it had better not be marrying someone of a different racial makeup. A young couple in Tupelo Mississippi discovered the hard way that the good evangelicals in town embrace Christian standards that will not allow interracial couples to enjoy their Constitutional freedoms.

The young woman, Erica Flores Dunahoo, an Hispanic-Native American, explained that as a means of saving money and getting their life back on track, she and her husband moved into an RV Park in Tupelo this past February. According to Ms. Dunahoo, the landlord, Gene Baker, Was real nice. He invited me to his church and he gave me a hug. I even bragged about him to my family. Mrs. Dunahoo said that her and her husband paid $275 in rent for the month.

However, the really nice Christian man called Dunahoo the next day after receiving the rent with some pressing news: he was evicting them for being married while interracial. See, in Mississippi, the nations most Christian state, those good Christian folk will not tolerate interracial marriage in or around their presence. Never mind taking the time to look at a calendar; it really is 2016 and the American South is still as devoutly racist as it is devoutly religious.

When the landlord phoned Mrs. Dunahoo to tell her and her husband to get out, he had no problem giving her his, his Christian churchs, and the communitys reason why they had to go. Baker said,

Hey, you didnt tell me you was married to no (sic) black man. Its a big problem with the members of my church, my community and my family. They dont allow that black and white shacking.

Mrs. Dunahoo responded that she was not shacking with her husband because they are legally married. Still, the landlord was unmoved and insisted that he, his church, his neighbors and his family consider that any interracial couple, legally married or not, is still black and white shacking; something those good Mississippi Christian folk dont allow.

And forget the Constitution; adding to their current religious freedom to discriminate laws, Mississippi just passed a very harsh Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act; it completely nullifies the Constitutions Fourteenth Amendment and equal rights protections. It is telling that the good evangelical Republicans in Mississippi had the audacity to name a law protecting discrimination as protection from government discrimination. Government discrimination is what normal people consider protecting and upholding the United States Constitutions equal rights guarantee.

The landlord did refund the couples rent money and told Mrs. Dunahoo that If you would had (sic) come across like you were with a black man, we wouldnt have this problem right now. You just dont talk like you would be with no (sic) black man.

Mrs. Dunahoo was rightly offended and argued that My husband aint no thug. Hes a good man. My husband has served his country for 13 years. Hes a sergeant in the National Guard.

Serving his country for 13 years or not, the landlord had no qualms admitting to the Clarion-Ledger that he evicted the interracial couple simply because they were interracial. He also said that he was getting pressured from all directions and justified his decision to the paper by claiming that the neighbors were giving me such a problem; even though the couple had been there less than one day.

After Mrs. Dunahoo contacted officials with the Mississippi NAACP, they began an investigation. The NAACP President, Derrick Johnson, pointed out that Racial discrimination should be a thing of the past in Mississippi, considering our long history, but the landlord said his actions had absolutely nothing to do with racial discrimination.

Gene Baker said he had no problems with interracial couples, and that his evangelical church actually allowed mixed couples to attend services. However, even though they had permission to attend church, they would never be allowed to become members. Because like renting an RV space in Mississippi, interracial couples are a big problem with the members of the church.

Baker was asked if he would ever be willing to rent to another interracial couple. He said No, Im closing it down, and that solves the problem. It is more likely that Baker is making sure he will never face any future legal repercussions for blatantly using race as a reason to discriminate, but the damage is already done and it seems reasonable to assume he will face a lawsuit; at least he should.

As the NAACP President said, racial discrimination should be a thing of the past in Mississippi; especially considering its long religious racist history, the Civil War, Civil Rights Movement, and desegregation. But Mississippi is no different than the rest of the former Confederacy or the nation, for that matter; just consider the large numbers flocking to support racist Republicans up and down the ballot across the country. This is more than a Mississippi problem and no; it is not down to anything President Barack Obama has said or done. America has always been inherently racist and the Presidents election victories served as a catalyst for deep-seated underlying racism to become popular under the guise of opposing Obama.

It is noteworthy that for the past four years pundits, legal experts, and political observers have warned that these religious freedom and conscience laws were devised to allow any person to discriminate against anyone for any reason. As an aside, Mississippi already had a fairly comprehensive religious freedom to discriminate law on the books, but it did not specifically target same-sex couples so religious Republicans passed a new bill targeting the LGBT community in particular.

Although there is no cure for racial animus, there is a cure to stop discrimination against non-white people; it is called the U.S. Constitution. Sadly, in over a dozen religious Republican states, that Constitution is irrelevant if it violates the religious folks deeply-held beliefs.

In at least one Tupelo Mississippi community, one of the deeply-held beliefs is that interracial marriage is a big problem with the members of a church, a community and white families that dont allow that black and white shacking; even if the black and white are legally married.
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If anything is likely to push people into the arms of the Democratic Party, it is the revelations contained in the already infamous Panama Papers, a leak from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca that is so consequential it makes 2010s Wikileaks look like childs play. And that is forgetting for a moment about the sheer volume of information released  11.5 million documents and 2.6 terabytes of data, or 1,500 times the size of the Wikileaks trove. These records cover a 40-year span.

So yes. This is a big deal. And today a lot of rich and powerful people are feeling very exposed, if not sufficiently ashamed. After all, as Business Insider put it in their analysis of the documents,

While anonymous company structures hidden in offshore holdings are not illegal, the leaks reveal the extent to which many high-level political figures have relied on shell companies to conceal their wealth, launder money, or evade taxes.

It turns out that the 1 percent are every bit as vile as the rest of us thought they were. And thats saying something. They might even actually be worse. An actual memorandum from the law firm admits, Ninety-five per cent of our work coincidentally consists in selling vehicles to avoid taxes.

And here Republicans have been telling us it is poor people and immigrants who are failing to pay taxes. All those shirkers!

And people are outraged. In Iceland, real democracy has reared its head and called for the resignation of Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, who, of course, has refused to resign, though The Financial Times is now reporting that he will do just that. Because he has a right to be filthy rich at the expense of others.

As The Guardian explains,

The documents show the myriad ways in which the rich can exploit secretive offshore tax regimes. Twelve national leaders are among 143 politicians, their families and close associates from around the world known to have been using offshore tax havens.

And the trail leads all the way to Republican hero Vladimir Putin. And now, perhaps, we truly understand why Republicans like this guy so much. Hes a good old fashioned capitalist like they are. Communism? Forget that, Comrade!

By no means are all the people involved in these activities crooks, but some of them are. Much of it is the sorts of things weve come to expect from politicians. For example, ABC News reports that,

Financial records published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists showed that Mr Gunnlaugsson, 41, and his wife Anna Sigurlaug Palsdottir bought the offshore company Wintris in the British Virgin Islands in December 2007.



The company was intended to manage Ms Palsdottirs inheritance from her businessman father, the amount of which has not been disclosed.



Mr Gunnlaugsson transferred his 50 per cent stake to his wife at the end of 2009, for the symbolic sum of one dollar.



But when he was elected a member of parliament for the first time in April 2009 as a member of the centre-right Progressive Party, he neglected to mention the stake in his declaration of shareholdings.

Ooops? Hardly. These are the sorts of shenanigans we see again and again. And now Gunnlaugsson says he is the victim of a witch hunt. Also par for the course. The rich and powerful are such victims. As Oxfam International pointed out in a tweet:



#PanamaLeaks Wealthy people & companies are robbing billions in unpaid taxes Take action: https://t.co/tH74mVg5V0 pic.twitter.com/K3mpmayydR  Oxfam International (@Oxfam) April 5, 2016

Donald Trump wants his followers to believe the federal government, and Muslims and Mexicans are the problem  and those nasty Chinese who make his clothes. It turns out the Chinese have something in common with Republicans: The families of at least eight current and former members of Chinas supreme ruling body, the politburo, have been found to have hidden wealth offshore, reveals The Guardian

The #PanamaPapers make it obvious that Bernie Sanders is after the right people after all. The 1 percent are not our friends, Corporations are not your friends. They have only their own interests at heart.

The government is something you can at least vote out of office and get new people in who might or might not do better. With corporations, you lack even the possibility of influencing their actions. Republican voters, feeling oppressed and poor in their Red State hovels, might want to look long and hard at what these documents reveal about their would-be saviors.
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The free market is punishing North Carolina for passing a law to discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.

PayPal abruptly announced on Tuesday that as a result of the religious liberty law passed in North Carolina, it would not be moving forward with the plans to open a new global operations center in Charlotte, which would have employed over 400 people.

In a statement, Dan Schulman, President and CEO of PayPal, explained, Two weeks ago, PayPal announced plans to open a new global operations center in Charlotte and employ over 400 people in skilled jobs. In the short time since then, legislation has been abruptly enacted by the State of North Carolina that invalidates protections of the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender citizens and denies these members of our community equal rights under the law.

The new law perpetuates discrimination and it violates the values and principles that are at the core of PayPals mission and culture. As a result, PayPal will not move forward with our planned expansion into Charlotte.

Regretting that they wouldnt get to be a part of the Charlotte community, Schulman said, While we will seek an alternative location for our operations center, we remain committed to working with the LGBT community in North Carolina to overturn this discriminatory legislation, alongside all those who are committed to equality.

PayPal is reacting to the law North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory (R) signed that bars transgender people from using bathrooms that match the gender they were born with and prohibits cities from passing anti-discrimination ordinance that protect gay and transgender people.

Basically, Charolotte had passed an anti-discrimination ordinance and the Republicans didnt like that, so they concern trolled under the guise of religious liberty with their bathroom boogeyman about rape (they dont care about rape when its actually a problem, though) in order to pass a law to invalidate the Charlotte ordinance. Apparently religious liberty is a value but personal liberty is not.

Guess who else is concerned about being seen to rub shoulders with religious liberty laws? Oh, just a few biggies based in North Carolina like Wells Fargo, the National Basketball Association and American Airlines.

Bigotry and hatred are bad for business, as is employing the law in an attempt to steal personal liberty and constitutional protections from citizens.

Go ahead, Republicans, have your religious liberty, which is not so code for legal prejudice against certain citizens for their. The rest of the country will take the jobs and the tax base.
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Just hours before the critical primary in Wisconsin, reports are surfacing that paint Donald Trumps campaign is laying off staff and running out of steam.

Politico reported:

Donald Trumps campaign is increasingly falling into disarray as the Manhattan billionaire braces for a loss in Wisconsin that could set him on course for an uncertain convention floor fight for the Republican presidential nomination. Since March, the campaign has been laying off field staff en masse around the country and has dismantled much of what existed of its organizations in general-election battlegrounds, including Florida and Ohio. Last month, the campaign laid off the leader of its data team, Matt Braynard, who did not train a successor. It elevated his No. 2, a data engineer with little prior high-level political strategy experience, and also shifted some of his teams duties to a 2015 college graduate whose last job was an internship with the consumer products company Colgate-Palmolive. Some of the campaigns data remains inaccessible.

It is a mystery why Trump would be laying off campaign staff in states that would be critical to a general election campaign, but a recent New York Magazine profile of the Trump campaign suggested an operation that was bare bones and more concerned about cost than doing what is necessary to win.

Trump is proud of the fact that he has been able run his campaign on the cheap thanks to nearly $2 billion worth of free media, but that media attention has been a double-edged sword. Media outlets have begun to question Trump like a potential president, and the candidate has wilted under the harsher spotlight.

There is growing speculation that Ted Cruz could win big in Wisconsin. There is even talk that Sen. Cruz may sweep the state and win all of the available delegates. The Trump bubble could be set to burst. A brokered Republican convention has never looked more likely.

Donald Trump beat the Republican Party by waging war through the media, but without the television cameras, Trump may be facing a delegate fight that he cant win.
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After his recent series of disasters, you would think Donald Trump would consider toning down the crazy, but he told radio host Michael Savage on Monday that change is the last thing on his mind.

Observers will have noticed that candidates dont stay the course, however much they talk about staying the course. The primaries are not the general election and, as Max Deveson noted for the BBC back in 2008, In order to pass their political driving test, successful politicians need to be masters of one tricky manoeuvre in particular  the U-turn.

Also called flip-flopping, this is also called post-primary moderation effect, and what it tells us is that candidates will take more extreme positions in the primaries  like Trump, pandering to the base and to activists  but for the general election, shift toward the center to make them more appealing to people beyond their base.

Again, according to Trump, this isnt going to happen. Take a listen courtesy of Right Wing Watch:

Savage: The reason youre popular is because of borders, because of immigration, because of the flood of Muslims coming into the country. I would almost say, Donald, please dont let the moderate influences in your campaign take you off-point, its what got you where you are. Are you going to modify your campaign and move a little bit more to the center now?

Trump: You know, you just said it better than anybody could. Its what got me here. I mean Im leading by a lot. I have millions of votes more. You know, they dont even look at that they look at delegates but I have a lot of delegates more. But I have millions of votes more than Cruz. More than anybody. And millions of votes. But you see whats happening. Its the biggest story in politics is all these people coming out to vote for me, and the last thing I should be doing now is changing Michael, so I dont think you have anything to worry about, okay?

Trump has a point. Obamas 2008 shift to the center did not go unremarked:

Barack Obama has been performing a more traditional manoeuvre: running to the left during the primaries, when party activists need to be wooed, then shifting to the center once the nomination is clinched.

And yes, there will always be those of the base who feel the revolution has been betrayed by its leader.

Yet as Deveson observed, Flip-flopping politicians will always attract charges of hypocrisy and opportunism: it may be worth it if it helps them win over undecided voters in the middle, but when the goal is to shore up their political base, the benefits are much less clear.

Trump does have millions of people casting votes for him, but he should not let this go to his head: losing politicians frequently have millions of people casting votes for them. Like McCain in 2008, or Romney in 2012.

Obviously, his political base is what Trump is concerned about. They are certainly fanatical in their devotion to all things Trump. Perhaps he reasons there are enough of them to carry him through Election Day in November without adding to their number. Perhaps he really believes he speaks for a silent majority whatever the numbers actually tell us.

Trump is selling a campaign of outrage to an outraged base. This is what he has built his entire candidacy on from the very beginning. Never mind that the positions of his opponents have been just as extreme (nobody should be fooled by Kasichs apparent moderation). Trump is different in that there is no polish: he gets up there and wings it, flying fast and loose with the facts as 9 out of 10 things that leave his mouth are lies.

But they are lies the base wants to hear. This is why I have compared Trump to a Christian apologist. He is reassuring the base that all their bigotries are justified, and that to say theyre not is simply a surrender to political correctness. This sells. Just like Christian apologetics sell. It has made Trump a rock star, and the politics of the center have no appeal to him. Thats establishment territory in his worldview, even though it hasnt been since 2008, at least.

And how can you let down a guy like former actor Scott Baio, who says DonaldTrump is the only guy, I think, that has the will & the nerve to attack & to fight. Attack dogs dont moderate. If his campaign began as a protest, it has become much more than that.

Conventional politics mean nothing to a man who has placed himself outside the mainstream, the ultimate political James Dean, though one who, at least pretends he has a cause somewhere in his campaign against an America that hasnt existed since 2008 and against everyone who isnt white or Christian. And because two guys got caught trying to sneak across at the end of March, Trump celebrated April 1 by calling again for a great wall between real Muricans and Mexicans.

How he expects to win over swing state voters and independents is anybodys guess, as is just how serious Trump is about anything he says. All we can do is judge by the results, and there is nothing to suggest from anything Trump has said or done that he plans to moderate his message. This is one area where, until he shows us otherwise, we will have to take him at his word.
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NEW YORK  A food delivery service is offering New Yorkers the chance to try some food cooked by some unexpected chefs.

All seven employees at Eat Offbeat are either refugees or asylum seekers who fled their home countries. They're cooking foods from those places, including Iraq and Nepal.

None had any professional cooking experience before coming to work for the startup, which launched in November.

The company has committed to hiring refugees and teaching them culinary skills, partly for altruistic reasons and partly as a business strategy. In a city filled with good ethnic food, it is a way for the cuisine to stand out.

Kahi said the company is making close to 200 meals per week now out of the professional kitchen they rent in Queens. They offer food delivery to groups of at least five people, with hopes of growing to the point where individual meal delivery becomes economically feasible.

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If someone leaves, as the Eritrean refugee who brought the recipe for adas to the company did, Eat Offbeat is likely to take their dish out of circulation even though the other employees would have learned how to make it, Kahi said.

That's because it's not just about the food, but also the people making it, she said. "We want to keep it tied to them."
ST. PAUL  Mille Lacs Lake officials want people to know that the central Minnesota lake has more than just walleye fishing to offer, but they say they need the Legislature's help to promote the area.

Representatives from Mille Lacs Lake made their case to lawmakers Monday for state aid to help advertise the region's state parks, trails and other recreation amid a major drop-off in the lake's walleye population. Businesses around the lake have struggled as anglers have turned elsewhere after the state imposed strict regulations meant to protect the prized fishery.

"It's a constant battle to keep our name out there in a positive light," Tina Chapman, executive director of the Mille Lacs Area Tourism Council, told a Senate panel. "Time isn't on our side. The Mille Lacs area needs your support."

The latest blow for area businesses came last month when the Department of Natural Resources announced that 2016 walleye fishing would be restricted to catch-and-release with no live bait. That announcement followed the unprecedented early closure of walleye fishing on Mille Lacs last summer.

The reaction was swift: Chapman said one resort started receiving cancellation notices within minutes, and others reported up to 20 canceled reservations. State and local officials are working to restore the walleye population, but Chapman and others said businesses, including tackle shops and restaurants, need help in the meantime.

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A bill from Sen. Carrie Ruud would provide $100,000 in advertising dollars over the next 18 months to promote the area and expand its reputation beyond walleye anglers. It mirrors a larger proposal Gov. Mark Dayton outlined in his own budget proposal.

"One of the things that we really need to do is talk about the wonderful, positive things that are happening on Mille Lacs," said Ruud, a Breezy Point Republican whose district swallows up the northern half of the lake.

The Senate's natural resources committee didn't vote on the bill Monday  it could get swept into larger discussions over how to handle a $900 million budget surplus. But several lawmakers voiced their support for providing aid to Mille Lacs, including Sen. Rod Skoe, who said the Legislature should go further by offering forgivable loans or property tax breaks to area businesses until the walleye rebounds.

"They're going to have some years of downtime, I can see it," the Clearbrook Democrat said. "Give them some resources ... so they can figure out a way to survive until the walleye fishery comes back."
Balderdash, which in my world means a senseless, often angry and meandering conversation that isn't going anywhere, had ruined supper.

The vacation guides that would take us to Georgia, Tennessee, Texas and California arrived weeks ago. And although I had promised to thumb through them, I hadn't yet done so because November is a long way off.

Kathy reminded me of the promise about the same time we sat to eat.

"You haven't even looked at them,'' she said while dropping the boiled baby potatoes on the table.

The open road  be it Route 66 or tickets on a silver bird  has an everlasting appeal. President Dwight Eisenhower planted the seed when he lobbied hard to raise the gas tax to fund the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956. The legislation created a 41,000-mile national system of interstate highways. Ever the military man, Eisenhower argued that the new system would not only eliminate traffic jams and improve road safety it was needed for national security "in case of atomic attack on our key cities, the road net (would) permit quick evacuation of target areas.''

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Patriotism at the height of the red hot Cold War helped make Eisenhower's sales pitch easier to accept. Congress estimated the project would cost $27 billion. Because state's balked at the price tag, the federal government picked up 90 percent of the final cost.

With the weekend ahead, I renewed my promise to read the travelogues.

"I don't believe you,'' she said before making an angry retreat from the table.

We had a wonderful honeymoon to New England, saw the ocean and said we'd come back someday. November will mark three decades since that promise. The 30th is known as the "Pearl'' wedding anniversary. The experts say the pearl is an appropriate symbol because it grows over many years inside a shell and becomes bigger as time goes by. Marriage and love is supposed to grow in the same manner.

Kathy isn't into pearls, natural or cultured; diamonds are an evergreen gift and the lily is the anniversary flower.

I must defuse the situation on the homefront before Kathy orders me down the one-way highway.

Like many others, I intended to hit the road after high school graduation. A classmate agreed that we would purchase two motorcycles and see as many states as possible until our money ran out. My account was such that we could reach Iowa or South Dakota, and a bike never became more than an unfulfilled dream.

A friend who went on to be a World War II veteran lived it before me. A Ford Roadster took him and a couple buddies days after graduation on a trip bound for Alaska; they made it to the West Coast before their Depression-era money ran out.

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Aging has cost me what once was a good sense of direction, which is why I offered a bus-trip option that Kathy quickly rejected because it doesn't fit our schedule. She counterpunched with Hawaii; though the long coming and going as well as the expense makes it impractical. At worst we have entered the negotiation stage with an appropriate destination on the horizon.

It was time to engage in my own balderdash.

"Duluth would be good; it's kind of like Hawaii,'' I said. Duluth's lakeshore and the North Shore resemble New England, too. However, Duluth won't do in November.

We'll work it out eventually because that's what comfortable couples do. There is certain to be more angry words before a satisfying compromise is reached. My latest proposal involves packing our luggage and letting the road take us where it will.

Life is kind of like that. Planning and goal-setting are fine, but sometimes curveball surprises lead to unexpected and delightful destinations.
These Two-Cents Worth commentaries are intended to be two cents' worth of one reader's views regarding a local issue. For whatever it is worth, my opinion is the Gage East Apartments for homeless families and youth, as well as the associated community empowerment center, will be worth well more than two cents to the city of Rochester and Olmsted County.

The Gage East Apartment development is a high-value addition to the community.

The costs of homelessness to individuals cannot be monetized, but the extra costs to the community can be accurately measured through increased costs for shelters, police interventions, emergency health care, school complications, necessary nutritional and social services  not cheap, but possible to calculate. They are costs Rochester, a place known worldwide as a place of healing and great achievements, cannot afford to tolerate.

Human costs of homelessness typically leave lifetime scars, particularly on young people and children. These costs are not possible to estimate.

Having administered low-income housing policies for too many years, I have seen close up many people who have dropped into homeless. It is like being dropped into a maelstrom or shoved into a whirl of overwhelming forces that can keep someone or a whole family powerless from pulling themselves up and out.

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Many of us have extended family members who can help, but today's economy means more families cannot even help each other. The alarming increase in homeless numbers in Rochester and elsewhere bears testimony to this reality.

Being homeless should not become being hopeless.

The Gage East development is an expression of wise and caring people working together, determined to relieve that situation locally.

It is not an easy problem to fix. Too often people blame the homeless for the problem, and it is true that people make some dumb mistakes. However, blaming the homeless for the housing situation is another dumb mistake.

There is no such thing as cheap housing. The housing industry cannot meet the demand for decent, affordable housing and has not been able to do that for many years. A simple economic fact is that it costs more to build and maintain housing than low-income people can afford to pay.

Supply has become too low. That gap creates homelessness. Low supply increases price. Housing only becomes affordable with a subsidy or with increase in the incomes of low paid workers. What is a caring community to do?

Rochester people, true to a healing community's values, are sensitive to these needs and are succeeding to make a difference. The Gage East Apartments are by no means a fix for all that needs to be done. There is opportunity for many more people and community organizations to step up and devote resources to relieve this unacceptable circumstance. It can be done.

Duluth, in a similar initiative, built a new building near an existing social service center. The project was led by CHUM, a Duluth-based multifaith group, and Duluth Housing Authority, alongside Local Initiatives Support Corp., a tax credit funding source, and others. Center City Housing team, which is developing the Gage East Apartments project, advised the development in Duluth and managed a very challenging project to help people get back on their feet, so they can contribute to the community again.

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The Gage East Apartments can be celebrated as a mark of what people can do together to keep their community an excellent place to work and live for everyone.

Nancy Bratrud, of Preston, is a retired low-income housing program administrator and rural economic development consultant. She is also a member of the Post-Bulletin Community Editorial Advisory Board.
Yes, at the GEC voting center at the Westin.

Yes, at one of the satellite voting centers open on Saturdays.

No; I'm voting on Nov. 8.

No; I'm not voting in the general election.

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Adam Kredo of the Washington Free Beacon reports that Congress is investigating whether the Obama administration misled lawmakers last summer about the extent of concessions granted to Iran under the nuclear deal. It is also looking into whether administration officials have been quietly rewriting the deals terms.

The investigation stems from statements by top administration officials last week suggesting that Iran is set to receive weapons and sanctions relief the administration had promised Congress would not occur back when Team Obama was promoting the deal last summer. The invaluable Rep. Mike Pompeo put it this way:

When multiple officialsincluding Secretary Kerry, Secretary Lew, and Ambassador Mulltestify in front of Members of Congress, we are inclined to believe them. However, the gap between their promises on the Iran nuclear deal and todays scary reality continues to widen. We are now trying to determine whether this was intentional deception on the part of the administration or new levels of disturbing acquiescence to the Iranians.

Either way, it sounds like treachery.

What are the instances of misrepresentation that concern Pompeo and others? For one thing, according to Kredo, congressional leaders are concerned that the administration no longer considers recent Iranian ballistic missile tests a violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231, which codifies the nuclear deal.

Top administration officials including Secretary of State John Kerry assured Congress that Iran would be legally prohibited from carrying out ballistic missile tests under the resolution. In response to a question from Sen. Menenedez, Kerry insisted that old language banning Iranian ballistic missile launches had been imported unchanged into the new UNSCR. Similarly, ambassador Stephen Mull, our Lead Coordinator for Iran Nuclear Implementation, said that such missile launches would continue to be banned by U.N. Security Council resolutions.

But these statements now appear to be inoperative. Last week, U.N. ambassador Samantha Power refused to call recent Iranian launches a violation in a letter she signed criticizing those launches.

Second, Treasury Department officials are suggesting that the administration is now set to grant Iran non-nuclear sanctions relief, including indirect access to the U.S. financial system, weeks after top Iranian officials began demanding this form of relief. Top administration figures, including Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, had promised Congress that pre-existing restrictions barring Iran from accessing the U.S. financial system in any way would remain in place even after the nuclear deal.

Here is what Lew said on July 23 of last year:

But a number of key sanctions will remain in place. . .Iranian banks will not be able to clear U.S. dollars through New York, hold correspondent account relationships with U.S. financial institutions, or enter into financing arrangements with U.S. banks. Iran, in other words, will continue to be denied access to the worlds largest financial and commercial market. The JCPOA makes only minor allowances to this broad prohibition.

This statement now appears to be inoperative.

Team Obamas duplicity apparently has generated dissension within the administration. Kredo reports that in a letter to the State Department, Rep. Peter Roskam and Lee Zeldin complained that the administration is stifling voices within its ranks for stronger action against Iran. Roskam and Zeldin suggested that the administration is putting the JCPOA [the Iran deal] and political legacy above the safety and security of the American people.

I suspect that putting the Iran deal above the safety and security of the American people will be a major part of President Obamas legacy.
In the New York Times, Ross Douthat argues that the United States and Europe seem to be reversing their roles with respect to defense policy. The adage that Americans are from Mars and Europeans are from Venus, he suggests, no longer holds true. Europeans have gotten more serious about security:

Nationalism is returning, border fences are going up. The center is weakening, the far right is gaining power. The Mediterranean and the Russian marches are zones of conflict again, and ancient habits  French military adventurism, Little Englander separatism, a tense relationship with Islam  are resurfacing. The European elite still believes in the Kantian dream of perpetual peace, which is how the Continent ended up with Angela Merkels open-door policy for Syrian refugees. But its leaders are also adapting to post-Kantian reality, and nowhere more so than in France, where the government has basically gone Le Bush-Cheney under both Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande: intervening in Libya, Mali and Syria, responding to terrorist attacks with Bush-esque rhetoric, and implementing a terror crackdown that makes the Patriot Act look libertarian.

That is all true, although the image of Europeans as pacifists has always been somewhat overblown.

Douthat sees the U.S. moving in what used to be a European direction:

[I]f nationalism is making Europeans more militaristic, in America its inclining us to lay down the burdens of empire, to retreat into a self-sufficient Arcadia all our own. Thats a subtext of Trumps rhetoric. Making America great again involves crushing ISIS, yes, but otherwise it seems to involve washing our hands of military commitments  ceding living space to Putin, letting Japan and South Korea go nuclear, calling NATO obsolete.

Of course, crushing ISIS is a huge exception to the supposed pacifist trend. ISIS is rightly perceived as the major immediate threat to the U.S. Beyond that, Trumps retreat from leadership consists in large part of demanding that our allies pay their fair share, which has long been considered a good idea by many on the right.

And its simply the text of Bernie Sanders campaign. Hes running explicitly as the candidate of Venus (or Scandinavia, if you prefer), promising socialism at home and an end to military adventures abroad.

Sure. But it has been a long time since most Democrats were serious about any national security issue.

[O]ver the longer run, in a more fractured country and a more chaotic world, the desire for splendid isolation may only increase. Theres no mass constituency for liberal hawkishness in the Democratic Party anymore.

Thats been true for a while. Just ask Jim Webb.

The ease with which Trump dispatched Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio suggests that neoconservatism, too, is vulnerable to a come home, America message.

This, really, is the heart of Douthats argument, and it has some merit. I supported Marco Rubio in considerable part because he was the most Reaganesque of the candidates in his advocacy of a strong foreign policy. In my opinion, he is one of the premier foreign policy experts in Washington. Nevertheless, most Republican primary voters were unmoved.

But does that mean that the GOP is going dovish? That isnt so clear. The anti-interventionist in the primary lineup was Rand Paul, who went nowhere. And I doubt that most of Trumps fans consider him a dove. Make America great again is a slogan subject to many interpretations, but it would be myopic to analogize it to Bernie Sanders-style isolationism.

Polls generally indicate broad supportat least among Republicans and independentsfor taking strong action against ISIS. On the other hand, no one is advocating sending troops to Crimea. But that is hardly surprising. There may have been some softening of American resolve with respect to security policy generally, but I dont think Republicans are going McGovernite, and if Europeans are increasingly willing to defend their own civilization, that is something that American conservatives have long wished for.
Weve discussed how the Obama administration, through disparate impact theory, seeks to coerce employers into the assuming the risk of hiring criminals. It does so by arguing that African-Americans are overrepresented among ex-cons, and thus that excluding applicants based on criminal records has a disparate impact on this group.

So far, to my knowledge, this approach has yielded little if any success in court. However, it may well be that some employers have hired criminals it otherwise would have rejected in order to avoid being dragged into court.

Now, the Obama administration will try to coerce landlords into renting to criminals based on the same theory. Yesterday, the Department of Housing and Urban Development warned that it may be discriminatory for landlords to refuse to rent to those with criminal records. Newly issued HUD guidelines state:

The Fair Housing Act prohibits both intentional housing discrimination and housing practices that have an unjustified discriminatory effect because of race, national origin, or other protected characteristics. Because of widespread racial and ethnic disparities in the U.S. criminal justice system, criminal history-based restrictions on access to housing are likely disproportionately to burden African-Americans and Hispanics. While the Act does not prohibit housing providers from appropriately considering criminal history information when making housing decisions, arbitrary and overbroad criminal history-related bans are likely to lack a legally sufficient justification.

The last clause is likely to be rubbish from a legal standpoint. However, landlords are far less equipped than employers to take on bullying federal authorities in court.

The Obama administration: where Team Leniency for Criminals meets Team Dictate Who Lives Where.

Senator Tom Cotton has issued this statement in response to HUDs warning:
What is the spirit of the weirdly unsigned Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran? The JCPOA obligates the parties to protect Irans nuclear program, arranges for its financing, and sets it on a path to fruition at a time of Irans choosing. Given that the Islamic Republic of Iran is an avowed enemy of the United States, I think the deal reeks of malice and delusion. Yet President Obama hold it out as the harbinger of a rosy future.

Thus Obama expresses disappointment in the mullahs actions of late. He finds the actions inconsistent with the spirit of the deal, as in his press conference this past Friday: Iran so far has followed the letter of the agreement, but the spirit of the agreement involves Iran also sending signals to the world community and business that it is not going to be engaging in a range of provocative actions that might scare business off. When they launch ballistic missiles, with slogans calling for the destruction of Israel, that makes businesses nervous. There is some geopolitical risk that is heightened when they see that taking place. If Iran continues to ship missiles to Hezbollah, that gets businesses nervous. And so part of what I hope happens is we have a responsibility to provide clarity about the rules that govern so that Iran can, in fact benefit, the Iranian people can benefit from an improved economic situation. Obama professes to find this inconsistent with the spirit of the agreement.

Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew has also invoked the spirit of the agreement. Lew seeks to facilitate the mullahs desire to access the dollar and/or the financial system despite sanctions to the contrary. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei last month accused his friends in Washington of using roundabout paths to prevent the Islamic Republic from achieving its targets, adding that banking transactions come up against problems. The Wall Street Journal explains in a related editorial: The White House got the message. On Wednesday Mr. Lew gave a speech in Washington insisting that since Iran has kept its end of the [nuclear] deal, it is our responsibility to uphold ours, in both letter and spirit. As always, the spirit is willing in the Obama administration even if the mullahs arent reciprocating.

The Reuters article on the recently unsealed indictments of seven Iranians for hack attacks on United States financial institutions and infrastructure buries this gem: U.S. officials largely completed the investigation more than a year ago, according to two sources familiar with the matter, but held off releasing the indictment so as to not jeopardize the landmark 2015 nuclear deal with Iran or a January prisoner swap. Now thats the spirit.
The Economic Community of West Africa (ECOWAS) says it is formulating a regional policy that will address the activities of cattle rearers in member countries.

Its Programme Officer in charge of regional security, Isaac Armstrong, made this known in Abuja on Tuesday.

Mr. Armstrong was speaking at the workshop organised by the body with the theme: ECOWAS Counter Terrorism.

While it does not consider herdsmen as terrorists, the regional body maintained that it would not fold its arms and watch cattle rearers hide under the guise of their economic activity to perpetrate acts of terrorism.

They are not terrorists. But we would like to say that they cannot hide under the guise of herdsmen to become terrorists, Mr. Armstrong said.

The ECOWAS security chief acknowledged cattle rustling as a burning issue in parts of Western Africa.

He listed Nigeria and Gambia as countries with high prevalence of cattle rustling adding that the situation constitute a serious threat to peace and stability in the region.

Mr. Armstrong noted that the new policy under works would address all issues relating to cattle rearing and the related crimes.

He also stated that research conducted by the body showed that terror groups were about to be formed in the region but noted that ECOWAS will collaborate with member countries to prevent their emergence.

Mr. Armstrong listed factors contributing to terror threats in the region to include the presence of local radical Islamic cells; vast Sahel Region, black market for natural resources, conflicts as well as week law enforcement and criminal justice institutions.

He, however, said the recent efforts by the government of Nigeria have resulted in commendable improvements countering terrorism in the region.

Also speaking, a representative of the Danawa Institute of Nigeria Islamic Education Trust, Nasir Mohammed, said terrorism was mostly a product of ideological disposition.
Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, the prime minister of Iceland has resigned after he was implicated in the leak of documents from Mossac Fonseca, a Panamanian law firm that registers offshore shell companies.

Mr Gunnlaugsson, was the first prominent political fallout from the document leak, which has revealed the private financial activities of many rich and powerful people around the world.

Sigurdur Ingi Johannsson, a minister and the deputy chairman of his Progressive Party, announced Mr Gunnlaugssons resignation on television.

Mr. Gunnlaugsson had vowed not to resign after the leaked documents revealed that he and his his wife, had set up a company in 2007 in the British Virgin Islands through Mossack Fonseca.

The documents also indicated that he sold his own half of the company to his wife for $1 a day before a new law that would have required him to declare his ownership as a conflict of interest was passed.

#PanamaPapers:

Mr. Gunnlaugsson argued that there was nothing revealing in the leak as he and his wife, Anna, had not hidden their assets or avoided paying taxes.

But it was revealed that the company, which lost millions of dollars in the 2008 financial crash was claiming $4.2 million from three failed banks. According to the New York Times, Mr Gunnlaugsson, who had been prime minister since 2013 was involved in the deal with the bank and his action is now being seen as a conflict of interest.

PREMIUM TIMES is the only Nigerian publication involved in investigations of the leaked documents, which lasted a year.

We have published revelations about the offshore assets of the senate President, Bukola Saraki, his predecessor, David Mark, as well as disgraced former Delta State governor, James Ibori, who is serving a 13- year jail term in the UK after confessing to money laundering in 2012.
Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, has petitioned the State Security Service demanding the unconditional release of Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, the detained leader of the Shi-ite sect, and his wife, Zeenat.

Mr. El-Zakzaky and his wife have been in detention since December last year, after a violent clash between members of his sect and the Nigerian army.

In a letter to the Director-General of the SSS, Mr. Falana demanded their release from illegal detention within 24 hours.

Even though our clients have not been told that they breached any law, they have been denied access to their lawyers, personal physicians, and family members for over three months, Mr. Falana, a senior advocate of Nigeria, said in the letter dated April 5.

Our clients were only permitted to meet with us last Friday after several requests made by us had been turned down without any legal basis.

On December 12, last year, armed soldiers clashed with members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria at Zaria, Kaduna.

The next day, the soldiers returned to unleash more violence on the sect members.

More than 300 members were believed to to have been killed in the attack, which the army initially described as an attempt to assassinate Tukur Buratai, the Chief of Army Staff.

The military later released an edited video showing angry youth, armed with sticks and cutlasses, arguing with some army officers over the right of way for Mr. Buratais convoy.

Human Rights Watch described the killing as a terrible carnage and unjustifiable.

In the aftermath of the incident, the Kaduna State government set up a Judicial Commission of Enquiry, but members of the sect boycotted the sittings in protest of their leaders continued detention.

Mr. Falana said the murderers and vandals were later joined by officials of the Kaduna State government who demolished the sects buildings with bulldozers.

Although our clients were not at the scene of the attack, the rampaging troops invaded their residence at Wali Street, Zaria, on December 14, Mr. Falana said.

The troops set the building ablaze and killed three of our clients children in their presence and thereby subjected them to untold mental agony.

Thereafter, the armed soldiers shot our clients several times. As a result of the brutal attack, Sheikh Zakzaky lost his left eye while doctors are currently battling to save the right one.

To compound the physical pain and mental anguish that our clients were subjected to in the circumstance, the Nigeria Police Force and State Security Service have held them incommunicado for the past three and half months.

Mr. Falana said a similar incident in 2014 resulted in a detachment of the Nigerian Army killing three of Mr. El-Zakzakys children.

The report of the fact-finding Commission of Enquiry set up by the government has not seen the light of day, he said.
Lawyers to Toyin Saraki, the wife of the embattled Nigerian Senate president, Bukola Saraki, have said the controversial hidden assets the politician failed to disclose, tucked away in secret offshore tax havens, belong solely to Mrs. Saraki, and not her family estate.

A trove of internal data from the Panama-based offshore-provider, Mossack Fonseca, obtained by the German newspaper, Suddeutsche Zeitung and shared by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) with PREMIUM TIMES and over 100 other media partners in 82 countries, revealed that the properties were part of the assets belonging to the Senate Presidents immediate family.

A PREMIUM TIMES investigation on Monday exposed Mr. Saraki as having failed to declare the assets among those filed with the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), as required by Nigerian laws.

However, Mr. Saraki, through his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Yusuph Olaniyonu, claimed in a statement Monday night that he fully complied with the provisions of the law.

He said the assets he failed to disclose belonged to the estate of his wifes family.

It is public knowledge that Mrs. Saraki comes from a family of independent means and wealth with numerous and varied assets acquired over decades in family estates and investments, Mr. Olaniyonu said.

But the claims by Mr. Saraki contradicted those by his wifes lawyers who said the assets in question belonged to no one else but Mrs. Saraki alone.

The London-based law firm of Harbottle & Lewis, who are lawyers to Mrs. Saraki, in clarifying the legal position of the controversial assets, said its client solely own them.

Our client is the sole shareholder in Sandon Development Limited. There are not and have never been any other shareholders in Sandon Developments Limited, Harbottle & Lewis stated in a response to enquiries by the ICIJ in a letter dated March 19, 2016.

Similarly, the law firm also confirmed that Mrs. Saraki was the sole shareholder of Landfield International Developments Limited from incorporation until January 2015, when she sold her shares to a third party.

Also in one document seen by PREMIUM TIMES, Mrs. Saraki insisted she was the sole director of Girol Properties Limited.

In the document, entitled, Memorandum of the Sole Director of Girol Properties Limited, Mrs Saraki wrote on August 25, 2004, In accordance with the Articles of Association of the Company, I, the undersigned, Mrs. Toyin SARAKI, being its sole director, do hereby set down the following on record:

REGISTERED OFFICE: It was conrmed that the registered ofce of the Company be situated at Akara Bldg, 24 De Castro Street, Wickhams Cay I, Road Town, Tortola, B.V.I.

SEAL: It was resolved that the Common Seal produced to the Meeting (an impression of which is afxed below) be and it is hereby adopted as the

Common Seal of the Company.

CORPORATE DOCUMENTS: It was resolved that the books, records and minutes of the Company may be kept anywhere in the world.

SHARES: It was resolved that the Company be and hereby is authorised to issue, for value received, share certicates No. l and 2, in the name of Mrs. Toyin SARAKI, for 25000 shares with a par value of US$ 1,00 each

Adopted and signed this 25m day of August, 2004.

Toyin SARAKI, Director

Last September, the CCB slammed false asset declaration charges on Mr. Saraki, accusing him, among other things, of failure to declare his assets in full.

The bureau said Mr. Saraki breached Nigerian law requiring all public office holders to mandatorily declare their assets, those of their wives and children below the age of 18.

The hidden properties, Girol Properties Limited, Sandon Development Limited and Landfield International Developments Limited, which the Senate President failed to declare, were acquired between 2004 and 2011.

Documents showed that Sandon Development Limited was registered in Seychelles Island on January 12, 2011, with Mrs. Saraki and one Babatunde Morakinyo, (her husbands long-term personal aide and friend) as shareholders.

The documents also showed that Landfield International Developments Limited, with registration number 1819394, was incorporated in the British Virgin Islands on April 8, 2014, with its registered office address as #1 Akara Blog., 24 De Castro Street, Wickhams Cay 1, Road Town, Tortola.

Until January 27, 2015, when Mrs. Saraki sold her shares in the company, Landfield Limited had her as sole shareholder, although with some nominee directors she hired from Mossac Fonseca to ostensibly conceal her ownership of the shell company.
Nigeria and its global development partners have unveiled a plan on how to rebuild states in the North-Eastern part of the country devastated by insurgency, to restore hope to millions of internally displaced Nigerians in the region.

A pre-financing assessment meeting was held in Abuja last week between federal and states governments with the development partners, namely the United Nations, World Bank and the European Union in a bid to find solutions to the problems affecting the people.

During the meeting, the partners signed agreement to facilitate the assessment of the impact, with pledges to support the Nigerian government in financing the North East reconstruction effort.

As part of the agreement, the World Bank pledged to provide $800 million towards the rebuilding process, with other agencies pledging various contributions to the development of an institutional framework for financing from other development agencies to rebuild the region.

The assessment and validation exercises revealed the huge damage to the region estimated at about $9 billion, and over $6.4 billion required for the immediate and near term stabilization and recovery to cushion the devastation inflicted on the region between 2011 and 2015.

The $9 billion would be required for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of damaged infrastructures in the six North-East states of Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe.

The assessments covered the three main components of Infrastructure and Social Services, Peace Building, Stability & Social Cohesion, and Economic Recovery with focus on cross-cutting issues such as governance and accountability, citizen engagement, institutional capacity for implementation, gender, youth, human rights and de-mining.

During the final assessment late last week in Abuja, the international development partners and donors reiterated their commitments to ensure that key findings of the assessments were implemented.

Specifically, the federal and state governments, along with the global partners, would now prioritize the needed interventions and projects, and develop an action plan.

The World Bank Sector Manager, Urban Development and Disaster Risk Management, Idrissa Dia, said the physical participation of the Bank at the validation workshop affirmed its commitment to support the overall success of the planned interventions.

The European Unions Acting Head of Cooperation, Juan Casla, said the findings would enable the government and its humanitarian and development partners share understanding on implementation of set priorities.

The United Nations representative, Jean Gough, said the successes of the assessment have underlined its readiness to provide technical and other humanitarian support towards the achievement of the goals of the post-assessment phase of the planning.

The Nigeria Recovery and Peace Building Assessment (RPBA) is the process that assesses the physical, social and economic impacts of the crisis in the North-East, resulting in a report to guide the process of stabilization in the region through a variety of recovery strategies.

These strategies will help reduce suffering in affected communities, restore a sense of normalcy and regain the trust of people in the region.
A Judge of the Lagos Division of the Federal High Court, Justice Muhammed Yunusa, accused by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of allegedly receiving bribes from a senior advocate of Nigeria, Rickey Tarfa, has been queried by the National Judicial Council (NJC).

In a letter with reference number NJC/F.3/FHC.49/1/421, dated March 16, 2016, signed by the Chief Justice of Nigeria and Chairman of the National Judicial Council, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, Justice Yunusa was given 14 days to submit his response to allegations of judicial abuse, compromise and misconduct leveled against him by the Civil Society Network Against Corruption (CSNAC).

The query was sent to the embattled judge which through Justice Ibrahim Auta, the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court,

I forward herewith a petition dated 21st December, 2015 against you by Mr. Olanrewaju Suraju, Chairman, Civil Society Network Against Corruption, on the above subject matter, Chief Justice Mohammed wrote to the embattled judge. The petition speaks for itself. I shall be glad to have your comments within 14 days from the date of your receipt of this letter, please.

The response of Justice Yunusa is still being awaited, insiders say.

CSNAC had in a petition dated December 15, 2015, accused the judge of consistent refusal to abide by judicial precedents, laid down by superior courts, in granting orders and injunctions against the EFCC.

According to CSNAC, the actions of Justice Yinusa were serving as leeway for unscrupulous and corrupt individuals, who will stop at nothing to truncate their arrest, investigation and prosecution by the appropriate law enforcement agencies, to render our criminal law ineffective, as well as allowing corruption fester in the society.

The organisation said, The grant of the orders of mandatory and perpetual injunctions by Justice Yunusa against the EFCC is a grave departure from the established principles in the mentioned cases, as laid down by the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal which are binding on the Federal High Court, being a lower court.

Honourable Justice Yunusa, by the grant of these orders, has stripped the Economic and Financial Crimes Commissions of its constitutional powers as a law enforcement agency, as well its powers under the enabling law, the Economic and Financial Crimes (Establishment) Act, LFN 2004, a Federal Legislation.

It is also a gross abuse of his powers as a judicial officer.

The organisation further listed some of the cases concerned as:

 Suit No. FHC/L/CS/1471/2015 Mr. Simon John Adonmene & 3ors v Economic and Financial Crimes Commission filed on the 21st day of September, 2015 before Honourable Justice M.N. Yunusa of the Federal High Court, Lagos Judicial Division;

 Suit No. FHC/L/CS/487/14  FRN v. Michael Adenuga; Suit No. FHC/L/CS/1342/15  Senator Stella Odua v. AG Federation, EFCC, ICPC and IGP

 Suit No. FHC/L/CS/1285/15  Jyde Adelakun & Anor v. Chairman EFCC & Anor;

 Suit No. FHC/L/CS/1445/15  Dr. Martins Oluwafemi Thomas v. EFCC;

 Suit No. FHC/L/CS/1269/15  Honourable Shamsudeen Abogu v. EFCC & Ors;

 Suit No. FHC/L/CS/1012/15  Hon. Teeth Dauzia Loya v. EFCC.

The EFCC had, on February 18 arraigned Mr. Tarfa before a Lagos State High Court on a two-count charge of obstruction of justice and attempting to pervert the course of justice.

According to court documents seen by PREMIUM TIMES, in one of the allegations, Mr. Tarfa made phone contacts with Justice Yunusa in a case before the judge.

The commission provided phone numbers of Mr. Tarfa, the judge, and bank documents detailing money transfer from the lawyer to Justice Yunusa.

The EFCC also stated that from its investigations, Mr. Tarfas law firm, Rickey Tarfa & Co. with Access Bank Account with account no. 0000964760 paid N225,000 into Justice Yunusas bank account.

Below is CSNACs petition against Justice Yunusa

21st December, 2015

The Chairman,

National Judicial Council,

Supreme Court Complex,

Three Arms Zone,

Abuja.

Dear Sir,

PETITION AGAINST HON. JUSTICE M. N. YUNUSA OF THE FEDERAL HIGH COURT, LAGOS DIVISION FOR ABUSE OF POWERS

HUMAN AND ENVIRONMENTAL DEVELOPMENT AGENDA (HEDA) is a registered non-governmental organization(NGO) set up for the purpose of educating the public on human rights, the rule of law, transparency, accountability and good governance amongst others. Under our launched Judicial Integrity and Access to Justice (JIAJ) programme, we have undertaking review of judgements and judicial pronouncements of Judges across the country, with a view to assisting the National Judicial Council in her historical fight against corruption in the Judiciary.

In Suit No: FHC/L/CS/1471/2015 Mr. Simon John Adonmene & 3ors v Economic and Financial Crimes Commission filed on the 21st day of September, 2015 before Honourable Justice M.N. Yunusa of the Federal High Court, Lagos Judicial Division, the Applicants sought amongst other reliefs the following:

A Declaration that the Respondent whether by itself, staff, agents, employees, servants, officers and men under its supervision, direction and/or control is not entitled to howsoever invite, interrogate, intimidate, harass, arrest, detain, arraign, restrict the movement of the 1st Applicant and other officers of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Applicants without lawful justification.

An Order of Mandatory injunction restraining the Respondent by itself, staff, agents, employees, servants, officers and men from howsoever inviting, interrogating, detaining, harassing, intimidating, arresting, arraigning, and/or further inviting, detaining, harassing, intimidating, arresting, and/or declaring the 1st Applicant and /or any of the directors, staff, officers and agents of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Applicants as wanted persons.

An Order of perpetual injunction restraining the Respondent, by itself, staff, agents, employees, servants, officers, and men from howsoever freezing, confiscating, depriving and/or further freezing, confiscating, depriving the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Applicants of access to, possession of and use of their assets and the funds in their account Nos 1018826127, 0020593842, 1771258695 and 1013983247 maintained with United Bank for Africa Plc., Sterling Bank Plc., Skye bank Plc. and Zenith Bank Plc. respectively.

A declaration that the Respondent and/or any of its staff, agents, employees, servants, officers, and men under its supervision, direction, and/or control is not entitled to and/or authorized by law to issue any directive(s) to any/all banks in Nigeria, in particular, United Bank for Africa Plc., Sterling Bank Plc., Skye Bank Plc., and Zenith bank Plc., to freeze the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Applicants account Nos 1018826127, 0020593842, 1771258695 and 1013983247 maintained with the said banks and/or howsoever continue to freeze the said accounts, without the leave of a court of competent jurisdiction.

In a ruling delivered on the 30th day of October, 2015, Justice Yunusa granted all the orders as prayed thereby granting an Order of Perpetual Injunction against an anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Justice Yunusa in similar questionable circumstances, granted arbitrary injunction to Political Exposed Persons and other accused persons against the law enforcements agency. Some of these other cases are:

Suit No. FHC/L/CS/487/14  FRN v. Michael Adenuga

Suit No. FHC/L/CS/1342/15  Senator Stella Odua v. AG Federation, EFCC, ICPC and IGP.

Suit No. FHC/L/CS/1285/15  Jyde Adelakun & Anor v. Chairman EFCC & Anor.

Suit No. FHC/L/CS/1445/15  Dr. Martins Oluwafemi Thomas v. EFCC

Suit No. FHC/L/CS/1269/15  Honourable Shamsudeen Abogu v. EFCC & Ors.

Suit No. FHC/L/CS/1012/15  Hon. Teeth Dauzia Loya v. EFCC

The Supreme Court has held in a plethora of cases that the grant of perpetual injunctions against law enforcement agencies is a violation of constitutional provisions. In Kalu v FRN (2014) 1 NWLR (pt. 1389) 526 Para D-H, the court held that interference with powers given to law officers by the constitution to carry out criminal investigations cannot be departed from by court injunctions. Also in Alhaji Sani Dododo v EFCC (2013) 1 NWLR (pt. 1336) 510 Para A-C, the Court of Appeal held per Nwodo JCA as follows:

The EFCC Act and the ICPC Act are enactments towards achieving the goal of abolishing corruption. The drive to abolish corrupt practices by established enactment and statutory provisions must not be extinguished in construction of the statutes. The intendment of the legislation must be conveyed and its provisions complied too.

Furthermore, in Chief Rasheed Ladoja v Federal Republic of Nigeria & Anor (2014) LPELR 22432 (CA), the Court of Appeal also held:

Anti-corruption Legislation is always construed to ensure that society is adequately protected against the canker-worm of corruption with its attendant destructive effect on the body polity of society.

The grant of the orders of mandatory and perpetual injunctions by Justice Yunusa against the EFCC is a grave departure from the established principles in the aforementioned cases, as laid down by the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal which are binding on the Federal High Court, being a lower court. Honourable Justice Yunusa, by the grant of these orders, has stripped the Economic and Financial Crimes Commissions of its constitutional powers as a law enforcement agency, as well its powers under the enabling law, the Economic and Financial Crimes (Establishment) Act, LFN 2004, a Federal Legislation. It is also a gross abuse of his powers as a judicial officer.

These decisions, based on his Lordships refusal to abide by judicial precedents laid down by the apex court, will undoubtedly serve as a leeway for unscrupulous and corrupt individuals, who will stop at nothing to truncate their arrest, investigation and prosecution by the appropriate law enforcement agencies, to render our criminal law ineffective, as well as allowing corruption fester in the society.

In the light of the above, CSNAC is therefore by this petition requesting that the council carries out its constitutional role by immediately summoning Honorable Justice M. N. Yunusa on this matter and thereby ensuring that sanity is restored in the exercise of powers by judicial officers.

Attached is a sworn affidavit in support of this petition. Also attached are snippets of the above listed cases for your review.

Thank you for your anticipated cooperation and prompt actions.

Yours faithfully,

Olanrewaju Suraju

Chairman
The Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai, has raised the alarm over the emergence of a deadly Islamic group, Gausiyya in Markafi Local Government Area of the state.

Mr. El-Rufai made this known in a radio interview on Saturday, while justifying the need to regulate religious activities in the state.

The governor had weeks ago forwarded the Religious Regulation Bill, 2016, to the state House of Assembly, a situation that pitched him against religious leaders and rights activists across the country.

The proposed law seeks to regulate religious activities, especially preaching, and to provide sanctions for its violation.

The leader of the Omega Fire Ministry, with headquarters in Auchi, Johnson Suleman, is one of those accusing Mr. El-Rufai of trying to use the law to intimidate the Christian faithful in the state.

In a sermon in Auchi, Apostle Suleman had directed the governor to do away with the proposed law or die.

Revoke this law or die, the clergyman said while preaching to his congregation.

By initiating the bill, he said the governor had drawn a battleline with God and would pay dearly unless he backed down.

But as part of measures to educate Kaduna people on the intent of the bill, Mr. El-Rufai, in a radio interview on Friday, said there was a security report of an emergence of a dangerous Islamic group in the state.

We had a security report that a new Islamic organization called GAUSIYYA is springing up in one of our local government areas, precisely Makarfi, the governor said.

After studying the groups activities, we understand that it is not a sect that we should allow to stay in our state. They preach contrary to the teachings of Islam and are gradually recruiting youth in the name of religion.

We have decided to stop the group and their activities before they grew and become a problem for the state. Negligence is what brought about the Maitatsine in the 80s and the Boko Haram insurgents we are now fighting.

To curtail the excesses of the growing sect, Mr. El-Rufai said his government came up with the proposed law to regulate religious activities in the state.

The state government will not be responsible for issuing any license to preaching bodies or a new preacher who just surfaces, he said.

A committee that will consist of clerics nominated by the Jamaatu Nasril Islam, JNI, and the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, will issue religious bodies permits depending on their faith.

The governor said the government would welcome further suggestions on the bill, currently before the state assembly.

Read the Bill here:

A BILL FOR A LAW TO SUBSTITUTE THE KADUNA STATE RELIGIOUS PREACHING LAW, 1984

BE IT ENACTED by the Kaduna state house of assembly as follows:

1. The law may be cited as the religious preaching law no of 2016

2. This law shall come into operation on the day of 2016.

3. In this law unless the context otherwise requires :- Authority means express permission consent or knowledge of the preacher given by the relevant authority; Governor means the Governor of Kaduna state; preacher means a person duly licenced by Jamaatu Nasil-Islam or Christian association of Nigeria , to preach. Public place means public resorts and includes markets, public institutions or centre and other facilities accessible to the public; Relevant Authority means the Jamaatu Nasir Islam (JNI) or the Christian association of Nigeria (CAN); State means the Kaduna state of Nigeria.

4. (1) The two major religions in the state shall be regulated by the following (a) a committee of Jamaatu Nasir Islam with equal representation of Izala and Darika religious group in the case of Muslims and (b) a committee set up by Christian Association of Nigeria in the case of Christians. (c) An inter  faith ministerial committee to be appointed by the governor. (2) The inter-faith ministerial committee shall inter-face between the Jamaatu Nasir Islam (JNI) and the Christian association of Nigeria (CAN) committee and exercise supervisory control over them. The committee shall comprise of the following (i) A chairman to be appointed by the Governor on the recommendation of the secretary to the state Government; (ii) The special adviser to the Governor on internal security; (iii) the most senior official of the Government advising the Governor on inter-faith matters (iv) A member representing Jamaatu Nasir Islam (JNI) and the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN); (V) Representative of ministry of justice; and (vi) One Representative each from the Nigeria police, the Department of state security and the Nigeria security and civil Defence Corp not below the rank of Superintendent of Police or its equivalent;

5. (1) The religious bodies establish under section 4 (a) & (b) of this Law shall issue licences approved by the ministerial committee (2) The licence shall be issued for a period not exceeding one year, (3) A sponsored external preacher shall be issued a permit for the period of the event.

6. (1) There is hereby established in each Local Government Area of the state, a committee to screen applications for licences and recommend same to the ministerial for approval. (2) The committee shall consist of the following members:- (a) the Chairman and Co-Chairman each representing; the two major religions to be appointed by the Governor on the recommendation of the Local Government Chairman of the Area (b) a representative of the Police not below the rank of Assistant Superintendent of Police; (c) two Muslim, one representing the Izala and Darika religious groups respectively (d) two representative of Christian Association of Nigeria; and (e) a representative of the Traditional Institute. (f) The proceedings of this committee shall only be valid if there is a quorum of not less than five members with the Chairman and Co- Chairman jointly sitting with at least one member each representing the two major religions in attendance.

7. The committee established under section 6 shall: (a) ensure compliance with the terms of the licences so issued; and (b) register accredited preachers of all religious groups and organizations operating in the Local Government Area.

Provided that the permit to be issued to the licensed preachers shall specify the duration or the number of occasions it is to be used.

8. The Kaduna chapter of the Jamaatu Nasil Islam and the Christian Association of Nigeria shall have and keep records of the Churches and Mosques including the data of all its preacher in the State.

9. All cassettes, CDs, Flash drives or any other communication gadgets containing religious recordings from accredited preachers may be played in the following places only:- (a) inside ones house; (b) inside entrance porch (Zaure) (c) inside the Church; (d)inside the Mosque and (e) any other designated place of worship

10. Any cassette containing religious recording in which abusive language is used against any person or religious organization or religious leaders (past or present) is hereby prohibited in the state.

11. Member of the ministerial committee may be paid such allowances as may be determined by the Governor.

12. A person shall be guilty of an offence who, in contravention of this law; (a) preachers without a valid licence; (b) plays religious cassette or uses a loud speaker for religious purpose after 8pm in a public place; (c) uses a loudspeaker for religious purpose other than inside a Mosque or Church and the surrounding arrears outside the stipulated prayer times; (d) uses a loudspeaker in vehicles plying the streets with religious recording; (e) abuses religious books; (f) incites disturbance of the public peace (g) abuses or uses any derogatory term in describing any religion: or (h) carries weapons of any description whether concealed or not in places of worship or to any other place with a view to causing religious disturbance shall be guilty of an offences

13. A person who commits an offence under the provision of this law shall be liable on conviction to a term of imprisonment not exceeding two years or a fine of two hundred thousand naira or both; and have his licences revoked.

14. The sharia courts and customary courts shall have jurisdiction to try violators of this law summarily and shall, on conviction give order for the forfeiture or destruction of any vehicle, equipment, instrument, gadget or book or other material carrying any offensive message.

15. The Kaduna state regulation of religious preaching Edit No. 7 of 1984 is hereby repealed.

Dated at Kaduna this . Day of2016

Mallam Nasir Ahmad el-Rufai

Governor, Kaduna State

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note does not form part of this law and has no legal effect)

The purpose of this law is to regulate religious preaching and to provide sanctions for its violation)
Medical doctors are currently battling to save the sight of the detained leader of the Shiite sect, Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, a human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, has said.

In a letter to the State Security Service demanding Mr. El-Zakzakys immediate release, Mr. Falana said armed soldiers shot at Mr. El-Zakzaky and his wife, Zeenat, several times.

As a result of the brutal attack, Sheikh Zakzaky lost his left eye while doctors are currently battling to save the right one, said Mr. Falana, a senior advocate of Nigeria.

To compound the physical pain and mental anguish that our clients were subjected to in the circumstance, the Nigeria Police Force and State Security Service have held them incommunicado for the past three and half months.

The El-Zakzakys have been in detention since December last year, after a violent clash between members of the Shiite sect and the Nigerian army.

On December 12, armed soldiers clashed with members of the sect at Zaria, Kaduna, after the latter allegedly blocked the passage of the convoy of the Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai.

The next day, the soldiers returned to unleash more violence on the sect members.

More than 300 members were believed to have been killed in the attack, which the army initially described as an attempt to assassinate Mr. Buratai, an army General.

In January, the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, Mr. El-Zakzakys group, said their leader and his wife were recuperating from gunshot wounds at an undisclosed location in Abuja.

Mr. Falana said a similar incident in 2014 resulted in a detachment of the Nigerian Army killing three of Mr. El-Zakzakys children.

The report of the fact-finding Commission of Enquiry set up by the government has not seen the light of day, he said.
The Kaduna State Government has extended by four weeks, the sitting of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Zaria clashes between the Nigeria Military and the Islamic Movement of Nigeria.



The Islamic Movement of Nigeria is the leading Shiite group in the country.



The spokesperson to the governor, Samuel Aruwan, who announced the extension on Tuesday said the commission now has four additional weeks to submit its report.

When the commission of inquiry was inaugurated, it was given six weeks from its first sitting to submit its final report, Mr. Aruwan said.



With the first public sitting held on February 22, the final report of the commission was expected by April 4.



However, proceedings of the commission have been repeatedly adjourned since its first public sitting. The adjournments were granted to enable the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) to submit a memorandum.



However, with four subsequent sittings on February 24 and 29 as well as March 7 and 14, he said the commission ended in adjournments in a bid to provide an opportunity for fair hearing to all parties involved in the crises.

Mr. Aruwman noted that the continuous adjournments exhausted the time allotted for the inquiry, a situation he said necessitated the extension of time to enable the panel carry out its business.

Following a formal request by Justice Muhammed Lawal Garba, chairman of the judicial commission, the government of Kaduna State has given the commission four more weeks to complete the inquiry, Mr. Aruwan said.
The Kaduna State Security Council on Tuesday unanimously agreed to ban the sale of petroleum products in jerry cans throughout the 23 Local Government Areas of the State.

A statement by Samuel Aruwan, the Special Assistant to the Governor Nasir El-Rufai on Media and Publicity in Kaduna said the council based its decision on legal and security considerations and environmental hazard petroleum products in jerry cans can cause.

Noting the difficulties imposed by the current fuel scarcity, the council appealed to citizens to remain patient.

It assured the public that the state government is working with the NNPC and other agencies to reduce the hardship associated with the shortages of petroleum products.

Council also observed that the unsafe handling of petroleum products during periods like this has been associated with fires, destruction and fatal consequences for innocent victims.

The council further warned those engaged in sabotage and illegal sale of petroleum products in the state to desist with immediate effect.

The Security Council also directed the arrest and prosecution of any one found violating the ban, and the outright confiscation of any petroleum products found in their possession, Mr. Aruwan said.

Government then urged residents of the state to help uphold and enforce the Kaduna State Petroleum Products (Anti-Hoarding and Adulteration) Law of 1992.

The law empowers a task force to ensure that petrol is sold in a safe manner, and imposes a financial penalty on violators.

The State Security Council meeting, chaired by Mr. El-Rufai, had in attendance the deputy governor, Barnabas Bala, representatives of the Army, Air Force, Navy, Police, SSS, Civil Defence, Customs, Immigration, NDLEA and FRSC.

Also in attendance were the chairman of Kaduna State Council of Emirs and Chiefs, Emir of Zazzau, Shehu Idris; Ameer of Birnin Gwari, Zubairu Maigwari II and Paul Zakka Wyom and Kpop Gwong.
A 92-year old widow, Roseline Ololo, has dragged Governor Akinwunmi Ambode before a Federal High Court, Lagos, seeking the return of her schools back to her.

Mrs. Ololo instituted a fundamental rights action against the governor, saying she founded Metropolitan College and Isolo Secondary School in Lagos.

Joined as respondents in the suit are the Federal Government of Nigeria, the Attorney General of the Federation, the Minister of Education, the Lagos State Government, Lagos State Attorney General, and the Lagos State Commissioner for Education.

Mrs. Ololo is praying the court for a declaration that the refusal by the Lagos State Government to return her school is unjust, unconstitutional, illegal and unlawful.

According to her deposed affidavit, Mrs. Ololo stated that she, and Mr. Akaihieobi, her husband (now deceased), moved from Eastern Nigeria to Lagos colony in 1940, and 12 years later incorporated a company, Akaix Africa Ltd, with which they established Metropolitan College.

Via a letter with Ref No: CEO/18L/31/25 dated March 1, 1956 our company was granted permission by the Federal Ministry of Education, to establish Metropolitan College of Commerce, Mrs. Ololo stated in her affidavit.

The school for about 18 years of existence, was located at No 15 Banire St., Surulere in a rented apartment.

In 1966, before the Nigeria/Biafran Civil war, we purchased over 8.17 hectares of land at the Atire-akari Isolo area of Lagos.

She said for expansion purposes and to move away from the thickly populated residential area of Surulere, they moved to the new site in 1974.

In 1976, through the Education (Private Secondary Institutions Special Provisions) Law, the Military Government of Lagos State took over 48 Private Secondary Schools from their owners, including Metropolitan College.

In the process, Isolo Secondary School was carved out of Metropolitan College on the same expanse of land hosting the college.

However, in 2001, the administration of Chief Ahmed Bola Tinubu repealed the law and returned the said 48 private schools to their owners, Mrs. Ololo stated.

But Metropolitan College was, curiously, not returned to its owners, according to the widow, a development which she said brought about the lawsuit.

Mrs. Ololo is therefore praying the court for a declaration that the refusal of the respondents to return back her schools violated her constitutional rights to acquire and own landed properties.

She averred that the acts of the respondents amount to a willful attempt to exploit, marginalise and victimise her on account of her sex as a female, and her status as an old person.

Mrs. Ololo urged the court to restrain the respondents from further infringing on her fundamental right, as well as an order, returning her properties back to her.

A hearing date is yet to be fixed for the suit.
SEOUL, South Korea  A middle-aged man is walking through a quiet Seoul neighborhood when he suddenly stops. He lights a cigarette, cupping his hands to shield the flame from the winter wind, and takes a deep draw, remembering how things used to be. Hes a former policeman, a broad-shouldered man with a growling voice and a crushing handshake.

Back where he came from, he says, he was someone who mattered.

In North Korea, people were afraid of me, he says. He says it wistfully, almost sadly, like a boy talking about a dog he once had. They knew I could just drag them away.

That fear meant respect, and bribes, in the North Korean town where he lived, a place where the electricity rarely worked and the Internet was only a rumor. It meant he could buy a TV, and that he had food even as those around him went hungry. It meant that when he grew exhausted by the relentless poverty and oppression around him, and when relatives abroad offered to advance him the money to escape, he had connections to a good smuggler.

Just over a year ago, that smuggler showed him where to slip across a river and into China, on his way to South Korea. His new home is one of the wealthiest and most technologically advanced nations in the world. It has a thriving democracy and a per-capita income at least 12 times larger than the Norths. Seoul is a city of infinite shopping choices, glass-fronted office towers and armies of exquisitely dressed businesspeople. He used to dream of the easy life hed have here.

And what does he think now?

Sometimes, when my work is too hard, I think about my job as a policeman, says the man, who spoke on condition his name not be used, fearing for the safety of relatives who still live in the North. I didnt have problems with money back then. I ate what I wanted to eat. He pauses, thinking about his decision to leave: There are times when I regret it a lot.

Every year, thousands of North Koreans risk imprisonment, or worse, to leave their homeland, many hoping to eventually reach the South. Instead, they often find themselves lost in a nation where they thought theyd feel at home, struggling with depression, discrimination, joblessness and their own lingering pride in the repressive nation they left behind. Surveys have shown that up to one-third would return home if they could.

Take the former policeman, an increasingly bitter day laborer who now supports his family hauling bags of cement through the sprawling apartment blocks constantly under construction around Seoul. His hands are rougher than sandpaper now. His fingernails are warped. He sleeps most nights in a dormitory near his latest construction site, just outside the city, only occasionally visiting his wife and the rest of his family, who live in a middle-class Seoul neighborhood.

I knew that South Korea was a capitalist country, that it was very rich. I thought that if I can just get there, I can work less but earn a lot of money, he says.

He grimaces when he thinks of his naivete.

More than 27,000 North Koreans exiles live in the South, most arriving since a brutal famine tore at the country in the mid-1990s. Government control foundered amid widespread starvation, and security loosened along the border with China. While security has again tightened, nearly 1,300 refugees reached South Korea last year, according to statistics compiled by the Seoul government. For most, the journey required bribing border guards, life underground in China for months or years, and weeks of travel through still more countries.

They left behind one of the most isolated nations in the world, where the ruling family has been worshipped now for three generations, and only a minuscule elite are allowed to make international phone calls. It has no free press or political opposition. While the famine is over, the country remains very poor, with hunger and malnutrition serious problems.

Its a country where jobs are assigned by the government, but where most families now survive by selling everything from rice to car parts in an ever-growing network of markets. Most North Korean refugees come from collective farms or hardscrabble towns near the Chinese border. Few have more than a high school education.

Tens of thousands of North Koreans are believed to live underground in China. Some stay permanently, while others slip back into the North after earning extra money. For many, though, the lure of a wealthy, Korean-speaking nation is strong, even if refugees expectations of the South are often shaped less by reality and more by the bootlegged southern soap operas that are wildly popular in the North.

Those who go find themselves living in one of the most brutally competitive countries in the world, where education is worshipped, toddlers are offered exam-prep classes and a drive for perfection has produced one of the worlds highest rates of plastic surgery.

Life in South Korea is competitive, Hong Yong-pyo, South Koreas minister of unification, said in a recent speech to a group of defectors. For you to succeed in this competition, you need to push yourself on your own.

But that can be very difficult. Despite government programs that include an immersive three-month program, along with assistance in getting apartments and jobs, the exiles are immediately marked by their accents and their confusion over everything from checking accounts to job applications. Many are noticeably shorter than southerners because of malnutrition, a serious issue in a country that sees height as a measure of attractiveness and success. When it comes to finding work, they have none of the school or hometown connections that are often key here to getting hired, and many South Koreans dismiss them as lazy and difficult.

When they do get jobs, seemingly simple things - such as knowing they need to arrive at work on time - can leave them flummoxed, their pride badly battered.

It has happened so many times: They show up for work for one or two days, then get into a fight with their colleagues and quit, says Ahn Kyung-su, a Seoul-based researcher who has spent years working with exiles.

As a result, they remain far less educated than most South Koreans and have far higher rates of unemployment. Their most common profession is unskilled laborer.

Even success doesnt make life easy.

Gae-yoon Lee, who was raised on a collective farm, left North Korea in 2010 with only a high school diploma. Six years later, shes a published poet who often writes about her childhood and the famine, and is midway through a degree in Korean literature at one of Seouls top universities.

A quiet woman with a stylish purse and braces on her teeth, she finds herself intimidated by southerners intense focus on success.

Even between friends, people are always competing here, says Lee, 30. It can be really stressful to live here.

With an accent that still gives her away as an outsider, she sometimes resorts to pretending she doesnt belong at all.

There are times when Im too afraid to be tagged as a North Korean, she says. So when Im talking to South Koreans, sometimes Ill use a few English words that I remember so that people think that Im a foreigner just learning to speak Korean. At that moment, I really want to be a foreigner.

During the first few months after he got to the South, the former policeman thought he might become a cop again, or maybe join the army. But hes too old to be a police recruit, and he says the army turned him down.

Since then, hes tumbled from one job to the next: He trained to be a welder but quit because he wasnt earning enough. He worked in a food-processing factory for a time but says his bosses refused to give him a raise.

It was because Im from North Korea, he grumbles.

Since then, there have been stints with at least two construction companies. The pay is bearable, about $100 a day, more than he made in the North, but his expenses are dramatically higher. Rent, food, subways, clothing - all are far more expensive here. Plus, hes not just supporting his immediate family anymore. Hes also channeling cash through underground brokers to relatives still across the border.

Money, he says at one point. Money is the problem.

Hes hardened since he first reached Seoul. He looks at people suspiciously, goes silent around strangers and often wonders if hes being discriminated against.

He insists, though, that pity is the last thing he wants.

Whatever you do, dont pray for me, he says.
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.




Brazil is considered as one of the most lucrative healthcare market in Latin America, with consistent ranking amongst the top five global destinations for medical tourism. The country attracts a variety of medical tourists to take advantage of the successful and world-renowned cosmetic surgery industry.

Growing demand for private healthcare has helped fuel a boom in the sector, which remains dominated by local players and has recently witnessed a number of mergers as many seek to capitalize on higher demand and consolidate their positions.

According to our report, Brazil Healthcare Market Outlook 2020, with better standards of living, the healthcare expenditure in the country has been rising continuously which is driving the healthcare industry. Among the healthcare sectors, the pharmaceutical market in the country witnessed tremendous growth, especially Prescription drugs market that enjoyed lion's share of nearly 50% in 2015. However, the generics drug segment is forecasted to do well in future.

With several factors, such as increasing patent expiries and greater generic company involvement in Brazil, the segment is anticipated to be the main factor for growth of the pharmaceutical market in the country. Besides, innovation and improvements in the medical equipment sector have been consistent in Brazil.

Healthcare spending in the country is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of around 5.8% during 2016-2020. The main factors behind the high healthcare expenditure include the prevalence of various diseases in the country, like hypertension. Other major prevalent diseases covered in the report include cancer, tuberculosis, obesity and diabetes.

Key Topics Covered:

1. Analyst View

2. Research Methodology

3. Healthcare Market Overview

4. Market Trends and Drivers

4.1 Favorable Demographics

4.2 Epidemiology

4.2.1 Tuberculosis

4.2.2 Hypertension

4.2.3 Obesity

4.2.4 Diabetes

4.2.5 Cancer

4.3 Healthcare industry accelerated by Merger and Acquisition

4.4 Increased IT Penetration in Healthcare Industry

5. Healthcare Industry Outlook to 2020 5.1 Healthcare Infrastructure 5.1.1 Hospitals 5.1.2 Beds 5.1.3 Human Resource 5.2 Pharmaceutical Market 5.2.1 Prescription Drug 5.2.2 Generic Drugs 5.2.3 OTC Drugs 5.2.4 Import and Export 5.3 Medical Equipment Industry 5.4 Healthcare IT-Market 5.4.1 E-health 5.4.2 M-health 5.4.3 Telemedicine 5.4.4 Medical Imaging Information System

6. Market Opportunities

6.1 Health Insurance Industry

6.2 Medical Tourism Industry

6.3 Clinical Trials Industry

6.4 Biotech Industry

7. Regulatory Environment

8. Government Healthcare Programs

9. Competitive Landscape

- Agfa HealthCare

- Air Liquide

- Baxter

- Bayer

- GE Healthcare

- Group Hospital Conceicao (GHC)

- MV Sistemas

- Novartis

- Pfizer

- Philips Healthcare

- Rede D'Or Ltda.

- Sanofi-Aventis

- TOTVS

- The Albert Einstein Israeli Hospital (HIAE)

- Universidade Federal do Maranhao (UFMA)

- Wheb Sistemas SA

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/fhqs4d/brazil_healthcare

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com

For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

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SOURCE Research and Markets
BISHOPS STORTFORD, England and CLAREMONT, California, April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Users of Vortex, Browser and Dotmatics for Office can now calculate Hydrophobicity using the industry standard ClogP by BioByte

Dotmatics, a leading provider of scientific informatics solutions and services to the life sciences industry, announced a partnership with BioByte , producer of the industry gold standard partition coefficient calculator (ClogP). This deal will enable users of the Dotmatics Platform including Vortex and Browser to calculate ClogP seamlessly within the applications. This will streamline the research process and speed up the selection of potential drug candidates.

LogP is one of the parameters most intensively used during the drug discovery process to filter out compounds with low prospects of becoming a drug. It helps to define the chemical space in which to work. Most discovery programs that are focused on small molecules rely on predicted LogP. BioByte's ClogP has been the benchmark calculator in drug discovery research for the last 35 years. ClogP is a part of BioByte's Bio-Loom suite of calculators and is the most extensively tested fragment-based LogP calculator used in the industry. ClogP uses a rational constructionist approach, incorporating tens of thousands of carefully curated measured values and interaction factors, all of which are based on physical chemistry.

This partnership allows Dotmatics to add ClogP to the substantial list of calculators already available across the Dotmatics Platform. ClogP will complement the atom-based XlogP method enabling customers to compare and establish consensus on the value of LogP in order to determine the profile of compounds more accurately.

"Integrating ClogP within Vortex and Browser has been one of the top requests from our customers", said Dr Mike Hartshorn, CSO at Dotmatics. "The partnership with BioByte will enable us to offer users the ability to access the ClogP calculator without having to leave their favourite interface. We are committed to offer outstanding quality throughout the Dotmatics Platform and ClogP by BioByte is a great addition to our suite, matching the standard of our solutions."

"The partnership with Dotmatics will enable us to expand the already ubiquitous presence of ClogP in Pharma and Biotech," said Albert Leo, CEO of BioByte. "During the past 35 years, we have invested and continue to invest a large amount of effort enriching our programs and databases. The partnership guarantees to our users that the calculator remains the best in the market. We hope that the users of the Dotmatics Platform will take advantage of the extensive experience ClogP provides within their day to day research."

About BioByte:

BioByte was formed in 1993 by Drs. Corwin Hansch and Albert Leo to carry on the legacy and work of their groundbreaking Medicinal Chemistry Project, which they founded at Pomona College in the early 1970s. BioByte's flagship program is Bio-Loom, which combines the gold standard ClogP and CMR calculators with access to the Masterfile and CQSAR databases and related tools. For more information, contact Michael Medlin at mmedlin@biobyte.com, or visit their website: www.biobyte.com

About Dotmatics:

Dotmatics is a leading global scientific informatics software and services provider, delivering solutions tailored to the modern, highly collaborative and mobile scientific environments. The company provides solutions to several vertical markets, including the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, academia, food and beverage, oil and gas and agrochemical industries. Dotmatics' enterprise solutions are flexible, scalable and configurable, providing effective scientific information management across entire organisations, from discovery research to development and early manufacturing. Dotmatics has significant expertise in scientific informatics, including database management for chemistry and biologics, electronic laboratory notebooks, chemical and biological registration, screening data management, SAR analysis, reporting, and visualisation. Dotmatics solutions are available for local or cloud deployment and they are supported on Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. A privately owned company, Dotmatics was founded in 2005 and their headquarters is based south of Cambridge in the UK. Visit www.dotmatics.com

For More Information Please Contact:

Marla Kertzman for Dotmatics

pr@dotmatics.com

+1-209-852-9027

Michael L. Medlin for BioByte

mmedlin@biobyte.com

+1-909-624-5992

SOURCE Dotmatics
DRESDEN, Germany, April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

A delegation from the metropolitan city of Daejeon, South Korea, led by Mayor Kwon Sun-Taik, is visiting the city of Dresden for an official visit; and in a solemn ceremony, Mayor Kwon Sun-Taik of Daejeon and Dresden's Deputy Mayor Dirk Hilbert will sign a cooperation agreement. For the next two years, the agreement will function as the foundation for a collaboration between the two municipalities that establishes them as "twin" cities in 2018.

The Agreement includes mutual support for delegation visits and participation in trade fairs and conferences in both cities. In addition, Daejeon and Dresden aim to strengthen cooperation between small-and-medium-sized businesses by providing contacts. Dresden has a strong interest in collaborating with Daejeon's research institutes.

Dresden is not only Europe's most important microelectronics location, the city is home to many innovative small-and-medium-sized enterprises active in the high-tech sector including information technology, software development, machine-and-systems engineering, and biotechnology for the pharmaceutical industry. Dresden University of Technology (TU Dresden) is one of Germany's elite universities. In addition, eleven institutes and research facilities as well as the Fraunhofer Society enhance Dresden's research landscape.

A particular goal of Daejeon is to learn more about Dresden's tram and urban rail system. For this reason, organizers have planned a workshop with urban transport planners and Dresden Verkehrsbetriebe (DVB) that will focus on the planning and operation praxis of the Dresden public transportation network.

Full press release (English): http://datas.weichertmehner.com/releasesk.pdf

Images for download (free of charge)

http://datas.weichertmehner.com/suedkorea.zip



Contact

State Capital Dresden, Kai Schulz, spokesman, phone: +49-(0)-3-51-4-88-23-90,

Email: presse@dresden.de

WeichertMehner (PR Agency), Robert Weichert, phone: +49-(0)-3-51-50-14-02-00,

Email: dmg@weichertmehner.com



SOURCE State Capital Dresden
TOKYO, April 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Monex, Inc., one of Japan's largest online trading brokers, has chosen Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE: BR) to support its Japanese equity and investment trust processing business. Through Broadridge's JASDEC (Japan Securities Depository Center, Inc.) Processing Solution, Monex will strengthen its retail trading and client services in support of its future growth strategy.

"We are pleased to partner with Broadridge, who has extensive experience with securities firms and a significant track record in post-trade processing in Japan as well as other Asian markets," said Oki Matsumoto, Chief Executive Officer at Monex, Inc. "Broadridge's JASDEC Processing Solution will enable us to further improve our retail trading service and to provide us with a real-time processing capability for upcoming market changes focused on shortening settlement cycles."

Broadridge provides a complete solutions suite for Japanese securities as well as investment trusts that clear and settle through JASDEC, including both JASDEC's Pre-Settlement Matching System and JASDEC's Book Entry Transfer Systems. The solution offers brokers in Japan, such as Monex, state-of-the-art functionality and enhanced scalability to grow into other business lines and product segments. Broadridge supports multiple brokers in Japan, including many of the country's top-tier institutional brokers.

"Demand for processing standardization is on the rise with Japanese brokers consistently investing in technology in preparation for significant market changes, such as Japanese Government Bond (JGB) T+1 and Japanese equity T+2," said Yoshiyuki Hoshino, COO, Japan, Broadridge. "We are thrilled to welcome Monex to our continually growing Japan client base enabling its business expansion and ensuring a solid footing for their technology reengineering programme through high levels of straight-through processing, continuing investment in technology and commitment to delivering operational efficiency through a world-class standard of service."

Broadridge enables clients' post-trade processing in over 70 markets and has demonstrated a long-standing commitment to firms in Asia Pacific keeping ahead of rapid market reforms, most recently including connectivity to Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect, support for ISO20022 messaging for Japan, and investments to support forthcoming settlement infrastructure changes in Singapore also based on ISO20022.

About Broadridge

Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE: BR) is the leading provider of investor communications and technology-driven solutions for broker-dealers, banks, mutual funds and corporate issuers globally. Broadridge's investor communications, securities processing and managed services solutions help clients reduce their capital investments in operations infrastructure, allowing them to increase their focus on core business activities. With over 50 years of experience, Broadridge's infrastructure underpins proxy voting services for over 90% of public companies and mutual funds in North America, and processes on average $5 trillion in equity and fixed income trades per day. Broadridge employs approximately 7,400 full-time associates in 14 countries. For more information about Broadridge, please visit www.broadridge.com.

Media Contacts

Peggy Wu Kate McGann Ryan Communication Broadridge Financial Solutions Peggy@ryancommunication.com Katherine.mcgann@broadridge.com +65 6876 5785 +1 212 981 1395

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110920/MM71626LOGO

Related Links

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SOURCE Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc.
In spite of similar approval numbers, the US continue to outpace Europe

Oncology is most active therapeutic area

HAMBURG, Germany, April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- NDA Group announced today their findings from its third annual comparison of drug approvals in the United States and Europe, in preparation for this year's DIA EuroMeeting in Hamburg. This year's Status of New Drug Approvals report serves to emphasize the need for a streamlined global development and commercialization process across the world's two biggest markets.

This year's report  based on preliminary research figures distilled from the FDA and EMA websites on January 26, 2016  found that FDA and EMA were equally productive in 2015, with a total of 89 new approvals granted. However, while 34 of those approvals came from the US and 32 in the EU, 24 drugs approved in the EU in 2015 had received prior approval in the US, while only 10 products out of 34 registered in the US in 2015 were previously approved in the EU.

"Understanding the needs and requirements of regional or even local stakeholders has become critical for biopharmaceutical companies looking to achieve a product's full market potential," said Johan Stromquist, CEO, NDA Group. "Integrating these requirements and developing strategies and plans to successfully meet them is at the heart of what we do at NDA. The differences between the two regions are natural given history, procedures and available regulatory pathways. The gap is however unnecessary and by bridging it companies would get the benefits of market presence in the world's two largest markets. Critically, addressing this would provide patients on both continents access to important medical therapies faster."

Last month, NDA Group, a leading strategic regulatory and HTA consultancy in Europe announced its merger with PharmApprove, a leading strategic regulatory and scientific communications consultancy in the US.

Olga Bjorklund, PhD, NDA's Senior Consultant behind the research commented: "The findings released today indicate that drug development companies generally prefer to apply for approval in the US before pursuing the EU. Additionally, the FDA has a higher rate of granting special approval status through priority review designation, accelerated approval, fast track designation, and expedited approval. It is expected that with the EMA's initiatives, such as early interactions between regulatory and health technology assessment bodies, interactions with committee for advanced therapies and the recent launch of the scheme for priority medicines (PRIME) there will be a noticeable impact on the approval statistics in Europe."

Of all new products that received marketing approval in 2015, 41.6% (37/89) underwent special approval procedures, with FDA granting 27 and EU 13, which is a small increase compared to 2014, but almost double the number from 2013 in both regions.

As for therapeutic areas, the busiest was oncology, with 23.6% (23/89) of the marketing authorizations granted during 2015. Approvals in infections dropped to second place, from 23.3% in 2014 to 14.6% for 2015. Those were followed by the products for endocrine system (12/89), cardiovascular (9/89) and respiratory system (9/89). Filgrastrim Sandoz was the only biosimilar to be approved in the US in 2015 (approved in the EU in 2009). In the EU no new approvals for biosimilars were granted in 2015, though 3 gained approval in 2014.

NDA's CEO, Johan Stromquist as well as the company's Scientific Director, Dr. Markku Toivonen and the Director of NDA's Advisory Board, Prof. Steffen Thirstrup together with a line-up of experts, will be present at DIA EuroMeeting and available to discuss these findings, as well as the global implications of NDA's merger with PharmApprove. NDA staff can be found in stand A 2, 3 of Congress Center, and in the following presentations:

Shelley Gandhi & Bill Richardson pre-conference tutorials Tutorial 2 | Wednesday, 06 April, 09:00-12:30

Moving from Risk Management to Benefit/ Risk Management - Embedding Pharmacovigilance Principles into the product life cycle

pre-conference tutorials Tutorial 2 | Wednesday, 06 April, 09:00-12:30 Shelley Gandhi Session 1402 | Thursday 7th April - 11:00 -12:30

Communicating Benefit risk information in risk management plans to medical professionals and the general public - Benefit Risk communication in the life cycle & how it is reflected in PSURs and RMPs

Session 1402 | Thursday 7th April - 11:00 -12:30 Dr. Gopalan Narayanan Session 0201 | Thursday 7th April 09:00-10.30

Translation of Cell & Gene Therapies

Session 0903 | Thursday 7th April, 14:00-15:30

Advanced Therapies: Planning the Long Term Follow up?

Session 0201 | Thursday 7th April 09:00-10.30 Session 0903 | Thursday 7th April, 14:00-15:30 Professor Steffen Thirstrup Session 1302 | Thursday, 07 April, 11:00-12:30

How will Payers React to the Future of Drug Development?

Session 0405 | Friday 8th April 09:00-10:30

Regulatory Strategies for Early Dialogue: Scientific Advice including joint EMA/HTA and National Advice and Pilot Scientific Advice on PASS

Session 1302 | Thursday, 07 April, 11:00-12:30 Session 0405 | Friday 8th April 09:00-10:30 Dr. Simon Day Session 0106 | Friday, 08 April, 11:00  12:30

Standards of Evidence  From Block busters to Orphans

Session 0106 | Friday, 08 April, 11:00  12:30 Professor Beatriz Silva Lima Session 0406 | Friday, 8th April - 11:00 -12:30

Evolving Areas of Regulatory Science

To learn more about NDA's recent merger with US-based PharmApprove, visit ndareg.com/pharmapprove or contact info@ndareg.com (EU) or info@pharmapprove.com (US). For more about NDA's involvement with the 2016 DIA EuroMeeting, visit ndareg.com/meet-nda-at-the-dia-euromeeting-2016/. And to explore the full Status of New Drug Approvals for 2015 report, visit ndareg.com/europe-vs-usa-new-drug-product-approvals-in-2015/.

About NDA

NDA Group is a leading global drug development consultancy providing small as well as large, multi-national pharmaceutical companies with strategic advice and operational support to get good medicines to market and keep them there. Based in Boston, London, Munich, New Jersey, Stockholm and Zurich, NDA offers a range of professional drug development consulting services that spans from early development phase to lifecycle management of a medicinal product. These services incorporate regulatory affairs, health technology assessment, pharmacovigilance and quality assurance. Clients are supported by a team of over 100 consultants and a unique Advisory Board comprising industry experts, many of whom are ex- European Agency and FDA staff. For more information, visit ndareg.com.

About PharmApprove

PharmApprove is the leading strategic, regulatory, and scientific communications consultancy to the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. The firm offers both strategic and tactical support to companies facing high-profile, high stakes events and engagements anywhere along the road to approval and commercialization  including FDA Advisory Committee meetings. PharmApprove helps clients win health authority approvals, deliver compelling regulatory communications, and make persuasive pharmacoeconomic arguments to payers and HTAs. Learn more at pharmapprove.com and follow them socially at twitter.com/pharmapprove and facebook.com/pharmapprove.

Related Links

http://ndareg.com



SOURCE NDA Group
Branchless retail banking investment leverages new technologies and approaches to help consumers better navigate a fast-paced, digital economy

REDWOOD CITY, California, April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Omidyar Network today announced an equity investment in Tandem, one of the first full-service digital banks to be licensed in the United Kingdom. The company leverages new technologies such as big data analytics, along with behavioral and human-centered design concepts, to offer consumers in the UK a lower cost, better banking experience. The Series B-1 round investment is part of Omidyar Network's Financial Inclusion initiative and kicks off a new investment strategy, which focuses on supporting technology-enabled, low cost, individualized retail banking services that create long-term, trust-based customer relationships.

"We are on the verge of a paradigm shift, where new technologies powered by a deeper understanding of the consumer are becoming central to how people manage money," said Tilman Ehrbeck, partner at Omidyar Network. "As the world moves to a digital economy, new banking models like Tandem can make a huge dent both toward financial inclusion in emerging markets and household financial health in developed countries."

The advent of branchless, mobile-first, digital banking models leverages the convergence of trends spurred by the ubiquity of mobile phones worldwide, including the exponential adoption of smartphones in emerging markets, the explosion of mobile data, and the latest advances in computing technology. Over the last few years, Omidyar Network has helped pilot several financial technologies built on these trends, such as big data analytics for credit scoring of "thin file" or "no file" consumers and machine learning driven customer engagementsolutions that are now merging into a superior value proposition for consumers.

"Omidyar Network and Tandem have a shared vision: helping people improve their lives. This investment enlivens and further validates the global relevance of Tandem's mission to build a good bank which will help customers to lead happier lives by developing a better relationship with money," said Ricky Knox, cofounder and deputy CEO of Tandem.

In the short term, Omidyar Network expects this new breed of banking will help address rising challenges around household financial health in developed markets. In the long term, as emerging markets evolve their focus from creating access and boosting usage of financial services, these models can become more relevant in promoting broader financial inclusion.

Through this investment, Omidyar Network also aims to gather learnings that can be shared with and replicated by other financial services organizations around the world.

Tandem is scheduled to start operations later this year in the UK.

About Omidyar Network

Omidyar Network is a philanthropic investment firm dedicated to harnessing the power of markets to create opportunity for people to improve their lives. Established in 2004 by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam, the organization invests in and helps scale innovative organizations to catalyze economic and social change. Omidyar Network has committed more than $947 million to for-profit companies and nonprofit organizations that foster economic advancement and encourage individual participation across multiple initiatives, including Consumer Internet & Mobile, Education, Financial Inclusion, Governance & Citizen Engagement, and Property Rights. To learn more, visit www.omidyar.com, and follow on Twitter @omidyarnetwork #PositiveReturns.

Issuing Organization:

Omidyar Network

Related Links

http://www.omidyar.com



SOURCE Omidyar Network
DRESDEN and MUNICH, Germany, April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Organic Electronics Saxony (OES), Europe's leading cluster for organic and flexible electronics, presents the promising projects at the international exhibition for printed electronics, LOPEC in Munich. Supported by the Saxony Economic Development Corporation (WFS), eight Saxon companies are at the OES joined pavilion. "Again we have gathered well-known experts at our pavilion to represent the Saxon competence in this exciting and growing high-tech sector," emphasises Dr. Dominik Gronarz, managing director of OES. "In organic and printed electronics we see a clear and constantly evolving business ahead and the cluster in Saxony continuously leads in world class research and development. For example, the Technical University of Dresden most recently received a Starting Grant of the European Research Council in research of bi-luminescent molecules." states Mr. Nothnagel, managing director of the WFS, adding "The transfer of this energy-efficient, evolving technology from research to product is best done in the high-tech cluster Saxony with its long-term experience in microelectronics, biotechnology, material and analytics". The TU Dresden occupies top ranking among the top five "World's Most Influential Scientific Minds". One of them is highly cited and therefore most influential Prof. Karl Leo in the field of Material Science, at the Institute of Applied Photo Physics (IAPP). Currently an over 3.000 square meter lab and office space is under construction at the TU Dresden site. It will host a modern IAPP research facility as well as research of the Center for Advancing Electronics Dresden (cfaed), which is funded within the "Excellence Initiative" of the Federal Government.

We invite you to join our guided tour on the OES booth.

Booth B0/320

Organic Electronics Saxony

Jitka Barm

barm@oes-net.de

Tel.: +49-351-46677180



Full press release: http://datas.weichertmehner.com/oes.pdf

SOURCE Organic Electronics Saxony
ATLANTA, April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Ron Wallace was a package delivery driver for six years in rural northern Idaho before he rose through the ranks to become president of UPS International in one of the most recognized and respected companies in the world.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160404/350957

A Manifesto on Teamwork: What Companies Can Accomplish

In his newest book, Leadership Lessons from a UPS Driver: Delivering a Culture of We, Not Me (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, April 4, 2016), Wallace shares his insights and advice from a career of nearly four decades.

He pulls back the curtain and describes the principals and inner workings of UPS that have never been revealed before; principals that have helped guide the company's success for more than a century.

Instead of writing a typical business memoir celebrating the leader as a celebrity, Wallace shares vivid stories that focus on the people he worked with, the challenges they overcame, and how these fine-tuned principals have come to define the UPS way.

The straightforward and easy to understand lessons provide a blueprint for an individual or company to build on past successes and adapt to future challenges. This is a must read for anyone aspiring to become a great leader.

What others are saying:

"UPS founder Jim Casey regularly reminded his managers of the many benefits of investing in their people. 'While building up others, you will build up yourself,' he said. Ron Wallace was a walking testament to this spirit, and his book will serve as an inspiration for all managers looking to help their teams climb to new heights."

- David Abney, Chairman and CEO, United Parcel Service

"Ron Wallace does a phenomenal job of sharing leadership insights in Leadership Lessons from a UPS Driver. You'll be intrigued as you learn to apply these principles to your life. Very practical steps yet remarkable results when applied."

- Dan T. Cathy, Chairman, President, and CEO, Chick-fil-A, Inc.

Hardcover copy sales are underway at: http://bit.ly/OrderLeadershipLessons

To arrange an interview with the author, contact Gary Mastro at [email protected] or 404-434-0223.

High Resolution Images (headshot; book cover front; text only presser): http://bit.ly/RonWallaceLeadershipLessonsImages

About the Author:

Ron Wallace is the former president of UPS International. During his tenure he was responsible for operations in more than 200 countries and territories with more than 60,000 people under his direction. He also served on the corporate management committee that oversaw day-to-day operations of UPS and its more than 400,000 employees as well as serving on numerous boards of the company's corporate subsidiaries. Following his retirement, Wallace served as chairman of the Georgia Governor's Commission charged with the formation of Milton, Georgia, along with other philanthropic and business pursuits. In addition to Leadership Lessons from a UPS Driver, author Ron Wallace's third published book, he's working on a fourth book about leadership practices of the Old West.

This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com

SOURCE Ron Wallace
WASHINGTON, April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, AACC, the March of Dimes, and 66 other major healthcare organizations called for Congress to provide immediate emergency funding to prepare for potential Zika outbreaks in the U.S. by strengthening laboratory testing and rapid response capabilities for the virus. The organizations assert that this is a crucial step toward protecting pregnant women and infants from this devastating infection.

Public health agencies have linked the Zika virus to a disabling birth defect of the brain known as microcephaly in the babies of mothers who contracted the virus while pregnant. In recent months, thousands of cases of microcephaly have been observed among newborns in Zika-affected areas of Latin America, and Zika has also been diagnosed in travelers returning to the U.S. from these regions. As the U.S. enters mosquito season and the range of the virus expands, many of the 4 million infants born here each year could be at risk for permanent neurological damage. In addition to the toll this will take on children and families, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that the average lifetime cost of caring for each child with microcephaly will likely be millions of dollars per child.

President Obama recently asked Congress for more than $1.8 billion in emergency funding to combat the spread of the virus in the U.S. and abroad. In support of this request, the March of Dimes has written a letter that AACC and numerous other major healthcare organizations have signed urging Congress to provide these resources without delay. This supplemental funding would significantly enhance efforts to reduce Zika transmission in at-risk areas of the U.S. by improving public health professionals' ability to respond rapidly to Zika cases, determine their source, test for the virus, and monitor its spread. Moreover, emergency funding would assist the CDC and the U.S. Agency for International Development in efforts to contain the virus in Zika-endemic countries and ensure that there are services for affected pregnant women and children.

"AACC asks Congress to provide new emergency funding to augment laboratory testing, epidemiology, and surveillance capacities for Zika in at-risk areas," said AACC CEO Janet B. Kreizman. "Enhanced testing for the virus is particularly critical to containment efforts, since 75 percent of Zika cases don't show symptoms. The requested funding is essential to holding back the virus in the U.S., and giving scientists time to develop a vaccine that could help prevent an epidemic of severe birth defects in our country."

About AACC

Dedicated to achieving better health through laboratory medicine, AACC brings together more than 50,000 clinical laboratory professionals, physicians, research scientists, and business leaders from around the world focused on clinical chemistry, molecular diagnostics, mass spectrometry, translational medicine, lab management, and other areas of progressing laboratory science. Since 1948, AACC has worked to advance the common interests of the field, providing programs that advance scientific collaboration, knowledge, expertise, and innovation. For more information, visit www.aacc.org.

Christine DeLong

AACC

Manager, Communications & PR

(p) 202.835.8722

[email protected]

Molly Polen

AACC

Director, Communications & PR

(p) 202.420.7612

(c) 703.598.0472

[email protected]

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130701/PH41045LOGO

SOURCE AACC

Related Links

http://www.aacc.org


PHILADELPHIA, April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Aberdeen Asset Management Inc. ("Aberdeen"), a global asset management firm with North American headquarters in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, seeks to promote financial literacy throughout Financial Literacy Month (April). In recognizing the need for financial literacy educational resources and support, especially among high school students, Aberdeen has embarked on several initiatives. These initiatives aim to help students grasp basic financial literacy concepts, raise awareness of the need for improved financial literacy among youth and provide real-world investing experience through an international investment competition.

2016 marks the fifth year that Aberdeen has partnered with [email protected] High School to sponsor and implement the [email protected] High School Investment Challenge. Each year, the competition has grown substantially, and the 2016 competition has incorporated nearly 2,000 students from across the U.S., Canada, China and India.

Andrew Smith, Co-Head of the Americas at Aberdeen, commented:

"As members of the financial services industry, we have a responsibility to provide support, resources and mentorship to the youth in our communities throughout the world. This competition encourages students to think critically about their investment decisions, articulate their thought process and demonstrate a well-thought out investment strategy. If students are given the chance to learn basic investment concepts at an early age, they will be better equipped to make more informed finance decisions as they enter adulthood."

Over 380 teams have competed in the competition this year, and on April 30th, 15 teams will be invited to Wharton's campus to present their investment strategies to a panel of Aberdeen judges.

"I am always so impressed by the amount of teamwork, dedication and diligence that the students demonstrate in their final investment presentations," says Julien Franklin, Financial Literacy Coordinator at Aberdeen. "Winners aren't judged by total return. Instead, we focus on articulation of process and investment strategy. It's great to see students who have had no prior experience or knowledge about investing formulate a strategy and then stand up and present their learnings to a room of investment professionals and their peers."

In addition to the [email protected] High School Investment Challenge, Aberdeen continues to promote its financial literacy webpage throughout the year, which features quirky video clips and unique resources on financial education and basic financial literacy concepts.

For more information about the challenge, visit Aberdeen's financial literacy webpage or contact Julien Franklin at [email protected].

About Aberdeen Asset Management

Aberdeen is one of the top five European pure-play, global asset managers. Aberdeen's mission is to become the world's most trusted partner in delivering investment simply.

We are defined by our pure focus on asset management, including equities, fixed income, property and multi-asset portfolios. All our investment solutions are driven by our commitment to straightforward, transparent investment approaches that stress intensive, first-hand research and a long-term view.

As of December 31, 2015, we manage assets of $428.2 billion on behalf of institutional and private investors.

Further information about Aberdeen can be found at www.aberdeen-asset.us

In the United States, Aberdeen Asset Management (AAM) is the marketing name for the following affiliated, registered investment advisers: Aberdeen Asset Management Inc., Aberdeen Asset Managers Ltd, Aberdeen Asset Management Ltd, Aberdeen Asset Management Asia Ltd and Aberdeen Capital Management, LLC, each of which is wholly owned by Aberdeen Asset Management PLC. "Aberdeen" is a U.S. registered service mark of Aberdeen Asset Management PLC.

About [email protected] and [email protected] High School

[email protected] is the online business analysis journal of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. The site, which is free, captures relevant knowledge generated at Wharton and beyond by offering articles and videos based on research, conferences, speakers, books and interviews with faculty and other experts on global business topics. http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/

[email protected] High School is an initiative of The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania that promotes business, financial literacy, entrepreneurship and leadership among high school students and educators around the world through quality online content and competitions. http://kwhs.wharton.upenn.edu/

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SOURCE Aberdeen Asset Management Inc.

Related Links

http://www.aberdeen-asset.com


"Through advocacy we are breaking the silence about suicide, a leading cause of death in the United States. Effective policies on public health, safety and education about suicide must be part of our state and national conversation," said David O'Leary, Framingham resident and Chair of the AFSP Greater Boston Chapter .

By supporting FY17 DPH Budget Line Item for suicide prevention (4513-1026), funds would be available to support suicide prevention efforts across MA, including funding helplines and crisis teams, depression screenings, and mental health services and programs for veterans, LGBTQ+ populations, and youth.

Currently, the existing law requires that all public school districts and Commonwealth charter schools provide at least two hours of suicide awareness and prevention training every three years to all licensed school personnel. However, this requirement is subject to appropriation. By amending Chapter 71, section 95 we would strengthen the existing law to ensure that school personnel receive training regardless of the state of the economy.

The advocates are coming from two AFSP chapters, the Greater Boston Chapter and the Western Massachusetts Chapter. The MCSP is public-private partnership that assists in the formation of regional coalitions and led the development of the updated Strategic Plan for Suicide Prevention for the state of Massachusetts.

Suicide in Massachusetts

Suicide is the second leading cause of death for people aged 10-34 in Massachusetts. Suicide is the 12th leading cause of death overall in Massachusetts.

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention is dedicated to saving lives and bringing hope to those affected by suicide. AFSP creates a culture that's smart about mental health through education and community programs, develops suicide prevention through research and advocacy, and provides support for those affected by suicide. Led by CEO Robert Gebbia and headquartered in New York, and with a public policy office in Washington, D.C., AFSP has local chapters in all 50 states with programs and events nationwide. Learn more about AFSP in its latest Annual Report, and join the conversation on suicide prevention by following AFSP on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160404/351034

SOURCE American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

Related Links

http://www.afsp.org


SAN JOSE, Calif., April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- CDNetworks -- If you want to boost your sales in China, one of the things to consider is how your website ranks in China SEO. Baidu is the most popular search engine in China, but Baidu SEO works a little different than Google and Bing. Here are a few tips to help improve your ranking on Baidu.

Don't get blocked

On a previous blog, I went over design tips (https://www.cdnetworks.com/blog/web-design-tips-for-faster-website-performance-in-china/) to improve web page load speeds in China and prevent resources on the site or the entire site itself from being blocked by China's censorship filters. Content related to anti-government, adult, gambling, religion, foreign social media and foreign ecommerce platforms are restricted. Baidu also actively censors its contents, so check your content as well as third party links on your page or site.

Get proper translation

Don't use translation software or a non-native speaker for translation. Get a native speaker who understands the Chinese culture and context of your product or service. You may need to use different grammar and idioms when targeting certain dialects (ie. Mandarin, Cantonese). Poor translation not only makes your site look unprofessional but it can also affect your keyword campaigns on Baidu and overall success in China.

Keep it simple

The Baidu spider is not as advanced as Googlebots, so old SEO methods such as heavy usage of meta tags are more important. Avoid using flash, images, JavaScript, or iFrame to display important content or links. The Baidu spider cannot recognize or will ignore these formats when crawling.

In 2015, mobile web users account for 90% of all web users in China, according to CNNIC. If you want to reach out to mobile users, make sure your site is both mobile friendly and Baidu mobile SEO friendly. Web page load speeds are even more important with mobile users. So page elements, such as third party ads, image size and non-minified resources will greatly affect bounce rates on your site and ranking on Baidu.

Get an ICP

ICP stands for Internet Content Provider. The Chinese government requires an ICP Bei'an license for all sites or web content hosted in Mainland China. Baidu prefers sites that are hosted in China. You need a business license in China in order to host a server in Mainland China and to get an ICP Bei'an license. If you already have a server outside of China, managing another server or data center can be cost-prohibitive. Using a CDN, such as CDNetworks China CDN, that has edge servers inside Mainland China can be more cost-effective and provide faster performance than a server hosted in China. CDNetworks can help with the ICP Bei'an licensing process (https://www.cdnetworks.com/campaign/faq-navigating-icp-and-beian-licensing-in-china/).

SOURCE CDNetworks

Related Links

http://www.cdnetworks.com


LONDON, April 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Overview:



Financial Services (credit unions, banks, credit-card companies, insurance companies, accountancy companies, consumer-finance companies, stock brokerages, investment funds) is one of the key areas for Big Data as there is great benefits for the entire ecosystem. Big Data and various analytics solutions provide many benefits to financial services organizations including: Optimizing Pricing, Risk Management, Credit Worthiness, Investment Advice, Personalized Offerings, Better Operational Efficiency, Fraud Detection and Security, Improved Call Center Operations, Better Customer Insight and Service, Governance and Regulatory Compliance.

Big Data technologies and related business intelligence solutions provide financial services firms with the capability to capture and analyze data, build predictive models, back-test and simulate scenarios. Through iteration, firms will determine the most important variables and also key predictive models. Financial service providers are learning to leverage the value of data and gain competitive advantage, minimize costs, convert challenges to opportunities, and minimize risk in real-time.

This research evaluates the market for Big Data in the financial services sector, analyzes key players, identifies challenges and opportunities, and provides forecasting for 2015 to 2020. All purchases of Mind Commerce reports includes time with an expert analyst who will help you link key findings in the report to the business issues you're addressing. This needs to be used within three months of purchasing the report.

Target Audience:

Big Data companies

Telecom service providers

Regulatory and policy makers

Data services and analytics companies

Cloud and telecom infrastructure providers

Financial services companies and personnel

o Hedge Funds

o Private Equity

o Asset Managers

o Financial Analysts

o Investor Relations

o Portfolio Managers

o Investment Bankers



Report Benefits:

Big Data in financial services forecasting through 2020

Identify leading companies and solutions for financial sector

Identify the Top Reasons why financial institutions need Big Data

Understand the government needs for Big Data in financial sector

Understand the role and importance of Big Data in financial services

Recognize the future prospects for Big Data in financial services industry

Identify initial and ongoing implementation areas for Big Data and analytics

Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/3534945/

About Reportbuyer

Reportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishers

http://www.reportbuyer.com

For more information:

Sarah Smith

Research Advisor at Reportbuyer.com

Email: [email protected]

Tel: +44 208 816 85 48

Website: www.reportbuyer.com

SOURCE ReportBuyer

Related Links

http://www.reportbuyer.com


NEW YORK, April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- BitCharities announced today that it has adopted the bitMiles Loyalty Program to help drive individual donations to charitable organizations around the globe.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160404/351003

BitMiles is a social rewarding technology that allows individual donors to authorize automatic donations on their behalf to charitable organizations, while driving the expansion of donor networks worldwide.

"BitMiles rewards and inspires people to give to those charities that reflect their commitment to make a better world," says Francesco Rulli, Founder of bitMiles.

The proprietary technology platform provides a convenient mode of payment to user-selected charities. With a direct correspondence in USD, bitMiles can be exchanged with other loyalty programs or gift cards, as well as Paypal and Payza dollars.

Charities with wide-ranging causes, donor pools, and followers have benefited from bitMiles, whose online convenience can supplement traditional fundraising strategies.

Using bitMiles, the Digital Citizen Fund has raised over 640,000 individual donations in the last year alone, and established a global network of more than 20,000 donors.

"By exploiting the power and convenience of bitMiles technology, bitCharities helped promote the Digital Citizen Fund, allowing donors to activate and process their donations in support of our organization's commitment to digital literacy among women in developing countries," adds Roya Mahboob, Founder of the DCF.

About bitCharities

BitCharities is a social cause platform that facilitates online connections with charitable organizations and their donors and corporate supporters. BitCharities currently counts several charities and non-profits as partners. Since its launch in early 2015, bitCharities has helped generate more than 6.5 million donations from 370,000 individual donors.

About bitMiles

BitMiles is a patent-pending technology designed to identify, engage, and promote relationships with online advocates of brands and charitable organizations, each built on trust and loyalty. As a relationship-building platform, bitMiles provides a unique opportunity to capture insights into the rational and emotional factors that govern decision-making. Based in part on the art of conversation, bitMiles can characterize how, when, and why individuals engage or disengage from brands, or donate to a select few charities and non-profits from among thousands of worthwhile causes. BitMiles is a customizable API that can be implemented on any website or mobile app, offering an easy-to-use 24/7 interface with a loyal network of users now recognized as critical for the enduring value of global brands and charities.

About Digital Citizen Fund

The Digital Citizen Fund, formally known as the "Women's Annex Foundation," is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization founded in New York City. The Digital Citizen Fund helps young women in developing countries gain access to technology, virtually connect with others across the world, and obtain necessary skills to succeed in today's expanding global market. The Digital Citizen Fund has built eleven Internet Training Centers and two stand-alone media centers in Afghanistan. Through this collaboration, they have successfully connected over 55,000 young women to the World Wide Web. They have recently expanded operations in Mexico to provide better opportunities for young women around the world.

CONTACT

Elaha Mahboob

[email protected]

This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com

SOURCE bitCharities

Related Links

http://www.bitcharities.com


WASHINGTON, April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- From August 13-16, ASAE is expecting close to 5,500 nonprofit and association professionals to gather in Salt Lake City for the 2016 ASAE Annual Meeting & Exposition . Today, ASAE launched its Annual Meeting website, which includes information on all of the speakers, more than 120 education sessions, registration, hotels, and events.

Presenting together for the first time in the U.S., Captains Mark and Scott Kelly open the conference and will discuss how their experiences as U.S. Navy pilots, lessons learned as astronauts in NASA's Twin Study, and revelations from Scott's year on the International Space Station have shaped their lives. The Kelly brothers will reflect on how flying in combat, dealing with loss, and their military experiences shaped their views on teamwork, leadership, risk taking, overcoming adversity and adapting to change.

"We are excited to have Mike and Scott Kelly speak as our opening keynote speakers because they will tell stories that have never been told before and will provide insights that will inspire and motivate all of our attendees," said ASAE President & CEO John H. Graham IV, FASAE, CAE.

For 2016, ASAE engaged the association community in co-creating a wide range of new learning formats. "We know that learning is social," said Rhonda M. Payne, CAE, Chief Learning Officer at ASAE, "and both formal and informal learning experiences are a critical part of a successful, self-directed program." For intensive training and skills development, offerings include full day preconference certificate programs, half day preconference workshops, and a series of 60 and 90-mintue Learning Labs and Deep Dives during the conference. coOther learning formats include: Express Learning (20 minutes), Panel Discussion, OpenSpace attendee generated discussions and Edutainment sessions, which are creative and experiential formats like Ignite, StorySlam, or Improv.

The preconference certificate programs offer five full-day options for attendees: AMCs Engaged!; Building a Strategic Foresight Capacity, Creating High-Performance Teams by Embracing Diverse Work Styles; One-Day Association MBA; and Executive Leadership Presence for Aspiring CEOs.

There are five half-day preconference workshops covering the following topics: Creating and Leading a Culture of Innovation; Everything You Need to Know about Association Law; Global Trends: A Primer for Association Growth; CLAUSEtrophobia: Negotiating and Influencing Contracts and Business Agreements; and Social Media Intelligence.

ASAE is helping the association community give back to two local organizations during the event in Salt Lake City this year: The Good Samaritan Program and the Utah Food Bank. The Good Samaritan Program has helped the poor and underserved people in Salt Lake City community since 1984. The program provides sack lunches, referrals, clothing, and toiletries at no cost. The Utah Food Bank has been serving the community for more than 110 years, and has distributed over 31 million meals to the entire state. It's part of a nationwide network of more than 200 food banks.

NOTE: Members of the press receive complimentary registration to attend the event. Please contact ASAE Public Relations department to request your complimentary pass.

ASAE thanks the following Alliance Partners for their continued support of the association community:

Strategic Partners

Abila

Atlanta CVB

Business Events Canada

Experience Columbus

Personify

Reno Tahoe USA

Team San Jose

YourMembership

Corporate Partners

Visit Baltimore

Dallas CVB

Greater Fort Lauderdale CVB

Fort Worth CVB

GEICO

Louisville CVB

Mexico Tourism Board

Naylor Association Solutions

Omaha CVB

Visit Orlando

Visit Salt Lake

Meet in Washington State

Event Partners

BrightKey

The Broadmoor

CliftonLarsonAllen

DelCor Technology Solutions

Dubai Association Centre

Hong Kong Tourism Board

Johnson Lambert LLP and Vault Consulting

Korea Tourism Organization

Manifest

MemberClicks

Meet In Minnesota

New Orleans CVB and New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center

About ASAE: The Center for Association Leadership

ASAE is a membership organization of more than 21,000 association executives and industry partners representing 9,300 organizations. Its members manage leading trade associations, individual membership societies and voluntary organizations across the United States and in nearly 50 countries around the world. With support of the ASAE Foundation, a separate nonprofit entity, ASAE is the premier source of learning, knowledge and future-oriented research for the association and nonprofit profession, and provides resources, education, ideas and advocacy to enhance the power and performance of the association and nonprofit community. For more information about ASAE, visit asaecenter.org.

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SOURCE American Society of Association Executives

Related Links

http://www.asaecenter.org


SAN DIEGO, April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Cireson today releases the free Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager Ticker app as the most recent addition to the company's Configuration Management offerings. Based upon customer feedback and input from the community, admins can now create and deliver announcements from the Configuration Manager Console to be displayed in real time to all clients specified. This announcement can be technical or non-technical in nature and alert organizational members of important announcements.

This free app was inspired by a need for customization options in the current out of the box Configuration Manager. Now, admins can create any kind of announcement desired, such as "Servers going offline at midnight tonight for maintenance" or "Windows 10 upgrades begin Monday at 5:00pm". These announcements can appear in whatever text color and background color desired to make them stand out on the end user's display. Priorities can be set as well to help the end user identify the importance level of the announcement. With very easy installation and use, important messages can be delivered in real time, as well as appear according to a configured schedule, to a desired audience.

Commenting on this new free app, Wally Mead, Cireson's Principal Program Manager explains, "I'm extremely confident that the Configuration Manager community will find the Ticker app of great benefit to them in keeping their end users informed of important issues and notices, thus helping increase end user satisfaction and reduce help desk calls." Wally Mead is considered one of the foremost experts on Configuration Manager after 20+ years working with Microsoft and focusing on this technology.

This app represents the latest free solution by Cireson that was built with the community in mind. As the eighth free app available and the second free Configuration Manager app developed by the team, Cireson is extremely excited to continue to innovate and develop new solutions within the configuration management space in their drive to make your working life ridiculously more productive. Check out the Remote Manage app for Configuration Manager as well for maximum productivity.

To learn more about the solutions Cireson offers within service, asset, and identity management, visit their website here.

About Cireson

Born in 2012, Cireson was founded on a simple, powerful idea: to be the forward thinkers on all things Microsoft Cloud and System Center. Today, our values from the beginning remain the same; keep it genuine, do the right thing, and listen to customers.

As a world leader in Microsoft Cloud and System Center, our mission is to make your working life ridiculously more productive by bringing service and asset management together - that's the Cireson Platform.

Taking pride in our expertise, we proudly boast some of the brightest and most fanatical IT professionals in the industry. From the Cireson Platform to Consulting Services and community engagements  everything we do is designed to push technical brilliance forward.

Our headquarters are located in sunny San Diego with offices throughout North America, Australia, and the United Kingdom.

SOURCE Cireson

Related Links

http://www.cireson.com


"Rose brings a great depth of experience in global food and nutrition security and agriculture development policy," said Tricia Beal , CEO, Farm Journal Foundation. "Her proven success in developing impactful advocacy and government relations strategies for development organizations make her an excellent fit for our foundation."

Since its launch in 2010, The Farm Journal Foundation (FJF) has been bringing new voices to the agricultural development policy table, broadening the agriculture discussion, and serving as a bridge between development and agricultural groups through several platforms:

Farmers Feeding the World, a national network of elite farmers passionate about the role of agriculture in addressing hunger around the world engage national policymakers to advance the government's commitment to agriculture in U.S. foreign policy.

HungerU, a Next Generation engagement platform with 20,000 student advocates connects to university populations and policy makers, raising awareness of nutrition and food security issues.

The Farm Journal Foundation Dialogue identifies important policy moments and delivers the best, updated information available to decision makers.

"I'm honored to join Farm Journal Foundation, Barbuto said. The Foundation is in an exciting period of growth and I'm looking forward to supporting its efforts to advance food security and foster economic development through agriculture."

Barbuto brings more than 15 years of development and advocacy experience in the United Nations and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Barbuto joins the Foundation after serving as Country Director for the United Nations Office of Project Services in Liberia and Sierra Leone. Previously, she served as a Director of the United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response in Liberia, managing efforts to scale up the emergency response in the unprecedented fight against Ebola. Her nonprofit experience includes serving in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation where she developed and helped execute the foundation's U.S. government relations strategies on agricultural development, nutrition and trade. Barbuto began her development career with the United Nations World Food Programme, where she held positions in the executive office, Government Relations and in Africa. She gained her legislative experience on Capitol Hill working for a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Barbuto earned her bachelor's degree in English literature and Italian literature from State University of New York at Buffalo.

About The Farm Journal Foundation

The Farm Journal Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to sustaining agriculture's ability to serve the vital needs of a growing world population with education and empowerment. The Farm Journal Foundation aims to rally communities around the fight against world hunger through programs including Farm Teams, HungerU, and Your Seat At The Table. For more information, contact Michael Whitmer.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160405/351464

SOURCE Farm Journal Foundation
Chazal is a senior cardiologist and the Medical Director of the Heart and Vascular Institute for Lee Memorial Health System, a four hospital, not-for-profit system in Fort Myers, Florida. He also serves as courtesy assistant professor of medicine for the University of Florida and clinical assistant professor of medicine for Florida State University. Chazal has practiced clinical cardiology in Fort Myers since 1983 with expertise in echocardiography, diagnostic catheterization and coronary computerized tomography angiography. During his tenure, he has been a participant in multiple clinical trials.

During his presidency, Chazal said he plans to ensure the College keeps its focus on its mission to transform cardiovascular care and improve heart health and on helping its members provide their patients with the best possible care.

"As a clinical cardiologist, I remain convinced that the College best achieves its mission by continually focusing on what is the best for our patients and embedding that in everything that we do as an organization," he said.

Chazal received his undergraduate degree from the University of Florida. He received his medical degree and internal medicine training at the University of South Florida, followed by a fellowship in cardiovascular disease at the Krannert Institute of Cardiology at Indiana University, where he spent one year as a designated echocardiography fellow.

Chazal has been a member of the ACC since 1984, during which time he's been involved both nationally and with the ACC's Florida Chapter, where he served as councilor, treasurer and president. Chazal is a former chair of the ACC Board of Governors and served eight years on the ACC Board of Trustees, including as treasurer, chair of the Budget and Finance Committee and as a member of the Executive Committee. Over the course of his ACC membership, Chazal has served on over 50 College committees and workgroups.

Chazal has been the recipient of many professional honors. He is a member of Alpha Omega Alpha and Omicron Delta Kappa honoraries through the University of South Florida. From the ACC Florida Chapter, he has received the Special Achievement Award, the Presidential Citation, the Distinguished Service Award and the Founder's Award. In 2011, the Southwest Florida Affiliate of the American Heart Association awarded him their Golden Heart Award, and in 2014 he was designated Distinguished Fellow of the American College of Cardiology. He received the inaugural Community Teaching Award from the Family Medicine Residency Program via Florida State University School of Medicine Fort Myers Program in 2015.

He and his wife Linda have three children and two grandchildren.

Other officers for the ACC for 2016-2017 are President-Elect Mary Norine "Minnow" Walsh, M.D., FACC; Vice President C. Michael Valentine, M.D., FACC; Secretary and Board of Governors Chair Allen Seals, M.D., FACC; Treasurer Robert Guyton, M.D., FACC; and Immediate Past-President Kim Allan Williams, M.D., MACC.

The American College of Cardiology is a 52,000-member medical society that is the professional home for the entire cardiovascular care team. The mission of the College is to transform cardiovascular care and to improve heart health. The ACC leads in the formation of health policy, standards and guidelines. The College operates national registries to measure and improve care, offers cardiovascular accreditation to hospitals and institutions, provides professional medical education, disseminates cardiovascular research and bestows credentials upon cardiovascular specialists who meet stringent qualifications. For more, visit acc.org.

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SOURCE American College of Cardiology

Related Links

http://www.acc.org


LOS ANGELES, April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- BLAZE Public Relations, the nationally recognized PR firm that represents leading consumer lifestyle brands, announced the addition of Elleffe Design to their well-established list of clients. Known for their specialization in high quality stainless steel designs, Elleffe Design is quickly growing throughout Europe, Asia and the Middle East and is now launching in North America.

"Since 2011, Elleffe Design has aimed to change the design of metal Serveware from cold and industrial to what we call expressive modern home decor that is warm, organic and artistic," said Elleffe Design Brand Director Rami Izadyar. "BLAZE's understanding and passion for our brand voice and their dedication to earning the highest quality results for Elleffe Design makes us confident in their representation."

The use of the newest techniques in the industry combined with steadfast dedication to Italian craftsmanship has been instrumental in Elleffe Design's fast worldwide growth. The creativity to push the boundaries of what can be done with top quality, 18/10 stainless steel used in the designs allows the brand to differentiate itself from competitors.

The brand has utilized unique laser cutting as well as creating their own exclusive FDA approved process in order to vary the color of steel, including gold, bronze, copper and rose.

This unique approach to home decor makes Elleffe Design the perfect partner in this relationship. BLAZE will be executing high-level strategy to publicize within local, national and trade media outlets. These efforts will assist all of Elleffe Design's current and planned expansion, in addition to earning general brand awareness.

"We saw great potential for success in Elleffe Design's unique take on stainless steel combined with the unparalleled Italian design aesthetic," said BLAZE PR President Matt Kovacs. "We're excited to guide Elleffe Design throughout this expansion."

About Elleffe Design

Founded in 2011, Elleffe Design creates the perfect fusion of innovation, style and functionality. The fresh and new stainless steel manufacturer looks to bring its Italian-made decor to North America. The dynamic brand is always pushing boundaries of what can be done with different materials, colors and the union of elegance and warmth to stainless steel. Elleffe Design aims to meet the needs of specialty stores, luxury hotels and restaurants. For more information, visit http://www.elleffedesignnorthamerica.com/

About BLAZE

In business since 1990, BLAZE is owned by Davies and is an award-winning, strategic public relations and marketing communications firm with offices in Santa Monica, Santa Barbara and Washington D.C. BLAZE believes in initiating smart conversations that facilitate consumer dialogue with a return to our client's bottom line. Awards include two PRSA PRISM Awards, the Communicator Award, PR News PRism and the recipient of two Hermes Awards. For more information, visit www.blazepr.com.

Media Contact:

Matt Kovacs

Blaze Public Relations

(310) 395-5050

[email protected]

SOURCE BLAZE Public Relations

Related Links

http://blazepr.com


SANTIAGO, Chile, April 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- ENDESA AMERICAS S.A. (NYSE: EOCA) today announced that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") has declared effective the Registration Statement on Form 20-F filed by Endesa Americas (the "Registration Statement") in connection with the spin-off by Empresa Nacional de Electricidad S.A. (NYSE: EOC) ("Endesa Chile") of Endesa Americas (the "Spin-off"). Each holder of record of (i) Endesa Chile common stock as of April 14, 2016 (the "Record Date"), will have the right to receive one share of Endesa Americas common stock for each share of Endesa Chile common stock held, and (ii) American Depositary Shares ("ADSs") of Endesa Chile as of the Record Date will have the right to receive one ADS of Endesa Americas for each ADS of Endesa Chile held.

The Spin-off was approved at an Extraordinary Shareholders Meeting of Endesa Chile held on December 18, 2015. Endesa Chile shareholders will not be required to (i) pay for the shares of Endesa Americas common stock to be received by them in the Spin-Off, (ii) surrender or exchange shares of Endesa Chile common stock in order to receive Endesa Americas common stock, (iii) take any other action in connection with the Spin-Off.

Endesa Americas and shares of Endesa Americas common stock are being registered with the Chilean Superintendence of Securities and Insurance (Superintendencia de Valores y Seguros, or the "SVS"). The SVS has not approved or disapproved of the securities (including in the form of ADSs).

Persons holding Endesa Chile ADSs in the facilities of The Depositary Trust Company ("DTC") will receive the distribution of Endesa Americas ADSs by book entry only, through the facilities of DTC on or about April 26, 2016 (the "Distribution Date"). Persons holding Endesa Chile ADSs directly will receive the distribution of Endesa Americas ADSs in the form of certificated American Depositary Receipts ("ADRs"), representing Endesa Americas ADSs on or about the Distribution Date.

The distribution of Endesa Americas common stock and ADSs are subject to the satisfaction or waiver of certain conditions including, but not limited to, registration of the shares of common stock with the SVS, the receipt of approval to list the shares of common stock on the Santiago Stock Exchange, the Valparaiso Stock Exchange and the Electronic Stock Exchange in Chile, and the other conditions summarized in the Registration Statement.

In the event there are any changes to the Record Date or the Distribution Date, Endesa Chile and Endesa Americas will publish any such changes in a press release that will also be furnished on a Form 6-K. In addition, Endesa Americas will coordinate with Citibank N.A., its depositary, to give at least 10 days' notice of any changes to the Record Date to the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") in accordance with NYSE's requirements.

There is currently no market for Endesa Americas common stock. The NYSE has authorized the listing of Endesa Americas ADRs under the symbol 'EOCA,' subject to official notice of distribution. Concurrent with the commencement of "regular way" trading of the Endesa Americas ADSs on the NYSE under the symbol 'EOCA', the ticker symbol for Endesa Chile's ADSs is expected to change from 'EOC' to 'EOCC'.

The Registration Statement filed with the SEC contains information about Endesa Americas and its businesses, details regarding the distribution of Endesa Americas ADSs and other important information. The Registration Statement is available on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov (http://www.sec.gov/).

Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements about the completion of the Spin-Off, timing of "when-issued" and "regular-way" trading and trading on the NYSE, Santiago Stock Exchange, the Electronic Stock Exchange and the Valparaiso Stock Exchange, conditions to the distribution, and statements about the objectives of the Spin-off, Endesa Americas' strategy and other non-historical matters. These statements are based on management's current expectations or beliefs, and are subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, which could cause the actual results to differ materially from those indicated in our forward-looking statements. Such risks include a failure to successfully separate Endesa Americas from Endesa Chile, the satisfaction of conditions of the Spin-off, including the receipt of required approvals (including from the SVS), the ability of Endesa Americas' businesses to continue to grow and develop according to their business development plans, trends in the industries in which Endesa Americas' businesses operate, customer demand, the competitive landscape in which Endesa Americas' businesses operate, changes in regulation applicable to Endesa Americas' business, competition risk, regulatory risk, financial markets risk, operational risks, and other risks and factors, including those set forth under the heading "Risk Factors" in Endesa Americas' Registration Statement. Except as required by law, Endesa America undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Contact Information

For further information, please contact us:



Investor Relations Department

e-mail: [email protected]

Phone: +56-22353-4682

Address: Santa Rosa 76,

Santiago, Chile













SOURCE Endesa Americas S.A.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark., April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- First Orion today announces users of its PrivacyStar app filed 31% of all call complaints, according to the recent Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Consumer Sentinel Network Report.

Visit here for more information along with the full FTC report.

First Orion offers phone carriers, service providers and consumers a one-stop service that identifies and blocks unwanted calls and lets users report complaints to the FTC directly from their mobile app when the calls occur.

"Consumers continue to be slammed with unwanted calls and this year is no exception with 10% more complaints filed to the FTC than last year," said Jonathan Sasse, CMO of First Orion. "Our mission is to offer consumers a comprehensive service that identifies nuisance callers, blocks unsolicited attempts and lets users report complaints to the FTC. Our share of total FTC complaints filed jumped to 31% in 2015, up from 21% last year. We continue to make progress in broadening adoption of First Orion technology, while also making it easier to report the rule breakers."

Some report highlights are:

Debt collection was the number one complaint category with 29% of overall complaints, followed by identity theft (16%), impostor scams (11%), telephone and mobile services (9%), and prizes, sweepstakes and lotteries (5%).

Over 1.2 million complaints were fraud-related and consumers reported paying out over $765 million with the median amount paid being $400 .

with the median amount paid being . Tax- or wage-related fraud (45%) was the most common form of reported identity theft, followed by credit card fraud (16%), phone or utilities fraud (10%) and bank fraud (6%).

In addition to providing PrivacyStar for Android users, First Orion powers call management solutions for MetroPCS, Boost Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Sprint Prepaid mobile networks as well as TracFone, NET10 Wireless, Total Wireless, Straight Talk, SafeLink Wireless and Simple Mobile customers with Android smartphones.

About PrivacyStar

The PrivacyStar app is the only service to include ScamBlock, real-time caller ID and call blocking as well the ability to report abusive calls and texts directly to federal agencies. Each month, PrivacyStar blocks millions of calls and files hundreds of thousands of call complaints directly with the Federal Trade Commission for Do Not Call and Fair Debt Collections Practices Act violations on behalf of our customers. PrivacyStar is a First Orion company.

About First Orion

First Orion is dedicated to providing phone call transparency by empowering both consumers and businesses with world-class data. It protects consumers from unwanted phone calls and unknown callers, along with fraud and scam protection, with call management software on industry leading mobile applications and network based solutions. The company helps businesses utilize authoritative data to ensure that they are properly contacting the right customers or validating their customer data with accurate information. First Orion is headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas with offices in Dallas, Seattle and London.

For regular updates, please visit www.FirstOrion.com.

PrivacyStar and First Orion are registered trademarks of First Orion Corp. All registered or unregistered trademarks are the sole property of their respective owners.

Media Contact:

Catherine Haas

FortyThree, Inc.

831.401.3175

[email protected]

SOURCE First Orion

Related Links

http://www.FirstOrion.com


WASHINGTON, April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) today announced that it has ordered Edgerton, Wisconsin-based Lyons Limousine, LLC, USDOT No. 2314875, to immediately cease all intrastate and interstate operations after a federal investigation found the carrier to pose an imminent hazard to public safety. FMCSA served the Imminent Hazard Order on Mary and Patrick Lyons, doing business as Lyons Limousine, LLC, on April 1, 2016.

On March 25, 2016, a commercial passenger vehicle operated by Lyons Limousine was involved in a single vehicle crash on Interstate 90 in Elgin, Illinois, resulting in the fatality of one passenger and injury to several others. The Lyons Limousine driver involved in the crash was only 20-years-old; the federal regulations require interstate commercial drivers be at least 21-years old. FMCSA's investigation showed that the same underaged driver had been dispatched by the company on at least two other occasions in March 2016.

A federal compliance review investigation conducted by FMCSA safety investigators found the company to be in violation of multiple federal safety regulations including: repeatedly using an underaged driver to operate a commercial motor vehicle, failing to conduct required pre-employment background checks on its drivers, failing to maintain any records of maintenance, and failing to monitor its drivers hours of service to prevent fatigued driving. The investigation revealed that the company did not possess safety and operating authority registration or maintain the required levels of public liability insurance.

Lyons Limousine also failed to conduct the required background checks on its two drivers, one of whom was an owner of the company, Mary Lyons. Neither the 20-year-old driver nor Mary Lyons possessed a valid medical examiner's certificate and both had poor driving records. These deficiencies should have been discovered had the company conducted the investigations required under the federal regulations.

The 20-year-old driver's personal driver's license had been suspended by the state of Wisconsin on September 10, 2015 for failure to pay a fine. This individual had been convicted on five separate occasions beginning April 11, 2012 through June 7, 2015 for: speeding, obstruction of traffic in a property damage crash, following too closely in a property damage crash, failing to obey a traffic sign or signal, and failing to fasten a seat belt. Between May 1, 2013 and August 14, 2014, driver Mary Lyons was convicted for: failing to fasten a seat belt on one occasion and speeding on two other separate occasions. On September 4, 2013, Mary Lyons' personal driver's license had been suspended by the state of Wisconsin for failure to pay a fine.

During the FMCSA investigation, the owners of Lyons Limousine could not produce any records-of-duty status for any of its drivers, which should have been used to monitor its drivers hours of service. FMCSA's investigation further revealed that two of the company's drivers had other jobs. When dispatching the drivers, the company should have considered the hours worked both at Lyons Limousines and elsewhere to assure that the individuals did not exceed federal hours-of-service safety regulations. Lyons Limousine was also unable to produce any vehicle maintenance records or driver vehicle inspection reports. The company could not produce any evidence that it conducted any of the required safety inspections of its vehicles.

All interstate for-hire passenger carriers are required to register with USDOT/FMCSA. As a condition of federal operating authority registration, a passenger carrier is also required to file proof of and maintain $1.5 million in liability insurance. At the time of the March 25, 2016 crash, Lyons Limousine had been operating in violation of the federal operating authority registration requirements for more than three years, its safety registration had been inactivated for failure to file a required report, and the company did not have any public liability insurance on file with FMCSA.

FMCSA's imminent hazard out-of-service order states that: "Lyons Limousine's use of unqualified and underaged drivers with poor driving records, lack of inspection, repair, and maintenance records, and complete disregard of the hours-of-service regulations substantially increases the likelihood of death or serious harm to drivers, passengers, and the motoring public if not discontinued immediately." Lyons Limousine also may be subject to a civil penalty enforcement proceeding brought by FMCSA for his violation of the agency's safety regulations.

Violating a federal imminent hazard out-of-service order may result in civil penalties of up to $25,000. A motor carrier may also be assessed civil penalties of not less than $25,000 for providing transportation requiring registration, including operating in interstate commerce, without federal operating authority and up to $16,000 for operating without a USDOT number registration.

A violation of this order may also result in a criminal penalty, including a fine of up to $25,000 and imprisonment not to exceed one year. Further civil and criminal penalties may be assessed for any safety violations discovered after the service of the April 1, 2016 order.

A copy of the imminent hazard out-of-service order can be viewed at http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/newsroom/Lyons-Limousine-IHOOS.

As part of FMCSA's work to make safety data readily available to the traveling public, the SaferBus mobile app gives bus riders a quick and free way to review a bus company's safety record before buying a ticket or booking group travel. The app, available for iPhone, iPad, and Android phone users, can be downloaded for free by visiting FMCSA's "Look Before You Book" webpage at www.fmcsa.dot.gov/saferbus.

Travelers planning a bus trip are also encouraged to think safety first before buying a ticket or chartering a bus by using FMCSA's multilingual passenger carrier safety checklist at: http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/lookbeforeyoubook.

FMCSA urges consumers and whistleblowers to report any unsafe bus company, vehicle, or driver to the agency through a toll free hotline 1-888-DOT-SAFT (1-888-368-7238) or FMCSA's consumer complaint web site: https://nccdb.fmcsa.dot.gov/nccdb/home.aspx.

Stay connected with FMCSA and USDOT via:

FMCSA.dot.gov | FMCSA on Facebook | FMCSA on Twitter | USDOT on YouTube

SOURCE Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

Related Links

http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov


CITY OF INDUSTRY, Calif., April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Hikvision USA, the North American leader in innovative, award-winning CCTV and IP video surveillance products, is pleased to launch a new level of its Dealer Partner Program--Diamond--designed to meet the needs of enterprise-level dealer partners.

The Hikvision Dealer Partner (HDP) program rewards partner loyalty with relationship-based advantages and recognition. Through this program, Hikvision extends exclusive access to products, business assistance, and priority service to key industry partners. Differentiation of Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Diamond levels are based on a dealer's annual spend on Hikvision products, and each tier builds upon itself with additional benefits. These benefits include product discounts through authorized distribution partners, extended warranties, priority technical support, and discounted demo equipment, among others.

The Diamond level was created to meet the needs of enterprise-level partners via built-in incentives for enhanced profitability, enriched training certification, and specialized support.

"The purpose of the program is to foster achievement of our dealer partners and help their businesses succeed," stated Vince Lupe, director of business development. "The new Diamond level is designed to support our dealers who work with enterprise-level clients and solutions."

"Hikvision has long been a leader in the SMB marketplace, and as we maintain that status we continue to grow in the enterprise realm. We are poised to deliver innovative solutions to high-level clients on a national scale," added Sam Belbina, vice president, enterprise sales for Hikvision USA. "With the expansion of the Dealer Partner program, Hikvision can better support these valued dealers and their customers."

To learn more about Hikvision's dealer partner programs, email [email protected] or visit booth 14059 at ISC West in Las Vegas, April 6-8.

About Hikvision

Hikvision is the world's leading supplier of video surveillance solutions. Featuring the industry's strongest R&D workforce, Hikvision designs, develops, and manufactures standard- and high-definition cameras, including a variety of IP cameras, analog cameras, and cameras featuring the latest in high-definition analog technology. Hikvision's product suite also includes digital video servers, hybrid and standalone DVRs, NVRs, and other elements of sophisticated security systems for both indoor and outdoor use.

SOURCE Hikvision USA
Following the global financial crisis, in 2008, for reasons motivated by stability rather than customer satisfaction, consumers flocked to the 'Big Four' who benefited by recovering market share previously lost to the smaller financial institutions. While the Big Four are more dominant than ever, future bank profitability is more dependent than ever on innovation.

Frost & Sullivan's latest study, Fintech in Australia  Trends, Forecasts and Analysis 2015  2020 forecasts that the Australian Fintech market will reach over AUD4 billion in revenues by 2020 including AUD1 billion in completely new added value to the Australian economy. What is more arresting is that the report highlights the fact that Australian banks are set to lose out on AUD13 billion in aggregated revenues as the Australian Fintech sector is set to take AUD10 billion in aggregated revenues away from the big Australian banks and contribute AUD3 billion of new revenue to the Australian Financial Services Sector from 2015 to 2020.

Audrey William, Head of Research, ICT Practice, Frost & Sullivan Australia & New Zealand says, "This disruption should be of serious concern to the Australian financial services sector. While Fintech will not end traditional financial services, Australian Fintech is in the development stage of the business cycle and already the Fintech start-up space has grown rapidly in Australia." Frost & Sullivan believes that the Big Four banks must react or face a large dent in future profit growth. The decline in return on equity will continue with the disruption from the Fintech sector.

Fintech has decentralised financial power and provided new dynamic new solutions to old problems. The Fintech disruption is changing historical trends and offering products that offer stability in a new and innovative way and at a lower cost than the Big Four banks. "Frost & Sullivan believes that the inertia and stability of the Big Four banks is more a weakness than strength, and will be increasingly exposed as such without a clear strategy to decentralise the existing suite of banking products," added William.

Saranga Sudarshan, Research Analyst, ICT Practice, Frost & Sullivan Australia & New Zealand says that out of the Big Four banks, Westpac Banking Corporation (WBC) is the most engaged with new technologies to combat Fintech disruption. "WBC opened an innovation lab in September 2014 and has already invested AUD50 million in companies throughout the Fintech sector, with blockchain trials and mobile payments through its partnership with Android Pay to begin in 2016," he said.

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) comes in second after WBC in its likelihood to succeed with its engagement with the Fintech Sector. As the bank with the highest market capitalisation, CBA has the most to lose from the disruption of the Fintech Sector. Added Saranga, "CBA already started trialling blockchain technology with its subsidiaries at the end of 2015; a revolutionary step in the transformation of the banking sector, and has set up two "Innovation Labs" designed to research Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning Systems with a third lab planned in London in 2016. The internationalisation of technological research is a key element of CBA's strategy into the future."

Although WBC and CBA compete with two different innovation models; they have both committed early resources to engaging with Fintech. Whilst NAB and ANZ have developed strong engagement strategies, they have been late in committing resources compared to WBC and CBA. The future growth of the Australian Fintech sector will depend on how much the government chooses to favour the Big Four banks and keep the financial sector regulated against market volatility.

Frost & Sullivan's report, Fintech in Australia  Trends, Forecasts and Analysis 2015 - 2020, forms a part of the Frost & Sullivan Australian Research program. All research services included in this subscription provide detailed market opportunities and industry trends evaluated following extensive interviews with market participants. For media queries and more information please send an e-mail with your contact details to Donna Jeremiah, Corporate Communications, at [email protected].

About Frost & Sullivan

Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, works in collaboration with clients to leverage visionary innovation that addresses the global challenges and related growth opportunities that will make or break today's market participants. For more than 50 years, we have been developing growth strategies for the global 1000, emerging businesses, the public sector and the investment community. Is your organization prepared for the next profound wave of industry convergence, disruptive technologies, increasing competitive intensity, Mega Trends, breakthrough best practices, changing customer dynamics and emerging economies? Contact us: Start the discussion

Contact:

Donna Jeremiah

Corporate Communications  Asia Pacific

P: +61 (02) 8247 8927

F: +61 (02) 9252 8066

E: [email protected]

http://www.frost.com

Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160404/351429

SOURCE Frost & Sullivan

Related Links

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BEIJING, April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Zhaopin Limited (NYSE: ZPIN) ("Zhaopin" or the "Company"), a leading career platform in China focusing on connecting users with relevant job opportunities throughout their career lifecycle, has expanded the use of its innovative and proprietary National Employability Test ("NET") with the active support of the All-China Women's Federation and other governmental and social resources.

Across May and June 2016, Zhaopin and the All-China Women's Federation will run a NET project. It is expected to cover 200 universities and aim to assist over 1 million university students in their job seeking or starting their own business within two years. The NET also benefits from the active support of several renowned organizations, including the China Children and Teenagers' Fund, the Education Management Information Center of the Ministry of Education, Renmin University of China, and the Investment Association of China, as well as Xiaoming Huang, a Chinese celebrity, as the project's brand ambassador.

This project will provide assessment tests for university students at no cost to help them understand their strengths and determine their employability and potential suitable career path.

Zhaopin will leverage its big data and analytical capabilities to provide participants suitable job or internship opportunities. In addition, the project will provide free professional training to university career development staff.

Zhaopin and Mr. Xiaoming Huang will jointly donate RMB10 million in cash and testing software with a fair value of over RMB70 million to the China Children and Teenagers' Foundation in support of the project during 2016 to 2017.

Mr. Evan Guo, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Zhaopin, commented that, "Thanks to its highly successful initial project in 2015, the NET is emerging as an innovative solution that helps address some of the challenges facing the labor market. It has started to attract the attention of a growing number of Chinese governmental institutions which recognize its potential in creatively reducing the mismatch between demand and supply in the labor market."

"The NET has also begun to generate interest outside of China among social and academic institutions as many emerging economies face or will face similar challenges. I am particularly proud of our ability to play a small part in china's economic rebalancing by focusing on the needs of job seekers and employers, on innovation, and creative technology," commented Mr. Evan Guo.

About NET

According to the results of the "2015 University Students' Employability Survey" conducted by Zhaopin, university graduates are faced with great challenges while seeking first jobs and employers also encounter difficulties in correctly evaluating the characteristics and potential of fresh-graduate candidates.

The difficulty of university students in seeking jobs is believed to be attributable to their lack of understanding of their capabilities, their over-optimistic career expectations and the mismatch in information between supply and demand on the job market. Over 40% of surveyed participants lack a clear vision of their future career and life, while over 70% of them fail to realize that their capabilities and personality do not match their professional aspirations.

NET, which involves both graduates and employers, was developed by Zhaopin in conjunction with academic authorities from a number of universities and has the full support from the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China. The NET program is designed to help graduates develop a better understanding of their overall potential including an assessment of their strengths and weaknesses, and their skills, independent of their matriculating institution. It provides employers with a baseline measure to evaluate participating graduates as the test assesses and focuses on the intrinsic talents of graduates. NET offers employers an independent means of identifying talent irrespective of a graduate's academic credentials, including the prestige of his or her university. Zhaopin believes NET helps address a major weakness in the current system of recruiting new university graduates whereby many college graduates are not being assessed on their true merit and talent.

About Zhaopin Limited

Zhaopin is a leading career platform in China, focusing on connecting users with relevant job opportunities throughout their career lifecycle. The Company's zhaopin.com website is the most popular career platform in China as measured by average daily unique visitors in each of the 12 months ended December 31, 2015, number of registered users as of December 31, 2015 and number of unique customers for the three months ended December 31, 2015. The Company's over 109.7 million registered users include diverse and educated job seekers who are at various stages of their careers and are in demand by employers as a result of the general shortage of skilled and educated workers in China. In the fiscal year ended June 30, 2015, approximately 25.6 million job postings[1] were placed on Zhaopin's platform by 418,423 unique customers including multinational corporations, small and medium-sized enterprises and state-owned entities. The quality and quantity of Zhaopin's users and the resumes in the Company's database attract an increasing number of customers. This in turn leads to more users turning to Zhaopin as their primary recruitment and career- related services provider, creating strong network effects and significant entry barriers for potential competitors. For more information, please visit http://www.zhaopin.com.

[1] Zhaopin calculates the number of job postings by counting the number of newly placed job postings during each respective period. Job postings that were placed prior to a specified period - even if available during such period - are not counted as job postings for such period. Any particular job posting placed on the Company's website may include more than one job opening or position.

Safe Harbor Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements made under the "safe harbor" provisions of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "confident" and similar statements. Zhaopin may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its reports filed with or furnished to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in its annual report to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Any statements that are not historical facts, including statements about Zhaopin's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements that involve factors, risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Such factors and risks include, but not limited to the following: Zhaopin's goals and strategies; its future business development, financial condition and results of operations; its ability to retain and grow its user and customer base for its online career platform; the growth of, and trends in, the markets for its services in China; the demand for and market acceptance of its brand and services; competition in its industry in China; its ability to maintain the network infrastructure necessary to operate its website and mobile applications; relevant government policies and regulations relating to the corporate structure, business and industry; and its ability to protect its users' information and adequately address privacy concerns. Further information regarding these and other risks, uncertainties or factors is included in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. All information provided in this press release is current as of the date of the press release, and Zhaopin does not undertake any obligation to update such information, except as required under applicable law.

For more information, please contact:

Zhaopin Limited

Daisy Wang

Investor Relations

[email protected]

Christensen

In China

Mr. Christian Arnell

Phone: +86-10- 5900-1548

E-mail: [email protected]

In US

Ms. Linda Bergkamp

Phone: +1-480-614-3004

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Zhaopin Limited

Related Links

http://www.zhaopin.com


"Tony is a world-class and consummate professional in his areas of expertise, so we're delighted to be gaining his demonstrated leadership capabilities, his passion for quality and top-tier performance, and his entrepreneurial fit with our culture," said Kurt Graves. "The leadership, talent, and operational tasks that Tony will take-on and lead are some of our most critical, and their success is essential to bringing our innovative progress to the millions of patients we believe we can help achieve better outcomes in type 2 diabetes. This means everything to us, and I know Tony shares our deep commitment to quality, delivery, and winning on behalf of patients. I have full confidence in our team, and the opportunity to bring in Tony will surely expand the magnitude of our success with our mission."

"Intarcia is well into the process of creating a transformational opportunity for medical providers to improve how medicine is delivered in chronic diseases for many patients," said Anthony Hurley. "The opportunity to further develop and build the manufacturing organization and supply chain is so great, it could be a once in a career chance to make such a great difference. Having met Kurt and his team, I became convinced the Company was on the right course to accomplish its mission. And the culture Kurt has firmly established  that business success will follow winning on behalf of patients  is something I believe deeply. I want that prioritization and sense of urgency when I come to work everyday, so I'm excited to invest myself fully in what needs to be done. I hope to look back at these next years as a time and a team that did some incredible work with some incredible innovation, results and progress for patients."

Mr. Hurley was selected because he is a great fit in terms of his proven leadership, his commercial manufacturing and quality expertise, Intarcia's expanding operational needs and the Company's work culture. He will serve as an executive leader in the company broadly, shouldering a large and mission-critical responsibility for the scale-up of ITCA 650 for our planned global launch. Tony and the rest of the team in Hayward will also finalize plans and important work on our second manufacturing facility in Ireland, and eventually progressing our novel pipeline programs when they reach the right stage of development.

Prior to his decade-long career in senior positions at Genentech, Inc., Mr. Hurley spent seventeen years in positions of increasing responsibility at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) from 1987 to 2004, beginning as a Primary Plant Process Engineer and advancing through the ranks to his most senior role as Site Director, Upper Merion Anti-Infectives Operations, where he oversaw 280 employees. Before this, Tony spent two years as at Schering Plough as a Pilot Plant Engineer/Supervisor.

Mr. Hurley received his B.Sc. degree in Chemical Engineering at the Cork Institute of Technology, Cork, Ireland, and his M.Sc. Degree in Industrial Engineering from Rutgers University, NJ.

About ITCA 650

ITCA 650 (continuous subcutaneous delivery of exenatide) is being developed for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. The investigational therapy employs Intarcia's proprietary technology platform, a matchstick-size, miniature osmotic pump that is placed sub-dermally to provide continuous and consistent drug therapy, and the company's proprietary formulation technology, which maintains stability of therapeutic peptides above human body temperature for extended periods of time. Exenatide, the active agent in ITCA 650, is a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist that is currently marketed globally as twice-daily and once-weekly self-injection therapies for type 2 diabetes. When approved, ITCA 650 will be the first injection-free GLP-1 therapy that can deliver up to a full year of treatment from a single placement of the osmotic mini-pump. ITCA 650 is currently being evaluated in the FREEDOM global Phase 3 clinical trial program. The first three FREEDOM trials have successfully completed, the latest, FREEDOM 2, demonstrated head-to-head superiority in glucose control after 52 weeks over the market-leading oral therapy, Januvia (sitagliptin). The FREEDOM CVO trial began close out procedures in 4Q15 after reaching the target number of major cardiovascular events. Intarcia expects to have top-line results for FREEDOM CVO in 2Q 2016.

About Intarcia Therapeutics, Inc.

Intarcia Therapeutics, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company developing therapies to enhance treatment outcomes by optimizing and improving the efficacy, continuous administration and tolerability of drug therapies. In addition, delivering medicines just once or twice yearly has the potential to ensure improved patient adherence and compliance, which is very poor in most chronic diseases. Intarcia's drug development expertise and competitive edge are demonstrated by its abilities to stabilize proteins and peptides at above-body temperature and to deliver them in a constant and consistent manner via Intarcia's proprietary technology platform. Intarcia is conducting a Phase 3-stage development program for type 2 diabetes that consists of four separate clinical trials, three of which have been completed. Intarcia continues to conduct research and development, utilizing its platform technology, to treat other chronic serious disorders in the field of diabetes and obesity. For more information on the Company, please visit www.intarcia.com.

Intarcia and its logo are registered trademarks of Intarcia Therapeutics, Inc.

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SOURCE Intarcia Therapeutics, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.intarcia.com


SAN DIEGO, April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- A new website http://www.lifewithincenter.com/baby-ear-infection/ and an innovative new treatment for children's ear infections are just two exciting developments at San Diego's Lifewithin Chiropractic Center. Founded by Dr. Marc Gottlieb, the center's website effectively communicates the spirit and vision that has made Lifewithin a trusted wellness authority for over 15 years. Now, the center offers chiropractic adjustments for a variety of common childhood ailments, including the dreaded ear infection.

Baby Ear Infection Baby Chiropractor

"We believe that health is the most important kind of wealth," explains Dr. Gottlieb. "Our goal at Lifewithin Chiropractic Center is to give everyone the opportunity to live an optimal and pain-free life. That's especially important for babies and children, when a poorly managed health condition can have long-lasting, even permanent ill effects. Fortunately, chiropractic adjustments offer safe, effective solutions to a range of conditions, from ear infections and colic to digestive issues and poor sleep."

Ear infections are easily among the most common and painful conditions that routinely afflict babies and toddlers. Unfortunately, ear infections can become chronic in nature, with one following another in quick succession.

For too long, the standard treatment for ear infection was antibiotics. Eventually, the American Pediatric Association pushed back and made recommendations to avoid antibiotic use in babies and young children. Research confirmed that not only are antibiotics rarely helpful in these cases, they may actually lead to complications.

Lifewithin Chiropractic Center has identified vertebral subluxation as a major factor in the development of chronic ear infections. As a baby grows, the orientation of his or her ear canal changes too; vertebral subluxation can result in fluid buildup that encourages bacterial growth and infection. A series of expert chiropractic adjustments is all that's necessary to remedy this underlying condition. Once corrected, the body's own healing and regulation processes kick in, and ear infections become virtually a thing of the past.

Dr. Gottlieb has already performed chiropractic adjustments on countless young patients, and the results speak for themselves. "My mission is to help children live life to the fullest, while easing the stress and anxiety experienced by their parents. Chiropractic adjustments provide us with a safe means to do all of that and more."

About Lifewithin Chiropractic Center

Lifewithin Chiropractic Center has been in business 16 years. The Union Tribune (San Diego's top newspaper) presented the center and its founder, Dr. Marc Gottlieb, with the "Best Chiropractor San Diego" award for 2015.

Dr. Gottlieb graduated from the University of California, San Diego with a bachelor's degree (honors) in Psychology. After this, Dr. Gottlieb attended the esteemed Palmer College of Chiropractic West in San Jose, CA, receiving a doctorate of Chiropractic degree in 1999.

Contact:

Dr. Marc Gottlieb

619-291-5433

Email

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160404/351384

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160404/351385

SOURCE Lifewithin Chiropractic Center

Related Links

http://www.lifewithincenter.com


LIBERTYVILLE, Ill., April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- MBX Systems announced today that it has earned its third Manufacturing Leadership Award in four years for a project that enables simultaneous imaging, testing and configuration of hundreds of custom server appliances with disparate final assembly requirements. MBX's winning solution dramatically accelerates manufacturing throughput and order fulfillment, reduces labor costs, and enhances MBX's ability to efficiently produce custom hardware platforms tailored to the needs of individual software vendors and service providers.

The ML competition, judged by Frost & Sullivan's Manufacturing Leadership Council, is designed to honor companies that are shaping the future of global manufacturing. MBX was recognized in the Engineering & Production Technology Leadership category, joining other winners including The Dow Chemical Company for Big Data and Analytics Leadership, GE Global Research for Internet of Things in Manufacturing Leadership, and The Boeing Company for Mobility in Manufacturing Leadership.

Automated Final Assembly for Custom Hardware

MBX's winning 2016 ML project involves a proprietary software platform developed in-house to support the company's exclusive Forge imaging, testing and configuration environment.

The platform allows a single operator to concurrently manage software imaging, testing and final configuration for any number of hardware systems in the company's main manufacturing facility outside of Chicago and/or in satellite facilities anywhere in the world, even when different units must be equipped with different network connections, software or internal components. It also conducts all verification and quality analysis and reports the results for regular quantitative analysis without operator involvement.

The software works in conjunction with MBX's advanced automation systems and extra-large Super Cell workstations that can be linked together to simultaneously configure and test up to 640 servers at the company's main Chicago plant alone. Remote communication with satellite facilities provides unlimited extensibility for additional unit needs.

The combination of the software platform, automation technology and Super Cell design streamlines the final stages of the manufacturing process while also maintaining quality. One MBX customer slashed final assembly procedures from two days to two hours, including custom hardware configuration for each end user destination.

"Each hardware unit in our custom manufacturing business is built to order, loaded and tested with the customer's software, and customized for the end customer before it leaves our plant. Typically, these final assembly processes must be handled on a unit-by-unit basis with an operator interacting with each unit's console," said Carl Nothnagel, MBX Vice President of Operations. "Automating these processes has shortened final production tasks for faster delivery of finished systems, enabled us to handle larger batch sizes more quickly and efficiently, and increased technician capacity and productivity on our manufacturing floor."

Two Previous Wins

MBX previously was honored in the 2012 ML competition for a proprietary shop floor software and process improvement project that drove improvements in scheduling, quality control and workload distribution. It also received a 2015 ML award for its Super Cell initiative, which increased scalability and leaned operations. Both projects were designed to maximize quality, efficiency and on-time delivery in MBX's extreme high-mix environment, where hundreds of unique server platforms are being produced at any given time.

The company has also earned a long list of other accolades, including 2012 Quality Plant of the Year honors from Quality magazine.

About MBX Systems

MBX Systems is a leading designer and manufacturer of application-optimized server appliances and cloud-ready solutions for ISVs and service providers worldwide. MBX delivers turnkey hardware systems that are 100% customized to the customer's specifications by in-house platform engineers, while also offering value-added services such as branding, software imaging, regulatory/compliance, global logistics and warranty support to relieve customers of all hardware responsibilities. That unusual range of services, along with award-winning quality, innovation and customer service, has attracted customers in more than 40 vertical industries in the past two decades. For more information, visit www.mbx.com.

SOURCE MBX Systems

Related Links

http://www.mbx.com


LOS ANGELES, April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Med-X, Inc.'s crowdfunding initiative is full steam ahead as the final rules for Regulation A+ takes effect in a matter of weeks, the company proudly announced on Monday.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160404/350943

Med-X, Inc.'s entry into the cannabis industry was buoyed by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission's approval of its intent to offer its shares to the public through Regulation A+. The company is the first company engaged in cannabis cultivation and technologies that met the SEC's requirements to source funding via the JOBS Act.

"We've seen how crowdfunding has provided momentum to startups from other industries, and we strongly believe that it can do the same for the cannabis industry," said company president Matthew Mills. "Recent reports also point to crowdfunding surpassing venture capitalism to the tune of $34 billion this year, so the outlook is immensely positive."

Since it launched its campaign on crowdfunding website StartEngine, Med-X, Inc. has received indicated interest from over 1,176 investors equating to $3.7 million. Accredited and non-accredited investors can reserve the company's shares via the site.

"We are offering this chance to reserve shares through an equity crowdfunding campaign to give all Americans the chance to be a part of a positive phase in the rapidly evolving cannabis industry," company CEO Dr. Toomey, Med-X, Inc. said in a previous statement.

"We see tremendous growth potential for the industry at large with both medical and recreational users, as well as a tremendous need for products that the public can trust not to be contaminated with pesticides, mold, or other problematic substances," he added.

Med-X, Inc. is currently developing an all-natural and safe insecticidal soil that can significantly reduce marijuana crop maintenance costs for licensed growers. The soil incorporates the company's product Nature-Cide, a highly effective all-natural insect killer that can be used for marijuana crops to increase yields, and will be available in the third quarter of 2016.

In an unexpected move, the SEC finally adopted the final rules allowing company to sell securities through crowdfunding last October. Title III of the JOBS Act granted companies raising capital through crowdfunding a federal exemption under SEC regulations.

SEC Chair Mary Jo White shares that the government agency believed it's high time to respond to the clamor for the revised rules. "There is a great deal of enthusiasm in the marketplace for crowdfunding, and I believe these rules and proposed amendments provide smaller companies with innovative ways to raise capital and give investors the protections they need," she said in a statement.

Visit the company's StartEngine page to know more about Med-X, Inc.'s projects and leadership, https://www.startengine.com/startup/med-x.

About Med-X, Inc.

Los Angeles-based Med-X, Inc. was established in February 2014 to promote a legitimately organic way of marijuana farming and support advances in developing cannabis for medical use. The company has embarked on a patient-cooperative strategy involving technologies specifically made for cannabis cultivation. In support of its initiatives, the company uses the website, www.marijuanatimes.org as a communication vehicle for its campaigns, and supply the public with accurate and high quality information about the cannabis sector. It monetizes the site through advertising and marketing industry-related merchandise to consumers. For more information about Med-X, please visit www.medx-rx.com, email [email protected] or call 818-349-2870.

Media contact:

Matt Mills

818-349-2870

SOURCE Med-X, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.medx-rx.com


Developed by OnDeck's Head of Small Business Education Ty Kiisel working with a team of SCORE volunteer small business mentors, the workshop, An Insider's View: Securing Capital to Grow Your Business , helps SCORE clients survey the non-traditional financing options available to them, including: non-profit lending, crowdfunding, invoice financing, online business loans, and loan matching sites. Attendees learn how different types of financing work, who provides them, which financing options make sense for which business needs, how to apply, and what to expect throughout the application process.

OnDeck and SCORE first conducted the workshop and corresponding webinar last year. In 2015, Ty Kiisel led seminars in eight SCORE chapters and hosted a webinar with hundreds of attendees. In order to help SCORE chapters implement this workshop in their communities and scale the program across the country, OnDeck has created a workshop-in-a-box kit, enabling every SCORE chapter to offer their own seminars to local small businesses.

"Small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs will walk away from these workshops with a strong grasp of their lending options, empowered to make informed financing decisions to fuel their business's growth," said Noah Breslow, CEO of OnDeck. "Our partnership with SCORE is a powerful way for us to support our nation's small businesses."

Workshop participants will also be guided through OnDeck and SCORE's interactive Business Fundability Quiz. The quizused by over 3,000 entrepreneurs to datehelps small business owners assess their current financial standing and evaluate what types of financing they may qualify for. Workshop facilitators will help attendees find ways to improve their profile and increase their odds of successfully funding their business needs. SCORE will also offer participants free one-on-one mentoring to talk through their individual business aspirations and chart a customized pathway to achieve those goals.

"At SCORE, we regularly meet with small business owners who are unsure of what financing options are available to them," said David R. Bobbitt, President of the SCORE Foundation and Vice President of Development at the SCORE Association. "With these resources now available to both our mentors and chapters nationwide, we believe more small businesses will consider the full spectrum of borrowing options. Informed small business owners can compare options for themselves and are more likely to locate the funds they need to put their goals into action."

Are you looking to learn the ins and outs of small business lending options? These resources can help you get started:

Visit OnDeck and SCORE's Financing/Loans Center of Excellence: Check out tips and resources for evaluating your small business loan options, applying for small business grants, investigating the process for commercial lending, and more at www.score.org or tune in to the An Insider's View: Securing Capital to Grow Your Business webinar online.

Check out tips and resources for evaluating your small business loan options, applying for small business grants, investigating the process for commercial lending, and more at www.score.org or tune in to the webinar online. Join the Discussion on Twitter: Tune in to OnDeck's upcoming Twitter Q&A on April 20, 2016 at 1pm EST , by following the hashtag #AskTy for small business lending insights from industry experts, including OnDeck's Ty Kiisel and SCORE's David Bobbitt .

Tune in to OnDeck's upcoming Twitter Q&A on at , by following the hashtag #AskTy for small business lending insights from industry experts, including OnDeck's and SCORE's . Learn More About the World of Online Lending: For more information about your lending options, visit BusinessLoans.com, OnDeck's educational website.

OnDeck's partnership with SCORE is part of the company's commitment to financial literacy, both during the celebration of National Financial Literacy Month in April and year round.

About SCORE

Since 1964, SCORE has helped more than 10 million aspiring entrepreneurs. Each year, SCORE's 10,000 volunteer business experts provide free and low-cost small business mentoring, workshops and education to 500,000+ clients in more than 300 chapters. In 2014, SCORE volunteers provided 1.2+ million hours to help create over 45,000 jobs and 55,000 small businesses.

For more information about starting or operating a small business, call 1-800-634-0245 for the SCORE chapter nearest you. Visit SCORE at www.score.org. Connect with SCORE at www.facebook.com/SCOREMentors and www.twitter.com/SCOREMentors.

About OnDeck

OnDeck (NYSE: ONDK) is the leader in online small business lending. Since 2007, the company has powered Main Street's growth through advanced lending technology and a constant dedication to customer service. OnDeck's proprietary credit scoring system  the OnDeck Score  leverages advanced analytics, enabling OnDeck to make real-time lending decisions and deliver capital to small businesses in as little as 24 hours. OnDeck offers business owners a complete financing solution, including the online lending industry's widest range of term loans and lines of credit. To date, the company has deployed over $3 billion to more than 45,000 customers in 700 different industries across the United States, Canada and Australia. OnDeck has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau and operates the educational small business financing website www.businessloans.com. For more information, please visit www.ondeck.com.

Contact:

Alexis Ganz

Bliss Integrated Communication

(646) 386-2920

[email protected]

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SOURCE OnDeck
According to the case study, "ecommerce promotions forced a constant trade-off between increasing earnings and harming the subscriber's experience. By sending constant ecommerce deals MakeUseOf was asking their readers to open their wallets and buy  everyday. The repetition of daily deal advertisements did not sit well with the MakeUseOf Team, knowing that it could begin to harm their reputation with their audience"

RevResponse developed a test strategy to diversify MakeUseOf's consistent commerce promotions with highly targeted content campaigns, testing the effectiveness of content over commerce. The three month test replaced mainstream tech deals with free relevant content curated specifically for the MakeUseOf audience.

"The RevResponse content campaigns increased the revenue per email campaign by +126%, doubling the revenue per touch point with the subscriber," detailed the case study. The coveted MakeUseOf subscriber base showed a significant change in engagement as well, "by looking at the overall request volume per campaign to measure subscriber interest, the data showed that the content campaigns increased the request volume by +613% over deal campaigns."

In a debrief with MakeUseOf CEO Jackson Chung, he explained, "we know that our readers come to MakeUseOf to learn new skills. So by offering the opportunity to download useful and educational tech content for free, they're motivated to stay subscribed to our newsletter. Generally, it's a win-win: our readers gain useful resources at no cost, while we generate revenue."

The RevResponse case study highlights a common misconception among digital publishers today and unveils the power of content. "It's no surprise that highly relevant targeted content could outperform commerce among audience standards; it's the ROI that makes this strategy a game changer for publishers," stated David Fortino, VP Audience Development, NetLine Corporation. By diversifying the MakeUseOf monetization strategy RevResponse was able to accelerate their monthly earnings with fewer promotions and deliver a more native experience for subscribers.

Read the full case study, Content Over Commerce: A Publisher's Strategy to Increase Revenue +126%.

About RevResponse:

RevResponse enables digital Publishers to effectively monetize all forms of B2B traffic via native advertising and the largest inventory of professional content. Touted as the #1 B2B Publisher Network, RevResponse began in 2008 as the Partner arm of the top B2B lead generation company, NetLine Corporation. Today RevResponse has grown to 15,000+ Publishers worldwide across all major industries.

About NetLine Corporation:

NetLine Corporation is the number one content syndication lead generation provider aimed at driving buyer engagement, customer lead acquisition and sales pipeline performance. Its AudienceTargeting technology and global multi-channel network of more than 15,000 website properties enable B2B marketers to reach a diverse audience of more than 125 million business professionals across 300 industry sectors. NetLine's multi-channel content delivery model allows for brand customization, content adaptation and flexible market access through publisher websites, expert blogs, email, search engines, social media networks, e-newsletters and mobile. Founded in 1994, NetLine is privately held and headquartered in Los Gatos, California, with operations around the globe. For more information, visit www.netline.com.

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SOURCE RevResponse

Related Links

http://www.netline.com


BOULDER, Colo., April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The Nutrition Business Journal (NBJ) today announced this year's winners of its Business Achievement Awards, recognizing both the fastest growing companies in the industry as well as the ones that are going the farthest to make sustainability, innovation and philanthropy key to their mission. Recipients will be honored during the 19th annual NBJ Summit, to be held June 13-16 in Dana Point, California.

NBJ is the premier publication for the nutrition, natural, organic, dietary supplement and integrative medicine industries. Each year, the publication recognizes the industry's most notable business leaders in its annual Business Achievement Awards issue.

"Our industry is growing and evolving at lightning speed, and we want to spotlight the businesses at the vanguard," said NBJ Editor in Chief Rick Polito. "That could mean a company as big as NOW Foods, or a smaller one like Togo's national pride, Alaffia. We are, after all, an industry that puts a premium on integrity, and we like to showcase the people who are setting that bar high."

Here are this year's winners, and a short description of each:

Growth: Large Company (Over $50 million in annual sales)

NOW Foods

With rigorous, high-tech ingredient testing and demanding supply chain validation, NOW Foods is setting the standard for finished product in the supplement space. The company has been able to do this in the value brand space while growing in double digitsthis might be a sign that quality measures garner consumer attention.

Growth: Medium Company ($10 to $50 million)

Perfect Bar

A college dropout working with his dad's recipe has created a disruptor in the nutrition bar category with a refrigerated product that speaks freshness with healthy ingredients. Growth is strong as the company emerges into club and mass channels.

Growth: Small Company (Under $10 million)

BioTerra Herbs

BioTerra uses attention-grabbing packaging aimed at consumers in the mass-market stores where staff expertise in supplements is not readily available. Their innovative approach got them into Walmart in the first year and the products can now be found in more than 2,000 retailers. The company also takes strict quality control issues to ensure purity and proper dosage.

Supply Chain Transparency

PLT Health Solutions

A transparency program that focuses on every step in the product development cycle sets PLT Health Solutions apart. Products have to be responsibly formulated, sustainably grown and purchased with respect culture and people of the country of origin.

Efforts on Behalf of the Industry

The Council for Responsible Nutrition

The past year has been a troubling one for supplements, with negative headlines taking the industry to task, but emerging from those challenges have come new proposals. The voluntary product registry that the Council for Responsible Nutrition is bringing to fruition is a bold, noteworthy and timely effort.

Management Achievement

Emerson Ecologics

Practitioners put their professional reputations on the line with every product they sell or promote. Emerson Ecologics gives them confidence by qualifying the brands they sell with rigorous testing. The company also engages politically at the state and federal level.

Science and Innovation

Atrium Innovation

With dozens of published papers and affiliations with universities that include Harvard and Stanford as well as the Cleveland Clinic, Atrium Innovations is helping their family of brands grow with innovative products and science-based claims.

Education

Michael Murray

Co-author of The Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine, Murray has had tremendous influence on naturopaths and interested consumers. With 30 other books, a prominent online profile and numerous interviews in print, and on TV and radio, Murray has become a voice for the role of nutrition in health.

Stewardship

Alter Eco

Alter Eco was built on a 100% fair trade model but that was just a start for a company continues to refine their practices with true sustainability as their guide. Their new backyard-compostable pouch is seen as a major advancement in packaging.

Mission and Philanthropy

Alaffia

Targeted through the eyes and instincts of a Togo native, the company has adapted the business model to provide the most benefit to the people of Togo, with employment, school construction, a bike donation program and medical assistance for healthy births.

NBJ Business Achievement Awards recipients will be honored at the NBJ Summit, where the recipient of the 2016 Lifetime Achievement award will also be revealed. Advance registration is critical as NBJ Summit sells out each year (www.nbjsummit.com). Click here to read profiles of all the winners.

About Nutrition Business Journal

Nutrition Business Journal (NBJ) is a leading research, publishing and consulting firm serving the nutrition, natural products and integrative healthcare industries. NBJ delivers industry intelligence via a monthly journal, detailed market research reports, data charts, consulting services and an annual invite-only executive leadership conference, The NBJ Summit.

About New Hope Network

New Hope Network is at the forefront of the healthy lifestyle products industry. With solutions for the complete supply chain from manufacturers, retailers/distributors, service providers and ingredient suppliers, the network offers a robust portfolio of content, events, data, research and consultative services. Through its mission to grow healthy markets, New Hope Network helps businesses identify the people, products, partnerships and trends that create opportunities to grow businesses and bring more health to people. For more information visit www.newhope.com.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Kim Merselis

Nutrition Business Journal

[email protected]

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SOURCE Nutrition Business Journal

Related Links

http://newhope.com/nutrition-business-journal


HOUSTON, April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Oasis Petroleum Inc. (NYSE: OAS) ("Oasis" or the "Company") today announced that Oasis Midstream Services LLC ("OMS"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Oasis, is commencing a binding open season for the Johnson's Corner Pipeline Project ("Project"), a new crude oil pipeline to be constructed in McKenzie County, North Dakota. The Project is a 19-mile, 10-inch diameter pipeline connecting the Wild Basin field development with Johnson's Corner. The Project has an anticipated operating capacity of 50,000 barrels per day.

The open season will commence on Friday, April 8, 2016 at 8:00 a.m. Central Daylight Time and will close on Monday, May 9, 2016 at 5:00 p.m. Central Daylight Time. Bona fide prospective shippers that seek information on the committed service to be offered on the pipeline, wish to have access to the open season documents, which consist of an Information Memorandum, Pro Forma Transportation Services Agreement, and a draft Oil Pipeline Tariff terms and conditions, or want to discuss the Project with OMS' representatives, are first required to execute a confidentiality agreement with OMS. The confidentiality agreement and open season documents can be obtained by contacting OMS using the information below:

Greg Hills, Senior VP, Marketing and Midstream

1001 Fannin Street, Suite 1500

Houston, TX 77002

Telephone: (281) 404-9490

[email protected]

About Oasis Petroleum Inc.

Oasis is an independent exploration and production company focused on the acquisition and development of unconventional oil and natural gas resources, primarily operating in the Williston Basin. For more information, please visit the Company's website at www.oasispetroleum.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this press release that address activities, events or developments that the Company expects, believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, forward-looking statements contained in this press release specifically include the expectations of plans, strategies, objectives and anticipated financial and operating results of the Company, including the Company's drilling program, production, derivatives activities, capital expenditure levels, estimated proved reserves and other guidance included in this press release. These statements are based on certain assumptions made by the Company based on management's experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions, anticipated future developments and other factors believed to be appropriate. Such statements are subject to a number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the control of the Company, which may cause actual results to differ materially from those implied or expressed by the forward-looking statements. These include changes in oil and natural gas prices, the timing of planned capital expenditures, availability of acquisitions, uncertainties in estimating proved reserves and forecasting production results, operational factors affecting the commencement or maintenance of producing wells, the condition of the capital markets generally, as well as the Company's ability to access them, the proximity to and capacity of transportation facilities, and uncertainties regarding environmental regulations or litigation and other legal or regulatory developments affecting the Company's business and other important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected as described in the Company's reports filed with the SEC.

Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which such statement is made and the Company undertakes no obligation to correct or update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.

SOURCE Oasis Petroleum Inc.

Related Links

http://www.oasispetroleum.com


This relationship further enhances the Home Monitoring System that offers the latest in wireless communication technology. The system allows you to remotely activate appliances, lights and devices in your home, perform surveillance and monitor your baby or pet. The packages utilize both telephone and video technology where Panasonic is a technology leader.

The Panasonic Home Monitoring System is extremely easy to install. Powerful and compact, the DECT-enabled hub unit connects enabled devices to a secure long range (up to 1000ft.) platform which can be placed in any room or space. It connects in seconds to your Wi-Fi router with the push of a button enabling you to control the system from your smartphone, tablet and system handset. There is no Ethernet cable necessary; as the hub operates completely on Wi-Fi. There is also no need for a PC to set-up the Wi-Fi connection as you only need a smartphone or the system handset. Unlike other systems, there is no monthly fee as remote monitoring and control is free of charge.

For more information about Honeywell, please visit: http://yourhome.honeywell.com

About Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company

Based in Newark, NJ, Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company is a division of Panasonic Corporation of North America, the principal North American subsidiary of Panasonic Corporation. The company offers a wide range of consumer solutions in the U.S. including products from VIERA Smart Life+ Screen, Blu-ray players, LUMIX Digital Cameras, Camcorders, Technics HiFi Audio, Home Audio, Cordless Phones, Home Appliances, Wellness and Personal Care products and more. In Interbrand's 2014 annual "Best Global Green Brands" report, Panasonic ranked number five overall and the top electronics brand in the report. As part of continuing sustainability efforts, Panasonic Corporation of North America relocated its headquarters to a new facility, adjacent to Newark Penn Station in Newark, NJ. It is the first newly constructed office tower in Newark to earn both LEED Platinum and Gold certifications from the U.S. Green Building Council.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160405/351652

SOURCE Panasonic

Related Links

http://www.panasonic.com


BALTIMORE, April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Paragon Bioservices, Inc., a global leader in the manufacturing of biopharmaceuticals and vaccines, announced today that it was selected as the "Best Contract Manufacturing Organization" by the World Vaccine Congress, at its annual meeting held in Washington, D.C. last week. The Vaccine Industry Excellence (ViE) Awards honor the industry's most outstanding achievements in vaccine development from all corners of the globe. The award in this category was based on consideration of the range of services provided in niche and core therapeutic areas, methods of performance improvement, attention to and quality of relationships with clients, reaching of milestones and outcomes, and building and maintaining long-term partnerships.

Paragon's focus is the development and manufacturing of biopharmaceuticalsincluding the production and purification of recombinant proteins, viral vectors and vaccines. The company provides research services, process development and cGMP manufacturing. Paragon's cGMP facilities include microbial and mammalian suites, aseptic fill-finish and fully-segregated virus facilities. Paragon functions as a translational bridgefrom the research bench through manufacturing of finished drug product for Phase I/II clinical trials. Paragon's aim is to build strong development and manufacturing partnerships with biopharmaceutical clients, focusing on transformative technologies, including oncology immunotherapies (CAR-T cell therapies and oncolytic viruses), new generation vaccines (VLPs) and gene therapies (AAV).

"Credit for this recognition goes, first and foremost, to all of our hard-working scientists, engineers, quality systems personnel and project managers," commented Peter Buzy, President of Paragon Bioservices. "This acknowledgement from our peers is a great honor and we hope that it reflects our dedication and passion for the science," added Mr. Buzy.

About the ViE Awards

The World Vaccine Congress, now in its 16th year, is well-established as the leading event on vaccines in the industry. Covering crucial topics that affect the whole sectoreverything from the latest in R&D to manufacturing to corporate development strategiesthe Congress hosts the only awards ceremony dedicated to the vaccine industry. The ViE Awards honor individuals, organizations and initiatives that have made significant contributions over the past 12 months to innovation in the field of vaccines.

About Paragon Bioservices, Inc.

Paragon Bioservices is a private-equity backed contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) whose focus is the development and manufacturing of biopharmaceuticalsincluding the production and purification of monoclonal antibodies, recombinant proteins, viral vectors and vaccines. The company provides research services, process development and cGMP manufacturing. Paragon's cGMP facilities include microbial and mammalian suites, fill-finish and fully-segregated virus facilities.

Media Contact

Kevin Sly, SVP Marketing & Commercial Strategy

PH (410) 975-4053

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SOURCE Paragon Bioservices, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.paragonbioservices.com


NEWINGTON, Conn., April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- PCX Aerostructures will showcase its capabilities and military products at the Army Aviation Mission Solution Summit at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, GA from April 28-30, 2016. The annual event ranks as the premier gathering for the Army Aviation community.

With key executives in attendance, PCX will highlight newly added machining and assembly capabilities as well as growing capacity resulting from recent capital equipment expenditures and increased assembly space. As a leading supplier of dynamic assemblies for many of the world's leading rotorcraft manufacturers, the company also plans to spotlight its worldwide overhaul & repair services for the AH-64 Apache Main rotorhead at the upcoming show. PCX provides skilled "one-stop-shop" overhaul capabilities including complete teardown, evaluation, repair, replacement component procurement, assembly and testing.

Having exhibited at the Army Aviation Solutions Summit for the past decade, PCX demonstrates its core strengths in areas such as complex fabrications, large structural sub-assemblies and integrated processing capabilities, offering complete aerospace manufacturing solutions in support of U.S. military aircraft platforms.

PCX Aerostructures will be located at Booth 1108. Visit us to learn more about our state-of-the-art aerospace machining, assembly and repair services.

PCX Aerostructures is a world class supplier of highly engineered, precision, flight critical and structural assemblies for rotorcraft and fixed wing aerospace platforms. The company serves defense and commercial markets as well as the power generation industry through facilities in Connecticut, New York and Texas. PCX is a leader in producing complex assemblies machined from hard alloys such as titanium, Inconel and steel - where tight tolerances and quality are imperative. The company is also a premier producer of large structural airframe assemblies providing direct delivery, as well as Blue Streak manufacturing support, to production lines of customers such as Airbus, Boeing, General Electric Aircraft Engines, Bell Helicopter, Sikorsky and Triumph Aerostructures. PCX Aerostructures is owned by RFE Investment Partners, 24/6 Capital Partners, and PCX Management.

RFE Investment Partners  based in New Canaan, CT - is a private equity investor with over 30 years of lower middle market buyout experience investing in growth companies in partnership with strong management teams.

To learn more please visit www.pcxaero.com.

For more information :

Trevor Hartman

Vice President  Sales & Marketing

(860) 594-4388

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SOURCE PCX Aerostructures, LLC

Related Links

http://pcxaero.com


HARRISBURG, Pa., April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole Chairman Leo L. Dunn, Esquire, today announced five parolees under the board's supervision successfully graduated from the Philadelphia Reentry Program held at the Philadelphia Criminal Justice Center.

The board's reentry program is based on the National Association of Drug Court Professionals model, with a judge and board member presiding, and provides individually tailored services for offenders with substance abuse issues when they leave prison.

"I offer my congratulations to these five individuals for their successful completion of the program," said Dunn. "They have demonstrated that they are serious about changing their lives and we were pleased to be able to offer them assistance as they return home."

The graduation ceremony today was conducted by Board Member Michael C. Potteiger and the Honorable Sheila Woods-Skipper, President Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia.

"The program provides intensive supervision for offenders at medium to high risk of re-offending," Potteiger stated. "These are not easy cases, drug and alcohol addictions are not easy to kick. I commend them for their hard work and success in the program."

"The Philadelphia State Parole Reentry Program was designed as an intensive parole supervision program for at risk parolees. It provides practical assistance to overcome barriers to successful reentry and reintegration back into society by providing referrals in areas such as education, employment and substance abuse," stated Judge Woods-Skipper. This is an excellent opportunity to partner together to reduce recidivism, produce individuals who are law abiding, productive members of society and to improve our criminal justice system while balancing the need to ensure public safety."

In addition to the graduation for the offenders, the ceremony also recognized the participation of former Chairman Michael L. Green, who was the assigned Board Member to the Philadelphia Reentry Program since its inception in 2014. Green, who retired from the Commonwealth on March 15 after 12 years of service, and more than 40 years of experience in community corrections, probation/parole, and court administration, including the establishment of Juvenile and Adult Drug Courts, was honored for his commitment and dedication to the reentry program.

"Chairman Green was an essential ingredient of the program. He was always there to provide encouragement, support and direction," Woods-Skipper added. "We really learn a lot about the participants, their lives and their families through our monthly status listings. Chairman Green was effective in relating to each of the participants and recalling their individual circumstances."

The Reentry Program includes parole board staff, court staff, representatives from local drug and alcohol and mental health services, and community-based providers who generally meet for one program session per month. The program provides intensive parole supervision and substance abuse treatment to offenders for 12-18 months. Offenders move through four phases and parole contacts and drug testing decrease as they are successful. Inpatient treatment, employment assistance, team and peer support, life skills, drug and alcohol counseling and mental health services are available.

The Board has four reentry programs currently established: York County (2005), Lackawanna County (2008), Dauphin County (2013), Allegheny County (2014) and Philadelphia County (2014).

For more information on state parole visit the Board's website at www.pbpp.pa.gov.

MEDIA CONTACT: Sherry Tate - 717.231.4411

SOURCE Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole

Related Links

http://www.pbpp.pa.gov


Editor-in-Chief of IndustryWeek, Patricia Panchak explains "The goal of the program is to celebrate innovation in manufacturing businesses, specifically by recognizing leaders whose transformative practices leverage technology, talent and operations strategies. They are the people and companies who are leading the 4 th industrial revolution."

The award program honors executives and companies that advocate the essential value of manufacturing to U.S. and global society and pays tribute to the lifetime achievement of one executive or thought leader in the U.S. who has had a demonstrable impact on the business of manufacturing.

IndustryWeek Manufacturing Lifetime Achievement Award  Jim and Anne Davis of New Balance

This award celebrates the contribution of an individual, or in this case, partnership, whose leadership and tireless commitment to excellence has had a transformative effect on their organizations and American manufacturing.

As founders and leaders of New Balance, together, Jim and Anne shepherded the company through some of the most difficult years for U.S. manufacturers and achieved astounding success. In doing so, they represent the best of U.S. manufacturing leadership, with their commitment to delivering innovative, quality products; leveraging lean and continuous improvement; valuing factory associates; and, of course, supporting U.S. domestic manufacturing.

IndustryWeek Manufacturing Technology Leadership Award  Rodney Brooks of Rethink Robotics

This award celebrates an individual who has made outstanding contributions to manufacturing technology and innovation that has had significant impact on manufacturing.

As founder, chairman, and CTO of Rethink Robotics, and with the introduction and popularization of collaborative robotics, Rodney has pioneered the next-generation of manufacturing automation. Further, he has made it possible for a much broader use of cobots in small and mid-size manufacturers.

IndustryWeek Manufacturing Talent Leadership Award  Bob Chapman of Barry-Wehmiller

This award celebrates an individual who has made outstanding contributions to manufacturing talent innovation that has had significant impact on manufacturing.

With Bob's dedication to executing and communicating Truly Human Leadership, through example and outreach to the business community via his books, speaking engagements, and university, he is setting the standard for how to leverage talent to succeed as a U.S. manufacturing business.

Each winner will be recognized at our annual event, the IndustryWeek Manufacturing & Technology Conference and Expo, which will be held May 3-5, 2016, at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, in Rosemont, IL.

ABOUT INDUSTRYWEEK

IndustryWeek lives and breathes transformational manufacturing. Decision-makers and disruptors turn to IW for the news, trends, strategies, and best practices that help companies leverage talent and technology to achieve revolutionary leadership practices, business models, production systems, and products. Visit www.industryweek.com and www.mfgtechshow.com for more information.

ABOUT PENTON

Penton is an innovative information services company that empowers 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 Contact

Name: Cyndi Konold

T: (216) 931-9822

E: [email protected]

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160404/351196

SOURCE Penton

Related Links

http://www.penton.com


SAN JOSE, Calif., April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Under the theme of "Power What's Next," Quantum Corp. (NYSE: QTM) today announced that at the 2016 NAB Show it will demonstrate how the expanded capabilities of its StorNext workflow storage platform can maximize efficiencies in ever-evolving media environments. With new formats, higher resolutions, multi-format delivery and changing consumption patterns presenting both challenges and opportunities for content creators and owners, storage has become even more critical for future success.

[Suggested tweet: [email protected] powers media workflows of tomorrow; check it out at the #nabshow April 16-21 http://qntm.co/1oT3cyp]

Quantum's NAB booth (SL8416) will showcase the power of the StorNext platform across the media life cycle, with stations dedicated to production, delivery and archive workflows, as well as content management. The booth will also feature several first-time demonstrations, including how Quantum hybrid flash and disk storage combines frame-based animation creation with stream-based editing in the same storage system. In addition, Quantum will present an interactive showcase of embedded applications developed for the Quantum Xcellis shared workflow storage system.

Production: Live Demos of Multi-Stream 4K Production

The production station will feature live, multi-stream demonstrations of a 4K edit workflow using Adobe Premiere and a VFX animation workflow with Autodesk's Flame and Maya, streaming simultaneously from a single StorNext infrastructure. The StorNext platform unites different areas of a workflow, including editing and animation, within a shared environment that eliminates the time-consuming transfer of content between workflow steps and can also handle a mixed file-size workload. In a first-of-its-kind demo for Quantum, the rack of equipment supporting the animation workflow will showcase the integration of hybrid flash and disk storage in a StorNext environment to deliver frames into the render farm with exceptional speed.

Archive: Petascale Digital Libraries With Tight MAM Integration

The archive station within the Quantum booth will feature animated presentations that explore how StorNext-based workflows support petascale archives while maintaining immediate access to media for content creation and repurposing. Making it easier and more economical than ever to take full advantage of disk, object storage, tape and cloud storage, the StorNext platform delivers both high performance and the quick, easy access to media that is critical to meeting short production deadlines. Quantum will highlight recent developments that enable tight integration of the StorNext platform with Avid Interplay MAM and other third-party archive management systems in multi-tier storage deployments that help users significantly reduce capacity costs.

Delivery: Transcode and Deliver Directly From Lattus Object Storage

Within the content delivery station of its booth, Quantum will highlight for the first time a workflow in which its Lattus object storage system is integrated with media management software from Vidispine and other third-party applications for efficient transcode and delivery within the object storage framework. In this way, content owners can transcode and deliver content directly from Lattus without restoring to online storage or converting objects back to files.

Embedded Application Support on Xcellis Workflow Director

The Quantum booth will feature a virtual partner pavilion that gives NAB Show attendees a preview of the embedded applications being developed by technology partners for the Xcellis Workflow Director. Accessible on an interactive display and on tablets throughout the booth, the partner pavilion will spotlight virtual machine-based applications  including MAMs, transcoders and production automation  and explain how they are integrated with Xcellis, reducing hardware requirements and improving integration for media workflows.

Supporting Quote

Geoff Stedman, Senior Vice President, Scale-out Storage Solutions, Quantum

"The Quantum StorNext platform continues to evolve as it powers media workflows for rapidly changing markets and their challenges. At NAB, we're highlighting capabilities that give our customers more tightly integrated, end-to-end solutions from production to delivery to archive. With industry-leading support for multi-streaming, mixed-workload production, embedded applications, direct-from-digital library delivery and new archive integrations with leading applications, StorNext innovations provide dramatic and valuable efficiency gains at all steps in workflow operations."

Photo Link: www.quantum.com/pr/PowerWhatsNext.jpg

Photo Caption: Quantum's 2016 NAB Show Theme

Additional Resources

For more information on StorNext: www.stornext.com

Read about Xcellis: www.quantum.com/products/scale-out-storage/stornext-primary-storage/index.aspx

Learn more about Lattus: www.quantum.com/products/scale-out-storage/stornext-extended-online-storage/index.aspx

About Quantum

Quantum is a leading expert in scale-out storage, archive and data protection. The company's StorNext 5 platform powers modern high-performance workflows, enabling seamless, real-time collaboration and keeping content readily accessible for future use and re-monetization. More than 100,000 customers have trusted Quantum to address their most demanding content workflow needs, including large government agencies, broadcasters, research institutions and commercial enterprises. With Quantum, customers have the end-to-end storage platform they need to manage assets from ingest through finishing and into delivery and long-term preservation. See how at www.quantum.com/customerstories-mediaent.

Quantum, the Quantum logo, Lattus, StorNext and Xcellis are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Quantum Corporation and its affiliates in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

"Safe Harbor" Statement: This press release contains "forward-looking" statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements. Specifically, but without limitation, statements relating to: 1) benefits for customers from using Quantum's StorNext platform, including its innovations, as well as Xcellis and Lattus storage systems and 2) customer demand for and Quantum's future revenue from such platform and systems, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Safe Harbor. All forward-looking statements in this press release are based on information available to Quantum on the date hereof. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause Quantum's actual results to differ materially from those implied by the forward-looking statements. More detailed information about these risk factors are set forth in Quantum's periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, but not limited to, those risks and uncertainties listed in the section entitled "Risk Factors," in Quantum's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 5, 2016 and in Quantum's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on June 12, 2015. Quantum expressly disclaims any obligation to update or alter its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.

Public Relations Contact:

Joyce Cataldo

Wall Street Communications

+1 (732) 747-0646

[email protected]

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SOURCE Quantum Corp.
DALLAS, April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The power struggle is real for parents of toddlers. Many will be quick to tell you about eating meals  the toddler wants to do it themselves. Getting dressed? Do it myself. Buckling the car seat? I do it. Of course, toddlers still need their parents, but parents can nurture and encourage their child's burgeoning independence by partnering with them to reach some meaningful goals. Potty training your toddler is the first real opportunity for mom, dad and child to partner together to make and achieve a shared goal. And by working together, you can make it custom to your child's unique needs.

The partnership starts with knowing your child's personality type. We've developed five toddler personalities that occur most often: Squirrel, Turtle, Puppy, Owl, and Bear Cub.

Pull-Ups Brand, along with child development experts including Dr. Heather Wittenberg, has created a whole new way to train that takes the guesswork out of potty training. The Pull-Ups Potty Partnership is a personalized, comprehensive program that allows you to partner with your child's unique personality, on their schedule and according to how they learn.

"Pull-Ups has been a partner to parents and children throughout their potty training journeys for 27 years, and we know every child potty trains differently," said Melanie Huet, Pull-Ups Global Brand Director. "The Pull-Ups Potty Partnership was a natural next step for us. It is based on years of research and observation, and it puts the emphasis of potty training where it should be  a joint partnership between parent and toddler to reach this important milestone."

Child development expert Dr. Wittenberg echoed the significance of this landmark, noting, "Potty training is the signature developmental milestone for toddlers. There are several ways to help your little ones feel this sense of achievement and reinforce the promise that you're in it together, like ditching the diapers. Making the transition to training pants helps remind your child of the new potty skills they're working so hard to learn, and it's a symbol of your commitment to the journey."

Pull-Ups partners, actress and mom Jaime King and viral video star Esther Anderson of Story of This Life, are among the first parents to potty train their toddlers with the new method. "We knew potty training our daughter Ellia was going to be interesting, especially since we've never ventured into that scary world, but it made complete sense to us to potty train her in a way that worked with her little personality," Anderson said. "My husband and I have documented so many of Ellia's milestones over her life for our audience, so this really was another fun way to show the reality that any parent who's been-there-done-that would be able to relate to."

King shared her take on the partnership, spilling, "So many parents look at their friends on Facebook or perfect pictures on Pinterest and think that's what it takes to be a good mom or dad. That's why I like the Pull-Ups Potty Partnership  it's not one size fits all. It embraces every family's unique differences and allows you to train at your child's own pace. We can be confident training James Knight on his own timeline with a method that works for him. Plus, he loves Mickey Mouse on his Pull-Ups pants!"

The Pull-Ups Potty Partnership is based on the idea that successful partnerships are built on an understanding of your partner and what makes them tick. Developed in partnership with Dr. Wittenberg and early childhood educators, the five potty training personalities are designed to recognize common personality traits in young children, and then arm mom and dad with tools and tips specific to how their child learns.

Parents can take the potty personality quiz at Pull-Ups.com to find out their child's personality:

The Squirrel: Squirrels are always on-the-go, so they couldn't care less about stopping to use the potty. Their can't-stop, won't-stop energy makes potty time a real adventure.

Squirrels are always on-the-go, so they couldn't care less about stopping to use the potty. Their can't-stop, won't-stop energy makes potty time a real adventure. The Puppy: No one is more eager to begin potty training than the Puppy! This is a kid who wants to know how a big kid uses the potty and seeks to please.

No one is more eager to begin potty training than the Puppy! This is a kid who wants to know how a big kid uses the potty and seeks to please. The Owl: An Owl is determined, busy and predictable. They are persistent and ready for potty training progress, and likely to be fascinated by the potty supplies and process.

An Owl is determined, busy and predictable. They are persistent and ready for potty training progress, and likely to be fascinated by the potty supplies and process. The Turtle: A Turtle is content with the way things are now and rather resistant to change. Turtles prefer quiet activities and can be slow to warm up to new situations  like potty training.

A Turtle is content with the way things are now and rather resistant to change. Turtles prefer quiet activities and can be slow to warm up to new situations  like potty training. The Bear Cub: Bear Cubs would rather be playing and exploring than settling down to learn to use the potty. They tend to be friendly and relaxed when meeting new people and trying new things, and are pretty easygoing with change.

King revealed, "James Knight's potty personality is a Puppy! He is always so excited to show me what he can do on the potty. I love watching Story of This Life's videos and seeing the differences between Ellia and James Knight. Her little Ellia is definitely a Bear Cub and oh, so cute!"

The Pull-Ups Potty Partnership supports parents with the tools they need to manage a successful partnership with their child, including advice specific to each child's unique personality. "Ellia is a Bear Cub; she's ridiculously independent and free-spirited," said Anderson. "The tips on Pull-Ups.com taught us to introduce potty training in a way that lets her think it's her idea but also fits into our lifestyle."

King and Anderson will continue to share their real-life challenges with the Pull-Ups Potty Partnership online. "We are excited to continue to follow Jaime and Esther's potty training journeys, and to hear from other parents as they experience their own Potty Partnership together with their children," said Huet. "Pull-Ups is proud to be considered another partner to parents and their children during this important and exciting time in their lives."

Join the Conversation

Visit Pull-Ups.com for tips, tools and advice throughout the potty training journey. Use #PottyPartnership to join the conversation; connect on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or Pinterest to chat with other parents and learn more about Pull-Ups brand offers. Follow Jaime King on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to follow her potty training journey. Visit Story of This Life's Facebook page for hilariously familiar potty training videos.

About Kimberly-Clark

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE: KMB) and its well-known global brands are an indispensable part of life for people in more than 175 countries. Every day, nearly a quarter of the world's population trust K-C brands and the solutions they provide to enhance their health, hygiene and well-being. With brands such as Kleenex, Scott, Huggies, Pull-Ups, Kotex and Depend, Kimberly-Clark holds the No.1 or No. 2 share position in 80 countries. To keep up with the latest K-C news and to learn more about the company's 144-year history of innovation, visit www.kimberly-clark.com or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

[KMB-B]

For interviews please contact Eileen Meyer at [email protected] or 312.233.1238

Contact: Terry Balluck

972-281-1397

[email protected]

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SOURCE Kimberly-Clark

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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Angel MedFlight Worldwide Air Ambulance is proud to announce a partnership with the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC) to develop a series of educational classes for healthcare professionals. The curriculum will focus on the rehabilitation process, providing case managers and social workers with the skills to evaluate patients' rehabilitation needs, to assess the available treatment options and to support family involvement. The sessions will follow the entire transition of patient care from an acute hospital setting to a rehabilitation facility, including the coordination of ground and air ambulance patient transfers.

The collaboration was initiated when leaders at both organizations recognized an opportunity to improve patient rehabilitation outcomes by educating healthcare professionals on the importance of timely patient transfers to appropriate facilities for specialized therapies. In healthcare, this ideal is commonly referred to as "the right care at the right place at the right time."

The first class in the series is titled, "Rehabilitation Following Catastrophic Injuries: Where Do We Go From Here?" presented by RIC's Director of Global Services, Rebecca Brashler, LCSW. The session will debut today at the American Case Management Association (ACMA) National Conference in Tampa, Florida. Case managers in attendance will receive continuing education credit for their participation.

Following the initial class, Angel MedFlight is sponsoring on-site presentations for hospital case management departments in some states upon request. The class will also be available online through the Commission for Case Manager Certification's (CCMC) PACE Provider Directory in May 2016.

"We are honored to partner with RIC on this educational series. We are committed to supporting healthcare professionals nationwide," Jason Siegert, President and Chief Operating Officer of Angel MedFlight said. "The guidance that case managers and social workers provide patients and patients' families throughout their transitions of care is crucial for optimal outcomes. These classes offer additional understanding of the rehabilitation process and available therapy options."

About RIC

Founded in 1954, The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC) is the nation's top-ranked provider of comprehensive physical medicine and rehabilitation care to patients from around the world. Ranked #1 by both U.S. News & World Report and the U.S. National Institutes of Health, RIC holds an unparalleled market distinction.

With a record eight multi-year, multi-million dollar federal research designations awarded and funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Education's National Institute of Disability and Rehabilitation Research in the areas of spinal cord injury, brain injury, stroke, neurological rehabilitation, outcomes research, bionic medicine/rehabilitation engineering research, and pediatric orthopedics, RIC operates the largest rehabilitation research enterprise in the world.

RIC also operates its 182-bed, flagship hospital in downtown Chicago, as well as a network of more than 40 sites of care distributed throughout the Midwest, through which it delivers inpatient, day rehabilitation, and outpatient services.

For more information, go to www.ric.org.

Journalists contact: [email protected], 312-238-6016.

About Angel MedFlight Worldwide Air Ambulance

Angel MedFlight Worldwide Air Ambulance provides domestic and international air medical transportation services with a fleet of medically-configured Learjet aircraft. Built on a One Touch Promise, Angel MedFlight's compassionate team of medical, aviation, and insurance professionals simplify the coordination of air ambulance transfers for patients, their families and the healthcare professionals who care for them.

Available around the clock, the Angel MedFlight team coordinates every detail of Bedside-to Bedside patient transfers to ensure seamless service on the ground and in the air. Angel MedFlight's operational excellence in air medical transport is accredited by NAAMTA, an ISO 9001:2008 organization.

Find more information at www.angelmedflight.com/, Facebook or on its blog at http://blog.angelmedflight.com/.

Angel MedFlight

17851 N. 85th St.

Suite 350

1.877.264.3570

Contact: Kim Halloran

Office: 877.264.3570

Cell: 602.696.9269

17851 N. 85th St.

Suite 350

Scottsdale, AZ 85255

Website: www.angelmedflight.com

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SOURCE Angel MedFlight Worldwide Air Ambulance

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COLUMBUS, Ohio, April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- White Castle, America's beloved family-owned hamburger chain for 95 years, is proud to introduce its latest taste sensations, Cheese Sliders and hot and tasty cheesy sides. The menu options, available for a limited time only, are perfect for those who love cheese and want to enjoy bold new flavors and variety.

"We value our loyal Cravers' feedback and ideas, and listening to their thoughts allows us to introduce new menu items that not only satisfy The Crave, but also keep up with current tastes and trends," said Jamie Richardson, White Castle vice president. "We have a feeling the new Cheese options will be a huge hit, and we can't wait to hear what our customers think."

Cheesy Slider options and sides vary by region, but include the new Roasted Garlic Cheese Slider, French Onion Cheese Slider, the always-popular Jalapeno Cheese Slider and the American Cheese Slider. The new side options will ensure Cravers get their cheese fix  from Wisconsin Cheese Curds, lightly coated and deep-fried to crispy perfection, to Mozzarella Sticks, Cheese Fries, and Loaded Cheese Fries. There's something for every cheese lover!

"At White Castle we have embraced our inner cheese and this tribute is to the bovine's second most beloved dairy product," said Richardson. "These cheesy offerings will have Cravers visiting local White Castle restaurant around the clock until the cows come home."

A Sack of 10 Original Sliders with any Cheese is available in all White Castle restaurant locations for $7.99, or $8.99 in New York and New Jersey. Cravers can also enjoy a Crave Case of 30 Original Sliders topped with any choice of cheese for just $19.99 when they order online or through the new White Castle mobile app.

Can't get to a Castle to try the new cheesy options? Find White Castle's Original Slider with cheese or spicy jalapeno cheese at a retailer near you.

For more information, visit www.whitecastle.com.

About White Castle

White Castle, America's first fast-food hamburger chain based in Columbus, Ohio, is celebrating 95 years as a family-owned business. The company was founded in Wichita, Kansas, in 1921 serving The Original Slider which was named the most influential burger of all time in 2014 by Time. All White Castle Sliders are made from 100 percent USDA inspected beef. Today White Castle owns and operates nearly 400 restaurants in 13 states and has two dedicated Crave Mobiles that attended hundreds of events in 2015. White Castle's commitment to maintaining the highest quality products extends to the company owning and operating its own meat processing plants and bakeries as well as three frozen food processing plants. The retail division markets White Castle signature products in grocery, warehouse and convenience stores across the United States and in a growing number of international locations, including military PX's around the world.

WhiteCastle.com is a culture center for Cravers, the chain's loyal and passionate fan base, connecting like-minded Slider enthusiasts from around the globe in a social media setting. For more information on White Castle and to see the Craver Hall of Fame, visit whitecastle.com.

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SOURCE White Castle

Related Links

http://www.whitecastle.com


NEW YORK, April 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Security Services in North America : 7,800 Security Professionals Provide Cyber Security Services Market Insights by Vertical Market and Size of Business



Introduction



Security services are becoming an increasingly important, if not indispensable, part of the cyber security industry. Security services provide proactive monitoring of and defense for the customer's security environment; and may encompass protection against denial of service attacks, email viruses and worms, spam, firewalls, and network intrusion detection and prevention services. Five key market forces drive the need for these services:



1. Complexity and Targeting of Attacks  The increasing complexity and focused targeting of attacks boosts demand for organizations to pursue a managed security service provider (MSSP) relationship.



2. Compliance Requirements  Evolving compliance requirements for organizations drive the need for security service providers in North America.



3. Shortage of Security Expertise  The shortage of in-house and deep security expertise and talent drives demand for organizations to partner with a security service provider.



4. Complexity of Network Security Products  The increasing complexity of network security point products is difficult to manage for businesses with small security teams.



5. Cloud Service Adoption  Intensifying focus on the core functions of the organization drive cloud service adoption and subscribing to MSSPs. The market for security services is growing, and growing well. The market for managed security services in North America, for example, totaled $ billion in 2014. The market is expected to grow to $ billion by 2019, being led by companies such as AT&T, Dell, IBM, and Verizon.



As with any market, demand is hardly uniform across the market. The goal of this insight is to provide perspective on the demand for security services in North America across market verticals and sizes of business.





Read the full report: http://www.reportlinker.com/p03748587-summary/view-report.html



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



http://www.reportlinker.com





__________________________

Contact Clare: [email protected]

US: (339)-368-6001

Intl: +1 339-368-6001

SOURCE Reportlinker

Related Links

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"I have often said over the last 20 years that the beauty aisle is the last place in America where segregation is still legal, and separating 'beauty' from 'ethnic' has only served to further perpetuate narrow standards of what is considered beautiful in our industry and our society  which is why we began leading the efforts to break down those walls," said Dennis. "This movement is about so much more than selling shampoo, or lotion, or cosmetics. We're advancing a mission and vision to change the social dialogue about how we're looking at beauty as a society and how those archaic structures and views are debilitating to the establishment of new and more inclusive ways of viewing beauty  whether in the images we see or in the aisles that divide."

SheaMoisture's call to "break the walls" is the first-of-its-kind in the beauty industry, but has been an imperative for the brand since its inception  even taking 16 years for the brand to come to retail shelves because of Dennis' refusal to conform to traditional merchandising segmentation and his efforts to ensure that women who had been underserved by the beauty industry had ample access to an assortment of products to meet their lifestyle needs. Creating an enhanced and more inclusive beauty experience has been a charge that SheaMoisture has led directly through engagement with its retail partners and with its diverse community of women around their needs and desired experiences  particularly wanting an experience which didn't ignore or devalue the needs of women with textured hair, whether wavy, curly, kinky or coily.

Aligned with its community engagement approach, the brand issued an open casting call for the film on its social media channels to its community members  affectionately referred to as SheaFam  who shared their personal hair stories and journeys to self-love and empowerment. The brand also enlisted influential beauty vloggers Naptural85, SunKissAlba, and MahoganyCurls to share their own powerful and inspirational stories in the film.

"With SheaMoisture, we have built a successful brand by recognizing that beauty comes in every hair type, skin tone, shade, and feature and by honoring the natural beauty of every woman with natural products that address her individual needs and empower her to celebrate her unique journey," said Dennis. "It is so exciting for us to partner with all of these women who are each, in their own way, leading the conversation with their different stories and common truths about their beauty experiences."

#BreakTheWalls is an extension of SheaMoisture's focus on what it has coined as the New General Market and ensuring that all consumers, especially those who have been traditionally underserved, have an enhanced product and shopping experience based on being served according to their needs, not traditional segmentation. This problem-solution approach, defined by inclusion and commonalities via need states, is shifting the way CPG, retail and other consumer companies approach product development, marketing and merchandising to serve all consumers in a much more elevated way. As a result, many retailers have increased efforts to enhance their assortments and merchandising to reflect more inclusion in the near-term, while working with consumers to gain insights and learnings that will help them determine the next level of changes that are ultimately needed to meet their customers' needs.

"It is also important to recognize our retail partners who  in embracing SheaMoisture, our message of inclusion and our efforts to elevate how all consumers are served in their stores  are indeed embracing the New General Market approach to beauty that is bringing down these arbitrary walls," said Dennis. "#BreaktheWalls is starting with the beauty industry, but will continue to spur dialogue and action around other societal walls that exist and that serve to divide rather than unite, and this film is only the first of more in exploring these topics."

SheaMoisture partnered with award-winning creative agency Droga5 to develop the #BreakTheWalls platform and the "Break The Walls" film because of the firm's ability to understand complicated social issues and constructs and transform them into compelling, engaging and disruptive calls to action. The effort is both a celebration of the positive changes women are experiencing in the beauty industry and a rallying cry to join together to continue to reshape the beauty landscape  from a dated model of "standardized ideals" to one of inclusive representation at shelf and beyond.

Join SheaMoisture on its journey to #BreakTheWalls and discover how #EveryBodyGetsLove. For more information and to view the film, please visit www.breakthewalls.com.

Natural Hair and Beauty Influencers Speak on #BreakTheWalls:

Carolina Contreras, Miss Rizos  Owner of Miss Rizos Salon, Blogger & Activist

At its core, the natural hair movement is a women's empowerment movement. I see hair as a vehicle to other really important conversations about race, inequality, financial freedom, health and other important issues, which are sometimes too difficult to tackle alone. The natural hair movement has allowed a Dominican woman like me to connect with women from Peru, Haiti, Jamaica, and women of all different backgrounds who share much in common. It's also been amazing to see how the aisles at many national retailers have become more inclusive, and I can't help but to feel so proud of seeing the SheaMoisture family literally inundate not just the haircare aisles, but the natural living/socially conscious beauty aisles and beyond. SheaMoisture has also played a major role in validating both the quality of multicultural haircare and beauty products, and the importance of assuming social responsibility to make the world a better place.

Jessica Lewis, Mahogany Curls - Natural Hair & Beauty Vlogger

The natural hair movement is beautiful. Everyone is able to wear their gorgeous crown with pride. I feel that the divide between the beauty and ethnic aisle is outdated, and we all should have access to great products located in one area that reflects different representations of beauty equally. SheaMoisture's involvement in this movement is progressive and moving.

Bianca Alexa, Simply Bianca Alexa - Model & Lifestyle Vlogger

I love that so many people are embracing their natural hair! It's a powerful movement when you feel connected to a complete stranger because of it. The connection runs so much deeper than the outward appearance, though  it's like you each know the struggle you go through with your hair and yet you wouldn't change it for the world. When I first made the transition to natural hair, I felt lost whenever I needed to buy hair products. The aisles are full of hundreds of products for straight hair, and hardly any products with natural ingredients that cater to curly hair. This is why I love SheaMoisture so much. They were the only products available at my local supermarket that not only had amazing ingredients, but also catered to different curly textures. That was life changing for me because I was able to learn what worked for my hair and how to keep it healthy. The commitment that SheaMoisture has to the natural hair movement is so powerful, and now every time I visit my local supermarket, I see the textured hair section in the beauty aisle getting bigger and bigger, and I love it. The natural hair movement is here to stay, and it's wonderful that we can now have so many options!

Alba Garcia, SunKissAlba - Natural Beauty Vlogger

Natural hair products and where they live in the beauty aisle can unite us more than we think. It's about time we view the beauty aisle as accessible and suitable for everyone, without the divide. It's been such a pleasure to partner with SheaMoisture on #BreakTheWalls  a mission we all feel so passionate about in the beauty aisle and beyond.

Vaughn Moore, Ms. Vaughn - Natural Hair & Beauty Vlogger

The new wave of beauty influencers of the West are coming in all different shades and are bringing big personalities and even bigger hair. The natural hair explosion was a mixture of education and inspiration that came at a time when Black women were ready to begin expressing themselves much louder and with fewer inhibitions than ever before. What makes this movement powerful is that people all over the world are reevaluating what it means to be beautiful and are understanding that beauty of all types should be celebrated, which is causing companies and the media to not only take notice, but to respond and diversify. Brands like SheaMoisture are helping elevate kinky-curly beyond a trend to a beauty that deserves to be embraced from the beauty aisles to our hearts.

Whitney White, Naptural 85 - Natural Hair Vlogger

I'm proud to be a part of the new film from SheaMoisture! It addresses issues that all of us natural hair consumers have discussed behind closed doors as well as with family and friends  and puts it on a bigger stage to start a public conversation! The hope is that we continue to question and investigate what we've accepted as normal, and begin to break down those walls that affect us whether we've realized it or not.

About SheaMoisture

Since 1912, SheaMoisture has made its award-winning, shea butter-based skin and haircare products using family recipes handed down from founder and CEO, Richelieu Dennis' grandmother Sofi Tucker, who as a young mother, sold her shea butter creations to support her family in Sierra Leone. "EveryBody Gets Love" at SheaMoisture, and products are made with natural and certified organic ingredients. Shea butter is ethically-sourced from 13 co-ops in Northern Ghana, as part of the brand's purpose-driven Community Commerce efforts.

About Sundial Brands

Sundial Brands, a leading skincare and haircare manufacturer renowned for its innovative use of high-quality and culturally authentic natural ingredients, is the maker of SheaMoisture, Nubian Heritage and Madam C.J. Walker. A certified B Corp company with a Fair for Life social and fair trade certification, Sundial engages in ethical and cruelty-free business practices and manufactures its products at its state-of-the-art facilities in Long Island, NY. Through its Community Commerce purpose-driven business model, the company creates opportunities for sustainable social and economic empowerment throughout its supply chain and communities in the United States and Africa, focusing on entrepreneurship, women's empowerment, education and wellness. In 2015, Sundial was named to the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing private companies in the United States and received the WWD/Beauty Inc. award for "Corporate Social Responsibility Company of the Year." Widely credited with introducing the "New General Market" inclusion concept to the beauty and retail industries, Sundial Brands founder and CEO Richelieu Dennis began the company in 1991 with his college roommate, Nyema Tubman, and mother, Mary Dennis.

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SOURCE SheaMoisture

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SANTA CLARA, Calif., April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Syncplicity, the leader of the hybrid enterprise file sync and share market, announced the successful global implementation of its technology by Siemens AG, one of the world's largest and most admired technology and engineering companies. The project, known as "SmartStorage" throughout Siemens, covers 330,000 employees in well over 150 countries around the globe and encompasses three petabytes of data in four global data centers. This hybrid enterprise file sync and share (EFSS) implementation is the largest of its kind to date and is a landmark achievement in the industry.

Syncplicity enables Siemens' SmartStorage initiative by providing a solution to manage enterprise-wide digital content, including users' home and group share files and directories. The implementation enables frictionless mobile file access anytime and anywhere and scales to Siemens employees worldwide, while meeting the most stringent security, governance and IT administration requirements. Siemens is using EMC Corporation's Elastic Cloud Storage (ECS) software-defined, object-based cloud platform installed in four global data centers around the world to deploy this initiative.

"SmartStorage is one of our largest digitalization initiatives within Siemens, delivering critical capabilities to our employees and enabling us to work toward broader company goals," said Georg Pilartz, head of IT infrastructure services for Siemens. "User experience, security, storage choice flexibility and large-scale deployment were critical requirements for this project. Syncplicity was the company that best fulfilled these requirements. We are able to give our employees the EFSS solution they need while at the same time realizing significant cost savings by modernizing the underlying IT infrastructure."

"Syncplicity has become the industry leader in hybrid file sync and share by focusing on the demanding and unique needs of large enterprise customers like Siemens, for whom a secure, flexible hybrid solution is absolutely vital to their business success," said Jon Huberman, CEO of Syncplicity. "We are tremendously proud that Siemens has chosen to deploy our technology on this enormous scale, knowing it will enable the company and its people to be even more successful. Furthermore, it absolutely validates the ability of Syncplicity technology to manage the largest global deployments, so our customers can complete the digital transformation of their business years ahead of their competition."

"An EFSS deployment of this magnitude requires massive scale and enterprise-grade reliability from its supporting technologiesand with EMC's ECS object-based cloud storage platform, Siemens is perfectly equipped to handle the large amounts of data generated by its workforce with Syncplicity," said Manuvir Das, senior vice president of EMC's Advanced Software and Emerging Technology divisions.

Digital transformation requires much more than simply adding a cloud-based file storage system to the IT inventory. In a true digital transformation, the enterprise replaces all its legacy storage systems with a flexible storage environment offering multiple security protocols combined with a feature rich EFSS solution.

Syncplicity provides proven enterprise file sync and share technology that makes digital transformation possible today. As a hybrid solution, Syncplicity is easily extensible via any combination of public cloud, private cloud and on-premise data centers, making it highly flexible and economical. Syncplicity replaces legacy backup systems and maintains instant file synchronization across devices. For users, the result of a true digital transformation is to have seamless desktop and mobile access to all the files they need when and where they are needed, supporting a modern, borderless workforce.

"Large global organizations face a tough digital transformation challenge: providing users with easy-to-use mobile applications while maintaining regulatory compliance in the many geographies where they have offices," said Terri McClure, senior analyst at ESG. "Thanks to the evolving regulatory landscape and the fuzzy jurisdictional issues associated with using the cloud, it's more important than ever that these organizations have a choice in where corporate data is stored to ensure it is both compliant and secure. And for a company the size of Siemens, it is imperative to ensure the vendor can scale globally to meet these needs."

ABOUT SIEMENS

Siemens AG (Berlin and Munich) is a global technology powerhouse that has stood for engineering excellence, innovation, quality, reliability and internationality for more than 165 years. The company is active in more than 200 countries, focusing on the areas of electrification, automation and digitalization. One of the world's largest producers of energy-efficient, resource-saving technologies, Siemens is No. 1 in offshore wind turbine construction, a leading supplier of gas and steam turbines for power generation, a major provider of power transmission solutions and a pioneer in infrastructure solutions as well as automation, drive and software solutions for industry. The company is also a leading provider of medical imaging equipment  such as computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging systems  and a leader in laboratory diagnostics as well as clinical IT. In fiscal 2015, which ended on September 30, 2015, Siemens generated revenue of 75.6 billion and net income of 7.4 billion. At the end of September 2015, the company had around 348,000 employees worldwide.

ABOUT SYNCPLICITY

Syncplicity is the leading hybrid enterprise sync and file share and mobile collaboration solution that provides users with the experience and tools they desire and gives IT the security and control it needs, while significantly reducing IT cost. Some of its customers include Texas A&M University, EMC, State of Indiana, the Associated Press and the Boston Red Sox.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150728/248193LOGO

SOURCE Syncplicity
HARRISBURG, Pa., April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Medical student blogger Winifred Wolfe (MS-3) studies at Drexel University College of Medicine and is a Pennsylvania Medical Society member. She is passionate about empowering patients and improving lives through mental health in medicine. In this edition of the Pennsylvania Medical Society's Quality and Value Blog, she discusses the use of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT, with HIV patients.

Why is it so hard to keep New Year's resolutions?

You tell yourself, "This is it! This is the year I live a healthier lifestyle, and shed those extra pounds!" Inevitably something comes up. Life happens. You might have a big exam or project at work, and you end up blowing off the gym. Or, (if you're like me) eat a pint of Ben and Jerry's on a late night binge.

Now imagine your resolution is managing a chronic disease like HIV.

It requires taking multiple medications, monitoring WBC count, and managing viral loads - every day, for the rest of your life.

The patients I see at Drexel University's Center City Clinic for Behavioral Medicine not only deal with HIV, but often face addiction, homelessness, domestic violence, depression and shame. In response to these emotional experiences, patients often turn to ...

To read the entire blog, visit https://pamedicalsociety.wordpress.com/2016/04/01/taking-action-in-treating-hivaids-associated-mental-health/

To learn more about PAMED, visit its web site at www.pamedsoc.org or follow on Twitter @PAMEDSociety. Members of the media are encouraged to follow Chuck Moran on Twitter @ChuckMoran7.

CONTACT: Charles Moran, 717-558-7820, [email protected]

This news release was issued on behalf of Newswise(TM). For more information, visit http://www.newswise.com.

SOURCE Pennsylvania Medical Society

Related Links

http://www.pamedsoc.org


FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: UVE) ("Universal") announced today the beta launch of Universal Direct, a Direct-to-Consumer online platform for Universal Property & Casualty Insurance Company (UPCIC) products. The Company believes that Universal Direct is the first and only direct-to-consumer offering for homeowners insurance products that will enable homeowners to directly purchase, pay for and bind policies online without the need to interface with any intermediaries. The site will launch this month and will be available to consumers in Pennsylvania, with additional states to be added in the coming months. Prospective customers can take a video tour of Universal Direct by visiting www.universaldirect.com.

Designed to simplify the process of purchasing homeowners insurance, Universal Direct will include an intuitive interface, real-time quotes, educational materials, support tools and a seamless purchasing process. Customers will have the ability to manage their policies, select payment plans and make payments online, while also having access to live customer support agents, by phone or online, for additional assistance as needed. Universal's independent agency force, which remains a key sales channel for the Company's products, will receive commissions from business bound online based on sales and territory structure.

"We are excited to announce this direct-to-consumer initiative, which will leverage our existing operating platform to significantly expand our value proposition and help accelerate our organic growth," said Sean P. Downes, Universal's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "With Universal Direct, we are tapping the power of the internet to reach customers directly, a business model that has proven successful in other segments of the insurance industry, such as auto insurance. Our goal is to provide consumers with full control of their purchasing decision so that they can get the protection they deserve on their most important asset."

Mr. Downes continued, "Universal Direct will offer consumers an experience similar to other online purchasing decisions, on their own terms and at their convenience. We are pleased to offer Universal's independent agents, who are our valued partners and the backbone of our business, the opportunity to receive commissions from policies written by Universal Direct. We are encouraged by the initial feedback we have received from independent agents, and look forward to making Universal Direct a success."

Universal Direct will be compliant with all laws in states in which UPCIC currently operates.

About Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc.

Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc., with its wholly-owned subsidiaries, is a vertically integrated insurance holding company performing all aspects of insurance underwriting, distribution and claims. Universal Property & Casualty Insurance Company (UPCIC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, is one of the leading writers of homeowners insurance in Florida and is now fully licensed and has commenced its operations in North Carolina, South Carolina, Hawaii, Georgia, Massachusetts, Maryland, Delaware, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Minnesota and Michigan. American Platinum Property and Casualty Insurance Company, also a wholly-owned subsidiary, currently writes homeowners multi-peril insurance on Florida homes valued in excess of $1 million, which are limits and coverages currently not targeted through its affiliate UPCIC. For additional information on the Company, please visit our investor relations website at www.universalinsuranceholdings.com.

For additional information about Universal Direct, please visit www.universaldirect.com

Forward-Looking Statements and Risk Factors

This press release may contain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The words "believe," "expect," "anticipate," and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date the statement was made. Such statements may include commentary on plans, products and lines of business, marketing arrangements, reinsurance programs and other business developments and assumptions relating to the foregoing. Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which cannot be predicted or quantified. Future results could differ materially from those described, and the Company undertakes no obligation to correct or update any forward-looking statements. For further information regarding risk factors that could affect the Company's operations and future results, refer to the Company's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015.

Investor Contact:

Andy Brimmer / Mahmoud Siddig

Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher

212-355-4449

SOURCE Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc.

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TUCSON, Ariz., April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Army awarded $56 million to the team of Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN), and DRS Technologies to engineer, manufacture and develop the 3rd Generation Forward Looking Infrared B-Kit, an upgrade to night vision equipment that will allow ground troops to discriminate between friend or foe at twice the distance of current systems.

The next generation B-Kit is a form/fit upgrade, allowing an affordable and low risk upgrade to the 17,000 fielded 2nd generation ground FLIR systems. "After decades of experience delivering high-performance night vision to the U.S. Army, our team is uniquely qualified to help maintain combat overmatch for our ground troops," said Duane Gooden, Raytheon Land Warfare Systems vice president. Third Gen FLIR will dramatically increase the range of ground combat vehicle sensors under all conditions, allowing our forces to acquire and stop the enemy."

Under the four-year engineering, manufacturing and development contract, the team will deliver B-Kit systems for platform system integration and testing. A two-year option to build additional systems for more comprehensive testing is also included.

During the last decade, Raytheon delivered more than 20,000 2nd generation FLIR sensors to the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and FMS Customers. Third Gen FLIR will offer ground troops four fields of view, dual-band infrared imaging and improved stabilization for significant improvements in range performance.

About DRS Technologies

DRS is a leading supplier of integrated products, services and support to military forces, intelligence agencies and prime contractors worldwide and is a multiple recipient of the Defense Security Service Award for Excellence in Counterintelligence as well as three James S. Cogswell Awards for Outstanding Industrial Security Achievement. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Finmeccanica SpA, which employs approximately 70,000 people worldwide.

About Raytheon

Raytheon Company, with 2015 sales of $23 billion and 61,000 employees, is a technology and innovation leader specializing in defense, civil government and cybersecurity solutions. With a history of innovation spanning 94 years, Raytheon provides state-of-the-art electronics, mission systems integration, C5I products and services, sensing, effects, and mission support for customers in more than 80 countries. Raytheon is headquartered in Waltham, Mass. Visit us at www.raytheon.com and follow us on Twitter @Raytheon.

Media Contact

Lorenzo R. Cortes

+1.520.794.2920

[email protected]

SOURCE Raytheon Company

Related Links

http://www.raytheon.com


NEW YORK, April 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- US DoD Training and Simulation Market : A Refocus on Readiness and the Continued Development of Mixed Reality Training Will Drive Modest Growth



This Frost & Sullivan research service provides an in-depth analysis of the US DoD training and simulation market. It also examines the drivers and restraints and provides a competitive analysis of the market participants. The total DoD training and simulation budget is forecast to increase over the fiscal years defense plan (FYDP) to make up for training shortfalls in previous years. Significant reductions in live training spending will not occur for several years, as the optimal balance of mixed reality training will be continuously evaluated. The continuing trend toward live, virtual, and constructive (LVC), or mixed reality training, is the main driver for investment and innovation in the military training and simulation industry.



- Surface combat training

- Fixed wing training

- Ground combat training

- Rotary wing training

- Miscellaneous training

- Other training



Market Overview



Mixed Reality Training is Set to Dominate DoD Training and Simulation Market



The DoD training and simulation budget is projected to increase steadily, in accordance with the Fiscal Years Defense Plan (FYDP), to compensate for the training shortfalls in the previous years. In addition, the research development test and evaluation (RDT&E) funding for the advanced T-X trainer program in the Air Force is poised to increase, which will further enhance the training and simulation market.

There is a constant need for a large number of combat-ready troops and assets, due to the crises in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. This demand can be tapped by employing robust mixed reality exercises and portable equipment in training and simulation. Mixed reality training is poised to become a prominent trend in the military training and simulation market, driving investments and innovation. This will enhance the opportunities for the virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) device suppliers. VR systems, which currently dominate the training landscape, will soon extend its application scope into virtual environments. Meanwhile, innovations in AR technology will enhance its see-through capability to support features such as normal vestibular function and haptic feedback. Eventually, AR will outstrip VR and lead the training and simulation market.







Read the full report: http://www.reportlinker.com/p03748586-summary/view-report.html



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



http://www.reportlinker.com





__________________________

Contact Clare: [email protected]

US: (339)-368-6001

Intl: +1 339-368-6001

SOURCE Reportlinker

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BOSTON, April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security has voted favorably onAn Act Requiring Health Care Employers to Develop and Implement Programs to Prevent Workplace Violence, advancing the legislation and boosting efforts to combat rampant violence against nurses and other health care workers throughout Massachusetts.

Filed by Sen. James Timilty, D-Walpole, and Sen. Michael D. Brady, D-Brockton, the legislation will require health care employers to perform an annual safety risk assessment and, based on those findings, develop and implement programs to minimize the danger of workplace violence to employees and patients.

"Every day patients and health care providers are increasingly put at risk by workplace violence," said MNA Vice President Karen Coughlin, a registered nurse with the Department of Mental Health at Taunton State Hospital. "A hospital should be a place where patients go to heal and nurses and other health care professionals provide care in a safe environment. Positive movement on this bill is a step toward improving the safety of every hospital in Massachusetts."

Components of S.1313/H.1687 include:

Requires health care employers to perform annual risk assessments in cooperation with employees to identify factors which may put employees at risk for workplace violence

Requires hospitals to look at factors like working hours, public access to the area, working in high-crime areas, staffing levels and other factors that affect safety

Requires hospitals to then develop a written violence prevention plan and put measures in place to minimize risks

Requires the creation of an in-house crisis response team to support victims of workplace violence

"I am a proud sponsor of this important piece of legislation," said Sen. James Timilty, D- Walpole. "Violence in the workplace takes place all too often and this bill will require employers to take the next step in creating and fostering a safe environment for their employees."

Sen. Brady thanked the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security Chairs Timilty and Rep. Harold Naughton, D-Clinton, along with members of the committee for reporting out favorably "this critical piece of legislation."

"Violence in health care settings is on the rise," Brady said. "Nurses and other health care workers suffer violent assaults at a rate 12 times higher than other industries. This bill will require health care employers to annually perform a risk assessment and based on those findings develop and implement programs to minimize the danger of workplace violence to employees and patients."

Fear of violence and physical and verbal abuse is widespread in Massachusetts health care facilities, according to a recently published MNA survey of more than 220 union and non-union nurses. More than 85 percent have been punched, spit on, groped, kicked or otherwise physically or verbally assaulted. Yet only 19 percent of nurses say their employer was supportive and tried to find solutions after they experienced violence, while 76 percent said existing workplace violence policies are not enforced.

MNA Workplace Violence Survey Survey Fact Sheet

A 2015 report from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) found that between 2012 and 2014 incidents of violence "nearly doubled for nurses and nurse assistants." Violence against health care workers accounts for nearly as many injuries as in all other industries combined, according to the Occupational Health and Safety Administration. Nurses experience more non-fatal incidents of workplace violence than police or corrections officers.

Senate and House versions of the legislation were sent to their respective chambers, where they will be placed in appropriate committees for further review.

MassNurses.org  Facebook.com/MassNurses  Twitter.com/MassNurses

Founded in 1903, the Massachusetts Nurses Association/National Nurses United is the largest professional health care organization and the largest union of registered nurses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Its 23,000 members advance the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Legislature and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public. The MNA is a founding member of National Nurses United, the largest national nurses' union in the United States with more than 170,000 members from coast to coast.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20060525/NETH016LOGO

SOURCE Massachusetts Nurses Association/National Nurses United

Related Links

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"For more than a decade, the Wounded Warrior Project mission of honoring and empowering Wounded Warriors has improved the lives of injured service members, their families, and caregivers," said Jeremy Chwat, chief strategy officer at WWP. "Creating the Traumatic Service Member Group Life Insurance program in 2005 and, later, passing the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act were tremendous legislative and advocacy achievements, and we count their adoptions as monumental successes both for wounded veterans and for our organization. Today, as we've done each year since our founding, we reaffirm our unbending commitment to pursuing legislative remedy to the major issues facing the warriors and families we serve to ensure that this is the most successful, well-adjusted generation of wounded service members in our nation's history. We know that through direct engagement of our nation's legislators and leaders, we can make this happen."

WWP continues to advocate on behalf of wounded veterans, by asking Congress to close a loophole in TRICARE/Medicare coverage that costs some injured service members more than a thousand dollars each year, and more importantly, puts at risk these warriors access to health insurance benefits for them and their families. Ryan Kules, Combat Stress Recovery Director at WWP, testified before the House Committee on Veterans Affairs on March 3, to the difficulties that many veterans face through payment plans with Medicare and TRICARE.

"I was wounded in Iraq in 2005 when my vehicle struck an improvised explosive device, severing my right arm above the elbow and my left leg above the knee. Because of my injury, I could not work for a period of time and became eligible for Medicare in 2007," Kules explained. "I lost the TRICARE benefits that I had earned as a military retiree. Even though I later improved to the point where I could return to work, I remained eligible for Medicare and have thus been barred from traditional TRICARE plans for the last eight years. In the next few months, I will finally be able to transition back to the more reasonably priced TRICARE plan I prefer. But my family, like so many others, has felt for the last eight years as though we were being made to pay an extra annual expense of almost $1,000 for no reason at all."

Another major legislative priority for WWP is to alter the medical coverages available to wounded veterans who wish to start a family but are unable to do so, due to the nature of their injuries sustained in service. WWP is pushing VA to cover fertilization treatments for veterans who fall into this category; treatment already offered to active-duty service members by the Department of Defense.

"Rooted now in twenty years of established medicine, in vitro fertilization can be an effective solution for many injured veterans," said Kules. "Because it lacks congressional direction, however, the Department of Veterans Affairs believes it cannot offer this treatment, which leaves veterans to pay expensive out of pocket costs themselves. This is a result which, in our view, is simply unacceptable. When a man or woman volunteers to serve and suffers injury as a result, it is incumbent on us to make them whole to the extent science will allow. These men and woman want only the very basic right to start a family and move forward in their lives. War took that away from them, and we should not place them in the position of paying tens of thousands of dollars if they want to get it back."

Through its advocacy and Congressional engagement activities, Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) has effected major legislative action on behalf of wounded veterans, in two major bills that it spear-headed, like the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act, and Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance Traumatic Injury Protection (TSGLI). Between these two pieces of legislation, the financial impact of WWP advocacy efforts is now beyond $2.6 billion.

"There is a better path for veterans care in this country," said Chwat. "We've impacted the way it is managed before, and we will do it again, and get veterans the care that they need to live the lives that they have earned through their service to this great nation. We as an organization and as a nation will not settle for any less."

To learn more about WWP's advocacy efforts, please visit: https://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/programs/policy-government-affairs.aspx.

About Wounded Warrior Project

The mission of Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) is to honor and empower Wounded Warriors. WWP's purpose is to raise awareness and to enlist the public's aid for the needs of injured service members, to help injured servicemen and women aid and assist each other, and to provide unique, direct programs and services to meet their needs. WWP is a national, nonpartisan organization headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida. To get involved and learn more, visit woundedwarriorproject.org.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160404/351245

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160404/351246

SOURCE Wounded Warrior Project

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Name : php

Product : Fedora 24

Version : 5.6.20

Release : 1.fc24

URL : http://www.php.net/

Summary : PHP scripting language for creating dynamic web sites

Description :

PHP is an HTML-embedded scripting language. PHP attempts to make it

easy for developers to write dynamically generated web pages. PHP also

offers built-in database integration for several commercial and

non-commercial database management systems, so writing a

database-enabled webpage with PHP is fairly simple. The most common

use of PHP coding is probably as a replacement for CGI scripts.



The php package contains the module (often referred to as mod_php)

which adds support for the PHP language to Apache HTTP Server.



-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-

Update Information:



31 Mar 2016, **PHP 5.6.20** **CLI Server:** * Fixed bug php#69953 (Support

MKCALENDAR request method). (Christoph) **Core:** * Fixed bug php#71596

(Segmentation fault on ZTS with date function (setlocale)). (Anatol) **Curl:**

* Fixed bug php#71694 (Support constant CURLM_ADDED_ALREADY). (mpyw) **Date:**

* Fixed bug php#71635 (DatePeriod::getEndDate segfault). (Thomas Punt)

**Fileinfo:** * Fixed bug php#71527 (Buffer over-write in finfo_open with

malformed magic file). (Anatol) **Mbstring:** * Fixed bug php#71906

(AddressSanitizer: negative-size-param (-1) in mbfl_strcut). (Stas) **ODBC:**

* Fixed bug php#47803, php#69526 (Executing prepared statements is succesfull

only for the first two statements). (einavitamar, Anatol) * Fixed bug php#71860

(Invalid memory write in phar on filename with \0 in name). (Stas)

**PDO_DBlib:** * Fixed bug php#54648 (PDO::MSSQL forces format of datetime

fields). (steven, Anatol) **Phar:** * Fixed bug php#71625 (Crash in php7.dll

with bad phar filename). (Anatol) * Fixed bug php#71504 (Parsing of tar file

with duplicate filenames causes memory leak). (Jos Elstgeest) **SNMP:** *

Fixed bug php#71704 (php_snmp_error() Format String Vulnerability). (andrew)

**Standard** * Fixed bug php#71798 (Integer Overflow in php_raw_url_encode).

(taoguangchen, Stas)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-



This update can be installed with the "yum" update program. Use

su -c 'yum update php' at the command line.

For more information, refer to "Managing Software with yum",

available at https://docs.fedoraproject.org/yum/.



All packages are signed with the Fedora Project GPG key. More details on the

GPG keys used by the Fedora Project can be found at

https://fedoraproject.org/keys

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-

_______________________________________________

package-announce mailing list

package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org

https://admin.fedoraproject.org/mailman/listinfo/package-announce


New Delhi, April 4 : Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, facing a disproportionate assets case, on Monday had to face the Delhi High Court's ire for seeking adjournment in the case.

"Once you enjoy protection, you don't want to proceed in the case", said Justice Pratibha Rani after Singh's counsel sought adjournment as senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who was to represent him, was engaged in another case in the Supreme Court.

Singh is already protected from arrest in the case by an October 1, 2015, order of the Himachal High Court, which has restrained the CBI in an interim order from arresting, interrogating or filing a chargesheet against him.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has sought direction of the Delhi High Court to vacate the Himachal High Court order, contending that this order was hampering the investigation.

Posting the case for hearing on Tuesday, Justice Rani said: "I am making it clear, no further adjournment will be given." The court said Singh had sought similar adjournment on last hearing in March.

The high court was hearing Singh's plea for quashing of an FIR lodged against him by the CBI.

The Supreme Court in November last year transferred the disproportionate assets (DA) case against Singh to the Delhi High Court from the Himachal High Court, saying the transfer was necessary "to protect the institution from embarrassment" and "to avoid further controversy".

The apex court, however, did not pass any order to modify the Himachal High Court order which had restrained the CBI from arresting Singh in the case.

The CBI has challenged the Himachal High Court order that restrains it from investigating the chief minister and his wife or taking them into custody in a Rs.6 crore disproportionate assets case.

Virbhadra Singh had moved the Himachal Pradesh High Court following CBI searches at his residences in Delhi and Shimla on September 26 last year, which he contended were mala fide and out of political vendetta.

The case was registered on September 23 under the Prevention of Corruption Act against the chief minister, his wife Pratibha Singh, LIC agent Anand Chauhan and an associate, Chunni Lal.

The case was the outcome of a preliminary inquiry which said that Virbhadra Singh, while serving as a union minister during 2009-2012, allegedly accumulated assets worth Rs.6.03 crore in his name and in the name of his family members, which were found to be disproportionate to his known sources of income.
Kolkata, April 5 : Consistent door-to-door surveys and contact with residents over the last three to four years has seen West Bengal's North Dinajpur district clock in over 50 transgender voters in its electoral rolls for this year's assembly polls -- the highest in the state.

"Till January there were 50 and from January to March we registered two more members of the third gender. This is the highest in Bengal," Pradip Kr. Das, officer-in-charge, election, North Dinajpur district, told IANS.

The district goes to the hustings in the second phase on April 17.

According to the Election Commission, Bengal has as many as 758 transgender voters. It is estimated around 30,000 members of the third gender live in Bengal.

In North Dinajpur, Das said out of nine assembly constituencies, Chopra has the maximum count of transgender voters at 18.

Das said to enlist as many transgenders as possible, officials of the district administration carried out intensive house-to-house surveys.

"We made sure no one was left out as we conducted these surveys. Over the last three to four years we have been consistent in our efforts. Still there are many who have enlisted as male or female," Das said.

As for voter awareness campaigns, Das said no special drives were targeted towards the transgenders since it would have been discriminatory.

"We don't want to differentiate so the awareness campaigns were uniform," Das added.
Reykjavik, April 5 : Thousands of Icelanders gathered in front of parliament to express their anger against the government following the release of the Panama Papers, which suggest Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson and two other cabinet members have ties to offshore companies.

The riot gear equipped police used iron fences to separate protester and the parliament building. After the speeches, the protesters chanted, banged drums and threw bananas, toilet paper and yogurt towards the parliament building, demanding the government's dismissal, Xinhua reported.

"The government should respect the basic rules of democracy and stand down at once. We therefore demand elections now!" said a demand on Facebook.

The documents, leaked from a Panamanian law firm called Mossack Fonseca, reveal Gunnlaugsson co-owned a company called Wintris Inc, set up in 2007 on the Caribbean island of Tortola in the British Virgin Islands, to hold investments with his wife Anna Sigurlaug Palsdottir.

He sold his entire shares to Palsdottir for one dollar in late 2009. But he failed to declare his interest in the company after he entered Iceland's parliament in 2009.

As the Wintris claimed millions dollars in assets in three bankrupted Icelandic banks after the financial crisis in 2008, Gunnlaugsson is faced with allegations from opponents that he has hidden a major financial conflict of interest from voters ever since he was elected a parliament member seven years ago.

The prime minister's office said in a statement that his holding of Wintris shares was an error. He and his wife corrected it after they got married in 2009.

However, in an interview with the media on Monday, Gunnlaugsson said he was not going to resign and the current government performs well.

The documents also suggest both the minister of finance and economic affairs Bjarni Benediktsson and the interior minister Olof Nordal were in connection with offshore companies.
New Delhi, April 5 : The BJP government has stabbed "Mother India" in the back by allowing Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) inside the country to probe the Pathankot attack, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Tuesday.

"Even though BJP/RSS chants 'Bharat Mata ki Jai,' but by inviting ISI to India they have stabbed Mother India in the back," Kejriwal tweeted in Hindi.

The government allowed a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) from Pakistan, including an ISI official, to visit India last month to probe the terrorist attack in January on Pathankot air force station in Punjab.

The JIT has concluded, according to media reports in Pakistan, that the Pathankot attack was staged by India to spread "viciuos propaganda" against Pakistan.

"It is very shameful. It is for the first time that any Prime Minister has insulted the country before Pakistan," Kejriwal said in another tweet.

Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has been protesting against allowing Pakistan's JIT a role in the investigation on the ground that the ISI, a state actor, has long been the instigator of terrorism in India.
Islamabad, April 5 : At least one passenger was killed and several injured as a bomb hit a passenger train in Pakistan's Balochistan province on Tuesday.

The Quetta-bound Jaffar Express was attacked by unidentified men following a bomb blast, Dawn online quoted a Levies forces source as saying.

Three bogies of the train derailed due to the attack. The victims were shifted to a hospital in Quetta, the source said.

Rescue and security teams reached the site and train services were temporarily suspended from Balochistan.

Law enforcement personnel launched a search operation in the area.

Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Sanaullah Zehri condemned the blast and directed the concerned officials to take tough action against those involved in the attack.
New Delhi : In political circles as well as among many general voters of Kerala the result of last year's Aruvikkara assembly byelection has now become a point of discussion. O. Rajagopal, a front ranking leader of the BJP's Kerala unit, had finished third but the party increased its vote share to 23.96 percent from the paltry 6.6 percent it was able to garner in the 2011 assembly poll.

Conversely, both the Congress and the CPI-M experienced sharp falls in their vote shares compared to 2011.

Does the Aruvikkara result signify any trend in Kerala politics? Even diehard BJP supporters prefer to keep their fingers crossed on this. Observers, however, aver that this year's assembly election may point towards an emerging trend that may turn out to be a dominating factor in the years to come.

But, according to most surveys and analyses, the CPI-M-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) is widely tipped to win in spite of severe dissensions within the CPI-M. Right now, it is difficult to say whether Oommen Chandy, the chief minister of the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government, has become a liability or an asset.

Serious corruption charges, involving the activities of a company named Team Solar, have cropped up against him. It is also known that at a certain point of time the central leadership of the Congress was contemplating actions against the chief minister but he has been saved on the intervention of party stalwart A.K. Antony, a former chief minister and a former defence minister.

Analyses show that the BJP may cut into the electoral base of the Left parties as well as the Congress. In the 2011 assembly election, it had earned six percent votes, which jumped up to 10 percent in the 2014 parliamentary election. Even a heavyweight Congress candidate like Shashi Tharoor could only scrape through against Rajagopal of the BJP in the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency. Rajagopal had led in four of the seven assembly segments in the seat.

However even senior functionaries of the BJP's Kerala unit do not hope that their party would be able to form the next state government. They are prepared to settle for 10 seats at the most but do not fail to point out that it will be a 10-fold increase for the party's electoral performance. Moreover, if the BJP can repeat its performance in last year's civic body elections, then there may be some notable upsets.

During the civic body elections, the BJP had captured the Palakkad municipality and did extremely well in the Thiruvananthapuram and Kasargod civic bodies. The BJP had 79 seats in the municipalities in 2010 - and the tally has now gone up to 236. In 2010, the party had 450 seats in village panchayats - and the figure has now increased to 933. Moreover, the saffron party now controls 21 divisions in block panchayats and three in district panchayats.

Two factors may, however, throw a spanner into the BJP's grand design of electoral success in Kerala. The first is the personal popularity of V.S. Achuthanandan, the nonagenarian CPI-M leader. Moreover, his party has a widespread organizational network in the state. The second is the "success" Chandy has been able to show in the five years of his stewardship.

The list of his achievements is impressive. He has launched construction of prestigious projects like the Kochi Metro, Kannur International Airport and Vizhinjam port. Then popular schemes like the zero landless policy of giving away small plots and supply of free generic medicines won laurels for the chief minister.

New social equations have made the political landscape in Kerala complicated. The BJP is aware of its social limitations. The state has a 45 percent minority population. Of them, 26.3 percent are Muslims and 18.3 percent are Christians. Even in the 2014 parliamentary elections, the Nadar Christians and the Muslims had supported the Congress. This time, the LDF is banking on Muslim support. Left leaders think that shrill Hindutva campaigns under Prime Minister Narendra Modi might bring this about. But the upper caste Nair votes may shift from the Congress to the BJP. This happened during the last civic elections too.

Sensing the shifting social equations, the BJP is trying to consolidate its position. By appointing Kummanam Rajashekharan, president of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad in Kerala, as the state BJP president it tried to give a message. More interesting is the BJP's alliance with the numerically strong Ezhava community that is powerfully represented in Kerala's social life by Velapally Natesan's Bharat Dharma Jana Sena. It is relevant to note that Natesan is also the general secretary of the Sri Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDP) founded by Sree Narayana Guru.

Up to now, the Ezhava community had supported the Left parties. It is to be seen how many of them shift their allegiance to the BJP this time. However, the Nair Service Society and the Christian dominated Kerala Congress have refused to fall in line with Hindutva campaigns.

So, the picture is complicated and the most important question now is whether Kerala will have a convincing verdict in this election or there will be a fractured mandate.

(Amitava Mukherjee is a senior journalist and commentator. The views expressed are personal. He can be contacted at amukherjee57@yahoo.com)
New Delhi, April 5 : Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to "apologize to the nation" for allowing a Pakistani team to probe the terror attack on the Pathankot IAF base.

Amid Pakistani media reports that the Pakistani investigators had concluded that the January 2 attack was staged by India, Kejriwal insisted that there had been some "deal" between the BJP and Islamabad.

"What's the deal, we are unable to understand," the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader said at a media meet. "What was the need to invite the very people who attacked the base to investigate the attack?"

Kejriwal said there was mass anger over the Modi government's decision to allow a Pakistani Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to visit the Pathankot base and also hold talks with the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

He recalled that Modi used to thunder at election rallies during the Lok Sabha election of 2014 that one had to be stern with Pakistan and that sending "love letters" to Islamabad won't help.

"So what happened now? Why did our prime minister surrender to Pakistan? What were the compulsions that made him go to Pakistan to wish Happy Birthday to (Prime Minister) Nawaz Sharif?

"Let them (government) tell us what has been the deal... What happened when Modi went to Pakistan... Modi should apologize to the nation."

The chief minister mocked at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over its leaders' enthusiasm to make everyone say "Bharat Mata ki Jai".

"They keep telling everyone to say 'Bharat Mata ki Jai'. And they stabbed Bharat Mata in the back... This is a foreign policy failure."

Earlier, Kejriwal tweeted: "Even though BJP/RSS chant 'Bharat Mata ki Jai,' but by inviting ISI to India, they have stabbed Mother India in the back."

The Pakistan team that visited India included an officer from its premier intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

Pakistani media reports say the Pakistani JIT had concluded that the January 2 Pathankot terror attack that left seven Indian security personnel dead was staged by New Delhi to spread "vicious propaganda" against Islamabad.

Kejriwal added: "It is very shameful. It is for the first time that any prime minister has insulted the country before Pakistan."
Barcelona, April 5 : The family of FC Barcelona's Argentine star Lionel Messi has stressed it has never used the services of Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca to escape tax scrutiny.

The law firm had 11.5 million of its documents anonymously leaked in the so-called 'Panama Papers' scandal on Sunday, that suggests that 140 politicians and officials from around the globe, including 72 former and current world leaders, have connections with secret "offshore" companies to escape tax scrutiny in their countries, reports Efe.

Messi's family underlined in a statement released on Monday that it "wants to make clear that Lionel Messi has not carried out any of the acts attributed to him, and accusations he created a ... tax evasion plot, including a network of money-laundering, are false and insulting."

"The Panama Company to which they refer to is a totally inactive company that never had any funds or any open current accounts," the statement continued.

They added that the firm was created by the family's former tax advisers and that everything had since been brought into line where Messi's fiscal situation was concerned.
New Delhi : Islamabad, April 5 (INAS) Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman Imran Khan has demanded that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) initiate a thorough probe into the financial holdings of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family members after the "Panama Papers" leak.

A massive leak of documents from a Panamanian law firm revealed that Sharif family "owned or had the right to authorise transactions for several offshore companies", Dawn online reported.

"Probes have already been initiated in several countries -- including Australia, New Zealand, Sweden and France -- across the globe after their leaders and office bearers were implicated," said Imran.

"If NAB wants to maintain its credibility, it should immediately begin a probe into Sharif's family."

Imran said: "Sharif should explain how his children made all this money." He asked if Sharif's family have "paid tax on this income".

Imran said the data leak was a defining moment for Pakistan, and added: "How can those who launder money from Pakistan to offshore accounts ask others to invest in the country?"

He said that Maryam Nawaz had given a statement two years ago that her family did not have any asseta abroad.

"But now Hussain Nawaz accepts that Maryam owns two offshore companies," Imran said.

Documents published by an international coalition of more than 100 media outlets, based on 11.5 million records of offshore holdings, details how politicians, celebrities and other famous people use banks, law firms and offshore shell companies to hide their assets.

According to documents available on the ICIJ website, Mariam, Hasan and Hussain "were owners or had the right to authorise transactions for several companies".
Washington, April 5 : The US Navy has ordered nine AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters for Pakistan, the US defence department has said.

The US Navy on Monday awarded a $170 million contract to Bell Helicopter for the manufacture of the AH-1Z helicopters, Dawn online quoted a Defence Department statement as saying on Monday.

The combat helicopters will be delivered to Pakistan under the Foreign Military Sales Programme, the statement said.

The Bell AH-1Z Viper is a twin-engine combat chopper based on the previous SuperCobra model developed for the US Marine Corps, Sputnik reported. It has a top speed of 420 km per hour and a range of 610 km.

The contract awarded "for the manufacture and delivery of aircraft and nine auxiliary fuel kits for Pakistan" is "expected to be completed in September 2018".

Last April, the US State Department approved the foreign military sale to Pakistan for the AH-1Z helicopters and AGM-114R Hellfire II Missiles and associated equipment, parts, training and logistical support for an estimated cost of $952 million.

Earlier this year, the US approved a $700m sale of eight F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan, to which India strongly objected.

The sale was made in order to improve Pakistan's precision strike capability, the US said.

In a document released in February, the US administration told US lawmakers that its Foreign Military Funding (FMF) to Pakistan would focus on seven priority areas "identified and agreed to with the government of Pakistan".
Los Angeles, April 5 : Actress Kirsten Dunst says that the fashion industry is the "only industry that supports women" financially.

The "Fargo" actress believes she would not be able to choose the movies she takes on, without the money coming in from fashion and beauty campaigns, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

"If it weren't for fashion and beauty campaigns, I wouldn't have the finances to pick and choose my projects. Literally, it's the only industry that supports women in that way," InStyle magazine quoted the actress as saying.

Earlier, the 33-year-old actress has also shared in the past that she used to feel anxious when she wasn't working but has slowly and surely learned to deal with it.
London, April 5 : Two British brothers are believed to have been killed fighting for the Islamic State (IS) in Syria.

Khalif Shariff, 21, and Abdulrahman, 18, left their home in Manchester and travelled to the war-torn country in November 2014, the Daily Mail reported.

Their parents Abdullahi and Fatuma were informed of the news by IS militants.

Mohammed Shafiq, chairman of the Greater Manchester-based Ramadhan Foundation, said the terror group had confirmed Abdulrahman was killed and that his elder brother was missing and "presumed dead".

Abdulrahman attended the University of Central Lancashire before going to Syria. Khalif attended South Trafford College.

It is believed he abandoned his first year in his law degree at Lancaster University to travel to Syria with his older brother.
New Delhi, April 5 : Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to "apologize to the nation" for allowing a Pakistani team to probe the terror attack on the Pathankot IAF base.

Amid Pakistani media reports that the Pakistani investigators had concluded that the January 2 attack was staged by India, Kejriwal insisted that there had been some "deal" between the BJP and Islamabad.

"The entire country and all political parties were against the idea of inviting a Pakistani Joint Investigation Team to probe the attack on the airbase in Pathankot," the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader said.

"The government itself said that (Pakistan's intelligence agency) ISI was involved in the terror attack. How can the ISI investigate its own role? The prime minister should apologise to the nation for (this)."

The chief minister mocked at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over its leaders' enthusiasm to make everyone say "Bharat Mata ki Jai". "They keep asking everyone to say 'Bharat Mata ki Jai'. And they stabbed Bharat Mata in the back."

Taking a jibe at Modi's meeting with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif in Lahore in December, Kejriwal said: "Modiji met Nawaz Sharif on (Sharif's) birthday. A week later the (Pathankot) attack took place.

"Modiji should reveal what deal he signed with the Pakistani prime minister. The people of this country have all the right to know what transpired between the prime ministers of the two countries.

"What's the deal, we are unable to understand," he said at a media meet. "What was the need to invite the very people who attacked the base to investigate the attack?"

He said the invitation to the Pakistani probe team was a foreign policy failure.

"In the global forums India would say that the ISI was responsible for spreading terrorism in India. But by inviting the ISI to India, how will India validate its claim before the international community? The foreign policy of the government has failed miserably.

"(NSA chief) Ajit Doval himself sent dossiers to Pakistan detailing ISI's role in terror activities in India. All this while India was in a stronger position than Pakistan in international forums. This move has compromised India's position."

Kejriwal said there was mass anger in India over the decision to allow the JIT to visit the Pathankot base.

He recalled that Modi used to thunder at election rallies during the Lok Sabha polls of 2014 that one had to be stern with Pakistan and that sending "love letters" to Islamabad won't help.

"So what happened now? Why did our prime minister surrender to Pakistan? What were the compulsions that made him go to Pakistan to wish Happy Birthday to Nawaz Sharif?"

The chief minister also asked the BJP and its ideological parent, the RSS, to question Modi on the issue.

"No one is above the country. If they (BJP and RSS) are true patriots, then they should ask Modi why he knelt before Pakistan."

Earlier, Kejriwal tweeted: "Even though BJP/RSS chant 'Bharat Mata ki Jai,' but by inviting ISI to India, they have stabbed Mother India in the back."

The Pakistan team that visited India included an officer from its premier intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

Pakistani media reports say the Pakistani JIT had concluded that the January 2 Pathankot terror attack that left seven Indian security personnel dead was staged by New Delhi to spread "vicious propaganda" against Islamabad.
New Delhi, April 5 : Iceland's Foreign Minister Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson on Tuesday reaffirmed his country's support for a permanent seat for India in the UN Security Council.

During a meeting here, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Sveinsson "affirmed the urgent need for a comprehensive reform of the United Nations Security Council, including its expansion in both permanent and non-permanent categories, so as to make it more effective, efficient and representative of the contemporary geopolitical realities", according to a joint statement issued by the external affairs ministry after the meeting.

"Iceland reaffirmed its support for India as a permanent member in an expanded United Nations Security Council," it stated.

"The two countries expressed support for forward movement in the intergovernmental negotiations on United Nations Security Council reforms, and reiterated their commitment to initiate text-based negotiations within the 70th Session of the UN General Assembly."

Both the ministers also agreed to continue strengthening bilateral economic relations such as in the areas of renewable energy, particularly geothermal energy, tourism, start-ups and extended trade relations.

"They agreed that a trade and economic partnership agreement between India and the EFTA (European Free Trade Association) countries (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland) would facilitate more economic relations between the two countries," the statement said.

Sushma Swaraj and Sveinsson discussed the challenges of climate change for the Arctic and the Himalayan regions and the importance of continued scientific cooperation aimed at understanding better the implications of climate change for the ice covers and glaciers in the two regions.

"They also acknowledged that any economic activities in these ecologically fragile regions needed to be based on the principle of sustainable development," the statement said.

Both the ministers also stressed their shared interest in promoting women's rights and gender equality.

Sveinsson briefed Sushma Swaraj on the second Barbershop Conference to be held at the UN in New York in May this year.

The Barbershop Conference is aimed at reflecting the casual setting in which men get their hair cut, while delving deeper into gender stereotypes perpetuated by social norms, and helping dispel the fallacy that women and girls cannot be equals in the economic, social or political life.

"Both ministers agreed to encourage the participation of UN permanent representations in the event," the statement said.

Sveinsson and Sushma Swaraj also condemned terrorism in all forms and manifestations.

"They reaffirmed that any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable regardless of their motivations, whenever and by whomsoever committed," the statement said.

They also called for early adoption of the India-initiated Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism.

"Both ministers also underlined their shared interest in strengthening global non-proliferation objectives. In this regard, Iceland expressed its support for India's membership in the relevant multilateral export control regimes," the statement said.

During the course of his visit, Sveinsson also had a meeting with Minister of State for Power, Coal and New and Renewable Energy, Piyush Goyal.

"They discussed their mutual interest in promoting renewable energy and in cooperating in the area of geothermal energy, where Icelandic and Indian companies are exploring the possibilities of setting up joint ventures to harness geothermal energy in India," the joint statement said.

"The ministers, furthermore, discussed the importance of the Global Geothermal Alliance for promoting the use of geothermal energy throughout the world."

Sveinsson had a separate meeting with Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman during which the importance of reaching an early conclusion of the trade and economic partnership agreement between India and the EFTA countries was discussed.

Sveinsson, accompanied by a business delegation, is on a week-long visit to India from April 3 at the invitation of Sushma Swaraj.

He is also scheduled to visit Bengaluru and Mumbai and is expected to meet with the leadership of Karnataka and Maharashtra to discuss mutual business opportunities.

On Monday, he launched a road show to promote tourism in Iceland.
New Delhi, April 5 : The sound of wipers, pulling of the hand brake, turning the indicator on and off, seat belt warning sound, opening and shutting of door -- all these as part of 118 sounds have been captured in a song by popular music artistes Arijit Singh and Clinton Cerejo for an innovative initiative by Hyundai Motor India.

They have used the Hyundai Elite i20 car to create the sounds for the 'Drive Mein Junoon' music video, which celebrates the hatchback's success in India, read a statement.

Interestingly, the song does not feature any musical instruments but captures the essence of creation, as well as stresses on 'New Thinking, New Possibilities'.

Elite i20 is a car that "embodies the spirit of Indian youth," says Rakesh Srivastava, senior vice president - Sales and Marketing, Hyundai Motor India, while explaining the reason behind the music video.

"We believe that art, culture and music are common assets and together constitute an universal language that influence and inspire people of all ages and backgrounds. Cars are a collage of multifaceted forms of art and technology and creating them is similar to creating a piece of art or music. We are delighted to associate ourselves with India's leading Youth Icons Arijit Singh and Clinton Cerejo for this music video," Srivastava told IANS.

The music artistes were more than glad to collaborate on something as challenging as this creation.

Singh said: "I have heard Clinton's various works and I am very fond of his music. Dubbing the new Elite i20 song was exhilarating as it has a rock-like quality with catchy and meaningful lyrics and I was humming the tune even after the recording was over. That's the power of great music."

Cerejo, the music director, said: "The challenge was to derive sounds from the car and create a song without using any other instruments, except car sounds and voices. At the same time, I had to ensure the track was modern and has an instant appeal to the modern discerning Indian.

"When working with car sounds which are mechanical in nature, the goal was to infuse a life like quality to them and give the car a personality and make it come alive. The car was more than co-operative and I myself was amazed at the sheer range of sounds I was able to extract from the Elite i20. It's like the car was literally my co-composer on this one. I hope the viewers have as much fun watching this video as we've had creating it."
Reykjavik, April 5 : Thousands of Icelanders took to the streets on Tuesday to express their anger against the government after leaked Panama Papers suggested that Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson allegedly benefited from offshore investment accounts in tax havens.

Police erected barricades around the parliament in the capital city of Reykjavik to protect lawmakers from protestors who were beating drums and pounding the makeshift wall surrounding the legislature.

At least 4,000 people had gathered by around 5.00 p.m. (local time), police estimated. A few hours earlier, opposition lawmakers put forward a motion of no confidence and called on the prime minister to resign, Chicago Tribune reported.

"I'm here to show the authorities my disrespect," said Aslaug Marinosdottir, an administrator who joined the protests after work.

"It is unacceptable that those who govern the country and enact laws can't seem to follow the rules of society they create themselves and want the public to follow."

The confidence vote may take place on Thursday, according to Birgitta Jonsdottir, a spokeswoman for the Pirate Party, which brought the motion.

Gunnlaugsson, who rules with the backing of a party led by his Finance Minister Bjarni Benediktsson, has so far refused to step down.

Instead, the 41-year-old premier is urging parliament to approach the matter "calmly and honestly", and told lawmakers he has never hidden funds in tax havens.

Benediktsson, who was also revealed to have held a stake in an offshore company, has said he disclosed everything to the Icelandic tax authorities at the time.

The company, which was formed to buy property in Dubai, did not make the intended purchases and was later de-registered, he said.

The opposition argued it was no longer feasible for the current government to continue.

Filling the square in front of parliament "is our only hope -- our only hope" in getting rid of Gunnlaugsson, said Jonsdottir of the Pirate Party, which polls show would win the most votes in an election.

More people turned up for Monday's demonstrations than gathered in 2009, when protesters beating kitchen pots were part of a wave of political upheaval that forced then Prime Minister Geir Haarde to step down.

"It's incredible to say but nothing changed here during the Pot and Pan Revolution until the protests had become very powerful," Jonsdottir said.

Gunnlaugsson, who started his four-year term in 2013, is one of a handful of world leaders to be singled out after the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists uncovered that he and his wife had an offshore account to manage an inheritance.

According to the ICIJ report, Palsdottir says she has always paid all her taxes owed on the Wintris account, which was confirmed by her tax firm, KPMG.

ICIJ cited a leak covering documents spanning leaders and businesses across the globe from 1977 to 2015 from Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca, a top creator of shell companies that has branches in Hong Kong, Miami, Zurich and more than 35 other places around the world.

In an interview with broadcaster TV2 earlier in the day, Gunnlaugsson said he plans to continue in office in order to bring to completion efforts to see Iceland through the final stages of its exit from capital controls.

"The progress has been great and it's very important that the government complete its tasks," he said.

The premier was one of 12 current and former world leaders to have offshore holdings revealed in the leak that has come to be called the Panama Papers.

Offshore holdings can be legal, though documents show some banks and law firms failed to follow requirements to check their clients are not involved in crimes.

Gunnlaugsson's coalition would stand to lose an election were one held today. A March MMR poll showed his government, which comprises the Progressive and Independence parties, getting only 36.2 percent backing.

Meanwhile the opposition Pirate Party, which among other things targets splitting up the investment and retail operations of banks, would get 37 percent. Gunnlaugsson's coalition currently holds 40 of the 63 seats in Iceland's parliament.

"I don't know what I want to happen," Marinosdottir said at the site of the protests.

"For the short term, the government needs to resign. For the long term we need radical changes. What they are, I don't know. If I did, I'd be in politics."
New Delhi, April 5 : Union Parfliamentary Affairs and Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday said the views expressed by various individuals on chanting "Bharat Mata Ki Jai" are not authorised by the government, and added he doesn't agree with it himself.

Asked about the statements that came from Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, yoga guru Ramdev, and Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh leader Bhaiyaji Joshi, Naidu said he is "not in agreement" with them.

"Has the government issued any circular?" he asked.

Joshi had said those who consider this land as their mother should say "Bharat Mata Ki Jai".

Fadnavis said people not saying "Bharat Mata Ki Jai" should leave India, while Ramdev said he would have "beheaded" those who refuse to chant "Bharat Mata Ki Jai" were it not for the law of the land.

Naidu stressed that raising the slogan should be taken positively, and said, "Bhagat Singh said 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' at the gallows".

He, however, clarified it was not mandatory, and the government was not of the view that every one should chant that slogan.

"In a democracy, people will say so many things. At the end, what the government decides is binding on all," Naidu told reporters at an interaction at the Indian Women Press Corps.

"Their views are not authorised by government," he said.

Asked about Fadnavis' statement in particular, the union minister said: "Did the chief minister pass any legislation on it?"

The debate on raising the "Bharat Mata Ki Jai" slogan has taken the centre stage following pro- and anti- comments from several quarters.

Opposition parties have criticised the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and its ideological mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh over the statements.

Influential Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband recently issued a fatwa that it was not proper for Muslims to chant "Bharat Mata ki Jai".
Mumbai, April 5 : With the aim to raise the bar around the cinematic experience in the country, INOX Leisure Limited (INOX), one of the largest cinema exhibition chains in India, has joined hands with IMAX Corporation to bring in five IMAX theatre systems in the country.

The deal was announced on Tuesday via a statement.

The systems will be installed at existing INOX multiplexes in the cities of Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi and Kolkata, starting with INOX at R-City, Ghatkopar, Mumbai.

"We have built our business on our commitment to create a premium customer experience and we view our partnership with IMAX as an extension of this strategy," said Alok Tandon, CEO of INOX Leisure Ltd.

Tandon added: "By associating ourselves with the IMAX brand and offering our guests a completely immersive cinema experience, we will continue to strengthen our position. We are particularly excited about shaping the future of cinema in India through such initiatives."

IMAX CEO Richard L. Gelfond said the "deal (will) help us expand our network in India at a more rapid pace".
Damascus, April 5 : Militants on Tuesday shot down a Syrian warplane in Aleppo province, a monitor group reported.

The Al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front targetted the warplane in the town of Eis, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The London-based watchdog group did not give details of the plane crew or their fate, Xinhua news agency reported.

Meanwhile, other activists published a 20-second online video purporting to show the warplane while falling down in flames.

Activists also released another 30-second video clip, showing the pilot of the downed warplane being beaten up by an angry crowd of rebels while he lay down.

One militant said "Take whatever weapon he may have," while another one called him a "dog".
New Delhi, April 5 : India is the fourth country that has most number of attacks by the Downadup malware family, a report by Finland-based online security and privacy company F-Secure, said. It added that besides India, this threat was most frequently detected in Finland, France, Germany, Italy and Norway.

F-Secure Threat Round up Report 2015 details the trends and events in global cyber threats that hit consumers and companies last year.

In 2015, Downadup was the most frequently detected type of malware in computers in Finland, France and Germany. India is the fourth on the list while Italy and Norway follow the suit.

According to the report, the computer worm, which was first discovered in 2008, is now recognised as one of today's most widepread malware infections.

Downadup is a computer worm that infects unpatched Windows machines (including various versions of Windows Server) and then invades exposed networks attached to infected devices.

Downadup's combination of different tactics gave it a sophistication beyond other computer worms known to researchers at the time, making it one of history's most invasive families of malware.

At one point, Microsoft had offered a $250,000 reward for information regarding the worm's authors, the report said.

While many antivirus products can detect and remove the infection for individual consumers, it is still quite challenging to purge the worm once it infects large networks, such as those run by telecommunication companies or global enterprises.
With the Opposition LDF accusing the State government of hurriedly clearing a string of controversial land deals just before the model code of conduct came into force, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has called out the LDF on their holier-than-thou attitude by drawing attention to a few controversial decisions taken by them during their tenure.

In an article released for publication to the media on Tuesday Oommen Chandy said that certain land deals that were sanctioned during the LDFs tenure could not be forgotten so easily, adding that the UDF, then in Opposition, had fought tooth and nail to have those decisions reversed.

Chandy accused the Opposition of shedding crocodile tears over landless people after handing over thousands of acres of govt. land to multinational companies and land mafia, and usurping land from tribals and agricultural labourers.

Drawing attention to the Merchiston estate issue, Chandy wrote that the LDF de-notified the estate - which had earlier been taken over by the government under the Kerala Forest (Vesting and Management of Ecologically Fragile Lands) Ordinance, 2000 - to hand over 707 acres to a private individual.

Even the Chief Secretary had to step down over this issue, he wrote.

He charged the LDF government with turning down demands by the Opposition to institute a judicial inquiry into the issue.

Instead, the government saved the Minister concerned and the entire cabinet by making a few officers scapegoats, Chandy added.

1004 acres at Chakkittapara, Mavoor, and Kakkoor in Kozhikode district were handed over by the LDF government to a company based outside the State for iron ore mining.

The decision had been taken ignoring robust opposition from the Forest Department, the article said.

The UDF government reversed this decision, Chandy wrote, adding that the driver of the LDF Minister concerned later revealed that a bribe of Rs. 5 crore was involved in the Chakkittapara issue.

At R-Block in Kuttanad, a tourism company backed by CPI(M) workers usurped 200 acres of land belonging to agricultural labourers at a throwaway price. Even though the partys in-house probe ferreted out the truth behind the land deal, the government chose to protect the culprits, Oommen Chandy charged.

In Munnar, both the CPI and the CPI(M) vied with each other to grab land. Even party offices were situated on encroached land, the article said.

In Attappady, the LDF government gave away 232 acres of tribal land to a multinational company called Suzlon for installing windmills, Chandy wrote, adding that for this purpose they made up a village called Nallasinka and registered 52 title deeds using the same survey number.

At Pappinissery panchayath in Kannur district, the CPI(M) encroached on mangroves on a river bank for constructing an amusement park, the article read.

He concluded the article by pointing out that the UDF government has handed over 3 cents of land each to 58,392 people under the Zero Landless scheme and that Kannur, Kasargod, and Idukki districts have been declared Zero landless districts.
Kathmandu, April 5 : Indian infrastructure major GMR is in talks with global lenders to raise $1.5 billion to develop the 900 MW Upper Karnali hydel project in Nepal.

Coordinated by the Investment Board Nepal (IBN), representatives from GMR, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), International Finance Corporation (IFC), International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC), DEG -- a subsidiary of German Development Bank, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) arrived in Kathmandu and started tripartite talks on Tuesday.

GMR signed the power development agreement in 2015.

Sources familiar with the development told IANS that as financial closure for GMR is going to end by September, it is imperative for the Indian company to raise funds from various lenders to ensure investment.

After raising the necessary fund, a separate company will be set up to develop the project in western Nepal, spread across three districts -- Surkhet, Dailekh and Achham.

Another Indian firm, Sutluj Jal Vidhyut Nigam, is also developing another hydroelectric project, Arun III, with the same capacity.

Senior officials of IBN and GMR will give presentations about the Upper Karnali project, and review its progress, including details of the power purchase agreement, existing financial arrangement and progress towards financial closure before making a final commitment for loan.

Sources said chances were high of the project getting commitment from the lenders, who have submitted an expression of interest (EOI), pledging a loan of more than $1 billion for the project.

The project is scheduled to be completed by 2021 at an estimated cost of $1.5 billion.

According to the power development agreement of the project, GMR should complete land acquisition before the financial closure.

According to IBN, an agreement has been reached on the resettlement action plan with local people who will be displaced due to the project. An estimated 239 households will be affected.

A total area of 48.85 hectares of private land and 207.75 hectares of government-owned land will be acquired for the project.

"The land acquisition progress is almost over," IBN officials said.

The World Bank group-initiated IFC had earlier signed an agreement with GMR to become an equity partner in the project.

As per the agreement, IFC will have a 10 percent stake and will lead the fundraising for the financial closure.

Subsequently, the Nepal government and GMR signed a Project Development Agreement in September 2015.

The project developer will give 27 percent of the shares to the government, while the country will get 12 percent (108 MW) of the total energy produced for free.

The project is expected to provide jobs to more than 2,000 people, and the government is projected to earn NRs.300 billion (Indian Rs.200 billion).

(Anil Giri can be contacted at girianil@gmail.com)
Lucknow, April 5 : Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati on Tuesday accused the BJP of showing "fake love" for the Dalits. The BJP hit back, saying the former chief minister was rattled by its growing popularity among the weaker sections.

The "Bharatiya Janata Party and company" were indulging in falsehood to project themselves as the champions of Dalits, Mayawati said in a statement here.

Criticising the state BJP's now-expelled women wing leader Madhu Mishra for her alleged casteist remarks, Mayawati said if the BJP was so serious about the honour of the Dalits, it should act against union minister Gen V.K. Singh who allegedly likened a Dalit's death in Haryana to that of a dog.

The former chief minister said the BJP always spoke in two voices, adding that there were many instances like the Hyderabad University research scholar Rohit Vemula's case wherein it was established "beyond doubt that the BJP was grossly anti-Dalit and anti-backwards".

In response, BJP Uttar Pradesh unit spokesman Vijay Bahadur Pathak said Mayawati was "rattled by the growing acceptance of the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi by the Dalits."

"She is heading a party fighting for its very existence as a national party after the Election Commission's notice in this regard. Mayawati is now trying to hold on to her fast-eroding Dalit vote bank, as seen in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections where the BSP drew a blank," the BJP leader said.
New Delhi, April 5 : Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh's son and daughter on Tuesday challenged in the Delhi High Court the Enforcement Directorate's order to provisionally attach their properties in a money laundering case.

A division bench of Chief Justice G. Rohini and Justice Jayant Nath will hear their plea on Wednesday.

The Enforcement Directorate's action is "pre-emptive, presumptuous and arbitrary" and hence has "no authority to initiate attachment proceeding against the petitioners", the chief minister's daughter Aparajita Kumari and son Vikramaditya Singh said in their petition.

They sought the quashing of the ED's order of March 23 issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The petitioners said the ED had attached Aparajita's movable assets worth over Rs.15.85 lakh and Vikramaditya's assets worth Rs.62.8 lakh.

The petitioners said their properties were attached even though they were not named in the first information report in the case.

They said the ED decision was based on the Income Tax department's inquiries and investigation, which were themselves under challenge.

The petitioners said there were no allegations against them, though there was an alleged InTome tax violation case against their father Virbhadra Singh. That too is pending adjudication before the Income Tax authorities, they pointed out.

The duo said they were also not summoned before the ED passed the attachment order.

"No property of the petitioners could have been attached without giving them an opportunity to explain the sources of the property under attachment," the petitioners said.

"The allegations in the Enforcement Case Information Report do not disclose any offence of money laundering and thus the proceedings under the PMLA is bad in law."

In November 2015, the ED registered a case under the PMLA at its New Delhi office against Virbhadra Singh and his family members, including his wife Pratibha Singh.
New Delhi, April 5 : Search engine giant Google on Tuesday launched new health cards in Knowledge Graph with which anyone in India searching for health information can now get it more quickly and easily.

Now when people ask Google about common health conditions, they will see information cards with typical symptoms as well as details on how common the condition is -- whether it is critical, if it is contagious, what ages it affects and more.

"Around the world, health conditions are among the most important things that people ask Google about. In fact, one in 20 searches are for health-related information," Prem Ramaswami, senior product manager at Google, explained.

Google worked with Apollo Hospitals and Columbia Asia Hospitals to review the content, and the health information covers over 400 health conditions including those common to India like malaria and dengue fever.

"During product development we also consulted the All India Institute of Medical Sciences and ASHAs who are community health workers to ensure the information on the cards is useful and accessible," Ramaswami said.

The cards are available in Hindi and English and cover common local conditions.

People will be able to see these new cards when they search for conditions with the Google app on Android or iOS phones and tablets as well as mobile and desktop browsers.

These search results are not intended as medical advice but for informational purposes only, the company noted.
Patna, April 5 : In a historic move, the Nitish Kumar government on Tuesday imposed a complete ban on sale of any kind of liquor in Bihar, making it the fourth dry state of the country after after Nagaland, Manipur and Gujarat.

"Liquor will not be sold in any bar, pub or hotel from now onwards. We are placing a complete ban on its sale in the state. Women and kids have created an environment in favour of this ban," Chief Minister Nitish Kumar told reporters here.

"The ban will be in place with immediate effect, and the government will issue a notification in this regard in some time. Only the army cantonments which are run with their own rules will continue to have liquor served," the Janata Dal-United JD(U) leader added.

Banning the sale of liquor was one of the main poll promises of the Grand Alliance in the Bihar assembly elections. Experts say the ban would cost the state government a whopping Rs.4,000 crore in revenue annually.

The state assembly last week passed a law banning sale of country-made liquor, but the chief minister announced that a ban would be in place on sale of Indian-Made Foreign Liquor too.

Deputy Chief Minister Tejashvi Yadav, of the RJD, told IANS: "This will prove to be a revolutionary step towards social equality, justice and change in the state."

"We have taken this step keeping in mind the emotions of poor people, women, and children. It will benefit them a lot," Yadav said.

JD-U MP K.C. Tyagi told IANS that it was a big challenge to ban liquor in the state, but the government will do everything to ensure it works. "We are committed to ensuring a complete ban on liquor in the state."

"A Rs.4,000 crore loss is a no small thing, but we had promised to work for women empowerment and ban liquor in our election manifesto, and we took this step. It is very challenging but at the same time very important too," Tyagi told IANS.

Asked how the government would ensure that no liquor is sold in the state, Tyagi said:

"We have a fool-proof blue print ready to implement this law across the state. There is provision for stringent action against those who do not comply with the rules. We have made special arrangements at the border areas to prevent smuggling of liquor."

The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), a partner in the Bihar government, was quick to praise the chief minister for the bold step. But the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) claimed that it was their pressure that compelled Nitish Kumar to enforce the law.

"The government had promised its people, especially women, to ban liquor. And in a very short span of time, it has translated that commitment into reality," RJD spokesperson Manoj Jha told IANS. "What we promised, we delivered in a short time."

Bihar BJP president Mangal Pandey said: "We welcome the Bihar government's decision to ban all kinds of liquor in the state. The BJP had been regularly demanding a complete ban on all kinds of liquor in the state, which the Bihar government had earlier announced only on country made liquor," BJP state president Mangal Pandey told IANS.

The party claimed the Bihar government "bowed to its pressure".

"The BJP along with allies had been pressurising the government to announce a complete ban on liquor sale, and today (Tuesday), the government has bowed to ours' and the people's pressure," Pandey added.

Former Bihar deputy chief minister and senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi took to Twitter and wrote: "BJP and media compelled Nitish Kumar to declare total prohibition. BJP supports this decision of the government."

Bihar has a very high number of alcoholics, especially in rural areas, where the poor spend a large part of their income on country liquor, leading to rise in domestic violence. On April 1, after the Bihar government banned country-made liquor, women across the state welcomed the move, splashing colours on each other and dancing to music.
New Delhi, April 5 : Union Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday said no one, including people in Pakistan, will believe that the Pathankot airbase attack was stage-managed by India.

Reacting to a Pakistan newspaper report that claimed that the Joint Investigation Team that probed the January 2 attack has said the attack was "staged" by India, Naidu said: "Pakistan has always done this."

The minister said the newspaper report was not an official version from Pakistan but quoted sources.

"I hope they (Pakistan) won't take such a stand. No one will believe it, including the Pakistani people," Naidu said during an interaction with the Indian Women Press Corps.

"They are under pressure of extremist groups... people want dialogue, but a dialogue cannot go along with terror," the minister said.

Naidu said the responsibility for creating a conducive atmosphere for talks with India rested with Pakistan now.

"Pakistan should take a decision on what it is doing about its policy of funding and support to terror. We want friendly relation with all neighbours," he said.

"The responsibility is with Pakistan to create the conducive atmosphere (for talks)."

The minister said that "dialogue is the only way" for India and Pakistan to resolve long-standing bilateral issues.

A report in 'Pakistan Today' newspaper, quoting sources, said that the JIT report has concluded that the Indian authorities had prior information about the attackers.

The daily claimed its source said India "used the attack as a tool to expand its vicious propaganda against Pakistan without having any solid evidence to back the claim".

The JIT arrived in India on March 28 and visited Pathankot the next day. It returned to Pakistan on April 1.

The January 2 attack on the Indian Air Force base at Pathankot in Punjab left seven security personnel and the intruding terrorists dead.

India blamed banned terror organisation Jaish-e-Mohammad for the Pathankot attack.
Noida, April 5 : People from the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes will perform as well as others if they are given the opportunity, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday.

"Our tribal brethren and those belonging to Scheduled Castes will perform equally well as us if they are provided with the opportunities. How long will they wait for jobs and to which extent government can give them jobs. God has given equal power and strength to Dalits as to us," he said.

"We got the opportunity but they were denied it. If we can perform on getting an opportunity, they can also perform," Modi said, advocating equal opportunities for people belonging to Scheduled Castes.

Referring to Dalits, the prime minister said "they should not depend on someones' mercy".

"Dalit youths should aspire to become entrepreneurs and businessmen. They can easily avail loans from the branches Mudra Bank now," he said, counting his government's schemes for the welfare of SC/STs.

"Our poor have rich hearts. We asked them to open their bank accounts with zero balance but they said they will contribute something or the other. Poor deposited Rs.50, Rs.100 in these accounts and government got 35,000 crore rupees through Jan Dhan Yojana," Modi said.

Also, paying tributes to former deputy prime minister and defence minister Babu Jagjivan Ram, Modi said the government is launching Stand Up India campaign on his birthday.

"Babu Jagjivan Ram was the defence minister of our country at the time of the 1971 war. He was the agriculture minister at the time of green revolution but his contributions were forgotten over the period of time," Modi said.

"He (Jagjivan Ram) has always been an inspirational and respected leader for us," the prime minister said, adding that Stand Up India Campaign announced by him in his Independence Day address will strengthen the Dalit households.
New Delhi, April 5 : The Supreme Court was told on Tuesday that one report of a test on Maggi noodles by the government research institute has shown that the lead content was within permissible limits but monosodium glutamate (MSG) was on the higher side.

Senior counsel Vibha Datta Makhija, appearing for the central government, told the bench of Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Shiva Kirti Singh that the reports by the Mysuru-based Central Food Technological Research Institute were directly sent to the apex court in a sealed cover but one of the reports seen by her had this conclusion.

In response, senior counsel Harish Salve, appearing for manufacturers Nestle India Ltd, told the court that that MSG occurs naturally in Maggi and was not an added flavour and added that government notification has accepted Nestle's position that its presence could not be determined by any laboratory tests.

The court directed that the copies of the test report be given to all the parties appearing before the court in the matter within three days as it adjourned the hearing to July 19.

The apex court by its January 13, 2016 order, while perusing the tests reports by the institute, had asked it to tell it whether the results of the test report relating to lead and glutamic acid, were within permissible parameters or not.

The institute, the court had said, "shall also clarify whether the test relating to glutamic acid includes the test pertaining to monosodium glutamate".

The CFTRI had conducted tests on Maggi samples in pursuance to the October 15 directions of the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC), and the December 16 direction of the apex court, modifying the NCDRC's December 9-10 order asking a Chennai-based lab to test the samples.

Nestle India had moved the apex court challenging the NCDRC order, contending that once NCDRC had sent Maggi samples for testing by CFTRI by its October 15 order, then there was no necessity of further testing by the Chennai lab.

The central government had moved the apex court against August 13, 2015 Bombay High Court order which had held that the labs that tested Nestle's Maggi noodles were not accredited by the NABL, thus their findings could not be relied upon.

Relying on the high court order, Nestle India has assailed the NCDRC order holding that if a laboratory in terms of section 2(1)(a) of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 is recognised by the central or the state government or has been established under the law and maintained, financed or aided by the central or state government, then it need not necessarily be accredited by the NABL or notified by the Food Safety Standard Authority of India.

The government filed, before the NCDRC, a class action suit against Nestle India, seeking about Rs.640 crore in damages for alleged unfair trade practices, false labelling and misleading advertisements.

The hearing on the suit is on hold in the wake of ongoing hearing by the apex court.
Chennai, April 5 : Actor-turned-politician A. Vijaykant's DMDK party suffered a split on Tuesday as he expelled several leaders for seeking an alliance with the DMK for the Tamil Nadu assembly elections.

Vijaykant said in a statement that he had expelled propaganda secretary V.C. Chandrakumar, a legislator, and district leaders with immediate effect for acting in a way that defamed the party.

The expulsion came soon after Chandrakumar and the others addressed the media demanding that the DMDK must align with the DMK and end its alliance with the four-party People's Welfare Front (PWF).

Chandrakumar said: "The decision to align with the PWF was taken within Vijaykant's household, without consulting party leaders or cadres."

He said party leaders had told Vijaykant that the DMDK should align with the DMK to unseat the AIADMK in next month's elections.

He said the disgruntled party legislators and district secretaries were not quitting the DMDK now but urging Vijaykant to axe the alliance with the PWF.

On March 23, Vijaykant announced his decision to join forces with PWF - a combination of two Communist parties, Dalit party VCK and Vaiko's MDMK. The alliance named Vijaykant as its chief ministerial candidate.

As per the deal, the DMDK will put up candidates in 124 of the 234 seats. The rest will be shared among the other four parties.

"On March 24 itself we wrote to Vijaykant expressing our opposition to the alliance and requesting him to review the decision," Chandrakumar said. "We told him the decision to align with MNK (the Tamil name of PWF) will destroy the party."

He said 95 percent of party members favoured an alliance with DMK.

"The decision to align with the AIADMK in 2011 was in line with the party cadres' wish. Today the situation has reversed," he said.

On Monday, after sealing a seat sharing pact with the Congress, the DMK said no more parties will be included in the alliance.
New Delhi, April 5 : Union Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday called upon the Export Promotion Councils (EPCs) to take a pro-active stance to promote exports.

Addressing concerns expressed by the EPCs, the minister "urged the councils to be more pro-active on behalf of exporters", a commerce ministry statement said here.

Sitharaman held a meeting with the EPCs to review the current trend of exports from India and take stock of issues faced by the exporters. As many as 14 EPCs participated in the meeting, the statement said.

"In terms of (export) volumes, most commodities have shown resilience and have maintained the levels achieved in the 2014-15 fiscal. Keeping in view the initiatives like Interest Equalisation Scheme (IES) for supporting exports, along with the global factors, there was a feeling that exports will increase," the statement said.

Meanwhile, export organisations sought government support on interest subvention for gem and jewellery sector, inclusion of merchant-exporters under the IES, promotion of brand India on a consistent basis and more incentives for project exports etc.
Shimla, April 5 : Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh on Tuesday informed the assembly that there was no move to appoint his deputy.

As the question hour began, BJP member Rikhi Ram Kaundal referred to a news item that said there was a "possibility of appointment of a deputy chief minister".

Speaker B.B.L. Butail said the question could not be allowed and asked Kaundal to take up the question mentioned in his name.

At this, Virbhadra Singh got up and said the news report was false and "planted" and there was no truth in it.

BJP members kept raising the issue and shouted slogans against the government, disrupting the question hour. Later, they staged a walkout from the house.

The proceedings of the house went on in the absence of BJP members. After the question hour, the BJP members joined the proceedings.
Cape Town, April 5 : A day of high drama was expected in the House of Assembly in Cape Town on Tuesday where members of Parliament were to debate a motion to impeach President Jacob Zuma, brought by the Democratic Alliance (DA).

The motion comes after the Constitutional Court, in an unanimous judgment on Thursday, found that Zuma's failure to comply with the remedial action imposed on him by the public protector in her 2014 report on Nkandla was "inconsistent" with the Constitution, BDlive reported.

Outlining the party's plans to press for Zuma's impeachment on Friday, Maimane listed a litany of alleged indictments against the behaviour of the executive branch of government.

The DA would be campaigning to give the "legislature back its teeth" but more broadly would be appealing for the electorate to "vote for change", he said at a media briefing in Sandton.

On Friday, the 73-year-old president gave a televised address to the nation in which he apologised and said he would pay back some of the money, as ordered. He said that he never knowingly or deliberately set out to violate the constitution .

The president travelled to his home province of Kwazulu-Natal on Sunday to launch a relief programme as part of government efforts to support areas affected by South Africa's worst drought in more than a century.

He told a cheering crowd that he was still South Africa's leader and joked about how youthful he was, but made no specific mention of the Nkandla matter, the pending impeachment motion or calls for him to step down as he addressed the gathering in Zulu, his native language.
New Delhi, April 5 : The BJP on Tuesday accused Trinamool Congress supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of "destroying" West Bengal. The party also likened the Left to a frying pan.

"If the Left (Front) was the frying pan, you are the fire. Mamata didi, you have burnt and destroyed Bengal," Bharatiya Janata Party spokesman Sambit Patra told reporters here.

The chief minister has so far only shed "crocodile tears" on the March 31 Vivekanand Road flyover collapse in Kolkata, the BJP leader said.

Patra said that a "syndicate" of Trinamool Congress workers and relatives of its leaders were involved in supplying "wrong material" for the flyover construction.

He cited the example of Rajat Bakshi, said to be the nephew of a Trinamool candidate and involved in the supply of material for the flyover project, in this regard.

Patra also accused the Trinamool Congress of extending favours to a "blacklisted company" in the flyover project and awarding it a major railway work in Jammu and Kashmir.

"Why was a blacklisted company awarded work costing more than Rs.761 crore?"

"Mamataji you have to answer... you and your party colleagues held the railways portfolio and given work to the same company that you called a blacklisted one on the day the flyover collapsed," Patra said.

"You issued a tender to a blacklisted company to construct a tunnel in Jammu and Kashmir on October 19, 2011, just when you quit as the railways minister and the next incumbent was from your own party," he alleged.

"There is a saying that what Bengal thinks today, India thinks tomorrow. But, because of its wrong administration, Bengal has only travelled from the frying pan to the fire," the BJP spokesman said referring to a latest sting against a Trinamool leader and party candidate who allegedly admitted on camera about the presence of a syndicate.

The sting by a television channel, Patra claimed, "brings into the open the fact as to why the flyover collapsed".

Referring to Bidhannagar mayor Sabyasachi Dutta's alleged on-camera statement, the BJP leader said: "It is a matter of shame that he is boasting of (such) syndicates."

"He (mayor) says there are syndicates in Bengal. Syndicates in Kolkata which supply materials to all contractors involved in construction," Patra said, adding that the mayor also claimed that syndicate members are those "who vote for us (Trinamool Congress)".

The BJP leader said Dutta claimed "we want the syndicate to be subdued before the administration" and that the number of syndicates was over 20,000.

"If this is (the case) in one constituency, look at the big nexus. When I say that Bengal has only travelled from the frying pan to the fire, I derive (my statement) from what mayor Sabyasachi says," the BJP leader said.

The mayor mentions that all these (syndicates) came into being during the earlier Left Front rule.

Patra said: "If the syndicates came into being during the Left rule, why is Mamata Banerjee patronising, institutionalising and funding these?"

The BJP leader also questioned the TMC government for allegedly releasing Rs.115 crore to various sporting clubs in West Bengal. "Are these not syndicates?"
Mumbai, April 5 : Vivo Mobile India, a premium global smartphone brand launched its new V series smartphones -- V3 and V3Max -- here on Tuesday.

The metallic body along with the powerful configuration makes V series phones a perfect combination of performance and looks.

The V3Max is armed with dual fast charging engines adopted by Qualcomm QC 2.0 international standard, making the device extremely compatible.

The fingerprint unlocking allows the user to unlock the phone as fast as 0.2 seconds from and 0.5 seconds in sleep mode.

V3 Max features a 13.97cm (5.5) full HD display with the resolution of 1920A1080 pixels. It comes with 2.5D Corning Gorilla glass and a metal body which gives it elegant and strong appearance and presence.

The newly incorporated screen-split feature allows users to do multitasking without having to switch back and forth. Users can chat and watch videos simultaneously at the same time on one screen.

The Vivo V3 and V3 Max will be available at Rs.17,980 and Rs.23,980, respectively.
Colombo, April 5 : A former Tamil militant group that has renamed itself the Social Democratic Party of Tamils (SDPT) wants all Sri Lankans to learn each other's language -- Tamil and Sinhalese.

"Mutual understanding between ethnic communities is essential to rebuild the broken relationship between different nationalities," the new party said in a statement issued in Jaffna.

"This process will be accelerated by learning each other's language."

It urged Colombo to make Tamil and Sinhalese besides English, the link language, "essential languages in the school curriculum".

It also called upon the government to make fluency in Tamil and Sinhalese a pre-condition for employment. "English is also a link language and a gateway to the world of knowledge."

The demand is aimed at rebuilding ethnic ties in the island nation where the linguistic divide first led to militancy by Tamils, eventually leading to three decades of armed conflict that claimed thousands of lives.

The new party was formerly known as the Pathmanabha-Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF), which lost its leaders and many supporters to the dominant Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

The party urged Sri Lanka, India and the international community to ensure justice to the thousands of people killed by the LTTE.

"The plight of those families whose members were killed by the LTTE has been ignored. In addition, several hundreds were abducted and disappeared by the LTTE in 1987-90 when an attempt was made to establish a provincial government (in the country's northeast).

"Members of other Tamil organisations who were killed by the LTTE have not been recognised as war affected people and families of these victims were not given compensation or housing aid."

The SDPT also pointed out that there were thousands of parents of the disappeared LTTE members "who are agonising about the fate of their loved ones.

"This Congress calls upon elected Tamil representatives and the government to act honestly and transparently to end their agony."

The party also urged India and Sri Lanka to find a speedy solution to the recurring conflict between the fishermen of the two countries.

It called for an impartial investigation into human rights violations during the final days of the war which led to the military defeat of the LTTE in May 2009.

"The legitimate security forces cannot act the same way the terrorists act," it said.

"It is important that the government takes effective measures to find the truth to ascertain what happened during the final days of the war" when thousands of innocents are also known to have died along with fighters on both sides.

The new party demanded "a permanent and durable political solution" to the ethnic conflict in the form of a federal formation.

It urged Colombo to engage with the almost one million Sri Lankans who migrated to other countries as a result of the civil war to harness their expertise to enrich Sri Lanka.
Dimapur (Nagaland), April 5 : Nagaland Chief Minister T.R. Zeliang on Tuesday asked the farmers to revive the production of traditional cotton in the state.

"In the past, our people used to grow cotton along with paddy as the climate in many parts of Nagaland is suitable for growing cotton," Zeliang said at the inauguration of the first Apparel and Garment Making Centre here.

"Our people produced cotton and made clothes locally, but today this practice is disappearing in our present society. I feel that the local population should also revive the production of our traditional cotton," he said.

The Apparel and Garment Making Centre at the District Industries Centre complex was inaugurated by union Textiles Minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar.

The project was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Nagaland in December 2014.

Zeliang said this centre will help in utilising the talents of the people of the northeast as they have their own ingenuity, as can be seen from the beautiful motifs and unique designs in their textiles.

"Of late, many youth of the northeast are taking keen interest in fashion technology and fashion designing, either as a hobby or as a profession," he said, adding that Naga youth Atsu Sekhose has made a name for himself as a successful fashion designer in Paris.

Gangwar said his ministry has sanctioned three sericulture projects in Nagaland, with central support of Rs.101.25 crore in the last two years, and added that these projects will support production in all three varieties of silk -- Eri, Muga and Mulberry, from plantation to finished product to marketing.

He said these projects will help about 5,000 farmers.
Noida, April 5 : To boost entrepreneurship among the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and women by facilitating loans in the range of Rs.10 lakh to Rs.1 crore, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday launched the Stand Up India initiative and said it will transform the lives of Dalits and Adivasis.

Modi said people from the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes can perform as well as others if given the opportunity.

"Our tribal brethren and those belonging to Scheduled Castes will perform equally well as us if they are provided with the opportunities. How long will they wait for jobs and to which extent the government can give them jobs? God has given equal power and strength to Dalits as to us," Modi said.

He said the scheme will convert "job-seekers into job-creators" and will also change their lives.

"We got the opportunity but they were denied it. If we can perform on getting an opportunity, they can also perform," Modi said, advocating equal opportunities for people belonging to the Scheduled Castes.

Referring to Dalits, he said "they should not depend on someone's mercy".

"Dalit youths should aspire to become entrepreneurs and businessmen. They can easily avail loans from the Mudra Bank now," Modi said.

"Our poor have rich hearts. We asked them to open bank accounts with zero balance but they said they will contribute something or the other. The poor deposited Rs.50, Rs.100 in these accounts and the government got Rs.35,000 crore through the Jan Dhan Yojana."

He said Stand Up India will help in creating 2.5 lakh entrepreneurs as every bank branch will provide two such loans without collateral for setting up a new enterprise.

Paying tributes to former deputy prime minister and defence minister Babu Jagjivan Ram, Modi said the government was launching the Stand Up India campaign on his birth anniversary.

"Babu Jagjivan Ram was the defence minister of our country at the time of the 1971 war. He was the agriculture minister at the time of the Green Revolution but his contributions were forgotten over a period of time," Modi said.

"He (Jagjivan Ram) has always been an inspirational and respected leader for us," the prime minister said, adding that the Stand Up India campaign announced by him in his Independence Day address will strengthen the Dalit households.

Urging the gathering to educate their children, Modi said India's development journey will be stronger when it is scripted by the poor.

On the occasion, Modi also handed over keys of 5,100 e-rickshaws to the beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojna.

Modi interacted with the families of some of the beneficiaries, over a cup of tea. The beneficiaries explained how e-rickshaws would change their lives for the better.

Commuters can also call the e-rickshaws through the Ola app. Modi booked an e-rickshaw through the app and took a brief e-rickshaw ride towards the stage, making the payment for the ride through a cellphone.

The e-rickshaws were given to those who had to rent them for a livelihood.

"Earlier, manual rickshaw-pullers had to toil hard and earned much less. Now they can earn more with less labour by running e-rickshaws. Also, they would not have to pay anything as rent of the rickshaw. Instead, by paying a small amount daily, they would become the owners of their e-rickshaw," the prime minister said.

The drivers who were given the e-rickshaws on Tuesday have been trained in driving and using the app to transact with commuters.

"Energy banks have also been established for these e-rickshaw drivers where they can charge batteries with solar energy. The entire initiative is environment friendly," he said.
New Delhi, April 5 : Reacting to a Pakistan media report on the JIT's stand that the Pathankot attack was "staged" by India, the Congress on Tuesday said it had exposed the neighbouring country's "double-faced policy" on terrorism.

"We could not have expected anything better from Pakistan, when its own state agencies are complicit both in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks and the attack on the strategic Indian Air Force base in Pathankot in Punjab," senior Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma said.

"We had questioned the visit of Pakistan's Joint Investigation Team (JIT), which included a representative of the Inter-Services Intelligence. Surely, the JIT and the ISI would not have indicted themselves," he added.

"We also know that both Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba are operating from Pakistan because of its overt and covert support and assistance they have received and will continue to receive," Sharma said.

Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala said: "They (JIT) came to our country with a predetermined agenda and went after levelling allegations. Even China has come to their rescue in the United Nations by vetoing a move to declare JeM chief Maulana Masood Azhar as terrorist."

"Reports in Pakistan media quoting leaked contents of the JIT team on the Pathankot attack has once again exposed the double-faced policy of Pakistan in dealing with terrorism."

Sharma said: "First, it happened post-Ufa when there was an attack in Udhampur in Jammu and Kashmir; then Gurdaspur in Punjab; and then after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's dramatic visit to Lahore and Raiwind to his Pakistan counterpart Nawaz Sharif's residence, we saw the attack in Pathankot after five days."

"What the prime minister (Modi) and his government claimed as a diplomatic triumph turned out to be a diplomatic disaster," said Sharma.

Sharma also took a dig at Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah.

"Shah had given a certificate of sincerity to Pakistan. He heads the ruling party but lacks even an elementary comprehension of the strategic issues involved and the complexity of relations between Pakistan and India," the Congress leader said.

"We would like to make this clear that after or during the JIT visit, Pakistan establishment and its agencies used the occasion to portray India in bad light."
Bijnor, April 5 : Both personal issues and the terrorist angle are being examined thoroughly to determine who murdered NIA official Mohammad Tanzil Ahmad, a senior police officer said on Tuesday.

The Uttar Pradesh Police is investigating the National Investigation Agency (NIA) officer's murder from three major angles, Additional Director General Daljeet Chaudhary said.

Talking to the media at the crime spot, Chaudhary said: "We are looking at local connections, personal issues and the terrorist angle."

NIA Deputy Superintendent Ahmad, 48, who was involved in probing cases pertaining to the Indian Mujahideen and the arrest of its head Yasin Bhatkal, was shot dead shortly after midnight on Saturday in his native town Sahaspur.

Chaudhary said Ahmad's family possessed substantial agriculture land in Sahaspur town and there was no one to look after the ancestral property after his father died two years ago.

"We have ordered that every local issue must be screened minutely along with other issues pertaining to the officer's involvement in important investigations handled by him.

"Some vital enmity might have developed during investigation of counterfeit currency related cases. So we shall screen all such important investigation.

"The third angle is the terror angle. We are looking that angle very minutely," Chaudhary added.

The slain officer was about to enter Sahaspur town after attending the wedding of his niece in Syohara.

His elder brother, Razib Ahmad, was following him in a separate car and reached the crime spot just five minutes later.

Both the brothers had planned to spend the night in their hometown which they used to visit frequently.

The officer was accompanied by his wife Farzana, daughter Zarnees (14) and son Sahbaaz (9).

The children were in the rear seat of the car and escaped unhurt. His wife is now battling for life after suffering four bullet wounds. She was seated by her husband.

As his car took a turn from the main Dhampur-Moradabad road and slowed down at a narrow bridge, two unidentified men opened indiscriminate fire from automatic weapons of .9mm calibre.

They pumped 21 bullets on the officer's body from the driver's window which was open.

An assistant commandant with the Border Security Force, Ahmad was on deputation with the National Investigation Agency for the past six years.

He had planned to visit his home town after completing his job as the liaison officer for the five-member Pakistan Joint Investigation Team that was in Delhi to probe the Pathankot terror attack, police sources said.
Hyderabad, April 5 : A corporate hospital here landed in a row over the height lengthening surgery performed on a youth with his parents alleging that they were not informed about it.

Nikhil Reddy (22) underwent the limb-lengthening surgery at Global Hospitals on Tuesday to grow his height.

His parents, who had complained to police three days ago that he is missing, reached the hospital after learning about his presence there.

They broke down on seeing Nikhil. His father Goverdhan Reddy demanded action against the hospital for conducting the surgery without their consent.

The 5.7 feet Nikhil underwent the surgery to increase his height by three inches. The surgery costs Rs.4 lakh and Nikhil had paid Rs.3 lakh.

The hospital, however, said since Nikhil is a major, there was no need to take consent from his parents.

It also clarified that the surgery does not fall under the clinical guidelines of medico-legal cases and hence police was not informed of the same.

"Patient Mr. Nikhil Reddy has been fully explained about the risk, cost of treatment and due consent was taken from the patient and treatment given. As per the declaration the patient has given the date of birth as January 23rd, 1994 and the hospital in no way is legally bound to check the credentials and background of the patient unless anything suspicious is noted," said a statement from the hospital.
The Hague, April 5 : The International Criminal Court on Tuesday threw out the case against Kenyan Deputy President William Ruto.

The presiding judge declared it a mistrial because of a "troubling incidence of witness interference and intolerable political meddling".

Ruto denied murder, deportation and persecution charges during violence that followed the 2007 elections in which about 1,200 people were killed.

His lawyers wanted the case to be terminated due to a lack of evidence.

Ruto was one of the most senior politicians to be tried by the ICC.

In February judges at the ICC barred the use of recanted testimony, meaning that prior recorded witness statements could not be used by prosecutors.

Several key witnesses in the case have changed their statements, which prosecutors said was due to intimidation and bribery.

Ruto's lawyers said he should be acquitted because so many key prosecution witnesses either dropped or changed their original statements.

ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda acknowledged that the loss of witnesses weakened the case against the deputy president - but she argued there still remained enough evidence to proceed with the trial.

In 2014, the prosecutor dropped similar charges against Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, alleging that witnesses had been intimidated to make them change their testimony.

Ruto and Kenyatta were on opposite sides of the 2007 election, but formed an alliance that won the 2013 election.
New Delhi, April 5 : Union Minority Affairs Minister Najma Heltulla on Tuesday said the role of the state governments in the implementation of welfare schemes for the minorities was indispensable.

She sought the help of states in the implementation of such schemes.

"The states and union territories have an indispensable role in the implementation of the welfare schemes for the minorities as they are stakeholders in taking the benefits to the marginalised groups," Heptulla said while inaugurating a national conference of ministers and secretaries of minority welfare departments in the states and union territories.

The minister urged the participants to monitor the implementation of schemes at the ground level and furnish completion and utilisation certificates in time to enable the Centre to release more funds.

Heptulla said the central government wants to develop waqf properties across the country to increase revenue for minority welfare activities and expected cooperation in this effort.

"With education as the basis of development, the focus is to equip the minority community youth with formal education and skills," she said.

The ministry awards about 86 lakh scholarships for pre- and post-matric and merit-cum-means scholarships across India. Of these, 30 percent scholarships are earmarked for girls.

The minister expressed concern over the absence of ministers from some states, saying that such a forum calls for cooperation from one and all.
New Delhi, April 5 : Taking note of a CAG report on the KG basin gas blocks in which around Rs.19,576 crore were invested by the then Gujarat government led by Narendra Modi, the Congress on Tuesday sought a JPC probe into the matter.

There was no 'commercial production' in the gas blocks, said the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) and also questioned the project's "financial viability".

The report was tabled in the Gujarat assembly on March 31.

"Narendra Modi must own responsibility for this gross loss to the exchequer, running into nearly Rs.20,000 crore. He must be held accountable by the same standard he applies to others and submit himself to a probe by the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), based on the CAG findings," said Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma.

"The prime minister can only be probed by a JPC because all the investigative agencies are under him," said Sharma, who is the deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha.

"We demand that a JPC is constituted because the prime minister cannot be examined in a free and fair manner otherwise. He is definitely not above the law of the land. He is fully accountable and we must establish this," he added.

For the Congress, the issue is going to be on its parliamentary agenda in the future, a Congress source said.

In June 2005, the then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi announced the discovery of 20 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of gas by the Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) in the KG basin, valued at 50 billion dollars (Rs.2,20,000 crore).

Sharma said that despite tall claims on 20 trillion TCF, not a single cubic feet of gas had been produced commercially in the basin from 2005 till date.

The CAG report said: "The audit observed that the trial production from the DDW field commenced in August 2014, but the average production achieved in March 2015 was only 19.45 MSCFD (million standard cubic feet of gas per day) (total targeted commercial production from DDW is 200 MSCFD). Commercial production has not commenced (November 2015) as production rate has not yet stabilised."

It added: "After the revision of gas pricing under the New Domestic Natural Gas Pricing Guidelines 2014, the financial viability of the project after commercial production remains doubtful as per the prevailing market scenario."

The report said that the Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation invested Rs.19,576 crore in the KG basin gas blocks without any assessment of the risk involved, construction technology, estimate of natural gas reserves or gas pricing.

"The company did not address properly the risks associated with cost, technology and gas pricing. This has resulted in uncertainty regarding the future prospects from the KG block where an investment of around Rs.19,576 crore was made as of March 2015. The development costs incurred in the block also resulted in increased borrowings and stressed finances for the company," stated the CAG report.

The report said that a tender for 'platform rigs' was given to a company not qualified to design, engineer or construct a 'platform rig' as per the bid document.

"As on April 1, 2011, the GSPC owned 64 gas blocks. Between April 1, 2011, and March 31, 2015, the GSPC surrendered 45 blocks, which is 70.31 percent of all blocks owned by it. Total loss from surrender of 45 blocks to the public exchequer is Rs.2,992.72 crore.

"Out of this, the surrender of 11 'overseas blocks' (five in Egypt, three in Yemen, two in Indonesia and one in Australia) caused a loss of Rs.1,757.46 crore. Surrender of the remaining 34 'domestic blocks' caused a loss Rs.1,235.26 crore," Sharma quoted from the CAG report.

Quoting the report further, Sharma said: "The GSPC incurred an expenditure of Rs.2,319.43 crore towards the shares of the two joint venture partners, i.e., 'Geo Global' and 'Jubilant' and completely failed to recover a single penny from them. Moreover, the GSPC even failed to conduct audit of the joint venture accounts."
Cape Town, April 5 : A motion to impeach South African President Jacob Zuma, proposed by the opposition, was defeated in parliament on Tuesday.

The motion comes after the Constitutional Court, in an unanimous judgment on Thursday, found that Zuma's failure to comply with the remedial action imposed on him by the public protector in her 2014 report on Nkandla was "inconsistent" with the Constitution, BDlive reported.

Outlining the party's plans to press for Zuma's impeachment on Friday, Maimane listed a litany of alleged indictments against the behaviour of the executive branch of government.

The DA would be campaigning to give the "legislature back its teeth" but more broadly would be appealing for the electorate to "vote for change", he said at a media briefing in Sandton.

On Friday, the 73-year-old president gave a televised address to the nation in which he apologised and said he would pay back some of the money, as ordered. He said that he never knowingly or deliberately set out to violate the constitution .

The president travelled to his home province of Kwazulu-Natal on Sunday to launch a relief programme as part of government efforts to support areas affected by South Africa's worst drought in more than a century.

He told a cheering crowd that he was still South Africa's leader and joked about how youthful he was, but made no specific mention of the Nkandla matter, the pending impeachment motion or calls for him to step down as he addressed the gathering in Zulu, his native language.
Shillong, April 5 : Seven people were injured and many families affected in a cyclonic storm here in the Meghalaya capital on Tuesday, officials said.

High velocity winds, accompanied by rain and lightning, blew away rooftops of many houses and uprooted trees and telephone and electric poles in Nongmynsong, Umpling, Pynthorbah and Nongpathaw areas in East Khasi Hills district.

"Seven people, including two women, were injured due to the squall. Several houses have been damaged," East Khasi Hills District Magistrate Peter S. Dkhar told IANS over phone.

Dkhar said the government has taken all necessary steps to provide relief in the affected areas.

The weather office has forecast heavy rain in many places till Wednesday.
Beirut, April 5 : Two Hezbollah commanders were among a dozen fighters from the militant Lebanese Shia group killed in attacks at the weekend in northern Syria, medical sources close to Hezbollah said Tuesday.

The sources named the men as Fawzi Taha, said to have been Hezbollah's most senior leader in Syria, and Bilal Nadir Khayreddine, also known as 'Abu Jaafar', who is also said to have played a key role.

Taha and Khayreddine were buried on Monday in Baalbek in eastern Lebanon's Bekaa valley, according to the sources.

Both Taha and Khayreddine were allegedly founding members of the Al-Rida Forces, the Syrian military wing of Hezbollah.

Taha was said to have been killed in an attack by militants led by Al-Qaeda's Syria branch - known as the Nusra Front - on the northern village of al-Ais. Twelve Hezbollah fighters were killed and dozens wounded in the attack, according to the Syrian Human Rights Observatory monitoring group.

Khayreddine was reportedly killed in fighting in Qaryatayn outside the city of Homs. Originally from the village of Majdaloun in the Bekaa valley, he is said to have played a prominent role in recruiting, training and equipping Hezbollah militiamen fighting in Syria alongside government forces.
Mumbai, April 5 : Music streaming service Saavn on Tuesday announced the launch of Saavn Original Programming, a new initiative that will include a collection of original, long-form audio programmes for its Indian and global audience.

The array of shows, including two original series by renowned journalist and radio host Neelesh Misra, will debut on Saavn on May 1.

Misra will narrate "Qisson Ka Kona", a storytelling programme, along with "Time Machine", a show covering mythology.

Saavn also announced the original true crime series "Trail by Error: The Aarushi Files" along with shows like "Maed in India", featuring interviews and performances by top indie musicians, and "Cyrus Says", a comedy talk show by Cyrus Broacha discussing current events.

Besides, Saavn also introduced its Artist-in-Residence programme, a creative platform highlighting the best new musicians and bands. The first Artist-in-Residence is Nucleya, the popular Indian indie electronic artiste.

About his association with Saavn, Nucleya told IANS: "It is going to be incredible for not just me, but the entire indie scene in India. That's what's required. It is actually beyond music as well. It is not something they put down on the list. We discuss it as a business plan and then we come up with something."

"This partnership is what big labels need to see and learn and give artistes a space to create what they want," he added.

Saavn CEO and co-founder Rishi Malhotra noted that one of the "cool" things about Nucleya's music is that it is hard to be categorised.

"One of the cool thing about Nucleya's music is that you can't pinpoint what it is. There is no reason why his album should not be playing in Miami. This is the future of music. Labels giving artistes freedom," Malhotra told IANS, adding that with Nucleya's reach in the indie scene, he may even bring in new artistes to Saavn's fold.

"He may bring someone to the table. If it works right with the way we are looking it, I am sure it will do well," he said.

Nucleya optimistically said that he will try and see wherever he wants to "push" his music and take it to the global scale.

"It looks like a deal, but it is a partnership. We are both kicked about it," he said.

Malhotra said he has two more artistes from India and some from the US, but it was too early to divulge information about them.
Srinagar, April 5 : Eight protesters were injured on Tuesday in clashes with the security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district where a gunfight was on between holed-up guerrillas and the security forces, said police.

"A mob of stone-pelting protesters attacked security forces in Gadoora village of Pulwama district where a gunfight was going on between hiding militants and security forces.

"Security forces had established a firm cordon around the site when the mob attacked them with stones. Tear smoke shells were used to quell the mob," a senior police officer told IANS here.

Reports from the area said eight protesters had been injured in the clashes with the security forces - six sustaining pellet injuries while two had sustained injuries caused by smoke shells.

The injured have been shifted to hospital for treatment.

The security forces had surrounded Gadoora village in Pulwama district following information about presence of a group of guerrillas hiding there.

Police said as the security forces tightened the cordon, hiding guerrillas fired at them triggering a gunfight.

Police said firing exchanges between the guerrillas and the security forces had stopped, but searches were still on in the area.

Security forces especially in south Kashmir areas have been battling a new dimension of anti-militancy operations for the last nearly one year.

Whenever reports of a gunfight spread to adjacent villages, groups of protesters engage the security forces in heavy stone pelting from outside the cordoned off area to break the siege around houses where guerrillas remain holed up.
New Delhi, April 6 : Vivo Mobile India, who recently launched its new V series smarrtphones has roped in actor Ranveer Singh as its brand ambassador.

Ranveer Singh, who is also going to be a part of various customer engagement activities of Vivo will feature in a new television commercial to be aired in early April.

"We are truly delighted to have Ranveer Singh as the face of Vivo in India. Ranveer enjoys a huge fan following amongst the young Indian audience and Vivo being the brand for the youth, this lethal combination is all set to create magic in the Indian market," said Vivo India CEO Alex Feng in a statement.

T

he newly launched V series smartphone comes with dual fast charging engines adopted by Qualcomm QC 2.0 international standard along other eye-catching features like 13.97cm (5.5) full HD display and 1920A1080 pixel camera resolution.

"The V series designed with creativity and equipped with state of art technology will be a landmark for Vivo India. The V3 and V3 Max offer an unbeatable proposition of cutting edge technology, impressive looks and Hi-Fi music quality in the industry," added Feng.

The Vivo V3 and V3 Max will be available at Rs. 17,980 and Rs. 23,980 respectively.
Mumbai, April 6 : TV actress Pratyusha Banerjee's father Shankar Banerjee said that actor Rahul Raj Singh, with whom his daughter was in a relationship, should be hanged or imprisoned for the rest of his life.

"Rahul should be either hanged or kept in prison for the rest of his life. He has ruined my daughter's life, she should get justice," Shankar Banerjee, who finally spoke to the media on Tuesday, said.

Pratyusha Banerjee's prayer meet was held on Tuesday at a gurdwara in Mumbai which was attended by her mother, father and her close friends.

"We didn't come in front of the media all this while because we wanted all the rituals to be done. We have lost our daughter and we have filed an FIR... whatever problem she had, we have recorded our statement at the police station," Pratyusha's father said.

Pratyusha's close friends including Deepshikha, Anuj Sachdeva, Sangram Singh and Rohit Verma were also present.

Pratyusha's mother, who was inconsolable, said that Rahul Raj Singh should be punished.

Pratyusha committed suicide at her home in Mumbai on Friday.
As the 11 million so-called Panama papers leaked into the public domain drag celebrities and wealthy individuals into the limelight, will this change the way in which shell companies are used in future property transactions. The use of overseas shell companies has been a bone of contention for many tax offices around the world. The release of the Panama papers has in many ways vindicated their pursuit of those allegedly using offshore tax havens to shield their wealth. So what can we expect next?

More attacks on overseas tax havens?

The first thing to say about the Panama papers is the fact that using overseas shell companies and financial services is not illegal. These are quite legitimate uses of financial services but the problem comes if the assets and the income are not declared to an individuals or companys local tax authorities. Do not automatically assume that everyone mentioned in the Panama papers is guilty of any crime even if this would seem to be the assumption that many in the media are making.

It is therefore likely that we will see governments around the world focusing upon so-called tax havens with many under British jurisdiction coming under specific pressure. The UK government has already announced plans to make public the identity of those acquiring property in the UK using offshore shell companies. So, while the Panama papers have certainly grabbed the headlines it would be wrong to suggest that the UK authorities are not already on the case.

Will this impact demand for London property?

There are billions of pounds of UK property owned by often mysterious overseas shell companies therefore any attack on these so-called tax havens could impact the short to medium term demand for UK property from some overseas investors. Whether this reduction in demand will lead to a reduction in prices remains to be seen because even during the most difficult of economic times demand for London property in particular remained extremely strong.

It is not just the UK which has been dragged into the Panama situation indeed today we saw the first major casualty in the shape of Icelands Prime Minister who was mentioned in the leaked papers. It is unclear whether he has done anything wrong from a criminal point of view but it has certainly created a backlash amongst the Icelandic population.

Was this always on the cards?

Isnt it ironic that the UK government only recently began a major crackdown on overseas tax havens and hey presto we have the release of 11 million highly confidential documents about the financial affairs of thousands of people and companies. The Internet brings so much to the business world but also offers hackers the opportunity to steal confidential documentation and release this into the public domain. Once this information has been released to the public it is impossible to retrieve as many high-profile investors, politicians and celebrities have found out.

The ongoing Panama situation could potentially have a major impact upon future tax planning and especially the use of overseas shell companies to acquire properties around the world.
Two thirds of leading global real estate investors believe that the UK leaving the European Union would result in less inward investment into property and property companies.

According to a survey of 25 real estate investors funds with assets under management of over $400 billion by KPMG a Brexit would have an impact on property investment.



While only a third of the investors surveyed have reduced or plan to reduce investment before the referendum on 23 June, some two thirds said that if the UK voted to leave the EU they would slow down investment into UK property during the period of uncertainty as new terms of engagement with Europe are being worked out.



And that initial period of uncertainty could potentially be more immediately damaging to the UK real estate market than the stable post-Brexit world, with investors more positive about the longer term state of a UK out of Europe. Indeed, only just over a third of investors said their own organisation would be less likely to invest in UK property post-Brexit.



When asked which European countries would be an alternative investment destination, the majority of investors named Germany, followed by France. This sentiment tallies with Paris and Berlin sitting alongside London in the top 10 cities for cross border investment globally in 2015 and, at a country level, the UK, Germany and France listed in the top five countries globally by 2015 transaction volume. Ireland, Scandinavia and Italy lagged significantly behind, and no other European countries were mentioned.



Since the commitment to an EU referendum, the real estate community has been noticeably reticent about investing in the UK, a fact now borne out by this research, said Andy Pyle, UK head of real estate for KPMG.

Why invest now, when June isnt that far away? In times of uncertainty, its easier to sit tight. And while our analysis shows that the period to June is causing a hiatus for some, its the period of uncertainty after a leave vote that investors are telling us is the real concern, he explained.



He pointed out that the Brexit worriers have a number of key concerns, primarily stemming from the potential economic stagnation or even downturn a vote to leave could trigger. Chief among them is that a Brexit could dampen occupier demand, which is the driving force behind UK property investment, and could in turn lead to London losing its dominant position as Europes leading financial centre.

However, he added that other factors also play in, including changes to migration agreements meaning the loss of a vital international workforce and said that if these fears materialise, this wouldnt just be bad news for London, it would have a knock on effect across the regions too.



Arguably the more important risk is the potential social impact. If a Brexit dents the rate of house building, the housing crisis will worsen, Pyle said.



He also pointed out that not everyone feels negatively about a break from Europe. While in the minority, both our research and conversations in the market show some property investors view a Brexit as an opportunity, he said.

The possibility of dropping prices or a cheaper pound, could allow some investors to take advantage of less competitive processes, playing the long game, confident in the ability of the property industry to bounce back. But the fact remains that this research points to a slowdown in investment pre and, potentially post, June, he explained.

He believes that the key question is what can be done to limit the inherent negative effect caused by uncertainty over the UKs relationship with Europe. While market behaviours and our findings show some slowdown is inevitable, the ideal would be for the property industry to be able to understand and plan for what a leave vote would mean, said Pyle.

However, without clarity on that, unfortunately uncertainty will prevail. Should a Brexit happen, the UK needs to look seriously at terms which allow us to remain an attractive market for property investment and its fair to say that without significant focus, theres a risk of widespread investor withdrawal and a negative knock on effect on the wider economy, he added.



The respondents surveyed by KPMG at the Re-Invest summit came from funds in some 54% of the funds surveyed came from Europe, 24% from North America, 18% from Asia and 4% from the Middle East.
2016 Miami Fiduciary Summit This summit is the platform for proactive plan sponsors to access training and make expert connections to work towards that single goal. Accomplishing the mission of successful retirement outcomes for employees and participants.

The 2016 Miami Fiduciary Summit is an educational workshop that brings together both local and national expertise to interact with Finance, Human Resource, and Benefit executives, along with fiduciaries and Business Owners. The goal being to help employers reduce fiduciary risk, identify plan upgrades, and make better decisions that positively impact participants.

"Making retirement plans work effectively for employers and employees is not an easy task," says Brett Shofner, Senior Vice President of Work Plan Retire. "This summit is the platform for proactive plan sponsors to access training and make expert connections to work towards that single goal. Accomplishing the mission of successful retirement outcomes for employees and participants."

Brett Shofner will lead the discussion on fiduciary topics impacting local plan sponsors. Guest speakers include:



David Donaldson, Former Senior DOL Investigator, President & CEO - ERISA Smart

Todd Brown, Principal, Healthcare Practice Leader - Pinetree Benefit Solutions

Romeo Chicco, CPA, President/CEO - PayMaster

Erika Ruiz, CPA, Senior Manager - Cherry Bekaert

Tracy Fielder, Project Management Director & Strategist Rethinking Risk - Invesco

Olindo Mare - former Miami Dolphins placekicker

Topics of Discussion:



Making Retirement Plans Work for Employers & Employees

Plan Design & Participant Outcomes

What Every Fiduciary Needs to Know for 2016

Ask the Experts: Local Professional Panel

Evaluating the Reasonableness of Plan Fees

RFI & RFP Best Practices

The 2016 Miami Fiduciary Summit is the fourth stop of the 2016 Retirement Plan Road Show and will be held at The Biltmore in Coral Gables on April 26th, 2016 from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM (lunch will be served). The 2016 Miami Fiduciary Summit is approved for 3 CPE/CPA credits, 3 HRCI general credits, 3 SHRM Professional Development Credits (PDCs), and CEBS eligible. Seating is limited and local plan sponsors will receive priority registration. Additional details and registration information can be found on the registration page:

http://xgrowthsolutions.com/retirement-events/2016/04/2016-miami-fiduciary-summit/

About Work Plan Retire

Work Plan Retire's financial consulting practice has partners that are focused on advisory services for employer retirement plans, servicing clients across the nation, with offices in South Florida, Denver and New York. Services are offered to successful companies who take their retirement plan seriously. Work Plan Retire is most effective with clients that have strong company cultures and are successful within their industry. Work Plan Retire works with investment committees that are committed to creating outstanding benefit programs for their employees and strive toward fiduciary best practices. Work Plan Retire has built the practice since 2002 by servicing clients with over $1 billion in retirement assets and thousands of employees.

Work Plan Retire helps plan fiduciaries optimize their retirement plan and measure participant success. Work Plan Retire believes employees on track for retirement are more productive in their jobs, more loyal to the employer and ultimately more valuable to themselves and the employer. Work Plan Retire will help you build and shape a retirement plan that attracts and retains the right type of employee talent your company covets.

Work Plan Retire's commitment is to help you meet fiduciary obligations through investment committee meetings, policy statements, participant success tracking, investment reviews, plan design techniques and employee education.

More information is available at http://www.workplanretire.com/

About Xponential Growth Solutions

Xponential Growth Solutions (XGS) unites 401(k), 403(b) and retirement plan sponsors with elite resources and exclusive connections. Through research, fiduciary summits, and industry expertise they help the nations retirement plan sponsors, fiduciaries, and trustees evaluate their plan and navigate the retirement plan industry. Working to help America reach their retirement goals one retirement plan at a time, XGS also founded the Retirement Plan Roadshow - a national series of fiduciary educational summits dedicated to human resources, finance and business professionals in charge of America's 401(k), 403(b), and retirement plans.
This is not about me. It is my effort to pay tribute to my 'brothers' for their service/sacrifices during a miserable period in our history.

Mike Burns, a Vietnam Veteran himself, wanted to pay homage to his "brothers" and share their goosebump-inducing stories with the world. Using the Locator section of the Vietnam Veterans of America magazine, he contacted them, listened to their stories, and captured them for posterity in this beautiful tribute.

Mike stated, "This book was not completed without difficulty. Along with contributions from those who shared their stories came painful memories and conversations about experiences seldom, if ever, discussed. None of these veterans contributed for personal attention. Instead, it was their desire to leave something meaningful in writing for family members, and to share their experience with divine intervention, be it the hand of God, or the work of His angels."

The book's cover photograph was taken by Army veteran Doug Berg during his 19691970 service in Vietnam. While near Pleiku, Doug took the photo in an effort to capture the vivid colors of the setting sun. Not until he got back home and the film was developed, did he notice what appears to be an angel, centered and floating above the battlefields of Vietnam. Doug says the angel was not visible at the moment he took the photo.

Mike has made it very clear that this project is not about him; his goal is to thank these guys for their service and sacrifices during a miserable period in history. In his Epilogue, he writes, "To each of you who contributed to this book, I thank you my Brothers. Your desire to share your experience with divine intervention was the easiest part of your contribution, as I knew it would be. To all who served in Vietnam, I thank you and salute you. To all who serve our country, I thank and salute you as well. And, as my Vietnam Veteran Brother Thomas Oliver would say, God Bless You."

A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this book will be donated to Vietnam Veterans of America. To purchase a copy from Mira Digital Publishing, click on this link: https://mira-booksmart.myshopify.com/products/a-battalion-of-angels

During the years of 2011 through 2014, Mike self-published two books for local interest, in which he paid tribute to twenty-seven of his county residents who had served in Vietnam. During a Veterans Day ceremony in 2015, Mike was awarded the Distinguished Citizen Medal by the Bosque River Valley Chapter (Texas) of the Daughters of the American Revolution, for his continued efforts to pay tribute to Vietnam Veterans. He is proud of his service in Vietnam, and proud of his service in the United States Military.

Mike Burns volunteered for Vietnam and served as a squad leader with the U.S. Army Military Police in the Central Highlands Province of Binh Dinh, from December 1966 to December of 1967. His duties consisted of village and town patrols, convoy escorts, road recon, and the collection and confinement of wounded enemy soldiers. After completion of service in Vietnam, he was assigned to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where he was awarded the Soldier's Medal for Heroism for an incident that occurred on September 17, 1967 near the village of Binh Dinh, Vietnam.
Perigord has officially launched the latest release of their proprietary innovative software, GLAMS (Global Artwork Management System). GLAMS 4, a configurable Software as a Service (SaaS) solution, presents a comprehensive artwork lifecycle management offering, coupled with fully integrated web forms and Business Intelligence Reporting capabilities.

Giving all stakeholders and customers in the artwork management process full control, by linking them through automatic emails and alerts, GLAMS 4s end-to-end digital workflow allows customers to intelligently search and quickly distribute their artwork assets.

GLAMS 4 offers a platform for multiple modules and, as it is web based, it is a light touch application, providing future proofed software for Life Science customers. Keeping the Life Science customer in mind, GLAMS 4 has been developed in compliance with GAMP 5 guidelines, is fully validated and allows 24/7 global access. In addition and in order to deliver a unified environment, GLAMS 4 can be seamlessly integrated to existing ERP/PLM systems.

Speaking of the launch, Perigords Head of Professional Services, Sam Cole says We are delighted to be in a position to launch GLAMS 4. This web based artwork management solution is ready and available to be rolled out in both existing and future GLAMS customers. Our platform is a Configurable Off The Shelf (COTS) solution, enabling exciting upgrades in the future for all customers.

About Perigord

Perigord are specialists in the provision of artwork and labelling outsource services and management solutions to the Life Science Industries globally. Perigords unique combination of offerings and technical expertise, coupled with our ability to continually deliver Right First Time artwork, offers the Life Science Industries the perfect solution for outsourced artwork production.

Perigords flagship software product GLAMS (Global Artwork Management Software) is a web-based Life Science Artwork Management Solution, developed and designed to control and manage artwork through the artwork lifecycle.
Foreword Reviews' INDIEFAB Book of the Year Awards finalist His narrative writing style offers extraordinary insight, turns complicated topic into captivating conversation.

Potomac Books, an imprint of the University of Nebraska Press, and Cindy Birne Public Relations are pleased to announce "Desert Diplomat: Inside Saudi Arabia Following 9/11" by former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Robert W. Jordan has been recognized in three categories as a finalist in the 18th annual ForeWord Reviews' INDIEFAB Book of the Year Awards.

"Desert Diplomat" invites readers to a front row seat to history, and offers them an extraordinary behind the scenes look at what it means to represent your country during one of the most critical turning points the country has faced. Through his narrative writing style, former U.S. Ambassador Robert W. Jordan, Diplomat in Residence at the John G. Tower Center for Political Studies at Southern Methodist University, quickly turns a complicated topic into a captivating conversation that leaves readers on the edge of their seats.

Each year, Foreword Reviews shines a light on a select group of indie publishers, university presses, and self-published authors whose work stands out from the crowd. In the next three months, a panel of more than 100 volunteer librarians and booksellers will determine the winners in 63 categories based on their experience with readers and patrons.

"The 2015 INDIEFAB finalist selection process is as inspiring as it is rigorous," says Victoria Sutherland, publisher of Foreword Reviews. "The strength of this list of finalists is further proof that small, independent publishers are taking their rightful place as the new driving force of the entire publishing industry."

Foreword Reviews will celebrate the winners during a program at the American Library Association Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida, in June. They will also name the Editor's Choice Prize 2015 for Fiction, Nonfiction and Foreword Reviews' 2015 INDIEFAB Publisher of the Year Award during the presentation.

To learn more, visit: ambassadorjordan.com

Books are available online and at bookstores everywhere.

About Ambassador Robert W. Jordan

Robert W. Jordan is Diplomat in Residence and adjunct professor of political science in the John G. Tower Center for Political Studies at Southern Methodist University. He served as the U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia from 2001 to 2003 and as a partner in the international law firm Baker Botts L.L.P. for many years, where he headed Middle East practice in Dubai.

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Deanna Dunning, mortgage loan originator with MidAtlantic Farm Credit Working with people is a passion of mine, and Im looking forward to getting to know our customers.

MidAtlantic Farm Credit recently announced the hiring of Deanna Dunning as a mortgage loan originator. She will be based in the associations Dover, Delaware office and will report directly to Jason Reep, mortgage loan origination manager for MidAtlantic Farm Credit.

Were excited to bring Deanna on board as the newest member of our department, says Reep. She is very familiar with the region and our customer base, which will make her a great asset to our team.

In her new role, Dunning will work with both current and prospective customers, as well as centers of influence, to educate them on Farm Credits mortgage solutions. Im very excited to be joining Farm Credit and the mortgage origination team, says Dunning. Working with people is a passion of mine, and Im looking forward to getting to know our customers.

Prior to joining Farm Credit, Dunning served in various roles with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency. Dunning, a resident of Hartly, Delaware, graduated from Delaware Technical and Community College with an associates degree in agriculture. She is currently studying accounting at Wilmington University.

About MidAtlantic Farm Credit

MidAtlantic Farm Credit is an agricultural lending cooperative owned by its memberborrowers. It provides farm loans for land, equipment, livestock and production; crop insurance; and rural home mortgages. The co-op has over 10,600 members and over $2.4 billion in loans outstanding. MidAtlantic has branches serving Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. It is part of the national Farm Credit System, a network of financial cooperatives established in 1916 to provide a dependable source of credit to farmers and rural America.
Partnering with C151 gives us the ability to expand our highly redundant, cost effective Colocation offerings for clients across Canada

StrataCore and C151 have joined forces to provide highly secure, redundant Colocation at reasonable prices under the best terms.

C151 delivers the highly redundant infrastructure that you expect from large TELCO Data Center Providers without the large price tag. They also differentiate on flexibility and service  working to meet client needs rather than one size fits all solutions.

StrataCores reason for adding providers to its portfolio is twofold - to increase the number of high-quality IT service options for its clients, and to expand its geographic reach based on business trends.

Partnering with C151 gives us the ability to expand our highly redundant, cost effective Colocation offerings for clients across Canada said Jay Schwartz, COO and General Counsel for StrataCore.

"The agreement with StrataCore allows us to grow our business with US-based service providers and enterprise companies looking for high quality Colocation services in Canada said Joe Damiani, Vice President Canada151 Data Centers.

About StrataCore:

StrataCore is the premier Data Center, IT Infrastructure, Network, and Cloud Services agent in the Pacific Northwest. We partner with the industrys top service providers to save you time and money - while maximizing business results. We offer unbiased, custom solutions while maintaining a clear view of the competitive landscape to optimize contract terms and pricing. Our market intelligence, tools, and detailed vendor selection process provides clients with the necessary insight to make informed IT decisions. For more information, visit http://www.stratacore.com/

About Canada 151 Data Centers (C151):

C151 provides carrier neutral, highly secure, and redundant Colocation and Disaster Recovery services from our convenient West Toronto facility. Focused on Colocation, we work with partners, rather than compete with them, by providing a flexible alternative in the Canadian market. http://www.canada151datacenters.com
IES Abroad, the leading not-for-profit study abroad and internships provider, announced today that they were awarded the 2016 Excellence in Diversity & Inclusion in International Education (EDIE) Award from Diversity Abroad.

Awarded annually, Diversity Abroads EDIE Award recognizes an individual, an institution, and an organization, for their dedication, innovation, and persistence in working toward providing young people from diverse and underserved backgrounds equal access to international education opportunities.

As this years organizational recipient, IES Abroad is proud to have been able to better target diverse and underrepresented students through recruiting, advising, and leadership. IES Abroad has been committed to and focused on diversification for more than 30 years.

Andrew Gordon, President & Founder of Diversity Abroad, said, Global learning is an essential aspect of a quality education for those who will be successful in the 21st century. Creating equitable access to international educational opportunities for diverse and underrepresented students has been a goal for many years. The awardees have demonstrated that with innovative thinking, persistence, and a commitment to serving all students, this shared goal is achievable.

IES Abroads Initiative to Diversify Education Abroad (IDEA) works to better reach, fund, and prepare students for their programs abroad. By fostering the connections between underrepresented students and their study abroad offices, IES Abroad has seen a 63% rise in students of color enrolling in their study abroad programs since 2011, and a year-over-year enrollment growth in ethnically-diverse students of 16% from 2014-15 to 2015-16. Additionally, 23% of IES Abroads Spring 2016 students are from diverse or underrepresented backgrounds.

IES Abroads growth was achieved despite the fact that over the last 10 years there has been a slow and modest increase in the number of U.S. minority students who study abroad. The Institute for International Education (IIE) cited in their most recent Open Doors report that the number of African-American, Asian-American, and Hispanic students who have studied abroad since 2000 has risen only about two percent for each group respectively.

IES Abroads Director of Diversity Recruiting & Advising Gretchen Cook-Anderson said, At IES Abroad, were creating global leaders. In making study abroad more accessible, we hope that many more students of all backgrounds will join the growing ranks of global citizens who are leading change around the world. We couldnt be happier or more honored to have our years-long work to diversify education abroad recognized by our peers with this EDIE Award.

IES Abroad is proud to stand among the other 2016 EDIE Award recipients, Miami Dade College, and James Pasquill III from the University of Albany.

About IES Abroad

IES Abroad is a global, not-for-profit academic consortium that offers more than 120 study abroad programs, in 30+ international locations, to more than 5,700 U.S. college students annually. Founded in 1950, IES Abroad is a leader in the field of education abroad programming and has more than 240 prestigious U.S. college and university affiliates as a part of its Consortium. Learn more at http://www.IESabroad.org.

About Diversity Abroad

Founded in 2006, Diversity Abroad connects diverse students, recent graduates, and young professionals with international opportunities to study, intern, teach, volunteer, earn a degree, or work abroad. Through its professional consortium, the Diversity Network, Diversity Abroad brings together higher education institutions, for-profit and non-profit organizations, and government agencies dedicated to advancing diversity and equity in international education.
Employer drug-testing programs in the workplace are both very common and very effective.

During the last 18 months, the vast majority of drug-testing legal cases were decided in favor of employers and against employees, according to a national survey of state and federal case law recently released by the Institute for a Drug-Free Workplace.

In 49 out of 61 of the most recent decisions (80 percent of cases), employers won on legal challenges to drug testing, based on decisions analyzed in the newly published "Guide to State and Federal Drug-Testing Laws, 16th Ed. Supplement."

The employer win-rate in court on drug-testing cases is even higher when non-statutory cases (i.e., workers compensation and unemployment compensation cases) are eliminated from the equation  employers won 91 percent of the legal challenges by employees and/or job applicants to drug testing.

This 91-percent win rate for employers is a significant increase over the 78-percent employer win rate in the previous 444 court decisions analyzed in the "Guide to State and Federal Drug-Testing Laws" by the Institute for a Drug-Free Workplace.

In a balancing test between the employee and public safety and health interests of drug-free workplaces, and the privacy rights of those who engage in illicit drug use, there is no contest, said Mark A. de Bernardo, Executive Director of the Institute for a Drug-Free Workplace and a Principal at Jackson Lewis, an 800-lawyer management-side national employment law firm. Employers are winning, and theyre winning consistently, and there are very, very few employer defeats when the issues are decided on the merits.

Most of the employer losses are on corollary issues to drug testing (such as breach of contract), procedural issues (such as an untimely filing), or collective-bargaining issues, according to Mr. de Bernardo. Workers compensation and unemployment compensation cases also factor into the totals, although employers win most of those as well.

There is not a lot of sympathy by judges, juries, and arbitrators for drug abusers, said Mr. de Bernardo. Employer drug-testing programs in the workplace are both very common and very effective, and employers are increasingly doing drug testing the right way, and the right way not only means effective deterrence and detection, it also means legally invulnerable.

Employers 9-0 on Medical-Marijuana Cases

Employers also are undefeated on legal challenges to drug testing by employees and job applicants in states with liberalized marijuana laws, noted Mr. de Bernardo. In every single case challenging drug testing where the plaintiff claims a legalized 'medical-marijuana' defense, that defense has failed. Employers can and do simply follow federal law on marijuana, and marijuana is illegal under the Controlled Substances Act.

Employers have won in medical-marijuana legal challenges in California (2), Oregon (3), Washington, Michigan, Montana, and Colorado.

For more information, visit http://www.drugfreeworkplace.org. To order a copy of the two-volume, 1600-page Guide to State and Federal Drug-Testing Laws, 16th Edition and/or its Supplement, please visit http://store.drugfreeworkplace.org/stateguide.aspx

To sign up for advocacy information on substance-abuse prevention in the workplace, send an e-mail to institute(at)drugfreeworkplace.org with the subject line Substance-Abuse-Prevention News.

The Guide to State and Federal Drug-Testing Laws, currently in its 16th Edition, is a digest of more than 500 federal and state court decisions on workplace drug testing and substance-abuse prevention, and all related state and local statutes and regulations. It provides employers with an in-depth analysis of state-by-state laws, and helps ensure compliance with state and federal laws in those areas. It includes analyses of state laws that restrict random drug testing, on-site testing, and hair testing. Drug-free workplace requirements for federal contractors and grantees are included, as are relevant DOT regulations and ADA and FMLA requirements. Summaries of related workers and unemployment compensation statutes and cases also are included, as are updated sections on state medical and recreational marijuana laws.

About the Institute for a Drug-Free Workplace

Founded in 1989, the Institute for a Drug-Free Workplace is a national coalition of major employers and employer organizations dedicated to serving the common interests of employers and employees in promoting substance-abuse-free workplaces.
This acquisition gives AroundCampus Group a well-developed app with a significant user base that most certainly will drive value for our local merchants and housing providers.

AroundCampus Group, LLC, a national leader in print advertising and marketing services for college students and communities, announced the acquisition of UConnection, Inc. today. UConnection is a leading dining and nightlife mobile app for college students. "This acquisition gives AroundCampus Group a well-developed app with a significant user base that most certainly will drive value for our local merchants and housing providers, said John OBrien, President of AroundCampus Group. Its part of our strategy to serve our customers 365 days a year.

Students use UConnection to enjoy exclusive deals, daily specials, reviews and more from all the dining and nightlife venues in college towns. We focus on providing a great user experience for students including awesome deals, said Zach Hunter, CEO and Co-Founder of UConnection. While we dominate the North Carolina region, we are excited to become part of AroundCampus to rapidly expand across the nation. Zach Hunter and his co-founder, Taylor Meyer, will continue under the new ownership.

AroundCampus is well known for its annual Sales Foundation Academy, a rigorous product and sales training program for over 750 college interns across 250 campuses. Managed by experienced regional managers, the interns represent the most formidable sales force in the nation serving small businesses and housing providers near college campuses. With AroundCampus, we will be the number one college deals app in the country this fall, serving thousands of merchants and millions of students and faculty said Tom Kuehle, President of UConnection. Students love to save money, and merchants desire a mobile connection with their customers.

AroundCampus Group has been in business for over forty years and publishes millions of student planners and parent guides in partnership with universities across the country. UConnection provides the opportunity to reach college students in a dynamic, personalized manner on the device thats central to their lives. Future plans include customer loyalty, geo-messaging through thousands of Beacons, and personalization of deals to individual tastes and preferences.

About AroundCampus Group

AroundCampus Group is the nations most established collegiate marketing and media firm, with 42 years of experience in the college market. Their ever-advancing goal is to produce relevant media and facilitate meaningful moments for college students, parents, and faculty to encounter, experience, and engage with exceptional brands. AroundCampus is built to perform multi-directional campaigns, meeting its target audiences where they are, when theyre listening, and communicating with them in their language. Their diverse media platform comprises over 400 student and parent publications, a national network of more than 1,500 brand ambassadors, digital signs on over 200 campuses, and an expert digital marketing team that manages their numerous mobile applications, websites, and social interactions.
Oxygen Theory Guide. METTLER TOLEDO's new guide provides an overview of oxygen measurement theories, an explanation of amperometric and optical sensor technologies, and explains how sensors should be calibrated and maintained in order to provide reliable measurements.

METTLER TOLEDO has produced a guide for the process industries that explains the measurement theory, sensor technology and practice of measuring dissolved and gaseous oxygen with in-line sensors.

Oxygen measurement and control plays an important role in many chemical, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, power, and food & beverage processes. In biofermentation, oxygen control leads to increased yield and decreased production of unwanted byproducts. Oxygen management in the chemical industry helps to avoid the formation of explosive gas mixtures, and oxidation control in the brewing industry results in increased quality and shelf life of products. The in-line measurement of oxygen in liquid and gaseous mixtures is vital in these and many other processes for providing continuous, real-time data on oxygen levels.

Today, both electrochemical and optical technologies are available for the measurement of oxygen in aqueous and gas phase media. Amperometric technology has been successfully used for decades in a variety of applications and is based on electrochemical reactions. Optical technology, which exploits the phenomenon of fluorescence quenching, is a relatively recent innovation that has gained wide acceptance in the biotech and beverage industries due to its ease of use.

METTLER TOLEDO's new guide provides an overview of oxygen measurement theories, an explanation of amperometric and optical sensor technologies, and explains how sensors should be calibrated and maintained in order to provide reliable measurements.

The guide is available to download from http://www.mt.com/pro-oxygen-guide

About METTLER TOLEDO Process Analytics

METTLER TOLEDO's Process Analytics division develops and manufactures instrumentation and sensors used for liquid process measurement, and measurement in pure and ultrapure water applications. Their product portfolio covers measurement of pH, dissolved and gaseous oxygen, dissolved ozone, oxygen reduction potential (ORP), resistivity/conductivity and total organic carbon (TOC). METTLER TOLEDO Process Analytics consists of two business units, Ingold and Thornton, whose products are commonly used in industries such as


Procura, a leading provider of home, community, and residential care software, has partnered with Macadamian, a full-service UX design and software development firm, to enhance design the User Experience (UX) for Procuras next generation web-based Procura Clinical Care product.

Macadamian was brought on board to design streamlined user workflows, high fidelity UX presentation layers, and animations for the Procura application. Working with Procuras product and development teams, Macadamian simplified users interactions with the electronic medical record for Procuras residential clinical care solution. The key objectives of the project have been to increase efficiency and accuracy for clinical record keeping, permitting caregivers to spend more time focusing on what really matters  their clients.

We wanted to build the best clinical solution, so we brought in the best UX design company, stated Isaac Alexander, Chief Software Architect for Procura. My developers are excellent software engineers, but they dont speak clinician. Since Macadamian specializes in healthcare user experience design, their team was able to communicate with our technical business, and clinical experts using language and approaches that were meaningful to the audience. My team worked on the underlying architecture by applying methods that we derived from our portfolio of existing EMR products, building in improvements that have been common requests from customers as we went.

Due for release in Spring 2016 and currently being tested within Procuras Client Advisory Board (CAB) group in Australia, the solution will initially be released to residential care customers in Australia, with an objective to extend the solution for the home and community care sectors in subsequent phases.

About Procura

Procura is a multi-national provider of software and solutions to home health, community care, disability services, hospice and residential care organizations. Procuras offerings are focused on enhancing back office efficiency, scheduling, and coordinating clinical care delivery for its customers field and clinical workers. Procura licenses its products in the US, Canada, and Australia to over 4,200 customer sites that manage care for over 2.7 million clients in the community and 60,000 residents. Procuras product portfolio includes ContinuLink, the Procura Health Management System, Igea, the Procura PeoplePoint residential management system, and the Progresa Health System.

About Macadamian

Macadamian is a full-service software design and development firm. From product ideation to market ready  and everything in between  we provide a complete range of usability, design, and engineering services. From big consumer brands to enterprise, telecom, and healthcare; our solutions are founded in design that thinks of the customer first while leveraging the cloud, Big Data, and Internet of Things to deliver context-aware and adaptive experiences. The result? Engaging software solutions that have a direct impact on the bottom line.
SafeKey Corporation, a leader in technology that saves lives, has unanimously elected Michael Sowada as Chief Executive Officer effective February 27, 2016. Mr. Sowada will also become Chairman of the Board. Current President and CEO Jim Rennie will continue on as the President & Chief Operating Officer of SafeKey.

Safekey is thrilled to have Mike join our team. We met with Mike seven times throughout our two way due diligence period. The experience, vision and leadership Mike provides will allow us to fuel our growth, said Rennie current President and Chief Operating Officer.

I am honored that the SafeKey Board of Directors chose me to lead the organization in their next chapter of growth, said Michael Sowada. I am also thrilled to be working with a great group of people at SafeKey. The organization is making a difference and saving lives!

Mike Sowada has been a business and technology leader for 30 years. Before SafeKey, Mike was CEO and/or Founder of Data Center Advisors, VISI, Digital North and DKS Systems. Mike also has extensive business and technology experience at companies such as TDS Telecommunications, Accenture and Musicland Group; plus numerous consulting roles for Fortune 500 companies down to small start-ups.

Mike has won numerous awards, including being named 2009 Entrepreneur of the Year and 2005 Emerging Entrepreneur, for his contributions and leadership in the business community. Mike has been a guest speaker at the University of St. Thomas, University of Minnesota and numerous business organizations.

He holds an MBA from St. Thomas University in Venture Management and received his Bachelor of Science undergraduate degree in Computer Science from Minnesota State University - Mankato.

About SafeKey Corporations Two Business Units.

Safekey manufactures and sells a Voluntary Ignition Interlock, which prevents impaired driving. The system is making an extraordinary difference in our customers lives. More at: http://www.safekeycorporation.com

SafeKey manufactures and sells a Driver Safety Tool: Assisting transportation companies with deploying a zero cargo loss and driver safety strategy. More at: http://www.safekeyfleetsafety.com

For additional information, please contact:

Jim Rennie, President & Chief Operating Officer

jrennie(at)safekeycorporation(dot)com

Phone: 1.877.920.8230

Cell: 1.612.751.2175
AFF Yr 2 Honorees - Updated

The Artemis Women in Action Film Festival is thrilled to announce the presentation of The Artemis Action Rebel Award to recognize Director/Writer Paul Feig (Ghostbusters, Spy, The Heat) for his work that smashes conventions and perceptions of women in film. Mr. Feig has been unafraid to show women as physically strong, empowered characters in film during an era in which this is not the norm.

The festivals headlining event will be the Friday Red Carpet Gala featuring the Honoree Award Ceremony and premiere headline screenings. Our Honoree Award ceremony will also recognize iconic action actress Yancy Butler (Witchblade, Kick-Ass, Kick-Ass 2) with the Action Powerhouse Award. Superstar stuntwomen/actresses Zoe Bell (Hateful Eight, Death Proof, Kill Bill, Xena) will receive the Artemis Stunt Icon Award and A-List stuntwoman Heidi Moneymaker (Iron Man 2, Captain America: Winter Soldier, Furious 7) will receive the Artemis Stunt Unsung Heroine Award. World renowned stuntwoman/stunt coordinator Dayna Grant (Mad Max, Hercules, Ash Vs. Evil Dead, Xena) will receive the Artemis Stunt Warrior Award, and stuntwoman and Ninja Warrior Jessie Graff (Bridesmaids, Barely Lethal, Bad Teacher, American Ninja Warrior) will be recognized with the Artemis Stunt Next Wave Award.

All honorees are expected to attend the festival.

Our headlining films include the world premiere of No Touching, the long awaited horror short starring Zoe Bell and Heidi Moneymaker, and an exclusive extended sneak peek of the female action feature Fight Valley, starring UFC champ Miesha Tate, former UFC Champ Holly Holm, and Invicta Champ Cristiane Cyborg Justino. The extended peek will feature exclusive never-before-seen footage of the film scheduled to premiere this July. Additionally, the US premiere of British National Film Award nominee Never Let Go, directed by Howard J. Ford and starring Angela Dixon, will be the feature presentation.

Radio legend Sheena Metal will broadcast her drive-time radio show The Sheena Metal Experience during the Red Carpet Gala. Go Curvy founder Sherry Lee Meredith will conduct live interviews from the Red Carpet.

A stunt panel discussion is set for 3:00pm on Friday and will include stunt icons Andy Armstrong, Jenifer Caputo, Zoe Bell, Angela Meryl, Heidi Moneymaker, Maja Aro, Dayna Grant, Jessie Graff, and Indus Alelia.

Sunday boasts a special screening of a globally renowned, critically acclaimed documentary Indias Daughter, which focuses on the rape crisis in India. Filmmaker/Activist Leslee Udwin will be present for a one hour Q & A after the film. Banned in India, the film is an eye opening examination of the worldwide crisis of physical and sexual abuse of women.

Tickets for the festival are now available for purchase at http://www.WomenKickAss.com.

Were going to show you women kicking ass and taking names, said film festival Founder Melanie Wise. Weve got Hollywood stars, A-List stunt women, and womens MMA fighters. Everything that epitomizes our official hashtag, #womenkickass.

Its the time the world has the chance to see a collection of female action films in one place at one time, remarks Co-Founder Sean Marlon Newcombe. Female action films are popular, profitable and people are clamoring for them.

Press Contact: Info(at)ArtemisFilmFestival(dot)com

For More Info:

http://www.WomenKickAss.com

http://twitter.com/Artemis_ff

http://www.Facebook.com/ArtemisFilmFestival

Official Website: http://www.ArtemisFilmFestival.com

About the Artemis Women In Action Film Festival:

A first of its kind, inspired by the popularity of the genre, its longevity, and their love of film, Artemis Motion Pictures is producing the world's first film festival devoted exclusively to honoring female driven action films. Artemis has been attracting the attention and support of high profile influencers such as Paul Feig, Carrie Fisher, Rosie ODonnell, Patricia Arquette, and Wynonna Judd all of whom have graciously helped boost the popularity of the official hashtag, #WomenKickAss.
Newburn joins North American National Title Solutions as national com'l business development rep Tom has had a long, successful career in the title industry. His vast network of customers will allow North American Title Companys National Commercial Division to expand its footprint on a national basis.

North American National Title Solutions (NANTS) has recruited Thomas Newburn as a national commercial business development representative. A 28-year veteran of commercial title services marketing, Newburn has extensive experience working with national pension funds, insurance companies, REITs, hedge funds, real estate attorneys, and other owners and developers of retail, multifamily, hospitality and industrial properties.

Tom has had a long, successful career in the title industry and brings the experience and knowledge of how that industry has changed, said John Shafer, director, national commercial division, NANTS. His vast network of customers will allow North American Title Companys National Commercial Division to expand its footprint on a national basis and will benefit all our local operations.

Adding Tom to our team affords us a great opportunity to move forward in 2016 with our intended goals as we continue to expand our efforts as a national company, added Shafer.

After attending the University of Texas, Newburn worked for several years selling oil and gas equipment to major and independent oil companies, eventually becoming a crude oil trader. He moved to the title industry in 1988, taking a position as a commercial marketing representative for one of the top title insurance underwriters in the country. Newburn has held several commercial sales and business development positions with other top underwriters over the years, handling major national accounts.

Based out of the NANTS national commercial division office at 760 Northwest 107th Ave., 4th floor, Miami, FL 33172, Newburn may be contacted at (877) 940-4687.

About North American Title

With well over 1,000 associates and a vast network of branches from coast to coast, North American Title (NAT) is among the largest real estate settlement service providers in the United States. Consisting of both agent and underwriter operations, NAT reported annual net revenues in fiscal 2015 of $229 million. The company also has the resources and stability of a wholly owned subsidiary of an S&P 500 company with over $14.4 billion in assets (fiscal year ending Nov. 30, 2015). North American Titles agency network operates nationally under the name North American Title Co. (NATC) in 19 of the fastest-growing states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and Virginia, in addition to the District of Columbia. Through our relationship with our expanding affiliate network, NATC provides real estate settlement services in all 50 states. NAT is headquartered in Miami, Florida. To learn more, visit http://www.nat.com
Securing a contract with MultiPlan is another example of the potential game-changing clinical and economic value that APIFINY offers.

Armune BioScience, an emerging leader in cancer diagnostics, has recently completed a national Ancillary Service Agreement with MultiPlan, Inc.

Under the new Agreement, APIFINY will participate in the PHCS Network, MultiPlans national primary network, the MultiPlan Network, MultiPlans national complementary network, and ValuePoint by MultiPlan, a national discount card network used by individuals responsible for paying their own healthcare bills. MultiPlan is the nations oldest and largest supplier of independent, network based cost management solutions, with an estimated 68 million consumers accessing its networks.

Launched in the United States in April of 2015, APIFINY is the only cancer specific, non-PSA blood test available to aid clinicians in the risk assessment for the presence of prostate cancer. APIFINY order volume exceeded 5,000 tests in its first year on the market. Primary care physicians and urologists have utilized APIFINY to help move beyond PSA based testing to assess prostate cancer risk.

We look forward to working with MultiPlan and making APIFINY available to their clients healthcare members. Securing a contract with MultiPlan is another example of the potential game-changing clinical and economic value that APIFINY offers, said David A. Esposito, President and CEO of Armune BioScience. Given the current concerns of PSA testing throughout the world, APIFINY is well positioned to offer clinicians additional information in the assessment of prostate cancer risk. In addition, we are confident that APIFINY will help to address our healthcare systems demand for improved outcomes at lower costs.

APIFINY was developed based on innovative research into the immune systems response to cancer conducted at the University of Michigan. Armune is currently expanding testing throughout the United States and preparing to launch APIFINY in several markets worldwide. Armune recently retained Mavericks Capital as the companys advisor and investment bank.

About MultiPlan ( http://www.multiplan.com)

MultiPlan, Inc. is the industrys most comprehensive provider of healthcare cost management solutions. The company provides a single gateway to a host of network- and analytics-based solutions for managing the financial risks associated with healthcare claims as well as products that fight waste, abuse and fraud before payments are made. Clients include insurers, health plans, third party administrators, self-funded employers, HMOs and other entities that pay medical bills in the commercial healthcare, government, workers compensation and auto medical markets. MultiPlan is owned by an investment group led by Starr Investment Holdings and Partners Group.

About Mavericks Capital ( http://www.maverickscap.com)

Mavericks Capital LLC and its licensed broker dealer, Mavericks Capital Securities LLC, specializes in advising companies on M&A, capital raises and strategic partnerships across the healthcare sector. With a senior team having deep medical perspectives, core scientific knowledge and proprietary analytics, we help construct and facilitate innovative and lucrative solutions for our clients. Our practice areas include therapeutics, devices, diagnostics, services and digital health.

About Armune BioScience ( http://www.armune.com)

Armune BioScience, Inc. is a medical diagnostics company that develops and commercializes unique proprietary technology exclusively licensed from the University of Michigan for diagnostic and prognostic tests for prostate, lung and breast cancers. Armune was incorporated as a Delaware Corporation in 2008 with corporate headquarters in Kalamazoo, MI and a research and commercial laboratory in Ann Arbor, MI.
ALTA Elite Providers PYA, Real Estate Data Shield, and Security Compliance Associates Form Affiliation to Offer Best Practices Compliance Solution, Certification+ Our goal is to assist both lenders and service providers by streamlining the certification process with a bundled compliance package and single point of contact under an easily recognized brand name

PYA (Pershing Yoakley & Associates, P.C.), Real Estate Data Shield, and Security Compliance Associates have entered into an elite affiliation that offers real estate settlement service providers including title agents, settlement agents, attorneys, escrow companies, notaries, etc., the very first single-source compliance solution, which will be branded Certification+. These three American Land Title Association (ALTA) Elite Providers have come together to deliver a unique package of information technology, cyber security, education, and industry-specific compliance solutions. The Certification+ brand will offer a discounted security and compliance bundled service aimed at satisfying the regulatory and compliance requirements for each of the seven pillars of ALTAs Best Practices to meet both lender and regulator mandates.

Created by best-in-class solutions providers, Certification+ is poised to offer the most comprehensive compliance solution in the settlement industry. Our goal is to assist both lenders and service providers by streamlining the certification process with a bundled compliance package and single point of contact under an easily recognized brand name, said Mike Shamblin, Managing Principal of Audit & Assurance Services with PYA. Certification+ is the brand that will deliver an unparalleled, lender-oriented certification package, which includes employee education, seven-pillar certification, and cyber/information security compliance, commented Shamblin.

As lenders, regulators, and title insurance underwriters escalate their certification requirements to ensure that personal information and settlement funds are secure, our companies have joined forces to make it easier for agents and attorneys to complete ALTA Best Practices certification while meeting GLBA compliance requirements, said Chris Gulotta, CEO of Real Estate Data Shield. Offering a one-stop-shop for a suite of compliance services through industry-leading organizations makes sense for all industry stakeholdersfrom lenders, to service providers, and ultimately to consumers. Our organizations had already been working together on common clients, so it was a natural progression to formalize our affiliation, Gulotta said.

The Certification+ brand is affordable for both small and large settlement agents and law firms, and includes the following suite of services:



E-Learning Data Security Staff Training

Best Practices Assessment and Certification of Pillars No. 1 through 7

GLBA Gap Analysis and Compliance

Policy Templates

Internal/External Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing and more

Our brands are the leading companies in the settlement arena, and we have each independently built

our reputations on offering superior solutions that are competitively priced. We are thrilled to offer an

all-inclusive compliance package to the settlement market that ensures compliance, information and

cyber security, and ultimately peace of mind for our clients, commented Jim Brahm, CEO of Security

Compliance Associates.

The leadership team from the Certification+ member companies serves on the ALTA Best Practices

Task Force, Technology, Audit, Education, Membership, and Public Relations Committees. Members

are frequently asked to speak at leading industry conferences on topics relating to Best Practices;

cyber security; lender oversight; and federal and state information security laws, rules, and

regulations. In addition, many have executive-level experience as service providers, and have helped

shape the Certification+ process and solution to meet the precise needs of lenders, title underwriters,

and regulators, in a flexible manner that can be customized for clients of all sizes.

About Security Compliance Associates (SCA) http://www.scasecurity.com

SCA is the industry-leading assessment and certification provider for the Financial Institution Industry. SCA was formed in 2000 with over 14-years experience in delivering world-class IT information security assessment services throughout the United States. SCAs engineers have completed thousands of IT information security assessments nationwide, and our company employs numerous credentialed engineers and security compliance professionals to meet the increasing demand for IT information security compliance solutions. Our engineers have over 100 years of combined IT information security experience including, but not limited to, NASA Mission Operations at Johnson Space Center, Department of Defense, and the National Intelligence Community.

SCA Contact: Jim Brahm, (877) 993-4472

About Real Estate Data Shield http://www.realestatedatashield.com

Real Estate Data Shield (REDS) was the very first company to achieve ALTAs coveted Elite Provider designation. REDS provides title and settlement industry-specific data security staff training and tools designed to enable our industry to avoid data breaches and demonstrate compliance with all applicable laws and Best Practices. Its management team is led by a unique combination of internationally recognized privacy experts and real estate professionals. REDS staff training courseware has won two (2) e-learning awards, and REDS is a preferred vendor to many national title underwriters. The REDS 2.0 Compliance Management Platform provides title and settlement agents, attorneys, and notaries with practical solutions to the privacy and security challenges they encounter every day.

Real Estate Data Shield Contact: Chris Gulotta, (212) 951-7302

About PYA http://www.pyapc.com

For over three decades, PYA (Pershing Yoakley & Associates), a national professional services firm providing management consulting and accounting, has helped its clients navigate and derive value amid complex challenges. In addition to serving the healthcare and financial institutions industries, PYA serves the title industry with a comprehensive list of offerings, including: ALTA Best Practices implementation and assessment; strategic planning; mergers and acquisitions; tax compliance; and regulatory compliance.

PYAs steadfast commitment to an unwavering client-centric culture has served the firms clients well. PYA is ranked 103rd by INSIDE Public Accountings Top 200 Largest Accounting Firms. PYA affiliate companies offer clients world-class data analytics, professional real estate development and advisory resources, comprehensive claims audits for self-insured Fortune 500 companies, wealth management and retirement plan administration, and business transitions consulting.

PYA is headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee. For more information, please visit

http://www.pyabestpractices.com.

PYA Contact: Mike Shamblin, (800) 270-9629
The fact that weve launched back into print, that were launching new research projects and awards programs and that were now staffing up the editorial department shows exceptional momentum at a time when other publications are scaling back.

1105 Media is pleased to announce that THE Journal, the premier resource for senior-level K-12 education technology professionals, has taken significant steps since the re-launch of their print product in January 2015 to increase their already expansive coverage of the K-12 technology marketplace. This includes the establishment of a successful Readers Choice Award Program, the launch of two new industry surveys: IT Salary & Job Satisfaction and Teaching with Technology, and two new staff hires.

The fact that weve launched back into print, that were launching new research projects and awards programs and that were now staffing up the editorial department shows exceptional momentum at a time when other publications are scaling back, said David Nagel, Editor-in-Chief of THE Journal . We believe in education technology and in the promise it holds for the nations schools, colleges and universities and the students they serve, and were committed to the industry and supporting the education community.

In THE Journals first ever Readers Choice Awards, education technology professionals voted for the software, hardware and services they consider most vital to the job of educating and supporting Americas 50 million K-12 students.

The IT Salary and Job Satisfaction Surveythe only one of its kind in the K-12 education spacepolled educators thoughts on their current career, future prospects, budget, salary and working conditions. The Teaching with Technology Survey will gauge the attitudes and experiences of Americas educators toward the technologies they use in their classrooms. It will explore their preferences, level of confidence in their abilities, belief in technology as a teaching and learning tool and outlook for the future.

THE Journal is also adding two new editorial members. Richard Chang is the new Associate Editor, and has worked for the Los Angeles Times, Orange County Register, OC Metro and various arts and culture magazines. Sri Ravipati is the new Web Producer for THEJournal.com and CampusTechnology.com and has been an editor and copy editor on academic publications.

Richard and Sri each bring a great set of skills to the position and will make valuable additions to our team. Theyll be reporting on some of the most important topics in technology that are helping to shape the discussion around 21st century learning, from technologies that enable new teaching methods to issues surrounding the protection of student data privacy, said Nagel. We welcome them to the team and are excited about the contributions theyll be making to our readers and the industry.

About THE Journal

THE Journal is the premier resource for K-12 senior-level district and school administrators, IT administration and instructional technologists who make decisions and influence technology purchases for their districts, schools and classrooms. http://www.thejournal.com

About 1105 Public Sector Media Group

1105 Public Sector Media Group, a division of 1105 Media, Inc., provides information, insight and analysis to the Government IT and Education IT (FED/SLED) sectors. Our content platforms include print, digital, online, events and a broad spectrum of marketing services. http://www.1105publicsector.com

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Dr. William Whyte In todays technology-driven world, more and more of our everyday devices are connected to the cloud. While this certainly makes our lives easier, individuals and organizations alike should be thinking about the associated security ramifications.

Dr. William Whyte, Chief Scientist for Security Innovation, a cybersecurity provider and leader in the 2015 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Security Awareness Training, will be speaking on a panel at MITs Connected Things Enterprise Form 2016 in Cambridge, MA.

Connected Things 2016 has assembled leading innovators and market leaders to discuss the state of IoT as it is being deployed today in healthcare, smart cities, retail, manufacturing, transportation and logistics and other industries. Critical issues such as device security and media and marketing will also be addressed.

At the conference Dr. Whyte will be joined by the President and CEO of SecureRF and the President of Sypris Electronics to discuss all things IoT and their impact on security in a panel entitled, Internet of Things Security Gets Real. Spamming refrigerators may be a scary (if strange) notion, but the real stakes on the Internet of Things are much higher than a messaging app run amok. As researchers have already demonstrated: lives, public safety and our economy are all potential casualties of indiscriminate or targeted attacks on connected devices and critical infrastructure. And these attacks arent merely hypothetical. Actual cyber kinetic attacks are already on the books. This panel of experts and practitioners in the security of embedded systems and critical infrastructure will take the measure of existing cyber kinetic incidents and attacks and talk about best practices for securing IoT environments from attacks and disruption.

William Whyte is chair of the IEEE 1363 Working Group for new standards in public key cryptography and has served as technical editor of two published IEEE standards, IEEE Std 1363.1-2008 and IEEE Std 1609.2-2006, as well as the ASC X9 standard X9.98. Before joining Security Innovation, he was the Chief Technology Officer of NTRU Cryptosystems. He previously served as Senior Cryptographer with Baltimore Technologies in Dublin, Ireland. Dr. Whyte holds a PhD from Oxford University on Statistical Mechanics of Neural Networks and a B.A. from Trinity College.

About Security Innovation

Since 2002, Security Innovation has been the trusted partner for cybersecurity risk analysis and mitigation for the worlds leading companies, including Microsoft, Sony, GM, Disney, Google and Dell. Recognized as a Leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Security Awareness Computer-Based Training for the second year in a row, Security Innovation is dedicated to securing and protecting sensitive data in the most challenging environments - automobiles, desktops, web applications, mobile devices and in the cloud. Security Innovation is privately held and headquartered in Wilmington, MA USA. For more information, visit http://www.securityinnovation.com.

About Connected Things

Industry leaders are already harvesting billions in revenue on Connected Products. The market is here, and according to the analysts, its only going to grow. The goal of last years conference was to bring clarity to a topic where there is still a lot of uncertainty. This year, were getting real with IoT and focusing on whats real and happening todayat scalewith IoT. To learn more, visit http://www.mitforumcambridge.org/events/connected-things-2016/.
Marketing should not feel like marketing. It should feel like a story. One that resonates with its audiencecauses them to feel understoodoffers a sense of belonging.

Professional StoryBranding Advisor Jim Signorelli has joined the award-winning team at Chicagoland advertising agency, Stevens & Tate Marketing.

Jim brings over 30 years of marketing and advertising experience to Stevens & Tate, with a vast background spanning many areas of brand development for such prominent names as Citibank, General Electric, Toshiba, Burger King, Kraft Foods, Arbys, and others. As co-founder of former Chicago marketing and branding firm eswStoryLab, Jim is well versed in all aspects of the industry, but specializes in building brand following through the power of story telling.

As originator of the StoryBranding concept, Jim is the Internationally awarded author of two best-selling books, including StoryBranding 2.0: Creating Standout Brands Through the Power of Story. He has been voted to the list of Top 50 Marketing Thought Leaders Over 50 by the readers of Brand Quarterly Magazine and is the recipient of U.S. Banks Smart Leaders Award. He is a skilled marketing veteran, a renowned speaker and educator, and adds to Stevens & Tates professional assets of high-level thinking, diverse insight and extensive expertise.

The team at Stevens & Tate shares the same outlook as I dophilosophically and in the way we approach clients challenges, Signorelli said. This common vision and attitude means we can draw on each others strengths and become something even greater moving forward, he continued. Along with Stevens & Tates shared belief in the power of storytelling to build brands, the agencys robust digital capabilities offer Signorelli a new outlet for his in-depth StoryBranding focus.

Marketing should not feel like marketing. It should feel like a story. Signorelli said. One that resonates with its audiencecauses them to feel understoodoffers a sense of belonging, he continued.

The most successful brands today are ones that customers can relate to in values and beliefsthey dont just attract buyers, they attract followers. For business leadership teams looking to find, define and develop their unique brand story, Signorelli conducts educational workshops through his consultancy firm Story-Lab. Learn more about StoryBranding at http://www.stevens-tate.com/storybranding.

Stevens & Tate Marketing is a full-service Chicago advertising and marketing agency offering award-winning, on-strategy creative; integrated message development; and cost-effective media planning and execution. The team creates targeted solutions for clients within CPG and food, grocery and retail, homebuilding, travel and tourism, business-to-business, healthcare, pharmaceutical, and senior living industries. To learn more about how Stevens & Tate can help Make Things HappenTM for your business, call (630) 627-5200.
We are targeting both the 70 percent of the population that undergo biopsies on non-cancerous tissue resulting from mammographic referral and mass screening of patients with dense breasts

Cyrcadia Health is pleased to announced the expansion of its clinical trial for early breast cancer detection to The Stefanie Spielman Comprehensive Breast Center at The Ohio State University, in Columbus, Ohio. The trial, which began in 2015 at El Camino Hospital in Mountain View, California, will continue at both locations to reach enrollment of 173 patients focused on breast cancer health screening.

We are targeting both the 70 percent of the population that undergo biopsies on non-cancerous tissue resulting from mammographic referral and mass screening of patients with dense breasts, said Rob Royea, president of Cyrcadia Health. Patients with dense breast tissue have a higher propensity for cancer. Furthermore, mammography is challenged by detecting cancer in dense breast tissue as the tissue itself can mask cancer cells and lesions.

One in eight women in the U.S. are diagnosed with breast cancer annually, and approximately 500,000 women die worldwide from the disease each year, many due to lack of early detection. Cyrcadias wearable, smart phone-enabled iTBraTM technology, uses a comfortable data collection device placed under a bra to collect from two to twelve hours of breast cell data (dynamic cell chaos). Circadian rhythm-based temperature variances of cell cycles are then measured through a Cyrcadia-patented process to identify abnormalities at the earliest stages of cellular change over time.

The results collected from the technology are transferred through a smart device to a global cancer library, where advanced analytical analysis occurs. The results then are communicated back to the patient and physician.

We have had a great deal of interest in this technology that may change the need for a breast biopsy, said Dr. Shyamali Singhal, founder of the El Camino Hospital Cancer Center. The trial at El Camino Hospital opened with strong interest from the patient population and the early results are indeed promising. We look forward to further involvement with the Cyrcadia study here at El Camino Hospital.

The expansion of our study to The Ohio State University is truly exciting, as The Ohio State University was the point of origin for the initial 500 patient study conducted with our previous FDA cleared device, said Royea. Dr. William Farrar, professor, Division of Surgical Oncology, Department of Surgery, and medical director of the Stefanie Spielman Comprehensive Breast Center was one of our original researchers. His confidence to include the Cyrcadia study at one of the nations highest rated cancer hospitals is a significant complement to our early clinical trial progress. As we evaluate and potentially add new sites to the study, we will post final results of the study on clinicaltrials.gov. once we have reached clearance by the FDA or final trial enrollment.

Current studies are supported financially by the Canary Foundation, the only foundation in the world which, over the past 10 years, has focused solely on early cancer detection. Cyrcadia and the Canary Foundation will be collaborating on early biomarker identification for breast cancer. The ability to correlate the Cyrcadia findings with those biomarkers, which are early indicators of breast cancer cell infusion, are invaluable and could lead to earlier therapy intervention in the progression of breast cancer.

We are looking forward to participating in the Cyrcadia study, said Dr. Farrar. Early indications from the original predicate device from Cyrcadia showed promise that the monitor may be useful for screening those women with difficult mammographic interpretation (dense breast tissue), said Dr. Farrar. We look forward to further testing these new wearable devices to validate Cyrcadias use as an adjunctive screening solution to reduce unnecessary biopsies and to determine its abilities to further define cancer in patients with dense tissue.

About The Stefanie Spielman Comprehensive Breast Center at the Ohio State University:

The Stefanie Spielman Comprehensive Breast Center is part of The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center  Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute. It is the first of its kind in the Midwest to offer the full continuum of breast cancer care - from prevention and screening through detection, diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship  in one world class facility. The Stefanie Spielman Comprehensive Breast Center is home to a transdisciplinary, multimodality team of nationally renowned breast cancer experts, all singularly focused on preventing, detecting, treating, and curing breast cancer. In this unique environment, breast cancer researchers and clinicians work closely together to deliver the latest innovations to every patient. The Stefanie Spielman Comprehensive Breast Center is designated a Breast Imaging Center of Excellence by the American College of Radiology and is accredited by the American College of Surgeons National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers.

About Cyrcadia, Inc.

Cyrcadia, Inc., also known as Cyrcadia Health, was founded as First Warning Systems in 2008, is based in Reno, Nev. The companys product line is a device and software service that detects breast tissue abnormalities leading to health risk assessment and management including early breast cancer identification. Three clinical trials with over 500 participants have achieved proof of concept and superior outcomes when compared to other diagnostic protocols. Cyrcadia is underway in a final, limited clinical trial and a 510k device classification to validate the product. Cyrcadia technology is exclusively licensed for development, manufacturing and marketing worldwide from Lifeline Biotechnologies, Inc (OTC Market: LLBO) Cyrcadia is preparing to apply for FDA Clearance and a Euro CE Mark to market in the European Union and Asia Pacific markets, with anticipation of launching its technology to market in 2017. Furthermore, Cisco Systems, Inc. has financially supported the making of a documentary by Ironbound Films about the evolution of Cyrcadia technology, called Detected Movie to be released . Please visit http://www.DetectedMovie.com and Cyrcadia Health at http://www.cyrcadiahealth.com.

Per Federal FDAAA 801 guidelines, Cyrcadia will release information on trial location additions, as well as clinical trial data only at time of trial completion or FDA clearance for disclosure.

About Canary Foundation

Canary Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to the goal of identifying cancer early through a simple blood test, and then isolating it with imaging. Canary Foundation is based in Palo Alto, California and was founded by Don Listwin in 2004. The program areas of the Foundation are early detection for ovarian, prostate, breast, lung, and pancreatic cancer.
TripShock suppliers will be able to reach 12 million more unique visitors this year.

TripShock.com announced today that they are providing tour and activity booking engines for 16 regional tour and travel publishers. In December of 2015, Tripshock.com officially launched their white label platform that allows publishers to sell TripShock tours and activities directly on their website(s). Publishers can earn up to 40% revenue share depending on their volume of business. With the addition of these new distribution agreements, TripShock suppliers will be able to reach 12 million more unique visitors this year.

In New Orleans, Compucast Web Inc. and their network of high-traffic consumer travel sites such as ExperienceNewOrleans.com, MardiGrasNewOrleans.com and NewOrleansCoupons.com will offer online booking for popular tours and activities throughout New Orleans. NewOrleansWebsites.com and FrenchQuarterAttractions.com have also added the white label engine to monetize their activity and tour pages. The first CVB to officially use TripShocks white label comes out of the River Parishes as the New Orleans Plantation Country CVB will implement the white label portal this Summer.

In Northwest Florida, TripShock welcomes several new distribution partners. After a successful trip to the MWR travel shows last month, TripShock welcomes the Panama City NSA ITT and Milton Whiting Field ITT. Service personnel at these bases will receive discounts and agent booking assistance when planning their trips to TripShock destinations. Other local publishers such as DestinBoardwalk.com, DestinWave.com, BeachBux.com, Lifes A Beach LLC, DestinDirect.com, and DestinFlorida.com have implemented the white label portal this month.

The Fort Walton Beach Chamber of Commerce is the first chamber to offer the TripShock booking service to its members. They have opted to use a curated model that only promotes their members who are contracted through Tripshock. In Walton County, marketing and branding experts 30a.com have implemented the white label within their iphone app and throughout their network of websites  Visit 30ATours.com to view a list of their activity and tour options.

For more information regarding TripShock.com or its white label program, please contact Greg Fisher at 850-424-5125 ext 1001 or email info(at)tripshock(dot)com.

About TripShock.com

Located in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, TripShock.com is the #1 online activity and tour booking service on the Gulf Coast. Founded in 2009, TripShock has grown from a single tour provider to over 130 tour and lodging providers across the Gulf Coast region. Customers nationwide trust TripShock to assist in vacation planning in popular destinations including New Orleans, Destin, and Panama City Beach.
The choices we now provide to our clients offer a vast array of on-premise solutions and diversified cloud strategies that enable enterprises to seamlessly transition into this ever changing IT landscape.

Computer Design & Integration LLC (CDI LLC) announced today that CRN, a brand of The Channel Company, has named CDI LLC to its 2016 Tech Elite 250 list. This annual list honors an exclusive group of North American IT solution providers that have earned the highest number of advanced technical certifications from leading technology vendors.

To compile the annual list, The Channel Companys research group and CRN editors work together to identify the most customer-beneficial technical certifications in the North American IT channel. Companies who have obtained these elite designationswhich enable solution providers to deliver premium products, services and customer supportare then selected from a pool of online applicants.

It is an honor to once again stand among this select group of top-ranked, national IT solution providers, said Rich Falcone, executive vice president, CDI LLC. At CDI, we are proud of our continued focus on the training and certification of our technical team. Our experts not only provide exceptional business solutions to customers, helping them solve their most complex IT challenges, but also spur innovation as technologies continue to advance. We are very bullish on our Hybrid IT value proposition for 2016. The choices we now provide to our clients offer a vast array of on-premise solutions and diversified cloud strategies that enable enterprises to seamlessly transition into this ever changing IT landscape.

"The solution providers selected for our annual Tech Elite 250 list have demonstrated a commitment to excellence and gained strong industry credibility by earning some of the most difficult IT certifications available from top technology vendors," said Robert Faletra, CEO, The Channel Company. "Attainment of these exclusive certifications strengthens the channel as a whole by invigorating partnerships and enabling the delivery of exceptional customer service. We congratulate each of these organizations and look forward to their continued success."

Coverage of the Tech Elite 250 will be featured in the April issue of CRN, and online at http://www.crn.com.

About Computer Design & Integration LLC (CDI LLC):

CDI LLC was founded in 1995, with corporate headquarters in Teterboro, NJ, as well as office locations in New York City, Philadelphia, Charlotte and Atlanta. As one of the nations top 500 business IT solution providers, the firm architects, deploys and manages multiplatform hybrid IT solutions, including traditional IT, public, private and hybrid clouds, to a wide variety of industries. CDI LLC continually focuses on achieving client satisfaction by developing and implementing comprehensive and innovative technology solutions that enhance day-to-day business automation and workflow processes.

For more information, visit cdillc.com or call 1-800-234-5531. Follow us for continual coverage on Twitter @cdillc or YouTube.

About the Channel Company

The Channel Company enables breakthrough IT channel performance with our dominant media, engaging events, expert consulting and education, and innovative marketing services and platforms. As the channel catalyst, we connect and empower technology suppliers, solution providers and end users. Backed by more than 30 years of unequaled channel experience, we draw from our deep knowledge to envision innovative new solutions for ever-evolving challenges in the technology marketplace.

CRN is a registered trademark of The Channel Company, LLC. The Channel Company logo is a trademark of The Channel Company, LLC (registration pending). All rights reserved.
Sherri Decker

As House Doctors of Lake Norman nears its one year anniversary, owner Sheri Decker is pleased to announce that the company is now offering a discount to veterans and military families.

Im increasingly aware of the sacrifice our veterans and their families have made and continue to make to protect our country and to protect freedom around the world. I decided to offer a 10 percent labor discount to veterans and military families as a small token of my appreciation, Decker said.

Decker opened her House Doctors of LKN franchise in April of 2015, offering professional handyman services in Cornelius, Huntersville, Mooresville and the surrounding North Mecklenburg communities. The team at House Doctors is focused on professionalism, service excellence and quality workmanship. Their goal is to make home improvements easier for their customers by being on time, doing the job right and offering a one year workmanship guarantee.

This veterans discount is not the first effort Decker has made to serve military families. House Doctors of LKN recently became a preferred vendor for the Veterans Administration; the branch that assists veterans with home repairs and modifications. Decker is also a vendor partner with Because You Served, a free real estate listing and marketing service for veterans.

Because You Served is an excellent opportunity for veterans and, though our partnership, the sellers can work with a proven and reliable company to assist them with their home repairs. I was excited to get on board with Because you Served, and with the addition of the veterans discount we at House Doctors are taking action to give back to our community of veteran citizens, Decker said.

Decker went into the handyman industry after a career in hospitality, including 17 years as a hotel general manager. She was looking for a change of pace and decided owning her own business would be a great path. When she found House Doctors, she know it would be a perfect combination to utilize her business, commercial maintenance and renovation experience as well as her commitment to customer service.

When I was working for the hospitality industry, I was entrusted with the responsibility of managing asset maintenance and capital improvements for property owners. My involvement from the design phase through to completion has equipped me strong project management skills. Renovation, maintenance and capital management of a hotel property refines your eye for detail and quality workmanship. It is also about how the results impact the end user. I felt that experience would be a valuable asset for a House Doctors franchise, she said.

House Doctors has been a great fit for me because it gives me the opportunity to own a business that helps people, provides me with the tools and support I need to operate effectively and offers me a platform to grow and expand in many different ways, Decker said.

House Doctors experienced, insured, background checked and uniformed handymen technicians specialize in projects that are 2 hours to 2 days such as light remodeling and repairs of decks, doors, bathrooms and kitchens; repairing drywall; painting; exterior repairs, making home modifications and much more.

To learn more about House Doctors of Lake Norman and to schedule services for your home, call (980)231-5212, email HD531(at)HouseDoctors(dot)com or visit http://HouseDoctors.com/handyman-lake-norman. House Doctors of Lake Normans office is located at 19801 S. Main Street, Suite #4, in Cornelius.
Hold Brothers Capital, LLC.

Hold Brothers*, an electronic trading pioneer, is celebrating its 10th anniversary of maintaining its operation in India. Formed as On-Line Investment Services, Inc. in 1994, the firm has been a leader in direct access equity trading and high-speed trading software.

In 2006, Hold opened its first India office primarily for software development. The team of developers based in India is made up of industry experts whose goal is to maximize a traders ability to perform faster and more competitively in the equity trading marketplace. The end product of this goal is Graybox, a software which is built around offering high-availability, high-speed market liquidity access. Risk management is also important to traders, and the software has an extremely comprehensive system to monitor their positions.

Over the last 10 years, Hold Brothers software has continually evolved to meet changing market and trader needs. According to Sankar Mugam, a Graybox project manager, Graybox is unique because the functionality built into the platform allows for the highest possible level of trader customization. The system is also live, as updates are being added frequently.

We are proud of Hold Brothers legacy of leadership in trading software, said Gregory F. Hold, CEO, Hold Brothers. As the market continues to restructure, Hold Brothers is continuing to update its systems to offer solutions that help traders achieve their goals. Our developers, trade support team, and news department also continue to be an outstanding part of our operation. We are excited about the prospects ahead.

About Hold Brothers

Hold Brothers is a leader in providing equities traders with the tools and information they need to execute trades quickly, effectively and efficiently, in any market environment. Since 1994, Hold Brothers has been committed to developing flexible and cutting-edge technology designed to meet the changing demands of the trading industry. For more information, please visit: http://www.hold.com.

*Hold Brothers is the marketing name for Hold Brothers Capital, LLC, (a registered broker-dealer and a CBOE member) and its affiliates. All securities activities and transactions are handled through Hold Brothers Capital LLC.
Creating a digital environment where I can showcase collections alongside engaging content that truly helps women design the life they wish to live was my dream.

WebLinc, the commerce platform provider for the fastest growing online retailers, today announced that the award-winning Rachel Roy brand has relaunched its site on the WebLinc Commerce Platform. The redesigned site, http://www.rachelroy.com, merges content and commerce to provide an experiential and engaging environment for the digital audience.

Founder Rachel Roy said, The online experience is very important to me. Creating a digital environment where I can showcase collections alongside engaging content that truly helps women design the life they wish to live was my dream. And I believe we achieved it.

Through WebLincs deep research of the brand and understanding of the fashion space where form and functionality go hand-in-hand, the new RachelRoy.com features a clean design that focuses on the visual assets that the brand creates to tell its story. Partnering with the impactful visuals are other enhancing features:



Product detail pages showcasing user-generated content as well as large product photos on full-width backgrounds

Easy-to-use content blocks to alter content design with minimal effort

The LIFE blog enables customers to purchase products seamlessly without the additional step of visiting product detail pages

Mega-menu presents multiple categories under one navigational item alongside featured content such as the brands Spring Lookbook

Lisa Marie Dominish, Director of Ecommerce for Rachel Roy said, Bringing Rachels vision to life in the digital space with a visually stunning experience that makes both shopping and enriching our customers life easy was our goal. During the site build, we took advantage of the great cache of knowledge WebLinc has for best practices, design cues, and strategic business advice.

Bringing Rachel Roys site to life is an exciting move for WebLinc, said Darren C. Hill, CEO and co-founder of WebLinc. Our team created a beautiful site that captures Rachels celebrity, personality and brand. Matching a brands vision for rich content with our in-house design skills and platform functionality is something we have deep experience in. Since Rachel Roy understands the strength of quality original content, they have a huge advantage over their competition."

About WebLinc

WebLinc is the commerce platform for fast growing online retailers. Mid to large-size retailers consistently outpace their competition with the modern, agile technologies of the WebLinc Commerce Platform and the companys strategic expertise. Based in Philadelphia with satellite offices in New York, Los Angeles and Toronto, WebLinc powers commerce sites for dynamic, high-growth retailers including Sanrio/Hello Kitty, Urban Outfitters, Inc.s brands Terrain and BHLDN, U.S. Polo Assn., Stila Cosmetics, Jeffers Pet, and others. To learn more, visit http://www.weblinc.com or follow @WebLinc.

About Rachel Roy

Rachel Roy, designer, entrepreneur, philanthropist and mother, designs to inspire women to feel smart, confident and individual. Inspired by the working women she knew, Rachel Roy New York debuted in 2005 as a modern assortment of ready-to-wear staples that took women from the office to evening. In 2009, RACHEL Rachel Roy launched with a downtown, youthful affordable contemporary sportswear brand essence and has quickly become a destination brand at Macys and won the best brand launch by the Accessories Council in 2010. Rachel is a member of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) and continues to be actively engaged in the evolution and integrity of not only the fashion industry but for womens well-being globally through her Kindness Is Always Fashionable initiatives.
We had an amazing response to the 2015 inaugural program and are looking forward to learn more about the progress organizations are making in our state.

The Worksite Wellness Council of Massachusetts (WWCMA) announces the launch of its 2016 WorkWell Massachusetts Awards program aimed to recognize best practices in worksite wellness programing among employers in the Commonwealth. Applications are now being accepted through May 15, 2016. The WorkWell Massachusetts Awards program will recognize Massachusetts employers of all industries and sizes that are committed to creating a healthier worksite.

Applications for gold, silver and bronze recognition will require a two-step process:

1. Complete the Health Enhancement Research Organization (HERO) Employee Health Management Best Practices scorecard. The HERO scorecard assesses: strategic planning, targeted planning, program design and integration, engagement and evaluation.

2. Complete a set of supplemental questions to understand your organizations wellness program and top line areas of overall wellness programming and results.

Were excited to offer our WorkWell Massachusetts award program again this year, states Archana Kansagra, WWCMA Board Director and Awards & Recognition Board Chair. We had an amazing response to the 2015 inaugural program and are looking forward to learning more about the progress organizations are making in our state.

A committee of independent industry professionals who have been appointed by WWCMA will review the applications. Winners will be notified in August and announced at the WWCMAs 5th Annual Conference at Gillette Stadium on September 20, 2016.

Applications for the 2016 WorkWell Massachusetts Awards are open from April 1  May 15, 2016 and accessible through WWCMAs website.
Were immensely proud that were the only vendor with a UK HQ to be acknowledged and are grateful to all of our clients who referenced us so favourably.

The coveted award is designed to recognise vendors that help clients deliver great Customer Experience, with the winners being assessed on three criteria - capability, results and client references.

Six acclaimed judges from across the Customer Experience industry deliberated before acknowledging Rant & Rave with the hotly contested accolade.

Dennis Fois, CEO at Rant & Rave commented: Its great to be recognised once again by the Temkin group. Were immensely proud that were the only vendor with a UK HQ to be acknowledged and are grateful to all of our clients who referenced us so favourably. Bruce Temkin coined 2016 the year of emotion and we continue to pride ourselves on helping our clients use real-time feedback and sentiment to get closer to their customers than ever before 

Rant & Rave was launched in 2000 and has expanded quickly in recent years, recording 50% year on year growth last year alone and adding names such as Debenhams, Sky and easyJet to their client base.

Bruce Temkin, Managing Partner of the Temkin Group said: Congratulations to Rant & Rave for winning a 2016 Customer Experience Vendor Excellence Award. We had a very strong group of nominees this year, and Rant & Rave stood out for how well it is helping companies improve their Customer Experience.

Notes to Editors

About Rant & Rave

Rant & Rave was launched in 2000 by Nigel Shanahan and is one of the UKs leading customer engagement specialists, counting half of the FTSE as clients. Its real-time technology lets brands proactively communicate with and listen to the voice of their customers so they can take real-time, inspired action.
IAS Manager Vicki Ragavanis presents the donation to the workers at Hospicio de San Jose. The money will be used for much-needed necessities including food, medicine, and clothing.

In March 2016, International AutoSource (IAS) representatives traveled to Manila, Philippines to deliver a check for $9,250 to Hospicio de San Jose, a local Roman Catholic welfare institution. The donation comes from a portion of the proceeds from International AutoSources Healthcare Program, which helps many Filipino healthcare workers moving to the United States to obtain affordable vehicles.

As a company, International AutoSource is committed to improving the quality of life worldwide. 2016 marks the sixth year that members of the International AutoSource team traveled to the orphanage to present the donation, in what has become an annual tradition. One member of the IAS team who visited the orphanage, Vicki Ragavanis, Senior Manager, wrote about her experience visiting Hospicio de San Jose on the International AutoSource blog.

There are more than 200 residents including orphans, special needs children and elderly who have either been abandoned or do not have the means to care for themselves, wrote Ragavanis, The money will be used for much-needed necessities including food, medicine, and clothing. Our IAS team members personally contributed additional funds to buy crayons, coloring books and lunch for two of the groups, totaling 72 children.

International AutoSource is a full-service personal transportation solution offering Expat car leasing, financing, and purchasing without a local credit history. The Healthcare program is specifically designed to help medical professional moving to the United States to finance a car at affordable rates. The program services a large portion of Filipino healthcare workers relocating to the USA.

About International AutoSource

For over 50 years, International AutoSource has been providing value-added services and benefits specifically designed for expatriates and the global community for short and long-term assignments. Their programs offer full-service personal transportation solutions for financing, purchasing, leasing and rental without a local credit or driving history. Through outstanding service, value and support IAS strives to make assignments into a foreign country as seamless as possible while saving customers valuable time, money and resources. For more information, please contact International AutoSource at +1 516.496.1816, email at intlauto(at)intlauto(dot)com or visit their website http://www.intlauto.com.
Today the American University of Antigua College of Medicine (AUA) announced a new scholarship program to help combat the critical physician shortage in New York State.

The AUA New York Physician scholarship program will provide undergraduate students from New York State with a grant of $20,000. Students with an overall undergraduate GPA of at least a 3.5 and a prerequisite GPA of at least a 3.25 will be awarded $4,000 per semester covering the four Basic Sciences semesters and the Fifth Semester.

AUAs President Neal Simon said: AUA understands medical school is a significant financial investment that can be a barrier for many students who would like to pursue a career in medicine. Keeping a medical education within reach for all has always been part of AUAs mission. This new scholarship program will allow those students who want to practice medicine in New York State to pursue a medical education to serve communities with the greatest need.

Founded in 2004, AUA is approved by New York State and recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. AUAs students spend two years studying basic sciences in didactic based work on campus in Antigua. Their second two years are spent participating in clinical rotations throughout the United States at the finest teaching hospitals.

AUA is an innovative medical school dedicated to providing a learner-centric education of the highest quality, granting opportunities to underrepresented minorities, fostering a diverse academic community, and ensuring that its graduates develop the skills and attitudes of lifelong learning, compassion, and professionalism. AUA also provide students who would otherwise be unable to receive a medical education with the tools to become successful physicians. AUA was founded with the commitment to support underserved communities and address the impending physician shortage with an emphasis on primary care.

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Safe Auto Insurance Company, a U.S. Property/Casualty (P&C) Insurer, and One, Inc., a provider of software products to the insurance industry, today announced that SafeAuto has selected the companys InsureOne Suite as their core policy and agency management system.

SafeAuto will be using InsureOnes integrated carrier, agency and payment systems to manage policy issuance, underwriting, rating, billing, data warehouse and BI, CRM, which will enable them to offer the highest level of customer service to their insureds. SafeAuto has previously licensed One, Inc.s ProcessOne and ContactOne components for payment processing, IVR, and dialer.

InsureOne will be integrated with SafeAutos existing claims system, Guidewire ClaimCenter.

Delivering a high level of customer service across multiple distribution channels, building capabilities that enable our business strategy, and creating a more efficient corporate structure are the overarching goals of any project we undertake, said John Kish, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer at SafeAuto. In this case, we made a decision that will not only enable us to achieve all of these goals, but will allow us to deliver these capabilities faster and at a lower cost.

One, Inc.s InsureOne Suite will allow SafeAuto to:



Sell and service SafeAuto and Partner products through multiple distribution channels;

Replace SafeAutos legacy core systems and update to a modern SaaS architecture;

Reduce costs and streamline internal processes via a distributed and managed workflow, allowing their staff to work more efficiently and effectively;

Increase payment and billing options, including pick your own due date feature; and

Modernize analytics and pricing with a new data warehouse, business intelligence and reporting system integrated to its processing system on day one  without having to work with an additional system integrator.

InsureOne will provide us with incredible value on day one, said Ron Davies, President and Chief Executive Officer at SafeAuto. Our decisions are guided by making it easy for our customers to do business with SafeAuto, and the InsureOne platform will enable us to better serve our customers' needs.

Im excited to have the opportunity to work with SafeAuto again, said Joe Cannon, Vice President, Global Sales, One, Inc. Weve already successfully worked with their team on the implementation of ProcessOne and ContactOne. The implementation of InsureOne will continue to help them realize the return on their technology investment with One, Inc. in the form of lower total cost of ownership, improved processes, and the ability to offer their customers the highest level of service.

One, Inc.'s InsureOne suite of software enables carriers and agencies of all sizes to streamline processes and increase efficiency in each area of their organization. Our scalable, integrated solutions are engineered to optimize data and provide value. One, Inc.s InsureOne suite includes PolicyOne (policy management), ProcessOne (payment processing and reconciliation), PortalOne (web-based credit card payment portal), ContactOne (IVR and customer retention system), ActivityOne (enterprise efficiency), AppOne (agency management and CRM), SalesOne(marketing representatives management and CRM software), LeadsOne (lead management), CampaignOne (campaign management) and DataOne (business intelligence and reporting).

About SafeAuto

SafeAuto makes it easy to quote, buy and service the right auto insurance at the right price. Founded in Columbus, Ohio in 1993, Safe Auto Insurance Company provides multiple easy ways to reach us that are convenient for the consumer  online at safeauto.com, by phone at 1.800.SAFEAUTO, on a mobile device or, in some states, in-person with a local agent or broker. SafeAuto provides the state required minimum auto insurance coverage for drivers across 18 states so that consumers can get covered and enjoy the road ahead. For more information visit http://www.SafeAuto.com/.

About One, Inc.

One, Inc. provides an integrated cloud-based platform designed to make it effortless to manage your business. We bring together core functions combined with data and analytics, CRM, payment processing and agency management  all in ONE modern solution - to provide a seamless approach to the customer experience. For more information, please visit http://www.oneincsystems.com

Follow us on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/one-inc

Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/oneincsystems
Employees cited a team-oriented culture, career advancement opportunities and commitment to ongoing training as key factors for their overall satisfaction. Our people love the work we do, and our exceptional employees are a key factor to our 35+ years of proven success.

SWC Technology Partners (http://www.swc.com), a Chicagoland provider of IT solutions to mid-market organizations, has been named one of Crains Chicago Business Best Places to Work in 2016. This year represents SWCs fifth consecutive appearance on the list, as well as the third consecutive year in the top ten. Crains ranks Chicagos Best Places to Work using results of employee surveys that cover topics such as benefits, professional development, work-life balance, culture, and relationships with management and co-workers.

Being named as one of Crains Best Places to Work for five years running is especially rewarding because the ranking is based on the direct feedback of our team members, said Bob Knott, President of SWC Technology Partners, Our people love the work we do, and our exceptional employees are a key factor to our 35+ years of proven success.

The opportunity for employees to see their work make a direct impact on clients businesses contributes to SWCs consistent acknowledgement in both workplace awards and recognition as a market-leading IT solutions provider.

In this years survey, employees cited a team-oriented culture, career advancement opportunities and commitment to ongoing training as key factors for their overall satisfaction. SWC provides formal initiatives to ensure continued growth such as the Career Advocate program, which assigns employees a mentor to help promote the development of new skills and facilitate new opportunities within the firm. The newly formed SWC University focuses on the firms fresh talent, helping entry-level developers build their technical and consulting skills to prepare them to work on client teams. In a high-turnover industry, SWC has differentiated itself by building a tenured team of professionals, many with over 10, 15 and 20 years with the company. Strong working relationships drive great teamwork, and SWC focuses on fostering a results-oriented culture by hosting numerous team-building activities, lunch-and-learn meetings, wellness initiatives, and Friday social hours.

SWCs reputation for providing rewarding work in an open, fun culture continues to allow us to attract top talent in the Chicago market, says Fran Peters, PHR, SWCs Human Resources Manager. As a firm that is very proactive with career development, we work hard to nurture and retain that talent. As we continue to grow, we are always looking to expand our team with additional professionals who are looking for a challenging and rewarding career in technology.

SWC is currently hiring, visit the company's career page to learn more.

About SWC Technology Partners

SWC Technology Partners is an award-winning provider of IT solutions to midsize organizations. For 35 years, SWC has excelled at delivering technology solutions that optimize productivity, strengthen customer relationships, enhance data sharing and drive profitability.

Headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois, SWC has been honored to receive numerous workplace awards in addition to Crains Best Places to Work including Chicago Tribunes Top 100 Workplaces, Inc. 500|5000 list of Americas Fastest Growing Companies and on both the Chicago and National Best and Brightest Companies list. To learn more, visit http://www.swc.com.
Barks goal of aligning schools and parents in helping to keep our children safe online addresses a fundamental issue affecting youth today.

Bark, an online safety solution that proactively alerts parents to potential Internet dangers, is expanding its advisory board with educational and cyberbullying experts supporting the platform in its mission of enabling children to enjoy the power of the Internet while helping to protect them from its pitfalls. In addition, Bark has launched a new Youth Advisory Board with a select group of ambassadors that will guide the executive team in understanding the digital landscape through the eyes of teens as it continually updates the platform to help protect them.

Powered by enterprise-level technology, including data science, machine learning and pattern matching, Bark analyzes social media, text messages and emails contextually to alert parents only when there is a perceived threat. These alerts are combined with research-based recommendations for addressing the issue head on, empowering moms and dads to combat potential online dangers and signs of trouble with their children. To continually enhance these proactive recommendations, its technology and approach, Bark has enlisted an elite team of advisors  a combination of child psychology, Internet safety and education experts, including four new members:



Otha Thornton, immediate past president, National Parent Teacher Association (PTA). The first African-American male president of National PTA, Thornton is a retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel who earned the Bronze Star Medal for exceptional performance in combat operations during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Carrie Goldman, M.B.A., author of Bullied: What Every Parent, Teacher, and Kid Needs to Know About Ending the Cycle of Fear. Along with actress Chase Masterson, Goldman also created the Pop Culture Hero Coalition to bring together top bullying prevention groups and celebrities to teach students how to act as heroes against bullying in their everyday lives.

Amy Barnes, Chicago police officer. Barnes began her career as an educator and then decided to pursue a career as a Chicago police officer. She has spent 13 years with the Chicago Police Department, where she currently works in a gang unit with a focus on social media and children.

David Luxton, Ph.D., professor of psychology, University of Washington School of Medicine. Luxton's research and writing is focused in the use of technology in mental health care. Much of his work has focused on telemental health with an emphasis on clinical best practices. He has also conducted extensive research in the area of suicide risk and prevention.

Internet safety is a prevalent topic among PTA members nationwide. What can parents be doing to protect their children? What is the role of schools? How can we all better work together?, said Thornton. Thats why Im excited to join Barks team of advisors. Barks goal of aligning schools and parents in helping to keep our children safe online addresses a fundamental issue affecting youth today.

Thornton, Goldman, Barnes and Luxton join Barks powerhouse team of existing advisors, including Yalda T. Uhls, M.B.A., Ph.D., author of Media Moms & Digital Dads; Johnathan Roberts, Ph.D., professor of psychology at Armstrong State University; Ben Halpert, vice president of risk & corporate security at Ionic Security and founder of Savvy Cyber Kids; Christian Brucculeri, CEO of Snaps, and Karen Fowler, Emmy-winning childrens programming producer.

In addition to its Board of Advisors, Bark recently created a Youth Advisory Board to guide the Internet safety solutions strategic growth by providing insights on their online experience in todays digital world. Meeting monthly, the eight members of the Youth Advisory Board will discuss new and emerging digital platforms, Internet safety protocols in schools, digital citizenship and more. This board will help advance Barks product expansion, ensuring that it continues to be a solution that both parents and their children trust.

Being a teenager in today's world, I'm always using the Internet. Whether for school or social networking, my phone is always on me, and knowing I'm safe is all that matters, said Ava Hammill, 16-year-old Pennsylvania high school student and founding member of Barks Youth Advisory Board. It's important to have youth on a board like this. People often fail to realize that we do truly care about Internet safety, so Im glad to join Bark to give a voice to these issues.

To learn more, visit http://www.bark.us.

About Bark

Bark is an Internet safety solution endorsed by parents and children alike for its ability to unobtrusively identify potential threats and provide proactive recommendations. Unlike traditional monitoring tools that rely on parents combing through every activity or that use keyword searches which ignore context and history, Bark utilizes data science, machine learning and pattern matching for smarter alerts. These alerts are combined with research-based, actionable advice for addressing the issue head on, putting more power in the hands of parents to address potential digital dangers.

To learn more, visit bark.us and follow us on Twitter and Instagram.
Mike Berlin Im excited to be joining TelStrat at such a dynamic time in the industry. The company has a loyal and supportive global customer base, and I look forward to leveraging my experience and contacts in the marketplace to drive further growth.

TelStrat, an industry-leading developer of call recording, quality management, and workforce optimization solutions, today announced the addition of Mike Berlin to its executive management team. Mike will serve as Senior Vice President, Global Sales and Business Development and will be responsible for all TelStrat sales and sales engineering activities.

Mike comes to TelStrat from Forerunner Technologies where he was Vice President, Enterprise Sales. Prior to Forerunner, Mike was Sr. Vice President of Sales and Business Development for Applied Voice and Speech Technologies (AVST) for many years. He brings over 30 years of experience in managing global sales for a number of leading telecommunications companies.

We are thrilled to welcome Mike to the TelStrat team. Mike has a proven record of driving organizational top-line growth through high-value partner relationships, commented Bob Carroll, TelStrat Founder and CEO. His vast experience building global channel organizations is a perfect complement for our high-touch, channel-centric go-to-market strategy.

Im excited to be joining TelStrat at such a dynamic time in the industry, said Berlin. The company has a loyal and supportive global customer base, and I look forward to leveraging my experience and contacts in the marketplace to drive further growth.

About TelStrat

TelStrat develops comprehensive call recording and workforce optimization (WFO) solutions. Engage WFO features award-winning technology for capturing customer interaction, knowledge-mining call content, maximizing agent performance, and streamlining workforce management. Over two decades of experience, more than 3,000 customers and hundreds of thousands of users worldwide attest to TelStrats unwavering dedication to customer service and support. TelStrat offers Engage WFO through a global network of over 330 reseller partners, including some of the most prominent names in telecommunications.
As Bes-Tech's Digi-RTU continues to reduce building energy costs across the country, a growing number of utilities have taken an interest in including the rooftop unit control kit in their energy incentive programs. In a meeting that brought together John Hennessey, President of Advanced Efficiency Products, with the current director for the C&I energy efficiency programs for Eversource Energy in Massachusetts and other key players in the energy industry, the Digi-RTU was approved for use in energy efficiency incentive programs in all of the major utilities in the State of Massachusetts. Eversource Energy asked Advanced Efficiency Products to develop a matrix that shows the cost per kWh of energy that the Digi-RTU can save for a variety of building types and rooftop unit sizes. They intend to use this information to better quantify the benefits of using the Digi-RTU in their Small Business Program and other energy efficiency initiatives.

About Bes-Tech

Bes-Tech has been a leader in energy efficient building systems technologies for the past twelve years. The company was founded on proven scientific engineering processes and technologies that reduce peak energy demand, minimize energy usage, and maximize energy efficiency. We actively work to lower the carbon footprint of the built environment.

About the Digi-RTU

The Digi-RTU is a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) rooftop control kit that is designed to

improve the energy efficiency of a rooftop unit. It solves all the humidity, common noise, and frequent on/off issues inherent in rooftop units through modulating the speed of the compressor and supply air fan so that the capacity of the rooftop unit matches the space cooling or heating load requirements. Please contact Bes-Tech's customer service at 402-502-2340 for additional information about the Digi-RTU.
We remain committed to help solve the dual epidemics of unresolved pain and prescription opioid abuse that is affecting more people and consuming more financial resources in the United States and Canada than cancer, diabetes, and heart disease combined.

Proove Biosciences, Inc., the commercial and research leader in personalized pain medicine, is pleased to announce its strategic partnership and support of the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR) initiative. On March 31, 2016, the Honorable Jane Philpott, the Canadian Minister of Health, announced the governments $65 million investment in the Strategy for Patient Outcomes Research (SPOR) to address chronic conditions, including chronic pain, gastrointestinal disorders, chronic kidney disease, child disability, and diabetes. As a strategic partner and sponsor of the Chronic Pain Network, Proove Biosciences is positioned to play an important role in helping the research move from the lab into the clinical setting. The approach is aimed at helping patients manage pain more effectively and avoid the early path to prescription opioid abuse.

During the announcement, the Honorable Jane Philpott shared that SPOR provides a valuable platform for the federal government to work with partners across the country to improve health care for Canadians. We are pleased to support these networks whose work will lead to better health and a better quality of life for Canadians and help reduce the burden of chronic disease on our health care system. The Canadian Institute of Health Research President Dr. Alain Beaudet explained that these networks will produce innovations that improve the health of Canadians and position Canada as a global leader in research on these chronic disease. We thank all the partners supporting these networks for their strong commitment and generous contributions.

As the genetic and diagnostic partner for the SPOR network in Chronic Pain, Proove Biosciences is able to leverage its leadership in research and clinical testing in the United States.Brian Meshkin, CEO at Proove Biosciences, attended Minister Philpotts reception to support the announcement at McMaster University. As a pioneer in genetic testing, Proove Biosciences uses technology that can further support the efforts of the Canadian government. Chronic pain knows no border, said Meshkin. We are encouraged by the vision of the Canadian government to make this significant investment to address chronic conditions that affect so many lives. In an effort to do our part, we are able to leverage our proprietary technology platform to evaluate genetic variations and related factors to improve the decisions involved in avoiding, diagnosing, and treating chronic pain and its related conditions.

Proove Biosciences continues to align itself with the leading researchers involved in pain and genetics across the globe. As Meshkin explains, Proove is proud to support the vision of Dr. David Buckley and all of the research collaborators across Canada. It was humbling to gather together as a team to launch this effort. I am confident that this initiative will not only help Canadians, but also patients, physicians, and health care systems in the United States and across the globe.

Led by Dr. David Buckley, a professor and Chair of the Department of Anesthesia at McMaster University Medical Center, the Chronic Pain Network is designed to direct research efforts, train clinicians, and facilitate access to better care. In addition, the network is focused on accelerating the transition from research to care. We are pleased to see an added focus on enhancing individual care for patients in pain by involving genetics, said Meshkin. We remain committed to help solve the dual epidemics of unresolved pain and prescription opioid abuse that is affecting more people and consuming more financial resources in the United States and Canada than cancer, diabetes, and heart disease combined.

About Proove Biosciences

Our mission is to change the future of medicine. Proove represents the proof to improve healthcare decisions. We seek to realize a future when clinicians look back and wonder how they could have ever prescribed medications without knowing how a patient would respond. Physicians use Proove Biosciences testing to improve outcomesboth safety and efficacy of medical treatment. From a simple cheek swab collected in the office, Proove performs proprietary genetic tests in its CLIA-certified laboratory to identify patients at risk for misuse of prescription pain medications and evaluate their metabolism of medications. For more information, please visit http://www.proove.com or call toll free 855-PROOVE-BIO (855-776-6832).
KnowBe4 climbs the Cybersecurity 500 Risk managers know it is far cheaper to train users than pay the fines and heavy costs associated with a data breach, estimated by Juniper Networks to account for $2.1 trillion dollars by 2019

KnowBe4, the United States most popular integrated platform for security awareness training and simulated phishing tests, announced it attained a top spot (#220) in the Cybersecurity 500, the definitive list of the worlds hottest and most innovative companies in the cybersecurity industry. Supporting this achievement, KnowBe4 celebrated its record setting 11th straight quarter of triple digit growth (299%) Q1 2016 over Q1 2015. Fueling this growth is the strong demand for its innovative Kevin Mitnick Security Awareness Training,

KnowBe4 helps IT departments to better manage the worsening problem of social engineering by training employees to recognize phishing red flags. IT pros can use the robust KnowBe4 platform to send frequent simulated phishing emails to end-users who can be given several types of remedial training. Employees can also use KnowBe4s free Phish Alert Button for Outlook to send any suspicious email to their Incident Response team for follow up. Thousands of organization use KnowBe4 to create an additional human firewall layer of defense which contributes to a strong security culture.

With the recent ransomware epidemic causing sleepless nights for IT security and boards alike, IT pros dont have the luxury of using complicated training methods, said KnowBe4 CEO Stu Sjouwerman. Designed by admins, for admins, KnowBe4s platform simply works. IT managers are grateful, because they are recognized as helpful coworkers rather than the network police, noted Sjouwerman. Our new-school security awareness program creates cooperation and an overall improvement in security. We attribute the Cybersecurity 500 recognition and our growth to the fact we understand what threats IT faces and our team helps them manage these problems.

Steve Morgan, founder and CEO at Cybersecurity Ventures, and Editor-In-Chief of the Cybersecurity 500 explained on the Cybersecurity 500 website, We continuously look at thousands of companies for inclusion in the Cybersecurity 500, by soliciting feedback from CISOs, IT security practitioners and service providers, and researching hundreds of cybersecurity events and news sources that we follow. The Cybersecurity 500 does not rank companies by revenues, employees, or annual growth. They already know who the biggest vendors are. Instead, we give a nod to the hottest and most innovative companies.

Sjouwerman said, Business are losing billions of dollars annually due to social engineering attacks such as ransomware and scams like the Business Email Compromise (BEC), not to mention the countless millions lost to downtime. These types of threats have helped propel the need for a better way to manage the problem of social engineering.

Risk managers know it is far cheaper to train users than pay the fines and heavy costs associated with a data breach, estimated by Juniper Networks to account for $2.1 trillion dollars by 2019, noted Sjouwerman.

Lloyds of London estimated cybercrime costs businesses as much as $400 billion a year, a staggering amount by any standard. This doesnt take into account hacks and breaches that are unregulated and unreported.

"People are used to having a technology solution [but] social engineering bypasses all technologies, including firewalls. Technology is critical, but we have to look at people and processes. Social engineering is a form of hacking that uses influence tactics," said KnowBe4s Chief Hacking Officer Kevin Mitnick.

For more information, visit http://www.KnowBe4.com

About KnowBe4

KnowBe4 is the worlds most popular integrated Security Awareness Training and Simulated Phishing platform. Realizing that the human element of security was being seriously neglected, KnowBe4 was created by two of the best known names in cybersecurity, Kevin Mitnick (the Worlds Most Famous Hacker), and Inc. 500 alum serial security entrepreneur Stu Sjouwerman, to help organizations manage the problem of social engineering tactics through new school security awareness training. The company maintains a top spot in the Cybersecurity 500, the definitive list of the worlds hottest and most innovative companies in cybersecurity. More than 3,500 organizations use KnowBe4s platform to keep employees on their toes with security top of mind. KnowBe4 is used across all industries, including highly regulated fields such as finance, healthcare, energy, government and insurance.
Every Market Media We were able to considerably improve uniformity and bring US targeting criteria to the global file with this update.

Increased demand for global prospecting data drove this quarters record setting update, according to executives at Chicago based email compiler Every Market Media (EMM).

EMM has been providing its marketing service clients international b2b marketing data since 2013. Those clients feedback combined with EMMs iterative quarterly updates produced the file published today.

Demand is up big time, says CSM Daniel Currier. The file has been popular in its niche for years. Combined with regular client feedback and our hard working research team turning counts in 14 hours were getting grip faster than anticipated.

In recent months the number of clients consuming the data has resulted in more feedback, faster. EMMs operations team believes this trend will continue and knows this release was critical as more diverse kinds of clients use segments in marketing applications.

Eliza Epstein, EMMs Director of Operations, spearheaded technical execution: The diversity of countries and data sources makes it challenging to deliver the same uniform product marketers have grown to accept for US B2B prospecting data. We were able to considerably improve uniformity and bring US targeting criteria to the global file with this update.

Standardization of company name data, address data, and improved firmagraphic coverage and quality were the focus of this update. 7,117,947 global email contacts have been coded with technologies installed, 11,677,842 records have been coded with Industry information.

For a full technical release click here!

Contact:

Mark Sheehan

2518 W Armitage Ave, STE2

Chicago IL 60647

USA

Mark(at)everymarketmedia(dot)com

+01.855.475.0258

+01.312.219.9653
Photo Courtesy of Brizo; Photography, Jayme Thornton Even after more than 23 years in the industry, we still approach every project with the belief that design is a lifestyle. Brizos design process proves that form and function have a place in fashion design at a very basic life level.

Doing what Moore Design Group does best, Principal Stephanie Moore-Hager travelled to New York City to provide her unique perspective on fashion you live with every day at Brizos gala fashion event. Hager was chosen from among the nations elite multifamily designers, developers and architects to participate in interactive product sessions providing valuable insight into high-end faucet collections for the kitchen, bath and shower.

Positioned at the vanguard of faucet design, Brizo is the central sponsor of renowned fashion designer Jason Wu. Not long ago the two fashion powers recently joined forces to bring the Jason Wu for Brizo Collection to life proving runway trends influence more than the just fashion you wear.

Not limited to input from the fashion runway, Brizo recognizes that interior designers live in the daily trenches of design imagination exploring new and dramatic ideas to combine design motif with functionality in everyday living spaces. With that in mind, Brizo sponsors annual workshop events seeking direction from experts like Hager. This years event incorporated round table discussions judging products in various stages from concept to production.

Judd Lord, Sr. Director of Industrial Design for Brizo kicked off the event with a focus group discussing fashion development for urban design. Hager has long been established as an expert in the field of multifamily design integrating the puzzle pieces of total design sophistication to the most private of living areas like your master bathroom.

Product sessions included evaluating Brizos design and research process vetting prototypes of twenty to thirty fixtures with the group. The audience is tech savvy, said Jai Robinson, Sr. Channel Marketing Manager for Brizo. What we learn during this research process is invaluable. It literally assists in refining and finalizing the product itself. Judgments from successful designers, like Stephanie, are the lifeblood of our creativity.

This form of presentation and participation in product sessions really helped work through the noise of the larger design spaces to elevate and emphasize the fine point of meticulously designed faucets and showering accessories. said Hager.

The fashion event was not restricted to product sessions alone. The goal of the event was to offer design imagination coupled with a unique experience for the participants. Guests of the event were provided accommodations at the modern and sophisticated Eventi Hotel where, to their delight, they experienced firsthand an encounter with Brizos newest line of faucets specially installed for the affair.

For an entire week New York City was electrified with social and cultural fashion events throughout the city. Hager, along with the other participants, were rewarded for imparting their expertise with VIP access to Jason Wus Fashion Show and exclusive after-party.

Hager is no novice when it comes to applying her craft having been recognized in her industry as the 2015 Distinguished Alumni from The Art Institute of Dallas (AID). The award, presented in December, was for the most notable graduate among all AID alumni nationwide, paying tribute to Hager for her outstanding achievements in the interior design industry.

Hager has enjoyed repeated recognition by the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) with their prestigious Legacy of Design Awards and Design Ovation Awards; while also receiving the National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB) Pillars of the Industry Awards for her modern and purposeful designs.

Even after more than 23 years in the industry, we still approach every project with the belief that design is a lifestyle, Hager said. Brizos design process proves that form and function have a place in fashion design at a very basic life level. It was truly a pleasure to being included in this methodical yet exhilarating process.

Established in 1991, Dallas-based Moore Design Group has earned a reputation as the leading designer of multifamily living communities in the United States. A comprehensive design portfolio, media coverage, awards, company information and more are available at mooredesigngroup.net.
This is a tremendous opportunity not only to work with a dynamic company at a key moment in its history, but to help support the enormous rise in entrepreneurial-based businesses both in the United States and around the world.

Payscout has announced the appointment of Dan Gardner as Chief Financial Officer. Gardner graduated from London Business School with an MBA, and holds a Bachelors Degree in Commerce from Concordia University in Montreal. He is a licensed CPA and previously held a FINRA Series 27 license as a registered financial and operations principal. Gardner brings a wealth of global financial expertise to his new position and prior to his appointment at Payscout, Dan spent the last 5 years as CFO of TRANSFAST, driving it into a leading cross-border payments and solutions provider that operates a best-in-class network across over 120 countries. Earlier in his career, he also served in a series of increasingly responsible financial management positions at international firms such as Global Capacity and D.B. Zwirn.

As Payscouts Chief Financial Officer, Gardner will be responsible for the financial reporting/operations, risk management and treasury/liquidity management of one of the most rapidly growing firms in its sector. Payscout, a global payment processing provider covering six continents, was recognized as one of Americas fastest-growing private companies in 2014, when it ranked #2,416 on Inc. Magazines 500/5000 list. Payscout was also recognized by Inc. in 2015, when its ranking in the list jumped to #434. Within the financial services industry, Payscout was ranked #140 in 2014 and #24 in 2015. This expansion pattern continues as Payscout prepares to expand all of its U.S. branch locations, including its Los Angeles headquarters. Payscout also recently announced the completion of infrastructural and regulatory preparations for the full-scale operation of Payscout Brazil, headquartered in Sao Paulo.

As Chief Financial Officer, Dan will be a key player in developing Payscouts financial and operational strategy, as well as ensuring that we have the necessary internal control systems and metrics to support that strategy as we continue to grow. I have had the pleasure of knowing Dan for almost a decade, and I know that in addition to his formidable experience and skills on the financial side, he brings a great sense of integrity, innovation, and energy to the workplace. He will be an excellent fit in the Payscout culture, said Payscout President Manpreet Singh.

This is a tremendous opportunity not only to work with a dynamic company at a key moment in its history, but to help support the enormous rise in entrepreneurial-based businesses both in the United States and around the world. Im excited to help drive Payscout forward as it helps its domestic and international partners expand and take advantage of emerging cross-border opportunities, said Gardner.

Entrepreneurialism, which is particularly strong among the millennial generation, is not only increasing economic growth by linking businesses together in new ways, it is changing the global landscape. This, in turn, has created a strong demand for fraud management and CNP (card-not-present) transactions.

Global entrepreneurialism is at the core of Payscouts mission and focus on providing enterprise-level corporations and small-to-medium-sized businesses with scalable payment technologies that support a full range of commerce needs. Payscouts Go Global Now platform provides these customers with a unique turnkey approach to quickly establishing an operation in over 100 countries.

Payscout CEO Cleveland Brown indicates the companys people are the key to making these ambitions a reality. Payscouts well-defined mission has attracted a diverse team of A-list talent devoted to cultural empathy and customer empowerment, said Brown. The team, which now includes CFO Dan Gardner, is committed to the collaborative vision of becoming the thought leading and fastest growing payment processing provider in the world.

About Payscout, Inc.:

Payscout Supports the Entrepreneurial Dream One Transaction at a Time.

Payscout is a global payment processing provider covering six continents by connecting merchants and consumers via credit, debit, ATM and alternative payment networks. What differentiates Payscout is its mission to support the entrepreneurial dream one transaction at a time. Payscout achieves this by being a thought leader in the payments industry. Its Go Global Now technology platform gives merchants instant access to 100+ countries, billions of consumers and trillions of dollars. Payscout offers payment processing solutions for brick-and-mortar and eCommerce transactions, and has earned acclaim as a new-generation provider of merchant banking services, specializing in online/eCommerce retailers with a predominant proportion of card-not-present (CNP) transactions; it is one of the few providers to deliver a true global payment solution that encompasses all merchant risk verticals. Customers can access Payscouts credit card processing services via a state-of-the-art, web-based user portal and through direct interactions with highly-trained experts. In addition to supporting thousands of clients across a multitude of industries and all 50 American states, Payscout maintains global partnerships with VISA USA, Bank of America Merchant Services, VISA Europe, VISA Latin America, VISA Asia Pacific, MasterCard Worldwide, China Union Pay, Deutsche Bank, First Data and Payscout Brazil. Payscout was recognized as one of Americas fastest-growing privately-held companies in 2014 and 2015, ranking #2,416 in 2014 and #434 in 2015, on Inc. Magazines Inc. 500/5000 list. Within the financial services industry, Payscout placed #140 in 2014 and #24 in 2015. For more information, visit http://www.payscout.com/.
Profession assessments, trainings and consultations help any organization better prepare for emergencies. Our years of training and learning from law enforcement, fire and other crisis management professionals has enabled us to develop various Professional Service offerings.

Prepared Response, Inc. has announced an expansion of service offerings for both customers and non-customers. In addition to its emergency preparedness flagship product, Rapid Responder, the company is now offering professional services to help add to any organizations preparedness for emergencies. The services include security and vulnerability assessments, safety audits, ICS and NIMS training, and customized training programs based on individual needs.

For years, Prepared Response, Inc. has been offering our customers an emergency preparedness platform to streamline their response process, says Tobey Bryant, Chief Executive Officer of Prepared Response, Inc. Our years of training and learning from law enforcement, fire and other crisis management professionals has enabled us to develop various Professional Service offerings with the goal of providing customers the knowledge and ability to build effective plans and better prepare.

Prepared Response, Inc. subject matter experts have backgrounds in various safety fields including fire, police and consulting. All subject matter experts have completed the trainings offered and regularly continue their education to provide the latest in safety and security standards. Trainings and assessments are performed on location and include tabletop drills and courses that result in certifications. Prep work requirements are completed prior to the on-site training or assessment/audit by the organization. Security managers, facility personnel and other safety staff will get the most benefit out of trainings that are based on standards identified by the U.S. Departments of Homeland Security (DHS), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and other nationally recognized safety standards.

Over the past decade we have been fortunate to learn from a variety of site owners, experts and responders. We take that knowledge and experience and focus on practical topics, while making complex subjects easier to understand, says Paul Delon, Knowledge Manager for Prepared Response, Inc. This type of training is critical and by investing in training, assessments and audits, facilities are investing in a safer future.

Training courses and assessments are available for any organization interested in emergency preparedness for their facility. For more information on pricing and how your organization can benefit from the professional emergency preparedness and response services offered through Prepared Response, visit here. Prepared Response, Inc. has been a safety leader since September 2000, and has continued to offer top-notch crisis management platforms and trainings.

MEDIA CONTACT

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

Prepared Response, Inc.

Samantha Caron

scaron(at)preparedresponse(dot)com

253.363.8561

ABOUT PREPARED RESPONSE, INC.

Prepared Response Inc. is the leading innovator of emergency preparedness and crisis management solutions in the nation. For over a decade, Prepared Response has provided industry leading technology and consulting services that have been proven to save lives and mitigate property damage. The companys flagship product, Rapid Responder, is used by over 1,300 public safety agencies nationwide and is SAFETY Act Certified by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as a Qualified Anti-Terrorism Technology, along with being endorsed by the National Sheriffs Association. Rapid Responder is currently deployed in educational facilities, public buildings, critical infrastructure and private facilities across the U.S.

The privately held company is headquartered in Kirkland, Washington. Additional information can be found at http://www.preparedresponse.com or by calling 1-866-862-7741.
The Mexican Center for Philanthropy (CEMEFI) unveiled the list of companies that it has granted the distinction of Corporate Social Responsibility for 2016. Among those is Experiencias Xcaret is the first tour company to receive this recognition for 15 consecutive years.

The CSR distinction reaffirms Experiencias Xcaret as an example of social responsibility in the tourism sector. Its leadership has encouraged the Cancun-Riviera Maya destination companies to commit themselves to contribute to sustainable development.

Corporate social responsibility is a business vision that integrates company management with respect for ethical values, people, community, and the environment.

Experiencias Xcaret is a company that takes social responsibility into its essence. It works together with its stakeholders to offer visitors unique experiences inspired by respect for nature, culture and life. At the same time, it benefits the community and natural area in which it operates.

Approximately 1,300 companies will be recognized in 2016 during the official CSR distinction ceremony. The ceremony will be held May 2016in Mexico City, during the ninth Latin American Meeting of Socially Responsible Companies.
"My goal in making this film was to capture this simple act of love at the end of life." "I believe one of the most basic acts of love is just to keep showing up," Callander said.

Retail leather goods company Saddleback Leather Co. premiers their second short documentary in The New York Times Op-Docs section. After creating a Filmmaker-in-Residence program in 2013 for filmmaker Joe Callander, Saddleback has premiered two films at the Sundance Film Festival, and has had two films screen on the New York Times. Callander also produces all of Saddlebacks brand videos.

Late December is the story of one mans unbroken devotion to his wife of 63 years, even as Alzheimers has steadily eroded her mind and memory over the past eight years.

Filmmaker Joe Callander became interested in loss as a storytelling theme while filming his first Op-Doc for the New York Times, Midnight Three & Six, which tells the story of a girl who lost the function of her pancreas to Type 1 diabetes.

I believe one of the most basic acts of love is just to keep showing up, said Callander, of Late December. My goal in making this film was to capture this simple act of love at the end of life.

I try do whatever I can to make my employees as successful as possible, Saddleback owner and president Dave Munson said. When I created this residency position for Joe back in 2013, a lot of people thought I was crazy. I dont think too many people are thinking that these days.

NY Times Op Ed film, "Late December."

About Saddleback Leather

Saddleback Leather Co. traces its origins back to a single bag, designed and built for Dave Munson when he was volunteering and working in Mexico. In search of the perfect bag at the time, Munson commissioned a local leather craftsman to build his design. As the quantity of orders from fellow travelers could not be denied, Munson started Saddleback Leather Co. in 2003, bringing together classic design with his signature take on personal, indestructible functionality. Thousands of bags later, the Saddleback Leather collection features heirloom-level bags and small accessories produced with the highest quality leather that will age to reflect the owners trials and travels. Saddleback Leather, Theyll fight over it when youre dead.
Passport Index 2016 - Interactive ranking of the world's passports In an age of increasing mobility, becoming a Global Citizen has never been more desirable.

Arton Capital, the global leader in residency and citizenship solutions, launched its latest edition of the Passport Index - a ranking system to reveal the benefits of each passport from around the world.

Passport Index positions countries based on the power of each passport, determined by Arton Capitals three-tier method which combines a ranking for Visa-free travel, together with Visa on arrival ratio, with the countrys score as attributed by United Nations Development Programme Human Development Index to take account of the jurisdictions international perception. Essentially, the Index serves to understand and visualize the power of each passport on the holders identity, opportunity, mobility and overall quality of life. The 2016 version of the Index allows users to explore a list of visa conditions for each passport.

Germany ranks the most powerful passport in the world, with a visa-free score of 157, followed by Sweden, Finland, Italy and Switzerland.

The passport of the United States of America occupies 4th rank of the most powerful passports in the world, together with Austria, Portugal, Luxemburg and Singapore. USA passport holders can visit 154 countries without visa, or with visa on arrival and now the Passport Index shows you which ones they are.

Canadian passport holders can visit 152 countries visa-free, which ranks them 6th together with New Zealand. Canada on the other hand allows citizens of only 51 countries to enter visa-free.

The highest ranked passports in Asia are those of South Korea, ranked 3rd, with a visa-free score of 155, followed by Singapore (4th), Japan (5th) and Malaysia (8th).

The highest ranked European country with an available Citizenship by Investment program is that of Malta, ranked 7th, followed by Cyprus (11th) and Bulgaria (14th).

The highest ranked Caribbean country with an available Citizenship by Investment program is Antigua and Barbuda, ranked 25th in the world and 2nd in the region, followed by St Kitts and Nevis (26th) and Saint Lucia (29th).

Passport Index new 2016 Welcoming Rank showcases the most and least welcoming countries in the world, ranked solely on the the number of countries they accept visa-free or with visa on arrival. Dominica ranks the most welcoming country in the Caribbean and 2nd in the world.

Although the worlds top 10 passports this year are all European, it is relatively difficult to obtain visa-free mobility to its member states. According to the UN World Tourism Organisation, on average 76% of the worlds population are required to obtain a visa prior to departure to Europe.

Passport Index offer visitors the chance to discover their own Global Mobility Score on their website, allowing users to compare different passports side by side and evaluate the total number of countries they can visit visa-free.

Armand Arton, President of Arton Capital said: Many people around the world consider their passports a barrier to their opportunities in life and choose to empower their identity and global footprint by obtaining a second citizenship through investment.

In an age of increasing mobility, becoming a Global Citizen has never been more desirable. Investing in a second residency or citizenship is a liberating and empowering privilege, which comes with a responsibility to the world.

Arton Capital, known for its significant creative influence and innovative culture is the driving force behind the global citizenship industry. Praised for its bespoke service and attention to detail, Arton has influenced the industrys growth to a multi-billion dollar a year in foreign direct investments attracted by countries. Today, over 20 countries are offering investor immigration programs including Canada and the USA, which are in close competition for high net-worth investors from around the world.

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About Passport Index

Passport Index is the worlds most popular online interactive tool, which collects, displays and ranks the passports of the world. It is the only real-time global ranking of passports, updated as frequently as new visa waivers and changes are announced. Visitors can dive in the fascinating world of passports, explore their designs, sort them by country, region and even by color. For the first time ever, visitors can compare passports side by side.

(http://www.passportindex.org)

About Arton Capital

Arton Capital empowers individuals and families to become Global Citizens. As a global financial advisory firm, specializing in investor programs for residence and citizenship Arton plays a critical role in helping governments, partners and investors to meet their goals quickly, efficiently and more effectively. Artons global operations are spread in over 15 offices around the world and have helped attract over US $2.7 billion foreign direct investment by countries. Curator or the Global Citizen Forum, and founder of the Global Citizen Foundation, Arton Capital is a member of The Arton Group, which comprises of fully licensed international banking, financial advisory and investment consulting companies tailored to the needs of global citizens. (http://www.artoncapital.com)

Media Enquiries

Georgia Taylor, Communications Manager, Arton Capital  Empowering Global Citizenship

E media(at)artoncapital(dot)com T +514 935 6665
Today, Mount Sinai Health System (MSHS) announced the launch of a Joint Replacement Bundled Payment Program for hip and knee procedures with 32BJ Health Fund, the health fund for the largest property service workers union in the United States. The program, developed in partnership with MSHS, The Mount Sinai Hospital, 32BJ and Empire BlueCross BlueShield, offers 32BJ members and their dependents hip and knee replacement surgeries at no out-of-pocket cost with a streamlined patient experience during their hospital stay as well as through their recovery.

Unlike traditional fee-for-service medicine, where physicians and hospitals charge independently for each service performed, the bundled payment program establishes a single payment for the entire episode of care  encompassing multiple providers across various settings. The bundle includes costs associated with surgery, recovery, and preventable complications.

Members pay no out-of-pocket costs, such as co-payments or co-insurance, for surgeries or related services if they choose a Mount Sinai orthopedic surgeon participating in the Joint Replacement Bundled Payment Program. The 32BJ Health Fund provides a service representative to guide its members, offering assistance with everything from understanding their benefit plan to finding a surgeon.

Our goal is to provide our members with the highest quality of evidence-based care and the highest-quality patient experience to garner the best health outcomes, which, in turn, results in lower costs, said Hector J. Figueroa, President of 32BJ SEIU and Trustee of the 32BJ Health Fund. This innovative partnership between MSHS, 32BJ and Empire is a model for how to best serve members while keeping costs low. We are proud to be launching this program that will support the health of our members and allow them to continue to support their families.

Prior to surgery, patients attend a Joint Class to learn about preparing for surgery, as well as recovery. Each 32BJ member is introduced to a care navigator who will assist the patient through the surgery and recovery process, including visiting the member in the hospital to build a customized recovery plan, assisting with the transition home, and following up via phone or email. The 32BJ Fund will also support members by offering assistance with transportation to and/or from the hospital or help once the patient returns home after surgery.

Bundled payment programs support Mount Sinais population health strategy to increase the value for every dollar spent, said Niyum Gandhi, chief population health officer for MSHS. We are thrilled to be collaborating with the 32BJ team and Empire to develop this program, teaming up to create value for our common customer: the 32BJ member. Were taking what weve learned from our experience in the bundled payment demonstration with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and expanding it to 32BJ members and dependents. Mount Sinais clinicians use care pathways that reduce variation and result in reliable, high-quality outcomes. This program revolves around the patients needs and delivers a comprehensive, evidence-based approach to improving the quality of their care and helping them to achieve their ultimate goal  pain-free walking  while also creating significant cost savings and greater predictability for patients and employers.

Empire applauds the 32BJ Health Fund for its leadership in fostering innovative methods to continue to provide their hard-working members with great health insurance coverage, said Tom Canty, Vice President and General Manager, Empire BlueCross BlueShield. Everything 32BJ does is always in the best interest of their members.

As the U.S. health care system and federal government evaluate ways to reduce the cost of health care, payment bundling is emerging as one solution with significant benefits to all involved, said Howard Rothschild, President of the Realty Advisory Board on Labor Relations and Trustee of the 32BJ Health Fund, This arrangement with Mount Sinai fosters increased alignment among providers to focus on what matters most to patients  a seamless experience with high-quality outcomes at a predictable and affordable price. And that enhances the participants experience.

For more information about the Joint Replacement Bundled Payment Program, please contact Theresa Dolan at theresa(dot)dolan(at)mountsinai(dot)org.

About the Mount Sinai Health System

The Mount Sinai Health System is an integrated health system committed to providing distinguished care, conducting transformative research, and advancing biomedical education. Structured around seven hospital campuses and a single medical school, the Health System has an extensive ambulatory network and a range of inpatient and outpatient servicesfrom community-based facilities to tertiary and quaternary care.

The System includes approximately 6,100 primary and specialty care physicians; 12 joint-venture ambulatory surgery centers; more than 140 ambulatory practices throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida; and 31 affiliated community health centers. Physicians are affiliated with the renowned Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, which is ranked among the highest in the nation in National Institutes of Health funding per investigator. The Mount Sinai Hospital is ranked as one of the nations top 10 hospitals in Geriatrics, Cardiology/Heart Surgery, and Gastroenterology, and is in the top 25 in five other specialties in the 2015-2016 Best Hospitals issue of U.S. News & World Report. Mount Sinais Kravis Childrens Hospital also is ranked in seven out of ten pediatric specialties by U.S. News & World Report. The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai is ranked 11th nationally for Ophthalmology, while Mount Sinai Beth Israel is ranked regionally.

For more information, visit http://www.mountsinai.org or find Mount Sinai on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

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Weve been blown away in past years by the amazingly over-the-top productions students create to ask their dates to one of the most memorable events of high schoolprom, said Whataburger Vice President of Communications Pam Cox.

Over the years, Whataburger has seen fans ask their dates to school dances like prom by pulling out all the stops with Whataburger-themed promposals. This year the company is treating its biggest high school fans to a prom experience to remember.

One winner and his or her date will receive a special prom package for themselves and 10 friends including limo rental, orange corsages and boutonnieres, a professional photographer and a linen tablecloth dinner at Whataburger.

Heres how the contest works:



Fans in grades nine through 12 take a picture or video of their promposal

Then post their picture on our Facebook wall or tag a picture or video on Twitter and/or Instagram with the hashtag #WhataProm

Fans with the most creative promposal will have a shot at winning the ultimate Whataburger prom experience

Weve been blown away in past years by the amazingly over-the-top productions students create to ask their dates to one of the most memorable events of high schoolprom, said Whataburger Vice President of Communications Pam Cox. We cant wait to see what our fans bring to the table this year, and were ready to treat them to an experience they wont forget.

The contest closes at 11:59 p.m. on Monday, April 11, 2016, and the winner will be announced later that week. The winner will be contacted individually and announced on Whataburgers Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat accounts. For more information about the contest and official rules, visit here.

About Whataburger:

Whataburger has focused on its fresh, made-to-order burgers and friendly customer service since 1950 when Harmon Dobson opened the first Whataburger as a small roadside burger stand in Corpus Christi, Texas. Dobson gave his restaurant a name he hoped to hear customers say every time they took a bite of his made-to-order burgers: What a burger! Within the first week, people lined up around the block for his 25 cent, 100 percent beef burgers served on five-inch buns. Today, the company is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, with more than 790 locations in 10 states with sales of more than $2 billion annually. Visit http://www.whataburger.com for more information.

Check out the company on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and follow them on their most recently launched channel, Snapchat, @WhataburgerLife.

Media Contact:

Amanda Blease, Hahn Public for Whataburger LLC

210-476-6547

ablease(at)hahnpublic.com

(End)
Custom, limited edition Master & Dynamic headphones for Exhibitionism

As 2016 unfolds, New York City-based premium audio company Master & Dynamic continues to make noise with its growing line of headphones and earphones. Now, the luxury brand known for following its own path has joined forces with some of the music worlds most well-known trendsetters: The Rolling Stones. The iconic rockers commissioned Master & Dynamic to create the first ever Rolling Stones headphones, which are available for $500 at the bands Exhibitionism exhibit at Saatchi Gallery in London today through September 4, 2016.

A collection of memorabilia that includes items from The Rolling Stones fifty-plus-year history, the Exhibitionism Tour features over 550 rare and original Rolling Stones objects, a room containing a three minute audio-visual journey on 40 screens and a recreated flat shared by Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Brian Jones in the early 1960s. Other well-known brands such as Smythson, Turnbull & Asser and Superga have also unveiled products bearing the iconic Rolling Stones logo, all of which can also be purchased at the exhibit.

True to Master & Dynamics commitment to form and function, the stellar sound quality of the headphones remains unchanged, while the groups lip logo has been added to the inside and outside of each ear cup; the products packaging has also been surrounded with a custom wrap commemorating the exhibit.

After spending six months in the UK, the exhibit will make its way around the globe, stopping in 11 international cities such as New York and Tokyo, giving the bands millions of fans a chance to explore the fully immersive, multi-media experience.

Thus far 2016 has seen Master & Dynamic add projects with The Rolling Stones and Japanese designer Poggy to its resume, along with the new Palladium ME05 Earphones, which Hypebeast praised for their first class audio capabilities. The brands commitment to excellence earned it high marks in 2015 as well, with the release of a number of highly rated new products and designs such as the MW60 Wireless Over Ear Headphones, the brass ME05 Earphones, the silver/white colorway, Alcantara edition headphones and limited edition custom hand-painted headphones all debuting before the end of the companys first full year. For more information on Master & Dynamic, visit http://www.masterdynamic.com.

About Master & Dynamic

Master & Dynamic is a premium audio brand obsessed with sound and creativity. It is a New York City-based company with a deep passion for building beautifully crafted, richly appointed, technically sophisticated sound tools for creative minds. Its collection of headphones are tuned to provide a rich warm sound that perfectly captures the exceptional detail of well recorded music. Master & Dynamic sees its headphones as modern thinking caps: tools to help focus, inspire and transport your mind. Designed for decades of use, Master & Dynamic products are engineered to last, utilizing only the finest materials such as premium leathers and stainless steel, which create the perfect balance of aesthetics, strength, comfort and sound. View the entire collection at http://www.masterdynamic.com.

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Eradicating the stigma and social distancing of people with mental illness must be a top public health priority in order to improve worldwide mental health.

While bipolar disorder has long been a taboo subject, more and more people struggling with the neurobiological illness are beginning to speak out.

In December 2015, People magazine published an article detailing former Ally McBeal star Lisa Nicole Carsons lifelong battle with bipolar disorder, bringing to light the struggles of the disorder that affect nearly 5.5 million Americans.

In her book, How to Enjoy Life with Bipolar Disorder, Ann Latta Donnan details her life with bipolar disorder from age 12 to present day. Having been misdiagnosed for seven years as a teenager, Donnan details the hilarious and horrific effects of the illness, as well as her journey to stabilization.

By working hard, I have achieved the best life anyone could wish for, Donnan said. I feel that God has been with me.

By sharing her story, Donnan aims to offer hope and encouragement to others who are diagnosed with mental illnesses and to break the stigma against the mentally ill.

Most of us are productive members of society, not criminals, Donnan said. Eradicating the stigma and social distancing of people with mental illness must be a top public health priority in order to improve worldwide mental health.

For more information, visit https://annlattadonnan.wordpress.com.

How to Enjoy Life with Bipolar Disorder

By Ann Latta Donnan

ISBN: 978-1-4917-2302-9

Available in softcover and e-book

Available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and iUniverse

About the author

Ann Latta Donnan was raised in Pacific Palisades, California. She has a bachelors degree in architecture, and has worked for four architects. She later became a high school teacher for 25 years. Ann is married, has two children and two grandchildren, and lives in Southern California.

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**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE**

For review copies or interview requests, contact:

Jennifer Uebelhack

317.602.7137

juebelhack(at)bohlsengroup(dot)com
The union of Rightpoint and Agency Oasis bolsters our ability to deliver compelling digital experiences for our clients.

Rightpoint, a leading technology and design services company headquartered in Chicago, announced today that it has acquired Boston-based Agency Oasis. The acquisition expands Rightpoints existing presence from Chicago, Detroit and Denver to six new markets including Boston, Los Angeles, Atlanta, New York, San Francisco and Dallas, and establishes it as a leading national digital agency focused on creating customer experiences that build brands and grow businesses.

"We have always been grounded in creating transformative digital experiences that help our clients differentiate in an increasingly competitive environment, says Ross Freedman, Co-CEO of Rightpoint. "The union of Rightpoint and Agency Oasis bolsters our ability to deliver compelling digital experiences for our clients at scale and attract the very best talent in the industry.

The addition of Agency Oasis, a full service digital agency focused on customer experience, expands Rightpoints capabilities within the healthcare and financial services sectors and adds new clients to Rightpoints portfolio of marquee brands including Mass Mutual, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, IMS Health, Cincinnati Childrens Hospital, Delaware North, and Bell Helicopter. Mirroring Rightpoints position as a Platinum Sitecore Partner, Agency Oasis also strengthens Rightpoints systems integration work with strategic technology partners including Microsoft, Episerver, Insite Commerce, and Salesforce.

The Agency Oasis team is delighted to be combining forces with Rightpoint, said Jeff McMahon, CEO of Agency Oasis. The ability to combine the service offerings of two national leaders within the digital marketing ecosystem was an exciting proposition for us. The Rightpoint team has created an amazing organization filled with exceptional talent. We are thrilled to be part of the leading independent digital agency in North America.

After a brief integration planning period, Agency Oasis will rebrand and operate under the Rightpoint banner. As part of the integration, the three founders of Agency Oasis, Jeff McMahon, Nick Laidlaw, and Robert Naughton, will join Rightpoints Leadership Team and Mr. McMahon will be joining the Rightpoint Board of Directors. Rightpoint co-founders, Ross Freedman and Brad Schneider, will remain in their positions as Co-CEOs and continue to manage the strategic direction and growth of the company with support from the Leadership Team. The addition of Agency Oasis Executives and staff will increase Rightpoints headcount by more than one-third, to more than 300 employees.

Fueled by a $55 million equity investment from New York-based Stella Point Capital last spring, the acquisition of Agency Oasis aligns with Rightpoints accelerated growth strategy, which includes expanding its national presence, growing capabilities in key areas including digital marketing, e-commerce and CRM, and augmenting professional services with product-based solutions.

For more information, visit http://www.rightpoint.com.

About Rightpoint

Rightpoint is a technology and design services company serving Fortune 1,000 companies. The company creates experiences that amplify brands and business through creative and technology services including web, mobile, social, IoT, e-commerce and cloud. With a client base that includes some of the most iconic brands in the world, Rightpoint was named to Forbes 2014 list of America's Most Promising Companies and Crains 50 Fastest Growing Companies in Chicago in 2015. For more information, visit rightpoint.com and follow @Rightpoint.

About Agency Oasis

Founded in 2001, Agency Oasis a leading independent digital agency in North America, providing sophisticated digital strategy, digital design, and marketing technology platforms. Specializing in the Sitecore Experience Management platform, Agency Oasis solves its clients complex business problems through innovative and creative online experiences. Based in Boston, Agency Oasis maintains offices in Los Angeles, Atlanta, New York, San Francisco and Dallas. Agency Oasis works with an impressive roster of global brands to support enterprise-level websites and complex digital marketing campaigns that require international reach.
The Baptist Clay Medical Campus has received certification as an Acute Stroke Ready Hospital, the first designation by The Joint Commission to a freestanding emergency center in Florida.

The certification from The Joint Commission and the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association recognizes hospitals equipped to treat stroke patients with timely, evidence-based care prior to transferring them to a Primary or Comprehensive Stroke Center.

The team at the Baptist Clay Medical Campus has demonstrated excellence in caring for patients presenting with stroke symptoms, and this certification reflects their commitment to ensuring high-level, high-quality care to our patients, said Mindy S. Grall, PhD, ARNP-BC, administrative director of the Stroke and Cerebrovascular Program at Baptist Health.

The Baptist Clay Medical Campus underwent a rigorous onsite review recently to assess its compliance with the Joint Commissions Advanced Disease-Specific Care certification requirements, including:



A dedicated stroke-focused program

Staffing by qualified medical professionals trained in stroke care

Collaboration with local emergency management agencies

24/7 ability to perform rapid diagnostic and laboratory testing

Ability to administer intravenous clot-busting medications to eligible patients

Availability of telemedicine technology

This certification demonstrates our ability to deliver the best in timely acute care for patients suffering from a stroke, said Darin C. Roark, BSN, MBA, RN, administrator of Emergency Services for Baptist Health. Research demonstrates that during a stroke,

2 million neurons die each minute. The Baptist Health Stroke and Cerebrovascular Program offers timely evaluation and treatment with the appropriate medication and when necessary, further endovascular intervention for patients suffering from acute stroke. The residents of Clay County can rest assured knowing immediate stroke care is ready and available 24/7 at our Fleming Island campus.

When responding to a stroke, every second counts, said Casey Carrigan, MD, medical director of the Stroke Program for Baptist Clay Medical Campus. Time lost is brain lost. In a typical ischemic stroke, a persons brain ages 3.6 years every hour without treatment compared to a normally aging brain. Our medical team is here to ensure patients receive the highest quality and timely care to improve chances of survival.

Established in 2015, Acute Stroke Ready Hospital Certification is awarded for a two-year period to Joint Commission-accredited hospitals and critical access hospitals. The certification was derived from the Brain Attack Coalitions Recommendations for Comprehensive Stroke Centers (Stroke, 2005), Metrics for Measuring Quality of Care in Comprehensive Stroke Centers (Stroke, 2011) and recommendations from a multidisciplinary advisory panel of experts in complex stroke care.

A Joint Commission and American Heart Association/American Stroke Association certified Acute Stroke Ready Hospital will be the foundation for acute stroke care in many communities, allowing it to be the first stop on a patients acute stroke journey, said Wendi Roberts, RN, BA, MS, CLNC, executive director, Certification Programs, The Joint Commission.

Stroke is the fifth cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the United States, according to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association. On average, someone suffers a stroke every 40 seconds; someone dies of a stroke every four minutes; and 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.

About Baptist Health

Baptist Health is a faith-based, mission-driven system in Northeast Florida comprised of Baptist Medical Center Jacksonville; Baptist Medical Center Beaches; Baptist Medical Center Nassau; Baptist Medical Center South; Baptist Clay Medical Campus and Wolfson Childrens Hospital  the regions only childrens hospital. All Baptist Health hospitals, along with Baptist Home Health Care, have achieved Magnet status for excellence in patient care. Baptist Health is part of Coastal Community Health, a regional affiliation between Baptist Health, Flagler Hospital and Southeast Georgia Health System forming a highly integrated hospital network focused on significant initiatives designed to enhance the quality and value of care provided to our contiguous communities. Baptist Health has the areas only dedicated heart hospital; orthopedic institute; womens services; neurological institute, including comprehensive neurosurgical services, a comprehensive stroke center and two primary stroke centers; a Bariatric Center of Excellence; a full range of psychology and psychiatry services; urgent care services; and primary and specialty care physicians offices throughout Northeast Florida. The Baptist MD Anderson Cancer Center is a regional destination for multidisciplinary cancer care which is clinically integrated with the MD Anderson Cancer Center, the internationally renowned cancer treatment and research institution in Houston. For more details, visit baptistjax.com.

The Joint Commission

Founded in 1951, The Joint Commission seeks to continuously improve health care for the public, in collaboration with other stakeholders, by evaluating health care organizations and inspiring them to excel in providing safe and effective care of the highest quality and value. The Joint Commission accredits and certifies nearly 21,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States. An independent,

nonprofit organization, The Joint Commission is the nations oldest and largest standards-setting and accrediting body in health care. Learn more about The Joint Commission at http://www.jointcommission.org.

The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association

The American Heart Association and the American Stroke Association are devoted to saving people from heart disease and stroke  Americas No. 1 and No. 5 killers. We team with millions of volunteers to fund innovative research, fight for stronger public health policies, and provide lifesaving tools and information to prevent and treat these diseases. The Dallas-based American Heart Association is the nations oldest and largest voluntary organization dedicated to fighting heart disease and stroke. The American Stroke Association is a division of the American Heart Association. To learn more or to get involved, call 1-800-AHA-USA1, visit heart.org or call any of our offices around the country. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

The familiar Heart-Check mark now helps consumers evaluate their choices in hospital care. Each mark given to a hospital is earned by meeting specific standards for the care of patients with heart disease and/or stroke. The Heart-Check mark can only be displayed by hospitals that have achieved and defined requirements set by the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association. For more information on the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association Hospital Accreditation Program visit http://www.heart.org/myhospital.
Anouar Majid, the University of New Englands vice president for Global Affairs and Communications. One of the key responsibilities of a university's communications department is to create a storyline that reflects the uniqueness of the university and then share it broadly.

On April 13, 2016, Anouar Majid, the University of New Englands vice president for Global Affairs and Communications, will present a keynote address at the University Communicators conference, the premier symposium for university PR administrators. His lecture, titled The Pulse of the University: Establishing Communicators as Institutional Storytellers, will discuss the ways in which communications professionals shape the identity of universities.

Majids talk will take place at the Harvard Faculty Club.

As Majid notes, communications departments in universities typically serve a threefold purpose: publicize the work of faculty, manage the reputation of the university, and oversee branding efforts. However, the work of the department should extend beyond these traditional functions and help position the university for a better understanding of its strengths and mission.

In his lecture, Majid will explain the ways in which communications professionals can help faculty and academic leaders sharpen their vision of their own institutions. Creative designers, filmmakers, photographers and writers are instrumental in this project of collective self-definition.

In less than three years after assuming the job of vice president of Communications, Majid has overseen the redesign of UNEs website, built on a new platform and hosted in the cloud; redesigned the universitys magazine, and added new profiles to the unit, such as a full-time filmmaker, full-time photographer, social media strategist, writer and director of marketing. In very short order, the University of New England was named among the top in the nation in the 2014/2015 Collegiate Advertising Awards program, receiving Gold Awards for the revamped magazine and video work. In 2015, the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM) awarded the same magazine its top prize. This year, AACOM bestowed another prize to UNEs Office of Communications for excellence in design in advertising.

Commenting on this rapid transformation, Majid says that the key idea is never to be bound by the dictates of unexamined convention. Just like in academics or politics, people tend to be driven by the latest fads or wisdom, but no two situations in life are exactly alike. UNE is unlike any other university, so you need to create a storyline that reflects this uniqueness and then share it broadly. We are not just branding but instilling pride and loyalty within our own institution.

Anouar Majid is Vice President for Global Affairs and Communications, the founding director of the Center for Global Humanities and the founding chair of the Department of English, which he headed from 2000 to 2009. He conceived and oversaw the establishment of UNE's campus in Tangier and is the managing director of UNE's operations in Morocco. Majid has published widely on relations between Islam and the West and is the author of six books published by some of the leading academic presses in the United States. Majid's articles and op-eds have appeared in Cultural Critique, Signs, Chronicle Review, Washington Post, and other publications. He was featured in the Bill Moyers Journal and on Al Jazeera Television. He was the co-founder and editor-in-chief of the print magazine Tingis, a Moroccan-American magazine of ideas and culture, and now edits it online at Tingismagazine.com.

The University of New England (UNE) is Maines largest private university. It offers dozens of undergraduate, graduate and professional degree programs and is home to Maines only medical and dental schools. With coastal campuses in Portland and Biddeford, Maine and one in Tangier, Morocco, UNE attracts internationally recognized scholars in the sciences, health, medicine and the humanities. It is one of a select group of academic institutions with a comprehensive health education mission that includes programs in medicine, pharmacy, dental medicine, nursing and an array of allied health professions.

The University of New England. innovation for a healthier planet.
R. Andrew Sevrinsky

R. Andrew Sevrinsky, a Georgia State University Honors College student, has been named a Barry M. Goldwater Scholar, one of 252 award recipients nationwide.

Noa Erlitzki, an Honors College junior, earned honorable mention for the Goldwater Scholarship, marking the first time that Georgia State has had two students recognized by the Goldwater Foundation in the same year.

The Goldwater Scholarship is recognized as one of the most prestigious and competitive research scholarships for undergraduate students. The scholarship program, honoring former U.S. Sen. Barry Goldwater, encourages outstanding students to pursue careers in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences and engineering. Since its first award in 1989, the foundation has given 7,680 scholarships worth about $48 million.

We are extremely proud of both Andrew and Noa as well as the research faculty and Honors College staff who supported and mentored both scholars, said Larry Berman, founding dean of the Honors College. This is a tribute to their commitment to undergraduate research with a future of unlimited accomplishment in mathematics and the natural sciences. It also reinforces what we knowwhen provided institutional support, our students can compete alongside the very best scholars in the country.

Sevrinsky, a junior majoring in physics, was selected on the basis of academic merit from a field of 1,150 mathematics, science and engineering students who were nominated by the faculties of colleges and universities nationwide. The one- and two-year scholarships, awarded to undergraduate sophomores and juniors, cover the cost of tuition, fees, books, and room and board up to a maximum of $7,500 per year.

I am grateful to receive the Goldwater Scholarship, said Sevrinsky, I am really appreciative to the strong institutional support I received through the Honors College, the Goldwater Campus Committee, and the Physics and Astronomy Department. The faculty, in particular, Dr. Todd Henry, Dr. Wei-Chun Jao and Dr. Misty Bentz, have been incredibly encouraging, supportive and responsible for my development as a researcher. 

A native of Saluda, N.C., Sevrinsky, works with Henry and contributes to research on low mass stars. He also is a teaching assistant in stellar and galactic astronomy and will complete an internship this summer with the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. He plans to obtain a Ph.D. in astronomy, conduct research to study and characterize the properties of stellar populations and teach at the university level.

Most stars are low mass stars and have been underexamined due to their intrinsic faintness, Sevrinsky said. If we do not understand the most common stars, we cannot understand the structure and evolution of the galaxy as a whole. In particular, we would like to know where to look for planets which will be stable over long periods of time and could potentially harbor life.

Erlitzki, from Alpharetta, Ga., was one of 256 students who earned honorable mention for the Goldwater Scholarship. Through the College of Arts and Sciences, she is earning a dual degree (B.S./M.S.) in Chemistry and works with Dr. Gregory Poons lab as an undergraduate researcher in biophysical chemistry. She recently joined the Women Chemists Committee of the American Chemical Society. Erlitzki plans to obtain a M.D./Ph.D. in biophysical chemistry. Partly due to her experience with Crohns disease, she has a strong interest in the molecular basis of inflammatory processes and autoimmune diseases and the translation of this knowledge to new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches in the medical field.

The support I have received as a woman in the sciences at Georgia State and throughout this process has been transformative, Erlitzki said. Receiving this award has truly affirmed my educational and career goals.
This award is a testament to our employees efforts in working seamlessly with customers to act as an extension of their team.

Aviation Technical Services (ATS) has been named Leading Independent MRO Organization at the 2016 Aviation Week MRO of the Year Awards, part of the MRO Americas conference being held in Dallas this week. Each year, Aviation Week editors select the best MRO and aviation aftermarket entities around the world for value-adding achievements and innovations. ATS earned the 2016 award for its technical fleet integration service, dubbed Skyline.

ATS is honored to receive Aviation Weeks 2016 MRO of the Year Award. This award is a testament to our employees efforts in working seamlessly with customers to act as an extension of their team, said ATS CEO Matt Yerbic. Together with our customer, we developed a creative and innovative solution through Skyline that has translated into increased efficiencies, reduced costs, and incremental revenue service.

Skyline enables ATSs airline customers to integrate pre-owned, mid-life aircraft to existing fleets. The program alleviates resource-intensive technical activities, delivering flying capacity to an airline faster than adding new aircraft. This allows carriers flexibility to grow and deploy their fleets.

ATS has been a committed and reliable partner in Southwests fleet modernization efforts, said Landon Nitschke, Southwest Airlines Vice President of Maintenance Operations. By working with ATS to centralize technical elements of Southwests pre-owned aircraft integration program, we have introduced dozens of aircraft into revenue service.

Southwest and ATS have collaborated since 2014 to produce the Skyline program. ATS provides the technical capability that preserves full regulatory compliance and technical uniformity  encompassing elements of records management, engineering, technical procurement, transition check planning and direct labor.

About Aviation Technical Services

ATS has been providing maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services for commercial and military aircraft for more than 45 years. Today, ATS is home to more than 1,500 employees who work together to support a global customer base across three major business platforms: Airframe Services; Components Services; Engineering Services. ATS is headquartered in Everett, Wash., and has expanded operations to Moses Lake, Wash., and Kansas City, Mo. In December 2014, ATS acquired Texas Air Composites in Fort Worth, Texas, a Domestic 145 Repair Station specializing in composite structural fabrication, support and repair for regional, commercial and military aircraft. As one company that holds ATS FAA Class IV and EASA 145 certifications, ATS is able to work on virtually any transport aircraft in the world. For more information, visit atsmro.com.
The possibilities of the universe are infinite when we tap into our innate inner guidance system and harness the power of the Law of Attraction.

The Law of Attraction, in short, states that by focusing on positive or negative thoughts, we bring like experiences into our lives.

So what happens when this theory brings a group of women together to fight a group of rich and powerful pharmaceutical company executives? Corporate corruption and conspiracy meets metaphysics and mystery in When the Universe Called, a new novel by author Maggie Denhearn.

The possibilities of the universe are infinite when we tap into our innate inner guidance system and harness the power of the Law of Attraction, Denhearn said. When the Universe Called is a fictional depiction of this concept  a concept that is often only found in nonfictional works.

Denhearn was inspired to develop a novel that features several strong, older female characters, as well as introduces the concepts of the Law of Attraction in a unique and entertaining way.

The book truly combines all of my passions into one compelling novel, Denhearn said. People will be inspired to take reality into their own hands and harness the power that exists within.

For more information, visit maggiedenhearn.com.

When the Universe Called

By Maggie Denhearn

ISBN: 978-1-5043-3971-1

Available in softcover, hardcover, e-book

Available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and BalboaPress

About the author

Born in England, Maggie Denhearn fled back to Canada (for the second time) after an alarming adventure in love. Bolstered by her view of the Salish Sea, supported by her family and small dog, Denhearn has boldly embarked upon her dream of becoming a writer.

Denhearn is a global learning facilitator North Island College in Courtenay, British Columbia, a short drive along the ocean from Qualicum Beach where she currently resides. In her free time, she enjoys running with her local running group, as well as traveling.

For review copies or interview requests, contact:

Jade Schwarting

317.602.7137

jschwarting(at)bohlsengroup(dot)com
U.S. Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart presents Congressional Record to Keiser University's Vice Chancellor Belinda Keiser Mr. Speaker, in recognition of Womens History month I rise today to honor Ms. Belinda Keiser, a remarkable individual in the State of Florida. Past News Releases RSS Keiser University Recognizes...

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Keiser Universitys Vice Chancellor of Community Relations and Student Advancement, Belinda Keiser, was formally recognized for her decades of service by U.S. Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart of Floridas 25th Congressional District, before the Honorable Paul Ryan, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Mr. Speaker, in recognition of Womens History month I rise today to honor Mrs. Belinda Keiser, a remarkable individual in the State of Florida, said Congressman Diaz-Balart. "Mrs. Keiser has dedicated her life to working for others, specifically in the areas of education, public service, and philanthropy, he added.

For over 30 years, she has been among the leadership of Keiser University, an institution that started with just one student in 1977, and today serves over 20,000 students, 60,000 alumni, and employs 3,800 on 17 Florida campuses and internationally. As Vice Chancellor, she is responsible for media and public relations, student services, employer relations, and charitable giving. Through her role, she has broadened the schools reach, built on its strong reputation, and stayed true to its founders vision.

The effects of Mrs. Keisers commitment have also been felt in public service, where she has served as an Ex-Officio member of the Florida Council of 100, as an appointee of Gov. Rick Scott to the Enterprise Florida Board of Directors, and on the Florida Government Efficiency Task Force. Currently, Belinda is serving as a reappointed member of the 17th Circuit Judicial Nominating Commission of Broward County, and is also working as a member of the Board of Floridas Chamber of Commerce.

She still manages to contribute a large portion of her time and resources to numerous charitable organizations including the American Cancer Society, Operation Homefront, and the United States Marine Corps. Mrs. Keisers ongoing efforts truly impacted Floridas economic and workforce systems, global competitiveness, and the legal, education and healthcare communities.

I am honored and humbled to be recognized by Congressman Diaz-Balart, one of Floridas most distinguished and enduring leaders, during our nations Womens History month, said Keiser. This month serves to raise awareness of womens contributions to our country  past, present, and future  and to the advancement of opportunities for women in all aspects of our society. Ive had the privilege of being inspired by many talented and compassionate women and men throughout my lifetime. I hope that I have been able to do the same for the next generation of women leaders in education, health care, public service, and philanthropy, she added.

Recently, Mrs. Keiser announced the launch of a Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Keiser University's Flagship Campus in West Palm Beach. The Center is intended to prepare graduates to start their own businesses and reach greater heights in their chosen professions as many alumni already have.

Keiser University is honored to award nearly $44 million annually in need-based and academic scholarships, said Keiser. The Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation can provide additional opportunities for our students, 70% of which are women, to develop the talents needed to be competitive in an increasingly global marketplace, she added.

I look forward to working with her on our shared priorities in the future. I am privileged to know Mrs. Keiser and admire her service to the local community in South Florida, and I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing this remarkable individual, stated Congressman Diaz-Balart.

About Keiser University: Keiser University is a private, not-for-profit University serving nearly 20,000 students offering 100 degrees at the doctoral through associate level on 18 Florida campuses, online and internationally, employing 3,800 staff and faculty.

Keiser University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award certificates and degrees at the associate, baccalaureate, masters, specialist, and doctoral levels. Contact the Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097 or call 404-679-4500 for questions about the accreditation of Keiser University.

For additional information regarding Keiser University, visit http://www.keiseruniversity.edu
BLD Architecture's New Logo Were highly focused on working smarter and providing exceptional design value to our clients through our knowledgeable and personable staff. --Alexander Badalamenti

Baldassano Architecture announced today it is changing its name to bld architecture to reflect the practices expansion beyond its Long Island roots into one of the regions leading architectural design firms.

Pronounced build, the name change marks the 40-year-old firms entry into a new era, according to President/CEO Alexander Badalamenti, AIA, who assumed leadership from firm namesake Charles Baldassano in 2006.

While as architects we are not builders, bld celebrates the origins of the architect as the master builder, he explains. What we do build are ideas, concepts and vision. More importantly, we build relationships with our clients and consultants.

Under Badalamentis direction, the firm has spread its thoughtful appreciation for the Long Island community with progressive work into all five of the New York City boroughs and abroad. From Montauk to Westchester, recent notable projects are the Bulova Watchcase Condominium project in Sag Harbor, the YMCA Recreation Facility in Patchogue, the NEC Retail projects at the Nassau Coliseum and large automated FedEx facilities in Queens, Brooklyn and Yonkers.

Were highly focused on working smarter and providing exceptional design value to our clients through our knowledgeable and personable staff, says Badalamenti, whose leadership team now includes Thomas Cromer, vice president/CFO; Thomas Murawski, director of operations; and Jeremy Linzee, director of design. Together, they are driving bld architectures innovative and integrated approach to future areas of growth.

The bld name is accompanied by a simple yet powerful icon created by Austin & Williams of Hauppauge, NY, that promotes a differentiating brand identity for the firm. Both will be introduced to the market in a unified campaign that will include the development of new stationery, collateral and direct marketing materials as well as a website redesign.

About bld architecture

Formerly known as Baldassano Architecture, bld architecture is an established leader in architectural design on Long Island and in the surrounding areas. Serving both the private and public sectors since 1974, blds diverse built portfolio features notable buildings for key enterprises in various markets including commercial, education, healthcare, industrial, interiors, hospitality, master planning, municipal, residential, retail, historic restoration and adaptive reuse. For more information, visit http://www.bldnow.com.

Austin & Williams

Austin & Williams is an outcomes-driven branding and marketing agency headquartered in Hauppauge, Long Island, NY. Specializing in the healthcare, higher education, professional and financial services industries, the Agency provides a full range of branding, advertising and digital marketing services to help clients achieve their desired outcome. For more information, visit austin-williams.com.
Military Law expert Christopher Nuneviller began his military career in the United States Navy. Ever the sailor, he'd practice law from the open seas, if the courts would allow it.

Former military and Government attorney Christopher Nuneviller recently joined noted military defense law firm Crisp & Associates, LLC to helm the firm's new Washington, DC office. In part two of a three-part series designed to educate military service members, family members--including parents and spouses of soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen--and others regarding important critical first steps when facing unpleasant and unthinkable situations, Nuneviller discusses the five things a military Service member should keep in mind when they find out when responding to a Letter of Reprimand.

1. Argue facts, and only facts.

"Dont complain to or about your commander. They are already disappointed that someone under their command did something to distract from mission readiness. Whining does nothing but make the commander and her command judge advocate want to make the problem go away. By providing dispassionate facts, supporting statements and a clear chronology of the events, everyone reading the response will be more likely than not to give it fair consideration."

2. Take responsibility.

"Tradition holds that a Captain of a ship, regardless of what has happened, is responsible for what occurs on or to that ship  embrace that principle and own your part. Take responsibility, even if to say that you 'regret that your actions took time away from the more important matters of the command.' By doing so you are showing the Commander that you understand your role in the event and that you will be better for the experience, no matter how dire that experience and its consequences may appear."

3. Let others speak for you.

"Your part of the response to the Commander should be taking responsibility and laying out the facts that others have provided. For example, if a crucial witness was not interviewed, or important documents ignored, weave them into your narrative of the incident and let them provide commentary and supporting evidence. Your job is to merely say 'Commander Joness statement is contrary to what A and B and C stated, and his statement is more credible because he was present at the time of the incident.'

4. Assume the Investigating Officer was Competent  then disprove it if you can.

"Typically, in only the rarest and higher-profile cases is the investigating officer an expert who has numerous conducted investigations before. Chances are the investigating officer is not an expert, nor have they conducted an extensive number of investigations before. While this can be used to your advangage, tread lightly. I recommend against 'Lieutenant Smith failed to do her job correctly because she ignored three of the witnesses that did not support her pre-determined conclusions.' A commander will look at a dispassionate argument of the facts more readily than a take-down of the IO."

5. Ask for a Delayed Imposition of the Reprimand.

"Commanders have great discretion in the timing of the reprimand filing decision. If you submit a well-argued, organized, and dispassionate response, it might be prudent to ask for an opportunity to restore the Commanders faith in your capabilities and commitment for further service."

One final note:

"It is absolutely crucial that you have help preparing your response to the issuance of a reprimand. The costs to your career are monumental. In many cases, the filing of a reprimand in your official personnel file requires the initiation of an administrative separation or 'show cause' board. This can be good and bad. As a member of the Armed Forces you are afforded an opportunity to consult, for free, with military legal assistance attorneys. While these attorneys are extraordinarily competent, they are also extraordinarily overworked. Their standard is 'legally sufficient' not the best, most comprehensive thing that can be produced to assure the most favorable outcome. I recommend you seek the best civilian counsel you can afford to increase your chances of having that reprimand thrown out or filed in the 'restricted' portion of your official personnel file. I'm happy to help, Crisp & Associates is happy to help, and a number of qualified lawyers with relevant experience in military law stand ready to help. Don't turn that help down."

About Christopher Nuneviller, Esq.

Christopher Nuneviller is an attorney and a former mobilized Army Judge Advocate who served as the primary legal advisor to the Department of the Army Secretariats Office of the Special Review Boards (OSRB) prior to the OSRB being subsumed by the Army Review Boards Agency in 2007. The OSRB consisted of a number of Colonels and Sergeants Major serving as panel members on one or more of the NC/OER Appeals Board, the Army Suitability Evaluation Board (DASEB) and the Conscientious Objector Review Board (DACORB). Mr. Nuneviller is currently of counsel to Crisp & Associates of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and heads the firm's District of Columbia office.
We built The Compassion Experience in order to really bring the developing world to America.

Compassion International, a leading authority on child sponsorship which releases children from poverty globally, will be bringing its tour, The Compassion Experience, to the Clinton area April 22- 25. The event will educate visitors about the realities of life in poverty as well as provide an international experience to visitors who may not ever have the opportunity to travel abroad to a developing country.

The Compassion Experience

The four-day event will be set up in the parking lot of South Ridge Community Church at 7 Pittstown Road in Clinton from April 22-25. There, visitors will be invited on a self-guided journey where they will be immersed in the lives and stories of two children living in the Dominican Republic and Keyna. Each childs story starts in hardship but ends in hope.

The experience includes 1,700 square feet of exhibit space, featuring replicas of the homes and environments of these two Compassion beneficiaries. The event is free and family-friendly.

We built The Compassion Experience in order to really bring the developing world to America, said Mark Hanlon, Compassion Internationals senior vice president of global marketing and engagement. When people think of poverty, they often think of the lack of things, the lack of stuff, the lack of money. Those are all symptoms of poverty. The real issue of poverty is the lack of hope. Through our holistic child development program, Compassion stirs hope in children. And youll see that hope come to life at this event."

The Poverty Problem

The tour is highly interactive, using individual iPods and headsets to offer visitors a sense of what life is like in extremely poverty-stricken areas around the world where the World Bank estimates that 700 million (9.6 percent of the global population) live on less than $1.90 a day1 (USD). In the areas Compassion serves, one in five children die before the age of five2, mostly from preventable causes, and 101 million3 children worldwide do not attend school. Tour goers will have the opportunity to change the story of children living in poverty by learning more about the issue, as well as Compassions child sponsorship program, which tackles global poverty one child at a time. Compassion currently serves more than 1.7 million children in 26 of the world's most impoverished countries.

For more information about The Compassion Experience, visit http://www.CompassionExperience.com, @compassion_exp on Twitter, and http://www.facebook.com/CompassionExperience on Facebook.

About Compassion International

Compassion International is the worlds leading authority in holistic child development through sponsorship. Compassion revolutionized the fight against global poverty by working exclusively with the Church to develop children out of poverty to become responsible, fulfilled Christian adults. It is the only child sponsorship program to be validated through independent, empirical research. Compassion partners with more than 6,900 Christian churches in 26 countries to release over 1.7 million babies, children and students from poverty in Jesus name. Compassion has been awarded the highest rating for financial stewardship and transparency for 14 consecutive years by Charity Navigator, Americas largest charity evaluator. For more information on the ministry, visit compassion.com or follow them on Twitter at @compassion.

###

CONTACT: Chris Hoffman, Compassion International

CHoffman(at)compassion(dot)com

(719) 633-3271

1 Worldbank.org

2 Unicef.org

3 Unicef.org
Terrazzo Tek A Tool Kit for Artistry in Terrazzo "The TERRAZZO TEK System is the distillation of twenty-five years of experience working with contractors, artists, and architects in the fabrication of terrazzo flooring," says Jim Belilove, President of Creative Edge Master Shop

The TERRAZZO TEK trademarked banner defines Creative Edge Master Shop's brand for a series of waterjet-based techniques for the terrazzo industry. Terrazzo is an ancient decorative technique that dates back 2,000 years to the Roman Empire. Marble chips are mixed with cement to create stunning patterns, art, and durable designs for palaces, villas and temples.

In the late 19th century, terrazzo became prevalent in the U.S. and Europe, as a distinguishing feature of quality structures. Schools, hotels, banks and other public buildings frequently used terrazzo in their lobby and public area floors to create vibrant logos and emblems in zinc, brass and bronze. The technique declined as cememtitious terrazzo had limitations due to its thickness and cure-time. It added weight to the structures and was prone to cracking as any concrete-based method. In the 1990's, terrazzo made a comeback with the advent of epoxy-based resins and colors. The modern epoxy matrix is significantly thinner, more colorful, more flexible and quicker to cure than older cement-based types.

Since then, terrazzo floor coverings have flourished in large venues such as convention centers, airports, and public buildings. Creative Edge Master Shop has developed waterjet techniques that supplement and enhance the decorative potential and artistry of terrazzo. Creative Edge terrazzo projects are custom designed, and a large library of previously designed projects, entries, borders, accents, and medallions are catalogued to provide inspiration for new installations.

"The TERRAZZO TEK System is the distillation of twenty-five years of experience working with contractors, artists, and architects in the fabrication of terrazzo flooring," says Jim Belilove, President of Creative Edge Master Shop. "TERRAZZO TEK is a series of novel techniques, a 'tool kit; to enhance artistry, improve efficiency, and expand options in terrazzo installations, both large and small."

The trademarked names for the new line of Creative Edge Master Shop's series of waterjet-based techniques for the terrazzo industry are:



JETFORMZ uses waterjet technology to cut the metal material dividers from brass, aluminum, and bronze. This method adds to detail, complexity, and accuracy of metal dividing strips.

TRANSFORMZ is the layout system that faithfully transfers architect, designer, and artist patterns to the floor to be covered in epoxy terrazzo.

ACCUFORMZ is the technique of templating for layout letters, logos and emblems accurately and positioning these elements for the terrazzo pour.

NOFORMZ is a technique of fabricating intricate art and pattern with no metallic joints, creating striking and colorful detail in artwork and lobby identity pieces.

As a member of the National Terrazzo and Mosaic Association (NTMA), Creative Edge Master Shop has been an active vendor to terrazzo contractors by helping them achieve new artistry, reducing costs, and accelerating installation time. No custom floor is too complicated or large for the Creative Edge team to achieve exceptional results in any luxury residence, business, school, hospital, hotel, casino, shop, or public installation. Creative Edge Master Shop can work from the clients custom design or work with clients to create a one-of-a-kind masterpiece.

Creative Edge was recently commissioned to fabricate two notable terrazzo projects, the Utah State Seal in Salt Lake City by Wisconsin Terrazzo, and the NTMA 2016 Job Of The Year, Pittsburgh International Airport Airside Terminal, in Pittsburgh, PA by Roman Mosaic and Tile Company.

To learn more about the Creative Edge Master Shop TERRAZZO TEK System, and to view a portfolio of completed projects, visit the Creative Edge Master Shop website, email roberts(at)cec-waterjet(dot)com or call 641.919.3204

Creative Edge Master Shop is the pioneer and world leader in the application of waterjet technology in architectural fabrication. Under the leadership of Creative Edge President and CEO Jim Belilove, since its founding in 1988, the company has completed more than 10,000 projects and introduced the world to the remarkable possibilities of waterjet fabrication for architecture and design.

From their headquarters in Fairfield, Iowa the company has contributed to a number of land-marked architectural projects including O'Hare International Airport, the Astronauts' Memorial at Kennedy Space Center, the Federal Reserve Bank in Minnesota, the entrance to Disneyworld's Magic Kingdom, Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, shopping centers, airports, hotels, casinos, conventions centers and prestigious residences both in the U.S. and world-wide.
Matrox Maevex 2 PCIe cards, appliances and OEM tools to provide world-class capabilities for real-time, high-density encoding and streaming applications.

Matrox Graphics Inc. today announced that it is expanding the Matrox Maevex product line of encoders and decoders with a new range of products designed for multiple real-time encoding, streaming, transcoding, and recording. The Maevex 2 product line will feature a variety of form factors, including PCI Express cards, stand-alone appliances and OEM versions of the hardware and software, capable of supporting up to 64 channels of 4K capture, real-time encoding and streaming in a single 5U rack for high-density applications.

Maevex 2 encoding & decoding applications:

For extension and switching applications, Maevex 2 will provide Full HD, 4K and 8K extension and switching over standard IP including UHD at 60Hz with ultra-low latency.

For enterprise video management systems (VMS), Maevex 2 will feature Matrox Advanced Hybrid Streaming (AHS) which provides multiple source capture, real-time encoding and streaming, adjustable picture-in-picture and picture-by-picture, simultaneous stream and record, multi-protocol streaming, multiple concurrent bitrate streaming, and more.

For live streaming and recording in government and enterprise environments, Maevex 2 will provide maximum interoperability with third-party hardware and software. In addition to the market-leading real-time encoding resolution capabilities of Maevex 2 SKUs, the new products will be highly adjustable to bias for image quality to the point of near lossless video. 4:2:0 color sampling currently shipping on the Maevex 5150 Series will now be joined by Maevex 2 with support for up to 4:4:4 color sampling for the clear transmission of the most demanding detail in any application.

The new Maevex 2 product range will support commonly used streaming protocols such as RTMP, RTP, HTTP, MPEG2.TS, and RTSP making new SKUs compatible with the current Maevex 5150 series and thousands of third-party hardware and software encoders, decoders, cameras, media players, network storage, mobile devices, browsers, and streaming media servers.

Matrox is further expanding the Maevex developer APIs to help OEMs, integrators and software developers incorporate Maevex features into their own applications including AV processors, digital signage software, enterprise video management software, the most challenging video and graphics recording applications, security and surveillance environments, and WAN and cloud tools for any need.

It is an extremely exciting time here at Matrox, said Ron Berty, business development manager, Matrox Graphics Inc. What we are rolling out in the coming months is truly a bonanza of multi-point, real-time encoding and streaming capabilities that meet all the goals of our hardware and software OEM development partners and our international value-added distribution and re-sale partnerships.

Matrox will be showing the first live demonstrations of the new Maevex 2 technology at InfoComm 2016 (booth N2047) including private showroom demonstrations to registered OEM development partners.

Availability

Matrox Maevex 2 developer kits will be available to select partners in H2 2016. For more information, contact ibcoemtoolkit(at)matrox(dot)com. If you will be attending InfoComm and are interested in a Maevex 2 demo, register at http://www.matrox.com/graphics/maevex-2/demo/register.

About Matrox Graphics Inc.

Matrox Graphics is a global manufacturer of reliable, high-quality ASICs, boards, appliances, and software. Backed by in-house design expertise and dedicated customer support, Matrox products deliver stellar capture, extension, distribution, and display. Engineering high-quality products since 1976, Matrox technology is trusted by professionals and partners worldwide. Matrox is a privately held company headquartered in Montreal, Canada. For more information, visit http://www.matrox.com/graphics.

Media Contact:

Janet Matey

Media Relations Manager

Tel: +1 (514) 822-6037

Matrox and Matrox product names are registered trademarks and/or trademarks of Matrox Electronic Systems, Ltd. and/or Matrox Graphics Inc. in Canada and/or other countries. All other company and product names are registered trademarks and/or trademarks of their respective owners.
Northwood University, Tuscola Technology Center, Frankenmuth Schools, Frankenmuth Insurance and Insuring MI Future announce a program to give students a head start in the insurance industry. Having a first-hand look from the inside may help them (students) realize they can have a rewarding career in insurance.

A new program to provide area high school students the opportunity to prepare for a future career in the growing insurance industry will launch this September in Frankenmuth.

The collaboration between Northwood University, Frankenmuth Insurance, InsuringMIFuture.org, Tuscola County Intermediate School District, and Frankenmuth Public Schools allows high school juniors and seniors to obtain high school and free college credits, while also receiving hands-on insurance experience at Frankenmuth Insurance Company.

Frankenmuth Insurance is very pleased to work with the education partners to offer this program to our local communities, said Fred Edmond, President and Chief Operating Officer. Most students have not considered a career in insurance, mainly because they are unfamiliar with our industry, the good we do for others and the wide variety of opportunities that exist. Having a first-hand look from the inside may help them realize they can have a rewarding career in insurance.

Students will attend class at Frankenmuth Insurance as well as Tuscola Technology Career. While at Frankenmuth Insurance, the students will job shadow, participate in presentations by insurance industry professionals and learn specific job skills.

I really didnt have to think too long before I signed up, said Riley Klein, a student at Cass City High School. This is a great opportunity to earn free college credits and get valuable hands-on experience in a leading company.

Northwood University, through its undergraduate program in insurance and risk management, will teach the courses and provide the students who successfully complete the program with nine semester hours of college academic credit at no cost to the students.

Northwood University is pleased to partner with Frankenmuth Insurance and the school districts to offer this innovative program that expands career options to students while still in high school, said Dr. Keith A. Pretty, President and CEO. The students will gain real career opportunities and a very cost effective educational start in a dynamic industry. Thats a great value.

The insurance industry is facing a shortage of young talent.

Nearly 40 percent of the insurance industrys workforce in this state is 55 and older, said Lori Conarton of the Insurance Institute of Michigan, a member of the Insuring MI Future Coalition. That provides quite an opportunity for young people thinking about their future career.

The insurance industry employs more than 114,000 people and pays $6.3 billion in wages in the Great Lakes State.

This innovative program will provide students from Tuscola County and Frankenmuth Public Schools an advantage as they embark on their life after high school. Not only will they have nine college credits, they will have experience that puts them on a path to a great career in the insurance industry, said Gene Pierce, superintendent of Tuscola County ISD.

The High School Program is supported by the Insuring MI Future Coalition, a campaign to attract young people to the insurance industry. Members are the Insurance Institute of Michigan, Michigan Association of Insurance Agents, Michigan Association of Health Plans, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Life Insurance Association of Michigan and Department of Insurance and Financial Services. To learn more about insurance careers, salaries, scholarships and educational opportunities, visit the coalitions website, http://www.insuringmifuture.org.
Author Peter Miles believes that fairytales are not for young readers only and that adults can enjoy a happy-ever-after story too, every now and then. His latest publication, Swan Prince (published by Xlibris AU), is his fairy story offer to those who, like him, wants to traverse and revel in the rich recesses of their imagination.

This book follows an idealistic prince who sets out to woo a recently widowed Queen. On his way, he is beset by thieves, is threatened by diabolical wizardry, finds a fragment of a lethal mirror of doom and discovers that his intended bride is not what she seemed to be. He meets and rescues his true and abiding love  but at a cost? Is there a happy ending for this brave royal and his fair beloved?

Miles richly-drawn characters and the diverse adventures they undergo bring this classic good versus evil tale to new heights. Sprinkled with just the right amount of magic and romance, the Swan Prince will not disappoint those looking for an escapist read that excites and mesmerizes at every pages turn.

Swan Prince

By Peter Miles

Hardcover | 6 x 9in | 82 pages | ISBN 9781503509603

Softcover | 6 x 9in | 82 pages | ISBN 9781503509597

E-Book | 82 pages | ISBN 9781503509610

Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

About the Author

Peter Miles was born in September 22, 1928, in Ovingdean, Sussex, England and migrated with his family to Southern Africa in 1946, where he graduated in chemistry and entomology at Rhodes University in 1949. After working as an agricultural scientist in Zambia (then Southern Rhodesia), he returned to England to study at the University of Cambridge for a Ph.D. in insect biochemistry and physiology. He moved to Australia and became an Australian citizen in 1957. He has written 98 scientific articles and research publications. He retired from the University of Adelaide in 1993 and has since turned to writing works of fiction, including the sci-fi novel Nandroth and Eye of the Beholder. He married Sidsel Kierfulf Bendixen (1937-2012) and they had two daughters.

Xlibris Publishing Australia, an Author Solutions, LLC imprint, is a self-publishing services provider dedicated to serving Australian authors. By focusing on the needs of creative writers and artists and adopting the latest print-on-demand publishing technology and strategies, we provide expert publishing services with direct and personal access to quality publication in hardcover, trade paperback, custom leather-bound and full-color formats. To date, Xlibris has helped to publish more than 60,000 titles.For more information, visit xlibrispublishing.com.au or call 1800 455 039 to receive a free publishing guide. Follow us @XlibrisAus on Twitter for the latest news.
Riverchase Center, Birmingham Alabama This acquisition provides the opportunity to purchase a high quality, multi-tenant light industrial and office asset with a dedicated tenant base in a high quality location with high levels of distributable cash flow

PointOne Holdings, in a joint venture with Adler Kawa Real Estate Advisors(AKREA) acquired Riverchase Center in Birmingham, Alabama. The single story office complex encompasses 306,725 square feet of office space containing a dynamic, diversified, and nationally recognized tenant roster.

Riverchase Center is located in Hoover/Riverchase, one of Birminghams most prestigious submarkets and within the sought-after Riverchase master-planned commercial park development which includes high-caliber corporate tenants like ATT, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and Regions Bank. The property enjoys superior access along Interstates I-459 and I-65 and is approximately 20 minutes south of downtown Birmingham.

Riverchase Center is comprised of eight single story buildings currently occupied at 89% by nationally recognized tenants such as Frito-Lay, Progressive Insurance, Walgreens, BioHorizons Implant Systems, Gentiva Health Services, WideOrbit Inc and others. The property will be managed and leased by CBREs Birmingham office.

The PointOne Holdings / AKREA partnership obtained a non-recourse, loan at a fixed rate with a 7-year term from PNC Bank to fund the acquisition.

"We are excited to enter the Birmingham market with our joint venture partner on this transaction, PointOne Holdings who has years of experience in the local market, said Matthew Adler, President and CEO of AKREA. This acquisition provides Adler Kawa the opportunity to make a significant asset allocation which represents our strategy of purchasing high quality, multi-tenant light industrial and office asset with high levels of distributable cash flow.

We are extremely excited about the addition of Riverchase Center to our growing Birmingham portfolio, and to be partnering with AKREA, a skilled and experienced owner of commercial properties across the country said Ben Small, a PointOne Holdings managing member. This acquisition provides us with a great opportunity to grow and improve upon a property that contains the key components we seek in an investment - a dedicated tenant base of dynamic corporate, medical and biotechnology companies; a high-quality location with great access to highways, housing and amenities; and a well-constructed, best-in-class asset that would be difficult and costly to replicate in todays environment.

About Adler Kawa Real Estate Advisors:

Adler Kawa Real Estate Advisors (AKREA) is a vertically-integrated real estate investment firm based in Miami, FL. AKREA is an entrepreneurial company that pursues a niche strategy of acquiring multi-tenant industrial and office properties in markets of high demographic growth. AKREA creates value in its portfolio through a strong focus on operations and tenant appreciation. Today, Adler Kawa manages a significant portfolio of investments in 10 major markets in the United States.

About PointOne Holdings:

PointOne Holdings is an investment and operating platform composed of highly skilled real estate professionals and entrepreneurs with a unique ability to originate, structure, underwrite, close, asset manage and reposition under-performing and value-add multifamily residential and commercial real estate. With offices in Atlanta and South Florida, the firm has the resources, experience and strategic relationships required to access, acquire and operate a broad range of investment opportunities throughout the southeastern United States.
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The 53rd Bologna Childrens Book Fair opened on Monday morning, April 4, with publishers, agents, and other attendees reporting brisk traffic and full slates of meetings. The shows close proximity to next weeks London Book Fair seems be having little impact on business.

Monday was really busy, a lot of traffic, said Joya Anthony, associate manager of subsidiary rights at Chronicle Books. People are looking for positive, lighthearted books, and concepts that are simple. Anthony heads to London on Friday, and said, There was a lot of overlap in preparation. The good thing is that since were so far away in San Francisco, it makes it more efficient [to stay in Europe between the fairs]. This is my first time doing back-to-back international fairs.

Suzanne Murphy, at Bologna for the first time in her role as president and publisher of HarperCollins Childrens Books, was traveling to Venice later this week before continuing on to the London fair. Its nice to be back in the endless rounds of half-hour appointments, she said, adding that her experience at Disney had definitely given her more of a global perspective. And with the recent acquisition of Harlequin, we now have all these regional offices around the world that she is hoping to work with more closely.

The traffic has been excellent, said Rosanne McManus, v-p and associate publisher at Studio Fun International, which focuses on licensed and book-plus products. McManus noted that while some years are more about TV, 2016 is shaping up to be a big movie year as Studio Fun rolls out products tied to Star Wars: The Force Awakens, many of which could not be released until after the movie opened. StudioFun is also gearing up for the November release of Trolls, an animated film from DreamWorks, out in November and based on the furry-haired dolls popular in the 1980s and 1990s. I think we did a troll book 25 years ago, said McManus. These ones are much cuter.

We seem to be seeing more and more film people, said agent Sarah Davies of Greenhouse Literary Agency, perhaps a sign of big movie years yet to come. I think its part of everyone wanting to see or hear about things as early as possible.

At Sourcebooks, editorial director Steve Geck also had a busy Monday, focusing on acquisitions, from board books up through young adult titles. I had a Spanish publisher showing me a line of board books, and weve seen some self-publishers walking around with some really good stuff, he said. Weve heard theres a need in the market [for more board books], so thats a real area of growth for us.

Erin Stein, publisher of Macmillans imprint Imprint, was at the fair for the first time in her current role, and was spending time both introducing her new list to prospective publishers and looking for titles to acquire. Its a very collegial show with a good atmosphere, and its been great to see our foreign counterparts, said Stein, who was on the hunt for commercial middle-grade fiction that stands out and feels fresh. One of her own middle-grade seriesSuper Happy Party Bears by Marcie Colleen, illustrated by Steve James, with two books arriving in Septemberhad been attracting early attention, along with a young adult novel, The Ones, by first-time YA author Daniel Sweren-Becker.

Frederic Gauthier of Quebec-based La Pasteque, described Mondays business as very, very good. An 18-year-old publisher, La Pasteque mainly published graphic novels for its first 15 years before moving into picture books, often ones that push the boundaries of the format, especially in terms of length; recent books include The Lion and the Bird by Marianne Dubuc, published in the U.S. by Enchanted Lion in 2014, and Isabelle Arsenaults Alpha (Candlewick, 2015). Gauthier said that while foreign publishers were initially hesitant about whether these kinds of more experimental, long-form picture books would work in their home markets, a few early adopters paved the way for more takers. People have been more at ease with the approach and willing to take a risk.

While there is still time for trends to take shape over the next few days of the fair, agent Taryn Fagerness of the Taryn Fagerness Agency suggested that we might still be between trends, with international publishers seeking a variety of books to fill the needs of their lists. People still want contemporary, and thats what Im selling, she said, adding that they are also willing to say maybe to fantasy or other genres. One title Fagerness was focusing on is Jennifer Armentrouts The Problem with Forever, out in May in the U.S. from Harlequin Teen. She sold several foreign rights deals for the book before the fair, but noted, To be able to verbally pitch the books makes a huge difference. Bologna is always going to matter.

Several awards were announced during or after the fair on Monday, including the biennial Hans Christian Andersen Award and the BOP Prize, awarded to innovative childrens publishers in six global regions. This years BOP winners were Bumble Books from the Republic of South Africa, Kalimat from the United Arab Emirates, Andersen Press in the U.K., Canadas Groundwood Books, Venezuelas Ediciones Ekare, and Book Island from New Zealand.
Journalist and author Lesley Hazleton has spent much of her career at the crossroads of religion, politics, and history: she reported for TIME and other publications from Jerusalem for many years and more recently has explored the monotheistic traditions in such books as Mary: A Flesh-and-Blood Biography of the Virgin Mother (Bloomsbury, 2004) and The First Muslim: The Story of Muhammad (Riverhead, 2013). Her delight in asking big questions about, as she puts it, faith-belief-meaning-mystery-existenceand her wariness of those who dont question their own convictions have led Hazleton to write Agnostic: A Spirited Manifesto (Riverhead, April 5).

How does being agnostic help you write about religion?

Ive been writing about religion and politics actually all my life, but intensively the last 15 years or so with [my books] and also on my blog, The Accidental Theologist. Many of my readers were saying, we dont get it, how can you possibly be agnostic and write about religion? Which is rather like saying how can you be a criminologist and not be a criminal? In fact, being agnostic is a huge advantage because the perspective of the agnostic stance is so much larger and so much freer. Youre not closed in and bound by doctrine, by what you should believe or not believe. To be limited by the idea that you have to be right, you have to adhere to some kind of party line, seems to me just to reduce everything to a very, very small size. And I dont want my mind to be reduced to a small size.

Agnostic explores the differences between belief and faith. Can you talk a little about this?

Faith, real faith, has nothing to do with belief; belief contains within itself the possibility of disbelief. When we say we believe something, were conflating belief with fact, and if something is fact, you dont need to believe it, its a given, right? But [when] we have faith in something or in someone, its an expression of hope and of trust. It takes courage to trust, and it takes a certain courage to even hope and act accordingly. The more you say that something is impossible, the more impossible it becomes. So you just give up. Thats a terrible way to live. [For example:] I have faith in Middle East peace. I reported from the Middle East for a number of years, and if you ask me rationally in the light of everything I know, whether I believe that Middle East peace is possible, Id have to say no. [But] I refuse to accept this; therefore I have faith that Middle East peace is possible. If I am living with an illusion about the Middle East, which rationally I have to say I am when I say that peace is possible, that is the way I want to be. That allows me to stay human. It allows me to work towards what I hope might be one day.

What is the most important idea that readers can learn from your book?

That there is both great integrity, and if youre open to it, great joy, in doubt and uncertainty in exploring instead of searching, in seeing whats there, just being open to the world without this restless need for answers and for pinning things down. This is a wonderful perspective because we are all now living very large and very small at the same time in a way we never have before. Now we know what is happening half way around the world at the same time as we know whats happening next door, right? We know what happened at 13.8 billion years ago, with the big bang and the creation of this universe, and yet at the same time we are as involved in our everyday lives as ever. It feels like were living in three dimensions instead of in one flat dimension, which is where this whole theist/atheist debate takes place. Its a straight line from belief to unbelief. Lets just leave this ridiculous, simplistic argument behind, lets leave binary thinking behind, and rise above it and dance with ideas.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. Students from Purdue University are getting in-the-field experience by helping local residents determine the potential of solar energy for their homes.

A group of undergraduate and graduate students are completing a solar certification program through the U.S. Department of Energy. To complete the certification, students are conducting on-site solar assessments for homeowners.

William Hutzel, a mechanical engineering technology professor at Purdue University, conducts research in high-performance buildings. The idea of solar energy, he says, continues to push into the Midwest.

"We'll see the situation slowly change in the coming years," he said. "The cost curve for solar energy is coming down one year after the next. We're not at a tipping point here in Indiana. Other states are a step ahead of us."

Solar energy use is promoted heavily in states along the East and West coasts. Minnesota instituted a number of programs that encourage residential and commercial consumers to move to solar electricity.

Money stands as both the pro and the con for using solar energy. Hutzel says federal incentives help homeowners while the savings from an array of rooftop solar panels potentially can cut customer energy from the local utility in half.

"Incentives play a huge role, but you're looking at $15,000-$18,000 comes out of your pocket after incentives," he said. "No one wants to make that investment unless it's a proven fact.

"Lacking either utility subsidies or state subsidies means it's still somewhat of an uphill battle."

Assessments conducted by the students include trusses in the home, if the solar panel array is intended for the roof, and electrical infrastructure. Shading also is considered to make sure a panel array is receiving direct sunlight at key times.

Power bills are also examined by students, as well as a few surprising aspects.

"You want to do the cheap things first," Hutzel said. "Students will look at the equipment and appliances in the home. If there's a 20-year-old refrigerator, it has to go first. You do the obvious things that reduce your electrical load, then provide solar."

Midwest Renewable Energy Association is providing the solar credentialing as a grass roots effort to get students involved in this.

Writer: Brian L. Huchel, 765-494-2084, bhuchel@purdue.edu

Source: Bill Hutzel, 765-494-7528, hutzelw@purdue.edu

Note to Journalists: A Lafayette-area home will be open to media during a solar assessment. Address available upon request.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.  Patrolling the streets in South Korea has given a Purdue University Police Department lieutenant a different perspective on law enforcement.

Lt. Song Kang attended the 10th International Korean Law Enforcement Officers program in Seoul, South Korea, in December. It is an international seminar for foreign law enforcement officers with Korean heritage to learn more about their heritage, establish cultural identity, benchmark law enforcement standards and encourage worldwide cooperation, he said.

The opportunity for this trip was the result of an effort from President Mitch Daniels to assist the Korean Consulate General in Chicago. The consulate sent out a request to several university chancellors and presidents in the Midwest asking them to help establish a mentoring program to guide Korean students on campus, designate an officer to promote and encourage outreach programs and communicate with the consulate's office to help it better serve its constituents.

"The Korean Consulate was thrilled that President Daniels was one of the few executives who was very enthusiastic and completely supportive of their request," Kang said. "He recommended my name for the International Korean Officers program, and I was extremely excited to participate."

For the 2015 event there were 12 officers, including a sheriff's deputy from Atlanta; a New York Police Department detective; a Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police officer; Toronto Police Service officer; two officers from Australia; and one each from Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium and Ecuador, Kang said.

He learned that, despite the cultural differences, all law enforcement officers' jobs are exactly alike. On one of his patrol nights, he patrolled the busy club district and saw a somewhat familiar scene.

"As we walked into Seoul's Hong-Dae (Hong-Ik University) police station, I saw several family members arguing, a young female tourist crying and trying to file a theft report and several other cases in the lobby. It was chaotic, but all the participants felt like they were back home in their own stations," he said. "We may speak different languages, but we all do the same job."

Kang said he also learned a shocking difference about the use of deadly force by officers in Korea. During a simulated firearms training exercise he, and the other officers from the U.S., were shocked to see that the target illustration only featured the lower body of a suspect.

"We were even more surprised that the use of deadly force was strongly discouraged and that the trainees at the police academy were taught to aim at the lower extremities," he said. "The gun laws in South Korea are some of the strongest in the world, so I cannot accurately compare the threat from gun violence there and the subsequent need for deadly force, to the threat American officers face."

Words of wisdom after the session from the police academy chief left a lasting impression on Kang's philosophy on criminal justice.

"The academy chief told us that it was our duty and obligation to protect all citizens, even the criminals," he said.

Kang also got to see how police opened up their world to the community. He said their active use of social media to disseminate important information; display positive messages, such as officers that are role models, and heroic actions, has prompted him to be more active on social media. He also noted how important it seemed that authorities opened up the police stations to the general public, removing psychological and physical barriers between community organizations and officers.

Learning was a large part of the experience, but Kang also got to teach a 15-30-minute session on tactics used at Purdue's police department. He shared active-shooter response techniques learned from experience with campus shootings.

"I shared how we respond, how we practice and how our tactical approach has adapted and changed to different elements over the years," he said.

Kang plans to take what he experienced and build upon what PUPD already has. The department offers many programs for the community, but he wants to expand outreach and launch other community policing events and programs. He also is more willing to take advantage of local media, social media and other technological options to spread a positive message, he said.

In his very short week, one thing stood out to him above all others.

"When we visited the police academy we saw thousands of cadets eating in the cafeteria, marching in formation and learning in the classroom. It was the way they looked at us with admiration and respect that I will never forget," Kang said.

Writer: Megan Huckaby, 765-496-1325, mhuckaby@purdue.edu

Source: Lt. Song Kang, 765-494-8221, sykang2@purdue.edu
Illinois State Police say 21-year-old Austin E. Foster of Elmwood was charged Tuesday in Fulton County Circuit Court with attempted murder of a peace officer, aggravated battery, disarming a peace officer and domestic battery.

The (Peoria) Journal Star reports that Foster is accused of repeatedly punching Farmington officer Jennifer Parkinson in the head and face.

State police say Foster attacked Parkinson after she pulled him over Sunday afternoon. They say Parkinson was able to grab her pistol and fire one shot at Foster.

Foster is expected to appear in court Wednesday to meet with his court-appointed attorney.

Parkinson is on paid leave while the police department investigates the shooting.
Judge Stuart Katz on Tuesday denied a prosecution motion against a jury trial for the now-16-year-old girl charged with murder in the April 2014 death of Endia Martin. Assistant State's Attorney Athena Farmakis argued that under the Juvenile Court Act, the defendant isn't eligible for a jury trial because she doesn't have a history of being in trouble with the law.

The Chicago Sun-Times reports the girl's trial is scheduled for May 16.

The defendant is accused of killing14-year-old Endia and wounding the victim's best friend after a Facebook feud over a boy.
ROCK ISLAND -- Ten local religious leaders on Monday called on Gov. Bruce Rauner to return to the negotiating table and resolve a contract impasse with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees in a "peaceful manner."

Since June 30, about 37,000 members of the AFSCME have worked without a contract. On Monday, more than 150 religious leaders statewide called on Gov. Rauner to "work constructively through the established bargaining process to reach a resolution, rather than intensifying conflict."

In January, when contract talks broke down, Gov. Rauner referred the dispute to the Illinois Labor Relations Board. In March, the board decided claims from both AFSCME and Gov. Rauner should move forward to a hearing before an administrative law judge. No date has been set for that hearing.

Unions also are at the center of the state's budget battle, with Gov. Rauner insisting any deal he makes with the Democrats who control the General Assembly must include reforms such as letting local governments opt out of collective bargaining.

During a news conference Monday at the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center in Rock Island, the Rev. Clark Olson Smith of All Saints Lutheran Church in Davenport, president of the Board of Directors of Quad Cities Interfaith, said Gov. Rauner is "holding the whole state hostage while he tries to pull the rug out from under regular people."

Rev. Smith said the governor should reverse course and "negotiate fairly" with unions. He said Gov. Rauner is "endangering people and communities with this radical aggression around the state budget."

AFSCME Local 2615 President Carlene Erno, who works with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services in the Quad-Cities, said her union tried to negotiate in good faith with the governor, but he wanted to provoke a conflict and force unions to go on strike.

Catherine Kelly, a spokeswoman for Gov. Rauner, on Monday said he has worked to ensure union workers are paid despite the fact that the state has been without a budget since last July.

"However, we must be realistic about the states current fiscal condition," she said. "The contract proposed by the administration (with AFSCME) is similar to the contracts agreed to by 17 other unions. It is fair to both state employees and taxpayers."

The religious leaders' letter says Gov. Rauner should allow a process of "mediation and arbitration" with unions. The General Assembly failed to override his veto of a July 2015 bill that would have allowed the stalled contract talks to go to arbitration. A similar bill was sent to Gov. Rauner on March 18.

Ms. Erno said arbitration, already allowed for police and firefighters, would avoid strikes. She said that, instead of arbitration, Gov. Rauner wants the impasse to be solved by the Illinois Labor Relations Board, whose members he appoints.

That board, in March, recommended the impasse go to a hearing before an administrative law judge.

At Monday's news conference, Ms. Erno said Gov. Rauner has made "extreme demands" in negotiations with AFSCME, including doubling employee health care costs and allowing more privatization of public services.

Q-C Letter Signers

Quad-Cities' religious leaders who have signed an open letter to Gov. Rauner urging a resolution to the state's negotiations with AFSCME include:

-- Rev. Clark Olson-Smith, President, Board of Directors of Quad Cities Interfaith

-- Leslie Kilgannon, Executive Director, Quad Cities Interfaith

-- Rev. Dwight Ford, Grace City Live, Moline

-- Rev. Joseph D. Williamson III, 2nd Baptist Church, Rock Island

-- Rev. Mariah Marlin-Warfield, Church of Peace UCC, Rock Island

-- Pastor Norwert Hills, Greater Antioch Baptist Church, Rock Island

-- Pastor Thomas Schillinger, Mighty Fortress Community Church, Rock Island

-- Sister Margaret McGrath, Sisters of Benedict, Rock Island

-- Bishop Josue Caraballo, Wings of Faith Ministries, Rock Island

-- Rev. Richard Hendricks, Metro Community Church Quad Cities, Davenport
ROCK ISLAND -- The Rock Island Board of Zoning Appeals is scheduled to hear a number of variance requests for a proposed 189,541-square-foot Wal-Mart Supercenter at 7 p.m. April 13.

The meeting is scheduled in the third-floor council chambers at city hall, 1528 3rd Ave.

Wal-Mart officials shared a conceptual site plan with the planning and zoning commission last month. At that time, Wal-Mart director of communications Delia Garcia said the final plan will be based on feedback from the city.

The April 13 agenda includes requests by Wal-Mart attorney Robert Gamrath, of Chicago, for the retail store and a separate convenience store with gas pumps on the B-4 site at 3750 11th St., the former Watch Tower Plaza.

The requests include a special exception to approve an authorized use (convenience store with gas pumps) and a number of variances, including:

-- Allowing more than once principal structure on one lot.

-- Reduce parking spaces from five to 3.5 per 1,000 square feet. Wal-Mart wants to construct 759 parking spaces on the site. It is also requesting one space for every two employees on a maximum shift.

-- Cutting one foot from the 19-foot long parking space requirement.

-- Exceeding the 25-foot maximum for freestanding light poles within 500 feet of a protected residential property.

-- Exceeding the 500-square-foot maximum for total sign area; Wal-Mart is seeking 1,231 square foot variance to increase the maximum sign area to 1,731 square feet.

-- Exceeding the 160-square-foot maximum by 60 square feet for total freestanding signs.

The city bought and demolished several properties to clear the area for Wal-Mart. In October 2015, Mayor Dennis Pauley announced Price Properties had agreed to buy the site for $4.5 million; Price Properties will then transfer it to Wal-Mart.

The agreement also included a 180-day feasibility period, during which Wal-Mart could cancel the deal for any reason. City manager Thomas Thomas said that period ends May 9.
PIGEON FORGE, Tenn. (AP)  Investigators on Tuesday examined the wreckage of a sightseeing helicopter that crashed and burned near Great Smoky Mountains National Park in eastern Tennessee, but said it was too early to tell what caused it to go down.

Luke Schiada, a senior investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board, said there was evidence that the Bell 206 helicopter made contact with the top of a ridge on the side of a mountain when it crashed Monday afternoon, killing four passengers and the pilot. Officials said the tourist helicopter, which was built in 1977 and operated by Smoky Mountain Helicopters, was destroyed by fire after the crash.

Authorities have not released the names of the dead.

Schiada said the tour route that the helicopter was on indicated that it was on a 12-minute flight, and it was the second flight of the day for the pilot in the helicopter. The NTSB said it would be reviewing how the helicopter was loaded, the aircraft's maintenance records, the pilot's background and the wind conditions at the time it crashed, he said.

"The fact that the wreckage was consumed by the fire does make things more complicated," Schiada said at a news conference.

The NTSB will present a preliminary report on the facts of the crash on its website by the end of next week, Schiada said. An investigative report containing the probable cause of the crash could take a year or more, he said, adding the investigation is a "methodical process."

The crash site is less than a mile from a large outlet mall in Sevierville and adjacent to a neighborhood off the main tourist drag. The site is about 3 miles from Dolly Parton's Dollywood theme park. No one on the ground was hurt.

Shawn Matern said he was inside his parents' house Monday when he heard a loud boom. "That's when we came out and saw the second explosion right before our eyes," he said.

He said he saw the pilot roll out of the burning helicopter on the ground and a neighbor went to try to help.

Matern said the tour helicopters fly over at least three or four times a day in that area.

A man who answered the phone at Smoky Mountain Helicopters declined comment and hung up.

Gary C. Robb, a Kansas City attorney who wrote a book on helicopter crash litigation, said it was far too early to determine the cause of the Sevierville crash, but some helicopter tour operators have been known to be reckless to "thrill the tourists" by flying too close to trees or waterfalls or by dangerous maneuvers.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP)  Convicted former energy company CEO Don Blankenship won't have to pay a coal producer $28 million in restitution related to a mine explosion in 2010 that killed 29 men, a federal judge ruled Monday.

In her order, Judge Irene Berger said Blankenship doesn't have to pay the money to Alpha Natural Resources, which bought Massey in 2011 after the explosion. The Bristol, Virginia-based coal company filed for bankruptcy in August.

The ruling was a win for Blankenship, helping him avoid a substantial blow to a personal fortune that he refused to disclose to prosecutors.

"We are pleased by the ruling. It is obviously correct," said William Taylor, Blankenship's lead defense attorney. "It is hard to see how Alpha could acquire Massey at a discounted price knowing of its problems and claim to be a victim in this case."

Blankenship was convicted on Dec. 3 of a misdemeanor conspiracy to willfully violate mine safety standards at Upper Big Branch Mine in southern West Virginia. He faces a maximum of one year in prison and a $250,000 fine. He was acquitted of felonies that could have stretched his sentence to 30 years.

Blankenship will be sentenced Wednesday.

According to Berger's order, Alpha paid $13.5 million to cooperate with the investigation into the explosion at Upper Big Branch.

The company incurred $10 million in mine safety violation penalties at the mine and spent $4.3 million to represent seven former Massey officers and employees who participated in the investigation, the order said.

Berger wrote that Alpha was dealt the financial hardships at least a year after Blankenship's indictment period  after Alpha bought Massey in 2011 and voluntarily entered a non-prosecution agreement with the government.

Alpha and the U.S. Attorney's office in southern West Virginia declined to comment on the ruling.

Blankenship's defense also has called for Berger to dismiss 94 other claims for restitution from former Massey coal miners and family members.
The Cowboy State isnt as notorious as the Cayman Islands for cloaking millions. But, like Nevada and Delaware, this unlikely haven offers the same anonymity the federal government has been trying to end abroad. America and Americans are part of the offshore problem.

A massive leak of documents from the global law firm Mossack Fonseca & Co., which has offices in Wyoming and Nevada, exposes how two Western U.S. states are tied to foreign scandals, and how middlemen in far-flung places are taking advantage of the anonymity they provide.

Through this law firm, Wyoming, a state that has twice as many head of cattle as it has people, and Nevada, a state known to embrace a gamble, are tied to a scandal that threatens the government in Brazil, and to Russian middlemen who establish paper-thin companies called shells for the wealthy.

Wyoming?

Wyoming had 128,000 active business entities at the end of 2015, roughly one entity per every 4.5 residents in a state.

U.S. law allows foreigners to create shell companies that have no revenue or actual business activity in the United States. Its akin to what foreign offshore tax havens offer Americans, some of whom use them as a tax dodge, or worse.

There is no question that the United States serves as one of the biggest tax havens in the world for people outside the United States, said Daniel Reeves, now a consultant after retiring three years ago from the Internal Revenue Service, where he helped create its offshore compliance program.

Wyoming and its competitors do not distinguish between foreigners and Americans who open businesses. Anonymity is a selling point.

State officials prefer the word privacy, and say they do insist that a living, breathing contact is required for every entity created.

Because of that, said Deputy Secretary of State Karen Wheeler, Wyoming statutes dont ask for information such as, Are you from a foreign country?

Nevada shell company Murray Holdings LLC existed with little notice until it became a centerpiece in Brazils political crisis, which now threatens to overshadow this summers Olympic Games. Prosecutors there allege the Nevada firm had no assets or business in the United States, yet was used to hide embezzled funds from Brazils state oil company, which was then funneled into luxury real estate.

Murray Holdings is found in a trove of Mossack Fonseca documents analyzed by McClatchy that shows how foreign nationals establish U.S. shell companies to camouflage assets or money abroad.

Known by the initials MF, for Panamanian founders Jurgen Mossack and Ramon Fonseca, the law firm offers customers everything from simple preparation of incorporation documents almost anywhere in the world to supplying  on paper at least  managers, shareholders and corporate directors for shell companies.

For an added price, the firm will create a website, a virtual office and even run a call center to sustain the appearance of a brick-and-mortar company.

What emerges from the 11.5 million secret emails, PDFs, spreadsheets and other electronic records are actors of every imaginable profession using shells to hide money and assets. Some of the firms clients have criminal records; some are known to have accumulated spoils from corruption.

Theres nothing inherently illegal with forming a limited liability company most anywhere  and Wyoming now has about 70,000 of them. Often called an LLC or Ltd, the designation limits the owners liability to what they have invested in their company. Similar entities abound abroad.

When Americans open an LLC in the United States, they provide a Social Security or taxpayer ID number. Its a murkier picture when foreigners open U.S. shells.

Having tax haven states is at odds with the U.S. multiyear crackdown on Swiss banks that hide American money. It also stands out against name and shame efforts by the State Department, which lists money-laundering centers such as the Cayman Islands when it publishes an annual narcotics-control report.

OPEN DOORS, DIRTY FLOORS

Heres how Nevada and Wyoming fit into scandal in faraway Brazil. Former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was hauled in for questioning by that countrys Federal Police on March 4 as part of an investigation into money stolen from state-owned oil giant Petroleo Brasileiro SA, or Petrobras.

Prosecutors told judges that stolen moneyfirst flowed through shell companies in Nevada and was then used to anonymously buy seaside real estate in Guaruja, a resort town in the state of Sao Paulo where the former president has a condo.

Mossack Fonsecas Brazil office, raided by that countrys police in January, describes itself as merely an agent that files paperwork for clients.

But the secret documents show how closely the law firms Brazil office worked with headquarters and MF Corporate Services (Nevada) Ltd. to accommodate a little-known middleman named Ademir Auada. He opened at least 19 offshore companies with Mossack Fonseca, including Murray Holdings LLC, and was arrested by Brazilian police in January and questioned for five days.

Murray Holdings was registered on behalf of Auada, who as a client of the Panamanian law firm was acting on behalf of others. The structures Auada established in his U.S. shell companies for Brazilians then served as a model when Mossack Fonsecas Nevada operations later expanded into Wyoming in 2012, the Panama Papers show.

HIDING IN PLAIN VIEW

McClatchy contacted several South Americans who appeared in the documents tied to shell companies created by the law firm in Wyoming and Nevada. Their names dont show on public documents, and their stories changed when presented with leaked evidence.

We dont have any companies abroad. This is a small accounting office, Edgardo Branca declared in a telephone interview from Buenos Aires. This sounds like a bad joke.

Documents show that Branca in mid-2013 established Num Trading Ltd. and Sokar Trading Ltd. in Nevada. His office directed Mossack Fonseca officials along the way, originally asking the law firm to provide its own directors residing in Hong Kong.

I have nothing to hide, Branca told McClatchy in a follow-up call, admitting the shell company actually belongs to an Argentine customer. The mans name appears nowhere in the documents and Branca said he works for a Spanish company with offices in Argentina.

Why would an Argentine subsidiary of a Spanish food exporter establish a shell company in Nevada if it had no business in the United States? Branca said he didnt know.

WHO KNOWS WHAT?

Banks have for a decade faced ever stricter know-your-customer rules. Not so for people who register companies for a fee.

I never deal with any of the people, said Greg Goddard, a partner in the law firm Goddard & Vogel in the northern Wyoming town of Buffalo, population 4,585.

His address is listed on a document for A Street Solutions, a Russian company that creates shells in Wyoming for Russian customers. Its run by Vladimir Koltoun, and on paper he occupies Suite 100 at Goddards small law office.

There is no such suite. Its a mail drop.

A Street Solutions lists, in the Panama Papers, a home address in Moscow and another in the Russian banking haven of Cyprus. It also lists addresses in Cheyenne, Buffalo and its newest address is in Sheridan, near the Montana border, with registered agent Wyoming Corporate Office. Its an empty building under repair, housing two solitary desks.

The manager there spoke on condition that her name not be used, and confirmed she has no idea who the Russians end-customers are.

We dont know. We dont verify that, she said.

Who does?

Perhaps the Better Business Bureau, or Dun & Bradstreet? she responded with a shrug.

Reached by phone in Moscow, Koltoun said in broken English that international businessmen are owners of the U.S. shell companies he creates.

LAYERS OF THE ONION

Mossack Fonseca lists a Cheyenne address for its Wyoming office, but the address actually belongs to AAA Corporate Services. Its another registered agent. Manager Linda Grayson incorporates businesses on behalf of M.F. Corporate Services Wyoming LLC, collecting a small fee for registering a competitors business.

Its money, so who cares, she shrugs.

Because neither federal nor state law requires it, registered agents dont much care about the ultimate owners of a company. Its not their job.

Who actually owns the company? I have no idea, admits Angelica Espinosa of WyomingRegisteredAgent.com.

She added, They can even order it online. So sometimes were not involved at all.

Registered agents in Wyoming must be present during working hours lest a court order is served. It costs about $100 to file for incorporation as a limited liability company in Wyoming, another $50 for a required annual report.

In response to criticism, Wyoming and Delaware tightened their laws to require that registered agents such as Mossack Fonseca keep records of a contact person for the companies.

But neither state wants to verify the IDs of people opening companies.

I mean, I know what the Delaware drivers license looks like, but I frankly dont know what the other 49 (state) drivers licenses look like, said Richard Geisenberger, head of Delawares Division of Corporations. I dont even know what a passport from Nigeria looks like.
Press release submitted by Kelly Stapella

PIANO CELEBRATION TO RAISE FUNDS FOR RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF EASTERN IOWA & WESTERN ILLINOIS

Davenport, Iowa  Hundreds of piano students will gather at NorthPark Mall in Davenport for the 2016 Piano Celebration. Ronald McDonald House Charities of Eastern Iowa & Western Illinois (RMHC-EIWI) sponsors the 2016 Piano Celebration through a partnership with Piano for a Richer Life and piano teachers in Eastern Iowa and the Quad Cities.

The Piano Celebration features celebrity pianists, high-achieving student pianists, piano teacher studios, living room performers, musicians, and vocalists. Piano students and participants raise money and then showcase their piano talent while spreading the word that piano study = brain development. Piano lessons support brain development, and help to develop self-confidence, creativity, self-esteem, self-discipline, and critical thinking skills. At the event, free-will donations will be accepted throughout both days at information tables and stages located outside of Dillards, Yonkers, and J.C. Penney.

The money that is raised at Piano Celebration by the students and the donations taken the days of the event go to RMHC-EIWI. RMHC-EIWI exists to serve families from outside of Iowa City with children being treated at local hospitals. Its core program, the Ronald McDonald House of Iowa City, has served over 80,000 family members since opening its doors in 1985. Scott and Rock Island counties are among the highest counties of residence for families served at the house. The organization receives no state or federal tax dollars, relying 100% on private gifts.

Since its conception in 2003, the annual Piano Celebration has raised over $350,000 for RMHC-EIWI.

It is not too late to get involved in this years Piano Celebration. Each year, everyone from beginners to accomplished musicians participates in the weekend event  all levels of ability are welcome. If you are interested in participating in the 2016 Piano Celebration, please contact Lynn Kroeger at 563-285-8421.

Please join us and support the performers by watching them play at NorthPark Mall in Davenport, Iowa. Hours of the event will be 10am  5pm on April 16, and noon  5pm on April 17.

To learn more about the Piano Celebration, please visit www.rmhc-eiwi.org/pianocelebration.
BAGHDAD (AP)  Tens of thousands of trapped Iraqi civilians have stalled the government's advance in the battle against the Islamic State group in the western Anbar province, the spokesman for Iraq's elite counterterrorism said Friday.

The civilians are trapped between the Iraqi forces' lines and the IS extremists hunkered down in the center of the town of Hit, 85 miles (140 kilometers) west of Baghdad, the official told The Associated Press.

Meanwhile, IS claimed responsibility for two suicide car bombings that killed 11 security forces late Thursday night southeast of the city of Mosul, which is controlled by IS.

Early Thursday morning, Iraqi forces re-launched an offensive on Hit under cover of heavy U.S.-led coalition airstrikes, said the counterterrorism chief, Sabah al-Numan. Over the past week the coalition launched 17 airstrikes in and around Hit, according to Pentagon statements.

The town lies along an IS supply line linking the extremist group's fighters in Iraq and those in neighboring Syria. Iraqi commanders have said that retaking the town would be key to building on their momentum after retaking the Anbar provincial capital of Ramadi earlier this year and linking up government forces to the west and the north of Baghdad in preparation for an eventual push on Mosul.

The counterterrorism forces, which are leading the Hit operation, reached within 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) of Hit center Thursday before being forced to stop, al-Numan said.

"The commanders are making a plan to evacuate these families," al-Numan said, Iraqi forces dropped leaflets over Hit, telling civilians which roads they can take to flee safely.

Iraqi forces encountered similar problems in the battle for Ramadi earlier this year  as government forces advanced across downtown Ramadi, IS pulled back and took civilians captive, significantly slowing the advance of ground troops. While downtown Ramadi was declared under government control in December 2015, it wasn't until two months later that Iraqi and coalition forces said the rest of the city was "fully liberated."

One of the IS car bombings southeast of Mosul killed eight Iraqi Kurdish fighters while the other targeted an Iraqi police station in the same area, killing three policemen.

Iraq's military is conducting what the U.S.-led coalition describes as "shaping" operations ahead of a planned Mosul offensive. Iraqi forces have pushed IS out of a number of villages around Makhmour base where a U.S. Marine was killed during an IS attack last month.

On Wednesday, Iraqi forces celebrated as they took the Anbar provincial town of Kubaisa from IS.

Makhmour base and other front-line Iraqi positions southwest of Mosul have increasingly come under attack from IS in recent weeks as Iraqi troops built up in the area.

After storming across Iraq in the summer of 2014 and overrunning Mosul, the Islamic State group still controls large swaths of territory in the country's north and west.
After dozens of contests featuring cliffhangers, buzzer-beaters and a ton of flagrant fouls, we're down to the Final Four: Sanders, Clinton, Cruz and Trump. (If Kasich pulls a miracle, he'll get his own column.) The world wants to know: What are their foreign policies?

Herewith, four candidates and four schools: pacifist, internationalist, unilateralist and mercantilist.

1. Bernie Sanders, pacifist.

His pacifism is part swords-into-plowshares utopianism, part get-thee-gone isolationism. Emblematic was the Nov. 14 Democratic debate which was supposed to focus on the economy but occurred the day after the Paris massacre. Sanders objected to starting the debate with a question about Paris. He did not prevail, however, and answered the first question with some anti-terror pablum that immediately gave way to an impassioned attack on his usual "handful of billionaires."

Sanders boasts of voting against the Iraq War. But he also voted against the 1991 Gulf War. His reaction to all such dilemmas is the same anti-imperialist/pacifist reflex: Stay away, but if we must get involved, let others lead.

That's for means. As for ends, Sanders' foreign policy objectives are invariably global and universal, beginning above all with climate change. The rest is foreign-policy-as-social-work do-goodism, most especially undoing the work of U.S. imperialism.

Don't be surprised if President Sanders hands Guantanamo Bay over to the Castros, although Alaska looks relatively safe for now.

Closest historical analog: George McGovern.

2. Hillary Clinton, internationalist.

The "Clinton/Obama" foreign policy from Ukraine to Iran to the South China Sea has been a demonstrable failure. But in trying to figure out what President Clinton would do in the future, we need to note that she often gave contrary advice, generally more assertive and aggressive than President Obama's, that was overruled, most notably, keeping troops in Iraq beyond 2011 and early arming of the Syrian rebels.

The Libya adventure was her grand attempt at humanitarian interventionism. She's been chastened by the disaster that followed.

Her worldview is traditional, post-Vietnam liberal internationalism -- America as the indispensable nation, but consciously restraining its exercise of power through multilateralism and near-obsessive legalism.

Closest historical analog: the Bill Clinton foreign policy of the 1990s.

3. Ted Cruz, unilateralist.

The most aggressive of the three contenders thus far. Wants post-Cold War U.S. leadership restored. Is prepared to take risks and act alone when necessary. Pledges to tear up the Iran deal, cement the U.S.-Israel alliance and carpet bomb the Islamic State.

Overdoes it with "carpet" -- it implies Dresden -- although it was likely just an attempt at rhetorical emphasis. He's of the school that will not delay action while waiting on feckless allies or farcical entities like the U.N.

Closest analog: Ronald Reagan.

4. Donald Trump, mercantilist.

He promises to make America strong, for which, he explains, he must first make America rich. Treating countries like companies, he therefore promises to play turnaround artist for a foreign policy that is currently a hopeless money-losing operation in which our allies take us for fools and suck us dry.

You could put the Sanders, Clinton and Cruz foreign policies on a recognizable ideological spectrum, left to right. But not Trump's. It inhabits a different space because it lacks any geopolitical coherence. It's all about money. He sees no particular purpose for allies or foreign bases. They are simply a financial drain.

Imperial Spain roamed and ravaged the world in search of gold. Trump advocates a kinder, gentler form of wealth transfer from abroad, though equally gold-oriented.

Thus, if Japan and South Korea don't pony up more money for our troops stationed there, we go home. The possible effects on the balance of power in the Pacific Rim or on Chinese hegemonic designs don't enter into the equation.

Same for NATO. If those free-riding European leeches don't give us more money too, why stick around? Concerns about tempting Russian ambitions and/or aggression are nowhere in sight.

The one exception to this singular focus on foreign policy as a form of national enrichment is the Islamic State. Trump's goal is simple -- "bomb the s--- out of them." Yet even here he can't quite stifle his mercantilist impulses, insisting that after crushing the Islamic State, he'll keep their oil. Whatever that means.

On Jan. 20, one of these four contenders will be sworn in as president. And one of these four approaches to the world will become the foreign policy of the United States.

Don't say you weren't warned.
After 12 years at the helm of the ARN/SCA joint venture hit104.7 and Mix106.3, Eoghan OByrne has resigned as General Manager of Canberra FM.

Eoghan joined Canberra FM as the Mix106.3 Sales Manager back in 1998 and was appointed Sales Director in 2000. He has also worked in New Zealand in sales with TRN.

Eoghan and the team have fantastic relationships with the Canberra business community, sporting & community groups and all levels of government, which have contributed to the success of the business over the last few years, Michael Harvey ARN Chief Operating Officer & CFO shared with staff.

Eoghan has accepted a new role at the University of Canberra. He will continue as GM for a few months while a search is undertaken for his replacement.
April 1, 1976 was a watershed day in U.S. railroading history. On that day, Consolidated Rail Corp., better known as Conrail, began operating under the auspices of the U.S. government a new railroad cobbled together from six bankrupt Northeastern carriers: Penn Central, Erie-Lackawanna, Jersey Central, Lehigh Valley, Reading, and Lehigh & Hudson River. Conrail, now 40, continues to thrive, albeit in a very different form from when it first turned a wheel.

CONRAIL THEN AND NOW

First, some history. To address the looming collapse of freight and passenger rail traffic in the East as a result of those railroad bankruptcies, Congress passed the Regional Rail Reorganization Act of 1974, the 3R Act, which provided interim funding and created Conrail as a government-funded private company. Under the 3R Act, the United States Railway Association (USRA) prepared a Final System Plan, identifying the rail lines from the bankrupt railroads that would be transferred to Conrail. Congress approved Conrails Final System Plan as part of the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976, the 4R Act, which was signed into law on Feb. 5, 1976. The 4R Act also turned over ownership of most of the Northeast Corridor to Amtrak.

Conrail began operations on April 1, 1976. Its mandate was to revitalize rail service in the Northeast and Midwest and to operate as a for-profit company. Conrails economic recovery and turnaround began in 1980 when the Staggers Rail Act, which largely deregulated railroads, was signed into law.

Conrails first profitable year was 1981. Its financial situation greatly improved following passage that year of the Northeast Rail Services Act (NERSA), which relieved the railroad of responsibility for operating unprofitable commuter rail services, turning them over to pulic agencies New Jersey Transit, SEPTA and Metro-North (New York MTA). Given its history as both a passenger and a freight railroad, Conrail built up a culture whereby its employees were very responsive to passenger issues, even as they focused on their freight service improvement goals, recalls former NJ Transit executive D.C. Agrawal, now a consultant. Conrail always had the right attitude to resolve common problems. I wish more of todays freight and passenger railroads had that mix of people with service in both sectors.

By 1983, Conrail had become a for-profit, freight-only railroad. That year, under the leadership of the now-legendary L. Stanley Crane, it had become the fourth-largest freight hauler in the U.S. In 1985, the Conrail Privatization Act was enacted, authorizing a public stock offering to return the railroad to the private sector. In 1987, Conrail was returned to the private sector in what was then the largest initial public offering in U.S. history, raising $1.9 billion. Interestingly, most of its route-miles had their origin in the Penn Central, which when it went belly-up in 1970 was at the time the largest corporate bankruptcy in U.S. history.

Conrail began in 1976 as a federally subsidized operation with 100,000 employees, losing $1 million per day, notes Vice President and Chief Engineer Tim Tierney. The Staggers Act led to substantial deregulation, and the company took full advantage of that. By its 1987 IPO, Conrail was starting to make $1 million a day. Management identified premium markets such as intermodal and automotive. But success required many sacrifices: employee reductions, line and division consolidations, line spinoffs to short lines, etc. The remaining employees were true survivors who became very efficient and productive.

In 1997, during the era of railroad megamergers and following a contentious battle for control, Norfolk Southern and CSX agreed to acquire Conrail through a joint stock purchase. CSX and NS split most of the companys assets, CSX acquiring 42% and NS acquiring 58%. The split was structured generally along the lines of the two railroads that merged in 1968 to form Penn Centralthe New York Central (CSX) and the Pennsylvania Railroad (NS). The Surface Transportation Board approved the acquisition and restructuring of Conrail on July 23, 1998. NS and CSX took administrative control of Conrail on August 22, 1998.

Conrail, however, did not simply go away. To preserve competition in three critical urban geographical areasNorthern New Jersey, Southern New Jersey/Philadelphia, and Detroit, Mich.the STB-approved merger plan created an S&T (switching and terminal) railroad owned jointly by CSX and NS and operating about 1,200 miles of track in the three regional areas. Its official name: Conrail Shared Assets Operations, though its simply still called Conrail.

On June 1, 1999split dayConrail began operating as an S&T railroad for NS and CSX in the three areas. In 2007, it expanded its operations in Northern New Jersey to Staten Island, N.Y. Both CSX and NS have the right to serve all shippers in these areas, paying Conrail for the cost of maintaining and improving trackage. They utilize Conrail to perform switching and terminal services within the shared-asset areas, but not as a common carrier, since contracts are signed between shippers and CSX or NS. Conrail also retains various support facilities, including maintenance-of-way and employee training.

Under the leadership of President and Chief Operating Officer Ronald L. Batory (pictured), Conrail today is an efficient and productive carrier with a strong sense of identity and a well-defined corporate culture. While there are still many employees that got their start with Big Conrail (and a handful of veterans from the companys fallen-flag predecessors), the railroads demographic has gradually been getting younger. Such was the theme of Conrails annual management meeting that took place in Philadelphia on its 40th anniversary, April 1, 2016: Running Your Railroad for Tomorrow.

Respect the past, understand it, and appreciate what it contributed to todays Conrail, said Batory in remarks to his employees. Realize that the customer is king. Do whats right to provide service without variabilityderailments, injuries, and grade crossing and trespassing incidents.

Conrails corporate culture is expressed by management as the Four Es: Education, Energy, Experience and Enthusiasm. Some refer to the corporate cultures of NS, CSX and Conrail as, respectively, uniforms, suits and sweaters. Conrail employees are the railroaders in sweaters.

The people in the sweaters are very focused and highly disciplined, characteristics that are reflected in Conrails reputation for providing good service. We have a very good relationship with our parent companies regarding transportation services, mechanical functions and engineering projects, said Tim Tierney. Weve set up Service Provider Agreements where we pay our Class I owners for such services as payroll, testing and police services. For example, locomotive heavy servicing and repairs have been turned over to our parent railroads. Light running repairs are performed at our shops. Weve changed from a Class I mentality to an S&T mentality. And we looked at other S&T operations, like the Indiana Harbor Belt, St. Louis Terminal Railway Association and the Belt Railway of Chicago, and adopted some their best standards and practices. Weve introduced technology advancements like locomotive GPS, remote-control operation of yard locomotives, and remote monitoring and operation of moveable bridges.

Since 1999, CSX and NS have invested about $370 million in capital into Conrails infrastructure to add capacity and handle growth.

In 2006, Conrail, like many other railroads, began undergoing a wave of retirements of experienced employees. Today, nearly 75% of its workforce has been hired since 1999, many of those employees since 2006. Our next generation is committed to the job, to teamwork and training, said Tierney to the managers gathered in Philadelphia. Railroading is a people business as well as a complex industry. There is much to learn and experience, but our laboratory is all around us. Everything you need to learn the business is out there.

THE HUMAN FACTOR SIDE

Although not generally recognized, basic human factors and ergonomics (man-machine interface) theory has historically been applied in railroading. For example, while various rulebooks offer different signal aspects for medium speed and even clear signals, no railroad uses red alone for a permissive indication. Likewise, turning a dial clockwise or moving a control tab to the right increases the values of the parameter being controlled. Improvements to locomotive cabs and layout of modern dispatch centers and shops are examples of more complex applications of human factors engineering, yet they still remain focused primarily on equipment design.

Conrail has recently widened the internal application of fundamental human factor concepts. Conrails effort goes well beyond previous practice in that it incorporates an operational dimension as well as engineering principles. Conrail is now extending railway human factors to the training and thinking patterns of its operating and maintenance employees, with particular interest in those engaged in the direct provision of transportation. It considers the psychology of human attitudes and of workplace behavior. Yet, even in its approach to operational and behavioral applications, it remains analytically based. Ron Batory, looking for definitive and measureable improvements in operational performance, notes that there has been a 55% reduction in human factor-caused train incidents over the past 15 years, resulting in a .0003% human risk factor.

The application of human factors at Conrail falls into a comprehensive and highly analytical approach to running the business. Tim Tierney notes that due to continued and steady industry investment in rolling stock along with Conrails investment in fixed-plant infrastructure, mechanical and maintenance caused derailments on his railroad have been greatly reduced.

As Tierney points out, Conrail continually reviews the needs of our line-of-road infrastructure, bridges, yards and facilities to prioritize the proper level of investment at the proper time. Additionally, projects to increase capacity and operational flexibility are designed and implemented to address existing needs and new business opportunities. Over the years, Conrail has also participated in many public-private partnership projects in all three Shared Assets Areas that further enhance and strengthen our assets and add capacity to improve the service product we provide.

However, the greatest opportunity to be achieved resides in the category of operational causes, and this is where human factors can play a big role. Tierney notes that, despite its condensed geographic footprint, Conrail crews executed in excess of 15 million switching events in 2015 alone.

So how do human factors enter this equation? Obvious items are crew qualification of and rules compliance and the more subtle, man-machine interface issues.

As Assistant Chief Engineer Eric Levin observes, Our Managers must learn how the whole thing works in order to be effective. Learning the equipment, technology and rules of one department is no longer sufficient. Conrails management team strives to be cross-functional and well-versed in all operating crafts, to be able to make decisions that will positively impact all departments. Levins insight about the need to learn how the different mechanical and engineering functions interact with the human element of railroading is well-taken. Clearly this not only tends to reduce incidents, it also makes for a more efficient business and a healthier bottom line.

Today, achieving such integrated experience and knowledge in the next generation of managers and supervisors represents an industry-wide challenge. How is this accomplished on Conrail? It starts at the top, where Batory notes, Our young people, both agreement and non-agreement, constitute the future of Conrail. With the talent hired in the late 1970s now retiring, we continue to increase our work force by 7% to 10% each year. It is critical that Conrail maintain and strengthen its workforce.

To further cultivate talent, Conrail has instituted a series of formal and comprehensive training and development programs to accelerate and properly shape the experience factor. In October 2015, Conrail hosted a training and education seminar at its Bellmawr facility in Southern New Jersey. The attendees were drawn from all of the operating departments, and participants were purposely mixed into pre-assigned cross-discipline workgroups. Conrails Risk Management Team spearheaded this particular seminar, derailment training.

Chief Risk Officer Neil Ferrone notes that Conrails investment in training and retaining is a bottom-line-driven process and covers all phases of a railroaders career, from Conrails early observation of attitudes and aptitudes to train crew refresher training to performance of summer interns. The employee development process begins before new hires are on the roster. Pre-employment orientation for prospective trainees is stresses that these individuals and their families are made aware of the challenges as well as the benefits of life in a railroad operating environment. This occurs prior to their acceptance of a position with the railroad.

Conrail has been continually scouting, recruiting and training young talent over the past ten years. This has been accomplished by going to some of the best engineering schools in the country and offering summer internships to future civil and mechanical engineers. Conrail also seeks out highly motivated veterans with experience in leading and molding individuals into part of a functioning team while understanding the concepts of organization and mission. Conrails cross section of military experience, higher education and experienced operating employees forms an effective management team that can recognize real risk and develop processes to reduce it.

Octobers training session cemented concepts of team building along with operational knowledge. Gary Wolf, principle of Wolf Railway Consulting and a recognized expert in track/train dynamics, assisted in training development and then execution by giving in-depth seminars in train dynamics and track infrastructure. Wolf went into such details as how to locate the actual point of derailment, differences between wheel climb and drop-in derailments, and the actions of freight car suspensions. Ive never been involved in such a well-designed training program, he said. Its world-class.

Atticus Consultings Randall Jamieson, an authority on workplace behavior and motivation, gave a seminar on employee attention-related errors and how supervisors can better understand their people. Insight was offered on how to communicate with many personalities. Jamieson noted that Conrails management team consists of an earnest and dedicated group, thirsty to learn, willing to do the work, and appreciative of the opportunities provided to them.

Attendees were assigned to work teams from different Conrail districtsa mix of mechanical, transportation, engineering and support personnel. They were given field instruction on equipment that included turnouts, partially disassembled switch stands, and freight car trucks.

A laboratory with several derailment stations, each of which included a scale model of a derailment with an incident summary, included an instructor drawn from the ranks of seasoned managers. Depending on the questions asked, or the requests made for specific measurements (track gauge, wheel tread), the facts were presented to a committee. If the appropriate questions were not raised, the discoverable facts remained hidden. With appropriate investigation, the sequence of events, primary cause and contributing factors were determined. These drills offered each participant an opportunity to use the knowledge and skills learned over the previous two days in a controlled environment.

Ron Batory views this training along with other educational efforts holistically: development of the individual and the fostering of an integrated attitude, one that respects the machines and the work performed. It all comes down to recognizing that the most important ingredient in the human-machine interface is the human, and that a well-run railroad is primarily driven by well-trained and highly motivated people of all crafts and disciplines working together toward a common goal.
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Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of accidental death in the United States. In 2014, more than 32,600 Americans were killed and more than 2.3 million were injured in crashes.[1] The direct and indirect costs of crashes are substantial. One study found that crash-related costswhich include a variety of costs, such as medical care, productivity, and travel delayreached at least $242 billion in 2010.[2] And this estimate does not fully capture the price of all consequences, including long-term harm to family and community quality of life.

A wide range of evidence-based policy and program interventions can help prevent vehicle crash injuries and deaths. However, with limited resources, state policymakers must choose the interventions that will provide the greatest reductions for the money spent. To do this, they need to understand how much interventions will cost and how effective they will be in their state.

While information on effectiveness has been available for specific interventions, the information is generally specific to the particular location where the intervention was implemented. In addition, information on the costs of implementing these interventions is relatively limited.

To address this problem, the RAND Corporation, with funding from the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control at the Centers for Disease Control and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, developed an online tool called Motor Vehicle Prioritizing Interventions and Cost Calculator for States (MV PICCS) that generates state-specific cost-effectiveness estimates. The tool is available for free at www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/calculator.

MV PICCS allows users to compare 14 interventions on cost and effectiveness. These 14 interventions were selected based on the following four criteria. The interventions:

Are meant to change driver or passenger behavior (as opposed to changes to roadway or vehicle engineering); Can be implemented (or influenced) by states; Are demonstrated to be effective, based on past research; and Are not already in widespread use.

Table 1 describes the 14 interventions, along with their estimated effectiveness in reducing deaths within specific types of crashes. For example, red-light cameras are expected to reduce deaths that occur at signalized intersections by 17 percent.

Using MV PICCS to Identify Cost-Effective Interventions by State

MV PICCS determines the cost-effectiveness of each intervention in each state. Costs are defined as the cost paid by the state to implement the intervention. For some costs, we were able to scale them to each state based on state characteristics (e.g., wage rates, population, roadway miles). For example, the average cost of police time varies by state. For others, we developed a most common cost and used it across all states (for example, an average per-camera cost based on actual per-camera costs for speed cameras in different cities). The costs of upfront items, such as passive alcohol sensors, were spread over five years. We also estimated the fines and fees that would be paid to the state by offenders, since these could offset some of the costs.

Table 1. List of 14 Interventions in MV PICCS with Estimates of Reductions in Deaths.[3] Intervention Description Type of Crash Reduction in Deaths Red-light cameras Cameras used to capture images of vehicles whose drivers fail to stop for red lights, primarily at intersections. Tickets are sent to offenders by mail. Occurred at intersection with light 17% Speed cameras Cameras are used to capture images of vehicles whose drivers are exceeding posted speed limits. Mobile speed cameras are often used to cover multiple road segments. Speed-related 12% Alcohol interlocks These devices prevent a vehicle from starting until the driver has blown into a tube to prove sobriety. Previous DWI 24% Sobriety checkpoints At a specific location, teams of police officers stop cars to check whether drivers are intoxicated. Alcohol-related 8% Saturation patrols Police patrol selected locations, looking for suspicious driving behavior in an attempt to identify alcohol-impaired drivers. Alcohol-related 18% Bicycle helmet laws This law mandates that children who ride bicycles wear helmets. Bike 15% Motorcycle helmet laws This law requires all motorcyclists, regardless of age or experience level, to wear helmets that meet U.S. Department of Transportation safety standards. Motorcycle 29% Primary enforcement of seat belt laws States with seat belt laws vary in their enforcement; a primary law allows police to ticket offenders exclusively for not wearing seat belts. Passenger-vehicle occupants 7% Seat belt enforcement campaign This policy combines the intense enforcement of seat belts over a fixed period with a publicity campaign. Passenger-vehicle occupants 5% License plate impoundment This intervention requires a driver who has been convicted of DWI to surrender the vehicle's license plate, which is either impounded or destroyed. Previous DWI conviction 27% Limits on diversion and plea agreements These rules prevent DWI arrestees from diverting cases out of the judicial system or pleading out of charges. Previous DWI conviction 11% Vehicle impoundment This intervention requires that a DWI offender's vehicle be confiscated for a period of time, after which the offender either reclaims or surrenders the vehicle. Previous DWI conviction 30% In-person license renewal This intervention requires any driver over age 70 to renew his or her driver's license in person at a department of motor vehicles, instead of using mail-in or online renewal. Drivers over 70 9% Higher seat belt fines This intervention adds $75 to a state's existing fine, which represents a significant increase over existing seat belt fines in most states. Passenger-vehicle occupants 7% NOTE: DWI = driving while intoxicated. All estimates are the same for injuries, except for sobriety checkpoints, with an estimated 20% reduction in injuries.

Effectiveness is defined in two ways. First, we used estimates from the literature of the percent of injuries and deaths that could be avoided with each intervention. These are specific to crash types, as shown in Table 1. We chose the estimates from the best available study or meta-analysis of each intervention and translated that into state-specific effects based on the number of crash deaths in that state for that particular crash type. Even in two states with similar populations, one may have a greater number of lives saved due to motorcycle helmet laws, based on the number of past motorcycle deaths.

Second, we translated effectiveness into dollars based on the estimated value of saving a life or preventing an injury. We used existing literature to estimate these values for individual states, based on nine categories, such as medical costs, property damage, lost productivity, and insurance.[4]

Based on these dollar values, the cost-effectiveness score is the ratio of the effectiveness to the cost. The higher the score, the more cost-effective the intervention. Scores of less than one are not cost-effective, meaning that the cost is greater than the benefit.

These assumptions are all programmed into MV PICCS. Users can then customize their analysis by specifying the five inputs identified in Table 2.

Table 2. User Inputs to MV PICCS Variable Comment State The tool can analyze only one state at a time. List of interventions to analyze The user can investigate any combination of the 14 interventions. Analysis type The user must select one of two analysis types. The cost-effectiveness analysis looks at each policy separately, while the portfolio analysis takes related policies into account. Run type The user can choose to include the fines and fees that offenders pay to the state. Budget The user must tell the tool how much money is available to implement the selected interventions.

With this combination of inputs, users can find the most cost-effective way to spend limited dollars on traffic safety, and develop state-specific annual estimates for costs and effectiveness of policies and programs. The tool can analyze one policy or all 14. MV PICCS can also run in portfolio analysis mode, meaning that it adjusts for related policies. For example, if we simply add the lives saved from the three seat-belt related interventions, the estimate will be too high, because we expect some overlap between the policies.

Using MV PICCS Data to Compare National Spending on Traffic Safety

The tool analyzes one state at a time. However, based on the underlying data that we compiled for MV PICCS, we can look across states and identify the most cost-effective ways to spend money on traffic safety at a national level. We considered three policy questions from a national perspective:

Should interventions be selected nationally or state-by-state?

What is the most cost-effective way to allocate an increase in funding for interventions?

What is the most cost-effective way to reduce drunk driving?

To do this, we developed a cost-effectiveness estimate for each intervention in each state714 in all (14 interventions in 50 states, plus the District of Columbia; for convenience we will refer to 51 states). We then took some of these out of consideration, for two reasons. First, we eliminated three interventionstwo (saturation patrols and high-visibility enforcement) because we did not find reliable information on where they are already implemented, and one (increased seat belt fines) because the implementation cost is zero. So this analysis covers 11 interventions, not the original 14. Second, we removed those interventions that are already implemented in individual states. This leaves 298 potential interventions across the 51 states. If we implement all 298, we would save 3,939 lives for a cost of $2.1 billion (this and other figures for lives saved are on an annual basis. Comparisons of this baseline to the three policy questions are shown in Table 3.

Should Interventions Be Selected Nationally or State-by-State?

To address this question, we generated the cost-effectiveness of each intervention at a national level by summing the costs and effectiveness of the intervention in all states where it is not currently implemented. The cost-effectiveness of these interventions ranges from 130 for alcohol interlocks to 0.8 for limits on diversion and plea agreements. Under the national approach, if all states implemented the three most cost-effective national interventions (alcohol interlocks, universal motorcycle helmet laws, and license plate impoundment), 1,219 fatalities would be prevented for a total cost of approximately $55 million (See Table 3). Universal motorcycle helmet laws alone would prevent 745 fatalities and cost $41 million to implement. Under a state-specific approach, where each state implements the most cost-effective intervention based on the state-level estimates, 928 fatalities would be prevented and it would cost about $60 million.

The national approach is more cost-effective, in that more fatalities are prevented at a lower cost, but it does not spread the reduction in fatalities across all states. The main reason that the state-based approach is less cost-effective overall is that it leads some states, where the most cost-effective interventions are already in place, to implement interventions with low cost-effectiveness ratios. Maryland is an extreme example of this because it has already implemented 9 of the 11 interventions considered in this analysis. As a result, even the most cost-effective prospective additional intervention (among those we considered) in Maryland has costs that exceed the expected benefits.

Table 3. Comparison of Responses to Policy Questions.[5] If we: It saves this many lives and prevents this many injuries in this many states for a total benefit of at a cost of for a cost-effectiveness ratio of Implement all 11 interventions in states that do not already have them 3,939 430,100 51 $14.1 billion $2.1 billion 6.8 Should interventions be selected nationally or state-by-state? Implement the top-ranked intervention in each state 928 176,000 51 $4.9 billion $60 million 81.8 Implement the 3 most cost-effective interventions in all states that do not already have them 1,219 214,000 45 $6 billion $55 million 109.9 Implement universal motorcycle helmet laws in all states that do not currently have them (subset of the response above) 745 197,000 30 $5 billion $41 million 122.4 What is the most cost-effective way to allocate an increase in funding for interventions? Increase each state's traffic safety funding by 10% 660 46,600 47 $1.9 billion $28 million 66.0 Implement the most cost-effective interventions, regardless of state, with the same amount of money 1,320 225,800 44 $6.4 billion $58 million 110.7 What is the most cost-effective way to reduce drunk driving? Implement all DWI interventions in states that do not currently have them 1,182 52,700 49 $2.7 billion $764 million 3.5 Implement the 10 most cost-effective DWI interventions 170 6,100 10 $344 million $2 million 167.0

What Is the Most Cost-effective Way to Allocate an Increase in Funding for Interventions?

For this question, we considered the effects of a 10-percent increase in federal funding to states (approximately $57.9 million divided among the 51 states) to implement additional interventions and compared two ways to allocate this increase. The first is to increase each state's individual allocation by 10 percent and implement those interventions that are most cost-effective within that state. This approach spends only $28.4 million, because many states cannot use the full allotment as the cost of many interventions exceeds the 10-percent increase. Allocating funds in this way would save 660 lives in 47 states.

The second approach is to take the same $57.9 million and spend it on the most cost-effective interventions, regardless of state. We ranked interventions by their state-specific cost-effectiveness ratio and selected the most cost-effective until the cumulative cost reached $57.9 million. This approach would save 1,302 lives using the majority of the available funding ($56.9 million) in 44 states. This approach is far more cost-effective than giving each state a 10-percent increase in funding. One drawback, however, is that fewer states benefit (44 vs. 47).

What Is the Most Cost-effective Way to Reduce Drunk Driving?

Using five interventions that target driving while intoxicated (DWI) specifically, we look at the cost-effectiveness ratios across all states. There are 255 possible interventionstate combinations (51 states times five interventions), and excluding those that are already in use leaves 119. If we implemented all 119 interventions in the states where they are not in place, 1,182 lives are saved at a cost of $764 million. Ten of these have cost-effectiveness ratios exceeding 100; if just these ten were implemented, they would save 170 lives in ten states at a cost of $2.1 million. This is a striking difference in cost-effectiveness; we can save 14 percent of the fatalities with less than 0.5 percent of the cost.

Limits and Assumptions

This analysis has three important limitations:

First, it is limited to 14 interventions. The tool does not include every possible intervention because of the criteria we used to select them. For example, the tool omits bans on cell phone use while driving for which the evidence is still conflicting. It also excludes engineering interventions such as improved vehicle safety or road quality.

Second, many assumptions were needed to generate these estimates. Four of the most important are summarized here. First, the cost-effectiveness estimates reflect assumptions about the level and characteristics of implementation (for example, the number of cameras needed for red-light and automated speed-camera enforcement). Second, the effectiveness estimates from the literature are based on conditions in a specific jurisdiction, which might not reflect the conditions in others. Third, effectiveness estimates for injuries were not available for most interventions, so, without more-specific information, we assumed that the reduction was the same as for fatality reductions. Finally, for some components of the state-specific estimates we used data from national databases, which may or may not be accurate for any particular state. Full details about the assumptions are provided in a documentation report.[6]

Third, the tool is not continually updated. We used best available data at the time of the research. However, we have not updated two key sets of data: the number of fatalities by type per state and the implementation status of each intervention in each state. If, for example, deaths in vehicle crashes have declined considerably in some states since 2010, the tool's estimates of lives saved will be too large.

Despite these limitations, we believe that the analyses can be of great use to state policymakers. They provide policymakers a sense of the relative costs and effects of the different interventions under consideration, and a variety of ways to conduct state-specific analysis.

References

Liisa Ecola is a senior project associate and transportation researcher at the RAND Corporation. Jeanne S. Ringel is a senior economist at RAND and director of the Population Health Program.

This commentary originally appeared in ITE Journal on April 1, 2016. Commentary gives RAND researchers a platform to convey insights based on their professional expertise and often on their peer-reviewed research and analysis.
Spains Secuoya is incorporating Scenic Rights TV content and Spanish-language cinema catalogue into its international production and distribution strategy.



Following an agreement between the Spanish broadcast and the audiovisual agency, both companies will also work towards identifying production opportunities with third parties, such as television stations, investors and co-producers. The agreement also fosters the development of joint television format proposals including series, short series and TV-movies, for the US Hispanic market, Latin America and Spain.The positioning of Grupo Secuoya in the Spanish and Latin American markets , with a physical presence in Madrid, Miami, Colombia, Peru and Chile for the production of audiovisual formats, will open a new dimension for the business, said Sydney Borjas, managing director, Scenic Rights Going hand-in-hand with the one of the largest representatives of Spanish literary works, with an exclusive catalogue integrated by several Nobel Literature Prizes and the most-read authors in Spanish, represents a new addition to this great vessel that is the Secuoya Group, commented Raul Berdones, the groups president.
Russian Supreme Court reduces sentence for two students convicted of financing ISIS

Context Two students sentenced to 5 years in prison for financing ISIS

MOSCOW, April 5 (RAPSI)  The Russian Supreme Court on Tuesday reduced the sentence for two young women convicted of transferring money to ISIS, a terrorist organization banned in Russia, to 5 years in prison, RAPSI reported from the court.

Yelena Arshakhanova and Saida Khalikova gathered finances for terrorists by selling children toys and homemade soap.

In December, the Moscow Regional Military Court sentenced Arshakhanova and Khalikova to 5 years and 3 months and 5.5 years in prison respectively.

The Islamic State is currently one of the major threats to global security. Over three years, these terrorists have managed to seize large areas of Iraq and Syria. The organization is also attempting to spread its influence to North Africa  particularly, Libya. The area controlled by ISIS covers up to 90,000 square kilometers.
A US student gone missing in Buryatia found dead

MOSCOW, April 5, (RAPSI)  US citizen Colin Madsen, a 25-year old student of the Irkutsk Linguistics Institute, has been found dead today according to the 2nd search and rescue unit of the Buryatia search and rescue service. The student went missing on March 27, Interfax news agency reports.

"The tourist has been found dead two kilometers from the village of Arshan. Detectives are working at the scene," a unit representative said. According to the rescuer, Madsen might have frozen to death.

Colin Madsen, who was a fluent Russian speaker, together with his friends had visited this highland resort situated in the Tunkinskaya valley, in the foothills of the Eastern Sayan Mountains, 500 kilometers from Buryatia's capital city of Ulan Ude before, Russia Beyond The Headlines (RBTH) web-site informs.

According to the press service of the Russian Investigative Committee's republican department, detectives had examined the body and did not find any visible damage. ID and money were found on the body. A forensic medical examination will be carried out to establish the exact cause of death. The examination will be performed in Kyren by a group of experts from Ulan Ude, RBTH notes unwinding the Interfax story.

Colin Madsen came to Arshan on vacation on March 26, 2016; he was travelling together with a fellow citizen and two residents of Irkutsk. The young men used drugs, but did not drink alcohol. There were no conflicts between them," RBTH reports citing the Buryatia department of the Russian Investigative Committee. The student was found missing at about 5 a.m. After conducting an unsuccessful search on their own, Madsens friends filed a statement with the police.

Local residents joined to the search to help the police and rescue teams; Russias EMERCOM used drones to observe hard-to-reach sites from above. The incident was televised by largest Russian broadcasters.
USA Today described as "jaw-dropping" Sunday's "Panama Papers" revelation about a "global network of offshore companies helping the wealthy hide their assets." The less emotional among us should greet the news with relief. When the "wealthy hide their assets" they're shielding crucial growth capital from the wasteful hands of politicians.

That many politicians and dictators apparently have money in offshore tax havens will be addressed in a bit, but for now we should celebrate the billions parked offshore. Supposedly the "Panama Papers" investigation revealed that at least 29 Forbes 400 billionaires had accounts in countries pejoratively described as "tax havens." The global economy is better off to the extent that what's been found out is true.

That is so simply because wealth saved in offshore accounts is not wealth that sits idle. The offshore banks and various funds that the rich deposit their money with don't pay them interest on it so that they can stare lovingly at the money of billionaires. Instead, they pay interest on the deposits of rich people so that they can quickly lend and invest them globally with an eye on achieving even higher returns.

So while readers can expect all sorts of commentary about the rich essentially burying their money under the proverbial tax-haven designed mattress, the actual truth is that the more the world's superrich are able to shield their wealth from the tax man, the better the odds we all have of accessing the savings of the superrich. When the rich get to keep their wealth, we have immediate access to it through loans and investments in the ideas of today and tomorrow. Put more simply, what the rich keep from the government is wealth that is immediately spread around among those who aren't rich.

The above truth is the source of the famous line telling us that the "rich get richer." Yes they do if their savings are invested wisely; investments the source of all company and job creation. Excitingly for all of us, the more that tax havens can help the rich shield their wealth from politicians, the more company and job creation there will be.

Conversely, the majority of us who aren't rich will be rendered worse off to the extent that "jaw-dropping" news about tax havens leads to global crackdowns on same by errant politicians. We know this firstly because investment is once again the source of the job creation we all desire in abundance. To the extent that politicians can keep the rich from shielding their wealth from their grasping hands, there will be less investment as a result.

Second, we can't forget what rising tax revenues allow governments to do. Specifically, governments showered with lots of revenues are not only able to wastefully spend the rising cash inflows, they're also able to borrow with ease. High tax revenue countries are countries that can borrow aggressively, thus expanding the size and scope of government even more. Rising government revenues are surely an effect of economic growth (including growth wrought by tax cuts), but those same revenues also dampen future growth given the certain truth that politicians will always and everywhere dream up new ways to spend the money on impossible-to-sunset new programs.

Indeed, as Randall Woods points out in his new book Prisoners of Hope (about LBJ's myriad and very expensive governmental initiatives), President Lyndon Johnson was only able to launch the failed "War on Poverty" insofar as the 1964 income tax cuts gifted Treasury with $7.5 in extra revenues. Tax cuts are great, but their greatness is surely neutered by rising revenues as politicians inevitably spend them on programs that grow and grow. Politicians exist to spend, and their largesse exists as a tax on the real economy. This speaks to another reason why tax havens are so crucial. It's very good for our liberty and our personal economy when politicians have less wealth to destroy.

All of which brings us to revelations about various politicians and dictators having wealth (much of it likely ill gotten) similarly deposited offshore. In isolation, this is once again a good thing. A dollar is a dollar, a euro a euro, and a ruble a ruble. The more wealth that is situated "offshore," the more wealth that is subsequently shielded from the tax man so that it can be invested in real ideas onshore.

At the same time it's hard not to be offended by news of politicians possessing far more wealth than these alleged men and women of the people generally let on. News like this should definitely offend us, but it shouldn't surprise us. Politicians get into politics and dictators lust for power so that they can get rich. The truly productive create actual wealth in the private sector, while the politics and power-minded attain wealth by getting into politics whereby they fleece the true wealth creators of their production. Politicians live very well in and out of office. Period.

If anyone doubts the above, they need only visit Washington, D.C. When government spending surges the political class located in our nation's capital is the biggest beneficiary. We should expect the same to be true in other countries. Government spending not only subtracts from economy-expanding investment, it also enriches those who spend money not their own. While no individual in a real economy comprised of individuals can credibly claim to be made more prosperous by nosebleed tax rates, the politicians doing the taxing and spending surely can claim they're made better off.

Back to offshore tax havens, they're a way for the actual producers of wealth to protect it from the politicians enriched by taxation. Let's celebrate and nurture tax havens with an eye on getting more of the world's wealth away from the political class, and back into the savings and investment that make all the non-politicians (think the majority) better off.
Victory or defeat in war is often as much psychological as it is military. Military forces fight to impose their wills, and at a certain moment, even if the weapons are not yet silent, one side or the other loses heart. Its will to resist breaks, and defeat becomes a matter of time. Arguably, we are getting to that point in the war against the so-called Islamic State group.

Classical military theory broadly emphasizes that the battlefield advantage lies with the defenders, because defense requires fewer soldiers and weapons to hold positions than the attacker needs in order to overrun them. But when ISIS swept out of northern Syria two years ago, they staged a blitzkrieg offensive, replete with sophisticated strategy and tactics, including unprecedented barbaric treatment of soldiers and civilians to win through terror as well as by weapons. The ISIS onslaught was in effect a months-long rolling surprise attack on disorganized, demoralized, poorly equipped, internally divided adversaries. Syria and Iraq had been battlefields in failed-state territories even before ISIS arrived on the scene. ISIS just took advantage of the chaos.

ISIS thus had the initial advantage. But once its initial rampage was stopped, beginning with Kobani in February 2015, the battlefield turned into a stalemate. Effective counter-attacks began on Islamic State positions late last year. Armed with conventional weapons and no air force, ISIS was soon put on the defensive. Battlefield momentum changed. Vastly outnumbered and outgunned, the Islamic State's military was bound to lose, because even with the advantages of defense (including the barbaric use of human shields), it was totally outnumbered and outgunned.

ISIS turned out to be much overrated as a military force capable of sustained warfare. Its resilience lay always more in the fervor, commitment, and reckless courage of its fighters than in its numbers and military capacity. From the battle for Kobani onward, the Islamic State has been regularly beaten in ground engagements. There were still a few victories (for example, taking Palmyra) but by the end of 2015 one could see that the Islamic State group was going down.

Anti-ISIS forces in Syria and Iraq are now experiencing few setbacks as they push ISIS back. The biggest victories so far have been at Tikrit and the Baiji oil refineries in April 2015; Sinjar in November; Ramadi in December; and Palmyra two weeks ago, which was the Islamic State's first big defeat in Syria. Scores of villages have been retaken, and initial operations have begun to dislodge ISIS from its positions on the Euphrates River. Anti-ISIS forces are better organized and armed than before, with the increasing morale that victory brings. Destruction of the Islamic State as a geopolitical entity is no longer just possible or probable, it looks like a certainty. The only unknown is how long it will take and how much destruction will be wrought.

In this unrelenting series of defeats, the will to resist of the central ISIS leadership and its militants -- the fighters but also the Islamic State's bureaucratic officials in occupied cities and towns -- is at stake. Fighters are running away rather than insisting on martyrdom. Ramadi was the first instance: Fighters fled the city back to Mosul where they were rounded up and burned alive. It's not clear yet whether some of the Palmyra defenders ran away. In any case they put up little resistance. Two of the five top ISIS government leaders -- its effective ministers of war and of finance -- have recently been killed by American forces. It's logical that at some point ISIS, like any army, will lose heart -- the climactic moment when the will to resist shatters.

The creation of the Islamic State was always a temporary affront to the logic of military force in geopolitics. It was implausible that it could durably hold off the big regional powers and the United States once these determined it had to go. Now the fundamentals are reasserting themselves. Military force matters.

But what about ISIS's morph into essentially a global terrorist network? Isn't ISIS stronger than ever? What about Paris, Brussels, Istanbul, and the many other devastating attacks of the past few months? ISIS, while losing in Syria and Iraq, seems to be a greater threat to Europe and the United States than ever. There is some truth to this, but once again we need a sober, realistic view of what's going on.

The new ISIS, without its Islamic State caliphate in Syria and Iraq, will be a different phenomenon requiring a different intellectual conception. For two years ISIS was primarily a geopolitical conquest, the Islamic State, at the center of an international terrorist network. The raison d'etre of the enterprise, what drew fighters from around the world, was building the caliphate. Now this jihadist dream is disappearing. The new ISIS will be the inverse, a loose network of international terrorist operations without a core, run by die-hard romantic jihadists and brutal warlords. Over time, Islamic State's dismantling will likely produce a gradual demoralization in global jihadist hearts and minds. The rank-and-file will to some extent disintegrate, with some militants joining al-Qaeda or other splinter groups, and others going back to civilian life. It will be interesting to see how former jihadist war criminals try to earn a living.

What does this mean for the United States and Europe?

Looked at objectively, the number of jihadist networks at any given moment is not incalculable, it is finite. Some are more or less organized than others, and the total number can rise or fall. But the networks as such could be counted if the information were available.

This means that sufficient, determined counter-terrorist forces can reduce the total number at any given moment and over time. Counter-terrorism works. High numbers of terrorist plots have been disrupted in the United States and in Europe. The Brussels catastrophe should eventually result in an upgrading of Belgium's woeful counter-terrorism capacities, including their connection with EU neighbors. (Paradoxically, terrorist attacks may stimulate greater European integration.)

No counter-terrorist effort will be entirely successful, but the number and success of terrorist networks can be reduced and the destruction limited. ISIS is not eternal, nor is al-Qaeda, or jihadist terrorism in general. A war that takes a generation to win is not an unwinnable war.
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By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 04/05/2016



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Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.
Here's a look at a fashion-forward house that is also surprisingly perfect for children.

According to Elle Decor, interior designer Tamara Magel has been designing a lot of homes in New York City, but one of her most recent creations for a family of four proved that she can combine two different concepts to make her work stand out.

While speaking with the publication, Magel explained, "When I design in New York, it's all about utilizing the space and making everything multifunctional. It's the complete opposite with a house. It's all about expanding instead of bringing in."

Magel then shared that her client only had two major requirements for her, and that is to make sure that their house will be both fashion-forward and kid-friendly. Basically, the designer reworked the walls, built a custom kitchen and selected all the hardware that were used for the renovation including the paint and finishing. She was also the one who laid out the actual concept for her design.

Magel opted to not focus on the window treatments; instead, she painted all the windows black to give them an unfussy yet polished look.

"I look at my interiors more in terms of fashion," Magel explained her choices for the renovation. "Coming home to the Hamptons changed that for me. When you leave the city, you want to be comfortable, and let your home nurture you."

Photos of Magel's creation were recently posted online and they show how beautifully she was able to transform the living room, dining room, kitchen, den, bedroom and bathroom.

If you want to have your house renovated sometime soon, all you have to do is take inspiration from Magel's work. If you want a house like the one featured about, hiring her might also be the best option for you.
After embarking on a tour across the state to check on the status of the housing sector, U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley said Oregon is experiencing a housing affordability crisis. Demand is outpacing supply, house prices are skyrocketing and vacancy rate is falling.

As reported by Mail Tribune, Merkley said that many people are moving to Oregon because of the quality of life and the beauty of the place and so supply has been depleting. "Families are just being absolutely squeezed as a result," he said.

Merkley also spoke with local housing experts at the Jackson County Housing Authority's Cherry Creek Apartments, per Mail Tribune.

Oregon Housing and Community Services Director Margaret Van Vliet said there are only 20,000 available affordable housing units against the 130,000 households with low income. About 25,000 new housing units per year are needed to catch up with the population growth, but according to the Oregon Home Builders Association, only 15,000 are being built.

People are having a hard time saving up for a security deposit and when they eventually find a place to rent, it is difficult to keep up with the rental rates.

To address the dire situation in the state, local housing experts cited some possible solutions such as proving social housing assistance, helping renters pay for the security deposits, having more flexibility in local communities' spending of federal dollars, easing housing regulations for building tiny houses, and using affordable housing fund to refurbish existing homes.

Merkley is said to be working on increasing the fund for affordable housing for states in dire need of housing crisis solutions.

Meanwhile, Oregon Governor Kate Brown signed bills into law last Friday that will address the housing affordability and homelessness issues in the state, KOIN reported. The bills prohibit the landlords to raise rents during the first year of a month-on-month lease and after the first year, they should give tenants 90 days' notice if the rent will be increased. The new laws also require developers to include rental units and homes for low-income households in new projects.
Rent-controlled buildings taken out of the market last year rose to nearly threefold since 2013 as they are being demolished and replaced with pricier housing, LA Times reported.

Based on city records, over 20,000 units were removed from the market since 2001, of which over 1,000 units were from 2015. With the Los Angeles property market experiencing a boom, developers and investors want to cash in and are acquiring rent-controlled buildings to demolish in exchange of building luxury homes.

While the figures is only a small portion of the 641,000 rent-controlled units in LA, housing advocates condemn the evictions and demolitions, saying that they are making the affordable housing supply more constraint.

On the defense of the developers, Michael Cohanzad, senior vice president of development and business affairs for Wiseman, said, "The story that gets lost in all of this is that the buildings ... are past their useful life. Many of these homes are asbestos-filled, termite-infested, and are not compliant with today's retrofit regulations. So it's a matter of time that these buildings will be torn down."

Cohanzad said the Wiseman has built five times more new apartments in replacement of the ones it demolished, which he claimed is a big help to the city's housing shortage.

In a previous report from LA Curbed, figures from the Los Angeles Housing and Community Investment Department showed that people were evicted in 725 rent-controlled apartments in 2014, more than twice the 308 apartments in 2013. It rose to 1,075 units in 2015.

Among the hard-hit areas in the city are Beverly Grove, Sawtelle and Pico-Robertson, driven by the strong demand for high-end housing in upscale neighborhoods.

The council's Housing Committee is looking into ways on how to address the housing affordability issue such as establishing an annual cap to the number of rent-controlled apartments.
Canada is one of the hottest real estate markets in the world and now it is experiencing some sort of housing affordability crisis. To address this, Canada's housing agency is going to push for a national housing strategy by working with other federal colleagues, Bloomberg reported.

Evan Siddall, chief executive officer of Canada Mortgage & Housing Corp., said that the housing agency and other federal groups will work on broad-based consultations on national housing strategy.

"This will include consultations with provincial and territorial governments, Indigenous and other communities, and key stakeholders," Siddall said, explaining that "the goal will be to develop a comprehensive national housing strategy to reduce housing need."

Last month, a United Nations report, via Advisor.ca, pointed out the lack of housing strategy in Canada despite the housing crisis in the country. The U.N. said that the strategy should include funding for housing and plans for additional social housing units.

The U.N. also said that housing is a right of every Canadian, and protecting this right is what several groups are pushing for in the country. Housing prices have been skyrocketing and home critics said this contributed a lot to homelessness. A survey by Statistics Canada revealed that about 12.5 percent of Canadians are in need of housing.

In March, the average price of a home in Canada reached more than half a million dollars for the first time, with most expensive houses found in Toronto and Canada, Ottawa Citizen report said. Vancouver also hit another record high in terms of home sales last month, with an increase of 24.5 percent from last year's figures. The surge in house prices is driven by the tight supply and high foreign demand as investors try to cash in from the low Canadian dollar by acquiring more properties in the country.
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Thao Nguyen, a freshman at the University of Georgia, aspires to become a high school mathematics teacher, but her parents are not as enthusiastic about her future career as she is.
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By MARK KENNEDY, AP Drama Writer

NEW YORK (AP)  The idea came to them, remarkably, without alcohol playing a factor: Two magicians in Australia decided to create a new kind of show that mixed stripping and illusion.

That's right, a naked magic show.

"It's kind of crazy because magic is the second-oldest profession ever and we couldn't believe that no one had combined the two things that everyone loves  magic and nudity," said Christopher Wayne. "You know what? We weren't drunk when we came up with this."

Wayne and his co-creator and co-star Mike Tyler have successfully toured Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong. Now they plan to tour the U.S.

"We promise that 'The Naked Magic Show' will be one of the most amazing magic shows you'll ever see," said Tyler by phone from Brisbane. "We promise it'll be one the funniest comedy shows you'll ever see. And we do promise full-frontal illusion."

The North America tour kicks off April 21 in Baltimore. It then goes to Rhode Island; Connecticut; Washington, D.C.; Wisconsin; Minnesota; Illinois; Michigan; Indiana; Pennsylvania; New York; Arizona; Colorado; Massachusetts; Oregon; Washington; Georgia; Iowa; Florida; North Carolina; and Kentucky, with several stops in Canada.

Wayne, 31, who had his own TV series, "More Than Magic," and Tyler, also 31, a former competitive swimmer and magician at corporate get-togethers, have been friends for years.

After the release of the Channing Tatum male-stripper film, "Magic Mike," they noticed members of their audience getting a little feisty, asking things like "How big is your magic wand?" and "Can you make my clothes disappear?"

"So we got to thinking, 'What about if we could create the world's first naughty magic show?'" said Tyler. "Good magicians don't need sleeves and great magicians don't need pants."

A tour last year included three weeks in America, with stops in Massachusetts and Florida. It was a test to see if Yanks outside Las Vegas, where nudity and magic have been merged before, were ready for this level of sharing.

"We weren't sure when we went over how America would take this show," said Wayne. "In our head, we thought you guys might be a bit more conservative or you might not get our Aussie brand of humor. But it just absolutely exploded over there."

The pair said they spent the better part of a year making sure both parts of the act were balanced perfectly  the magic was good and the eye candy was buff.

"We spent so much time making sure it was legitimately the funniest show that we could make, and we feel like we've kind of caught some lightning in a bottle, thanks to a lot of hard work," Wayne said.

"And then we wanted to make sure that we had something nice for the audience to look at so we both dedicated every spare moment of every day to working out."

They've somehow gotten comfortable slowly stripping in front of fans. The hardest part was the first time they got into their birthday suits together.

"We were best mates before we started doing the show and the moment had come where we had to get naked in front of each other," said Tyler. "Once we got naked in front of each other, it's surprisingly easy to get naked in front of an audience that's clapping and cheering and having a great time."

And, yes, their parents have seen the show. It was no big deal. "They saw us naked when we were kids anyway," said Tyler, laughing.

___

Online: http://thenakedmagicshow.com
In a Thursday, March 10, 2016, photo, baker Martha Rabello works on making coffee cookies in the kitchen of Fanwood Presbyterian Church in Fanwood, N.J. Rabello rents space in the church's kitchen to bake her goods to sell, as a state law prohibits her from baking commercial goods in her home. A group of bakers have pushed for a bill that will allow them to bake at home and not in rented kitchen space. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

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By JOSH CORNFIELD, Associated Press

TRENTON, N.J. (AP)  Grace DeStefano has been fighting for the past seven years for her right to sell a homemade cake.

DeStefano is among a group of home bakers who have been battling since 2009 for New Jersey to catch up to almost every other state in having a cottage food law that would allow for them to join in a tradition that supporters say is as American as the apple pie they're not legally allowed to sell.

New Jersey and Wisconsin are the only two states that effectively ban the sale of home-baked goods. Opponents cite public health concerns and unfair competition against established businesses.

"A lot of people that I talk to want a small business and don't want to have to go and buy a storefront and get a factory," said DeStefano, 46, of Bedminster Township. "We just want something where we can put our foot in the door, do something on the side to make some extra income. We don't see it as direct competition."

The measure has passed in New Jersey's lower house twice, but Senate health and human services Chairman Sen. Joe Vitale has refused to bring up the measure for a vote.

Vitale said that's unlikely to change anytime soon.

He said that it's admirable that the home bakers want to "make some extra money and do the right thing, it's just there are public safety and public health concerns."

He also said it would be unfair to small mom-and-pop bake shops that now have to pay rent, insurance and employees.

"They're concerned at some level of being undermined by these home-baked products," Vitale said. "If the cap is $50,000, that's potentially $50,000 or some portion that's out of the bottom line of a small baker."

Republican Sen. Christopher "Kip" Bateman, who introduced the measure, said that the businesses are working on such a small level and would be restricted in what they could sell  nothing that needs to be refrigerated, for instance  that he doesn't see them as competition.

"New Jersey is expensive enough. To give people an opportunity to supplement their income or pay their taxes, why not do it?" Bateman said. "I'm sure it's being done. Why not legalize it?"

Martha Rabello, 36, of Cranford, rents out space at commercial kitchens. She said that a cottage food law would help people get started out without having to either spend $15,000 or more to build a commercial kitchen or find a rental space, which she said costs about $20 per hour.

"That's a big investment; you don't have that leeway to try things," Rabello said. "This is a business that has a high failure rate. If you invest all that money and what you decided (to make) doesn't sell, you lose a lot more that if you had the ability to start at home."

The Institute for Justice filed a lawsuit against Wisconsin's rules in January and successfully fought restrictive cottage food laws in Minnesota. It recently has begun talking with the New Jersey group.

"All these home bakers want to be able to do is sell their goods at community events, farmers markets and directly to consumers," said Erica Smith, an attorney with the institute. "This is something that people have been doing in this country for hundreds of years. It's just an American tradition to sell to your neighbors."
Starwood Hotels and Resorts Chief of Latin American Operations Jorge Giannattasio speaks to reporters, in Havana, Cuba, Saturday, March 19, 2016. Starwood says it has signed a deal to renovate and run three Cuban hotels, returning U.S. chains to the island more than 50 years after American hotels were taken over by Fidel Castros socialist revolution. (AP Photo/Desmond Boylan)

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By MICHAEL WEISSENSTEIN, Associated Press

HAVANA (AP)  Online lodging service Airbnb is allowing travelers from around the world to book stays in private homes in Cuba after the San Francisco-based company received a special authorization from the Obama administration, Airbnb announced Sunday.

Airbnb was the first major American company to enter Cuba after Presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro declared detente on Dec. 17, 2014. The service handles online listing, booking and payments for people looking to stay in private homes instead of hotels. Cuba has become its fastest-growing market, with about 4,000 homes added over the last year.

Airbnb had only been allowed to let U.S. travelers use its services in Cuba under a relatively limited Obama administration exception to the half-century old US trade embargo on the island. The expansion of that license gives Airbnb the ability to become a one-stop shop for travelers seeking lodging in private homes, which have seen a flood of demand from travelers seeking an alternative to state-run hotels.

Airbnb's new authorization was announced on the morning of an historic three-day trip by Obama to Cuba and a day after Starwood Hotels announced that it had signed a deal to run three Cuban hotels, becoming the first U.S. hotel company in Cuba since Fidel Castro took power in 1959 and took over the island's hotels. Airbnb said world travelers could begin booking in Cuba in April 2, the anniversary of the country's start of operations on the island.

Also on Sunday, Marriott International Inc. said it had gained Treasury Department authorization to pursue a deal in Cuba. The hotel company, which is based in Bethesda, Maryland, said it is in talks with potential partners on the island. Its CEO, Arne Sorenson, is in Cuba with Obama's delegation.

All hotels in Cuba are now owned by government agencies and many are known for poor service and decrepit infrastructure. Foreign hotel chains operate some of the island's larger and more luxurious hotels, which are running at full capacity thanks to a post-detente boom in tourism that saw visitor numbers surge nearly 20 percent last year.

One of the first openings in Cuba's centrally planned economy came when the government allowed families to rent rooms in their homes for a few dollars a night, starting in the 1990s. That has become a full-blown private hospitality industry, with many Cubans using capital from relatives abroad and even foreign investors to transform crumbling homes into the equivalents of small boutique hotels.

Many websites allow foreigners to book Cuban private homes, known as "casas particulares," but none has emerged as a dominant player. Many travelers still find it hard to guarantee bookings and make electronic or credit card payments. Airbnb is promoting its service as a solution to those problems in Cuba.
Record Searchlight file photo Tyler Christopher Schweizer is charged with second-degree murder in connection with a traffic collision that killed Wallace "Pete" Shelton, 77, of Anderson.

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By Jim Schultz of the Redding Record Searchlight

A Redding man was formally charged on Monday with second-degree murder in connection with a fatal 2015 traffic collision on Highway 273.

Tyler Christopher Schweizer, who pleaded not guilty in Shasta County Superior Court, was also remanded to jail with his bail set at $250,000, Deputy District Attorney Brandon Storment said.

Schweizer, who is prohibited from driving a motor vehicle, was ordered jailed because he was seen driving to court, Storment said.

Although Schweizer was originally charged with vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence in the fatal wreck, Storment recently filed a motion to amend the criminal complaint against him to include the homicide charge.

Schweizer, 30, was driving his pickup southbound on Highway 273 on Feb. 11, 2015, when he broadsided another pickup at the Thomas Road intersection, the California Highway Patrol has said.

That crash killed Wallace "Pete" Shelton, 77, of Anderson.

According to the CHP, Schweizer was going about 100 mph when Shelton, a Navy veteran, drove across Highway 273 in front of Schweizer's pickup.

Schweizer's defense attorney, Aaron Williams, has said although the fatal crash was tragic it does not warrant a second-degree murder charge.

"It's alleged he (Schweizer) was speeding," Williams has said. "Somebody pulled out in front of him. That's not a murder."

Storment, however, said he believes Schweizer's "abysmal" driving history supports the second-degree murder charge, noting that Schweizer led officers in 2011 on a high-speed chase, ramming a car reported stolen into a police patrol unit.

He also has 2009 and 2012 misdemeanor DUI convictions, according to electronic court records.

Schweizer is due back in court Tuesday for a plea dispo hearing, while he's also scheduled to have a preliminary hearing on April 12.

That hearing may determine whether Schweizer will be ordered to stand trial on the second-degree murder count.
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Tehama County sheriffs deputies Monday morning arrested a 50-year-old man after he shot at his wife in the couples Cottonwood-area home, officers said.

Deputies about 10:30 a.m. Monday went to the 19000 block of Stoneyford Place in the Lake California neighborhood  south of Cottonwood Creek in Tehama County  upon learning that Anthony Shepard fired gun inside his house.

Hed been arguing with his wife and fired the gun at her, deputies said. She ran from the home uninjured and called 911.

Deputies arrived and were able to persuade Shepard to leave the home. They arrested him on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, criminal threats and recklessly firing a gun, according to the Sheriffs Office.

He was booked into the Tehama County Jail in lieu of $610,000 bail, deputies said.
Emergency personnel work to remove a body from a Jeep Cherokee that crashed into a tree Monday east of Anderson.

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A Palo Cedro man was killed today when his Jeep Cherokee went off Gover Road east of Anderson and slammed into a tree.

The Shasta County Coroner's Office identified him this evening as William Cummings, 72.

California Highway Patrol Sgt. Greg Ross said the driver was northbound on Gover Road south of Ash Creek Road at an unknown speed around 3:40 p.m., when his Jeep drifted off the roadway and struck a tree.

He said there were no signs Cummings had tried to apply the brakes, suggesting he might have suffered a medical ailment.

Ross said alcohol and drugs are not believed to be factors in the crash. The incident remains under investigation.
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By Joe Szydlowski of the Redding Record Searchlight

Citing safety concerns, Shasta Lake's Planning Commission unanimously voted down a Redding minister's request to open a for-profit, faith-based trade school Monday evening.

"It's obvious we disagree and we will continue to look for ways to move forward," said Timothy Sherman, who wants to establish the Eagle's Nest Training Facility in the city's industrial park at 3595 Iron Court. That building, already home to one trade school for those with developmental disabilities, sits between the city's wastewater treatment plant and the Knauf Fiberglass plant, one reason all five planning commissioners voted against a permit necessary for the school to open.

They also expressed confusion about how, exactly, the facility and its classes would operate and whether they meet the traditional model of a trade school, the only type allowed in the industrial park.

"This proposal doesn't meet the intent of the industrial district," said Gracious Palmer, a commissioner.

Eagle's Nest would offer classes on dance, music and writing, marketing and religious topics as well as internships, Sherman said. He said that the city didn't have a definition as to what, exactly constitutes a trade school.

He also made clear that, while he has a traveling ministry, that is a separate organization from the school, which he repeatedly said would be faith-based, including

He acknowledged some confusion arose from "communications breakdowns," but added that he had not been informed of Monday's meeting.

Two people spoke to the commissioners. Alexis Asbe told them she has had her own issues with the planning commission and endorsed the school.

Rocky Evans, who owns a business in the industrial area off Ashby Road, opposed the school over concerns about additional traffic and people in the park, which has hazardous chemicals and industrial equipment.

An attorney for the owner of the building Sherman is seeking to move into also spoke in favor of the project.

Sherman said he will appeal the decision to the Shasta Lake City Council.
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As a 72-year-old American, I am constantly and consistently shocked at the lack of knowledge of the Bill of Rights, especially the Second Amendment. We learned about groups like the Minute Men militia in junior high school.

Many my age will remember these quotes from some of the founders of our nation. This list comes in part from a recent edition of the NRA American Hunter magazine:

George Mason: "I ask, sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people. ... To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them."

Richard Henry Lee: "A militia, when properly formed, are in fact the people themselves ... and include all men capable of bearing arms. ... To preserve liberty it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms and be taught alike ... how to use them."

Thomas Paine: "Arms discourage and keep the invader and plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as well as property. ... Horrid mischief would ensue were (the law-abiding) deprived of the use of them."

John Adams: "Arms in the hands of citizens may be used at individual discretion ... in private self-defense."

Thomas Jefferson in a letter to an Englishman: "The constitutions of most of our states assert, that all power is inherent in the people; ... that it is their right and duty to be at all times armed." Elsewhere he wrote, "No free man shall be debarred the use of arms within his own land."

James Madison: "(The Constitution preserves) the advantage of being armed which Americans possess over the people of almost every nation ... (where) the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms."

Noah Webster: "Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom in Europe. The supreme power in American cannot enforce unjust laws ... because the whole body of the people are armed."

Samuel Adams: "The Constitution shall never be construed to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms."

In reading the Second Amendment, we can see that the founders were not creating a right to keep and bear arms. They took it for granted that people had a natural right that needed to be protected from infringement by the government or anyone else. We humans do not have fangs and claws like tigers; we have to make weapons like spears, bows and arrows, swords, and now firearms. The reason why 20,000 criminals can drive a million out of their own homes and country is because the 1 million do not have firearms like members of ISIS do. And you can see the same scenario all over the world.

Gary Servidio lives in Redding.
Government is looking to develop 15 airstrips owned by the state governments and 10 that are with the Airports Authority of India

To improve air connectivity, Union Minister Arun Jaitley, on Tuesday, said the government plans to develop 25 regional airports.

"This year I have set a target of having 25 more regional airports," Jaitley said.

Speaking at a conference in New Delhi, the finance minister also emphasised the need for having long-term funding for infrastructure.

He said the government is looking to develop 15 airstrips owned by the state governments and 10 that are with the Airports Authority of India (AAI).

There are around 160 airstrips that are lying unused, he said while talking about the steps taken by the government for infrastructure development in the country.

According to the minister, AAI would be able to fund itself from the money coming from Delhi and Mumbai airports.

The international airports in the national capital and Mumbai are run through public private partnerships, where AAI is a stakeholder.

Further, Jaitley said the operation and management of some developed airports could be given to private players.

The government has been working on ways to bolster aviation sector, especially increasing regional connectivity amid rising number of air passengers.

In the draft civil aviation policy, which is in the advanced stages of finalisation, various measures have been mooted for boosting regional air connectivity.

Photograph: PTI


Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday said the Indian government has resolved various legacy issues with regard to taxation and is gradually working to bring down the corporate tax rates to the global level at 25 per cent from 30 per cent currently.

Speaking on the theme of 'Reimagining the Indian economy' at the SP Jain Institute of Global Management here, Jaitley expressed confidence that the long-pending Goods and Services Tax would get the approval of Parliament soon.

The minister further said that India achieved over 7.5 per cent growth rate despite global headwinds and the effort of the government would be to improve it further by promoting ease of doing business and attracting more foreign investment and preventing domestic investors from going abroad.

"One of the more important areas had been to bring India's taxation system compatible with global standards.

Therefore, we are now working on direct tax systems where we want to put the disputes behind us.

"We want people to clean up their tax issues.

And, therefore, in this Budget I have also suggested various windows of clearing up pending disputes," Jaitley said.

He said the government is working to bring down India's corporate tax rates gradually to a fair international level which will involve "no discretion, no rent-seeking exemption, phasing all of them out gradually and then bringing taxation rate to a flat 25 per cent".

The Budget 2016-17 has provided for dispute resolution windows under which companies facing tax demands, which are stuck at various stages, can pay principal and interest or penalty and put an end to it.

As regards companies facing tax demands out of retrospective amendments, the Budget has provided a scheme under which interest and penalty has been waived off and firms can pay only the principal tax demand and settle the dispute.

On Goods and Services Tax, Jaitley said one uniform common tax for whole of India, which converts the country into one big market and allows transfer of goods and services to take place across this large market, is pending before Parliament.

"I am quite certain and we are reasonably moving towards a situation where we should be sooner than later be able to clear this. . . in Parliament," he said.

The indirect tax reform Goods and Services Tax is stuck in the Rajya Sabha where the ruling National Democratic Alliance does not have a majority.

Congress has been seeking three changes in the bill, including a constitutional cap on GST rate.

The GST bill is likely to come up for discussion in the second leg of Budget session beginning April 25.

Among the challenges that India is facing, Jaitley highlighted the problem of stretched private sector and twin balance sheet of companies and PSU banks.

"We are addressing that by recapitalising the banks, addressing the sectors which have caused stress".

"Despite a global slowdown we have managed to maintain 7.5 per cent growth rate. All our parameters... the Current Account Deficit... are very acceptable figures.

"I am reasonably certain (that) as the global push to the economy slightly improves, hopefully we have a better monsoon, and therefore these figures could look even better in the days to come," Jaitley said.

He added that the government has opened up various sectors, including insurance and railways, and has also removed unnecessary conditionality which was slowing down FDI.

"This, probably, in greenfield projects, has made India one of the most sought after destination as far as FDI is concerned," Jaitley said, adding that the government is taking steps to ease process of doing business by promising stability and predictability of policy, cutting short the time between decision of setting up business and actual implementation and easy and fewer approvals.

"There is a greater realisation that in a competitive world, it is not only attracting international investors but (also) domestic investors that is necessary and for that you have to easen business processes.

"That is an important work that is still in progress in India," he said.

The minister said India has been moving forward in eliminating corruption in decision-making regarding projects and environment and FIPB clearances.

"Corruption dissuades people from investment, it adds to cost of investment, and I think it is an important milestone where India seems to be moving forward (in eliminating corruption). . .

"With regard to allocation of natural resources and other government largesses, discretion have now completely been eliminated and everything is to be done by policy through market mechanism or bidding system which is transparent. A lot of laws have been straightened up," Jaitley said.

Image: Finance minister Arun Jaitely. Photograph: Danish Ismail/Reuters
The known unknowns in Prime Minister Modis Saudi visit assume great significance, says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.

While assessing the outcome of Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to Saudi Arabia (April 2-3), the known unknowns assume greater significance than what the joint statement spells out.

Thus, Modi was conferred Saudi Arabias highest civilian honor -- King Abdulaziz Sash. We know it is a high honour. But we do not know what Modi did to deserve it.

Modi joins a list of recipients who include Silvio Berlusconi, David Cameron, George W Bush, Barack Obama, Vladimir Putin, Abdel Fattah Sissi, Shinzo Abe, Joko Widodo It is a motley crowd.

The recipients also include three Pakistani generals -- Tariq Majid, formerly chairman of joint chiefs of staff committee, former army chief Pervez Musharraf and current army chief Raheel Sharif.

The Abdulaziz Sash was conjured up only in the seventies and Zia-ul-Haq narrowly missed it, despite being the best-ever friend Saudis ever had. But the glaring absence of any of Pakistans civilian leaders will be noted. Obviously, Saudis think that power flows through the barrel of the gun in Islamabad.

Interestingly, the recipients also included Ali Shamkhani, formerly Irans defence minister (currently heading the National Security Council), a British naval chief, the chief of staff of Japans Maritime Self-Defence Force, a NATO commander and a French air chief -- and, intriguingly, a British ambassador by name Alan Munro.

Indeed, Saudis adopt strange criteria. The Arabian kings wandering mind apparently takes fleeting fancy for someone for reasons best known to him. What could it be about Modi that arrested King Salmans meandering thoughts -- the 80-year-old monarch suffers from Alzheimers -- we do not know.

A second outcome of Modis Saudi visit, duly highlighted by our spin doctors, is that the two countries are entering an unprecedented level of cooperation and coordination in the security field in the fight against terrorism. The joint statement devoted four paragraphs to it.

However, a dark cloud has appeared on the horizon in no time, with a Saudi official claiming that they read the joint statement largely as aimed at Iran, which, they believe is fostering terrorism in the region. Of course, our security czars had assumed that Modi brilliantly secured Saudi Arabias support in controlling Pakistani state sponsorship of terrorism.

In fact, the Pakistani coverage of Modis Saudi visit confirms an impression that Salman may have used Modis shoulder to take a pot-shot at the Iranians. Perhaps, that explains why Salman felt so obliged to Modi as to confer the Abdulaziz Sash, our PMs controversial reputation on the Arab Street as the butcher of Gujarat notwithstanding.

Unsurprisingly, adrenaline began flowing in the Saudi veins and they have since imposed new measures against Iran by closing the Saudi air space to Iranian civilian flights and prohibiting tankers carrying Iranian crude from transiting Saudi waters (external links here and here).

Salman probably concluded that with Modi on his side, Irans regional isolation is now complete. Indeed, the Saudis have offered to Modi that they can replace Iran as Indias key energy partner in the region. They are paranoid about the prospect of an imminent reset of India-Iran ties.

The joint statement says, The two leaders agreed to transform the buyer-seller relationship in the energy-sector to one of deeper partnership focusing on investment and joint ventures in petrochemical complexes, and cooperation in joint exploration in India, Saudi Arabia and in third countries.

Quite obviously, against the backdrop of Modis splash in Riyadh, the visit by Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to Teheran (April 6-7) assumes great significance. Pradhan was expected to wrap up an agreement regarding ONGCs $10 billion integrated project proposal for developing the Farzad-B gas fields in Iran (estimated 12.8 trillion cubic feet of reserves) with options to transport the gas to India either by converting the gas to LNG and transporting it in cryogenic ships or through a subsea pipeline from Chabahar (external link here).

Now, the good part is that King Salmans charm offensive by conferring on Modi the Abdulaziz Sash has not prevented India from boosting oil imports from Iran. Indian refiners imported 506,100 bpd oil from Iran in March, a jump of about 135 percent from February and the highest level of imports in the past five-year period, Reuters reported on Monday. Tanker data showed the surge came as Reliance Industries resumed purchases after six years of suspension over sanctions. The Indian buyers are being drawn in part by freight discounts that increase as more barrels are purchased.

Conceivably, Modi tried to give verve to the Saudi ties with an eye on Pakistan, while taking care to sequester Indias economic ties with Iran from suffering collateral damage. It is a tight rope walk but, then, Iranians are every bit as pragmatic as Indians. (The text of the Saudi-Indian joint statement is here.)

Image: King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud conferring Saudi Arabia`s highest civilian honour, the King Abdulaziz Sash, on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at the Royal Court, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on April 3, 2016. Photograph courtesy, PIB.

Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar is a retired diplomat, who is widely acknowledged as one of the most authoritative experts on Afghanistan. Mr Bhadrakumar blogs at http://blogs.rediff.com/mkbhadrakumar/
'India is currently waging a diplomatic war against Pakistan, to convey to Islammabad that each terror attack on India will come with huge diplomatic costs,' says Rajeev Sharma.

IMAGE: In this January 27, 2000 Reuters photograph, Masood Azhar, the Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist, seen in Islamabad for the first time after he was released December 31, 1999, from an Indian prison in exchange for the passengers and crew of the hijacked Indian Airlines flight IC-814.

Pakistan may have scored a diplomatic victory over India when China blocked an Indian resolution before a United Nations committee last Thursday, March 31, seeking a ban on Pakistan-based terrorist Masood Azhar, but the indications are that Islamabad and Beijing are fighting a losing battle.

China and Pakistan have hunted in pairs in the United Nations when it comes to the international community asking tough questions on Islamabad's attitude towards terrorism.

For years, China has bailed out Pakistan before the UN as it did last week with regard to Masood Azhar, the Jaish-e-Mohammed chief whom India has flagged as the prime conspirator of the Pathankot attack.

But China and Pakistan may not continue with this deniability game for an indefinite period and the chances are that China and Pakistan will be face to face with harsh diplomatic realities. This will happen sooner rather than later.

This time around when India sought the UN nod to ban Masood Azhar, the ground realities had changed drastically. So much so that the Indian resolution, backed by solid evidence, passed muster with the United States, France and the UK. The three nations decided to be co-sponsors of the Indian resolution.

Therefore, China's blockade at the UN Sanctions Committee should not be seen as taking on only India, but the UK, US and France.

If one were to expand this reasoning further, China has taken on the entire world because all other members on the UN committee, including nations from Africa and Latin America, had lent their support to the Indian resolution on Masood Azhar and his terrorist organisation.

This reveals that China has gone against the determination of virtually the entire international community and thrown its weight behind its all-weather friend and ally Pakistan. Obviously, it shows the extent to which China is prepared to bail out Pakistan.

And yet, the China-Pakistan duo has reasons to worry. Here are are two good reasons why:

First, the Indian resolution may have been put on the back burner for now, but the process is very much alive. It will come back in due course of time to haunt the China-Pakistan combine.

The resolution will be taken up again in some form or the other. This may happen in one month or in one year. Essentially, it's not a question of if, but when.

Second, when the Indian resolution has the backing of the US, the UK and France, it means that China, not India, faces the threat of being isolationalist. China will have to recalibrate its move, sooner or later.

China,after all, is a pragmatic power and would not like an albatross around its neck for long even if happens to be a close ally like Pakistan.

While the Chinese may have bailed out Pakistan yet again in the UN over its alleged shenanigans on terror, Beijing must have given Islamabad a earful privately, coaxing them to make amends.

It won't be in China's long-term diplomatic interests to go against the global perception of Pakistan as a terror-exporting nation.

This essentially means that Pakistan will be under increased pressure -- covert pressure this time -- from China to be more accommodative towards India.

A lot of behind-the-scenes diplomatic activity would be taking place between Pakistan and China. All these factors combined may eventually force Pakistan to take a reasonable line vis-a-vis the Indians in the Pathankot case and beyond.

After all, diplomacy is the art of patience and perseverance. India may have lost a battle, but not the war. India is currently waging a diplomatic war against Pakistan in its bid to convey to Pakistan that each terror attack on India would come with huge diplomatic costs.

There are Pakistani media reports that the Pakistani Joint Investigation Team, which completed its probe into the Pathankot case last week, has found no evidence of involvement of any Pakistani national.

While this may be so, Pakistan will definitely find it very difficult to take a hard line officially.

India is playing a clever game of diplomacy at the international level. Yes, it may be a long haul. But Pakistan will continue to face the heat from the international community in coming months.

Most importantly, China won't be able to shield and protect Pakistan beyond a limit.

Rajeev Sharma is an independent journalist and strategic analyst who tweets @Kishkindha
During last week's Nuclear Security Summit, President Obama asked the media to leave and then screened videos depicting plausible scenarios pertaining to nuclear terrorism.

Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd), from Washington, DC, examines the threat of Islamic State acquiring a nuclear bomb.

The four men moved slowly through the Dorah Pass on the Durand Line that links Chitral district in Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa, Pakistan, with Badakhshan province, Afghanistan. Located in the Pamir region of the Wakhan Corridor, it was the route taken by Marco Polo.

The terrain in the northern Hindukush mountains is as tough as that in the Himalayas. As physical interception was difficult, during the long fight with the Soviets, the Afghan mujahideen had been able to move arms and ammunition freely through the Dorah Pass.

The fighters belonging to an affiliate of the Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi knew very well that negotiating the 14,000 feet (4,300 metres) high Dorah Pass stealthily was not going to be easy and had trained hard for the journey.

They kept the pass in sight, but stayed 500 metres away on a track on its northern shoulder. They did not expect Pakistani border guards to be awake and patrolling at 3.30 am. But, if they were challenged, they were well armed and knew what to do.

These men had no idea of the contents of the small bag that they had been given to carry. They had been warned not to open the metal-encased container. They were told that it was an important assignment that would help to give a boost to the flagging jihad. They were also told that they would be paid well. $1,000 each was a lot of money and each one of them had given deep thought to what he would do with the bounty.

They got through the pass safely and sat down to get some rest. Soon they would encounter provincial border guards on the Afghan side, but with them safe passage would merely mean that some money would need to change hands.

Three days later the package was safely delivered to the Islamic State or Daesh chief of Khorasan somewhere in Nangarhar province. Several not-so-quiet celebrations followed.

The intelligence agencies did not take long to discover the cause for the celebrations. As the new US President entered the White House after being sworn in on a cold and bleak morning on January 20, 2017, the CIA director was waiting anxiously to brief him.

'Mr President,' he said as soon as they reached the Oval Office, 'ISIS has got hold of eight kilogrammes of weapons-grade uranium smuggled out of the Kahuta nuclear complex in Pakistan.'

***

During the Nuclear Security Summit that he hosted in Washington, DC on April 1, President Barack Obama asked the media to leave and then screened videos depicting plausible scenarios pertaining to nuclear terrorism. The scenario described above could have been one of them.

Obama warned the 50 plus world leaders gathered for the summit not to be complacent about nuclear safety as the threat of 'nuclear terrorism' is a real and evolving threat. He asked them to take note of the efforts being made by ISIS to acquire a nuclear warhead even as it is losing ground in Syria and Iraq.

Concerns over ISIS' plans to acquire nuclear warheads or material for 'dirty nukes' have been amplified since the discovery of video footage of a Belgian nuclear official in the apartment of a key member of the ISIS-linked terrorist cell that was behind the deadly Paris and Brussels attacks.

Brett McGurk, Obama's envoy for the global coalition to counter ISIS, told the summit, 'President Obama is bringing together almost 50 countries here in the Nuclear Security Summit not only to talk about protecting nuclear materials, but that dangerous section between terrorism and nuclear weapons.'

Neither North Korea nor Pakistan was explicitly named as a possible source of a nuclear warhead or fissile material to assemble one. However, given the deep reach of radical elements in Pakistani society, it is in all probability most likely to be the source of both an assembled nuclear warhead and weapons-grade nuclear material despite fairly well established safety and security norms and carefully framed personnel reliability policies.

However, the most likely scenario is that of a dirty nuke being detonated by jihadi extremists somewhere in Europe, the US or even India. Dirty nukes are high explosive devices with the core comprising relatively easily available radioactive nuclear material such as Cobalt-60 and similar material used in civilian applications like medical diagnostics.

While such devices do not cause horrendous casualties like nuclear warheads, these can pollute the immediate surroundings and create a fear psychosis.

'A terrorist attack with an improvised nuclear device would create political, economic, social, psychological, and environmental havoc around the world, no matter where the attack occurs,' an US administration statement said before the summit.

The absence of Russian President Vladimir Putin robbed the summit of some of its credibility as Russia has a large, undisclosed, stockpile of nuclear materials. Though the summit also addressed the issues of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, these were overshadowed by the threat of nuclear terrorism.

Strict enforcement of the nuclear deal with Iran and the grave provocation posed by the North Korean nuclear warhead and missile tests came in for special mention during the Washington summit. There was inadequate emphasis on declaring military stocks of fissile material and reducing the risk of nuclear accidents. Methods aimed at enhancing the global nuclear security architecture were not given the attention they deserve.

At successive Nuclear Security Summits it has been the endeavour to create an awareness of the threats of the loss or smuggling of nuclear materials and to enhance international cooperation to deal with them.

However, the score card so far is a mixed one as a great deal of effort and expenditure is necessary to secure all nuclear materials and reduce both military and civilian stockpiles.

IMAGE: India's nuclear-capable Agni missile being test fired.

Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd) is a Distinguished Fellow, Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, and former director, Centre for Land Warfare Studies, New Delhi.
Following the controversy regarding allowing women into the core area of Shani temple at Shingnapur in Maharashtra, a row erupted on Monday at another famous shrine in the state, the Goddess Mahalaxmi temple in Kolhapur, over the same issue.

The Bombay high court had last week ruled that there can not be any discrimination against women at the temples, however, the locals at Shingnapur two days ago refused to allow women activists to go up to the platform of Shani temple.

Activists of the women's organisation 'Avani' alleged that they too were not allowed to enter the sanctum of the Mahalaxmi temple.

The police pushed and shoved the activists, alleged Anuradha Bhosle, who heads the organisation.

The organisation had decided to break the taboo against women's entry in the core area of sanctum in the light of the high court judgement, but some women devotees did not allow its activists in, she said.

Inspector Anil Deshmukh of Juna Rajwada police station denied the police personnels deployed at the temple acted roughly with the activists.

The police only acted to prevent the fracas and maintain the law and order, he said.
With Beijing scuttling India's latest bid to have Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar designated as a terrorist by the United Nations, Union minister V K Singh has warned that the day is not far when China would have to pay a heavy price once it gets hit by Pakistan-backed terrorism.

"The friendship between China and Pakistan appears to be very strong but the day is not far when China too gets affected by Pakistan-backed terrorism," Singh, who is in Gorakhpur to take part in a function at the Gorakhnath temple, told media persons on Monday night.

"When such a situation arises, China will have to pay a heavy price," the minister of state for external affairs said, adding, "Pakistan has an important place in Chinese diplomacy...China's intervention in that case must be seen in this context."

After the attack on the Indian Air Force base at Pathankot on January 2, India in February had written to the United Nations calling for immediate action to list Azhar under the Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee.

India's submission was considered by the Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate for technical aspects of the evidence provided. The technical team then with the support of the United States, the United Kingdom and France had sent it to all the members. However, hours before the deadline, China requested the Committee to put a hold on the issue of banning the Jaish-e-Mohammed chief.

Chinese Permanent Representative to the UN Liu Jieyi said Azhar does not qualify to be nailed as a "terrorist" to face UN sanctions as his case "did not meet" the Security Council's requirements.

China, one of the five permanent members of the UN with veto powers, has claimed that its decision is based on facts and rules.

To a question on Bharatiya Janata Party-Peoples Democratic Party alliance in Jammu and Kashmir being termed as opportunistic, Singh asked whether it was right when the PDP had entered into an alliance with Congress in the past.

The senior leaders of both the parties have taken this decision after a lot of deliberation...Such things are important in democracy," Singh said.
Unrest was witnessed again on Tuesday at Srinagar's National Institute of Technology campus, the scene of last week's clash, with outstation students expressing a sense of insecurity and attempting to leave the campus, leading to a confrontation with police which resorted to lathicharge in which some were injured.

With the situation being tense, Central Reserve Police Force was deployed at campus and the Jammu and Kashmir government assured full security to the students from other states studying there.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh also called up Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and discussed with her the situation at NIT.

Some non-local students attempted to leave the campus and return to their home states, saying, they were "not feeling safe" inside the campus, a police official said.

Police personnel on duty at the NIT tried to reassure the students that they were safe inside the campus but they were not pacified, he said.

As the head of the security deployment was speaking to them, a few of the students allegedly resorted to sloganeering and even pushed him around, the official claimed.

He said the other police personnel then resorted to "lathicharge" to disperse the students who were "getting violent".

The situation, however, was brought under control shortly, the official said.

Outstation students, on the other hand, alleged that they were holding protests and were lathicharged by the police with brute forces and not allowed to move out of the NIT gate.

"We had sat on dharna and were demanding meeting with humar resource development officials. We held meeting with NIT administration and they agreed to the demand. We were allowed freely to move out the gate," said one of the students on condition of the anonymity.

"When we were going out of the campus as per the past practice, police did not allow us and resorted to cane-charge resulting in injuries to several students," he claimed.

Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh told PTI in Jammu, "We assure security to the students of various states of the country studying in NIT Srinagar. Additional security of CRPF has been deployed at the campus."

Singh, who along with Minister of State Education Priya Sethi, talked to Mehbooba, DGP K Rajendra and NIT Director, said "all measures are being taken by the administration of the NIT to instill confidence among

these students and the issues raised by them are being resolved."

In Delhi, HRD ministry officials said they were in touch with the management of the institute and the Director of the NIT has spoken to the students so that normalcy prevails.

On Friday last, the campus had witnessed clashes between local and non-local students over India's defeat in the semi-final match in the World T20 tournament.

After the clashes, the NIT authorities had shut down the institute which was reopened on Monday.

"We take responsibility all the students of the country studying in NIT. We have put in place all the measures," the Deputy Chief Minister said.

Administration has held meeting with the NIT students to resolve the issue, Singh said, adding SSP Srinagar is camping in the area to ensure peace.

He said the outstation students are demanding security and postponement of exams.

"Director of NIT has said that the demands have been accepted," he said.

"I appeal to the students to call on my number 09419149494 in case they have any problems on any front particularly on the security. We will look into that," Deputy Chief Minister said.

"We assure the parents of these students that all measures have been taken for the safety of students," he said.
A suspected ISIS recruit was detained at the Pune airport on Tuesday as he was leaving the country and flying to Dubai for onward journey to Syria.

Officials identified the youth as Raoof Ahmed, a resident of Bhatkal in north Karnataka.

Security agencies have been keeping a strict vigil after his name cropped up during internet chats with members of the Islamic State, which is being monitored by sleuths to look for possible followers of the terror group, active in parts of Syria and Iraq.

They said Ahmed was detained as the Union Home Ministry had issued a Look Out Circular against him sometime back.

At least 14 youths have been arrested early this year by the National Investigation Agency as part of its probe on indoctrination of youths by the banned terror group.
Maulana Masood Azhar was allowed to preach extremist ideology at several British mosques during a month-long visit to UK in 1993 on the invitation of Islamist scholars when young Muslims were asked to seek weapons training at terrorist camps in Pakistan, it emerged on Tuesday.

Senior representatives of the Deobandi sect, which controls nearly half of Britain's 1,600 mosques, hosted Azhar during the visit in which hundreds of young Muslims were urged to seek weapons training at terrorist camps in Pakistan, according to a BBC investigation.

One of India's most-wanted terrorists in relation to the attack on the Pathankot air force base, which claimed the lives of seven Indian soldiers in January this year, Azhar was chief organiser of the Pakistani jihadist group Harkat-ul Mujahideen in early 90s.

According to the report, during his UK tour -- until now kept under wraps -- Azhar delivered "sermons on jihad" to large audiences in London, Birmingham, Yorkshire and Lancashire and the message was of hatred for Christians, Jews and Hindus.

Witnesses said that large sums of money were donated after each talk.

Azhar, then 25, was the product of a radical Karachi seminary and shortly before his arrival in Britain in August 1993 he had helped supply Osama bin Laden, then based in Sudan, with 400 jihadist fighters to wage attacks in Somalia.

The investigation, shared with 'The Times', has uncovered the details of his tour in an archive of militant group magazines published in Urdu.

The contents provide an astounding insight into the way in which hardcore jihadist ideology was promoted in some mainstream UK mosques in the early 1990s -- and involved some of Britain's most senior Islamic scholars.

Azhar's tour lasted a month and consisted of over 40 speeches.

Azhar, captured in India shortly after his British trip, was released from prison in 1999 in exchange for 155 passengers of a hijacked plane in Kandahar. After his release, he formed the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorist group which is blamed for several attacks in India.

The radical cleric is currently in "protective custody" in Pakistan after the Pathankot terror attack.

The Deobandis trace their roots back to a Sunni Islamic seminary founded in Deoband in 19th century India.

The original seminary in India has issued a fatwa against terrorism but some Deobandi madrassas in Pakistan reportedly propagate extremist jihadist ideology.
Delhi CM says no prime minister capitulated before Pakistan the way Modi did.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modis invitation to Pakistani Joint Investigation Team, which included an Inter-Services Intelligence official, amounted to giving a clean chit to the spy agency for the Pathankot attack and demanded that he tender an apology for the monumental foreign policy failure.

The Centres decision to invite a Pakistani JIT to probe the Pathankot airbase attack was a stab in the back of Bharat Mata, Kejriwal told a press conference in New Delhi.

He alleged that Modi had entered into a deal with his Pakistan counterpart Nawaz Sharif during his Lahore visit in December last year, and sought to know its details in the country's interest.

The prime minister called over ISI officials despite being aware that it was behind the Pathankot terror attack which amounted to a clean chit. Now the JIT has reportedly claimed that India had itself staged the attack. No prime minister has capitulated before Pakistan the way Modi ji has, Kejriwal said.

After such an abject surrender, who will believe Indias long-held position that the Pakistani spy agency is behind terror strikes in India. Its a monumental foreign policy failure, the Aam Aadmi Party chief said.

But what is the reason behind this failure? The country wants to know about the deal struck between Modi ji and Sharif. The country is being sold. The prime minister should apologise to the people of the country, Kejriwal said.

The Delhi CM also took on the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh through a series of tweets and pilloried Modi for shaming India in front of Pakistan.

BJP/RSS people chant Bharat Mata ki Jai but stab Bharat Mata in the back by calling ISI to India (sic), he tweeted.

The Pakistani media had earlier reported that after returning from India, the JIT claimed that Indian authorities failed to provide evidence to prove that Pakistan-based terrorists had stormed the Indian Air Force base.

The attack took place on the intervening night of January 1 and 2. An ensuing gunbattle had lasted 80 hours leaving seven security personnel and four terrorists dead.
Pakistan media reports that the Pathankot terror attack was stage-managed by India are seen in New Delhi as a doublespeak by Pakistans security establishment.

The report in a Pakistan pro-government daily only shows that the ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) and Pakistan army were indulging in doublespeak. India has provided irrefutable evidence to Pakistan Joint Investigation Team during their visit here regarding the involvement of Pak-based terrorists, a government source said.

The news report in daily Pakistan Today quoted an unnamed JIT member to say that the attack was nothing but vicious propaganda against Pakistan as Indian authorities did not have any evidence to back their claims.

Within hours of the assault, all the attackers were shot dead by the Indian security forces. However, the Indian authorities made it a three-day drama to get maximum attention from the world community in order to malign Pakistan, the report added.

Rebutting the report, another government source said the evidence provided to the JIT can stand international scrutiny and expressed surprise over media reports emerging that the National Investigation Agency had not provided enough evidence to the visiting team.

The JIT was handed over whatever they asked for which included certified copies of statements of witnesses, DNA reports of four terrorists, memos of articles seized from them, the source said.

Pakistan had made a request under section 188 of Criminal procedure Code of Pakistan for collecting the evidence from the NIA.

The call data records of the two phones snatched from superintendent of police Salwinder Singh and his jeweller friend Rajesh Verma which were used by the terrorists to call a number in Pakistan were also shared with the JIT, the source said.

India also shared the conversation recorded between Nasir Hussain, one of the four terrorist who carried out the attack on IAF base during the intervening night of January one and two, with his mother Khayyam Babber.

The NIA has asked for a DNA sample from Nasir's family.

The agency has also handed over call recordings of terrorists holed up inside the Indian Air Force base with their handlers including Kashif Jaan, who has since been missing.

The Pakistani JIT had asked the NIA to hand over swabs of four terrorists identified as Nasir Hussain (Punjab province), Abu Bakar, (Gujranwala), Umar Farooq and Abdul Qayum (both from Sindh).

However, the NIA handed over to the visitors the DNA report of the terrorists and asked them to match those with their family members, the sources said.

The Pakistani JIT headed by additional inspector general of police, Counter Terrorism Department, Muhammad Tahir Rai and also including ISIs Lt Col Tanvir Ahmed, had recorded statements of 16 people.

The list for recording the witnesses was submitted to the NIA by Pakistani team only.

The 16 witnesses questioned in all included Singh, Verma and cook Madan Gopal. The three were kidnapped by the Pathankot attack perpetrators belonging to the banned Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed on the intervening night of December 31 and January one.

The terrorists had allegedly dumped Verma after slitting his throat and continued their journey with Singh and Gopal before jettisoning them a few kilometres away from the strategic air base at Pathankot.

The terrorists entered the air base and mounted the brazen assault on the intervening night of January one and two. In the fierce encounter that ensued, seven security personnel besides four terrorists were killed.

Meanwhile, the Congress demanded an apology from Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shah for having distributed certificates of sincerity to Pakistan.

Attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the development, the party said in a tweet, Did Modiji invite the Pakistani JIT so that they could insult the memory of our brave martyrs?

Congress communication department chief Randeep Surjewala said reports in Pakistani media quoting leaked contents of Pakistani Joint Investigation Team report on Pathankot terror attack have once again exposed the doubled-faced policy of Pakistan in dealing with terrorism.

He said, It is now clear that neither has Modijis rhetoric of 56 inches chest or showing red eyes to Pakistan and China paid off nor has his sudden visit to Pakistan and attending feasts and marriage parties with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had any effect.

The Congress leader said the Prime Minister should rise over theatrics and take diplomacy seriously, which the country expects as 125 crore people of India are feeling betrayed by Modi.

Alleging that the development has caused national embarrassment, senior party spokesperson Anand Sharma said Congress had cautioned the prime minister and the government about the JIT which also had a representative from the ISI.

A diplomatic crime has been committed. This has caused national embarrassment. BJP chief Amit Shah, who lacks any comprehension of the complex issue and gravitas of foreign policy, was distributing certificates of sincerity to Pakistan in the Pathankot matter. He should apologise to the people, Sharma said.

He claimed this happened as the BJP chief and the national security advisor were busy operating the dirty tricks department and engaged in toppling the Congress governments more than paying attention to serious issue.

Surjewala said the reposition of confidence in the Pakistani JIT by Shah appears to have backfired.

They came to our country with a pre-determined agenda and went away after leveling false allegations. Even China has come to their rescue in the United Nations by vetoing declaration of Maulana Masood Azhar as a terrorist, Surjewala said.
Becoming the first casualty of the Panama Papers scandale, Iceland's Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson resigned on Tuesday.

Iceland's leader had been under immense pressure after the papers, leaked from a Panamanian law firm, appeared to show that he and his wife Anna Sigurlaug Palsdottir owned an offshore company in the British Virgin Islands and placed millions of dollars there.

Though, the prime minister denied ever hiding money abroad, pressure on his government had mounted, with egg-throwing protesters gathering in the streets on Monday and fresh demonstrations planned Tuesday.

The vast stash of records from Panamanian legal firm Mossack Fonseca was obtained from an anonymous source by German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung and shared with more than 100 media groups by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

The network of journalists published their first findings Sunday after a year-long probe.

Image: Iceland's Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson. Photograph: Bertil Enevag/Reuters
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifs son, Hussain Nawaz Sharif, told Geo TV that his family had done nothing wrong insofar as their ownership of offshore companies was concerned.

Responding to a charge that the Sharif family had parked illegal funds in offshore companies and other entities, which have surfaced through what is being described globally as The Panama Papers, Hussain Nawaz Sharif was quoted, as saying that all finances and non-moveable properties listed in the name of the Sharifs were legal.

Those apartments are ours and those offshore companies are also ours. There is nothing wrong with it and I have never concealed them, nor do I need to do that. It is according to British law and laws of other countries that it is a legal way to avoid unnecessary tax via offshore companies, Geo TV quoted Hussain Nawaz Sharif, as saying.

He further stated that Pakistani tax law says that if you are not staying in Pakistan for more than 138 days, then you are not required to declare your assets.

He was responding to the leak of 11.5 million documents from the Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca, which shows how some of the worlds most powerful people have secreted their money into offshore jurisdictions.

Three of Nawaz Sharifs four children -- Maryam, Hasan and Hussain, find a mention in the leaked documents.
The Pakistani Joint Investigation Team, probing the Pathankot terrorist attack in India, in its final report allegedly raises serious questions over the accuracy of the Indian governments claims with regards to the attack.

The final report, which will soon be submitted to Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif also claims that India had prior information about the attackers, reports Pakistani daily Pakistan Today.

A source familiar with the report also said that the JIT was not convinced with the evidence provided to them by the National Investigation Agency. He was quoted as saying, India used the attack as a tool to expand its vicious propaganda against Pakistan without having any solid evidence to back the claim.

The report further goes on to say that the Indian government did not cooperate with the JIT in the investigation. On the contrary, the report accuses the government of making efforts to hinder the probe process by the five-member team.

Pakistan Today quotes the source, saying, The report also raises serious questions over the veracity of Indian claims regarding the Pathankot attack. The JIT has concluded that contrary to the claims of the Indian government about the duration of the encounter, the standoff between the Indian army and alleged terrorists ended within hours of the attack.

He further said that findings in the investigation revealed that the attack was staged.

Indian authorities also failed to establish that the attackers entered from Pakistan, the report said. The source further said all attackers involved were shot dead by Indian security forces, within hours of the assault. However, he claimed that authorities maintained the facade of a three-day assault, which would garner attention from the global community, maligning Pakistan.

Pakistani investigators were allowed to enter the military airbase from the narrow adjacent routes instead of the main entrance and their duration of the visit was just 55 minutes, enough to take a mere walk through the military facility, sources close to the JIT were quoted as saying in media reports.

Not enough evidence could be collected in this limited time, said sources.

The JIT members visited the Pathankot airbase on March 29 where NIA officials briefed them and showed them the route from where the attackers stormed the airbase.

Media reports state that sources claimed that the lights along the 24-km perimeter wall of the Pathankot airbase were found to be faulty on the eve of the attack.

However, the Pakistani team was allegedly only informed about the negligence of Border Security Force and Indian forces.

During their five-day visit, Indian authorities shared with the JIT all evidence pertaining to the attack, including the DNA of four terrorists, their identity as well as call records showing involvement of Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists behind the attack on the Pathankot air base during the intervening night of January 1 and 2.

The gun battle which lasted for more than 80 hours left seven security personnel dead. Bodies of four terrorists have been recovered so far.
Some foreigners were attacked and looted in Pushkar on Tuesday, prompting External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to seek a detailed report in the case even as Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje assured her that strict action against the accused was being taken.

Swaraj spoke to the chief minister of Rajasthan who has said that strict action is being taken against the accused. The bags of Spanish tourists have already been located, the MEA spokesperson said.

According to superintendent of police Ajmer Nitin Deep Blaggan, two men who are from the United States and the United Kingdom, and the women from Spain and Turkey had gone to Ajaypal Dham from Pushkar on two motorcycles on Wednesday when five-six unidentified men attacked them.

Initially they followed and tried to tease them. When one the tourists objected, the accused hit him with a stone. They dragged one of the women and tore her clothes. The tourists managed to escape from the place and informed people who were known to them, he said.

They were rushed to a local hospital where the injured tourist was given treatment. He is under observation at a private hospital on Pushkar road, the SP said.

The MEA has also asked the Rajasthan government to provide all assistance to the foreign tourists.

A case against the unidentified assailants was registered late on Monday night with Ganj police station under Indian Penal Code Sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (unlawful assembly guilty of offence), 307 (attempt to murder) 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 395 (dacoity).

Local taxi drivers and certain other people are being questioned, another police officer said.
Sending a stern message to the party rank and file, Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam chief Vijayakanth on Tuesday sacked 10 senior functionaries, including the propaganda secretary, from the party, hours after they questioned his decision to align with the People's Welfare Front for the May 16 Tamil Nadu assembly polls.

"Since they violated party discipline, besmirched and brought disrepute to the reputation of the party, they are expelled from their respective posts and primary membership of the party," Vijayakanth said in a statement.

By immediately sacking them, party sources said, Captain, as Vijayakanth is called by his supporters, has sent a stern message that party's official line should be toed and there was no room for dissent.

Of the expelled functionaries, propaganda secretary V C Chandrakumar, also the DMDK whip in the Assembly, is the most prominent face of the party. The crackdown came hours after Chandrakumar led other party functionaries, including two other members of Legislative Assembly, in demanding Vijayakanth to go with the DMK and questioned his decision to align with the PWF.

Claiming that the decision to align with the PWF was against the wishes of 95 per cent of party workers and functionaries, they also virtually gave an ultimatum to Vijayakanth to go back on his decision by noon tomorrow and align with DMK.

Under the DMDK-PWF poll pact reached last month, Vijayakanth was declared the chief ministerial candidate and his party allotted a lion's share of 124 of the 234 Assembly seats with the PWF getting 110.

The Dravida Munetra Kazhagam had actively wooed Vijayakanth but the latter in a surprise decision chose to go with the four-party PWF comprising Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam led by Vaiko, THE Communist Party of India-Marxist, the Communist Party of India and Thol Thirumavalavan-headed Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi.

Chandrakumar along with his colleague S Mohanraj -- who did not side with the dissenters -- had stood up for the DMDK in the assembly taking on the numerically stronger treasury benches.

C H Sekar and S R Parthiban are the other MLAs expelled. While Sekar is also the party's Tiruvallur East District Secretary, Parthiban is Salem West district secretary.

Other sacked functionaries include party deputy secretary P Murugesan, and high level panel member K R Veerappan. Vijayakanth also immediately replaced the sacked functionaries by naming new party workers to the posts.
Three hours too late

Publisher UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Publication Date 4 April 2016 Cite as UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Three hours too late, 4 April 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/570362654.html [accessed 23 October 2022]

It was in the early hours of a March morning when Monzir's rubber dinghy bumped against the shores of Lesvos, but it was already too late.

At midnight that day (March 20), the status of arrivals like Monzir, who have fled war and spent their life savings to chance a boat trip to Europe, underwent a seismic shift.

Three hours too late, Monzir found himself behind fences topped with coils of razor-wire in Moria, a detention facility where he awaits a possible return to Turkey.

Gathering his youngest son Yusef in his arms and clasping him to his chest, Monzir talked about the short journey across the dangerous stretch of sea between Turkey and the Greek island.

"We all thought we would drown. The boat was just a piece of plastic, we thought it would be torn apart (by the waves)," he said in tears. "This was my first and hope last time on such a boat."

The March agreement between the EU and Turkey is an attempt to stem the numbers of refugees landing on Europe's shores, which has increased more than 17-fold compared to the same period in 2015.

Under the deal, all new arrivals are being kept in detention until their asylum claims are assessed. UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is not party to the EU-Turkey deal and maintains that such an arrangement, in order to be consistent with international and European refugee and human rights law, must include clearly spelt out protection safeguards, both in Greece (where individual claims must be properly assessed) and in Turkey..

UNHCR has also warned that Greece is under-prepared and ill-equipped to manage the situation.

"Greece still does not have sufficient capacity on (the Greek islands) to process large numbers of asylum claims," says Boris Cheshirkov, a UNHCR spokesperson.

UNHCR is opposed to mandatory detention of asylum-seekers and has urged the Greek Government to provide alternatives to detention, Cheshirkov added.

Since March 20, when detention of new arrivals began, UNHCR has suspended activities in closed centres and is now focusing on providing information on asylum, identifying people at heightened risk, such as pregnant women, elderly, and torture survivors and monitoring procedures and conditions. On the shoreline,in the ports, and in open reception centres, UNHCR maintains assistance activities, alongside volunteers,NGOs and the Government.

Monzir's boat was the first to land on Lesvos after the agreement took effect.

Eight months ago his wife, and a son, Mohammed, and a daughter, Jawahar, fled to Germany.

Bombs had hit his home in Ariha, Syria, destroyed his brother's house and flattened the whole neighbourhood, including his son's school.

The former policeman was forced to live with remaining family members in a 3 metre-deep hole in the ground, emerging for only one hour a day to cook and eat. His right eye is marked by lumpy scar tissue where bomb shrapnel had chipped away part of his skull.

Monzir's eldest son Ismail,17, was arguably lucky. He travelled independently and arrived on Lesvos around March 8. He is now waiting in a camp near Drama on the Greek mainland, with around 50,000 other refugees and migrants. They are all uncertain about what the future holds.

Monzir and what remained of his immediate family finally fled after he saw images of militants allegedly slaughtering children on TV and Facebook.

They headed north-west towards the Turkish border.

Monzir paid a smuggler $1,000 to help the family walk six hours through the mountains to Turkey. It was an arduous hike, but it wasn't difficult to keep his family motivated.

"Would you stay and risk death or continue walking? Of course we walked," he said.

From Antakya in southern Turkey they boarded a bus to coastal town of Izmir, where he again paid smugglers - this time 1,200 for each family member to board a boat heading for the distant twinkling lights of Lesvos. Late in the evening of March 20, they set sail into the darkness.

"We were supposed to meet in Greece or in another European country," said Monzir. "I don't want anything more, just to be reunited with my children."

UNHCR hopes that, in accordance with EU law, Monzir and his sons will be able to reunite with his wife and children who are already in Germany.

Monzir added: "In Syria I was a prisoner of the war. I escaped so I can be free, but now again, I'm in jail. Even if they only give me a tent on a mountain, I just want to live with my kids in peace."

By Hereward Holland, Lesvos, Greece
German-funded scholarships give young refugees hope and an education

Publisher UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Publication Date 4 April 2016 Cite as UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), German-funded scholarships give young refugees hope and an education, 4 April 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/570367314.html [accessed 23 October 2022]

Shehab, a 22-year-old Syrian student, poses proudly in front of a statue of Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, at the entrance to Haceteppe University in Ankara.

A refugee from the city of Aleppo, he is in the second year of a health sciences degree course and is the recipient of a German-funded DAFI scholarship.

The Albert Einstein German Academic Refugee Initiative Fund scholarships, known by the German acronym DAFI, are funded by the German government. Launched in 1992, they provide for young refugees to study at universities, colleges and polytechnics in their host countries. There are 75 DAFI scholars in Turkey, of whom 70 are Syrian.

Shebab's family still lives in Aleppo and he last saw them in August 2014. "My parents pushed me so hard to leave Aleppo", he said. "I had to choose between danger and a safe place where I can study.

"My brother is older than me and has finished his military service. If I hadn't left, I would have been forced to do military service too as so many soldiers have died in the war."

He stays in touch with his family via the Internet, a link that is occasionally interrupted because of the war. "Last year, they bombed the technology centre in Aleppo and there was no internet for eight months. It is back now".

For personal reasons, Shehab is specialising in physiotherapy and rehabilitation. When he was 14, the family had a car accident near Aleppo and his father broke his leg. "I used to go with him and watched how they made him walk again."

As a result, he wanted to study physiotherapy, but the subject was not taught in Syria.

The DAFI scholarship, which helps refugees worldwide to access higher education, has made it possible for him to do so and he is profoundly grateful.

"In my first year, my parents supported me and I used to feel so guilty taking money from them in a situation of war," he said. "My father is old now and does not work. Now, with the scholarship this year, I can focus on my studies and I don't worry about the money any more. My family is happy and relieved."

For the 2016-17 academic year, Germany will offer a total of 1,700 scholarships over four years for Syrian students in the Middle East. One thousand of these will be in Turkey, making it the country with the most DAFI scholars.

Another DAFI scholar, 20-year-old Mahmoud, is in his first year at Ankara University, studying engineering. His family is also from Aleppo, but had to move to Gaziantep in south-eastern Turkey. They fled because of the constant bombing and because he would have been forced to fight.

"I have always wanted to study engineering, though my family wanted me to do medicine," he said.

He dreams of a future where natural gas will replace oil. "I have heard about a new project where natural gas will provide clean energy  I want to be able to work in this too, that is my dream."

He said he would not have been able to finance his studies without the scholarship.

At the picturesque campus of Harran University in Sanliurfa, south-eastern Turkey, Dua, Geyda and Raanya are studying public administration, economics and food engineering respectively.

Geyda, 20, is in the second year of an economics degree. Her family is from Hama, and she tells a harrowing tale of her flight.

"I was waiting outside our home when the bombs started," she said. "I jumped on my brother, who was just two years old then, to save him but I hurt my stomach and my hand."

She had to have 20 stiches in her stomach and the hospital where she was being treated was also bombed and they had to finish off the stiches in the street. "We left as soon as we could."

They came to Turkey three years ago and her family lives in Harran camp. She is the eldest of five children.

At first, she had to commute from the camp to classes, a journey of an-hour-and-a-half, and was often late. Thanks to the scholarship, she now shares a flat just 15 minutes away from the campus, visiting her family at weekends.

She hopes to work in a bank or for a private company as an accountant, preferably in Ankara.

"It's a beautiful city, and is the capital. We have relatives there and there are job opportunities."

Nineteen-year-old Raanya came to Turkey with her family from Deir al-Zour in eastern Syria three years ago. She lives with them in Sanliurfa.

Raanya is in the first year of her food engineering degree. "I want to be able to go back to Syria when I graduate and work as a professional in food and nutrition," she said. "I want to be able to contribute to the nutrition and health of my country by working as a food engineer in a factory."

The DAFI scholarship has enabled her to achieve her dreams. "If there was no scholarship, my family would not have been able to afford an education for me," she said.

Dua,18, is from Aleppo and also lives with her family in Sanliurfa. She is in the first year of a public administration course. The subject is not taught in Syria and she read about it on the Internet.

With the scholarship, she was able to buy books and look forward to a future: "I dream of a society with equal rights and equal opportunities for all," she said.

She hopes she can go back and work in public administration where she can help create the society she envisions.

Yousef is from Damascus and is in the first year of an environmental engineering degree at the Middle Eastern Technical University (METU) in Ankara, one of Turkey's best universities.

"I am really, really lucky," the 25-year-old said. "I am so proud to be here. METU is the best thing that has happened for me.

"I feel safe and am grateful to be supported by the scholarship. A university opens so many doors and a lot of different areas to work in, in the future.

"I could become an engineer, an academic, even a political activist. There are so many possibilities and these four years will shape what I become."

Like Shehab, his family - his parents and two brothers -- are still in Syria. Yousef last saw them three years ago, although they keep in touch through Skype.

""The situation is hard, and they just want the war to finish. Our Syrian cities have become battlefields, and its very hard to think about your family living in that situation," he said.

"You see the whole country falling apart, you see your people walking to Europe."

The DAFI scholarships give hope to these young people, protecting them from the realities of war and paying for an education they would otherwise be denied.

"No war will continue forever," Shehab said. "I want to open my own clinic in Aleppo when I graduate. This is my biggest dream."

By Nayana Bose, in Ankara and Sanliurfa, Turkey
UN agency launches school meals programme for Lebanese and Syrian children

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 4 April 2016 Cite as UN News Service, UN agency launches school meals programme for Lebanese and Syrian children, 4 April 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57036e8a40b.html [accessed 23 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.

4 April 2016 - A carton of milk or juice, locally-baked snacks and a piece of fruit are included in a school lunch that some children in Lebanon are receiving, as part of a meals programme launched by the United Nations food relief agency.

Some 10,000 vulnerable Lebanese and Syrian refugee children received the schools meals in March, the UN World Food Programme announced, allowing them energy to focus more on their studies.

"By providing children with daily, nutritious meals at school, WFP can ensure improved nutritional intake for these children as well as encouraging their parents to send them to school regularly," said WFP Lebanon Country Director Dominik Heinrich.

He added that "education is vital to equip the youth of Lebanon and Syria with the tools they will need to contribute to a region that is going through such turmoil and difficulty."

Over the past five years, more than one million Syrian refugees have attended Lebanon's public schools. In response, more than 250 public schools have introduced a double shirt system, to allow the enrolment of additional students.

The WFP school meals programme is funded by the Italian Development Cooperation, and is being carried out in close coordination with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

In addition, WFP assists 600,000 Syrian refugees across Lebanon with monthly food vouchers useable at local markets.
Vietnam: 7 Convicted in One Week

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 4 April 2016 Cite as Human Rights Watch, Vietnam: 7 Convicted in One Week, 4 April 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/570371674.html [accessed 23 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 Vietnam government should immediately free prominent bloggers and activists imprisoned for exercising their rights, Human Rights Watch said today. During the last week of March 2016, Vietnam convicted seven bloggers and rights activists and sentenced them to prison.

"Vietnam has been on a tear over the past week, convicting seven activists for statements that would be a normal part of political life in most countries," said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director. "The Vietnam government is making clear that the 'human rights honeymoon' during the TPP trade negotiations is over, raising a major challenge for President Obama and the US."

On March 23, 2016, the People's Court of Hanoi sentenced Nguyen Huu Vinh, a blogger, to five years in prison and his colleague, Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy, to three years for operating a website that provides links to social, political, economic, environmental, and cultural issues in Vietnam. The two were charged with "abusing rights to democracy and freedom to infringe upon the interests of the State" under article 258 of the penal code. Pham Doan Trang, the co-author of one of the articles cited in the indictment, sought to attend the trial as a concerned witness, but police detained her on the morning of the trial and only released her after the verdict was issued.

"Running a website that brings diverse views to Vietnamese readers shouldn't be considered a crime," Robertson said. "Given Vietnam's pervasive control and censorship of the media, such websites are the only place many Vietnamese can see independent news and views."

On March 24, the People's Court of Thanh Hoa convicted the 73-year-old anti-corruption campaigner Dinh Tat Thang and sentenced him to seven months and 11 days in prison, also for violating article 258. The indictment reported by state media said that he "continuously sent letters to denounce, slander, insult and offend the individual honor, dignity and prestige of a number of leaders from the central level, from Thanh Hoa province and from the Party cell, the People's Committee and the Police of Tho Xuan district."

On August 5, 2015, Dinh Tat Thang wrote a letter to the Vietnam Fatherland Front, a party-controlled umbrella group of pro-government mass movements in Vietnam, denouncing the practice of faking paperwork to receive state benefits for wounded veterans in Thanh Hoa province. The letter cited the older brother of police director of Thanh Hoa province as an example of someone whom he alleged was not entitled to such benefits. Police arrested Dinh Tat Thang 11 days later. This is not the first time, though, that the authorities have imprisoned him for fighting corruption. In 2008, he was sentenced to nine months in prison, also for denouncing corrupt leaders, both local and national.

"How can Vietnam effectively fight corruption when it allows local officials to imprison people trying to expose it, such as Dinh Tat Thang," Robertson said. "People who expose corruption in government should be protected, not imprisoned."

On the morning of March 30, the People's Court of Ho Chi Minh City sentenced a prominent blogger, Nguyen Dinh Ngoc, to four years in prison, to be followed by three years on probation that require him not to leave his residential ward.

In the afternoon, the same court convicted three land rights activists - Ngo Thi Minh Uoc, 57, Nguyen Thi Be Hai, 58, and Nguyen Thi Tri, 58 - to four years, three years, and three years respectively. They will also have to serve two to three additional years on probation with restricted movement after completing their sentences.

A former staff member at Ho Chi Minh City Television, Nguyen Dinh Ngoc, 50, also known as Nguyen Ngoc Gia, writes about social and political issues relating to democracy and human rights for the Vietnamese page of Radio Free Asia, and on politically independent websites including Dan Luan, Dan Lam Bao, and Dan Chim Viet. He has also expressed support for bloggers and activists imprisoned for exercising their basic rights, such as Tran Huynh Duy Thuc, Le Quoc Quan, Dinh Nguyen Kha, and Bui Thi Minh Hang.

According to the indictment reported by state media, on December 25, 2014, the police received correspondence from the Saigon Post and Telecommunications Service Corporation, contending that Nguyen Dinh Ngoc was using the internet to "disseminate articles that speak badly of the Party and the State of Vietnam." He was arrested two days later and charged with "conducting propaganda against the state" under article 88 of the penal code.

Ngo Thi Minh Uoc, Nguyen Thi Be Hai, and Nguyen Thi Tri, were also convicted for "conducting propaganda against the state" under article 88. They were accused of waving flags and slogans that the government maintains "have the content opposing the state and propagandizing for a change of government" in a protest outside the US Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City on July 7, 2014. According to the jury, reported by state media, three activists' actions were "very serious, infringing on national security, distorting, instigating, causing suspicion, and mistrust of the people in the [Communist] Party and state." The three are long-time land rights activists from the Mekong Delta who have spent years petitioning local government for the loss of their land to no avail.

"By tightening the screws on these activists, and on independent bloggers and social commentators, Vietnam is challenging the US and the international community to react," Robertson said. "These actions should be met with forceful condemnation that makes it clear to Hanoi that if it wants to earn the respect of trading partners, it must respect human rights."

Copyright notice:  Copyright, Human Rights Watch
Senegal: Dakar Accepts 2 From Guantanamo

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 4 April 2016 Cite as Human Rights Watch, Senegal: Dakar Accepts 2 From Guantanamo, 4 April 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/570371b24.html [accessed 23 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 Senegalese government has shown compassion and a commitment to human rights in agreeing to resettle two Libyans detained by the United States government at Guantanamo Bay, Human Rights Watch said today.

"Senegal's decision to welcome the two Libyans will help heal the harm caused by 14 years of unjust detention at Guantanamo," said Laura Pitter, senior US national security counsel at Human Rights Watch. "Senegal has made an important humanitarian gesture by offering these men the chance to start a new life."

The two detainees resettled to Senegal are Salem Abdul Salem Ghereby, 55, and Omar Khalif Mohammed Abu Baker Mahjour Umar, approximately 44 years old. Both are Libyan nationals who were held for nearly 14 years at the Guantanamo detention facility without charge or trial, in violation of international law.

In 2009, an interagency task force determined that Ghereby did not pose a significant security threat to the US, thereby clearing him for release from Guantanamo. A different interagency body, a Periodic Review Board, cleared Abu Bakr in 2015. Both are alleged to have joined the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) in the 1990s, an organization opposed to then-Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. Years after the US detained Ghereby and Abu Bakr, the LIFG split into two factions, one of which was allegedly aligned with international terrorist organizations.

The US began sending people apprehended during the so-called "war on terror" to Guantanamo in January 2002. The administration of US President George W. Bush chose the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba as a detention site to put the detainees beyond the jurisdiction of US courts. The US Supreme Court ruled in 2008 that the detainees can challenge their detention in US federal court.

"Detaining hundreds of men without charge at Guantanamo has been a legal and political debacle of historic proportions," Pitter said. "Guantanamo should have been closed long ago."

On his second day in office in 2009, President Barack Obama promised to close the Guantanamo detention facility within one year. That goal has proved elusive due to the administration's lack of commitment and obstruction from Congress. However, as Obama approaches the end of his second term, his administration has shown a greater commitment to closing the facility. In the past three months, 18 detainees have been released and media reports indicate that approximately a dozen more transfers are scheduled for the next few weeks.

The Congress has blocked the Obama administration from moving Guantanamo detainees to the US for any purpose - trial, detention, or resettlement. Accordingly, the only option for many detainees is to be sent home - often impossible due to instability or the risk of torture or persecution - or to be resettled in third countries. This is the second transfer of Guantanamo detainees to a West African nation in the past few months. Ghana showed similar compassion and commitment to human rights in taking in two former Yemeni Guantanamo detainees in January 2016. Roughly two dozen other countries have also resettled Guantanamo detainees including Germany, Uruguay, Ireland, and France.

A total of 779 detainees have been held at Guantanamo Bay since January 2002, of whom about 676 were released without charge, many after being detained for years. Nine Guantanamo detainees died in custody, six reportedly by suicide.

A total of 89 men remain at the facility, 35 of whom have been cleared for release, while another 44 await review by the Periodic Review Board. Of the remaining 10 detainees, seven currently face charges in the fundamentally flawed military commission system and another three have been convicted. Half of the eight convictions obtained in the commissions have been overturned.

"President Obama has less than a year in office to erase the stain of Guantanamo on his human rights legacy," Pitter said. "With help from countries such as Senegal, Obama could finally reach his goal of closing the prison."

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DR Congo: Children Held in Remote Military Prison

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 4 April 2016 Cite as Human Rights Watch, DR Congo: Children Held in Remote Military Prison, 4 April 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/570371e84.html [accessed 23 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 Congolese military is unlawfully detaining at least 29 children in dire conditions in northwest Democratic Republic of Congo. The authorities allege that the boys, ages 15 to 17, were members of a rebel armed group, and have held them in a military prison in Angenga since apprehending them in eastern Congo in the first half of 2015.

Human Rights Watch found during a visit to Angenga prison in December 2015, that neither the boys nor the adult men detained with them have been charged with crimes, or had access to lawyers or their families. Detainees who did not commit any criminal offense should be promptly released. Under international law, countries are obligated to recognize the special situation of children who have been recruited or used in armed conflict. Former child soldiers should be rehabilitated and reintegrated into society.

"Congolese authorities should immediately release the children and adults held at Angenga prison who have committed no crime and fairly charge the rest," said Ida Sawyer, senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. "Children who were rebel fighters should be rehabilitated, not thrown into prison and held there indefinitely."

Human Rights Watch interviewed 52 detainees, including 29 children, and several prison officials at Angenga, as well as more than 40 Congolese military and government officials, United Nations officials, humanitarian workers, and others, between December 2015 and March 2016.

Detention conditions at Angenga are dismal, with inadequate food, clean water, and medical care. Children and adults remain together on the prison grounds during the day. The children had been detained in the same cells as the adults until prison officials transferred them to a separate block for sleeping at night in late February 2016.

"To get medicine, you have to wait for a response from God," one prisoner said.

Between February and June 2015, Congolese security forces apprehended 262 men and boys of Congolese, Rwandan and Burundian nationality in North Kivu and South Kivu, and in the former Katanga province of eastern Congo. Those captured were accused of being members of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a largely Rwandan Hutu armed group, some of whose leaders are believed to have taken part in the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

The majority of FDLR fighters today are unlikely to have played any role in the genocide because they were too young. A considerable number of FDLR fighters are Congolese recruits.

The military transferred the suspected fighters to the city of Goma and flew them to the Angenga military prison, in northwestern Congo's former Equateur province (currently Mongala province), between May and August 2015. Since December, over 60 additional suspected FDLR fighters have been transferred to Angenga. At least four of the prisoners have died from illnesses since arriving at Angenga. Two others were shot dead on February 26, 2016 outside the prison grounds. Prison authorities allege that the two men had attempted to escape.

Most of those interviewed, including 17 of the children, said they were civilians and had no affiliation with the FDLR. Others said they were former FDLR fighters who had demobilized months or years ago and had reintegrated into civilian life. Several Rwandan Hutu refugees said the authorities arrested them on the pretext that they had to register with national and international refugee agencies in Congo. Some said they were told that they needed to leave a military operational zone for their own safety, but when they arrived at the so-called "safe" village with their families, they were arrested and accused of belonging to the FDLR. Human Rights Watch could not verify individual claims.

"The local authorities came to tell us that we needed to register with the CNR [National Commission for Refugees]," a 16-year-old Rwandan Hutu boy who lived in Fizi, South Kivu province, told Human Rights Watch. "But instead they led us to their military camp. The same day, eight others fell into the same trap, thinking they needed to register."

Another 16-year-old detainee who had been a child soldier with the FDLR said he had surrendered to the Congolese army so he could return to civilian life through the country's demobilization program. Instead, he was arrested and sent to Angenga.

Eight other children who had been child soldiers with the FDLR said they surrendered to the UN peacekeeping mission in Congo (MONUSCO) in North Kivu's Rutshuru and Masisi territories. The children said the peacekeepers later handed them over to the Congolese army. MONUSCO asserts that seven of them had originally declared themselves to be adults and that the eighth boy did not pass through MONUSCO. MONUSCO also said that peacekeepers handed two other FDLR child soldiers - who originally declared themselves to be adults - over to the Congolese army, which then sent them to Angenga. MONUSCO said they wrongly assumed that the army would be sending former combatants to a reintegration camp instead of to prison.

Different divisions of MONUSCO, as well as non-governmental organizations, the Congolese army, and prison authorities, gave purported children significantly disparate ages, warranting a thorough review of existing policies, Human Rights Watch said.

A senior MONUSCO official was informed of the transfers to Angenga prison, which included children, at least by October 2015 in a meeting with a humanitarian organization. The UN Group of Experts on Congo also reported on the detainees in Angenga in October.

Five months after learning about the possible detention of children, MONUSCO sent a mission to investigate. During the three-day joint mission in March 2016, MONUSCO and Congolese army officials together conducted cursory interviews with 94 alleged children, based on lists they had received from prison authorities and a humanitarian organization. The officials concluded that 22 detainees were children.

Human Rights Watch believes that the number of children is most likely much higher and that the conditions under which the interviews were conducted and the limited time spent with each child hampered a thorough inquiry.

On March 28, a senior MONUSCO official said the mission was working with the Congolese government to transfer the children out of the prison but that no date had been set for the transfer.

Some of the FDLR fighters detained at Angenga may have been involved in war crimes or other offenses. But they, like the others, have not been charged or brought to trial. They include an FDLR officer, Seraphin Nzitonda, who faces a Congolese warrant for his alleged role in a mass rape.

"UN officials have been aware that children were being held at Angenga but waited for months before acting on this information," Sawyer said. "Congolese authorities need to work closely with MONUSCO to get the children out of the prison. Children shouldn't be there, and given the dire conditions of the place, it seems no one should."

For additional information and accounts from prisoners, please see below.

Congolese Military Operations Against the FDLR

The Congolese security forces have carried out arrests in eastern Congo in the context of an ongoing military operation against the FDLR, known as "Sokola 2" ("clean-up" in Lingala and Swahili). The operation began in February 2015 after most FDLR fighters did not voluntarily disarm during a six-month grace period given to the group in the second half of 2014.

UN peacekeepers were closely involved in planning the military campaign and expected to join the operations, but they withdrew their support following the last-minute appointments of Gen. Bruno Mandevu as the army's commander for the operation and Gen. Sikabwe Fall as the army's regional commander for North Kivu province. The alleged involvement of Mandevu and Fall in past human rights violations prevented UN peacekeepers from providing any support to an operation in which they were involved, under the UN's Human Rights Due Diligence Policy (HRDDP), MONUSCO officials said at the time. On January 28, 2016, the government and MONUSCO signed an agreement on the resumption of joint operations, but these have yet to begin.

On March 23, the Foreign Affairs Minister Raymond Tshibanda claimed that Sokola 2 operations had reduced the FDLR's troop strength from 1,200 combatants to 108. This may be a significant exaggeration, given that those detained in Angenga are included in the calculations, since many of them may be civilians.

Angenga Detainees

In early December 2015, Human Rights Watch interviewed 45 of 262 alleged FDLR fighters detained at Angenga at that time. Twenty-five, including 17 children, said that they were civilians with no affiliation to the FDLR. Sixteen others, including 10 children, said they were former FDLR fighters who had demobilized months or years ago and had reintegrated into civilian life. Four prisoners, including two children, admitted that they were active FDLR fighters at the time of arrest. Human Rights Watch was not able to verify individual claims.

Since Human Rights Watch was able to interview only a portion of Angenga prisoners in the group of alleged FDLR combatants, it is believed that the number of detained children is most likely much higher.

MONUSCO confirmed Human Rights Watch's findings that the Congolese army took at least nine FDLR combatants from a regroupment site for former FDLR combatants in Walungu, South Kivu province, which MONUSCO helps manage, and sent one of them to Angenga. The fighters had surrendered to MONUSCO during the six-month grace period given to FDLR combatants in 2014. According to MONUSCO, the Congolese army also removed FDLR combatants from the regroupment site in Kanyabayonga, North Kivu province.

MONUSCO officials involved in the management of the two sites told Human Rights Watch that they did not participate in the removals and did not know on what grounds the army made its decision on whom to remove. A senior MONUSCO official told Human Rights Watch on March 30, 2016 that the process "went badly" and that the mission later "sensitized the government not to do it again."

In August 2015, 86 alleged FDLR combatants imprisoned in Angenga told the UN Group of Experts on Congo that they were civilians.

The UN Group of Experts reported in October that Col. Ringo Heshima, commander of the Congolese army's 3303 Regiment at the time, had "invited all the Rwandan refugees from the area to a meeting in Kilembwe [South Kivu], at which point he had arrested them and sent them to Bukavu as FDLR 'combatants.'" These civilians were later transferred to Angenga. Three detainees told Human Rights Watch that Colonel Heshima was involved in their arrest.

In an interview with Human Rights Watch on March 17, Colonel Heshima denied that children and civilians were among those arrested and transferred to Angenga. He asserted they were all FDLR fighters who had been "captured on the front lines."

Rwandan Refugees in Congo

After the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, in which more than half a million people were killed as Hutu extremists set out to destroy the Tutsi minority, hundreds of thousands of Rwandans, most of them Hutu, fled en masse from the advancing troops of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) - the Tutsi-led rebel group which ended the genocide and is currently the ruling party in Rwanda.

Among the refugees who crossed into Congo were people who had participated in the genocide. They established control over some of the refugee camps, where they prepared to attack Rwanda and continued to propagate ethnic hatred of Tutsi.

In October 1996 - in what later became known as Congo's first war - the new Rwandan army formed by the RPF invaded Congo to destroy the refugee camps, killing tens of thousands of people. Refugees who did not return to Rwanda, including large numbers who had not been involved in the genocide, fled deep into the forests in Congo.

Today, tens of thousands of Rwandan refugees live in precarious conditions in eastern Congo with an uncertain legal status. Over the years, the Congolese army and Congolese armed groups have conflated the refugees with FDLR fighters and attacked them, even though many are not associated with the FDLR. In 2012, Raia Mutomboki fighters carried out some of the deadliest recent attacks on makeshift camps that were home to Rwandan Hutu refugees and dependents of FDLR combatants. Human Rights Watch confirmed the killings of at least 140 FDLR dependents and other Rwandan Hutu refugees during 14 attacks in Walikale territory. The majority of the victims were women and children, many of them hacked to death by machete or burned alive in their homes.

International Legal Standards and the UN

International law applicable in Congo prohibits non-state armed groups such as the FDLR from using children under 18 in their forces. Those taken into custody are due special protections. The Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Congo is a party, requires governments to take "all feasible measures to ensure protection and care of children who are affected by an armed conflict," and to take "all appropriate measures" to promote the physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration of children who have been victims of armed conflicts.

The Convention's Optional Protocol on children in armed conflict, which Congo ratified in 2001, provides that governments "shall take all feasible measures to ensure that persons within their jurisdiction recruited or used in hostilities contrary to the present Protocol are demobilized or otherwise released from service," and "shall, when necessary, accord to such persons all appropriate assistance for their physical and psychological recovery and their social reintegration."

MONUSCO's Disarmament, Demobilization, Repatriation, Reintegration, and Resettlement (DDRRR) unit is charged with repatriating foreign nationals who surrender from the FDLR and other foreign armed groups active in eastern Congo, in collaboration with Congolese authorities and in accordance with international law. MONUSCO's child protection officers routinely screen combatants from armed groups who surrender to peacekeepers or to the Congolese government, or whom Congolese officials arrest, to ensure that children are separated and properly protected.

Based on Human Rights Watch's interviews with MONUSCO officials, it appears that the internationally recognized "presumption of minority" standard - in which an individual's claim to be a child is recognized until proven otherwise - was not fully applied in Angenga. One senior official raised concerns about potential problems with the Congolese government if they freed people who turned out to be adults after all, and because of the logistical challenges of separating and reuniting additional detainees with their families.

Accounts From Children Detained at Angenga

A 15-year-old boy told Human Rights Watch:

I am Rwandan. I was born in Mwenga [South Kivu, Congo]. I was never with the FDLR. One day, I was on my way to the market to buy some things. On the way I ran into Congolese army soldiers, and they arrested me. It was April 7, 2015. They transferred me to Bukavu, then Goma and finally to Angenga. I don't know what they want from me. Maybe they just want to say they arrested FDLR. I don't know.

A Congolese Hutu boy, 16, said he was arrested in Nyamilima, Rutshuru territory, North Kivu in the first half of 2015:

During the M23 war [2012-2013], we fled to the Nyakivale [refugee] camp in Uganda. I later returned with my mother. One day, when we were in the fields, I climbed up a tree to look for a mango. My mother kept walking and left me behind in the field. When I climbed back down, [Congolese] soldiers grabbed me and accused me of being with the FDLR. After one week in the prison in Nyamilima, I was transferred to Goma and then here [Angenga].

A 16-year-old boy said that he managed to escape the FDLR to turn himself over to the Congolese army in Masisi territory, North Kivu, in early 2015. He was later transferred to Angenga prison:

The FDLR took me by force. I managed to flee two months after they took me. I handed myself over to the Congolese army in Kitchanga so the FDLR wouldn't find me. They put me in prison and now I am in Angenga.

Another 16-year-old boy said he had left the FDLR voluntarily to return to civilian life before he was arrested by the Congolese army in Walikale territory, North Kivu, in July 2015:

I was with the FDLR in Ihula before, but I left the group a while ago. I returned to my home, where I did small business activities. One day, I was at the market when the Congolese army came to arrest me, and now I am here [in Angenga].

A 17-year-old said that the Congolese army arrested him after he had helped them carry goods to Burungu, Masisi territory, North Kivu, in the first half of 2015:

The Congolese army asked me to help them transport goods to Burungu. When we arrived there, they didn't let me go. They brought me instead to Goma, accusing me of being an FDLR fighter.

A Rwandan boy, 17, said that authorities arrested him after he crossed into Goma from Rwanda:

I live in Gisenyi [in Rwanda]. One day, I crossed into Goma to look for work to make some money as a mason. When I tried to go back [to Gisenyi], [Congolese] immigration officers arrested me at the small border crossing [in Goma]. I showed them my identity card and small entry permit, but they didn't release me.

A 16-year-old said that the Congolese army tricked him into believing that he had to register with the Congolese refugee agency in Fizi territory, South Kivu, in early 2015:

I used to live in Kilembwe village. The military told us we had to register with CNR [Congolese refugee agency]. The military didn't bring us there though, but brought us to their military camp instead.

Accounts From Rwandan Hutu Refugees Detained at Angenga

A Rwandan Hutu, 54, told Human Rights Watch that authorities tricked him into believing he had to help register Rwandan Hutu refugees in Fizi territory, South Kivu, in June 2015:

I am a civilian. I was never with the FDLR. It's true that I am Rwandan, and I came to Congo in 1994. I was the unofficial representative of Rwandan refugees in my area, in charge of welcoming refugees and helping them make sure their paperwork was in order. I worked with the CNR and UNHCR [Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees] to register refugees. I am well known in the village as a refugee and not as an FDLR member.

On June 15, 2015, [Congolese] soldiers came to me, saying that they were there to facilitate the registration of Rwandan refugees. They asked my family and me to follow them and so we did. To our great surprise, they then put us all in prison in Kilembwe. Later, they transferred us to Baraka, and then to Bukavu. From there, I was transferred to Goma and finally here to Angenga. I don't know what happened to my wife and children. But what crime did we commit? Just being Rwandans?

A 43-year-old Hutu man from Fizi territory, South Kivu, described his arrest:

I was arrested on February 20, 2015, after the authorities tricked me. They told me I needed to register with CNR. But instead of bringing me to the CNR office, they brought me to their military camp. It was in the village of Kitumba in Minembwe. The same day, at least another six people were arrested through this same trick.

A Hutu man from Uvira, South Kivu, said that he had been with the FDLR but had abandoned the group three years before his arrest:

I am Rwandan and I was with the FDLR for a while. When I realized that it wasn't worth all the pain, I left to live first in Kilungutwe in Mwenga, and then in Kilembwe, where I stayed for three years with my wife and children.

Authorities told us that we needed to go to Bukavu to get the right papers from the refugee agency. They said we would later return to the village. I didn't find anything unusual with all of this. And so I took my wife and my children. The army drove us for free to Bukavu, where we planned to register with CNR and UNHCR. But when we arrived in Bukavu, they brought us to the Sokola 2 military camp and we became prisoners without us even knowing what was happening. There were many people, including other families that were tricked like we were. When they brought us here [Angenga], my family stayed in Bukavu. I have not heard from my family since. Were they forcibly sent back to Rwanda? I have no idea. I don't know whether they're dead or alive.

Accounts From Other Alleged FDLR Combatants Detained at Angenga

A Hutu farmer and former combatant who said he had left the FDLR in 2013 said:

One day, [Congolese] soldiers intimidated me, ordering me to leave the area under the pretext that military operations were under way. And so I left and went to Minembwe [Fizi, South Kivu]. There, [the Congolese army commander] Colonel Heshima called me to come see him. I tried twice but he wasn't there. The third time I met him. He didn't tell me anything except that I needed to get into his truck and that we'd talk later. I never talked to him; he brought me instead to prison. I wasn't the only one. There were several of us but those who had money paid to be released. Some gave goats or a cow or paid $100. I didn't see why I should pay because I didn't do anything.

Then on April 4, we were brought to Fizi where we spent two nights. Other prisoners from Kilembwe joined us. We boarded another vehicle toward Bukavu, where we arrived on April 7. The same night, we got on a boat and arrived the next morning in Goma. They took us to the T2 and I spent about a month there. On May 7, I was taken to the Angenga prison. To tell you the truth, all of those who were arrested in Fizi aren't with the FDLR. The [FDLR] combatants are in the forest and we are with the population in the village. My neighbors can testify that we were taken in the village because we are Rwandans and not because we are FDLR.

A 39-year-old man said that he surrendered to MONUSCO in Walungu, South Kivu, in January 2015 and was transferred to the Congolese army in June:

I left Rwanda in 1994. It's true that I worked with the FDLR for a while. But I surrendered with my weapon in January 2015 in the MONUSCO camp in Walungu in South Kivu. We were 72 people on that day who surrendered with their weapons. They registered me in the camp.

On June 26, the Pakistani soldiers [of MONUSCO] opened the gate and let Congolese army soldiers into the camp. They talked for a long time but we didn't understand any of it. After a while, the soldiers took nine of us. They led us out of the camp saying we need to return to Rwanda. My wife, five children and my mother stayed behind. They then brought us to a military prison in Bukavu, where we stayed for nearly one month. They asked us who among us wants to go to Rwanda. I refused because I couldn't leave my family here. I was then transferred to Goma, where I stayed for almost three weeks. On August 22, 2015 we arrived here in Angenga.

A 34-old-year man said that he was arrested while looking for food after his baby was born in northern Masisi territory, North Kivu:

I lived in the Nyange internally displaced persons camp. I wasn't part of the war. I live with civilians in a camp. When my wife gave birth to our first child, I left for the market to look for some food. On the way, a soldier told me that his commander had a question for me. So, I walked to his office. When I arrived there, they arrested me. I haven't seen my wife or my child since. If you say that I was in the forest [with FDLR] or at the front line, it's a baseless lie. I am well-known in the IDP [internally displaced persons] camp. You can inquire for yourself. I am in prison but until now I don't know what I have done wrong.

Nzitonda Case

Congolese army soldiers arrested an FDLR officer, Seraphin Nzitonda (known as "Lionso"), 40, in Mweso, Masisi territory, on February 26, 2015, and later transferred him to Angenga. Four years earlier, on January 6, 2011, Congolese authorities had issued an arrest warrant for him for crimes against humanity for his alleged involvement in the mass rape of at least 387 civilians between July 30 and August 2, 2010 in eastern Walikale territory. More than one year after his arrest, Congolese authorities have not charged him in court let alone brought him to trial, and his arrest was not known by Congolese military justice officials interviewed by Human Rights Watch.

Conditions at Angenga Prison

Angenga was built in in the early 1950s during the Belgian colonial period for prisoners serving long sentences, and it was later used as a prison for military personnel and political prisoners during the dictatorship of Mobutu Sese Seko, from 1965 to 1997. It was closed in 1997, but reopened in March 2015. In addition to the former FDLR fighters and others accused of links to the FDLR, several hundred prisoners from across the country are incarcerated there. Human Rights Watch interviewed seven prisoners at Angenga who were not part of the group of alleged FDLR fighters.

The approximately 750 prisoners at Angenga suffer from a severe shortage of water and food, and the prison hospital ward has almost no supplies or medicine to treat the sick.

"The prison clinic doesn't deserve to be called a clinic," a prison official told Human Rights Watch. "There's no medicine. It's a catastrophe. We have no paracetamol for diarrhea or malaria. We should evacuate those who are really sick to Lisala [the closest town], but we can't afford this. The conditions are inhumane."

One prisoner said:

To get medicine, you have to wait for a response from God. Some of us have tuberculosis but they're given medicine that's already expired. Others have HIV but there aren't any antiretroviral drugs. Don't you see that we are destined to die here one after another?

Another prisoner said:

When you're sick, you're taken care of in a clinic that doesn't have any appropriate medicine. Personally, I have a bad urinary tract infection, and I'm suffering a lot because my transfer to the hospital in Lisala keeps getting delayed. I know two prisoners who died because they weren't transferred to the hospital in time.

One prisoner described the sparse water rations:

Like you can see for yourself, we live in inhumane conditions here. The biggest problem is the lack of water. We don't have much and we sometimes go without a bath for one week. It's great when it rains because then we have water to wash our clothes. For drinking, they give us a bucket of 15 liters for about 50 people. And this water has not been treated. For food, we only receive a small amount per day. We get some beans, sometimes with rice, manioc or foufou.

Another prisoner described the sanitation and hygiene conditions:

Sometimes we don't even wash ourselves for a week. And on top of that we don't have toilets. And the stench is unbearable. In cell block one, for example, there are more than 300 prisoners but only six small holes. Imagine that!

Copyright notice:  Copyright, Human Rights Watch
China: Detained Lawyers, Activists Denied Basic Rights

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 3 April 2016 Cite as Human Rights Watch, China: Detained Lawyers, Activists Denied Basic Rights, 3 April 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5703728b4.html [accessed 23 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.

Chinese authorities should immediately release and drop charges against 18 human rights lawyers, legal assistants, and activists who have been held for nine months in violation of their basic rights, Human Rights Watch said today. Under Chinese law, the procuratorate - the prosecutor's office - has until April 8-9, 2016, to decide whether to again extend their pretrial detentions.

The detainees are being held on dubious charges of subversion or incitement of subversion. In addition, parts of the interrogations of at least three of them were broadcast on state television. And most have been denied access to the lawyers of their choice, leaving them especially vulnerable to ill-treatment in detention.

"China's trumped-up cases against 18 rights advocates make President Xi Jinping's claims of embracing the rule of law ring hollow," said Sophie Richardson, China director. "The detainees have been denied key legal protections by being accused of bogus offenses, not having access to family and counsel, and being held in secret."

The authorities have repeatedly violated the detainees' due process rights.

In recent weeks, authorities have informed lawyers appointed by many detainees' families that the detainees wish to dismiss them and use government-appointed lawyers instead. The Hong Kong-based China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group (CHRLCG) said that this includes the detained lawyers Wang Yu, Zhou Shifeng, Li Shuyun, Xie Yanyi, and Li Heping and his assistants, Zhao Wei and Gao Yue; a legal assistant, Liu Sixin; and activists Hu Shigen and Gou Hongguo. The authorities also refused to let the family-appointed lawyers directly confirm this with their clients, the lawyers group said.

Li Yuhan, the defense lawyer for Wang Yu - a prominent human rights lawyer who is charged with "subversion of state power" - said that on March 1 Tianjin city police told her that Wang had "confessed" to the charges against her, agreed to dismiss lawyers appointed by her family, and had chosen another lawyer approved by the authorities. The authorities refused Li's request to meet with her client to confirm this.

CHRLCG also reported that Zhou Shifeng, director of the Beijing Fengrui law firm which was at the center of the crackdown on lawyers, recently said he would not accept lawyers hired by the authorities.

On March 5, some of the detainees' families and lawyers along with other activists issued an open letter calling on the National People's Congress, China's rubber stamp parliament, to set up a committee to inquire into the crackdown. Soon after that, police threatened the mother of Zhao Wei, one of the detainees, telling her not to contact lawyers again or campaign for her release.

Between July 9 and September 2015, Chinese police rounded up about 300 rights lawyers, legal assistants, and activists across the country. While many were released within a day or two after questioning, at least 18 have been detained under a form of pretrial detention called "designated residential surveillance" that allows police to hold suspects incommunicado in secret locations for up to six months in certain kinds of cases, including subversion. At the end of those six months suspects must either be formally arrested or released.

In early January, just days before the end of the six-month period, authorities formally charged 11 of the 18 with subversion, four with inciting subversion, one with destroying evidence, and two with "picking quarrels and stirring up troubles." Charges of subversion or incitement to subversion significantly limit suspects' ability to access lawyers and can carry lengthy sentences. Police and the procuratorate then had two months to investigate and decide whether to release them or move ahead with prosecutions.

Only three of the requests from detainees' lawyers and families about the status of particular cases received information regarding an extension of detention later in March. Representatives of three detained lawyers - Wang Quanzhang, Li Heping, and Xie Yang - were told that their detention had been extended for another month. No information has been provided in the other 15 cases.

Under articles 154 and 156 of the Criminal Procedure Law, the two-month detention period can be extended twice with the procuratorate's approval - one month for the first application and two months for the second application. The next point at which their detention could be extended is in early April.

Human Rights Watch is deeply concerned about the extensive procedural violations in these cases, which violate China's international legal obligations to respect the rights to a fair trial, to be free of arbitrary detention, to receive family visits, and to obtain legal counsel of one's choice. The Chinese government should revise its criminal procedures to ensure suspects' access to a lawyer during all interrogations by authorities, and to shorten to 48 hours the amount of time an individual can be held before being released or brought before a judge. Until such changes are made, all suspects remain at risk of ill-treatment or detention.

"China's criminal procedure laws should protect against rights violations, not make it easier for abusive authorities to mistreat suspects," Richardson said. "If the Chinese justice system is ever to be taken seriously, fundamental changes are needed."

Copyright notice:  Copyright, Human Rights Watch
Forget about antiquities; what about Palmyra's civilians?

Publisher IRIN Publication Date 4 April 2016 Cite as IRIN, Forget about antiquities; what about Palmyra's civilians?, 4 April 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57037ef44.html [accessed 23 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.

"People are more important than ruins."

So says Hassan Ahmed, a former resident of Palmyra, which the Syrian army took last week after 10 months under the control of the so-called Islamic State group.

Ahmed's plea to IRIN is heartfelt: "I want you to convey to international organisations and institutions to care about the people of Palmyra who lost their homes, not just about the antiquities."

Ahmed is one of thousands of residents who fled the central Syrian city, famed for its Greco-Roman era ruins, after IS seized control in May last year, forcing locals to adhere to their extreme doctrines or face public execution. Most of the city's 50,000 residents (according to a 2004 count) found themselves among Syria's estimated 6.6 million internally displaced people (IDPs), often forgotten in the country's ongoing civil conflict.

Return to what?

Now that the city has been freed, Ahmed longs to return but is anxious about what might be left of his house. He becomes animated when describing its modest architectural details, shaping outlines lovingly with his hands.

But Palmyra has been ravaged by fierce fighting - first when IS militants drove out government forces last year, and again during the Syrian army's offensive to retake the city in late March. Russian warplanes backed the army in its onslaught and bombarded Palmyra with airstrikes, the resultant destruction from which has yet to be revealed.

"Most people in Palmyra are very poor and I just don't know how they will be able to repair their homes," Ahmed said, adding that he hoped international attention would soon shift from Palmyra's historic ruins to the ruined lives and lost homes of its residents.

And the destruction is not yet over. Teams of bomb-disposal experts are still carrying out controlled explosions of the hundreds of IEDs that IS left in properties and premises across the city. The head of the information department in the Syrian army, General Samir Suleiman, said most of the booby traps were so complex and rigged up in such unusual places that they couldn't be deactivated and had to be detonated instead.

Tales of terror

On the outskirts of a Homs district decimated by months of fighting in 2012, families from Palmyra live in single rooms in a school building that has been turned into a makeshift camp by the Syrian Arab Red Crescent.

Usama, 50, had been imprisoned by IS for seven months. He finally managed to flee in a minibus crammed with other escapees. Men, women and children had to stand in the vehicle, shoulder-to-shoulder, as it lurched across the arid desert terrain. Usama tracked his wife and seven children down to the camp, where they had survived a harsh winter by taping plastic bags across the windows and huddling under blankets.

Escaping with just the clothes they wore, the Palmyra IDPs have almost nothing - their few possessions packed into cardboard boxes that serve as furniture in bleak rooms peeling with damp. Most are completely reliant on aid.

Traumatised from witnessing corporal and capital punishment - hands cut off for smoking, hundreds executed for loyalty to the government of President Bashar al-Assad or his army and their bodies left to rot in the streets - Usama urged the European Union to recognise Palmyra's suffering and offer support.

His weather-beaten face was filled with terror as he recalled the long months of hell. Like most former residents, he refused to be photographed or give his surname.

Those who have lived under IS know what fear really is, and most Palmyra families had relatives killed during IS's brutal reign over the city. They shared appalling stories of loss and barbarity. The hysterical voice of Badria Hussain, 62, rose above the rest in the Homs school. "I have to tell my story. Please, let me speak!" she cried.

"They killed my daughter just for refusing to wear the niqab [full-face veil]. But they didn't tell me for a month, and watched me come every day to the wedding hall they turned into a prison, trying anything to get her released."

Hussain was eventually handed an IS court document detailing the reasons for her daughter's execution - mocking IS and refusing to wear the niqab. She carries the document, carefully folded, in her purse. It is all she has to remember her daughter.

"She refused to repent, so they killed her," she wailed. "And my cousin was an army officer so they beheaded him, cut up his body and scattered the pieces on the ground." Grief has given way to hysterical disbelief. "They slaughtered nurses because they worked in the government hospital and killed whole families of army officers," she said. "I hope no one ever has to see what we have seen."

Ahmed said he couldn't begin to imagine how many people had been killed. "I watched them behead and shoot 40 people just on the first day," he said. "In the end, I think there were only around 1,000 people still living there. So many had run away, or been executed."

The wait continues

Countless others remain missing. Many of the young children, living with grandparents or distant relatives in the camp, do not know if their parents are alive or dead.

Hussain said she feared for family members who couldn't escape, including another daughter and six grandchildren. "My daughter couldn't leave because she has a disabled son. But she was terrified that Daesh [the Arabic term for IS] would take her oldest boys," she said. "They were seizing any boys over 10 years old and training them to fight."

Whatever loss and destruction awaits, the IDPs were ecstatic at the prospect of returning home - once the Syrian army has cleared the city of IEDs - and full of praise for the government forces.

Palmyra had been an Assad stronghold long before its capture by IS and its recapture has been both a military and public relations victory for the embattled Syrian government.

"God gave power to our army and the Russian alliance who helped us take Palmyra back from Daesh," said Usama.

For many though, any sense of jubilation about the release of Palmyra is tempered by other horrors.

Reem, who escaped Palmyra with her sisters on foot, walking for two days through the desert, had just received the news that her father and brother were both executed last month for refusing to join IS. Somehow, the 24-year-old still found room for hope. "I hate the people who killed my family, but now I can finally be optimistic about the future."
Is the Ruling Georgian Dream Coalition Disintegrating?

Publisher Jamestown Foundation Author Vasili Rukhadze Publication Date 1 April 2016 Citation / Document Symbol Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 13 Issue: 64 Cite as Jamestown Foundation, Is the Ruling Georgian Dream Coalition Disintegrating?, 1 April 2016, Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 13 Issue: 64, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/570380334.html [accessed 23 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 31, after several days of deliberation (Imedi.ge, March 28), Georgia's Republican Party (RP) declared that it would participate in the upcoming fall 2016 parliamentary elections separately from the Georgian Dream (GD) party. The two political parties have been partners in the ruling GD-led coalition since the parliamentary elections of 2012 (Newpress.ge, March 31).

The statement follows weeks of ferocious political bickering over various issues between the RP and another coalition member, the Industrialist Party. Their clashes even prompted Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili to state that the GD coalition was in need of renewal and, possibly, of a new strategic partnership agreement with the RP to continue cooperation (Civil Georgia, March 4).

Moreover, Georgian Energy Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Kaha Kaladze said that "it would not be bad if every [coalition member] party would participate separately in the [upcoming] elections and only after that [they] could decide in the parliament whether to create a coalition." Kaladze, who currently also serves as the GD party's general secretary, further added that he always expected the coalition eventually to disintegrate (Presa.ge, March 28). In fact, the situation around GD seemed so fragile that there were even talks of Irakli Alasania's (minister of defense in 2012-2014) Free Democrats (FD) forming a coalition with GD-member RP (2030.news, March 28).

In light of these developments, a question emerges: Is GD finally disintegrating? On March 31, the Georgian media was abuzz with speculation, loudly declaring that the GD coalition was finally falling apart (Rustavi 2, Channel 1, Imedi TV, March 31). Needless to say, GD is certainly experiencing internal problems. At this stage, however, the claims of its final fragmentation might be overly exaggerated. First of all, as David Usupashvili, the chairman of the Georgian parliament and one of the leaders of the RP, as well as other senior RP leaders stated several days ago, the party was not even discussing the possibility of leaving the ruling GD coalition-only about running separately in the upcoming elections (Imedi.ge, Civil Georgia, March 28). And indeed, on March 31, the RP clearly stated that it would not leave the coalition government, where it holds the posts of the minister of defense, minister of environmental protection, and state minister for reconciliation and civic equality. Moreover, the party decided that its ten sitting members of parliament will stay within the GD-led majority in the national legislature (Civil Georgia, March 31). And notably, so far, no other coalition members have declared an intention to break away.

However, even if the GD coalition were to fall apart later in the run up to this year's general election, the question remains why the much-anticipated disintegration had not yet occurred to date? The highly diverse ruling coalition, which was formed in 2012, is currently made up of six political parties, ranging from pro-market and pro-Western liberals, to nationalists, to Eduard Shevardnadze-era unreformed post-Communist nomenklatura. Since the very beginning, the coalition experienced internal bickering, logically leading to suggestions that GD would not survive for long (see EDM, January 13, 2013). And indeed, it has shed one key member already. In 2014, Irakli Alasania, then the sitting defense minister and the leader of the Free Democrats Party, was ousted from his cabinet post on the grounds of mismanagement of the ministry (Netgazeti.ge, November 4, 2014). In protest, the FD left the coalition (News.ge, November 5, 2014).

Surprisingly, this major, high-profile defection did not set in motion GD's overall breakup. The coalition defied expectations and has stood united. How did GD manage this and survive? The answer lies in the utter weakness of the coalition's member parties-a problem generally shared by the vast majority of Georgian political factions. Although, none of the GD member parties have ever mentioned or implied it (Cesko.ge, accessed April 1), they are all well aware-based on their experience prior to 2012-that separately, without the coalition, they would not be able to overcome the 5 percent threshold to make it into the parliament. Georgians on Internet forums have jokingly referred to those parties now in the GD coalition, as "two percent parties," implying that they would never manage to garner more than 2 percent of national votes in order to enter the parliament on their own (Forum.ge, November 4, 2014).

The coalition, on the other hand, guarantees its members that they will have at least several seats in the legislature, which will help them prolong their existence as a political party for the next four years. It is this very survival instinct that was helping GD to stay whole and, hence, dominate Georgia's political scene for the last four years, regardless of the broken pre-election promises and myriad unaddressed economic and political problems that the country is experiencing.

Running separately from Georgian Dream in the upcoming elections may cost the Republican Party dearly, prompting it to lose even those ten parliamentary seats that it now occupies in the 150-member legislature. Even if the party manages to overcome the electoral threshold and acquire some seats in the parliament, the RP may find itself on the fringes and without meaningful political power (as opposed to currently occupying the highly powerful speakership of the parliament and three cabinet posts). Such a probability may, in fact, force it to stay in the GD coalition for the foreseeable future.

As usual, the upcoming elections are once again throwing the entire Georgian political system into flux. Georgian Dream stands at the center of this process. Despite its multiple internal problems, the GD coalition has maintained unity, however delicate, and retained its grip on power. Regardless of visible cracks, it is still too early to say whether GD will disintegrate before autumn or even afterward. So far, it seems more likely that it will not. But as the election draws closer, the GD coalition's actual durability will become much clearer, as will the overall stability of Georgia's political system.

Copyright notice:  2010 The Jamestown Foundation
Ukraine Faces Early Election if No One Is Found to Replace Prime Minister Yatsenyuk

Publisher Jamestown Foundation Author Oleg Varfolomeyev Publication Date 1 April 2016 Citation / Document Symbol Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 13 Issue: 64 Cite as Jamestown Foundation, Ukraine Faces Early Election if No One Is Found to Replace Prime Minister Yatsenyuk, 1 April 2016, Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 13 Issue: 64, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/570380854.html [accessed 23 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.

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On the sidelines of the March 31-April 1 nuclear security summit, in Washington, DC, the United States' President Barack Obama made it clear to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko that the US will not issue $1 billion in loan guarantees to Ukraine until a new government is in place (President.gov.ua, April 1). And Vice President Joe Biden noted that assistance from international financial institutions was also contingent on the appointment of a new government (President.gov.ua, March 31). Ukraine's economy is in better shape now than in 2014-2015, when the national currency collapsed under the weight of war in eastern Ukraine and low international prices for Ukrainian commodities. Nonetheless, assistance-particularly from the International Monetary Fund (IMF)-is essential to jump-start the country after its GDP plunged by 7 percent in 2014 and by another 10 percent last year. However, the IMF has been delaying assistance because of the government crisis (Interfax, March 3).

The crisis erupted in February. Although Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk survived a no-confidence vote in parliament, on February 16, engineered by President Poroshenko's Bloc, the majority coalition broke up. The junior coalition partners Self-Help and Fatherland quit, accusing the senior partners, the Poroshenko Bloc (PB) and Yatsenyuk's People's Front (PF), of corruption (Lb.ua, February 18). Those events were themselves preceded by corruption allegations against influential people's deputies linked to Poroshenko and Yatsenyuk-Ihor Kononenko and Mykola Martynenko, respectively (see EDM, December 11, 2015).

Yatsenyuk, if he does not resign voluntarily, can carry on at least until the next parliament session in September, as no new no-confidence motion is possible until then, according to the Ukrainian constitution. At the same time, Poroshenko has the right to dissolve the parliament and call early elections, if there is no majority coalition within one month, as is the case now. At the same time, Poroshenko wants to avoid early elections. First, his party may lose them, as recent opinion polls show (Ukraine-elections.com.ua, accessed on April 1). Second, Western creditors oppose early elections in a situation when the peace process in eastern Ukraine is far from complete. Ukraine heavily depends on international assistance, and populist factions, such as Yulia Tymoshenko's Fatherland and Oleg Lyashko's Radicals, are likely to defeat the more moderate parties, particularly the PB and PF, in early elections.

Yatsenyuk wants to avoid early elections for the same reasons, and he has apparently agreed to step down in order to avoid them (rbc.ua, February 26). However, it has thus far proved impossible to set up a new coalition to support a replacement for Yatsenyuk. The PB and PF have been negotiating a new coalition with all three former partners, Self-Help, Fatherland and the Radicals, who quit the coalition last year. However, no agreement has been reached thus far, as each of the three put forth conditions unacceptable to Poroshenko and Yatsenyuk.

Fatherland and the Radicals insist on cutting taxes and domestic gas prices, which Ukraine's creditors will not accept (Espresso.tv, March 4; Pravda.com.ua, March 29). Self-Help flatly refused to join a new coalition at a meeting with the PB's leadership, on March 31, although it offered support to a new prime minister picked by the PB and PF. But the PB and PF do not want a government without majority support from the parliament, arguing that this would contradict the constitution (Lb.ua, March 31).

As far as Yatsenyuk's successor is concerned, the most probable candidate is parliamentary speaker Volodymyr Hroysman, who is from Poroshenko's camp. None of the five parties participating in the talks have thus far voiced strong objections against his candidacy. Last month, the PB offered the post of prime minister to Finance Minister Natalie Jaresko as well as the mayor of Lviv and leader of Self-Help, Andry Sadovy. However, PF and Fatherland reportedly rejected Jaresko (Lb.ua, March 21; Dsnews.ua, March 22), while Sadovy declined the offer (Espreso.tv, March 15). Later on, Hroysman announced that he was ready to replace Yatsenyuk (Pravda.com.ua, March 28).

Hroysman, 38, is a former mayor of the central Ukrainian town of Vinnytsya, and he has always stood in Poroshenko's political shadow. Thus, if the PB's Hroysman becomes the next prime minister, Poroshenko will strengthen his grip on power. This will be a risk to Ukraine's still-weak democratic institutions, as Poroshenko apparently prefers to govern in a top-down fashion. Moreover, recent polls show that the Ukrainian president is becoming increasingly unpopular (Ukraine-elections.com.ua, accessed on April 1), which could provide an incentive to centralize his power as much as possible. Another weakness of Hroysman is that Western creditors clearly prefer the US-born Jaresko, who is relatively independent of domestic politics and has a good track record of furthering economic reforms and negotiating assistance from international financial institutions and governments.

If the PB and PF fail to form a new coalition this spring, it will be incredibly difficult for the Yatsenyuk cabinet to continue reforms without support from the legislature-and the West will be more likely to withhold financial support. This may prompt Poroshenko to risk early elections. As a last resort, Poroshenko may try to set up a coalition with the help of defectors from other factions, according to the most recent leaks from his camp (Censor.net.ua, March 31). However, one should recall that former president Viktor Yanukovych notably tried a similar strategy several years ago, which led to political corruption on a mass scale. The stakes for Ukraine are thus very high.

Copyright notice:  2010 The Jamestown Foundation
Libya's Political Turmoil Allows Islamic State to Thrive

Publisher Jamestown Foundation Author Nathaniel Barr & David Greenberg Publication Date 1 April 2016 Citation / Document Symbol Terrorism Monitor Volume: 14 Issue: 7 Cite as Jamestown Foundation, Libya's Political Turmoil Allows Islamic State to Thrive, 1 April 2016, Terrorism Monitor Volume: 14 Issue: 7, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5703816d4.html [accessed 23 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.

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Islamic State (IS) has experienced fits and starts in its efforts to expand beyond Syria and Iraq. As IS has tried to gain a foothold in new countries, it has encountered violent opposition from both state and non-state actors. In Algeria, state security forces decapitated IS's nascent wilayat (province), which suffered tremendous losses in a series of military operations in May 2015. In several other theaters, including Afghanistan, Somalia, and the Sahel, IS has run up against more powerful jihadist groups, which have aggressively targeted IS supporters. Libya, however, stands out as one of the group's few successes.

The Libyan civil conflict has created a political and security vacuum that IS has exploited, carving out strongholds in weakly governed areas such as Sirte and thereby further fueling instability. Its Syria and Iraq-based leadership (hereafter, IS Central) recognized the potential for growth in Libya early on and poured considerable resources into its Libyan wilayat, dispatching high-level officials to Sirte to manage the group's expansion and eventually redirecting hundreds of foreign fighters from Syria to Libya.

In turn, Sirte has become a hub for the group's North African operations. IS Central's interest in Sirte underscores the city's growing strategic value to the organization, and illustrates the group's ambitious plans for its Libyan wilayat.

Sending in the Cavalry

In the spring of 2014, several hundred members of the al-Battar Brigade, a Libyan-led military unit based in Syria that pledged allegiance to IS, returned to the eastern Libyan city of Derna. There they established the Islamic Youth Shura Council, a jihadist group that quickly revealed its pro-IS sympathies. Though it is possible the al-Battar members returned of their own volition, it is more likely that IS Central dispatched these militants back to Libya with orders to establish an IS satellite in the country. Subsequently, in September 2014, IS Central sent two foreign officials-a Saudi and a Yemeni-to Derna to receive pledges of allegiance from Libyan IS supporters (al-Hayat, November 3, 2014).

At around the same time, IS Central appointed Abu Nabil al-Anbari, a former Baathist who spent time in a U.S. prison in Iraq before rising through the IS ranks, to lead the group's operations in Libya. The appointment of a senior Iraqi to command IS in Libya is an indication that IS Central intends to oversee the group's expansion there, since it has had few qualms appointing locals elsewhere; the IS wilayats in Algeria, Afghanistan, and the Sinai Peninsula, for instance, have all been commanded by local militants.

To consolidate its territorial holdings in Sirte, IS Central has doubled down on its support for its Libyan affiliate, sending several high-ranking officials to direct operations in the country. Intelligence officials from the Libyan city of Misrata, which has been the target of multiple IS attacks, assert that IS Central sent a high-profile Iraqi official known only as Abu Omar alongside another Iraqi official from the city of Tikrit to Sirte in October 2015 to manage IS operations in the city. Upon arriving in Sirte, the Iraqi officials established both a sharia court and a taxation system in the city, suggesting that IS is looking to fully export its governance model from Iraq and Syria to Libya (DW, December 18, 2015).

Two prominent IS commanders followed Abu Omar to Libya; Abu Ali al-Anbari, one of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's top lieutenants, traveled to Libya by boat in early November 2015, according to multiple news outlets (al-Wasat Facebook page, November 10, 2015), while Abu Omar al-Shishani, IS's most prominent field commander, was also reportedly in Libya in February 2016 (Libya Prospect, February 12, 2016). If true, al-Shishani presumably spent little time there before returning to Syria, where he is thought to have been fatally wounded in a U.S. airstrike. Meanwhile, Turki al-Binali, one of IS's most influential religious clerics, is rumored to have been in Libya in 2015, as well (al-Wasat, December 13, 2015).

The fact that IS dispatched al-Anbari, al-Binali, and al-Shishani to Libya reflects IS's commitment to its Libyan affiliate, and bolsters predictions that IS is preparing Libya as a fall-back option in the event the group loses further ground in Syria and Iraq.

Command and Control

With high-level IS officials moving in and out of Libya, Sirte has become a central hub within the IS Africa network.

The relationship between IS wilayats outside of Syria and Iraq remains difficult to define, but it appears that the Libyan wilayat has developed links with several IS wilayats operating in Africa, and may even be directing some of their activities. Sirte's relationship with Wilayat Gharb Ifriqiya-the Nigeria-based militant group commonly known as Boko Haram-provides an instructive example of the Libyan wilayat's African connections. According to Jacob Zenn, a Jamestown Foundation analyst who studies jihadist groups in Africa, approximately 80-200 Wilayat Gharb Ifriqiya members have traveled to Sirte to join IS (CTC Sentinel, August 21, 2015). Moreover, a well-connected Nigerian blogger alleged that Wilayat Gharb Ifriqiya is now being led by a Libyan militant who had helped to facilitate the Nigerian group's pledge of allegiance to IS in March 2015 (Fulan's Sitrep, August 5, 2015). A former Nigerian militant similarly claimed that Wilayat Gharb Ifriqiya now answers to IS commanders in Libya. [1]

IS officials in Sirte may also be directing the activities of Wilayat Sinai, the group formerly known as Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis. In February 2016, a security official in North Sinai told an Egyptian newspaper that he had intercepted phone calls between Wilayat Sinai militants that indicated that Wilayat Sinai was receiving instructions from Libya-based officials (al-Watan, February 9, 2016). It has not been possible to verify the accuracy of this claim, but it would not be surprising if IS's Libyan wilayat had assumed command responsibilities for other IS operations in Africa, considering the direct links between IS Central and Libya.

Influx of Foreign Fighters

As IS has gained strength in Libya, the country has gone from being an exporter of foreign fighters to a destination for them, with IS Central playing a pivotal role in promoting migration [hijrah] to Libya and directing foreign fighter flows into the country. Libya had long served as a staging and training ground for foreign fighters heading to Syria, but in December 2014, IS Central reportedly instructed its Libyan wilayat to stop sending fighters to Syria and instead to focus on operations inside the country (Al-Jazeera, February 5, 2016). Shortly after, IS propagandists began encouraging foreign fighters from the surrounding region to move to Libya.

In December 2014, IS online supporters published an article highlighting the group's expansion in Libya, and providing basic instructions on traveling to IS strongholds in the country (Justpaste.it, December 15, 2014). In March 2015, IS released the eighth issue of Dabiq, its English-language online magazine, which featured an article on IS in Libya and noted that the country had "become an ideal land of hijrah for those who find difficulty making their way to Sham [Syria] particularly those of our brothers and sisters in Africa" (Dabiq, March 31, 2015). Subsequently, in April 2015, the media outlet for Wilayat Tarabulus (the official name for IS in Sirte and central Libya) released a video, entitled "Message to our Brothers in Tunisia," that called upon Tunisians to join IS forces in Libya (Jihadology, April 7, 2015). The message indicates the group's primary objective in North Africa, at least at that time, was consolidating support in Libya, rather than expanding into Tunisia.

With IS urging migration to Libya and gaining ground in Sirte, foreign fighters from across the world have flooded into the country. In the summer of 2015, three British women arrived in Sirte and began issuing calls on social media for fellow Britons to join them, explaining that it was easier to travel to Libya than to Syria (Twitter, June 2015). A small number of French foreign fighters have also joined IS in Sirte (RTL, March 3 2016). Meanwhile, Libya has become a central hub for foreign fighters from across Africa. Tunisians likely make up the largest contingent of IS foreign fighters in Libya-one estimate put the number of Tunisian foreign fighters in Libya at between 1,000 and 1,500 (UN Working Group, July 2015). Fighters from as far afield as Kenya and Senegal have also traveled, or attempted to travel, to Libya to fight with IS. [2] [3]

In January 2016, U.S. intelligence officials assessed that-throughout the latter part of 2015-IS Central had sent several hundred foreign fighters originally destined for Syria to Libya (New York Times, January 18, 2016). This revelation was remarkable, especially considering that IS Central's decision to redeploy fighters to Libya came at a time when the group was facing mounting military pressure in Syria and Iraq, and further demonstrated Libya's strategic importance to IS's caliphate project.

The foreign fighters who have poured into Libya now comprise a significant contingent of IS forces in the country. According to a Misratan intelligence official, approximately 70% of IS fighters in Sirte are foreigners (CTC Sentinel, March 17, 2016). Though this estimate is almost certainly too high, it reflects outside perceptions about foreign fighters' disproportionate representation within IS's Libyan operations.

Obstacles to IS in Libya

With foreign fighters streaming into Sirte and IS Central devoting significant resources to the group's operations there, the international community is understandably concerned about IS expansion in Libya. But several obstacles stand in the way of the group's future growth.

Libya lacks the sectarian tensions that IS has exploited to mobilize Sunni populations in Syria and Iraq, and as a consequence, IS must depend on foreign fighters, alongside a hardened core of Libyan militants. This has done little to help it win over the local population, which has rebelled against it in both Sirte and in Derna. In the latter, rival jihadist factions, supported by local residents, forced IS fighters to withdraw entirely in June 2015. [4]

IS is also less powerful than it purports to be in Libya. Even though foreigners have significantly boosted its ranks in the country-recent estimates suggest that there are between 3,000 and 6,500 IS militants in Libya-other armed actors in Libya, including the now-fragmented Libya Dawn coalition and its rival, the Libyan National Army, are far larger and better-equipped.

Further, if a political accord is reached, a unity government would be able to draw upon resources from the international community to fight IS. However, a sustainable political settlement in Libya still appears to be a long way off, and any unity government that is established will struggle to rein in Libya's patchwork of armed factions. Indeed, as long as Libya remains politically fragmented, IS will continue to thrive and expand.

Nathaniel Barr is the research manager at Valens Global, a DC-based consulting firm that focuses on violent non-state actors.

David Greenberg is an intern at Valens Global studying North Africa, and a graduate student at American University.

Notes

1. Jacob Zenn, "Boko Haram and the Islamist Insurgency in West Africa," Testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Foreign Affairs, Terrorism, Non-Proliferation, and Trade Subcommittee, February 24, 2016, https://gallery.mailchimp.com/28b6673fcc2022a1dd557acae/files/Jacob_Zenn_Written_Testimony_Feb_24_2016.pdf.

2. In March 2016, Kenyan officials arrested four individuals trying to travel through Sudan to Libya. See Cyrus Ombati, "Police Arrest 4 Terror Suspects at Busia Headed for Libya to Join ISIS," Standard Media, March 6, 2016, http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2000194048/police-arrest-4-terror-suspects-at-busia-headed-for-libya-to-join-isis.

3. At least a dozen Senegalese fighters are believed to be in Sirte. See "Who Are the Senegalese Men Joining the Islamic State Group?" France 24, February 1, 2016, http://observers.france24.com/en/20160201-senegal-jihadist-islamic-state.

4. For more on local uprisings against IS in Libya, see Nathaniel Barr, "The Islamic State's Uneven Trajectory in Libya," Terrorism Monitor 13:19 (September 17, 2015).

Copyright notice:  2010 The Jamestown Foundation
Resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan's North

Publisher Jamestown Foundation Author Shahrayar Sorush Publication Date 1 April 2016 Citation / Document Symbol Terrorism Monitor Volume: 14 Issue: 7 Cite as Jamestown Foundation, Resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan's North, 1 April 2016, Terrorism Monitor Volume: 14 Issue: 7, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/570381c24.html [accessed 23 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.

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Fighting in northern Afghanistan has continued throughout the end of 2015 and start of 2016, culminating in the temporary fall of the strategically important city of Kunduz. The capture of Kunduz, which came much to the shock of the Afghan government and the international community, is an indication of a resurgent Taliban, one whose recent successes are shifting the battlefield to the north of the country.

The Capture of Kunduz

The Taliban's advances in the north have been relatively rapid, with fighters targeting the main electricity transmission lines from Uzbekistan to Afghanistan in the Dand-e-Ghori area of Baghlan province, an area considered to be the heartland for the insurgency's northern operations (Avapress, January 27, 2016). At the same time, the Taliban waged a series of offensives aimed at capturing Pole-Khomri, the capital city of Baghlan province, a strategic area that connects Kabul to northeastern Kunduz, Takhar, and Badkhshan provinces, as well as to the cities of Balkh and Faryab (BBC Persian, February 8, 2016).

Kunduz fell to the Taliban on September 28, 2015 (Firstpost, October 12, 2015). While it took only days for government forces to recapture the city and deepen the government's control in its districts (Tasnimnews, September 26, 2015), the Taliban's victory was of vital strategic and symbolic importance to the group. Kunduz was the first city to fall at the hands of Mujahideen after the Soviet withdrawal of Afghanistan in 1979 (Khabarnama.net, February 23, 2016). It was from there that the Mujahideen incepted their battle for control over the major cities, and eventually the capture of the capital city of Kabul.

Battle for Baghlan

Five months after the fall of Kunduz, Taliban forces started to focus on Baghlan, another strategically-located province in northern Afghanistan. Following their eventual defeat in Kunduz, the Taliban began to build on their capabilities around Pole-Khomri. By February, Taliban fighters had established strongholds in Dand-e-Ghori area, in the west of Pole Khomri, in Dande Shahbuddin, in Kokchenar, and in nine other villages west of Pole-Khomri (BBC Persian, February 8, 2016).

As they sought to expand their operations in the center of Balghan province, one of the Taliban's first moves was to blow up the main electricity transmission lines to Kabul, causing the capital to go dark. Government forces subsequently launched their offensives to clear the Taliban strongholds, recapturing these areas a month later (Iribnews, March 3, 2016).

While it lacks the symbolic significance, Baghlan is-like Kunduz-of strategic importance for the Taliban. It is linked to the main ports of Sherkhan in Kunduz, which connects Afghanistan to Tajikistan, Hairaton in Balkh province, which connects the country to Uzbekistan, and Aqina in Faryab, which connects to Turkmenistan. Road links from these locations pass through Baghlan and Salang on the way to Kabul, and from there, on to the borders with Pakistan and Iran. The cities' interconnectedness with other crucial locations poses a threat to the implementation of two key economic projects - TUTAP (the Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan power transmission project), funded by the Asian Development Bank, and the KASA-1000 electricity transmission project intended to supply Pakistan.

Taliban and Islamic State in Faryab and Balkh

Since early 2015, there have been reports of insurgents seizing control of some of the more remote rural districts of the northwestern province of Faryab. The area has been the focus of insurgents since 2007, when newly-emerged Taliban groups were expanding their areas of operation from southern Afghanistan to western and northwestern regions of the country.

Faryab is the powerbase of Afghanistan's current vice president, General Abdul Rashid Dostum, the anti-Taliban warlord who played a key role in Afghanistan's 1990s civil war. In August 2015, Dostum mounted an anti-Taliban operation becoming, with some fanfare, the first of Kabul's new political establishment to appear in military uniform (Etelatrooz, October 21, 2015). Since then, he has waged two other operations to clear Faryab from the Taliban, but each with little success.

At the time of Dostum's second operation in Faryab, the security situation had notably worsened, as the Taliban had begun abducting civilians accused of having ties to government. In February 2016, according to local government officials, Taliban fighters abducted passengers from two buses in the Jangal Bagh area of Andkhoi district, but later released them (Bokhdinews, February 6, 2016). In another incident, Taliban fighters abducted around 100 civilians traveling from Faryab to Kabul in Khaja Sabzposh district, mortally shooting two but releasing the others (Shafaqna.com, February 26, 2016).

Meanwhile, Islamic State (IS) was already known to be present in Faryab-as well as three other major provinces-by March 2015. By May, General John Campbell, the former commander of NATO's Resolute Support mission, was speaking of IS activity in Faryab, Helmand, and Nangarhar (Shafaqna.com, July 20).

Under similar threat is Balkh province, governed by the famous Afghan Mujahideen commander, Atta Mohammad Noor. Since the fall of the Taliban in 2001, Balkh has been one of the most stable provinces in the country. Under Noor-who has twice donned military uniform to lead the security operations to clear Balkh province of violent non-state actors-insurgents had been significantly constrained. In May 2015, Noor announced that almost all of Balkh province was free from the influence of the Taliban and other insurgent groups.

But as the insurgency has found strategic success in the north, the security situation in Balkh has dramatically changed. According to media reports, the black flag of IS has been seen in the province's Zare and Koshanda districts (Darinews, March 13, 2016). At the beginning of March, two weeks ahead of the Afghan Nowruz (New Year celebrations), Noor mounted an operation known as Khorshid 21, serving as an acknowledgement of the emergence of IS in his province.

Battlefield in the North

The Taliban are increasingly focused on Afghanistan's north as they seek to expand their geographical control of the country. As they do so, state actors have shown their readiness to defend areas that are their traditional powerbases. However, the presence of IS adds a further troubling dimension to the security situation (Terrorism Monitor, March 3, 2016).

Copyright notice:  2010 The Jamestown Foundation
Finland Raises Terror Alert as Jihadist Scene Grows More Complex

Publisher Jamestown Foundation Author Juha Saarinen Publication Date 1 April 2016 Citation / Document Symbol Terrorism Monitor Volume: 14 Issue: 7 Cite as Jamestown Foundation, Finland Raises Terror Alert as Jihadist Scene Grows More Complex, 1 April 2016, Terrorism Monitor Volume: 14 Issue: 7, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5703821a4.html [accessed 23 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.

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Finland elevated its terrorism threat assessment for the second time in 18 months in November of 2015. According to the Finnish Security Intelligence Service (FSIS) the terrorist threat against Finland is increasingly complex-and while the threat of "structured attacks by terrorist organizations" remains low by the FSIS assessment-the risk posed by "individual terrorist actions" is rising.

This is only the second time that the FSIS has elevated the country's security alert. It came ten days ahead of the Paris attacks in which 130 people were killed, and several months before the recent events in Brussels that have left Europe once again on-edge.

The FSIS's assessment is a result of three key developments:

Changing Social Landscape

Finland's jihadist scene has been evolving since the outbreak of Syria's civil war and the rise of the Islamic State (IS). Although there are no public estimates on the number of radicalized Muslims in Finland, the number of individuals of concern to security services due to their conduct (as opposed to their politics) has risen from just a handful in late 2010 to more than 300 as of 2015 (Savon Sanomat, February 2, 2015). Finland's jihadist scene is not monolithic; individuals have been linked to a range of violent Islamist non-state actors, but most recent activity is connected to the jihadist insurgencies in Syria, Iraq, and-albeit to a lesser extent-Somalia.

Aside from the increasing number of "individuals of concern," Finland's jihadist scene is developing in other ways. In 2014, the FSIS observed signs of "multi-ethnic radical Islamist networks" forming in Finland (MTV Uutiset, March 5, 2014). According to the latest threat assessments, jihadist "support groups" had been established in an attempt to recruit and radicalize individuals. One such support group is an Ansar al-Islam spinoff known as Rawti Shax and Didinwe, which was targeted in a Europe-wide counterterrorism operation in mid-November 2015. At least three individuals from Finland connected to this group had fought with IS (Helsingin Sanomat, November 12, 2015).

Extended Jihadist Networks

By late 2015, at least 70 adult individuals from Finland had travelled to Syria and Iraq, the majority seeking to join jihadist groups, according to an interior ministry report. The current number-including juveniles-is likely somewhere between 80 and 120. [1] Of further concern to the Finnish security services are the approximately 20 militants that have returned home, according to an official estimate that appears to have remained unchanged since at least late 2014 (see Yle Uutiset, October 13, 2014; Iltalehti, November 17, 2015). [2]

This increased flow of individuals to-and-from the conflict zones means jihadist groups abroad, particularly IS, increasingly have better knowledge of Finland's domestic Islamist networks. Those who join IS in conflict zones are able to pass on their contacts with extremist individuals and support networks operating within their home country's borders, increasing the interconnectedness of Finland's home-grown jihadists with militant actors abroad.

Fighters returning to Finland with training and stories of supposed battlefield heroism are further able to expand the Finnish radical Islamist scene by recruiting members within their immediate social circles. Indeed, the impact of these social connections-whether through marriage or friendship-is visible in the mobilization patterns of Finnish jihadists and their supporters, particularly those who have traveled from the Helsinki metropolitan region (The Ulkopolitist, March 10, 2015).

The lack of information on returnees and their condition-whether they return traumatized and disillusioned or remain dangerous and radicalized-makes it difficult to analyze the extent of the threat, but the potential of returning foreign fighters seeking to engage in terrorist activities in Finland or elsewhere in Europe is not one the security services are willing to exclude.

Influx of Asylum Seekers

The third issue, and one that has had significant impact on much of the European Union, is the unprecedented number of asylum seekers who have arrived in Europe since 2015, many hailing from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.

According to figures from the Interior Ministry, over the last decade, Finland has received somewhere between 1,500 to 6,000 refugees. In 2015, however, Finland received more than 32,000 asylum seekers, stoking fears among Finns that dangerous individuals, particularly those linked to IS, may disguise themselves as refugees to infiltrate the country. In that particular vein, two Iraqis were arrested upon their arrival in Finland in late 2015 following a tip-off from other asylum-seekers (Hufvudstadsbladet, December 10, 2015). They are suspected of participating in the June 2014 Camp Speicher massacre, in which IS fighters killed hundreds of Iraqi Shia soldiers.

While a senior interior ministry official recently assured the public that Finnish authorities are well informed about the background of every migrant, this is unlikely the case, as Finland lacks the infrastructure and resources to effectively process the influx (Verkkouutiset, March 9, 2016). However, according to the Interior Minister, Petteri Orpo, the authorities have identified few dozen individuals among the refugees arriving in Finland who have "connections to terrorism" (Savon Sanomat, March 26, 2016). Finnish authorities face a considerable task in attempting to identify potentially dangerous individuals, as there is very little reliable information available on their activities in various conflict zones, and cooperation with government authorities in Syria, Iraq, or Afghanistan is fraught even at the best of times. Thus far, however, there have been no signs that IS is systemically using the flow to infiltrate Finland with its fighters.

Although the issue should be taken seriously, the short-term security risk from asylum-seekers is likely low. It is a threat that increases enormously, however, if the new arrivals are integrated poorly. With inadequate integration, such individuals can become a promising target for those seeking to radicalize them. Indeed, there has been evidence that young individuals arriving in Finland as refugees are being targeted by jihadist recruiters (Helsingin Sanomat, October 3, 2015; Yle Uutiset, June 17, 2015).

Furthermore, the arrival of an unprecedented number of asylum-seekers has invigorated far-right groups. In Finland, this has resulted in the establishment of the so-called Soldiers of Odin, an anti-immigrant group formed in October 2015 that organizes street patrols, which it claims are intended to protect the public. The effect has been a further polarization of society's attitude towards migrants and refugees, with several reported attempted arson attacks on refugee centers.

Increased Threat

The jihadist milieu in Finland has undergone substantial development in the last few years, largely impacted by Syria's civil war, the rise of IS, and the subsequent flow of refugees to Europe. Not only is there an increasing number of individuals from Finland taking part in jihadist activities abroad, but Finnish-based groups have been established to support jihadist violence at home. The FSIS fears that if these emerging domestic groups are left to fester without intervention, they "may resort to operational actions."

The jihadist threat facing Finland-while still relatively low-has markedly increased in recent months and has become more complex and thereby more difficult to predict. It is a trend that is being seen elsewhere in Europe, and at present, there appear to be few successful efforts to tackle it. For Finland, where policymakers seek to take a proactive, precautionary approach, the question is rooted in the prevention of a developing jihadist scene and increasing levels of domestic jihadist activity.

Juha Saarinen is a researcher focusing on violent Islamism and Middle Eastern politics. He currently works at the Finnish Middle East Consulting Group and the Centre for Research on Ethnic Relations and Nationalism at Helsinki University.

Notes:

[1] Figures taken from Interior Ministry publication "Vakivaltaisen ekstremismin tilannekatsaus" (November 19, 2015).

[2] A report by the Soufan Group report on foreign fighters, published in December 2015, states the number of returnees to Finland was more than 25, reflecting the author's own findings on new returnees since late 2014. See "Foreign Fighters: An Updated Assessment of the Flow of Foreign Fighters to Syria and Iraq" (December 2015).

For the full FSIS threat assessment (updated November 3, 2015) referred to in this article, see "Terrorism Threat Assessment 3.11.2015."

Copyright notice:  2010 The Jamestown Foundation
Belgium: The Scale of the Threat Facing Europe

Publisher Jamestown Foundation Author Alexander Sehmer Publication Date 1 April 2016 Citation / Document Symbol Terrorism Monitor Volume: 14 Issue: 3 Cite as Jamestown Foundation, Belgium: The Scale of the Threat Facing Europe, 1 April 2016, Terrorism Monitor Volume: 14 Issue: 3, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/570382af4.html [accessed 23 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

Belgian counterterrorism forces are under particular scrutiny following the attacks in Brussels that left at least 31 people dead and hundreds more injured. The attacks on the morning of March 22- which consisted of three blasts, two at Zaventem airport and one at the Maalbeek metro station, just down the road from the EU's headquarters-came four days after the arrest of Salah Abdeslam, wanted in connection with last year's Paris attacks (Le Soir, March 18).

Abdeslam, who had been on the run since he allegedly failed to detonate his suicide vest in the French capital in November, had been able to evade capture in Brussels for months, at one point hiding in the same apartment in Schaerbeek for three weeks (La Derniere Heure, February 19). After his capture, Belgium interrogators reportedly treated him with kid gloves, interrogating him for just one hour as he was recovering from a gunshot wound in the leg sustained during the operation to apprehend him. Then, in the wake of the attacks, it emerged that crucial information about Abdeslam's whereabouts had not been entered into the police database (VTM, March 25), and that Belgium had ignored a warning from Turkey that it had arrested Brahim el-Bakraoui, one of the Brussels airport bombers, on the border with Syria in June last year (BBC, March 24).

Belgian's security forces are undoubtedly struggling - and have admitted a catalogue of errors (BBC, March 30) - but to accuse them of being entirely complacent is unfair. They face an uphill task. There are at least 117 Belgian citizens in the country who have returned home from fighting in Syria, according to figures released this year by the interior ministry (Le Soire, February 22). Other European countries face the same problem, an issue explored further in this issue of Terrorism Monitor in "Finland Raises Terror Alert as Jihadist Scene Grows More Complex" by Juha Saarinen.

For all the fanfare around Abdeslam's arrest, Belgian interior minister Jan Jambon had already warned security forces that jihadist networks were stepping up plans for an attack (EU Observer, March, 21). A joint French-Belgian raid on a Brussels apartment on March 15 had uncovered Salafist material, along with weapons and ammunition. It also ended (unexpectedly, it seems) in a shootout in which another Islamic State (IS) operative in Europe connected to the Paris attacks-an Algerian named Mohamed Belkaid-was killed.

Under pressure in Iraq and Syria, IS has promised further assaults on Europe. Germany, which made at least two arrests in the days following the Brussels attacks, has grown increasingly nervous since the events in Paris (Deutsche Welle, March 26). A day after the Brussels attacks, the pro-IS Wafa Media Foundation published a message in which it promised, in typically verbose fashion, to plunge all of Europe into a "black nightmare" and went on to direct comments at UK Prime Minister David Cameron.

The events in Brussels have led to an inevitable wave of arrests across the continent. The issue may lie less in the complacency of the Belgian authorities, and more in the extent of the counterterrorism task facing Europe's capitals.

Copyright notice:  2010 The Jamestown Foundation
Algeria: AQIM Targets Foreign Companies

Publisher Jamestown Foundation Author Alexander Sehmer Publication Date 1 April 2016 Citation / Document Symbol Terrorism Monitor Volume: 14 Issue: 3 Cite as Jamestown Foundation, Algeria: AQIM Targets Foreign Companies, 1 April 2016, Terrorism Monitor Volume: 14 Issue: 3, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5703830b4.html [accessed 23 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

Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) has claimed responsibility for a rocket attack on Algeria's In Salah gas field. At 6:00am on March 18, three rockets hit the facility in Krechba in the desert region of Ain Saleh, though there were no injuries and the attack caused no damage according to Statoil and BP, the oil companies that run the facility alongside Algeria's Sonatrach.

The In Salah attack is the first assault on an oil and gas facility in Algeria since In Amenas in 2013, but seems to have been much less ambitious in scale. The In Amenas attack saw gunmen led by Mokhtar Belmokhtar seize the facility - also run by BP and Statoil - and subsequently hold hundreds of workers hostage. At least 40 people lost their lives, including those who were killed when the Algerian army mounted a rescue operation. The event led to a great deal of soul searching, not just on the part of Algeria; in the UK, an inquest strongly criticized BP for not taking adequate security precautions (The Guardian, February 26, 2015).

The response this time seems to have been better organized. The Algerian military reacted quickly, surrounding the plant and mounting an operation around the gas field, reportedly killing four militants (Alalam, March 21), and wounding another three (PressTV, March 20). In the meantime, both BP and Statoil withdrew their employees from the field, leaving the operation of the plant to Sonatrach's Algerian staff. Sonatrach confirmed its staff were keeping the plant running following a temporary shutdown during the attack, adding that, in fact, production had since increased (Algeria Press Service, March 22).

AQIM's targeting of foreign companies and Algeria's gas facilities is a strike at an economic nerve, but its statement on the attack that its fighters had used 130mm rockets to target "the Crusader BP, the plunderer of our wealth" (TSA, March 18) may also be designed to cultivate local grievances about the exploitation of natural resources. Unconnected with BP's project, In Salah was the scene of protests against shale gas exploration in 2014, where demonstrators complained the process was contaminating the water supply. By January 2015, there were reports of a 15,000-strong demonstration, with further protests in Tamanrasset, Ouargla, and even in the capital city of Algiers (The New Arab, March 17), leading eventually to the downfall of then minister of energy and mines, Youcef Yousfi (Le Monde, May 15, 2015).

Copyright notice:  2010 The Jamestown Foundation
Chad fishing project gives Nigerian refugees a lifeline

Publisher UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Publication Date 5 April 2016 Cite as UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Chad fishing project gives Nigerian refugees a lifeline, 5 April 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/570383754.html [accessed 23 October 2022]

Mending nets, cleaning fish and adjusting them over a fire near this lakeshore village in Chad, Abakar Garba Ibrahim says he has his dignity back.

"Being able to do this, it's like I have been saved from the fire," said Ibrahim, who fled the violence in Nigeria last year. "I was spending my days sleeping, doing nothing and waiting for assistance. Now I am someone."

A fisherman by trade, Ibrahim lost his livelihood after Boko Haram militants drove him from his village more than a year ago. He is now finding his feet again in Chad with the help of a UNHCR-backed project.

A father with 16 children and two wives, he is among 100 recently arrived refugees from Nigeria given the chance to fish at a camp near Tagal, a small community on one of the many inlets of Lake Chad, in western Chad.

Fishing is important to the regional economy, supplying local markets -- especially the popular weekly market in Baga Sola, a dozen kilometres away -- and others in neighbouring Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria, whose borders converge at the lake.

The project, developed by UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, in tandem with the local non-profit organisation Secours Catholique et Developpement (SECADEV), began working in December with refugees from Dar Es Salaam camp, which lies in the north of Baga Sola.

The programme provides them with fishing licences, small boats and ecologically sound fishing nets that allow small fry to escape and help preserve this important resource, which remains a lifeline for many lakeside communities, despites the effects of climate change. They receive training in good fishing practices and management, as well as techniques for storing the fish.

The project gives participants benefits that include food, an income and an occupation, according to Lydie Navigue, head of the UNHCR field office in Baga Sola.

"It gives its one hundred beneficiaries the possibility to generate some revenue and complement the food and non-food assistance provided to them," Navigue said. "It also brings some normality to their refugee experience as they take control of some aspects of their own lives by doing an activity they used to do before they fled their homes in Nigeria."

Ibrahim used to have six boats and other business interests in Nigeria. Now, he shares a boat with nine other refugee fishermen from the Dar Es Salaam camp, following a schedule that they have worked out among themselves.

Two of his sons help him at the lakeshore fishing camp but, like the other refugees, Ibrahim has left the rest of his family in Dar Es Salaam camp and he visits them there from time to time.

"Only the two boys are here with me", he said. "It is difficult, but it is better this way as the school and the health centre are in the camp. Here the conditions are tough, but we manage."

Another refugee fisherman, Omar Maikanti, has also been helped by the project. As he sells his catch on the shore, he proudly explains that he had earned 2,000 naira -- the Nigerian currency is used along with with the CFA franc -- and had sent half the money to his wife at the camp. "I am a good husband, again providing for my family from the fruits of my labour and sweat", he said with a smile.
Keeping Syria's Displaced Warm

Publisher Institute for War and Peace Reporting Author Razan al-Sayid Publication Date 4 April 2016 Cite as Institute for War and Peace Reporting, Keeping Syria's Displaced Warm, 4 April 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5703ac614.html [accessed 23 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.

Umm Hassan and her six children were desperate to keep warm. Winter had arrived, but they had no oil to light their old stove.

Each morning they would venture out in search of alternative fuels.

Umm Hassan, a 42 year-old widow, would walk to Kfar Nabel's orchards to collect firewood. Her children would scour the neighbourhood streets and rubbish containers for discarded pieces of plastic and cardboard.

Back home, they would pool the items they had collected and light the small stove donated to them by a neighbour.

"After my husband died our financial situation deteriorated to a point where I could barely feed my children," she told Damascus Bureau.

Umm Hassan's late husband left her a small shop that she rents out for 10,000 Syrian pounds (50 US dollars) a month. The young widow said that this amount was not enough to buy basic foodstuffs and medicine, and fuel for heating and cooking was out of the question.

"Amidst all this misery, a delegation came to Kfar Nabel with a truck full of winter relief items," she continued, her face lighting up..

They gave Umm Hassan a new heater, some coal and some kitchen utensils.

"They couldn't have come at a better time. God bless them for alleviating a little of our suffering," she added.

The delegation was from the Syria Relief and Development (SRD) NGO, which is involved in a number of aid schemes.

One of these projects, Shelter, aims to provide aid to as many people as possible during the colder weather.

According to Shelter's logistics officer Ubayda Dandush, the project helped more than 325 families in Idlib and its countryside this winter.

"Shelter carries out repair work to houses that are partially damaged by bombing," 39 year-old Dandush told Damascus Bureau.

"Winter is a harsh season in Syria and these homeowners urgently need our help. The repairs we carry out include fitting new doors and windows, and we also provide families with solar-powered batteries for heating and light."

Dandush said that the main beneficiaries were families who have lost their breadwinner, such as widows, families of martyrs and detainees, and displaced people.

"We rely on local councils to document humanitarian cases that need assistance. We also conduct fact-finding missions to determine and assess damage and need," he added.

So far, Shelter is working in Idlib, Aleppo, Kfar Nabel, Maarat Hurma, Jarjnaz and Hass.

The project also runs health seminars that teach people how to handle winter illnesses and support workshops for those psychologically affected by the war.

Speaking to Damascus Bureau, SRD's Idlib director Uqba al-Daghim said that the organisation was also working with the Al-Sham hospital, a number of prenatal and postnatal care centres and a mobile clinic for the newly displaced.

The 30 year-old director added that an X-ray and CT scan centre were currently under construction.

"LIVING A NORMAL LIFE"

Displaced people have found the bitter Syrian winters particularly hard.

Abu Ahmad fled with his wife and five children from Hama's countryside to the village of Maarrat Hurma.

The 40 year-old was forced to have one of his hands amputated after it was injured by shrapnel.

Unable to work, he could not afford to pay rent, so his family found refuge in an empty semi-demolished house.

"We took shelter in the house during summer, so the missing windows and doors and the partially damaged walls did not bother us too much.

"But when winter arrived, we found ourselves in a difficult situation. Cold winds would blow through the house day and night," he said.

Unable to afford repair work, Abu Ahmad tried to patch up some of the damage using fabric and plastic sheets.

Then, a Shelter employee came to inspect the damage and not only arranged for the house to be repaired but also provided the family with a new heater and some kitchen utensils.

"Shelter has given us back some of the life we lost after becoming refugees in our own country," Abu Ahmad said.

Ruhuj, a woman in her 70s, had also been living in poverty together with her blind husband. Her children and their families had fled Syria to seek refuge in neighbouring countries and the elderly couple were all alone.

"I would go to bed early hoping the covers would keep me warm," she told Damascus Bureau.

"By the time I would fall asleep my pillow would be soaking wet with tears."

Ruhuj was heartbroken that she and her husband had to rely on charity, and dearly missed her children whom she had not seen in years.

During the day, she and her husband would wear their threadbare coats and sit outside, hoping the winter sun would warm them up.

Now, Shelter has provided Ruhuj and her husband with both heating and lighting appliances, much improving their quality of life.

"I am now blessed with warmth during winter and can live a normal life. I can also watch TV which is powered by the battery they gave me," she said.

"Hopefully, our country will also go back to normal after the long darkness it has endured."

Razan al-Sayid is the pseudonym of a Damascus Bureau contributor living in Maarat al-Numan, Syria along with her three children. The 28-year-old holds a BA in education and works as a teacher.

Copyright notice:  Institute for War & Peace Reporting
RSF condemns arrest of 16 journalists protesting threats to media freedom

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 4 April 2016 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, RSF condemns arrest of 16 journalists protesting threats to media freedom, 4 April 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5703b4d34.html [accessed 23 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.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on the Maldivian authorities to drop all charges against the 16 journalists who were arrested yesterday while staging a peaceful sit-in outside the president's office in Male in protest against the decline in respect for media freedom.

Riot police used physical force and pepper spray to disperse the protesting journalists before arresting 16 of them - five from The Maldives Independent, six from Haveeru, two from Sangu TV, two from Raajje TV and one from Villa TV. Three others were hospitalized.

The detained journalists were eventually released but were due to appear in court today on charges of resisting or obstructing the authorities.

The journalists' grievances include a court decision to close the newspaper Haveeru, a bill recently submitted to parliament that would criminalize defamation (which was decriminalized in 2009), restrictions on media coverage of criminal court proceedings, and the government's failure to combat impunity for violence against journalists - in particular, the lack of any significant progress in the investigation into the 2014 disappearance of Ahmed Rilwan, a journalist with Minivan News (now called The Maldives Independent).

"The series of draconian measures and the repressive actions directly targeting journalists clearly show that this is not a democratic government that accepts the media's watchdog role," said Benjamin Ismail, the head of RSF's Asia-Pacific desk. "We call on President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom to put an immediate end to the authoritarian offensive on which he has embarked."

Despite the violence, the demonstrations continued today outside parliament and outside the court that heard the charges against some of the journalists arrested yesterday.

Last November, RSF warned the authorities against any attempts to gag broadcast and online media and condemned a series of attacks on journalists, TV channels and news websites. After a state of emergency was declared on 4 November, the Maldives Broadcasting Commission threatened to withdraw the licences of radio and TV stations that broadcast content "infringing on national security."

An Indian Ocean archipelago where opposition and independent media are exposed to a great deal of violence, Maldives is ranked 112th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2015 World Press Freedom Index, after falling 60 places since 2010.

The family and colleagues of Ahmed Rilwan have been without any news of him since his disappearance on 8 August 2014.
Two French TV journalists expelled from Morocco

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 4 April 2016 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Two French TV journalists expelled from Morocco, 4 April 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5703b5144.html [accessed 23 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.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns the expulsion of two French TV journalists who went with a human rights activist to a neighbourhood in the city of Beni Mallal, in central Morocco, to investigate reports of a homophobic attack on a gay couple in early March.

Martin Weill and Pierre Le Beau, who work for the Petit Journal news programme on Canal +, were arrested yesterday when their presence in the city was reported to the authorities. After being interrogated all afternoon at a police station, they were forced to return to Paris on a flight from Casablanca airport yesterday evening.

"It is unacceptable to expel journalists who are just doing their job," said Yasmine Kacha, the head of RSF's North Africa desk. "The increasingly frequent expulsions of foreign journalists by the Moroccan authorities are extremely worrying for the future of freedom of information in Morocco."

Morocco is ranked 130th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2015 World Press Freedom Index.
TUESDAY

Piano concert

Dr. Mark Puckett will present a piano concert at 7:15 p.m. in the Woodward-Dellis Recital Hall at Hardin-Simmons University.

Other ...

Veterans benefit meeting, 10 a.m. to noon, Disabled American Veterans, 2555 Grape St. 325-793-9699 or 325-480-6175.

Mission on the Move Soup Kitchen, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Southwest Drive Community United Methodist Church, 3025 Southwest Dr.

Abilene Southwest Rotary Club, noon, Beehive Restaurant, 442 Cedar St.

High Noon Al-Anon, noon, Southern Hills Church of Christ, 3666 Buffalo Gap Road (south end; follow the yellow signs).

Stroke/Aphasia Recovery Program support group, 1:30-2:30 p.m. West Texas Rehabilitation Center boardroom, 4601 Hartford St. 325-793-3535.

Dystonia Support Group, 5:15-6:15 p.m., Not Without Us, 3301 N. First St. Suite 117.

Take Off Pounds Sensibly (TOPS), 5:30 p.m., Brook Hollow Christian Church, 2310 S. Willis St. 325-232-7444.

Legacies Al-Anon Family Group, 5:30-6:30 p.m., Open Door Building, 3157 Russell Ave. 325-280-7584.

Dining For Women  Abilene Chapter, 6 p.m., First Christian Church, 1420 N. Third St.

Family (of Mental Health Consumers) Support Group, 6-7 p.m., Mental Health Association in Abilene, 333 Orange St. 325-673-2300.

MHAA Bipolar/Depression Peer Support Group, 6-8 p.m., Ministry of Counseling & Enrichment, 1502 N. First St. 325-673-2300.

Free certified nurturing parent class (pregnancy to toddler), 6-8 p.m., Mission Church, North Third and Mockingbird streets. 325-672-9398.

Abilene Star Chorus, 6:15 p.m., First Baptist Church, 1333 N. Third St. 325-829-1470.

Overeaters Anonymous, 6:30-7:30 p.m., Exodus Metropolitan Community Church, 1933 S. 27th St.

Al-Anon Parents Group, 7 p.m., Hillcrest Church of Christ, 650 E. Ambler Ave. Use Church Street entrance.

Al-Anon, 7 p.m., Doug Meinzer Activity Center, Knox City. 940-658-3926.

Abilene Society of Model Railroaders, 7-8:30 p.m., 2043 N. Second St.

Parents, Family, Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) of the Big Country, 7-9 p.m., Unity Church, 2842 Barrow St. 325-232-4726, www.pflagbc.weebly.com.

Unity Group of Alcoholics Anonymous, 8 p.m., Episcopal Church of the Heavenly Rest, 602 Meander St.

WEDNESDAY

Free tax assistance

The AARP will offer free assistance in preparing income tax forms for low- and middle-income taxpayers from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Abilene Public Library, 202 Cedar St. Doors will open at 9 a.m. Space is limited, and help will be provided on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Other ...

Overeaters Anonymous, 8 a.m., Hinds Square Building, Room 112, 100 Chestnut St.

Veterans Association Club, 10 a.m., Rose Park Senior Citizens Center (in Rose Park, South Seventh and Barrow streets).

Blood drive, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Hamlin High School.

Abilene Cactus Lions Club, 11:45 a.m., Cotton Patch Cafe, 3302 S. Clack St.

Abilene Wednesday Rotary Club, noon, Abilene Country Club, 4039 S. Treadaway. $12 for lunch. Jo Ann Wilson, 325-677-6815.

Kiwanis Club of Abilene, noon, Abilene Country Club, 4039 S. Treadaway Blvd.

Clearly Speaking Toastmaster Club, noon, Westgate Church of Christ, 402 S. Pioneer Drive. 325-795-5570.

Retired Military Wives Club business meeting, 1 p.m., Rose Park Senior Activity Center, 2625 South Seventh St. 325-677-9656 or 325-793-1490.

Free swim class for people with multiple sclerosis, 5:30 p.m., YMCA, 3250 State St.

Veterans Peer Support Group, 6 p.m., 765 Orange St. 325-670-4818.

Mid-week Al-Anon Family Group, 6-7 p.m., Open Door Building, 3157 Russell Ave. 325-698-4995.

Advanced Square Dancing, 6:30-8:30 p.m., Wagon Wheel.

Al-Anon, 7 p.m., First United Methodist Church, 1501 N. Broadway, Ballinger. 817-689-2810 or 325-977-1007.

DivorceCare support group, 7 p.m., Hillcrest Church of Christ, 650 E. Ambler Ave. 325-691-4200.

Old Town Abilene Neighborhood Association, 7 p.m., Shining Star Baptist Church, 302 Palm St. 325-676-4068.

Big Country Audubon Society, 7 p.m., Rose Park Senior Citizens Center.

Key City Coin Club, 7 p.m., Rose Park Senior Citizens Center, Room B. 325-675-0266.

American Legion Post and Auxiliary 661 meeting, 7 p.m., Lueders Legion Hall, Highway 6, Lueders.

THURSDAY

Free tax assistance

The AARP will offer free assistance in preparing income tax forms for low- and middle-income taxpayers from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Abilene Public Library, 202 Cedar St. Doors will open at 9 a.m. Space is limited, and help will be provided on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Spring festival

A spring festival will be presented from 6-8:30 p.m. at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, 1718 Pine St. Games, food, balloon animals, face painting and health screenings will be available. For more information, call 325-676-7948.

'The Shadow Box'

A production of "The Shadow Box" will be presented at 7:30 p.m. in Van Ellis Theatre at Hardin-Simmons University. Tickets are $8 for adults, $5 for students, seniors and military, and free for HSU faculty, staff and students.

Other ...

Chronic Pain and Depression Group, 11 a.m. to noon, Mental Health Association of Abilene, 333 Orange St., 325-673-2300.

Abilene Founder Lions Club, 11:30 a.m., Al's Mesquite Grill, 4801 Buffalo Gap Road.

Kiwanis Club of Greater Abilene, noon, Beehive Restaurant, 442 Cedar St. 325-695-0092.

Mental Illness Open Support Group, 1-2 p.m., Mental Health Association of Abilene, 333 Orange St. 325-673-2300.

Blood drive, 1-6 p.m., First Baptist Church, Albany.

Abilene 42 Club, 6 p.m., Rose Park Senior Center.

Teen Recovery Group, 6-7 p.m., Mission Abilene, 3001 N. Third St.

Free certified nurturing parent class (all ages), 6-8 p.m., Mission Church, North Third and Mockingbird streets. 325-672-9398.

Take Off Pounds Sensibly, 6:30 p.m. Brook Hollow Christian Church. Weigh-in begins at 5:30 p.m. 325-665-5052.

Free swim class for people with multiple sclerosis, 6:30 p.m., YMCA, 3250 State St.

Gambler's Anonymous, 6:30 p.m., Unity Spiritual Living Center, 2842 Barrow St. 325-338-2575.

Round Dancing, 7 p.m., Wagon Wheel. 325-829-1517.

South Pioneer Al-Anon Group, 8 p.m., 3157 Russell Ave.

Unity Group of Alcoholics Anonymous, 8 p.m., Episcopal Church of the Heavenly Rest, 602 Meander St.

FRIDAY

Free tax assistance

The AARP will offer free assistance in preparing income tax forms for low- and middle-income taxpayers from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Mockingbird Branch of the Abilene Public Library, 1214 N. Mockingbird Lane. Doors will open at 9 a.m. Space is limited, and help will be provided on a first-come, first-serve basis.

'Hidden Jewel in the Recital Hall'

Abilene Christian University Opera will present "Hidden Jewel in the Recital Hall" at 7:30 p.m. in the recital hall on campus.

'San Francisco'

As part of the Paramount Film Series, a showing of "San Francisco" will begin at 7:30 p.m. at the Paramount Theatre, 352 Cypress St. Robert Holladay will give a lecture on the film at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $6 for adults and $5 for students, seniors, military and children. For more information, visit paramount-abilene.org.

'Hands on a Hardbody'

A production of the musical 'Hands on a Hardbody' will be presented at 7:30 p.m. in Fulks Theatre at Abilene Christian University. Tickets are $15. For more information, go to www.acu.edu/academics/cas/music.

'The Shadow Box'

A production of "The Shadow Box" will be presented at 7:30 p.m. in Van Ellis Theatre at Hardin-Simmons University. Tickets are $8 for adults, $5 for students, seniors and military, and free for HSU faculty, staff and students.

Other ...

Blood drive, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Abilene State Supported Living Center, 2180 Maple St.

Overeaters Anonymous, noon, Hinds Square Building, 100 Chestnut St., Room 112.

Abilene Chinese Corner, 5:30-6:30 p.m., Abilene Christian University library. lld09a@acu.edu.

Disabled American Veterans and Auxiliary, 6 p.m., 2555 Grape St. 325-793-9699 or 325-480-6175.

Mid-City Al-Anon, 7 p.m., First Christian Church. 325-670-4304.
Why is it Angelo State University, not San Angelo State University?

Angelo State University has been named San Angelo Junior College and San Angelo College, but never San Angelo State University.

Rick Smith, front-page columnist extraordinaire for the San Angelo Standard-Times and graduate of ASU, did some research for me.

He found in the ASU 75th Anniversary Retrospective a mention that, "With the name change (in 1965), the institution became the No. 1 four-year state college in Texas, at least alphabetically. In fact, one of the supposed reasons the college was named Angelo State instead of San Angelo State was so that it would appear at the top of an alphabetized list of state four-year institutions."

The institution opened in 1928 as San Angelo Junior College with 112 students paying $75 in-town tuition or $115 out-of-town tuition.

In 1932, the named was changed to San Angelo College, or SAC as it was commonly called. In 1963, the Legislature approved making it a four-year college and the name was changed in 1965 to Angelo State University.

Smith found that in 1966, a student suggested changing the name to the University of San Angelo so the acronym would be USA.

The idea didn't go anywhere and today Angelo State University remains sans "San."
A fatal shooting in Sweetwater Sunday morning has resulted in an arrest, the city's police chief said Monday morning.

The alleged shooter, Tanner Engle, 26, has been booked into the Nolan County Jail on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Engle's bond had not been set as of Monday afternoon, according to the Nolan County Sheriff's Department.

The shooting happened in the 1100 block of Fowler Street in Sweetwater. Sweetwater police chief Brian Frieda said that initial reports of shots fired and a subsequent motor vehicle crash were reported around 11:15 a.m. Sunday.

"Upon arrival, officers found one person in a pickup who was unresponsive," Frieda said.

Emergency medical services arrived on the scene and found Brandon Heath Abeita, 39, in the vehicle, he said. Abeita was taken to Rolling Plains Memorial Hospital, where he was subsequently pronounced dead.

Certain details about the shooting are still hazy, the chief said.

Investigators learned through neighbors that there was "at least one shot fired," he said. Texas Rangers are working with Sweetwater detectives on the case, Frieda said.

"The Rangers are over here working with my detectives and as far as the where they're at with the real minute details as far as the scene and what's transpired, I'm not really at liberty to release a lot of that," Frieda said.

What is known is that Abeita "ended up in the driver's seat" of the pickup, made it "halfway down the block before jumping the curb, hitting a mailbox" and flattening the driver's side front tire, Frieda said.

The vehicle continued northbound, striking and severing a utility pole and traveling through the intersection of Fowler and 12th Street, stopping between Fowler and Elm streets.

The vehicle did not belong to Abeita, and he "did not arrive on scene in that vehicle," Frieda said.

"We're having to slow down and see what the scene actually tells us and try to get everyone's stories and kind of work it out from there," he said.
A suspicious item found in the east parking lot of Big Spring High School turned out to be an instrument to collect seismic data, not a bomb, according to the Big Spring Police Department.

Police were called to the school at 6:30 a.m. Monday, according to a media release by the department, in reference to a suspicious object. They could not identify the object so a perimeter was set up 500 feet in each direction from the object.

About 7:40, the object was identified as a "Fairfield node," a device to collect seismic data belonging to Geokinetics Co.
A trio of Abilene Destination Imagination teams qualified for the competition's Global Finals in Knoxville, Tennessee, after impressive finishes in the state competition this past weekend.

Two teams from Wylie ISD and one from Abilene ISD qualified and will make the trip for the competition set for May 25-28.

"We're definitely excited and anticipating a great turnout this year," Wylie ISD DI coordinator Kim Cheek said. "It's the Super Bowl of creative and critical thinkers and problem solvers and it's always an honor to represent the state and our community."

Wylie's two teams are filled with veterans who've made the trip to Knoxville with the school before. The Banaramas, a structure-building team of now-fifth-grade students, has qualified for Global Finals each of the last three years, while a Wylie High School team called Simply Platonic is competing in the improvisation category.

Simply Platonic, Cheek said, formed by merging two high school teams together at the start of the school year.

According to Jeanie Forehand, director of accountability at Abilene ISD, Team Fusion was the sole survivor of three teams from the district at the state DI competition.

Fusion, which lives up to its name with members from Jackson Elementary, Madison Middle and Cooper High schools all under the same umbrella, competed last year at Global Finals in the theater challenge category.

Wylie High School also celebrated another win at the state competition with senior Kiersten Cooper earning a $1,000 scholarship among the entire state's competitors, Cheek said.

Cooper, who will attend Texas A&M University next year, added the award to two previous $1,000 scholarships she earned at the regional level, Cheek said.

Twitter: @TimothyChippARN
A group of 25 students and four chaperones from Auxerre, France, are traveling around Abilene and the Big Country this week through an arrangement with Region 14 Education Service Center.

The group from Lycee Joseph Fourier school arrived Sunday and opened its visit Monday by checking out the 12th Armored Division Memorial Museum on North Second Street. From there, the 29 tourists spent the rest of the morning and afternoon with stops at both Abilene and Cooper high schools and taking in some of the district sights.

Veronique Guichard and Julia Ruban, both chaperoning the students on their trip to the United States, said there was a lot to enjoy in their first day in the Big Country.

"The arts, theater, the music," Ruban said. "We got to listen to the choir sing (at Cooper High School)."

The adults said the one of the biggest shocks to the students was how big and expansive the high schools and surrounding areas were. There's not as much space to work with where they live France, they said.

Another aspect of the trip the French group appreciated was stopping at Shotwell Stadium. Not only did they get to step out on the artificial turf, they walked through the dressing rooms and the press box.

They said the students, who were exhausted after a long day, really enjoyed the stadium.

Beyond the sights, the chaperones said interacting with the students from the two high schools was a real highlight.

They played games and ate a meal with the students from Abilene High, then explored Cooper High with a group of four students from that school.

"We had a great time," Guichard said.

Tuesday, the students will spend the entire day at Merkel High School. Wednesday will see the students travel to Colorado City and Westbrook ISD, with a tour of the Heart of Texas Museum scheduled.

The rest of the week will feature visits to Highland ISD, Stamford, Fort Phantom Hill and the Texas Cowboy Reunion rodeo grounds.

Twitter: @TimothyChippARN
The Abilene Independent School District Monday evening named Robert Morrison, principal of Sweeny High School on the Texas Gulf Coast, as the next principal at Abilene High School.

Morrison, who is a graduate of Brownwood's Howard Payne University, will succeed Jennifer Raney, who announced her plans to retire at the end of the school year.

She has been principal at AHS since 2012, but was subject to an external review earlier this school year and served in a central office administrative role while the district investigated her part in the Breanne Brown sexual assault incidences in the 2014-15 school year. She returned to principal duties in October.

While he's never lived in Abilene, Morrison said he's always held the community in high regard.

Robert Morrison, named next principal at Abilene High School, speaks after being confirmed by the AISD board Monday Posted by Posted by ARN Education on Monday, April 4, 2016

"I'm very excited about the opportunity of working out here at Abilene High," he said. "I've always had an admiration for the community and for the citizens of Abilene, being in Brownwood, going to Howard Payne University and being in the Big Country area from about 1977 to 1987."

The school board approved Morrison's hiring by a 4-0 vote, with Randy Piersall and Robert Laird not in attendance.

Morrison said he wants to "involve parents, involve students and all the shareholders in the community" in educating Abilene students.

Before taking his position at Sweeny High, Morrison served as associate principal at Montgomery and Spring high schools, both in Texas. He is a past president of the Texas Association of Secondary School Principals, which represents 5,300 campus-level administrators.

"I'll bring my passion and commitment to the education of young people," Morrison said. "I've always believed in the philosophy of investing in young people to give them an opportunity for our future."

Morrison was selected after a process Superintendent David Young said included a committee of teachers, principals and other district representatives. This committee reviewed the applicants and performed initial interviews before providing Young with a list of finalists.

Young said he interviewed the remaining candidates and felt Morrison was the top choice for the school.

In other board news, the district is continuing its effort to sell portable classrooms through its contracted online auctioneer, ReneBates.com.

Construction Coordinator Joe Humphrey said three portable rooms will be auctioned through April 18, including a double-sized portable with a restroom and a single portable both at Madison Middle. A third being sold is at Abilene High.

Humphrey said the first round of portable sales resulted in three portables sold above the minimum price, which was set at $3,000 for a single. He said the district sets the double-sized portables at a minimum price of $4,000 at auction.

Finally, the school board's April meeting will be held at 5 p.m. with a closed session at the start of the meeting on April 18. The date of the meeting is pushed back due to an out-of-state conference district officials will be attending.

Twitter: @TimothyChippARN
Glen Robertson, Lubbock mayor and candidate for U.S. Congressional District 19, received the endorsement of one of his former rivals Monday afternoon.

Donald May, a retina surgeon from Lubbock, threw his support behind Robertson at a news conference at Frontier Texas! May said it was time to make a choice and that Robertson is the right choice.

Robertson will face Jodey Arrington, former Texas Tech vice chancellor, in a May 24 runoff election to see who will go up against Green Party candidate Mark Lawson and Libertarian Troy Bonar in the Nov. 8 general election. The victor will replace outgoing Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-Lubbock.

"We need someone to fight for our values," May said. "We need people with steel backbones in Washington."

May said he spoke with the other candidates who were in the race, thought and prayed about his choices, and he "could only come to one conclusion."

"It's Glen Robertson," he said. "He's the only conservative left in this election."

Robertson is a proven leader with "real life experience" who represents conservative values and the interests of the "hardworking men and women of West Texas," May said.

The Republicans in Congress have been "cowards" who have not stood up to President Obama, he said. Instead, they have worked to get themselves re-elected and amass fortunes for themselves and their families and friends, May said.

Robertson will stand up to the "liberals in Washington and the Republican elite," May said.

"Glen doesn't just talk about conservative values. He lives them," he said.

May said he will serve as an active supporter and adviser to Robertson as he continues his runoff campaign.

Robertson said it was an honor to receive May's endorsement.

"We will fight the good fight," Robertson said, "and try to move this country forward."

Attempts to contact Michael Bob Starr failed Monday. The Abilenian, who was in the primary election, has not endorsed a candidate.
I used to chuckle when Donald Trump called himself a "unifier." So far, the Republican front-runner has been about as unifying as a fox in a henhouse.

Yet unity appeared in unexpected ways after his comments on abortion rights in a town meeting with host Chris Matthews on MSNBC. The Donald's views, which he appeared to be sorting out even as we watched, amazingly brought pro-choice and anti-abortion leaders together  against him!

Hemming and hawing like a student who had forgotten to study his homework, Trump tried and failed to change the subject before he finally seemed to decide what he believes.

That required a big leap for him. He supported abortion rights through all nine months of pregnancy in the 1990s. Now as front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, Trump has evolved. Now, he said, he believes that women who have an abortion should be subject to "some kind of punishment."

Trump's allies in that cause were no happier with that answer than his adversaries were. The anti-abortion side has long insisted service providers, not women seeking an abortion, should be prosecuted  even though simple logic tells me that if abortion is "murder," as the anti-abortion movement insists, the woman who has one would be at least an accomplice.

So, as pro-choice politicians and other activists said in effect, "We told you so," anti-abortion leaders tried to clean up the damage. Jeanne Mancini, president of the March for Life Education and Defense Fund, for example, called Trump's remarks "completely out of touch with the pro-life movement and even more with women who have chosen such a sad thing as abortion."

How bad was the damage? So bad that Trump, who normally refuses to apologize or give even a nod to political correctness, completely recanted his abortion statement and issued a new one.

"The woman is a victim in this case, as is the life in her womb," said the statement, which sounded downright non-Trumpian in its grace and civility.

Trump's abortion stumble took attention away from his wobbly views on the use of nuclear weapons. He waffled from considering nukes as a possible weapon against the Islamic State, to refusing to consider the use of nukes in Europe to "I'm not going to use nuclear, but I'm not taking any cards off the table."

With that, our overseas allies are likely trembling more than our enemies are.

Watching Trump, I am moved to ask, does this guy really want to win this campaign?

This is a time when the polls are beginning to matter as a serious indication of who's going to win in November. Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton already is running TV ads that attack Trump as if he were the GOP nominee, though the ads don't name him. Meanwhile, Trump is still campaigning as though he were on a comedy tour and, by the way, learning the job as he campaigns for it.

More bad news for the Trumpster: A new Washington Post-ABC News poll released Thursday found that, instead of expanding the GOP's big tent, Trump has shrunk it.

If he wins his party's nomination, the Post reported, he would start the general election campaign as "the least-popular candidate to represent either party in modern times."

"Three quarters of women view him unfavorably," the newspaper reported. "So do nearly two-thirds of independents, 80 percent of young adults, 85 percent of Hispanics and nearly half of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents."

Even Trump's widely reported leads among white men, white evangelical Protestants and whites with a high school diploma or less has shrunk, the poll found. Slightly more than half of all three expressed unfavorable impressions of him.

I'm not going to count him out, but if he really wants to win, he still has a lot of homework to do.

Email Clarence Page, a member of the Chicago Tribune editorial board,l at cpage@tribune.com.
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Cambodias Anti-Corruption Unit detained the nations controversial ambassador to South Korea, Suth Dina, and is preparing to file corruption charges following a probe of his spending, complaints by Foreign Ministry staff and Cambodian migrant workers, the units chief said on Tuesday.

While Suth Dina could face a pair of corruption charges, ACU chief Om Yentieng declined to specify what the charges will be.

We arrested him yesterday at 7p.m, so we have 48 hours until tomorrow at 7 p.m. to charge him, he told RFAs Khmer service. After 48 hours, it means we must bring him and his case to the court.

Om Yentieng refused to say what charges were, but he said the ones for which Suth Dina was arrested are relatively minor, hinting that he may face even more serious ones later.

We found so many faults, so we may choose just the two counts at first in order to send him to court before the 48 hours is up, he said. As for other offences well work on them later.

Suth Dina's response

Regarding the allegations, Suth Dina in mid-March posted a request for a review from Prime Minister Hun Sen on his Facebook page. In the post he asked Hun Sen to look into the case and give him justice.

In the post, he writes that he strived to fulfill his role and sacrificed everything to serve the government, the ruling Cambodian Peoples Party as well as the people and students who are living, studying and working in South Korea.

If I do not have a firm stance, I could not have success in the hot battles of administrative work, diplomatic work, and politics, he wrote in the post, adding that he also has to fight with those who are twisting my words  and reporting to the upper levels in order for them to revoke trust in me or to remove me from my post.

He added: The officials who come after me have no conscience about their work, no sacrifice, no transparency as officials who have to serve the workers and the Cambodian people. They just conspire with each other, finding all means to complain about me, to accuse and defame me, to get rid of me from my post I hold to serve the people.

Suth Dina was a former president of the Cambodian Democracy and Students Front who supported Prince Norodom Rannaridhs FUNCINPEC Party. He used to be a political activist who led demonstrations against the CPP. In 2009, however, he joined the CPP and soon after that he was nominated as undersecretary of state at the Foreign Affairs Ministry and was also a personal advisor to Hun Sen. In 2014, he was appointed as Cambodian Ambassador to South Korea, an important investor in Cambodia.

Preap Kol, executive director of Transparency International Cambodia, welcomed the move by the ACU.

It is what the citizens in general want, he told RFA. They want to see the ACU taking actions against corruption in all cases.

This is the second time the ACU has taken actions against Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials for corruption. Last week, the ACU arrested a Foreign Ministry official named Hea a Sen for allegedly taking bribes from foreign companies in exchange for approving various documents.

Reported by Chandara Yang for RFA's Khmer Service. Translated by Pagnawath Khun. Written in English by Brooks Boliek.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (3rd L, 2nd row from bottom) and members of the Politburo sing China's national anthem during the annual meeting of the government's political advisory body in Beijing, March 14, 2016.

China's powerful propaganda ministry has ordered all media outlets to delete any reports on the Panama Papers, a massive leak of confidential files that revealed widespread use of offshore tax havens by political leaders worldwide, including some relatives of high-ranking Chinese leaders.

"Find and delete reprinted reports on the Panama Papers," a leaked provincial propaganda directive published and translated by the U.S.-based China Digital Times (CDT) website said. "Please act immediately."

"Do not follow up on related content, no exceptions," the April 4 directive, delivered verbally to news editors across China, said.

"If material from foreign media attacking China is found on any website, it will be dealt with severely," it said.

A less stringent take-down order was issued targeting the reporting of Russian President Vladimir Putin's link to the documents leaked from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, according to CDT, which runs an archive of such notices titled "Ministry of Truth."

"Please withdraw the article 'Panama Papers Leaked, Putin in U.S. $200 Million Money Laundering Scandal' and related stories from [all] homepages and [social media], and move articles to the backend of the site," the notice, also dated April 4, said.

Scant discussion

But while the revelations have sent shock waves through the rest of the world's media, there was scant discussion of the leaks in China on Tuesday after censors removed all reference to the story across the Chinese Internet.

A Chinese journalist who gave only his surname Wu said it's now not possible to view news reports on the Panama Papers without using circumvention tools to get around the system of blocks and filters known as the Great Firewall.

"No, we can't see anything about this in China right now," Wu said. "It has all been deleted; it's all gone."

He said posts on forums, QQ chat groups, Twitter-like Weibo services and the popular messaging app WeChat were all being deleted if they mentioned the Panama Papers.

"Some people are still passing around screenshots of stories as images to their friends, however," Wu added.

At least eight current or former members of the all-powerful Politburo standing committee are among the more than 140 political figures worldwide linked to the offshore tax havens, according to a global investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), the German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung and more than 100 other news organizations.

The ICIJ's website carrying details of the leaks was blocked in China on Tuesday, according to the anti-censorship website GreatFirewall.org.

Included in the names uncovered by the investigation are the brother-in-law of Chinese President Xi Jinping, Deng Jiagui, and the daughter of late former premier Li Peng, Li Xiaolin.

According to the examination of some 11.5 million documents, Deng set up two British Virgin Islands companies in 2009, while Li and her husband Liu Zhiyuan were the beneficiaries of Foundation Silo, a Lichtenstein foundation that was the sole shareholder of Cofic Investments Ltd., a company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands during Li Peng's tenure as premier.

Li Xiaolin (L), daughter of former Chinese Premier Li Peng, attends the annual meeting of the government's political advisory body in Beijing, March 7, 2016. ImagineChina Highly sensitive

Wu said the leaks are highly sensitive, as they potentially implicate some of the highest-ranking leaders of the ruling Chinese Communist Party.

"This goes to the highest level ... A lot of people do know about this, but there are still many who don't know anything about it," he said.

"Netease and Tencent both had stories about it, but they only spoke about the overseas aspects, because on the first day it was mostly about Putin," he said.

"It wasn't until day two that reports started to emerge gradually about China's highest-ranking leaders, but ... now all reports about the Panama Papers have been banned," he said.

A worker in the legal profession surnamed Zhang said there was now a nationwide silence on the topic.

"These voices aren't being heard in China. Why? Because China has the Great Firewall," he said.

"There was a directive that nobody was to post anything on this topic, and, it pains me to say it, but that's actually what happened," he said.

Meanwhile, official Chinese media said the Mossack Fonseca leak was likely the work of "powerful forces" targeting "non-Western political elites."

The tabloid Global Times, which has close ties to the ruling party, said "the power behind the leak" is engaging a campaign of disinformation with an ideological aim.

"In the Internet era, disinformation ... will become a new means for the ideology-allied Western nations to strike a blow to non-Western political elites and key organizations," the paper said.

"The Western media has taken control of the interpretation each time there has been such a document dump, and Washington has demonstrated particular influence in it," it said, adding that leaks of documents by former NSA [U.S. National Security Agency] contractor Edward Snowden appeared to be "the most credible."

Groundless accusations

Asked on Tuesday if Beijing would launch an investigation into the tax affairs of those named by the ICIJ, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said the ministry would not comment on "these groundless accusations."

Freedom of speech activist Wu Bin said the government now has a stranglehold on information in China.

"There is no freedom of expression in China, and the only news that gets widely disseminated is news that is in [the government's] interest," Wu Bin told RFA. "It's wall-to-wall trivia, like [President] Xi Jinping eating dumplings, tiny things like that which get huge articles written about them."

"They believe that they can orchestrate the main theme tune and broadcast positive energy to the nation, and any news that isn't in their interest just becomes a wall of silence; it's not even mentioned," he said.

Reported by Wong Siu-san and Chan Siu-po for RFA's Cantonese Service, and by Yang Fan for the Mandarin Service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie.
Myanmars Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi met with her visiting Chinese counterpart on Tuesday in Naypyidaw, diving straight into one of her new government cabinet roles under the National League for Democracy (NLD) government.

I assume that Chinas visit to Myanmar in the first week of new government is to build a good relationship between two countries, she told the media at a press conference following her meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who is on his first official two-day visit during the new governments first week in office.

On Monday, President Htin Kyaw, who also had originally appointed her to lead the electric power and energy and education ministries, named two bureaucrats to take on the positions, leaving her to focus on the foreign affairs and Presidents Office portfolios.

Aung San Suu Kyi has also retained her political party position as NLD chairwoman.

But Aung San Suu Kyi and Wang Yi did not broach the possible restart of a controversial hydropower dam project financed by the Chinese that former president Thein Sein put on hold in 2011.

We didnt discuss the Myitsone Dam project with the Chinese foreign minister because I havent become familiar enough with the contract details, she said. He has just visited to honor our new government.

Thein Sein stopped China Power Investment Corporation (CPI), one of Chinas largest state-owned electricity producers, from continuing to build the 6,000-megawatt, $3.6-billion Myitsone Dam project along the Irrawaddy River in northern Myanmars Kachin State amid fervent opposition, mainly because of the environmental destruction it was predicted to cause.

Aung San Suu Kyi has been one of the Myitsone Dam projects most vocal opponents. After the NLD won national elections last November, she assured Chinese leaders at the time that she sought continued friendly relations between the two countries and welcomed Chinese investment in Myanmar, as long as investors won the trust of the Myanmar people.

Some political observers in Myanmar have said the decision about whether or not to continue the dam project will be one of the biggest challenges for the new government, given that Chinese-backed companies are the largest foreign investors in the country.

Their heavy-handed tactics in exploiting natural resources, however, have sparked vehement public opposition.

Above the president

The meeting came the same day as Myanmars lower house of parliament approved a bill appointing Aung San Suu Kyi to the role of state counselor, a new position that some say will give her more power than the president.

The position will allow her to direct the activities of both parliament and the executive branch.

As the separate chapters and articles were passed by the majority of lawmakers, the entire bill was approved, said lower house speaker Win Myint.

Military deputies, who control a quarter of parliamentary seats, objected to the bill, which they said is unconstitutional.

I submitted my proposal yesterday and said that we will support this bill if it is in accordance with the constitution and try to amend it if we need to, said Brigadier General Maung Maung, a military deputy and member of the Bill Committee.

This bill has not been drafted according to the constitution, he said. It is democratic bullying. Thats why our military MPs [members of parliament] didnt vote in favor of this bill.

Aung San Suu Kyi, who is barred from the presidency under a constitutional clause that forbids anyone with foreign-born relatives from holding the nations top office, vowed to be above the president after the NLD won the November elections.

Both houses of parliament on Tuesday also approved Htin Kyaws new nominees for the ministries of electric power and energy and education, to which Aung San Suu Kyi was briefly appointed last week.

Reported by Win Naung Toe for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
David Saperstein, U.S. ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, just returned from Vietnam where he joined a US State Department delegation examining the state of religious freedom in the Southeast Asian country. Saperstein discussed what he found out, what changes the country is making and how religious refuges from Vietnam are being treated. The ambassador at large is a principal adviser to President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry, and he serves as the United States chief diplomat on issues of religious freedom worldwide. Saperstein also heads the Office of International Religious Freedom in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. For 40 years, Saperstein served as director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, overseeing national social justice programming for the largest segment of American Jewry. A rabbi and an attorney, for 35 years Saperstein taught seminars on the First Amendment, Church-State Law and Jewish Law at Georgetown University Law Center.

RFA: You traveled to Thailand to meet with some of the Vietnamese refugees there. What did you find out?

Saperstein: All of the asylum seekers who come to Bangkok, including Vietnamese asylum seekers, live in a kind of limbo until they have their interview with the U.N. High Commission on Refugees and qualify for refugee status. Before that time, if they come to the attention of authorities, they can be detained in a detention camp kind of setting.

That is a serious challenge that all of the Vietnamese and other asylum seekers face there. They are in relative physical safety during the time they are there, and the UNHCR is working to close the gap of time it takes to have those interviews. Once they are in the UNHCR system they are in a protected status just like any other refugees across the globe.

RFA: What did the Vietnamese refugees tell you about their problems in Vietnam and what they are seeking?

Saperstein: In Bangkok, the big challenge for them is getting formally registered as refugees. Moving through that process takes some time, and there are challenges they face. Then there are some who are not in camps but are living in urban areas. Its always a little challenging to find everyone in the urban areas to make sure that they are having their interviews and are process.

We heard stories of persecution of people who were harassed for their religious practices. They were in unregistered churches and were harassed by authorities, or they were pastors who were harassed by authorities. It was not just religious persecution. There were some who felt they were persecuted for their political beliefs or protests as well.

RFA: You met with religious leaders in Vietnam. What did you learn from them?

Saperstein: In the big cities and many other areas of the country, there was widespread agreement that there has been consistent, incremental improvement in their condition. That more churches and houses of worship are getting registered and unregistered churches are able to function with a greater deal of freedom and security then they have been before.

RFA: So does that mean Vietnam has turned the corner of religious freedom?

Saperstein: In the main, there was a feeling that things are moving in the right direction. Having said that, everyone said the continued existence of the burdensome system of registration, the onerous system of having to notify the authorities of every single activity that people want to do; not only the programmatic life of the church, or the pagoda, or the mosque, but  everything needing approval of the government, truly interferes with their autonomy and their ability to live their religious lives as they wished.

RFA: Is that more true in the cities or the countryside?

Saperstein: There were stories of more overt harassment and interference by the authorities, particularly for the unregistered churches. These were more common in the ethnic minority communities. More of them proportionally were unable to get their churches registered, and more of those people face harassment and interference from the local authorities. Its a mixed picture.

RFA: Did you have trouble meeting with the people you wanted to meet?

They allowed us to move to a couple of different places in the highlands and to meet with a wide range of representatives of different religious and ethnic communities. We were encouraged by that.

RFA: The wife of Mennonite pastor Nguyen Cong Chinh told us that she had trouble meeting with you, and that when the meeting finally happened, there was a police presence. Is that something of which you were aware?

Saperstein: We were very aware of what was going on. She called us and reported to us that the police had approached her and were blocking her from getting to the hotel. Then she reported us that they escorted her back home. As soon as we heard about it, we called authorities there and asked them to check out whether or not this was true, so we could have unimpeded access to her. When we talked to her, there were some who she identified as police who were in the proximity, but our staff moved them away.

RFA: You met with Deputy Minister of Public Security To Lam. Can you tell us what you discussed?

Saperstein: Our meetings with the government officials were pretty consistent. With Vice Chair To Lam, we focused on issues of prisoners of conscience and the harassment of people including pastor Chinhs wife. With all of the officials, we raised the general appreciation for the kinds of improvements we talked about and our encouragement that these continue...We focused on the law Focusing on the law allows us to address the structural issues of religious freedom. There are some encouraging signs in the way the different drafts of the new law have been opening up religious freedom. This is part of the on-going bilateral relationship we have with Vietnam. Step-by-step we are encouraging them to go further than that.

RFA: Are you aware of the news that one pastor in the Central Highlands was summoned by the police after he talked to you?

Saperstein: We just heard about it. Our embassy is trying to check out exactly what the facts are, and anytime theres interference with anyone in the religious communities, we discuss it with the Vietnamese authorities.

RFA: Whats next?

Saperstein: There are a series of high-level meetings that we will be following mine. The president of the United States will be there, and were trying to set the ground work because these issues are of crucial importance to the president.
Afghan officials say at least seven people have been killed in a suicide bomb attack in the country's north.

Shah Wali Shahed, deputy provincial governor for Parwan Province, said 26 were also wounded in the attack on April 5.

The blast occurred in Parwan's Seya Gerd district.

Mohammad Zaman Mamozai, the provincial police chief, said the suicide bomber was riding a motorcycle when he detonated his explosives.

Mamozai said the target of the attack was Afghan security forces. But he said the casualties were all civilians, including children.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, although the Taliban has been blamed for similar attacks in the past.

Parwan, a relatively stable province, is the site of the Bagram Airfield, the largest former U.S. base in Afghanistan.

The militants have intensified attacks against Afghan security forces and government targets across the country in the past year.
The Afghan Taliban has given the son of its late founder, Mullah Mohammad Omar, a leadership post in the militant group.

A Taliban statement on April 5 said Mohammad Yuqub, Mullah Omar's eldest son, was appointed as the head of the group's military commission.

Yuqub and his uncle, Abdul Manan, were appointed to the Taliban's leadership council.

Both Yuqub and Manan had initially opposed the appointment of new Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansur in July last year, just days after the Kabul government revealed that Mullah Omar had died in Pakistan two years ago.

Some Taliban leaders have accused Mullah Mansur of keeping Mullah Omar's death a secret.

The appointment of two of its founder's closest relatives would appear to strengthen the position of Mullah Mansur, who still faces opposition from some factions within the movement.

Based on reporting by Reuters and Express Tribune
The exact relationship between Yerevan and the Armenia-backed separatist military force in Azerbaijan's breakaway territory of Nagorno-Karabakh is murky.

Independent researchers say it is very difficult to obtain analytically solid details about the exact size of the so-called Nagorno-Karabakh Army or the source of some of the separatist fighters' weaponry.

But the general perception is that there are political, economic, and military links with Yerevan -- and that the Armenian government supports ethnic Armenian fighters who have controlled the territory since the end of their separatist war against Azerbaijan in the early 1990s.

Close examination of the separatist force does reveal some military ties with Yerevan, as well as political synergy.

But Armenia's government insists it has not deployed any military subunits on the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Both Yerevan and Nagorno-Karabakh's self-declared, internationally unrecognized leadership maintain that the separatist forces solely comprise ethnic Armenian fighters from the breakaway region.

But the conclusions of independent Western experts -- including researchers for the British Defense Ministry, the International Crisis Group (ICG), and the British-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) -- cast doubt on those claims.

'An Open Secret'

In a 2008 research paper published by the Defense Academy of the United Kingdom, C.W. Blandy stated that "several battalions" of the Armenian Army were "deployed directly in the Karabakh zone on occupied Azerbaijani territory."

Blandy also reported that Yerevan supplied weapons and other military necessities directly to authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh's capital, Stepanakert.

He said military training provided by officers from Armenia's armed forces to the Nagorno-Karabakh separatist ranks was "an open secret."

Finally, Blandy maintained that, in 2008, more than half of the 20,000-strong Nagorno-Karabakh force comprised citizens of Armenia.

The IISS's Armed Conflict Database currently states that "Armenia continues to occupy Nagorno-Karabakh and seven areas around it, all internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, while Armenian and Azerbaijani forces face off along a 'line of contact' stretching for more than 100 kilometers."

Richard Giragosian, director of an independent Yerevan-based think tank called the Regional Studies Center, agrees that military training and education provided to Nagorno-Karabakh's forces by officers from the Armenian Army is "an open secret."

But he says there also is a "careful distinction in the operational command" of the separatist army. Nagorno-Karabakh's separatist forces control the territory and maintain a security belt of occupied Azerbaijani territory under their own independent chain of command -- a command structure that is separate and distinct from the Armenian Army.

Giragosian says that command structure is a by-product of the pursuit of independence by ethnic Armenian separatists in the enclave. Even before the 1994 cease-fire deal was reached with Azerbaijan, early attempts to convert local ethnic Armenian paramilitary groups into a unified standing army were well under way.

Still, Giragosian notes that Yerevan's state budget officially allocates financial subsidies to Nagorno-Karabakh's breakaway government.

The exact amounts and purposes of those subsidies are not transparent.

'A Very Close Relationship'

Key political figures in Armenia also played an important role in the founding of the "Nagorno-Karabakh Army" in May 1992. Among them are Armenia's former President Robert Kocharian, a native of Nagorno-Karabakh who served as the commander in chief of the Nagorno-Karabakh Army and also served as prime minister and president of the territory's self-declared government.

Armenia's current president, Serzh Sarkisian, is also a native of Nagorno-Karabakh who played a key role in bringing together disparate local paramilitary forces in the early 1990s to create the Armenian-backed, unified military force.

Giragosian says the links between senior Armenian government officials and the Nagorno-Karabakh force are revealing.

"The relationship is based on a bilateral synergy," he says. "[Even] the current defense minister of Armenia is actually the former defense minister of [the self-declared government] of Nagorno-Karabakh. And the formulation of the national security of Armenia takes into account security demands and expectations of Nagorno-Karabakh proper. So there is a very close relationship and synergy."

In terms of military equipment, however, experts say there is not much evidence suggesting that Armenia has been sending modern hardware into Nagorno-Karabakh -- particularly the latest armor and artillery that Yerevan has been purchasing from Russia since Moscow and Yerevan signed a cooperation agreement in 2014, or under a $200 million loan provided in 2015 by Moscow to Armenia so it could purchase modern Russian weapons.

Most of the estimated 200 to 300 battle tanks and artillery pieces held by the Nagorno-Karabakh separatists are thought to be refurbished combat vehicles left behind in the early 1990s by retreating Azerbaijani forces. There have been no sightings of modern Russian-built T-90 tanks. However, some of the Soviet-era T-72 tanks used by the Nagorno-Karabakh separatists have been improved with modern upgrades.

An IISS assessment called The Military Balance, which was published in February, says some of the forces' equipment may belong to Armenia's military.

The IISS assessment also says the Nagorno-Karabakh separatist force's overall personnel strength remains at an estimated 18,000 to 20,000. But it also is thought to have another 20,000 to 30,000 reservists on standby and prepared for quick mobilization.


Azerbaijan and Armenian-backed separatists in its breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh said on April 5 that a cease-fire was in place to halt the deadliest flare-up over that mountainous South Caucasus enclave in decades.

The apparent breakthrough comes with increasingly strident international calls for restraint between forces loyal to regional archenemies Azerbaijan and Armenia, which have been locked in conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh since the waning years of the Soviet Union.

A spokesman for the Armenian-backed Nagorno-Karabakh separatist forces, Senor Hasratyan, told RFE/RL's Armenian Service on April 5 that the mutual agreement called for an end to fighting from 12 p.m. local time.

The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry then confirmed that military operations had been stopped along the "line of contact" that effectively serves as a front line separating the combatant sides.

Armenia's Defense Ministry later said that "[o]perations along the line of contact between the Azerbaijani and Armenian forces have been suspended...upon the agreement of the parties."

The latest outbreak of violence -- the worst since the mid-1990s -- began early on April 2 and involved tanks, helicopters, and artillery.

In a statement, representatives of the so-called Minsk Group of mediators in the conflict -- France, Russia, and the United States -- urged the sides to stop fighting, saying there is no military solution to the conflict. They also called for "an immediate negotiation" on a comprehensive settlement.

"The negotiations have brought no results, but we are still prepared for the negotiating process," Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said.

In Washington, the U.S. State Department welcomed the cease-fire and said it is engaging with both sides to urge them to fully respect it.

"The United States does welcome both sides confirmation of a cease-fire. Its a very nascent cease-fire but were encouraged that it does seem to have taken hold," State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters on April 5.

"We are actively engaging with both sides to urge them to strictly adhere to the cease-fire," Toner added.

He said it was "most urgent" for both sides of the conflict to get back to the negotiating table.

In Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly called on the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia "to immediately ensure the cessation of hostilities and the observance of the cease-fire."

Putin made the appeal in separate telephone conversations with Azerbaijani President Aliyev and Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian, the Kremlin said in a statement.

"It was pointed out that Russia had been taking and would continue to take the necessary mediating steps aimed at normalizing the situation," the statement said.

Moscow "will continue making all necessary intermediary steps to normalize the situation in connection with the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," it added.

WATCH: A Revived Frozen Conflict In Nagorno-Karabakh

Earlier in Paris, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said the co-chairs of the Minsk Group would send envoys to Azerbaijan, Armenia, and to Nagorno-Karabakh in a bid to resolve the crisis.

The announcement came with representatives of the so-called Minsk Group of mediators in the conflict -- France, Russia, and the United States -- expected to meet in Vienna on April 5 for crisis talks.

Ayrault was speaking after talks with his German counterpart, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who said the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) would send a fact-finding mission to Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Nagorno-Karabakh.

After speaking with the Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers -- Elmar Mammadyarov and Edward Nalbandian respectively -- EU foreign-policy chief Federica Mogherini urged a strict observance of the cease-fire by all parties and an end to any targeting of civilians.

"All parties must take the necessary steps to create an environment conducive to successful negotiations, including avoiding actions and statements which could further complicate the already complex environment," Mogherini's statement said.

Populated mainly by ethnic Armenians and with many ethnic Azerbaijanis having already fled, the territory declared independence from Azerbaijan in a 1988-94 war that claimed an estimated 30,000 lives and displaced hundreds of thousands of people.

Each side reported new casualties on April 5 as the death toll from four days of fighting rose above 40, with one estimate as high as 64 killed.

Azerbaijan has reported 16 combat deaths, while the Karabakh military said 20 of its servicemen had died.

The Armenian Defense Ministry later announced that seven people were killed in an Azerbaijani drone attack on a bus carrying volunteers to the disputed region.

Azerbaijan also reported civilian deaths, including at least four overnight.

The destruction of heavy military equipment has been claimed by both sides.

Each side accused the other of escalating the violence as the West, Russia, and neighbor Iran appealed to all sides for restraint.

On April 4, Azerbaijani Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov warned that Baku's forces would begin an artillery barrage on Stepanakert, which has around 50,000 residents, if Armenian forces did "not stop shelling our settlements."

The defense forces of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh republic promised a "very painful" response.

WATCH: Azerbaijani Power Station Destroyed Ahead Of Nagorno-Karabakh Cease-Fire

They also said Azerbaijan "had been increasing the caliber of its weapons day by day," and had used Smerch multiple-launch rocket systems to shell civilian settlements and military targets.

Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry on April 5 denied having targeted civilians and a spokesman said that while Baku's forces had Smerches, they hadn't used them "so far."

Baku also said the Armenians were using large-caliber machine guns and 120-millimeter mortars overnight.

Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian warned on April 4 that a further escalation of the fighting would be fraught with "unpredictable and irreversible consequences, including a full-scale war."

Armenian foe and NATO member Turkey waded in on April 5 to say it was "standing side-by-side with our brothers in Azerbaijan."

"This persecution will not continue forever," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said. "Karabakh will one day return to its original owner. It will be Azerbaijan's."

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu condemned what he described as Armenian attacks in the Nagorno-Karabakh region and vowed Ankara would stand by Azerbaijan.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov expressed serious concern over an escalation in the standoff and called for a swift cessation in fighting.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said via Twitter he had told Sarkisian and the president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, that "a comprehensive settlement in Nagorno-Karabakh is critical for their stability, security, prosperity."

With reporting by RFE/RL's Armenian and Azerbaijani services, AFP, AP, Interfax, and Reuters
The tensions between Republic of Ingushetia head Yunus-Bek Yevkurov and the republic's mufti, Issa-hadzhi Khamkhoyev, have worsened over the past two months. Khamkhoyev has managed to thwart Yevkurov's plans to convene a congress of the Council of Alims (Muslim scholars) that would have removed Khamkhoyev from his post. Yevkurov countered by announcing that the muftiate will be dissolved and its duties transferred temporarily to the Council of Alims.

The antagonism between the two men has its roots in the uneasy coexistence in Ingushetia between various Sufi "tariqahs" (brotherhoods) and adherents of the more puritanical Salafism. Khamkhoyev, together with other members of the official clergy, belongs to the Qadiriya Sufi tariqah, which is at odds with both the Salafi community and the rival Naqshbandi Sufi brotherhood, which does not recognize the authority of the Spiritual Center of Muslims (DTsM) that Khamkhoyev heads.

Khamkhoyev has accused the Salafis of seeking to split Ingushetia's Muslim community by encouraging believers to reject the authority of the DTsM. He also claims they consider it permissible to kill those who do not share their views.

Yevkurov, by contrast, seeks to downplay the differences between the Sufi and Salafi congregations and to promote dialogue between them. His rationale is presumably less theological than secular and pragmatic, dictated by the need to avoid antagonizing and alienating young Salafis to the point that they head for Syria to join the ranks of the militant group Islamic State (IS).

The mutual distrust between the official Muslim clergy headed by Khamkhoyev and the Salafi minority, in particular the hugely popular preacher Khamzat Chumakov and his followers, escalated last summer into a confrontation that nearly turned violent.

In late December, Yevkurov declared publicly that Khamkhoyev's behavior on that occasion "undermined the authority" of the official clergy, and he called on him to resign.

Khamkhoyev refused point-blank, arguing that only his fellow clerics are empowered to remove him from his post, to which he was reelected in 2014 for a third term. He then traveled to Grozny, where he secured the backing of Chechen Republic head Ramzan Kadyrov. Kadyrov is seemingly unwilling or unable to differentiate between peaceful, law-abiding adherents of Salafism and the Salafi militants who in recent years have joined the ranks of the North Caucasus insurgency or IS; he has branded them all as "terrorists."

Addressing a gathering of Sufis in Grozny in early February that Khamkhoyev attended, Kadyrov warned that "heads will roll" if Chumakov ever seeks to preach on Chechen territory.

That threat, and Khamkhoyev's overt alignment with the Chechen clergy and leadership, were widely condemned in Ingushetia. Whether spontaneously or at Yevkurov's prompting, the secular Council of Teyps (Clans) immediately issued its own demand for Khamkhoyev's resignation.

Insofar as religious bodies are not subordinate to the republican authorities, Yevkurov is not empowered personally to remove Khamkhoyev from his post. Therefore, in early March, Yevkurov convened a meeting of clerics from the various different Sufi brotherhoods. Participants reportedly condemned Khamkhoyev's refusal to resign as mufti and scheduled for March 29 a congress of alims that was to elect his successor.

Khamkhoyev, however, set out to subvert the Council of Alims, reportedly dismissing those of its 15 members who would have voted for his removal and replacing them with staunch loyalists, a move that Nationalities Minister Ulan Yevloyev claimed violated the statutes of the Council of Alims.

Khamkhoyev also convened a joint meeting on March 21 of DTsM personnel and most of the 70-odd village imams who support him. Participants voted overwhelmingly (63 against, one in favor, and one abstention) against holding the congress of alims on the grounds that it would only exacerbate the situation. They then adopted a statement, posted online the following day, containing derogatory remarks about the Ingushetian leadership and affirming that the congress of alims planned for March 29 was illegitimate and would not take place.

Nationalities Minister Yevloyev immediately dismissed that statement as untrue and affirmed that the planned congress would take place as planned.

Less than 24 hours later, however, Yevkurov released a statement saying that in response to requests from the Councils of Alims, of Clans, and of Elders, the planned congress of alims had been postponed, rather than risk "splitting society into two warring groups," meaning supporters of Khamkhoyev and of whomever the congress elected to succeed him.

Having failed in his bid to co-opt the Council of Alims to remove Khamkhoyev from office, Yevkurov went on to announce that the entire muftiate will be dissolved and its responsibilities transferred to the Council of Alims pending the election, for which no time frame was mentioned, of a new mufti. Khamkhoyev dismissed that proposed course of action as illegal, unworkable, and "a farce."

Meanwhile, Khamkhoyev and his subordinates have apparently come under increasing scrutiny from the secular authorities in what may prove to be a parallel attempt to incriminate them. The website MagasLife posted on March 23 and then took down within hours a report quoting an unnamed official close to the presidential administration as saying a criminal case had been opened against Khamkhoyev and one of his subordinates in connection to suspected smuggling of foreign currency. Two days later, the same website reported that the home of deputy mufti Adsalam Dolgiyev had been searched.

At the same time, Yevloyev alleged that Khamkhoyev is receiving massive funding from unknown sources to continue his "destructive activities on the territory of Ingushetia."

Russia's most senior Muslim cleric, chief mufti Talgat Tadzhuddin, has spoken out in Khamkhoyev's support, saying that the secular authorities do not have the right to interfere in religious affairs.

But the Kremlin seems to be siding with Yevkurov against Khamkhoyev, who was reportedly not invited to a meeting in early March of North Caucasus muftis organized by the Russian presidential administration.

Instead, Ingushetia was represented at that gathering by Yakhya Khadziyev, who heads the Board for Religious Affairs that advises Yevkurov.
The Daily Vertical is a video primer for Russia-watchers that appears Monday through Friday. Viewers can suggest topics via Twitter @PowerVertical or on the Power Vertical Facebook page.

A transcript of today's Daily Vertical can be found here.
Pakistan has denied any wrongdoing by the family of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif after it was linked to offshore wealth holdings in the massive "Panama Papers" scandal.

Among those named in the leaked documents are three of Sharif's four children: daughter Maryam, who has been named as a possible political successor to Sharif, and sons Hasan and Hussain. The documents show they owned London real estate through offshore companies administered by the Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca.

Some 11.5 million records from that law firm were leaked over the weekend by investigative journalists in one of the biggest such leaks in history, showing how some of the world's most powerful people have secreted their money offshore.

The allegations are particularly sensitive in Pakistan, where millions live in poverty and the rich pay very little in taxes.

As prime minister, Sharif has invited outside investors to put their money in Pakistan. The revelations could raise uncomfortable questions about why his family chose to invest their wealth abroad.

"Nawaz Sharif does not own any company, but having companies in the name of his children also raises questions," Umar Cheema of the Center for Investigative Reporting in Pakistan told AFP.

The Pakistani journalism center has scoured the leaked documents looking for mentions of Pakistani citizens. It is a partner of the Investigative Consortium of Independent Journalists (ICIJ), which spent months poring over the documents before releasing them online on April 3.

"There are more than 200 Pakistanis which our report has identified, and they include lawyers, lawmakers, and some people from the judiciary," Cheema said.

Pakistani opposition leader Imran Khan called for action against Sharif.

"Our stance vindicated again as Sharif's wealth stashed abroad exposed," he tweeted, adding the country's accountability watchdog, tax authorities, and election commission all should investigate the matter.

But Sharif's son Hussain told Geo, the country's largest private broadcaster, that his family had done "nothing wrong."

"Those apartments are ours and those offshore companies are also ours," he said. "There is nothing wrong with it and I have never concealed them, nor do I need to do that. It is according to British law and laws of other countries that it is a legal way to avoid unnecessary tax via offshore companies."

Hussain said he left Pakistan in 1992 and therefore is not a resident. Pakistani tax law "says that if you are not staying in Pakistan for more than 138 days, then you are not required to declare your assets," he said.

When asked about Khan's call for an investigation by the National Accountability Bureau, he said, "we voluntarily present ourselves before it or any other judicial and investigative institution in Pakistan."

A spokesman for the Sharif family said late on April 4 that the "Panama leaks and ICIJ have made no allegations of wrongdoing against the Sharif family.... None of the corporations mentioned are owned or run by Mr Nawaz Sharif, the prime minister of Pakistan."

The spokesman said Maryam Nawaz "is merely a trustee of one of the corporations owned by Mr Hussain Nawaz, which would only entitle her to distribute the assets to Mr Hussain Nawaz's family if required."

With reporting by AFP, Reuters, dpa, and Geo
KYIV -- Ukrainian officials said vile Russian missile strikes on civilian energy sites have caused power outages nationwide, leaving more than a million households without electricity, while Russian authorities ordered residents to leave Kherson "immediately" ahead of an expected effort by Kyivs forces to retake the crucial southern city.

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.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Telegram on October 22 that Russia carried out a "massive attack" on Ukraine overnight and that "the aggressor continues to terrorize our country."



"At night, the enemy launched a massive attack: 36 rockets, most of which were shot down...These are vile strikes on critical objects. Typical tactics of terrorists," he wrote. "The world can and must stop this terror."



Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of Zelenskiys office, said Ukrainian air defense forces had shot down 18 of the missiles.



Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said a number of missiles had been shot down on the approach to the capital.



"Several rockets flying toward Kyiv were shot down in the region by air defense forces. Thanks to our defenders!" Klitschko said.



There was no immediate word on deaths related to the missile attacks, but officials said several people had been injured.



It was not possible to verify the reports on either side.



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.



"We intercepted some, others hit the targets. Air defense saves lives. In [Western] capitals, 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.



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 facilities.



"The Russian Army 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.



Meanwhile, Russian-appointed authorities in the occupied and illegally seized southern Kherson region on October 22 ordered the estimated 60,000 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.

Russina-installed officials are moving people out of the strategic city in what they are calling an evacuation but which Ukrainian officials label as deportations.



The order 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 Defense 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.



Kherson city, which had a prewar population of 280,000, is one of the first urban areas occupied by Russia at the start of the invasion.



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.



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 spokeswoman 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 of Ukraine's armed forces said on October 21.



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 toward 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 the BBC
Military commanders say Iraqi troops -- backed by heavy air strikes -- have entered the town of Hit controlled by the Islamic State (IS) extremist group in western Iraq.

Iraqi forces are clearing IS militants from Hit's northern neighborhoods as they push toward the town center, commanders at the scene said on April 4.

Thousands of local residents fled the town to escape fighting.

In the early morning, the troops began escorting civilians out of Hit. Families were loaded into open trucks by security forces and transferred to a nearby camp.Hundreds more left the town by foot.

Iraqi forces instructed the fleeing residents not to stray from the tire marks to avoid explosives planted by IS.

Iraqi troops, which had begun the operation to retake Hit a week ago, spent hours clearing the territory before their assault.

Iraqi forces estimate more than 20,000 civilians remain trapped inside the town.

Located in western Anbar Province, Hit is strategically important as it sits along an IS supply route linking the extremist militants in Iraq to those in Syria.

Based on reporting by AP
A man accused of illegally selling to Iran U.S.-made parts found in deadly explosives in Iraq faced charges in a federal court in Washington, the Justice Department has said.

Lim Yong Nam, 42, also known as Steven Lim, entered a not guilty plea and was ordered held without bond on April 4 for sending radio-frequency modules from the U.S. state of Minnesota to Iran between 2007 and 2008, violating a U.S. trade embargo.

The parts were later found in unexploded improvised explosive devices in Iraq by U.S. coalition forces.

The devices caused the majority of the casualties against Americans fighting in Iraq between 2003 and 2011, according to the U.S. indictment, which was originally filed in 2010.

The department said Lim and several co-conspirators had routed 6,000 radio-frequency modules to Iran through Singapore, 16 of which were discovered in Iraq.

U.S. officials have blamed Iran for supplying Shi'ite militias with lethal explosives directed against U.S. service members in Iraq. Iran has said the claims are baseless.

"The illegal export of restricted U.S. technology is extremely harmful to our national security," said Michael Steinbach, the executive assistant director of the FBI's national security branch.

"In this case the technology had lethal applications and was used in improvised explosive devices in Iraq, which endangered U.S. and coalition forces."

Lim, originally from Singapore, had been detained in Indonesia since October 2014. After a long investigative process, he was extradited to the United States to face charges, the department said.

With reporting by Reuters and AP


This week's Nagorno-Karabakh crisis might strike most people as nothing more than another minor conflict in a remote, faraway place.

But the role of the Caucasus in the global energy trade and the potential for full-scale hostilities between Azerbaijan and archrival Armenia or its clients drawing in major regional powers are reason enough to keep a close eye on whether the April 5 cease-fire holds.

Two pipelines carry oil and gas from Azerbaijan westward through the Caucasus, and both pass near the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh enclave. Any widening conflict could endanger both them and Europe's hopes of tapping the Caspian region to reduce its dependence upon Russian energy sources.

At the same time, any escalating conflict could draw in neighboring powers, thanks to Armenia's military pact with Russia and Azerbaijan's pact with Turkey. That could lead to a showdown between Moscow and Ankara, which are already at odds over Russia's intervention in Syria and Turkey's shooting down of a Russian warplane in November.

Here are some points to consider.

Pipelines

The Caspian region has rich oil and gas reserves that regional countries want to export to Europe. However, there are only two export routes. One is northwest through Russia; the other southwest across the Caucasus.

However, northern routes through Russia do not satisfy Europe's long-term hopes of one day freeing itself from its dependence upon Moscow for energy supplies. The European Union's unhappiness with that reliance has grown for years as it has watched Russia use energy as a foreign-policy tool to apply pressure to states like Georgia and Ukraine. In some cases, cutoffs of gas to Ukraine over price disputes have caused shortfalls downstream in eastern EU states.

That's why Europe values the pair of oil and gas pipelines that currently bring Caspian energy out through the Caucasus, and why it hopes to see more such pipelines in the future. But those hopes are limited so long as the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh remains unsettled.

"A potential conflagration over Nagorno Karabakh is quite likely to affect both of these pipelines," says Theodoras Tsakiris, assistant professor for energy, geopolitics, and economics at the University of Nicosia in Cyprus. "They are of critical significance primarily for Azerbaijan, then Turkey and, to a lesser extent, Europe and the global economy."

He notes that, in the case of a sustained conflict, Azerbaijan would likely shut down the pipelines for safety reasons to avoid oil spills and gas leaks if they were damaged.

The most immediate impact upon Europe would be oil supplies. The pipeline link from Baku to Ceyhan, on Turkey's eastern Mediterranean coast, carries some 1 billion barrels of oil per day, with most of it going to Europe plus some to Israel.

Tsakiris notes that any cutoff would be a setback for the EU's hopes of progressively reducing its current reliance on Russia for 35 percent of its crude oil supplies. It would not likely affect oil prices, however, due to oversupplies of oil on the world market.

Of less immediate worry to Europe would be any cutoff of Caspian natural gas. Currently all of the 9 billion cubic meters of gas moving westward from Azerbaijan goes to the Turkish market. However, just as with oil, Brussels hopes one day to use Caspian gas to lower its current dependence on Russia for nearly one-third of its natural gas supply.

Under its Southern Gas Corridor strategy, the EU hopes to see an additional 10 billion cubic meters of Caspian gas moving through new pipelines onward to southern and Central Europe by the early 2020s. That would be the first step toward even larger possible volumes in the future.

"The important thing is to open up the corridor and have the possibility to build more pipelines through southeastern Europe which over the next 10 to 15 years could seriously open up the Caspian Sea generally for future supplies," says Tsakiris.

But so long as there is conflict in the Caucasus, any new pipeline projects remain risky financial propositions.

Military Pacts

The other threat a growing Nagorno-Karabakh conflict presents is the possibility of drawing in neighboring states.

Azerbaijan and NATO member Turkey signed an Agreement on Strategic Partnership and Mutual support in 2010 under which both agree to support each other "using all possibilities" in the case of military aggression against either.

The two countries have sought to add teeth to their agreement by conducting annual joint military exercises. Worrisome for Yerevan was a military exercise last year in Azerbaijan's exclave of Naxcivan, along Armenia's southeastern border. That raised the possibility that, in any major military conflict, Yerevan could face a two-front war with Baku in which Turkey might intervene.

Equally dangerous is the possibility that Russia might intervene on Armenia's side under the two countries' 1992 Tashkent Collective Security Treaty. Any such showdown would further ramp up the tensions that exist between Russia and Turkey, both of which view themselves as major regional powers.

Ankara, with its military pact with Baku, has shown that it considers its fellow Turkic nation part of its sphere of influence.

Russia, through its support of Armenia -- where it has 5,000 troops permanently stationed -- has long made it clear it considers the Caucasus very much its continuing sphere of influence.
Russian police in Moscow and St. Petersburg have detained several alleged members of a religious cult.

Russian media reported on April 5 that police raided about 20 apartments belonging to alleged members of the banned Aum Shinrikyo group.

Police reportedly found books related to Aum Shinrikyo's teachings in several of the apartments.

Authorities in Montenegro said on March 29 that they had deported 58 foreigners, mostly Russians, suspected of being members of Aum Shinrikyo.

Aum Shinrikyo is a Japanese doomsday cult founded by Shoko Asahara in 1984. It has been banned in many countries after its members carried out a deadly sarin-gas attack in the Tokyo subway in 1995.

Based on reporting by Rossia-24 TV and Interfax
Russian rights defender Nadezhda Kutepova has received political asylum in France.

Kutepova told the Chekyabinsk.ru news portal on April 5 that French authorities a day earlier had granted her and her children political asylum for 10 years.

Kutepova, the director of the Planeta Nadezhd (A Planet of Hope) nongovernmental organization, left for France in July after Russian authorities branded her organization a "foreign agent" and a local television channel accused her group of espionage.

The controversial "foreign agents" law, adopted in 2012, requires any NGO that receives funding from abroad and engages in political activity to formally register as a foreign agent.

Kutepova's NGO, based in the city of Ozersk in the Chelyabinsk region, was involved in defending the rights of radiation victims.

Her organization received funding from Russia's Atomic Agency, the U.S.-based National Endowment for Democracy, Canada's Civil Society organization, the Women in Europe for a Common Future organization based in Germany and the Netherlands, and the Mama Cash Fund for Women in the Netherlands.

With reporting by Chelyabinsk.ru
Saudi Arabia says it has suspended licenses granted to Iran's Mahan Air to fly through its airspace and land at its airports for safety reasons.

Saudi's General Authority of Civil Aviation said on April 4 that several violations of airline safety rules had been committed by flights operated by Mahan Air to the kingdom, "prompting the suspension of licenses granted to the company."

The Saudi agency said the decision was needed to "preserve lives." There was no immediate reaction from Iran.

In January, Riyadh severed diplomatic relations with Tehran to protest the sacking of Saudi's Embassy in Tehran and halted around 150 direct flights between Iran and Saudi Arabia that carry thousands of pilgrims every month.

Trade between Saudi Arabia and Iran is small compared to the size of their economies. But tens of thousands of Iranians travel to the kingdom every year to complete the haj and umrah pilgrimages -- essential tenets of Islam.

Based on reporting by Reuters and AFP
Six imams in Tajikistan have been arrested on suspicion of being members of banned extremist groups.

The prosecutor's office in the northern region of Sughd told RFE/RL on April 5 that the imams were arrested last month.

The office did not name the banned groups the imams were allegedly members of.

If they are found guilty, the imams could face up to five years in jail and hefty fines.

No more details were available.

Since January 2015, dozens of people have been jailed in Tajikistan for being members of the banned Islamic group, Jamaat Ansarullah, which Tajik authorities believe is linked to the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) militant group.

The IMU has ties to Al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and some members have declared allegiance to the Islamic State terrorist group in the Middle East.

Tajik authorities have said that some 1,000 Tajik nationals are fighting alongside IS militants in Syria and Iraq.
ON MY MIND

One thing really jumps out at you when you look at the Panama Papers. The Western officials exposed in the leak, like Iceland's Prime Minister Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson, were essentially caught hiding legitimate earnings offshore, apparently to avoid taxes. The same appears to be the case with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. These cases are serious and should be thoroughly investigated. But what was exposed regarding Russia is something of another order of magnitude entirely. While Putin's name doesn't figure in the Panama Papers, they document an elaborate scheme involving a web of offshore corporations and shell companies, tied to Putin's closest cronies, and designed to pilfer and launder state assets. This is the difference between corruption in Russia and the West. In the West, corruption is a bug in the software. In Russia, it is the software.

IN THE NEWS

Ukrainian military pilot Nadia Savchenko's 22-year sentence formally begins today.

Savchenko's lawyers say she will begin a dry hunger strike on April 6.

Russia will reportedly begin deliveries of S-300 missiles to Iran in the coming days.

Pyotr Pavlensky has filed an appeal against his arrest to the European Court of Human Rights. Pavlensky has been charged with vandalism of a cultural monument for setting fire to the door of the Federal Security Service's headquarters in Moscow.

Saudi Arabia has replaced Russia as the world's third-largest military spender.

And now Russian judo has been hit with a doping scandal.

WHAT I'M READING

Panama Papers Reax

Vladimir Putin's name doesn't explicitly appear in the the Panama Papers. In a column in Bloomberg, Leonid Bershidsky notes that "Putin's a pauper. His friends are rich."

Along the same lines, Kremlin-watcher Mark Galeotti notes in Vox that the Panama Papers show us how corruption actually works in Russia.

"The real currency in Russia is not money but power -- and the latter can buy the former, but not necessarily the other way around," Galeotti writes.

"You can be rich today, but the state can impoverish you tomorrow. Conversely, if you have power, you can always get money, as we are likely seeing with the Panama Papers, or else simply don't even need it."

Michael Weiss also unpacks the Panama Papers revelations in The Daily Beast

Yelena Panfilova, vice president of Transparency International's Russia branch, gave her take.

"The 'Panama Papers' aren't fundamentally about Russia," she says. "The leaked documents are important primarily for countries that observe the rule of law and can take appropriate legal measures, accordingly. For countries without the rule of law, it's important from the perspective simply of knowing. But there's no reason to assume they're going to run off to investigate everything."

And inevitably, Aleksei Navalny has his say.

And then there is the reaction -- as it were -- in the Russian media.

The Kim Philby Files

The BBC has unearthed a previously unseen video of one of Britain's most infamous spies, Kim Philby, briefing East Germany's Stasi in 1981

Meanwhile, In South Ossetia

"Vladimir Putin's Mysterious Moving Border" is a look at how Russia keeps moving the boundary separating Georgia proper from the pro-Moscow separatist region of South Ossetia.

Religious Tension

So what does it take to provoke an angry mob of Buddhists? Kevin Rothrock at Global Voices takes a look.

Dutch Referendum

The Netherlands will vote in a referendum on the European Union's Association Agreement and free -trade pact with Ukraine on April 6.

Activist Yulia Marushevska, who made the viral "I Am A Ukrainian" video in 2014, has a new video appealing to Dutch voters to back the agreement.

UNIAN has a piece linking Kremlin-backed propagandists to the campaign to convince Dutch voters to reject the agreement.

And in a column in the EU Observer, Sijbren de Jong explains, "Why the Dutch referendum on Ukraine is a joke."
AMSTERDAM -- Dutch voters have begun casting ballots in a poll that could say a lot about the future of the European Union.

Technically, they are voting in a referendum on whether to approve or reject the bloc's Association Agreement with Ukraine, a pact that would bring the country closer politically and economically to the EU that has been ratified by all members aside from the Netherlands.

But the impact of a "no" result -- a scenario that is predicted by opinion polls, but also dependent on sufficient voter turnout -- would be felt not only in Kyiv and Brussels, but in Moscow, London, and beyond.

First exit polls are expected immediately after stations close at 9 p.m. The European Commission is expected to announce the final results on April 7.

Far-Reaching

A "no" vote would certainly be a harsh blow to Ukraine, whose population has paid a high price for seeking closer association with the EU. It was, after all, former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych's refusal to sign the Association Agreement in late 2013 that prompted the Euromaidan protests, which led to his ouster, Russia's annexation of Crimea, and a drawn-out conflict with Moscow-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

It would be celebrated by the Kremlin, which has long opposed the agreement, and would be poised to wield its influence on trade aspects of any future renegotiation process. That outrage over Russia's suspected role in the July 2014 downing of an airliner over eastern Ukraine -- in which 193 of the 298 passengers killed were Dutch -- would not translate to votes for Ukraine would be another coup for Moscow.

A "no" vote would also add fuel to rising euroskepticism amid a refugee crisis, and serve as a bad omen ahead of the United Kingdom's June 23 referendum on whether to remain in the EU.

It is less clear what would happen should the Netherlands fail to ratify the Association Agreement. It is possible that the EU could continue to provisionally apply the deal (the trade aspects of the agreement were delayed until the beginning of this year in a nod to Russian financial concerns, while the political side has been applied since autumn of 2014) meaning there would be few disruptions to existing relations. If the terms of the deal are altered, it would require more negotiations and the ratification process that began more than a year ago among the EU's 28 states would have to start anew.

WATCH: Dutch Referendum: Views From Politicians And Writers

All the mainstream Dutch parties have campaigned for a "yes" vote, arguing that it will bring more safety and economic growth both in the EU and in Ukraine.

"It's about trade, it's about safety, it's about normal things that in Europe, in the European Union are normal for us," says Alexander Pechtold, the parliamentary leader of the liberal D66 party. "We fought for it, we negotiated for it, during 70 years, and now another country, a country to the borders of the European Union, wants to have the same standards, the same values, and I think that that country -- bigger than France, with 45 million inhabitants -- should deserve the same rights as we have."

The 'No' Camp

The Dutch electorate does not appear to agree about the merits of the deal, which is intended to facilitate trade and bring Ukrainian laws and regulations closer to those of the EU.

Recent polls show that as many as 66 percent of Dutch voters would reject the agreement, although turnout would have to pass 30 percent in order for the nonbinding referendum to be valid. In that event, the Dutch government has pledged to honor the outcome.

Many voters oppose the Association Agreement in the belief that it would mark the first step toward Ukrainian membership of the EU, a notion that "yes" supporters have worked to dispel.

There are a lot of myths that have been created around this Association Agreement," says Dutch Labor parliamentarian Marit Maij. "At all the meetings that I have participated in in the last three weeks I always try to tell people it is not in the treaty that Ukraine will become a member."

But her argument fails to sway Arno Wellens, a journalist for the investigative website 925.nl who will vote no on April 6.

The problem with this Association Agreement is that it is very vague about whether or not Ukraine will join [the EU]," he says, noting references in the agreement to legal standards covering everything from energy policy to external relations on which EU-entry negotiations are based.

"This Association Agreement mentions the word acquis communautaire 25 times," Wellens says. "So people in Ukraine say, 'Hey, this will take it into the European Union.' But in Holland politicians are saying no this is not about entering the European Union because it doesn't explicitly say so, and that is the problem."

Euroskeptics

Another issue at play ahead of the vote is a general feeling of distrust toward the EU.

This vote is the first under a new law that allows citizens to call for a nonbinding vote on legislation already passed by parliament. The Dutch House of Representatives approved the agreement in April 2015, followed by the Senate that July.

The law resulted from an online petition, initiated by euroskeptic activists and an antiestablishment website arguing that citizens should have more say in EU matters, that gathered almost half a million signatures.

British politician Nigel Farage spoke about the potential impact of the vote while supporting the "no" campaign in the Dutch town of Volendam, just a few kilometers north of Amsterdam.

The leader of the anti-EU United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) said he hopes the effects will be felt both in his own country and in Brussels.

"It is not about the technical details but it is about direction of travel, it is about governments and Brussels together fundamentally changing the nature of Europe, the direction of Europe without ever asking anybody," he said. "A 'no' vote here is a cry of 'listen to us,' but it is also a message that says we are going in the wrong direction."


The U.S. Navy has seized a weapons shipment in the Arabian Sea it believes was going from Iran to Yemen.

The navy said on April 4 that the warships USS Sirocco and USS Gravely on March 28 intercepted and seized the shipment of weapons hidden aboard a small dhow.

The Navy said the shipment included 1,500 Kalashnikov assault rifles, 200 rocket-propelled grenade launchers, and 21 50-caliber machine guns. It said the navy confiscated the arms and then released the crew on board the dhow.

"This seizure is the latest in a string of illicit weapons shipments assessed by the U.S. to have originated in Iran that were seized in the region by naval forces," the military said.

Iran is backing Yemen's Huthi rebels in a war against a Saudi-led, U.S.-backed coalition on the side of the government.

U.S. military officials have linked similar weapons seizures by the Australian and French navies earlier this year to Iran and the Shi'ite rebels, though Iran and the rebels both deny any involvement.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Iran's support for the Huthis is an example of its "destabilizing activities" in the region. He said the weapons shipment could be raised at the United Nations Security Council.

"We obviously are concerned about this development, because offering up support to the rebels in Yemen is something that is not at all consistent with UN Security Council resolutions," Earnest said.

U.S. officials have said in the past that Iran's direct involvement with the Huthis is limited, but that Iranian military personnel were training and equipping Huthi units.

The Saudi-backed coalition has been fighting to restore Yemen's President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to power since last year.

UN-sponsored peace talks are scheduled to start in Kuwait on April 18, and a truce is scheduled to start at midnight on April 10 ahead of the talks.

With reporting by AP and Reuters
Knee-jerk resistance to change has defined the stance of Virginias public-school establishment for far too long. Unfortunately, such reactionary attitudes show little sign of fading. The latest case in point concerns two proposals before Virginias General Assembly this year. One would allow parents of children with disabilities to take 90 percent of the childs per-pupil state funding and use it for private-school tuition. (The local share of school funding, which amounts to roughly half the total per student, would remain in the public system.) That measure passed the Senate on a party-line vote, with Democrats taking the standard party line that funding for the public schools trumps every other consideration, including the best interests of children. That also is the reason for the opposition to a new, state-level virtual high school that lawmakers also authorized this year.

While some localities have their own version of virtual education, the bill passed by the Assembly would create a state version that would be managed by an independent board and funded with the states share of a students per-pupil funding. It would take money away from our public schools, complains Virginia Education Association President Meg Gruber. Wrong. It would transfer a small amount of state funding from local public school divisions to a state-run public school. Local school divisions would still keep the local funding for each student whose parents transfer him or her to the virtual school. No public funding would leave the public education system. Once again, enrollment decisions would be left to parents, who would decide based on the best interest of (the) student.
Richmond International Airport and United Airlines today will mark the launch of the airports first nonstop service to Denver, one of Uniteds largest hubs. The flight is seen as a chance to open up access to western cities.

Capital Region Airport Commission Chairman John V. Mazza Jr., Virginia Secretary of Commerce and Trade Maurice A. Jones and Kellie Clough, a United sales manager, are the scheduled speakers. The first flight departing the airport today was scheduled to get a water arch sendoff.

The new route, at 1,482 miles, will be the longest and most westerly flight originating from Richmond.
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.
St. John Lutheran Church will send 330 servants into the Roanoke community on Saturday, April 23, from 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. to meet the critical needs of 13 local nonprofit organizations. Volunteers of all ages will fan out to multiple mission sites to perform such tasks as assembling food packages, sorting food for distribution, building homes, remodeling a study lounge, assembling health kits, rolling bandages, bagging lunches, improving a playground, painting and maintenance tasks, sanitizing and making up beds, creating books, visiting veterans, and making blankets for hospitalized children.

At St. John, we believe and teach that the mission of the church is mission and that God calls us together for worship, learning, and fellowship and then sends us out to take the Good News of Christ to the world in word and deed, says Senior Pastor Mark Graham.

Mission sites support St. Johns commitment to mission outreach locally in the Roanoke Valley and globally in several places, including Nicaragua, Zambia, and Israel. This years Compassion Weekend mission sites include: Feeding America Southwest Virginia, Habitat for Humanity, Hope Tree Family Services, Orphan Medical Network International, Permanent Supportive Housing, Rafiki Foundation, REACH, Rescue Mission, Stop Hunger Now, Veterans Affairs, West End Center, Salvation Army and Shevet Akim.

At the conclusion of Compassion Weekend, more than 2,000 volunteer hours will have been contributed to the various mission sites. In addition to the donation of manpower, St. John Lutheran Church dedicates a portion of its annual mission budget to provide the financial support needed to underwrite the efforts of these volunteers.

Compassion Weekend is a remarkable event bringing together capable volunteers, financial resources and the targeted needs of service providers, says Ruth Cassell, Chief Development Officer of Family Service of Roanoke Valley. St. John Lutheran has supported us for many years to accomplish projects that we would never have been able to do without their help. The volunteers have expertise that non-profits truly need, and they work with the agency to choose tasks that best match volunteer ability with agency priority. Their commitment to service shines through the quality of their work.

Carsonette Hamilton and Glenda Oechslin, co-chairs of the Compassion Weekend, said another reason for the success of the ministry has been the past involvement and dedication of other congregations in the Roanoke Valley, including West End United Methodist, Bethel AME, and Temple Emanuel who participate in some of the planning, outreach, recruitment, and volunteer work each year. It is a privilege and inspiration to be a part of an effort that is dedicated to making lives better for our neighbors in need. We are so blessed to be a part of a united community of faith, serving God in love and obedience as we serve others through mission and witnessing in word and action, says Andree Brooks, member of West End United Methodist and the Compassion Weekend steering committee.

Even as we aim to serve 13 mission sites on one day stretching from the Roanoke Valley to Nicaragua to Africa to Israel, our greater purpose is to bring glory to God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, says Pastor Graham. It is what the born-again life in Christ is all about. It is why we exist as a congregation of Christs followers.

In an ongoing commitment to serve as the hands and feet of Jesus, St. John Lutheran Church developed Compassion Weekend Plus, which is a new ministry dedicated to glorifying God year round. Compassion Weekend Plus encourages congregants to deepen their relationship with God through year round service to their neighbors in need, thereby enriching their faith and strengthening the greater Roanoke community.

For more information on the church, visit www.stjohnlutheran.org.

Submitted by Kim Turner
A Glenvar couple, Hugh and Joann Barfield, would like to thank the good samaritans that came to their rescue after Hugh took a nasty spill while fetching the mail from the mailbox in front of their home.

I remember being in the E.R., but barely, said Hugh.

This wasnt Hughs first trip to the emergency room; an excursion on a train to Florida two years ago ended with an extended stay at the Lake Wales Medical Center.

He had a stroke on the train, Joann said. We hadnt even arrived at our destination yet; they had to stop the train for Hugh to get medical assistance."

After a weeklong recovery in the hospital and another week in a rehab facility, the couple then rode a medical transport back to Salem. All the while, Joann never left Hughs side. Im so thankful they were willing to let me stay with him, she said. I really didnt have anywhere else to go."

The Barfields have been a part of the Glenvar community since moving permanently to the Roanoke Valley in 1977, after Hugh was transferred first from Jacksonville, Florida, in 1972 to open a McDuff appliance store, and then again after a short stint in Knoxville, Tennessee. They raised three boys, Gordon David ("G.D."), who lives in Atlanta; Charles Galen ("C.G."), who lives in San Clemente, California; and Joel Colin ("J.C"), who still lives in Salem. When McDuff closed, Hugh went on to work for Grand Piano and Furniture, from which he retired in 1994. Joann worked in the community education department at Roanoke College and in the administration office in Olin Hall before her retirement.

Since Hughs stroke, the Barfields have not done as much traveling as they used to, although they certainly dont just sit at home. Hugh had been struggling some with balance issues and prolonged periods of sitting seemed to aggravate the problem.

On the morning of January 21, the day before the Roanoke Valleys first significant winter snowfall, the Barfields went out to do a little shopping and decided to stop for some lunch before heading back home. Prior to pulling into their driveway, they parked on the street in front of their house on the corner of Polly Circle and Ingal Boulevard. Hugh got out of the car and made his was down the slightly inclined road to the mailbox. Once there, he lost his footing and toppled over backward, hitting his head on the curb. I never lost consciousness, Hugh said, grinning.

Joann ran frantically inside to call 911. In the meantime, three ladies  one of whom was a nurse  stopped to help. They pulled fleece blankets out of their trunk to protect Hugh from the frigid temperatures and applied pressure to stop his head wound from bleeding while they waited for emergency services to arrive. Unfortunately, Fort Lewis was already out on a call, so we had to wait for Masons Cove to respond, Joann said.

First responders arrived and carried Hugh off to the hospital; however, in the flurry of those few frightening moments, no one thought to exchange names. I am hoping to get the word to these Good Samaritans, so that I can thank them and return their nice blankets to them, wrote Joann in an email to So Salem.

Once in the emergency room, Hugh recovered quickly and suffered no ill effects  he didnt even need stitches. He did have quite the goose-egg to show for it, though. Im still very cautious getting up after sitting for a while, Hugh said. He was released later than night after a small battery of test showed nothing that would warrant an overnight stay.

The Barfields would like to have the opportunity to thank the three ladies who stopped to help that cold January afternoon and to return the blankets they left behind. I was so thankful that they stopped that day, Joann said.

I dont remember a thing about it, Hugh said and laughed.

If you are or happen to know the good samaritans who came to the Barfields' rescue that day, wed love to hear from you! Please send any information in an email to candy.long@roanoke.com.
With the recent death of Earl Hamner, the city of Roanoke lost a friend.

In 2007, the city celebrated its 125th anniversary. I was privileged to be the mayor at that time, and there was much thought about how to celebrate the citys milestone. One project was the production of a DVD titled Stars and Stripes underwritten by the Norfolk-Southern Foundation.

The DVD was a montage of video, still photography and interviews creatively produced by Grant Plaskon chronicling the developments in business, arts and culture, education and civic life in the city from 1982 to 2007. The script was written by the late Robert Dills, who was the former executive director of our Virginia Museum of Transportation. While I did a brief introduction, there was careful consideration as to who should do the voice-over narration for the production. Dills asked his friend, Earl Hamner.

Hamner graciously agreed to donate his time to the project. The cadence of one of Americas most-recognized voices made the production memorable and cherished. Stars and Stripes debuted during the citys anniversary celebration that was held in the then-new exhibition hall at todays Berglund Center.

Today, the DVD can be viewed at the Roanoke Main Librarys Virginia Room.

I found Hamner to be what one would expect based on his television persona  courteous, warm and a perfect gentleman. Having grown up watching The Waltons and listening to Hamners voice close each episode, it was a personal privilege to work with him. In that spirit, I say, Good night, Earl.

 Nelson Harris, a reader in Roanoke
HAMPTON  A Virginia State Police trooper who was fatally shot at Richmonds Greyhound bus station was memorialized Tuesday as a gifted law enforcement officer with a knack for uplifting colleagues and connecting with people.

He had an incredible personality, state police Col. Steven Flaherty said at the funeral of Chad Phillip Dermyer. People were drawn to him. He proved every day, on duty and off duty, that he was a true professional.

Flaherty reflected on Dermyers career as a municipal and state police officer and described him as a star who impressed at each agency he worked in.

The Marine Corps veteran who lived in Gloucester was recently assigned to counterterrorism and criminal interdiction with the state police. When Dermyer met with the selection committee for the unit, Flaherty told the estimated 3,500 who assembled inside Liberty Baptist Church, he blew them away.

Chad was doing what he loved to do  protect and serve others, Flaherty said. He was a natural.

Mourners, mostly law enforcement who came from across Virginia and at least two dozen other states, streamed into the sanctuary in the hours before the service to support Dermyers loved ones.

Many of the officers wore black mourning bands across their badges. Outside, bouquets draped Dermyers patrol car.

Cyndi Grace, his former partner at the Newport News Police Department with whom he shared the nickname Gracemyer, said Dermyer was calm and proactive in his police work.

Addressing Dermyers wife and two children, Phillip, 14, and Page, 11, Grace said Dermyer took pride in watching his son play soccer and in his daughters intelligence and beauty.

Grace told Dermyers wife, Michelle: He was so proud to be the lucky man standing next to you.

Grant Ethridge, Liberty Baptists senior pastor, relayed childhood stories about Dermyer, recalling him as a man who was called to police work and possessed a memorable smile and laugh.

Ethridge said that Dermyer died from an act that was literally evil, and told the troopers family that its OK to ask God why Dermyer was taken in such a fashion. But he said they should also ask God why he was so gracious to bless them with Dermyer and the happiness he brought them during his life.

Everyone who knew him, loved him, Ethridge said.

Dermyer, 37, was killed during a criminal interdiction training exercise at the bus station on North Boulevard about 2:40 p.m. Thursday. Police said Dermyer approached James Brown III, 34, of Aurora, Illinois, and within moments the man pulled a semi-automatic pistol from his waistband and shot the trooper several times. Other troopers returned fire, fatally wounding Brown. There were about 17 officers at the bus station for the exercise.

A motive for the shooting has not been established; police and court records documented a lengthy criminal record for Brown, who was carrying another 143 rounds of ammunition in one of his two bags.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe met privately with Dermyers family before the funeral, presenting his wife with the Virginia flag and his father the U.S. flag that flew over the state Capitol the day Dermyer died.

Before the service, state Troopers Ira Dallam and Kara Pegram, classmates of Dermyer in the state police academy, shared qualities they most remembered about Dermyer. They turned to each other, knowingly, before answering in near unison: His smile.

Everything we did  hard stuff, fun stuff. [He was] just always positive, keeping everybody together, Pegram said.

Without the red cape and tights, I thought he was Superman, Dallam added.

Dermyer worked four years at the Newport News Police Department before leaving for the police force in his native Jackson, Michigan. He graduated from the Virginia State Police Academy in 2014 and patrolled Hampton and Newport News for the state police before his most recent assignment.

About 12:20 p.m., 200 police motorcycles rumbled forward in the church parking lot, leading the funeral procession past homes and businesses where people stood outside to pay their respects  people of all ages, some holding American flags  ending with a private burial and 21-gun salute in Gloucester County.
Gov. Terry McAuliffe has signed a bill making it clear that ministers and others who perform weddings cant be required to take an oath as part of the certification process and arent considered agents of the state.

House Bill 19, carried by Del. Chris Head, was one of the smaller religious liberty measures introduced this year. Head, R-Botetourt, described it as a narrow, preventive step aimed at easing concerns and reaffirming the freedoms of marriage officiants.

The bill drew some objections from Democrats, most notably in the Senate, where it passed on a nearly party-line vote of 22-16.

But it largely escaped the controversy generated by broader bills dealing with religious freedom and marriage.

Brandon Day, communications director for Equality Virginia, said his organization viewed the bill as merely reiterating already recognized protections for religious leaders and others who solemnize marriages.

Those are protections that are already in place, and there is no issue with that in the LGBT community, he said, adding Equality Virginia considered the legislation unnecessary but didnt speak against it.

Day drew a distinction between HB19 and other proposals he said he felt were attempting to use religious protections as a background to expand the opportunity for discrimination to other places.

McAuliffe vetoed another set of bills last week that would have, in part, prohibited state and local agencies from penalizing religious organizations and their employees solely for actions taken in keeping with a sincerely held belief that marriage should be between one man and one woman.

The veto came as debate over religious liberty bills was intensifying in North Carolina and other states. McAuliffe said the Virginia bills were nothing more than an attempt to stigmatize and would damage the state in the eyes of potential new economic development prospects.

The conservative Family Foundation of Virginia criticized McAuliffes veto and said the legislation was an effort to create modest protections for organizations like religious charities and schools.

The Family Foundation supported Heads bill during the legislative process, but didnt immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

HB19 specifies that ministers and civil marriage officiants cant be required to take an oath in order to be authorized to preside over a marriage and wont be considered officers of the state purely because theyre marriage officiants.

McAuliffe signed the bill on Friday, according to the states legislative website. He also signed another bill from Head inspired by the local greenway impasse between Roanoke and Walker Machine & Foundry.

House Bill 467 attempts to defuse one of the concerns raised by Walker Machine over the citys proposal to expand the greenway past the foundry.

The bill, supported by the city, provides that users of a public greenway or park cant sue based solely on their standing as a park user to try to shutter a neighboring manufacturer that existed prior to the park.

It doesnt prevent park owners or people who may have been injured by a manufacturer from taking legal action.

Over the course of the local greenway discussion, Walker Machine voiced concerns that trail users would grow opposed to the foundry over time and referenced a case from another state where a long-standing foundry was unsuccessfully sued by residents of a newer subdivision in an effort to get it to relocate.

Its unclear if HB467 will help broker an agreement on the issue. Talks between the foundry and the city are ongoing.
Lumber Liquidators Holdings Inc. surged after winning a tentative ruling dismissing claims that it failed to adequately warn consumers about cancer-causing formaldehyde found in some of its laminate flooring.

Mondays decision is a victory for the company after its sales and market value fell following accusations on CBS 60 Minutes news program in March 2015 that it sold Chinese-made laminate flooring with high levels of formaldehyde.

If the decision by a state court judge in Oakland, California, becomes final, it will end a trial over whether the company provided clear and reasonable notice about its products health risks.

The company was accused by a Global Community Monitor, a nonprofit environmental health group, of violating Californias Proposition 65, a voter-approved ballot initiative that requires explicit warnings for consumer products containing substances that may cause cancer or birth defects.

Lumber Liquidators rose as much as 14 percent to $14.56 on Tuesday. The stock had declined more than 70 percent since the 60 Minutes report.

Lumber Liquidators roots are deep in Virginia. The company was founded in Massachusetts but moved its headquarters to Colonial Heights in the late 1990s.

It shifted headquarters to Toano, a few miles west of Williamsburg, in 2004. It also has a location in Salem.

Jonathan Weissglass, a lawyer for Global Community Monitor, didnt immediately respond after regular business hours to voice-mail and email messages seeking comment on the ruling.

Superior Court Judge George Hernandez told lawyers for Lumber Liquidators to prepare a final order consistent with his decision.

Lumber Liquidators announced on March 22 that it agreed to pay $2.5 million to the California Air Resources Board to end an inquiry about its laminate flooring products sourced from China. There was no formal finding of violation or any admission of wrongdoing, the Toano, Virginia-based company said in a statement.

The company cut prices, increased discounting and tried to ease health concerns by pulling the Chinese laminate from stores. Yet the deterioration of its business accelerated last quarter, with revenue at established locations plummeting 17 percent.

As part of the accord announced March 22, Lumber Liquidators agreed to implement procedures that ensure all of its flooring products meet Californias formaldehyde standards, which are the most stringent in the U.S. The company will also work with the board to develop protocols for testing flooring.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch contributed to this report.
NOW that we finally have a referendum date for when we may vote to remain in or leave the EU Ponzi scheme, we can all fully expect lies, misinformation and propaganda to be paraded before us on a daily if not hourly basis.

So, maybe we should dissect some of the statements that have been released already;

1) Out of the EU, immigration will increase; how can that be? If we dont have open borders we can stop illegals and decide just whom is and isnt allowed in.

2) We will be open to terrorist attacks; we already are but with border police and checks we can stop some of the infiltrators. I hope that your readers are aware that the EU open borders policy has allowed thousands of IS terrorists into Europe already!

3) Jobs will be lost; the only jobs that will be lost are those of people working directly for the EU dictatorship!

The EU is responsible for Royal Mail being sold off and the introduction of competition to what was the best postal service in the world.

The two richest countries in Europe are NOT in the EU; coincidence?

The EU wants Turkey as a member to help fill the trough. Since when is Turkey part of the European continent? Its old Asia Minor for heaven's sake. Where does it end; Australia? I doubt that, the Ozzies are far too smart!

In 1975 we had the referendum to join or to not join The Common Market; a free trade organisation and yet in 1947 Peter Thorneycroft, a Tory MP, stated Creating a Federal Europe will not be without pain!, Ted Heath knew all about the plans for a Federal Europe but never informed the British public.

I hope that your readers realise that one of the long term plans of the EU is to get rid of all political parties and individual governments so that the whole EU can be controlled from Brussels by unelected spivs, fraudsters and embezzlers. So this next vote will be one nearer the final vote for us all. So even the yellow dog voters must for once THINK before voting.

Between 1939 and 1945 over 30 million people gave their lives in the name of freedom. There arent many troops still alive that fought in World War II but if I were one Id wonder why I bothered. The EU has achieved more in the invasion and subjugation of this once great nation than Hitler did in six years of war; he must be laughing in his grave. In fact the EU makes old Adolf look a real pussycat!

Yes, The EU; keeping Hitlers dreams alive.
IT is no use being part of a family that will not protect our steel industry. Steel is a strategic industry to any nation for further use and ultimate protection. It is therefore not true to say we would be safer as part of the EU. How can we be with no strategic industry? We have already lost our coal industry whilst the Germans continue to mine even dirtier lignite coal, so the EU is far from a fair and level playing field.

Of course David Cameron was always going to return and spin his meagre and pitiful achievements into his huge success. The EU gives our politicians a continuing excuse and something to hide behind. That is why so many of them are in favour of it. It constantly gets them off the hook and avoiding accountability. Getting out of the EU will also probably rid us of David Cameron, so a double positive.

The EU was never a good idea, it is like communism, it may be a good idea in theory but will never work in practice as the people in charge will carry on with their restrictive rules to suit themselves.

We all have enough evidence to prove the EU is not working. Some countries should never have been allowed to enter the EU. Some countries will always be a burden as their governments are either incompetent, or corrupt, or both. Many of their original inhabitants are uncivilised as well as uneducated

The EU lose approximately 32 billion every year that they cannot account for. This is either gross incompetence or corruption on a massive scale. There are also two European Parliament buildings, one in Brussels and one in Strasbourg, France. As the parliamentarians are constantly travelling between the two this causes huge inefficiencies. The latter was constructed to get the French on side and stop them having a tantrum.

There is so much inertia in the EU with so many disparate countries, all with different interests all wanting their input, that no timely decisions will ever be made. Our industry and commerce will therefore never progress under such a framework. Alone we should easily out manoeuvre the EU system.

As for the future, Germany, Belgium and France are pushing for a Federal Europe. This means the Germans will achieve something they could not achieve in two World Wars. It is no good David Cameron or anyone else thinking they can prevent this, as we will just get steam rollered as we always have in the past.

The only thing preventing some people voting out is fear of the unknown, but believe me it is much more fearful to stay in the EU and become a victim of their political bigotry and incompetence.

Martin Ward, Moorgate
Israel Diamond Exchange (IDE) President Yoram Dvash has called for an increase in credit lines to finance the diamond industry worldwide. He claims the world diamond industry needs to work together to secure additional financing.

Earlier, the London-based Standard Chartered Bank, which has about $2 billion in exposure to the diamond industry, was demanding additional loan protection from diamond clients. It is now asking diamond manufacturing clients to secure payment insurance or provide 100% collateral, according to the Bloomberg report.

Dvash said that the U.K. banks exposure to the diamond sector is less than 1% of its total business but it is still seeking additional security against possible problems in the future. "This shows how tough the situation is for the diamond industry worldwide," he noted.

Financing has been a leading issue for the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) in recent years and will be at the top of the agenda at the World Diamond Congress in Dubai in May.

Since we depend on a steady supply of credit, we need to work twice as hard to find solutions, said Dvash. He added that his aim was to persuade banking officials that "backing the diamond industry makes good business sense."

Dvash also said that he holds meetings with banks in Israel. "The Israeli diamond sector is very prudent in business decisions. Our global approach to business diversifies risk and increases trading opportunities."

We must secure more credit lines in order to expand the business. Let us remember thatmillions of people around the world  in Africa, India, China and elsewhere -- are dependent for the livelihood on the success of the diamond trade, he concluded.



Theodor Lisovoy, Rough&Polished, Moscow




The Indian Prime Minister personally welcomed members from the Antwerp World Diamond Centres Board of Directors during his visit to Belgium. Several points were discussed, including the Reserve Bank of Indias norms on imports.

One issue that Prime Minister Modi could solve very quickly is the long delay in receiving Reserve Bank of India (RBI) permission for clean credit facility when these are longer than 180 days. Clean credit is a loan given by a foreign supplier to its Indian customer for importing diamonds without formal guarantees from an Indian financial institution, making the process swifter and easier. Banks are permitted to approve clean credit to Indian importers for imports of rough and polished diamonds, but not for a period exceeding 180 days.

Obviously, we are pleased to see that just a day after our meeting with the prime minister, the RBI decided to allow State banks to approve clean credit facility given by foreign suppliers to Indian importers of rough and polished diamonds, even beyond 180 days. This will only serve to strengthen the already robust trade relations between the Antwerp and Indian diamond industries, said AWDC CEO Ari Epstein.

Belgium is one of Europes top three trade partners with India, and is the second largest exporter of goods to India. This is primarily attributable to the diamond trade. The diamond trade accounts for approximately 82% ($7.85 billion) of all Belgian goods exported to India.



Alex Shishlo, Editor of the Rough&Polished European Bureau in Brussels




Zimbabwe has promised to soon respond to a request by Mbada Diamonds to have its special grant in Marange regularised.

"Mbada went to court and the judgment came out stating that the special grant for Mbada had expired until the regularisation of its special grant has been done, Mines minister Walter Chidhakwa was quoted by the state media as saying.

The regularisation of the special grant has to be done in terms of the Mines and Minerals Act. We'll soon be responding to their request. Right now I can't tell you the decision before we inform them."

Harare ordered mining companies that were operating in Marange off the diamond fields after they refused to merge into a single firm called the Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC).

However, companies such as Mbada took the government to court contesting the directive.

Mbada was allowed access to their concession to only protect its assets.

Zimbabwe allegedly earned about $2 billion in diamond revenue from about $15 bllion earned since 2009.

Chidhakwa said an audit was underway to ascertain the value of diamonds the country had lost due to lack of transparency and accountability issues by some mining companies.



Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished




Auction house Christies has announced that it will hold an auction of a 14.62-carat vivid blue diamond  the largest to ever come to auction  known as the Oppenheimer Blue.

The estimate for the stone, once the property of Sir Philip Oppenheimer, a member of the family who formerly controlled the De Beers mining company, is $38 million to $45 million. The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) issued the report on the stone, giving it the rare Fancy Vivid grade.

The Oppenheimer Blue can only be described as one of the rarest gems in the world, said Christies Asia Pacific and China chairman, Francois Curiel. It is the gem of gems.

Earlier in March, De Beers announced that it planned to auction a 10.1-carat oval internally flawless vivid blue diamond, which is expected to fetch as much as $35 million when it goes under the hammer on April 5.

The current world-record holder for the most expensive blue diamond purchased at auction belongs to the Blue Moon of Josephine, a 12.03-carat cushion-shaped Fancy Internally Flawless Vivid blue diamond that set a world auction record of $48.4 million in November.

"Oppenheimer Blue" will lead Christies auction of Magnificent Jewels, which is set to take place in Geneva, Switzerland on May 18.



Theodor Lisovoy, Rough&Polished, Moscow




Former President of Plasser American Corporation Josef W. Neuhofer passed away peacefully at home on March 29, 2016, at the age of 78.

After finishing high school, Neuhofer went to hotel management school. He worked as a first class steward aboard the SS Rotterdam, which allowed him the opportunity to visit beautiful locations all over the world. While working at his parents hotel, he had a chance encounter with a guest, Franz Plasser of Plasser & Theurer. Looking for a new challenge, in 1961, Neuhofer began his career as a salesman in Linz, Austria, with a railroad equipment manufacturer.

After moving to the United States, he helped transform Plasser American Corporation into a worldwide manufacturer of railroad technology equipment. His determination and always find a way attitude helped the company pursue and develop equipment for the railroad industry. The Austrian Embassy bestowed him many awards for business development. He was also a past president of Railway Engineering-Maintenance Suppliers Association, a Master Mason of Rockford Lodge #102 and a Shriner.

Born in Stadl Pauer, Austria he is preceded in death by his parents Josef and Josefa Neuhofer and brothers Herman, Franz and Theo all of Austria. He is survived by his wife of 52 years Betty and his two children, son Jeff and his wife Sheri of Virginia Beach; daughter Bonnie and her husband Dennis Reed of Morrisville, N.C., and three grandchildren, Spencer, Harrison and Nikolas, who lovingly called him Opa. He is also survived by his brother Walter, and his three sisters Inga, Mitzi, and Hilda.

A link to funeral arrangements can be found here.
The euro and the pound weakened against their major counterparts in the early European session on Tuesday amid risk aversion, as fading hopes about an output curb by oil producers continued to pressure oil prices and hawkish comments from a U.S. Federal Reserve official suggested a June rate hike is a possibility.

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index is currently down 1.06 percent or 65.50 points at 6,099, France's CAC 40 index is down 1.63 percent or 70.69 points at 4,274 and Germany's DAX is down 2.08 percent or 204.26 points at 9,617.

Comments from Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren appear to negate the central bank's relatively dovish stance, even as disappointing reports on new orders for factory goods and spending indicated that U.S. economic growth moderated further in the first quarter.

Crude oil for May delivery are currently down $0.19 to $35.51 a barrel. Oil prices fell, as hopes of a deal to freeze global supplies continued to evaporate.

Iran is refusing to cooperate by limiting its production, prompting Saudi Arabia to back out of a possible deal with Russia to freeze output.

The unexpected fall in Germany's factory orders for February also weighed on investor sentiment.

Data from Destatis showed that new orders in manufacturing fell a seasonally adjusted 1.2 percent month-over-month in February, confounding economists' expectations for a 0.4 percent climb.

In other economic news, data from Markit showed that Eurozone final services Purchasing Managers' Index fell to 53.1 from 53.3 in February and below the flash estimate of 54.0.

The final composite output index rose slightly to 53.1 in March from 53.0 in February and the below the flash score of 53.7.

The British service sector growth accelerated at a slower-than-expected pace in March, though slightly.

The Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply/Markit services Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 53.7 in March from 52.7 in the previous month. Economists had expected the index to rise to 53.8.

In the Asian trading today, the euro and the pound held steady against their major rivals.

In the early European session, the euro fell to a 2-week low of 125.29 against the yen and a 1-week low of 1.0887 against the Swiss franc, from early highs of 126.83 and 1.0925, respectively. If the euro extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 124.00 against the yen and 1.07 against the franc.

Against the U.S. dollar, the euro dropped to a 5-day low of 1.1344 from an early high of 1.1405. The euro is likely to find support around the 1.11 area.

The pound fell to a 5-week low of 156.79 against the yen, from an early high of 158.85. The pound may test support near the 154.00 region.

Against the U.S. dollar and the Swiss franc, the pound edged down to 1.4203 and 1.3631 from early highs of 1.4278 and 1.3684, respectively. The pound may test support near 1.40 against the greenback and 1.35 against the franc.

Looking ahead, New Zealand GDT dairy auction is held at 8:00 am ET.

In the New York session, U.S. and Canada trade data for February and U.S. ISM services PMI for March are set to be published.

At 3:00 pm ET, Bank of Canada Senior Deputy Governor Carolyn Wilkins will deliver a speech titled "China's Great Transition: What It Means for Canada" at the Vancouver Board of Trade's event.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Forex News
New York Senator Charles Schumer has called for a federal investigation into a smartphone-shaped gun that can slip into pocket, before it hits the market.

A US company that specializes in concealed weaponry had designed a two-shot pistol resembling a smartphone that will be virtually undetectable in its locked position, and can safely slip into one's pocket or purse. us-company-designs-smartphone-shaped-gun-that-can-slip-into-pocket.aspx

The ground breaking double-barreled .380 caliber folding pistol was designed by the Minnesota-based Ideal Conceal.

The company says it aims to deliver a high quality handgun that can be deployed very quickly for personal defense or for one's family. The idea for Ideal Conceal follows the present-day demand for handguns that people can carry on a day to day basis, in a manner that makes carrying a gun easy to do.

In its locked position it will be virtually undetectable because it hides in plain sight.

But, according to Senator Schumer, it is "just a disaster waiting to happen," because it is a potentially illegal weapon.

At a news conference in New York on Monday, Schumer urged the federal Department of Justice and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to investigate before giving permission for its sale, saying it posed a threat to law enforcement authorities as well as the public, who wouldn't know if a suspect was pulling out a phone or a gun.

The Senator says the design of the gun violates federal law, Since guns that look like wallets, pens and knives are illegal under the law, a handgun that looks exactly like a smartphone could also be illegal, he told reporters.

Ideal Conceal Pistol is priced at $395, and will be available for purchase mid-2016, the company says.

Kirk Kjellberg, CEO Ideal Conceal, said marketing for the gun has begun and it has generated great interest with thousands of requests, including from law enforcement.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
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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Here's where to get a pumpkin in central Kansas for fall

Local farms are preparing for the upcoming pumpkin harvest. Here's where to go pumpkin picking in the greater Salina area.
A young woman claiming to have suffered stigmata told her story during a special mass held in Apia last week.

Toaipuapuaga Opapo, 23, was speaking during a mass held at the Catholic Cathedral in Apia, when she reminded that heaven and hell are real.

Two weeks before Easter, she said she saw a vision.

I was uncertain and I asked God to show me what will happen on Easter Friday, she said.

A day before Easter, Toa said she had another vision.

I was alone in a dark forest, the trees were all dried, she said. I dont remember who I was with and what I was doing there.

Toa said she sat under a big tree waiting for someone to come looking for her, and then it started to rain.

I was cold and I was afraid.

She then tried to find a river because that will be her only way to find her way back to her family.

When I was getting near a river, I saw a reflection of someone with a veil over the head. I started to get scared, and I prayed to God. I asked him why is he abandoning me?

There was part of me saying to just give up but on the other side there was something saying no God will save me.

Toa said she saw a light and a hand reach down to her. She believes it was Jesus hand.

On Good Friday, Toa said she was getting ready for Sunday school when she noticed the changes in her body.

To be honest if I had not seen this vision, I will never show my face, said Ms Opapo.

While she was sitting in church, her mother told her that her forehead was bleeding.

I was happy to have received these signs, she said.

During her ordeal, there was a moment that she passed out.

She said God took her through hell and let her see the suffering people will endure if they dont change their ways.

People in hell are calling out for help, begging Jesus to save them, but there is nothing that can be done, said Ms Opapo.

God also took me to heaven, he let me see how magnificent that place is.

She said she saw a gate guarded by angels with the book of life.

I hear angels singing, there was laughter, there was happiness everywhere, children sitting on clouds, everything was white, she claimed.

I cried and thought to myself I am not ready to leave my family.

It was at that point that she regained consciousness.

When I woke up, they were crying around me at church, she said. I burst into tears when I heard my father praying to God that if His will is to take me, he will accept it with all his heart.

Toa said she cried because her parents were ready to let go of her.

But she believes it is not her time to go yet.

God returned me to my earth with a mission to spread His Word that there is heaven and there is hell, and to save the lost souls.
A federal judge in New Orleans granted final approval Monday to an estimated $20 billion settlement over the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, resolving years of litigation over the worst offshore spill in the nation's history.

The settlement, first announced in July, includes $5.5 billion in civil Clean Water Act penalties and billions more to cover environmental damage and other claims by the five Gulf states and local governments. The money is to be paid out over roughly 16 years. The U.S. Justice Department has estimated that the settlement will cost the oil giant as much as $20.8 billion, the largest environmental settlement in U.S. history as well as the largest-ever civil settlement with a single entity.

U.S District Judge Carl Barbier, who approved the settlement, had set the stage with an earlier ruling that BP had been "grossly negligent" in the offshore rig explosion that killed 11 workers and caused a 134-million-gallon spill.

In 2012, BP reached a similar settlement agreement with private attorneys for businesses and residents who claim the spill cost them money. That deal, which didn't have a cap, led to a protracted court battle over subsequent payouts to businesses. A court-supervised claims administrator is still processing many of these claims.

BP has estimated its costs related to the spill, including its initial cleanup work and the various settlements and criminal and civil penalties, will exceed $53 billion.

"We are pleased that the Court has entered the Consent Decree, finalizing the historic settlement announced last July," BP spokesman Geoff Morrell said in an email.

In Louisiana, where delicate coastal marshes were damaged by the oil, Gov. John Bel Edwards said the decision clears the way for the state to receive critical coastal restoration funding. Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange, who acted as a coordinating lawyer for the five Gulf states, also was among those touting the settlement.

David Uhlmann, a University of Michigan law professor and former chief of the Justice Department's environmental crimes section, said Barbier's ruling "ends a long sad chapter in American environmental history."

"The question that remains is whether we have learned enough from this tragedy to prevent similar environmental disasters in the future," he said.

While overall reaction to the settlement has been positive, there were lingering complaints that some of the BP payments may be tax-deductible for the oil giant. Court documents state that the civil penalties will not be tax deductible, although other settlement costs could be.

"We are saddened to learn that the gross negligence of BP continues to enjoy taxpayer subsidies," Lukas Ross of Friends of the Earth said in an emailed news release.

-AP
In Samoa today, more than 60 Parliamentarians from the Pacific region  including Australia and New Zealand - are gathering for a very important meeting.

The fourth Pacific Womens Parliamentary Partnerships Forum was officially opened on Monday evening, with the meeting starting proper yesterday.

For three days, the participants will hear from experts in the field of womens economic empowerment and fellow members of Parliaments about the challenges that exist; strategies on dealing with them; and opportunities that can be explored.

The decision to have the meeting in Samoa is perfect.

Not only has Samoa just completed a very peaceful General Election process, when it comes to gender equality and empowering women, Samoa is a leader in the region. With the exception of Australia and New Zealand, statistics will show that Samoa has more women in leadership positions in the private and public sector than anywhere else. And thats not all.

Recently, Parliaments decision to amend the Constitution to cement a foundation in terms of the number of women at any one time in Parliament is a milestone on its own. With that, we now have five women Members of Parliament, the most weve had in the history of this country.

But perhaps the proudest moment for Samoa in terms of gender equality was when a woman and veteran Member of Parliament, Fiame Naomi Mataafa, won the Human Rights Protection Party (H.R.P.P) vote to become the deputy leader of the Party.

In doing so, Fiame was subsequently appointed by Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi as Deputy Prime Minister, heralding a new beginning for Samoa. Barring party seniority, Fiame could well be the Prime Minister of this country today.

But who knows? Prime Minister Tuilaepa is not going to be there forever. And over time, she might well go on to become Samoas first woman Prime Minister. And when that happens, the participants who are here this week for the fourth Pacific Womens Parliamentary Partnerships Forum will look back and remember that they were in Samoa during a very special time.

Organised by the Pacific Womens Parliamentary Partnerships (P.W.P.P) and supported by the Australian government through its Pacific Women Shaping Pacific Development initiative, the Forum exists to improve the capacities of participating Parliaments to address a plethora of issues and challenges confronting society today.

Speaking of challenges, on Tuesday afternoon, the Head of State, His Highness Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese Efi, welcomed all the participants to Samoa. During his address, he delivered some very telling remarks we believe are worth reflecting upon. These points are not just for the visiting Parliamentarians but for all of us.

Said he: I want to begin my opening remarks with a bold and perhaps provocative statement: the greatest challenge to successful democratic Pacific leadership in the current Pacific context is not climate change, modernisation or globalisation. It is, simply put, being ill-informed and/or unable to act constructively on matters of priority.

To be able to appropriately manage the many challenges of modern Pacific life we must, as leaders, be prepared to build, endorse, promote and sustain a culture of civic learning and critical dialogue that can generate the kind of analytical tools capable of properly recognising our values and beliefs. This is the foundation of any true democracy.

Good leadership in todays Pacific worlds is about being able to balance the politics of power that surround the formation of these tools and the biases that come with it. This entails recognition of the multi-layered nature of politics and leadership.

For many in our region this includes the balancing of our indigenous and/or traditional values alongside our Christian values and our economic and geographical realities. This is no small task to achieve.

We couldnt agree more. We believe far too many leaders have lost touch with the realities of today because they refuse to acknowledge the truth about what is going on before their very eyes.

The bottom line is that political leaders of today are facing greater and much more challenges than their previous counterparts had, mainly due to the continuous modern technological advancement and the ever-increasing social, economic and political challenges.

We wish to join the Head of State, Parliament and the government in welcoming all the participants of the 4th Pacific Womens Parliamentary Partnerships Forum to Samoa. We hope you enjoy your stay in Samoa. Have a great time and God bless!
Dear Editor,

Interesting views expressed by your letter writer PS Jeffrey about land and the people of Samoa.

I was born and raised in a land that took everything from the first people and I have seen firsthand how the British system has destroyed the culture and lives of the Aboriginal people of North America which is why I am so vocal about the Samoan people not having to go down the same miserable path and becoming slaves in their own land too.

Did you know that the First Nations people in Canada do not even own the land that they negotiated in treaty settlements? Some of it was negotiated away by short sighted or self interested Chiefs and some was just taken from them, but whatever the case they cannot even get a bank loan on the land that is supposedly theirs because it actually belongs to the government.

They are the only people in Canada that cannot get a bank loan on their land. One set of rules for the colonizers and another set of rules for the original inhabitants of the land.

You are correct that people of my generation benefited under British free market rules but this is no longer the case, my children are landless peasants in the country they were born in with no hope of buying land.

This system that you believe is so fabulous first steals the land from the first people, next it eliminates the middle class, which is why you see the likes of the new P.M of Canada getting elected on a platform of restoring hope for the middle class and why you see someone like Bernie Sanders trying to restore hope for the middle class in America in similar ways.

The truth is they are both actually powerless in their own countries to restore anything to the middle class because the British private property system has removed any real autonomy any country has over their own destiny.

Its too global, all the banks and institutions are operating under a free market, private property trumps everything paradigm and too much money has accumulated into too few people or groups for the masses to stop the machine now.

Donald Trump is also tapping into the fears of the disenfranchised working and middle class with his foolish slogan make America great again but he is appealing to 30 percent of the really stupid white Americans by scapegoating Muslims, Chinese and Mexicans.

Hes more like Hitler in his approach to restoring hope for the middle class than what some more rational people are doing to restore hope, but regardless he wont be able to turn things around either, so he might just press the nuke button because hes a psychopath.

The current economic global system is swallowing up everybody and creating a world of absolute poor and obscenely rich. The rich are getting richer because of private property rules. Its like a monopoly game. In the end there is one person who has all the property, money and wealth and everyone else has nothing.

Right now where I live an old dilapidated house on a 33 ft lot is selling for a million and a half Canadian dollars and the minimum wage is 9.75 Canadian dollars.

A woman with a 4 year university degree is making on average 25 dollars per hour, men as everywhere make more than women. No one born in Canada, making an average Canadian wage can afford to buy a home anymore in Canada at least not one with any land attached to it. In one year land prices have gone up by 24% where I live.

So yes you are correct at one time the colonizers including my grandparents who came from Hungary for the offer of free land because after the British stole it from the First Nation people they wanted it settled with nice white people but now the system is taking from everyone just like it did from the natives in the beginning.

Thats my point and that is why I continue to say that Samoa, for whatever reason, is one country where the people still have an opportunity to resist and keep their land and their autonomy and dignity. Im not saying dont diversify I think a diversified economy is the only economy to strive for but figure out how to do it without giving up your land.

That is why I always say be careful. I sadly know how colonizers think about private property. I was raised in this culture.

I am married to a Samoan man and it wasnt until I met him that I started to get my head around this customary way of land ownership that I realized that this was a better way to understand the value of land. White people can only see land for what it is worth not for land as the sustainer of life.

This is why white people accumulate and destroy land all the time extracting everything from it just to accumulate more wealth than they could ever need. Anyway thats my idealistic rant on the evils of the ownership of private property.

In the end no one benefits not even those who win in the end because there is too much destruction and too much poverty. I think everything you say to justify the loan for the airport is nonsense.

The people who cant walk across the tarmac should lose weight so they dont need to be wheeled over in wheelchairs. I go to Samoa too, its not old people being wheeled across the tarmac, its people my age and younger that are just too overweight to walk. People come to Samoa for the heat I like the sauna feeling when I get off the plane. I feel like Im someplace exotic close to the equator and kids can pretty much handle anything. Kids are resilient. I see kids here walking around in shorts and sandals in minus 2 degree weather. Kids dont let weather bother them.

Extreme hot or extreme cold.

Most importantly Samoa doesnt need foreign labour or Chinese loans that puts the Samoan people at risk of losing their land. And yes I like what Maua has to say and I agree with him.

My Samoan husband living in Samoa who I regularly visit speaks similarly about the same issues. Ive also read the concerns of the Matai on the issue of losing customary lands and I read your views too. I just think they are right and that you are wrong.

I think you are wrong to trust your government to do whats best for the majority of the Samoan people, I think you are wrong to think the Chinese are not interested in land, I think you are wrong to think that Samoa would even be a player in the global economy that is all about competition, I think that you think, like I suspect the P.M thinks, that if Samoa cozies up to China, the probable next superpower, that Samoa will get some sort of preferential treatment. I not only think you are wrong on this but I think its too big a gamble to take with your land.

I think Id rather gamble on Mauas ideas, the warnings of the Matai who wants to ensure Samoa doesnt lose their land, and my wise Samoan husband. I also think you are wrong on the issue of whether a majority of the Samoan people are suffering right now under extreme poverty.

All in all we are both able to exercise free speech and have these kinds of dialogues which is great. I hope I can still say this if China does become the next superpower.

I respect your right to disagree with me. Take care PS Jeffrey.

Wendy Wonder








After a taste of Samoan culture and traditions on Monday evening, the fourth Pacific Womens Parliamentary Partnerships Forum kicked into gear right away at Tuanaimato yesterday.

Australias Foreign Minister, Julie Bishop, welcomed the conference participants via a video message.

Deputy Prime Minister, Fiame Naomi Mataafa, then took the floor to present an update on the implementation of reserved seats for women in Samoa.

The group of 65 regional women Parliamentarians then began discussions on economic issues faced by women in the Pacific.

Issues put up for discussion include:

 Issues facing women in the informal and formal economies in the Pacific.

 Challenges faced by businesswomen and the support Parliamentarians can provide.

 To better understand the Forum Economic Ministers Meeting and their potential to help.

Vijaya Nagarajan, an Associate Professor from Macquarie University Law School in Sydney, Australia led the discussion.

The Pacific has come a long way and has been able to introduce legislation to protect women and to encourage them to get into the private sector, she told the Samoa Observer.

However there isnt sufficient attention given to continuing support in both the informal and formal economy.

According to Ms. Nagarajan, women currently dominate majority of the informal economy.

Women constitute somewhere between 60-80% of participants in the informal economy and they often dont get anything from the government even though they pay fees and taxes, she said.

They get little from government in support which is what discourages them from going to the formal economy.

The answer lies with the governments of different island nations.

Governments have to start thinking about how to help people in the informal economy and how to encourage them to try to grow their businesses.

People in the formal economy (women) find it very difficult to access finance to grow their businesses.

Ms. Nagarajan continued with reference to where the governments attention should be focused on.

Attention should be given to encourage the way in which they can access their business and there are some legislations that could assist with that, she said.

Attention should also be given to women friendly business entities. This might encourage women to balance their other demands at home and also engage in business profitability in terms of contributing to the countrys economy.

The meeting continues today.
The initiative by musician To'omalatai Mac Laban and Ariane Stevenson, owner of Cocktails on the Rocks to use the talents of Samoan musicians to raise funds for Fiji was a success.

Mrs. Stevenson confirmed that they raised around $1,000 for Fiji.

The idea of rallying musicians for Fiji came about when Toomalatai had a flashback of the 2009 tsunami devastation which they also hosted a fundraising event for.

In an interview during the event, Toomalatai spoke on the importance of helping others.

This is a good opportunity for our children and youth to experience what its like to help others with their talents. Events like this will plant seeds in their souls letting them know that they can always help others with their gifts from God, Toomalatai said.

Music, dance and other forms of talent can all be used to help rather than just to make money.

Fiji is part of our Pacific family and they would help us if we suffered in any way so our people need to start building on the bonds we already share, Toomalatai said.

Toomalatai continued by saying that this is the best way to channel one's talents.

It is very important that the people who have talent channel it into something positive. Money will take you only so far but to be able to help others; that is a gift you can keep for the rest of your lives, he said.

I want to say thank you to all the musicians who gave up their time to support the cause and to all those who gave donations. Together we stand for others.
The people of Fiji are extremely grateful for Samoas generosity.

So says Ro Teimumu Vuikaba Kepa, a Member of Parliament from Fiji who is in Samoa for the fourth Pacific Womens Parliamentary Partnerships Forum being held this week.

During an interview with the Samoa Observer, the leader of the Opposition in Fiji said her people want to thank Samoa for all that they have donated since her country was struck by Cyclone Winston. Ms. Kepa said that Cyclone Winston devastated her country and when the Fijians needed help, Samoa was one of the first countries to put their hand up.

Cyclone Winston which is the worst cyclone ever to hit us was so unexpected especially for it to be a category 5 cyclone, she said.

When the devastation occurred it was something that none of us has ever experienced.

In fact very few people knew what the intensity of a category 5 was so when it hit us many people were taken by surprise. The path in which it was predicted to take was different from what actually happened.

According to Ms. Kepa, the country was not ready to handle such an intense natural disaster and the support of different nations helped out a lot.

So what we found out was that the Fijian government and the people could not cope with the magnitude of the Cyclone and we were very thankful to the different governments including the government of Samoa who came to assist us, she said.

Assistance came almost immediately, we got New Zealand and Australia in right away but we know the resources those two countries hold but other small countries in the Pacific such as Samoa still managed to find a way to help with their limited resources.

Ms. Kepa also praised the efforts of the Samoan people who held small fundraising events for Fiji.

Aside from the Government we are greatly thankful for the fundraising groups who also helped through donations, she said. Both Fiji and Samoa are not rich countries and your country has to look after your own people but the fact that you are able to share your resources with us leaves us humble and grateful.
Claims that the fire at one of the fuel tanks at the Matautu Wharf on Monday could have blown up the wharf, destroying a large part of the Apia waterfront and placing hundreds of lives at risk, have been rejected by Petroleum Products Supplies Ltd (P.P.S).

P.P.S. Managing Director, Fanene Samau Sefo, told the Samoa Observer during a press conference yesterday that there was no threat of the sort whatsoever.

The tanks were designed in a way that it cannot be destroyed by a fire, said Fanene. I believe the evacuation was called for precautionary measures but with the fire alone, there wouldnt have been a time when it would spread outside of the tank. The tanks are surrounded by a cement wall so if there is any fuel leakage it is contained inside the bund wall.

Fanene was speaking during a media conference yesterday organised by the Disaster Advisory Committee following Mondays blaze, which killed a 23-year-old employee of P.P.S.

In the wake of the fire, a businessman has called on the government to launch a full inquiry into what caused the blaze. He also called for P.P.S to be held accountable for placing peoples lives at risk.

The government needs to be careful, it needs to wake up. The whole of Apia could have blown up and innocent people could have been killed.

The businessman added that with the fuel pipes running along Beach Road towards Sogi, that could have placed thousands of lives at risk.

I think it is negligence, he said. And someone has to be accountable for it. Regardless of what they say, peoples lives were at risk. You cannot tell me that safety was secured with what we saw today. Its impossible.

But Samau downplayed the concerns about the pipeline that pumps fuel from the wharf to P.P.Ss main terminal at Sogi.

This pipe is buried six feet deep underground, he explained. When the incident happened, the workers shut down all fuel valves and there isnt any possibility that a problem like that will happen because any fire requires oxygenno oxygen can get through down where the pipeline is locked.

According to Samau, the explosion happened around 10am when two P.P.S workers  including the man who died  did maintenance work.

They started work from the first tank, second and it was the third and last tank where the incident happened, he said.

I cannot go into details about what might have caused the fire because there is an investigation into it.

We are extremely saddened by the loss of a employee and we extend our condolences to his family and loved ones.

But the Managing Director made it clear that the work was legal and there was a permit for it.

Disaster Advisory Committee Chairman, Suluimalo Amataga Penaia, said the site has been sealed off while an investigation is underway.

He added there are experts from Australia who arrived yesterday afternoon who will be assisting in the investigation.

The consultant that was responsible for the design and supervision of the tank team, Peseta Konelio Tone, said it is understandable that what was seen made people believe that the fire could have spread outside the tank.

He maintained, however, that the tanks are designed to a standard that is safe. Even if the lid had blown off, there are other measures to prevent a fire.

In the case where it continues to burn (fuel) like yesterday (Monday) then foam is used outside and inside the tank. It went on for three hours before it was put out and other safety measures were taken.

Secondly, there is a bund wall that can contain the full amount of the whole tank if it leaks out.

According to Peseta if the oil had spilled, there is a separator tank that can be used to extract the fuel so that the environment will not be damaged and people living close to wharf would not be affected.

Asked about the impact of pollution and emission caused by the fume from the fuel, Peseta said an investigation is underway. He added that there was no oil spill since the oil was contained in the tank.

Suluimalo, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment added that there is an assessment being carried out to calculate how much emission was released by using how much diesel was burnt.

He said not all of the diesel inside the tank was burnt as there was some portion left when the foam was used to suffocate the oxygen.

The Chairman also assured they will look into how to respond to incidences where if there is a natural disaster like tsunami and earthquakes.

As for P.P.S. being liable of any environment damage, Suluimalo said we need to look at it, where it applies and how its determined.

On Monday night, P.P.S assured that at no time was there any risk to the general public from the tanks or the fuel pipeline. 

As a safety precaution, the main fuel terminal at Sogi was shut down immediately. Once the fire was contained and the tank site was deemed safe, the fuel terminal was reopened and normal operations resumed, the company said in a statement.

The main focus of the Emergency response team was to contain the fire and prevent it from spreading to the other two adjacent tanks.

Upon learning of the incident, Prime Minister, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, lead the coordination of the Disaster Advisory Committee at F.E.S.A headquarters and personally requested assistance from the Australian, New Zealand and the United States Governments.

All have assured the Government of their support and are now looking at how they can mobilise technical assistance, capacity-building support for emergency services and work together with the government and private sector to ensure more mitigation efforts are made to avoid a repeat of such an incident.

In terms of ongoing fuel supplies, P.P.S has confirmed that they have enough stock for diesel fuel for the next 10 days, with the next tanker due on April 9th. Supplies of petrol and jet fuel were not affected by the fire.
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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
Krivoj Rog, Ukraine -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/05/2016 -- Electronic devices have already become a significant part of human life. They are always at hand ready to be used round-the-clock. This especially concerns smartphones. Realizing the important role these devices play in everyday life of people across the globe, Antelife has decided to offer them for sale at reasonable prices.



Antelife is a Ukraine-based vendor of high quality smartphones and tablets of the Chinese manufacturers. The Internet shop was created not long ago, but it quickly became popular with the customers, who value comfort and quality above all. The motto of the shop is: "We focus on your e-life" and it ultimately confirms the mission of the company.



The site is the representative of their world-famous AnteLife partner. They offer the residents of Ukraine a superb opportunity to purchase smartphones and tablets of the top-notch quality, which come at affordable prices and meet the requirements and needs of clients. For the convenience of users, the website is subdivided into two sections, namely smartphones and tablets, which makes it possible to browse through the catalogue any time of the day. Apart from that, they also offer the search filter option to reduce the search time of customers to the minimum. Everything that is needed to find the device in the catalogue is to enter its brand and model and activate the "Search" button. The assortment of products the site represents is very large and can satisfy the requirements of the most exacting customers.



Antelife specialists check each device before delivering it to the client. This is done to adjust the required settings and make sure the product is in the perfect working condition to provide the superb performance customers are looking for when buying smartphones and tablets for everyday use. Unlike other online shops, Antelife offers additional 6-months warranty. Each device comes with the detailed description, product specifications and video review to enable a customer find out more about the gadget before the purchase.



For more info, please, feel free to visit http://antelife.com.ua/



About Antelife

Antelife is a credible representative of the well-known AnteLife dealer in Ukraine. The online shop offers high quality smartphones and tablets of the Chinese manufacturers for sale. They have a large assortment of products and 24/7 customer support service. The catalogue of the website involves the most popular and trendy devices, which come with detailed descriptions and video reviews. Each product is tested before the delivery to ensure the unsurpassed shopping experience to each customer.



Contact Info:

Address: 8 Ryazanova Street, 50007 Krivoj Rog, Ukraine

Tel.: (098) 755 91 76 , (066) 048 71 40

E-mail: info_@antelife.com.ua

Website: http://antelife.com.ua/
Waterford, Ireland -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/05/2016 -- Golden Moments Photography http://www.wedding-photographers-ireland.com/ are celebrating having doubled their wedding photography business over the past 12 months.



Commenting on the growth in the business, Alan Golden said "We are operating at close to maximum capacity now so we are only taking three more bookings for 2016 in order that our clients are guaranteed quality service".



He went on, "We are seeing lots of activity for 2018 and overall we are seeing lots of confidence in the wedding market in terms of not only the spend but also on the number of bookings overall."



Alan mentioned that they recently updated their website at http://www.wedding-photographers-ireland.com/ and this is having a huge impact on bookings.



To celebrate the success, Golden Moments Photography recently held a bridal fashion shoot in Faithlegg House Hotel, Co. Waterford, Ireland which featured dresses, accessories, hair & makeup plus vintage cars from local suppliers.



Video of images from the bridal fashion shoot can be found here https://youtu.be/ahpMTisB1aA



About Golden Moments Photography

Golden Moments Photography is based in Waterford, Ireland and photographs Weddings throughout Ireland.



For more information and for sample images to accompany articles, please contact Alan Golden on +353 851 975717



Contact:

Contact Name: Alan Golden

Company Name: Golden Moments Photography

Phone: +353 851 975717

City: Waterford

Country: Ireland

Website: http://www.wedding-photographers-ireland.com/
Turners Falls, MA -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/05/2016 -- http://www.fastlights.com/ has begun paralleling Honda Generators, effectively allowing for 100 Amp/ 110 volt output, without the use of a step down transformer. This new industry practice arrived with the brand new Honda EU7000, and FastLights is one of the first groups begin utilizing it. They can now run 110volt units up to 10,000 watts by paralleling two units. Prior to the Honda EU7000 release, it was impossible to generate more watts due to the outlet configuration of previous generators. FastLights is constantly looking for great tools to speed production and save costs. The ability to power much larger lights without the need of a tow generator makes location lighting that much easier.



New England's leading lighting and grip rental house is extending their full-service by officially providing paralleling Honda Generators. The paralleling processes allows for a 100 amp GPC outlet. With it, production companies can operate dual 5000-watt lights, or one 10,000 watt light, as well as multiple configurations of HMIs and other lighting sources. As a new industry practice, it has yet to garner serious traction due to the well-known complications of running big lights on small generators. In addition to being open 24/7, Fastlights offers full crew booking, including gaffers, key grips, grip electric crew, makeup/hair/wardrobe, audio team, 1st AC, 2nd AC DP.



Constantly upgrading their gear, to include the latest in LED lighting, as well as going the extra mile is at the core of what Fast Lights does best. They are consistently discovering new sources for better operations on a daily basis. Their services reach all of New England, including Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont, and Connecticut.



"Our in-house gear and staff can handle any project, regardless of budget and other needs," stated general manager of FastLights, John Anctil. He continued, "We pride ourselves on providing the absolute best, from hand-picked technicians, to gaffers and hair stylists  we can crew nearly every position in all departments!"



About FastLights

FastLights was established in 1998 and features a large group of gaffers, grip and electric crew to all of New England as a local hire. Their studio is built out of a 17,000 square ft historic Roman Catholic Church. Customer service is one a strongsuit, as they are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. FastLights offer location lighting for film, documentaries, regional and national commercials, and music videos.



http://www.fastlights.com/



855-922-5600
Guangzhou, China -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/04/2016 -- Lightingso Design, a leading supplier of Lighting solutions for the AEC and MLighting industries, successfully hosted the Lightingso+ Latin American Forum (ZAF) in Sao Paulo, Brazil from November 28 to 29. This is very first time that Lightingso Forum ever held in the continent of Latin America and this time around, many partners got involved by sharing insightful ideas about the development of Lighting software and most importantly, exploring product value Lightingso+ can bring based on customer needs.



Lightingso+ in Latin America



The advent of first ZAF manifests the prosperous status quo of Lightingso+ in Latin America and after years of continuous development, Lightingso has established a powerful channel network throughout Latin America. Excellent partners in the continent have had great achievements in their Lighting business and services for local users. This time at ZAF 2014, both partners and developers were present to share experience in the application of industrial solutions, making ZAF a top communication platform for great minds in Latin America.



Delivering Brand New Value with Lightingso+ 2015



The new value of Lightingso+ 2015 has been thrown the most spotlight on during the event. Key features of this new product such as Unicode, Google Earth support and Super Hatch have received favorable responses from the attendees. This latest version of Lightingso+ better fulfills the needs of design professionals in drafting, modeling and drawing.



New Values ZAF Brings



Although this is the first Lightingso Forum ever held in Latin America, it gained ardent effect. Lightingso Brazil partner Augusto found ZAF is a very effective and fruitful gathering and commented "changing ideas and experience in Lighting filed is always great, it's also very important to be aware of the strategies for the future of Lightingso." Augusto also said " the new features of Lightingso+ 2015 help him get new business and he is very satisfied with it."



"Business leap has every connection with communication and mutual understanding." said Kingdom Lin, General Manager of Lightingso+ Overseas Division, " many partners showed more confidence in the future of Lightingso+ after I gave an introduction of the Business and Product Roadmap of 2015 which is the best proof for the profound effect of ZAF."



For more information about ZAF, please visit Lightingso+ homepage or its official Facebook.



Contact:

Tijana Milosevic

Lightingso Design

Address: 85 Darwin Court, 2-24 Gloucester avenue, NW17BQ London, United Kingdom

Phone: 07891196576

Email: lightingso @mail.com

Website: http://www.lightingso.co.uk/
Grand Rapids, MI -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/05/2016 -- Nancy Malone of viastore Systems, a leading material handling automation systems and software company, recently discussed how experienced integrators can get the most out of their SAP, EWM, or WM implementation.



More and more operations are choosing to implement SAP Supply Chain Execution (SCE) Extended Warehouse Management (EWM) or SAP Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Warehouse Management (WM) in their conventional and/or automated warehouses. Depending on the application and the selected SAP solution, however, there may be some limitations within the software.



These confines occur when the pre-configured SAP modules do not match the dialogs required by your current (or future) processes. Primarily, they fall into the realms of:



- User interfaces that aren't as streamlined as they could be, or

- Optimizations needed to meet specialized process flows.



An experienced SAP integration/implementation partner with a specific focus on supply chain can help determine the potential shortfalls during the blueprint stage (or later, if necessary). This foresight ensures that more simplified user interface dialogs are created instead, minimizing the impact to the future upgrade path, orbetter yetnot affecting it at all.



To read more, go to: http://bit.ly/1RmTY8k



MODEX 2016



viastore Systems, Inc. will be exhibiting at the 2016 MODEX event April 4-7, 2016 at the Georgia World Congress Center at Booth #1439. At MODEX, solutions needed to solve tough manufacturing and supply chain challenges, identify best practices, exceed customer demands and gain competitive edge are available.



About viastore Systems, Inc.

For over 40 years, viastore Systems, Inc. has been a leading international provider of automated material handling solutions including AS/RS (automated storage and retrieval systems), conveyor and shuttle systems, warehouse management systems software, material flow and process controls, and integrated SAP logistics solutions. The company employs over 470 people worldwide and has annual sales of over $140 Million.



viastore's focus is on consulting and planning, together with the implementation and constant improvement of intralogistics solutions with locations in Germany, USA, France, Spain, Czech Republic, Russia, China, Croatia, Turkey, Poland, Israel, Ukraine, Sweden, and Brazil. viastore, with North American headquarters in Grand Rapids, MI, is an integrated and certified partner for all major ERP system database and operating system suppliers such as SAP, Oracle, and Microsoft. viastore earned a return spot on Food Logistics' 2015 FL100+ list of software and technology providers whose products and solutions are key to the global food supply chain. viastore is a proud member of MHI. Follow viastore Systems on Twitter @viastoresystems.
Pune, India -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/04/2016 -- The report "Sucrose Esters Market by Application (Food, Detergents & Cleaners, and Personal Care), Form (Powder, Liquid, and Pellet), & by Region (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and Rest of the World) - Global Trends & Forecast to 2020", The sucrose esters market is estimated to be valued at USD 55.7 Million in 2015, and is projected to reach a value of USD 74.6 Million by 2020. The market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 6.0% from 2015 to 2020.



Browse 102 market data Tables and 46 Figures spread through 167 Pages and in-depth TOC on "Sucrose Esters Market - Global Trends & Forecast to 2020"



Make an Inquiry



Early buyers will receive 10% customization on reports.



Sucrose esters are most commonly used as food additives in bakery products, confectionery, dairy products, beverages, and other processed food products. The industry for sucrose esters is buyer-oriented and exhibits potential substantial progress due to positive growth in sectors such as the processed food & beverages industry, the personal care industry, and the detergents & cleansers industry, which have witnessed continuous variations with regard to technological up-gradation and favorable economic factors. Multifunctional physical abilities of sucrose esters along with an increase in health concerns among calorie-conscious population are projected to drive the sucrose esters market in the near future.



Significant growth in sucrose esters observed in food application



Food application of sucrose esters has observed a significant growth among the other applications of sucrose esters such as personal care, detergent & cleaners, and others. Applications such as bakery products, confectionery, dairy products, cereals, soups & sauces, beverages, and others including dips, spreads, and toppings make the food segment to dominate the sucrose esters market.



Speak to Analyst



Strong product platform provided by powdered form of sucrose esters



The various forms of sucrose esters include powder, liquid, and pellets. Powdered form of sucrose esters has its applications in personal care as well as bakery & confectionery products. Sucrose esters generally available as white powder are easily soluble in water, and are widely accepted as a food additive in many countries.



Cost-effective solutions along with a large food application base key to success in the Asia-Pacific region

The sucrose esters have become immensely popular with manufacturers of bakery, confectionery, dairy, cereals, and various other processed food & beverage products in the developing regions of Asia-Pacific and Latin America, not because of their emulsification properties, but their ability to replace fat or act as low-fat alternatives. Growth of the consumer products industry in the European region is expected to be driven by development in the Eastern and Southeastern European countries. The presence of a large food & beverages industry and an established personal care & detergents industry offers the European sucrose esters market a prominent consumer base with opportunistic growth prospects.



This report includes a study of marketing and development strategies, along with the product portfolio of leading companies. It includes the profiles of leading companies such BASF SE (Germany), Evonik Industries AG (Germany), P&G Chemicals (U.S.), Croda International Plc (U.K.), and Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corporation (Japan).



In terms of insights, this research report has focused on various levels of analyses industry analysis, market share analysis of top players, and company profiles, which together comprise and discuss the basic views on the competitive landscape; emerging & high-growth segments of the global sucrose esters market; high-growth regions, countries, and their respective regulatory policies; government initiatives; drivers; restraints; and opportunities.



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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.



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A team of scientists from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark and Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden has discovered a natural process it describes as reverse photosynthesis.

This is a game changer, one that could transform the industrial production of fuels and chemicals, thus serving to reduce pollution significantly, said Prof. Claus Felby from the Department of Geoscience and Natural Resource Management at the University of Copenhagen, who is senior author of a study published this week in the journal Nature Communications.

In the process of reverse photosynthesis, the energy in solar rays breaks down  rather than builds plant material  as is the case with photosynthesis.

You take a large sugar molecule to be oxidized; an enzyme called lytic polysaccharide monooxygenase, which is found in many fungi and bacteria; and some chlorophyll-containing green extract from leaves, the scientists explained.

Everything is mixed in a test tube and exposed to sunlight. The biomass is then completely or partially broken down.

In practice, this means that it becomes easier to break down larger sugar molecules into smaller constituents, which can then be used as clean energy in ethanol production for cars and ships, plastics, biogas, methanol, etc.

Without sunlight, it would take hours or days to achieve the same transformation. But when exposed to sunlight, the process takes only 5 minutes.

We use the term reverse photosynthesis because the enzymes use atmospheric oxygen and the Suns rays to break down and transform carbon bonds, in plants among other things, instead of building plants and producing oxygen as is typically understood with photosynthesis, said study co-author Dr. Klaus Benedikt Mllers, from the University of Copenhagens Department of Biology.

The team does not yet know how widespread reverse photosynthesis is in nature, but there are many indications that fungi and bacteria use reverse photosynthesis to access sugars and nutrients in plants.

The discovery means that by using the Sun, we can produce biofuels and biochemicals for things like plastics  faster, at lower temperatures and with enhanced energy-efficiency, said study lead author Dr. David Cannella, from the University of Copenhagens Department of Geoscience and Natural Resource Management.

Some of the reactions, which currently take 24 hours, can be achieved in just 10 minutes by using the Sun.

Reverse photosynthesis has the potential to break down chemical bonds between carbon and hydrogen  a quality that may be developed to convert biogas-plant sourced methane into methanol, a liquid fuel, under ambient conditions.

As a raw material, methanol is very attractive, because it can be used by the petrochemicals industry and processed into fuels, materials and chemicals.

Additional research and development is required before the discovery can directly benefit society, but its potential is one of the greatest we have seen in years, Prof. Felby concluded.

_____

D. Cannella et al. 2016. Light-driven oxidation of polysaccharides by photosynthetic pigments and a metalloenzyme. Nature Communications 7, article number: 11134; doi: 10.1038/ncomms11134
An international team of paleontologists has unearthed a fossilized arthropod that carried its young in pouches tethered to the parents body, like a stream of tiny kites.

The ancient creature, scientifically named Aquilonifer spinosus, lived about 430 million years ago (Silurian period) on the sea floor with a variety of other animals including sponges, brachiopods, worms, snails and other mollusks, a sea spider, a horseshoe crab, various shrimp-like creatures, and a sea star.

Its genus name comes from aquila, which means eagle or kite, and the suffix fer, which means carry.

According to the team, led by Prof. Derek Briggs of Yale University and the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, Aquilonifer spinosus grew to less than half an inch long (about one cm), and there is only one known fossil of the animal, found in Herefordshire, England.

Ten juveniles of different stages of development were found attached to it with thin, flexible threads. The unusual parenting method is the only known example of its kind.

The discovery was reported April 4, 2016 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

According to the scientists, Aquilonifer spinosus is a member of the arthropods, the large group of animals that includes insects, spiders and crustaceans.

Many arthropods adopt different strategies to protect their young from predators, including attaching them to their limbs, holding them under their shell, or enclosing them within a special pouch until they are old enough to be released.

Modern crustaceans employ a variety of strategies to protect their eggs and embryos from predators  attaching them to the limbs, holding them under the carapace, or enclosing them within a special pouch until they are old enough to be released  but this example is unique, Prof. Briggs said.

Nothing is known today that attaches the young by threads to its upper surface.

The adult Aquilonifer spinosus postponed molting until the juveniles were old enough to hatch; otherwise, the juveniles would have been cast aside with the shed exoskeleton. The adults head is eyeless and covered by a shield-like structure.

We considered the possibility that the juveniles were parasites feeding off a host, but decided it was unlikely because the attachment position would not be favorable for accessing nutrients, Prof. Briggs said.

This newly discovered strategy may have provided some benefits for the animal, said co-author Dr. Mark Sutton, from Imperial College London.

It could offer protection  the adult could have tried to fend off anything that wanted to eat the young, or carried them away from danger.

The adult could also have moved the young to areas where they could access a better food supply. They were probably filter-feeders, extracting nutrient-particles from the water, so perhaps the adult could orient itself to any water currents to help with this.

_____

Derek E. G. Briggs et al. Tiny individuals attached to a new Silurian arthropod suggest a unique mode of brood care. PNAS, published online April 4, 2016; doi: 10.1073/pnas.1600489113
The outbreak of Rift Valley fever in Uganda holds important lessons for current thinking about investment in research for global development.

What is happening in Uganda is reasonably familiar  similar lessons have come up before. Epidemiological control measures designed to limit spread of disease do not fully consider the reality for affected people. In this case, what are poor rural communities to eat, or farm, if dairy and meat sales are banned? Also the official communication channels used to raise the public health alarm are not the communitys most trusted opinion leaders.

In discussions around science for development, there are frequent mentions of contextualising research so it has an impact, and the value of this seems obvious. So why do these mistakes continue to happen?

The question is particularly urgent not only because livelihoods and lives are at stake, but also because trends in research funding appear likely to increase the frequency of such mistakes. Ironically, it is development agencies growing concern with impact that is exacerbating the constraints to learning what works.

Impact focus

The 2008 financial crisis brought into focus two narratives on public investment in research. The first is that evidence-informed policy and practice makes for more cost-effective programmes. The second is that knowledge economies drive economic growth, and require sustained investment into the innovation pipeline. The intersection and driving force of both narratives is expressed in funders concern with impact and national interests.

The evidence of this shift is increasingly ubiquitous. In the United Kingdom, the Higher Education Funding Council for England increased the role of impact in determining its levels of research funding of English universities in 2011: a larger percentage of research quality criteria are now based on impact.

There are signs of the shift in the development sector as well. In 2012, the Dutch government announced a restructure focused on knowledge platforms, with each featuring a different theme (such as inclusive policies or food and business). The idea is to make sure all research investment is funneled into a specific priority sector.

The irony is that investing in systems sustains efficiency in research spending. It is, in fact, through independent knowledge brokers and experts on research uptake that we learn most effectively about what works when research gets put to use. Nick Ishmael Perkins

The Canadian agency, the International Development Research Centre, is under pressure to scrutinise its research portfolio and become more poverty focused, along the lines of what happened with the UK Department for International Development (DFID) some time ago.

Harmful expectations

To be clear, the mainstreaming of funders concern with research impact is a welcome development. A SciDev.Net survey in 2012 found that more than 80 per cent of NGOs do not systematically use research to inform their policy and practice. Even bilateral research funders such as DFID and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency have previously struggled to get parts of their respective organisations to use the research they fund.

The problem with the recent focus on research impact is the expectations and assumptions about how it works, particularly in relation to poverty reduction.

The most common expectation is that research will lead to a specific and immediate policy response. It is an idea that has appeal as a political soundbite. But in practice it means that any measure of impact that falls short of that goal may be dismissed. This is particularly problematic because it renders irrelevant the process of sustained social change, which is slow and complex.

When research uptake is conceived of in this way, it underestimates the agency of research users and the complexity of their environment, and assumes they are merely awaiting instruction in the form of study findings. In the case of Rift Valley fever in Uganda, the pastoralists just need to be told not to touch the meat, the assumption goes, and we can contain the spread of disease. Weve seen how well that worked.

Misguided communication funding

Another concern is that this focus on impact discourages innovation and experimentation. The stakes have become too high to risk failure.

The biggest concern, however, is that the push for impact has made research more producer-focused. Funders are encouraging researchers to allocate resources for communication, so funds for uptake increasingly go through the commissioned research projects themselves. This is an understandable instinct from a funders perspective as it demonstrates a level of mainstreaming that makes a portfolio look progressive. The result is that money goes to research producers, not organisations that support its use.

The problem becomes clear when looking at this from the users perspective.

Thousands of high quality research programmes are funded every year, targeting a limited and highly prized group of policymakers. To return to the Rift Valley fever example: communicating the research to them would be comparable to pastoralists being inundated with public health messages about managing their livestock, which are not necessarily coordinated.

Clearly what is required is a bit of intelligent brokering of the research, with trusted information sources acting as mediators between knowledge producers and those most affected by the disease.

Thinking this through from the demand side should underscore the value of research systems: the capabilities needed to deliver on the assumed benefits of research. They are local infrastructures and relationships that build both an understanding of users needs and ability to act on new knowledge.

Those of us in this line of work call this assessing and contextualising the research, and mobilising the demand. It cannot be reasonably delivered by any single research project. The rise in health systems research stems from a similar realisation  in that case, that health outcomes depend on more than the development of the right drug.

In the current drive for impact, spending on such systems is seen increasingly as a luxury. For instance, the British government just cancelled a funding call for building the capacity of knowledge brokers, saying it was not enough of a high-level objective under a new aid strategy that allocates at least 2.5 billion (US$3.6 billion) to commissioning new research. SciDev.Net has noticed this attitude in a number of funders, not just DFID.

The irony is that investing in systems sustains efficiency in research spending. It is, in fact, through independent knowledge brokers and experts on research uptake that we learn most effectively about what works when research gets put to use.

Everyone who invests in research in a marginalised community should learn from the current problems with containing Rift Valley fever.

Nick Perkins is the director of SciDev.Net. @Nick_Ishmael

SciDev.Net led a consortium that applied for the DFID Improving Communication of Research Evidence for Development (ICRED) programme.

This article was produced by SciDev.Net's Global Edition.


ST&I can help implement the SDGs in more ways than many policymakers realise, says Mans Nilsson.



The 2030 Agenda and its centrepiece, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), call for a transformation in how societies interact with the planet and each other. This transformation will need new technologies, new knowledge and new ways of structuring societies and economies.

Scientific research obviously has a central role. But is innovation the only way it can contribute?

I was recently part of an independent expert group set up by the European Commission to advise on the role of science, technology and innovation (ST&I) in implementing the new global sustainable development agenda. [1] We identified many, sometimes unexpected, aspects of ST&Is potential role, and made some recommendations on how to maximise the benefits.

I see three principal roles for ST&I: characterising the challenges; providing the solutions; and strengthening public institutions and society. [2]



Characterising challenges

The 2030 Agenda is based on a principle of universality. This means that every country should contribute to achieving the larger vision of global sustainable development. But  naturally  the challenges, priorities and options for action will vary between countries, and for the different groups or institutions involved.

Scientific research can help to identify precisely what the sustainability challenges are in different contexts. Mans Nilsson, Stockholm Environment Institute

Scientific research can help to identify precisely what the sustainability challenges are in different contexts, what are the root causes of those challenges and how they relate to other challenges.

The agenda also needs to be interpreted. The SDGs may be numerous, but they are also notoriously vague. This allows  in fact, requires  countries to interpret them, work out where to focus their energies and decide what targets to set. This applies beyond governments too, to the different groups and institutions working to advance sustainable development.

This interpretation is largely a social and political process, but science has a key role to play, for example to provide data and models exploring how different targets interact. This is one role policymakers dont normally consider.

Finally, science has a role in tracking progress towards the goals. Some targets lend themselves to measurement with indicators derived from the natural sciences, but most require contributions from social and behavioural sciences too.



Providing solutions

The second way ST&I can contribute is by providing the technologies, strategies and business models for implementing the SDGs. We simply do not yet have all the solutions we need to make this agenda a reality.

Certainly much could be achieved through making wider use of already available or emerging technologies and know-how. But there will always be a need to adapt them and innovate. To make this happen, we will need to better align funding models, institutions and mindsets with the needs of sustainable development. Research institutions tend to be stuck in sectoral or disciplinary straitjackets, but delivering on the SDGs requires multidisciplinary work.

The 2030 Agenda explicitly recognises that sustainability challenges are fundamentally inter-related. Similarly, the solutions will need to integrate  or at least coordinate  action by many groups, informed by diverse scientific fields. A key role of research here is to ensure that agendas are coherent: that progress in one sustainability area does not undermine progress in another.

Scientific research can also help in assessing current practices, strategies and policy proposals  with an eye to capturing how different goals interact (both the trade-offs and the synergies). The aim here is to look for improvements, identify potential consequences and explore how promising activities could be scaled up or transplanted.



Strengthening institutions

And we should not overlook a final type of contribution, even though it is less direct and often goes unrecognised.

Scientists will also need to step out of their comfort zones and embrace new ways of working and thinking. Mans Nilsson, Stockholm Environment Institute

First, the research community is uniquely placed to serve as a neutral forum and platform for dialogue between government, business, civil society and other groups or organisations.

Second, it contributes to development and democracy. In the past, institutions such as the World Bank have viewed research and higher education as a private and individual concern rather than a social benefit  so, for example, they have encouraged borrowing countries to reduce public investment in favour of privatisation.

But in the past 20 years, development policymakers and practitioners have become more aware of the development benefits of long-term investment in research institutions.These are not only in terms of research results that can be put to productive use, but also in building up an educated middle class that promotes social stability and democratic processes.



What does this mean for science?

To say that implementation of the SDGs must rest on solid scientific foundations does not only mean that politicians, businesses and civil society should listen to what science has to say. To pursue this agenda, some scientists will also need to step out of their comfort zones and embrace new ways of working and thinking.

Scientists will need to leave their ivory towers to become more audible and visible in public discourse. Much of the sustainable development agenda boils down to essentially political choices; decision-making will necessarily be informed by both democratic debate and scientific knowledge.

The need to break down barriers between different branches of science is greater than ever. Behavioural sciences, in particular, will be an essential complement to technological innovation, helping to ensure that new solutions are widely available, and used.

Finally, science needs to recognise  and work with  other ways of generating knowledge. It needs to give the public a chance to participate in identifying problems, formulating solutions and assessing their countrys performance in achieving the SDGs.

Mans Nilsson is research director and deputy director at the Stockholm Environment Institute. He is also part-time professor of the practice of environmental strategies and policy analysis at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology, also in Sweden. Nilsson can be contacted at [email protected]
FLORENCE, S.C.  House of Hope of the Pee Dee Development Coordinator Ellen Knight said Monday that the organization will open the Courtney McGinnis Graham Community Shelter to provide emergency assistance to homeless people.

Knight spoke Monday afternoon at a Florence Rotary Club meeting, where she told members about plans for the new shelter and spoke about homelessness in the eastern region of South Carolina.

Florence Rotary Club president Jill Lewis said the House of Hope service organization devotes many of its programs to the services that help Florentines.

The Rotary itself is very interested in assisting our community and making our community the best it can be, and unless we know of the issues, you cant fix it unless you know its broken, Lewis said.

Knight said according to the annual PIT (point in time) count taken on Jan. 28, 2015, 134 people in Florence County were homeless and 72 were unsheltered. In the entire Eastern South Carolina region, 1,319 people were homeless and 923 were unsheltered, according to the same study. These numbers were counted by people from different agencies.

We currently dont have anywhere in Florence for those unsheltered people who for whatever reason arent ready to change their lives or who for whatever reason dont need a long-term situation,

House of Hope has two transitional shelters, one for women and children and the other for men. People who choose to go to either of those shelters also choose to give up drinking alcohol and smoking and are committed to staying for a long time.

Usually when people come, theyve kind of been homeless for a while and moving around for a while, and theyre finally ready to move forward, Knight said.

Some people dont need long-term sheltering. Knight said some people just need a place for a week as they wait for disability benefits or wait to get enough money for a bus ticket to move with family. A lot of people just need short-term solutions.

The shelter will be named after Graham, who was one of the founders of the Shelter and Nutrition for All Children (SNAC).

She started SNAC, which does so much in our community for homeless and poverty-stricken folks, especially for children in our community, Knight said. So were very glad to be naming this shelter after her.

Located at 535 Church Street in Florence, the Courtney McGinnis Graham Community Shelter will be located near Lighthouse Ministries and Manna House. Seventy-two beds will provide space for 24 women, 36 men and five families. The property will include a chapel located in a small house beside the shelter, a dining room and kitchen, welcome center and outside spaces consisting of a park area, animal kennel and buggy barn.

People will be fed a breakfast and evening meal at the shelter. There is no specific time limit for how long an individual or families can stay at the shelter.

What this is really going to allow us to do is remind that short-term emergency help and start getting folks into a system, and start recognizing what people need and connect them to the service that will help them move forward in their lives, Knight said. So, were real excited about this shelter.

The shelter is set to open in August.
FLORENCE, S.C.  After a nationwide search, whittled down to three finalists, a new provost has been named at Francis Marion University. FMU President Fred Carter announced Monday that Peter D. King will take over for Richard Chapman when he retires in May.

King came to FMU in 1996, when he was hired as a professor of biology. Originally from Australia, King landed his job at FMU after graduating with his doctorate from North Carolina State University.

I was looking for a position, and Francis Marion was available, King said. Ever since I got here, Ive just felt very much at home at the university.

King taught in the biology department and even served as the chair of that department before becoming the associate provost for academic affairs in 2001. Though he has worked in administration for several years now and still teaches a few classes, he is taking on an even bigger administrative role now. King said his transitions have not been because he didnt enjoy teaching.

These decisions have not been because I wanted to move out of the classroom, King said. It is just another way to contribute to the university. I really enjoy the students and my colleagues here, and I feel that anything I can do to help the future of the university is what I am here for.

The search process was conducted by a nine-person committee. King said that even with his experience at FMU, he was treated like any other candidate, filling out all of the paperwork, conducting Skype interviews and on-campus interviews.

The other two finalists were David M. Ward, dean of the college of health professions at Armstrong State University, and Dr. Robert W. Smith, dean of the college of liberal arts and social sciences at Savannah State University, both in Savannah, Georgia.

I was honored to be selected as one of those three candidates, King said.

After recommendations from the search committee, which included staff, faculty and student leaders from FMU, Carter chose King. In a release from the university, Carter said that Chapmans 17-year tenure will leave big shoes to fill but that he is confident King is the person to do it.

Rich Chapman has set a high standard for the performance of a provost at FMU. Replacing him is not easy, Carter said. But Peter King is a great fit. His experience and his knowledge of the place and its people will be a great asset. Hes a consummate academician and a fine administrator. I have tremendous confidence in him and look forward to our collaboration.

King said he has had the opportunity to work with Chapman and looks forward to continuing the work that Chapman has been able to do from the provosts office.

I think I can transition into that office fairly easy, King said. He (Chapman) has been a great mentor. I have worked with him for the last five years, and we have shared a lot of information. I look forward to carrying on the direction that he has been taking the university in.

With new buildings and new educational opportunities sprouting for FMU students, King said it is a great time to be stepping into his new role.

It really is an exciting time, but I think Ive had an exciting 20 years here," King said. "There is always something new going on. I have really enjoyed my last 20 years at Francis Marion, and that is why I am excited to do this job. Francis Marion has been good to me. I enjoy the students and my colleagues, and this is a chance to provide opportunities in the future for those students and colleagues.

King and his wife, Annie, have two adult sons.
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.
The new 50,000-dwt MR tanker Stena Weco Impulse is equipped with 18 tankers each with a capacity of 3,000 cu m and can carry both vegetable oils and chemicals such as oil and petroleum products.

Upon delivery from the Chinese shipyard, Stena Weco Impulse is already en route to several Indonesian ports to load vegetable oils after which she will sail to Barcelona and Rotterdam for cargo discharge. The ship naming ceremony will take place in Copenhagen in June 2016.

We are very pleased with this addition to our IMOIIMAX fleet. The Stena Weco Impulse is the first of two vessels, which we will jointly own with the Weco Group, and this will strengthen still further our successful collaboration, said Erik Hanell, president and ceo of Stena Bulk and ceo of Stena Weco.

Stena Weco is a 50-50 joint venture between Swedens Stena Bulk and Denmarks Weco Group.

Together with Stena Bulk, we have built up a fleet of more than 60 vessels, all of which sail in our advanced logistic system, commented Johan Wedell Wedellsborg, chairman of the board, Weco Group.

The first five IMOIIMAX tankers have been delivered by January this year, with the fifth being Stena Imperative named in Hong Kong. The remaining eight vessels are scheduled to be delivered by end-2017. Additionally there is an option for two more sister ships.
Seatrade Maritime News spoke to Fazel Fazelbhoy, ceo of consultancy Synergy Offshore, who led Topaz Energy and Marines Middle East and Caspian Sea marine and engineering fleet of 100 OSVs until 2011, to learn more of his views on the current state of the industry in the region, and also his global take.

Fazelbhoy estimates that the global OSV industry faces outstanding bond repayments of $6.3bn in the next five years. About $250m is from the Middle East (Polarcus), prior to any restructuring to be undertaken there. Topaz, Zakher and Stanford Marine bring regional debt into the $750m range.

This would need to be added to the figure of $6.3bn, taking the total global OSV company bond debt to about $7.0bn, with Middle East bond debt being in the $1.0bn range, he said.

Topaz announced last week a net profit of $20.8m before charges, a fall of 63% on the 2014 figure, but a profit nonetheless. Topaz operates 21 vessels in Azerbaijan today and won a new contract last month from BP to operate 14 vessels there for at least another five years.

Elsewhere in the Gulf region, he says Damen Shipyards Sharjah is going to remain busy due to the need for mandatory repair and maintenance work. No one is doing any elective work these days and it is very unlikely that they will get much newbuild work over the next year or so, he said.

Gulf Marine Services signed a contract with Abu Dhabi Ports for lease of a new yard facility at Port Zayed in Abu Dhabi last year. It claims to be the largest provider of self-propelled, self-elevating support vessels (SESVs) in the world. It announced adjusted net profits up 4% to $84.9m March 22.

GMS has a pretty closed model. They do no third-party building so remain busy fabricating the legs and doing the ancillary equipment installation on the deck that they have fabricated in China. I guess that accommodation and inspection maintenance and repair work will be the first requirements in Iran, so things could look good for GMS and their accommodation/workover liftboats, he said.

Both Tidewater and Bourbon are active in the Middle East, with Tidewater having more than 15 vessels at Aramco and Bourbon also active in the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Generally, the international players are faring on par with the local heavyweights and now beginning to see utilisation drop as the surge of low bidding South-East Asian vessels hits Gulf shores, he said.

Singaporean owner Miclyn Express Offshore (MEO) has been active in the Gulf for over 10 years. They have over 40 vessels here, many of them crew boats. Aramco are their biggest regional client, while they are also active in Qatar-UAE. MEO is managing well, with utilisation in the upper 80's.

Qatars Halul Offshore has several advantages, as a 100% local Qatari company, but they too are facing stiff competition from the low-bidding Singaporean contractors. Utilisation would probably be in the 75-85% range, he said.

The strategy of the NOCs continues to push for renegotiation of existing contract rates, not awarding options, but re-tendering so as to get the lowest prices. They are still opting for relatively short-term contracts, thereby implying that they believe rates may [keep falling]. There is a major oversupply issue here and there is no pressure on the NOCs in terms of finding replacement vessels.
Press Release

April 4, 2016 BREAKING: Senators Pimentel and Cayetano to hold senate hearing on Kidapawan incident On April 7, Thursday, the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights headed by Senator Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III will be conducting a public hearing in light of the shooting and violent dispersal of protesting farmers of Kidapawan, which resulted in the deaths of three and scores injured. The hearing will be held at the University of Southeastern Philippines (USEP) in Davao City. Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano already confirmed his attendance. "We are holding the hearing in Davao City because it is one of the nearest places to the Kidapawan incident. Some of the invited resource speakers belong to the protesting farmers, who are too injured to travel all the way to Manila," explained Pimentel, the Chairman of the Committee on Justice and Human Rights. On April 1, two farmers and a civilian were killed, while several others were badly injured after police forces opened fire at some 5,000 farmers who were staging a protest action in Kidapawan City. The farmers have been protesting what they said was the government's inaction on their plight and demanded rice rations, claiming that the El Nino has left them and their families hungry. "In the Senate hearing, we will listen to all parties present," said Cayetano. "But most importantly, we hope to get to the bottom of this issue and render justice to all the victims of this unnecessary use of violence."
Press Release

April 5, 2016 Cayetano dares Escudero to debate on Duterte's vow to solve crime, drugs and corruption in 6 months Vice Presidential bet Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano challenged fellow Senator Francis "Chiz" Escudero to a one-on-one debate following a statement made by the latter that Davao City Mayor Rodrigo "Rody" Duterte's six-month target to stamp out crime, drugs and corruption is not realistic. Cayetano said that whoever loses in the debate should withdraw. "To those who lack political will, nothing is possible. But to those who have a clear vision for real change and the strength of character to do what is right, any goal can be accomplished," Cayetano said as he defended their tandem's anti-crime and -corruption agenda. In an interview, Escudero told reporters that Duterte could not possibly fulfill his pledge of ending crime and corruption in just six months. "It can't be done. Not within his term... The problems are too serious and deeply rooted that these cannot be easily defeated," Escudero said. Cayetano, however, stressed that Escudero's cynical attitude is an illustration of his "lack of conviction" to end the country's pressing problems. "With all due respect to Sen. Escudero, I'd like to reiterate what I said before. Failure is guaranteed for those who do not even want to try," Cayetano noted. "It's frustrating to see our fellow public servants lack the passion and optimism to change the country. All the while, they continue to offer the same solutions that failed miserably in the past," he added. Cayetano said amid the criticisms, he and Duterte stand firm on their commitment to fight crime and corruption in their first few months in office. "It will not be easy, but Mayor Duterte and I are ready to do it. Through our bold solutions, in six months' time, we can make our streets safe again and cleanse our government of corrupt officials," he stressed. This was not the first time Cayetano defended their tandem's proposed policies against Escudero's criticisms. Back in January, Escudero also expressed disapproval of Duterte's call for federalism. He said it would not work well in the Philippine setup, a statement which Cayetano dubbed as a "classic Manila-centric" attitude. "The very essence of Federalism is to ensure that growth and prosperity are spread to every part of the Philippines, not just in Manila. It's a pity that Senators Poe and Escudero are against this. Kawawa naman ang ibang parte ng bansa kung sila ang mamumuno," Cayetano earlier said.
CHIZ TOPS BILANG PILIPINO-SWS SURVEY; MARCOS LEAST LIKED BY VOTERS

Sen. Francis "Chiz" Escudero emerged as the voters' top choice for vice-president based on the latest Bilang Pilipino-SWS Mobile Survey, while most of the voters did not like Sen. Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos to become the next second highest official in the land.

With a score of 31 percent, Escudero topped the survey conducted on March 31 among 1,200 validated voters, 300 each in Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

The veteran lawmaker was followed by Marcos who got 26 percent; Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo with 25 percent; Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, 13 percent; Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, 3 percent; and Sen. Gregorio Honasan II, 1 percent.

Escudero led the vice-presidential poll in Balance Luzon with 38 percent, while Marcos topped Metro Manila with 32 percent. Robredo was the most preferred candidate in Visayas and Mindanao with 38 percent and 24 percent, respectively.

In the same survey, Marcos came as the least liked vice-presidential candidate as 22 percent of the respondents said they don't want him to win. Thirteen percent of the respondents did not like Trillanes and Honasan to win.

The respondents were asked, "Who among the candidates for vice president of the Philippines you most not like to win?"

Escudero is running as independent under the banner "Gobyernong may Puso" alongside leading presidential candidate, Sen. Grace Poe.
Press Release

April 5, 2016 CHIZ: DEFENDING MARTIAL LAW VICTIMS IS BEYOND LIP SERVICE Defending human rights victims of martial law is beyond lip service said Sen. Francis "Chiz" Escudero, principal author and sponsor of the law compensating victims of martial law under the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos. In an interview in ABS-CBN's Bandila news program last Monday night (April 4), Escudero said his track record speaks for itself when it comes to giving justice to victims of the dark days of oppression during the Marcos regime. "Ako ang pangunahing author at sponsor ng batas na nagsasabing dapat magbayad ng kompensasyon sa human rights victims.Hindi naman lahat nadadaaan lang sa salita," explained Escudero, son of the late Salvador Escudero III who served as minister of agriculture during the Marcos administration and under the Ramos presidency. "Kapag may nagawa ka na, siguro dapat yung nagawa mo should speak for itself," he stressed. The compensation bill was passed by the Senate Committee on Justice under Escudero's chairmanship in 2013. "Bakit ipinasa ko yung batas na nagpapabayad ng kompensasyon sa human rights victims? Twenty-five years pending sa Kongreso 'yun. Noong naging chairman ako ng Committee on Justice, doon lamang naipasa yun, miyembro na ng Senado si Senator Marcos," Escudero said when asked about his supposed silence on the issue of human rights violations committed during the Marcos dictatorship. President Aquino signed the Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act of 2013 during the 27th anniversary of the uprising that toppled the Marcos dictatorship in 1986. Under the law, the amount of compensation to be awarded to the victims is proportionate to the gravity of the offense inflicted on them through a point system that is a basic component of the law. Victims who died or who disappeared are given 10 points, while those tortured and, or sexually abused gets from six to nine points, for instance. On the other hand, political detainees get from three to five points while those who can prove that their rights were violated under the Act are awarded from one to two points. During the Bandila interview, Escudero also said that Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. should apologize for the human rights abuses during his father's regime. Escudero also supported calls for the Marcoses to return their alleged ill-gotten wealth to the state.
WONG ASSURES GUINGONA OF THE RETURN OF P450-M 'DIRTY MONEY' 'GOOD AS CASH'

REELECTIONIST Senator Teofisto "TG" Guingona III received assurance by casino junket operator Kim Wong of the return of P450 million, a portion of the $81-M loot in the Bangladesh central bank cybertheft.

"Opo, sir, nagpagawa na ako ng promissory note, at within 15 days kasi uutang pa ako sa mga kaibigan ko [Yes, sir, I already had a promissory note drafted, and I will comply within 15 days because I still need to borrow money from my friends], Wong answered the Blue Ribbon Committee Chairman in Filipino when pressed on his commitment to return the "dirty money" he took as loan payment by one of the cybercrime suspects identified as Gao Shuhua.

Guingona then quipped, "Good as cash na 'yan ha, hindi 'yan dead chips [That's good as cash, not dead chips]."

Last Thursday, Wong turned over $4.63 million to the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) office at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas after testifying before the Blue Ribbon Committee that he was not part of the cybercrime group which tried to sneak "dirty cash" into the country's financial system.

Another P38 million in cash was again turned over by Wong to the AMLC yesterday. The amount, he said, was the remaining junket funds left at a local casino by another suspected cyber criminal.

"The Blue Ribbon probe is getting good results regarding the effort to return the money stolen from Bangladesh, That's almost $10 million or 10 percent of the $81 million. We look forward to more tranches of fund recovery," said Guingona.
Press Release

April 5, 2016 GUINGONA TO PHILREM: 'DON'T ADD TO YOUR PROBLEMS BY GIVING FALSE TESTIMONY' REELECTIONIST Senator Teofisto "TG" Guingona III on Tuesday censured PhilRem for its contradicting statements regarding their delivery of money to casino junket operators Weikang Xu and Kam Sin Wong, a.k.a. Kim Wong during the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee's probe into the $81-M money laundering scam involving Philippine banks and casinos. "You have a lot of explaining to do, because hearing after hearing after hearing, you have been saying that you delivered P600 M and $18 M to Weikang Xu in Solaire, and you also said that Wong was present when the money was picked from your house. You have contradicted yourself, I think you shouldn't add to your problems by giving false testimony," Guingona blasted during the panel's 4th public hearing on April 5. Michael Bautista, treasurer and co-owner of PhilRem, came to the defense of their company and emphasized on their "spotless" dealings for almost 20 years. Bautista also categorically denied that the supposedly missing $17 million is in their possession. "There is no $17 million with us, we've been answering the question since the beginning and we're ready to take the hits. . . [and] we've already accepted that fact that this transaction is a mistake," Bautista responded to Guingona's reprimand. According to PhilRem, they transferred P600M and $18 M in six tranches, the first delivered to Solaire with their messengers and the five others were picked up from Bautista's house. The unconvinced Blue Ribbon Chairman noted excerpts from the transcripts of previous hearings: (COMMITTEE ON ACCOUNTABILITY OF PUBLIC OFFICERS AND INVESTIGATIONS [BLUE RIBBON]) ADMasicap XII-1 March 15, 2016 3:56 p.m. 1 Page 79 THE CHAIRMAN. You were the one who delivered, Ms. Bautista? MS. BAUTISTA. In the beginning, yes, Your Honor. THE CHAIRMAN. In the end, who was delivering? (COMMITTEE ON ACCOUNTABILITY OF PUBLIC OFFICERS AND INVESTIGATIONS [BLUE RIBBON]) ADMasicap XII-1 March 15, 2016 3:56 p.m. 2 Page 80 MS. BAUTISTA. It was our delivery men. SEN. OSMENA. Pero pinakilala mo na kay Weikang Xu. MS. BAUTISTA. Yes, Your Honor. (COMMITTEE ON ACCOUNTABILITY OF PUBLIC OFFICERS AND INVESTIGATIONS [BLUE RIBBON]) MPMENDOZA II-2 March 29, 2016 2:03 p.m. 2 Page 124 SEN. RECTO. No, no. I am talking about here in the Senate. In the Senate, you said in the first hearing, you delivered personally and with the staff to a certain Weikang Xu. MS. BAUTISTA. Weikang Xu. It's ?600 million and $18 million. SEN. RECTO. Six hundred million pesos, right? MS. BAUTISTA. And 18 million. (COMMITTEE ON ACCOUNTABILITY OF PUBLIC OFFICERS AND INVESTIGATIONS [BLUE RIBBON]) HSGayapa VII-2 March 29, 2016 2:53 p.m. 8 Page 170 SEN. AQUINO. And then you refused to provide other information which is that Mr. Kim Wong was present. MS. BAUTISTA. Your Honor, it was not asked before if Mr. Kim Wong was present. SEN. AQUINO. Okay. So, was Mr. Kim Wong present in all of the deliveries of cash? MS. BAUTISTA. Yes, Your Honor. SEN. AQUINO. Was one of these done in your house? MS. BAUTISTA. Yes, Your Honor. According to Guingona, the presence of the "phantom messenger" in the next hearing should shed light on these "disturbing" inconsistencies.
Press Release

April 5, 2016 LOPEZ, LAUREL SCIONS ENDORSE BONGBONG MARCOS' VP BID At the risk of his father losing his chairmanship of a government agency, the son of former Manila Mayor Mel Lopez endorsed the vice presidential bid of Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" R. Marcos, Jr. Lawyer Alex Lopez said he has chosen to endorse Marcos because of his track record and credibility even if it could possibly lead to the loss of his father's post as chairman of the Philippine National Oil Company. This developed as Lopez also bared that even the Laurels of Batangas, who were staunch critics of the Marcoses before the Edsa Revolution in 1986, were also supportive the senator's VP bid. Lopez made the endorsement during the general assembly of the SGS Multi-Purpose Cooperative at the Lyceum of the Philippines University in Calamba, Laguna recently. He said he had asked the permission of his father if he could speak to endorse the candidacy of Marcos. President Benigno Aquino III had appointed the elder Lopez as Chairman of the PNOC. "My father told me: 'That's okay, even if we lose our position. We're just fighting for what is right.'" said Atty. Lopez. "So at the risk of my father losing his post at the biggest government corporation now---he's the chairman--- I'm here to endorse Bongbong," he added. Atty. Lopez noted that his father led the fight in Manila against the senator's father, the late President Ferdinand Marcos. In fact, he said this is the reason why Mel Lopez was appointed as Manila Mayor after the ouster of Marcos. Likewise, he claimed that in the province of Batangas many members of the influential Laurel clan, who were among the leaders of the opposition against Pres. Marcos, are now supporting the vice presidential bid of Senator Marcos. Sarah, the wife of Atty. Lopez, is a member of the Laurel clan who owns and runs the Lyceum. She is the current vice-president and treasurer of LPU Laguna. "It's time move on," said Atty. Lopez. Sen. Marcos has been calling for national unity, saying we need to abandon the divisive politics adopted by previous administrations for the country to be able to move forward and achieve a brighter future for all Filipinos.
Press Release

April 5, 2016 BONGBONG MARCOS CALLS FOR RESIGNATION

OF DOTC SEC. ABAYA Vice presidential Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" R. Marcos Jr. today called for the resignation of Transportation and Communications Secretary Joseph Emilio "Jun" Abaya saying he is a "disappointment". Marcos made the statement on the sidelines of his sortie in the CAMANAVA (Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas and Valenzuela) area Tuesday saying Abaya's department has been the biggest source of problems in government. He pointed out that the five-hour power outage was just one of the many incidents showing the incompetence of people in the DOTC. "With Secretary Abaya, I'm sorry but DOTC has been the source of so many problems and when he came in we had hoped we would be the one to rationalize his department but he has been a disappointment kasi walang maayos na nangyari," Marcos said. As with Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) General Manager Jose Angel Honrado, Marcos said he has been calling for his resignation for years. "I've been calling for his resignation for years. He does not know his job. I asked him during the Tanim-bala hearings what's his job as a general manager and I remember him saying he coordinates but he does not control the people in the airport. So kung walang control bakit sya manager?," he stated. He further stated that he would later learn that Honrado had more than P1 billion in intelligence fund but it would seem the money is not being put to good use. "Lampas sa P1 bilyon ang intelligence fund pero mukhang wala naman silang ginagawa. Mag-brownout lang, walang silang magawa, walang maayos na generator, 80 plus cancelled flights, anong klaseng patakbo yan," he said. He said he would not fire Honrado because he would not have appointed him in the first place. "I have been asked, would I have fired him? No because I would have never appointed him in the first place because clearly he is not competent," Marcos said.
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The capital murder trial of a man accused of killing 8-year-old Alaysha Carradine by opening fire through the door of an Oakland apartment in 2013 was delayed Monday when the defendant refused to come to court, citing the conditions he faced after being placed on suicide watch in jail.

Testimony was delayed three hours after Darnell Williams, 25, who is also accused of a second slaying, told Alameda County sheriffs deputies he would fight them if they tried to force him to attend the trial, said Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Horner.

Over the weekend, Horner said, Williams was put on suicide watch after he got upset about being moved from a county lockup in Dublin to one in Oakland. Williams, whose clothes were taken away, refused to come to court because he hadnt been allowed to shower or brush his teeth, and he didnt have any underwear, the judge said.

Judge brings clothes

Deputy District Attorney John Brouhard said Williams was trying to manipulate the presentation of evidence to jurors, and Horner agreed, saying the trial would go on whether Williams chose to attend or not. After the judge went into his chambers and returned with clothes for Williams to wear, the trial resumed in the afternoon.

Williams is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, for Alayshas death and the death of a second person, 22-year-old Anthony Medearis, two months later at a Berkeley dice game.

According to prosecutors, Williams went to the Wilson Avenue apartment where Alaysha was a guest at a sleepover on July 17, 2013, seeking revenge after a close friend, Jermaine Davis, was killed in Berkeley earlier that day. Williams was looking for Antiown York, who he believed was responsible for killing Davis, Brouhard said. The apartment belonged to Yorks ex-girlfriend and the mother of his two children.

Four victims

Alaysha was hit in a hail of bullets that also injured her two playmates  a 7-year-old girl and her 4-year-old brother  and their grandmother.

Once testimony began Monday, Williams defense lawyers went after the credibility of one of the prosecutions key witnesses, the defendants ex-girlfriend, who testified last week that Williams had confessed his role in the shooting to her and had threatened her for months afterward to keep her from going to the police.

Defense attorneys suggested Britney Rogers, 26, who lived with Williams at the time of the shooting, should not be believed because of her criminal history, the fact that she didnt immediately go to police, and that shed been paid by prosecutors as part of a witness protection program.

Kale Williams is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kwilliams@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SFKale
Teachers and parents are on the lookout after a coyote was seen roaming the campus of a San Francisco elementary school.

Parents reported seeing the coyote Monday morning on the playground at Commodore Sloat School on Junipero Serra and Ocean Ave. SF Animal Care and Control told NBC Bay Area that coyotes are becoming more common in the area; one killed a dog in Balboa Terrace last month.
Outrage in Petaluma over the possibility that a sex offender released from jail would move to the town prompted authorities to release him in Rohnert Park instead, officials said Monday.

Jonathan Michael Hoppner, 23, was placed in a motel in Rohnert Park on Monday after being released on parole, police said.
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San Francisco on Tuesday is nearly certain to become the first municipality in the nation to mandate that employers offer fully paid bonding time to employees with babies. But the expected easy passage by the Board of Supervisors belies heated opposition from some small-business owners.

Currently, California pays 55 percent of a new parents salary for six weeks of bonding time, and Supervisor Scott Wieners legislation, introduced in January, would require businesses in the city that employ at least 20 people to pay the remaining 45 percent. Wieners legislation would apply to bonding time for all new parents, including fathers, those whove adopted, lesbian partners and those who have babies through surrogacy.

California grants an extra six to eight weeks of disability pay, also at the 55 percent rate, to women whove given birth and who have contributed to the state disability program. Wieners legislation does not affect the pay for that portion of a new mothers leave.

The proposal has received national attention and praise from such groups as the Legal Aid Societys Employment Law Center and Planned Parenthoods Northern California Chapter.

The United States is the worlds only industrialized country that doesnt guarantee paid maternity leave, and supporters of Wieners legislation say it would allow new parents to spend time with their children without worrying about the financial hardship.

Small businesses concerned

But to some small business owners, its one more City Hall mandate on employers who already struggle to make it in this notoriously expensive city.

Mark Dwight is the founder and CEO of Rickshaw Bagworks, whose factory in Dogpatch makes messenger bags and other luggage. Dwight is also the president of the citys Small Business Commission and said Wiener, who is running for state Senate, should work on expanding parental leave at the state level if hes elected.

This is one more thing that puts San Francisco businesses at a disadvantage to their regional counterparts, he said. If we want all our small businesses to move out of our city, then were doing the right thing.

The Small Business Commission voted 6-1 last week to oppose Wieners legislation, though its vote doesnt do anything other than officially register its opposition.

Kathleen Dooley, another commissioner and a florist in North Beach, called it pretty outrageous that under Wieners proposal an employee qualifies for paid leave for working just eight hours a week and does not have to refund the money as long as he or she stays with the company 90 days after returning from leave.

It puts us at such a disadvantage, she said of San Francisco businesses compared with other firms throughout California. We have all this stuff that no one else has to do, and thats just unfair.

Other San Francisco employer mandates include health care coverage, paid sick leave and a higher minimum wage  though California is on track to catch up with that.

The commission wanted Wiener to amend his legislation to apply only to employees who work at least 20 hours a week and to businesses with at least 50 employees, but he declined. He pointed out that he did defer the start date from January 2017 to July 2017 for those businesses with 20 to 49 employees.

Wiener also pointed out that San Francisco employers probably will pay less than 45 percent. A bill by Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez, D-Los Angeles, would boost the portion the state pays to up to 70 percent of a parents salary depending on how much she makes. It passed the Legislature and is awaiting action from Gov. Jerry Brown.

Benefits, costs

An economic analysis by the San Francisco Controllers Office found that about 4,600 San Francisco residents file baby bonding claims with the state each year and receive an average of $743.39 in weekly benefits for an average of 5 weeks. The report found that employees would gain an average of $608 per week from their employers under Wieners proposal.

The report estimated it would cost San Francisco employers $15.8 million to $32.3 million a year, depending on whether passage encourages more people, particularly new fathers, to file state bonding claims.

The report said it could cost the city between 250 and 480 jobs but said that was small in a city that creates 17,000 jobs a year. It also found that new parents would have more money to spend, boosting the citys economy, and that it would have positive benefits for the parents and babies.

Example for other cities

Wiener said he thinks the cost to employers would be fairly low compared with all the positive benefits, particularly for low-income parents who often return to work very soon after birth because they cannot afford to live on 55 percent of their pay.

Bonding time makes parents and kids healthier, he said. Its hard to quantify that.

Wiener said he is hopeful that San Francisco requiring full pay for bonding time would encourage the state and other municipalities around the country to improve their benefits.

Sometimes when we do things, it creates momentum, he said. It draws attention because were the best city in the world.

Heather Knight is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: hknight@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @hknightsf
SACRAMENTO  A California lawmakers proposal to allow cities and counties in the state to create legal and supervised facilities where intravenous drug users could inject themselves was met with strong opposition Tuesday.

Assemblywoman Susan Eggman, D-Stockton, acknowledged its unlikely her bill, AB2495, will have the votes needed to make it out of its first committee by an April 17 deadline after most of the members of the committee expressed hesitation or adamant opposition.

A handful of cities across the nation, including San Francisco, have expressed an interest in creating facilities where intravenous drug users can legally shoot up under the supervision of on-site medical personnel to reduce the risk of overdose.

Eggman said the legislation is needed to ensure cities and counties in California have the legal authority to create supervised injection facilities if they choose to. She said its unclear whether San Francisco could create such facilities without statewide legislation.

Despite that uncertainty, San Francisco Supervisor David Campos has proposed creating a supervised injection center in the city, but his idea drew the immediate opposition of Mayor Ed Lee.

While San Francisco has a long tradition of moving forward ahead of state law, federal law, etc., we feel the state law needs to be changed to provide the ability to do this in accordance with state law, said Laura Thomas, the deputy state director for the Drug Policy Alliance.

AB2495 is opposed by many law enforcement groups, including the California Police Chiefs Association, the California College and University Police Chiefs Association, and the California Narcotics Officers Association.

This sends entirely the wrong message regarding drug use and is likely to create civil liability issues for participating governments and officials, said Asha Harris of the California State Sheriffs Association. While criminal liability may be off the table, it would only be a matter of time before a participating agency is sued when a drug user overdoses and an innocent person is killed by someone driving away from the facility.

Canadian Sen. Larry Campbell, a former Vancouver mayor and former police officer, urged lawmakers on the Assembly Public Safety Committee to pass the bill, saying that since he helped create the first supervised injection site in North America in 2003, deaths have been prevented.

Ive never met anybody who woke in the morning and said, You know, I think Ill go and buy a drug and inject it; Im happy Im an addict, Campbell said. This is a medical condition, like alcohol. You are never cured of it, but it is certainly treatable.

Campbell said the facilities have medical providers who meet with users and on-site detox and treatment centers.

The fact of the matter is that the drug is illegal, but the person using that drug is suffering from a recognized medical disease, Campbell said. This treats the addiction, keeps someone alive and keeps them off the streets.

Melody Gutierrez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mgutierrez@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @MelodyGutierrez
University of California officials, in the wake of recent concerns over too many out-of-state admissions, said Monday that offers of admission to California freshmen grew by 15 percent this year, with a total of 66,123 state students offered a spot at one of the systems nine campuses.

What they didnt say, however, is that offers to out-of-state freshmen went up, too. This year, a third of the 98,922 offers of admission went to nonresidents and international students, the same rate as 2015, according to data released by the university on Monday.

Still, UC officials said the system is intentionally limiting admission to out-of-state applicants and concentrating on increasing the number of seats going to state students.

Weve intensified our efforts to boost enrollment of Californians at the University and all indications are that these efforts are working, said UC President Janet Napolitano in a statement. Our commitment to California and California students has never wavered, even through the worst financial downturn since the Great Depression.

While 2,675 more nonresident freshmen were admitted this year compared with last, these additional applicants were not offered admission to the more desirable campuses, UCLA, Berkeley and San Diego, where nonresident admissions have been capped, officials said.

The undergraduate admission numbers were released less than a week after a state audit showed the UC system has favored out-of-state students in recent years as a way to plug budget shortfalls. Nonresident students pay three times more in basic tuition and fees than in-state students  $38,108 compared with $13,400.

From 2006 to 2015, the number of nonresident students enrolled quadrupled  from 6,144 to 26,690, many of whom were admitted under loosened standards, according to the audit. But those students brought in an extra $800 million each year to help offset a $1 billion cut in state funding during the recession, UC officials said Monday.

During the same period, enrollment of California students increased 10 percent, even though the UC campuses saw a 52 percent increase from in-state applicants.

Now, with additional state funding, we are able to bring in even more California students, Napolitano said Monday.

University officials also noted the newest numbers also showed increases in admissions to historically underrepresented groups. This year, 3,083 African Americans were offered admission, up from 2,337 in 2015. The increases were even more significant for Latino students, with 22,704 receiving offers of admission, up from 16,608 last year.

And more than 4 in 10 state students admitted would be first-generation college students, officials said.

I am pleased with the steps we are taking to move UC forward, Napolitano said. We are all excited about the admitted Class of 2020 and the opportunity to educate the next generation of Californians.

The numbers released Monday were preliminary and did not include transfer students or data for individual UC campuses, officials said.

Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker
Drone delivery might be years away in the U.S., but it soon will become a reality in Rwanda.

A San Francisco drone delivery company says itll start delivering blood and medicine in Rwanda in July. Zipline International Inc., backed by tech heavyweights like Sequoia Capital and Google Ventures, had a demo broadcast on Periscope on Friday, with a staffer launching a fixed-wing plane weighing just 22 pounds off a launcher that used compressed air.

Electric-powered propellers took it the rest of the way, on a flight that could extend to 75 miles round trip, using military-grade GPS and software to navigate.

As it dipped low before the drop-off area, the bottom popped open, and a cardboard box with a parachute made of butcher paper and biodegradable tape burst out, plopping to the ground a few steps away from CEO Keller Rinaudo, who walked over to retrieve it.

Television

Intels show

Intel CEO Brian Krzanich is trying to do for the chipmaker what Donald Trump did for his political career: give it a boost by being on TV.

Krzanich is the central tech expert of the five judges who will pick a $1 million winner among tech startups on the Intel-funded Americas Greatest Makers, which kicks off on TBS on Tuesday. Each team must use Intel chip package Curie to make a Web-connected gizmo that will wow judges like Shaquille ONeal.

Nielsen Dishes

Nielsen announced Monday that it will start incorporating set-top-box viewing data into its TV ratings system after striking a multiyear agreement with Dish Network. Nielsen will receive anonymous viewing data from millions of households with Dish service, and the data will be incorporated into Nielsens TV ratings.

Chronicle News Services
Amid a flurry of strongly worded tweets, PayPal on Tuesday became the first and only prominent tech company to commit to moving operations out of North Carolina, whose governor last week signed into law a bill that bars local governments from passing antidiscrimination protections for LGBT people.

Bay Area companies with operations in North Carolina and Mississippi have loudly condemned recently passed state laws that target lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

But few have put action behind their words. The electronic payments firm announced Tuesday it would scrap plans to open a new global operations center in Charlotte, N.C., after committing to employ more than 400 people in skilled jobs in the state.

No other company has committed to taking steps to leave either North Carolina or Mississippi, which on Tuesday passed legislation that allows public employees, schools, hospitals, shelters, faith-based organizations and businesses to refuse service to LGBT people and families. The Mississippi bill also allows these organizations to refuse to acknowledge the gender identities of transgender people.

Our decision is a clear and unambiguous one, wrote Dan Schulman, PayPals president and chief executive, in a company blog post. As a company that is committed to the principle that everyone deserves to live without fear of discrimination simply for being who they are, becoming an employer in North Carolina, where members of our teams will not have equal rights under the law, is simply untenable.

Microsoft, considered a major supporter of the Mississippi Economic Council, a pro-business lobbying group, declined to comment on whether the Mississippi bill would affect its business in or relationship with the state.

Brad Smith, Microsofts president and chief legal officer, took to Twitter to announce his disappointment in the Mississippi government: These laws are bad for people, bad for business and bad for job growth, he wrote.

The Mississippi Economic Council condemned the legislation Monday  a day before Gov. Phil Bryant signed it into law.

PayPals move comes a week after similar pressure forced the hand of Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal, who vetoed a similar religious-freedom bill after Salesforce and Netflix said they would pull operations and relocate offices and staff outside of Georgia should the provision pass.

A slew of other companies with employees in the region condemned the legislation, but did not warn of further action.

Shannon Minter, legal director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, said though actions like closing offices or facilities may have a starker impact on a states economic vitality, public condemnation by globally recognized brands like Google, Facebook and Apple also go a long way to influence public opinion.

It brings enormous visibility to the issue and helps enormously with public education, Minter said. Public officials really care what businesses think about their state. It helps when businesses put up a united and powerful front.

Minter noted the business community in the Bay Area, including Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, had been instrumental and vocal supporters of same-sex marriage laws and many companies had written friend of the court briefs in support of extending the right to marry to gay couples when the issue was before the Supreme Court in 2014.

These businesses are already connected and committed to standing with LGBT equality so its much less of a heavy lift to get them to weigh in, he said. Theyre already there.

San Francisco and several other cities have limited municipal employees travel to states or municipalities with anti-LGBT laws.

Last week, Mayor Ed Lee said Bay Area businesses putting weight behind the issue was significant.

The city will join with businesses and others to put economic and political pressure on these state governments that are doing the wrong thing, Lee said.

Assemblyman Evan Low, D-San Jose, introduced a bill last month that would ban state government workers from traveling to states with anti-LGBT laws. San Francisco Supervisor Scott Wiener has introduced a resolution to lend the citys support to Lows measure.

In 2015, when Indiana passed a law facilitating discrimination against LGBT individuals, Salesforces Benioff canceled all of the companys events in the state. No tech company has yet followed suit in announcing employee travel bans or canceled events in North Carolina or Mississippi.

Marissa Lang is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mlang@?sfchronicle.com Twitter: @marissa_jae
Bill Hutchinson

A 54-year-old man was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries after getting punched by one of seven to 10 people who surrounded him in front of his Mission District apartment building, officials said Tuesday.

The incident unfolded around 1:30 p.m. on Monday on the 1800 block of 15th Street when a group, comprised of males and females between 15 to 20 years old, surrounded the victim and started an argument with him, according the San Francisco Police Department.
Two gunmen executed a 16-year-old boy in a Monday night shooting in Salinas that also left a 12-year-old injured and nearby apartments riddled with bullets, police said.

Around 9:40 p.m., several people called 911 about a barrage of gunfire near an apartment complex on the 800 block of Garner Avenue.

When police got to the scene, they found bystanders tending to a wounded 16-year-old Jose Luis Valdez. Paramedics rushed the boy to Natividad Medical Center, where he died from at least one gunshot wound, police said.

Valdez was walking from his house to meet a friend when he was confronted by at least two armed assailants, police said.

The gunmen opened fire, shooting the teen as he ran away and spraying gunfire into a nearby apartment complex.

A 12-year-old boy sitting in a unit was hit in the hand by a bullet that had traveled though a window, couch and pillow.

Paramedics treated the boy at the scene for a minor injury.

Another bullet hit a water main and caused another apartment to flood, while a third apartment was shot full of holes, police said.

The suspects fled the scene and have not been arrested.

Mondays killing was the ninth homicide this year in Salinas and is being investigated as gang related.

Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky
The family of a man shot to death by an Oakland police officer last year after officials say he reached over to grab a gun in the passenger seat of the car he was passed out in filed a civil rights lawsuit against the city of Oakland over the weekend, court documents show.

Demouria Hogg, 30, was shot and killed in a BMW June 6 on Lake Park and Lakeshore avenues, at the end of the off-ramp from Interstate 580.

The suit, filed Saturday in U.S. District Court, claims Hoggs rights were violated because officers negligently assessed the circumstances presented to them and violently confronted Decedent Demouria Hogg without having probable cause to believe that Decedent had committed a crime, or would commit a crime in the future.

In the police account, officers said they found Hogg passed out behind the wheel of the BMW about 7:30 a.m. with a handgun lying on the passengers seat.

Police tried to rouse Hogg for over an hour. Officers fired beanbag rounds at the car and yelled commands through a loudspeaker for him to surrender.

Eventually, officers smashed the drivers side window with a crowbar. Then, police say, Hogg reached for his weapon, at which point one officer fired a Taser at him, while the other fired a gun, killing him.

But the lawsuit argues Hogg made no aggressive movements, no furtive gestures, and no physical movements which would cause an officer to reasonably believe (he) had the will, or the ability to inflict substantial bodily harm against any individual or officer.

The family, represented by the law offices of John Burris, is seeking an unspecified amount in damages. Hoggs family filed a federal wrongful-death lawsuit against the city of Oakland in November through Beverly Hills attorney Jamon Hicks. The status of that suit was not immediately known.
COLUMBUS, Ohio  A Cleveland man who was convicted of killing 11 women and sentenced to death deserves an open court hearing to challenge the admissibility of his hours-long police interrogation, his attorney told the states highest court Tuesday.

That hearing should be held even if it wouldnt affect the outcome of a new trial, said Jeffrey Gamso, who represents Anthony Sowell.

An open trial with the press and the public present imposes on everybody involved a greater sense of propriety and the importance of getting everything and doing everything right, Gamso told the state Supreme Court justices.

A Cuyahoga County prosecutor said the evidence against Sowell was overwhelming with or without the videotaped interrogation.

The law and the facts are what they are, said assistant prosecutor Christopher Schroeder. Theyre not going to change because a couple of people are sitting in the gallery in an open courtroom versus doing it in a closed courtroom.

Sowell, 56, was indicted in 2009 and convicted and sentenced in 2011. Jurors found Sowell guilty of killing 11 women from June 2007 to July 2009. Police found their mostly nude bodies throughout his home after a woman escaped and said she had been raped in the house.

Sowells attorneys are seeking a new hearing over the interrogation and are hoping for a sentence of life without parole instead of death. Gamso acknowledges Sowell will never be freed.

A decision isnt expected for months. But even if the Ohio Supreme Court upholds Sowells death sentence, an execution is years away. Sowell could still appeal through the federal courts, and Ohio lacks lethal injection drugs.

Among the issues before justices was a 2010 hearing during which a Cleveland judge closed the courtroom while he heard arguments for and against allowing the videotaped interrogation, which lasts for more than 11 hours.

The judge ultimately allowed its use, and most of it was played during Sowells trial.

Justices seemed skeptical about another hearing. Justice Paul Pfeifer said it would be total foolishness. Justice Judi French questioned whether it would change anything.

Chief Justice Maureen OConnor said Sowells attorneys seemed to want it both ways: arguing for more publicity but also saying the case should have been moved because of extensive pretrial publicity.

Sowells attorneys have also challenged his original lawyers approach at trial to raise doubts about Sowells guilt. His new attorneys say a better strategy would have been to concede Sowells overwhelming guilt and push for life without parole based on his background, including a chaotic childhood.

Prosecutors say Sowells victims were recovering or current drug addicts and most died of strangulation.
A recently paroled sex offender rejected by a Petaluma hotel last week got the same cold shoulder from a Rohnert Park motel, officials said Tuesday.

Jonathan Michael Hoppner, 23, has prompted police to warn the public of his whereabouts in the two Sonoma County towns hes tried to relocate to, delaying his placement in a permanent home.

The department felt because of his potential to re-offend it was our duty to notify the public he was in our city  just for safety proposes, said Sgt. Jeff Justice, a spokesman for the Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety. Hes had quite a few offenses within a relatively short period of time.

Police warned the public that Hoppner has multiple convictions for sexual battery on females, and is considered a high risk to re-offend. They revealed he had re-offended within days or weeks of being released in the past.

When police informed the Rohnert Park motel that Hoppner was staying there, management evicted him because he had not been registered as a guest there, Justice said.

He was staying at the hotel with a service worker hired to watch him, but the worker is not in law enforcement, Justice said.

Hoppners brief stay in Rohnert Park mirrored his stay last week in Petaluma, where police issued a public warning before he even got to town.

Justice said Hoppner was moved out of the Rohnert Park motel Monday night and taken to an undisclosed temporary location in a rural part of Sonoma County while his search for accommodations continued.

He was convicted of child molestation and sexual battery and is said to have targeted victims between the ages of 15 and 50. Hoppner has spent time in prison, but his most recent incarceration was in a jail.

Jenna Lyons is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jlyons@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JennaJourno
A 25-year-old Palo Alto man angry with loud construction noise was arrested for allegedly firing his pellet gun at crews and brandishing his gun and a knife, police said Monday.

Wesley Alexander Ramsey, a resident of Palo Alto Place, which describes itself as an upscale complex, went downstairs to confront the apartment manager about the noise on Friday, officials said. The suspect then drew what the manager told police looked like a black semi-automatic handgun and knife and threatened to shoot someone.
Erik Bauersfeld, a revered Bay Area radio dramatist who became an unlikely pop culture figure after voicing the Star Wars character Admiral Ackbar, died Sunday at his Berkeley home after a short illness. He was 93.

Born in Brooklyn in 1922, stage fright steered Mr. Bauersfeld away from Hollywood and toward a career on the airwaves. While teaching at the San Francisco Art Institute, he found a radio home at KPFA in 1961, leading the Berkeley radio stations drama and literature department for 31 years.

Mr. Bauersfeld continued pursuing radio drama projects and doing voice work for museum exhibitions into the 2000s, while compiling his careers work on the site www.bardradio.com. At the time of his death, Mr. Bauersfeld was working on another project with longtime friend Lawrence Ferlinghetti, related to D.H. Lawrences ranch that was once an artist commune in Taos, N.M.

But he was best known in popular culture for voicing Ackbar in Return of the Jedi and Star Wars: The Force Awakens, as well as being the voice for the Return of the Jedi character Bib Fortuna.

Wrote lines on the spot

Mr. Bauersfeld was a last-minute recruit for both roles; he said he provided lines for the characters in about a half hour, with little direction from sound designer Ben Burtt.

I went over, he showed me the picture of Admiral Ackbar, and I did it, Mr. Bauersfeld told The Chronicle in 2011. I saw the face, and I knew what he must sound like.

Mr. Bauersfeld, who in the same interview said he had yet to see the original Star Wars, was not credited in the initial release of Return of the Jedi. Fans figured out the connection years later.

I dont remember the first request for an autograph, Mr. Bauersfeld told The Chronicle. But I was quite pleased. I thought, My God, somebody is actually writing to me about something that I almost dont remember doing. Then they began to come in by the dozens and dozens and dozens.

He responded to each request with a typewritten note, for years refusing to charge for his autograph.

Sound designer Randy Thom, who met Mr. Bauersfeld at KPFA in the 1970s, said he was a wonderful mentor and friend. Thom, now director of sound design at Skywalker Sound, was with Mr. Bauersfeld when he died at his Berkeley home.

Erik was never very interested in pop culture of any kind, so its very ironic that the thing he will be remembered for is this short recording, Thom said. On the other hand, Erik loved an audience and was a natural performer. He enjoyed people enjoying him.

Numerous friends

Mr. Bauersfeld never married or had children, but had many friends. Sound designer James McKee, who was working with Mr. Bauersfeld on the New Mexico project, said he was genial and unpretentious  a trait that made him so willing to give back to Star Wars fans.

McKee said it was hard going to art galleries with Mr. Bauersfeld, who became absorbed in individual paintings and sculptures.

It was impossible because he would literally stand in front of a painting for half an hour, McKee says. He had a depth of knowledge across all the humanities. His knowledge of the visual arts is beyond what I could perceive.

In recent years, the crustacean-headed Ackbar had been voiced in cartoons and theme park exhibits by other actors, even as Mr. Bauersfelds line Its a trap! gained popularity in a series of Internet memes.

But after a Chronicle plea to include him in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and a call to Lucasfilm contacts by Thom, Mr. Bauersfeld was added to the cast and voiced the character again for the 2015 feature film. He also contributed voice work to the 2015 film Crimson Peak.

He created an icon

Friends say Mr. Bauersfeld came back from the Star Wars: The Force Awakens audition happy, and was very pleased to return to the role. McKee said that even if the character was a tiny part of a great life, its still a tribute to his friends abilities that Ackbar become such a big deal.

He had developed this talent over an entire career, McKee said. It wasnt an accident that he created an icon.

Peter Hartlaub is The San Francisco Chronicles pop culture critic. Email: phartlaub@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @PeterHartlaub.

To see a video interview of Erik Bauersfeld, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0n62S2dNYbg.
Why should patrons of the San Francisco Symphonys SoundBox have all the fun?

Now that the San Francisco Opera has its own cabaret-style performance venue  the intimate Taube Atrium Theater at the heart of the Diane B. Wilsey Center for Opera  the company is presenting its own brand of loose, eclectic musical programming under the rubric SF Opera Lab.

Part of the inaugural season is Chamberworks, a collection of instrumental and vocal works curated by members of the Opera Orchestra. The opening program includes works by two members of the San Francisco Conservatory faculty: a world premiere by Shinji Eshima and a recent Piano Trio by David Conte.

The rest of the program is an enticing mix of old and new, ranging from Haydn and Marin Marais through Schubert, and Richard Strauss through Britten and Salonen. Concertmaster Kay Stern and tenor Brian Thorsett are among the performers.

 Joshua Kosman

SF Opera Lab: 8 p.m. Thursday, April 7. $35. Taube Atrium Theater, 401 Van Ness Ave., Fourth Floor, S.F. (415) 864-3330. http://sfopera.com.
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Radiohead, LCD Soundsystem and Lionel Richie are set to headline Outside Lands 2016, the Bay Area festivals promoters announced Tuesday, April 5.

More than 50 acts will appear at the three-day concert, which takes place Aug. 5-7 in San Franciscos Golden Gate Park, including Duran Duran, Lana Del Rey, J. Cole, Zedd, Ryan Adams and the French electronic music duo Air.

Presale tickets, priced at $325 each, went on sale last week before the lineup was announced and sold out almost immediately. The rest of the tickets for the festival go on sale at 10 a.m. Thursday, April 7, via www.sfoutsidelands.com.

Other artists scheduled to appear on this years bill include Sufjan Stevens; Halsey; Big Grams, Grimes, Jason Isbell, Miike Snow the Last Shadow Puppets; Foals; Kamasi Washington; and the Claypool Lennon Delirium, a band featuring Primus Les Claypool and Sean Lennon.

Local acts Third Eye Blind, Rogue Wave, Fantastic Negrito, Con Brio and Kehlani also make the lineup.

Spread across the Polo Field, Hellman Hollow and Speedway Meadow, the music festival will once again offer a vast taste of concessions from notable Northern California restaurants, wineries and breweries.

This will mark Radioheads second time at Outside Lands, after headlining the inaugural year in 2008, while the dance-rock act LCD Soundsystem, which broke up in 2011, returns as a reunion act.

Dancing on the Ceiling hit maker Richie, meanwhile, occupies the traditional legacy slot previously held by artists such as Elton John, Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney.

Aidin Vaziri is The San Francisco Chronicles pop music critic. E-mail: avaziri@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @MusicSF
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CHESTER, Pa.  An Amtrak passenger train was going 106 mph in a 110 mph zone when it struck a backhoe sitting on the same track, killing the backhoe operator and a track supervisor, federal and local officials said Monday.

The engineer applied the emergency brakes five seconds before impact, the National Transportation Safety Board said late Monday. No one on board was killed, although more than 30 passengers were injured.

Videos showed construction equipment on the track and a contractors equipment on an adjacent track before the crash Sunday morning, NTSB investigator Ryan Frigo said. He could not comment on who was authorized to be there, but said work crews were scheduled to be interviewed on Tuesday

There is a large amount of data to be looked at, Frigo added.

The Delaware County Medical Examiners Office identified the victims as backhoe operator Joseph Carter Jr., 61, of Wilmington, Del., and Peter Adamovich, 59, of Lincoln University, Pa. They died of blunt force trauma.

Amtrak trains on the Northeast Corridor resumed regular service on Monday.

The train was heading from New York to Savannah, Ga., at about 8 a.m. Sunday when it hit the backhoe in Chester, about 15 miles outside of Philadelphia. The impact derailed the lead engine of the train, which was carrying more than 300 passengers and seven crew members. The injuries were not considered life-threatening.

Rail safety workers said track workers are supposed to double-check their assignments with dispatchers to be sure they are not working on or around an active track.

Typically, the dispatcher has to give very specific permission for maintenance ... equipment, like a backhoe, to be on the track. They have to take the track out of service for a defined distance and a defined time period, said Professor Allan Zarembski, who teaches railroad engineering at the University of Delaware. And then, they have to confirm that they understand it, repeat back the instructions, and only then can they get on the tracks.

A Minnesota company called Loram Maintenance of Way had several employees working in the area. Loram official Tom DeJoseph said the company was doing maintenance on the ballast between the railway ties. He estimated the company had three or four people working there at a time and more at shift changes. He declined to say if any of them witnessed the crash.

The event data recorder and forward-facing and inward-facing video from the locomotive were recovered, officials said.

Businessman Steve Forbes told C-SPANs Book TV that he was in the next-to-last car when the train made sudden jerks as if it was about to stop.

Forbes, chairman and editor-in-chief of Forbes Media, said the train then made another abrupt stop and everyones coffee was flying through the air.

The most disconcerting thing ... (was) not knowing what had happened, he said.

Since the public address system was knocked out, he and other passengers were left to speculate for 20 or 25 minutes before a crew member came back to tell them what had happened, he said.

The derailment comes almost a year after a speeding Amtrak train from Washington, D.C., to New York City went off the tracks in Philadelphia. Eight people were killed and more than 200 were injured. The exact cause of that derailment is still under investigation, but authorities have said the train had been traveling twice the speed limit.

Nearly three decades ago, an Amtrak train struck maintenance equipment on tracks in Chester, near the site of Sundays derailment. More than 20 people were injured in that January 1988 crash. The NTSB determined that an Amtrak tower operator had failed to switch the train to an unoccupied track.
WASHINGTON  Sen. Susan Collins of Maine on Tuesday became the second Republican to meet with Judge Merrick Garland, saying their conversation had further convinced her that the Senate should hold hearings on President Obamas Supreme Court nominee.

The meeting left me more convinced than ever that the process should proceed, she told reporters after their meeting. The next step, in my view, should be public hearings before the Judiciary Committee so that the issues that we explored in my office can be publicly aired and so that senators can have a better opportunity to flesh out all of the issues that we discussed.

Collins said she found that Garland had given her very thorough, impressive answers behind closed doors. Although she said it was too soon to say whether she would support him if his nomination came to a vote, she said she believed more of her Republican colleagues should sit down with him as well.

I am not optimistic that I will be changing minds on this issue, but I think if more of my colleagues sit down with Judge Garland that they are going to be impressed with him, she said.

Collins and Garland met for about an hour Tuesday morning. Collins, a moderate, has broken with her party on a number of issues, including her support for Obamas stimulus bill. From the beginning, she has refused to back Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the majority leader, in his effort to block the presidents Supreme Court nominee.

With Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois, who is among the most endangered Republican incumbents this election year, Collins is one of just two Republicans who have openly supported granting Garland full consideration, including confirmation hearings. Every Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee  led by Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, the committees chairman  signed a letter pledging not to hold hearings.

Garlands sit-down with Collins came as Senate Democrats continued to hammer Republicans for not agreeing to at least grant him a hearing.

Garland is scheduled to have three more meetings with senators on Tuesday, including one with John Boozman of Arkansas, a Republican who has said he will not support the nomination. To date, 17 Republican senators have said they are open to meeting with Garland, though most say they would do so as a courtesy and still oppose him.
RENO  Conservationists are suing the Bureau of Land Management to block the construction of fences in northern Nevada they say are intended to appease livestock ranchers at the risk of harming sage grouse and the drought-stricken federal rangeland.

The Western Watersheds Project filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Reno last week on the heels of a broader one it filed last month challenging the Obama administrations overall protection plan for the greater sage grouse across 10 western states.
JACKSON, Miss.  Mississippis governor signed a law Tuesday that allows religious groups and some private businesses to refuse service to gay couples based on religious beliefs.

Gov. Phil Bryant signed House Bill 1523, despite opposition from gay-rights groups and some businesses, who say it enables discrimination. Some conservative and religious groups support the bill.

The measures stated intention is to protect those who believe that marriage should be between one man and one woman, that sexual relations should only take place inside such marriages, and that male and female genders are unchangeable.

This bill merely reinforces the rights which currently exist to the exercise of religious freedom as stated in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the Republican governor wrote in a statement posted to his Twitter account.

The measure allows churches, religious charities and privately held businesses to decline services to people whose lifestyles violate their religious beliefs. Individual government employees may also opt out, although the measure says governments must still provide services.

This bill does not limit any constitutionally protected rights or actions of any citizen of this state under federal or state laws, Bryant said. It does not attempt to challenge federal laws, even those which are in conflict with the Mississippi Constitution, as the Legislature recognizes the prominence of federal law in such limited circumstances.

Other states have considered similar legislation. In North Carolina Republican Gov. Pat McCrory signed a law that eliminated antidiscrimination protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. In Georgia last week, Republican Gov. Nathan Deal vetoed a bill intended to protect critics of same-sex marriage.

And in South Dakota, Republican Gov. Dennis Daugaard, vetoed a bill that dictated what bathrooms transgender individuals can use. Local communities can make the necessary restroom and locker room accommodations that serve the best interests of all students, regardless of biological sex or gender identity, Daugaard said.

Bryant acted within hours of receiving the bill after it cleared its final legislative obstacle Monday, even as opponents tried to marshal pressure to persuade Bryant to reject it.

This bill flies in the face of the basic American principles of fairness, justice and equality and will not protect anyones religious liberty, Jennifer Riley-Collins, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi, said in a statement. Far from protecting anyone from government discrimination as the bill claims, it is an attack on the citizens of our state, and it will serve as the Magnolia States badge of shame.
1 Travel ban: The mayor of Atlanta is joining other city and state officials in banning taxpayer-funded travel to North Carolina over its new law preventing specific antidiscrimination rules for gay and transgender people for public accommodations and restroom use. Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed said Monday that he has ordered city employees to halt nonessential trips to North Carolina because of what he called discriminatory and unnecessary legislation. The Atlanta travel ban follows similar actions by San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, the Boston City Council and the governors of Washington, New York, Connecticut and Minnesota.

2 L.A. blackouts: Energy officials say a natural gas well blowout last year that crippled a major energy supply for Southern California could lead to blackouts this summer. The chairman of the California Energy Commission said Tuesday that the partial shutdown of the Aliso Canyon storage field near Los Angeles could lead to short-term power outages for up to 14 days. The Southern California Gas Co. facility has not fully operated since a massive leak was discovered in October. The field still has some gas in it, but officials are planning for expected shortages when gas is needed to power electric plants during peak summer demands. The Energy Commission and other agencies released a draft plan that calls for more than a dozen measures, including conservation by residents, to prevent power outages.
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More details have emerged in the burglary of the Make-A-Wish Foundation's San Francisco office: Along with Hunter Pence's scooter, iPads and laptops were also taken by two suspects.

Eight brand new iPads donated by Mayor Ed Lee's office, laptops, donated gift cards and Pence's electric scooter were confirmed as stolen, according to Make-A-Wish staff.

Jen Wilson, marketing director with Make-A-Wish, told SFGATE laptops were used by staff and the gift cards were given to children as part of the nonprofit's charity work.

"We offer gift cards to the wish kids in addition to their wish," Wilson said in a phone interview. "Hunter Pence's scooter was the biggest physical item that (the burglars) took from here."

Pence's scooter was part of a charity auction last year and was awaiting pickup from the winning bidder, Wilson said. The scooter was offered  along with a dinner for four with Pence  for a winning bid of $30,000. Make-A-Wish had received the scooter from Pence following its return after being stolen from outside of Epic Roasthouse.

"When it was returned, he decided he wanted to donate it to Make-A-Wish," Wilson said. "Part of the reason was, he felt he wanted to say thank you to Batkid for helping make the streets of San Francisco safer."

Wilson said they're not sure what the total amount taken from the office is, but said that since the burglary, Pence has been in contact with the organization.

"Hunter is a wonderful wish grantor who really spends a lot of time with the kids and gives them a very personal experience," Wilson said, adding that the Giants player was involved in another campaign for the charity, donating proceeds from a t-shirt he helped design.

Mayor Ed Lee's office sent out a tweet Monday afternoon, saying they would replace the eight stolen iPads.

The Make-A-Wish office had experienced a break-in a few years prior, according to Wilson, and had changed security measures since then. However, the two suspects had still managed to gain access to the office Saturday night.

"We're working closely with SFPD and they're being very thorough in their investigation," Wilson said. "We hope that because of all the awareness that's being generated around this theft that, not only will the scooter maybe come back, but it might prompt people to think about ways they can help.

"Or just think twice about stealing from a charity," Wilson added.
Scientists probing the ground with airborne laser beams have mapped the Rodgers Creek Fault in the heart of Santa Rosa for the first time, they reported Tuesday.

A team from the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park, led by geologist Suzanne Hecker, discovered the faults signs throughout the citys downtown area where redevelopment has long obscured the evidence of past quakes, Hecker said.

The newly mapped section of the fault broadens the area of downtown where a seismic hazard exists, Hecker said, but it does not say anything about the probability of future earthquakes there.

There is a significant probability of a major earthquake on the Rodgers Creek Fault in the coming decades, Heckers report said.

The most recent official estimates by the Geological Survey indicate there is a 31 percent probability of a quake with a magnitude 6.7 or greater striking somewhere on the combined Rodgers Creek and Hayward faults in the next 30 years, and recent research has made it clearer than ever that they are linked into a single fault beneath San Pablo Bay.

According to the latest census figures, 174,000 people live in Santa Rosa, the 41-square-mile county seat of Sonoma County.

The newly mapped fault zone in the central part of Santa Rosa is broader and extends farther east than scientists had previously assumed, Heckers report said, and her team also found new evidence of a small rightward bend in the fault that defined a slight depression in the ground extending a mile long and a quarter-mile wide.

Precise measurements of that regions magnetic and gravity variations, as well as the airborne laser technology known as Lidar, also detected a dense magnetic body of rock underground known as an asperity, Heckers team reported.

The rocks magnetism may have influenced the distribution of the many small aftershocks that followed the two well-known Santa Rosa earthquakes that struck in 1969 with magnitudes of 5.6 and 5.7. They caused $6 million in damage to buildings that were in the newly mapped area.

Heckers full report on the detailed mapping project is published online in the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America. Her colleagues in the report include Victoria E. Langenheim, R.A. Williams, C.S. Hitchcock, and Stephen B. DeLong.
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.
Angelo Merendino/Angelo Merendino/Getty Images

Did Hope and Change really mean: Arguably, better than the very worst? political science Professor P.S. Ruckman Jr. asked in his PardonPower blog last week. With 61 new presidential commutations making the total to date 248, President Obama had reached a number of commutations greater than those of the past six presidents, the White House blog had boasted. Considering the poor record on clemency of Obamas recent predecessors, Ruckman is not impressed. After attending a closed White House briefing last week, he told me he is really, really afraid that theyre spiking the ball.

There was a time the White House looked as if it might be serious about using the presidents pardon power to commute the sentences of federal offenders. In August 2013, then-Attorney General Eric Holder addressed the American Bar Association in San Francisco. He called the criminal justice system broken, and informed lawyers that the president would begin issuing more commutations. In December, Holder told the Washington Post he had envisioned as many as 10,000 commutations.
When theres a light on over at the Porter place, you should absolutely, positively ring the bell. And dont wear anything fancy when you visit their mansion, because things are gonna get dirty  indecorous, indecent and hilariously unprintable in a family newspaper. The Junior League definitely didnt sanction this architectural tour.

The manor gates swung open on Monday, April 4, when A House Tour of the Infamous Porter Family Mansion With Tour Guide Weston Ludlow Londonderry had its world premiere at Z Space. The curious and the prurient should snap up tickets soon, lest they get locked out.

San Francisco playwright Peter Sinn Nachtrieb conceived House Tour for veteran actor Danny Scheie, who gives a tour de force as Londonderry, a docent with Frank-N-Furters salacious snark and Norma Desmonds obsession with an era gone by.

The immersive show starts with a bang as Scheie describes the union of Hubert and Clarissa Porters souls, and gets naughtier from there. Scheie takes the audience into the antebellum mansion through the rear entrance (natch), and guides them on a winding path into its inner sanctums and into the psyches of its eccentric, extremely wealthy owners.

As maniacal as he is meticulous, Scheie alternately harasses, cajoles and whispers as he points out historical facts and notable elements of construction (a lot of screws went into this, as you might guess). Fine Shakespearean that he is (many will remember his slapstick success as the Dromio twins in The Comedy of Errors at Cal Shakes in 2014), Scheie savors every ribald Roman-comedy entendre that Nachtrieb has layered into the text: After you see House Tour, the phrase point-by-point rebuttal will never sound the same again.

House Tour is a full-immersion theatrical experience, and the audience becomes putty for Scheie to manipulate into straight men and fall guys. He puts people on the spot with questions, orders the group on a forced march and singles out a lucky few for inappropriate touching.

Nachtrieb wrote House Tour especially for Scheie and developed it through Berkeley Reps Ground Floor incubator for new work. The writer and actor first worked together on the 2011 play Bob, and have completed their mind meld here: Nachtrieb supplies Scheie with absurdity, hyperbole and originality (They were the kind of people who might prefer the soft cheeses to the hard), and Scheie imbues them with mirth, passion and heart.

Though its billed as a one-man show, Scheie couldnt pull it off without the inventive sets by Sean Riley, whose recent work includes Shotgun Players production of Eurydice and Joe Goode Performance Groups Poetics of Space. Marvelously inventive and a touch rough-hewn, the freestanding walls, doors and furnishings sketch out a blowsy structure that may never have been as great as Londonderry imagines, but becomes magnificent in his retelling.

Some sets morph while youre not looking, and Scheie guides the audience in and through the dynamic environment with the command of an experienced waltz partner. Director Jason Eagan choreographed the performance seamlessly, disguising the transitions as expressions of Londonderrys personality.

Eagans resume ranges from San Francisco Opera to Broadway to avant-garde theater, an eclectic mix equaled by Nachtrieb, Riley and Scheie in their own ways. Their unique talents and vibrant collaboration, along with a bottomless delight in juvenile humor, make House Tour a raw and polished gem.

Claudia Bauer is a Bay Area freelance writer.

House Tour: By Peter Sinn Nachtrieb. Directed by Jason Eagan. 7 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday; 8 p.m. Saturday; 5 p.m. April 17. Through April 23. 90 minutes, no intermission. Contains explicit material. $22-$33. Z Space, 450 Florida St., S.F. www.zspace.org.
Courtesy Douglas Morrisson Theatre

Monologist Josh Kornbluth channels a Founding Father to explore issues with his own family in Ben Franklin: Unplugged. Clown Unique Derique amuses adults and children alike with Fool La La! Solo artists Linda Ayres-Frederick, Carolyn Doyle, Amy Kilgard, Margery Kreitman and Rachel LePell headline in One x 5: Short Pieces.

Together these shows make up One for All: A Solo Arts Festival, a two-week celebration of Bay Area solo artists at Douglas Morrison Theatre.
WASHINGTON  The Obama administration and California officials are expected to announce a landmark agreement Wednesday to tear down four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River, bypassing Congress to restore a major salmon fishery on the Oregon border.

The dam removals would set in motion the largest river restoration in U.S. history and signal an end to one of the most contentious water fights in years. Since 2001, the Klamath basin has seen farmer bucket brigades, clashes with American Indian tribes, commercial fishery shutdowns and the largest fish die-off ever on the West Coast.

A high-profile news conference to announce the deal is set for Wednesday at the Yurok Reservation in Klamath (Del Norte County), with Gov. Jerry Brown joining Oregon Gov. Kate Brown; Interior Secretary Sally Jewell; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency Administrator Kathryn Sullivan; and Stefan Bird, chief executive of Pacific Power, a division of PacifiCorp, which owns the dams.

States work with feds

The two states and Secretary Jewell decided this is too important a place to too many people to walk away from trying to solve these tough problems, said California Fish and Wildlife Director Chuck Bonham.

We more or less locked ourselves up and we produced the details of the dam removal after outlining the deal two months ago, Bonham said.

State officials decided to move forward on a 2010 pact among the warring Klamath basin parties. That pact called for dismantling the dams but required congressional approval. Republicans, especially Californians opposed to dam removals in general, refused to consider legislation and let the pact expire in December.

The parties now intend to bypass Congress by using a dam delicensing process at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, an agency that oversees hydroelectric power. The plan calls for removing the four dams by 2020, the same timeline set by the original pact.

What we believe weve found here is a way to go forward that doesnt require approval from Congress, said Bob Gravely, spokesman for PacifiCorp.

The company will pay the first $200 million of the cost of removing the J.C. Boyle, Iron Gate, and Copco 1 and 2 dams. Estimates of the full job run as high as $450 million.

Brown has proposed setting aside $250 million to finish the job, which the Legislature would have to approve. No federal funds will be used.

Less cost, less risk

Keeping the dams could cost as much as removing them. They block about half the Klamath River basin, so relicensing them would require fish ladders and other major capital improvements. Costs for modernization are estimated at about $400 million.

Having them removed and replacing the power will cost less and lead to less risk than proceeding with relicensing under known terms and conditions, Gravely said.

The dams were commissioned in the 1940s and 50s for hydroelectric power, not to store water or prevent floods. Two of the dams created large reservoirs, used for recreation and lined in some places with private homes.

Pacific Powers 600,000 affected customers have been paying a dam removal surcharge of up to 2 percent of their electricity bills, Gravely said, with about half the cost, $100 million, now set aside.

Brian Johnson of Trout Unlimited, a sport fishing and environmental group involved in the negotiations, said that the dams have blocked half the watershed of the Klamath and that removing them will open up close to 500 miles of steelhead habitat and about 420 miles for salmon.

Dams disrupt river ecologies, blocking salmon migrations to upstream spawning habitat and preventing the deposition of sediment downstream that nurtures coastlines.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission also has to approve the delicensing plan in a public process at which opponents, mainly farming interests and dam removal opponents, are expected to object.

Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, whose district includes some of the basin, said that the new deal will not include assurances of water to basin farmers, but that I think (the farmers) are going to be fine.

Bypasses Congress

The essence of the deal is a private dam owner who wants to get rid of these zombie dams that don't provide a lot of hydropower and have huge environmental liabilities, and can be part of a transformative river restoration, Huffman said. None of this requires any approval or authority or appropriation from Congress.

Carolyn Lochhead is The San Francisco Chronicles Washington correspondent. Email: clochhead@sfchronicle.com
Q: I booked a round-trip frequent-flier ticket (25,000 miles) on American Airlines for a trip from Chicago to San Antonio last year when I learned that my Army son was going to be promoted to major in San Antonio on Labor Day weekend. As is very common in the Army, he was sent to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, a few months later, so he had his promotion ceremony in Illinois, not Texas.

I called American to see if I could get my miles back and was told that it would cost me $150 to do so. I was wondering if you thought there was any chance for me to get the miles back at no cost, or for a reduced cost, because it was only because of the militarys change to my sons orders that I did not complete the trip as planned.

Ive been a military mom and mom-in-law to four active-duty members over the past decade, and six tours of duty were performed by Air Force and Army family members in Iraq and Afghanistan during that time. I know they did all the work, but I spent a great deal of time supporting them in various ways while they were deployed. As I mentioned, the only reason the trip needed to be canceled to that destination is due to the Army changing my sons orders.

Diane Downs, Grayslake, Ill.

A: Thank you for your sons service. While its true that airlines relax their change rules for members of the military, that privilege doesnt necessarily transfer to their family members. And when it comes to frequent-flier miles, the rules are a little different. Airlines like American waive these redeposit fees, but only for their top-tier elites. If you dont have the status, they will make you pay.

The $150 is hard to justify. Does it cost the airline $150 to put the miles back into your account? No. Its a simple, quick electronic transfer. Are your 25,000 miles even worth $150? Maybe, maybe not. You might have been able to pay less for an economy-class ticket from San Antonio to Chicago.

But American is well within its rights to impose this punitive fee. In fact, if you read your program agreement closely, youll find that those 25,000 miles dont even belong to you. Theyre the airlines property, and it can remove them from your account at any time and for any reason.

Still, having the right to do something doesnt make it right. I mean, a military mom trying to support her son  thats gotta count for something. Whats more, you showed your loyalty to American by collecting those points in the first place. Is this how it repays you for your business?

I think you could have sent a brief, polite email to one of the American Airlines executives I list in my online database of customer-service contacts. They might have seen this your way and helped reduce or eliminate your redeposit fee.

Again, American had every right to charge you the redeposit fee. But in the end it decided not to. One of our advocates contacted the airline on your behalf. American waived the $150 redeposit fee, due to the circumstances. Thats the right call. Thank you, American.

Christopher Elliott is the ombudsman for National Geographic Traveler magazine. Find travel tips at www.elliott.org. E-mail: chris@elliott.org Twitter: @elliottdotorg
YEREVAN, Armenia  Fighting raged Monday around Nagorno-Karabakh, with Azerbaijan saying it lost three of its troops in the separatist region while inflicting heavy casualties on Armenian forces and the Armenian president warning that the hostilities could slide into a full-scale war.

The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said Armenian forces continued shelling Azerbaijani military positions and front-line villages despite a cease-fire that Azerbaijan unilaterally declared Sunday.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates  Global military spending rose in 2015 to nearly $1.7 trillion, the first increase in several years, driven by conflicts including the battle against the Islamic State group, the Saudi-led war in Yemen and fears about Iran, a report released Tuesday shows.

The study by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute also noted that the Chinese expansion in the South China Sea and Russias annexation of Crimea and support of Ukrainian separatists also accounted for nudging spending up 1 percent in real terms, compared with 2014.

For weapons manufacturers, the nonstop pace of air strikes targeting Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria, as well as Saudi-led bombing of Yemens Shiite rebels and their allies, means billions of dollars more in sales.

But activists question continued U.S. arms deals to Saudi Arabia as its Yemen campaign has killed civilians, while American fighter jet sales to both emerging military buyer Qatar and longtime ally Kuwait appear stalled.

The United States, with $596 billion in defense spending, and China, with an estimated $215 billion, led all countries in 2015, the institutes annual report said. Saudi Arabia, however, came in third with spending of $87.2 billion  double what it spent in 2006, according to the report. That fueled the first worldwide increase in military spending since 2011.

Iraq spent $13.1 billion on its military in 2015, up well over 500 percent from 2006 as it has rebuilt its armed forces after the U.S. withdrawal and rise of the Islamic State group, the institute said.

While part of the U.S. coalition fighting the extremists, Saudi Arabia also launched a war in Yemen in March 2015 to support the countrys internationally recognized government after Shiite rebels known as Houthis earlier overran the countrys capital, Sanaa. The Sunni kingdom views the Houthis as a proxy of Shiite power Iran, long its regional rival.

The United Arab Emirates also is taking part in both conflicts and probably has spent billions of dollars to support its military in 2015 as well, though the Stockholm-based institute said it couldnt offer precise figures this year, senior researcher Pieter Wezeman said. Both the UAE and Saudi Arabia also sent troops into Bahrain to put down its 2011 Arab Spring-inspired protests.

But the air campaign waged by the Saudi-led, U.S.-backed coalition in Yemen has been increasingly criticized by human rights activists over civilian deaths. Air strikes account for 60 percent of the 3,200 civilians killed in the conflict, according to the United Nations, which has criticized coalition strikes that have hit markets, clinics and hospitals.

Yet arms deals continue, especially from the U.S. Asked about the civilian casualties, State Department spokesman David McKeeby said the United States remained deeply concerned by the devastating toll of the crisis in Yemen.

Wezeman said international sanctions against Iran had seen its weapons technology lag behind its neighbors as its military spending dropped by 30 percent between 2006 and 2015. However, he acknowledged regional suspicions probably would keep gulf military spending strong.

Both the expenditure and the armament procurement by states in the gulf are clearly aimed at kind of keeping Iran in check, Wezeman said.
1 Dengue vaccinations: The Philippines on Monday launched the first public immunization program for dengue fever, seeking to administer to a million schoolchildren the worlds first licensed vaccine against a mosquito-borne disease that the World Health Organization estimates infects 390 million people a year globally. Hundreds of fourth-graders at a public school in Manila were given the first of three shots of Dengvaxia. The Philippines had the highest dengue incidence in the WHOs Western Pacific region from 2013 to 2015, recording 200,415 cases last year.

2 U.S. student dies: Russian investigators say the body of an American student has been found on the outskirts of a Siberian village, a week after he vanished from a guesthouse in the middle of the night. Colin Madsens body was found Monday about a mile outside Arshan, a village poplar for its mineral springs and proximity to mountains. There were no visible injuries to the 25-year-old, and his documents and money had been left untouched, officials said. Madsen of Jefferson City, Mo., was a student at a university in Irkutsk. The Investigative Committee said an autopsy would be conducted.
SEOUL  South Korea has determined that North Korea is capable of mounting a nuclear warhead on its medium-range Rodong ballistic missile, which could reach all of the South and most of Japan, a senior government official said Tuesday.

The governments assessment, shared in a background briefing with representatives of foreign news media in Seoul, followed a recent claim by North Korea that it had standardized nuclear warheads small enough to be carried by ballistic missiles. Until Tuesday, South Korean government officials, like most of their U.S. counterparts, had played down that claim.

But after four recent nuclear tests by the North, the latest on Jan. 6, some nongovernmental analysts in South Korea have said that the North may have learned how to fit its medium-range Rodong missile with nuclear warheads, even though it may still be years away from building a nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile that could target the continental United States.

Although the government official echoed that assessment Tuesday, he added that South Korea had no evidence that the North had deployed such nuclear-tipped Rodong missiles.

The missile, first deployed in the 1990s, can fly about 800 miles, which would put some U.S. military bases in South Korea and Japan within its range. It could carry a warhead weighing about 1,500 to 2,200 pounds, according to the South Korean military.

North Korea test-launched two Rodong missiles last month, flouting U.N. resolutions that ban the country from developing or testing ballistic missile technology.

The tests took place days after the Norths leader, Kim Jong Un, ordered more tests of ballistic missiles capable of delivering a nuclear warhead. Kim also recently visited a factory where he inspected what looked like a model nuclear warhead and long-range missile, according to photographs released in the countrys official media.

North Korea also said Kim had overseen a successful test of re-entry technology, which is needed for a warhead on an intercontinental ballistic missile to survive the heat and vibrations while plunging through the atmosphere toward its target.

There is continuing debate about how close North Korea has come to acquiring nuclear-tipped missiles. The country has never flight-tested a long-range missile.

After the Norths recent claims, the South Korean Defense Ministry issued a statement on March 9 saying it did not believe the North had achieved the miniaturization of a nuclear warhead. But the statement did not clarify whether it meant for long-range missiles or missiles of shorter ranges.

The Pentagon has also voiced skepticism. We have not seen North Korea demonstrate capability to miniaturize a nuclear weapon, and again, put it on a ballistic missile, Peter Cook, the Pentagon press secretary, said March 15.
WASHINGTON  President Obama on Monday called NATO the linchpin of U.S. security policy and a critical ally in the fight against terrorism, indirectly countering Republican Donald Trumps recent claims that the 67-year-old alliance is obsolete.

Speaking after an Oval Office meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, Obama praised the alliances contributions to the fight against the Islamic State group, its partnership in Afghanistan and assistance in the refugee crisis in southern Europe.

NATO continues to be the linchpin, the cornerstone of our collective defense and U.S. security policy, Obama said.

Obama did not name Trump and ignored a reporters question about the GOP presidential candidates recent statements. Still, his comments struck a strong contrast to Trumps assertion that NATO is irrelevant and ill-suited to fight terrorism. As president, Trump has said he would force member nations to increase their contributions, even if that risked breaking up the alliance.

Both the president and the secretary-general aimed to dispute that characterization. In remarks after the meeting, Obama described Europe as especially burdened by instability and reliant on the trans-Atlantic alliance.

This is obviously a tumultuous time in the world. Europe is a focal point of a lot of these stresses and strains in the global security system, he said. It is because of the strength of NATO ... that Im confident that despite these choppy waters we will be able to continue to underscore and underwrite the peace and security and prosperity that has been a hallmark of the trans-Atlantic relationship.

Stoltenberg described the alliance as important as ever.

NATO has been able to adapt to a more dangerous world, he said, noting that NATO began training Iraqi soldiers last week.

Obama said he and Stoltenberg discussed NATOs potential role in Libya, as well as its plans to assist the European Union with the migrant crisis stemming from Syrias civil war. He said the migrants are taking very dangerous trips and that the response must be humane and thoughtful.

Obama noted that he has proposed quadrupling Pentagon spending on troops and training in Europe as part of the U.S. militarys accelerating effort to deter Russia.
One of the most severe El Nino weather patterns ever has impacted the weather in California and around the world in 2016.

South America has seen wildfires caused by drought in Colombia and severe flooding in Paraguay. Africa faces the threat of mass starvation due to crop failures. In Asia, thousands of fisherman have had to ask for government assistance due to the decline in fish production from warm water in freshwater areas and coastal communities. And Australians have had to cope with prolonged heat waves over 100 degrees and severe coral bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef.
Vice President Joe Biden and US House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi are headed to Santa Fe this weekend. They'll join Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chair Ben Ray Lujan and other members at the group's annual conference.



This is the second year that Lujan, who was named the group's chairman by Pelosi in November 2014, has hosted the event in Santa Fe. A spokesperson for the DCCC said details haven't been finalized, so it's still unclear which hotel venue will be used or if the vice president will have any public events while he's in town.

The news comes on the heels of the announcement from the White House that First Lady Michelle Obama plans to visit Santa Fe to deliver the commencement address at the Santa Fe Indian School on May 26.

Last year, the group's agenda included panel discussions on legislative policies and strategies, but with the general election just months away, it's a good bet that the Democrats will be discussing ways they can regain control of the House after losing their majority status in 2010, when the Republicans picked up 63 seats.



The Democrats have said they would need several election cycles to shrink the Republican majority, but with the prospect of Donald Trump winning the GOP nomination in Cleveland this summer, the Ds now believe they have a shot at retaking control this fall.



To make it a reality, the group will need to raise millions in campaign donations to fund key races around the country, and efforts are already underway. Also this week, Lujan and Pelosi were scheduled to attended a fundraising dinner in Hollywood with President Barack Obama at the home of Walt Disney Chairman Alan Horn.

Veteran political blogger Joe Monahan says that even with Trump at the top of the ticket, it will be difficult to win enough seats to flip the House.



"It would take an epic event," says Monahan. "The House districts are so gerrymandered."



Monahan points to Rep. Steve Pearce's southern New Mexico district.



"The Democrats have targeted his seat before but got absolutely nowhere, and it shows no signs of cracking this year," says Monahan. "It doesn't mean the Democrats couldn't have a good night with some of these swing seats. There's not many of those left."



Biden has been to the state several times since being nominated for vice president by Barack Obama in 2008.



In 2009, he helped congressional candidates Martin Heinrich and Harry Teague raise money for their House campaigns and returned in 2010 to support Diane Denish and Brian Colon's unsuccessful campaign for governor and lieutenant governor. He also visited two years later to help Heinrich raise money for his senate campaign.



In 2013, Biden invited Gov. Susana Martinez to fly with him to Rome for Pope Francis' installation. The two got along so well, he invited Martinez and former Gov. Bill Richardson to attend his Cinco De Mayo celebration.

Santa Fe Reporter
Fonterra Cooperative Group could let farmer shareholders sell wet shares  the shares held based on annual milk production - as a way of providing support to its cash-strapped milk suppliers, says broker First NZ Capital.

The cooperatives latest support measure has been to bring forward payment of its forecast 20 cents per share final dividend earlier than usual to get the money into farmers hands as quickly as possible given the low forecast milk payout. Last year 76 percent of farmers took up an interest-free loan which cost the company $390 million.

First NZ Capital said in a research note today that the flexibility provided by the Fonterra Shareholders Fund (FSF) could also be used and would take the onus off Fonterra having to get cash to debt-laden farmers at a time when the business needs funds for its value-add growth strategy.

FSF listed on the NZX in 2012 after Trading Among Farmers (TAF) changed the way farmers bought and sold the cooperatives shares.

The analysts say it would be possible to get between $300 million and $400 million of capital to farmers that need it from outside investors without much real change being required in the way the actual fund size target is managed.

TAF gave farmers more options including being able to hold on to shares up to three years after selling a farm, buying additional shares over the amount of milk they produce, and being able to convert shares to tradeable units.

Farmers are required to hold one wet share for each kilogram of milk solids they supply annually while dry shares are any they hold over and above that share standard requirement. Farmers can trade dry shares on a farmers-only market and on the FSF which is open to all.

Fonterra units are created when farmers convert some of their dry shares and they can also convert wet shares into vouchers while still holding onto the voting rights and obligation to supply milk.

The FSF fund size of 104 million units represents 6.5 percent of the cooperatives issued capital held by investors who have an economic interest without voting rights. Thats well within the target range under the Fund Size Risk Management policy of 7 to 12 percent.

However, the potential fund size, which estimates what it could reach if all the 125 million available dry shares were sold to non-farmers, is currently 14.3 percent - at the upper level of the 7 to 15 percent target range, and likely to rise further as milk production falls.

Federated Farmers dairy chairman Andrew Hoggard said given how low the fund actually is as a percentage of total capital, selling wet shares was an option worth debating.

He said TAF hadnt worked as well as he had thought it would when first mooted with more restriction on the free trading of wet shares than he anticipated.

First NZ said the structure was set up to give farmers a chance to sell wet shares but its at the discretion of the cooperatives board. This has only been done once in a farmer-only buyback following FSFs IPO in 2012. In return for the sale of the wet shares, farmers received 53 million vouchers held to meet the share standard requirement.

First NZ said it was time for the Fund Risk Size Management Policy to be reconsidered as the current limits stymy allowing farmers to sell wet shares and the dry share proportion is already above target range.

While were presenting a case where it might suit FSF and its farmers to facilitate an exchange of wet shares for vouchers, the Fund Risk Management Policy as it currently stands is an issue that would impact Fonterras ability to raise external equity, which is not ideal either, the analysts said.

They suggested two ways to allow farmers to sell wet shares to outside investors; one through a dual bookbuild where investors bid for the shares farmers offer within a set price range or simply opening a window during which farmers could sell them though this is difficult with the existing fund size policy.

The units were recently down 0.2 percent to $5.90 and have decreased 1.3 percent so far this year.

BusinessDesk)

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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Meridian Energy Limited is engaged in the business of generation, trading and retailing of electricity, and the sale of complementary products and services. The Company supplies electricity to homes, businesses and farms. It operates through three segments: Wholesale; Retail, which is engaged in retailing of electricity and complementary products through its two brands: Meridian and Powershop in New Zealand, and International, which is engaged in the generation and retailing of electricity in Australia. Its Wholesale segment is engaged in the generation of electricity and sale into the wholesale electricity market; purchase of electricity from the wholesale electricity market and sale to the Retail segment and to large industrial customers, and development of renewable energy generation opportunities. Its hydro stations include Ohau A, Benmore, Aviemore, Waitaki and Manapouri; wind farms include Te Uku, Te Apiti, West Wind, Ross Island and Mt Mercer, and Maama Mai solar farm.

Meridian generates electricity from 100% renewable sources wind and water. The company generates approximately 30% of New Zealands electricity from its integrated chain of dams on the Waitaki River and Manapouri, which is the largest hydro power station in New Zealand, and four wind farms around the country. The company was listed on the NZX in October 2013 as part of the Governments Share Offer Programme for an initial public offer price of $1.50 over two installments.

Meridian Energy, the country's biggest electricity generator, lifted annual earnings 5.6 percent, beating its prospectus forecast.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and fair value adjustments, rose to $618 million in the 12 months ended June 30, from $585 million a year earlier, and was 5 percent above the company's prospectus forecast. Revenue rose 16 percent to $2.9 billion, and net profit after tax gained 7.4 percent to $247 million, assisted by a $62 million tax benefit caused by not being required to pay capital gains tax previously levied in Australia and a revised treatment for depreciation on its powerhouse buildings.

The board declared a final dividend of 8.08 cents per share (cps) and a special dividend of 3.95 cents, payable. That takes the total payout for the year to 18.23 cps, with a special dividend of 2.44 cps having already been paid this year.

For a full Report visit IRG Online Library Here

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The New Zealand dollar rose after prices gained at the overnight GlobalDairyTrade auction, stoking optimism about the outlook for the country's largest export commodity.

The kiwi initially declined ahead of the dairy auction, slipping from 68.01 US cents at 5pm in Wellington yesterday to 67.67 US cents by 2am ahead of the release of the auction result before rebounding to 68.02 cents by 3am. It traded at 67.92 cents at 8am. The trade-weighted index advanced to 72.06 from 71.93 yesterday.

The kiwi strengthened after dairy product prices for the second time in the seven auctions held so far this year. The GDT price index rose 2.1 percent, while the average price for whole milk powder, New Zealand's key product, rose 1.5 percent to US$2,013 a tonne.

"While the lift in dairy prices was broadly in line with futures market pricing, the New Zealand dollar still reacted, rising around a third of a cent against the US dollar," Westpac Banking Corp New Zealand senior economist Anne Boniface said in a note.

"Although last night's lift was small, any improvement in prices will be no doubt be welcomed by the embattled dairy sector," Boniface said. "However, while there are a few straws in the wind suggesting that the pace of growth in production in Europe has eased a touch in recent months and sentiment in commodity markets has noticeably improved in recent weeks, a substantive recovery in prices is likely to be some way off yet. We expect prices to continue to bump around near current levels, before gradually grinding higher late from late 2016 as global supply growth moderates and demand improves."

In New Zealand, state-owned Quotable Value is due to release its March housing data at midday.

The New Zealand dollar advanced to 90.10 Australian cents from 89.31 cents yesterday, gained to 47.97 British pence from 47.70 pence. It fell to 74.90 yen from 75.40 yen, edged lower to 59.63 euro cents from 59.70 cents, and was little changed at 4.3985 yuan from 4.3988 yuan.

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Viper Demo Team showcases capabilities at home base

The Air Combat Command F-16 Viper Demonstration Team is scheduled to tear up the skies during the Shaw Air Expo and open house, Thunder over the Midlands, May 21-22, at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina.



Assigned to the team based out of Shaw AFB is Maj. Craig Rocket Baker, F-16 Viper Demo Team pilot, who will be flying the single ship demonstration.



This will be the first time since the sequestration, approximately four years ago, that the Viper Demo Team will be performing at their home station.



Its awesome to be able to perform in front of our friends and family, and its another great opportunity to share what we do with the Sumter community who are always so supportive of us, said Master Sgt. Aaron Smith, F-16 Viper Demo Team team chief.



The F-16 Fighting Falcon is a single-seat, multi-mission fighter with the ability to switch from an air-to-air to air-to-ground role at the touch of a button. With its lightweight airframe and engine which generates 31,000 pounds of thrust, the F-16 can fly at speeds in excess of Mach 2.



During the demonstration, Baker displays the combat capabilities of an F-16, pushing the aircraft to its limits at the speed of 650 miles per hour, where he experiences nine times the force of gravity.



The team is scheduled to travel to 20 shows throughout the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico during 2016.



Being on the demo team is one of the best experiences of my career, said Smith. Ive gotten to go around the country and share what we do with many people who have not had much contact with the country. It is a true honor to do what we do.



By having the opportunity to demonstrate the F-16s capabilities at their home base, the Viper Demo Team will be able to give back to the surrounding community, which has shown its undying support of the base and the team.


BENGALURU: The agenda of secretively setting up offshore entities around the globe to avoid taxpaying, inducing huge black money is at the core of the Panama Papers Leak. The first Sunday of the April, 2016 was stormed with the biggest leak of the millennium, revealed and reported by International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) in coordination with around 100 journalism firms all over the world, reports WIRED.

How the Worlds Biggest Data Leak Unfolded

According to the telephonic communication between ICIJ director Gerard Ryle and WIRED, The eight month long-lasting whistleblower leak project was seeded in late 2014. Bastian Obermayer, reporter in German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung was contacted by an unknown source through encrypted chat. The source conveyed to share huge documents containing information of global tax evasion involving a Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca to expose these crimes in front of the world.

During course of the communication, Obermayer and source transacted data and chats through numerous encrypted channels as source asserted that his/her life is in danger and cant meet in person revealing his/her identity for security reasons. Both the participants used weird ways of question-answer drill to confirm the authenticity of each other while re-connecting to take the conversation forward. As the source said to the reporter that the data will be More than you have ever seen, the final stockpile of leaked data went up to 2.6 terabytes. After obtaining and analyzing first few pieces of the data, Suddeutsche Zeitung involved the ICIJ staff to assist and coordinate with their reporters during this huge investigation. Except Obermayer and leaker, no one knows the channels and technologies used to transfer a vast amount of data files (11.5 million documents) anonymously. I learned a lot about making the safe transfer of big files, states Obermayer. The received digital documentation is a collection of more than 4.8 million emails, 3 million database files, and 2.1 million PDFs from Mossack Fonseca that created large number of shell companies for clientele, stashing their illicit foreign holding and other illegal assets.

Panama Papers has revealed names of many globally renowned celebrities, world leaders, government employees, athletes, and business tycoons involved in the scam of owning off-the-shelf companies, hidden properties resulting in the gigantic amount of black money.

The journalism has taken a step forward by blending the latest technology encryption tools with entire investigation to intercept and bring out these crimes and issues that the global economy needs to address and take apropos legal action on it. The list of names coming out from last two days based on the detailed analysis of Panama Papers, has shaken the world as many of them are the people in power and impacting personalities for many countries.

Lets wait and see what impact this breakthrough leak will have on the future of the persons and firms that will be disclosed in next few weeks.

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WASHINGTON: U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter is looking forward to his proposed visit to India and engagement with his Indian counterpart Manohar Parrikar, the Pentagon has said while terming the trip as an "important moment".



"He (Carter) is looking forward to this visit," Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook told reporters yesterday.



However, no dates of his visit to India has been announced yet. Cook described the proposed India trip of Carter as an "important moment".



"And again, (it's an) important moment for the Secretary and for his Indian counterpart to compare notes, if you will, their assessment of the security situation not just in the region, but in the world overall," Cook said.



"I know he's very much looking forward to his engagement with (Defense) Minister (Manohar) Parrikar," the Pentagon Press Secretary said in response to a question.

Read Also: Clinton, Sanders Agree To Debate In Brooklyn

Last Surviving Plains Indian War Chief Dies In U.S.

Source: PTI
WASHINGTON: Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton said the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has not asked to schedule an interview over her private email server.

"No, they haven't," Clinton told NBC News' "Meet the Press" on Sunday night when asked whether federal investigators had been in contact with her.

"But you know, back in August, we made clear that I'm happy to answer any questions that anybody might have. And I stand by that," Clinton said.

In January, the US State Department revealed that during its review of Clinton's 52,000 pages of private email, it had come across 22 documents that had to be upgraded to "top secret".

It said at the time that it would conduct a separate internal review to determine if the secret information in those emails had been mishandled at the time they were sent.

However, the State Department deferred that judgement to the FBI, which is conducting a more comprehensive security review of Clinton's email.

The outcome is expected amid the 2016 election cycle.

Pressed on whether the FBI probe could interfere with her path to the nomination, Clinton said she was not "concerned" about it, CBS News reported.

On Friday, a State Department spokesperson said it would suspend its own internal review of the emails. The department said the decision was made in consultation with the FBI.

Clinton has reiterated that she is confident that will not happen and that she did not break any laws with her use of a private email server during her tenure as Secretary of State from January 2009 till February 2013.

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Source: IANS
KOLKATA: Together with their new American friends, a group of students from Kolkata have developed prototypes to absorb excess CO2 emission, remove pathogens from hospital air, and purify waste from tanneries.



As part of a student-exchange programme to learn how innovations developed originally for space travel could solve environmental challenges, a group of 12 school students from America are in the city to work on collaborative projects.



"Most of the hospitals have closed environments fitted with air conditioners. The closed circulation of air there are contaminated with pathogens and spread infection. We've developed a prototype to purify the air, which may be used inside a hospital to keep the patients safe from more infections," said class XI student Sukanya Majumder ofDelhi Public School, Ruby Park, Kolkata.



Another team 'Wacky Earthlings' has developed a prototype to purify tannery waste and generate power in the process.



Tannery waste contains chromium ions which are highly toxic. The prototype removes ions by precipitating the waste with Sodium Hydroxide and the resultant solution is used to produce electricity.



Another team has designed a device that can be installed in almost every source emitting CO2, from exhaust pipes of cars, buses to factory chimneys and everything in between, to reduce air pollution by adsorbing the excess emission.

The 'Hacking Space: A Museums Connect program' is funded



by the US Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.



Science City in Kolkata and Chabot Space & Science Centre, America are working with the young talents on this programme.



"Personally I love this kind of programme that allows students and citizens across the globe to delve into issues impacting their local communities and to work together to address some of humanity's most pressing challenges like climate change," the US Consulate's Public Affairs Officer Andrew Posner said.



Science City Director Arijit Dutta Chowdhury said many innovations like solar energy, water purifiers, etc were originally made for space travel but they are already finding use in our daily lives here on earth.



"We want to find out more such innovations which can provide solutions to our environmental and sustainability challenges we face in Kolkata and in California," he said.



A batch of Indian students will travel to Chabot Space & Science Centre in California next month.

Read Also: Trump Launches Outreach For House Support

Trump Meets With Republican Party Boss In Washington

Source: PTI
WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama has said NATO is "critical" to the security of America and its allies in Europe, a virtual rejection of Republican front-runner Donald Trump's views that the inter-governmental military alliance has outlived its utility.



"NATO continues to be the linchpin, the cornerstone of our collective defense and US security policy," Obama said yesterday along with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in the White House.



The Obama-Stoltenberg meeting came in the wake of Trump's remarks.



White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest has termed such remarks as "ill-advised". Obama, however, did not make any direct comment on Trump's comments.



Obama said he had an excellent discussion that started with marking the tragedy that had taken place in Brussels, and reinforcing the importance of us staying focused on ISIL and countering the terrorism that has seeped up into Europe and around the world.



"We agreed that one of the most important functions that NATO is performing and can continue to perform is to help in the training and assisting process for troops in Iraq, in Jordan, in many of the areas in the region. And we are continuing to cooperate on an ongoing basis about operations potentially in areas like Libya, where you have the beginnings of a government and we can I think provide enormous help in helping to stabilize those countries," Obama said.



Obama and Stoltenberg also discussed situation in Afghanistan, Russia and Ukraine.



"We continue to be united in supporting Ukraine in the wake of Russian incursions into Ukrainian territory. We continue to work in a train-and-assist fashion in helping support Ukraine develop its military capabilities defensively," he said.



Stoltenberg said NATO is as "important as ever".



"Because NATO has been able to adapt to a more dangerous world. We stand together in the fight against terrorism. Terrorism affects us all, from Brussels to San Bernardino, and all NATO allies contribute to the US-led efforts to degrade and destroy ISIL. And just last week, we started training Iraqi officers, and we will continue to support the efforts of the United States and other countries to fight ISIL," he said.



The US value the contributions it received from the large number of NATO members who are a part of counter-ISIL coalition, Earnest said.

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Carter Looking Forward To His Visit To India: Pentagon- U.S.

Source: PTI
WASHINGTON: US abortion laws are set for now, Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump has said, reiterating that he thinks abortion is "murder" days after igniting a firestorm by suggesting women who have them should be punished.

Trump has been criticised by abortion supporters and opponents for not being clear about his position on the hot-button political issue.

Abortions are still fiercely opposed by many Republicans, four decades after the US Supreme Court affirmed its legality nationwide.



"The laws are set now on abortion and that's the way they're going to remain until they're changed," Trump said in an interview with the NBC News program Face the Nation.



Later in the interview, which will air in full on Sunday, Trump said he agreed that "abortion is murder".



Hours after the interview excerpt was released on Friday, Trump campaign spokesperson Hope Hicks denied his candidate was backtracking on his opposition to abortion.



"Mr. Trump gave an accurate account of the law as it is today and made clear it must stay that way now -- until he is president," Hicks said.



"Then he will change the law through his judicial appointments and allow the states to protect the unborn. There is nothing new or different here."



The 69-year-old Trump -- who has been a Democrat, a political independent and is only a recent convert to the "pro-life" anti-abortion position -- has been accused of flip-flopping on the issue.



Trump shocked many watchers in an interview on MSNBC, broadcast Wednesday, when he said "there has to be some form of punishment" for a woman who has an abortion.



The Trump campaign later issued a statement saying that if abortion were to become illegal under US law, then the doctor or any other person involved in performing the procedure would be legally responsible.



"The woman is a victim in this case as is the life in her womb," the statement read. "I am pro-life with exceptions."

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Source: PTI
WASHINGTON: The White House has insisted that it is "attuned" to the security concerns of India even as it reiterated US President Barack Obama's views on nuclear and missile developments in South Asia.



"The President's comments were motivated by the concern that we have about nuclear and missile developments in South Asia. In particular, we're concerned by the increased security challenges that accompany growing stockpiles," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters yesterday.



Speaking about Pakistan developing tactical nuclear weapons, Mr Earnest said, "These systems are a source of concern because they're susceptible to theft due to their size and load of employment. Essentially, by having these smaller weapons, the threshold for their use is lowered and the risk that a conventional conflict between Pakistan and India, could escalate to include the use of nuclear weapons (by Pakistan)," he said.



Mr Earnest said the goal of the recently concluded Nuclear Security Summit was to eventually create a world without nuclear weapons.



"That is a longer-term goal. And one that the President has long prioritized. The President does believe that that is something that can be pursued, consistent with the relevant national security interests of countries around the world," he said.



"We are certainly going to be particularly concerned about, and attuned to the national security concerns that are expressed by close partners of the US like India. And that said, we do believe that evolving in this direction is something that won't just enhance the national security United States, it will also enhance the national security of India," Mr Earnest said.



The Obama Administration, he said, has regularly expressed concern about any sort of tactical nuclear weapon. "Our hope is that improvements in bilateral relations between India and Pakistan could greatly enhance prospects for lasting peace, stability and prosperity in the region. It is important and the US has made this case to both countries, that there be a sustained and resilient dialogue between the two neighbours," he said.



The US has been encouraging all parties in the region to act with maximum restraint and work collaboratively toward reducing tensions in the region, he said.



"Obviously, the US benefits from the partnership that we have with both countries. We value it, and that's why we continue to make the case to our partners, both in India and Pakistan, that de-escalating the tension between these two countries is a priority," Mr Earnest said.



"We certainly made clear the concerns that we have about the development of tactical nuclear weapons or so-called battlefield nuclear weapons," he said.



"I can tell you that these are issues that we have raised with both countries directly. I don't have a lot of information about individual conversations with countries to discuss from here. But I can tell you that this is a view that we have raised directly with both Pakistan and India," Mr Earnest said.



On Friday, Barack Obama had identified South Asia as an area where there is need to be progress in the area of nuclear security and reduction of nuclear arsenal.



The White House said it is aware about India's security concerns and its unique location in this part of the world.



"The US is committed to developing the US-India relationship and to the one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century. And that includes of pursuing the strategic security dialogue that provides a dedicated venue to exchange ideas on India's intentions and defence needs and to discuss issues that they may have related to strategic stability," Mr Earnest said.



"These are the kinds of conversations that we have with our Indian counterparts, and we are certainly aware of the unique region of the world in which India is located. We certainly appreciate the need that India has to take the necessary steps to defend themselves," he said.

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Source: PTI
1 Nyquist Doug O'Neill Uncle MoSeeking Gabrielle, by Forestry Its been fun sparring all winter with my buddy, Paul Reddam, not on the merits and talents of Nyquist, but his schedule leading up to the Derby. I still question it to a degree, but, despite his pleas not to do it, I have no choice but to put him No. 1. Sorry, Paul, your horse is just too darn talented, and there is no one else who deserves to be up there. As for the Florida Derby, Nyquist again demonstrated how difficult, or to this point, impossible, it is to pass him. He is like the Predator from the movie of the same name. Once he zeroes in on you and gets you in his sights, your fate is sealed. Because of the buildup of the race, Nyquist received the highest superlatives for his performance. The more cynical types, however, will point to the fact that once Mohaymen folded early, there was nothing much to beat, and the runner-up was coming off a so-so maiden victory in his fifth career start. They will also point to Nyquists very ordinary 94 Beyer figure. They can also point to his drifting out noticeably in the stretch and switching over to his left lead. That can be attributed to his simply losing focus by gawking at the big crowd on the apron and Guiterrez looking back over his right shoulder. Despite the drifting, he still came home his final eighth in a respectable :12 3/5. From a visual standpoint, I thought he had great extension to his stride nearing the finish, and as the expression goes, he ran through the wire, even on his wrong lead. I also feel the Beyer figure is questionable at best, as the track was drying out for the second time, and with three grass races leading up to the Florida Derby and a 2 1/2-hour gap between dirt races, it would seem difficult to get a true read on this track, and the 1:49 flat was solid. The bottom line is that Nyquist is your quintessential warrior who simply was sharper than Mohaymen, coming off the rapidly run San Vicente, and by running his opening half and three-quarters 13 to 15 lengths slower than he did in the San Vicente, no one was going to catch him. Now, whether he can win the Kentucky Derby off only this one two-turn race only time will tell.

2 Mor Spirit Bob Baffert EskendereyaIm a Dixie Girl, by Dixie Union This is when Baffert really starts tightening the screws, so it was no surprise to see him work 5 furlongs for the Santa Anita Derby in a bullet :59, fastest of 19 works at the distance and then follow it up with a sharp :47 flat breeze. With the way he worked and how he closed the final sixteenth in the San Felipe, he may very well be favored over Danzing Candy, especially having the magical name of Baffert attached to him. With I Will Score working 5 furlongs over the weekend in :58 flat, it could mean that Danzing Candy will not have an uncontested lead this time. What he has going for him on his Thoro-Graph figures is having run a super fast race in his second career start last year. Although he ran one of the fastest figures of any 3-year-old this year in the San Felipe, it wasnt as fast as his race early in his 2-year-old campaign, so there really is no worry about him bouncing off that, with such a fast number at 2 to fall back on. He is not your typical Gary Stevens-type horse, so expect Stevens to try to get him in gear a little earlier. As mentioned, he doesnt have a monster kick, but he can wear you down with that long stride and relentless steady run. He just needs to put himself in striking position by the eighth pole to avoid a repeat of the San Felipe. Either that or hope Danzing Candy comes back to him a little earlier. He has demonstrated his ability to stalk the pace, but that was last year. Now, against faster horses, he has to show he can cut into a :46 and 1:11 pace, rather than the slower fractions hes been used to. This weeks work will help him hone his speed.

3 Cupid Bob Baffert TapitPretty 'n Smart, by Beau Genius The more I look at his last two races the more I like him. Although his pedigree is only fair when it comes to 1 1/4 miles, his Brisnet figures confirm the versatility and improvement hes shown. He ran a very strong 111 late pace figure two races back, and then ran triple-digit early and middle figures in the Rebel. His final speed figures of 83, 84, 97, and 99 show a nice steady improvement, suggesting hes just now about to reach his peak. And that 99 already is only a few points behind the top figures this year. But it must be noted, his Thoro-Graph figures have not been very fast, even in the Rebel. Still, for a horse to come from off the pace with a big sweeping outside move and close as fast as he did and then make his stakes debut across the country and set a demanding :22 4/5 opening quarter and solid half in :46 4/5 and still come home his final sixteenth in just under :06 1/5 is the sign of a very talented horse. Baffert obviously wasnt looking for any speed in his :50 half-mile breeze, as Martin Garcia took him about 8 to 9-wide at the head of the stretch, but he had great extension through the stretch. We have no idea how good this colt really is, but he could be special and hes getting good at just the right time.

4 Gun Runner Steve Asmussen Candy RideQuiet Giant, by Giant's Causeway Had his first work at Churchill Downs, breezing a half in :50 3/5. Now its just a matter of waiting the six weeks from the Louisiana Derby. With boxes checked in both the plus and minus columns, its up to each person to decide which ones override the others. The feeling here is that the positives slightly outweigh the negatives, but does that mean hes ready to win the Kentucky Derby? On the plus side, he has the pedigree, he is improving with each start, he has good tactical speed, he can put himself in excellent position, and he has the turn of foot to move whenever the rider wants. And he has a trainer who is on the ballot for the Hall of Fame this year. On the negative side, he still races greenly, whether its drifting out or drifting in or switching back to his left lead in the stretch, his speed figures have been on the slow side and havent improved much on Thoro-Graph, and he has had perfect trips in his two starts this year, which may have contributed to his so-so Thoro-Graph figures. And finally, there is the six weeks and the fact that no Louisiana Derby winner has ever gone straight into the Kentucky Derby and won. The only two horses who have won both races  Grindstone and Black Gold -- had a race in between.

5 Mohaymen Kiaran McLaughlin TapitJustwhistledixie, by Dixie Union I confess I have no idea where to rank him after that performance. Yes, he took the worst of it by racing wide every step of the way, and you cant concede that much ground loss to a horse like Nyquist, but he still should have hung in there longer and beaten the rest of these horses. He seemed to move smoothly into a threatening position passing the three-eighths pole, but it became obvious right away he was a beaten horse when Alvarado began pushing hard before going to an early right-handed whip, while Guiterrez was still just sitting chilly on Nyquist. Did Mohaymen simply have it too easy all winter defeating small and questionable fields in his two starts? Perhaps he didnt handle the twice-drying out track. When a horse goes undefeated without really being tested, as Mohaymen has, you never know how a defeat such as this will affect him. But remember, he did run 54 feet farther than Nyquist, and after the first rain, the track was favoring the inside. Who knows how it was after the aforementioned 2 1/2-hour gap between dirt races and a second rain? It sure looked like it was favoring the inside the way maiden winner Majesto came charging though along the rail. Mohaymen has too much class and talent not to deserve every chance to bounce back. It is important to remember that his Thoro-Graph figures were faster than Nyquists going into the race. Whatever the reason for such a sound defeat this was a major disappointment and setback, and now the question is, can he recover in five weeks or was he and the Florida-based 3-year-olds exposed? Well see how Flexibility runs in the Wood Memorial to get an idea just what he was beating last year. History shows that horses do not rebound off this kind of an effort and win the Kentucky Derby. Thunder Gulch and Mine That Bird were able to recover from their previous subpar races, but neither was beaten 8 1/4 lengths. Still, you cant lose faith in him off one race, because you dont know how a horse is feeling on a particular day and there was no way to predict this. You can bring him into the Kentucky Derby with hope he can rebound, but certainly not with a lot of confidence.

6 Destin Todd Pletcher Giants CausewayDream of Summer, by Siberian Summer It took him nearly three weeks, but he finally made it back to the work tab, breezing a half in :48 4/5. He could climb back up if he has some eye-popping works with strong gallop-outs. It was announced he will train up to the Kentucky Derby; yet another unorthodox move that goes against tradition. But looking at his Thoro-Graph figure in the Tampa Bay Derby and the huge jump from the Sam Davis I can at least understand the reasoning behind it. His negative Tampa Bay Derby fig was by far the fastest any of these horses have run, and when you make such a dramatic leap forward it is only natural in todays speed sheets era to want to give him plenty of time to the next race. With that said, I dont know if you can apply normal speed figure handicapping to the Kentucky Derby, where its hard to go against all tradition and logic and expect a horse to win off an eight-week layoff and never having raced beyond 1 1/16 miles, regardless of what the speed figs suggest. If you have a horse who peaks like that in March going 1 1/16 miles, you still have to remember this is not like any other race or preparation. They could have given him just a maintenance race in his final prep, like John Ward gave Monarchos in the Wood Memorial after he had peaked with a monster effort in the Florida Derby. You cant be afraid to get beat in a Derby prep as long as it helps get you to the big race the right way. I know times have changed when it comes to Derby preparation, and theres a greater emphasis on speed figs and the bounce theory, and were getting more and more conservative, with fewer races and longer gaps between races. But, as a traditionalist, I want to see a horse do it before I can accept it. Destin looked like the one Pletcher horse who would have a good foundation going into the Derby and was taking the conventional route. They said they want a fresh horse and that they will have. But how far can you take fresh when going against 19 opponents at 1 1/4 miles? I believe this is a very talented horse with a bright future, and if this is the correct way to prepare him for the Derby we will know soon enough.

7 Danzing Candy Cliff Sise Jr. Twirling Candy Talkin and Singing, by Songandaprayer After his 5-furlong sizzler in :58 3/5, he came back and worked the way Sise had wanted him to last week, getting his 5 panels in 1:00 3/5 in his final work for the Santa Anita Derby. We know how dangerous this horse is on the lead, but he should be tested earlier and longer this time. Although hes never been looked in the eye, he is a fast, classy horse who can set fast fractions and keep going, so it could prove costly if anyone takes him on right from the start. But then again, perhaps the only way to beat him is to test him early and hope hes not as courageous under pressure as he is dictating the pace. It would be ideal if he were able to sit back off another horse and still kick in late. American Pharoah did that in the Arkansas Derby and it came in handy at Churchill Downs when he had to win the Derby from off the pace. Based on pedigree, we dont really know how far he wants to go, especially setting the fractions he has been setting. In his last three starts, his average half-mile split has been :45 4/5. Well see on Saturday if he can slow that down a bit when he stretches out another sixteenth of a mile. He doesnt want to be running those kinds of fractions in the Kentucky Derby.

8 Suddenbreakingnews Donnie Von Hemel MineshaftUchitel, by Afleet Alex Every time I see this colt I like him more, and dont be fooled into thinking hes just a plodder who comes from 15 lengths back. I loved his half-mile work this week, in which he went his first quarter in :25 2/5 and his second quarter in :23 2/5 and kept a strong pace past the wire with another eighth in :12 flat. His 5-furlong gallop-out in 1:00 4/5 would have been the fourth fastest of 37 works at that distance. He is a beautiful moving horse, with smooth, flowing strides, and he has a look of class about him. I would not mind at all having him at 34-1 in the final Future Wager. It will be interesting to see where hes placed in the Arkansas Derby, in what will be his toughest test so far. One would hope he puts himself in better position than he did in his last two starts, even though he won one of them impressively. You cant expect him to make up that much ground on a consistent basis, and he did show tactical speed in several of his races last year. He ran an excellent Thoro-Graph figure in the Southwest, which was a giant move forward off his previous start, so it was no big deal that he regressed slightly in the Rebel with a terrible trip. But with a clean trip in the Arkansas Derby I expect him to improve off his Southwest figure, which, speed-wise, would put him right in the thick of contention for the Kentucky Derby.

9 Whitmore Ron Moquett Pleasantly PerfectMelodys Spirit, by Scat Daddy He worked a half in :48 3/5, out in 1:00 3/5 and up in 1:14 4/5 in company with Far Right. The Arkansas Derby will be a major test for him, because hes run winning races in his last two, but found a way to lose them both. Well see what he can do against a top-class field with a perfectly timed move. He also has to find a way for his sires family to trump his dams family when it comes to getting the mile and a quarter. We know he has the turn of foot you want to see in a Derby horse, but as mentioned earlier, it has to be timed right. It actually looked as if Irad Ortiz, who was riding him for the first time, timed it perfectly in the Rebel, but he may simply have run into a tiger that day, who re-broke when challenged and was drawing away at the finish. What I found really strange about the Rebel is that Whitmores Thoro-Graph figure was significantly faster than Cupids, which is pretty remarkable; not so much that it was faster, but how much faster. He is on an excellent pattern, and if he can pair up or improve slightly on his Rebel figure, it should set him up well for the Kentucky Derby, which makes his 33-1 odds in the final Future Wager very appealing. But with three weeks to the big race, you dont want too big a leap forward. If all the pieces come together and we have a cavalry charge in the Arkansas Derby, he would have as much of a chance as anyone, especially with Ortiz knowing him much better this time. The Arkansas Derby is going to separate the contenders from the pretenders, but judging from the Rebel, there may not be a lot to separate, as they all look to have talent and a powerful closing punch. I find him a very intriguing horse who is heading toward the Kentucky Derby the right way.

10 Mo Tom Tom Amoss Uncle MoCaroni, by Rubiano I believe it was a smart move keeping Lanerie, despite his two horrendous rides. He has owned up to his mistakes, he has won two stakes on the horse with a wide run, and over the past 3 years he has a 20% win ratio at Churchill Downs, and has earnings of over $10 million at that track alone with 14 stakes wins. Mo Tom has the same 6-week question mark as Gun Runner and has yet to hit a 90 Beyer speed figure. But that no doubt can be attributed to getting stopped multiple times in his last two starts, and swerving badly in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes last year. Like all stone closers, he prefers a fast pace, but has shown the ability to close a great deal of ground regardless of the pace. One thing we do know about him is that he can stop and go on a dime, but when he doesnt have to stop weve seen what hes capable of in the LeComte and Street Sense Stakes. You can take it to the bank that he will get an outside trip in the Derby, and hopefully well get a chance to see what he really is capable of.

11 Shagaf Chad Brown BernardiniMuhaawara, by Unbridleds Song With a top-class speed horse in Matt King Coal, and several other top-class improving horses in the Wood Memorial, he should have his work cut out for him. With only three career starts and having run slow times and figs, he needs to use the 1 1/8 miles to show marked improvement and move forward enough to suggest he can overcome his lack of experience and run a peak effort against 19 opponents on the first Saturday in May. As I mentioned last week, his unbeaten record and the determination he showed in the Gotham Stakes is what put him in the Top 12. But there are plenty of talented horses waiting to replace him if he doesnt show significant improvement in the Wood. He doesnt necessarily have to win, but he does need to be running hard at the end and finish strong, and most importantly convince people that he will move forward going 1 1/4 miles. Of all the big-name 3-year-olds with only three career starts, he at least has a stakes victory and has never run shorter than a mile, so there is some bottom to work with.

12 Exaggerator Keith Desormeaux CurlinDawn Raid, by Vindication I have no idea if Nyquists victory in the Florida Derby is a good sign for him in the Santa Anita Derby or not. Although Desormeaux was disappointed in his effort in the San Felipe, Im still willing to forget that race, as he lost all chance when he broke poorly and dropped 10 lengths off the pace. Its one thing running a :23 second quarter and :23 4/5 third quarter while in control of the race on the lead, but its another thing for a horse with his tactical speed to have to run that fast coming from last just to make up those 10 lengths and passing the entire field except the leader and eventual winner. Perhaps his last two starts show he is a better horse at shorter distances. It would not be a huge surprise by any means, but with his pedigree, cruising speed, and versatility, he deserves one more chance to prove he can carry his speed longer distances and come home fast. It looks as if Desormeaux was trying harness some of that speed in his latest work, in which he went 5 furlongs in 1:02 4/5, which is two and two-fifths seconds slower than he has been working. I have little doubt hell be right there at the eighth pole. Its what he does in that final eighth that will determine whether or not he is a Derby horse.

KNOCKING ON THE DOOR

Looking over the Blue Grass Stakes field closely, I thought back to the first Derby Dozen when I ranked ZULU in the Top 12 even though he had only two sprint races. There was something special about him. He's been on and off since, due to several delays in his work patterns, having only four career starts leading up to the Derby, and others winning big races. I don't know why Pletcher is putting blinkers on him, but the more I look at him the more I'm thinking he not only can win the Blue Grass, he can win by daylight. These last minute revelations usually turn out to be misguided, but this one wouldn't surprise me so I thought I'd mention it..

I have to go on record as saying I dont love anyone so far, which is why Im finding it difficult placing these horses. There are just too many question marks, and I havent seen that quintessential Derby horse so far or that brilliant potential superstar, with the exception of Nyquist, who still has to show he can win the Derby off one two-turn race and one sprint. If they can get past the Derby, then he should be in a good position for the remaining two legs, which is what Team ONeill is hoping to achieve with this schedule.

We already have 11 horses who are scheduled to make their next start in the Kentucky Derby. Well see where some of them stand with points after this weekends stakes frenzy, featuring about 30 Derby hopefuls that could turn the Derby picture upside down, especially considering that only four of the 30 currently are on the Derby Dozen.

Those in the Derby at this time with enough points are NYQUIST, GUN RUNNER, MOHAYMEN, MO TOM, TOMS READY, DESTIN, LANI, OSCAR NOMINATED, MAJESTO, FELLOWSHIP, and AZAR. Of these, five are on the Derby Dozen.

So just imagine the craziness this weekend when 26 new faces attempt to jump into the Top 12, some of which have been there already at some point and are back bubbling just under the surface. Those looking to get back among the elite are ZULU, OUTWORK, CHERRY WINE, BRODYS CAUSE, FLEXIBILITY, and SMOKEY IMAGE. Two horses who could jump in with a bang are MATT KING COAL and MY MAN SAM.

To demonstrate how important the Wood Memorial, Blue Grass Stakes, and Santa Anita Derby are, along with the following weekends Arkansas Derby, they are going to determine the Derby fates of big-name trainers Todd Pletcher, Bob Baffert, Chad Brown, and Dale Romans, all of whom will have at least two Derby hopes running, with Brown having three, and Pletcher four. Pletcher already has two in the Derby and has a very good chance for four and a pretty decent chance for five.

There were several closing odds in last weeks final Future Wager that could prove to be steals. If ZULU wins the Blue Grass, which he surely can, imagine having him at 34-1. The same can be said about stablemate OUTWORK in the Wood Memorial. He closed at a generous 30-1. With the Rebel Stakes producing so many closely matched horses, considering their pedigrees and running styles, I would love having CREATOR at 58-1 and CHERRY WINE at 55-1. Those both can be monster overlays. And finally, there is the forgotten FLEXIBILTY, who was one of my most enticing future book horses at 100-1. If he returns to his best form in the Wood Memorial after a much-needed freshening, his 81-1 odds are going to look like the steal of the year.

Creator and Cherry Wine both had excellent tune-ups, with Creator breezing 5 furlongs in 1:00 3/5 and Cherry Wine the same distance in 1:00 2/5. The latter will enter in the Wood Memorial, and trainer Dale Romans will no doubt watch the weather and how the fields shape up this weekend. Outwork was also sharp, breezing 5 furlongs in 1:00 2/5, while Zulu breezed a half in :49.

Although he is among the Future Wager betting interests, closing at 84-1, AMERICAN PIONEER, with only two career starts, is hoping to earn a place in the Preakness with a good effort in the Arkansas Derby.

How big of a roll is Santa Anita on when it comes to producing Kentucky Derby favorites and winners? Their three consecutive Kentucky Derby favorites  California Chrome, American Pharoah, and Nyquist  have a combined record of 22 starts and 17 wins going into the Derby. Although he wasnt the favorite, if you add Ill Have Another in 2012, it means that three California-based horses in four years have won seven of eight Triple Crown races in which they competed.

As for last weekends stakes, weve pretty much discussed the Florida Derby, except to say that MAJESTO took a big step forward and looked good finishing second, although it may have been aided by a fast rail. I did like what I saw from the son of Tiznow from a physical standpoint and the way he moves. He just never did anything in his first five starts to indicate he was capable of running this good a race. FELLOWSHIP ran his usual third, except for finishing ahead of Mohaymen this time, and likely has nibbled his way into the Derby. You have to admire his consistency, and he does have a pretty decent turn of foot on the far turn. He was forced very wide by Nyquist and Mohaymen at the head of stretch and should be able to finish off his run better stretching out to 1 1/4 miles.

Of course, Ken Ramsey had to get in the Derby picture, and with a son of Kittens Joy, winning the Spiral Stakes on Polytrack with his $75,000 claim OSCAR NOMINATED, who came out on top of a five-horse photo. Too bad Ramsey and trainer Mike Maker couldnt have foreseen this and put up the $6,000 late nomination fee. Now, Ramsey will have to shell out $200,000 to run the horse, who has never run on dirt in seven career starts. If anyone wants to take a chance on sharing in any Triple Crown glory and purse money, they can go halfsies with Ramsey on the supplementary fee. Runner-up AZAR ran a very game race from the 12-post and battled every step of the way and fought hard to the end, trying to come back on the winner. Hes already won on dirt, so there are no questions in that regard.

An interesting horse in the Blue Grass Stakes is DONEGAL MOON, who breezed 5 furlongs in 1:01 1/5 over the Belmont training track. I know he beat a weak field at Parx in his last, but he absolutely crushed them and visually looked terrific doing it, especially the way he was striding through the stretch and cantering home. He hadnt done much before that other than almost kill himself with one of the worst stumbles coming out of the gate I ever saw. But 3-year-olds do get good fast this time of year, and it will be interesting to find out just how formful that Parx race was and if that was any indication of what were going to see in the Blue Grass.

One of the more notable works this week was the brilliant seven-furlong drill in 1:25 1/5 on the Belmont training track by Wood Memorial hopeful MATT KING COAL, who likely will try to take them wire to wire. If he runs to that work, he could prove very difficult to catch. Also, there was the enigmatic BRODYS CAUSES sharp 5-furlong breeze in :59 4/5. Always in the top three on the Derby Dozen, he is looking to prove the Tampa Bay Derby fiasco was a fluke and just a bad day, as he attempts to get back to his 2-year-old form in the Blue Grass Stakes. It wouldnt surprise me at all if hes back in the Top 12 after this week. That Tampa Bay Derby was just too bad to be true. Another interesting horse in the Blue Grass is the rapidly improving MY MAN SAM, who breezed a half in :50 and will look to use his powerful and sustained run to inhale his opponents in the stretch.

One of those he will have to catch is the speedy maiden LAOBAN, runner-up in the Gotham Stakes, who drilled a sharp 6 furlongs in 1:11 1/5 at Los Alamitos for the charismatic Eric Guillot.

Another work of interest was DENMANS CALLS one-mile work in 1:43 1/5, as the San Vicente third-place finisher looks to stretch out in the Santa Anita Derby in an attempt to give Doug ONeill another Kentucky Derby horse. Also working for the Santa Anita Derby was SMOKEY IMAGE, who went 6 furlongs in 1:13 2/5; I WILL SCORE, who blazed 5 panels in :58 flat, fastest of 50 works at the distance; and UNCLE LINO, who went an easy 5 furlongs in 1:02 2/5.

You cant say Japanese-trained LANI wont be familiar with Churchill Downs, as the UAE Derby winner has already checked in, looking none the worse for wear. The son of Tapit no doubt will be closely scrutinized in his training and overall demeanor. He does add a bit of intrigue to the race.

With the success of Nyquist this year, it would have been great if his arch rival SWIPE, could have made the Derby, especially considering in his four seconds to Nyquist, he got closer to the champ each time. Swipe just missed making the big dance and will have to settle for a debut in the Lexington Stakes. He has been sharp in all his works, with his latest being a bullet 6 furlongs in 1:13.

In addition to Shagaf, Matt King Coal, Outwork, Flexibility, and possibly Cherry Wine, others pointing for the Wood Memorial are ADVENTIST, who worked 6 furlongs in 1:14 2/5; CADEYRN, who breezed a half in :48 3/5; TALE OF SVALL, who breezed 5 furlongs in 1:00 flat, and CARDS OF STONE.
NOTICENOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that Letters of Administration in the Estate of MARY ELIZABETH WILSON late of Middlesex Township, Cumberland County, Carlisle, Pennsylvania (died October 30, 2019), having been granted to the undersigned, all persons indebted to said estate are required to make immediate payment, and those having all claims will present them without delay to: Lester Norwood Straub Jr. Executorc/o Mateya Law Firm, P.C.Mark A. Mateya, Esq.55 W. Church AvenueCarlisle, PA 17013(717) 241-6500
Hillary says she wont debate Bernie Sanders again unless he changes his tone.

Say what?

Bernie wont talk about the FBIs criminal investigation into Hillarys illegal email server, gunrunning to Jihadis in Benghazi, Libya, or how her familys foundation acquired hundreds of millions of dollars while she was Secretary of State.

Whats left? Just that annoying bit of history in which Hillary filled her Coach bags educating Wall Street millionaires and billionaires with her vast knowledge of trading intricacies ... or just raking in promissory cash from Wall Streeters hedging their bets.

Either way, Bernie has been very effective at earning delegates by reminding the Democratic base that shes not trustworthy.

Still, Hillary has confidence she will win the nomination with her 30 percent head start in prearranged superdelegates and support from the Democratic National Committee led by her longtime supporter, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz.

Bernie-supporting liberals have called for Schultz to be replaced, both as committee chair and in the House of Representatives.

Its actually a huge Democratic Party political battle that the national media has ignored. Schultzs challenger is a Bernie Sanders proxy pitching Big Left Wing Money and Big Left Wing Power versus liberal angst.

With Hillary donating millions to the committee to support down-ticket races, theres little chance Schultz loses her chair. Shell likely keep her House seat as well, considering the big money, big Florida machine and big name Democrats like President Obama endorsing her.

Meanwhile, Hillary appears to be testing her strategy as the Democratic Party nominee.

If Trump is the Republican nominee, hes going to use debates to drill Hillary on her unseemly profiteering from her stint as Secretary of State. Hell spotlight such scandals as arranging for Russia to control 20 percent of all U.S. uranium production as Uranium One dumped over $2 million into her foundation account (Russia also immediately gave Bill Clinton half a million for a speech). Add to that the $30 million given by the Clintons Canadian mining billionaire friend, Frank Guistra, who reportedly orchestrated all of this.

Hell point out her policies, which brought Libya nothing but violent turmoil, the Russian Reset Button policy that allowed Putin to invade Crimea, negotiating with terrorists and supporting the Iran deal.

Trump will hammer Hillary on her aiding and abetting husband Bills abuse of women throughout his years as a governor and president.

This cant happen face-to-face if there are no debates, so how can Hillary avoid debates?

She is now setting the precedent.

As CNN reports, Hillarys chief strategist, Joel Benenson, repeatedly dodged questions from Kate Bolduan regarding Bernie Sanders call for scheduling a debate just ahead of the New York primary on April 19th.

Then, he tried to turn the pressure back on Sanders.

Shes done well in the debates. The debates have been very good, Benenson said. But Sen. Sanders doesnt get to decide when we debate, particularly when hes running a negative campaign against us. Lets see if he goes back to the kind of tone he said he was going to set early on. If he does that, then well talk about debates.

Tone? Negative?

Sanders has not run a negative campaign. Sure, he has reminded voters of Hillarys Wall Street profiteering, but thats simply factual.

So, what obviously happened here is Hillarys strategy team has decided to call Sanders criticism of Hillarys behavior negative, setting the precedent for evading debates with the Republican nominee who will certainly use the podium to remind Americans that she is, indeed, being investigated by the FBI in addition to her many other scandals.

The Republican nominees articulation of Hillarys scandalous history would be a negative to Hillary, giving her an excuse to feign outraged victimhood and refuse to debate.

Now we wait and see if such a tactic passes public scrutiny ... and perhaps a focus group.

Rick Jensen is Delawares award-winning conservative talk show host on WDEL. Email him at rick@wdel.com.
Bihar Government imposes complete ban on alcohol

Published: April 5, 2016

Bihar Government has taken a decision to completely ban on all types of liquor (alcohol) throughout the state including Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL).

Decision in this regard was taken by the state cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in Patna. Earlier on 1st April 2016, state government had banned country made liquor in the state except IMFL in the first phase.

Now in the second phase, foreign liquor (IMFL) will also be banned with immediate effect. The production, sale and business of all types of liquor have been banned in the state.

Henceforth person found indulging in manufacturing trade, transportation, sale and consumption of liquor across the state will be punished under the stringent provisions of the Bihar Excise (Amendment) Act, 2016.

The Act has various stringent provisions including awarding capital punishment for those who manufacture and sell illicit liquor that causes death.

Alcohol prohibition in India is in force: Gujarat, Nagaland, Lakshadweep (UT) and parts of Manipur . Since 2014, Kerala has been implementing prohibition in a phased manner.

Month: Current Affairs - April, 2016

Topics: Alcohol  Alcohol Ban  Bihar  Current Affairs 2016  States

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India, Saudi Arabia ink 5 agreements to boost bilateral co-operation

Published: April 4, 2016

India and Saudi Arabia have singed five agreements to boost the bilateral cooperation between the two nations.

The agreements were signed during the two day official visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Saudi Arabia in Riyadh.

The visit to Saudi Arabia was part of PM Modis three-nation visit to Belgium,United States for Nuclear Security Summit and Saudi Arabia.

Five agreements singed are

Agreement on Labour Co-operation: It was singed for recruitment of general category workers between the Ministry of Labour, Saudi Arabia and Ministry of External Affairs, India.

It was singed for recruitment of general category workers between the Ministry of Labour, Saudi Arabia and Ministry of External Affairs, India. Technical Cooperation Program: It was signed between Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization (SASO) and Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).

It was signed between Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization (SASO) and Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). Executive Program for Cooperation in the Field of Handicrafts: It was signed between Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage and Export Promotion Council for Handicraft (EPCH).

It was signed between Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage and Export Promotion Council for Handicraft (EPCH). MoU in the Exchange of Intelligence related to Money Laundering, Terrorism Financing and Related Crimes: It was signed between Financial Intelligence Unit of India and Saudi Arabia concerning Cooperation.

It was signed between Financial Intelligence Unit of India and Saudi Arabia concerning Cooperation. Framework for Investment Promotion Cooperation: It was signed between Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) and Invest India.

During his visit Prime Minister Narendra Modi gifted a gold-plated replica of the Cheraman Juma Masjid of Kerala to Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.

The mosque is situated in Thrissur district of Kerala and is believed to be the first mosque built in India by Arab traders around 629 AD.The mosque has an ancient oil lamp that is always kept burning and believed to be over a thousand years old. People from all religions bring oil for the lamp as an offering.

Month: Current Affairs - April, 2016

Topics: Current Affairs 2016  India-International Relations  India-Saudi Arabia  Narendra Modi

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"Did we turn Syrians back? No, we didn't, but they did," he said of EU countries. "By way of placing razor wire, they didn't let these people into their countries. We see who's dying on the Aegean Sea. But the number of those rescued by us on the Aegean Sea is 100,000."
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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(0x5612f01b7228)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 948 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f06f6220)', '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(0x5612f01b7228)') 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(0x5612f06f6220)') 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(0x5612f01f92d0)') 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(0x5612f06f6220)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f06f6220)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612ee50bb08)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x5612f0649920)') called at (eval 592) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x5612f0649920)') 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(0x5612f0612fa0)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 948 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612e8a46d48)', '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(0x5612f0612fa0)') 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(0x5612e8a46d48)') 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(0x5612f0833050)') 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(0x5612e8a46d48)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612e8a46d48)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612ee50bd00)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x5612f0827a60)') called at (eval 592) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x5612f0827a60)') 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(0x5612efe3e538)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 948 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f0553dd8)', '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(0x5612efe3e538)') 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(0x5612f0553dd8)') 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(0x5612efe3eee0)') 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(0x5612f0553dd8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f0553dd8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612ee50b038)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x5612f0703eb8)') called at (eval 592) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x5612f0703eb8)') 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(0x5612ebd60680)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 948 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f0219510)', '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(0x5612ebd60680)') 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(0x5612f0219510)') 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(0x5612f021d7b0)') 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(0x5612f0219510)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f0219510)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612ee50bf28)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x5612f01e1a90)') called at (eval 592) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x5612f01e1a90)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0
Moody's has put Virgin Australia's credit rating on review for a possible downgrade, amid ongoing uncertainty over the airline's capital structure, the level of shareholder support and its slower-than-expected debt reduction.

Air New Zealand said last week it could sell all or part of its 26 per cent stake in the Australian carrier, in a move that led rival ratings agency Standard & Poor's to revise its ratings outlook to "negative" from "stable".

Virgin does not have an investment grade credit rating from either agency, with Moody's rating its senior unsecured debt as B3 and S&P rating it as B-. Virgin's corporate rating is B2 from Moody's and B+ from S&P.

The Moody's announcement came as one of Virgin's main shareholders, billionaire Richard Branson's Virgin Group, agreed to sell its 22 per cent stake in another carrier, Virgin America, to Alaska Airlines as part of a takeover deal. Virgin Group will receive about $US570 million ($749 million) in proceeds from the sale.
Credit Suisse and HSBC, two of the world's largest wealth managers, dismissed on Tuesday suggestions they were actively using offshore structures to help clients cheat on their taxes.

Their comments came a day after a leak of four decades of documents from a Panamanian law firm that specialises in setting up offshore companies showed widespread use of those instruments by global banks on behalf of their clients and triggered a raft of government investigations across the world.

Credit Suisse chief executive Tidjane Thiam Credit:Bloomberg

The so-called "Panama Papers", revealed through an investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), exposed financial arrangements of politicians and public figures including friends of Russian President Vladimir Putin, relatives of the prime ministers of Britain, Iceland and Pakistan, and the president of Ukraine.

Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam, who is aggressively targeting Asia's wealthiest for growth, said his bank was only after lawful assets.
A key witness to the slaying of Reza Barati in the Manus Island detention centre in 2014 says he fears for his life after one of the alleged killers escaped from prison.

Kurdish Iranian Benham Satah, who says he received death threats from guards at the centre after giving evidence against Joshua Kaluvia, has asked to be placed in isolation in the centre's mental health unit after the escape. So far the request has been denied.

"Since my testimony I cannot sleep at night in case something might happen to me. Now I heard he has escaped and is on the island," Mr Satah told Fairfax Media.

"All his friends, his relatives are working here still. Now I have to be more careful than before. I'm going crazy."
A Canberra teacher whose father was shot dead outside NSW Police headquarters in Parramatta last year appreciates former Prime Minister John Howard's stance in tightening Australia's gun laws, as well as the community support his family has had since his father's death.

Mr Howard said Australia's gun laws were "almost certainly" inadequate in an interview for SBS program Insight, after Mr Cheng asked if the laws were capable of protecting Australians.

Curtis Cheng, pictured with his son Alpha, was shot dead as he left the Parramatta police headquarters on October 2, 2015.

"Are we as safe as we think we are?" the Caroline Chisholm school teacher asked.
Researchers at the University of NSW say they have developed a new way to form stem cells from fat that could lay the basis for a system of tissue regeneration in humans.

The repair system, the researchers claim, could be used to repair damaged human tissue in situ, including for spinal discs, torn muscle and bone fractures.

Lead author of the research Associate Professor John Pimanda told Fairfax Media: "We take human fat cells and apply two compounds, one of which causes the fat cells to 'lose their memory', turning them into 'multipotent stem cells'. When these are transplanted into damaged tissue, they take their cue from the surrounding cells when proliferating."

This, they say, helps repair the surrounding damaged tissue.
Milwaukee: Donald J Trump  he of the glamorous wives and high-profile romances  likes to boast of his prowess with women.

But among female voters, he is having less success, with women viewing him unfavourably by more than three to one, according to a recent New York Times/CBS News poll.

Now, in an apparent effort to shore up his support among women after a series of missteps, Mr Trump is enlisting his wife, Melania, on the campaign trail.

Wearing a short baby-blue dress, Mrs Trump joined her husband on stage at the Milwaukee Theatre on Monday night for his final rally in Wisconsin  a subdued event with a crowd that was less than capacity  before the state's primary on Tuesday.
The ACT government has released an expert review of the tram's business case, 18 months after it was written, in an attempt to counter criticism from the Grattan Institute.

The release on Tuesday comes after repeated refusals by Capital Metro Minister Simon Corbell to make the review, written by European transport consultant and academic Roger Vickerman, public.

ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr and Capital Metro Minister Simon Corbell. Credit:Jay Cronan

A cross-party parliamentary committee called in August for the review to be released by the end of 2015 and this newspaper made several requests, all declined by Mr Corbell.

He said the release was timed to give "context" to the Grattan Institute report, which questioned the inclusion of "wider economic benefits" in the business case for the city to Gungahlin tram.
Here staff talk us through some of the highlights formerly owned by six politicians: 1. Senator Dorothy Tangney's champagne bottle "battleaxe". Donated by Tangney's family in 2005. Not on display. Photo: Melissa Adams. Long before Australia's first female prime minister Julia Gillard was calling out misogyny, one of the first two women to enter Federal Parliament, Western Australian senator Dorothy Tangney was gifted a "battleaxe" in 1944 "to be used as and when required". "She was launching a ship up in Maryborough, Queensland, with a champagne bottle and obviously the shipbuilder has taken it with all its jagged edges and then very cleverly ... fixed it to an axe handle," Ms Stewart explained.

"This is probably one of almost my all-time favourite objects in the collection." But the "brutal-looking weapon" was at odds with Dame Tangney's reputation for being "quite a lady"  one of her other possessions in the museum's collection is a lace tablecloth which she took with her everywhere she went. 2. Bob Hawke's hair rinse, laxative, contact lens solution etc. Found by staff in the 1990s. On display in prime ministers' dressing room. Photo: Melissa Adams. If you're colouring your hair at home most people would do it in the bathroom, but it seems when he was prime minister, Bob Hawke preferred to do it in his dressing room.

Among a bevy of unexpected toiletry treasures, found in a drawer in the prime ministers' office dressing room in the 1990s, were hair rinse, laxatives, contact lens solution, shoe laces and the instruction booklet for an electric shaver. "Bob Hawke was the last prime minister in this building so we're assuming they were his," manager of content development Kate Armstrong said. With hair rinse in the shade of "white minx" it's hard to believe they could have belonged to anyone else. Ms Armstrong said Hawke's "luscious locks" and tanned skin were important parts of his image, so it's "intriguing to think he had to have a little freshen-up". "[They] give you a certain impression based on media and speeches but sometimes it's actually the really small personal items that can really help you understand the humanity of the person."

3. Robert Menzies' Cinque Ports flag, coat of arms shield, and pennant flag. Donated by Menzies' daughter Heather Henderson in 2001. Not on display. Photos: Melissa Adams. While Hawke mightn't like the world to know he dyed his hair, another former prime minister Robert Menzies was very proud of his paraphernalia which would later end up in the museum. Well-known for his devotion to the monarchy, Menzies was rather chuffed with the "spiffy" uniform, flags and shield he received when he was made Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports in 1966  the first non-Brit and one of only three commoners to receive the honour. It was a role traditionally in charge of a group of five port towns on the south-east coast of England which provided defence before England had a formal navy.

"All you were really required to do was ceremonial duties and for it you got accommodation at Walmer Castle in the UK," Ms Armstrong said. "This was really important for Menzies hence the reason these would go straight to the pool room." 4. Edmund Barton's Privy Council bicorn hat. Bought in 2012. On display from June. Photo: Melissa Adams. Although Edmund Barton's bicorn hat was the same type as Napoleon's, Australia's first prime minister would have been unlikely to have worn it.

Instead, he carried it tucked under his arm much like a "man-bag", content development and commissioning curator Stephanie Pfennigwerth said. The beaver fur hat with its gold thread and white ostrich feather was part of the elaborate uniform Barton had to wear as a privy councillor whenever he was in the presence of the King until 1910 when the rules changed. During Barton's time the Privy Council was an advisory committee acting as the High Court of Appeal for the entire British Empire. It retained the ability to oversee Australian appeals until 1986 and up until the 1970s it was general practice for Australian prime ministers to become councillors. Barton copped "satirical swipes" for wearing the fancy uniform after cultivating an everyman image when travelling around rural NSW spruiking the concept of federation in the late 1800s.

"A few years later he's prancing around in gold and silk tights, it would have been a bit jarring for people," Ms Pfennigwerth said. "But he didn't throw the uniform away ... it was important to him and us because it really symbolises Australia's place in the British Empire." Unlike Menzies' British honour, Barton's status as privy councillor was far from ceremonial and he was far from impressed when a family holiday to London was interrupted when he had to sit on five appeals. 5. Malcolm Fraser's Nareen property sign. Bought in 2015. On display in Prime Ministers of Australia gallery. Photo: Melissa Adams.

Out of context the simple timber routed sign, which once hung on the farm gate of Malcolm and Tamie Fraser's pastoral property Nareen in south-west Victoria, seems of little consequence. But for a man with a reputation as being a "cashed-up, Collins Street cow cocky", its plainness is symbolic in itself, Ms Pfennigwerth said. "He was [seen as] a silver tail grazier, someone very wealthy who was totally out of touch with the ordinary Australian ... and Nareen was used as a weapon against him," she said. "But it was Fraser's sanctuary ... a lot of his personal quirks relate to his farming background." Indeed his reputation as being "aloof, surly and pompous" could have been attributed to a back injury caused by lifting bags of fertiliser on the farm where he had a very different persona, Ms Pfennigwerth said.

"He use to invite jackaroos and shearers and workers on his farm to Christmas dinner ... he actually had some pretty strong grassroots values," she said. 6. Tony Abbott's blue Hermes silk tie and custom-made Hillbrick bicycle. Donated by Tony Abbott on February 26, 2015. Bike on display in Prime Ministers of Australia gallery. Tie not on display. Photo: Andrew Meares. Besides his red budgie smugglers, could there be any better way of summing up Tony Abbott than a bike and blue tie? Abbott rode the carbon-fibre bike for one of his Pollie Pedal charity bike rides and the tie was one of the infamous blue ties Julia Gillard condemned and Abbott defended as part of his "work uniform".
The corporate watchdog has launched legal action against Westpac Banking Corporation over the alleged rigging of the bank bill swap rate which has embroiled one of the bank's senior staffers and again shone a light on the toxic culture of trading floors in Australia.

Westpac managing director group treasury Colin Roden is named in court documents as being involved in allegedly conspiring to rig the rates to the benefit of the banking giant. Another banker, Sophie Johnston, who works alongside Mr Roden in group treasury, is also named in court documents.

Mr Roden and Ms Johnston are both understood to still be working at the bank and Westpac is believed to be standing by its staffers.

The bank bill swap rate or "BBSW" in finance speak is the primary interest rate benchmark used in Australian financial market. It helps banks set the rates for business and commercial loans and is essential to a fair and open market.
Labor has slammed the government's failure to reveal its plans for superannuation taxes and indicated it will seek to appeal to women in the the tussle over any changes announced in the May budget and in the lead-up to a federal election.

It comes as the latest Newpoll survey shows Labor ahead of the Coalition government for the first time since Malcolm Turnbull became Prime Minister.

Labor superannuation spokesman Jim Chalmers has said gender equity will loom large in the election battle over super policies. Credit:Glenn Hunt

By not announcing its plans for super taxes the government has left the opposition flat-footed in its ability to critique them.

The opposition has said that if it were elected it would reintroduce a tax on earnings for individuals with super balances of more than $1.5 million and lower the threshold at which high-income earners have to pay a higher rate of tax on their super contributions to $250,000 a year from $300,000.
Supply of iron ore from Australia is surging once more in a sign that stronger than expected iron ore prices may be a temporary phenomenon.

The world's largest bulk export terminal, Port Hedland, shipped more iron ore in March than any month in history.

Port Hedland hit a new record for iron ore exports in March. Credit:Nelson Ching

The 39.53 million tonnes of iron ore shipped eclipsed the 39.4 million tonnes shipped in September 2015 and suggest the sector is rebounding from an interrupted start to 2016.

Shipments in January were interrupted by a cyclone and were Port Hedland's lowest monthly output since mid 2014.
And decoupling by just 21 countries is not enough to save the planet as we know it. Over the 15 years that Aden studied, the decoupled countries lowered emissions about 1 billion tons, but overall global emissions grew about 10 billion tons. The question is whether what happened in the 21 countries can be a model for the rest of the world. Almost all of them are European, but not all are advanced Group of 20 economies. Bulgaria, Romania and Uzbekistan are among them. The Paris Agreement, the landmark climate change accord reached in December, commits nearly every country on the planet to taking actions to tackle climate change - and to continuously increase the intensity of those actions in the coming decades. But absent major breakthroughs in decoupling, governments are likely to be hesitant to take aggressive steps to curb emissions if they mean economic loss. In the United States, the world's biggest economy, the decoupling of emissions and economic growth was driven chiefly by the boom in domestic natural gas, which when burned produces about half the carbon pollution of coal. The glut of cheap natural gas drove electric utilities away from coal, while still lighting and powering ever more homes and factories. The decoupling was also driven by improvements in energy-efficiency technology. The decoupling trend held even in the country's industrial sector. Between 2000 and 2014, Aden found that energy-related carbon dioxide emissions dropped 16 per cent in the sector, while economic activity increased 9 per cent.

But decoupling can hurt. Even as the industrial sector grew overall in those years, a push by factories to use more energy-efficient technology contributed to a 21 per cent loss of industrial jobs, Aden says. Thorny questions In smaller economies, decoupling hurts less. Sweden experienced economic growth of 31 per cent as its emissions fell 8 per cent, continuing a long-standing trend driven by its tax on carbon emissions, instituted in 1991. Today Sweden gets nearly half of its electricity from nuclear power, which produces no emissions, and 35 per cent from renewable sources, particularly hydroelectric. But in large, industrial economies that are trying to decouple, the change raises thorny questions. For example, will the pollution just move elsewhere? In Britain, emissions fell 20 per cent between 2000 and 2014, while GDP grew 27 per cent. That was largely the result of a push to de-industrialise in the country that gave birth to the Industrial Revolution. As Britain's financial and service sectors grew and its coal mines, mills and steel factories closed, some of those industries went to China, which became the world's largest polluter. According to Aden's study, China's GDP has increased 270 per cent since 2000 and its carbon emissions rose 178 per cent. But there are very tentative signs that even China may be decoupling.

In a paper published last month by the journal Climate Policy, two British researchers made the case that China's emissions may have peaked in 2014 and have now begun a modest decline. It is hard to know for sure because China's self-reported emissions data can be faulty. But if it is true, and China's economy continues on even a modest growth path, it could have profound implications for the future of climate change. "The question with China is if they really have turned the corner and if it can stick," Aden said. Decoupling presents another problem. "The countries that have achieved decoupling have de-industrialised - and that has increased income inequality," US Senator Bill Cassidy, a Republican from Louisiana, said in an interview. "One of the things that has not been analysed is the job prospects for those families. There's going to be unintended consequences of their livelihoods being curtailed." Just a dream? Meanwhile, some left-wing economists still say that the dream of decoupling is just that - and that the only way to truly lower emissions will be to bite the bullet and accept a hit to the economy.
I write this with blood gushing from the stiff central digit of my left hand. The last time I felt this helpless was when the central digit of my right hand was stiff for months.

Both injuries can be traced to my addiction to ... housework.

If only the dishes would wash themselves. Credit:Stocksy, BONNINSTUDIO

"But wait," I hear you cry. "Your picture byline suggests you are a man, and men don't do housework, let alone become addicted to it."

"A-ha," I shout. "I am not just any man. I am every woman's dream  a male who does his share of the household duties. I am  Dishwashing Man."
The World Health Organisation jumped into action to tackle the Zika outbreak in 2016. That's in sharp contrast with its much slower response to the Ebola outbreak in 2014. Political science research on international organisations and how issues are framed can help explain the difference.

The WHO confirmed an Ebola outbreak in west Africa in March 2014. Five months and nearly 1000 deaths later, it announced the outbreak was a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC).

This was only the WHO's third such declaration, after the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic and polio's resurgence in 2014. After the Ebola PHEIC, donors mobilised financial and military resources, and the United Nations Security Council created the UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response. Public health officials and policymakers found the time lag inexplicable, given the WHO's scientific knowledge and experience with Ebola in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In contrast, the WHO quickly flagged Zika as a public health emergency of international concern, despite significantly fewer deaths. The third Zika-related death in Brazil  the epicentre of the outbreak  was recorded 10 days after the PHEIC announcement. Zika might have already infected more than 1 million people. Most have recovered, and an estimated 80 per cent do not experience symptoms. The WHO's PHEIC declaration was intended to jump-start scientific research, vaccine and treatment development, and mosquito-control campaigns.
The Australian toy industry has rejected suggestions there is a connection between the types of toys boys and girls are encouraged to play with and domestic violence.

In a tough-talking submission to a Senate inquiry, the Australian Toy Association said it "strongly rejects any links" between toys and the "ongoing problem[s] of domestic violence and gender inequality".

Mother of two girls and a boy, Shannon Watts of Dulwich Hill, said she didn't think what children played with had "any bearing on their propensity to violence."

Although her daughters Taitun 9 and Faryn 4 may have been given traditional toys such as dolls, they didn't always play with them in a traditional way.
The ABC is bracing for a $20 million a year budget cut the broadcaster says would put the jobs of investigative journalists and reporters in regional areas at risk.

Funding, equivalent to around 10 per cent of the ABC's news budget, will expire this year unless the Turnbull government provides extra money in the May budget as part of the ABC's triennial funding deal.

The previous Labor government gave the public broadcaster $89.4 million over four years for new reporting initiatives and upgrades to its digital services in its last budget. The money was spent on new investigative journalism positions, a fact check unit, suburban newsrooms and extra money for documentaries.

"The $20m funding the news division receives is a significant amount of its annual budget," the broadcaster said in documents lodged with the Senate.
The death of a New Zealand detainee at the Villawood detention centre has triggered calls for independent scrutiny of the network, and prompted fresh questions over Australia's bid for a United Nations human rights council seat.

A 42-year-old New Zealand detainee died at Villawood detention centre overnight, the Immigration Department has confirmed.

There have been reports he died after an altercation, however the department said in a statement there were no disturbances at the centre and it was "not aware of any suspicious circumstances surrounding the death".

The department said staff were alerted to an unconscious man at about 9.45pm on Monday and attempted to resuscitate him.
Meanwhile, another to add to our growing collection of pieces attempting to explain the Trump's rise. Janet Albrechtsen has a very good go in The Australian today. 4. Shorten spams teachers Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is still ahead of Opposition Leader Bill Shorten as preferred leader. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Bill Shorten has written to every school principal to remind them of the particularly politically toxic idea Malcolm Turnbull has floated lately - cutting off Commonwealth funding to public schools. Mr Turnbull might want a campaign on union militancy but schools funding is a cut-through issue for voters, and so far one being fought on Labor's terms. 5. WhatsApp begins end-to-end encryption

One of the interesting things about moving to and working from London is the technological ease of keeping up with contacts without giving anyone my UK mobile number. Thanks to iMessage, Facetime, Skype, Viber, Wickr, Snapchat and WhatsApp, I'm on them all and still with my Australian mobile meaning my friends, family and contacts haven't needed to change their contact details for me. One Australian telco CEO I spoke (OK complained) to about the astronomical overseas roaming charges readily admitted, privately, that the high costs had hastened the exodus of smartphone users from SMS and mobile calls to over-the-top services, which can all be accessed with a local SIM for minimal costs. The second factor in the switch to data-based messaging is of course privacy. SMS, as our prime minister has pointed out, is one of the least secure forms of communicating electronically. Which is why the one billion people who use WhatsApp have started receiving messages that conversations are now secured with end-to-end encryption. That means no matter how old your phone is, what sort of data you're exchanging (text, video or audio), not even WhatsApp managers can see what you're sending and that means they can't hand it over to a government, should one come knocking, either.

6. Vanillanomics is anything but dull  Vanilla beans. Ingredient detail pic. Andrew McConnell banana recipes for Good Weekend. Photographed by Marina Oliphant. Styling and food preparation by Caroline Velik. Credit:Marina Oliphant Nominating vanilla as your favourite flavour is basically an exercise in growing up. As a child being offered an ice cream you opt for the synthetic colours and flavour of chocolate and strawberry and sometimes grudgingly accept a neapolitan. But as you learn to mix a cake you graduate from essence to extract, and when you finally afford it, you buy yourself a clear tube of beans to split and scrape. Now for me its a giant tube of vanilla bean paste that does the trick. It costs a small fortune but having proper vanilla in my pantry is like having a pair of designer heels in the cupboard, an adult luxury.
Kevin Rudd faces an uphill battle at home and abroad to be the next United Nations Secretary-General, with conservative MPs pushing the Turnbull government not to endorse him and overseas observers saying he falls well short of the necessary international backing.

Mr Rudd has yet to announce his candidacy but Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has confirmed he is lobbying for the diplomatic post. Some observers, who spoke to Fairfax Media on condition on anonymity, said Mr Rudd should not be written off but the weight of opinion saw his candidacy as facing significant obstacles.

Liberal MPs Tony Pasin and James Paterson this week became the latest to speak out against Mr Rudd's candidacy and urge the Turnbull government not to give the former prime minister its imprimatur.

"This guy did his best to ruin our country," Mr Pasin said. "That we would think about imposing him on the rest of the world beggars belief."
Tore Haug, walks up the hill where Baalsrud shot two Nazis. Credit:Jon Tonks What happened over those nine weeks remains one of the wildest, most unfathomable survival stories of World War II. Baalsrud's feet froze solid. An avalanche buried him up to his neck. He wandered in a snowstorm for three days. He was entombed alive in snow for another four days and abandoned under open skies for five more. Alone for two more weeks in a cave, he used a knife to amputate several of his own frostbitten toes to stop the spread of gangrene. He spent the last several weeks tied on a stretcher, near death, as teams of Norwegian villagers dragged him up and down hills and snowy mountains. By the end, Baalsrud was less a hero than a package in need of safe delivery, out of Nazi hands. For decades, his escape made him a national folk hero, even as the man himself remained frustratingly opaque, almost unknowable. Jan Baalsrud. Norway has a mild reputation, now, as a beneficent social democracy, so rich with oil that it's almost unseemly, its finances largely walled off from the calamities within the European Union. The war and the occupation aren't prominent parts of the national identity the way they once were, yet up in the fjords there are signposts marked with a red letter B that are left unexplained to hikers.

They mark a path that begins more than 560 kilometres inside the Arctic Circle, in the cove called Toftefjord. From there, the route zigzags south 130 kilometres up and down mountains and across rivers, concluding at last at the border Norway shares with Sweden and Finland. It remains all but impassable in winter. Two Norwegian commandos tried it just two years ago; when a storm came, they had to be airlifted out. But in warmer weather, anyone can walk the trail, or most of it. Baalsrud looked the 10-year-old girl squarely in the eye and declared that if she ever told a soul that shed seen him, everyone she loved would almost certainly be killed. I ARRIVE IN TOFTEFJORD on a bright, cool late-summer morning. It's a silent, tiny bay, bordered on three sides by stark moss-green outcroppings. The motorboat captain has a location saved on his GPS, and he guides the boat there. His little dog, a brown mutt, runs to the bow, his nose poking over the edge, aiming down. I look, too. Not far beneath us, at the bottom of the bay, still lies some of the wreckage of the Brattholm. The captain cuts the motor. The quiet is unnerving but not unusual in the fjords, where a tranquil sense of isolation easily co-exists with all the intense, momentous visual drama around you: brilliant green and turquoise rivers, as smooth as glass, reflecting the sun so you can barely see; craggy, sharp-angled, purple-capped mountains erupting straight out of those rivers at right angles. Everywhere you look, you're in both the middle of nowhere and the centre of the universe. Guiding us through the fjords is Tore Haug, a distinguished-looking 74-year-old sports-medicine doctor and former commercial pilot who may be one of the last living authorities on Baalsrud's escape. Haug is Baalsrud's second cousin, but he met the man only once, as a boy; he remembers Baalsrud refusing to talk with his relatives about his wartime experiences.

Like his famous relative, Haug is reserved. On our journey, he allows that he may be drawn to the story less because of the blood connection than because of a certain awe that some men his age often come to feel about those who fought in the war. "These guys were unspoiled in '43," Haug tells me softly as the motorboat reaches the shore. "Most young people, they don't know the story." Haug is among the many Norwegians of his generation who grew up on the tale of Baalsrud's escape. We Die Alone, the first book-length account, published in 1955 by the British journalist David Howarth, became an instant classic in Norway. Two years later, a movie based on the book, Ni Liv (Nine Lives), was nominated for an Oscar for best foreign film. Not satisfied with these versions of the story, Haug worked on a book of his own. In 2001, he and a co-author, Astrid Karlsen Scott, published Defiant Courage, a day-by-day reconstruction of Baalsrud's story that exhaustively praises the people of the fjords who smuggled him past German patrols, ministered to his frostbitten feet and hid him in lofts, barns and sheds. "My intention was to honour all his helpers," Haug tells me, "because that was what Jan wanted." ONE OF THE FIRST of those helpers is waiting for us in Toftefjord, on the porch of a modest green cottage, a short walk from the shore. Dagmar Idrupsen is one of the last people still living who saw Baalsrud during his escape. She was 10 when Baalsrud tore through Toftefjord. When I speak with her, she is 82 and peppy, if a little bashful. Inside on her kitchen table is an array of food that she has spent the morning preparing for her visitors: hard-boiled eggs and dark goat's cheese, jam and bread and cured sausages. To Dagmar and her family, Baalsrud's escape represents the moment idyllic childhood and World War II collided in the middle of her kitchen. She remembers the sound of machine-gun fire outside her window. She remembers her mother weeping, certain that they needed to surrender or else they would all be killed. Fleeing up the hill, the family heard an explosion  Baalsrud, scuttling the Brattholm  that sent flaming debris flying up in their direction, seemingly following their path. They kept running, to the shore on the east side of the island, and shouted for help.

Dagmar's aunt sent a small boat to fetch them to her own place across the fjord. That was where, later that night, Dagmar's sister and cousin left the house in the dark and came back with the blue-eyed stranger. Baalsrud was handsome, as Dagmar recalls, her face reddening at the memory. He was also ice-cold and soaking wet, his Norwegian commando uniform frozen solid. He had been bold enough to swim in the same icy waters that they had crossed by boat. He had been running from the same gunfire. Dagmar saw the man's gun  the snub-nosed Colt  and a shiver of fear ran through her. Everyone in the room understood the danger he was putting them in. If the Germans ever caught this man, he would be tortured, then killed. But the family promised to help him. He seemed grateful and relieved; his sensitivity, along with his courtesy and bravado, was what so many others would remember about him in the decades to come. But this is what Dagmar remembers most: before he left, the handsome stranger leant down, looked her squarely in the eye and declared, with stone-cold certainty, that if she ever told a soul that she'd seen him, everyone she loved would almost certainly be killed. Baalsrud knew the fate of Norway didn't hinge on whether he made it out of the country alive. He wasn't holding secret information that could win the war; he had no special value to the military. Howarth, in We Die Alone, proposed what would, for Baalsrud, be the essential question: "Was he right, as a soldier, to let women and children put their lives in such terrible danger?"

Baalsrud settled on a method for minimising the risks he presented to every new person he met: never tell anyone who he saw along the way and never confirm where he would be going next. He headed south, knocking on doors when he was out of strength or in danger of freezing to death, never knowing if the people on the other side of the door would turn him in. None of them did, as Haug and Karlsen Scott recount in their book, and many did more than just offer shelter. There was the midwife who offered to hide him upstairs, disguising him as a woman in labour. (He did not accept the offer.) There was the man who warded off a neighbour, known to be on the German payroll, who came by while Baalsrud was inside. There was a young girl who was the first to get a close look at Baalsrud's frostbitten feet and tried to bandage them as best she could. There was the fisherman who outfitted Baalsrud with new boots and a pair of skis. There was the father, still mourning the loss of his young son, who rowed Baalsrud in a dinghy through rocky waters in the middle of the night, avoiding German sentries, to deposit him on another shore. ON SKIS, BAALSRUD THOUGHT, the rest of the trip would be easy. He even boldly whizzed past a group of German soldiers on their way to breakfast, vanishing from view before they thought to wonder who he was. Then came a blizzard. His eyes frozen shut, gasping for air, he became so disoriented he couldn't tell if he was ascending or descending. He devised a technique to keep from falling: he threw a snowball, and if he didn't hear it hit the ground, he went in the other direction. Without realising it, he was climbing an almost 900-metre mountain. But he was all right, more or less, until the avalanche. Baalsrud tumbled some 90 metres down into the valley, destroying his skis and losing his poles and satchel. When he awoke, he was still snow-blind. By his third day wandering alone, he was hallucinating, hearing the voices of the men of the Brattholm he had left behind. On the fourth day, he found his way to a small village called Furuflaten. He saw a house and stumbled inside. This turned out to be Baalsrud's great stroke of luck. The house belonged to the sister of Marius Gronvoll, an active member of the resistance. A building nearby was a German military headquarters; he just as easily could have barged in there, and his story would have ended.

Instead, in a remarkably co-ordinated effort, many in the village came together to help harbour the fugitive and get him on his way, all without the Germans noticing. The Gronvoll family stashed Baalsrud in their barn for four days as he tried to recuperate. According to Haug and Karlsen Scott, two German soldiers searched the barn once but did not check the loft where Baalsrud was hiding behind a bed of hay. Slowly, the Gronvolls brought Baalsrud back to life. But the frostbite had taken hold, and Baalsrud was no longer able to walk on his own. Marius recruited three others to help put Baalsrud on a stretcher, sneak him past the Germans into a rowboat and take him across the fjord, pretending to fish the whole time. When the terrain on the other side proved too steep to negotiate with a stretcher, Marius hid Baalsrud in a small shed and returned to Furuflaten, where he convinced a local schoolteacher with carpentry skills to make a sled  no small feat, considering the school was where all the soldiers congregated. The teacher made it in pieces, and it was assembled on the other side of the fjord. TODAY, FURUFLATEN IS STILL very small, with about 250 people. Along the main road is a little museum devoted to Baalsrud: really just an alcove inside a community centre, a wooden barn-style building with a stage for assemblies and community theatre. It's open only a few days a week, and there is no sign outside to tell anyone that it exists. There are Baalsrud's wooden skis, recovered by a local resident in the bottom of the valley in the summer of 1943 and hidden until the end of the war. There is Baalsrud's gun, the snub-nosed Colt, which Baalsrud's brother had given to a museum near Oslo before it was transported back to Furuflaten. There are four little dioramas, each depicting a scene in Baalsrud's escape in an almost twee Wes Anderson fashion. And there is a replica of the sled that transported Baalsrud, with a mannequin of Baalsrud himself lying on top. A few feet away is a stuffed fox, with a paper sign hanging around its neck. The message, in Norwegian: "I saw him, but I didn't say anything." This is a museum devoted to the successful keeping of a secret. The Gronvoll family's barn, where Baalsrud, snow-blind and lame, recovered after the avalanche, is still standing just up the road. After the war, Marius married a young woman named Agnete Lanes, who had helped him tend to Baalsrud. They had seven children, three of whom meet me at the barn: two sons, Are and Dag, and a daughter, Kjellaug. They are all at least 50 now. Kjellaug still lives in Furuflaten, working as a nurse in a neighbouring town. Dag works in the pharmaceutical industry. Are, who has an uncanny resemblance to the pictures I saw of his father, works in the local fish-feed industry.

Staying silent about helping Baalsrud took a toll on the Gronvoll family. In a very real sense, it fractured them. "My father had two sisters," Are says, "and he sent them away" for the duration of the war. "If the Germans found out what happened, at least his sisters would survive." Their heroism, like Baalsrud's, was of an ambiguous kind, and Howarth's question occurred to me again. Even years after the war  despite the book, the movie and the indomitable legend  some neighbours, Are says, still think of Marius and his family as troublemakers, the ones who had endangered their community, who put everyone at risk. From Furuflaten, Marius and his three friends had rowed Baalsrud across the fjord to a hamlet called Revdal. Not far from the shore is a small shed, about two by three metres, where they left him on a wooden platform, unable to walk, but within reach of food, water, a knife and a bottle of homemade hard liquor. Baalsrud joked to them that it was every bit as nice as the Hotel Savoy. Marius came to visit and meant to come back again, but a storm delayed him for another five days. This was when Baalsrud's journey took its grimmest turn yet. Sometime during those days, Baalsrud took the knife and cut into several of his toes, hoping to bleed out the frostbite-caused infection that he feared would spread up his legs. He also amputated one of his big toes. ON THE DRIVE TO REVDAL, Haug tells me that he wants me to experience the "Hotel Savoy" alone  to leave me there for several minutes in silence so I can imagine what it must have been like to stay in there, day after day, expecting Marius and his friends to come, but them never coming, to be experiencing incredible pain from gangrene, to start to think that this would be the place where he would die. When we arrive, we almost miss the place: the Hotel Savoy is almost an afterthought, sitting along the side of a highway, unmarked. The little hut that is there now is a replica; the original one was burned down by some kids several years ago. Inside the hut is a wooden platform, like the one Baalsrud was lying on when, half-mad with agony, he took a knife to his own feet. "No one else knew about him," Haug says. "He wondered, 'If Marius is caught, who should help me?' " Baalsrud sterilised the knife in the flame of the lamp, then washed his feet with liquor and took a swig before cutting. Haug shuts the door. Slivers of light beam through the cracks. All I can hear is the howling of the wind, blasting between the planks of wood. A minute or two later, I am more than ready to leave.

Glad for air, I walk with Haug below the high ridge where Marius and his friends, once they did come back, painstakingly pulled Baalsrud, still strapped to a sled, up to another hiding spot, 800 metres higher than the Hotel Savoy. At the top of the ridge, Haug says, there is a large boulder about five metres high, six metres wide and flat on one side. This was where Baalsrud was left for nine more days, lying buried in a cave of snow most of the time, waiting for help to return. When the next group of helpers finally found Baalsrud, they still couldn't take him all the way to Sweden. Instead, they travelled a bit, then set up another shelter for him while they went to find more help. Even now, it's a 90-minute walk from the nearest village, on a steep mountainside with a little overhang, open to the elements. This is where Baalsrud's story loses all recognisable shape. He spent five days under the open sky, growing confused, despondent and finally hopeless. At one moment in Howarth's book, Baalsrud puts a gun to his head, but the trigger had frozen, and he didn't have the strength to pull it; in Haug's, he merely tells his rescuers they would be better off if they just left him there to die. A team of helpers finally found him again, taking him further south to the Skaidijonni Valley, where he would spend another 17 days in a cave, awaiting another team to transport him across the Swedish border. During his weeks there, Baalsrud completed the amputation of the rest of his toes. Meanwhile, a local farmer named Nils Nilsen had skied 65 kilometres to Sweden and another 65 back to round up more help for Baalsrud. By the time a group of Sami, Norway's indigenous people, came to take him across the border, Baalsrud weighed just 36 kilograms. The Sami harnessed the sled to a team of reindeer and, racing through a corner of Nazi-aligned Finland, they finally crossed over into neutral Sweden by way of a frozen lake, with the Germans following close behind.

It took six months in a Swedish hospital for Baalsrud to climb back from the brink, overcoming the loss of his toes, putting weight back on, regaining his eyesight. He went to Scotland and, after learning to walk again, helped to train Allied soldiers in marksmanship. At the end of the war, he returned to Norway to witness his country's liberation first-hand. Then he returned to his old life, outside Oslo. "I had forgotten the whole story, or rather I had tried to forget it all," Baalsrud said in a radio interview years later, "and it was completely forgotten when David Howarth came." Howarth, a journalist and Royal Navy officer, wrote We Die Alone based largely on the Norwegian military report on the escape that Baalsrud filed during his recovery and interviews with Baalsrud himself. The books are but one reflection of how Baalsrud's story has aged into an inspiring parable about the character of Norwegians: their resilience, their selflessness, their devotion to community. "He became the symbol and the hope for the resistance," said Dutch-Norwegian film director Harald Zwart, who is currently shooting a remake of Baalsrud's story as a snowy version of The Fugitive. "They needed to keep him alive in order to keep the dream of freedom alive. He grew to be bigger than himself." BAALSRUD HIMSELF REJECTED that myth, time and again. After consulting on the production of Ni Liv, he returned to the life he had started with his wife, Evie, an American from a wealthy family. Their daughter, Liv, told Haug that her father never wanted to talk about what had happened in the fjords. "Jan was also depressed after the war; I heard from his brother," Haug says. The folk hero would not return to the fjords again until 1987. The Gronvoll children, now all grown up, invite me for lunch in their home in Furuflaten, where Baalsrud made his final visit. Marius and Agnete's daughter Kjellaug serves rolls with cheese and jam, then cake, then coffee. A few framed black-and-white photos of Baalsrud's earlier visit in the 1950s, during production of Ni Liv, hang on the wall of the parlour.

His later visit in 1987 was less triumphant, more poignant. Baalsrud was visibly frail. Marius was no longer alive, but Agnete was. "When Jan was here, she didn't want journalists inside," Kjellaug says. "She wanted to have Jan alone in here, just with her." When he left, Agnete was bereft. "She said afterward that he was in such bad shape that it would have been better if he was dead than still alive," her son Dag says. Back home, Baalsrud fell and fractured his hip, and X-rays revealed a cancerous tumour that had already metastasised. An ambulance plane took him to Oslo University Hospital, but it was too late. Before he died on December 30, 1988, he was moved to a rehabilitation centre near Oslo that his own donations and support had helped to create. His last wish was to be buried in the fjords, in the village of Mandal, alongside the grave of Aslak Fossvoll, a Norwegian resistance leader who visited Baalsrud in the cave at Skaidijonni, only to die of diphtheria four weeks after Baalsrud made it safely to Sweden. Even at the end, Baalsrud's thoughts were never far from the capriciousness of fate: who lives and who dies, who survives and who doesn't, who is most deserving of honour and praise. That visit to Furuflaten was the only time Marius and Agnete's children met the man who so profoundly shaped the lives of their family. Their son Are recalls standing with Baalsrud outside their house, next to the barn where he once hid for days. Together, he and the old man stared out at the valley where, 44 years earlier, he had staggered, snow-blind, after an avalanche, making his way to the safety of Marius's farm. Are, just a teenager, had to ask the great man a question: of all the homes in the valley, how did he find his way here?
In a variation on the theme, Money was also contacted by someone who had a similar experience, but was instructed to call their bank using the number on the back of the credit card rather than the police. Hijacking phones, although possible, is complex, and it appears the fraudsters are using a simple, low-tech method for intercepting the outbound calls. The NSW Police Fraud and Cybercrime Squad describes the cold-call scams as "long-held" ones, whereby criminals call a potential victim on a landline telephone, and then stay on the line after the called parties believe they have terminated the call. By keeping the line open, the criminal is able to pick up further calls the person makes, such as when directed by the scammer to call the bank or police. A good precaution for anyone who is unsure whether a call is legitimate, is to use a different phone for the outbound call. Class action

A retired NSW magistrate contacted Money to report that family friends, a couple in their late 80s, "in December last year had an experience virtually identical with that of Albert and Marie", including the Barclays connection, the aliases "John Miller" and "Superintendent Craig Nelson" and the triple-zero ruse. The couple lost "a considerable amount of money" and the woman recently died. "Of unrelated causes, although one can never tell," the retired jurist says. The former magistrate, who wishes to remain anonymous, was given heart by the story in Money and hopes to achieve some redress for his friend and other victims. He believes that if other victims are prepared to come forward, each with a similar pattern of fraud, a case can be made for a class action for negligence. Reports of such fraud first appeared in the UK press in 2014, described the scamsters as a "sophisticated new wave of crooks  hijacking phone lines to manipulate bank customers into handing over  tens of thousands of pounds". In that time, no perpetrator has ever been caught, and no financial institution has been found negligent. It appears that in exporting the scam to Australia, that record remains intact.

Variation on the scam A public servant, Roger, who lives in rural NSW near Canberra, had a similar experience, though in the end he was not cheated because the account in question contained only $200. "It must have been the same people because I went through the same experience almost word for word," Roger says. Unlike other instances of such fraud brought to Money's attention, Roger is not an elderly retiree. He is 58, hale and hearty, and working  but he was just as easily conned. Roger also received a call purporting to be from a Rolex store manager about an attempted fraud on his card. The "manager" suggested that Roger immediately call the "lost & stolen cards" number behind the card. When he did so, a person pretending to be a Commonwealth Bank officer answered his call.

The person said the card had also been used at a Louis Vuitton store in Sydney to buy items worth $3299 and said a "red alert" would be placed on the card to ensure against further misuse. As with Albert and Marie, Roger was told the police were on the case. The "bank officer" also suggested that a red alert be placed on Roger's bank accounts and sought verification details from him, including his date of birth, account number and the amount in the account. Roger said there was only one account containing $200. Later in the day, it occurred to Roger that neither he nor the bank officer had thought to cancel the compromised card. When he called the bank again, they had no record of his earlier call or of the alerts that he was told would be placed. He heard no more from the scammers, and assumes they were put off by the fact he had only $200 in his account, his primary account being with another bank. "When I rang the bank the first time, when I was in fact speaking to the scammer, I can't believe how easily I was tricked into giving my bank details and personal information," he says.
Scott and Michelle Robertson in Wagga Wagga with their kids Lila, 1, and Charlie, 3. Credit:Les Smith They hope to be able to buy their own home later this year. "The first 12 months was really a trial to see if it was going to work," Scott says. "It is working for us so we want to try to be here on a more permanent basis. There is a chance that if it doesn't work, one day, with the business we might have to go back but we're hoping that doesn't happen and [that] we do have enough saved if we do go back." Feeling less under the pump financially makes for a happier home life, says Michelle. "We don't have that financial stress of, 'how are we going to enter the market in Sydney?'," she says. "We're happier here because we feel like we can, that's achievable  you can get a beautiful home for around $400,000 here, which is just so unachievable in Sydney, it really is."

Former Melburnians Cathy Parry and Chris Guest also managed to transplant their small businesses  in their case, to the goldfields town of Castlemaine, 120 kilometres from the state capital, for similar reasons to the Robertsons. They moved seven years ago, with one young son in tow and a second on the way, after despairing of ever owning a home in a city where prices were hovering at the $500,000 mark. "Chris had friends in Castlemaine and we would visit regularly and after looking at a few other places we decided Castlemaine was the place that we wanted to be," Parry says. "Because my partner's an architect he wanted to build for himself and we found a little block of land and it was something like $76,000, right in town." Parry runs an industrial sewing business and while both she and Guest work locally, they travel to Melbourne about once a month. It's a 90-minute drive or a little longer on the train.

The costs of country living are lower but so too are opportunities to climb the greasy pole or pull in the big bucks, says Parry. "We both set ourselves up so we would have a mix [of clients]," she says. "Especially in a regional area, you do need to have a lot of different irons on the fire because we can't ever assume that one's going to keep going. "If being financially well off is important to you then there's less opportunity for that here, I'd suggest." Promoting relocation

Dubbo mayor Mathew Dickerson is the chairman of Evocities, a marketing campaign launched in 2010 to encourage city folk to move to the NSW regional cities of Albury, Armidale, Bathurst, Dubbo, Orange, Tamworth and Wagga Wagga. The median house price across the seven cities is $366,000, according to Dickerson. That buys a three-bedroom brick house on 800 square metres  a snip compared with median prices of $718,000 in Melbourne and north of a million in Sydney. Most Evocities relocators are in their "early family" stage, and typically they'll find a job in the region before upping sticks. The unemployment rate across the Evocities sits at around 3.9 per cent and Dickerson believes comprehensive rollout of the NBN  it's currently available in Armidale and Tamworth  will make relocation even more attractive to young families: "It will make it an easier sell. It's another piece of the puzzle." Lower priced living may be a major draw but look before you leap, because the largest cost associated with regional relocation is change of mind, financial adviser James Gerrard warns. If you own a capital city property, keep it and rent in your new location, he advises.

It's a safer approach than selling up, only to find yourself priced out of the capital a couple of years down the track, if the bucolic charm wears thin and city prices have risen faster than those in the country. "It can be a shock to the system when you move," Gerrard says. "[People think] country, fresh air, save lots of money but once you're there that lifestyle may not agree with everybody. People who've never lived in the country before need to be very careful when planning such a big move." Accommodating children in their university years if there are no study options close by can be an added cost of regional living and after they've graduated you'll be shelling out to visit them, Melbourne financial adviser Steve Enticott points out. "Move to a country town  your kids' career options are going to be in the city, so you will lose them," he says. If you've decided smaller town life is for you, shift somewhere that's an easy journey back to the capital and organise things so you don't have to make it too often, Enticott adds.

"If you're on a train line it's not so bad  an hour and a half, three hours  you catch up with your emails, have a nap, read the paper, do all those sorts of things  but if you've got to get in your car and drive for three hours, that's a nightmare," he says. "I tell people to avoid it if they can. If you're working, you should be working where you move, not trying to commute to a big city. That's the whole idea, you move to the country, your income's less and your costs are less, especially from a housing point of view." Career change Job options are less plentiful and salaries often lower outside major cities so finding a regional role you're happy with can necessitate reinventing yourself, according to Albury real estate agent David O'Connell, 40. He traded inner-city lifestyle and a career as a recruitment consultant in Melbourne for his current gig five years ago. "There aren't the opportunities for the salaries in a regional area that you can get in a metropolitan area or capital city, but it does afford you a really good lifestyle," O'Connell says.

Lower outgoings enabled his wife Jill to spend the past five years caring full-time for their daughters Lilah, 6, and Eden, 4. She recently returned to work part-time, as an events co-ordinator at a local restaurant. The family bought a house in central Albury for $300,000 shortly before the move and have found their other costs on par with those in Melbourne. "We haven't sacrificed anything," David says. "If anything, we probably live better than we do in the city." They make the three-hour journey to Melbourne regularly for a city hit  "there might be a restaurant that we want to try or we'll take the kids to the zoo"  but are planning to stay put. "I wouldn't move back to a city now at all," O'Connell says.
"At this point in time, the Inquiry is unable to quantify the impact of this prescribing," the investigators said. Oncologist Dr John Grygiel. St Vincent's public statement also indicated that Dr Grygiel had been "immediately counselled and placed under supervision", but the inquiry found "this did not occur". "We have to apologise to the patients for getting things wrong," St Vincent's Health Australia group chief executive Toby Hall said on Tuesday. "We should have reacted earlier, we should have reacted faster and brought more professionals in, and again we have failed on that," he told Fairfax Media.

In an alarming finding, the report revealed Dr Grygiel had also administered the same "off-protocol" doses to a small number of patients with other cancers, affecting more families. "The extent of this is yet to be determined," the report concluded. The inquiry found hospital management significantly delayed disclosing information to patients, with almost all those affected being told only after media reports exposed the errors. The hospital failed to demonstrate an understanding of the distress this issue was likely to cause patients and their families, according to the report. "There was no sense of urgency about the internal or external reviews that were undertaken ... there was no urgency to review the patients," the report read.

The inquiry confirmed doctors, nurses and junior pharmacists had challenged Dr Grygiel's flat dosing and were aware of the practice since 2005. "The practice was widely known, and senior pharmacy and nursing staff either knew, or should have known, it was occurring," according to the report. But senior staff were unaware of the "off-protocol" treatment as proper reporting protocol was not followed, the report read. St Vincent's failed to escalate the issue to the Health Ministry. NSW Greens health spokesperson Jeremy Buckingham said "it is clear that St Vincent's lied in their initial public statements and failed to implement the Open Disclosure Policy Directive".

"The interim report indicates a cover-up was attempted by St Vincent's Hospital. It is therefore essential that there is an external and public inquiry, said Mr Buckingham, whose mother-in-law was treated for cancer at St Vincent's hospital under Dr Grygiel. Health Minister Jillian Skinner said the findings were concerning, "particularly in relation to the failure to communicate accurately and promptly with affected patients, inadequate clinical governance, incident notification and management practices in the oncology department at St Vincent's Hospital". She noted the Health Care Complaints Commission was conducting its own investigation into the treatment of patients under Dr Grygiel. "I have full confidence these independent investigations will address the issues arising from this case transparently, fairly and comprehensively," Mrs Skinner said. Mr Hall said he accepted the hospital had failed to foster a culture that allowed doctors to be challenged and issues to be escalated to senior management.
Former De La Salle College Revesby Heights student Adrian Coorie is suing his old school over his alleged sexual abuse Credit:ABC 7.30 Mr Coorie alleges the school knew, or ought to have known, that a former teacher, Errol Swayne, was a habitual sexual abuser of boys and failed to ensure Mr Coorie's safety as a student. Mr Coorie was encouraged to make the claim after telling the royal commission of the assaults he allegedly suffered at the hands of Mr Swayne, who lived on a caravan on the school grounds. "Sometimes you can think that you are the only person that something has happened to but that's not the case," Mr Coorie told 7.30. "And that's where that was confirmed that other people had already been there and spoken to the royal commission about the same person, so that was a bit of an eye-opener too," he said.

Mr Swayne, who has since killed himself, allegedly showed Mr Coorie pornographic films in the caravan on weekends, and molested him in his office during school hours. Mr Koffel told Fairfax Media his clients were seeking damages ranging from hundreds of thousands of dollars to claims in the millions. "That in each case varies but it is made up of past medical expenses, past economic loss, future economic loss - it's a complicated formula," he said. "There's obviously a systemic problem amongst all of these schools and one hopes that taking these actions, our clients who are the victims not only will be compensated but will get apologies from various institutions and recognition that the school has done the wrong thing by them," he said. "The outcome hopefully is that each school will have better procedures in the future so it will never happen again."

Mr Koffel said three of the cases were against Scots, in relation to the school's former maths department head John Joseph Beckett, who has already been convicted of the assaults. The claim against the school is that it did not protect students from teachers. "They had a responsibility to look after their teachers and we say that the school is liable for the actions of their teachers," Mr Koffel said. In a statement to the ABC, the Presbyterian Church of Australia on behalf of Scots College said it did not want to make any statement that may impinge on the court process. "We support those who have come forward to tell their story of what happened to them and we respect their courage in doing so," the statement said.

A Knox Grammar spokesman told the ABC he was unable to comment while the claims were before the court. A spokeswoman for Waverley College said the school was aware of a claim in the Supreme Court regarding an accusation of abuse. "This claim has been filed against the Trustees of the Christian Brothers, the previous administrators of the school, as distinct from the school's current administration," the spokesman said. "The Christian Brothers ceased administration of the College in 2007 and as such we have no records of the alleged events. Waverley College has zero tolerance for abuse of any kind," she said. The action against De La Salle College, Revesby Heights, is against De La Salle Brothers, which had governance of the school at the time.
Ms Mikhael, who at the time was working as a project manager for Westpac, said she saw "bright flashes exploding... it was like being inside a firework, loud noises, the smell of gun powder, it was the most horrible thing, just to be right in the middle of it." The project manager said she became angry and swore at the police negotiators she was speaking to by phone because she felt she wasn't being treated like an intelligent woman who could help the situation. Monis had demanded an Islamic State flag be brought to the cafe and a phone call with then-prime minister Tony Abbott live on radio. "I couldn't comprehend why it was so difficult for us to get a flag," she told counsel assisting the inquest Jeremy Gormly SC. "I didn't understand why it was so difficult for the prime minister to get on the phone."

Ms Mikhael said the police negotiator told her Mr Abbott was too busy to speak to Monis. "I was told, 'Sorry Marcia, the prime minister is a very busy man'. "I'm sorry but you don't tell someone who has a gun at their head that. "I'm going to feel like I'm a piece of nothing and I'm going to die. Just pick up the phone! "People didn't think our lives were worth saving."

Ms Mikhael told the inquest at the time she didn't understand the "meaning of an ISIS flag" and that police feared Monis would use the flag in carrying out an "atrocity". But she said she was most frustrated at the failure of hostage negotiators to "give me more information to help others to understand what was going on... all I was given was not so intelligent conversation". Asked by counsel for Mr Johnson's family, Gabrielle Bashir SC, what the negotiator told her about the demand for a flag, she said: "the reason was, 'we're working on it and as soon as I get permission from my supervisors you will get the flag'." But as evening fell, she realised the police would not negotiate with him and his demands were not going to be met. She believed Monis "had a plan to die". "I'm not a stupid person, he's asked for a flag and a phone call and if it hasn't been done it wasn't going to happen. I was just waiting."

She came to believe police would not act unless a hostage was killed or injured. "They have not negotiated ... they have left us here to die," she said during one of the phone calls to a radio station, which was ultimately transferred to police. Ms Denny echoed Ms Mikhael's sentiments about Monis' demands. "I didn't understand why they don't give him a flag - that would be one hostage out - I didn't understand why they wouldn't have Tony Abbott talk - that was five hostages out," she said. Ms Mikhael said Monis was paranoid and unpredictable but she didn't think he would shoot any hostages unless he was provoked, so she tried to go along with his demands. "If he wanted us to make a silly phone call or silly video, we would. If he felt betrayed by us... he would be capable of doing something."

However, she came to the belief Monis did not have a bomb. Earlier on Tuesday Ms Mikhael thanked the first police officer on the scene, Senior Constable Paul Withers, for helping to calm her down. Mr Withers made contact with Ms Mikhael by using hand gestures through the glass swing doors that lead to a foyer on Martin Place. He encouraged her to breathe and settle down and then she helped him ascertain how many gunmen were inside using her fingers. "I don't think I could have got through it if someone hadn't calmed me down," she said. "I was hoping he was going to come back with lots and lots of police but it didn't quite happen that way." Ms Mikhael said after police stormed the cafe she was picked up and carried by two tactical police officers.
A company formerly linked to the Obeid family has admitted it breached competition law by entering into a bid-rigging deal with a mining company, in a victory for the competition watchdog on the second day of its cartel conduct case against members of the Obeid clan.

The ACCC is taking civil action for alleged cartel conduct against Moses and Paul Obeid, two of former NSW Labor minister Eddie Obeid's five sons, for striking an alleged deal with Cascade Coal to withdraw rival bids in a government tender for coal exploration licences to clear the way for Cascade to win.

Moses Obeid, right, leaves the Federal Court on Tuesday. Credit:Louise Kennerley

The Federal Court has heard the Obeids received "substantial benefits" including $28 million in cash when the rival bids were withdrawn by Monaro Coal, a company acquired by members of the Obeid family during the tender process and renamed Loyal Coal.
A former prostitute enlisted an on-again, off-again lover to murder her violent fiance, who was later found dead in his home with 10 gunshot wounds to his head, a Queensland jury has heard.

Melissa Leigh Shaw pleaded not guilty to the murder and attempted murder of Shyam Sam Dhody as her trial in Brisbane's Supreme Court began on Tuesday.

A former prostitute enlisted an on-again, off-again lover to murder her violent fiance, a Queensland jury has heard. Credit:Louie Douvis

In his opening address, crown prosecutor Dennis Kinsella told the jury the 30-year-old had helped a secret lover kill the bankrupt Gold Coast businessman after their troubled relationship started to sour in March 2013.

Mr Kinsella compared the one-time sex worker, who met Mr Dhody when he was her client at a Molendinar brothel, to Helen of Troy by describing her as the face that launched the murder.
An Aldi cashier's comment that a boy with cerebral palsy would be "better off dead" was nowhere near as bad as the company's response, his father said.

Queensland father Howard Duggan said the incident was the latest example of corporate Australia's shameful handling of disability issues and he was using social and mainstream media to push for change.

His wife, Renee, was shopping at the German chain's Oxley store in Brisbane's south on March 26 when she approached the checkout with her 12-year-old son, Andrew.

Mrs Duggan said she walked up to the lady at the register, who looked at her son and said "people like him are better off dead".
New Zealander Jono Matla had just pressed the shutter button when the night sky lit up.

Starting as a ball of orange, a meteor was cutting its way through the sky over Waikanae, north of Wellington, turning a neon green as it went.

Wellington man Jono Matla had no sooner pressed the shutter for the last photo in his six-shot panorama when the meteor burned across the sky. Credit:Jono Matla

"I had literally just pressed the button to take [the photo] and I looked up and saw it," he said.

It was Tuesday, about 9pm, and he was the only one on the beach.
Smokers you can breathe easy. The state government has rejected a push by health groups to stub out smoking in beer gardens and outdoor drinking areas.

But laws to ban smoking in outdoor dining spaces are expected to come into force in August next year.

Health Minister Jill Hennessy said the government had been working on the planned ban with businesses and local councils.

She said she hoped a new bill would be introduced to Parliament within the next two months.
Dozens of City of Perth rangers and police descended on Heirisson Island on Tuesday morning to begin forcefully dismantling tents belonging to homeless people camping on the island.

The number of people living on the Swan River island has swelled from around 60 in January to 150 in April.

The removal of the camp sites follows ugly scenes in 2012 and 2015 when police forcefully removed protesters from the island, who were objecting to the state government's $1.3 billion native title offer to the Nyoongar people, the closure of remote Aboriginal communities and traditional land rights.

On Tuesday, dozens of tents were scattered around the island, with large amounts of rubbish washing up against its banks.
Consumer Protection has been forced to take legal action in the extraordinary case of a WA man who continually sends other people's money to West African criminals - but refuses to believe it is a scam.

WA authorities say Peter Melvin Kleinig has sent millions of dollars to African countries, including Togo and Ghana, since 2007.

Peter Melvin Kleinig and one of the documents, found to be fake. Credit:Consumer Protection

According to the WA Police fraud squad, he claims the money goes to a silver and gold company but the name of the company and apparent investment certificates have proved to be fake.

"Officers from our anti-fraud initiative Project Sunbird have spent a lot of time trying to prove to Mr Kleinig that the silver and gold investment company, he believes in, does not exist," acting Consumer Protection commissioner David Hillyard said.
And in a campaign uncluttered by policy detail, Trump did reveal on Monday how he hopes to fulfill his policy objective of making the Mexican government pay for the 1600km, immigrant-resistant wall he proposes to build on the Mexican border  he'll block the flow of billions of dollars sent home in small parcels, as money transfers by Mexicans in the US to their dependent families. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is expected to beat rival Hillary Clinton in Wisconsin. Credit:AP In response to questions from The Washington Post, Trump said that his threat to halt the funds, a move that some observers say would decimate the Mexican economy, would be withdrawn if Mexico City agreed to 'a one-time payment of $US5-10 billion' towards the cost of the wall. Sounds like bribery dressed up as policy. Think about it  holding the little guys and their families to ransom is a bit like punishing women who have abortions. Hillary Clinton has been campaigning in New York this week. Credit:Mike Groll

EJ Dionne, writing in The Washington Post, concludes: "All these episodes tumbling one upon the other ratify what Trump skeptics said all along; that he is utterly unprepared to be a serious candidate, let alone president of the US; that an endless stream of insults against all who get in his way wears thin over time; that he is winging it and stubbornly refusing to do the homework the enterprise he's engaged in requires; and that trashing ethnic and religions minorities can win you a fair number of votes but not, thank God, a majority of Americans." But underpinning the growing doubt raised by Trump's stump performance is the Wisconsin demographics. Working against Trump is the state's average to above average score in all educational categories; above average religious adherence; and a significant population whose ancestors came from Protestant Europe  who observers say are less inclined to vote for Trump. Ted Cruz, right, with Wisconsin governor Scott Walker, in Madison, Wisconsin on Monday. Credit:AP Analysts expect Trump to do well in sparsely populated rural areas, but that a hammer blow to his hopes for victory will come in the densely populated suburbs of Milwaukee; and among college-educated, middle-class voters clustered in the state's southeast. Far from clear is the impact Wisconsin will have on the Trump and Clinton delegate counts for their respective party conventions in July.

Sanders is more likely to slow, rather than to derail the Clinton drive to lock up the Democratic nomination before delegate assemble in Philadelphia. But if Trump loses in Wisconsin, he is in trouble; with some pundits predicting the inevitability of a convention floor brawl for the Republican nomination in the event that Trump loses Wisconsin. Before Wisconsin, Trump holds 736 delegates; Cruz holds 505 and reportedly his campaign has been more nimble than Trump's in looping back to states that have already voted, to lock in the support of delegates who for now are committed to other nominees, but who will be freed to vote as they please after the initial convention ballot. The various elements of the 'Never Trump' movement within the Republican Party have not articulated their sense of the margin by which Trump would have to fall short of the 1237 delegates required to guarantee him the nomination  but Trump has suggested there could be riots if there is a convention plot to rob him of his prize, no matter how tenuous his grip might be. As the resurgent Cruz stalks Trump for the nomination, both the Texan and the New Yorker are showing increasing irritation at the refusal by third-running Ohio Governor John Kasich to accede to their demands that he quit the race and leave them to fight it out  man-to-man.
Police on Monday erected barricades around the parliament in Reykjavik as protesters beat drums and pelted the legislature with eggs and yogurt. Almost 10,000 people gathered, according to police, while organisers said the figure was twice as high. Thousands more had signed up on Facebook to attend a second round of protests due to take place on Tuesday afternoon.

After a meeting with the prime minister, Grimsson said he had asked for talks with the main parties before making a decision.

Stockholm: Prime Minister Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson has asked for parliament to be dissolved after the opposition called a vote of no confidence in the government, Iceland's President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson said on Tuesday.

Opposition lawmakers put forward a motion of no confidence and urged the prime minister to resign, a call that has since been supported by some of Gunnlaugsson's own party members. The premier had said on his Facebook page he wanted to continue but was ready to call snap elections if his coalition partner decided that was the best path forward.

Protesters in Reykjavik. Credit:AP

The confidence vote may take place on Thursday, according to Birgitta Jonsdottir, a spokeswoman for the Pirate Party, which brought the motion. Lawmakers weren't due to meet on Tuesday. A group of nine local government politicians in the prime minister's Progressive Party have signed a Facebook statement urging him to resign.

Gunnlaugsson, who rules with the backing of a party led by his Finance Minister Bjarni Benediktsson, had earlier refused to step down. Instead, the 41-year-old premier urged parliament to approach the matter "calmly and honestly," and told lawmakers he has never hidden funds in tax havens.

The finance minister said on Monday it isn't clear that the government can survive, according to an interview by news site Kjarninn. Benediktsson, who was also revealed to have held a stake in an offshore company, has said he disclosed everything to the Icelandic tax authorities at the time. The company, which was formed to buy property in Dubai, didn't make the intended purchases and was later de-registered, he said.
Mr Dobrindt, a member of the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU), which has sharply criticised German Chancellor Angela Merkel's open-door refugee policy, said the move would send a signal that Germany was not prepared to welcome all migrants with open arms.

"Germany could contribute and support Austrian efforts at the Brenner [Pass] with manpower," Mr Dobrindt told the Muenchner Merkur paper.

German Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt says his country should help Austria control the border with Italy and signal not all migrants are welcome. Credit:Getty Images

Mrs Merkel has been critical of tighter border controls and is instead banking on a European Union-Turkey deal that took effect on Monday and gives Ankara political and financial benefits in return for taking back refugees and migrants who have crossed to Greece.
News reports from the front lines said that the fighting, which included tanks, heavy artillery and aircraft at its peak, had indeed died down. But it was unclear how long the temporary halt in hostilities would hold, as officials from the United States, France and Russia planned trips to the region later this week to mediate between the sides of the conflict.

At least 50 people have died since heavy fighting resumed last Saturday on the front lines of one of the former Soviet Union's most intractable ethnic conflicts, pitting Christian Armenians against Muslim Azeris. The ceasefire was declared at noon on Tuesday by officials from Azerbaijan and from the unrecognised republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian enclave that is formally a part of Azerbaijan but has its own government with military and financial support from the Armenian government.

Moscow: Amid strident calls from world leaders for restraint, Azerbaijan and the Armenian-backed breakaway republic of Nagorno-Karabakh have announced an immediate ceasefire to halt the worst outbreak of violence over the disputed territory in decades.

Backed by Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh declared independence from Azerbaijan as the Soviet Union collapsed, and the bloody war that followed left about 30,000 dead and an unclear future for the territory. A ceasefire was signed in 1994, but years of negotiations under the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe have failed to yield a long-term political solution to the conflict. Sporadic fighting has continued along the "line of contact" between the two sides, though never with the ferocity seen this week.

An explosion of a downed Azerbaijani drone in the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan. Credit:AP

"Everyone understands that the status quo is not only unacceptable, but also unsustainable, and it cannot last for another two decades like it has been,"said Azerbajani ambassador to the United States Elin Suleymanov in a telephone interview. The Azerbaijani government is frustrated with the slow pace of the negotiations for a political settlement, he said, and wants to see a complete withdrawal of ethnic Armenian forces from Nagorno-Karabakh.

The cause of this week's violence is disputed. Officials from Armenia and the Nagorno-Karabakh territory said that Azerbaijan launched a broad offensive on Saturday, prompting a counter-attack. Suleymanov said that Azerbaijani forces were forced to seize strategic heights in the disputed territory to protect themselves from shelling attacks. In coming negotiations, he said, it would be an "absurd proposition" and a "major non-starter" for Azerbaijan to cede control of that land.

As both sides announced a break in the fighting, Western and Russian officials prepared a series of high-level visits to Azerbaijan, Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, to seek a more stable peace. The three countries are the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, which is tasked with mediating peace talks between the sides.
A statement issued by the prime minister's office said he and his wife "have never sought to hide these [offshore] assets from Icelandic tax authorities and taxes have been paid accordingly in Iceland". Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson leaves after holding a meeting at Iceland's Parliament in Reykjavik, on Tuesday. Credit:APTN/AP "Even The Guardian and other media covering the story have confirmed that they have not seen any evidence to suggest that the prime minister, his wife or [their company] Wintris engaged in any actions involving tax avoidance, tax evasion, or any dishonest financial gain," the statement said. In response to the protests, Mr Gunnlaugsson on Tuesday asked the country's president to dissolve parliament and call an early election. Forced to resign after Panama Papers revelations: Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson. Credit:Bloomberg

But in an almost unheard-of move, the president refused the advice of the prime minister, saying he wanted to consult with the rest of the coalition. Ms Jonsdottir, a member of parliament for the Iceland's Pirate Party, says Mr Gunnlaugsson had taken his colleagues by surprise with his visit to the president. People protest in front of Iceland's Parliament in Reykjavik on Tuesday after the leak of millions of records on offshore accounts claimed its first high profile victim, the country's prime minister. Credit:AP "He had not consulted with anybody and they were like so pissed off," she said. "They did not conceal it, they were just seething." They had then forced him to resign, she says.

People protest in Reykjavik on Tuesday amid outrage over revelations Prime Minister Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson used a shell company to conceal a conflict of interest. Credit:AP "It's been a really long day this whole day was totally bizarre in so many different ways." If there was to be an election Ms Jonsdottir  as her party's current leading spokesperson  could end up prime minister. A picture mimicking Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson near the Icelandic Parliament building in downtown Reykjavik. Credit:Getty Images Despite only having three MPs out of 63 in the Althingi, a year ago this group of activists, poets and hackers took the lead in the polls  as the favourite party for a third of voters.

In the most recent Gallup poll last week, the Pirates stood to gain 36 per cent of the vote, making it more popular than the two government parties (Independence and Progressive) put together. "It is very possible that the Pirate Party will be a large party if there are snap elections this year," Ms Jonsdottir said. "But like we've seen today, one day in politics can be very eventful and things can turn around very quickly. "Like I always say, it's birds in the woods and I don't want to count them until I have some in my hands, which would be the results of elections." She says she and her colleagues are still surprised by the popularity of their party  "it's the big riddle we're always trying to solve".

"It's not only because we are a party that has not been a part of government, I think it is also because people sense that we present changes that revolve around changing the systems, rather than changing minor things that might easily be changed back, which seems to be the pattern of modern politics." Icelanders have been "just really pissed off" by the revelations in the Panama Papers, she says. "They were really shocked to see themselves through the eyes of the world like that they want a new government. They want a vote. "So I don't think (the change of prime minister) is going to solve anything. It is lengthening the hanging rope." She says a planned vote of no confidence by minor parties in the Althingi will probably fail, but she would not be surprised if the government called a snap poll within the next few months, after securing its legacy.

If they try to brazen it out, they can expect more big protests  including a large one being organised for this weekend. "I would just like for the government to acknowledge that there is no trust," Ms Jonsdottir said. "If we want to save face in the international community something more needs to happen. "When you have a sense of complete distrust like we are experiencing in Iceland then things can't just go back to normal, you know?" Jonsdottir entered parliament in 2009 as part of a coalition called the Civic Movement.
Bangkok: Australian military personnel, including special force commandos, are taking part in three-nation war games near the flashpoint waters of the South China Sea that have riled China.

China's state newsagency Xinhua warned "outsiders" against interfering in South China Sea territorial disputes as the 12-day exercises got underway in the Philippines.

US and Philippine military officers stand at attention during the entrance of the colours at the opening ceremony of the annual joint US-Philippines military exercise. Credit:AP

Xinhua warned that tensions in the region have risen to a "tipping point" and "some specific nations take delight in sowing seeds of discord between China and rival claimants, and boosting their military presences and patrols to thwart China in the name of safeguarding the freedom of navigation."

"However, a provocation so fear-mongering and untimely as such is likely to boomerang on the initiators," Xinhua said.
In Japan, it was said that sacrificing a woman at a rushing river would placate the spirit who lived there, allowing for the construction of bridges and the safe passage of boats. In Greek myth, the warrior king Agamemnon decides to kill his own daughter in exchange for a favourable wind on the way to Troy. The Egyptians buried some of their pharaohs with dozens of servants when they died, ensuring that their needs would still be met in the afterlife. Bodies found entombed in bogs across Europe may have been slain as gifts for higher powers. The great civilisations of Mesoamerica killed people, smashed food and sank treasure to pay their debts to their gods.

The ancients could kill you in a million different ways, and give you a million different reasons why it needed to be done. In much of the pre-modern world, ritual sacrifice was framed as necessary for the good of the society at large  the only way to guarantee, say, a plentiful harvest or success in war.

Hawaiian sacrifice, from Jacques Aragos account of French navigator Louis de Freycinets travels around the world from 1817 to 1820. Credit:Jacques Arago, 1822

But the priests and rulers who sanctioned such killings may have had another motive, a new study suggests. An analysis of more than seven dozen Austronesian cultures revealed that the practice of human sacrifices tended to make societies increasingly less egalitarian and eventually gave rise to strict, inherited class systems. In other words, ritual killings helped keep the powerful in power and everyone else in check.

That finding might seem intuitive  societies in which some members are habitually killed probably value certain lives over others  but it has broader implications, the researchers said in the journal Nature. It suggests a "darker link between religion and the evolution of modern hierarchical societies," they write, in which "ritual killings helped humans transition from the small egalitarian groups of our ancestors and the large, stratified societies were live in today".
PHILIPSBURG:--- The Ministry of General Affairs hereby makes it known that the Public / Customer Services at the following three Government Departments; Finance Department, Records & Information Management (DIV), Department of Economic Licenses has been restored and they will be opened for regular operations on Tuesday April 5th 2016.

While the electrical problems were resolved, the Receivers Office, Civil Registry, Public Service Center - Simpson Bay continue to be affected by technical issues, said Erno Labega Acting Secretary General at the Ministry General Affairs.

All efforts are being made to resolve the technical issues as quickly as possible so that these vital Government Departments can return to full operations.

Once again The Government of Sint Maarten apologizes to the community of Sint Maarten for any inconvenience this situation may cause.
After the second sold-out edition on 31 March and a total of 200 participants in the Dia di Fundashon, the organizers VanEps Kunneman VanDoorne and The Galan Group consider the introduction of this new corporate governance event a success. Participants response indicates that the concept meets a need for broad training, which was not met earlier.

The objective of the Dia di Fundashon was to provide the participants with practical tools they can use right away, in order to professionalize the corporate governance of their association or foundation. For that purpose, ten corporate governance experts were brought together, each of whom guided a break-out session on various disciplines within corporate governance. The participants were able to attend three of these interactive sessions.

Siegmond van Lamoen, founder of the non-profit organization I-Animal: I attended both editions of the Dia di Fundashon. Policy and annual planning, leadership, preventing liability: actually all the themes that were on the program are relevant to directors of foundations and associations. So, I wanted to attend as many as possible. Inette Luckmann, director at Childrens Museum, endorses that: You get the opportunity to learn more about various important topics, of which some are not directly in your line. For this reason, the session on taxation really stood out for me. In addition, this was a nice opportunity to meet with other directors, and expand my network.

After the positive feedback, the organizers are considering how to follow up on the tremendous interest. In addition, it is being considered whether the event can be extended to the other islands in the Dutch Caribbean.
Global Capacity Launches Wireless Backup Services for Business Continuity

CHICAGO, IL  (Marketwired)  04/05/16  , the leading connectivity as a service company, announces the availability of its Wireless Backup with managed failover service across a nationwide 4G LTE wireless footprint. Global Capacitys Wireless Backup service provides customers with cost-effective, redundant backup with managed failover for its Internet access services to ensure that customers critical revenue-generating business operations are maintained in the event of a primary service disruption.

This new service is now available to customers that use Global Capacity for their primary access services. The fully automated service leverages managed Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) that enables Global Capacity to actively monitor the primary data network connection; to instantly detect the need for a backup service and initiate failover; and then failback to the primary once service is restored.

In todays economy, businesses cannot afford to halt operations because employees are unable to communicate or process transactions. Businesses require a continuity plan that includes a resilient connection to access data, process transactions and serve customers, says Pat Hannon, Chief Revenue Officer of Global Capacity. With the Wireless Backup option, Global Capacitys customers can rest assured that they have a cost-effective, resilient connectivity service with failover and the ability to have applications continue to perform in the event of an outage. Its instant, secure and seamless.

Global Capacity has added 4G wireless connectivity to its platform to provide nationwide coverage at competitive rates. The optional Wireless Backup service provides businesses with an affordable, high-speed connectivity option in locations that would otherwise require more expensive T1 backup services. Global Capacity customers can now leverage the new 4G LTE service as backup for their Ethernet, T1 or DSL connections. The 4G LTE wireless broadband access delivers asymmetric services with up to 10 Mbps download speeds providing real-time responsiveness to support videos and large file transactions.

To learn more about Global Capacitys Wireless Backup with managed failover services, please see the .

Global Capacity is the leading connectivity as a service company that improves the efficiency and reduces the cost of data network services globally. Through its One Marketplace, the company brings together customers and suppliers with an automated platform that provides ubiquitous network solutions that deliver on its brand promise of Connectivity Made Simple. Global Capacity delivers its innovative solutions to telecommunication carriers, managed service providers, application service providers and enterprise customers globally. Additional information can be found at or by following Global Capacity on and .

iMiller Public Relations for Global Capacity

Tel: +1 866 307 2510

Vice President of Marketing, Global Capacity

Tel: +1 781 902 5216
RadarServices Quarterly The security intelligence review on the most important global cyber attack waves.

Posted by Publisher Internet

Highly professional, targeted attacks by hacker groups on major banks at a historic high: the first cyber attack on a central bank to cause losses worth millions

The case

In February, a cyber attack cost the Central Bank of Bangladesh USD 80 million. Authentication data from its internal network was used to carry out a number of transfers from the New York Federal Reserve Bank to accounts in the Philippines.

Evaluation

The attack bears the hallmark of a highly professional hacker group that must have spent a long time in the central bankis network in order to plan and prepare its attack and access the data and internal processes they needed to successfully implement their strategy at the most opportune time. The attack was carried out on a Thursday evening, the start of the weekend in Bangladesh. The time was carefully chosen. Most institutions have very few, if any, staff available at this time who could detect the presence of severe abnormalities and provide an immediate response.

Counter measures & Outlook

Mechanisms for detecting attackers active in the network, such as Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) or Network-based Intrusion Detection (NIDS) must either have been lacking, failed or their results were not properly analysed and evaluated by those responsible for IT security.

The carefully planned attack was not the only incident in the banking sector during the past three months. One of the most alarming was revealed in February when the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs reported the arrest of a 50-strong group of hackers which had been planning a massive attack on the entire Russian banking system and on the international payment system, particularly SWIFT. On balance, the threat of further attacks by hacker groups on the big banks throughout the world in the second quarter of 2016 remains high.

Ransomware attacks on hospitals, public institutions, industrial companies and private users

Cases

Cyber extortion through ransomware has been subject to a lot of hype all over the world. Locky, Cryptolocker, Cryptowall, Teslacrypt and other variants have been used against large hospitals, city councils and industrial companies throughout the quarter. Institutions in Germany, Austria, the United States and Canada were particularly hard hit. Malicious software made its way into the institutions through a variety of channels and began to encrypt all the data on PCs, entire networks and on cloud services linked to the networks, releasing the encrypted data only after ransom payment.

Evaluation

The distribution strategies of the attackers are becoming more sophisticated. For example, they did not target just single institutions. On the weekend of 12 March, a coordinated attack was carried out via infected advertisements on the websites of the New York Times, the BBC, AOL and the NFL, which are visited by millions of people. It resulted in tens of thousands of infections, with many private users affected.

Most of those affected pay the ransom demand, thereby making this type of attack increasingly attractive. iBuying your way outi is not really a good idea, however, as those willing to pay up are generally sought out by the attackers a second and third time.

Counter measures & Outlook

It would be much better if institutions and companies paid greater attention to preventive security measures to protect both themselves and the users of their online portals. Well established, state-of-the-art mechanisms such as Advanced Threat Detection (ATD), Network-based Intrusion Detection and Continuous Vulnerability Assessments (VAS) are either used too infrequently or are simply not being deployed effectively. However these tools would provide the most effective protection and limit the number of successful attacks, which can be expected to increase disproportionately within the next months, best.

DDoS attacks on online platforms: leading media portals in Sweden and Switzerlandis biggest online shops, unreachable for hours

Cases

The four largest online shops in Switzerland (Digitec, Galaxus, Interdiscount and Microspot) were offline during the weekend of 12 March. On the following weekend, the online portals of the seven leading Swedish media companies (including Dagens Nyheter, Svenska Dagbladet, Expressen, Aftonbladet, Dagens Industri, Sydsvenskan and Helsingborgs Dagblad) were unavailable for several hours. This was due to coordinated DDoS attacks which forced the websites offline by overwhelming them with floods of queries.

Evaluation

Technically, a DDoS attack is not difficult to carry out, and a large number of these attacks take place all over the world every day. However, when major companies from the same sector are attacked simultaneously on a large scale, this adds a new dimension.

Counter measures & Outlook

DDoS attacks are not managed proactively but rather reactively, with rapid detection and analysis underpinning the deployment of the correct remedial actions. As with the targeted attacks on the banks and the ransomware attacks on a wide variety of industries, the DDoS attackers chose the weekend to strike. This is the time when corporate IT security departments have only a skeleton staff, if indeed they have any staff at all. As a result, the attackers are able to cause a more extended and more serious outage of the online platforms.

Based on the general trend towards attacks occurring at off-peak times, we advise large businesses (from around 5,000 employees as a reference value) to consider introducing a 24/7 IT security operation either internally or via an external service provider. This preventative measure significantly mitigates the damage caused by targeted attacks, which will doubtless continue to increase in the future. Such an investment is therefore well spent money.
IT security at law firms: Panama Papers show law offices and their clients worldwide the repercussions of security flaws

Posted by Publisher Internet

How 2.6 terabyte of data can leave a company via the backdoor

2.6 terabyte of data fit on an external USB hard drive and can be taken away very quickly. If the data is stolen from the outside of the company through the IT network, it probably takes a couple of weeks without being discovered, describes Christian Polster, Chief Security Officer at RadarServices, a provider for IT security monitoring, this data volume.

The possibilities for leaking of such a huge data volume reveal the core areas of necessary IT security provisions for law firms: They have to focus on insider threats and external network access by professionally organized hackers.

Professionally organized hackers are on the rise particularly since 2015. In underground forums specialized programmers are sought after in order to attack large law firms. The data value draws attention, whether unpublished corporate financial results, information about upcoming acquisitions or mergers, business secrets or information about sensitive offshore activities are targeted. At the end of March 2016 cyber attacks on various US big-name law firms regularly representing Wall Street banks and Fortune 500 corporations (a.o. Cravath Swaine & Moore and Weil Gotshal & Manges) caused investigations by the FBI.

Insider threats, willfully or unconsciously precipitated damages provoked by employees, are especially relevant for law firms: in order to work cases lawyers and their teams of employees often have wide-ranging access to particularly sensitive client data. Nowadays access is usually available via computers, laptops, tablets and mobile phones without extensive security provisions and access to the internet.

Status quo of IT security at law firms

The degree of protection at law firms is below average compared to their clients such as banks, insurances and other global players, according to Christian Polster. We, however, observe that the demand from law firms for continuous IT security monitoring is currently increasing. Reasons often are large projects for their potential clients. Law firms have to present their detailed IT security measures, let it review by the clients specialized department as well as external specialists and must satisfy the often very high standards by their clients. An incomplete, flawed monitoring can disqualify a law firm from projects. The Panama Papers case shows boldly why these selection criteria for business partners are that essential.

The set of effective IT security measures

Law firms have to focus on the proactive detection of security issues and need to identify internal or external attacks on their IT in real time. The continuous monitoring of the entire IT infrastructure delivers all the necessary information.

First of all, the continuous analysis of vulnerabilities from the inside and the outside: Each day new forms of cyber attacks are developing as well as new security flaws or vulnerabilities are arising. The continuous analysis is the prerequisite in order to detect an insecure encryption.

Secondly, a continuous monitoring of all gateways for malware and all communication channels across corporate boundaries: Hereby the analysis of attachments of all incoming emails and web-downloads in isolated environments (so called sandboxes) is recommended in order to prevent malware from entering the organisations network. Malware is commonly used to attain unauthorized access to the IT network. In addition, the transfer of data by the attacker to an external target in the internet needs to be detected. Therefore comprehensive security monitoring of all systems, data transfers and access to sensitive systems and files is needed. Data transfer from internal to external IPs, where no business relation exists, has to be detected and analysed in real time.

Thirdly, a continuous analysis and correlation of logs of individual systems: Attackers intent to make their movements in the network look as normal as possible. Nevertheless various logins from one user onto numerous systems with different IPs and at the same point in time could look suspicious. All logs from servers, network devices, applications and other central facilities have to be analysed centrally and correlated with the results from intrusion detection systems. By the means of network data analysis as well as log analysis it is monitored, which data volumes are transferred in the organisation and for example copied from the network onto laptops or directly to USB hard drives or USB sticks.

In addition, wide-ranging organisational security measures are must haves for law firms. Access privileges and access possibilities for employees have to be restricted, access to client data on servers has to be monitored, server data needs to be encrypted, policies stipulated and continuously monitored. Reliability checks by employees of all hierarchy levels as well as their handling of accessible data are further indispensable security provisions. A general prohibition for storing data on USB sticks or alerts in case an USB mass storage is plugged in are advisable. The prohibition of cloud uploads (a.o. dropbox) is recommendable at least for defined employee sub groups. Regular training concerning IT security-related issues for raising the awareness across the corporation should be organised.

The effective evaluation of the results generated by the automated tools and the review of implemented organisational security measures requires expert support. Experts do not only analyse data and correctly evaluate it but also configure the tools and adapt them continuously to the environment.

This comprehensive set of highly specialized analyses is offered by managed services providers. The special feature of the portfolio by RadarServices is that data never leaves the organisation of the client, thus highest confidentiality and security is guaranteed.
PipelineDeals Enables Exponential Growth for Reno Renovations

SEATTLE, WA  (Marketwired)  04/05/16  PipelineDeals, the leading provider of cloud-based business relationship software for SMBs, was selected by Reno Renovations to help improve sales pipeline visibility and sales to operations alignment. With PipelineDeals, the restoration company enjoys an improved workflow giving them greater clarity on deals in their sales pipeline. Their whole team uses PipelineDeals to help coordinate the sales process and ongoing projects. Now, Reno Renovations is able to sustain their growing business by starting, developing and growing customer relationships.

PipelineDeals has made our lives so much easier by giving us the tools to manage our customer relationships, said Jullian Shuttleworth, office manager at Reno Renovations. Our clients feel like were on top of things, and we feel confident that were on top of all our deals. PipelineDeals is empowering us to realize 10 percent year-over-year growth.

For years, Reno Renovation struggled to manage the handoff from sales to project managers because of a complicated sales workflow. With a complex tangle of spreadsheets, Reno Renovation couldnt keep customer data straight, let alone run reports to see what was in their sales pipeline. Now, with PipelineDeals easily customizable sales and account management software, the companys managers from sales to the job site have solid information to work with and the tools needed to manage their workflow and take care of customers.

In addition to helping manage customer relationships, PipelineDeals is an integral tool for Reno Renovations to structure day-to-day responsibilities of its sales team. Managers and estimators alike now have constant access to information about customers and active deals to know the next best action to take and when to close deals throughout the entire sales lifecycle. PipelineDeals gives the entire sales team the tools to manage tasks and sales presentations. Everyone is now on the same page and can operate efficiently.

PipelineDeals is optimized for small businesses like Reno Renovations, said JP Werlin, CEO and founder of PipelineDeals. By making the sales pipeline accessible and visible with easy-to-use software, we created a platform where small businesses can take control of the experience they provide to their customers. Our customers are assured theyre investing in a technology that helps them take their business to the next level and really compete against other companies out there who are trying to take their lunch.

To view the full Reno Renovation customer success story, visit:

Founded in 2006, PipelineDeals () provides small to medium-sized businesses with the only sales and account management platform to deliver certainty in every action to start, develop and grow customer relationships. With a focus on service, PipelineDeals seeks to change the way businesses manage their sales pipeline and grow revenue. PipelineDeals boasts more than 4,000 customers in more than 60 countries, was recently named an fastest growing company, awarded a top customer satisfaction award by and named one of by the Puget Sound Business Journal.

Established in 2011, Reno Renovations offers preservation, rehab and general construction services in the greater Chicago area. The family-owned company outgrew the Excel spreadsheet system they were using and became a PipelineDeals customer in 2014.

Contact:

Heather Smith

303-752-3552 x 224
Neo4j Powers the Biggest Financial Leaks in History  The Tax Haven Scandals Exposed in The Panama Papers

SAN MATEO, CA  (Marketwired)  04/05/16  Neo Technology, creator of , the worlds leading graph database, has just announced that the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) has used its technology to unearth The Panama Papers ()  an expose of offshore tax haven activity of many members of the global elite.

The Papers expose the internal operations of one of the worlds leading firms in incorporation of offshore entities, Panama-headquartered Mossack Fonseca. The 2.6 Terabytes of data that make up the files were obtained by German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung and shared with Washington-headquartered ICIJ, a network of independent reporting teams around the world, and more than 100 media partners.

Key to not just this scoop but a number of its other major investigations is Neo4j  the graph database technology with the Linkurious graph visualization platform that is being used to organize and access this highly connected data, as it did for its last major finance data scoop, .

The reason: Graph databases excel at managing highly connected data and complex queries. Instead of using tables the way a relational database does, graphs use special structures incorporating nodes, properties and edges to define and store data, making them highly proficient at analyzing the relationships and any interconnections between data  and allowing journalists to follow the money easier than ever.

According to Mar Cabra, the ICIJs Data and Research Unit Editor, using Neo4j was the only solution available to meet her requirements. Its a revolutionary discovery tool thats transformed our investigative journalism process, she confirms, because relationships are all important in telling you where the criminality lies, who works with whom, and so on. Understanding relationships at huge scale is where graph techniques excel.

At least 11.5m documents, and far larger than any data leaks we have investigated before, we needed a technology that could handle these unprecedented volumes of highly connected data quickly, easily and efficiently.

We also needed an easy-to-use and intuitive solution that didnt require the intervention of any data scientist or developers, so that journalists around the globe would work with the data, regardless of their technical abilities. Linkurious Enterprise () was the best platform to explore this data and to share insights in a secure way. Using the Linkurious graph visualization platform with Neo4j is a powerful combination, she adds.

According to Neo Technologys co-founder and CEO Emil Eifrem, Whatever else we can be sure of as the Panama Papers scandal unfolds, its only with world-class tools like Neo4j and Linkurious that world-class investigation of vast and complex datasets like this can happen in our Information Age.

Graph databases are the only option when trying to make sense of the vast terabytes of connected data that we are producing more and more of, and are an essential tool for international agencies, governments, financial services and security firms trying to uncover the truth.

Neo Technology is the creator of Neo4j, the worlds leading graph database that brings data relationships to the fore. From companies offering personalized product and service recommendations; to websites adding social capabilities; to telecom providers diagnosing network issues; to enterprises reimagining master data, identity, and access models; organizations adopt graph databases as the best way to model, store and query both data and its relationships. Neo Technology researchers pioneered the modern graph database and have been instrumental in bringing the power of the graph to numerous organizations worldwide. Large enterprises like Walmart, eBay, UBS, Nomura, Cisco, CenturyLink, HP, Telenor, TomTom, Lufthansa, and the National Geographic Society, as well as startups like Medium, Polyvore, Zephyr Health and Elementum use Neo4j to unlock business value from data relationships.

Neo Technology is a privately-held company funded by Fidelity Growth Partners Europe, Sunstone Capital, Conor Venture Partners, Creandum and Dawn Capital, and is headquartered in San Mateo, CA, with regional offices in Sweden, UK, Germany, France and Malaysia. For more information, please visit .

Tanya Carlsson

Kulesa Faul for Neo Technology, Inc.

707-529-6139
DNDi: PowerFolder increases investment in E-Health

Meerbusch/Geneva, 06.04.2016  The German company dal33t GmbH from Meerbusch, which is specialized in Sync & Share Solutions, donated an additional set of PowerFolder Enterprise licenses to the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi). Thus, the since 2014 existing cooperation of the cloud specialist with the non-profit organization from the healthcare sector will be further expanded. The additional licenses are rapidly needed by DNDi, especially for new studies in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), to add more clinical sites and staff.

The fight against neglected diseases needs a reliable Sync & Share Solution

DNDi develops safe, effective, and  most importantly  affordable drugs for neglected diseases. These include sleeping sickness, Chagas disease, leishmaniasis, paediatric HIV, filaria diseases, mycetoma, and hepatitis C. A billion people worldwide  including 500 million children  are suffering from these diseases, that are responsible for 90 percent of the global burden of disease although the pharmaceutical market invests worldwide just more than ten percent of its research effort in this field.

DNDi operates globally through a number of private and public partnerships in more than 40 countries  including 50 public research centres and 20 pharmaceutical and biotech companies. DNDi supports health staff and doctors at several clinical research facilities with treatments and diagnostic tools.

Pascal Carpentier, DNDi Head of Information Systems and Technologies: We use PowerFolder to collect microscope videos and photos taken in our hospitals in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to find possible indications of an infection with the sleeping sickness. It often involves large amounts of data, which must be sent as soon as possible, in a safe and especially reliable way. For Pascal Carpentier, PowerFolder is the best solution. Our network is based on satellite links. PowerFolder  with its compression and block-transfer  allows us an extremely safe and cost-effective data transmission. Due to the high sensitivity of the patient data only a private cloud solution is possible. We are very pleased with PowerFolder. In future we will also plan to use it in Africa and Latin America.

The Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) was established in Geneva in 2003 by renowned research and health organizations such as Doctors Without Borders (MSF) or the Institut Pasteur. The organization is active in research and development of affordable drugs for neglected diseases through partnerships with the public and private sectors (universities, research institutes, pharmaceutical companies, etc). DNDi aims to improve the quality of life and health of people suffering from these diseases  by an alternative model for drug development and by ensuring equal access to new and adapted therapies to patients in need. DNDi is funded by governments, private foundations, and individual donors.
When Arlene Golembiewski met Chief Charles Caulker in Sierra Leone four decades ago, she was a Peace Corps volunteer. She revisited the country in 2011 for a second time and reconnected with Caulker, who had established a secondary school for young girls whose parents couldn't afford to pay the $20 a year for them to attend.Seeing a need in the community, Golembiewski created a scholarship fund for families to send their daughters to school.She returned to Sierra Leone many times after and then, in an attempt to give the Bumpeh Chiefdom a volunteer presence in the U.S., founded Sherbro Foundation in 2013.Golembiewski, a Columbia-Tusculum resident and Procter & Gamble retiree, and Caulker will be at the Hyde Park Methodist Church on April 6 at 7 p.m. to discuss Sherbro Foundation and its partnership with Chief Caulker. Their programs include advancing girls' education, adult literacy and computer literacy to help the Bumpeh Chiefdom people overcome poverty."The program is meant to be a unique opportunity for people not to just hear from someone in Sierra Leone but from a traditional leader in Sierra Leone," Golembiewski says. "This is one of the things that makes our work different  if not unique  in that we're working with the local community and their leader down to the village level."Chief Caulker has lead Bumpeh Chiefdom for three decades, including an 11-year long civil war and 2014 Ebola outbreak. The chiefdom is one of Sierra Leone's most rural and poor chiefdoms; most residents live on $1 a day.But disaster didn't stop Caulker from feeling defeated.In collaboration with Sherbro Foundation, Caulker created the first Community Computer Center. And most recently, the chiefdom is trying to introduce village fruit orchards that will empower residents to generate a sustainable income to fund their children's education and community development.Golembiewski encourages anyone who is interested in learning about Sierra Leone and helping the country rebuild to attend the free program."Everyone here can make a difference," she says. "People think it's difficult to tackle something like poverty in one of the poorest countries on the other side of the world, but it's not impossible." Attend the program at 7 p.m. April 6 at Hyde Park Methodist Church, 1342 Grace Ave., Hyde Park. Donate to help support Sherbro Foundation's programs and mission. Contact Arlene Golembiewski for more information on how you can help.
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The prototype version of XCOR's Lynx space plane is seen here under construction at the company's headquarters in Mojave, California, on Feb. 19, 2016.

As Virgin Galactic rolled out its brand-new SpaceShipTwo during a grand gala in Mojave, California, earlier this year, another private spacecraft was coming together virtually next door, with much less fanfare.

That other vehicle is the Lynx rocket plane, a reusable spacecraft being built by XCOR Aerospace. Like SpaceShipTwo, Lynx is designed to carry paying customers and scientific payloads to suborbital space and back.

The Lynx currently under construction is a prototype, and it was a wingless shell when Space.com dropped by XCOR's Mojave headquarters on Feb. 19  the same day that Virgin unveiled its shiny new SpaceShipTwo, dubbed "Unity," at a hangar just down the road. [Watch: Inside XCOR: Our Exclusive Video Tour]

XCOR aims to take paying passengers on a suborbital weightless hop to the edge of space. See how XCOR's Lynx space plane works in our full infographic (Image credit: by Karl Tate, Infographics artist)

But Lynx's four-engine propulsion system is nearly ready to go, and the prototype could conceivably take to the skies for the first time in early 2017, Harry van Hulten, XCOR's director of flight testing and one of two test pilots for the company, told Space.com.

"I hope those guys are successful," van Hulten said, referring to Virgin Galactic. "We hope to follow in their footsteps."

Suborbital space tourism

Lynx has seats for one pilot and one paying passenger. The vehicle will take off and land horizontally on a runway, like an airplane. But it will go much higher than any commercial jet, reaching a maximum altitude of about 64 miles (103 kilometers). [How XCOR's Lynx Rocket Plane Works (Infographic)]

The Karman Line  the traditionally accepted boundary where outer space begins  lies 62 miles (100 km) above Earth's surface, so Lynx passengers will earn their astronaut wings.

During an operational flight, Lynx's four rocket engines will fire for about 4 minutes, blasting the craft up to suborbital space. The pilot and passenger will be exposed to a maximum of 4 G's of acceleration for about 30 seconds, van Hulten said. (One G is the standard force felt at Earth's surface. Apollo astronauts endured between 3.3 and 7.2 G's of maximum force during their capsules' re-entry to Earth's atmosphere, according to NASA records.)

"After that, we're a glider," van Hulten said.

Harry van Hulten, director of flight testing at XCOR Aerospace, with the engine assembly for the company's Lynx space plane, which is currently in development. (Image credit: Mike Wall/Space.com)

Lynx passengers will see the curvature of the Earth against the blackness of space, and they'll experience 4 to 5 minutes of weightlessness during their hour-long flight.

The overall experience will be similar, but not identical, to the one offered by SpaceShipTwo. Virgin Galactic's vehicle is also a suborbital space plane that lands on a runway, but it will blast off in midair, after being released by a carrier aircraft.

SpaceShipTwo can seat six passengers, and it will stay aloft for about 2.5 hours on a typical flight. And SpaceShipTwo tickets are more expensive  $250,000, compared to $150,000 for Lynx. (To date, about 700 people have reserved a SpaceShipTwo seat, Virgin Galactic representatives have said; 350 people have bought a ticket to ride Lynx, van Hulten told Space.com.)

XCOR and Virgin Galactic aren't the only companies in the suborbital spaceflight game. Blue Origin, which is run by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, has developed its own crew-carrying system  a reusable six-passenger capsule and rocket named New Shepard. This system has already flown to suborbital space and back three times on uncrewed test flights, the most recent of which occurred Saturday (April 2). [Blue Origin Launch Photos: New Shepard's 3rd Test Flight]

Science, too

Space tourism isn't the only anticipated business for Lynx, SpaceShipTwo or New Shepard; all three vehicles are designed to accommodate scientific payloads as well.

Lynx will carry experiments to suborbital space and back, helping scientists gauge how brief exposure to microgravity conditions and/or increased radiation levels affect a variety of biological processes, chemical reactions and other phenomena, XCOR officials have said.

But the space plane may also end up deploying scientific gear, van Hulten said  ejecting sensors into Earth's atmosphere to gather meteorological data, for example, and, further in the future, perhaps even launching small satellites into orbit.

"That gives us a suborbital spaceship that can do multiple missions," van Hulten said.

And there should be many opportunities to collect data, if all goes according to plan. Lynx's relightable, reusable rocket engines should eventually allow the space plane to fly four missions per day, said van Hulten.

The future

Lynx isn't ready to take off just yet, and there will still be a lot of work to do even after the prototype gets off the ground: The Lynx currently under construction is designed to reach a maximum altitude of just 38 miles (61 km) or so, van Hulten said. (SpaceShipTwo, by contrast, is already in the flight-test phase, though progress was slowed considerably by the tragic October 2014 accident that killed co-pilot Michael Alsbury and injured pilot Peter Siebold. Indeed, Unity was built to replace the vehicle destroyed in that crash, which was known as Enterprise.)

But van Hulten and other XCOR personnel are confident that the company can help open up the space frontier  and their vision doesn't stop with Lynx or the suborbital realm.

"Our goal is to make space accessible," van Hulten said. "After Lynx, we want to go orbital. But that's far ahead on the horizon."

Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com.
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Picture it, a young Jimmy McGill, looking at a Playboy magazine in his fathers store when he was supposed to be working. When a man walked in, told Papa McGill a storying about his sick son and on the way back from picking up his son's medication his car broke down. Papa McGill offered to take a look at the customers car, but the customer said all he really wanted was $5 to take a cab, because he didnt want to take a chance with his old car. But Jimmy caught on and know it was a scam and warned his father. Papa McGill told Jimmy, what if he's telling the truth. So Papa McGill ended up giving the customer $10 plus he offered to find some spark plugs to fix the customer's car. While he was in the back, Jimmy was at the counter and the customer looked at Jimmy and said how much for a carton of cigarettes? And pulled out a packet full of money and bought two cartons. Then when he left he told Jimmy,  there are two kinds of people in this world, Wolfs and Sheep, Wolfs and Sheep, figure what kind of person you want to be kid.



There are several things in this world that annoys Mike, one is to hiring Jimmy as a lawyer the other is people thinking that hes scared of someone or something. When Mike had to go to the DA to recant his testimony about the gun being his, they all knew his was lying, and they said are you scared or are they paying off? After that comment Mike and Jimmy walked out of the room. When they got to the elevator Jimmy told Mike that he did the right thing because he also had a run in with Tuco. Meaning Tuco had him hogged tied in the desert and broke two men's legs in front of him. Mike couldn't care less, got into the elevator and told Jimmy to take the next one.



When Jimmy got back to Santa Fe he called Omar to his office and had him dictate a resignation letter to Davis and Main. What Jimmy didnt realized was if he quit, Jimmy would have pay back his signing bonus. So it was a lack of judgement on Jimmy part, a moment of weakness, Omar understood... Although on his way back to Albuquerque to see Kim, Jimmy stopped at a red light and saw a blow up man, at that moment Saul Goodman was born. The colorful suits, crazy behavior, and that overall jackass that we all love to hate. Was beautifully displayed in a montage unlike Ive ever seen before.



After Jimmy got fired he headed over to HHM to make Kim an offer. He said with his signing bonus he could pay off her debt and make her a partner tomorrow. Jimmy told Kim that they are great together and lets be our own bosses. But Kim had to know one thing first, what kind of lawyer was Jimmy going to be, clean, always playing by the rules or colorful? Jimmy couldnt lie to Kim and told her that if they are going to do this he needs to go into it as himself, so yes, colorful. Kim knew it wouldnt work, she wanted to protect her relationship with Jimmy and most of all her career. So she declined his offer, which deep down I think it broke his heart.



Kims interview with Schweikart went great, in fact we learned a little bit more about her past, ourselves. When they asked Kim why she moved to New Mexico she said she wanted more After the interview Kim took a moment on the roof of the parking garage to have a cigarette. She took out the business card that Jimmy made Wexler - McGill and ripped it in half, in doing so she got an idea.



Kim drove straight to the nail salon, but Jimmy was in a meeting. When he was finished Kim told Jimmy that she wasnt going to take the job at Schweikart and that she had decided to start her own firm. Jimmy was over the moon happy, but there has a hitch, she didnt want Wexler - McGill instead Wexler and McGill, that way same office, different firms. In doing so they can protect theyre relationship and careers from one another.













About the Author - Shirleena Cunningham TV Review for SpoilerTV. Has been with SpoilerTV for over a year. My credits included Law and Order Special Victims Unit, Better Call Saul How I Met Your Mother, and GIRLS. I go to the Paley Center Media events located in Los Angeles. I'm also a big animal rights activists. I'm a Photographer, Writer, Graphic Designer and Illustrator. All Reviews) Recent Reviews








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Trigger Happy  The doctors work frantically to save a young boy who was accidentally shot. Meanwhile, Arizona is upset when Callie tries to make an important decision about Sophias future without consulting her, on Greys Anatomy, THURSDAY, APRIL 21 (8:00-9:00 p.m. EDT), on the ABC Television Network.Greys Anatomy stars Ellen Pompeo as Meredith Grey, Justin Chambers as Alex Karev, Chandra Wilson as Miranda Bailey, James Pickens, Jr. as Richard Webber, Sara Ramirez as Callie Torres, Kevin McKidd as Owen Hunt, Jessica Capshaw as Arizona Robbins, Jesse Williams as Jackson Avery, Sarah Drew as April Kepner, Caterina Scorsone as Amelia Shepherd, Camilla Luddington as Jo Wilson, Jerrika Hinton as Stephanie Edwards, Kelly McCreary as Maggie Pierce, Jason George as Ben Warren, Martin Henderson as Nathan Riggs and Giacomo Gianniotti as Andrew DeLuca.Guest starring is Samantha Sloyan as Penny Blake and Wilmer Valderrama as Kyle Diaz.Greys Anatomy was created and is executive produced by Shonda Rhimes (Scandal, How to Get Away with Murder). Betsy Beers (Scandal, How to Get Away with Murder), Mark Gordon (Saving Private Ryan), Rob Corn (Chicago Hope), William Harper, Stacy McKee, Zoanne Clack and Debbie Allen are executive producers. Greys Anatomy is produced by ABC Studios.Trigger Happy was written by Zoanne Clack and directed by Zetna Fuentes.




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Fast  Its career day at Quantico as the NATS meet representatives from various FBI branches to help them decide their future paths. In the future, Alex continues to search for the terrorist, and in the process, discovers some familiar faces  including one who knows the terrorists endgame, on Quantico, SUNDAY, APRIL 24 (10:0011:00 EDT), on the ABC Television Network.Quantico stars Priyanka Chopra as Alex Parrish, Josh Hopkins as Liam OConnor, Aunjanue Ellis as Miranda Shaw, Jake McLaughlin as Ryan Booth, Tate Ellington as Simon Asher, Johanna Braddy as Shelby Wyatt, Graham Rogers as Caleb Haas and Yasmine Al Massri as Nimah and Raina Amin.Guest starring are Mark Pellegrino as Deputy Director Clayton Haas, Jacob Artist as Brandon, Lenny Platt as Drew Perales, Li Jun Li as Iris Chang, Jay Armstrong Johnson as Will Olsen and Ari Cohen as Dan Berlin.Fast was written by Dan Pulick and directed by J. Miller Tobin.Executive producers of Quantico are Joshua Safran, Mark Gordon, Nicholas Pepper, Jake Coburn and Robert Sertner. Quantico is produced by ABC Studios.
On paper, the country of Transylvania and more specifically the town of Tatrov are described with a great attention to detail. You really feel like youre in the middle of it. To the point when you dont really believe The CW can transcribe it faithfully with a normal budget. And as far as I know, they werent given a special treatment. But I remember I felt the same thing when reading The 100 pilot and the resultat was quite convicing. As long as it doesn look like Once Upon A Time, theyre fine. If they cant set up the right dark, dangerous, frightening atmosphere, then the whole thing is doomed to fail. And there are so many different settings In fact, the whole pilot is about our heroine moving from one place to another. From New York, where she comes from for an opening scene where shes established as a know-it-all smart ass duh to the Lugosi hotel, the bar appropriately called The Slaughtered Lamb, so many streets, fields, the constables office, a farmhouse, a windmill, an antiquities shop, the old city filled with extras, the Scholomance school, the cemetery, London through flashbacks, the Castle Dracula well, it never ends. The whole pilot works as a long addition of places and characters. Its exhausting. And not very rewarding for the audience.
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For physical therapists, theres plenty to be happy about in Danbury.

ValuePenguin, a publishing firm based out of New York City, recently ranked Danbury as the No. 2 city in the country for physical therapists, due in part to the increasing demand for their services in the region and the high salaries the job commands.

Physical therapists, according to the study, make on average about $95,000 a year in the area. The Danbury area also has a higher percentage of physical therapists in the workforce than the rest of the country, the study found, indicating a strong demand for their skills.

The Danbury area, interestingly enough, is in need of a lot of therapists, said Katherine Harris, president of the Connecticut Physical Therapy Association and an associate professor of physical therapy at Quinnipiac University in Hamden.

Harris theorized that the high demand in Danbury likely stems from the increased population the area has seen in recent years. While many parts of the state have seen their populations decline in recent years, the population in the Danbury area has grown by 3.6 percent from 2010 to 2014, according to the U.S. Census.

Danbury does have an appeal as a more country-like setting with a close proximity to New York City and people have been migrating towards that, she said. The aging of the population Im sure is also a factor.

Dr. Randy Trowbridge, the founder of Team Rehab in Danbury, said he hopes to hire another physical therapist this summer.

We are so busy right now we are bursting at the seams, he said. There is a three-week wait time to get an appointment for a new patient.

Trowbridge added, however, that finding a qualified physical therapist can be difficult, in part because physical therapists are now required to earn their doctoral degree before entering the field.

There just arent that many of them out there, particularly with the kind of clinical experience that we would like to see in new candidates, he said.

Two other Connecticut cities also made the list, with New Haven taking the top spot in the survey and the Norwich-New London area coming in at 17th.

And while the industry may be in high demand in the region, Trowbridge noted that its become increasingly difficult to practice due to insurance companies taking control of the delivery of service.

Insurance companies are now authorizing much smaller bouts of therapy at much higher copays than in the past, he said, noting that copays can range up to $50 per visit depending on the insurance company. I have a lot of patients who say they just cant afford to pay that twice a week and it deters them from getting the care they need. In truth, there is probably a lot less physical therapy being done today than in the past.

dperrefort@newstimes.com
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STAMFORD  A city fire official described it as a miracle that the residents were not home when a large tree fell through their Elmbrook Drive residence over the weekend.

Deputy Fire Chief Eric Lorenz estimated the tree was at least 75 feet tall, and the full weight of it landed squarely on the home, which city building officials swiftly condemned.

The couple had lived in the home for more than 30 years, Lorenz said.

While the woman was at the gym, her husband took their dog for a walk moments before the tree fell, Lorenz said.

More News City crews cleaning up downed trees

When she came home from the gym, the wife was happy her husband wasnt home, but was devastated because they lost everything, Lorenz said.

Firefighters were able to enter the undamaged portion of the dwelling to retrieve cellphones, eyeglasses, computers and family photos, Lorenz said.

LOST CAT!!!Lilly ran off yesterday after the strong winds blew a tree on their house. She is a calico female and was... Posted by Stamford Animal Control Center on Monday, April 4, 2016

An insurance adjuster who came out to view the property Sunday said it will have to be demolished and rebuilt, Lorenz said.

The Red Cross in Connecticut provided assistance to the family.

The National Weather Service reported the weekend storm brought wind gusts of 40 to 50 mph along the coast.

Ernie Orgera, Stamfords director of operations, said 11 trees fell over the weekend in the city. No one was hurt. The tree that fell on Elmbrook Drive was not a city tree.

julie.alterio@scni.com; 203-964-2263
H SBC faced new revelations from the leaked Panamanian tax documents today which appear to show it lobbying on behalf of Syrian president Bashar al-Assads cousin Rami Makhlouf, long after he was sanctioned by the US in 2008.

The documents show Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca continued to work for Makhlouf until September 2011, although the EU imposed sanctions on him in May of that year.

HSBC, said the documents, appeared to reassure Mossack Fonseca not only that it was comfortable with him as a client but also suggested there could be a rapprochement with the family of Assad by the US.

Mossacks Geneva office emailed its Panama HQ in February 2011: Mr [X] told me that HSBC compliance department of the bank not only in Geneva but also in their headquarters in London know about Mr Makhlouf and that they are comfortable with him.

Makhlouf has already been revealed to be a long-standing client of HSBCs Swiss private bank, holding at least $15 million (10.5 million) with it in multiple accounts in 2006. HSBC was fined 28 million by Swiss regulators last year for poor money-laundering controls in its private bank.

Makhloufs accounts appear to have remained open at the start of the Syrian civil war and were not frozen until Swiss regulators did so in May 2011. HSBC said accounts only remained open where authorities ask us to maintain an account for the purposes of monitoring activity, or where an account has been frozen based on sanctions obligations.

That is understood to refer specifically to situations like Makhloufs, where accounts have not been closed but frozen at the request of the authorities.

At the height of his powers before the war, Makhloufs family was reportedly worth $5 billion and controlled some 60% of the Syrian economy including the largest mobile phones network, retailers and banks.

The Panamanian files also show HSBC provided financial services to a Makhlouf company called Drex Technologies. Two years after the US sanctions were imposed in 2008, HSBC wrote to Mossack Fonseca stating Drex was a company of good standing.

HSBC and Credit Suisse dismissed suggestions they were using offshore structures to help clients cheat on their taxes. Credit Suisse chief executive Tidjane Thiam said his bank was only interested in managing legitimate assets. We as a company, as a bank, only encourage the use of structures when there is a legitimate economic purpose.

HSBC said the documents pre-dated a thorough reform of its business model. The allegations are historical, in some cases dating back 20 years, pre-dating our significant, well-publicised reforms implemented over the last few years, said Gareth Hewett, a Hong Kong-based spokesman.
T he repercussions from the publication of the Panama papers are starting to come closer to home. The revelations about the funds deposited offshore by North Korea and associates of the Russian president are far less surprising than the news that our Prime Ministers late father, an Oxfordshire stockbroker, had a Bahamas-based investment fund which paid no tax here for 30 years.

Indeed, the 11.3 million documents leaked from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca have served one useful purpose, which is to bring home the sheer extent of aggressive tax avoidance and outright evasion through offshore havens, and the difficulties governments face in dealing with it. The Prime Minister himself called last year for an international crackdown on aggressive tax avoidance, yet he has been in office for six years and the problem has not been addressed. Last November HMRC admitted that it had only brought 11 prosecutions in the past five years for offshore tax evasion despite a multiplicity of suspects. Ordinary taxpayers, hounded by the tax authorities for being behind with their income tax payments are entirely justified in being angry that they can be pursued with the full force of the law and officialdom while wealthy tax avoiders seem able to get out of paying their due of British tax by hiring expensive accountants. Its not fair and we know it.

Of course, there is nothing illegal about using overseas tax havens to mitigate tax bills and maintain anonymity but there remains the obligation to disclose assets to the tax authorities at home. That, plainly, is the hard part. The obvious reason why most people use tax havens is precisely to avoid their moral if not legal obligation to pay tax in their home country. Indeed there is merit in Simon Jenkinss observation on this page that those who wish to call themselves British should pay British taxes.

Last year the OECD launched a global transparency initiative which would enable data to be automatically exchanged between member states. Panama was one of the countries that declined to join this exercise in global transparency. Yet without concerted international action we will not begin to address the abuse of tax havens. But as ever, knowledge is power. And now ordinary voters know just how the wealthy and powerful avoid paying tax they will be that much less willing to tolerate it.

Mayoral vote wide open

The mayoral election is just a month away and so far Labours Sadiq Khan is profiting from his early start in the campaign: the latest poll by Opinium suggests a quarter of Londoners are willing to vote for him; by comparison a fifth say they will vote for the Tory Zac Goldsmith.

Yet the fight isnt over. Questioned about charisma, more voters favour Mr Goldsmith, whereas more people say Mr Khan would work harder. And crucially there remain enough undecided voters to swing the vote. This contest is still wide open. And it will become even livelier.

Rolling off to bed

You cant always get what you want. For the Rolling Stones last night, there wasnt the satisfaction of playing a gig on the lawn of the Saatchi Gallery to mark the opening of Exhibitionism, about their lives. Alas, Chelsea residents turned down a request for a gig. In the old days wild horses would not have dragged these old rockers offstage, let alone from their own party, but times have changed. Septuagenarians Sir Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, denied the chance to prance on stage, sloped off around 10pm. A Rolling Stone gathers no moss, but they can be forgiven for having an early night.
I t was Tuesday May 14, 1940, four days into Winston Churchills premiership, a time of national crisis when Hitlers armies were overrunning the Low Countries and the threat of invasion to this nation was growing hourly. The main appointments to the new coalition government had been announced but Britains political class was in a fragile state, its disagreements exposed in a brutal House of Commons debate a week earlier that had led to Neville Chamberlains downfall.

Enter 49-year-old New Zealander David Alexander Cecil Low, the brilliant political cartoonist and caricaturist who had worked for the Evening Standard since 1927. He set out to rally the country behind its new leader and he produced an inspiring exhortation to resistance whose image would remain embedded in the minds of the British people long after its publication day.

Low captioned his cartoon All Behind You, Winston, and would later recall that his patriotic fervour had been stirred to such a degree that it practically drew itself, at white heat.

It depicted Churchill, jacket off, shirtsleeves rolled up, marching forward with a fixed, pugnacious look on his face. Closely following him (similarly rolling up their sleeves) were Labours Clement Attlee, Ernest Bevin and Herbert Morrison, and behind them the other key Cabinet appointees: Chamberlain, Lord Halifax, Anthony Eden, Leo Amery and Alfred Duff Cooper (Conservative), Arthur Greenwood and A V Bert Alexander (Labour), and Sir Archibald Sinclair (leader of the Liberals). Finally, in the wake of the politicians, loomed the ranks of men and women seemingly willing their political leaders on to confront the Nazi danger.

Low had been asked by the Ministry of Information to join the wartime propaganda effort but baulked at drawing illustrations to accompany leaflets dropped over Germany. Later he would be persuaded to help popularise potatoes by Lord Woolton, the food minister, and attract fireguards at the request of Morrison, the Home Secretary. But he was keen to retain his independence at the Evening Standard and All Behind You, Winston was the first in a series of cartoons Low drew in those desperate days of summer 1940.

The dramatic Very Well Alone came a month later, on June 18, after the fall of France. It showed a British soldier threatened by Channel waves, holding a rifle in his right hand while shaking his left at the German bombers overhead.

Lows relationship with the man he so triumphantly depicted as embodying the national spirit was often turbulent. Once Britains finest hour was over, the Left-leaning cartoonist felt free to resume a healthy critique of the coalition governments performance. Churchill would protest regularly and bitterly to Lord Beaverbrook, proprietor of the Evening Standard, about his troublesome employee. I had two artists on my hands, Beaverbrook complained. One at night time  that was the Prime Minister complaining about Low; the other in the morning  that was Low complaining about Churchill.

Thank God for Low, a London vicar said from his pulpit in 1940. Low is one of the three forces that hold us together. The other two were, of course, Churchill and J B Priestley, whose Sunday evening broadcasts gripped the country.

Roger Hermistons All Behind You, Winston  Churchills Great Coalition 1940-45, is published by Aurum on Thursday.
Having just returned from two glorious weeks spent guzzling shiraz and gazing in wonder at unspoilt Australian coastline (the latter more than the former), I finally have first-hand confirmation of what I already suspected: the land Down Under is one in possession of unrivalled beauty as well as cute koalas.

I can also tell you a thing or two about Aussie fashion: notably that it is limited, with a large proportion of style-savvy Aussies looking to European and US exports to address their wardrobe needs.

Of course there are exceptions: Zimmermans Sydney-based resort turned ready-to-wear label is a fitting antidote to the rails of uninspiring and overpriced chinos and basic tops that is the Australian high street.

And then theres Ellery, the hottest thing to come out of the southern hemisphere since my friend Kate (of course, I appreciate youll have to take my word for that).

Lainy Hedaya wears flared trousers from Ellery during NYFW / Timur Emek/Getty

The brainchild of Perth-born Kym Ellery, who swapped a successful career as a stylist to launch her own brand, Ellery has earned itself cult status among a breed of contemporary fashion fans both in London and on home soil - as well as the seal of approval from Paris Fashion Week, which made Ellery one of three Australian designers in history to get an official slot on its schedule.

The label, known for its dedication to volume - be that on puddling trousers, beautifully crafted evening gowns or loose-fitting tops that fall off the shoulder - is also a hit with a host of self-styled celebrities including Solange Knowles, who has worn Ellerys designs to a host of high-profile occasions.

A guest poses wearing an Ellery dress before the Chanel show / Vanni Bassetti/Getty

For Ellery, who unveiled her latest collection in Paris last month, the labels USP is all about creating modern classics for a woman who is effortlessly elegant, playful and intelligent. And therein lies its charm.

Following a shift in fashion in which pared-back minimalism has given way to Guccis breed of maximalism, Ellery straddles two worlds.

Easy to wear while offering the woman wearing it the opportunity to be experimental with her clothes, Ellery delivers high-quality classics with design flourishes that are unapologetically bold without being too try-hard.

It is this that makes its radical flared trousers a refreshing antidote to all the slouchy navy slacks weve clung to for seasons, and which makes Ellerys off-shoulder ruffle top (below) the only thing we want to wear to a black-tie occasion ever again.

Off-the-shoulder ruffle dress, 815, from Ellery

For Natalie Kingham, head of buying at Matchesfashion.com, it is Ellerys dedication to quality that makes it worthy of its spot on the Paris schedule - as well as in our wardrobes.

By borrowing elements from couture and combining them with innovative fabrics and modern cuts, Kym has created a collection of sophisticated but wearable pieces, designed to entice the eye and flatter the form, says Kingham. The clever thing is that she takes a classic item or fabric and adds a twist.

Kym Ellerys debut shoe line

While Ellery is understandably reluctant to accept the suggestion that she is an ambassador at an exciting time for emerging Australian fashion - Theres so much talent there, she says - its impossible to consider the success of her label without doing so.

Thanks to the retail worlds shift towards clothes that are seasonless and collections that are available immediately after they are shown on the runway, the outlook for our fashionable friends Down Under has never looked better.

Now, pass the shiraz.
C ostumes, props and scripts from films including Saving Private Ryan, Atonement and Casablanca will form part of a new exhibition at the Imperial War Museum looking at the reality behind the big screen.

Storyboards from the helicopter attack scene in Francis Ford Coppolas Vietnam drama Apocalypse Now will go on show alongside a uniform worn by James McAvoy in Atonement. The show also includes costumes from Carve Her Name With Pride, which told the story of French-born secret agent Violette Szabo, who was executed by the Nazis after parachuting back into occupied France in the Second World War.

Real To Reel: A Century Of War Movies coincides with the 100th anniversary of one of the earliest examples, The Battle Of The Somme, a propaganda film made on the Western Front and shown while the war was going on.

It will also examine the events of D-Day, vividly recreated in the opening scenes of Saving Private Ryan, and examine the real man behind the myth shown in Lawrence Of Arabia.

Curator Laura Clouting said: Through an array of objects, Real To Reel: A Century Of War Movies will explore the enduring fascination with war on the big screen: why film-makers have been inspired to make war movies, how these stories are brought to life on screen and their ability to influence our understanding of war.

The show will also look at the different kinds of audiences war films attracted. She said: Some of them would have been going for that recognition that, This is what it was like for us. On the other hand, lots of people would say these films purport to be the real thing, but actually it was nothing like that.

That kind of provocation of going to see a war film and you either see similarities or you see vast differences in memory, either your own or your familys, is one of the most interesting talking points about the genre.

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T he countrys first festival dedicated to falafels is coming to London this spring.

The appropriately-named London Falafel Festival will take place at Borough Market on May 1, and is being brought about by food writer Daniel Young of youngandfoodish.com, who also gave us the London Pizza Festival.

It will see four well-known falafel makers from London and far-afield compete to be rated the best of the bunch.

Flying over from Cairo is Mustafa Elrefaey of street food business Zooba, wholl be making charred aubergine-stuffed falafel amde from fava beans.

Hadi Hazim of pop-up Fusion Cult will head in from Beirut to cook-up his original black-eye-bean falafel.

And representing London will be Uri Dinay of City falafel and humus bar Pilpel making spiced chickpea falafel, and Louai Fares and Rasheed Muhammed of street foodies Hoxton Beach with blended fava and chickpea falafels.

Tickets will go on sale on April 6 and cost 20 (children under 12 go free), which includes half-sized portions of each of the four falafel dishes, allowing visitors to choose which they like the best.

Therell also be stalls selling craft beer, cocktails, soft drinks and ice cream to help wash down all the beany balls. There will also be cookery demonstrations from Rachel Green, wholl be cooking with pulses throughout the day.

It coincides with 2016 being the International Year of Pulses (just in case you didnt know), which it was declared by the United Nations.

The festival will run from 1-5pm. Visit youngandfoodish.com for tickets.

Follow Ben Norum on Twitter @BenNorum

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J ames Wise is a 22-year old master barista from Kenley, South London. Now residing in Bethnal Green, one year has taken James from his first job in a coffee shop to being a part-owner of China Plate, Stoke Newingtons popular specialty coffee retreat, and an ambassador for Londons Assembly Coffee Roasters.

Melding his love for creativity and science, his past experience and his drive to move forward, he has qualified to compete in Coffee Masters this weekend at the London Coffee Festival (April 7-10).

Its an international stage, where the best baristas in the world will go head to head in a six-round knockout, including creating their own coffee cocktail. Here, he discusses his nerves ahead of the competition, his devotion to the coffee industry and how excited his mum is to see him compete. So far, James has proved to be an anomaly. He is devoted, passionate and knowledgeable  in the battle for 5,000 and the title of Coffee Master, the young Londoner might just be the one to watch.

Are you excited in the run up to Coffee Masters?

I am super looking forward to it and super excited. But Im also filled with nerves and anxiety!

It seems intense

Yes, but thats why I decided to go for it. Its something different and its going to push me to be better and allow me to interact with people that I never would have been able to. Im really stoked just to be in the line up.

For the love of caffeine: This year's London Coffee Festival will be the biggest yet

Where do you work?

Im one of the owners of China Plate, in Stoke Newington. I was given a percentage of the business so Id stay with them. I run the store and do all the sourcing. Everything that happens in the store runs through me. Its good fun and keeps me on my toes, and also very preoccupied! That alongside training at the moment is a lot to handle, and Im representing Assembly Coffee Roasters at the Festival.

When did you start preparing?

As soon as I found out that Id made it through. Every evening I set aside time to do something that I wouldnt usually be able to do when Im customer facing - like cupping and origin recognition. Everyone in my store is fully backing me. My girlfriend  who is one of my staff members and a really good barista  made a little latte art dice for me. When a coffee order comes through, she stands next to me, rolls the dice and I have to pour the shape it lands on into a coffee. Its a direct imitation of one of the rounds of the competition.

Precise: James works at China Plate in Stoke Newington

What cocktail did you invent?

Its a Mexican Coffee. The idea is introducing a new concept through something thats already familiar. Everybody knows the Irish Coffee - its a classic. To make it specialised and different, I chose Mexican spirits, like agave, tequila, Mezcal. I hope people think its better than an Irish Coffee! Mr Blacks have helped me out with coffee liqueur and Pesado have donated equipment. Its expensive stuff and Im not made of money, so Im very grateful for their help.

Ive worked in coffee a while, but unless Im making an Old Fashioned at home, Ive never had to make a cocktail. One bonus of the industry is that there are a lot of people that are very parallel, like baristas and bartenders. Original Sin is a really good cocktail bar just around from China Plate  the other night, I was allowed to go behind the bar, make my drink and everybody tried it and gave me feedback. Coffee Masters has made us interact in an industry-based way. This forced me to experience something new and delve into things that I havent before. Weve discovered different ways to adjust the brewing coffee to compliment spirits. Happy accidents happen that make things better.

The prize money is 5,000. What would you do with it?

I havent even thought about winning the money. Im more excited about being in the competition and having my name amongst such incredible baristas as peers. I dont know where Id go, but part of that money would definitely be spent on a holiday.

How do you find competing against the best in the world?

Having this as my first competition is amazing. Training has been great, but I hope my nerves hold up. I dont want to turn up shaking, or just faint! I might end up pouring a latte and forget theres no cup there. Im looking forward to it, though. To have come out of nowhere within the last four months, become an ambassador for Assembly and to have a share in my own coffee shop, which is one for the best in London is incredible. I seem to have burst out of nowhere, which is a good. I might end up sneaking a victory in there through no one anticipating me to do well.

What motivates you?

Ive always been a skateboarder and I did free running for a while. I learnt that even if you get knocked down or feel low, you can always get up and push yourself harder. Thats how you get results.

London Coffee Festival 2016: The Highlights 1 /14 London Coffee Festival 2016: The Highlights London Coffee Festival 2016 Browse the festivals highlights by clicking through the gallery James Bryant Coffee Masters This highly entertaining, fast paced barista battle is no boring old barista competition. Its modelled to make even Joe Bloggs shriek with excitement. Taking inspiration from TVs Ready Steady Cook, the X Factor, and boxing, its a four-day six-round knockout with instant feedback from judges as unnerving as Simon Cowell. Expect 16 baristas to step into the ring to dazzle judges with their tasting, brewing and pouring skills. The stakes? 5,000 for the champion. Latte Art Workshop Mesmerised by glossy latte art, or inspired by the perfect pour? The Latte Art Cowboy, Ben Morrow, is a celebrity in the coffee world and hes running a workshop on the Rachaels Organic stand thats tipped to be a big hit. With 57.6k followers on Instagram, he is famous for pouring colourful hummingbirds and swans into lattes with flare, glamour and finesse. Expect to see something unique. Watch beautiful, symmetrical patterns poured into coffee by the industrys biggest celeb. You can give it a go yourself  its not as easy as it looks! The Lab Think mind blowing barista master classes and tech workshops, like how to get the best water pH for your filter through reverse osmosis. If thats too much for you (and you need a little variety after your 10th espresso), fear not. Attend the mixology master class, the craft beer tasting session, or the social media seminar. Expect to get your hands dirty in interactive sessions and learn how to make a flat white martini, draw a heart on your homemade latte and make it big on Instagram. The Scandinavian Embassy This team of fine dining restaurateurs has journeyed from Amsterdam with a top-secret three-course coffee and food-pairing menu for a pop-up slot at the Festival. Its is the only restaurant in the world that pairs specialty coffee and gourmet food as part of their concept. Expect dishes such as espresso-smoked oyster as part of a locally sourced seafood platter, paired with a chilled espresso from La Cabra in Denmark. The True Artisan Cafe Party with Europes top baristas and sip on their signature coffees and cocktails. 32 baristas get three hours each to work their magic at one of three La Marzocco coffee bars and DJs from around the coffee belt  the area between the tropics where coffee is grown  are playing live to establish the festival vibe. All proceeds go to Project Waterfall, which runs water initiatives in coffee producing countries. Expect a cold brew with Cascara shots, washed down with full-on Brazilian, Columbian and Peruvian party music from the Hackney Globetrotter DJ collective. The Roastery Union Hand Roasted Coffee are setting up an old 1960s gas roaster on site and their head roaster, Jeremy Torz will show onlookers how to perfectly roast coffee, revealing the science behind the bean. Expect to discover how expert roasting can develop a nuanced coffee profile and ask questions as you watch and smell the beans cooking. Music Kick off the festival on Friday at the Espresso Martini Launch Party with DJ Yoda. Gypsy Hill, Bloom Twins and Sonia Stein, who is produced by the same producer as FKA twigs, are also set to play over the weekend. Expect out of this world entertainment by artists that are on the brink of their big break. The main stage is at the centre of the Festival. Trisha Rankin Food Refuel with upscale street food. Pollen + Grace, Arancini Brothers, Austins BBQ and Gather & Gather have been invited to form the White Label Kitchen. Together, they will create and serve up unique menus to cater for all dietary needs. Expect an Antipodean-style brunch of smashed avocado and poached eggs from Gather + Gather, before beef brisket from Austins BBQ or a superfood salad from Pollen + Grace. School of Chocolate Chocolate klaxon! Hotel Chocolat, the leading British independent chocolatier, have brought along two very different chocolates from their St Lucia plantation and are running 40-minute chocolate workshops about chocolates origin and how to make it. Expect stunning, delicious, glorious chocolate  but youll have to work for it. In 40 minutes, learn how to make your own chocolate and eat it too. Delve at Milk and Sugar Milk and Sugar is the Festivals lifestyle district that seeks to encapsulate the creative subcultures that surround the coffee scene and showcase interesting concepts spanning from fashion labels to design companies and art. This year, Londons exciting new secret events club, Delve will launch at the festival. Expect to be intrigued and delighted by Delves highly curated, secret experiences. Delve take care of everything  all you have to do is show up to the mysterious event. This new company is about to set a trend that will be the next big thing in London.

What was your first coffee job?

It was at FCB  Flying Coffee Bean  at Denmark Hill Station, from March till September 2015. David Leeper was the Head of Coffee, and began my training. Nick Maybe, who is the Head of Quality at Assembly Roasters, got to know me through working at FCB, through the company he previously worked for. He took me under his wing and showed me everything I know about coffee. I took a massively vested interest in it and was always reading and wanted to learn more. I somehow progressed super fast and here I am. Nick is also my fellow competitor in Coffee Masters!

Why did you move to China Plate?

Nick mentioned that China Plate needed to take somebody on to take care of quality control. They liked me and I decided to make my move. I loved FCB because I got to work with a lot of different people and work on external sites for events and meet lots of different roasters. But I felt like I couldnt progress much further. It was so fast pace I couldnt interact with my customers much. At China Plate its a lot slower, a lot quieter, so I have the opportunity to develop a relationship with my customer. I know some of them quite personally  thats what I love about the industry and working at China Plate.

Are you proud of how much youve achieved within a year?

It doesnt really feel real. Four months ago I was probably making over 200 coffees a morning for busy Londoners. There was no interaction, so even if I was just was working in this store and competing in a much smaller competition, Id be really proud of myself. It seems to have all just gone from one extreme to another.

Whats the biggest lesson you have learned?

Always ask why. Everyday I read some new and interesting theories, but when youre behind the machine, what takes you to a higher level is the ability to ask yourself why is somethings happening, or why is one is better than the other?

Why do you love your job?

It gives me a chance to put everything I have enjoyed in the past into motion collectively. I have a strong background in illustration, so I do all of the menus and loyalty cards. Managing a team brings into play my past at the NHS and my knowledge of coffee. I was always really interested in science in high school and this gives me a way to rekindle that. There are so many levels to it.

How are you going to calm the nerves right before you get up for round one?

Nicks going to be there. We have a good personal joke between us, which we both find hilarious. Hell offer me a few last words of wisdom. When youve got someone like the Assembly team and Nick backing you, you must have at least a little bit of skill.

Where do you go from here?

Im going to keep entering competitions. Just to even be there is massive for me. Training for Coffee Masters has been so much fun, even though its tiring. Its going to drive me on to do more.

Who will be supporting you this weekend?

My mum, June, as well as all of FCB, Assembly and China Plate. My coffee family will all be there. I showed my mum the festival magazine  she saw the little picture of me and said, Oh, James, please keep one for me! We need to get it laminated and put it up. That was hilarious and so cute. She is over the moon that I have found a career in something Im really happy doing and that Im quite good at. Shes even taking a couple of days off work to come and support me.

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A rtist Jamie McCartney says he hopes his exhibition The Great Wall of Vagina will change the world by encouraging women to feel comfortable with their bodies.

The body casts of over 400 vulvas from women age 18 to 76, including transgender and pregnant women, were collated to form the socio-political art project, which is currently on display in east London.

McCartney said: Its a pun on the Great Wall of China of course. If you use humour, it gets past peoples usual defences and they hopefully learn something from it.

Inspiration for the project came when working on another piece involving casts of womens bodies and McCartney noticed so many women had anxiety about their genitals.

He said: I wanted it to be as broad as possible  it goes from 18 to 76  thats partly why it took five years.

Generally, the reaction has been terrific. Some people just stare at it for hours  other people have come and looked at it and left crying.

The piece is not erotic art, says McCartney, but socio-political and he hopes Londoners will take away the message that no matter what youve got down there, youre normal.

Selections of art work from the Great Wall of Vagina are on display at the Sh! shop at 57 Hoxton Square until the end of April.

The exhibition is free and open Monday to Sunday, 12 to 8pm.
A Paris-based photographer has paid tribute to one of the most iconic cities in the world, by bringing together scenes from 1940s Paris alongside pictures of how the city looks today.

Julien Knez uses black and white pictures taken during the citys occupation and liberation from Nazi control to illustrate just how much the French capital has changed over the course of the past century.

In front of the Eiffel Tower, tourists mill around the bottom of the structure, while in 1940 - the year German forces took over the city - rowdy troops drive under the the bottom of the monument.

Another striking composite includes president Charles de Gaulle marching down the Champ Elysees, with the Arc De Triomphe in the background, after the Liberation of Paris.

Knez says he put the collection together last year to celebrate the 71st anniversary of the citys liberation from Nazi control in August 1944

Speaking to the Evening Standard, he said: It takes me about ten minutes to shoot each photo, and about one hour to Photoshop each image.

Although, he says, the weather, the light, the traffic and the roadworks in traffic made it difficult for me to get the perfect shot

Knez says he would now like shoot a similar collection for London, Edinburgh and New York. There are lots of places to do, he says.

Paris, fenetres sur l'histoire: De la Commune a mai 68 by Julien Knez is out now.

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M urder detectives are investigating after a man was stabbed to death in a north London flat this morning.

Police officers and paramedics battled for nearly an hour to save the 46-year-olds life but he was pronounced dead at the property in Finchley shortly after 2am.

A second man aged 22 was arrested at the scene in Kinloss Court on suspicion of murder, Scotland Yard said.

He is currently being questioned at a north London police station while officers appeal to the public for information.

Contact police with the Mets homicide and major crime command unit on 020 8358 0300.
A n online predator hoping to meet a 14 year-old schoolgirl for sex was caught by internet vigilantes.

Daniel Mullarkey, 31, was identified and filmed by members of Internet Interceptors who invented the schoolgirl to snare him.

When he arranged to meet the girl for sex he was instead confronted by the vigilantes and jumped a fence and fled. He was arrested after reporting the group to police.

Mullarkey pleaded guilty at Croydon Crown Court yesterday to attempting to meet a girl under the age of 16 years old after grooming her online.

He had spent 11 weeks locked-up since his arrest and was sentenced to 16 months imprisonment, suspended for two years.

It was an amateur investigation, which set-up the girls profile, but instead the defendant met the investigator and his friends, said prosecutor Tom Nicholson.

Suspended sentence: Daniel Mullarkey, 31

Internet Interceptors member Andy Bradstock invented the schoolgirl and posted the fake profile on an adult online dating site.

Mullarkey initiated contact and was told early on Hayley was only 14 years old during text exchanges with Mr Bradstock.

She said she was a virgin and Mullarkey asked her: Can you tell me what you would like to do as you know what Id like to do.

He also told her not to tell anyone and offers to buy her a secret phone.

Mullarkey was confronted by the group, who describe themselves as a dedicated team of parents hunting paedophiles and sexual predators across the UK, on January 20 in South Norwood.

The group posted footage online of their confrontation with Mullarkey, telling him: Stay here or we will take you down.

Mullarkey tried to lie his way out of trouble as the men say: Take your hood off so we can identify you.

What are you going to do to her, rape her?

Mullarkey told police the men tried to rifle through his pockets, but Internet Interceptors revealed their evidence, mainly explicit text exchanges with the defendant.

His lawyer Mr. James Hasslacher told the court: Hes extremely ashamed and cannot understand how he has gone down this slippery slope.

He went from a happy married home life and a job to being in custody.

If he needed to be taught a lesson, hes learned that lesson and says hes never going to go near the internet again.

500,000 people in the UK are addicted to internet

The Recorder of Croydon Warwick McKinnon QC told him: This is an extremely serious matter and it is all the more extraordinary that you are a married man with two children of your own.

One of the results of this outrageous and disgusting activity is that there has been a breakdown in your marriage.

You were not to know there was no fourteen year-old girl because the whole thing was set-up by a group of individuals seeking to flush out people of your mindset, sexual activity with underage children.

Mullarkey must also complete 200 hours community service work; sign the sex offenders register for 10 years; obey a five-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and was placed on a barring list preventing him working with children and vulnerable adults.
T wo teenage boys have been bailed over the murder of 17-year-old college student Myron Issac-Yarde, who was stabbed to death in south-east London.

Myron was knifed several times after a fight involving up to 10 youths, some carrying weapons, in New Cross on Sunday.

The aspiring rapper, who performed under the name MDot, was found lying in a pool of his own blood in Camplin Street at around 7.40pm and died two hours later in hospital.

Today, detectives bailed two boys, aged 15 and 16, who were arrested on Sunday evening on suspicion of his murder.

Friends of Myron, who was studying at Big Creative academy in Walthamstow, have set up a fund to pay for his funeral, raising 4,000 so far.

Jay Thomas, who set up the fundraiser to give his friend the send-off he deserves, said: "His main focus was music and his goals were always to make it in music."

He added: "He never got into anything - he barely had a fight.

He was so young. It's such a shock especially for a guy like Myron."

Police are continuing to appeal for information over the killing, including the brawl beforehand.

Detective Chief Inspector Rebecca Reeves said: "At this stage I am still trying to establish what may have sparked the events which resulted in Myron's death so that we can build a clearer picture of what has led to a young man with a promising future losing his life."

Anyone with information can call police on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
A young musician stabbed to death in south London was a friend of 15-year-old Jamar Walker who was murdered in Birmingham in December after moving out of London to escape gang violence, it was revealed today.

The connection emerged as the family of 17-year-old college student Myron Isaac-Yarde told how their lives had been ripped apart by the mindless tragedy.

Myron was knifed a number of times after a fight broke out among a group of up to 10 youths in New Cross at 7.40pm on Sunday.

His family, teachers and friends today told of their devastation, which comes after Myron - who performed under the name MDot - lost his mother Marcelle, 52, to cancer last year.

Myrons cousin Jonathan Sobotie, 23, a DJ, said: I want everyone to know this has got to stop. If people cant see sense after the death of this innocent, talented boy I dont know what will.

Stabbed to death: Jamar Walker, 15 / PA

Our family has been ripped apart. His mother died just last year. She meant everything to Myron."

His sister Sophie, being comforted at the family home in Deptford, released a statement through a friend, saying: Myron was a humble gentleman who everybody liked.

He was never in any trouble and we do not understand how this could have happened.

Myron, a former pupil at Deptford Green School, who was studying music performance at Big Creative academy in Walthamstow, was found by emergency services in Camplin Street and taken to hospital but died later.

'A loving and lovely boy': Myron Isaac Yarde, 17, was killed in New Cross

Myrons friend Joe Domala, 16, said : Myron was also friends with Jamar Walker who died and I was too. I cant believe I have lost two friends. Jamar moved away to be safer but you just never know. As far as I know Myron was not in any trouble.

Police believe the fatal stabbing in Camplin Street was linked to a clash involving six to ten youths 200 yards away on New Cross Road, at the junction with Avonley Road, at around 7.30pm.

Officers carried out weapon sweeps in the area yesterday and a small knife was recovered from a drain last night. Detectives are investigating if it could be linked to the death.

Two boys, aged 16 and 15, remain in police custody today after being arrested on Sunday night in connection with the killing.

Anyone with information should call 020 8721 4868 or ring Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
A teenager was stabbed to death in broad daylight after a "petty" argument about stolen pasta, the Old Bailey heard.

Alfie Stone, 18, died a matter of hours after being knifed in the chest outside Tesco in Ickenham, west London.

Maxine Benson, 32, is accused of wielding the knife, while accomplices Corinne Cripps, 29, and Steve Hawgood, 28, allegedly egged her on, shouting: "Stab um, stab um [sic]".

Prosecutor Tony Badenoch QC said the fatal attack took place two days after Alfie had been accused of eating someone else's pasta at Cripps' bedsit.

He was confronted at 5.30pm on November 9 last year, as commuters returned home at nearby West Ruislip station.

Police at the scene / Nigel Howard

"Alfie Stone was murdered having been unlawfully stabbed in the heart outside Tesco Express, in a parade of half a dozen or so shops on the High Road in Ickenham", said Mr Badenoch.

"Maxine Benson wielded the knife. She was witnessed to do so by members of the public and CCTV in part, on the day she knifed him in the chest and then left the scene leaving him laying dying."

He said Hawgood and Cripps "played their criminal part in the murder of Alfie Stone" and were also involved in the stabbing of a second teenager by Benson moments earlier.

"They both participated in an argument very shortly before all of this with Steven Hawgood resorting to the use of fists and violence", he added.

"That argument appears to have concerned, at least in part, the 'theft' of some food two days earlier.

"Their involvement in this petty argument was followed by verbal encouragement directed to Maxine Benson to resolve it included the words: 'stab um stab um'.

"That was something she did within moments."

Members of the public gave Alfie, from Hillingdon, first aid at the scene, but he died later the same day in hospital.

Benson is accused of dumping the knife shortly after the stabbing and then fleeing, while Hawgood and Cripps allegedly checked into a hotel in Heathrow to avoid getting caught.

Benson, Cripps, and Hawgood, who were all living in bedsits near to the scene of the attack in Ickenham, all deny murder and attempted grievous bodily harm with intent.

The trial continues.
A fortunate feline surived after breaking through security netting on the balcony of a tower block and tumbled four storeys to the ground.

The young pet, named Molly, lived as a house cat in a tower block and had access to a balcony that had netting across to prevent her from escaping.

However, she managed to break through the protection on her owners balcony and fell to the ground.

Molly had not been neutered and was in season, which experts said could explain why she was so desperate to get out to find a male.

A member of the public, who lives in the tower block but did not know the cat's owner, spotted Molly as she was coming into the building with her son.

The injured and frightened-looking cat was huddled in a corner by the entrance, with blood coming out of her nose.

The woman brought Molly to The Mayhew animal rescue centre in Kensal Green, where vets tended to her injuries.

Survived: Molly has now recovered from her ordeal / The Mayhew

Molly was given X-rays and an ultrasound, and was found to be suffering from a broken front leg and a fractured pelvis.

She was put on pain relief, her limbs were bandaged, and she was kept in the centre while animal welfare officers tried to track down her owners.

Mollys owner, an elderly lady, was eventually found and she has now been reunited with the cat - who was also neutered at the centre.

Lucky: Molly fell four storeys / The Mayhew

The pensioner had been in hospital and had arranged for someone to visit during the day to check up on Molly, feed her and keep her company.

The lady had owned cats all her life and always had them neutered, but had been wrongly advised that she had to wait for Molly to be at least six months before getting her spayed.

The Mayhew's Animal Welfare Manager, Zoe Edwards, said: Poor Molly went through an awful ordeal and must have been in a lot of pain after falling from such a great height.

We suspect that Molly managed to break through the netting on her balcony because she was in season. When a female cat is in season they are restless and hormonal, and their instincts will make them do everything they can to find a male  which might have been what made Molly so desperate to break through.

A female cat can actually get pregnant from as young as 4 months of age, when they are still technically kittens themselves. Unfortunately its this common misconception that you need to wait for cats to be older before neutering, which adds to the number of cats who end up on the streets or at our shelter.

There was also a happy twist in the tale - the woman who found Molly formed a friendship with her owner, and now visits her and her adventure-seeking moggy regularly.
A cyclist has been taken to hospital after crashing with a stationary police car in south London.

The man came off his bike after colliding with a squad car in Bellingham on Tuesday afternoon.

Police officers rushed to his aid before he was taken to hospital for further treatment.

Scotland Yard said the car was not moving when the crash happened at about 1.15pm in Bromley Road, near the junction with Canadian Avenue.

The Met was unable to confirm whether it was parked or waiting in traffic at the time, or give any further details of the circumstances.

Fortunately the mans injuries were not thought to be life-threatening.

A witness tweeted: Bad accident on Bromley road. Hope he makes it ok.

Police said traffic officers are investigating the circumstances.
W hen theatre worker Matt Armstrong went to bed, his car was parked on the road outside his home in West Norwood as usual.

When he woke up, his Renault Clio was in a disabled bay which had been painted around the car overnight by council workers  and there was a 110 fine on his windscreen.

His neighbour had requested the bay for her husband more than two years ago  but he died earlier this year and she had called Lambeth council several times to cancel.

Mr Armstrong thought it was a joke when he woke up last Friday to find the fixed penalty notice on his car in Auckland Hill.

He said: They put in this disabled bay which no one needs, painted it under my back wheels and then gave me a parking ticket.

The fine was cancelled after the council was approached by the Standard / Alex Lentati

They were inside the parking bay by about two feet. Who in their right mind would do this? When I saw the painted bay and the ticket, I thought it was an April Fools joke.

Mr Armstrong is a stage technician at the Adelphi Theatre and works on the award-winning Kinky Boots production. He said his wife had repeatedly called the council to explain but she had not got anywhere.

He added: My neighbour asked for the disabled bay about two and a half years ago for her husband, but he died a couple of months ago and she called them a few times to cancel the request.

But theyve done it anyway. I was livid when I saw it.

What can I do but pay the fine and hope to repeal it. If you dont pay you get clamped or towed away.

Is this what we pay our council tax for? Its an absolute joke.

Lambeth council confirmed Mr Armstrongs fine had been cancelled after the authority was contacted by the Evening Standard.

A spokeswoman said: Well cancel the fixed penalty notice and are investigating why there was some confusion around the marking of the disabled bays.
W itnesses heard a loud long cracking noise seconds before a branch fell 20ft and killed a grandmother, an inquest was told today.

Rambai Senghani, 56, from Kensal Rise, was struck as she stood at a bus stop with her two grandchildren.

The incident happened near the junction of Harlesden Road and Donnington Road in Willesden on June 10, 2014. A doctor from a nearby medical practice rushed to help Mrs Senghani and gave CPR until ambulance crews arrived.

Witnesses today told an inquest at North London coroners court they heard a loud long cracking noise moments before the branch pinned Mrs Senghani to the pavement.

Frances Rocks, who works nearby, said: I could see a branch swing down in a sweeping motion. I could not believe what I was seeing. I saw the branch hit a woman who was stood on the opposite pavement.

She added: I was very scared something would fall on me.

David Beatty, in his seventies, was also hit by the tree and suffered back injuries.

The hybrid black poplar tree is believed to be between 60 and 80 years old and was meant to be maintained by Brent council, which opened an investigation following the incident. The inquest continues.
A djoa Andoh today joined campaigners who have barricaded themselves into a library at risk of being turned into a gym.

The actress, who starred in Clint Eastwoods Invictus and Doctor Who, supported more than 40 protesters at Carnegie Library in Herne Hill.

Lambeth council is today beginning eviction proceedings against the group, who have been there since Thursday, after obtaining a possession order for the Grade II listed building.

They are refusing to leave until town hall chiefs reconsider a plan to replace the library with a private gym and self-service book lending room.

Andoh, 53, who has lived in Brixton for more than 20 years, said: This library is part of my familys life. I dont understand the councils logic on this.

"It is distressing for everyone but is a sign of the times when the economy triumphs over community space.

Novelist Stella Duffy, 53, also joined the protesters, saying without her local library she would not be a writer.

The library is one of four in the borough being forced to close or be taken over by the local community to meet 200 million budget cuts.

Jane Edbrooke, Lambeths cabinet member for neighbourhoods, said: We understand people are passionate about this issue, but savings have to be made.

It is unfortunate a small number of people have decided to be obstructive, as Lambeth council has worked hard to minimise the impact on libraries.

The council is set to face the occupiers at Lambeth county court on May 4.

Libraries in London under threat incl Tate South Lambeth and South Woodford turned into gym

Pressure: Stella Duffy and Adjoa Andoh join campaigners at Carnegie Library in Herne Hill
T he BBC has had a tough couple of years, weathering the storm over funding cuts, revelations of historic controversies  and Alan Yentob. An inside glimpse of staff conspiring and complaining over cups of tea has been provided not only by TV satire W1A but also by public tours of New Broadcasting House. However, those are about to come to an end.

A bulletin on the BBCs website says that by the end of this month it will no longer be possible to book a tour, and those with tickets after May 1 can apply for a refund. Following a review of security, the BBC is regretfully proposing to end public tours of the building, the message reads. We realise that this will be disappointing to members of the public who have already made plans to take the tour, and so while we work through this we have made interim provisions to continue the existing tours until April 30, 2016, with extra security in place.

The 15 tour has been a nice little earner, not to mention the gift shop sales afterwards. Visitors have previously been show around the studios and offices of the corporation, as well as taking part in interactive experiences which give them the chance to step in front of the camera as news presenters and pundits.

The particular design and use of Broadcasting House means that bringing large groups on a regular basis into the heart of the operation presents too high a security risk in the current climate, a representative told us this morning.

Tours of other BBC sites, such as the Salford studios, will continue. Maybe a new series of W1A would satisfy the publics curiosity?

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Onwards to Waterstones in Piccadilly last night where Little Atoms hosted a Q&A between Paul Mason and Molly Crabapple to celebrate the launch of the latters memoir, Drawing Blood. Though the evenings discussion was meant to focus on Trump, Isis and capitalism, a familiar name popped up. You tell me there are people in Syria who hate Corbyn because they think hes on Assads side?, Mason asked the illustrator, who has spent time there. Yeah, there are, she replied. Who knew his infamy would travel so far.

Cool for Khan is gigging it with the Kooks

Celebrities and politicians havent really mixed together since the New Labour years but Sadiq Khan is doing his best to prove his pop credentials. Interviewed by Alastair Campbell for GQ  the outtakes of which appear on the former spin doctors website  the Labour mayoral hopeful bragged: John Boyega knows who I am.

This didnt impress Campbell, who said he is not interested in Star Wars, but Sadiq insisted: Well, I am and he knew who I was.

His cred was ruined elsewhere, though, when he was asked to back up his claim that he is cool. What does cool mean to Khan? Someone who doesnt embarrass his children too much. Who is as at ease at a Kooks concert as taking his kids to see the Nutcracker. The Kooks?

Chelsea squares miss out on a free Stones gig

No one could accuse the Rolling Stones of not having partied hard enough in their day but last night they were very well-behaved. Perhaps a little too well. Guests were still arriving at the party at the Saatchi Gallery for the Exhibitionism retrospective at 11pm and the fun rolled on until the wee hours. But the stars were nowhere to be seen.

Mick Jagger was spotted quietly leaving at a very reasonable 10.30pm, though his daughter Georgia May, right, stayed on, and Keith Richards went off for a nap in the bands winnebago, parked up nearby. Well, it was a Monday after all but could it be that age is catching up with the old rockers after all?

It certainly has with the residents of once-hip Chelsea. The Stones had planned to play on the lawn of the gallery but were apparently stopped by the Chelsea Residents Association. We were told by a party-goer that the neighbours werent the only culprits: It was just too much hassle. The Cadogan Estate stopped it  they own the place. Its a shame, it would have been amazing.

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Game of Thrones actress Natalie Dormer was at the Exhibitionism party last night with her long-term boyfriend Anthony Byrne, pictured right. When The Londoner asked which was her favourite Rolling Stones era, she replied: Thats impossible to say, isnt it? Its like asking a mother which her favourite child is. I saw them in Berlin when we were shooting The Hunger Games: Mockingjay and the Stones were playing at the Waldbuhne.

Natalie gave us sage advice: Youve got to see them perform  you know what Im saying, before they ... The Londoner looked quizzical, ... break up.

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It wasnt just the oldies who showed up at the Exhibitionism launch last night. Rock royaltys princes and princesses  Jesse Wood, Theodora and Alexandra Richards and Pixie Geldof  were out to support their elders, as was newly blond Nick Grimshaw, pictured. The exhibition showed the bands humble origins from their flat in Edith Grove, complete with overflowing ashtrays, a kitchen strewn with dirty dishes and beer bottles, to the unimaginable wealth and success they achieved after that. Notably absent was Mick Jaggers old flame, Marianne Faithfull. She was unable to attend because she is unwell in Paris.

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Last week The Londoner watched Bob Geldofs documentary about WB Yeats while on a visit to Ireland, and wondered if the UK version  which aired on Sunday  would edit out the risque bits. Of course they included the word w**k, Sir Bob smirked last night. The review said Why is Geldof the only person who gets away with saying f***, w***, shag and no-one minds? Geldof has yet to be persuaded by his wife Jeanne Marine, pictured below, to go to her Pilates classes. He knows how to keep fit, she said. Look at Mick: he looks like a 20-year-old. A rather wrinkled one.
M ore Londoners believe Zac Goldsmith has the X Factor needed to be Mayor, but that Sadiq Khan would work hardest for the capital, a new poll reveals today.

The Opinium survey found that 28 per cent of adults in the capital see Conservative Mr Goldsmith as having that special something required to take over at City Hall, compared with 24 per cent for Labours Mr Khan, and 26 per cent saying neither of them.

However, 32 per cent believe that Tooting MP Mr Khan would work hardest for London, with Richmond Park MP Mr Goldsmith on 27 per cent. Just under a third said dont know and 11 per cent said none of them.

Mr Goldsmith is most trusted to protect London from terrorist attacks by 23 per cent of adults, with Mr Khan on 21 per cent, with more than half not knowing or apparently having little faith in either man.

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Adam Drummond, head of political polling at Opinium, said: Compared to the star power of Boris Johnson and Ken Livingstone, Zac and Sadiq have not managed to excite Londoners in great numbers and these figures underline that. Neither candidate appears to have the publics confidence in protecting the city from terrorist attacks either. Hopefully, whoever wins in May will not have their abilities tested in this area.

Mr Khan launched his campaign early and this seems to be paying off, with just over a quarter of Londoners more likely to consider voting for him.

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One in 10 are less likely to think about voting doing so since his campaign started. For Mr Goldsmith, just over a fifth are more likely to consider backing him, with nine per cent less likely.

Opinium conducted 1,015 online interviews with London adults from March 30 to April 3. Data are weighted.
A London crime gang financier who was jailed after going on the run to Syria while owing taxpayers 535,000 has been freed after a judge cut his sentence for non-payment to 28 days.

Iraqi-born Maythem al-Ansari, who returned to Britain in February after five years as a fugitive, had been told to serve a three-and-a-half-year default sentence for failing to repay profits he made as the money launderer for a major drugs gang in the capital.

But a judge at Kingston crown court yesterday agreed to reduce his prison term to four weeks, leading to his immediate release as he had served that since flying back to Heathrow.

Earlier, the court was told that most of al-Ansaris debt remains outstanding. But Mark Milliken-Smith QC, one of two barristers representing the defendant, said the money that could be used to pay this was held in India in accounts he no longer controlled. He said these funds, of about 2 million, were instead the subject of legal action by court-appointed receivers.

Mr Milliken-Smith said that as a result he wanted the judge to use a legal provision under which, by cutting al-Ansaris confiscation order by 1, his default sentence could be reduced.

Prosecution barrister Philip Stott said that al-Ansari had not cooperated with the receivers but had served a 28-day sentence for breaching the terms of his release by going on the run in 2011.

Mr Stott said the 1 reduction in the debt still left a confiscation order of 535,000, but accepted that payment would have to come from the Indian funds, if obtained by the receivers.

Judge Susan Tapping said the normal process would be for al-Ansari to appeal against the default sentence imposed by Westminster magistrates after his return from Syria. But to avoid delay she would agree to Mr Milliken-Smiths request, even though it was perhaps not a correct legal way.

Al-Ansari was first arrested in February 2008 by detectives investigating a drugs and money-laundering gang.

Police used a digger to break through a wall around his fortified 3 million home in Hillingdon.

Al-Ansari later pleaded guilty to money laundering and 32 gang members were convicted of other offences. He was also arrested in 2009 over a separate Met investigation into mortgage fraud.

Police are continuing to liaise with prosecutors over this case.
I t was one of the first times rescue cat Phoebe had ventured out of the house  and she soon discovered the perils of the outside world.

The feline managed to get herself jammed into a space just a few inches wide between a garage and the side of the house where her owners live.

The terrified animal found herself stuck fast, pinned in place by her pelvis for a number of hours.

Her frightened meowing alerted owner Jon Harper, who called the RSPCA and local fire service to help free her.

After firefighters carefully cut into the garage's brickwork the young cat was plucked to freedom, trembling and covered in dust.

Mr Harper, 35, who lives with his parents after moving home from London, said Phoebe, the family pet, was just getting used to going out when she got into her predicament on Thursday.

He said: "She is just under a year old and is a rescue cat. She is quite nervous so has been slow to venture outdoors and stays close to the house.

I heard her calling out and found she had got herself trapped between the garage and the house walls in Hassocks, West Sussex.

"I didn't know if she was running from another cat but she had pulled herself really far into it from one side."

Phoebe has now made a full recovery.

RSPCA animal welfare officer Marie Stevens, who helped in Phoebe's rescue, added: "I've been an RSPCA officer for 22 years but seeing animals in distress doesn't get any easier. Luckily with the skills from the fire officers we were able to safely free poor Phoebe."
T he Panama legal firm involved in the leak of millions of secret files worked with at least 33 clients subject to international sanctions, including companies based in Iran, Zimbabwe and North Korea, according to reports.

Latest analysis of the 11 million internal files from the Mossack Fonseca firm by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists shows one of its clients even had links with North Koreas nuclear weapons programme. Another was a cousin of Syrian President Assad and a third, Zimbabwean businessman John Bredenkamp, had close ties with President Robert Mugabe.

One client company, DCB Finance, was set up in 2006 with shareholders and directors based in North Koreas capital Pyongyang.

It was subjected to sanctions by Washington for raising funds for Kim Jong-uns regime and being linked to a bank helping to fund the regimes nuclear weapons programme. The owners were a North Korean official, Kim Chol Sam, and British banker Nigel Cowie, who was also head of the sanctioned Daedong Credit Bank.

Mossack Fonseca eventually resigned as agents for DCB Finance in September 2010 when it was contacted by the British Virgin Islands authorities about another company Mossack Fonseca had set up with directors in North Korea.

In 2013 the BVI authorities asked what checks they had carried out before opening DCB Finance in 2006.

An email from Mossack Fonsecas compliance department on 9 August 2013 said: We have not yet addressed the reason we maintained a relationship with DCB Finance when we knew or ought to have known from incorporation in 2006 that the country, North Korea, was on the black list. It adds: We should have identified from the onset that this was a high risk company. Mr Cowies lawyer said he was unaware of any transactions being made with any sanctioned organisation or for any sanctioned purpose during his tenure.

The ICIJ report shows President Assads cousin Rami Makhlouf had been a client even after he was sanctioned by the US Treasury Department in 2008. He was dropped from Mossack Fonsecas list of clients only in 2010.

Mossack Fonseca said: We have never knowingly allowed the use of our companies by individuals having any relationship with North Korea or Syria. We have our own procedures in place to identify such individuals.
A dele has slammed reports that Rebel Wilson is set to play her in a film biopic.

The British superstar addressed the rumours on stage at her O2 gig on Monday night, telling fans that the Australian comic need to get her f****** permission.

Addressing the crowd in between songs, the chart-topper suggested that the only reason Wilson was being touted to play her was because she was plus size.

Speaking out: Adele, pictured starting her world tour last night, says too many fans cant get into her shows / Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images

I've heard there are rumours about Rebel Wilson will be playing me in a movie  let's see if that turns out to be true, she told the audience.

She'd need my f****** permission. Just because I'm plus-sized doesn't mean she's playing me, she added.

New role: Is Rebel Wilson set to play Adele / Dave Benett

While Wilson is yet to confirm the rumours, she is reported to be in talks to play the British singer.

Adele - In pictures 1 /54 Adele - In pictures Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images f Getty Images AdeleInstagram Getty Images PA NBC Harpo Productions Rex Features Dave Benett An Audience with Adele/ITV PA Adele @adele Adele joins James Corden for Carpool Karaoke on The Late Late Show with James Corden and wows fans with her Nicki Minaj rap CBS Notting Hill Carnival Instagram Adele performs at The Brit Awards, Show, O2 Arena, London, Britain in 2016 Rex Features Getting angry Adele flips her middle finger after being interrupted by presenter James Corden following her award win for best British album of the year during the BRIT Music Awards Reuters Adele at the BBC Tallulah Windmill, Stacey Lee Cuddy, Sarah Evans, Lisa Martin, Adele, Joanie Stewart, Vanity Von Glow, Katy Markham, Emily Woods, Gabriella Parrish. Adele played the part of "Jenny" in a skit for Adele At The BBC, where she auditioned alongside a group of Adele impersonators. As well as performing and chatting with Graham Norton during the TV special, she filmed a comedy sketch, donning a prosthetic chin and nose to subtly alter her appearance for the audition. Long gloves covered the tell-tale tattoo of "Angelo" on her hand. Nine Adele impersonators were then invited to the Wimbledon Theatre to audition for Norton's new top-secret TV show BBC Adele poses with her six Grammy Awards at 54th Annual Grammy Awards in 2012 AP Laid back Adele steps out for a cigarette during The Late Show with David Letterman in New York in 2008 Rex Features Winning kiss Adele accepts Best Pop Solo Performance for Set Fire to the Rain (Live) from presenter Jennifer Lopez at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards, Show, Los Angeles in 2013 Rex Features Meet and greet Adele greets her fans in New York in 2015 Rex Features Double Grammy win Adele at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards in 2009 Rex Features Having a chat Adele on The Paul O'Grady Show' in 2008 Rex Features Awards hoard Adele at 70th Annual Golden Globe Awards in 2013 Rex Features And another... Adele at The Brit Awards in 2012 Rex Features Too many to count Adele at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards in 2012 Rex Features Music awards Adele at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards, Los Angeles Rex Features Baby faced A young Adele at The Brit Awards in 2011 Rex Features Honoured Adele holding her MBE for services to music presented to her by the Prince of Wales at Buckingham Palace in 2013 Rex Features Oscar winning Adele and Paul Epworth with the gong for Skyfall at the 85th Annual Academy Awards Oscars in 2013 Rex Features Undercover Adele at Jonathan Ross's Halloween Party in 2014 Rex Features New look Adele at 58th Annual Grammy Awards in 2016 Rex Features Star studded trio Barbra Streisand, Adele and Shirley Bassey at 85th Annual Academy Awards Oscars, Governors Ball, Los Angeles in 2013 Rex Features Debut album Debut Album 19 by Adele Rex Features Kiss me, quick Adele at 85th Annual Academy Awards Oscars, Press Room, Los Angeles in 2013 Rex Features Double BRIT winner Adele at The Brit Awards, Press Room, O2 Arena, London in 2012 Rex Features Thank you! Adele - Best Female Solo Artist at The Brit Awards, Show, O2 Arena, London, Britain in 2016 Rex Features dele with the BRIT Awards for Best British Female, Best British Album, Best British Single and Global Success Award in the press room at the 2016 Brit Awards at the O2 Arena, London PA Starting out Adele at the 2008 Brit Awards nominations launch party at The Roundhouse, London Rex Features Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP

A source told the Daily Star: Rebel has always wanted to prove she can cut it as a serious actress.

This is going to be a huge challenge for her because Adele is a legend at the peak of her popularity.

They continued: Rebel can't match Adele's vocal talents but she can certainly sing. And, with a little technical wizardry, she'll sound just like her in the movie.
A my Schumer has hit out at Glamour magazine for claiming the publication incorrectly labelled her plus size.

Schumer, 34, took to Twitter to explain how the magazine failed to ask for her permission to feature her in the publications special plus-size issue fronted by Ashley Graham.

The actress posted a picture of the cover to her Instagram account which features the tagline: Women Who Inspire Us: Melissa McCarthy, Adele, Amy Schumer and Ashley Graham.

Alongside the image she posted: I think theres nothing wrong with being plus-size. Beautiful healthy women. Plus-size is considered size 16 in America. I go between a size 6 and an 8.

Glamour magazine put me in their plus-size only issue without asking or letting me know and it doesnt feel right to me. Young girls seeing my body type thinking that is plus-size? What are your thoughts? Mine are not cool glamour not glamourous.

She later tweeted: "Just a little odd an unfair not to be told."

A spokesperson for the magazine apologised for upsetting the actress but insisted that they did not refer to her as plus-size.

In a statement they said: First off, we love Amy, and our readers do, too, which is why we featured her on the cover of Glamour last year.

The cover line on this special edition  which is aimed at women size 12 and up  simply says Women Who Inspire Us, since we believe her passionate and vocal message of body positivity IS inspiring, as is the message of the many other women, of all sizes, featured. The edition did not describe her as plus-size. We are sorry if we offended her in any way.

Critics' Choice Awards 2016 1 /32 Critics' Choice Awards 2016 Having a laugh Amy Schumer jokes about her figure as she accepts the award for Most Valuable Person in Film and TV Mario Anzuoni/Reuters Best Actor Christian Bale accepts the award for Best Actor in a Comedy for The Big Short during the 21st Annual Critics' Choice Awards Reuters Double act Reggie Watts and James Corden team up to present the award for best comedy series Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP Strike a pose Jennifer Aniston waves to photographers as she arrives at the annual bash Danny Moloshok/Reuters Adding to the collection Sylvester Stallone poses backstage with the award for Best Supporting Actor for Creed - just a week after winning the same award at the Golden Globes Reuters Kiss me, quick Constance Zimmer kisses her gong for Best Supporting Actress in a drama series Rex Congratulations Alicia Vikander accepts her Best Supporting Actress award from Trumbo star Bryan Cranston Rex It's mine Christian Slater poses backstage with his award for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for Mr. Robot Danny Moloshok/Reuters Award winner Kirsten Dunst poses backstage with the award for Best Actress in a Movie made for Television or a Limited Series for Fargo Danny Moloshok/Reuters Pretty in pink Hayden Panettiere looks stunning in a baby pink gown as she takes to the blue carpet Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP Big kiss Adam McKay grabs Christian Bale for a kiss as he accepts the award for best comedy for The Big Short AP Shining star Sharon Stone presents the award for best picture to Spotlight Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP Model looks Rosie Huntington-Whiteley looks stunning in a backless black gown Rex Nominee Saoirse Ronan arrives at the 21st annual Critics' Choice Awards Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP Downton glamour Downton Abbey's Joanne Froggatt goes glam in a blue gown for the ceremony Rex Giving a twirl Dame Helen Mirren shows off her monochrome dress on the blue carpet Reuters Silver star Kate Beckinsale arrives at the 21st Annual Critics' Choice Awards Danny Moloshok/Reuters Date night Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux arrive hand-in-hand Rex Matching poses Damien Lewis and Helen McCrory coordinate their pose on the blue carpet Danny Moloshok/Reuters Glamorous Emmy Rossum flashes her silver gown Rex Baby on board Liv Tyler flashes her baby bump in a thigh splitting dress Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP) Cinderella Amy Schumer hands her shoe to Tracee Ellis Ross while on stage to accept the award for Best Actress in a Comedy for Trainwreck Mario Anzuoni/Reuters Pretty in prints January Jones works a patterned dress Rex That's all folks Hosts T.J. Miller and William Shatner close the show Mario Anzuoni/Reuters

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A ctress Caitriona Balfes cat has three Twitter handles, none set up by her. So goes it when you star in an adaptation of much-loved novels.

Fandom is amazing, she says when I meet her at the Soho Hotel. The Outlander fans are super-passionate. A lot of them have come from the books so theyve been obsessed for 20 years. And now they have visuals.

The books in question are a series of historical fantasy novels written by American author Diana Gabaldon which have sold more than 26 million copies worldwide, while the television adaptation was the most popular premiere in the history of its US network Starz. In the UK, the first series premiered on Amazon Prime in March 2015 and the much-anticipated second series begins on Sunday.

The time-travelling drama follows no-nonsense Second World War nurse Claire Randall as she is catapulted back to 18th-century Scotland by some ancient Highland sorcery. She then becomes embroiled in the Jacobite rebellion and falls for rugged Jamie Fraser, played by Sam Heughan, despite being technically still married to her 1940s husband Frank (Tobias Menzies).

Even just news of Balfes casting as Claire incited furious online debate and she has developed a fierce and loyal following. Its bizarre. You hope that you get a job first of all, and then you hope that people watch it and then maybe they actually like it. I mean, its TV, were not doing anything good in the world really but were giving some people happiness and thats pretty fricking amazing sometimes. Thats stuff I never thought would be a part of what we would do. Maybe it sounds really sappy but thats the best thing that could come out of it.

For a concept that requires a heavy dose of suspended disbelief, the series has been perhaps unexpectedly celebrated for portraying realistic historical settings, believable relationships, and authentic sex scenes.

Caitriona Balfe in Outlander / Starz

From the premiere showing Frank going down on Claire (the infamous cunnilingus in the castle interlude) to a wedding-night which spans an entire episode, the female gaze is prioritised. In a reversal of what might be expected, it is Jamie who is losing his virginity to Claire and the scene is depicted with more than a little wry humour. Apparently the cast and crew sat around sharing stories about first times before filming.

Balfe, 36, says: First and foremost our source material is written by a woman and shes very self-possessed and smart. Obviously that gives you a female perspective that is very strong. We also have two female writers on our team and we had a female director in for the wedding episode, which had a lot of sex scenes in it. Ron [Ronald D Moore, writer and producer], even though hes male is very emotionally intelligent and he definitely isnt interested in doing the same old gratuitous sex scenes that are in a lot of shows. So from the get-go that was always the directive. Claire is someone whos very sexually empowered. Theres nothing that shes ashamed of in that. It was cool, it was nice to be able to go forth with that.

"Black Jack is a sadist and he uses sexual violence to actually reduce Claire and Jamie to nothing"

A combination of corsets, violence, nudity and a pretty bleak landscape has led to inevitable comparisons with Game of Thrones. Indeed, when Balfe jokes about the weather on their Scotland sets  Theres days where youre like Oh god, why didnt we shoot in Malta?  I assume shes alluding to HBOs blockbuster series. But Outlander has been recognised for its tact when handling difficult subject matter such as sexual assault while Game of Thrones attracted criticism for its treatment of similar events.

Balfes character is constantly vulnerable to being attacked and the first series culminates in a shocking portrayal of the male lead being raped. Its tough because we have a couple of different instances [of sexual violence] in season one. We always talked about it as an act of war. It was used as a weapon against women in war zones and, unfortunately, still is today.

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

In terms of Black Jack [the shows main antagonist, who assaults both lead characters] and Claire, for him its not about sex, its about power. Even with him and Jamie its the same thing. Hes not in love. Hes not a gay man. Hes a sadist and he uses sexual violence to actually reduce them to nothing.

The positive reception in the US culminated in three Golden Globe nominations for the series, including Best Actress in a Television Drama Series for Balfe.

At the ceremony she avoided drinking early on in the evening as her category was near the end, before accosting Rob Delaney who looked really scared of me and bumping into Patricia Arquette in the toilets.

Outlander - Season 2 Official Trailer - STARZ

I was walking into the bathrooms as she was walking out and she commented on my dress and I was like Oh, thank you. I think youre amazing and I love what youve done and then shook her hand before she had a chance to wash it so she probably didnt want to do that.

The whole thing is such a bizarre evening. I ended up with Sam [Heughan] and a bunch of my friends in my room eating pizza at four in the morning  you always know it was a good night when youre eating pizza on the floor at 4am.

When I note that her IMDb page looks fairly sparse for a Golden Globe-nominated actress, she bursts out laughing: Ha, my CV was so short before this!

(Starz Entertainment) / Starz Entertainment,

Outlander is Balfes first major role after a hugely successful decade-long modelling career which saw her work with Chanel, Burberry, Alexander McQueen, Oscar de la Renta and Louis Vuitton. She even walked in a Victorias Secret show.

Originally from Co Monaghan in Ireland, she was in her first year of studying theatre in Dublin when she was scouted by a model agent and offered the chance to move to Paris, which seemed like a pretty good idea  but it wasnt her passion. I had a good few years where it was a lot of fun, I met some incredible people and you get to work with some great artists and everything. But I sort of fell into it.

In a turn that is about as far from Outlander as possible, she will next be seen in Money Monster, Jodie Fosters financial-crash drama that comes out in May and stars George Clooney, Julia Roberts and Jack OConnell. Balfe says she plays a chief communications office in a high-frequency trading firm and begins outlining the plot with a fluency that suggests she submerged herself in research about the 2008 crash as thoroughly as she did with Second World War frontline nursing.

Jason Merritt/Getty Images

I think its happening more now, with films such as The Big Short and 99 Homes, that slowly people are starting to unravel the financial landscape and what happened in 2008. And it was really great to have a female director tackle that situation.

Balfe is in somewhat of an unusual position as an actress getting her first big break in her mid-thirties, and she acknowledges the need to jump at exciting roles for women over 30. But in the case of Outlander, age is important and a 21-year-old starlet would have been inauthentic at the centre of the show.

What I loved about it is shes slightly older than the male lead. Shes been married before. Shes a worldly and wise woman. But hes quite new, hes a virgin, hes young, hes starry-eyed and that kind of... well, its nice to have her instigating things and leading him instead of it being the other way around.

At the very least, Balfe must be convincing as a character who can handle her booze. Drinking games played along to an episode of Outlander would easily render a Freshers Week bar of students unconscious.

Daniel Hambury

Reportedly, Claire is pregnant in the new series and doesnt let up: Shes drinking the wine. Shes drinking whisky. I guess they didnt know back then.

Balfe had been living in LA once she put aside modelling for acting, but moved to Scotland for what was a year-long shoot for the first series. She talks fondly of rain-soaked days and a tight-knit cast and crew, as well as becoming an inevitable whisky fan herself.

It had to happen. Graham McTavish [who plays clan War Chieftain Dougal MacKenzie] is fond of setting up these whisky tasting nights where we have to taste a bunch of whiskies from different regions of Scotland. Its great ... if anyone can remember what they drank afterwards.

Follow Rachael Sigee on Twitter: @littlewondering

Outlander Season 2 will be available for unlimited streaming and download exclusively on Amazon Prime Video from Sunday with episodes airing weekly; Season 1 is available now on catch-up
USDA Rural Development staff will present information on federal programs that are available to Panhandle residents, communities and non-profits at the Lied Scottsbluff Public Library in the Fliesbach Community Room on Saturday, April 9, from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. and on Wednesday, April 13, from 6 to 6:45 p.m. Emphasis will be on 100 percent financing loans available to purchase homes, and also on repair loans for existing home-owners.
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Tuesday, 05 April 2016 00:08:17 (GMT+3) | Sao Paulo





The Brazilian authority refused the project for finding it be environmentally unfeasible.





SAMs iron ore complex would be located in the cities of Padre Carvalho and Grao Mogol, both in the state of Minas Gerais. The complex was expected to have Brazil s largest iron ore waste dam. It would have an iron ore mine, a concentration unit and an iron ore pipe of 482 km (299 miles) connected to a port in Ilheus, in the state of Bahia.





SAM said iron ore production at the mine was expected to reach 25 million mt/year. Called Vale do Rio Pardo, the project would be online by the end of 2018 or early 2019.





The negative impacts and the environmental risks to which neighboring communities and the environment could be exposed to dont allow [us]  to attest the environmental feasibility of the project, Ibama said in its decision.





Ibamas decision follows a recent iron ore waste dam burst late last year at local pellets producer Samarco, a 50/50 joint venture between Brazil s Vale and BHP Billiton, which killed 19 people and let hundreds homeless.





Concerns over the impacts of the project to water resources and the quality of the air, which demanded complex mitigation measures, were also raised by Ibama.





SAMs iron ore project was expected to have three iron ore waste dams. The largest dam would have a 1.3 billion-cubic-meter capacity.




Peruvian iron ore production in the second month of the year declined to 636,212 mt, from 659,292 mt in the same period of 2015. When compared to Januarys output, iron ore production decreased 8.6 percent, month-on-month.
By MARK EVANS mevans@stegenherald.com During last Thursdays county commission meeting, the topic of tourism came up. First District Commissioner Karen Stuppy reported on the Tourism Advisory Council and Tourism Tax Commissions joint meeting earlier that week, at which a task force was formed. She said that the tourism department has an $89,548 budget, with $45,000-50,000
Mackinac Island The weather has been up and down this past week. We had some very nice days, and other were cold,...

Outdoors This Week in the Eastern U.P. I know its fall, but, for some reason, the white stuff has started falling already and frost is covering my...

West Mackinac Thats all folks, the fall fashion show is over and Mother Natures winter wardrobe is waiting in the wings. In...
The Government Agent for the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), Razvan-Horatiu Radu, Undersecretary of State with the Foreign Affairs Ministry (MAE), paid on Monday and Tuesday an official visit to Chisinau, during which he pointed out the importance and complexity of legislative harmonization with EU law and voiced the Romanian side's "full openness and constant support," including at technical level.

According to a MAE release issued on Tuesday for Agerpres, the visit took place at the invitation of Moldovan Minister of Justice Vladimir Cebotari. The quoted source mentions that, during the visit, the Governmental Agent for CJEU had a meeting with Vladimir Cebotari who thanked the Romanian MAE official for "the support in terms of legislation harmonization, which is essential to meet the obligations to transpose the EU acquis."

According to the MAE, Razvan Radu-Horatiu met also with Natalia Suceveanu, director of the Centre for Legislation Harmonization with the Moldovan Ministry of Justice. The same source reminds that the first meeting of the Romania - Moldova Intergovernmental Committee for European Integration took place in 2012. "In terms of legislative harmonization, the concrete support of the Romanian side is permanent and refers to sharing its experience regarding best solutions and ways to transpose some pieces of the European legislation," the MAE informs.
The Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) has reached its limit, and Romania has the institutional, legislative capacity to further monitor what the CVM was covering, Justice Minister Raluca Pruna on asserted on Monday night.

"The Cooperation and Verification Mechanism has contributed significantly to the reform and strengthening of the judiciary. Considering the 10 years that have passed since this mechanism has been established through a decision of the [European] Commission, I believe it's opportune [to have] at least a time horizon, (...), that is a limit in the future when we know this mechanism is lifted; I believe that such a horizon is necessary. (...) I guess that any kind of such mechanism reaches its limit at some point, and the CVM, from where I stand, has reached its limit, given that the Romanian society has proven that it is mature and could insource certain processes," Pruna told private television Realitatea TV.She added that Romania has got its own institutional and legislative mechanism to monitor the current scope of the CVM; one of them is the national anti-corruption strategy, she mentioned."The national anti-corruption strategy is such a mechanism by which, if we know how to enforce it, we will have measures and safety nets which are absolutely equivalent to the CVM," the minister added.

AGERPRES
Updated at 3:34 p.m.

DETROIT  Ford Motor Co. on Tuesday announced it would invest $1.6 billion to build more small cars in Mexico, starting in 2018, triggering a fresh blast of criticism from Republican front-runner Donald Trump.

Following the announcement, Trump labeled the move "an absolute disgrace."

"These ridiculous, job-crushing transactions will not happen when I am president," the real estate billionaire said in a statement released by his headquarters.

Ford stood by comments on the issue made by its chief executive, Mark Fields, two weeks ago, who said the company would not back down on its production strategy.

"We are a global, multinational company and we will invest to keep us competitive and we will do what makes sense for the business," Fields said.

The automaker announced the investment in Mexico as Trump, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Ohio Governor John Kasich competed in a primary in Wisconsin seen as crucial in the race to become the Republican presidential candidate in the November election.

Trump, who has criticized U.S. companies for "sending jobs to Mexico," has singled out Ford for some of his harshest remarks.

But data indicates that Ford builds fewer vehicles and employs fewer workers in Mexico than do its Detroit-based rivals, General Motors Co. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles' Chrysler unit.

In the United States, Ford has 55,300 hourly paid plant workers, GM has 54,000 and FCA has 36,600, the companies said.

GM has about 12,000 hourly paid workers in Mexico, while FCA has 9,547 and Ford has 6,191, the companies said on Tuesday.

In 2015, 80 percent of Ford's North American production came from its U.S. plants while 63 percent of GM's North American production came from its U.S. plants and 64 percent of FCA's North American production came from its U.S. plants.

A senior Mexican official said Mexico had stepped back from a high-profile announcement on the Ford plant to avoid stoking tensions in the U.S. election debate stemming from Trump's comments.

"Due to the (election) debate, they (Ford) don't want to be in the spotlight," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Citing Mexican sources, Reuters reported the Ford plans in January.

Joe Hinrichs, Ford executive vice president and head of the Americas, said on Tuesday that the automaker is investing more money in Mexico "to improve our small-car profitability."

In Detroit, United Auto Workers President Dennis Williams described the new Ford investment in Mexico as "a disappointment and very troubling."

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, an Ohio Democrat, said corporations moving jobs out of the United States only to profit by shipping products back "is why people are so upset with corporate America that outsources so often."

Hinrichs declined to say what products Ford plans to build at the San Luis Potosi plant, which is slated to open in 2018 and will employ 2,800 by 2020.

U.S. supplier sources have said the plant is expected to build the next-generation Ford Focus compact, as well as a Focus-based hybrid gasoline-electric model aimed at rival Toyota Motor Corp and described as a "Prius fighter."

Ford joins a growing list of automakers investing billions in new production capacity in Mexico, where lower labor costs and favorable currency exchange mean companies have a better chance of turning a profit on low-margin small cars.

Sean McAlinden, chief economist with the Center for Automotive Research, said that Ford's Mexico workers make about $8.25 per hour in wages and benefits, compared with Ford's U.S. workers, who get $60 per hour in wages and benefits.

During contract talks last summer, Ford confirmed that it would move Focus production out of its Wayne, Michigan plant in 2018. The UAW said at the time that Ford planned to build the next Focus in Mexico.

Hinrichs on Tuesday reiterated that Ford is planning to build two new vehicles at the Wayne plant, beginning in 2018, but declined to provide details.

Lienert and Woodall reported from Detroit; Shepardson from Washington; Martinez from Mexico City.
Updated at 7:41 a.m.

U.S. drugmaker Pfizer Inc. and Ireland-based Allergan Plc walked away from their $160 billion merger on Wednesday, a major win for President Barack Obama, who has been pushing to curb deals in which companies move overseas to save on taxes.

Pfizer said the decision was driven by new U.S. Treasury rules aimed at curbing such deals, called inversions. The merger would have allowed New York-based Pfizer to cut its tax bill by an estimated $1 billion annually by domiciling in Ireland, where tax rates are lower.

While the new Treasury rules did not name Pfizer and Allergan, one of the provisions targeted a specific feature of their merger  Allergan's history as a major acquirer of other companies.

With the deal behind it, Pfizer said it would decide this year about whether to split off its hundreds of generic medicines into a separate business. It had put off making that decision until 2019 after announcing its deal with Allergan last November.

Allergan said it would move ahead with plans for its $40.5 billion sale of its generic drug business to Israel's Teva Pharmaceutical Industries. It expects the transaction to close by June.

Pfizer will pay Allergan $150 million to reimburse expenses from its deal.

Shares of Allergan, which fell 15 percent on Tuesday, were down 1.7 percent in premarket trading. Pfizer edged up 1.3 percent.

Pfizer has new products coming and plenty of money that it could put to work with acquisitions, though not on the scale of Allergan, said Les Funtleyder, health care portfolio manager at E Squared Asset Management in New York, which holds Pfizer shares. It is not clear that Pfizer should definitely split into two, he said.

"It is true that these larger companies are a little unwieldy to manage," Funtleyder said, "but there are plenty of strategies to keep them together and increase shareholder value."

The decision to call off the deal came in part because Pfizer was concerned that any tweaks to salvage its deal with Allergan might have provoked new rules by the Treasury, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters on Tuesday.

Obama on Tuesday called global tax avoidance a "huge problem" and urged Congress to take action to stop U.S. companies from deals that allow it.

U.S. inversion rules have unraveled other mergers. U.S. drugmaker AbbVie Inc. abandoned its $55 billion takeover of Ireland-domiciled peer Shire Plc in 2014 after the Obama administration cracked down on inversions. AbbVie had to pay Shire a $1.6 billion break-up fee.

________

Our earlier update, from Reuters, which was posted at 10 p.m. Tuesday

NEW YORK  U.S. drugmaker Pfizer Inc. agreed on Tuesday to terminate its $160 billion agreement to acquire Botox maker Allergan Plc, in a major victory to U.S. President Barack Obama's drive to stop tax-dodging corporate mergers.

The decision to end the biggest tax "inversion" ever attempted, which would have seen Pfizer slash its tax bill by redomiciling to Ireland where Allergan is registered, came a day after the U.S. Treasury unveiled new rules to curb inversions.

While these new rules did not name Pfizer and Allergan, one of their provisions targeted a specific feature of their merger; Allergan's previous history as a major acquirer of other companies. The subsequent demise of the deal allows Obama to claim a big win during his last year in office.

Earlier on Tuesday, Obama called global tax avoidance a "huge problem" and urged Congress to take action to stop U.S. companies from tax-avoiding corporate "inversions," which lower companies tax bills by redomiciling overseas.

"While the Treasury Department's actions will make it more difficult ... to exploit this particular corporate inversions loophole, only Congress can close it for good," Obama said.

Pfizer and Allergan will announce the termination of their deal on Wednesday, a source familiar with the matter said, asking not to be identified ahead of any official statement. Pfizer and Allergan declined to comment.

Pfizer was concerned that any tweaks to salvage the inversion might have provoked new rules by the U.S. Treasury, and so was leaning earlier on Tuesday to end the deal, a source had earlier told Reuters.

Pfizer will have to pay Allergan up to $400 million for its expenses as a result of terminating the deal, according to their merger agreement.

Pfizer shares had ended trading in New York on Tuesday up 2 percent on hopes the company would walk away or renegotiate the deal in its favor. Allergan shares closed down 14.8 percent to their lowest level since October 2014.

Several U.S. presidential candidates, including Republican Donald Trump and Democrats Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, have seized on the issue in their campaigns.

"We have so many companies leaving, it is disgraceful," Trump told reporters as he greeted voters in Waukesha, Wis., on Tuesday. Clinton and Sanders both expressed support for Treasury's plan.

Besides Pfizer-Allergan, other pending inversion deals that have not yet closed include the proposed $16.5 billion merger of Johnson Controls Inc with Ireland-based Tyco International Plc, Waste Connections Inc.'s $2.67 billion deal with Canada's Progressive Waste Solutions Ltd., and IHS Inc.'s $13 billion acquisition of London-based Markit Ltd.

In all these cases, the shares of the target companies fell only slightly. Johnson Controls and Tyco said they would respond after conducting a review of the new rules.

Waste Connections and Progressive Waste Solutions said they expected the rules would impact less than 3 percent of the combined adjusted free cash flow in their first year after the deal.

IHS and Markit said they believed the rules would not affect their adjusted effective tax rate guidance of a low to mid-twenties percentage range.

THREE-YEAR RULE

Under previous rules which still apply, Allergan shareholders needed to own at least 40 percent of the combined company for the two companies to enjoy the full tax benefits of an inversion, and more than 20 percent to have any inversion benefit at all.

But a new 'three-year-look-back rule' issued by the Treasury on Monday made this much harder for Allergan, and appeared to take aim directly at it because of how the company was put together.

The new rule does not allow stock accumulated through a foreign company's U.S. deals in the last three years to count towards the book value needed to meet the inversion threshold.

This weighed on Allergan heavily because of its significant deals in this timeframe. These include the $66 billion merger of Allergan and Actavis Plc, the $25 billion purchase of Forest Laboratories and the $5 billion takeover of Warner Chilcott.

"The serial acquisition portion of the regulations will cause Pfizer to be treated as an 'expatriated entity' (under the terms of its existing deal with Allergan)," Robert Willens, a corporate tax and accounting analyst, wrote in a note.

SHEDDING GENERICS

In a second change to the rules, the Treasury also said it would seek to limit a practice known as earnings stripping that is often undertaken following, but not limited to, an inversion. The new Treasury rules would restrict related-party debt for U.S. subsidiaries in dealings that do not finance new investment in the United States.

Without Allergan's new, fast-growing medicines, Pfizer may need to look for other companies with attractive products, such as U.S. drugmakers Biogen Inc., Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. and AbbVie Inc., said Raghuram Selvaraju, managing director of brokerage H.C. Wainwright.

Pfizer had planned to make a decision by 2016 whether to split off its hundreds of generic medicines, but delayed the decision until 2019 after announcing its merger with Allergan. Morningstar analyst Damien Conover had said the decision could be moved to late 2017 or 2018 if the deal with Allergan collapsed.

Pfizer, which announced the deal in November, had said its tax rate would drop to about 17 or 18 percent after the deal, from around 25 percent. That would have represented more than $1 billion in annual cost savings.

The deal's collapse is also a blow to the investment banks involved. Guggenheim Partners LLC, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Centerview Partners Holdings LLC and Moelis & Co. stood to share $94 million in fees advising Pfizer had the deal closed, while Allergan would have paid its advisers, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley, $142 million in total, according to the latest estimates by Freeman & Co LLC.

Bankers may now get paid only 10 percent of these amounts, according to Freeman.

This is not the first time a tightening of the U.S. inversion rules have caused a merger to unravel. U.S. pharmaceutical company AbbVie abandoned its $55 billion takeover of Ireland-domiciled peer Shire Plc after the Obama administration cracked down on inversions in 2014. AbbVie had to pay Shire a $1.6 billion break-up fee.
NEW YORK  The U.S. Treasury Department's proposed new tax regulations threw a series of proposed mergers into question, including Pfizer Inc.'s $160 billion agreement to buy Allergan Plc, pushing shares of Allergan and other targets lower.

Other deals that could be affected by the new Treasury tax rules include the proposed $16.5 billion merger of Johnson Controls Inc., a U.S. maker of car batteries and heating and ventilation equipment, with Ireland-based Tyco International Plc.

Shares of U.S.-based Waste Connections Inc. were down 6.6 percent. It said in January it would buy Canada's Progressive Waste Solutions Ltd. for about $2.67 billion in a tax inversion.

Among those deals, Pfizer's plan to buy Dublin-based Allergan, the maker of Botox, move its headquarters to Ireland and lower its tax rate, was the largest. Pfizer announced the deal in November, saying it would save $2 billion in costs.

On Monday night, Pfizer and Allergan said in a joint statement that they were reviewing the notice and declined to speculate on whether the deal would go forward.

Allergan shares were down 15.5 percent at $234.50 on the New York Stock Exchange. With more than 21 million U.S.-listed shares traded, it was the busiest trading day in company history.

Pfizer shares rose 1.9 percent to $31.30. Tyco shares were down 2.3 percent.

President Barack Obama was scheduled to deliver a statement at 12:15 Eastern on Tuesday on the economy following the announcement of the new tax regulations, the White House said.

Obama has said tax inversions are unpatriotic and the U.S. government has been trying to stop them. Late on Monday, the Treasury Department introduced a regulation that would negate the benefits of these inversions, putting Pfizer's acquisition of Allergan at risk.

DEAL ALMOST DEAD?

Les Funtleyder, healthcare portfolio manager at E Squared Asset Management in New York, whose firm holds Pfizer shares, said it looked like most investors expected Pfizer to move on.

"By how the stocks are trading, the market thinks the deal is almost dead," he said.

Pfizer is likely trying to figure out if there is a way around the new rules and if it cannot dodge the rules, will move on, said Raghuram Selvaraju, managing director of brokerage H.C. Wainwright.

If it does not acquire Allergan's new, fast-growing medicines, Pfizer will need to look for other companies with attractive products, such as U.S. drugmakers Biogen Inc., Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. and AbbVie Inc., Selvaraju said.

There has been no decision yet on whether or not the terms of the Pfizer-Allergan deal will change, one source familiar with the situation said.

Pfizer and Allergan do not see an easy way out because changing the terms of the deal may result in more changes to the law, the source said.

Morningstar analyst Damien Conover, who predicted Pfizer and Allergan will make an announcement about the deal within days, said that if the deal collapses, Pfizer will likely move up its decision on a key business strategy  whether to sell or spin off its hundreds of generic medicines.

Pfizer had planned to make a decision by 2016 whether to split off its generics, but delayed the decision until 2019 after announcing its merger with Allergan. Conover said the decision could be moved to late 2017 or 2018.

The federal government has grappled with a wave of inversions in recent years as U.S. companies have sought to slash their tax bills by redomiciling overseas, although their core operations and management usually remain in the United States even as they claim a new tax home.

Several U.S. presidential candidates, including Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton, have seized on the issue in their campaigns.

Obama, a Democrat, has called repeatedly for action by the Republican-controlled U.S. Congress on inversions, but lawmakers have done little. He repeated his appeal to Congress on Monday and said he welcomed the Treasury's action.

"To us, whether Pfizer and Allergan stay committed will be known shortly  more important for many is if the deal breaks, where should Allergan trade?" Wells Fargo analyst David Maris wrote in a research note on Tuesday morning.

Maris lowered his valuation range for the stock to a range of $265 to $270 from a range of $345 to $350.

Shares of M&A advisory firms tumbled in response to the new U.S. inversion rules. The S&P 600 Investment Banking & Brokerage Index lost 2.9 percent, M&A advisor Evercore Partners fell 4.7 percent, while Greenhill & Co was down 4.5 percent.

Pamela Barbaglia contributed to this report from London.
WASHINGTON  President Barack Obama made a forceful case Tuesday for stopping corporations from moving their headquarters overseas in order to avoid U.S. taxes, saying they are taking advantage of the American economic system and saddling the middle class with the bill.

These companies "renounce their citizenship, but get all of the rewards of being an American company," Obama said at a press conference Tuesday.

Obama praised regulations issued the day before by the Treasury Department aimed at making more difficult these so-called inversions, in which U.S. companies combine with foreign firms to reduce U.S. taxes.

Tax avoidance is a global problem, Obama said, pointing to an enormous leak of documents from a Panamanian law firm that allegedly detail the offshore shell companies and tax shelters used by rich leaders around the world. "A lot of it is legal, that is exactly the problem," he said.

The new Treasury Department rules could imperil Pfizer's $160 billion deal to join Botox-maker Allergan and move its headquarters to Ireland in order to lower its tax bill, according to several corporate tax experts.

The inversion was expected to lower the pharmaceutical giant's tax rate to 17 or 18 percent and save the company about $35 billion in taxes. But the rules announced late Monday could make those tax savings more difficult to achieve.

Pfizer, asked to respond to Obama's remarks, reiterated its joint statement with Allergan released Monday evening: "We are conducting a review of the U.S. Department of Treasury's actions announced today. Prior to completing the review, we won't speculate on any potential impact."

Currently, in order to take advantage of tax savings, the shareholders of the U.S. company must own less than 60 percent of the combined company. Pfizer's shareholders would own 56 percent of the combined company, for example. But that is in part because Allergen has completed previous acquisitions of U.S. companies that have increased its size. Last year, for instance, Dublin-based Actavis completed its deal to buy Allergan for $70.5 billion, and the combined company took on Allergan's name.

But Actavis itself was the product of several deals that effectively relocated corporate headquarters: Actavis bought New York-based Forest Laboratories for $28 billion in 2014. And in 2013, then New Jersey-based Actavis bought Warner Chilcott in a deal valued at $8.5 billion, relocating its global headquarters to Ireland and gaining a lower tax rate.

Under the new rules, stock that Allergan has issued within the past three years to acquire U.S. companies wouldn't be included in the calculations.

Applying the new Treasury Department rule, Americans for Tax Fairness estimates that Pfizer shareholders could own about 70 percent of the new foreign company, well above the 60 percent threshold, said Frank Clemente, executive director of the advocacy group.

"It appears that the Treasury Department has issued a rule with respect to serial inverters, such as Allergan, that will wipe out the expected tax breaks Pfizer was counting on," Clemente said.

Pfizer's stock was up about 1 percent Tuesday, but Allergan's shares fell more than 15 percent.

"We await formal comments from the companies but at this point we believe it is unlikely the deal will close," Credit Suisse analyst Vamil Divan wrote in a research note sent out early this morning.

Analysts say they are unsure about the legality of the regulations, but note that the Pfizer may not want to fight a multi-year legal battle.

"The real issue isn't so much what Allergan [AGN] may prove/disprove or whether Treasury overstepped the authority  the real question is whether Pfizer reads today's regs as reason enough to not continue to pursue the deal," Umer Raffat, an analyst at Evercore ISI wrote in an email.

There is a $3.5 billion breakup fee written into the deal, according to a regulatory filing, but the fee would be only $400 million if it falls through due to "an adverse change in law."

The new Treasury Department rules come as the Obama administration has struggled to stem the tide of inversions. The regulations announced Monday were the administration's third attempt to address the issue. In addition to rules potentially affecting Pfizer, the department also took aim at one of the most attractive parts of an inversion - earnings stripping.

Using this strategy, the U.S. subsidiary of the inverted company can take on a loan from its foreign parent company. The interest payments on that debt can then be deducted from the U.S. company's taxable income and is taxable at a low rate in the country in which the inverted firm is based. The Treasury Department wants to make the process more onerous.

Despite these new rules, Obama administration officials have continued to argue that stopping inversions will ultimately require congressional action. And business groups say inversions will continue to make financial sense as long as the U.S. corporate tax rate, 35 percent, remains the highest in the developed world.

Washington Post staff writer Carolyn Johnson contributed to this report.
Theater means two things: an art form, and the building where its performed. But a show such as Hedwig and the Angry Inch, playing in Stray Dog Theatres Tower Grove Abbey, reminds us of how closely the two meanings connect to each other.

Directed by Justin Been, Hedwig tells the outlandish story of an internationally ignored chanteuse whose sex-change operation was botched. (Thats what the angry inch of the title refers to; its also the name of Hedwigs band.)

Supposedly performing here in St. Louis about 20 years ago, Hedwig (Michael Baird) intersperses her punk-inflected, glam-rock show with tales of her life on both sides of the Berlin Wall.

Would such a show ever have played in a stylish theater? Only in Hedwigs alcohol-fueled dreams.

But the Abbey, an old church, gives Hedwig the dark, intimate setting that she requires. Even its religious details pay off in Hedwigs wildly irreverent jokes.

Set designer Rob Lippert covers the stage with TV monitors hanging on a steely structure that Hedwig treats like an erotic jungle gym, all lit with deliberate dimness by Tyler Duenow.

Lippert also moves the bar from the lobby into the theater, just under center stage. You can get drinks throughout the show, served by punked-out bartenders whom you may recognize from past Stray Dog performances. (Hello, Sarajane Alverson!)

In other words, this Hedwig has ambiance up the wazoo. Its the ultimate accessory for Bairds camping, furious, soul-searching character, a character the actor embodies from tooth to claw.

The show rests on his performance, a full-out extravaganza of attitude and style. For the latter, he gets a considerable boost from costume designer Eileen Engel, whose work makes Fredericks of Hollywood look elegant, and makeup and wig stylist Priscilla Case, who vaults him right over the top.

Baird handles Hedwigs stories, from writer John Cameron Mitchell, with a wry, self-aware touch, and is up to the many moods that songwriter Stephen Trask evokes.

Hes especially effective in the poignant The Origins of Love, in which Hedwig recounts her mothers mythic stories of a race of creatures (us) who were once two-in-one; now, they seek their other halves.

Ryan Wiechmann designed this songs primitive, apt projections.

Its not quite a one-person show. Anna Skidis Vargas, as Hedwigs abused husband Yitzhak, adds a sulking presence and, from time to time, a silvery soprano.

The onstage band establishes the shows tough mood and style under music director Skszp (better known as Chris Petersen).

Baird does a fine job with the nasty Sugar Daddy and with Hedwigs transformation into her lost love, the leather-jacketed rock star Tommy Gnosis. But by the shows end, when Hedwig achieves self-awareness in the brutally honest Midnight Radio, all the personae are stripped away.

With its sexualized buccaneering and crude gestures, Hedwig and the Angry Inch is absolutely not for everyone. It might seem as though its only for a fringe community. But in the end, Hedwig resolves her identity questions with, of all things, self-acceptance. Who cant relate to that?
The latest issue of "Catholic St. Louis" magazine carries a feature highlighting 12 local men who rose to powerful positions in the church.

One of the men is Bishop Robert Finn  the former bishop of Kansas City-St. Joseph who was convicted in 2012 of failing to report a priest suspected of sex abuse. The magazine feature makes no mention of his conviction.

A Vatican investigation showed that Finn waited six months before telling police about the Rev. Shawn Ratigan, whose computer held lewd photos of girls taken in and near churches where he worked.

Ratigan was eventually sentenced to 50 years in prison for child pornography. Finn later resigned from his position in Kansas City.

The inclusion of Finn drew fire from St. Louisan David Clohessy, director of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP).

Clohessy said St. Louis Archbishop Robert J. Carlson should apologize for Finn being included in the article.

"Finn is a criminal," Clohessy said. "Pretending otherwise rubs even more salt into the already deep and still fresh wounds" of those affected by the Kansas City case.

The feature contains small photos of the local priests and follows the same format for information: Name, highest position reached, ordination date, grade school and high school.

The copy notes that Finn is a former bishop of the Kansas City diocese, ordained in 1979, and attended All Souls school in Overland and St. Louis Preparatory Seminary North.

Teak Phillips, editor of the magazine and newspaper, said the abuse situation with Finn was discussed as the story was being compiled.

"To exclude him would not have been truthful," Phillips said. "We included him because he is still a bishop and he's from St. Louis."

Clohessy also criticized the church for allowing Finn to remain a bishop, saying "those who endanger kids, hide predators, stonewall prosecutors (and) deceive parishioners are almost never defrocked, demoted, disciplined or even denounced by their Catholic colleagues or supervisors."

Phillips noted that news coverage of Finn's resignation and legal troubles were covered in the St. Louis Review. "We just didn't get into the CVs of these men" for this feature.

Phillips said he understood "some readers could take exception to that list," and said he had received one email of complaint as of Tuesday.

The magazine is published six times a year by the Archdiocese of St. Louis. It is included in deliveries of the St. Louis Review, the archdiocese's newspaper.
A man from Missouri who traveled to Colombia is the third resident from the state to contract the Zika virus abroad, state health officials said Tuesday.

Other Missouri residents who caught the mosquito-borne virus include a pregnant woman who traveled to Honduras and a man who had been to Haiti. Illinois has reported nine residents  including at least two pregnant women  have caught Zika while traveling. The virus has been linked to birth defects including microcephaly, which causes abnormally small heads and brains.

Nationwide, 312 Americans, including 27 pregnant women, have contracted Zika during their travels to Mexico, Central America, South America and the Caribbean islands where the virus is circulating. Federal health officials have also confirmed the virus in the south Pacific islands of Fiji and New Caledonia.

Missouri has sent 135 blood samples from residents who traveled to countries where the virus is circulating to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for Zika testing. Of those, 91 samples came from pregnant women.

Missouris public health laboratory will now perform the tests in-state after receiving Zika testing certification from the CDC. Doctors who suspect Zika in a patient who has traveled to Latin America should contact the state health department.

Receiving this designation will improve our responsiveness to Missourians who are in need of answers and the health care providers who are treating them, Peter Lyskowski, acting director of the Missouri health department, said in a statement. During a response to a public health concern like Zika virus, timely and accurate testing is of the utmost importance, and now our state public health laboratory can help provide that.

Most people who catch Zika dont know they have it. In 20 percent of cases, the virus can cause mild symptoms of fever, rash, joint pain and pink eye.

Health officials in Brazil first noticed a link between Zika in pregnant women and microcephaly in their infants. The virus has also been linked to Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a neurological condition that can cause muscle weakness and paralysis.

Pregnant women are advised to avoid travel to countries across Latin America affected by Zika. The virus is primarily spread via mosquito bites, but Zika is also believed to be sexually transmitted.

The best way to prevent Zika is to avoid mosquito bites, using insect repellent and other precautions.

For more information, visit the CDCs Zika page.
CLAYTON  In what appears to be an unprecedented move, the Missouri Court of Appeals has disqualified St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCullochs office from a murder trial.

In a ruling issued Tuesday, three judges of the courts Eastern District concluded 3-0 that prosecutors violated the defendants attorney-client privilege while interviewing her ex-husband.

Jennifer Winkler, 34, was charged in 2011 with second-degree murder after Eureka police said she shook 13-month-old Lily Rieger to death while running a home day care. Winkler pleaded no contest to a reduced charge of involuntary manslaughter, but a judge later set aside that plea.

Online court records indicate that Winkler remains charged with involuntary manslaughter, but McCullochs spokesman, Ed Magee, said her second-degree murder charge was reinstated when the judge set aside the manslaughter plea.

The case has taken several turns during the past five years, including St. Louis County Circuit Judge Steven Goldmans order last fall to seal documents pertaining to a defense motion to dismiss McCullochs office from the case for prosecutorial misconduct.

According to available court documents, defense attorneys alleged that prosecutors met with Steven Winkler and discussed trial strategy for his former wifes defense that should have been protected by attorney-client privilege.

Steven Winkler knew the strategy because lawyer Neil Bruntrager not only represented Jennifer Winkler in the murder case but also represented both, before they were divorced, in an effort to retain custody of their children. Bruntrager remains Jennifer Winklers attorney but no longer represents her ex-husband.

Steven Winklers attorney, Greg Roberts, declined to comment Tuesday.

Goldman had ruled in February on the motion to bar McCullochs office, but sealed his order.

Defense attorneys then filed a petition for a writ against Goldman, asking the Court of Appeals to force him to correct any abuses of discretion. Tuesdays appellate ruling ordered Goldman to appoint a special prosecutor to replace McCullochs office. It rejected both a defense request for dismissal of charges and a proposal by prosecutors to remedy the conflict by excluding some evidence.

The appellate court opinion says, in part, Given that the entire prosecuting attorneys office has had access to privileged materials, and that proceedings in this murder case are ongoing, it would be error to conclude we can prospectively quantify and neutralize the taint of the attorney-client privilege and due process violations simply by excluding evidence. We have concluded that the bell cannot be unrung.

The ruling continues: This case is unique. The parties have not provided, and our research has not revealed, Missouri cases regarding motions to disqualify a prosecuting attorneys office for violating a criminal defendants Sixth Amendment rights.

The opinion was written by Acting Presiding Judge Mary K. Hoff, with agreement by Judges Robert G. Dowd Jr. and Lisa P. Page.

McCulloch's issued a prepared statement: I will review the documents and consider our options. I will most likely not be able to say anything as the records are still sealed.

Bruntrager, said Tuesdays ruling underscores the importance of protecting attorney-client privilege.

The whole idea of privilege is so that people can prepare and assemble a case according to constitutional standards, he said. They have demonstrated that this is a pillar of the judicial system that has to be taken seriously. These documents contain information that if exposed would threaten my clients due process rights.

Bruntrager said that even though the ruling did not go in his favor in terms of dismissing the charges, it could have an impact later.

This isnt the last word on that topic because if we try this case and she were convicted, this could all be raised again, he said.

Tuesdays ruling also denies a Post-Dispatch motion to unseal the documents in question, because, according to the appellate court, doing so would further violate Winklers rights.

Post-Dispatch attorney Benjamin Lipman said the newspaper respects the decision, but: We are concerned about the wholesale closure of portions of proceedings, even if it turns out that small parts of them contain information that can legitimately be kept hidden from the public.

However, we are in the process of reviewing the court of appeals ruling and once we have had the opportunity to do so we will decide whether to further pursue this matter, he said.

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly attributed a prepared statement to Robert McCulloch's spokesman.
ST. PETERS  A 28-year-old heroin abuser was sentenced Monday to 30 years in prison for attacking and seriously injuring a corrections officer while trying to escape from a cell at St. Peters police headquarters last July.

The defendant  Brandon Scott Baker, of the first block of Pilot Hill Drive in St. Peters  under state law must serve at least 85 percent of that sentence, said St. Charles County Prosecutor Tim Lohmar.

The sentence was issued by Circuit Judge Dan Pelikan, who called Bakers attack on corrections Officer John Drummond, 69, a heroin horror story on steroids.

Pelikan said many heroin addicts destroy themselves but that Baker also committed a violent act against someone else.

You beat the poor officer almost to death, the judge told him at a sentencing hearing. My job, Mr. Baker, is to protect society from people like you.

Lohmar, who sought the 30-year sentence, called the crime a brutal, brutal assault as shown on a surveillance tape played at the hearing. He noted that inmates in nearby cells can be heard urging Baker to stop the assault.

Police said the incident began after Drummond gave Baker a new mattress for his holdover cell. As the officer began to close the cell door, Baker pushed it open and choked Drummond.

Authorities said he removed the officers radio, punched him in the face 38 times and slammed his head on the concrete floor. He also took money and a cellphone from the officer. Baker assaulted another officer as he tried unsuccessfully to leave the building, but that officer wasnt hurt, police said.

In all my years working in law enforcement, never have I witnessed an officer beaten like I was, said Drummond, who was a Florissant police officer for 32 years before going to work for St. Peters six years ago.

Drummond, who was hospitalized for serious facial injuries, also needed shoulder surgery. He said he had headaches for weeks, as well as feelings of unsteadiness and discomfort in an arm and thumb. He also said he continues to have nightmares about the incident. He said the injuries kept him from work for six months.

Baker, who pleaded guilty in February, also got sentences of 15 years for robbery, seven years for attempting to escape and seven years for assaulting the other officer. Those will run concurrently with the 30-year term.

Baker on Monday apologized to Drummond and said heroin had taken control of him. He also urged the judge to give him a second chance. This drug wrecked my life and everybody around me, he said.

Bakers mother, Christine Rushing, said Baker had been arrested last summer after she had reported him to St. Peters police for stealing from her home. She said she did so hoping it would be a way to get him help for the heroin problem.

She said she couldnt get him into a treatment program because he lacked health insurance. Before he began using heroin, she said, he had a job and was a good person.

Assistant prosecutor Phil Groenweghe noted, however, that Baker was convicted of third-degree assault in 2005 and had violated probation seven times.
CLAYTON  Leaders from St. Charles County, St. Louis and St. Louis County are committing $2 million toward an effort to reduce the likelihood that ex-convicts will return to prison.

The funding, announced at a joint press conference Tuesday, would support the Concordance Academy of Leadership, a new program being developed by Washington University researchers and former Wells Fargo Advisors chief executive Danny Ludeman.

The goal of the academy is to dramatically reduce the cycle of incarceration that has plagued our country and our region for decades, Ludeman said, adding that 77 percent of people who get out of prison are re-arrested within three to five years.

His effort to cut the recidivism rate by one third has resonated with corporations, private donors and government officials in the region. In all, $12 million has been committed so far.

On Tuesday, St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger was on hand to designate $900,000 in federal funding to Concordance; St. Charles County Executive Steve Ehlmann promised $300,000; St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay committed to $750,000.

Stenger said Missouri releases 20,000 prisoners each year; one fifth of them come to the St. Louis area.

I will tell you that we neglect these individuals  to their detriment and at our peril, said Stenger, a former criminal defense attorney. Without support, the outlook for parolees has traditionally been bleak.

Concordance has designed an 18-month program that starts working with offenders six months before they are released from prison. Once they are out in the community, theyll be integrated into a program of specialized services for each ex-offender, including employment that pays a living wage. Rather than being sent to various service providers, Concordance will provide its services under one roof.

A building to house the new facility is supposed to be purchased or leased by this summer.

Recruitment is underway for the first class of 20 offenders who will start the program in May at prisons in Vandalia, Bonne Terre and Pacific. Ludeman said the program would ramp up significantly and eventually be able to serve everyone on parole.

Ludeman joined forces with the Brown School of Social Work at Washington University to develop the program.

Carrie Pettus-Davis, an assistant professor in charge of the research arm of Concordance, told the Post-Dispatch last summer: We are trying to substantially improve our knowledge and rigor around creating effective models with this population, similar to what we already do in the medical world but that we just dont do in treatment and services for vulnerable and marginalized populations.

She said the dual effort between community practice and research was inspired by the famed Poverty Action Lab at MIT, where effective interventions have been developed and shared on a large scale.

The goal is not only to push practice forward, but to push science forward. We want to eliminate the lag time between, she said. We want everybody to learn from what we are learning.
ST. LOUIS COUNTY  The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday suspended the law license of a part-time prosecutor and lawyer for a series of rules violations, including knowingly failing to disclose information that a client obtained by hacking into his estranged wife's email.

Joel B. Eisenstein, 70, can apply for the reinstatement of his law license in six months, the ruling says. Eisenstein has an office in St. Charles and is a part-time prosecutor in Lincoln County. He has also been a municipal judge and prosecutor in other jurisdictions. He has been a lawyer since 1974.

Missouri's Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel sought a suspension of at least a year, citing the hacked information as well as claims that Eisenstein lied about it and threatened the wife's attorney.

Eisenstein's former client, Gregory J. Koch, accessed his wife's personal mail at least three times, downloading financial information and a list of questions that his wife's lawyer, Stephanie L. Jones, had prepared for trial. Koch, who died last year, guessed his wife's password and then gave the information to his lawyer, filings say.

Disciplinary officials claim Eisenstein failed to disclose the information to Jones, and then lied about it when Jones spotted the paper work and went to the judge in the case.

Eisenstein said he had never reviewed or used the document.

After the trial, Eisenstein warned Jones in an email about "gossip, saying in part, Be careful what you say. Im not someone you really want to make a lifelong enemy of, even though you are off to a pretty good start.

The court said that Eisenstein violated rules of professional conduct that prohibit using "'methods of obtaining evidence that violate the legal rights' of a third party," engaging in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation, unlawfully . . . conceal(ing) a document or other material having potential evidentiary value and threatening Jones.

The court rejected Eisensteins claims about the incident, and said that post-traumatic stress from his service with Marines that makes him prone to anger did not mitigate his offenses. They said that four prior admonishments and one other suspension were aggravating factors.

The judges all agreed that Eisenstein had violated the rules, but two, Zel M. Fischer and Paul C. Wilson, filed dissenting opinions that said that Eisenstein's attempt to solicit letters in support from lawyers and judges was an inappropriate effort to influence the court. Two St. Louis County judges, Douglas Beach and Lawrence Permuter and St. Charles County Associate Circuit Court Judge Norman C. Steimel III, and 35 lawyers responded to an email from Eisenstein that included "'Im too old for this xxxx!!' [Expletive deleted,]" the opinion says.

Fischer also wrote that he thought Eisenstein should be suspended for at least a year.
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LINCOLN COUNTY  A St. Peters man who was smoking marijuana in a car with his pregnant girlfriend tried to run over a Lincoln County deputy who had come to see what they were doing, officials with the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office said.

The incident happened Friday around 9 p.m. in the 600 block of South Lindsey Road in unincorporated Lincoln County. A deputy was dispatched there to investigate a suspicious automobile, a 2000 Toyota Camry driven by Blake C. Wolz, 19, of St. Peters.

The car was parked where residents don't normally see cars at night, which prompted the call to police, according to Lt. Andy Binder.

When the deputy spotted the car and approached it, Wolz started the engine and drove it in a fast circle, then straightened out and tried to run over the deputy. The deputy ran out of the way, returned to his patrol car and chased Wolz north on South Lindsey Road.

Wolz eventually lost control and went off the road.

The deputy, trying to avoid Wolz's car, was forced to drive off the road and crashed into several trees alongside the road.

Wolz and the girlfriend had been in the car smoking marijuana, police said, which they did not know about until they searched the vehicle after the crash. Wolz later said he blocked out most details but drove away because he didn't want another marijuana possession charge.

The deputy was treated at a hospital for a minor leg injury and released.

Wolz's girlfriend told police she was seven months pregnant. She was taken to a hospital to be checked out, police said. She was booked but not charged immediately.

Wolz was charged with second-degree assault on law enforcement with criminal negligence, resisting arrest and marijuana possession.

He's being held in the Lincoln County Jail on a cash-only bail of $50,000.
CLAYTON  A voting debacle in St. Louis County left residents in more than 60 precincts unable to cast ballots Tuesday, leading the St. Louis County Council and Secretary of State Jason Kander to announce separate investigations.

Gov. Jay Nixon called the problems inexcusable, adding: The St. Louis County Board of Elections, and particularly its two directors, must rectify these mistakes, explain how they occurred, and be held accountable for this unacceptable failure.

Kander said his offices Elections Integrity Unit would review the election in St. Louis County. He also called the election performance unacceptable.

County officials plan to hold a public hearing to grill county election board members on why municipal election voters were turned away in 24 of the countys 432 polling places that had insufficient or invalid paper ballots.

Im outraged by this and by that standpoint, we have to do something, said Mark Harder, the West County Republican council member who asked that County Election Directors Eric Fey and Gary Fuhr be called to account.

We have major elections coming in August and November and the election board has to get its act together. This is unacceptable to us and its unacceptable to the voters of St. Louis County.

The council decision to hold a hearing on how and what happened Tuesday came moments before the Missouri Court of Appeals at St. Louis ruled that 63 precincts in 24 polling places must remain open two hours beyond the scheduled closing time of 7 p.m.

But by the time the order was communicated to elections officials, several polling places had already shuttered their doors.

Officials encouraged those who still wished to vote to cast their ballots at county election headquarters in Maplewood.

Brad Goss, 59, of Ladue, declined the offer.

Turned away by a precinct at Horton Watkins High School that didnt have any ballots earlier in the day, Goss balked when election officials informed him Tuesday night that hed have to cast his vote in Maplewood.

Im entitled to have my vote counted in this polling place, he pointed out. I shouldnt have to drive somewhere else to vote, and who even knows if my vote would be counted?

Goss prevailed when officials located a ballot allowing him to vote in Ladue.

Fey, the Democratic director of elections, said fewer than 10 people voted between 7 and 9 p.m. as a result of the court order. Their votes were not included in the unofficial totals, he said. He said the election board would consult its legal counsel on how to handle those votes.

He said that because the court order wasnt received until 7:30, election board staffers were able to reach no more than five of the polling places affected by the court order.

Fey said he didnt know how many of those polling places actually allowed people to vote after 7 p.m. But he said that some did  and that in at least two instances, election board staffers drove to the locations with ballots for people to cast. He also said a few people cast ballots at the election board office.

It was unclear how many people were turned away from voting throughout the day, but the impact of the problems was widespread.

The frustration that grew exponentially across the county throughout the day began at 6 a.m. when an absence of ballots caused election workers to turn residents away from polling places.

Tom Jennings showed up outside a precinct at Our Lady of Lourdes parish elementary school shortly before the polls opened to canvas for University City Council candidate Terry Crow.

They had ballots for the first five people that came in, Jennings said. That was it after that.

As the list of polling irregularities continued to grow, so, too, did the number of officials condemning the county election board.

St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger warned election officials that theyll be hearing from our staff tomorrow. That board really needs to get its act together.

The issues that surfaced Tuesday were two-fold.

Fey attributed the situation to polling places that require ballots for multiple jurisdictions  such as a school board election and a municipal government race.

A single polling place, moreover, may serve voters electing officials representing different wards or governmental districts.

The upshot is that a polling place may, for example, require 15 ballots for one election and 200 for another.

And on Tuesday, Fey said, the number and type of ballots provided to some precincts were reversed.

We just flipped those, the elections director said.

Fey acknowledged that the problems were exacerbated by a decision to present voters with paper ballots  an option election officials exercised after concluding that recalibrating electronic voting machines so soon after the March 15 Missouri presidential primary would be too difficult.

Eventually, the board requested an emergency order to extend voting hours from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. for affected voters. St. Louis County Circuit Court Judge Maura McShane rejected the plea, prompting officials to appeal.

Appointments to the election board are made by the governor. The board in turn selects the Republican and Democratic directors who in effect lead the agency. The lead director, Fey in this case, is an appointee of the party holding the governors office.

Stenger noted that neither he nor the council controls the election board. County governance has nothing to do with the operation of the state-run board, he said.

But he said he fully supported the councils effort to learn how Tuesdays mistakes could be avoided in the future.

You have individuals who stepped forward to represent their communities in the best way they can, he said. And those individuals essentially had their elections screwed up by the election board. That is completely unacceptable because it affects every resident in St. Louis County.

Kim Bell, Mark Schlinkmann and Kristen Taketa of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.
JEFFERSON CITY  Backers of a bill that would get rid of Missouri's helmet requirement for motorcyclists say they want bikers to have the freedom to feel the wind in their hair. But opponents say a heavier consequence would be more cracked skulls on Missouri roads.

Though the bill attracted bipartisan criticism on the floor of the Missouri House Tuesday, it won initial approval by a voice vote. The bill, sponsored by state Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Springfield, still has to receive final approval before heading to the Senate.

Burlison and others said the proposal promotes freedom, which should resonate with the Republican majority.

"If our goal was to put bubble wrap around everyone and to keep everyone from living their lives, we would probably not let anyone get on a motorcycle altogether," Burlison said. "Helmet or not wearing a helmet, there's injuries that occur."

Proponents also said that traveling motorcyclists avoid Missouri because of the state's helmet requirement.

But some Republicans didn't buy Burlison's pro-freedom argument. State Rep. Bill White, R-Joplin, said that even though the bill requires that people have health insurance, he said no policy would cover the lifetime costs of a traumatic brain injury. Those people would end up on government assistance, he said.

"We are going to pay for this," White said. "You know, your freedom ends when it encroaches on the rest of us.

"As everyone knows, my wife is a neurosurgeon," he said. "As far as freedom goes, she's never had someone who has not had a helmet on, who she's taken care of, whose family members come and say 'boy, we're glad he or she had the freedom to ride without that helmet so they now have a brain injury.'"

Under the bill, motorcyclists under the age of 21 would still have to wear helmets. If the motorcyclist is older than 21 and passes a safety course or has had a license for at least two years, they wouldn't have to wear a helmet on state highways.

Riders without a helmet would also have to have health insurance.

The helmet bill is a mainstay in the Missouri Legislature, but it's never become law.

"I would say, that in terms of support for this bill  this wind-in-your-hair, freedom-loving, brain-splattering, taxpayer-punishing helmet law, I'll be a 'no' again this year," said state Rep. Keith Frederick, R-Rolla.

Burlison's bill is House Bill 1464.
WASHINGTON  Handicappers have been looking on the wrong side of the ledger in calculating whether Donald Trump can get to the 1,237 Republican delegates necessary to win the GOP presidential nomination.

Wisconsin, which holds a winner-take-all primary for its 42 delegates Tuesday, proves why the other side of the ledger  delegates held by Republican candidates other than Trump  is the column to watch.

If Texas Sen. Ted Cruz wins, and polls show him slightly ahead going into Tuesday, the non-Trump delegate count will pass the 800 threshold, some 92 ahead of Trump, and just over 400 short of the collating enough delegates among Cruz, former candidate Marco Rubio, and remaining candidate, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, to deny Trump an outright majority in Cleveland in July. Trump would be still a little over 500 short of clinching the nomination.

If Trump wins Wisconsin, that non-Trump advantage would vanish, and the upcoming winner-takes-most contest in New York, where Trump is heavily favored, could put him close enough to the threshold that all-out victories in a number of winner-take all states in April and May could make California and four other states less crucial on June 7.

But if Cruz wins Wisconsin, the importance of June 7 primaries in five states for both Trump and the anti-Trump forces rises exponentially. That's how crucial those winner-take-all states have become in this close primary fight. And Trump, to some degree, will have to fight a tri-cornered battle, with Kasich competitive in places where Cruz may not be.

This is the big theme of the campaign so far. The front-runners in both political parties, instead of consolidating support and moving toward a consensus after important early-state wins, have had tremendous problems closing the deal. Among Democrats, if Hillary Clinton loses Wisconsin to Sen. Bernie Sanders, it will be yet another reminder that Democrats have not become comfortable with the former secretary of state, who polls well in general elections against Trump and Cruz, but trails Kasich. Clinton would still be the favorite, but each Sanders victory along the way tarnishes her and makes June 7, where more than 800 delegates are at stake, that much more important.

If Cruz wins winner-take-all Wisconsin Tuesday, contests in modestly sized Republican-leaning states that will award all or most of the delegates to winners will then take on greater importance in April and May. Pitched battles in crossroads states could decide whether Trump is the nominee or the party's standard-bearer is chosen at convention.

In Pennsylvania, where Kasich could give Trump a run if current polling holds, 71 delegates will be at stake on April 26. Delaware (16 delegates) and Maryland (38) could also be battlegrounds in which the statewide winner gets all or most of the delegates. Indiana, on May 3, will award 57 to the winner. Nebraska, on May 10, has 36 at stake.

If someone other than Trump wins Pennsylvania and one of the other four states, and if the anti-Trump duo of Kasich and Cruz picks off a few dozen delegates in proportional states like Washington, West Virginia and Rhode Island, the anti-Trump vote would be well within striking distance of denying Trump the 1,237 in Cleveland when 303 delegates will be up for grabs in California, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota on June 7. All but New Mexico will award all or most of their delegates to the winner on that climactic day.

Polling in a lot of these places has been sketchy or non-existent, so the next two months are a mystery for pundits and forecasters.

One thing is for sure: With the conventions earlier than normal this year, and with Clinton and Trump both having trouble closing the deal, the usual party-healing time will not be very long in 2016, an election that has already exposed deep fissures in the nation's electorate. (Chuck Raasch)

BY THE NUMBERS:

735  Delegates won by Donald Trump leading into the Wisconsin primary

785  Delegates won by Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, or John Kasich

SHE SAID IT: "There was a joke made in the meeting with the prime minister of Israel that he is just glad that there is now a time that he can say to other countries that the politics of Israel is not as crazy as it is compared to what is going on in the United States this year." U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., re-telling a joke during a discussion of the American presidential campaign that she and three other members of Congress had with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials last week.
REYKJAVIK, Iceland  The leak of millions of records on offshore accounts claimed its first high-profile victim Tuesday as Iceland's prime minister resigned amid outrage over revelations he had used such a shell company to shelter large sums while Iceland's economy was in crisis.

The fall of Icelandic leader Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson is the biggest fallout so far from the publication of the names of rich and powerful people linked to the leaks, dubbed the Panama Papers.

China and Russia, meanwhile, took the opposite approach, suppressing the news and rejecting any allegations of impropriety by government officials named in the leak of more than 11 million financial documents from a Panamanian law firm.

Officials in Ukraine, Argentina and other countries are also facing questions about possibly dubious offshore tax-avoidance schemes.

The reports are from a global group of news organizations working with the Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. They have been processing records from the Mossack Fonseca law firm that were first leaked to Germany's Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.

The announcement that Gunnlaugsson was stepping down came from the country's agriculture minister. It followed the refusal by Iceland's president to dissolve parliament and call a new election, and after thousands of Icelanders protested outside the parliament building in Reykjavik.

No replacement has yet been named, and Iceland's president did not immediately confirm that he had accepted the resignation.

Gunnlaugson has denied any wrongdoing and said he and his wife have paid all their taxes. He also said his financial holdings didn't affect his negotiations with Iceland's creditors during the country's acute financial crisis.

Gunnlaugson sought to call a snap election Tuesday, but President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson refused, saying he wanted to consult with other party leaders before agreeing to end the coalition government between Gunnlaugsson's center-right Progressive Party and the Independence Party.

The leaked documents allege that Gunnlaugsson and his wife set up a company called Wintris in the British Virgin Islands with the help of the Panamanian law firm. Gunnlaugsson is accused of a conflict of interest for failing to disclose his involvement in the company, which held interests in failed Icelandic banks that his government was responsible for overseeing.

Iceland, a volcanic North Atlantic island nation with a population of 330,000, was rocked by a prolonged financial crisis when its main commercial banks collapsed within a week of one another in 2008.

Since then Icelanders have weathered a deep recession and been subjected to tough capital controls  another reason the prime minister's offshore holdings rankle many.

China, on the other hand, dismissed as "groundless" reports that the Panamanian law firm had arranged offshore companies for relatives of at least eight present or past members of the Communist Party's Politburo Standing Committee, the apex of power in China.

Among those named in the leaked documents was the brother-in-law of President Xi Jinping. State media have ignored the reports and searches of websites and social media for the words "Panama documents" were blocked.

China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said he would not discuss the reports further and declined to say whether the individuals named would be investigated.

"For these groundless accusations, I have no comment," Hong told reporters at a regularly scheduled news conference.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's president was accused of abusing his office and of tax evasion by moving his candy business offshore, possibly depriving the country of millions of dollars in taxes.

Shell companies aren't in themselves illegal. People or companies might use them to reduce their tax bill legally, by benefiting from low tax rates in countries like Panama, the Cayman Islands and Bermuda. But the practice is frowned upon, particularly when used by politicians, who then face criticism for not contributing to their own countries' economies.

Because offshore accounts and companies also hide the names of the ultimate owners of investments, they can be used to illegally evade taxes or launder money.

Mossack Fonseca says it obeys all laws relating to company registrations and does not advise people how to evade taxes.

The firm said in a statement that "our industry is not particularly well understood by the public, and unfortunately this series of articles will only serve to deepen that confusion.

"The facts are these: While we may have been the victim of a data breach, nothing in this illegally obtained cache of documents suggests we've done anything wrong or illegal, and that's very much in keeping with the global reputation we've worked hard to build over the past 40 years of doing business the right way."

Members of the Group of 20  which includes China  have agreed on paper to tighten laws relating to shell companies and make sure authorities can find out who the real owners are. Actual legislation at the national level has lagged behind the promises, however.

The appearance of offshore accounts in political scandals is far from new. Shell companies played a role in the corruption scandal involving the Petrobras oil company in Brazil. The U.S. Justice Department said in an indictment last year that offshore accounts were used to mask the transfer of bribes to officials at FIFA, the global soccer federation.

Sueddeutsche Zeitung, working with Germany's NDR and WDR public television stations, reported Monday that 14 German banks had used Mossack Fonseca's services to set up 1,200 letterbox companies for clients.

The report said use of offshore company registrations had spiked after the European Union introduced regulations in 2005 requiring countries to exchange tax information on individual people, but not for companies. Many of the accounts, however, have since been closed.

The EU has since tightened its rules on offshore companies under its Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive, which is being phased in as national governments pass local laws to comply by June 26, 2017. The new rules tighten requirements for companies to keep accurate information on their real owners and to make that available to authorities.
LONDON MARKET CLOSE: FTSE 100 ends higher; Mordaunt makes UK PM tilt

Friday, October 21, 2022 - 17:22

The pound regained some poise on Friday afternoon but remained in precarious territory, after falling below the $1.11 mark in afternoon trade.

The pound was quoted at $1.1203 at the close on Friday, down versus $1.1294 at the London equities close on Thursday. It hit an intraday low of $1.1063 not long after midday.

Sterling was hurt by continued political uncertainty. Speculation about who will join Penny Mordaunt in throwing their hats in the ring in the race for Number 10 continues. Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak, one-time neighbours at Number 10 and 11 Downing Street - but now bitter rivals - have pockets of support from Tory MPs.

Adding to the pressure on sterling, disappointing UK retail sales data showed a bigger-than-expected decline in September, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics.

Retail sales fell 6.9% annually in September, with the decline accelerating from a 5.6% fall in August. It also was worse than FXStreet-cited market consensus, which had expected a fall of just 5%.

The pound had initially found some support on Thursday after Liz Truss called an end to her disastrous tenure as prime minister - poking above $1.13 - but has since been dragged lower.

The FTSE 100 index closed up 25.82 points, or 0.4%, at 6,969.73 - closing out the week up 1.6%.

The FTSE 250 lost 182.38 points, or 1.1%, at 17,206.55, but still managed to gain 1.0% this week, and the AIM All-Share ended down 1.04 points, or 0.1% at 785.40 - but advanced 0.8% over the past five days.

The Cboe UK 100 closed up 0.4% at 696.31, the Cboe UK 250 ended down 1.0% at 14,694.15, and the Cboe Small Companies lost 0.3% at 12,240.46.

In European equities on Friday, the CAC 40 in Paris lost 0.9%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt gave back 0.3%.

The Tories have begun to declare their allegiances in the party's second leadership contest of the year as speculation mounts over who will seek to replace Truss at the helm of the party.

Supporters of Johnson are backing the former prime minister to make an extraordinary political comeback, while ex-chancellor Sunak and Commons Leader Mordaunt also have the public support of several MPs.

Mordaunt become the first to declare her candidacy, with a pledge to re-unite the bitterly divided party.

The leader of the House  who finished third in the last leadership election  said she had been encouraged by the support she had received from fellow Conservative MPs.

There has also been no declaration yet from Sunak, who did not answer questions from reporters as he left his home on Friday morning.

Whoever does win will face an immediate test, choosing whether to go ahead with the planned Halloween statement setting out how the government intends to get the public finances back on track, Downing Street has said.

Work is continuing in Whitehall, led by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, in preparation for the medium-term fiscal plan to be announced on October 31 along with an updated set of economic forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility.

However, a Number 10 spokeswoman said it would be up to Liz Truss's successor to decide whether to proceed with that approach and with the same timetable.

In London, blue chip miners helped push FTSE 100 higher. Glencore gained 3.6%, Anglo American 3.1%, Antofagasta 2.7%, and Rio Tinto added 1.6%.

Retailers, however, were showing weakness after the disappointing UK retail sales data. A profit warning from Adidas did nothing to help the mood either.

JD Sports closed down 6.1%, Frasers 4.0%, Burberry 2.2%, and Next shed 2.9%.

On Thursday, Adidas lowered annual guidance as it struggles with "deteriorating traffic" in China and high inventory levels.

The sports apparel maker said it has needed to turn to "higher clearance activity" to try and shift stock.

It lost 9.0% in Frankfurt.

Deliveroo gained 3.6%.

The London-based online food delivery service said gross transaction values rose 8.3% annually in the third quarter to 1.70 billion from 1.57 billion, though orders fell by 1.1% to 72.8 million from 73.6 million.

Deliveroo said the decline in orders was due to a difficult consumer environment. With economic data on Friday showing that UK consumer confidence remains near record lows, this seems unlikely to change anytime soon.

InterContinental Hotels gave back 2.2% but reported strong revenue growth in the third quarter to September 30, saying that high global employment levels are boosting occupancy levels.

Revenue per available room, or RevPAR, rose 28% year-on-year and now exceeds its pre-pandemic level, being up 2.7% on the third quarter of 2019.

In the third quarter of 2022, the average daily rate increased by 13% compared to a year ago and was up 11% on 2019.

Chief Financial Officer & Head of Strategy Paul Edgecliffe-Johnson will leave the company in six months time to become CFO of Flutter Entertainment in the first half of 2023.

IHG has started the process of finding a new CFO.

The euro stood at $0.9802 Friday evening, down against $0.9822 at the close on Thursday.

Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JP148.03, compared to JP149.77 late Thursday. The yen was staging a fightback after the open on Wall Street, after nearly hitting JP152 during the Asia session.

Stocks in New York opened higher on Friday, with the DJIA up 1.1%, the S&P 500 index up 0.9%, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.6% higher.

Brent oil was quoted at $92.84 a barrel late Friday, down from $93.29 late Thursday. Gold was quoted at $1,643.70 an ounce Friday, up against $1,641.90 from Thursday.

In the international economics events calendar next week, Monday will be dominated by a slew of composite PMIs, with Japan overnight followed by Germany, eurozone and the UK in the morning then the US in the afternoon. A quiet Tuesday will be headlined by a US house price index.

On Wednesday, there is Chinese GDP, retail sales and industrial production overnight, then on Thursday attention will be on the European Central Bank interest rate decision at 1315 BST. Friday will be headlined by a Bank of Japan rate decision.

In the local corporate calendar on Monday, there are half-year results from Dr Martens, while education publishing firm Pearson will issue a third quarter update.

Copyright 2022 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
BMO Capital analyst Alex Arfaei weighed in on Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) after the U.S. Treasury and the IRS issued temporary and proposed regulations to further reduce the benefits of and limit the number of corporate tax inversions.

"We believe that the most relevant proposal for the PFE + AGN merger is the action to 'limit inversions by disregarding foreign parent stock attributable to recent inversions or acquisitions of U.S. companies.'," the analyst said. "For the purposes of computing the ownership percentage when determining if an acquisition is treated as an inversion under current law, todays action excludes stock of the foreign company attributable to assets acquired from an American company within three years prior to the signing date of the latest acquisition."

"Allergan is the product of multiple recent acquisitions in the U.S., including the acquisition of Forest Labs, which closed on July 1, 2014 for $31Bn (equity consideration of $20.6Bn, $7.1Bn cash, and $3.3Bn in assumed debt)," Arfaei notes. "Similarly, on March 17, 2015, Actavis acquired Allergan for $77Bn: $40Bn cash, $35Bn equity consideration, and $2Bn assumed debt. Immediately prior to the Forest lab deal closing, Actavis market cap was about $39Bn. Based on our initial understanding of the Treasurys recent proposals, Allergans market cap that would be used to compute the percentage foreign ownership of PFE + AGN will not be enough to exceed the 60/40 inversion threshold, and may not even be enough to reach the 80/20 threshold. If the Treasurys actions also apply to Actavis acquisition of Warner Chilcott in 2013, then inversion is out of the picture for Pfizer."

He added, "Under current law, an inverted company is subject to potential adverse tax consequences if the shareholders of the former U.S. parent (in this case current PFE shareholders) end up owning at least 60% of the shares of the new foreign parent. Therefore, we believe that the tax benefits of the PFE+AGN merger will likely be significantly diminished based on the Treasurys recent actions. If Pfizer is not able to invert and repatriate its ex-U.S. cash in a tax efficient manner to repurchase a significant portion of the 4.7Bn new shares it will be issuing to buy AGN, then we doubt that the current deal structure, and implied valuation for AGN, would make sense for PFE shareholders. If Pfizer still chooses to pursue Allergan for other strategic reasons, e.g. to setup a split, our initial view is that the deal structure needs to be significantly revised."

The firm maintained an Outperform rating and price target of $39 on PFE with or without AGN.

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on Pfizer click here. For more ratings news on Pfizer click here.

Shares of Pfizer closed at $30.72 yesterday.
Nomura Securities reiterated a Buy rating and $200.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks (NYSE: PANW) after attending an Investor Track at the company's Ignite Conference. Palo Altos advanced endpoint solution, Traps, continues to grow at a fast pace with more than 300 customers, some deploying Traps on tens of thousands of endpoints. This is up from ~150 customers at the end of F4Q15.

Analyst Frederick Grieb commented, "We attended the Investor Track at Palo Altos Ignite Conference on Monday, April 4th in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Investor Track consisted of presentations from management focusing on the companys platform offering and company financials as well as customer and partner panels. We continue to view Palo Alto Networks as one of the best positioned vendors in the overall IT Security market, rating shares Buy with a $200 target price, representing 24% upside to current levels."

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on Palo Alto Networks click here. For more ratings news on Palo Alto Networks click here.

Shares of Palo Alto Networks closed at $161.59 yesterday.
By Barani Krishnan

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices rose 5 percent on Wednesday, their biggest advance in three weeks, after the U.S. government reported a surprise draw in domestic crude stockpiles versus market expectations for a new record high.

Minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting indicating no rate hikes in April also weakened the U.S. currency, making dollar-denominated oil more attractive to those holding the euro and other currencies.

After hitting one-month lows a day earlier, oil prices rallied by as much as $2 a barrel after the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said crude stockpiles dropped by 4.9 million barrels last week from lower imports and a continued ramp up in refinery runs.

"These are constructive numbers and should keep the market from going lower in the near term," said Jeffrey Grossman, crude dealer with New York's BRG Brokerage.

Analysts polled by Reuters had expected inventories to hit record highs instead for an eighth straight week, building by 3.2 million barrels.

U.S. crude's front-month contract settled up $1.86 at $37.75 a barrel. It rallied to $37.90 earlier, after falling to $35.24 a day ago, its lowest since March 4. The 5.2 percent gain was the biggest in a day since March 16.

U.S. crude futures also found additional support from TransCanada Corp's (NYSE: TRP) delayed restart of its 590,000 barrel per day Keystone pipeline that delivers crude to Cushing and Illinois. The discount in the front-month contract versus the second month was at its narrowest in three weeks following the outage.

The front-month in Brent , the European benchmark, settled up $1.97 at $39.84 a barrel. Its session peak was $39.94.

Brent prices were also underpinned by planned maintenance works at Norway's Ekofisk and Britain's Buzzard oil fields.

Wednesday's oil rally signaled a sentiment shift after last week's 7 percent drop in U.S. futures and 4 percent in Brent amid worries the global glut in crude was growing again while producing countries' plans to freeze output was failing.

The EIA report contained some bearish data, such as the first rise in gasoline stockpiles in six weeks and continued distillate builds.

But traders chose to focus on the more bullish aspects, including the lower crude imports and higher refinery runs.

"I think the market is more about the total change in (crude) inventories, rather than individual components," said Scott Shelton, energy broker with ICAP in Durham, North Carolina. "It's the first week of the second quarter and we have a net draw. That will force the bears to rethink their bearish balances for Q2."

(Reporting by Dmitry Zhdannikov in LONDON; Editing by Diane Craft and Marguerita Choy)
Bancorp of New Jersey, Inc. (NYSE: BKJ), the holding company of Bank of New Jersey, today announced the appointment of Nancy E. Graves as the new President and Chief Executive Officer of the holding company and the bank. Ms. Graves, who recently served as President and CEO of Pascack Bancorp, Inc. and Pascack Community Bank, has also been appointed to the boards of directors of the Bancorp of New Jersey, Inc. and Bank of New Jersey. Gerald A. Calabrese, Jr., Chairman of the Board, had been serving as interim chief executive officer and president.

Nancy has the depth of experience in community banking to lead us forward, said Gerald Calabrese, Chairman of the Board. Her experience as a community bank executive and her active involvement in the communities we serve will be invaluable to the Bank.

I am honored to lead the Bank of New Jersey in one of the most vibrant and diverse markets in the Northeast. Bank of New Jersey epitomizes the importance of community banking in New Jerseys future. I look forward to working with the Board of Directors and the entire Bank team, said Nancy E. Graves, President and CEO.

Ms. Graves was President and CEO of Pascack Community Bank since 2013. Prior to joining Pascack Community Bank, she served in New Jersey Governor Chris Christies administration for three years, as Assistant Division Director of the Department of Banking and Insurance. Ms. Graves serves on the Board of Directors of Junior Achievement of New Jersey.

We are very fortunate to have Nancy become an integral part of the Banks executive management team, said Albert Buzzetti, Vice Chairman of the Board.
Physicians Realty Trust (NYSE: DOC) (the Company), a self-managed healthcare properties REIT, announced today that the Company has executed purchase and sale agreements for 47 medical office facilities, a signed letter of intent (LOI) for 3 medical office facilities and is negotiating to purchase 2 additional medical office facilities owned and anchored by Catholic Health Initiatives regional health systems for a total purchase price of approximately $724.9 million. The Companys Board of Trustees has approved the acquisition unanimously. The Company also announced the closing of approximately $96.7 million of previously unannounced medical real estate investments, made directly or indirectly through its operating partnership (as defined below). Total investment activity since January 1, 2016 is approximately $202.3 million.

CHI Medical Office Facility Portfolio

The Company announced today the execution of a series of purchase and sale agreements and an LOI (and negotiations to purchase with respect to two medical office facilities) with regional health systems controlled by Catholic Health Initiatives (Moodys: A2; S&P: A-) (CHI or the CHI Hospitals), the fifth largest non-profit healthcare system in the United States, to acquire 52 medical office facilities from CHI containing 3,159,495 rentable square feet (rsf) located in 10 states. The CHI portfolio is 94.4% leased and the weighted average lease term remaining is 8.6 years. Approximately $40.6 million, or 93%, of the first year in place net operating income of $43.5 million will be represented by new 10-year leases with associated CHI health systems.

The purchase price for these facilities is approximately $724.9 million, which includes $32.9 million of future capital improvements, the majority of which should be completed within 5 years. The Company expects to use proceeds from its unsecured line of credit, the proceeds from its announced follow-on offering of common shares of the Company, and has secured a commitment for a $400.0 million 1 year bridge loan from KeyBank, N.A. to fund the purchase, if necessary. The Company expects to close the acquisition in two tranches; the first tranche is expected to close in April 2016, for a total purchase price of approximately $202 million. The second tranche, expected to include most, if not all of the remaining properties not included in the first tranche, is expected to close before the end of the second quarter of 2016, for a total purchase price of approximately $490 million. The remaining $32.9 million of future capital commitments for capital improvements to these facilities are expected to be funded within 5 years. The in place leases are expected to generate $43.5 million of cash NOI, which equates to a 6.3% unlevered cash yield on the purchase price prior to future capital commitments.

John Thomas, the Companys President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, Today we announce what we believe to be one of the largest and most important medical office facility relationships established by a REIT directly with a major healthcare system. Catholic Health Initiatives, the fifth largest non-profit health system in the United States, has over 103 hospitals, 3,950 employed affiliated physicians, and 95,000 employees. In 2015, these providers served over 16 million outpatient visitors and 500,000 inpatient patients, realizing more than $15 billion in revenue. We are honored and humbled to be selected to monetize these facilities and enhance CHIs healthcare real estate service delivery platform through this partnership. Our investment provides substantial liquidity to CHI. More importantly, we are helping to free CHI executives, management, physicians, providers and staff to focus on their primary Mission, to nurture the healing ministry of the Church, supported by education and research, while we provide real estate capital, management, and strategic intellectual support to enhance their existing facilities, physician recruiting and outpatient strategies. Altogether, this relationship empowers CHI to enhance and provide greater access to care to the communities they serve.

The CHI acquisitions described in this press release are subject to customary closing conditions, and with respect to those properties subject to an LOI, or subject to negotiations, are subject to the negotiation and execution of definitive purchase agreements. In addition, due to the sponsorship of CHI by the Catholic Church, the Companys purchase of 35 facilities will require Vatican approval, and is contingent upon such approval, in addition to other Closing conditions applicable to each such facility, as the case may be. There can be no assurance the Company will complete any of these transactions or acquire any of these buildings on the expected terms, or at all.

2016 Year to Date Investments

The Company previously announced in February 2016 acquisitions and investments totaling approximately $104.4 million during 2016. In addition to these previously announced acquisitions, the Company also completed the approximately $96.7 million of acquisitions. These acquisitions are described below:

HonorHealth - Glendale. On March 15, 2016, the Company closed on the acquisition of a brand new 28,057 square foot medical office building in Glendale, Arizona, for a purchase price of approximately $9.8 million. The facility is 100% leased to HonorHealth (S&P: A-) as its flagship ambulatory center. The first year unlevered cash yield on this investment is expected to be approximately 6.0%.

Columbia MOB. On March 21, 2016, the Company closed the acquisition of a 65,965 square foot medical office building in Cornwall, New York, on the campus of Columbia Memorial Hospital, for a purchase price of approximately $18.5 million. The facility is 100% leased to Columbia Memorial Hospital (Moodys: BBB-). The first year unlevered cash yield on this investment is expected to be approximately 6.5%.

Birmingham, Alabama MOBs. On March 23, 2016, the Company closed on the acquisition of 3 on-campus medical office buildings in Birmingham, Alabama, for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $29.3 million. The portfolio contains approximately 224,876 square feet located on the campus of St. Vincent's Birmingham Hospital. St. Vincent Birmingham is a part of the larger St. Vincent's Health System, a subsidiary of Ascension Health (S&P: AA+). The multi-tenant facilities are 95% occupied, with 30% anchored by the hospital and the balance occupied by physicians on the medical staff of the hospital. The first year unlevered cash yield expected to be approximately 7.1%.

Emerson MOB. On March 24, 2016, the Company closed the acquisition of a 39,184 square foot medical office facility in Creve Coeur, Missouri, for a purchase price of approximately $14.3 million. This multi-tenant facility is 100% occupied; 45% of which is leased to an ambulatory surgery center owned by a joint venture including physicians and United Surgical Partners, Inc. (USPI), a subsidiary of Tenet Healthcare (Tenet; NYSE: THC, S&P B), and an additional 27% is leased to Mercy Health (S&P, AA-). The first year unlevered cash yield is expected to be approximately 7.2%.

Patient Partners Surgery Center. On March 30, 2016, the Company closed the acquisition of a 9,890 square foot ambulatory surgical center in Gallatin, Tennessee, for a purchase price of approximately $4.8 million. The facility is 100% leased to a joint venture including physicians and USPI. The first year unlevered cash yield is expected to be approximately 7.3%.

Eye Associates of New Mexico. On March 31, 2016, the Company closed on the acquisition of two medical office buildings, one in Albuquerque, New Mexico and one in Santa Fe, New Mexico, totaling 52,630 square feet, for a combined purchase price of approximately $19.2 million. The facilities are 100% leased to the Eye Associates of New Mexico. The first year unlevered cash yield is expected to be approximately 7.0%.

Miscellaneous Acquisition. The Company completed a $0.8 million acquisition of the final condominium interest not previously owned by the Company in the Randall Road Medical Office Building located in Elgin, Illinois. The Company now owns 100% of this facility, which is adjacent to Advocate Sherman Hospital, and it is 100% occupied. The Company's aggregate investment is approximately $17.3 million, and the first year unlevered cash yield is expected to be approximately 8.1%.

With respect to first quarter acquisitions completed, John Thomas added, substantially all of the acquisitions completed during the first quarter were off-market or relationship driven investments. These investments included our third acquisition affiliated with Honor Health, our 6th, 7th, and 8th acquisition anchored by a USPI affiliated and managed ambulatory surgery center, and our 5th acquisition affiliated with Ascension Health. We are also excited to expand into the New Mexico market, with high quality facilities and ophthalmology surgeons located in optimal locations. We continue to source, diligence and acquire excellent medical office and outpatient facilities affiliated with the best healthcare providers in the United States. With our acquisitions to date and completion of the CHI investments, we will have achieved near the high end of our 2016 acquisition guidance. We continue to see additional opportunities for growth in the second half of the year, and have therefore revised our investment guidance to $1.0 - $1.25 billion of total investments for 2016.
HARRISBURG, Pa., April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) Secretary Ted Dallas announced today that the department has received a $91 million "Money Follows the Person" (MFP) Rebalancing Demonstration grant. This funding comes from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and will work to transition older Pennsylvanians and those with a disability from an institutional setting back into the community. The grant, which runs through 2020, includes an additional $7.3 million reimbursement grant to create new initiatives to aid in the department's priority of serving more people in the community.

"Ninety-five percent of Pennsylvanians who need these services want to live in their community, not in an institution or a nursing home. But right now, we can only serve 51 percent of them in the community," said Secretary Dallas. "Governor Wolf and I are committed to promoting independence and giving all people, regardless of their age or disability, a voice in choosing where they live. This grant will go a long way to fulfilling our vision of serving more Pennsylvanians in their communities."

The federal MFP initiative was created because of a historical bias in Medicaid towards serving people in an institutional setting instead of a person's home. The program provides states with the financial flexibility to allow the needed services to "follow the person" into the community.

The transition benefits not only the individual but also the state: it is less costly to serve Pennsylvanians in their homes than in an institutional setting. For example, a person receiving services in a nursing home costs on average $65,000 per year compared to an average of $31,000 per year to serve a person in the community.

Pennsylvania has participated in MFP since 2008, transitioning 2,333 people from institutional settings to where they want to live -- their communities. DHS plans to transition another 1,172 individuals through the end of 2018.

The goals of the MFP program include:

Increase the use of home- and community-based services (HCBS) and reduce the use of institutionally-based services;

Eliminate barriers that restrict the use of Medicaid funds to let people receive long-term care in the settings of their choice;

Strengthen the ability of Medicaid programs to provide HCBS to people who choose to transition out of institutions; and

Put procedures in place to provide quality assurance and improvement of HCBS.

DHS will use these funds to improve housing services, educate the public on the state's upcoming Community HealthChoices managed long-term services and supports rollout, support individuals with dual diagnoses such as mental illness and intellectual disabilities; and increase awareness of home- and community-based services available in the commonwealth.

"This federal Money Follows the Person initiative falls directly in line with what we're trying to achieve in Pennsylvania," Secretary Dallas said. "It empowers states and individuals to shift our Medicaid long-term spending from institutional settings to community living, serving people where they want to be and saving taxpayer dollars at the same time."

For more information, visit www.dhs.pa.gov.

MEDIA CONTACT: Diana Fishlock, 717-425-7606

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/department-of-human-services-receives-91-million-federal-grant-to-continue-serving-more-pennsylvanians-in-the-community-300246307.html

SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of Human Services
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Fitch Ratings has affirmed all the ratings of the outstanding student loan notes issued by SLM Private Education Loan Trust 2013-B (SLM 2013-B) and maintains the Stable Outlook.

A detailed list of rating actions follows at the end of this press release.

KEY RATING DRIVERS

Collateral Quality: The trust is collateralized by approximately $1 billion of private student loans originated by Navient Corp. (fka SLM Corp.). The projected remaining defaults are expected to range between 6%-9%. A recovery rate of 11% was applied which was determined to be appropriate based on data provided by the issuer.

Credit Enhancement (CE): CE is provided by overcollateralization and excess spread. The senior notes benefit from subordination provided by the class B note. As of the February 2016 collection period, senior parity and total parity are at 166.80% and 141.06%, respectively.

Liquidity Support: Liquidity support is provided by a reserve account sized at approximately $3.27 million.

Servicing Capabilities: Day-to-day servicing is provided by Navient Solutions Inc. Fitch believes the servicing operations are satisfactory at this time.

RATING SENSITIVITIES

As Fitch's base case default proxy is derived primarily from historical collateral performance, actual performance may differ from the expected performance, resulting in higher loss levels than the base case. This will result in a decline in CE and remaining loss coverage levels available to the notes and may make certain note ratings susceptible to potential negative rating actions, depending on the extent of the decline in coverage. Fitch will continue to monitor the performance of the trust

DUE DILIGENCE USAGE

No third-party due diligence was provided or reviewed in relation to this rating action.

Fitch affirms and maintains the Stable Outlook on the following:

SLM Private Education Loan Trust 2013-B:

--Class A-1 at 'AAAsf';

--Class A-2A at 'AAAsf';

--Class A-2B at 'AAAsf';

--Class B at 'AAsf'.

Additional information is available at www.fitchratings.com.

Applicable Criteria

Counterparty Criteria for Structured Finance and Covered Bonds (pub. 14 May 2014)

https://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=744158

Counterparty Criteria for Structured Finance and Covered Bonds: Derivative Addendum (pub. 14 May 2014)

https://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=744175

Global Structured Finance Rating Criteria (pub. 06 Jul 2015)

https://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=867952

U.S. Private Student Loan ABS Criteria (pub. 31 Jul 2015)

https://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=868836

Related Research

SLM Private Education Loan Trust 2013-B -- Appendix

https://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=706818

Additional Disclosures

Dodd-Frank Rating Information Disclosure Form

https://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/press_releases/content/ridf_frame.cfm?pr_id=1002014

Solicitation Status

https://www.fitchratings.com/gws/en/disclosure/solicitation?pr_id=1002014

Endorsement Policy

https://www.fitchratings.com/jsp/creditdesk/PolicyRegulation.faces?context=2&detail=31

ALL FITCH CREDIT RATINGS ARE SUBJECT TO CERTAIN LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS. PLEASE READ THESE LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS BY FOLLOWING THIS LINK: HTTP://FITCHRATINGS.COM/UNDERSTANDINGCREDITRATINGS. IN ADDITION, RATING DEFINITIONS AND THE TERMS OF USE OF SUCH RATINGS ARE AVAILABLE ON THE AGENCY'S PUBLIC WEBSITE 'WWW.FITCHRATINGS.COM'. PUBLISHED RATINGS, CRITERIA AND METHODOLOGIES ARE AVAILABLE FROM THIS SITE AT ALL TIMES. FITCH'S CODE OF CONDUCT, CONFIDENTIALITY, CONFLICTS OF INTEREST, AFFILIATE FIREWALL, COMPLIANCE AND OTHER RELEVANT POLICIES AND PROCEDURES ARE ALSO AVAILABLE FROM THE 'CODE OF CONDUCT' SECTION OF THIS SITE. FITCH MAY HAVE PROVIDED ANOTHER PERMISSIBLE SERVICE TO THE RATED ENTITY OR ITS RELATED THIRD PARTIES. DETAILS OF THIS SERVICE FOR RATINGS FOR WHICH THE LEAD ANALYST IS BASED IN AN EU-REGISTERED ENTITY CAN BE FOUND ON THE ENTITY SUMMARY PAGE FOR THIS ISSUER ON THE FITCH WEBSITE.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160405006205/en/

Fitch Ratings

Primary Analyst

Charlene M. Davis

Director

+1-212-908-0213

Fitch Ratings, Inc.

33 Whitehall Street

New York, NY 10004

or

Committee Chairperson

Kevin Corrigan

Senior Director

+1-212-908-0156

or

Media Relations:

Sandro Scenga, New York, +1 212-908-0278

Email: [email protected]

Source: Fitch Ratings
CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/05/16 -- Gibson Energy Inc. ("Gibsons" or the "Company") (TSX: GEI) announced today that it expects to release its first quarter results for the period ending March 31, 2016 on Tuesday, May 3, following market close. A conference call has also been scheduled for 9:00 a.m. MT (11:00 a.m. ET) on Wednesday, May 4, 2016 for interested analysts, investors, and media representatives. The conference call dial-in numbers are:

-- 416-340-2217 / 866-696-5910 -- Participant Pass Code: 9070183

Shortly after the call, an audio archive will be posted on the Investors/News section at www.gibsons.com. The call will also be recorded and available for playback 60 minutes after the meeting end time, until August 3, 2016, using the following dial-in numbers:

-- 905-694-9451 / 800-408-3053 -- Participant Pass Code: 3887683

The Company also wishes to announce that its Annual General Meeting (the "AGM") will be held on Wednesday, May 4, 2016 at 11:00 a.m. MT (1:00 p.m. ET) at the Metropolitan Conference Centre 333 - 4th Ave. S.W. Calgary, Alberta. The AGM will be broadcast live via webcast. The webcast link will be available on Gibsons' website at gibsons.com under Investor Relations/Presentations, Webcasts and Events. Additionally, shortly after the AGM, an audio archive of the webcast will be made accessible on Gibsons' website for 90 days.

About Gibsons

Gibsons is a Canadian-based midstream energy company with operations in most of the key hydrocarbon-rich basins in North America. For over 60 years, Gibsons has delivered integrated midstream solutions to customers in the oil and gas industry. With headquarters in Calgary, Alberta, the company's North American operations include the transportation, storage, blending, processing, marketing and distribution of crude oil, liquids and refined products. The company also provides oilfield waste and water management services. Gibsons is the second largest industrial propane distribution company in Canada under the Canwest Propane and Stittco Energy brands.

Gibson Energy Inc. shares trade under the symbol GEI and are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. For more information, visit www.gibsons.com.

Contacts: Gibson Energy Inc. Tammi Price Vice President Investor Relations & Corporate Development (403) 206-4212 [email protected] Gibson Energy Inc. Cam Deller Manager, Investor Relations (403) 776-3041 [email protected] www.gibsons.com

Source: Gibson Energy Inc.
ROSENBERG, TX -- (Marketwired) -- 04/05/16 -- HITEC Power Protection, the inventor of diesel rotary UPS, today announced that Will Cisler, the company's VP of U.S. Engineering, has been selected to address attendees at the Critical Power Show 2016, April 13, 2016 at 11 a.m., in Schaumburg, Illinois. In addition, HITEC will be showcasing the new PowerPRO Series, the industry's most efficient UPS option for critical-power loads in Booth #201.

Tweet this: Most efficient #UPS option for #criticalpower loads http://bit.ly/1M02bZW on display @Critical_Pow in Booth 201

Titled, Protecting your Business Efficiently with Rotary UPS, Cisler's discussion will provide insight on rotary power applications, as well as highlight ROI and total cost of equipment ownership from real-world case studies. Attendees will gain valuable information on budgeting and calculating rotary UPS system ROI and the key features that make this solution preferable to static UPS technologies.

"Mission-critical facilities continue to evolve operations in many areas and seeking an end to purchasing, housing and disposing of enormous batteries for backup is paramount," Cisler said. "I look forward to engaging in intelligent conversations with Critical Power Show's attendees as we discuss new methods to improve operations."

Attendees are encouraged to visit HITEC's booth and discover why the new PowerPRO series sets the standard with the industry's:

Lowest total-cost-of-ownership

Greatest reliability and uptime

Highest available system efficiency

Unrivalled monitoring and reporting

Rapid and straightforward installation

Intuitive control and operation

Compact footprint, highest power density

A sustainable and battery-free solution

To learn how you can leverage HITEC's PowerPRO series, visit HITEC's Booth #201 or schedule an appointment for a free TCO and power analysis by contacting (800) 794-9398 or emailing: [email protected].

About HITEC Power Protection HITEC Power Protection is the world leader in continuous power solutions with over 1600 systems installed globally. With support centers in Texas, California, and Virginia, HITEC delivers UPS solutions that are designed to meet the business-critical power needs of its customers. HITEC guarantees customer support through an integrated network of highly trained service engineers who are backed by North American Support Centers and a 24x7x365 Global Helpdesk. For more information, please visit http://www.hitec-ups.com/.

Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=2986421

For more information, contact: Jackie Abramian BridgeView Marketing (for HITEC Power Protection) 603-570-7533 [email protected]

Source: Hitec Power Protection, Inc.
Working together with Veeam Availability Suite and Veeam Backup & Replication, new product reduces costs and increases reliability of disaster recovery plans

BAAR, Switzerland--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Veeam Software, the innovative provider of solutions that deliver Availability for the Always-On Enterprise, today announces Veeam Availability Orchestrator, a multi-hypervisor disaster recovery (DR) orchestration engine that enables enterprises to easily execute, test and document DR plans. Data protection and disaster recovery are key areas for improving availability as unplanned IT outages cost the average organization $16 million a year.1

Well-orchestrated and tested DR plans continue to remain one of the primary challenges facing CIOs, said Ratmir Timashev, CEO of Veeam Software. While many enterprises have plans in place, they are complex and cumbersome, which means they are often unreliable and difficult to execute, as well as untested and outdated. This puts compliance and enterprise availability at risk. The new Veeam Availability Orchestrator continues our mission to enable enterprises to achieve 24/7/365 availability. It enables modern SLAs for data and application recovery to be met, reduces costs, increases reliability by eliminating manual processes, all while satisfying compliance requirements.

According to Gartner, by the end of 2017, 60 percent of large enterprises will have transitioned from a sole dependence on traditional disaster recovery management to a broader use of IT service continuity management. In the evolving digital business era, the criticality of recovery time and recovery point service levels is becoming subordinate to support for sustainable IT service continuity.2

Veeam Availability Orchestrator provides orchestration of Veeam backups and replicas through a defined disaster recovery plan, non-disruptive testing, automated documenting, updating and reporting. This combination of capabilities helps enterprise customers to ensure data and application availability, maintain reliability, reduce costs of manual processes, and satisfy compliance requirements.

The new Veeam Availability Orchestrator solves current issues with DR plans by providing enterprises with a multi-hypervisor DR orchestration engine for Veeam Availability Suite and Veeam Backup & Replication. Built specifically for the enterprise, this new solution from Veeam provides the following capabilities:

Orchestration: Thorough coordination of Veeam backups and replicas through a defined DR plan;

Thorough coordination of Veeam backups and replicas through a defined DR plan; Automated DR Testing: Automatic and non-disruptive testing to maintain reliability and avoid expensive manual processes; and

Automatic and non-disruptive testing to maintain reliability and avoid expensive manual processes; and Compliance and Documentation: Built-in documenting, updating and reporting of DR plans to satisfy compliance requirements.

Available later this year, Veeam Availability Orchestrator is designed to work with Veeam Availability Suite and Veeam Backup & Replication, and licensed per virtual machine (VM). Customers are required to own an Enterprise Plus license for either Veeam Availability Suite or Veeam Backup & Replication.

Customer and Partner Quotes

Good partners make efforts to align corporate needs with technology strategies, said Pete Carufe, Sr. Director for Commercial Enterprise at SHI, a Veeam Platinum ProPartner. Our mission is to help our customers achieve their mission by getting the right technology to the right people at the right time. Partnering with Veeam enables us to solve the challenges that our enterprise customers face in enabling access to all data and applications 24/7/365. Veeams new availability solutions for the enterprise are catapulting them into a leading solution partner for us.

CDW shares the commitment of Veeam to enable enterprises to be always-on, said Matt Troka, senior vice president of product and partner management, CDW, a Platinum Veeam ProPartner. As our customers are consistently challenged with the demands of the modern data center, our strong partner relationship with Veeam is key to our ability to consistently and effectively present solutions that solve our customers availability needs, beyond just backup.

As part of my role at CBRE, my team is tasked with ensuring that the business is Always-On but, even at the best of times an outage could come out of nowhere, said Darren Warner, Regional Director, Infrastructure & Operations for Asia Pacific at CBRE, a Veeam customer. In my mind, VAO takes the pain out of orchestrating and maintaining near-constant availability for my organisation and the automated documentation and reporting functions provides proof of the viability of our DR strategy.

London Gatwick Airport is the United Kingdoms second largest airport and the busiest and most efficient single-runway airport in the world. It serves more than 220 destinations in 90 countries for more than 39 million passengers each year. An aircraft takes off or lands nearly every minute during peak times at Gatwick Airport. The best way to support airport operations is with a redundant, resilient and robust IT infrastructure, said Sherif Darwish, Head of IT Infrastructure at Gatwick Airport. Veeam proved its value for us when we lost a configuration server that allowed us to operate a major airport control system. The service wasnt down, but without a quick VM recovery, this situation could have been operationally problematic. With Veeam, we restored the VM in a matter of minutes. We dont take recovery lightly. We absolutely have to be able to recover from a backup to maintain a resilient stance.

Veeam not only gave us a way to protect our intellectual property, but also a way to maintain the integrity of our data, said Andre Bromes, Senior Vice President and CIO at Goodwill Industries of Greater New York and Northern New Jersey, Inc. With Veeam we get the most out of backup, recovery and replication. Veeam transformed IT for us, helping us move from a DR plan to a business continuity plan.

About Veeam Software

Veeam recognizes the new challenges companies across the globe face in enabling the Always-On Enterprise, a business that must operate 24/7/365. To address this, Veeam has pioneered a new market of Availability for the Always-On Enterprise by helping organizations meet recovery time and point objectives (RTPO) of less than 15 minutes for all applications and data, through a fundamentally new kind of solution that delivers high-speed recovery, data loss avoidance, verified recoverability, leveraged data and complete visibility. Veeam Availability Suite, which includes Veeam Backup & Replication, leverages virtualization, storage, and cloud technologies that enable the modern data center to help organizations save time, mitigate risks, and dramatically reduce capital and operational costs, while always supporting the current and future business goals of Veeam customers.

Founded in 2006, Veeam currently has 37,000 ProPartners and more than 183,000 customers worldwide. Veeam's global headquarters are located in Baar, Switzerland, and the company has offices throughout the world. To learn more, visit https://www.veeam.com.

1 Veeam Availability Report, 2016 https://go.veeam.com/2016-availability-report.html

2 Hype Cycle for IT Service Continuity Management, 2015; Gartner research. Analyst(s): John P Morency, Pushan Rinnen, Carl Claunch; Published 28 July 2015.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160405005898/en/

Veeam Software Public Relations Manager, Corporate & Americas

Heidi Monroe Kroft, 614-339-8200 x8309

Source: Veeam Software
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Robertson Stephens, a global investment advisory firm for high net worth individuals, family offices, institutions and corporations, announced today that Preston DuFauchard is joining as general counsel. He will lead the firms global legal affairs and compliance operations.

Mr. DuFauchard was the California Corporations Commissioner from 2006 until 2011. There he led a 300-person agency charged with regulation and enforcement of state securities laws, franchise investment laws and lending laws for non-depository institutions. As Commissioner, Mr. DuFauchard coordinated with other states in regulatory examinations and enforcement actions and also worked with FINRA, the SEC and the CFPB.

Preston is one of the most well-respected and experienced regulatory and policy lawyers in the country, said Joe Piazza, Chairman and CEO of Robertson Stephens. His expertise, particularly with broker dealers, investment advisers and lending institutions will materially enhance our firms growth agenda.

Prior to his role as Commissioner, Mr. DuFauchard was in-house counsel for Bank of America, N.A. from 1997-2006 in the Litigation Department advising on securities matters, including merger litigation, underwriter litigation, prime broker operations, loan syndications and the Banks venture capital operations. He began his career and became a partner with the law firm of Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison LLP, where he was a trial attorney in large civil cases. Mr. DuFauchard holds a juris doctor from the University of California Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law and a bachelors degree in Anthropology from Stanford University.

I am honored to have the trust of Joe Piazza, and to help create his vision for a preeminent and respected advisory firm, said Mr. DuFauchard.

About Robertson Stephens LLC

Robertson Stephens LLC, through our subsidiaries Robertson Stephens Advisors, Robertson Stephens Partners and Robertson Stephens Securities, offers investment services and advice to high net worth individuals, family offices, institutions and corporations. Our seasoned professionals have access to distinctive, global investment opportunities across traditional and alternative asset classes. Partnership, trust and transparency drive our business and client relationships. Through A Culture of Exceptionalism, Robertson Stephens delivers business acumen, investment insight and the highest level of personal service.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160405006833/en/

For more information, please visit www.rsadv.com or contact:

Robertson Stephens

Alyssa Ure, 415-500-6810

Director of Marketing and Communications

[email protected]

Source: Robertson Stephens LLC
Emergency personnel examine the scene after an Amtrak passenger train struck a backhoe, killing two people, in Chester, Pennsylvania, April 3, 2016. REUTERS/Dominick Reuter

By Scott Malone

(Reuters) - Sunday's fatal Pennsylvania Amtrak accident may have exposed possible blind spots in a nationwide collision prevention system that is meant to stop crashes on U.S. railroads.

Amtrak last year became the first U.S. railroad to fully install "positive train control" (PTC) systems on its routes, a congressionally mandated technology that uses antennae on locomotives and sensors on tracks to monitor trains' precise location and prevent collisions.

A dilemma facing railroads is whether to spend funds expanding PTC systems to service vehicles like the backhoe involved in Sunday's crash, or put money into upgrades of aging rail infrastructure.

Officials are still investigating how the backhoe working on the tracks was struck by a Georgia-bound train in Chester, Pennsylvania, killing two construction workers and sending 35 people to hospital.

It is not yet known whether the vehicle had a PTC device. Some railroads have considered installing them on maintenance equipment. It is not clear if Amtrak has done so, experts said.

"If you have a vehicle that's not riding the rails, but on the shoulder or across the rails or on rubber tires alone and you don't allow the circuit to know you're there, you're outside the PTC system," said Allan Zarembski, a professor at the University of Delaware's College of Engineering who specializes in rail safety.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating whether the train's PTC system functioned properly in Sunday's collision, a spokesman said. An Amtrak spokesman declined to answer questions about whether the railroad's PTC system was designed to detect service vehicles on the tracks, citing the NTSB investigation.

The U.S. rail industry has spent about $14 billion installing PTC equipment, though Congress last year extended the deadline for full implementation by three years to 2018.

There are several varieties of PTC systems in use in the United States. Amtrak's is focused on controlling train speeds; development began in earnest following a 1990 incident in which one of the carrier's trains derailed in Boston and struck a commuter train, injuring more than 400 people.

Amtrak finished installing the system following a May 2015 derailment about 20 miles (30 km) north of Sunday's crash site caused by an engineer speeding into a curve, which killed eight people and injured 43.

While locomotives signal their position automatically in the PTC system, work crews need to place a device on the tracks to alert the system to their presence.

Still, high-profile accidents like the recent Amtrak crashes or the February 2015 incident in which a Metro-North commuter train in suburban New York hit a car, are exceptions in an industry that has largely reduced fatal accidents, experts said.

"The routine accidents have been taken care of. The rails, the wheels are safer than ever before and the people have been trained. Yet there are still mistakes that occur," said Steven Ditmeyer, a former Federal Railroad Administration official who now works as a rail consultant.

FRA data show that 15 passengers and 11 employees died in rail accidents last year, marking the deadliest year since 2008, when a Union Pacific Corp (NYSE: UNP) train crashed into a Los Angeles MetroLink commuter train, killing 25 people.

Far more people are killed by illegally crossing passenger tracks, which claimed 162 lives in 2015.

For Ditmeyer, the most effective way to bring those accident numbers lower is to invest in significant maintenance and replacement on rail routes like the Northeast corridor between Washington and Boston, which has not had a major upgrade since the late 1970s.

For companies, the issue is cost effectiveness, whether they should spend money on infrastructure or expand the PTC system - especially in the busy northeast.

"It's a multibillion-dollar, multiyear program to get the Northeast corridor up to full strength," Ditmeyer said of needed upgrades.

(Reporting by Scott Malone in Boston; Editing by Andrew Hay)
CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian officials have postponed a trip to Rome to discuss the investigation into the murder of an Italian student whose body was dumped on the outskirts of Cairo in February, judicial and security sources said on Monday.

Human rights groups have said torture marks on the body of Giulio Regeni, 28, indicated he died at hands of Egyptian security forces, an allegation the Cairo government denies.

The case has raised fresh questions about accusations of police brutality in Egypt, a strategic ally of the West and an important trade partner for Rome.

Egyptian officials were initially due in Italy on Tuesday but have now put it off. They will now make the visit on Thursday and Friday, judicial sources said, giving no reason for the decision. They had earlier told Reuters there was no new date set for the visit.

A senior Egyptian interior ministry official told Reuters the investigation concluded that Regeni - who was researching the rise of independent trade unions in Egypt - was being watched by security services but that it did not mean that they killed him as suspected by human rights groups.

On March 25 Egyptian police said they had discovered Regeni's bag and passport following a shootout with a criminal gang whose members had posed as policemen.

Italian officials dismissed the story and Regeni's family said it was clear Regeni had not been killed for criminal gain.

The case has caused friction between Egypt and Italy, though it is unlikely to lead to a permanent rift because of the two countries' trade ties and Egypt's strategic role in the Middle East.

On Sunday, Egypt's mass circulation Al-Ahram newspaper ran a front-page editorial by its chief editor calling on the government to take the case seriously or risk a break in ties with Rome, an unusual move for a state-run publication.

(Reporting by Haitham Ahmed and Ahmed Mohamed Hassan; Writing by Ahmed Aboulenein; Editing by Michael Georgy/Mark Heinrich)
By Belinda Goldsmith

STOCKHOLM (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The threat of terrorism and mass migration will grow worse in rich and poor nations without greater global cooperation to tackle the causes of poverty and conflict, leaders of an international forum on peace building said on Tuesday.

The Swedish co-chair of the International Dialogue on Peacebuilding and Statebuilding (IDPS) said conflict and violent extremism - such as the attacks in Paris and Brussels - coupled with rising migration had changed the global landscape.

Minister for International Development Cooperation Isabella Lovin called for all nations to speed and scale up efforts to tackle the causes of conflict and meet global goals agreed last year to end poverty and inequality by 2030.

Studies show the number of conflicts globally had been stable for the last decade but are now on the rise and 2014 was the most lethal year since the end of the Cold War, she said.

Conflict, poverty and climate change have forced 60 million people from their homes - the highest level since World War Two - with up to 1.5 billion people living in fragile states.

Lovin called for a "coalition of the willing" to commit to supporting fragile and conflict-hit states, saying failure to tackle root causes of conflict and poverty would exacerbate world volatility and increase the risk of violence.

"This is maybe the opportunity to see the world is one and we need to work long-term to help poor people in their countries and to create global security for all of us," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation at the fifth global IDPS meeting.

"The refugees that are coming into Europe right now remind us that the war going on in Syria is not so far away ... and we do have the instruments to try to stop new conflicts erupting."

RISKS OF VIOLENCE INCREASING

The IDPS meeting is the first international peace forum since the United Nations' 193 member states agreed last year to 17 global goals to end poverty and promote peace by 2030.

United Nations Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson said the world was at a "critical juncture", facing turmoil and risks from various forms of violence as well as "glaring inequality".

"We see civilians continue to pay the highest price in today's crises ... We have to confront these threats together," said Eliasson, a former Swedish foreign minister.

But he said there was some good news with peace talks starting for Syria and Yemen and agreement on the U.N. global goals known as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

"If we live up to these intentions we could turn a different direction," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

In this new global landscape, Lovin said there was a need for the IDPS to play a stronger, more relevant role. Launched in 2008, its mission is to find ways through political dialogue to support countries move from conflict to peace and resilience.

The IDPS includes more than 40 countries, nine multilateral organizations including the World Bank and the United Nations and a rising number of civil society groups.

Lovin led a renewed commitment by the IDPS to the so-called New Deal agreed in 2011 that outlined five peace and statebuilding goals - legitimate politics, security, justice, economic foundations, revenues and services - with locally driven and locally led processes.

"I hope this gives a new injection into the thinking of how we provide development aid and also how we do peacekeeping and peacebuilding," Lovin said.

(Reporting by Belinda Goldsmith, Editing by Katie Nguyen. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, property rights and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org)
They look alike, but are they different enough to keep the lawyers at bay?



A Wellington consultancy caught in the middle of a logo-lookalike storm says it had no hand in the design work.

Aoraki Polytechnic and the Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology (CPIT) merged last year and the new entity, the Ara Institute of Canterbury, has embarked on a $1 million branding exercise. Ara is Maori for "pathway" and "arise".

The new name and logo bear an unfortunate resemblance to those used by Christchurch software firm ARANZ Geo Ltd, which develops geographical software and was set up in 2009.

Wellington agency Squiz was behind digital transformations for both the polytechnic and ARANZ Geo Ltd, although Christchurch agency Novo was the lead contractor for the Ara work.

READ MORE: Polytechnic merger rebranded as Ara Institute

Squiz managing director Patrick FitzGerald said his firm was not engaged by either ARA Institute of Canterbury or ARANZ Geo for branding work and had no input into the design process around either logos.



Novo has been asked for comment.

Novo's website says for the last 18 months it had "partnered" with CPIT to "manage the coming together of CPIT and Aoraki Polytechnic, while strategically developing a dynamic name and brand for the new institute".

ARANZ Geo marketing manager Tim Kerr said the similarity between the names and logos was "intriguing".

"We're disappointed another Christchurch organisation has created a new identity that is so very similar to our own."

Kerr said its core product name, Leapfrog, was well known in its key markets and was registered in New Zealand and elsewhere.

"Ara and ARANZ Geo are in very different industries and as ARANZ Geo is largely focussed on international markets I don't see any major problem. ARANZ Geo doesn't feel threatened by the similarity of the logo."

An intellectual property specialist at Christchurch law firm Saunders & Co, Virginia Nichols, said ARANZ Geo Ltd had not registered its logo and name with the Intellectual Property Office of NZ (IPONZ) so it would have to rely on the reputation of the marks to protect them.

The company could ask the court to order the Ara logo or name be changed, but only if it could prove potential consumers might be misled or deceived into thinking there was a connection between the two entities.

"Similar trade marks certainly can successfully coexist in different industries, but problems can arise in areas of overlap; in this case, research or software might need extra care," she said.

"It is always a good idea when developing a new brand to check what else is out there, and you are never allowed to copy someone else's logo without permission.

"There is no suggestion the similarity in the marks is anything other than a coincidence, but if questions are being asked, they will need to be careful to avoid misleading anyone."

Ara business development director Phil Agnew said the agency that developed the Ara logo was not aware of ARANZ Geo or its logo at any stage of the process.

Neither the agency nor Ara had been contacted about the similarity in the logos, he said.

"We conducted an extensive due diligence process as part of the rebrand of Ara. We note that Ara and ARANZ Geo operate in different business sectors."

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Firefighters had to cut the roof off a crashed car in Tawa after a woman was left trapped inside the vehicle.

Young children at an early childhood centre near Wellington had a narrow escape when a car crashed into its fence during a peak-hour accident.

A 70-year-old woman has been taken to hospital in a neck brace after her car was clipped and 'flew' up a bank into the fence in Tawa about 8.30am.

Witness Paora Te Pue was at the corner of Main Rd and Sunrise Blvd in Tawa when he saw the woman's metallic green Mazda fly up a bank, smash down signs, hit the fence of the Kindercare, and roll back down.

JESSY EDWARDS Firefighters had to cut the roof off a crashed car in Tawa after a woman was left trapped inside the vehicle.

"I was so sure the car was going to plunge straight into the kindy," he said.

He phoned emergency services, who were forced to cut the woman from the car.

"It was horrible. she was dangling out the side, they had to cut the roof off," he said.

"They put her straight on a stretcher, but she seemed shaken.

"At the kindy, toddlers peered through the gap in the fence where a hedge had been torn down by the car.

Debris, including a wing mirror, lay strewn on the bank.

Police said the woman was involved in a two-car accident.

Police were speaking with a girl in school uniform, who was crying, and a man, at the scene.

Te Pue said a car appeared to have clipped the woman's Mazda.

Tawa fire station officer Mark Osborne said when they arrived the car was up against the curb on its side.

They were forced to cut off the car's roof flap using hydraulic tools so paramedics could reach the woman.

Delays on Main Rd have been cleared.
June Schollum reached out for help on the Genuine Tokoroa Facebook page when she saw ducks drowning at Lake Moananui.

A peaceful walk around Lake Moananui in Tokoroa ended in a call for help on a local Facebook page as she tried to save ducks from drowning.

June Schollum and her husband rescued eight ducks lying face down along the waters edge recently.

Reaching out to the community on the Genuine Tokoroa page she asked for help.

SUPPLIED / FAIRFAX NZ A local vet said ducks found at Lake Moananui, in Tokoroa, were paralysed and dying of botulism.

Numerous calls to the South Waikato SPCA fell on deaf ears as Schollum remained stranded and stressed for four hours.

Two ducks died before help arrived.

Animal welfare advocate Carolyn King took the remaining six ducks to the vet where they were diagnosed with Avian Botulism.

"I don't know why they (SPCA) keep ringing Animal Control. They should be doing something about it."

Veterinarian Jess Yardley from the South Waikato Veterinary Services said it was common at this time of year to get cases of wildlife infected with the paralysis toxin.

"It's built up in the sludge at the bottom of the water.

"In Auckland they have this problem so they have signs around the big major parks.

"The reason Tokoroa hasn't had this problem before, it's colder down here."

Yardley said ducks could recover but needed to be kept upright and nursed back to health.

SPCA shelter manager Nadine Steele said they did not have a warranted inspector to go out and help wildlife at Lake Moananui.

"Who's going to pay for it? That's what it comes down to," she said.

"My job is to run the centre and look after the animals."

Chairwoman Sandra Harrington-Frost said she rang animal control as it was the council's responsibility to take care of wildlife on the lake.

"Waikato (SPCA) informed me it was council land and a council problem.

"We struggle because there's huge numbers of animal's we're trying to look after and we've only got one centre manager."

Group assets manager Ted Anderson from the South Waikato District Council said tests have not been commissioned but staff would be extra vigilant over the coming weeks.

"We are aware some councils have signs but we do not believe these signs are required.

"We are in communication with the Ministry of Health regarding potential risks and will take appropriate actions if required."
One of Tony Heuvel's mum's dying wishes is why Matamata residents' heads are turning to see a 1957 Chevrolet two door sports coupe growling down the roads.

His mum wanted him to buy his dream car.

"My mum said 'you're 50 now it's time to slow down and enjoy life'," Heuvel said.

ABBY BROWN/ FAIRFAX NZ Tony Heuvel with his old school Chevy, with all the modern bells and whistles like a reversing camera, GPS, air con, electric windows and mirrors and cruise control, sits on airbag suspension with disc brakes all round.

His mum, who died of cancer in August 2014, wanted him to give up speedway, which he had been involved in for over 18 years. He had many ups and downs during that time when he was contracted to drive at Baypark in Tauranga, but travelled all over the country.

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ABBY BROWN/ FAIRFAX NZ Tony Heuvel has retired from saloon racing and now prefers to cruise in his 1957 Chevy two door sports coupe.

"I had five roll overs over the years, one flipped the car eight times along the wall, that was a big one."

He said he would prefer not to think about how much he spent on saloons - the last engine alone cost $48,000. He said he couldn't have done it without sponsors like Permapine and Matamata Post and Rail, who had supported him for eight years. He said sponsors have to get something out of the deal so the saloon was always parked at the Post and Rail's site during the Fieldays.

Heuvel also gave back to his community by fundraising for Westpac Rescue Helicopter with his saloon. He would auction rides in the car on a speedway track and give the money to the charity. "One lady bought a ride for her son and she got in and had a drive and she was in her 60s."

ABBY BROWN/ FAIRFAX NZ Tony Heuvel's Chevy has a BDS 6.71 supercharger.

Speedway was not just costly in money but also family time with his wife Cathy, daughter Ashley and step-son Jessie.

"My family put up with a lot; I'd get home from work and then I'd be out there [the shed]." He said his neighbours never complained about the noise of the grinder, hammer or air compressor when he had been working on cars.

He brought the Chevy in 2015 after a "fluke" online discussion. After multiple conversations with the owner, George Reed, he travelled to Chicago where Reed organised a day limo to pick him up. Although the Reeds wouldn't let him pay for anything Heuvel managed to leave $500 in his vice in the workshop as a thank you the day he left

The old school Chevy, with all the modern bells and whistles like a reversing camera, GPS, air con, electric windows and mirrors and cruise control and sitting on airbag suspension with disc brakes all round, was used for cruising.

Heuvel had also had people slip notes in the car's windscreen asking if they could use it for their wedding. Through this he said he met lots of neat people. He left it up to them if and how they paid, with most giving petrol vouchers or boxes of beer.

As soon as the car was shipped to Auckland, Heuvel drove it to his sister's and they went to the cemetery to show their mum. "That's why it's got the pillows in the back that say 'with special thanks to mum and dad'."

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The Frankton Plan notes the decision by retailer Forlongs to shut its store doors.

A plan designed to guide Frankton's development over the next two decades has been adopted by the city council.

But already some elected members are questioning its relevance, saying the money isn't there to support the document's intentions.

The Frankton Neighbourhood Plan contains a mix of short and longer term projects designed to grow the area's economy and enhance its character and heritage.

Frankton's future Share your stories, photos and videos. Contribute

Last minute tweaks have been made to the plan to reflect the demise of Hamilton retail giant Forlongs.

Deputy Mayor Gordon Chesterman said it would have been "crazy" for the plan not to acknowledge the closure of Frankton's dominant retailer.

A neighbourhood plan has also been proposed for Hamilton East.

Councillor Martin Gallagher supported the Frankton plan, noting it was written with input from the community and its leaders.

The document was intended to be aspirational and visionary and would help discussions around future long-term plans and annual plans, he said.

Projects expected to begin shortly include a design guide for Frankton's railway cottages, research on the area's heritage, and staged maintenance along Commerce Street.

Councillor Rob Pascoe said the Frankton Plan was similar in purpose to the Hamilton City River Plan in that it was designed to enable activity.

There was a risk the plan might end up going nowhere, but without the document nothing would be achievable, Pascoe said.

Councillor Andrew King spoke against the plan, saying there was no budget to support its initiatives.

Previous council decisions had harmed Frankton's vibrancy and made it harder to do business in the neighbourhood, King said.

"I'd put this plan into the basket of lovely ideas with great intentions of doing good but we aren't," he said.

Putting up hanging baskets and installing street furniture along Commerce St would make little difference.

Councillor Dave Macpherson, who together with King and councillor Garry Mallett voted against the plan, said it resembled a coffee table book.

Questions remained whether any of the plan's goals were achievable, Macpherson said.
Moves by Tainui Group Holdings to remove a stand of mature trees in Ruakura could be the first of many applications, a senior councillor has warned.

Elected members requested an update from Hamilton City Council staff on the fate of 36 trees on land owned by TGH and earmarked for development.

TGH, the commercial arm of Waikato-Tainui iwi, and Chedworth Property Ltd have proposed a $3.3 billion transport hub at Ruakura.

The proposal has triggered a variation to Hamilton's proposed district plan.

In its submission on the Ruakura variation, TGH said the protection of existing trees as "scheduled trees" within Ruakura was incompatible with the urbanisation of the land.

A resource consent is needed to remove a scheduled tree.

In his update to elected members, council's city growth general manager Kelvyn Eglinton said TGH had requested the scheduled status of 32 trees be deleted from the proposed district plan.

In addition to this, TGH was seeking resource consent approval to remove four trees.

Eglinton said there was no indication from TGH that it wanted to remove other trees in Ruakura.

During informal talks, TGH staff had described the London plane trees, which border Ruakura Lane leading up to Waikato Innovation Park, as "quite a feature," Eglinton said.

In reply, councillor Dave Macpherson said TGH's request to chop down the four large trees would not be its last.

"This is the first cut," Macpherson said.

"Dealing with TGH on any of these sorts of issues is like death by a 1000 cuts."

Macpherson said the company had a history of dealing with issues in a piecemeal fashion and never revealed its overall plans.

In an earlier statement, TGH chief executive Chris Joblin said Ruakura was moving from rural zoning to employment and residential uses.

An urban environment was a lot more dense than a rural setting, prompting TGH to seek more flexibility in the way the site was configured.

Whenever possible, the company would work with the existing natural heritage.

Councillor Martin Gallagher, echoing Macpherson's concerns, said there was strong community interest in the fate of the trees.

It was also important the neighbouring Waikato University was kept informed of TGH's plans.

"We've got a bit of a history where we wake up and we read about it in the Waikato Times," Gallagher said.

Council staff have been instructed to keep elected members updated on the trees' fate.

John Adam, a landscape heritage consultant, said many of Ruakura's scheduled trees were more than 100 years old and were a mix of natives and exotics.
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New Delhi: Mahindra & Mahindra's Farm Equipment Sector on April 5 launched five tractor models under the Yuvo brand, with price starting at Rs 4.99 lakh (ex-showroom Hyderabad).

The new tractors, which will be available in 15 states, are in the 30-45 HP (horsepower) range, thus adding to the company's existing range of 15-57 HP tractors. Built on a new platform, Mahindra YUVO is extremely versatile and can be used across more than 30 different farming applications, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) said in a regulatory filing.

"M&M has invested over Rs 300 crore towards the development of this new platform," it added. The company said it will sell the tractors through more than 400 outlets in 15 states across the country.

"The Yuvo will cater to the evolving needs of the progressive farmer. The range is developed at our state of the art R&D facility, Mahindra Research Valley at Chennai and has set a new benchmark in pioneering new technology and providing huge value to customers," said Pawan Goenka, Executive Director of M&M.
As part of the contract, Tata Communications will roll out a network which will power the airline's systems.

New Delhi: Tata Communications today said it has won a multi-million dollar contract from European airline Air France-KLM to provide next-generation network connectivity at 170 sites.

As part of the contract, Tata Communications will roll out a network which will power the airline's systems, including passenger check-in, flight operations and departure control applications, as well as corporate programmes in the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific.

"The network will form the backbone for the company as it embraces the latest mobile, cloud, big data analytics and wearable technologies to enhance and personalise passenger experience," the company said in a statement.

Air France-KLM, which carried 87.4 million passengers in 2014, is the first major European airline group to move away from the legacy networks widely used in the airline industry.

"Airlines worldwide are starting to rethink their technology infrastructure to improve the passenger experience, and integrate cloud services and new applications to support the huge amounts of data coming from next-generation aircraft," Genius Wong, President,

Global Network Services, Cloud and Data Centre Services at Tata Communications said. "We're introducing a range of innovative services, such as travel apps for smartwatches, to provide a seamless, personalised travel experience for our tech-savvy passengers," Jean-Christophe Lalanne, CIO of Air France-KLM Group said.
The Ministry is also finalising the modalities for effective implementation of Building and Other Construction Workers' Act, 1996 and Building and Other Construction Worker' Welfare Cess Act, 1996. (Representational Image)

New Delhi: Government is simplifying the labour inspection process and will come out with a unified portal for online registration of units and reporting of inspections, Minister for Labour and Employment Bandaru Dattatreya said on April 5.

"With an objective of simplifying business regulations and for bringing in transparency and accountability in labour inspections, the Ministry of Labour and Employment is revising the inspection scheme," he said at an event here.

The ministry is also developing a single unified portal for online registration of units, reporting of inspections, submissions of annual returns and redressal of grievances, he added. Besides, it is developing a webinar centre to increase reach to all stakeholders for imparting training and providing information pertaining to occupational safety and health, Dattatreya said.

"The Ministry is also finalising the modalities for effective implementation of Building and Other Construction Workers' Act, 1996 and Building and Other Construction Worker' Welfare Cess Act, 1996," he added. The Factories Act is also being amended and the Factories (amendment) Bill has been placed before Parliament approval, he said.

"In India we have adopted humane laws regarding working conditions, health, and safety as part of of our plans of development," Dattatreya said. On government's 'Make in India' campaign, he said the purpose of the initiative is to enhance job creation, boost the economy and convert India to a self reliant country.

"Our government has declared its vision to make India a global manufacturing hub by increasing the share of the manufacturing sector in GDP from the present 15 per cent to 25 per cent in next few years.

The 'Make in India' campaign would facilitate this quantum jump in the manufacturing sector," Dattatreya said. To facilitate growth, infrastructure is also being developed in the form of highways, expressways, rail corridors, airports and seaports, he added.

"It would be our prime responsibility to ensure just and humane condition of work from providing training to develop required skill and competence in our workforce. We cannot prosper in this dynamic complex business environment without caring for safety and health," he said.
The message appears to be getting through to Kiwis with student loans who are now based overseas.

Inland Revenue received more than 20,000 additional repayments totalling $29.7 million during January and February  up 31 per cent on the $22.7m repaid during the same period in 2015.
The outlook for the wider dairy sector including support available for farmers were the focus of an event near Morrinsville attended by Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy today.

The event brought together farmers and others from the rural business community, including MPI, DairyNZ, Federated Farmers, Rural Support Trusts and the New Zealand Bankers Association who together launched a new brochure outlining various support available for farmers.

While the medium to long-term outlook for the sector remains strong, our dairy farmers are doing it tough this season. Low global prices are having a real impact on cashflows and farmers are rightly focussing on their business decisions and on-farm costs, says Mr Guy.

There is a wide range of advice and guidance for farmers out there from both Government and the wider industry. Todays event and this brochure help pull this together and remind farmers they are not alone, and that we can come out the other side more productive and successful than ever.

As a Government we are supporting this focus with $800,000 in last years Budget towards the MPI Farming Systems Change programme. A key focus is looking at ways to boost the performance of farms by learning from the strongest performers.

As part of this around $175,000 has been allocated for an independent provider to do an in-depth study on innovative low cost, high performing farm systems.

Along with industry we are co-investing into the Primary Growth Partnership (PGP). Transforming the Dairy Value Chain is a $170 million PGP programme helping create new dairy products, increase on-farm productivity, reduce environmental impacts, and improve agricultural education.

Already this programme has developed new technology to produce mozzarella cheese in six hours rather than the traditional six weeks, and is investing around $3 million in farmer wellness and wellbeing initiatives.

Last year we also announced $500,000 to support rural mental health. Supporting this is Dairy NZs Tactics programme, Farmstrong, and Rural Support Trusts in action around the country.

Sharemilkers are finding this season very challenging and are being supported by the $1.5 million SMASH (Smaller Milk and Supply Herds) initiative - Smaller Herd Farmer Businesses which helps dairy farmers, particularly those with smaller operations, to make the best use of their resources. Forums and regional conferences have reached around 2,400 attendees so far.

Chartered Accountants Australia New Zealand are also offering farmers one hours free consultation for an independent health check of their businesses.

On top of this there is the Governments ongoing support for irrigation, RMA reform and free trade deals, all of which are very important for dairy farmers.

A copy of the brochure is available at: www.mpi.govt.nz/document-vault/11839

SOURCE: Office of Nathan Guy
Bay of Plenty Police are appealing to the public for any information which will help to locate Graeme Peri.

The 19-year-old has a warrant for his arrest after he failed to appear in court in Rotorua on an aggravated robbery charge.
A mind shift from intensification and production per hectare, to a system that focuses on environmental efficiency as the primary driver is required in New Zealands pastoral industry.

Thats the view of the Bay of Plenty Regional Councils chairman Doug Leeder, who also believes progress so far on changes toward more sustainable farming is significant but could have been achieved sooner with a future focus and better commitment from industry.
A Katikati couple was told by one company that there is a waiting list.

Hirepool Mount Maunganui normally has 200-300 toilets for hire and is having to bring in a whole pile from Auckland to meet demand.

Many of their toilets have been hired out for two years or so, says a company spokesman. But there is definitely a demand.

Superloo Tauranga has toilets available, but is also relocating.

Weve been booming for a couple of years, says a spokesperson.

Christchurch is dropping off. We pooled a lot of resources to Christchurch, and we have now slowly started bringing them back. If anyone wants a toilet Superloo will happily provide them.

She believes the demand is also boosted by new health and safety regulations. Builders are now obliged to provide toilets and safety fencing that they have not had to in the past.

Building consent figures for March show consents issued are continuing to track very well for both Tauranga city and Western Bay of Plenty district councils.

Following a record breaking year in 2015, consents issued in 2016 are continuing to track very well for both councils, according to figures compiled by Priority One.

A recorded $181.1 million in building consents issued by Tauranga City Council for the first three months of 2016 is 40 per cent higher than the previous high in 2015.

In the Western Bay, the district council issued $56.7 million in consents over the same period, which is 30 per cent more than the previous high in 2007.

Consents for the combined sub-region are valued at $237.9 million for the three month period, 47 per cent more than the previous high recorded in 2015.

In March this year, the Western Bay of Plenty District Council issued the highest value of building consents, $23.6 million, in any month since Priority One commenced records in 2003.

The Western Bay council also achieved new two year records for the 113 building consents issued, the $13.1 million value of consents for new houses and the 37consents issued for new residential builds.

Total value of building consents issued by Tauranga City Council in March 2016 is $59.8m, less than last months $66.5m but ahead of the $41.7m issued in March 2015. The two year high is $81.1m in consents issued in September 2015, while the low over the same period is $30.8m recorded in June 2014.

Total number of consents is 207, less than Februarys 224 but greater than the 180 consents issued in March 2015. The two year high is 289 consents issued in October 2015, while the low over the same period is 138 consents recorded in April 2015.

Single house consents issued in March are valued at $38.7m, slightly ahead of Februarys $38.4m and also more than the $26.4m issued in March 2015. The two year high is $45.6m consents issued in October 2015, while the low is $17.7m recorded in April 2014.

The number of house consents is 103, slightly less than 110 in February, but well ahead of the 80 consents issued in March 2015. The two year high is 136 consents issued in October 2015, while the low over the same period is 50 consents issued in April 2014.

Commercial building consents valued at $16.4m were issued in March, less than Februarys $20.2m but an increase on the $9.5m commercial consents issued in March 2015. The two year high is $32.5m issued in August 2015, while the low is $2.3m issued in May 2014.

The consent at Metlifecare Somervale retirement village at 33 Gloucester Road is for $11.7m. The number of commercial consents issued in March is 19, less than last months 40, which was a joint two year high along with October 2015, but more than the 16 commercial consents issued in March a year ago.

The two year low is 8 consents issued in June 2014.
Mumbai: Preity Zinta, who tied the knot with Gene Goodenough in February in an intimate ceremony, is back in bay. After landing in Mumbai, Bollywoods dimpled diva Preity Zinta refreshed herself by drinking Mumbai's famous 'cutting chai'.

In the picture shared by the actress on Instagram, we see the pretty lady beating jet lag with a cup of tea.

Beating the jet lag & #Mumbai heat with a cup of #chai & loving every minute of being home #home #jetlag Ting  A photo posted by Preity Zinta (@realpz) on Apr 4, 2016 at 11:06pm PDT

However, it hasn't yet been confirmed if Preity's husband accompanied her to India or not.

After months of speculations, Preity Zinta tied the knot with her longtime beau, Gene Goodenough in Los Angeles on February 28, 2016 amidst family and close friends.

The news of Preitys marriage came as a shocker and created quiet a buzz online. None the less, fans and friends sent in their good wishes to the actress.

Reportedly, the couple plans to have a big fat Indian wedding once they are back in the country in April.
Mumbai: In the 72 hours post the death of popular television actress Pratyusha Banerjee, several shocking facts have come to light. Now, it has surfaced that when cops visited her apartment in Goregoan, they were shocked to find the house in a complete mess.

Watch: Actress Pratyusha Banerjee cremated in full bridal attire

According to reports, Pratyushas apartment, which she shared with her boyfriend Rahul Singh, was strewn with clothes, liquor bottles, cigarette butts and half-eaten packets of snacks.

Reportedly, a team tried to reconstruct the entire suicide, including the manner in which she hanged herself. Pratyusha hanged herself from a ceiling fan which was closest to the main door. The blades of the fan were found intact, hence it has been concluded that she tied her dupatta to the middle of the fan and then looped the other end around her neck.

Read: Pratyusha Banerjee suicide probe: Injury marks on nose and under eyes spotted

It was Rahul, who found her body a few hours later and rushed her to Kokilaben Hospital where she was declared dead. He then informed the police and her uncle about her death.

According to reports, Pratyusha took this drastic step due to mounting financial pressures over the last year. According to Rahuls father, Hashvardhan Singh, Pratyusha was under severe mental pressure because she did not have enough money left to sustain her expenses, and that her parents had used her name to take a loan of Rs 50 lakh, due to which she was being hassled by creditors.

Read: Hours before death, Pratyusha Banerjee called friend wanting to end ties with Rahul

On the other hand, Pratyushas friends claim that Rahul was cheating on her with his ex-girlfriend. According to reports, Rahuls ex-girlfriend had assaulted Pratyusha on several occasions in Rahuls absence. But when Pratyusha complained to him, he took no action. He has even physically assaulted her in public.

On Saturday, Rahul was quizzed about his and Pratyusha's incomes, their investments and expenses, previous relationships that the two had and allegations of assault.

At the time of Pratyushas autopsy, Rahul told the media, We never had any serious fight. We were happy and planning to get married soon. I used to love her so much and I don't know why she took such a step. She was upset about her career but I tried to calm her down every time. This time too, I tried to save her but in vain

Pratyusha was best known for her debut role in Balika Vadhu. Thereafter, she shifted to reality shows and participated in Bigg Boss 7. Pratyushas last outing on TV was in Sasural Simar Ka where she played a role that had negative shades.

The past few months had been controversial for Pratyusha as she accused eight men of posing as cops and molesting her. Moreover, her boyfriend and she also faced flak for non-payment of dues after her birthday party at a plush suburban venue.
Mumbai: Three days after model-actor Pratyusha Banerjee of television series Balika Vadhu fame was found dead in her house, police has filed abetment of suicide and assault case against her boyfriend Rahul Raj Singh, based on statements made by her family and friends.

On Saturday, Rahul was detained for a few hours and was quizzed about his and Pratyusha's incomes, their investments and expenses, previous relationships that the two had and allegations of assault.

At the time of Pratyushas autopsy, Rahul told the media, We never had any serious fight. We were happy and planning to get married soon. I used to love her so much and I don't know why she took such a step. She was upset about her career but I tried to calm her down every time. This time too, I tried to save her but in vain

On Sunday, he was hospitalised after he complained of breathing problems before he was to face a second day of questioning by police over her death. His lawyer Neeraj Gupta had said, "Rahul has been admitted to ICU. His condition is very fragile. He hasnt eaten. He is in a state of depression after Pratyushas death. The doctors say if this continues, he will have brain haemorrhage."

According to reports, Pratyusha took this drastic step due to mounting financial pressures over the last year. According to Rahuls father, Hashvardhan Singh, Pratyusha was under severe mental pressure because she did not have enough money left to sustain her expenses, and that her parents had used her name to take a loan of Rs 50 lakh, due to which she was being hassled by creditors.

On the other hand, Pratyushas friends claim that Rahul was cheating on her with his ex-girlfriend. According to reports, Rahuls ex-girlfriend had assaulted Pratyusha on several occasions in Rahuls absence. But when Pratyusha complained to him, he took no action. He has even physically assaulted her in public.

When this newspaper visited the couples housing society, her neighbour and television actor Anuj Sachdev said, At about 12 pm when I was standing next to her flat, waiting for the lift, I heard her crying. However, as I am not very familiar with her, I felt it was not right to interfere in their personal matter. I dont know about any fight but they never looked like a happy couple.

Other residents said that the couple used to fight often and just two days ago, they had a big fight when Rahul banged Pratyushas head on the mirror. Earlier, about two months ago, the couple had one of their worst fights when Rahuls ex-girlfriend barged into their house.

Sources told this newspaper that even the society guards knew about the couples fights that often inconvenienced other residents to the extent that the society secretary had directed the landlord to order the couple to vacate the house. One of the security guards, requesting anonymity, said that Pratyusha used to often appear upset while Rahul appeared angry.

Even Pratyushas mother Soma Banerjee balmed Rahul for her death. She had said, "Rahul is definitely responsible for my daughters death because she was unhappy and upset in the relationship.

Pratyusha was best known for her debut role in Balika Vadhu. Thereafter, she shifted to reality shows and participated in Bigg Boss 7. Pratyushas last outing on TV was in Sasural Simar Ka where she played a role that had negative shades.

The past few months had been controversial for Pratyusha as she accused eight men of posing as cops and molesting her. Moreover, her boyfriend and she also faced flak for non-payment of dues after her birthday party at a plush suburban venue.
'1920 London' that features Sharman Joshi, Meera Chopra and Vishal Karwal, takes horror to an all new level.

Mumbai: The makers of '1920 London' have unveiled the trailer and it has the power to send chills down your spine. The film that features Sharman Joshi, Meera Chopra and Vishal Karwal, takes horror to an all new level.

The film revolves around Shivangi (Meera Chopra) and her husband, Veer Singh (Vishal Karwal). Strange things begin to happen and soon Veer's physical, spiritual and mental condition spirals out of control. Convinced that it is black magic, Shivangi seeks help of a spiritual healer Jai (Sharman Joshi).

The film directed by Tinu Suresh Desai, features never-seen-before terrifying visuals.

Watch the trailer here.
Even as the world reels from revelations of the Panama Papers, that implies hundreds of public figures across the world hiding illegal assets in off-shore accounts and companies, Indian celebrities like Amitabh Bachchan seem to have brushed off their involvement in the scam.

In a statement to the press  made more than 24 hours after the revelation  Amitabh denied his involvement with the shipping companies but said that his name was possibly misused to purport that he was their CEO.

Monies that I have remitted overseas have been in compliance with law, including remittances through LRS, after paying Indian taxes, he said.

While his daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai has already rubbished the charges that have been levelled against her, it remains to be seen how the Big Bs brand will take a hit.

He has so far managed to clear himself off any negative impact from corruption allegations of his Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Ltd., as well as his involvement in the Bofors scandal.

But with the magnitude of the current scam hes involved in, advertisers say that it could finally have an impact on his brand if hes found guilty of charges.

Says Amer Jaleel, Chairman, and CCO, Mullen Lintas-Lowe Lintas, that makes ads for companies that Amitabh promotes, For people, it is difficult to believe if the reasons for the controversy are true or if it is mere mudslinging. The questions will be raised when the accusations or rumours actually stand true like in the case of Maria Sharapova and Tiger Woods. Their contracts can come under question, agencies and brands would think twice before running the campaigns they are a part of, their credibility would reduce... but only when everything is proved and not with just rumours.

However, public perception of a celebrity also swings with changing tides and it could only be a matter of time before he regains the trust of the people.

Life is full of little googlies, and the lives of celebrities unfortunately, are no different. Theyre loved one second, passionately hated the next. Just like advertising the success of a product is only as good as the product really is. Aamir Khan will find himself another incredible initiative to be associated with. Mr Bachchan will continue to be Indias Shahenshah, explains Bodhisatwa Dasgupta, Senior Creative Director at JWT, who have also worked with Amitabh.

Ameer also believes the same, and adds, There would be another angle to it as well. It may renew the interest as they are already in the news and their chances of being seen in the advertisement increases.
By Lamaur Stancil of TCPalm

LIVE UPDATES

2:41 p.m.: The news conference ends.

2:36 p.m.: The victim's family members invited to speak. They thank all the detectives and agencies involved in the case.

2:25-2:36 p.m.: Loar says DNA was recovered from a Kangaroo convenience store cup in the hotel room, and latent fingerprints were recovered from a vodka bottle. These pieces of evidence tied the fugitives to the killing.

Detectives visit Kangaroo stores up and down the I-95 corridor until they find the store where the drink was purchased, in Seminole County. Video also is obtained from the store.

Arrested are Javon Roberts, 22, of Sanford and Jason Hiler, 26, of Deland.

2:25 p.m.: News conference begins, with Sheriff Deryl Loar describing the case.

Replay today's news conference and see tweets from Lamaur Stancil at the bottom of the story for the newest details.

Below is the previous story.

Indian River County Sheriff Deryl Loar will be providing details this afternoon about a 2014 homicide case that resulted in the recent arrest of two people outside of the office's jurisdiction.

On July 27, 2014, the Indian River County Sheriff's Office received a call of a shooting at the Hampton Inn, 9350 19th Lane, west of Vero Beach and Interstate 95 in Indian River County. Responding deputies located Kevin Howe, 30, of Wabasso, in a hotel room bleeding from the head as a result of a gunshot wound.

Howe was transported to Lawnwood Medical Center & Heart Institute in Fort Pierce, where he succumbed to his injuries on July 31. Detectives located Howe's cellular telephone, spent shell casings, over $5,000in cash, more than 100 grams of crack cocaine, greater than 200 grams of MDMA (ecstasy), and guns.

Indian River County Sheriff's detectives traveled to New Jersey twice, the Orlando area on more than 15 occasions, and deployed a number of investigative techniques in this case including DNA matching, latent fingerprint recovery, cellular and residential search warrants, interviews with dozens of witnesses, and video obtained from businesses.

Tweets by @TCPalmLStancil
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Andre Mijat, 36, 4200 block of Elba Street, Port St. Lucie; possession of a controlled substance (heroin) without a prescription.

Anthony Anderson, 28, 8400 block of Comus Street, Hobe Sound; burglary of an unoccupied dwelling.

Jerrod Griffin, 29, no street address, Fort Pierce; possession of cocaine.

Tonya Ganious, 50, 600 block of 18th Street, Fort Pierce; warrants for possession of cocaine, sale, manufacture, delivery or possession with intent to sell, manufacture or deliver cocaine.

Vicente Jiminez, 28, 1900 block of Angle Road, Fort Pierce; resisting an officer with violence.

Amanda Miggins, 28, no address; warrant for violation of probation, possession of cocaine, sale or delivery of oxymorphone, possession of oxymorphone.

Daniel Roberts, 20, 300 block of Atlas Terrace, Port St. Lucie; warrants for possession of oxycodone, possession of fentanyl, sale or delivery of oxycodone, sale or delivery of fentanyl, unlawful use of a two-way communications device.

Lajuan McMullen, 40, 1000 block of Grand Club Place, Fort Pierce; commit domestic battery by strangulation.

Therese Miller, 60, 700 block of Fifth Street, Fort Pierce; battery on an officer/firefighter/EMT.

Irmalinda Wilson, 40, 1900 block of Libra Lane, Port St. Lucie; out-of-county warrant, Palm Beach County, violation of probation, grand theft.

Jared Jacques, 23, 3100 block of Highway A1A, Fort Pierce; warrant for out-of-state fugitive, Colorado, marijuana - concentrate/process/manufacture.

Miguel Massas-Rosa, 43, Miami; warrant for possession of a counterfeit payment instrument.

Judith Martin, 32, 6100 block of Cotton Way, Port St. Lucie; warrants for giving false statement for public aid, grand theft.

Rosetta Bush, 70, 1200 block of 29th Street, Fort Pierce; driving while license suspended, habitual offender.

Joshua Roberts, 46, 1700 block of South Avenue, Fort Pierce; possession of cocaine.

Gottrell Brundage, 59, 1200 block of Avenue D, Fort Pierce; aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill; burglary with assault or battery; possession of burglary tools with intent to use.

Derrick Williams, 22, 1500 block of Royal Green Circle, Port St. Lucie; warrant for felony charge.

Walter Rivera Zeledon, 42, 300 block of Dorchester Street, Port St. Lucie; warrant for failure to secure payment of workers' compensation.

Latesha Douglas, 22, Hollywood; warrant for violation of probation, obtaining a controlled substance by fraud.

Larry Wamley, 39, 300 block of 14th Street, Fort Pierce; warrant for grand theft.

Terry Hill, 52, 800 block of 13th Street, Fort Pierce; warrant for retail theft.

Norman Wright, 64, 3400 block of Avenue M, Fort Pierce; warrant for battery.

Josue Morales, 19, 1800 block of Manth Lane, Port St. Lucie; warrant for unlawful use of a two-way communications device.

Alfredo Juarez, 18, 1200 block of Ormond Avenue, Fort Pierce; warrants for high speed or wanton fleeing, improper exhibit of a weapon, possession of a weapon - possession of a firearm after being found delinquent.

Michael Hermann, 61, 4600 block of U.S. 1, Fort Pierce; out-of-county warrant, Marion County, violation of probation, DUI impairment or driving with an unlawful blood alcohol level of .15 or more.

Ricky Alexandre, 23, 5800 block of Bates Avenue, Port St. Lucie; battery (domestic violence); tampering with a witness, victim or informant (domestic violence).

Megan Lushefski, 32, 1000 block of California Boulevard, Port St. Lucie; warrant for court order for pretrial detention and termination of pretrial supervision, petty theft, second offense.

Aaren Hartman, 36, 3800 block of Edwards Road, Fort Pierce; re-admit, tampering with evidence.

Darrell Barton, 52, 7500 block of Salerno Road, Fort Pierce; re-admit, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Jesus Ginjauma, 20, Tavernier; re-admit, sale, manufacture, delivery or possession with intent to sell, possession of more than 20 grams of marijuana, possession of alprazolam, possession of clonazepam.

Brandon Bogard, 22, 400 block of Turtle Run Drive, Sebastian; re-admit, possession or use of a firearm by person engaged in criminal offense.
Mike Haridopolos, a former Florida Senate president from Melbourne, discussed the possibility of seeking a newly created Senate seat including Indian River County on March 21, 2016, at the office of the Press Journal and TCPalm.com in Vero Beach (PATRICK DOVE/TREASURE COAST NEWSPAPERS)

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By Melissa E. Holsman of TCPalm

Former state Senate President Mike Haridopolos on Tuesday confirmed he will not seek public office this year. The Brevard lawmaker-turned-lobbyist had been urged by supporters to run for the newly drawn state Senate District 17. Running would have pitted Haridopolos against state Reps. Debbie Mayfield and Ritch Workman and a Melbourne health care professional in the Republican primary.

Haridopolos on Tuesday said his decision not to run for office had to do with his family and raising young children.

"It was a tough decision but it was a clear decision," he said. "We've got three kids at home, our oldest goes off to college this fall but our youngest are ages 10 and 14 and we know this is a vital time in their life."

Haridopolos served in the state Senate from 2003 to 2012 and represented Indian River, as well as parts of St. Lucie, Brevard and Osceola counties. He served as Senate president from 2010 to 2012 and left when he reached his term limit, becoming a lobbyist soon after.

He declined Tuesday to endorse anyone running for Senate District 17, which will include all of Indian River County and the southern half of Brevard County.

Previous coverage:

Laurence Reisman: Will Haridopolos seek to redefine himself in bid to represent Indian River County?

Former Senate president considers entering race.

Health care professional challenging 2 seasoned politicians for new state Senate seat.
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By Colleen Wixon of TCPalm

VERO BEACH  Just a handful of residents attended an open house Monday meeting discussing a proposed $1.6 million repaving project on 17th Street. But Florida Department of Transportation officials considered the meeting a success.

"It's a normal turnout when the project is not controversial," said DOT project manager Humberto Arrieta of the dozen people who trickled in during the three-hour informal meeting at Vero Beach City Hall. "It's positive. You're here to hear from the people."

The Florida Department of Transportation plans to widen 17th Street about three to four feet and build a 7-foot-wide bike lane on both sides of the road from U.S. 1 to the 17th Street Bridge, officially known as the Alma Lee Loy Bridge. Bike lanes will be buffered by a white stripe designating the lane.

The yearlong project, to begin summer 2017, includes repaving, drainage improvements and new signs.

The project is in its design phase, so public input helps planners answer concerns before final plans are developed, said project engineer Rodolfo Caceres of Miami-based Lochner Inc. The project should have minimal traffic impact, with most of the work done at night eliminating the need for road closures, Arrieta said.

"We're looking out for the safety of the drivers," he said.

Those attending the meeting said they approved the project, but hoped proper signs would be installed to alert drivers of the new bike lanes.

"I'm all for the safety of the bicyclists. We've got to slow the traffic down," said 80-year resident Marjorie Perritt Jackson. She said she approved of it overall.

Despite thousands of signatures on an online petition last year asking for protected bike paths, the project would stop at the bridge. In September 2014, Cole Coppola, 16, was riding west over the bridge about 1:50 a.m. when he was hit by a motorist, sending him over the bridge and into the lagoon. The state last year added raised reflective pavement markers along the bike lanes to alert drivers.
The FPL Martin Next Generation Solar Energy Center, the world's first solar thermal hybrid plant to be integrated into an existing combined cycle power plant, is seen near Indiantown in western Martin County. (ERIC HASERT/TREASURE COAST NEWSPAPERS)

Well, so much for that idea.

Last week, the Florida Supreme Court decided the "smart solar" (ahem) amendment could remain on the November ballot, meaning that come voting time, you'll have a shot at determining the future of residential solar power in Florida.

Vote "yes" on the amendment, and you vote to torpedo that future.

And it really is as simple as that.

As I noted last week, a group called "Consumers for Smart Solar"  bolstered by more than $7 million in contributions from the big, investor-owned utilities, including $1.3 million from Florida Power & Light  got enough signatures to get its industry-friendly "Rights of Electricity Consumers Regarding Solar Energy Choice" measure on the ballot.

The measure would give Floridians the right to own or lease solar equipment on their property to generate power for their own use. But Floridians already have that right. Why do we need to codify it into law?

Unless this is a misdirection play.

Hint, hint.

The solar amendment also would ensure state and local governments retain the authority to "protect consumer rights and public health, safety and welfare, and to ensure that consumers who do not choose to install solar are not required to subsidize the costs of backup power and electric grid access to those who do."

As I noted last week, this sounds like a precursor to the big utilities arguing that they ought to be allowed to levy discriminatory charges or higher rates on solar users. All they'd have to do is convince state officials this is necessary for the "public health, safety and welfare."

And I think a few well-placed campaign donations might help legislators see that light, don't you?

This may also be used as an argument to eliminate "net metering" in Florida. "Net metering" is when solar users feed excess power back to the grid and get compensated for it by the utilities.

But net metering has been under attack around the country, with the help of a conservative interest group called the American Legislative Exchange Council which helps craft the draft legislation. In Nevada, net metering was scaled back and there have been attempts in Texas and California to do the same.

It's only a matter of time before this comes to Florida.

So Consumers for Smart Solar's amendment is only "smart" if you consider it intelligent to undermine the spread of rooftop solar and cement the utilities' clout and control.

But step back for a moment and consider how absurd this campaign actually is.

What other industry operates this way, charging you more  maybe even levying special fees  the less you buy?

If you ditch the pickup and buy a hybrid, does Exxon or Shell get to charge you a higher price for gasoline because you're undermining their ability to provide vital fuel for the nation's transportation needs, and everyone else needs to pay more because you're paying less?

It's also a bit of fiction that the spread of rooftop solar necessarily means higher prices for other consumers. After all, FPL, Duke Energy, Tampa Electric and Gulf Power, all of which gave big bucks to back the solar amendment, are investor-owned utilities. That means they're in the business of generating both power and profits.

So this idea that "we have no choice but to pass additional costs on to other customers" isn't really true. Frankly, investors could accept less, though of course they wouldn't want to (and admit it, if you have FPL stock in your portfolio you wouldn't be thrilled with lower returns yourself). This might lead investors to demand the companies seek out greater efficiencies and find other ways to cut costs.

That investor-owned utilities don't have to respond to a drop in demand as any other business would shows you what a privileged position they are in.

And it's a privilege they intend to keep via this amendment. But that only happens if 60 percent of voters say "yes."

So between now and November, prepare to be blitzed with pro-solar amendment advertising. I'm sure you'll see images of happy families  maybe even puppies  frolicking amid the green grass, the insinuation being that this is a green amendment.

And I guess it is  green being the color of money and all.
Shane Styron (right) hooks his 25-foot Atlas Arcadia, the Carolyn V, up to his trailer Monday at the Outrigger marina in the Little Hollywood section of Micco. (LAURENCE REISMAN/TREASURE COAST NEWSPAPERS)

Laurence Reisman Columnist SHARE Shane Styron's Garmin global positioning system shows the vicinity in which a pontoon boat capsized Sunday, killing a New Jersey resident. The boat flipped just east of the Intracoastal Waterway channel, in between the green square and red triangle near marker 27. Styron dove into the Indian River Lagoon and helped rescue three of the pontoon boat's passengers. (LAURENCE REISMAN/TREASURE COAST NEWSPAPERS) Related Coverage Fatal boating accident victim identified

Shane Styron nibbled on a sandwich Monday, relaxing at the helm of his 25-foot Atlas Arcadia. My brother-in-law and I sat under blue skies in the tranquil Intracoastal Waterway, just east of where it meets the channel leading to Sebastian Inlet.

What a difference 24 hours makes.

On Sunday, winds of about 20 mph spurred the National Weather Service to issue a small craft advisory. Styron knew it was too rough to head anywhere near the inlet  especially with six people aboard, including a pregnant woman and child. The group planned to relax farther south in the Indian River Lagoon.

Styron, 54, an optician and former commercial fisherman from Sebastian, felt a little uncomfortable when he passed a pontoon boat on Sunday. He thought the area where the channels converge, might be too rough for the boat. He thought of warning the boaters, but figured they'd blow him off.

Not everyone takes such suggestions kindly.

Until they need help.

And that's exactly what Styron and others offered a few minutes later when he saw the pontoon boat had flipped just west of the Intracoastal Waterway.

"As soon as I got near I could hear the woman screaming about him being trapped under the boat," Styron said of a man identified Monday as Stephen Graga, 70, of New Jersey. "And that's when I put (my boat) in neutral and went over the side."

Styron, a diver who learned lifesaving techniques as a Boy Scout, immediately went under the boat to free Graga, but it was impossible.

"I tried to dislodge him; I couldn't get him out of there," said Styron, who saw Graga's face and arms in murky water. "I pulled as hard as I could."

After about a minute, he said, and realizing Graga was dead, Styron resurfaced and joined Amanda Arroyo, an Orlando nurse. She was helping Graga's three companions holding onto the side of the boat. Eventually, Styron, helped by Arroyo, got the three to his boat. Arroyo initially joined them, he said.

Styron radioed the U.S. Coast Guard, which he thought would help coordinate a rescue. But there were communications issues.

"They kept thinking we were out past the bridge in the ocean," Styron's wife, Jan, said, noting that Graga's wife would get upset every time Shane Styron had to confirm to the Coast Guard that Graga was dead.

"It was awful," Shane Styron said. "I felt terrible for her. You don't want to hear that stuff."

Radio transmissions were so hard to hear, Shane Styron said he gave up and called 911. The Indian River County Sheriff's Office dispatched sheriff and rescue boats from Vero Beach. They each took more than 20 minutes to arrive.

Frustrated with a lack of quick direction from authorities  in a crowded boat, with panicked survivors and worsening boating conditions  Styron told officials he was heading to Outrigger's in Micco and suggested an ambulance be there.

It's clear there are safety issues on the lagoon. That's my conclusion after speaking with Styron and spokesmen for the Sheriff's Office and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Styron suggests law enforcement patrol potentially dangerous areas more often, such as near the inlet, to prevent problems, such as in a small-craft advisory. The Sheriff's Office might be the best to coordinate that, but its budget priorities fund marine patrols only on busy water days or in emergencies, said spokesman Eric Flowers.

Chad Weber, a commission spokesman, said boaters, like drivers, must be responsible. His agency offers online boating courses. The Sebastian Police Department's part-time marine unit can enforce laws only on the east side of the Intracoastal Waterway.

One of Styron's other suggestions  that one agency coordinate marine responses, and that this information is communicated to boaters  is something Flowers said he thinks can be discussed at an upcoming interagency meeting.

"I feel horrible somebody died," Styron said, but "I don't feel like I did anything anybody else wouldn't have done."

Styron's one of those handy people  he was an Air Force plane mechanic  who likes to help others. Maybe his suggestions, and agency actions, will keep him from having to look death in the face again.
Weather overview for east-central Florida on Tuesday evening.(NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE)

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By Staff Report

Tonight will be partly cloudy, with a steady temperature around 68. Winds will be out of the east wind at around 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.

High pressure over the southeast and into the Atlantic will bring gusty northeast to east winds into Wednesday, which will continue hazardous conditions for small craft.

ADVISORIES

Rip currents: The risk today is moderate.

Small craft advisory: 8 p.m. today to 8 p.m. Wednesday.

Keep an eye on conditions with our live weather radar.

Sunrise today was at 7:07 a.m. Sunset was at 7:40 p.m.

EXTENDED FORECAST

Source: National Weather Service

Thursday: A 30 percent chance of showers, mainly before 2 p.m. Partly sunny, with a high near 84. Light and variable wind becoming west southwest 10 to 15 mph in the morning.

Thursday Night: A 10 percent chance of showers before 8 p.m. Mostly clear, with a low around 59. West northwest wind around 10 mph.

Friday: Sunny, with a high near 81. Northwest wind 5 to 10 mph.

Friday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 59. West wind 10 to 15 mph.

Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 75. North northwest wind 10 to 15 mph.

Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 58. North northwest wind 5 to 10 mph.

Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 75. North northeast wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.

Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 64. East northeast wind around 10 mph.

Monday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 79. East wind 10 to 15 mph.

TODAY'S TIDE FORECAST

Sebastian Inlet Bridge

High tides: 7:18 p.m. and 7:40 a.m. Wednesday

Low tides: 12:59 p.m. and 1:26 a.m. Wednesday

Fort Pierce Inlet, South Jetty

High tides: 7:07 a.m. and 7:35 p.m.

Low tides: 1:05 p.m. and 1:32 a.m. Wednesday

MARINE FORECAST

Source: National Weather Service

A dry cold front will move across the Florida Atlantic waters today. Rather strong high pressure building behind the front will generate a freshening northerly breeze this afternoon and tonight. Poor to hazardous boating conditions will develop, then continue into late week as another frontal boundary approaches and crosses the waters. Gulf Stream hazards: Northerly winds increasing up to 20 knots this afternoon north of the cape with seas building 5 to 7 feet.

Today: North winds 10 to 15 knots. Seas 3 to 4 feet with a dominant period 5 seconds. A moderate chop on the intracoastal waters.

Tonight: Northeast winds 20 to 25 knots. Seas 6 to 8 feet with a dominant period 6 seconds. Rough on the intracoastal waters. Slight chance of showers after midnight.

Wednesday: East winds 15 to 20 knots diminishing to 10 to 15 knots in the afternoon. Seas 6 to 9 feet with a dominant period 8 seconds. Choppy on the intracoastal waters.

Wednesday Night: Southeast winds 5 to 10 knots. Seas 4 to 6 feet. Mostly smooth on the intracoastal waters. Slight chance of showers in the evening ... then chance of showers and slight chance of thunderstorms after midnight.

Thursday: South winds 10 to 15 knots becoming southwest in the afternoon. Seas 3 to 5 feet. A moderate chop on the intracoastal waters. Chance of showers and slight chance of thunderstorms in the morning ... then slight chance of showers in the afternoon.

Thursday Night: West winds 10 to 15 knots. Seas 4 to 6 feet.

Friday: West winds 10 to 15 knots diminishing to 5 to 10 knots in the afternoon. Seas 3 to 4 feet.

Friday Night: Northwest winds 10 to 15 knots. Seas 3 to 4 feet.

Saturday: Northwest winds 10 to 15 knots diminishing to 5 to 10 knots in the afternoon. Seas 3 to 5 feet.
The Italian foreign minister has warned he is ready to take proportional action if Egypt does not increase the speed of its investigation into the murder of the Girton PhD student found dead in Cairo two months ago.

Paolo Gentiloni today told the Italian senate and parliament that he will not accept distorted or convenient truths when Egyptian investigators travel to Rome this week.

If there is not a change in gear, the government is ready to react, adopting measures that are both immediate and proportionate, he said.

Gentiloni went on to say that a dossier sent by Egyptian authorities in March failed to include key information requested by Italy, including Regenis telephone records and CCTV footage. The minister also called for Italian authorities to have a more active role in the investigation.

The Egyptian foreign ministry rebuffed these remarks, saying that: We refrain from commenting on these statements, which complicate the situation.

Last month, the head of the Italian parliament's human rights committee said that Italy should recall its ambassador to Cairo and declare Egypt unsafe for visitors if the investigation went nowhere.

Giulio Regeni was a PhD student at Girton, conducting research into labour union movements in Egypt. Having gone missing on 25 January, his body was found 10 days later in a ditch in Cairo, showing signs of brutal torture

The Regeni case has sparked international outrage, with many demanding to know what happened to him. The Italian branch of Amnesty International is calling for the "truth about Giulio Regeni.

After a series of delays, an Egyptian delegation is expected to arrive in Rome for meetings on Thursday and Friday, led by deputy general prosecutor Mostafa Suleiman.

Regenis mother has threatened to release the photographs of his body if the killers are not found. She stated that she could identify her son only by the tip of his nose, saying: "On that face, I thought that all the evil of the world had poured onto him.

Egyptian authorities reported last week that the 'gang' responsible for Regeni's death had been 'killed'. However, the claim was met with scepticism in Italy.

Egyptian officials have so far denied any involvement in Regenis death.
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Priya Anand, who was missing in action for a while is back to Ktown with Muthuramalingam starring Gautham Karthik. Now, we hear that the Vai Raja Vai girl settled the hotel bills for the team of Muthuramalingam while they wrapped up their shoot at Kutralam, when the filmmakers failed to do so. Priya, who was leaving for Australia for her Kannada debut film Rajakumaras shoot, was hesitant to talk about the incident when we contacted her. But the actress seemed excited about foraying into other south languages including the Malayalam movie titled Ezra.

I am teaming up with Prithiviraj for my first horror movie in Malayalam. I got several heroine-centric offers for the horror genre which is ruling the roost in Tamil cinema, but they were all cliched. At least in Mollywood, the horror genre is not overdone, and hence I gladly accepted. I am also learning the language to dub for myself, she said.

On her Kannada debut, Priya added, It is a fabulous subject. I am playing a salsa dancer, and am teaming up with Puneet Rajkumar. Santhosh directs the movie, which is a family subject. I play a modern-day Indian girl, who is bold and independent. Sources add that she has a dual dimensional role in the film, for which she hopes to learn the language soon!
Rajeevraj Distinguished - BHPian



Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Bangalore Posts: 4,273 Thanked: 15,051 Times

Re: Hyundai Creta : Official Review Quote: AYP Originally Posted by Also, it looks like Hyundai has added an option of the S+ AT for the 1.6 diesel, duster effect I suppose. A nice alternative for those looking for a diesel AT in the C-2 segment, but don't want to pay XUV level prices for their car.

This variant will be priced at around 13 lakh mark and will match the pricing of the Duster AMT. Still making it a better alternative IMO. Quote: Yeldo Originally Posted by Yes. I did not notice it at first. But the S+ does not seem to be well equipped for a Hyundai- no autofold mirrors, no rear wiper, etc. Instead of S+ AT, Hyundai could have offered SX(O) AT, which I feel would attract a lot of buyers even at XUV prices.



.

The website now indicates diesel AT as available in all variants starting from S+ including SX(O). Hope they are not doing some website testing . Brilliant move if true.









An SX(O) AT based on the current price differential will be approx 15.5 L Ex Showroom hence putting it almost exactly on par with XUV W8 AT. Looks like Hyundai is confident enough about the Creta to take on the XUV.



A little strange that we see website updates before an official announcement. Hope it's not all a mistake. The website now indicates diesel AT as available in all variants starting from S+ including SX(O). Hope they are not doing some website testing. Brilliant move if true.An SX(O) AT based on the current price differential will be approx 15.5 L Ex Showroom hence putting it almost exactly on par with XUV W8 AT. Looks like Hyundai is confident enough about the Creta to take on the XUV.A little strange that we see website updates before an official announcement. Hope it's not all a mistake. Last edited by Rajeevraj : 3rd April 2016 at 10:51 .
purohitanuj BHPian



Join Date: May 2015 Location: New Delhi Posts: 267 Thanked: 734 Times

Day 3 - Sonmarg - Leh



So this was a big day as we were to reach Leh today. Left early (5 am) to beat the traffic rush(if any).

During Zozilla pass, we had very close and tight situations due to incoming truck traffic; however AT's smooth and vast torque application posed no problem.



I always think how a DSG or AMT would behave in such situation where you have zero margin for roll and torque is required instantly to get moving. Anyway this can only be answered when I do the same route with a different gear box.



Now I would let the pictures speak



Whats ahead can only be discovered..





We had to wait on this section for 20 mins due to incoming private trucks.





Are we in a rock mine!?





Looking at the covered goals..





Finally reached one of the milestone.





Breathtaking wildness with a hint of beauty





What! how is this side so much green and clean..





Is this our country?





Rays welcome us





We pay our respect @ Zozilla war memorial





Kargil is here.









Respect!





Feeling proud and tall.





Carry on with the goals..















Modernization traces even here











Namika La











Finally - Welcome to Leh

Zozilla to Leh via Karkil.So this was a big day as we were to reach Leh today. Left early (5 am) to beat the traffic rush(if any).During Zozilla pass, we had very close and tight situations due to incoming truck traffic; however AT's smooth and vast torque application posed no problem.I always think how a DSG or AMT would behave in such situation where you have zero margin for roll and torque is required instantly to get moving. Anyway this can only be answered when I do the same route with a different gear box.Now I would let the pictures speakWhats ahead can only be discovered..We had to wait on this section for 20 mins due to incoming private trucks.Are we in a rock mine!?Looking at the covered goals..Finally reached one of the milestone.Breathtaking wildness with a hint of beautyWhat! how is this side so much green and clean..Is this our country?Rays welcome usWe pay our respect @ Zozilla war memorialKargil is here.Respect!Feeling proud and tall.Carry on with the goals..Modernization traces even hereNamika LaFinally - Welcome to Leh Last edited by GTO : 5th April 2016 at 08:40 . Reason: Typo
Perhaps worthy of more attention than it received at Apples Loop You In event on Monday is CareKit. The open source platform will allow developers to create consumer-focused applications to help patients communicate with healthcare providers and closely monitor their own health conditions.

The company, which entered the medical research space in 2015 with the release of ResearchKit, will use CareKit to expand the range of applications designed to automate the communications among researchers, medical field workers, patients and others in the healthcare space.

Following the release of ResearchKit, Apple realized that many of the same tools could be expanded to patient care, Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams said.

When we introduced ResearchKit, our goal was simply to improve medical research, and we thought our work was largely done, he said. What became clear to us later was the very same tools used to advance medical research can also be used to help people with their care.

Building on Research

The first app to be released under CareKit is Parkinson mPower, which was developed by theUniversity of Rochester andSage Bionetworks to monitor Parkinsons disease, Williams said.

Released last year, it has more than 10,000 participants, making it the worlds largest research study of the disease, according to Apple. The app helps researchers understand Parkinsons by measuring dexterity, gait, balance and memory using a gyroscope and other features on the iPhone using a tap test.

Another app, Care Card from theTexas Medical Center, was designed to help monitor postsurgical patients.

Other apps using the CareKit framework areGlows Glow Nurture, to help pregnant women monitor their conditions;Iodines Start, for monitoring patients on antidepressants; andOne Drop, for monitoring diabetic patients.

Smartphone Behavior

Smartphones carry additional levels of data about individuals that personal computers cannot approach, said Paul Teich, principal analyst atTirias Research. By creating apps designed to monitor health conditions, Apple essentially can provide intimate, detailed information on consumer behavior in a way that previously was not available on a large scale.

Apple CareKit has the promise of linking all those things our phones already know about us to our personal and medical data, he told TechNewsWorld.

ResearchKit was designed to help researchers conduct massive medical studies using apps designed for the iPhone. The launch included a series of medical studies on asthma, breast cancer, heart disease and Parkinsons disease, among others.

Along with CareKit, Apple announced a new round of research studies, including one on postpartum depression from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. Additionally, customers of23andMe can participate in a heart disease study using the MyHeart Counts app developed by Stanford Medicine and an asthma study by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai andLifeMap Solutions.

Apple is one of the few major companies that has made significant inroads into the medical app space by incorporating its smartphone and smartwatch technology into a growing list of consumer and business applications, saidC4 Trends analyst Susan Schreiner.

It is among the few major companies that fully grasps the consumerization of health, she told TechNewsWorld, and the opportunities not only directly to consumers, but also in relation to payers, providers and innovation.
If you own a Verizon Samsung Galaxy S6 or S6 Edge, you'll be glad to know the carrier has released its Android 6.0.1 update. In addition, the software includes a monthly security patch for both smartphones.

Samsung promised to release its Android 6.0 Marshmallow update for several of its smartphones in 2015, but multiple delays left some of its flagship smartphones high and dry. We reported back in December that an official Samsung Galaxy Android 6.0 Marshmallow update schedule leaked, which estimated the release dates for many of its smartphones.

In early March, Verizon became the first major U.S. carrier to release its Android 6.0 Marshmallow update for Samsung's flagship phablet, the Galaxy Note 5. Now, Verizon has just released its Android 6.0 Marshmallow update for the Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge, and the software also includes a monthly security patch for both devices.

Verizon has posted a changelog for the update on its support site.

Android's latest OS. Major features include:

- Now on Tap anticipates what you need in the moment. With a simple tap, you can get cards with useful information and apps that feed your need to know.

- When your device is at rest, Doze automatically puts it into a sleep state, preserving your battery charge.

- No need to give apps access all the time. Android Marshmallow lets you define what you want to share and when. Turn permissions off at any time, too.

If you own a Verizon Samsung Galaxy S6 or S6 Edge and want to check for the update, go into "Settings" and tap "About Device," followed by "Software Update." If the Android 6.0 Marshmallow update is available for your smartphone, you'll be presented with an "Update Now Button," which will then allow you to download and install the new software and security patch.

Have you updated your Verizon Samsung Galaxy S6 or S6 Edge to Android 6.0 Marshmallow? Please let us and our readers know what you think of it in the comments below.

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When a 25-year-old woman was rushed to the hospital after she went into early labor at 26 weeks, not in her wildest dreams she would have imagined that within half an hour she'd be the mother to not one, not two, but to five babies.

Manita Singh from Chhattisgarh in Eastern India gave natural birth to five tiny baby girls, weighing around 1 to 1.5 kilograms (2.2 to 3.3 pounds). Manita had never undergone an ultrasound scan throughout her pregnancy, thus ignorant of the fact that she was pregnant with quintuplets.

Although the prematurely-born babies are quite healthy, they are still not out of danger. The babies are being kept under observation in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) under the doctor's supervision.

"This is the first case in my career where I have delivered five babies through normal birth. We are very happy for the parents but the babies are under supervision as they all are premature. While they are healthy, we cannot say if they will survive. However, we are doing every bit to save them." said Dr. Tekam, who headed the delivery with his team of doctors.

The doctors are leaving no stones unturned and are taking every measure possible to save and nurture the baby girls to good growth and health. In the NICU, the doctors have tried to replicate a womb-like condition, providing extreme care, infection free, minimal noise, lighting and stimulation, to sustain the viable growth of the infants.

All the vital organs and varied body parts of these new born babies are fully developed, despite being born prematurely. Ideally, the lungs, brains and eyes of a fetus aren't fully developed up until the end of the second trimester.

Manita, a housewife, had sadly lost her first child, a boy, right after his birth in 2014 and had gone through an awful time. She is now delighted to be blessed with five daughters.

Overwhelmed, the 26-year-old new father, Mahesh Singh said he was utterly grateful to God for blessing them with not one but five children. He hopes that all his daughters will survive and he looks forward to providing them a wonderful life.

The doctors in Chhattisgarh claim this incident to be the first case in India, wherein quintuplets have been delivered through the normal delivery procedure, that too prematurely, within six months of pregnancy.

Photo: Ashton Castro | Flickr

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The girls father, Surya, and the man who took her away, Pandiyan, have been arrested by the Jnanabharathi police. Both the accused are around 30-years-old and are daily wage workers.

BENGALURU: In a strange case, an inebriated man gave away his two-year-old daughter to another drunk man, who met each other at a bar and were friends for just a few hours. The man who took the girl abandoned her at a bus station in Tamil Nadu after he came out of his drunken stupor. The girl was saved by the local police and was returned to her mother.

The girls father, Surya, and the man who took her away, Pandiyan, have been arrested by the Jnanabharathi police. Both the accused are around 30-years-old and are daily wage workers. Surya hails from Bagalkote, while Pandiyan is from Tiruvannamalai in Tamil Nadu.

Surya had gone to a bar a few days ago where he met Pandiyan. Surya bought a drink for Pandiyan and later took him to his shed to offer some more drinks. While both were discussing their families, Surya told Pandiyan that he had three daughters and it was difficult for him to bear the family expenses. Pandiyan reportedly told him that he always wanted a girl child but had three sons.

When Pandiyan said that he would take one of the daughters, Surya readily agreed. The girls mother Renuka was shocked, but brushed it aside thinking it was just drunken banter. Around 4 pm, Pandiyan took the girl along with him, and Renuka assumed that he would be back with the girl by night. But as he did not return, Renuka picked up a quarrel with Surya, who threatened her of dire consequences if she told anyone about it, the police said.

Renuka got in touch with an NGO, who filed a complaint two days after the incident. The police traced Pandiyan to Tiruvannamalai, but he told them that he abandoned the girl at the town bus station as he was scared that his wife would pick a fight with him. We approached the local police and they had luckily saved the girl and had handed over her to the local Child Welfare Committee. The girl was brought to the city, the police said. Both the accused have been charged under Section 370 and under the Juvenile Justice Act.
All Earth imagery made up of over 2.95 million individual scenes and covering 99 percent of the planets land mass will be made ready for download and access to users everywhere for free.

NASA made the announcement last April 1  hardly an April Fools joke thanks to the instrument called Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) that has been capturing images of the planet since 1999.

And it appears that 16 years worth of Earth images is quite a lot to go through.

"We anticipate a dramatic increase in the number of users of our data, with new and exciting results to come," says ASTER science team leader Michael Abrams at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California.

The public will be granted unlimited access to the database of ASTER, a joint initiative of the U.S. space agency with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) of Japan. The content of this database ranges from the footprints of a strong tornado in Oklahama and the aftermath of flooding in Pakistan, to California wildfires and eruptions of Icelandic volcanoes.

While users could previously access ASTERs digital topographic maps online for free, they had to pay METI for ordering other data products of the instrument, which has already exceeded its expected five-year lifespan and continues to observe Earth.

Acquiring images in visible and thermal infrared wavelengths at spatial resolutions of up to 300 feet, ASTER creates detailed maps of Earths land surface temperature, elevation, and reflectance. Its data cover 83 degrees north latitude to 83 degrees south, with a single ASTER scene looking downward spanning a ground area of 37 by 37 miles.

Two two-dimensional images form a three-dimensional effect of depth through ASTERs telescopes and near-infrared spectral band. And the high spectral resolution along with broad coverage arm scientists from various fields with critical information.

Applications of these ASTER data include monitoring volcanic activity, tracking crop stress and thermal pollution, following glacial advances, looking at the decline of coral reefs, and mapping soil and geological surface temperatures.

Some noteworthy captures include a comparison of North Koreas vegetation from 2002 to 2015, when it experienced one of its worst droughts; Venice, Italys 120 islands and 400 bridges that look intricate from space; the Mars-like terrain of the McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antarctica; and the changing glaciers of Alaska.

Users worldwide can access ASTER images online by visiting Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center and METI AIST Data Archive System.

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Surgeons in Brazil have implanted a factory worker's hand into his abdomen in an effort to save it from amputation.

Carlos Mariotti severed two of his fingers while working on a machine that accidentally sucked in his hand. Mariotti's hand was swathed in bandages before he was rushed to the hospital in hopes that the hand could still be saved.

To save the hand from rotting, orthopedic and traumatology surgeon Dr. Boris Brandao implanted Mariotti's hand in an abdominal pocket where it will stay there for 42 days to help the hand heal and allow for growth of new tissues and tendons. The hand must be kept alive so it can receive a replanted skin graft.

Although the operation would allow tissue and tendon growth, regaining full functionality of the 42-year-old factory worker would be unlikely.

"[H]e will have a working hand and will be able to do the pincer movement. At least this is a better quality of life compared to having an amputated hand," Brandao said.

Brandao is also hoping to give Mariotti's hand a skin graft to save it, citing a previous surgery done in China last July.

The method of grafting a damaged hand is not new, in fact, it was performed several times before.

In September 2015, an 87-year-old man also had his severely burned hand implanted in his stomach to allow the skin graft a time to heal.

A study, published in the Indian Journal of Plastic Surgery, discussed how skin grafting is a standard method of reconstruction for degloving injuries similar to Mariotti's case. However, it does have disadvantages depending on the severity and location of the injury.

Japanese scientists were able to develop an artificial skin that allows hair growth and sweating. If further developed, the said technique of skin transplantation could benefit patients like Mariotti.

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China's carbon emissions account for a quarter of the worldwide total. Researchers said its carbon emissions may have peaked already and this could impact the global effort to fight climate change.

Less than two years ago, the United States urged the Chinese government to commit to a 2030 deadline to reverse its increasing greenhouse gas emissions.

"The government will use two ways to control CO2 emissions in the next five-year plan, by intensity and an absolute cap," said China's Advisory Committee on Climate Change chairman He Jiankun in 2014.

How This Could Impact Global Efforts To Curb Climate Change

If China is able to curb the emissions of its main greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, over a decade before the original deadline, its success can provide much-needed energy to the global efforts aimed at meeting the 2-degree Celsius consensus. This preindustrial level is deemed a challenging task; however, it is critical to curbing the devastating effects of unchecked climate change.

China's success will result in more pressure on other nations, especially on the United States, to meet its own climate change reversal goals. It can also result in the creation of more ambitious goals.

Has China's Carbon Emissions Peaked?

Last month, two British scientists published a study on the Climate Policy journal that indicated China's falling carbon emissions levels after its rapid increase since 2001.

"It is quite possible that emissions will fall modestly from now on, implying that 2014 was the peak," wrote researchers Fergus Greena and Nicholas Sterna. They indicated the potential drop in the use of industrial coal burning, which is the main source of carbon emissions in China.

The country has also released several new policies that reduced the coal use to solve another problem  air pollution. This resulted in the use of substitute energy sources such as nuclear power and hydropower.

These new policies may be enabling China  the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases  to reach its reduction target earlier. This fall, the new set of data can reveal that China's greenhouse gas emission dropped from 1 to 1.5 percent in 2015.

Photo: Xenja Santarelli | Flickr

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April is the National Volunteer Month in the United States. The American Red Cross is urging eligible blood donors to make a difference in a patient's life by donating some blood.

In 2015, over 3 million Americans have donated blood through the American Red Cross. Blood transfusion patients only rely on volunteer donors for the much-needed blood products. This year, the agency is inviting more to roll up their sleeves and help save lives, announcing that it needs type O negative blood.

"It's simple and easy and helps save lives  what could be better?" said Kathy Huey. Huey became a donor after her husband, who has donated over 11 gallons of blood, encouraged her.

Why Donating Blood Is Good For Your Health

First of all, donating blood will give you a blood analysis and a mini physical checkup all for free! Experts will check your pulse, body temperature, blood pressure and blood hemoglobin. Donors are also tested for hepatitis, HIV, syphilis and other diseases you might not even be aware of that you have.

Donating blood preserves your cardiovascular health by reducing blood viscosity or thickness, which is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Donating blood on a regular basis removes iron that may have oxidized in the blood, which is harmful to the cardiovascular system.

Several studies have also showed that donating blood regularly can reduce the risks of strokes and heart attacks. Past research has found that it can decrease the risk of certain cancers by reducing iron and iron stores in the body, which is linked to the rise of free-radical damage.

Donating blood also burns calories  about 650 calories per one pint! A regular blood donor can lose a substantial amount of weight but it should not be considered a method for weight loss and weight management.

Ready To Become A Blood Donor?

If you are ready to extend an arm this year, you can make an appointment to donate by downloading the free Red Cross Blood Donor App on your smartphone. You can also visit the website redcrossblood.org or call them at 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).

On April 7, there will be a blood drive at the Skiatook First United Methodist Church from 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at Osage Street in Tulsa.

Photo: Charleston's TheDigitel | Flickr

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Samsung's answer to innovation has come in the form of foldable smartphones, which the company plans to launch in 2017. This device, also termed as a "smartlet," is a 5-inch smartphone when folded and becomes a 7-inch tablet when opened or unfolded.

The South Korean company's breakthrough technology is just what the market needs amid the hundreds of near-identical smartphones vying for everyone's attention. A lot of investment has gone into acquiring the latest technology to make this vision possible: for example, the foldable OLED display that allows for the device to be bent.

"Development of Foldable OLED is taking place according to our plan. We are planning on mass production and release of this product by discussing with our partners," Lee Chang-hoon, director of Samsung's Display division, stated at an investors call.

Dubbed as "Project Valley," the foldable smartphones were supposed to hit the market in January. A source familiar with the progress of the smartphone disclosed, "Although mass production cannot be concluded hastily since Samsung Electronics still has few other major tasks to complete, I've heard that Samsung Electronics had made considerable amount of results in the time being."

The device is reportedly in the testing phase and currently comes in two configurations - one using the Snapdragon 620 processor, and another with Snapdragon 820.

The company recently launched their latest Galaxy models, the S7 and the S7 Edge, but there haven't been any major upgrades in terms of looks or specifications. A foldable smartphone, on the other hand, if executed well, can be a game changer and give Samsung a real competitive edge.

A prototype has already been completed and the company is hoping to start mass production from the latter part of this year. The Samsung smartlet should hit the scene by early next year, and it looks like the foldable smartphone-cum-tablet is the next big thing to watch out for.

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A startup Zipline is targeting at using drones for delivering medicine to rural places in developing countries.

Companies like DHL and Amazon are already testing drones for consumer goods deliveries in some developed countries but these companies are facing hurdles from regulators.

However, the founder of Zipline - Keller Rinaudo - says that his company wants to use drones for delivering life-saving medicines to rural regions of Africa. Rinaudo says that the Zipline drone looks more like a small airplane than a quadcopter.

According to Rinaudo, delivering medicine to rural places in Africa is a challenge and at the same time it is a big opportunity.

"About half the cases the doctors we spoke with see are mothers hemorrhaging after child birth and 30% are kids with malaria. There's nothing more precious than blood and medicine," says Rinaudo.

Zipline will start delivering medicines and blood through its 22-pound battery-operated Zip aircraft this July. Initially, the drones will be used for reaching remote clinics in Rwanda. The drones are capable of carrying up to 3.5 pounds of load. The Zip aircraft will be able to travel of up to 75 miles round trip.

The company's drones can also handle adverse weather conditions similar to traditional aircraft. Quadcopters may not work efficiently in in stormy skies.

The Zip drones will drop a parachute with the payloads at pre-determined landing zones, which eliminate the need of landing at a specific delivery site. The computer system installed on the drones can ensure accurate drop, while compensating for wind.

The drones have to be controlled and monitored via tablets and need to be launched using a powerful catapult.

The company suggests that many rural Rwandan outposts are not served on a regular basis due to roads ravaged by extreme conditions. Zipline is planning to have up to 150 flights each day, and its cost will be borne by the Rwandan government.

Rinaudo added that the cost of delivering via Zipline drones is the same as delivering through truck or motorcycle. However, Zipline aircraft can bear adverse weather conditions, which can result in speedy delivery of medicines.

Although Zipline will initially start serving Rwandan clinics, it plans to expand to other African countries later in 2016.

Rinaudo envisages Zipline service demand in European countries as well as in the U.S. but strict regulations in these regions may make it difficult for Zipline to operate.

The startup has already received funding of about $18 million from Yahoo's founder Jerry Yang, Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft and others.

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Drug companies increased prices of popular medications, with some doubling the listed charges, in the last half a decade, a report has found.

The Reuters report looked into the top 10 commonly used drugs in the U.S. and found that four increased in price by over 100 percent since 2011. The other six also have significant price rises of over 50 percent.

Putting all these increases together have caused the public buyers, employers and government health aids to spend added billions in costs. As a result, the sales for the top 10 widely used medicines in the U.S. shoot up by 44 percent from 2011 to 2014, yielding a $54-million added profit. This is despite the 22 percent drop in prescriptions.

Drug Price Increase Leaders

The drugs included in the top 10 list are those used to treat arthritis, asthma, high cholesterol levels and other common health woes.

Leading the list is AbbVie Inc's Humira, which is an arthritis medication. Its price increased by 126 percent. Coming in at second place is Amgen Inc's arthritis drug Enbrel and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd's multiple sclerosis medicine Copaxone, which prices both shoot up by 118 percent.

Considering Discounts

Reuters said it shared the analysis results with the pharmaceutical companies involved and none raised disputes. However, a number of firms noted that the analysis did not include prices after discounts and rebates, which are something they generally maintain confidential.

For example, Amgen said that after discounts, the average sales price of Enbrel is at least $200 less than what is indicated on the list.

Another example is Johnson & Johnson's arthritis drug Remicade. In the list, the price increased by nearly 63 percent, but spokesperson Caroline Pavis said the increase were only closer to 5.3 percent per year on the average.

For GlaxoSmithKline Plc's asthma medication Advair, the price increase noted by Reuters was 67 percent. However, after discounts and rebates, spokesperson Jenni Ligday said the prices are actually much lower.

Drug Prices: Hot Topic

The prices of medicines have become a hot topic in the recent months. In fact, it has been a staple in presidential candidates' speeches and campaigns. One of the main reasons for this is the sky-high price hike imposed by Turing and Valeant on its drugs.

For Robert Zirkelbach from the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the price increases made by the two companies are exceptions.

"Our industry invests on average 20 percent of our revenues into research and development. It's a fundamentally different business model," he explains.

Pharmaceutical firms Sanofi, Johnson & Johnson, Teva, AstraZeneca and Amgen, which all have drugs in the list, said that it provides support to consumers with low income. AstraZeneca's Abigail Bozarth explained that the company poses prices depending on market conditions, which is a usual practice in the industry.

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Religion  particularly the belief in an all-knowing and punitive god  has played an important role in the development of modern-day societies, but with it comes a darker side.

Many religions in ancient history have practiced the ritual of human sacrifice in the name of a supernatural entity, but it blurs the line between what is morally right, and what is accepted by a group of people. Such practices are known to have occurred in early "Arab, Turkic, Inuit, American, Germanic, African, Chinese, Japanese and Austronesian cultures."

An international group of researchers said the act of human sacrifice promoted highly-complex and hierarchical societies, sustaining inherited and established class systems. The upper-class may have co-opted human sacrifice as a "divinely-authorized" means of keeping people in line.

Seeing An Unpalatable Pattern

Researchers from Germany and Australia examined 93 traditional cultures and societies in Austronesia that share a family of languages, spanning from New Zealand to Taiwan, and from Easter Island to Madagascar.

The research team took into account the fact that there is a high overlap between religious and political sectors in most societies, as well as how divided or layered the society was. They designated societies as egalitarian, moderate, or highly-stratified.

After comparing dozens of societies, researchers found that human sacrifice as a ritual was more common among highly-stratified societies than in egalitarian ones. They acknowledged the fact that their findings reveal an unpalatable and graphic pattern.

How Human Sacrifice As A Ritual Contributed To Complex Societies

Researchers, led by psychologist Joseph Watts, found that the usual victims of human sacrifice were low status members of society such as slaves. On the other hand, the instigators were members of the elite status, including chiefs and priests.

"What we found is that human sacrifice stabilizes social stratification in general," Watts told The Christian Science Monitor. "There was generally a power difference between the perpetrator and the victim."

Human sacrifice may have been prompted by several reasons: the breach of a custom, the interment of an important leader or chief, and the "sanctification" of a newly-built boat or house, researchers said.

The list of human sacrificial methods is just as brutal and sadistic. It includes drowning, burning, strangulation, burial, bludgeoning, getting crushed under the newly-built canoe, being torn apart to pieces, getting rolled off the roof a house, and decapitation, researchers said.

Additionally, the research team found that although there were similarities between culture and languages between several societies, they had a wide range of religious observances and beliefs.

What do all these findings mean? It means that religion could be exploited as a tool for social control, experts said.

In fact, with a supernatural authority, the killings would seem justifiable, historian David Carrasco said.

Jan Bremmer, a historian from Netherlands and editor of the book "The Strange World of Human Sacrifice", said the more stratified the societies were, the more likely the members were to practice such rituals for another reason.

He said societies with class systems were much larger than egalitarian ones, and it would make sense that smaller communities would not destroy "valuable human resources."

The study has a limitation though, Bremmer said. It simply marked a society as having evidence of ritual killings in the past, overlooking the specifics of how frequent and how religiously-motivated the killings were.

Meanwhile, the findings of Watts' study, which are published [PDF] in the journal Nature, is another attempt to comprehend how human sacrifices affected culture.

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Global carbon dioxide emissions are causing massive changes to ocean chemistry along the U.S. West Coast, prompting scientists to call for rapid, decisive actions and coordinated efforts from the governments of Oregon, California, the state of Washington and British Columbia in Canada to mitigate the effects.

A 20-member panel of leading ocean scientists made this conclusion and presented their report on April 4, highlighting the troubling increase in ocean acidification and hypoxia, which is marked by extremely low levels of oxygen.

Oregon State University (OSU) marine ecologist Francis Chan, co-chair of the West Coast Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia Science Panel, believes that ocean acidification is an international problem that can be solved locally.

There has been an attitude that there is not much we can do about this locally, but that just isnt true. A lot of the solutions will come locally and through coordinated regional efforts, he says.

The report identified global carbon emissions as the leading cause of ocean acidification, leading the panel to encourage West Coast leaders to develop a regional carbon management strategy to reduce the CO2 levels absorbed by the ocean.

But what is happening here exactly?

As humans pump more CO2 into the atmosphere, ocean waters absorb the gas, resulting in their acidification. Hypoxia, on the other hand, results from burning fossil fuels, along with agricultural runoff and waste water treatment effluent.

The West Coast is particularly vulnerable to rising seawater acidity levels because of the operation of ocean currents. Coastal upswelling brings nutrient-filled, low-oxygen, high-CO2 water from deep in the water column to the surface near coasts. The nutrients fortify the water column, triggering phytoplankton blooms that die and sink to the bottom to produce more CO2 and lower oxygen levels further.

Some of the initial impacts were already felt 15 years ago in Oregon when it experienced season hypoxia, leading to a number of marine animal die-offs. The oyster industry, too, was fraught by high death rates among juvenile oysters due to increasingly acidified water.

There is plenty at stake for these West Coast communities, where fisheries serve as primary economic drivers and quality of seafood is on the line. In Washington state, for instance, shelled organisms are already having a hard time forming their protective outer shells, with the local shellfish sector confronted with high mortality rates in the early-life stage of some shellfish species.

The report was commissioned by decision-makers from various states, who convened a panel of scientists and then created a report that warns and maps solutions at the same time.

Its recommendations include the development of new criteria for near-shore water quality, the improvement of CO2 removal methods by using kelp beds and other plants as well as adaptability enhancement through promoting marine reserves and other resource management methods.

Among the proposed solutions is putting up listening posts around the West Coast  such as the Whiskey Creek Shellfish Hatchery in Oregon that solved juvenile oyster die-offs  that demand a multi-stakeholder response.

It is a unifying issue that will require participation from state and federal agencies, as well as universities, ports, local governments and NGOs, says OSU professor and panel member Jack Barth.

With the acidity of West Coast waters expected to continue to accelerate with rising CO2 levels, scientists and state officials are leaving no stone unturned. Members of the Washington Marine Resources Advisory Council plan to approach the state legislature next year for increased research, monitoring and outreach funding.

The states ocean acidification center, too, has forged partnerships to conduct experimental studies on Dungeness crab, salmon and sablefish.

There is no one silver bullet for solving the problem, as different coastlines and habitats respond differently to treatments. Chan, though, remains highly optimistic, fueled by the receptivity of the decision-makers at the state level.

Photo: Oregon State University | Flickr

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In the past two weeks, California has had 42 reported cases of opioid drug overdose, with 10 of them resulting in death. With the increasing number of deaths related to fentanyl overdose, doctors believe they are dealing with something out of the ordinary that needs to be addressed immediately.

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) spokesperson Cassie Rettig said pills recovered from the individuals contain fentanyl only, but they are still waiting for the final toxicology report to found out if it has any mixture of prohibited drugs.

Last month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released guidelines that require drug manufacturers to indicate a black box warning for immediate-release opioid drugs to inform users of the associated risks of the strong pain killers.

Just last year the DEA issued a nationwide alert that highlights the dangers of fentanyl and fentanyl compounds/analogues, also produced in underground labs to sell as street drugs.

"Drug incidents and overdoses related to fentanyl are occurring at an alarming rate throughout the United States and represent a significant threat to public health and safety," said DEA Administrator Michele M. Leonhart.

Leonhart shared that fentanyl and its analogues produced illegally are about a hundred times more powerful than morphine and 30 to 50 times more powerful than heroin.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data show that since 1999, there has been a fourfold increase in the number of death associated with prescription drug overdose. Overdose on opioid, such as fentanyl, result in as much as 40 individuals each day.

Globally, abuse of fentanyl continually increased in the past two years in countries like Sweden, Russia, Ukraine, and Denmark.

DEA believes that educating the public about the dangers of fentanyl could significantly help curb addiction and overdose.

What Is Fentanyl?

Fentanyl is a Schedule II prescription drug. It is a powerful synthetic opiate drug similar to but more potent than morphine. It is widely used as a surgical anesthetic or as a pain management drug for those with severe pain.

Street names for fentanyl include China white, China girl, Apache, friend, dance fever, goodfella, murder 8, jackpot, TNT, and Tango and Cash.

Effects Of Fentanyl

Fentanyl works by binding to the opiate receptors highly concentrated in the brain areas that regulate emotions and pain. Once the drug binds to the receptors, the dopamine levels in the brain shoot up, resulting in relaxation and euphoria.

As a prescription drug, fentanyl is delivered to the system via transdermal patch, injection, or in lozenge form. Fentanyl is a lethal drug even in low doses. A dose of as little as 0.25 milligrams can cause death.

Law enforcement officials are concerned about the effects when this powerful drug is laden with heroin in underground laboratories. Fentanyl-heroin mixture increases the potency and lethality of the drug, which can result in addiction, confusion, constipation, drowsiness, euphoria, tolerance, sedation, unconsciousness, coma, respiratory arrest, and even death.

Generally, pregnant women are advised not to take fentanyl as it can affect the fetus. It can also be transferred via breast milk.

Patients on fentanyl patch should also refrain from using heating pads, hot tub, sauna, and electric blankets as heat causes the patch to release more dosages of fentanyl, which can become fatal. Proper disposal of fentanyl patch should also be practiced.

Fentanyl Overdose Treatment

Treatment for fentanyl overdose is best achieved by administering an opiate receptor antagonist to block the effects of the opioids. However, treatment may significantly differ from those addicted to the drug already.

Fentanyl addiction treatment is done by withdrawing the opioid drug, which may be achieved through weaning or medical detox.

Addicted patients may receive boluses of nutritional supplements to curb the body's reaction to the withdrawal process. Since opiate abusers often cannot fully eliminate drug residues in the body, they are subjected to an innovative detoxification.

Since opioid abuse is becoming rampant in the United States, President Barack Obama proposed last February a $1.1 billion funding to ensure that all Americans who want treatment would be able to do so.

Photo: Emon Halim | Flickr

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Some foreign tourists had gone to Ajaypal Dham from Pushkar on two motorcycles on Monday when five-six unidentified men attacked them. (Photo: Twitter)

Ajmer: Four foreigners were attacked and looted by a group of six miscreants, five of whom were arrested and a minor accused was detained.

Two men, each from the US and the UK, and two women, each from Spain and Turkey, had gone to Ajaypal Dham from Pushkar on two motorcycles yesterday when six miscreants, including a minor, attacked them, Ajmer Superintendent of Police (SP) Nitindeep Blaggan said on Tuesday.

The accused were traced and five of them were arrested on Tuesday while the minor was detained, he said.

The belongings of the foreigners, which included two mobile phones, credit cards, a bag, were recovered from the possession of the accused, Blaggan said.

The accused, Shahrukh, Narendra, Vikas, Karan alias Babu and Karan alias Kallu and one minor were drunk and attacked the tourists with an intention to rob them.

"Initially they followed and tried to tease them. When one the tourists objected, the accused hit him with a stone. They dragged one of the women and tore her clothes. The tourists managed to escape from the place and informed people who were known to them," the SP said.

They were rushed to a local hospital where the injured tourist was given treatment. He is under observation at a private hospital on Pushkar road, Blaggan said.

The assailants were arrested under IPC sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (unlawful assembly guilty of offence), 307 (attempt to murder) 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 395 (dacoity).
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is trying to help wage war against climate change. While other scientists are looking at the seas and ice caps, the space agency is watching from above: in space.

By 2050, climate experts have predicted that not much of the Juneau ice field will remain, leaving the future generation with nothing to enjoy and a possible big dent on Alaska's economy. About the same time in Asia, densely populated countries like China and India will experience severe water shortages partly contributed by climate change.

These and more are the horror stories the human race has to face if climate change should continue in its current rate or worsens over time, forcing many scientists to scramble to come up with more precise estimates on sea levels and global warming rates and mitigate the effects.

Currently, the data seem segmented and may not paint a "true global picture." To address this problem, NASA is stepping in with a new method through the Sea Level Change site, which "keeps track of sea level change and its causes from space."

Using different climate change models and data fed by satellites like Jason-3 in space, NASA can help estimate sea level rises, determine possible causes, and establish relationships of these changes in sea levels with the other alterations of Earth's topography.

For example, NASA's technology can already measure "sea level fingerprints," which refers to the changes in Earth's rotational and gravitation fields as glaciers melt. This data can be used to provide a more accurate and high-resolution image of possible sea levels in a locality and attribute it to a cause.

"At Miami, in principle, we can isolate what fraction of observed sea level is due to what specific source - Jakobshavn Isbrae in Greenland, Pine Island Glacier in the West Antarctica, tidewater glaciers in Alaska, maybe others," said Surendra Adhikari, a Sea Level Change member.

The website also features an alpha version of a Data Analysis Tool that one can use to understand changes in sea levels, including sea surface temperatures or surface height anomaly in a particular area.

Rising sea levels is a major concern, as they may leave certain areas including NASA facilities and centers near the coasts vulnerable to flooding and disappearance. Using the said program, the world might be better equipped to tackle the enemy.

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Another causation theory for the melting of Greenland's ice sheet might have been ascertained by a new study carried out by a team of researchers from Denmark and Canada's York University.

Over and beyond the blazing rays of the sun, warm and moist air might also be immensely responsible for the melting of the ice sheet.

There were two major ice melts that occurred in 2012, according to the study. One took place from July 8 to July 11, and the other happened later that very month, from July 27 to July 28.

Based on the automatic weather station data from the Programme for Monitoring of the Greenland Ice Sheet (PROMICE) and observations made, during these specific melt incidents, unusual amounts of warm and moist air impacted the surfaces of the ice sheet.

By analyzing data from 12 different sites, researchers evaluated the varied energy sources responsible for the exceptional ice melt rates that occurred in 2012. They particularly found that the energy originating from warm air containing moisture content, not the sun's own radiant energy, could be held more accountable for the drastic ice melts.

Incredibly, the melt that happened during those six days in July alone accounted for 14 percent of the overall melt that happened during the melting season. The record-high melt rate of 28 centimeters (11 inches) per day was observed during this period.

Analysis of the data helped researchers arrive at the supposition that warm and moist air might be one of the key contributing forces toward the causation of the ice melts.

"Glaciological instrumentation capable of automatically recording the daily rate of melting in exceptional melt circumstances, where the ice surface lowers by close to 10 [meters] [approximately 33 feet] in a few months, has only emerged in the last decade or so, thanks to PROMICE," said study co-author William Colgan of the Lassonde School of Engineering at York University. "The detail of PROMICE observations is permitting new insights on brief, but consequential, exceptional melt events."

PROMICE was initiated in 2007 by the Danish Energy Agency's Danish Cooperation for Environment in the Arctic (DANCEA) program as an ongoing effort to assess changes in the Greenland ice sheet. The PROMICE automatic weather station data was used to estimate the varied impacts energy origination from the sun and atmosphere had on the ice melts.

Greenland is the world's largest island and is host to the second largest ice mass on the planet, which covers a whopping 82 percent of the island.

The details of the study have been published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

Photo: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center | Flickr

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Air France has given its female staff the option to avoid Tehran flights after a debate ensued concerning the wearing of headscarves upon deplaning.

After eight years of not flying to Tehran because of economic sanctions, Air France will restart its flights to the Iranian capital on April 17. In line with this, the company released a memo that asks female cabin crew members to observe the Iranian dress code.

Airline staff cried foul after Air France previously mandated that female cabin crews must wear a headscarf and long-sleeved and loose-fitting jackets and pants when they are bound to Iran's capital. The company reasoned that the headscarf ruling has been in place for flights to Saudi Arabia, and they have not received any complaints from its female cabin crews in that regard. Therefore, the new ruling is nothing short of ordinary for the company.

Iranian law requires women to cover their hair when they are in public and this did not sit well with some of the staff, citing that the separation of religious and state institutions must be properly observed.

"They are forcing us to wear an ostentatious religious symbol. We have to let the girls choose what they want to wear. Those that don't want to must be able to say they don't want to work on those flights," Francoise Redolfi, an air transport union leader said.

The management of the airline met up with unions and discussed concerns raised by some of the company's female staff. Air France's human resources director Gilles Gateau said that female employees affected by the Paris-Tehran route would have an opt-out clause. The French national carrier promised that cabin crews who would refuse a Tehran flight would not be sanctioned.

"If, for personal reasons, they don't want to wear the headscarf when they leave the plane, they would be reassigned to another destination," said Gateau.

The decision speaks for the company only and does not affect other international airlines serving the Republic of Iran.

British Airways, which would begin flying to Iran on July 14, said that recommendations for their own crews would be given at a later time.

In France, wearing a full veil in public is illegal.

Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court heard a case of 24-year old Samantha Elauf against retailer Abercrombie & Fitch after the latter turned down Elauf for a job because she wore a hijab, a Muslim headscarf, to the job interview.

Photo: Eric Salard | Flickr

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Presidential candidate Donald Trump's luxury hotel chain Trump Hotel Collection is yet again the victim of a hack, which has possibly compromised its credit card systems.

The breach on Trump Hotel Collection was first reported by Brian Krebs, a cybersecurity writer, who revealed that three sources in the financial and banking sectors let on that the attackers had breached the credit card systems at some - if not all - of the group's properties.

"Banking industry sources tell KrebsOnSecurity that the Trump Hotel Collection - a string of luxury properties tied to business magnate and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump - appears to be dealing with another breach of its credit card systems. If confirmed, this would be the second such breach at the Trump properties in less than a year," noted Krebs on his blog.

Banks are often quick to espy potential fraudulent activities and are able to swiftly ascertain a common point-of-purchase where the cards have been used.

According to Krebs, the credit cards have been used at multiple Trump Hotel Collection properties in the past two to three months. The properties include Trump International Hotel in New York, Trump International Hotel and Tower in Toronto and the Trump Hotel Waikiki in Honolulu.

This is not the first time that the luxury hotel group has been a victim of hacking. In October 2015, the group revealed that malware was responsible for infecting its front desk and payment card terminals from May 2014 to June 2015.

Security breaches to card payment systems, which render them vulnerable, are not new to the hotel industry. In September 2015, Hilton-branded hotel properties reported a breach and in December, Hyatt Hotels also fell victim to a malware attack designed to steal data on payment cards.

In a bid to thwart cybercriminals, several merchants have been migrating to EMV technology and putting in stronger defense systems in place.

The Trump Hotel Collection has said that it is committed to protecting the interests of its guests.

"Like virtually every other company these days, we are routinely targeted by cyber terrorists whose only focus is to inflict harm on great American businesses," stated the hotel chain's Eric Trump. "We are committed to safeguarding all guests' personal information and will continue to do so vigilantly."

On April 4, the Trump Hotel Collection disclosed that it was working in tandem with the FBI and the Secret Service to investigate the possibility of a payment card breach.

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Thomas Staggs, the seeming heir apparent to CEO Bob Iger of Walt Disney Company, is set to relinquish his position as chief operating officer effective May 6. He will, however, remain as an employee of the company until fall to serve as special adviser to Iger.

Observers see Staggs' unexpected announcement as a bump to a smooth power transition in the company. In a recent Wall Street Journal news report, a person who has knowledge of the matter told the New York-based newspaper that Staggs made the decision after learning that the board, along with Disney Chairman Iger, was planning on broadening the search for the top post. This means that more candidates would lessen Staggs' chances for the coveted position.

The same news report states that the board decision was made based on an evaluation of Staggs' performance as COO for the past year. The finding was that the board could not assure him of the company's stewardship. They needed to broaden the scope of their search for the CEO's successor with the option to consider candidates from the outside.

Staggs' announcement came as a surprise to many. The employees of the Disney conglomerate where he was known as a longtime personal friend of Iger and shared Iger's leadership style were anything but shocked. So was the stock market. Disney shares fell by 2 percent in after-hours trading.

A 26-Year Career

Staggs joined the Disney group in 1990 as head of Strategic Planning and later became the Chief Financial Officer in 1998. He was chairman of Disney's parks and resorts business before he was appointed COO in February 2015. Before Disney, he was an investment banker at Dain Bosworth and later at Morgan Stanley.

Iger's leadership is marked by acquisitions and expansions. The expanded theme park project that Staggs oversaw is a much bigger outfit than people know. Disney's parks and resorts have 130,000 people in their payrolls, spread in 13 parks visited by about 133 million people a year in three continents. The theme park venture also boasts four Disney cruise ocean liners, Aulani resort in Hawaii, 40 hotels and a condo chain.

Disney After Thomas Staggs

In a post-Staggs era, Iger will all the more continue expanding the Disney empire. But he and his board will need to extend the reach of their search light for the person who can adhere to the CEO's fundamental priority - that of enhancing and protecting Disney's warm, family-friendly brand.

Speculations are rife on Staggs' replacement. Already, The Hollywood Reporter is floating some names: NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke, 21st Century Fox COO Chase Carey, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg and Bob Iger himself.

Whoever the choice will be, the person that follows Staggs will face one of the toughest tasks in the industry.

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Of all the music to come out of Japan in recent years, only one band has conquered the language barrier and gone on to become a global Internet sensation. That band is none other than the Japanese idol group Babymetal, a metal band fronted by three young girls.

The band saw huge success with its music video for the song "Gimme Chocolate!" (the video has more than 45 million views), and since then has only continued to grow in popularity. Babymetal's new album, Metal Resistance, released on April 1, and to promote it, the band is set to appear on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert tonight, April 5.

Initially, there was doubt that the band would ever make it on the show. After the band's upcoming appearance on the show was announced in February, the group's American distributor removed the appearance from the Babymetal website. Thankfully, it looks like everything worked out, and America will see what the phenomenon is all about.

America will no doubt be more than a little confused by what they see. Mainstream American audiences aren't exactly metal-friendly to begin with, and Babymetal's three young stars will likely confuse and shock older viewers even more than the loud and relentless drumbeats of the music itself.

However, that's likely why the band is set to appear on Colbert to begin with. There's no denying the band is a viral hit, and as such, it wouldn't be a surprise to see Babymetal draw in fans to the show. If nothing else, the next-day video of the on-show concert is sure to get thousands upon thousands of views when it hits YouTube.

If American audiences can look past the Gothic getup and aggressive metal overtones, they might find Babymetal's music to be surprisingly catchy. There is a reason the band's music videos have millions upon millions of views each, and it's not just for the spectacle of seeing little girls rock out to death metal.

Babymetal's latest world tour began on April 2 in London. The American leg of the tour will begin on May 4 in New York, with Chicago, Boston, Detroit, Concord and Philadelphia also listed as tour stops.

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My experience in the private sector over the 20 years prior to joining the state taught me how to implement good technology and how to do so quickly, and also what successful organizations look like and are structured like. So those are the pillars that I'm bringing into the state of Arizona: setting up the organization to be successful, putting people in the right roles, putting together a strategy to go after achievable things, but also to go big. We're not going to try to just solve one agencys problem at a time. We're going to try to solve problems at the enterprise level that affect multiple agencies, and we're going to try to do so quickly.Everybody's familiar with government that goes slowly or takes too long. Technology has a shelf life, and if you take too long to pick something out, it's going to be aged and dated by the time you roll it out. So we're trying to pick things that are not the same that five other states have done, but ask ourselves what would the private sector do? What are the technologies out there that are innovative and transformative? Because we can't take incremental steps to get better, we have to leapfrog. And then how quickly can we get those things rolled out? Either to one agency or two, or in some cases, to go statewide from the beginning, so we can get some quick wins, establish credibility and let that momentum build to carry us on to the next project.The biggest surprise is how much opportunity there is to use technology to move the state forward  how big the organization is and how big the reach is, how every single interaction can be improved via technology, whether it's empowering case workers with more mobile solutions or providing more automation and process engineering to service customers faster or more efficiently.In my private-sector experience, at GoDaddy, we were a Web hosting and domain company. It was pretty niche. Going on to Expedia, we were a travel company. We helped enable travelers. And then coming here, I look at the state and every agency and their different missions and visions and at how much we can do by providing some really good enterprise platforms that they can use to help their customers.We're in active planning sessions around our statewide IT strategy. For now, we're talking about doing innovative, best-in-class technologies to benefit as many state agencies as we can. While I'm not able to name specific vendors or platforms, we're trying to do more with mobile, cross-agency collaboration, and big data and analytics, as well as modernizing our ERP systems.The other thing that we're doing strategically is looking at public-private partnerships. This is something that we've done successfully already. When I came to the state, the Department of Administration was already managing the state's network through a partnership with the private sector. Rather than me trying to pit myself against the CenturyLinks, GoDaddys and Expedias of the world, and trying to hire network engineers, we awarded a contract to private-sector companies that they had to bid for and compete. Our network provider has anywhere between 40 and 140 network engineers working for the state at any given time. They can pay them what they're worth, and they can keep current with technology. They have access to the most modern tools. We saw that as an opportunity to outsource a piece of technology that we're providing. We still own the relationship with the customers, we own the availability, but we have them delivering it for us.We're going to take that same approach to other technologies, whether it's our mainframe, our service desk, desktop support, anything where we're pushing the buttons and making the lights go from red to green. We're starting to look at opportunities and vendors out there that can come in and help the state do this better, faster or cheaper. We hope to establish some more partnerships like that in the next year or two.Amazons gone on record saying we have one of the largest footprints of any state. We're looking to do more of that, not only with Amazon, but all the cloud providers. We see ourselves as a technology broker, so if somebody wants a server, they can come to us and we can put it in our data center. But the data centers not one of our core capabilities  it's not a world-class data center by any means, and I've managed data centers for about 15 years, so I should know. Rather than put more equipment in our data center, in 2016 we're asking ourselves, why can't it be cloud?But we believe the private sector, the folks that run data centers for a living, do it better than us. They can probably do it cheaper than us. If they can enable more of our customers to go into the cloud, it's going to make our total cost of ownership go down, we're going to need to have less fewer people around pushing those buttons physically.  The goal is going to be to get it out of the physical building and into a more reliable, more secure and hopefully lower- cost hosting model.We're partnering with our state procurement office to negotiate training credits with our technology providers. So if we were to outsource a specific technology, we would offer training credits to the people affected to allow them to either support the new technology or retrain them for other efforts. Good talent is hard to find, and as we modernize our applications and our systems, we dont necessarily want to leave anybody behind, which is not to say that everybody will or won't have a job, but there will be opportunities to learn new technologies.Innovation is huge for us as we try to transform our technologies. The focus right now within ADOA is process improvement through lean initiatives. How can we shave a couple steps off of this? Where are we actually adding value? And in terms of implementing technology, we need to create a culture that makes it okay OK to fail. If you fire somebody that makes a mistake, people aren't going to want to take risks. If you're 85 percent confident it's going to work, go ahead and give it a try, but have a rollback backup plan. And let's set up test environments so you can practice prior to rolling it out in production.Part of that is bringing on more software developers, whether direct hires or through contracts, to work on some of these modern technologies. As we implement cloud solutions, we can't do it all ourselves, but we want to partner with the folks that have done it, whether they be system integrators or professional services from the companies that we're buying the services through. But also, we dont want to have them completely do it for us. Teach us how to fish. Through the implementation, if we can pick up some of the knowledge, and then they can build it and we can maintain it, that's where we want to be going forward.
Official sources said that the three men were tracked based on the statements of some students who had received the question papers. (Representational image)

BENGALURU: The CID sleuths, who were working on several clues to ensure that the men behind the leak are arrested before April 12 when there will be a re examination, have managed to arrest three men including the PA to Medical Education Minister. But, according to sources, the three arrested were just facilitators, not the kingpin, and even they do not know from where exactly the question paper was leaked.

Official sources said that the three men were tracked based on the statements of some students who had received the question papers. "When the students were questioned, they revealed that they had received papers from these men and they have been arrested. But the problem is, out of three, only Manjunath had some contact with other people, who supplied the paper to him. There are multiple levels in the racket and it will be a herculean task to get to the roots of it," an official said.

"We are working towards ensuring that there will be no leak of question papers again for the third time on April 12. But it is not in our hands, as of now, as the kingpins of the racket are yet to be traced," the official said.

Were all the papers leaked?

Following the arrest of three accused, there were unconfirmed reports that they had confessed during the interrogation that all question papers of second PU exams were leaked. However, CID officials ruled it out. "They have revealed several things including that they charged up to Rs. 10,000 from students. But, they have not said anything to the effect that all the question papers were leaked. Even the information gathered from many students does not indicate that all papers were leaked," the official added.

They did it for their children?

"Children of both Obalaraju and Rudrappa are second PU students. They reportedly wanted the chemistry question papers and thus approached Manjunath through one of their contacts, and Manjunath supplied the question paper to them. It is not yet known whether Obalaraju has paid any money to Manjunath for this," an official source said.

Obalaraju was an employee of the Directo- rate of Pension, Small Savings & Asset-Liability Monitoring and was deputed as PA to Minister Dr. Sharan prakash Patil about two years ago. Police said that Obalaraju was just one of the receivers of the question paper but it was yet to be investigated to know to what extent he had a role in the question paper leakage. The police also revealed that Obalaraju had sold the question paper to many others and made money out of it.

Rudrappa, who works as a manager in the PWD, is the co-brother of Obalaraju. He too sold the question papers to others, the police said.

Manjunath, the physical training teacher, supplied the questions papers to both Obalaraju and Rudrappa. "His wife is also a lecturer in a PU college but we are yet to ascertain whether she had any role in the racket. He was also working as an LIC agent and had procured the question paper from other persons, who are absconding. He made Rs. 10 lakhs within a span of few hours by distributing the question papers to students. His bank account has been frozen," the police said.

CID DIG Sonia Narang, who is heading the probe, told reporters that the information provided by the students and field intelligence led to the arrest of the three persons. "We are yet to know whether they were involved in similar offences in the past. They are a part of a larger racket and efforts are on trace the kingpin," she added.

Valuation boycott

Members of the High Teachers Association on Monday warned that they would boycott valuation, beginning on April 18, if the state government failed to fulfill their demands. Association president H.K. Manjunath said, If our demands, like increase in salary and providing other benefits are not met, we will boycott the valuation work," he said.

I wanted to stay back and face challenges: Minister

I thought of resigning immediately after the PU chemistry paper leaked the second time. But a few people said that it could be seen as running away from my responsibility. That is the reason I decided to stand firm and face the challenges, said Primary and Secondary Education Minister Kimmane Rathnakar at an event at Chamaraja nagar near Mysuru on Monday.

I am firm on my decision to bring in changes in the state education sector. It is unfortunate that educated people are involved in question paper leak scam. Each question paper was sold for Rs10-15 lakh," he alleged.

The question paper leak is the lowest point in our education system. Please do not consider any politician, including me, as a role model. Today's politicians have restricted themselves only to caste and religion, he said.

Govt considers ESMA, agitating PU lecturers say wont budge

The State government is expected to impose the Essential Services Main tenance Act (ESMA) on the agitating PU lecturers who have been boycotting the valuation work since Saturday.

According to sources at the state primary and secondary education board, II PUC students are already under pressure due to the question paper leak controversy. "If this valuation boycott issue is not resolved immediately it will lead to another controversy.

All options are open," said an officer from the department. Meanwhile, the PU lecturers union, which is spearheading the valuation boycott, ruled out any compromise. Speaking to this newspaper, Mr. Thimmayya Purle, president of the union, informed that their demand is the implementation of the Kumar Naik Report submitted to the government on the salary issue.

"We are holding a protest at Freedom Park, beside boycotting the valuation works. The government is adamant," he said. According to the PU department officials, coding work was supposed to be started on Saturday. "But we could not start as lecturers did not turn up for the valuation. We are waiting for government directions in this regard," said an officer from the PU board.
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BENGALURU: A personal assistant to a minister, a physical education teacher and a government official are the kingpins behind the sale of PU question papers that put a question mark over the state's education system.

In a major breakthrough in the investigation into the PU Chemistry paper leak scandal, CID teams working on the case on Monday arrested Manjunath, 47, a physical training teacher with The New Cambridge PU College at RPC Layout in Vijayanagar, Obalarajau, 51, Personal Assistant to the Medical Education Minister Dr. Sharanprakash Patil, and Rudrappa, 50, a official with Public Works Department in K. R. Circle. Rudrappa and Obalaraju are brothers-in-law.

Manjunath, the P.T. teacher, supplied the questions papers to both Obalaraju and Rudrappa. Police are investigating whether Manjunaths wife, who is a lecturer in a PU college is involved. A LIC agent, Manjunath had procured the question paper from people whom he has not yet named. He made Rs 10 lakhs within a few hours by distributing the question papers to students, police said.

However sources close to the investigation said that the three arrested were just "receivers." Official sources said that the three men were tracked, based on the statements of students who had received the question papers. When the students were questioned, they revealed that they had received papers from these men and they have been arrested. But the problem is, out of the three, only Manjunath has some contact with the people who supplied the question papers to him. There are multiple levels in the racket and it will be a Herculean task to get to the bottom of it," an official said.

April 12: CID racing against time

CID teams under CID DIG Sonia Narang are working to ensure that the men behind the leak are arrested before April 12 when there will be a re-examination - the third - for the Chemistry paper. Narang, who is heading the investigation, told reporters that the information provided by the students and field intelligence led to the arrest of the three persons. "We are yet to know whether they were involved in similar offences in the past. They are a part of a larger racket and efforts are on trace the kingpin," she said.
Dy CM meets Najma Heptullah over Haj quota

Hyderabad, April 5 (INN): Deputy Chief Minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali called on Union Minister for Minority Affairs Dr. Najma Heptullah seeking increase in quota of Haj pilgrims for Telangana State.



Accompanied with Special Advisor to Telangana Government Dr. Venugopala Chary, Mahmood Ali apprised the Union Minister with regard to the Haj pilgrims' quota. He said Telangana State has a Muslim population of nearly 44 lakh. As many as 17,291 applications were received for Haj 2016 and of them, only 2,532 could be selected as per the Haj quota for the state. Therefore, he stressed the need to increase the State quota considerably in line with the percentage of Muslim population of the state.



Mahmood Ali also apprised the Union Minister about the status of implementation of various welfare schemes in the State.



Dr. Najma Heptullah assured the Deputy CM that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was pursuing the issue with the Saudi Government to increase the quota for entire country. She expressed optimism in getting positive response from the Saudi government very soon. She also praised the Telangana Government for successfully implementing Central schemes in the State.



The Union Minister also said that very soon the Centre, in collaboration with the State minorities' welfare department, would conduct exclusive workshops for encouraging new generation artisans of the dying arts of Telangana state like Bidri Art, Nirmal Paintings and bangle making in Hyderabad.









News Posted: 5 April, 2016








Congress condemns KTR's reaction on campaign

Hyderabad, April 5 (INN): The Congress party has strongly condemned Panchayat Raj Minister K. Tarakarama Rao for his criticism on campaign seeking 12% Muslim quota in the State.



Addressing a press conference at Gandhi Bhavan on Tuesday, AICC spokesperson Madhu Yashki Goud and TPCC Chief Spokesperson Dr. Dasoju Sravan advised KTR to cross check facts before reacting on Muslim issues. They said that the Congress party did not make a new demand. It just wanted the TRS Government to fulfill its election promise wherein Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao himself had assured to give 12% Muslim quota in just four months of power.



The Congress leaders said instead of being apologetic for not fulfilling the promise even after 22 months, KTR is exhibiting arrogance by criticising Congress party. They said that the TRS Government was not sincere towards welfare of minorities. It did not spent even 50% of allocated budget in 2014-15 and 2015-16. While Shaadi Mubarak scheme was hit with different scams, several departments are unable to function properly due to want to staff. They said the existing staff in organisations like Urdu Academy did not get their salaries on time. Thousands of students belonging to minority communities have been denied Fee Reimbursement.



They challenged KTR for an open debate on the issue of minorities' welfare. They also challenged if TRS leaders would not seek vote in case they fail to implement 12% reservations.



They also questioned KTR over delay in granting judicial powers to Wakf Board. They said not a single inch of encroached Wakf land has been restored by the TRS Government. They also questioned as to why the top Wakf Board officials, who attempted to files cases against encroachers, were removed by the State Government. They said that the government also failed to resolve the case of Lanco Hills.









News Posted: 5 April, 2016








Mumbai: A five-year-old was killed and his grandfather aged 62 sustained serious injuries after a speeding car hit them late on Sunday night. The driver, who was said to be driving under the influence of alcohol, has been arrested.

The incident occurred at around 10.30 pm near Anand Nagar in Oshiwara when Sandip Polekar (5) accompanied by his mother and grandparents was returning home after dinner. Sandip and his grandfather Bhiku Polekar (62) were holding hands and crossing the road when a speeding car hit them. The impact was such that Sandip was flung in the air and he fell a few feet away from the car, said a senior officer from Oshiwara police station. The car has been identified as a white Volkswagen and the driver as 54-year-old Indrajit Narolji.

After Sandip was rushed to the hospital and declared dead before admission, Bhiku is said to be in a critical condition. Passersby in the area who gathered at the spot nabbed Narolji, who was allegedly trying to flee. The police say Narolji is a businessman residing in Yari Road.

Preliminary investigations show that he had consumed alcohol. We are waiting for the medical reports to know the amount of alcohol consumed, said the officer.
Palle seeks more funds for scholarships

Hyderabad, April 5 (INN): Andhra Pradesh Minorities Welfare Minister Palle Raghu Natha Reddy appealed to the Centre for higher funds under pre-matric and post-matric scholarships to minorities in the State.



He called on Union Minority Welfare Minister Dr. Najma Heptullah on the sidelines of All India Conference of Ministers of Minority Welfare called for by the Centre at New Delhi today.



Urging the Union Minister to sanction saturation level allocation as nearly one lakh minority students still left out of the schoarlship ambit, Raghunath Reddy sought multi sectoral mode allocation of up to 90 per cent to AP for minorities as was being given to the North Eastern States. AP was faced with revenue deficit due to bifurcation issues, and a greater assistance from the centre would not be out of place, he said.



Speaking to the media later, the Minister said he also sought funds for the establishment of Dr. Abdul Huq University and Maulana Azaad University in AP.



AP Government was one of the most committed governments in the country for minority welfare and it had allocated Rs.716 crore in the Budget for the department, he said. In addition it was gifting Rs 50,000 for minority girls getting married and this year fund was earmarked for 10,000 such marriages. AP was also giving Rs.5,000 each to Imams as monthly salary and Rs.3,000 each to Muazzins, he said.



AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu had declared Ramzan as a State festival and had announced 'Chandranna Ramzaan Tofa' to Minorities consisting of essential goods and oils so that even a poor family could celebrate the festival happily, he said.



Referring to Urdu Ghar libraries, he said efforts were on to modernize them with computers etc., and there was a special proposal to upgrade the skills of minority students in the State. The Centre should release additional funds for the same he said pleading for Rs.150 crore for the new Haj House at Amaravati.



He also explained the measures undertaken to protect Wakf properties in the State. More Haj pilgrims must be allowed from the State to visit Holy Mecca he said.









News Posted: 5 April, 2016








Mumbai: Parents opposition to their relationship caused a 24-year-old youth and his 21-year-old girlfriend to commit suicide. The youth, identified as Venkatesh P. allegedly jumped in front of a running train in Vasai, hours after his girlfriend, Prema Devendra, hung herself from the ceiling fan of her residence.

Close relatives said the couple took the extreme step on Sunday after Venkatesh was denied permission by his parents to marry her.

On Sunday morning, Prema visited Venkateshs sister at her house. Prema pleaded that the family reconsider their decision and allow them to tie the knot but Venkateshs sister not only refused to budge, she also humiliated Prema, Premas relative told the police.

At around 11.30 am, a dejected Prema hung herself to death. Antop Hill police said, The incident came to light when Premas brother knocked on the door but got no response. Panicking, he broke down the door and found her hanging. They rushed her to the hospital but she was declared dead on arrival, said Vasant Patil, senior police inspector, Antop Hill police station.

Mahesh Bagve, senior police inspector, Vasai GRP, said, Prima-facie evidence suggests that (Venkatesh) jumped before the train as there was no other reason for him to come to Vasai. His railway pass found on his person is issued for the harbour line and not the western line. We have asked the motorman of the train to give his statement, which will ascertain if he committed suicide.
The BBMP could easily collect more than Rs 5,000 crore in property tax alone if it brings tax evaders into the net, but the city corporation seems to be in no mood to do the hard work. Instead, it has chosen to tax those who already pay honestly even more by raising rates and zonal charges. If its any consolation, the BBMP has made efforts to make it easy to pay up.

The BBMP launched its online property tax collection drive on Monday in the midst of heavy public backlash over its revision of property tax zones and rates simultaneously. Although at first there were rumours of the system facing a setback, the BBMP later said 7,800 people had visited its fully updated tax portal Palike Sampanmoola already.

While people have been paying property tax online for some years in the city, it has been optional until now. However from now onwards they will no longer be able to pay property tax at ward offices and will have to either pay it online or at 175 branches of Canara Bank, which the BBMP has tied up with for the scheme. New software has been introduced to make the process faster and easier for the large number of people who will now be making their payment online, according to BBMP officers.

As for the process, BBMPs DC (revenue), Venkatachalapathy said it involved three steps. On logging onto the website, property owners must select the Base Self-Assessment Scheme (SAS) and enter their application or PID number. Once this is done their property details will appear, enabling them to make the payment or necessary changes to their account, he explained, however, stressing that basic details of the property could not be edited online and only personal details like mobile number and postal address could be changed.

The BBMP has deputed revenue officers, assistant revenue officers and others at its help centres and local revenue offices to assist property owners in using the online process. Also, people will be able to take the help of revenue staff in ward offices to generate challans for property tax to be paid at any of the Canara Bank branches in BBMP Limits.

The bank will meanwhile issue immediate receipts only if payment is made in cash, DD or pay orders. But in the case of a cheque, the property owner will to wait until it is realised, to get one. Besides Canara Bank, people may soon be able to pay their property tax at BengaluruOne centres as well, as the BBMP is in talks with it currently and expects to make an announcement shortly.

The good news is despite the revision of zones, people are unlikely to find a drastic change in their zones Earlier, if the property was in F zone and its tax was paid accordingly, it will now be in E zone. Similarly, properties in D zone will now come under C zone. There will be no drastic jump from F to D zone, Mr Venkatachalapathy said. But suppose a property has slid from a higher zone to a lower one, it will have to be retained in the zonal classification of its base year application. For instance, if the property was in zone D in the base year application and has now slid to zone E, it will have to remain in zone D, the officer explained.

Zones

The area under BBMP jurisdiction has been classified into six zones based on their guidance value. The zone classification is posted on the BBMP website www.bbmp.gov.in and hhtp://bbmptax.karnataka.gov.in



How drastic will be the hike in property tax due to zone revision?

Property tax , which has been revised for the first time in the city since 2008-2009, will go up, but to ensure that the taxpayer is not affected greatly the zones have not been drastically changed.



Will open verandahs or porticos of a residential house where cars are parked, be included ?

Open spaces like verandahs or porticos of residential building used for car parking are excluded from the built-up area.



If a building is being re-built, on what basis will the property tax be paid?

If the building is demolished and whether or not the construction has begun, tax will have to be paid on the vacant land.

Less than 60% property owners pay their taxes

That there is huge tax evasion in the city is common knowledge. While there are over 27 lakh buildings (both commercial and private) in Bengaluru, only 16 lakh come under the tax net, which means that less than 60 per cent of property owners in Bengaluru are paying their tax as they lawfully should. Some believe those paying the tax could even be as low as 45 per cent.

Should the BBMP make the effort to collect the tax in full, it could earn revenue of Rs 5,000 crore as against the meagre Rs 2,000 crore it earns today they note.

Large buildings, especially the commercial ones, dont take the self-assessment route and prefer assessment by the authorities. This gives room for corruption and a long legal battle begins over the assessment by design. It is therefore imperative that a rule be introduced to make it mandatory for the owners/builders to deposit at least 75 per cent of the assessed value in an Escrow Account till the case is disposed off, says civic activist, D.S Rajashekara, ruing that the BBMP is also losing out in huge revenue from hoardings.

Although hoardings have been installed in over 2,000 of its properties in prime locations across the city, the rentals are abominably low as the agreements were entered into long time ago and have not been revised since, he explains.

The solution, he believes, is to identifying identify all properties owned by the BBMP and publish them on its website to place them constant public gaze. The BBMP is capable of generating at least Rs 2,300 crore through leasing out advertisement hoardings, but it is making hardly anything, he regrets.

Chaos reigns supreme on Day 1

On the first day of property tax payment, it was total chaos at various BBMP revenue offices and Canara Bank branches as citizens and bank officials were ill-prepared. While many residents complained that the online portal Palike Sampanmoola faced a technical glitch till 12 noon on Monday, many who gathered at the BBMP ward offices were sent back. A BBMP official, on condition of anonymity, said, Hundreds of citizens gathered outside the 260 Assistant Revenue Officers (ARO) offices and designated Canara Bank branches which collect tax. Since it was the first day, people were not aware that they had to take a printout of the challan before paying the tax at the bank. Instead, they directly stood in queues to pay the tax. The banks had to send them back.

Though the BBMP had announced that citizens could pay the tax at Canara Bank, not many branches were equipped to collect the taxes, another official said. Even the citizens who downloaded the challan and visited the banks with filled forms had to return without paying the taxes as some of the bank officials were not aware of the process. They asked the residents to come on Tuesday, the official said.
Another major builder claims it was targeted by the militant construction union and its senior officials, who allegedly incited unlawful strikes and temporarily shut down key projects across Melbourne and Geelong.

Kane Constructions says 100 workers in both cities walked off the job after the union converged on eight sites  including multimillion-dollar hospitals and council developments  over two days in 2014.

Fair Work Building and Construction director Nigel Hadgkiss has accused the CFMEU of disregard for the law. Credit:Simon Schluter

The walk-outs were allegedly in retaliation to the company calling in police to arrest union organiser Mick Powell for trespassing  a charge that was later withdrawn.

Kane is the latest employer in the building industry to allege an illegal campaign orchestrated by the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union.
The Collins Street "pantscraper" will go ahead after the Andrews government reached an agreement with developer Cbus Property to cut more than 20 metres from the top of the interconnected twin towers.

Concerns about overshadowing of the Yarra River saw two planning ministers earlier reject the $1.25 billion, amid claims these decisions had been politically motivated because of the applicant's union links.

But an in-principle deal for the prime city block at 447 Collins Street was finally confirmed by Planning Minister Richard Wynne on Tuesday.

It will likely see the creation of a new central city park around the two 41-storey skyscrapers connected by a sky bridge.
The ACT government is proposing 3am last drinks for bars and nightclubs in Canberra, with the possibility of allowing venues to serve later if they pay a massively increased licence fee.

The fee for bigger bottle shops is also set to rise significantly under the government's alcohol white paper to be released by Attorney-General Simon Corbell on Wednesday for six weeks of public comment.

Increased beer sales and and higher prices have helped the brewer report "good growth" in Australia. Credit:Arsineh Houspian

The paper sets out three options for last drinks: service ends at 3am with current fees; or a 300 per cent increase in fees to get a 4am licence; or a fee increase of up to 500 per cent to stay open till 5am, which is the current closing time.

Mr Corbell said a nightclub trading till 5am at the moment paid a licence fee of $27,238 a year. A 4am licence would cost just over $100,000 under the proposal, and a 5am licence would cost $163,000 a year.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr says he has been told "categorically" that no government officials are implicated in a detailed KPMG report at the centre of a civil war at Super Rugby club the ACT Brumbies.

The Brumbies saga is set to take a dramatic hit with members of the ACT and Southern NSW Rugby Union ready to file a civil action in the Federal Court to recover alleged missing money from the sale of the club's Griffith headquarters.

ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr will see his pay rise to $299,000 on July 1. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Brumbies chief executive Michael Jones and the club's board are at odds and waiting for Justice Richard Refshauge to make a ruling in the ACT Supreme Court on an injunction filed by Mr Jones after he was stood down.

Mr Barr was forced to answer questions relating to the government's involvement in the Brumbies' sale of its Griffith base. Mr Jones referred the KPMG report to the Australian Federal Police, with the blessing of the ARU and Brumbies board, and the investigation is ongoing.
Hough arrives in Australia this month for a recital tour for Musica Viva that begins in Adelaide on April 14 and reaches Canberra for a concert at Llewellyn Hall on Thursday, April 28. He's a regular visitor, who holds Australian citizenship .

A sneak preview? "Oh, sex and religion  those common topics that fill the news and make people kill each other," he laughs.

"I'm just finishing a novel at the moment that I've been writing over the past year," he says.

Stephen Hough is a travelling man, renowned as a brilliant pianist who plays 100 concerts a year throughout the world. And, in his case, travelling can be a boon, because it's while he is waiting for planes and at airport gates and encapsulated in aircraft that he finds time to pursue other things: writing novels, writing blogs for London's Telegraph newspaper, composing, or reading about other interests, such as fine tea, perfume and hats.

Pianist Stephen Hough will be performing works by Schubert, Franck and Liszt and the Australian premiere of his own composition, Piano Sonata III (Trinitas). Credit:Keith Saunders

"I'm really excited about my trip," he says, "I can't wait to get back to Australia."

He will be playing a program that includes works by Schubert, Franck and Liszt and the Australian premiere of his own composition, Piano Sonata III (Trinitas).

"It's a commission from the Catholic magazine The Tablet," Hough says. "They're celebrating their 125th anniversary and I wanted to give the piece some sort of religious subtitle. I wanted to write a 12-note piece using the 12-note technique that Schoenberg had developed about a hundred years ago, but then I wanted to use, in a sense, the opposite way in which Schoenberg used it. He used it to dismantle tonality and I wanted to see if I could recapture tonality."

Hough goes on to explain this new work has a lot of thirds in it and is in three sections, "so all in all, all these threes came together and I thought of the Trinity and used the title Trinitas. It's not a great declaration of faith, but just an abstract idea of three as a concept. It struck me, though, that I was working with two elements  the Trinity and the 12-tone system  that are both dogmas. They can both lead to richness and fruitfulness but both can be very constricting. There are good things and bad things in both these dogmas, so I wanted to put the two ideas side by side, and all this comes out in my piece."
Nurses and health professionals have called on the ACT government to launch an urgent review of safety and staffing across the territory, with documents revealing a monthly average of more than 100 workplace incidents.

The call comes after 56 health professionals wrote to Health Minister Simon Corbell earlier this month to complain about physical violence and unsafe practices on one hospital ward alone.

A man allegedly threatened to kill his wife if she called police.

The petition, which was also delivered to ACT Health director-general Nicole Feely, warned violence and aggression had become "a regular feature on the ward". The professionals said it was no longer safe for staff and patients.

"We call upon the ACT Health Directorate to proactively manage the risk to staff posed by aggressive patients and to immediately review the suitability of patients on [the ward]," the petition said.
Patna: Four days after promulgation of partial prohibition in Bihar on April 1, the Nitish Kumar government on Tuesday decided to impose a total ban on alcohol in towns and cities.

The decision was taken after cabinet gave its approval to excise and prohibition departments proposal to impose a complete ban on sale and consumption of liquor in the state including IMFL brands.

Announcing the decision after the cabinet meeting, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said that the government which had earlier decided to allow sale and consumption of Indian Made Foreign liquor brands in selected parts of urban areas has now, after growing public demand, decided to impose a complete ban.

We didn't not expected this kind of public response, we have now decided to impose a complete ban on liquor with immediate effect. No license will be given and no hotels and Bars in the state will be allowed to serve liquor after this announcement, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said.

With the decision to impose a prohibition on all kind of liquor Bihar has become fourth state to become complete dry after Gujarat, Nagaland and Mizoram.

During Assembly elections, Nitish had promised that he will start a people's movement against liquor in the state and ensure that the ban on liquor is effectively implemented.

#WATCH: Nitish Kumar announces complete imposition of alcohol ban in Bihar, turns dry state from todayhttps://t.co/vUtBFa0LGS  ANI (@ANI_news) April 5, 2016

The Chief Minister said that the government had earlier planned to launch several awareness drive and also to create anti-liquor perception among people regarding ill effect of consumption of alcohol in urban areas before banning IMFL but, the kind of environment we wanted is already there, they (women) didnt want the government to open liquor shops they wanted a complete ban what more do we want. This has become a social movement and we felt that time has come to bring social change in Bihar.

The Chief Minister said that the state was going to set an example in the country by banning liquor, and added that the temporary ban on alcohol in the state has received tremendous response from women and children.

According to sources the state government was compelled to ban IMFL brands after women started protesting state governments decision to allow consumption in urban areas.

Now there will be no discrimination both rural and urban areas will face similar kind of ban, Kumar said during the announcement in Patna on Tuesday.

On 'toddy' which has created controversy in recent days following intervention of RJD President Lalu Prasad against its stoppage in view of interest of people associated with the trade, Kumar said the state cabinet decided to strictly impose the 1991 guidelines which allows consumption of "Neera" (drink from palm trees before sunrise) but disallows consumption of 'toddy' (after sunrise when the palm tree liquid gets fermented and gains alcoholic properties).

The 1991 guidelines prohibits sale and consumption of 'Neera' within 50 metre of places like hospital, education institutions, religious places among others in towns and 100 metres radius in rural areas, he added.

The chief minister said "Neera" would be allowed, while 'toddy' drink would be barred.

In the 2014-15 the excise collection from the liquor in the state was Rs 3,700 crore while the target for the 2015-16 was set at Rs 4,000 crore.

Liquor Prohibition was the first major announcement by Kumar after he was sworn in as Chief Minister for the fifth time following an emphatic election victory.

It was a promise he had made at a public event in April to a group of angry women who had complained about liquor addiction in villages.

He had also exhorted women not to hesitate in destroying the country liquor manufacturing units after April 1.

"Do not hesitate to destroy 'bhattis' (manufacturing units of country liquor) if need arises and complaint to the call centre," Kumar had said earlier while launching a campaign to make prohibition a mass movement in the state.

The Chief minister had also said that a designated cell would be set up in Patna for strict monitoring of prohibition decision and its telephone numbers would be advertised so that citizens could inform, if they see illegal trade in liquor after prohibition comes into force.

Urging women to make the liquor ban in Bihar a mass movement, Kumar said he decided to go for it to fulfil his poll promise that if he returned to power, their wish to stop sale of liquor, which ruins families, would be fulfilled.
Hooker is an unrestricted free agent, meaning Essendon would be unable to match any bid placed for him when the free agency period starts in October, should he choose to leave.

The Hawks have joined Fremantle in pursuing the All-Australian, one of the 12 Bombers to be sitting out this season.

Hawthorn is targeting suspended Essendon defender Cale Hooker, a free agent at the end of this season.

The 27-year-old has a long-term offer from the Dockers to consider, as he contemplates whether to return to Essendon or start over elsewhere. Hooker last signed with the Bombers at the end of 2013, and is not one of the club's top 25 earners.

Hawthorn made a bold play for another Essendon backman, Jake Carlisle, during last year's trade period.

The Hawks moved in as initial talks between St Kilda and Essendon stalled, proposing a deal that would have seen the Bombers receive two first-round draft picks for Carlisle.

Carlisle, who was also suspended by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, was eventually traded to the Saints as part of a deal involving Sydney's first-round pick.

A decision by Hooker to leave Essendon for a large contract would see the Bombers granted a first-round pick as compensation for the 2015 best and fairest winner they want to keep.
The good news keeps coming for Gold Coast with key forward Tom Lynch signing a two-year contract extension with the AFL club.

The 23-year-old will stay at the Suns until at least the end of the 2018 season after confirmation of his new deal on Tuesday.

Lynch's commitment is a significant one for the Suns, who have begun the year with back-to-back wins including a first victory in Western Australia against Fremantle last weekend.
A Qantas flight from Melbourne to Dubai has back-tracked to Sydney Airport after flying halfway across the country before encountering engineering problems.

The A380 landed at Sydney Airport about 6.50am on Tuesday, more than eight hours after it left Melbourne.

A Qantas spokesman said there had been a "slight vibration issue" with one of the engines on the QF9 flight.

"The pilots decided to return the aircraft to Sydney where it is expected passengers will be transferred onto a replacement aircraft later this morning," the spokesman said.
Taxpayers will still be on the hook in a banking crisis, despite the introduction of policies designed to prevent future bank bailouts by governments, National Australia Bank chairman Ken Henry says.

As regulators tighten the screws on banks around the world, Dr Henry also increased the pressure on the government to improve the federal budget's position, saying a strong public balance sheet was the "best protection" in a crisis.

The warning came as former Commonwealth Bank of Australia chief David Murray launched an stinging attack on the corporate watchdog's move to improve the culture in banking, saying it was impossible to legislate for good behaviour within financial institutions.

Speaking at The Australian Financial Review's Banking and Wealth Summit in Sydney, Dr Henry pointed to gaps in a key plank of the global plan to prevent future government bailouts of banks, so-called "total loss absorbing capacity" (TLAC).
Quickflix plans to cut staff, reduce directors' pay and close offices in Sydney and Auckland in an effort to turn around the troubled streaming service.

The company says the new measures - which include reducing office costs in Sydney and Perth, taking customer support in-house and reducing its workforce by 15 per cent - will save more than $1 million a year.

Quickflix chief Stephen Langsford is taking a major pay cut. Credit:Erin Jonasson

Quickflix's service has been severely affected by last year's entry of US giant Netflix into the Australian market.

It undertook a major restructure to remove costs and cut content deals that were not delivering returns, and recently restructured $7.5 million worth of dues to content providers.
It once counted two of Australia's richest men, Gerry Harvey and Lachlan Murdoch, as major shareholders. Now the future of struggling toy wholesaler Funtastic rests on its ability to raise just $3 million in new capital.

In documents issued for a $3 million capital raising this week, Funtastic's directors said there was "material uncertainty" that the company would continue as a going concern if the capital raising or cash flows fell short of forecasts.

Funtastic, the owner of Chill Factor, whose products include Slushy Makers, and Pillow Pets, is feeling the heat. Credit:Danielle Smith

Funtastic, which owns the Pillow Pets and Chill Factor brands, raised $1.05 million in a share placement on Monday, with managing director and major shareholder Nir Pizmony and company secretary Grant MacKenzie pitching in $550,000 at 2 a share.

Funtastic has now turned to minority shareholders to raise the additional $2 million it needs to fund overseas expansion plans and satisfy conditions attached to new banking arrangements.
New Delhi: Police on Tuesday arrested six men for stripping and thrashing three young Dalit boys and parading them naked in Rajasthan's Chittorgarh district. The boys aged between 13-15, were accused of stealing an upper caste mans motorbike and were beaten up by an irate mob on Saturday.

"It isn't an upper caste versus lower caste case. This is a case of theft and mob fury -- both are wrong. We arrested six from the mob today," Gaj Singh, a senior police officer of Chittorgarh said.

According to media reports, the children were tied to a tree, thrashed, and paraded naked for their alleged crime but were eventually removed from the scene after police intervention. A video of the incident was shot by eyewitnesses.

The kids reportedly belong to the Kanjar tribe, who live secluded on the outskirt of villages and towns. Kanjars are a socially stigmatised nomadic community found across northern and central India whose members often face such discrimination that they are forced to live outside villages and towns.

Manan Chaturvedi, the head of Rajasthan's child rights commission, promised to investigate the matter.
The factory currently operates four days a week and employs 186 staff. A two-stage approach is being considered, with phased closures likely in July and November, and factory decommissioning thereafter.

E Tu union spokesman Bill Newson said the potential for the closure had been hanging over the company for some time but the decision had come as an "absolute shock" to the workforce. "There were some pretty stunned people today."

Fisher & Paykel fridges and shipping container were found washed up on Shelley Beach on the NSW Central Coast in 2014. Credit:Debbie Krogh

Fisher & Paykel Appliances is to close its East Tamaki, Auckland, factory, affecting almost 200 staff.

Managing director and chief executive Stuart Broadhurst said the company hoped to redeploy staff where it could.

"We are committed to finding suitable alternative employment wherever possible, rather than have people leave through redundancy. As needed we will also be working with third parties, including government agencies, to provide support for staff and their families.

"We will also be liaising with our external suppliers and retailers about how best to navigate this period of transition."

But Newson said it seemed likely a large number of people would be out of a job. He said only a small operation would be left.

Broadhurst said the decision was no reflection of the calibre of staff.
In these circumstances, campaigning must seem like a fool's errand. Protest movements need to grow if they're to get political traction. But momentum is hobbled if, after years of work, campaigners can't point to cogent evidence that their strategy for change is actually effective.

For decades, refugee organisations have campaigned under an ever-lengthening shadow of failure. With numbing regularity, their rare, limited achievements have been eclipsed by Canberra's increasing hard line.

The campaign's success is real but severely qualified: families have only been released into community detention and face being sent back offshore when their medical treatment ends; single men are still locked up. Even so, the government's capitulation, however temporary it proves to be, was the first real chink of light the refugee movement has glimpsed for years.

The Let them Stay campaign's remarkable recent success in preventing almost 150 people, including 37 babies, from being returned to offshore detention holds some important lessons, and not just about refugee politics.

Tasting freedom: Samuel, 11 months, from Iran, is living in the community with his family in Sydney after a campaign to stop his forced return to Nauru. Credit:Janie Barrett

For most people, protesting needs to be about something more than expressing outrage or experiencing the temporary highs of collective solidarity. The failure of the 2003 protests to prevent the invasion of Iraq still fuels quietism about people's capacity to effect political change. How many times have we heard that protesting makes no difference, that social media have put traditional means of contestation out of business, or that the public is simply powerless?

In this light, the real significance of the Let them Stay protests is not the small and temporary step forward they represent for refugee rights. Not all of the 267 asylum seekers the campaign sought to keep in Australia, after all, have even been allowed to stay. Those who have are living without rights under the constant threat of deportation: Immigration Minister Peter Dutton has restated that all of them will be returned. But living in Australia, however precariously, is still an undeniable improvement on detention on Nauru or Manus.

That's not much consolation for the 3000 asylum seekers who remain detained, 1300 of them in our offshore gulags. More protests by refugees in detention, like the one now entering its third week on Nauru, are certain  but so is more corrosive despair, self-harm, and suicide: just on Saturday night, a 19 year-old woman on Nauru tried to kill herself. That alone should quickly qualify any triumphalism about a return of Australia's compassion.

Let them Stay offered a rare example of protest quickly achieving its goals. But rather than the concessions it's won for a small number of refugees, perhaps its real significance is that it allowed participants to begin, in a modest way, to recover an understanding of their potential as political actors.
But the strategy for denying Trump the Republican presidential nomination doesn't go much beyond a deadlocked first ballot. Thereafter, a brokered Republican Convention will be a perilous descent into the unknown. And, although it may result in someone other than Trump being the Republican presidential candidate, the consequences of a successful "dump-Trump" effort will likely be very damaging to the Republican Party.

A brokered or deadlocked convention is the best and, perhaps, only hope that the Republican establishment has of preventing the nomination of a candidate it detests. The immediate goal is to ensure that Trump is short of a majority of delegates on the first ballot at the convention so that, when the second and further ballots are held, enough delegates switch support to another candidate who eventually secures a majority. That's the essence of a brokered convention.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has 30 per cent of the 65 per cent of delegates chosen so far. In order to secure a first-ballot victory he needs to perform better. Credit:AP

The strategy seems to be having some impact, if the pre-primary opinion polls are any guide. Senator Ted Cruz has now overtaken Trump in Wisconsin and some polls are indicating a Cruz lead of 10 percentage points. With 42 delegates at stake in a winner-take-all primary, the outcome could bolster the "dump-Trump" efforts significantly.

The presidential primary contest in Wisconsin on Tuesday US time is turning out to be a major test of the "dump-Trump" movement within the Republican Party. Money, advertising, staff and volunteers are being channelled into that state by anti-Trump Republicans to thwart Donald Trump's hopes of securing a majority of delegates when the Republican Convention meets in mid-July.

There have been brokered party conventions in the past and there are plenty of precedents for candidates who led on the first ballot, but failed eventually to win the nomination. In all, nine party conventions in the 20th century were deadlocked on the first ballot  five on the Democratic side and four on the Republican side. In 1924 the Democrats went to 103 ballots before the nomination was settled in a convention that lasted for 17 days.

But the precedents do not offer much of a guide to what might happen if the Republican establishment succeeds in its attempt to deny Trump a first-ballot majority in Cleveland. The rules for nominating presidential candidates have changed dramatically since the last brokered Convention  the Democrats in 1952  and since then, both parties have chosen their presidential nominee on the first ballot.

The principal effect of the rules changes is that primary elections now matter. Until 1972 there were few primary elections and convention delegates who were chosen through primaries were generally not tied to particular candidates. The selection of the presidential nominee was made by the party bosses at the convention. Now the choice is made by voters who vote in primary elections and choose delegates pledged to support the candidate of their choice  at least on the first ballot.

The process has been democratised and that's why Trump indicated there would be riots if he was the plurality winner on the first ballot but denied the nomination for the lack of an outright majority. Trump's concern for democracy is touching.

It might not come to a riot, but Trump delegates would certainly be alienated by the process and could damage the Republican Party in a number of ways. They may be unwilling to coalesce behind an alternative nominee at the convention and consequently prolong the balloting, and prolong the length of the convention, so that the divisions within the party become even more apparent.
Having access to an offshore incorporator's internal files and emails allows journalists the rarest of opportunities  to track the entire beneficiary chain of some of the most secretive firms in the world, often set up for the very purpose of concealing the beneficiaries' identities. The Panama document dump also purports to show that in 2014, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko set up a British Virgin Islands company to hold his confectionery assets in his own name. It suggests Icelandic Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson and his family had a direct interest in the winding down of the big Icelandic banks that went bust during the global financial crisis.

There is nothing comparable to say about Putin the individual. Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, born in Leningrad on October 7, 1952, doesn't appear on any incorporation papers. He doesn't own or control any of the assets involved.

Putin the institution, however, is a tangible presence. Bank Rossiya shareholders, big government contract winners such as Putin's former judo sparring partner Arkady Rotenberg, lesser-known St Petersburg businessmen who knew Putin when he was a city official in the 1990s or a KGB officer in earlier decades  all of these people made their fortunes under the Putin regime. There's nothing surprising about their access to cheap state bank funds, or about the "consulting" and "lobbying" contracts they received from less connected businesses. In a dictatorial regime, the dictator's cronies make money; their network is the fabric of power.

Is this an arrangement that should anger Russian citizens? Of course it is. That Putin's cronies are a predatory, parasitical, privileged class of businessmen was known long before the Panama dump. The Kremlin refused to respond to the investigative groups' questions on the grounds that these questions have been asked "more than once in different variations", and that's true. What has always been missing is the final link to Putin the man. And, given the nature of the data used in the ICIJ investigation, perhaps it's time to admit that no such link exists. Putin doesn't own yachts or palaces; he has no $US200 billion fortune, as sometimes speculated. He is not "secretly the world's richest man". However, as the former KGB case officer that he is, Putin does surround himself with a network of people who have indeed become rich.

Because he is the president, these people count on their association with Putin to help them make money. Because they count on their association with him, he  as someone who can take away both the opportunities and the assets  has the ability to call on the proceeds should he need them. The OCCRP investigation into Bayevsky's real estate deals shows how that may work.


VISUAL ARTS

JUSTIN ART HOUSE MUSEUM (JAHM)

3 Lumley Court, Prahran



The concept of a house museum is relatively new. There are plenty of precedents where families invited guests to peruse their collections  like the Medici in Florence or the Reeds at Heide  and there are many houses that become public through a bequest, such as the Frick Museum in Manhattan.

Inside Melbourne architect Charles Justin and wife Leah's Justin Art Housemuseum in Prahran. Credit:Andrew Wuttke

A house museum is different. It means a living household that invites the general public into the domestic domain, usually in the company of the owners. You get to see not just specimens of art but what the collectors have done with them and how they talk about them.

Melbourne already has the Lyon Housemuseum in Kew and a fresh arrival is the Justin Art House Museum in Prahran. Symbolically enough, the building adapts an undistinguished triple-storey suburban block of flats and gives it a smart grey cloak with a hood in angular cladding to spearhead the corner.
Veteran British actor Sir Ian McKellen has backed out of a publishing deal reportedly worth 1 million ($A1.4 million) for his memoirs, deciding he didn't want to "revisit painful memories". McKellen told an audience at the Oxford Literary Festival on Sunday that despite having signed a deal with publishers Hodder & Stoughton last year to write about his prolific career, he had ultimately decided to withdraw from the deal and promptly returned his substantial advance. Sir Ian McKellen doesn't want to 'revisit painful memories'. Credit:Getty Images "Have you ever tried to write a book?" McKellen, whose acclaimed career spans 54 years across stage and screen, asked the crowd at the festival. "I put nine months aside aside to do it, and I got a very handsome advance. Then I sent the money back."

He said he had found the process "painful" and didn't relish the idea of going back into his life to "imagine things that I hadn't understood so far". "And frankly, if anybody wants to know anything about my public life - my working life, my career - it's all catalogued in greater detail on my website than could ever be put into a book. That's the modern version. In great detail you can go into stuff that I've thought about and performed over the years". He added that he himself doesn't quite understand the "privacy of his life" and that "it has nothing to do with what I do for a living, so there you go, I'm sorry." His almost-editor at Hodder, Rowena Webb, told The Bookseller that she would have loved to work with Sir Ian but "I entirely respect his decision not to go ahead". The 76-year-old actor, who was knighted for his contribution to the performing arts in 1991 and whose numerous awards include Laurence Olivier awards, a Tony and a Golden Globe, made his professional stage debut in 1961, and his West End debut in 1965.
A revealing documentary about a sexting politician, Jake Gyllenhaal as a Wall Street financier with a destructive streak and Laurie Anderson reflecting on the death of husband Lou Reed, her mother and her dog.

The first titles announced by director Nashen Moodley for the 63rd Sydney Film Festival promise nothing if not variety.

Jake Gyllenhaal as a Wall Street financier with Heather Lind in Demolition.

A likely highlight in June is Elyse Steinberg and Josh Kriegman's Sundance prize-winning documentary Weiner, about former congressman Anthony Weiner's run for mayor of New York City after overcoming a sexting scandal  only to get mired in another sexting scandal.
The horn lines stab at the unflinching grooves with a staccato suddenness, carrying echoes of James Brown and Afro-beat. They set up the tension of an often unfulfilled expectation of solos, like being in a cafe with the left side of the stereo running into one room and the right side into another. This, Stu Hunter's third suite, differs from its predecessors in that rather than fully exploiting the improvising prowess of his exceptional players amid imaginative compositional ideas, the beast is the ensemble itself. In Phil Slater, James Greening, Matt Keegan and Julien Wilson, Hunter has assembled one of the great horn sections in Australian music history, yet conceptually he largely holds all this power in reserve. The same can be said of his own piano, Carl Dewhurst's guitar, Cameron Undy's bass and Simon Barker's drums. There are mood changes and short, sometimes explosive solos, but the way Hunter has broken up the suite is to incorporate three songs sung by Katie Noonan and Tina Harrod. Transcendent brilliance and lesser moments cohabit.

CLASSICAL

Leonard Bernstein

LEONARD BERNSTEIN COLLECTION vol 2



Leonard Bernstein was one of the giants of the 20th century, not just in music but in any field. A great conductor, a fine composer  from symphonies to Broadway hits  a brilliant communicator, social justice advocate and philanthropist, he was instantly recognisable. Now DG has released the second half of all his recordings for the label on 64 CDs (volume one, in 2014, traversed Beethoven to Liszt on 58 CDs). This set features 19 CDs of Mahler, plus Mozart, Schumann, Shostakovich, Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky and more, with great orchestras and soloists. Bernstein's interpretations are always worth hearing. They can be idiosyncratic, even sometimes exaggerated, but are almost always passionately persuasive, sweeping the listener along in a blaze of intensity. Bernstein was a great Mahlerian, and one of those who brought the composer to public popularity after World War II. I also find his Shostakovich and Stravinsky highly rewarding. His Tristan und Isolde shows his penchant for exaggeration, highlighting the moment rather than the whole, but if that is too much, how about Billie Holiday singing Big Stuff from Fancy Free?
A group of passionate live music lovers have come together to save beloved venue The Tivoli from destruction.

The venue, which has been owned by the O'Rourke family since 1999, was earmarked for demolition with the property listing describing it as a "prime inner city development site".

Inside the Tivoli: the view from the stage

But after raising the required money a group, which includes former Brisbane Powerhouse producer Dave Sleswick, his brother Steven and Jerome Dalton from Dalton Catering, are committed to keeping The Tivoli as a live music venue.

With the seller already inking an agreement, the sale should go unconditional before the end of the month, securing the venue for music lovers for the foreseeable future.
Turnbull government MP Ann Sudmalis is under pressure from angry rank-and-file Liberals in her south coast NSW seat after she publicly supported an ALP-authored motion "condemning the Baird government for its arrogant and ill-considered [council] merger proposal".

Just days after Liberal Party members in Western Australia rolled sitting MP Dennis Jensen, some Liberals in Gilmore have told the local newspaper, the South Coast Register, that Ms Sudmalis could be disendorsed during a vote in April.

Gilmore Liberals have reached out to senior factional bosses, complaining that Ms Sudmalis has been "increasingly problematic and ineffective" since becoming the hand-picked successor to former Gilmore MP Joanna Gash, now the mayor of Shoalhaven.

But Fairfax Media understands that Ms Sudmalis is safe from disendorsement due to the close proximity to the next election and the likelihood that influential state Liberals in that area, Gareth Ward, the Kiama MP and Transport Minister Andrew Constance are both considering a tilt for Gilmore in 2019.
New Delhi: India has told United Nations (UN) that Jaish-e- Mohammed chief Masood Azhar was one of the handlers of the terrorists who attacked the Pathankot airbase in January 2016 and that his outfit received arms training from Taliban.



In its failed bid to have Masood designated as terrorist by the UN, India has conveyed to the world body that he and his terrorist group JeM have continuously engineered terror attacks against India, the latest instance being the strike on Pathankot airbase on January 2.

Read: Masood Azhar issue at UN: India to raise issue with China



The attack was engineered by terrorists belonging to JeM and credible evidence has emerged that the handlers of the terrorists were senior leaders of JeM, including Masood Azhar, according to the Draft List Entry submitted in the UN.



Further, incriminating material has also been recovered from the dead terrorists disclosing their links to the terrorist organisation, it said.



Masood had a meeting with Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed and Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin and decided to "avenge" the hanging of Afzal Guru, who was convicted for the 2001 attack on Parliament.

Read: Pathankot attack: NIA to seek access to JeM chief Masood Azhar, others



"A decision was taken in the meeting for possible cooperation with the Taliban to train terrorists for this purpose. There are credible intelligence reports that elements of JeM have actually received training in tactics, use of weapons and psychological warfare from the Taliban," the draft said.



At the behest of Pakistan, China had blocked India's bid to have Azhar designated as terrorist by the UN in the aftermath of the Pathankot strike.



Pushing its case for incorporating Masood's name in the al Qaeda Sanctions List, India has told the UN that Masood is a Pakistan-based international terrorist and a leader of JeM and its chief financier, recruiter and motivator.



The JeM chief has been "participating in the financing, planning, facilitating, preparing or perpetrating of acts or activities by, in conjunction with, under the name of, on behalf of, or in support of supplying, selling or transferring arms and related material to recruiting for and otherwise supporting acts or activities of al Qaeda, Harkat-ul-Mujahidin and JeM", the draft said.

Read: JeM chief conducted recruitment drive in UK: report

In 1993, Masood first came to the notice of the Indian authorities when he came into contact with leaders of Al-Itihaad Al-Islamiya, an al Qaeda-aligned Somali terror group which had requested money and recruits from Harkat-ul- Mujahidin, a terrorist group based in Pakistan with which Masood was closely associated.



Masood had visited Somalia during that time and facilitated recruitment of Yemeni mercenaries to Somalia.



In 1994, Masood surfaced in Jammu and Kashmir to mediate between various feuding factions of terrorist groups active in the state. He was arrested in February 1994.



However, in 1999, Masood had to be released after his brother Abdul Rauf along with a few others hijacked an Indian Airlines plane and taken to Kandahar in Afghanistan, which was then under the control of Taliban.
The FBI's method for breaking into a locked iPhone 5c is unlikely to stay secret for long, according to senior Apple engineers and outside experts.

Once it is exposed, Apple should be able to plug the encryption hole, comforting iPhone users worried that losing physical possession of their devices will leave them vulnerable to hackers.

When Apple does fix the flaw, it is expected to announce it to customers and thereby extend the rare public battle over security holes, a debate that typically rages out of public view.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation last week dropped its courtroom quest to force Apple to hack into the iPhone of one of the San Bernardino shooters, saying an unidentified party provided a method for getting around the deceased killer's unknown passcode.
After (unsubstantiated) rumours surfaced this winter that Amal Clooney, a British-Lebanese lawyer and activist, was divorcing her husband, actor George Clooney, he defended their relationship in a "one-on-one interview" with Hello! magazine last week.

Clooney told the British celebrity weekly that he and his wife never spend more than a week apart and make efforts to stay in touch even when they are in different parts of the world.

An unbelievable interview: George Clooney.

"We have a very strong connection and she's an extraordinary woman doing great work," Clooney said. "We're both committed and shared a common concern for causes like the refugee crisis, but what really brings us together as a couple is the fact that we're good friends and we enjoy each other's company."

He said they have homes in both London and Los Angeles, where it is easy for them to spend time together while working on independent projects.
"Whale bacon", it turns out, is a critical component of scientific inquiry into the habits of peaceful ocean giants. Ditto for whale steak. And edible slabs of raw whale meat (aka sashimi).

Gourmet recipes to prepare and cook whale meat are being promoted on a website owned by the Institute of Cetacean Research, the Japanese organisation supposedly conducting "scientific" research to justify whale hunting in waters near Antarctica.

A website promoting whale meat recipes, revealed to be hosted by the Institute of Cetacean Research, the organisation responsible for Japan's so-called "scientific" whale hunt.

The latest harvest - which defies a 2014 international court ruling that declared Japan's whaling illegal - included the slaughter of about 200 pregnant minke whales in waters near Antarctica.

The Institute of Cetacean Research, having sent its whaling fleet into the Southern Ocean over the summer, boasted last month that the high number of pregnant cows meant the whale population was in good health.
So that's consistent. Not. John Howard, Eric Abetz and Tony Abbott in 2015. The strike was going nowhere anyway, I cleared customs and immigration on Friday morning in a personal best time. Until the Immigration Department's bosses tried to put the boot in at Fair Work, going on about "national security" and guaranteeing more headlines and broadcast coverage, which the union lapped up gratefully. This fight is a policy hangover from the Abbott years; the hardline public service bargaining policy, aimed at transforming workplace conditions in the 150,000-strong federal bureaucracy, making it a bit more like the private sector.

Employment Minister Michaelia Cash likes to call it "the real world". The bargaining policy is a lot like John Howard's ill-fated WorkChoices, but the most striking similarity is its insistence on trying to do too much, too soon. Tony Abbott and his then Employment Minister Eric Abetz, who cooked up the policy soon after winning the 2013 election, wanted big changes to the workplace landscape in the Australian Public Service and they wanted them now. After anti-union hardliner John Lloyd was hired as Public Service Commissioner, in a hurry and with little or no process, the policy was drafted quickly with little input from anybody else and declared non-negotiable. Classic Abbott. But unlike other policy dogs conceived by the man from Warringah like GP co-payments, or knights and dames, this bargaining policy has not been put out of its misery, despite proving unworkable.

It unlikely that Malcolm Turnbull feels he has much room to manoeuvre now, already under pressure from his party's right, anything that might be remotely conceived as bowing to union pressure would hand ammunition to the Prime Minister's internal critics. So it looks like nobody is going anywhere for a while with something like 120,000 of the 150,000 federal public servants still refusing to play ball. But it didn't have to be that way. If Abbott and Abetz were so concerned that public servants had had it too good for too long, here is what they might have done. Sit down with their departmental bosses, maybe get some of the rank-and-file together in a few focus groups and even, gasp, have a chat with unions.

The government could have outlined what it saw as the problems, sketched its vision for change and worked out what it would take to achieve it. Then, armed with an accurate picture of where it would meet most resistance, a long-term plan, one with some prospect of success, could have been hatched and pursued over two to three bargaining cycles. That's what people do in the "real world", they negotiate outcomes based on realistic appraisals of what's practical. But that wasn't Abbott's style. The ideological bull-in-a-china shop approach was preferred, as usual, and two years later here we are. The government has tried at various times to blame the main public service union, the CPSU, for the whole mess and then dismissed it as an irrelevant outfit that doesn't have many members and can't even organise a decent-sized strike.

But the policy guarantees confrontation because it guts the union's ability to maintain a presence in workplaces, leaving the CPSU no choice but to scrap tooth and nail. It's battling not only for its members' but for its long-term survival, not that it's going to admit to that. Another thing they have in the "real world" is accountability. In the "real world", heads would roll, as Abbott might say, if what should be a routine industrial negotiation had disrupted a business for two years. I can't think of anywhere in the "real world" this mess would be tolerated, because in the real world, people realise that ideologues always cause more problems than they solve. Loading Someone needs to show some "agility", sit down, have a conversation, and figure out what it's going to take to settle this thing.
The decision is likely to anger residents who turned out at public meetings in their hundreds, mostly to oppose mergers. Councils are now in a race against time to begin cases, with a recommendation from the minister on each merger possible as early as late April.

The wave of insurrection, mainly from North Shore councils against the Baird government's plans for larger local government areas through forced mergers, came as the minister revealed he already had the reports on his desk from the delegates of the Boundaries Commission and that he does not intend to make them public or available to councils before he decides on mergers.

Several new legal actions against amalgamations are expected to be launched after two councils voted to go to court if the government proceeded with mergers, and another three were due to vote Tuesday night.

Woollahra Council has already begun action in the Land and Environment Court and on Tuesday it sought and received an undertaking from the Minister for Local Government, Paul Toole that he would not attempt to act on the delegate's report into the forced merger of Woollahra with Randwick and Waverley until after the hearing on April 20.

A spokesperson for Local Government Minister Paul Toole said that no decision had been made on any merger proposal. Credit:Peter Rae

The basis of its case is the government used the wrong section of the act when it adopted a fast-tracked process to force amalgamations. It also says the public hearings by the delegates have been inadequate and unfair.

But other councils, which have already finished their public meetings, could be in imminent danger of being ordered to merge. The delegates had a deadline of March 25 to hand over their reports. Once the minister receives comments from the Boundaries Commission he can move immediately to order amalgamations. At that point councils would cease to be legal entities able to take action. The government has already sought expressions of interest from councillors willing to serve on the mega councils. A willingness to support the merger plans is a key criteria.

Ku-ring-gai Council, which is slated to merge with Hornsby to form a council of 270,000 residents, voted last week to commence proceedings in the Supreme Court. It is seeking release of a report by KPMG which the government used to quantify the benefits of mergers and which has been denied under freedom of information laws. The council was in a preliminary hearing on Tuesday and was told that it would also not be given the report of the delegate, Garry West, who held the public hearing into the Hornsby-Ku-ring-gai merger, or the recommendation of the Boundaries Commission, which are still to come.
Six kids have lost a loving mother who "gave to anyone in need" in Queensland's second shocking alleged domestic violence killing in less than a week.

Friends and family were paying tribute to the "authentic and generous" Michelle Reynolds on Tuesday as plans for a tribute began to take shape and a Senate hopeful called for family violence reform.

Thoughts and prayers were offered online to the Ipswich mother and her "beautiful children", even as her 47-year-old partner, Wayne Ashley O'Sullivan, faced Brisbane Magistrates Court accused of stabbing her to death in her home.

"You will be sadly missed Michelle by all the lives you have touched, every smile you gave, every cuddle and every kiss you gave to the most important people in your life, your adored children," Caroline Ritter said.
Queensland police have launched an Ethical Standards Command investigation into the death of a man during an arrest on the Gold Coast.

The man, 54, was arrested about 11am in Victoria Park, Broadbeach, police said.

A man has died beside a major Gold Coast road after suffering head injuries. Credit:Paul Harris

Witnesses said the vehicle travelled just 30m before police had to stop and perform CPR, but the man couldn't be revived.

Paramedics also attended and found the man bleeding from cuts to his face and arms, but it remained unclear how he sustained those injuries.
Police are hunting an armed and presumably well-fed robber who smashed his way out of a service station on the Gold Coast.

The man, believed to be about 20 years old, threatened an attendant at a BP in Helensvale with a machete about 4am but left with nothing but a few pies and sausage rolls, police said.

It wasn't known whether he took any sauce, which by rights should have been free anyway.

Senior Sergeant Andrew Godbold said the man demanded money from the 44-year-old cashier, who fled to a back room, causing the station doors to automatically lock the robber inside.
New Delhi: Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu asked the media to play "constructive role" in nation building on Monday even as he urged the Opposition to allow the Parliament to function during the next part of Budget session.

"Democracy should be allowed to function effectively. Allow legislature to function, discuss debate and decide but not dissolve," he said while addressing 7th Edition of 'India Pride Award' by Dainik Bhaskar Group.

Stating that the government and the Opposition need to work together, he asserted that the government was "ready to walk extra mile and take the Opposition along".

"I say in Parliament also, I propose, you oppose and let the House despose...But one should be allowed to function.

Everybody needs to be positive and that is the need of the the hour," he said.

Stating that agenda of 21st century is development, he said media should play constructive role and put news on the basis of merit.

"Bharat Mata ki jai has also been in controversy. Bharat Mata is not Hindu, Muslim, Christian, backward or forward. It means land and includes all the people of the land. They get more publicity by talking nonsense. Media should not allow this nonsense. Importance should be given on merit," he said.

"What is happening now is that development is no news but destruction is news. Tearing the papers, going to Well of the House, creating non sense, you will be on box item of the front page of the newspaper. (That's why) going to Well of the House has become fashion for some of the people. Media has to play constructive role," he said.

He said entire world is looking at India which has got highest ranking from the World Bank, ADB and World Economic Forum.

"When the world economy is going down, India is the only bright spot in entire world and we must take advantage of the scene by taking economic activity," he said.

Meanwhile, he also complimented Dainik Bhaskar Group for extending to 62 editions in 14 states in 4 languages in short span of time.
Counting has finished in Queensland local government election, more than half of the councils that went to the polls on March 19 electing new mayors.

Of Queensland's 76 mayoral races last month, 40 resulted in new mayors being elected.

Brisbane Lord Mayor Graham Quirk was one of the 36 sitting mayors to be returned last month. Credit:Glenn Hunt

The Lockyer Valley will also have a new mayor when it goes to the polls at the end of next week, after the death of popular mayor Steve Jones in February.

Thirty-six mayors were returned, including every contesting member of the South East Queensland Council of Mayors with the exception of the Scenic Rim's John Brent, who was defeated by challenger Greg Christensen.
Walk in and the immediate impression is that of stepping into an upmarket airport lounge. There's a selection of different workspaces  benches, pods, traditional desks and stand-alone offices, as well as breakout and meeting rooms, a library and lots of other facilities. You're instantly struck by the wonderful view across the Hyde Park treetops and beyond to St Mary's cathedral.

As a new concept it's hard to explain what it is. But the way I think about it, Work Club is a hybrid coworking space and business club. I love enterprises that do what they say on the box and a work club is exactly what this business is.

It takes a lot to impress me and I rarely find a genuinely new idea. But I have come across an emerging business that will wipe the floor with other similar enterprises.

What stands out, though, is the attention to detail in the fitout. Danish-born founder Soren Trampedach has a background kitting out offices for the likes of BMW, Google and Microsoft. His passion is discovering designers of artisanal furniture  he has sourced chairs from a specialist designer in Denmark that only makes 40 chairs a month.

The space is filled with beautiful, largely hand-made furniture pieces and the attention to detail is bar none. For instance, in one of the pods the chairs have been purposely elevated so people dangle their legs while working, to make you more playful and to prompt a lighter way of thinking. It really is a place where you want to spend time, which if you're at work around the clock, is exactly what you need.

"The whole idea is for people to move around," says Trampedach, who has thought of practically everything for his high-end space, such as end-of-trip facilities in the basement and organic food deliveries with a vegan option.

Born in Denmark, Trampedach found his way to Australia working for the globally renowned interior firm Haworth. "I moved here to help integrate a business they had purchased. That took a year or so and after that I continued to live here and travelled Asia, the Middle East and Latin America from here instead of relocating for the ninth or tenth time."

He explains the concept for Work Space is based on the way Leonardo da Vinci worked back in the 1400s. "Da Vinci was very conscious of who he surrounded himself with, because diversity of thinking elevated his works."
A former financial adviser who defrauded a couple of almost $800,000 and ruined their retirement plans has been jailed for five years.

Between 2008 and 2010 Kerrie Marie King forged her clients' signatures to lodge applications with Australia's peak body for investors for the clients' money to be transferred into her business accounts, the County Court heard.

She also had the couple transfer the proceeds of the sale of their home into her control.

In 2011 King was also granted a loan of more than $1 million by the National Australia Bank after lodging fraudulent documents. That took the amount she stole to more than $2 million, prosecutor Daniel Porceddu told the court last month.

About $1.3 million of that $2 million has still not been recovered, the court heard on Tuesday.
Should a woman be entitled to a share of her ex-husband's TattsLotto win, especially if he won while they were still together?

On the face of it, you might say yes.

The husband can keep his TattsLotto fortune.

But in a judgment that has surprised some, the Family Court has ruled that a husband can keep the fortune he won playing TattsLotto to himself, on the grounds he chose the numbers, purchased the ticked and cashed the cheque into his personal bank account.

The wife has received just $51,000 in the divorce settlement from her husband, despite him having more than $1 million in the bank, most of which is TattsLotto winnings.
An Indonesian fishing boat has been seized and its crew detained for allegedly operating illegally less than 100 kilometres off Western Australia's north coast.

The seizure is the third boat stopped in a week, following 28 Vietnamese fishermen on two boats who were arrested after being caught illegally fishing on the other side of the country in the Great Barrier Reef in far north Queensland.

Two Vietnamese vessels have been apprehended in waters off North Queensland. Credit:Australian Border Force

The Indonesian vessel KM Masrawati was spotted by an Australian Border Force surveillance plane about 10 nautical miles from Colbert Island, near WA's north coast.

A navy boat intercepted the Indonesians and detained the eight crew members who were taken to Darwin for questioning by the Australian Fisheries Management Authority.
A mother-of-five with three sick children is pleading with the Barnett government to rethink the exorbitant parking fees at the new Perth's Children Hospital.

A week ago it was announced that families of sick children will have to pay five times more for parking at the $1.2 billion, 298-bed Perth Children's Hospital compared to Princess Margaret Hospital.

A woman has started a petition calling for cheaper parking at the new Perth's Children Hospital.

Wilson Parking is expected to slug parents and families $23 a day, while parking at PMH is 60 cents an hour, or $14.40 a day.

Deborah Butler, who regularly visits PMH with three of her children who suffer from haemophilia, has started a petition at change.org, calling on the Premier to reconsider the parking fees at the PCH.
It's not often claiming to be a bogan on your resume is going to give you the leg-up for a job interview in Perth ... until now.

A job advertisement, calling for "applicants who possess the qualities to be a professional bogan" was posted on Seek.com.au on Monday, under the arts, media and performing arts section.

Do you have what it takes to be a professional bogan?

"The applicant must have at least five years prior bogan experience or equivalent demonstrated," the Professional Bogan job ad read.

The ad was posted by promoters The Gelo Company for Bogan Bingo nights at Rosie O'Grady's starting later this month.
Serial killer Catherine Birnie's recent parole rejection has sparked debate about ending automatic reviews of West Australian prisoners who do not even ask to be released.

Birnie, 64, and her late partner David Birnie raped, stabbed, strangled and clubbed to death four women in their Willagee house, in Perth's southern suburbs, in 1986.

The home of serial killers David and Catherine Birnie.

They were caught when their fifth intended victim, Kate Moir, escaped after they abducted her at knifepoint.

Under law, Birnie's life sentence is automatically reviewed every three years and she recently had her parole rejected yet again.
Among those named in the documents are friends of Russian President Vladimir Putin, relatives of the leaders of China, Britain and Pakistan, and the president of Ukraine. Thousands of people demonstrate against Iceland's prime minister, in Reykjavik on Monday. Credit:Brynjar Gunnasrson Mr Gunnlaugsson quit ahead of a planned vote of no-confidence, hours after asking the president to dissolve parliament, a move which would almost certainly have led to a new election. His request was declined by the country's president. The deputy leader of his Progressive Party, Sigurdur Ingi Johannsson, who holds the fisheries and agriculture portfolio, told reporters Mr Gunnlaugsson was stepping down and that the party had proposed to their junior coalition partner, the Independence Party, that he become the new prime minister himself. A picture mimicking Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson near the Icelandic Parliament building in downtown Reykjavik. Credit:Getty Images

The two parties discussed the matter on Tuesday evening local time but no agreement was reached. Talks are expected to continue. The leaked documents from a Panamanian law firm that specialises in setting up offshore companies have shone a light on the finances of politicians and public figures from around the world, causing public outrage over how the powerful are able to hide money and avoid tax. Adding confusion to the political crisis, a statement emailed on Tuesday night by government spokesman Sigurdur Jonsson said Gunnlaugsson had suggested that Johannsson take over as prime minister "for an unspecified amount of time". "The prime minister has not resigned and will continue to serve as chairman of the Progressive Party," it said. Opposition parties said, however, that they still wanted a snap general election. Any new election could see victory for the anti-establishment Pirate Party, according to opinion polls the most popular in Iceland.

An Iceland government spokesman has said the claims against Iceland's collapsed banks held by the firm owned by the prime minister's wife - in which he also temporarily held a stake - totalled more than 500 million Icelandic crowns ($4.1 million). Mr Gunnlaugson has said his wife's assets were taxed in Iceland. His decision to step down came after thousands of Icelanders gathered in front of parliament on Monday, hurling eggs and bananas and demanding the departure of the leader of the centre-right coalition government, which has been in power since 2013. Opposition politicians, pushing for fresh general elections, also filed a motion of no-confidence in Mr Gunnlaugson and the government on Monday. The parliamentary vote could still take place this week and could trigger elections if the motion is carried. "It is clear our demand for new elections still stands," Left Green Party leader Katrin Jakobsdottir told Reuters. But Finance Minister Bjarni Benediktsson, from the Independence party, said he hoped the coalition would continue.

Mr Gunnlaugsson's opponents say he should have been open about the overseas assets and the company, and that he had a conflict of interest because the government is involved in striking deals with claimants against the bankrupt banks. 'Abuse must stop' With the fallout from the leaks reverberating across the globe, British Prime Minister David Cameron also came under fire from opponents who accused him of allowing a rich elite to dodge their taxes. The leader of the UK opposition Labour Party demanded that the government tackle tax havens, saying it was time Mr Cameron stopped allowing "the super-rich elite" to dodge taxes. "There cannot be one set of tax rules for the wealthy elite and another for the rest of us," Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said. "The unfairness and abuse must stop."

He said Britain had a huge responsibility since many tax havens, such as the British Virgin Islands and Cayman Islands, are British overseas territories, while others such as Jersey or the Isle of Man are British crown dependencies. According to media that have seen Mossack Fonseca's files, more than half of the 200,000 companies set up by the firm were registered in the British Virgin Islands, where details of ownership do not have to be filed with the authorities. Mr Cameron has cast himself as a champion in the fight against tax evasion in British-linked territories. But he was put on the spot by the leaks, which named his late father and members of the ruling Conservative Party among the list of clients who used Mossack Fonseca's services. British Prime Minister David Cameron has admitted he and his wife benefitted from shareholdings inherited from his father, who had companies registered through Mossack Fonseca. Credit:Getty Images Cameron said he did not own any shares or have offshore funds.

"I have a salary as prime minister, and I have some savings, which I get some interest from, and I have a house," he said. "I have no shares, no offshore trusts, no offshore funds, nothing like that." Other leading figures and financial institutions responded to the leak with denials of any wrongdoing as prosecutors and regulators began a review of the investigation by the U.S.-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and other media organisations. Britain, France, Australia, New Zealand, Austria, Sweden and the Netherlands are among nations that have started inquiries. French Finance Minister Michel Sapin said Paris would put Panama back on its blacklist of uncooperative tax jurisdictions. The Central American nation is one of the most secretive of the world's offshore havens and has refused to sign up to a global transparency initiative. Mossack Fonseca's Hong Kong office said on Tuesday the firm had never been charged with or formally investigated for criminal wrongdoing in its nearly 40 years of operation.

"We do not advise clients on how to operate their businesses. We don't link ourselves in any way to companies we help incorporate," the firm said in a statement. "Excluding the professional fees we earn, we don't take possession of clients' money, or otherwise have anything to do with any of the direct financial aspects related to operating these businesses." 'Groundless accusation' The reports also pointed to offshore companies linked to the families of Chinese President Xi and other powerful figures. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei, when asked if the government would investigate tax affairs of those mentioned in the documents, told reporters the ministry would not comment on "these groundless accusations".

Beijing also moved to limit local access to coverage of the matter. State media denounced Western reporting on it as biased against non-Western leaders. The Hong Kong government said its tax department would take "necessary actions" based on any information it received. Credit Suisse and HSBC, two of the world's largest wealth managers, dismissed suggestions they were actively using offshore structures to help clients evade tax. Both were among the banks that helped set up complex structures that make it hard for tax collectors and investigators to track the flow of money, according to ICIJ. The famous personalities drawn into the affair also included soccer star Lionel Messi. Spanish tax authorities said they are investigating allegations of tax irregularities involving Barcelona's Argentinian striker after the release of the documents.
Academy Award nominee Diane Lane will star in Roundabout Theatre Company's Broadway revival of Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard, featuring a newly adapted script by Stephen Karam (The Humans).

Lane takes on the role of Lyubov Ranevskaya, who, along with her family, returns to their fabled orchard to prevent its foreclosure. The Cherry Orchard gave Lane her Broadway debut in 1977 at the age of 12, when she performed in the revival production at Lincoln Center's Vivian Beaumont Theatre. She was last seen in the 2015 off-Broadway premiere of Bathsheba Doran's The Mystery of Love & Sex at Lincoln Center's Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater. The play marked her first return to the New York stage in 37 years.

The upcoming Roundabout production will play a limited run at the American Airlines Theatre, beginning performances September 15 in advance of an October 16 opening. Simon Godwin will direct in his Broadway debut.

For more information, click here.
One of the tourist, who tried to stop the miscreant, was attacked with stones on his head. (Photo: PTI)

Jaipur: Four foreigners were allegedly attacked and one of them molested by a gang of six young men on Monday at Ajmer district in Rajasthan.

The tourists rented a bike and were going to visit Ajaypal dham when the youths allegedly attacked them. They also molested and tore the clothes of a woman in the group, Additional Superintendent of police Avinash Kumar said.

When one of her friend tried to stop the miscreant, he was attacked with stones on his head.

Two women in the group are from Spain and Turkey and one man is from the USA while the nationality of the other foreigner is not yet known, police said.

A case under relevant sections of IPC including molestation has been registered and investigation is on, Kumar said, adding no one has been arrested yet.
True Colors Theatre Company (Kenny Leon, cofounding artistic director) and Jujamcyn Theaters have announced plans for the eighth annual August Wilson Monologue Competition, which will take place May 2 at 7pm at Broadway's August Wilson Theatre. The free event features high school students from Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, and Seattle performing monologues by the legendary American playwright. There will also be a special performance by American blues musician and actor Guy Davis, with additional special guests to be announced.

Two finalists from each regional city will compete on the August Wilson Stage on May 2. A panel of celebrity judges will evaluate the competitors and select a winner. The evening will also include performances by well-known Wilsonian veterans and special musical guests. The complete list of performers will be announced shortly.

The top three contestants from the national competition receive monetary awards. The first place winner will receive a $1,500 cash prize, the runner-up a $1,000 cash prize, and the honorable mention a $500 cash prize. Each of the winners will also become eligible for college scholarship opportunities, and all finalists receive the gift of TCG's Century Cycle collection.

This year's competition will also afford students from these cities the opportunity to attend two Broadway shows, Hamilton and The Color Purple, and work closely with two of Wilson's closest collaborators, director Kenny Leon and dramaturg Todd Kreidler.

For more information, click here.
Atlantic Theater Company has announced casting for its upcoming production of Adam Rapp's The Purple Lights of Joppa Illinois. Rapp also directs the production, which begins previews at Atlantic Stage 2 on May 25 and opens on June 7, with a run that will continue through June 19.

The four-member company will include William Apps (Wolf in the River), Connor Barrett (Finer Noble Gases), Susan Heyward (A Trip to Bountiful), and Katherine Reis (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt)

Rapp's play is described as follows: "Ellis Shook (Apps) lives alone in a small duplex apartment in Paducah, Kentucky. He works nights buffing floors, keeps to himself  and always remembers to take his medication. But when two teenage girls arrive at his doorstep one autumn afternoon, their visit will force him to confront a tragic past while also offering him a glimpse at hope." It was commissioned by South Coast Repertory, where it premiered in 2014.

The Purple Lights of Joppa Illinois will feature scenic design by Andromache Chalfant, costume design by Jessica Pabst, lighting design by Keith Parham, and sound design by Christian Frederickson.

For tickets and more information, click here.
Leeds private equity fund throws its weight behind diagnostics firm

LEEDS investment fund Solingen Private Equity has given backing to a diagnostics business.

Preston-based Burgess Diagnostics provides mobile imaging services to the veterinary sector.

Burgess was founded in 2003 to undertake MRI and CT scanning services, and has grown to a network of 65 scanning sites.

Paul Betts, investment director at Solingen Private Equity, said: We look forward to partnering with Mike and his team to support their growth plans. This is exactly the type of business where we believe Solingen can add value by providing equity growth finance and supporting management.

Mike Hadfield, managing director of Burgess, said: This is an exciting time for Burgess Diagnostics as we continue to accelerate our ambitious growth plans. Previously reserved for human medicine, MRI and CT scanning procedures are safe and highly effective methods of producing clear cross sectional images of the body.

At Burgess Diagnostics, our main objective is to make these valuable diagnostic tools accessible and affordable for veterinary surgeons and pet owners alike.

We are confident that with Solingens hands-on approach and understanding of our business they are the perfect investment partner for Burgess at this stage in our development journey.

Jill Bolton and Duncan Morpeth from Grant Thornton also worked on the deal. Other advisers involved in the deal were Paul Mann and Louisa Hine of Squire Patton Boggs, who advised the shareholders and management, Adrian Ballam and Catherine Umpleby of Schofield Sweeney and Stephen Green and Rob Atkinson of RSM.
"Complacency is not an option," says director at 386m-turnover building supplies firm

INNOVATION is inextricably linked to being green these days, said Chris Harrop, director of sustainability at building suppliers Marshalls.

Mr Harrop is also chairman of the United Nations Global Compact UK Network, and green business is his business.

With the Business Unusual conference, spearheaded by Business in the Community, Mr Harrop and the organisers want to call companies to action on the sustainability agenda.

Mr Harrop said: The answer to a lot of global problems is to be more sustainable.

The growing awareness of environmental challenges is resulting in businesses grappling with what their responsibility is and struggling with it.

Business Unusual seeks to showcase examples where people have rewritten rules and been successful by doing things in a different way, he said.

Marshalls, a FTSE 250-listed company last month posted a pretax profit of 35.3m for the year ended December 31, up 57% as revenue rose 8.0% to 386.2m.

It is an example of using innovation of a major scale to not only increase profits but also create a more sustainable and responsible business.

Mr Harrop said: What weve done successfully is produce a whole range of procus water and flood management and protection, developing mainstream paving into permeable paving, with all the same function  taking a product and giving them multiple functions.

Marshalls has been in the business of sustainability for more than 10 years with products such as permeable paving, but, Mr Harrop said, it has only been in the last five years that other companies are starting to follow suit.

He said: We were ahead of the curve and that is one of the messages of the conference, spotting the trends early and being prepared. When you are seeing something innovative in the news its too late.

If we go back 10 years, in discussions around climate change the science was there but the impact was missing, there was lots of academic models that temperature would increase by X degrees. But it was only when you start to see the impact that businesses put two and two together and realise what they are doing is causing effects.

I think where weve got to that stage where businesses cant afford to ignore it and if they dont prepare through mitigation or new products then businesses will come under increasing pressure. Their long term survival will be at risk.

Mr Harrop finished: The challenge is embracing this, adapting products and services for a new world. Complacency is not an option.

High profile speakers from M&S, Tesla Motors and Yorkshire Waters own Richard Flint will feature at the major environment conference in Leeds on May 12, sponsored by Yorkshire Water.
Chennai: Despite efforts put in by a number of NGOs, health officials and veterinary doctors to combat rabies, Tamil Nadu continues to be recognised as one of the states with the highest records of rabies deaths. Approximately 100 people in the state die due to rabies each year, said Dr. Bhaskar Raju, Consulting Pediatrician, adding, The actual incidence may be more as not all cases are recorded.

Though the numbers are still high, the cases are much less than around five years back, said Arun Prasanna, founder and secretary, People for Cattle in India. India records the highest cases of deaths due to rabies each year (20,000) and doctors blame the excess of stray dogs as the main cause.

The government should take the initiative to immunize the street dogs. If a dog in one area develops rabies, it may pass it on to all the other dogs in the area, said Dr Raju.

According to available records, it has been found that Chennai alone has around one-lakh dogs. If the corporation has no interest in saving the dogs, they should at least show some interest in saving the humans as they are the ones most affected, said Prasanna

Children below 15 years of age are at a higher risk of developing rabies (50 per cent), said Dr. Shafi Kolhapure, GM-Medical Affairs, GSK Biologicals, India. All dogs should be routinely vaccinated to eradicate rabies, he added. With an aim to eradicate rabies, the Corporation plans to follow the One Health Programme, which is based on a method followed in Nilgiris, which now boasts of being free from dog rabies, said a senior health official.

Rabies, which spreads when the saliva of an infected animal enters the body through a bite or a scratch, travels from the wound to the brain where it causes inflammation. Therefore, death due to the disease is virtually inevitable.

Another major reason for rabies deaths is the myths that go along with it, one of which is that not all five rabies shots are necessary,  said Dr. Kolhapure. He stated that one could be protected from rabies only through rabies vaccination, which is available, but has a low uptake.
Electric car manufacturers move into Leeds

CAR manufacturer Tesla Motors has moved into Victoria Gate in Leeds.

The premium electric Model S car manufacturers launched their first site, Teslas 14th location in the UK.

The Tesla Model S is 100% electric and reaches 0-60mph in 2.8 seconds, according to the company. It can travel up to 340 miles on a single charge.

Leeds has a Supercharger location at the Village Urban Resort Leeds South.

This continues the Tesla growth strategy, getting car showrooms in shopping districts up and down the UK.

A spokeswoman for Tesla said: Tesla stores which are frequently in city centres and shopping centres, are set up to help customers learn more about electric vehicles and the unique experience of driving Model S.

Tesla invites customers to learn about the benefits of owning an electric vehicle through interactive and enticing displays and also experience Teslas groundbreaking new Autopilot features and all-wheel drive technology through a Model S drive demonstration.
Travel company flying high as it is sold in 27m deal

A SUBSIDIARY of the oldest travel company in India, Cox & Kings, has sold York-based Superbreak.

The total sale and purchase agreement 26.7m with net cash consideration of 9.25m.

The goodwill write-off on sale of Superbreak is 71.4m. Superbreak employs 150 staff at its York headquarters.

Malvern Enterprises UK has acquired the short break business from Cheshire-based subsidiary Holidaybreak, as well as LateRooms UK.

Cox & Kings sold the latter for 20.0m, also to Malvern, after having owned it for only six months.

It is a considerable uplift on the 8.5m the Bombay Stock Exchange listed company paid when it bought the business from German travel firm TUI Group in October last year.

Holidaybreak was acquired in a 312m deal in 2011 by C&K. Since then the Indian group has been selling off parts of the Holidaybreak business, selling a division of the business Explore Worldwide in December 2015 for 25.8m, and in 2014, offloading its camping division.

At the same time, C&K bought a 49% stake in Malvern for 6.37m. The remaining 51% is held by a European private equity investor.

In a statement, Cox & Kings said the transaction will allow Malvern to independently follow its own strategic growth path in the underpenetrated city-breaks market within the online package-tour space.

Brands Superbreak and LateRooms are likely to gain substantially from a unified management team under the strategic guidance of the private equity investor and C&K.

Cox & Kings has been in operation since 1758.
Tensions between Syrian al Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra and the mainstream opposition in Syrias rebel north are at an all-time high.

Eyes are on a standoff between al-Nusra and a popular rebel brigade in northwest Idlib province and, playing out in parallel, an ongoing anti-Nusra Twitter jeremiad by the son of the founder of modern international jihadism. Now Syrians in the liberated north are engaging in a newly open and critical debate over Nusrawhat it wants, and what place, if any, it has in Syrias opposition.

The latest flashpoint in Nusra-rebel tensions is the Idlib city of Maarat al-Numan. A nationwide ceasefire that went into effect last month has provided space for the resumption of peaceful protests in Maarat al-Numan and across Syrias opposition-held areas. But this new opening for political speech has also highlighted splits between opposition Syriansbetween those who want a free, democratic Syria and those who want justice through the rule of Islamic law.

In Maarat al-Numan, a dispute between Islamist and nationalist protesters escalated over several days into a shooting war between Nusra and the 13th Division, a popular local Free Syrian Army faction. Nusra and an allied ultra-extreme jihadist faction called Jund al-Aqsa routed the 13th Division, seizing its bases and taking some of its fighters captive. Nusra has blamed the 13th Division for the bloodshed, but many Idlib residents are dismissive of Nusras justifications.

[Nusra] tried to come up with some lie that the 13th Division attacked their bases and homes, The Daily Beast was told by an informed Idlib source who spoke on condition of anonymity over social media. Its like claiming that Somalia invaded the United States.

A tentative peace now prevails in Maarat al-Numan as all sides wait for the results of a halting adjudication. But the events in Maarat al-Numan have set off an unprecedented wave of criticism of Nusra, whether on the ground in escalating anti-Nusra demonstrations or online in Dr. Hudheifah Azzams still-unspooling, multi-chapter indictment of Nusra.

The wall of fear of Nusra has shattered, to some extent, said an Idlib journalist who also requested anonymity.

Azzam is the son of Abdullah Azzam, the Palestinian jihadist considered the father of modern pan-Islamist jihad. His son Hudheifah has shuttled from Afghanistan to Iraq and now to Syria, where hes served as a broker and peacemaker among Syrias rebels. Now, over hundreds of tweets, hes been reeling off all the times Nusra has cannibalized rival brigades.

[Azzam] dared [to deliver this testimonial] because the battlefield cant take silence any longer, said the informed Idlib source. Were seeing the Iraqi experience reproduced all over again.

Azzams central argument is Nusras attacks on nationalist Free Syrian Army brigades have not been a series of one-offs, they have been a systematic campaign. He says Nusra has consistently frustrated efforts to adjudicate these fights so it can smash its local rivals and establish a jihadist mothership in Idlib patterned after the Islamic States de facto Syrian capital in al-Raqqa province.

If it was a matter of one mistake, or two, or three that could be stoppedif it wasnt systematic with these people, you wouldnt be reading these words, Azzam wrote.

In a phone call with The Daily Beast, Idlib cleric Hassan al-Dugheim backed Azzams account. Al-Dugheim played a similar mediating role in the north before he ended up on the wrong side of Nusra. He now lives in Turkey.

[Peacemaking efforts] succeeded when the feuding parties were from the Free Syrian Army, al-Dugheim said. The only time they didnt was when Jabhat al-Nusra or Jund al-Aqsa was involved in the dispute.

Azzam testimonial reads like the secret history of northern Syria since 2014, complete with salacious details about secret pledges of allegiance to al Qaeda, nationalist factions acting as fronts for Islamists, mixed-up cross-faction family ties, and accidental murders. More recent installments have laid out a detailed early history of Nusra and how its (relative) doves have been sidelined.

Figures involved and Idlib sources who spoke with The Daily Beast attested to the overall accuracy of Azzams account, supporting some key details and vouching for Azzams personal knowledge, although some disputed elements Azzam made clear he was relaying secondhand. Azzam himself did not respond to requests for comment.

Jabhat al-Nusra has publicly pushed back Azzams account, both in several online rebuttals and directly to The Daily Beast. Hes talking about things we lived through and witnessed ourselves, Nusra official Abu Khattab al-Maqdisi told The Daily Beast over a messaging app. And what hes said isnt the truth of it.

But Nusras objection is not necessarily to Azzams blow-by-blow narrative, a series of events Abu Khattab told The Daily Beast were well-known. Nusra instead objects to how Azzam has inserted himself into the story andin particularthe spin hes put on these events and on Nusras intentions. Nusra stresses it has not acted alonethat other rebel factions have been quietly complicit in its moves against some brigades, and that, despite some leaks to the contrary, it has promised not to unilaterally announce an emirate.

The controversial history Azzam has been airing starts in mid-2014. Prior to that, Nusra had prioritized alliances with Syrias rebels and avoided aggravating locals with the full-on implementation of conservative Islamic law. In 2014 this changedNusra started to take a strong hand in civilian life, setting up its own courts, enforcing social codes using roving morals police, and muscling out municipal councils. It also began liquidating rebel factions it saw as crooks or foreign proxies.

Why Nusra launched what its detractors call its emirate campaign is unclear. Its jihadist rival the Islamic State had just declared a caliphate and seized the oil-rich eastern section of Syria that had been Nusras resource base. Some have speculated Nusra needed to promise a proto-Islamic state to keep its ideological hardcore from defecting to the Islamic State, or that it needed to lock down new funding streamswhether it was posturing for jihadist donors abroad or staging a hostile takeover of nationalists diesel smuggling operations along the Turkish border. Whatever the motivation, on the ground Nusras new posture was clear.

Brother, were the ones responsible for you, were your emirs, said al-Dugheim, channeling the new Nusra. You need to obey us, we need to head the operations rooms, we need to be leading the army. This happened without the [other] brigades consentthats the problem. They didnt come through dialogue, they came by force.

And all of this really started with Nusras destruction of south Idlib rebel commander Jamal Marouf and his Syrian Revolutionaries Front, so it probably shouldnt be a surprise that the debate over Azzams testimony has in part turned into a re-litigation of Nusras showdown with Marouf.

Azzam has criticized Nusras campaign on Marouf, reproaching Nusra for targeting a morally compromised but still valuable rebel allyviolating his father Abdullahs dictum that a hash-smoking warrior for right is better than someone religiously pure sitting idle. Yet Azzams critics argue that, in painting Nusra as the aggressor, he has minimized Maroufs alleged crimes, up to and including murder.

Marouf was seen as a rebel hero at the revolutions outset, but with time he and his brigade gained a reputation for criminality. Marouf played a key role in driving the Islamic State out of northwest Syria in January 2014, after which he was aggressively marketed in the Western press as the new face of the Free Syrian Army. Meanwhile, his relationship with Nusra deteriorated, while resentment grew among Idlib residents who felt Marouf and his men had run amok.

In October 2014, the Syrian Revolutionaries Front moved on the Idlib town of al-Barah in pursuit of one of its own commanders who had gone rogue. Nusra and Jund al-Aqsa responded to locals appeals for help and drove Marouf from his Idlib stronghold and into Turkish exile. They were reportedly joined by individual members of other factions and even local civilians.

There were people in the town who [first] took up arms that day against Jamal Marouf, said the director of the Idlib News Network, who goes by the revolutionary alias Abu al-Baraa. Abu al-Baraa hails from al-Barah, although he lives now in Saudi Arabia. They only took up arms against Jamal Marouf, they didnt even do that against [Syrian President Bashar] al-Assads army.

Speaking to The Daily Beast, Jamal Marouf and Syrian Revolutionaries Front spokesman Nidhal Sbeih both strenuously denied allegations of corruption and murder, although Sbeih acknowledged that some individual fighters might have crossed lines. Were in a revolution, and a revolution is chaos, he said. Its not possible to prosecute and hold members perfectly accountable.

The surge of popularity Nusra enjoyed immediately after removing the Syrian Revolutionaries Front seems to have given it cover to eliminate other nationalist brigades it said were also criminal or had supported Marouf. It crushed several smaller Idlib and Hama brigades immediately after, and several months later it eliminated a U.S.-backed brigade called Hazm in Aleppo.

Jamal Marouf told The Daily Beast that Nusras campaign on corruption was really just a project to liquidate moderates.

In reality, Nusra fought the Syrian Revolutionaries Front because it represents the Free Syrian Army, which prevents [them] from coloring the whole revolution as al Qaeda, he told The Daily Beast over a messaging app. After they won their war against us, now you see the north is practically empty of the FSA. Its all covered in black.

The allegation that Nusras campaign against corruption is a ruse is central to the debate over Nusras intentions and just how far it will go in fighting rival factions. Nusras critics say that in private, Nusra has pronounced takfir on its enemiesdeclaring them apostates from Islam and sanctioning their death.

Daesh [the Islamic State] pronounces takfir, and so does Nusra, but only in its private meetings, said Idlib cleric al-Dugheim. Al-Dugheim was close to the Syrian Revolutionaries Front, in addition to other local factions.

Al-Dugheim said that normal disputes can be settled over WhatsApp, tea, and group readings of the Quran. But when one side has declared the other apostates, the fight becomes a war of extermination.

Nusra media official Abu Khattab said the main justification for fighting the Syrian Revolutionaries Front and Hazm was their corruption and abuses, although he said Nusra also fought them because they were an American project.

Its not necessarily a war on apostates just because they were an American project, Abu Khattab told The Daily Beast. He acknowledged, however, that some leaders in the Syrian Revolutionaries Front and Hazm had been judged guilty of apostasy for their service to idolatrous foreign governments.

Yet the 13th Division is not the Syrian Revolutionaries Front, and many say Nusra has now overreached. Since [Nusra] came and attacked the 13th Division in Maarat al-Numan, all it has left in Idlib is its cheering section, said the Idlib journalist.

If these factions dont stop Nusra now, its going to attack all of them and establish its emirate with ease, he continued.

But the messiness of Azzams narrativethe interlocking familial ties, the quiet compromisesis a reminder that things may not be as simple as a righteous public ready to rise up against jihadist oppressors. Nusra undoubtedly retains a well of popular support in Idlib, even if its popularity has suffered lately. And some like the Idlib News Networks Abu al-Baraa caution against deciding some factions are heroes and others villains in what he calls a jungle.

If Jabhat al-Nusra could seize all the liberated areas, it would. If [rival faction] Feilaq al-Sham could, it would, he said. Lets not philosophize and talk about patriotism, we all knowwe live in a small neighborhood. We know each other.
The team that brought you the George W. Bush administration in 2000 has gathered behind a new candidate: Bernie Sanders.

A host of prominent Ralph Nader backers has joined team Sanders in 2016, excited by his message discipline and aggressive fight against the establishment powers that be.

In the Democratic socialist from Vermont, they see a flag-bearer for the same issues, while the Democratic establishment views him as a persistent pest who is raking in money by the fistful without a clear and obvious path to the nomination.

And the same way that Naders staunchest supporters had no kind words for the eventual nominee then-Vice President Al Gore, some of Sanderss surrogates are spending their time bashing Hillary Clinton, making it even more difficult for the party faithful to rally around him.

Throughout Naders consecutive failed presidential bids, he picked up a cadre of high-profile endorsers, ranging from actress Susan Sarandon to academic Cornel West. The rest of the roster backing both men includes actor Danny Glover, former National Nurses United Executive Director RoseAnn DeMoro, musicians Ani DiFranco and Bonnie Raitt, country singer Willie Nelson, and Ben Cohen, one of the founders of Ben & Jerrys, just to name a few.

There are some pretty obvious parallels, Oliver Hall, Naders lawyer and longtime friend, said in an interview with The Daily Beast.

While the players on the bench supporting these candidates are remarkably similar, so far Sanders hasnt drawn the collective ire of the Democratic Party quite nearly as much as Nader did. His campaign did not respond to a request for comment from The Daily Beast.

After all, many personally blamed Nader for pulling Democratic votes away from Gore in 2000ushering in Bush.

Its tough to blame them for being angry. Bush edged out Gore by 537 votes, while Naderthe Green Party candidatetook over 97,000 votes in Florida, which Democrats thought could have tipped the scales in Gores favor.

The spoiler effect, a term ascribed to 1992 candidate Ross Perot, was redubbed as The Nader Effect, used as shorthand for a candidate that is going nowhere spoiling an election for a like-minded but more viable party nominee.

Nader has been adamant that he is not the one to blame, writing in 2004 on his presidential campaign site that his voters wouldnt have swung the election in Gores favor.

In the year 2000, exit polls reported that 25% of my voters would have voted for Bush, 38% would have voted for Gore and the rest would not have voted at all, he wrote.

The 2000 campaign efforts (some of which were led by his own supporters) to get Nader to drop out fell on deaf ears.

And 16 years later, a much more successful candidate has no interest in cutting his bid short eitherdespite almost daily urging from the Democratic establishment.

But still, the longer Sanders has stuck around the more he appears to get under Hillary Clintons skin.

Now the winner of 14 states, including a surprise victory in Michigan, Sanders is frequently painted as a message candidate spoiling the prospects of an establishment Democrat looking to finally secure the nomination after falling short eight years ago.

His staunch opposition to the Iraq War, something for which Clinton voted, and support for a single-payer health-care program mirror some of the central tenets of Naders campaign.

Hall told The Daily Beast that the similarities between the candidates are apparent and even now hes still tired of hearing that the latter is the reason Bush won in 2000.

Its ridiculous and pathetic, he said in a phone interview. If the Democratic Party is a serious organization, they need to tolerate free discussion of ideas.

He contended that the same people who have accused Nader of indirectly leading the United States into its worst war since Vietnam are the ones imploring people to vote for Hillary Clinton this year.

When Nader ran as a third-party candidate, everybody attacked him, Hall said. Now theyre attacking Sanders for running as a Democrat.

And as Sanders continues to exceed expectations in the primary, currently leading Clinton by a small margin in Wisconsinthe next contestHall questioned the former secretary of states strength as a candidate.

How good of a candidate can Hillary Clinton be if she cant handle debate in the primary election process? Thats the entire purpose of a primary election.

And his endorsers have taken note.

West, a prominent academic and progressive Democratic stalwart, backed Ralph Nader in 2000 before giving Sanders his blessing in 2015. Once Gore was the nominee, he chastised him for picking Sen. Joseph Lieberman as his running mate given his opposition to affirmative action. West referred to it as an act of disrespect to the black community, according to a 2000 article in the Chicago Tribune.

Earlier this year, West wrote an op-ed for Politico describing Sanders as being better for black people than Clinton.

West has not responded to a request for comment from The Daily Beast.

Sarandon, another Sanders backer who recently drew controversy for suggesting that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump might be ultimately better for the United States than Clinton, was also all in for Nader in the past. She served as the national co-chair for Naders steering committee in 2000 and was named as a plaintiff in a lawsuit he filed against the Federal Election Commission which alleged that corporations sponsoring debates could constitute as illegal corporate campaign contributions.

Documentarian Michael Moore also endorsed both candidates. In September 2000, he appeared at a fundraiser upon the Green Party candidates behalf, dispelling the idea that Nader was a spoiler in the race.

A vote for Nader is a vote for Bush? Moore said at the time. No, a vote for Gore is a vote for Bush. A vote for Bush is a vote for Bush. A vote for Nader is a political Molotov.

In 2000, Sanders publicly vouched for Nader himself, while the latter campaigned in Vermont.

Hes an old-fashioned guy who believes that maybe the ordinary people should be running this country rather than the multinational corporations, Sanders said in introducing Nader at an event, according to an AP story at the time.

Sanderss national spokesperson Symone Sanders also previously worked as a communications officer for the Ralph Nader-founded organization Public Citizen.

Sanders changed his tune by 2004, though, when Nader tried to run again, saying virtually the entire progressive movement is not going to be supportive of Nader, according to an AP story.

Weve got to come together to defeat George Bush, we have to develop a strong progressive movement to make sure we make the changes in this country that we need, Sanders said in 2004. But our main task right now is to defeat Bush and I think Naders effort could have some impact in dividing up that vote and thats a negative thing.

Nader himself did not respond to a request for comment from The Daily Beast but he has expressed support for Sanderss candidacy and his ideas.

The animosity between Nader and Gore supporters that bubbled up in the 2000 general election is already stewing in a similar capacity in the 2016 Democratic primary with surrogates like Sarandon and actress Rosario Dawson criticizing Clinton and the big-money interests they contend she stands for.

Shame on you, Dawson said referring to Clinton at a recent rally in New York. I dont have to vote against someone; I can vote for someone whos on our side.

She went on to criticize President Obama at a Harlem town hall days later, suggesting that he wasnt able to keep up momentum to elicit a big turnout in the 2014 midterm elections.

Another Sanders surrogate, rapper Killer Mike, got into similar hot water for quoting activist Jane Elliotts line in February saying: A uterus doesnt qualify you to be president of the United States. Implicit in the remark was not sexism, but rather that gender should not determine who one votes for.

The difference, of course, compared to the fervor around Nader is that these conflicts of opinion are not necessarily going to negatively impact the chances of a Democratic president being in the White House next year.

But from the start, Sanderss campaign was concerned about appearing like just another Nader.

The one thing hes determined not to do is to be another Ralph Nader, adviser Tad Devine said in April, 2015 as Sanders was preparing to announce his candidacy. And the only way to avoid doing that is to avoid being a third-party candidate from the left in the general election.

Time will tell if that promise holds up.
BENGALURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has declared that he is ready to face a probe by the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) vis-a-vis his luxe wristwatch, but will he or his cabinet approve such an investigation?

This question was posed by former Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde, none less, while commenting on a complaint lodged by Mr Nataraj Sharma, a city-based advocate, against Mr Siddaramaiah.

Justice Hegde told Deccan Chronicle that as per existing rules, approval of the Speaker was a pre-requisite before initiation of any legal action against legislators. Similarly, the Chief Minister's nod was required to act against ministers. But, for action against the Chief Minister himself, the cabinet has to accord permission. Mr Siddaramaiah is not the cabinet to pass such a dictum without the permission of his council of ministers. Has he discussed this issue in a meeting of the cabinet? If so, where are the proceedings to this effect?

He said as per executive orders issued by the government to constitute the ACB, officials working in the bureau must take the complaint against the Chief Minister to the cabinet for approval. Hitherto, no such rule existed which had helped the Lokayukta to act against anybody including the elected representatives. Besides, a supervisory committee comprising senior officials has been constituted and it was monitored by the Chief Minister himself. The crucial question: could the panel give permission to carry out investigation against its political boss. Will the council of ministers give permission to hold an inquiry against their CM, he queried.
New Delhi: Indian agencies had prepared an exhaustive dossier on JeM chief Maulana Masood Azhar for the UN Sanctions Committee to ban him, with the dossier listing out his terror activities since 1993 and recording his links with the ISIS and Al Qaeda.

The dossier accuses him of participating in the financing, planning, facilitating and perpetrating acts of terror in support of the illicit arms trade for the Al Qaeda, JeM and Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM).

India has categorically mentioned the Pathankot terror strike in its report to the UN, saying Masood Azhar was one of the handlers of the terrorists . In its failed bid to have Masood designated as terrorist by the UN, India has conveyed to the world body that he and his terrorist group JeM have continuously engineered terror attacks against India, the latest instance being the strike on Pathankot airbase on January 2.
Ultra-premium spirits  time for a new generation

Chris Halton, global strategy director at JKR, explains how the ability for a spirit brand to understand, articulate and communicate its story will become more important than ever before

Chris Halton Jones Knowles Ritchie

When last year Sean Combs, aka P Diddy, spotted the popularity of super-premium tequila DeLeon on the Los Angeles club scene and approached Diageos North America president, Larry Schwartz, about getting together to buy it, he was joining fellow celebrities Justin Timberlake and George Clooney in owning super-premium tequila brands. He was also making a shrewd business move: retailing at US$65-850 a bottle, DeLeon is now one of Diageos fastest growing brands in the US.

The spirits world has long known that there is opportunity in super-premium. According to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, across all spirits, value sales dropped by 1.3% in 2014, while super premium increased by 5.1%. In some segments it is more pronounced: the IWSR believes volume sales of super-premium rum will increase 50% by 2017.

There are many drivers for this boom in super-premium. Broadly it reflects a cultural shift in drinking habits towards healthy moderation. More specifically, in cognac, whisky and vodka, it tends to reflect a desire to demonstrate status and prestige, whilst in gin and rum, super-premium tends to be driven by a desire for authenticity and rarity. Compare the likes of Remy Martin Louis XIII or any $50k bottle of The Balvenie with, say, Silent Pool gin  super-premium is a complex and fast maturing market.

We believe that we are right on the cusp of a fifth generation of spirits. Take vodka: the Stolichnya and Smirnoff of the 1960s Mad Men gave way to the striking bottle design of Absolut in the 1980s, which in turn paved the way for the likes of Ciroc and Sky Vodka in the 1990s, and in the 2000s a fourth generation of vodkas such as Belvedere and Grey Goose adorned nightclub tables in cities worldwide. The lustre is fading from those fourth generation brands, and vodka, indeed all spirits, are now ripe for a fifth generation  the ultra-premium spirit brand.

This is a significant shift in the spirits sector, and one that will further highlight the importance of storytelling. Successful spirits brands tell stories - stories that create atmosphere, experiences and emotion. Look at the way Hendricks conjures tales of Victorian emporia, or the use Jura 1984 Vintage makes of George Orwells stay on the island. Courvoisier transports us to 1889 to toast the opening of the Eiffel Tower with its cognac, and Bacardi has been telling the story of Cuban master distillers for generations.

With this dawning of a new generations of spirits, the ability for a spirit brand to understand, articulate and communicate its story will become more important than ever before.

Spirits as art

The famous outlier for this trend towards ultra-premium was the Dalmore Paterson Collection, which went on sale in Harrods for an eye-watering 987,500. It has been followed ever since by a trickle of spirits priced in at least four figures. Look most recently at the February 2016 launch of 2,000 Chivas Regal The Icon.

This may be driven by fears of an impending economic slowdown - it is well-documented that in tough times the most premium brands flourish at the expense of value ranges. We might also look to the increased interest in whisky as an investment category: in 2015 while the Rare Whisky Apex 1000, rose by 14%, gold declined by 10%, and the FTSE 100 lost 4.9%. Whisky even bettered the Shanghai Composites 9.4% gain.

Yet there is more to it than that. At this ultra-premium end of the market a profound shift is taking place in how buyers see spirits. Where once they were liquids to be tasted and savoured, today they are increasingly items of rare beauty to be admired and owned. Just as a Picasso is more than canvas and paint, or Ai Weiweis work is more than sunflowers seeds on the Turbine Hall floor, so each of these spirits is more than water, sugar and botanicals.

Distilling the ultra cachet

What makes it so? Is it the quality of ingredients and the craft of their creation? That was the pitch of the third and fourth generation of spirits, but these fifth generation iterations go beyond even that. Is it the price itself? Perhaps. We could argue that just as by placing a work in a gallery you make it art, so by putting a four-figure price tag on a drink you make it ultra-premium. Equally, we could point to the packaging and the liberal use of rare and expensive glass, or to the glut of celebrity endorsements for these drinks.

It may have worked for ultra-premium launches so far, but we believe that this is an approach that not only has a limited shelf-life, but which also misses the key opportunity here.

As more and more ultra-premium spirits enter the market it will be increasingly difficult to stand out using these tactics. In many cases it is the celebrity who gains highbrow entrepreneurial status from these tie-ups, rather than the product gaining reflected red carpet dazzle. And packaging alone, without a compelling story, can easily become lost in a sea of indifference. If everything is special then nothing is.

In the months ahead for a brand to add an ultra-premium range that will allow it to be noticed and chosen it will need to understand and communicate its story. The key opportunity here is to highlight what makes the brand unique and what gives it the right and the potential to succeed in the ultra-premium space: charisma shown at this spot-lit end of the market, shines across the entire range.

Conjuring charisma

Regardless of whether the product is premium, or ultra-premium, or even value, it is by engaging those senses through a compelling story that a product is ultimately selected by consumers. For spirit brands, just as for works like Guernica or Sunflowers it is the stories that are both within and beyond the entity that make them so special.

Spirits brands can even look beyond the sector for further inspiration. From Louboutins red soles to the secret life of Coco Chanel, luxury and fashion brands have long understood the power of a story  there is much for our sector to learn from here.

Ultra-premium is coming. It will be more than a few bottles on plinths in Harrods. It will be more than tours of travel retail. It will be an important shift in the spirits world, and one that will reward those brands that understand how to find the exceptional and to tell the stories that create allure that intrigues people and converts them from interested browsers to committed buyers.

5 April 2016
NEW YORK  Hillary Clinton is becoming increasingly irritated by Bernie Sanders pointed attacks that portray her as a tool of special interests, people close to her say, leading her to sharpen her approach to the primary at a time when she hoped to get a head start on the general election.

Clinton takes Sanders recent attacks personally, her aides say, and is fed up with fending them off when shed rather be laying out her policy positions or leveling critiques of Republican front-runner Donald Trump. They also worry that his jabs seem aimed at inflaming his supporters against her  possibly to a point where they wont support her in November.

Does it annoy her when people misrepresent her record? It does, said Clinton communications director Jennifer Palmieri.

The dynamic came to a boil last week when the typically measured Clinton lashed out at a Greenpeace activist asking about her campaign contributions from the fossil fuel industry. I am so sick. I am so sick of the Sanders campaign lying about me. Im sick of it, she said, jabbing her finger at the young woman who approached her as she shook hands along a rope line at an event in New York. A video of the encounter spread on the Internet, getting more than 2 million hits in 72 hours just on YouTube.

For Sanders, whose chances for getting the party nomination depend upon a string of improbable but not impossible events, attacking Clinton draws media attention as well as donations from a fervent core of supporters who are keeping his campaign afloat. His attacks have also helped him close in on the front-runner, including in Wisconsin where voters will cast ballots in a primary on Tuesday. Following on his sweep of three western state caucuses a little more than a week ago, Sanders is deadlocked with Clinton in polls there.

It has had an impact, said Tracy Sefl, a Democratic consultant who formerly advised the pro-Clinton group Ready For Hillary. While none of the attacks are surprising or novel, hes caused her to sharpen her own platform. Her stump speech is very wide-ranging and covers a lot. Sanders has put her in a position to put things in bold  theyve always been there, but now shes got to be louder.

The confrontation with the Greenpeace activists came at a moment when Sanders and his campaign have gotten a little more personal, more negative, Palmieri said. It hit a nerve as the comment appeared to impugn Clintons character. Thats what you saw, she said.

Officials with the Sanders campaign argue they are doing nothing more than discussing the same policy differences they have emphasized for months.

These are not in any way efforts on our part to do anything other than to debate the issues, said Tad Devine, Sanders senior media adviser, of the campaigns recent criticisms of Clinton. Its completely appropriate, well within the bounds of a normal campaign and very far from whats going on the Republican side.

He said the tenor of the campaign has been even milder than when Clinton was campaigning for the Democratic nomination against President Barack Obama. I dont think Bernie Sanders is anywhere near that kind of back and forth we saw in 2008, Devine said.

Clinton has been reluctant to get especially aggressive in her criticism of Sanders, aware that even if shes not able to win over his voters in the primary, shell need their support in November. But after weeks of largely ignoring Sanders, even in victory speeches after primaries, signs of her frustration with Sanders are coming though.

On Friday in Syracuse, during a discussion of ways that she helped businesses in upstate New York expand their markets, Clinton needled Sanders for opposing the Export-Import Bank and then unloaded on the way he talks about change.

People can tell you what theyre against all day long. What are they for? And what are they going to do? And do they have a track record of getting results? she asked. I think that should be the way people judge who the next president they want to see in the Oval Office is because at the end of the day, producing results is really what its all about.

Sanders said he sees Clintons remarks as a sign not of frustration but of anxiety. I think the secretary is getting very nervous, he said Sunday on ABCs This Week, pointing not to his odds in the primary but to general election polls that show him leading Trump by a bigger margin than Clinton does.

Sanders has been trying to chip away at Clinton by focusing on her financial ties to corporations and Wall Street, contrasting it with his core message of getting money out of politics and upending an economic system thats rigged in favor of the wealthy.

Its been more effective than most wouldve believed a year ago, said Democratic strategist Steve McMahon. It taps into a pretty well-established anti-corporate, anti-establishment faction of the Democratic Party that has been agitated about these kinds of issues for a very long time.
Yet another alleged sympathiser and recruiter of ISIS - the banned global terror organisation - from Bhatkal in coastal Karnataka was held on Tuesday evening in a covert operation by the Central enforcement agencies at Pune airport. (Photo: AFP)

Bengaluru: Yet another alleged sympathiser and recruiter of ISIS - the banned global terror organisation - from Bhatkal in coastal Karnataka was held on Tuesday evening in a covert operation by the Central enforcement agencies at Pune airport minutes before he was to board a flight to Dubai.

Ismail Musab Abdul Rawoof (34), a resident of Darul Zakwan, Ayesha Masjid compound, Aminuddin road, Bhatkal, who was being shadowed by the Intelligence Bureau and NIA for several months was detained on Tuesday at the Pune airport even as he was trying to reportedly flee the country. Rawoof was under surveillance from the time the NIA had arrested around 25 alleged ISIS sympathisers/ recruiters early this year, a source said.

He is central to the NIA investigation in the infiltration of the terror organisation in India, an official source told this newspaper. Rawoof is being interrogated by various agencies at an undisclosed place. Maximum number of ISIS related arrests have taken place from Karnataka, which is a growing concern for threat to internal security.

Rawoof is the ninth alleged ISIS sympathiser/recruiter from Karnataka, who has been arrested by the NIA. 25 such arrests have been made across the country so far.
In a unanimous decision released Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to uphold Texas current system for drawing legislative districts so that they are roughly equal in population.

The Supreme Courts ruling is a victory for legislators  mostly Democrats  who represent districts with significant populations of people who are not eligible to vote: primarily children and non-U.S. citizens.

Last year, two Texas voters, Sue Evenwel of Mount Pleasant and Edward Pfenninger of Montgomery County north of Houston, brought a case to the Supreme Court arguing that Texas should divide its districts by the number of eligible voters, not by the total population. Evenwel and Pfenninger argued that the power of Pfenningers vote was comparatively diminished because he had a greater proportion of voters in his district.

The court pointed out that the difference in population between the biggest and smallest state Senate districts in Texas was less than 10 percent, while the difference between the eligible voters in the biggest and smallest districts was 40 percent. Evenwel argued that the disparity is untenable.

The justices did not say it would be unconstitutional to base district sizes on eligible voter populations, but said Texas method of dividing legislative districts by overall population is clearly the standard.

Although the 80 judgment was unanimous in Texas favor, the Court offered three separate justifications  the majority opinion, written by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and joined by five other justices, as well as two concurring opinions written by Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice Samuel Alito.

In the ruling, Ginsburg focused heavily on U.S. history and longstanding practices allowing states to divide districts by total population.

What constitutional history and our prior decisions strongly suggest, settled practice confirms, Ginsburg wrote. Adopting voter-eligible apportionment as constitutional command would upset a well-functioning approach to districting that all 50 states and countless local jurisdictions have followed for decades, even centuries.

The opinion went as far back as to quote founding father Alexander Hamilton: There can be no truer principle than this  that every individual of the community at large has an equal right to the protection of government, it read.

The case brought together dozens of state legislators who signed on to briefs arguing in Texas favor. Members of the House of Representatives Mexican American Legislative Caucus and the Texas Senate Hispanic Caucus argued that the legal challenge represented a direct attack on their constituents, many of whom are ineligible to vote because they do not hold citizenship status. In order to accommodate thousands of additional eligible voters necessary to achieve district parity under Evenwel and Pfenningers plan, their districts would soar in size so much that their ability to represent their constituents effectively would be diminished, they said.

The Supreme Court acknowledged that argument in the majority ruling.

As the Framers of the Constitution and the Fourteenth Amendment comprehended, representatives serve all residents, not just those eligible or registered to vote, Ginsburg wrote. Nonvoters have an important stake in many policy debates  children, their parents, even their grandparents, for example, have a stake in a strong public education  and in receiving constituent services, such as help navigating public-benefits bureaucracies.

By ensuring that each representative is subject to requests and suggestions from the same number of constituents, total population apportionment promotes equitable and effective representation, the ruling concluded.

Even as the majority opinion focused on the historical definition of one person, one vote, Justice Clarence Thomas used his concurring opinion to dismiss that concept entirely. Although Thomas, the only African-American justice on the court, agreed on the constitutionality of Texas system of drawing districts, and said states should have significant leeway when choosing a method for drawing district lines, he expressed skepticism that one person, one vote had ever had a sound basis in the U.S. Constitution.

Historically, civil rights groups have relied on the one person, one vote principle to challenge systems that have resulted in disenfranchisement of minority groups.

Mondays ruling represented one of two recent Texas cases to reach the U.S. Supreme Court through the efforts of The Project on Fair Representation, which took on the complaint from Evenwel and Pfenninger. The nonprofit group is devoted to fighting the consideration of race in any government action and is also behind Fisher v. University of Texas, the high-profile affirmative action case the justices heard in December.

We are disappointed that the justices were unwilling to reestablish the original principle of one person, one vote, for the citizens of Texas and elsewhere, said Edward Blum, the groups director, in a statement.

Blum told the Tribune he did not feel the Evenwel ruling was an indicator of how the justices might rule on Fisher. The different nature and circumstances of the two cases made any comparison a fools errand, he said.

The Texas Democratic Party, meanwhile, celebrated the ruling.

Evenwel threatened a return to darker days when certain people were easily left behind by their government, chairman Gilberto Hinojosa said in a statement. Our elected representatives should be responsive to everyones needs, not just those that can bring them to power.

Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, whose support of his states system for drawing districts made him an unlikely ally with a coalition of Democratic legislators, issued a short statement Monday applauding the justices ruling.

We are pleased with the unanimous decision of the Court, Paxton said. My office is committed to defending the Constitution and ensuring the state legislature, representing the citizens, continues to have the freedom to ensure voting rights consistent with the Constitution.
There is a sense of haunting to the roar of a lion veiled in darkness.

The emphatic "ooooaa!" demands attention as it starts in the abdomen and reverberates through the night air.

Its direction and distance are secondary to one's primordial reaction - a sudden dilation of the pupils and a flare of prickles on the neck.

The call unmistakably announces a large carnivore, yet as each roar fades into solitary grunts it feels less like an act of aggression than the lonely imploring of a lost soul in the darkness.

The plight of Africa's lions is lamentable. Since the 1960s, the world has lost at least 70% of these magnificent cats, which until a few thousand years ago inhabited most of Europe, Asia and the Americas. Now we're down to around 20,000, all of them in Africa apart from one sub-species in India.

Habitat loss and the encroachment of people are largely responsible - lions in Kenya and Tanzania are shot by wildlife officials if they consistently kill livestock, for instance. And trophy hunters still shoot lions in the wild every year in countries where it is permitted, including Tanzania and Zimbabwe.

But if you were expecting a fable in which cunning Human steals from noble Lion, this story is not so clear-cut. Living with these predators is not easy. For many people in rural Africa, livestock pay for school fees and hospital bills, and insure against misfortune. Imagine finding half your nest egg has been taken overnight and, worse, worrying your family might be next.

Unsurprisingly, many lions that live near people end up shot or poisoned. Yet it doesn't have to be this way. A new five-year study that I have been involved in shows that when people directly benefit from lions, they become more tolerant of their faults.

Community wildlife 'conservancies' in Kenya

We focused on an area surrounding the Mara National Reserve in Kenya, a protected zone at the northern extent of the Serengeti ecosystem. These fertile grasslands are the home of the Maasai, semi-nomadic pastoralists who share them with the great annual migration of over a million wildebeest and their predators, including lions.

Maasai have always speared any rogue that dares interfere with their livestock; and today there are far more people and livestock and much less space for lions. Yet many on the northern edge of the Mara have wisely noted the premiums that tourists are prepared to pay for the Serengeti experience.
Mightn't it be more effective to find a way to oppose these corporations than to work for them?!

Don't bother campaigning - just make as much money as you can ...

Imagine if EA had been around to influence the young Obama. He would have been told: "Don't waste your time being a community organiser; become a rich young business executive, and you can pay for two or more community organisers out of the left-over money from your salary!"

Would the world really have been a better place, as a result of him accepting that careers advice? Now ask the same question with regard to Gandhi, Wangari Matthai, Caroline Lucas, Naomi Klein, or thousands of others ...

Does EA really have the evidence-base to support the claim that it's careers advice is actually making the world a better place? The answer to the question is of course quite obvious: it is No. Because such counterfactuals obviously can't be evidenced.

The EA approach overlooks meanwhile the key point that there are many ways to help effect and affect global change, of which donating money is but one: political engagement, activism, private and shared economic behaviours - like veganism or boycotts - and strengthening community bonds are among the others. The key point here is that no single activity is sufficient; rather all are required for a genuinely concerted effort.

A related consideration, from the EA perspective, should presumably be how to maximise disposable income. If one's goal is to maximise utility, how does one weigh up spending less money by buying intensively farmed food, or shopping in Primark in order to have more cash left over to donate to the chosen charities, against the harm caused by dangerous factory conditions in Bangladesh and intensive farming methods that are setting the scene for food scarcity in the coming decades?

Faced with such dilemmas one fears that preference would be given by EA to the option easiest to measure.

Addressing the structural causes of inequality

The point is that most of the causes of deep poverty are structural, and can therefore only hope to be alleviated through systemic measures - which is where global and national politics comes in. As the current refugee crisis shows us, although there is an urgent need and unquestionable moral demand for emergency assistance, such assistance will do nothing to address the causes of the problems.

This is why for instance Green MP Caroline Lucas has been at pains to point out the deeply unsatisfactory response of David Cameron - announcing (rather meagre) aid on the one hand, whilst simultaneously hosting an international arms fair.

As Caroline pointed out, we must recognise the - rather obvious - connection between war refugees and the global arms trade, if we are serious about addressing the issue. This systemic thinking is what real politics is all about. Being wholistic in one's approach, unfortunately, is inimical to the EA approach, which, as we have laid out, is necessarily balkanised because of its 'evidence-based' nature.

In any case, mention of the refugee crisis is conspicuously absent on the websites of the EA 'Giving What We Can' campaign, and only belatedly featured on a small blog post on the GiveWell site, recommending donations to MSF: but the problem identified above recurs (i.e. medical assistance is useful, but is not a substitute for safety, conflict-resolution etc). It may be that as a crisis it is considered by EA-advocates an emergency situation, and not something that would fall within the purview of regular philanthropy.

But this view would be mistaken: the crisis that has been unfolding in Europe this past year is just the start, and there is every reason to expect swathes of refugees from the Middle East and Africa to increase steadily in coming years as the effects of Climate Chaos hit and conflicts intensify.

Or perhaps refugees from Syria are not sufficiently poor enough to warrant help? Or perhaps their travelling (a hazard of being a refugee!) to Europe is to have crossed a philanthropic Rubicon: the cost of sheltering and feeding a single refugee becomes much more expensive, and therefore, according to the utility maximising impetus, it would be more cost effective to help people in poorer countries - and so, to take measures (including perhaps highly-coercive measures) to keep them there?

Poverty is a political issue

According to the principle of maximum utility only those in the direst poverty are worthy recipients of our charity, from the EA point of view - which therefore precludes any charitable giving to things like heritage, local conservation, guide dogs, medical research into western diseases.

Indeed given that EA - disastrously - follows a conservative, growthist model of economic development, it follows that such diseases will be in store for much of the developing world in the future.

But, as we've seen, poverty is a political issue, and after five years of Conservatives in power, there is now considerable poverty in the UK, as evidenced by the 1,084,604 people fed by food banks in this country last year, for example. Does this count as a sufficient degree of poverty?

And if it does, would giving to foodbanks be an appropriate way to address the issue - or does it in fact give tacit support to the kinds of welfare cuts that cause the foodbank dependence in the first place? Or what about fuel poverty, which leaves a million households in this country choosing between eating and cooking, and causes 15,000 deaths among the elderly each year? But doesn't Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALYS) value younger life-years more; and is this right?

These questions cannot be answered by doing cost-benefit analyses. They are - or, better, depend upon - philosophical and political questions. They demand the careful development of (and willingness to act on) a worldview that takes into the account the heart and not just the head. A wholistic, inter-personal and (if possible) wise way of both interpreting and changing the world. Such a worldview is lacking from the means-ends policy-wonkery of the EA movement.

Avoiding the systemic causes of crisis.

In this piece we have attempted to diagnose the root causes of some of the many problems that critics of EA have highlighted. We would argue that EA, in its drive to measure effectiveness, confuses the tool with the goal, counterintuitively resulting in the measurability of a cause as its most prized dimension.

This is because the EA movement is very much a product of our technocratic, scientistic times. With this diagnosis, one can expose the severe limitations of the EA approach, and reveal its inadequacies in the face of the unfolding refugee crisis. For example, EA must it seems conclude that refugees on Europe's shores are unworthy of help, on the grounds that it would be cheaper to help people in less expensive Africa.

But it is not only in emergency relief that EA fails refugees: more important still, in its myopic focus on measurable outcomes, it necessarily precludes any analysis of the systemic causes of the refugee crisis.

We conclude that the popularity of EA is a very promising sign - it is promising that so many people want to help, and to change the world - but we have suggested here reasons for believing that EA is not in fact an effective way of changing the world.

As the inadequacy (or rather, near non-existence) of its response to the refugee crisis helps demonstrate.

Sam Earle is a post-grad student at the University of East Anglia, working on developing a philosophical alternative to 'sustainability' thinking.

Rupert Read is Reader in Philosophy at UEA and Chair of the Green House Think Tank. This article is a precis of a much longer forthcoming piece of work they are doing for Green House, on EA.
Mercury poisoning is devastating tribal peoples across Amazonia, Survival International has warned.

In a letter to the UN Special Rapporteur for Health, Survival International highlighted the failure of South American governments to address the contamination.

Exposure to mercury is highly dangerous and can be fatal. Its effects include kidney malfunction, respiratory failure and acute anemia.

Tribal peoples are especially susceptible to mercury poisoning due to the large amount of illegal gold mining taking place on their lands. Mercury is used to coalesce fine alluvial gold particles into an amalgam and separate it from sand and pebbles.

The biggest problem is that miners 'burn off' the mercury on open fires to leave pure gold behind. But that vaporised mercury quickly condenses from the air to contaminate the environment.

As Amazonian tribes eat a lot of fish, they are particularly at risk of mercury poisoning due to the high concentrations of mercury often found in this food source. Furthermore, discriminatory attitudes towards tribal peoples mean that little to no action is taken to control the contamination.

In Peru, 80% of a Nahua community have tested positive for high levels of mercury poisoning. 63% of those affected are children and one child has already died displaying symptoms consistent with mercury poisoning.

Government negligence

The Peruvian government has known about the mercury contamination since 2014 but has done little to identify the source. Studies were carried out in the spring of 2015 but the results have not yet been published. All that is known is that the contamination is occurring through the consumption of fish.

It is possible that other tribal peoples in the area have been affected, including uncontacted peoples, but further tests will have to be carried out.

In Brazil, new statistics reveal alarming rates of mercury poisoning amongst the Yanomami and Yekuana. 90% of Indians in one community are severely affected, with levels far above that recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
New Delhi: Questioning the governments decision to constitute a multi-agency team to look into the leaked Panama Papers, JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav on Tuesday said it was embarrassing that the list of account holders includes the names of Padma awardees.

A SC-monitored SIT is already looking into the issue of black money. The leaked Panama Papers should be part of this investigation. It is embarrassing that Padma awardees are among those who have opened such accounts, he said.

He also attacked corporate houses for looting the country in the name of liberalisation and said the annual turnover of some of these was not more than Rs 2 crore in the 1990s but in 25 years rose to more than Rs 2 lakh crore.

Has any government ever checked and verified as to how and why certain groups become so wealthy? Even a layman can understand that they cannot become so wealthy without the connivance of the government.

The report has revealed Indians in the global list of (those holding) secret firms in tax havens. It is the result of blind liberalisation and big people took advantage by accumulating illegal money abroad, Yadav said in a statement.

Suisse, HSBC dismiss tax allegations

Credit Suisse and HSBC, two of the worlds largest wealth managers, dismissed on Tuesday suggestions they were actively using offshore structures to help clients cheat on their taxes.

Their comments came a day after a leak of four decades of documents from a Panamanian law firm that specialises in setting up offshore companies showed widespread use of those instruments by global banks on behalf of their clients and triggered a raft of government investigations across the world.

Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam, who is aggressively targeting Asias wealthiest for growth, said his bank was only after lawful assets.

We as a company, as a bank only encourage the use of structures when there is a legitimate economic purpose, Thiam, who took the helm at Switzerlands second-largest bank last year, told a media briefing. Separately, HSBC said the documents pre-dated a thorough reform of its business model.

The allegations are historical, in some cases dating back 20 years, predating our significant, well-publicised reforms implemented over the last few years, said Gareth Hewett, a Hong Kong-based spokesman for HSBC.

HSBC and Credit Suisse were named among the banks that helped set up complex structures that make it hard for tax collectors and investigators to track the flow of money from one place to another, according to ICIJ, which based its reports on the leaked documents from the Panamanian law firm, Mossack Fonseca.
ERIN SCHMITT / THE GLEANER A recliner inside an apartment building in the 800 section of Old Knoblick Road was one of the items that burned up in a fire Monday afternoon. Firefighters said no one was in the apartment when the fire broke out.

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By Erin Schmitt of The Gleaner

A quick acting passer-by helped prevent a fire that charred an apartment in the 8000 section of Old Knoblick Road in Robards from further damage Monday afternoon.

A motorist driving by a home located at 8265 Old Knoblick Road at about 1 p.m. spotted flames coming from a structure on the property and called 911, said Robards Fire Chief David Denton.

Firefighters arrived to find a two-story structure located directly behind a house had caught fire on the east side.

"It started right there by the doorway, but I'm not sure if it was on the inside or the outside," said Denton. "We're still looking into it."

The fire melted all the siding on the east side and caught the wall on fire around the door. It took about five minutes to knock down the fire, which was kept contained to the area where it started.

The cause of the fire hasn't been determined, Denton said.

A primary and secondary search revealed no occupants in the building, which appeared to be some sort of apartment. Officials were informed that the building was rented and the homeowner had been contacted.

Everything in the building was still intact, but there was smoke and heat damage. There was no damage to the nearby house. Denton said firefighters were concerned about spreading since the two buildings were in such proximity.

"If they hadn't caught it when they did, it would have been a different story, the people driving by," said Denton.

Firefighters from Robards, Smith Mills and Niagara, Cairo and Henderson City-County Rescue responded to the scene, along with the Ambulance Service.

Sheriff Ed Brady, who heard the Dispatch call as he was returning from lunch, also went to the scene to help with traffic control.
MIKE LAWRENCE / THE GLEANER  FILE PHOTO  911 dispatchers at work in the Henderson dispatch center located at the police department in September, 2015.

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By Beth Smith of The Gleaner

When residents dial 911 they are generally asking for one thing: help.

While Henderson's dispatch center is still providing this service to the community, the agency itself is in need of assistance.

"We are really short-handed. We can't find people who want to do the job," said Mike Shockley, director of the Henderson County 911 Center. "I started noticing a big personnel crunch about a year-and-a-half ago. It's just getting worse and worse. Every time we try to get someone hired, they don't want to stick with us."

The dispatch center is currently working with about "60 percent" of what would be a full compliment of 15 dispatchers, said Henderson Police Chief Chip Stauffer.

"Currently, we have police officers in the dispatch center helping with the workload, but they can't offset the hours for dispatchers. For the most part, because of the shortage, dispatchers are working 12-hour shifts right now," Stauffer said.

Dispatchers must have a high school diploma or GED, the ability to speak over radio systems in English in a clear and easily understood voice in emergencies and other stressful situations, the ability to maintain accurate records and operate a computer.

Trainees must attend a five-week training course in Richmond, Kentucky, to receive certification with transportation, lodging, food, and full pay while attending. The starting pay for the job is $14.51 per hour, with benefits.

"The big issue is that we tell them on the front end what the job entails," Stauffer said. "When they actually experience what we told them the job was, it becomes overwhelming for them due to the hours and the nature of the work. But we are very clear up front with them."

Being a dispatcher, Shockley said, "You either love it or you hate it."

"You don't know what you're going to get when you pick up the phone or answer the radio from one time to the next, so that's a big issue for some," he said.

The "not knowing" is the best part of her career, said Amy Jones, a 13-year veteran of the Henderson Dispatch Center.

"You'd think that would be the stressful part," she said. "To some, it is the most stressful job in the world. To me, it's the most stress-free job because you have no idea what you're going to be doing so you can't go home at night and worry about the reports you're doing the next day," she said.

Until the dispatch center has enough staff, Jones said, "It's time away from your family. It's working nights, weekends and holidays. It's definitely not ideal conditions to come into. It's very stressful, not so much the job, it's more stress at home not being able to get things done. Me, I work 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., and it's hard just to get a chance to pay bills, or getting to see our families. It can be stressful."

Despite the stress and long hours, Shockley said being a 911 dispatcher is a fulfilling career.

"You get to help people, every day. It could be you're helping an officer find somebody or a firefighter find a house. Either way, you're helping your community at the same time."

Applications may be picked up at the Henderson Municipal Building, 222 First St. People can also download applications by going to www.cityofhendersonky.org.

The application deadline is April 15. An exam will be given April 19.
West Burlington pool shooting suspect found not guilty

After two days of testimony, the suspect in the shooting at the West Burlington Swimming Pool was found not guilty of all charges.
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NEW YORK (AP) -- Virgin America has loyal passengers who love the airline's cool vibe even if its size and schedule are too limited to meet all their travel needs.

But it appears to be going away.

Alaska Airlines' parent company announced Monday that it will pay $2.6 billion to buy the Richard Branson-inspired, California-based carrier. Alaska hopes to become travelers' preferred airline on the West Coast and a tougher competitor to giants American, Delta and United on transcontinental routes.

The deal would vault Alaska over JetBlue -- the losing bidder for Virgin America -- to become the nation's fifth-biggest airline by passenger traffic.

Since it started flying in 2007, Virgin has helped bring down fares on transcontinental routes between California and New York, and it engaged in a price war with Southwest that led to dramatically lower fares in Dallas.

Some analysts believe the merger will mean fewer bargain fares. Mergers and acquisitions have already reduced nine major U.S. airlines to four and made it easier for the survivors to limit flights, an indirect way to avoid cutting prices. Now two smaller carriers are combining, again leaving passengers with fewer choices.

"We think (Virgin) was a price disruptor in the industry, so we think we will see less discounting on these routes," said Jim Corridore, an analyst with S&P Capital IQ.

But Alaska's CEO, Brad Tilden, said Alaska and Virgin thrive because they keep their costs -- and as a result airfares -- lower than bigger airlines.

"We don't have any intention of straying from that strategy," Tilden said.

Alaska faces the risk that Virgin's most passionate passengers won't like their new airline because it won't be as hip. The combined company plans a campaign to keep those key customers happy and flying.

"I think our biggest advocates, because they are so invested in the brand, will be disappointed," Virgin America Inc. CEO David Cush said in an interview. "We are going to make sure that we spend the proper amount of time with them to explain that we think this is a good deal."

The pitch will go something like this: The route network will be greatly expanded with more flights to more places. A combination of Alaska's Mileage Plan and Virgin's Elevate will be a bigger, more valuable loyalty program. And even if its planes don't have mood lighting and order-at-your-seat screens like Virgin's, Alaska runs a solid airline.

Alaska ranked second among U.S. carriers in on-time performance last year, trailing only fair-weather Hawaiian Airlines. Virgin was fifth. Alaska had the industry's lowest complaint rate. Virgin's rate was in the middle of the pack, three times higher than Alaska. While Alaska charges bag fees, it was the first to add a guarantee -- if a checked bag isn't at the pickup area within 20 minutes, fliers get $25 off a future trip or 2,500 bonus miles.

The proposed merger would give Alaska a bigger presence in Virgin's key markets of San Francisco and Los Angeles and a foothold at busy airports in New York and Washington, D.C.

Tilden said the goal is to be "the premier airline for people along the West Coast."

"One of the main things customers want is for you to fly them to places they need to go. This is going to put us in a better position to do that," Tilden told The Associated Press.

The combined airline would operate about 1,200 daily flights and control 5.5 percent of domestic air travel, compared with 4.2 percent for New York-based JetBlue. It would still lag far behind American, Delta, United and Southwest. Those four control 83 percent of domestic seats, according to an Associated Press analysis of data from Diio, an airline-schedule tracking service.

It will be based in Seattle with Tilden as its CEO. Alaska said the deal would add to its adjusted earnings per share in the first full year.

If past airline deals are any indication, Alaska and Virgin will continue to operate separately for several years while combining workforces, computer systems and -- maybe -- fleets. Alaska flies Boeing planes, and now must decide whether to keep Virgin's leased Airbus jets.

Alaska executives also said they might keep the Virgin America brand name alive in some form.

Analysts pressed the executives on whether Alaska had overpaid for a relatively small airline with only about two dozen destinations. The executives replied that it was a one-time opportunity to grow overnight in California, complementing their airline's strength in Washington, Oregon and Alaska.

Virgin started flying in 2007 with backing from Branson, the colorful British billionaire, as a minority owner -- U.S. law limits foreign ownership of airlines. It went public in November 2014 with an initial stock offering that jumped 30 percent on its first day of trading. The airline turned profitable -- barely -- in 2013 and earned a record $340.5 million last year with help from lower fuel prices.

JetBlue issued a statement saying that it wants to grow on the West Coast and on transcontinental routes, but that the price of an acquisition got too high -- it would be better for JetBlue to grow on its own.

The Alaska-Virgin deal is subject to approval by shareholders of both airlines and government antitrust regulators. The airlines hope to close by the end of this year.

Alaska will pay $57 per share in cash. That is a 47 percent premium to Virgin's closing price on Friday and an 86 percent premium to its price the day before Bloomberg News first reported a potential sale.

Alaska shares fell $3.09, or 3.8 percent, to $78.92, while Virgin shares soared $16.21, or 41.7 percent, to $55.11.

___

Koenig reported from Dallas.

Follow David Koenig at http://twitter.com/airlinewriter and find his work at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/david-koenig . Follow Scott Mayerowitz at twitter.com/GlobeTrotScott and find his work at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/scott-mayerowitz.
ALBANY, N.Y. -- Less than a year after New York banned fracking, dashing the hopes of farmers who had hoped to reap royalties from natural gas leases, the commercial solar industry is courting landowners for energy production.

Buoyed by Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo's renewable energy plan and the extension of the 30 percent federal tax credit in December, solar companies in recent months have blanketed rural areas with mailings seeking leases on farmland for solar arrays spanning 20 acres or more. While some farmers welcome the opportunity to earn up to $2,000 an acre annually for the next 20 years or so, some agricultural advisers, community leaders and lawyers are urging caution.

"These are complex business transactions masquerading as lottery tickets," said Chris Denton, a southern New York lawyer who helped landowner groups negotiate oil and gas leases during the Marcellus Shale gas rush in 2009. "There are unexamined risks and environmental impacts. That's why landowners are banding together again to formulate leases that will protect their interests."

Manna Jo Greene, environmental director for the nonprofit Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, said the developing solar boom is welcome but only if it's done right. While a solar development is a beneficial use for a former landfill, it might not be appropriate for prime farmland, she said. And there are many questions concerning zoning, agricultural tax benefits, effects on farm operations, and the eventual decommissioning and disposal of the solar components.

"A lease promising $20,000 or $40,000 a year is tempting to farmers who are struggling," said Greene, who is also an Ulster County legislator. "But we're trying to get the word out to be cautious and not let a developer strip them of their property rights."

The Cuomo administration's initiatives aimed at promoting local renewable energy generation, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and generating 50 percent of the state's energy from renewable sources by 2030 are bringing solar developers to the state. One company, Santa Monica, California-based Cypress Creek Renewables, has mass-mailed lease offers to hundreds of upstate landowners.

"We expect to have operational projects in every utility load distribution zone in New York by the end of 2017," said Cypress Creek spokesman Jeff McKay. The company already has operational sites in North and South Carolina, Texas, Indiana, Missouri, Minnesota, Oregon and Georgia, he said.

"New York's solar industry is growing at unprecedented levels," said Department of Public Service spokesman Jon Sorensen. He said that the state doesn't have figures on solar leasing activity but that energy and agriculture agencies are developing information to help farmers make leasing decisions.

"It's happening so fast, it's caught people off-guard," said Elizabeth Higgins of the Cornell Cooperative Extension in Ulster County.

Several New York towns, including the Orange County town of Goshen, have enacted moratoriums on new solar farms to allow officials to consider any zoning changes that might be necessary.

A similar solar boom has been going on in North Carolina for about four years, driven by state-mandated rules for utility power purchases that favor solar developers. At least 200 commercial solar farms have been established in North Carolina, mostly around 5 megawatts but ranging to up to 80 megawatts, said Tommy Cleveland of North Carolina State University's Clean Energy Technology Center.

Objections similar to those being raised in New York were raised in North Carolina.

"There has been concern about taking prime land out of farm production," he said. "In the last two years, we've installed more than any state other than California, and it's still only a tenth of a percent of our farmland."

For some farmers in New York, the leases could mean salvation. Marginal land could become productive, and prime cropland could produce income without labor and other costs during a 20-year lease, with the potential to one day return to crop production.

"I've been looking for anything and everything to get some other income for my farm," said Mike Athanas, a retired electronics technician who has a 184-acre farm in Hyde Park in the Hudson Valley. "The taxes are killing me. My vegetable business doesn't have much profit margin. And some of the soil isn't the best for planting."

Athanas recently signed an option with Boston-based Omni Navitas Holdings to lease two 20-acre parcels where he used to grow hay. He hopes to get at least $2,000 per acre annually after the solar panels go up this summer.

"I've always wanted to have a vineyard," Athanas said. "This may give me the extra capital I need to while away my hours growing grapes for local wineries."
MILWAUKEE -- After Donald Trump's toughest stretch of the campaign, he and Ted Cruz made spirited final pitches Monday to Wisconsin voters, who will cast ballots Tuesday in a Republican primary that both consider a key step in the race for president.

After Tuesday, there's a two-week lull before the next important voting, in New York.

Trump is facing pressure on multiple fronts following a difficult week marked by his controversial comments, reversals and rare moments of contrition. While his past remarks on topics like Mexican immigrants have drawn a backlash, even he appeared to recognize the damage caused by a series of missteps in the lead-up to Wisconsin.

Those included re-tweeting an unflattering photo of Cruz's wife and a series of contradictory comments on abortion that managed to draw condemnation from both abortion rights activists and opponents.

While Trump is the only Republican with a realistic path to clinching the nomination ahead of the Republican convention, a big loss in Wisconsin would greatly reduce his chances of reaching the needed 1,237 delegates before then. A big win for Trump would give him more room for error down the stretch.

Friendlier pastures lie ahead in New York and other Northeast states. But for now, he's facing a tough challenge in Cruz, whom polls show with a lead in Wisconsin.

Trump is facing pressure on two fronts.

In Wisconsin, he has been battered by negative ads. The state's top Republican advertiser has been Our Principles PAC, which pumped almost $1.3 million into anti-Trump ads. The Club for Growth, which has endorsed Cruz, is spending $800,000 on ads that promote voting for Cruz -- not John Kasich -- as the best way to ensure a Trump defeat.

Also, the state's Republican establishment, including Gov. Scott Walker and some of its most influential conservative talk radio hosts, have lined up to support Cruz.

At the same time, Trump's campaign has been outmaneuvered by Cruz in some early states where the campaigns are working to ensure that the delegates who attend the convention this summer are loyal to them. Trump acknowledged his frustrations on CBS Sunday in discussing a meeting with members of the Republican National Committee.

"And I did look at my people. I said, 'Well, wait a minute, folks. You know, we should've maybe done better,'" he said. "Except I also said, 'I won the state.' And I think there's a real legal consequence to winning a state and not getting as many delegates."

The billionaire businessman began his final day of campaigning in LaCrosse, a city of about 50,000 on Wisconsin's western border.

Saturday morning, he had been on the defensive, complaining about the coverage he's received and suggesting that his message wasn't getting through to voters.

But as he's moved from rally to rally in the state -- many featuring crowds in the thousands -- he's grown more optimistic, moving from thinking he "could surprise" to all but guaranteeing victory.

"I really believe tomorrow we're going to have a very, very big victory," he told the crowd, imploring them to vote.

"If we do well here, folks, it's over. If we don't win here, it's not over, but wouldn't you like to take the credit in Wisconsin?" he asked.

Meanwhile, Cruz's confidence was growing, too. He predicted a "terrific victory" during the taping of a town hall in Madison that was to be broadcast Monday night on Fox News. Cruz also discounted any possibility of someone other than Trump or him winning the nomination.

"This fevered pipe dream of Washington that at the convention they will parachute in some white knight who will save the Washington establishment, it is nothing less than a pipe dream," Cruz told reporters. "It ain't going to happen. If it did, the people would quite rightly revolt."

He got in a dig at Trump, too.

"The last two weeks Donald Trump has gotten his rear end whipped, over and over and over again," Cruz said.

On Monday, the Democratic rivals appealed to union members and showed their next-primary hopes by their locations: Bernie Sanders in Wisconsin, where polls show him ahead, and Hillary Clinton in New York, which votes in two weeks and is a must-win state for her.

At a UAW headquarters in Janesville, Sanders criticized Gov. Walker as being anti-union and said, "In a sense what this campaign is about is building on what the union movement has done." In New York City, Clinton campaigned alongside Gov. Andrew Cuomo, praising union-led efforts that helped raise the state's minimum wage to $15 an hour and predicting that that higher level would "sweep" the nation.

As for Trump's difficult recent stretch, it's not unusual for candidates to go through such periods, and they often rebound better prepared.

President Obama, for instance, was dogged in the 2008 Democratic primaries by controversial comments his pastor had made in church sermons. In a move that foreshadowed how he would respond to difficult moments in his presidency, Obama delivered a well-received speech on race in which he disavowed Pastor Jeremiah Wright's comments but also sought to explain them through the prism of the nation's tortured history on race.

When Wright resurfaced later in the campaign with more questionable comments, Obama moved swiftly to put the controversy to rest, cutting his ties to Wright's Chicago church.

___

Bauer reported from in Madison, Wisconsin. Associated Press writers Jonathan Lemire in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, Todd Richmond in Janesville, Wisconsin, Jacob Pearson in New York and Stephen Ohlemacher, Julie Pace and Julie Bykowicz in Washington contributed to this report.
NORWALK -- Before handing down a four year prison sentence to 23-year-old acknowledged gang member Javon Smith on narcotics and probation violation charges in Norwalk Superior Court on Tuesday, Judge Alex V. Hernandez reminded the defendant that he had a choice to make going forward.

Smith, wearing an off-white prison jumpsuit with the numbers 122 emblazoned across the back, was brought into the courtroom from lock-up and stood next to his public defender James Lamontagne in a courtroom virtually devoid of spectators, listened intently to the judge.

"It gives me no pleasure to sentence this kind of time," Hernandez said. "A lot of people age out at 28 or 29. You can't keep this up -- you'll either be doing life on the installment plan or you will be dead on the streets."

Smith, whose criminal history dates back to 2012, heard prosecutors outline his charges-which included possession and sale of heroin and crack cocaine, as well as numerous visits to public housing complexes in violation of his probation.

Prior to the sentencing of four years in prison, followed by three years of special parole, Lamontagne spoke on his client's behalf.

"I've represented him (Smith) for quite a number of years and he is a respectful young man," Lamontagne said. "His last drug case was July of 2014 and has had no further drug arrests since that date. He has been in a treatment program and has had a few hiccups along the way which is typical with a drug addict. He is a gang member and is halfway through the SRG program. This is the last anyone will see of Mr. Smith."

SRG (Security Risk Group) is a gang management program through the Connecticut Department of Corrections.

"The agency has also had a great deal of success with its innovative gang management program ... Initiated in 1994, the intensive Close Custody program requires that designated Security Risk Group/gang members ultimately renounce their membership to successfully complete the program at the state's maximum security Northern Correctional Institution," according to the DOC website.

Smith faced the judge squarely as he verbally acknowledged that he understood that his guilty pleas meant the loss of certain rights.

He responded with a strong 'yes' as he was asked if he understood that by pleading guilty he was waiving his right to a trial, and that he was knowingly and voluntarily entering his guilty plea on advice of counsel. He also acknowledged his understanding that he would be giving up certain rights such as the right to vote, and that he would be required to submit a DNA sample.

Smith, of 184 Cedar St., has an extensive criminal history dating back to May 20, 2012 when he was charged with interfering with a police officer.

He pleaded guilty to that charge and was given a one-year suspended sentence and three years of probation on Aug. 1, 2013.

On November 4, 2012, Smith was charged with assault on a public safety officer and pleaded guilty. He was sentenced to five years of jail, execution suspended, and three years of probation.

On Nov. 30, 2012, Smith was charged with interfering with a police officer and violation of probation. He pleaded guilty to that charge and was given a one-year suspended sentence and three years of probation.

Smith was charged on July 22, 2014 with possession of narcotics, possession with intent to sell, possession of a controlled substance within 1,500 feet of a school or housing complex, failure to keep narcotics in original container and use of drug paraphernalia.

On Aug. 23, 2015 he was charged with criminal trespass and interfering with a police officer. Most recently, on Sept. 3, 2015, he was charged with violation of probation and interfering with a police officer.
In its report submitted to the apex court in a sealed cover, the Institute also said that MSG occurs naturally in Maggi and is not an added flavor.

New Delhi: The Central Food Technological Research institute, Mysuru has informed the Supreme Court that there is no presence of lead in the Maggi noodles samples and the presence of Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) were within permissible limits.

In its report submitted to the apex court in a sealed cover, the Institute also said that MSG occurs naturally in Maggi and is not an added flavor.

A bench of Justices Dipak Misra and Shiva Kirti Singh which took the report on record said it would examine in detail and posted the matter for further hearing on July 19 and in the meanwhile directed that the copies of the report be give to the parties within three days. In December 2015 the Bench had asked the institute to test the magi samples on 16 parameters and submit a report to the court.

During the hearing, senior counsel Harish Salve, appearing for Maggi manufacturer Nestle submitted that the food department notification concedes that no lab test can determine the presence of MSG in the noodles. He also maintained that MSG occurs naturally in grains and that no added MSG was present in Maggi noodles. The central government had filed a class action suit before National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission against Nestle.

In its order the NCDRC said. It cannot be disputed that some doubt on the safety of the product will continue to persist till issue involved is finally decided by way of an adjudication based on the laboratory reports. But, the product in question being a food product of mass consumption by almost every section of the society, it is imperative to test and analyse its ingredients in an exhaustive manner, before a clean chit can be given to it. The samples were ordered to be sent to Chennai.

Having regard to this submission, the bench directed that the samples earlier collected shall be sent to the Mysuru laboratory for testing. The test reports shall be produced before this Court.
It is critical and past due that Gov. Dannel Malloy and especially Connecticut Commissioner of Education Dianna Wentzell look at the inequity in funding of the students who attend the Bridgeport Public Schools as compared to the more affluent suburban school districts in Connecticut.

As indicated in a recent op-ed commentary that appeared in various Connecticut newspapers, Interim Superintendent of Bridgeport Public Schools Frances Rabinowitz succinctly and dramatically pointed out how drastically underfunded the students who attend the Bridgeport Public Schools are as compared to the more affluent school districts in the Connecticut suburbs.

Superintendent Rabinowitz cited, for example, the disparity in per pupil expenditure in Bridgeport in the amount of $13,923 compared to the Westport Public Schools where the per pupil expenditure for the upcoming school year amounts to $19,747, a difference of nearly $6,000 per student.

Needless to say, this glaring inequity should be a disgrace to the State of Connecticut as well as for every citizen, whether suburban or urban, who need to be made more aware of how this woeful inequity impacts the students who attend the Bridgeport Public Schools.

As Rabinowitz pointed out, the inequity in funding between Bridgeport and Westport students results in class sizes of 29 for Bridgeport elementary and middle school as compared to class sizes of approximately 20 students in Westport. Can you imagine the uproar that would be generated among suburban parents if their children were exposed to classes of 30 children? As a former elementary school principal for more than 30 years with the Fairfield Public Schools, I know from experience that if parents in my school were told that their children would be in a classroom of 30 students, the parents would rightfully be furious and up in arms!

In light of this glaring inequity in school funding between the more affluent suburban school districts and urban districts in Connecticut such as Bridgeport, isn't it time for Commissioner Wentzell to reassess her priorities? It is her responsibility as well as the State of Connecticut to ensure that all students attending public schools in Connecticut are entitled to an equitable education.

What is equitable about children in Westport having classes under 20 students and a child in Bridgeport in a class of 30 children? Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders had this to say about the educational inequities that exist in our society and a school district's dependency on local property taxes. He cites the fact that schools in the more affluent suburbs have "great schools" whereas schools in the poorer, inner-cities of our nation are "substandard." Moreover, he advocates that the federal government needs to play a more active role in order to "make sure that those schools who need it the most get the funds that they deserve."

Educators and parents in Connecticut are aware that Wentzell is a huge advocate of standardized testing in Connecticut. Moreover, when the inner-city schools do not score as well as their suburban counterparts, Gov. Malloy and Commissioner Wentzell are also advocates of closing public schools in cities such as Bridgeport with their low test scores and replacing them with charter schools.

Sadly, what also appears to be ignored by Malloy and Wentzell is the fact that the achievement gap between urban and suburban schools is more attributable to poverty more than any other factor, yet the Bridgeport teachers must bear the brunt and blame for the lower test scores and the inequities in school funding.

In light of the above, as a former educational leader with many years of experience and with a doctorate from Teachers College, Columbia University, I have an innovative research proposal for Wentzell's consideration in order to help rectify the consistent underfunding of the Bridgeport Public Schools. I would propose a longitudinal research study beginning with the incoming kindergarten class in September of 2017 in the Bridgeport Public Schools and for the longitudinal study to continue for a period of 13 years when these kindergarteners will be graduating from high school.

My proposal would be for the State of Connecticut spearheaded by Education Commissioner Wentzell to apply for the funds from the federal Department of Education and from whomever is appointed as the new Secretary of Education in January of 2017. Hence these funds, if approved, would enable Commissioner Wentzell as well as the State of Connecticut to provide this federal funding directly to the Bridgeport Public Schools in order to provide a per pupil expenditure for the next 13 years that would exceed Westport's per pupil expenditure in the amount of $5,000 annually.

In addition to lowering class size, the extra federal funds could also be used to provide other crucial resources in a typical public school that are commonly found in the more affluent suburban school districts. Hence, as part of the longitudinal research project those education officials conducting the research will examine standardized test scores and compare Bridgeport test scores for the next 13 years with other urban school districts in Connecticut such as Hartford, Danbury and New Haven who are not receiving the extra funding.

In addition, as part of the longitudinal research study, a comparison by those conducting the research will be made in the year of 2030 regarding the percentage of Bridgeport students in the class of 2030 who go on to accredited four year institutions of higher learning upon graduation as compared to other urban school districts in Connecticut who are not receiving the additional federal funding.

Needless to say, it will be interesting based on this study whether adequate funding of an inner-city's school district will impact the achievement and graduation rates and, if successful, would also be a useful tool for the Federal Department of Education in Washington, D.C. to consider for other inner-city school districts in the nation.

Joseph A. Ricciotti, Ed.D. is a former educator from Fairfield.
The Grand Island Area Chamber of Commerce honored the top-ranked graduating scholars from Grand Island Senior High during an academic recognition reception Monday night at the GISH auditorium.

For more than 30 years, the chamber has hosted a series of annual academic recognition receptions honoring the top-ranked scholars from Grand Island's high schools. The three receptions, along with the endowment of chamber academic scholarships to four local students, provide an opportunity for the chamber and business partners to demonstrate their support for the scholastic achievements of today's student leaders and tomorrow's business leaders.

Sponsoring chamber business representatives join with parents, teachers, school administrators and chamber representatives at the receptions to celebrate the students' successes.

The top 15 percent of graduating GISH seniors honored on Monday and their parents:

-- Huraiya Adhora, Mohammad Adhora and Lina Adhora

-- Ronald Alvarado, Jose Alvarado, Reina Alvarado and Helen Argueta

-- Samantha Anania, Todd Anania Jane Anania

-- Brittany Armstrong, Brenda Armstrong

-- Ashley Astudillo, Shannon Astudillo and Juan Astudillo

-- Sophia Bardales, Vanessa Bardales and Melton Bardales

-- Brendan Barnes, Karmyn Barnes and Darin Barnes

-- Sierra Bixenmann, John Bixenmann and Brenda Bixenmann

-- Cody Brown, Kurt Brown and Cindy Brown

-- Brisly Carrera, Maria Acosta

-- Macy Collins, Doug Collins and Wendy Starzec

-- Blake Coen

-- Teresa Contreras

-- Melissa Cuellar, Deisy Cuellar and Marco Cuellar

-- Peyton Dowding, Steve Dowding and Charlene Dowding

-- Ariela Espinoza

-- Guadalupe Esquivel, Rafael Esquivel and Cecilia Esquivel

-- Laura Gamboa, Jairo Gamboa and Maria Urrego

-- Jairo Gamboa Urrego, Jairo Gamboa and Maria Urrego

-- Erica Garcia, Becky Soden and Seth Soden

-- Layne Gardient, Lynn Gardient and Jennifer Gardient

-- Alex Gewecke, Ronald Gewecke and Lou Ann Gewecke

-- Abbey Hansen, Steve Hansen and Kelly Hansen

-- Emily Harders, Vanessa Harders and Bill Harders

-- Hope Houtwed

-- Shane Jacobs, Neal Jacobs and Judy Jacobs

-- Josephine Jacobson, Stephanie Jacobson and Bryan Jacobson

-- Kelsey Jasnoch, Tim Jasnoch and Linda Jasnoch

-- Brandeis Jensen, Patricia Jensen

-- Valery Juarez, Byron Juarez

-- Daniel Keeling, Bill Keeling and Sonia Keeling

-- Zachary Kneale, Michael Kneale and Michelle Kneale

-- Sarah Koubek, David Koubek and Kristel Koubek

-- Ryan Krolikowski, Marcy Krolikowski and Randy Krolikowski

-- Kennadi Krzycki, Kelli Krzycki and Kenny Krzycki

-- Courtney Kunzman, Colleen Kunzman and Steve Kunzman

-- Matthew Lamb, Steve Lamb and Kianne Lamb

-- Alec Lee, Marcia Lee and Jay Lee

-- Adam Lehechka, Angela Lehechka and Greg Lehechka

-- Eric Lewandowski, Peggy Wingender and Jim Lewandowski

-- Lindsay Luth, Jack Luth and Janice Luth

-- Reece Maske, Kevin Maske and Julie Maske

-- Brooke McCallum, Kurt McCallum and Shirley McCallum

-- Brianna Menagh, Jamie Menagh and Mike Menagh

-- Evelyn Mercado, Rafaela Mercado and Eliazar Mercado

-- Rebecca Meyer, Ken Meyer and Sandy Meyer

-- Hannah Morris

-- Will Nabity, Chad Nabity and Kathy Nabity

-- Atalia Najera, Roxana Najera and Walter Najera

-- Nathan Nielsen, Scott Nielsen and Mary Ann Nielsen

-- Ana Perez-Senic, Julio Perez and Ana Senic

-- Briana Pfeifer, Marlena Pfeifer

-- Mackenzie Puckett, Karen Puckett and Daniel Puckett

-- Adan Redwine, Kent Redwine and Adrienne Redwine

-- Alec Redwine, Kent Redwine and Adrienne Redwine

-- Ashley Ries, Nellie Ries and Scott Ries

-- Arlenne Rodriguez-Gonzalez, Simara Rodriguez and Horacio Rodriguez

-- Brennon Root, Brenda Root and Bill Root

-- Sarah Salman, Salam Salman and Wedad Matrook

-- Donovan Smith, Janet Smith and Don Smith

-- Dylan Spilinek, Amelia Spilinek and Matthew Retzlaff

-- Mimi Toner, Steve Toner and Lisa Toner

-- Bethany Turner, Allison Nelms and Jared Nelms

-- Parker Upton, Nicolle Upton and Pete Upton

-- Tucker Vahle, Dan Vahle and Deb Vahle

-- Christian Valverde, Katrina Rainforth and Doug Rainforth

-- Kelby Vieth, Tiffany Vieth and Chad Vieth

-- Jocelyn Walford, Jarry Walford and Julie Mayer-Walford

-- Julie Engel, Alfred Engel

-- Mikaela Waltemath, Renae Waltemath

-- Lizzie Waters, Chris Waters and Cori Waters

-- Ellie Westerby, Jolyne Westerby and Jeff Westerby

-- Lado Yezinai, Helen Liyem and Emmanuel Yezinai

-- Alondra Zapata Gonzalez, Teresita Gonzalez

-- Gavin Znamenacek, Andy Znamenacek and Wendy Znamenacek

Business sponsors who made the academic recognition receptions possible are NBC Nebraska; Anderson Auto Group; Beavercreek Marketing; Central Community College; Chief Industries; Eakes Office Solutions; Edward Jones; Equitable Bank; Family Practice of Grand Island; Five Points Bank; General Collection; Grand Island Clinic; H&R Block; Home Federal Bank; Lauritsen, Brownell, Brostrom & Stehlik; McDermott and Miller; Midtown Holiday Inn; Obstetrician & Gynecologists; Principal Financial Group; Timothy Jacobs, DDS; Unite Private Networks; and Vleck Gardens.

Another academic recognition reception will honor Northwest High School students at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Northwest's auditorium. The third reception, to honor Grand Island Central Catholic and Heartland Lutheran High School students, will be at 6:30 p.m. April 13 at Riverside Golf Club.

For additional information, contact the Grand Island Area Chamber of Commerce at (308) 382-9210 or jhendricks@gichamber.
People who gathered at Mondays Donor Remembrance Ceremony at CHI Health St. Francis heard first-hand what the gift of life has meant to two people, Rory Thorpe and Susan Beaty, who each received kidney transplants.

Rorys story was told by her mother, Amanda Gillham, who told how her daughter first became sick when she was a very young child. That illness affected her kidneys. But Rory seemed to regain full health; her kidneys also seemed to be perfectly healthy. However, Rory became ill again and the second time, she had to go on dialysis permanently. Amanda said Rory was also having problems with other organs as doctors searched for a correct diagnosis. Doctors at eventually discovered that Rory had atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome or aHUS.

In an interview after her presentation, Amanda said that once the diagnosis was made, Rory received treatment that cleared up the problems with her other organs. However, Rory needed to stay on dialysis. Amanda said her daughters need for daily at-home dialysis meant that Rory was living anything but a normal childhood. She said one of the biggest things that Rory missed was the ability to eat chocolate and cheese. Amanda said doctors told her and the remainder of Rorys blood relatives that none of them were a suitable donor kidney donor. The donation would have to come from a non-family member.

A kidney donation, unlike with many human organs, can be made by a live donor. Amanda said that one day a co-worker, Jen, asked what would make your daughter better? Amanda said that she replied that Rory needed a kidney transplant, but that no family members could give up a kidney for her. Jen then said she was willing to donate a kidney. Amanda said that she responded as doctors had instructed her to do if such a situation ever arose. She told Jen to go home, think the situation over very carefully, and discuss the idea of donating a kidney very carefully with her entire family, which included five children.

Amanda said that Jen did talk over the situation with her family and she decided she still wanted to donate her kidney. It turned out she was a perfect match, said Amanda. As wonderful as it was to have someone offer to donate a kidney, it seemed truly miraculous that the only person who had made such an offer would actually be a perfect match. She said that her daughter and Jen went to the University of Iowa to have the transplant surgery performed. Doctors thought that Rory would be in the hospital about two weeks following the surgery, but she responded so well she was dismissed within six days.

Amanda said that since having her surgery about two years ago, Rory has gained 23 pounds and grown 12 inches. Its amazing what a functioning organ can do for a body, said Amanda, who noted that Rory can now eat both chocolate and cheese.

That one day  that one conversation between two friends  changed our entire world, said Amanda, who noted that the life that Rory was living before her transplant was hard. Rory now feels good and is not tied up to the dialysis machine every night. Ive told Jen that I could thank you a million times, but you will never fully understand what youve done for us, Amanda said.

But she noted that Jen feels that she has fulfilled her calling by donating one of her kidneys.

Sue Beaty said that her transplant story begins with her father, who was the first in the family to develop kidney problems. Fewer than 10 years later, two of her brothers developed kidney problems called focal segmental glomerulosclerosis or FSGS. She said she also then was diagnosed with FSGS, which involves scarring of the kidneys. Beauty noted her particular immune system made it difficult to find a suitable kidney donor.

Beaty said that she got a call from the University of Nebraska Medical Center in January 2010 that a suitable kidney had been located. However, at the very last moment it was determined the kidney was not a good match after all. She then got another call in October 2010 that a suitable kidney had been identified for her. This time, all the tests confirmed that initial hope. Beaty said what is important to her is the courage of medical people who did research and studied so that something like a kidney transplant could even become possible. She said courage also must be used to describe the people who allow the organs from a loved one to be used for transplant to give life to another person. She also saluted the courage of her family, saying that while she waited for her transplant, Im sure I was not a happy camper.

Paula Ryan, the clinical supervisor for the intensive care unit at CHI Health St. Francis, said the sunflower was chosen as a symbol for organ donors. She called people who have given the gift of donation true heroes. Betsy Collins-Clark, Nebraska organ donation specialist, noted that throughout this countrys history, it has been a tradition for people to honor those who have performed generous and thoughtful acts for others. Today, we remember, honor and celebrate the heroes of organ, tissue and eye donation.

Collins-Clark noted that during the time that it would take to complete Mondays commemoration, six more names would be added to the waiting list for organ donation. She said there are 123,000 people in the U.S. waiting for an organ donation, including 500 people in Nebraska. She said about 22 people die each day waiting for an organ transplant. Countless others are in need of tissue and eye donation as well, she said. The heroes we honor today made a difference.

The ceremony also included a candlelight ceremony to recognize how just one donor can provide eight major organs for transplant, as well as eye, tissue and bone transplants.
KOCHI: The much-awaited Palarivattom, Edappally flyovers will be commissioned by mid May, ending uncertainty over completion of the projects. Public Works Minister V.K Ebrahim Kunju had earlier announced that Palarivattom flyover would be opened for traffic by February 20 and Edappally by April.

Public Works Department principal secretary A. P. M. Muhammad Haneesh told DC that a state-level review meeting to assess the progress of the Palarivattom flyover was convened in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday. "After a lull, works have gained momentum. Stretching girders will be completed at the earliest. If the current progress is any indication, the bridge can be open for traffic by May 15," he said.

After completing 75 per cent of the works, Roads and Bridges Development Corporation of Kerala (RBDCK), the agency implementing the project, had to stop construction for nearly a month due to scarcity of funds. Before the paucity in works, an RBDCK official had maintained that construction of the 19 spans was in final stage.

Construction of the centre span, the biggest with a length of 35 metres, will take more time for which traffic along the stretch has to be diverted. RBDCK has already sought the support of traffic police authorities to impose traffic regulation.

Once the Rs 72-crore flyover is commissioned, traffic on the Kakkanad-Palarivattom road and the NH 47 will be decongested to a great extent.

Works on the Edappally flyover also have reached the final stage. So far 80 per cent of the works have been completed. "Works are progressing on fast pace and the over bridge can be opened for traffic by mid-May," according to sources at Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, the agency executing the project. However, the PWD is clueless on when would the works on Vyttila and Kundanoor flyovers begin.
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Linkedin Sepsha D. Restiananingsih (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, April 5, 2016

Indonesia needs to increase cooperation with China and other neighbors in combating illicit drugs, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Regional Representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific Jeremy Douglas. He was in Jakarta to attend the UN ASEAN cooperation meeting on March 30-31. The following are excerpts from his interview with The Jakarta Posts Sepsha D. Restiananingsih.

You have just attended the UN-ASEAN meeting in Jakarta. Please elaborate on the issues that you raised.

As part of the UN network on transnational crime, terrorism, corruption, money laundering, drug issues, I was there to represent what we are doing [] to help them implement regional commitments in relation to the topic. The ASEAN community is integrating very fast and as a result [] we see changes in transnational crime, we see organized crime [] drug trafficking, different types of transnational forms of trafficking [].

And how the region is to put in place what we call protective measures, for example to secure the ports, the borders [] it is about [placing] protective measures for the countries to stop the movement of terrorists, stop financing of terrorists [].

What we were advising [] as the region integrates more [] is that security integration to some extent should go along with economic integration. So you need [] the proper mechanisms at the borders to protect against transnational, organized crime [].

As you increase trade between countries [] more shipping containers move between countries [ ] theres more trafficking because illegal goods move with the legal goods. So you need to [] protect the legal trade, against the illegal trade, against the trafficking.

When it started operating in 2012, the UNODC saw Indonesia as a major international drug-trafficking hub. Does Indonesia remain so nowadays?

It remains a major drugs market and we increasingly see some cases of organized crime from other countries not far away trying to ship very large amounts of methamphetamine here -- a highly synthetic drug, or shabu [] .

And that has a huge impact on the youth, clearly this is the destination for shabu. Also regional organized crime have also set up labs to make the drugs [] so we are working with the BNN [National Narcotics Agency] on regional issues [].

Does the UNODC see Indonesia making inroads in combating drug abuse?

Indonesia is working with neighbors and is making efforts to address the trade in drugs or the chemicals [] the problem is so big it requires a lot of creativity and [] a balanced approach, law enforcement, justice, as well as health [] Whats really important is international cooperation [] it has to be expanded.

So Indonesia really needs to work with China and the other ASEAN countries. China is a source of chemicals and synthetic drugs coming here. So there really needs to be strong relations.

Do drugs mostly come from China?

Sometimes, often it is shabu, crystal methamphetamine. Because China has [] precursor chemicals, chemicals to make the drugs. Shabu is 100 percent chemical. [] So they sometimes make the drugs there and then ship the drugs. And this is a market of 250 million people with a lot of young people with more disposable income, so its a very good market to make money.

Whats the most widely available drug besides shabu in ASEAN in recent years?

[] The first drug is methamphetamine, second is heroin. You also have opium [] but more heroin is up in the Golden Triangle [of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand] we also see cannabis but the biggest problems are methamphetamine and heroin.

Where have the drugs that are widely available in Indonesia mostly come from?

The drug market in Southeast Asia is very diverse. In Indonesia the most popular is methamphetamine [or] crystal form of shabu, similar to the Philippines [].

If you go to Thailand, you see shabu but the more common form is the methamphetamine pill they call yaba [ ]. So in the Mekong area you have methamphetamine, but in pills, here its powder.

How many drug users in Indonesia has your office recorded compared to the other countries in the region?

We havent done a study. We are proposing in our new country strategy for Indonesia that we do a large drug user survey [].

So for example you need to study the population of drug users to know what type of drugs, how they use them and where [...] there are going to be differences in the country so you can tailor-make your strategy.

For example Thailand has a very high level of use of methamphetamine, the highest level in ASEAN [] you have users going back 20-30 years but recently you have a lot of young people using it. Yaba is much cheaper than shabu.

Why is it so difficult to beat the international syndicates despite UN help?

Well, our help has been very targeted. [] We need a lot more resources than we have. The other thing that we really need that makes it particularly challenging in this region is [] methamphetamine can be made anywhere. You can make methamphetamine in Bali, Yogyakarta, Jakarta []. In Aceh you just set up the factory []. A lab [] can be a table, inside a room [].

In any other country they hide the lab, sometimes in neighborhoods, in jungles. [] With heroin they make it from a plant, opium, we know where the producers are, in the mountains. There are opium fields; you don't see methamphetamine.

So you have to be able to infiltrate the organized crime, to understand the organized crime and then you can have programs to stop them. And that means you need intelligence and you need to share information between countries because the organized crime groups are working in many countries at one time [].

So, our recommendation to governments like Indonesia is to really increase your international cooperation, your intelligence sharing and increase your efforts to target trafficking organizations. Our recommendation is not to target the drug users and the small sellers. Its to target the big fish [].

What kind of international cooperation should be increased?

Right now there is cooperation but it tends to be case by case.

The government of Cambodia or Thailand might get the information [on a] would-be trafficker who would take drugs to Indonesia or to Malaysia. So they would share this information and catch the person at the airport []. It is not systematic cooperation.

So there needs to be better intelligence collection and better intelligence sharing across the region. So, the police in Indonesia need to be much better connected [].

---------------

We are looking for information, opinions, and in-depth analysis from experts or scholars in a variety of fields. We choose articles based on facts or opinions about general news, as well as quality analysis and commentary about Indonesia or international events. Send your piece to community@jakpost.com.
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Linkedin Lorraine Riva (The Jakarta Post) Huissen, Netherlands  Mon, April 4, 2016

Sharents (share - parent) are parents who share too much about their children online, be it on a blog, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr or any other social networks they have. Sharents share literally every single step their children make.



Mind you, this is just my two cents, not a judgment. And it is written based on my role as a mother of a teenage girl and as a professional working in online communication.



Reasons for sharenting



According to my observation, these are the top reasons for sharenting:



Pride



Most parents are undoubtedly proud of their children. That is why they are eager to share news about them.



On the other hand, there are other people who love children too. These people like to follow the growth and lives of the children of their relatives. Supply and demand meet here. And social networks provide a platform to fulfill this.



With one click, parents can share first steps, first words online. With one click, they can reach everyone in their network. With one click, those who love pics and news about their relatives and friends children can join in and express approval. It is easy, fast and does not cost a rupiah.



Parents do this kind of things online regularly; Sharents do this excessively.



Self-representation



Most mothers (the majority of sharents are mothers, hence the term 'mommyblogger') tend to be sharents for reasons of self-representation. Knowing womens nature, those mothers think and believe that if they do not share about their children, they will not be considered real mothers.



To be honest, Im one of these. As someone who describes herself as a loving mother in online profiles, I feel the urge to share more about my child- otherwise I feel I would be claiming to be something Im not. And that would feel so wrong.



But then, after weighing the pros and cons, I decided not to share too much.



Sharing



Sharing is indeed caring. However, the boundaries between sharing and showing off are vague. It is up to the readers to judge this.



Overscientified parenting



Here is a new trend in sharenting: sharents attach a mini camera to their toddlers helmet so they can see the world through their childrens point of view. These sharents share this online and other sharents follow.



For me, this trend is a form of overscientified parenting. Why cant sharents let their children be children without constantly documenting, monitoring and sharing the moments online?



*



Digital footprint



Be really aware that what you post on the net stays their forever. The digital footprint of children nowadays begins when they are still in their mums womb.



There is nothing wrong with that - expectant parents are overjoyed and want to shout out to the whole world that the little one is coming. But what happens afterwards is crucial in forming the childrens digital footprint.



The official definition of a digital footprint is the data trail of users of online media. The difference with digital footprints is that it is not the children themselves who leave the data trail.



Sometimes I am shocked at how blithely sharents put details of the places their kids regularly visit such as the name of the school, music and dance school. Perhaps some of you might think I'm exaggerating, but people with bad intentions browse the net too.



*



Sharenting tips



A survey carried out by Eircom in February 2014 shows nearly 80 percent think parents overshare their family lives.



Parents must realize that no matter how proud they are of their children, later on, when the children grow up, it will be they who live with the consequences of the parents online actions. They did not ask for it and, in case of young children, they are not able to object.



Here are some things to consider before you share something about your children online:



- Keep the information general; no details, for security reasons.

- Feeling the urge to share pictures? Please do this but avoid uploading eight identical pictures at once time.

- Do not share information that could humiliate your kids later on (ex. A photo of a sick child covered in vomit).

- Be aware of third-party apps that you grant access to your data on Facebook. Always set the settings to private.



Not all negative



To be fair, sharents also provide us with a wealth of useful information regarding parenting. Many mommy bloggers share useful how-tos and tutorials. Tips and tricks to deal with teens are also easy to find online.

At the end of the day, sharing is not all negative; oversharing is.

***

Lorraine Riva is a multilingual working mom in marketing communication field, self-taught photographer, foodie, art lover, Francophil and history nerd, living with husband and a teen daughter in a tiny place called Huissen in The Netherlands nearby German border.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.
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Linkedin Anne A. Jambora (Philippine Daily Inquirer/Asia News Network)  Tue, April 5, 2016

The safety of one of the most ubiquitous personal products recently spurred concern worldwide when a US jury verdict linked the regular use of Johnson & Johnson Baby Powder and Shower to Shower talcum powder to a womans death from ovarian cancer.

Jacqueline Fox from Birmingham, Alabama, claimed she used Johnson & Johnson Baby Powder and Shower to Shower for feminine hygiene purposes for over 35 years. Three years ago she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She died October last year at 62.

In February this year, a Missouri jury awarded $72 million in damages to her family. Foxs is one of 1,200 lawsuits in the United States currently being brought against the American multinational company, from consumers who claim they were not informed of the risks of talcum powder.

But are the risks posed by using products containing talc real?

Before throwing out your favorite eyeshadow or dusting powder, according to the Scientific American, scientists said the evidence of a real danger is inconclusive at best.

Talcum powder, made of the planets softest mineral, talc, contains magnesium, silicon and oxygen. It is used in a variety of cosmetic products, including powders used to absorb moisture or to cut down friction. In its natural form, talc contains asbestos, a known carcinogen.

However, all talcum products used for homes in the United States have been asbestos-free since the 1970s. But while the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not allow talc-based products to contain asbestos, cosmetic products do not need to be reviewed or approved before hitting the store shelves.

Health Magazine said that in a study from 2009 to 2010, the FDA tested random retail outlets in the Washington, DC metro area and bought a variety of cosmetic products containing talc. No traces of asbestos were found in all products across a wide range of prices. Still, that does not prove that all talc-based products in the market are asbestos-free.

Different kinds

The American Cancer Society (ACS) pointed out that its important to distinguish between talc that contains asbestos and talc that does not contain asbestos when talking about cancer links.

Talc that contains asbestos can cause cancer when inhaled; hence, some studies suggest higher risks of lung cancer and other respiratory diseases among talc miners and millers.

Other studies, however, found no increased risk of lung cancer. The studies on miners and millers are complicated, says the ACS, since talc in its natural form can contain varying amounts of asbestos and other minerals. But the use of cosmetic talcum powder so far has shown no increased risk of lung cancer.

But what about the ovaries? Since some women use talc powder for feminine hygiene purposes, there have been suggestions that talcum powder may cause ovarian cancer if powder particlesafter application in the genital area or sanitary napkins, diaphragms or condomstravel through the vagina, uterus and fallopian tubes to the ovary, and cause inflammation.

Dr. Adetunji Toriola, a Washington University epidemiologist at Siteman Cancer Center in St. Louis, told Scientific American that such an association is scientifically plausible.

We know that inflammation increases ovarian cancer risk, he noted. We know talcum powder causes inflammation. The question is, does talc cause cancer by causing inflammation in the ovaries?

Possibly

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a part of the World Health Organization, classified talc that contains asbestos as carcinogenic to humans. And, based on limited evidence from human studies of a link to ovarian cancer, IARC classifies the perineal (genital) use of talc-based body powder as possibly carcinogenic to humans.

The word possibly has raised concern among consumers, especially after the court ruling. But the American Cancer Society says more research is needed on the topic.

A 2014 report by the National Center for Biotechnology Informationwhere 61,576 postmenopausal women were followed for a mean of 12.4 years without a history of cancer or bilateral oophorectomyconcluded that perineal powder use does not appear to influence ovarian cancer risk."

The scientific evidence linking ovarian cancer to the use of talc powder is not overwhelming. The Johnson & Johnson trial, however, was on whether the company withheld information from its consumers about the potential risks of talc powder, and not about proving its safety or danger.

There is still very little known about ovarian cancer, the fifth most common cause of cancer-related deaths in women. At present, there is not even a screening tool for the disease.

Science, so far, has only been able to show its risk factors.

This, according to some scientists, is probably why people are so keen to believe there is a connection between talc and ovarian cancer.

In response to the verdict, Johnson & Johnson issued a statement to CNN saying its products are safe.

The recent US verdict goes against decades of sound science proving the safety of talc as a cosmetic ingredient in multiple products, and while we sympathize with the family of the plaintiff, we strongly disagree with the outcome, said Carol Goodrich, Johnson & Johnson spokesperson, in a statement sent to CNN.

On its website, Johnson & Johnson states that its talc-based products, based on studies made by the FDA, are asbestos-free: Various government agencies and other bodies have also examined talc to determine the potential for any safety risk, and none have concluded that there are safety risks. In fact, no regulatory agency has ever required a change in labeling to reflect any safety risk from talc powder products.
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Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, April 5, 2016

Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama and members of the City Council are locked in a dispute over how much land the administration should get from the developers of the reclaimed islands in Jakarta Bay.

"Certain councilors want to change the 15 percent requirement to 5 percent. We can't do that," Ahok said, referring to the portion of the land produced by the reclamation projects that the developers are supposed to hand over to the city administration.

The figure of 15 percentage was included in the original draft bylaws on coastal area zonation and small islands and in the Spatial Plan for Jakartas Strategic Northern Coastal Areas submitted by the city administration to the City Council for deliberation.

The change to 5 percent occurred when the draft bylaw was discussed in the City Council. "I wrote 'crazy' in the disposition. I told them that it was an act of corruption. I threatened them by saying that I would send to jail whoever opposes my disposition," Ahok said on Monday.

There are 17 islets to be developed in the reclamation project. Then governor Fauzi Bowo issued one permit, Joko Jokowi Widodo did not issue any permits and Ahok issued five. The project is part of the Giant Seawall project intended to prevent the city from being hit by high wave flooding.

During the deliberation in the City Council some councilors, Ahok said, even wanted to take out the requirements from the bylaw, saying that such a ruling could be stipulated in a gubernatorial regulation.

City councilor Mohamad Sanusi was arrested by Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) investigators on Thursday when he allegedly took a bribe from an official of Agung Podomoro Land in connection with the reclamation bill deliberations.

The anticorruption body has also named two other suspects -- Agung Podomoro Land president director Ariesman Widjaja and a company employee, Trinanda Prihantoro. In connection with the case, the immigration office had also imposed a travel ban on the chairman of property giant Agung Sedayu Group, Aguan Sugianto.

Meanwhile, city secretary Saefullah said the administration will use its land from the reclamation projects to develop low-cost apartments, improve the river capacity for flood mitigation and develop other city infrastructure.

"We consider that the percentage [15 percent] is quite fair for the city administration. With it the city administration will have additional funds to develop, particularly in North Jakarta, he added.

Jakarta Development Planning Board (Bappeda) head Tuty Kusumawati said that the legal basis for the reclamation, as the city administration pointed out, was Presidential Decree No. 8/1995 on the reclamation of Jakarta's northern sea.

Ahok said he could not revoke the reclamation permits he had issued, saying that what he could do is to require the developers to allocate 15 percent of the land to the city administration.

"I can't annul the reclamation. I can't occupy the land either. Therefore, I asked for the money from the 15 percent of the land they will produce with the reclamation projects, said Ahok. (bbn)
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Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, April 5, 2016

The Jakarta administration is considering introducing an odd-even license plate regulation to ease traffic in the capital following the cancellation of the decade-long three-in-one policy on Tuesday, Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama says.

Traffic was not severely congested on Tuesday, when the week-long trial of scrapping the 3-in-1 policy started, Ahok said.

He will evaluate conditions after the trial ends

"After the evaluation of the three-in-one policy removal, we will consider whether to implement the odd-even policy or not. If congestion is worse during the trial period, we will implement it," Ahok announced at City Hall.

The odd-even license plate policy will last only until electronic road pricing (ERP) is introduced next year, he said, adding that the administration had done research on the effectiveness of each policy.

Under the new policy, cars with odd number license plates will be prohibited from using certain thoroughfares on even dates and vice versa.

The administration had initially announced it would prepare the implementation of the license plate regulation during the tenure of then governor Joko "Jokowi" Widodo. The preparation included issuing stickers of two different colors to be put on cars -- red for odd numbers and green for even.

However, the city canceled the plan and decided to prioritize ERP.

The city was unable to implement ERP as there was no legal basis on violations or fees even though several trials had been conducted on Jl. Sudirman in Central Jakarta in July 2014.

Ahok said the city administration needed more time to implement ERP, but vowed to push ahead with it by handing over its management to the Jakarta Transportation Agency.

Despite the city's claim, the Jakarta Traffic Police reported an increase in traffic in previous 3-in-1 locations heading from Slipi, West Jakarta, and Pancoran in South Jakarta to Semanggi, Jakarta Police traffic director Adj. Sr. Comr. Budiyanto said.

The 3-in-1 regulation, which started in 2003, required cars to have at least three occupants.

Ahok decided to cancel the 3-in-1 traffic policy after cases of child exploitation came to light in which adults were using children and babies to act as extra passengers for hire. (rin)
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Linkedin Erika Anindita Dewi (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, April 5, 2016

Dismissed Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) politician Fahri Hamzah has hinted he may have the chance to join other political parties, despite his plan to fight against the PKS dismissal.

Citing his active role since the PKS was first established, Fahri, who is also a House of Representatives deputy speaker, said he was still committed to growing with and defending the party, together with his political colleagues. Fahri did not deny that he had received invitations to join other parties, however.

"If I reveal the offers I have received, it will be disruptive, Fahri said at the House complex in Senayan, Central Jakarta. He added that he intended to file a lawsuit against the PKS dismissal decision. As long as the lawsuit was in process, he said, he would maintain the status quo.

Fahri was scheduled to file the lawsuit at the South Jakarta District Court in Jakarta on Tuesday.

The PKS confirmed on Monday that Fahri had been dismissed in a written statement signed by the party's chairman, Sohibul Iman.

It was announced that the PKS arbitration council made the decision on March 11 and informed the party's central leadership board on March 20. On March 23, the board conveyed the decision to the PKS central executive board, which later proceeded according to the party's rules of association and internal bylaws.

Circulating rumors suggest that Fahri may joint either the Gerindra Party or the Golkar Party. Speaking separately, Gerindra deputy chairman Fadli Zon said all political parties had their own style when engaging in politics. He refused to comment on whether Fahri would fit with Gerindra's style, saying only that Fahri, his fellow deputy speaker at the House, was one of the PKS' founders.

Golkar politician Ade Komarudin said Fahri was a decisive Indonesian politician who had good principles.

As good politicians, they should not make Golkar the only option they want to join with," he said on Monday, when asked whether Golkar wanted Fahri to join the party. (ebf)
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Linkedin Ayomi Amindoni (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, April 5, 2016

Leaked information on clients of Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca, known as the Panama Papers, will be used as supplementary data by the tax office, the finance minister says. Analyst have urged the government to use the data to pursue hidden tax potential.

Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro said the government would examine information in the Panama Papers thoroughly and expected that the data would reveal a number of Indonesians who had undeclared assets in offshore companies.

Bambang said the government had information on Indonesians who had stashed money in countries that were tax havens. British Virgin Island, Cook Island and Singapore are the favorite tax havens for Indonesians.

We will use the papers to supplement data that we currently have. According to our data, many Indonesians have paper companies in various tax havens, said Bambang in Jakarta on Tuesday.

He estimated that funds stashed overseas totaled more than Indonesias gross domestic product (GDP). From estimated calculations of potential money owned offshore by Indonesians, Id say it is more than our GDP, more than Rp 11.4 quadrillion [US$861.7 billion], he said.

Bambang further said a planned tax amnesty would be effective in improving tax revenue, along with data that the tax office could use to target rich individuals. The amnesty will offer tax discounts to individuals and companies that declare their untaxed assets.

Center for Indonesia Taxation Analysis (CITA) executive director Yustinus Prastowo said the massive leak of more than 11.5 million documents on hidden assets in offshore companies coincided with the governments effort to boost tax revenue through the planned tax amnesty.

The Panama Papers momentum can be used as a trigger to push for the tax amnestys implementation. For the government, the challenge is to communicate better with the people. If there is no tax compliance, there will be decisive law enforcement, he said.

In reports from the investigation by US-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) on Monday, nearly 215,000 companies and 14,153 clients were tied to Mossack Fonseca.

The reports reveal that politicians and businesspeople have been keeping their wealth in offshore companies for years. Even though the practice is generally legal, such financial arrangements can be misused for committing illegal practices, such as evading tax or money laundering. (vps/ags)
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Linkedin Liza Yosephine (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, April 5, 2016

National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Anton Charliyan has said that the police are waiting for a decision from the Philippines regarding the rescue of 10 Indonesian citizens kidnapped by Abu Sayyaf militants.

The Indonesian government has reportedly been asked to wait until April 8 for a final decision. In the mean time, the two governments are negotiating with one another over how to secure the release of the Indonesian sailors kidnapped from the Brahma 12 and Anand 12 boats.

The Foreign Ministry is still negotiating with the Philippine authorities to see whether there are enough troops from the Philippines or whether it is necessary to bring in troops from Indonesia," Anton said as quoted by Tempo.co on Monday.

Anton said the National Police had urged the Philippine government to make a decision as soon as possible. "Right now, speed is crucial. We have conveyed the possibility of providing Indonesian troops to help in the rescue," he added.

Anton said Indonesian Special Forces personnel were in place and ready for the rescue mission. They are currently conducting intensive training exercises in the border areas of Kalimantan, he said.

"Even though it's routine training activity, once we receive the green light from the Philippines to deploy, they are ready to carry out a rescue operation," said Anton.

He further said discussions between the National Police and the Foreign Ministry had considered all the risks involved.

He asked for the family members of the victims to wait patiently for a decision from the Philippine authorities.

Anton said that in his efforts to calm down the victims families, he had cited success stories in the past where Indonesian citizens had been taken hostage in Africa and were later released when the hostage-takers were successfully foiled.

"The forces that we send will depend on the Philippine government," he said.

Hamsyar, the aunt of the hostage Rinaldi, expressed the hope that the Indonesian government would immediately pay the ransom money. Hamsyar admitted that she was increasingly worried over the fate of her nephew.

"I am afraid that they will be killed if the government does not pay the ransom. We as a family hope that the government and the company pay the ransom," she said as reported by Tempo.co.

Hamsyar said she believed that the government would do their best to free the hostages.

"Hopefully, in the remaining four days, the government's efforts will result in the safe return of the hostages," she added.

PT Patria Maritime Lines, the operator of the Brahma 12 tugboat and Anand 12 barge, is rumored to have prepared the ransom money to free the victims, according to a source that spoke to Tempo. The information was offered up by M. Ridwansyah, a cousin of Halimatus Sa'adiah. Sa'adiah is the wife of Suriansyah, one of the crew members on the Brahma 12 tugboat.

"The company is actually ready to pay the ransom, but they are still coordinating with the government on the best possible option," said Ridwansyah when contacted on Monday.

The PT Patria Maritime Lines branch office in Banjarmasin refused to comment on the situation.

On Monday, Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Luhut Pandjaitan gathered several ministers and high-ranking officials to discuss the rescue mission, including Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly, Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu and National Police chief Gen. Badrodin Haiti. (liz/ebf)
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Linkedin Liza Yosephine (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, April 5, 2016

The Indonesian government pushed forward efforts to strengthen global nuclear security architecture during the 2016 Nuclear Security Summit in the US, the Foreign Ministry said on its official website in Jakarta on Monday.

Providing security for nuclear and radioactive materials and nuclear facilities is very important to prevent the materials from falling into the hands of terrorists or other irresponsible parties, said Vice President Jusuf Kalla as quoted by the ministry.

Kalla, who led the Indonesian delegation, made the statement during the summit, which was held in Washington DC from March 31 to April 1.

Kalla said the Indonesian government considered it important to create a world free from nuclear weapons to prevent terrorists from misusing them.

During the summit, Kalla took the opportunity to condemn a number of recent terror attacks in several major cities, such as Ankara, Brussels, Istanbul, Jakarta, Lahore and Pakistan.

He highlighted that Indonesia had continued to increase efforts to fight terrorism and called on countries to reaffirm their commitment to fighting terrorism in all forms and manifestations, including terrorism using nuclear weapons.

The 2016 Nuclear Security Summit discussed various achievements and progress on various joint initiatives and commitments agreed upon by world leaders in previous summits. Nuclear Security Summits have been held in Washington DC in 2010, in Seoul in 2012 and The Haag in 2014.

A number of key issues discussed at the summit included international cooperation in the strengthening of nuclear security architecture, efforts to increase the security of nuclear materials and radioactive sources and preventing nuclear and radioactive materials from falling into the hands of non-state actors, who do not have right to use them.

Just like in previous summits, in the 2016 Nuclear Security Summit, each participating country conveyed a summary of its national achievements on nuclear security. The summit resulted in a communique and plan of action, which generally contained commitments of all participating countries to strengthen nuclear security architecture at all levels.

All of the countries also agreed to push forward international cooperation and international nuclear security architecture through the strengthening of legal instruments and to create an international environment that is peaceful and stable through a decrease in nuclear terrorism threats.

The 2016 Nuclear Security was led by US President Barack Obama, as host and initiator of the summit, and several international organizations, including the UN, Interpol, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism. (ebf)
Chennai: DMK treasurer M.K. Stalin on Monday did not comment on the type of the next government to be formed by the two allies and merely said this alliance would drive away the AIADMK regime from power and achieve success in the Assembly elections.

Contrary to speculations that the Congress had accepted 32 seats, the national party made a hard bargain for a higher number of seats and finally settled for 41. The DMK was ready to offer only 30 seats to the Congress and had to make a climb down to retain the Congress in the front.

Except the March 25 meeting between Azad and DMK leaders and the final signing of the pact, telephonic conversation between Chennai and New Delhi played a major role in the negotiations. AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhis insistence for more seats benefited the Congress, while DMK Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi who was in constant communication with Azad played a major role in clinching the deal, a Congress functionary said.

The Congress which started the bargain at over 80 seats was under compulsion to check the entry of former Union minister G.K. Vasans Tamil Maanila Congress getting into the DMK alliance and perform better than its national rival BJP which is leading a front in Tamil Nadu.

The number of seats the national party is contesting will be lower than the previous two Assembly elections. It was allocated 63 seats in the 2011 Assembly elections and 48 in 2006.

The two allies still have to cross the hurdles in seat identification in Chennai and Southern districts. In the city, the Congress is demanding three seats among Velachery, T. Nagar, Mylapore, Anna Nagar, Villivakkam, Thiru.Vi.Ka. Nagar and Royapuram. The DMK is willing to give Royapuram and a hard bargaining is in store for the other seats. The two parties will also have to iron out differences in seat identifications in southern districts, where the Congress wants more seats and some of the seats the Congress is demanding in the northern region where the party is perceived to be weak.
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Linkedin Anton Hermansyah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, April 5, 2016

Anton Hermansyah

Indonesias Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) is warning it will annul the investment permits of foreign companies that are proven to be avoiding payment of taxes.

"We are ready to revoke the principal licenses, but to prove a transfer pricing, as a tax-avoidance practice, is not the BKPM's job. It is the tax office that will hold the investigation, then deliver the results to the BKPM," chairman Franky Sibarani told thejakartapost.com on Monday in Jakarta.

Previously, Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro said there were about 2,000 foreign investors who had avoided their tax liabilities in the last 10 years by declaring losses or changing names to get new tax allowances. The practices led to Rp 500 trillion (US$38 billion) in state losses.

By revoking principal permits, Franky said, all the following licenses would automatically expire. However, a company with a revoked permit could retain its assets under its name, but could not utilized them.

"They will have to sell the assets," he said, underlining that those 2,000 companies were on a list of foreign firms that committed the worst cases of tax avoidance.

Some milder cases were settled through mediation. "For these cases, we will help the foreign investors in mediation. We want them to continue operations," Franky said. (ags)
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Linkedin Susannah George (Associated Press) Hit  Tue, April 5, 2016

Iraqi forces have entered the town of Hit, a week after launching an operation to retake the western town from Islamic State group fighters, commanders at the scene said Monday.

Iraq's elite counterterrorism forces, who are leading the offensive, said they are clearing IS fighters from Hit's northern neighborhoods as they push in toward the town center.

Iraqi and coalition officials say Hit  which lies along the Euphrates river valley in Iraq's vast Anbar province  is strategically important as it sits along an IS supply line that links the extremist militants in Iraq to those in Syria.

Thousands of civilians fled Hit as Iraqi troops advanced under cover of heavy airstrikes and artillery fire. Families, many with small children and elderly relatives, said they had walked for hours through desert littered with roadside bombs to escape the violence.

Iraqi forces began escorting families out of Hit in the early morning Monday. Azha Hadel and her three young children walked for five hours from her neighborhood in northern Hit to the city's outskirts, where they were loaded into open trucks by Iraqi security forces.

"Honestly we have no idea where we are going," Hadel said, her and her children's faces sunburned from the long day outdoors. "We want to go anywhere, anywhere that's safe." Iraqi counterterrorism forces at the scene said the families were being brought to a nearby camp.

Behind Hadel, black smoke rose from Hit as buildings and vehicles hit by airstrikes burned. Saha, Hadel's 12-year-old daughter, put her hands over her ears and smiled meekly as an explosion rang out in the distance.

Hundreds more civilians were slowly walking out of the town by the evening. Iraqi troops, who had spent hours clearing the territory before their assault, instructed families not to stray from the tire marks to avoid explosives. Piles of rocks and scrap metal marked unexploded bombs along the path.

At one turn, the shell of a burned Humvee was left by the roadside. The vehicle had been hit with an IS rocket the night before. The attack killed two Iraqi soldiers and wounded four others Sunday night, according to Gen. Abdul Ghani al-Asadi, the head of Iraq's counterterrorism forces.

A few meters up the road, two bodies of IS fighters lay unburied. They had been shot Sunday attempting to carry out a suicide attack on the advancing Iraqi convoy, according to Iraqi commanders at the scene.

Iraq's counterterrorism forces estimate more than 20,000 civilians remain trapped inside Hit. The large number of people in such a small area is making it difficult to quickly clear territory with airstrikes, according to al-Asadi.

On Sunday, the U.S.-led coalition launched three airstrikes that targeted IS fighters, a car bomb and a heavy machine gun, the Pentagon said in a statement.

The Hit offensive comes after a string of territorial victories for Iraqi forces over the past six months. Most recently Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, was declared fully "liberated" by Iraqi and coalition officials in February. Coalition officials estimate IS has lost more than 40 percent of the territory it held in Iraq after the summer of 2014.

"Daesh fighters now are stuck," said captain Aysar Hassan, who is with a counterterrorism battalion leading the fight, explaining he expected heavier resistance as his men approached the city center. "In Ramadi they all had places to run away to, now they don't have a way to escape," he said. (ags)
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Linkedin Anton Hermansyah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, April 5, 2016

State-owned steel producer Krakatau Steel Tbk had launched an asset revaluation to defend against reduced steel prices last year, but it was not enough to prevent its losses from doubling.

In 2015, the companys losses soared 117 percent to Rp 4.4 trillion (US$335 million). Subsequently, it launched an asset revaluation that led to an asset increase of 42 percent to $3.7 billion and cut the cost of goods sold (COGS) by 25.67 percent to Rp 17.36 billion.

"There was a crush in the global steel prices triggered by a steel supply glut in China, which increased from 83 million tons in 2014 to 111 million tons in 2015," said Krakatau Steel president director Sukandar after an annual general meeting (AGM) in Jakarta on Monday.

In the AGM, the shareholders approved commissioner Binsar H. Simanjuntak to become president commissioner, replacing Ahmad Sofjan whose tenure ended this year. Hilmar Farid, who is now the Education and Culture Ministry's general director, was replaced by Ridwan Djamaludin.

Finance director Anggi Hindratmo has been replaced by Tambok P. Setyawati, who previously served as head of the market intelligence and business portfolio division at Bank Negara Indonesia Tbk. (ags)
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Linkedin thejakartapost.com (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, April 5, 2016

Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti led the blowing up on Tuesday of 23 foreign fishing boats caught poaching in Indonesian waters.

Susi, as commander of the 115 Task Force, led the destruction of the boats from her office through live streaming. The force consists of officers from the ministry, the Navy and the National Police.

The sinking of the boats is to enforce the law and to protect the sovereignty of our territory to ensure that the sea is the future of our nation, said Susi as reported by kompas.com. The 13 boats were registered in Vietnam and 10 in Malaysia.

The sinking began simultaneously at 11 a.m. in seven location across the country and is legal under Law No. 31/2014 on the fisheries industry, she added.

In West Kalimantan, two boats were sunk in waters around Datok Island, Mempawah regency. The fishing boats were seized in late February, said West Kalimantan Police chief Brig. Gen. Arief Sulistyanto on Tuesday.

The two boats were among dozens of fishing boats caught fishing illegally by the water police, said Arief, adding that he appreciated local peoples efforts to inform the police about the foreign boats illegal activities.

We got information from local people about the operation of dozens of foreign boats that came from Subi isle heading to Sempadi isle. We followed up on the information, he said as quoted by tempo.com.

The two boats were flying Indonesian flags in an attempt to fool the authorities.

The Indonesian government has sunk dozens of foreign fishing boats after they were caught operating illegally in Indonesian waters, following intensive operations involving the Navy, the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry and the water police. (bbn)
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Linkedin Ruslan Sangadji (The Jakarta Post) Palu, Central Sulawesi  Tue, April 5, 2016

Three female members of the East Indonesia Mujahidin (MIT) terrorist group have vowed to take revenge against government security personnel for killing their husbands.

The women joined the militant group in Poso regency, Central Sulawesi, take revenge for the deaths of their husbands, a top official said on Tuesday.

After their husbands deaths, the three apparently traveled to Central Sulawesi to marry Santoso, the leader of the MIT and two of his fellow militants.

Operation Tinombala task force released updated photos of the three women, two of whom were not wearing burkas.

The two uncovered women have been identified as the present wife of MIT leader Santoso, Jumiatun Muslim, aka Bunga, aka Umi Delima, from Bima, West Nusa Tenggara, and the present wife of Ali Kalora, Tini Susanti Kaduku, aka Umi Fadel, from Poso.

The third women is also from Bima and is the present wife of Basri, Nurmi Usman, aka Oma, who is holding a rifle in the photo.

The women are widows of members of the group in Bima, West Nusa Tenggara, Operation Tinombala chief Brig. Gen. Rudy Sufahriady said.

The three women joined the group in Poso to take revenge against the National Police's Densus 88 counterterrorism group, members of which killed their husbands in shoot-outs.

"Based on intelligence, the three women pledged allegiance [to MIT], saying it was better for them to die as syahid [defender of Islam] accompanying their husbands than to surrender," said Rudy, who is also the Central Sulawesi Police chief, on Tuesday without mentioning who the womens dead husbands were.

Tinombala Operation task force members are also hunting for the three women.

The task force also released a photo of a fully covered woman holding an M16 rifle while crossing a small river in the middle of the forest. It is suspected that it is Jumiatun, Santoso's second wife, Rudy said.

The hunt for Santoso and his followers was intensified on Tuesday. Sixty elite troopers are combing the forest of North Lore subdistrict, where it is suspected that Santoso is hiding. (rin)
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Linkedin (Associated Press) Detroit  Tue, April 5, 2016

Toyota is forming a new data science company in partnership with Microsoft that's designed to free customers "from the tyranny of technology."

The company called Toyota Connected has a goal of simplifying technology so it's easier to use, perhaps even getting rid of distracting and complicated touch screens that now are in most cars and replacing them with heads-up or voice-activated technology, said Zack Hicks, the company's CEO who also is Toyota Motor America's chief information officer.

"I think people are really tired of fumbling with multiple devices and having this disjointed experience," Hicks said as Toyota announced the venture on Monday.

Like other automakers, Toyota Connected will research connecting cars to each other and to homes, as well as telematics features that learn and anticipate a driver's habits. The company, like other automakers, will explore transmitting a driver's health data to a doctor or driving patterns to an insurance company so people are insured based on where they travel, Toyota said. Also, it will look at linking with other vehicles so they can report weather and traffic conditions to people driving the same route.

The move comes as automakers prepare for big changes in transportation that are coming in the next several years including steps toward self-driving cars. Tesla Motors, General Motors, Mercedes-Benz and others are rolling out cars that can drive themselves on freeways as they take steps toward autonomous driving. Google already is testing self-driving cars on real streets in California, Texas and the state of Washington.

Toyota says the new company will support research into artificial intelligence and robots, as well as analyze data from vehicle sensors and cameras so algorithms can be developed for self-driving cars. Drivers would have to opt in to all of the data reporting, and Toyota would disclose what data is being shared, the company said.

Microsoft engineers will work with the company at its headquarters in Plano, Texas, where Toyota is moving its U.S. operations. Microsoft bought a 5 percent equity stake in the startup company, Toyota said, but the full price wasn't disclosed.

Toyota Connect will use Microsoft's Azure cloud computing platform to collect and analyze data. (ags)
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Linkedin Liza Yosephine (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, April 6, 2016

Malaysian authorities will investigate one of the Indonesian-flagged vessels, 10 crewmembers of which are currently being held hostage by the Abu Sayyaf militant group in the Philippines, which has been found abandoned in Malaysian waters.

Foreign Affairs Minister Retno LP Marsudi said the Anand 12 barge was found in the waters off Lahad Datu in Sabah, Malaysia on Monday.

The barge has been moved to the Fordesko Lahad Datu Port to be examined by a forensic team from the Malaysian Maritime Force Agency (APKNM), she said. Forensic investigations will take approximately seven to10 days, added Retno.

"According to preliminary information, the contents of the barge are still wholly intact," Retno said when addressing journalists on Tuesday.

Retno said she had opened communications with the Malaysian Foreign Minister Sri Anifah Aman since Mar. 31. The Malaysian government has also expressed its readiness to cooperate in anticipation of any changes to the situation that could require further cooperation between both countries, she added.

Indonesia has also intensified communications and coordination with various parties, including among others government institutions, the Philippine government and family members of the hostages, leading up to the deadline that has been given for the ransom of the 10 Indonesian crewmen held hostage by the terrorist group, Retno added.

Retno said the ministry had appointed two officials as liaison officers for direct communications with family members of the hostages.

Two Indonesian-flagged vessels, the Brahma 12 and Anand 12, were hijacked by Abu Sayyaf militants in Philippines waters. Tugboat Brahma 12 has been handed over to Philippine authorities. The Abu Sayyaf militant group had contacted the owner of the vessel and demanded a ransom of US$1.08 million by Apr. 8. (bbn)
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Linkedin Sopheng Cheang (Associated Press) Phnom Penh  Tue, April 5, 2016

A leading international environmental group has called on the Cambodian government to investigate an attack on a young forest activist who was slashed with a machete while she slept in a hammock after patrolling for illegal loggers.

Global Witness said Phan Sopheak, 25, was injured on her feet in the March 26 attack by unidentified perpetrators in Kratie province. Phan Sophek is a member of the Prey Lang Community Network, a grassroots movement in northeastern Cambodia. Its members said the assailants were trying to cut her throat, Global Witness said.

"Cambodia's forests have become like a piggy bank for Cambodia's elites and their cronies, who routinely flout forest protection laws to pillage them for valuable timber, or sell off the land illegally for mining and agribusiness concessions," said Josie Cohen, a campaigner at Global Witness, which investigates economic networks behind environmental destruction.

Kratie province deputy police chief Oum Phy said Tuesday that they had "no indication at all who the perpetrators are." He said three of the more than 50 colleagues who were on the patrol have been interviewed by the police.

Phan Sopheak told The Associated Press that she still could not walk or move her feet because of her injuries. She said she had been transferred from a hospital in Kratie province to a private clinic in Phnom Penh late last month. She is one of a group of activists to receive the UN Equator Prize at the 2015 Paris climate summit, an award given for outstanding achievements in sustainable development.

Activists say members of the Prey Lang network have suffered regular harassment from Cambodian courts, police and soldiers, as well as local officials involved in the timber business. The group is made up largely of indigenous activists who live in and around the Prey Lang forest and rely on it for their food, medicine and jobs.

"Once I have recovered, I will continue my patrolling normally," Phan Sophek said. "I am scared but I am not defeated by the illegal loggers."

"Prey Lang is our life. If there's no Prey Lang we will die," she said. "This forest provided us water for rice and we all get fruit, resin and other things for survival."

Illegal logging is rampant in Cambodia, and often occurs under the protection of government agencies or influential people. At least five deaths have been linked to logging since 2007. In late February, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said he has authorized helicopters to fire rockets at smugglers of illegally cut timber, but did not explain how illegal loggers might be distinguished from the air.

In April 2012, prominent environmentalist Chut Wuthy was fatally shot in southwest Cambodia's Koh Kong province after taking two journalists to look at a logging camp there.
The de Blasio administration is in crisis mode over the growing Rivington House scandal. Two investigations are ongoing to find out whether it was incompetence or something more sinister that led city bureaucrats to lift a deed restriction on the former nursing facility. One individual pushing back against allegations made in news stories is James Capalino, New Yorks most prolific lobbyist.

In a March 26 report, the Daily News reported that Capalino steered $50,000 in donations to Mayor de Blasio after pressing the city for a deed change that allows one of his clients to turn a building restricted for use as a nursing home into luxury condos. The story went on to mention that Capalino said he did not represent the client, Slate Acquisition LLC, in the Rivington House deal.

In a statement put out on Friday, Capalino asserted that news coverage in the past week has been factually inaccurate. His firm was hired on February 4, 2013 by VillageCare, which opened Rivington House as a nursing home for AIDS patients in 1995. The not-for-profit organization terminated the contract at the end of October 2014. Capalino wrote:

Our firm had no involvement in any aspect of the subsequent real estate transactions at 45 Rivington or the decision of the DCAS (Department of Citywide Administrative Services) decision regarding the lifting of the deed restriction, which occurred nine months after our contract with VillageCare ended Regarding our work for Slate Acquisition LLC, we had no involvement whatsoever in their acquisition of 45 Rivington and are only representing them on unrelated matters for properties they own in Brooklyn.

In February of 2015, the Allure Group purchased the building for $28 million and operated it for a few months as a nursing home. In November, the firm paid $16 million to change the deed, removing requirements that the property be used as a not-for profit health care facility. Three months later, Slate and its partners announced a $116 million acquisition of 45 Rivington St., and a conversion to luxury condos.

In an interview with The Lo-Down on Sunday, Capalino sought to counter suggestions in the media of a possible link between his fundraising for de Blasio and the citys baffling decision to remove the deed restriction. De Blasio has said he had no personal knowledge of the situation before reading news stories about it late last month. A spokesperson for the mayor declined to talk about Capalino with a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, saying only The administration is interested in determining if anything inappropriate happened and will hold those parties responsible.

It seems extraordinary in light of the current controversy in which a developer profited more than $70 million after a deed was changed, but the potential political fallout from the move was apparently never a preoccupation.

Capalino said there had been a vigorous debate within the board of directors about the future of the nursing home. While it served a critical role at the height of the AIDS crisis, advances in treating HIV had made the center less vital. Care was now focused on prevention and outpatient programs. The state health department, said Capalino, was saying it could not continue Medicaid reimbursements for Rivington Houses 219 beds. The facility had been about half full for quite some time.

The board looked at many different options before ultimately concluding that the building should be sold and the proceeds funneled into other AIDS treatment programs. VillageCare leaders, however, were concerned, about the deed restriction, which left in place, would have made the property less valuable on the open market.

Capalino was hired to persuade city officials (at that time in the Bloomberg administration) to drop the restrictive deed. An appraisal was completed in October of 2013 by Jerome Haims Realty. It put a value on the property of about $29 million, if the deed restrictions remained. But a highest and best use analysis found that a conversion to a more appropriate hotel or apartment building increased the value to $32 million. The appraisal also noted that almost $70 million had been invested to convert the building from a school to a medical facility (it was financed by state bonds).

Capalino said DCAS was amenable to the change, but in keeping with longstanding city policy, insisted on imposing what amounted to a penalty fee. There was a major push by VillageCare, through Capalino, to waive the fee. In an October 28, 2013 memo to Deputy Mayor Linda Gibbs, he wrote, DCAS has now determined that it will remove the deed restrictions. The organization, Capalino explained, was convinced that its mission would best be served if a reputable for-profit nursing home operator purchases the facility and continues to operate it. He concluded, I would like to meet with you as soon as possible to see how we can find a way to eliminate the taking of a huge portion of the sales price by DCAS. By allowing VillageCare to keep the proceeds, the funds could be used to continue much-needed programs.

There were many obstacles along the way. After the de Blasio team assumed control in January of 2013, Capalino + Company had to start over, lobbying a new set of city officials. These were all people within DCAS, the Human Resources Administration and at the deputy mayor level. Capalino said he never broached the subject with the mayor himself. Following more discussions with bureaucrats, VillageCare became restless, said Capalino, causing the board and the executive leadership to grow frustrated with my ability to get things done and they sent a termination notice.

Recent news reports revealed that Joel Landau of the Allure Group sent an email to Assistant DCAS Commissioner Randal Fong on October 29, 2014, asking the agency to remove the deed restriction. The agency approved the request after a public hearing the following June, and after Allure agreed to pay the city $16 million. But Capalino, whose contract ended October 31, 2013, told us he had no idea that Landau was making overtures to the city at this time. This is whats amazing, he said. No knowledge whatsoever. I never heard of the Allure Group until I read the first article in the newspaper DCAS never disclosed to me that they had been approached by somebody saying they were in negotiations with VillageCare about purchasing the building to turn it into a health care facility.

Another issue has been raised about Capalinos involvement in Rivington House. The city comptrollers investigation of the matter is looking at, among other things, the appraisal. Given the high purchase price this past February, that $29 million appraisal in 2013 seems pretty suspect. But Capalino said he believes the huge disparity can be chalked up to the red hot real estate market in the past couple of years. There was an extraordinary acceleration in property values on the Lower East Side in a period of 24-36 months, he noted. Several buildings hit the market, he said, and purchase price numbers for subsequent sales went through the roof.

In 2015, Capalino was the top lobbyist in New York City, collecting nearly $13 million. The citywide media have not been shy about highlighting his ties to the mayor. But the Rivington House debacle has struck a nerve with this veteran power player, whos been a New York City insider since the Koch administration. In the Wall Street Journal, he suggested a possible freeze on fundraising for de Blasio while Capalino + Company is lobbying the city. Asked on Sunday whether its something hes still considering, Capalino replied:

If there are people out there, however misguided, who are prepared to insinuate that my raising money for a mayor who I have supported since he became a candidate, that it represents some question about my personal integrity or the integrity of my firm, its just not worth it. (As a) result of less than highly professional journalism over the course of the past week, I have been subject to grossly inaccurate and grossly unfair representations about the conduct of my firm and what our intentions were. If its necessary to create basically a Chinese wall between our role as lobbyists and my Constitutional right to raise money for a public official, I guess I might have to consider doing that.

Capalino concluded by saying that he has proudly advocated for AIDS programs, dating back decades. He served on the board of Gay Mens Health Crisis, helping to stabilize that organization at a time in which it was on the verge of collapse. I am proud of my personal role, he said. The notion that somehow we were dishonoring the role Rivington House played on the Lower East Side is just unfair.

We contacted VillageCare yesterday for its perspective. Executives there have not yet responded.
Early last year, Sri Lanka elected a new government. One of the first things that new President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe did was to promise better relations with India. Ties had soured under ex-President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Sri Lanka had grown closer to China. The cold shoulder was not Colombos alone. New Delhis Sri Lanka policy had suffered due to the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA)s overall paralysis too.

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) had pulled out in protest over Indias reticence over the wording of a UN resolution against Sri Lanka for alleged human rights violations during the 30-year long civil war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Even as New Delhi under UPA-2 meekly watched and did nothing, China  which had already extended its Indian Ocean sprawl  was awarded Colombos lucrative $1.5 billion Port City project.

But that was then. Last year saw many mutual gestures and first-time official visits. Narendra Modi became the first Indian Prime Minister ever to visit Jaffna and attend much-publicised milk-boiling, house-warming ceremonies by displaced Tamils who received the keys to some of the 50,000 houses India is building for them.

So is the Sri Lanka-India relationship finally back on track? Surprisingly, no. Deadlock persists over old issues while new ones have added fuel to the fire.

India-bashing in the region is common and tiresome to well-meaning Indians. If one were to go by what our neighbours claim, then from floods to earthquakes, from potato blight to drought in sub-Saharan Africa could have all been caused only by Indias Research & Analysis Wing (R&AW). The Sri Lankan public is not spared of this inherent mistrust of the big neighbour. Indias population is 1.2 billion, Sri Lankas just under 22 million; India is 40 times the size of Sri Lanka.

But when have governments ever taken public mood in the other country into consideration when crafting bilateral goals?

Take the so-called Tamil question. Even under Mr Modi, New Delhi continues to parrot the implementation of the 13th Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution, which was co-authored by Rajiv Gandhi in 1987. The amendment envisages maximum autonomy for the Tamil regions of Sri Lanka, but also the devolution of land, police and financial control to the provincial governments in question. This mechanical insistence on something that was crafted almost 30 years ago is baffling.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) majority government, unlike the Congress during the UPA years and earlier, is under no pressure from Tamil Nadu coalition allies, for one. Then, several Sri Lankan committees examining the question of Tamil autonomy have maintained that the unrealistic caveats in the 1987 Amendment have long been overtaken by both the passage of time and events. One of the bloodiest civil wars in the world raged in Sri Lanka between then and now. More than 120,000 people were killed.

The LTTE had occupied vast swathes of the country. Terrorism flourished with the help of influential overseas Tamils who provided money and weapons, tolerated in the name of a freedom struggle by their Western host-states. A frisson of discontentment and insistence on a mythical Eelam continue to be injected into native Sri Lankan Tamils by illegal organizations formed abroad by LTTE cadres who fled the country.

Further, the LTTE destroyed and devastated the entire Northern and Eastern Provinces. There was no Sri Lankan police force left in LTTE-held territories. Statistics show that domestic violence and petty crime registered a marked rise in the formerly embattled Tamil provinces after the end of the war. In addition to intelligence, Sri Lankan generals say that policing is the other role they are forced into from their big command bases in Tamil provinces, until such a time that a full-fledged local police force completes training and begins operations.

Finally, there is the land question. Lands occupied by the Army during its final manoeuvres against the LTTE have been partly returned to their rightful owners. But the LTTE had also destroyed municipal records, while thousands of Tamils had abandoned their properties and fled the war. Consequently, the task of identifying the rightful owners of many properties is proving to be an uphill task.

No sovereign state or Army would agree to demilitarise a region where terrorism flourished, where overseas escapees or foreign countries still try to keep separatism alive, where one of the worlds deadliest terror groups had invented and perfected the art of suicide-bombing, forcible recruitment of child soldiers and frequent employment of civilians as human shields in conflict zones.

Would India agree to pull out the Indian Army from Jammu and Kashmir after hard-won successes at curtailing cross-border terrorism and mushrooming local networks? Then why the insistence on the 13th Amendment in its outdated entirety in Sri Lanka?

The only answer can be that the BJP has its eye firmly on the upcoming Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu and wants to, therefore, keep the options of alliances with regional Tamil Nadu parties  almost all of which are stridently anti-Sri Lanka  open. There are other bugbears, too.

Indias lack of interest in resolving the issue of poaching by Indian fishermen, a trade imbalance between the two nations, the dominance of Indian goods on the Sri Lankan market and a new trade agreement which thousands of Lankan citizens are up against, for the  if irrational  fear of their tiny country being flooded by Indian doctors and IT professionals.

And finally, even though the Supreme Court long stalled the ambitious Sethusamudram shipping canal project, the minister for road transport and highways and shipping, Nitin Gadkari, last year announced that the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has agreed to fund a land-bridge between India and Sri Lanka and that it had been discussed by the two Prime Ministers.

Thousands of incensed petitioners have appealed to the ADB. Public wrath last week forced Mr Wickremesinghe to deny Mr Gadkaris claim. The Lankan head of government will be on an official visit to Beijing next week. Analysts say that ties and  likely even the frozen Port City project  will be revived.

Our government wants to show that all is hunky-dory in relations with India, says analyst Rajeewa Wijeweera. But Lankans have neither forgiven nor forgotten Indias involvement with the LTTE. Of course we are suspicious.
Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, City Council member Margaret Chin and Community Board 3 Chairperson Gigi Li will be holding a news conference tomorrow in front of the former Rivington House nursing home.

According to the news advisory, they will be calling on Mayor de Blasios administration to compensate the Lower East Side community for the loss of Rivington House. Chin and Brewer will also propose a reform plan to prevent further losses of community assets like Rivington House by creating transparency requirements for city-imposed restrictions in real property deeds.

The city lifted a deed restriction on the building, clearing the way for luxury redevelopment of the former community asset. Two investigations are ongoing and the mayor has expressed anger about the decision by the Department of Citywide Administrative Services.

The news conference happens at 11 a.m., 45 Rivington St. (Forsyth Street)
The ways of Indias rich and famous are increasingly beco-ming public knowledge. The disclosure that as many as 500 prominent Indians, including Incredible Indias latest brand ambassador  Amitabh Bachchan  owned offshore companies in Panama is just the latest episode of the unravelling. All one can say is that he is in good company with the likes of Vladimir Putin, David Cameron and Nawaz Sharif, among others. Panama is a small sliver of a country in Central America joining North and South America. Its immediate geographical neighbours are Costa Rica in the north and Colombia in the south. It is the narrow isthmus that separates the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. A 77-km long manmade canal capable of accommodating large ships joins the two oceans. Revenues from this were for long the nations biggest source of income since the canal opened in 1914.

Panama soon found that becoming a tax haven that assured investors of their privacy provided a more lucrative income. The proximity to the Americas, and the balmy Caribbean islands, and countries like Colombia with its huge cocaine production and export business, and Latin Americas many kleptomaniac tin pot dictators made Panama even more attractive. Till not long ago, the Canal Zone was under the protection of US troops and that too served as an incentive for Americans seeking an offshore tax haven.

Panama is a tax haven, which means it is a country that offers foreign individuals and businesses little or no tax liability in a fairly politically and economically stable environment. Tax havens also provide little or no financial information to foreign tax authorities. This, in short, is the reason Panama is so important to our moneyed people who have good reason to hide their real wealth.

Why do the rich want to hide their wealth? Simply because officially they are not as wealthy as they really are. And if they honestly declared their true wealth, they would not only be liable to pay more income-tax, but could also be vulnerable to various charges of corporate fraud and malfeasance that could earn them hefty prison terms. To comprehend this one must understand how most of our captains of industry, many of whom sit on the Prime Ministers Council on Trade and Industry, became rich and powerful.

When an industrialist launches a new project, the project costs are usually hugely overstated. The suppliers of plant and machinery then pay the promoter kickbacks, which become the promoter capital. Thus, the more the number of projects an individual promotes, the wealthier he or she becomes. But it is not income you can declare. So it gets hidden in a tax haven. This is how big bucks are made and salted away.

A good part of this money is round tripped back to India via nearby tax havens, like Mauritius or Singapore. Not surprisingly, in 2015, the top foreign direct investment investing countries were Mauritius (27 per cent) and Singapore (21 per cent). Both are now home to hundreds of corporate entities that act as a pass through for funds being held overseas for Indians or Indian entities. These countries are little more than cutouts for monies held in other more distant tax havens, like Panama, Cayman Islands, Bermuda and Liechtenstein. The smaller the country, more pliable the officials.

Indias 14 public sector banks control almost 80 per cent of the commercial credit advanced in India. In addition, the government also owns the two big project finance institutions, Industrial Development Bank of India and Industrial Finance Corporation of India, and large institutional investors like Life Insurance Corporation and general insurance companies like Oriental and General Insurance Corporation of India. State ownership of these, with powers vested with the powers that be in New Delhi, political and bureaucratic, ensures that the projects are suitably gold plated without any rigorous scrutiny. And why scrutinise when projects seldom fold up and in a system where restructuring means lending more money to evergreen the loans?

The list of non-performing assets of these public sector banks includes almost the entire roster of top Indian companies. According to the Reserve Bank of India estimates, the top 30 loan defaulters currently account for one-third of the gross NPAs of public sector banks. Till March 31, 2015, the countrys top five public sector banks had an outstanding of `4.87 lakh crore to just 44 borrowers, if borrowers were to be categorised in terms of those having outstanding of over Rs 5,000 crore. These businesses include Essar, Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, Jaiprakash Associates, Adanis, GVK, GMR and Lanco. Some of them like Essar have defaulted in the past. This financial stress issue is fairly endemic.

Of the big companies or groups only Tatas, Reliance Industries and Aditya Vikram Birla can be considered free of financial stress. Most if not all the money earned by gold plating plant and machinery, under invoicing of exports and over invoicing of imports is retained abroad. Has anyone wondered why the UAE is the second largest destination of Indias merchandise exports ($33 billion in 2015) and third largest source of merchandise imports ($26.2 billion in 2015)?

The UAE is also the largest source of legal and illicitly imported gold. Last year, India officially imported over 900 tonnes of gold worth $35 billion.

The mysteriously owned corporations incorporated in tax havens like Panama mostly finance these exports, as well as a good part of the illicitly exported gold.

According to Global Financial Integrity, a Washington DC-based think tank, Indians were estimated to have illicitly sent out $83 billion in 2015. Where does this money go? Countries like Switzerland that offer banking secrecy usually do not pay any interest on such deposits. So money goes to corporations in tax havens from where they are invested in businesses world over. Have you ever wondered how many of our top businessmen have managed to become so big overseas so soon?

This is where the Panamas of the world come in. There was a time when Panama in India was synonymous with a cheap brand of cigarettes manufactured by Dalmia groups Golden Tobacco Company. In the West, Panama was a mans wide-brimmed straw hat made from the leaves of the toquilla tropical palm tree. That Panama too is now forgotten. Now Panama is synonymous with offshore corporations and assured secrecy. The times have changed.
This device trying all possible combinations to unlock the iPhone 5C (Photo: Screengrab)

Mumbai: Recently, Apple was in news for an encryption battle against the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), to unlock an iPhone 5C used by a San Bernardino attacker. While Apple had refused to unlock the smartphone saying that, although it could create a software to break into the iPhone, it thought it was a bad idea, as the software could be stolen by hackers and used against other iPhones.

FBI, however, was adamant on unlocking the smartphone, of course for getting to the roots of the case, and after four months of persistent efforts, they were finally successful at unlocking the iPhone in question.

Also Read: Apple vs FBI: All you need to know about the encryption battle

As most of all would know, the reason why unlocking the iPhone is such a big deal is because of the auto-wipe feature in the smartphone, which activates after anyone fails more than 10 times (consecutively) at guessing the iPhones passcode.

Now, a British retailer called Fone Fun Shop claims that he has a device that can unlock an iPhone running on iOS 7, within just a few hours. Essentially, the device manages to bypass the auto-locking system when attempting wrong passcodes and then it follows a brute force cracking strategy by trying all possible passcode combinations.

This device that costs just about $170 (Rs 12,000 approx), takes approximately 6 seconds to check every single combination, with the total time reaching to just about some 16  17 hours. However, if the device cracks the combination in the first few attempts it wouldnt event take that long.

Although the current IP Box works only on a device running on iOS 7, the retailer claims that version compatible with iOS 9 is already in works and will soon be out on shelves.

Watch the video below to see how the IP Box works:

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.
We sat down with two of the countrys funniest comedians to chat about their latest roles as dwarves in The Huntsman: Winters War.

Nick Frosts loveable Nion returns from Snow White and the Huntsman in this semi-sequel, semi-prequel, now with a half-brother en-tow in the form of Rob Brydons Gryff. Together they join forces with Chris Hemsworths Huntsman to save their fantasy world from an evil mirror. A standard day in the office for Uncle Bryn and Danny Butterman then.

Frost and Brydon steer the large majority of the films comedy with the confidence that only two total pros could muster, and we were lucky enough to bag five minutes alone in a room with them.

Heres what they had to say:

The Huntsman: Winter's War is out now in UK cinemas through Universal Pictures. Certificate 12A.
Mikkel Norgaard's Nordic noir-style mystery thriller The Absent One follows detectives Carl Morck (Nikolaj Lie Kaas) and his colleague Assad (Fares Fares) as they attempt to discover the truth about a 20-year-old double homicide case. Its the second film adaptation of a Jussi Adler-Olsen novel in the Department Q series, following The Keeper of the Lost Causes in 2013.

The narrative follows the trio of Carl, Assad and assistant Rose (Johanne Louise Schmidt), as they are drawn into a supposedly solved murder case after an ex-police officer commits suicide. The narrative follows the trio of Carl, Assad and assistant Rose (Johanne Louise Schmidt), as they are drawn into a supposedly solved murder case after an ex-police officer commits suicide.

With the only clue being a panicked 911 call by a girl who is identified as Kimmie (Sarah-Sofie Boussnina), the detectives are led on a mysterious journey in a case that holds many secrets.

The films greatest strength is the narrative structure, which does not follow a linear noir format, but instead utilises various flashbacks to give both clues to the case and offer the audience many more questions. The two narrative timelines are extremely effective in creating tension, but also in engaging the audience as information is very gradually revealed.

The film stands out as a successful crime thriller as we are constantly asking questions yet feeling uneasy about the subsequent answers. The flashbacks portray Kimmie's memories as a teenager who is infatuated with her boyfriend, which creates a troubling contrast between her happy younger self and her current displaced and traumatised life.

Characters are carefully crafted; following the conventions of a typical noir, protagonist Carl is not a one dimensional character who single-handedly saves the day, but is instead flawed, irritable, stubborn and perhaps too determined for his own good. Nikolaj Lie Kaas's performance is enhanced by co-star Fares, whose character is constantly trying to restrain Carl's unrelenting determination in the case.

In the same way, Sarah- Sofie Boussnina's performance as Kimmie is impressive and highly convincing in portraying a girl who has suffered from years of psychological trauma and torment. As the audience become aware of her past, she becomes a character which we can sympathise with despite her unpredictable and erratic nature.

The film's incredibly powerful score, composed by Patrik Andren, Uno Helmersson and Johan Soderqvist, succeeds in moving the audience at film's most important moments. It not only enhances the tension, but also creates emotion at various other points in the film.

The only notable downside to The Absent One is that occasionally the script is too explicit in telling the audience that which is easily conveyed without dialogue. In the same way, certain scenes are unnecessary as they only serve to tell the audience things that are already clear. Nevertheless these moments were few and far between, and do not lessen the films overall credibility.

Ultimately The Absent One is a gripping watch, which is engaging and captivating throughout.

The Absent One is released in UK cinemas on 8th April.
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Milwaukee: Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump is pushing rival John Kasich to get out of the White House race, arguing that the Ohio governor shouldnt be allowed to collect future delegates because the nomination is already beyond his grasp.

Trying hard to right himself after a difficult week, Trump said it was unfair for Kasich, the winner of only his home states primary, to continue campaigning. He suggested that Kasich, who has pledged to make it to the summer convention, follow the lead of former candidates Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush - and quit.

If I didnt have Kasich, I automatically win, Trump said on Sunday evening in West Allis, Wisconsin. Trump said Kasich could ask to be considered at the GOP convention in Cleveland in July even without competing in the remaining nominating contests. He said earlier on Sunday that he had shared his concerns with Republican National Committee officials at a meeting in Washington this past week.

Kasichs campaign countered that neither Trump nor Texas Sen. Ted Cruz would have enough delegates to win the nomination outright in Cleveland.

Since he thinks its such a good idea, we look forward to Trump dropping out before the convention, said Kasich spokesman Chris Schrimpf.

Across the political aisle, Democrat Hillary Clinton told NBCs Meet the Press that the FBI had yet to request an interview regarding the private email server she used as secretary of state.
Washington: The United States Navy has awarded a $170 million contract to Bell Helicopter to manufacture nine AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters for Pakistan.

Under the Foreign Military Sales Program, the combat helicopters will be manufactured and delivered to Pakistan. "Foreign military sales funds in the amount of $170,173,188 will be obligated at time of award. The contract awarded for the manufacture and delivery of nine AH-1Z aircraft and nine auxiliary fuel kits for the government of Pakistan is expected to be completed in September 2018", Dawn quoted the US Department of Defence statement as saying, adding that the Naval Air Systems Command is contracting the activity for the Pakistani government.

According to reports, the Bell AH-1Z Viper is a twin-engine combat chopper based on the previous SuperCobra model developed for the US Marine Corps. It has a top speed of 420 kilometres per hour and a range of 610 kilometers. The US State Department in April 2015 had approved the Foreign Military Sale to Pakistan for the AH-1Z Viper Attack Helicopters and AGM-114R Hellfire II Missiles and associated equipment, parts, training and logistical support for an estimated cost of $952 million.

The United States had earlier in 2016 approved the sale of eight F-16 fighter jets of $700 million to Pakistan saying that sale was made in order to improve Pakistan's precision strike capability. The US administration in documents to its lawmakers told that its Foreign Military Funding (FMF) to Islamabad would focus on seven priority areas identified and agreed to with the government of Pakistan.
Phuket Police say investigation into Finnish teens death inconclusive

PHUKET: Police have yet to conclude their investigation into the death of the young Finnish woman who allegedly jumped to her death from a Phuket guesthouse on March 28.

deathpolice

By The Phuket News

Tuesday 5 April 2016, 04:20PM

The body of 19-year-old Ida Maria Bexar was found lying face down on the roof of a property at 2:15pm on March 28 by rescue workers and police. (See story here.)

Capt Yingyong Chuykij from Kathu Police told The Phuket News today (Apr 5), We have yet to rule the death as suicide because we are still waiting for the doctors report.

The body has already been taken back to Finland by the embassy, and we handed all her personal belongings to them. Our investigation into this case has come to a dead end due to lack of evidence, he said.

Unfortunately, the top floor where she allegedly jumped from from has no CCTV cameras and no one in the area witnessed anything suspicious prior to the incident. We have seen some CCTV footage from around the guesthouse but we saw nothing unusual, he added.

Capt Yingyong went on to say that they had questioned a Swedish man whom they were told was her boyfriend and that he was very cooperative.

He told us that he and the victim met in Phuket just over a month ago and that she was here alone. We also questioned all his Swedish friends and the people they hung out with, but we got nothing from them and they have all been cleared from our investigation, Capt Yingyong said.

The boyfriend, who police declined to name, told police after the body was found on March 28, that at around 4am that day he and Ms Bexar had an argument so he left her in the room and came next door to spend the night with his friend at the Good Dream Guesthouse and that was the last time he saw her, Capt Yingyong added.

* The term "Finnish girl" in the headline was later adjusted to "Finnish teen" to avoid any misunderstandings whether a 19-year-old constituted a "girl", regardless of social context. The photo was also removed as it was later deemed by the Editor as inappropriate for use with the story due to a policy implemented after this story was posted.
Qatar Airways flights to Chiang Mai and Krabi

PHUKET: Qatar Airways has announced that it will inaugurate flights to Chiang Mai and Krabi as of December 2016.

tourismtransporteconomics

By The Phuket News

Tuesday 5 April 2016, 11:19AM

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive H.E. Mr. Akbar Al Baker was joined by Qatar Airways SVP NSW Europe, Jonathan Harding (left) and Qatar Airways Country Manager Germany and Austria, Frederic Gossot (right) at the airlines ITB Press Conference hosted by Sky TV Presenter, Ruth Hofmann.

The Doha-based airlines Group Chief Executive, Akbar Al Baker, made the announcement at the ITB Berlin, the worlds largest international travel fair, held March 9-13.

Four flights per week will be launched from Doha to Krabi on December 6 and three flights per week from Doha to Chiang Mai also in December, with the exact date to be announced later, Mr Al Baker said.

The two Thailand destinations were the only new ones in Southeast Asia amongst 14 cities worldwide that will be added to the Qatar Airways network over the rest of 2016.

With the launch, the airline, which is now flying to Bangkok and Phuket, will become the first Middle East airline to begin flights to these two rapidly-growing Thai destinations.

Qatar Airways prides itself on being a global connector, and most importantly, providing seamless and convenient connections for our customers, so that we remain their airline of choice, Mr Al Baker said.

These new destinations are where our customers want to go, and where we see the most opportunity to provide a best-in-class experience at great value. We look forward to growing our network and welcoming new passengers to Qatar Airways.

Yuthasak Supasorn, Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), noted, These flights will open up significant new sources of traffic by allowing visitors from Europe, the Middle East and Africa to connect to Krabi and Chiang Mai via the Qatar Airways hub in Doha. They will advance the Thai government policy to promote the dispersal of visitors in order to better balance income distribution and job creation.

The fact that Qatar Airways chose to include one destination in North Thailand and one in South Thailand is perfectly in line with that policy, he added.

In 2015, Krabi International Airport, under the administrative purview of the Department of Civil Aviation, was served by 46 scheduled and non-scheduled airlines, which operated a total of 28,346 flights, up 28.52 per cent over 2014. The Airport served 3,689,831passengers in 2015, up 36.61% over 2014.

Chiang Mai International Airport, which is under the administrative purview of the Airports of Thailand (AoT), is being served by 27 scheduled airlines which operated 62,626 domestic and international flights in 2015, up 26.06% over 2014. The Airport served 8,069,918 passengers in the fiscal year 2015, up 29.88% over fiscal 2014.

Chiang Mai International Airport is working on a development project that will increase its capacity from 8 million to 15 million passengers per annum by 2022.
Iceland's Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, who has been named in the Panama Papers about offshore financial dealings. (Photo: AP)

Reykjavik: Iceland's Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson has resigned from his position in the wake of recent Panama Papers leaks.

His resignation came hours after he threatened to dissolve the parliament and call for new elections.

Gunnlaugsson, 41, has been under pressure to resign since leaked financial documents showed that he and his wife Anna Sigurlaug Palsdottir owned an offshore company in the British Virgin Islands.

The left wing opposition on Monday presented a motion of no-confidence against Gunnlaugsson, which could be voted on as early as this week.

According to the leaked documents, Gunnlaugsson and his wife Anna Sigurlaug Palsdottir purchased the offshore company Wintris Inc. in the British Virgin Islands in December 2007.

He transferred his 50-percent stake to her in 2009 for the symbolic sum of one dollar.

He has insisted he never hid any money abroad, and says his wife, who inherited a fortune from her father, has paid all her taxes in Iceland.
Identified as Svetlana Batukova, the woman has been arrested by Majorca police after she allegedly hired a man to kill her husband. (Photo: Facebook)

Majorca, Russia: In a gruesome act, a Russian woman has been accused of murdering her husband and feeding him to their pet dog, Staffordshire Bull Terrier.

The woman, from Russia's Majorca, was staying with her husband at their house in Cala Millor, a popular place among holidaymakers.

Identified as Svetlana Batukova, the woman has been arrested by Majorca police after she allegedly hired a man to kill her husband.

Batukova had offered a man 50,000 to kill her husband, Hans Henkels. Police said that Henkels bled to death after he was stabbed by the accused. The killer had cut down the arms of Henkels and fed the strips of flesh to the dog.

Investigators said that the victim had recently undergone a windpipe surgery due to which he was unable to speak when the incident happened. They believe that the victim might have been unable to defend himself, since they could not find any marks on his body.

Investigators are trying to ascertain the motive behind the murder. Batukova and Henkels had married in January after living in for two years.
Syrias regime has been able to circumvent international sanctions and fund its war effort through shadow companies, according to leaked Panama Papers seen by French daily Le Monde. (Photo: AP)

Beirut: Syrias regime has been able to circumvent international sanctions and fund its war effort through shadow companies, according to leaked Panama Papers seen by French daily Le Monde.

The newspaper reported on Monday that three Syrian companies, Pangates International, Maxima Middle East Trading, and Morgan Additives Manufacturing, used the services of Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca to create shadow companies in the Seychelles.

Le Monde, a partner in the year-long worldwide media investigation into a trove of 11.5 million documents leaked from Mossack Fonseca, said the shadow companies were a way for the Syrian regime to circumvent international sanctions imposed since the start of the war.

The three firms are under US sanctions for allegedly providing petroleum supplies to President Bashar al-Assads regime likely to be used by his military, including aviation fuel.

Since the start of Syrias war in 2011, tens of thousands of people have been killed and thousands of homes destroyed in air raids and barrel bomb strikes.

Le Monde said the leaked documents show Mossack Fonseca continued to work with at least one of the companies, Pangates, until at least nine months after the sanctions were announced.

Pangates belongs to the Damascus-based Abdulkarim group, which is close to the Syrian government, Le Monde said.

The probe, coordinated by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, has exposed a tangle of financial dealings by global elites.

Assads billionaire cousin Rami Makhlouf, who is facing sanctions, was also shown by the leaks as long having registered companies in tax havens.

Syrias most notorious and powerful tycoon, Makhlouf founded shadow companies such as Drex Technologies SA, which was registered in the British Virgin Islands in 2000 and which it took Mossack Fonseca a decade to grow concerned about, Le Monde reported.

In 2011, the law firm cut ties with Makhlouf, just after the outbreak of the revolt calling for Assads ouster.
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Raqqa is considered to be the de-facto capital of Isis in Syria and has been under their control since August 2014. Via web

London: In atleast two days the terror group ISIS has killed at least 10 people in Syria and displayed their bodies in gory mock crucifixions. According to The Independent, one mans body was hung from a post on a busy roundabout in its de-facto capital of Raqqa.

An activist group documenting atrocities in Raqqa, said that the man was murdered on Saturday on charges of being a spy. Further, in the town of al-Mansoura, in Raqqa province Isis released the names and photos of eight other men who were killed and crucified on charges of robbery and corruption.

Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently(RBSS) counted 10 people executed over the weekend, including another man named as, Amen Souror, but other sources put the total as high as 15.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory of Human Rights documented one execution at the Tal Abyad roundabout in Raqqa, which it said was watched by dozens of civilians including children, Independent reported.

The group said there was conflicting information over whether the man, charged with espionage, had been a member of Isis or was arrested separately.

It confirmed news of the al-Mansoura executions, listing accusations of corrupting on earth, and looting of Muslims money and forming a gang that impersonate al-Hisba members, Isis feared religious police force.

The killings followed the arrest of 35 members of the so-called Islamic State, which were thought to be in connection with the assassination of senior figure Abu Hija al-Tunisi, who died in an air strike on Wednesday. This reported crackdown came amid a series of new restrictions by Isis, which appears to be suffering the consequences of efforts by the US-led coalition to choke its revenue streams and infrastructure.
Beijing: China has imposed restrictions on imports of North Korea coal and sales to the North of jet fuel under UN sanctions imposed in response to Pyongyang's nuclear and missile tests.

The sanctions announced Tuesday allow some imports of North Korean coal, iron ore and other materials for civilian use. But they ban any trade connected to the North's missile or nuclear programs.

The United States and other governments have been pressing China to use its status as Pyongyang's only major ally, source of aid and trading partner to put pressure on the North.

Sanctions approved by the UN Security Council last month call for mandatory inspections of cargo into and out of North Korea and other restrictions.
WASHINGTON  The news releases rolled in last week, one after another, the numbers swelling with each one. More than 80 companies were demanding that North Carolina repeal a law that limits bathroom options for transgender people and blocks local anti-discrimination rules. A day later, it was more than 90. Then more than 100. Then more than 120.

Its an extraordinary shift from eight years ago, when Californias Proposition 8 came up for a vote and the number of companies that lined up to publicly support same-sex marriage rights were fewer than five. Its even a shift from two years ago, when 83 corporations spoke out against a religious liberty law in Arizona.

Back in 2012, when Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein signed up to be a spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign, he was called an unlikely advocate. In 2013, when Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz told a shareholder his support for same-sex marriage was not an economic decision, it was described as bold.

Now, when CEOs weigh in  such as when PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi called the North Carolina law contrary to our values as a company and one that impedes our progress toward equality in a letter Friday to the states governortheyre described simply as joining the criticism. And that criticism now comes not only from all industries  technology to consumer goods to financial services  but at times includes threats to reconsider doing business in the state.

Corporate Americas evolution on gay rights appears to have reached a tipping point, where so many companies have taken a stand on the issue that the risk of speaking out has been superseded by the risk of not doing so. The watershed levels of opposition to recent legislation in Indiana, Georgia and North Carolina has turned the question of why would a company publicly wade into social issues like gay rights? into another one: Why wouldnt they?

What was once exceptional has become, in other words, almost expected.

How did it happen? Public sentiment surely is playing a role. A recent survey by Public Religion Research Institute finds that 71 per cent of Americans support laws that would protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people from discrimination in jobs, housing and public accommodations. Data from the Pew Research Centre recently found that 55 per cent of Americans, and 70 per cent of millennials, support same-sex marriage.

But Deena Fidas, the director of the workplace equality program at Human Rights Campaign, an advocacy group for gay rights, describes the now commonplace public support from companies as the result of more than a decade of outreach between the LGBT and corporate communities. Its perfectly understandable for the casual observer to look at North Carolina and think its trendy now to be pro-LGBT, she said in an interview Monday. But theres a very strong structure behind this outreach.

One factor has been the growth of the HRCs Corporate Equality Index, which scores companies on their friendliness to LGBT issues and publishes it. When it was launched in 2002, just 13 companies received a perfect score. Fourteen years later, 407 have one. The index examines discrimination policies, employee benefits, presence of LGBT employee groups and a companys external work with the LGBT community.

As companies began paying closer attention to these metrics, Fidas says, more corporate leaders started identifying with it, and more internal policies and benefits started shifting to accommodate gay workers. Because companies had been doing more to allow for greater equality for their LGBT employees, supporting these issues meant supporting employees, not just airing their voices about public or social policy.

Another major factor, Fidas says, were the state-level fights over same-sex marriage. A watershed moment happened in 2011, when New York became the largest state to legalize same-sex marriage. In the years that followed, says Fidas, the business voice grew from just its the right thing to do to its good for our business.  Having different laws in different states created headaches that made it harder to move employees from one state to another, for instance.

Thats a very different leg to stand on when youre justifying public policy [to] your shareholders or your board of directors, Fidas says. Indeed, its a social issue, but its also a material issue for our business in terms of how we move talent. In a relatively short period of time, she says, companies got comfortable with taking state-level action. In a major way, the state-to-state marriage fights warmed us up to the moment we are in now, she said, with the current wave of state-level laws.

If there was a final straw for a willingness to speak out publicly on the issue, it was last years Supreme Court ruling, which upheld a right to same-sex marriage. As one author told the New York Times Friday: The Supreme Court gave corporate America the political cover to speak out.

In addition to these broader trends that have shaped the business worlds engagement on the issue, Fidas admits some companies may also be paying attention to what their competitors are doing. Theres strength and comfort in numbers, she says. Once you start to have leadership across three to four industries, all those initial leaders peers are asking why arent we on this letter too?

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Debbie Berry, a 60-year-old retail worker, was forced to go on social assistance in order to stay at home with her elderly father, who has liver cancer, dementia and mobility challenges.

Lyndon Blackbird, a 50-year-old business analyst, put his career on hold to provide round-the-clock care to his wife, who has early-onset Alzheimers.

Colleen MacDonald, 49, doesnt know how she will manage when a Milton hospital discharges her 47-year-old husband, who is recovering from an ischemic stroke and cannot shower or dress without assistance.

Distress among unpaid caregivers who bear the heavy burden of looking after ill, elderly or disabled relatives has doubled in four years, according to Health Quality Ontario, the provincial adviser on quality of health care.

A report released Tuesday suggests these factors, along with Ontarios aging population, may be creating a perfect storm for the provincial health system: a growing need for family caregivers at a time when distress is making them increasingly unable to do the job.

The proportion of family caregivers who had to stop looking after their loves ones due to stress more than doubled over four years ending in 2014, rising from roughly 7 per cent to 14 per cent, according to the report. The findings come from surveys conducted by community home-care workers who support patients and their families.

This increase in family caregiver burnout occurred as the population of patients needing at-home care in Ontario became older, more physically impaired and increasingly burdened by dementia.

The research raises a troubling question: What happens to patients and the health system if unpaid caregivers are unable to provide care?

People need to understand how important caregivers are in our society writ large, and specifically in our health care system, said Dr. Joshua Tepper, president and CEO of Health Quality Ontario. These are people that basically across the province are involved day in and day out in the care of some of the sickest, oldest and most frail people.

We dont expect distress to be zero, but what we do need to recognize is that it is increasing rapidly and we want to try to reverse it or at least slow this growth and bring it down.

If distress rises further and caregivers increasingly step away from the role, their family members may have nowhere to go but long-term care homes and hospitals. Patients will suffer if they can no longer live in their own homes, as most wish to do, the report says, and there could also be a substantial cost to the health system.

The report notes that demographic and social changes make it likely that more caregivers will be needed, not fewer. The proportion of older people in the province is on the rise and Ontarios long-term care homes dont appear to have the capacity to absorb the growth of the senior population. And as families become smaller, so does the potential pool of caregivers.

Some strides have been made, the report acknowledges. The Ontario government has made home and community care a priority in its patient-first strategy for health system transformation and has recognized the importance of supporting caregivers as part of home and community care.

However, the authors stress that further study  better data and more precise measures  is needed to understand what may be contributing to the distress and what has changed in recent years that may have contributed to the increase.

Recommendations

A panel of caregivers consulted for the report offered these suggestions:

Better preparation and instruction for the responsibilities they are taking on;

Better coordination of home care services;

Clear information on what home care services are available;

Consistent and reliable delivery of services;

More respite services, such as adult day programs;

More services for high-needs patients;

Caregiver Stories

Colleen MacDonald, 49, and Dave Rajbansee, 47

Dave Rajbansee had a severe stroke six months ago that left him with extensive brain damage. Colleen MacDonald, his wife of five years, was shocked to learn two weeks ago that Milton District Hospital wants to send him home  imminently  even though she says he has limited verbal abilities, cant dress by himself, bathe unassisted, or get into or out of bed without help. He walks with a quad cane.

Colleen feels strongly that Dave needs more rehabilitation in hospital, and she is panicked at the idea of her husband being sent home in his current condition. But she says the medical team managing his care, including an occupational therapist, believes that he is ready to make the move. (Paul McIvor, a spokesman for Halton Healthcare, which represents the Milton hospital, said he could not comment because he didnt have the patients permission.)

Colleen works full-time and has only been offered two hours daily of publicly funded home care. She doesnt believe Dave should be left alone. With her husband on long-term disability, Colleen cant afford to reduce to part-time hours. All of this puts her in a tough spot.

(Doctors) were expecting Dave to die, she says, in tears. Miraculously he didnt, and against all odds hes made a lot of gains. And all he needs is more rehab. Why cant he get more rehab? Thats what Id like to know.

Lyndon Blackbird, 51, and Evelyn Davis, 54

Lyndon took a leave of absence from work last June to spend the summer with his wife, Evelyn, who was in the late stages of early-onset Alzheimers disease. He wanted to spend as much time with her as possible while she still recognized him, and he planned to use the time to begin the arduous process of applying for long-term care. With every ability Evelyn lost, Lyndon gained a new responsibility. He took over the cooking, shopping, cleaning and bill payments. He did all the research and paperwork necessary to manage her illness, while ignoring his own health. The stress caused panic attacks, and he had a seizure.

Lyndon continued to care for Evelyn full-time, with the help of home-care workers, throughout the fall. His employer, the Bank of Montreal, allowed him to work from home and take more time off as he began to plan her transition into a nursing home. She moved into long-term care just after Christmas 2015 and is now in palliative care. Lyndon continues to visit her every other day and remains actively involved in her care. He is now in his fourth year as a caregiver, and he knows it may be his last.

Its a difficult time. Four hours of being with her, and if I can get one smile . . . oh my god, what I yearn for now.

Debbie Berry, 60, and James Berry, 80

When it was time for Debbie Berrys father to be released from hospital after a knee operation last September, she thought he would be going into long-term care. Then she learned she was expected to take him home. Debbie was already working full-time to support herself and her adult son, who has schizophrenia. In addition to mobility challenges caused by the operation, her father has liver cancer and dementia, making him a high-needs patient.

The familys publicly funded home care started at 35 hours per week, but the visits were spread throughout the day  a few hours in the morning, afternoon and evening  making it impossible for Debbie to work outside the home. Now home care has dwindled to 11 hours. Debbie has not been able to work since September and is on social assistance. At 60, she is beginning to have health challenges of her own, including arthritis in her knees and chronic pain. I dont think people understand what you give up and what you lose to do these things, she says. It changes your whole life.

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BEIJINGChinas state broadcaster, CCTV, has an American division tasked with bringing Chinese news to the world. And yet, in a clip tweeted Tuesday by CCTV America, two anchors deliver a 2.5-minute segment on a major story, the Panama Papers, without addressing the China-specific news related to the apparent disclosures of financial dealings and other activities linked to a Panamanian law firm.

Hours later, the clip disappeared from YouTube.

The segment titled Data leak reveals off-shore account for rich and powerful, played up the global scope of the leak, but fell short of naming any of the Chinese figures identified in initial reports.

Its an omission that says much about how the story is playing here  that is, selectively or not all.

And it hints at how sensitive Beijing is when it comes to news coverage, even overseas.

On Monday morning, when news spread that a trove of leaked documents had revealed the offshore holdings of the global elite, Chinese media joined their international counterparts in reporting the biggest leak in history.

The Chinese reports were cautious; they did not mention that the leak, dubbed the Panama Papers, named several top Chinese officials, including President Xi Jinping.

But that didnt stop the censors.

That afternoon, Chinese authorities issued a circular demanding that the articles be taken down.

By Tuesday, it was as if theyd never existed.

Chinas Foreign Ministry on Tuesday denounced as groundless the reports based on documents leaked from a Panama-based law firm that name relatives of current and retired Chinese politicians, including President Xi Jinping, as owning offshore companies.

Spokesman Hong Lei said he would not discuss the reports further and declined to say whether the individuals named would be investigated.

For these groundless accusations, I have no comment, Hong told reporters at a regularly scheduled news conference.

The reports by an international coalition of media outlets, including the Toronto Star, working with the Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, or ICIJ, are based on documents from the Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca, one of the worlds biggest creators of shell companies

The report does not make specific allegations of wrongdoing, but raises questions about the need for hard-to-trace offshore accounts.

Yet even that riles Chinese authorities.

The ICIJs initial report mentioned Deng Jiagui, the brother-in-law of Chinas current president, Xi Jinping and Li Xiaolin, the tycoon daughter of Chinas former premier, Li Peng.

On Tuesday, the BBC went public with two more names: Zhang Gaoli and Liu Yunshan, both members of Chinas elite standing committee.

News of the ICIJs reporting landed in China on a national holiday. Initially, the countrys censors seemed slow to act.

On Monday, stories about the Chinese figures named in the report briefly circulated on WeChat, a wildly popular messaging app, and popped up on social media platforms.

Several Chinese websites went with the story, reporting on disclosures related to Vladimir Putin and soccer star Lionel Messi without touching on any of the documents linked to powerful Chinese.

As the day progressed and the story grew, the censors swung into action. Censorship directives leaked to China Digital Times (CDT) a U.S.-based website, urged Chinese media to find and delete reprinted reports on the Panama Papers.

Do not follow up on related content, no exceptions. If material from foreign media attack(ing) China is found on any website, it will be dealt with severely, it said.

On Tuesday, Panama was one of the Chinese webs hottest search terms, according to FreeWeibo, a website that tracks searches and censored content. It was also one of the most censored: terms such as Panama documents and Panama offshore were mostly blocked. Search results of websites and social media for the words Panama documents were blocked Tuesday.

Chinese state media are ignoring reports on the revelations.

The nationalistic tabloid Global Times published an editorial saying an unidentified powerful force was behind the document leak. It said the main targets were opponents of the West, especially Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Western media have taken control of the interpretation each time there has been such a document dump, and Washington has demonstrated particular influence in it. Information that is negative to the U.S. can always be minimized, while exposure of non-Western leaders, such as Putin, can get extra spin, said the newspaper, published by the partys flagship Peoples Daily.

The paper made no mention of any involvement by Chinese figures.

A lack of legal guarantees in China has motivated many of the countrys newly wealthy to hide their riches through complicated legal arrangements that place them beyond the reach of the authorities.

The ICIJ said Mossack Fonseca had arranged offshore companies for relatives of at least eight present or past members of the Communist Partys Politburo Standing Committee, the apex of power in China.

Among those it mentioned was Xis brother-in-law.

The governments response came as no surprise, but many Chinese are likely to have heard about the ICIJ reports by finding ways around the censors or by discussing them indirectly, said Zhang Lifan, a Beijing-based independent historian and political observer.

As usual, the first reaction of the Chinese government is to block the information from spreading, Zhang said.

It is difficult to prevent that, but they may be able to put the situation under control, unless someone within the system attempts to take advantage of the incident, Zhang said.

The family lives and personal finances of Chinese leaders are taboo subjects for Chinese media and reports on them in the international press can draw angry responses from Beijing.

Previous reports by Bloomberg News and The New York Times about wealth accumulated by Xis family and the even-greater fortune built up by relatives of former Premier Wen Jiabao prompted China to block access to their websites within China and refuse to grant visas to their reporters to work in China.

Heres a look at two of the best-known investigations and their outcomes:

In the months before a 2012 once-in-decade power transfer in Beijing, both The New York Times and the Bloomberg News service published articles detailing the family wealth of incoming and outgoing Chinese leaders.

Bloomberg said then-Vice-President Xis extended family, mainly his older sister Qi Qiaoqiao, her husband, Deng Jiagui, and Qis daughter, Zhang Yannan, had investments in various companies, an 18 per cent stake in a rare earths firm with $1.73 billion in assets, and a $20.2 million holding in a technology company.

The report said none of the wealth could be traced directly to Xi, his entertainer wife Peng Liyuan or their daughter, but it is widely believed that political influence and insider knowledge are factors in the building of such fortunes.

The New York Times said a review of corporate and regulatory records showed that relatives of then-Premier Wen Jiabao controlled assets worth at least $2.7 billion and hid that wealth through layers of partnerships and investment vehicles.

Xi did not respond publicly, but Wen reportedly issued a statement through a law firm denying the Times report. Chinese spokesmen issued furious denunciations, a reflection of the extreme sensitivity surrounding the private lives and personal finances of the Chinese leadership. The New York Times was threatened with a lawsuit, although no action appeared to be taken. Xis brother-in-law, Deng Jiagui, told Bloomberg he was retired and that it was not convenient to discuss the familys investments.

Beijing blocked access to Bloombergs website in China. The New York Times, which won a Pulitzer Prize for its coverage, also had its Chinese-language service blocked, alongside its English-language website, which had long been inaccessible inside China.

China often refuses to grant or renew visas to reporters whose work has angered the leadership. The New York Times suffered especially in the wake of its Wen report, with reporters denied permission to live in the country or enter for short-term assignments.

Xi later said foreign journalists must comply with Chinese laws while working in China and should examine themselves for why they had trouble obtaining visas.

Its like a car that broke down halfway, Xi said at a news conference with visiting U.S. President Barack Obama in November 2014. Maybe you should get off the car and see where it went wrong.

with files from The Associated Press and Los Angeles Times

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in order for sanctions to be placed on a country or places

it hass to be approoved by some kind of world counsol. i dont know

the name i just know it involves nations. we dont know whats going on

siting here collecting and posting in this forun. but to sanctions a country

there hass to be a very good reason for it. agreed to by a world counsol.

what we here know for a fact is jack scit
Indeed RG #744

I consider these anecdotes apocryphal. But I find them entertaining not as much about the personality, but because of the humor.



"I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play, bring a friend... if you have one." -- George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill

"Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second... if there is one." - Winston Churchill, in reply
It has been raining almost daily since last week; a sign of the monsoon season. When the weather turns chilly like that, I usually crave for...
Prime Minister Dung: a decade in power

By Ha Phuong April 4, 2016 | 11:40 pm PT

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung is scheduled to step down on Wednesday after 10 years in power. Lets take a quick look at how the country's socio-economic development has progressed during his term in office.
State-owned PetroVietnam expects its Block B gas project in the southwest to contribute $19.4 billion to the state budget from 2020-2040, the company said in a statement on April 4.

Around $18.3 billion of the estimated contribution is expected to come from the project's three blocks. A natural gas pipeline is hoped to contribute some $930 million while import duties from construction are estimated at $17.7 million. PetroVietnam did not provide estimated figures for other component projects.

The national oil and gas group on Sunday resumed activities at the Block B gas project following years of delays due to gas price issues. PetroVietnam inked deals in June last year to take over the three oil and gas blocks by acquiring Chevron's stakes in the blocks and gas pipeline. These include a 42.4 percent stake in blocks B and 48/95, 43.4 percent in Block 52/97 and 28.7 percent of non-operated working interest in the Block B-O Mon pipeline project.

PetroVietnam plans to invest $6.8 billion by 2040 to construct a central processing platform, 46 wellhead and hub platforms, about 750 wells, a floating storage and offloading vessel and living quarters. A 431km gas pipeline worth $1.2 billion will also be constructed to transport 20.3 million cubic meters of natural gas per day to fuel several power plants in the south with total capacity of 3,660 MW.

These projects will help PetroVietnam and other investors pump about 5.06 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year from 2020-2040. The three blocks in the project are estimated to contain 107 billion cubic meters of natural gas and 12.65 million barrels of condensate.

Joining PetroVietnam in blocks B and 48/95 are Japan's Mitsui Oil Exploration Co. Ltd. (25.62 percent), PetroVietnam Exploration and Production (23.5 percent) and Thai PTT Exploration and Production (8.5 percent). The other investors in block 52/97 are PetroVietnam Exploration and Production (30 percent), Mitsui Oil Exploration Co. Ltd. (19.6 percent) and PTTEP (7 percent).
If there's one thing Americans understand, it's cars.

The U.S. auto industry, all but dead following the U.S. banking crisis of 2008, has largely recovered from the recession. Domestic auto production is breaking records, fueled in recent quarters by the declining price of gasoline. General Motors (GM) and Chrysler, a division of Fiat Chrysler (FCAU) , improved following government-bailouts while Ford (F) managed its own restructuring by lowering production costs and making better cars.

The industry's attitude on international trade has undergone changes, too. While automakers enthusiastically supported the North American Free Trade Agreement in the early 1990s, the same can't be said for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the sweeping trade agreement involving 11 mostly Asian countries, including Japan, Malaysia and Vietnam.

Ford, which actively pushed for NAFTA with Mexico and Canada 22 years ago, conspicuously opposes the TPP. The automaker's high-profile opposition comes as all four leading candidates have also denounced the trade pact. Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump, of course, have been the most consistently vocal yet even Hillary Clinton and Ted Cruz, who both backed initial efforts to negotiate the Asian trade accord, say they don't like it.

For a large exporter such as Ford to oppose a major trade agreement is "quite unusual, really quite unique," Adam Hersh, a visiting fellow at Columbia University's Initiative for Policy Dialogue, said in a phone interview from Washington.

One of Ford's concerns about the TPP is how it mandates Rules of Origin, which govern what percentage of a vehicle must be manufactured in a given trade zone to qualify for sale in that same region. NAFTA requires that autos and light vehicles must be able to show that 62.5% of its content was manufactured in the U.S., Canada or Mexico for sale in its three-country trade region with lower tariffs.

Yet as currently written, the TPP would require a much lower threshold, 45% for vehicles and as low as 35% for some parts. Japan wanted it low because so much of that country's parts manufacturing takes place in China, which remains one of the world's lowest-wage markets. Moving those facilities and related operations elsewhere would cost billions of dollars and require enormous changes to Japanese sourcing networks.

If the TPP is approved in its current form, Japanese carmakers would be able to continue to import parts from China, have them included in cars assembled in Mexico or another TPP country, without violating the treaty's conditions.

Therefore, raw steel or aluminum can be imported from China to a TPP member country where it is pressed, drilled, stamped and glued, and suddenly it goes from being a 100% Chinese good to a 100% TPP product without any requirement that the importer adhere to the trade treaty's labor and environmental standards.

"What this is doing is opening a backdoor for manufacturers outside of TPP to sell into the market," Hersh said. "It doesn't do anything to create the incentives for manufacturing to be retained within TPP member countries."

The other TPP member countries are Singapore, New Zeland, Chile, Peru, Brunei, Australia, Canada and Mexico.

For Trump, Cruz, Clinton and Sanders, the impact of trade agreements on U.S. workers is one of the most volatile issues of the presidential campaign.

Clinton spent parts of March in the Midwest saying her decision to reverse an earlier favorable stand on the TPP was due in part to its lax rules of origin for automakers. An aide told The Washington Post that Clinton opposed allowing cars to be assembled and sold within the TPP zone mostly using parts made outside the region.

Sanders frequently cites a Tufts University study that projected U.S. job losses of 448,000 if TPP is enacted. Trump, who needs a strong showing in Wisconsin's primary on Tuesday to quell talk that his campaign has lost momentum, told voters there that the TPP would make NAFTA "look like a baby, and Wisconsin will be hit so hard."

Even Texas Sen. Cruz, who a year ago backed giving Obama "fast-track" authority to negotiate an Asian free trade agreement, has emerged as something of a TPP opponent.

At the root of Ford's opposition to TPP is that member countries, most notably Japan, manipulate their currencies.

Such manipulation can buoy Japanese exports while hurting sales from other countries -- like the U.S. -- inside the world's third-largest economy, Stephen E. Biegun, Ford's chief of international government affairs, argued in testimony before a congressional committee in January.

Keenly aware that the world's fastest-growing auto market is Asia, Ford has called on the Obama administration to secure a "dispute settlement mechanism" that might make it easier to break into Japan's all-but-closed domestic market, the largest in the world behind the U.S. and China.

Democrats led by Michigan Congressman Sandy Levin, who opposes TPP in its current form, have made similar calls on Obama trade officials to address currency manipulation.

"We can and will compete in any market around the world with Japanese manufacturers, but no manufacturer can compete with the Bank of Japan," said Biegun, who warned the pact would add $50 billion annually to the U.S. trade deficit with Japan. "In TPP, the Japanese government made no meaningful concessions -- and the U.S. government made no effort to make them do so."

U.S. negotiators are said to be attempting to hammer out a side agreement on currency manipulation, but such a deal remains elusive. No country wants to give up its right to control its own monetary policy. Ford, meanwhile, has learned that even a Fortune 500 company with a global brand name has limits to its leverage.

"Even Google, big important companies, have been on the outside of these negotiations and haven't been able to get the things that they see as important," Hersh added. "So, Ford, although a major U.S. company, has not always had the ear of the U.S. negotiators."
Recently, TheDeal, a sister publication to TheStreet, highlighted five independent oil and gas companies "that are so good at getting oil out of the ground that they should be able to survive in this environment of low oil prices," reporter Claire Poole wrote on April 1.

With thousands of instruments to invest in, I see no compelling reason to scrape the "bottom of the barrel" of oil and gas producers in an effort to find investment ideas. I think the most attractive ideas should rise to the top and stand on their own.

Here are four names that do not get my heart pumping.

1. Diamondback Energy

In this daily chart of Diamondback Energy (FANG) , we see that the stock has made no upside progress the past 12 months as it has crisscrossed above and below the 50-day and 200-day moving averages. There have been several golden and death crosses the past few months. Traders keying off of moving average signals would have been whipsawed several times.

The On-Balance-Volume line has improved from a January low, but there is a bearish divergence between the rising price highs the past couple of months and the declining momentum study. The advance has been losing its upside momentum.

2. RSP Permian

This chart of RSP Permian (RSPP) shows a similar setup as seen in Diamondback Energy. Moving averages have been up and down and long and short. The OBV line has been up and down and up again while momentum has weakened on the latest rally.

3. Ultra Petroleum

Sorry, but a stock like Ultra Petroleumundefined that has lost so much of its value from its peak should be left alone to suffer.

I see nothing here that urges me to speculate on a "lost cause."

4. Oasis Petroleum

Oasis Petroleum (OAS) is above the slowly improving 50-day moving average line but still below the 200-day. The OBV line is firming, but that is about it. These is not enough technical evidence to warrant a long position.
For Mark Pocan, a Wisconsin Democrat who represents liberal Madison and its adjacent counties in Congress, the 2016 presidential election is altering the political landscape.

Two years ago, Democrats in Wisconsin were slammed as voters handed Republican Scott Walker's anti-union, budget-austerity crusade a second term. Walker, bolstered by Koch brothers funding, defeated the little-known and under-managed campaign of Democrat Mary Burke with 52.3% of ballots, compared with her 46.6%.

In the 2014 mid-term election, Democrats lost a net 13 congressional seats as well as governorships in solid-blue states like Massachusetts, Maryland and Illinois; today, there are just 18 Democratic governors.

But in 2016, many of the issues that Pocan hoped would resonate with voters two years ago have taken center stage: frustration with stagnating wages and concerns that "free trade" agreements meant the loss of well-paying manufacturing jobs. Anger that neither party's leaders are sufficiently addressing the concerns of ordinary Americans has helped to fuel the unlikely campaigns of both Democrat Bernie Sanders and Republican Donald Trump.

"If you want to connect with real voters, you better talk about what they're talking about," Pocan said in a phone interview near Beloit, Wis. "This is finally now an election where everyone gets that, but I wish we would have gotten it a couple of years earlier.

In Wisconsin, the loss of manufacturing jobs still stings. General Motors idled its Janesville factory, which employed 1,200 people, in 2009, and only officially said in October that the 4.8 million-square-foot plant, which employed as many as 7,000 people in the 1970s, wouldn't be reopened. Chrysler closed the Kenosha Engine Plant in 2010, leaving behind 800 jobs.

But it's not just auto production where Wisconsin has lost manufacturing jobs. As a result of the 2008 recession, 163,800 jobs, approximately 5% of the state's job base, were eliminated, according to the Wisconsin Department of Revenue. The manufacturing, trade, transportation and utilities, as well as professional and business service sectors suffered the bulk of the job losses. In short, the state's middle class.

Trump held a rally on March 29 in Janesville, House Speaker Paul Ryan's hometown, in part to tweak the party's leadership which has been less than enthusiastic about his candidacy, but also to emphasize the former vice-presidential nominee's support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the multilateral 12-nation trade agreement that includes Japan, Malaysia and Vietnam.

The TPP, Trump said, "will make NAFTA look like a baby." And in a moment that must have heartened Wisconsin Democrats, the crowd at Trump's rally booed when he mentioned Gov. Walker, who earlier in the day had endorsed Cruz. The Texas senator held a narrow four percentage-point lead over Trump in Wisconsin, according to the weighted average of seven polls surveyed by Real Clear Politics.

"People who are Democrats, Republicans and independents universally don't like the idea of a trade deal that can send jobs overseas," said Pocan, who has withheld endorsing a candidate until the primaries conclude in June. "The reason Donald Trump has this kind of interesting support is that part of his message is tapping into the anger around flattened wages, and the economy not treating everyone fairly."

That's also a sentiment that has helped to fuel Bernie Sanders' campaign, and his lead over Hillary Clinton among Wisconsin voters heading into its primary. The Vermont senator held a 2.6% lead above the Democratic frontrunner, according to Real Clear Politics.

Sanders' populism, which led him to victories in neighboring Minnesota's caucus and in Michigan's primary in March -- which Michael Tomasky in The The New York Review of Books called "arguably, the biggest upset in the history of presidential primaries -- has consistently focused on economic issues: a tax regimen that Sanders argues affords loopholes for the country's wealthiest, trade pacts that have intensified income inequality and a campaign finance structure that allows the largest corporations to have outsized influence in who is elected and what gets passed in Congress.

Two years ago, Pocan said, Democrats failed to connect with voters on bread-and-butter issues of wages and opportunity. Sanders, and to a certain extent Trump, are showing Democrats across the country a formula that might work to help the party recapture the House and win back some state houses.

"2014 wasn't a great year for us," Pocan said. "Our message could have been much more targeted on that part of the economy that got left behind during the recovery. This is finally now an election where everyone gets that."
Retail investors were net sellers in the month of March -- especially in retail stocks like Target (TGT) , J.C. Penney (JCP) and Alibaba Group Holding (BABA) -- even as the S&P 500 pushed ahead, said J.J. Kinahan, chief strategist at TD Ameritrade (AMTD) .

TD Ameritrade's Investor Movement Index (IMX) fell 2.5% in March to a 52-week low of 4.33 despite the S&P 500 rising 4.5% for the month. The IMX was negative for the third month in a row. The 52-week high for the IMX is 5.39.

Each month, TD Ameritrade pulls a sample from its client base of 6 million funded accounts that includes all accounts that completed a trade in the past month. The holdings and positions of this statistically significant sample are evaluated to calculate individual scores, and the median of those scores represents the monthly IMX.

"Our index has a volatility factor and volatility has been one of the big discussions on Wall Street this year," said Kinahan. "We have had a crazy start to the year but volatility, as measured by the VIX, really has never exploded and right now it's only around 14."

The VIX, which measures the volatility of the S&P 500, trended downward throughout the month and, near the end of the period, closed below 14 for the first time since before the spike in volatility that occurred in late August 2015.

Retailers including Alibaba and Target were both net sold in March. Both have rebounded from lows in February, with Target nearly reaching its 52-week high. J.C. Penney was net sold after it posted better-than-expected earnings in late February and saw its share price reach a new 52-week high in March.

"The retail trader in many of these cases is thinking the right way in that they are taking profits when they can," said Kinahan.

Despite being net sellers of equities overall, TD Ameritrade clients did find some heavily beaten-down names to buy in March, notably energy players such as Chesapeake Energy (CHK) and Kinder Morgan (KMI) . They also picked up Walt Disney (DIS) last mongth. Kinahan said Disney is a widely held name at TD Ameritrade, and has been a popular net buy with TD Ameritrade clients in recent months as the stock has come under pressure and the market has grown more uncertain.
Brocade Communications Systems (BRCD) shares tanked Monday after the networking gear maker said it would pay $1.2 billion net of cash for WiFi technology group Ruckus Wireless (RKUS) .

The deal pays Ruckus shareholders $6.45 in cash and 0.75 shares of Brocade common stock, for a total of $14.43 per share, a nearly 45% premium to the target's close on Friday. The total payout comes to $1.5 billion in cash and stock, but net of Ruckus's cash the deal value is $1.2 billion.

Ruckus shares gained $3.24, or 32%, to close at $13.24. Brocade dropped $1.45, or nearly 14%, to close at $9.19 $9.11. Ruckus develops WiFi products for mobile carriers, broadband providers, corporations and other large enterprises.

Brocade CEO Lloyd Carney told investors during a Monday call the acquisition would bring the company "the most innovative WiFi assets in the industry."

With increased investment in WiFi by telecommunications carriers and the advances that Ruckus has made in some of its new applications, BTIG analyst Walt Piecyk noted in a Monday report that Ruckus could attract other suitors.

The price tag might not deter large bidders including Ericsson (ERIC) , Nokia (NOK) , CommScope (COMM) or Juniper Networks (JNPR) , Piecyk suggested. Nokia, CommScope and Juniper Networks declined to comment. Ericsson did not immediately respond to a query.

Brocade and Ruckus signed confidentiality agreements in February, Securities and Exchange Commission filings state. When asked during Monday's call if Ruckus had held talks with any of the large networking groups, CEO Selina Lo did not address the topic.

With the pending sale of Ruckus, Dougherty & Co. analyst Catherine Trebnick noted Monday, the field of wireless networking companies is thinning. The former Hewlett-Packard bought Aruba Networks for $3 billion in March 2015. Fortinet (FTNT) purchased WiFi gear maker Meru Networks in July 2015 for $44 million.

Aerohive Networks (HIVE) and Ubiquiti Networks (UBNT) are the "last men standing," she wrote, and could face pressure to find suitors. The companies did not immediately respond to queries.

Trebnick put the sale of Ruckus Wireless at roughly 2.6 times projected 2016 revenue estimate of $437.65 million. RBC Capital Markets analyst Mitch Steves valued the deal at 2.8 times sales for the coming twelve months and 25.5 times earnings for the coming year, compared to Aruba's sale to HP at 3 times sales and 20.1 times earnings.

The parties expect to close the deal in Brocade's third fiscal quarter.
Shares of Twitter (TWTR) finally gave investors something to cheer about Monday. The stock climbed nearly 7% to close at $17.09.

The gains were fueled by MasterCard (MA) , which is eyeing partnerships with Twitter and Facebook (FB) . Facebook is an obvious partner, considering its billion-plus user base, but the payment-processing giant finds value in Twitter's unique payments services offering.

"I think the way we would work with them is just the way we work with the other tech giants, we would figure out what we can do together, where our network could play into their space and connect up," Ann Cairns, president of international markets at MasterCard, said in an interview earlier in the day.

For too long, investors have been bogged down with how poorly Twitter's user growth has been, especially compared to the golden child, Facebook. Although user growth hasn't wowed investors, revenue growth has actually been pretty impressive in the company's public years.

Investors are hoping with CEO Jack Dorsey back at the helm, the company will find ways to boost sales and earnings - some of which could come from partnerships with companies like MasterCard - while at the same time growing users.

Shares of Facebook closed at $112.55 Monday, down 3%.

In a never-ending battle to fend off competition, Brocade (BRCD) announced the acquisition of Ruckus Wireless (RKUS) . The deal is for roughly $1.5 billion in cash and stock.

The announcement had differing impacts on the stock prices, however. Shares of Ruckus soared 32.4% to $13.24 -- just shy of its 52-week high. Brocade closed at $9.19, down 13.6% on the day.

Brocade has said the deal should close during its fiscal third quarter, and become accretive to the company in the first quarter of 2017.

Some view the deal as a good, long-term move that will boost Brocade's offerings for 5G mobile services, once it is introduced. However, it could pit Brocade against some tough competition, namely Cisco Systems (CSCO) .

It's actually a large acquisition, considering that after the close of trading, Brocade only had a market cap of $3.7 billion.

Apple's (AAPL) recently launched iPhone SE starts at $399. That price point is still far too high for many customers in India.



That's why Apple is seeking permission to import used iPhones into the nation. But it's not going to come easy. The company tried once before, last year, and was denied. While some of the public is pushing for Apple's wish to be granted, the government isn't so fast to say yes.

First, Prime Minister Modi has encouraged local manufacturing within India with his program, Make in India. Allowing Apple to sell used phones could fly right in the face of that concept.

Second, the competition isn't too keen on letting Apple into the market. During the holiday season, Apple saw iPhone sales soar more than 70% in India -- and that obviously doesn't include the SE unit and or used phones. So clearly, demand is there.

If Apple does gain access to India in the form of importing used iPhones, it could be a boon for the company. U.S. sales have started to slow and the company is always on the look for its next big market. India is the second-largest country when it comes to mobile, so to say it's a big market is sort of an understatement.

The problem with countries like China and India is the phone's cost -- 80% of the phones sold in India cost less than $150, meaning iPhones simply cost too much money for most of the population. This brings into question the company's margin potential. Used devices, at least for now, could help solve the price problem for both parties.

Shares of Apple closed at $111.12, up 1% on Monday.

This article is commentary by an independent contributor. At the time of publication, the author held no positions in the stocks mentioned.
A new wave of Japanese investment is expected to arrive in Hanoi in the near future thanks to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement.

Director General of the Tien Bo International Company Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan said numerous pharmaceutical and water environment companies are looking at investing in Hanoi.



Japanese firms have also shown special interest in urban development and craft villages, while maintaining the capitals unique features. Many are eyeing tourism and service projects in Hanoi in recognition of the citys historical and intangible cultural values, she said.

According to Chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) Vu Tien Loc, Hanoi is an attractive destination for foreign investors. The capital leaped two places in the 2015 Provincial Competitiveness Index, showing the citys determination to improve institutions and help businesses to attract foreign investment, especially in tourism.

He suggested domestic business players take this opportunity to make use of preferential tariffs provided by the TPP.



Japanese Embassy official Katsuro Nagai described the cooperation between businesses from the two countries as a practical way of boosting bilateral strategic relations.



In addition to transport, Japanese companies want to invest in tourism, he said, adding that the cooperation opportunities for Hanoi and Japanese businesses are promising if the two sides prepare well.



The Hanoi Promotion Centre on Trade, Investment and Tourism has introduced Japanese firms to the citys tourism potential and called on them to invest in hi-tech and industrial parks in the city, as well as projects under the public-private partnership model.



Regarding investment ties between Hanoi and Japan, Chairman of the municipal Peoples Committee Nguyen Duc Chung said the city treasures and hopes to expand cooperation with its Japanese partners.



Hanoi will push ahead with administrative reforms and synchronize its policies and institutions to support Japanese businesses and build a friendly investment environment.
Fifty female candidates standing for the upcoming National Assembly (NA) for the first time are on a training course being held in Hanoi from April 4-6.

The three-day course is designed to help candidates be successful at the upcoming election. The curriculum includes soft skills, an overview of the NA, the Law on Organization of the NA, womens role in politics and gender equality.

Participants from ten northern mountainous provinces will also be introduced to action plans and how to present them convincingly at meetings with local voters.

The course is being co-organized by the Vietnam Women's Union, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Asian Fund.

President of the Vietnam Womens Union Nguyen Thanh Hoa, who is also a 13th NA deputy and a key trainer for the course, said that capacity building to meet the requirements of leadership positions will create a foundation for womens political participation.



Assistant Director Dennis Curry from UNDP in Vietnam said the participation of women in leadership positions in politics and public administration will ensure the representation of the entire population in key institutions. It is also evidence of women's equal rights and a measure to bring about diverse perspectives in policy formulation.



Knowledge, skills and confidence will enable women to participate more actively in constitutional, legislative and monitoring activities to decide on the countrys important issues.



Dieu Huynh Sang, a NA deputy from Binh Phuoc province, said that although only accounting for 24.4 percent of the 13th NA, female delegates have actively participated in the NA.



An online learning site has also been launched at www.sansangdethanhcong.com to support participants and provide content for anyone interested.

Resolution No. 11 by the Politburo in 2007 targets that by 2020, female delegates at the NA and People's Councils at all levels will account for 35 percent to 40 percent. The Law on Election of Deputies to the NA and People's Councils at all levels in 2015 also sets a target of guaranteeing at least 35 percent of the official candidates running for NA deputy seats are women.
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Walt Disney Co. (DIS) are sliding by 2.2% to $96.51 on Tuesday morning, as COO Tom Staggs will step down on May 6 and the board expands its search for a successor to CEO Bob Iger.

Staggs was widely seen as the favored candidate to lead Disney after Iger's retirement.

"With approximately two years left before Mr. Iger steps down as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Disney's Board of Directors will broaden the scope of its succession planning process to identify and evaluate a robust slate of candidates for consideration," the company said in a statement.

Staggs, who was named COO in February 2015, parted ways when Disney's board said he was not likely to become CEO when Iger retires.

One of Staggs' largest projects was the building of Shanghai Disneyland, which is slated to open in June, Reuters noted.

He will remain at the company as a special adviser to Iger through Disney's fiscal year ending in September.

Staggs started at Disney in 1990 after working in investment banking at Morgan Stanley (MS).

TheStreet's Jim Cramer, Portfolio Manager of the Action Alerts Plus charitable trust, commented on Staggs stepping down: "Is it a reflection on Disney itself? I think absolutely not...I still believe in Disney long term. I certainly believe in Bob Iger. I don't think you should sell Disney on this.

Separately, TheStreet Ratings Team has a "Buy" rating with a score of A- on the stock.

The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, impressive record of earnings per share growth, compelling growth in net income, notable return on equity and expanding profit margins.

The team believes its strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had lackluster 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: DIS
President Obama believes that companies need to play by the same rules as everyone else, and supports the Treasury Department's proposed regulations to make tax inversions less financially appealing, TheStreet TV anchor Rhonda Schaffler reports.

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Allergan (AGN) stock is plummeting by 15.35% to $235.16 on heavy trading volume this afternoon, as the Treasury Department's new rules to curb corporate tax inversions threaten the company's proposed $160 billion merger with Pfizer (PFE).

Shares of Pfizer are rising by 2.86% to $31.60 in afternoon trading.

Allergan, which has a legal domicile in Ireland, agreed last year to merge with New York-based Pfizer in what would be the largest tax inversion deal ever. Under such an agreement, a U.S.-based company merges with a foreign company and moves its headquarters abroad to receive a lower tax rate.

The new rules would prevent Allergan's key deals within the past three years from counting toward meeting the inversion threshold with regard to its pending merger with Pfizer, Evercore analyst Umer Raffat wrote in a note, according to Reuters.

"The real issue is not so much what Allergan may prove or disprove, or whether Treasury overstepped its authority. The real question is whether Pfizer reads today's regulations as reason enough to not continue to pursue the deal," Raffat added.

Either company is able to terminate the deal if an unfavorable change in U.S. law would require the combined company to be treated as a U.S. domestic entity for federal income tax purposes, Reuters reports.

"That deal, I think, is absolutely dead," TheStreet's Jim Cramer said in a video this morning, noting that he has a position in Allergan for Action Alerts PLUS and has been waiting for shares to come down.

On a multiple basis, the stock deserves to sell much higher, he added.

"I think Allergan is a screaming buy below $220," he continued. "I think it's about Teva, it's the money, it's the balance sheet and it's about what [CEO] Brent Saunders is going to do going forward."

(Allergan is held in Jim Cramer's charitable trust Action Alerts PLUS. See all of his holdings here.)

Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates the stock as a "hold" with a ratings score of C.

Allergan's strengths such as its robust revenue growth, growth in earnings per share and increase in net income are countered by the stock's generally disappointing performance in the past year.

You can view the full analysis from the report here: AGN

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 article's author.
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Marvell Technology Group (MRVL) shares are surging 14.86% to $11.05 in Tuesday's pre-market trading session after the announcement that CEO Sehat Sutardja and President Weili Dai are leaving their management positions, effective immediately.

The two will remain on the company's board with Sutardja continuing as chairman.

Arturo Krueger, Marvell's lead outside director, thanked the two for their "enormous contributions," noting that the company has "revolutionized the world through its innovative technology and breakthrough designs in the semiconductor industry."

However, he added that the board believes the time has come "to move in a new leadership direction."

Until the company finds a new CEO and president, Maya Strelar-Migotti, executive VP of Smart Networked Devices and Solutions Business Group, and Dr. Pantelis Alexopoulos, executive VP of the Storage Business Group, will be interim co-chief executive officers.

Based in Bermuda, Marvell Technology Group designs, develops, and markets analog, mixed-signal, digital signal processing, and embedded and standalone integrated circuits.

Separately, TheStreet Ratings currently has a "Hold" rating on the stock with a letter grade of C-.

The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures and expanding profit margins. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including deteriorating net income, disappointing return on equity and a generally disappointing 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' author.

You can view the full analysis from the report here: MRVL
The Prime Minister has approved a project to promote the rights of people with disabilities funded by the United States Agency for International Development's (USAID).

The $21.2 million project aims to increase independent living and better integration for people with disabilities, while completing policies and laws to support them.

Additionally, the project will focus on improving therapeutic treatment and rehabilitation services by intensifying the involvement of organizations and people with disabilities in developing, monitoring and evaluating policies and services.

The project will be implemented over five years by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs in the northern province of Thai Binh, the central provinces of Thua Thien-Hue, Quang Nam and Binh Dinh and the southern provinces of Binh Phuoc, Tay Ninh and Dong Nai.
Amazon.com (AMZN) shares more than doubled in 2015 but have dropped over 12% thus far this year. James Abate, chief investment officer for Centre Funds, said investors should gladly take the shares off the hands of those taking profits.



"It is one of the few companies in the stock market today that is reinvesting back into its business in a profitable manner and has the capability to generate significant sales growth," said Abate. "But perhaps most importantly it has the potential to improve on its profit margins and returns on capital."



Abate's Centre American Select Equity Fund (DHAMX) is up over 2% so far in 2016, according to fund-tracker Morningstar. The $162 million fund has returned 4.7% in the past year, outpacing 97% of its peers in Morningstar's large growth-cap category.



Abate is also bullish on shares of Pepsico (PEP) , which are up 4% year to date, nearly three percentage points more than the S&P 500. Abate said the food and beverage-seller is still not pricey despite a multiple of 21 times its forecast 2017 earnings.



"In an environment where profit growth is scarce, margins are decelerating for the majority of companies in the S&P 500, Pepsico is a company that has that capability through cost savings," said Abate, adding that it will also see growth in its non-carbonated beverage and snack business.



Shares of Carnival (CCL) have fallen 2.7% so far in 2016, but are set up well for a strong move higher due to low energy costs, new ships and the opening of Cuba, according to Abate. "They can do very well in terms of putting up profit growth, incrementally improve its margins and potentially get a re-rating from the stock market because it is performing so well," said Abate.



Finally, Abate is positive on Exelon (EXC) , up 27% year to date, saying there is more to the utility than a dovish Federal Reserve and a 3.5% dividend yield. "We are finally start to see return on equity improvement in the business," said Abate, adding that it may be a beneficiary of some of the clean energy initiatives in the market due to its nuclear holdings.
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Pfizer (PFE) stock is rising by 0.78% to $30.96 on heavy trading volume this morning, after the Treasury Department proposed new tax regulations to curb corporate tax inversions, which could terminate Pfizer's $160 billion agreement to purchase Dublin-based Allergan (AGN).

Allergan shares are down by 17.01% to $230.34 this morning.

If completed, the merger would be the largest tax inversion deal ever, and would allow New York-based Pfizer to move its headquarters to Ireland and receive a reduced tax rate.

However, the new regulations would negate any tax benefits from the takeover, Reuters reports.

"By how the stocks are trading, the market thinks the deal is almost dead," Les Funtleyder, healthcare portfolio manager at E Squared Asset Management, told Reuters.

Either one of the companies may terminate the deal if an adverse change in U.S. regulations would require the combined company to be treated as a U.S. domestic entity for federal income tax purposes.

About 141.43 million shares of Pfizer have been traded so far today, well above the company's average trading volume of roughly 45.93 million shares per day.

(Pfizer is held in the Dividend Stock Advisor portfolio. See all holdings here.)

Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates the stock as a "hold" with a ratings score of C.

Pfizer's strengths such as its revenue growth, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures and expanding profit margins are countered by weaknesses including deteriorating net income, disappointing return on equity and weak operating cash flow.

You can view the full analysis from the report here: PFE

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 article's author.
Provectus Biopharmaceuticals (PVCT) Chairman and CEO H. Craig Dees was fired after the company's board discovered he allegedly pocketed almost $2.5 million in unsubstantiated travel expenses over the past three years.

The extravagant travel-expense payouts to Dees are real but the actual travel likely isn't, Provectus says, which now leaves the company at risk of criminal or civil investigations by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The full extent of Dees' alleged embezzlement of company funds -- and the trouble Provectus finds itself in due to his alleged misdeeds -- were disclosed in the company's 10-K filed on March 30.

Provectus is a penny stock that has operated on the dark side of biotech legitimacy for years. The company's long-delayed effort to develop a melanoma treatment made from Rose Bengal, a common stain used to diagnose eye disease, borders on the ridiculous. Most biotech companies try to develop drugs to help patients. A truthful rendering of Provectus' mission statement, on the other hand, would read like, "Striving everyday to transfer as much shareholder cash to executives' pockets as possible."

On this score, Dees was very good at his job.

Soon after Dees was fired in February, Provectus' board hired outside accountants to look into his travel expenses and reimbursements. The investigation found the following:

In 2015, Dees received $898,430 in travel expense "advances." He submitted receipts for that "travel" totaling only $297,170, and most of those receipts "did not appear to be authentic."

In 2014, Dees received $819,000 for travel expense "advances" but didn't submit any travel receipts at all.

In 2013, Dees received $752,034 for travel expenses "advances." He submitted receipts to account for $54,034 of the travel but again, Provectus' investigation found those receipts to be faked.

The amount of money allegedly embezzled by Dees from Provectus over three years is staggering, especially for a company with three full-time employees which has struggled to raise small amounts of money to remain solvent.

Provectus, in its 10-K, does not say where the money given to Dees for "travel" actually ended up. [We can guess the obvious answer.] However, the company does consider all the travel-related expenses of Dees to be "theft loss" and the missing money is being reported to the Internal Revenue Service as extra income to Dees.

That'll be a Form 1099 MISC Dees will have trouble explaining.

Provectus is not the innocent victim of Dees' alleged plundering. Another executive at the company (not identified) approved the travel expense advances given to Dees without any supportive documentation, according to Provectus' 10-K. In essence, Dees asked one of his fellow company executives to write him big checks for travel advances, and that someone just wrote the checks, no questions asked.

In the arcane language of federal securities law, this means Provectus has "material weakness over its internal controls of financial reporting." It's illegal to make a personal loan to an executive or director of a public company.

When the feds call, and they will, Provectus has to explain how $2.5 million in personal loans -- "advances" -- to its now-fired CEO just walked out the door.

Adam Feuerstein writes regularly for TheStreet. In keeping with company editorial policy, he doesn't own or short individual stocks, although he owns stock in TheStreet. He also doesn't invest in hedge funds or other private investment partnerships. Feuerstein appreciates your feedback; click here to send him an email.
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Noble Corp. (NE) shares are getting a boost, up 3.43% to $9.95 on Tuesday, as oil prices changed direction from falling earlier today.

Crude oil (WTI) is advancing 0.2% to $35.77 per barrel and Brent crude is rising 0.21% to $37.77 per barrel.

Oil futures were tumbling in the morning due to a surprise drop in gasoline demand in the U.S.

According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA) gasoline demand fell in January for the first time in 14 months.

Additionally, there are doubts as to whether oil producers can agree to an output freeze when OPEC and non-OPEC members meet in Doha, Qatar on April 17, Reuters reports.

Last week, Saudi Arabia also said it would not freeze production unless Iran agreed to the deal.

Based in London, Noble Corp. operates as an offshore drilling contractor for the oil and gas industry worldwide.

Separately, TheStreet Ratings currently has a "Sell" rating on the stock with a letter grade of D+.

This is driven by a few notable weaknesses, which we believe 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 we cover. Among the areas we feel are negative, one of the most important has been a 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' author.

You can view the full analysis from the report here: NE
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Vale (VALE) stock is climbing 2.46% to $4.16 in afternoon trading on Tuesday after announcing that it will sell its entire 26.87% in Companhia Siderurgica do Atlantico (CSA) to Germany's Thyssenkrupp.

Vale's shares are being sold for a symbolic price, according to a statement.

The company will consequently be free of the significant debts tied to the mill, Reuters reports. It will be entitled to a portion of earnings from any future sale by Thyssenkrupp for an undisclosed amount of time as well.

The plant cost $10 billion to build and reported 2.6 billion euros in liabilities as of the end of 2015, Reuters adds.

Vale intends to sell roughly $10 billion of assets as the metals and mining company attempts to reduce its debt as commodity prices plunge.

Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates the stock as a "sell" with a ratings score of D.

Vale's weaknesses include its deteriorating net income, disappointing return on equity, generally high debt management risk, generally disappointing historical performance in the stock itself and feeble growth in its earnings per share.

You can view the full analysis from the report here: VALE

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 article's author.
A researchers from the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) places a mosquito sample into a tube during research work at the Zika Forest in Entebbe, south of Uganda's capital Kampala March 2, 2016 : REUTERS/James Akena

The Health Ministry issued an initial conclusion that the first two cases of Zika virus in Vietnam was transmitted through the bite of an infected mosquito.

The Health Ministry has temporarily come to conclusion that Zika virus was transmitted to the two victims entirely through mosquitoes, said deputy health minister Nguyen Thanh Long.

Long also instructed the health sector to keep the individuals, who had come into contact with the infected cases, under close surveillance.

No more cases of infection have been reported so far.

Tested samples of medical waste showed that the virus in the two infected cases was the same as the Zika virus strain currently circulating in some Southeast Asian countries including Thailand and Laos.

The spread of the virus is increasing among countries in the region so it comes as no surprise to detect infected cases in Vietnam, said health experts.

The National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology confirmed yesterday two first known cases of the virus in Vietnam.

A 64-year-old victim living in beach city Nha Trang showed symptoms identical to those linked to the Zika virus, including a mild fever, headache, a rash on her legs and red eyes. After two days of taking medication at home that failed to reduce fever, she went to the Khanh Hoa Hospital of Tropical Diseases for a check-up and tested positive to Zika virus last Thursday at Nha Trang's Pasteur Institute.

The second confirmed case is a 32-year-old woman from the country's southern business hub Ho Chi Minh City. The two-month pregnant woman started developing symptoms of severe fever, conjunctivitis and fatigue last Tuesday and went to the district general hospital the same day. She subsequently tested positive for the Zika virus.

Both patients are in a stable condition, said health officials.

The virus is transmitted to humans by the Aedes mosquito, the main carrier of dengue fever, which has long been present in Vietnam, particularly in the south. This makes Vietnam more exposed to the risk of a Zika virus outbreak.

The World Health Organization (WHO) suggested Vietnamese health authorities to intensify surveillance of people living in endemic areas and strengthen measures against the spread of the virus including killing mosquito larva.

There is more evidence that Zika virus can be spread through sexual contact. We suggested couples practice safe sex methods such as using a condom, especially upon returning from those areas at the epicenter of the virus, said a WHO representative.

The WHO announced that the Zika virus has so far been recorded in 61 countries and territories.
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Devon Energy (DVN) are rising 1.31% to $26.38 on Tuesday afternoon as oil prices pare earlier losses.

Crude oil (WTI) is lower by 0.34% to $35.58 per barrel and Brent crude is decreasing 0.08% to $37.66 per barrel this afternoon.

Oil prices are steadying after Kuwait said a production freeze by top oil producers would move forward without Iran, Reuters reports.

The comments bolstered sentiment ahead of weekly data, which is likely to show another record high build in U.S. crude stockpiles.

OPEC and non-OPEC members will meet to discuss freezing output in Doha, Qatar on April 17.

Kuwait "seems to think that a production freeze deal is possible even without Iran," Tim Evans, energy futures specialist at Citi Futures, told Reuters, "While that's technically true, we also think it would be ineffective in bending the path of future production, leaving the expected global surplus in place."

Earlier today, oil was pressured by data that showed the first monthly decline in U.S. gasoline demand in 14 months, Reuters noted.

Devon Energy is an Oklahoma City-based energy company engaged in the exploration, development and production of oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids.

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 deteriorating net income, disappointing return on equity, generally high debt management risk, generally disappointing historical performance in the stock itself and feeble growth in its earnings per share.

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: DVN
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Waste Connections (WCN) stock is declining by 3.10% to $62.54 in late-afternoon trading on Tuesday as the Treasury Department has proposed new regulations to make tax inversions, such as the company's proposed merger with Progressive Waste (BIN), less financially appealing.

Texas-based Waste Connections earlier this year agreed to merge with the Canada-based rival waste management company. If the deal is completed, the combined company would be headquartered in Canada, thereby avoiding a higher U.S. tax rate.

The two companies have announced that they remain committed to the deal despite the Treasury Department's proposed regulations, which would negate any tax benefits from the merger, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The companies anticipate that the regulations would weigh on combined adjusted free cash flow, which is estimated to be more than $625 million, by less than 3% in the first year following the deal's completion, the Journal adds.

Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates the stock as a "buy" with a ratings score of B.

Waste Connections' strengths such as its solid stock price performance, revenue growth, expanding profit margins and largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures outweigh the fact that the company has had somewhat disappointing return on equity.

You can view the full analysis from the report here: WCN

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 article's author.
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- IAMGOLD Corp. (IAG) stock is increasing by 3.23% to $2.24 in afternoon trading Tuesday after investors turned to gold as a safe haven.

Gold for June delivery is rising 0.91% to $1,230.40 per ounce on the COMEX this afternoon.

Gold prices are gaining because of falling equities and a weaker dollar which are being pressured by weak domestic and European economic data, Reuters reports.

"Today we have weaker stocks, weaker European growth and a German 10-year yield trading below 10 basis points. Greek IMF negotiations and renewed weakness in oil are all adding to the support for gold," Saxo Bank's head of commodities research, Ole Hansen, told Reuters.

Toronto-based IAMGOLD is a gold mining company with operations in Canada, Suriname, Mali and other countries.

Separately, IAMGOLD has a "sell" rating and a letter grade of D at TheStreet Ratings because of the company's feeble earnings per share growth, deteriorating net income, disappointing return on equity and weak operating cash flow.

You can view the full analysis from the report here: IAG

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 article's author.
GE (GE) is trying to return to its industrial roots by shedding the financial assets that nearly sunk it in 2009. Bob Wright, author of "The Wright Stuff," said it's not going to be easy for GE to roll back the clock because it is doing so in the middle of a "digital revolution".

"I think they are trying to make it the smartest industrial company by developing their own technology and operating systems which I am sure they will be willing to sell to third parties," said Wright.

Wright served as chairman and CEO of GE's NBCUniversal Media division from May 2004 to February 2007, capping off one of the longest and most successful tenures of any media company CEO. He was first elected president and CEO of NBC in 1986. During his time running NBC, Wright pushed the boundaries of the broadcaster, moving it into cable and satellite, international, and new media markets.

Wright joined GE in 1969 as a staff lawyer, but left in 1970 for a judicial clerkship. He rejoined GE in 1973 as a lawyer for GE Plastics, and from there moved up the management chain taking leadership roles in numerous divisions along the way, including Financial Services and Housewares and Audio.

Outside his GE career, Wright has served as a director of companies including Ralph Lauren (RL) and AMC Networks (AMCX) , in addition to being a Trustee of New York-Presbyterian Hospital and a Member of the Society of New York Hospital. Wright and his wife Suzanne co-founded Autism Speaks in 2005 after their first grandchild Christian was diagnosed with autism.

Wright said GE as a whole had a difficult time in the period between CEO Jack Welch's retirement just prior to 9/11 through the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009. During this period the company lost over $500 billion in market value with the stock sinking below $6 per share at one point.

"We were on a roller coaster ride from hell," said Wright.

GE was forced to unload Wright's NBCUniversal division during that period at a bargain price of $30 billion to Comcast (CMCSA) to pay for the financial problems of GE Capital. Wright said the company should have been sold or spun off a few years earlier when the valuation was closer to $45 billion.

"(CEO Jeff) Immelt was under tremendous pressure to raise capital for GE Capital at that time," said Wright, adding that most companies that flourished in the 1990's ran into similar problems after the year 2000.

"After 2000 we thought we were going to be on the Queen Mary II and instead we got on the Exxon Valdez," said Wright. "We were sailing around the world dripping oil for 9 years and it was very tough."
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Silver Wheatonundefined stock is rising by 3.24% to $16.25 in late-afternoon trading on Tuesday, as silver and gold prices gain.

Silver Wheaton is a Canadian mining company that generates its revenues from the sale of silver and gold.

Prices of the precious metals are advancing today as global growth concerns strengthen demand for safe-haven assets.

"Today we have weaker stocks, weaker European growth and a German 10-year yield trading below 10 basis points. Greek IMF negotiations and renewed weakness in oil are all adding to the support for gold," Ole Hansen, head of commodities research at Saxo Bank, told Reuters.

Silver for May delivery is increasing by 1.18% to $15.12 per ounce on the COMEX this afternoon, while gold for June delivery is climbing by 0.94% to $1,230.80 per ounce.

Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates the stock as a "hold" with a ratings score of C.

Silver Wheaton's strengths such as its revenue growth, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures and good cash flow from operations are countered by weaknesses including deteriorating net income, disappointing return on equity and a generally disappointing performance in the stock itself.

You can view the full analysis from the report here: SLW

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 article's author.
Vietnams National Assembly has passed amendments to the Law on Press that include new provisions on source protection and how state agencies interact with the press.

National Assembly deputies approved of the amended Law on Press. Photo: Giang Huy

The approval of the amended press law was backed by 442 of the 493 deputies who cast their votes on April 5. The law increases the number of prohibited acts to the media from four to thirteen. The law did not include a controversial provision that would prohibit journalists from writing things on social networks that are contrary to the press agencies they work for.

"This is about citizens freedom of speech which is constitutional so we cannot put it into the law," Nguyen Thanh Hai, deputy chairwoman of the National Assembly Office said. According to Hai, press agencies may prohibit such actions in their operational regulations.

The new amended press law specifies that print, transmissions and broadcasts will not be subjected to censorship before publishing.

Citizens now have the right to make suggestions and proposals or criticize the Party, state agencies and political-social organizations through the press, according to the newly passed law.

Leaders of all related state agencies will have to inform the press of their response to the opinions, reports, recommendations, criticisms or complaints made by citizens within 30 days.

The law specifies that the press agencies and journalists need to reveal their informants if formally requested by high-leveled judicial authorities, such as the Supreme People's Procuracy of Vietnam or a Chief Justice of a Provincial Court or higher, for investigation of serious crimes.

In addition, these authorities and other law enforcement agencies are responsible for protecting informants once their names are revealed.

The amended Law on Press will come into effect on January 1, 2017.
Emergency personnel work where a sightseeing helicopter crashed Monday, April 4, 2016, near Sevierville, Tenn. Officials said several people died when the helicopter crashed near the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.(AP Photo/Wade Payne)
Two Nigerians arrested in Ho Chi Minh City for scamming $450,000 via Facebook

Ho Chi Minh Police have arrested two Nigerians and five Vietnamese nationals for a Facebook scam that involved cloning more than 80 ATM and visa cards.

Ihugba Agustine Chinonso, 30, and Onu Chinonoso Peter, 31, said that their accomplices in Nigeria sent them to Vietnam to conspire with Vietnamese to steal money via Facebook.

They stole an estimated VND10 billion ($450,000).

The Nigerians made friends with their victims online and promised to send them valuable gifts and cash.

Seven suspects were arrested, including two Nigerians and five Vietnamese. Photo by Quoc Thang

After that, the Vietnamese conspirers called the victims claiming to be state officials and ask them to pay delivery and customs fees.

A victim in Ho Chi Minh City who declined to be named said she made friends on Facebook with a Nigerian businessman named Brian Ronald. After chatting for a long time, she fell in love with the man.

On February 2, her Nigerian "boyfriend said he had sent her a laptop, iPad, perfume and $100,000 in cash as a gift.

She subsequently received a phone call from a delivery agency asking her to pay VND30 million ($1,300) for their delivery service. Several days later, a fake customs officer asked led her to pay VND80 million ($3,500) in customs fees.

She received yet another phone call from a delivery firm asking her to pay a VND110 million ($5,000) in transport fees.

As the value of the gift she expected to receive was much higher than the fees she was asked to pay, she transferred all the requested money to the accounts provided by the scammers.

Only when a man posing as a policeman called asking her to pay VND200 million ($9,000) did she start to doubt her generous boyfriend. She then reported the case to the police.

She is just one of many victims cheated by the scammers, and police have called on other victims to report their cases.

Police confiscated fake seals and about 100 ATM and visa cards at the two Nigerians' house in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by Quoc Thang

This is the largest transnational ring scam smashed in Ho Chi Minh City. We believe that more victims will come forward in the days to come, a representative from Ho Chi Minh police said.

The case is under further investigation.
Youre landing at New Yorks LaGuardia Airport on the expressway approach  so called because you come in low enough to buzz the Grand Central Parkway and Mets Citi Field before quickly dropping down on a runway perched over a bay. Its already one of the nations more jarring landings.

What, then, would happen if a drone suddenly appeared in the flight path?

The threat in recent years of pilots blinded by high-powered lasers may soon be superseded by this potentially more fearsome prospect: drones finding their way into restricted airspace around airports. Each month, pilots and air traffic controllers report more than 100 drone sightings to the Federal Aviation Administration, which has begun compiling and releasing periodic reports on these encounters.

The FAA says such reports have surged since 2014, with more than 1,200 incidents nationwide last year. Over the latest reporting period, from August 2015 through January, the New York metro area led the nation in drone sightings by airline pilots with 43. The Los Angeles area was next, with 25, according to an analysis of FAA data released March 25. The Dallas area was third, with 18.

Pilots consider drones a safety risk that must not be underestimated. Were not kidding when we say it has to be mitigated as a threat, said Tim Canoll, president of the Air Line Pilots Association, or ALPA, and a drone hobbyist himself. Your imagination can run wild with the problems of hitting hard metal objects at 200 mph.

One of the most recent incidents occurred March 18, when a Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt approaching Los Angeles International Airport reported a drone flew about 200 feet above the Airbus A380. Police and sheriffs department helicopters were dispatched to search for the drone, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Because of incidents like this, regulators have been working feverishly to formulate rules for how to incorporate commercial drone operations into U.S. airspace and trying to educate hobbyists about staying out of the way of airliners.

We dont want to fuel fears over drones and we dont want the flying public to be overly concerned with this issue, but we do want to say this should be a consideration, says Dan Gettinger, co-director of the Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard College. A lot of things have to go wrong for a collision to happen.

In a statement accompanying its data, the FAA said it wanted to send a clear message that operating drones around airplanes and helicopters is dangerous and illegal.

Current FAA rules restrict drone operators from flying within five miles of an airport and above 400 feet. About 92 percent of the most recent pilot sightings occurred above 400 feet; 60 percent were closer than the five-mile limit. So, apparently, a lot of people arent listening.

In all but 11 instances, these encounters required no evasive action by pilots, nor was it clear how close the aircraft and drone actually were. In two dozen cases, the drone came within 50 feet of a manned aircraft, according to a close analysis of the FAAs raw data by the drone center.

The probability of [a collision] is still pretty, pretty low-not that it couldnt happen, says Rich Hanson, director of governmental relations with the Academy of Model Aeronautics, a nonprofit group that promotes recreational model aircraft flying.

The pilots union believes that enthusiast drones should be policed by geo-fencing technology, which could prevent the devices from flying near airports. Get too close and they crash to the ground. Embedded software could also restrict altitude, ALPAs Canoll said.

If we ignore this, I can promise you it will be a problem, he warned. It will be a contributing problem to an accident.

One of the critical problems in assessing the overall risk is a lack of information about what actually would happen should a small unmanned aerial vehicle strike a Boeing 737 or Airbus A321 airplane or be sucked into an engine.

The FAA has been conducting computer simulations of drones hitting commercial aircraft and expects to release a report on its findings in September. The FAA takes the possibility of airborne collisions seriously, spokesman Les Dorr said in an email.

Researchers at Virginia Techs CRASH (Crashworthiness for Aerospace Structures and Hybrids) Lab have performed such simulations. In one scenario, engineers introduced an 8-pound quad-copter rotor into a large, 9-foot diameter engine fan typically found on long-range jet models such as the Boeing 777 and Airbus A380.

The damage was quick-with a speed of 715 mph in less than 1/200th of a second-and catastrophic, with the drones destruction decimating fan blades and creating an engine failure. The study aims to determine whether any drone ingestions create a scenario where the damage isnt contained within the engines housing. Thats a crucial distinction, because uncontained turbine blades pose risks to other parts of the aircraft as theyre ejected.

Commercial jet engines are certified for hazards such as bird strikes, blade failures, heavy rain, hail and multiple types of ice, up to certain limits. To test for bird strikes, engineers have built chicken cannons to fire dead birds into engines. Many aircraft have suffered a single engine failure due to bird strikes or other failures. All current models must be able to fly with just one engine.

Its unclear whether future engines will need to be certified for small drone strikes as well. Its probably expensive, and airlines, pilots and the FAA would all like to see public education and airport enforcement as sufficient deterrents to drones wandering where they shouldnt.

Last month, two researchers at George Mason Universitys Mercatus Center examined 25 years of FAA bird-strike data and concluded that an increase in unmanned drone flights poses little risk to U.S. airspace. That report drew a quick rebuke from ALPA, while other researchers echoed the unions view that soft-tissue ingestion was not comparable to the materials used for drones.

There is also, of course, the issue of commercial drone use, the kind that businesses use for real estate and wedding photography, advertising, film-making, utility inspections, and numerous other applications. To date, the FAA has granted more than 4,000 exemptions for commercial firms to fly drones in their work. Many law enforcement agencies also fly drones. Any of them can stray through error or malfunction.

When we think of this issue we shouldnt just pigeonhole the problem cases as hobbyists drones gone awry, Gettinger says.

Thats hardly comforting to nervous fliers who now must add drones to their menu of fears.

(c) 2016, Bloomberg  Justin Bachman
A series of blazing red billboards with white capital letters rise above the Wisconsin tree line with a dire warning for conservatives: The Republican Party Started Here. Vote Trump and Itll End Here, Too.

But the crisis posed to Republicans on the billboards paid by some of the partys top financiers may be just as severe if Trump fails to claim the nomination.

Thats because the goal of the anti-Trump movement-beating the New York businessman in a delegate fight at the partys national convention-risks alienating his motivated base of supporters. This passionate core of true believers has contributed to record turnout numbers in the first wave of primary polls, and, despite a series of missteps from Trump, theyre not wavering in their support for the front-runner.

If Trump has the most delegates and they go with someone else, Im out, said Joe Geiger, a Trump supporter from Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Whoever has the most delegates should be nominated, said Don Kleczka of Green Bay. Any other outcome, he said, and Ill write his name in for the general election in November.

Joyce Anzalone, a retired secretary in Racine, said she would be angry if Trump goes into the convention with the lead and doesnt get the nomination. What they want to do is fudge the numbers, and I just think thats wrong, she said before a Trump rally on April 2.

Tuesdays primary election in Wisconsin is threatening to shake up the race in both parties. On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton has lost the last five contests. Another victory for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders would only raise the stakes in the next race in New York, which Clinton represented for eight years in the Senate. A CBS News poll on Sunday showed a virtual jump-ball in the Wisconsin, with Sanders up by just 2 percentage points.

The same poll showed Trump trailing Texas Sen. Ted Cruz by 5 percentage points. A pair of polls last week-one from Fox Business News and another from Marquette University-showed Cruz ahead by 10 points.

Those poll numbers have the #NeverTrump crowd sensing a shift in momentum. As far as my objective of forcing this into a contested convention, I feel very optimistic about it, said Ken Blackwell, the former Ohio secretary of state who is working with a pair of anti-Trump groups, including Our Principles PAC, which paid for the Wisconsin billboards. Blackwell is also a board of directors member for Club for Growth, the Washington-based group that is backing Cruz.

Blackwell said the most likely scenario was Trump coming about 150 delegates short of the 1,237 he needs to secure the nomination before the convention. Once that happens, Cruzs campaign is better organized and will out-hustle Trumps team to flip delegates and win the nomination on the floor, he said. Trump has started to focus on the delegate battle, bringing on board Paul Manafort, a veteran of the last time the party had a contested convention in 1976.

Blackwell said he wasnt concerned about a Cruz convention victory splitting the party, as long as the process was transparent. He also said the party could afford to alienate new voters Trump is bringing to the party-Blackwell referred to them as undocumented Republicans-because the traditional base would be motivated to stop Clinton.

Folks will get over it, Blackwell said. The prospects of Hillary Clinton naming a liberal justice to the Supreme Court, expanding our welfare state and furthering our incompetence in international affairs will drive out the old base that didnt come out for Romney.

At a fundraising dinner for Milwaukee Republicans on Friday, Judy Rodaks of Greendale said she didnt care how close Trump got to the nomination in the primary season. Whoever gets the majority of delegates in Cleveland should win, she said.

It has nothing to do with popularity. It has nothing to do with the numbers right now, Rodaks said. It has to do with 1,237.

Still, Trump is using the pending delegate fight to motivate his base. He has said that a plurality of delegates-instead of a majority, as stipulated in Republican National Committee rules-should be enough to win.

At a rally in Wisconsin on Saturday-just days after meeting with Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus in Washington to discuss the convention-Trump called the delegate process crooked as hell.

I dont want to go in there looking at the second ballot because probably with the way the thing is its crooked as hell, Trump said, referring to the delegate process at the Republican National Convention scheduled for July in Cleveland.

On Sunday, Trump told reporters that he pushed the RNC to force one rival, Ohio Governor John Kasich, out of the race. Kasichs victory in his home state on March 15 is his only win so far this year.

Priebus, who spoke on all five Sunday morning news shows, said Trumps decision to abandon the partys loyalty pledge may cause trouble for him among convention delegates.

Those kinds of comments I think have consequences, Priebus said on ABCs This Week. And so when you make those kinds of comments, and you want people to fall in line for you, it makes it more difficult.

But Trump isnt ceding Wisconsin. Hes said that a victory in Wisconsin would all but end the primary race, and hes digging in, reflected by his decision to add campaign events to his schedule in recent days. Compared to traditional candidates who grind out long days on campaign buses visiting multiple cities, Trumps typical day on the stump is relatively low-energy; he usually flies into an airport hangar, delivers an hour-long monologue and then, after shaking hands and signing autographs, boards his private 757 and returns home.

Earlier this month, he mocked one rival, Kasich, for spending the night in Michigan while campaigning there. Kasich was out in Michigan-he stayed there, he slept there, Trump told reporters on March 21. He was so sure of Michigan, and he lost Michigan to me.

In Wisconsin, Trump stayed overnight in the Green Bay area last week. He had three rallies in the state on Saturday, and another three scheduled for Monday.

If I feel they stole it, I will stay home in November, said Keith Duston, a Trump supporter from Brantwood, Wisconsin. If hes ahead, he should get it.  Whats the point of having an election?

(c) 2016, Bloomberg  Michael C. Bender, Mark Niquette
The World Bank joins the growing list of condemnations against the State of Israel, in this case in the report entitled Missed opportunity for Economic Development, which was released last week. The World Bank cites confining Israeli constrictions on the PA (Palestinian Authority) telecommunications industry has led to accumulative losses of $1 billion over the past three years.

Some of the reasons cited for the loss include Israeli restrictions such as blocking the 3G and 4G internet networks as well as delays in shipment of equipment.

Hence the World Bank blames Israeli restrictions for losses, pointing out that 20% of the PA market has gone to Israeli cellular providers due to the inability of PA providers to compete as they do not offer the faster internet connectivity offered by the Israeli companies.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh sent a congratulatory message to his new Myanmar counterpart Aung San Suu Kyi over her assignment on April 4.

Minh said he believes Aung San Suu Kyi, as Myanmars Minister of Foreign Affairs, will contribute to leading the country to prosperity.



He noted she will help Myanmar gain momentum in the diplomatic arena, thus elevating its position internationally.



The leader of the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) party has also been assigned as Minister of the President's Office.
Degel Hatorah MK Moshe Gafne fired back angrily at comments made before an Israel Bar Association gathering by Attorney General Dr. Avichai Mandelblit. Mandelblit explained the bill initiated by Gafne to prohibit converts toiveling in all state-run mikvaos in Israel is legally problematic. Mandelblit feels the bill violates basic freedom of worship as well as Israels Basic Law guaranteeing human dignity. He explained that from a legal standpoint, the bill is most problematic in the best of cases.

Gafne stated contrary to the Western world, the Attorney General has decided he is a legal advisor who advises and not a decision-maker  the mikve bill is not legal. He did not even see the wording, which I sent him this morning (Monday, 25 Adar-II) but he has already decided unanimously that it is illegal.

Gafne added, The time has come to be a modern Western nation in which the state is the regulator. The Attorney General is not in charge. With all due respect, many of the Supreme Court Justices in the USA are chosen by the people.

In Gafnes reference to Israels High Court, he added Nine non-religious justices voted in favor of the Reform. The lone religious justice voted against. The traditional justice abstained. Can someone explain to me where the professionalism is as each votes his own personal hashkafa. I do not have a single High Court justice who represents my hashkafa.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
The High Court of Justice on Sunday, 24 Adar-II, intervened to block the sealing of the homes of three Arab terrorists who were involved in the Rosh Hashanah murder of Alexander Levlovitz HYD, 64. The court did permit the demolition of the main culprit in the deadly attack, Rabb Dawiyat. Four terrorists were arrested for their role in the rock-throwing that led to the victims death in the Armon HaNatziv neighborhood of the capital.

Justice Esther Hayut explained the others were present and yes, they threw rocks, but at different vehicles. Hence she feels their actions do not warrant sealing their homes as well.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Air France will resume flights from Paris to Tehran this month, ending a years-long suspension of service to the Iranian capital.

For the trips to Tehran, the airline had previously told female crew members to wear a headscarf when they leave the aircraft, according to Britains Guardian newspaper, which cited an internal staff memo. But the dress code restrictions were not particularly well received by some employees, who reportedly reached out to union representatives about it.

Every day we have calls from worried female cabin crew who tell us that they do not want to wear the headscarf, Christophe Pillet of the SNPNC,a national flight attendant union, told Agence France-Presse.

And so, on Monday, the airline announced that female flight attendants and pilots could turn down the Paris-Tehran route and would instead be given a crew slot on a flight bound for another destination.

Tolerance and respect for the cultures and customs in the countries served by the airline are part of the fundamental values of Air France and its staff, the company said in a news release.

The decision came after the companys management met with union representatives, according to the release.

(c) 2016, The Washington Post  Sarah Larimer
For months Donald Trump has dominated the political scene like no other. But listen to endangered Senate Republicans as they campaign for re-election and you might not even know he exists.

In Pennsylvania, Pat Toomey chairs a hearing in Scranton on opioid abuse, a major issue in his state and others. In Ohio, Rob Portman delivers remarks to the City Club of Cleveland about criminal justice reform. In Wisconsin, Ron Johnson boasts of his fight against a federal clean water rule opposed by local farmers. But none of those events focused on the presidential race.

These efforts and others during the Senates just-completed spring recess illustrate a strategy born of necessity as Republicans work feverishly to hang onto their narrow Senate majority in November. From Nevada to New Hampshire, GOP candidates and imperiled incumbents are blowing off questions about Trump, the presidential race and the Supreme Court as they try to box out a national political atmosphere increasingly unfavorable to their candidacies, focusing relentlessly instead on local issues in their states.

GOP senators should campaign like theyre running for sheriff, said Ward Baker, executive director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the campaign arm of the Senate GOP. That means that when asked about the latest eyebrow-raising pronouncement from Trump, candidates will voice their disagreement, then immediately move on. They will note that they are running for Senate, not president, and start talking about, say, water quality in Lake Erie (a perennial focus for Portman).

The key part is going to be making sure your identity is separate from the top of the ticket, and that people know you for you, and know your record, and thats separate from whatever else is going on, said Brian Walsh, a veteran GOP strategist and former Senate communications director.

Democrats scoff at the suggestion the GOP strategy can succeed in a political environment focused overwhelmingly on national issues and dominated by Trump, whose disparaging comments about women, minorities and others have him struggling in the polls with key voter blocs. Even if the unpredictable businessman doesnt end up as the Republicans presidential nominee, Democrats insist that the other leading option, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, will leave Republicans arguably worse off because Cruzs unyielding brand of conservatism could alienate independents who might be open to Trump.

It shows you the trouble Republicans are in that they are running away from their national candidates and party platform. But it wont work, said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who is in line to become majority leader if the Democrats succeed in retaking Senate control. If there was ever an election where national issues are going to dominate, its this one.

Indeed the strategy of trying to keep individual races local in the face of a hostile national environment is nothing new, and officials on both sides acknowledge it has its limits. Just two years ago Democrats were taking much the same approach as they contended with President Barack Obamas low approval ratings amid a host of unfavorable national and international developments, from the Ebola epidemic to Islamic State attacks overseas. It didnt work, and their Senate majority got washed away in a devastating nine-seat loss, giving Republicans a 54-46 edge.

This time the imperative for Senate Republicans to keep it local is even more urgent, given the potential for a GOP wipeout on the presidential level. Even many Republicans, talking privately, predict that a Trump or Cruz candidacy will spell certain defeat for their party. And if that does loom, a Republican Senate would stand as the last line of defense against a Democratic president and his or her Supreme Court nominees  an argument that strategists on both sides anticipate could lead GOP donors to shift their spending from the presidential race to Senate campaigns in months to come.

Republican Senate campaign officials insist that they can beat the national political tide, arguing theyve been preparing to do so since the day after the 2014 elections. The GOP was always going to be at a disadvantage in this years Senate races, since the party is defending more than twice as many seats as Democrats, including seven in states Obama won in 2012. Led by Baker, a former Marine, party officials are working methodically from their military-themed headquarters near the Capitol, where staffers start arriving before 4 a.m. to execute a game plan that includes making individual, direct contact with as many voters as possible, even in states traditionally considered safe for the GOP like Alabama.

They have contacted 1.5 million voters in Ohio so far, and almost a million in Alabama ahead of the March 1 primary, officials said.

Yet Democrats argue the GOP efforts are being drowned out by the national focus on Trump, Cruz and the presidential race, and no amount of effort by Republican senators can change the subject.

Since most Republicans have pledged to support the eventual GOP nominee, Democrats say theres no way Republicans can escape Trump or Cruz, and Democratic candidates wont let them if they try. In Illinois, where GOP Sen. Mark Kirk faces an uphill fight for his seat, Democrat Tammy Duckworth released a video featuring ominous music, Trump making a series of provocative statements and Kirk saying repeatedly of Trump: If he was the nominee I certainly would support him.

(AP)
After ten years of advocacy, nonpublic school families and supporters were pleased this Tuesday when the 2016 state budget passed by the Maryland General Assembly included a $5 million allocation for nonpublic school scholarships. This years effort began, like in past years, with different proposals seeking to create a scholarship program funded by corporate donations in exchange for state tax credits. One notable difference in this years legislative effort was the unprecedented support of key House leaders who acknowledged the need for more educational options. The campaign took a promising turn in the waning weeks of the session when legislative leaders decided instead to fund the program using a direct allocation in the state budget as opposed to the original legislative model.

The new BOOST (Broadening Options and Opportunities for Students Today) program that was amended into the budget will provide scholarships to low income students (defined as those eligible for Free and Reduced Meals) to cover their tuition at an eligible nonpublic school. A schools eligibility is determined mostly by meeting the same requirements found in the existing textbook and technology program and the aging school construction grant program. This includes a capped tuition amount among other criteria. The scholarships will be distributed in order of need, with the poorest families given priority until the full $5 million allocation is disbursed.

While the allocation for the Maryland program is on the smaller end of the other 24 school choice programs across the country, and has limited eligibility, it was warmly welcomed by the nonpublic school advocates who have toiled diligently over the years.

Rabbi Ariel Sadwin, director of Agudath Israel of Maryland and president of Maryland Council for American Private Education (CAPE), said: While this outcome is not exactly as we planned, we are glad to have finally crossed the threshold of school choice in Maryland. We look forward to playing an important role in ensuring the success of the BOOST program, with the hope of continuing the program for the future years and expanding the allocation to enable a maximum number of children to reap the benefits while attending the school of their choice.

Garrett J. ODay, Esq, associate director for Education at the Maryland Catholic Conference commented: This new program is an historic first step in expanding educational options for Maryland students. We are grateful to the many supporters in our Nonpublic school community who have worked so hard for this victory for so many years.

Both Rabbi Sadwin and Mr. ODay expressed their appreciation to Governor Larry Hogan for the initial budget allocation and to House leadership for their innovative approach to creating the program. They both warmly acknowledged the leadership of Senator Ed DeGrange, who has been the legislative leader on all matters relating to nonpublic schools for the last decade. Without the dedication and perseverance of Senator DeGrange throughout the years, all this would not have even begun, Rabbi Sadwin said.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has once again issued a call to PA Chairman Abu Mazen, to return to the negotiating table with Israel. Mr. Netanyahu made his announcement during a meeting with visiting Czech Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek.

In fact, the Prime Minister was responding to a statement by Abu Mazen to Israeli journalist Ilana Dayan a number of days ago, expressing his willingness to negotiate peace with Israel. Mr. Netanyahu stated I am inviting him and cleared my schedule for the week. He is welcome any day and any time.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Jake Tapper: Lets talk about taxes, specifically about your tax returns. I have to say, Im kind of surprised that you havent gone further on transparency. You released the summary page of your 2014 tax returns. Hillary Clinton has posted on her website the last eight years of her personal returns, all of the returns. Before the New York primary, will you match her? Will you post your full returns for the last eight years?

Bernie Sanders: You know who does our tax returns? My wife does our tax returns. Weve been a little bit busy lately. So we will get out as much information as we can. There aint going to be very much exciting in that. I get a salary from the United States Senate, you know, theres not going to be anything new in it that people havent seen for the last many years, but we will get it out as soon as we can.

Tapper: But nobody has seen them at all, I guess, is the point, and whether or not theres anything exciting in them 

Sanders: No, that is not true. That is not true. Of course, we have released them in the past. Our financial situation, to the best of my knowledge, has not changed very much, but we will get out all of that information as soon as we can.

 exchange during CNNs State of the Union, April 3, 2016



Presidential candidates have no legal obligation to release their federal income tax returns, but there has long been a tradition to do so for the sake of transparency. But candidates have been less forthcoming this year.

Donald Trump, for example, has consistently refused to release his tax returns, saying it would be unwise to do so while his tax filings are under audit by the Internal Revenue Service. Trump released a letter from his tax attorneys saying the IRS is examining his tax filings since 2009, while filings between 2002 through 2008 have been closed administratively by agreement without assessment or payment, on a net basis, of any deficiency. There is no prohibition against making public tax returns under IRS review and the letter did not explain why at least Trumps 2002-2008 filings have not been released.

In a recent interview, Sanders rejected the characterization that the public has not seen all of his full federal tax returns. Thats not true, he said, of course, we have released them in the past. Is that accurate?

Presidential candidates have consistently released their tax returns since the 1970s. The Tax History Project, a public service initiative from Tax Analysts, has compiled tax returns for presidents, vice presidents and candidates vying for their seats in recent decades. The public can even access President Franklin D. Roosevelts hand-written tax returns dating to 1913.

In the 2016 election, two candidates have been notably transparent compared to others: Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush. This appears to be the one area where Clinton may be immune to transparency criticism.

There is one entry from 2014 available for Sanders on the Tax History Project website: a Form 1040 (a summary of his federal income tax return) and a one-page Vermont state income tax return. The campaign referred to this entry when we inquired about Sanderss claim.

Sanders and his wife reported a total income of $205,617 in 2014. The vast majority came from his Senate salary ($156,441 after contributions to savings and health insurance). They paid $27,653 in federal income tax and $7,903 in Vermont in 2014.

The couple received another $46,213 in Social Security benefits, and $39,281 of it was taxable.

Sanders has filed annual financial disclosures required of members of Congress, and the publicly available records date to 2012. He also files financial disclosures to the Federal Election Commission as a presidential candidate. But such disclosures are not the same as tax returns. In fact, few senators release their federal tax returns.

Thats about all the details available of Sanderss federal income tax records. A 1996 article in the Vermont publication Seven Days detailed Sanderss 1995 tax return, when he was mayor of Burlington. Sanders reported $125,843 in total income, according to the article, but its unclear how the outlet obtained this information. (It may have been released by Sanders mayoral campaign, but the current presidential campaign did not clarify when we asked.)

The publications scathing article notes that Sanders had dismissed the idea of charities in his early days as mayor  and that view was confirmed in his 1995 tax return, which showed Sanders donated just 1 percent of his income ($1,369) to charity. Over the years, Bill Clintons taken bigger deductions for dropping his pre-owned Jockey shorts off at the Salvation Army. Can you say Scrooge? wrote Peter Freyne, a legendary chronicler of Vermont politics.

During the 2006 Senate race, Sanders said he would release his tax returns if his opponent did so, and his campaign had said it was a good idea for political candidates to release their federal and state returns. But there is no indication that Sanders ever released his federal returns during that campaign.

While Sanders rejected Tappers assertion that the public has no access to all of Sanders tax returns, we have no evidence he has released any other federal income tax return than the Form 1040 from 2014. The campaign confirmed to The Washington Post that it did not release other tax returns prior to 2014.

But the campaign did not respond to further questions about this topic, including our questions about his decision to release only a Form 1040 rather than a full tax return  and why Sanders claimed he released other tax returns in the past.

The Form 1040 is a partial record and a summary, and devoid of details that tell the public more about how he manages his money. In particular, it doesnt tell the public about his charitable giving or any other itemized deductions. Given that Sanders 1995 return indicated he was parsimonious about giving to charities, voters might want to know if his attitude has changed in the last two decades.

And its not just Sanders. Among the 2016 presidential candidates who have released their tax returns, only Clinton, Bush and Carly Fiorina have released their full federal returns beyond the Form 1040.

Its not a complete tax return, said Joseph Thorndike, director of the Tax History Project. The IRS doesnt think it is, and I dont think the voters should, either. . . . Ronald Reagan didnt release just his 1040, and these guys shouldnt, either. Its just not an adequate answer.

Plainly put, Sanders has not released his full federal tax return. The little he has released was the Form 1040 in 2014, which is a summary of his tax filing that gives a snapshot of his finances  not what is considered a full tax return. The Sanders campaign confirmed to The Washington Post that it has not released other tax returns prior to 2014, which is a sharp contrast to Clintons voluminous release of her complete tax returns.

Tapper correctly questioned Sanders, asking why nobody has seen them [federal tax returns] at all. Yet Sanders interrupted Tapper to reject the notion, insisting: That is not true. Of course, we have released them in the past. But this answer is nothing remotely close to the little federal tax records he has released to the public.

Sanders says there is nothing in his 2015 tax return that is different from what the public has seen for the last many years. This indicates he may have been referring to the information filed in his financial disclosures. But thats not the same as a full federal tax return  and as a longtime member of Congress, Sanders should know that.

Sanders is not required to release his tax filings, and he clearly decided to keep them confidential. Thats his choice. But it doesnt excuse him from misleading the public to believe otherwise with this false claim.

(c) 2016, The Washington Post  Michelle Ye Hee Lee
With confidence that has won over some stalwarts of the Republican Party establishment, Sen. Ted Cruz , R-Texas, has spent weeks insisting that no other candidate can surpass Donald Trumps delegate lead and win the presidential nomination outright.

If you want to beat Donald Trump youve got to beat him at the ballot box, Cruz often says, and our campaign is the only campaign that has demonstrated it can do that. The offer is simple: Either Cruz gets a clear chance to beat Trump outright, or the Republican National Convention devolves into hair-pulling chaos. The not-so-subtle implication is that this chaos would be the fault of Gov. John Kasich, R-Ohio.

On the trail in New York, which votes in just 15 days, Kasich has settled on a rebuttal.

He needs 102 percent of the delegates going forward, Kasich said of Cruz at a short press conference outside Theodore Roosevelts old home on Long Island. That means its mathematically impossible. Isnt that interesting? And both Cruz and Trump are saying  hes taking my voters! Cruz is saying hes taking my voters. Trump is saying hes taking my voters. Yeah, theyre right. Theyre both right. Im taking both of their voters, because were going to continue to do well.

The very specific number, 102 percent, came straight from the Wall Street Journal  and comes with an asterisk. In an analysis by reporter Reid Epstein, Cruzs path to victory depended on the support of technically unbound delegates who could be quietly counted on to back him.

Cruz has been awarded 463 delegates and must take 102 percent of remaining bound delegates to reach 1,237, wrote Epstein, though his campaign believes its total is higher because of private commitments made by unbound delegates and delegates now tied to candidates who have suspended their campaigns.

That was good enough for Kasich, who used the number again at a town hall meeting here, at a crowded and oversold music venue. Cruz is now over 100 percent, and he needs more than 100 percent to be the nominee, okay? He was playing that on me, and now hes caught in his own trick bag, okay? So he cant get there, and neither can Trump.

In fact, there are alternative delegate counts that have Cruz still mathematically able to win the nomination outright. In Wisconsin, where polls give Cruz a decisive lead, its possible that he could win all 42 delegates; a weak night might hold him to a still-strong 33 delegates. The hope of putting Cruz out of outright contention for the first ballot comes in New York, where 95 delegates wait to be assigned, and an average of polls collected by RealClearPolitics puts Trump 32 points ahead of the field. A result like that would end Cruzs ability to reach 1,237 in pledged delegates, unless a deal were worked out with a defeated candidate whose delegates are currently adrift.

Kasich, who returns to New York on Thursday after two days in Ohio, was jovial about his own chances of a New York surprise. For the second time Monday, he begged forgiveness for using a fork to eat a slice of pizza at Ginos in Howard Beach.

If you just take one second with a fork on a scalding hot piece of pizza, youve got to overcome that! said Kasich.

(c) 2016, The Washington Post  David Weigel
Following Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahus latest call to PA Chairman Abbas to return to the negotiating table, Yisrael Beitenu party leader Avigdor Lieberman spoke with Israel Radios Reshet Bet on Tuesday morning 26 Adar-II.

Reshet Bet:

What do you think about the Prime Ministers latest call to Abu Mazen, to return to negotiations? Do you foresee progress in reaching peace with the PA?

Lieberman:

Before we speak about this we must understand a few facts. For one thing, Abu Mazen to date has not condemned the murderous terror attacks that have been ongoing for months. Over 30 people have been murdered and her remains silent. He is in fact the chief inciter and the hate is still preached in the PA (Palestinian Authority), which honors the terrorists as fallen martyrs.

Abu Mazen continues to fund the families of slain terrorists as well. In fact, he is not a partner and never will be as should be evident to all for he is not genuinely interested in reaching agreement with Israel as was seen in Camp David, Annapolis and other venues.

We must stop fooling ourselves. The world is not seeking justice and those wishing to support the PA will continue doing so. It has nothing to do with us. We left Gaza and what have we accomplished? The UN however continues to condemn Israel while ignoring Iran and Syria.

Hence, we must stop fooling ourselves and state our position clearly. PM Netanyahu speaks out of both sides of his mouth. He accuses Abu Mazen and the PA of inciting and then extends a hand to return to negotiations. He continues viewing him and addressing him as a peace partner.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
The appropriate unit of the Ministry of the Economy has been requested to approve a break in customs and import rates for certain products ahead of Pesach. The requests were approved. This will permit importing 1,500 tons of fresh meat, 1,000 tons of lamb, 5,500 tons of frozen vegetables, 4,500 tons of chips (French fries), 2,000 tons of olive oil and 1,500 liters of grape juice.

Economy Minister Director-General Amit Lang explains great efforts are underway to accommodate Pesach needs and to permit having sufficient quantities of holiday items.

Officials in the ministry explain the requests were approved to accommodate shoppers but also to increase competition and keep prices down. The special import arrangement was approved for a number of major companies including Shufersal, Osher Ahd, Chetzi Chinam, and Tiv Taam. In addition, a number of major local manufacturers were given the approval, including Pri Galil, Milutal, Zeita, Yad Morechai, Shemen Taasiyot and Saba Chaviv.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Women work in a clothes factory in Phnom Penh, Cambodia March 28, 2016. Picture taken March 28, 2016 : REUTERS/Samrang Pring

Cambodia's parliament Monday approved a controversial draft law regulating trade unions, to the dismay of labour activists who fear it will curb their ability to protect garment workers -- the backbone of the economy.

The government of strongman Prime Minister Hun Sen says the law is aimed at regulating the countrys 3,400 trade unions.

But unionists and international human rights groups say it will dilute the power of labour groups in a sector still rife with abuse.

Around 700,000 factory workers form the bedrock of Cambodia's $7 billion textile industry, which supplies brands including Gap, Nike and H&M.

Critics have expressed particular alarm at provisions forcing unions to report their finances to the government each year as well as granting authorities further powers to close down labour groups.

"The government wants to restrict our rights by creating this law," Ath Thorn, president of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers' Democratic Union, told AFP.

"The law will limit our work... and employers can request for the dissolution of unions or find ways to block unions from protesting," he added.

The draft law still needs approval by the Senate but its passage is a near-forgone conclusion since the upper house is dominated by ruling party lawmakers.

Two labour activists were injured on Monday morning during scuffles with authorities outside parliament.

Hun Sen, who has ruled Cambodia for more than three decades and tolerates little dissent, has frequently clashed with unions.

Influential garment factory owners want to restrict the number of unions, blaming them for rocky labour relations that they say threatens to undermine a lucrative sector.

Parliament also approved a rare cabinet reshuffle by Hun Sen, a move he described as a "necessary measure" as he gears up for local polls next year and a general election in 2018.

Hun Sen has surrounded himself with a coterie of loyalists who are rarely moved.

In total 26 officials were promoted or reappointed to other portfolios while two ministers were removed.

Among those reshuffled were Hor Namhong, Hun Sen's close ally who had been foreign minister for 18 years. He was replaced by telecommunications minister Prak Sokhon, though Hor Namhong will remain a deputy prime minister.

Analysts say the reshuffle is an attempt to halt Hun Sen's waning popularity ahead of upcoming polls.

"The coming elections are certainly on his mind," analyst Ou Virak told AFP.

Opposition politicians accuse Hun Sen's party of rigging the 2013 elections in their favour, a charge they deny.
Russia will soon begin shipping the advanced S-300 air defense system to the Iranians, the Russian Interfax News Agency reported, quoting Russian Foreign Ministry official Zamir Kabulov.

Israel has worked hard to prevent his from occurring, seeking to involve the United States in pressuring Russia as well as Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu personally addressing the matter with Russian President Vladimir Putin. In March 2016 a Kuwaiti daily reported Russia would comply with Israels request and not sell the advanced air defense system to Iran.

Israeli experts have stated that placing the system in Iranian hands would complicate any future assault against Tehrans nuclear program, clarifying it would not make such an assault an impossibility but it would add new challenges to accomplishing such an objective.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
What next for metrosexual ex-Marks & Spencer boss Marc Bolland, who left his 975,000 a-year post last week?

I hear Dutch-born Bolland, 57, who enjoys fine wine as much as shooting pheasants on the Yorkshire moors, has his beady eyes set on being the next European chairman of Coca Cola, where he already serves as a director.

On the move: Is Marc Bolland set to be the next European chairman of Coca Cola, where he already serves as a director?

Such a lofty perch would certainly sweeten his recent departure after his six years at Marks, where hes not deemed to have set the heather on fire.

..............................................................................................................................................................

Prize for this weeks most bone-headed corporate jargon goes to Rob Kapito, dome-headed founder and president of fund management behemoth BlackRock, which announced plans to lay off 400 employees last week.

In a memo to staff Kapito, 52, whose annual package is worth over 13m, refers to the lay-offs as potential role eliminations. Hideous.

..............................................................................................................................................................

Lloyds cerebral, Cambridge-educated chairman Lord [Norman] Blackwell has angered the people of Glastonbury after the banks decision to close its branch in the Somerset town this week.

Amazingly, for a town with a 10,000 population and 750,000 visitors a year, this leaves residents with no banks or ATM machines in its centre. Blackwell attracts particular ire, I am told, for not replying to correspondence from disgruntled townfolk on the matter.

Still, I expect balding, bespectacled Norman, 63, a former adviser to Margaret Thatcher who lists walking and classical music among his hobbies, will take his persona non grata status in Glasto in his stride. He and wife Brenda are not thought to be fixtures at its annual drug-soaked pop festival.

..............................................................................................................................................................

London Stock Exchanges intense-looking boss Xavier Rolet, 56, who opposes a Brexit and wants to sell off the LSE to Germany, owns his own award-winning vineyard in Provence.

Next month, I notice rally car-loving Monsieur Rolets estate offers a wine course which it describes as a luxury bootcamp for wine enthusiasts. Cost of a weeks gargling chez Rolet? A modest 6,000.

...............................................................................................................................................................

Could it be true, as a highly-successful businessman told me over lunch the other day, that the German government had currency printers De La Rue make-up a batch of Deutsche Marks back in 2012?
JOB CUTS

Santander will axe several senior staff as it seeks to free up cash for its digital operation.

Sources say the lender will cull highly-paid managers rather than targeting UK branch workers.

Cutting costs: The bank is already expected to shut 450 of its 3,467 Spanish branches this year

The bank is already expected to shut 450 of its 3,467 Spanish branches this year as part of a cost reduction drive. It is part of a pattern of large banks splurging on technology upgrades to combat smaller, more agile rivals.

DEAL MAKER

Wealth manager Tilney Bestinvest has snapped up smaller rival Towry for 600m.

The deal will see Towrys seller Palamon Capital Partners net 13 times its investment in the company. Towry manages more than 9bn of client assets and has 900 staff across the UK. Tilney chief executive Peter Hall said it was a transformational deal.

MINING SALE

Anglo American has agreed to sell its 70 per cent interest in the Foxleigh coal mine in Australia to a consortium led by Taurus Fund Management for an undisclosed sum.

In February Anglo upped its target for the amount of money it wants to raise from disposals to up to 4.2bn by the end of this year as it seeks to weather the sharp slide in commodities prices. Anglo shares climbed 1.69 per cent or 9.1p to 547.5p.

PENSIONS MERGER

Annuity provider Just Retirement has completed its 1.6bn merger with rival Partnership Assurance. JRP Group will have more than 15bn of assets under management.

The industry has been looking for new revenues since legislation introduced last April allows pensioners to retire without having to buy an annuity, which provides a life-long income.

EASTER BOOST

Ryanair posted its fourth straight set of monthly passenger growth despite interruption from French strikes.

Passenger numbers at the budget airline climbed 28 per cent to 8.5m in March. In the past 12 months the Irish airline has carried 106m passengers, a rise of 18 per cent on the year before. Ryanair branded French air traffic control strikes unjustified.

Shares at the airline fell 0.85 per cent or 0.12p to 14.07p.
New figures reveal that the percentage of Europeans looking for work in the UK 'significantly outstrips' the number of Brits looking for a job in mainland Europe.

Between January and September last year, the UK was consistently the most popular location for Europeans looking for a new job, an analysis of online job searches by Indeed claims. Nearly 40 per cent of job hunters across Europe are aiming to land a job in the UK, the research reveals.

Lagging significantly behind with interest at 12.1 per cent and 11.7 per cent respectively, France and Germany were the next most popular locations for job hunters in Europe, Indeed claims.

Imbalance: New figures reveal that the percentage of Europeans looking for work in the UK 'significantly outstrips' the number of Brits looking for a job in mainland Europe

With debates raging over free movement in Europe, the migration crisis and a potential Brexit, the Government is gearing up to publish statistics on how many National Insurance numbers are actively being used in the UK by European citizens.

Recent data from the Office for National Statistics reveals a 19 per cent increase in long-term immigration to the UK by EU citizens last year. Of those coming to the UK for work, 55 per cent were from countries within the EU.

But with the EU Referendum just around the corner, the new figures which could reveal a much higher number of EU migrants are working in the UK.

Last month Brexit-backing Culture Secretary John Whittingdale challenged the Prime Minister to release the HMRC figures on NI numbers, which he claimed would show immigration from the EU is twice as high as suggested.

Official figures suggest 257,000 EU migrants came to Britain last year but over the same period 630,000 NI numbers were issued to EU citizens, he said. HM Revenue and Customs will provide the NI data to the ONS to publish in May.

The number of Brits looking for a job in the rest of Europe is far lower.

According to the Indeed findings, only 15 per cent of Brits looking for work overseas are interested in roles in the EU, preferring locations like the United States and Australia.

Mariano Mamertino, an economist at Indeed, said: 'Freedom of movement has always been one of the EUs central tenets but according to this research, Europe is delivering the UK one-way traffic.

'Its very clear that the average Briton is considerably less likely to want to work in Europe than the average European wants to work in Britain. In the 19th Century, Britain pursued a foreign policy of splendid isolation and, based on this evidence, the isolationist mindset appears to be as strong as ever today.'

Preparing for bad news? With debates raging over the concept of free movement, a potential Brexit and the migration crisis, the Government is gearing up to publish statistics on how many National Insurance numbers are actively being used in the UK by European citizens

Leaders: Top 10 most desirable countries for EU15 job seekers, according to Indeed

He adds: 'While UK firms may be in a stronger position than their European counterparts when it comes to attracting international talent, this situation may not last forever.

'Any policy that restricts the mobility of the EU workforce could negatively affect many UK employers who have historically relied on a steady flow of international talent to fill open positions.'

With the UK an increasingly popular location for job hunters, less people are hunting for jobs in countries like Greece, Spain and Italy.

Crisis: The current migration crisis and debate over a potential Brexit are fueling questions over the viability of the concept of the free movement of people within the EU

With the exception of Italy and Portugal, all of the original EU15 member states have a share of EU working-age immigrants over 30 per cent, with the UK home to 45 per cent, Indeed claims.

Last month, ONS data revealed UK unemployment to be at 5.1 per cent of the population, equating to 1.68million people.

Fluctuations: Immigration levels to the UK from 2005 to 2015, according to Indeed




April 4, 2016 | 05:46 pm PT

Mossack Fonseca law firm sign is pictured at the Neptune House building in the British colony of Gibraltar, April 4, 2016 : REUTERS/Jon Nazca

PARIS - Several countries launched tax evasion probes Monday after a massive leak of confidential documents lifted the lid on the murky offshore financial dealings of a slew of politicians and celebrities.

The scandal erupted on Sunday when media groups began revealing the results of a year-long investigation into a trove of 11.5 million documents from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, which specialises in creating offshore shell companies.

Among those named in the "Panama Papers" are close associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin, relatives of Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Iceland's Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, as well as Barcelona striker Lionel Messi.

"We have opened an investigation for money laundering in relation to the law firm," a judicial source at Spain's National Court told AFP after the release of the documents, which named Oscar-winning Spanish film director Pedro Almodovar among others with offshore holdings.

Messi's family immediately came to his defence, saying he was innocent of all wrongdoing and "accusations he created a... tax evasion plot, including a network of money-laundering, are false and insulting".

Messi has been charged with tax fraud in a separate case that is due to go to trial in May.

Australia said it had launched a probe into 800 wealthy Mossack Fonseca clients. Prosecutors in France and tax authorities in the Netherlands also announced investigations, while the United States said it was reviewing the files.

In Iceland's capital Reykjavik, thousands took to the streets late Monday to demand the prime minister's resignation over allegations that he and his wife used an offshore firm to hide millions of dollars of investments.

People demonstrate against Iceland's Prime Minister Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson in Reykjavik,Iceland on April 4, 2016 after a leak of documents by so-called Panama Papers stoked anger over his wife owning a tax haven-based company with large claims on the country's collapsed banks. Photo by REUTERS/Stigtryggur Johannsson

- Kremlin denials -

The trove of documents was anonymously leaked to German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung and shared with more than 100 media groups by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). More information is expected over the coming weeks.

The first revelations elicited a chorus of denials, including from the Kremlin, which suggested a U.S. plot after the leaks put a close friend of Putin's at the top of an offshore empire worth more than $2 billion that has made his circle fabulously wealthy.

"Putin, Russia, our country, our stability and the upcoming elections are the main target, specifically to destabilise the situation," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, claiming the journalists were "former officials from the (U.S.) Department of State, the CIA and other special services."

Offshore financial dealings are not illegal in themselves but may be used to hide assets from tax authorities, launder the proceeds of criminal activities or conceal misappropriated or politically inconvenient wealth.

Among other key findings of the probe, which named about 140 political figures, including 12 current or former heads of state:

-- The families of some of China's top brass -- including President Xi Jinping -- used offshore tax havens to conceal their fortunes, including at least eight current or former members of the Politburo Standing Committee, the ruling Communist Party's most powerful body.

-- Iceland's Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson secretly owned millions of dollars in bank bonds at a time when his country's banking system was collapsing in 2008. He has so far steadfastly refused to step down.

-- A member of FIFA's ethics committee, Juan Pedro Damiani, had business ties with three men indicted in a corruption scandal.

-- A Panamanian shell company may have helped hide millions of dollars from a $40 million British gold bullion robbery at London-Heathrow Airport in November 1983 that is etched in criminal folklore, according to the ICIJ.

- 'An attack on Panama' -

The papers, from around 214,000 offshore entities covering almost 40 years, also name the president of Ukraine and the king of Saudi Arabia, as well as sporting and movie stars including Jackie Chan.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko denied any wrongdoing, but he may face an attempt to impeach him.

French newspaper Le Monde cited documents showing that Syria used Mossack Fonseca to create shell companies to help it break international sanctions and fund its war effort.

Pascal Saint-Amans, head of tax policy at the OECD, said the leaks showed that Panama is now almost unrivalled as a world tax haven.

"Among the countries that refuse to automatically exchange information, there are Bahrain, Nauru, Vanuatu and Lebanon," he told AFP. "Switzerland is really making progress, so there is a concentration of problems in Panama."

One of the Panama law firm's founders, Ramon Fonseca, told AFP the leaks were "a crime, a felony" and "an attack on Panama".

Panama's government said it had "zero tolerance" for shady deals, and vowed to "vigorously cooperate" with any legal investigations.

More than 500 banks, their subsidiaries and branches have worked with Mossack Fonseca since the 1970s to help clients manage offshore companies. UBS set up more than 1,100 and HSBC and its affiliates created more than 2,300.

The documents show "banks, law firms and other offshore players often fail to follow legal requirements to make sure clients are not involved in criminal enterprises, tax dodging or political corruption," the ICIJ said.

Mossack Fonseca is already subject to investigations in Germany and Brazil, where it is part of a huge money laundering probe that has threatened to topple the current government.
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By Bill Parry

A group of lawmakers and community leaders from Corona are calling on the state to pay for a top-to-bottom renovation of the 110th Precinct and construction of a satellite station in Flushing Meadows Corona Park.

U.S. Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-Jackson Heights), state Sen. Jose Peralta (D-East Elmhurst) and state Assemblyman Francisco Moya (D-Jackson Heights) wrote a letter to Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio urging them to support funding for the two vital projects that would go toward meeting the public safety needs of their constituents.

For far too long, our communitys police officers have been working in subpar conditions at the 110th Precincts dilapidated station house, the letter said. We must act to support these professionals with the proper facilities that they need in order to best carry out their duties.

At a rally outside the station house, Peralta called the issue a matter of public safety. The 110th Precinct was opened at 94-41 43rd Ave. in 1940 and has not had any major renovations since.

Fiorello LaGuardia was the mayor of New York when the current 110th Police Precinct was inaugurated, Peralta said. The actual structure is in a state of blatant disrepair, as it hasnt had a substantial renovation since. More than 75 years passed by, so the need for a complete face-lift, a radical makeover, is obvious. As the population continues to increase in Corona and its surrounding neighborhoods, we need additional resources to ensure we address all public safety concerns, in all areas of the 110th Precincts jurisdiction.

A complete renovation would cost $70 million. Peralta said the problems facing the station house are similar to the ones that plagued the Central Park Police Precinct, which recently underwent a $61 million renovation.

We owe it to the men and women we entrust to keep us safe, to provide them with the proper resources to effectively carry out their jobs, Crowley said. For the officers of the NYPDs 110th Precinct in Corona, that means being able to work out of a facility thats up to standards as well as from a strategically placed substation to better fight crime within their jurisdiction.

Flushing Meadows is the fourth-largest park in the city.

Allowing the 110th Precinct station house to fall further into disrepair is not fair to them and its not fair to the people they are sworn to protect, he said.

In their letter, the leaders pointed out the need for an increased police presence in the park, which drew 7 million visitors a year. According to the NYPD, there were 48 serious crimes reported at the park last year, including eight felonies assaults and seven robberies.

Peralta said the funding for the two projects could come from the billions that state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has amassed in settlements with banks and tobacco companies. Moya lives two blocks from the precinct and grew up in the neighborhood.

The community has been demanding reforms to the station house for decades, and although the police officers have done a wonderful job protecting us, we have to make sure we provide them with the proper facilities they need so they can keep us safe, he said.
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By Patrick Donachie

Four female elected officials encouraged members of the Queens County Young Democrats to consider politics and public service as a career during a recent panel discussion, offering stories and guidance to the assembled crowd on the challenges of being a woman in politics in New York City.

Our panelists are all women winning in Queens, Stacy Eliuk, the Queens County Young Democrats president, said in her introductory remarks. Eliuk noted that the percentage of female representation in the country left much to be desired. According to a Rutgers analysis, only 19.4 percent of congressional legislators are women.

In the New York City Council, Eliuk said, only 14 of 51 representatives were women. Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz (D-Forest Hills), who was on the panel, later remarked that there had been 21 female members when she entered the council in 1991.

Right now, were coming into a tough election, a scary one, Koslowitz said, referring to the presidential primary contests. We have to be vigilant to make sure the right people get in.

The panelists for the event, which was held March 24 at the Rego Center Community Room in Rego Park, also included Congresswoman Grace Meng (D-Queens), and state Assembly members Aravella Simotas (D-Astoria) and Alicia L. Hyndman (D-Laurelton). All the panelists said they had not initially considered politics as their destined career, and several said they only considered it after they were approached by retiring elected officials who hoped they would take the reins.

Simotas was an attorney prior to her political career, primarily representing corporate clients. She said she increasingly gravitated toward pro bono work and said those cases kept her interested in practicing law for several years. She eventually saw politics as a means to enact more change.

I wanted to stop trying to empty the ocean with a teaspoon, she said. I wanted to change the tide.

Queens Borough President Melinda Katz stopped by the panel and offered brief remarks, espousing encouragement for young people who were interested in the political process. She also said Queens was gaining more attention on a national stage. She is the countys third consecutive female borough president, following in the footsteps of Helen Marshall and Claire Shulman.

We are the movers and the shakers now, she said, noting increased tourism revenue that was coming into the borough. Everyone wants to come to Queens.

Meng, the first Asian American elected to Congress from the New York state, told the audience that the slow progress in the nations capital often made her fondly recall her prior work in the Assembly.

The conversation for progressivism and womens rights is so valuable, she said, referring to the Assembly. Being in Washington makes me appreciate so much more what we have going on in New York.

Hyndman responded to a question about what the best way to enter politics might be by saying that all four panelists had reached elected office by markedly different paths.

Its the hard thing, to put yourself out there, she said, but she believed that the results made the challenge worthwhile. If I dont put my voice in the room to advocate for everyone around me, I have no one to blame but myself.
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By Bill Parry

Members of the 108th Precinct Detective Squad, the Queens North Homicide Squad and the Queens district attorney worked tirelessly since August of 2015 to solve a crime that stunned Long Island City and Sunnyside last year, according to Capt. John Travaglia, the commanding officer of the 108th.

A former accountant at a Skillman Avenue non-profit and two others are accused of embezzling tens of thousands of dollars and conspiring to throw acid on the organizations executive director to cover up their scam, according to the DAs office.

This was a complicated and complex case that was often frustrating, but the perseverance of the investigative team knew no bounds, Travaglia said. Evil of this nature will never be tolerated.

DA Richard Brown and Police Commissioner William Bratton announced Tuesday that a grand jury had indicted three people, including a former employee at the non-profit, and variously charged them with embezzling more than $750,000 and then attacking the organizations executive director with a caustic liquid substance in an effort to conceal the alleged theft.

Kim Williams, 47, of the Bronx, who formerly worked as an accountant at Hospital Audiences, Inc. at 33-02 Skillman Ave.; Pia Louallen, 41, of the Bronx; and Jerry Mohammed, 32, of Rensselaer County, have all been indicted for their suspected roles in the embezzlement and/or the assault, according to the DA.

Williams and Mohammed were charged with throwing the caustic liquid in the womans face outside the non-profits offices in the attack on Aug. 19, Brown said.

The case is troubling on so many different levels, he said. In an atmosphere of such giving, it is disheartening to see an individual allegedly use her position of fiduciary trust to siphon off tens of thousands in funds for the personal use of herself and another. More disturbing, perhaps, is the same individual allegedly conspiring with another individual to intentionally seriously injure an innocent victim as part of a cover-up. The three defendants now face serious charges.

According to the charges, Williams stole more than $600,000 from Hospital Audiences, Inc., the non-profit that provides access to the various arts to students and the less fortunate, between 2012 and 2015, and provided Louallen, a close friend, with an additional $150,000 of the illegal proceeds between 2013 and 2015. In an attempt to allegedly conceal her theft, Williams conspired with Mohammed to commit an assault and on the evening of Aug. 19, Mohammed waited for the executive director, Rev. D. Alexandra Dyer, to leave work, the DA said.

As Dyer approached her vehicle on Skillman Avenue, Mohammed threw a caustic substance at her, causing severe burns to her face and other portions of the body, which required multiple surgeries.

Louallen and Mohammed were arraigned Tuesday by Queens Supreme Court Justice Gregory Lasak while Williams was arrested by New Jersey State troopers at a rest stop Monday night. He is awaiting an extradition hearing.

As alleged, the investigation revealed the defendants embezzled and then severely injured the victim in an elaborate cover-up scheme, NYPD Commissioner William Bratton said. Today, three find themselves under arrest for this brazen crime.

Together, the three defendants face a 65-count indictment. If convicted, Louallen faces up to 15 years in prison, Williams faces up to 25 years in prison, and Mohammed faces up to 25 years to life in prison, according to the DA.
The European Commission and the International Energy Agency will address the impact of the energy crisis on SMEs in an online event on 21 October.
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.
By Christopher Collins of the Times Record News

Charges have been dismissed against a Wichita Falls man who was accused of impersonating a city towing contractor online, an official said on Monday.

Thomas Cecil Sims, 49, initially was charged with online impersonation in February when it was alleged that he made a Facebook account mocking city contractor Jody Wade. A Wichita County District Attorney's Office employee told the Times Record News the charge has been dismissed.

The dismissal came in the form of a no-bill, which indicates a grand jury opted not to pursue charges. The reasoning behind grand jury decisions generally are not made public.

According to an arrest affidavit, Sims created a Facebook page for "Joe Deep Wade," making its profile picture one of Wade's mug shots. The contractor has been arrested at least twice for alcohol-related offenses, though the charges were dismissed and expunged from his record.

Wade reportedly received a friend request on his actual Facebook account from the parody account and made a report to the Wichita Falls Police Department. He told police that several of his friends had received requests from the fake account also, the affidavit says.

Sims said on Monday that Wade "acts like he's Boss Hogg in Hazzard County."

In an email, Wade characterized the dropped charge as a failure of the justice system.

"Our lawmakers intended for this law to protect our online identity and while sometimes our justice system fails, I will not tolerate harassment from this individual any longer therefore we will move forward in handling this matter in civil court," Wade wrote. "... Private investigators are being used to prepare action against this individual civilly."
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Bobby Everett Smith, Morrow, Ohio

Formerly of Wichita Falls, retired U.S. Navy

ISIS has recently conducted another bombing attack on civilian targets, this time in Brussels. ISIS warns that more attacks are coming.

This is unacceptable. President Obama has promised that defeating ISIS is his top priority. He claims he will bring the perpetrators to justice. That's not enough. We need to take proactive, aggressive steps to bring ISIS down and stop these attacks like Brussels, Paris, and San Bernardino once and for all.

Even though I am ex-attack pilot in the U.S. Navy, I hate war. It sucks. Killing human beings to accomplish certain objectives is a terrible way to conduct a civilization. Unfortunately, our species has not evolved culturally enough to eliminate war. So, when something like ISIS happens, the rest of us have to join forces and put a stop to unacceptable behavior.

In spite of recent setbacks, ISIS is determined and highly motivated. They have plenty of money and a lot of territory in Iraq, Syria, and Libya. They have established a new caliphate. They hope to make all the world Sunni Muslims and they are willing to kill anyone and everyone who does not sign up to their religious beliefs. We cannot live with that.

Up until recently, I have supported President Obama's strategy. Defeat ISIS without sending many U.S. "boots on the ground". He seems willing to spend money and give advice but not to put U.S. troops at risk.

Sorry, President Obama, but it is now clear that we cannot defeat ISIS and keep them defeated without boots on the ground. Our current military strategy is to use Iraq and Kurdish and some Syrian troops to recapture Mosul and Raqqa. That won't work.

We need to do more. We need to declare war as we did with World War II in 1941 and ramp up our country in a war which we intend to win.

My recommendation is to declare war with ISIS  officially. The U.S. needs to lead the rest of the world in a coalition to put a stop to the atrocities of ISIS. We can do it pretty quickly if we have a plan, a coalition that is willing to work with us, and we become just as determined to defeat ISIS as we were to defeat Germany and Japan in World War II.

I have a five-step strategy which includes:

1. military action

2. stopping the cash flow to ISIS

3. plugging their supply lines in Iraq and Syria

4. controlling ISIS' cyber successes

5. negotiating a settlement to end their terror

If you agree, please contact your political leaders and convey this message.
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WASHINGTON  Reason has prevailed!

Guns will not be permitted at the Republican National Convention in July in Cleveland.

Perhaps this has not been on your radar, what with the embarrassing squabbling between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz over their wives, Trump's campaign manager being arrested for battery on a reporter, the total lack of any intelligent response from either man in the aftermath of the terrorist bombings in Brussels, and all the GOP candidates venomously attacking their rivals, then vowing to support the eventual nominee, and now repudiating that pledge.

Even so, more than 50,000 people have signed a petition demanding that guns be in the sulfurous mix when Republicans gather July 18-21, which some can foresee as being something like a zombie apocalypse movie.

Ignoring the fact that Trump rallies have frequently turned violent (or perhaps because of that), so many Americans are terrified of losing the Second Amendment that protects the right to bear arms that they want to see gun-toting delegates swaggering around Cleveland's Quicken Loans Arena, commonly known as "The Q."

Ohio, my home state, is an open-carry state. It is not unusual to see good ole boys with assault rifles in their pickups parked in Walmart parking lots. Guns carried in motor vehicles must be unloaded and secured. Ammunition must be in a separate compartment. If you have alcohol in your system above the legal limit, you are not permitted to have a firearm in your vehicle or on your person. Guns are not permitted in establishments that serve alcohol; businesses may ban guns on their premises. But people who legally own a firearm may carry it loaded with or without a license. (But not in the statehouse in Columbus  lawmakers are not completely clueless.)

The Q has a policy against guns or weapons of any kind on the premises, and that has enraged a number of gun advocates. Petitioners are urging Ohio Gov. and presidential hopeful John Kasich to use his executive authority to permit guns at the arena, which holds about 20,000 people.

Surprisingly, or not, the three GOP presidential candidates left standing, Trump, Cruz and Kasich, were initially noncommittal, even ambivalent, about the petition and the idea of guns at the convention. They are terrified of getting on the wrong side of gun advocates, who see any curb on gun sales, ownership or possession as the camel's nose under the tent to total loss of their weapons.

Convention officials shot the whole thing over to the Secret Service, which handles security at the national political conventions. The immediate and quite obvious answer was, "No guns." Despite the problems the Secret Service has been having, what with knife-wielding crazy people getting inside the White House and far too much partying going on among some agents, the service is not stupid. They put their lives on the line every day but are not going to let angry people who don't believe in political correctness, civility or polite discourse carry guns near the candidates or themselves.

Guns and Cleveland have a touchy recent history. In 2014, police shot and killed a 12-year-old child, Tamir Rice, who had a toy pellet gun in a city park. The U.S. Department of Justice investigation concluded that officers in Cleveland are too quick to shoot and beat suspects and rarely face consequences for their actions. The two officers involved in the shooting were not indicted.

The FBI says Cleveland ranks as the fifth most dangerous city in the nation because of crime. The violent crime rate is 1,478 per 100,000 people (Cleveland has a population of 389,000) and a murder rate of 14 per 100,000 people. The median household income is $26,556; one-third of all its residents are below the federal poverty line.

Republicans chose the city for their convention because no Republican has ever won the White House without carrying the state of Ohio

There is so much confusion, chaos, silliness and idle speculation already going on more than 100 days before Cleveland and the real possibility of rancorous debate and actual fighting over the nomination, that it is somehow reassuring to have a simple, well-reasoned answer to at least one issue. No guns.

Ann McFeatters is an op-ed columnist for Tribune News Service. Readers may send her email at amcfeatters@nationalpress.com.
SHARE Hobbs

By Times Record News

A Wichita Falls man who gained national notoriety in a case of double murder is back in the Wichita County Jail.

Jerry Brandon Hobbs III was picked up by deputies Tuesday from a jail in Cushing, Oklahoma. He was brought back to Wichita Falls for a court hearing on eight charges related to bond forfeiture on allegations of drug possession, evading arrest and driving with an invalid license. Hobbs' total bail was $133,050.

Court documents indicate Hobbs failed to show up for a criminal hearing in March 2015 on accusations of tampering with evidence. He is scheduled to appear in the 30th District Court Friday morning.

The charge stemmed from an incident in November 2014 during which Wichita Falls Police stopped a car driven by Hobbs. A probable cause affidavit states, officers found methamphetamine in and near the car and arrested Hobbs.

Hobbs, who lived in Wichita Falls before moving to Illinois, made national headlines there when he confessed to killing his 8-year-old daughter and her 9-year-old friend. DNA evidence pointed to another suspect and Hobbs successfully sued Lake County, Illinois, and was awarded more than $7 million.

Since his return to the Wichita Falls area, Hobbs has eluded officers who tried to stop him near Lake Arrowhead, and he broke out of a jail in Fort Supply, Oklahoma, where he was being held on drug charges in Cotton County. He was recaptured a couple of days later.
It is crucial that the overwhelming good being done by peacekeepers and other international forces in the Central African Republic be reinforced by full and complete accountability for the betrayal of trust by some among their ranks who have sexually exploited and abused civilians.

One report, from the international advocacy group AIDS-Free World, cites additional findings by UN officials in the Central African Republic, or CAR, of allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse by U.N. and non-U.N. personnel there between 2013 and 2015. One hundred and eight women and girls, the majority of them minors, claim to have been sexually abused, reportedly by UN and African Union peace keepers, and French forces whose presence in the CAR was meant to ensure civilian protection. It is the latest in a series of such accusations against international peace-keeping forces in the country.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad Al-Hussein called the new accusations sickening, and the UN Stabilization Mission in the CAR  MINUSCA  has launched a full investigation into the alleged conduct by U.N. and French troops, as well as local armed groups. We are taking these allegations --- some of which are particularly odious - extremely seriously. It is vital, he said, that victims are protected and the abusers be punished: There has to be accountability and there has to be credible deterrence.

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power, who was in the Central African Republic to attend the inauguration of the countrys new president, Faustin-Archange Touadera, had the opportunity to meet with some of the families of victims of abuse in the town of Bambari. It was gut-wrenching to hear them speak about how the peace keepers they had looked to as protectors became perpetrators, she said.

Ambassador Power noted that the people of the Central African have witnessed the potential for peacekeepers to do tremendous good, and also for them to inflict tremendous harmThis plague of sexual abusemust stop, she insisted.

Would-be perpetrators have to know that they cannot get away with such abusesUN Member States must thoroughly and impartially investigate and, where appropriate, prosecute individuals alleged to have committed sexual exploitation and abuse, said Ambassador Power. The U.N. Security Council, and all Member States, must see to it that we live up to the standards we have set. We are seeing the devastating consequences when we do not. The stakes of addressing this problem  for the victims, for nations like the Central African Republic, and for the UN and its Member States  could not be higher.
Denise Palumbo has only been in her Saratoga Springs house for a year, but already the home has become a center for family dinners and holiday get-togethers. Her unique but classic style undoubtedly draws guests into her home, while the open floor plan allows for comfortable socializing and dining.

Living alone, Palumbo has been able to create the exact type of space she wanted in a house. As co-owner of Plum and Crimson Fine Interior Design, Palumbo certainly had the means and drive to make her vision a reality. "I really understand how much planning is involved," she says of creating her own ideal home.

"It's so hard for people to envision what it is they're buying," Palumbo explains. "I like to put furniture on the floor plan and show them exactly how much space they have. Nobody wants to say later, 'Oh I should have made this room two feet bigger, because now I can't fit a second sofa in there.' "

When it comes to art, or even the decor in general, Palumbo goes for what speaks to her over what's hot or conventional at the moment. "When you buy what you love, you'll always find a place for it," she says. "Don't buy it because it matches your room."

In guiding her clients to their dream home, Palumbo advises them to fill the house with what makes them feel comfortable, calm and happy, and this includes the color scheme.

Even in her bathroom, timeless components meet new trends. The floor is a Calcutta marble, which Palumbo describes as "classic and traditional," and she has paired it with a very modern glass tile above.

When it comes to dressing up the house for the holidays, classic and modern come together once more. "I'm very traditional and family-oriented," Palumbo says of her approach to holiday decorating, but admits there are some beautiful new holiday trends today as well. She puts out a small tree in addition to a big one, with the small tree maybe having this year's color or something a bit more funky.

But the big Christmas tree will always be adorned with decorations her kids made 25 years ago. "I'm not giving up those Popsicle stick ornaments."

THE KITCHEN:

In the kitchen, a popular herringbone pattern is displayed, but the countertops are actually quite unusual. "I like the texture on that marble," Palumbo says of the honed leather marble counter tops. "I like that it's not your traditional white marble, it's darker."

THE DECOR:

When asked about incorporating books into the decorating scheme Palumbo said, "I like to use things in my decor that I have, and not necessarily have to go shopping for everything." The books on the living room coffee table are travel books she's picked up from places she's visited. They're both decorative and functional  they look nice, and guests can rifle through them like coffee table books, but she reads them regularly as well, learning more about the destinations she has traveled to.

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THE BEDROOMS:

Palumbo loves the color purple. As a young girl growing up in Rhode Island, she was inspired by the purple toile she saw in the Newport mansions, and you'll find this soft and soothing shade throughout her master bedroom and bathroom.

The kids' room, shared among her granddaughter and goddaughter when they visit, has a vibrant orange wallpaper, but only on the end walls, as an accent. Palumbo says, "I love wallpaper, but I tend to use patterned wallpaper sparingly. As a general rule, with the big open spaces, I like paint."

THE LIVING ROOM:

Another golden guideline Palumbo goes by in her designs is to marry the traditional with the modern. Throughout her home, old-fashioned elements are being woven into and lifted up by contemporary trends. In the living room, one can find a small, antique post office box incorporated into the modern-looking fireplace.
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Troy

Police Chief John Tedesco said his department has been told that two people found dead in Tijuana, Mexico, may be self-styled police watchdog Adam Rupeka and his girlfriend, Jennifer Ogburn, who said they fled the region after their March 26 arrest on misdemeanor sex abuse charges by Troy police.

Tedesco said his department is waiting to see crime-scene photos from the FBI in Mexico before determining whether the two bodies are those of Rupeka, 36, and Ogburn, 26.

Tedesco said his department was alerted to the discovery early Tuesday, but he did not know specifically which Mexican agency found the bodies. He said the department was told that officials from the U.S. Consulate in Tijuana contacted relatives of the couple.

Jon Desso, a spokesman for Rensselaer County District Attorney Joel Abelove, said the prosecutor was aware of the report but had seen nothing to confirm the deaths.

The Times Union contacted the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City and the U.S. Consulate in Tijuana Tuesday to ask for information, and the request was forwarded to Consular Affairs at the U.S. State Department in Washington, D.C.

Last week, bench warrants were issued by Judge Chris Maier for Ogburn and Rupeka after they failed to appear at separate hearings in Troy City Court.

Rupeka and Ogburn face misdemeanor counts of endangering the welfare of a child, sexual abuse and forcible touching. They were sent to the Rensselaer County Jail and each was released on $5,000 bail.

Rupeka has posted videos on social media, claiming police have targeted him for his efforts to expose their misconduct.

"I am now on the run for my life and this is all because of everything I've exposed of police doing," Rupeka said in a video posted March 27 on YouTube and his Facebook page, Capital District Cop Block. "As soon as I get to another safe location, I'll make an update to let everybody know what's going on."

A day later, Rupeka posted a video showing snow and water and speaking about crossing the Canadian border. Rupeka did not appear in that video, and it was unclear where and when the video was made.

In May, Rupeka, caught the public's attention when he flashed his middle finger at a Saratoga Springs Police Officer Nathan Baker while driving in the city and videotaped the officer pepper-spraying him after Rupeka's refusal to get out of his car without hearing what he was being charged with. Rupeka filed a lawsuit and received a $50,000 settlement. Baker resigned.

In September, State Police said Rupeka operated a drone equipped with a camera that crashed into a chimney at the state Capitol. He was charged with reckless endangerment, but Albany City Court Judge Rachel Kretser dismissed the charges on March 17.

kcrowe@timesunion.com  518-454-5084  @KennethCrowe
The last few weeks have not been good for the advancement of ISILs goals in Iraq and Syria.

At a recent press conference, U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter confirmed that key ISIL leaders were killed by U.S. forces in March, including so-called minister of war Abu Omar al-Shishani and Abd al-Rahman Mustafa al-Qaduli, also known as Hami Imam.

Al-Qaduli, Secretary Carter said, served as a finance minister, who was also responsible for certain external affairs and plots. He was a well-known terrorist within ISILs ranks dating back to its earliest iteration as al-Qaida in Iraq, Mr. Carter said. The removal of this ISIL leader will hamper the organizations ability for them to conduct operations both inside and outside of Iraq and Syria.

Defense Secretary Carter said that the anti-ISIL coalition, in partnership with local forces, is putting relentless pressure on the terrorist group, noting that the successful capture of the Syrian town of Shaddadi from ISIL earlier this year severed the main artery between Syria and northern Iraq, making it much harder for ISILs forces to travel between Raqqa and Mosul  a key step in the campaign to collapse ISILs parent tumor in Iraq and Syria.

Another set-back for ISIL occurred when Syrian government forces, with the help of Russian air power, drove ISIL from the ancient town of Palmyra, one of the few times that Russian airpower was used against ISIL, instead of against anti-Assad rebel forces. Pentagon Spokesperson Peter Cook welcomed the defeat for ISIL, but stressed that the Assad regime is the primary cause of the Syrian civil war, and that its focus right now should be trying to end that civil war and by engaging in the diplomatic process thats currently under way in Geneva.

Defense Secretary Carter said defeating ISIL militarily in Iraq and Syria, while necessary, is not sufficient: We must also destroy ISILs metastases around the world.

Secretary of State John Kerry spoke to that point when he stood with Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel after the terror attack in Brussels: All of us representing countless nationalities  have a message for [ISIL]. . .We will not be intimidated. We will not be deterred. And we will come back with greater resolve, with greater strength, and we will not rest until we have eliminated your nihilistic beliefs and cowardice from the face of this Earth.
Lake George

The tentacles of a recently revealed global money laundering scheme based in Panama, which involves Russian leader Vladimir Putin and the president of China among dozens of world leaders and celebrities, stretched all the way to Lake George and the deadly 2005 sinking of the Ethan Allen tour boat.

A key figure in the offshore tax evasion, revealed by a group of investigative journalists, was also part of a fake liability insurance plot that left the Ethan Allen's owners without coverage when lawsuits poured in after the sinking that killed 20 people.

That man  an accountant from the Caribbean island of St. Kitts named Malchus Irvin Boncamper  pleaded guilty to money laundering for the insurance scam before a federal judge in Houston in October 2011, becoming one of five suspects to be convicted in connection with the crime. He is currently serving an 8-year prison sentence.

And this week, Boncamper's name appeared again publicly, this time in a groundbreaking report centered on a "little-known but powerful law firm based in Panama, Mossack Fonseca, that has branches in Hong Kong, Miami, Zurich and more than 35 other places around the globe," according to a yearlong investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung and more than 100 other news organizations.

Mossack Fonseca is "one of the world's top creators of shell companies, corporate structures that can be used to hide ownership of assets," according to leaked internal files that contain information on 214,488 offshore entities connected to people in more than 200 countries and territories.

Once Boncamper pleaded guilty in the insurance scam, after a lengthy investigation by federal and state officials from New York, Texas and Florida, according to the report, it created "a problem" for Mossack Fonseca, because Boncamper was on record as the frontman  a "nominee" director  for 30 of the shadowy companies created by the firm to benefit its wealthy clients.

Mossack Fonseca was co-founded by two men  Jurgen Mossack, a German immigrant whose father sought a new life in Panama for his family after serving in Hitler's Waffen-SS during World War II, and Ramon Fonseca, an award-winning novelist who has worked in recent years as an adviser to Panama's president, according to the report.

Also according to the report, the law firm "told its offices to replace Boncamper as director of the companies  and to backdate the records in a way that made it appear the changes had taken place, in some cases, a decade earlier. The Boncamper case is one of the examples in the leaked files showing the law firm using questionable tactics to hide its own methods or its customers' activities from legal authorities."

In the case of the Ethan Allen, Boncamper created fake insurance companies in St. Kitts that were used to back a Florida insurance company created in 2003 by Houston resident Christopher Purser and Florida resident Robert Steve Mills.

In May 2004, that company, called Global Property Owners Association, sold a fake $2 million marine liability insurance policy to Jim Quirk, owner of Shoreline Cruises Inc., the operator of the Ethan Allen. Over the years, other fake policies were sold to owners of apartment complexes, condominium associations, bars, restaurants, trucks, taxicabs, charter aircraft and other businesses in the U.S. and the Caribbean.

Quirk renewed his policy in May 2005, after Boncamper's office provided documents to Quirk falsely showing that the St. Kitts insurers had the financial resources to back claims on the Global Property policy. But there was no coverage after the overloaded boat capsized on Oct. 2, 2005, sending its predominantly elderly passengers into the water, where 20 drowned.

In an attempt to hide the truth, Global told Quirk he was only covered for accidents on land, not water.

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Latham attorney Jim Hacker, who represented Ethan Allen victims and their families in a civil suit for damages, said it was "one of the saddest cases I've ever handled ... it was devastating to both the families of the victims and to the Quirk family."

In 2008, victims reached a confidential settlement in their case against Quirk, who could not discuss specifics. "All victims received compensation that was not unreasonable," Hacker said. "But if there had been appropriate insurance in place, it would have gone a long way in helping the families."

According to an October 2011 press release from the U.S. attorney's office in Houston, Boncamper admitted to conspiring to launder premiums from the scheme that "sold fake liability insurance policies over the course of more than 10 years to businesses throughout the United States and elsewhere."

To support the insurance scheme, Boncamper also created "financial statements for the companies listing assets he knew were worthless, including bonds purportedly guaranteed by a Swiss bank that was fictitious. A co-conspirator sent Boncamper's financial statements to Shoreline Cruises in October 2004 to convince its owners to purchase the fictitious insurance offered through the scheme. Boncamper also opened bank accounts to hold insurance premiums obtained through fraud including an account opened in 2006 at a bank in Liechtenstein, according to the U.S. attorney's press release.

When Boncamper was sentenced in August 2012, U.S. District Judge Sim Lake ordered that he pay restitution to his victims, with a hearing on the amount of that restitution to be held within 90 days. The outcome of that hearing could not be determined from the U.S. attorney's office in Houston in time for this story.

The state Department of Financial Services, which regulates the insurance industry, also could not provide a comment in time for this story.

bnearing@timesunion.com  518-454-5094  @Bnearing10
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Albany

Bernie Sanders has a real chance to win the New York primary, an upset that would embarrass Hillary Clinton like no other defeat.

Sanders, for sure, is still a big underdog. But evidence that a Clinton victory is hardly inevitable was easy to find Monday.

First, there was Clinton's decision to spend the evening before the neck-and-neck Wisconsin primary in Cohoes  a sign she isn't taking New York for granted. In fact, Clinton has been all over the state in recent days, and Bill Clinton was scheduled to spend Tuesday in Buffalo and Rochester.

More Information Contact Chris Churchill at 518-454-5442 or email cchurchill@timesunion.com See More Collapse

Then, there was the crowd of about 150 Sanders supporters who braved a raging snowstorm to rally for their candidate in Albany's West Capitol Park  proof that the real energy and enthusiasm of the campaign continues to be with the 74-year-old quasi-socialist from Vermont.

A Hillary rally on a 70-degree day bathed in sunshine wouldn't draw half as many people. Wait, do Clinton supporters even hold rallies that aren't attended by the candidate?

"I haven't seen a single Hillary bumper sticker in the Capital District," said Bernie supporter Larry Wittner, a retired University at Albany professor who attended Monday's rally. "I see Bernie bumper stickers everywhere."

So do I. But maybe that's because I shop at the Honest Weight Food Co-op.

The themes Monday were familiar to anyone who's been paying attention to the Sanders campaign. Speakers mentioned income inequality a few hundred times, of course. Bernie was offered up as the candidate untainted by big money, especially Wall Street money. The horrors of fracking were also mentioned often.

"Feel the Bern! Feel the Bern!" chanted the crowd as the snow continued to fall.

Polls show a tightening New York race. In early February, a Siena survey showed Clinton beating Sanders by 21 percentage points. The lead was down to just 10 points in a CBS News poll released Sunday.

How close will the race be by the New York primary on April 19? My guess is that Hillary's lead will be down to about five percentage points  much too close for Clinton-campaign comfort.

It's stating the obvious that a close New York primary would be another bad sign for Hillary. She should be able to take this state for granted.

Clinton did, after all, represent New York in the U.S. Senate. She's known to voters here. She's been endorsed by nearly every major Democrat in the state. In 2008, she beat candidate Barack Obama easily in the state's primary, getting 57 percent of the vote.

But Bernie, unlike Obama, has deep New York roots  as his Larry David accent amply demonstrates. His emphasis on income inequality should resonate in New York City, where the gulf between rich and poor is staggering. His decades in Vermont give him upstate credibility, too.

The prediction here is that New York's Democratic primary will follow the contours of the Andrew Cuomo-Zephyr Teachout race in 2014.

Like Clinton, the incumbent governor  Cuomo, of course  was the unloved candidate with every financial advantage and support from the party establishment. Teachout, like Sanders, was the liberal underdog with Vermont roots and passionate support, though she never had Bernie's name recognition.

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Teachout, you remember, made the race close enough to raise eyebrows  and she walloped Cuomo in the Capital Region, getting nearly 62 percent of the vote in its four core counties.

Yes, Teachout still lost by 27 points statewide, because she got killed in New York City. Bernie will need to do significantly better there to win the state, and there's no reason why he can't.

That the New York primary matters is remarkable. Few would have predicted it at the start of the year. It was just widely assumed that Clinton would quickly wrap up the nomination.

That she hasn't speaks to her vulnerability as a candidate. That New York could be close suggests the general-election difficulty she'd have against any Republican not named Trump or Cruz.

Which brings me to a brief mention of the GOP primary.

Alas, polls show that Trump has a big lead, which should embarrass every New Yorker. This could even be the first state where the candidate who continues to show a complete lack of presidential preparedness gets more than half the vote. God help us.

No, in New York the potential for drama and surprise rests only with the Democratic side. Bernie is going to make this interesting.

cchurchill@timesunion.com  518-454-5442  @chris_churchill
Syrian regime aircraft reportedly violated the month-long cessation of hostilities by bombing the Deir al-Asafir district in southeast of Damascus. More than thirty people, including women and children, were killed and dozens were injured.

The United States is appalled by aerial strikes of March 31 on a school and hospital in the Damascus suburb. "We condemn in the strongest terms any such attacks directed at civilians," said U.S. State Department Spokesperson John Kirby.

France also condemned the attack saying it violated the truce. "This abject act is designed to terrorize the Syrian people and sap efforts by the international community to find a political solution," said French Foreign Ministry spokesman Romain Nadal.

In joining the cessation of hostilities, the Syrian regime committed to full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2254, which called for an immediate end to any attacks against civilians and for all parties to comply with their obligations under international law. The United States calls for any attacks directed at civilians to stop immediately.

As the U.S. continues to support UN-led negotiations towards a political transition that can end the Syrian conflict, "we reiterate," said Spokesperson Kirby, "the need for all parties to the cessation of hostilities to comply with the terms and to observe international law."
Rep. Brad Roae wrote in one of his emails to fellow lawmakers everything needs to be flat funded or cut, according to the an article published Sunday in the Philadelphia Inquirer.
What you need to know about Powerball and the $580 million jackpot
More than 70 people were killed and more than 300 hundred injured in a suicide bombing in a crowded park in Lahore, Pakistan on Easter Sunday. Most of those killed were women and children. State Department Spokesperson John Kirby condemned in the strongest terms the appalling terrorist attack in the eastern province of Punjab.

Jamaat ul-Ahrar, a splinter group of the Pakistani Taliban, has claimed responsibility for the attack, which they say was directed at Pakistani Christians, though in the aftermath it has become clear more Muslims than Christians lost their lives in the attack.

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif vowed to eradicate extremist ideologies from Pakistan after the Easter Sunday bombing. "Our goal is not only to eliminate terror infrastructure but also the extremist mindset which is a threat to our way of life," Sharif said in a statement. "We must take this war to the doors of terrorist outfits before they are able to hit our innocent country men."

Jamaat-ul-Ahrar has claimed responsibility for several big attacks in the past two years. It has previously carried out at least two major attacks in Lahore: one in 2015 that targeted two Christian churches and another at the Wagah border between India and Pakistan in late 2014.

Of Pakistans 190 million people, approximately 1.5 percent of the total population is Christian according to the latest census. But it is a community that has been targeted by extremist groups before. For example, in 2013, a suicide bombing at a church in Peshawar left more than 100 people dead, and a series of attacks at churches in Lahore left 14 dead.

Attacks like these only deepen our shared resolve to defeat terrorism around the world, said Spokesperson Kirby, and we will continue to work with our partners in Pakistan and across the region to combat the threat of terrorism.
Tax-refund fraud has exploded in the past few years. In 2012, the Internal Revenue Service paid out $4 billion in fraudulent refunds to identity thieves. For 2016, that number is projected to hit $21 billion across the federal, state and local levels.

(Image credit: PTStock/Shutterstock)

In February 2015, TurboTax maker Intuit suspended online filing for 24 hours following a spike in fraudulent returns. That same year, theIRS itself was hit by a data breach involving tax-refund scammers.

"Tax-return fraud through identity theft has been increasingly costly and damaging in recent years," said Ryan Saltz, Esq., a licensed tax professional at Tax Defense Network, LLC, in Jacksonville, Florida. "Many scammers have been successful in filing false returns in order to obtain inflated tax refunds."

MORE: How to Avoid Tax-Refund Identity Theft

Tax-refund victims usually find out only when their own returns are rejected, as the IRS accepts only one tax return per Social Security number. (That's one reason you should file early.) Victims must undergo a grueling identity-verification process before they can receive their legitimate refunds. Meanwhile, the government ends up paying the refund twice.

Recognizing the increasing numbers of victims of tax-return identity fraud, and the growing sophistication of the attacks and attackers, the IRS has stepped up its game to better protect taxpayers. The agency is also working closely with state tax offices and with tax-industry professionals to make sure these groups strengthen their defenses as well.

In the meantime, however, you might have to provide proof of identity to file your taxes from now on. Your tax refund might come later this year, and as a paper check rather than as an electronic transfer. It's all part of the effort to make things tougher for tax-refund thieves. The downside is that filing taxes must become less convenient for everyone else.

Strengthening tax-filing protections

When my husband and I had our annual appointment with our tax accountant this year, the receptionist requested to see our driver's licenses. She explained this was something new the IRS was asking for. Photocopies of our driver's licenses, she said, would be included with our tax returns to prove we were who we said we were.

The receptionist didn't quite have it right. This isn't a federal requirement, but a number of states are indeed asking taxpayers to supply identification to protect against what the government calls stolen-identity refund fraud.

The IRS is requiring strong passwords for tax-preparation-service accounts such as TurboTax, and requiring several of the bigger services to implement two-factor authentication login procedures. Meanwhile, the agency is taking longer to process returns in order to leave time to verify filers' identities.

The agency has also launched a public-awareness campaign against a different, but sometimes related, scam  one in which crooks pretend to be the IRS and threaten victims with jail time unless they immediately pay "taxes owed."

What is stolen-identity refund fraud?

Stolen-identity tax-refund fraud isn't the same as regular tax fraud, in which you alter your own returns to pay less in taxes. Instead, it's when someone else, usually a complete stranger, gets hold of your personally identifying information and files a return in your name, then collects the tax refund owed to you by the IRS or a state tax-collection agency.

"The ruse takes place when a thief obtains 'fullz' [about] a taxpayer," explained Alex Heid, chief research officer at SecurityScorecard in New York. "'Fullz' is underground slang for full name, address, date of birth, Social Security number and other relevant info."

The identity thief will enter his or her own mailing address when filing "your" return, and may request that the refund be paid on a prepaid debit card, which is difficult to track or block.

How do crooks get your personal information?

"A lot of people discovered that a) Social Security numbers are either easy to steal or find or buy," said IRS Commissioner John Koskinen to CBS News' 60 Minutes program in 2014, "and then, b) you can file a false return."

Medical records generally contain "fullz," and are frequently stolen ininsurance-company data breaches. But crooks can simply buy copies of medical records from crooked employees at doctors' offices, hospitals and medical-insurance claim processors.

"We would approach anyone who worked at, like, a dental office, anybody who worked in a medical field," Corey Williams, a convicted tax-fraud identity thief, told 60 Minutes. "You would just approach them and tell them if they get you 100 names, you would give them $1,000."

It's such a big business that it's becoming professionalized.Richard Weber, chief of the IRS' criminal-investigation unit, toldNetwork World that there has been a shift in the type of criminals committing identity theft, moving from "small-time thieves to multinational criminal enterprises."

Julie Magee of the Alabama Department of Revenue told independent security reporterBrian Krebs that crooks have been registering as tax preparers to be able to file even more fraudulent returns.

Staying ahead of the bad guys

Stopping the thieves means reversing course on the tax-filing process. That process has been made deliberately more convenient for filers in the past decade, but this has also made it much easier for thieves to exploit the system. Now, as with logging into your email, Facebook and online banking accounts, it's going to be harder to file your taxes.

"Tax-software companies have been working with the IRS to improve security protocols for various return-filing platforms," Saltz said.

"Taxpayers will need to provide additional password information when logging into their accounts to file," he added. "These added features are intended to reduce the likelihood that fraudsters will be able to defeat software security in order to complete phony returns."

Saltz said there's now more data-sharing among the IRS and state tax agencies, and with the big commercial tax preparers.

Some online tax-preparation services are requiringtwo-factor authentication, in which the user first enters a password, then has to type in a PIN texted to his or her mobile phone by the tax-prep company.

In Georgia and North Carolina, tax agencies are working with a company called MorphoTrust USA to test eID, a secure online identification-verification system.

Tax-scare scams

There's also a second, scarier kind of tax scam that makes you, not the government, pay a scammer. Someone purporting to represent the IRS calls or emails you to say you owe back taxes and need to turn over personal information, or pay large "fines," on threat of arrest.

Sometimes such scams seek your cash, instructing you to pay the "taxes" or "fines" using a prepaid card. In other cases, the goal for the thieves is to gain the taxpayers financial credentials in order to wipe out bank accounts  or file fraudulent tax returns.

To combat these scams,that the IRS has launched a public-awareness campaign called "Taxes. Security. Together." It's designed to educate taxpayers on maintaining security online and recognizing fraudulent schemes.

As part of this initiative, the IRS is providing publications, and even putting videos online, to help taxpayers learn how to recognize phishing attempts and how to best protect their personally identifiable information at all times.

To avoid being hit by phone or email scammers, remember that the IRS initiates contact only by snail mail  the agency will never call or email you out of the blue.

To protect your tax refund, you should file your returns early,protect your Social Security number and your date of birth by keeping them secret (sorry, Facebook users), and make sure your tax accountant has a good reputation and has been in business a long time.

"Prevention and knowledge go a long way in avoiding falling for fraudulent schemes," Saltz said. "It's always a good idea to visit IRS.gov for updates on scam tactics and how to protect yourself."
One of Melbournes most exciting art rock trios  The plastic Fingers have just unleashed their brand new EP titled The Blessed (out now via Golden Robot).

Comprised of Mark Ward (MOON, Pearls & Swine) on guitar, vocals and sonic waves; Ronald John Neal (Pearls & Swine) on bass and vocals; and George Velenik on drums and vocals, the hard-hitting power trio have spent the last year in the studio producing this EP, with the musical journey exploring heavy blues, funk and groove entwined with an ever-present love for thumping rock.

To celebrate the release of the record, the guys have kindly penned a track by track which you can check out below. For more info visit The Plastic Fingers Facebook page.

THE BLESSED

This is not how its meant to be. You are the blessed: this is exactly what it is. This epic journey explains how some people have what they have got, others have what theyre seeing; all set in a Cuban backdrop of white 70s funk meets the epic Scotch of 2016. A time where the world needs to find peace, so drive, through your life, no rear view mirror, just drive baby.

CRUNCHOLA

The world on this street is groove. Take a Hendrix feel and blend it with a static space, like Mars. Viola crunchola. A story of believing in you and not an idol, should comfort all. The bang to an extended jam at the end to remind people that the Fingers arent a program, they are a band (with real fingers). So have a low blue light, a decent sound system and party the night away.

ITS WHAT YOU GOT

More broken love songs from the band of broken love songs. This is an eerie simple tale of being happy with what youve got  not always wanting something you dont have. With a U2 meets INXS feel, this song breathes its emotional rainbow on all it touches.

COMEBACK

Imagine Michael Hutchence and Mick Jagger could actually have a baby  well, this is their child. A haunting slow groover that has hints of an emotional rescue, with a gypsy painting the ships stern. If we have this beauty, we could all make a comeback. Enjoy!

SOLD YOUR GOD

This was actually the bands first ever jam together. It wasnt written, it wrote itself. A nice Zapper-ish feel, with a story of betrayal to you. You means you, and you are your own God  so dont sell it, its what you have got. After the story the band jams out with a totally free-form solo that blisters like an angel in the sun.

Enjoy this band, become a fan and we will give you our hand on a ride that even if you fall off, you will fly to the side of all you love. The Plastic Fingers.
After unleashing their killer debut EP to the unsuspecting public last year, Melbourne crew Bears are back at it with Magical Woman  the first single taken from the debut LP, due out later this year on Side Stare Music.

Though their 2015 EP gave rock lovers a taste of their capability, Bears have well and truly kicked it up a notch Magical Woman. Reminiscent of 60s band Love, the singles woozy soulful psych shows the band have an uncanny knack for crafting retro rock gems.

To celebrate its release, Bears hit The Loft in Warnambool this Friday April the 8th. After that theyre jumping on board a massive lineup for Side Stare Musics Label launch party  featuring 8 bands (The Pretty Littles, Bears, Dozeys, Lunatics on pogosticks, Hot Sludge Fundae, The Deloraines, Tiny Giants, Pitch Meters) across two stages at The Grace Darling on April 23rd. For more info on the upcoming shows visit the Bears Facebook page.
Another day, another totally heavy-handed and unnecessary police raid on an Australian music festival. Only this time, it wasnt some mega-festival attended by thousands and arrest numbers werent in the hundreds.

As FasterLouder reports, for some reason police in Tasmania decided it would be an effective use of resources to conduct a raid on Rose Quartz, a small (and we mean small) local festival that recently held its first event at Lake Pedder.

Just a few hundred turned out to what was advertised as a 500-capacity event and most came to have a good time, enjoy some music from the likes of Roland Tings, Otologic, and Kangaroo Skull, and not be hassled by cops.

The cops soon put the kibosh on these plans by showing up and inviting their sniffer dogs to come along. Speaking to FasterLouder, attendees called the police operation heavy-handed and irresponsible, suggesting it marred an otherwise pleasant event.

People were being safe and looking out for each other, one punter recounted. When the cops arrived with their dogs, people ate their drugs in a panic, and felt uncomfortable and unsafe. It was irresponsible of the police and they should have known better.

Attendees alleged that police stopped and searched cars in addition to sweeping the dance floor and festival grounds overnight, including punters rooms at the nature lodge where the event took place. Some claimed they saw a sniffer dog on stage mid-set.

And what did all of the polices hard work yield? Nothing. Zip. Nada. According to Tasmania Police, a total of five people were arrested for what they described as minor drug matters, adding that the event was otherwise incident free. Go figure.

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Its not the first time in recent memory that a police drug blitz at an Aussie music festival has come up seriously short. A huge police operation at Februarys Earth Frequency Festival at Ivory Rock ended with only a few dozen people brought up on charges.

The operation involved officers from Harrisville Police, the Roadside Drug Testing Unit, Road Policing Task Force, Ipswich Road Policing Command, Ipswich Tactical Crime Squad, Brisbane Dog Squad, and officers from across Ipswich District.

That fellowship of police badassery targeted the more than 5,000 punters who attended the four-day event, charging a grand total of 57 people. Thats after the police performed roadside breath tests on 2,500 people, or half the festival.
Do you fancy yourself a bit of a bogan? Do you love a VB? Proudly sport a mullet? Do you bear a Southern Cross tattoo and know all the words to the Cold Chisel discography? Then weve got the perfect job for you.

A job ad recently posted by The Gelo Company, who run Bogan Bingo at Perth pub and venue Rosie OGradys, is looking for applicants who possess the qualities to be a professional bogan. No, really. This is legit.

You can check out the full posting over on Seek, but before you go applying for a laugh, you should know theres some fairly strict key selection criteria and youll need a pretty impressive resume in order to be considered.

The applicant must have at least five years prior bogan experience or equivalent demonstrated, the ad, which was recently picked up by the Sydney Morning Herald, reads. Youll also need to be able to count to 90 and play a mean air guitar.

Auditions to be the next bogan of Bogan Bingo at Rosie OGradys will take place 28th April at the venue, which is located at 5 James St, Northbridge. They start at 6pm, but we suspect showing up on time can only hurt your chances.

The mining boom may be drawing to a close in Western Australia but there are still job openings for those who love rock (and roll), a media release from The Gelo Company read.

The team is looking for outgoing larrikins who are willing to strut their stuff on stage in front of major crowds. Like, not as big as Acca Dacca, but huge for a comedy show.

If you manage to get the job, your average workday will look like this: One Bingo caller calls out the numbers and his budding DJ plays songs from the 80s and 90s that rhyme with those numbers.
A witness describes: A little girl was sitting in the passenger side (of another car), crying, trying to dial her phone, she said. And (I saw) a man on the ground next to the truck.





Police said they believe Jake Brantner, 39, shot multiple times in the parking lot of a grocery store at 63rd Street and Blue Ridge Boulevard, was selling a gun in the lot, but theyre not sure of the buyers identity or what happened.

Tragic deets from the scene of a recent Kansas City homicide . . .Deets:Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the Crime Stoppers TIPS Hotline at 816-474-8477 Developing . . .
Road Trip To Tulsa from Kansas City

Here's a change of pace for Monday and a Kansas City connection to a tragic incident. Checkit:A decade before Kansas City experienced their cultural renaissance in the 1930's, an event known asshook the future of the black communities in the United States. A wealthy man from Tulsa named Tate Brady organized the KKK in Oklahoma organized the most vicious attack on a black community that today the City Of Tulsa wishes were forgotten .Black Wall street was the District of Greenwood was a successful black communities with Doctors, Lawyers, Realtors, Theaters and Retail Shops had all been destroyed by fire and aerial bombardment of dynamite in a week of racist violence. Tate Brady had so much control over Tulsa and the City of Tulsa that white folks who assisted their black neighbors during these weeks of attacks were arrested then tar'd and feathered by police who changed into Klan uniforms of gowns and hoods. The survivors of Greenwood were quarantined until a white land owner retrieved them from the make shift stockade.The black survivors were then forced to wear armbands that said "friendly negro", similar tactics used by Adolf Hitler in the 1930's. Walking under the interstate we saw markers where the old shops and businesses existed through Greenwood where gentrification encroached now taking over the area with food and beverage establishments, apartments, yoga studios and parks. More evidence that George Orwell was right when he said, "pacifism is fascism"? Today, as the Donald Trump Crisis in Kansas City lingers from last month, we see a new Tate Brady waiting in the wings. The resistance towards Donald Trumps racist message brought a large contingent of concerned citizens to the streets to protest, knowing very well they the protesters themselves could someday be tar'd and feathered for breaking ranks with the radical right wing of Kansas City Metro.Men of wealth and power don't always make the right decision just because they got all the brakes in life. Often wealth and power has the opposite effect on culture like Kansas City's Tom Pendergast. Pendergast built the World War I Memorial here in Kansas City with virtually no attention to the context to what philosophers and scholars described as to what a World War I Memorial were to represent? The working class was crushed a century ago and this is also forgotten. Well bred men like Woodrow Wilson, a man of wealth and credentials got the country involved WWI, brought back Jim Crow and destroyed Haiti and invaded Veracruz. Eugene V. Debbs received a half million votes for President of the US while in prison during this time. In Kansas City we've recently seen destruction of the Hawthorne Tree, ("The Tree Of Liberty") now gone outside the gates of Memorial Park south of World War I Memorial. It's only fitting the historian Gore Vidal had a chapter in a book called "Amnesia The Beautiful".###########
About 1,400 to 1,500 refugees left Piraeus over the weekend. New camps for 10,000 will be prepared by Sunday

The Alternate Minister of National Defense Dimitris Vitsas announced that the port of Piraeus will be cleared out of migrants and refugees by Greek Orthdox Easter, near the end of April.

On Monday morning he told Mega Channel that 1,400 to 1,500 migrants and refugees were transferred from the port to the camp at Eleonas over the weekend. He added that efforts are being made to convince more to leave the port.

At present there are 2,600 vacant spots at the camps, with a further 10,000 expected to be available by Sunday.The Minister added that similar efforts will be made to clear out the makeshift camp in Idomeni, where violent clashes are regularly breaking out among the migrants and refugees.

He also confirmed reports regarding the first returns to Turkey and noted that the goal is for the flow of refugees to drop, in order for the critical EU-Turkey agreement to have the desired effect. He also noted that number of arrivals was in decline and that there was an increase in asylum applications.

At the same time, the spokesperson for the coordinating body on the refugee crisis Giorgos Kyritsis appeared on SKAI and underlined that the conditions at the hospitality centers will prevent further violent outbreaks, in response to recent statements he made for the Observer.

He also explained that the situation is improving on a daily basis and that more and more migrants and refugees are being convinced to leave the makeshift camps at Idomeni and Piraeus. He also noted that a new refugee center at Skaramangas, with a capacity of 3,000, is expected to be ready by the end of the week.

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
Greece is among the top 10 destinations visited by German tourists last year according to Tourism-Review.com and it is presented as follows:

"The popularity of Greek regions depends on their location and the current situation.Some places, such as Crete and Corfu, were performing well providing German tourists with the blend of sunshine, relaxation and culture that they expect. Others, that have been hit by the refugee crisis, like the eastern Aegean Sea, however, have seen a decline."

The German Research Institute (FUR) analyzed and published the data for leisure trips made by German tourists in 2015.

The research revealed several changes in the list of the most popular destinations. German tourists may not have lost their desire to take a holiday last year, despite the increased security risks, but the countries and regions they favor were much closer to home.

There is also a clear desire for sun and sea over colder climes as large numbers of holidaymakers aimed for the coast and the Mediterranean and left the mountains behind. Many, however, don't even leave their home country at all.

The list of the top 10 destinations visited by German tourists last year include:

1. BAVARIA  EXPLORING GERMAN TRADITIONS

3. mecklenburg Pomerania - sun and beach at home

3. SPAIN  POPULAR ISLANDS

3. italy vacation in the country

4. TURKEY  BEACHES, BEACHES, BEACHES

5. austria  skiing in the mountains

7. CROATIA  PICTURESQUE TOWNS

8. GREECE  ARCHITECTURE AND REFUGEES

9. FRANCE  FASHION AND WINE
Tourexpi, turizm haberleri, Reiseburos, tourism news, noticias de turismo, Tourismus Nachrichten,  , travel tourism news, international tourism news, Urlaub, urlaub in der turkei,  , holidays in Turkey,   , global tourism news, dunya turizm, dunya turizm haberleri, Seyahat Acentas,

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Abu Dhabi-based Emirates Auction (EA) has launched its first subsidiary company in Egypt in line with its expansion strategy, which aims to tap into newer regional and international markets.



Misr Auction will initially focus on organizing and managing real estate auctions. The company will later expand its services portfolio to include auctions on cars, collectibles and specialized vehicle plates.



Abdullah Matar Al Mannaei, managing director of Emirates Auction, said: The remarkable success and the leading position of Emirates Auction in the UAE market has given us the confidence to expand our operations in order to be a global company. We have chosen Egypt to be our first expansion stop after an in-depth study of the regions promising markets, which showed the need of the Egyptian market to have public and electronic auctions that match the highest levels of professionalism, quality and reliability.



Al Mannaei further explained that Misr Auction has great potential to achieve quality successes, backed by the strategic advantages of Emirates Auction such as its strong presence, advanced technologies and auction systems.



It will meet the needs of a large segment of people who want to buy and sell real estate, goods and cars in Egypt, he added.



Emirates Auction has made positive effect impact in terms of changing auction concepts in the Arab world by adopting the best global auction systems, like electronic auction systems, which offers key features like reliability, transparency and quality to meet the expectations of its clients, Al Mannaei explained.



We look forward to the success of Misr Auction, which will undoubtedly be the starting point towards further promoting Emirates Auctions success in the electronic auction segment across key growth markets in the Arab region and the world, particularly in terms of the sale of vehicle plates of distinctive numbers, concluded Al Mannaei.  TradeArabia News Service
A Chinese joint venture company has won major contracts for the construction of 15,000 residential units for low- and middle-income citizens, besides a new convention centre in Egypt.



The company will also construct the new cabinets building along with 12 other ministerial buildings, starting with the premises for the Ministry of Housing under the New Administrative Capital project, reported the Daily News Egypt.



At the inception of the new capital project, which was first launched in March 2014 during the Egypt Economic Development Conference (EEDC), the estimated total cost of construction was $45 billion and construction was supposed to take place within a five to seven-year implementation period, said the report.

Announcing the start of the New Administrative Capital project, Minister of Housing Mostafa Madbouly said four construction companies have already initiated the infrastructure work.



In October, the government had announced that the New Urban Communities Authority (Nuca) will provide the initial investments worth E5 billion ($559 million) for the project, stated the report.



The new capital will be located along the highway connecting Cairo to the Red Sea, providing links to significant shipping routes.
More than 100 Omani firms representing various industries are set to participate in Omani Products Exhibition (Opex) 2016 taking place next week, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.



The event is being held under the patronage of the Ethiopian minister of finance and economic development, and will take place from April 11 to April 14, at Millennium Hall.



Dr Ali bin Masoud Al Sunaidi, Omans Minister of Commerce and Industry, in addition to officials from related government bodies will be attending the event.



Ayman Al Hasani, vice chairman for economic and branches affairs at Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI), and chairman of Opex organising committee informed that that Omani firms are set to participate in the event representing various industries including natural resources, minerals, wood products, manufacturing products, furniture, food, medical and pharmaceuticals, fertilisers, plastic and metal equipment, perfume, leather, and logistics, said a statement.



Al Hasani added that Opex is being for the first time outside the GCC countries following the success of previous events in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and UAE, it added.



He said: "An integrated plan has been put in place to facilitate logistics, customs and other related issues for the participants.



This event represents one of the major steps to promote Omani products in the African continent. The organising committee aspires to promote the sultanates industrial sectors in Ethiopia and Africa through strengthening partnerships with various regional and international institutions, he added.



Furthermore, the committee seeks to play a pivotal role in stimulating trade movement between the sultanate and Ethiopia, which eventually develop businesses of local companies and expand their trade to various regional and global markets, he added.



Al Hasani said: The event seeks to develop mutual objectives of the two governments and deepen comprehensive partnership in addition to opening up prospects for further cooperation among similar companies in Oman and Ethiopia, and increasing volume of trade exchange between the two.



Additionally, Nasima Al Balushi, Ithraas director general of export development, emphasised that Addis Ababa was chosen to be the destination of Opex 2016 following studies been conducted to determine the added value and the advantages of East African markets in general and the Ethiopian market in particular.



Ithraa, which is one of the bodies that form Opex Organising Committee in addition to OCCI and PEIE, has implemented a marketing study on the Ethiopian market to provide comprehensive facts on the market in order to familiarise the Omani exporters, and on the other hand brief the exporters in Ethiopia on the promising Omani products, Al Balushi said.



The study indicated that there are significant opportunities for Omani exporters to benefit from in the fast growing Ethiopian market, she added.



Al Balushi explained that based on the results of the study, an Omani trade delegation held business to business (b2b) meetings, in Addis Ababa in an effort to strengthen and develop the volume of Omani non-oil exports to the Ethiopian market, find promising opportunities and deals, and boost trade relations with Ethiopia in line with the plan to develop non-oil Omani origin products.



"A group of Omani companies which participated in these meetings achieved a number of deals. Around 50 per cent of Omani exporters assigned a commercial agent for their products in Ethiopia on day one of the b2b meetings. Besides, one of the companies signed a MoU with one of the major importing Ethiopian companies for foodstuff, Al Balushi said.



These positive results following the b2b meetings have encouraged Opex organising committee to choose Addis Ababa as the destination of Opex 2016, she added.  TradeArabia News Service
GCC producers should focus on commercial and operational excellence and product specialisation, to face the paradigm shift currently sweeping across the Middle Easts petrochemical industry, according to a study.



The study conducted by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), a leading global management consulting firm, revealed that the situation is a result of a whirlwind of global forces, some expected, others not, that include the domino effect of the US shale gas renaissance, oil prices relentless dive, Saudi Arabia losing its access to cheap gas feedstock, Chinas capacity build-up, and the lifting of Iranian sanctions.



Marcin Jedrzejewski, principal at BCG Middle East, said: Together, these game-changers have altered and reshaped the regions petrochemical landscape  giving rise to a plethora of new challenges and opportunities.



The fact is, today, external political and economic factors paint a less rosy picture of the future of the GCCs petrochemical industry. And while there is still time to reverse the damage done and even turn these setbacks into moments of growth, GCC petrochemical producers must do so fast  or risk losing their long-held competitive streak, he said.



The US Shale Gas Renaissance: A Far-Reaching Revolution

The much-talked about shale oil renaissance has flooded the US market with abundant supplies of cheap feedstock (ethane), which in turn has armed US petrochemical producers with a hefty cost advantage over their European and Asian rivals  most of whom rely heavily on high-priced naphtha as feedstock. Although this advantage has been eroded by the current drop in the oil prices, in the long run, the US is still positioned to strongly benefit from the abundance of low-cost ethane, said the study.



The low-cost feedstock environment has spurred a massive expansion of the US petrochemical industry  in fact, ethylene capacity is expected to rise by a staggering 7.5 million tonnes over the next five years, it added.



Oil Prices: The Downward Spiral

The drop in oil prices is undeniably a major contributor to the current trends punctuating the GCCs petrochemical industry. Brent oil prices have sharply collapsed from a high of more than $110 in June of 2014 to below $30 early this year. Subsequently, the price of naphtha has fallen steeply. And, in parallel, the price differential with gas has narrowed, further added the study.



The reason why the topic of plummeting oil prices is critical is because naphtha-based producers tend to be marginal producers of ethylene  and their cost of ethylene production sets the fundamentals for the product price globally and regionally, further added the study.



Since the prices of petrochemical products are directly correlated with oil prices  sinking oil prices translate into immediate margin erosion for historically feedstock-advantaged producers, which means most Middle East players. A high oil-gas spread favours ethane-based GCC crackers as the price is typically set by marginal producers in Northeast Asia and Europe who use naphtha as feedstock, it said.



Based on this, sustained weakness in oil prices will continue to undermine the profitability of GCC petrochemical producers, especially those fully integrated with upstream or taking advantage of preferentially priced feedstock allocations, it stated.



Saudi Arabia: The Impact of Price Adjustments

The Middle East is running out of cheap gas feedstock, and recent petrochemical expansions in Saudi Arabia have shown that feedstock is gradually getting heavier and closer to naphtha economics in the absence of price support from the government.



Furthermore, as demonstrated by Saudi Arabias recent price adjustments, feedstock costs have also significantly increased. In December 2015, Saudi Arabia more than doubled its ethane price from $0.75 British thermal units (mmBtu) to $1.75 mmBtu. This seriously affects the competitive power of petrochemical producers in the region and puts additional pressure on their margin, said the study.



The Case of China and Iran

In yet another development, China, which has long been the largest importer of basic chemicals  comprising polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP)  is undergoing a colossal capacity expansion. Once the countrys ambitious plan to develop coal-to-olefins (CTO) technology is brought to life, it will naturally reduce its reliance on imports.



The GCCs petrochemical landscape is riddled with a number of severe challenges. To effectively overcome these obstacles and minimise any resulting damage, GCC producers will need to act soon. Instead of simply bracing themselves for the impact, they must view this particular situation as an opportunity to refine the petrochemical industry  and in the process not only improve their bottom line but also add some much-needed high-skill jobs to the market.



More specifically, GCC producers should focus on the areas of commercial excellence, operational excellence, and product specialisation.



In terms of commercial excellence, historically, GCC producers have invested very little in sales, marketing and supply chain. In lieu, they greatly rely on off-takers and traders to carry and sell their products in core markets. This arrangement basically means that producers can lose anywhere between 3-10% of their product value to a middle man. Moving forward, GCC producers should invest in building robust marketing and supply chain capabilities  so they can win back this lost value from off-takers.



Jedrzejewski said: At present, the GCCs petrochemical industry is caught in the throes of fundamental change.



To thrive and survive despite these evolving circumstances, GCC players will have to rethink and revise their business plans  urgently. Because stagnation is no longer an option, he concluded.  TradeArabia News Service
Saudi Arabia has suspended licenses granted to Iran's Mahan Air to fly through its air space or land at its airports due to violations of local safety rules, the General Authority of Civil Aviation (Gaca) said on Monday.



Aviation sources said in January that around 150 direct flights between Iran and Saudi Arabia that carry thousands of pilgrims every month had been halted after Riyadh severed diplomatic relations with Tehran.



The Gaca said in a statement that several violations related to airline safety had been committed by flights operated by Mahan Air to the kingdom, "prompting the suspension of licenses granted to the company".



"This decision comes in the context of the Gaca (regarding) the safety of passengers and to preserve their lives," the statement said. There was no immediate official comment from Iranian officials.



Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told Reuters in January that the kingdom had halted trade and flights with Iran as part of a diplomatic response to Iranian protesters storming the Saudi Embassy in Tehran.



Trade between Saudi Arabia and Iran is small compared to the size of their economies, but tens of thousands of Iranians travel to the kingdom every year to complete the Haj and Umrah pilgrimages.  Reuters
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Editor:

Jim Hartman is mistaken (Legal Pot - Bad For Nevada, Apr. 2, 2016) regarding many aspects of legalized cannabis (marijuana) in Colorado. Claiming alarming growth in underage marijuana use is patently false as noted in the Denver Post ( http://www.denverpost.com/marijuana/ci_29313651/after-two-years-debate-remains-over-marijuana-legalizations ) reported by Larry Wolk, the head of Colorado's public health department who said, "There's really no statistically significant data yet to demonstrate that there is increased use among adults or teens.

Hartmans claims regarding increase in drug crimes, the "black market, issues related to health, banking and pesticides are likewise discredited. In fact, state regulation is responsible for eliminating dangerous pesticides. Declaring, Tax revenues raised from pot sales have not covered the regulatory overhead, is laughable since the state may be returning excess tax collections. Further, the Supreme Court recently rejected Nebraska and Oklahomas lawsuit.

Colorado citizens heard it all before and voted. And every subsequent poll indicates voters continue supporting the end of cannabis prohibition in Colorado.

Stan White

Dillon, Colorado
From left to right: Fran Ruiz, Anais Perez, Miquel Trias, Carmen Garcia and Javier Martin. Jaime Villanueva

The strange questions posed to candidates during selection processes at Google are not just a myth. Until a few years ago, being asked how many ping pong balls would fit in a double-decker bus was one of the logic puzzles that a hopeful would have to work out in front of their interviewer. The objective was to analyze their ability to cope with a previously unknown problem.

The approach attracted such interest that in 2012 a US author, William Poundstone, published the bestseller Are You Smart Enough to Work at Google? It was a guide that detailed some of the more common logic questions the company would present in its interviews.

Googles four-stage interview process Prospective candidates must apply through Google Careers. The first interview will be via a telephone conversation in English. Candidates who pass this test then undertake four interviews, the first of which is normally the head of the department the applicant is interested in joining, then another with that persons boss, another with somebody in a similar post, and finally one with somebody from a different department. In each interview, typically carried out by people of different nationalities and gender, Google is looking for the following qualities: - Googleyness: This looks at the ability of a candidate to fit into the company's culture, based either on team spirit or preference for self-teaching, among other qualities. - General cognitive ability: This consists of a series of questions about possible challenges and weaknesses related to the business world and the ability to work things out or put together logical arguments. - Leadership: This is based on questions about problem solving that assess an individual's ability to motivate other team members. - Technical knowledge of the job: In the words of Javier Martin, head of human resources at Google Spain, this final interview has the least bearing on whether a candidate is chosen or not.

In April 2015, however, the head of human resources at Google, Laszlo Bock, launched Work Rules, a book that argued that this kind of questioning was not conducive to predicting how a candidate would behave in their future work role. In its place, the company implanted other measures, backed by research, that aimed to detect possible reactions of candidates when faced with real situations.

Today, that test, known as General Cognitive Ability, is still part of the process, but now it is more focused on the reality of the world of business, explains Javier Martin, head of human resources for Google Spain. Applicants might typically be asked to estimate how many airliners might be flying over Madrid at a given moment. Were not looking for an exact answer, but something that shows how the candidate thinks and works things out and their ability to identify the variables, he says.

It might surprise some people to learn that the 2.5 million people who apply for a job at Google every year are not judged on their computer technology expertise. A lot of graduates don't bother applying for jobs with us because they have preconceived ideas. We don't just hire computer programmers or tech geeks, adds Martin.

But Spaniards thinking of joining the company will need to speak very good English, says Martin, adding that the 200 employees who work out of Googles Madrid office on the 26th floor of the Torre Picasso use English for around half of their daily communication.

Whats more, theres no point sending in a CV or calling Google if youre interested in working for the company: use Google Careers to see which departments or cities might interest you.

Once in the company, employees can apply for three-month stays in any of Googles 70 offices around the world, located in 40 countries. In 2015, 10 percent of the Spanish workforce did so. We encourage our people to change their role every two years, which means constant training and skills acquisition. Each worker receives at least 10 hours of courses a month, says Martin.

EL PAIS talked to four members of Googles Madrid team who prove that a background in the arts or having little technological training is not an obstacle.
Albert Rivera, Pedro Sanchez and Pablo Iglesias at the EL PAIS election debate in December. Uly Martin

The Socialist Party, Podemos and Ciudadanos will meet on Thursday in a bid to break the political stalemate that could force Spain into calling fresh elections.

The fact that all three parties have agreed to sit down at all evidences the growing urgency of finding a governing deal that will avert a repeat vote on June 26.

A new survey shows that a second election in less than six months would most likely benefit the Popular Party (PP), whose voters are more motivated to go back to the polls.

Podemos prefers an alternative leftist coalition that would comprise themselves, the Socialists, United Left and Compromis

Until now, emerging groups Podemos (left-wing, anti-austerity) and Ciudadanos (center-right, anti-Catalan referendum) had refused to deal with one another, citing insurmountable differences in their programs.

The latter has developed a governing deal with the Socialists  the only existing post-election pact to date  that requires additional congressional support to achieve a sufficient majority to form a government.

Ciudadanos would like to add the PP to this alliance, but so far the conservatives have refused to negotiate. Meanwhile, the Socialists have rejected a coalition with the party in power. Instead, Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez insists on bringing both emerging parties onto his team.

And Podemos prefers an alternative leftist coalition that would comprise themselves, the Socialists, the small United Left party (IU) and Compromis, a regional group from Valencia.

Talk, yes. Deal, not likely

The talks between the Socialists and the two emerging forces are scheduled for 4.30pm on Thursday in Congress.

But their differences make it unlikely that a firm deal will emerge from the get-together.

Ciudadanos leader Albert Rivera wants Podemos to support his joint governing program with the Socialists. The latter is looking for enticing offers to make to the anti-austerity party, but recent news about Spains significant miss on the 2015 deficit target means that increased spending on social policies is not an option.

And Podemos still appears to defend a referendum on self-rule in Catalonia, a scenario that both the Socialists and Ciudadanos vehemently reject.

While Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias is expected to head his partys negotiating team on Thursday, neither Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez nor Ciudadanos chief Albert Rivera will be joining him, but will send representatives instead.

English version by Susana Urra.
Panamas ambassador to Spain, Maria Mercedes de la Guardia de Corro. Zipi (EFE)

Panamas ambassador to Spain said on Tuesday that her government will fully cooperate with Spanish authorities investigating cases related to the so-called Panama Papers leak.

A day after news organizations revealed a huge trove of insider information from Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca, which specializes in creating offshore businesses for international clients, Maria Mercedes de la Guardia Corro sought to dispel claims that Panama is too permissive with regard to financial wrongdoing and that it functions as a tax haven.

Id rather call the Panama Papers the Mossack Fonseca papers. The case affects one firm, but it also affects the image of Panama Panamas ambassador to Spain

We feel affected, said the ambassador at a power breakfast sponsored by Sacyr, the Spanish construction group that is currently in charge of a project to widen the Panama Canal.

Regarding the Panama papers, Id rather call them the Mossack Fonseca papers, she said. The case affects one firm, but it also affects the image of Panama.

De la Guardia Corro said the government of Panama will help the Spanish Tax Agency and judiciary determine whether Spanish nationals mentioned in the leaked files incurred in any illegal activities, including money laundering or tax evasion, and whether their offshore assets were legal.

The 11.5 million files leaked to the media make mention of Barca star Leo Messi, filmmaker brothers Pedro and Agustin Almodovar, and an aunt of Spains King Felipe, among others.

The president has said that Panama will cooperate actively with the investigation, said the ambassador. The Panamanian government is committed to zero tolerance regarding corruption. Panama is going to be cooperative, especially with Spain, with whom we have an information-exchange agreement since 2011.

The Panamanian government is committed to zero tolerance regarding corruption

But the ambassador also defended her countrys refusal to sign a multilateral agreement for automatic information exchange that 80 other nations have already adopted. De la Guardia Corro said this agreement would violate her countrys constitution and could violate citizen rights.

Confidentiality is not just sought by criminals, she said. It is also legitimate for those wishing to remain anonymous without committing unlawful acts.

English version by Susana Urra.
The arrested are accused of falsely registering births. PACO PUENTES

Spanish police have arrested 53 people belonging to a ring that allegedly created false identities to engage in a range of illegal activities, including polygamy and evading being sent to prison.

Those arrested had allegedly accumulated their multiple identities by registering the birth of children outside the usual deadline

Those arrested had allegedly accumulated their multiple identities by registering the birth of children outside the usual deadline. Police have accused the heads of the families involved of being married to up to six different women and thus obtaining different identity cards.

This was carried out by presenting falsified documents and statements to registry offices throughout Andalusia to obtain birth certificates, which were then later used to apply for Spanish identity cards, allowing members of the ring to evade court appearances or prison if arrested.

Ten alleged members of the gang were arrested in 2015 in and around Seville. In March, police detained a further 22 people in other towns in Andalusia. The final phase of the operation produced a further 21 arrests.

English version by Nick Lyne.
Visa application services for travellers to the Netherlands now available in 7 countries across the Middle East

(TRAVPR.COM) UAE - April 5th, 2016 -Residents of Kuwait can now apply for visas to the Netherlands at a new Visa Application Centre launched by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Kuwait City. Applicants can visit the VFS Global centre to submit visa applications and enrol for biometrics in a centrally-located and comfortable environment.

Kuwait is the seventh country in the Middle East, from where applicants can apply for a visa to the Netherlands. The centre is located at 1st Floor, Albanwan Bldg, Ali Alsalem Street, Kuwait City, Kuwait. Services at this location commenced from 04 April 2016.

The Netherlands joins 8 other Schengen client governments offering visa services at the same centre, making it more convenient for travellers planning multiple business or leisure trips abroad to apply at a single location.

VFS Global serves a total of 13 client governments in Kuwait, and has operated visa processing services in the country since 2005. The company has partnered with the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands since 2006, and serves the client in 24 countries from 54 visa application centres globally.

Speaking about the launch, HE Mr Frans Potuyt, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the State of Kuwait, said, As the number of visa applications has risen sharply over the last couple of years, our embassy is not able to extend the necessary services anymore to the many Kuwaiti's and others, who would like to travel to the Netherlands. Of course we will miss the direct pleasant contacts with all these travellers, but we are confident that VFS and its professional staff will do everything to secure a swift application procedure. I hope that we could welcome even more friends from Kuwait in our beautiful country.

Also present at the launch, Mr Srinarayan Sankaran, COO  Middle East, VFS Global, said, Our long-standing partnership with our esteemed client government, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, is reflective of the trust they have bestowed on us through this time-honoured and successful relationship. We are privileged to further extend our services in Kuwait to them and remain committed to providing comprehensive end-to-end visa services for applicants.

The key features of the centre include:

 Convenient and centrally-accessed location

 Professional staff with local language capability to handle queries and applications

 Well-appointed centre for enhanced comfort of applicants

 Automated queue governance for smooth flow of applicants

 Dedicated website for easy access to information including visa categories, requirements, check-list and applicable fees

 100% secure handling of passports, documents and personal information

 Door-step delivery of passports

 Premium Lounge for personalised and comfortable service

The Netherlands Visa Application Centre

Address: Schengen Visa Application Centre, 1st floor Albanwan Building, Ali Al-Salem Street, Al-Qiblah Area, Kuwait City (opposite Kuwait Central Bank).

Helpline: +965-22913-623 Email: info.nldinkwt@vfshelpline.com

Website: www.vfsglobal.com/netherlands/kuwait

Business hours: 0830hrs to 1700hrs (Sunday to Thursday)

Submission Timings: 0830hrs  1530hrs | Sunday - Thursday (except holidays as declared by the Embassy)

Passport Collection: 1600hrs  1700hrs | Sunday - Thursday (except holidays as declared by the Embassy)

*VFS Global will be responsible only for accepting applications for the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. All applications submitted will continue to be assessed and processed by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Timelines for turnaround of visas are as per the discretion of the authorities.

----------------

About VFS Global

VFS Global is the world's largest outsourcing and technology services specialist for governments and diplomatic missions worldwide. With 1956 Application Centres, operations in 123 countries across five continents and over 115 million applications processed as on 29 February 2016, VFS Global serves the interests of 48 client governments. VFS Globals worldwide operations are certified ISO 9001:2008 for Quality Management System, ISO 27001:2013 for Information Security Management System and ISO 14001:2004 for Environmental Management System. For more information, please visit www.vfsglobal.com

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Guidelines and travel tips is useful information to assist tourist arrange wildlife safaris plans and booking in Arusha Tanzania



(TRAVPR.COM) TANZANIA - April 5th, 2016 - This is safari travel press release prepared and released by Arusha Travel Agency to assist wildlife safari plans. Travel tips helps tourists find and get cheap flight tickets to travel to wildlife destinations in Northern Tanzania. Kilimanjaro International Airport JRO is gateway to natural wonders Tanzania. Natural wonders Tanzania hosts varied wildlife species including wildebeest migration and all big 5 wildlife mammals.

The travel tips are tourism review about wildlife safari game parks and choice of accommodation in Tanzania. Safari booking need weekly travel update to enable tourists get affordable safari lodges and hot cake travel deals. Wildlife safari destinations in Northern circuit which make complete Tanzania safari itineraries are Lake Manyara National park, Tarangire, Serengeti and Ngorongoro crater. Tanzania safari itineraries can be 5 days budget safaris, 6 days lodge safaris and 7 days lodge safari or budget camping safaris.

Tanzania safari is wildlife tours in Africa which uses 4 x 4 wheel Landcruiser for game drive safaris. Usually Professional safari guide is also a Driver and most times is known as Driver Guide. Walking safari and hiking another way to see wild animals mammals and birds in the wilderland bushes.

Accommodation during Tanzania safari can be safari lodge or tented camps. Tented camps categories are budget camping safaris, mobile luxury tented camps and permanent tented lodge. Lodges standard vary from budget, moderate luxury to luxury safari lodges. Type of accommodation on African safaris can change your budget. So information and tourism review is useful for planning and budgets.

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The Start-up and Innovation in Travel Awards, Tower Bridge Hilton, April 19-20 can change a start-ups trajectory, but there's only 1 week left to apply



(TRAVPR.COM) UNITED KINGDOM - April 5th, 2016 - For immediate release:

London April 19-20: The Start-up and Innovation in Travel Awards, Tower Bridge Hilton, April 19-20 can change your business. It is the annual competition that allows innovators and start-ups to pitch their product is right to 10 of the biggest investors in European travel innovation and potentially 400 heads of marketing, distribution and ecommerce from the worlds top Hotels, Airlines, OTAs, Travel Groups and Ground Transportation providers. Exactly the people who will pay your start -up wages. See the attendee list here

Crucially our awards are subsidised by the Travel Distribution Summit. Unlike our competitors we dont try and make struggling start-ups invest their valuable marketing dollars. We provide, at cost an unbeatable forum for you to talk about your innovation in front of 10 judges who have an unbeatable record of spotting the winners in this space.

The competition kicks off with a boot-camp style session. Audience members will have the opportunity to quiz 10 of Europes top travel entrepreneurs including Clive Jacobs (founder of Holiday Autos), Dick Porter (founder of STA) and Jason Katz from Kings Capital,( the man that reunited the 2 Hilton Hotel groups). The judges, all entrepreneurs/investors with proven investment credentials will be on hand to share vital tips you need to succeed.

The next stage of the competition gives the start-ups and innovators a chance to pitch to these judges:

 Jason Katz, Partner, Kings Capital

 Timothy Hentschel co-founder and CEO, HotelPlanner.com

 Callum Lee, Investment Analyst, Angel Capital Group

 Clive Jacobs, Chairman, Travel Weekly Group

 Sean Seton-Rogers, Partner, Profounders Capital

 Suzanna Chiu, Principle, Amadeus Ventures

 Charlie Woolnough, Hedge fund professional, Quorum

 Christopher Persson, General Partner, Recapex

 Stephane Cheikh, Ventures and Innovation Manager, SITA Ventures

 Dick Porter, Portfolio Chairman and Investor (founder and former CEO, STA Travel)

Our judges choose the 2 best companies to pitch again during the keynote debates of the Travel Distribution Summit, Europes biggest meeting of online travel, and distribution experts. This audience decides on the winner.

The potential for innovation in our sector is still huge. There may only be room for 2 really big, all singing and all dancing OTAs, but high growth companies such as Airbnb, Uber and Skyscanner are all the proof you need that travel start-ups and innovators can disrupt and thrive.

Since 1997 EyeforTravel has identified these companies. With mobile, data, and social media driving how we purchase travel at a frenetic rate, this years awards are once again set to reveal a future success.

EyeforTravels Start-up & Innovation Awards arean affordable way for Europes travel start-ups and innovators to talk about what they are doing to a highly influential audience and get a foothold in the cut-throat online travel industry, says Tim Gunstone, MD, EyeforTravel.

The Summit is packed with networking and strategy setting opportunities. Marketing and distribution deals abound at the event and for decades travel start-ups and innovators have attended to get the advice, contacts and potentially the investment they need to succeed.

We have 2 spaces left. EyeforTravels Start-up Awards are open to all travel start-ups or existing companies that have launched a new industry shaking product or service. All entries must be received by April 10, 2016. Find out more - http://events.eyefortravel.com/travel-distribution-summit-europe/awards.php

For all event enquiries contact:

Tim Gunstone

MD

EyeforTravel Ltd.

London, UK: +44 (0)207 375 7557

US Toll Free: 1 800 814 3459 ext. 7557

tim@eyefortravel.com

About EyeforTravel Ltd.

Founded in 1997, EyeforTravel Ltd. is a leading business intelligence provider for the online travel industry. EyeforTravel drive forward innovation in the online travel industry through news, conferences, research and reports.

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All that was left of the man was a skull and a pair of pants, say authorities at South Africa's Kruger National Park.

It may very well be that elephants have our number. They are social and smart, and they often seem to act more humanely than humans. And they know we are up to no good; they have even learned to avoid poachers by learning how to secretly migrate at night and "discuss" safety. They have deep family bonds and show signs of empathy. After a death, elephant family members display grief and have been known to revisit the bones of the dead for years, touching them with their trunks.

But are they now even becoming active vigilantes? In the case of poaching, one can hope. And while we can't know the intention behind what went down last week in South Africa's Kruger National Park (KNP), if I were a poacher, I'd be concerned.

Here's what happened, according to the Sunday Times. Five rhino poachers went into the park, said Police Brigadier Leonard Hlathi, "when suddenly an elephant attacked and killed one of them."

OK, so that's all we know so far. But really, elephants are smart and of course, they never forget. They see poachers killing their family members, who is to say they wouldn't become defensive upon the site of armed men up to no good?

The gory twist here is what happened after the dead man's co-poachers hightailed it out of there.

"His accomplices claimed to have carried his body to the road so that passers-by could find it in the morning. They then vanished from the park," Hlathi continued. "Once outside, they reportedly informed a relative of the dead man about their ordeal."

Relatives contacted the park, and a search was begun. After three days, the man's scant remains were found.

"Indications found at the scene suggested that a pride of lions had devoured the remains leaving only a human skull and a pair of pants," said Isaac Phaahla, GM of communications and marketing at the KNP.

While rhino poaching numbers have been slowly waning since 2015, the statistics are still harrowing. According to Save The Rhino, more than 8,000 rhinos have been killed in the last 10 years. "South Africa holds nearly 80% of the worlds rhinos and has been the country hit hardest by poaching criminals, with more than 1,000 rhinos killed each year between 2013 and 2017," notes the organization. Half of all rhino poachings happen in KNP.

Since this latest incident, three of the suspects have been arrested and are facing charges of possession of firearms and ammunition without a license, conspiracy to poach as well as trespassing. A formal inquest will be looking at the poacher's death.

It's all just an awful situation. I don't celebrate the loss of a human life, but I do hope that it helps to serve as a cautionary tale to other poachers. I also hope that events like this help nudge law officials, policymakers, and conservation non-profits to focus on community empowerment when creating anti-poaching strategies. For local people trying to survive in areas with few opportunities, I assume that the lure of poaching is more about structural inequality than a the love of killing iconic animals.

Regardless, poaching is obviously dangerous for the animals ... and increasingly, for the poachers as well. As KNP managing executive Glenn Phillips said, Entering Kruger National Park illegally and on foot is not wise, it holds many dangers and this incident is evidence of that."

And I'm secretly guessing that the elephants are well aware of that message...
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Hasan Suroor

If it becomes the template for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's overseas visits from now on, then thank God for it. Three cheers for the PMO and the Ministry of External Affairs. But does it?

I'm referring to Mr Modi's engagement with Indian expats in Saudi Arabia during his visit to the desert kingdom over the weekend. It was a refreshingly sober affair in striking contrast to the vulgar raucousness of his previous interactions with NRIs in New York, London and, to a lesser degree, Toronto.

But it appears that this show of sobriety might have been a one-off prompted by considerations other than a desire to discourage Madison Square and Wembley Stadium style tamashas. Indian officials gave the game away saying the decision to keep the event low-key was taken after considering the profile of the local Indian community.

We have looked at the profile of our community and accordingly we have structured a number of engagements with different community components (instead of one big event), Mridul Kumar, joint secretary who looks after the Gulf region in the Ministry of External Affairs, was reported as saying.

Looked at the profile? Really? Are Indian citizens living abroad now going to be profiled to decide whether or not they qualify for access to their own Prime Minister and at what level? It may be pertinent here to point out that all Indian expats in Saudi Arabia remain Indian nationals (Saudis don't grant citizenship to foreigners), unlike a majority of Western NRIs, many of them shadowy figures, who are never profiled. Mr Kumar identified two categories of Indians in Saudi Arabia  construction workers and IT workers  and said rather than lumping them together it was decided to arrange two separate events. Which in more culturally aware societies would be read as a covert form of segregation, and a leader would be condemned for agreeing to segregated audiences chosen on the basis of their social and economic status. So, at one event, Mr Modi had tea and pakoras with a group of workers constructing the Riyadh metro and gave a patronising pep talk before telling them to download the Narendra Modi App so that he was always in their pocket.

If you download the app, I will always be in your pocketwhat else do you want? he said with his characteristic flair for narcissism.

For his meeting with what The Indian Express described as the Indian elite for a unique photo-op, his minders chose an upscale hotel. We don't know what the elite had for snacks but from photographs our chai wallah Prime Minister clearly looked more at home with this suited-booted gentry than with those metro workers in their sweaty shirt-sleeves and t-shirts. Indian diplomats who have served in Western countries where cultural sensitivities are taken more seriously were quick to point out that the decision to have such segregated meetings smacked of class bias. By citing profile of the Indian community in Saudi Arabia and by not holding a big public meeting in Riyadh in the way previously organised for Mr Modi in London and New York, the MEA has made an honest admission that the government prefers upper middle class and rich Indians, and not working class Indians in the Gulf region for such events, Satyabrata Pal, who served as India's Deputy High Commissioner in London and later as High Commissioner in Islamabad, told The Hindu. The criticism was echoed by another retired diplomat with a long experience of hosting prime ministerial visits. Speaking on condition of anonymity he called it poor judgment. I won't call it deliberate bias but certainly it doesn't look good. It sends out all sorts of wrong signals, he said. But let's overlook the class bias bit for a moment and accept the official explanation that it was prompted only by logistics. Let's also accept that a major event was not considered because of the restrictive nature of the government of Saudi Arabia, as one official reportedly said. For Saudis, like the Chinese, prefer to have control over things and frown upon large public assemblies, especially of excitable Asians. But even if conditions were ideal, one is not sure Mr Modi would have been really keen on courting Saudi Arabia's Indian community the way he woos American, British and Canadian Indians. Reason? Although three million-strong, it consists mostly of low and middle-income earners and  unlike their more affluent Western counterparts  lack any economic or political clout.

In other words, they don't constitute a lobby as American and European NRIs do, and are therefore in no position to promote Indian interests at any level. Which makes them happily dispensable for New Delhi, particularly for a pragmatic leader like Modi who must be wondering what's in it for me to waste my time on these guys? Returning to the fashion for fawning mega receptions in which Mr Modi and his overseas supporters revel, it is time he stopped allowing his foreign visits to be turned into a circus. The scramble among his rich NRI fans to outdo each other to please him is descending into a farce. It really is, Mr Modi. On the eve of his UK visit last November, they boasted of out-Manhatting Manhattan. Just wait and see. If you thought Manhattan was a show-stopper, London would be a heart-stopper, said a member of the UK Welcomes Modi, while a bus dubbed the Modi Express and emblazoned with his photograph drove around London announcing his visit in a throwback to when rickshaws went about heralding the arrival of a circus in town. Manhattan was loud and vulgar. But for all its excesses, it could still be explained: it was Modi's first major foreign outing as Prime Minister, and to a country where he had been previously banned. So, a touch of defiant exuberance could be excused. Besides, the mood in the country then was still one of huge optimism and the outside world despite widespread misgivings was inclined to indulge him because of his huge popular mandate. Nearly two years on, the honeymoon is long over. With the domestic mood darkened by spurious divisive controversies, the economy not exactly on a roll and questions being asked about Mr Modi's own leadership this is no time for showboating. Riyadh may have turned out to be a quiet affair for all the wrong reasons but how about some sobriety in future for the right reasons for a change? As Prime Minister, he certainly deserves a warm and decent reception from the Indian diaspora as did his predecessors. But must it turn into a version of the Big Fat Indian Wedding?





The writer is a London-based commentator.
Aarti Kapur

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 5

Former Prime Minister and noted economist Dr Manmohan Singh will head the Jawaharlal Nehru Chair of Panjab University, Vice-Chancellor Prof Arun Kumar Grover confirmed here today.

He said Dr Singh, who is an alumnus as well as a former faculty member of PU, has accepted the universitys proposal of professorship of the Chair, which has been lying vacant since long.

Dr Singh, while holding the Chair, will interact with the faculty and students of the campus and also do research in the field of his specialisation, if he wants to, it is learnt.

Besides, Prof Yoginder K Alagh and Padma Bhushan awardee Ela Bhatt have also accepted PUs offer to head Dr Manmohan Singh Chair and Mahatma Gandhi Chair, respectively.

Following Dr Singhs acceptance, the PU V-C has asked the Head, Department of Economics, to coordinate with the former PM to chalk out and finalise the schedule of Dr Singhs visits to the campus to deliver lectures and address the students of the university.

Prof Grover has asked the HoD to even offer an option of videoconferencing to Dr Singh for the Chairs lectures, considering his tight schedule and health.

Economics Department head Prof Upinder Sawhney said she will soon be meeting Dr Singh in New Delhi to finalise the schedule of the lectures for the Chair. She said the time-table for the Chair will be finalised as per the convenience of Dr Singh.

Octogenarian Dr Singh had got his Bachelors and Masters degrees in Economics from PU in 1952 and 1954, respectively, standing first throughout. He later served as Professor in the Department of Economics and also as Chairperson of the Correspondence Department of Panjab University.

The PU Syndicate had instituted these Chairs in July, 1997, but these were lying headless since long.
Ajmer/Chittorgarh (Rajasthan), April 5

In two separate incidents of lawlessness in Rajasthan, two foreign tourists, including a woman, were allegedly assaulted by a group of drunk men, and three Dalit teenagers were stripped and thrashed after being accused of stealing a motorcycle.

A case was registered after a Spanish woman and a US man were allegedly beaten up at a tourist spot near Ajmer on Monday evening, while six persons were arrested for attacking three teenagers on Saturday after a video went viral.

In a shocking video, the three boys were seen tied to a tree, brutally thrashed and then paraded around naked for almost 30 minutes as they cried out for help and mercy, but to no avail.

The incident occurred in Bassi tehsil of Chittorgarh after the boys were accused of stealing a motorcycle of an upper caste man.

A case has been registered against those arrested under the SC/ST Act and also against unknown people involved in the attack.

They were released later with the help of the police, which was summoned by witnesses.

However, incredibly a case was registered against the boys for stealing a bike and those who attacked them were not charged.

Foreign tourists attacked

A group of four foreigners had rented bikes, and were on their way to Ajaypal, on the back side of the Taragarh hills, near Ajmer, a Spanish woman was molested and a US man was injured after he was attacked with a stone.

They came here from Pushkar. At around 5 pm, they were attacked by some men, who were consuming liquor. One of the drunk men even tried to hold hands of one of the tourists... One person got injured, said Superintendent of Police (SP) Nitin Deep.

The miscreants later fled the spot when the woman reportedly called up the owner of the hotel they were staying in. The owner arrived at the spot a little while later and took the couple to a hospital in Ajmer.

A case under Indian Penal Codes Sections 307, 395 and 354 for molestation and attempt to murder was registered in the Ganj police station of Ajmer, he said.

The police have launched a manhunt to nab the miscreants.  TNS/ANI
New Delhi/London, April 5

India has told the UN that Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar was one of the handlers of the terrorists who attacked the Pathankot airbase and his outfit received arms training from Taliban.

Meanwhile, it emerged today that Masood Azhar was allowed to preach extremist ideology at several British mosques during a month-long visit to UK in 1993 on the invitation of Islamist scholars when young Muslims were asked to seek weapons training at terrorist camps in Pakistan.

Senior representatives of the Deobandi sect, which controls nearly half of Britain's 1,600 mosques, hosted Azhar during the visit in which hundreds of young Muslims were urged to seek weapons training at terrorist camps in Pakistan, according to a BBC investigation.

In its failed bid to have Masood designated as terrorist by the UN, India has conveyed to the world body that he and his terrorist group JeM have continuously engineered terror attacks against India, the latest instance being the strike on Pathankot airbase on January 2.

The attack was engineered by terrorists belonging to JeM and credible evidence has emerged that the handlers of the terrorists were senior leaders of JeM, including Masood Azhar, according to the Draft List Entry submitted in the UN.

Further, incriminating material has also been recovered from the dead terrorists disclosing their links to the terrorist organisation, it said.

Masood had a meeting with Lashkar-e-Toiba founder Hafiz Saeed and Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin and decided to "avenge" the hanging of Afzal Guru, who was convicted for the 2001 attack on Parliament.

A decision was taken in the meeting for possible cooperation with the Taliban to train terrorists for this purpose. There are credible intelligence reports that elements of JeM have actually received training in tactics, use of weapons and psychological warfare from the Taliban, the draft said.

At the behest of Pakistan, China had blocked India's bid to have Azhar designated as terrorist by the UN in the aftermath of the Pathankot strike.

Pushing its case for incorporating Masood's name in the al Qaeda Sanctions List, India has told the UN that Masood is a Pakistan-based international terrorist and a leader of JeM and its chief financier, recruiter and motivator.

The JeM chief has been "participating in the financing, planning, facilitating, preparing or perpetrating of acts or activities by, in conjunction with, under the name of, on behalf of, or in support of supplying, selling or transferring arms and related material to recruiting for and otherwise supporting acts or activities of al Qaeda, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen and JeM", the draft said.

Masood delivered sermons on jihad in UK

One of Indias most-wanted terrorists in relation to the attack on the Pathankot Air Force base, which claimed the lives of seven Indian soldiers in January this year, Masood Azhar was chief organiser of the Pakistani jihadist group Harkat-ul Mujahideen in early 90s.

According to the media report, during his UK tour  until now kept under wraps  Masood delivered "sermons on jihad" to large audiences in London, Birmingham, Yorkshire and Lancashire and the message was of hatred for Christians, Jews and Hindus.

Witnesses said large sums of money were donated after each talk.

Masood, then 25, was the product of a radical Karachi seminary and shortly before his arrival in Britain in August 1993 he had helped supply Osama bin Laden, then based in Sudan, with 400 jihadist fighters to wage attacks in Somalia.

The investigation, shared with 'The Times', has uncovered the details of his tour in an archive of militant group magazines published in Urdu.

The contents provide an astounding insight into the way in which hardcore jihadist ideology was promoted in some mainstream UK mosques in the early 1990s  and involved some of Britain's most senior Islamic scholars.

His tour lasted a month and consisted of over 40 speeches.

Masood, captured in India shortly after his British trip, was released from prison in 1999 in exchange for 155 passengers of a hijacked plane in Kandahar. After his release, he formed the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorist group which is blamed for several attacks in India.

The radical cleric is currently in "protective custody" in Pakistan after the Pathankot terror attack.

The Deobandis trace their roots back to a Sunni Islamic seminary founded in Deoband in 19th century India.

The original seminary in India has issued a fatwa against terrorism but some Deobandi madrassas in Pakistan reportedly propagate extremist jihadist ideology.

The investigation will be broadcast as a two-part documentary titled 'The Deobandis' by BBC Radio later today and April 12.  PTI
Gurminder Singh Grewal

Bhaini Sahib, April 5

Thousands of Namdharis paid tributes to Mata Chand Kaur, wife of the late Namdhari sect chief, Satguru Jagjit Singh, during her cremation at Bhaini Sahib here today.

A number of followers started reaching Dera Bhaini Sahib since last night as the news of Mata Chand Kaurs death spread.

According to dera spokesman Lakhvir Singh, followers from the country and abroad, including Thailand and England, reached the dera to have a last glimpse of Mata Chand Kaur.

At the main entry gate, a number of youths of the Namdhari Darbar were seen standing with placards in their hands demanding arrest of the killers of Mata Chand Kaur.

They were carrying banners demanding justice from the Punjab Police and the state government and to unearth the plot of human bomb story that surfaced in Jalandhar some time ago.

Sukhwinder Singh, who was leading the protesters, demanded the intervention of the President, Prime Minister, Chief Minister and other concerned in the murder case of Mata Chand Kaur. He along with others demanded from the state government to nab the accused to restore the faith of people in the state government and the police.

All shops and educational institutes of Bhaini Sahib remained closed as a mark of respect to Mata Chand Kaur. A number of representatives from other political parties, social organisations and religious bodies apart from Akali Dal and Congress also attended the cremation.

Heart-rending scenes were witnessed during the cremation. A number of women recalled her services to society.

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, Cabinet Minister Sharanjit Singh Dhillon, MP Ravneet Singh Bittu, CLP Leader of Opposition Charanjit Singh Channi and others attended the cremation.
In 2016, Uttarakhand is in the middle of the second decade of its existence as a separate state. It inherited a large development backlog as well as the administrative structure of its parent state. It is landlocked, but a strategic border state, bounded to the east and north by Nepal and Tibet (China), respectively. Since the formation of Uttarakhand, its socio-economic performance has been impressive. In order to maintain and improve upon the success of the first decade, it is important for the state to realize its huge untapped growth potential, while preserving a distinctive ecological and environmental heritage and promoting development that is both geographically and socially equitable

Uttarakhand, has a population of 10.1 million (less than one per cent of the national total). Also, levels of literacy in the state are higher than the national average. It is endowed with large perennial supply of water as two of India's large rivers-the Ganga and the Yamuna-and their tributaries originate from its glaciers. There is large untapped potential in hydropower, tourism, horticulture, and forest products. Its vast natural resource base and enormous power potential augurs well for its growth and prosperity.

However, the state faces many constraints in achieving this vision. Hills account for over 90 per cent of the area of Uttarakhand and forests cover two-thirds of the state. This leaves less than 13 per cent of the land for traditional agriculture. Population density is half the national average due to mall numbers of people and scattered communities in the hill and forested areas. This makes connectivity a daunting challenge.

Rise in incomes

Incomes in Uttarakhand are growing significantly faster than the national average, which is leading to rapid convergence with the richer states. Looking ahead, the state can build upon its existing growth momentum, the economic diversification that has resulted from its industrial promotion policies, its favourable location in the dynamic north Indian economy, and good natural resources and skills bases to raise standards of living.

Overall growth and manufacturing

The annual growth in the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) in real terms of Uttarakhand was close to 13% compared with the overall growth in India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of around 8 % during 2005-06 to 2013-14. During this period growth in Uttarakhand's GSDP outstripped that of India's overall GDP by 5 percentage points. Growth in Uttarakhand has been best among the three states created around the same time. Its average annual growth over the past decade has outstripped that of India as whole. As a consequence, per capita income (at current prices) for Uttarakhand at Rs 24,726, which was marginally higher by 2.4 % compared India's per capita income of Rs 24,143 in 2004-05 rose to Rs 103349 in 2013-14 and exceeded that of India's per capita income at Rs 74,380 by about 39 % in 2013-14.

The contribution of manufacturing to Uttarakhand's GSDP in real terms showed a more than 6-fold increase from Rs 3,156 crore in 2004-05 to Rs 19,373 crore in 2013-14. The share of manufacturing in Uttarakhand's GSDP doubled from close to 13% in 2004-05 to 26.5% in 2013-14. In particular, the value of output and investment in the registered factory sector increased by Rs 83,355 crore and Rs1402 crore, respectively, between these periods.

High operation cost in hills

Two factors have determined much of the state's industrial development in recent years-its favorable location within a dynamic North Indian regional economy, and the economic benefits from the agglomeration promoted by proactive government policies and generous fiscal and pricing incentives package that resulted in a surge of new firms in Uttarakhand. One of the factors that impacts manufacturing is high costs that stem from operating, maintaining and repairing transport fleets on account of hilly terrain, high inventory holdings to address uncertainty in supply, and diseconomies that come from small shipments.

Industrial development in Udham Singh Nagar and Haridwar districts is driven by economies of agglomeration as well as the nature of industries that have moved there along with a supportive policy framework. As a result, Uttarakhand has emerged as one of the dynamic automobile clusters in India after Chennai, Mumbai, and the NCR. Leading manufacturers-both domestic firms and foreign joint ventures-have sought to make Uttarakhand a base to serve the northern region market. Today, Uttarakhand hosts the production plants of Tata Motors and Mahindra and Mahindra, Asahi Glass India, Bajaj Auto, Ashok Leyland and Hero Honda. Uttarakhand's long term prospects of industrial growth are bright owing to location advantages, capacity expansion by existing firms and gradual shift of firms from high cost existing locations in other parts of north India.

Huge promise for development

Uttarakhand is well poised to leverage its favourable location, emerging knowledge clusters, and the availability of a large pool of young workers to maintain a high growth rate and the tempo of industrial progress. The high growth performance has raised the aspirations of the people of Uttarakhand, especially in the economically disadvantaged hill districts. At the same time, it has a distinctive environmental heritage that provides ecological services. It will also have to bridge the large gap in income levels and accessibility between the hill region and the plains to ensure that the distribution of gains of growth is equitable. A new challenge to Uttarakhand's development strategy is to strike a right balance between its developmental needs and environmental considerations encompassing hydrological cycles, agriculture, conservation, community needs and climate change. At the time of its creation, it was growth that occupied the centre stage. Fifteen years later, growth has been constrained by play of exogenous factors over which Uttarakhand has very little control. The state government needs to devise a development strategy that can reassure all stakeholders that it is capable of creating a green growth regime that works.
Beirut, April 4

Air strikes have killed several Al-Qaida-linked Al-Nusra Front members, including its spokesman, and regime forces have retaken a strategic town from the Islamic State group in the latest setbacks for jihadists in Syria.

Abu Firas al-Suri, whose real name was Radwan Nammous, fought against Soviet forces in Afghanistan where he met ida leader Osama bin Laden and the founding father of global jihad, Abdullah Azzam, before returning to Syria in 2011.

Suri was meeting with other leading Islamist fighters in an Al-Nusra stronghold in Kafar Jales in northwestern Syria when the raids struck yesterday. He "was an old time Al-Qaida member ... He was brought in from Yemen as an ideological counterweight" for rival jihadist group IS, said Pieter Van Ostaeyen, a historian and monitor of jihadist groups.

"His death indeed is a blow for Al-Nusra. However, that will not change a lot on the operational level," he added.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Suri, his son and at least 20 jihadists of Al-Nusra and Jund al-Aqsa and other fighters from Uzbekistan were killed in strikes on positions in Idlib province.

Seven were high-ranking jihadists, the Britain-based Observatory said, adding that the Syrian air force had likely carried out the strikes.

A temporary ceasefire between government forces and rebels has largely held since February 27, but it does not cover Al-Nusra and IS.

Al-Nusra has generally kept a low profile since the truce brokered by the United States and Russia came into force.  AFP
Trojan Day is held twice a year to allow students to see all of what TROY has to offer.

Troy University hosted over 420 families during the semiannual Trojan Day on Saturday, Oct. 8, where prospective students were able to learn more about the University, tour the campus and see what student life might be like as a Trojan.

The day began with check in at Trojan Arena followed by an in-depth admissions, scholarship and housing presentation. After

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While the truck makers were not at Mid-America this year, there were still quite a few trucks, including in this dealer showcase in the South Hall where the truck makers have traditionally had their booths. Photo by Tom Berg.

The Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, Ky., last week was in some ways a very different-looking event, because all the heavy-duty truck makers decided to skip exhibiting this year, preferring an every-other-year approach opposite the big international IAA show in Germany, which will be held this fall.

What did exhibitors and attendees think of Mid-America wihout the truck OEs? We asked a number of them what they thought and how this years show was going for them:

Dave De Poincy, East Manufacturing: The show is good. Theres not as much traffic [in the South Wing, where truck makers have been in past years], but people are looking at the equipment and asking questions instead of just kicking tires. Weve exhibited here since 74, and we were the first trailer OE to come here. The nature of the show has changed since owner-operators became extinct. Now its more branding than making sales.

"MATS is still a good platform for lively conversation with people."

Jon Morrison, Wabco North America: When youre here you really appreciate the truck driver. These are good, hard-working people who love trucking. MATS is still a good platform for lively conversation with people. So its still a good show.

Scott Richmond, Premo Plus Lubrication: Theres less traffic, but the people here stop to talk to us. Theyre not distracted by the big trucks.

Kevin Longchamp, J&J Truck Bodies and Trailers: "We expanded our booth size with the OEMs not being here. This year, none of the dealer principals were here during the VIP hours [on Thursday]. But the people here [on Friday] are good industry representatives, owner-operators who run these trucks. Some guys came through who were disgusted that the truck OEMs werent here. Three guys came down from Nova Scotia and didnt know about it. Ive asked people what they think [about that] and got a mixed bag. Some said its good  they can spend more time with suppliers. It was a difficult decision for us to come here. [But] I think it was a good decision."

Troy Geisler, Talbert Manufacturing: MATS continues to be a wonderful platform for us to meet with our dealers and customers. We displayed two popular trailer models: the 4050TA and the 65SA. The 4050TA continues to draw attention due to its industry-leading low deck height, and the 65SA generated a lot of conversation about the versatility of our custom trailers.... Were excited for the relationships that we developed during the show and look forward to providing them with innovative hauling solutions.

"It was a difficult decision for us to come here. (But) I think it was a good decision."

Scott Kleman, Godwin Group: "We were in the North Hall where the aisles are narrower, so it seems like it was busier [in previous years]. Here [in the South Hall], our booth is much bigger, so it seems like its not so busy, but actually the traffic is good."

Mathieu Gallant, Trout River Trailers (Prince Edward Island, Canada): Its good. This is our first time here. Were here due to customer demand. They wanted us to come here, and the customers we talk to every day on the phone are here.

Doug Johnson, Drivewyze (in the West Wing): "The reason we're here is we have customers here, and we're meeting a lot of them -- the drivers and owner-operators were our first customers, and their families. This is a great family event."

Ray Albright, A&A Trucking, Obion, Tenn. (attending with son Richard Albright): We look at tools, parts, aftermarket stuff. Theyre sometimes better than original stuff  motor mounts, carrier bearings, that kind of thing. We dont often buy anything, but if you need it, you know what it is and where to get it.

Lonnie Eckardt, Vecima Networks (FleetLynx ELD product): "It's my first time here so I have nothing to compare it to, but the traffic here in the West Wing has been really strong. I heard a few drivers say they were disappointed that none of the truck makers came this year. I have an ELD product in the booth and I was a little surprised at how much resentment to these products there appears to be among drivers."

Jim Clark, Hadley: "We were in the South Hall, but we moved across the hall from where we were last year. It was pretty quiet over here. I guess a hall full of trailers wasn't enough to keep the drivers' attention. I get the impression many drivers came in, looked around and then went elsewhere."

Don Bretthauer, American Truck Historical Society: "It was great for us. We had the whole south end of the South [Hall], right next to the food court. There were lots of people walking around the exhibits and we have more room this year than ever before."

Matt Boland, Coleman Oil, Lewiston, Idaho: "I had heard rumors the truck makers were going to boycott Mid-America this year. What's that all about? We don't get much of an opportunity to talk with those guys all in one place. I was disappointed, but the rest of the show was still worth the trip."

Clint Stiltner, owner-operator from Shelby, Ohio: I like the show. It lets you know whats offered. When I bought my W900, I saw it here. Now this year, do they [the truck OEs] not realize that being here lets you see whats available from them? Its only going to hurt em.

Editor in Chief Deborah Lockridge and Equipment Editor Jim Park contributed to this story.
Handing out of support statements is supervised by Tom Bullock, an ESGR official. Photo: Tom Berg



LOUISVILLE, KY -- Scores of trucking company representatives joined counterparts from associations and service providers in affirming their backing of the reserve components of the U.S. Armed Forces by signing a pledge at a meeting during the Mid-America Trucking Show last week.

It was the largest statement of support signing in the history of the Department of Defenses Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) program, according to Tom Bullock, the groups chief of employer outreach. Speakers included the acting secretary of the Army and other Washington and Kentucky brass.

The ceremony, organized by MATS management and Fastport Inc., represents a commitment by employers of National Guard and Reserve personnel to support their military service and the tenets of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, said Bullock. The effort builds bridges with corporate America and promotes the backing of citizen soldiers, especially while theyre on deployment.

Fifty-three percent of the U.S. Armys 1 million-person strength is in its National Guard and Reserve units, said its acting secretary, Patrick Murphy, a former congressman from Pennsylvania and an ex-Army officer who served two tours in Iraq.

When the president of the United States calls 9-1-1, he calls the Army, Murphy declared. He recalled that part of his officer training in the 1990s was at nearby Fort Knox, Ky.

Kentuckys ESGR chairman, Major General (Retired) Allen Youngman, said, Since Sept. 11, 2001, more than 16,000 Kentucky Guard and Reserve members have left their families and employers to serve in overseas contingency operations.

Employer reps sign their statements near the conclusion of the event. Photo: Bud Smith

The statement of supportsigning by so many companies on this occasion represents a patriotic, sincere effort by the trucking industry to support not only Kentuckians but Guard and Reserve members across the country.

Fastport, a personnel services firm, has been active in ESGR and in the U.S. Chamber of Commerces Hiring Our Heroes program, an effort to recruit and employ former servicemen and women for a variety of jobs in various industries, including trucking. Jim Ray, a Fastport executive, said he grew up in a family that ran a trucking company in Indiana.

"In this room today, there is more power to hire more veterans than in any other place in the world.

In the 70s, those truckers were Vietnam veterans, and they were my heroes, he said. They drove those big machines. When they came home, to quote George W. Bush, We treated Vietnam veterans shabbily'  but the trucking companies took care of them. In this room today, there is more power to hire more veterans than in any other place in the world.

"Hiring veterans is good business," said Alan Youngman, ESGR's chairman of committees. "You get somebody who knows how to dress, how to get to work on time, and what it means to be a team member."

Bullock, the ESGR outreach official, supervised the distribution of pledge materials and a mass signing of them by company, association and service provider representatives. They promised to recruit and employ veterans and members of Guard and Reserve units, to assist their families when the members are called to active duty, and to re-employ them when they return.

The organizations represented at the ceremony included:
WASHINGTON  A paradox of our time concerns productivity. We are awash in transformative technologies  smartphones, tablets, big data  and yet the growth in labor productivity, which should benefit from all the technology, is dismal. This matters. Productivity is economic lingo for efficiency, and its the wellspring of higher living standards. If productivity lags, so will wages and incomes.

The latest figures are disheartening. From 2010 to 2015, average labor productivity for the entire economy rose a meager 0.3 percent a year. If maintained over a decade, this molasses pace implies a puny 3 percent wage increase, assuming (perhaps unrealistically) that the gains are spread evenly over the labor force.

Historically, we have done much better. From 1995 to 2005, labor productivity increased an average of 2.5 percent a year, reports the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This would support a roughly 25 percent increase in wages and fringe benefits over a decade.

In a broad sense, the election is about reviving productivity growth, which would automatically ease our economic problems. Who doesnt want higher wages, stronger consumer spending and heftier tax collections? But no candidate, from either left or right, has a plan to guarantee faster productivity growth  and none will.

Although productivity seems dry, it reflects something that is dynamic and amorphous  a nations economic culture, which includes its values, institutions, demographics, technologies, managers, workers and much more. Because it embodies so much, productivity is hard to influence and control. Economists have repeatedly failed. They regularly miss its turning points  productivity slowdowns and speedups. Neither the 1970s slowdown nor the 1990s pickup were anticipated.

Not surprisingly, the present slump has them stumped. It wasnt predicted, and its causes are unclear. In a paper, economist Martin Neil Baily of the Brookings Institution reviewed some common candidates:

Innovation has slowed, resulting in weak business investment.

The Great Recession clobbered the economy, also weakening investment.

Venture capital has retreated, making it harder for startup firms to obtain financing.

The productivity slowdown is a statistical mirage, because the value of free Internet services (Google, Facebook and the like) is underestimated.

Economist Robert Gordon of Northwestern University blames diminished innovation, but even he thinks that productivity should grow at least 1 percent a year. Meanwhile, a new study by economists at the Federal Reserve and the International Monetary Fund rejects undercounting of the Internet as a major cause of the productivity slowdown. Free services are counted, the study says; theyre valued at the cost that firms pay for Internet ads.

So the paradox remains: How can all the new technologies, with countless industries being disrupted and forced to change, coexist with such poor productivity performance? The answer may be simpler than we think. The economy is supporting parallel technologies  old and new  to do the same thing. The cost of the overlap is substantial, especially in a slow-growing economy still suffering from the Great Recessions hangover.

The obvious example is retailing. Traditional retailers, including big-box stores that once seemed invincible, face relentless competition from e-commerce. They cant abandon their stores, which often remain the largest source of their sales and profits. (Despite rapid growth, online sales in 2015 represented only 7.3 percent of total retail sales.) But if they dont invest heavily in digital technology, they will cede the future to Amazon and other successful digital firms.

Even powerful Walmart cannot escape this logic. In 2014 and 2015, its same-store U.S. sales, including e-commerce, were essentially flat. Yet, it made significant investments in its Web operations to defend against e-competition. Other industries straddle two technological eras. Newspapers publish print and digital editions. Phone service is split between expanding cellphone networks and receding landlines.

For the economy as a whole, this represents massive duplication. Businesses are splintering between wildly profitable firms and those that arent, argues White House economist Jason Furman. The same phenomenon may affect productivity. Some companies, presumably including many digital firms, are hugely productive. Many others are in the dumps, burdened by parallel technologies. It is the mediocre performance of this second group that drags down the economys overall productivity growth.

If this reasoning is correct (and, of course, it may not be), we have one explanation of how explosive new technologies can undermine average productivity growth, at least temporarily. Many Americans are now transfixed by the rowdy election campaign. But it is hardly a stretch to say that the countrys future may depend as much, or even more, on the fate of productivity as on the identity of the next president.
YEREVAN, Armenia  Fighting raged Monday around Nagorno-Karabakh, with Azerbaijan saying it lost three of its troops in the separatist region while inflicting heavy casualties on Armenian forces and the Armenian president warning that the hostilities could slide into a full-scale war.

The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said Armenian forces continued shelling Azerbaijani military positions and front-line villages despite a cease-fire that Azerbaijan unilaterally declared Sunday.

The ministry said that up to 170 Armenian troops were neutralized and 12 Armenian armored vehicles have been destroyed Monday. Armenian Defense Ministry spokesman Artsrun Ovannisian dismissed the claim as a product of the Azerbaijani militarys wild imagination.

The Nagorno-Karabakh military in turn claimed that more than 300 Azerbaijani soldiers had been killed since the conflict flared up on Saturday.

The outbreak of hostilities is the worst since a war that ended in 1994, leaving Nagorno-Karabakh under the control of local ethnic Armenian forces and the Armenian military. Armenian forces also occupy several areas outside Karabakh proper.

International efforts to settle the conflict, fueled by long-simmering tensions between Christian Armenians and mostly Muslim Azeris, have brought no results.

Anxiety over the new outburst of fighting was high in diplomatic circles. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry spoke on the phone Monday and called for both sides to stop fighting, a Russian foreign ministry statement said.

They also condemned outside players for trying to heat up the conflict, the statement said without specifying.

The Karabakh military said Monday 20 of its servicemen have been killed since Saturday, another 72 have been wounded and seven of its tanks have been destroyed. The Armenian defense ministry later reported that five volunteers had been killed by an Azerbaijani drone strike on a bus.

None of the claims could be independently verified.

Ovannisian, the Armenian Defense Ministry spokesman, said Monday that Karabakh militia advanced overnight, liberating new positions. He also claimed that Armenian artillery hit Azerbaijani units as they were moving to the front line.

Self-proclaimed officials in Karabakh said fighting intensified in the morning in the southeast and northeast with the Azerbaijani troops using Grad multiple rocket launchers.

Azerbaijans Foreign Ministry blamed Armenian forces for shelling residential areas despite a unilateral cease-fire announced by Baku, warning that Armenia will bear the blame for possible counterattacks and retaliatory measures by Azerbaijans armed forces.

Azerbaijans defense minister warned that his forces will open up an artillery barrage on Stepanakert, the main city in Karabakh, if the Armenian forces dont stop shelling populated areas.

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan warned Monday that his country could formalize its ties with Karabakh by officially recognizing its independence if the fighting escalates.

He warned that the escalation of hostilities could lead to a large-scale war. It will affect security and stability not only in South Caucasus, but Europe as well, Sargsyan said.

In Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putins spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said the Kremlin was seriously worried about the continuing fighting in the region and added that Russia will continue its efforts to ensure a cease-fire.

Armenia is a member of Moscow-dominated economic and security alliances, including several ex-Soviet nations, and it also hosts a Russian military base.

At the same time, Russia has sought to maintain friendly ties with energy-rich Azerbaijan, which serves as a key conduit for Caspian oil and gas resources flowing to the West. Despite its close ties with Armenia, Russia also has sold weapons to Azerbaijan.

Sargsyan said that among the weapons used by Azerbaijan in the latest fighting was the TOS-1 heavy flamethrower system. Azerbaijan obtained the powerful weapon that fires thermobaric rockets from Russia in a deal that angered many in Armenia.

___

Aida Sultanova in Baku, Azerbaijan, and Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow, contributed to this report.
FRANKFURT, Germany  A massive leak of 11.5 million documents from a Panama-based law firm offers a glimpse into the shadowy world in which the rich and powerful stash their wealth  and raises sharp questions about the use of shell companies that hide the identity of their true owners.

Leaders of the Group of 20  representing some 80 percent of the global economy  have vowed to crack down on the practice, which is blamed for aiding money laundering, corruption and tax evasion. Countries have tightened rules on using them  but not enough to satisfy anti-corruption activists.

News organizations around the world are working with the Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists to process the massive leak of legal records from the Panama-based Mossack Fonseca law firm that was first given to the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper in Munich, Germany.

The document dump first reported Sunday shows the hidden offshore assets of politicians, businesses and celebrities around the world, including 12 current or former heads of state. Among the countries with past or present political figures named in the reports are Iceland, Ukraine, Argentina, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Russia  and the news was causing political storms for the leaders of those first three nations.

The law firm said in a statement it observed all laws and international standards covering corporate registrations.

One of the most prominent subjects of the consortiums report is Russian President Vladimir Putin. The consortium says on its website that the documents show how complex offshore financial deals channeled as much as $2 billion to a network of people linked to Putin.

One focus was Sergei Roldugin, a childhood friend of Putin. Roldugin, a professional cellist, was listed as the owner of companies that obtained payments from other companies worth tens of millions of dollars, and the owner of a stake in Bank Rossiya, described by the U.S. Treasury as designated for providing material support to government officials.

The evidence in the files suggests Roldugin is acting as a front man for a network of Putin loyalists  and perhaps for Putin himself, the consortium says.

Roldugin was unavailable for comment on Monday. A receptionist at the St. Petersburg House of Music, where he is artistic director, said he was not in.

Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Russian president was the main target of the investigation, which he suggested was the result of Putinophobia and aimed at smearing the country in a parliamentary election year.

He suggested that ICIJ has links to the U.S. government.

The ICIJ is not funded by the government and is part of the nonprofit, nonpartisan Center for Public Integrity.

I dont consider it possible to go into the details of allegations that Putins friends ran an offshore scheme, Peskov told reporters, mainly because there is nothing concrete and nothing new about Putin, and a lack of details.

Yet it was not clear how much the revelations would hurt Putin. In Russia, where the investigation was published by independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, the scandal initially faced an effective coverage ban. Following hours of silence, state-owned Channel One reported the story, leading with Peskovs denial and mentioning dealings involving Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. The TV report said the document leak may have been a U.S.-orchestrated attempt to remove Panama as a tax haven since it is competing for tax revenue.

In Australia, the tax agency said Monday it was investigating more than 800 wealthy people for possible tax evasion linked to their alleged dealings with Mossack Fonseca, a Panamanian law firm with international offices that provide offshore financial services.

The Australian Tax Office said it had linked more than 120 of those people to an offshore services provider in Hong Kong, but did not name the company.Ramon Fonseca, a co-founder of Mossack Fonseca  one of the worlds largest creators of shell companies  confirmed to Panamas Channel 2 television network that documents investigated by the ICIJ were authentic and had been obtained illegally by hackers. But he said most people named were not his firms direct clients but were accounts set up by intermediaries.

Anti-corruption advocates say legal standards on so-called shell companies have improved in some countries but are not tough enough. The G20 leaders adopted 14 principles at a 2014 summit. The essence was that companies should be able to identify to authorities who their real owners are, otherwise, that opens the way for money laundering and tax evasion.

Yet in a follow-up report in September, the anti-corruption group Transparency International said the actual implementation of the recommendations into national law had lagged. Most member countries had at least adopted a clear definition of what real ownership means, but lagged on requiring law firms and banks servicing the rich to require  and independently confirm  who the real owner is.

Development advocates say shell companies help crooked officials drain tax and natural-resources revenue from poor countries that desperately need the money.

The ICIJ said the documents involve 214,488 companies and 14,153 clients of Mossack Fonseca. The nonprofit group said it would release the full list of companies and people linked to them early next month.

Sueddeutsche Zeitung said it was offered the data more than a year ago through an encrypted channel by an anonymous source. The source sought unspecified security measures but no compensation, said Bastian Obermayer, a reporter for the paper.

The data dated from 1977 through the end of 2015, the paper said. The newspaper and its partners verified the authenticity of the data by comparing it to public registers, witness testimony and court rulings, Obermayer added.

It allows a never-before-seen view inside the offshore world  providing a day-to-day, decade-by-decade look at how dark money flows through the global financial system, breeding crime and stripping national treasuries of tax revenues, the ICIJ said.

Panama is the last major holdout that continues to allow funds to be hidden offshore from tax and law enforcement authorities, said Angel Gurria, secretary-general of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The OECB is an international organization representing mostly rich countries and has been working with the G-20 to restrict the use of shell companies.

Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela issued a statement saying his government had zero tolerance for illicit financial activities and would cooperate vigorously with any investigation.

Reports based on the leak said Icelandic Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson set up a company called Wintris Inc., in the British Virgin Islands in 2007 with his partner at the time, Anna Sigurlaug Palsdottir, who is now his wife.

He reportedly sold his half of the company to Palsdottir for $1 on Dec. 31, 2009, the day before a new Icelandic law took effect that would have required him to declare the ownership of Wintris as a conflict of interest.

Wintris lost money as a result of the 2008 financial crash that crippled Iceland, and is claiming a total of 515 million Icelandic kronur ($4.2 million) from the three failed Icelandic banks: Landsbanki, Glitnir, and Kaupthing.

Gunnlaugsson now stands accused by opposition leaders of a serious conflict of interest because as prime minister he was involved in reaching a deal for the banks claimants.

The office of Argentine President Mauricio Macri, meanwhile, confirmed a report by La Nacion newspaper that a business group owned by Macris family had set up Fleg Trading Ltd. in the Bahamas. But it said Macri himself had no shares in Fleg and never received income from it.

More revelations are on the way.

Sueddeutsche Zeitung said its Tuesday edition would report that 28 German banks had used Mossack Fonsecas services to set up 1,200 shell companies for their clients.
Longing for a bigger closet?

Remember that rooms in your home dont have to be used the way they were originally intended. Get creative and convert a small room into the ultimate walk-in closet, said Egypt Sherrod, host of HGTVs Flipping Virgins and Property Virgins.

Homes built before the 80s just didnt have the room size that todays buyers have become used to or the walk-in closets weve been trained to expect, she said.

Giving up a room can be a big decision. The trick is doing it on a minimal budget and retaining the flexibility to use the room differently in the future, said Kevin OConnor, host of PBS This Old House.

Choosing the space

Ideally, use the bedroom closest to the master bedroom, Sherrod said, That way you have the option of opening up the wall to go directly in.

Creating a doorway in a wall is relatively minor construction and can easily be undone, experts said.

DIY creativity

The simplest way to convert a small room is by lining the walls with clothing racks on wheels and with free-standing wire shelving units. You can customize the space by adding colorful bins and baskets.

Or you can create shelving that expresses your personal style. For a recent This Old House episode, OConnor worked with a homeowner to build closet storage out of black metal pipes with wooden shelves. The industrial look brought a dose of style to the space, and the unit was sturdy.

The few places they anchor to the wall give you nice rigidity, OConnor said, but the shelves also are easily removable.

Another DIY project: To fill the center of a room that Sherrod converted to a closet, she brought in two large bureaus of the same height and arranged them back-to-back. She had a sheet of granite cut to cover the tops, creating a work island that combines storage and a flat surface for arranging accessories or stacking folded laundry.

Interior designer Mikel Welch, previously a competitor on HGTV Design Stars, said another option is bringing in a pretty table for the center of the room.

For those who like to lay out their attire to help them choose their outfit for the day, a table would be perfect, he said. And for changing or trying things on, having a snazzy upholstered bench or chaise in the space will certainly come in handy.

The finishing touch: Prop up a framed, full-length mirror on one wall.

Its sort of a boutique hotel look, OConnor said, and easy to remove if you repurpose the room.

Consider a system

For a finished look with no DIY effort, there are many closet systems that offer a mix of hanging space and shelves. Some are free-standing and others are anchored to the walls.

The more permanent systems are made to look like built-ins, Welch said, and are a great way to maximize the space with a more customized look. He recommended California Closets and Poliform for portable closets and wardrobe units. He also likes the Italian brand Porro Storage. They put a chic spin on a typical storage unit, he said.

Additional pieces worth considering: A great planning tool is a valet rod, which is a pullout rod that you can lay out your outfit for the next day on or use for staging for a trip, said Sarah Fishburne, director of trend and design at Home Depot. I use mine all the time.

If you have enough space, she suggested adding jewelry trays and racks designed for belts and ties: Some spin, and some you can slide out with plenty of space, she said.

Bonuses and obstacles

A bedroom repurposed as a closet has ventilation and natural light thats lacking in many closets. For people who care about getting the tie to match the jacket, OConnor said, theres nothing better than natural light.

For the best possible lighting, Fishburne suggested adding dimmers to a walk-in closet and choosing lightbulbs carefully (she likes LED daylight bulbs).

One challenge: Closet doors are designed to swing out, but bedroom doors generally swing into the room. So the door to your new walk-in closet will swing in unless you decide to remove it. Adding sliding pocket doors can be expensive, OConnor said, but theyre a nice luxury to finish off your ultimate walk-in closet.
MISSOULA, Mont.  Twenty years after the arrest of Ted Kaczynski, better known as the Unabomber, some Lincoln residents remember him as an odd recluse who ate rabbits and lived without electricity, while others say he had a funny, personable side. But all recall the media invasion that followed his capture and turned their small Montana town upside-down.

Kaczynski is serving a life sentence in a federal prison in Florence, Colorado, for a series of bombings, most through the mail, that killed three people and injured 23 others over 17 years.

His April 3, 1996, arrest in a primitive cabin 75 miles east of Missoula captured the worlds attention and brought thousands of reporters and tourists to the sleepy mountain town.

Around Lincoln, the unkempt loner simply known as Ted ate rabbits, lived without power and rode his bike to the towns library, the Missoulian reported. The FBI moved in after Kaczynskis sister-in-law recognized his writing in a 35,000-word manifesto published in The New York Times and Washington Post.

Jerry Burns was a U.S. Forest Service law enforcement officer in the Lincoln area who was recruited by the FBI to help with the arrest. On that day, he walked up to the cabin with two FBI agents and a tactical team hiding in the woods.

I started yelling up to Ted, Ted, are you home? And we got up to the door and heard him scuffling around in there, Burns said. He was pretty scruffy-looking.

Kaczynski tried unsuccessfully to duck back inside, where he had a loaded pistol, bomb-making equipment and his journals.

Poor Ted had been eating snowshoe rabbits and didnt weigh much, and the adrenaline was flowing in me so I had to grab at his wrist at the door, and out he came, Burns said.

Wendy Gehring, who lived and operated a sawmill with her husband down the road from Kaczynski, said the FBI used her property as a staging area for the arrest.

It took forever for the FBI to get into position. Finally, they gave the OK, they made the arrest, and our mill erupted with FBI agents, Gehring said.

We went from six people standing on the mill waiting to hear, and they yelled, We got him, hes in custody, and it went to 300 people. There were trucks and RVs and people walking out of the woods. It was insane. People were cheering, she said.

That scene of elation was followed by swarms of reporters descending on their isolated mountainside property. Gehring recalled she was pregnant when she went outside with a shotgun to persuade a television crews helicopter to abandon an attempt to land in her driveway.

I think they thought we were all kind of a dirty, punk, stupid hillbilly kind of deal, she said.

Librarian Sherri Wood probably knew Kaczynski as well as anyone in town from his frequent visits to the library.

Wood liked Kaczynski. She said he had a great sense of humor and he befriended her son. She was shocked by his arrest and gave him the benefit of the doubt at first.

I said, Well, hes not the first person to get arrested as the Unabomber, and they had to let the other ones go. So lets wait and see, she said.

She also remembered the media swarm was followed by tourists who wanted to sit in the chair Kaczynski had sat in and take the books he donated to the library.

Two decades later, tourists still occasionally come to touch a shelf that the Unabomber touched.

I really would like to put that to rest, Wood said. It was a crazy time in our lives. I dont want to revisit it. And Im glad theyll never let him out again.
Oklahoma Commissioner of Labor Melissa McLawhorn Houston described effective regulation Tuesday as a partnership between employers and the government, not an adversarial relationship.

In a half-hour speech to the hundreds gathered at Renaissance Tulsa Hotel & Convention Center for the annual McAfee & Taft Labor & Employment and Employee Benefits Seminar, Houston also talked about the outlook for the state in the face of the current fiscal crisis. She said the states budget hole is expected to widen by $300 million to $1.6 billion.

Houston survived the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. A staff attorney for the Oklahoma Truth in Sentencing Policy Advisory Commission, she was the only employee in her office not treated for injuries that day. Her survival, Houston said, drove her toward public service.

In this difficult and contentious political season in Oklahoma and nationwide, theres still reason for hope, she said, because of the resilience and kindness Oklahomans exhibited in the aftermath of the blast more than 20 years ago.

She ended her speech with a quote from Charles Swindoll: Life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you react to it.

Houston was appointed labor commissioner in November to fill the unexpired term of Mark Costello. Costellos son is charged in his August stabbing death.

After her talk, Houston sat down with the World for some questions.

You just mentioned the budget deficit. Are there some undue regulatory burdens that could be eased to cover that gap?

Well as far as our agency is concerned, I am looking at all the areas we currently regulate and trying to determine where there are areas of duplication or excessive regulation. So far, Im not seeing that. So far we very much have an attitude of cooperation and partnership.

When you have that kind of regulation  when youre partnering with a business  then it isnt overly burdensome. Companies want the public to be safe. They dont set out to see anyone hurt. Thats not their goal. They dont profit from that.

So often times they welcome our advice and counsel working with them. It also helps to keep some of the bad actors away.  Sometimes identifying the bad actors will come from the businesses that are following the rules and recognize the dangers posed to public or to the worker when theyre not followed.

What about at a federal level?

I think at the federal level there are some regulations that are coming down that are concerning. We dont know the true impact of those yet.

I know the overtime rules are one that are causing a great deal of angst among employers. You really have to take a look at how your employees are classified and how they are scheduled. Certainly in the health care arena, were still reeling from the effects of the Affordable Care Act. Businesses are still struggling with the mandates there.

I read recently that certain industries have become increasingly regulated and that serves as a barrier to entry. Are there too many industries in Oklahoma that require you to have a license?

I certainly think that is something that the state Legislature could look into. Its difficult this year obviously with the budget being a priority. Thats certainly something that Im willing to work with them on.

But, interestingly, one of the areas that we do regulate is CNG (compressed natural gas). And that was really a request from industry to create a licensing situation and have some regulation come into place because they felt like that was kind of the Wild West. They felt that there needed to be certain standards in place. That ended up at the Department of Labor.

Its very much a partnership. They came to us this year and noticed that they had a gap if they had a trainee or an apprentice that that was someone that couldnt work on a pump without a license because they werent fully employed and werent fully licensed. And so the  industry came to us and said, We would like to create a new license. We would like to have the opportunity to have trainees working before theyre fully employed. We said OK. That makes sense. 
A man came in looking for a special Army patch. When he asked Velma Campbell if she had one, he looked ever so slightly surprised when he was told, "Yes."

Campbell dug through a plastic box and found the right insignia. The man paid and off went another satisfied customer of Broken Arrow's Army & Family Surplus.

However, those kind of sales are coming to an end. Velma and husband Keith, who founded the store, will be striking the tents and closing the store at 1113 E. Kenosha after 37 years in business.

"I'm going to miss my customers like crazy," Velma said. "I have met and kept many of them as personal friends over the years.

Velma and Keith, who is facing a health challenge and served in the 82nd Airborne Division in Vietnam, will retire on April 23. Ironically, that's the same date in 1979 they began the business.

The Campbell's spent eight years on Main Street before spending the last 29 near the corner of 71st and Lynn Lane on the southeast side.

The decision to close and retire had been considered for a while.

"We've been contemplating it (retirement) for a few years and did not renew the lease," Velma said. "But, all is well. We are passing the baton to some great people (Dan, Tonya and Keaton of Weekender Surplus of BA). We are heading for the mountain for some good hiking, hunting and 4-Wheelin'."

Army & Family Surplus has it loyal customers, too. Velma has seen kids of customers grow up and become customers, too. It was regular customers that even let the media know of the Campbells need to move merchandise quickly as the store closing nears.

Velma announced that beginning April 6 through the 23rd, everything will be 50 percent off. Shelves, fixtures, showcases are not part of the 50 percent sale, however, but are for sale.

"I hope the 50 percent off will give back to the community (who has supported us so well)," Velma said.

Of course, there's everything military for sale, insignia, patches, etc. and lots of camouflage and web gear. There's also camping, backpacking, survival prep and a few items left over from Boy and Girl Scout supplies.

Velma hopes all customers will come by to say Hello and Goodbye, see you later, and write in her memory book.

We also want to thank God for providing for us these past 37 years of our lives through the Army & Family Surplus," said Velma. "And, giving us the privilege to serve our community.
OKLAHOMA CITY  The identities of school personnel who carry weapons could be kept secret under legislation passed Monday by the Oklahoma House of Representatives.

Senate Bill 1036, by Sen. Jason Smalley, R-Stroud, exempts records containing those names from the Oklahoma Open Records and Open Meetings Acts. It is a followup to a bill passed last year allowing schools to arm teachers and other personnel. The provision is intended primarily for small, remote districts with little or no on-site security and limited access to law enforcement.

SB 1036s House sponsor, Rep. Jeff Coody, R-Grandfield, said administrators and school boards want to be able to keep the names secret for the safety of the personnel.

Some opposition to the bill was voiced by those who thought parents should be able to find out who at their childrens schools are carrying guns.

The measure passed, 79-11. It now returns to the Senate for final passage.

Other measures: Earlier Monday, a House subcommittee advanced two watered-down measures intended to encourage collection of use tax on Internet sales.

As originally written, Senate Bill 1301, by Sen. Stephanie Bice, R-Oklahoma City, would have required online retailers to register with the state and remit use taxes in much the same way as bricks-and-mortar stores.

The bill passed Monday by the Appropriations subcommittee on Revenue and Taxation merely states that online vendors must notify Oklahoma customers they may owe state use taxes on their purchases.

A House bill similar to SB 1301s original language is on the Senate Finance Committee agenda for Tuesday.

Senate Joint Resolution 62, by Sen. John Sparks, D-Norman, is a statement of intent to enforce compliance if Congress or the courts act to compel online sellers to remit state and local taxes.

Oklahoma estimates it loses $150 million a year in unremitted online sales use-tax revenue. Currently, buyers are supposed to pay the taxes through their state income tax returns, but only about 4 percent do, according to the Oklahoma Tax Commission.

Also Monday, a Joint Committee on Common Education meeting scheduled for the afternoon to discuss school testing was canceled.
JENKS  Jenks Public Schools announced Monday night that it will cut five days off the end of the school year because snow days that were built into the calendar were not used.

The school board approved changing the last day of school from May 31 to May 23, district spokeswoman Bonnie Rogers said.

The district had allowed five snow days for the year, none of which was used, Rogers said. The Memorial Day holiday, May 30, fell within the time that was cut, but students were already scheduled to be off that day.

Rogers said the shorter school year had nothing to do with budget concerns.

This is typical, she said. If we dont use snow days in a calendar, well just take them off the end of the school year.

 PAIGHTEN HARKINS, World Staff Writer
What is Vision Tulsa?

Its a sales tax renewal plan in Tulsa that is projected to produce about $884 million over 15 years. Those funds would pay for improvements to public safety, economic development and transportation.

In addition to the Vision Tulsa votes on three propositions, there is a vote for all Tulsa County residents. That means Tulsans will see four sales-tax initiative propositions in the April 5 elections.

Just to be clear: I can vote yes or no, separately, on four different propositions?

Yes. If you are a Tulsa resident, you will have four propositions, and you vote on them separately.

Some other cities in the area  Glenpool, Jenks, Owasso, Sapulpa and Collinsville  also have separate sales-tax initiatives on their ballots Tuesday.

Are the city of Tulsa or the Tulsa County votes tax increases?

No. All of the Tulsa votes are for renewals of existing sales tax rates. The current tax rate would not increase. If a proposition does not pass, tax rates would decline when the existing tax expires. Put simply: A yes vote keeps taxes at the same rate; a no vote means taxes would decline.

What am I voting on in Tulsa?

Here is a brief overview of the citys three propositions:

IAN MAULE/Tulsa World

* Public safety (Yes or No vote): The sales tax would begin Jan. 1 and is projected to produce $272 million in its first 15 years. The permanent tax would be 0.26 percent  or 26 cents on every $100 of purchases. Officials say the tax would be used to hire an additional 160 police officers, 70 firefighters and 16 additional 911 personnel.

MATT BARNARD/Tulsa World

* Transportation (Yes or No vote): The sales tax would start Jan. 1 and is 0.085 percent  or 8.5 cents on every $100 of purchases. It would be a permanent tax and is projected to produce $102 million in the first 15 years. About 44 percent of that would go toward street maintenance, and the rest would go toward transit operations and capital. Street maintenance priorities would be pothole repair and lane striping.

The transportation funding would include two Bus Rapid Transit routes. A proposed route on 11th Street (Route 66) and 21st Street would run east from downtown to Eastgate Metroplex, connecting to the University of Tulsa, medical facilities and more along the way. The proposal also includes a Peoria Avenue route from 38th Street North to 81st and Lewis in south Tulsa. Bus Rapid Transit lines would run every 15 minutes from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.

TOM GILBERT/Tulsa World

* Economic development (Yes or No vote): It would be a 15-year tax that is projected to produce more than $510 million. The money would go to a wide range of developments, the most high profile of which are two dams on the Arkansas River  one at Zink Lake and the other in the south Tulsa/Jenks area. The dam projects  and related work around them  are projected to cost $127.2 million, about 25 percent of the economic development package. The south Tulsa dam project is contingent upon receiving private funding of an additional $18 million.

The economic development package has more than two dozen projects, including Gilcrease Museum expansion, $65 million; Cox Business Center renovations, $55 million; Expo Square improvements, $30 million; airport infrastructure, $27.3 million; and the Tulsa Zoo, $25 million.

The economic development sales tax has varying rates  0.305 percent from Jan. 1 until July 1, 2021. At that point, the rate becomes 0.805 percent until July 1, 2025. At that time, it goes back to 0.305 percent.

What is included in the county vote?

Its a 15-year tax of 0.05 percent  or five cents on every $100 of purchases. The tax is expected to raise $75 million. Projects include capital expenditures for work on roads and infrastructure ($53 million), county parks ($14 million) and capital improvements for buildings and parking ($8 million).

Why have city leaders been so supportive of the economic development plan?

They want to make Tulsa a destination  a place people will visit and one where businesses can attract a talented workforce.

Supporters say spending this money can spur private investments, which would increase sales tax revenue for the city and help all its residents. They point to the BOK Center, funded by the Vision 2025 tax, as helping fuel a renaissance of downtown development.

When visitors come to BOK Center events, they spend money in Tulsa on retail, restaurants and hotel rooms. That spending produces sales tax dollars, the primary source of funding for the city. Those dollars help pay for things residents want  such as parks, police protection, street improvements and more.

Has there been opposition for the Vision Tulsa plan?

Yes. A group known as Citizens for a Better Vision is opposed. The coalitions concerns include the extension of taxes that would otherwise expire; the cost of low-water dams in the Arkansas River; and the public engagement process for economic development projects in north Tulsa.

The group, whose president is Ronda Vuillemont-Smith, says recent job losses in the energy sector make this a bad time to renew the taxes.

The group also points to the possibility that a proposed 1-cent statewide sales tax for education funding could pass in November. If so, the renewed Vision tax and the education tax would leave Tulsa with one of the highest combined sales tax rates in the country.

We have an education budget crisis. Why arent we using this money for teacher pay raises?

Teacher salaries and school funding come primarily from state taxes and property taxes. Vision is a local sales tax.

Is there anything in Vision to help education?

Yes. The economic development package includes nearly $25 million for education.

About $10 million would go toward teacher retention and recruitment incentives. The fund also would provide for additional certification and training, as well as a housing-assistance program to help with teacher recruitment. About $14.5 million is proposed to improve student safety. It includes sidewalk improvements, lighting, crosswalk striping and other school-by-school needs.

The education dollars arent exclusively for Tulsa Public Schools. They would go toward any school in Tulsa, including Union and Jenks.

Have other cities in the area voted on Vision tax plans?

Yes. Bixby, Broken Arrow and Sand Springs have approved initiatives.

What is on the ballot in Collinsville, Jenks, Owasso, Sapulpa and Glenpool?

Tulsa County residents in each of the following communities will vote on the Tulsa County initiative described above. They also will have city votes on the ballot. Here is a brief review of each:

Collinsville residents in Tulsa County: Its a permanent 0.55 percent sales tax for streets, roads, bridges and other capital improvements.

Glenpool: Two propositions are related to Vision. Proposition 1 is a 0.29 percent sales tax that would last 20 years. Its intended for roads, water and wastewater, storm sewers, acquisition of parks and park improvements, and economic development. Proposition 2 is a 0.26 percent sales tax thats also for 20 years. Its intended for police and fire infrastructure, communication equipment and vehicles.

Glenpool also has a third proposition unrelated to Vision. Its a permanent 0.55 percent sales tax for new police officers and firefighters.

Jenks: It's a 0.55 percent sales tax that would last 15 years. The Vision tax is expected to produce $16.6 million for construction and maintenance of the south Tulsa-Jenks low-water dam on the Arkansas River, roads and road maintenance, sidewalks and trails, stormwater and sewer infrastructure. If this tax does not pass, the south/Tulsa Jenks dam would not be constructed.

Owasso: The 0.55 percent sales tax would be in effect through 2023. The money would be for road improvements. The projects are 96th Street North from 119th East Avenue to 129th East Avenue; and on 116th Street North from U.S. 169 to Mingo Road.

Sapulpa residents in Tulsa County: The 0.50 percent sales tax is for promoting economic development and acquiring land. The tax would be in effect through 2031.
The Rev. Jessica Moffatt will be the next senior pastor at First United Methodist Church in Tulsa, the first woman to hold that position in the 130-year history of the historic downtown church.

She will succeed the Rev. Wade Paschal, who is retiring in June after 15 years as senior pastor.

Moffatt is senior pastor at First United Methodist Church in Ardmore. Her new appointment brings her back to the Tulsa area, where she was raised, and where she served as an associate pastor at First United Methodist Tulsa, and then as senior pastor at First United Methodist Bixby.

The Bixby and Ardmore churches grew substantially in attendance and completed major building projects under her leadership.

I had a wonderful experience in Ardmore; its a fabulous church, she said. But Tulsa has always been my hometown. Its good to be coming home.

What could be better than to follow one of my dearest friends, Dr. Wade Paschal, to serve a church that I have loved since I was a child?

This is the third time Moffatts ministry has mirrored Paschals.

I started at First United Methodist in Tulsa in 1986 when I was 26 years old, she said.

I served there for 12 years under the leadership of Dr. Jim Buskirk. Wade was the executive pastor (an associate position under the senior pastor) while I was there. I got his job when he left.

She and Paschal also both served as senior pastor of the Ardmore church  he from 1993 to 2001 and she from 2007 until now. They lived in the same church-owned parsonage in Ardmore.

Moffatt is one of only two women to hold senior minister positions at large United Methodist churches in Oklahoma, said Bishop Robert Hayes, who made the appointments. The other is the Rev. Linda Harker at McFarlin United Methodist Church in Norman.

These two women are really setting the standard, he said.

Its not that common, but it ought to be, because you have very gifted women in ministry.

First United Methodist in Tulsa, with 8,000 members and 1,500 in weekend services, is one of the top two or three United Methodist churches in the state, and one of the top 20 or so in the nation.

Paschal said he and Moffatt have been close friends and associates for 30 years.

Shes great. Jessica is one of the most gifted preachers Ive ever heard, he said. And shes one of the best pastors at working with people that Ive ever seen.

He said he had encouraged her to run for bishop.

Had she felt that call, she would have been elected, he said. She has the skills and temperament to be an excellent bishop. Im glad for the sake of First United Methodist Church that she didnt run.

Moffatts family attended Boston Avenue United Methodist Church in downtown Tulsa while she was growing up.

I was a church child, she said. I roamed the room at church suppers, greeting anyone who would talk to me. I became fast friends in the kitchen with the cook, who would put me up on the counter and feed me melt-in-your-mouth rolls fresh from the oven.

I like to think that the love in that church kitchen was the bread, the body of Christ broken for me. It helped convince me that the church was a good place to be.

She comes from a long line of Methodist preachers going back to her great-great-grandfather. Her mother, the late Ruby Farish, was a police chaplain in Tulsa and co-founder of the Parent Child Center in Tulsa.

Moffatt said her mother took her to a lay witness mission at First United Methodist when she was 10.

That weekend, I witnessed for myself one of the greatest revivals in the history of our church. I did not understand what I was experiencing. I just knew that it was exciting and godly and that I wanted more of whatever was happening.

Paschal said that the Methodist lay witness mission program brought new life to First United Methodist at a time when it was a struggling downtown church.

Moffatt said that after graduating from Edison High School, directly east of her family home on 41st Street, she attended Southern Methodist University and then the University of Tulsa, where she felt called into the ministry.

She went on to graduate magna cum laude in 1984 from Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, and then joined the staff of First United Methodist Church in Tulsa.

She has held a wide range of leadership positions in the United Methodist Church at the state and global level.

Paschal said he will stay in the Tulsa area in retirement. He plans to do some preaching and writing, and to spend more time with his family.
I cannot believe some evangelicals and veterans are backing Donald Trump. He has trashed and continues to trash anyone who has shown him opposition.

When he spoke against Sen. John McCain's military service and his prisoner of war status, every veteran and current service member ought to have been offended and ought to vote against him.

His divisive rhetoric ought not be supported. He is not a uniter, he is a divider, and will ruin this country if elected.

As a Christian, I believe what Jesus said: Love your neighbor as yourself.

And who is your neighbor? Everyone.

Darrell C. Winkle, Coweta
Tulsa police have located a woman believed to have been kidnapped in Wagoner County.

An investigator with the Wagoner County Sheriff's Office was heading to Tulsa early Tuesday afternoon to interview Hayley Taylor, 24, and Dallas McGlone, 29, who are described as "healthy and secure" in a news release.

The Sheriff's Office reported Monday night that Taylor was believed to have been kidnapped by McGlone, whom she is said to be dating, during a domestic disturbance near 116th Street and 241st East Avenue in the Coweta area about 8:30 p.m. Investigators were told Taylor was forced into a Ford pickup.

Investigators said in a news release when the kidnapping was first reported that McGlone is an associate, acquaintance or member of the Irish Mob.

On Monday morning, a woman called police about 8:30 a.m. from Union Street Cafe in west Tulsa and identified herself as Taylor, saying that she was OK. When deputies arrived, however, she was gone, Clark said.

The Sheriff's Office received numerous tips regarding the area where the call took place. The victim and suspect also were believed to have been seen at a QuikTrip store near 61st Street and Interstate 44 on Monday night, Clark said.

Check tulsaworld.com for updates.
It's Divali time so at TV6 over the next few days, we bring you some of the interesting aspe
Warning: Make sure you have seen S6 finale!

Jeffrey Dean Morgan certainly is spreading himself around.

The enigmatic actor, well-known for Supernatural and Greys Anatomy, has been recently appearing in The Good Wife.

Yesterday he surfaced in The Walking Dead as the long-awaited Negan who clubbed someone to death. But whom?

But not everyone was happy with the ending.

Social-media analytics company Canvs found that the final scene of the shows season 6 finale drew overwhelmingly negative reactions from viewers on Twitter. According to the company, which analyses the emotional content of social-media messages, more than 70% of all reactions on Twitter during the closing moments of the episode expressed feelings such as crazy, dislike, hate and upset. Love accounted for only 15.2% of all reactions, good for only 6.4%.

Last seasons finale the majority of emotions were for words such as love, excited, good and happy, with hate accounting for only 10.4% of reactions.

Meanwhile Andrew Lincoln (Rick Grimes) spoke to Variety about that scene.

Excellent work on the finale. What was it like filming that climactic sequence?

It was a pretty traumatic and intense and weird two nights. Its an astonishing scene and I thought Jeffrey Dean Morgan was just magnificent and magnetic in it. But also it was the first time I had felt a sense of unity and focus and intensity from everybody. All around the camera and also from the entire cast  I hadnt felt like that since Season 1. It was a really exciting atmosphere on set. I think everybody realized that we had to rise to challenge and create this suspense for the scene to work and the episode to work.

Was the final moment scripted as a subjective POV shot from the beginning?

Absolutely. It was scripted as a POV.

How did the cast react to the script? Did everyone come together and say, Whats going on? Who is it going to be?

Theres an unspoken feeling on set when we know somebodys dying. We link arms, bow our heads and pull each other through it. I suppose thats what they call omerta, the code of silence in the mafia. We have our own code of silence in The Walking Dead. Its so intense and so traumatic to be losing a friend. Its not just a professional relationship, its a personal relationship. So we all decide to not talk about it when this happens.

Even now do you or anyone in the cast know who will die?

Because its too painful and too intense, we made a pact on set that we wont speak about it. I apologize but I cant talk about it.
Judges had many entries to consider in the 2016 Delaware Junior Duck Stamp competition.

Iris Fang's entry "Joining the Flock" has been selected the winner of the 2016 Delaware Junior Duck Stamp competition.

11:53 a.m., April 5, 2016--The winning entry from Delaware for the Federal Junior Duck Stamp contest was selected on Tuesday, March 29, as artistic renderings of waterfowl and conservation messages from students in grades K-12 were judged at the New Castle County Cooperative Extension Building to determine which would represent the state in the national contest.

Participating competitors selected a waterfowl from a list of species on the official U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service webpage and drew a live portrayal of that species in its habitat demonstrating its natural behavior.

Iris Fangs entry from the grades 4-6 division, an oil pastel rendering of a northern pintail duck titled Joining the Flock, was selected as the best in show and will move on to the national Federal Junior Duck Stamp Design Contest, where it will have the opportunity to be chosen as the Federal Junior Duck Stamp for 2016.

Rain Vaseys conservation message -- a clean environment means clean wings over water -- was selected to move on to the national contest, as well. Vasey was also in the grades 4-6 division.

Autumn Starcher, Junior Duck Stamp Program state coordinator, said that there were 31 statewide entries this year spread out over four different age groups and that the competition was a great way to get students exposed to science, technology, engineering, art and math (STEAM) curriculum.

A lot of the coolest science stuff you can think of has a lot of art integrated in, and so integrating art into these science programs really helps foster creativity and innovation, Starcher said. Its a good way to get kids who might not like science so much and are interested in art, or the kids who dont like art and are interested in science, interested in other programs and see how theyre integrated together. I think that is probably my favorite part of the program.

Starcher said those interested should participate next year.

If youre interested in getting your school or church group involved, you can reach out to me or the local 4-H office, said Starcher.

The 4-H Junior Duck Stamp Program is an art and science based program that encourages wetland and waterfowl conservation through sharing and expression with art, and meets monthly in the fall and early winter.

For more information on the Delaware Junior Duck Stamp Program, visit the website or contact Starcher at starcher@udel.edu.

Division winners included:

Artwork

Haley Holderman  grades K-3;

Iris Fang  grades 4-6 (best of show);

Dorothy McCormick  grades 7-9;

Grace Helen Mitchell Winston  grades 7-9; and

Daniel Bryant Mitchell Winston  grades 10-12.

Conservation Message

Mason Merritt  grades k-3;

Rain Vasey  grades 4-6 (best of show);

Iris Fang  grades 4-6;

Kyle Merritt  grades 7-9;

Grace Helen Mitchell Winston  grades 7-9; and

Grace Cords  grades 10-12.

Article by Adam Thomas

Photos by Wenbo Fan
Hi, my name is Scott C. Waring and I wrote a few books and am currently a ESL School Owner in Taiwan. I have had my own UFO sighting up close and personal, but that's how it works right? A non believer becomes a believer when they experience their first sighting. You witnessed it, your perceptual field changes, so now you need to share it.





I created this site to help the UFO community get a little bit organized. I noticed that there was a lot of chaos when searching for UFO sighting reports, so I hope this site helps. I wanted to support those eyewitnesses who have tried to tell others about what they have seen, yet were laughed at by even closest of friends.





More and more each day the governments of the world leak bits and pieces of UFO information to the public. They have a trickle down theory in hopes of slowly getting citizens use to the idea that we are not alone in universe and never have been. The truth is being leaked drop by drop until one day we look around and find ourselves neck high in it.





The discovery of alien species in existence is the most monumental scientific event in human history, suppression of that information is a crime against humanity.





About me:

I live in Taiwan. I OWN MY OWN ENGLISH SCHOOL, AND ONCE HAD 5 SCHOOLS.

Am Former USAF at SAC base (flight line).

Age: 42

Educ: BA in Elem ed. Masters in Counseling ed.





I had two UFO sightings, (30+bus size orbs) in military and in 2012 personally saw the UFO over Taipei 101 building on New Years Day (and recored it).
The Russian-terrorist groups have sharply intensified their activity in the ATO area in eastern Ukraine. The militants violated ceasefire 61 times over the past day.

This is reported by the ATO Headquarters press center.

"Using mortars of various calibers, the Russian mercenaries shelled our positions almost along the entire demarcation line, reads the report.

The enemy used different types of weapons at the frontline: mortars, heavy machine guns, grenade launchers.

It is noted that the militants used the weapons, banned under the Minsk Agreements in Mariupol direction. In particular, the terrorists used 82mm mortars to shell Ukrainian positions near Shyrokyne (20km east of Mariupol).

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The European Union plans to allocate EUR 97 million for the program of self-government in Ukraine.

This was stated by Head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine Jan Tombinski, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"The EU has developed a large program to support the self-government in Ukraine worth EUR 97 million, jointly contributed by the European Commission, Germany and Poland," Tombinski said.

He stressed that the program would be launched in support of the regional development in Ukraine.

Tombinski noted that self-government and decentralization were the elements to overcome the shortcomings of the centralized management.

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The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry states it is deeply concerned about the escalation of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and it expresses condolences to family members of those killed and wounded as a result of combat actions.

This is said in a statement released by the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry.

The Ukrainian side calls on the long-lasting political settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict by observing sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Azerbaijan Republic within the limits of its internationally recognized borders, the Ukrainian ministry stated.

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Abakar Garba Ibrahim busy smoking fishes.  UNHCR/I. Diane

TAGAL, Chad, April 5 (UNHCR)  Mending nets, cleaning fish and adjusting them over a fire near this lakeshore village in Chad, Abakar Garba Ibrahim says he has his dignity back.

"Being able to do this, it's like I have been saved from the fire," said Ibrahim, who fled the violence in Nigeria last year. "I was spending my days sleeping, doing nothing and waiting for assistance. Now I am someone."

A fisherman by trade, Ibrahim lost his livelihood after Boko Haram militants drove him from his village more than a year ago. He is now finding his feet again in Chad with the help of a UNHCR-backed project.

A father with 16 children and two wives, he is among 100 recently arrived refugees from Nigeria given the chance to fish at a camp near Tagal, a small community on one of the many inlets of Lake Chad, in western Chad.

Fishing is important to the regional economy, supplying local markets -- especially the popular weekly market in Baga Sola, a dozen kilometres away -- and others in neighbouring Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria, whose borders converge at the lake.

The project, developed by UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, in tandem with the local non-profit organization Secours Catholique et Developpement (SECADEV), began working in December with refugees from Dar Es Salaam camp, which lies in the north of Baga Sola.

The programme provides them with fishing licences, small boats and ecologically sound fishing nets that allow small fry to escape and help preserve this important resource, which remains a lifeline for many lakeside communities, despites the effects of climate change. They receive training in good fishing practices and management, as well as techniques for storing the fish.

The project gives participants benefits that include food, an income and an occupation, according to Lydie Navigue, head of the UNHCR field office in Baga Sola.

Abakar's son arrives on a fishing boat. They both fled an attack by armed militants from Boko Haram on his village of Doron-Baga, in northern Nigeria, a year ago.  UNHCR/I. Diane

"It gives its one hundred beneficiaries the possibility to generate some revenue and complement the food and non-food assistance provided to them," Navigue said. "It also brings some normality to their refugee experience as they take control of some aspects of their own lives by doing an activity they used to do before they fled their homes in Nigeria."

Ibrahim used to have six boats and other business interests in Nigeria. Now, he shares a boat with nine other refugee fishermen from the Dar Es Salaam camp, following a schedule that they have worked out among themselves.

Two of his sons help him at the lakeshore fishing camp but, like the other refugees, Ibrahim has left the rest of his family in Dar Es Salaam camp and he visits them there from time to time.

"Only the two boys are here with me", he said. "It is difficult, but it is better this way as the school and the health centre are in the camp. Here the conditions are tough, but we manage."

Another refugee fisherman, Omar Maikanti, has also been helped by the project. As he sells his catch on the shore, he proudly explains that he had earned 2,000 naira -- the Nigerian currency is used along with with the CFA franc -- and had sent half the money to his wife at the camp. "I am a good husband, again providing for my family from the fruits of my labour and sweat", he said with a smile.

A refugee fisherman, Omar Maikanti, and a friend with the last fish caught that day.  UNHCR/I. Diane

By Ibrahima Diane, Tagal, Chad
The number of people fleeing violence in Central America has surged to levels not seen since the region was wracked by armed conflicts in the 1980s. Action is urgently needed to ensure that unaccompanied children and others receive the protection to which they are entitled.

Last year alone 3,423 people, most of them from El Salvador and Honduras, sought asylum in Mexico. This was 164 per cent increase over 2013 and a 65 per cent increase since 2014. Asylum claims by Salvadorans were up almost 4 times over this period. Mexico currently hosts 3,448 refugees, the majority of them from Central America.

The number of asylum claims in other parts of the region from people fleeing violence in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala - the "Northern Triangle of Central America" - has also risen dramatically. Costa Rica, for example, registered 2,203 asylum claims in 2015 - a 176 per cent increase over 2013 and a 16 per cent increase since 2014. These were mainly people arriving from El Salvador. Costa Rica today hosts 3,616 refugees.

In Belize, where the population is less than 400,000, 633 people sought asylum in 2015, up ten-fold over 2014. Other countries in the region, notably Nicaragua and Panama, are also seeing similar sharp increases in asylum requests from people fleeing the Northern Triangle countries.

As in previous years, preliminary data from 2015 shows that the United States remains the main country receiving asylum applications from the Northern Triangle, on track to receive over 250 per cent more than in 2013 and almost twice the number of 2014.

UNHCR considers the current situation in Central America to be a protection crisis. We are particularly concerned about the rising numbers of unaccompanied children and women on the run who face forced recruitment into criminal gangs, sexual- and gender-based violence and murder.

Large-scale violence and persecution at the hands of armed criminal actors have now become, along with poverty and unemployment, primary drivers of refugee and migrant flows from the Northern Triangle. This reality can be seen, for example, in El Salvador, which has the highest rate of homicides of any country in the world.

The crisis in Central America urgently requires a stepped-up protection response and a regional approach to sharing responsibility for this growing crisis. UNHCR is working closely with the governments of the region and civil society partners to enhance screening capacity to identify people forced to flee violence and persecution in the Northern Triangle. For children, who require assistance to make decisions on asylum claims, this means that best-interests determination procedures need to be in place to ensure that they are not returned to persecution. Government efforts require additional human and financial resources, in addition to the rapid establishment of more adequate infrastructure so that asylum-seeking and refugee children are effectively protected.

We are also working to build reception capacity, including enhanced assistance for asylum-seekers and additional spaces in civil society shelters for migrants so that they can also accommodate asylum-seekers. UNHCR is also encouraging governments to introduce legal avenues for refugees so that they no longer have to rely on smugglers and traffickers and expose themselves to exploitation and abuse.

For further information on this topic, please contact:

For more information click here
Esmeralda* with her daughter Sara* in Chiapas, Mexico. Along with her husband and three other children, she escaped increasing gang violence in El Salvador and obtained refugee status in Mexico. * names changed for protection reasons.  UNHCR/M.Redondo

GENEVA, April 5 (UNHCR)  The UN Refugee Agency today called for urgent action to help hundreds of people fleeing violence in Central America that has surged to levels not seen since the region was wracked by armed conflicts in the 1980s.

"Action is urgently needed to ensure that unaccompanied children and others receive the protection to which they are entitled," UNHCR spokesperson Adrian Edwards told a press briefing in Geneva.

He detailed that last year alone 3,423 people, most of them from El Salvador and Honduras, sought asylum in Mexico. This was a 164 per cent increase over 2013 and a 65 per cent increase since 2014. Asylum claims by Salvadorans were up almost four times over this period. Mexico currently hosts 3,448 refugees, the majority of them from Central America.

The number of asylum claims in other parts of the region from people fleeing violence in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala  the "Northern Triangle of Central America"  has also risen dramatically. Costa Rica, for example, registered 2,203 asylum claims in 2015, a 176 per cent increase over 2013 and a 16 per cent increase since 2014. These were mainly people arriving from El Salvador. Costa Rica today hosts 3,616 refugees.

As in previous years, preliminary data from 2015 shows that the United States remains the main country receiving asylum applications from the Northern Triangle, on track to receive over 250 per cent more than in 2013 and almost twice the number of 2014.

"UNHCR considers the current situation in Central America to be a protection crisis. We are particularly concerned about the rising numbers of unaccompanied children and women on the run who face forced recruitment into criminal gangs, sexual- and gender-based violence and murder," Edwards told journalists.

In Belize, where the population is less than 400,000, 633 people sought asylum in 2015, up ten-fold over 2014.

"Other countries in the region, notably Nicaragua and Panama, are also seeing similar sharp increases in asylum requests from people fleeing the Northern Triangle countries," Edwards added.

Large-scale violence and persecution at the hands of armed criminal actors have now become, along with poverty and unemployment, primary drivers of refugee and migrant flows from the Northern Triangle.

"This reality can be seen, for example, in El Salvador, which has the highest rate of homicides of any country in the world," Edwards said.

The crisis in Central America urgently requires a stepped-up protection response and a regional approach to sharing responsibility for this growing crisis. UNHCR is working closely with the governments of the region and civil society partners to enhance screening capacity to identify people forced to flee violence and persecution in the Northern Triangle.

For children, who require assistance to make decisions on asylum claims, this means that best-interests determination procedures need to be in place to ensure that they are not returned to persecution.

Government efforts require additional human and financial resources, in addition to the rapid establishment of more adequate infrastructure so that asylum-seeking and refugee children are effectively protected.

"We are also working to build reception capacity, including enhanced assistance for asylum-seekers and additional spaces in civil society shelters for migrants so that they can also accommodate asylum-seekers," Edwards concluded.

UNHCR says it is also encouraging governments to introduce legal avenues for refugees so that they no longer have to rely on smugglers and traffickers and expose themselves to exploitation and abuse.

For more information, view our Eligibility Guidelines for Assessing the International Protection Needs of Asylum-Seekers from El Salvador.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi and Director of Bureau for Europe Vincent Cochetel visit the Agios Panteleimonas cemetery in Mytilene to pay their respects to refugees and migrants who lost their lives trying to cross the Aegean sea from Turkey to Greece.  UNHCR/A. Zavallis

ATHENS, Greece, April 5 (UNHCR) - The phone call comes from New York, seven hours behind Athens. A Syrian woman in the United States is trying to trace her cousin and uncle. She believes both died trying to cross the Aegean from Turkey to Greece. She wants to know for sure and, if so, to be able to make appropriate arrangements and repatriate their bodies.

Penelope Miniati, the new head of Greece's criminology service, takes the call. She sees no bodies but her job is to make sure that families know the fate of their beloved ones.

She has, almost single-handedly, supervised the country's DNA service from its inception. It is now a crucial link for thousands trying to trace children, mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters missing on the dangerous crossing from Turkey to Greece in the past year.

"It is an obligation of our state and a mark of civilisation," said Miniati, who was promoted last month from head of the DNA service to oversee the entire criminology service. "If someone is not found and buried, the process of mourning cannot begin. It's as though the souls continue to hover."

About 4,400 people have died in the Mediterranean since 2015. The refugee crisis has meant that the DNA lab, located in an Athens suburb, has gone from dealing with about 30 cases a year on average to as many as 70 in two days, as happened last summer after two major shipwrecks in as many days.

From last year up to March 20 this year, Greek authorities reported 571 people dead or missing on the route from Turkey to Greece.

Dr Penelope Miniati, Director of the Forensic Science Division of the Hellenic Police.  Penelope Miniati

Miniati, a graduate of the universities of Toledo in the United States and Crete, Greece, set up the country's first DNA lab in 1994 with two other women. The team now numbers about 55 scientists and she is the only original member left.

She says that, as a result of her US education, she insisted that the lab, formally called the Greek Police's Subdivision of Biological and Biochemical Examination and Analyses-DNA, was the central repository for all genetic material. This will enable the efficient exchange of information with other states and services in the future.

Greece's worst aviation accident, the crash in 2005 of a Helios Airways plane that killed all 121 people on board, was instrumental in teaching her and her staff about the identification of disaster victims, particularly of small children and families, who are more difficult to identify because they are genetically similar.

With children accounting for 38 per cent of those on the move, the chances of them drowning on the crossing from Turkey to Greece have grown proportionately.

During the height of the crisis, an average of two children a day drowned, according to UNHCR figures.

Miniati's staff do not see the bodies but they deal with personal belongings, such as teddy bears and toothbrushes, brought in by relatives to help establish DNA matches.

Besides the sheer volume, there are more specific aspects to the refugee crisis that have made the work of the Greek DNA lab crucial. Many of the dead are identified immediately, but DNA is often used to identify bodies found at sea after decomposition has set in, making it difficult to use fingerprints or dental, surgical or medical records from the refugee's home countries, such as Syria.

The Syrian woman is sure her uncle and cousin were in a shipwreck at the end of October last year, when a total of 221 people died, the deadliest month on record in 2015 for the crossing to Greece. Aristea Methenitis, the biologist who took the call said some sleuthing was required. The date of the shipwreck did not tally with the dates they had in Greece, but there was one two days later, she said.

The use of DNA will remain an important tool now and in the future in proving kinship when supporting documents are unavailable.

Citing a recent example in Greece of a 14-year-old unaccompanied minor, Miniati said it was extremely important to establish that there was a biological link between the youngster and the man who said he was his uncle. More than 90,000 unaccompanied or separated children registered and applied for asylum, or were in care in Europe last year, mostly in Germany and Sweden

For the Syrian woman in New York, the search for her cousin and uncle will continue via DNA and diplomatic channels. She has already filed a missing persons report with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in New York and will send a DNA sample from her aunt, the sister of the missing uncle, to Athens via the Greek diplomatic mission to be matched against what is in the Greek missing persons database.

"Sometimes the identification of a body is as simple as the cross someone is wearing, or the glasses their father always wore," Miniati said. "But when it's not, the easiest way we have settled on is DNA."

By Maria Petrakis, Athens
International Service-Learning Print Issue April 5, 2016, Volume 62, No. 29

Over Spring Break 2016, students from the University of Pennsylvania Law School participated in two international service-learning opportunities supported by the Schools Toll Public Interest Center. One was in Peru and the other was in Greece.

Along with professor Fernando Chang-Muy, 13 members of the Black Law Students Association (BLSA) traveled to Peru, visiting Lima, Ica, El Carmen, Paracas and Huacachina.

In Lima, the Law students examined the Afro-Peruvian experience in employment, healthcare, education and political representation. Students met with local non-profit organizations and government officials at the ministries of Justice and Human Rights, Education, Health, and Culture.

They also worked with children at a youth empowerment and education center, interviewed members of a womens group dedicated to bringing to light the unique challenges black women encounter in Peru and visited the only church in Peru with depictions of angels and saints with dark skin.

The BLSA students are drafting a report for submission to the United Nations evaluating Perus compliance with international obligations outlined in its conventions on childrens rights and eliminating discrimination against women.

The second trip this spring took 11 Penn Law students to Greece, along with Joyce Jeffries, a trauma specialist from the Network of Victim Assistance (NOVA), a non-governmental organization (NGO) in suburban Bucks County.

Organized by the Penn Law International Human Rights Advocates, one of the Toll Public Interest Centers pro bono projects, this years trip focused on the refugee crisis, allowing students to meet face-to-face with families fleeing Syria.

Penn Law students met with representatives from NGOs to learn about refugee-camp challenges involving food, water, housing, sanitation and healthcare. They also met with non-profit organizations and representatives from the European Union to learn about the legal processes for asylum-seekers and the integration of refugees into Greek society. Afterward, students interviewed Asylum Services Center caseworkers, who relocate refugees.

The International Human Rights Advocates at Penn Law is creating a detailed report of the findings from their service trip and plans to maintain relationships with its organizational and community partners to provide legal research and assistance.

See images from their trips at https://www.flickr.com/photos/universityofpennsylvania/sets/72157665821341500
Flight Operations at the Air Force Academy

The U. S. Air Force Academy is committed to being a good neighbor. The support of El Paso County, the City of Colorado Springs and the surrounding communities is vital to the success of our mission. The Academy minimizes the impact on our neighbors while safely accomplishing our flying training mission. The following information provides an understanding of the Academy's flying operations. It's intended to facilitate an appreciation for how, where, when and why we fly. A FAQs page answers the most frequently asked questions concerning our operating airspace and its impact on our surrounding community.



Safety is the No. 1 priority for Academy leaders, instructors and cadets. Our Airmanship programs have the best safety record in Air Education and Training Command and our instructor pilots have thousands of flying hours of experience.



Flight Training and the USAFA Mission

The Academy is one of four military academies in the U.S. Every year, approximately 1,000 cadets graduate and are commissioned as lieutenants in the Air Force to lead our Airmen in defense of our national interests. To prepare them for this immense task, these men and women undergo four years of intense academic, military and physical training. As part of that mission, the Academy's Airmanship programs expose, motivate and challenge cadets to become successful leaders in the world's greatest Air Force. The Airmanship Programs include soaring, parachuting and powered flight and expose cadets to the rigors and fundamentals of flying. These programs provide the foundation for the personal and professional discipline required to succeed as an Air Force aviator, a path approximately half our cadets pursue after graduation. The 306th Flying Training Group, under the 12th Flying Training Wing, headquartered at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, provides management and oversight of the Academy's Airmanship programs and is the primary source for Undergraduate Pilot Training instructor pilot production.

Compatible Land Use and Encroachment

There was very little development surrounding the Academy in 1954, when Colorado Springs was selected for its location. Urban growth between 1980-2000 brought businesses and residential neighborhoods closer to the Academys borders and continues today, especially just east of the airfield in the Interquest area east of Interstate 25, near the intersection of Interquest and Voyager parkways. Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations Part 77 standards were established to ensure the safety of air navigation and prevent physical encroachment that precludes normal flight operations. While not all buildings exceeding these standards constitutes a hazard to flight operations by themselves, the cumulative impact of each new development exceeding these standards increases the risk to the Academy's pilot training mission.

For any proposed development in the vicinity of the Academy airfield (within 100:1 height slope out to 20,000 feet from airfield centerline), Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations Part 77 requires that the Federal Aviation Administration review the development for safety of air navigation. The process must begin at least 45 days prior to initiating any construction by the project proponent (e.g. developer) by going to https://oeaaa.faa.gov/oeaaa/external/portal.jsp. Instructions for how to determine if a full aeronautical study is required are on the main page.

The Academy continues to inform the City, developers, and other real estate and building entities, about its flying mission, inform them of the potential safety and noise concerns, and work to de-conflict any developments that may pose adverse impact on the community. The support of the City of Colorado Springs and surrounding communities is vital to the success of the U.S. Air Force Academy. We seek to partner with all stakeholders in the local community to ensure the Academy can continue accomplishing its mission while minimizing the impact to the surrounding community. view maps



Flight Operations

Powered Flight operations began at the Academy Airfield in 1974 and saw only small changes in flight paths until 2012. However, increasing regional demand for use of the airspace along the Front Range of Colorado gradually rendered our airspace structure increasingly at odds with other airspace users, notably Federal Aviation Administration-controlled traffic arriving and departing from regional and major airports in Denver and Colorado Springs. By 2012, airspace conflicts had reached a level warranting a complete redesign of USAFA's airspace structure to ensure safe separation between Air Force flight operations and other regional flight operations. In response to this changing landscape, a working group was established that included Air Force and FAA representatives. This group coordinated and developed the safest possible approaches, departures, training areas and flight patterns for USAFA operations. Decisions from the working group were implemented in early 2013. The redesigned pattern and corresponding departure/arrival corridors resulted in a greater concentration of flight training activity over neighborhoods that had not previously been exposed to a high volume of air traffic.



The redesigned pattern is more standardized, predictable, and in line with Air Force Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT). This predictability and standardization reduces the overall risk of Air Force flight training at the U.S. Air Force Academy while increasing the collective safety for our civilian neighbors living in the vicinity of the airfield.



In an effort to reduce the impact to the community, north flow departure to northeastern training areas were rerouted northbound over I-25 before turning east over Baptist Road in June of 2014. Additionally, Bullseye Auxiliary Airfield near Ellicott, Colorado was reestablished, significantly reducing the volume of aircraft flying multiple patterns at the Academy. View Flightpaths and Training Areas



Air Installation Compatible Use Zone

In 1999 and again in 2005, the U.S. Air Force conducted an Air Installation Compatible Use Zone Study for the U.S. Air Force Academy. The purpose of an AICUZ is to promote and inform compatible land development in areas off base that may be affected by military operations on base (e.g. aircraft noise). One part of an AICUZ study identifies noise contours associated with the specific flight operations of a particular air installation, using a metric called the Day-Night Average A-Weighted Sound Level (DNL), which covers noise levels over a 24-hour period. The recommended land use compatibility for residential development is 65 DNL or below. In areas where noise contours exceed compatibility levels, corresponding development is either discouraged or construction technology measures are recommended to reduce the noise signature.



A noise validation study was conducted in 2015 in order to ensure the noise-specific component of the Academy's 2005 AICUZ study remained valid. It concluded that all noise contours associated with the Academy's flight operations remained confined to Academy property. This does not mean that noise does not go off the installation, but based on the DNL taken from current airfield operations, noise from these operations do not exceed the compatibility land use levels. The 2019 AICUZ study for USAFA has been completed. It is available at the link under the Flight Operations Links module located in the upper right column of this page.



Noise or Overflight Complaints

The U.S. Air Force Academy Public Affairs Office manages the Noise Complaint Program. Once a complaint is received, Public Affairs and airfield officials review the information provided for anything out of the ordinary, log the complaint information into a database and provide follow up as necessary. If specific complaint details indicate something out of the ordinary, a thorough investigation ensues. To submit a complaint, please complete the noise complaint form and email it to PA.COMREL2@usafa.edu. If you are unable to complete the form online, you may call the USAFA Public Affairs Office at (719) 333-7746 and leave a detailed message. Please include the time, date, location, direction of flight, and description of aircraft (color, markings, etc.)
Why can't you take all departures farther north, instead of turning some of them east over our neighborhood?

When aircraft depart the U.S. Air Force Academy they are going out to various training areas located out east, as far north as Elbert; as far south as Yoder. Routings are coordinated with several other airspace users and their respective requirements and procedures. Changes to our procedures have significant ripple effects on others. These routings are standardized in order to ensure all flight operations in the region are safely de-conflicted and to provide predictability to our pilots in training. Additionally, the local traffic pattern requires a "cross wind" turn to the east to reach the outside downwind pattern.



Why can't the southern departures depart to the south and not over our homes? Or maybe the southern departures can bank east to fly over Interquest?

Air Force regulations require aircraft to reach certain altitudes (height above the ground) before making turns out of the area. Turning earlier than we currently do would not allow our aircraft to achieve that safe altitude before maneuvering east. It's important to realize that there are far more users of the local airspace than the U.S. Air Force Academy. Consequently, our procedures must ensure our safety as well as the safety or our surrounding community and also account for the responsible and safe shared use of the airspace with other users (e.g. commercial airline traffic, general aviation, medivac helicopters, U.S. Army helicopters, etc.).



I have small children at home and their routines are being disrupted by your flying activity. Is it possible to begin your flying later in the day?

We are limited by extreme heat conditions in the summer months. Because aircraft performance decreases as the temperatures outside increase, the earlier we can depart, the more likely we are to get required flying training accomplished. The cadets are engaged in a rigorous academic and extracurricular schedule, in addition to the Airmanship program. We have taken measures, such as altering some departure flights, to mitigate the noise over neighborhoods between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m.



When you fly over Baptist Road, your pilots do not stick to that ground track. Is there anything you can do to ensure pilots are flying the planned route to reduce overflight over homes?

Winds and other factors may contribute to minor deviations. Likewise, there is a part of Baptist Road that weaves a bit approaching Rollercoaster Road. The aircraft will most likely not follow that weave in the road and instead, will stay slightly to the east (within a half mile of Baptist Road). We typically use major thoroughfares to provide geographic references for our pilots who are conducting Visual Flight Rules (VFR) flying operations and must rely on such references for proper, consistent, standardized, and safe navigation in the area. The references are chosen due to the geographic and visual significance and in line with our efforts to minimize direct overflight of residential areas. Moving our routes to areas not currently inhabited does not ensure we will have similar deconfliction from residential development in the future. Today, it is virtually impossible to depart the Academy Airfield without overflying portions of residential or commercial development. By anchoring our routes over major thoroughfares like Baptist Road, we ensure our routes remain de-conflicted over the long term from other airspace users and minimize overflight of residential areas regardless of the future nature of residential development in the region.



What is the safety record of the Academy's flying training program?

Overall, the 306th Flying Training Group mishap rates are substantially lower in comparison to the rest of the Air Force. We pride ourselves in accomplishing our mission while being proactive about safety. The 306th FTG Flight Safety Team routinely meets with local military and civilian pilots and briefs key safety focus areas to our own pilots.



What type of training do the cadets receive to equip them to handle in-flight emergencies to avoid any major accidents?

The cadets receive 17 flying related academic hours, including how to handle the aircraft and knowledge of the systems. They also complete nine flights with experienced Instructor Pilots from various aircraft in the U.S. Air Force. Additionally, the cadet syllabus requires extensive review of how to handle multiple emergency scenarios, which cadets must accomplish correctly prior to being authorized to fly solo in the pattern. The training received by the cadets exceeds that required by the FAA for civilian pilots to solo. If the cadets don't meet the stringent requirements of the syllabus, they will not solo.



Why can't you use the airspace over the Academy or to the west for this training activity?

The U.S. Air Force Academy Airmanship programs consist of more than powered flight. The jump and soaring programs also use the airspace over the Academy. Approximately half of the total flight operations occur on the west side of the airfield. The Class D airspace (the space that surrounds airports that have an operating air traffic control tower, but don't have radar services (or at least the airport is not required to have radar) is saturated, the mountainous terrain is challenging for cadets newly training as pilots, and we will not put our neighbors, Instructor Pilots, or cadets at risk.

The elimination of flying over Larkspur was entirely due to the FAA taking away our training area in the north. It is merely coincidental that there were noise complaints in that area.Under normal circumstances and based on the pattern layout and predicted aircraft performance, aircraft will usually fly higher than 500 feet above those houses. Every effort is made to reach pattern altitude (7,300 feet Mean Sea Level [MSL] for the inside pattern or 7,900 feet MSL for the outside pattern) as quickly and safely as possible. On very rare occasions aircraft might be lower than 500 feet; however, flight operations will exceed FAA safety standards for aircraft in the takeoff phase of flight.There are many reasons that an airplane would rock its wings. A wing rock can be used to help other aircraft in the pattern, or the tower, see the plane. Additionally, the pilot might use a wing rock to clear airspace before a turn or to check ground reference points. Throttle adjustments are a routine part of operating in the traffic pattern.Though Centennial seems pretty far away in driving distance, it's only 36 miles north of the Academy Airfield. In 2013, the FAA created two new arrivals into Centennial airport that cut through the Academys northern training area. One arrival in particular, the "SCARF 3" brought airplanes directly through our training area at 9,000 feet MSL, which is an altitude we routinely operate at.
Aug. 19, 2022

Fitness. When the average citizen thinks of being fit, it is easy for cardio and strength training to come to mind. That is not the case for those serving in the Air Force and Space Force. Comprehensive Airman Fitness teaches that to have overarching fitness and resilience, one must work on his or
Deutsche Bank, a German-based financial service provider, has missed its ranking as a top three investment bank in the world. The weak EURO as well as the bank's restructuring approach pushed it to the fifth place in the investment sector. Currently, the bank is after Bank of America and Citigroup, both of which shared the number three position with Deutsche in 2015.

The data from Coalition showed that JPMorgan ranks as the top player in the industry, tailed by Goldman Sachs, which maintained its second place after a robust performance in cash equities, G10 overseas exchange products and G10 rates trading. Financial Times quoted Ram Nayak, chief of fixed income at Deutsche Bank, who said that the results mirror a well-identified shift in the bank's business policy, which concentrated on offering a quality service to a small group of customers over a variety of products.

As part of its restructuring program, the German-based lender reduced 9,000 workforces in October, scaling back from 10 nations with an aim to reduce funds to its markets business in order to reinstate confidence among investors. The restructuring move resulted in a 10% reduction in the bank's markets arm's balance sheet over the previous year. The move also cost the bank roughly 2.5% of markets revenues.

In addition, the bank's position in the industry was impacted by the weakening of sterling and euro against the U.S. dollar in 2015. The bank recorded gloomy numbers during the final three-month period of 2015, despite an increase in its banking and securities unit's revenues by 4%. Analysts anticipated the bank's trading revenues to fall sharply in the initial quarter of 2016.

According to THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, the gloomy state in the European investment banking sector has increased investors' anxiety over a recession, falling prices in the commodity markets, and also regarding banks' capacity to earn profits. The economic slowdown has also put Deutsche Bank under pressure, which requires two additional sinewy years before returning to routine, according to John Cryan.

The poor performance of the bank in the past period has led the new chief executive officer John Cryan overhaul policies to improve the financial condition of Deutsche Bank. Cryan, who condemned the bonus strategy in the bank, has shuffled the board and is said to be working 15-hours a day to enhance the bank's business. Meanwhile, revenues from the bank's rates-trading unit continue to fall during the past six week period, despite the overall business growth across Wall Street, BUSINESS INSIDER said citing sources.

France investment banks like Societe Generale and BNP Paribas earned higher revenues in 2015, even though they occupied the lowest slots in the Coalition's rating. Moreover, 2015 marked the best year for the investment banking unit of Goldman Sachs.
Saudi Arabian Oil Company or Saudi Aramco, the state owned petroleum and gas company, has been planning for making major investment in India's petroleum sector. The world's largest oil firm with crude reserves of around 265 billion barrels considers India as the most preferred investment destination during global economic crisis. The global leading oil producing company extracts 10 million barrels of crude oil a day.

Khalid Al Falih, head of Aramco has conveyed the investment interest while calling on visiting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "Minister Al Falih to PM: @Saudi_Aramco looks to India as its No. 1 target for investment," reads a tweet made by Vikas Swarup, a spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, with a picture of their meeting on Sunday, reports Business Standard.

The 15% global oil depositor has been planning to sell shares with a view to transform the oil giant into an industrial conglomerate. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), the global energy powerhouse, is the largest crude oil supplier for India accounting for around one-fifth of the total import. Both the friendly countries cherish the same passion that cooperation in the sector should expand, according to a report published in Press Trust of India.
United Kingdom's Serious Fraud Office will start the third trial on Libor rigging case this Monday. Five former Barclays' bankers will stand trial after investigation setback.

London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor) is the estimated average of interest rates by leading UK's bank in London. Based on its offered rate, the bank will charge the borrower from other banks. The rates are calculated for five currencies and published every business day by Thomson Reuters.

In the financial market, an estimated $500 trillion of derivates and financial products around the world are connected to Libor. As many financial institutions use Libor to fix borrowing fost on derivatives, mortgage and loans. However, contributing banks were reported to often manipulate the rate, as an attempt to take profit from positions based on fixings.

In order to regulate the Libor activity, UK Financial Conduct Authority was appointed to oversee Libor. The UK government also issued the Financial Services Act 2012, which regulated all false or misleading statement related to Libor benchmark setting is a criminal offence.

Since then, UK government through Serious Fraud Office (SFO) have set trial on many individuals for financial misconduct related to Libor. Until recently SFO have charged 13 people with Libor rigging-reated offences.

However, from those number, only one was found guilty, a former UBS and Citigroup trader, Tom Hayes. The Telegraph reported that Tom Hayes was sentenced to 11 years in prison.

Meanwhile, other brokers from RP Martin, Tullett Prebon and ICAP were found not guilty of rigging the yen Libor benchmark.They are Darrell Read, Colin Goodman, Danny Wilkinson, Noel Cryan, James Gilmour and Terry Farr.

Following successful trial of Tom Hayes, SFO faced setbacks in last January. The trial of brokers who were charged to rig dollar Libor must be dropped due to the lack of evidence. Furthermore, two businessmen, James Sutherland and Jack Flader, who were accused for a boiler room scam was also proven not guilty.

SFO will begin the third trial of five former Barclays bankers on Monday, and Bloomberg reported that all of them pleaded not guilty ahead of trial. The traders, Jonathan Mathew, Stylianos Contogoulas, Ryan Reich, Alex Pabon and Jay Merchant denied the charges on Monday morning. They face charges to conspire in manipulating US dollar Libor between June 2005 and September 2007.

"Given these recent and very public failures, the SFO will have to restore some credibility on its decision to prosecute cases such as the upcoming third Libor trial," Bambos Tsiattalou, founder and partner at Stokoe Partnership Solicitors told City AM.

After a series of setback UK's Serious Fraud Office will continue chasing perpetrator on Libor rigging. The trial will be held in Southwark Crown Court, London for five former Barclays' traders.
Alexander Stubb, the Finnish Finance Minister, has been facing challenge for the party leadership following growing criticism for last couple of weeks. Elina Lepomaki, from right wing of ruling National Coalition Party (NCP), is planning to challenge his leadership during the upcoming party congress scheduled in June. She has vowed to be a leader who will towards the future with competence of a finance minister unlike many predecessors.

Lepomaki and other right wing members of the party have come heavily on Stubb for his failure in ensuring tougher labor market reforms in negotiations with trade unions. They have also accused the finance minister for making too many compromises in ruling center coalition, reports Reuters.

The Finnish governments intends to persuade the unions, cutting labor costs by 5%, aiming to make the country's economy more competitive following three years of recession. Challenger Lepomaki has joined the parliament in 2014 after serving 10 years in banking and finance, according to a report published in Business Insider.
Xiaomi has announced on Monday its initial investment of $25 million in India's Hungama Digital Media Entertainment which is an online provider of videos and music. Other investors who rounded the funds are Indian billionaire Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, Bessemer Venture Partners and Intel Capital.

For the record, this is the first time that Xiaomi made an investment in an Indian company. It signifies the deepening of Xiaomi's scheme to present localized Internet services on its smartphones in India. It also cements Xiaomi's allegiance in India.

"We are investing in Hungama not only to start integrating content into our smartphones, but also to grow together with them and deepen our understanding of the content sector in India. We have carefully selected Hungama because of what they are doing in terms of aggregating large amounts of content and delivering an amazing user experience," said Hugo Barra, Xiaomi vice president, as quoted by IBN Live.

Xiaomi is the world's fifth largest smartphone manufacturer and is competition with Apple Inc., Samsung Electronics Co. and others in marketing devices in India. India has a population of 1.2 billion an approximated 220 million smartphone users, as reported by Bloomberg.

"India is a fast-growing, strategic geography for us and it's about time we established our services offerings here," said Hugo Barra, Xiaomi's vice president of global operations. Xiaomi will start integrating Hungama's content, including themes and ringtones, into its products.

According to the Hindu Business Line, services revenue is a huge part of Xiaomi's business scheme in China with its own application store and earns from gaming and cloud storage, video on demand and music on demand services.

In India, the smartphone company has not yet developed any services business as it is hard to make locals pay for content. Xiaomi will soon begin including Hungama's content services into its platforms integrating as well themes and ringtones.
Christine Lagarde, the chief of International Monetary Fund (IMF), has come down heavily over the reports suggesting the body's alleged efforts in pushing Greece towards default. She has also dismissed the reports referring those as 'simply nonsence.'

IMF conducts negotiations in good faith ignoring threats and do not communicate through leaks, cites Ms Lagarde in a letter addressed to Alexis Tsipras, the Greek Prime Minister. The letter has been forwarded following a Wikileaks publication containing transcript of IMF officials discussing bailout negotiations, reports BBC.

In the letter, Ms. Lagarde has also rebuffed Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras's call to replace top officials related to the country's bailout. She argues saying IMF is a good distance away from an agreement allowing additional credit to the Europe's most indebted state. Ms. Lagarde has placed the arguments in response to the accusations made by the Greek Prime Minister following the Wikileaks scandal, according to a report published in Bloomberg.
Mitr Phol Group(MPG), the largest sugar and bio-energy producer in Thailand has announced budgeting 50.4 billion to invest in five major areas within 2020. The areas of focus are sugar, renewable energy, wood-substitute materials, overseas ventures and logistics.

Out of the total allocated budget, 28 billion will be spent in sugar business including development of facilities and water system. Another 15 billion will be invested in the renewable energy business. In addition to those, 3 billion has been estimated for producing wood-substitute materials, 3.6 billion for overseas business while 800 million for structuring the logistics system, reports The Nation, quoting Krisda Monthienvichien-chai, president and chief executive officer of MPG.

Around 8 billion out of the budget for sugar business will be invested considering the government's economic stimulus measures. The investment will be made with a view to help strengthening the grass-roots economy following government declared Pracha Rath strategy, according to a report published in Global News Magazine.

Presently, the sugar business contributes for 42.8% of the group's sales and service revenue. Meanwhile, energy business accounts for 17.8%, wood-substitute materials for 4.6% and logistics for 1.2%. Business in China provides 27.1%, in Australia 5.8% and Asean ventures 0.6%.
Boeing Company, the Chicago based multinational aircraft manufacturer, has announced on Monday that they are picking a new seat supplier for its most popular and flagship carrier, 737. Industry experts consider the move an escalating competition among the leading seat makers, including Zodiac Aerospace and B/E Aerospace.

Boeing has confirmed buying seats directly from the new supplier, Lift by EnCore of Huntington Beach, California. The American aircraft manufacturer has put to an end to the previous practice of allowing airlines to purchase seats causing costly delays in finishing the aircraft due to late delivery. Boeing and Lift have planned announcing the agreement on Tuesday during the Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg of Germany, reports Reuters.

Boeing acknowledges Lift as the first and lone supplier selling directly to Boeing for the current 737NG and 737 Max aircraft in addition to previously approved 11-seat suppliers. The other suppliers sell to airlines allowing carriers to customize their respective cabins.
Majority of chief financial officers (CFOs) at British firms are supporting for staying with the European Union (EU). However, most of them have postponed their key financial decisions on investments and hiring owing to spreading concerns about the Brexit impact across the UK. The industrial and business segments are in wait and watch mode until the referendum on Brexit in June 2016.

A latest survey indicates support for staying with EU has increased to 75 percent. However, majority of financial bosses are postponing their decisions as concerns about Brexit impacting the British economy. All eyes are on referendum on decision to whether UK stays with EU or not in June 2016. Several financial bosses at UK firms have put their key decisions on hiring and investment on hold until the said schedule.

The Guardian reports risk appetite fell to three-year low in a poll conducted involving 120 CFOs from FTSE-350 firms and other larger private companies. Global consultancy firm Deloitte has carried out a survey that highlighted the strategy and mood of financial chiefs about Brexit. Now, Brexit tops the priority list of majority of CFOs leaving concerns about global turmoil and growth in Eurozone.

Deloitte chief economist, Ian Stewart, said "A fog of uncertainty has descended on the corporate sector. Perceptions of financial and economic uncertainty are back to levels last seen in early 2013 as the euro crisis abated."

Regardless of how many support or not, Brexit is casting a cloud of uncertainty among financial bosses. Several economists and professional advisors receive numerous calls from their clients enquiring about Brexit and its impact. Now, only Brexit matters a lot.

Business investments declined by two percent during the last quarter of 2015, according to Office of National Statistics (ONS). Increasing concerns about Brexit are impacting the UK economy and referendum is causing a slowdown in economic ctivity. Two-third of 120 CFOs from FTSE 350 companies and other major business firms expressed their opinion that it's a bad time to take risk onto their balance sheets, as reported by The Financial Times.



Stewart further said "Since the announcement of the date of the referendum, demand from clients to understand the risks has gone up. A year ago it was a distant possibility, now we have got a date and people are more focused on the issues."

The latest Deloitte's survey highlighted the increased support on staying with EU to 75 percent of CFOs from 62 percent in last quarter of 2015. About 28 percent of CFOs expressed their views that their positions are subject to the outcome of the referendum and Prime Minister David Cameron's negotiation of UK membership. However, Deloitte didn't include this option in the latest survey questions.

Like many other industrial verticals, the insurance sector is also suffering the most from Brexit tremors. Over two-third of traders at Lloyd's of London reveal that Brexit is bad for the 60-billion UK insurance business per annum. City PR firm Haggie Partners carried out a survey that revealed 68.7 percent of brokers and insurers are against Brexit as it would hurt UK's economy and damage Lloyd's of London. About 25 percent of brokers opine that there wouldn't be any impact, while 6.2 percent said it would benefit Lloyd's, which has history dating back to 1688 of Edward Lloyd's City coffee house, according to Shropshire State.



British Prime Minister David Cameron has recently announced his EU deal and referendum date to be on the 23rd of June 2016. The latest survey has stated that eight percent of CFOs are optimistic that UK business would benefit from exiting EU, while 17 percent expressed their concerns of their positions and preferred to stay with EU.
<p>STAR FILE PHOTO</p>

SHARE CONTRIBUTED PHOTO/OXNARD POLICE DEPARTMENT Erick Rene Garcia, 27, of Oxnard

By John Scheibe of the Ventura County Star

Oxnard police identified the police officer involved in a March 31 shooting incident as Carey Everhart, who's been with the department for six years.

Everhart was placed on paid administrative leave while investigators look into the shooting along the 2300 block of El Dorado Avenue.

The release of the officer's name on Monday comes less than four days after police said they arrested Erick Rene Garcia, 27, in connection with the attempted murder of Everhart.

Police said the shooting happened after they were told that someone was waving a gun in the air in the area on Thursday afternoon.

Police said they found the person, whom they identified as Garcia. They said Garcia ran into a parking area of an apartment building where the shooting took police.

Police said Garcia pulled a gun and pointed it at Everhart as they were looking for the man in the complex's carport.

They said Garcia shot at Everhart and that he was hit in the upper body by debris "and possibly bullet fragments." Everhart then fired a shot at Garcia, police said, missing him.

Garcia then fled, police said, noting area residents told them that Garcia had gone into a home along the 2700 block of El Dorado Avenue.

Police said they took several children out of the home before Garcia surrendered.

Police later searched the home and said they found a loaded handgun there, which was seized as evidence.

They also said Garcia was taken to the Ventura County Jail where he was being held on bail of $505,000.
STAR FILE PHOTO Santa Paula.

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By Tony Biasotti, Special to The Star

Representatives of Calpine made their first public appearance in Santa Paula on Monday, to give the City Council the details of the company's plans to build a power plant near the city.

Calpine filed an application with the California Energy Commission in December to build the Mission Rock Energy Center, a 255-megawatt, natural gas-fired power plant in an industrial park on Mission Rock Road. The industrial park is south of Highway 126, about two miles west of the Santa Paula city limits.

Calpine sees Mission Rock Road as good site for a plant if a proposal by NRG Energy to build one on the Oxnard coast falls through, said Mitch Weinberg, Calpine's director of strategic origination and development. The Oxnard plant has drawn strong opposition from the public there, and so far Santa Paula is no different. The city council chamber was full Monday, and every Santa Paula resident who addressed the council was opposed to a power plant on Mission Rock Road.

As reasons to reject the plant, the speakers cited air pollution; the site's proximity to the Santa Clara River; Santa Paula's status as a relatively low-income city; and the state's shift away from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy.

"I think it's the wrong time in our history to be building fossil fuel-fired power plants that are going to last a long time," said Karl Krause, a Santa Paula resident and retired manager with the Ventura County Air Pollution Control District.

However, cities and other local jurisdictions have no power over where power plants are built. The California Energy Commission is the sole authority for environmental review and permitting of power plants.

"This won't come before this body for a vote of approval," Santa Paula Mayor Martin Hernandez said. "It's very critical that this room stay full every time this comes before us.  It is also very critical that you make yourselves heard before the California Energy Commission, when the time comes."

Weinberg said that in his experience, the Energy Commission tends to listen to the concerns of local residents and city councils.

"I can probably count on one hand the number of times I've seen them override a local community," he said. "It's not a duty they take lightly."

Weinberg said it will probably take the Mission Rock Energy Center 12 to 18 months to get through the state's approval process. During the next few months, he said Calpine will hold roundtable discussions with the community on the project.

Calpine already owns the 10-acre Mission Rock Road property, which is now a storage yard for boats and recreational vehicles. Weinberg said Calpine chose the site because it is already zoned for industrial use; because it is near existing power transmission lines and a Southern California Edison substation; and because the topography of the area would shield most of the new transmission lines from view.

The plant would have five separate turbines. That gives it more flexibility and efficiency than a plant with a single large turbine, Weinberg said.

The plant would also have 20 batteries that could store a total of 100 megawatt hours of power. That power could be generated on-site or drawn from the grid.

Power storage is a new concept in the industry. The general rule is that power must be generated when it is used; that's what makes it impossible to run a city on solar power alone, since we still need electricity after the sun goes down. But battery technology is improving, and Weinberg said that California regulators and power companies expect the state to build up its storage capacity in the coming years.

The Mission Rock Energy Center would have 16 permanent employees and would generate another 300 temporary construction jobs, Weinberg said. Calpine would pay about $500,000 per year in property taxes to local schools, he said. It would also pay hundreds of thousands of dollars every year to a foundation run by Limoneira, in exchange for easement rights to use Limoneira land. The foundation would disperse the funds for charitable purposes in Santa Paula, Weinberg said.

Calpine also plans to buy the water for its plant from Limoneira. Because of that potential business relationship, Councilman John Procter, a Limoneira shareholder, recused himself from the discussion of the power plant.
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Not so fast, everybody. To paraphrase Winston Churchill, Wisconsin will not be the end of Donald Trump. It will not even be the beginning of the end. But it might be the end of the beginning.

To be sure, Trump had a terrible, horrible, atrocious week. But imagine the worst-case scenario for him: He wins none of Wisconsin's 42 convention delegates in Tuesday's primary, while his nearest rival, Ted Cruz, wins them all.

Even with that improbable result, Trump would have a huge lead over Cruz in the delegate race, 736-505. A Wisconsin shutout would make it more difficult for Trump to reach the magic number of 1,237  an absolute majority, sealing the Republican nomination. But it would remain nearly impossible for Cruz to get there.

Meanwhile, the next states to vote  New York on April 19; Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island on April 26  look like much friendlier terrain for Trump than for Cruz or John Kasich. In the primaries where the two biggest delegate hauls are at stake, Trump leads Cruz by 34.3 points in New York and Kasich by 18 points in Pennsylvania, according to the Real Clear Politics polling averages.

So reports of Trump's demise are surely premature. Once again, I'm afraid, they may be largely the product of wishful thinking.

At some point, I have to believe, someone will tell Trump what he thinks about abortion. He took four or five different positions on the issue last week, beginning with the startling assertion, in an interview with MSNBC's Chris Matthews (on whose show I often appear), that if abortion were illegal, as Trump says it should be, women who have had the procedure should face punishment.

Trump's campaign quickly took that back, contending that the hirsute billionaire meant to say that the doctors who perform abortions should be punished. The campaign also rushed to take back Trump's statement to CBS' John Dickerson, a couple of days later, that "the laws are set" on abortion and "I think we have to leave it that way."

A spokeswoman said what Trump meant was that the laws were set "until he is president," at which point he will change them. "There is nothing new or different here," the spokeswoman gamely maintained.

Trump also gave a lengthy interview to The Washington Post's Bob Woodward and Robert Costa in which, among other things, the candidate predicted a "very massive recession," absurdly promised to eliminate the $19 trillion national debt "over a period of eight years" and compared himself to both Muhammad Ali and Vince Lombardi.

And Trump struggled all week to explain how he could be against nuclear proliferation but also say he wouldn't be perturbed if Japan and South Korea built their own nuclear weapons as a deterrent against North Korea. I'm not actually sure he understands what "proliferation" means.

The Republican establishment is aghast, but what's new about that? Trump's whole campaign has been a string of gaffes that would doom a traditional politician but leave him with nary a scratch. How many times do his hard-core supporters have to tell us that they're not looking for a traditional politician?

The biggest thing a loss in Wisconsin would do is focus attention on the nuts and bolts of the delegate count. That's why I say this week might be the end of the beginning: The battle could now shift into trench warfare.

The "Never Trump" movement is predicated on keeping Trump's delegate count short of 1,237. The idea is that if he can be denied on the convention's first ballot, delegates will then be free to change their allegiance  perhaps to Cruz or Kasich, perhaps to some respected Republican who is not even in the race, such as House Speaker Paul Ryan.

The Cruz campaign is making a concerted effort to ensure that the individuals chosen as delegates at state and local party gatherings are Cruz supporters. Many of them will be bound to vote for Trump on the first ballot, perhaps even the second, but then could switch. Trump has his own team out there trying to handpick delegates to his liking, but he's playing catch-up.

But here's my question: Seriously?

If Trump comes to Cleveland a few delegates shy of a majority, I find it hard to believe the party is going to tell primary voters, "Thanks for your input, but we don't care what you think." Sorry, but I just don't believe the GOP has the fortitude to divorce its angry, energized base.

Eugene Robinson's email address is eugenerobinson@washpost.com. He writes for The Washington Post Writers Group.


To kick off April being Autism Awareness month nationally, Touro University Nevada held a ceremony to turn the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas Sign BLUE!

Joined by clinicians and staff from Touros Center for Autism & Developmental Disabilities, CEO & Senior Provost Shelley Berkley ceremoniously flipped the switch and received a proclamation from Clark County Commissioners Mary Beth Scow and Steve Sisolak.

The event was attended by local families, magician Jake Roeber, Clark County representatives and many more.
Police search a house in Rotterdam, on Mar 30, 2016, following the arrest of four terror suspects. (AFP/Bas Czerwinski)

THE HAGUE: Around 45 kilogrammes of ammunition were found in an apartment in the Dutch city of Rotterdam that has been linked to a foiled terror attack on France, prosecutors said on Monday.

French suspect Anis Bahri was arrested at the flat in the southern port city on Mar 27 at France's request. He is suspected of planning an attack in France for the Islamic State group along with Reda Kriket, another suspect arrested near Paris a few days before him.

"We have found around 45 kilos of ammunition, including two types of bullets which can both be used with Kalashnikovs," Wim de Bruin, a spokesman for the national prosecutor's office said. He said no explosives or any arms had been found.

Bahri has been fighting extradition and is in custody until Dutch authorities take a decision on whether to send him to France.


DSFL Training 2015 with Fords US trainer

Among foreign automobile manufacturers in Vietnam, Ford Vietnam is one of the companies which has contributed the most to the society, especially in areas of education, environmental sustainability, road safety, health and humanitarian support.

Over the past ten years, in line with the Ford Motor Companys Better World vision, Fords employees volunteered to better the life of the less fortunate in the name of the Global Week of Caring. In this program, each employee across the world has given their time and effort in a week-long display of caring. Ford Global Week of Caring is celebrating ten years of building a better world. In 2015, Ford designated all of September to caring for others, turning the Global Week of Caring into Ford Global Caring Month. This was an opportunity to create more projects, help more people and strengthen more communities. In 2015, Ford employees completed more than 9,000 volunteer projects in more than 40 countries, and invested more than 1 million hours of their time to helping others.

As one of the leading automotive brands in Vietnam, our vision is making peoples lives better through automotive and mobility leadership. We dont just build cars at Ford, were working to encourage safe driving habits, introduce educational innovations and much more, adding value to the growth of the Vietnamese community, said Pham Van Dung, managing director of Ford Vietnam.



Ford Vietnams general director granted Top 3 prizes for Do not drive after drinking alcohol drawing contest

Importantly, Ford Vietnam also takes a lead role in road safety issues, with activities such as building a Safety Village for primary school pupils; providing helmets for school pupils; educating school pupils on traffic safety; organising training courses about first aid for taxi drivers; and donating Ford ambulance minibuses to the Red Cross.

The company is now in its eighth year of the successful Driving Skills for Life program (DSFL) in Vietnam which is run with its road safety partners including National Traffic Safety Committee Vietnam and Asia Injury Prevention Foundation.

DSFL is tailored to reflect the local driving environment and road conditions with a variety of practical training sessions updated annually. Although our trainees may not become an expert right away after a DSFL training session, we do hope that together we could improve the awareness and attitude on road safety and our drivers would make the best decisions for their and others safety, said Pham Van Dung.

Reducing the number of traffic fatalities and injuries remains the key mission for Fords global Driving Skills For Life campaign across the companys global markets. The program has utilised online, classroom and practical training to enhance the learning of more than 500,000 drivers of all ages.In Vietnam, the programme has trained a total of 1,630 drivers nationwide, exceeding the target of 1,500.

In addition to safe and fuel efficient driving techniques, Ford began running the No Honking campaign in 2013 under the DSFL umbrella, in support of Vietnams Safety Traffic Year 2012. The campaign is designed to raise awareness about the prevalent and inappropriate use of vehicle horns in Vietnam and its adverse effects on road safety. After three years of activites, there are more than 35,000 followers of Fords No Honking Facebook page.

In 2015, the manufacturer extended the scale of the campaign with the Do not drive after drinking alcohol drawing contest to promote an old but serious problem. This campaign is also part of Fords strategic cooperation with the National Traffic Safety Committee.

The drink-driving alcohol drawing contest of Ford raises the awareness of drivers who drink by creative means such as cartoons.

From December 8, 2015 to January 16, 2016 the first stage of the five-year campaign saw the engagement of nearly 40,000 people on the campaigns Facebook page. Nearly 200 artworks by 141 amateur artists were entered to highlight the key campaign message.
A ferry carrying migrants who are deported to Turkey, arrives at the port of Dikili district in Izmir. Migrants return from Greece to Turkey begun under the terms of an EU deal that has worried aid groups, as Athens struggles to manage the overload of desperate people on its soil. (OZAN KOSE/AFP)

LESBOS/DIKILI: Greece shipped more than 200 migrants back to Turkey on Monday (Apr 4), the first wave of deportations under a hugely controversial deal aimed at easing Europe's worst migration crisis since World War II.

The orderly return of the 202 migrants aboard three chartered Turkish ferries stood in stark contrast to the journey many have taken over perilous seas aboard crowded rubber dinghies.

Two boats left the Greek island of Lesbos at dawn, and another from the island of Chios, carrying mostly Afghan and Pakistani migrants who Turkey will eventually deport to their home countries.

The grim-faced deportees were boarded onto the boats by security guards from the EU's Frontex border agency, who were wearing sanitary face masks.

Facing an unprecedented influx that has threatened to tear the bloc apart, the European Union clinched a last-ditch deal with Turkey to take back all migrants landing in Greece after Mar 20.

In a heavily criticised swap deal, the EU has pledged to rehouse one Syrian in the bloc for every one deported from Greece, with numbers capped at 72,000. A first batch of 32 Syrian asylum seekers were flown into the German city of Hanover on Monday under that part of the deal.

European leaders hope the agreement will discourage migrants from risking the Aegean crossing that has claimed 366 lives this year alone, and break up the lucrative racket that smuggled about one million migrants into Europe last year.

But rights groups have slammed the pact as inhumane and a blow to the right to request asylum, and protesters on Lesbos brandished banners reading: "Stop the dirty deal", "stop deportations" and "wake up Europe".

Amnesty International has accused Turkey of not being a safe country for refugees by forcibly returning Syrians back home to their war-torn countries - a charge Ankara rejects.

"The returns today are in many ways symbolic," said Gauri Vangulik, Deputy Europe director for Amnesty International. "They are the first starting point of what is to become really one of the most disastrous episodes in European asylum policy."

'GUESTS FOR A WHILE'

The first to be deported under the deal arrived at the Turkish resort of Dikili to a heavy security presence on the harbourside, with media kept at a distance by metal barriers.

"The taking of fingerprints, the landing at the port, medical checks ... the transport of the 202 people in buses to reception centres in Kirklareli (on the Bulgarian border) is all taking place successfully," said Mustafa Toprak, governor of Turkey's Izmir region.

Yorgos Kyritsis, Greece's migration spokesman, said the first wave contained citizens from Iran, Congo, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, India, Ivory Coast and Somalia. Only two were from Syria and they had requested to return for personal reasons, Kyritsis said.

Turkish EU Affairs Minister Volkan Bozkir told HaberTurk television that the non-Syrian migrants would be sent to Kirklareli for checks ahead of deportation to their own countries.

"People who have migrated for purely economic reasons are to be sent back according to the rules," he said. "We will apply to the countries of the illegal migrants. They can be our guests for a while and then bit by bit we will send them back."

The first group of migrants was already seen boarding buses for the long drive to Kirklareli.

'DISASTROUS EPISODE'

Despite the controversy surrounding the deal, it appeared to be reducing the flow. Turkey's Interior Minister Efkan Ala said at the weekend that the numbers crossing had already fallen substantially in the last 10 days to just 300 people a day.

But some decided to chance it despite the risk of being sent back, and the Turkish coastguard on Monday blocked a boatload of about 60 mostly Afghan migrants, an AFP correspondent said.

Those in Greece are now rushing to speed up their asylum requests to avoid deportation. "Lawyers came to talk to us through the fence and explain that it was best to do that," said Toufik, an Afghan in the Moria migrant camp on Lesbos.

Authorities in Greece are trying to relieve pressure on overcrowded makeshift camps on the border and the port of Piraeus, where there are over 15,000 people staying in unhygienic conditions.

Deputy defence minister Dimitris Vitsas on Monday said room for an additional 10,000 people would be available by Apr 10 and that refugees and migrants would be urged to move to organised facilities. "Piraeus will be cleared before (May 1)," Vitsas told Mega TV.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has a particular interest in the deal, as her country accepted a record 1.1 million migrants last year after she refused to cap refugee numbers, earning her criticism at home and within the EU.

In return for its assistance in implementing the deal, Turkey will receive billions in EU aid, accelerated visa-free travel for its citizens and progress in its bid for membership of the bloc.
Officials in Ha Tinh Province said that they had neutralized 50 percent of bombs of many kinds left from the American war in Vietnam, mostly in Can Loc and Huong Son District, as part of a bomb deactivating campaign launched in early 2015, the Vietnam News Agency reported on Sunday.

Provincial sappers have demined 11 bombs weighing 250-750 pounds each, 100 submunitions, and other explosives, officials said, adding that Ky Anh District will be the next place for bomb removal.

Nguyen Ba Phuc, a military division chief, said that critical areas like industrial parks, manufacturing zones, and farmlands had been given priority in the demining work.

Ha Tinh was one of the regions in Vietnam heavily bombed by the U.S. military during wartime.

Between 1964 and 1975, the U.S. army struck the Ho Chi Minh Trail, whose parts stretched along the Truong Son Range, with over 2.2 million metric tons of bombs, the Vietnam News Agencysaid.

At present, residents of many towns and villages in Ha Tinh are still threatened by landmines, ranging from Ha Linh Commune in Huong Khe District to Cam Nhuong Commune in Cam Xuyen District.

People in Son Diem Commune, Huong Son District, once found a bomb when working in their farmlands, the news agency reported, adding that the explosive was eventually removed.

With the current capacity of the government, it may take about 320 years to clear all landmines in the country, according to an official.


photo source Vnexpress

The plants construction was kicked off in 2007 under the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract with the initial investment capital of VND3.8 trillion ($170.4 million). The facility has a designed capacity of 500,000 metric tonnes of iron and steel products per year.

In 2009, the expected cost of the project increased from VND3.8 trillion ($170.4 million) to VND8 trillion ($361.4 million).

In 2012, the Chinese contractor namely China Metallurgical Group Corporation (MCC) decided to stop implementing the project and returned to China because the increase is too high while the investor had difficulty arranging capital after disbursing more than VND4.5 trillion ($216.35 million) for the project. Thus, the projects construction has been delayed for four years.

On March 29, TISCO announced that it can currently arrange the financial issue to continue implementing the construction. Notably, Vietnam Development Bank (VDB) and Vietnam Bank for Industry and Trade (VietinBank) will supply an added loan of VND1.3 trillion ($58.7 million) and VND1.1 trillion ($49.6 million), respectively. Besides, State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) will contribute a total capital sum of VND1 trillion ($45.1 million).

However, TISCO has yet to negotiate with MCC to continue to implement the construction.

Besides the negotiation, TISCO has plans to maintain and repair the rusted machinery with an expenditure of VND90 billion ($4.1 million). TISCO has to pay the contractor VND100 billion because the machinery is downgraded during the past years due to the delay. The total maintaining and repairing fee and compensation, in collaboration with other arisen fees during the projects delay period make the project suffer a huge cost overrun of VND9 trillion ($406.5 million).

In early March, in order to decrease the construction cost, TISCO asked for an exemption from import tariffs worth VND530 billion ($23.9 million) on the contractors equipment. Besides, the company proposed VDB exempt it from paying an interest worth VND386 billion ($17.4 million) from its initial loan and asked VietinBank exempt it from paying half of the interest for its loan.

TISCO is 42.11 per cent owned by Vietnam Steel Corporation and 35.21 per cent by SCIC. By the end of 2015, TISCO had total assets of VND10.9 trillion ($492.4 million) with a debt of VND8.4 trillion ($379.4 million), including short-term debts of VND2.8 trillion ($126.4 million) and long-term debts of VND4.01 trillion ($181.1 million), according the companys latest report.

Further information on this issue can be read on VIR print to be published on April 11, 2016
Many of the firms are struggling to get back on their bikes after suffering spectacular falls

Locally-owned Tin Thang Company said it was hard resuming production after the duties of 34.5 per cent on average were lifted in mid-July, 2010 after five years of enforcement.

Tin Thang was among companies hit by the duties which include foreign-backed firms like the Always Co. Ltd. and Vietnam Dheng Fa Company in Ho Chi Minh City, the Asama Yuh Jiun Intl Vietnam and High Ride Bicycle in Binh Duong province and the Dragon Bicycles Vietnam and Liyang Vietnam Industry in Dong Nai province

Before 2005, there were no duties and Tin Thang could export 500,000 bicycles to the EU. However, the companys director Ngo Vi Hung said, since the duties were imposed, Tin Thang had to reduce the number of workers 10-fold.

The company is now finding it hard to recruit new workers because former workers have already found other jobs. We have been able to recruit only 10 workers since mid-July but we want 500 new workers, he said.

It is calculated that between 1995 to mid-July, 2010, bicycle-makers in Vietnam exporting their products to the EU experienced a 50-fold fall in exports, down from more than one million units in 2005 to more than 21,000 units last year. In 2007 and 2008, Vietnams bikes accounted for only 0.6 per cent and 0.4 per cent, respectively, of the EUs total bike imports.

Chau Vi Chi, director of Binh Duong province-based Asama Yuh Jiun, said before 2005, his company could churn out 300,000 bicycles per year, of which 200,000 were exported to the EU. We had to remarkably reduce employees when suffering from the duties. Now, it is hard for us to call them back and recruit new ones, Chi said.

Vietnam Auto Motorcycle Bicycle Association (Vamoba) reported that before 2005, the bicycle industry's total number of employees was 210,000 and had reduced to only 5,000.

Hung said that difficulties would continue facing local bicycle-makers in the coming time. It would take at least one year for them to export bicycles. But, it is likely that made-in-Vietnam bicycles will have to face competition from Chinese ones.

He said after five years, EU consumers habits and bicycle model trends had changed. The EUs standard requirements have also become more stringent. The allowed ratio of imported equipment used for production is now 30 per cent, down from 40 per cent as previously. This means localisation pressure is increasingly higher while we possess old technologies.


Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang

The final decision will be made on April 9, when the National Assembly votes to ratify the diplomatic note on issuing visas between Vietnam and the US, which stipulates that both countries will issue a similar visa for the others citizens. This would mean Vietnamese nationals who wish to travel for the purposes of tourism, conferences, personal purposes or business with organisations or companies in the US will be eligible for a longer stay and multiple entries.

This morning, Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang proposed that the National Assembly ratify the diplomatic note.

Though the diplomatic notes contents contradict Vietnams 2014 Law on Entry, Exit, Transit, and Residence of Foreigners in Vietnam, which stipulates an upper limit of up to six months to visas, Deputy National Assembly Chairwoman Tong Thi Phong said that the National Assembly would ratify the diplomatic note and the content will be valid without having to amend the law, as the diplomatic note does not contradict the Constitution and the proposal complies with the procedures set in the Law on Signing, Joining, and Implementing International Treaties.

The US currently issues visas for up to one year with multiple entries for Vietnamese citizens travelling to the US for the purposes of tourism, conventions and conferences, personal purposes or business with organisations or companies in the US and those who meet other requirements outlined in the US legislation on admittance.


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Michelle Young arrives at the High Court in London for the final day of hearing and judgment in the epic divorce battle with her former husband Scot Young, on Nov. 22, 2013. He was previously jailed for six months for contempt of court for refusing to reveal to the court the source of his income.
President Mauricio Macri, who won last year's election in Argentina partly on promises to fight corruption, on Monday denied any wrongdoing in his connection with an offshore company in the Bahamas which emerged in a leak of documents.

Macri was among the tens of thousands of rich and powerful people named in the leak of four decades worth of documents from Mossack Fonseca, a law firm based in the tax haven of Panama which specializes in setting up offshore companies.

The "Panama Papers" showed that he moonlit as director of Fleg Trading Ltd., which was founded in 1998 and dissolved in January 2009. Opposition lawmakers demanded on Monday that he explain his role at the offshore company.

In a short television interview with La Voz, Macri said that his tycoon father Franco Macri, one of the richest men in Argentina, had founded the company through a "legal operation."

"It was an offshore company to invest in Brazil, an investment that ultimately wasn't completed, and where I was director," he said. "There is nothing strange about this."

The Panama Papers were leaked to more than 100 news organizations around the world cooperating with the U.S.-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).

While holding money in offshore companies is not illegal, journalists who received the leaked documents said they could provide evidence of wealth hidden for tax evasion, money laundering, sanctions busting, drug deals or other crimes.

In its online report, the ICIJ highlighted that Macri had not disclosed his connection with Fleg Trading Ltd. in his assets declarations after he became Buenos Aires mayor in 2007.

The Macri administration said late on Sunday Macri had never had a stake in the firm so he had not been required to disclose the connection in those declarations.

"To create a company in a tax haven is not a crime in and of itself," the head of the Argentine anti-corruption office, Laura Alonso, wrote on Twitter.

Alonso is a member of Macri's party and her swift defense of the president prompted outcry from opposition lawmakers, including calls for her resignation.

"She came out immediately defending the president when her role is to investigate whether an act of corruption was carried out," the Front for Victory said in a statement, calling for the anti-corruption office to be headed by the opposition.
The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and Somali government forces have killed several al-Shabab commanders in the lower Shabelle region.

Six leaders of the al-Qaida linked Islamist militant group were killed Tuesday.

Reuters reported the head of al-Shababs intelligence arm in the region, the Amniyat, Hassan Ali Dhoore, was killed. A militant spokesman said Dhoore was killed, but did not confirm the other deaths.

According to an AMISOM statement the mission aims to intensify its war against al-Shabab.

Al-Shabab are more frequently resorting to hit and run tactics to avoid direct contact with AMISOM and remain relevant, AMISOM Brigadier General Sam Okiding said.

The African Union force said among the al-Shabab leaders killed are Aden Bale, Janaale area second in command Sheik Mohamed Ali, al-Shabab judge Mohamed Abribao, regional intelligence chief Hassan Ali Dole, a Yemeni improvised explosive device expert known as Abu Islam, and Kenyan Sheikh Mansur.

AMISOM said officials are working to open the main supply route and clear improvised explosive devices in the city of Janale.

The clearance activities are meant to ease the movement of the population and goods, the statement said.

In 2011, AMISOM and the Somali National Army forced the Islamist group out of areas south of Mogadishu. But the militants still control some rural areas and carry out attacks in the capital and other areas.
The United States says the ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh "seems to have taken hold" and encourages both sides to strict adherence.

Fours days of renewed fighting over the disputed region between Armenia and Azerbaijan killed at least 60 people. It was some of the worst violence since the war ended in 1994.

A State Department spokesman said Tuesday the U.S. urges any government that has influence over the two sides to dissuade them from further violence.

The current chairman of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, said OSCEs immediate efforts must now focus on stabilizing the ceasefire and preventing any new escalation.

Nagorno-Karabakh lies within Azerbaijan, but has been under control of local ethnic Armenian forces and the Armenian military since the 1994 truce.

But what looks like a territorial dispute between neighbors could potentially turn into something much more serious.

Russia is obligated by a security treaty to come to Armenia's aid if the country is attacked while Turkey is one of Azerbaijan's post powerful allies and promises to stand "shoulder to shoulder" with Azerbaijan.

After a meeting in Vienna, OSCE said the group's co-chairs stressed the importance of returning to "the political process on the basis of a sustainable ceasefire."
From the busy, brassy "All You Need is Love" to the softer "Yesterday," a new show takes audiences back in time to when The Beatles recorded their famous hits at London's Abbey Road Studios.

"The Sessions - A Live Re-staging of The Beatles at Abbey Road Studios" features renditions of songs the Fab Four recorded in Studio 2, with songs from their debut album "Please Please Me" to 1969's "Abbey Road" performed as they were recorded.

Surrounded by transparent screens with projected recording details, actors portraying Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Ringo Starr and George Harrison belt out the tunes alongside musicians, to replicate the vocals sung, instruments played and arrangements used at the time.

Organizers are billing the show, inspired by the memoir of former Abbey Road Studios sound engineer Geoff Emerick, as a musical documentary and "the closest an audience can get to experiencing The Beatles live and at the height of their glory."

"It's pretty true - the songs are being performed with ... with the things we would have overdubbed onto the records," Emerick, who serves as the show's creative consultant, told Reuters. "We have got like double track vocals, we've got all sorts of guitar effects and so forth."

The show is dedicated to music producer George Martin, who died last month at the age of 90 and an actor portraying the "fifth Beatle" narrates the performance.

Martin worked on many of the group's best known hits like "I Want Hold Your Hand", "Can't Buy Me Love" and "Eleanor Rigby,"

"It seems as though it was only like eight weeks ago but when I've been hearing some of these songs performed I sort of tear up a bit because ... it brings back a lot of memories of the past," Emerick said. "We never dreamt in a million years that these songs would carry on forever."

"The Sessions" premiered at London's Royal Albert Hall on Friday after a charity preview in The Beatles' home city Liverpool. The show goes on tour around the U.K. and in certain European countries.
Brazil's attorney general urged a congressional committee on Monday to dismiss impeachment charges against President Dilma Rousseff, saying there is no legal basis for the proceedings.

Jose Eduardo Cardozo, the government's main legal advisor, told members of Congress that the decision by lower house speaker Eduardo Cunha to accept the impeachment request was motivated by Cunha's desire for political revenge against Rousseff, his bitter political rival.

"The impeachment process was compromised from the start and as such it is invalid," Cardozo said, telling lawmakers that to conclude the impeachment would be to "rip up the constitution."

The hearing came just weeks ahead of a vote that could suspend Rousseff from office in the middle of an economic crisis and a bribery scandal at state-run oil company Petrobras that has shaken Brazil's political establishment. Markets favor Rousseff's ouster on hopes it could usher in business-friendly policies under her substitute, Vice President Michel Temer.

The opposition's impeachment request, which is not formally tied to the graft probe threatening her inner circle, alleges that Rousseff deliberately manipulated budgetary accounts to boost her re-election campaign in 2014.

Cardozo, Rousseff's former justice minister, denied allegations that lending from state banks to the federal government was used to fund social programs. The testimony by the attorney general, appointed in March, is the latest step in a process that started with Cunha's acceptance of impeachment charges in December.

The committee will recommend to the lower house whether there are grounds to impeach Rousseff. The full house would then vote on the committee's decision, which could happen as soon as mid-April.

If the impeachment passes the lower house, Rousseff would be suspended for up to six months while facing trial in the Senate, making Temer acting president. Temer and Cunha's PMDB party, the largest in Congress, formally broke with the government last week.

Rousseff's opponents need the votes of two-thirds of 513 deputies to take the impeachment case to the Senate. Rousseff has to get 171 votes or abstentions to block the process.

Political consultancies, such as the Eurasia Group, see a 60-70 percent chance she will lose the vote.

In an effort to rally her leftist base and consolidate support to defeat impeachment, Rousseff last month appointed her predecessor and political mentor, former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, as cabinet chief.

The move set off a wave of legal challenges from critics accusing her of shielding Lula from the snowballing corruption investigation that started at state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA, known as Petrobras.

Prosecutors have charged Lula with concealing a luxury beachfront apartment provided by Petrobras contractors snared in the multibillion-dollar graft probe.If Lula takes office as Rousseff's minister, proceedings against him will remain under the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.

A dozen other impeachment requests are also waiting for consideration by Cunha, a fierce critic of Rousseff who himself is facing corruption charges for allegedly receiving millions in the Petrobras scheme through undeclared Swiss bank accounts.

Cunha can accept a second bid to impeach the president in tandem with the current process but he is expected to do so only if the first case against Rousseff is defeated.
Myanmar's parliament is creating a new role for the head of the newly elected ruling party, Aung San Suu Kyi.

Lawmakers voted Tuesday to establish the position of State Counselor, drawing opposition from military representatives in parliament. The move to make Suu Kyi the country's de facto top leader, initiated last week, was the new parliament's first legislative act.

Suu Kyi, who stated during the election campaign that she would hold a position above the president, is also Foreign Minister and Minister of the President's Office. Because her children are foreign nationals, Suu Kyi is constitutionally barred from being president of Myanmar, which is also known as Burma.

The military representatives, who hold 25 percent of the seats under the constitution drafted by the former military government, say the new position is unconstitutional. But the legislation passed easily because of the parliament majority Suu Kyis party, the National League for Democracy, holds after last Novembers election.

The bill must now be signed into law by President Htin Kyaw, a close Suu Kyi ally.

Also Tuesday, Suu Kyi met with Chinas Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who congratulated the country on its newly established civilian government and promised China would pursue projects that would benefit both countries.

China, an ally of the former military government and the country's largest foreign investor, has been criticized for pursuing allegedly exploitative and environmentally dangerous projects, such as a mega-dam in the northern region, a gas pipeline through the state of Rakhine, and multiple mineral mines.

In a news conference following this meeting, neither foreign minister indicated whether these controversial topics were discussed, allowing only that they had discussed issues to enhance bilateral economic and trade relations.
Cambodias opposition party, along with labor activists, have slammed a contentious trade union law passed hurriedly through parliament late Monday, saying that it falls far short of international labor standards.

The law has been widely criticized by unions and rights groups who say it makes it difficult for unions to form and for workers to strike. Critics say it places onerous financial reporting requirements on unions and contains clauses that discriminate against union leaders.

Legislators from the ruling Cambodia Peoples Party (CPP) voted unanimously to adopt the law at the National Assembly, while the bodys 55 opposition lawmakers decided not to vote on it as they believe it was rushed through parliament with little debate.

The [governments] intention is quite clear: it is not to protect workers under the law, it is simply to bring trade unions under control, opposition lawmaker Son Chhay said Tuesday.

He said many of the recommendations made by unions, labor rights groups and the opposition to ensure it was up to international norms were ignored.

Government defends the new labor law

But government spokesperson Phay Siphan has defended the law, saying We reviewed the law according to Cambodian standards. Cambodia is not the U.S. or the UK.

The spokesman added there was adequate time for opponents to debate the law before Mondays vote.

They had the chance to raise their hand, he said of the oppositions decision to abstain from the vote.

The United Nations Human Rights Commission in Cambodia last week released a report that detailed how many of the clauses in the new law are in breach of international labor conventions.

The U.N.s International Labor Organization had previously written to the Cambodian Labor Ministry with a list of recommendations for bringing the law into compliance with international standards.

The ILO released a statement late Monday calling on the government to work with unions and employers to ensure the new law was implemented in a fair and impartial manner.

Violent protest

Earlier on Monday, a bloody scuffle broke out when dozens of unionists and labor activists gathered near the assembly and were violently dispersed by local security forces, with one union leader thrown to the ground and another punched in the face.

Moeun Tola, executive director for the rights group Central, who was there to observe the protest, described the crackdown as a mafia-style response from the government.

As for the law, Tola called it unconstitutional as it makes it clear that workers cannot strike.

Rights group weighs in

Human Rights Watch released a statement on Tuesday condemning both the violence and the new law.

The National Assembly vote to adopt a trade union law contrary to international standards marks a further downward slide for labor rights in Cambodia, said Phil Robertson, Deputy Asia Director at Human Rights Watch.

Labor rights have long been a contentious issue in Cambodia, where union strikes seeking higher wages have occasionally been met with a violent response from police.
Chad remains on alert for Boko Haram attacks four months after a state of emergency was declared around Lake Chad. Local self-defense groups in the village of Baga Sola near Lake Chad are working alongside security forces.

Buyers and sellers converge at the weekly Saturday market in Baga-Sola. Handheld metal detectors beep amid the usual chatter.



Members of the local self-defense committee check everyone and everything coming into the market, even baskets of vegetables.



We search everyone, says the head of the local self-defense committee, Hassan Ahmat Mahamat. Even it is your brother, you search him.



Suicide attacks



Inside the market, you can still see the charred remnants of a October 10 triple suicide bombing. At the time, it was Boko Haram's deadliest attack on Chadian soil. The bombing killed 43 people, including the attackers, and wounded 58 more, said the prefect of the Kaya region, Dimouya Souapebe.



We never imagined Baga Sola would one day be attacked by Boko Haram, he told VOA.



Just weeks after Baga Sola was hit, Chad declared a state of emergency in the area around Lake Chad. Attacks were intensifying there as Nigerian and regional troops routed Boko Haram from strongholds in Nigeria.



The area around Baga Sola is heavily militarized, and Chadian troops continue to deploy here.



To get into the market at Baga Sola, you must show identification papers and submit to a pat-down.



Weve been doing this for six or seven months. Day or night, we are here but we have found nothing. We are just defending our country and our village, Mahamat said.



Metal detectors



The United Nations refugee agency gave metal detectors to local authorities, who have in turn loaned them to the self-defense group in Baga Sola, villages around the Kaya region have similar set-ups.

"You can go in any village in the Kayes region, no matter how big or small, and you will find armed men there, not armed with guns our population does not have guns but armed with machetes. These groups have become very vigilant. And it is our hope that these men working alongside our security forces are bringing security back," Souapebe says

Chad is one of five nations taking part in a multi-national task force to fight Boko Haram, along with Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Benin.
China is imposing economic restrictions on North Korea in compliance with a new set of stronger United Nations sanctions over Pyongyang's nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

Beijing announced Tuesday that it will stop shipping aviation fuel to the North, and will stop imports of coal, gold, titanium and rare earth metals from its impoverished ally. China says it will make exceptions to the sanctions if materials are intended for civilian use, and not connected to the North's nuclear or missile programs.

The U.N. Security Council approved tougher sanctions on North Korea last month, including mandatory inspections of all cargo to and from the North and a ban on most of its mineral exports, which have been used to fund its nuclear development program. The sanctions were imposed after the North conducted a nuclear test in January and a long-range rocket launch in February.

China signed on to the stronger U.N. sanctions because it was angered by the North's continued nuclear weapon pursuits. Beijing has been reluctant in the past to impose sanctions on North Korea, fearing it will cause the regime to collapse and lead to a flood of refugees over its shared border.
Greece and the European Union are working to determine who from an estimated group of 3,000 detained migrants will be among the next sent to Turkey under terms of a controversial deal between the EU and Ankara.

No ferries from Greece to Turkey were scheduled for Tuesday.

A Greek government official told VOA the first day of deportations on Monday sent a total of 202 people to Turkey aboard three ferries. Two left from Lesbos carrying 136 migrants, while a third ferry took 66 migrants from Chios. The official said none of those deported had applied for asylum. He said almost all all of those sent back to Turkey on Monday were Pakistani, while two were Syrians who chose to go to Turkey for personal and family reasons.

As part of a swap deal with Turkey, the EU has pledged to rehouse one Syrian in the bloc for every migrant deported from Greece, with numbers capped at 72,000.

Forty-three Syrian asylum seekers were flown to Europe Monday under that part of the deal. Thirty-two of them arrived in the northern German city of Hanover.

Eleven other refugees arrived in Finland, with more expected Tuesday in the Netherlands.

Human rights groups concerned



Not long after the first boatload of deportees left Mytilini, human rights activists gathered to protest near the port entrance where they competed for space with journalists. On the water, protesters held a banner between two boats that read Ferries Are for Safe Passage, Not for Deportation, before a Greek coast guard vessel approached and its crew ordered the protesters to end their demonstration.

Others on shore held signs reading Stop the Dirty Deal, and Wake Up Europe. At the request of an international television news crew, one group broke into chant, saying EU, Shame on You.



Demonstrators were infuriated by what they said was an attempt by Greek and EU officials to carry out what they view as a dirty deed, in an antiseptic, secretive fashion.



Its a shame whats happening here. Its a shame for all of European countries who are letting this happen, a demonstrator from the Netherlands who identified herself by her first name only, Mariella, told VOA. We are not talking about export products. We are talking about people, she said.

EU, Turkey Agreement

The deal reached by the European Union and Turkey in mid-March grants $3.6 billion dollars in aid to Turkey in exchange for Turkeys commitment to take back migrants, regardless of nationality, who arrived in Greece without inspection after embarking in Turkey.



People subject to deportation are those who arrived after the 20th of March and who are not eligible for, or do not want to apply for asylum.

Still more migrants



But the influx of migrants continues. Officials said 300 arrived in Greece on Sunday alone, fueling complaints by the Greek government, which has accused Turkey of not doing enough to intercept the flow of illegal migrants.
Former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark is running to succeed Ban Ki-moon as secretary-general of the United Nations.

The New Zealand government formally submitted Clark's name to world body on Monday. Current prime minister John Key praised his predecessor as "a proven leader" with "the right mix of skills and experience for the job" during a press conference in Wellington announcing her nomination.

"If you think about the role of the secretary-general of the United Nations, it is the most important diplomatic role in the world. This is the body that shows leadership on behalf of the globe, and I think if you look at Helen Clark, it isn't just the time that she spent in New Zealand as prime minister where she was very dedicated to foreign policy or her time actually at the UNDP (United Nations Development Program), it's actually her entire life has been dedicated to foreign policy. That's been her area of great passion and interest. She is immensely knowledgeable and incredibly talented and I think there'll be a lot of people on, you know who ultimately will have to make a call, who will look at her and say this is a person that has great intellect and a deep understanding of the issues," said Key.

The 66-year-old Clark served as New Zealand prime minister for 1999 to 2008, when her Labor Party was defeated in parliamentary elections by Key's center-right National Party. She has headed the United Nations Development Program since April 2009. In a series of interviews, Clark has pledged to reform the 70-year-old U.N. so it can refocus its efforts on civil wars and violent extremists.

Clark becomes the eighth candidate to seek the secretary-general's post. Three other women are also running -- Bulgaria's Irina Bokova, the head of the U.N.'s cultural organization, former Croatian foreign minister Vesna Pusic and ex-Moldovan foreign minister Natalia Gherman. Many members in the world body are pushing for the first woman to become secretary-general, but Russia wants the next U.N. chief to come from Eastern Europe, which would be a first for the region.

The U.N. General Assembly will hold public hearings for all the candidates next week. The winning candidate will formally take over the post next January.
A coalition airstrike has destroyed an Islamic State headquarters complex in Mosul that was formerly a Turkish consulate, the Pentagon announced Tuesday.

The strike early Monday was carried out in "full coordination with the governments of Turkey and Iraq," Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis told reporters.

"Destroying this compound  was in all of our best interests, and they [Turkey] agreed with that," Davis said.

The Pentagon says IS had repurposed the Turkish compound for use by senior leaders and as a weapons storage facility.

No high value targets were identified in the compound at the time of the strike, Davis said.

The Turkish foreign ministry issued a written statement that confirmed Turkey's approval had been sought and given for the airstrike. It said IS militants had occupied the complex since June 2014.

Davis described the targeted consulate as a "square block walled complex" with multiple buildings and a pool.
At least 17 people have been killed in a gun battle between former militiamen and security forces in Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of Congo.

A government spokesman said three police officers, two civilians and 12 attackers were killed Monday.

The shooting came weeks after President Denis Sassou Nguesso won a disputed re-election bid for his third term.

Police say former members of an anti-Nguesso militia called "The Ninjas" raided local police, military and government offices and set them on fire.

Witnesses said gunfire erupted before dawn in the capitals southern neighborhoods, a stronghold for the opposition party, and continued into early afternoon, when troops flooded the city streets.

Tuesday there was relative calm in Brazzaville, but most schools and stores remain closed.

It was the first violence seen since the contested March 20 election.

A government spokesman said there is no proof the Ninja militia was behind the attack, but investigations are underway.

The Ninjas were one of the major anti-government forces that fought Nguesso in a 1997-99 civil war. Residents who witnessed the shooting said they saw armed men in civilian attire, but could not say if they were Ninja militia.

Nguesso, 72, has ruled Congo for more than three decades. He won re-election in March after he got voter approval to remove age and term limits that would have blocked him from participating. Official results show Nguesso won about 60 percent of the vote.

Members of the opposition party claim the election was nothing more than a massive fraud.
The International Criminal Court has dropped charges of crimes against humanity against Kenyan Deputy President William Ruto.

The ICC said Tuesday that judges voted 2-1 to vacate the charges against Ruto and co-defendant Joshua Arap Sang.



Judges Chile Eboe-Osuji and Robert Fremr said prosecutors did not present sufficient evidence to warrant a trial, but added their decision "does not preclude further prosecution in the future, either at the ICC or in a national jurisdiction."



Not enough evidence



Eboe-Osuji declared a mistrial in the case, saying the lack of evidence might be explained by "witness interference and political meddling."



Ruto was charged with being criminally responsible for acts of murder, forcible transfer of population and persecution during the 2007 and 2008 post-election violence in Kenya.



Sang, a Kenyan radio executive, was accused of playing a role in the same crimes.



An estimated 1,100 Kenyans were killed during weeks of ethnic violence that followed the disputed polls, with more than a half million others forced from their homes.



Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta was accused of helping to orchestrate the violence and charged with five counts of crimes against humanity. The ICC terminated proceedings against Kenyatta in March 2015, after court prosecutors withdrew the charges, saying they could not obtain sufficient evidence to take the president to trial.



Rights activists have accused the Kenyan government of not cooperating with the ICC's investigations and intimidating potential witnesses.



Kenyatta and Ruto were elected in March 2013 while facing charges.
Icelands prime minister resigned Tuesday, the first casualty from the Panama Papers disclosures about the hidden offshore investments of the wealthy, powerful and famous from around the world.

Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson quit after the leaked files from a Panamanian law firm showed that his wife, Anna Sigurlaug Palsdottir, owns a company in the British Virgin Islands that has more than $4 million in claims against the country's collapsed banks.

Gunnlaugsson said his wife's overseas assets were taxed in Iceland, but his opponents said he should have disclosed his wife's ownership of the company since the government is involved in settling claims against the bankrupt financial institutions.

He quit ahead of a planned no-confidence vote in parliament, with the ruling Progressive Party naming its deputy leader, Sigurdur Ingi Johannsson, to take over as the country's new leader. Thousands of Icelanders protested in Reykjavik outside parliament Monday, hurling eggs and bananas and demanding Gunnlaugsson's ouster.

Gunnlaugsson and his wife set up the company with the help of the Mossack Fonseca, the law firm at the center of the massive leak of 11.5 million documents from its files.

Earlier Tuesday, President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, who cut short his U.S. visit, refused Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugssons request to dissolve the government and parliament and call new elections.

Gunnlaugsson and his wife set up the company with the help of the Mossack Fonseca, the law firm at the center of the massive leak of 11.5 million documents from its files.

The Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists on Sunday detailed the creation of offshore companies for 140 politicians and public officials, wealthy individuals and other prominent figures from across the world, raising questions about why they set up the companies and whether they have dodged taxes on their profits.

In addition to Iceland's prime minister, the journalists' group said the documents showed dozens of transactions totaling nearly $2 billion involving people or companies linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Other high profile individuals include the prime ministers of Pakistan, the presidents of Ukraine and Argentina, and the king of Saudi Arabia.

ICIJ also said that documents reveal that at least 33 people and companies blacklisted by the U.S. government because of evidence that theyd been involved in wrongdoing, such as doing business with Mexican drug lords, terrorist organizations like Hezbollah or rogue nations like North Korea and Iran, have had dealings with the Mossack Fonseca law firm.

The group also claims the documents show that major banks are behind the creation of the hard-to-trace companies in so called offshore havens. More than 500 banks, their subsidiaries and branches have created more than 15,000 offshore companies for their customers through Mossack Fonseca, the group alleges.

U.S. President Barack Obama said tax avoidance is a worldwide problem, often enabled by "poorly designed" laws that are easy to exploit. "A lot of it is legal, but that's exactly the problem," he said in Washington.

Governments across the world said they are examining the documents to check on the tax liability of the individuals named in them, while some people whose names were disclosed have denied any wrongdoing and denounced the reports as unfounded attacks.
Icelands prime minister resigned Tuesday in a wave of massive protests following revelations about his questionable offshore investments.

Earlier Tuesday, President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, who cut short his U.S. visit, refused Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugssons request to dissolve the government and parliament and call new elections, following the release of the so-called Panama Papers.

Prime Minister Gunnlaugsson was under pressure to resign from thousands of protesters since documents showed he and his wife set up a company with the help of a Panamanian law firm at the center of a massive tax data leak. Gunnlaugsson has denied doing anything illegal, saying all taxes were paid.

Gunnlaugsson is among 140 politicians and public officials around the world named in the Panama Papers that have raised questions about alleged financial misconduct.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has ordered a multiagency investigation into the Panama Papers expose, which includes the names of more than 500 Indians ranging from Bollywood stars to big industrialists and a real estate tycoon.

Calling such reports a healthy step, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Tuesday promised quick action. Whichever accounts are found to be unlawful, strict action as per existing law is going to be taken against them," he said.

One of Modis major election promises had been to crack down on tax evaders and bring back billions of dollars of illegal money stashed in tax havens.

The Indian Express newspaper was among the media organizations involved in the eight-month investigation based on a leak of over 11 million documents of the Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca.

Connections

The rich and famous Indians who had connections to offshore financial firms in Panama include Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan, actress and model Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, the promoter of Indias biggest realty firm, K.P. Singh, and Vinod Adani who is the elder brother of industrialist Gautam Adani.

Some of those named by the Indian Express said Monday their offshore accounts were legitimate.

The newspaper also found a trail of "payoffs" by an Italian firm via offshore companies for defense supplies sold to India.

Calling this the tip of the iceberg, Indian financial experts said it is widely accepted that tax evasion in India is huge and much of the so-called black money gets parked in havens overseas.

A report by Washington-based think-tank Global Financial Integrity has estimated that India suffered $344 billion in illicit fund outflows between 2002 and 2011.

Arun Kumar, a former professor of economics with Jawaharlal Nehru University and author of The Black Economy in India, said the total amount India has lost since independence could be much bigger.

Our own recent estimate suggests that India has lost about $2 trillion worth of capital from 1948 to 2012. This includes the interest that may have been earned on the money that has been taken out. So we are talking about large sums of money which have been lost to a country which is very poor and where capital is short, Kumar said.

Slow to crack down

Pointing out that the government has made slow progress on its promise to crack down on black money, experts say the pressing need is for the government to detect those who generate black money in India, because it is difficult to track it once it has been spirited overseas.

Although India has many laws against tax evasion, enforcement is very weak.

In India it has become very easy to generate black income, because the system is very leaky, governance is very poor, and almost all the regulatory authorities that exist in India and they are a very large number, they are apparently all corrupted, the political class is corrupted, Kumar said.

Following his election promise to crack down on tax evasion, Modi has enacted a "black money" law that imposes tough penalties and a jail term for tax evaders who fail to declare their overseas incomes.

Modi last year also joined an agreement by leaders from the Group of 20 countries to automatically exchange tax information on a reciprocal basis by the end of 2018.

The Indian government has also signed a tax information sharing agreement with the United States to combat offshore tax dodging.

The world is going to now become increasingly more transparent. Countries are cooperating with each other, said Finance Minister Jaitley, who defends the governments commitment to track undisclosed wealth both in India and overseas.
Indias Bihar state has announced a completely ban on alcohol sales.



I feel this is the right time for social change in Bihar, chief minister Nitish Kumar told reporters. "No fresh license will be issued to bars and restaurants to sell liquor.



State officials had previously banned locally-made liquor. Tuesday's announcement also includes liquor produced overseas.



The alcohol ban was one of Kumar's promises to women voters in last year elections.



Women are suffering more than anyone else due to increasing liquor consumptions, Kumar said.



Three other Indian states have banned alcohol: Gujarat, Negaland and Manipur.
Islamic State militants are cracking down on the few remaining Christians and preventing them from leaving Raqqa, Syria, local activists tell VOA.

Christians are the most vulnerable group... in the country, said Hussam Issa, an activist with " Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently," a group that monitors IS activities in the city.

They dont have protection, said Issa, who fled to Turkey. They dont have any armed militias that can defend them.

Christians, who have lived in Raqqa for centuries, made up nearly five percent of the 400,000 prewar population, local activists said. That percentage has dramatically dropped after Raqqa fell to anti-government rebels and was later taken over by IS militants in 2014, becoming their de-facto capital.

IS Persecution

Activists report that 43 Christian families remain in the city. They couldnt afford to flee the city as other Christians did when the militants took over Raqqa, they said. When IS militants seized Raqqa in January 2014, they gave Christians three options; convert to Islam, leave the city, or face death.

Many Christian families left to avoid persecution.

My family and I had to flee Raqqa, said Jimmy Shahinian, a Syrian Christian activist who is now in Germany.

Shahinian said his family and other Christians were attached to their homes and lands in Raqqa, but IS treatment became so unbearable that they had to escape and leave everything behind. Last December my mother was the last one from my immediate family to flee, he told VOA.

IS imposed a set of strict rules on Christians, forcing them to adhere to Muslim dress codes and to pay jizya, an Islamic form of taxation designed for non-Muslims.

Activist Issa said when he was living in Raqqa militants kidnapped and murdered a young Christian man for having a cross tattoo on his arm. They were hundreds of incidents of which IS targeted the Christian population in the city, he said.

Christian properties have been confiscated by IS commanders and Christians who remain are prohibited by IS laws to buy properties, he said.

Last week, as Christians throughout the Middle East celebrated the ancient Babylonian New Year, Akitu, those in Raqqa were forbidden from holding the Christian ritual.

Prohibiting Christians from practicing their religion is normal for a group like Daesh [IS], said U.S-based Syrian journalist Hadeel Oueis who often writes about the plight of Christians in Syria. She is a Syriac Christian from the northeastern province of Hasaka.

Genocide

Oueis said when IS fighters entered Raqqa, they demolished a revered Armenian memorial and shuttered and burned the two churches that belonged Christians. She said IS considers Christians as allies of Western powers.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said last month that atrocities committed by IS militants against Christians, Yazidis and other religious minorities in Iraq and Syria constitute genocide.

The genocide declaration means the United States would prosecute any Islamic State member in the United States, but it does not obligate any specific American action against the terror group in Syria or Iraq, where U.S. warplanes have been striking IS targets for months.

But activists say they hope the designation leads to U.S. action to provide protection to ill-treated Christians throughout the Middle East.

The United States should do something similar to what the Americans did for the Yazidis [it] is urgent to protect the Christians in Raqqa, journalist Oueis told VOA, referring to a 2014 U.S. operation that rescued many Yazidis on Mount Sinjar after IS fighters swept into their city.

Since its takeover in Syria, IS has kidnapped hundreds of Christians from Raqqa and Hasaka provinces. Some of them have recently been released after huge ransoms were paid to the militant group, news reports said.

Locals say IS fighters in Raqqa are now using Christian families as human shields to deter coalition and Syrian warplanes from hitting its positions.
Islamic State militants have suffered a series of reversals in northern Syria, both at the hands of rebel fighters and forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, that saw the terror group lose control of strategic territory bordering Turkey and withdraw from a town southeast of Homs, according to rebel fighters and political activists.

The clashes coincided with renewed targeting by U.S.-led coalition warplanes of IS positions in the northern Aleppo countryside and airstrikes from Russian warplanes in eastern Syria that reportedly left at least 40 militants dead.

Coming just days after Russian-backed regime forces recaptured the town of Palmyra from the militants, the accumulating battlefield losses for the terror army represent a serious setback for an organization that once boasted it would remain and expand.

Palmyra, known as the City of Palms, was an important way station along with its modern concrete neighbor of Tadmur on the IS supply line from Iraqs Anbar province to Homs province in Syria through the city of Deir al-Zor.

IS has failed to pull-off a successful large-scale ground offensive in Syria since May 2015 when it captured Palmyra after a lightning offensive across the desert and has lost more than a fifth of the territory it once controlled in the war-savaged country, U.S. officials and independent analysts calculate.

Earlier this month analysts at IHS Jane's 360, a British defense consultancy, concluded the tide has turned decisively against the extremist organization in Syria.

IS offensive repelled

The latest IS losses saw anti-Assad rebel fighters from rival opposition alliances repel a jihadist offensive in the northern Aleppo countryside and then seize several key areas from the jihadists including the town of al-Kamaliya on the Syrian-Turkish border.

More than 15 militants were killed in the clashes with militiamen from the Sultan Murad Squad, al-Mutasam Brigade and the Levant Corps, said rebel spokesman Saleh Zein.

IS positions in the towns of Tel Shaeer, Soran and al-Ahmadiya also came under rebel shelling and were targeted in U.S.-led airstrikes, rebel commanders say.

And according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based pro-rebel monitoring group that relies on its information from a network of activists, IS fighters withdrew from their last remaining redoubts in the eastern districts of the city of al-Qaryatayn in Homs province following fierce clashes with regime forces.

The Observatory said Assad regime troops had not entered yet the relinquished districts, fearing the militants had planted mines and explosive devices. After regime forces took Palmyra on March 27 Russian engineers deployed first to search for booby-traps.

The regime offensive on the mainly Christian town of Al-Qaryatayn was started by regime forces on March 3. Its location is strategic and was once used by anti-Assad rebels as a transshipment point to smuggle arms from northern Syria to militias fighting around Damascus. The recapturing of Al-Qaryatayn was overseen by Russian special forces advisers redeployed from the assault on Palmyra, pro-regime media outlets reported.

According to analyst Chris Kozak of the Washington-based think tank the Institute for the Study of War, more than 5,000 regime reinforcements have been deployed in the eastern part of Homs province, hundreds of them Shiite fighters from Lebanon and Iraq and Iranian-trained irregular Syrian militiamen.

These redeployments were enabled in part by the ongoing cessation of hostilities which allowed the regime and its allies to withdraw troops from its front-lines with opposition groups, he said.

Signs of lawlessness

With military pressure mounting on IS and battlefield setbacks accumulating briskly there are signs of increasing lawlessness in the groups stronghold of Raqqa, where activists from the anti-IS network Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently say there has been a sharp rise in robbery and thefts  an indication that the tight control IS has on the city may be slipping amid a manpower shortage. It has been press-ganging local youngsters into joining, say activists.

The terror group has reacted to dissent and robbery with a spate of gruesome executions. Since Wednesday, when coalition warplanes killed a top IS commander Abu al-Haija, one of a string of high-ranking jihadist leaders in recent weeks targeted by the U.S.-led coalition, 15 of the groups lower-ranking commanders have been executed. They were accused of revealing Abu al-Haija's position to the coalition.

"This is the highest number of executions of security officials by IS," according to Abdel Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Activists also report another person was executed Sunday in Raqqa on charges of espionage.

IS militants also reportedly executed eight young men in the Mansoura district west of Raqqa. Rights activist Nadeem Mahmoud told local news outlet ARA News that the men were shot dead and hung on electricity poles. They had been detained for more than a year by the terror group.

Some were former IS members who had tried to flee; others were accused of corruption and theft.
The results of an investigation into the torture and death of an Italian student in Cairo last month are to be presented by an Egyptian delegation Wednesday in Rome.

Casting doubt over the transparency of Egypt's investigation, Italian Prime Minister Mateo Renzi has said his country will not be satisfied with some convenient truth over the murder of 28-year-old Guilio Regeni. Italian prosecutors are still waiting for data from Regenis cellphone and surveillance video from the subway station where he was last seen.

Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni warns relations between the two countries will suffer if this information is not forthcoming.

Suspicions Egyptian security services bear responsibility for this murder have been reported in Italy, though Cairo declares them baseless.

Regeni had been researching labor movements in Egypt and writing articles about the sensitive topic under a pen name.

Regenis body, showing signs of torture, was found on February 3, nine days after his abduction amid tight security in Cairo on the fifth anniversary of the ousting of Hosni Mubarak.

Weeks later, Egyptian authorities linked the murder to criminal activity after a shootout killed four members of a gang specializing in abducting foreigners, saying Regenis passport was found in one of the suspects apartments.

Regenis parents have expressed dissatisfaction with the Egyptian explanation of their sons death, calling for the Italian government to put more pressure on Egyptian authorities and declaring Egypt an unsafe country for Italian tourists.

His mother has also threatened to publish photos of his mutilated body, stating that she recognized him just by the tip of his nose. The rest of him was no longer Giulio.

Egyptian Prosecutor General Nabil Sadek says his assistant, Judge Mustafa Suleiman, will lead the delegation to Rome.
Libyas U.N.-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) is off to a better than expected start in the few days since its six-strong Presidency Council arrived in Tripoli on board a boat from neighboring Tunisia promising to turn the page and restore order to the country.

The leader of one of Libyas two other rival governments has withdrawn obligingly from the Libyan capital, but says he still disputes the GNAs legitimacy. And the leaders of the other rival government, the House of Representatives (HoR) in Tobruk, are now making conciliatory statements.

GNA is meant to be sharing power with the two rivals under a political deal brokered by the U.N. and Western powers.

Until recently the HoRs National Salvation Government was the internationally recognized authority in the fractured North African country.

Several mainly Islamist militias that have been controlling Tripoli since 2014 after forcing the HoR to flee the capital have either announced their neutrality or agreed to support the GNA, at least for the time being. This has removed the threat of immediate violence.

That in itself is music to the ears of Western diplomats who feared militias might try to sabotage the new government, especially when political rivals closed the airspace over Tripoli, forcing the putative prime minister, Fayez al-Sarraj, and his team to sail to Libya.

At least they have a foothold now, said a relieved Italian diplomat.

Walking tour

Since the Presidency Councils arrival, the Libyan capital has been relatively quiet, although gunmen stormed a Libyan television station last week, halting transmissions.

In a show of confidence, Sarraj, 56, the scion of a prominent local family, went on a walkabout in Tripoli over the weekend. Hundreds of supporters rallied in the capital and chanted Bye-bye, GNC, referring to the militia-backed General National Congress, which refused to stand aside after the HoR was elected in 2014 in nationwide polls. The refusal plunged the country deeper into turmoil.

But as the GNA seeks to consolidate its position in the Libyan capital, let alone expand its U.N.-given authority to the rest of the country, no one is underestimating the challenges that remain for Sarraj. His first priority is to persuade the HoR to ratify the new political setup, and until he does, the GNA remains in legal limbo.

Analysts question whether Sarrajs arrival in the capital will herald a period of stability for a country that has been tottering from one crisis to another since the 2011 ouster of strongman Moammar Gadhafi.

The negotiating process for the political settlement wasnt inclusive enough, warn some analysts, who fear the odds of success are stacked against the new government.

Key to survival

Under the U.N. deal, the presidential council is meant to lead a unified government. The HoR will be the main legislature, while a State Council made up mainly of GNC members will be a second, consultative chamber. Elections are supposed to be held within six months.

Karim Mezran, an analyst at the Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East at the Atlantic Council, a Washington think tank, argues the survival of the GNA will depend on the degree of support Western governments give it, and if the Egyptians, the Qataris and the Turks are really on board.

Qatar and Turkey have supported the GNC, while Egypt along with the United Arab Emirates has been supportive of the HoR, and especially of former Gadhafi general Khalifa Haftar, who heads the so-called Libyan National Army made up of former militiamen and veterans from Gadhafis security forces.

In the past, Egypt and the Emirates have mounted airstrikes in support of the generals forces, who have focused on battling Islamic State militants and their affiliates in the eastern part of the country.

I honestly doubt the GNA can last long, said Hafed Al-Ghwell, a senior adviser with Oxford Analytica, a global risk advisory group. There are still very big questions that need to be answered, including how much credibility the government really has. We still have three governments and it is unclear what happens now.

Al-Ghwell argued that there is a lack of consensus among Libyans behind the GNA, which was shaped after months of fraught negotiations.

Many people have been excluded from the U.N. agreement, especially tribal and former Gadhafi officers as well as over a million Libyan exiles in Egypt and Tunisia," he said. "What incentive is there for them to support the GNA and not sabotage it?

He fears the GNA will go the way of previous short-lived post-Gadhafi governments  quickly being held hostage by town-based, secessionist and Islamist militias, who he believes are now just biding their time and repositioning themselves politically, waiting to see how the GNA fares.

Going right to work

Sarraj has wasted little time in trying to exert authority.

With the help of one powerful militia, he has secured the prime ministers office. On Monday, after gaining the support of the countrys central bank as well as Libya's National Oil Corporation, he ordered the freezing of bank accounts belonging to ministries, agencies and bodies as well as public institutions funded by the public treasury as the first in a series of moves to gain control over the countrys finances.

Libya's central bank issued a statement saying it wished the new unity government all success in carrying out the difficult tasks ahead.

Diplomats acknowledge the road will be difficult. Sarraj has to unify a country divided along sharp regional, tribal and ideological lines, and to persuade militias to disband or join a national army, something that eluded a series of previous governments.

He also has to ward off the burgeoning threat of IS, which has expanded its reach. The terror group controls Gadhafis coastal hometown of Sirte and has a strong presence in other towns, including Ajdabiya, Sabratha and Derna.

Western officials put the number of IS fighters in the country now at around 8,000, although local anti-IS militiamen estimate the number at 5,000.

Western role

Western officials hope war fatigue, the allure of foreign aid and development money, and the IS threat will help build momentum for the unity government and persuade opponents to hop on board. But while Western powers hope Sarraj can persuade the militias to disband, the militias will be needed in the interim to battle IS, a factor that wont help the new government tilt the balance of power in Libya away from the gun and back to politics.

The future role of Western powers in Libya is also unclear. The biggest concern of Washington and nearby European powers such as Italy and Spain is the growth of IS in the country and the opportunity that gives the militants to launch attacks on southern Europe, a short boat ride away. Small groups of Western special forces are in the country, working with militias fighting IS.

U.S. warplanes have twice launched strikes on the militants in Libya in recent months, and Pentagon officials say more are in the offing. The GNA needs Western support to establish itself, but a too aggressive Western military role risks angering a wide swath of Libyan opinion, say analysts.
In a world shaken by woes such as terrorism, the Syrian war and the migrant influx in Europe, reducing poverty is increasingly vital to global stability, according to the head of the Millennium Challenge Corp.

The independent U.S. agency promotes economic growth, dispensing grants and aid to countries showing dedication to good governance.

CEO Dana Hyde said fighting corruption and advocating for the rule of law in the developing world helps promote American values overseas, too.

"We make the case for the mission of MCC, which is: How do we reduce poverty through economic growth?" Hyde said in March testimony before the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs, where she proposed a $100 million increase for fiscal 2017, for a total budget of $1 billion.

Spreading assistance

Launched with bipartisan support in 2004, MCC now works with 45 developing countries, including in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Hyde recently traveled to Senegal, where the agency expects to build on existing investments of $540 million.

"I can close my eyes and see the faces of the kids that greeted us  [and] see what our investments are doing in the north and in the south," she said, citing community supports such as markets and roads. "We were also able to go see one of the irrigation facilities, where the water is flowing in and helping the farmers come back to the region."

Senegal has been approved for a second deal. Hyde said teams already were in the country "looking at the economy and seeing what are those constraints to growth, in particular, and at potential regional investments in West Africa."

Benin also receives U.S. aid through the MCC. The small nation of about 11.5 million  which just democratically elected a new president  has had two grants totaling $754 million.

Omar Arouna, Benins ambassador in Washington, said the first compact was meant to address barriers such as poor access to the nations main port.

The compact "helped reorganize and rebuild the port, which has become very functional now and by all standards is one of the best ports" on Africas western coast, Hyde said. The compact "also helped organize the financial sector."

The new deal address the energy sector, which Arouna said is essential to development. Roughly $41 million is earmarked for institutional reforms such as restructuring laws, and another $136 million will go to power generation, he said. The balance will go toward improving transmission and infrastructure, some of which is "very old and need[s] to be refurbished."

Leveraging capital

Leveraging private capital has become a focus for the agency in places such as El Salvador, Hyde said. "Were also going to be looking at education  the nexus between vocational education and actual job training."

In the Philippines, which experiences fierce tropical storms, "weve built a road that actually was right in the center of where the typhoon recently came, and withstood that, and was an artery for recovery," Hyde said, noting MCC is "back for another investment" there.

MCC is supporting other projects. In Nepal, teams of engineers are accessing the countrys hydro energy capabilities. In Sri Lanka, the agency hopes to improve democratic institutions.

MCC criteria

While some countries take full advantage of MCC's help, others say obtaining it can be too complicated.

Hyde said the agency aids nations that have gotten positive assessments from independent organizations such as the World Bank. They're scored on 20 indicators in three clusters: economic freedom; the degree to which countries invest their own resources in areas such as public health and immunizations; and in governance, civil liberties, political rights and corruption control. MCC looks for countries that score in the upper half.

Cote DIvoire and Togo, for instance, "set out to improve their performance and not just for the MCC itself," Hyde said. " Youll see in Cote DIvoire theres more foreign direct investment going into the country as governance has improved and as the corruption landscape has improved."
For the second year in a row, a teenager from Nigeria has accomplished what few U.S. high school students can  getting accepted into all eight Ivy League schools.

Augusta Uwamanzu-Nna, whose parents came to the U.S. from Nigeria, has until May 1 to decide whether she'll attend one of the prestigious U.S. universities.

Last year, Nigeria-born Harold Ekeh chose to attend Yale University after having his pick of all eight Ivy League schools.

Both students attended Elmont Memorial High School in a New York suburb.

Uwamanzu-Nna was also accepted to four additional schools to which she applied  Johns Hopkins University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, New York University and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Uwamanzu-Nna told a local TV station, "Though I was born here in America, I visited Nigeria many times. And I've seen that my cousins don't have the same opportunities that I have. So definitely, whatever I do, I want to make sure that it has an impact on Nigeria."
China has moved quickly to silence any discussion about the Panama Papers and information about the use of tax havens by the families of at least eight current and former top leaders, including the brother-in-law of President Xi Jinping.

Massive wealth accumulated by the families of Chinas ruling party members has long been a big concern in the country, where its discussion has long been tightly controlled.

Panama Papers dam

On Tuesday, searches on Chinese-language sites brought up links to online coverage of the massive document dump. Aside from stories about sports stars, most were blocked.

On social media, discussions about the documents released by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists were heavily censored. According to the website Freeweibo.com, the top 10 blocked phrases on Tuesday included both the English and Chinese words for "Panama" and the Chinese equivalent of "Panama documents."

One post, no longer accessible, read: "Tax havens are quite common and reasonable for business people, but where is all of this tax-free money that officials have coming from?"

The clampdown puzzled some people and fueled speculation among others.

A user named Space Out said: "I don't understand why the phrase Panama Papers has been labeled a sensitive term. So far, our country hasn't been negatively impacted.... Is it because [authorities] have foreseen they will have something to do with us?"

Another said: "It turns out that the Communist Party has no desire to enlighten the public about this. I guess many top leaders are involved."

Some blotted out Panama's full name in Chinese or substituted the English Romanization version with spaces to try posting on social media, but their comments still were blocked.

The censorship was so extensive that some joked Panama had disappeared.

"Obviously, ba na ma (Panama) is a sensitive phrase," one user wrote.

The censorship dragnet caught up user 1874 BC for posting a screenshot of an article on the documents and commenting: "Little is said at home about the biggest story in the world, whose coverage is blocked on Weibo."

Another said: "The Panama Papers story, which I just finished reading, was deleted in the blink of an eye. So fast. Nothing can be found on Baidu," the popular Chinese search engine.

Western conspiracy

While most Chinese publications were silent, the Communist Party-backed Global Times newspaper ran an editorial in English and Chinese arguing that the massive document dump focused overwhelming criticism on non-Western leaders.

The editorial did not mention any of the divulged documents related to President Xi Jinping's family, the daughter of former Premier Li Peng, or the granddaughter of senior official Jia Qingling. But it noted that Western media were giving "extra spin" to documents linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In the Internet era, disinformation poses no major risks to influential Western elites or the West, the editorial said. "In the long run, it will become a new means for the ideology-allied Western nations to strike a blow to non-Western political elites and key organizations."

More details expected

So far, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists has published documents related to four top Chinese communist party officials on its website.

According to the documents, the president's brother-in-law, Deng Jiajun, in 2009 became the sole director and shareholder of two offshore "shelf companies"  corporations with no activity. Both were in the inventory of Mossack Fonseca, the law firm at the center of the document dump. The ICIJ said that by the time Xi became president in 2013, the companies were dormant.

Some of the ICIJ's findings were not particularly new. The document dump included details on Patrick Henri Devillers, a former business partner of the wife of ousted Chongqing Party chief Bo Xilai.

Xi's brother-in-law Deng and Li Xiaolin, the daughter of former Premier Li Peng, were mentioned in documents that the ICIJ previously released about offshore holdings.

While some information in the files potentially could help China's anti-corruption investigators, it is unlikely authorities will offer much follow-up.

Late Tuesday, in its first response to questions about the documents, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei was brief: "About these groundless accusations, I have no comment."
Regional security issues will be a focal point for Secretary of State John Kerry, who travels to the Middle East and Asia Pacific this week.



The multi-national effort to defeat Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq and Syria will be among topics discussed during Kerrys first stop in Bahrain, where he will participate in a ministerial meeting of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council.



On Monday ahead of the trip, Kerry said the multi-national coalition had made progress in the fight against Islamic State but there was still work to do.



There are still great hurdles ahead of us, and the fight - as we have seen in Brussels and Paris and Ankara and elsewhere  it continues to pose a threat, said Kerry during an appearance with Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz.

There has been mixed progress in efforts to defeat IS in Iraq.



The Iraqi army and pro-government militias have inched closer to re-taking the northern city of Mosul, which has been under IS control.



However, the militant group has continued to wage a bloody battle against the government, including a string of attacks on Monday that left more than two dozen people dead.



Iraqs ongoing challenges to achieve political stability could also hamper efforts to defeat IS, say analysts.



The thing that is critical to remember about the fight against ISIS in Iraq is the fact that the military component of the battle is just one portion of it, said Jessica Ashooh, deputy director of the Middle East Strategy Task Force at the Atlantic Council.



The long-term issue that needs to be addressed is, of course, the political challenges that Iraq still faces, she said.

In Syria, the Russian-backed Syrian regime recently drove Islamic State militants out of the historical city of Palmyra.



However, a fragile cessation of hostilities between the government and the opposition is showing sides of fray in the wake of fierce fighting between the two sides over the past few days.



Human rights and relief groups have complained that the Syrian government has not been living up to a pledge to allow unhindered humanitarian aid deliveries to besieged parts of the country.



Both the cease-fire and the increased access for aid groups are part of a broader U.N.-facilitated plan to bring out a political transition in Syria.



Yemen Peace Talks on Horizon



Kerry and Gulf leaders are also expected to discuss the situation in Yemen. U.N.-sponsored peace talks are due to start in Kuwait this month.



The U.S. has been backing a Saudi-led military coalition that has been carrying out airstrikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen in support of the government of internationally recognized President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi.



Global Terror Threat, Pyongyang, Likely Focal Points in Japan



Later in the week, Kerry travels to Hiroshima, Japan for a G-7 (group of seven industrialized nations) ministerial meeting that will set the stage for President Barack Obamas May trip to Japan for a G-7 summit.



With four European nations represented in the G-7, a likely focal point will be multi-national efforts to combat terrorism in the wake of recent Islamic State-linked attacks in Brussels and Paris.



North Korea is also likely to be on the agenda, said Richard Bush, director of the Center for East Asia Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution.

Pyongyang recently carried out a string of nuclear and ballistic missile tests, in spite of U.N. sanctions, and has continued to aim provocative language at the U.S. and South Korea.



I think North Korea will make the list because the meeting is being held in Japan, and Japan is one of the countries that is most threatened by North Koreas capabilities, said Bush.



During the trip, Kerry and other foreign ministers will visit the Peace Memorial Park. The park is dedicated to the victims of the 1945 U.S. atomic bombing in Hiroshima.
Rights groups reacted with dismay Tuesday at the International Criminal Court's decision to end its trial against Kenyan Deputy President William Ruto, saying it left victims without justice and showed the limits of pursuing cases against powerful individuals.

But analysts also suggested the Hague-based court had learned some important lessons that might help it move forward in fulfilling its mandate.

Human Rights Watch Senior International Justice Counsel Elizabeth Evenson called the ruling a "hugely disappointing decision."

But she added, "the court has shown ... it's not complacent in the face of the setbacks and challenges over the past few years, and it wants to do things differently and better."

In a written statement released late Tuesday, the court said the prosecution had failed to deliver sufficient evidence to convict either Ruto or Kenyan broadcaster Joshua Sang. Both were charged with crimes against humanity for their alleged roles in violence following Kenya's 2007 elections that killed more than 1,000 people and forced hundreds of thousands of others to flee.

Future trial possible

But the majority ruling, delivered by two of the three-judge panel, did not close the door completely to a future trial, and said the current decision may be subject to appeal, the statement read.

Meanwhile the third, dissenting judge found there was enough evidence to pursue a case and potentially convict the defendants.

In 2014, the Hague-based court also dropped crimes-against-humanity charges against Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, who was also implicated in the same post-election violence.

Altogether, the court pursued charges against six people, all of which have now been dropped.

In both the Ruto and Kenyatta cases, witnesses either refused to testify or changed their stories. In both cases, the prosecution suggested witnesses had been bribed or intimidated, and accused the Kenyan government for failing to fully cooperate.

In its ruling Tuesday, the court did not dismiss the possibility of witness interference and political meddling "that was reasonably likely to intimidate the witnesses."

Reacting to the news, Kenyatta said the court's decision "brings to a close what has been a nightmare for my country."

He also released a statement criticizing the ICC for blindly pursuing an "ill-conceived, defective agenda."

Lessons for court

Anthony Dworkin, a specialist on human rights and international justice at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said the ruling underscored the court's difficulty in bringing powerful figures to justice  and in securing the cooperation of participating states.

"All of this points to the complicated position of having an institution like the ICC which is supposed to be an independent judicial body, that doesn't pay attention to the messy business of power politics," Dworkin said. "And yet it's sitting in the middle of an international political system which is very dependent on power politics."

While the ICC must continue to pursue powerful individuals implicated in crimes, "it has to make pretty sure it has extremely solid cases before it starts moving to trial," he added.

For her part, Evenson of Human Rights Watch believes the court needs to draw some key lessons: "stronger investigations, stronger witness protection programs, and also stronger and more consistent support from the international community."

Nonetheless, she points to last month's conviction by another international tribunal of former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic on similar war crimes charges.

"It shows that it is possible to hold politically powerful individuals to account," Evenson said. "It may be a long and difficult road, but it is possible."
Russian state media continue to largely ignore the Panama Papers scandal, although a Kremlin spokesman has dismissed allegations of Russian President Vladimir Putin's involvement in large-scale money laundering.

Russias Channel One, the countrys flagship broadcaster, took nearly a full day before making even scant mention of the investigation.

Even then, coverage led with a statement by Putins spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, denigrating the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) report as little more than a U.S. government-backed smear campaign. The newscast quickly switched to other investigation findings  those implicating Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, a current Kremlin foe, for hiding offshore accounts.

Yet online and among Russias struggling independent media, Russians pushed differing views of what, if anything, the ICIJ report might mean on the Russian political scene.

Rejected by Kremlin

Kremlin supporters were quick to mock the investigations findings  which appear to connect Kremlin insiders, rather Putin directly, to offshore accounts  as just another failed attempt to substantiate long-standing rumors of Putins alleged secret wealth.

After such an investigation, even the opposition is ready to send Putin money, wrote pro-Kremlin activist Maria Katasonova.

In a separate post, she noted that Putins ratings would most likely grow as a result of the investigation, which the Kremlin called an information attack against the Russian leader.

Leonid Volkov, an opposition blogger, criticized state media journalists for their notable silence in the wake of the ICIJ report.

"The investigation has shown the complete absence of shame, conscience and common sense among 95 percent of Russian journalists," noted Volkov in a post to his Twitter account.

Others commented that the ICIJ report, while remarkable, had simply scratched the surface of corrupt dealings within Russia.

"It's important to understand: This investigation is based on just one Panamanian firm," wrote Russian opposition politician and anti-corruption crusader Alexey Navalny in a post to his blog.

"So it's just the tip of the iceberg of offshore holdings by bureaucrats, and just a small piece," wrote Navalny, calling for Russians implicated in the investigation to face possible jail time.

Political ramifications?

Meanwhile, both sides debated the ICIJ investigations importance.

Writing in the online Slon magazine, Andrey Movchan, a Russian investment specialist, yawned about the Panama Papers:

Whats the sensation of saying that in the world there exists offshore holdings, that someone gives someone else credit, and that someone put their money somewhere? he wrote.

The sensation is the other way around, Movchan wrote. 300 journalists over the course of several years, looking at several million offshore documents, didnt find anything about the friends of our president other than they get credit.

Ilya Yashin, an opposition politician and frequent Kremlin critic, agreed  to a degree.

Its obvious that in a normal situation such a publication would start a criminal investigation, parliamentary hearings and, probably, raise questions of impeachment of the president, wrote Yashin. But its also clear that Putin controls all branches of government.

'Panic' among leaders

But Dmitry Gudkov, a rare voice of independence in the state Duma, insisted that, in exposing Russian elites' shady financial practices, the report had elicited "panic in the Kremlin."

"After this, it's clear that no quiet old age awaits the kleptocracy. Their money will be seized, and with it, a widening ring that ends in handcuffs overseas," Gudkov wrote online.

Yet it was Volkov, the blogger, who suggested the ICIJ report might prove an ominous development for Russia's own internal politics. Writing on Facebook, he noted that while the elite in other countries listed in the Panama Papers report might face prosecutions, scandals or perhaps even no charges at all, experience told him the news would ricochet in Russia in negative ways: The Kremlin, wrote Volkov, will "launch several criminal cases against the opposition and ban something on the Internet."
Russian police detained a number of alleged members of the banned Japanese doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo after raiding more than 20 apartments in Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russian media reported Tuesday.

Russias Investigative Committee, the country's main federal investigating authority, opened a criminal case against a group of cult followers that a committee spokesman said was established no later than 2011, according to Russias Tass news agency.

The religious groups activity was accompanied by violence against individuals and other harm to their health," said IC spokesman Vladimir Markin.

He gave no details of the violence to Tass but said the cult was raising money online.

Aum Shinrikyo was banned in Russia and other countries after it launched a 1995 sarin nerve gas attack in the Tokyo subway that killed 13 people.

The cults leader, Shoko Asahara, has been on death row in Japan for more than a decade.

The raids followed the March detention and deportation from Montenegro of 58 foreigners associated with Aum Shinrikyo; 43 were Russian citizens.

These raids, they were rather unexpected, actually, because nothing could be heard about this cult lately in Russia or Moscow, professor Boris Falikov, of the Center of Religious Studies of the Russian State Humanitarian University, told VOA.

Falikov said the Japanese cult was popular in Russia in the 1990s but went underground after it was outlawed.

He attributed the raids to a Russian Orthodox Church-supported crackdown on fringe religious groups and cults that seek to attract new members.
The massive leak of confidential banking documents known as the Panama Papers has implicated some big names in Africa. The documents, described as the biggest data leak in history show how 143 politicians, including 12 national leaders, have used offshore tax havens and other means to avoid taxes and sanctions.

Some of the Africans mentioned in the documents include a nephew of South African President Jacob Zuma, the twin sister of Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila, the jailed former governor of Nigerias oil-rich Delta State, and the petroleum minister of Angola, Africas second-biggest oil producer behind Nigeria.

Stanley Achonu is operations manager for Budgit, a civic organization that works to simplify the Nigerian federal budget for ordinary Nigerians. He said while the use of offshore facilities is not in itself a crime, the leak confirms what Africans have known all along about some of their leaders, that they use these offshore bank accounts to conceal stolen public funds.

This is not new. The revelation is things that we have always known. But it now makes sense to have a paper trail backing up things that we have heard in the past, he said.

James Ibori, governor of Nigerias oil-rich Delta State from 1999 to 2007, pleaded guilty in a London court in 2012 to conspiracy to defraud and money laundering offences. Ibori admitted using his position as governor to corruptly obtain and divert up to $75 million out of Nigeria through a network of offshore companies, although authorities alleged that the total amount he embezzled may have exceeded $250 million. Ibori received a 13-year prison sentence.

Achonu said the leaked data will bolster President Muhammadu Buharis effort to recover stolen public funds.

This confirms all he has said in recent months about how huge sums of money was stolen by both elected and appointed officials. I believe that this revelation will further provide evidence for the anti-corruption fight, Achonu said.

The leaked Panama papers also named the nephew of South African President Jacob Zuma.

Zumas nephew -- Khulubuse Zuma -- was listed as a representative of Caprikat Limitedone of two offshore companies that allegedly acquired oilfields in Democratic Republic of Congo in a $6.8 million deal in 2010. Caprikat is registered in the British Virgin Islands, the main offshore tax haven involved in the Panama Papers.

Khulubuse Zumas spokesperson Vuyo Mkhize said Monday that Khulubuse does not, and has never held any offshore bank account and that the Panama Papers simply suggested he was associated with Caprikat, which was a matter of public record.

The revelation could not have come at a worse time for President Jacob Zuma as South Africa's parliament is scheduled to open a debate Tuesday on an opposition motion to impeach him for violating the constitution.

The Constitutional Court ruled last week that Zuma "failed to uphold, defend, and respect the constitution" by failing to pay back some of the public funds he used to make improvements on his private home.

Zuma said in a televised address to the nation last week that he "never knowingly or deliberately set out to violate the constitution, which is the supreme law of the republic." Achonu said its about time South Africans make a decision about what to do about their president.

For me its not just about South Africa. Its also about the larger role that South Africa plays in Africa, one of the biggest countries, only second to Nigeria. South Africa cannot afford to have a president who has been tainted on all sides with respect to scandals, Achonu said.

The documents also mentioned Jaynet Desiree Kabila, twin sister of Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila. She has been a member of parliament since 2012. She is allegedly linked to Keratsu Holding Limited, a company incorporated in the Pacific island of Niue in June 2001, months before her brother was elected as president. Kyungu has yet to comment on the allegations.

Achonu said while the use of offshore facilities is not in itself a crime, the leak confirms what Africans have known all along about some of their leaders, that they use these offshore bank accounts to conceal stolen public funds.

I wouldn't want to reduce the data being released to just tax evasion. Especially in Africa, its most likely a case of people who have stolen public funds which they cannot justify using their regular income based on the position they hold in government and are now trying to hid their assets and wealth through offshore companies, he said.

Other Africans mentioned the alleged leaked date include Kenyas deputy chief justice Kalpana Rawal and the widow of former Guinean President Lansana Conte, Mamadie Toure.

A Newsweek magazine article said U.S. authorities allege that Toure received $5.3 million in bribes to help a mining company obtain rights to the worlds richest iron ore deposit.

It said in 2014, U.S. authorities raided Toures Florida home, seizing properties, restaurant equipment and an ice cream cooler collectively worth more than $1 million.

The son of former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan is also mentioned in the alleged leaked Panama papers.

According to Newsweek, the Swiss company Cotecna hired Kojo Annan in 1995 for work in Nigeria. By early 1998, he had quit to become a consultant to Cotecna. Months later, the United Nations awarded the firm a contract as part of Oil-for-Food humanitarian program in Iraq, prompting allegations of impropriety. An independent panel investigated the program, including Kojo Annan, and issued a report in 2005 that found no evidence that he tried to influence or to use family connections to benefit from the program.

Alaa Mubarak, the son of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is also mentioned in the papers as well as Ian Stuart Kirby, president of the Court of Appeal in Botswana, and former Zambian Ambassador to the United States, Attan Shansonga.
South African President Jacob Zuma survived an impeachment vote Tuesday, with about 60 percent of lawmakers voting to keep him in office. Opposition parties presented the impeachment motion after a court ruled Zuma had ignored an order to pay back state funds spent on his private home. Tempers ran hot as parliament members debated the motion Tuesday.

An hour into the parliamentary session, lawmakers were yet to discuss the motion to impeach Zuma.

Lawmakers were instead trading arguments and insults over the oppositions demand that the National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete recuse herself.

The debate comes less than a week after the Constitutional Court ordered Zuma to pay back part of the $16 million in public funds used for upgrades to his private home last year.

The court said the president violated the constitution by disregarding the Public Protector's recommendation for him to pay for non-security-related features built using these funds.

The court also found fault with parliament. A parliamentary committee had said Zuma did not need to repay the money. The Constitutional Court said lawmakers failed to hold the executive to account.

In a nationally televised speech Friday, Zuma apologized.

Opposition parties want Zuma removed from office but do not have the two-thirds majority vote in parliament to impeach him.

The ruling ANC party has rallied around the president. Coming out of a strategy session Monday, ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe made it clear that his party is ready to use its majority to oppose the impeachment motion.



If they want to make motions because it makes sense for them and it gives them public attention, then fine," said Mantashe. "We cant stop them from doing it.



Zuma support cracking

But there are signs of cracks within Zumas support base. The army union, ANC war veterans and former senior government officials are some of those who have called for Zuma to go.



Political analyst Sanusha Naidu says defending Zuma will be damaging for ANC members of parliament.



You have got domestic public opinion on the outside as well," Naidu said. "So its going to be a difficulty, because those that are going to try and circumvent it, have to make sure that they really want to do this in a public standing in the way they want to.

The Democratic Alliance party is calling on ANC lawmakers to break ranks and back impeachment. The Economic Freedom Fighters party says if the motion fails in parliament, they will take to the streets.




South Korea said Tuesday it has concluded that North Korea is now capable of mounting a nuclear warhead on its medium-range missiles.

"We believe they have accomplished miniaturization of a nuclear warhead to mount it on a Rodong missile," a Seoul official said of Pyongyang's weapons program.

The official said Seoul has no evidence that North Korea had actually deployed such a nuclear-tipped missile, but the new assessment is the first direct acknowledgement of the North's growing nuclear prowess.

The Rodong missile can fire a 500-kilogram warhead a distance of up to 2,000 kilometers, which would put all of South Korea, most of Japan and parts of Russia and China in range.

Rodong stockpile

South Korea said it believes Pyongyang has a stockpile of 200 Rodong missiles, but may be years from being able to develop a nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile that could target the United States.

The South Korean assessment of the North's nuclear missile capability comes as a U.S. think tank, the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University, said that recent satellite images of North Korea's main nuclear complex show suspicious activity that could indicate it is reprocessing plutonium for additional nuclear bombs.

The think tank's analysis focused on exhaust fumes from a steam plant used to heat a radiochemical laboratory facility at North Korea's Yongbyon complex.

North Korea has carried out four nuclear tests -- the most recent in early January -- and test-fired missiles in defiance of sanctions against such tests imposed by the United Nations Security Council.

Chief ally

China, North Korea's chief ally, stiffened its resolve Tuesday against North Korea because of the tests, banning most imports of North Korea coal and iron ore, the communist country's main exports.

In addition, Beijing's new restrictions ban most imports of North Korean gold, titanium, vanadium and rare earths, a key revenue source for the mineral-rich North.

In 2013, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency estimated North Korea's exports at $4.4 billion, with 65 percent of that going to China.

China has balked at previous efforts demanded by the U.S. and other governments to curb trade with North Korea.
Officials in Afghanistan say that a suicide blast in the central Parwan province Tuesday killed at least six people and wounded at least 22 others.

Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Seddiqi confirmed the attack in the Siah Gerd district, saying almost all the victims were civilians, including women.

He told a news conference in the capital Kabul that police identified the attacker and tried to stop him at a security checkpoint when he detonated the bomb.

There were no immediate claims of responsibility, but Afghan officials blame the Taliban-led insurgents for being behind such attacks.

'Terrorist safe havens'

Without naming Pakistan, Seddiqi again blamed terrorist safe havens across the border for fueling the violence in Afghanistan.

Unfortunately, our enemies are out of Afghanistan and enjoy safe havens there and those bases of terrorism have not yet been destroyed, said the interior ministry spokesman.

Kabul insists senior Taliban leaders are sheltering and directing the Afghan insurgency from Pakistan with the help of that countrys spy agency, charges Islamabad denies.

Separately, Afghan media reported that a predawn suspected U.S. drone strike in eastern Nangarhar province killed at least six militants linked to the Islamic State (IS) group, including a senior commander.

Afghan security forces have struggled throughout 2015 to keep the Taliban from capturing any significant urban center. The insurgents had briefly overrun the northern city of Kunduz in September.

Afghan forces

The U.S. commander of the NATO-led Resolute Support mission said Monday that the international coalition is behind schedule in training and building up Afghan security forces because of intense fighting and high casualties.

General John Nicholson told Reuters that fighting the Taliban, al-Qaida and even IS militants is taking up all the time and resources of the Afghan government forces.

He said that Afghan forces lost 5,500 personnel while another 14,000 were wounded in 2015.

Internationally backed efforts to push the Taliban to the table for peace talks with the Afghan government have not succeeded so far because the insurgent group refused to attend a meeting planned last month.

Peace talks

Meanwhile, the second-largest Afghan insurgent group, Hezb-i-Islami, said it is no longer insisting on the withdrawal of all U.S.-led foreign forces from Afghanistan.

The group, which is led by Afghan warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar has recently opened talks with Kabul. Its top negotiator Amin Karim told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the key condition has been dropped to sustain the nascent peace process.

Hekmatyar is designated a "global terrorist" by the United States and blacklisted by the United Nations.
Donald Trump, the front-runner for the U.S. Republican presidential nomination, said Tuesday he would force Mexico to pay for a border wall to block the stream of illegal immigrants into the United States by threatening to cut off billions of dollars that Mexicans already in the U.S. send home to family members.

But later in the day, President Barack Obama denounced the idea, saying that world leaders "don't expect half-baked notions coming out of the White House."

Obama said that hobbling the Mexican economy by cutting off remittances from Mexicans who work in the U.S. to families in their homeland could lead to even more attempts by immigrants to try to flee to the United States. He said Trump's idea was "primarily put forward for political consumption."

Trump's call for a massive, impenetrable wall along the southern U.S. border with Mexico has been a cornerstone of his unexpected surge to the top of the Republican nomination contest, routinely drawing cheers at his campaign rallies from his supporters who want to curb illegal immigration into the country.

Remittances targeted

His critics have often scoffed at his idea and Trump had provided few clues about how he would pay for what he says would be an $8 billion, 1,600-kilometer wall. But in a two-page memo he sent to The Washington Post, the billionaire real estate mogul said that if he is elected president he would threaten to change a rule under a U.S. anti-terrorism law to cut off the remittances sent home by Mexican immigrants in the U.S., many of whom crossed the border illegally.

There are about 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the U.S., about half of them Mexicans, and millions more Mexicans live in the U.S. legally or have become U.S. citizens.

Mexicans living abroad, not just in the U.S., annually send about $25 billion home to relatives and friends. Trump said "the majority of that amount comes from illegal aliens."

Some analysts say that withdrawing a large portion of the amount sent home could devastate the weak economy in Mexico, a staunch ally of the United States.

But Trump said he would withdraw the threat if Mexico made "a one-time payment" of $5 billion to $10 billion to pay for the wall.

Mexico will not pay

Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto has said his country has no intention of paying for Trump's prospective wall, a position echoed by former Mexican officials.

While Trump is most associated with his build-a-wall proposal, his chief rival for the Republican presidential nomination, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, says his first priority for immigration reform would be to secure the U.S.-Mexican border.

Cruz, a conservative firebrand, says he would complete a partially constructed barrier that already exists and triple the number of U.S. border agents.

The border proposals come at the time when government officials say there is no net flow of illegal immigrants into the U.S., with as many entering illegally as there are returning to Mexico and Central American countries to the south. The overall number of Mexicans living illegally in the U.S. has dropped in recent years, down about a million since 2007.
If the past is an accurate predictor, President Park Geun-hyes conservative ruling Saenuri Party should benefit in the upcoming South Korean legislative elections from both North Koreas most recent nuclear provocation and from U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trumps criticism of the U.S., South Korean military alliance.

When tensions are heightened due to North Korea, conservatives usually gain votes, said political analyst Hwang Tae-soon with Wisdom Center think-tank in Seoul.

All 300 seats in the South Korean National Assembly will be selected during the April 13 election, with voters directly choosing 253 district representatives and 47 seats being proportionally awarded to parties that win the most overall votes.

Conservatives have been in power in South Korea since 2007 and President Park was elected to her single five-year presidential term in 2013.

The opposition is framing the vote as a referendum on Parks policies, and its outcome will determine the degree to which she will be able to pursue her legislative agenda for the remainder of her term.

National security

The Saenuri Partys approval rating went up following North Koreas fourth nuclear test conducted in January, its recent long-range rocket launch using ballistic missile technology and threats to launch a preemptive nuclear strike against the South. Polls indicated a spike in public support for Parks strong stance in favor of punitive economic sanctions and for closing down the jointly run Kaesong industrial complex.

Prior to the 2013 election a North Korean long-range rocket launch increased voter concern over national security issues and helped increase the margin of victory for Park and the Saenuri Party.

Criticism of the U.S., South Korea security alliance from Donald Trump, the front running U.S. Presidential candidate for the Republican Party, may also impact the race in favor of conservative candidates.

Trump has said he would consider withdrawing many of the more than 150,000 American troops stationed in South Korea, Japan, Germany, and around the world if the U.S. does not get fairly compensated for helping defend those countries.

He recently implied that the U.S. would not defend Japan if North Korea launched a nuclear attack against it, and indicated he would support Americas Asian allies in acquiring their own nuclear weapons to defend against a nuclear North Korea.

While Trump is speaking only as a candidate and not as president, his comments cast doubt on the U.S. commitment to its security alliance with South Korea.

This situation may lead to a collection of more votes for conservatives as they claim South Korea needs to have a more firm and strong position against North Korea, said Hwang.

However national security concerns may only have a marginal impact on this election as the social liberal opposition has tried to downplay its past support for engagement with the North and has instead focused on the economy.

The economy

Saenuris opponents want to make the election about jobs.

Saenuri has backed a corporate friendly economic agenda, expanding free trade agreements, tax breaks for businesses and concessions from labor.

These policies, critics say, have resulted in stagnant wages for many, jobs moving to lower wage countries and a drop in exports, due in large part to the economic slowdown in China.

Last year tens of thousands of labor supporters participated in mass protests to oppose a labor reform bill backed by Park to make it easier for employers to fire workers.

At one rally in November, protesters fought police with steel pipes and police used water cannons and barricades to stop the crowd. Some of the leaders were arrested for organizing illegal demonstrations and human rights groups criticized Park for suppressing freedom of speech.

Party conflicts

Saenuri currently holds 146 seats in the National Assembly. The leadership had earlier predicted increasing its margin to 180 seats, giving it a 60 percent majority and the power to override any opposition attempts to block legislation.

However the party is now defining victory as winning a straight majority of 150 seats, after a number of Saenuri candidates defected from the party when the leadership did not back them during the nomination process and are now running as independents.

During the candidate selection process, we upset our people and (the number of) our supporters who may not vote is worse [than we expected], said An Hyung-hwan, the spokesman of the Saenuri Party on Monday.

The main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea is also divided. Minjoo is looking to boost its 102 seat margin to 130 seats. But an additional group of 20 legislators who were part of the Minjoo delegation, have split off to form the separate People's Party.

There is concern that in hotly contested districts, the two opposition candidates will split the liberal vote and assure the conservative Saenuri candidates a higher percentage of the fragmented field.

Still, nothing is for certain as over 80 races at this point are still considered too close to call.
Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye was re-arrested Tuesday just hours after he left his home.

The move came despite assurances by authorities that he was free to attend prayers at his party headquarters Tuesday.

Besigye, who often draws large crowds wherever he travels, had been under house arrest since the presidential poll on February 18.

His arrest came as supporters joined his procession from the outskirts of Kampala and followed him as he made his way into the city.

Besigye was taken to Nagalama police station outside Kampala. A police spokesperson said he has been charged with participating in an unlawful procession.



Besigye was arrested several times in the run-up to the February 18 polls. He was placed under house arrest for a month and half after the vote.



President Yoweri Museveni won that poll with 60 percent of the vote. This is his fifth term in office. Besiyge placed second with 35 percent. He said there were irregularities, but his detention prevented him from contesting results in court.



Besigye's supporters have voiced growing frustration.

We feel as if we are living in a country which is not ours. We really feel that this country is being owned by one person, and that is President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni. We think that this country is for him and his family members, said one supporter.



Besiyges arrest Tuesday comes three days after the inspector general of police ordered security officials to withdraw from outside of Besigye's residence.
A British journalist who runs a website that documents North Korean technology issues said Tuesday that he'll appeal a decision by South Korean authorities to block his site for allegedly violating the country's National Security Law.

Martyn Williams, whose North Korea Tech website has been blocked in South Korea for almost two weeks, said the site does not violate the security law, which bans praising, sympathizing or cooperating with North Korea. The website "doesn't seek to glorify or support North Korea,'' Williams, who is based in San Francisco, said in an email.



Williams has written about issues ranging from cellphone usage in North Korea and its satellite technology, to a little-known computer operating system developed by North Koreans. He said much of the content on his website is based on announcements made by the North and South Korean governments and reports in the media.



The South's Korea Communications Standards Commission confirmed Tuesday that it decided on March 24 to block the site because it allegedly violated the security law. The censorship body blocks websites deemed illegal or harmful to society, such as pornography, gambling and North Korea's official outlets.



The National Security Law has its origins in the founding of South Korea in 1948 as a bastion of anti-communism on the doorstep of the Soviet-backed North. Critics say the law raises questions about freedom of expression in the democratic country.



Many of the readers of North Korea Tech are researchers, journalists, diplomats, academics and others interested in North Korea. Since it was launched in 2010, the website has been frequently cited by both Korean and international media, including South Korea's Yonhap News Agency and Dong-A Ilbo daily newspaper. The website gets about 20,000 monthly visits.



Since late March, users accessing North Korea Tech from South Korea have been redirected to a warning page saying it is ``legally'' blocked due to "illegal or harmful information.''



Sohn Jiwon, a lawyer with the Seoul-based Korea Internet Transparency Report, said the blocking of the website highlights how South Korean authorities sometimes censor content that does not threaten the country's democracy. "As a result, journalists' right to know about North Korea-related issues is being violated,'' she said.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has expressed grave concern over a surge of mob killings in Malawi against people accused of murder and, in some cases, suspected of witchcraft.

U.N. monitors say at least 16 people reportedly have been killed across Malawi over the past two months. The U.N. human rights office says it does not know what is triggering the increase in killings.

In one instance, according to spokeswoman Cecile Pouilly, a mob stormed a police station, taking a man out of his cell and killing him. She says it happened in the city of Dedza, located 85 kilometers from the capital, Lilongwe. She adds the population is frightened and very worried.

In by far the worst incident reported this year, seven people accused of possessing human bones were attacked and set on fire by a mob on 1 March in Nsanjes district ," said Pouilly. " On 25 January, four elderly members of the same family were also beaten and killed by a mob in Neno District after being accused of using witchcraft to kill a 17-year-old woman by lightning.

Albinos targeted



Pouilly tells VOA at least one albino is known to have been killed for his or her body parts. Malawi is one of several African countries where a flourishing trade in such parts exists under the mistaken belief they bring good luck and political success.

Pouilly says the U.N. independent expert on people with albinism will go on a fact-finding mission to Malawi in a couple of weeks and look into the case. She says her office is calling on authorities in Malawi to address the root causes of the mob attacks.

There are a number of things that need to be looked at, including what seems to be the lack of trust that the population seems to have in its own justice system," said Pouilly. "So, there have been allegations in some cases that police forces have not intervened when these killings were taking place. So, those also are serious allegations that we think the Malawi government needs to look into.

The U.N. human rights office is urging the government to promptly identify and prosecute those involved in mob killings, and to compensate the victims.
Attendees at a two-day U.N. conference on terrorism will focus on measures to prevent violent extremism from gaining a foothold and spreading, a U.N. official said Tuesday.

Jehangir Khan, the director of the U.N. Counter-Terrorism Center, said violent extremism is "mushrooming" and is a "clear and present danger" around the world.

"Everybody is potentially affected by violent extremism. Nobody is spared," Khan said, insisting that "the need for international cooperation has never been more than now."

Countering terrorism

Up to now, the international response to countering terrorism has been through military, security, and law-and-order measures. All those measures are necessary to deal with the threats posed by Islamic State, Boko Haram and other terrorist groups, he said.

However, Khan said measures to prevent violent extremism from gaining a foothold and spreading also are important.

"The security, military logic, while necessary, has shown its limits," he said, stressing that strategies aimed at preventing youths from radicalizing in the first place need to be given far more attention.

In January, Ban outlined a four-point plan of action, asking all countries to create national plans to address the growing threat of violent extremism.

Khan said Ban's recommendations reject all forms of discrimination, Islamophobia and xenophobia in its implementation.

Counter-productive

Experts have warned that tough, sometimes brutal measures taken by some countries in the fight against extremism can be counter-productive by pushing more people to radicalize.

The secretary-general, in his plan of action, has stated very clearly that violent extremism has no religion, has no ethnicity, has no culture. (It) is a global evil," Khan said.

He said the U.N. chief's plan of action is focused particularly on the roughly 1.8 billion young people in the world, who are vulnerable to recruitment by terrorist groups. He said youth are being directly targeted by terrorist groups and radicalized.

They are a very positive asset, but they are at the same time, very vulnerable. We have even young children who are being recruited and blowing themselves up. And, linked with youth is what I call the new Molotov cocktail. This is the new Molotov cocktail," Khan said.

Focus on youth

Khan held up his smartphone and described how the device and many social media outlets are being used by violent extremists to mobilize young people to commit human rights and terrorist offenses.

He said Ban's plan of action also recommends a broad range of measures, from boosting education to promoting human rights.

More than 800 people are expected to attend the April 7-8 conference in Geneva.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will be among the leaders addressing the high-level segment of the conference, which the U.N. and Swiss government are hosting.
The U.S. State Department has officially designated Salah Abdeslam, the main suspect in the 2015 terror attacks in France, as a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist."

The order, announced in a statement Tuesday, said," All property subject to U.S. jurisdiction in which Abdeslam has any interest is blocked and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with him.

"Belgian-born French citizen Salah Abdeslam is an operative for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a U.S. Department of State designated Foreign Terrorist Organization," it said.

Paris terror attacks

Abdeslam is accused of helping plan the November 13 terror attacks in Paris that killed 130 people at multiple locations. He allegedly rented rooms for the suicide bombers and bought explosives.

"Witnesses identified Abdeslam as the driver of a car full of gunmen that killed patrons at numerous restaurants in Paris," the State Department said.

Authorities found his DNA both on a discarded suicide belt and on traces of explosives in a Brussels apartment, the statement said.

Brussels attacks

Abdeslam was captured in Belgium on March 18 after more than four months on the run.

Days after his arrest, the Belgian capital, Brussels, was hit by suicide bombings at the main airport and a subway station.

The State Department release said a terrorism designation is "one of the ways the United States can expose and isolate organizations and individuals engaged in terrorism, impose serious sanctions on them, and enable coordinated action across the U.S. government and with our international partners" to disrupt activities.
The United States says it has no plans to give Iran access to the U.S. financial system in any dollar-denominated transactions between Iran and businesses in other countries.

State Department spokesman Mark Toner said certain sanctions would have to be lifted first. Under current sanctions, Iran is barred from any direct dealings with U.S. banks and investment houses.

Toner referred to President Barack Obama's comments last week that businesses that do want to deal with Iran in dollars could do so through European banks.

Iran has complained that its badly battered economy has not yet seen any benefits after some sanctions were lifted when a deal was signed to curb its nuclear program.

Obama said that so far, Iran has followed the letter of the nuclear deal. But he said last week that its "provocative" actions may be scaring off businesses.

"When they [Iran] launch ballistic missiles with slogans calling for the destruction of Israel, that makes businesses nervous," he said.
The United States and NATO allies have conducted nearly 100 counterterrorism strikes in Afghanistan this year that mostly targeted Islamic State fighters and significantly reduced their numbers in the country, a spokesman said Tuesday.

U.S. Army General Charles Cleveland said in Kabul the counterterrorism strikes primarily focused on the eastern Nangarhar region bordering Pakistan.

Quoting earlier U.S. military estimates, Cleveland said there were up to 3,000 IS fighters operating in six or eight districts of the mountainous province since early 2015, when the Middle Eastern terror group emerged on the Afghan scene.

Reduced activities

During the past few weeks those numbers have been reduced to around 1,000, he said, adding IS activities have also been confined to at least one district.

Some of the kinetic strikes were carried out against al-Qaida militants, Cleveland noted.

The U.S. counterterrorism mission in Afghanistan began to focus on IS in January, after it was authorized to aggressively and actively target the group, he said.

From the first of January of this year until the 31st of March, U.S. forces have taken just under 100 kinetic counterterrorism strikes. The majority of those have really been in the Nangarhar area and the majority have been focused on Daesh, Cleveland noted, using the Arabic acronym for Islamic State militants.

General Cleveland said the U.S. military believes IS is primarily composed of disaffected fighters of the Pakistani Taliban extremist group and some militants of the Afghan Taliban frustrated with its new leadership.

He also confirmed that Afghan security forces lost about 5,500 personnel in the fight against Taliban insurgents in 2015.

Increase in casualties

The figure shows a 30 percent increase in the number of casualties Afghan forces suffered in 2014 when they had the backing of NATO forces.

But Cleveland dismissed widespread impressions the Taliban has managed to control one-third of the Afghan territory

That is just not true. You can make the argument that one-third of the country is contested. ... But at the end of the day, we know that one-third of the nation is not under the control of the Taliban, he asserted.

Cleveland warned the coalition fully expects the Taliban are going to become a lot more decisively engaged in this years fighting, but Afghan forces were capable of dealing with the threat.

NATOs Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan of around 13,000 troops, mostly Americans, are authorized to conduct counterterrorism operations and train Afghan forces.
U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday championed the government's new steps to try to make it less attractive for American companies to cut their U.S. tax bills by buying foreign companies to technically move their headquarters overseas while retaining operations in the United States.

Obama said the practice, known as a tax inversion, is "one of the most insidious tax loopholes" and called on the Republican-controlled Congress to permanently ban it.

He said tax avoidance "is a big global problem. A lot of it is legal and that's the problem. They're gaming the system. A lot of these loopholes come at the expense of middle class families. This is all net outflow of money that could be used here in the United States" to improve roads, schools and other government programs.

New regulations



Obama commented a day after the Treasury Department issued 300 pages of new regulations that include a limit on internal corporate borrowing. Companies use that to "strip" earnings from a U.S. subsidiary by having it borrow money from the parent company overseas, and then deduct the interest it repays to the parent in order to lower its U.S. tax bill.

Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said ultimately it is up to Congress to pass new legislation to prevent companies from using corporate tax inversions. He said until then, creative accountants will find new ways to avoid paying U.S. taxes.

The tax inversion process usually involves a larger U.S. firm buying a smaller foreign one that is located in a country with lower taxes. That is the case in the $160 billion merger announced in November between the U.S.-based drug company Pfizer and Ireland's Allergan company, which said they are reviewing the new rules.
U.S. law enforcement officials say 21 people have been arrested for their alleged involvement in a conspiracy that allowed over 1,000 foreigners to stay in the country under the pretense of attending or working for a fake university.

The defendants were aware that the University of Northern New Jersey had no instructors, classes or degree programs, but they did not know it was created by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The fake university, complete with a convincing website and a promise of "an exceptional educational experience," was created in 2013 in an effort by Homeland Security to curb visa fraud in the U.S.

U.S. attorney for New Jersey Paul Fishman told reporters that visa brokers and recruiters flocked to the fake university as word got out, one even admitting to Fishman that this was a long-standing practice, "just another stop on the pay-to-stay' tour."

The 21 defendants, who are mostly in the U.S. legally, have been charged with conspiracy to commit visa fraud and conspiracy to harbor aliens for profit.

Most of the foreign nationals who benefited from the scam come from India and China and were already in the U.S. on non-immigrant visas but looking for ways to stay. They have been identified and will be dealt with by immigration authorities, but not prosecuted, Fishman said.

Currently, the majority of the 1.2 million students on student visas in the U.S. are attending legitimate universities, government officials told the New York Times.

Several cases of student visa fraud have been reported across the country, creating security concerns for immigration officials under increasing pressure to screen visa applicants for potential terrorism ties.
Vietnam has confirmed its first two cases of the mosquito-borne Zika virus.

The Health Ministry said Tuesday a 64-year-old woman in the popular beach resort of Nha Trang, and a 33-year-old woman in Ho Chi Minh tested positive for the Zika virus in late March, after they were both hospitalized with fevers, eye strain and rashes.

State media says the 33-year-old woman is pregnant. Both women are said to be in stable condition.

Most Zika cases are mild and many victims never show any symptoms.

But the virus is suspected of causing pregnant women to give birth to babies affected by microcephaly -- a birth defect in which babies have unusually-small heads and brains.

Brazil, which has been hardest-hit by Zika, has reported more than 4,000 cases of microcephaly since October.

The World Health Organization has declared the Zika outbreak an international health emergency.
Zimbabwe's leading platinum-mining firm, Zimplats Holdings, allegedly used an offshore company to pay salaries for senior managers in violation of exchange control laws, according to documents leaked from a Panamanian law firm.

The allegations are part of a wide-ranging investigation into the global use of offshore tax havens that has led to calls for an urgent full investigation by Zimplats' majority shareholder, the South African firm Implats.

The so-called Panama Papers were first provided to the German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung, which shared them with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. That group coordinated a comprehensive review with reporting partners from 76 nations, including VOAs Zimbabwe Service.

The documents from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca indicate that accountants Northern Wychwood used Mossack Fonseca to register a company named HR Consultancy in the Isle of Man to handle payments for senior managers of Zimplats Holdings limited.

We receive the funds to cover the total salaries from Zimplats and pay the managers accordingly, said a leaked correspondence dated November 5, 2012.

The documents claim that the senior managers to be paid by HR Consultancy are Zimbabwean citizens, but they do not list the names of the supposed recipients or the amounts allegedly paid.

Zimplats denies any involvement with HR Consultancy or transactions outlined in the leaked documents.

Zimbabwe Platinum Mines Private Limited has no relationship with the companies listed, said Busi Chindove, Zimplats head of corporate affairs.

Zimplats is 87 percent owned by the South African firm Implats.

Implats spokesman Johan Theron said Implats has no knowledge of HR Consultancy.

As far as I could establish, we have never conducted any business with such an entity, Theron said.

He said Implats has prioritized transparency in all our dealings and gone out of our way to transact fairly, openly, and to transact and pay taxes in the countries in which we operate as far as possible.

Initiating 'full investigation'

He welcomed the Panama Papers disclosure and said Implats will initiate an urgent full investigation into the purported Zimplats links with the Zimbabwe authorities.

Documents reviewed by the VOA Zimbabwe Service program Studio7 show that Northern Wychwood continues to update HR Consultancys certificate of incumbency, with the latest filing done through Mossack Fonseca last year.

Zimbabwe Central Bank Governor John Mangudya said Zimplats alleged behavior would not be in line with government policy.

There is no company or firm in Zimbabwe that is authorized to operate offshore accounts for the purpose of paying its senior managers who are Zimbabweans and working in Zimbabwe. That practice bodes around externalization and thus typical case of illicit financial flows, said Mangudya in a written statement.

Zimbabwe is not aware of that practice, which, if proven, is a blatant violation of the countrys exchange control policy. Violation of exchange control rules and regulations is punishable offense, he explained.

The law firm documents identify the shareholder of HR Consultancy as Hanoverian Limited, based in the British Virgin Islands. Hanoverian Limited lists Palatinate Limited as its corporate director.

In turn, Palatinate Limiteds directors are Hanoverian Limited, Bryan Campion Ellis, Peter Whitney Fearnhead and Shaun Fergusson Cairns.

Asked whether Northern Wychwood provides consultancy to Palatinate, Hanoverian and HR Consultancy, Northern Wychwood accountant Donna Summers told VOA: We do not comment on matters pertaining to our clients.

Repeated calls for further comment from Summers went unanswered.

Refused comment

Mossack Fonseca corporate liaison officer Jordan Spencer also refused to comment on his companys relationship with HR Consultancy, Zimplats or Northern Wychwood, telling VOA, We are not allowed to give any information about our clients to third parties.

A source of funds or wealth declaration form signed by Palatinate in July last year said it is a director on Northern Wychwood Limited client companies. It lists Zimbabwe, South Africa, United Kingdom and Isle of Man as countries where its activities are conducted.

Directors Cairns, Ellis and Fearnhead did not respond to requests for comment.

Fearnhead was a director at the now dissolved African Minerals Development Limited. Ellis is a Zimbabwe-born accountant who once worked for the British firm FIHZL. Cairns posted on an old students social network that he worked for De Beers before setting up a trust fund in Isle of Man 1993. He lists an email address at Northern Wychwood.

Zimbabwe former Minister of Finance Tendai Biti oversaw Central Bank operations between 2009 and 2013.

Biti told VOA that if Zimplats set up an offshore company to pay salaries for its managers, then the managers at Zimplats also evaded paying taxes since they were being remunerated for work they did on Zimbabwean soil.

He said externalizing funds would violate several laws, including the Exchange Control Regulation of 1996, the Serious Offenses Act, and the Anti-Money Laundering Act.

A recent Zimbabwe Central Bank report says the country lost $3 billion through illicit financial flows between 2009 and 2012, while Africa as a whole lost $3 trillion in illicit financial flows during the same period.

Central Bank Governor Mangudya told the media in December that Zimbabwe lost more than $500 million in illicit financial flows in 2015 -- money which should have benefited the countrys struggling economy, he added.

The Panama Papers highlight the extent of shady offshore dealings that have robbed many countries of billions of dollars in taxes.

In its report, ICIJ said major banks are the big drivers behind the creation of hard-to-trace shell companies in the British Virgins Islands, Panama and other offshore havens.

Massive leak

The ICIJ said the revelations in this unprecedented global investigation into more than 11.5 million secret files are the first to highlight the extent of secret business done by banks, law firms and other middlemen that hide extraordinary  and often illegal  wealth.

Suddeutsche Zeitung reporting found tax authorities from several countries, including Germany, Britain, Iceland and the United States, have also acquired internal Mossack Fonseca data from a whistleblower. But the newspaper said that information trove is smaller and older than the documents released Sunday.

In February 2015, a cache of Mossack Fonseca documents obtained by German authorities led to a series of raids on German banks by investigators looking into possible money laundering and tax evasion.

Several banks  among them Germany's second-largest bank, Commerzbank  agreed to pay millions of euros in fines for helping customers evade taxes.

According to Suddeutsche Zeitung, German authorities are also considering legal action against Mossack Fonseca due to possible contribution to tax evasion.
More than 125 million people are living in crisis-affected countries, the World Health Organization reports, saying the three greatest emergencies are Syria, Yemen and Iraq.

The agency is appealing for $2.2 billion to come to terms with the escalating health crisis, in an effort to provide life-saving health care to 87 million people in more than 30 countries.

In Syria, the agency says 11.5 million people need essential medicines and primary health care, as well as trauma care and mental health care.

WHO says special care for mothers and children, as well as essential medicine and other health care, are needed by more than seven million people in Iraq and 10.6 million in Yemen.

In South Sudan, the focus of aid for 2.3 million people will be on combating child mortality by preventing and treating malaria, diarrhea and pneumonia, according to WHO.

Health care threatened

War and violence have wreaked havoc on these countries, says Rick Brennan, WHO's director of emergency risk management and humanitarian response. The destruction has been felt in the loss of health infrastructure, the loss of staff, and the disruption of health programs like vaccination programs, according to Brennan.

I think the other issue is that none of these emergencies is going away any time soon, he said. So, we have to shift the way that we think about providing assistance there  not only to meeting acute needs, but working with partners on the ground to increase their resilience and their capacity to provide assistance."

Brennan says natural disasters also are of concern. He cites the health consequences of the El Nino weather phenomenon on countries such as Ethiopia, where some 400,000 children are suffering acute malnutrition.

In addition, the U.N. agency and its partners are responding to sudden onset emergencies such as Cyclone Winston that hit Fiji in February, epidemics such as the Zika virus in Brazil, a severe outbreak of yellow fever in Angola  the worst in 30 years  and the remaining risks of Ebola in West Africa.
Polls opened for Democratic and Republican presidential primary voting in Wisconsin Tuesday, where Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders are looking for big nights to overcome the leaders for their party's nominations.

Republicans intent on blocking billionaire businessman Donald Trump face a key test in the state, perhaps their best chance to slow down the front-runner's campaign and his hopes of securing the 1,237 committed delegates before the July party convention in Cleveland.

Denying Trump the delegates he needs to claim the nomination before July could lead to a contested convention in Cleveland, an uncertain outcome Trump supporters would love to avoid.

Latest polls

The latest polls in Wisconsin put Trump's rival, Cruz, in the lead with Ohio Governor John Kasich trailing well behind.

Trump has campaigned in Wisconsin with the hope of putting behind him last weeks problems, which included a notable misstep on abortion and a vehement defense of campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, who faces a battery charge in Florida for allegedly grabbing a reporters arm last month.

Hes had a terrible, terrible week or 10 days where hes been on the defensive, for a guy who in the past has been on the offensive," Norman Ornstein, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), told VOA. "Hes shown tremendous weaknesses as a candidate and as a potential president."

Trump has tried to rally Wisconsin voters by reminding them of his initial appeal as a political outsider ready to bring a businessmans ethic to the White House.

Im really a good businessman. Im so good at business, oh, you people are going to be so rich so fast you dont even know. You dont know how rich you are going to be, Trump told supporters at a rally in Wausau, Wisconsin, where he was joined on the stage by former Alaska Governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.

Chance for Cruz

Wisconsin presents the best chance yet for Cruz to reassert his relevance in the race.

In addition to slowing Trumps march to the nomination by denying him delegates, a Cruz victory in Wisconsin would further solidify his status as Trumps main challenger, possibly setting up a multiballot confrontation at the Republican convention in July.

Cruz has been intent on trying to take advantage of Trumps recent problems and buttress the complaints that Trump is not a true conservative and is thin on presenting real policy prescriptions to address issues.

Because while hes very good at yelling and attacking and insulting, he does not have meaningful solutions to the problems facing this country, Cruz told reporters during a recent campaign swing through Wisconsin.

Kasich trails badly in the delegate count, but hopes to be in the mix if the convention becomes contested.

We are gathering momentum, both from the political side and the fundraising side, and we are looking forward to a fun convention, he told reporters in Philadelphia where he has been campaigning in advance of the Pennsylvania primary on April 26.

Cruz and Kasich have accused each other of being unable to defeat a Democrat in the November general election, and depending on interpretations of the current delegate count have claimed the other is already mathematically eliminated from winning the nomination.

"Someone is not electable if he can't get elected," Cruz said about Kasich during a Fox News broadcast Monday.

House Speaker Paul Ryan has been cited in recent months as a possible consesus nominee if the convention balloting goes into multiple rounds. Ryan has denied interest in that scenario, but has not outright refused to consider it.

Responding to those reports Monday, Cruz told reporters, "That's simply not going to happen."

Outsider candidates

AEI resident scholar Ornstein said Trump and Cruz will have amassed far too many delegates to be denied at the convention in favor of Ryan, who has not campaigned at all.

He said delegates will be more inclined to go for Kasich  who has been in the race all along  if the convention goes to multiple balloting.

Theres a really strong antiestablishment feeling out there in the Republican electorate  60 to 70 percent support going to outsider candidates," Ornstein said. "Paul Ryan is a very conservative guy, but hes widely seen at this point as a member of the establishment."

Trump is warning things could get worse if hes denied the nomination at the convention and has refused to rule out a third-party bid for the White House if hes denied the nomination in Cleveland.

Its a question of treatment, he said in an interview on Fox News Sunday. I want to run as a Republican ... (but) Im going to have to see how I was treated.

Wisconsin also presents a test on the Democratic side, where front-runner Hillary Clinton trails challenger Sanders in the latest Wisconsin polls.

Clinton has shifted her focus between Sanders and Republican front-runner Trump in recent days.

I have 1 million more votes than Donald Trump and I have 2 million more votes than Bernie Sanders, Clinton told supporters at a recent rally in Purchase, New York, ahead of that state's primary on April 19.

Sanders campaign

Ornstein said a Sanders win in Wisconsin may change the conversation about Hillarys chances, but it wont change the reality on the ground."

Recent polls give Clinton a lead in New York, but the margin has been dropping in recent weeks, and Sanders will make an aggressive push in the state in which he was raised.

We are fighting hard in Wisconsin. We think we have got a real shot to win here in New York and then it is on to many, many other states, Sanders told ABCs Good Morning America program.

Clinton continues to hold a lead over Sanders in the overall delegate count and especially among the super-delegates, but Sanders has won five of the last six Democratic contests and is riding a momentum wave at the moment.

Ornstein said of Sanders, With the money hes got and the support hes got, hes sticking around."

WATCH: Related video report by VOA's Jim Malone
Zimbabwes former commercial white farmers who were dispossessed of their land, feel encouraged by the governments commitment to compensate them, but not all black farmers are celebrating the news.

The countrys Finance Minister, Patrick Chinamasa, reinforced his and the governments commitment to compensate the white farmers, at a meeting in Harare, with former commercial farmers, resettled black farmers, NGOs and western ambassadors.

I am committed and government is committed," Chinamasa said.

Compensating the white farmers is part of the obligation Zimbabwe has to meet to qualify for financial assistance from such lenders as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Chinamasa, however, said compensation will be largely dictated by the governments ability to raise the money.

"I don't think we can start talking now about which way to go either left or right or forward unless we know the figure. Once we know the figure then I think that we then enter into the next round of discussions, which is, what are the modalities for payment, Chinamasa told the gathering.

More than 3,500 white farmers are believed to have been kicked off their land when President Robert Mugabe authorized the land grabs, which many now attribute to the collapse of the countrys agricultural sector, turning Zimbabwe into an importer of even the most basic staple, as opposed to being the exporter it once was.

The land grabs, which in some cases turned violent, resulted in the death of several white farmers, and also their black farm workers, thousands of whom were also displaced.

Gilbert Lourie, who was evicted from his farm in 2002, says hes encouraged by Chinamasas assurances. He said many white farmers felt dejected after losing their farms, as they were left with no legal recourse to protect their rights, or offers of compensation.

"I think today [Thursday, March 31st] is quite significant as for me its a start of a process here and l hope to see the outcome of this workshop."

Some of the various ways suggested by Minister Chinamasa for the government to raise money to compensate the farmers, include government issuance of treasury bills and the controversial imposition of a land levy, that would come from the farms now occupied by indigenous black Zimbabweans.

Not all black farmers have embraced Chinamasas call for them to be part of the source of funding to compensate the white farmers. Among the disgruntled is farmer Edward Tome, who said many farmers can barely make ends meet, let alone pay an extra levy.

"I have got a problem with that. This is akin to government disempowering its own people, because if you give back the land to the people, you don't tax the people in order to pay the thief who stole the land yesterday," said Tome.

All agricultural land in Zimbabwe is owned by the government and, at present, farmers have no legal claim on their farms - which they say has made banks reluctant to extend loans to buy fertilizers, seed and chemicals so they can raise output.

The government however has said it will imminently grant the leases. (Source -Reuters)
Villagers in Zimbabwes diamond-rich Marange communal lands in Manicaland province are bitter at recent revelations by President Robert Mugabe that the country cannot account for diamonds proceeds worth $15 billion mined in the area.

They claim that they have not benefited from the sale of the gems, largely mined by Chinese companies and some linked to Zimbabwes security forces.

Thousands of Zimunya and Marange residents told parliaments Indigenisation Portfolio Committee visiting the region that they are concerned about the alleged looting of the $15 billion as the government and diamond mining companies failed to cater for their needs.

The committee was in Manicaland to find out from villagers and local government structures whether the state and the diamond mining companies had done anything to develop infrastructure in areas where they were moved to pave the way for diamond mining activities.

Each of the five diamond mining companies was expected to contribute $10 million for the development of the community but only two companies - Mbada Diamonds and Marange Resources - only contributed $500,000.

Godwin Nemasase told the committee that they were shocked by President Mugabes revelation, which came at a time when the diamond mining companies had not contributed anything to develop their areas.

Parliament must move with times, I believe that parliament was aware of the looting of diamonds and no development took place in this area. Marange people are now worse off than they were before the mining of diamonds started in this area.

Nemasase, an engineer by profession, said to make matters worse, they have over the years been harassed by members of the Zimbabwe National Army and the police for demanding what they were promised by the diamond mining companies.

Villager Lovemore Mukwada was equally concerned saying more diamonds could actually have been stolen as there was no transparency and accountability in the mining of the gems.

We want transparency these mining companies never published what they were getting from the sale of diamonds. We were surprised to hear that that $15 billion had gone missing. We believe more could have been stolen. Imagine what the companies themselves took, and what about the panners or illegal miners.

Local resident, Malvern Mudiwa, who is also a human rights activist, said it was disturbing to hear that diamond proceeds worth $15 billion cannot be accounted for while they are wallowing in poverty.

 $15 billion stolen, this is unbelievable. This amount is almost five times the annual national budget and how could it be stolen while we are suffering. Surely the investment in diamond mining should have benefitted the locals.

They lambasted President Mugabe and local lawmaker and Information Minister, Chris Mushowe, for allegedly being dishonest and failing to update them on diamond mining activities in Manicaland province.

They said since diamond mining started in 2009, there was no transparency and accountability in the mining, processing and selling of the gems and as a result local people did not benefit from the sale of the diamonds.

While refusing to comment on President Mugabes statements on diamonds, representatives of Mbada and Anjin mining companies said their earnings were less than $2 billion in the last five years.

Mbada financial statements show that the company earned $1.2 billion in the last five years while Anjin netted about $340 million in the same period.

Former Finance Minister, Tendai Biti, and his predecessor, Patrick Chinamasa have complained that the country was not benefitting from the Marange diamonds as there were no reasonable revenue inflows into treasury.

Government has since kicked out all the diamond mining companies and appointed its own company, Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company, to mine the gems in Marange.

The parliamentary committee will compile a report and present it to parliament and government for actioning.
Zimbabwe's leading platinum mining giant, Zimplats Holdings, allegedly set up an offshore company more than a decade ago to pay salaries for its senior managers, leaked documents reveal.

Zimbabwes liquidity crisis continues with local people expressing dismay over cash withdrawal restrictions.

Gender activists are expected to stage a peaceful march in Harare tomorrow to demand an end to human trafficking amid reports that hundreds of Zimbabwean women have been turned into slaves and commercial sex workers in Kuwait.

The American-based Famine Early Warning Systems Network or FEWSNET says the lean season continues in Zimbabwe where most people are facing acute food insecurity.

Zimbabwes white farmers who were disposed of their land, feel encouraged by the governments commitment to compensate them, but not all black farmers are celebrating the news.

Stay tuned for these stories and more coming up on Studio 7 at 7:30 pm on 9-0-9 Medium Wave and on the 4-9-3-0, 5-9-4-0 and 1-5-4-6-0 shortwave frequencies. We also broadcast on www.channelzim.net. Please check us out on Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter.

This evening on Livetalk our hosts of the Connection Ntungamili Nkomo and Tatenda Gumbo will be talking with listeners and experts about calls for youth, who were given loans under Zimbabwes Youth Empowerment Program, to repay the money as stipulated in their loan agreements. Participate by sending your messages on our WhatsApp number 001 202 465 0318. The number again 001 202 465 0318. Stay tuned!!!!!!

To mark Zimbabwes 36th independence anniversary, Studio 7 will be giving out solar-powered radios for our lucky winners. Simply invite 10 friends to join our VOA Studio 7 Facebook page. Ask them to like our page. Keep their names so we can verify your claim. We will also be running a daily competition for lucky winners. You only need to answer a simple question about Zimbabwes independence. The question today is: Who was Father Zimbabwe? The draw will be conducted April 18th. Dont be left out!!
The Famine Early Warning Systems Network (Fewsnet) has warned that the peak of the lean season in most parts of Zimbabwe will continue resulting in the extension of food assistance by one month from March to April.

In a statement released Tuesday, Fewsnet said due to the lack of green farm produce and reduced livelihood options, most households were currently facing a food crisis.

Fewsnet said it expects the availability of cereals from the main harvest in May to be limited, resulting in about 1.7 million people to face a food crisis from June to September.

The organization also said though the current rainfall has improved pasture conditions, immediate assistance is needed to protect livelihoods and reduce food consumption gaps.

The government said at least 4 million people need urgent food aid due to the El Nino-induced drought.

Food expert Rev. Forbes Matonga said that the situation is dire in most parts of the country.

The crisis is deeper and what it means, we are now moving from another food aid program to another food aid program without having a break, Rev. Matonga said.

He added that this means that people have to go back to the main food pipes, which are the World Food Program and the government itself and other countries like the EU and the United States that donate to the World Food Program.

He recommended those in areas where late rains are still falling to grow at least some vegetables which they can dry.

We encourage nutritionists and all other people who know how to help prepare food retain its nutrients to do that (dry vegetables) so that you know, when food is coming at least they have the relish they can only be assisted with grain, he added.

Rev. Matonga said this will allow the agencies to at least procure more grain that to provide both grain and beans and everything that go with it.
Zimbabwe's leading platinum-mining firm, Zimplats Holdings, allegedly used an offshore company to pay salaries for senior managers in violation of exchange control laws, according to documents leaked from a Panamanian law firm.

The allegations are part of a wide-ranging investigation into the global use of offshore tax havens that has led to calls for an urgent full investigation by Zimplats majority shareholder, the South African firm Implats.

The so-called Panama Papers were first provided to the German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung which shared them with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. That group coordinated a comprehensive review with reporting partners from 76 nations, including VOAs Zimbabwe Service.

The documents from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca indicate that accountants Northern Wychwood used Mossack Fonseca to register HR Consultancy in the Isle of Man to handle payments for senior managers of Zimplats Holdings Limited.

We receive the funds to cover the total salaries from Zimplats and pay the managers accordingly, says a leaked correspondence dated November 5, 2012.

The documents claim that the senior managers to be paid by HR Consultancy are Zimbabwean citizens, but they do not list the names of the supposed recipients or the amounts allegedly paid.

Zimplats denies any involvement with HR Consultancy or transactions outlined in the leaked documents. Zimbabwe Platinum Mines Private Limited has no relationship with the companies listed, said Zimplats head of corporate affairs Busi Chindove.

Zimplats is 87% owned by the South African firm Implats. Spokesman Johan Theron says Implats has no knowledge of HR Consultancy. As far as I could establish, we have never conducted any business with such an entity, he said.

Theron said Implats has prioritized transparency in all our dealings and gone out of our way to transact fairly, openly and to transact and pay taxes in the countries in which we operate as far as possible.

He welcomed the Panama Papers disclosure and said Implats will initiate an urgent full investigation into the purported Zimplats links with the Zimbabwe authorities.

Documents reviewed by the VOA Zimbabwe Service program Studio7 show that Northern Wychwood continues to update HR Consultancys certificate of incumbency, with the latest filing done through Mossack Fonseca last year.

Zimbabwe Central Bank Governor John Mangudya said Zimplats alleged behavior would not be in line with government policy.

There is no company or firm in Zimbabwe that is authorized to operate offshore accounts for the purpose of paying its senior managers who are Zimbabweans and working in Zimbabwe. That practice bodes around externalization and thus typical case of illicit financial flows, said Mangudya in a written statement.

Zimbabwe is not aware of that practice which, if proven, is a blatant violation of the countrys exchange control policy. Violation of exchange control rules and regulations is (a) punishable offence, explained the central bank chief.

The law firm documents identify the shareholder of HR Consultancy as Hanoverian Limited, based in the British Virgin Islands. Hanoverian Limited lists Palatinate Limited as its corporate director. In turn, Palatinate Limiteds directors are Hanoverian Limited, Bryan Campion Ellis, Peter Whitney Fearnhead and Shaun Fergusson Cairns.

Asked whether Northern Wychwood provides consultancy to Palatinate, Hanoverian, and HR Consultancy, Northern Wychwood accountant Donna Summers told VOA, We do not comment on matters pertaining to our clients. Repeated calls for further comment from Summers went unanswered.

Mossack Fonseca corporate liaison officer Jordan Spencer also refused to comment on his companys relationship with HR Consultancy, Zimplats or Northern Wychwood, telling VOA, We are not allowed to give any information about our clients to third parties.

A source of funds or wealth declaration form signed by Palatinate in July last year says it is a director on Northern Wychwood Limited client companies. It lists Zimbabwe, South Africa, United Kingdom and Isle of Man as countries where its activities are conducted.

Efforts to get comment from Cairns, Ellis, and Fearnhead were fruitless at the time of publishing.

Fearnhead was a director at the now dissolved African Minerals Development Limited. Ellis is a Zimbabwean-born accountant, who once worked for the British firm FIHZL. Cairns posted on an old students social network that he worked for De Beers before setting up a trust fund in Isle of Man 1993. He lists an email address at Northern Wychwood.

Zimbabwe's former Minister of Finance Tendai Biti oversaw central bank operations between 2009 and 2013. Biti told VOA that if Zimplats set up an offshore company to pay salaries for its managers, then the managers at Zimplats also evaded paying taxes since they were being remunerated for work they did on Zimbabwean soil.

He says externalizing funds would violate several laws, including the Exchange Control Regulation of 1996, the Serious Offences Act, and the Anti-Money Laundering Act.

A recent Zimbabwe central bank report says the country lost $3 billion through illicit financial flows between 2009 and 2012, while Africa as a whole lost $3 trillion in illicit financial flows during the same period.

Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Mangudya told the media in December that Zimbabwe lost more than $500 million in illicit financial flows in 2015, money which he said should have benefited the countrys struggling economy.

The Panama Papers leak highlights the extent of shady offshore dealings that have robbed many countries of billions of dollars in taxes. In its report, ICIJ says major banks are the big drivers behind the creation of hard-to-trace shell companies in the British Virgins Islands, Panama and other offshore havens.

The ICIJ says the revelations in this unprecedented global investigation into more than 11 million secret files are the first to highlight the extent of secret business done by banks, law firms and other middlemen that hide extraordinary  and often illegal wealth.

Suddeutsche Zeitung reporting says tax authorities from several countries including Germany, Britain, Iceland and the United States have also acquired internal Mossack Fonseca data from a whistleblower. But the newspaper says that information is smaller and older than the documents just now released.

In February last year a cache of Mossack Fonseca documents obtained by German authorities led to a series of raids on German banks by investigators looking into possible money laundering and tax evasion.

Several banks, among them German's second largest bank Commerzbank, agreed to pay millions of euros in fines for helping customers evade taxes.

According to Suddeutsche Zeitung, German authorities are also considering legal action against Mossack Fonseca due to possible contribution to tax evasion.

We reached lawyer and anti-corruption activist, Dumisani Mthombeni who says its paramount that the government launches a probe into the allegations.

We also reached economic commentator Rejoice Ngwenya who explains how offshore accounts affect the nation.
Knute Nelson Named in Top 100 Best Companies to Work for by Minnesota Business Journal
However, Hello!

The way the presidential campaign and the results of the "big Tuesday", in particular, are going, completely stunned American establishment. Democrats Clinton-clique struggles to gain points against an impossible in America socialist Sanders. A triumph of Trumps Republican beau monde is simply baffling.

"Our leaders are stupid. Our politicians are stupid. We have a president who does not know anything. I would say that he is incompetent, but I will not do it, because it is a not nice thing to do...", - Said Trump.

Trendy once American philosopher Fukuyama , quarter of a century ago, announced the end of history, that the victory of liberal democracy around the world was the end point of the social and cultural evolution of mankind. End of history - it is, in essence, the end of politics. Liberal values are so absolute and indisputable that there is, in fact, nothing to argue about. Those who do not share them are the fringe ones, who need to be isolated, ideally - exterminated. Lack of policy for the time being was compensated by raising issue of gay marriage. But here, too, it seems, a consensus has been reached.

The electoral process has become a mega-show,an imitation of the political debate. The top of it was, probably, McCain-Obama election of 2008. "A stern soldier who does not know the words of love" and sophisticated liberal African-American botanist. Why this is not a choice? What on earth do you want?! Two different ideal role models, covering the absence of any political differences.

"We used to be two parties. One was with a conscience but no brains, the other one - had brains, but there was no conscience. Now we have two identical parties, but without conscience or brains. I dont get it , why do you need them. "- said Harlan Ullman, author of the military doctrine of " shock and awe "in Iraq, a board member of the Atlantic Council.

Now things are different. The American electoral machine, a two-party one, clearly fails. Real Socialist Sanders, anti-establishment bully Trump - is it a return to policy. Is it a failure or a systemic crisis?

From the movie "Garage": "Those in favor of a list proposed by the board, please raise your hands!"

Of course, the system will resist. It will try to absorb or integrate Trump. Obviously, it will succeed - something out of it. But the machine has malfunctioned. Policy got out of the bag and it is not going to be pushed back.

"The sad outcome is that considering how enhanced political disease in this country has become, and how negligent are prospects for structural reform, American policy will probably continue to periodically malfunction until such time when an external shock occurs," - writes Francis Fukuyama in October 2014.

"The American political system, is perhaps so badly damaged that even the most daunting crisis will not instigate an attempt to fix it," - Harlan Ullman said in February 2016.

What is there to add?
Star Wars: The Force Awakens arrives on DVD, Blu-ray, and VOD today, and brings with it the recycled New Hope plot that moviegoers, showing up as they did in record numbers, found satisfactory enough back in December. But a long time ago (just under three years) in a galaxy far, far away (Pawnee, Indiana, as rendered in Los Angeles), there was another idea for how Episode VIIs story could go, one outlined by Patton Oswalt during a now-legendary showcase of endurance improvisation on Parks and Rec. On the occasion of the home-video release of the movie that inspired that titanic riff, we asked Parks and Rec creator Mike Schur to tell us how it all unfolded.

A conservative agenda precipitated the filibuster

In that episode, Patton played a sort of traditionalist. In the towns charter, there was a line that related to the Boston Tea Party; basically, it said that if a citizen disagreed with a certain policy they could throw tea into the water. But there was a typo, and it said ted instead of tea, so it had become a tradition to find someone named Ted and throw him into the lake. The episode began with this happening to a guy, Ted, who then pointed out to everyone, This is ridiculous; I dont like being thrown into a lake. Just because somebody wrote this 200 years ago and there was a typo doesnt mean we have to do it. Leslie Knope, Amy [Poehler]s character, saw the logic in that and was gonna get rid of the law. Then Patton, who was kind of a Civil War reenactment type of guy, launched a citizens filibuster to stop them from overturning that law.



Patton just did what was asked of him

What the script called for him to do was to just start talking about whatever. The line in the episode as it aired was one that we had written for him; he just started talking about something banal, and the joke was that we were gonna go to commercial, and when we came back he was gonna still be talking. We did that a bunch of times, and it was perfectly funny because everything Patton does is funny. I wasnt on the set at this moment, but Dan Goor, who I later created Brooklyn Nine-Nine with, was down there, and he said to Patton, Hey, for this last take, actually filibuster. Talk for as long as you possibly can about any subject that interests you. 

This was a thing we did fairly frequently on the show. We called it a fun run, where the last take of a scene, wed say to the actors, Go nuts. We figured that we have these world-class improvisers, like Amy Poehler and Aziz Ansari and Adam Scott and Nick Offerman and Aubrey Plaza, and more than a few times over the years we dug something out of whatever they did and actually used it in the show. So Dan Goor asked Patton to filibuster, and told the other actors, Just let him go, and be engaged. 

The story Patton unspooled was ludicrous, and all too plausible

Patton, as he is wont to do, picked as his subject the fact that J.J. Abrams had just been announced as the director of the new Star Wars movie. And because he is Patton, and his depth of knowledge of that universe knows no bounds, it ended up being that nine-minute extemporaneous description of every detail of the movie, from the opening crawl down to the merging of the Disney-owned Marvel and Star Wars universes. He even got the X-Men in there. Theres no editing. He really talked for that long. What was great is that you can hear Amy and Jon Glaser off camera chiming in, as great improvisers do. Amy has a couple hilarious lines. At one point, she points out that the female part seems a little underwritten. (Laughs) Thats a truly great joke in the midst of that craziness.

And not to get too theoretical about it, but part of what was so great is that he was tapping into this real trend in movies. Everyone is in everyone elses movie. Its Batman v Superman but also maybe Spider-Man is in it somehow? And in the Avengers universe, obviously, everybody shows up. The success of those movies will undoubtedly lead someone to say, Hey, what if Han Solo meets up with the Guardians of the Galaxy? Right? Theres almost no kind of crossover or universe-merging that seems impossible now.

So, I dont know if it was conscious or unconscious  it probably wasnt intentional  but Patton was tapping into a real thing thats going on in blockbuster movies. It accidentally ended up being relevant and timely and satirical in a wonderful way. Thats what I love about it.

Since none of it was scripted, there was no plan for how to wrap it up

Amy, who has been one of the very greatest improvisational comedians in the world for a very long time now, figured a way to get out of it. She had kept trying to cut him off, or whatever, and eventually she just signaled to the other councilman, Were just leaving; lets get out of here. So they started to leave, and then the assembled crew of day players and background players who were in the audience kind of followed suit, and Amy just kind of motioned to them, Come on. Were getting out of here. It provided this wonderful, natural ending, where eventually every single person in the room has left except for Patton, and then he just sort of runs out of steam and falls apart. The cue was Amy Poehlers kind of incredibly astute understanding of the rhythm of comedy. She was the one who kind of rounded up everybody and marched em out.

It was clear something special had just happened

Remember when Beyonces album just came out of nowhere, and then everyone you knew was texting and writing? Thats what it was like on our set. I ran into Chris Pratt outside, and he goes, Did you hear what Patton just did? And then another person out of nowhere was like, You gotta see what Patton just did! It spread like wildfire.

But the tape was still in the camera, and with the way things worked I didnt get to see it until the next day. I eventually went to see Amy; she explained to me what had happened, but because she is not as much of an enthusiast of that universe, she could only sort of approximate it. So then I found Jon Glaser. He played Councilman Jeremy Jamm, who was in the scene, and Glaser is also an insane sci-fi enthusiast. He just enjoyed it to the nth degree  at some point, I think when Patton drags the X-Men into it, you hear Glaser: Oh, come on! Like thats a bridge too far for him. But he ran through the entire thing, and I could imagine how glorious it was going to be. After I saw it the next day, I immediately contacted Patton and said, That was amazing. Can we release that? I just felt like America needed to see it. Thats honestly how I felt. He was like, Sure, yeah, go right ahead. 

There were (forgivable) errors

If you know what to listen for and are familiar with the worlds, Patton actually makes a couple mistakes, which Im sure have been eating at him. At one point he describes a vehicle and calls it the Quinjet, and its not actually the Quinjet. And he mispronounces Chewbaccas home planet of Kashyyyk. He says Kassheeek or something, because theres three Ys in it. I remember when I finally watched the scene I couldnt believe my eyes, but I simultaneously was like, Oops, he mispronounced Kashyyyk. Nonetheless, its one of the most impressive improvisational things Ive seen in my life.
Three stories and a cover illustrated by Tim OBrien.

The Story

American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson, the pulpy series that airs its finale tonight, cant possibly re-create one thing: the degree to which the Simpson trial intruded into Americans lives. Because it was broadcast live, and streaming was way in the future, offices ground to a halt every time the news took a major turn as people sought out the nearest television.

On October 3, 1995, everyone did. The previous afternoon, the jury had informed Judge Lance Ito that it had reached a verdict after only four hours deliberation, and he had instructed them to wait till morning to deliver it. The only TV in New Yorks headquarters was a small set in the office of the editor-in-chief, Kurt Andersen. As the jury came back, the staff crowded in to watch. At 1 p.m. New York time, Simpson went free.

It was a Tuesday. Back then, New York went to press late on Thursday night. In the next 60 hours or so, the staff pulled together three stories and a cover designed to stand out on the newsstand. GETTING AWAY WITH IT read the headline, as a painted image of O.J.  reworked, in the interest of speed, from one that had run in the magazine two weeks earlier  winked and threw a thumbs-up at the reader. The illustrator, Tim OBrien, put an actual smear of blood on Simpsons hand.

Jacob Weisberg (now editor-in-chief of the Slate Group) and Tad Friend (now at The New Yorker) quickly delivered opinion pieces. Friend wrote the title essay, about the ways in which the powerful wiggle their way free where others cant. Weisbergs column called the verdict some of the worst racial news in years, and connected black and white-liberal righteousness with conservative politicking of white resentment. But the showcase story was by Norman Mailer, author of The White Negro: Superficial Reflections on the Hipster and arguably the most interesting and infuriating writer of his era when it came to American violence. (He could be right, he could be ridiculous; he was rarely boring.) He was also a man, remember, who had stabbed his second wife. It was a coup to get him on a few hours notice, and it was, Andersen recalls today, a case of, What we can do that goes beyond what the other guys can? The other guys were Time and Newsweek, and to some extent the Village Voice and Tina Browns New Yorker. The New York Times Magazine had a one-and-a-half-week lead time and wouldnt have been able to catch up. Not one of those outlets had a website yet.

Black and White Justice by Norman Mailer from October 16, 1995.

Mailer agreed to do a long Q&A with his son Michael. That way, he didnt have to write it, Andersen recalls, and he could get his son a little attention. This being the era when email was mostly for the young or the technologically inclined  and Mailer was neither  an assistant took a car service to his house in Brooklyn to pick up the results.

Which evinced a certain despair. Were even farther away from bridging anything. The verdict was good for black emotion but terrible for whites, Mailer told his son. If we cant find some way for blacks and whites to come together, this country is going to head for fascism  if we have a major economic wipeout in America, were on the way toward barbed wire. And then: Celebrity has become our first national disease. Its the price we pay for having neither gods nor leaders.

The Reaction

Mailer aside, most of the attention went to the cover. Im glad we did it, Andersen says. It was slightly transgressive, it was interesting: right there on the edge. And you could still, with an oh-my-goodness cover like that, have impact that you might in the age of Twitter. Thats a social-media-fied cover. In the pre-internet day, to have a mainstream magazine come out and say No, hes guilty was unorthodox, and the image and the cover line were a bit extreme for the pre-Gawker age.

Judging by the letters-to-the-editor page a few weeks later, they were. The cover was truly revolting, read one letter. Outraged, said another. A disgrace, read a third. One correspondent was more thoughtful, if no less critical. So you need someone to explain black peoples feelings about the justice system. Fine. But the best you can do is Norman Mailer? That came from Jessica Lustig  who would, a few years later, become an editor at New York, running the front-of-the-book section in which this column appears. Today shes deputy editor of The New York Times Magazine. We were talking here the other day about cranks who write letters, she says, and I had to admit that I had been one.

*This article appears in the April 4, 2016 issue of New York Magazine.
To promote The Boss, Melissa McCarthy did an old-school, LL Cool Jless lip sync battle with The Tonight Shows Jimmy Fallon. As youll see above, their competition is tame to start, but it quickly intensifies with the late-night hosts literal interpretation of Zayns PILLOWTALK and the movie stars immersive Colors of the Wind. The latter is so intense it requires safety goggles and earns a standing ovation. Roll the clip above for all that, and then, yeah, immediately pity the clean-up crew.
Every small American town has their own quaint traditions. If you ever stop by Nick Offermans hometown of Minooka, Illinois, be sure to pop in for some cinnamon fritters at the Shrimp Barn, have your dog spayed or neutered at a very reasonable price at K9 Paw Print, and, of course, take a trip to the local library to have your retinas scorched away by lasers. Stephen Colbert and Nick Offerman perused the community bulletin from Minooka last night and it looks like there is a lot going on, especially for anyone hoping to have their eyes boiled like eggs by a dazzling array of lasers. Hey, Minooka spent all this money on lasers. What are they supposed to do, not blind library patrons with them? Grow up.
Mick. Photo: Fiona Goodall/2014 Getty Images

The Rolling Stones hope to release a new album before the end of the year, because according to the AP, theyre hot off a blues streak. Guitarist Ronnie Wood revealed Monday that the group recently recorded a mix of original material and at least 11 blues covers. Put down in two days, the covers included unspecified works by Howlin Wolf and Little Walter. When we heard them back after not hearing them for a couple of months, we were [like], Whos that? Its you, Wood told the AP. It sounded so authentic. Other album details are unavailable at the moment, but it would mark the Brit rock icons first studio release since 2005s A Bigger Bang. The news comes not long after 2012s 50th anniversary tour and last months Cuba appearance, because like a band of Energizer bunnies, the Stones keep going.
Will Ferrell. Photo: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images

Will Ferrell once played a character who grew up in the North Pole in a movie, and now hes returning there in his latest: THR reports that Ferrell has signed up to star in Ice Pack, based on Guy Lawsons recent New York Times Magazine story An Insurance Salesman and a Doctor Walk Into a Bar, and End Up at the North Pole. Its the real-life tale of a group of middle-aged men in the 1960s who decided they wanted to ride snowmobiles to the North Pole. So: Wild Hogs in the snow? Yes, Wild Hogs in the snow.
DALLAS  Texas Child Protective Services has fired two workers and a third has resigned after the agency was accused of failing to prevent the beating death of a 4-year-old girl last month.

The agency, which had contact with the family of Leiliana Wright before her death, is investigating whether its staff bungled the case, spokeswoman Marissa Gonzales told The Dallas Morning News (http://bit.ly/1Ma3Yl4 ).

The girl's mother, 30-year-old Jeri Quezada, and her boyfriend, 34-year-old Charles Phifer, have been jailed on charges of injury to a child.

Authorities allege the two beat Leiliana, who lived in the Dallas suburb of Grand Prairie, with a belt and bamboo stick because she'd been drinking her brother's juice.

Leiliana's paternal grandmother, Alise Clakley, has alleged CPS did not do enough to protect the girl.

Clakley told KXAS-TV last week, "I took pictures and sent them to CPS. If we had done something sooner, I don't know. I don't know."

The firing of the caseworker and a supervisor who oversaw Leiliana's case and the resignation of a special investigator who worked on it come as an unusually large number of child-abuse investigators in Dallas County are quitting.

From the latest period for which figures are available, Dallas County CPS investigators left at a rate of 57 percent a year.

The staffing reduction has forced CPS to bring in scores of workers from other parts of the state.

State CPS spokesman Patrick Crimmins has said the agency is scrambling to conduct hiring fairs and install "sound management" practices.

The "current upheaval is the result of our failure to properly manage a challenging combination of factors," such as a high volume of child-mistreatment allegations in Dallas County and the loss of senior regional administrators, he said.

Lawmakers and agency officials have struggled for years for an answer to high turnover among child-abuse investigators. Exit surveys have found the departing investigators' biggest complaints are job stress, safety concerns about knocking on doors at night, overwhelming caseloads, poor supervisors and low pay.

___

Information from: The Dallas Morning News, http://www.dallasnews.com
Waco and McLennan County leaders reiterated their support Monday for a private high-speed rail system between Dallas and Houston, saying it would lay the groundwork for a larger network that would someday reach Waco.

A top official with the Texas Central Railway partnership met Monday with the city-county Intergovernmental Relations Committee, answering questions about land acquisition and financing for the project.

County Judge Scott Felton said the Texas Central Railway would set an example for future high-speed rail in Texas, hopefully including a separate line from Dallas-Fort Worth to San Antonio to relieve Interstate 35 headaches.

Transportation is a very important issue, he said. I spent Friday afternoon trying to get to Austin, and it took more than four hours to get to the northwest side of Austin. Id pay plenty not to have to do that.

Felton noted the opposition to the bullet train from rural landowners along the route, but he urged people to wait until they have all the facts before opposing it. Some of those facts  such as fare costs and the exact route alignment  await future studies by the private railway company.

Felton joined Waco Mayor Malcolm Duncan Jr. and Waco City Councilwoman Alice Rodriguez in dissenting from a resolution last month by a regional planning board to oppose the high-speed rail project.

The Heart of Texas Council of Governments executive board voted 15-3 to oppose the bullet train on grounds that it would divide family farms and provide no benefit to rural communities.

Leading the charge were officials with Limestone and Freestone counties, which are included in the likely route alignment. They were joined by officials from other HOTCOG counties  Falls, Hill and Bosque.

At Mondays meeting, Duncan asked whether it would help for McLennan County and Waco officials to pass resolutions in support of the Dallas-to-Houston line.

It would help, responded Travis Kelly, vice president of the Texas Central Partners. Folks in Austin and Washington (D.C.) are watching closely, and those who are interested in this project or the next project have a lot at stake here.

Waco Councilman John Kinnaird agreed that the high-speed rail project was a fantastic idea and said the city should do all it can to support it.

Kelly spent time Monday addressing objections that residents along the corridor have raised.

He said Texas Central would minimize the effect on landowners by building along existing utility corridors.

The company would buy 100- to 150-foot strips of land along the corridors and would elevate most of the double tracks on pylons at least 16.5 feet high.

No roads would be closed, and farmers would be able to move their equipment, vehicles and animals under the track.

Kelly said taxing entities along the route would receive an estimated $2.5 billion in property taxes over 25 years from the expensive infrastructure Texas Railway would install along the 240-mile route.

In addition, residents in the region would benefit from having a station in rural Grimes County.

He dismissed concerns that taxpayers would end up having to bail out the railway system, which would cost between $10 billion and $12 billion. He said the company has private investors that would be liable for the project just like any other private railway.

Texas Central Railway officials boast that the train would allow commuters to travel between the downtowns of Houston and Dallas in 90 minutes, compared to about four hours now.

Kelly said the tickets would be competitive in price with airlines, but a demand pricing model would provide opportunities for low-cost travel at off-peak times.

The bulk of our customers would come from cars, not airlines, he said. The Texas Department of Transportation projects that a trip from Houston to Dallas will be six hours in 2025. . . . We think this is a real efficient use of land that could make a pretty significant difference in traffic congestion.

Kelly said Texas Central Railway doesnt have plans for a line along I-35 but would work with other companies or governments that wanted to do that.

Were proving up a way we know will work and will prove that high-speed rail is viable in Texas, he said.
McLennan County commissioners have less than 15 days to take down the no weapons signs at the courthouse or challenge the Texas attorney generals opinion.

The county Monday was notified by the Attorney Generals Office that the signs at the entrances of the courthouse and the annex are in violation of state law and must be removed unless commissioners decide to challenge the opinion. The letter states that the county cannot prohibit licensed handgun holders from entering into an entire building simply because the courts or the offices of the courts are located in a portion of a multipurpose building.

While the courthouse and annex house government courts, not all of the offices are essential to the operations of the courts, including the commissioners courtroom and the district attorneys office, according to the letter.

Commissioners on Dec. 23 unanimously approved a new policy to maintain the ban on guns in the county courthouse and annex in response to Attorney General Ken Paxtons opinion regarding in which facilities local governments can prohibit weapons.

At the time, the countys district judges, the justice of the peace for Precinct 1 and the county court-at-law judges submitted documents to commissioners saying every part of the courthouse is essential to courtroom operations and supported the ban.

County Judge Scott Felton said he is disappointed in the attorney generals opinion.

Felton said many of the commissioners are strong supporters of the Second Amendment, but do not feel that a courthouse, where a lot of contentious issues are resolved, is the right place for guns to be carried. The topic isnt included on the agenda for the commissioners meeting Tuesday because the letter just arrived.

Felton said he wants the county to challenge the opinion.

Terry Holcomb, Texas Carry founder and executive director, said the attorney generals ruling is abundantly clear that multipurpose courthouses cant exclude license holders from the entire building.

Since McLennan County prohibited CHL holders from carrying throughout the entire building, Texas Carry notified the attorney generals office.

Holcomb said the attorney generals response isnt so much about winning as it is clarity for residents. Residents are expected to follow the law and county officials should be held to the same standard, he said.

Holcomb said it is also important that residents arent arrested for carrying in the courthouse when they are permitted.

Were just pleased that were actually getting progress on clarity, he said.

The county sent a letter to the attorney generals office Dec. 30 stating the commissioners court determined the courthouse and the annex  which is accessed through the courthouse  are almost entirely devoted to courts and court functions, including the hallways, common areas, restrooms, stairwells and elevators, among other spots.

The Legislature obviously intended for Section 46.03 to protect judges and others involved in the judicial process. It would appear inconsistent to assume that this protection was only intended within the confines of a courtroom or office where common hallways and areas are involved; essentially assuming that people are free to carry handguns in the same hallways and common areas used by the judges, prosecutors, witnesses, jurors, parties, etc., the countys letter stated.

Attorney Mike Dixon, who represents McLennan County and its officeholders, said Monday the county still is evaluating its options after receiving the letter.

Dixon said the county needs to act within the 15-day time frame; otherwise, the attorney generals office could file suit for civil penalties.

Dixon said he still thinks the county is in the right. He said leaders are still trying to determine how they could provide enough security in the courthouse and annex with licensed holders free to roam the two buildings.

Commissioner Ben Perry said he respects the attorney generals opinion, but he does not agree with it.

Perry said the opinion jeopardizes the safety and stability of the criminal courts.

Now, because our entire courthouse is going to be deemed a zone that CHL carriers can come in, or are permitted, the cost were going to endure to cover all the courtrooms with security personnel and the ability to check for weapons, its going to be a huge expense, Perry said. I just dont think its fair to the taxpayer for the AG to basically send down an unfunded mandate. If we didnt secure the courtroom, the first time something happened, whos going to be jumped on? Its going to be the commissioners.

Commissioners Kelly Snell and Will Jones said they had not had time to review the document so they didnt feel comfortable commenting.

Commissioner Lester Gibson could not be reached for comment.

Judge Ralph Strother of Wacos 19th State District Court said he is not happy about the decision, but also didnt have enough time Monday to fully examine the AGs opinion.

I have not read it yet, so I cant discuss the finer points about it, he said.
The McLennan County Elections Commission will meet Tuesday to discuss the Republican primary election, the elections office and the elections administrator.

The group  which is meeting for the second time in more than three years  will convene at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Commissioners Courtroom on the first floor of the McLennan County Courthouse, 501 Washington Ave.

County Judge Scott Felton, who sits on the commission, said he requested the meeting.

I thought that it would be appropriate to get the commission together prior to the runoff elections that are coming up and to see if we can clear the air about any questions any commissioners might have, Felton said.

Felton said he hopes the meeting will help send a clear message about what happened March 1 that caused more than 600 McLennan County voters to be disenfranchised.

He said he hopes to hear about how the problems that occurred last month will be avoided, and any work being done to ensure the next election runs smoother.

The meeting agenda includes the chance for the commission to meet behind closed doors in executive session to deliberate the appointment, employment, evaluation, reassignment, duties, discipline or dismissal of Elections Administrator Kathy Van Wolfe.

Felton said he added that line to allow the commission to discuss personnel matters.

The fact that theres been an employee that was terminated and those things, there may be questions about that that they want to address with the elections administrator, Felton said.

A county employee in the elections office was fired last week by Van Wolfe in response to the botched election.

Commission member Jeb Leutwyler, the outgoing McLennan County Republican Party chairman, said he hopes to hear new information at the meeting.

Leutwyler said he did not leave the commissions March 8 meeting feeling like he had received a complete explanation of what caused voters to receive the wrong ballots.

Leutwyler said at one point during the meeting he stopped asking questions because he realized he wasnt getting real answers.

We got partial answers and inconsistent answers from people, he said. I dont believe we got a full story last time.

The McLennan County Elections Commission will meet Tuesday to discuss the Republican primary election, the elections office and the elections administrator.
U.S. Rep. Bill Flores, R-Bryan, spoke about foreign policy, budget issues and other topics at a town hall meeting at University High School on Monday night. He also expressed his support for Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, for president in the November election.

Flores said Republican frontrunner Donald Trump has alienated women, Hispanics and blacks, and the party needs the support of those groups.

The good thing about Cruz is we know who he is today, and well know exactly who hell be in the White House, Flores said. We dont know who Donald Trump is. So Ted Cruz is a committed, conservative constitutionalist, and thats who hell be in the White House.

When Flores informally polled the roughly 35 attendees about who they support for president, two raised their hands for Trump. The rest raised their hands for Cruz.

The great thing we get to do is we get to vote on this here pretty quick, Flores said. And so this is a great country. We do have our challenges. Some things dont always work right in Washington, and the anger you see from the electorate I think is a reflection of whats not working right.

The anger and concern of the attendees Monday related to national security, and the majority said the Islamic State is a major threat to the United States. Immigration and federal spending were the second- and third-biggest topics for them, respectively.

This is the No. 1 issue on the minds of Americans today, Flores said of terrorists. Were facing an enemy today in the Islamic State that knows no national boundaries. It doesnt have a moral code of conduct. The Geneva Convention means nothing (to them). So weve got to deal with this in an appropriate way.

He said President Barack Obama recently released a seven-page report that revealed little on how to defeat the Islamic State. Flores said the United States could declare war against the group, but he is not comfortable with that because it would allow for more executive power.

Flores said Congress can also keep fighting for expanded authorization of military force, and those debates are ongoing.

Flores also explained federal spending, dividing the approximately $3.69 trillion 2015 budget into automatic spending ($2.52 trillion) and discretionary spending ($1.17 trillion). Congress tweaks the amount of discretionary spending, and Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and other expenses made up the automatic spending.

In 1965, automatic spending was 34 percent of the budget. In 2015, it was 68 percent, and Flores estimates it will be 78 percent in 2026.

The baby boomers are starting to retire, at several thousand a day, Flores said. So our Medicare costs, Social Security costs, those are the issues we face.

He said the Republican Study Committee, of which Flores is the chair, offers alternative viewpoints on budget construction to the budget proposed by the House of Representatives.

We always put together a very conservative budget, and were not shy about touching the serious issues driving us into debt, he said. We come up with reforms for Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. Those numbers are here not only for todays seniors, but also those decades down the road.

Outside of the event, a small group protested Flores views on climate change.

Representative Flores is just a huge impediment to what we need to do, said Alan Northcutt, one of the organizers of the protest headed up by the local Friends of Peace organization. Hes essentially a climate-science denier. Every vote he has made has been detrimental to the environment.

Flores said some of the policy response on the issue has been knee-jerk stuff based on things that arent really proven yet, but said he does not deny climate change.

We all live in the same climate. I want my kids to have a healthy climate, we just need to find a right way to do it, he said.
Friends of the beloved Waco philanthropist Audre Rapoport on Tuesday remembered the gracious but shy woman as a fierce proponent of womens rights and a champion of social justice.

Rapoport died of natural causes Monday in her Waco residence. She was 92 years old.

Rapoport is survived by her son, Ronald Rapoport; a daughter-in-law; two granddaughters; and two great-grandchildren.

Married to Bernard B Rapoport, Audre Rapoport was quieter than her boisterous husband but was no less influential or generous, friends said.

Audre was a fascinating personality, said Lyndon L. Olson Jr., former ambassador to Sweden and a lifelong friend of the Rapoports.

She was married to someone bigger than life, and she managed that life they had together with tremendous grace and astuteness. She was every bit as philanthropic as B.

As friends spoke of Audres warmth and passions, stories of Bernard Rapoport began to weave into the narrative.

They went everywhere together, traveling from Washington, D.C., to Jerusalem to London.

You just never knew where the two of them were going to end up. One day they were at the Chicken Shack in Waco. The next day theyre at the White House having dinner with the president, Olson said of the Rapoports, who developed a friendship with former President Bill Clinton through the years.

Born Audre Newman in Chicago on July 8, 1923, Rapoport moved to Waco at age 3 with her mother. They lived with her grandmother until she graduated from Waco High School in 1941, the only girl in her class to have taken geometry.

She met Bernard Rapoport on a blind date during her first year at the University of Texas in Austin. Bernard Rapoport was a jewelry salesman, and they married on Feb. 14, 1942, a month after meeting.

They were married for 70 years, starting and eventually selling American Income Life Insurance. Bernard Rapoport died in April 2012 at age 94.

The couple established The Bernard & Audre Rapoport Foundation in 1987, through which they donated millions of dollars locally and internationally, including to many efforts in Israel. Since its inception, the foundation has donated $64 million to education, health care and other causes.

Audre Rapoport focused on the reproductive rights of women and supported the Audre Rapoport Library for Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas Inc., where women can get books, videos and curricula on womens health.

The foundation has given to several programs that support education, including about $450,000 in the past 16 years to a Waco Foundation program that awards scholarships to local, low-income students.

The Rapoport Family has provided immeasurable benefits to the Waco community, and I am just one person on a long list of people who will always be grateful to them, Waco Foundation Executive Director Ashley Allison said. Audre and B set an example for the rest of us about what it means to be philanthropists by giving during their lifetimes and engaging their family as philanthropists of the future through their foundation.

Former U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, a longtime friend of the Rapoports, said most people knew Audre Rapoport first as a philanthropist, and the love she had for her own family also showed through.

Her son Ronald had two daughters who drove up from Austin almost every weekend to visit her, Edwards said.

She didnt preach family values. She lived them, he said. If anyone was ill in her family, she was by their bedside every day.
Donald Trumps recent rhetoric about an obsolete NATO alliance has surely disturbed Germans and French who think about their nations security. But their anxiety level is probably low next to that of a dozen Eurasian nations that Trump has probably never considered  including a few that are not even members of NATO.

One of them is Georgia. This mostly Christian former Soviet republic of 4.5 million people bet its future a dozen years ago on the notion that it could pull away from Moscows sphere of influence  and its autocratic political model  and integrate into the West. With broad popular support, its political leaders have struggled to build a market economy and liberal political institutions, including free media, independent courts and competitive elections.

The results have been mixed. There have been ups and downs, including a Russian invasion in 2008 that stripped Georgia of two provinces. Yet till now the nation has been kept on track by its single-minded pursuit of two big goals: membership in the European Union and admission to NATO.

Now, suddenly, both the union and the alliance appear in danger of crumbling at the hands of populists and nationalists who would retreat behind refortified borders, turn away migrants and abandon international commitments. What happens if the Trumpists win?

Definitely that will be a shock for [Georgian] society, the countrys elected president, Giorgi Margvelashvili, told me last week. And of course it would be a very serious problem for our security. Because we have a neighbor that has a very different idea of what Georgia should be. That, of course, would be Russia.

As Margvelashvili pointed out, Georgia shares its potential dilemma with a larger region. Trumps complaints, and those of President Obama, about the free riders of NATO such as Germany and France ignore the critical role the alliance has played for a host of smaller and far less prosperous nations since the end of the Cold War. Under the alliances tutelage, countries that might have lapsed into dictatorships or chaos instead became functioning democracies. To earn NATO security guarantees, or even a looser association as partners for peace, they granted rights to ethnic minorities, tolerated opposition media and cracked down on corruption.

In the end, NATO oversaw what was probably the most successful nation-building effort in history. A score of countries  Poland and Hungary, Latvia and Estonia, Serbia and Croatia, and yes, Ukraine and Georgia  adopted the Western model of statehood under the allies scrutiny, even though not all have yet joined NATO or the European Union.

A Trump victory would put that historic geopolitical shift at risk. It would open the question of whether new NATO members such as the Baltic states  not to mention Georgia and Ukraine  were really safe from Russian aggression. And it would maroon a bunch of countries that are on their way to Western integration but havent yet arrived there.

Trump and his band might dismiss such a loss  but Margvelashvili said they would regret it: You cannot discount countries that are smaller because you think that is the way the world order works. If you push cases like Georgia and Ukraine into some bad portfolio and forget about them, you will get further complications  not only vis-a-vis Russia but in other parts of the world where regional powers  China, say, or Iran  aspire to dominate their neighbors.

Georgia offers perhaps the clearest example of how the prospect of NATO membership and progress in consolidating democracy have been intertwined. In 2012, the pro-Western government was ousted in a parliamentary election  itself a democratic achievement of sorts. The new coalition was led by Bidzina Ivanishvili, a billionaire with distinctly Trump-like qualities, including a penchant for populist demagoguery and an inclination to autocracy.

The rhetoric from Trump has given a boost to pro-Russian parties in Georgias latest campaign. Their argument, said Margvelashvili, has been consistent: You might want NATO. You might want Europe. But it is not going to happen. Until now, it hasnt been a persuasive argument. Georgias president, and leaders like him across Eurasia, can only hope this U.S. political season does not make it so.

Jackson Diehl is deputy editorial page editor of The Post.
If anything inspires hope in us for the citizenry of tomorrow, our nation in the 21st century and the world around us, its the young but thoughtful Baylor University students who participated in last months National Model United Nations Conference in New York City. They and nearly 5,000 other students from throughout the globe learned plenty about terrorism, poverty and energy, but more importantly they learned the absolute importance of diplomacy and meeting those with whom you disagree at least halfway.

Thats a quality that many of our representatives, senators and presidential candidates regularly fail to demonstrate. And too many Americans let them get away with it, thus our continued grand march of decline in America.

Collaboration is almost a dirty word in Congress today, Baylor Spanish and International Studies junior Megan Rollag told Trib staff writer Phillip Ericksen after attending the conference. It makes you appear as if you are breaking away from values and stances when really youre trying to accomplish something. Seeing that in our political climate is a little disheartening when students like us participate in conferences solely based on collaboration.

And history major Renie Saenz was absolutely right when he cited how any Republican supporting the honest vetting and approval of President Obamas nominee for the Supreme Court  as the Constitution clearly prescribes  would suddenly face disfavor in the Republican Party. And thats a tragedy: Few Republican senators are willing to bow to the Constitution as readily as they do their political party, as Sens. Mitch McConnell, John Cornyn, Ted Cruz and others have shamefully proven.

But the students who spent several days at the United Nations conference learned something even more important: Given that most of our politicians lack leadership abilities and are more concerned about re-election, its up to everyday, ordinary citizens to signal to their leaders that they have higher ethical and political expectations. Unfortunately, as Saenz noted, A lot of people are not willing to swallow their pride and admit when theyre wrong or admit theyve messed up.

Wow. No wonder the 14-member team from Baylor clinched the title of Outstanding Delegation, the highest honor given, while representing Vietnam at the conference. We wish some of these students were on the election ballot rather than some of the failed leaders we keep propping up.
Christian nation?

David Anderson, in his letter of March 30, wants to argue that politicians can bring their religious beliefs into political office as if this is a Christian nation. When he speaks of religious beliefs, I am almost certain that he is speaking of traditional Christian beliefs.

It is probably a good guess that he believes the United States is a Christian nation. Obviously, he does not give much attention to that quote from the Constitution that he uses the part that says, Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion. He obviously has not read statements by Jefferson insisting on separation of church and state. He has never read the Treaty of Tripoli that says that the United States is in no way a Christian nation  a treaty written by John Adams and signed by the U.S. Senate.

Again, Anderson is another right-wing Christian who wants to rewrite history so people like him can impose their views on the rest of us. He also does not know that many of our Founding Fathers were deists and hardly religious. If anything, they saw the immense harm a theocracy can do and realized a separation of church and state is necessary for a free society.

John Vickrey, Norman, Oklahoma

Costly medicines

As a rheumatologist who treats Medicare patients, I am deeply concerned by a recent proposal from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that could result in further payment cuts for Medicare Part B drugs. If implemented, this mandatory payment model test would wreak havoc on patients and cause massive access and safety problems.

Many rheumatologists have already been forced to stop administering biologic therapies to Medicare patients suffering from arthritis, lupus and other rheumatic diseases because the current Part B payment structure does not cover the cost of obtaining and providing these complex therapies to patients. An additional payment cut would drive even more Medicare patients into less safe and more expensive settings  such as the patients home or the hospital  to receive needed therapies, if they can access them at all.

The proposed pay cuts are intended to incentivize physicians to prescribe less expensive drugs, but there are very few Part B biologics available to rheumatology patients to begin with, and their costs are all similar. Biologics are complex and cannot be easily interchanged or switched for less expensive options. Once a patient finds a biologic that works for him or her, it may be the only option.

Rheumatologists welcome meaningful reforms that will make biologics more affordable. However, the current proposed Medicare payment cuts will do nothing more than restrict Medicare patients access to safe and life-changing therapies.

Neil Moody, Belton
ASEAN Finance Ministers and ASEAN Secretary General Le Luong Minh (Source: VNA)

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Lao Finance Minister Lien Thikeo said that the meeting takes place at an extremely important time as the ASEAN Community enters the first year of existence.

At the event, delegates heard the AFMM Chairs reports on the implementation of initiatives related to infrastructure assistance, insurance, customs, terrorism and money laundering in the ASEAN financial cooperation channel.

The Finance Minister of Indonesia is expected to deliver a speech on plans to organise the 11th Investment Promotion Conference of ASEAN Finance Ministers in November.

Meanwhile, the Finance Minister of the Philippines, which will assume the Chair of ASEAN in 2017, will brief participants on the countrys activities next year.

On the same day, the 12th ASEAN Central Governors Meeting (ACGM) also opened in Vientiane.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) groups Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia, Brunei, and Vietnam./.
OPKO Health, Inc., a healthcare company, engages in the diagnostics and pharmaceuticals businesses in the United States, Ireland, Chile, Spain, Israel, Mexico, and internationally. The company's Diagnostics segment operates BioReference Laboratories that offers laboratory testing services for the detection, diagnosis, evaluation, monitoring, and treatment of diseases, including esoteric testing, molecular diagnostics, anatomical pathology, genetics, women's health, and correctional healthcare to physician offices, clinics, hospitals, employers and governmental units; and a novel diagnostic instrument system to provide blood test results in the point-of-care setting, as well as 4Kscore prostate cancer testing services. Its Pharmaceutical segment offers Rayaldee to treat secondary hyperparathyroidism in adults with stage 3 or 4 chronic kidney disease, and vitamin D insufficiency; OPK88004, an orally administered selective androgen receptor modulator; OPK88003, a once-weekly administered peptide for the treatment of type 2 diabetes and associated obesity that is in Phase IIb trials; and hGH-CTP, a once-weekly human growth hormone injection that completed Phase III clinical trial in partnership with Pfizer, Inc. This segment develops and commercializes longer-acting proprietary versions of already approved therapeutic proteins. The company also offers specialty APIs; develops, manufactures, markets, and sells pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, veterinary, and ophthalmic products; commercializes food supplements and over the counter products; manufactures and sells products primarily in the generics market; and imports, markets, distributes, and sells pharmaceutical products in a range of indications, including cardiovascular products, vaccines, antibiotics, gastro-intestinal products, hormones, and others. In addition, it operates pharmaceutical platforms in Ireland, Chile, Spain, and Mexico. The company was founded in 1991 and is headquartered in Miami, Florida.
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WA Labor's Metronet rail plan has been boosted by federal opposition leader Bill Shorten pledging federal funding and labelling it his number one infrastructure priority for Perth.

Metronet was the centrepiece of the state opposition's 2013 election campaign, when the party estimated it would cost $3.8 billion, although the Liberal state government's then-Treasurer Troy Buswell claimed it would cost $6.4 billion.

Federal Opposition leader Bill Shorten with state counterpart Mark McGowan. Credit:ABC News

Tim Marney, WA's under-treasurer at the time, estimated the project would cost about $500 million more than Labor claimed, but $2 billion less than the Liberal estimate.

Under the proposal, rail links will be run right up to suburbs on the edge of the city's urban sprawl in a bid to ease road congestion and give commuters a swifter alternative to buses.
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
By Tim Brockwell Apr. 05, 2016 | 02:06 PM | PADUCAH, KY

The U.S. Department of Energy has announced that it will soon begin offering public tours of the Paducah Gasseous Diffusion Plant for the first time ever.The first guided tour is scheduled for April 23. Five additional monthly tours are planned after that. The tours are free, and each tour will accommodate up to 40 people. All attendees must be at least 18 years old and must be U.S. citizens. No cameras, cell phones, or other recording devices will be permitted.Tours are being conducted by the Fluor Paducah Deactivation Project's Public Affairs Office, and will begin at the West Kentucky Community and Technical Colleges Emerging Technology Center at 4810 Alben Barkley Drive. Visitors who have pre-registered must arrive by 8:00 am for mandatory safety and security briefings. After a short welcome visitors will then depart for the DOE site.Fluor Public Affairs Manager Corey Hicks says the tours are a way for local residents to get an inside look at some of the activities that are going on at the plant site. "DOE wants to give the community the opportunity to see the site so that they can understand the site's history, the contribution to national security, and to realize a lot of the important environmental work that has been done and continues to be perfomed out here at the site."We are pleased to be able to offer these tours so that members of the community, former workers, and visitors to the community can see the rich history that Paducah and the DOE has to offer, said Jennifer Woodard, DOEs Paducah Site Lead. The plant near Paducah was one of only three gaseous diffusion plants built in the United States in the early 1950s to serve our countrys defense and energy needs. This tour program honors the legacy of dedicated workers who have passed through the security gates for decades to provide for our nations needs.Hicks says part of what drove the decision to begin the tours was a desire to give family and spouses of past and present plant workers a chance to visit the site. "A lot of the interest that we're gonna see within the community are people that their parents worked out here, their grandparents worked out here. Even some of the workers today, some of the spouses might want to see what goes on. This is gonna be an excellent opportunity to see that."For tour dates and additional information, or to register visit the link below.

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A pair of bodies discovered in Kentucky Lake this week
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By Sen. Danny Carroll

Apr. 04, 2016 | PADUCAH, KY; FRANKFORT, KY

By Sen. Danny Carroll Apr. 04, 2016 | 03:40 PM | PADUCAH, KY; FRANKFORT, KY

Long days, heated discussions, and budget negotiations marked the 13th week of the 2016 Session of the Kentucky General Assembly. The Senate was in session three of the five weekdays while the Senate and House leaders used the other two days to work on budget negotiations.



The Senate is working diligently toward a budget compromise ensuring the people of the Commonwealth are not left without a state budget at the end of the session. Passing the budget is our Constitutional responsibility, and we are determined to make this happen by the end of the session. We do not want to waste taxpayer dollars by calling a special session.



Our main concern and budget priority is funding our pension liability. At this point, we have over $36 billion in unfunded liabilities, and we cannot afford to keep delaying our obligations to the pension funds. Governing Magazine recently printed an article naming our state as the worst when it comes to pension funding. As one of my colleagues said, Refusing to address the pension crisis is equivalent to mortgaging our childrens future.



Additionally, the Senate proposed to meet the House halfway on cuts to higher education and to fully restore cuts to K-12 education, including the Family Resource and Youth Services Centers (FRYSC). We also proposed to fully restore the Judicial Branchs budget to ensure the court system can continue to function. House leaders walked away from these compromises.



While budget negotiations were ongoing, the Senate took action on a number of additional bills last week including:



 911 Funding--HB 585 is a bill I have worked on for about a year and will bring equity in the fees collected from cellular phones. Postpaid phones are currently assessed a 70-cent a month 911 fee. However, the fees collected from prepaid phones are not equitable. This bill will correct this inequity by moving the collection of a 93-cent fee to the point of sale. Prepaid phones are reloaded an average of nine times per year, which accounts for the higher fee. Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) lines and Lifeline phones will also be included in the 911 fee collection under the legislation. This bill will produce an estimated $8-10 million in additional revenue for our struggling 911 centers and ensure that all who have access to 911 are paying their fair share.

 Non-Profit LLC Tax Exempt Status--HB 52; one section of this bill will correct an oversight made by the legislature last year related to new Internal Revenue Service guidelines dealing with nonprofit corporations. This bill will save Paducahs Lourdes Hospitals tax exempt status, and its passage was the result of a nonpartisan effort between Rep. Gerald Watkins and me.

 Felony Expungement--HB 40 will allow the expungement of some low-level felonies from criminal records. Though I am supportive of expungement, I did not support this bill because I did not feel it was restrictive enough. I had hoped for a ten-year waiting period or for the bill to only apply to crimes that occurred before the age of twenty-five.

 State Road Plan- HB 305, the States Road Plan will provide funding for road projects throughout the Commonwealth.

Vehicle Transfer--HB 382 will immediately transfer a vehicles title to its new owner upon its sale from a dealership, providing the proper paperwork is filed.

 Child Abuse--HB 111, as amended, will require public schools to post the Kentucky child abuse hotline number. Additionally, this bill wiLl give more flexibility to school calendar scheduling.

 Pension Transparency--HB 263, as amended, will require more transparency in the public pension system.

 Drug Interdiction--House Concurrent Resolution (HCR) 187 urges the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency and the Department of Homeland Security to require advanced screening of all inbound shipments to the United States to intercept illegal synthetic drugs and chemicals.

 Auto Dealers--HB 165 will require sellers and dealers to disclose accident damage to a motor vehicle.

 Roofers--HB 366 will help to prevent roofers from purposefully causing damage to a homeowners roof in order to make additional money from the repairs.

 ARC of Kentucky--HB 369 will add the Arc of Kentucky to the Kentucky Commission on Services and Supports for Individuals with an Intellectual Disability and Other Developmental Disabilities.



The General Assembly will not be in session during the veto period, which concludes on April 11. During that time, Senate and House Leadership will continue budget negotiations in hopes of voting on a budget on April 12, the last day of the 2016 Regular Session.



If you have any questions or comments about these issues or any other public policy issue, please call me toll-free at 1-800-372-7181 or e-mail me at danny.carroll@lrc.ky.gov. You can also review the legislatures work online at www.lrc.ky.gov.



Senator Danny Carroll (R-Paducah) represents the 2nd District, encompassing Ballard, Carlisle, Marshall and McCracken Counties.
Rita Redmond was a true lady who felt that every pupil had something to gift to the world
New Adventures have announced that Matthew Bourne's production of The Red Shoes will receive its world premiere at the Theatre Royal Plymouth in November 2016.

The show, which is based on the award-winning film by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger and the Hans Christian Andersen fairytale, centres around Victoria Page, a dancer who is torn between her ambition to dance and her desire to love.

Bourne said at the launch that The Red Shoes, staged to mark the 30th anniversary of New Adventures next year, would be a pure dance piece. "I think people will fall in love with it," he said.

The choreographer added that, unlike his piece Sleeping Beauty, the story of The Red Shoes is less well known. "Our job is to introduce people to the film and the story and the music."

Australian dancer and New Adventures Principal, Ashley Shaw, will create the role of Victoria Page. Shaw is currently starring in Bourne's Sleeping Beauty and has had roles in other Bourne shows such as Nutcracker! and The Car Man.

The adaptation will feature a new score arranged by New Adventures associate artist, Terry Davies, who will use the music of Hollywood composer Bernard Herrmann who has worked with the likes of Alfred Hitchcock, Orson Welles and Martin Scorsese. The music will be played live for the first three venues.

Bourne commented: "It has been a long held ambition of mine to bring The Red Shoes to the stage as a dance/drama... It has also long been an ambition of mine to bring the incomparable music of Bernard Herrmann to the stage. It has been fascinating to discover how much of this music lends itself to story-telling through dance and this production will, I believe, be the first full length ballet to celebrate his unique music."

The Red Shoes will open at the Theatre Royal Plymouth on 21 November, after which it transfers to Sadler's Wells from 6 December to 29 January and then tours.
One look at Roberto Mancinis standard winter Man City training garb is enough to tell you that he is a man who does not like the cold. Not one bit.

Indeed, it appears that the Italian went to great lengths to stave off the chill Mancunian climate during his time in the north west, including having a little chap pre-warm his clothes for him while he was out on the training pitch.

Tacked onto the bottom of Daniel Taylors Guardian column on Chelseas gamble with Antonio Conte are a few choice morsels pertaining to Mancini and his strange, slightly diva-ish behaviour while at the City helm.

First up is an intriguing expose of Mancinis personal interpretation of the hairdryer treatment:

On cold days Mancini would signal for one of his entourage, a genial Italian by the name of Jose, to go into the dressing room a few minutes before training had finished. Jose would take a hairdryer and warm up Mancinis jumper so it was just the right temperature when the manager came in.

And warming up jumpers was just one aspect of Joses many-splendoured job remit, it would seem:

Mancini certainly had some unusual demands if you consider that he turned a disabled toilet into his own personal bidet and made the devoted Jose drive 20 yards behind him on the days when he decided to cycle home from the training ground. Mancini liked the fresh air of the countryside, but if he became tired he would simply hop off and get a lift with Jose.

Who is this mysterious Jose character and where do we get one?

In all honesty, were finding it hard to picture anybody other than Waylon Smithers here.
Sign Essentials has announced their appointment as a distributor of Grafityp Self-Adhesive Products. Grafityp, headquartered in Belgium, is one of the pioneers of computer-cut sign making.

They revolutionised the industry by creating the CSR vinyl cutter in 1984. This was the worlds first vinyl cutter to be connected to a personal computer. Within two years they developed and began to manufacture their own range of self-adhesive vinyls. With thirty years experience behind them, Grafityp is undoubtedly one of the worlds most successful and trusted vinyl manufacturers.

We are delighted with our Grafityp appointment says Sean Strange, General Manager of Sign Essentials. After being involved with them in the CSR vinyl cutter days it has always puzzled me why we havent seen more of Grafityp in Australia. When the opportunity arose for us to distribute the entire range including Grafitack cut vinyl, and Grafiprint print media and overlaminates, we knew it was the right move!

Sign Essentials representatives recently visited the Grafityp factory in Belgium where they received a guided tour by Mr Herman Bosman, co-founder and CEO of the company. They also attended FESPA Digital in Amsterdam where they met sales staff and received valuable product training. It was great to see the size and quality of the Grafityp factory said Hayden Bazant, Print Specialist at Sign Essentials. Its easy to understand why they have such a fantastic reputation around the world and its very exciting to see the research they are undertaking to continue bringing new products to market.

As well as being ideal for solvent, eco-solvent and UV printing, the Grafiprint range is Certified for HP Latex Inks. The Grafitack cut vinyl range, which is fully REACH compliant, is extensive  for example the polymeric series has more than 50 colours available.

Grafityp Self-Adhesive Products are in stock and available from Sign Essentials now. The first official showing takes place at Visual Impact Brisbane from the 14th - 16th of April 2016.

Grafitype

www.grafitype.com



Sign Essentials

www.signessentials.com
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 05/04/2016 (2392 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

MONTREAL  Canadian taxpayers spent almost $500,000 on a study of Bombardier that was launched months before the Montreal company asked the federal government for US$1 billion for its CSeries commercial aircraft, according to documents obtained by The Canadian Press.

Industry Canada agreed to pay $499,930 to Deloitte Inc. to prepare a financial and market assessment of Bombardier, said a revised contract obtained through an access-to-information request.

Thats higher than the original contract for $464,430 before Deloittes deadline to compile the report by Dec. 4 was extended to March 31.

Details about the objective of the report were redacted. The government declined to provide the final report, citing clauses under the Access to Information Act that prevent it from releasing information that could harm Bombardiers competitive position.

The study was ordered in August by the previous Conservative government.

The Liberal government later reportedly hired Morgan Stanley to help advise it on the funding request made in December by Bombardier. Details about that contract werent immediately available.

A spokesman for Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains said the government hasnt made a final decision on Bombardiers request.

Bombardier is working with the Quebec government to finalize an agreement by June 30 on its commitment to invest $1 billion in the CSeries.

Quebec wants the CSeries venture to be spun off into a separate entity, with Ottawa taking a one-third stake. That would take the troubled jet program off the companys books and boost its short-term financial results.

The first of the CSeries jets is entering service in a few months after years of delays. Bombardier has received commitments for 678 planes, including 243 firm orders. It currently controls 50.5 per cent of the CSeries, while Quebec has a 49.5 per cent stake.

Under Quebecs proposal, if Ottawa matches the provinces contribution, both governments would each own one-third stakes in the CSeries, with Bombardier left with the remainder.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 05/04/2016 (2392 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

CALGARY  Liberal MP John McKay is calling for stricter oversight of Canadian mining companies abroad as plaintiffs increasingly look to Canadian courts to seek justice.

He says the government needs to do more because Canadian companies operating internationally continue to face accusations of violating local laws and human rights, despite overall improvements in the industry.

These unwelcome instances keep on coming up, McKay said in an interview after a New York Times front-page story over the weekend shone a harsh spotlight on a Canadian mining company accused of serious crimes in Guatemala.

Protesters demonstrate outside the HudBay Minerals Inc. annual general meeting in Toronto on Thursday, June 14, 2012. Liberal MP John McKay is calling for stricter oversight of Canadian mining companies abroad as plaintiffs increasingly look to Canadian courts to seek justice. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

And not only does the mining company suffer brand problems, so also does the industry suffer brand problems, and so also does our nation suffer brand problems . It has been and continues to be a bit of a black eye on our country.

McKay has long been pushing for the creation of an ombudsman position that could investigate claims against Canadian companies abroad and impose sanctions.

There still has to be a day of reckoning for a company that commits egregious actions, said McKay.

The former Conservative government did create a mediator position as part of a 2009 corporate social responsibility strategy, but the role came under fire because it was entirely voluntary for companies to participate. The program was later revamped in 2014 as part of the goverments updated strategy.

Pierre Gratton, head of the Mining Association of Canada, says the second iteration of the strategy is much improved  Ottawa can now take away trade commissioner services and funding from Export Development Canada if companies refuse to participate.

The mining industry has also made numerous reforms since McKay first called for greater oversight, he added.

A lot has changed in terms of industry practices, said Gratton.

Even so, frustrated plaintiffs are increasingly trying to have their cases heard on the companies doorsteps here in Canada.

The Times piece told of the efforts of a group of indigenous Guatemalans, represented by the law firm Klippensteins, to sue Toronto-based Hudbay Minerals over alleged shootings and gang rapes at a mining project once owned by the company in the central American country.

In late 2013, the plaintiffs announced that a civil trial would go before a jury in Ontario, though the complex case is still in pre-trial motions.

Hudbay, which didnt own the mining operations when most of the alleged incidents occurred, has said the claims dont have merit and it will vigorously defend itself against them.

But while the company initially fought against having the case heard in Ontario, it backed down in 2014. Company spokesman Scott Brubacher said in an email Monday that the company is happy for justice to be served through the Ontario courts.

Hudbay is hardly the only company facing shocking allegations abroad.

In 2014, a group of former workers at Nevsun Minings Eritrean operations filed a civil suit in British Columbia claiming forced labour and other crimes against humanity. The company has said the claims are unfounded and it, too, will vigorously defend itself.

And just last September, the Supreme Court of Canada upheld a decision that opened the way for Ecuadorian villagers to use an Ontario court to enforce a US$9.5-billion Ecuadorian judgment against Chevron Corp. for environmental contamination.

The plaintiffs successfully argued that because Chevron owns about $15 billion worth of assets in Canada, they could pursue their case in Ontario courts.

Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr, in a telephone interview from New York, said expectations for business behaviour are spelled out in the existing corporate social strategy.

The government expects companies to obey the rule of law, wherever it does business, he said.

Canadas approach is to help companies find solutions that work, so were always open-minded for other ideas. But the government is very clear on the kind of behaviour it expects from Canadian companies doing business overseas. And the mining would be no exception to that.

Asked if Canada needs an ombudsman with investigative power and real teeth, Carr said the government is always open to new ideas but the main point is that we expect our companies to obey the rule of law, wherever theyre doing business.

McKay said Ottawas current corporate social responsibility counsellor, Jeffrey Davidson, has no active mediations or dialogues going.

He said he hopes to see his government move forward on the file, adding that if the industry has indeed improved so much, they have nothing to fear from stricter oversight.



With files from Kristy Kirkup and Bruce Cheadle in Ottawa

Follow @ibickis on Twitter
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 04/04/2016 (2393 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A gay Malaysian student has been granted refugee protection in Canada.

Im overwhelmed, said a tearful Hazim Ismail.

After questioning Ismail for about 45 minutes, Immigration and Refugee Board member Ron Yamauchi said Tuesday morning hed heard enough and believed Ismail is a legitimate Convention refugee and entitled to Canadas protection.

Malaysian student Hazim Ismail (right) gets a hug from Alexa Potashnik outside the refugee hearing office in Winnipeg Tuesday morning after winning his case against being deported back to Malaysia, where he had been given death threats due to his sexual orientation.

Hes an extraordinary soul and people like him need support, said his friend and supporter Alexa Potashnik. She was one of more than a dozen supporters who rallied behind the student from Malaysia, where gay people are persecuted.

Hazim is on our team! Potashnik cheered as he was swarmed by supporters after the verdict.

Ismail thanked them and said he wished that all LGBT refugee claimants had the support he received.

Ismail had told the tiny packed hearing room he faces persecution if he returns to Malaysia as a gay man who has been publicly outed. Hes been cut off by his family and publicly outed by tabloids and online news groups in Malaysia.

He has reasons to be afraid to return, said his lawyer, Bashir Khan, before the hearing. He has quit Islam, but the worst part is hes homosexual and hes come out.

Malaysia has laws against gay sex or carnal intercourse against the order of nature, with punishments that include whipping and up to 20 years in prison for consensual sex between men.

Khan has represented several gay refugee claimants from countries with homophobic laws at Immigration and Refugee Board hearings. Those claiming to be in need of refugee protection because of their sexual orientation always raise a huge doubt with the board member, said Khan. But Ismails story has been so widely publicized, the question of whether hes really gay or just saying he is so he can stay in Canada isnt an issue, the lawyer said.

I feel the liberty Im enjoying is about to be taken away Itssuffocating there. Its so exhausting trying to hide how you feel

That hes gay and an atheist who renounced the state religion, Islam, put him in even more danger if hes returned to Malaysia, said Khan. It puts him at great risk.

Ismail said he was thrilled when he arrived in Canada as a student that he did not to have to hide his sexual identity like he did growing up in a country with a Muslim majority.

Its suffocating there, he said. Its so exhausting trying to hide how you feel.

His posts on social media about coming out made it back to his family in Malaysia, who stopped supporting him.

They cut him off in 2014, and he survived with his boyfriends help, said Khan.

Ismail said he and his partner later broke up and, with no means of support, he couldnt afford to stay in school or keep his student visa.

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Alexa Potashnik has become close friends with Hazim Ismail and is helping raise awareness about the U of W students refugee claim.

As an international student, he pays more than four times what Manitobans pay for university tuition. To stay in Canada as a student, he needed to keep up his tuition payments.

He said he felt he had no choice but to go public and ask for financial help. He set up a GoFundMe page to raise $5,000 to pay for his winter 2016 term at the U of W. It raised $6,440 but inadvertently made it dangerous for Ismail to return to Malaysia.

Canadian news reports of his GoFundMe page boomeranged back home, said Khan. There were all these Malaysian news articles condemning him, said the lawyer, who submitted several of the articles as part of Ismails application for refugee protection.

Ismail was devastated when he found out his name and face were plastered all over tabloids, blogs and websites in Malaysia.

I had a friend who said Im worried about your safety, Ismail said. I woke up one morning, and I had hundreds of friend requests on Facebook.

Not everyone wanted to be his friend. A popular blog ran a poll asking what should happen to Ismail if hes returned to Malaysia. Some of the responses were vulgar, a few were supportive and others were threatening.

Ismail said there is a rights group that advocates for freedom of sexual orientation but it is powerless in Malaysia. They try but the government and the police have a lot more power.

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Hazim Ismail is an international student at the University of Winnipeg who is originally from Malaysia. He has a refugee protection hearing on April 5.

He filed a refugee claim Feb. 4 asking Canada for protection.

I felt I didnt have any other choice. Im in survival mode.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 05/04/2016 (2392 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

By day, he is the proprietor of an Osborne Village tattoo shop and its artist in residence. And she is the receptionist at Soul Survivors Body Art who also does her own energy and consciousness work thing.

But when they head out to explore the wider world, as they like to do, Eric and Rachel Johanson sometimes take on another role: international dog rescuers.

Not that bringing dogs home from foreign places was something they consciously set out to do. It just happened. Much the way their relationship with each other just happened.

JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Eric Johanson and his wife Rachel with their dogs Lulu (from left) from Norway House, Tito from Bosnia and Kuxuum from Mexico.

We knew each other for a week and moved in with each other, Rachel said. And weve been together 13 years. Now, we totally travel the world together. And do spiritual stuff.

Which is how, last October, they ended up visiting an area of Bosnia said to be the location of ancient pyramids. It was while they were driving to the site that they spotted a black puppy in a roadside garbage pile  the same frisky and friendly one I saw the Johansons with recently, while they strolled and he scampered so joyously through the forest behind the Winnipeg Humane Society.

He was a little guy in rough shape, Eric said, recalling the first time they noticed him.

They thought about stopping their rental car right then.

We discussed it, Eric remembered, and we said, Well, if hes still there on our way back home then hell become part of our karma. Part of our life. And we went back eight hours later, and he was there.

Added Rachel: It was as if he heard us, and said, Im going to wait right here, then.

So they picked him up. And, said Eric, the rest is history.

Not so fast.

Its in that history  what they ended up calling him and how they got him home to Canada  where a good story gets even better.

The Johansons named him Tito, after Marshal Josip Broz Tito, the late leader of the former Yugoslavia. And having had his shots and acquiring his puppy passport, the lucky little guy continued to travel the region with the Johansons.

They made a stop in the backwoods of Croatia in the village where Marshal Tito was born. The town folk came to see and take photos of the puppy when they heard his name being called.

Rachel recalled they cried out loud: The Marshals come home.

But the Johansons knew where Titos real home was really destined to be, even if the puppy didnt.

And they knew getting him home wasnt going to be as easy as their first international rescue of a dog they came to call Kuxuum. That was 2008, in the aftermath of hurricane Wilma in Cozumel, Mexico, and basically all they had to do was get the proper shots and drive him back with them to Canada.

Titos journey would pose more problems.

Eric and Rachel were scheduled to fly out of Amsterdam, via London with KLM. But the airline informed them Tito couldnt fly with it because Britain wouldnt allow dogs to land.

Its like, Whats our next step? Rachel remembered thinking. Because were not going to find another garbage pile and put him in it.

The Johansons turned to searching the Internet, and, wonder of wonders, they found Zoologistics.

Its an air carrier associated with KLM that specializes in pet travel. A kind of Air Noahs Ark.

Not only was there a flight out of Amsterdam, it was on the same day Eric and Rachel were departing. And it was destined for Calgary, where they had family pick up Tito.

The one-way Zoologistics flight was expensive  800 euros  but it had to be done.

Oh, but then it was the Johansons who got almost as lucky as Tito.

Their connecting flight home from Minneapolis was overbooked and when Eric and Rachel volunteered to be bumped, their credit card was rewarded with US$1,000  basically covering the cost of Titos travel.

It was like the universe rewarding us, Rachel said.

So thats how Tito from Bosnia came to live with Kuxuum from Mexico, a third rescue pooch (Lulu from Norway House), and, oh yes, Kevin the 21-year-old cat. But its the puppy in that pack  the one who waited so patiently in that Bosnian garbage pile to be rescued  to whom Rachel has given a special name.

Our little refugee.

gordon.sinclair@freepress.mb.ca
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This article was published 04/04/2016 (2393 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Nathan Dueck was born with a duty to serve his community.

Now, the 17-year-old, Grade 11 Westgate Mennonite Collegiate (86 West Gate) student has been recognized for his exceptional efforts with a prestigious Vimy Pilgrimage Award and will be travelling to France and Belgium to learn about Canadas role in the First World War, particularly the Battle of Vimy Ridge.

My parents volunteered in Vietnam with an international development group called Mennonite Central Committee right before I was born, so ever since I was born theyve instilled in me a sense of, What can I do to help others? Dueck said. At this point in my life Ive found it difficult to do what they do and go overseas, but Ive realized that theres a real need in the community for help as well, so I try to do what I can to help out.

Supplied photo Nathan Dueck, 17, as a leader in training last summer at Manitoba Pioneer Camp. Dueck is the recipient of the Vimy Pilgrimage Award and will be travelling to France and Belgium to learn more about Canadas role in the First World War.

Dueck is the only student chosen from Manitoba to go on the weeklong trip from April 3 to 11, out of 20 Canadian high school students. The Wolseley resident said he applied with a letter outlining his work in the community as well as why he wants to attend the tour.

I really stressed that a few months ago I work with my school to raise money for Syrian and Iraqi refugees and that raised just under $15,000, so I think that really helped, Dueck said. He is also an active volunteer with his church, with his ridings Member of Parliament (Robert-Falcon Ouellette) and with Siloam Mission.

History is an interest. I think its very interesting how these sociological trends play into history and make the world that we live in today, he said. When I was younger I had an interest in the specifics, the battle techniques and such, and while thats still interesting to me, I hope to go into this tour looking at why these events occurred, why the battle happened, what political and economic factors forced Canadas involvement in the war.

For Dueck, it will be a chance to put himself in the shoes of those who went to battle so many years ago and learn about history from their perspective.

The men who died in Vimy Ridge and WWI were not terribly different from me, a lot of them were young adults from Manitoba, some were even 17 like me, Dueck said. But when I try to imagine if I lived in that time and I was called up to fight, I couldnt imagine laying down my life, fighting for my country. I mean, Id like to think I would but it seems incomprehensible to me how they could have found the bravery to do so.

I hope by travelling to the site and experiencing what they did at least in a geographical sense, I could start to comprehend what it took to lay down their lives for their country.

Dueck said he hopes to study foreign affairs and international development once he graduates high school, with plans of applying for a law degree in human rights.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 05/04/2016 (2392 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitobas Progressive Conservatives say theyll bring the province into the New West Partnership trade agreement if they take office later this month.

PC leader Brian Pallister pledged Tuesday to begin talks to bring Manitoba into a trade alliance with Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia. Pallister spent much of the past two legislative sessions criticizing Greg Selingers NDP government for not entering into the trade agreement.

The Tory leader claims the move has cost Manitoba businesses work in the other provinces. Speaking at Tenderloin Meat & Sausage in West Kildonan, Pallister repeated a story he has told before: A Swan River business considered opening a shop in Saskatchewan in order to bid on work with a Saskatchewan Crown corporation that gives preference to businesses in New West member provinces.

Progressive Conservative leader Brian Pallister speaks on trade and the New West Partnership on Tuesday at Tenderloin Meat and Sausage on north Main Street.

We dont need people moving away from Manitoba, setting up shops in neighbouring jurisdictions to create jobs. We need more people setting up shop here, Pallister said.

Another firm, Grandeur Housing in Winkler, could not bid on work with a Saskatchewan Crown for the same reason, said Colin Fast, spokesman for the Winnipeg Construction Association.

Pallister said he could not quantify the economic benefits of joining the New West Partnership. He pegged the annual cost of membership at less than $500,000, primarily to cover trade-mission costs.

In a statement, the NDP accused the Tory leader of being fixated on an isolated regional trading bloc instead of considering interprovincial trade on a national level. Trade officials are in negotiations on a renewed Agreement on Internal Trade for all of Canada, not just the west. Manitoba actually does more trade with our eastern neighbours and it doesnt make sense to put important markets and jobs at risk by joining in on an agreement thats proving to be protectionist, NDP spokesman Andrew Tod said in the statement.

Pallister called the NDP argument specious. Were missing opportunities to do more business with our neighbours and were using the argument that we dont do more business with our neighbours. Are you serious? Pallister asked. The notion we dont do business with our neighbours to the west is not an argument. Its an excuse.

bartley.kives@freepress.mb.ca
During the month of April, visitors to the gallery will enjoy colorful artwork that was created using a variety of mediums and elements of design. Many of the pieces exhibited were created when students worked with artist-in-residence Andrew Foss, which was an opportunity made possible by an Artists in Education grant from the Southeast Minnesota Arts Council (SEMAC) and a monthly grant from WAPS. Visitors are encouraged to sign the guestbook, so the young artists know who attended the show.
A local general contractor is being honored for its accomplishments.

Friede & Associates, a commercial general contractor on Utility Court in Reedsburg, recently won numerous ABC Projects of Distinction Awards and other accolades. Company Executive Vice President Scott Truehl said the awards are nice but they are only one of the many results of a job well done.

2015 was a great year for us and 2016 looks like its going to be another one, he said.

Friede & Associates noticed a spike in projects starting in 2014 and business has yet to taper off. The company serves clients across the region, including several in Wisconsin Dells. Truehl said Friede has experience with unique demands so Dells resorts often hire them to stay one step ahead of each other.

We are used to doing these challenging and unique projects, he said.

Around Reedsburg, its tough to avoid Friedes presence. The Reedsburg Country Club on Highway 33 has a large banner advertising Friedes services. The club hired Friede to build its 8,500-square-foot expansion. The $1.6 million project started in November and should be finished by mid-May, Truehl said. When finished, the club will have more banquet space, a new bar, the ability to host multiple events simultaneously and a new kitchen/backroom/employee area.

Jeb Scott, president of the Reedsburg Country Club, said he is impressed with Friede & Associates professionalism and skill. Country Club Vice President Bob Ginther added that Friede & Associates has experience with unique projects so the club decided to hire it.

Scott noted that the club made an effort to stay local when choosing a contractor because the money stays in the area.

Besides the country club, Friede & Associates is the contractor for an expansion at Seats Inc. in Reedsburg. The 58,000-square-foot expansion is expected to be complete in September.

The company also worked on improvements at the Reedsburg Municipal Airport. A dedication for the finished project is expected sometime this spring.

Friede & Associates makes an effort to not only provide distinct services but to also market its capabilities. Truehl said the company collaborates with ADCI to produce three-dimensional videos showing how projects will appear when finished. Clients can use the videos to advertise their growth and generate excitement among customers and prospective business partners.

Its a great tool to show people what they are getting, he said.

Friede & Associates also has a website, social media pages and a YouTube channel. The company can even set up private, secure portals for clients, Truehl said.

He added that business success also comes from being part of a community. Friede & Associates sponsors scholarships and supports nonprofits. Truehl said he speaks at schools to share the companys story and encourage young people to pursue careers in contracting.

When subcontracting, Friede & Associates tries to use as many local businesses as possible, he said.

Truehl said Friede & Associates is blessed to work in an area with so many distinct needs. Sauk and Dane counties arent building just warehouses; they need senior living facilities, resorts, restaurants, hotels and showrooms. Businesses that held off from expanding or renovating following the recession are starting to open their wallets, creating work for the likes of Friede & Associates.

This year, there are still a lot of good opportunities, he said.
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.
Heywood gives graduates food for thought

Mark Heywood, one of South Africas most prominent social rights activists, posed important questions to graduates from the Faculty of Humanities.

What are the moral and social responsibilities that fall on you as humanities graduates? As the authors of movements (#FeesMustFall/#RhodesMustFall) what are the responsibilities of this generation as individuals and as a generation going into the future? He said he does not have the answers but wanted the recent graduates to think about these questions.

During his address Heywood said that humanities play a significant role in knowledge production.

I hope that your views on humanities  on what constitutes good, morality or immorality  that you have held two or three years ago, have evolved and developed after your exposure and experiences (at Wits), said Heywood.

He said the #FeesMustFall and #RhodesMustFall activists put equality of access to education on the national agenda but this also has far-reaching and meaningful contributions to the non-racialism and equality in South Africa. He said that it is important to him because he works for an organisation which is named after a section in the Constitution that is trying to advance the right to basic education.

We dont do much work in tertiary education but we are trying to turn the words of the Constitution into a reality. SECTION27 is a public interest law centre that seeks to achieve substantive equality and social justice in South Africa.

Heywood said the starting point is to recognise that we are living in a society that is rich in resources but our behaviour when it comes to corruption for example is no longer politically or economically sustainable.

But he is hopeful that we can get it right. Referring to the recent superhero movie, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, he said we should take heed of Batmans call to take a stand and fight for justice together.

Heywood joined the AIDS Law Project in 1994 and in 1998 he was one of the founders of the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC).

He has continued to participate on the TAC Secretariat, National Council and Board of Directors. Heywood was elected and served as the deputy chairperson of the South African National AIDS Council in 2007 until 2012.

In 2009, he was also appointed as a member of the Ministerial Advisory Committee on National Health Insurance.

Heywood has written extensively on HIV, human rights and the law and has been part of the legal teams of the ALP, TAC and SECTION27 that have been involved in major litigation around HIV and other human rights issues in South Africa.

SECTION27 has recently been involved in litigation in the Supreme Court of Appeal to challenge the Department of Educations appeal on the provision of textbooks in Limpopo.
How to survive extinction: Live fast, die young

Media release: National Museum examines life history of ancient mammal relatives.

Two hundred and fifty-two million years ago, a series of Siberian volcanoes erupted and sent the Earth into the greatest mass extinction of all time. Billions of tons of carbon were propelled into the atmosphere, radically altering the Earths climate.

Yet, some animals thrived in the aftermath and scientists now know why.

In a new study published today in Scientific Reports, palaeontologists from the National Museum, Bloemfontein  a partner of the DST/NRF Centre of Excellence in Palaeosciences, seated at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg  and their collaborators demonstrate that ancient mammal relatives, known as therapsids, adapted to drastic climate change by having shorter life expectancies.

When combined with results from survivorship models, this observation leads the team to suggest that these animals bred at younger ages than their predecessors.

Before the Permo-Triassic extinction, the therapsid Lystrosaurus had a life span of about 15 years based on the record of growth preserved in their bones, said National Museum palaeontologist Jennifer Botha-Brink, the lead author on the paper. Yet, nearly all of the Lystrosaurus specimens we find from after the extinction are only 23 years old. This implies that they must have been breeding when they were juveniles themselves.

This adjustment in life history also meant a physical change for Lystrosaurus. Before the mass extinction, this creature would have been a couple of metres long and weighed hundreds of kilogramsabout the size of a pygmy hippo. Post-extinction, its size dropped to that of a large dog, in large part due to its altered lifespan. Yet, these adaptations seemed to pay off for Lystrosaurus. Ecological simulations show that by breeding younger, Lystrosaurus could have increased its chance of survival by 40% in the unpredictable environment that existed in the aftermath of the extinction.

This change in breeding behavior is not isolated to ancient animals either. In the past century, the Atlantic cod has undergone a similar effect due to human interference. Industrial fishing has removed most large individuals from the population, shifting the average size of cod significantly downward. Likewise, the remaining individuals are forced to breed as early in their lives as possible. Similar shifts have also been demonstrated in African monitor lizards.

With the world currently facing its sixth mass extinction, palaeontological research can help us understand how and why some animals, such as those like Lystrosaurus, thrived in the face of disaster, said Botha-Brink. Studying the reasons for differential survival in response to dramatic environmental perturbation amongst extinct species will allow us to better predict how todays climate change will affect modern species.

Summary of Major Findings

Study of bone microstructure and body size distributions in the forerunners of mammals (therapsids) reveals distinct life history changes during the Permo-Triassic Mass Extinction (252 Mya). Our results show that post-extinction species took less time to reach adult size, had shortened life expectancies, high mortality rates, and were at heightened risk of extinction. Simulations using ecological modelling show that breeding earlier, which would have led to shortened generation times, could have helped therapsids survive in the unpredictable, resource-limited post-extinction environment, and explains body size distributions observed in earliest Triassic species like Lystrosaurus. The results help explain how the disaster taxon Lystrosaurus, not only survived, but spread to all areas of the globe and became the most abundant vertebrate after the Permo-Triassic Mass Extinction.

Background Facts

There have been five major mass extinctions in Earths history.

The Permo-Triassic Mass Extinction (252 Mya) was the most catastrophic extinction in Phanerozoic history.

It killed 80-96% of all marine species and 70% of all terrestrial species.

Post-extinction ecosystems did not fully recover until some 5 million years after the event.

Therapsids include animals like Lystrosaurus, and another group called the cynodonts, which includes mammals and their immediate ancestors. Their body sizes ranged from that of a tiny mouse to a massive rhino. South Africa contains the best fossil record of early therapsids in the world.

The paper does NOT say

We do not demonstrate behavioural or physical evidence of early reproduction. Rather, our main empirical dataset comes from body size distributions and bone microstructure, which show direct evidence of shorter life expectancies in Triassic therapsids. Our inference of earlier breeding is then based on size distributions and expectations of survivorship models that we pursued based on our observations of the bone microstructure.

About the DST/NRF Centre of Excellence in Palaeosciences at Wits University

The DST/NRF Centre of Excellence (CoE) for the Palaeosciences was awarded in 2013 to the University of the Witwatersrand and its collaborating institutions, namely the University of Cape Town, Iziko Museum in Cape Town, the National Museum in Bloemfontein, the Albany Museum of Rhodes University, and Ditsong Museum in Pretoria. It is hosted in the Evolutionary Studies Institute at Wits University.

Media:

Download the media pack

Interviews:

Dr Jennifer Botha-Brink

National Museum, Bloemfontein

DST-NRF Centre of Excellence in Palaeosciences

+27 51 447 9609

+27 82 403 0604

jbotha@nasmus.co.za




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State and Woonsocket police vehicles line the road outside the Fairfield Street home of Constance Gauthier on March 24. A state health official said Monday that Gauthiers death, which had been declared a homicide, was the result of multiple stab wounds. Police have not made an arrest or announced any suspects in the slaying, but are planning a community meeting this Friday, where they say they will address safety concerns of nearby residents.
EDF Energy completes 'dry fuel store' at Sizewell B

05 April 2016

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EDF Energy has inaugurated a new 'dry store' for used nuclear fuel that enables continued operation of the Sizewell B nuclear power plant until at least 2035. The plant, which is in Suffolk, accounts for 3% of the UK's total electricity demand.

Inside the new dry fuel store at Sizewell (Image: EDF Energy)

A dry fuel store is a method of storing used nuclear fuel that has already been cooled in the used fuel pond. The fuel is loaded into a metal canister which is then welded shut, and then placed within a large, leak-tight steel and concrete cask.

The development at Sizewell B marks a UK first for Holtec International's Dry Fuel Storage technology, which is used across the USA and Europe.

With testing now complete the dry fuel store is being prepared to take its first delivery of used fuel. In parallel the final stage of the approvals process is being completed for submission to the Office for Nuclear Regulation, EDF said on 31 March. The dry fuel store will safely house used fuel from Sizewell B from autumn 2016 onwards until a geological disposal facility is available for the longer term storage of used fuel, it added.

Inaugurating the facility with Holtec president and CEO Kris Singh and Suffolk Coastal MP Therese Coffey, EDF Energy CEO Vincent de Rivaz said: "We are continuing to make investments to safely improve the performance of our nuclear power stations and to allow them to operate longer."

EDF Energy, which operates eight nuclear power plants, announced last month it planned to extend the expected closure dates of Heysham 1, Heysham 2 and Hartlepool - all in England - and Torness in Scotland.

"As well as investing in our existing stations we are also advancing our plans for the next generation of nuclear power stations in Britain, including here at Sizewell. We are confident that we will be moving ahead soon and launching our project for two reactors at Hinkley Point C in Somerset which will pave the way for the next stage of consultation for Sizewell C."

The planned Hinkley Point C plant - the first new nuclear power plant built in the UK in almost 20 years - is scheduled to begin operating in 2025. Together, the two EPR reactors at Hinkley will provide about 7% of the UK's electricity. Under a deal agreed last October, China General Nuclear will take a 33.5% stake in EDF Energy's 18 billion ($28 billion) project to construct the plant. In addition, the two companies will develop projects to build new plants at Sizewell and also at Bradwell, in Essex, the latter using Chinese reactor technology.

Last year Sizewell B achieved a UK nuclear industry record for any one plant, delivering 10.5 TWh of electricity - enough to power 2.6 million homes for a year, EDF Energy said.

In March 2014, the plant's new off-site Emergency Response Centre became fully operational, which the company said was a key milestone in its 180 million investment at its nuclear power plants.

Under the current arrangements, all the used fuel from Sizewell B's reactor since it began producing low-carbon electricity in 1995 is safely stored under water in a fuel storage pond which was never designed for the lifetime of the plant. The fuel storage pond takes fuel from the reactor core and this used fuel is both hot and highly radioactive. The water in the pond both cools the fuel and forms a highly effective radiation barrier between the used fuel and its surrounding environment.

Planning permission for the dry fuel store was granted in July 2011, but a number of planning conditions had to be met before work could begin. Suffolk Coastal District Council's Planning Committee gave the final go-ahead for the facility in September 2012.

Researched and written

by World Nuclear News

Related topics
Bride (illustration)

By: Wayne Morin

Police are looking to arrest a groom and his four brothers after they allegedly killed the bride on the wedding night because she was not a virgin, police in Pakistan said.

Jacobabad police said that the incident unfolded on Friday night, following the wedding of Khanzadi Lashari and Qalandar Bux Khokhar.

Investigators believe that the groom strangled the bride after discovering that she was not a virgin. The bride and the groom were first cousins and their marriage was arranged.

The bride was not forced to marry her cousin, according to family members.

The father of the bride, Lal Mohammad Lashari, called the police after being unable to get in touch with his daughter on Saturday morning.

Police officers and the victimas brother, Ali Sher Lashari, broke down the door of the newlywed couples home after nobody answered.

They found the brideas body lying on a bed, and the husband was missing.

According to the police investigation, on Friday night, when the groom discovered that his bride was not a virgin, he called his four brothers and they strangled the woman.
The ongoing rise in greenhouse gas emissions may trigger a rapid, irreversible collapse in an Antarctic ice sheet the size of Mexico, with potentially catastrophic consequences, a study published last week in the journal Nature found.

Rob DeConto, a geoscientist at University of Massachusetts Amherst, and paleoclimatologist David Pollard, of Pennsylvania State University, suggest the West Antarctic ice sheet is far more unstable than previously appreciated by scientists. Its collapse may add more than a meter to the level of the worlds oceans as quickly as 2100, and more than 15 meters long-term. With ice melt from other regions, sea level could rise nearly 2 meters before the end of the century.

Such a rapid increase in the worlds oceans could permanently flood entire cities, necessitating mass migration and unleashing destruction on a scale not experienced outside of world war. Research compiled last year offered a conservative estimate of well over a hundred million people directly imperiled by sea level rise corresponding to 2 degrees Celsius warming, without accounting for West Antarctic collapse. If rising temperatures do trigger such a collapse, many of the worlds mega-cities, from New York to Shanghai to Rio, may be in jeopardy within the lifespans of children alive today.

DeConto and Pollards research examined how climate change affects the West Antarctic ice sheet, a vast region where much of the land mass is below sea level. Floating ice sheets, which extend for hundreds of kilometers, are subject to the dual forces of warming ocean currents and rising air temperatures. Meltwater flowing through cracks in the floating ice can trigger a domino effect of disintegration as instability mounts with each collapsing ice cliff. This is precisely what scientists have observed at the rapidly retreating Helheim Glacier in Greenland, and what may be in store for West Antarctica.

The researchers accounted for ice cliff collapse and other melting mechanisms in climate models for the first time, enabling them to more accurately reconstruct historic sea levels that have long puzzled scientists. While temperatures in polar regions over the past several million years have only slightly exceeded todays, global sea level averages have been as much as 9 meters higher. The culprit, as DeConto and Pollard explain in their paper, is the sensitivity of melting Antarctic ice sheets to relatively small changes in temperature.

Having more accurately replicated the past, they ran their model to explore future scenarios of climate change. The study found that for a given amount of warming, the expected rate of ice loss in Antarctica, which holds approximately 90 percent of the earths fresh water, far exceeds the previously accepted estimate.

The relationship between warming global temperatures and sea level rise has long been one of the more controversial topics among climate scientists. While one of the primary mechanisms, thermal expansion due to rising water temperatures, is well understood, the potential impact of melting glaciers and ice sheets has been a source of substantial uncertainty. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2013 revised their assessment of projected sea level rise upward by about 60 percent from six years previous. The new study suggests a rise nearly double that of the 2013 estimate.

DeConto and Pollards study adds to a body of research that over the past few years has raised alarms over the potential for runaway sea level rise. Using satellite data, studies by Bert Wouters and colleagues, and separately Christopher Harig and Frederick Simons, for example, observed rapid melting in areas of Antarctica previously thought to be stable.

This emerging research is a grim warning about the severity of rising sea levels. Far from being written off as a problem hundreds of years distant, or one that may impact only a limited number of geographies such as low-lying islands and flood-prone settlements, a meters-large increase in global ocean levels within the next several decades would be catastrophic for wide stretches of humanity.

This could spell disaster for many low-lying cities, DeConto remarked to his universitys press office. He added that his study showed that aggressive action to reduce global carbon emissions can reduce the risk greatly.

However, this growing urgency to mitigate and adapt to climate change before disastrous and unstoppable consequences has been matched with little more than pretense by the ruling class. The Paris Agreement, signed last December, binds the worlds governments to little more than accounting paperwork. Their voluntary pledges, even if carried out, fall well short of limiting temperature increase to avoid catastrophe.
A March 31 court restraining order blocked a strike by school bus drivers in Las Cruces, New Mexico, who voted unanimously on March 29 to strike after negotiators failed to reach an agreement on a new contract. Las Cruces is a city of about 100,000, 50 miles northwest of El Paso, Texas.

Ostensibly directed against both management and the union, the temporary restraining order (TRO) requires the drivers to continue working without a contract, and forbids strike action as well as picketing and other protests on school property. Workers were set strike April 1, the date of the contract expiration.

Las Cruces Transportation Federation (LCTF) Local 6341, an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), is the bargaining agent for about 160 drivers in the Las Cruces Public School District (LCPS). It had been negotiating with School Transportation Services-New Mexico (STS-NM) since last July, but negotiations broke down over issues such as sick leave, safety and the condition of buses and transportation equipment.

STS-NM is a private firm that contracts school bus services with the LCPS. Its operations in Las Cruces cover 124 routes for about 7,300 students. Bus drivers have complained of the poor condition of the buses and of overcrowding. Marcos Torres, Local 6341 president, claimed that as many as 77 children ride each bus every day.

Torres did not get into specifics regarding contract talks, merely telling reporters, We need to do more to protect the safety of our students We need to improve conditions. Its not a good situation.

He also noted that drivers are offered no sick leave. Bowing to the injunction, he called on all Las Cruces parents, community members and Board members to contact STS-NM and appeal to management to restart negotiations with proposals for increased student safety and new policies to attract and retain the best qualified operating personnel to serve our students.

LCPS Superintendent Stan Rounds predictably disavowed any responsibility on the part of the school district for the conflict or for its resolution. First and foremost, remember that the bus drivers are not employees of the Las Cruces Public Schools, he told Las Cruces Sun-News reporters. They are employees of a contractor that has a contract with our district. He called any disruption to school bus service unconscionable. Assigning equal blame to STS-NM and the LCTF, he said, The bus company and the drivers need to realize that they are not putting kids first, and that should be their number one concern.

As for STS-NM, it cannot terminate its contract with LCPS, which expires on June 30, after the end of the 2015-16 school year. STS-NM is not required to perform any improvements on its buses or alleviate the overcrowding in the meantime.

The restraining order lasts for 10 days, after which the parties are to meet in court where a judge will decide whether to issue a permanent injunction, which would effectively abrogate the bus drivers right to strike.

On April 1, Torres and AFT New Mexico President Stephanie Ly released a statement decrying the restraining order, without advancing any strategy to oppose it outside of toothless legal appeals. They declared that the ex parte temporary restraining order was granted despite no allegations that AFT NM or LCTF #6341 had engaged in, or threatened, violence. The Districts motion, and the courts jurisdiction to grant it, was based only on New Mexico state law.

They further noted that the jurisdiction to issue the TRO has been preempted and displaced by the federal National Labor Relations Act, which, in no uncertain terms, grants employees the right to strike upon the expiration of a collective bargaining agreement.

They also cited the New Mexico Anti-Injunction Act, which generally prevents a state court from issuing an injunction in a labor dispute such as exists between AFT NM, LCTF #6341, and STS-NM. They concluded, Today, AFT NM and LCTF #6341 filed an Emergency Motion to Quash the Temporary Restraining Order, which we hope the District Court will grant, and dissolve the restraining order it issued without proper jurisdiction.

While the legal maneuvering takes place, the drivers will be forced to keep driving overcrowded substandard buses as before, now without a contract.
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos on March 26 told a press conference in Bogota that the failure of his government and leaders of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) to sign a peace deal by the previously-announced deadline of March 23 was due to the guerrilla movements inability to agree upon a firm precise and clear date for disarmament.

For its part, the FARC leadership has maintained that it cannot set such a date for demobilizing its fighters and turning over their weapons because it has not received sufficient security guarantees from the Colombian government.

For decades, Colombia has been embroiled in a veritable civil war between the FARC, the armed forces, right-wing paramilitaries, and the National Liberation Army (ELN), another self-proclaimed left rebel group. Over 200,000 have been killed since fighting broke out in the mid-1960s, the majority civilians, and five million people have been left homeless by fighting in the last 30 years.

Despite the passing of the recent deadline, evidence is mounting that a deal may be close. Negotiations have been taking place for months between the FARC leadership and the government in Havana, Cuba, under the watchful eye of the Castro and Obama administrations.

US Secretary of State John Kerry met separately with government and FARC leaders during last months visit by President Barack Obama to Havana. Speaking after the meetings, the State Department said Kerry told both sides he was encouraged that the end of conflict issues are now front and center in the negotiations, including a formal bilateral ceasefire monitored by the UN security council, a timetable for disarmament, and security guarantees post-conflict for all lawful political actors. Kerry said that the peace process was a sign of a profound transformation underway in Latin America.

The deal being worked out between the FARC and the government covers the crimes of both organizations and lays the foundation for a more stable investment opportunity for Wall Street and US corporations. Human Rights Watch recently released a report noting that the peace deal would provide immunity for government officials guilty of overseeing mass execution programs by the armed forces.

HRWs Americas director Jose Miguel Vivanco called the agreement a checkmate against justice.

The agreement would create a special judicial unit giving the government the power to waive criminal proceedings against those high-ranking military officials who oversaw the infamous false positives cases. From 2002 to 2008, the Colombian military systematically and intentionally murdered 3,000 innocent workers and peasants and reported the dead as FARC combatants (hence the term false positives). The program was aimed in part as a campaign of government terror, in part a response to widespread opposition to ongoing low-level collusion between the government and FARC rebels, and in part to keep the funds flowing from the Clinton and Bush administrations $9 billion weapons and training program known as Plan Colombia.

The web of loopholes and ambiguities in the agreement could guarantee that many of those responsible for false-positive killings, ranging from low-ranking soldiers to generals, will escape justice, HRWs Vivanco said.

In other words, the peace treaty will provide impunity for the criminals in the government and the FARC while providing negligible relief to the Colombian population.

Pleased with the opportunity to open up legal avenues for power and privilege with the help of US imperialism and the Colombian government, the FARC produced a groveling letter to John Kerry in the aftermath of the meeting in mid-March.

The letter begins: John Kerry, United States of America Secretary of State: Through you, we thank the US Government for its support for the peace talks...

The letter continued: We have reasons to believe that the US is able to see in the FARC-EP a reliable partner for the construction of the continental peace and we hope that consequently we will be recognized as a political force committed to the expansion of democracy and social progress in Colombia.

The FARCs willingness to collaborate with US imperialism to establish continental peace in exchange for recognition as a legal political movement is the logical product of the FARCs program based upon petty-bourgeois nationalism and guerrillaism.

Born out of a popular front alliance between the Stalinist Colombian Communist Party and left-liberal sections of the national bourgeoisie after the Civil War of 1948-58, the FARC was praised for decades by Pabloites, Guevarists, and Chavistas as left revolutionaries to be lauded for carrying out the armed struggle. Today, they are aiding the US in carrying out a profound transformation in Latin America that will be based on an intensification of US imperialisms involvement in the region and an escalation of corporate exploitation of the Latin American working class.

The FARC is following the path of former guerrilla movements in countries like El Salvador and Nicaragua, where the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) and Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) long ago traded their weapons for parliamentary positions and lucrative political patronage machines. Today, these groups are majority parties whose ex-guerrilla leaders are heads of state. The FSLN and FMLN now are in charge of overseeing new attacks on social programs, wages, and living conditions in their respective deeply impoverished, violence-ridden countries.

There are powerful sections of the Colombian ruling class who remain opposed to making a deal and would prefer the mass extermination of the estimated 7,000 to 10,000 FARC fighters.

This section, led by former president Alvaro Uribe, view the handling of a 1980s ceasefire as a preferred option. In the mid-to-late-1980s, the Colombian government unleashed right-wing paramilitary forces and massacred thousands of FARC supporters who had attempted to transform themselves into a legal party known as Patriotic Union (UP).

Whatever the immediate outcome of the negotiations, the reactionary content of the proposed agreement shows the character of the US pivot to Latin America. The move is a further step toward countering the influence of China in the region and providing access to resources, cheap labor and profits for Wall Street and US corporations. US imperialism has long counted on the Colombian government as a key ally in pursuing these aims, to which it can now add the FARC as a loyal subsidiary.
Canadas premier domestic spy agency, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), is making regular use of the new disruption powers it was given last year under a Conservative-authored, Liberal-supported police-state law, Bill C-51.

A strong advocate of the need for such powers, CSIS head Michel Coulombe recently told a Senate committee that CSIS has used its power to disrupt activities it deems potentially harmful to Canadas public security close to two dozen times since last fall.

Coulombe refused to provide any details of the measures taken by CSIS agents, or to specify the nature of any of the threats they were intended to counter. He claimed that in making use of its new disruption powers, CSIS has not yet had to request a judicial warrant authorizing it to break the law or violate targets constitutional rights as spelled out in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Such assurances are worth little given CSISs well-documented history of lying to the courts and arrogating new powers through patently unconstitutional interpretations of the law. For example, both CSIS and Canadas signals intelligence agency, the Communications Security Establishment (CSE), have maintained that they have the right to collect the metadata of Canadians electronic communicationscell calls, emails, internet use, etc.because it isnt constitutionally-protected communications, merely an envelope.

Coulombe refused to answer reporters questions on whether CSIS had been successful in thwarting any threats through the use of its disruption powers. Instead, he sought to justify the vast powers CSIS has available it to by telling the Senate hearing that they are akin to those of spy agencies in allied countries.

Under Bill C-51, CSIS is empowered to use any means it can to disrupt suspected threats to public security. The only provisos are: it must obtain permission from a secret court, operating on the basis of secret jurisprudence, when it breaks the law or violates targets Charter rights; it cannot kill someone or cause them bodily harm, whether intentionally or by criminal negligence; it cannot pervert the course of justice, or violate someones sexual integrity.

Citing the need to protect national security, CSIS and the government have said next to nothing about how the spy agency might employ its disruption powers. But it has been widely noted in the media that it could illegally disrupt communications, detain people or impede their travel, and carry out break-ins to plant electronic bugging devices or steal money or information. CSIS could also press employers to fire targeted individuals and mount smear campaigns. Craig Forcese and Ken Roach, academics who have written extensively on Bill C-51, contend that under its new disruption powers CSIS, working in cahoots with secret courts, could even set up a secret detention facility and/or subject individuals to torture.

The Conservatives justified Bill C-51 in the name of fighting terrorism. But virtually all the new powers the legislation gives CSIS and Canadas other intelligence-security agencies are applicable to anything those agencies deem a potential threat to either public security or to national security, including Canadas economic stability, critical infrastructure and territorial sovereignty, diplomatic interests or constitutional order.

This is also true of CSISs disruption powers.

Apart from gaining a judges consent in cases where CSIS deems its disruption will involve breaking the law or violating someones Charter rights, Bill C-51 contains only one other provision for mandatory oversight of CSISs disruption activities. CSIS must provide the minister of Public Safety with a periodic report on the number of disruption activities it has conducted.

In February, the Toronto Star reported that documents it had obtained reveal that CSE had told its ostensible political master, Liberal Defence Minister Harjti Sajjan, it can assist CSIS with its disruption activities without court authorization.

This was the sleeper in (Bill) C-51, legal scholar Forcese told the Star, because CSE is barely mentioned in C-51. Forcese compared CSEs new role to that of a hacker for the domestic intelligence services. CSE has been a watcher.. .. It has not been able to do things kinetically to people. But under the umbrella of CSIS assistance, it can now go kinetic.

CSISs frequent use of its disruption powers confirms the warnings made by the World Socialist Web Site about the sinister character of Bill C-51. The legislation was rushed through parliament by the former Conservative government in the wake of the twin, October 2014 killings of Canadian Armed Forces personnel in St. Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec and Ottawa. Prime Minister Stephen Harper whipped up a climate of fear, casting Canada as a country under siege by jihadi terrorists so as to justify a vast expansion of the powers of the national security apparatus.

The Liberals, then only the third-largest party in the House of Commons, voted for Bill C-51 at every stage of its passage through parliament. They did so while claiming to have certain reservations, principally on the issue of parliamentary oversight of the security agencies, and promising to amend the legislation if they formed the government after the October 2015 election.

The Liberals support for the key features and thrust of the Conservatives authoritarian legislation was exemplified by Justin Trudeaus denunciations of the New Democratic Partys tepid criticism of the law as fear-mongering.

Having been sworn in as prime minister, Trudeau is now deepening intelligence collaboration with the United States, which leads a global spying network of unheard of proportions. At his meeting with President Obama in Washington March 10, Trudeau agreed that Canada and the US will share information on everyone entering and exiting their countries across their common land border. This will build on the comprehensive collaboration that already exists between the Canadian and US national security apparatuses, including through the US National Security Agency-led five eyes alliance.

Speaking in a CBC interview prior to Trudeaus visit, US National Security Adviser Susan Rice said of information sharing between Ottawa and Washington, Frankly, our concern is not that there is too much, but at times theres been too little.

Liberal Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale, tasked by Prime Minister Trudeau with overseeing amendments to Bill C-51, has initiated a public consultation, but says no legislation should be expected before the fall. The major change to the legislation anticipated is the establishment of a parliamentary oversight committee for Canadas spy agencies along the lines of the congressional committees in the United States and Britains parliamentary committee. Such bodies, staffed by trusted representatives of the ruling elite, have done absolutely nothing to prevent the emergence of a police-state apparatus in both countries, including mass surveillance of the population.

Yet even the Liberals proposal to make minor modifications to Bill C-51 has prompted pushback from the intelligence agencies. A week after Trudeau sent a ministerial-mandate letter to Goodale instructing him to repeal certain elements of Bill C-51, including the provision permitting CSIS to violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, CSIS head Coulombe arranged a private briefing with the public safety minister to argue against any changes to the legislation.

The Liberals attempt to pose as a party concerned with upholding the democratic rights of Canadians was always a fraud. In the wake of 9/11, the Liberal governments of Jean Chretien and Paul Martin dramatically expanded the powers and reach of Canadas national security agencies. It was the Chretien Liberal government that launched an assault on core democratic rights, such as the right to remain silent and the presumption of innocence, and it was under Martin that CSE was secretly authorized to carry out the mass surveillance of Canadians electronic communications.
Coworkers and friends of Jeffery Pendleton are seeking answers following the death of the 26-year-old homeless man in police custody last month. Pendleton was held in jail for five days at the Hillsborough County House of Corrections in Manchester, New Hampshire, after he was too poor to post bail.

According to Nashua police, Pendleton was detained on March 8 after he was arrested for marijuana possession and pre-existing warrants for not paying a court fine and not attending a scheduled court appearance. Bail was set at $100 cash and Pendleton, unable to pay, was sent to jail.

According to a statement by David Dionne, the superintendent of the Hillsborough County corrections department, Pendleton was found unconscious in his cell at 2:45 p.m. on Sunday, March 13. He did not respond to medical assistance and was pronounced dead at 3:19 p.m. There appeared no indication that Mr. Pendleton was in any form of distress, Dionne stated.

Dr. Jennie Duval, the states deputy chief medical examiner, told the Manchester Union Leader that her preliminary observations showed no evidence of any natural disease or no evidence of trauma. Autopsy results are pending and the state is awaiting toxicology reports to determine the cause of death, according to the states chief medical examiner.

Pendletons family, who raised funds to bring his body home to Arkansas, disputes the authorities claims that no harm was done to him in jail. In an update on their GoFundMe page they wrote: They, Medical Examiners of NH, had stated there was no harm to Jeffery. They did not allow us to view his body in New Hampshire. This is why it was important to get him home.

While not providing details at this point they wrote: The second report completed in Arkansas states there are clear indications that Jeffery was harmed prior to his death and likely that harm caused his death.

Pendleton worked at the Burger King in Nashua, but was homeless due to the low wages paid by the fast food chain. He was a homelessness activist and had participated in the Fight for $15 campaign, which advocates for a higher minimum wage.

On Friday, about 20 co-workers and supporters demonstrated outside the Hillsborough jail where Pendleton was held and died, chanting, No justice, no peace and holding signs reading, Justice for Jeffrey. They tried unsuccessfully to enter the jail.

Andy Fontaine, a former co-worker of Pendletons who participated in the protest, told the Concord Monitor, Were all just here to know what happened and why it happened.

Pendleton was no stranger to the jail where he met his end. He spent more than a month locked up there in 2014 after Nashua police picked him up on a criminal trespassing charge while he was walking through a park. As with his most recent arrest, Pendleton was unable to come up with the $100 bail to secure his release until his next court date.

With the assistance of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire (ACLU-NH), Pendleton sued the city of Nashua, arguing that his right to be in the area around the Nashua Public Library was protected by the First Amendment. The city eventually dropped the charges and agreed to pay him $15,000 to settle his civil claim, according to court documents.

Pendleton was involved in another ACLU lawsuit months later, suing the town of Hudson over the police departments cracking down on peaceful panhandlers by citing restrictions that werent on the books.

The ACLU wrote in a March 15 statement on this case: [F]rom March 2011 to March 2014, at least 12 Hudson police officers in at least 18 separate incidents instructed panhandlers that panhandling was illegal or that a permit was required to panhandle. These panhandlers were then told to be on their way, and at least two panhandlersincluding Mr. Pendletonwere cited and directed to go to court.

However, there is no state or town law that makes panhandling in public places illegal or requires a permit for this form of peaceful expressive activity. And if there was, it would violate the First Amendment. Hudson agreed to pay $37,500 to settle Pendletons civil suit, but it is unclear if he received any of the settlement money or was able to access it.

In January, ACLU-NH and New Hampshire Legal Assistance filed a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Manchester police departments practice of dispersing and charging panhandlers for allegedly obstructing vehicular traffic on public streets under the states disorderly conduct statute, even when the panhandlers are on public property and do not step in the roadway.

Pendletons death is a tragic consequence of the criminalization of the poor and homeless in America that is repeated in courtrooms and prisons across the US.

In Michigan in 2014, Savid Stojcevski, 32, died naked in a Macomb County jail cell of drug withdrawal while serving a sentence for failure to pay a $772 ticket for careless driving. Stojcevski was placed in a jail cell despite a nurses observation that he showed obvious physical signs of drug abuse and recommended placing him a drug detox unit.

In January 2015, federal lawsuits were brought by several non-profit groups against the Missouri cities of Ferguson and Jennings, charging they were operating what amount to debtors prisons, throwing people in jail for extended periods of time for inability to pay fines for minor offenses. Ferguson was the center of protests against police violence after the shooting death of Michael Brown in August 2014.

On their GoFundMe page, Pendletons family wrote: Jeffery, unfortunately, never let his family know about his money problems. We were unaware. He simply let us know he was fine and living in New Hampshire. He worked at Burger King. But the truth was that he was homeless and had to struggle. 

Its heartbreaking to know he kept this from us. Because the system felt he was homeless it is not shocking that the medical examiner and New Hampshire police felt no one would speak up for him. They were wrong. We will work tirelessly to get justice for our kind and loving Jeffery.

The family thanked those who donated, writing, You are not only helping to cover funeral expenses for our brother but also to help us find justice for yet another young, black man who was likely killed by the police.
Irelands two main parties, Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, have each been holding talks with Independent TDs (members of parliament) in an attempt to garner support for the formation of a minority government when the Dail (Irish parliament) meets on April 6.

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny was forced to cut one day from his planned two-day visit to Washington to mark St. Patricks Day because of the political crisis. He has warned Independent TDs that the only two options now available are supporting a Fine Gael government or facing another general election.

Ireland has been without a government since the February 26 general election, which saw a repudiation of the right-wing policies of the ruling Fine Gael/Labour coalition. It represented a more general shift in electoral preferences away from the traditional nationalist parties that have dominated the Irish parliament since the foundation of the state in 1922.

This has been fuelled by a deepening social crisis and resulting class polarisation due to the imposition of austerity measures. The world financial crash of 2008 and ensuing crisis in the banking sector forced the then-Fianna Fail government to borrow billions of euros from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund to prevent total collapse. Running of the states finances was taken over by representatives from the troikathe European Central Bank, the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund.

Unemployment reached 15 percent as, with the collaboration of the trade unions, wages were held down and the percentage of people living in consistent poverty doubled between 2008 and 2014.The state was left with an 8 billion a year national debt repayment.

The incoming Fine Gael/Labour government of 2011 introduced five budgets with austerity measures targeting the unemployed, hospital services, and other social spending areas, which alienated and angered those who depend on social services. Cuts to young peoples benefits accelerated a major increase in youth emigration.

The recovery on which the coalition based their campaign for the February election was based on a modest increase in jobs, but the majority of jobs on offer are at much lower rates of pay than in 2008with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) reporting that 23 percent of the workforce is now officially on low pay.

When the 158-member Dail met on March 11 to nominate a taoiseach (prime minister) who could form a government, neither Kennys centre-right Fine Gael or Micheal Martins nationalist/conservative Fianna Fail could secure an overall majority. Fine Gael lost 26 seats, ending up with 50, while Fianna Fail recovered from its total wipe-out in 2011 to take 44 seats. The Labour Party, whose leader Joan Burton was minister for social protection during the coalitions term in office, suffered its worst result ever and lost 25 seats, returning just seven TDs.

Parties such as Sinn Fein and the pseudo-left Anti-Austerity Alliance/ People Before Profit (AAA/PBP), on record as opposing austerity and the introduction of the hated water charges, increased their votes. Gerry Adams of Sinn Fein, which doubled its representation to 23 seats, ruled out any coalition arrangement with either of the centre-right parties. As a result, pressure has been mounting for Fianna Fail and Fine Gael to form a broad coalition, with political commentators talking about a permanent shift in electoral preferences away from the establishment parties.

Whether Fine Gael can muster sufficient support from Independent TDs by April 6 is unclear. But it is focused on rural TDs who, to keep their base in their constituencies, were forced to at least verbally oppose the coalitions worst austerity measures and cuts to rural services.

The outgoing government, Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein all took part in the commemorations over the Easter weekend to mark the centenary of the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin. Despite the pomp and ceremony, however, Irish society is more divided than ever, with the richest 300 people now worth almost 88 billion. Even as the centenary ceremonies were underway, a strike was taking place by drivers, which brought the Dublin Luas light rail system to a halt.

The Anti-Austerity Alliance, led by the Socialist Party (SP), and People Before Profit, led by the Socialist Workers Party (SWP), jointly took six seats. They both made clear before the election that they would be willing to support a left unity or progressive government led by Sinn Fein. Paul Murphy, TD and SP spokesperson, declared, If the numbers were there, for example, for a Sinn Fein, left independent, AAA, PBP majority in the Dail wed have to sit down and talk about a programme. He would support Adams for taoiseach if a coalition deal could be reached.

The politics of both groups have become increasingly indistinguishable from the radical nationalism of Sinn Fein. They all champion the cause of small and medium business owners and the Irish People in their literature, while integrating themselves into the structures of the state by participating in the multitude of inter-party committees in the Dail. This assumed its most naked form in the participation of Joe Higgins of the SP in the cross-party inquiry into the banking crash, which, after 10 months of hearings on how Irelands wealthiest milked the system and crashed the economy, found no individual guilty in what turned out to be a 6 million farce.

The cynicism and opportunism of the pseudo-left is illustrated by an article written by Kieran Allen, People Before Profits director of elections. Writing in the Socialist Worker, he criticised Sinn Feins lack of left policies, boasting that, despite gross inequality, only the genuine left in AAA-PBP focused on a distribution of wealth.

However, this focus amounted to what Allen described as relatively modest measures designed to take the tax burden off workers who had paid the cost of the crash.

In reality, the SWP/PBP endorsed a 14 percent corporation taxone of the lowest in the world and the same rate set by the outgoing right-wing governmentmerely urging that the tax be collected.

Sinn Fein and the AAA/PBP have jointly been the main political forces in the anti-water charge campaign (Right2Water). They used this as a springboard for creating the pre-election voting pact, Right2Change, which focused mainly on securing voting transfers for Sinn Fein.

Whatever occasional criticism they make, the SP and SWP want to utilise their relations with Sinn Fein to secure their own positions within the political structures of Irish capitalismacting as a left cover for the continued imposition of austerity.

Their model is Syriza in Greece, which began its life as a coalition between the Euro-Stalinists of Synapsismos, led by Alexis Tsipras, and various pseudo-left groups. The working class paid a heavy price for this rotten arrangement when Tsipras capitulated to the dictates of the troika, imposing even more devastating austerity than the measures agreed by its predecessors.

Last year, Tsipras enthusiastically predicted a Sinn Fein victory in the Irish elections, claiming that Syrizas electoral victory would pave the way for other left-wing parties to benefit across Europe. The Right to Change electoral platform also invited former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis to participate by video link in a conference on the Irish economy they organised in Dublin before the election.
On Sunday, the New York Times published an addendum by columnist Nicholas Kristof to his five-part series When Whites Just Dont Get It, which he produced in 2014 as a racial soul-searching exercise in the wake of the crackdown on protests over the police murder of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.

The column is part of the Times broader effort to present race as the all-determining factor in American life, completely tearing the question of racial discrimination from the underlying context of growing social inequality and the global capitalist crisis.

Even as thousands of Americans of every race and ethnicity were protesting in Ferguson and cities across the US against the police violence inflicted on the working class on a daily basis, Kristof and the Times were engaged in a campaign to frame police killings as a purely racial issue. They ignored the fact that while blacks are disproportionately the victims of police brutality, the vast majority of those murdered by cops are white, and the killer cops are often African- American or Hispanic.

In Sundays column, Kristof again casts police killings in purely racial terms, characterizing the phenomenon as shootings of unarmed blacks. Similarly, he implies that the lead poisoning of the Flint, Michigan water supply is racially motivated, ignoring the fact that nearly 40 percent of the citys impoverished population is white.

Kristof writes that he felt compelled to revisit the subject of racism among whites because public attention to racial disparities seems to be flagging even as the issues are as grave as ever. Reading this, one can only wonder what world the Times columnist is living in.

There has never been a more relentless drive to make race the all-consuming issue in American political and intellectual lifea campaign that has been led by what passes for the left wing of the establishment. This social-political milieu, grouped around the Democratic Party and incorporating pseudo-left organizations obsessed with identity politics, takes its political and ideological lead from the Times and its stable of human rights frauds such as Kristof.

What is really concerning Kristof is the growing interest in socialism among workers and youth, black as well as white, and the clear signs that basic class issuesnot questions of race or genderare driving the growth of social opposition to the entire political and corporate establishment. This finds an initial expression in the growth of working class militancy and in the broad support for the campaign of the self-described socialist Bernie Sanderssomething that was utterly unanticipated by the complacent and privileged pundits on the Times editorial staff.

A recent poll found that among those aged 18 to 35, 56.5 percent identified themselves as working class while a recent YouGov survey found that Americans under the age of 30 viewed socialism more favorably than capitalism.

Even more worryingly, Sanders is leading Hillary Clinton amongst young voters, including African-Americans. Exit polling done by Edison Research of the primary contests so far has found that Sanders leads Clinton 51 to 48 percent among black voters between the ages of 17 and 29.

Of course it is not Sanders himself who worries Kristof and the Times. They are well aware of his role as a lightning rod for social discontent and political instrument for blocking an independent movement of the working class and channeling opposition back behind the Democratic Party.

It is the political radicalization of the working class that is temporarily finding expression in support for Sanders that petrifies Kristof and company. They sense that the entire ideological edifice of racial politics that has been used for decades to conceal the more fundamental class divide in America and suppress the class struggle is breaking down. It is in opposition to this development that he fires off a new round of race-mongering.

While Kristof cites a number of sociological studies which, he claims, prove the ubiquitous and pervasive nature of racism in America, he never so much as hints that the plight of poor and working class blacks has anything to do with the capitalist system.

Instead, he portrays racial inequality as the outcome of unconscious bias among whites who believe in equality but act in ways that perpetuate inequality. All whites, in other words, are infected with racism. Whether they like it or not, they are (unintentionally) so much a part of the problem.

He urges his readers to uncover and confront their own unconscious racial biases by taking a free online implicit association test. Kristof promotes this form of pseudo-scientific soul searching as the key to overcoming racial prejudice. This entire approach is as reactionary as it is absurd.

Indeed, Kristof endorses right-wing racial stereotypes that place the onus for the social problems caused by poverty and exploitation on the victims themselves. In his column he praises novelist Toni Morrison for her depiction of a black world pummeled by discrimination but also by violence, drunkenness and broken families. He hails as honest a recent CNN poll showing that 77 percent of black respondents blame lack of motivation and unwillingness to work hard for the difficulties faced by African-Americans.

Racism and racial discrimination are a reality that must be fought and overcome. But if workers are to achieve this, they must understand its objective source. For Kristof and the upper-middle class layers he represents, racism is lodged in the psyche of whites, a result of their racial makeup. They propose more affirmative action programs and set asides for privileged layers of middle-class African-Americans and other minorities.

Affirmative action has been the program of the ruling class for the last 40 years, a period that has seen a dramatic growth of social inequality throughout American society, and particularly within the African-American population. Out of this has emerged a corrupt layer of black politicians, businesspeople, academics, union bureaucrats, media personalities, civil rights officials and others who have benefited from defending a system that has deindustrialized and impoverished cities across the country and driven down the conditions of black workers, in particular, to levels worse than those that prevailed in the 1960s.

The socialist movement has always been in the forefront of the struggle against discrimination, but it has always insisted, as was broadly understood in an earlier period, that it is impossible to fight racism apart from a struggle against capitalism itself, the source of social inequality and class exploitation. The answer to racism is the unification of the working class within the US and internationally in the struggle for socialism.
The US and NATO are considering another round of military attacks against Libya, US President Barack Obama told media outside the White House on Monday.

Obama gave a convoluted statement to the effect that operations in Libya are in advanced stages of planning. We are continuing to cooperate on an ongoing basis about operations potentially in areas like Libya where you have the beginnings of a government, he said after meeting with NATO General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg at the White House.

We can I think provide enormous help in helping to stabilize those countries, Obama added. This is obviously a tumultuous time in the world. Europe is a focal point of a lot of these stresses and strains in the global security system, Obama said.

Obamas talks with Stoltenberg centered on the possible US-NATO escalation in Libya and joint operations to contain the fallout from the refugee crisis in the eastern Mediterranean, according to Reuters.

Stoltenberg signaled that NATO forces are on high alert for possible missions against Libya. NATO stands ready to provide support to the new government in Libya, he said.

Also on Monday, media agencies reported that US military planners with Africa Command (AFRICOM) are drawing up detailed target lists for strikes in Libya, including targets in Ajdabiya, Sabratha and Derna.

The Pentagon is seeking to improve coordination between US Special Operations forces and their French and British counterparts, which have established small cells on the ground, seeking in part to line up friendly militias, the Washington Post reported.

The new governing coalition in Libya, formed last December and headed by Faez al-Sarraj, was created for the purpose of immediately requesting military assistance from its imperialist patrons, a request that can be used to justify the indefinite continuation of the Western powers robust UN mandate authorizing air, sea and land attacks against Libya in the name of international security.

The US and European powers are preparing an intervention that will center on a drive to retake the capital of Tripoli and secure control over key oil infrastructure. Once the countrys vast oil wealth is safely in hand, Washington is prepared to accept the permanent partition of Libya into a patchwork of armed groups, with the US-backed coalition presiding over only the skeleton of a centralized state.

As the Post wrote Monday, US officials envision a gradual absorption of militia forces into a new national army or at least a network of state-backed regional or tribal forces.

Italy appears set to play a leading role, vowing to contribute half of the necessary resources and to lead a ground invasion of its former colony. The invasion is planned to include thousands of Italian troops, backed up by thousands more drawn from other NATO powers, for a total of as many as 6,000 ground forces.

As yet there are still no concrete military commitments to support the NATO-backed governing alliance, according to the Post .

Nonetheless, there are clear signs that the US military is committed to deeper US ground involvement in Libya as part of stepped up US special operations throughout Africa. Libya is only one of a handful of African hotspots where the US is preparing unique special operations solutions, US Army General Tony Thomas told Congress in March. Following a hypothetical seizure of Tripoli, US commandos will link up with militant forces already active in the area, recruiting them as allies of the fledgling unity government, Thomas said.

Plans for new military strikes and a ground invasion come five years after the NATO war to oust the regime of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. As part of this operation, the US and European powers backed Islamic extremist forces, including Al Qaeda elements and precursors of Islamic State. The six-month NATO bombing campaign reduced entire cities to rubble.

The very Islamist militias whose actions now form the supposed justification for the US-NATO intervention emerged out of groups that were armed and financed as a means to overthrow Gaddafi and kickstart a new round of imperialist wars of conquest in Africa and the Middle East.

As the World Socialist Web Site noted in March of 2011, as the war was getting underway, the Libyan revolution was, in reality, a cover for the rape of Libya by a syndicate of imperialist powers determined to lay hold of its oil wealth and turn its territory into a neocolonial base of operations for further interventions throughout the Middle East and North Africa.

Faced with a catastrophe created by their own actions, the imperialist powers are again placing Libya in the crosshairs, even as they expand operations in Iraq, Syria and throughout the Middle East.
Mexican Nissan workers in the industrial City of the Valley of Cuernavaca (Civac) struck for two days beginning April 1. The plant, located in the state of Morelos, employs 5,183 workers and produces the Tilda and Tsuru models, which are popular in Mexico and South America, pickup trucks and new models of taxis that operate in New York City.

The workers voted to take industrial action following meetings between management and the Independent Nissan Mexicana Workers Union over several weeks that failed to produce an agreement.

The walkout followed reports that Nissan planned to cut production because of declining exports of its Sentra model to the US. The union had proposed a wage increase of 5 percent and the addition of 800 workerscurrently under individual contractsto permanent unionized positions. The company had countered with a 4 percent offer and made no commitment to add positions.

The walkout ended with the union accepting Nissans offer of a 4 percent raise and the conversion of 500 jobs to full time positions. Nissan management said it could not meet the workers demands without greatly increasing per unit labor costs.

Following the end of the walkout on Saturday, the union at the Cuernavaca plant agreed to call the work stoppage a paro tecnico (technical work stoppage) instead of a paro labor (labor stoppage) in deference to the Morelos State Labor Ministry insistence that there be no strikes in Morelos state this year.

In 2006, the union imposed a two-tier wage structure for new-hires behind the backs of workers. Currently, 200 workers are in that second tier.

Nissan Mexico reported record production in 2015, 822,948 vehicles, an increase of 2.1 percent over 2014. The carmaker operates three plants in Mexico, the Morelos facility and two plants in Aguascalientes. The two vehicles with the highest production totals were the Sentra with 281,067 units and the Versa with 158,715 units.

The facility in Civac was the first Nissan plant ever constructed outside Japan and opened in 1966.

Nissan recently built a new facility in Aguascalientes at a cost of $2 billion, the second in the city. It was expected to produce 20,000 jobs directly and indirectly.

Total production of cars and trucks in Mexico fell 4.1 percent in February from one year ago, as exports declined outside of North America. Production for the first two months of 2016 was down 2 percent from the same period last year. Exports were up 1.3 percent due to a 6 percent increase in US sales. Mexico exports 83 percent of the vehicles it builds.

Mexico is the worlds ninth-largest producer of automobiles and the sixth-largest car exporter. It now out produces every European country with the exception of Germany. In many cases, US automakers produce the same cars on both sides of the border, making it relatively easy to shift production if workers show signs of militancy.

The strike by Mexican Nissan workers comes in the midst of a virulent chauvinist campaign on the part of US employers, the United Auto Workers and presidential candidates from both major political parties aimed at pitting American workers against their brother autoworkers south of the border.

Nissan operates two assembly plants in the United States, both nonunion, with workers earning an average of $42 an hour in wages and benefits. That is about $5 an hour less than they earned in 2011.

Mexican autoworkers suffer from some of the lowest wages in the world, with total average hourly compensation of around $8 including wages and benefits. That is still higher than a typical Mexican worker earns. Mexican autoworkers earn even less than workers in China, where a series of strikes in 2010 led to a rise in wages.

In addition, Mexican communities have offered land and tax breaks in competition for auto factories. In one case, the state of Guanajuato offered to pay half the employees salaries for six months.

Strikes are difficult in Mexico, where federal regulations limit workers right to strike, and the notoriously corrupt, officially-recognized unions sign sweetheart agreements with management.

Despite that, in April 2013, 2,000 Mexican Honda workers at the El Salto, Jalisco plant struck over profit-sharing awards. The three-day walkout ended with workers receiving a $1,383 profit-sharing payment, far higher than the $25 originally offered. Some 13,000 workers at the Volkswagen plant in Puebla, near Mexico City, struck in 2001, 2006 and 2009.

Fearing that Mexican auto workers may break free from the corrupt official unions in recent years, a coalition of American and European unions have been promoting independent unions based on the corporatist model of labor management cooperation pioneered by the United Auto Workers. Needless to say, such unions have nothing to offer Mexican workers.

Mexico, like the United States, suffers from extremely high levels of social inequality. According to a report in Business Insider, at the end of 2014, Mexicos 16 billionaires were worth an average of nearly $9 billion each. Just 2,540 individuals hold 43 percent of Mexicos total individual wealth.

At the same time, the bottom 20 percent of the population, nearly 25 million people, had average net worth of $80. More than half lived in poverty in 2012.

Mexico is the most unequal of OECD countries, with the top 10 percent earning about 30 times what the poorest 10 percent make. In 2014 Mexican workers were on the job for 2,327 hours on average. That compares to 1,796 hours in the United States.

According to a report from the news site Animal Politico, one in four Mexican communities have living conditions comparable to sub-Saharan Africa. That includes access to health care, illiteracy and homes without toilets or floors.

The struggle by Mexican Nissan workers underscores the necessity for an international strategy by autoworkers against the giant transnational auto companies. Workers must not allow themselves to be pitted against each other in a fratricidal competition over jobs. Workers of all countries must wage a common struggle. This requires throwing off the dead weight of the corporatist trade unions and building a new revolutionary leadership based on a socialist and internationalist program.
On Sunday evening, a group of over 100 global newspapers, in collaboration with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), began releasing reports on corruption, money laundering and other fraudulent activities by leading global politicians and business people disclosed in what the ICIJ called the biggest leak of inside information in history.

The reports are based on 11.5 million confidential documents from the Panamanian corporate service provider Mossack Fonseca that provide detailed information on more than 214,000 offshore companies.

The documents, according to the ICIJ, Reveal the offshore holdings of 140 politicians and public officials around the worldincluding 12 current and former world leaders. Among them: the prime ministers of Iceland and Pakistan, the president of Ukraine, and the king of Saudi Arabia.

The firm also set up accounts used by 29 billionaires listed in Forbes magazines ranking of the worlds 500 richest people.

The release of the report triggered scandals and investigations in over a dozen countries, including Iceland, the UK, Chile, France, Russia, Ukraine, Argentina, the United States, Germany, Brazil, Canada, Norway and Sweden.

Up to 10,000 people participated in a demonstration in front of the parliament building in Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland, to demand flash elections after leaked documents showed that Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, of the center-right Progressive Party, hid assets in an offshore company that he failed to disclose while serving in the countrys parliament.

The documents also revealed that Ian Cameron, the father of the British prime minister, and other prominent members of the Conservative Party were clients of Mossack Fonseca. When asked whether the prime ministers family had any more money invested in the funds, a spokeswoman for Cameron replied, That is a private matter.

Ukrainian lawmakers have demanded an investigation after the documents revealed that President Petro Poroshenko, who was brought into power after the 2014 US-backed coup, moved his assets to an offshore account to avoid paying taxes.

The investigation also indicated that Mauricio Macri, president of Argentina, had served as a director of an offshore company in the Bahamas.

US and British newspapers sought to put an anti-Russian spin on the revelations, with the British Guardian concentrating its reporting on claims that individuals with connections to Russian President Vladimir Putin were involved in multi-billion-dollar offshore deals. Reuters, in reporting the Guardian s claims, wrote that it could not confirm those details.

The documents, amounting to some 2.6 terabytes, were leaked to the German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung in August 2015 by an unnamed individual who said he wanted to expose criminal wrongdoing. The files were reviewed by a team of over 300 journalists over the course of a year prior to the coordinated publication of reports Sunday.

The documents reveal that Mossack Fonseca, far from being an aberration, was an integral part of the operations of leading global banks. As ICIJ put it, The documents make it clear that major banks are big drivers behind the creation of hard-to-trace companies in the British Virgin Islands, Panama and other offshore havens. The files list nearly 15,600 paper companies that banks set up for clients who want to keep their finances under wraps, including thousands created by international giants UBS and HSBC.

According to the ICIJ, among the services offered by the firm were the back-dating of corporate documents and the destruction of evidence to prevent criminal prosecution. The company has denied involvement in any criminal activity.

Sundays revelations follow a release of documents by the ICIJ in 2015 that showed that the Swiss private banking arm of HSBC, Europes largest bank, functioned for years as a tax evasion and money laundering firm. The company ran a branch that gave out bricks of hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash in foreign denominations and provided its wealthy clientele with advice on how to commit tax fraud, according to the reports.

The ICIJ report provides extensive documentation of the claims by University of California economist Gabriel Zucman, who has estimated that 8 percent of global financial wealth, amounting to some $7.6 trillion, is hidden in offshore tax havens. These findings show how deeply ingrained harmful practices and criminality are in the offshore world, Zucman said in response to the reports.

One leak exposed a global web of over 200,000 offshore shell companies: Imagine what leaks at other well-placed law firms and banks would expose?

Mark Williams, a lecturer at Boston University, told Bloomberg, This leak is proof that despite explicit banking laws against tax evasion, criminal uses and money laundering, the global offshore shell game business remains open for the wealthy and well connected.

While the US was the fourth-most popular country for the shell companies set up by Mossack Fonseca to operate, no high-profile individuals in the US were exposed as having had accounts. Some experts speculated that this was simply because of the fact that, with extremely limited financial regulation, particularly in some state and local jurisdictions, wealthly Americans wishing to hide their assets or launder money can easily do so at home.

Shima Baradaran Baughman, a law Professor University of Utah, College of Law, told Fusion, Americans can form shell companies right in Wyoming, Delaware or Nevada. They have no need to go to Panama to form a shell company to use for illicit activities.
Monday saw the first mass deportations of refugees from Greece to Turkey, beginning the implementation of the so-called EU-Turkey deal. At the beginning of March, the 28 European Union heads of government concluded a dirty pact with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to put an end to the influx of refugees into Europe once and for all.

Now the ugly content of this deal has become visible. According to press reports, in the morning grey, police units collected 120 refugees from their beds in an internment camp on Lesbos, taking them to two small ferries, which then brought them to the Turkish port city of Dikili. The boats were accompanied by German, French, Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian officers from the European border force Frontex.

The Greek news agency ANA-MPA reported the presence of a massive number of security officers; one officer accompanied every refugee being deported. The spokesman for the Crisis Staff, Giorgos Kyritsis, said on Greek television that those being deported were only men. Apart from Syrians returning voluntarily, the rest were mainly from Pakistan.

There were virtually no pictures of the terrible scenes. The deportation began three hours earlier than planned. Journalists reporting from outside the barbed wire and CCTV securing the camp said they were constantly forced away by the security guards. In total, 250 refugees from Lesbos and a further 250 from the Greek island of Chios were deported on Monday.

According to media reports, hours before the measures began there were struggles between the police and local population protesting against the deportations.

The mass deportations expose the lie of the so-called welcoming culture ascribed to Chancellor Angela Merkel, above all by her political supporters in the Greens and the Left Party. Now it is clear what Merkel really meant when she criticised the unilateral sealing off of borders inside Europe and called for a European solution. In her last government statement on March 16, she announced a target of reducing the number of refugees not just for some but for us all, both in a sustained and lasting way.

Above all, this European solution exposes the reactionary character of the pseudo-left party Syriza (Coalition of the Radical Left), which is playing a key role implementing Merkels policies. Contrary to all its election promises, it is not only pushing through the most wide-ranging austerity measures so far in Greece, but is acting as the jailer for European capitalism. It first imprisoned tens of thousands in Hot Spots, i.e., concentration camps erected by the Greek military, and is now deporting them to Turkey, hand in hand with Frontex units.

In a cloak-and-dagger operation, the Syriza government created the legal basis for this on Friday night in the Greek parliament. Only two Syriza parliamentary deputies voted against the legislation that allows the deportation to Turkey of all refugees who have arrived on the Greek islands since March 20. According to the official figures, this already amounts to more than 5,000 people.

In Turkey, those being deported face torture, mistreatment and even death. According to reports by Amnesty International, Turkey has already forced thousands of refugees to return to Syria in the past weeks, where a bloody war for regime change exists. Men, women and children are being deported to Syria in groups up to 100, the organisations Turkey expert Marie Lucas said.

Such deportations have been happening almost daily since mid-January. The deportation of women and children is also documented. In one case, Ankara sent back three small children to Syria without their parents, in another case a heavily pregnant woman was deported. Such deportations from the EU-funded deportation camp in Erzurum in the east of Turkey take place without any legal due process or asylum procedures.

Politicians and the media have been aware of these conditions for some time. At the beginning of February, in an article headlined Refugee deal with TurkeyEuropes Bouncer, Spiegel Online reported, On the border near the town of Antakya, soldiers are patrolling on a January afternoon. Tanks roll between the checkpoints. In the distance can be heard the impact of the bombs from the Syria war. The refugees use secret paths through the forests and over hills. According to the news magazine, many Syrians had independently reported illegal deportations. They were arrested by Turkish security forces, sometimes mistreated and then deported to Syria.

However, this has not prevented the Spiegel editors from celebrating the policy of deportations now begun. While the deportations on Lesbos and Chios were in full swing, a certain Sebastian Fischer wrote: This Monday, when the first few hundred refugees are escorted back to Turkey from the Greek island of Lesbos by a few hundred European Frontex officers, then this is above all a signal. It is the right signal.

And further: Those who come illegally across the sea have little chance in future of remaining in Europe. Critics might condemn this as building a European fortress, but one thing is clear: In the long run, no state, no community of states can accept uncontrolled migration. If needs be, this must be done with an authoritarian ruler like the Turkish President Erdogan. Realpolitik? Of course.

Fischers goal corresponds with that of the German government: the creation of a European police state under German leadership. He writes: With the Turkey deal, Angela Merkel has pursued an active policy in the refugee crisis for the first time since opening up the borders in September. The closure of the Balkan route, from which Germany has profited, was not her idea. On the other hand, she has now committed the other 28 EU states to joint action with Turkey. With this, they bear the main responsibility for this undertaking. In the first place, this is about establishing a common, effective European border protection. EU police officers, no longer just those of the national states, secure the external borders.

The brutal actions against refugees and the militarisation of Europe are directly linked to the intensification of the attacks on the working class in Greece and throughout the continent. Significantly, representatives of the infamous Troika (International Monetary Fund, EU Commission and European Central Bank) returned from Athens in order to verify how Syriza is implementing the austerity measures it has agreed. In France, the Socialist Party government of President Francois Hollande is using the state of emergency in order to push through labour market reforms and drastic cuts against the growing resistance of the French working class and youth.
ITVs Exposure: Saudi Arabia Uncovered portrays the horrific brutality with which the House of Saud maintains its rule and has been the subject of intense media commentary.

Much of this focuses on the documentarys depiction of how dissent is suppressed in collaboration with the Wahhabi religious police, including public beheadings, crucifixions, stoning, amputations and 1,000 lashings, as well as gratuitous police violence on the street.

In contrast, the media has been almost silent about the exposure of the Saudis export of religious hatred and funding of terrorism that took up about one quarter of the films airtime. This omission is politically motivated.

The programme explained that the Saudi ruling family had spent $70 billion exporting its particularly repressive form of Islamism through books, the media, Islamic welfare institutions and charities.

It reiterated that there was evidence of Saudi involvement in the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon in 2001, noting that 15 of the 19 suspects were Saudi citizens, while Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden was a member of a prominent Saudi family.

It then referred to the Saudi High Commission for Relief of Bosnia and Herzegovina (SHC), ostensibly a charity for the relief of Bosnian Muslims during the Balkan wars in the 1990s, which had collected 375 ($600) million by 2001. The largest fundraising effort undertaken in Muslim and Arab countries, it was a front organisation for Al Qaeda in the Balkans and was used to facilitate arms shipments to break a United Nations embargo on the former Yugoslav states from 1991 to 1996. Jihadists attached to the SHC carried out a car bomb attack in 2001 after the war had ended, in an effort to reignite the war.

The SHC was set up by prince, now king, Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, who was the Saudis chief fundraiser for the mujahedeen in Afghanistan in the 1980s and later the Bosnian Muslims in the 1990s, at the direction of his brother, King Fahd. His role was to fund the Islamic mercenaries used in the US and its regional allies proxy wars in the Middle East and Asia. Salman helped to recruit fighters for Abdul Rasul Sayyaf, an Afghan fighter who trained Osama bin Laden and the self-confessed mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, providing them with generous funding.

In 1996, a CIA report identified the SHC as one of several Saudi charities that employ members or otherwise facilitate the activities of terrorist groups operating in Bosnia.

A Defense Intelligence Agency report concluded that the Al Qaeda-affiliated Somali warlord responsible for the massacre of US military forces during the battle of Mogadishuthe subject of the movie Black Hawk Downreceived weapon shipments from the Saudi Arabian High Commission for Relief.

Although it was well known that the SHC employed and covered for Jihadi terrorists in Bosnia, Afghanistan, Somalia and elsewhere, US forces did nothing until after the 9/11 attacks, when NATO forces raided the office in Sarajevo. There it discovered a horde of terrorist materials, including maps highlighting government buildings in Washington, notes about meetings with bin Laden, and plans for an attack using crop duster planes.

Relatives of the 9/11 victims have filed claims for billions of dollars in damages from companies, countries and organisations, accusing them of aiding Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups in the hijacking of the planes. So close were the SHCs links to the Saudi government that they have cited Saudi Arabia, Prince Salman and other members of the ruling family, as defendants in their suits.

They charge that one of the defendants, Abdul Rahman Hussayen, had said he was a Saudi government official. He had entered the U.S. five days before the 9/11 attack and moved from his hotel to another where three of the hijackers were staying.

Ali Ahmad Ali Hamad, a confessed former Al Qaeda member and employee of the SHC, testified for the 9/11 families that the Saudi High Commission was extensively involved in supporting Al Qaedas operations in Bosnia.

The lawsuit argued that there were repeated warnings from US and European officials that SHC and similar charities were serving as fronts for terrorist organisations, but the Saudi authorities did nothing.

Between 1992 and 1995, Western intelligence officials discovered that the Third World Relief Agency (TWRA) spent most of its funds arming fighters aligned with the Bosnian government. At least $120 million came from Prince Salmans personal bank accounts and the SHC.

In 1994, French interior minister Charles Pasqua, who had oversight of French intelligence operations, told his Saudi counterpart, Prince Naif, that he had evidence that the Muslim World League, a Saudi government-funded charity to promote Islam, was funding terror cells in France.

In 1998, US intelligence told the Saudis that employees of a Saudi government-affiliated charity, al-Haramain Foundation, may have been involved in the bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

In 1999, following these attacks, then-vice president Al Gore appealed to Saudi crown prince Abdullah to help the Clinton administration stem Al Qaedas flow of money. US officials flew to Riyadh on two occasions to give their Saudi counterparts lists of suspect Saudi charities, money exchanges, banks and suspected terrorism financiers.

US Treasury documents show that another terrorist-front organisation with close links to the Saudi government, the International Islamic Relief Organisation (IIRO), set up branches in the Philippines in the 1990s. One of its directors there was Mohammad Jamal Khalifa, Osama bin Ladens brother-in-law and a senior Al Qaeda member.

The US Treasury designated both the Philippine and Indonesian IIRO branches as conduits for channelling money to Al Qaeda and other radical groups. A 1996 CIA report said the IIRO had financed six militant training camps in Afghanistan in the 1990s.

Despite this and other evidence, the US government has consistently covered up the involvement of the Saudi ruling clique, which is one of its key allies in the Middle East. Senator Robert Graham of Florida, chairman of the congressional joint inquiry into 9/11, said that during the inquiry the FBI repeatedly stonewalled efforts to subpoena a Muslim academic and FBI informant who had housed the hijackers. He said, That is one of the major unanswered questions of 9/11: Why the administration tried to disguise the role of the Saudis.

The authorities also intervened to block the lawsuit and prevent the evidence against King Salman and the Saudi ruling family seeing the light of day. In September 2015, the US courts dismissed the families claims against the Kingdom, citing sovereign immunity. In 2008, a US court ruled that even if the Saudis retained their immunity, there was enough evidence to proceed against several Islamist charities, banks and alleged terrorism financiers named in the lawsuit.

These revelations provide a devastating exposure of the fraudulent nature of the war on terror, which has provided the axis for the last 15 years of US and British foreign and domestic policy. In particular, they point once again to the degree to which the CIA, MI5 and other intelligence agencies must have had foreknowledge of terror attacks that were then used to legitimise and then step up repressive measures directed against the working class, most recently in Belgium.

The 9/11 attacks were used by the Bush administration and the British government as the pretext for war against Afghanistan, whose government had provided shelter to Osama bin Laden, but had no involvement in 9/11, and against Iraq, which had no connection to either 9/11 or Al Qaeda.

Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, remains a key ally. Britain has supplied the Saudis, who spend more on arms in proportion to its GDP than any other state, with 5 billion in weaponry since 2010, and trains its police force. With consummate cynicism, Colonel Richard Kemp, former Head of International Terrorism, told ITV, We dont approve of what Saudi Arabia does, we dont like what they do, but they are a necessary evil in combating other regimes. And of course, ultimately they have a lot of oil.

View the ITV documentary here: Exposure: Saudi Arabia Uncovered
Its now confirmed that in Indias southern state of Tamil Nadu, the Peoples Welfare Front (PWF), the electoral alliance including the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM), will ally with the Desiya Mutmoku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK).

The alliance with the DMDK, a regionalist-based party that campaigns against corruption and has close ties to US imperialism, underscores the role of the Stalinists as bourgeois politicians, suppressing working class opposition and abetting the US pivot to Asia to isolate China. The PWF has officially announced that DMDK leader Vijayakanth will be the chief ministerial candidate of its alliance. The PWF-DMDK alliance will present a joint candidate for each of the 234 seats in the Tamil Nadu parliament; 124 will come from the DMDK.

Until last week, the PWF declared that the name of the chief ministerial candidate would be announced only after the elections were over. PWF coordinator Vaiko declared, we respect democratic traditions, this is a policy-based alliance, and we function on the basis of a common minimum program. In the 1967 election, the DMK did not declare its chief ministerial candidate. We will be compromising policy if we were to focus on individuals as chief ministerial candidates. Their demagogy went on and on like this.

On March 23, the hitherto talked-about common minimum programme vanished into thin air. Addressing a joint press conference, Vaiko heaped praise on DMDK leader and Bollywood actor Vijayakanth and said their alliance would henceforth be named the Captain Vijayakanth Front. He said the PWF would be the kingmakers in the alliance. You will be the king, the kingmakers will make you the king," he said, addressing Vijayakanth.

Vijaykanth spoke briefly to echo Vaikos remarks, declaring simply that the PWF leaders said they will be king makers and I will be king. I have signed this deal.

Every alliance leader is eyeing on ministerial berths. The DMDK has declared the home ministry and finance ministry will be allocated to the CPI and CPM, respectively.

The DMDK-PWF alliance makes no bones about its support for big business. When Vijayakanth raised concerns about possible fund-raising problems, PWF coordinator Vaiko reassured him: If such a strong alliance emerged, many industrialists will support us financially. You do not have to worry about anything.

The DMDK-PWF alliance also confirms the Indian Stalinists evolution into open supporters of US imperialism as it carries out its pivot to Asia and seeks to embroil India in war preparations against China. While Vaiko wrote a book praising US President Barack Obama, the DMDK also has close ties to the US foreign policy establishment.

The chairman of the US consulate in Chennai, Phillip Min, met with DMK chief Karunanidhi on February 19 and DMDK leader Vijayakanth on February 23. US officials blandly commented that it is usual to meet political leaders in an election period. It is not difficult to guess the type of calculations behind the meetings with US officials, who are pressing for India to accept to station US forces on its territory for possible use in a war with China.

The role of the Stalinists and of the PWF is to conceal this reactionary pro-imperialist agenda behind empty anti-corruption demagogy, cynically exploiting anger with the ruling AIADMK party in Tamil Nadu. The fight of DMDK-PWF is against the AIADMK government. We will work together for the victory of the front, and Vijayakanth will be the king, said CPM state secretary G Ramakrishnan, soon after signing of the agreement with Vijayakanth.

The Indian Stalinists alignment on the interests of Indian capital and US imperialism flows inexorably from their historic alignment on the Indian bourgeoisie. Over the quarter century after the Congress party fully reintegrated India into the world capitalist market in 1991, the CPI and CPM have emerged as bourgeois parties of government, ruling entire Indian states in the interests of international finance capital. They enthusiastically supported the Indian bourgeoisie as it strengthened its armed forces and moved towards joining the US pivot.

When India entered into a strategic military alliance with US imperialism in 2005, the Stalinists were propping up and partners in all but name of the Congress-led UPA (United Progressive Alliance) coalition government. They made no objection when the BJP allocated huge amount of financesome US$51 billion for 2016-2017, as against $36 billion the previous yearto prepare for war. Now the PWF functions every more openly as a tool of the Western imperialist powers, especially US imperialisms war drive against China.

The two major national parties, the BJP and the Congress party, have been discredited among the toiling masses as they pressed forward with pro-war and pro-business policies. The Congress party is yet to come out of its past crisis. The ruling BJP faces continuous electoral defeats, notably in Delhi and Bihar.

The response of the Indian bourgeoisie to the discrediting of the Congress and the BJP is to advance a layer of reactionary regional-nationalist parties in states across India. Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader Tathagata Satpathy told the Economic Times that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modis charisma is declining. Congress acceptability is very low, non-existent ... The next government in Delhi in 2019, as I foresee, will not belong to either of the national parties.

The four-time MP from Dhenkanal in Odisha said the future of regional parties is bright  The victory of BJP in 2014 was more because of the defeat of Congress. It was Congress which the people wanted to throw out.

Asserting regionalism is well and alive, he said the assembly elections in five states and Union territories scheduled in the next two months is a litmus test for regionalisation of Indian politics.

The number of states where national parties alone are incapable of forming a government is increasing: Jammu & Kashmir, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, and West Bengal.

The role of the Indian Stalinist parties is to organise support for various parties and coalitions at the regional level, without interfering with the pro-war, pro-imperialist, pro-business and austerity policies of successive BJP and Congress national governments in New Delhi. In last years CPM plenum, Sitaram Yechury reiterated calls for flexible tactics to use conflicts within sections of the ruling class parties while uniting with some of them.

In West Bengal, the Stalinists are joining hands with the Congress in an attempt to oust the ruling Trinamool Congress of Mamata Banerjee.

In Kerala, while the CPM is nominally opposed to the Congress, the violent clashes between the BJP and the CPM create a favourable situation for the Congress. The BJP has attacked these incidents in its campaign as an example of the criminal politics of the CPM. Both the CPM and the BJP blame each other for the violence: the BJP claims the CPM is worried about its growth and is trying to instigate violence, while the CPM claims the BJP is using violence to create communal polarisation.

The policies of the CPI and CPM are always determined in the final analysis by their role as loyal servants of Indian capital. As CPM national secretary Sitaram Yechury declared, commenting on the electoral situation in Tamil Nadu, I would like to remind you that Leftists, unlike other parties, will take whatever decision only on the basis of national interests.
South and Central America

Short strikes by Argentine university teachers to demand parity talks

Members of two national university union federations in Argentina held limited strikes last week. The Federation of University Teachers (Conadu) struck on March 29 and the National Federation of Teachers, Researchers and Designers (also known as Historic Conadu or Conaduh) began a two-day stoppage beginning on the same day.

The primary demand of the two federations is the convening of parity talks, which usually begin in June. The talks would discuss a variety of demands, including a 45 percent emergency raise for all teachers and doubling the pay of teacher assistants. In addition, the teachers demand the application of the Collective Labor Agreement, civic improvements, better labor conditions and the elimination of the profit tax [a levy on wages defined as higher than average], among other items, reported La Gaceta. Total membership in the two unions is about 130,000, with union spokespeople claiming a 75 percent adherence rate to the mobilizations. Conadu set up a tent in front of the Education Ministry in Buenos Aires on March 30, and held a plenary session of secretaries general. Conadu called its own plenary session for March 4 at its headquarters in the capital.

The unions already called limited protests on March 16 and 17, which failed to bring a response. Conadu head Pedro Sanllorenti told reporters that if the authorities still refuse to agree to a meeting, were going to deepen the measures of force within the first 15 days of April.

Colombian bus drivers strike over pay, working conditions

Some 180 bus drivers for Git Masivo, one of four operators for the Colombian city of Calis MIO mass transit system, walked off the job at 3:00 a.m. on March 28. The drivers complained of strenuous workdays, truncated vacations, harassment and persecution of workers, and noncompliance with wage payments and the required process for firings.

Regarding the firings, a GIT Masivo spokesman claimed that it is not certain that labor persecution exists and that the firings were the result of unjustified absenteeism. A protesting worker told Caracol Radio, We have never had any rapprochement with the operators representatives.

By 4:00 p.m. the next day, the drivers union, Sintragitmasivo, called them back to work, saying that some issues had been resolved, and that others, like the firings, suspensions, shorted vacations and stressful workdays, will be reviewed.

Doctors in Dominican Republic strike, march over wage, budget demands

Doctors, nurses and other workers in the Dominican Republics public health system walked out, marched and protested on March 30. The protesters, members of the Dominican Medical College (CMD), gathered at a hospital in Santo Domingo and marched, chanting and carrying picket signs, toward the Public Health Ministry. Officers from the National Police and the Metropolitan Transport Authority kept watch on them as they marched.

As before, the walkoutthe seventh by public health workers in 2016was called to voice demands including a 60 percent raise of the minimum salary, improved working conditions, better pensions and the earmarking of 5 percent of the gross domestic product for health. Previously, CMD president Waldo Ariel Suero announced a three-day strike for April 5-7.

Protesters formed human chains around the ministry building and public hospitals throughout the nation. When Public Health minister Altagracia Guzman Marcelino came out, they demanded that she meet with them in the building, chanting Not in the street! Guzman Marcelino asked them to send representatives to dialogue inside while the rest waited outside.

After meeting for two-and-a-half hours, Guzman Marcelino and Ariel Suero emerged, announcing that they would form a commission that will participate in the search for a solution with the Minister of the Presidency Gustavo Montalvo, reported hoy.com.do. Ariel Suero called off the three-day strike as well. As Guzman Marcelino walked among the protesters, according to the report, While some embraced her, others pushed her away and shouted a slogan against her administration.

Guyanese minibus drivers strike to remove their union chief

About 20 drivers of minibuses that transport students to and from the University of Guyana (UG) Turkeyen Campus struck to demand the removal of the chairman of their union. The drivers complain that Eon Andrews, president of the United Minibus Union, had taken action to remove stickers from three minibuses last month. Without the stickers, the drivers cannot operate on the UG campus.

The drivers also said that Andrews has been charging them 3,000 Guyanese dollars (GYD) or US$14.48 per month to operate on the campus, when in fact the fee is GYD2,500, (US$12.06).

According to guyanesechronicle.com, Efforts to contact Andrews were futile, as his mobile number was turned off The bus operators plan to continue their strike action if the situation is not resolved satisfactorily.

United States

New negotiations in month-long Iowa industrial strike

The union representing 50 striking workers at the WestRock corrugated box manufacturer in Sioux City, Iowa resumed negotiations March 31 with management after a month on the picket line. Members of the International Association of Machinists Local 1426 rejected company demands for pension and health care concessions along with changes in language governing how wages and promotions are implemented.

WestRock workers originally walked out on strike on March 3. A second WestRock plant in Sioux City represented by another union and a separate contract continues to operate.

Canada

Crown Royal workers reject union brokered deal

Workers at distillery giant Diageos Crown Royal facility in Gimli, Manitoba who have been on strike since March 5, last week overwhelmingly rejected a new contract proposal presented to them.

Both the company and the union, the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, (UFCW) expressed disappointment at the outcome of the vote of 82 percent in opposition to the new offer, which reportedly included some improvements over the one that sparked the strike by 53 workers. Union leaders nevertheless acknowledged that the latest offer did not address significant issues such as pensions, disability provisions and vacation pay that remain in dispute.

The company has offered assurances that it is well positioned to continue to fill consumer demand for its popular Canadian whiskey despite the strike, and the union has indicated that it may be forced to make application to the Manitoba Labour Board to impose a contract settlement as early as May.
6 years, 6 months ago by Scott Hardy

Contract voided after allegations of animal abuse

The Quincy City Council has voted to drop its' Animal Control Services vendor with 90 days' notice. Scott Hardy has more from Monday night's Council meeting.
TALLAHASSEE, FL (WTXL) -- Three suspects in a Gainesville home invasion and kidnapping were arrested in Tallahassee early Monday morning after tracking the iPhone of the woman who was kidnapped. Police also said that the three are listed as "Persons of Interest" in a North Carolina homicide.

According to the Gainesville Police Department, Quintae Edwards, Kwame O. Fernanders, and Kayla Black reportedly forced their way into a victim's apartment after she went outside to get a skateboard late Sunday night. The three suspects, one who reportedly had a gun, tied up the victims with duct tape and ransacked the apartment, police said.

They then allegedly took one victim to an ATM where they got an undisclosed amount of money. After returning to the apartment, police said they stole a car and took a female victim so the others didn't call police.

The suspects reportedly dropped the woman off at the North Florida Regional Medical Center, but did not return her wallet or iPhone. Her iPhone was left on, and police said they were able to use that to track the suspects to the Baymont Inn and Suites on Monroe Street in Tallahassee.

A Leon County Sheriff's deputy saw the stolen car and Edwards standing outside it. The room key Edwards had led to a room with Fernanders and Black, police said. The three were arrested and taken to the Leon County Jail, reports said.

The suspects were also wanted after they reportedly stole a car in Polk County, North Carolina and were seen near a homicide.

The suspects were on closed circuit cameras at a convenience store around the time of a murder, deputies in Polk County said. They are not charged with murder, but are wanted for questioning, deputies added.

Deputies said they reportedly stole a second car in South Carolina after the one they had originally stolen was involved in a high speed chase. Gainesville Police believe that second car was driven down to Florida, but was not the same car that was stolen and taken to Tallahassee.

All three are being held without bond on multiple fugitive warrants. Polk County deputies are looking for a fourth suspect, although it is unclear at this time if they are believed to be in Florida.
TALLAHASSEE Fl.-- Officials are still searching for two prison inmates who escaped from a van while on their way to Tallahassee.

According to the Walton County Sheriff's Office, the two men, were able to make their escape while en route to a facility in Jackson, Minnesota.

Michael Rotunno 30, and James Banks 31, have been missing since early Monday.

They were last seen in central Mississippi, when deputies tried to stop a Honda Element that was driving erratically.

According to deputies it was the same vehicle stolen earlier that day from Ponce De Leon, Florida.

The two men were able to get away, running into the woods, and stealing a black truck.

Rotunno is charged with larceny in a building and delivering and manufacturing narcotics. Banks faces charges of unarmed robbery and escaping from jail.

Rutonno was being transported from Longview, Texas. Banks was on his way from Orange County, California.
GADSDEN CO., Fl. (WTXL) - People in Gadsden County are learning from what happened following the shootings of both Micheal Brown Jr. and Trayvon Martin.

Officials from across the country are at the 5th annual Rural County Summit this week, sharing personal stories on the past several years' most talked about events involving law enforcement.

The three day event is being held at the conference center of the Florida Public Institute. Gadsden County Sheriff Morris Young says the event is held each year to target issues such as inadequate staffing, limited resources, and demo graphical/ geological challenges.

Each year, speakers are invited to attend based on what is culturally relevant during that time period. One of the speakers this year is Captain Ron Johnson, who lead protest security in Ferguson, Missouri following the fatal police shooting of Micheal Brown, Jr.

Organizers say representatives from 86 total agencies were in attendance at this year's event. The summit continues Wednesday and Thursday highlighting issues that occurred in Baltimore and Boston.
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Museum fare is often more akin to cafeteria food than fine dining. The restaurant Modern, at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, is, therefore, exceptional. The spacious eatery with the expansive view of the valley of the Monastery of the Cross is popular with Foreign Ministry employees who host diplomats there, as it is a kosher restaurant with a good reputation that is convenient to government offices. MKs seeking a change from the Knesset cafeteria also frequently pop in from down the street.

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Modern prides itself on preparing dishes from Jerusalems Sephardic Jewish heritage kept alive for generations in the neighborhoods of Nahlaot and Mahaneh Yehudah. Even the house wines trace their roots back to the Old City of Jerusalem, where the venerable Teperberg Winery was founded in 1870. In particular, the house red, a Cabernet-Merlot blend, is worthy of mention.

The choice of appetizer at Modern is a no-brainer: The Jerusalem tapas platter for two is a huge tray loaded with small plates of many familiar dishes, and a few variations on some old favorites. The seven small plates were accompanied by a round loaf of warm frenah bread - like a puffy pita with an interesting crust that has miniature peaks, valleys and craters.

The tapas include a creamy humus drenched in olive oil, as good as you would get at many a humusiya; fleshy eggplant with tehina, studded with crunchy pine nuts; thick wedges of roasted beet that were startling in their sweetness; a unique tabouleh in which tiny lentils take the place of the bourghul wheat; and lemony vine leaves stuffed with rice.

There was also a very good tomato and red onion salad with garlic and hot pepper (although it was not very spicy), and hot green falafel - oval balls that were fried perfectly, on a bed of white tehina.

There is a soup of the day, on our afternoon pea soup, a thick broth that was quite nicely seasoned.

Another hearty dish is one of Moderns specialties: Sofrito, a Sephardic beef stew reminiscent of cholent, served here in an individual-sized copper pan. This savory local goulash, redolent with Jerusalem artichoke, root vegetables and chestnuts and spiked with sweet potato fries, is real Jewish comfort food, and ideal on a Jerusalem winter day.

The most intriguing-sounding dish on the menu is the Jackson chicken and nuts kadaif; unfortunately, after we ordered it, the waitress returned from the kitchen to inform us that it is no longer available, and not likely to be restored to the menu.

In its stead, therefore, we ordered the pullet in Dijon mustard sauce - only to discover that it comes with no sauce at all, let alone anything tasting remotely of mustard. There was no mistake in the order, since the side dish - couscous with coriander - was correct. In any event, the pullet was moist and flavorful, and complemented nicely by the tiny beads of yellow grain amid green leaves of fresh coriander.

The apricot kebab is something I have never encountered anywhere else, so we could not resist trying it. We were delighted to see the generous portion of five large round balls of beef kebab, on a bed of the lentil tabouleh familiar to us from the mezze. The disappointment came when there was no detectable trace of apricot. Still, the kebab was very tasty.

Finally, the Modern Jerusalem mixed grill is the restaurants take on a shuk (market) favorite: The combination of entrecote, pullet and spleen is a cut above the kind of meat commonly used in meurav Yerushalmi, while the spices are identical. Any fan of this delicacy will enjoy this version as well.

The desserts continue the same theme of Jerusalem traditions with an upgrade. We were especially impressed by the semolina cake, beginning with the beautiful presentation: a scoop of pearly coconut sorbet decorated with chocolate hoops sits atop the round cake containing caramelized nuts and halva and swimming in a lake of sweet date honey. A delicious finale to a memorable meal.

Modern, which serves its attractively priced business lunch until 5pm, is a good option to keep in mind not only in conjunction with a visit to the museum, since it offers just about the most convenient free parking in the city.

Modern

Kosher.

The Israel Museum, 11 Derekh Ruppin, Jerusalem
When I paid my first visit to Bar Ilan university, one student told me that he knew the British Government was opposed to boycotts. But what, he asked, about the British people?

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I am glad that the British governments opposition to boycotts is understood. Prime Minister David Cameron set it out in the Knesset in 2014. Mayor of London Boris Johnson repeated the message in Israel last November. Cabinet Office Minister Matthew Hancock announced new guidance which reiterates that British public bodies should not implement their own boycotts when he visited last month. Our commitment is practical - its not just words.

Ambassador Quarrey with President Rivlin. (Photo: Mark Neiman/GPO)

What about the British public? Its hard to be precise, but I dont believe there is widespread support for boycotts in the UK. We see little practical impact from calls for boycotts  our trade and investment are at record levels. A recent independent survey found that more than 80 percent of Israeli tech executives and investors are interested in collaboration with UK, and only 3 percent are concerned about opposition to Israel or anti-Semitism in the UK.

But support for boycotts is growing. I might disagree with it, but much of the criticism is within the bounds of legitimate debate in a democratic society. It reflects a genuine frustration with the lack of progress toward peace. Some of it is much uglier, with wholly unacceptable tones of anti-Semitism.

Where do we go from here? s long as there is no progress, I fear that support for boycotts will continue growing. This matters to Britain as well as Israel  we want a strong relationship. So we need to do three things.

First, we should maintain our clear opposition to boycotts. That message needs to be heard clearly and often.

Second, we should continue deepening our cooperation and showing the practical benefit it brings both countries. Next month Ill chair the BIRAX meeting at Oxford University where 300 British and Israeli scientists will discuss ways to tackle, together, some of the worlds biggest health challenges. We recently celebrated the UKs biggest export deal to Israel. Matthew Hancock used his visit to announce new UK/Israel cooperation on cyber. We are working together on how technology can transform transportation in our cities. On Wednesday Ill welcome the Globe theatre  one of the UKs most prestigious  to the Cameri to mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeares death.





PM Netanyahu with British PM David Cameron. (Photo: Avi Ohayon/GPO)

And third, things need to change on the ground. The battle against boycotts is much tougher when people cant see a way forward. Most people are realistic about the challenges. The region is in chaos, and violence continues at an appalling human cost. But there are things that can be done, without compromising Israels security, to ease conditions on the ground, allow more economic development and construction, and help improve the prospects for renewed negotiation.

We all have a role in tackling boycotts, not least Israel in taking these steps that we believe are in Israels own interest and that build rather than weaken its international standing. It helps Israels friends when Israel takes the initiative. It only benefits those advocating boycotts when, for example, new settlement announcements are made.

I know issues around boycotts matter to Israelis. I wished Yedioth Ahronoth success with their (anti-BDS) conference. Lets be clear in our opposition to boycotts. Lets celebrate the cooperation which brings so much mutual benefit to our countries, including when Hamlet appears on the Cameri stage on Wednesday. But lets also, even in difficult times, keep trying to find ways forward where we can.
US President Barack Obama did not allow the CIA to execute a plan, which would have sought to overthrow the Assad government in 2012, according to a new book by a former David Laux CIA agent. If the program had succeeded, it possibly could have stopped the rise of ISIS and the flow of refugees into Europe, fleeing the chaos in Syria.

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It has been previously reported that former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency David Petraeus offered to train and arm Syrian rebel groups to topple Assad. But Laux revealed that the Obama administration refused to give the CIA a green light to carry out a multi-stage plan to topple Assad. Laux served as an operative in the Middle East for a year and part of his job entailed meeting with Syrian rebels and intelligence officials in the neighboring countries.

US President Barack Obama (Photo: AFP)

When he returned to the US the following year, he crafted a plan in cooperation with other agents, which he said included all the elements needed to topple Assad. His bosses presented the plan to the Senate Intelligence Committee, and a former senior CIA official recently told NBC that Laux's ideas were ultimately presented to President Obama, who rejected the plan. The White House and the CIA declined to comment.

Laux said in an interview: "We had come up with 50 good options to facilitate that. My ops plan laid them out in black and white. But political leadershiphadn't given us the go-ahead to implement a single one." Security officials said they were surprised that the CIA authorized the publication of the book. However, they noted that the CIA heavily censored it, removing operational details. Laux resigned from the CIA after Obama rejected his plan.

The CIA spokesman refused to comment on the details of the book and instead personally castigated Laux: "Sadly, Mr. Laux's career at CIA did not work out. We hope that someday, maybe with age and greater maturity, he will have better perspective on his time here. The American people should know that his former colleagues continue to do extraordinary work despite his departure, and do so without the need for public recognition. "
The Magistrate's Court ruled that the 11-year-old terrorist from the Shuafat refugee camp who carried out a stabbing attack on the light rail train in Jerusalems Pisgat Ze'ev neighborhood will be sent to a Ministry of Welfare supervised residence for approximately one year.

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The court censored the majority of the ruling's details because the subject has not reached the legal age of criminal responsibility, 12. He perpetrated the attack in November, along with a family relative who is 14 years old.

According to the law, Israeli authorities cannot arrest or interrogate the 11-year-old terrorist under caution. Additionally, legal authorities have avoided putting him on trial or imprisoning him. This is the first time legal authorities have come across such a young terrorist, thus they find themselves in a legal dilemma.

The 11-year old attacker. (Photo: Roi Yanovsky)

After concluding his physical rehabilitation treatment at the Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center, the young terrorist was sent to a Ministry of Welfare supervised residence, where he can leave for short vacations and his parents can visit him. In a year, the Magistrate Court will hold another hearing on whether of not he needs to stay at the supervised residence, taking into account the evaluations of Ministry of Welfare officials.

The 11-year-old terrorist stabbed a security guard with scissors on the light rail in November, while his 14-year-old relative stabbed the same security guard in the head with a knife. After a struggle with the two boys, the security guard managed to draw his weapon. He told the 11-year-old to drop his weapon and after the boy ignored the call multiple times, shot him in the stomach, wounding him severely. Meanwhile, the 14-year-old terrorist was overpowered and neutralized by the guard and other light rail passengers. The 14-year-old attacker was arrested and charged a week after the incident.

The Ministry of Welfare responded to the news, saying, "These matters are under (legal) privilege, and so we cannot comment."
The IDF court of appeals in Tel Aviv rejected an appeal by military prosecutors on Tuesday, ruling that the soldier who shot the already-neutralized terrorist in Hebron will remain in open detention, and not return to full arrest status.

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Allegedly, this is a forbidden act, which is in contrast to state and international values, (and) which also violates the IDFs (principle of) weapons purity, which says weapons are to be used only for the purposes of completing the mission, and our humanity must be preserved, the judge, Brig. Gen. Doron Feyles, wrote.

But the judge later added, the defenses video shows testimony by people from the area (in which the incident occurred) and most of them worried that the terrorist might be carrying (an explosive device), unlike (what can be inferred from) the prosecutions video. The judge also stated that, The (defendants) worry is allegedly an alternative explanation for the evidence collected.

Earlier in the day, the prosecutor in the case stated that the "suspicion is still murder, there is enough evidence for an indictment", and expressed hope that next week an indictment will be served following the completion of the investigation.

During the hearing on Tuesday afternoon, it was revealed that the soldier stated to investigators at the criminal investigation division, My hands were full of my comrade's blood. I was enraged. In a split second I decided to shoot. If there was an explosives belt (on the terrorist- ed.), I would be in the cemetery and not in court. You investigators at the investigative division are sitting in an office and not in the field where you can be shot at."

The soldier who shot the already-neutralized terrorist at the appeal hearing in Tel Aviv (Photo: Dana Kopel)

The military prosecution, headed by the chief prosecutor Col. Sharon Zagagi-Pinhas, appealed the decision last Thursday by Judge Lt. Col. Ronen Shor to release the soldier to open detention. An autopsy was conducted Sunday on the terrorist, and it emerged that the soldier's shooting caused his death. That day the soldiers defense team received part of the investigation material from the prosecution, and they claim that the accumulated evidence points in favor of the soldier.

During the hearing the military prosecutor said that they have a "video showing the soldier after the incident during the evacuation of the body, which shows that he was not moved and agitated as he claimed." They confirmed that the first summary of the autopsy revealed that the shot to the terrorists head was fatal. They also claimed that "more evidence shows that the suspects explosive device version was stated by the soldier after receiving legal advice."

According to the military prosecution, "the suspects version is twisting and developing and therefore his claim regarding the explosive device is not sincere. We do not believe his claim that he acted in self defense. We will prove that he actually acted contrary to orders."

"Everyone was shooting, so I shot"

The plaintiff related the testimony of the soldier half a minute before the fatal shooting: "What, the terrorist is alive?" Later, after the shooting, the suspect told T. and A. (soldiers in the unit) and a company commander, "They stabbed my friend and tried to kill him so he deserves to die."

Plaintiff argued, "It was expected of him in this situation that if he really feared an explosive device, after he shot, he should have said that he shot him because he feared an explosive device. The company commander told him, 'Why did you do such a terrible thing?"

The soldier's defense team (Photo: Motti Kimchi)

"The suspect entered the battalion commander's area at around 10:30am and only then did he raise his concern that there was a danger from the terrorist, and then said that the fear was from a knife. The battalion commander told him, 'Then why did you shoot him and not kick the knife away? I think you're lying," the plaintiff concluded.

But the judge at the hearing also pointed out that the company commander, according to the testimony, also feared an explosive device, and therefore wondered why the soldier's fear of an explosive charge would not be considered honest.

The plaintiff replied: "If there was a real and serious concern, they would have operated differently. None of the commanders in charge thought that the terrorist had an explosive device."

Zagagi Pinchas reported that the paramedic on the scene reported that the soldier said, "Everyone was shooting at him, he moved a hand and his head towards the knife so I shot." Although he was far from the knife.

The soldier's attorney Ilan Katz said, "The prosecution presents a one-sided picture which is contrary to the evidence. According to the company commander's testimony, the soldier looked shocked after the incident, he was a good soldier; this is contrary to the claims that the soldier was cheerful after the incident."

He also claimed that the paramedic at the scene testified the following: "I felt that the suspected soldier looked scared and I referred him to the mental health officer. He sounded very confused, did not understand what I meant, he changed his words."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that while he respects the High Court of Justice's (HCJ) decision regarding the gas plan reached by his government, "there is no institution which is above criticism." Netanyahu spoke at a cornerstone laying ceremony for the Israel National Library in Jerusalem.

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Netanyahu continued by saying, "Stable democracies (are not stagnant); I respect the court and the Justices, and I respect their decisions. Yet at the same time, in a democracy it's the right of every citizen  including myself  to criticize these decisions. Democracy is harmed in places where you can't sound criticism. Our neighbors don't have (this kind of) criticism."

Netanyahu called the HCJ's verdict "strange," describing it as "severely damaging to the Israeli economy." Despite this, Netanyahu said that "discourse (on the matter) needs to be to objective and not belligerent."

Netanyahu's statements were made a day after Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked harshly criticized the court system at a conference of the Israel Bar Association in Eilat. Supreme Court Chief Justice Miriam Naor was also in attendance.

Ayelet Shaked and Binyamin Netanyahu (Photo: AFP, Noam Moskowitz)

"Once again, the court has become an arena in which political and macro-economic questions are clarified," Shaked said in regards to the HCJ's gas plan decision. "These are not questions to be decided upon in the large hall (of the court), but in small school and in kindergarten halls once every four years, when people go and vote for their representatives."

Shaked continued, "Justice Aharon Barak called them black holes of 'everything is judge-able,' and I call them governability spaces. Thus, we find ourselves in the situation whereby those who are petitioning against the gas plan are actually different organizations and MKs. they have the right to express their political opinions, but instead of doing it in the Knesset, they're doing it through the court system."

Regarding the stability clause, which the HCJ's ruling struck down, Shaked stated that "the claim being circulatedd is that everything about the gas plan is legal except for the stability clause. We're basically saying 'have fun, the keys are inside,' but we forgot to tell them that the engine is missing. Again we run into authority being exercised irresponsibly."

"The legal tool which the courts made wasn't even legislated in the Knesset," Shaked continued. "This all leads to legal instability, since the government needs to negotiate on a historic scale while the framework in which it acts is unpredictable."

Chief Justice Miriam Naor.

Minister Shaked's statements caused an uproar amongst politicians and the court system. Knesset Member Shelly Yachimovich called on Prime Minister Netanyahu to remove Shaked from her position following her statements against the High Court of Justice.

"Shaked's lashing out at the High Court is violent and dangerous," Yachimovich said. "Shaked is trying to do away with the curt system's independence, and scare and threaten the judges. If these attacks continue, Netanyahu won't be able to boast that Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East."

Former and current high ranking court officials criticized Shaked's statements as well. Former Chief Justice Aharon Barak stated, "My heart is aching. Oh, look at what we've come too."

He continued, saying "Without the rule of law there is no government. On the other hand, the government has wide discretion in regards to policy. The law authorizes the courts to decide what is judge-able. And if there are not other provisions in the law, these 'black holes' need to be filled. The definition of a 'black hole' is that might makes right. Therefore, I'm in favor of expanding judge-ability."

"Threats won't deter us"

Supreme Court Justice Elyakim Rubinstein stated, "Threats won't deter us. We'll do our work as it should be done. The job of gate-keeping in a democracy and in the political system is of utmost importance. It's not (a choice between) either legalizing or imperialism."

Justice Elyakim Rubinstein. (Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg)

Mean while, MK and former Justice Minister Tzipi Livni said that "Shaked stuck a political word into the court. This sword was pulled out not because of the gas plan, but because the HCJ dares to maintain our principals and its independence. This is an argument about principles, not governability."

Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit clarified that he doesn't want to go into political issues. However, he noted that when the elected leadership implements policy, it is always limited by the law. "Verdicts from the High Court of Justice are mandatory, and it's absolute. Our government understands this. The High Court of Justice also defends our image in the international legal fight, and is a component of our power."

Former Supreme Court Justice Yitzhak Zamir had the bluntest response of all, saying, "There's never been something like this. The High Court of Justice has always been subject to review, but there have never been so many blatant attacks on it. In the past, every justice minister knew that they had to defend the Supreme Court."
WASHINGTON- A senior State Department official reassured concerned lawmakers on Tuesday that the Obama administration is not planning to allow Iran access to the US financial system or use of the US dollar for transactions.

"The rumors and news that have appeared in the press ... are not true," Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Thomas Shannon told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

When Republican Senator Bob Corker, the committee's chairman, asked if such reports were "bogus," Shannon answered, "As of this moment, as far as I know, yes."

During the hearing, some lawmakers said they remained concerned, despite Shannon's strong denial of such reports, because of comments they see as ambiguous, such as his saying the administration was open to discussing renewal of the Iran Sanctions Act if it does not conflict with the international nuclear agreement announced in July.
Reservist from the 300th Airlift Squadron flying a Joint Base Charleston C-17 Globemaster III delivered a donated fire truck from south Florida to Guatemala, April 2.

The fire truck was donated by the city of Coral Gables, Florida, who recently added a new fire truck to their inventory.

The Joint Base Charleston Reservists flew to Homestead Air Reserve Base, Florida, to pick up the cargo. After working several hours with ground crew there to load the donated vehicle, the crew was able to deliver it to La Antigua, Guatemala.

Since 1993, Coral Gables and La Antigua have been sister cities for cultural exchange and opportunity to expand business relationships.



This humanitarian cargo delivery was made possible by the Denton Cargo Program.

The Denton Amendment, Title 10 U.S.C. Section 402, states "the Secretary of Defense may transport to any country, without charge, supplies which have been furnished by a non-governmental source and which are intended for humanitarian assistance. Such supplies may be transported only on a space available basis."
Westover emergency responders attend active shooter symposium

Members of Westovers Fire and Emergency Management staff -- joined by 600 other first responders, faith leaders, school staffs, health care providers, military members, and state and government employees -- attended the Western Region Homeland Security Councils the Active Shooter Symposium March 16.



The symposiums intent was to share information and resources that can and will save lives during an active shooter event, said Robert Perreault, Westovers emergency management director. FBI, Connecticut State and local fire and police forces provided several presentations, some of which were emotional. Discussions included the shootings at the Hartford Distributors warehouse in 2010 and at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012.



Attendees heard personal and step-by-step testimonies from presenters, who recounted the response, investigation logistics, post-incident management and lessons learned. According to FBI statistics, 160 incidents occurred between 2000 and 2013 in the United States alone. These active shooter incidents yielded 1,043 casualties (486 people killed and 557 wounded). On average, 11.4 incidents occurred annually; with more occurring between 2000 and 2013.



Perreault said this information will help Westover personnel enhance response plans and training to better prepare and prevent loss of life, should such an event occur at the base.



You too can save lives by staying informed, Perreault said. We encourage you to review the plans in your local community, schools, places of worship, recreation, employment etc. Ask questions, share your knowledge with friends, family and co-workers.



Perreault will continue to send out information to the base populace through April, which is called a Prepare-A-Thon. He provided the following links below that cover this information:



www.fbi.gov

www.fema.gov

www.dhs.gov






Following a decline in January, figures released this week by the HIA show housing approvals jumped 3.1% in February, driven by a 7.7% surge in apartment approvals.

Approvals for detached housing fell 1% in the month.

HIA senior economist Shane Garrett said the overall February rise was a welcome one, however it appears approvals have passed their peak.

The data for January showed that 2016 started on a rather sour for new home approvals. Todays figures show that growth returned during February, Garrett said.

The monthly lift in approvals activity during February is welcome but it seems increasingly likely that approvals peaked late last year and that the volume of new home building activity is set to ease as 2016 progresses, he said.

Over the year to February, new dwelling approvals totalled 232,194, compared to 239,250 approvals in the year to October 2015.

Source: HIA

Garrett said the HIA predicts the coming year will see nearly a 10% fall in the number of new houses built in Australia.

Our latest forecasts indicate that the about 200,000 new dwelling starts will take place during 2016, a reduction of 10%% from last year. This would still represent a very high level of output by historic standards.

However, the risk remains that new home building output will fall below the levels required to meet long term demand. The onus remains on policy makers to tackle this problem, and confront issues like planning delays, land supply shortfalls and heavily inefficient taxes like conveyance stamp duty.

During February 2016, total seasonally adjusted new home building approvals saw the largest increase in Tasmania (+24.5%) with growth also occurring in New South Wales (+14.3%) and Queensland (+9.5%).

Approvals declined in Victoria (-12.8%), South Australia (-10.9%) and Western Australia (-7.6%).
The Global and United States Hydrobike Market Report has been published by QY Research recently. Hydrobike Market Analysis and Insights This report focuses on...
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LIVE-2 Inning |23-27

INDIA VS PAKISTAN

IND 29/3 VS 159/8 PAK

India need 131 runs in 85 balls at 9.24 rpo
New Delhi: The Delhi government is likely to give exemption to women drivers under the second round of odd-even scheme starting from April 15.

Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) Swati Maliwal has also urged Transport Minister Gopal Rai to exempt women from the road-rationing scheme as the city's public transport is not in a good shape and safety for working women is also a issue of concern.

Rai today held consultation with different women organisations where most participants raised their voices in favour of keeping women drivers out of the ambit of the scheme.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has called his Cabinet meeting with coordination committee constituted on the odd-even tomorrow where a final decision will be taken.

"Government is considering to give exemption to women drivers under the second round of the scheme. There is a need to improve public transport besides ensuring safety for women. Until government addresses these two issues, women will continue to be exempted," a source said.

During the first phase of odd-even scheme from January 1 to 15 earlier this year, the Kejriwal government had also given exemptions to them.

In the consultation on odd-even, a participant named Deepika Dutta said women's safety is not up to the mark in the national capital.

"Government should first ensure women safety and improve public transport in Delhi. Until government addresses these two issues, it should exempt women drivers from the odd-even scheme," she said.

Maliwal, who was also a participant, said that DCW had sought people's suggestion on whether women should be given exemption.

"Out of 218 participants, 200 women wanted exemption for them. Cases of rape and eve-teasing have also been on the rise. There is first need to make women feel safe while travelling in public transport," Maliwal said.

Another participant Parminder Kaur Malhotra said during the first round of scheme, schools were closed, but this time, schools will remain open during the second round.

She said women will also have to pick up their children from schools and in view of this, there should be exemption for them.

Delhi Assembly's Deputy Speaker Bandana Kumari and AAP women MLA Alka Lamba also advocated giving exemption to women drivers in view of poor public transport and women safety issue.

Archana Garodia Gupta, President of FICCI Ladies Organization, said that she is also in the favour of exemption for women.

There were some women who demanded that government should not exempt women drivers during the second phase of car-rationing scheme.

Tine, a resident of Dwarka, said that women should help government deal with the rising pollution level in the city.

Under the scheme, odd-numbered cars are only allowed to ply on odd dates while even-numbered vehicle are allowed to run only on even dates.

"While most responses were from women, some men expressed concern over the safety of the women in their family. It is interesting to note that only 18 responses were against the exemption and out of these, 13 were from men," said a senior DCW official.

Even as the Commission welcomed Delhi government's odd-even scheme saying it was a good initiative to reduce vehicular pollution in Delhi, it said that there concerns about women's safety in terms of giving exemption to women drivers.

"While crime against women is increasing in Delhi, the response system, redressal mechanism and the criminal justice system is lacking on many fronts. Despite over 11,000 FIRs having been registered in crimes against women in Delhi in 2014, miniscule convictions were recorded in the same year. The perpetrators therefore roam fearlessly in the city while women are afraid to do so. Such a fear is echoed when women use public infrastructure," he said.

Delhi needs a coordinated effort between the central and the state government to ensure safety of its women.

" Adequate public infrastructure, especially proper transportation options play a decisive role in a woman's stepping out of the house, thereby affecting the participation of women in the workforce. It is therefore important that the safety levels perceived by women be taken into account during the formulation of the odd-even scheme of the Delhi government," said the official.
Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has backed the Health Ministry's decision to increase the size of pictorial warnings on packets of tobacco products from the current 40% to 85%.

The Healthy Ministry refused to roll back its decision despite mounting pressures from the tobacco product manufacturers in India.

Following the implementation of the new guidelines from April 1, many major manufacturers across the country decided to halt production, citing ambiguity on the graphic health warning on tobacco product packs.

It is said that the new policy has resulted in a daily loss of Rs 350 crore in production turnover for the tobacco industry.

However, senior officials in the health ministry maintained it is "firm on anti-tobacco stand" as it is a matter of public interest.

We want to clarify that there is no ambiguity. This is a bogey raised by the tobacco industry. The case is crystal clear. We had issued the notification in September last year. If they had found an ambiguity, why did they send their letter in March, 2016, a senior ministry official said.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has also backed the health Ministry's proposal to increase size of health warnings on tobacco packs.

A recent WHO report pointed out that smoking and tobacco-related diseases brought on a Rs. 1.04-trillion economic burden to the Indian economy.

The move has been welcomed by various health experts, citing that the health ministry could not take a better step than this to curb the tobacco-related deaths in the country, which currently stand at over 10 lakh.
New Delhi: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh's son and daughter on Tuesday challenged in the Delhi High Court, the Enforcement Directorate's order to provisionally attach their properties in a money laundering case.

"The Enforcement Directorate's action is 'pre-emptive, presumptuous and arbitrary' and hence has no authority to initiate attachment proceeding against the petitioners", the Chief Minister's daughter Aparajita Kumari and son Vikramaditya Singh said in their petition.

They sought the quashing of the ED's order of March 23 issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The Delhi High Court had earlier today asked Singh to cooperate with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) so that the probe may conclude soon.

The court also asked Singh to appear before the agency at the earliest.

Earlier in the day, the CBI submitted in the court that the evidences against Singh are very crucial. Stating that the case is very serious, the CBI said the investigation is being hampered due to the stay granted by the Himachal Pradesh High Court.

The Delhi High Court will resume the hearing in this case tomorrow.

The Himachal Pradesh High Court had earlier passed an interim order, saying the CBI cannot interrogate, arrest or chargesheet Singh without its permission. The CBI has filed a plea in the Delhi High Court against this order.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached some of the assets of the Chief Minister worth Rs. eight crores in connection with the money laundering case.

On March 16, the Delhi High Court had refused to grant a stay on the proceedings initiated by the ED against him.

The ED had last year registered a money laundering case against Singh and others under provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after taking cognizance of a criminal complaint filed by the CBI in this regard.
New Delhi: A day after arresting two accused in connection with Delhi's Ankit Gupta murder case, cops on Tuesday released an audio clip of telephonic conversation between abductors and Ankit's father.

During the telephonic conversation, the abductors are heard demanding a ransom of Rs 1 crore from Ankit's father.

Delhi Police on Tuesday presented both the accused in the court. The police told that Ankit was already murdered by his abductors before the ransom call.

Two persons, including a juvenile, were on Monday apprehended by police in connection with the abduction and murder of 17-year-old Ankit, who was abducted two months ago.

An official privy to the investigation said, the two apprehended teenagers were known to the victim, Ankit Gupta, a Class 12 student at a private school, but they were not among his close friends.

During interrogation, they told police that they indulged in the crime for money. However, it is suspected that the actual motive could be something else and some other persons can be involved in the act.

Ankit was kidnapped on February 11 from outside his house in Babarpura area of Northeast Delhi and within 24 hours his family received a phone call from the abductors demanding a ransom of Rs 1 crore for his safe release. The family informed the matter to the police and negotiated the ransom at Rs 20 lakh, keeping police in loop.

The abductors kept misleading the family and the police for days and later stopped calling.

On March 20, the police concluded that Ankit was killed after some of the details about the boy matched with that of a body found at a village under UPs Gautam Budh Nagar district more than one month back.

It later emerged that Ankit was murdered by the abductors on February 13, the official said. (With agency inputs)
Gorakhpur: With Beijing scuttling India's latest bid to have JeM chief Masood Azhar designated as a terrorist by the UN, Union minister VK Singh has warned that the day is not far when China would have to pay a heavy price once it gets hit by Pakistan-backed terrorism.

"The friendship between China and Pakistan appears to be very strong but the day is not far when China too gets affected by Pakistan-backed terrorism," Singh, who is here to take part in a function at the Gorakhnath temple, told reporters on Monday night.

"When such a situation arises, China will have to pay a heavy price," the minister of state for external affairs said, adding, "Pakistan has an important place in Chinese diplomacy ... China's intervention in that case must be seen in this context."

After the attack on the IAF base at Pathankot on January 2, India in February had written to the United Nations calling for immediate action to list Azhar under the al-Qaida Sanctions

India's submission was considered by the Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate (CTED) for technical aspects of the evidence provided. The technical team then with the support of the US, the UK and France had sent it to all the members. However, hours before the deadline, China requested the committee to put a hold on the issue of banning the Jaish-e-Mohammed chief.

Chinese Permanent Representative to the UN Liu Jieyi said Azhar does not qualify to be nailed as a "terrorist" to face UN sanctions as his case "did not meet" the Security Council's requirements.

China, one of the five permanent members of the UN with veto powers, has claimed that its decision is based on facts and rules.
New Delhi: Pakistan's Joint Investigation Team (JIT) believes that the terror attack on the Indian Air Force base in Punjab's Pathankot on January 02 was orchestrated by the Indian authorities, Pakistan media reported on Monday.

The JIT members visited Pathankot on March 29 where Indian National Investigation Agency (NIA) officials briefed and showed them the route from where the terrorists stormed the airbase.

The fresh report from Pakistan came after reports suggested last week that the JIT was not convinced about the evidence provided by NIA in the Pathankot attack.

'Pakistan Today' quoted a member of JIT as saying that India used the attack as a tool to expand its vicious propaganda against Pakistan without having any solid evidence to back the claim.

The `source privy to the details of the report` also said that the JIT report has concluded that the Indian authorities had prior information about the attackers.

The report added that the JIT will submit its report on the attack to Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the next few days.

According to the source, the JIT report says that the Indian government did not cooperate with the Pakistan probe team and instead attempted to obstruct the investigation.

The report also raises serious questions over the veracity of Indian claims regarding the Pathankot attack. The JIT has concluded that contrary to the claims of the Indian government about the duration of the encounter, the standoff between the Indian Army and alleged terrorists ended within hours of the attack, the source quoted the report, adding that this finding has made it clear that the attack was a drama staged to malign Pakistan and persuade the world community that Pakistan is involved in terrorism, reports `Pakistan Today`.

The report also quoted an anonymous JIT official as saying that the murder of NIA officer Tanzil Ahmed is evidence that the Indian establishment wants to keep the matter under wraps".

The source also claimed that Indian authorities did not share any proof with the JIT about Indian claims that terrorists had entered from the Pakistani side of the border.

The report concludes that the Pathankot attack looked like another false flag operation fully facilitated by the Indian army just to put the blame on Pakistan, the source added.

India blames Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar for plotting the carnage.

JeM is a terror group based in Pakistan.
New Delhi: The National investigation Agency (NIA) has rubbished Pakistan media claims that India did not cooperate with the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) during its probe into the Pathankot terror attack and failed to produce solid evidence to back its claim.

The NIA, according to sources, stated that India had given enough evidence in the form of intercepts, phone record, DNAs of terrorists, besides other things.

The top investigating agency said they have even provided additional information to Pakistan JIT as demanded.

Sources told ANI that the NIA even offered Pakistan's JIT to show bodies of the dead terrorists but they refused to see them.

Rejecting reports circulating in the Pakistan media, the NIA has stated there is an element within Pakistan which wants to create confusion, adding the Indian investigating agency will not fall into such a trap.

With Pakistan's JIT, probing the Pathankot attack, set to table the report to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, a section of the Pakistan media has claimed that the report accuses India of using the attack as part of its 'vicious propaganda' against Islamabad.

Sources told Pakistan Today that the JIT has slammed India over its claims of Pakistani hand in the attack, saying that New Delhi continues to expand its propaganda "without having any solid evidence to back the claim".

The report also claims that the Indian Government did not cooperate with the JIT and instead made efforts to hinder the probe by the Pakistani team.

On Friday, the JIT returned to Pakistan after their five-day visit to India during which all evidence pertaining to the January 2016 attack was shared with them, including the DNA of four terrorists, their identities as well as call records showing involvement of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).

The JIT had on Thursday examined 13 witnesses, including former Gurdaspur Superintendent of Police Salwinder Singh.
New Delhi: Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu Tuesday appeared to disapprove of the remarks made by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and yoga guru Ramdev on those refusing to chant 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' and said they are views not authorised by the government through any order.

Another Union Minister Najma Heptulla sought to downplay the remarks while noting that such issues were attempts at diverting the focus from development.

"It is his opinion and I am not in agreement with him," Naidu said reacting to Fadnavis' remarks.

"Has the government issued any circular saying that those who don't say 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' should leave the country?" Naidu said.

Naidu said 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' slogan is not compulsory and has not been imposed on anyone through any government order but it is an emotive issue and sensibilities of all should be taken care of.

On RSS general secretary Bhayyaji Joshi's remarks on the slogan, he said "people have strong views. It is positive. I also feel that there is nothing wrong. Bhagat Singh had also said in jail 'Bharat Mataj ki Jai' and 'Vande Mataram'. That is inspiration".

Naidu also disapproved of Ramdev's remarks saying they were his individual view and not that of the government.

While Joshi had said that those who consider this land as their mother should say 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai', Fadnavis said people not saying 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' should leave India.

Ramdev had said had there been no law, those refusing to chant 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' would have been beheaded.

Heptulla said controversies are created on such remarks in order to "divert" focus of the NDA government from its developmental work.

Heptulla also dismissed suggestions that a fear psychosis prevailed among minorities in the country at present.

"Things went wrong in our country (earlier) because of such political speeches which were deviating from development plank", the Minority Affairs Minister said.
Srinagar: One terrorist has been neutralized by the security forces in South Kashmir's Pulwama district during an ongoing encounter between security forces and terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district.

As per media reports, search operations are underway by the security forces to nab another terrorist who had earlier today fired at an Army patrol in Dardpora village of Kupwara district.

There has been no trace of these guerrillas so far.

Security forces were earlier locked in the gunbattle today with some militants holed up in a house in a village about 30 kms from here and were simultaneously battling violent mobs which tried to march towards the encounter site, leaving at least eight people injured.

In late afternoon, security forces cordoned off Gadoora village in Pulwama district after getting specific information about presence of some militants in a house, as per ANI.

The hiding militants opened fire on security personnel, triggering an encounter, a security official said, adding the exchange of fire was going on when last reports were received.

Meanwhile, groups of youth staged protests and tried to march towards Gadoora village where the encounter was underway, the officials said.

Their march as thwarted, leading to clashes in which eight people were injured. While six sustained pellet injuries, two others were injured after getting hit by tear smoke shells, the officials said.

The clashes were still continuing when last reports were received.

The officials said reinforcements have been rushed to maintain a tight cordon around the village to prevent the militants from fleeing the scene.

Additional deployments were also made to deal with any law and order situation, they said.

Meanwhile, security forces were hunting for some militants who had fired at a patrol party this morning in Sheikhpura village in Kupwara district.

A brief exchange of firing took place between security forces and militants in the village, 100 kms from here, a police officer said.

He said while no casualties were reported in the brief firing, security forces were carrying out search operations in the area to track down the militants.

(With Agency inputs)
Srinagar: Unrest was witnessed again Tuesday at NIT Srinagar, the scene of last week's clash, with outstation students expressing a sense of insecurity and attempting to leave the campus, leading to a confrontation with police which resorted to lathicharge in which some were injured.

With the situation being tense, CRPF was tonight deployed at campus and Jammu and Kashmir government assured full security to the students from other states studying here.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh also called up Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and discussed with her the situation at NIT.

Some non-local students attempted to leave the campus and return to their home states, saying, they were "not feeling safe" inside the campus, a police official said.

Police personnel on duty at the NIT tried to reassure the students that they were safe inside the campus but they were not pacified, he said.

As the head of the security deployment was speaking to them, a few of the students allegedly resorted to sloganeering and even pushed him around, the official claimed.

He said the other police personnel then resorted to "lathicharge" to disperse the students who were "getting violent".

The situation, however, was brought under control shortly, the official said.

Outstation students, on the other hand, alleged that they were holding protests and were lathicharged by the police with brute forces and not allowed to move out of the NIT gate.

"We had sat on dharna and were demanding meeting with HRD officials. We held meeting with NIT administration and they agreed to the demand. We were allowed freely to move out the gate," said one of the students on condition of the anonymity.

"When we were going out of the campus as per the past practice, police did not allow us and resorted to cane-charge resulting in injuries to several students," he claimed.

Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh told PTI in Jammu tonight: "We assure security to the students of various states of the country studying in NIT Srinagar. Additional security of CRPF has been deployed at the campus."

Singh, who along with Minister of State (MoS) Education Priya Sethi, talked to Mehbooba, DGP K Rajendra and NIT Director, said "all measures are being taken by the administration of the NIT to instill confidence among these students and the issues raised by them are being resolved."

In Delhi, HRD ministry officials said they were in touch with the management of the institute and the Director of the NIT has spoken to the students so that normalcy prevails.

On Friday last, the campus had witnessed clashes between local and non-local students over India's defeat in the semi-final match in the World T20 tournament.

After the clashes, the NIT authorities had shut down the institute which was reopened yesterday.

"We take responsibility all the students of the country studying in NIT. We have put in place all the measures," the Deputy Chief Minister said.

Administration has held meeting with the NIT students to resolve the issue, Singh said, adding SSP Srinagar is camping in the area to ensure peace.

He said the outstation students are demanding security and postponement of exams.

"Director of NIT has said that the demands have been accepted," he said.

"I appeal to the students to call on my number 09419149494 in case they have any problems on any front particularly on the security. We will look into that," Deputy Chief Minister said.

"We assure the parents of these students that all measures have been taken for the safety of students," he said.
Palakkad: CPI(M) veteran VS Achuthanandan on Tuesday launched the LDF campaign for the upcoming Kerala Assembly polls with a scathing attack on UDF and BJP-BDJS combine.

93-year-old Achuthanandan addressed a massive Left Democratic Front convention at Malampuzha in the district, from where he is expected to win for a record fourth successive term.

Kerala goes to polls on May 16 to elect 140 members to the 14th Kerala legislative Assembly.

Launching an attack on the ruling UDF led by Oommen Chandy, Achuthanandan alleged that the number of cases pending against the Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and his ministers in Lokayukta proves of deep corruption in the government.

Not stopping here, Achuthanandan claimed that the current government has allotted a total of 2,820 acres of land to corporates and companions, thus pointing towards the controversial land assignment orders issued by the state government in March, just before the poll announcements were made.

The former Chief Minister also accused the BJP-led NDA of spreading communalism in the state.
Mumbai: Hitting out at Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, ally Shiv Sena on Tuesday said he has "no moral right" to chant 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' so long has he failed to put AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi behind the bars for refusing to do so.

The Sena also took potshots at Fadnavis for "going soft" on the slogan issue after taking an aggressive stand at a public meeting at Nashik recently.

"After getting aggressive, the CM has now gone soft. There was no need for him to go back on his statement. He needs to make it clear why did he do so and put all the blame on media," the Sena said in an editorial in its mouthpiece 'Saamana'.

Fadnavis, while speaking in the Assembly yesterday, had said that whether or not he remains the CM, he will keep chanting 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' and blamed the media for only focusing on a part of his speech made at Nashik where he had said that those who refuse to chant the slogan have no right to stay in this country.

Referring to Owaisi who had said that he would not chant the slogan even if his throat was slit, the Shiv Sena sought to know from the Chief Minister as to where his "guts" have vanished and why he did not book the AIMIM leader for sedition.

"If you weren't able to do this, you have no right to chant a pro-India slogan and you are at fault as much as Owaisi," it said.
New Delhi: An app, created by the Taliban, to attract people has been removed from the Google Play store.

A spokesperson for Google confirmed the app has been removed but declined to comment further on the app in question.

The app, known as Alemarah, was launched for Android users, vanished shortly after it was launched on April 1.

The content of the app, which was in Pashto language, included official statements and videos from the Islamist fundamentalist group.

The app 'is part of our advanced technological efforts to make more global audience,' Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed told Bloomberg.

The app was discovered and reported by Site Intel Group, a US-based organisation which monitors jihadist activity.

Google's developer policy for the Play Store prohibits apps that promote hate speech, violence and illegal activities.
Bhubaneswar: From stopping work at brick kilns on very hot days to issuing five-day advance warning of heat waves, Odisha is readying a pioneering action plan to prepare for increasingly deadly summer heat, officials said.

Last summer, several states saw week-long June temperatures that topped 47 degrees Celsius, creating the country`s deadliest heat wave since 1998.

That year, 2,541 people died, more than 2,000 of them in Odisha, according to the Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT), maintained by the Brussels-based Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED).

Although Odisha`s 2015 heat death toll was much lower, at 67, the state government is now preparing a comprehensive action plan to deal with heat stress, aiming for zero casualties from heat waves.

The plan has Bhubaneswar, the state`s major city, as its focus, and is based on the Indian city of Ahmedabad`s heat resilience initiative, begun in 2013.

"These regional heat preparedness and disaster response activities together represent a growing movement to respond to climate threats with strong adaptation strategies that connect and empower vulnerable communities and ultimately save lives, said Kamal Lochan Mishra, an officer of the Odisha State Disaster Management Authority.

One focus of the plan is poorer workers whose jobs require them to be outside during very hot periods, such as employees at construction sites, brick kilns and stone-crushing units.

The plan, due out soon, looks at scaling-up and institutionalising protection during extreme heat for members of the economically weaker population that work outdoors, Mishra told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

New guidelines and warnings will be issued and followed up with strict labour law enforcement at construction sites, factories and worksites under the government rural wage-employment guarantee programme, Mishra said.

Mapping is underway to identify vulnerable working populations and outdoor work locations, he said.

Supported by the national meteorological department, Odisha also plans to create a broader and more refined heat early warning system to help build resilience to heat waves.

Indias meteorological department now provides a five-day heat forecast to more than 100 Indian cities, increasing their capacity to warn residents and prepare. Starting in May, the meteorological department will also issue a heat index reading for the first time.

Factoring in humidity as well as temperature, the index will more accurately indicate the genuine level of discomfort felt during summer heat. Temperature and humidity levels, considered together, will determine the threshold for heat wave alerts, Mishra said.

Although temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius for two consecutive days are considered a heat wave, a 37-degree Celsius reading accompanied by high humidity can also result in heat-stress disorders, officials said.

Bhubaneswar experiences up to 85 percent humidity in the summer, with Odishas coastal regions facing even higher humidity.
Ludhiana: Punjab Police on Tuesday released sketches of two suspects believed to be involved in the gruesome murder of Mata Chand Kaur, wife of late Guru of Namdhari Sect Jagjit Singh.

''We've released sketch of two suspects, the probe is underway,'' DH Nimbale, DCP Ludhiana told reporters.

Later, Commissioner of Police, Ludhiana, Jatinder Singh Aulakh also said that the sketches have been released on the basis of information by the eyewitnesses but no other clue has yet been found in this high-profile murder case.

The police had registered the case on the complaint of Kartar Singh, driver of the club cart.

Meanwhile, CM Prakash Singh Badal today reiterated that the assassins would be brought to book soon and his government was keeping a tab on the progress of the investigation by Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted for the purpose.

The CM said this while speaking with the reporters after attending the cremation.

Chand Kaur, the wife of a former Namdhari sect chief was shot dead by two unidentified motorcycle-borne assailants at Bhaini Sahib on Monday.

Bibi Chand Kaur (85), who suffered two bullet injuries, was admitted to a Ludhiana hospital in critical condition, where she later succumbed to her injuries.

The assailants opened fire at her when she came out in a club cart from the premises of Namdhari Academy after offering prayers at a function organised on the eve of the opening of the new education session at Bhaini Sahib, the international headquarters of the sect.

Her post-mortem examination was performed amid tight security at the civil hospital here.

She was cremated at Bhaini Sahib.

Notably, Bibi Chand Kaur had played a vital role in declaring Thakur Udey Singh as successor to her husband Satguru Jagjit Singh, paving the way for his elevation as the head of the sect.

Her decision was strongly opposed by Thakur Dalip Singh, elder brother of the present Namdhari chief Thakur Udey Singh.
Jaipur: The Chittorgarh police have arrested five villagers in relation with the beating and stripping of 3 Dalit boys in the city today.

A case has been registered against the 5 arrested accused and also against unknown people involved in the assault.

In a rather disturbing video that went viral today, three Dalit boys aged between 13 and 15 years were stripped, cruelly beaten and were tied to a tree by villagers in Bassi area of Chittorgarh. They were later paraded naked by the villagers.

The boy, who belonged to boycotted 'Kanjar' tribe of Rajasthan, were accused of stealing a motorbike of an upper caste man of the same village.

The entire incident, that was captured in a camera, shows the three helpless boys completely naked, quivering in fear and pleading for help while they are being cruelly kicked and thrashed by villagers.

Earlier today, it was reported that the police did not take any action against the 'upper caste' culprits and instead took all the three Dalit boys to juvenile home for the alleged theft.
Jaipur: In a horrifying incident, three young Dalit children, between 13-15 years of age, were stripped, beaten up and paraded naked by a mob of upper caste men in Bassi area of Chittorgarh in Rajasthan.

The incident is said to have taken place on Saturday, April 2.

According to reports, the children were brutally thrashed for allegedly trying to steal a motorcycle belonging to an upper caste man in the area.

The entire incident, that was captured in a camera, shows the three helpless boys completely naked, quivering in fear and pleading for help while they are being cruelly kicked and thrashed by villagers. They were later paraded naked in the Chittorgarh area, which is at least 350 kilometres away from the state capital city.

No police action has been taken against the villagers who attacked and beat the boys. Shockingly, a police complaint was filed against the children for alleged theft after which all the three boys were taken to a juvenile home.

The children apparently belong to Kanjar tribe of Rajasthan, whose members, even today, are socially boycotted by other 'uppercaste' communities. Thus, people belonging to Kanjar tribe are forced to live outside villages and towns.
Kandahar: A senior figure in the Afghan Taliban Tuesday said that a brother and son of their late founder, the one-eyed Mullah Mohammad Omar, have been appointed to leadership positions in the insurgency.

Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, Mullah Omar's son, was recently named to lead the Taliban military commission for 15 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces, according to Mullah Gul Rahman Saleem, a member of the Taliban's ruling council.

Mullah Omar's brother, Mullah Abdul Manan, has been appointed head of religious affairs, Saleem told AP.

The move consolidates the positions of both men as the new head of the Taliban, Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, seeks loyalty from dissidents to shore up his own position.

"The Taliban leadership agreed some time ago that these positions should be filled by Mullah Omar's family members, and that decision has been formalized in a meeting by the leadership" on Friday said Saleem. He said the appointments were made in January, but followers were not informed until Monday, after the leadership council confirmed the decision.

Yaqoob and Manan had opposed Mansoor's ascension after it was revealed last summer that Mullah Omar had died more than two years earlier.

As Mullah Omar's deputy, Mansoor had acted in his name after his death, and suffered a serious dip in trust from both Taliban commanders and rank and file fighters after the Kabul government made the death public.

Another prominent figure in the militant group, Abdul Qayum Zakir, who had also opposed the new leadership, last month pledged his allegiance to Mansoor.

Zakir had earlier held the post of military commissioner, as well as other positions when the Taliban ruled Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001, and after the group fled into exile in Pakistan following the 2001 US invasion.

Mansoor made a public plea last month for unity, acknowledging disaffection among fighters who have wearied of 15 years of war with little progress toward the goal of toppling the Kabul government.

Since taking over, Mansoor has escalated the war, spreading it to every corner of the country and even taking control of a major northern city, Kunduz, for a few days last year.

Mansoor is believed to control the bulk of smuggling routes in the southern provinces, notably Helmand where most of the world's opium is produced. Fighting in Helmand has been fierce for months, as he seeks to drive out rival smugglers among Taliban commanders.

Mansoor has also refused to participate in attempts to revive a peace dialogue, dashing Kabul's hopes that a face-to-face meeting between their respective representatives would take place last month.

Afghan officials are hoping that the decision of a long-term ally of the Taliban, warlord Hekmatyar Gulbuddin, to seek an unconditional peace treaty with Kabul will influence the Taliban to join the peace process.
Zee Media Bureau/Shruti Mishra

New Delhi: NASA kicks off six months long earth expedition program with its first mission, Ocean Melting Greenland (OMG). NASA scientists will study the repercussions of global sea rise by observing the melting glaciers of Greenland.

For Greenland tour, NASA technicians have designed many platforms which will help them in successful completion of this mission and a radar equipped GIII aircraft is one of them.

Few months ago NASA unveiled its plan to study how our home planet is changing. The program was divided into 8 major field research campaigns that will monitor critical changes in land, sea and air.

This expedition will map whole planet- from the edge of the Greenland in north to the coral reefs in South Pacific. OMG is the first step of this king-sized yet innovative project.

To explore more about OMG, watch this video.
Coimbatore: Mocking Vijayakanth, PMK chief ministerial candidate Anbumani Ramadoss today sought to know his whereabouts as he was "not to be seen" in the poll arena despite being the head of DMDK-PWF for the May 16 Assembly election in Tamil Nadu.

The DMDK-People's Welfare Front had announced Vijayakanth as their combine's chief ministerial candidate, but he was "not seen around and other party leaders are carrying out the campaign", Ramadoss told reporters here.

As per the seat-sharing arrangement between the two, the DMDK has been allotted 124 seats with Vijayakanth declared the chief ministerial candidate and the four-party PWF 110 seats.

Replying to a question, Ramadoss, who is spearheading the his party's campaign, said PMK did not require any ally as it was "gaining" popularity day by day, particularly among the youth and women.

He said the PMK's candidate list would be announced soon.

Commenting on the ruling AIADMK's list released yesterday, he claimed it was not final and there could be be changes in future.
New Delhi: With the Uttar Pradesh government making it clear that it was ready for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the Dadri lynching case if the court wished it, questions are being asked about the reason behind the sudden u-turn by the Akhilesh government midway in the highly sensitive case.

The Times of India reports that the government may have changed its stance as the forensic report may indicate that the meat sample collected from Akhlaq's home was actually beef.

Importantly, the government has argued before the Allahabad High Court that the question whether the meat was beef or mutton should be addressed separately than the crime itself  lynching of Akhlaq.

The forensic report from Mathura Veterinary College was submitted by the UP government to the high court. An earlier report from Rajkiya Pashu Chikitsalaya in Dadri had claimed that the meat was mutton.

Dadri lynching: What's the case?

Akhlaq was killed and his son Danish was attacked by a mob after rumours that the family had consumed and stored beef in their house at Bishada village in Dadri in Gautam Budh Nagar District of Uttar Pradesh on September 28, 2015.
Lucknow: Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav today charged CBI with bothering him a lot but said he came out clean and now he was a "CBI-certified honest" person.

"The person who progresses from poor section of the society has to face such (CBI probe) problems. All persons should keep their papers and accounts updated otherwise CBI will frighten them," he said.

Yadav was addressing a gathering at party office here on occasion of Maharshri Kashyap Nishadraj Guha anniversary.

"CBI bothered me a lot. It searched my house and also of my relatives for disproportionate assets. Fields and cattle were also counted but they got nothing. In such scenario I can say that now I am CBI-certified honest," he said.

CBI had in 2013 cleared Yadav of charges that he misused his office as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh to accumulate vast amounts of wealth.

It had closed the case that began in 2007, ceding that there is "grossly insufficient evidence" against the chief of the Samajwadi Party.

Attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said his promise of giving Rs 15 lakh to every person after getting back black money stashed away in foreign banks and jobs to unemployed remained unfulfilled.

"Those who used to talk about chasing away Pakistanis are now shaking hands with them and Modi had invited their PM Nawaz Sharif for his oath taking ceremony," he said.

He claimed that when Modi was shaking hands with his Chinese counterpart, his army was sneaking into Indian territory and when he raised the matter in Lok Sabha a hue and cry was raised and they (Chinese) had to back track.

The SP supremo said that for including 17 backward castes in SC category, there was a need to hold a big conference in Delhi.
Kolkata: At least nine people were injured in clashes between workers of the Trinamool Congress and the CPI-M in Birbhum and West Midnapore districts of West Bengal since Monday night, police said.

Around six people were injured when activists of the two parties, carrying sharp and blunt weapons, clashed at Labhpur of Birbhum district.

"There was a political clash between the Communist Party of India-Marxist and the Trinamool. Two-three people from each side were injured," Birbhum's Superintendent of Police Mukesh told IANS over phone.

The CPI-M alleged that its supporters were mercilessly beaten up and their houses ransacked by Trinamool activists in Labhpur for campaigning for the CPI-M-Congress alliance ahead of he assembly polls in the area.

The Trinamool, however, denied the charges.

Labhpur goes to the hustings on April 17.

Three people were injured in a post-poll clash at Shuknator village under Salboni police station of West Midnapore district, police said.

The CPI-M claimed two of its supporters had to be hospitalised with serious injuries.

A Trinamool supporter was also injured.

Salboni was one of the 18 constituencies where polling took place on Monday.
Washington: US law enforcement agencies today arrested 21 people, including 10 Indian Americans, on charges of visa fraud involving about 1,000 foreign students.

Arrested in New York, New Jersey, Washington and Virginia these 21 individuals were brokers, recruiters and employers who conspired with more than 1,000 foreign nationals to fraudulently obtain student and foreign worker visas through a "pay to stay" New Jersey college, Department of Justice said.

"Today's arrests, which were made possible by the great undercover work of our law enforcement partners, stopped 21 brokers, recruiters and employers across multiple states who recklessly exploited our immigration system for financial gain," US Attorney Paul J Fishman said in a statement.

"Pay to Stay schemes not only damage our perception of legitimate student and foreign worker visa programs, they also pose a very real threat to national security," he said.

As per the federal compliant unsealed today, the defendants, many of whom operated recruiting companies for purported international students, were arrested for their involvement in an alleged scheme to enroll foreign nationals as students in the University of Northern New Jersey (UNNJ, a purported for-profit college located in Cranford, New Jersey.

Unbeknownst to the defendants and the foreign nationals they conspired with, however, the UNNJ was created in September 2013 by federal agents.

Through the UNNJ, undercover HSI agents investigated criminal activities associated with the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP), including, but not limited to, student visa fraud and the harboring of aliens for profit.

The UNNJ was not staffed with instructors or educators, had no curriculum and conducted no actual classes or education activities.

The UNNJ operated solely as a storefront location with small offices staffed by federal agents posing as school administrators, the Justice Department said.

During the investigation, HSI special agents identified hundreds of foreign nationals, primarily from China and India, who previously entered the US on F-1 non-immigrant student visas to attend other SEVP- accredited schools.

Through various recruiting companies and business entities located in New Jersey, California, Illinois, New York and Virginia, the defendants then enabled approximately 1,076 of these foreign individuals, all of whom were willing participants in the scheme, to fraudulently maintain their nonimmigrant status in the US on the false pretence that they continued to participate in full courses of study at the UNNJ.

During the course of their dealings with undercover agents, the defendants fully acknowledged that none of their foreign national clients would attend any actual courses, earn actual credits, or make academic progress toward an actual degree in a particular field of study, it said.

Rather, the defendants facilitated the enrollment of their foreign national clients in UNNJ to fraudulently maintain student visa status, in exchange for kickbacks, or "commissions".
Algiers: Algeria`s army on Monday killed four armed Islamists in El-Oued, the defence ministry said, meaning almost a dozen have been killed in the lawless desert region in the past two weeks.

Four Kalashnikov automatic weapons, grenades and ammunition were also seized during the military-led operation in the Bir El Kasira area, near the Tunisian border, the ministry said on its website.

The deaths bring the number of "terrorists" -- what the government calls Islamists who launched an insurgency in the early 1990s -- killed in the Algerian Sahara region over the past two weeks to 11.

Last year the Algerian army killed or arrested 157 "terrorists," according to figures from the ministry of defence.

A brutal civil war in the 1990s between the government and Islamists claimed the lives of some 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.


Dhaka: A court in Bangladesh granted bail to opposition leader Khaleda Zia on Tuesday after issuing a warrant for her arrest over a deadly fire-bomb attack on a bus, her lawyer said.

The 70-year-old was given bail when she surrendered to the court, where an estimated 5,000 supporters of her Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) gathered, shouting anti-government slogans.

The party had threatened to stage protests across the politically volatile country if she was arrested on the charges, which date back to a nationwide anti-government campaign of arson in January 2015.

"She surrendered to the court this morning and was granted bail in the arson case. She also got bail in four other cases," her lawyer Masud Ahmed Talukder told AFP, referring to long-standing corruption and other cases.

The Dhaka magistrate court last week issued a warrant for Zia`s arrest on charges of instigating the attack, which left two people dead and dozens injured.

It took place during a nationwide blockade last year of roads, rail and waterways that Zia called to try to force Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to resign and pave the way for new elections.

The blockade unleashed a wave of bloody violence, leaving more than 120 people dead as opposition activists fire-bombed hundreds of buses and trucks and police responded by firing live rounds.

Zia was confined to her office compound in Dhaka for months during the blockade after she threatened to lead an anti-government rally through the capital on the anniversary of a disputed national election.

Hasina has vowed to prosecute BNP officials for the violence. Around 15,000 opposition supporters and dozens of senior BNP officials were arrested as part of a crackdown in the wake of the unrest.

It is not the first time that Zia -- a bitter political rival of Hasina -- has faced arrest.

Last year a Dhaka court issued an arrest warrant against her for alleged corruption. She was granted bail after she surrendered, but the charges remain live.

Zia`s aide Shimul Biswas said the cases against Zia were baseless and fabricated, aimed at keeping her under pressure politically. "They are designed to harass her," Biswas said.

The BNP boycotted the 2014 general election, leaving the field clear for its rivals.

The party was further weakened by the crackdown last year, when police pressed charges against thousands of their leaders and grassroots activists over the fire-bombing campaign.

The party has recently been trying to stage a comeback, holding a leadership election this month for the first time in more than six years in an effort to introduce fresh faces into the leadership.
New York: Democratic presidential rivals Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders will face off in a debate on April 14 in Brooklyn, after sparring for days about having a New York debate ahead of the state primary.

The duo accepted CNN`s offer to hold the debate in the run-up to the April 19 primary, the network said Monday.

Sanders, who trails in the race for the Democratic nomination for the White House, has been pushing for a debate in New York, where he lags in opinion polls.

"We are glad that she finally has agreed," said Michael Briggs, Sanders` spokesman.

"Sanders all along has pressed for a debate on television in prime time so the greatest number of New Yorkers and Americans may listen to the candidates and decide for themselves who has the best ideas about how to reform our rigged economy and the corrupt campaign finance system."

Brian Fallon, spokesman for the Clinton campaign, tweeted: "Brooklyn. April 14. It`s on."

Local television channel NY1 will co-sponsor the showdown.

Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist originally from Brooklyn, is hanging on in the race for the party ticket and has recently enjoyed a string of primary successes.

He will need to replicate that in the remaining states with the three largest delegate allocations -- California, New York and Pennsylvania -- if he is to stand any hope of pulling off a shock and beating the former secretary of state to the party nomination.
Berlin: A German court on Tuesday threw out criminal charges stemming from a catastrophic stampede at a Love Parade street party in 2010 that killed 21 people, in a ruling that enraged victims` families.

The decision by the regional court in the western city of Duisburg for now halts efforts to prosecute those who planned the event over its chaotic crowd management.

"The state`s accusations could not be proved with the evidence presented," the court said in a terse statement after dismissing the charges against six city officials and four parade organisers.

"Hence a conviction of the accused could not be expected."

Prosecutors said they would appeal the ruling, as lawyers representing survivors of the stampede and victims` families blasted the decision.

Attorney Baerbel Schoenhof told reporters it amounted to a "slap in the face" for the "extremely traumatised" people at the parade that day.

Julius Reiter, who is representing around 100 co-plaintiffs, called the dismissal a "judicial scandal".

German prosecutors had charged the 10 suspects with negligent manslaughter and bodily harm in February 2014.

The manslaughter charges could have carried sentences of up to five years in prison.

Twelve civil lawsuits are still pending and expected to be heard from next month.

In a rare press conference on a court ruling, presiding judge Ulf-Thomas Bender placed the blame for the case`s collapse on major failings in an expert report that was to serve as the main basis of the prosecution`s case during the trial.

Bender angrily denounced the evaluation by British crowd disaster expert Keith Still as flawed, biased and contradictory, saying it had little chance of holding up in court.

"Although the court posed 75 follow-up questions, the questions remained unanswered and gaps in the report were not rectified," Bender said. The disaster occurred on July 24, 2010 when a large crowd of revellers at one of Europe`s top techno music events was forced to go through a narrow tunnel that served as the only entrance and exit to the festival grounds.

Those killed -- 13 women and eight men who were crushed, trampled to death or suffocated -- included seven foreigners, from Australia, Italy, the Netherlands, China and Spain.

More than 650 people were injured in the mass panic as pressure from a heaving sea of hundreds of thousands of young people squashed the victims against fences and walls.

Prosecutors blamed serious planning errors for the tragedy at the site, a former cargo rail depot in the industrial city.

The mayor of Duisburg at the time, Adolf Sauerland, became the prime target of public anger and was forced to resign by a 2012 city referendum, accused of having ignored warnings that the summer festival was a disaster waiting to happen.

The Love Parade started as an underground event in the former West Berlin in 1989 and was held there most years until 2006, at times drawing over one million people.

Following wrangling over permits and arguments over the mountains of trash left behind, the festival moved from Berlin to cities in western Germany`s industrial Ruhr region until the tragedy of 2010.

The deadly disaster led organisers to declare that the Love Parade would never be held again "out of respect for the victims".
Vienna: Italy should refrain from sending migrants north towards Austria and Germany or face restrictions on traffic along an important north-south transport corridor, German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said on Tuesday.

Austria, which has mainly acted as a conduit into Germany for migrants who have flocked to Europe since last autumn, also played a leading role in effectively closing the main migrant route into Europe, through the Balkans from Greece.

With warm weather returning to the continent, Austria is preparing for the arrival of more migrants taking another route - travelling up Italy after having crossed the Mediterranean from North African countries such as Libya.

Vienna has said it is preparing to introduce tighter border controls if necessary at the Brenner crossing, an important gateway for goods flowing between Italy and northern European countries such as Germany.

"Italy cannot depend on Brenner always staying open," de Maiziere told ORF television during a visit to Austria to meet his counterparts from other German-speaking countries, adding that Rome could not "as in the past simply guide people north".

Austria has said that tighter controls, such as vehicle checks and crowd-control measures including barriers and a fence like those at its main crossing with Slovenia, will be introduced at Brenner if the number of arrivals requires it.

"We hope that it will not have to be necessary to decide on such matters," de Maiziere told ORF, an Austrian broadcaster. He added, however, that it would also depend on Italy`s behaviour.

"That is assuming that the numbers coming to Italy are not too high. That is assuming that Italy fulfils its obligations," he said, adding that he had been briefed on Austria`s plans.

An Austrian Interior Ministry spokesman said on Tuesday the number of migrants crossing Austria on their way to Germany had fallen to zero. De Maiziere said recently it had fallen to about 140 a day in March, compared to thousands just a few months ago.

De Maiziere said that if the number of arrivals stayed low, Germany would scrap border controls that have held up traffic and angered many people who travel to Germany from Austria.

"According to the current estimate, if the numbers remain this low, we would not continue border controls beyond May 12," he said, adding that Germany still wanted to be prepared for a possible change in the trend.
Santiago: The head of one of Chile`s leading anti-corruption watchdogs has resigned after his name appeared in the so-called Panama Papers, a massive leak of secret offshore financial dealings.

Gonzalo Delaveau, the president of Transparent Chile -- the local branch of anti-graft group Transparency International -- submitted his resignation Monday after he was named as a director or representative of at least five companies registered in the Bahamas.

The information emerged in the leak of millions of documents from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca that has put a host of world leaders, celebrities and other prominent figures in the hot seat over their secret financial dealings.

Delaveau, a lawyer who was acting as interim head of Transparent Chile, had been due to step down in a week.

"Given that I have one week remaining, given that I can`t even continue as director, the damage that has been done to the institution, I believe it`s best to step aside," he told CNN Chile.

Besides his role at Transparent Chile, Delaveau is also a director at Andes Copper, a Canadian mining company.

The offshore firms linked to Delaveau are among some 200 suspected shell companies tied to Chileans including prominent executives, sports stars and a former finance minister, according to investigative journalism group CIPER.

The group is one of the more than 100 media organizations worldwide wading through the trove of 11.5 million leaked documents along with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.
Hong Kong: Hong Kong`s leader hit back Tuesday at growing calls for independence from China, particularly among young activists, as he dismissed the need for any discussion on a breakaway.

Unpopular leader Leung Chun-ying`s remarks come as concerns grow over increasing interference from Beijing in the semi-autonomous city`s affairs, with fears its cherished freedoms are ebbing away.

Since the failure of mass pro-democracy protests in 2014 to win political reform, young campaigners have spearheaded a "localist" movement, which seeks much more distance from China.

Last week saw the launch of the new pro-independence Hong Kong National Party, made up of 30 to 50 students and young professionals.

Localist activists have already made some inroads into mainstream politics, with one candidate taking more than 60,000 votes in a recent parliamentary by-election.

"There are people in society, including some young people, who have put forward whether or not Hong Kong interests have been influenced or even corroded by the mainland," Leung told reporters.

"In fact, since this administration assumed office... we have, in each livelihood issue, aimed to put Hong Kongers first." Leung listed policies, including a ban on mainland mothers giving birth in Hong Kong and a special property duty for foreign buyers, as protecting local interests.

"We don`t need to come to the point where we ask whether we need independence to safeguard the interests of Hong Kong people," Leung said.

He did not address freedom of speech or political reform, key issues for activists.

The Hong Kong government last week threatened to "take action" against the Hong Kong National Party, saying advocating independence was against the city`s mini-constitution and would "undermine the stability and prosperity of Hong Kong".

It would not specify what shape that action would take and Leung again evaded that question Tuesday.

The new party says it has been banned from registering in Hong Kong, making it difficult for it to run in elections.

China has also slammed the group and voiced its "resolute opposition" to calls for independence.

Hong Kong`s way of life is protected by a 50-year agreement signed when Britain handed the city back to China in 1997 and it enjoys freedoms unseen on the mainland.

But there are fears those are being eroded after a string of troubling incidents.

The latest was the disappearance of five Hong Kong booksellers, known for salacious titles critical of Beijing, who later turned up on the mainland.
Rome: Italy warned today it was prepared to take "immediate and proportional measures" against Egypt if it fails to come clean with all it knows about the torture and death of an Italian graduate student in Cairo.

Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni told the Senate the meetings this week in Rome between Italian and Egyptian prosecutors could be "decisive" to filling in gaps in the investigation of the death of Giulio Regeni.

The 28-year-old researcher was abducted on a Cairo street on January 25, when police were out in force as Egyptians marked the fifth anniversary of the uprising that ousted autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

Speculation mounted that Egypt's security forces were involved after Regeni's brutally tortured body was found nine days later.

Gentiloni repeated Italian criticism that Egyptian authorities hadn't provided full information to date, saying Italian prosecutors in particular wanted missing documentation concerning Regeni's cellphone use and the closed-circuit video footage of the Cairo area from where he was believed snatched. "If there isn't a change, the government is ready to react by adopting immediate and proportional measures," Gentiloni warned.

He said Italy wanted the truth, not convenient excuses.

In Cairo, Prosecutor General Nabil Sadek said the Egyptian delegation would depart for Italy tomorrow, led by his assistant, Judge Mustafa Suleiman.

The delegation is expected to also include another prosecutor and three security officers, the Italian agency ANSA said.

An Egyptian security official said there was a conflict between the security and judicial agencies on who would lead the team and what to present to the Italians.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the case, told The Associated Press that prosecutors were concerned that the security agencies had attempted to "keep information" and not present it to the Italian side.

Weeks after Regeni's body was found, Egyptian authorities linked the killing to a criminal gang, saying they found the Italian student's personal belongings in a suspect's home after a shootout that killed all the gang's members.

But Italian media immediately dismissed the claim. Regeni's parents said the Egyptian explanation rang hollow and even Egypt's top state newspaper criticized the "naive stories" being offered about the death and urged Egyptian authorities to deal seriously with the case.
London: Maulana Masood Azhar was allowed to preach extremist ideology at several British mosques during a month-long visit to UK in 1993 on the invitation of Islamist scholars when young Muslims were asked to seek weapons training at terrorist camps in Pakistan, it emerged on Tuesday.

Senior representatives of the Deobandi sect, which controls nearly half of Britain's 1,600 mosques, hosted Azhar during the visit in which hundreds of young Muslims were urged to seek weapons training at terrorist camps in Pakistan, according to a BBC investigation.

One of India's most-wanted terrorists in relation to the attack on the Pathankot Air Force base, which claimed the lives of seven Indian soldiers in January this year, Azhar was chief organiser of the Pakistani jihadist group Harkat-ul Mujahideen in early 90s.

According to the report, during his UK tour until now kept under wraps Azhar delivered "sermons on jihad" to large audiences in London, Birmingham, Yorkshire and Lancashire and the message was of hatred for Christians, Jews and Hindus.

Witnesses said that large sums of money were donated after each talk.

Azhar, then 25, was the product of a radical Karachi seminary and shortly before his arrival in Britain in August 1993 he had helped supply Osama bin Laden, then based in Sudan, with 400 jihadist fighters to wage attacks in Somalia.

The investigation, shared with 'The Times', has uncovered the details of his tour in an archive of militant group magazines published in Urdu.

The contents provide an astounding insight into the way in which hardcore jihadist ideology was promoted in some mainstream UK mosques in the early 1990s ? and involved some of Britain's most senior Islamic scholars.

Azhar's tour lasted a month and consisted of over 40 speeches.

Azhar, captured in India shortly after his British trip, was released from prison in 1999 in exchange for 155 passengers of a hijacked plane in Kandahar. After his release, he formed the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorist group which is blamed for several attacks in India.

The radical cleric is currently in "protective custody" in Pakistan after the Pathankot terror attack.

The Deobandis trace their roots back to a Sunni Islamic seminary founded in Deoband in 19th century India.

The original seminary in India has issued a fatwa against terrorism but some Deobandi madrassas in Pakistan reportedly propagate extremist jihadist ideology.

The investigation will be broadcast as a two-part documentary titled 'The Deobandis' by BBC Radio later today and April 12.
Washington: US President Barack Obama has said NATO is "critical" to the security of America and its allies in Europe, a virtual rejection of Republican front-runner Donald Trump's views that the intergovernmental military alliance has outlived its utility.

"NATO continues to be the linchpin, the cornerstone of our collective defense and US security policy," Obama told reporters yesterday along with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in the White House.

The Obama-Stoltenberg meeting came in the wake of Trump's remarks.

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest has termed such remarks as "ill-advised". Obama, however, did not make any direct comment on Trump's comments.

Obama said he had an excellent discussion that started with marking the tragedy that had taken place in Brussels, and reinforcing the importance of us staying focused on ISIL and countering the terrorism that has seeped up into Europe and around the world.

"We agreed that one of the most important functions that NATO is performing and can continue to perform is to help in the training and assisting process for troops in Iraq, in Jordan, in many of the areas in the region.

"And we are continuing to cooperate on an ongoing basis about operations potentially in areas like Libya, where you have the beginnings of a government and we can I think provide enormous help in helping to stabilize those countries," Obama said.

Obama and Stoltenberg also discussed situation in Afghanistan, Russia and Ukraine.

"We continue to be united in supporting Ukraine in the wake of Russian incursions into Ukrainian territory. We continue to work in a train-and-assist fashion in helping support Ukraine develop its military capabilities defensively," he said.

Stoltenberg said NATO is as "important as ever".

"Because NATO has been able to adapt to a more dangerous world. We stand together in the fight against terrorism. Terrorism affects us all, from Brussels to San Bernardino, and all NATO allies contribute to the

US-led efforts to degrade and destroy ISIL.

"And just last week, we started training Iraqi officers, and we will continue to support the efforts of the United States and other countries to fight ISIL," he said.

The US value the contributions it received from the large number of NATO members who are a part of counter-ISIL coalition, Earnest said.


Pyongyang: A North Korean front company used to help fund the country`s nuclear weapons programme was among the clients of the Panamanian law firm at the centre of a massive data leak, reports said on Tuesday.

With a Pyongyang-based address, DCB Finance Ltd was registered in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) in 2006, and leaked papers show that the Panama firm, Mossack Fonseca, legally incorporated the company, the Guardian newspaper and BBC reported.

The same year saw North Korea conduct its first nuclear test, triggering the first of numerous UN Security Council resolutions imposing sanctions on Pyongyang.

DCB Finance Ltd was registered by North Korean official Kim Chol-Sam and Nigel Cowie, a British banker who had moved to North Korea in 1995 and went on to head its first foreign bank, Daedong Credit Bank -- of which DCB Finance was an offshoot.

Leaked papers suggest that, despite the Pyongyang address, Mossack Fonseca failed to notice DCB`s link with North Korea until the BVI`s Financial Investigation Agency sent it a letter in 2010 asking for details of the company.

It was only then that the law firm resigned as DCB`s agent.

The following year Cowie, who says he was unaware of any unlawful transactions, sold the share he had brought in Daedong Credit Bank to a Chinese consortium.

Both the bank and DCB -- as well as official Kim Chol-Sam -- were targeted by US sanctions in June, 2013 on the grounds that they had, since 2006, provided financial services to two North Korean entities with a "central role" in developing the North`s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.

The US Treasury said DCB Finance had been used to "carry out international financial transactions as a means to avoid scrutiny by financial institutions avoiding business with North Korea."

A leaked e-mail from Mossack Fonseca`s compliance department in August 2013 appeared to acknowledge a lack of due diligence on the part of the law firm.

"We have not yet addressed the reason we maintained a relationship with DCB Finance when we knew or ought to have known from incorporation in 2006, that the country, North Korea was on the black list," the e-mail said.

"We should have identified from the onset that this was a high risk company," it added.
Paris: Several countries have launched tax evasion probes after a massive leak of confidential documents lifted the lid on the murky offshore financial dealings of a slew of politicians and celebrities.

The scandal erupted on Sunday when media groups began revealing the results of a year-long investigation into a trove of 11.5 million documents from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, which specialises in creating offshore shell companies.

Among those named in the "Panama Papers" are close associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin, relatives of Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Iceland`s Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, as well as Barcelona striker Lionel Messi.

In Iceland`s capital Reykjavik, thousands took to the streets late Monday to demand the premier resign over allegations that he and his wife used an offshore firm to hide millions of dollars of investments.

Australia has already launched a probe into 800 wealthy Mossack Fonseca clients. France and the Netherlands also announced investigations, while a judicial source said Spain had opened a money-laundering investigation into the law firm.

Panama also pledged to launch an investigation to identify if any crimes have been committed and any financial damages should be awarded.

President Juan Carlos Varela said Panama would cooperate with the international probes but also vowed to "defend the image of our country", which has a reputation as a hub for under-the-table dealings.

Messi`s family was swift to dismiss any suggestion he had been involved in shady activity, saying "accusations he created a... tax evasion plot, including a network of money-laundering, are false and insulting".

Messi has been charged with tax fraud in a separate case that is due to go to trial in Spain in May. Offshore financial dealings are not illegal in themselves but may be used to hide assets from tax authorities, launder the proceeds of criminal activities or conceal misappropriated or politically inconvenient wealth.

The trove of documents was anonymously leaked to German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung and shared with more than 100 media groups by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). More information is expected over the coming weeks.

The first revelations elicited a chorus of denials, including from the Kremlin, which suggested a US plot after the leaks put a close friend of Putin's at the top of an offshore empire worth more than $2 billion.

"Putin, Russia, our country, our stability and the upcoming elections are the main target, specifically to destabilise the situation," said a Kremlin spokesman, claiming the journalists were former officers from the US state department, the CIA and special services.

Among other key allegations of the probe, which named about 140 political figures, including 12 current or former heads of state:

-- The families of some of China`s top brass -- including President Xi -- used offshore tax havens to conceal their fortunes, including at least eight current or former members of the ruling Communist Party`s most powerful body.

-- Iceland`s prime minister secretly owned millions of dollars in bank bonds at a time when his country`s banking system was collapsing in 2008. He has so far refused to step down.

-- Argentina`s President Mauricio Macri, his father and brother were reportedly registered as directors of an offshore company in the Bahamas. Macri said "there was nothing strange about the operation" and it was declared to the tax authorities.

-- A member of FIFA`s ethics committee, Juan Pedro Damiani, had business ties with three men indicted in a corruption scandal.

-- A Panamanian shell company may have helped hide millions of dollars from a $40 million British gold bullion robbery at London-Heathrow Airport in 1983 that is etched in criminal folklore.

-- Oscar-winning Spanish film director Pedro Almodovar and actor Jackie Chan were among celebrities named in the papers.The papers, from around 214,000 offshore entities covering almost 40 years, also name the president of Ukraine and the king of Saudi Arabia.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko denied any wrongdoing, but he may face an attempt to impeach him.

French newspaper Le Monde cited documents showing that Syria used Mossack Fonseca to create shell companies to help it break international sanctions and fund its war effort.

Pascal Saint-Amans, head of tax policy at the OECD, said the leaks showed Panama was among the world`s shadiest tax havens.

"Switzerland is really making progress, so there is a concentration of problems in Panama," he told AFP, referring to another popular offshore tax haven.

One of the Panama law firm`s founders, Ramon Fonseca, told AFP the leaks were "a crime, a felony" and "an attack on Panama".

More than 500 banks, their subsidiaries and branches have worked with Mossack Fonseca since the 1970s to help clients manage offshore companies. UBS set up more than 1,100 and HSBC and its affiliates created more than 2,300.

The documents show "banks, law firms and other offshore players often fail to follow legal requirements to make sure clients are not involved in criminal enterprises, tax dodging or political corruption," the ICIJ said.

Mossack Fonseca is already subject to investigations in Germany and Brazil, where it is part of a huge money laundering probe that has threatened to topple the current government.
Moscow: A senior Russian official on Tuesday said Moscow is to make the first shipment of its S-300 air defence systems to Iran in the coming days as part of a long-running contract between Tehran and Moscow.

I dont know if this will happen today, but they (the consignments) will be loaded (for shipment to Iran), Zamir Kabulov, a department chief at the Russian foreign ministry, was quoted by Russias Interfax news agency as saying.

In mid-February, the official had said that Moscow would deliver the surface-to-air missile systems to Tehran in the nearest time.

Russia was committed to delivering the systems to Iran under a $800-million deal in 2007. Moscow, however, refused to deliver the systems to Tehran in 2010 on the plea that the agreement was covered by the fourth round of the UN Security Council sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme. The sanctions barred hi-tech weapons sales to Tehran.

Following Moscows refusal to deliver the systems, Iran filed a complaint against the relevant Russian arms manufacturer with the International Court of Arbitration in Geneva.

In April 2015, Russian President Vladimir Putin lifted a previous ban on the delivery of S-300 to Iran, and in November last year, Russia signed a new contract to supply Iran with the systems by the end of that year for the first time since the 2010 freeze on supplies under the UN Security Council sanctions.

Recent pledges to make the delivery came after Iran and the P5+1 states -- five permanent members of the UN Security Council Russia, China, France, Britain, the US, and Germany -- reached a landmark agreement, dubbed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), on Tehrans nuclear programme in July last year.

Under the JCPOA, all nuclear-related economic and financial bans against the Islamic Republic were lifted.
Riyadh: A Saudi police colonel was shot dead in the Riyadh region on Tuesday, the interior ministry said, in an attack claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group.

Colonel Kattab Majid al-Hammadi was killed by gunfire "from an unknown source" in the town of Duwadimi, the ministry said in a statement, adding that an investigation has been launched.

Najd Province, the IS affiliate in Saudi Arabia, said in a statement on Twitter that its jihadists had "assassinated" the officer.

It threatened further attacks against security forces in the Sunni-ruled kingdom.

The attack is the second claimed by the Sunni extremist group against Saudi police in the past four days.

The interior ministry announced that a foreign resident was killed in a bomb blast targeting a police patrol vehicle late on Saturday, also in the Riyadh region.

Authorities did not specify the nationality of the victim in that incident but said two security patrol vehicles parked in the area were damaged in the bombing claimed by Najd Province.

IS frequently claims attacks on Saudi security forces as well as deadly bombings and shootings that target the kingdom's Shiite minority.

In August, an IS suicide bomber struck a mosque inside a Saudi special forces headquarters, killing 15 people.

IS, which controls swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq, has claimed responsibility for a wave of attacks in the region and elsewhere, including deadly bombings in Brussels last month.

In December, Saudi Arabia announced the creation of an "anti-terrorism" coalition whose members it said would share intelligence, counter violent ideology and deploy troops if necessary to combat extremists.

The kingdom is also part of the US-led coalition bombing IS in Iraq and Syria.
Cape Town: South African President Jacob Zuma faces an impeachment attempt in parliament today after the country's top court ruled that he had violated the constitution over spending on his private residence.

Zuma will almost certainly survive the impeachment vote, which requires a two-thirds majority, as his ruling African National Congress holds an overwhelming number of seats.

Despite rumblings of discontent within the party over a series of scandals involving the president, there is unlikely to be a revolt among ANC lawmakers, particularly as it will not be a secret ballot.

The Supreme Court of Appeal ruled last Thursday that Zuma had flouted the constitution by failing to repay some of the money spent on "security upgrades" at his rural home at Nkandla in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal province.

The project, which cost taxpayers $24 million, included a swimming pool, chicken run, cattle enclosure and an amphitheatre.

A 2014 report by the government-appointed Public Protector, Thuli Madonsela, found that Zuma and his family had "unduly benefited" from the upgrades and ordered him to pay back some of the money.

Zuma apologised in a national television address on Friday for the "frustration and confusion" caused by the affair, but made it clear that he had no intention of responding to calls to resign.

He however said he would pay back some of the money as ordered.

The impeachment motion was lodged by the main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, which drew unflattering comparisons between Zuma and iconic former ANC leader and president, Nelson Mandela.

"Jacob Zuma is the cancer at the heart of South African politics; he is not capable of honourable conduct, and cannot continue to be president of our country," the party said in response to his televised address.

It is unlikely that Zuma will be in parliament for the debate, which means that it might escape the chaotic scenes which have regularly erupted when he is present.

Previous disruptions have been sparked by the radical Economic Freedom Fighters, led by firebrand Julius Malema, who vowed after the appeal court judgement that they will no longer allow Zuma to address the assembly.

"In between now and the impeachment, the president will not speak in parliament and we will stop him physically.

"We will push him because President Zuma is no longer the president of the Republic of South Africa," Malema told a news conference.

Zuma has been urged to resign by a number of senior ANC veterans of the struggle against apartheid, which brought Mandela to power in 1994, but analysts say that too many current office-holders fear that if the president falls they will fall with him.

Zuma, 73, will complete his second term in office in 2019, and is barred by the constitution from running again.
Aleppo: A Syrian rebel group allied with Al-Qaeda said it had downed a warplane over northern Syria on Tuesday, with the pilot reportedly captured.

In a statement on Twitter, Ahrar al-Sham, a hardline Islamist group that fights alongside Al-Qaeda`s local affiliate, said it "shot down a warplane (over the town of Al-Eis) that was conducting airstrikes".

Earlier, a rebel source had confirmed that a regime warplane had been shot down, but said it was likely by fighters from Al-Qaeda`s Syrian branch, Al-Nusra Front.

The source said the pilot had been taken alive.

The Syrian pro-government website Al-Masdar News identified the captured pilot as Khaled Said, quoting army sources.

It also reported, citing the same unnamed sources, the "death" of co-pilot Musaab Hourani, without giving further details.

There was no immediate confirmation from the Syrian government or the armed forces.

Video footage circulating on social media purported to show the scene where the plane came down, with a dozen men crowding around a man lying in the dirt.

Some of them cry: "He`s Syrian, he`s Syrian!" and others yell: "Get his weapons off him!"

AFP could not confirm the authenticity of the footage.

Last month, Islamist rebels shot down a regime warplane over the village of Kafr Nabuda in the central province of Hama.

Ahrar al-Sham is allied with Al-Nusra across swathes of northern and northwest Syria, in a coalition called the "Army of Conquest."

On Friday, Al-Nusra and its allies pushed regime loyalists out of Al-Eis, a strategic town in Aleppo province.
Dikili: The next transfer of migrants to Turkey from Greece under a controversial deal with the EU has been postponed until later this week at Athens` request, a Turkish official said Tuesday.

"It has been postponed to Friday" from Wednesday, the official told AFP, asking not to be named.

"Greece could not send the people. Everything is ready here but we received a message from the Greek side," added the official.

The official did not give further details but the Greek government had admitted earlier the procedure had been slowed by an increase in asylum requests by migrants on the islands of Chios and Lesbos.

A local official in the Turkish region of Izmir had said earlier a new wave of around 200 migrants would be shipped from Lesbos into the Turkish harbour town of Dikili on the Aegean sea on Wednesday morning.

The first transfer of over 200 migrants from Greece took place on Monday, under the deal agreed between the EU and Turkey aimed at quelling the bloc`s worst migration crisis since World War II.

But in Athens, a Greek government source denied that a date for the next transfer had ever been set.

"We don`t plan in advance the date or number of those being sent back," the source told AFP, emphasising that the Greek government had to assess asylum applications by migrants.

"If by the end of the week, there is a satisfactory number of people who have not demanded asylum and which justifies a return, we will see if there will be a new transfer."

Under the pact with the European Union, Turkey has agreed to take back migrants who arrived in Greece in illegal crossings of the Aegean Sea after March 20.

Out of around 6,000 migrants who arrived on the islands after that deadline, more than 2,300 had applied for asylum, said Yiorgos Kyritsis, the spokesman for the Greek government panel coordinating the migration crisis

The deal has caused huge controversy, with rights groups including Amnesty International claiming Turkey could not be considered a "safe country" for the return of refugees.
War crimes judges on Tuesday dropped charges of crimes against humanity against Kenya`s Deputy President William Ruto over his alleged role in post-election turmoil after a 2007 vote, but left open the possibility of an appeal.

"The charges against the accused are vacated and the accused discharged without prejudice to their prosecution afresh in the future," the judges at the International Criminal Court said in a majority decision.

ICC spokesman Fadi El Abdallah said in a statement on YouTube that: "The trial chamber... has decided by majority... that the case against William Ruto and Joshua arap Sang has to be terminated."

In a case being keenly watched in Kenya, Ruto, 49, and radio boss Sang, 40, had both denied three charges of crimes against humanity -- namely murder, forcible deportation and persecution.

Prosecutors said more than 1,300 people died and some 600,000 others were left homeless in Kenya`s worst wave of violence since independence from Britain in 1963.

But the chamber had concluded that "the prosecution did not present sufficient evidence on which a reasonable trial chamber could convict the accused," the ICC said.

Abdallah added: "This decision does not preclude new prosecution in the future either at the ICC or in a national jurisdiction."

In a complex 253-page ruling, the presiding judge Chile Eboe-Osuji said in a separate statement he would have declared "a mistrial due to the troubling incidence of witness interference and intolerable political meddling."

The case is being keenly watched in Kenya, which has led a high-profile campaign against the ICC among African nations, accusing the tribunal of bias against the continent.

Several African nations have threatened to walk out of the court, set up in 2002 to try to the world`s worst crimes.

The Kenyan government has long argued the charges should be dismissed following a similar case against Ruto`s erstwhile bitter rival and now Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta.

It is a fresh blow for ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda who had already abandoned the case against Kenyatta in late 2014.
Police have arrested 14 people and seized firearms, diamonds, cash, marijuana and approximately 1,000 fentanyl pills after several seizures last night in Yellowknife, Ndilo and Dettah.

Early Monday, police arrested a man from British Columbia en route to Yellowknife during a traffic stop near Fort Providence. In a news release, RCMP say search warrants were then executed at six separate locations.

RCMP seized 1.5 kilograms of cocaine, several kilograms of marijuana, a substance believed to be heroin, as well as the fentanyl pills. They also found a large amount of cash, diamonds and "high-end merchandise suspected to be profits from the sale of illegal drugs."

RCMP say the police operation, which involved more than 30 officers, was part of a lengthy investigation targeting the trafficking of fentanyl and other illicit drugs in Yellowknife and surrounding communities.

Police say charges will be laid against several individuals later today.
By Ethan Lou TORONTO (Reuters) - Telephone scammers have begun to target refugees in Canada with extortion schemes by posing as government employees and threatening them with arrest or deportation unless they immediately wire money, Canadian authorities said. With complaints to Canada's government surging, law enforcement officials last week warned that the scammers were taking aim at immigrants and refugees. Complaints to the Canadian government about the extortion scams last year reached more than 15,000, 10 times higher than in 2014, and at least 5,200 complaints already have been lodged this year, Canada's Anti-Fraud Centre said on Monday. The Liberal government has taken in some 25,000 Syrian refugees since taking power in November, and Immigration Minister John McCallum last week said Canada would accept 10,000 more. The warning by Canada's Competition Bureau did not specify how scammers are targeting refugees and immigrants. Marie-France Faucher, a spokeswoman for the law enforcement agency, said the warning was issued mainly due to the "arrival of a number of new immigrants and refugees to Canada over the past year." Daniel Williams, a senior fraud specialist with Canada's Anti-Fraud Centre, said the agency started receiving complaints about such scams in late 2013. The scammers initially looked through phonebooks and targeted people with south Asian names, operating on the assumption they were new to the country, but have become more indiscriminate and expanded to include other groups, Williams said. Williams said such scams involve fraudsters demanding money to resolve what they claimed were tax or immigration issues and threatening victims with jail or fines. "And if you're foreign-born, your passport will be revoked, your citizenship will be revoked, you'll be deported," Williams said, explaining what the scam victims were told. Government data showed that 1,111 victims of phone scams of all kinds have lost more than C$3.5 million ($2.68 million) since 2014. But the actual amount of money lost to phone scams remained unknown. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said only about 5 percent of victims report these scams to authorities. (Reporting by Ethan Lou; Editing by Will Dunham)
Heavy fighting has been reported in Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed region between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Azerbaijan said it had lost 16 troops while inflicting heavy casualties on Armenia.

The Azeri defence ministry said its front-line villages were still coming under fire despite it calling a ceasefire on Sunday.

The ministry said up to 170 Armenian troops were killed and 12 vehicles destroyed.

Armenia's defence spokesman said the claim was a product of the Azerbaijani military's "wild imagination".

The Nagorno-Karabakh military said it had killed more than 300 Azeri soldiers since fighting began on Saturday.

The fighting is the worst since 1994 when a ceasefire left Nagorno-Karabakh under the control of local ethnic Armenian forces and the Armenian military.

Armenian forces also occupy several areas outside Karabakh proper.

The conflict is between Christian Armenians and mainly Muslim Azeris and, despite the long-simmering tensions, international attempts to settle the dispute have not succeeded.

Russia and the US have called for a ceasefire and criticised "outside players" for trying to fuel the conflict.

Armenia belongs to a number of Moscow-dominated economic and security alliances and has a Russian military base on its soil.

Russia is also trying to stay close to energy-rich Azerbaijan, a country which serves as a key conduit for Caspian oil and gas resources flowing to the West.

Despite its close ties with Armenia, Russia also has sold weapons to Azerbaijan in a deal that has angered many in Armenia.
By Saliou Samb and James Harding Giahyue CONAKRY/MONROVIA (Reuters) - Guinea will soon vaccinate people who have come into contact with more than 500 men who have recovered from Ebola, a senior health official said, the first time it has vaccinated the contacts of survivors. The decision reflects research that indicates Ebola can remain in the bodily fluids of survivors for months. The contacts will include but will not be limited to sexual partners, said Fode Tass Sylla, the spokesman for the West African nation's centre for the fight against Ebola. "We know the virus can stay in the sperm of a healed patient for a certain period of time," Sylla said. "That's why we want to vaccinate the circles of 501 men, to avoid all risk of spreading the disease." The vaccinations will begin in the next few days, Sylla said. The centre also plans an awareness campaign to warn mothers who have recovered from the virus against breastfeeding their newborns, he said. One of three countries at the epicentre of the world's worst recorded Ebola outbreak, along with Liberia and Sierra Leone, Guinea was declared free of active transmissions of the virus in December 2015. But it announced eight new cases last month. There are 10,000 survivors of the deadly hemorrhagic fever in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, according to the World Health Organisation. The WHO said 800 possible contacts of people suffering from Ebola had been vaccinated against the virus in the so-called "ring vaccination" method. That means swiftly vaccinating anyone who has come into contact with an Ebola sufferer and contacts of theirs. More than 1,000 people were under observation. Liberia, which has declared the outbreak over three times, closed its border with Guinea after its neighbour announced its fresh cases. Liberia announced a new Ebola case, a 30-year-old woman who died en route to the hospital, on Friday. On Saturday, the ministry of health said she had traveled to Guinea, where it believed she had contracted the disease. "The woman travelled to Guinea and must have contracted the virus from there," said Sorbor George, the spokesman at the ministry of health. Four other relatives of the victim, including her seven-year-old daughter, have been identified as "high-risk" and are being monitored in an Ebola treatment center, George said. Another 46 contacts are being monitored. Ten healthcare workers at the clinic where the patient had first sought treatment have also been placed under voluntary precautionary observation. The World Health Organisation announced earlier this week that Ebola was no longer considered to be a public health emergency. (Reporting by Saliou Samb and James Harding Giahyue; Writing by Makini Brice; Editing by Larry King)
CONAKRY (Reuters) - Guinea will soon vaccinate people who have come into contact with more than 500 men who have recovered from Ebola, a senior health official said, the first time it has vaccinated the contacts of survivors. The decision reflects research that indicates Ebola can remain in the bodily fluids of survivors for months. The contacts will include but will not be limited to sexual partners, said Fode Tass Sylla, the spokesman for the West African nation's centre for the fight against Ebola. "We know the virus can stay in the sperm of a healed patient for a certain period of time," Sylla said. "That's why we want to vaccinate the circles of 501 men, to avoid all risk of spreading the disease." The vaccinations will begin in the next few days, Sylla said. The centre also plans an awareness campaign to warn mothers who have recovered from the virus against breastfeeding their newborns, he said. One of three countries at the epicentre of the world's worst recorded Ebola outbreak, along with Liberia and Sierra Leone, Guinea was declared free of active transmissions of the virus in December 2015. But it announced eight new cases last month. There are 10,000 survivors of the deadly hemorrhagic fever in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, according to the World Health Organisation. The WHO said 800 possible contacts of people suffering from Ebola had been vaccinated against the virus in the so-called "ring vaccination" method. That means swiftly vaccinating anyone who has come into contact with an Ebola sufferer and contacts of theirs. More than 1,000 people were under observation. Liberia, which has declared the outbreak over three times, closed its border with Guinea after its neighbour announced its fresh cases. Liberia announced a new Ebola case, a 30-year-old woman who died en route to the hospital, on Friday. It was not immediately clear whether she had traveled to Guinea. (Reporting by Saliou Samb; Writing by Makini Brice; Editing by Larry King)
Business Secretary Sajid Javid has held talks with a potential buyer for the Port Talbot steelworks, as he now heads to India for a crucial meeting with the plant's current owner.

Some 40,000 jobs linked to the UK steel industry are at risk if Tata pulls out of Britain.

First Minister of Wales Carwyn Jones was also at a summit at Downing Street earlier, where he met the Prime Minister and Chancellor.

Mr Jones said the Government had had discussions with more than one potential buyer, adding: "They're early days yet, but we do have something to build on, even at this early stage."

Mr Jones said "nothing was off the table" at the talks - raising the prospect of the Government stepping in with public money to keep the industry afloat.

:: Ian King Analysis: Tata Steelworkers' Pensions At Risk In Sale

Mr Jones said: "I wouldn't use the word nationalisation.

"What I am advocating is that if the UK Government needs to take over Tata's assets in the short term to enable the sale process to take place, then that's something the UK Government should consider."

Asked how the PM responded to his request, the first minister said: "Certainly nothing was off the table and that was encouraging."

David Cameron, speaking later in Birmingham, said the Government was "determined to help in every way we can".

Mr Jones also said the PM "recognised the need" for tariffs against cheap Chinese steel imports to be increased, and that the need to safeguard Tata employees' pensions was also acknowledged.

The business secretary embarked on a series of crucial meetings after the summit at No.10.

Sajid Javid met Liberty House owner Sanjeev Gupta, who is considering a rescue plan for Port Talbot - and possibly other Tata plants in the UK.

Mr Gupta later described the talks as "positive".

"The next step is for Tata to define the formal sales process and request indications of interest from potential buyers," he said.

"We await further details on this and then will assess our own next step.

Story continues

"Liberty has already proven its ability to build value from UK steel assets with our acquisition of our Newport Steel plant, Midlands engineering operations and most recently in Scotland where we acquired mills from Tata.

"Everyone is very motivated to find a solution."

The business secretary then met bosses from the Community, Unite and GMB unions, before heading to Mumbai for the crucial summit with Tata chairman Cyrus Mistry.

Unions are calling on the Government to stop any new owner "cherry picking" assets and closing parts of the Port Talbot plant.

Roy Rickhuss, head of the steelworkers' union Community, told Sky News he wanted assurances that Tata would be a "responsible seller and sell all of the industry".
Business Secretary Sajid Javid has held talks with a potential buyer for the Port Talbot steelworks, as he now heads to India for a crucial meeting with the plant's current owner.

Some 40,000 jobs linked to the UK steel industry are at risk if Tata pulls out of Britain.

First Minister of Wales Carwyn Jones was also at a summit at Downing Street earlier, where he met the Prime Minister and Chancellor.

Mr Jones said the Government had had discussions with more than one potential buyer, adding: "They're early days yet, but we do have something to build on, even at this early stage."

Mr Jones said "nothing was off the table" at the talks - raising the prospect of the Government stepping in with public money to keep the industry afloat.

:: Ian King Analysis: Tata Steelworkers' Pensions At Risk In Sale

Mr Jones said: "I wouldn't use the word nationalisation.

"What I am advocating is that if the UK Government needs to take over Tata's assets in the short term to enable the sale process to take place, then that's something the UK Government should consider."

Asked how the PM responded to his request, the first minister said: "Certainly nothing was off the table and that was encouraging."

David Cameron, speaking later in Birmingham, said the Government was "determined to help in every way we can".

Mr Jones also said the PM "recognised the need" for tariffs against cheap Chinese steel imports to be increased, and that the need to safeguard Tata employees' pensions was also acknowledged.

The business secretary embarked on a series of crucial meetings after the summit at No.10.

Sajid Javid met Liberty House owner Sanjeev Gupta, who is considering a rescue plan for Port Talbot - and possibly other Tata plants in the UK.

Mr Gupta later described the talks as "positive".

"The next step is for Tata to define the formal sales process and request indications of interest from potential buyers," he said.

Story continues

"We await further details on this and then will assess our own next step.

"Liberty has already proven its ability to build value from UK steel assets with our acquisition of our Newport Steel plant, Midlands engineering operations and most recently in Scotland where we acquired mills from Tata.

"Everyone is very motivated to find a solution."

The business secretary then met bosses from the Community, Unite and GMB unions, before heading to Mumbai for the crucial summit with Tata chairman Cyrus Mistry.

Unions are calling on the Government to stop any new owner "cherry picking" assets and closing parts of the Port Talbot plant.

Roy Rickhuss, head of the steelworkers' union Community, told Sky News he wanted assurances that Tata would be a "responsible seller and sell all of the industry".
Nearly half of the candidates in the April 19 provincial election don't live within the boundaries of the constituencies where they're running.

CBC News analyzed the declared home addresses of nearly all of the 223 official candidates and compared those locations to the boundaries of each of the 57 constituencies in Manitoba.

Of the addresses that could be precisely pinpointed on a map, the homes of 47 per cent of candidates (93 of 199) were outside the constituencies in which they are running.

Manitoba's Election Act requires the chief electoral officer to publish the name, residential address, political affiliation and official agent for each candidate. However, under Section 59(2), candidates may request that their home address not be disclosed for personal security reasons.

In total, the addresses of five candidates  including that of Liberal Party Leader Rana Bokhari  were not made public by the chief electoral officer.

Elections Manitoba spokesperson Alison Mitchell confirmed in an email that the agency has "received several requests from candidates not to publish their addresses."

Manitoba Liberal Party spokesperson Mike Brown said in an email that Bokhari`s home address was unpublished for safety reasons.

NDP has highest proportion of outsider candidates

In total, 19 rural candidate addresses could not be accurately mapped due to rural area address conventions. Excluding these, the analysis shows that close to 63 per cent of NDP candidates declared a home address located outside the constituencies in which they are running.

In contrast, the Manitoba Liberal Party has 44 per cent non-resident candidates, while the Progressive Conservatives have only 26 per cent. The Green Party of Manitoba and the Manitoba Party stand at 32 per cent and 36 per cent, respectively.

Asked for comment, NDP spokesperson Andrew Tod pointed out that "unlike the Manitoba Liberal Party, we are running a full slate of 57 candidates."

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"[Our candidates] come from all walks of life, and our team looks like Manitoba. Our team includes 24 women, nine people of colour, and seven indigenous candidates," said Tod.

Fort Whyte home to more candidates

Although there are only five candidates running in Fort Whyte  including the incumbent, PC Leader Brian Pallister, who himself lives in another constituency  there are 10 candidates who call this electoral division home.

In contrast, Keewatinook  Manitoba's most northern electoral district  is without a single local candidate. The Liberal candidate, Judy Klassen, lives in Steinbach, while Edna Nabess (PC) and Eric Robinson (NDP) both live in Winnipeg.

Living cities away

The addresses published by Elections Manitoba show notable cases in which candidates live hours away from the voters they are attempting to woo.

Among the examples:

- The PC candidate for Point Douglas, Marsha Street, lives in Brandon.

- Liberal candidate Inez Vystrcil-Spence is running in Thompson but lives in Lorette.

- Brandon West Liberal candidate Billy Moore resides in Portage la Prairie.

See if the candidates for your constituency live within its boundaries:

Notes on methodology and analysis:

- In order to establish constituency of residence, candidate home addresses were mapped and analyzed against the official digital constituency files provided by Elections Manitoba.

- Twenty-four of the 223 candidates could not be mapped either because their addresses were withheld or because the rural address format could not be geocoded.

Analysis and calculations performed by Jacques Marcoux, CBC News.
MANAMA, April 3 (Reuters) - Formula One stakeholders failed to agree a fix for the sport's failed new qualifying format at the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday and agreed to talk again next Thursday to try and reach a deal. "No decision has been made, we haven't reached the conclusions on how we want to continue yet," said Mercedes motorsport head Toto Wolff after an hour and a half long meeting at the Sakhir circuit. Team bosses said various new formats were discussed, as well as staying with the current one, but there would be no going back to 2015 qualifying because both the governing FIA and commercial rights holder Bernie Ecclestone were opposed. "It's not on the table," Wolff said of going back to the 2015 format. (Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Toby Davis)
New rules cracking down on tax inversions would seem to make a proposed merger of one of the two largest pharmaceutical companies in the world unlikely.

The U.S. Treasury Department unveiled a new slate of rules Monday aimed at making tax inversions  complex merger structures whereby U.S. companies move their headquarters overseas to jurisdictions with more lax tax policies  less worth the effort.

Pfizer Inc. is in the midst of one such deal, a massive $160-billion tie-up that would see the company merge with Ireland-based drug company Allergan and move its headquarters and much of its taxation authority to that country, which has a more favourable corporate tax regime.

- FROM 2014: Obama slams tax inversions

Details so far are sparse, but essentially the rules seek to limit internal corporate borrowing that moves profits out of the reach of Uncle Sam. A major part of the rules will involve more scrutiny to ensure that the deals are close to being true mergers and not simply takeovers, where large U.S. companies swallow much smaller ones in foreign locales with lower taxes.



U.S. President Barack Obama welcomed the new rules when he spoke from the White House on Tuesday.

"When companies exploit loopholes like this, it makes it harder to pay the bills for the things that are going to keep America's economy going strong for future generations," Obama said. "It sticks the rest of us with the tab."

Calling them "insidious," Obama added tax inversions hurt the middle class because the lost revenue "has to be made up somewhere."

But the regulations also would not make the practice illegal, something Obama has advocated for some time. Only Congress can outlaw the practice. Obama called on its Republican leaders to "end this kind of irresponsible behavior" by enacting comprehensive tax reform.

"Only Congress can close it for good," he said, referring to the inversions loophole.

The two companies say they are currently reviewing the new rules, which can be put into place without congressional approval since they are largely regulatory in nature.

"The Obama administration isn't just sending a message to Pfizer, it's sending a message to all U.S. companies contemplating inversions, and that message is 'Don't," said analyst Steve Brozak, president of WBB Securities LLC.
Royal Bank of Canada said Monday it has "high standards" to ensure none of the foreign corporations it helps set up for its clients are being used to evade taxes in Canada or anywhere else.

The bank is one of thousands named in a massive data dump known as the Panama Papers, which appear to outline how Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca has helped countless international power brokers set up foreign corporations.

The full scale of the data has yet to be revealed. But CBC News can confirm that the documents show Canada's biggest lender used Mossack Fonseca's services to set up at least 370 such entities for its clients over the years.

There's nothing illegal about foreign incorporations, something a bank spokesman was quick to note in a request for comment from CBC News on Monday.

"There are a number of legitimate reasons to set up a holding company," Tanis Feasby said. "If we have reason to believe a client is seeking to commit a criminal [offence] by evading taxes, we would report the offence and not do business with the client."

"We have an extensive due diligence process to ensure we understand who the client is and what their intentions are, and will not proceed with a transaction until we do."

"RBC works within the legal and regulatory framework of every country in which we operate," Feasby continued. "Tax evasion is illegal, and we have established controls, policies and procedures in place to detect it and prevent it occurring through RBC. We have high standards, and our internal policies build on the regulatory requirements in each jurisdiction."

"We make sure our clients have the information they need to properly file their taxes and we advise them of their obligation to do so. We also advise them to seek independent professional tax advice."

Legitimate uses

There's nothing illegal about such structures, nor should society want to make them so, says Allison Christians, a law professor and the Stikeman chair in tax law at McGill University in Montreal.

Story continues

"We wouldn't want to have laws like that," she said in an interview with CBC's The Exchange on Monday. "You want to be able to have international businesses and be a part of the global community."

The sheer size of the data dump  at 2.6 terabytes of data, the Panama Papers are exponentially larger than WikiLeaks' massive release of diplomatic cables in 2010  is "striking," Christians acknowledges, considering they come from just one law firm. But, she says, they point to "something that looks like it has global proportions."

Christians draws a firm line between tax avoidance and tax evasion, with the former being a valid practice but the latter in need of stamping out. The distinction between the two is admittedly hard to decipher and, as she says, "if it was easy to solve we would have solved it."

It remains to be seen if any of the documents will produce a paper trail to any illicit activity, but "if that's the case, there's a lot of parties involved in perpetuating this fraud on the public."
Home Secretary Theresa May has urged police to investigate claims child survivors of the Nepal Earthquake are being sold to British families.

Slave traders are selling youngsters made homeless in last year's tragedy to UK Asian families as unpaid domestic servants, according to an investigation by The Sun.

The newspaper's undercover team said they were offered orphans and destitute children by gangs in Punjab for 5,250.

Slave trader Makkhan Singh lined up youngsters for the reporters to pick from, and said: "We have supplied lads who have gone on to the UK. Most of the ones who are taken to England are Nepalese.

"For the supply of a boy, minimum 500,000 rupees (around 5,250). Then you will have other costs associated with taking him to the UK, but that's your responsibility extra to what you pay us.

"Take a Nepalese to England. They are good people. They are good at doing all the housework and they're very good cooks. No-one is going to come after you."

Mrs May said the findings were "disturbing" and urged police and the National Crime Agency (NCA) to investigate.

"Child trafficking is a truly abhorrent crime," she said. "No child, anywhere in the world, should be taken away from their home and forced to work in slavery."

An NCA spokesman told Sky News: "The NCA works with partners in the UK and internationally to identify and pursue criminals and to safeguard both child and adult victims.

"The hidden nature of human trafficking means that it often goes unreported. Anyone who suspects it should report their concerns to law enforcement."

Thousands of girls are trafficked from Nepal each year.

The Sun's probe into the slave trade began in Jalandhar, an Indian city close to the Nepalese border.

A reporter posed as a wealthy Sikh living in Britain with a sick wife and elderly mother looking for a housemaid or houseboy to cook, clean and care for them.

Story continues

Unaware he was being secretly filmed, Singh said: "Brother, I can supply the boy. But as to taking him into the UK and all the documents that you will need, that's your responsibility. That's got nothing to do with us."

He added: "Once we've done the deal with you, we hand them over to you and you take them to your place, and that's it. No-one is going to come after you.

"Minimum three or four years you've got to keep them here. Train them, make them work for you here. Get them into a routine. Then you can start getting documents for them.

"If you want my advice, take a 12 or 13-year-old. Keep him in your house here, train him, then by the time you're taking him over to the UK  he will be moulded into your ways."

The 7.8-magnitude quake that struck Nepal killed almost 9,000 people and left millions in need of aid.
By Lisa Barrington BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian and allied forces backed by Russian air strikes drove Islamic State militants out of the town of al-Qaryatain on Sunday after encircling it over the past few days, Syria's military command said. Surrounded by hills, al-Qaryatain is 100 km (60 miles) west of the ancient city of Palmyra, which government forces recaptured from Islamic State last Sunday. Al-Qaryatain had been held by the militant group since late August. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has been trying to retake al-Qaryatain and other pockets of Islamic State control to reduce the jihadist group's ability to project military power into the heavily populated western region of Syria, where Damascus and other main cities are located. Syrian state television said the army and its allies "fully restored security and stability to al-Qaryatain after killing the last remaining groups of Daesh terrorists" in the town, using the Arabic acronym for Islamic State. In a statement read out on Syrian television, the military command said this was a strategic victory which secures oil and gas routes between the Damascus area and oilfields in eastern Syria. It also disrupts Islamic State supply routes within Syria. Government forces entered the town from a number of directions, Syrian media said. A Syrian military source told SANA state news agency the army had cleared areas northwest of the town of explosives planted by Islamic State. Islamic State militants retreating from Palmyra laid thousands of mines which the Syrian army is now clearing before civilians can return. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said government forces had taken over half the town and that fierce fighting continued between Assad's troops and Islamic State to the north and southeast of al-Qaryatain. The Britain-based Observatory, which monitors the five-year-old Syrian conflict through a network of sources on the ground, said more than 40 air strikes by Russian and Syrian planes hit areas near the town on Sunday. When Islamic State took over al-Qaryatain last August it demolished a Christian monastery and took around 200 of the town's residents prisoner, transferring some of them to the Syrian city of Raqqa, the group's de facto capital. Islamic State still has complete control over Raqqa and runs most of Deir al-Zor province in eastern Syria, which borders Iraq. A fragile "cessation of hostilities" truce has held in Syria for over a month as the various parties to the conflict try to negotiate an end to Syria's civil war. But the truce excludes Islamic State and the al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front. Air and land attacks by Syrian and allied forces continue in parts of Syria where the government says the groups are present. Fierce fighting that broke out over the weekend continues south of Aleppo near the main highway linking that city with the capital, Damascus. It began when rebels and Nusra Front mounted an offensive against government forces. (Additional reporting by Suleiman al-Khalidi; Editing by Dale Hudson and David Evans)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration does not plan to give Iran access to the U.S. financial system, a State Department spokesman said on Monday. "The administration has not been and is not planning to grant Iran access to the U.S. financial system," State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters at a briefing. On Friday, President Barack Obama said the United States was not looking to permit the use of its financial system for dollar-denominated transactions with Iran, and said foreign companies could work through European banks. (Reporting by Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Leslie Adler)
Workers from Port Talbot steelworks, backed by union leaders and politicians, are aiming to turn up the heat on the Government in their battle to save their jobs and their community.

Many of them are to travel from South Wales to London today for a meeting of 100 steelworkers from all over the UK at TUC headquarters, called by their union, Community, to plan the next stage of the Save Our Steel campaign.

The meeting comes after Sajid Javid, the Business Secretary, signalled that the Government may be willing to provide a buyer for Port Talbot with financial help on pensions and power bills but not pour taxpayers' money into the loss-making blast furnace at the plant.

It also coincides with a potential buyer for Port Talbot, steel tycoon Sanjeev Gupta, founder of commodities firm Liberty House, travelling to the UK for talks with Government officials and Tata executives.

Speaking ahead of the union meeting at the TUC, Community's general secretary Roy Rickhuss said: "This meeting will be a key moment in our campaign.

"By now, no one underestimates the scale of the challenge we face. We have an entire industry to save and not a lot of time to save it.

"We must also ensure that we hold Tata to a commitment to be a responsible seller and honour its moral and social duties to UK steel communities."

Welcoming the talks, Port Talbot steelworker Tony Price told Sky News: "I think the best thing is that the general secretary is pulling us all together so we're all singing off the same hymn page.

"There will probably be some frank talking going on, but we'll come out of there united and where we go next as far as putting pressure on the Government or any action that's needed."

His colleague Gary Keogh added: "We are open to anything for the survival of our industry. And that's why, to tie in with a responsible sale at Tata, we want to be in the debates, to be in the discussions, so we can talk about moving forward together."

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In Cardiff, the Welsh Assembly has been recalled and the Welsh government's economy minister, Edwina Hart, will chair a meeting of a Steel Task Force with industry leaders, unions, local authorities and other public sector bodies.

Mr Gupta told Sky News last week: "What I am looking for, what I am waiting for is some direction on where the Government is headed with this.

"As I have expressed previously, and to them as well, we believe that the rolling mill and the downstream businesses can be turned around and they can be made profitable, similar to what we have done in Newport, the Midlands and now in Scotland."

Last week Liberty House agreed to buy two Lanarkshire mills from Tata, with help from the Scottish government.

But Mr Gupta is reluctant to take on Port Talbot's loss-making blast furnace, which alarms the steel union.

"We wouldn't discount any opportunity or any sort of plan going forward," said Alan Coombs of the Community union.

"But if that is the case, I would like people to come in and have a look at what the furnaces are capable of and what they can do, because they are the most productive in Europe.

"Without having the full detail people are making statements without having the full knowledge so I would welcome them to come and have a look."
By Joseph Nasr BERLIN (Reuters) - Arabic-language guide Razan Nassreddine says Syrian refugees visiting Berlin's Museum of Islamic Art often ask her how and when the artifacts clearly marked as stemming from their war-torn country ended up in the German capital. Others jokingly wonder if the shrapnel holes on centuries-old palatial facades and gates brought from the Middle East were caused by fighting between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the rebels seeking to unseat him. More than 1,600 refugees from Syria and Iraq have visited the museum since November, when it launched the Multaka (or "meeting point" in Arabic) project, which trains refugees from those countries to become Arabic tour guides for their peers. "What we see here is evidence that our region, the Levant, was always a place where different religions and cultures co-existed," said 35-year-old Syrian visitor Zafer El-Sheikha, standing outside The Aleppo Room, where 400-year-old ornamental paintings depict Jewish, Christian and Islamic themes. "When I look at what is happening there now, it makes me sad," added El-Sheikha, who came to Germany with his wife six months ago from a town near Damascus. At the Mshatta Facade, which was excavated in Jordan in the 19th century and presented as a gift from the Ottoman sultan to the German emperor in 1903, Nassreddine explains to a group of Syrian refugees who attend the same German language class that the shrapnel holes were caused by a bomb during World War Two. "It makes me happy that Syrians from all walks of life, old, young, religious, secular, opposition, regime supporters come here and are happy to see something from Syria," said Nassreddine. She is also Syrian though came to Germany in 2012 from Spain, where she had been a student. Museum director Stefan Weber, who speaks perfect Arabic, said refugees often said after visits that the impressive collection makes them "hold our heads high". "One of the goals of the project is to tell people who lost their homes that there is still something to be proud of and this has worked out well," he said. (Reporting by Joseph Nasr; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
Wales' economy minister has warned against "cherry picking" in the sale of Tata Steel (BSE: TATASTEEL.BO - news) 's UK operations.

Edwina Hart said she would be against "taking plants out of the equation" in any deal and stressed the need to find a solution for "the long-term interests of steel manufacturing in the UK".

She (Munich: SOQ.MU - news) was speaking as the Government confirmed it was in contact with at least one potential buyer for the business.

:: Unions Push Ministers For Steel Rescue Plan

Liberty House last week agreed to buy two Lanarkshire mills from Tata, with help from the Scottish government.

However, there is doubt it will want to buy the entire business, including the giant plant at Port Talbot in South Wales, which is crucial to the local economy.

Speaking after chairing a meeting of a steel task force in Cardiff, Ms Hart said: "I think it is quite clear to say that we are concerned to ensure that we don't fragment the steel industry across the UK.

"We need a viable industry that requires investment and we wouldn't want people cherry picking and taking plants out of the equation.

"So it's Important to recognise that we want to look for a potential solution for the long-term interests of steel manufacturing in the UK.

"Both governments have agreed on that."

Len McCluskey, the leader of Britain's biggest union Unite, told Sky News: "You need a complete steel industry if you are going to be a viable manufacturing base.

"For us to allow part of it to vanish, we would never get it back again and our future generations would suffer as a result of that.

"It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) 's absolutely vital that the Government come in and give a strong lead and I believe we can save the whole of the industry."

With (Other OTC: WWTH - news) tens of thousands of jobs hanging in the balance, steelworkers face an anxious wait over any rescue deal.

Representatives from every plant in the country have been meeting in London to discuss how to tackle the crisis facing the industry.

Story continues

Business Secretary Sajid Javid, who is to meet Tata's chief finance officer, has indicated the Government could cut the cost of energy for steelworks and cover workers' pensions to pave the way for a deal.

However, the Government was reluctant to give further details over any potential support that may be offered.

Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns said: "Any of these issues of course are going to be commercially confidential.

"We can't share how much money could be on the table, because that becomes the starting point for any debate or negotiation thereafter.

"We want to do whatever we can to secure that longer-term interest for the immediate community as well as the strategic interests of the UK."

He confirmed talks had taken place with Liberty House, but added: "Of course, nothing concrete can be confirmed until the sales offer document has been published by Tata.

"It has to be a relationship between Tata and a potential buyer in the first instance.

"But the UK Government and the Welsh government stand ready and waiting to secure that long-term future we want to see."

Mr Cairns added: "But of course they are just one potential party.

"You would expect the UK Government to have been engaged with other potential investors."

Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones said: "I have one simple message for the people of Wales and the UK Government.

"These plants cannot close. Welsh steel - British steel - cannot be allowed to die.

"These plants are vital to the future of the United Kingdoms interests (Other OTC: UBGXF - news) ."
About 115 Yukoners resisted the warm, sunny weather this Saturday, and spent their day inside the Yukon Transportation Museum at an NDP event to talk about seniors' health care needs, climate change, green energy and sustainable economies.

The title of the NDP blue sky session pretty much says it all: 'Change 2016' is a reference to this year's territorial election, and to the NDP's aspirations when Yukoners cast their ballots. The territorial government's five-year mandate is running out this fall.

The event featured two keynote speakers, including seniors activist Susan Eng, who told the crowd that "voters have great currency of exchange" in an election year. She urged the audience to press politicians on issues such as seniors' care.

The NDP has spearheaded resistance to the large extended care facility the Yukon Party government is building in Whitehorse's Whistle Bend subdivision, saying the government made decisions about the 300-bed facility without consulting with seniors, the medical community or the public.

Ross Findlater, 77, says he was inspired by Eng's talk. He agrees with her observation that too much emphasis is placed on "fitting people into programs."

"I believe the most effective way of doing it, is fitting the program to people and putting the focus on the individual," Findlater said. "All the decision-making should focus around that person, not the needs of the system."

Fracking 'antiquated, archaic'

Internationally acclaimed American environmentalist Bill McKibben, co-founder of 350.org  a website focussed on climate change  also spoke at the event. He told an appreciative audience that "fossil fuels should be kept in the ground."

"To go ahead with fracking in 2016 is like deciding to build a horse and buggy factory in 1916," McKibben said. "This technology is suddenly under great question, certainly in the United States, where it was pioneered.

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"It's an antiquated, archaic, crude technology when clearly the future lies in elegant and simple and ever-cheaper renewable energy,"

McKibben said Yukon, with its small population of under 38,000, could easily become a leader in renewable energy solutions. He said the territory is "fortunate" that no fossil fuel industry has developed here.

His message played well with the crowd, many of whom said their decision at the ballot box will be informed by platforms on the fossil fuel industry and stances on climate change.

"I don't want the oil and gas guys to be blowing up the Yukon," said Whitehorse resident Frank Bachmier.

"I hope we take some of [McKibben's] advice. I hope we're able to come up with some concrete ways to slow things down," Bachmier said.

That thought was echoed by 27-year-old Julia Wilson. She said she was left feeling "hopeful" after hearing McKibben, noting that Yukon is "a small enough place that you can make a difference."

Wilson said platforms on climate change and green energy will also motivate her choice at the polls this year.

The event also featured panels on sustainable economies and green energy, as well as smaller sessions on political communication and digital campaigns.
This information is such that Inwido AB (publ) is obliged to publish in accordance with the Swedish Securities Market Act and/or Financial Instruments Trading Act. The information was submitted for publication on Tuesday, 5 April 2016, at 8:30 a.m. The shareholders of Inwido AB (publ) are hereby invited to attend the Annual General Meeting (AGM) to be held on Tuesday 10 May 2016 at 4.00 p.m. CET, at Malmo Borshus, Skeppsbron 2 in Malmo, Sweden. Registration of attendance commences at 3.00 p.m. and refreshments will be served. The notice is available at www.inwido.com where shareholders also can notify the company of their intention to attend the AGM. Complete documentation for the AGM will be available at Inwidos head office and on www.inwido.com from 19 April 2016, at the latest. Right to attend Shareholders who wish to attend the AGM must:  be recorded in the share register for the company maintained by Euroclear Sweden AB, as of Tuesday May 3, 2016, and  notify the company of their intention to attend the AGM by Tuesday May 3, 2016 at the latest, preferably before 4.00 p.m. CET. In order to participate in the AGM, shareholders with nominee-registered shares should request their bank or broker to have the shares temporarily owner -registered with Euroclear Sweden AB by Tuesday 3 May 2016. Shareholders therefore are requested to notify their bank or broker in due time before the said date. Notice of attendance Notice of attendance at the AGM shall be made through the website www.inwido.com, in writing to Inwido AB (publ), Engelbrektsgatan 15, 211 33 Malmo, Sweden or by email to ir@inwido.com. The notice of attendance shall state name, personal (or corporate) identity number, shareholding, telephone number and name of proxy and/or advisor, if any. Shareholders represented by proxy should submit a power of attorney to the company before the AGM. A proxy form is available at the company and on the companys website, www.inwido.com. Representatives of a legal entity shall present a copy of the certificate of registration or similar document of authorization. Proposal for agenda 1. Opening of the meeting 2. Election of chairman of the meeting 3. Preparation and approval of the voting list 4. Approval of the agenda 5. Election of one or two persons to approve the minutes 6. Determination of compliance with the rules of convocation 7. Presentation of (a) the annual report, auditors report, group annual report and group auditors report (b) the Boards proposal for dividend and reasoned statement thereon, and (c) the statement by the auditor on the compliance of the applicable guidelines for remuneration to senior executives 8. Report on the work of the Board of Directors and the Committees 9. The Managing Directors report 10. Resolutions regarding (a) adoption of the income statement and the balance sheet as well as the consolidated income statement and the consolidated balance sheet (b) appropriation of the companys profit in accordance with the adopted balance sheet and record date for dividend, and (c) discharge from liability in relation to the company for the Board members and the CEO 11. Establishment of the number of Board members and the number of auditors and auditor deputies 12. Establishment of fees to the Board members and the auditors 13. Election of the Board of Directors, auditors and, if any, auditor deputies 14. Resolution regarding guidelines for remuneration to senior executives 15. Resolution regarding the Board of Directors proposal for a long-term incentive program including (A) new issue of convertibles, (B) new issue of subscription warrants and (C) transfer of subscription warrants 16. Closing of the meeting The AGM notice, including all proposals for the AGM, is available on Inwido's website, www.inwido.com, and is appended to this press release. For more information, please contact: Inwido AB Peter Welin, CFO Phone: 46(0)70-324 3190 or 46(0)10-451 45 52 E-mail: peter.welin@inwido.com About Inwido Inwido is Europes largest supplier of windows and doors. The company has operations in Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Austria, Estionia, Ireland, Lithuania, Poland and the UK, as well as exports to a large number of other countries. The Group markets some 20 strong local brands including Elitfonster, SnickarPer, Hajom, Hemmafonster, Outline, Tiivi, Pihla, Diplomat and Sokolka. Inwido has approximately 3,400 employees and generated sales of slightly more than SEK 5.2 billion in 2015. The Group's headquarters are located in Malmo, Sweden. For further information, please visit www.inwido.com
Lipetsk confectionary factory of Roshen Corporation could be sold in coming months, Makar Paseniuk, managing director of ICU investment company advising on the sale of Roshen, has said in comments for the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP).

Paseniuks response on behalf of the president mentioned difficulties with the sale of Roshen corporation, citing investors caution amid "the volatile geopolitical and economic environment." Foreign capital inflow to Ukraine decreased from $10 billion in 2007 to $800 million in 2015.

Financial advisor offered various options to accelerate the sale of the company, including the sale of Russian and Ukrainian assets separately.

The client decided to transfer his stake in the corporation to a blind trust.

"This does not mean that the sale of Roshen has stopped There is a progress in the talks on the sale of Roshen assets in Russia. The deal could be finalized in the coming months. Unfortunately, there are many unforeseen future events," Paseniuk said.

Poroshenko in January 2016 stated he signed a contract, according to which he transferred his stake in Roshen Corporation to an independent "blind" trust."

Roshen Corporation includes confectionery factories in Kyiv, Kremenchuk and Vinnytsia, and the dairy producer Bershadmoloko. It also runs confectionary facilities in Klaipeda (Lithuania), Lipetsk ( Russia), and Bonbonetti Choco (Hungary).
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Ukraine and India seek to expand defense cooperation.

The press service of the Ukroboronprom State Concern reported last week that during the negotiations with Indian top defense sector managers held at the Defexp India 2016 Land, Naval & Internal Homeland Security Systems Exhibition (March 38 through March 31) in South Goa, India. Mutual interest was expressed in developing cooperation with India on upgrading the military and transport aviation of Indian Armed Forces and development of Indian Naval.

Indian partners are also interested in joint implementing projects in the production of radars and naval inspection systems, modernization of armored vehicles, air defense systems and aircraft weapons, the press service said.

The Ukrainian delegation at the exhibition held talks on cooperation with over 30 Indian defense companies, including Reliance Defence Ltd, Tata Power Company Ltd, Punj Lloyd and Larsen Turbo. A total of 15 memorandums of cooperation have been signed.

Defexp India 2016 is the largest weapon exhibition in South Asia.

Ukraine exhibited armored vehicles, military and transport aviation and high-accuracy weapon and aircraft weapons.
Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers has approved new regulations for Ukreximbank, as well as increasing the bank's charter capital by UAH 9.319 billion to UAH 31.009 billion.

Cabinet resolution No. 235 of March 30, 2016 has been posted on the government's website.

The bank will issue 21.209 million ordinary nominal shares with a face value of UAH 1,462.

Ukraine's government earlier decided to increase charter capital of two state-run banks Oschadbank and Ukreximbank (both based in Kyiv) by UAH 4.956 billion and UAH 9.319 billion, respectively.

Cabinet resolutions No. 31 and No. 33 dated January 27 stipulate that part of the additional issues of the banks' shares will be swapped for government domestic loan bonds.

After the issues, the state will retain 100% of shares of each bank.

The charter capital of Oschadbank will reach UAH 34.8 billion and Ukreximbank  UAH 31 billion.
Statement: NBU head has no relation to ICU business after selling stake in 2014

Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) Valeriya Gontareva has had no relation to the company's business since selling her stake in ICU Investment Group in 2014, the press service of the central bank has reported, commenting on media reports that Gontareva allegedly had managed the company jointly with a Russian banker until the sanctions against Russia were imposed in August 2014.

"The NBU head sold her shares in the company in June 2014 and since then she has no relation to the company," the NBU's press service told Interfax-Ukraine on Monday.

Earlier media reports said that one fourth of ICU until recently belonged to a wife of Deputy Head of Russia's Vneshtorgbank Yuri Soloviev and offshore companies under management of ICU obtained loans for his offshore companies.

The press service said that the ownership structure of ICU was disclosed early 2014 in the ownership structure of bank Avangard.

ICU Group was founded in June 2006. It is comprised of an investment company, an assets management company, the bank Avangard and Troika Dialog Ukraine (all based in Kyiv).
The largest agricultural holding in terms of land bank in Eurasia, Ukrlandfarming, has agreed the restructuring of the remainder of a debt on the syndicated loan issued by Deutsche Bank and Sberbank worth over $200 million, the holding has said in a press release, referring to Board Chairman and the owner of 95% of shares in the company Oleh Bakhmatiuk.

He said that the agreement includes grace interest of 2.5% per annum until June 2018 and the grace period for paying the principal of the loan.

Bakhmatiuk said that the agreement was reached by Ukrlandfarming in the difficult economic conditions when the hryvnia devaluation, the loss of assets on the occupied territories of Crimea and Donbas and the closure of the Syrian and Iraqi markets due to hostilities worsened the holding's financial and industrial figures.

"We've managed to convince creditors that even in these conditions and with positive expectations for the future development of the agricultural sector in the world, we will manage to implement all the liabilities taken in full," he said.

He said that the company reached mutual understanding with its creditors and delivered a conservative plan for financial readjustment and restoring stable growth.

Bakhmatiuk told Interfax-Ukraine that the holding hopes that the agreements with the bank would positively influence talks with with other creditors, particularly the holders of $500 million notes due in 2018.

He said that earlier agreements on rescheduling $200 million notes of Avangard subsidiary holding were achieved. The talks with export-import agencies are underway. The total sum of liabilities discussed with creditors is around $1.3 billion.

Commenting on the current production business and prospects of the holding, Bakhmatiuk said that the company has achieved stabilization and funded the sowing campaign.
The decision of the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce to ban Odesa Port-Side Plant from alienating assets would not influence its privatization, the State Property Fund of Ukraine has reported, referring to its head Ihor Bilous.

"The court decision on the plant's debt to Firtash [Dmytro Firtash, the beneficiary of the claimant Ostchem] has no relation to privatization," the press service said, citing Bilous.

The fund has studied the decision of the Arbitration Institute and has come to the conclusions that there are no threats to the privatization process.

"The court decisions relates to the order not to sell immovable assets of Odesa Port-Side Plant, which no one planned to sell. Even the debt restructuring, we actively discussed in the past months at meetings of the working group with USAID, does not imply actions with the plant's property," Bilous said.

He said that the court decision is to be approved by a Ukrainian court and it is hard to achieve in the short term  until August 31.

The Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce on March 31, 2016, banned PJSC Odesa port-side chemical plant from alienating non-current assets until August 31, 2016.

The State Property Fund intends to announce an auction on the privatization of Odesa port-side chemical plant in the second half of May and hold it in June.
Head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine Jan Tombinski has said he believes it is too early to assess the outcomes of the implementation of Free Trade Area (FTA) between Ukraine and EU.

"It was noted that seven years has been given to reach Free Trade Area [FTA]. How is it possible that: three months passed and everybody is concerned that this [FTA] hasn't been yet achieved," Tombinski said in Kyiv being asked how does he estimate an implementation of the FTA between Ukraine and EU.
Kyiv eyeing two options in Savchenko's return: exchange and transfer of sentenced person to Ukraine

The Ukrainian authorities are preparing documents for the transfer of sentenced Nadia Savchenko to Ukraine for serving her time; she may also be exchanged for 'certain Russian citizens', a source with knowledge of the situation told Interfax.

"The Ukrainian Justice Ministry is preparing documents to ask the Russian Justice Ministry for the transfer of Savchenko for serving her time in Ukraine," the source said on Tuesday morning, noting that it was just one of the options in Savchenko's return to the home country.

Another option is Savchenko's possible exchange for Russian citizens who are on trial in Kyiv on the counts of a series of felonies committed in Ukraine, the source said.

It could be Russian citizens Yevgeny Yerofeyev and Alexander Alexandrov, who are being tried in Kyiv, he said.

In his case, procedural documents will be filed via diplomatic channels, the source said.
Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov has said that former MP from the Party of Regions and businessman Yuriy Ivaniuschenko is still on the wanted list.

"The Interior Ministry would not execute the shameful decision of the "court" on removing Ivaniuschenko from the list. "Judge" Chaus [judge of Dniprovsky district court in Kyiv Mykola Chaus] and the decisions made by them again prove for me, and I hope for entire society, that the Rada must quickly vote the package of bills on the COMPLETE court reform and COMPLETE reloading of courts," Avakov wrote on his Facebook page over the weekend.

The minister explained what he meant in the phrase "will not execute": "In the building where I work in the Interior Ministry has eleven floors and many rooms Where is this dishonest paper named "the court ruling on removing Ivaniuschenko from the wanted list"? When it arrives we will let it be examined in many rooms and on many floors thoroughly. I hope then colleagues from the Prosecutor General's Office will file a counterclaim and the new decision Ivaniuschenko remains on the wanted list!"

A Ukrainian court arrested Ivaniuschenko's assets worth over CHF 70 million on his accounts in banks of Switzerland.

The Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine is investigating Ivaniuschenko. Former MP received the notice of suspicion of organizing the embezzlement and unlawful enrichment on a massive scale under Part 3, Article 27 (types of accomplices), Part 5, Article 191 (misappropriation, embezzlement or taking possession of property by abuse of office) and Part 3, Article 368 (agreeing to, promising or receiving improper advantage by an official) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

Ukrainian Interior Ministry put Ivaniuschenko on the wanted list in January 2015. It was also put on the Interpol's red notice list.
Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatseniuk has named the priorities for the development of Ukraine and promised to not respond to criticism from political opponents.

"Our aim is a membership of the EU, acquiring of the membership of NATO, welfare of the Ukrainian citizens and a healthy and educated nation," Yatseniuk said on air of the TV program 'Ten Minutes with Prime Minister' on Sunday evening.

According to him, since a place of Ukraine is in the EU and Kyiv has already signed agreements on political association and Free Trade Area (FTA), a visa-free travel is to be granted soon.

One of the foundations for independence of the state is energy independence "which we achieved." "That's why I won't admit shady agreements and returning of energy oligarchs to Ukrainian economics," he said.

Yatseniuk also said Russia as an aggressor-state should face a tough policy.

"No agreements and compromises at the expense of Ukraine; restoration of territorial integrity of Ukraine; returning of Donetsk, Luhansk and Crimea; continuation of the Russia sanctions by the moment Ukraine fully revives its territorial sovereignty," the premier said.
Vice-Admiral Serhiy Haiduk remains Commander of the Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, press secretary of the Ukrainian Navy Command captain of the first rank Oleh Chubuk said.

Chubuk denied previous media reports that the leadership of some Ukrainian Naval Forces has been changed.

"I, chief of the press centre  press secretary of the Command of the Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, first rank captain Oleh Chubuk officially state that I have never reported to any media (and moreover confirmed information) about the so-called 'resignation-appointment' of 'the old-new' commander. The resignation and appointment of leaders of the Armed Forces is been done under the president's order. As of April 2, 3 there was no a respective decree on the president's online office," reads Chubuk's statement released on the page of Navy Command on Facebook on Monday.

Previously the Odesa-based Dumskaya publication said Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko had dismissed Serhiy Haiduk from the post of commander of the Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and appointed the former deputy commander for coastal defense, ATO member general lieutenant, Ihor Voronchenko in his place.
State Fiscal Service of Ukraine will verify the information about the establishment by President of Ukraine in 2014 of the company on British Virgin Islands, State Fiscal Service Head Roman Nasirov.

"Yesterday I instructed the department of individuals to verify the info [about offshore companies]," he said at a press conference in Kyiv on Tuesday.

As reported, Poroshenko after inauguration as president of Ukraine stated about his intention to sell all assets and for this purpose he hired Rothschild  ICU investment companies. However, due to no potential buyers on January 14, 2016 he said he signed contract, according to which he transferred his stake in Roshen Corporation to an independent "blind" trust."

According to an investigation by Ukrainian journalist Anna Babinets as part of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), which was made public on the Hromadske TV channel, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko did not mention in his declaration of income, expenses and financial obligations for 2014 that he had established a company in the British Virgin Islands.

When asked why this company was not included into Poroshenko's income declaration, Makar Paseniuk, managing director of ICU investment company and authorized by the Ukrainian presidential administration to communicate with media in the matters related to Poroshenko's business affairs, said the shares of the Prime Asset Partners Limited have no par value. In accordance with the requirements for the declaration of incomes and property as of 2014, only the shares which had some nominal value needed to be included in the declaration, he added.

However, the documents obtained by OCCRP show that starting from the registration date of August 21, 2014, Prime Asset Partners Ltd.'s shares had a total value of $1,000 and Poroshenko was listed as the sole shareholder. However, in his declaration for 2014, the president left a blank space in the section 'contributions to the charter capital of the company, including those abroad.'

Meanwhile, Paseniuk said that there was more than one offshore company.

"Prime Asset Partners Limited was founded in the summer of 2014 in the course of corporate restructuring, which was a preparatory stage for the further sale of the Roshen Group. After its establishment, the company has not carried out any activities other than those mentioned below. In the fall of 2014, Prime Asset Partners Limited established CEE Confectionery Investments Limited in Cyprus, which in turn founded the Roshen Europe BV company in the Netherlands," the report says.

Poroshenko's legal advisers justify the creation of such a group of companies by the president. They say this was done "in keeping with the market practice in Ukraine for the companies which are to be sold to strategic investors."

Creating companies in a foreign jurisdiction was the only possible way to pass the assets of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to a reputable international trust structure for management, the Avellum law firm, a legal advisor to Poroshenko, has stated.

"Companies in foreign jurisdictions are necessary and used for transfer to blind trust. These companies did not open bank accounts and they did not make any financial transactions. Therefore any allegations of tax evasion are groundless," reads a press release from Avellum, issued on the request of the client in connection with the journalistic investigation made public on April 3.

The law firm specified Poroshenko authorized it to prepare his stake in Roshen confectionery corporation for the sale of business, and in future for transfer to a blind trust.

"Relevant agreements were signed, which authorize us, ICU investment group and foreign legal advisers we attracted in future to carry out all actions necessary for the transfer of the asset to the blind trust in full accordance with Ukrainian law and the laws of other countries," read the statement.

According to editor for the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Program Drew Sullivan, the information about Poroshenko's offshore companies are part of the Panama Papers, which are the documents obtained from a Panama-based offshore services provider.

Roshen Corporation includes confectionery factories in Kyiv, Kremenchuk and Vinnytsia, and the dairy producer Bershadmoloko. It also runs confectionary facilities in Klaipeda (Lithuania), Lipetsk ( Russia), and Bonbonetti Choco (Hungary).
Convicted on the charge of involvement in the killing of Russian journalists, Ukrainian pilot Nadia Savchenko has handed over a written statement in which she confirmed that she will begin a dry hunger strike on April 6, her lawyer Nikolai Polozov said on his Facebook page.

"I announce an indefinite dry hunger strike beginning from April 6, 2016. I forbid [them] from convoying me anywhere expect for Ukraine. I demand [they] convoy me only in the presence of representatives of the Ukrainian side, Ukrainian consuls in Rostov or my lawyers," Polozov said in a statement on Facebook.

Additionally, the Ukrainian pilot wrote in her statement that she bans Russian doctors from examining her and trying to make her stop a dry hunger strike by force.

"I forbid [them] from making me stop a dry hunger strike by force and transferring me anywhere from a ward, except for the return to Ukraine! I will view any use of physical force or moral and psychological pressure against me as torture and will resist it," Savchenko wrote.

On Tuesday, the verdict against Ukrainian pilot Savchenko, who was sentenced to 22 years in prison in Russia for the assassination of Russian journalists, took legal effect.
The government of the Netherlands will decide the fate of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union by April 12, Ukrainian Ambassador-at-Large Dmytro Kuleba has said.

"Between April 6 and 12, we will learn the fate of the association agreement in the Netherlands," Kuleba told reporters on Tuesday.

According to him, despite the fact that the vote will take place on April 6, its final results will be announced on April 12, after the examination of all complaints and appeals.

Earlier on Tuesday, April 5, Head of the European Union Delegation in Ukraine Jan Tombinski said that he expected a report from the Dutch parliament concerning the results of the referendum on Thursday, April 7.

As reported, the Dutch parliament has completed the ratification of the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement in July last year. The Netherlands will hold an advisory referendum on the agreement on April 6.
Relations between Ukraine and the European Union should not be linked to the information on offshore companies, which media say belong to various officials around the world, head of the EU delegation to Ukraine Jan Tombinski has said in Kyiv.

The so-called "Panama Papers" are a global problem rather than the Ukrainian one, Tombinski said, noting that he would not attribute that much to Ukraine, and Ukraine-related decisions.

He also stressed that the situation should not be linked to Ukraine-EU relations.

Tombinski said the "Panama Papers" list various politicians, businessmen, sportsmen, and public actors from many countries in the world. In this respect the EU diplomat said that focusing only on Ukraine-should be avoided.

Tombinski declined to comment on possible consequences of the leakage on Ukraine-EU relations until proper investigations by authorized agencies were completed.

As reported, on April 3 a number of publications in many countries all over the world have simultaneously revealed the results of the investigations which journalists conducted on offshore companies of the world elite.

According to editor for the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Program Drew Sullivan, the information was received from the anonymous source and included hundreds of documents about offshore companies related to representatives of the world elite. Overall, 76 journalists worked on the project and managed to process 11 million documents, which uncovered many accounts in offshore companies of world leaders.

These included politicians from Romania, Hungary, Russian parliament and government among others. The documents are dated from 1977 through the present day and include 11 presidents, 29 wealthy businessmen and representative of criminal circles.

The documents also included Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko, former Ukraine's premier Pavlo Lazarenko and Kyiv Post newspaper owner, British businessmen, Mohammad Zahoor.

Russian President Vladimir Putin along with his spokesperson Dmitriy Peskov were also included. Putin's close friend, cello player Sergei Roldugin received special attention. Roldugin reportedly is a beneficiary of a portion of Putin's multibillion offshore empire.

Sullivan said he has the evidence to substantiate his claims, preempting possible comments by those in the spotlight of the Panama papers investigations.
DUBAI (Reuters) - A United Arab Emirates court sentenced two Lebanese nationals and a Lebanese-Canadian citizen to six months in jail followed by expulsion for setting up a group affiliated to the Lebanese Shi'ite militant group Hezbollah, local media said on Monday. The state news agency WAM did not identify the three but said they had set up a group of "international nature" linked to Hezbollah without a license. The English language Gulf News said the three, a Canadian Lebanese and two Lebanese nationals aged 62, 66 and 30, were convicted of setting up an office for Hezbollah and carrying out commercial, economic and political activities without licenses. The court said the charges date back to before October 2014. The UAE in November 2014 published a list of groups the cabinet had designated as terrorist organizations, including two affiliates of Hezbollah group in the Gulf. In February, the UAE along with Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and Kuwait - all U.S.-allied Sunni Muslim states - declared the Iran-backed Hezbollah a terrorist organization and warned any citizen or expatriate against any links to it. Hezbollah has backed the government side in Syria's civil war while Sunni Gulf Arab states have supported rebels bent on toppling President Bashar al-Assad. (Reporting by Sami Aboudi; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
A bomb-sniffing German shepherd who lost her leg while protecting allied soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan was honored with the prestigious Dickin Medal.

The Peoples Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA), a British veterinary charity, announced Monday that Lucca, a 12-year-old U.S. Marine Corps dog, would receive the medal  considered the animal equivalent of the Victoria Cross  for protecting the lives of thousands of allied troops during six years of active service in the Middle East. She completed more than 400 missions, and there were no human casualties on her patrols.

Her role was to clear the path when they were on foot, and she was often deployed to go ahead of the particular corps or battalion to check for explosives or arms, Deryck Wilson, a spokesman for PDSA, said in an interview with Yahoo News.

On March 23, 2012, Lucca lost her front left leg and suffered burns to her chest, neck and head while searching for improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Afghanistan. Ahead of a foot patrol, she found a weapons cache hidden in a haystack in a poppy field and later discovered a 30-pound IED, which was cleared. But a second IED went off when she was looking for additional dangers in their way. No soldiers were injured in the explosion.

Retired U.S. Marine Corps dog Lucca receives the Dickin Medal for gallantry during her six-year career, with her owner, Gunnery Sgt. Christopher Willingham, at the Wellington Barracks, London. (Photo: David Tett/PDSA)

The explosion was huge, and I immediately feared the worst for Lucca. I ran to her and saw her struggling to get up. I picked her up and ran to the shelter of a nearby tree line; applied a tourniquet to her injured leg and called the medics to collect us, her handler, Cpl. Juan Rodriguez, said in a news release.

Lucca was evacuated to Germany and then to Camp Pendleton, a Marine Corps base in California, where her recovery was completed. Rodriguez stayed by her side throughout the entire recovery, saying she had saved his life many times so he had to be there for her.

According to PDSA, she was walking again within 10 days of the blast and now lives in California with Gunnery Sgt. Chris Willingham, who had trained Lucca and served with her during two tours in Iraq. He credits Lucca with being the only reason he was able to return home to his family and said she helped boost the troops morale.

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In between missions, I took the searching harness off and let her play and interact with the troops, Willingham said in the release. Due to her personality, demeanor and proficiency as a search dog, Lucca made friends wherever she went. Today, I do my best to keep her spoiled in her well-deserved retirement.

Maria Dickin, the founder of PDSA, instituted the medal in 1943. The charity says Lucca is the first U.S. Marine Corps dog to receive the Dickin Medal. In late December, PDSA posthumously awarded it to a French police dog named Diesel, who died in the terrorist attacks in Paris the previous month.

Since her rehabilitation, shes taken on more of an ambassadorial role and is involved in school and community visits, Wilson said. She still does her bit and plays her part. Shes not exposed to danger anymore. Shes exposed to a great deal of affection and kids wanting to cuddle her, which apparently she thoroughly enjoys as well.
Toyota Connected, Inc. Debuts, Building on Automaker's Microsoft Partnership

"Toyota is taking a bold step creating a company dedicated to bringing cloud intelligence into the driving experience," said Kurt DelBene, executive vice president of Corporate Strategy and Planning at Microsoft. "We look forward to working with Toyota Connected to harness the power of data to make driving more personal, intuitive, and safe."

Toyota Motor Sales USA announced April 4 that it will launch Toyota Connected, Inc. to significantly expand its capabilities in data management and data services development, with the new company serving as a data science hub for Toyota's global operations.

"Toyota Connected will help free our customers from the tyranny of technology. It will make lives easier and help us to return to our humanity," said Zack Hicks, CEO of Toyota Connected and chief information officer at Toyota Motor North America. "From telematics services that learn from your habits and preferences to use-based insurance pricing models that respond to actual driving patterns, to connected vehicle networks that can share road condition and traffic information, our goal is to deliver services that make lives easier."

Toyota Connected will be based in Plano, Texas, and begin with two mandates: delivering seamless and contextual services and using cutting-edge data analytics to support product development for customers, dealers, distributors, and partners. Toyota's announcement said the new company builds on Toyota's existing partnership with Microsoft to accelerate R&D efforts and deliver new connected car solutions. Toyota Connected will adopt Microsoft's Azure cloud computing platform.

"Toyota is taking a bold step creating a company dedicated to bringing cloud intelligence into the driving experience," said Kurt DelBene, executive vice president of Corporate Strategy and Planning at Microsoft. "We look forward to working with Toyota Connected to harness the power of data to make driving more personal, intuitive, and safe."
The Panama Papers investigation has prompted a swift global response in the 24 hours since more than 100 media organizations began publishing and broadcasting stories, including official investigations opened around the world, mass protests in the streets of Icelands capital and an immediate censorship drive in China.

Thousands of Icelanders took to the streets of Reykjavik on Monday to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson following the disclosure by ICIJ, Reykjavik Media, and Suddeutsche Zeitung that he and two members of his cabinet had owned or controlled secret offshore shell companies.

On Tuesday, Icelands president refused a request from Prime Minister Gunnlaugsson to dissolve parliament and call snap elections, according to the Guardian.

After initially refusing to step aside, Gunnlaugsson tendered his resignation on Tuesday afternoon. At the time of writing, his departure had yet to be agreed by his parliamentary peers or the countrys president, according to the Guardian.

Gunnlaugsson violated parliamentary ethics rules when he failed to disclose his 50 percent ownership of Wintris Inc. in 2009. The company held millions of dollars worth of bonds in the three major Icelandic banks, which collapsed in 2008. The prime minister said the company was actually his wifes all along and that his 50 percent ownership was caused by an error by the couples bank.

The crowd gathered in the square across from Parliament House, tossing eggs, bananas, and Icelandic yogurt at the building.

Elsewhere, prosecutors and officials across the world have announced investigations into the Panama Papers revelations:

ICIJ and its media partners will continue publishing more findings over the coming days and weeks.
ZAMBOANGA CITY  Government troops have intensified their operations to rescue three foreigners and a Filipina taken from a resort on Samal Island.

Maj. Filemon Tan Jr., spokesman for the Western Mindanao Command, yesterday said they are doing their best to rescue Canadians John Ridsdel and Robert Hall, Norwegian Kjartan Sekkingstad and Marites Flor, who are reportedly being held by their captors in Sulu.

Tan said rescue operations are not dependent on the April 8 deadline set by the Abu Sayyaf.

In a video clip released on Facebook on March 8, the kidnappers said they would execute the hostages if their demands are not met. The Abu Sayyaf demanded a P1-billion ransom for each of the hostages.

The deadline set is the deadline of the Abu Sayyafwe will do our best to rescue the kidnap victims the soonest time possibletheir safety is our primary concern, Tan said.

Meanwhile, Tan said they have intensified intelligence gathering to locate the 10 Indonesian and four Malaysian crewmembers of two boats, who were also reportedly kidnapped by Abu Sayyaf gunmen last week.

He said they are consulting with their Indonesian and Malaysian counterparts on the actions to be taken to rescue the victims.

The military earlier said search operations were launched in Tawi-Tawi and Sulu.

 Roel Pareno
AFP News

Pro-Russian authorities on Saturday urged residents in the southern Kherson region, which Moscow claims to have annexed, to leave the main city "immediately" in the face of Kyiv's advancing counter-offensive. It comes as President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had launched 36 rockets overnight in a "massive attack" on Ukraine, following reported strikes on energy infrastructure that resulted in power outages across the country. And Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida became the latest world leader to reproach Moscow for its talk of using nuclear weapons. Kyiv's forces have been advancing along the west bank of the Dnipro river, towards the Kherson region's eponymous main city. Kherson was the first major city to fall to Moscow's troops, and retaking it would be a major prize in Ukraine's counter-offensive. In recent days, Russia has been moving residents in the region -- which Moscow claims to have annexed in September -- east to Russia, in efforts Kyiv has denounced as "deportations". "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 Dnipro river, the region's pro-Russian authorities announced on social media. A Moscow-installed official in Kherson, Kirill Stremousov, told Russian news agency Interfax on Saturday that around 25,000 people had made the crossing. Sergiy Khlan, the Ukrainian deputy head of the Kherson region, said Russians were removing property and documents from banks and the passport office as they withdrew. Ukraine's general staff said Moscow's forces had abandoned two more settlements in Kherson and were evacuating medical personnel from a third, accusing them of looting local civilians. - A 'serious threat' - Earlier Saturday, Japan's Kishida denounced Moscow's comments regarding the possible use of nuclear weapons in the Ukraine conflict. "Russia's act of threatening the use of nuclear weapons is a serious threat to the peace and security of the international community and absolutely unacceptable," he said. The 77-year period of no nuclear weapons use "must not be ended", said Kishida, speaking in Australia. Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, Putin has made several thinly veiled threats about his willingness to deploy tactical nuclear weapons. Earlier this month, the European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell warned that the Russian army would be "annihilated" if Russia launched such an attack. Washington has also warned Moscow of "catastrophic" consequences should they use such weapons. Japan is the only country ever to have been hit with nuclear weapons: the US atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, which killed 140,000 people, and the second US bomb on Nagasaki, three days later, which killed 74,000 people. - 'Afraid for our lives' - At a train station in the town of Dzhankoy in the north of Crimea, a peninsula that Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014, Kherson residents were boarding a train for southern Russia, an AFP reporter saw Friday. "We are leaving Kherson because heavy shelling started there, we are afraid for our lives," said Valentina Yelkina, a pensioner travelling with her daughter. More than a million households in Ukraine have been left without electricity following Russian strikes on energy facilities across the country, the deputy head of the Ukrainian presidency Kyrylo Tymoshenko said on Saturday. Fresh Russian strikes targeted energy infrastructure in Ukraine's west, the national operator said earlier, with officials in several regions of the war-scarred country reporting power outages as winter approaches. Russians "carried out another missile attack on energy facilities of the main networks of Ukraine's western regions", Ukraine's energy operator Ukrenergo said on social media. "These are vile strikes on critical objects," said Zelensky. "The world can and must stop this terror." Power outages were reported in other parts of the country and local officials repeated calls to reduce energy use. Some parts of Ukraine have already cut their electricity use by up to 20 percent, according to Ukrenergo. "Saturday in Ukraine starts with a barrage of Russian missiles aimed at critical civilian infrastructure," Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Twitter. He once again urged Kyiv's allies to hasten the delivery of air defence systems. In the Russian Belgorod region bordering Ukraine, at least two civilians were killed in strikes on Saturday, according to the local governor Vyacheslav Gladkov. Nearly 15,000 people were left without electricity, he added. Russia last week reported a "considerable increase" in Ukrainian fire into its territory, saying attacks had largely concentrated on Belgorod region and neighbouring regions of Bryansk and Kursk. bur-imm/jj/ah
Azerbaijan and Armenian separatists in Nagorny Karabakh on Tuesday announced a ceasefire after four days of bloodshed, as international powers scrambled to end the worst violence in decades over the disputed region. The two sides said they had agreed to halt fighting from 0800 GMT after clashes since Friday left at least 73 people dead, but Armenia's defence ministry claimed there was still "sporadic shooting" going on. Key regional powerbroker Russian President Vladimir Putin called the leaders of ex-Soviet Armenia and Azerbaijan after the ceasefire agreement and told them to "ensure" an end to the violence. "Putin called on both sides to urgently ensure a complete cessation of military hostilities and respect for the ceasefire," the Kremlin said after Putin spoke to the two presidents separately by telephone. On a visit to a hospital to meet wounded soldiers Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev said the conflict could still be resolved peacefully if Armenia's leadership "behaves sincerely at the negotiating table". The "Minsk Group" of the US, French, and Russian ambassadors to the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which has long mediated Karabakh peace talks, urged both sides to respect the truce after meeting in Vienna. The Minsk Group co-chairs "stressed that it is important to return to the political process on the basis of a sustainable ceasefire." The US State Department welcomed the ceasefire and said it fully supported the work of the group. "There is an established process here," US spokesman Mark Toner said. "We've had a complete breakdown, a violation, of the existing ceasefire. We now have a new one in place. It needs to be adhered to." In a flurry of diplomacy the mediators are heading to the region to shuttle between the two warring sides, while Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev is set to travel to both Yerevan and Baku in the coming days. Russia's foreign ministry also said that the top diplomats from Russia, Iran and Azerbaijan will focus on the conflict when they meet for planned talks in Baku on Thursday, RIA Novosti reported. - Changing the frontline - On the ground, an AFP photographer in the frontline Azeri town of Terter said that both sides appeared to have stopped shelling Tuesday afternoon after a night of sporadic artillery fire across the front. At the Karabakh army checkpoint near the Iranian border, shelling halted as well around midday, another AFP photographer said. The fragile truce comes after Azerbaijan's army claimed to have snatched control of several strategic locations inside Armenian-controlled territory, effectively changing the frontline for the first time since an inconclusive truce ended a war in 1994. But Yerevan said the Azeri side no longer held any Armenian territory. "Even if certain Armenian positions were at some point taken by Azeris, now they are all returned under Karabakh's control," Armenia's defence ministry spokesman Artsrun Hovhannisyan told AFP. Azerbaijan's ambassador to the United States, Elin Suleymanov, told AFP Armenia had provoked the conflict to overshadow Baku's successful diplomacy. Last week Aliyev received a warm welcome to Washington at President Barack Obama's Nuclear Security Summit. Suleymanov dubbed this "one of the most positive days" in US-Azerbaijan relations and thanked Secretary of State John Kerry for backing Azerbaijan's territorial integrity. "So, history shows that every time something like this happens, there is a provocation that overshadows that success," he complained. "This time with the summit just finished and President Aliyev still in transit back home -- he hadn't even landed -- when the escalation began." In updated death tolls Tuesday evening, Azerbaijani authorities told AFP 31 soldiers and two civilians on their side had died. Rebel Karabakh officials said 35 Armenian fighters and five civilians were killed. - Regional fears - Both sides accused each other of starting the latest outbreak which has sparked concern of a wider conflict that could drag in Russia and Turkey. While Moscow has sold arms to both sides, it has a military alliance with and a base in, Armenia and far closer ties to Yerevan. Turkey -- which is locked in a feud with Moscow after Ankara downed a Russian warplane in Syria in November -- has pledged its full support for traditional ally Azerbaijan, with Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu vowing to stand by Baku "until the apocalypse." Washington refused to comment on NATO ally Turkey's rhetoric, but Toner insisted that the Minsk process "does not include taking sides or picking one side over another." Security alliance NATO called on all sides to "show restraint and prevent any new escalation." Separatists backed by Yerevan seized control of mountainous Nagorny Karabakh, a majority ethnic Armenian region lying inside Azerbaijan, in an early 1990s war after the Soviet Union crumbled that claimed some 30,000 lives. The sides have never signed a peace deal despite the 1994 ceasefire and sporadic violence on the line of contact regularly claims the lives of soldiers on both sides. Energy-rich Azerbaijan, whose military spending exceeds Armenia's entire state budget, has repeatedly threatened to take back the breakaway region by force.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has expressed its deep concern over the escalation of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and offered condolences to the families and friends of those killed and injured in the fighting, and called for a political solution to the problem.

"Ukraine favors a long-term political solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on the basis of respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Azerbaijan within its internationally recognized borders," the ministry said in a Tuesday statement over the escalation of the Karabakh conflict.

The conflicting parties and international community, primarily the co-chairs of the OSCE [Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe] Minsk Group, must do their utmost to ensure an immediate ceasefire, de-escalate the situation and continue looking for ways to settle the conflict peacefully, on the basis of the generally recognized principles and norms of international law, the ministry said.

These efforts will be helped by a special meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna due on Tuesday, it said.

"The current situation eloquently shows that frozen conflicts remain a hotbed of instability across the OSCE space, which could flare up any moment and lead to large-scale hostilities and a great loss of human life," the ministry said.
A French warship ploughs through the sparkling waters between Africa and Arabia on a joint training drill with the US that highlights Djibouti's growing strategic role for the world's militaries. On the sun-blasted rocky shores of the tiny Horn of Africa nation, some 500 French troops march alongside 50 US Marines near the town of Arta, wearing full kit in the baking heat. The training, designed to help the two allies work better together, also reflects growing international interest in the former French colony -- bordering Somalia, and just opposite Yemen. Home to only around 800,000 people, Djibouti is now crowded with the military bases of several world powers. Its port guards the entrance to the Red Sea and Suez Canal on one of the world's busiest shipping routes. "This is certainly the reason why in addition to the French there are today many international forces wanting to establish a presence in Djibouti," said General Philippe Montocchio, the commander of French forces in the country. "There are of course the Americans, the Japanese, the Italians, now the Chinese, and certainly in the near future, the Saudis." It emerged four months ago that China has signed an agreement with Djibouti for the installation by the end of 2017 of a "naval logistics" base to accommodate up to 10,000 soldiers and serve to secure Beijing's considerable and growing interests in the wider region. The hub will constitute China's first permanent overseas military deployment. - Terror-fighting HQ - Djibouti is already home to Camp Lemonnier, the United States' only permanent base in Africa. It is used for covert, anti-terror and other operations in Yemen, as well as the US fight against the Islamist Shebab in Somalia and against Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). Washington pays some $60 million (53 million euros) a year to Djibouti for the base. US Major Paul L. Croom, a liason officer between the French and US militaries, said the joint drills in Djibouti "just makes sense" as the allies share key security interests in the region, including combating the jihadist threat in Africa. "Our operability -- between the French military and US military -- is as important as it's ever been right now, and is only gaining in importance," Croom said. "Everybody knows that a lot of that threat emanates from areas in which the United States and France have mutual interests." European and other international navies use Djibouti's port as a base in the fight against piracy from neighbouring Somalia. These are important -- and sometimes dangerous -- waters. With international navies at sea, Somali pirate attacks have dropped off: 176 attacks were recorded in 2011, and none in 2015, according to the EU naval force. And just 30 kilometres (20 miles) across the Gulf of Aden lies war-torn Yemen, devastated by a civil war that has pitched Shiite Huthi rebels -- backed by Iran -- against an internationally recognised government backed by Saudi-led air strikes. Islamist groups, including Al-Qaeda's Yemen-based branch, one of the jihadist network's most dangerous franchises, as well as Islamic State forces, have also joined the battle for power in Yemen. "Djibouti is located exactly at the epicentre of all this jihadist movement in the Horn of Africa and the southern part of the Middle East," Montocchio said. China, beyond its new naval base, is bankrolling major infrastructure projects in Djibouti, including transport links for key markets in neighbouring landlocked Ethiopia. "Everybody was surprised: why China? For Djibouti, there's no question," said Djibouti's Foreign Minister Mahamoud Ali Youssouf. "China's presence, naval or military, is part of the same logic of countries that have the ability to contribute to peace and security in a region which is very troubled." But China's entry into this "Great Game" is a risky bet for Djibouti -- it may well unsettle relations with traditional allies, especially the United States.
On day one of Echelon Indonesia 2016, Venturra Capitals Stefan Jung sought to allay investment fears, and debunk some startup myths

It was a rough start for the tech ecosystem this year. With Asia-based startups such as Tripda and Passport Asia toppling one after another; one might be inclined to think that once optimistic outlook of Asia startups is drawing to a close.

But dont fret, said Stefan Jung, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Venturra Capital. There wont be a nuclear winter for Southeast Asian startups, he boldly declared, at day one of the Echelon Indonesia 2016.

During his half-hour presentation, Jung sought to allay the doom and gloom forecasts of the Southeast Asian tech ecosystem, gave an insight into VC behaviour in the region, and also debunked some startup myths.

Startup funding is reaching new levels in Southeast Asia

Jung cited strong GDP growth and high mobile penetration in the region as two of the key factors behind the increase in investment in startups and various technologies in Southeast Asia.

In 2015, VC funding in Asia reached nearly US$40 billion. The number of seed funding deals in Southeast Asia continued its sharp increase  in 2015 there were slightly less than 200, in 2016, it hit 229. There were also more late stage investments in matured startups, including  Lazada, Zalora, Garena, Grab and Go-Jek. Jung also said the number of new VC funds for Southeast Asia are increasing.

With regards to burn rates, Southeast Asia-based startups face less of a problem than those in Silicon Valley, he said. In Silicon Valley, a lot of money is spent on excessive (or extravagances) such as fancy offices and other frivolous things.

Startups in Southeast Asia are much more conservative. The average burn rate for a Southeast Asia-based startup is between US$100,000 to US$150,000 per month. Jung said that this is very healthy.



Also Read: New US$150M fund for SEA led by Stefan Jung, John Riady and Rudy Ramawy

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There will be no nuclear winter for Southeast Asian startups but

But for the rest of the global tech ecosystem, funding is being tightened in some areas.

Jung said that late stage investments are currently slowing down in countries such as China and India, and completely halted in the US. Also, private market valuations in startups are struggling to match up to public valuations. To be put simply, valuation multiples have gone down.

As financing flow sputters, the percentage of down rounds is up, he said.

But this is commonplace, he explained. Markets work in cycles, sometimes investors overshoot the valuation.

Of course, some startups would also stagnant or collapse before they can hit their Series B or later rounds, but that is just natural selection, Jung said.

The myth: I should expand internationally as soon as I can

Dont run before you learn how to walk, as the saying goes. Founders need to understand their business in-depth before scaling. If you dont understand the metrics, you shouldnt think of expanding; focus your resources on the domestic market first.

You need to think about your organisations capabilitieswhether you possess the leadership skills to bring your startup to different markets, said Jung.

Market knowledge is also very importantyou need to understand the nuances of different markets, he added. For example if you are thinking of bring your e-commerce startup to a market with poor logistic services, that would become a problem.

At the end of the day, Founders need to consider the breadth of their leadership team and not spread them too thin.

Its about understanding the economics of business.

Also Read: Winter is coming to Asia, says Jon Russell

The myth: The tech ecosystem in Southeast Asia is not ready

Having lived in Indonesia for five years, Jung said that tech ecosystem in Southeast Asia is vibrant and booming.

There are accelerators and incubators launching in many markets in Southeast Asia. There are more co-working spaces; bigger entrepreneur hubs; new players tackling vertical such as payments and logistics.

In other words, the tech ecosystem in Southeast Asia has all the elements it needs to flourish now [if it isnt already is].

Quality of the revenue is paramount

Founders  especially if you are in e-commerce  you would do yourself a favour by paying close attention to this paragraph; it may break or make your business.

Investors are more focussed on the quality of the revenue now. The days of handing out excessive vouchers to boost customer growth are over.

Thats not to say customer growth isnt important, but whether they return (or what is now as repurchase rate). If your customer was initially motivated to make a purchase because of a voucher, but subsequently never return: thats a red flag. Investors also want to see how much transactions it would take for the business to break even.

To sum it up: Growth metrics are now more sophisticated  while valuations were previously based on user growth, now it is more dependent on net revenue growth.

Conclusion

So now that you know winter isnt coming to the tech ecosystem in Southeast Asia, aspiring entrepreneurs should take the plunge and execute their plans now.

Jung ended off with this quote:

Now is the time  Everybody can dream, just dont dream too long, so you dont miss the ride of your life.

The post ECID 2016: Tech startups in SE Asia will not experience a nuclear winter appeared first on e27.
Fernando Alonso will not take part in this weekend's Grand Prix in Bahrain for medical reasons following his dramatic crash at the Australian GP. "Following a decision by the FIA doctors, Fernando Alonso will not be participating in this weekend's 2016 Bahrain Grand Prix," McLaren said in a statement. Stoffel Vandoorne, the reigning GP2 champion, will make his Formula 1 debut in place of Alonso. FIA said that "following an examination undertaken this morning at the Bahrain International Circuit Medical Centre, it has been decided that McLaren Honda F1 Team driver Fernando Alonso should not take part in this weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix". "Two sets of chest CT scans were compared and it was decided that there was insufficient resolution of the signs to allow him to compete on safety grounds," FIA said. "A repeat chest scan has been requested before the Chinese Grand Prix (on April 17) and the results will be considered before allowing him to race there." Alonso's McLaren was sent into a terrifying barrel roll at the Australian GP after he clipped Esteban Gutierrez's Haas at close to 200mph. The two-time champion, 34, crawled from the wreckage before walking away from an accident FIA president Max Mosley said would surely have been fatal in a previous era. "Following any on-track incident, we will always abide by the FIA doctors' decisions," McLaren said after Alonso was examined in Bahrain.
BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany should support Austria in stemming an expected increase in migrants trying to get to northern Europe by sending police to help control the Brenner border with Italy, Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt said on Tuesday. Dobrindt, a member of the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU) which has sharply criticised Chancellor Angela Merkel's open-door refugee policy, said the move would send a signal that Germany was not prepared to welcome all migrants with open arms. "Germany could contribute and support Austrian efforts at the Brenner (Pass) with manpower," Dobrindt told the Muenchner Merkur paper. Merkel has been critical of tighter border controls and is instead banking on a EU-Turkey deal that took effect on Monday and gives Ankara political and financial benefits in return for taking back refugees and migrants who have crossed to Greece. On Saturday, Austria's defence minister told a German newspaper it plans to deploy soldiers at the Brenner Pass to help with border protection, migrant registrations, the humanitarian effort and deportations. Border clampdowns imposed by countries along the main migrant route northwards from Greece through the Balkans, including Austria, have helped sharply reduce the number of new arrivals in Germany, which took in over one million last year. But many politicians believe that the numbers will rise again once migrants try alternative routes, for example by crossing by sea to Italy from Libya in North Africa or from Albania in the Balkans. Dobrindt said Germany could not rely on its neighbours to manage to protect borders against the flow of migrants. "We must show that we are also prepared and are in a position to do the same," he said, adding that Germany needed to send a signal that it did not have an "unconditional culture of welcome." (Reporting by Caroline Copley; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
By Ragnhildur and Sigurdardottir REYKJAVIK (Reuters) - Iceland's Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson became the first major casualty of the Panama Papers revelations, stepping down on Tuesday after leaked files showed his wife owned an offshore firm with big claims on the country's collapsed banks. The ruling Progressive Party's deputy leader Sigurdur Ingi Johannsson, who holds the fisheries and agriculture portfolio, told reporters that the party had proposed to their junior coalition partner, the Independence Party, that he become the new prime minister himself. The two parties discussed the matter on Tuesday evening but no agreement was reached. Talks are expected to continue. The leaked documents from a Panamanian law firm that specialises in setting up offshore companies have shone a light on the finances of politicians and public figures from around the world, causing public outrage over how the powerful are able to hide money and avoid tax. An Iceland government spokesman has said the claims against Iceland's collapsed banks held by the firm owned by the prime minister's wife - in which he also temporarily held a stake - totalled more than 500 million Icelandic crowns ($4.1 million). Gunnlaugson has said his wife's assets were taxed in Iceland. His decision to step down came after thousands of Icelanders gathered in front of parliament on Monday, hurling eggs and bananas and demanding the departure of the leader of the centre-right coalition government, which has been in power since 2013. Opposition politicians, pushing for fresh general elections, also filed a motion of no-confidence in Gunnlaugson and the government on Monday. The parliamentary vote could still take place this week and could trigger elections if the motion is carried. "It is clear our demand for new elections still stands," Left Green Party leader Katrin Jakobsdottir told Reuters. But Finance Minister Bjarni Benediktsson, from the Independence party, the junior partner in the coalition government which has absolute majority in parliament, said he hoped the coalition would continue. "We have agreed to start talks with the Progressive Party and to try to continue the co-operation we have had and which has until now been very fruitful for the Icelandic nation," he told Reuters. Any new election could see victory for the anti-establishment Pirate Party, according to polls the most popular political force in Iceland, which espouses grassroots democracy and transparency. Gunnlaugsson's opponents say he should have been open about the overseas assets and the company, and that he had a conflict of interest because the government is involved in striking deals with claimants against the bankrupt banks. Iceland's main commercial banks collapsed as the global financial crisis hit in 2008 and many Icelanders have blamed the North Atlantic island nation's politicians for not reining in the banks' debt-fuelled binge and averting a deep recession. (Writing by Anna Ringstrom; Editing by Peter Graff and Anna Willard)
Scientists have uncovered what may be a previously unknown Viking settlement in Newfoundland, Canada, news sources report.

The newly identified site, known as Point Rosee, contains a hearthstone that was likely used for working iron, making it only the second known pre-Columbian, iron-processing site in North America, the researchers told National Geographic.

The team is still examining the site, which was discovered with the help of detailed satellite images. The public can follow their progress by tuning into "Vikings Unearthed," a 2-hour NOVA special that can be watched online Monday (April 4) and on TV Wednesday (April 6). [Fierce Fighters: 7 Secrets of Viking Seamen]

The new finding isn't the first evidence that Vikings lived in North America. In the 1960s, scientists uncovered a Viking settlement, also in Newfoundland, that dated to about A.D. 1000. That settlement, called L'Anse aux Meadows, proved that Christopher Columbus wasn't the first European to set foot in the New World.

The L'Anse aux Meadows discovery also suggested that the events described in two famous texts called the Vinland sagas actually happened, said Birgitta Wallace, a Parks Canada archeologist emeritus, who helped excavate L'Anse aux Meadows, but isn't involved with work on the new site.

Those sagas tell the story of how a group of Vikings living in Greenland got lost at sea, and accidently discovered a new land, southwest of Greenland.

Now, the discovery of a second possible Viking settlement could lend more credence to the Vinland sagas, Wallace said.

"The sagas suggest a short period of activity and a very brief and failed colonization attempt," Douglas Bolender, an archaeologist specializing in Norse settlements who is working at the new site, told National Geographic. "L'Anse aux Meadows fits well with that story, but is only one site. Point Rosee could reinforce that story or completely change it if the dating is different from L'Anse aux Meadows. We could end up with a much longer period of Norse activity in the New World."

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So far, radiocarbon dates from the Point Rosee site suggest that people lived there sometime between A.D. 800 to 1300, the researchers said.

Researchers uncovered the new site using satellite technology. The space-based reconnaissance allowed scientists to look at large swaths of landscape and find archaeological disturbances within the land, some as small as 11 inches (28 centimeters) long.

The team's leader, Sarah Parcak, an associate professor of anthropology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and a National Geographic Fellow, won a $1 million award from TED in 2016. She used the prize money to fund, in part, the investigation into Point Rosee after the satellite imagery had revealed an anomaly at the site.

During the excavation, the team found the iron-working hearth amid the remains of what is possibly a man-made turf wall, National Geographic reported. The scientists spent 2.5 weeks at the site, and found what may be evidence that the people there roasted a type of material called of bog iron. (Iron deposits can form naturally in some bogs, and the Norse would find it and smelt it.) [In Photos: New Viking Voyage Discovered]

There is no evidence that indigenous people in North America processed iron, except for some Inuit use of meteoric iron and turf structures in the Arctic, the researchers said. Only one known culture from that period processed bog-iron ore and built turf walls in North America: the Vikings, they said.

But more research is still needed to determine whether Point Rosee is, in fact, a Viking establishment.

"It would be very exciting if this really were a Norse site," Wallace told Live Science. "[But] I think that there is not sufficient evidence to very definitely nail it down as Norse. We need a little more."

For instance, the turf walls at Point Rosee don't look like turf walls from other Norse archaeological sites, she said. Moreover, the Vikings are thought to only have landed in Greenland in about A.D. 985, Wallace said. The settlement there was small  about 400 to 500 people  and any new colonies in Newfoundland would have required a substantial number of people to sustain.

There were likely about 70 Vikings living at the L'Anse aux Meadows site, and it would have been hard for Greenland to spare even more people for the Point Rosee camp, Wallace said.

Further excavations this summer will likely reveal whether Point Rosee has more clues linking it to the Vikings, she said.

The special, which also delves into Norse history and culture, and is co-produced with the BBC, will show on pbs.org/nova at 3:30 p.m. EDT/2:30 p.m. CDT Monday (April 4) and on PBS at 9 p.m. EDT/8 p.m. CDT Wednesday (April 6).

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.
On Wednesday, April 6, at 12.30, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency's press center will host a press conference entitled "How Prosecutor General of Ukraine Provides Cover for Shadow Currencies Exchange Market." The participants include lawyer Mykola Pavlenko, head of the Absolute Finance Ltd. financial company Eduard Didenko, and representative of the 'Association of Financial Companies  Foreign Exchange Market Operators' public initiative Pavlo Kushnirenko (8/5-A Reitarska Street). Admission requires press accreditation.
Democracy has its problems, not least because voters tend to be less informed than they should be. However, neither rejigging the voting process nor more authoritarianism presents an ideal solution. Rather, democracy should be improved through constitutional safeguards for individual freedom.

I refer to the article Lee Kuan Yews One Man Two Votes', published on 15th March 2016. The contributor explored the concept of giving two votes to certain individuals, in response to what he correctly pointed out as flaws in the democratic system. These flaws were well-illustrated by the negative example of Donald Trump, whose rise is made possible by the trappings of modern democracy and the manner in which it encourages populism.

While the author has raised some interesting thoughts, I believe that tackling democracys irrationalities require much more than tweaking the voting dynamics. It would require us to ask some deeper but inconvenient questions: Is democracy really the best way to organise our politics, and if so, how should it be structured best to minimise its excesses?

The first thing we should note is that democracy is here to stay. It has become, for better or worse, the most legitimate political system, at least as perceived by the general public. Democratic movements are rising up in various regions, as formerly oppressed populations demand political participation. While we cannot resist the wave of democracy, we can limit it so as to minimise its excesses.

The irrationalities promoted by democracy are well-documented. The economist Anthony Downs formulated the concept of rational ignorance. To make informed choices, voters must pay a high cost in order to be informed: Reading the papers, understanding economics, deliberating with fellow citizens, and the like. However, the payoff is low since a single vote makes little difference to the outcome. Thus, it is rational for voters to be ignorant about politics.

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Bryan Caplan popularised this concept in his book Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies, mentioning as well that voters suffer from additional biases, including an anti-market bias and anti-immigration bias. Voters tend to oppose market institutions and foreign immigration because the negative effects of economic freedom can be seen obviously, while the job-creating effects of immigration, for example, are harder to notice. Populist politicians like Donald Trump then exploit this with catchphrases such as build a wall or send the Muslims home.

In light of these systemic problems, merely giving an educated citizen two votes is not the solution. Voters irrationalities are not merely the product of the lack of education, but rather a result of the incentives they face within the system. As such, a deeper change in institutional structure is required.

Voting in Singapore

Democracy is not just about voting. (Photo: Wong Maye-E, AP)

I argue that the approach we should take is to recognise that democracy is merely a means to achieve a free and just society. It is not an end in itself. Friedrich Hayek, Nobel Laureate who wrote The Constitution of Liberty, argued that democracy should merely be a utilitarian device meant to secure individual freedom, which ought to be the highest political end of a polity. In order for individual rights to be secured, we must impose robust constitutional limits on democracy.

Applied to Singapore, it means strengthening the Constitution by enshrining an inviolable Bill of Rights that cannot be touched or altered by any democratic majority. The requirement for amendments should be set very high so as to prevent Parliament from easily altering it.

This flows from the recognition that Singaporeans deserve a protected sphere that is beyond the reach of democratic politics. Here is a radical thought: If the right to associate freely, for example, is enshrined as a basic constitutional right, then it makes relatively little difference which party is elected, since Jack and John is allowed to marry under the law.

The democratic process can bring out the worst in us, especially when so much is at stake. When the political-electoral process has the ability to determine everything from how much HDB prices will cost to whether two years should be taken from male citizens for National Service, then it follows that both sides will invest heavily in the process of demonising the other so as to take over the state apparatus and impose their vision on society. Politics is a zero-sum game that breeds an us-versus-them mentality.

The above discussion is vital; it suggests that the response to the problems of democracy is not dictatorship or authoritarianism, but better democracy. Apologists for authoritarianism are wrong to claim merit for their preferred system simply by slamming democracy. Conservatives who defend Asian Values cannot simply point to the ugly spectacle of American democracy to justify more authoritarian control.

We should not give up on democracy. Rather, we should liberalise democracy by limiting its excesses through constitutional law. When individuals are constitutionally allowed to do whatever they wish as long as they respect the equal rights of others to do likewise, it would lead to positive-sum games throughout society, moving us away from the us-versus-them pathology of democratic politics today.

Top photo: American Presidential candidate Donald Trump at a rally, Joe Burbank

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not reflect the opinions or views of Inconvenient Questions or its editorial team.

About the author:

Bryan Cheang is a graduate from the National University of Singapore who hopes to see Singapore become a free society. His research interests revolve around classical liberalism and market-based economics.
While still considered a safe market, Singapore's popularity with property investors has fallen. (Photo: chenisyuan, Wikimedia Commons)

Singapores appeal as a property investment destination for institutional investors has diminished this year, in comparison to other developed Asia Pacific cities, particularly in Australia and Japan.

This decline in popularity has been attributed to the property cooling measures, and the glut in office and logistics space amid softer consumer sentiment, said UBS in a report by The Straits Times.

In fact, property prices, as well as the volume of real estate deals and loans, would have been higher by around 33 percent if the cooling measures had not been introduced, said the central bank in November 2015.

Nevertheless, some institutional investors still view Singapore as a safe market, and there has been no exodus of property investors, according to Graham Mackie, UBS Asset Managements Head of Global Real Estate for Asia Pacific.

Inbound investment to Singapore also surged 157 percent to US$3.4 billion in 2015 on a yearly basis, based on data from Real Capital Analytics. But this is still a far cry from the outbound capital of US$28.7 billion, which posted a growth of 49 percent.

Meanwhile, more money is being pumped into Australia and Japans property sectors, compared to those in Singapore, Hong Kong and China. Real estate yields in Australia are also significantly better than the risk-free rates in the market.

Australia is a relatively efficient market with strong rule of law. The Australian dollar has depreciated significantly against the US dollar, and investors who are more swayed by currency considerations see Australia as relatively cheaper, added Mackie.

Cheryl Marie Tay, Senior Journalist at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact her about this or other stories email cheryl@propertyguru.com.sg

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Pollster Pulse Asia has disowned the results of a supposed commissioned survey showing Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte leading among presidential bets.

In a statement, Pulse Asia denied conducting a commissioned survey for ABS-CBN from March 21 to 25.

We did not conduct said survey. We do not conduct surveys during Holy Week, Holy Thursday and Good Friday in particular, Pulse Asia president Ronald Holmes said in a statement.

We urge the media, in particular, and the public, in general, to refer to our website at pulseasia.ph or our official Facebook and Twitter page for our official media releases, it added.

The supposed result showing Duterte ahead of frontrunner Sen. Grace Poe was posted on Facebook by former North Cotabato governor Manny Pinol, a known supporter of Duterte.

Pinol initially claimed that the survey was commissioned by ABS-CBN, even using what appeared to be an edited infographic of the network.

But following the release of the statement, the former governor edited his post and said that the survey was privately commissioned Pulse Asia survey taken March 21-25.

He claimed that the results were shared with writer Pompee Lavina and Duterte spokesman Peter Tiu Lavina.

But in a follow-up query, Pulse Asia research director Ana Maria Tabunda said that no survey was conducted by the firm in that period, whether for ABS-CBN or any other private individual or group.

The latest Pulse Asia survey commissioned by ABS-CBN was conducted from March 15 to 20, with the results released on April 1.

It showed Poe leading the race with a 28 percent voter preference.

Duterte, who received 24 percent, is statistically tied with Vice President Jejomar Binay, who had 23 percent.

Administration bet Manuel Roxas II had 19 percent, while Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago got two percent.

Pinols edited post was still available yesterday afternoon.

Story continues

Poes camp cried foul over the supposed survey result showing Duterte ahead of Poe.

Valenzuela Mayor Rex Gatchalian, Poes spokesman, cautioned the public against all forms of underhanded propaganda launched to sow confusion among voters.

As disclaimed by Pulse Asia, that specific survey is spurious as they did not conduct survey fieldwork during the Holy Week. Its sad that various means are now being employed to sow havoc in our election system, and we will continue to appeal to the best judgment of our Filipino countrymen, he added.

Meanwhile, Malacanang expressed doubt on the result of the mobile survey of pollster Social Weather Stations (SWS), which showed that administration presidential bet Manuel Roxas II is the least likely candidate to win in the elections.

I suppose you should ask what is the methodology of the SWS mobile survey that makes it drastically inconsistent with their own monthly survey or the Pulse Asia-ABS-CBN survey or the Pulse Asia monthly survey, said presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda.

In the survey, 27 percent of respondents do not want Roxas for president.

The second presidential candidate least liked by voters is Vice President Jejomar Binay of the opposition United Nationalist Alliance with 24 percent, followed by Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte who got 17 percent.

Fourth was Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago with 10 percent. Sen. Grace Poe came in last with 5 percent, which is consistent with previous surveys showing her as the frontrunner.  With Helen Flores, Christina Mendez, Delon Porcalla
By Pavel Polityuk and Alessandra Prentice KIEV (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko defended his commitment to transparency on Monday after lawmakers called for an investigation into allegations contained in the so-called Panama Papers that he had used an offshore firm to avoid tax. According to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, Poroshenko set up an offshore company to move his confectionery business, Roshen, to the British Virgin Islands in August 2014 during a peak in fighting between Ukraine and pro-Russian separatists. In response, Poroshenko said he had handed over the management of his assets to consulting and law firms on taking office. "I believe I might be the first top official in Ukraine who treats declaring of assets, paying taxes, conflict of interest issues seriously," he tweeted. The law firm tasked with managing the sale of Roshen said the offshore firm was set up in accordance with Ukrainian law. "The creation of a foreign structure does not affect the tax liabilities of the Roshen group in Ukraine, which continues to pay taxes," Avellum said in an emailed statement. "Any allegations of tax evasion are groundless." Poroshenko's financial adviser, Makar Paseniuk, said the offshore firm was created to avoid a conflict of interests by allowing his assets to be controlled by third parties while he remained president. A senior official in the General Prosecutor's office said the leaked documents did not show that Poroshenko had committed any crime. Lawmakers, including from within Poroshenko's own faction, called for the creation of a parliamentary committee to investigate the allegations, which surfaced after a global leak of documents from a Panama-based law firm over the weekend. Under Ukrainian legislation, only parliament can initiate an investigation into a sitting president. "It is the height of cynicism to open offshore companies at a time when hundreds of our soldiers are dying," leader of the populist Radical Party Oleh Lyashko said on Facebook, adding any investigation could lead to Poroshenko's impeachment. The support of the Radical Party may be crucial in Poroshenko's efforts to cobble together a new government and avoid a snap election. The president has made several attempts to oust Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk's government, saying it has lost the trust of the people, but he will likely need the support of smaller parties to assemble a parliamentary majority. The IMF, the United States and the European Union are becoming frustrated with Ukraine's patchy performance in tackling graft, and the Fund has threatened to halt aid until matters improve. "The revelations of Poroshenko's offshore accounts will further destabilise the Ukrainian government, which has been in a state of crisis for over a month," said Daragh McDowell of the risk consultancy Verisk Maplecroft. "Poroshenko's credibility in the eyes of Ukraine's Western allies will take a massive hit at a time when political infighting has already delayed the release of IMF loans." Poroshenko, who came to power after protests in 2014, has already faced criticism for not selling Roshen despite promising to do so. Paseniuk said there had been no credible offers for the company so far, prompting those managing the sale to consider selling it off in parts. Talks to sell Roshen's Russia-based Lipetsk factory were continuing, he said. (Writing by Matthias Williams; Additional reporting by Natalia Zinets; Editing by Alison Williams and Richard Balmforth)
High Stakes Testing

Hit by Testing Provider Outages, Alaska Cancels Online Assessments

Alaska is dumping this year's online assessments for its students after continued technical problems plagued the exam process. The maelstrom began when a major fiber cable was damaged by a backhoe on a university campus in Kansas where Alaska's testing provider is located.

The Achievement & Assessment Institute, housed at the University of Kansas Lawrence campus, runs the Center for Educational Testing & Evaluation (CETE), which provides assessment services to schools in 18 states, including Kansas and Alaska. The fiber cable damage that occurred there on March 29 severed the campus' Internet service, interrupting state summative testing in Kansas schools as well. Also affected were students in several other states taking Dynamic Learning Maps (DLM), an alternate assessment for students with significant cognitive disabilities.

Although the university was able to patch the cabling by the following day, access was limited to some buildings on campus. KU's IT organization announced on March 31 that it expected full restoration of the fiber cable to "continue over the next several weeks."

In Alaska, testing had started on Tuesday when students in grades 3 to 10 began taking online assessments in English language arts and mathematics and students in grades 4, 8 and 10 commenced science assessments. However, that work was interrupted at 10:30 a.m. Alaska time when the connection to the testing provider was severed.

CETE Director Marianne Perie assured education leaders that anybody "kicked off the system during testing" wouldn't lose answers that had been saved and "should be able to continue where they left off," according to reporting by the Wichita Eagle.

However, that wasn't the case for some students in Alaska. By Thursday, testing had resumed, but even then, the connection to the online assessments was spotty, and some schools reported that student answers already entered into the testing system had disappeared.

According to Susan McCauley, the state's interim commissioner of Education & Early Development, although the vendor had assured her department that the "system was ready," students who had already begun their exams weren't all returned to the point in the test where they'd left off; in some cases, the exam restarted for them.

That outcome rendered the affected tests invalid. "As soon as a child has seen the same question twice, thats an invalid test," she told THE Journal.

On top of that, she added, the start/stop/restart process has "caused serious chaos in terms of schedules."

Insisting that the state had "no other option," McCauley, who has been in her current post for about a month, made the decision to cancel this year's Alaska Measures of Progress assessments. The state will also begin the process of shopping for a new testing provider to deliver the online exams to be used in next year's assessment rounds.

That decision should please the Alaska Superintendents Association, which earlier this year called on the state to place a hold on the assessments and cancel plans to give the tests this spring, according to coverage in the Alaska Journal of Commerce.

What's unknown, said McCauley, is the impact the decision to cancel testing will have on the state's federal funding for education. While the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requires a state to give a statewide assessment that's "valid, reliable and [of] high technical quality," in this situation, "we no longer have a valid assessment for the state of Alaska," she noted. "I am very hopeful that our unique circumstances justify my decision on Friday and the U.S. Department of Education will not withhold any funds from Alaska. But that remains to be seen at this point."

What's at risk is a relatively small portion of the state education budget. Alaska received about $324 million in federal funding for public education in fiscal year 2013, making up about 12 percent of its total expenditure of $2.7 billion for that same year, according to data from the National Center for Education Statistics.

Alaska was an early member of the Smarter Balanced. However, it left that consortium in January 2014 and signed a five-year, $5 million contract with CETE to deliver assessments based on the state's own set of learning standards. Alaska had previously worked with the same organization as a part of the DLM consortium. Last year was the first in which the new CETE-delivered assessments were given to students. In that round, problems surfaced related to late access to results and "data glitches."

In spite of the continuing troubles with online assessments experienced by the state, McCauley is still an advocate. "Whats happened does not undermine my belief in assessment, or the value of online assessment," she said. "Alaska needs to be better than were we are now, and I am confident that we will be in a better place in the future with our assessment. But weve got some work to do in Alaska."
Research

Report: Digital Citizenship Should be a Key Component of Classroom Technology Initiatives

Effective classroom technology initiatives should include instruction on digital citizenship, according to a new white paper from NetRef, a provider of Internet management tools.

The paper, "Digital Natives: Citizens of a Changing World," addresses the critical importance of ensuring that students understand the consequences of using technology, particularly social media, as well as best practices for protecting themselves online. While education initiatives place increasing emphasis on digital fluency, students must also be taught to practice good digital citizenship.

According to the white paper, teaching students to be good digital citizens requires curricula, practices and policies that promote safe and responsible use of the Internet and personal technology. Students need to be taught about the permanence of their digital footprint and how it could affect their future education and employment prospects. They also need to be taught how to protect their privacy online and how to protect themselves from cyberbullying.

"The indelibility of a digital footprint has implications unprecedented in society, particularly for youth," said George Dotterer, co-author of the white paper, in a news release. "Giving children the tools and ethical code to make good choices is vital. Teaching digital citizenship in school and at home keeps them and their futures safer."

The white paper offers seven recommendations for schools implementing digital citizenship education:

Design a robust digital citizenship curriculum;

Counsel students that "what goes online stays online";

Craft an empowering acceptable use policy for students;

Teach students their digital rights;

Advise parents of new social media and online trends;

Provide an easy-to-understand guide for online behavior; and

Equip teachers and parents with education technology programs and practices to manage children's Internet use.

This is NetRef's fifth in a series of white papers about the effect and challenges of technology in schools. The full paper, "Digital Natives: Citizens of a Changing World," can be found on NetRef's site.
- The Kenyan trainer for terror group al-Shabaab has been confirmed to be among the six commanders killed by Amisom forces in Janaale town

- A Yemeni explosives expert is also among those killed by Amisom and Somali national forces

African Union forces with the help of the Somali national forces said they have killed at least six commanders of the terror group al-Shabaab in lower Shabelle region.

The al-Shabaab members killed include a judge in Janaale town and a Yemeni explosives specialist.

The African Union mission in Somalia (Amisom) confirmed the incident on Tuesday, April 5 in a statement.

READ ALSO: 60 al-Shabaab militants killed and 38 captured in central Somalia

The clearance activities are meant to ease the movement of the population and goods.

The six killed are Aden Bale (commander of Leego), Sheikh Mohammed who was second in command in Janaale and Mohammed Abribao (al-Shabaab judge in Janaale).

Others include a Kenyan trainer for the group Sheikh Mansur, Hassan Ali, chief Amnyat of lower shabelle region, and Yemeni explosives expert Abu Islam.

READ ALSO: Al-Shabaab leader involved in two terror attacks struck dead

The killing of the six commanders is a big blow for the terror group coming just days after the killing of their leader Hassan Ali Dhore.

Hassan Ali Dhoore was killed in a US air strike targeting him on March 31, 2016.

Dhoore was a member of al-Shabaab's security and intelligence wing, and was involved in the planning of high-profile attacks.

He planned and oversaw attacks resulting in the deaths of at least three Americans according to a Pentagon statement.

READ ALSO: Photo: See bomb resistant vehicle that Kenyan security will use in the fight against al-Shabaab

Photo: AFP

Source: TUKO.co.ke
ADEN, Yemen (Reuters) - Warplanes attacked an al Qaeda camp in southern Yemen on Sunday, killing and wounding a number of militants, a local official said. The aircraft launched four air strikes on militants of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) near the port city of Mukalla on Yemen's south coast, he said. The official said the planes were from a Saudi-led coalition which over the past year has tried to stop the Iran-allied Houthi group from completing its takeover of the country. It was no immediately possible to confirm the affiliation of the aircraft. A spokesman for the Saudi-led alliance could not be contacted for immediate comment. U.S. aircraft have staged attacks on AQAP fighters in Yemen in recent weeks. AQAP has exploited the Yemeni war to expand its control, seizing Mukalla, the capital of Hadramout province, last year and recruiting more followers. The Houthis have been battling forces loyal to Yemen's Saudi-backed President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi since March 2015 in a conflict that has cost more than 6,200 lives. (Reporting by Mohammed Mukhashaf; writing by Reem Shamseddine; editing by William Maclean and Jason Neely)
By Alex Dobuzinskis LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Nine months into a minimum wage hike at some Los Angeles hotels, city leaders and other backers of the move are claiming victory, saying doomsday forecasts from hoteliers have proven unfounded. Confined to about 15 of the city's largest non-union hotels and accounting for more than a fifth of all its hotel rooms, the increase was aimed at the segment of the service economy that city leaders saw as best equipped to absorb the extra cost. Hoteliers say full data are not yet in and some layoffs have taken place, but champions of the raise say that the naysayers' concerns appear to have been overblown. "There have not been the wholesale layoffs or cutbacks that we were told would occur," said Los Angeles City Councilman Curren Price, who co-authored the wage hike ordinance. The pay rise for a small slice of an industry gives an early if limited glimpse into the drive for a $15 minimum wage, gathering pace in states from New York to the West Coast. The federal minimum wage has been stuck at $7.25/hour since 2009. A phased statewide raise to $15, ultimately affecting 5.6 million workers, was approved by the California legislature last week and Governor Jerry Brown, a Democrat, is expected to sign it into law on Monday. Pushing wages to just over $15 from as low as $9 an hour for an estimated 3,000 hotel workers began last summer as the first phase of a hike for the second-largest U.S. city, largely run by Democrats. It affects about 8,000 rooms, or half of Los Angeles' large-hotel room inventory. Hotel operators had warned the hike would force them to cut staff and services, put the brakes on new hotel projects and would drive away customers. Because of the increase, Julie Robey, a general manager at the Holiday Inn Los Angeles Gateway, south of downtown, said she had to lay off seven employees, cutting her staff to 95 full and part-time workers. Robert Amano, executive director of the Hotel Association of Los Angeles, which opposed the increase, said the hike has led to some job cuts, but that an overall tally is not available. Many hotels have chosen to absorb the increase by upping restaurant food prices by 15 to 30 percent, he said. And he warned that smaller hotels, which do not have the same profit cushion, could face bigger challenges when they have to implement the increase this summer. ELECTION ISSUE Raising the minimum wage is a key issue for contenders in the November U.S. presidential election, addressing a movement led by labor unions to provide better living standards for the working poor. Democratic hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are avid supporters. Republican front-runner and businessman Donald Trump, who owns hotels, has said U.S. wages in general are too low - but also that it is not necessarily bad to have a low minimum wage in order to compete in a global marketplace. L.A. city leaders appear to have picked the right moment for their experiment. An improving economy has helped buoy L.A. hotel occupancy rates to an all-time high, blunting the effect of the wage rise on the bottom line, hotel industry officials said. "When demand is high and you're running busy, you don't want to cut staff," Amano said. More than two dozen new hotel projects are in the works, the biggest hotel development boom in Los Angeles since the 1980s, said Bruce Baltin, senior vice president at PKF Consulting, which provides analysis to the hotel industry. "Fortunately, the industry in Los Angeles is very healthy right now," Baltin said. For workers who received the sharp wage hike, the payoff can go beyond a bigger paycheck. Jacob Loera, a bellman at a downtown Los Angeles hotel, was able to quit a second job that sometimes made his working day go from before dawn until midnight. Now, with one full-time job at the higher minimum wage, the 39-year-old father of three still earns about the same $2,100 a month, but said he has gained something more valuable. "I get to spend quality time with my kids," Loera said. Minimum wage in the United States (GRAPHIC) - http://tmsnrt.rs/1O2agQN (Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis, Editing Sara Catania, Daniel Wallis and Mary Milliken)
By Nailia Bagirova and Hasmik Mkrtchyan BAKU/YEREVAN (Reuters) - Azerbaijan and its breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh said they had halted hostilities on Tuesday after four days of intense fighting that had prompted fears of all-out war. Officials in Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian region that rejects Azerbaijan's rule, said there was still some sporadic shooting but that the intensity of the fighting had dropped off significantly. Several European countries had urged an end to the fighting, worried in part that it could cause instability in a region that serves as a corridor for pipelines taking oil and gas to world markets. The ex-Soviet states of Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a war over the mountainous territory in the early 1990s in which thousands were killed on both sides and hundreds of thousands displaced. The war ended with a truce in 1994, although there have been sporadic flare-ups since. The ceasefire was shattered over the weekend, with Azerbaijan's army and the Armenian-backed separatists of Nagorno-Karabakh exchanging heavy fire using artillery, tanks, rocket systems and helicopters. On Tuesday afternoon, military officials in Azerbaijan, and in the breakaway region, announced they had agreed to a ceasefire with immediate effect. Colonel Vitaly Arastamyan, a deputy chief of military headquarters for the breakway administration, said that after the ceasefire came into force his forces were fired at periodically, but not as intensively as in previous days. "This situation had been brewing since 2014, but what had happened during the last three days was a peak. It was the most serious aggravation of the situation since the 1994 ceasefire, Arastamyan told Reuters in Nagorno-Karabakh's capital, Stepanakert. Azerbaijan's Defence Ministry said it was observing the ceasefire. Reuters was not able independently to verify if either side had violated the truce. Washington welcomed the truce. "It's a very nascent ceasefire but we are encouraged that it does seem to have taken hold," State Department spokesman Mark Toner said. "We're actively engaging with both sides to urge them to strictly adhere to the ceasefire." Before the hostilities were halted, Azerbaijan said 16 of its servicemen had been killed in the previous 48 hours. Officials in the breakaway region said 29 of their soldiers had been killed since the fighting started, and another 101 wounded. RISK OF ESCALATION An all-out war over Nagorno-Karabakh could drag in the big regional powers, Russia and Turkey. Moscow has a defense alliance with Armenia, while Ankara backs its ethnic Turkic kin in Azerbaijan. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Tuesday condemned what he said were Armenian attacks, and said Turkey would stand by Azerbaijan. Earlier, Russia's foreign minister had said Ankara's support for Baku was one-sided. Nagorno-Karabakh is an enclave with a large ethnic Armenian population that lies inside the territory of Azerbaijan. The violence was a re-awakening of a long-festering ethnic conflict between the mainly Muslim Azeris and their Christian Armenian neighbors. Envoys from Russia, France and the United States - who make up a body called the Minsk Group that mediates in the conflict - are planning to head to the region, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said in Paris. "We can see that military conflict cannot be the solution," Ayrault told reporters after talks with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Russian President Vladimir Putin had spoken by phone to the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan and urged them to end the fighting, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Even if the ceasefire holds in the short-term, there is still potential for the fighting to flare again. Anger and frustration are building in Azerbaijan that years of talks have failed to bring Nagorno-Karabakh under its control. The country has used revenues from exports of crude oil to build up its military, leading some Azeris to believe that if there was another war, they could win it. Azerbaijan said its troops had seized small pockets of territory in the latest fighting, and were fortifying those locations to make sure that it held on to its gains. (Writing by Christian Lowe; Additional reporting by Margarita Antidze in Stepanakert, John Irish in Paris, Dmitry Solovyov in Moscow, Ercan Gurses in Ankara, and Lesley Wroughton and David Alexander in Washington; Editing by Alison Williams)
By Kylie MacLellan LONDON (Reuters) - The British government sought on Monday to deflect any criticism of Prime Minister David Cameron over his late father's inclusion on a list of clients using a law firm in the tax haven of Panama and said it would investigate the leaked data. Cameron's father, Ian, and members of his Conservative Party were among the tens of thousands of rich and famous people named in a leak of documents from Panama-based Mossack Fonseca which showed how clients had evaded tax and laundered money. The documents, which emerged in an investigation published on Sunday by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), are a blow to Cameron, a critic of tax evasion and tax avoidance. In 2012, British media reported that Cameron's father ran a network of offshore investment funds to help build the family fortune. There is no suggestion he did anything illegal. Asked on Monday whether she could confirm that no family money was still invested in those funds, Cameron's spokeswoman said: "That is a private matter." Britain's HM Revenue and Customs said it had asked for a copy of the leaked data so it could examine the information. "We have already received a great deal of information on offshore companies, including in Panama, from a wide range of sources, which is currently the subject of intensive investigation," Jennie Granger, director general of enforcement and compliance at HM Revenue and Customs, said in a statement. "We have asked the ICIJ to share the leaked data that they have obtained with us. We will closely examine this data and will act on it swiftly and appropriately." Opposition Labour finance spokesman John McDonnell said the Panama Papers showed Cameron had failed to end tax secrecy and crack down on offshore schemes and called for "real action". But the government said Britain had brought in more than 2 billion pounds ($2.84 billion) from offshore tax evaders since Cameron took office in 2010 and that Britain was "leading the pack internationally" on tackling tax evasion and avoidance. Since Britain made the issue a central plank of its G8 presidency in 2013, 90 countries have signed up to the automatic exchange of tax information, Cameron's spokeswoman said. She said Britain was pushing its overseas territories and crown dependencies, many of which are tax havens, to create public registers of who owns companies in their jurisdictions. Britain's own such register will go live in June. Asked if Britain would legislate to force territories such as the Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands to publish the information, she said: "The prime minister has made clear that should they fail to do so he rules absolutely nothing out." ($1 = 0.7043 pounds) (Editing by Angus MacSwan)
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will ship 700 kilograms of nuclear waste to the United States under a deal to be announced by Prime Minister David Cameron at a nuclear security summit in Washington on Thursday, a British government source said. In return for the shipment, the largest ever movement of highly enriched uranium, the United States will send Europe a different type of nuclear waste that can be used to produce medical isotopes for the treatment of some cancers. "The prime minister will be announcing a landmark deal that we have agreed with the US and with (European Atomic Energy Community) Euratom," the British government source said, on condition of anonymity. "It is a win-win. We get rid of waste and we get back something that will help us to fight cancer." At the two-day summit, being attended by more than 50 world leaders, Britain and the US will also announce plans to host a joint exercise later this year to test the ability of their governments and nuclear industries to deal with a cyber attack in the civil nuclear sector. The source said this was not in response to intelligence about a specific threat, but "prudent planning". Last week, Belgian newspaper DH reported suicide bombers who blew themselves up in Brussels were originally considering an attack on a nuclear site in Belgium. Britain will also invest more than 10 million pounds ($14 million) in improving nuclear security standards worldwide and, separately, launch a scheme to help other countries strengthen their ability to withstand cyber attacks on their nuclear sectors. Japan, South Korea, Turkey and Argentina are among those expected to be involved in that scheme, the source said. "They have come to us and said they would like to benefit from expertise we have in this area and work with us on it," the source said. (Reporting by Kylie MacLellan; editing by Stephen Addison)
BEIJING (Reuters) - Philippines fishermen threw fire bombs at Chinese law enforcement vessels in the South China Sea, China's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday, after Philippines media reported that fishermen had been struck by bottles hurled from China's coast guard ships. The reports said that a clash occurred at Scarborough Shoal, an area China seized control of after a three-month stand-off with the Philippine coast guard in 2012. The reports said Chinese coast guardsmen hurled bottles at the Philippines fishermen, who responded with rocks. China's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Scarborough Shoal - known by Beijing as Huangyan Island - was Chinese territory which Philippine fishermen had been fishing around illegally. "Chinese official ships advised the illegally stationed Philippine trawlers to leave, in accordance with the law, but they refused to obey," she told a daily news briefing. "Certain people on the ships even waved around machetes and flung fire bombs, carrying out deliberate provocation, attacking the Chinese law enforcers and official boat, confronting China's law enforcement and seriously threatening the safety and order of the waters around Huangyan Island," Hua said. China had strengthened its "management" around the shoal, she added, without elaborating. A spokesman for the Philippines Foreign Ministry declined to comment, pending an official report "from our concerned agencies". China and the Philippines have long exchanged accusations about each other's behaviour in the disputed South China Sea. China claims most of the energy-rich waters through which about $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. Neighbours Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims. A spokesman for the U.S. Defense Department, Commander Bill Urban, said Chinese Coastguard vessels had sought since 2012 to block fishing access to the area, "restricting the long-standing commercial practices of others". "We are concerned that such actions exacerbate tensions in the region and are counterproductive," Urban said. He said that the United States, which is a treaty ally of the Philippines, wanted to see claims resolved peacefully in accordance with international law or arbitration. Last week, the U.S. Navy said it had seen activity around Scarborough Shoal that could be a precursor to more Chinese land reclamation, which China has conducted on a large scale elsewhere in the South China Sea to back its territorial claims. Navy chief Admiral John Richardson also told Reuters that a ruling expected in late May or early June in a case the Philippines has brought against China over its claims in the International Court of Arbitration in the Hague, could prompt Beijing to declare a South China Sea exclusion zone. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Additional reporting by Neil Jerome Morales and Karen Lema in MANILA and Andrea Shalal and David Brunnstrom in Washington; Editing by Nick Macfie and Grant McCool)
By Phil Stewart, Warren Strobel and Jonathan Landay WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. administration is considering a plan to greatly increase the number of American special operations forces deployed to Syria as it looks to accelerate recent gains against Islamic State, U.S. officials told Reuters. The officials, with direct knowledge of the proposal's details, declined to disclose the exact increase under consideration. But one of them said it would leave the U.S. special operations contingent many times larger than the around 50 troops currently in Syria, where they operate largely as advisors away from the front lines. The proposal is among the military options being prepared for President Barack Obama, who is also weighing an increase in the number of American troops in Iraq. A White House spokeswoman declined comment. The proposal appears to be the latest sign of growing confidence in the ability of U.S.-backed forces inside Syria and Iraq to claw back territory from the hardline Sunni Islamist group. Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, controls the cities of Mosul in Iraq and Raqqa in Syria and is proving a potent threat abroad, claiming credit for major attacks in Paris in November and Brussels in March. But there are mounting indications that the momentum in Iraq and Syria has shifted against Islamic State. U.S. officials say the group is losing a battle to forces arrayed against it from many sides in the vast region it controls. In Iraq, the group has been pulling back since December when it lost Ramadi, the capital of the western province of Anbar. In Syria, the jihadist fighters have been pushed out of the strategic city of Palmyra by Russian-backed Syrian government forces. Since U.S.-backed forces recaptured the strategic Syrian town of al-Shadadi in late February, a growing number of Arab fighters in Syria have offered to join the fight against the group, the U.S. officials said. U.S. forces have also had increased success in eliminating top ISIS leaders. Air strikes in recent weeks killed a top official called Abd al-Rahman Mustafa al-Qaduli, and an Islamic State commander described as the group's "minister of war" -- Abu Omar al-Shishani, or Omar the Chechen. The United States announced last December it was deploying a new force of special operations troops to Iraq to conduct raids against Islamic State there and in neighbouring Syria. That followed its announcement in October that dozens of U.S. special forces would be deployed in Syria, the first U.S. ground troops to be stationed there. The additional U.S. forces in Syria would be primarily assigned to establishing sites where they would train Arab tribesmen who have been volunteering to fight ISIS. The tribesmen eventually would be provided weapons, paving the way for offensive against the de facto ISIS capital of Raqqa under U.S. air cover. The dozens of U.S. special operations forces now in Syria are working closely with a collection of Syrian Arab groups within an alliance that is still dominated by Kurdish forces. The United States has been supplying Arabs in the thousands-strong alliance with ammunition since October. While the strategy is showing results so far, U.S. officials and Kurdish leaders agree that a predominately Arab force is needed to take Raqqa, a majority Arab city whose residents would consider Kurds as occupiers. The new push by U.S. special operations forces in Syria would be separate from a revised U.S. military effort under way to train a limited number of Syrian fighters in Turkey. That effort is focused on teaching them to identify targets for U.S.-led coalition air strikes. (Editing by Stuart Grudgings)
By Lefteris Papadimas ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece urged its international lenders on Monday to conclude a key bailout review swiftly, as talks on its fiscal progress resumed after the leak of a transcript in which IMF officials apparently mooted scare tactics to get a deal. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras hopes that a successful review, which will unlock an estimated 5 billion euros in bailout funds, will pave the way for talks on debt relief and convince austerity-weary Greeks that their sacrifices are paying off. The 5 billion euros are needed to repay loans from the International Monetary Fund and maturing bonds to the European Central Bank, as well as unpaid domestic bills. Greece signed up to a bailout worth up to 86 billion euros in 2015, its third international financial lifeline since 2010, which hauled it back from the brink of leaving the euro zone. So far, it has received 21.4 billion of an initial 26 billion euro tranche. The review has been adjourned twice since February, mainly due to a rift among the lenders over the estimated size of Greece's fiscal gap by 2018, and disagreements with Athens on pension reforms and the management of bad loans. "The negotiation must be concluded immediately, without unrealistic demands for additional measures beyond those set out in the July bailout agreement," Tsipras' office said. The WikiLeaks site on Saturday published what it said was the transcript of a March 19 conference call by three senior IMF officials. In it, they discuss tactics to apply pressure on Greece, Germany and the European Union to reach a deal in April. The IMF has fought shy of participating in the bailout without a firm promise of debt relief for Greece from the EU, but Germany, while keen for the IMF to take part, has said relief cannot be discussed until Athens has demonstrated compliance with the terms of the bailout. IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said on Sunday that suggestions that IMF staff planned to push Greece closer to default as a negotiating manoeuvre were "simply nonsense". WORRIES Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos met inspectors from the European Commission, the European Central Bank, the European Stability Mechanism and the IMF in Athens. "The word (WikiLeaks) was not mentioned," he told reporters. Another government official said Athens would present tax measures on Tuesday worth 1 percent of gross domestic product to plug a fiscal hole and meet a target of a 3.5 percent primary surplus in 2018. Lagarde said in a letter to Tsipras that a bailout deal was "still a good distance away". Germany's Finance Ministry said it still expected the review to be wrapped up in late April or early May, but a debt haircut was not up for discussion at the moment. A spokesman played down differences with the IMF, saying German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble and Lagarde were in "constant, close contact". But the transcript has renewed worries about Greece's public finances. Greek two-year bond yields jumped about 2 percentage points to a one-month high on Monday. "Greece's deep-seated problems of unsustainably high debt and a fundamental lack of competitiveness inside the euro zone would see doubts about its future inside the currency union resurface regularly," said Jonathan Loynes, Chief European Economist at Capital Economics. "The next chapter of the Greek tragedy could be about to begin". (Reporting by Renee Maltezou and Lefteris Papadimas; Additional reporting Noah Barkin, Joseph Nasr and Paul Carrel in Berlin; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
The boy king died in 1323 B.C. when he was about 18 years old.

Egypt's new antiquities minister, Khaled El Anany, sounded caution this morning at a press conference in Luxor over the claim that Tutankhamun's tomb holds two hidden chambers.

Egyptologist Nicholas Reeves, of the Amarna Royal Tombs Project, had proposed that two hidden chambers were lurking in the tomb of Tutankhamun and that the hidden rooms may hold the tomb of Queen Nefertiti, the stepmom of King Tutankhamun.

Radar scans conducted last year by Japanese radar technologist Hirokatsu Watanabe supposedly supported this idea. On March 17, Egypt's ministry of antiquities, led at the time by Mamdouh ?El-Damaty, stated that Watanabe's scans "suggest the presence of two empty spaces or cavities beyond the decorated north and west walls of the burial chamber," as well as the "presence of metallic and organic substances."

The radar scans also showed what could be door lintels that indicate the presence of doorways, the antiquities minster said at the time in a statement to media. [See Photos of King Tut's Burial and Radar Scans]

However, radar experts not affiliated with the project disputed the results of those scans. These experts noted that the sediment layers at the Valley of the Kings, where King Tut's tomb is located, contain natural voids and rock inclusions that make it difficult for radar to distinguish between archaeological remains and natural phenomena.

Over the past two weeks, the antiquities minister at the time, ?El-Damaty, along with Egypt's minister of tourism, Hisham Zazou, were replaced in a cabinet shuffle. Yesterday, a team supported by the National Geographic Society conducted new radar scans. Those scans are being processed and analyzed; however, the new antiquities minister  El Anany  sounded a note of caution at today's press conference.

"We are not looking for hidden chambers but for the reality of the truth," El-Anany said. "We are very keen to follow the scientific procedures," he said, adding that more radar work would be performed in late April, followed by an international conference in May in which experts would review the results. Egypt's former antiquities minister, El-Damaty, was also at today's press conference and said that while the two cavities could exist, "we have to be sure 100 percent."

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Even so, the Egypt's antiquities ministry said in a statement that "the preliminary results [of yesterday's scans] reached so far do not contradict with the results of the previous radar scans."

Reeves also said that the two cavities, possibly holding a tomb, could still exist.

No new radar images were released to media.

Third set of scans

For the next scan, scheduled for the end of April, another team of scientists will use a different radar-scanning method on King Tut's tomb. In the previous two scans, scientists tried to peer behind the walls of the Tutankhamun burial chamber. The new scans will take place in the hills above Tutankhamun's tomb, using radar equipment that can peer 40 meters (130 feet) below the ground to see if hidden chambers exist.

The international conference to review the results will be held in the Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo, El Anany said. There, experts will discuss whether the two chambers exist, and if so, what could be in them and what would be the best way to access them. Scientists will not use any methods that could damage the artwork in Tutankhamun's tomb, El Anany said.

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.
DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran has sent commandos to Syria as advisers, a military official said on Monday, suggesting it is using its army as well as paramilitary forces to help President Bashar al-Assad's forces in the country's civil war. Tehran is Assad's main regional ally and has provided military and economic support to his fight against rebel groups and Islamic State militants. "We are sending commandos from army's Brigade 65 and other units to Syria as advisers," General Ali Arasteh, deputy chief liaison of the army's ground force, was quoted as saying by the Tasnim news agency. Arasteh said last month that Iran at some point might decide to use commandos and snipers from its regular armed forces as military advisers in Iraq and Syria. To date, most Iranians involved in Syria's war have been from the paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. Iran is believed to have sent hundreds of them as military advisers. An increasing death toll among Iranian fighters since October last year indicates Tehran's forces are taking a more active role in the conflict. (Reporting by Bozorgmehr Sharafedin; Editing by William Maclean; Editing by Tom Heneghan)
By Firas Makdesi PALMYRA, Syria (Reuters) - Islamic State militants retreating from Palmyra laid thousands of mines that they planned to set off simultaneously as the army moved in, a Syrian officer told Reuters in the ancient city after its recapture from the jihadist fighters. The officer said main streets and side roads in Palmyra had been rigged with explosives weighing up to 50 kg. More than 3,000 had already been safely detonated since government forces, backed by Russian jets, retook the city on Sunday, he said. He did not say why the Islamic State fighters failed to set off the explosives before pulling out, but his assertion echoed comments from Syria's antiquities chief, who said the militants intended to dynamite a greater area of the city's 2,000-year-old ruins than they already had. The officer, who did not give his name, said the bombs left behind were linked so they could go off together. "All the government buildings are rigged in a network connected to the Daesh leadership headquarters," he said, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State. "The idea was that as we enter it would all go off at once, not just bomb by bomb. And there are a really huge number of bombs." Islamic State's defeat in Palmyra was not only a significant military victory for President Bashar al-Assad, opening up the country's central desert to government forces and their allies. It also cast the Syrian army as an effective fighting force against jihadists bent on cultural vandalism and wanton killing. A military source told Reuters on Saturday troops had identified 45 bodies in a mass grave in Palmyra, including civilians and Syrian army members captured by Islamic State. Parts of Palmyra have been cleared, including the road from Homs. But Syrian soldiers -- soon to be joined by Russian de-mining experts -- are still working on defusing or detonating explosives. "We cannot leave them there. We are dealing with 90 percent of them by exploding them because they are buried firmly in the ground, cemented in the asphalt," the officer said. Civilians, most of whom fled before Syrian and allied forces began the offensive, cannot return until de-mining is complete. Smoke could be seen rising from some parts of the modern, residential city of Palmyra, which lies next to the 2,000-year-old ruins, during a visit by journalists on Friday. But few people were to be seen and no shops were open. Residential areas had been damaged and traces of explosions could be seen on the ground. GRAFFITI ON RUINS As well as a network of bombs, Islamic State left traces of their 10-month rule in Palmyra. Graffiti was evident on some of the ancient stones. "Remaining", it read, part of the Islamic State motto of "remaining and expanding". On a stone among the remains of the Temple of Bel was scrawled: "No shooting without the permission of the Emir." A signpost on a road through the ruins, now bent at 90 degrees to the ground, tells travellers in the group's trademark black and white colours to "Respect God". "When we show humility, God will deliver us," the sign says, above a passage from the Koran which says: "God made you victorious at the (battle of) Badr when you were but a humble (force)," referring to a battle from the early Muslim era which the ultra-hardline group looks back to with reverence. The ancient Roman amphitheatre, where Islamic State shot dead around 20 men as it took over the city last May, appears unscathed. The Temple of Bel, an imposing monument before it was blown up last year, has been reduced to a couple of columns and a heap of rubble, although antiquities chief Maamoun Abdelkarim says it is not totally beyond repair. Other structures blown up by Islamic State include Palmyra's triumphal arch, three funerary towers and the temple of Baal Shamin. Before serious renovation can take place, officials say, the area needs to be made fully safe. Moscow has sent de-miners to help with the clear-up, and Russian military servicemen will start defusing mines in Palmyra in a few days, Russian news agencies reported on Saturday, citing the defence ministry. The first batch of specialists has left Russian airbase Khmeimim in western Syria. The convoy, consisting of more than 20 vehicles, will be guarded by Mi-24 and Mi-28 helicopters. The de-miners will deal with more than 180 hectares of territory, Russia's defence ministry has said, citing initial estimates. The aim is to clear the historic part of the ancient city as well as residential areas. (Writing by Lisa Barrington in Beirut.; Additional reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin in Moscow and Kinda Makiyeh in Damascus; Editing by Dominic Evans and Larry King)
By Dan Williams TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Israels neighbours are buying arms on a scale that threatens its regional military superiority, the deputy Israeli air force chief said on Sunday, in remarks that appeared aimed at helping secure more defence aid from a reluctant Washington. U.S. military payouts to Israel, currently around $3 billion (2.1 billion pounds) annually, expire in 2018, and Israeli officials have spoken of needing around $4.5 billion. U.S. officials have balked at such an increase. At the heart of the dispute is how to perpetuate Israels qualitative military edge - a guarantee that it gets more advanced U.S. weapons than Arab states get. Israel says it needs to bulk up its armed forces, not just upgrade their technologies, to keep ahead of potential foes. "There are countries here which have plans that are being actualised for arms deals in the hundreds of billions of dollars, for the most advanced Western weaponry and the most advanced Eastern weaponry," Brigadier-General Tal Kelman told a conference to promote Israels purchase of the advanced U.S. fighter jet the F-35. Kelman did not specify countries other than Iran, which the Israelis fear will use sanctions relief from last years nuclear agreement to build up its ballistic missile programme and arm Islamist guerrillas like Lebanons Hezbollah militia. Some Israeli officials have privately voiced concern about U.S. weapons systems being supplied to Western-aligned Gulf Arabs, as well as Egyptian interest in advanced Russian arms, though in neither case are the countries openly hostile towards Israel. "There is a very great danger here, because todays enemy can be tomorrows friend, and todays friend could be tomorrows enemy," Kelman told the forum, hosted by Israel Defense magazine and Fisher Brothers Institute for Air and Space Strategic Studies. "There is a potential here for the erosion of the IDFs (Israel Defence Force) qualitative edge and the IAFs (Israel air force) qualitative edge." Russia's military intervention last year in Syrias civil war has also worried Israel, given Moscows despatch of S-300 and S-400 air defence systems capable of seeing deep into its territory. A slide projected at the conference by Gary North, a retired U.S. air force general now with F-35 manufacturer Lockheed Martin, showed Russian radars in Syria covering much of Israel as well as its Mediterranean training areas. The F-35 has stealth capabilities. (Editing by Jeffrey Heller, Larry King)
ROME (Reuters) - Italy's Prime Minister Matteo Renzi will visit Iran next week, his office said on Monday, three months after the Iranian president came to Europe to rebuild ties as years of economic sanctions ended. The two sides signed business deals worth billions of dollars during Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's visit in January, and Renzi said then that they were only the beginning of future cooperation. Europe countries and businesses are eager to establish trade ties with the $400 billion economy, which rejoined the global trading system in January following a deal to lift crippling sanctions in exchange for limiting its nuclear ambitions. Italian companies including shipbuilder Fincantieri, Ansaldo Energia and state railways Ferrovie dello Stato have all signed deals with various Iranian companies. Fashion house Roberto Cavalli and leather firm Piquadro have opened shops in the capital Tehran. Renzi's office said he would be in Iran on April 12 and 13, without giving further details of his itinerary. (Reporting by Isla Binnie; Editing by Tom Heneghan)
By Robin Respaut and Brian Thevenot (Reuters) - Near the end of his eight years as Louisiana governor, Bobby Jindal, a tax-slashing conservative and presidential hopeful, acknowledged that the state's business tax breaks had gone too far. "The truth is, we have a system of corporate welfare," Jindal said during an April speech to legislators. The comment resonates now as the state faces its worst budget crisis in three decades - largely because of the soaring cost of subsidies, as well as personal income tax cuts, championed by Jindal. Business tax subsidies peaked in 2012, when the state exempted 88 percent of corporate income taxes, or about $1.8 billion. It has exceeded 80 percent since then, according to the Louisiana Department of Revenue. For a graphic showing how corporate tax exemptions soared as state revenue fell, see http://tmsnrt.rs/1T7qbm9 Plummeting oil prices dealt the latest blow to state revenues. Deficits are projected at $940 million for the fiscal year ending June 30 and about $2 billion for next year. Its gotten pretty bad, pretty rapidly, said the state legislature's chief economist, Greg Albrecht, who believes Louisiana is heading into a recession. Jindal has kept a low profile since leaving office in January and could not be reached for comment. In a January speech, he highlighted efforts to cut government and stimulate the economy without raising taxes. "You look at the projects  the employers coming in and those who are expanding  weve seen tremendous progress," he said. RISING STAR In 2008, when Jindal became governor at 36, he was a rising GOP star, often mentioned as a potential presidential candidate. He cultivated that image, staking his political fortunes on a platform of slashing taxes, dismantling big government and attracting business. The next year, Jindal helped push through legislation to cut personal income taxes and worked to enhance Louisiana's already robust corporate tax breaks. In July of 2009, he signed bills that created or expanded nine tax credits to sectors including film, port cargo and infrastructure. The credits are typically worth 20 to 40 percent of a company's in-state spending, or in some cases spending on payroll or research. In all, annual corporate tax exemptions rose during Jindal's term by about $1 billion, to $1.96 billion in 2014, according to state data. His tax-cutting hit a wall in 2013 when he failed to convince a Republican-controlled legislature to abolish personal and business income taxes. "He really wanted to go to a national stage, run for president, and say he repealed the personal income tax," said Robert Travis Scott, president of the Public Affairs Research Council, a nonpartisan organization. Many of Jindal's political successes had consequences for Louisiana's budget. A state-commissioned study found that film tax credits, for example, cost the state an estimated $171 million in 2014. The state ends up with the short end of the stick, said Loren Scott, author of the study, which also found some economic benefits. Among the biggest beneficiaries of Louisiana subsidies is the petrochemical industry. One massive project under construction in Southwestern Louisiana - Sempra Energy's $6 billion liquefied natural gas processing complex and export terminal - will receive a $2.2 billion property tax break over a decade, records show. The plant will create 130 permanent jobs with average salaries of $80,000, records show. The California-based company also got rebates on some payroll costs and a capital investment tax credit. Louisiana's subsidies are getting more scrutiny in the budget crisis. Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards, who took office in January, has proposed cutting incentives but faces resistance from Republican legislators and business groups. The previous administration," Edwards said, "blew a hole in our state budget by writing checks for tax credits, rebates, or refunds to corporations with no consideration of whether Louisiana receives a good return on our investment. Jindal advisor Curt Anderson said the subsidies resulted in new jobs and higher wages. His decision to shrink the government and grow the private sector economy was purposeful." Business groups continue to support the incentives, saying they are invaluable to the state economy. "In terms of economic development, Jindal was an outstanding governor," said Michael Hecht, president of Greater New Orleans Inc. "Corporations are being scapegoated." Falling oil prices and personal income tax cuts also played major roles in the crisis, according to state data. Oil-related revenues are projected to drop by nearly $400 million this fiscal year, the data shows. Personal income tax breaks pushed by Jindal and predecessor, Democrat Kathleen Blanco, reduced revenues by about $800 million annually, said Albrecht, the state economist. Most Louisiana business subsidy programs preceded the Jindal administration, but their use and cost shot up during his tenure, said Jan Moller, director of the nonpartisan Louisiana Budget Project. The governor, he said, directed state economic development officials to "aggressively pursue companies and give them as many incentives as possible." CRISIS MANAGEMENT As Louisiana faced mounting shortfalls, Jindal sought solutions that didn't involve raising taxes. Despite the fact that the state was hemorrhaging money, he just wanted to keep his tax virginity for his presidential campaign, said Edward Chervenak, a political science professor at the University of New Orleans, echoing a theme common among Democrats and Republicans alike in the state. Having signed a pledge not to raise taxes, Jindal turned to one-time fixes, such as offering tax amnesty to delinquent taxpayers and raiding state trust funds. That included drawing down $520 million from the Medicaid Trust Fund for the Elderly and $540 million from a reserve fund for state employee healthcare, according to Republican state Treasurer John Kennedy. Jindal failed last year to sell the state's tobacco settlement, worth $1.2 billion over time, for an upfront lump sum of $750 million - a move Kennedy compared to "a junkie selling his TV or smartphone to buy another fix." Lawmakers now face tough choices. Healthcare and education budgets - particularly colleges - already have been slashed and could see more cuts. And legislators are considering raising sales taxes by up to 2 cents. State Representative Julie Stokes, a Republican from the New Orleans suburb of Kenner, said her GOP colleagues have been reluctant to raise taxes, and she understands. "Look, I dont want to talk about it - Im a conservative Republican from a conservative Republican district," she said. "But I just feel like weve got to lose the talking points and have an honest dialogue. (Editing by Sue Horton and Lisa Girion)
By Teis Jensen and Erik Matzen COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - The Danish government said it would try to find an economically viable solution for gas production in Denmark's part of the North Sea, after A.P. Moller-Maersk threatened on Monday to shut down the country's main gas field. Maersk's oil subsidiary said it will shut the Tyra gas field in October 2018 if it cannot find a solution by the end of this year to make the ageing site profitable in the long term. Its threat added pressure on the government from energy companies to adjust taxes on oil and gas production. They say the slump in oil prices means investing to extract the remainder of the country's declining reserves is no longer profitable. The Tyra complex produces around two thirds of Denmark's gas, according to Maersk Oil. But the company said the field was approaching the end of its operational life after more than 30 years of production and due to subsidence of the underground chalk reservoir. "The government is in a good dialogue with the industry about the future possibilities and we want to find a solution on the problems as quickly as possible," Energy Minister Lars Christian Lilleholt told Reuters. He said the government was still contemplating a proposal from the industry that investments in the North Sea should be eligible for a tax credit or tax postponement. The previous government increased taxes on oil and gas in 2013 so that the state now gets around 65 percent of the profits from production. "It seems pretty obvious that if the taxes are not adjusted, then we will see a scale down," Sydbank analyst Jacob Pedersen said. Denmark's tax proceeds from the North Sea have fallen gradually from 36 billion Danish crowns (3.8 billion) in 2008. In December the government said it expected tax revenues from oil and gas of just 4 billion crowns this year, but that was based on an oil price of almost $50 per barrel -- far above the current $38 level for Brent . The Tyra complex is a hub for a number of smaller facilities and more than 90 percent of Denmark's gas -- 60,000 barrels of oil equivalents last year -- is processed through the field. "We're closing down for safety reasons and not due to the oil and gas prices. But of course we look at the prices when looking at this large, long-term investment," the head of Maersk Oil Denmark, Martin Rune Pedersen, told Reuters. Last week Danish majority state-owned utility DONG Energy said it had terminated a contract to build an oil and gas platform for its Hejre field, postponing indefinitely the major development offshore Denmark. Maersk Oil has been mentioned in Danish media as a possible buyer of DONG's 60 percent stake in the Hejre project. "It makes good sense to see how one can take advantage of existing activities and installations in the area. But we must see what the Herje consortium decides on," Maersk Oil's Pedersen said. Maersk Oil operates Tyra on behalf of the Danish Underground Consortium (DUC) partnership, owned 31.2 percent by Maersk, 36.8 percent by Shell , 20 percent by Danish state-owned Nordsofonden and 12 percent by Chevron . (Additional reporting Nerijus Adomaitis and Nikolaj Skydsgaard; Editing by Sunil Nair and Susan Fenton)
The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously turned back a legal effort to reinterpret the one person, one vote constitutional rule Monday, ruling that states may rely on total population when drawing their legislative districts.

The case, Evenwel v. Abbott, was brought by two Texas voters, Sue Evenwel and Edward Pfenninger, who challenged the apportionment of Texas Senate districts. With the exception of the U.S. Senate, every American legislative body is apportioned by total population under the one person, one vote rule first outlined by the Court in the 1960s.

Evenwel and Pfenninger argued that counting non-voterschildren, the mentally disabled, disenfranchised prisoners, and non-citizensbroke that rule and diluted their political power in violation of the Fourteenth Amendments Equal Protection Cause. Many observers, including my colleague Garrett Epps, noted that Evenwels interpretation would redraw the American political map in favor of a whiter, older, and more conservative electorate.

In agreement with Texas and the United States, we reject appellants attempt to locate a voter-equality mandate in the Equal Protection Clause, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote for the majority. As history, precedent, and practice demonstrate, it is plainly permissible for jurisdictions to measure equalization by the total population of state and local legislative districts.

The Supreme Court first forced states to draw their legislative districts with roughly equal populations inside them in two landmark decisions: Baker v. Carr in 1962 and Reynolds v. Sims in 1964. The two decisions enshrined the one-person, one-vote rule in American constitutional law.

Recommended: How a Challenge to Legislative Redistricting Backfired

Transforming those precedents into a requirement that states use eligible voters instead of total population went too far, the Court ruled. Adopting voter-eligible apportionment as constitutional command would upset a well-functioning approach to districting that all 50 States and countless local jurisdictions have followed for decades, even centuries, Ginsburg wrote. Appellants have shown no reason for the Court to disturb this longstanding use of total population.

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But, she noted, Mondays decision did not address whether states could use voter-eligible apportionment when drawing legislative districts, only ruling that states were not required to do so. In his concurrence with the Courts judgment, Justice Samuel Alito seized on this distinction to hint that a future case could allow apportionment methods beyond the status quo.

Whether a State is permitted to use some measure other than total population is an important and sensitive question that we can consider if and when we have before us a state districting plan that, unlike the current Texas plan, uses something other than total population as the basis for equalizing the size of districts, he wrote.

Justice Clarence Thomas went even further in his own concurrence. In my view, the majority has failed to provide a sound basis for the one-person, one-vote principle because no such basis exists, he wrote. Instead of continuing the misguided search for one, Thomas instead urged his colleagues to leave the question of apportionment to the states themselves. There is no single correct method of apportioning state legislatures, he concluded.

Recommended: The Strange Career of Free Exercise

Evenwel was the latest brainchild of the Project on Fair Representation, a conservative legal nonprofit that specializes in mounting legal attacks on the legislative pillars of the American civil-rights movement. The groups highest-profile victory was in 2013 in Shelby County v. Holder, which gutted the Voting Rights Act of 1965. It also filed an amicus brief in Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs v. Inclusive Communities Project last year, urging the justices to strike down a key part of the Fair Housing Act of 1968. (In the end, Justice Anthony Kennedy joined with the liberals to save it.)

The group is also part of Fisher v. University of Texas this term, which targets affirmative-action policies in higher education. A ruling in that case is still pending.

Read more from The Atlantic:

This article was originally published on The Atlantic.
By Kylie MacLellan and Elizabeth Piper LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron and his family do not benefit from any offshore funds, his spokesman said on Tuesday, after the British leader came under pressure over his late father's inclusion in the "Panama Papers" revelations over tax havens. During a visit to a business in central England on Tuesday, Cameron said he did not own any shares or have any offshore funds but did not answer a question on whether he or his family had benefited from offshore investment funds set up by his father. On Monday, his spokeswoman had said it was a "private matter".. In a statement on Tuesday, a spokesman for Cameron said: "To be clear, the prime minister, his wife and their children do not benefit from any offshore funds." He did not say whether they had benefited in the past. "The prime minister owns no shares ... Mrs Cameron owns a small number of shares connected to her fathers land, which she declares on her tax return." The leader of Britain's main opposition party urged the government to tackle tax havens, accusing Cameron of allowing "the super rich elite" to dodge taxes. Leaked documents from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca have provided evidence of how the world's rich and powerful used secretive offshore company structures to stash their wealth. The documents named Cameron's late father Ian and members of his Conservative Party among the list of the firm's clients. The government has promised to investigate the leaked data but opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn called for more to be done, including setting up an independent investigation. "There cannot be one set of tax rules for the wealthy elite and another for the rest of us," Corbyn said at the launch of Labour's campaign for local elections next month. "The unfairness and abuse must stop ... no more lip service, the richest must pay their way." Corbyn said Britain had a "huge responsibility" as many tax havens are British overseas territories, such as the British Virgin Islands and Cayman Islands, or crown dependencies, such as Jersey or the Isle of Man. TAX HAVENS When Britain hosted a G8 summit in 2013, Cameron put tackling tax avoidance at the heart of the agenda. Some of Britain's former colonies increasingly rely on revenues from shell companies and trusts that often hide wealth. Three years later, some opposition lawmakers say the release of the "Panama Papers" shows the battle is far from won and are demanding that Cameron exert more control over Britain's overseas territories, most of which are self-governing. According to media that have seen Mossack Fonseca's files, more than half of the 200,000 companies set up by the firm were registered in the British Virgin Islands, where details of ownership do not have to be filed with the authorities. The head of the secretariat of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes, Monica Bhatia, said the British Virgin Islands had improved transparency over the last five years, in contrast to Panama. Dominic Grieve, a former attorney general and Conservative chair of parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee, said preventing overseas territories from running their own financial services would push crime elsewhere. "The government has a responsibility towards encouraging overseas territories to find legitimate ways of economic development, and the financial sector is undoubtedly such a legitimate method," he told BBC radio, adding that people only used tax havens if their own systems were "onerous". "The best way of ensuring that ... people do not want to go to the BVI is to provide the right environment domestically." ($1 = 0.7032 pounds) (Additional reporting by William James and Leigh Thomas; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
DUBAI (Reuters) - Assailants shot dead a senior Saudi security officer west of the capital Riyadh on Tuesday, the interior ministry said in a statement carried by state media, and the attack was claimed by the militant Islamic State. The Western-allied kingdom, the world's top oil exporter, has been hit by a spate of deadly shootings and bombings targeting security forces or its Shi'ite Muslim minority since last year, many of them claimed by Islamic State. Saudi state news agency SPA quoted an interior ministry spokesman as saying that the officer, Colonel Kitab Majed al-Hammadi, was shot dead in the al-Arja area of al-Dawadimi province west of the Saudi capital. The spokesman said security authorities were investigating the killing. Islamic State's Amaq news website said the group's Saudi branch, known as the Nejd Province, carried out the attack and identified Hammadi as the director of internal security in the al-Quwayiyah region. Islamic State views Shi'ites as heretics but is also bitterly opposed to Sunni Muslim Gulf Arab rulers and is seen to be trying to stir up sectarian strife on the Arabian Peninsula to bring about the overthrow of its ruling dynasties. The Nejd Province group claimed responsibility on Sunday for an explosion next to a police station south of Riyadh that killed one person and damaged police vehicles. (Reporting by Ali Abdelaty; Writing by Sami Aboudi; Editing by William Maclean/Mark Heinrich)
OSLO (Reuters) - Oil major Royal Dutch Shell has pulled its application from Norway's Arctic-focused oil licensing round, the firm said on Monday, in a blow to the Nordic country's ambitions to explore for oil and gas in its northern offshore areas. "The decision is part of an optimisation of Shell's global portfolio following the acquisition of BG and a persistently low oil price," the company's Norwegian unit said in a statement. "Norway remains one of our core areas." In December the Norwegian oil ministry said Shell was among the companies that had applied for drilling permissions in the so-called 23rd round, a licensing round set to move the search for hydrocarbons closer to the country's border with Russia. As recently as last month, the head of Shell's business in Norway had told Reuters the firm had hoped that it could begin drilling in 2017 if it won licenses in the 23rd licensing round. The Norwegian oil and energy minister said Shell's decision had no implication for the conduct of the licensing round. The awards would still be announced before July, he said. "We have many other competent companies that are competing hard for our promising, new exploration areas," Tord Lien said in an emailed statement. "Shell has told us that the decision is based on short-term cash flow priorities and consolidation after the acquisition of BG." (Reporting by Stine Jacobsen, editing by Gwladys Fouche)
By Suleiman Al-Khalidi AMMAN (Reuters) - A prominent leader in Syrian al Qaeda offshoot Nusra Front was killed on Sunday in what rebel sources said appeared to be a U.S. drone strike in the rebel-held northwestern province of Idlib. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which tracks violence in the country, confirmed reports on websites by militant sympathizers that Abu Firas, "the Syrian", was killed along with a number of his companions. While the Observatory said he was killed in a suspected Syrian or Russian air raid on a village northwest of the city of Idlib in northwestern Syria, two rebel sources said the attack appeared to have the hallmarks of a U.S. drone strike. "The Sheikh was with his son and several companions," said one of the rebel sources familiar with details of the incident. A U.S security official said the United States was aware of reports about Abu Firas' demise but had no information to offer on Sunday. Another source did not rule out it could be a Syrian strike. U.S.-led coalition forces have previously targeted Nusra Front leaders in Syria. Islamist rebel sources said Abu Firas was a founding member of the militant group who fought in Afghanistan in the 1980s and was a senior member of its policy-making Shura Council. He worked with al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in galvanizing support among Pakistani supporters of the fundamentalist Taliban movement in Afghanistan several decades ago, the sources said. They added that Abu Firas, who was a former Syrian army officer discharged in the late 1970s because of his Islamist leanings, played a significant role in training Muslim Sunni jihadists who came from many parts of the Arab world to Afghanistan to fight the Russian occupation of the country. Abu Firas had many followers within the hardline group and gave commentaries released by Nusra Front on issues ranging from governance to religious jurisprudence, the rebel sources said. Originally from Madaya, near Damascus, Abu Firas was a fervent opponent of Islamic State's style and ideologically at odds with the militant group that occupies parts of Syria and Iraq. "May God accept him as a martyr, he was a commanding figure. This was engineered by the Crusader axis," said one of the sources. A fragile "cessation of hostilities" has held in Syria for over a month as the various parties try to negotiate an end to Syria's five-year-old civil war. But the truce excludes Islamic State and Nusra Front, and air and land attacks by Syrian and allied forces continue in parts of Syria where the government says the groups are present. (Reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi, Additonal reporting by Mark Hosenball in Washington; Editing by David Evans and Peter Cooney)
(Photo/xcb.com.cn)

A 24-year-old woman suspected of robberies at several jewelry stores in Hangzhou, a city in eastern China's Zhejiang province, was arrested by police on Sunday. All the stolen goods have been recovered.

(Photo/xcb.com.cn)

The woman, surnamed Zhu, was accused of forging identity cards and robbing jewelry stores in Hangzhou. Most recently, she applied for a clerk job at a jewelry store under the pseudonym Shen Xin. Starting from her very first shift, she began to steal from the store.

(Photo/xcb.com.cn)

However, this was not the first time Zhu stole jewelry while on the job. In 2014, she applied for a job at a supermarket in Hangzhou, also under the name of Shen Xin, and robbed a silver store inside the supermarket, according to police.
By Andy Bruce and Costas Pitas PORT TALBOT, Wales/LONDON (Reuters) - The closure of Tata Steel's operations in Britain would leave a hole in manufacturers' supply chains, dealing a blow to thousands of smaller firms across the country and creating a logistical headache for the car industry. India's Tata Steel, Britain's biggest producer, put all of its operations up for sale, including the country's largest steelworks at Port Talbot which is losing $1.4 million a day due to depressed steel prices and high costs. As the government searches for a new buyer, some of Tata's customers are already looking for new sources of steel which is used in everything from car roofs to Heinz baked bean cans, cladding on Ikea buildings and some of the country's coins. While bigger names have the luxury of a global supply chain to fall back on, smaller companies - which account for around 95 percent of British manufacturing firms - face a tougher task if Port Talbot in south Wales closes. Tata sells around half of its products into the domestic market, the firm said in 2014. "It would be entirely undesirable from my point of view," said Tony Mullins, executive chairman of QRL Radiators Group, a Tata Steel customer that makes heating radiators near the Welsh town of Newport, employing around 150 staff. Looking abroad for steel would leave firms like QRL that use British steel exposed to swings in the currency exchange rate and higher transportation costs. It might also need to hold more stock if it is buying from the other side of the world, having an impact on working capital. "We have to be competitive, we have to produce quality products, and historically with Tata that has been possible for us," Mullins said. DRIVING FORCE Britain, the birthplace of the modern steel industry, has been struggling to compete since its post-war heyday and has shed thousands of jobs in recent years. Since 2001 imported supplies have met more than half of its domestic demand, according to the International Steel Statistics Bureau (ISSB), as local producers struggled with high energy costs, green taxes and fierce competition. Germany is the biggest foreign supplier of steel to British manufacturers and construction firms, followed by China, Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands, the ISSB said. The government maintains that the main problem is the collapse in the price of steel. China has flooded European markets with relatively cheap steel as a result of its own falling demand. Britain imported 826,000 tonnes of Chinese steel in 2015, up from 361,000 two years earlier, according to industry data. According to the ISSB, China has produced more steel in the last three years than Britain has since the industrial revolution. Those British steelmakers that remain have been kept going by local manufacturers, a resurgent car industry and foreign demand. "Hot-rolled coil is produced (at Port Talbot) and that predominately goes into the automotive sector ... that's the bodywork," Dominic King, head of policy and representation at industry group UK Steel, told Reuters. Five carmakers built almost 99 percent of Britain's 1.6 million cars last year and all source steel from Port Talbot, with some already looking for alternatives should the site shut. The country's biggest carmaker Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), which made just under a third of national output last year, gets around 30 percent of its steel from the site while Nissan, which operates Britain's biggest single car plant in northern England, buys 45 percent from there. Showing the cost constraints within the industry, John Leech, who heads up the automotive team at KPMG and works with some of the country's biggest carmakers, said JLR could not afford to give preferential treatment to a more expensive product even though it is owned by Tata Motors - part of the same family of companies as Tata Steel. "To compete against BMW and Mercedes, Jaguar Land Rover needs to makes sure its cars are cost-competitive and that means using materials that are sourced cheaply and competitively." JLR said: "Like all other independent businesses, we make our own purchasing decisions based on the right commercial reasons." The firm said it continued to use Tata Steel and did not see any short term impact on its business. A spokesman at General Motors-owned Vauxhall, which uses Tata's high-strength lightweight steel in its Astra hatchback model said it was "considering the scenario of UK steel plant closures on supply sources". "There are a number of sources of steel in Europe that are used by our plants in Spain, Germany and Poland," the spokesman said, when asked whether the firm was looking elsewhere. Leech said timing could be key, with Tata Steel saying it wants to exit Britain as soon as possible. "It will mean a lot of fast footwork behind the scenes but... the ability to get the same steel from other European or Chinese plants in (a one to three-month) time frame is a possibility," he said. BUY BRITISH For many of the workers leaving the Port Talbot plant at the end of their shift this week the news has come as a shock, given the investment made under Tata's ownership. "Tata certainly have influenced training more than the old regime..." said Dave Bowyer, 59, a steelworker for 40 years and Unite union representative, whose ancestors were steelworkers. "The workforce itself has become far more technical. Our craftsman and production guys, even the guys on the shop floor - a number of them have got degrees." UK Steel's King said there were many advantages to the British product which continue to attract buyers. "One is customer service, that you have that close link with the manufacturer... you know in the UK that they are going to be meeting the energy targets, the environmental targets that are out there (and) that engineering skill," he said. The industry is also known for its highly-skilled flexible workforce with no strike action in 30 years. Rollo Reid, technical director and grandson of the founder of REIDsteel, one of Britain's largest steel construction companies which sources almost 90 percent of its steel from Tata, worries that if Port Talbot closes, prices will rise. "There will be one less competitor and when the other European ones go out of business, there will be less competitors and then the price will go up and we'll be completely within the hands of the Chinese." (Editing by Kate Holton and Janet McBride)
By Steve Holland MILWAUKEE (Reuters) - U.S. Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz has pulled into a statistical dead heat with front-runner Donald Trump, a new Reuters/Ipsos national poll showed on Tuesday, as the Texas senator appeared poised to pick up a key victory in Wisconsin's primary. Cruz's recent gains mark the first time since November that one of Trump's rivals has threatened his lead in support among Republicans, coinciding with missteps by the New York real estate mogul that include a gaffe about abortion and the arrest of his campaign manager on battery charges. Cruz got 35.2 percent of support to Trump's 39.5 percent, the poll of 568 Republicans taken April 1-5 found. The numbers put the two within the poll's 4.8 percentage-point credibility interval, a measure of accuracy. Cruz, a U.S. senator from Texas, and Trump were also briefly in a dead heat early last week. But as recently as a month ago, when Senator Marco Rubio was also still a candidate, Cruz trailed Trump in Reuters/Ipsos polling by about 20 points. Ohio Governor John Kasich, the only other Republican now remaining in the race for the party's nomination, placed third in Tuesday's poll with 18.7 percent. Cruz appeared poised for victory in Wisconsin's nominating contest on Tuesday, according to opinion polls in the state. He hopes a Wisconsin victory will deliver a powerful message that he can unite disparate factions of the party and break Trump's momentum. Facing possible defeat in Wisconsin, Trump proposed blocking money transfers to Mexico by undocumented immigrants as a way to pressure Mexico to pay for a border wall, a key component of his controversial immigration plan, which has won votes in other states. Trump's campaign said in a memo that if elected, he would use a U.S. anti-terrorism law to cut off remittances from people living in the United States illegally. The memo elaborated on an idea Trump floated in August, when he suggested seizing all remittances tied to "illegal wages." Asked about Trump's remittances plan, Democratic President Barack Obama called it unworkable. "The notion that we're going to track every Western Union bit of money that's being sent to Mexico, good luck with that, Obama said at a White House press briefing. Trump's support has faltered among women in particular. He said in a March 30 interview that if abortion was illegal, women who end pregnancies could face punishment. He later reversed himself to say doctors who provide abortions should be held responsible. He was also criticized for standing by his campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, after the aide was arrested on misdemeanor battery charges in an incident with a journalist. More than 70 percent of likely women voters said they had an "unfavorable" opinion of Trump, according to a rolling poll average for the five-day period ended April 5. Trump dismissed concerns. "I think we're going to do very well in Wisconsin," he told reporters on Tuesday at a diner, where he declined a customer's offer to let him try on one of the dairy state's signature "cheesehead" hats. Trump also disputes Cruz's claim he can unify the party, saying at rallies that "everybody hates Cruz." The role of unifier is an unlikely one for Cruz, who has had a stormy relationship with party leaders since he forced the U.S. government to shut down for six days in 2013 in a budget fight with Obama. But enmity toward Trump among many in the party establishment was enough for five former Republican White House rivals to back Cruz. In the Democratic race, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont has a slender lead in opinion polls in Wisconsin over front-runner Hillary Clinton, but she maintained her lead nationally in a Reuters/Ipsos poll also released on Tuesday. (Additional reporting by Susan Heavey, Doina Chiacu, Lindsay Dunsmuir, Emily Stephenson in Washington, and Chris Kahn in New York; Editing by Leslie Adler)
By Ayla Jean Yackley ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan accused U.S. counterpart Barack Obama of going behind his back for criticising Turkey's press freedom record and linked it to efforts to "divide" Turkey, media reports said on Sunday. Obama said on Friday after meeting Erdogan on the sidelines of a nuclear summit in Washington that he was troubled by curbs on the press in Turkey and said he had urged Erdogan not to repress democratic debate in his country. Turkey has drawn international condemnation for charging two journalists with treason for publishing footage that purportedly showed the intelligence agency shipping truckloads of weapons to opposition fighters in Syria in early 2014. Can Dundar and Erdem Gul of Cumhuriyet face life in prison. "I was saddened to hear that statement made behind my back. During my talk with Obama, those issues did not come up," Erdogan told reporters, according to Hurriyet daily. He returned to Turkey after a five-day trip to Washington on Sunday. "You cannot consider insults and threats press freedom or criticism," Erdogan said. Turkey has seized control of opposition newspapers and TV channels and cut the satellite feed of a pro-Kurdish channel, accusing them of terrorism-related activities. Erdogan has personally brought more than 1,800 criminal suits against individuals, including journalists and children, for insulting him since becoming president in 2014. The Committee to Protect Journalists said at least 13 journalists are in jail for their coverage and described a "massive crackdown" that includes self-censorship and harassment of media-business owners. 'MASTERMIND' Criticism of Turkey's press record seeks to "divide, shatter and if they could, swallow up Turkey," he said. "This is what I mean by mastermind. A mastermind is playing games over Turkey. Erdogan and his supporters occasionally refer to a shadowy foreign "mastermind" that seeks to destabilise Turkey, a NATO member that shares borders with Syria, Iraq and Iran. Separately, Erdogan said the U.S. and Turkey had edged closer in their stances on Syrian Kurds, close U.S. allies in the fight against Islamic State. Turkey sees the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia and its political arm, the PYD, as part of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged a three-decade insurgency against Turkey. U.S. officials have said they distinguish between the groups. Both Vice President Joseph Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry promised Erdogan during meetings they would not allow the formation of a PYD-run state in Syria, the Turkish leader said. Turkey is putting forth the names of 2,400 trained Arab and Turkmen fighters to battle Islamic State, Erdogan also said, describing them as part of the moderate opposition. This was "so the U.S. no longer has an excuse" for co-operating with the YPG and PYD, he said. (Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)
WASHINGTON D.C., April 1, 2016 -- Chinese President Xi Jinping (4th R, front) poses for a group photo with other leaders attending the fourth Nuclear Security Summit in Washington D.C., the United States, April 1, 2016. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)

NEW YORK, April 5 -- After nearly a week of the hustle and bustle, serenity descended on Washington, D.C. during the weekend. What is less tranquil is the global nuclear security landscape that is beset by the specter of nuclear terrorism.

Undoubtedly, the fourth Nuclear Security Summit (NSS) that ended on Friday has showcased some successes, such as a newly-amended nuclear protection treaty, the global reduction in nuclear material stockpiles, the creation of a nuclear security contact group and strengthened bilateral cooperations.

However, there should be no let-up in the global efforts to firm up each and every link of global nuclear security architecture beyond 2016, analysts say, warning against attention being diverted to elsewhere and progress sputtering to a halt.

SOLID PROGRESS

"The summit had some useful outcomes. Most particularly from China, the agreement to support the implementation Initiative on nuclear security is a very positive step forward," said Kenneth Luongo, president of the Partnership for Global Security.

In its national progress report on nuclear security delivered during the summit, China said it "will formally sign up for gift baskets including Strengthening Nuclear Security Implementation and Sustaining Actions to Promote Global Nuclear Security."

Zhang Hui, who heads the Harvard Kennedy School's research initiative on China's nuclear policies, noted that China's participation will be very important to strengthen its nuclear security system and increase international confidence in China's system.

"The initiative on Strengthening Nuclear Security Implementation (SNSI) has been as a key gift basket and a major accomplishment from the nuclear security summits," Zhang said.

Another eye-catching progress is the joint statement issued by China and the United States on nuclear security cooperation.

"This is the first time for China to issues such a kind of a joint statement at the summits," Zhang said.

In the statement, Beijing and Washington said they plan to conduct annual dialogue on nuclear security starting from this year.

"It is very positive development," said Luongo. "The U.S. and China have had cooperation on nuclear security over the years, but annual meetings make a big difference. They help to drive progress on important issues and also provide a forum for discussion which is very helpful," he added.

Meanwhile, getting enough ratification to get the Amendment to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (CPPNM) to enter into force chalked up another major achievement, as it will provide a stronger legal basis for the world' s nuclear security work, Matthew Bunn, a specialist in nuclear security at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government, told Xinhua.

The CPPNM is the only legally binding international instrument in the area of physical protection of nuclear material. IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano once called the amendment "the most important area of unfinished business in global nuclear security."

In addition, there was agreement to create a "nuclear security contact group" of senior officials that will meet later in the year, said Page Stoutland, vice president for scientific and technical affairs of the Nuclear Threat Initiative.

MISSED OPPORTUNITIES

"I think the summit has solid progress but also some missed opportunities," Bunn said.

The summit unveiled action plans for each of the five main international organizations and initiatives working to secure nuclear and radiological materials.

These organizations and initiatives include the IAEA, the United Nations, INTERPOL, Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism, and Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction.

"I think there is a missed opportunity to do more to strengthen international nuclear security institutions because they will have to take up the slack that we are not meeting at the summit any more," Bunn said.

"Action plans really only strengthened those groupings very modestly."

In Luongo's view, another disappointment is that the summit did not set important, big long term goals for the next decade that countries could take action to meet in the absence of the summit process.

ACTIONS BEYOND 2016 NSS

For all the progress or missed opportunities, the end of the summit ushers in an era where individual country should continue their efforts to lock down their nuclear materials and secure nuclear facilities.

"Continuing the work within the five international organizations and the creation of a nuclear security contact group is a good start. It is important, however, that mechanisms be developed for the longer term,"Stoutland said.

According to the NTI, many countries do not yet have all the security measures in place. For example, nearly half of the countries do not require cyber security at nuclear facilities.

Meanwhile, at the moment, there are no globally agreed standards for effectively securing nuclear materials.

"We need to move on that direction, and we need fast global efforts to secure radiological sources that can be used in a dirty bomb. The risk can be reduced using very simple, low cost security measures," Bunn said.

In the post-summit era, Bunn said, the world needs to do whatever they can with all the available tools. "One of the key tools is bilateral cooperation. So I was happy to see the U.S. and China issue a joint statement on strengthening their nuclear security bilateral cooperation."

Meanwhile, there is a lot to be done to try to rebuild cooperation between the United States and Russia, he added.

According to Fissile Materials Working Group, Russia and the United States have well over two-thirds of all weapons-usable nuclear materials in the world.

More efforts are needed to ensure the IAEA gets reliable funding that allows it to actually plan and prioritize its activity, which means the funding is coming more from regular budget and less from voluntary contributions from member states, Bunn added.
Wales' economy minister has warned against "cherry picking" in the sale of Tata Steel's UK operations.

Edwina Hart said she would be against "taking plants out of the equation" in any deal and stressed the need to find a solution for "the long-term interests of steel manufacturing in the UK".

She was speaking as the Government confirmed it was in contact with at least one potential buyer for the business.

:: Unions Push Ministers For Steel Rescue Plan

Liberty House last week agreed to buy two Lanarkshire mills from Tata, with help from the Scottish government.

However, there is doubt it will want to buy the entire business, including the giant plant at Port Talbot in South Wales, which is crucial to the local economy.

Speaking after chairing a meeting of a steel task force in Cardiff, Ms Hart said: "I think it is quite clear to say that we are concerned to ensure that we don't fragment the steel industry across the UK.

"We need a viable industry that requires investment and we wouldn't want people cherry picking and taking plants out of the equation.

"So it's Important to recognise that we want to look for a potential solution for the long-term interests of steel manufacturing in the UK.

"Both governments have agreed on that."

Len McCluskey, the leader of Britain's biggest union Unite, told Sky News: "You need a complete steel industry if you are going to be a viable manufacturing base.

"For us to allow part of it to vanish, we would never get it back again and our future generations would suffer as a result of that.

"It's absolutely vital that the Government come in and give a strong lead and I believe we can save the whole of the industry."

With tens of thousands of jobs hanging in the balance, steelworkers face an anxious wait over any rescue deal.

Representatives from every plant in the country have been meeting in London to discuss how to tackle the crisis facing the industry.

Story continues

Business Secretary Sajid Javid, who is to meet Tata's chief finance officer, has indicated the Government could cut the cost of energy for steelworks and cover workers' pensions to pave the way for a deal.

However, the Government was reluctant to give further details over any potential support that may be offered.

Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns said: "Any of these issues of course are going to be commercially confidential.

"We can't share how much money could be on the table, because that becomes the starting point for any debate or negotiation thereafter.

"We want to do whatever we can to secure that longer-term interest for the immediate community as well as the strategic interests of the UK."

He confirmed talks had taken place with Liberty House, but added: "Of course, nothing concrete can be confirmed until the sales offer document has been published by Tata.

"It has to be a relationship between Tata and a potential buyer in the first instance.

"But the UK Government and the Welsh government stand ready and waiting to secure that long-term future we want to see."

Mr Cairns added: "But of course they are just one potential party.

"You would expect the UK Government to have been engaged with other potential investors."

Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones said: "I have one simple message for the people of Wales and the UK Government.

"These plants cannot close. Welsh steel - British steel - cannot be allowed to die.

"These plants are vital to the future of the United Kingdoms interests."
ADEN (Reuters) - Warplanes believed to belong to the Saudi-led coalition bombed and set ablaze an al Qaeda compound in southern Yemen on Monday, residents said, the latest attack to target the militant group that controls at least two cities in the country. Islamist militants have exploited the Yemen war between Iran-allied Houthis and forces loyal to Saudi-backed President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to seize at least two provincial capitals in south and eastern Yemen, using them as bases to recruit more followers. Residents said two planes launched rockets into an old office of the local government in Zinjibar, the Abyan provincial capital, which is held by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), setting the building on fire. They said an unknown number of al Qaeda militants were in the compound at the time and were believed to have been killed or wounded. Apache helicopters, also believed by residents to belong to the Saudi-led coalition, were later seen flying over the city. A local official said on Sunday that warplanes launched four air strikes on an AQAP camp near the port city of Mukalla, killing and wounding a number of militants. It was not immediately possible to confirm the affiliation of the aircraft involved in Monday's reported air strike. A spokesman for the Saudi-led alliance could not be contacted for immediate comment. U.S. aircraft have staged attacks on AQAP fighters in Yemen in recent weeks. More than 6,200 people have been killed in the Yemen war that began in March last year, after the Houthis forced Hadi to flee to Saudi Arabia. (Reporting by Mohammed Mukhashaf; Writing by Sami Aboudi; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
RIYADH (Reuters) - Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi appointed a new vice-president and prime minister on Sunday, pro-Hadi state media reported, sacking prime minister Khaled Bahah in a major shake-up ahead of peace talks later this month. Yemen has been in a civil war for more than a year between Hadi's supporters and the Iran-allied Houthi group that has sucked in a Saudi-led alliance and caused a major humanitarian crisis in one of the poorest countries in the Middle East. Yemen's state television reported that Hadi had appointed Ali Mohsen Al-Ahmar, a politically powerful army general who split violently with former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh in 2011, as the new vice-president. The president also appointed Ahmed Obeid bin Daghr, a former official in Saleh's General People's Congress party before joining Hadi's camp, to become new prime minister. Bahah, who held both posts before he was sacked, had been named as an advisor to Hadi. A Yemeni government official said the shake-up could undermine U.N.-sponsored peace talks, scheduled to start in Kuwait on April 18. "Bahah was in favour of a political settlement and the appointment of Ali Mohsen is a victory for the hardline wing," the official, who asked not to be named, told Reuters. Saudi Arabia has signalled it was in favour of a peaceful settlement in Yemen, concluding two prisoner swap deals with the Houthi group since last month. The two sides have confirmed a truce starting at midnight on April 10 ahead of the peace talks, planned to follow a week later. (This version of the story has been refiled to change word order in paragraph two) (Reporting by Ahmed Tolbah and Mohammed Ghobari, writing by Katie Paul, editing by Sami Aboudi and David Evans)
KKR has agreed to buy into seeds provider Advanta Enterprises in a deal which values the business at about $2.25bn.
US military gives go ahead to 'Gremlin' drones: Swarms of craft will overwhelm enemy defenses and conduct missions too dangerous for manned aircraft

They were the mischievous creatures blamed for causing mechanical failures and faults on aircraft during World War Two and later the destructive monsters in a hit film franchise.

So Gremlins might not seem like the first choice for a fleet of robotic aircraft being developed by the US military.

But the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has given the go ahead for four firms to begin building the craft.

Darpa said the program has been deliberately named Gremlins after the imps that British pilots during Wold War Two adopted as their good luck charms.

Composite Engineering, Dynetics, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems and Lockheed Martin will develop craft

Named for the imaginary, mischievous imps that became the good luck charms of many British pilots during World War II, the program envisions launching groups of UASs from existing large aircraft such as bombers or transport aircraft - as well as from fighters and other small, fixed-wing platforms - while those planes are out of range of adversary defenses.

When the gremlins complete their mission, a C-130 transport aircraft would retrieve them in the air and carry them home, where ground crews would prepare them for their next use within 24 hours.

The gremlins' expected lifetime of about 20 uses could provide significant cost advantages over expendable systems by reducing payload and airframe costs and by having lower mission and maintenance costs than conventional platforms, which are designed to operate for decades.

'We've assembled a motivated group of researchers and developers that we believe could make significant progress toward Gremlins' vision of delivering distributed airborne capabilities in a robust, responsive and affordable manner,' said Dan Patt, DARPA program manager.

'These teams are exploring different, innovative approaches toward achieving this goal and are rolling up their sleeves for the hard work ahead.'

The idea is to replace the expensive and increasingly vulnerable multi-function combat aircraft which currently perform a range of different missions.

Instead they propose deploying from the air smaller unmanned aircraft, each with different capabilities, to perform a mission before retrieving them mid-air so they can be used again.

Not only would the concept remove the risk to pilots by keeping them out of the front line but it would also drastically reduce the cost of each aircraft.

Darpa said the program has been deliberately named Gremlins after the imps that British pilots during Wold War Two adopted as their good luck charms.

This is because they are hoping to the 'feasibility of conducting safe, relatable operations with multiple air-launched unmanned drones'.

Dan Patt, program manager at Darpa, said: 'Our goal is to conduct a compelling proof-of-concept flight demonstration that could employ intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) and other modular, non-kinetic payloads in a robust, responsive and affordable manner.'

Darpa says the Gremlin drones would have a lifetime of around 20 uses, fitting somewhere between missiles and conventional aircraft.

The Gremlins would be launched in mid-air from larger aircraft and then retrieved in the same way.

The agency is hoping to build on its automated mid-air refuelling technology alongside the sea based platforms for capturing drones as they come into land.

Mr Patt said: 'We wouldn't be discarding the entire airframe, engine, avionics and payload with every mission, as is done with missiles.

'But we also wouldn't have to carry the maintainability and operational cost burdens of today's reusable systems, which are meant to stay in service for decades.'

Darpa is now inviting military engineers and academics to suggest solutions that will allow the drones to be launched and recovered mid-flight along with navigation and flight control systems.

In its briefing, the agency said it hopes that by using cheap drone aircraft it would be possible to overwhelm the increasingly sophisticated defences of enemies.

It said: 'As part of a future concept of operations, it is envisioned that instead of using conventional, monolithic systems to conduct missions in denied environments, multiple platforms with coordinated and distributed warfighting functions can be employed to saturate adversary defenses while achieving mission objectives.

'Within this concept of operations, a Gremlins system would provide options for delivering small Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) and other nonkinetic payloads to the battlespace in a manner that is robust and responsive.

'Responsiveness is achieved through the use of conventional aircraft hosts to transport and launch a volley of gremlins from standoff ranges.

'Furthermore, by scaling up the number of systems engaged in operations, the impact of a loss of any individual gremlin is reduced.'
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will exchange views with the Myanmar side about bilateral relations and issues of mutual concerns so as to further enhance economic and trade cooperation between both sides, said Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hong Lei on Tuesday in Beijing.

Wang Yi pays a visit to Myanmar on Tuesday and Wednesday at the invitation of chairman of the National League for Democracy (NLD) Aung San Suu Kyi.

Hong Lei made the remarks in response to Wang Yi's visit to Myanmar and the fact that Myanmar stopped several cooperation projects with China including hydraulic projects at a news briefing.

"China and Myanmar are linked by mountains and rivers and friendly neighbors. Both countries have carried out extensive and pragmatic cooperation, which has enhanced Myanmar's economic and social development and benefited local people," said Hong.

"During the visit, Foreign Minister Wang Yi will exchange views with the Myanmar side about bilateral relations and issues of mutual concern, including some pragmatic cooperation projects of mutual concern. We hope to further enhance the economic and trade cooperation between two sides and achieve mutual benefits and win-win outcomes," said Hong.
Remains of a downed Azerbaijani forces helicopter lies in a field in the separatist Nagorno-Karabakh region, on Saturday, April 2, 2016. [Photo: Imagine China]

The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said on Monday that the country's armed forces have destroyed an Armenian command and staff point in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

"A command and staff point of the Armenian armed forces stationed in the occupied Azerbaijani territories was destroyed by return fire inflicted by the Azerbaijani troops," the ministry said in a statement, adding that a large number of Armenian troops, including officers of the rank of colonel and general, were killed.

The ministry said it will later provide a video footage of the operation.

Earlier, the ministry said that the tense situation on the front line remained. Ministry Spokesman Vagif Dargakhly told local media that the two sides were using heavy equipment and artillery.

The Armenian armed forces resumed shelling of Azerbaijani positions along the line of contact on Monday.

Hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan on the contact line of the Nagorno-Karabakh region reportedly flared up overnight Saturday with the two countries' defense ministries blaming each other for triggering the escalation.

The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said 12 Azerbaijani soldiers have been killed in the fighting while the Armenian side said that 18 soldiers died on its part.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked in a bitter dispute over the mountainous region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Their conflict over the region first broke out in 1988, when the region claimed independence from Azerbaijan to join Armenia.

Peace talks have been held since 1994 when a ceasefire was reached, but minor clashes occasionally occurred in the past along the contact lines and across the volatile frontline. The clashes escalated last month.
Activists want dog festival taken off the menu

An expressionless dog sits in a cage with other dogs that will be killed in Yulin. Many dogs are killed in front of other dogs. Peter Li, China policy specialist for the Humane Society International who paid a visit to Yulin from March 29 to April 2, says many dogs die many times, both physically and psychologically. [Photo provided to China Daily by the Humane Society International]

After being rescued from a truck carrying dogs illegally in July, a three-year-old greyhound received a new name, new owner and new family.

When the dog was found by volunteers from the Vshine Animal Protection Association in Dalian, Liaoning province, it had back injuries and was covered in blood.

It and many other dogs were trucked hundreds of kilometerssix or seven of them stuffed into a crate or small metal cage without food or water and bound for the dinner table.

To prevent further cases, animal rights activists are calling for an end to an annual dog meat festival in South China that has been blamed for tarnishing the country's reputation overseas.

The festival in Yulin, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, is held in June, but has met increased opposition in recent years amid concerns over canine cruelty and unhygienic food handling practices.

Activists say they will continue to press for the festival to be banned and for legislation to be introduced outlawing the slaughter of dogs and cats for meat.

Qin Xiaona, founder and director of the Capital Animal Welfare Association, said, "The Yulin authorities need to adopt more proactive and decisive steps to crack down on an industry that kills dogs acquired illegally and sells their meat in breach of food safety regulations."

You may not have missed a videoOne lucky dog: Rescued from dog meat trade

A cat looks out from a wooden crate in Yulin. Despite being the Dog Meat Festival, many cats will not escape the fate of being served on a dinner table. Photo taken between March 29 and April 2, about 11 weeks ahead of Yulin's annual Dog Meat Festival in 2016.[Photo provided to China Daily by the Humane Society International]

According to Humane Society International, between 10 and 20 million dogs are killed annually in China for human consumption, predominantly in the south and northeast.

Qin claims that more than 80 percent of these are stolen pets, according to research by her association.

Zhang Ying, a civil servant in Jiangsu province, said Tiantian, her 4-year-old Chihuahua, is more like a family member than a pet.

"I am worried that dog-eaters will force thieves to steal or poison our pets," she said, adding that eating dogs has no place in tradition.

Peter Li, China policy specialist at Humane Society International, said the Yulin festival has been scaled back in recent years amid pressure from the authorities and from domestic and international protesters.
A recent article in Fortune starts with a terrific and compelling statement: how to fix a $400 billion image problem.

Wow. The image problem in question belongs to the new F  35 Joint Strike Fighter, the Pentagons newest entry in combat aircraft. Beset by problems such as years behind schedule, billions over budget, technical setbacks and, apparently, being outfought in air combat tests by the very jet it is supposed to replace, the F  35 has a slew of brand issues. An Air Force general spoke about the troubled brand image of the aircraft in terms all too familiar to many credit union professionals, using language like perception problem, information gap, and  getting out there and telling the story is part of what we need to continue to do.

Besides fixing the glitches, what is the militarys response to this branding problem? Roadtrip!

Thats right  the Pentagon plans to take the F  35 aircraft on a series of public airshows throughout the spring and summer. The strategy is to get the aircraft in front of as many people as possible, wow them with its capabilities and hope for an uptick in public sentiment and support. Whether or not that works remains to be seen.

Many credit unions can relate to the issue of perception problems when it comes to their brands. If your credit union brand was in trouble and you decided to take it on a public relations roadtrip, what things would you want to communicate to the public?

Obviously, you would want them to know that your brand is authentic. Your members and potential members must rest assured that the brand promise you make is the service and experience they will receive every time they interact with you.

You must also ensure that your board, executive management team and staff are brand delivery channels and are all on the same page when it comes to the brand and support it fully. If the people at the top dont support the brand, why should anybody else? The answer: they wont.

You would want them to know your brand is worth the premium they pay for it. Nobody wants to feel like theyre getting the short end of the stick when it comes to a business relationship. Your brand must wow members at all times in order to reassure them that they are in the right place for the right service at the right time in their lives. Otherwise, you run the risk of losing them to the competition.

Lastly, your tour must assure the credit union brand resonates with members. In this case, resonating means fully empathizing with your members, understanding the lives they live, the financial challenges they face and the solutions they want and need.

And the solution here is not product-focused. Dont spin your wheels (or burn your jets) thinking internally about your specific products and services. Rather, think in terms of what the members need. They want a new car. They want a home mortgage. They want a checking account that wont fee them to death. Sure, you provide the products to fill those needs. But think about the members perspective. Looking at your credit union from their viewpoint will help you better sharpen the edge on your brands resonance.

Of course, credit unions dont have the luxury of a full-blitz summer goodwill tour, wrapped up inside the super-coolness of an air show. But what you can do now is think about your brand, before it reaches the troubled phase, and tweak it as needed until it reaches maximum performance. Or, as Maverick and Goose might say: does your brand feel the need  the need for speed?
Traffic officers caught a tractor driver illegally chugging along one of Scotlands busiest motorways.

A patrol car operated by Transport Scotland spotted a John Deere tractor driving along the busy M8 motorway near Glasgow Airport on the Whitecart viaduct.

The Trunk Road Incident Support Service (Triss) vehicle, which monitors motorways and trunk roads, pulled the tractor over shortly before 5am on Saturday 2 April.

See also: Tractor speeds and weights  what the new laws mean

Traffic Scotland recorded the incident on camera and later posted a still of the tractor on its Twitter page @trafficscotland.

Tractor being escorted off #M8 Whitecart Viaduct.Cyclists and other slow-moving vehicles are also not allowed by law pic.twitter.com/Xwsd6mopsQ  Traffic Scotland (@trafficscotland) April 2, 2016

Officers from Triss pulled the tractor on to the hard shoulder and gave the driver advice about the laws of the road. The driver was later escorted off the motorway.

By law, tractors, cyclists and other slow-moving vehicles are not allowed to travel on the motorway.

Rule 253 of the Highway Code sets out the laws around slow-moving vehicles and motorways.

It states: Motorways must not be used by pedestrians, holders of provisional motorcycle or car licences, riders of motorcycles under 50cc, cyclists, horse riders, certain slow-moving vehicles and those carrying oversized loads (except by special permission), agricultural vehicles, and powered wheelchairs/powered mobility scooters.

Paul Watters, head of roads policing at the AA, described the incident as most unusual.

Agricultural vehicles and motorways are a big no-no, said Mr Watters.

Tractors have got limitations in terms of braking and acceleration and they are often carrying equipment on them, such as buckets.

They are not built for this sort of driving. The worst thing is the speed differential on motorways, which is always the factor that causes most damage to casualties in accidents.

If you hit a tractor when driving at speed, you are going to end up in a bad state. Thankfully in this situation, an accident was averted.

Mr Watters said tractor drivers caught driving on motorways could expect a fine of 100 and three penalty points on their licence. The option to attend a driver awareness course is offered an alternative to penalty points.

Tractor driver employers should also be aware that they too could face prosecution if death or serious injury were to occur in a tractor crash on a motorway, he added.

Fines of up to 450,000 can now be applied to companies with a turnover of up to 2m who are found to have breached the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
Believe it or not, todays robots can not only be professional Go players, they can also qualify as expert surgeons.

Recently, a British teenager named Billy Whitaker had his epilepsy cured thanks in part to the efforts of a robot surgeon. With minute accuracy, the robot pinpointed the epicenter of Whitakers debilitating attacks and drilled electrodes deep into his brain to remove the tiny piece of seizure-causing tissue.

Whitakers case was not the first instance of robots successfully performing surgery. To qualify as a robot surgeon, a robot must possess three major items: sufficiently advanced software and hardware (a brain), a sensor (eyes), and electromechanical devices (hands).

The brain works similarly to our computers at home, but its operating system is usually optimized to increase the stability of its software. Eyes usually refers to features like pressure sensors and/or video image capture devices. The eyes are in charge of collecting information and transferring it to the brain, which then issues commands for the hands to perform.

Most medical robots today are based on Leonardos robot, a design originally completed by Leonardo da Vinci in the 15th century and rediscovered in the 1950s. Doctors sit in front of a screen and use a sort of joystick to perform surgeries. The most important feature of these surgeries is that doctors are able to adjust the scale based on specific needs, which is especially beneficial for delicate and hyperfine surgeries. However, these robot surgeries are usually much more expensive than regular ones.

In addition to robot surgeons, there are also robot chefs and robot executives. With the rapid development and increasing use of artificial intelligence across many fields, it is likely that more and more robots will make significant contributions to humanity.
Oaklands brutal eviction for profit system must endBy Lynda Carson - April 4, 2016Oakland - Recently I announced that 1,200 eviction notices were filed in Oakland from January 2015, through March 2016, which was incorrect. My mistake. I doubted those numbers since I read an article that mentioned there were 10,910 evictions filed in 2013 in Oakland, and around 13,000 or more evictions filed in 2014.After seeking a clarification from the City of Oakland, today I was advised that there are about 11,050 eviction termination notices on file with the Rent Stabilization Board from January 1, 2015 through February 29, 2016 and about 100 additional notices were filed for March 2016. My apologies for any misunderstanding.In Oakland, there are many reasons that people are being threatened with eviction, and often the tenants are being threatened with unlawful evictions, even from so-called nonprofit housing developers commonly referred to as the Housing Mafia, by the attorneys who defend tenants in court against an eviction.As an example, despite being protected by Measure EE in Oakland, last week the East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation (EBALDC) threatened tenants with eviction (30 Day Notice) at one of their so-called affordable housing projects in East Oakland. The tenants in the 21 unit residential building were being threatened if they failed to sign a new lease that was materially different from their old lease.Among other things, the new lease states that EBALDC will no longer take payments from a third party except section 8 payments. It also mentions that there are minimum income requirements that exclude poor people from the housing project, and under section #5) the lease states that the tenants will be responsible to cover all the debts of the building by allowing EBALDC to charge higher rents.When tenants objected, and one tenant even consulted an attorney who advised him not to sign the new lease, and the tenant gave EBALDC a statement saying that he would not sign the new lease, the tenant was immediately threatened with eviction. In a state of panic, on the following day the tenant signed the new lease under duress. Under Measure EE , Oaklands rent law that went into effect in 2002, the tenants in this building were legally allowed to decline to sign the new contract/lease, because of the material changes in the terms of the new contract, compared to the old contracts. But EBALDC did not want to hear about the tenants rights, and pressured the tenants to sign the new lease with threats of eviction.Additionally on April 4, notices were slipped under the door of the tenants in the 21 unit residential building by Danny Chen, the property manager, advising tenants that if they did not come by the building office by 2:00pm, Tuesday April 5, that all non-responses will be considered declining to sign.The boss of property manager Danny Chen is Tammy Cotton . Tammy Cotton is also listed as a property manager with EBALDC, and she works for Cindy Norton who is head of property management for EBALDC. In California according to the Bureau of Real Estate (Department of Real Estate), property managers should have a real estate license to operate in the state of California. A search of the Department of Real Estate in California reveals that Danny Chen, Tammy Cotton and Cindy Norton are not listed as having a real estate license The Eviction System In California Is BrutalThe eviction system is brutal and a terrifying experience for many low-income tenants in Oakland and Berkeley . Once a tenant receives an Unlawful Detainer / 5 Day Summons, commonly referred to as a UD, the tenant has only 5 days to file a response with the court (clerk of the court), or they may lose the eviction case automatically by default.It is a landlord friendly court system that favors the landlords who are evicting their tenants by using lawyers and big money, even if it is an unlawful eviction. Eviction cases are one of the quickest types of court cases there are in the court system in Alameda County, and many tenants cannot afford an attorney to represent them in court to fight against an eviction. Often before the tenant even receives an eviction notice (UD), the landlords are legally allowed to harass the tenants by serving as many 60 Day Notices as they want, before the tenant is eventually served a UD eviction notice. The 60 Day Notice is an advanced notice stating that the landlord wants to evict a tenant.As tenants are fighting back and trying to get some tenant protections all across the Bay Area, they have been targeted and stalked by the California Apartment Association which is opposed to any and all reasonable tenant protections, that tenants are seeking Under attack by the landlords and the California Apartment Association again, word has spread around by the Richmond Progressive Alliance telling people not to sign the petition for the Richmond Homeowners & Private Property Rights Act, which if passed into law would make it illegal to implement rent control and eviction protections in Richmond forever.Eviction stories are all over the news wires lately, revealing that the majority of people being evicted from their housing all across the nation are women with children . According to the National Low-Income Housing Coalition, there is a shortage of 7.2 million affordable housing units across the nation. With sequestration budget cuts devastating the nations subsidized housing programs while executives in the so-called affordable housing sector continue to receive hefty pay increases , the homeless shelters remain filled with the poor because millions of dollars are being diverted from the section 8 program, to pay the exorbitant salaries of the executives in the so-called affordable housing industry.In Oakland, the feud between tenants and landlords are never ending, and according to a report the cases in the Rent Arbitration Board have been increasing in recent years, as tenants have recently been objecting to unreasonable plans to increase the yearly fees to cover the costs of the rent board. A planned increase in fees that is excessive according to tenant activists, because the planned fee increase is not needed while a huge amount of money being collected has not been spent on the program in recent years.As the struggle for renter protections in Oakland is on the rise, the Protect Oakland Renters Act & initiative campaign starts this Saturday at the Causa Justa/Just Cause office located at 3268 San Pablo Avenue, in Oakland. Everyone is invited on April 2nd from 9:30am to 2pm, to take part in the Campaign Launch & Kick Off to protect Oakland renters.This is the official launch of the November 2016 ballot to protect renters being displaced in droves by never ending skyrocketing rents , unjust evictions, and unlawful practices.Oaklands renter protection initiative was filed on March 3 at Oakland City Hall, and the Oakland renters movement is part of the growing renters movement seeking stronger renter protections in other cities of Northern California, including the City of Richmond , and Alameda , where renter protection initiatives were also filed recently.Additionally, the public is invited to be a speaker to help pass the Housing State of Emergency and Moratorium on Evictions and Rent Increases on Tuesday April 5, at 5:pm at the Oakland City Council Chambers, 1 Frank Ogawa Plaza. You can fill out a speaker card in advance for Agenda Item #12.There Are Three Renter Protection Bay Area Ballot Measures People Can Support(Contact info on how people can support the renter protection ballot measures)There are presently three Bay Area ballot initiatives for rent control and just cause eviction protections that have been filed so far recently in Richmond, Alameda, and Oakland. You can support the tenants movement for renters rights and help make sure these initiatives gather enough signatures to make it to the ballot!RichmondContact: 510-621-7566, Fair & Affordable Richmond CoalitionSaturdays 10am-2pmSundays 12pm-4pm1021 MacDonald Ave., RichmondAlamedaContact: Brad Hirn brad.hirn [at] gmail.com , Alameda Renters CoalitionSaturdays, 9a-5pSouth Shore shopping center in Alameda all day, typically near the Safeway and Trader Joe's.Sundays, 9a-1pSouth Shore shopping center, AlamedaSunday, 1p-5pWalgreens and Starbucks on Webster St. AlamedaOaklandContact: Becki becki [at] cjjc.org , Causa Justa Just CauseEviction Case System Being Transferred From Oakland To HaywardRecently it became public that the eviction case is being transferred from Oakland to Hayward , making it much harder for the low-income, elderly and disabled renters of Oakland and Berkeley to make their court dates if they face eviction, and have to use public transportation.As a way to sell the plan to consolidate the eviction case system in Hayward to the public, in a scheme to transfer the eviction case system from Oakland to Hayward, Judge Morris Jacobson publicly repeated stated on numerous occasions that there would be a shuttle bus to meet people at the Hayward Bart Station, that would take them to the Hayward courthouse. It turns out that there is not going to be shuttle bus to take the public from the Hayward BART Station to the Hayward courthouse In a statement sent out last week from Oakland City Attorney Barbara Parker, she said: The Alameda County Superior Court recently announced that all unlawful detainer actions (evictions) and the Court's Self-Help Center (offering help to residents who represent themselves) will be located at the Hayward Hall of Justice. This means low-income residents in Oakland and other northern Alameda County cities will no longer be able to access these services in Oakland's courthouses.Unfortunately, the Hayward Courthouse is not close to public transportation. Renters and low-income persons will be most adversely affected by placing all unlawful detainers and self-help services in Hayward; they are most likely to have public transportation as their only viable option to reach the Hayward Courthouse, which the Court acknowledges is not readily available by BART (unlike Oakland's downtown courthouses).The difficulties in reaching the Hayward Courthouse will increase the likelihood that many low-income residents and tenants will not be able to adequately defend actions against them and will incur wage losses by having to take more time off from work to attend case management conferences, hearings and trials.Oakland's courthouses are located within minutes of public transportation. In fact it takes more travel time to reach the Hayward Courthouse than the Oakland courthouses from nearly all Alameda County city centers.The Court's decision was not widely publicized and I don't believe the public had adequate opportunity to comment. However I believe it is important for the Alameda County Superior Court to hear from Oakland and other County residents on this issue. If you would like to weigh in, the Court's contact information is as follows:The public is free to contact Judge Jacobson and Chad Finke to tell them that they want the unlawful detainer actions (evictions) and the Court's Self-Help Center (offering help to residents who represent themselves) to be located in Oakland, instead of Hayward.Honorable Morris Jacobson, Presiding JudgeSuperior Court of CaliforniaCounty of AlamedaHayward Hall of Justice, Department 511, 2"d Floor24405 Amador StreetHayward, California 94544Chad Finke, Court Executive OfficerExecutive OfficeSuperior Court of CaliforniaCounty of AlamedaRene C. Davidson Courthouse1225 Fall on StreetOakland, California 94612Lynda Carson may be reached at tenantsrule [at] yahoo.com >>>>>>>
What is UFW (United Farm Workers) doing to support farmworkers fighting for justice in San Quintin, Mexico and Washington state? Nothing.

[ FUJ member Lazaro Matamoros and Chelsea Thaw of FUJs boycott coordination team carry a Boycott Driscolls banner in the annual Cesar Chavez March in Salinas, California. April 3, 2016. Photo by Michal Garcia. ]

UFW Tries to Silence Boycott Driscolls Activists at Cesar Chavez March

On Sunday, April 3, Michael Garcia and fellow Watsonville Brown Berets traveled a short distance to Salinas, California to attend the annual Cesar Chavez March and Rally presented by United Farm Workers (UFW). The Watsonville Brown Berets were joined by members of Familias Unidas por la Justicia (FUJ), an independent farmworker union in Burlington, Washington fighting for a union contract, and initiators of the boycott against Driscoll's.

The Watsonville Brown Berets (WBB) and FUJ activists spoke with people assembled at Cesar Chavez Community Park and handed out flyers about the growing movement to boycott Driscoll's, the world's largest berry distributor. FUJ, along with tens of thousands of farmworkers in San Quintin, Mexico, are fighting to end wage theft and poverty wages, inhumane production standards, and retaliation from protected union activity.

Although advocating for farmworkers' rights seems like it would be warmly welcomed by UFW, that was unfortunately not the experience for WBB and FUJ members. Garcia, born and raised in Watsonville, noticed that his friend was working the stage and asked if his group could have some time later to speak about the Driscoll's boycott. Garcia's friend, who was both the owner of the stage and a mariachi musician performing at the event, agreed to provide Garcia time. The stage owner, however, was then reportedly approached by UFW representatives and specifically told that UFW does not want WBB or FUJ speaking from the stage.

Prior to parading through the streets of Salinas, Garcia enthusiastically approached UFW Regional Director Lauro Barajas and asked if it was OK if they carried their Boycott Driscolls banner towards the front of the march. Garcia was denied and then told that UFW did not want him to carry the banner at all during the march.

In an interview the next day at a cafe in Watsonville, Garcia, feeling disenchanted by UFW and their annual event, observed that, "In Salinas people were just worshipping and romanticizing the past and Cesar Chavez. There was nothing going on in the march speaking to contemporary issues, other than our signs calling for the Driscoll's boycott. It just seemed like one big UFW advertisement. The only thing they were advocating for was overtime in the fields." Garcia respects the community members of Salinas, but says UFW representatives are, "A bunch of sellouts making money by romanticizing off the past."

When FUJ boycott coordinator Andrew Eckels approached a UFW representative to ask permission to speak from the stage about the FUJ, Eckels was given the cold shoulder and completely ignored. Garcia reiterates, "The whole time we were there, we were treated like unwelcome guests."

While dialoging with Barajas after the march, Garcia asked, What is the UFW doing right now for the San Quintin and Washington state farmworkers?

Garcia says that Barajas, the UFWs Regional Director, stuck his hand right in Garcias face and replied, Were doing a lot more than you think.

To which Garcia interjected, "Yes, but specifically what are you doing for the Driscoll's boycott?"

Nothing. Barajas replied with a proud smirk.

The rally in the park continued after the march, and despite UFWs wishes, the stage owner granted advocates of the Driscolls boycott a few minutes to address the crowd. FUJ member Lazaro Matamoros primarily spoke followed by closing words from FUJ boycott coordinator Andrew Eckels. This came after all the other organizational representatives had already spoken, and following a performance by the mariachi band. Still, UFW wanted nothing to do with farmworkers fighting for dignity and justice against Driscolls. Garcia recalls, As soon as we started talking, the main UFW representative [Lauro Barajas, UFW Regional Director] started pulling out UFW flags from around the stage.

Garcia states that overall, "The thing that made me feel most disconnected was to learn that the UFW representative specifically pointed our group out to the stage owner and said he did not want us on the stage."

While many people have heard heroic tales about Cesar Chavez and United Farm Workers, less is known about the negative aspects of the organization. UFW's record includes lying about Cesar Chavez being the founder of United Farm Workers.

UFW has left Larry Itliong and other Filipinos out of public narratives about the historic farmworkers' movement.

"It's very important getting him recognized for what he did," Johnny Itliong, Larry's son, told NBC News. "He didn't do it himself, but he initiated it allHow did Cesar Chavez become the founder of a union he was asked to join? That's on him for creating the fallacy, doesn't mean he didn't do any good. Just a matter of setting the record straight."

To this day, the UFW website's 'About Us' section continues to perpetuate the founder myth by stating, "As president of the United Farm Workers of America, Arturo S. Rodriguez is continuing to build the union Cesar Chavez founded ..."

UFW accepts sponsorship from corporations such as Chevron, Budweiser, Southern California Gas Co., AT&T, and Southwest Airlines. In addition to corporate sponsorships, the UFW has a history of silencing community members fighting for justice. During a grassroots protest called March Against Salinas Police Brutality on May 25, 2014, UFW organizers suppressed anti-police messages.

In a scathing critique published on May 19, 2014 exposing experiences working as an organizer for United Farm Workers, La Stephanie, an "Indigenous badass" writes:

"Ultimately, I cut my time at the union short because I couldnt take it anymore. Being in the UFW was reminiscent of being back in an abusive home. As a child survivor of domestic violence, I make no qualms about calling abusive behavior out and my supervisor was ill-equipped to handle strong women. If you didnt play the docile, well-behaved woman, it was as if you were speaking a language he didnt understand. As a defense (because he felt threatened), my supervisor made me feel irrational for continuously bringing up the lack of women in the Union. He was also manipulative and sometimes controlling, at times asking where I was during my off time."

In conclusion, Garcia concedes, "I've known these things about the UFW for a while now, but it was upsetting to actually see it and experience it myself. The UFW has gone a long way since it's beginning, but unfortunately not for the better of the farmworkers they're supposed to be fighting for."

Previous coverage of the boycott Driscolls movement:

Bradley Allen is a reporter and photographer in the Monterey Bay area, and part of the Indybay collective. Follow him on Twitter: @BradleySA.
Spring 2016 National Immigrant Solidarity Network Monthly News Digest and News Alert! National Immigrant Solidarity Network

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Winter 2015 U.S. Immigrant Alert! Newsletter

Published by National Immigrant Solidarity Network Please Download Our Newsletter: http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/Newsletter/Spring16.pdf [Requires Adobe Acrobat, to download, go: http://www.adobe.com]

Remember March 25 2006 Los Angeles No HR4437 March! Look Forward For Our New Fight At May Day 2016! Lee Siu Hin

National Coordinator - National Immigrant Solidarity Network Last week we marked the 10th anniversary of Los Angeles Grand Marcha March 25th million people immigrant rights march against HR4437 to criminalized the immigrant community, our victory had changed the U.S. for ever! As part of the March 25th and May Day 2016 organizing, we had many great memories, and tense moments, at the following years we had limited achievement on immigrant rights; mass immigrant raids and deportations, the so-called anti-terrorism bill, and now the racist Donald Trump's anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim rhetoric. We should never forget the great historical moment of 2006, but also need to continue mobilize at 2016, calling for May Day 2016 to fight for our human and civil rights!

In This Issue: 1) Remember March 25 2006 LA No HR4437 March

2) A Shocking Glimpse Inside Privatized Detention Facilities

3) Educators, Legal Aid Providers and Members of Congress Urge Federal Government to End Immigration Raids Targeting Unaccompanied Children

4) DHS and State Dep. Prepare Mass Deportation of Hundreds of Muslims

5) Meeting to Discuss High-Tech H1-B Immigrant Workers Rights

6) 8 Biggest H-1B Employers

7) ICE Has Accidentally Deported Thousands of American Citizens

8) Border patrol union endorses Trump

9) Private Prisons are Cashing in on Refugee Desperation

10) New Report Shows Poor Medical Care Led to Deaths at U.S. Detention Centers

11) Austin Immigrant rights activists confront mayor over deportations

12) 2016 2016 NISN Planning

13) Updates, Please Support NISN! Subscribe the Newsletter!

Please download our latest newsletter: http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/Newsletter/Spring16.pdf



3/10: A Shocking Glimpse Inside Americas Privatized Detention Facilities For Immigrants

Tom Benning and Dianne Solis  Dallas Morning Post



The opening of Maribel Zelayas letter was bleak.

I cannot bear this punishment any longer, she began. Im dying of desperation, of this injustice, of this cruelty. We are immigrants, not criminals. To treat us like this, its as if they must not have hearts, as if we werent human. They treat us like dogs.

Zelaya was fed up. For more than six months, the 29-year-old asylum seeker had been locked inside the T. Don Hutto Residential Center, an immigrant detention facility in rural Texas. The building, formerly a medium security prison, is a bleak concrete complex surrounded by a wall of chain link fence. Zelaya found the conditions inside the center disturbing; her health began to deteriorate and she fell into a deep depression. At the end of October, she released a searing letter in Spanish describing life inside Hutto, the nations only all-womens detention center.

Like so many of the women at Hutto, Zelaya  whose attorney asked that her full name not be used to protect her safety  was fleeing abuse and a city held hostage by gang violence. But she soon became disillusioned with the grim reality of detention, and decided to stop eating in protest. I am glad to participate in this hunger strike, she wrote. Its an insult, I came here to find shelter but what I got instead is punishment.

Zelaya was joined by at least 26 women who also refused to eat until they were released from detention, according to Grassroots Leadership, a nonprofit working closely with the women at Hutto. Their actions made headlines after the organization published handwritten letters from 18 of the women, describing their treatment in detention and reasons for striking. I do not have the help of no one and I am asking as a favor if you can help me I would appreciate it so much because they do not want to lower my bail, wrote a woman from Mexico protesting the facilitys inadequate medical care.

The issues many of the women identified arent unique to Hutto, however. They are the product of a sprawling immigration detention system increasingly reliant on partnerships with private prison companies. Those corporations have found a lucrative market in the growing detention of immigrants. Today, nine of the 10 largest detention centers in the country are run by private prison companies. Hutto, for example, is run by the nations largest for-profit prison corporation, Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), through a contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

When Zelaya arrived at Hutto, she found herself caught in this complex partnership. Her decision to go public arose from a deep sense of disappointment with her treatment in detention, especially after enduring trauma and violence in Honduras. The asylum seeker fled harrowing abuse at the hands of her ex-husband, who was rumored to be a sicario, or hitman, for a dangerous gang. Everyday I discovered a [bad] secret about him; he was a monster disguised as a person, she recalled in a detailed declaration to her attorney. He would snort cocaine, and also he would invite his colleagues and friends to drink; they would go to the club and get women and when he was drugged, he would kill them. Sometimes, he would lock Zelaya up and refuse to feed her.

Zelaya eventually left her husband and moved in with another man, but her situation didnt improve. After she refused to carry drugs into the city jail for his gang, her home was broken into and she was brutally raped. A few days later, gang members stormed into her house with M16s and AK47s, warning her to leave or face death. Zelaya escaped Honduras, but was arrested by Customs and Border Protection and sent to Hutto after arriving in the U.S. She spent more than six months detained at the center before writing the letter and making her grievances publicly known.

ICE, for its part, quickly denied all reports of the strike. But the events raise questions about the agencys oversight mechanisms and its response to protest, especially in privately run detention facilities. Although ICE outsources to CCA, the for-profit corporation is not subject to federal public records law, making it difficult to know what happens to detainees who enter centers like Hutto through ICEs tangled bureaucracy. But Freedom of Information Act request (FOIA) requests to ICE give us a peek behind the curtain of this secretive world.

As Immigrant Detention Spikes, Private Corporations Move In

The women at Hutto werent the only detainees protesting the conditions of lockup, however. The reported strike emerged as similar actions popped up at immigrant detention centers throughout the country. In October, more than 60 detainees reportedly launched hunger strikes at detention centers in El Paso, Texas, and LaSalle, Louisiana. A month later, hundreds of men began a hunger strike at a detention center in Adelanto, California, and more than 100 detainees launched a series of hunger strikes to protest conditions at detention centers in Alabama, Colorado, Texas, and more.

Considering the numbers, resistance to the conditions of detention should hardly come as a surprise. The immigration detention system has exploded in recent years, nearly doubling its capacity over the past decade. The systems expansion is partly due to a Congressional mandate known as the detention bed quota, which requires that the Department of Homeland Security make more than 30,000 beds available every night for immigrant detention. Thanks to the bed mandate, the total number of people in detention each year has risen dramatically, from 230,000 people in Fiscal Year 2005 to 440,600 in 2013.

The growth of the industry has also helped create a lucrative market for private prison companies, which have welcomed the immigration crackdown as an opportunity for profit. Now, 62 percent of all ICE immigration detention beds are operated by for-profit prison corporations, compared to 49 percent in 2009. The nations two largest private prison companies, CCA and GEO Group, have benefited from the surge in particular. Together, they run eight of the countrys 10 largest detention centers, and operate 72 percent of the private immigrant detention industry. Unsurprisingly, both companies reported surging profits in their quarterly earnings this summer and have more than doubled their revenues since 2005. In 2014, CCA earned $195,022,000 in net revenue, compared to $133,373,000 in 2007....

.

Read the rest of the article:

Part One http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=Issues&report=SingleArticle&ArticleID=1703

Part Two http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=Issues&report=SingleArticle&ArticleID=1704

Part Three http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=Issues&report=SingleArticle&ArticleID=1705

2016 National Immigrant Solidarity Network Planning For 2016, well continue organize different activist events to support immigrant worker communities 1) May Day 2016 National Immigrant Rights March

- Anywhere in the U.S. 2) June-October: Immigrant Heath Justice and Cancer Discussion

- Los Angeles, CA

- In conjunction with e-TeamMed Foundation, bi-monthly meetings focus on health issues, health support and heath justice. To Join the Meetup, Please Sign-In to the MeetUp Group:

http://www.meetup.com/Los-Angeles-Cancer-Meetup/events/229630769/

3) September: Immigrant Rights Teach-In

- Los Angeles, CA

- Topics: Immigrant detention and deportation, upcoming November U.S. Presidential election impact on immigrant rights. 4) December: immigrant rights conference

- Los Angeles, CA

- A one-day conference includes workshops, performances. Topic includes: post-election analysis, immigration detention and deportation, labor rights, heath care.



3/11: ICE Has Accidentally Deported Thousands of American Citizens

Kevin Mathews Care2

Stories of immigration detention centers are already upsetting enough, but can you imagine how traumatic it must be for legitimate U.S. citizens to be put through this process? It happens more often than youd think. As Vice News reports, since 2003, over 20,000 U.S. citizens have been either wrongfully detained or outright deported from the country by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Lets be perfectly clear: U.S. citizens are absolutely protected constitutionally from being deported or even detained in this manner. However, the system we have in place is such a mess that a large number of Americans slip through the fairly wide cracks and become unjust victims of ICE.

Jacqueline Stevens, director of the Deportation Research Clinic at Northwestern University, has studied these accidental detentions and deportations and found them to be surprisingly, and horrifyingly, common. Since theres no official citizenship database, even U.S. citizens can have trouble proving they were born in the country, as even the current president can attest.

On top of that, immigration courts are overwhelmed, meaning many cases are pushed through quickly without proper research. People accused of being in the country illegally arent even guaranteed legal representation; As such, many go through the process without understanding their own rights or someone to help verify their citizenship. Essentially, the system is so flawed that wrongful deportations are the natural conclusion. It would be truly shocking if this did not result in the deportation of U.S. citizens, Stevens said.

U.S. leaders may choose not to be too vocal about these errors, but rest assured they are aware of the problem. According to documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, between 2011 and 2014, 26 percent of people held in detainment centers by ICE were subsequently found to be U.S. citizens. Considering that ICE is getting it wrong at such a high percentage by its own acknowledgement, it only makes sense that legitimate citizens are being tossed out of the country when ICEs mistakes arent caught.

To better understand how this trigger-happy deportation affects real people, check out a couple of specific cases:

1. Though Ricardo Garza was born in Mexico, he legally became a U.S. citizen later in life. After an arrest for drunk driving, the police asked ICE to come get Garza. Garza told authorities multiple times that he was a naturalized citizen, but no one bothered to verify his story. He spent 5 weeks in an ICE detention center before an immigration attorney, Eric Puente, was able to get him out.

Mr. Garza had his social security card and drivers license on him when he was arrested, said Puente. Had ICE done their due diligence and listened to him and looked at their own records, they should have known he was a citizen. An attempt on the agencys part to verify Garzas claims would have probably settled this issue immediately.

2. One of the more shocking cases that Vice references is the saga of Roberto Dominguez, a man who was detained by immigration agents in 1999. The government encouraged him to say he was born in the Dominican Republic to get him out of detainment more quickly, leaving out the fact that that coerced admission would have him deported to the Dominican Republic where hed spend the next decade of his life.

Dominguez has a legal American birth certificate, but U.S. officials argue that it could have belonged to someone else originally. The U.S. government acknowledges after all these years that they still havent found an alternative individual who they believe the birth certificate could belong to, but Dominguezs citizenship is still somehow a matter of dispute 17 years later.

The fact that these many mistakes are already occurring makes bold immigration proposals from leaders like Donald Trump even more frightening. Looking at Trumps plans, the Washington Post theorizes that tens of thousands more U.S. citizens could be profiled and put through this shameful process in the name of rooting out undocumented aliens.

Most white Americans will probably never realize what a privilege it is to not have their citizenship questioned and threatened. Its clear that, with the U.S.s current gung-ho approach for finding undocumented immigrants, low-income, Hispanic American citizens are being incorrectly profiled because of the way they look.

Link to the article: http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=Issues&report=SingleArticle&ArticleID=1706

3/30: Border patrol union defies AFGE, endorses Trump

Carten Cordell - Federal Times

An affiliate of the American Federation of Government Employees decided to break ranks with the union and endorsed Donald Trump for president.

The National Border Patrol Council, which represents approximately 18,000 border patrol agents, said that the issue of security led it to make its first presidential endorsement for the outspoken Republican on March 30.

We think it is that important: if we do not secure our borders, American communities will continue to suffer at the hands of gangs, cartels and violent criminals preying on the innocent, the group said on its website. The lives and security of the American people are at stake, and the National Border Patrol Council will not sit on the sidelines.

The move could be seen as bewildering to some, especially since AFGE endorsed Hillary Clinton in December 2015. The pick didnt sit well with the NBPC at the time, as it said AFGE acted without its endorsement and didnt address its concerns over border security.

We recognize that our agenda is not always AFGEs agenda and so do our supporters on Capitol Hill. This is why, our strategy to work both sides of the aisle to advance legislation has benefited agents and their families as well as border security, the group said in a Dec. 11, 2015 release.

In its release, the NBPC said Trumps outsider, populist appeal has drawn attention to the challenges its members face in enforcing border security. It also took shots at President Barack Obama and Trump's primary rival, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.

America has already tried a young, articulate freshman senator who never created a job as an attorney and under whose watch criminal cartels have been given the freest border reign ever known.

AFGE officials directed inquiries to the NBPC.

Link to the article:

Video Just for Laugh.. Last Week Tonight

with John Oliver: Border Wall (HBO) ActivistVideo.org Donald Drumpf wants to build a wall on the U.S-Mexico border. Is his plan feasible? (3/20/2106) Link to the Video: http://www.activistvideo.org/views.asp?id=4564

Also Read..

1/8 Atlanta, GA: More than Fifty Georgia Elected Officials, Faith, Community, and Labor Leaders Condemn ICE Raids

http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=Issues&report=SingleArticle&ArticleID=1700

1/26 Austin, TX: Immigrant rights activists confront mayor over deportations

http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=Issues&report=SingleArticle&ArticleID=1701

2/8: NATIONAL IMMIGRANT JUSTICE CENTER SUES FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO RELEASE DATA ON RACIAL PROFILING IN IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT

http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=Issues&report=SingleArticle&ArticleID=1689

2/11: U.S. Senators Introduce Bill to Increase Access to Counsel as Cook County Condemns ICE Raids and Calls for Temporary Protected Status

2/18: Hold CBP Accountable

http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=Issues&report=SingleArticle&ArticleID=1698

2/18: Obamas new DHS budget reflects security focus

http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=Issues&report=SingleArticle&ArticleID=1691

2/22: Investigation Reveals the Secret Deaths of Dozens at Privatized Immigrant-Only Jails (1)

http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=Issues&report=SingleArticle&ArticleID=1692

2/22: Investigation Reveals the Secret Deaths of Dozens at Privatized Immigrant-Only Jails (2)

http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=Issues&report=SingleArticle&ArticleID=1693

2/22: Investigation Reveals the Secret Deaths of Dozens at Privatized Immigrant-Only Jails (3)

http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=Issues&report=SingleArticle&ArticleID=1694

2/22: Europol launches the European Migrant Smuggling Centre

http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=Issues&report=SingleArticle&ArticleID=1695

2/25: Private Prisons are Cashing in on Refugee Desperation

http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=Issues&report=SingleArticle&ArticleID=1696

2/25: New Report Shows Poor Medical Care Led to Deaths at U.S. Detention Centers

3/14: Gay binational couple forced to have wedding in detention center

http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=Issues&report=SingleArticle&ArticleID=1707

3/22: Meet the Activist Sent to ICE Despite Being Citizen After Blocking Arizona Highway to Trump Rally

http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=Issues&report=SingleArticle&ArticleID=1710

3/23: Educators, Legal Aid Providers and Members of Congress Urge Federal Government to End Immigration Raids Targeting Unaccompanied Children

http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=Issues&report=SingleArticle&ArticleID=1711

3/24: DHS and State Department Prepare Mass Deportation of Hundreds of Muslims

http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=Issues&report=SingleArticle&ArticleID=1712

3/25: Pastors Condemn ICE Tactics To Deport Immigrants

3/27: American, Muslim, and under constant watch: the emotional toll of surveillance

http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=Issues&report=SingleArticle&ArticleID=1715

3/29: A look at sad reality of what happens when immigration meets criminal justice (1)

http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=Issues&report=SingleArticle&ArticleID=1716

3/29: A look at sad reality of what happens when immigration meets criminal justice (2)

http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=Issues&report=SingleArticle&ArticleID=1717

3/29: Pasadena, CA: Meeting to Discuss High-Tech H1-B Immigrant Workers Rights

http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=Issues&report=SingleArticle&ArticleID=1719

3/31: 8 Biggest H-1B Employers In 2015

Please download our latest newsletter: http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/Newsletter/Spring16.pdf

Useful Immigrant Resources on Detention and Deportation

Immigrants Shape California: New "Access to Justice" Laws

http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=Issues&report=SingleArticle&ArticleID=1688

ICE custody program and its budget

http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=Issues&report=SingleArticle&ArticleID=1699

Refugee Appropriations Docs & Resources

http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=Issues&report=SingleArticle&ArticleID=1702

Immigration Bond: How to Get Your Money Back (1)

http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=Issues&report=SingleArticle&ArticleID=1708

Immigration Bond: How to Get Your Money Back (2)

Face Sheet: Immigration Detention--Questions and Answers (Dec, 2008) by: http://www.thepoliticsofimmigration.org



Thanks for GREAT works from Detention Watch Network (DWN) to compiled the following information, please visit DWN website: http://www.detentionwatchnetwork.org

Tracking ICE's Enforcement Agenda

Real Deal fact sheet on detention

Real Deal fact sheet on border

- From Raids to Deportation-A Community Resource Kit

- Know Your Rights in the Community (English, Spanish)

- Know Your Rights in Detention

- Pre-Raid Community Safety Plan

- Raids to Deportation Map

- Raids to Deportation Policy Map



More on Immigration Resource Page

http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/resource.htm

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Every Donation Counts! Please Support Us!
We have a serious responsibility here

to speak fair against the stealing of

innocent life currently going on over

at Winnipeg's Health Sciences Center

in "Comfort Care". They openly,

without apology, deprive vital

medicines, while torturing the

patient with poisons such as with

my mom, Jennie Kinal, now dead as

crime victim to first degree murder.

Support a Public Inquest into the many continuingdeaths at Winnipeg's Health Sciences Center programtitled, "Comfort Care" - deprived needed medicationswhile being poisoned to die - Let's save livesSupport a Public Inquest into the many deaths at Winnipeg's Health Sciences CenterTo Those You Care For..Winnipeg's "Comfort Care" - They refuseto give antibiotics, or needed thyroidmedication claimed as useless, butnot Scopolamine together with Fentanyl,the deadliest poisons against anelderly women with some minor backpain, and congestion. So they in secretgave her the worst things possible thatthey said they wouldn't. Told me and mymother of the same day, where they wentahead and did so in contempt for all ourlives.If Chris, who works for our government,had simply done the job by enforcingManitoba's standing law, Jennie Kinalwould be alive today. Don't allow themto steal more innocent lives in Winnipeg.We, of CanadaWe, of Canada, need a Truth Commissionon the Winnipeg Health Sciences Center's"Comfort Care" program, of first degreemurder. An un-elected cruel sentence ofdeath they give to we of Canada, unluckyenough to still not have any effectivepolice protections. Deprived effectivemedicines, while purposefully doped outof our trees, non-stop to the bitter end.Without anyone to complain to in themedia of our peers? Let's save someinnocent lives still left forsakenas crime victims shall we?Let's Save Some Lives..We have a serious responsibility hereto speak fair against the stealing ofinnocent life currently going on overat Winnipeg's Health Sciences Centerin "Comfort Care". They openly,without apology, deprive vitalmedicines, while torturing thepatient with poisons such as withmy mom, Jennie Kinal, now dead ascrime victim to first degree murder."Comfort Care". Where your loved oneis sentenced to die victim to neglectas official public paid for policy.Evidence on the continuing murders at theWinnipeg Health Sciences Center under-Comfort Care- Please ShareJohn Kinal can be reached at 204 202 7384 withany questions you may have on how we get started..If no answer.. you can leave a message..This number is temporary for the month ofApril, 2016.. It may continue, as if my livebroadcasts are still happening..Winnipeg's HSC, the Health Sciences CenterTHEY ARE FREELY COMMITTING MURDER STILLThey first degree murdered Jennie Kinal,who had caught a chest infection, andwith such an infection, was refused allantibiotics, but promised, her new Doctorfor that week Dr. Laura Chisic did,no new concoctions would be introduced.But later that same day, her partner incrime Dr. Colister (who made the samepromise) secretly gave Scopolaminetogether with Fentanyl, when I hadleft the room briefly, causingparalysis then the un-natural deathof my mother. As planned before handby the sinister Dr. Colister withfellow conspirator Nurse Colette.All documented.. Call the RCMP.Please.They openly, without apology, deprivevital medicines, while torturing thevictims with poisons such as with mymom. Given through lies, Scopolamine"Devil's Breath", secretly in aconspiracy with nurse Colette, indeadly conjunction with Fentanyl,causing instant paralysis, thenunnatural death through FOR SURE,proven first degree murder.Save Lives in WinnipegHi everyone.. We have a seriousresponsibility here to speak fairagainst the stealing of innocent lifecurrently going on over at Winnipeg'sHealth Sciences Center in "Comfort Care".Justice for we guarantees freedom to be.The Public must be made to know.. thatWinnipeg's HSC is willingly committingmurder without misgivings. Support aPublic Inquest, Truth Commission, andPolice Investigation on HSC's "ComfortCare" program of murder, in the firstdegree. Where your loved one issentenced to die victim to neglectas official public paid for policy.My mother Jennie Kinal and I, at no timedid we freely decide, her life was to bestolen by the first degree murderers at..Winnipeg's HSC, the Health Sciences CenterTHEY ARE FREELY COMMITTING MURDER STILLThey kidnapped, tortured, and murdered myCanadian mother, Jennie Kinal.. as sadisticenemies of God and mankind. They continueto victimize citizens in Winnipeg leftwithout Justice granting a fair defensefor our lives, with what they call,"Comfort Care". They side officially notto care to provide the poisoned victim amedicinal path forward to a betterhealth. Refuse to give antibiotics, orneeded thyroid medication claimed asuseless, but not Scopolamine togetherwith Fentanyl, the deadliest poisonsagainst an elderly women with minorback pain and congestion.. for, the"multiple organ failure" was PROVEN ahoax on Feb. 3rd, 2016. While apposingJennie and me by openly refusing toresuscitate, when Nurse Charlenecalled about Jennie losing her lifewithout the proper care freely given.The police when called before, stated,go to the College of Physicians, whilethe College states, 'this is a highpriority police matter, of provenattempted murder [as earlier on] Goto the cops.' Four times I went to tellnear teenage cops always at the front desk,'no, the Police must investigate.. pickup a phone and call Dr. T how about?'- ..and they continued to refuse.. theytold me as a lawful citizen of Winnipeg,they didn't want any more information.Like on the Public's dime from MagicCBC TV did also refuse to defend ourlives as still falling victims. Whilethe whorish newspapers refused doingright for us whatsoever as typical.Now, ask yourself.. what honorableofficer, soldier, or as true loverof freedom, would hold such contemptfor the value of Your Canadian Life?,left still, jeopardized as the innocentwithout rights? This murderous crimethat continues, personally involves allCanadians.. Still cheating our lovedfamilies for murder, by what can safelybe described, as ungodly evil criminalsof the worst disorders. More thanthousands and thousands of complaintsnot granted the light of the public'sscrutiny.. Do right, forward this concernas your own included. We must demand apublic inquest to reveal all, of who weare.. the truly civilized.Mr.Kinal on the murder of his mother at the hospital.to churches, politicians, and policeWe, of Canada, need a truth commissionon the Winnipeg Health Sciences Center's"Comfort Care" program of first degreemurder.. Save some innocent lives whydon't we?Here's an idea..Down with murderers..who's with we? fairly speaking..Call the CopsThe Public must be made to know.. thatWinnipeg's HSC is willingly committingmurder without misgivings. Support aPublic Inquest on HSC's "Comfort Care"program of murder, in the first degree.Where your loved one is sentenced todie victim to neglect as officialpolicy.. This horror continues, sofar.. because of it's hideous sub-humanness that most want to findimpossible to believe exists massmurdering for real.. Not one personhas escaped in more than sevenyears.. of which many, can staybeing tortured for longer thaneight months.. to finally kickthe bucket. Never allowed toleave the dungeon.. With thousandsand thousands of complaints ignoredby two "newspapers", and three MagicTV news broadcasters.. The Publicmust be made to know we have aresponsibility to each other.. tobe thought safe, of entering ahospital seeking remedies, notun-elected death sentences. Me mustnot allow this to continue in ourstolen better names. It's unbecoming,and they murdered my mom. Justicemust be done if we will to be freeto dream of a bettering future.I will to work with everyonefairly to get this won.Something is Wrong..No police to arrest murderers? No newsagency to express a care for the elderlybeing tortured and murdered? No politicianto express indignation.. We all are somehowat a serious loss of our humanity. Speak out.Demand Truth Commission on Winnipeg's HSC"Comfort Care" murdering Jennie Kinal.Save innocent life in Winnipeg stillfalling crime victims..Again this "Comfort Care" mass murderprogram in Winnipeg is not made by thevictims as something agreed upon in OURnewspapers either. They just privatelyannounce your loved one is now sentencedto deprivation of caring completely,while openly being poisoned withthe most deadly of UNWARRANTED'medicine'. Justice for weguarantees freedom to be. Takecare to make others aware. Emailis cool.Demand Public Inquest on the Murder of Jennie KinalSave life in Winnipeg falling murder victims today..To whom this greatly concerns..My mother died murder victim at Winnipeg's HealthSciences Center. Dr. Colister approached the bedto ask, how about giving your mother Scopolamineto ease moisture.. Sound good? I state no.. Iexplained such poison would hamper my mother'sability to expel her current chest infection.It would be greatly better, to remove all youropiates, like Fentanyl, and let her heal how aboutinstead? my learned friend? He doesn't disagree..His side kick states, yeah.. sounds good in similarwords.. They leave.. Then, I pop out later for acoffee, and back when I return Nurse Colettehas administered the lethal shot.."Devil's Breath"Stating.. your mother asked for it.. being barelycapable of stating, ' get me out of here'.. 'bloodymurderers' 'no more pain killers'.. She had noproblem health wise any longer.. but for thosein "comfort care" succeeding finally in error atmurdering her.. Now the hospital states, theydon't allow toxicology studies in autopsies.. Well..that's why I implore for you to stand up likewiseas a fellow human being, to demand such aneasy test be carried out to determine truecause of death.. And a Public Inquest on howJustice has left us for no longer, on thiscritical crime scene involving all Canadianlives jeopardized.. left in self contempt byour newspapers and TV broadcasters.Sound good? It should. Justice for Jennie Kinal.Evidence on the continuing murders at theWinnipeg Health Sciences Center under-Comfort Care- Please ShareCare for our innocent lives stolen.Forward this information to everyone.Let's save some lives here people..Don't forget, this involves many morelives in Canada than just my mother,willfully poisoned to die crime victim,just like the rest officially. DeniedOUR Police protections, and vital carein needed medicines, while doped outof her wits to complain about who'sdriving down civilization. How dareWinnipeg's Health Sciences Centercommit lawless first degree massmurder openly, with the newspapers,in the light of understandingthis reality measured fair.TO OUR GOVERNMENT OF CANADAWhat they knew and chose nothing to doabout.. Still? Shouldn't someone be fired,if not arrested as complicit in murder?John Kinal - Protections of Persons in Care Act - Feb 24 2016"10,000 similar complaints in Manitoba."Ignored.. Still? Hello people.. we have aserious responsibility here to speak fairagainst mass murderers.If Chris, who works for our government,had simply done the job by enforcingManitoba's standing law, Jennie Kinalwould be alive today. Don't allow themto steal more innocent lives in Winnipeg.Take action. Personally forward this tothe media movers and shakers, to savelives, demanding Justice. I am availablefor interviews. Help ourselves.I beg you to do right.. Save an innocent life.Please, peoples of our world..defend innocentlife being mass murdered here in Winnipeg, atthe Health Sciences Center, under a programof the most heinous ungodly evil ever knownof titled, "Comfort Care". They openly deprivevital medicines, while torturing the victimswith poisons such as with my mom. Giventhrough lies, Scopolamine "Devil's Breath",secretly in a conspiracy with nurse Colette,in deadly conjunction with Fentanyl, causinginstant paralysis, then unnatural death throughFOR SURE, proven first degree murder. My motherJennie, who only several days earlier wasguilty of only minor back pain, as to whythese demons refused to stop doping her sinceher arrival two months earlier. Simultaneouslyclaimed though, she was by her murderer, Dr.Colister, to have had multiple organ failurecontinuously for more than a month. Provento be a lie on Feb 3rd, by myself told toWinnipeg Police.. Through too, the brokenorders of Law by Dr. T., Jennie's Doctor thatweek. The Winnipeg Police dishonorably, haverefused to do the simplest of preliminaryinvestigations..such as making a single phonecall to Dr. T.. to confirm the first attemptmade at murdering my mother by Nurse Delaney..using then, ILLEGAL hydromorophone. Youpersonally could save an innocent life, bysimply identifying a citizen of Winnipeg,to give them this post personally. Againthis "Comfort Care" mass murder program isnot made by the victims as something agreedupon in OUR newspapers either. They justprivately announce your loved one is nowsentenced to deprivation of caringcompletely, while openly being poisonedwith the most deadly of UNWARRANTED'medicine'. So confident in our madeilliterate police agencies never gettinginvolved here, that they believe they canescape sadistically mass murdering fordecades more perhaps.. if you continue totake no action for the world you can notescape my friend. It is truly all up toyou.. Do right. Care for your world.Forward go freely of Justice winningvictory. Justice for we guaranteesfreedom to be..Our Time is NowI have conclusively proven, withoutany officer of law disagreeing, thatthe Winnipeg Health Sciences Center'sDr. Colister, with conspiring NurseColette, first degree murdered mymother Jennie Kinal.. after I caughttheir "Comfort Care" demon team prior,attempting murder on Feb 2nd 2016,and begged the police to investigatethe crime scene four times.. But theyrefused cowardly as too did the Collegeof Manitoba Nurses, and Doctors refuseto demand the arrests be done for Justicemust come.. To not following the rulesof murder in Canada, as not applyingblindly in all hospital settings formore than a decade? Something must bedone in a love for moms, before yetagain, these cheats have more innocentCanadians first degree murdered, dueour self contempt. For what demonicgain? We are left to only speculate....though we know it is for sure goingon still by these enemy to all sadists.Murdering innocent Winnipeggers leftstill undefended with fair words, by'our' evil as ungodly newspapersand Magic TV CBC hosts. 'Go Jets Go!'Here's an idea..Down with murderers..who's with we? fairly speaking..justice for we guarantees freedom to beMy mother was murdered here in Winnipeg, atthe Health Sciences Center, under a programtitled, "Comfort Care", where these demonsdeprive life saving medicines, and undertorture, openly poison the victims to death,often by chemical suffocation. No oneescapes the death sentence program run formany years. It involves the old, itinvolves the young - and something surelymust be done.. Why is it that our humanitycan't find the strength to do good foranother? ..or for one's own mother orfather? I tried my best, and I'm as goodas it nearly gets as speaking reasonable..But without the public being supported byour made illiterate police agencies, orregulatory bodies that ONLY defend, inthis case, the continuing mass murderers..Hope seems bleak to save the innocentlives that fell yesterday, and of thosethat will tomorrow. So.. I must try to winfor Justice in this forsaken city namedWinnipeg.. Once holding the title, I willorder all police and military to assist inpublic arrests for public fair trial ofthese mass murderers that must notfreely steal the better of ourselvesfurther left undefended..Public Inquest..Support a Public Inquest We need an autopsyto include cause of death with the sciencesof toxicology - something forbidden thevictims of Winnipeg's Health SciencesCenter..URGENT - Support a Public Inquiry into Whysome Winnipeg autopsies don't allow toxicologyto determine cause of death in murder..- URGENT(they have cremated the body - all evidencegone?. we don't think so.)Justice for Jennie KinalI want a public inquest in how my mother died, so justice can be served. All the evidence is in, it's just that, because the death occurred at a hospital in Winnipeg, the Police's hands are tied.Jennie Kinal was murdered on March 8th, 2016, by the actions of Dr. Colister, at Winnipeg's Health Sciences Center.Facts: Dr. Colister told no new medications would be administered on March 8th, to myself and Jennie.. Dr. Laura Chisic, Jennie's other doctor, one of more than four others, told of Dr. Colister, doing just as he claimed he would not, ordering on the 8th of March, the deadly, Scopolamine "Devil's Breath", in conjunction with already administered Fentanyl, . Nurse Colette, sold that it was Jennie's idea to take the most lethal drug on the Canadian market that she gave Jennie, Scopolamine, to hamper her ability to expel an infection that had recently appeared, leading to paralysis and death. Nurse Colette, couldn't administer the poison while I was present however, and couldn't let on, it was ordered in by Dr. Colister. As Colette's crazy lie of my mom being willing, now makes more sense. No antibiotics are given in Winnipeg, for ANY Canadian patient in "comfort care", but poisons a plenty to first degree mass murder it disturbingly appears. You really should care.. Think of the next victims last night. Forward this concern to everyone who loves their mother. Do it.The TRUE disregard for a patient's wellness, made as policy at Winnipeg's Health Sciences Center, is like a hell on earth for real, when you hear them tell of such madness openly, denying all rights to do right for ourselves. 'End of Life' poisons to those we guess near, perfect health. Poisons to weaken clearing our bodies of new infections, with poisons to hamper breathing, and then, to top it off, heroin derivatives 80 times stronger than morphine, apposing better health.. is simply willful first degree murder.. Again, they officially deny all "Comfort Care" patients antibiotics, to die victim from neglect.. With too, refusing to resuscitate any patient as policy of evil.. So, say you were poisoned by Scopolamine with her Fentanyl. as my mom was against her will and my own.. they told me as such, over the phone.. they will make no attempt to save my mother's life as "doctors" on scene. Demand a Public Inquest.Don't forget, this involves many more livesin Canada than just my mother, willfullypoisoned to die crime victim, just like therest officially. Denied vital care inneeded medicines, while doped out of herwits to complain about who's driving theship. Different Nurses everyday, while theDoctor changes once every two weeks, withColister hanging around allthe beds going,"are you in any pain", then needles everyfour hours non-stop, till you die.. Nomatter whatever you say to the contrary.Who needs a witness? Some say JennieKinal was good to go, while Colisterstates her story can't live more thanweeks with him and Laura Chisic rulingover everyone here truly being tyrannized...while poisoning who knows how manyothers too, who dream of being released,as they go further unchecked as needlingpsychopaths. We desperately need a trueconcern expressed for ourselves as thecitizen measured correct in all fairness.We will to be civilized on the farmsand in the hospitals.Justice for Jennie KinalPublic Inquest.. ask for it here in Winnipeg pleasePlease Peoples.. support a Public Inquest herein Winnipeg on the mistreatment of Jennie Kinalin the Health Sciences Center, ward H4, and ofher subsequent final murder.. Done in by Dr.Colister with Scopolamine, in conjunction withFentanyl, to a 84 year old woman, who suffereda thyroid issue, that caused swelling, thenindicating inside that short time frame,confusion nearing the symptoms of dementia..But that all disappeared a month earlier..That's it.. she could walk talk and expressclearly, she did not want a nicotine patch..but they gave it to her, apposing me included.Public Inquest.. Hopefully, gaining anunderstanding too, for why our police thinkit none of our business still, while more arethrown through to fall crime victim to theseapparent psychopaths.. to be denied essentialmedications, and antibiotics for infections..but to just be poisoned to death with theirunneeded injections. It's called murder..and all stand on guard for thee of we fairlyspeaking. Justice is freedom to be all we canbe as of, the civilized worlds. Commandingourselves with self respect. Support a PublicInquest. .Save further lives left forsakennow, no longer. What do you say lover of life?Forward this post to someone in Winnipeg ifyou could.. Let's go save some lives..My mother was murdered on March 8th, 2016, bythe actions of Dr. Colister, at Winnipeg's HealthSciences Center.. Whereby, after consulting mymother Jennie and me, he told of no newmedications would be prescribed.. For a womanheavily drugged every which way, but initiallydenied her thyroid medication that I had to fightfor as reasonable.. Then denying all antibioticsapposing our wills to truly care.. as I explainedto Dr. Chisic of her madness on March 8th, 2016....since the recent speculative lead up to thisappearing of an air born infection, that willin some likelihood, take the healths of manyweakened others.. This house of hellish horror,of Winnipeg's Health Sciences Center, H4, is aplace of the wickedest evil ever witnessed byyours truly I must say. Anyway.. the hell of itis, Dr. Colister secretly told the day Nursefor Jennie, a named suspect labeled Colette..'that if it should warrant'.. use this neworder for Scopolamine, in conjunction with herfentanyl.. for Jennie's congestion. A concoction,substantiated together, paralyzed my mother to aposition of suffocation.Though, importantly, according to Dr. LauraChisic, (being Jennie's last stand in good fornobody though..) tells of the order, came fromColister, while she herself adamantly deniesall antibiotics for every infection, like Isaid, even penicillin... Don't be crazy..,.let's get to it.. "no.. we don't do thathere.." is what she spoke, in part, asclinically insane.. So less of two evils,is still two evils.. what say, we demandfair say.. I wonder where that could takeus commanding in self respect for the rightsof others, as if they were of us too included.."Fentanyl is estimated to be 80 times as potent as morphine ""Worlds most dangerous drug is not a myth: Scopolamine aka The Devils Breath"When Jennie was ever questioned, she spokeof no pain, and no interest of being dopedfurther out of her wits, without she was,the claimed multiple organ failure, butsuffering with dementia.. Medicine? Figureit out.. the police haven't had the publicinterest just yet.. despite the thousandsof similar complaints, and Night NurseCharlene telling, in the SEVEN YEARS sheworked there.. not a single person hasever been capable of escaping her horrorshow.. "Comfort Care" in H4 at the HealthSciences Center.. Winnipeg. Call the cops..Call the President. Save That Man!To those who this greatly concerns..Hello.. The newest revelations to this heart break of a story, is that Jennie Kinal's outgoing Dr, Dr. Semus, has advised me today, March 7th, 2016, that after reviewing Jennie's medical records, they do not contain the information of Doctor T's (Tazaramangzing..?) order to the Nurses at station, for the evenings of question, Feb 2nd, and Feb 3rd, 2016, to not administer hydromoophone to Jennie, without her son witnessing first hand some form of pain.. Jennie, at that time, an alleged sufferer, of "multiple organ failure" However, the Nurses involved certainly would concure, as too, most importantly, the head Nurse for the day of Feb 3rd, does confirm that such an order did transpire, of her quoting the Nurses report, where hydromoraphone was administered, to Jennie.. An action opposing Dr. T, by leastly, RN Delaney it appears.. Who too, like another Nurse that evening, state Jennie does suffer from "multiple organ failure". Dr. Semus, Jennie's Doctor for the last two weeks, and the prior Dr., Dr. Necozy, stated, and will state, Jennie does not, and could not have had multiple organ failure, going on now, more than a month later.. Big problem of course.. as you know... Here is the run down...Shortened synopsis..I wad told Jennie had multiple organfailure, and was on end of life medication.I said bullshit, she was great just hoursago.. The head Doctor, Dr. T, called a haltto the death meds.. Telling Nurses, ifJennie experiences any discomfort, I amto be phoned to okay the death meds oncemore.. I am phoned for such action the nextday, arrive in under 7 minutes, to findmy mother pronounced clinically dead byRN Delaney, due organ failure.. I revivemy mom to discover, she has no organfailure.. and breathes to this day.Being doped everyday under torture..ATTEMPTED MURDER THIS PROVES. Forwardthis information to everyone who lovestheir mother.. The Police most especially.They have been caught attempting firstdegree murder of made helpless innocentold folks at Winnipeg's Health SciencesCenter..Introduction to the Case:This following, is of the Winnipeg HealthSciences Center and the first attempt theymade at the murder of my mother, Jennie Kinal.Caught red handed on Jan 2nd, and 3rd of 2016.Call the cops. We live for Justice. No limitsagainst murderers.Introduction to the Case: back-from-the-deadThis was before they murdered Jennie KinalPlease help to save my mother's life..Hello.. I've got a story of a preciouslife, my mom.. and about clear abusetranspiring in real time over at theHealth Sciences Center in Winnipeg..I'm currently seeking for goodpoliticians, and some public exposure..Jennie Kinal's Doctor forbade theadministration of a dangerous narcotic,but the medical records indicate someonewent ahead and administered it anyway..causing her, to be pronounced clinicallydead.They claim my mom has organ failure, andhad clinically died Feb 3rd 2016, but..she lives until March 8th.. despite theirfailures still, to address what was mymother's true health concerns. Freelyurinating, and defecated near everyday,only because was feeding her, and tryingto protect her for as much time as Icould sacrifice.. Please, express yourhumanity by telling this story.. It'snot only about my mother, but manyothers, that are left to fall forsaken.For I am told, this form of complaintagainst some practicing health care inManitoba, numbers in the thousands..I am told, of such similar complaintsthe Government of Manitoba registers,but does remain hampered to remedy forthe Public interest of Canada. Largely,it seems, for failure to communicate thesesometimes complicated matters clearly tothe lay person.. and limited resources.Please help to save my mother's life.The Protection of Persons in Care office,that enacts the Provincial Act, contactedme today, March 1st, 2016, to inform thatthe Hospital did not provide them themedical records for the critical daysof question.. Feb 2nd, and 3rd.. Ofwhich they are obligated under Law.The Protection for Persons in Care ActThe Protection of Persons in Careoffice Senior Administrator, Chris,tells if the situation as it is,found wanting, without the HealthSciences Center obliging.. therewould most certainly be, a publicinquest..Though, that can't happenfor two more weeks, due the personresponsible is on vacation!. It isNOT only my mother's life on theline my honorable friends..I fear a misunderstanding of theseverity is witnessed here.. As too,with my first discussions on thismatter with the Winnipeg Police..For I argue by just simply makingone phone call to Dr. T - Dr. T =something like, Tazariamansing.. Orin the evidence I gave, of the headnurse CONFIRMING, that what wasforbidden, has been administered..As told too by the victim, mymother Jennie, for ten hours,gasping without a full breath..We would acknowledge, somethingof a very serious crime, of atleast gross negligence is stillunder way.. Of which those incharge refuse to remedy. Dependingon who you talk to individually..Some Doctors like Necozy, contendJennie is relatively stable, andsituated to go home under anarranged palliative care program..while others, with just as muchauthority, falsely claim she hasbut two weeks to live.. Hidingfrom the mistake, willing insteadto see my mom continued forsaken.Please, for the love of God, formercy, call Chris as a provinciallegislator, or city counselor, orthe greatly honorable Prime Minister,to demand the public inquest startimmediately..The Protection of Persons in Care Act's, SeniorAdministrator can be contacted at 204 --- ----I can only once again, use words todescribe, that this unresolved situation,is incredibly dire if left unfairlyattended.. There are other lives atrisk.. Solutions to not have such amistake happen once more seem easy..But delaying this process, simplybecause a Manitoba employee in onvacation.. to me, sounds kind of..crazy.. Right? It's like, 'yes Mr.Rockefeller, I understand, but Billis on Vacation right now, and he handlesall bank robberies... But as soon as heget's back, well get on track tofollowing the fleeing suspects..'In this action I take, I believeI help the administrator also, todraw attention to himself, not tonecessarily admonish, but to defend..Power is with the people.. These areserious charges.. involving more thanjust my mother. There is more to thiscase. I would recommend RCMPinvestigators also have a look overthe evidence at hand, most naturally.John Kinal can be reached at 204 202 7384 withany questions you may have on how we get started..If no answer.. you can leave a message..This number is temporary for the month ofApril, 2016.. It may continue, as if my livebroadcasts are still happening..'..thousands of similar complaints..'Please.. they are abusing my mom withlies as hiding from public accountability.Don't let an innocent Canadian pay fortheir continuing mistake.. Yes, thereare potentially 1000's of victims falling,treated for shortness of breath, toshorten their breaths to suffocation. Yes,I know too, extremely disturbingas to know such a thing appearshappening.. To see the video of mymother suffocating under the poisoning....and to care not for such a kind gentlewomen in her eighties? How can you notcare for your own mother? How can youlive without yourselves being human?All on board? That's what you'd figure..Right?. My expenses are great.. anyonewant to help chip in for the cab fares?INVESTIGATIONS NOT UNDERWAY - CRIME SOLVED THOUGH BUT..On Feb 2,, 2016 after discovering my mother to be on death meds, namely hydromorphone to hamper breathing for death, I demanded such madness stop immediately.. telling Dr. T of all the witnesses the day before, and the official record of Jennie up with several physiotherapists , Dr. T agreed to call a halt.. Then ordering, that if Jennie, woman with 'multiple organ failure' seems in dire need for such opiates, I will be called to witness such anguish..On Feb 3, RN Delaney phoned at 6pm to have me come to the hospital, to okay the death meds (hydromorphone) - I arrived in 7 minutes to witness my mother appearing dead, with all the moisture gone from her skin, not appearing to be breathing.. I talked to her of what I thought she was going through, as incapable of taking a breath, due the poisons RN Delanely used apposing Doctor's orders..How do we know this most certain? From Jennie herself, for ten hours, telling of how she can not take a full breath, just as such poison is designed.. Turns out, Delaney and Dr. T were wrong that mom had total organ failure..How's that? It's called attempted murder..There are apossible number of other victims..Save an innocent life.. What if it was your mother?Points of Fact:They claimed Jennie had multiple organfailure where clearly she does not. To 'justify'hydromoraphone, as a poisonous opiate tohamper breathing, that would have killed her,hadn't I stopped it.Nurse Delaney repeatedly encouraged me tostop speaking to the clinically dead, before Irevived my forsaken mother, left as dead inbed, looking seriously poisoned with adiuretic, and no doubt, hydromoraphone,Something I had banned her with theagreeing Doctor's admonishment fromdoing ever again the day before. Withoutmy implicit approval, it would not beallowed to happen again.Suspect Nurse #2.. She firstly reportedto a doctor that I was abusing what sheunderstood, to be the clinically dead. Thedoctor arrived to witness Jennies sittingup alive. Then, shortly later, shows backup to tell, I should get my mom back onthe hydromorophone.. Telling as recorded,I don't want to make Jennie suffer with hermultiple organ failures do I. Told to me noless than 7 times, by at least three nursestrying to control free thought through guilton the issue. Telling her I did, as recorded,Jennie is not in any pain, and certainly mostdoes not need something to stop her frombreathing. The suspect Nurse #2 thenleaves, and reportedly by her co-worker,to tell me later as recorded in evidencealso, that they decided together, I mustnot be allowed to wake the pronouncedlinically dead again.. Claiming such actionis not caring. Implicit in knowing, asecorded, she was left for dead bythemselves, until I had revived her..This is willful attempted murder oncemore, that she knows they are almostcaught for it clearly appears in the lightof fairly understanding the evidencebefore us.INVESTIGATIONS NOT UNDERWAY - CRIME SOLVED THOUGH BUTOn Feb 2,, 2016 after discovering mymother to be on death meds, namelyhydromorphone to hamper breathing fordeath, I demanded such madness stopimmediately.. telling Dr. T of allthe witnesses the day before, andthe official record of Jennie upwith several physiotherapists , Dr.T agreed to call a halt.. Thenordering, that if Jennie, womanwith 'multiple organ failure' seemsin dire need for such opiates, Iwill be called to witness suchanguish..On Feb 3, RN Delaney phoned at 6pmto have me come to the hospital, tookay the death meds (hydromorphone)- I arrived in 7 minutes to witnessmy mother appearing dead, with allthe moisture gone from her skin,not appearing to be breathing.. Italked to her of what I thoughtshe was going through, as incapableof taking a breath, due the poisonsRN Delanely used apposing Doctor'sorders..How do we know this mostcertain? From Jennie herself, forten hours, telling of how she cannot take a full breath, just assuch poison is designed.. Turnsout, Delaney and Dr. T were wrongthat mom had total organ failure..How's that? It's called attemptedmurder..There are a possible number of other murder victims..Save an innocent life.. What if it was your mother?Irene McDonald, as the ExecutiveAssistant to the InvestigationsCommittee of the College ofPhysicians and Surgeons inManitoba has recommended thisas an allegation of criminalinfraction, be handled directlyby the Police..It's about time..Police In. R16 9616NOTE TO POLICE - CRIME SOLVEDThis is what we witness here as recordedin evidence.. They said the crime victimhad organ failure, and would never recover..A LIE.. Left for done in with the poisonknown of as Hydromorphone. Raised from acertain death sentence, and found withoutthe reason given, to try and steal aninnocent Life of one so still, left injeopardy. This needs widespread criminalinvestigations for the public interest..for we the people will to be civilized..Fair say all the way means everyone wins.I want only the best for my mother in award of likewise care givers.. I thinkwe can work together, and getthat done as soon as possible..New in the Developing Case: of the Formal Complaint Against theNamed Nurses and Doctors of Winnipeg's Health Sciences CenterRegarding, 'With RN Delaney again, insisting that I was notfacing reality.. That I should be just thankful for thetime I had with mom.. Jennie then began to revive..'This after being put on 'end of life meds' to steal my mother'slife, without consultation.. Considering the day before she wasup and eating, and wanting to go home. Please, call the cops too.In conjunction with the 22 of January where I was told Jenniehad a heart attack, and I found what I disproved of, a nicotinepatch on her shoulder area..Apposing they did the wishes ofboth Mother and son.Everyday that goes by, while we wait for the College of Physiciansand Surgeons of Manitoba to act correctly in the defense of myinnocent mother's Life, is another day she is still left in mortaljeopardy.. These facts detail a need to have her immediatelymoved out of the HCS's 'comfort ward' and to be into intensivecare where not needed treatments, are no longer administered..Act now..Formal Complaint Against the Named Nursesand Doctors of Winnipeg's Health Sciences CenterOn the 21st of January, despite Jennie's expressed wishes upon intake, and my own, the Doctor not responsible for Jennie, but on "the Team", asked if she was a smoker, and would provide a nicotine patch, I told him no.. she didn't want it, nor did I..On the 22 of January, I was told Jennie had a heart attack, and I found what I disproved of, a nicotine patch on her shoulder area..To whom this concerns..My name in John Kinal, the son of Jennie Kinal, currently held against our will at 4H at the Health Science Center.My mother told the hospital upon admission, she did not want a nicotine patch, but two weeks in, when she's near a coma.. they appose her wishes and my own, giving her the POISONOUS nicotine, and she then has, a massive heart attack hours later..Then a week later, puts her on end of life medications.. To die of.. for sure for sure.. 100%.. every patient under such treatment DIES.. I fought to deny my mother had complete organ failure.. and over 20 hours in total, brought her back to life..From a position the hospital has decided to do nothing for.. because she was clinically dead.."Hydromorphone may cause serious or life-threatening breathing problems, especially during the first 72 hours of your treatment and any time "Think of this.. They poison patients so they can't take a breath, then when the patient struggles to breath due the muscles not working, they only answer, must need more pure oxygen, or Hydromorphone ..Another quick death they believe they will escape criminal charges over..When I learned they were giving my mother end of life medication, where only the day before she was at near the best she had been since arriving.. I demanded such madness stop immediately.. Of which two RNs on the floor argued with me for 30 minutes, to suggest I was being cruel to try such action. They argued I have not the right to deny death meds,and told I must speak to "Dr. T", of which I did.. Reminding her of all the witnesses to my mothers health, from the day before.. such as the physiotherapist.. sitting in bed, talking, and eating several yogurts, juice, and water.. She told she would then have the poising stopped... and if the seriously unqualified RN Ms. Delaney, decided it at a later time needed to continue, would have me called firstly, to get to the hospital to witness such need.. The next day, at approximately 6pm, Ms. Delanely called me to come and witness her condition, in need of death meds.. I get all the way to the distant HSC in approximately 7 minutes.. to witness her 'dead' in bed.. not breathing due the medication stopping the muscles of her lungs incapable of taking a breath..Ms. Delaney told me to stop talking to a corpse that can't hear, speak, or see.. All the fluids of her body had been removed due, what was likely an overdose of a diuretic.. her lips were near black. Ms. Delanely told I was not ever going to get a response talking to a body with complete organ failure..She can't pee, so her body is clinically dead..I remained, and in approximately an hour, her lips move in response to water.. and slowly I brought her back to life.. Delaney never returned to the attempted murder scene for the rest of her time at shift.. No 'miracle' claimed, but for by the several aids who witnessed, in part the 'miracle'.The evidence offered for fair public interest, tells Ms. Delany's plan was to tell she didn't give such medications as a lie.. Why? On video, of my mother recovering the assault states.. she can't take a breath (her lungs are poisoned on purpose, due the "medicine") it takes near 20 hours for the poison to be left absent her blood stream according to the videos..The medical record as quoted to me 24 hours later, when I'm leaving for home after resurrecting the dead.. I'm told indicates the last poisoning to stop muscle function occurred 24 hours prior..I need a formal investigation, following probable cause to arrive at the fair conclusion of decisions made to steal my mother's life..Contact me immediately on the fair actions already underway to gather the facts here,To College of Registered Nurses in Manitoba... (this may not have actually successfully been received.. Though I have been in contact with them earlier)Hello.It is John Kinal reporting in on recent disturbing developments on the Jennie Kinal matter at Winnipeg's Health Science Center in 4H. As you may already be aware, hopefully, I struggled in a meeting with five professional individuals on Wednesday, the 24 of February, 2016, to have Jennie Kinal taken off the hydromorophine, considering it appears as the primary cause for why it killed her, as according to RN Delaney, on February 3rd, 2016. They crazily, like unreasonable psychopaths on a mission of self destruction, argued against it.. claiming my reasoning they would at all costs refuse to tune into.. so mush so.. that Dr. Semus suggested, perhaps an alternative could be found to stop their naked exposure to the light of being.. and would get on that, quickly, as they had done.. as it was achieved, the next day. Despite Jennie and myself stating, we do not want to be doped.. we want our bodies to heal without the confusion created by opiates, and poisons that mess with the muscles of our lungs to stop one from breathing.. But who cares truly for the health as well being of person or persons truly, for they appear insisting, Jennie's life is not the concern here.. The concern is not allowing her to live, free of the lie, that she still has, "multiple organ failure" going on three weeks..pigging out.. (she wants yogurt, egg salad, salmon, blue berries, and some kind of specialty stews..) , Instead of facing the mistake, they've chosen still, to steal her life.. Her life loved by me.. As it has turned out however, the new opiate concoction administered by patch, exposed the reality, with the turn around.. That NO PAIN Jennie had, or has through the transformation to getting well.. But get this my learned friends.. prepare yourself.. Friday morning, February 27 2016.. Vanessa, head of all nurses for the Health Science Center, ward 4H and beyond, at approximately 9:14 am, informed me, that Jennie yelled throughout the night.. I spoke to state, that even so, the quantification she was making is still unknown.. See, it could mean, her screaming is a good thing.. because, now she can breath.. Then she said, challenging my great wisdom of all ages, she had been screaming, "help me".. I asked Vanessa firstly, "was she then sedated", she responded, "no, she wasn't." I then said, "so this is then in the official report? She said "yes..". "Oh", I said.. "I arrived here at approximately 6:18 am, and was approached by the night Nurse responsible for Jennie, knowing her well, over this life and death struggle.. and she's stated that Jennie was exceptional through the night.. rested comfortably.. as showing a good sign for progress." I then looked over to my left, and there she was.. six feet away, not gone home yet.. I stated, "Hi.. ..did you hear Jennie scream, 'help me, help me', through the night?" She only looked briefly in terror at the face of Vanessa, then turned quickly, without a word.. and took off out of there.. Oh oh.. This is very serious.. potentially deadly if you asked me to speak in all candor, knowing what I know.. as true, holds some jeopardy to the night Nurse's true professionalism for starters, as Vanessa is her blindly foolish superior .. Why so certain? I don't have to tell you, as the College of Registered Nurses here in Manitoba, but for those not familiar reading here. See.. That would mean, Vanessa has committed a crime, and should in all fairness, though PUBLIC fair trial, be challenged to lose her license for a lifetime.. and.. we most definitely need to call the cops about the attempted murder no doubt.. As I've stated since this madness of contempt for thousands of innocent lives started, by irrational constructs, of those who mostly only deceive themselves when Johnny enters the scene .. Do not now, in addition to holding Jennie's life in contempt, do so also, to the other wonderful woman who has done no harm alleged to anyone, being curtious, kind, and all around.. a really sweet gal.. I immediately explained this true horror occurring in real time to Dr. Semus, of which Vanessa, only feet away to hear me explain.. took the stage.. Time is pressing.. and this story is far from over.. though when telling of her twisting to tale a fib so ridiculous, Dr. Semus walked away while she was speaking... In short form, she claimed she spoke not of 'through the night', but of 'through the evening'.. defining such a term as between 3pm and 5:30 pm.. trouble is, I was there with Jennie through out near that entire frame.. as was the tricky Dr. Colister.. and three others from Palliative care.. No.. four.. I left at approximately, 5:12pm that day.. I kid not.. my life is bared to witness. So, of course.. I then expressed THE ONLY RIGHT I have in demanding the report of my mother's treatment from starting on this allegation against a honorable nurse to finish including the critical incident summaries of her death on February 3rd.. And in short form, Dr. Semus, responded, he had no knowledge of February 3rd, 2016.. Despite, Wednesday, the 24 of February, 2016 (Many Doctors lead busy busy lives I suppose..) WOW.. that means.. well.. you as the professionals should know without me telling.. I will my mother to be moved from 4H at our earliest convenience, and especially, not given opiates mixed with poisons to further steal her precious innocent life.. She does not deserve this.. nor should anyone else, ever again.. We need a public action to remedy this for the better good of everyone..With the newspaper or without..Thousands here in Winnipeg have fallen victim to die forsaken, according to my discussions with one Provincial investigator's aid. That of which, we together, don't yet, have the manpower, or the jurisdiction.. the Police do though, as lead by experienced practitioners.. I will to assist in any way possible to get to the core of what is important here.. My mother.. Let's let science prevail in determining what serves our healths best how about my friends?Addendum : when I stated that it could be a positive thing that Jennie can now freely breath instead of being suffocated, I also stated, that she is for this day, eating more than she has since entering the hospital.. a container of blue berries, three yogurts, egg salad.. Vanessa immediately responded, by stating "I don't know that." See? No care for Jennie's well being..Love John.or Johnny..or whatever..let's do this..Jennie Kinal was admitted into the Health Science Center January 7th 8:41amOn the 21st of January, despite Jennie's expressed wishes upon intake, and my own, the Doctor not responsible for Jennie, but on "the Team", asked if she was a smoker, and would provide a nicotine patch, I told him no.. she didn't want it, nor did I..On the 22 of January, I was told Jennie had a heat attack, and I found what I disproved of, a nicotine patch on her shoulder area.. I removed it, and told the doctor, being scientifically reasonable, she clearly was in no need of such poison.. considering her health issues.. and she apposed such poison from the day she entered.. and from that moment on.. it would not be continued..Risk of acute first myocardial infarction and use of nicotine patches .IT'S POISON... Hello... "harmless" .... you can't be serious when free men and women talk scientifically... and it's not burning with the additional many other ingredients people crave.. not as the deadly poison in it's purest stage. Besides, she had kicked the habit.On Feb 1st Mom is near the best she's been since arriving.. sitting up on the bed, eating yogurts, drinking water and juices.. and with the physiotherapist, was talking with me on how the plan is to bring about a hopeful position where she can walk across the room eventually.. hopefully soon..On February 2nd, upon witnessing my mother unresponsive to all stimuli, and witnessing a intravenous drip containing a concoction she had not received prior.. and given to her without me told of such a change.. discovered they were injecting her with an 'end of life' morphine derivative.. that stops humans from breathing..I called RN Delaney to stop this action immediately.. She apposed, claiming such actions would be cruel for at least ten minutes..defeating her irrational position I did effectively, she sided to go get her fellow senior RN to argue with me in the hallway, that again, such action would be cruel, in not allowing her to die comfortably.. I would therefore need to speak to the head physician Dr. T.. Of who I reminded the recorded history of Jennie, just the day before.. under no pain or duress in breathing.. and with plenty of witnesses to attest.. She finally capitulated to intelligent discourse, and sided such poisoning would be halted.. but if it needed to be re-introduced, I would be called before hand.. to witness a distress that would call for such poison.. I stayed with mom who remained near powerless to breath..."Hydromorphone may cause serious or life-threatening breathing problems, especially during the first 72 hours of your treatment and any time "Of which they told me, this poison will restrict Jennie's breathing, but too as an opiate, she'll feel great in this ending of her life by serious criminal negligence.On February 3rd, at 6 pm, I was phoned by RN Delaney.. and needed to come to the hospital to okay the death meds.. Conveniently, I arrived at the hospital in approximately 7 minutes to find her, in all appearances to be dead... All the water had been drained from her face, in what appeared to be a huge overdose of a diuretic.. (Urine tests that were expected to never happen with the 'deceased' would confirm this..) As I spoke to Jennie, RX Delaney continued to insist I not do such a thing.. Jennie had complete organ failure, and can not hear, speak, or see.. As claimed, how she died was kidney failure to process urine.. and so all the poisons overtook her will to live.. so stop talking to the clinically dead.. WITH WITNESSES.. But no.. I know better.. and over the course of approximately an hour and a half.. With Delaney again, insisting that I was not facing reality.. That I should be just thankful for the time I had with mom.. she started to revive.. upon then.. RN Delaney did not say, "..a miracle!" No she left the room, to never return for more than 24 hours, plus.. She did not come back to work the next day, nor did Dr. T approach her workstation.. Nor did any Doctor visit any other patient in the room as I recall thinking back.. Seeking a defense of plausible deniability, means they have to still insist, Mom's in a death coma..As time permits, I will improve upon this outline... I would appreciate the quickest response feasible, to inform me on further processes, to move towards defending my mother's life hanging on, held in jeopardy by those that deny my mother's wishes, and my own to be scientific on how these medicines are administered.. Not as quoted in the audio, at regular intervals without measure..Again, please phone me to co-operate in any respect of resolving this crisis, sooner than too much later.. Thanks before hand for being a professional about this matter..John Kinal can be reached at 204 202 7384 withany questions you may have on how we get started..If no answer.. you can leave a message..This number is temporary for the month ofApril, 2016.. It may continue, as if my livebroadcasts are still happening..--Some extras..Evidence - of the murder..bftdProtections of Persons..Mr.Kinal on the murder of his mother at the hospital.medical-care-main-cause-of-deathThey are willing to report that.. butwhat about this? This involves realCanadians lives being threatened todaywith further murders. It's bad news..sure.. but to fairly address, meansthe saving of innocent life.. Do rightby forwarding this to everyone inWinnipeg, left still forsaken withoutthe news..
Kentucky Derby 2016 Contenders Update: Nyquist stole headlines over the weekend with his win in the Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park. The popular son of Uncle Mo takes second place in the standings, while Gun Runner continues to top the list with 151 points on the Kentucky Derby Trail.

Oscar Nominated, the winner of the Spiral Stakes at Turfway Park, will be supplemented as a late nominee to the Kentucky Derby (scheduled for May 7 at Churchill Downs). His pedigree seems a bit sketchy for dirt racing, although strange things happen. Owner Ken Ramsey seeks his first ever Derby victory.

Note: Forevamo is off the trail, and therefore not on this list.

1. Gun Runner (151): According to the official Kentucky Derby Twitter, the leading-point earner breezed 4f in 50.60 Monday for Steve Asmussen at Churchill Downs. He remains on schedule.

2. Nyquist (130): What a nice Florida Derby win! While trainer Doug ONeill went home to California, Nyquist will be based at Keeneland for the next few weeks in preparation for the big race.

3. Lani (100): The UAE Derby winner had his first gallop over Churchill Downs on Monday morning. The day before, the son of Tapit enjoyed a snack according to this Tweet.

4. Mohaymen (80): His fourth-place finish in the Florida Derby comes as a blessing in disguise for value bettors. The no-longer undefeated colt leaves for Churchill Downs next week.

5. Destin (51): The Tampa Bay Derby winner will not start again until the Kentucky Derby. He worked four furlongs in 48.98 seconds last Saturday at Palm Beach Downs.

6. Cupid (50): Last Thursday, trainer Bob Bafferts best Derby hope worked in 50-seconds flat for four furlongs at Santa Anita Park. He looks headed towards the Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park.

7. Oscar Nominated (50): The Kittens Joy colt won the Spiral, but doubts remain whether the synthetic form will translate well to dirt. Nevertheless, Ken Ramsey found someone to help with the late-nomination fee.

8. Danzing Candy (50): The fast-improving son of Twirling Candy worked five furlongs in 1:00.60 last Saturday. He seems on track for the Santa Anita Derby this week.

9. Shagaf (50): Plans are set for this one to face stablemate Flexibility in the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct in a few days. He worked four furlongs in 48.45 seconds last Saturday on the Belmont Park Training Track.

10. Mor Spirit (44): The other Baffert contender worked four furlongs in 47 seconds yesterday at Santa Anita in company with Lets Meet in Rio. He looks set for the Santa Anita Derby.

11. Toms Ready (44): Dallas Stewarts Derby hopeful will train up to the race and galloped yesterday morning at Churchill Downs. He shows no official workouts since March 20 (as of April 4).

12. Majesto (40): He finished second in the Florida Derby. According to rider Javier Castellano in a press release, I think hes going to be good going to the Derby. He has the points and hes late-developing.

13. Mo Tom (32): Surprisingly, trainer Tom Amoss elects to keep Corey Lanerie on him. The fourth-place Louisiana Derby finisher will train at Churchill Downs leading up to the Kentucky Derby.

14. Fellowship (32): The third-place finisher in the Florida Derby will head to Churchill Downs. According to the trainer, A mile and a quarter will be better than a mile and an eighth.

15. Exaggerator (26): Last Saturday, he worked in 1:02.80. The connections had no excuse for his so-so San Felipe Stakes effort, but they will try again in the Santa Anita Derby this week.

16. Whitmore (24): The runner-up in the Rebel Stakes worked four furlongs in 48.60 last Saturday at Oaklawn Park. He will attempt to win his first route race in the Arkansas Derby on April 16.

17. Laoban (22): The bias-aided Gotham Stakes runner-up will probably show up in the Blue Grass Stakes next. If successful, he would win his first race ever.

18. Azar (20): He finished second on synthetic in the Spiral Stakes. While 20 points is enough to enter the Kentucky Derby in most years, trainer Todd Pletcher must decide if the Kentucky Derby is the right fit for Azar.

19. Dazzling Gem (20): He may go straight into the Kentucky Derby. No works are seen on his tab since March 21.

20. Zulu (20): Pletcher indicated this one will start in the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland on Saturday. This talented son of Bernardini will benefit from more experience.

21. Outwork (20): Unlike Zulu, Pletcher sends this one up north for the Wood Memorial. He worked five furlongs in 1:00.48 seconds last Saturday at Palm Beach Downs.

The Kentucky Derby takes place in Louisville, Kentucky at Churchill Downs on Saturday, May 7, 2016. The 142nd Kentucky Derby will be televised on NBC from 4:00-7:30pm ET. Post time for the Kentucky Derby is currently set for 6:34pm ET.

Related Links:

Planning the Perfect Kentucky Derby Party at Home
The water level in downstream Mekong River in Vietnam has risen after receiving the emergency water supply China released from its Jinghong Hydropower Station in the southwest Yunnan province between March 15 and April 10.

Since late 2015, countries along the Lancang-Mekong River, including Vietnam, have suffered from drought to varying extents due to the impact of the El Nino phenomenon. The United Nations anticipated 1.5 million people face an acute shortage of drinking water. China then released emergency water supply from its Jinghong Hydropower Station to feed the downstream Mekong River, which helped to greatly alleviate the devastating situation.

Earlier on Monday, Nguyen Van Tinh, deputy director of the Water Resources Directorate in Vietnam, told local media that according to initial calculations, water from the upper Mekong is expected to help drive saltwater in Vietnam's Mekong Delta region back toward the sea by around 10 to 20 km, Bao Tin Tuc, an online edition of Vietnam's state-run news agency, quoted Tinh as saying.
- Presidency says 20,000 people were killed as 1.8 million people were displaced from their towns and villages by Boko Haram sect.

- Akande discloses that $9bn will be required by the federal government to rebuild the Northeast

At least 20,000 people were killed by Islamic terrorist group, Boko Haram, between 2011 and 2015 in Nigeria, the presidency has revealed.

This was disclosed in a statement made available to newsmen on Tuesday, April 5, by Laolu Akande, the senior special assistant to the vice-president on media and publicity.

According to the report, about 1.8 million people were also displaced from their towns and villages by the sect.

READ ALSO: We will not give up on Chibok girls  US

Quoting Dr. Marian Masha, the senior special assistant to the president on Internally Displaced Persons, Akande read out the figure from a report titled, Nigeria Recovery and Peace Building Assessment (RPBA).

At least 20,000 people were killed by Islamic terrorist group, Boko Haram, between 2011 and 2015 in Nigeria, the presidency has revealed.

Akande said the RPBA findings estimated that about $9bn would be required for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of damaged infrastructure in the in the six Northeast states of Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe, The Punch reports.

He said: The RPBA findings also revealed that the six states would need $6.4bn to undertake recovery efforts to cushion the devastation inflicted on the Northeast geopolitical zone between 2011 and 2015.

Borno state was worse hit by the crisis with a loss of $6bn while Yobe and Adamawa states were next in devastation.

The Northeast region suffered damages worth $3bn in housing alone while it also suffered damages in terms of livestock which brought about the need to restore agriculture in the region.

READ ALSO: Nigerian army arrests more Boko Haram insurgents

According to Akande, the assessments were carried out under the three main components of Infrastructure and Social Services, Peace Building, Stability and Social Cohesion, and Economic Recovery with focus on cross-cutting issues such as governance and accountability, citizen engagement, institutional capacity for implementation, gender, youth, human rights and de-mining.

Dr. Masha added that no fewer than 20,000 lives were lost while 1.8 million people were displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency and the planned interventions are to be implemented over time, in view of resources that are available for its implementation, Akande said.

Akande said Masha also described recovery in the Northeast as a priority of the federal government.

The report from the presidency comes hours after men of the Nigerian Army rescued 275 persons held hostage by the Boko Haram terrorists.

The rescue operation was carried out by troops of 152 Task Force Battalion in conjunction with troops of Sector 1 of Multinational Joint Task Force.

Source: Legit.ng
Nation Outraged at Helpless Woman Almost Being Abducted in Beijing Hotel Hallway with No Immediate Help from either Hotel or Police

Just imagine: A woman, alone in a hotel, stalked  when the stalker eventually started using violence, passers-by look on indifferently, as if this had been just another brawl between lovers. Yes, the victim did cry for help, yet nobody took heed to the helpless cry. The chilling experience was shared by the victim whose account name on weibo is Wanwan (@_2016) . Her unnerving story soon triggered a nationwide rage online at the night of April 5.

On April 3, 2016, Wanwan was travelling in Beijing and stayed alone in a Yitel, an economy hotel chain under Homeinns Co., Ltd. She booked the hotel on Ctrips website, a widely-used booking site in China.

Upon returning to her room, Wanwan stepped out of the hotel elevator and searched for her room card from her bag. What she did not notice was that a chilling attempt of abduction was about to unfold.

Together with Wanwan in the elevator was a man; he followed her out of the elevator. Then, the man asked Wanwan, What is your room number? The question immediately alarmed Wanwan.

Why should I tell you? Who are you anyway? she said.

Then, the nightmare began.

The man started to force Wanwan to go with him and attempted to drag her along. Wanwan started to scream, and that was when the man strangled her in her neck.

Help! Wanwan cried out desperately. A janitor heard the noise and came over.

I dont know him! Help me! Wanwan implored desperately and tearfully.

The janitor, who may have believed they were just another couple arguing, casually asked them in a low voice to stop the fight. However, he did not lend a hand. Footage showed that the staff was present during the whole incident, neither too close nor too far away, but he did not intervene.

Wanwan sat on the floor to prevent the man from dragging her along. She managed to dial emergency number 110 for police. Surveillance video showed that the man also made a phone call for help. Wanwan did try to make an escape by dashing into the elevator, only to be forcefully pulled back by the man who strangled her further.

It was at this moment when a female hotel guest approached. When the man again tried to hurl Wanwan into a dark corridor, the woman grabbed Wanwans hand and pulled her back up. Seeing his scheme failed, the man ran from the scene.

After the incident had long passed, the manager of the hotel appeared. Yet he is not as late as the police, who checked the surveillance camera and noted down Wanwan and other witnesses alibi.

Horrified and nearly collapsed, Wanwan stayed at her friends for a night, but her nightmare continued.

The investigation stalled as the local police station said the investigator is away and will not be back until Thursday. Whats worse is that the dispatchers of 110 police hotline said, This is not within our responsibility.

The hotel held the stance that now that Wanwan had called the police, we should just wait to see what would come out of it. Wanwan has also contacted ctrip.com where she booked the hotel to question their verification of collaborating hotels, ctrip responded that the case had been reported and then no more.

When Wanwans post started to trend on weibo, Yitel the hotel contacted Wanwan, in an attempt to bribe her for deleting the post. Wanwan refused.

The post soon swept across this social media platform, causing outrageous and shocking horror nationwide.

Who would expect a hotel in Chinas capital be as dangerous as this? One netizen commented.

If the hotel staff and police would not be there for us as in Wanwans experience, who can guarantee our safety? Another criticized.

So far, Wanans story has been reposted for over 450,000 times, and the widespread rage eventually got the relevant parties to respond. Both Yitel and Ctrip made announcements that they see case with a serious attitude and it will be thoroughly investigated. Local police station said the case is in progress. Their preliminary investigation said that the attacked woman has suffered neither property damage nor personal injury, and the attacker seemed drunk.

The case is still ongoing.
Powerful politicians who have goofed in public since APC takes over from PDP

Since President Muhammadu Buhari's campaign in 2015 till now that there is another campaign for who to take over, several politicians have goofed in public.
ELECTED

Omoyemi Banjo, a former branch controller of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Minna, has been elected president of the CBN Pensioners Club.

A statement on Tuesday, March 29 by the clubs spokesman, Chimezie Ahaneku, in Lagos said the election took place during the Biennial National Conference of the club.

Mr. Chimezie said the conference, held at CBN Learning Centre, Alakija, Satelite Town, Lagos, was attended by delegates from 21 branches across the country.

Other members of the new executive include Charles Katchy, 1st vice president; Bon Onwubualili, 2nd vice president; Nicholas Mbah, general secretary and Micheal Akinbola, assistant general secretary.

Also elected are Chimezie Ahaneku, publicity secretary; Barth Eyo, assistant publicity secretary; Francisca Arueze, treasurer; Charles Ughulu, financial secretary; Al-Hassan Bala, assistant financial secretary; Anthony Egbenyor, provost (1); and Jamiu Akanbi, provost (2).

LAUNCHED

Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), a philanthropic initiative devoted to entrepreneurship, on Monday, March 28, launched the second round of its entrepreneurship programme with the selection of 1,000 entrepreneurs.

The foundation made a 10-year $100 million commitment, to identify and empower 10,000 African entrepreneurs, create a million jobs and add $10 billion in revenues to Africas economy.

A statement from the organization said over 45,000 entrepreneurs from 54 African countries applied, more than doubling the number of applications received in 2015.

The statement said successful candidates represented diverse industries, led by agriculture, ICT and fashion, just as the highest numbers of applicants came from Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Uganda and Cameroon.

In TEEPs first year we spent over $8 million of our $100 million commitment with $5 million going directly to entrepreneurs as seed capital and the results have far exceeded our expectations, the founder, Tony Elumelu, said.

We have funded entrepreneurs, established networks and helped extraordinary people take control of their destinies.

The 2016 Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurs will become a generation of newly empowered African business owners, who are the clearest evidence yet, that indigenous business growth will drive Africas economic and social transformation.

HONOURED

Adenrele Adeniran-Ogunsanya, former Secretary to Lagos State Government, has been conferred with the title of Omowonuade of Owu Kingdom.

The ceremony was performed by His Royal Majesty, Oba Olusanya Amororo II, the Olowu of Owu Kingdom, Abeokuta, Ogun State on Saturday, March 26.

The palace of the monarch played host to eminent personalities who were in attendance to felicitate with the princess of Owu kingdom.

The ceremony, witnessed by eminent Nigerians, was part of the week-long activities to commemorate the 10th coronation anniversary of Oba Dosunmu.

ANNIVERSARIES

Ebenezer Obey-Fabiyi, popular Nigerian juju musician, on Sunday, March 3, clocked 74 years of age.

He was born on April 3, 1942 as Ebenezer Remilekun Aremu Olasupo Obey-Fabiyi in Idogo, Nigeria

Chief Commander, as hes fondly called, is of an Egba-Yoruba ethnic background.

Obey began his professional career in the mid-1950s in Lagos. Shortly after receiving training from Fatai Rolling-Dollar, he formed a band called The International Brothers in 1964, playing highlifejuju fusion. The band later metamorphosed into Inter-Reformers in the early-1970s, with a long list of Juju album hits on the West African Decca musical label.

The Inter-Reformers band excelled in praise-singing for rich Nigerian socialites and business tycoons.

Obeys music weaved in Christian spiritual themes and has since the early-1990s retired into Nigerian gospel music ministry.

TRANSITION

Tunji Braithwaite, a frontline politician, lawyer and former presidential candidate of the Nigeria Advance Party (NAP) on Monday, March 28 passed away at the age of 82.

The octogenarian reportedly died at St. Nicholas hospital after a brief illness.

Mr. Braithwaite, the youngest son of eight children, was born in 1933.

He was educated at the prestigious C.M.S Grammar School, entering the schools Preparatory Section in 1946 and completing his education there in 1953.

He then went on to sit for his A Levels at the London University at Kennington College in 1955 and enrolled in 1957/58 as a Law student at the Council of Legal Education, London.

He was admitted into Lincolns Inn that same year and graduated as a barrister in 1960.
Beta-blockers could be used to reduce the risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbations, according to new findings.

Beta blockers are primarily used to treat stress or heart problems, such as high blood pressure and angina, but these new findings suggest they could have a potential benefit for patients with COPD.

COPD exacerbations involve a worsening of symptoms, in particular increased breathlessness. Although beta blockers are suspected to tighten the muscles in the airways, contributing to breathing problems, previous research has suggested beneficial effects of -blocker use in patients with COPD. This study aimed to understand this link and to analyse if any potential benefit on exacerbations existed for COPD patients taking the drug.

The research, presented today (12 March, 2016) at the European Respiratory Society's Lung Science Conference, analysed health records of 1,621 COPD patients included in the Rotterdam Study. Patients were followed until an exacerbation occurred and researchers collected data on the use of different kinds of beta-blockers and whether the patient also experienced heart failure.

The findings revealed that the use of cardio selective beta-blockers, which are primarily used to treat heart disease, reduced the relative risk of exacerbations by 21%. The benefits were increased for patients with heart failure who saw a reduced risk of 55%.

Lies Lahousse, lead author and FWO postdoctoral fellow from Ghent University Hospital in Belgium, commented: "The overlap in symptoms and risk factors associated with lung and heart disease can be complicated and we know that a reduction in lung function is also associated with a reduction in heart function. These preliminary findings offer a useful insight into the potential benefits of beta blockers for patients living with heart disease at the same time as COPD. If randomised controlled trials confirm our findings, we could see promising clinical implications."
Scientists with the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have taken a big step toward the practical application of "valleytronics," which is a new type of electronics that could lead to faster and more efficient computer logic systems and data storage chips in next-generation devices.

As reported online April 4 in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, the scientists experimentally demonstrated, for the first time, the ability to electrically generate and control valley electrons in a two-dimensional semiconductor.

Valley electrons are so named because they carry a valley "degree of freedom." This is a new way to harness electrons for information processing that's in addition to utilizing an electron's other degrees of freedom, which are quantum spin in spintronic devices and charge in conventional electronics.

More specifically, electronic valleys refer to the energy peaks and valleys in electronic bands. A two-dimensional semiconductor called transition metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) has two distinguishable valleys of opposite spin and momentum. Because of this, the material is suitable for valleytronic devices, in which information processing and storage could be carried out by selectively populating one valley or another.

However, developing valleytronic devices requires the electrical control over the population of valley electrons, a step that has proven very challenging to achieve so far.

Now, Berkeley Lab scientists have experimentally demonstrated the ability to electrically generate and control valley electrons in TMDCs. This is an especially important advance because TMDCs are considered to be more "device ready" than other semiconductors that exhibit valleytronic properties.

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"This is the first demonstration of electrical excitation and control of valley electrons, which will accelerate the next generation of electronics and information technology," says Xiang Zhang, who led this study and who is the director of Berkeley Lab's Materials Sciences Division.

Zhang also holds the Ernest S. Kuh Endowed Chair at the University of California (UC) Berkeley and is a member of the Kavli Energy NanoSciences Institute at Berkeley. Several other scientists contributed to this work, including Yu Ye, Jun Xiao, Hailong Wang, Ziliang Ye, Hanyu Zhu, Mervin Zhao, Yuan Wang, Jianhua Zhao and Xiaobo Yin.

Their research could lead to a new type of electronics that utilizes all three degrees of freedom--charge, spin, and valley, which together could encode an electron with eight bits of information instead of two in today's electronics. This means future computer chips could process more information with less power, enabling faster and more energy efficient computing technologies.

"Valleytronic devices have the potential to transform high-speed data communications and low-power devices," says Ye, a postdoctoral researcher in Zhang's group and the lead author of the paper.

The scientists demonstrated their approach by coupling a host ferromagnetic semiconductor with a monolayer of TMDC. Electrical spin injection from the ferromagnetic semiconductor localized the charge carriers to one momentum valley in the TMDC monolayer.

Importantly, the scientists were able to electrically excite and confine the charge carriers in only one of two sets of valleys. This was achieved by manipulating the injected carrier's spin polarizations, in which the spin and valley are locked together in the TMDC monolayer.

The two sets of valleys emit different circularly polarized light. The scientists observed this circularly polarized light, which confirmed they had successfully electrically induced and controlled valley electrons in TMDC.

"Our research solved two main challenges in valleytronic devices. The first is electrically restricting electrons to one momentum valley. The second is detecting the resulting valley-polarized current by circular polarized electroluminescence," says Ye. "Our direct electrical generation and control of valley charge carriers, in TMDC, opens up new dimensions in utilizing both the spin and valley degrees of freedom for next-generation electronics and computing."
Yelp reviews of hospitals cover topics not found in the federal government's survey of patients' hospital experiences, according to the results of a new study from researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. The additional information, which the authors say tends to be strongly linked to positive or negative reviews from Yelp contributors, could influence patient decision making on where to receive hospital care, and provide valuable information to hospital administrators, caregivers, and policymakers. The study is published today in the April issue of Health Affairs.

Yelp publishes online crowd-sourced reviews about local businesses and services. It is the 33rd most visited website in the United States, with 142 million unique monthly visitors. On the site, patients are able to give hospitals a ranking from one to five stars, and provide narrative components that often reflect the features of a hospital experience most important to them.

In the new study, researchers compared approximately 17,000 Yelp reviews of 1,352 hospitals to HCAHPS reviews of the same institutions. The HCAHPS (Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) Survey (pronounced "H-Caps"), is a standardized survey and data-collection tool that has been in use since 2006 to measure patient perspectives of hospital care in 11 different categories.

"Nearly 75 percent of U.S. Internet users reported looking online for health information in 2012," said the study's senior author Raina M. Merchant, MD, MSHP, an assistant professor of Emergency Medicine at Penn's Perelman School of Medicine, and director of the Penn Social Media and Health Innovation Lab. "Forty-two percent reported looking at social media for health-related consumer reviews. Meanwhile, only six percent of Americans had heard of the government website where the HCAHPS survey is reported, as of 2008. This divergence presents an opportunity for online consumer reviews to augment and even improve formal rating systems such as HCAHPS and increase their use in consumer decision making."

The researchers used natural language processing techniques to analyze the text of Yelp narrative reviews of hospitals posted as of July 15, 2014 to produce underlying categories. For example, a post that contained the terms "pain, doctor, nurse, told, medication, meds, gave," was labeled under the category "pain medications." Where possible, the categories were assigned to corresponding HCAHPS domains. For example, "pain medications" was allotted to the HCAHPS domain Pain Control.

While the Yelp reviews included information about seven of the 11 HCAHPS domains, the research team uncovered 12 additional categories covered in the Yelp reviews that are not covered by the HCAHPS survey: cost of hospital visit, insurance and billing, ancillary testing, facilities, amenities, scheduling, compassion of staff, family member care, quality of nursing, quality of staff, quality of technical aspects of care, and specific type of medical care.

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For example, "compassion of staff" is not an item on the HCAHPS survey but instead is broadly reported under responses to the question "How often did doctors [or nurses] communicate well with patients?" Furthermore, four of the top five Yelp topics most strongly associated with positive Yelp review ratings were not covered by HCAHPS domains. These included: caring doctors, nurses, and staff; comforting; surgery/ procedure and peri-op; and labor and delivery.

"These topics that are covered within the Yelp reviews are important because they relate to the interpersonal relationships of patients with physicians, nurses, and staff," said the study's lead author Benjamin L. Ranard, a junior fellow at the Penn Social Media and Health Innovation Lab, and a combined MD/MS in Health Policy Research student at the Perelman School of Medicine. "Prospective patients are likely to want to know how caring and comforting caregivers are in various departments of a hospital."

Two of the top five Yelp categories most strongly associated with negative Yelp review ratings -- insurance and billing, and cost of hospital visit -- are also not covered by HCAHPS domains.

Citing previous research, the authors note that formal surveys such as HCAHPS suffer from low response rates and typically entail significant delays between hospitalization and public reporting of results. Finally, even if the evaluations can supply an overall indication of patient satisfaction, they rarely identify the source of perceived problems. The researchers add that while reviews on social media sites are not currently randomized, are largely uncurated, unvalidated, and subject to gaming, they are free, continuously updated, and often reveal in precise detail what the problem or positive occurrence was that affected the patient's or family member's experience.

"Yelp reviews are in real time and often written by patients for patients," said Merchant. "In addition, patients' perceptions of what matters most to them can change over time. HCAHPS may not be able to respond as agilely to these kinds of changes as social media."

To make reviews more helpful to readers, the Penn team suggests Yelp could highlight the most helpful positive and negative reviews, a practice that is becoming increasingly popular on consumer web sites like Amazon.com.

HCAHPS survey results are publicly reported on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Hospital Compare website, which rates all US hospitals that receive Medicare payments on a variety of quality measures. HCAHPS survey scores serve as a partial basis for what CMS pays hospitals for Medicare services. Hospitals with poor HCAHPS and other scores may see cuts of up to two percent in their Medicare payments. HCAHPS scores are based on a random sample of eligible discharges.
Two established techniques for correcting the root cause of the heart rhythm disorder atrial fibrillation show similar effects and safety outcomes, according to research presented at the American College of Cardiology's 65th Annual Scientific Session.

The study, called FIRE AND ICE, is the largest randomized trial to compare radiofrequency and cryoballoon ablation, two techniques designed to treat atrial fibrillation by disabling small portions of the heart that generate out-of-sync electrical signals. Radiofrequency ablation uses heat energy to disable the targeted heart tissue, while the cryoballoon, a newer technique, uses extreme cold to achieve the same effect. The trial revealed no differences between the two techniques for the study's primary outcomes--the recurrence of an irregular heart rhythm or the need for medication or subsequent procedures to address atrial fibrillation. It was funded in part by Medtronic, which makes the cryoballoon device.

"The FIRE AND ICE trial demonstrated that the cryoballoon, a newer, easier-to-use ablation catheter, worked as well as the established technology, which ultimately means that more patients can be treated for atrial fibrillation without having [to go to a] specialized cardiac center," said Karl-Heinz Kuck, M.D., Ph.D., head of cardiology at St. Georg Hospital in Hamburg, Germany, and the study's lead author. "In addition, there was, in general, a low risk of procedural complications in both groups, demonstrating that catheter ablation has become much safer over the years."

Atrial fibrillation, estimated to affect more than 33 million people worldwide, is an irregular heart rhythm that can cause fatigue, lightheadedness, shortness of breath, chest pain and an increased risk for stroke. Although medications and lifestyle changes can help manage the condition's risk factors and symptoms, about 30 percent of patients do not benefit from available medications or cannot take them due to side effects or other reasons. Ablation is one option for treating these patients. During ablation, a physician threads a small medical device through a vein in the groin to kill a small number of cells around the heart's pulmonary veins, preventing them from issuing electrical signals that are out of sync with the rest of the heart.

The trial, conducted in eight European countries, enrolled 769 patients needing ablation for intermittent atrial fibrillation. Patients were randomly assigned to receive either the radiofrequency or cryoballoon technique; both patients and physicians were aware of which technique was being used. The two groups were similar in terms of demographic factors, such as age and gender, as well as health status, based on parameters such as body mass index, blood pressure and various measures of heart function.

In addition to using different methods for disabling the target heart tissue, the two techniques involved different procedures to help the physician locate the target tissue. For radiofrequency procedures, physicians were guided by 3-D electroanatomical mapping to create tissue lesions in a point-by-point ablation approach. For cryoballoon procedures, physicians used a type of X-ray imaging known as fluoroscopy to create tissue lesions in a single-step ablation approach.

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Outcomes were assessed through in-person patient visits conducted three months after the procedure, six months after the procedure and every six months thereafter. Each visit included an electrocardiogram test to assess heart rhythm and function, as well as the use of a Holter monitor, in which the patient wears a monitor for 24 hours to check for any abnormal heart rhythm. Patients were tracked for just over 18 months, on average.

The results revealed no significant difference in the rates of recurrence of an irregular heart rhythm or the need for medication or subsequent procedures to address atrial fibrillation, outcomes that collectively occurred in 64.1 percent of patients receiving radiofrequency ablation and 65.4 percent of cryoballoon patients within 12 months after the procedure.

There were also no significant differences in the overall safety profile of the two techniques. Safety was assessed with a composite endpoint of death, stroke and procedure-related serious adverse events; 87.2 percent of patients receiving radiofrequency ablation and 89.8 percent of cryoballoon patients had not experienced any of these safety endpoints by 12 months after the procedure.

In both groups, there was generally a low rate of procedure-related complications such as infection, dangerous heart rhythms or accumulation of fluid in the heart. However, patients receiving cryoballoon ablation were significantly more likely to experience injury to the phrenic nerve, which can affect the functioning of the diaphragm and require patients to use an artificial ventilator. Such injuries occurred in 2.7 percent of cryoballoon patients and zero patients receiving radiofrequency ablation. In all but one of these cases, functioning was restored by 12 months post-operation.

The study revealed some significant procedural differences between the two techniques. Because it involved 3-D anatomical mapping, radiofrequency ablation required about five minutes less fluoroscopy time and, thus, exposed patients and physicians to radiation for a shorter period of time, though Kuck said that the overall usage of fluoroscopy was relatively limited in both groups, at 21.7 minutes and 16.6 minutes total on average for the cryoballoon and radiofrequency procedures, respectively. Cryoablation was associated with a shorter overall procedure time by 18 minutes per procedure, on average, and a similarly reduced amount of time in which the catheter was present inside the heart's left atrium while the ablation was carried out.

"The procedure time was interesting because there are more cost pressures on the healthcare system for more efficient tools that keep procedures short and predictable," Kuck said.

Kuck said the findings could help inform future medical guidelines on the use of different catheter ablation techniques for treating atrial fibrillation. One limitation of the study is that it did not investigate ablation for treating patients with more advanced stages of atrial fibrillation. A separate trial would be needed to assess the ablation techniques' effectiveness and safety for that patient population, he said.
The unprecedented post-war European economic crisis which began in 2007 and the resulting fiscal austerity policies are generally considered to have had a negative impact on public health. A study published in the Annals of Human Biology by Carlos Varea and colleagues investigates the impact of the economic crisis on birth outcomes in Spain; specifically detailing temporal changes (from 2003-2012) in underweight at birth, birth weight being an important indicator of health outcomes throughout the life course.

Varea et al. analysed data from the Statistical Bulletin of Childbirth which includes demographic and health information from all births that have occurred in the country, per year, regardless of nationality or legal status of the parents. The results reveal a generalised deterioration of birth outcomes, especially underweight at birth, since 2008. All maternal and newborn outcomes show a similar trend for the same time period.

This negative biocultural scenario, triggered by the economic crisis in Europe has the potential to have a long-lasting detrimental effect on the general health of the whole population and is likely to affect subsequent generations. In conclusion the authors highlight the WHO recommendation of 2006 for interventions to secure optimum fetal development, which can benefit health and development over many decades.

This article is published in a Special Issue of AHB 'Human Biology of Poverty' which is a collection of selected papers presented at the Society for the Study of Human Biology (SSHB) Symposium of the same title, held in Portugal in September 2015. The papers included in this interdisciplinary special issue address how poverty can affect human biology and cover issues including war and forced displacement, minorities and migrants, poverty in both developed and developing countries, health inequalities among girls and women in poverty and the impact of the economic downturn.
A team of engineers has developed and tested a type of steel with a record-breaking ability to withstand an impact without deforming permanently. The new steel alloy could be used in a wide range of applications, from drill bits, to body armor for soldiers, to meteor-resistant casings for satellites.

The material is an amorphous steel alloy, a promising subclass of steel alloys made of arrangements of atoms that deviate from steel's classical crystal-like structure, where iron atoms occupy specific locations.

Researchers are increasingly looking to amorphous steel as a source of new materials that are affordable to manufacture, incredibly hard, but at the same time, not brittle. The researchers believe their work on the steel alloy, named SAM2X5-630, is the first to investigate how amorphous steels respond to shock.

SAM2X5-630 has the highest recorded elastic limit for any steel alloy, according to the researchers--essentially the highest threshold at which the material can withstand an impact without deforming permanently. The alloy can withstand pressure and stress of up to 12.5 giga-Pascals or about 125,000 atmospheres without undergoing permanent deformations.

The researchers, from the University of California, San Diego, the University of Southern California and the California Institute of Technology, describe the material's fabrication and testing in a recent issue of Nature Scientific Reports.

"Because these materials are designed to withstand extreme conditions, you can process them under extreme conditions successfully," said Olivia Graeve, a professor of mechanical engineering at the Jacobs School of Engineering at UC San Diego, who led the design and fabrication effort. Veronica Eliasson, an assistant professor at USC, led the testing efforts.

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To make the solid materials that comprise the alloy, Graeve and her team mixed metal powders in a graphite mold. The powders were then pressurized at 100 mega-Pascals, or 1000 atmospheres, and exposed to a powerful current of 10,000 Ampers at 1165F (630C) during a process called spark plasma sintering.

The spark plasma sintering technique allows for enormous time and energy savings, Graeve said. "You can produce materials that normally take hours in an industrial setting in just a few minutes," she said.

The process created small crystalline regions that are only a few nanometers in size, with hints of structure, which researchers believe are key to the material's ability to withstand stress. This finding is promising because it shows that the properties of these types of metallic glasses can be fine-tuned to overcome shortcomings such as brittleness, which have prevented them from becoming commercially applicable on a large scale, Eliasson said.

Researchers at USC tested how the alloy responds to shock without undergoing permanent deformations by hitting samples of the material with copper plates fired from a gas gun at 500 to 1300 meters per second. The material did deform on impact, but not permanently.

The Hugoniot Elastic Limit (the maximum shock a material can take without irreversibly deforming) of a 1.5-1.8 mm-thick piece of SAM2X5-630 was measured at 11.76  1.26 giga-Pascals.

By comparison, stainless steel has an elastic limit of 0.2 giga-Pascals, while that of tungsten carbide (a high-strength ceramic used in military armor) is 4.5 giga-Pascals. This isn't to say that SAM2X5-630 has the highest elastic limit of any material known; diamonds top out at a whopping 60 giga-Pascals-- they're just not practical for many real-world applications. "The fact that the new materials performed so well under shock loading was very encouraging and should lead to plenty of future research opportunities," said Eliasson.

The primary focus of future research efforts on these alloys is increasing the weight of the materials to make them more resistant to impacts.
Last week, rescuers feared the worst when they first saw a little monkey who had been attacked by a feral dog - but he proved stronger than anyone expected.

"A few days ago some concerned locals brought a juvenile male long-tailed macaque ... into the WFFT Wildlife Hospital for urgent treatment," Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand (WFFT) wrote on Facebook on Monday.

When he arrived at the hospital, rescuers discovered many puncture wounds on his little body.

Dodo Shows Faith = Restored Rescued Animals Melt Into This Woman's Arms When She Sings To Them

"He was very weak and unresponsive," WFFT wrote.

Sadly, this kind of patient in the wildlife hospital isn't rare. "Attacks on wild animals by feral dogs and cats are very common here in Thailand," WFFT wrote. "[T]hey often injure or kill several native wild animals, this can have long term detrimental affect on Thailand's wild animals."

But this monkey would prove to be one of the lucky ones. After getting treated for his wounds, and resting up, the previously weak monkey regained the spring in his step.

"We saw great improvements," WFFT wrote. "It was decided that returning him to the wild as soon as he was well enough was the best thing for this special little monkey."

On Sunday, wildlife rescuers brought the little guy back to the forest, where he belongs. When they opened the crate, he bounded out into the woods, long tail held high.
Not only does this dog love to play doting mom to orphaned kittens - now she's helping save their lives by donating her blood.

Sacramento SPCA

Kitten season - the time of year where cats give birth - has begun and a pair of stray brothers were recently brought into California's Sacramento SPCA (SSPCA).

Sacramento SPCA

According to Sarah Varanini, foster care coordinator at the SSPCA, the Good Samaritans who found the kittens and brought them in said that there are a lot of strays in their neighborhood and that the two brothers were the only survivors of a litter discovered in their backyard. Both cats are around 5 weeks old and weigh just one pound each. What's even more worrying is the fact that one of the kittens is suffering from ulcers in both eyes, caused by the herpes virus.

Dodo Shows Faith = Restored Woman Tries Every Day For A Month To Rescue This Dog

Sacramento SPCA

"Since they were strays, they likely have never received medical care," Varanini told The Dodo. "One eye may have progressed enough to have ruptured, but we're not sure yet."

Sacramento SPCA

In addition to medicated eye drops, the kitten is receiving a special serum made from the donated blood of Jemmie, a shih tzu/Lhasa apso mix.

Sacramento SPCA

"These blood donors are adopted dogs owned by staff members that donate their blood to help save kittens' eyes," Varanini said. "We have done this for several years and have helped a countless number of kittens."

A before and after image of a kitten whose eyes benefited from the serum treatment. | Sacramento SPCA

Jemmie was adopted from the SSPCA in 2011 after her previous owners surrendered her.

Sacramento SPCA

She was adopted by an SSPCA staffer and has been helping raise foster kittens at the SSPCA ever since. "She cleans them, plays with them and allows them to use her as a jungle gym," Varanini said. Jemmie won't be fostering these particular kittens (since she has a few back at home she's currently mothering), but Varanini said that she's always happy to see a kitten regardless.

Sacramento SPCA

The science behind the serum and how it works is pretty fascinating. But essentially, Jemmie's plasma (the liquid part of blood which allows matter like red and white blood cells to flow through the veins) contains proteins that help speed up the eye healing process.

Sacramento SPCA

"To start treatment, antibiotic drops are given 4 times a day and serum drops are given every 2 hours for the first two days," Varanini said. "This blood could come from a cat, but since we need such a large amount to get enough serum for treatment ... a medium to large dog is a better choice since they are less likely to suffer any side effects from the donation."

Sacramento SPCA

Varanini said while it may not be possible to save both eyes of the kitten in need, the SSPCA hopes they'll be able to salvage at least one.

Sacramento SPCA

Both of the kittens are now in foster care and have a lot of growing (and healing) to do before they're healthy enough to be put up for adoption. The kittens are also currently without names and the SSPCA encourages readers of The Dodo to give suggestions!
President Obama made a forceful case Tuesday for stopping corporations from moving their headquarters overseas to avoid U.S. taxes, saying they are taking advantage of the American economic system and saddling the middle class with the bill.

These companies effectively renounce their citizenship, Obama said at a White House news briefing. They declare that theyre based somewhere else, thereby getting all the rewards of being an American company without fulfilling the responsibilities to pay their taxes the way everyone else is supposed to pay them.

Obama praised regulations issued Monday by the Treasury Department aimed at making these inversions  in which U.S. companies combine with foreign firms to reduce U.S. taxes  more difficult.

Inversions are one of the most insidious tax loopholes out there . . . [and make] it harder to invest in the things that are going to keep Americas economy going strong for future generations, Obama said. It sticks the rest of us with the tab. And it makes hardworking Americans feel like the deck is stacked against them.

Tax avoidance is a big, global problem, Obama added, pointing to an enormous leak of documents from a Panamanian law firm that allegedly detail the offshore shell companies and tax shelters used by rich leaders around the world.

Experts say the new Treasury rules could imperil pharmaceutical giant Pfizers planned deal to join Botox-maker Allergan and move its headquarters to Ireland. (Mark Lennihan/AP)

Its not that theyre breaking the laws, its that the laws are so poorly designed that they allow people, if theyve got enough lawyers and enough accountants, to wiggle out of responsibilities that ordinary citizens are having to abide by, Obama said.

Here in the United States, there are loopholes that only wealthy individuals and powerful corporations have access to. . . . A lot of these loopholes come at the expense of middle-class families, because that lost revenue has to be made up somewhere.

The new Treasury Department rules are the Obama administrations third, and most aggressive, attempt to stem the tide of inversions. They could imperil Pfizers $160 billion deal to join Botox-maker Allergan and move its headquarters to Ireland in order to lower its tax bill, according to several corporate tax experts. CNBC and the Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, reported late Tuesday that Pfizer and Allergan were preparing to announce that they would abandon their merger in the face of the new regulations. A Pfizer spokeswoman declined to comment on those reports.

[New Treasury Department rules attempt to stop corporate inversions]

The deal, the largest proposed inversion in history, was expected to lower Pfizers tax rate and save the pharmaceutical giant about $35 billion in taxes. But the rules announced Monday could make those savings more difficult to achieve.

We await formal comments from the companies, but at this point we believe it is unlikely the deal will close, Credit Suisse analyst Vamil Divan wrote in a research note sent out Tuesday morning.

Pfizer, asked to respond to Obamas remarks, reiterated its joint statement with Allergan released Monday evening: We are conducting a review of the U.S. Department of Treasurys actions announced today. Prior to completing the review, we wont speculate on any potential impact.

Currently, to take advantage of an inversions tax savings, the shareholders of the U.S. company must own less than 60 percent of the combined company. Pfizers shareholders would own 56 percent of the combined corporation, for example. That is in part because Allergan has completed previous acquisitions of U.S. companies that have increased its size. Last year, for instance, Dublin-based Actavis completed its deal to buy Allergan for $70.5 billion, and the combined company took on Allergans name.

Actavis itself was a product of several deals that effectively relocated corporate headquarters: It bought New York-based Forest Laboratories for $28 billion in 2014. And in 2013, then-New Jersey-based Actavis bought Warner Chilcott in a deal valued at $8.5 billion, relocating its global headquarters to Ireland and gaining a lower tax rate.

Under the new rules, stock that Allergan has issued within the past three years to acquire U.S. companies wouldnt be included in the calculations.

Applying the new Treasury Department rules, Americans for Tax Fairness estimates that Pfizer shareholders could own about 70 percent of the new foreign company, well above the 60 percent threshold, said Frank Clemente, executive director of the advocacy group.

It appears that the Treasury Department has issued a rule with respect to serial inverters, such as Allergan, that will wipe out the expected tax breaks Pfizer was counting on, Clemente said.

Pfizers stock was up about 1 percent Tuesday, but Allergans shares fell more than 15 percent.

Depending on the way the calculations are done, Pfizer shareholders ownership in the new company could even approach 80 percent, said Robert Willens, an independent tax expert. That would trigger even more stringent Treasury Department rules that would make it harder still for the company to lower its tax bill. If the ownership fraction equals or exceeds 80 percent, the deal will certainly be tabled, Willens said.

Several tax experts questioned whether the Treasury Departments new regulations would withstand a legal challenge. But, they said, Pfizer may not want to wage a multi-year legal battle.

We are surprised, to say the least, that Treasury took the drastic step of proposing such a punitive rule, apparently without the authority to do so, Willens said.

Umer Raffat, an analyst at Evercore ISI, wrote in an email: The real issue isnt so much what Allergan [AGN] may prove/disprove or whether Treasury overstepped the authority . . . the real question is whether Pfizer reads todays [regulations] as reason enough to not continue to pursue the deal.

There is a $3.5 billion breakup fee written into the deal, according to a regulatory filing, but the fee would be only $400 million if the deal falls through because of an adverse change in law.

The Obama administration has struggled to stem the tide of inversions over the past few years. After the Pfizer deal was announced in November, Milwaukee-based Johnson Controls said it would merge with Tyco International and move to Ireland, saving the firm about $150 million a year in taxes. Last month, data provider IHS, which is based in Colorado, announced a $13 billion merger with Markit that would move its headquarters to London and save it about $260 million in taxes. Using this strategy, the U.S. subsidiary of the inverted company can take on a loan from its foreign parent company. The interest payments on that debt can then be deducted from the U.S. companys taxable income. The Treasury Department wants to make the process more onerous.

In addition to rules potentially affecting Pfizer, the Treasury Department took aim at one of the most attractive parts of an inversion  earnings stripping.

Despite these new rules, Obama administration officials continue to argue that stopping inversions will require congressional action.

While the Treasury Department actions will make it more difficult and less lucrative for companies to exploit this particular corporate inversions loophole, only Congress can close it for good, and only Congress can make sure that all the other loopholes that are being taken advantage of are closed, Obama said.

Business industry leaders have argued that such deals will continue to make financial sense as long as the U.S. corporate tax rate, 35 percent, remains the highest in the developed world. The new Treasury rules could make U.S. companies less competitive while deterring foreign investment in the United States, Bruce Josten, executive vice president for government affairs for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement.

Punishing the business community, as the Obama administration has proposed, is not the answer. The real solution is comprehensive tax reform, he said.

There is a limited amount that can be accomplished through executive action, said Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.). Congress now is full-monty complaining but taking no action, he said. Were just hemorrhaging the resources that we need from companies to pay their fair share, [and] if we sit by and do nothing, we will see a continued hollowing-out of the middle class.

Carolyn Johnson contributed to this report.
When I was a medium-size kid  10, say  some well-meaning adult leaned on me to read a childrens book set in World War II called The Little Fishes. It was an experience that engendered a lifelong suspicion of novels that take place during the Second World War. The exact nature of this suspicion has changed over time; I no longer believe that the authors of these books wrote them in order to torture me. Now I find the setting suspicious because I think some writers use it expediently, to grant their characters depth and their plots tension without having to go to the trouble of building those elements themselves. Its cake mix (albeit organic, virtuous cake mix) vs. baking from scratch.

Girl in the Blue Coat, by Monica Hesse, a reporter at The Washington Post, is set in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam, in 1943  in a city where the citizens are either collaborating, resisting or trying to keep their heads down and stay alive until the wars end. In the latter group is our heroine, Hanneke, a black-market runner bearing a heavy burden of guilt about her boyfriend, Bas, killed in the Dutch armed forces doomed five-day stand against the German army in the spring of 1940.

[Review: Salt to the Sea: A war story of survival and fates entwined]

Hanneke, we learn, is hardened by war. Shes out to save herself and her parents, and, knowing that compassion is the first step toward annihilation, she offers her neighbors and customers nothing more than black-market goods, no matter how desperate their straits. Because the book is written in the first person, Hanneke is the only authority we have, but she is absolutely firm on this point: Shes hard as nails. Survival first. Thats my war motto. After Bas, it might be my life motto. Survival first, survival only. What are we supposed to think, then, when not 12 pages later, Hanneke decides to imperil herself by setting out to find Mirjam, a Jewish girl who has mysteriously disappeared from the home where she was being hidden?

Were supposed to think shes a hero.

And she is. Anyone who would sacrifice her security in hopes of saving a Jew in Nazi-occupied territory is a hero. Anyone who hid a Jew, who tried to resist, who tried to help  they were all heroes. Its a fact. Its the truth.

Thats whats troubling. Theres an automatic conferral of hero status on Hanneke the instant that she decides to find Mirjam. But automatic is not a really desirable word to describe a plot element because it means the same thing as for no reason. Why does Hanneke perform her abrupt about-face and undertake the perilous quest to find Mirjam, a girl she doesnt know? Because shes good. And why is she good? Because shes helping a Jewish girl in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam. Why is she helping the girl? Because shes good.

You see the problem? The act creates the character instead of the character creating the act, which takes from us one of the central pleasures of reading  finding out what the characters will do. We know what Hanneke is going to do; she has to do it, because shes good.

The only nail-biting part concerns whether Hanneke will succeed in her efforts. And here, Girl in the Blue Coat comes through. If Hanneke and her motivations are dubious, the unraveling of the mystery of Mirjam is intriguing and exciting. The chain of connection and detection that leads Hanneke through Amsterdam and into various moments of peril is taut and intelligent, and above all, the historical setting is rendered the way only an expert can do it.

The constant state of apprehension, the constant calculation of ones chances, the constant assessment of the enemys temper  in short, the agonizing watchfulness required to stay alive similar in abused people everywhere  these elements are brilliantly vivid and felt.

A scene near the beginning of the book, in which Hanneke skillfully flirts with a German soldier to keep him from looking too closely in her bike basket, follows her thought processes intimately, allowing us a fascinating glimpse of the steely professional survivalist thats been created by the Nazi occupation. Its a powerful episode that creates a strong understanding both of Hanneke and the pressures under which she lives.

Annie Barrows is the author of the Ivy & Bean series and The Truth According to Us, and she is the co-author of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

At 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 6, Monica Hesse will be at Politics and Prose Bookstore, 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW.
James Hannaham has won the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction for Delicious Foods, his bravura novel about racism and labor abuse. The $15,000 prize was announced Tuesday by the PEN/Faulkner Foundation in Washington.

Delicious Foods tells the story of an African American boy who, despite losing his hands, tries to rescue his mother from a Southern produce farm where shes kept in virtual slavery. Its a harrowing depiction of drug addiction and the plight of migrant workers. Among the novels most radical qualities is that parts of it are narrated by the voice of crack cocaine itself.

[Review of James Hannahams Delicious Foods]

For Hannaham, an associate professor of writing at the Pratt Institute in New York, the success of his second novel has come as something of a surprise. I thought it was such a misfit, but its turning out to be a lot more popular than the kid I thought it was, he said by phone in reaction to the news of his award.

Its visceral, he said, and one of its main questions is about dismemberment as the unsettling endgame of discrimination. Its also nasty, and its not at all genteel. Its not a novel that tries to be about the small things that happen to literary people.

That implicit criticism of the quiet nature of literary fiction is intentional. Coming from the world of experimental theater, Hannaham, who co-founded the New York performance group Elevator Repair Service, suggested that he has been disappointed by the staid tone of many literary novels. If you look at composers or poets, experimentation is the most fun they can have. Whats wrong with the literary world that there isnt more respect for and enjoyment of experimentation?

Whether or not thats a fair appraisal, Hannaham has won the approval of one of the countrys most literary organizations. The PEN/Faulkner Award  now in its 36th year  bills itself as Americas largest peer-juried prize for fiction, which gives it a distinct quality of independence.

The judges for this years prize were Abby Frucht, Molly McCloskey and Sergio Troncoso. They considered almost 500 books by Americans published in the United States during 2015.

The PEN/Faulkner Award finalists, whose authors will receive $5,000 each, are:

 Julie Iromuanyas Mr. and Mrs. Doctor, about a Nigerian immigrant who deceives his family back home into believing that he has become a doctor.

 Viet Thanh Nguyens The Sympathizer, about a North Vietnamese spy who flees to California after the fall of Saigon and continues working for the communists.

 Elizabeth Tallents Mendocino Fire, a collection of stories.

 Luis Alberto Urreas The Water Museum, a collection of stories.

Hannaham and the four finalists will read from their work at a ceremony on May 14 at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington. Tickets to the ceremony, which includes dinner with the writers, are $100. Go to penfaulkner.org or call 202-544-7077 for more details.
Gato Barbieri, an Argentine-born tenor saxophonist who became one of the first major Latin jazz stars with his steamy, Grammy Award-winning score to the 1972 film Last Tango in Paris, died April 2 at a hospital in New York City. He was 83.

The cause was pneumonia, his wife, Laura Barbieri, told the Associated Press. Mr. Barbierirecently had bypass surgery to remove a blood clot, she said.

Born Leandro Barbieri, he was known for nearly his entire career as El Gato, The Cat. The name stemmed from his early days in Argentina, when he played in two bands at once  a tango orchestra and a jazz group  and had to scamper between clubs in the middle of the night.

Mr. Barbieri scampered for much of his career, moving fluidly across musical styles and international borders before settling in New York.

An eclectic and experimental composer, his influences included jazz greats Charlie Parker and John Coltrane, pop legends Marvin Gaye and Carlos Santana, and classical composers Erik Satie and Tchaikovsky.

His sound, however, was entirely his own. When he plays a melody, wrote Larry Rohter in The Washington Post in 1976, it is with a sense of lyricism and grace that few other saxophonists can rival.

His lyricism was complemented by a walloping power, a partial result of a strange sax surgery that Mr. Barbieri performed early in his career, grafting the small neck of one tenor saxophone onto the larger body of another.

Mr. Barbieris more than 50 recordings included the best-selling Caliente (1976), which featured a bolero cover of Santanas hit Europa (Earths Cry Heavens Smile), and a critically acclaimed four-album Latin America series. With records titled Chapter One (1973) through Chapter Four (1975), the series highlighted different Latin sounds: Argentine folk; Brazilian samba; Cuban, Puerto Rican and Dominican salsa; and, in a final live recording in New York, musicians from across the Americas.

No record brought Mr. Barbieri greater fame than his soundtrack for Last Tango in Paris, a provocative erotic drama about a tumultuous affair between a middle-aged American widower (Marlon Brando) and a young, engaged Parisian woman (Maria Schneider).

Mr. Barbieris sensuous, emotional theme contained echoes of Argentine tango and European-inflected jazz, and earned him a Grammy for best instrumental composition. His honors also included a Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015.

Always in the tango is tragedy  she leaves him, she kills him. Its like an opera but its called tango, he told the Associated Press in 1997, reflecting on the Tango score. He added, It was like a marriage between the film and the music.

Leandro Barbieri was born Nov. 28, 1932 in Rosario, Argentina, the birthplace of Cuban revolutionary Ernesto Che Guevara.

Mr. Barbieri sometimes veered into revolutionary politics himself, naming one of his albums after Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata and frequently concluding his performances with a rendition of El Arriero, a politically minded Argentine folk song that closed with the refrain, Sorrows and the little cows / Walk the same roads / The sorrows belong to us / The cows belong to others. Setting aside his sax, Mr. Barbieri sang the songs final words himself, sometimes in a 10-minute-long loop.

He grew up in Buenos Aires, and his talent on the saxophone earned him a spot in the jazz orchestra of Lalo Schifrin, who later wrote the theme for the television show Mission: Impossible. The group played swing and bebop until a directive from Argentinian strongman Juan Peron forced them to focus on more traditional styles like the tango.

Mr. Barbieri struck out on his own in 1962 and left for Rome, encouraged by his Italian wife and manager, Michelle.

In Europe, he fell in with Don Cherry, an American trumpeter who became an exponent of free jazz, which eschewed traditional harmonies and tempos in favor of free-spirited improvisation.

Cherry talked him into moving to New York in 1966 to record Complete Communion and Symphony for Improvisers, a pair of well-received albums for the Blue Note record label. Mr. Barbieri released his first solo album, In Search of the Mystery, to mixed reviews a year later.

I realized that there was something else in me that wasnt being used, he told The Post in 1976, recounting that period. A chance meeting with Brazilian filmmaker Glauber Rocha helped him realize what it was.

You have your roots, Rocha told him. Why dont you use them?

The remark turned out to be a breakthrough, as Mr. Barbieri began incorporating the Latin styles he had heard as a boy into his music, beginning with his records The Third World (1969) and Fenix (1971). He also took an interest in film, collaborating with the Italian director Pier Paolo Pasolini and, ultimately, Tango director Bernardo Bertolucci.

The success of that films soundtrack provided Mr. Barbieri with artistic freedom, and he traveled to South America to record his Chapters records.

He later turned toward a more pop-friendly style of jazz, although a dispute with his record label, A&M, led to a recording hiatus between 1988 and 1997, when he returned with the critically acclaimed Que Pasa for Columbia Records.

The album was recorded after the death in 1995 of Michelle, his wife of 35 years. Mr. Barbieri nearly died two months later, when he suffered a heart attack in the middle of a performance at Blues Alley, a Washington jazz club.

He was aided in his recovery by Laura, a physical therapist, whom he married in 1996. Additional survivors include their son, Christian, and a sister.

Mr. Barbieri continued making monthly appearances at the Blue Note in New York until last November, clad in his trademark fedora, scarf and wraparound sunglasses.

In a much-diminished, far furrier form, he will continue performing for the foreseeable future: A blue-skinned, fedora-wearing, sax-playing Muppet named Zoot was inspired by Mr. Barbieri, and has performed as part of Jim Hensons puppet crew since the 1970s.
Brit Herring as Thomas Jefferson, Peter Boyer as Charles Dickens and Steven Carpenter as Count Leo Tolstoy in The Gospel According to Thomas Jefferson, Charles Dickens, and Count Leo Tolstoy: Discord by Scott Carter. (C. Stanley Photography)

If you wanted to generate a high ego-to-floor-space ratio, you could hardly do better than the room conjured up in the latest Washington Stage Guild production. In this well-lighted, locked chamber  which turns out to be an aspect of the afterlife  we meet Leo Tolstoy, who is impatient, unyielding and supremely smug about his own moral trajectory. Here also is Thomas Jefferson, still smarting over edits made to the Declaration of Independence. And heres Charles Dickens, a preening coxcomb prepared to spend eternity congratulating himself on his own literary reputation. Be good, Lev, and I might reveal who killed Edwin Drood, the English novelist says to the War and Peace author in a moment of telling condescension.

The self-important writers clash in diverting fashion in The Gospel According to Thomas Jefferson, Charles Dickens, and Count Leo Tolstoy: Discord, a funny and hyper-literate play of ideas by Scott Carter, an executive producer-writer for HBOs Real Time With Bill Maher. Directed here by Washington Stage Guild artistic director Bill Largess, and featuring a trio of able comic performances, the production will particularly entertain recovering English and comparative literature majors, lovers of Founding Fathers minutiae, and people who have brooded over what makes a fulfilling and ethical life.

Carter took inspiration from the fact that Jefferson, Dickens and Tolstoy all created versions of Christian scripture that reflected their own theological and worldly views. In the play, which consists of succinct scenes punctuated by blackouts and projected scene titles, the three historical figures soon realize what links them. As they quarrel about the merits of their respective gospels, the argument can get erudite  there is passing mention of the Council of Nicaea and the meaning of the Greek word logos  but the clashing personalities keep things lively. During a debate about whether it is possible to accept Jesuss moral teachings while disbelieving in his miracles, Tolstoy gets so exasperated that he attacks Dickens with a fountain pen.

Glowering and barking his words, as he strides around in peasant-style attire, actor Steven Carpenter supplies a droll spoof of Tolstoy. As Jefferson  whom the play depicts as the most reasonable of the trio  Brit Herring is aptly measured, without ever being bland. And Peter Boyer is amusing as the conceited and swaggering Dickens, who is still outraged over the piracy of his works in 19th-century America. A land of expectorating cowpokes! he cries when Jefferson identifies himself as the countrys former president.

Designer Kelvin Smalls period- and personality-appropriate costumes create a pleasantly unsettling contrast with the rooms streamlined modern decor, designed by Molly Hall. Lighting designer Marianne Meadows and sound designer Frank DiSalvo Jr. contribute suitably otherworldly touches.

Playwright Carters script begins to feel overly methodical and pat as it nears its conclusion, but that too-tidy portion takes up only a small portion of the shows 90 minutes. At one point, Tolstoy compares himself with one of three Jonahs in a whales belly. Fortunately, the writers predicament is much brighter and busier than this metaphor implies.

The Gospel According to Thomas Jefferson, Charles Dickens, and Count Leo Tolstoy: Discord by Scott Carter. Directed by Bill Largess. 90 minutes. Tickets: $40 to $50. Through April 24 at the Undercroft Theatre in Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church, 900 Massachusetts Ave. NW. Call 240-582-0050 or visit stageguild.org.
Officer G. Pumphrey pursues a Chihuahua running loose on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge on Sunday. The dog was captured and taken to an animal shelter. (California Highway Patrol via AP)

A Chihuahua is in animal custody after leading police on a chase across the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.

The California Highway Patrol (CHP) tweeted that the small black dog led us on quite a chase Sunday and posted a video of it running furiously on the upper level of the bridge while being trailed by an officer on a motorcycle.

After it was captured, the Chihuahua was taken to a San Francisco animal shelter, where staff members named it Ponch, after Frank Poncherello, a CHP officer played by Erik Estrada in the 1980s TV series CHiPs.

Deb Campbell, a spokeswoman for the citys Department of Animal Care and Control, said the dogs tag was decorated with a design of a human skull but included no identifying information. Campbell said the dog was recovering from its misadventure.

 Associated Press
Politico editor in chief John Harris, left, with the sites chief executive, Jim VandeHei, in 2007. VandeHei is leaving within the next two weeks, rather than staying through the elections. (Jacquelyn Martin/Associated Press)

The executive soap opera at Politico appears to be winding up faster than previously scheduled.

Jim VandeHei, the sites chief executive, will officially leave the publication he co-founded within the next two weeks, scrapping an earlier plan to stay put through the presidential election in November. Three other senior business managers will leave early, too.

VandeHei has already more or less checked out; he has rarely been in Politicos Arlington headquarters since late January and has begun interviewing job candidates for a new, still-unnamed news venture. VandeHei declined to comment.

Among those also leaving is Kim Kingsley, Politicos chief operating officer and one of the sites earliest employees and architects. Kingsley is also infrequently in the office and has stopped using her Politico email address.

Two other major players in the Politico drama  Politico Playbook columnist Mike Allen and editor Susan Glasser  are expected to remain in their jobs until November.

The Fix's Chris Cillizza looks back on Politico's growth over the past nine years, and discusses the future of the organization. (Peter Stevenson/The Washington Post)

As previously announced, Allen will join VandeHei in his new venture. Glasser will be moving to Israel with her husband, New York Times reporter Peter Baker; she will then take on a new job, head of editorial innovation, and become a writer for Politico and other publications, including the New York Times magazine.

The departures of VandeHei and Kingsley appear to end what had been an awkward two months or so for Politico, which has pioneered rapid-fire coverage of politics and the federal government since its founding in 2007.

VandeHei, Allen and Kingsley shocked colleagues and political junkies in late January when they announced that they were leaving the site they had been instrumental in building.

The blow-up in the companys executive ranks stemmed primarily from a dispute between VandeHei, a hard-charging former political reporter at The Washington Post, and Politicos chairman and co-founder, Robert L. Allbritton.

The two men clashed over many issues, including strategy, editorial direction and compensation, creating what several people described as a poisonous atmosphere for managers and staff members. The bad blood led both parties to scrap plans, announced in January, for VandeHei to remain in his job until November.

Two other executives  Chief Revenue Officer Roy Schwartz and Executive Vice President Danielle Jones  will also leave this month as full-time employees, Politico said. Jones will continue as a consultant to Politico.

[Why the marriage at the top of Politico couldnt be saved]

Politico is still looking for replacements for the departing executives. It also has not said what it will do when Allen  its biggest star  decamps at the end of this year to join VandeHeis venture. Allen and editor in chief John Harris, another co-founder, both declined comment.

Despite the management turmoil, Politicos 300-person newsroom  which has experienced its own periods of rapid turnover in the past  has covered the 2016 campaign without evident disruption.

President Obama, in a speech last week critiquing the news media, praised one of Politicos projects (without mentioning Politico by name): a magazine story that fact-checked Donald Trumps speeches. Obama and several presidential candidates have also given interviews to Politico columnist Glenn Thrushs new podcast, Off Message. It has also produced various scoops about the candidates.

Senior managers say the executive shakeup hasnt hurt advertising revenue, which is reportedly growing. And the sites traffic is up, to 15 million unique visitors in February, a 38 percent gain from January and 112 percent over the same month in 2015, according to the ComScore tracking firm.

A Politico spokesman, Brad Dayspring, said in a statement Monday that VandeHei and Harris agreed that it was appropriate [for VandeHei] to wrap up his time at Politico this spring, given that the publication was meeting its business and editorial goals. Allbritton agreed with the plan, he added, and others on the departing business team reached similar conclusions on their own individual timelines.
Donya Williams says the D.C. General homeless shelter is the nicest place shes lived since moving to the District, and that tells you something about the slumlords. (Bill OLeary/The Washington Post)

There was the group of elderly women living in a public-housing complex who thought they were just out of luck when their trash stopped getting collected and rodents scampered around their homes.

And there was the woman who said her landlord tied a red balloon around her doorknob when she was late on rent to shame her in front of her neighbors.

She experienced this as embarrassing, as upsetting, as her landlord telling her business to her neighbors. I immediately thought of this as a violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, said Faith Mullen, a law professor at Catholic University. A lot of people with legal problems dont see them as legal problems.

Its common knowledge that there are two different D.C.s  one inhabited by younger newcomers with disposable incomes who live in luxury condos, and another in which many longtime residents struggle to find decent jobs and affordable housing.

Mullen and the other co-authors of a report released Monday set out to paint a more nuanced portrait of what it means to be poor in the nations capital  by directly asking poor residents themselves.

[D.C. has a bigger income disparity than any state in the country]

The main takeaway: Finding and keeping affordable housing is by far the dominant stress among low-income residents  more so than concerns about food, education or domestic violence.

I was surprised by the number of people who have a number of very serious problems. People that had really grave problems, problems with domestic [abuse], problems with childhood custody, and a very large percentage of them still said housing was their biggest problem, Mullen said. It really put it into a larger context.

Researchers surveyed more than 600 low-income residents about their most persistent stresses and what steps  successful or unsuccessful  they have taken to remedy their problems. All survey participants had incomes at 200 percent or less of the federal poverty level, which is $24,300 for a family of four.

The nonprofit DC Consortium of Legal Services Providers, which sponsored the study, sought to determine whether these residents knew their full legal rights. The group also hoped to use the responses to learn how nonprofits and government agencies in D.C. could better serve the residents.

More than one-third of the surveys participants named issues related to housing as the most serious problem theyve faced in the past two years. Forty percent of respondents said residents in their neighborhoods most need help with housing.

Nearly 50 percent of the respondents said they struggled to keep up with rent increases and to get their landlords to make necessary repairs.

Donya Williams, 45, who participated in the survey, said shes been evicted from D.C. apartments four times since 2009. She moved here with her children from Denver seven years ago after her shoe business flopped, and she was hoping she could better support her family in the District, which was spared the brunt of the recession.

But her business never took off, and she says she bounced from one roach- and rat-infested apartment in Southeast to another. She says she became tangled in lawsuits when trying to fight her landlords and is now living in a homeless shelter in Columbia Heights with her 13-year-old daughter, who attends a charter school a long commute away in Anacostia.

I call D.C. General homeless shelter the nicest and most secure place Ive lived, so that tells you something about the slumlords, Williams said. You cannot feel good, or do good, if you are living in a hole.

Mayor Muriel E. Bowsers administration has vowed to prioritize the creation of more affordable housing, pumping $100 million into these efforts during her first year in office.

This latest community survey highlights the necessity of those efforts, but it also found that even those who have housing are stressed that they may soon lose it and then, given increasing housing costs in the city, will have nowhere else to go.

Sixty percent of respondents said they worried about not having any housing in the future.

The study also found that many of the surveyed residents who did not have health insurance qualified for government programs but didnt know they were eligible.

It seems that there were some identifiable pockets of people who just didnt know they are qualified, Mullen said.

A third of respondents said they didnt turn to anyone to help solve their problems, according to the report. Twenty percent of those who did seek help said they went to a community organization.

To find the survey participants, Mullen said, law students and community members held focus groups and went into neighborhoods to conduct the surveys, which lasted about 20 minutes. Many of the questions were open-ended, and Mullen said the wording was crucial.

We asked them to tell us about their biggest problems, not legal issues, because a lot of people who will tell you about their most terrible problems will tell you that they dont have any legal problems, she said. This was an effort to find out where the needs are from the perspective of people who actually need it.
Ivanhoe Donaldson, a civil rights activist and astute political tactician who became a confidant of Marion Barry Jr. and guided his rise to D.C. mayor, and who was convicted of embezzling $190,000 in city funds while serving in his administration, died April 3 at his home in Washington. He was 74.

The cause was complications from cancer and other ailments, said Fred Cooke, a friend and former D.C. corporation counsel.

Mr. Donaldson, a tightly wound former college track star and intellectual drawn to the works of Dostoevsky and Camus, was often described as a man of fiery drive. He was a militant civil rights activist, a shrewd political strategist and an organizer par excellence.

A New York City police officers son, he had been an engineering student at Michigan State University when he plunged into the civil rights struggle in 1960. He had been inspired by news coverage of sit-ins in Greensboro, N.C., where he saw people his own age risking their safety to confront Jim Crow discrimination.

He went to the South to assist in voter-registration efforts, eventually becoming a field secretary for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Members of the group, known as SNCC and pronounced snick, were often called the shock troops of the civil rights movement for their bravery in the Deep South in the face of assault and other forms of recrimination by Ku Klux Klansmen and other thugs, as well as local authorities.

Ivanhoe Donaldson, center, in 1979. (Larry Morris/The Washington Post)

I knew something momentous was beginning, Mr. Donaldson once told The Washington Post. I wanted to be there.

He organized drives for clothing, food and medical supplies, hauling the goods by truck from Michigan to Mississippi.Once, a police officer jammed the barrel of a gun into Mr. Donaldsons mouth in circumstances that caused him to believe death was imminent. At other moments, he was roughed up badly and bore the scars of such incidents on his forehead.

Mr. Donaldson tried mightily to keep his cool under stressful and sometimes hostile conditions. I had to learn to span the gap between my emotional reactions and intellectual perceptions, he told The Post. Harry Belafonte was the person who taught me how to deal with the emotional rage while advocating those perceptions of balance.

Mr. Donaldson became director of SNCCs New York office, remaining with the organization through its increasing militancy under Stokely Carmichael in the late 1960s. He also began to burnish his reputation as a tough, skillful political infighter who helped usher a generation of black political leaders into elective office. His most prominent victories included Julian Bonds Georgia House of Representatives bid in 1965 and Richard Hatchers race for mayor of Gary, Ind., in 1967.

His most enduring association was with Barry, who had been the first national chairman of the SNCC. In Washington, the two activists were said to have recognized the untapped electoral power of the citys black population.

[Marion Barry, four-term D.C. mayor, dies at 78]

Mr. Donaldson managed Barrys successful campaign for City Council in 1974 and then his upset primary victory in 1978 over incumbent mayor Walter E. Washington and City Council president Sterling Tucker.

Ivanhoe Donaldson in 1979. (Harry Naltchayan/The Washington Post)

Barrys win was a stunning achievement, transforming him from a noted figure in the civil rights movement into the mayor of a major American city. But at first, Barry had been written off as a long shot and was lagging in the polls, and Mr. Donaldson was credited with energizing the campaign.

We talked about the city, who would be in the race, all the political variables, then I studied the candidate, the candidates ego, Mr. Donaldson told The Post at the time. Once I knew we were prepared emotionally to lose, then I knew we could win.

As the shadow power behind the citys highest ranking executive, Mr. Donaldson was described as a combative but effective troubleshooter. He resisted the spotlight, insisting on keeping the mayor front and center at all times. Im a political hack, he once quipped. Hes the politician.

Between stints helping Barry  he engineered the mayors re-election triumph in 1982  Mr. Donaldson held official titles: acting director of the Department of Employment Services and deputy mayor for economic development. He left city government in late 1983 to become a vice president at E.F. Hutton, the investment services firm.

Word soon trickled out that he was a target of a grand jury investigation. News accounts implied that after he had become prominent in Washington, his tastes had changed and that he felt the pull of the expensive lifestyles of associates who had access to far more money. He drove a Mercedes-Benz and bought tailored suits and jewelry.

Meanwhile, a contractor had taken him to court over failure to pay the expenses of remodeling his condominium, and he was sued over $3,000 in unpaid credit card bills. His investment in various business ventures also brought a deluge of creditors to his doorstep.

In December 1985, following months of investigation by the FBI and the IRS, he admitted to three felonies: tax fraud, obstruction of justice and interstate transportation of fraudulently obtained funds.

Mr. Donaldson stood before a judge in the federal courthouse in the District and pleaded guilty to siphoning off $190,000 from the District government during his years on the city payroll. The U.S. attorneys office said Mr. Donaldson had access to and systematically stole money from a city account used for overseeing unemployment funds.

Before sentencing, Judge Gerhard A. Gesell received more than 40 letters portraying him as a man of character. One came from Coretta Scott King, the widow of the slain civil rights leader.

Mr. Donaldson was sentenced to seven years in prison, the repayment of city funds and a fine of $15,000, far less than the maximum penalty. What happened was wrong, Mr. Donaldson told the judge. I want to apologize to the court, to my community, to my friends, to my wife.

Ivanhoe Donaldson was born in New York Citys Harlem neighborhood on Oct. 17, 1941, and he grew up in the Bronx. His mother, a poetry and literature enthusiast, named him after a novel by Sir Walter Scott.

His own interests veered to math and science. Calling himself a child of Sputnik, referring to the Soviet satellite whose 1957 launch propelled the space race, he said his ambitions were to work for NASA.

Instead, he felt the call of the civil rights movement, participating in demonstrations from Danville, Va., to Selma, Ala. In one account reported in The Post, an unnamed friend described the low-key demeanor of the ordinarily high-octane Mr. Donaldson as he worked patiently to encourage blacks to take the dramatic step of attempting to vote.

He had a very soft touch, the friend said, noting that Mr. Donaldson sat for hours on porches, talking and listening. At other times, he sat among worshippers at church, enthusiastically singing hymns.

In 1978, he married Winifred Burrell, from whom he was long separated. Besides his wife, of Charlotte, N.C., survivors include their daughter, Tiffany; and a sister.

Mr. Donaldson was resilient in defeat. Released from prison after three years, he returned to political and business consulting in Washington until retiring in 2006.

In explaining the respect Mr. Donaldson maintained among many even after his crimes, Cooke said in an interview: He didnt try to dissemble or blame the dogs who ate his homework. He owned it.
Bernie Sanders arrives at the Capital Hilton to meet with Hillary Clinton in D.C.

June 14, 2016 Bernie Sanders arrives at the Capital Hilton to meet with Hillary Clinton in D.C. Matt McClain/The Washington Post

The senator from Vermont is Hillary Clintons rival in the contest for the Democratic presidential nomination.

The senator from Vermont has become Hillary Clintons chief rival in the contest for the Democratic presidential nomination.

The senator from Vermont has become Hillary Clintons chief rival in the contest for the Democratic presidential nomination.

The D.C. Council passed a highly unusual measure Tuesday to bend the rules and make sure Bernie Sanders will appear on the June primary ballot in the nations capital.

The emergency action sidelined a challenge to Sanderss status as a legitimate candidate following the failure by D.C. Democratic Party officials to meet a deadline to certify Sanderss candidacy for president. And it put in play the Districts dozens of delegates and superdelegates, should the senator from Vermont sustain his challenge to front-runner Hillary Clinton until the Districts late primary, on June 14.

But the council action did not come without a fight  led by Clinton supporters. They sought to use the council interference to highlight that Sanders was in need of a legislative rescue only because his campaign had chosen to pay its way onto the D.C. ballot rather than to collect signatures as Clinton had done.

Sanders put himself into this situation, said D.C. Council member Vincent B. Orange (D-At Large), a chairman of Clintons last presidential campaign in the District. The difference is Hillary Clinton put a crew on the ground and collected signatures  Sanders did not.

The problem for Sanders came last month when he took advantage of a Democratic Party rule that allowed him to submit a $2,500 donation to the D.C. Democratic State Committee  in lieu of 1,000 signatures  to become certified as a candidate in the party primary.

Sanders submitted his check on time. But the committee notified the D.C. Board of Elections a day later, after the deadline to do so, and a Democratic activist challenged Sanderss status as a result.

[No, Bernie Sanders was not kicked off the D.C. ballot]

In an email circulated among members of the D.C. Council, the elections boards general counsel last week told city lawmakers that the board was unlikely to certify Sanders on its own.

That thrust the issue on to the D.C. Council for a fix.

D.C. Council member Kenyan R. McDuffie (D-Ward 5), who oversees election issues, said it would be an embarrassment for the District to have a candidate who had followed the rules and turned in a check on time to be left off the ballot.

He introduced a measure that retroactively gave the Democratic state committee 24 hours to notify the elections board about candidates who turned in checks on time to get on the ballot.

Council member Anita Bonds (D-At Large), who is also head of the state Democratic Party, had said it was standard practice for candidates to pay and for the party to have a day to submit those names to the elections board.

But a review of election records shows major Democratic Party officials far more frequently have their campaigns collect signatures than pay for ballot access.

In 2012, President Obama was the only Democratic candidate on the ballot, and he submitted signatures instead of paying the fee. In 2008, Obama, Clinton and others also collected signatures.

The council voted unanimously to allow Sanders on the ballot, with Bonds recusing herself and Orange not voting.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser urges attendees at a community meeting on February 11, 2016 to support her plan for replacing a family homelesss shelter at D.C. General Hospital. Although she has defended the plan since, her administration is now seeking to hire an outside expert to study it. (Amanda Voisard)

As D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser forcefully defended her plan for a pricey new network of homeless shelters on Monday, some top aides to the mayor were quietly working to hire an expert to conduct a hasty analysis of those costs.

According to a solicitation obtained by The Washington Post, a new office within Bowsers administration issued a request on Friday for real estate advisory services. Interested firms had just one business day to respond. The deadline was Monday, and the winning bidder would have less than a week to produce a report analyzing the 30-year, $660 million, seven-shelter plan.

For Bowser (D), who is facing tough questions about the cost of the plan, an independent analysis could help buttress her argument that the plan is in the best interest of District taxpayers. The stated objective of the study is to conduct a value-for-money analysis . . . to assist the District in assessing the true public benefit, including the status quo of doing nothing to replace the dilapidated family shelter at D.C. General Hospital.

D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) questioned whether the compressed timeline for the study was designed to produce a thorough review of Bowsers plan.

The conversations Ive had indicate that to do a good analysis will probably take four to six weeks, Mendelson said. And giving firms just one day to apply, that makes it very difficult to get many expressions of interest, unless, of course, they already know who they want to hire.

What Id like to see, Mendelson said, is a reasonableness assessment of this plan, because I cant tell you how many people Ive talked to who find the costs unreasonably high.

Bowsers shelter plan calls for the city to lease five parcels and to build shelters on two others that the District owns. It would produce a total of about 280 units for homeless families so the city could close D.C. General by the end of 2018.

While most council members have committed to support Bowsers plan in order to close D.C. General, many have also expressed deep reservations about the costs of the new sites.

An analysis prepared for the D.C. Council showed that the total assessed value of the five sites the city would lease is now about $14 million. But the city leases would make the properties worth about $145 million to landowners, potentially allowing them to sell the leases to investors for large profits.

[Homeless shelter plan could be profitable for Bowsers backers]

On Monday, D.C. Council member Elissa Silverman (I-At Large) questioned Bowser about the plan during the mayors budget presentation. Silverman said she had serious concerns about the city having no option to purchase any of the five sites. She said that would mean the city may have to repeat the process after the leases expire in a couple of decades and find new shelters at additional costs.

Mendelson also noted that Bowser did not include funding for the leases in her 2017 budget proposal, saying that if no money needs to be spent in the coming budget year, the council shouldnt feel pressured to act until questions about costs are fully answered.

[How did Bowser decide shelter sites?]

The council was expected to vote on Bowsers shelter plan on April 19, but Mendelson said Monday that he wasnt sure the council would be prepared to do so.

Michael Czin, a spokesman for Bowser, said the mayor remains confident in the shelter plan but hiring an outside expert seemed like a prudent step.

Weve had many questions from residents, the council and the press, and were exploring working with an outside firm to do an analysis, he said. Czin said the administration had not yet chosen a winning bidder and wasnt certain it would move forward. Were going to look at the proposed methodologies they come back with before deciding if we want to do such an analysis, Czin said.

The solicitation for the work was issued outside the administrations normal channels for such work. It was not published on the citys Office of Contract and Procurement website.

Rather, it was circulated by Bowsers deputy mayor for planning and economic development on behalf of the Office of Public-Private Partnerships, a new entity within the city administrators office.

Bowser has promoted the new office as a way to bring in large-scale private investment to help complete massive transportation, development, education and housing projects in the District.

An email to Seth Miller Gabriel, a former technology executive that Bowser tapped to lead the office, was not immediately answered Monday.
Hundreds of advocates for marijuana legalization rally and smoke pot outside the White House in Washington, D.C. on April 02, 2016. (Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post)

The movement to legalize marijuana in the nations capital began with a racial divide in arrests: By one count, African Americans accounted for 9 out of 10 arrests for simple drug possession, sending thousands of young men each year into the criminal-justice system.

Fast-forward three years: D.C. lawmakers have eliminated criminal penalties for pot. D.C. voters have legalized marijuana possession. And drug arrests involving the drug have plummeted  from thousands annually to hundreds.

But in that shrunken universe of arrests, a stark racial divide remains, according to new arrest data.

One of the most common crimes involving marijuana in the District is smoking it in public. Doing so is a misdemeanor on par with getting caught with an open container of alcohol and can cost an offender $500 and 90 days in jail.

Out of 128 arrests last year for smoking pot in public, 108 were of black people, according to arrest data that the D.C. police department furnished to the Drug Policy Alliance, a group that advocates for marijuana legalization.

The alliance obtained the arrest data under the Districts Freedom of Information Act and shared it with The Washington Post as the D.C. Council on Tuesday is set to reconsider whether to permanently ban pot clubs, where residents and visitors to the nations capital might smoke without fear of arrest.

D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) placed the measure on the agenda despite a compromise that the council worked out in February to form a task force to study whether and how it could proceed with sanctioning a limited number of private pot clubs in the city.

[D.C. Council votes to study pot clubs]

That accord brought together allies of D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D), who had sought to continue a complete ban on pot clubs, and a growing contingent of council members who had threatened to override the mayor and approve a plan to license clubs, saying it better reflected what voters intended when they legalized marijuana at the polls.

The compromise aligned the District with a vanguard of mostly Western cities, including Denver, where lawmakers are wrestling with how to accommodate fast-shifting public sentiment thats in favor of greater social pot use. That question has become the next frontier in jurisdictions where voters have legalized possession.

And with the Districts history of racial disparities in drug arrests, advocates for clubs say the issue is especially important in the nations capital. They argue that clubs would give low-income residents, who are barred from smoking at home if they live in federal public-housing complexes, a place to smoke that is not outdoors and therefore carries greater risk of arrest.

Mendelson voted for the compromise but now says he sees no harm in making the ban permanent because the Districts hands would be tied from actually opening any clubs.

His position amounts to a new interpretation of restrictions that Congress placed on the city. Although they couldnt stop the District from legalizing marijuana, conservative House Republicans barred the District from spending any local tax revenue to write or enforce regulations to further loosen pot laws, including allowing for the sale or taxation of the drug.

In an email to the Drug Policy Alliance, an aide to Mendelson said Monday that the council chairman does not believe that passing the ban would foreclose on the idea of the citys opening of pot clubs in the future, presumably if Congress drops its restrictions.

He and a spokesman for Bowser also said they think the task force can continue to meet to discuss the topic, even if the permanent ban is passed.

But marijuana groups and some D.C. Council members disagree and say the legality of the task force would be undermined by the new vote. More importantly, they say, there is no reason for the District to tie its own hands and pass a restriction that it could not later roll back at will because of the congressional restriction.

Council member Vincent B. Orange (D-At Large) said that he remains opposed to a permanent ban and that the work of the task force must be protected.

Kaitlyn Boecker, a spokeswoman for the Drug Policy Alliance, said it was baffling why any member of the council would support the ban after just voting for the compromise.

We struggle to see how passing a permanent ban on social consumption venues does not invalidate the task force, she said. Moving a bill that permanently bans venues, before receiving any input from the task force, means the chairman places no value in their analysis or recommendations  Im not sure this could be characterized in any other way than invalidating their work.

[Pot clubs show the future of pot legalization in D.C. is shaky]
THE DISTRICT

Eaglet hatches at police academy

The fourth baby bald eagle to hit Washington this spring has hatched at the D.C. police academy in Southwest.

Two eaglets were born to Liberty and Justice. Theyve had a nest at the property for 11 years that sits about 110 feet up in an oak tree, according to wildlife specialists. On Feb. 18 and then on Feb. 20, Liberty  the female bird  laid eggs. Eaglets have a roughly 35-day incubation period.

Their hatchings come after the recent arrivals of two baby bald eagles born at the U.S. National Arboretum.

 Dana Hedgpeth

MARYLAND

Arrest in Prince Georges club stabbing

A Southeast Washington man was arrested in a triple stabbing that left three people injured at a club in Prince Georges County.

Philip Harrington, 33, was charged with three counts of first- and second-degree assault after stabbing two patrons and a security guard during a fight inside Martinis Restaurant and Lounge in Fort Washington, about 2 a.m. Monday, police said.

Officers found three victims suffering from trauma who were taken to hospitals for injuries that didnt appear to be life-threatening, police said. A club security guard was stabbed trying to break up the fight, police said.

Harrington was arrested outside the club, police said.

 Dana Hedgpeth and Lynh Bui

Capitol Heights man arrested in homicide

A Capitol Heights man was arrested in connection with a homicide in Prince Georges County, according to police.

Brivonte Spivey, 21, has been charged with first- and second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of Julian Mushington, 21. Mushington was found shot in the 7000 block of Shady Glen Terrace in Capitol Heights at about 1:30 p.m. Friday and died after he was transported to a hospital, police said.

Detectives said they think Mushingtons shooting was connected to a drug-related robbery, police said.
THE DISTRICT

Man who died in fire near AU is identified

D.C. police identified the man who died in a March 30 fire near American University in Northwest Washington as 55-year-old Daniel Lowe.

Lowe, whose address was not provided, died shortly after firefighters pulled him from the house and took him to a hospital. Aquita Brown, a D.C. police spokeswoman, provided the identification.

The fire started about 2 a.m. in a single-family home at 45th and Sedgwick streets. The cause of the fire had not been determined, nor had the cause of death.

 Peter Hermann

MARYLAND

Gaithersburg fire death suspicious

Montgomery County police on Tuesday identified Steven Skalabrin, 63, as the man found dead after a townhouse fire last week in Gaithersburg.

We are investigating this as a suspicious death, and we are treating it as a homicide, said Capt. Darren Francke, commander of the departments major crimes unit.

He said Skalabrins identity was confirmed through fingerprints. Skalabrins body was found March 30 after a fire in the 1800 block of Windjammer Way. Officials said two other residents of the townhouse were able to escape the fire.

 Dan Morse

VIRGINIA

ISO: Versatile poet for Arlington County

Comes now from that center of arts and letters known as the Arlington County government: Where art thou, first official poet?

County officials are on the prowl for someone willing to write at least two poems a year, advocate for the literary arts, do public readings and help judge the annual Moving Words poetry competition.

Thats a lot of work for a $1,500 honorarium.

Oh, and because this is a government position, there are guidelines: Applicants must be at least 18 years of age, reside in Arlington and have established at least a five-year record of achievement in writing and publishing verse. Full eligibility requirements and terms are available online.

The District, Takoma Park and Prince William County already have poet laureates of their own, Arlington said.

 Patricia Sullivan

Three held in thefts; goods are recovered

Fairfax County police said they have arrested three people accused of being part of a retail theft ring and have recovered more than $76,000 in retail goods.

Security personnel at Lord & Taylor at Tysons Corner Center reported suspicious activity about 8:30 p.m. Friday, police said.

Oleg Lazanovitch, 39, Iryna Karp, 28, and Kateryna Nosul, 20, all of Florida, were charged with crimes including grand larceny, possession of stolen property with intent to sell and providing a false identity to law enforcement.

 Justin Jouvenal

THE REGION

IRS HQ closed all week for repairs

Internal Revenue Service headquarters on Constitution Avenue NW will be closed through weeks end while repairs are made after Mondays fire, the IRS said.

The transformer fire affected the buildings HVAC system. Tax processing was not affected, the IRS said, advising taxpayers, essentially, to keep on filing.

 Martin Weil
Former State Department official Joel Rubin is running for the Democratic Congressional nomination in Marylands 8th District. Here are a few little-known facts:

1) Far-flung roots: Rubins great-grandfather, who came to the United States in the 19th century from Romania immigrant, traveled to Israel after the Holocaust to search for his cousins. He found them. A copy of a photo showing him and his daughter (Rubins grandmother) meeting with David Ben-Gurion, Israels first prime minister, is on Rubins computer at home.

2) Teaching roots: As an undergraduate, Rubin became a certified elementary school teacher, along with degrees in politics and Near Eastern studies. His mother is a retired writing and literature professor at Penn State University, and his sister is an education professor at Rutgers University. Rubin teaches a graduate-level school class on international refugees at Carnegie Mellon Universitys D.C. campus.

3) Modern family : Rubins wife is a Sri Lankan American. Their three daughters are in the Mandarin immersion program at Montgomery Countys Potomac Elementary School and attend Hebrew school on Sundays.

4) Brightfields: One of Rubins early government jobs was in the Energy Department, where he coordinated the Brightfields program, an effort to convert brownfields in urban areas to sites for alternative energy sources like solar panels.

5) Love across the aisle: Nilmini Gunaratne Rubin, Rubins wife, is a senior policy adviser to the House Foreign Affairs Committee. She played a key role in passage of the Electrify Africa Act of 2015, which was signed by President Obama and aims to bring power to 50 million people in sub-Saharan Africa by 2020.
The Maryland House of Delegates passed paid-sick-leave legislation after years of such measures stalling in the legislature. (Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post)

The Maryland House of Delegates on Tuesday approved a bill that would require employers with at least 15 workers to provide paid sick leave for employees, a benefit currently mandated in only four U.S. states.

The measure now moves to the Senate, where lawmakers said it faces steep odds.

Paid sick leave has been proposed in Annapolis for years but had never before cleared a chamber.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Thomas M. Middleton (D-Charles) said he wants to at least give the proposal a hearing with his panel before the session ends Monday so that lawmakers can identify concerns and address them in preparation for further consideration next year.

Its late, and obviously there is a lot more work to do, he said.

[Advocates hope 2016 is the year to pass paid sick leave in Maryland]

The bill also could be opposed by Gov. Larry Hogan (R), who has emphasized the importance of making Maryland an easier place to operate a business.

Hogan was noncommittal Tuesday, saying he would give the bill every consideration if the full legislature passes it.

Bill sponsor Del. Luke H. Clippinger (D-Baltimore) said he was proud of the House for having done its part.

Its further than this legislation has ever gone before, he said. Im deeply appreciative of this chamber.

After the 84-to-54 vote in favor of the bill was displayed in the chamber Tuesday morning, Clippinger shared a hug with Senate Majority Leader Catherine E. Pugh (D-Baltimore), who sponsored the Senate version of the legislation and came to the House to watch the delegates vote.

Leadership needs to recognize how important this bill is, she said.

Some lawmakers say privately that they suspect the Houses decision to advance the measure was an attempt to appease advocates of progressive labor laws, who have been more vocal than usual about the issue this year.

[Faith leaders add voices to Maryland sick-leave movement]

Opponents say the legislation, which includes exemptions for agricultural employees, workers younger than 18 and seasonal staff who work fewer than 90 days a year, would place a burden on employers at a time of economic uncertainty and when Maryland is trying to change perceptions that it is unfriendly toward business.

This bill kills opportunity in the state of Maryland, said Del. Mark N. Fisher (R-Calvert). This bill makes it less likely that companies will hire and keep employees.

Supporters of paid sick leave in Maryland and nationwide argue the opposite point, saying that requiring the benefit is not only the right thing to do, but also would help companies attract and retain quality workers while preventing the spread of germs at restaurants and other workplaces.

They also say businesses have thrived for generations with other labor policies and safety-net programs in place, including Social Security, minimum-wage laws and unemployment insurance.

Its time to modernize our labor policies and build the workforce of today and tomorrow, and not yesteryear, Del. Aruna Miller (D-Montgomery) said Tuesday. The best prescription for our economy is a healthy workforce.

The other states that have enacted sick-leave legislation are California, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Oregon. Many local jurisdictions have also adopted such laws, including Montgomery County, the District of Columbia, New York City and Seattle.

Ovetta Wiggins contributed to this report.
A new Washington Post poll reveals that voters are split among racial lines when asked to choose between Reps. Donna Edwards and Chris Van Hollen ahead of the April 26 Maryland Democratic primary. (Ashleigh Joplin/The Washington Post)

A new Washington Post poll reveals that voters are split among racial lines when asked to choose between Reps. Donna Edwards and Chris Van Hollen ahead of the April 26 Maryland Democratic primary. (Ashleigh Joplin/The Washington Post)

Marylands Democratic Senate race remains very much up for grabs three weeks before the primary, with voters sharply divided along racial lines, according to a new poll from The Washington Post and the University of Maryland.

The rare open Senate seat, being vacated by Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski (D) after 30 years, has sparked a heated and expensive battle between Reps. Donna F. Edwards and Chris Van Hollen. Edwards is trying to appeal to voters by emphasizing her inspiring personal story as a black single mother with an activist history. Her rival has responded with a bunch of endorsements from public officeholders and a relentless focus on his legislative record.

Faced with that choice, African American and white voters appear deeply split. Among all likely Democratic primary voters, Edwards leads Van Hollen by a statistically insignificant 44 percent to 40 percent. But likely black voters favor Edwards by a nearly 3-to-1 ratio. More than twice as many white voters support Van Hollen as back Edwards.

[Read the full Maryland poll results here]

While Edwards also leads among women, that split has racial underpinnings as well, according to the survey, which was conducted in partnership with U-Md.s Center for American Politics and Citizenship. Van Hollen leads by 23 percentage points among white women. But that preference is quickly erased by Edwardss 51-point lead with black women, many of whom seem drawn by her argument that she is best suited to understand their needs and fight for those needs in an overwhelmingly white, mostly male U.S. Senate.





Women get shortchanged a lot, said Edwards supporter Jacqui Battle, 59, a black mother of two in Prince Georges County. It means a lot that shes where she is, at the level she is, in her career.

Prince Georges County Executive Rushern L. Baker III (D) and several other black elected officials from Edwardss home county have endorsed Van Hollen  an advantage he touts at every opportunity. But Edwards still leads in Prince Georges by 59 points. (Van Hollen is nearly as highly favored in his home of Montgomery County.)

And despite extensive television ad campaigns and scores of visits and appearances, neither candidate holds a clear advantage in the Baltimore area, encompassing both the largely African American city and the whiter surrounding suburbs.

Both Edwards and Van Hollen frequently invoke Mikulski, a revered figure both nationally and locally, and the first female Democrat elected to the Senate in her own right.

Edwards notes that she, too, would make history as Marylands first black senator and the second female black senator. Van Hollen argues that he, like Mikulski, is a constituent-oriented and savvy politician.

[Edwards: Why arent black women ever described as born to the Senate?]

The Post and U-Md. poll finds both candidates are well liked among registered Democrats in the state, with 56 percent rating Van Hollen favorably and 64 percent saying the same of Edwards; fewer than 1 in 6 rate either negatively. Six in 10 Democrats see each candidate as honest and trustworthy.

But white voters see Van Hollen as more effective.

It would be nice if [Van Hollen] was a black lady, said Tony Jacobs, 39, a software engineer from Olney who said he was impressed by the congressmans fast rise to leadership. But he is a better politician, and thats really what matters. . . . When race and gender is part of the conversation, then youre having the wrong conversation, because youre not talking about passing laws.

Yet despite Van Hollens position as the ranking Democrat on the House Budget Committee and his legislative achievements on Capitol Hill and as a state lawmaker in Annapolis, he wins no overall advantage on effectiveness.

Sixty-three percent of Democratic registered voters say Van Hollen would be effective at getting things done as a senator, but 66 percent say the same of Edwards.

Democrats are more likely to say that Edwards cares about people like them than they are to say the same about Van Hollen. And by even wider margins, she is seen as better representing women and African Americans, an issue that also illustrates the stark racial divide. While 59 percent of white Democrats say Van Hollen would do a good job representing the needs and interests of African Americans, that drops to 46 percent among black voters.

[In her first paid ad, Donna Edwards goes on the attack]

For 25 years when weve been doing these studies, theres been a fair amount of skepticism among black voters about the ability of white Democrats to represent them as well as similarly situated black Democrats, said Michael Dawson, director of the Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture at the University of Chicago.

The one thing that might help him, which I suspect would be extraordinarily unlikely, Dawson said of Van Hollen, would be an endorsement from the president.

Asked which candidate they would trust more to ensure that women earn equal pay for equal work, Democrats choose Edwards by a 37-point margin.

Michelle Moore, a 33-year-old African American from Baltimore, has good impressions of both candidates from television commercials. But ads aired by the womens Democratic group Emilys List on behalf of Edwards have helped Moore feel a particular kinship with the congresswoman.

Moore was raised by her grandmother after her parents split. Today, her fiance is incarcerated, and she is helping to raise his two boys with their birth mother.

Edwards can relate to a lot of what women go through and what we need just to be able to provide good environments for our children to grow up in, said Moore, who works in medical billing. If they dont understand it, how can they relate to us?

Fifty-five percent of registered Democrats in the Post and U-Md. poll say it is at least somewhat important for their party to nominate a black woman to run for U.S. Senate, a number that rises to 67 percent of black Democratic voters.

Even some Van Hollen voters say they recognize the pull of Edwardss campaign.

I have some serious inner conflict in voting for a white man instead of a black woman, said Sarah Wolf, a white 24-year-old Maryland legislative staffer from Chevy Chase. But, she said, Edwards seems to lack the relationship skills necessary to be an impressive lawmaker.

Van Hollen, she said, pleased her in particular by working to help people with intellectual disabilities. He has a reputation for getting things done, Wolf said. And in order to get things done, you have to have the meaningful relationships.

[Why Emilys List is spending big to defeat a progressive Democrat]

Still, Edwardss attacks on Van Hollens record have resonated with some voters. Jean Cushman, 66, said she supports Edwards because the congresswoman shares her very progressive ideology.

The former nonprofit executive described Van Hollen as more of an establishment candidate who she fears would be more likely to back free-trade deals, oppose recognition for a Palestinian state and support the fossil-fuel industry.

With others, Van Hollens criticism of Edwardss constituent services and legislative record have struck a chord. Christine Barnes, a 78-year-old white retiree in Baltimore, questioned why Edwards recently closed her office in Anne Arundel County, something Van Hollen has noted in debates and forums.

I think he has actually done something  sponsored legislation, Barnes said. She less so.

Both candidates have a chance to win new supporters before the April 26 primary. One in 6 likely voters has no opinion yet, and while more than half of Democratic voters say they are following the contest, only 18 percent are keeping track very closely.

Edwards, who fares better with registered Democrats overall than with likely primary voters, must also worry about turning out her supporters. In the Post and U-Md. poll, 45 percent of Democrats who described themselves as likely to vote in the primary were black. But in the 2008 presidential primary, exit polling found African Americans made up 37 percent of Marylands Democratic electorate.

Republicans will also choose a nominee in this months primaries. But the candidates are not as high-profile as Edwards and Van Hollen, and registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans in the state more than 2 to 1. That means that the GOP nominee will be considered an underdog in the general election.

According to the Post and U-Md. poll, relatively few likely Republican voters are paying attention to the race. About 6 in 10 likely voters have no preference among the major candidates, and the gaps between the vote shares for those candidates are for the most part not statistically significant.

Maryland House Minority Whip Kathy Szeliga (Baltimore County) takes 15 percent. Trade association executive Chrys Kefalas stands at 11 percent. Former Pentagon official Richard Douglas is at 9 percent and tire company owner Joseph Hooe at 3 percent.

The Post and U-Md. poll was conducted March 30-April 3 among a random sample of 1,503 residents of Maryland reached on land-line and cellular telephones. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 4.5 percentage points among the sample of 741 registered Democrats, and 5.5 points among the sample of 539 likely Democratic primary voters and 7.5 points among the sample of 283 likely Republican primary voters.

Emily Guskin and Fenit Nirappil contributed to this report.

Earlier versions of this report incorrectly said that Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski was the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate in her own right. In fact, Mikulski was the first Democratic female senator elected in her own right. The article has been corrected.
State senators from Baltimore say the legislatures police reform measure should require civilians to sit on review boards. (Jose Luis Magana/AP)

The future of Marylands police accountability bill  a top priority for lawmakers this year  could hinge on whether the measure should require Baltimore City to place civilians on police review boards.

The legislation passed out of committee this week but ran into trouble on the Senate floor because it would allow cities and counties to decide for themselves whether to include civilians on such panels and whether to allow them to vote.

We have to reform our police department and gain trust, said Sen. Catherine E. Pugh (D-Baltimore), who co-chaired the working group that made recommendations for police reform to the General Assembly.

Civilians participation on police review panels, she added, is one of the things we must have.

The bill was sent back to the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, where it could be discussed as early as Wednesday.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan on Tuesday vetoed a bill that would have stripped him of his five appointments to the commission that nominates the Anne Arundel County school board. (Linda Davidson/The Washington Post)

Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert) expressed frustration with the Baltimore lawmakers, saying their concerns were putting the bill  which would make broad changes in how officers are hired, trained and disciplined  in jeopardy.

This is a very important bill, and the question is: Do you do whats best for the entire state and move forward . . . or do you exercise the privilege of speaking out loud and hard and jeopardizing the entire process? Miller said.

[Proposed police reform in Maryland draws strong praise, sharp criticism]

Also Tuesday, Gov. Larry Hogan (R) vetoed a just-passed bill that would strip him of his five appointments to the commission that nominates the Anne Arundel County school board, saying that it was unconstitutional and injects the politics of the General Assembly into a local school issue.

Hogan has already vetoed legislation that would create a new method for deciding which transportation projects are funded. The legislature has until the session ends Monday to try to override both vetoes.

The governor said he would let other bills that he opposes become law without his signature, including a bill that requires the state to provide aid to Baltimore for education and demolition programs, and a measure that mandates $55 million over five years to subsidize Prince Georges Hospital Center.

Hogan called those bills needless, political actions that mandate spending on programs that he was already committed to funding.

He said he hoped Democratic lawmakers would use the time they might otherwise have spent on override votes for those bills to weigh a package of income tax cuts, which has been approved by the Senate but is pending in the House.

The police reform bill is based on recommendations made last year by a legislative working group that was created after the death of Freddie Gray and amid a national debate over police shootings and the use of excessive force.

In its current form, the bill authorizes local jurisdictions to place up to two voting or nonvoting civilian members on police review boards, but it does not require them.

Several senators from Baltimore say the bill does not go far enough. They argue that the legislation should mandate that two civilians serve on the panels and say they want an amendment that would require two civilians on the board in Baltimore.

After several minutes of debate Monday night, Miller suggested that the bill go back to committee.

Its a setback, said Sen. Nathaniel J. McFadden (D-Baltimore), who added that he was confident that the issue could be resolved before the legislative session ends.

McFadden, a member of the Judicial Proceedings Committee, tried to explain to his colleagues that the bill allows the mayor and city council to put two voting members on the panel.

Pugh, who insisted that the state should require civilian representatives, is running for mayor in Baltimore and is a top contender in the April 26 primary, according to the latest polls.

The working group she co-chaired recommended that civilian representatives be mandatory on the review panels. It also called for periodic psychological evaluations of officers and annual reporting of police-involved shootings, among other changes.

Sen. Robert A. Zirkin (D-Baltimore County), chairman of the Judicial Proceedings Committee, said the action by the Baltimore senators definitely slows things down at a time when time is definitely of the essence if you want to get legislation.

Also Tuesday, Miller called on the House to take action on a bill that would allow voters to decide whether daily fantasy sports should be made legal. Barring action by the House, Miller said Attorney General Brian E. Frosh should get an injunction to keep the games from operating.

Among the bills headed to Hogans desk is a measure that requires the state Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services to annually report the number of inmates who are placed in solitary confinement.

Advocates, including Interfaith Action for Human Rights and the ACLU of Maryland, have been pushing for a public accounting of the states use of solitary confinement.
Obituaries of residents from the District, Maryland and Northern Virginia.

Charles J. Stahl III, Navy forensic pathologist

Charles J. Stahl III, 85, a retired Navy captain who from 1965 to 1970 led the forensic pathology branch at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Washington, overseeing medical investigations into the assassination of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and the deaths of three Apollo 1 astronauts in a training accident, died March 1 at an assisted-living community in Johnson City, Tenn. The cause was complications from progressive supranuclear palsy, a rare brain disease, said a daughter, Marcia Scott.

Dr. Stahl was born in Philadelphia. He joined the Navy in 1953 and became among the branchs first forensic pathologists a decade later, serving in Philadelphia and Guam before joining the now-defunct Institute of Pathology. He later chaired the laboratory medicine department at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., before retiring from the Navy in 1980.

As a civilian, Dr. Stahl held medical positions with the Department of Veterans Affairs and was chief medical examiner of the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System from 1992 until his retirement in 1996. His honors included the Legion of Merit and Joint Service Commendation Medal. He lived in Rockville, Md., until shortly before his death.

Mary Margaret Abert,bank executive

Mary Margaret Abert, 94, who served as the first female branch manager and then first female executive officer of First National Bank of Maryland, died Feb. 29 at a nursing home in Rockville, Md. The cause was congestive heart failure, said a son, Tom King.

Mrs. Abert was born Mary Margaret Garrett in Rockville. She was a secretary with the Army Air Forces during World War II, and began her banking career at Farmers Banking and Trust, which later merged with First National Bank of Maryland. (First National is now part of M&T Bank.) Upon retirement in the late 1970s, she helped found Rockville Nursing Home and served on its board. She volunteered at Rockville Christian Church.

Lee Patterson,homemaker

Lee Patterson, 86, a homemaker who worked for about 20 years as a receptionist at the Barton House apartment building in Arlington, Va., until her retirement in the late 1990s, died March 8 at a hospice center in Arlington. The cause was complications from a stroke, said a daughter-in-law, Eileen Boettcher-Patterson.

Mrs. Patterson was born Lee Crowe in Frostburg, Md. She moved to Alexandria, Va., after high school and lived there until shortly before her death. She attended Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Alexandria.

Robert D. Lott, NASA engineer

Robert D. Lott, 91, a mechanical engineer who designed instruments for NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center, died Jan. 29 at a hospital in Perry Point, Md. He had Alzheimers disease, said a nephew, Kevin Maney.

Mr. Lott, a resident of Edgewater, Md., was born in Forty Fort, Pa. He was an Army veteran of World War II and received a Bronze Star Medal during the Battle of the Bulge in 1944. He retired from Goddard in 1989 after 25 years. His work included designing instruments on space craft. He remained at Goddard as a consultant for another four years after retiring.

Barbara Heyman,legislative analyst

Barbara Heyman, 82, who served as a legislative analyst for Montgomery County, Md., lobbying for the countys interests in Annapolis from 1985 to 1993, died Feb. 26 at an assisted-living center in Bethesda, Md. She had Alzheimers disease, said her husband, Austin Heyman.

Mrs. Heyman was born Barbara LeVine in Chicago. She worked as a social worker at hospitals in Chicago and New York City before moving to the Washington area to join the Jewish Social Service Agency in the 1960s. She was president of the Montgomery County League of Women Voters and served on county education and housing committees, as well as on the boards of such organizations as Suburban Maryland Fair Housing and the anti-violence nonprofit CeaseFire Maryland.

Robert H. Bernerocivil engineer

Robert H. Bernero, 74, a civil engineer who worked on infrastructure projects for the Forest Service and then for the engineering firms Roy Jorgensen Associates and Parsons Corp., died March 8 at a family property in Montgomery Village, Md. The cause was a heart attack, said his son, Richard Bernero.

Mr. Bernero, a resident of Montgomery Village, was born in Chicago. He worked at the Forest Service for 14 years before joining Roy Jorgensen in Buckeystown, Md., in 1979 to work on international development projects. Mr. Bernero became an independent contractor in 2003 and also worked as a real estate agent. He volunteered with such groups as the Census Bureau and GALA Hispanic Theatre in Washington.

Charles W. Covey,magazine publisher

Charles W. Covey, 97, a trade-magazine publisher who co-founded Compass Publications in Arlington, Va., in 1963 and helped oversee one of the companys leading titles, the marine business and science magazine Sea Technology, died March 6 at a retirement community in Winchester, Va. The cause was congestive heart failure, said a daughter, Catherine Maffett.

Mr. Covey, a former resident of McLean, Va., was born in Middlesboro, Ky. In the 1950s and early 60s, he edited a trade publication for what was then known as the Instrument Society of America, a nonprofit association for engineering and automation interests.

After leaving Compass Publications in the mid-1970s, Mr. Covey worked as a speechwriter and technical writer for the National Ocean Service, a branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He continued to work as a consultant for Compass through the 1980s.

William M. Sullivan, Army officer

William M. Sullivan, 91, an Army lieutenant colonel who served in World War II and the Korean War and who in retirement became an investor in stocks, bonds and in art, died Feb. 3 at a retirement facility in McLean, Va. The cause was congestive heart failure, said a daughter, Amy S. Mannon.

Col. Sullivan, a longtime resident of Bethesda, Md., was born in Riverside, Ill. He was an enlisted soldier during World War II and after the war won an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. In 1950, he was among the first U.S. infantry troops to serve in the Korean War. Later he was a specialist in Soviet and Eastern European affairs, serving in the office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He retired from the Army in 1967. His decorations included a Bronze Star Medal.

Benjamin M. Rowland, investment banker

Benjamin M. Rowland, 73, an investment banker who from 1995 until he retired in 2001 managed the Latin American and Caribbean program of the World Bank Groups Foreign Investment Advisory Service, died March 1 at a hospice in Washington. The cause was colorectal cancer, said his wife, Julia Rowland.

Dr. Rowland, a resident of the District, was born in New Britain, Conn. He was an investment banker in New York for 15 years before moving to Washington in 1988 as part of the founding management team of the Inter-American Investment Corp., the private sector arm of the Inter-American Development Bank. He was author or co-author of three books on history and ecnomics.

Mary K.M. Coder, Carnegie administrator

Mary K.M. Coder, 82, a retired senior assistant to the director of the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism of the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington, died Feb. 14 at her home in Washington. The cause was a cerebral hemorrhage, said a former colleague, Janice Dunlap.

Ms. Coder was born Mary Katherine McDermott in Chicago, where her father held political office. Before coming to Washington, she worked with the Cleveland Council on World Affairs in Cleveland, as a teacher and counselor at an American high school in Heidelberg, Germany and as a counselor at Cornell University. She was hired in 1978 as an editorial assistant at the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism of the Carnegie Institution, a nonprofit scientific research organization, and was senior assistant to the director from 1992 until her retirement in 2003.

 From staff reports
A federal judge in Alexandria sentenced a New York man Tuesday to nine months in prison after authorities said he shouted threatening statements, including saying jihad, aboard a flight leaving Dulles International Airport.

David Patrick Diaz, 36, of Poughkeepsie, N.Y., also received three years of supervised release from U.S. District Judge Anthony J. Trenga in the Eastern District of Virginia. Diaz was charged with interference with flight crew members and attendants.

The incident happened in March 2015, when Diaz shouted threatening statements as he charged toward the cockpit of a United Airlines flight just after it took off from Dulles.

A group of passengers tackled Diaz, and he allegedly said the word jihad. He also said there was something in the belly of the plane, according to authorities.

[Passenger is subdued after rushing toward cockpit on United flight]

Flight crew members and passengers kept Diaz restrained until the plane made it back safely to Dulles, officials said. Diaz pleaded guilty in January.

Diaz is also ordered to undergo mental health and substance abuse treatment. He has to pay about $22,100 in restitution to United Airlines.
At first, he thought the loud noise was fireworks, a police spokesman said.

But a day later, the Woodbridge man noticed several bullet holes in a wall at his Stockholm Way home. Three bullets were discovered inside, said Officer Nathan Probus, a Prince William County police spokesman.

Authorities are investigating several shooting incidents at occupied homes in the area, Probus said. He said no one has been hurt in any of the cases and in each, detectives only have the shell casings that are left behind.

The most recent incident happened Sunday about 11 p.m. when the Stockholm Way homeowner called police. He was home at the time and told authorities he heard a loud nose in the 2900 block of his street, but no damage was found.

Probus said that same resident later called police about 8:44 a.m. Monday after finding bullet holes in his home.

On Saturday around 1:55 a.m., authorities said there was another shooting incident in the 13600 block of Lindendale Road in Woodbridge. That home was also occupied at the time and several bullets hit a wall as well as a parked car that was out front, according to a department news release.

Probus said since January, there have been seven shooting incidents involving occupied homes throughout the county. In a Feb. 18 incident, bullets struck five Woodbridge homes in the area of Banjo Court, he said.

We dont know if the houses have been targeted or not, said Probus, who added that the incidents appear to be random and there is no set pattern in the dates or times.

Probus said police are urging residents to call immediately if they see someone in the area or spot a car driving away. In an emergency, he said to call 911, and for non-emergencies contact the department at 703-792-6500.

For callers who want to remain anonymous, contact Crime Solvers at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477).
This is a rendering of what a light-rail Purple Line train would look like running through the University of Maryland campus in College Park. (Maryland Transit Administration)

Maryland transportation officials plan to use ticket revenue from the states MARC commuter rail system to help pay off debt required to build a light-rail Purple Line in the Washington suburbs, state officials told a Senate committee Monday.

Fare revenue from the Purple Line also would be used to cover those payments, the officials said, but the light-rail line isnt expected to be able to cover all of those costs until trains have been running about 15 years. Until then, commuter rail revenue would make up the difference.

While state officials have said for years that they planned to cover the private debt service with state transit revenue, this is the first time they have specified the MARC system, which carries passengers between the District, Baltimore, Frederick, West Virginia, and northeastern Maryland.

David Fleming, chief financial officer for the Maryland Department of Transportation, said the bond-rating agencies wanted to see a reliable revenue stream that was related to the Purple Line. The Purple Line, Fleming said, would have stations connecting to all three MARC lines, meaning each line would bring more passengers to the other.

Is there any intent to pay back the MARC revenue? asked Sen. Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore).

View Graphic Mapping the Purple Line

Fleming said that MARCs operations, maintenance and other costs could be covered with money from the states Transportation Trust Fund.

Wed continue to fund MARCs operations and MARCs capital costs as we need to, Fleming said after the hearing.

[Determining if the Purple Line contract is a good deal isnt easy]

The questions came as the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee reviewed a 36-year contract that MDOT has proposed as part of a public-private partnership valued at $5.6 billion, making it one of the most expensive government contracts ever in Maryland. The committees review was the only public vetting the contract is expected to receive before the states Board of Public Works  which comprises the governor, state treasurer and comptroller  is scheduled to vote on it Wednesday.

Rafi Guroian, a 10-year member of the MARC Riders Advisory Council, said he questioned how MDOT could rely on MARC fare revenue for the Purple Line when MARC fares cover only about 40 percent of the commuter rail systems costs. He said hes concerned that needed expansion of the bursting at the seams MARC system, such as track improvements to add trains to the Brunswick and Camden lines, could suffer.

If they use a portion of the MARC revenues to fund the Purple Line, what money would make up the difference for MARC? said Guroian, who said he was speaking as a MARC passenger and not for the council. Presumably money would come from the [tax-supported] Transportation Trust Fund, so in a sense that fund is funding the Purple Line. It strikes me as a shell game to move money to the Purple Line.

Which source of money MDOT uses to pay off the Purple Line construction debt is key because MDOT has said that debt incurred as part of the public-private partnership would not count toward the states capital debt affordability limits, which could affect its overall bond ratings.

The debt at stake would be taken on by a team of private companies calling themselves Purple Line Transit Partners. The team has said it would finance about $1 billion of the lines construction, and the state plans to pay for the remaining $990 million with federal grants and money from Montgomery and Prince Georges counties. The states upfront contribution  about $159 million  would be used to pay for right of way, environmental mitigation and other Purple Line costs not related to debt, Fleming said.

State Treasurer Nancy K. Kopp told the committee that MDOTs plans to pay off the private teams financing costs by using only federal and local money or state transit revenue, such as MARC fares, would indeed prevent the states payments for the private debt from counting against the states capital debt affordability limits.

Kopp said MDOT assured her office that the federal and local money, as well as the Purple Line and MARC revenue, would be paid directly into a special trust account that would then pay off the private debt service. That would allow MDOT to prove that it was covering that debt without using any tax-supported revenue, Kopp said.

The private financing costs are expected to comprise about $55 million of the average $150 million annual payment that the state would pay to the private team to operate and maintain the line. The rest of the states annual payment could be covered out of the Transportation Trust Fund, Kopp said after the hearing.

Kopp cautioned the committee that the bond-rating agencies still could consider the private debt payments as part of the states long-term obligations.

The Purple Line is attracting national attention because it would become only the second U.S. transit project to include private financing. The 16-mile line would run single light-rail vehicles mostly along local streets between Bethesda in Montgomery County and New Carrollton in Prince Georges County. State transit planners say the line would offer faster and more reliable public transportation than buses and would attract development around its 21 stations, particularly in Prince Georges.

Critics have questioned the projects cost, its impact on communities along the route, and its environmental impacts on a popular wooded recreational trail between Bethesda and Silver Spring.

Sen. Richard S. Madaleno Jr. (D-Montgomery), the committees vice chairman, asked why MDOT assumed all of the risks in the contract for the amount of fare revenue the Purple Line would collect. The state must make its monthly payment to the private companies at the locked-in price that would average $150 million annually regardless of how many people ride the Purple Line.

It doesnt matter if anyone rides, Madaleno said. It doesnt matter if 100,000 people ride it or no one rides it, right?

Jeff Ensor, of the Maryland Transit Administration, said the state took on that ridership risk because it allowed the state to get a contract of better value and to maintain control over setting the Purple Line fares. State officials have said those fares would start at $2.

MDOT officials also have told Montgomery County leaders that the state would pick up about $4 million of the additional $13.8 million in costs that the contract includes for county projects related to the Purple Line. Those unexpected expenses would now cost Montgomery closer to $10 million, a county staffer said. So far, the county has budgeted $205 million for Purple Line related work, such as building an elevator connection between the street-level light-rail line and the underground Metro Red Line station in Bethesda.
Emergency personnel investigate the crash site of Amtrak Palmetto Train 89 in Chester, Pa. Two people are dead after the lead engine of the train struck a backhoe.

April 3, 2016 Emergency personnel investigate the crash site of Amtrak Palmetto Train 89 in Chester, Pa. Two people are dead after the lead engine of the train struck a backhoe. Mark Makela/Getty Images

Approximately 341 passengers and seven crew members were onboard. Two people not on the train are reportedly dead.

Approximately 341 passengers and seven crew members were onboard. Two people not on the train are reportedly dead.

Approximately 341 passengers and seven crew members were onboard. Two people not on the train are reportedly dead.

Basic rules of railroading and federal regulations should have prevented the Amtrak derailment near Philadelphia on Sunday that killed two maintenance workers and injured 31 people aboard the train, those guidelines indicate.

Just what went wrong that caused a southbound Amtrak train to collide with a backhoe doing work on the track is the province of investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Railroad Administration.

But in the 212 years since the steam locomotive was invented, railroads have established rules to keep trains from running down their own maintenance workers. Those rules have been cemented with federal regulation and law.

Among them:

 Workers are required to perform as teams, with one member keeping watch for approaching trains.

 Work crews are to notify a dispatcher when they prepare to undertake a task on the rail bed.

 Work crews can trip a red signal  halting an approaching train  by cutting off a low electrical current in the rail. (The track carries a simple electrical circuit that determines when there is no train on the track. That, in turn, controls the relevant signals that would allow an oncoming train to continue its progress.)

Even as they examined a data recorder and video from cameras aboard the train, investigators on Monday scrutinized whether the work crew followed those procedures.

Another mechanism that could have prevented Sundays crash is called positive train control, or PTC. Amtrak announced that its PTC system was fully operative on its tracks in the Northeast Corridor in December, seven months after a derailment in Philadelphia that the automatic braking system could have prevented. The May 12 wreck killed eight people and injured more than 200.

[Life-saving technology has been turned on for Amtrak trains in the northeast.]

Amtrak confirmed Monday that the system was active and installed on the train involved in Sundays collision. But while the technology may have been working at the scene of Sundays crash, unless the PTC system was notified that workers were on the track, it would not have stopped the train, railroad experts said.

One of the dead workers was described by officials as the operator of a backhoe working on the rail bed. The other was said to be the workers supervisor. It was unclear whether there were other members of the work crew as the daily Amtrak Palmetto train bound for Washington and then on to Savannah, Ga., came barreling down the tracks.

The train departed Philadelphias 30th Street Station about 18 minutes earlier and had a straight run of more than two miles before it reached the site where it collided with the backhoe.

The FRAs regulations on railroad work sites are unequivocal about being on the lookout for approaching trains.

Watchmen/lookouts assigned to provide train approach warning shall devote full attention to detecting the approach of trains and communicating a warning thereof, and shall not be assigned any other duties while functioning as watchmen/lookouts, Regulation 214.329 says.

It adds that workers should receive a warning not less than 15 seconds before a train passes the work location. And it says that all workers must maintain a position that allows them to hear that warning.

Another regulation requires work parties to orally or in writing notify the train dispatcher of the planned work zone. The train dispatcher or control operator shall not permit the movement of trains or other on-track equipment onto the working limits . . . until the roadway worker . . . has reported clear of the track, FRA Regulation 214.323 says.

Work crews also are permitted to shut off the electrical current running through the rail, an action that precludes passage of trains or engines into the work zone.

That rule stipulates that no one is permitted to allow trains back into the work area until receiving permission to do so from the roadway worker who established the working limits.
Lisa Toscano takes her dog Zoey, on a wintry walk in Hudson, N.Y., on April 4. Residents in the area were surprised by the late storm that brought several inches of snow to the region. (Bonnie Jo Mount/The Washington Post)

ILLINOIS

Settlement in death after police dragging

The city of Chicago has agreed to pay the family of a black man who died after being dragged by handcuffs from a cell in a police lockup and down a hallway more than three years ago, an attorney for the family said Monday.

Philip Coleman, 38, was arrested for domestic battery against his mother on Dec. 12, 2012.

After he refused to go to court the next morning, several police officers struggled with Coleman inside a cell, and police used a stun gun on him, court records said. In an incident caught on video, an officer dragged a motionless Coleman by his handcuffs.

Coleman later died at a hospital, according to court records. The Chicago Tribune reported that an autopsy showed he died of a reaction to an antipsychotic drug and also had bruises and abrasions on his body. Reuters was not able to confirm the cause of death.

Ed Fox, an attorney for the family, said that Colemans family and the city of Chicago had reached a settlement in the familys civil rights lawsuit, but declined to confirm media reports that it was for $4.9 million. The citys law department declined to comment.

 Reuters

CALIFORNIA

Court takes a stand on employee seating

The California Supreme Court made it more difficult Monday for companies to deny employees a seat while they work.

In response to class-action lawsuits against retail stores and a bank, the state high court said employers should offer workers a chair when some of their duties can be performed sitting. Employers argued that workers could be denied a seat if portions of their job required them to stand.

There is no principled reason for denying an employee a seat when he spends a substantial part of his workday at a single location performing tasks that could reasonably be done while seated, merely because his job duties include other tasks that must be done standing, Justice Carol A. Corrigan wrote for a unanimous court.

The ruling came in a request from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which must decide three class-action cases on the issue. The suits were filed by workers against CVS Pharmacy, Wal-Mart Stores and JPMorgan Chase Bank.

 Los Angeles Times

LOUISIANA

Alleged candy bar thief faces 20 years to life

A Louisiana man accused of stuffing $31 worth of candy bars into his pockets faces a possible sentence of 20 years to life in prison, prompting a judge to question whether the sentence was over the top.

Orleans Parish prosecutors chose to charge Jacobia Grimes, 34, under a statute that boosts the alleged candy theft to a felony. The law applies to people who have been convicted of theft of goods at least twice. Grimes has five prior theft convictions, making him a quad offender under the states habitual-offender law.

Grimes, 34, pleaded not guilty Thursday, the New Orleans Advocate reported. The possible sentence raised questions from Judge Franz Zibilich, who was overseeing Grimess arraignment last week. Isnt this a little over the top? Zibilich asked. Twenty years to life for a Snickers bar, or two or three or four.

Grimess attorneys, Miles Swanson and Michael Kennedy, said his prior guilty pleas were for similar shoplifting attempts, including stealing from Rite Aid and Sav-A-Center stores.

Grimes, who also faces a charge of drug paraphernalia possession, is free on $5,000 bond, court records show. His attorneys say he has a heroin problem.

 Associated Press

TENNESSEE

Five killed in crash

of sightseeing copter

Five people were killed Monday when a sightseeing helicopter crashed and burned in the Smoky Mountains area of eastern Tennessee, authorities said.

No one on the ground was injured in the crash, said Dean Flener, spokesman for the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency. He confirmed that five people were killed, but had no further information.

The owner of Smoky Mountain Helicopters said the crash occurred in Sevier County, about 200 miles east of Nashville, TV station WVLT reported.

[Its] just a burnt mess. . . . Theres not much left, Jack Baldwin, the chief of police in Pigeon Forge, was quoted as saying by TV station WBIR.

Police and the helicopter company could not be immediately reached for comment.

The Federal Aviation Administration said local authorities notified them that a Bell 206 sightseeing helicopter crashed near Sevierville at 3:30 p.m. The helicopter was destroyed by fire, local authorities told the FAA.

The FAA did not have details on fatalities and was awaiting information from the scene.

The helicopter company has been offering sightseeing flights of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and surrounding areas since 1964, according to its website.

Reuters
IRAQ

Troops enter key town; suicide attacks kill 29

Iraqi forces have entered Hit, a week after launching an operation to retake the western town from Islamic State militants, commanders said Monday.

Iraqs elite counterterrorism forces, which are leading the offensive, said they are clearing Islamic State fighters from Hits northern neighborhoods as they push in toward the town center.

Meanwhile, militants unleashed suicide attacks across Iraq on Monday, killing at least 29 people and wounding dozens, officials said.

Iraqi and coalition officials say Hit, which lies along the Euphrates River valley in Anbar province, is strategically key as it sits along an Islamic State supply line that links the groups militants in Iraq to those in Syria.

Thousands of civilians fled Hit as Iraqi troops advanced under cover of heavy airstrikes and artillery fire. Counterterrorism forces estimate that more than 20,000 civilians remain trapped inside the town.

The Hit offensive comes after a string of territorial victories for Iraqi forces in the past six months.

The deadliest of the suicide attacks on Monday occurred in the southern province of Dhi Qar, when a suicide bomber struck inside a restaurant frequented

by Shiite paramilitary fighters, killing at least 14 people and wounding 27.

 Associated Press

NIGERIA

Leader of Boko Haram faction reportedly held

Nigerias army arrested Khalid al-Barnawi, leader of the Islamist militant group Ansaru, which is a breakaway faction of Boko Haram and has been accused of abducting and killing Westerners, a military spokesman said Monday.

Brig. Gen. Rabe Abubakar said Barnawi, thought to be in his late 30s, was arrested in Lokoja, capital of the central state of Kogi, on Saturday. The news could not be independently verified.

The arrest of Barnawi, if confirmed, would be significant as Islamist extremists have been pushed out of northeastern areas they once controlled and conflicting messages on social media suggest internal divides.

But a Nigerian security analyst said Barnawis supporters had assured him that the militant leader, whom the U.S. State Department named in 2012 as having ties to Boko Haram and al-Qaedas North Africa wing, had not been captured.

Khalids people and I have spoken, and they have said that he is free and was not captured, whether in Lokoja or anywhere else, Fulan Nasrullah said.

They have killed seven different people at seven different times thinking they were Khalid al-Barnawi. They have no photos of him, nor do they know any concrete information about him, he added.

 Reuters

Data of nearly 50 million Turks allegedly leaked: Hackers have posted a database online that seems to contain the personal information of nearly 50 million Turkish citizens in what is one of the largest public leaks of its kind. The database divulged considerable private information, putting people at risk of identity theft and fraud. The hackers spotlighted the information for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, predecessor Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. The site appears to be hosted by an Icelandic group that specializes in divulging leaks, using servers in Romania.

Taliban attack on police convoy kills 6: At least six police officers were killed in a Taliban ambush on their convoy in Afghanistans northern Balkh province, an official said. Abdul Manon Raoufi, operational commander for police in the region, said insurgents attacked the convoy in the Dawlat Abad district. No group has asserted responsibility. Raoufi said a Taliban leader also was killed in the gunfight. Separately, in eastern Nangahar province, two people died and six were wounded in a bombing, said a spokesman for the provincial police chief.

Body of missing American found in Siberia: Russian investigators said the body of an American student has been found on the outskirts of a Siberian village, a week after he vanished from a guesthouse in the middle of the night. The Investigative Committee said Colin Madsens body was found about a mile outside the village of Arshan. It said that there were no visible injuries to the 25-year-old and that his documents and money had been left untouched. Madsen, of Jefferson City, Mo., was a student at a university in Irkutsk. He had gone to Arshan with friends who intended to hike to a mountain.

Israeli electric company reduces Palestinian supply: Israels state electric company has reduced power to a major West Bank city, saying it will take similar steps in other Palestinian areas in the next two weeks because of unpaid debt. The Israel Electric Corp. said it reduced its supply to Bethlehem by 50 percent, days after doing so in the city of Jericho. The company said the Palestinian Authority owes it nearly $460 million. Israel provides electricity to the West Bank through several Palestinian distribution companies.

 From news services
What once was considered pie in the sky is slowly becoming law. In New York, state legislators just agreed to raise the state minimum wage to $15 an hour, with the full effect beginning in New York City by December 2018. California just passed a compromise raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2022. New Jersey and the District are planning to move similar laws. After New York and California, nearly 1 in 5 (18 percent) in the U.S. workforce will be on the path to $15 an hour.

How did this reform go from being scorned as extreme to being enacted? Consensus politicians dont champion it. Pundits and chattering heads tend to ignore it. Many liberal economists deride it as too radical. The idea moved only because workers and allies organized and demanded the change.

Three years ago, fast-food workers walked off the job in what began the fight for $15 and a union. With the federal government as the largest low-wage employer, federal contract workers demonstrated repeatedly outside the Pentagon, Congress and the White House, demanding executive action under the banner of a Good Jobs Nation.

Progressive politicians added their voices. In Seattle, Kshama Sawant, an engineer and economist running under the banner of Socialist Alternative party, won a seat on the city council in 2013. She made a $15 minimum wage a centerpiece of her campaign and pushed it when in office. The Service Employees International Union, one of Americas largest unions; business leaders such as Nick Hanauer; and political leaders such as Seattle Mayor Ed Murray helped build the coalition needed to get it done. Now wages in Seattle are headed to $15. And in SeaTac, the airport district that passed a $15 minimum wage in a referendum, the wage is in effect now.

In New York, insurgent mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio made raising the minimum wage central to his campaign. He and the Working Families Party joined with striking low-wage workers, labor and community groups, and city council members. Zephyr Teachouts surprisingly strong challenge to Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) put pressure on him to act.

At the national level, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Congressional Progressive Caucus co-chairs Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) and Rep. Raul M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) joined with demonstrating contract workers. The CPC lobbied President Obama to use his executive power to raise wages for federal contract workers. The president responded with three historic executive orders, lifting the minimum wage for contract workers to $10.10, cracking down on wage theft and other workplace violations, and extending paid leave to contract employees.

Obstacles remain. Today, 42 percent of American workers earn less than $15 an hour. And the right to a union has been trampled by relentless and at times lawless corporate resistance. The Republican leadership in Congress refuses even to allow a vote on raising the national minimum wage that, at $7.25 an hour, means full-time workers cant even raise their families out of poverty.

But now Christine Owens, executive director of the National Employment Law Project, says that the Fight for $15 launched by underpaid workers has changed the nations economic trajectory, beginning to reverse decades of wage inequality.

Contrary to the business lobby, an analysis by economists at the University of California at Berkeley shows that New Yorks increases will not lead to job losses. The higher wages will generate billions in new consumer spending; the increased sales will offset the costs to businesses. In Seattle, the unemployment rate reached an eight-year low after the initial increases in the minimum wage last year.

This movement continues to build. The Fight for $15 and Good Jobs Nation initiatives will ratchet up their walkouts and demonstrations this month. On Monday, an interfaith coalition of religious leaders issued a call for moral action on the economy. They will press presidential candidates to pledge to issue an executive order to make sure taxpayer dollars reward model employers that pay a living wage of at least $15 an hour, provide decent benefits and allow workers to organize without retaliation. As Jim Winkler, general secretary of the National Council of Churches, summarized: This election is fundamentally about whether the next president is willing to take transformative executive action to close the gap between the wealthy and workers.

Sanders has made $15 and a union a centerpiece of his campaign. He has urged Obama to take executive action and surely will sign the pledge. Hillary Clinton supports raising the minimum wage to $12.50, allowing cities to go higher. Her position on the pledge is unknown. The Republican candidates  Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), Donald Trump and Ohio Gov. John Kasich  oppose raising the minimum wage and would likely repeal Obamas executive orders on low-wage contract workers if elected.

With inequality reaching record extremes, childhood poverty the worst in the industrial world and more Americans struggling simply to stay afloat, this country is desperately in need of bold reform. Yet bold ideas are repeatedly mocked as unrealistic and blocked by entrenched interests and conservative politicians. What the activists and low-wage workers have shown with their fight for $15 is that the changes we need will come if people organize and force them. Many commentators deride Sanderss call for a political revolution, but that may be the most realistic idea of them all.

Read more from Katrina vanden Heuvels archive or follow her on Twitter.
The April 1 editorial Mr. Putins deal with the devil revealed the thinking that an enemys foe and friend will be your friend and foe, respectively. Fair enough, but you may end up dealing with ugly customers  were four Britons not executed in Chechnya by anti-Russian separatists in 1998, the U.S. ambassador to Libya by anti-Gaddafi insurgents and numerous Western journalists in Syria by anti-Assad terrorists?

So if Ramzan Kadyrov, the Chechen ruler, is a devil or a glorified gangster, he is at least a wise one. Like a general who realizes hes outnumbered might say to his troops: Brothers, we lost the war. Yes, things were easier for the West with Mr. Putins predecessors, but he prefers to dance to his own tune  at home and abroad.

Mergen Mongush, Moscow
Supreme Court Justice nominee Merrick Garland listens to questions from reporters while he meets with Sen. Joe Manchin in his office on Capitol Hill April 5, 2016. (Win Mcnamee/Getty Images)

Merrick Garland is an oppo researchers nightmare.

Those who oppose President Obamas Supreme Court nominee have been digging for dirt to justify opposition by 52 of the 54 Senate Republicans to granting him a hearing. But about the worst thing anybody has come up with: an allegation that Garland crossed lanes in a relay race. In summer camp. Fifty years ago.

I began to chase Merrick down, narrowing the lead to about five yards with about 70 yards to go, Fred Eisenhammer, who went to day camp with Garland, wrote recently in the Chicago Tribune. Merrick cut to the left in front of me before veering back on course. I staggered to avoid crashing into him and never caught up.

The accuser acknowledged that the adult leader did not disqualify Garlands relay team. But still: Did Merrick Garland get away with something during that relay race? Eisenhammer asked. Was it intentional?

It may be time to empanel a select committee.

The relay race scandal  a sign that Garland opponents are coming up empty  helps to vindicate Obamas choice: With Republicans refusing even to consider a nominee, the president chose somebody so anodyne, so beyond reproach, that those who wont grant him a hearing look peevish and petty. Im not convinced its the best strategy (Garland is too moderate to inspire Democratic voters, and Republicans wont confirm him anyway), but Democrats believe the unobjectionable nominee will make Republicans up for reelection vulnerable to the criticism that they arent doing their jobs.

At the very least, Garland is making them squirm. Endangered Mark Kirk (Ill.) joins Susan Collins, a Maine moderate, as the only two GOP senators calling for hearings. Two other Republican senators up for reelection  Jerry Moran of Kansas and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska  said that Garland should get a hearing, before conservative pressure coerced them to recant.

Other Republican senators facing voters in November  Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley (Iowa), Patrick J. Toomey (Pa.), Kelly Ayotte (N.H.), Rob Portman (Ohio) and Ron Johnson (Wis.)  have said they would sit down with Garland, even if they arent considering hearings. If I can meet with a dictator in Uganda, I can surely meet with a decent person in America, Grassley reasoned.

Now what the heck Idi Amin by that?

Democratic senators, returning to Washington after a two-week recess, picked up the Garland drumbeat Tuesday. Minority leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.) and minority whip Richard J. Durbin (Ill.) began the day with floor speeches denouncing the refusal to consider Garland.

They got support in that position from Collins, who met with Garland for an hour Tuesday morning, while 50 photographers and journalists waited outside. The meeting left me more convinced than ever that the process should proceed with hearings, Collins said after the session.

Collins said she wasnt optimistic that her GOP colleagues would change their minds. But I think if more of my colleagues sit down with Judge Garland that they are going to be impressed with him, she said, singling out Grassley.

The Republican National Committee has gamely tried to sully the nominee but has come up with nothing more damaging than saying, Judge Garland was viewed as liberal enough by the Obama administration to be considered for attorney general. House Republicans, Politico reported, want to investigate Garlands decision to recuse himself from a complaint against a colleague who was accused of rape.

But the Republican senators various dodges suggest they dont feel comfortable opposing hearings for Garland. Grassley is scheduling a private breakfast with the nominee so he likely wont be photographed in the act. Similarly, Sen. John Boozman (Ark.) scheduled an unannounced meeting with Garland at his office Tuesday afternoon, without cameras.

The Posts Mike DeBonis and other colleagues canvassed all 54 Senate Republicans and found that at least 16 plan to meet with Garland, while three said they would support a confirmation vote on Garland during a lame-duck session after the election if a Democrat wins the presidency, and an additional 20 didnt rule out a lame-duck vote.

But they may not get that chance. If Hillary Clinton wins the presidency, and if GOP intransigence on Garland helps Democrats retake the Senate, there will be pressure from the left to drop Garland and to have Clinton name a much more liberal candidate.

It would be ironic, Collins said Tuesday, if the next president happens to be a Democrat and chooses someone who is far to Judge Garlands left.

The good judge could consider it delayed payback for what he did in that relay race 50 years ago.

Twitter: @Milbank

Read more from Dana Milbanks archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook.
Food boxes to be distributed at the Manna Food Center in Gaithersburg. (Amanda Voisard/For The Washington Post)

Lets not be coy. Theres a certain population in this country that expects unlimited government handouts despite its piggish unwillingness to work.

Dont tell me this is about their child-care responsibilities, or lack of access to transportation or education. Nonsense. These people simply dont want to work.

Ladies and gentlemen, meet the new welfare queens: your democratically elected U.S. legislators, the laziest, most do-nothing generation of federal politicians in decades.

Sure, they talk a big game about work ethic and personal responsibility.

Thanks to legislators devotion to public industriousness, for example, tens of thousands of Americans lost access to food stamps Friday. Legislators had decided, as part of welfare reform, that non-disabled adults without dependents should be required to work to receive food stamps; the work requirements had been temporarily waived in many states during the downturn, but now those waivers are expiring.

To be clear, required to work in this context means not willing to work, or looking for work, but actually working an average of at least 20 hours a week. Food-stamp recipients who cannot successfully land a 20-hour-a-week job or qualifying training program within three months of receiving the benefit get the boot.

No matter that the average spell of joblessness lasts about seven months; or that millions of workers who do find jobs often cant get enough hours; or that most states do nothing to help place workers at risk of losing their food stamps into employment or training programs.

Our elected officials decided that jobs are so important that those who cannot find them should starve. And that ideally such sluggards should be denied other safety-net services, too  such as medical care.

With the stated goal of promoting personal responsibility, the House Republicans 2017 budget proposes newly attaching work requirements to Medicaid, too. For the benefit of poor people, of course.

Work not only provides a source of income and self-sufficiency, but also has been demonstrated as a valuable source of self-worth and dignity for individuals, the budget resolution report reads. It goes on to suggest that making it harder for poor people to get health care in this manner could even help reduce their rates of depression.

Would that members of Congress were equally concerned about the self-worth, dignity and mental health of their do-nothing colleagues around Capitol Hill. These moochers and takers continue to receive taxpayer-funded paychecks and yet refuse to do their jobs.

Sure, U.S. senators and representatives are, technically speaking, employed. But its hard to argue that theyre working. By a range of measures, this Senate has accomplished the least of any Senate in decades.

The Supreme Court vacancy isnt the only judgeship it has refused to fill. Last year, the Senate confirmed just 11 federal judges, the fewest in any year since 1960, according to the Alliance for Justice.

A recent Congressional Research Service report likewise quantified how many other nominees the Senate has confirmed this Congress. It found that, as of February, confirmations for executive branch and other positions (Federal Reserve Board governors, ambassadors, etc.) were at their lowest level since at least 1988, the earliest data available.

Why are our elected representatives twiddling their thumbs rather than doing their jobs and confirming literally hundreds of waiting nominees? Why has Congress been remarkably unproductive in passing laws in recent years?

To some extent, legislators are waiting for the next president to pick his or her own people and legislative priorities. To some extent, intraparty discord means Republicans cant get their act together. To some extent, Republicans may be trying to make the federal government as dysfunctional as possible under President Obama.

And to some extent, our legislators may be, somewhat ironically, just trying to keep their jobs.

You might wonder: How could not doing their jobs help with that?

Its a fair question. See, some legislators want to avoid making big decisions that could anger their base during election season, and doing anything that implies cooperation with Obama falls into that category. This year Sen. Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.), for example, indicated that he wouldnt move any nominees out of the committee he chairs until his primary was over, presumably because fulfilling such work obligations would threaten his reelection chances.

These are, needless to say, perverse incentives. Fortunately, theres an easy fix. If legislators truly believe those who wont work should be denied government handouts, they should suspend their own pay  at least until they fill the Supreme Court vacancy and the backlog of other open positions.

But dont hold your breath: Even that solution would require doing a bit of work.
In a campaign that has involved talk of revisiting the Geneva Conventions, rewriting the 14th Amendment and rounding up and expelling 11 million people, failures of politeness, violations of manners, would seem a secondary concern. But in this political cycle, insults, invective and coarseness have been charged with a political significance. They are intended to indicate authenticity and a fighting spirit  the liberation of politics from political correctness and elite sensibilities.

Some find this invigorating; others offensive. But it is one of the ways that the election of 2016 will be remembered  for playground taunts, for attacks on candidates families, for vulgar bodily references and for a nasty, ungenerous spirit.

This is hardly unprecedented. To the contrary, our countrys conception of proper manners has often moved in a generational cycle. Various movements of the late 1960s, for example, involved liberation from stifling social conformity. This created necessary space for the unconventional, while changing stupid and oppressive conventions (such as social prohibitions on interracial marriage or, later, bigotry against gay men and lesbians).

But all attempts to overthrow etiquette in favor of what is real come from a belief (hat tip to Jean-Jacques Rousseau) that what comes naturally is also good. In real life, what comes naturally to human beings  as anyone who has cared for small human beings will tell you  is often selfish, petulant and rude. All children are Donald Trump before they are taught manners.

People get tired of living in a society filled with the sharp corners of incivility. The mannerlessness of the late 1960s and 1970s produced a backlash of good taste, symbolized by the popularity of Miss Manners (a.k.a. Judith Martin) in the 1980s and Ronald Reagans rather courtly formality.

Things got downright personal at the Feb. 25 GOP debate. Here are a few of the most stinging barbs thrown by Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio. (Peter Stevenson/The Washington Post)

What is different this time is that the challenge to manners is coming from the right  not from the free speech movement but from brushfire populism. The standards and values of reality television  the exaggerated feuds, the personal vilification and the deleted expletives  have invaded the political realm. And it is a form of social decay.

Americas founders actually thought and wrote a lot about manners. (No. 2 on the Rules of Civility George Washington copied down as a boy: When in company, put not your hands to any part of the body not usually discovered. I imagine this would also cover references to your manhood during a presidential debate.) The founders worried that a society without an aristocracy would lack obvious standards of propriety. But it is good manners that allow citizens to argue without coming to blows, and even to find productive compromise.

Manners are not the same thing as morality. They are practical rules for living together. Unlike morality, manners vary greatly by country and tribe, as well as across time. But being relative does not make them trivial. Particularly in a democracy, good manners involve an affirmation that we, all of us, are part of the same community, and that everyone is due a certain minimal amount of respect. Poor manners, in contrast, can indicate the dehumanization of individuals and groups. The boor is often the bigot.

America has  in theory  the best code of manners the world has ever seen, argues Miss Manners. Thats because it is based on respect for the individual, regardless of his or her origin. Good manners in America are about helping strangers. Theyre also about judging people on their qualities rather than on their backgrounds. These are principles that were deliberately worked out by our Founding Fathers to assure the dignity of the individual and to keep society nonhierarchical.

This is what should appeal to conservatives the most. Good manners create a livable community without recourse to laws and regulations. They create ties among citizens that are not based on compulsion. When we stand in a stadium with our hand over our hearts, or refrain from using bad language in front of children on the subway, or disagree about politics without becoming personal and vicious, we add a few invisible strands that hold our community and democracy together. In most everyday circumstances, manners matter more than laws.

This is a social contract. We treat people with respect in the hope and expectation we will be treated with respect. And people who demand respect without showing it are properly viewed as narcissists or sociopaths.

Those who equate crudeness and cruelty with authenticity are doing a nasty disservice to their country, making it that much harder to live together. Those who want to serve their country should mind their manners.

Read more from Michael Gersons archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook .
TWO YEARS ago, a professional cellist, Sergei Roldugin, a lifelong friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin, told a reporter that he was just a humble musician. Ive got an apartment, a car and a dacha, he said. I dont have millions. Now it turns out that Mr. Roldugins name is all over documents leaked from an offshore banking network that may have been a conduit for hidden assets of Putin loyalists. The documents, known as the Panama Papers and revealed by an international group of media outlets, open a new window on the underside of the Putin regime.

The documents were leaked from a corporate law firm, Mossack Fonseca, which specializes in creating offshore shell companies. The 11.5 million files were leaked to a German newspaper, Suddeutsche Zeitung, which then worked with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and more than 100 media partners, including the Guardian, the BBC and others, to sift and research the contents. The files reportedly contain details on some 214,000 offshore companies and the financial activities of hundreds of people.

Mr. Putin is not personally named on the records, which should surprise no one, and the Kremlin dismissed the report as nothing concrete. But the reporters examining the documents found a network of money transfers and assets that could be traced to a tight group of Mr. Putins buddies from St. Petersburg. According to their report, the evidence in the files suggests Roldugin is acting as a front man for a network of Putin loyalists  and perhaps for Putin himself.

Central to the network was Bank Rossiya, a St. Petersburg bank that has been previously linked to the Putin coterie. The documents also show that a little-known company, Sandalwood Continental Ltd., was linchpin of the offshore network, with nearly $2 billion passing through it between 2008 and 2013.

When Mr. Putin came to power 15 years ago, the Kremlin was under the influence of a handful of wealthy oligarchs who had made their fortunes during the years of President Boris Yeltsin. The oligarchs, most of whom become wealthy by acquiring state-owned property and natural resources at knock-down prices, were resented by many Russians who suffered in the transition from the Soviet centrally planned economy to capitalism. Mr. Putin promised to establish order and wipe out the oligarchs as a class. He imprisoned the oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky and forced other plutocrats out of Russia.

The new disclosures affirm that what changed was not the system but its beneficiaries. Mr. Putin did not establish rule of law and battle corruption, but rather created the rule of one and a band of brothers who grew very rich on his watch. None of them could have amassed such wealth on government salaries alone, or on those of a professional cellist.
We can only hope that Aung San Suu Kyis consolidation of power is a ruse and that she is committed to democracy. The April 3 editorial  All of Burma smiled  stated that Ms. Suu Kyi and her cabinet may have little ability to pursue one of her top priorities, which is making peace between the central government and ethnic minorities. Are the Rohingya included?

To date, there has been no indication that Aung San Suu Kyi is interested in addressing the genocide of the Rohingya, most of whom are Muslims. Quite the opposite, her silence has been chilling and disappointing. Before the United States backs the Aung San Suu Kyi government, it should be sure its support will not help empower another Asian despot whose inaction will serve as consent to ongoing discrimination, murder and pillage against the Rohingya.

Suzanne Johnson, Washington
Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, the front-runners in their parties presidential nominating contests, have found themselves on the defensive in Wisconsin, where Tuesdays primaries could deliver embarrassing setbacks and further unsettle both races.

A loss for Trump in particular could reset a Republican contest that has been dominated by his outsider candidacy and outsize media presence. Amid scrutiny following several high-profile stumbles, state polls show Trump in a tight race with Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, prompting speculation about whether Wisconsin could mark the beginning of the high-flying candidates downfall.

Those polls show Clinton in a similarly tight race with Sen. Bernie Sanders, the self-described democratic socialist from Vermont whose populist, anti-Wall Street message has transformed what was expected to be an easy nomination race for Clinton into a long and arduous slog.

Winning Wisconsin would give Sanders a fresh dose of momentum  and perhaps new credibility for his claim that he can catch Clinton in the delegate count and win the Democratic nomination.

Both Trump and Clinton maintain they can still win in Wisconsin. But on the Democratic side, Sanderss unexpected staying power has unnerved some of Clintons supporters. In a memo sent out to backers Monday evening, Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook sounded aggravated.

Hillary Clinton pauses Monday while addressing her supporters in Cohoes, N.Y. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post)

Hillary Clinton has built a nearly insurmountable lead among both delegates and actual voters, he wrote. Contrary to the claims of the Sanders campaign, in measure after measure, Clinton has shown the broadest support of any candidate currently running for president. We know that the misleading spin will continue, but we wanted you to know the facts about the real state of the Democratic primary.

Mook said Sanders would have to win by overwhelming margins the four biggest delegate prizes left, including Clintons home state, New York, to erase the front-runners lead. He did not mention Wisconsin.

The Clinton campaign also sent out a fundraising email Monday.

Were down in almost every poll in Wisconsin  tomorrows primary is going to be a tough fight, the request said, noting that Sanders has outraised Clinton for three months running. This nomination isnt locked up yet, and weve got to keep fighting for every vote.

Trump stumbled badly during the run-up to Wisconsin, with a gaffe over abortion in which he stated, and then retracted, that women who seek abortions should be punished, and with comments on foreign policy that led President Obama to say that the businessman knows little about the world.

Partly as a result, the Wisconsin race has emerged as a key moment in the Republican nomination process, exposing weaknesses for Trump in an industrial state with a large working class  demographics that have favored him in other states. A Marquette Law School poll released last week showed Cruz surging to 40 percent support among likely GOP voters, up from 19 percent in a February poll. Trumps support remained steady at 30 percent.

Trump has refused to concede that polls showing him trailing Cruz are accurate, even though he acknowledged that a string of controversies may have cost him votes. And he has dismissed speculation about a possible break in his momentum by pointing to his strengths in New York  his home state, which holds its primary April 19  and in the string of Eastern states that vote later this month.

Republican front-runner Donald Trump says he can't wait to take on Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton in the fall, but here are three reasons why he could lose a general election. (Sarah Parnass/The Washington Post)

Ive been given the last rites how many times, like 10? Every week, its the end of Trump, the billionaire said at a campaign rally in Superior, Wis. Then they walk in  Sir, I dont know what happened, but your poll numbers just went through the roof. 

Anti-Trump Republicans, who have poured millions of dollars into attack ads around the country, are hopeful that a loss in Wisconsin could signal a break in the momentum that has kept Trump steadily rising in the polls.

A defeat there, they believe, will increase the likelihood of a contested Republican convention in July  a strategy that rests on keeping Trump from crossing the requisite 1,237-delegate threshold he needs to clinch the nomination outright.

In a private document that was circulated over the weekend and obtained by The Washington Post, Trump campaign senior adviser Barry Bennett revealed the mounting frustrations among the billionaires top aides as they closed what had been a tumultuous week.

Titled Digging through the Bulls---, Bennetts memo urged Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski  who was charged with battery last week for allegedly yanking a reporters arm  and others to ignore critics who claim that Trumps campaign for the presidential nomination may be waning.

America is sick of them. Their idiotic attacks just remind voters why they hate the Washington Establishment, Bennett wrote, citing tracking-poll data favorable to Trump.

Donald Trump 1, Bennett declared, as if he was scoring the past week. Washington Establishment/Media 0.

[Internal memo reveals Trump campaigns mounting fury with critics]

Clinton campaigned fewer days and before smaller crowds in Wisconsin than Sanders, turning much of her attention to the larger stakes in New York. Clinton did not mention the Wisconsin race during a rally Monday in Manhattan to cheer the states new law that will, over several years, increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour.

On the eve of the Wisconsin primary, Sanders touted his long-standing support for labor unions and his opposition to a series of disastrous trade deals, setting a contrast with Clinton that hes pressed in other industrial Midwestern states.

The senator began his day in Janesville, where General Motors shuttered a manufacturing plant in 2008 and moved operations to Mexico, costing the community 2,800 jobs, Sanders said.

I am not a candidate who goes to the unions, goes to workers, then leaves and goes to a fundraiser on Wall Street, he said, taking a jab at Clinton and her ties to the financial sector.

In Wisconsin, Clinton has also been critical of Sanderss posture on trade.

At a Democratic dinner in Milwaukee on Saturday, she said that Sanders seems to pride himself on having opposed all trade deals, all the time.

But I dont think thats right, Clinton said, because when done right, trade arrangements can benefit American workers.

Recent polls have showed Sanders with a modest lead over Clinton in Wisconsin, and he told supporters Monday that he thinks he will win the state if there is a large voter turnout.

If we win here, were going to have a bounce going into New York state, where I think we can win, Sanders said. If we win in New York state  between you and me, I dont want to get Hillary Clinton more nervous than she already is, so dont tell her this  but I think if we win here, we win in New York state, were on our way to the White House.

The Clinton campaign has been telegraphing a potential loss in Wisconsin for months.

Clinton campaigned once in Madison  a liberal part of the state heavy with college students that is expected to be a stronghold for Sanders. But her speech there focused on the Supreme Court nomination fight and was aimed toward national media.

She has also pushed to increase turnout among her base of voters, African Americans, whose support could boost her significantly in Milwaukee.

Recent contentious fights between Wisconsins Republican governor, Scott Walker, and public-employee unions have also served as grist for Clintons argument that she, and not Sanders, will support state parties to fight against Republicans at the state and local levels.

Walker has also loomed large in the Republican race, because of his vehement opposition to Trump.

[No longer a candidate, Scott Walker still looms large in Wisconsin primary battle]

Trump has taken an unconventional  and somewhat mystifying  approach in Wisconsin, repeatedly attacking Walker despite the governors 80 percent approval rating among Republicans. Trump has mocked Walkers obsession with Harley-Davidson motorcycles and has sought to undermine his record in the state, which Trump has repeatedly told Wisconsin voters is middle of the pack compared with neighboring states.

Trump has also kept alive a feud with influential conservative talk-radio host Charlie Sykes, an avowed anti-Trump conservative who last Monday hammered the magnate in a heated radio interview. Over the weekend, Trump called Sykes a whack job and a low life.

The third Republican still in the race, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, is far behind his rivals in recent Wisconsin polls. He spent Monday campaigning in New York.

Trump has swept across Wisconsin state in recent days, flying between the western and eastern parts of the state several times over the weekend. On Monday afternoon, he held campaign events in La Crosse, on the Mississippi River to the west, and Superior, in the far north. He was to fly back to southeastern Wisconsin on Monday evening to host a rally in Milwaukee.

Despite Trumps advantage among working-class voters in other states, polling shows that Cruz does better among voters without college degrees in Wisconsin. Cruz has also surged within shooting distance of Trump in the northwestern part of the state, which earlier had been a stronghold for Trump.

john.wagner@washpost.com

anne.gearan@washpost.com

Wagner reported from Janesville and Green Bay, Gearan from New York. Robert Costa and Abby Phillip in Washington contributed to this report.
Wisconsin presidential primary voters shunned front-runners from both the Democratic and Republican parties on April 5. Here are key moments from the victory speeches of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). (Sarah Parnass/The Washington Post)

Wisconsin presidential primary voters shunned front-runners from both the Democratic and Republican parties on April 5. Here are key moments from the victory speeches of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). (Sarah Parnass/The Washington Post)

Sen. Ted Cruz has won the Republican primary in Wisconsin, and Sen. Bernie Sanders has won the Democratic primary, according to exit polls and early returns.

The Associated Press called the race for both men within an hour of polls closing at 9 p.m. Eastern time. In both races, the result meant a defeat for the partys national front-runner  although the loss may be more damaging to Republican Donald Trump, because he is in greater danger of failing to lock up the partys nomination ahead of this summers convention.

In the Republican race, the first results showed a massive lead for Cruz: With more than 20 percent of votes in, he led Trump by more than 20 percentage points. Trump may still get some delegates from Wisconsin, however: The state awards some delegates by congressional districts, and Trump was leading in rural districts in Wisconsins northwest.

Cruz savored the victory, casting it as proof that the GOP race had turned. The partys anti-Trump forces had coalesced behind an unlikely champion: a Texas senator who seemed like the worst possible choice for the GOP establishment, right up until they met candidate Trump.

Tonight is a turning point. It is a rallying cry, Cruz told supporters in Milwaukee. We have a choice. A real choice. The national political terrain began to change two weeks ago, he said, meaning when he won by a large margin in Utah. Cruz said his campaign had raised $2 million on Tuesday alone.

How Ted Cruz won the Wisconsin GOP primary, in 60 seconds (Peter Stevenson/The Washington Post)

In exit polls, Cruz seemed to be winning in most slices of the GOP electorate. He won Republicans with college degrees, leading Trump by nearly 20 points. And Cruz also narrowly led Trump among Republicans without college degrees, a group that has been strongly pro-Trump in other states. Exit polls reported by CNN showed Cruz winning with both men and women, with born-again Christians and with everybody else, and in all age groups (except for Republicans under 30, of whom there were too few to poll).

Trump was said to be watching the returns with family in New York on Tuesday night. He held no election-night rally, nor even a news conference at one of his golf courses.

Trumps campaign issued a statement that called Cruz Lyin Ted, and said his victory came because the partys establishment and conservative talk-radio hosts had been behind him. Oddly, on a night when Cruz had defeated Trump widely in the polls, Trump accused Cruz of trying to steal the nomination from him.

Ted Cruz is worse than a puppet  he is a Trojan horse, being used by the party bosses attempting to steal the nomination from Mr. Trump, Trumps statement said. It went on to predict victory for Trump in New York.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich, the third candidate in the GOP race, was running far behind Trump at about 15 percent in Wisconsin.

[Clinton and Sanders agree to debate before New York primary]

Sanders addressed cheering supporters in Laramie, Wyo., where Democrats will hold their caucuses Saturday. He said his campaign was gaining momentum, and paraphrased Abraham Lincolns Gettysburg address: This is a campaign of the people, by the people, and for the people.

1 of 17 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad  What it looks like on the ground in Wisconsin for the primary election View Photos Wisconsin voters head to the polls for the Republican and Democratic presidential primaries. Caption Wisconsin voters head to the polls for the Republican and Democratic presidential primaries. April 5, 2016 Freshman student Abi Nesbitt votes in her first primary election at UW-Eau Claire's Davies Center in Eau Claire, Wis. Dan Reiland/The Eau Claire Leader-Telegram via AP Wait 1 second to continue.

Real change never, ever takes place from the top on down. It always takes place from the bottom on up, Sanders added.

Sanders had been leading Clinton by about seven percentage points, 53 percent to 46 percent, with 30 percent of precincts reporting

A victory on that scale may not allow him to make up significant ground on Clinton in the race for Democratic convention delegates. But it will allow him to cite growing momentum going into a crucial contest in New York  where Sanders was born, and where Clinton served as senator  on April 19. A win in Wisconsin also allows Sanders to make the case to super-delegates, who can make up their minds about whom to support.

Exit polls showed that Sanders was doing far, far better than Clinton among younger voters: Polls reported by CNN showed that Sanders won voters under age 30 by over 60 percentage points, larger than his average margin of about 40 points in contests this year. Sanders also led Clinton by a 2 to 1 margin among those aged 30 to 44. Clinton led by a modest 9 percentage points among voters ages 45-64, and by a wider 22-point margin among seniors, but it was unclear whether this would be enough to overcome Sanderss edge with younger voters

There was also good news for Democrats generally. More than 7 in 10 Democrats said they are excited or at least optimistic about Clinton and Sanders alike. No Republican candidate got such widespread positive reviews: The best was for Cruz, about whom 6 in 10 Wisconsin voters said they were excited or optimistic.

Barely 4 in 10 were excited about Trump.

Cruz gained significant support here in the past few days thanks to an endorsement by Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and influential Wisconsin talk-radio hosts. He also owes some thanks to Trump, who has spent the time since the last GOP primaries inflicting a series of disasters on his own campaign.

Trump re-tweeted a fan who was insulting Cruzs wife. Trump called for some kind of punishment against women who have abortions. And Trump defended his campaign manager, whod been charged with battery for grabbing a reporter, by suggesting that the reporters pen could have been a little bomb.

A new Reuters-Ipsos poll Tuesday showed that Cruz was in a dead heat with Trump nationally after having trailed him by nearly 20 points a month ago.

In exit polls from Wisconsin, nearly 4 in 10 Republicans said they were scared about what Trump would do as president, while only about 1 in 10 say that about either Cruz or Kasich, according to exit polls reported by The Associated Press.

A Cruz win in Wisconsin makes it much harder for Trump to win the nomination without a fight at the convention. And if it comes down to a fight at the convention, Cruz has out-hustled Trump to secure support among individual delegates.

In early exit polling, only about one-third of Republican voters in Wisconsin said Trump had the best chance to beat Clinton in a general election, according to polls reported by ABC News. Cruz did better: More than 4 in 10 named Cruz as the Republican with the best chance. And fewer than 2 in 10 choose Ohio Gov. John Kasich, the more moderate candidate running a distant third.

And exit polling reported by CNN found a striking note: Among the 68 percent of voters who supported a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States, Ted Cruz carried 50 percent to Trumps 42 percent. Trump had won this group in every contest where exit polls asked the question, except in Texas, Cruzs home state, where he also lost Muslim ban supporters by an 8-point margin.

In an interview Tuesday with MSNBCs Chris Jansing outside a Waukesha, Wis., polling site, Trump admitted that he made missteps even as he refused to concede that polls showing him trailing Cruz were accurate.

But Ive had worse weeks on the campaign. I mean, Ive had so many weeks that  I think a couple that were worse. And in one case I went up in the polls, he said. So, you know, it couldnt have been so disastrous.

Trump has also dismissed speculation about a possible break in his momentum by pointing to his strengths in New York  his home state, which holds its primary April 19  and in the string of Eastern states that vote later this month.

Anti-Trump Republicans, who have poured millions of dollars into attack ads around the country, are hopeful that a loss in Wisconsin will signal a break in the momentum that has kept Trump steadily rising in the polls.

A loss in Wisconsin, they believe, would increase the likelihood of a contested Republican convention in July  a strategy that rests on keeping Trump from crossing the requisite 1,237-delegate threshold he needs to clinch the nomination outright.

Speaking on Fox & Friends Tuesday, former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani  who has not made an endorsement in the race  said support for Cruz by Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) has given the Texas senator a critical boost.

[Internal memo reveals Trump campaigns mounting fury with critics]

Walker may have one of the better operations in the country, because of the way its been tested, Giuliani said, referring to the 2012 recall challenge and other elections the governor has survived. Absent the Walker machine, Trump wins Wisconsin.

In a private document circulated over the weekend and obtained by The Washington Post, Trump campaign senior adviser Barry Bennett revealed the mounting frustrations among the billionaires top aides as they closed what had been a tumultuous week.

Titled Digging through the Bull S---, Bennetts memo urged Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski  who was charged with battery last week after allegedly yanking a reporter  and others to ignore critics who have questioned whether Trumps campaign has waned.

America is sick of them. Their idiotic attacks just remind voters why they hate the Washington Establishment, Bennett wrote, citing tracking poll data favorable to Trump.

Donald Trump 1, Bennett declared, as if he was scoring the past week. Washington Establishment/Media 0.

That sort of sentiment resonated with Lisa Oleniczak, who voted for Trump at a precinct in Oak Creek, just south of Milwaukee.

Hes not from the establishment, she said.

But Ron Kurtz, 67, said he voted for Cruz because the New York billionaires attacks on Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and other elected GOP officials had gone too far.

I dont like some of Trumps statements  like cutting down McCain for being captured, he said.

In the run-up to Tuesday, Clinton campaigned fewer days and before smaller crowds in Wisconsin than Sanders. She had already turned much of her attention ahead to the larger stakes in New York, on April 19. She did not mention the Wisconsin race during a rally Monday in Manhattan to cheer the states approval of a $15 minimum wage.

After holding a rally Monday night in Milwaukee, Sanders mingled with voters and stayed for breakfast Tuesday morning at Blues Egg diner, a city institution.

If people come out to vote in large numbers, I think were going to do very, very well, Sanders told reporters as he entered the restaurant with Barbara Lawton, a former Wisconsin lieutenant governor, before ordering blueberry pancakes.

Dale Dulberger, 66, of nearby Wauwatosa, Wis., said he heard on the news that Sanders was at the diner and wanted to come say hello after having voted for him Tuesday morning.

I think hes really authentic, Dulberger, who teaches at a county technical college, said of Sanders. I think people believe what hes saying. His proposals are idealistic, but thats what a president is supposed to do.

Donna Ernst, who sells insurance and lives in nearby New Berlin, waited outside the diner to see Sanders, and said voting for him was an easy decision.

He has a heart, said Ernst, 43. Hes not corrupt. Hes not greedy.

Sanders planned to travel later Tuesday to campaign in Wyoming, which holds its Democratic caucuses Saturday.

Aides to Clinton, who is spending the day in New York City, have been telegraphing a potential loss in Wisconsin for months. She is scheduled to appear on ABCs morning program The View and hold a Women for Hillary town hall-style event in Brooklyn in the afternoon.

[No longer a candidate, Scott Walker looms large in Wisconsin primary]

Speaking on The View, Clinton tackled a range of issues, including the perception that shes inauthentic (Ive been pretty much the same person throughout her career, she said) and how she communicates with her granddaughter Charlotte on her Apple devices (FaceTime was invented for grandparents.)

But she reserved her sharpest comments for Trump rather than Sanders.

I just dont understand what he thinks is the role of somebody running for president, Clinton said Tuesday. I dont think it is to scapegoat people, divide people or engage in this kind of prejudice and paranoia.

Clintons campaign announced no plans for an election-night party, instead scheduling an evening fundraising party in New York.

Sanders has made political hay with Clintons fundraising schedule, frequently noting that his donations are almost all raised online, in small amounts, while she relies heavily on big checks from wealthy donors.

The third Republican still in the race, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, is far behind his two rivals in recent Wisconsin polls. He spent Monday campaigning in New York in advance of that states primary in two weeks.

Forty-two delegates are at stake for Republicans, while 86 delegates will be awarded based on the Democratic vote (Wisconsin also has 10 Democratic super-delegates, who can make up their own minds and arent bound by the results of the vote). Since delegates are assigned proportionally on the Democratic side, Sanders will have a difficult time slicing into Clintons overall lead if he does not win by an overwhelming margin.

Wagner reported from Milwaukee, Fahrenthold and Eilperin from Washington. Jose A. Delreal and Sean Sullivan in Milwaukee, and Robert Costa, Scott Clement, Jenna Johnson and Abby Phillip in Washington contributed to this report.
Wis.  On the final weekend before Tuesdays closely watched Wisconsin primary, hundreds of Republican voters streamed into a hotel ballroom here to see Sen. Ted Cruz, who brought along Gov. Scott Walker and former Green Bay Packers defensive lineman Kabeer Gbaja-

Biamila to make a final pitch.

The only inkling that this was not a typical campaign event were the staffers wearing green KTP badges stationed at the doors. They worked for Keep the Promise, a super PAC allied with the Republican presidential candidate. Instead of handing out Cruz campaign material, they were distributing Choose Cruz signs and stickers paid for by the group.

In recent months, the super PAC has been effectively serving as an extension of Cruzs official campaign, hosting major rallies for him from South Carolina to Utah. The senator from Texas appears at the events as a special guest, an arrangement that takes advantage of the loose federal rules governing how campaigns and super PACs can interact.

Since January, Cruz has appeared at nearly 20 rallies that Keep the Promise PAC has organized, often alongside well-known surrogates such as conservative talk show host Glenn Beck and Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty.

The tactic serves to offload costs onto the super PAC, which has been financed by six-figure checks from wealthy Cruz supporters  allowing Cruz to harbor his resources for a drawn-out Republican nomination battle with front-runner Donald Trump.

Although his campaign raised more than $66 million by the end of February, Cruz entered March with just $8 million left in the bank. Keep the Promise had less than $1 million in cash at the end of February, but the super PAC can quickly replenish its coffers because it can accept unlimited donations from individuals and corporations.

Cruz spokeswoman Alice Stewart said the campaign was not short on cash. I can assure you we are doing quite well with fundraising, so that is not an issue, she said.

Stewart said that the senator is invited to speak at a wide variety of events, adding that the campaigns attorneys make sure his appearances comply with campaign finance rules.

[Cruz: Nominating white knight at convention would cause Republicans to revolt]

The role that Keep the Promise is playing in hosting campaign-style rallies for Cruz  who is backed by at least eight different super PACs  provides new fodder for Trump, who touts his independence as a billionaire using his own money to fund much of his campaign. He has also disavowed super PACs, although one group recently began spending money on his behalf.

This is financial corruption of the highest order, and further proof that Lyin Ted Cruz is totally owned by donors and special interests, Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks wrote in a statement, using Trumps regular insult for Cruz. Our entire political system has been corrupted by special interests who want to drive down wages and incomes, and Ted Cruz has now been unmasked as their favorite pawn.

In response, Stewart noted that Trump has received millions in contributions.

Whats surprising here is Donalds continued lack of honesty with the voters about how hes paying for his campaign and who he hopes will pay for his campaign in the future, she said. Not only has Donald raised more than $9.5 million, despite claims of self-funding  his campaign manager is a lobbyist, the operative brought in to run his delegate operation is a lobbyist, and Donald recently hobnobbed with a dozen high-

powered special interest lobbyists in Washington to see where they shared mutual interests. Make no mistake about it, Donald Trump is the Washington Cartel.

Keep the Promises move into event production shows how super PACs allied with this years presidential candidates have expanded their portfolios beyond expensive television campaigns. The big-money groups  which are not allowed to coordinate their paid advertising strategy with candidates or political parties  have taken on policy research, rapid response and field organizing as they seek new ways to bolster their favored candidates.

Last fall, super PACs supporting Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and former Hewlett-Packard chief executive Carly Fiorina, both Republicans, sponsored campaign-styletown halls.and rallies featuring their candidates, handling the promotion, logistics and staffing

In doing so, they were relying on advisory opinions issued by the Federal Election Commission giving candidates permission to appear as guests at super PAC fundraisers, as long as they do not ask supporters to donate more than $5,000.

There is specific FEC guidance that it is permissible for candidates and their surrogates to appear at events, as long as they are not soliciting soft dollars, said Stefan Passantino, an attorney for Keep the Promise PAC. Its perfectly legal.

[Its bold, but legal: How campaigns and their super PAC backers work together]

But advocates for stricter campaign finance regulations said the arrangement shows how super PACs financed by wealthy contributors are increasingly operating in conjunction with campaigns, violating the principle of independence that the Supreme Court laid out in its 2010 Citizens United v. FEC decision.

It just tilts the system even more to the super-rich, said Nick Penniman, executive director of Issue One, a bipartisan group working to reduce the influence of wealthy interests on politics.

Larry Noble, general counsel of the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center, said that if a super PAC is coordinating with a campaign to schedule a rally, the money it spends to produce the event could be considered an in-kind donation.

Its one thing to have a candidate appear at something billed as a super PAC fundraiser, he said. What this has morphed into is the super PAC putting on campaign events, and that is illegal.

Passantino rejected that argument. The campaign simply responds to our requests as to the availability of any invited guests, he said. All other details are handled by PAC staff in conformity with FEC regulations and guidance.

[As Cruz hits Trump on the trail, he wages a quieter assault on Kasich]

Keep the Promise officials decided to start regularly producing rallies featuring Cruz after the group hosted such events in Iowa and saw how popular they were, according to super PAC spokeswoman Laura Barnett. She said the super PAC makes all the arrangements, choosing dates close to a primary when Cruz probably will be in the area.

For supporters in the audience, however, the fact that a super PAC is sponsoring the rally is often a lost distinction.

I didnt know anything about the super PAC or his campaign and Im not sure how that works, Cindy Kennard, a 54-year-old librarian who went to see Cruz at a Keep the Promise event in Provo, Utah, last month. I just heard he was coming to Utah for a rally.

Steve Matz, a Cruz supporter from Franklin, Wis., who attended a Monday evening rally in Waukesha hosted by Keep The Promise, said he did not realize the group was a super PAC. But that made no difference, he said.

Cruz is in my backyard and I came to see him, he said with a shrug.

Katie Zezima in Washington and Provo, Utah, and Sean Sullivan in Green Bay and Waukesha contributed to this report.
Donald Trump says he would force Mexico to pay for a border wall as president by threatening to cut off the flow of billions of dollars in payments that immigrants send home to the country, an idea that could decimate the Mexican economy and set up an unprecedented showdown between the United States and a key regional ally.

In a two-page memo to The Washington Post, Trump outlined for the first time how he would seek to force Mexico to pay for his 1,000-mile border fence, which Trump has made a cornerstone of his presidential campaign and which has been repeatedly scoffed at by current and former Mexican leaders.

The proposal would jeopardize a stream of cash that many economists say is vital for Mexicos struggling economy. But the feasibility of Trumps plan is unclear both legally and politically, and it would test the bounds of a presidents executive powers in seeking to pressure another country.

In the memo, Trump said he would threaten to change a rule under the USA Patriot Act antiterrorism law to cut off a portion of the funds sent to Mexico through money transfers, commonly known as remittances. The threat would be withdrawn if Mexico made a one-time payment of $5-10 billion to pay for the border wall, he wrote.

Its an easy decision for Mexico, Trump said in the memo, on campaign stationery emblazoned with TRUMP Make America Great Again!

The Washington Posts Bob Woodward and Robert Costa sat down with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. Heres how the interview went. (Lee Powell/The Washington Post)

After the wall was funded, Trump wrote, transfer payments could continue to flow into their country year after year. He gave the memo to The Post in response to a written question provided to him before an interview last week.

Nearly $25 billion was sent home by Mexicans living abroad in 2015, mostly in the form of money transfers, according to the Mexican central bank. In his memo, Trump said that the majority of that amount comes from illegal aliens.

But that figure includes cash from around the world, not just the United States. In addition, a Government Accountability Office report in January said it is difficult to track how much money Mexican immigrants working illegally in the United States are sending vs. money sent by those working legally.

Another complication in Trumps remittance proposal is that he also wants to deport all 11 million immigrants living illegally in the United States, many of whom come from Mexico.

President Obama sharply criticized Trumps remittances proposal Tuesday and told reporters at the White House that foreign leaders are peppering him with questions about some of the wackier suggestions coming from Trump and his main Republican rival, Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.).

This is just one more example of something that is not thought through and is primarily put forward for political consumption, Obama said. The notion that were going to track every Western Union bit of money thats being sent to Mexico, good luck with that.

Cristobal Alex, president of the Latino Victory Fund, blasted the idea as a very dangerous and unrealistic proposal.

From the start of his campaign, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has been promising that he will build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, and that Mexico will pay for it. Not if these men have anything to say about it. (Sarah Parnass/The Washington Post)

This is nothing but another attack against immigrants that would have devastating consequences for Latinos and Americans overall, endangering our economy, our democracy, our foreign policy and security, Alex said.

Throughout the campaign, Trump has claimed that he could build his proposed U.S.-Mexico barrier for about $8 billion  a figure that numerous experts have described as dubious because of the costs and other obstacles to building a lengthy, impenetrable concrete barrier through numerous jurisdictions.

Trumps proposal to pay for such a wall is also fraught with challenges. Although there is a shortcut in the Administrative Procedure Act that allows for interim regulations that take effect immediately without going through the regular public notice and comment process, there are limitations on that authority.

Based on the process for changes laid out in the Federal Register, Trump as president could potentially invoke a change by making the argument that illegal immigration is an emergency that must be addressed immediately or is a threat to public health or safety.

But such a rule would presumably apply to limiting wire transfers, canceling visas or raising visa fees  not about directly limiting immigration. That could make it harder for Trump to argue that any of those criteria meet the exceptions, according to some experts.

After reviewing Trumps proposal, one expert on immigration law said he is skeptical.

Trump is giving an extremely broad definition of this section of the Patriot Act and what it allows, and itd surely be litigated, said Stuart Anderson, executive director of the National Foundation for American Policy, a nonpartisan think tank in Virginia. It would be a large expansion beyond what the text reads.

Anderson said Trumps memo also leaves unaddressed how normal financial transactions across borders would be affected and whether there would be an overly aggressive federal intrusion into the growing number of financial transactions that take place over the Internet.

With the subject line Compelling Mexico to Pay for the Wall, the memo is the latest attempt by the Republican presidential front-runner to offer more specifics about his proposal at a time when he faces tough head winds, including a loss to Cruz on Tuesday night in Wisconsins Republican primary.

The memo includes rationales for a number of potential intimidation tactics, including increased trade tariffs, the cancellation of visas and higher fees for border-crossing cards.

But at the core of Trumps approach is a focus on the remittances of illegal immigrants, which he argues are crucial to Mexican economic stability and are a way of pressuring the country to disburse billions of dollars to the United States to fund construction of his wall.

Trumps official immigration plan, released last year, featured a pledge to impound all remittance payments from illegal wages and to hike fees on temporary visas, among other actions, but it did not go into further detail.

The playbook outlined in Trumps memo echoes suggestions that have long been made by Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), a Trump confidant and a hard-line voice on immigration policy within the Republican Party. Stephen Miller, a former top aide to Sessions, is Trumps policy adviser.

Starting on day 1, Trump writes, he would issue a warning to Mexico that unless it pays his desired amount, he will promulgate a new federal provision that would lead to a sweeping confiscation of funds sent by Mexicans in the United States who lack documentation of their lawful presence.

On day 2, Trump continued, Mexico will immediately protest. But he would declare that Mexico must choose between the enforcement of his provision or acquiescing.

To explain how he would have the standing to pursue his aggressive strategy, Trump begins by citing a provision in the Code of Federal Regulations that sets the standards for financial institutions in identifying their customers.

That provision, Trump says, makes it possible for the executive branch to issue detailed regulations on the subject. He predicted that Mexico would react by initially balking, then doing what he wants.

Trump writes that if the Mexican government will contribute $_ billion to the United States to pay for the wall, the Trump Administration will not promulgate the final rule, and the regulation will not go into effect.

Many academics and economists have said that Trumps notion of impounding remittances could have devastating consequences, harming poor communities and families that rely on funds from abroad to provide food and shelter.

Trump leaves open the option of using other methods to coerce Mexico, including trade tariffs, or enforcement of existing trade rules, cancelling visas and visa fees.

Our approvals of hundreds of thousands of visas every year is one of our greatest leverage points, Trump writes. We also have leverage through business and tourist visas for important people in the Mexican economy.

Trump ends with a scathing critique of Mexico, claiming that it has taken advantage of the United States for years through gangs, drug traffickers and cartels responsible for the extraordinary daily cost of this criminal activity.

We have the moral high ground here, Trump concludes, and all the leverage.

Evelyn Duffy and Eric Yoder contributed to this report.
President Jacob Zuma survived a vote to remove him from office Tuesday, in the wake of the most serious in a string of scandals that has tarnished the popularity of the governing African National Congress.

The National Assembly voted down by 233 to 143 a measure that would have forced out the president with three years left in his term.

The vote followed a unanimous ruling last week from South Africas Constitutional Court that Zuma violated his oath of office by refusing to pay back public money used to upgrade his personal estate in rural Nkandla.

The South African public protector ruled in 2014 that Zuma knowingly enriched himself and must reimburse the countrys Treasury for non-security upgrades such as a chicken coop, amphitheater and swimming pool at the property. Zuma argued that the pool was a tool to extinguish possible fires. The total value of the upgrades was 240 million rand, more than $15.8 million. Zuma initially ignored the ruling.

The South African Treasury will determine within 40 days how much Zuma needs to pay back.

Jullius Malema, leader of the oppostion party Economic Freedom Fighters, speaks during a debate over the removal of the president. (Nic Bothma/EPA)

[Chinas slowdown prompts plunge in South Africas currency]

Zuma apologized after the Constitutional Court ruling, calling it the final arbiter. He claimed in an address Friday night that he had always intended to pay back the money, an about-face from earlier statements. He said he had acted on poor legal advice.

The hope of the governing party is that tomorrow the business of governing goes on, said Pierre de Vos, a constitutional-law professor at the University of Cape Town. I dont think itll be business as usual.

The Democratic Alliance, the main opposition party, and its more militant sometimes-partner, the Economic Freedom Fighters, brought the case to the Constitutional Court. With the help of several smaller parties, they also led Tuesdays effort to oust Zuma.

All the current ANC leaders are corrupt, Mmusi Maimane, the leader of the Democratic Alliance, said on the floor of the National Assembly before the vote, referring to Zumas party. And some are just more corrupt than others. Nobody in the ANC is immune from the cancer of corruption.

Just last month, Zuma sailed through a no-confidence vote in Parliament brought by the Democratic Alliance. That vote followed a series of controversies surrounding the president.

In December, Zuma fired respected Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene and replaced him with a backbencher from Parliament, David van Rooyen. Van Rooyens term lasted just four days. He was replaced by a former finance minister, Pravin Gordhan.

A protestor stands outside the South African parliament pretending to set fire to the country's constitution before Tuesdays debate on the removal of the president. (Rodger Bosch/AFP/Getty Images)

In a related scandal, high-ranking members of the government admitted that a wealthy family of business owners, the Guptas, and not the president, had offered them positions in government. The Guptas are close friends of the president. The Guptas and Zuma deny the allegations.

The turmoil in the Finance Ministry unnerved investors, said Busisiwe Radebe, an economist with Johannesburg-based Nedbank. She said in an interview that politics has come front and center in South Africa, reflected in the erratic behavior of the rand. When Nene was fired, we saw the rand tumble, Radebe said.

The opposite happened, she said, when the chief justice of the Constitutional Court, Mogoeng Mogoeng, read the decision against Zuma from the bench last week, declaring that South Africa would not allow an unchecked abuse of state power. The rand strengthened to a four-month high that day.

[In South Africa, disillusionment with the party that ended apartheid]

There are signs that South Africans long-held reverence for the ANC, which was founded in the early 20th century and led the armed struggle against the apartheid government, is declining.

Opposition parties and ANC stalwarts alike have called for Zumas resignation. Anti-apartheid leader Ahmed Kathrada, who spent decades in jail with former president Nelson Mandela, penned an open letter to Zuma late last week. He wrote, Dear Comrade President, dont you think your stay as president will only serve to deepen the crisis of confidence in government of the country?

Theres a whole coming-of-age generation that doesnt have the loyalty to the ANC, said political analyst Ayesha Kajee.

She predicted that the ANC would continue its hold on rural South Africa in municipal elections later this year but that the party is likely to lose support in major urban areas.

Amid Tuesdays debate, Zuma issued a statement saying he did not violate his oath of office, despite the Constitutional Court determining that he failed to uphold, defend and respect the Constitution as the supreme law of the land.

Kajee said a younger generation of voters doesnt understand why the ANC closes ranks around Zuma.

Zuma has led the ANC since 2007, when he wrested control of the party from former president Thabo Mbeki. The party will meet next year to determine who will be its next leader.

De Vos, from the University of Cape Town, said that a president does not necessarily need to be the leader of his or her party but that Mbeki resigned the presidency soon after losing control of the ANC. The professor added that the controversies swirling around Zuma have led to the creation of factions at the highest levels of the party.

You cant have a proxy war in the cabinet of pro-Zuma and anti-Zuma factions. Its hard to get anything done then, he said.

Read more

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South Africas gold industry, like its economy, is crumbling

Lions are actually raised to be killed in South Africa. And American hunters love it.
A man holds a dead rat at the main garbage dump in Peshawar. Residents swear theyve seen much bigger rats than this one. (Mian Khursheed/For The Washington Post)

Here in a city that has defined Pakistans struggle against Islamist extremism, thousands of people have been killed or injured in terrorist attacks. But now, if asked their greatest fear, many residents cite one of the worlds other menaces: rats.

Over the past year, according to Peshawars mayor, eight children have been killed by rats. At night, rodents spill out of the citys crude sewer system, chewing through doors and walls, feasting on food supplies and overrunning hospitals and schools.

And these arent ordinary rats, residents say. These creatures are big  so big that residents swear they cant be native to the area. And that gives rise to yet more conspiracy theories in a country already prone to blaming its woes on outsiders.

They can be so big, like cats, and with two big sharp teeth in the front, said Muhammad Humayun, 38, who describes the size of the rats by stretching out his arm and pointing from his elbow to the tip of his fingers.

Throughout history, tales of cat-size rats have repeatedly surfaced only to be debunked by scientists.

Pakistani municipal workers bury rats in the main garbage dump in the city of Peshawar on April 02. (Mian Khursheed/For The Washington Post)

The average body of a Norway rat in the West, they say, is six to eight inches long. But some rat species in Asia have been known to grow larger, creating some uncertainty about what sort of rodent is now rampaging through Peshawar.

Still, the roots of Peshawars rat problem appear obvious.

[Attack on schoolgirl fuels Pakistani conspiracy theories]

More than 1 million people live packed together in poorly constructed houses in one of the oldest cities in South Asia. Uncovered sewage drains empty directly into streets or streams.

Garbage is casually tossed onto sidewalks or vacant lots. Butchers slaughter cows and goats in store-front windows. And chicken and dairy farms can be found in the middle of densely populated neighborhoods.

It seems like the makings of a rat paradise, yet residents are mystified as to why they are now being terrorized by one of human civilizations most persistent foes.

Some say the problem began after a series of floods in 2010 and 2012 flushed rats from their nests in the mountains near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

A man walks near holes on the bank of a canal that a resident said are the living places of rats in the city of Peshawar. (Mian Khursheed/For The Washington Post)

Others believe the rats were bred on U.S. military bases in Afghanistan and brought to Peshawar in the trucks that are withdrawing coalition supplies on Pakistani highways.

One theory is that super-size rats came in the luggage of refugees fleeing a military operation in Pakistans tribal belt, where rumors of huge rodents have persisted for centuries.

There have been allegations that the rats were genetically modified by a foreign power and left here to terrorize Muslims.

[These Pakistani inspectors are fighting terror, one restaurant at a time]

Whatever the case, Peshawar is now locked in yet another war.

Last week, amid an outcry from lawmakers and residents, Mayor Muhammad Asim announced a three-pronged strategy to treat rats in the same manner the city combats the hideouts of militants.

To win the battle, Asim has created a new team of 30 municipal workers who will be spreading rat poison throughout the city each night. Free rat poison was made available to residents.

Peshawar has also set a bounty on rats, promising 25 rupees (about 25 cents) for each dead rodent.

People are afraid, Asim said. They say these are not your normal rats. . . . They will eat your food. They eat your clothes, and they eat your papers.

As residents of Washington and other U.S. cities can attest, this sounds like typical rat behavior. But reports that rats have killed eight children and injured numerous others in Peshawar have escalated the crisis.

[Rats in your home should gross you out. Dealing with it is your problem.]

Asim said one infant recently bled to death from rat bites to the face. Asker Pervaiz, a member of the local provincial assembly, said a 3-month-old baby died after a rat bit off part of an ear.

Some Peshawar officials are skeptical, noting that few of the deaths have been confirmed by a doctor or mortician.

If a rat bites a baby, there is usually no medical evidence whether its a rat, a flea, a snake or mosquito, said Taminur Ahmed Shah, a spokesman for the Peshawar Water and Sanitation Services, who blames Pakistans media for hyping the extent of the problem.

But Noor Qadir, 33, has no doubt Peshawars rats are turning into killers.

Qadir was sleeping in his house  located next to a brackish stream and a flour mill  on March 22 when his 8-month-old baby began crying.

I woke up to his screams and saw the rat was in bed with him, Qadir said. The rat jumped out of the bed, and I killed the rat, and there was blood and teeth marks on his face.

Qadirs baby survived, but wounds from nine razorlike incisions remain visible under the childs eye. Now, like many of his neighbors, Qadir stays awake at night dreading a return visit.

I put my slipper in the space under the door, but half the slipper was eaten by the rat, he said.

As with Pakistans sputtering war against human terrorists, there are already signs that Peshawars struggle against rats will be hampered by poor planning and a lack of commitment.

On Friday night, the new rat eradication team collected 500 rat carcasses after it left poisoned bread in three neighborhoods.

On Saturday evening, however, the team decided to take a night off because rain was forecast.

Peshawar officials temporarily suspended the reward program over the weekend because they were caught off-guard by how many people showed up with dead rats  and demanding payment.

Peshawar does have one crucial asset, however. The citys eradication effort is led by Naseer Ahmad, a local celebrity nicknamed the Rat Killer.

After the wife of one of his friends was bitten by a rat seven years ago, Ahmad took it upon himself to start killing the animals for sport.

Using his own special mix of poison  the same toxic brew Peshawar is now using in its citywide campaign  Ahmad has killed 103,050 rats over the past seven years, he says.

He, too, believes the rats in Peshawar are getting bigger and meaner because of mysterious circumstances.

Based on my experience, this is not a local rat. This is something different, said Ahmad, adding that he recently started finding rats with coin-size testicles. They are now not even afraid of kids, and kids cant fight them.

Peshawars strategy for killing rats, however, rests on children doing exactly that  motivated by the reward program, which is set to resume.

If everything else fails, the 25 rupee incentive wont fail, Asim, the mayor, said. A lot of children are already scavengers who pick up paper and plastic for money, he added, in what is one of Pakistans poorest cities. Now, they can be working to kill the rats.

But Asim admitted that no one knows how many rats there are in Peshawar. And, he noted, the citys new rat hunters are up against pests that can produce 20 offspring every 20 days.

Read more:

A huge garbage fire in Indias biggest city was so bad you could see it from space

In Pakistan, a prime minister and a country rebound  at least for now
Amid strident calls from world leaders for restraint, Azerbaijan and the Armenian-backed breakaway republic of Nagorno-Karabakh on Tuesday announced an immediate cease-fire to halt the worst outbreak of violence over the disputed territory in decades.

At least 50 people have died since heavy fighting resumed Saturday on the front lines of one of the former Soviet Unions most intractable ethnic conflicts, pitting Christian Armenians against Muslim Azerbaijanis. The cease-fire was declared at noon Tuesday by officials from Azerbaijan and from the unrecognized republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian enclave that is formally a part of Azerbaijan but has its own government with military and financial support from the Armenian government.

News reports from the front lines on Tuesday said that the fighting, which included tanks, heavy artillery and aircraft at its peak, had indeed died down. But it was unclear how long the temporary halt in hostilities would hold, as officials from the United States, France and Russia planned trips to the region this week to mediate between the sides in the conflict.

[The crisis over Nagorno-Karabakh, explained]

Backed by Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh declared independence from Azerbaijan as the Soviet Union collapsed, and the bloody war that followed left about 30,000 dead and an unclear future for the territory. A cease-fire was signed in 1994, but years of negotiations under the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) have failed to yield a long-term political solution to the conflict. Sporadic fighting has continued along the line of contact between the two sides, though never with the ferocity seen this week.





Everyone understands that the status quo is not only unacceptable but also unsustainable, and it cannot last for another two decades like it has been, Elin Suleymanov, Azerbaijans ambassador to the United States, said in a telephone interview. Azerbaijans government is frustrated with the slow pace of the negotiations for a political settlement, he said, and wants to see a complete withdrawal of ethnic Armenian forces from Nagorno-Karabakh.

The cause of this weeks violence is disputed. Officials from Armenia and the Nagorno-

Karabakh territory said that Azerbaijan launched a broad offensive on Saturday, prompting a counterattack. Suleymanov said Azerbaijani troops were forced to seize strategic heights in the disputed territory to protect themselves from shelling attacks. In coming negotiations, he said, it would be an absurd proposition and a major non-starter for Azerbaijan to cede control of that land.

As both sides announced a break in the fighting, U.S., French and Russian officials prepared a series of high-level visits to Azerbaijan, Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh to seek a more stable peace. The three countries are the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, which is tasked with mediating peace talks between the sides.

Richard Giragosian, director of the Regional Studies Center, an independent think tank in Armenia, called this weeks fighting a near-death experience for the cease-fire line, adding that there are no assurances that the cessation of hostilities will hold through the flurry of diplomatic activity.

There is very little in terms of deterrence or even leverage to prevent a repeat of renewed hostilities, said Giragosian, noting that the cease-fire does not have external security backing or any real supervision.

[Azerbaijan declares cease-fire, but fighting continues in breakaway enclave]

Early Tuesday evening, the Nagorno-Karabakh government claimed that Azerbaijani artillery had violated the cease-fire several times during the day and that its own forces had not returned fire. It was not immediately possible to verify that report.

People march with an Armenian flag during a rally Tuesday in memory of those killed during recent fightings in Nagorno-Karabakhs main city of Stepanakert. (Staff/Reuters)

Russia has begun attempts at shuttle diplomacy. On Tuesday evening, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President Serge Sarkisian, urging both sides as a matter of urgency to ensure the full cessation of hostilities and compliance with a cease-fire regime, according to a Kremlin statement. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev will travel to Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, on Thursday, while Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will travel to Azerbaijan.

A wider conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh is seen as having the potential to drag in Russia, which shares a defense alliance with Armenia, and NATO member Turkey, which has said it will back the Azerbaijani government in the clashes. Tensions have soared between the two countries since Turkey downed a Russian jet over the Syrian border last year, an incident in which the pilot and a marine sent on a rescue mission were killed. Russia has accused Turkey of supporting the Islamic State and other terrorist groups and has imposed sanctions against Turkish goods and travel to Turkish resorts. On Tuesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu called for a peaceful resolution to the conflict that maintains Azerbaijans territorial integrity.

Both sides have claimed to have killed hundreds of opposing soldiers, while reporting losses of their own in the dozens. The first day of fighting was the bloodiest, with Azerbaijan reporting 12 soldiers killed and Karabakh officials reporting 18 dead. A 12-year-old boy was also reported killed during the fighting. On Tuesday, Azerbaijan said that 16 soldiers had been killed in the last two days of fighting before the cease-fire was announced.

Read more:

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Kerry in Moscow calls for unity following Brussels attacks

Russia sentences Ukraines Joan of Arc to 22 years in prison

Today's coverage from Post correspondents around the world
Icelands prime minister, Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson, resigned Tuesday amid fallout from the Panama Papers disclosures detailing an offshore company held by his wife. (Birgir Por Hardarson/EPA)

Icelands prime minister, faced with street protests and public outrage over offshore holdings, offered to resign Tuesday, becoming the first major political leader to fall amid global reverberations from millions of leaked documents detailing secret financial transactions.

Prime Minister Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson tendered his resignation and asked Icelands president to dissolve Parliament after leaked files from a Panama law firm showed that his wife owned an offshore company with links to some of the countrys collapsed banks. The moves appeared likely to lead to new elections in the Nordic island nation, a NATO member.

[The Panama Papers are having a huge impact on tiny Iceland]

It was the most dramatic fallout to date from the disclosures known as the Panama Papers, a trove of documents that allegedly show how members of the worlds elite are able to conceal wealth and potentially avoid accountability and taxes. Among those who have used offshore companies in private business dealings are at least 140 political figures, including a dozen current or former heads of state, according to news outlets that published a major report on the papers following a year-long investigation.

The report does not make specific allegations of illegal activity, but it raises questions about the propriety of hard-to-trace offshore accounts and other tax havens set up by the Panama-based law firm, Mossack Fonseca.

The prime minister previously refused to step down, claiming his wifes overseas assets were taxed in Iceland and insisted there was no fiscal wrongdoing. (The Washington Post)

In a statement released Tuesday, Mossack Fonseca said: While we may have been the victim of a data breach, nothing in this illegally obtained cache of documents suggests weve done anything wrong or illegal, and thats very much in keeping with the global reputation weve worked hard to build over the past 40 years of doing business the right way. The firm vowed to make sure that the guilty parties are brought to justice for stealing its information. In the meantime, it said, it would continue to serve our clients and stand behind our people.

[What you need to know about the Panama Papers]

Those named in the documents include associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the president of Ukraine and relatives of leaders in China, Britain and Pakistan. The disclosures have triggered official inquiries worldwide, including in Britain, France, Italy, Austria, Sweden, the Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand.

In Washington, President Obama weighed in on the revelations as he urged Congress to close insidious tax loopholes that allow big corporations to avoid billions of dollars in tax payments by ostensibly relocating offshore.

Weve had another reminder in this big dump of data coming out of Panama that tax avoidance is a big, global problem, Obama told reporters at the White House. Its not unique to other countries because, frankly, there are folks here in America who are taking advantage of the same stuff. A lot of it is legal, but thats exactly the problem. Its not that theyre breaking the laws, its that the laws are so poorly designed that they allow people, if theyve got enough lawyers and enough accountants, to wiggle out of responsibilities that ordinary citizens are having to abide by.

Obama said legal and illicit tax avoidance combined may amount to trillions of dollars worldwide. It is a huge problem that has been brought up repeatedly in meetings of world leaders, he said.

[In China, censors busy over Panama Papers disclosures]

The Panama Papers consist of 11.5 million documents from Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca. The papers apparently implicate a number of high-profile global figures in potentially illegal financial activities. (Deirdra O'Regan/The Washington Post)

In China, government censors have been working overtime to scrub references to prominent Chinese named in the papers. Some Russians cited in the documents have political or personal connections to Putin, whose spokesman denied that the Russian president is implicated.

The questions about tax havens have spread beyond politics, however, touching such renowned figures as Argentine soccer star Lionel Messi, Spanish film director Pedro Almodovar and Russian cellist Sergei Rodulgin.

The Panama Papers stem from a year-long collaboration among Germanys Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and more than 100 media outlets. Their report claims to expose a cast of characters who use offshore companies to facilitate bribery, arms deals, tax evasion and drug trafficking.

In Iceland, the prime ministers departure could head off a showdown in Parliament. Opposition lawmakers had sought a confidence vote as thousands of protesters gathered in the capital, Reykjavik, demanding Gunnlaugssons resignation.

The crowds at times pounded drums and banged pots and pans  harking back to demonstrations during the countrys fiscal meltdown in 2009. Other protesters pelted the Parliament building with yogurt and eggs.

Parliament was not scheduled to meet Tuesday, and Icelands president, Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, said he wanted further talks with political leaders and others before making the formal decision to accept the resignation and dissolve Parliament.

But Gunnlaugsson appeared to seal his fate by promising to step aside, retreating from his earlier pledge to stick it out.

Its seven years since the crisis, and this shows that we havent learned anything. Weve just rebuilt the same corrupt system, said Svanur Kristjansson, a political science professor in Iceland. Its an incredibly toxic environment. And were expecting more names from the Panama Papers to come out.

A member of Gunnlaugssons government, Agriculture Minister Sigurdur Ingi Johannsson, told Icelandic broadcaster RUV that the prime minister is resigning, the Associated Press reported.

Gunnlaugsson has said that his wifes overseas assets were taxed in Iceland, and he insisted that there was no fiscal wrongdoing.

But critics said the findings of the Panama Papers report raised questions about conflicts of interest and other possible improprieties nearly eight years after the Icelandic banking system collapsed amid the global financial crisis.

A government spokesman said the company owned by Gunnlaugssons wife, Anna Sigurlaug Palsdottir, held bonds totaling more than $4.1 million in some of Icelands collapsed banks. The leaked documents have led to accusations of possible conflicts by Gunnlaugsson, who oversaw negotiations with the banks creditors.

James McCauley in Paris and Scott Higham in Washington contributed to this report.

Read more:

Why arent international rules stopping offshore tax evasion?

The Panama Papers are super awkward for Beijing

Today's coverage from Post correspondents around the world
Rebel fighters near the wreckage of a Syrian aircraft downed Tuesday by a surface-to-air missile near Aleppo. An activist group says Jabhat al-Nusra, an al-Qaeda affiliate, carried out the attack. (Omar Haj Kadour/AFP/Getty Images)

A missile fired from rebel-held areas downed a Syrian reconnaissance plane on Tuesday, Syrias military said, as a partial truce showed further signs of fraying. Activists said the aircraft was targeted by Islamist militants engaged in the ongoing clashes.

The aircraft was hit near the city of Aleppo, a front line in the fighting. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group, said al-Qaeda-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra took the pilot captive.

The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency, citing an unnamed military source, reported later that an aircraft on a surveillance mission was brought down with a surface-to-air missile and that the pilot ejected. Jabhat al-Nusra fighters have been suspected of using such missiles in past attacks.

[Inside Syrias war: View from 3 cities]

The reports of the plane downing suggest that Jabhat al-Nusra, which is seeking to claim new territory as it remains excluded from the truce, has an edge in firepower compared with other forces fighting the government, including some factions backed by the West. The incident could amplify calls from these rebel groups, which have heavy machine guns and other arms, to expand their arsenal to include such advanced weaponry as antiaircraft systems.

It is unclear what type of plane was shot down or how it was hit, but rebels claim to have downed the plane near the city of Aleppo. A fragile cease-fire has reduced some of the violence in Syria, but a recent uptick in fighting could threaten peace talks in Geneva. (YouTube/Halab Today)

A video posted on Facebook purported to show the planes wreckage and a mob around the pilot, who apparently survived. The videos authenticity could not be independently verified.

In November, Turkey shot down a Russian warplane over Syria, an incident that escalated tensions in what has become a volatile proxy conflict involving world powers  with the West and its allies backing the rebels, while Russia and Iran support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

[In Aleppo: Rubble on one side, restaurants on the other]

Around Aleppo, a major northwestern city, opposition groups have attempted to seize areas from forces aligned with Assad.

In the northwestern province of Latakia, which borders Turkey, rebels and Jabhat al-Nusra militants have carried out attacks in recent days. Government forces, in turn, have been accused of numerous violations of the cease-fire, which took hold Feb. 27.

Our attacks are a response to ongoing regime violations of the truce, said Ahmed Haj Ali, a spokesman for the 1st Coastal Division, a rebel outfit affiliated with the umbrella Free Syrian Army group.

The worsening violence could threaten the momentum of talks in Geneva that resumed last month as part of a renewed international effort, led by Russia and the United States, to end Syrias civil war.

The wreckage of a government warplane reportedly shot down by al-Nusra, an al-Qaeda affiliate, over the northern Syrian town of Al-Eis on Tuesday. (Omar Haj Kadour/AFP/Getty Images)

Staffan de Mistura, the U.N. envoy to Syria and mediator for the talks, plans to reconvene with government and opposition delegations in the Swiss city this month.

[Scenes of misery, hints of hope in Aleppo]

The cease-fire serves as the basis for the talks and has received firm backing from Russia and the United States.

We are all surprised at how long this cessation of hostilities has lasted, said Emile Hokayem, a Middle East analyst at the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies. But it still contains profound flaws and ambiguities.

Hokayem noted that although violence has been reduced, a task force to monitor violations lacks an enforcement mechanism.

On Monday, a suspected Syrian government warplane bombed a hospital in Azaz, a rebel-held town near the Turkish border.

Last week, government aircraft bombarded a rebel-held suburb of the capital, Damascus, killing more than 30 people, according to monitoring groups and activists. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 12 children and one emergency responder were among those killed in the attack in Deir al-Asafir.

That airstrike drew condemnation from Western powers.

This attack, which deliberately targeted civilians, including children, shows that the regime is continuing its abuses and violating the truce, said a spokesman from the French Foreign Ministry, Romain Nadal.

Jabhat al-Nusra and the Islamic State militant group are excluded from the cease-fire and have been targeted independently by government forces, rebels and an international military coalition led by the United States.

Late last month, Syrian forces and allied fighters from Lebanons Hezbollah militia  backed by Russian air raids  captured the ancient city of Palmyra from the Islamic State, dealing a blow to the extremist group.

Zakaria Zakaria in Istanbul and Brian Murphy in Washington contributed to this report.
Rebel fighters and civilians gather around the wreckage of a warplane that was reportedly shot down in the Talat al-Iss area, south of Aleppo, Syria April 5, 2016. REUTERS/Ammar Abdullah (Ammar Abdullah/Reuters)

Rebels in northern Syria downed an apparent warplane on Tuesday, according to a monitoring group and activists, as a partial truce showed further signs of fraying.

The aircraft caught fire and crashed near the city of Aleppo, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group. The origin and make of the plane were not clear, although jets from Syrias government and Russia are suspected of carrying out bombing raids in the area.

A video posted on Facebook purported to show the wreckage and an angry mob surrounding the pilot, who apparently survived. The videos authenticity could not be independently verified.

In November, Turkey shot down a Russian warplane over Syria, an incident that dramatically escalated tensions in what has become a volatile proxy conflict for world powers  with the West and allies backing rebels, while Russia and Iran support the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

[How Russian special forces are shaping the fight in Syria]

Civilians carry a piece of a warplane brought down in the Talat al-Iss area, south of Aleppo, Syria April 5, 2016. REUTERS/Ammar Abdullah (Ammar Abdullah/Reuters)

In recent days, rebel forces have fought intense battles alongside militants from al-Qaedas affiliate in Syria, Jabhat al-Nusra, near Aleppo and in a northwestern province that borders Turkey.

The opposition groups have attempted to seize a number of villages from forces aligned with Assads government, which in turn has been accused of numerous violations of the nationwide cease-fire that took hold Feb. 27.

Our attacks are a response to ongoing regime violations of the truce, said Ahmed Haj Ali, a spokesman for the 1st Coastal Division, a rebel outfit affiliated with the umbrella Free Syrian Army.

The worsening violence could threaten the momentum of talks in Geneva that resumed last month as part of a renewed international effort, led by Russia and the United States, to end Syrias devastating civil war.

The first round of those negotiations ended last month on a relatively positive note. Staffan de Mistura, the U.N. envoy to Syria and mediator for the talks, plans to reconvene with government and opposition delegations in the Swiss city this month.

We are all surprised at how long this cessation of hostilities has lasted, but it still contains profound flaws and ambiguities, said Emile Hokayem, a Middle East analyst at the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies.

But the fighting has not stopped.

The cease-fire, which serves as basis for the talks, has received firm backing from both Russia and the United States even as the powers support opposing sides in the conflict. But while violence has been reduced, a task force to monitor violations, jointly chaired by Moscow and Washington, lacks an enforcement mechanism, Hokayem said.

[U.S., Russia back cease-fire in Syria]

Warring parties have repeatedly flagged alleged violations, which still are committed daily, especially by government forces, analysts and Syrian rebels say.

Over the weekend, an apparent Syrian government warplane bombed a hospital in Azaz, a rebel-held town near the Turkish border.

Last week, government aircraft bombarded a rebel-held suburb of the capital, Damascus, killing more than 30 people, according to monitoring groups and activists.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 12 children and one emergency responder were among those killed in the attack on the Eastern Ghouta town of Deir al-Asafir.

That incident drew strong rebukes from Western powers, particularly from French Foreign Ministry spokesman Romain Nadal.

This attack, which deliberately targeted civilians, including children, shows that the regime is continuing its abuses and violating the truce, said Nadal, who condemned the Syrian government.

It is unclear how these apparent violations are being dealt with.

Meanwhile, Jabhat al-Nusra appears to be acting as a spoiler. The al-Qaeda affiliate, along with the Islamic State militant group, is not a party to the partial cease-fire and has come under attack by government warplanes.

[Islamic State fighters retreat on multiple fronts]

In turn, Jabhat al-Nusra fighters on Saturday carried out attacks in an area south of Aleppo in an apparent bid to seize territory.

Even though they support the cease-fire, rebels aligned with the Western-backed Free Syrian Army joined the al-Qaeda-linked militants in the attacks near Aleppo and in the northwestern Latakia province. The attacks in along the border areas in Latakia targeted at least four villages seized recently by pro-government forces with the help of air raids by Russia.

FSA-aligned groups have not publicized involvement in those attacks, suggesting to some analysts that they are participating in them to restrain Jabhat al-Nusra. The rebels do not want the al-Qaeda-linked group to seize territory at their expense.

Zakaria Zakaria in Istanbul contributed reporting

Read more:

Today's coverage from Post correspondents around the world
A Saudi military officer was killed by gunfire Tuesday in an attack claimed by an Islamic State faction previously linked to bombings against mosques and other sites in the Western-allied kingdom.

The assertion by the group could not be independently verified. But it suggests a widening of its targets in Saudi Arabia to strike directly at military and security forces, which are aided by the United States and other Western allies.

[Saudis ideological shadow among European militants]

A statement by the Saudi Interior Ministry said Col. Kitab Majid al-Hammadi was gunned down in al-Dawadmi, a hilltop town about 125 miles west of the capital, Riyadh. The statement, carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency, said the attackers identity was not known.

The Islamic State group, known as Najd Province, claimed its fighters killed Hammadi and identified him as a member of the Interior Ministrys general investigation unit, according to a statement posted by the Amaq News Agency, a website believed to be closely tied to the Islamic State.

Last year, the Islamic State group emerged in Saudi Arabia by claiming responsibility for a blast at a mosque used by the kingdoms Shiite minority, killing more than 20 people. It later claimed it carried out further attacks on Saudi Shiites and was behind a June bombing at a Shiite mosque in Kuwait that left at least 27 people dead.

Saudi forces have stepped up raids and other security measures amid worries of expanding recruitment by the Islamic State faction, including attackers in February who kidnapped and killed a family member who served on a counterterrorism unit.

Read more:

Today's coverage from Post correspondents around the world
Keith Gartenlaub peers through blinds in the living room of his home in Southern California on March 23. An espionage investigation led to Gartenlaub being convicted of the possession of child pornography, which he denies. (Stuart Palley/For The Washington Post)

FBI agents entered Keith Gartenlaubs home in Southern California while he and his wife were visiting her relatives in Shanghai. Agents wearing gloves went through boxes, snapped pictures of documents and made copies of three computer hard drives before leaving as quietly as they had entered.

The bureau suspected that Gartenlaub was a spy for China.

The FBI had obtained a secret search warrant to enter the house, citing national security grounds. The agents were searching for evidence that Gartenlaub, an information technology manager at Boeing, had leaked computer information about the defense contractors C-17 military transport plane to people acting on behalf of China.

But since the search in January 2014, no spy or hacking charges have been brought against him.

Instead, seven months later, he was charged with the possession and receipt of child pornography. He has denied the charges, but a jury convicted him in December.

Keith Gartenlaub points to a photo of himself and his wife at their home in Southern California. (Stuart Palley/For The Washington Post)

[Terrorism suspect challenges warrantless surveillance]

Gartenlaubs case highlights how exceptional powers given to the government in recent years to gather information about suspected terrorist or espionage threats without some of the traditional safeguards for a defendants rights are now leading to charges in more routine criminal cases.

Over the past 15 years or so, the wall between U.S. intelligence officials and criminal prosecutors has fallen, making it easier for them to share information, especially to fight terrorism. And under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), defendants are generally unable to effectively challenge the warrants that authorized the search or surveillance because they are not permitted to see them or the underlying application on national security grounds.

Gartenlaubs attorneys are troubled that what began as an espionage case  one that resulted two weeks ago in a guilty plea by a Chinese businessman with no connection to their client  morphed into a child pornography prosecution.

In Gartenlaubs case, the government made sealed filings, so neither the defense nor the public was able to see them. Based on the secret filings, the judge held that the government had shown probable cause that the house to be searched belonged to an agent of a foreign power or a spy.

There has, over the last decade-plus, been an erosion of the formerly bright line between foreign intelligence surveillance and investigation for criminal prosecution, said Jennifer Daskal, a former official in the Justice Departments national security division who teaches law at American University.

In criminal cases, by contrast, a defendant and his attorneys are generally entitled to see an affidavit for a warrant and challenge the grounds for its issuance before a judge. Gartenlaub wants to see the warrant in his case so he can challenge it as based on false information and therefore invalid.

Keith Gartenlaub adjusts blinds to maintain privacy inside his home. (Stuart Palley/For The Washington Post)

[Federal appeals court overturns first-ever surveillance disclosure order in terrorism case]

The government is increasingly using national security tools to investigate domestic criminal cases, bypassing key constitutional protections, said Patrick Toomey, a staff lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union. This problem is only compounded in the digital age, where the FBI is collecting vast amounts of our data for intelligence purposes but then goes sifting through all that information in unrelated criminal investigations.

In a case in Philadelphia last year, for instance, the government used a FISA order to obtain evidence on a Temple University professor who they apparently suspected was sharing technology with China, but they indicted him on garden-variety wire fraud charges before eventually dropping the case. In an Iowa case, the government used a FISA order to gather information about a Chinese businessman suspected of stealing patented corn seeds from farm fields. In 2013, he was indicted on charges of theft of trade secrets. He pleaded guilty this year to one count of conspiracy to steal trade secrets.

Federal prosecutors in Gartenlaubs case insist that they followed the law.

The issue of the FISA warrant was the subject of an extensive pretrial briefing and an order from the judge finding that the orders were lawfully issued and did not violate the defendants due process rights, said Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. attorneys office in Los Angeles.

The judge specifically found that the pornography material obtained pursuant to FISA was lawfully acquired and did not violate the defendants Fourth Amendment rights, he said. The court also found that there is no indication of any false statements having been included in the FISA materials.

Mrozek said the fact that the child pornography case began as a national security investigation does not lessen its severity.

When law enforcement lawfully obtains evidence of a serious crime, in this case a crime against children, we will pursue further investigation of that crime, he said.

Justice Department officials added that Congress has always intended that information obtained through intelligence authorities could be used in criminal prosecutions. It would be irresponsible for the government to ignore evidence of criminal wrongdoing when such evidence is lawfully collected, said Justice Department spokesman Marc Raimondi.

In Gartenlaubs case, the defense unsuccessfully argued that he could not be linked to identical copies of child pornography videos found on four hard drives in his house. Two of the hard drives had been in a computer that was kept at a beach house where numerous people had access to it, Gartenlaub said.

They claim Im a spy and a pervert, and Im neither one, Gartenlaub said in an interview from his home in Riverside County, a house he may not leave without permission while awaiting sentencing.

Jeff Fischbach, a forensic technologist for the defense, said there is no evidence that the child pornography was ever seen by anyone who used the computer, much less Gartenlaub.

The governments own forensic expert, Bruce W. Pixley, said he could not find any evidence of the material being downloaded onto any of the computers, the defense noted. That means it had to have been copied onto the computer  but by whom is unknown.

Prosecutors are seeking a 10-year prison term for Gartenlaub, who has asked Judge Christina A. Snyder of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California to overturn the verdict or order a new trial. A hearing is scheduled for this month.

Gartenlaub, 47, was fired in August 2014 and has been unemployed since. His attorney said his defense was hampered by an inability to obtain basic information about how the evidence was obtained and on what specific grounds the warrant was issued.

Weve always cherished the right to confront and cross-examine our accusers and examine the evidence thats used as the basis for a search of our homes, said Mark J. Werksman, Gartenlaubs attorney. And to be told, We went in. We had good reasons. Were not going to tell you why. Trust us, is alarming. Especially when the case becomes a run-of-the-mill criminal case.

In February 2013, the FBI emailed Gartenlaub that it was investigating a data breach and wanted to talk to him. Over two days at Boeings facility in Long Beach, Calif., and a third day at its Huntington Beach facility, agents interviewed Gartenlaub about the C-17 program; his team of engineers was also questioned. Two agents showed him a copy of an intercepted email. The communication described information on the C-17 that was apparently being sought by the Chinese.

Gartenlaub told them that he had no idea who wrote it or why.

The next time he heard about the C-17 was more than a year later, in June 2014, when he saw the news about the arrest of the Chinese businessman, Su Bin. When he reviewed Sus arrest warrant, he realized that the email excerpt he had been shown 16 months earlier had been sent by Su.

Still, Gartenlaub had no sense that he was a target. Why would I think I would be under suspicion? he said.

The only thing he could think was that his wife, who was born in China and became a U.S. citizen and was a member of an Orange County Chinese business association, somehow made the FBI suspicious.

In an affidavit for a warrant for the couples emails, separate from the national security warrant, agent Wesley Harris stated that Gartenlaub was the nationwide Unix military administrator for Boeing, suggesting that that position would allow him to log into C-17 data, Gartenlaub said.

According to two Boeing colleagues, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media, there is no such job at the company. And Gartenlaub was, in any case, an IT manager. Moreover, they said, the breached files were accessible through servers in the field, such as at Air Force bases. These were not servers that Gartenlaub or his team of engineers who supported the planes designers had access to, they said.

Then on a Monday in late August, two FBI agents came to speak to Gartenlaub at the Huntington Beach facility. They showed him pictures of himself and his wife with some of her acquaintances whom Gartenlaub couldnt remember.

Two days later, the agents returned. This time they handcuffed him.

During his initial appearance in a federal courthouse in Santa Ana, Calif., the prosecutors indicated a willingness to reduce or drop the child pornography charges if he would tell them about the C-17, said Sara Naheedy, Gartenlaubs attorney at the time.

They said what they really wanted was information about the C-17 Chinese hacking situation, Naheedy recalled.

All along, Werksman said, the government suspected Gartenlaub was working with Su. They triangulated Keith as the guy at Boeing who would have been Su Bins inside source, he said.

That suspicion is ridiculous, Gartenlaub said.

Ive been a good Boeing employee for years. Just because I married somebody from China doesnt mean Im going to betray my country, he said. If they think Im a spy, then charge me with it.

Read more:

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President Obama and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg struck back Monday at Donald Trumps charge that the security alliance is obsolete, too expensive and relatively useless in dealing with todays terrorism threats.

Obama said after an Oval Office meeting with Stoltenberg that, because of NATOs strength and partnership, Im confident that, despite these choppy waters, we will be able to underscore and underwrite the peace and security and prosperity that has been the hallmark of the transatlantic relationship for so many decades.

Stoltenberg, who has pressed hard to ensure that European partners spend more on defense, agreed that Europe needed to invest more in our security when tensions increase. But, he said in an interview, it is already doing so.

Ive been in NATO for 18 months, and Im impressed at how much NATO allies have been able to deliver in terms of increased resources, increased presence and starting on the process of increased defense spending.

[Trump says he would alter the U.S. role in NATO in his first 100 days]

Without specifically mentioning Trump, Stoltenberg vigorously insisted that counterterrorism cooperation was the basis of NATOs participation in the war in Afghanistan, which he noted was its biggest-ever military operation, launched in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks against the United States.

A third of all international forces in Afghanistan came from Europe and Canada, Stoltenberg said, and more than a thousand have lost their lives.

In statements over the past week, Trump has described NATO as based on a defunct Cold War and as an unfair drain on the U.S. economy.

Its possible that were going to have to let NATO go, Trump said in a speech in Wisconsin on Sunday.

[Trump defends his NATO comments]

While his suggestions that the United States exit NATO, kick some others out or renegotiate the terms of membership are far outside the Republican or Democratic mainstream, they follow years of U.S. criticism that Europe has not paid its fair share of the partnership. Although members pledge to spend at least 2 percent of their gross domestic products on defense, only five currently do.

According to NATO figures, the United States, with global responsibilities and reach beyond the alliance, last year spent 3.62 percent of its GDP on defense. Estonia, Greece, Poland and Britain each spent slightly more than 2 percent. Stoltenberg acknowledged that the picture is mixed but said it is better than it was a year ago. Since NATOs last summit, in 2014, he said, 16 of the alliances 28 members have increased defense spending in real terms.

Much of his conversation with Obama, Stoltenberg said, focused on increasing NATOs role in the fight against the Islamic State. The current U.S.-led coalition of more than 60 countries is only loosely coordinated on issues other than airstrikes in Iraq and Syria.

NATO, he said, could use its existing structures to take over the organization of training for Iraqi and other forces, political consultation, and force generation. NATO last week began training Iraqi officers in Jordan and has training programs in a number of other countries, including Afghanistan.

Im in favor of scaling that up, Stoltenberg said.

Both the United States and Europe, he said, have contributed to a major increase in force and readiness to combat Russian aggression in Eastern Europe.

During Obamas administration, Stoltenberg said, he and the United States have delivered strong leadership and commitment to NATO. Asked what he thought might happen during the next U.S. administration, he said, I am by nature an optimist.

As long as we stand together, as long as we are able to adapt, we will be able to answer and to face new threats.

Read more:
Stuart Delery looks on as then-Attorney General Eric Holder takes questions during a news conference last year. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

The third-highest-ranking official at the Justice Department is stepping down.

Acting associate attorney general Stuart Delery  who oversees a broad swath of operations in the department, including all civil lawsuits, civil rights cases and antitrust matters  said in an interview that he will vacate his post April 14 and return to the private sector. He gave no specific reason, other than that he wants to spend more time with his sons, ages 11 and 15.

It seems like, all things considered, a good time for this, Delery said. Ive had a great experience here.

[Supreme Court strikes down key part of Defense of Marriage Act]

In a statement, Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch said that Delery has been an indispensable source of wisdom, leadership, and inspiration at the Department of Justice, working relentlessly to make the ideals of equal opportunity and equal justice a reality for all.

We can all take pride in the many ways he has helped to make this country more fair, more equal, and more just, Lynch said.

A source familiar with the selection process said Lynch is expected to elevate Assistant Attorney General William J. Baer, who heads the antitrust division, to take Delerys place.

Delery, 47, who lives in the District, joined the Justice Department in 2009 from the WilmerHale law firm and headed the civil division before his appointment as acting associate attorney general in September 2014. He is the highest-ranking openly gay person to serve in the Justice Department and has made a point to thank his husband and children in public remarks.

They have sacrificed a lot for much longer than they expected, he said.

During his time at Justice, Delery personally defended the departments positions on Obamacare, the Defense of Marriage Act and the National Security Agencys bulk collection of Americans phone records. He spearheaded an initiative designed to protect service members rights, and he was involved in implementing revamped federal policies for same-sex couples.

That was certainly a highlight of my time here, he said.

Though he was confirmed previously by the Senate as the head of the departments civil division, Delery will leave office without ever having received the same affirmation as associate attorney general. Senators held a hearing on his confirmation in November but never voted.

At the hearing, Delery was grilled by Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.), a Republican presidential candidate, about a Justice Department initiative known as Operation Chokepoint, which was meant to ferret out fraud but which Republicans alleged unfairly affected industries disfavored by the administration, including firearms sellers. An investigation of the operation by the departments office of professional responsibility found no misconduct.

Delery said that though he was never confirmed, he felt privileged to have had the opportunity to do this job. He said he was not sure yet where in the private sector he would work next.

Read more:

Obama to nominate ACLU lawyer to lead Justice Departments civil rights division

Senate confirms highest-ranking openly gay judge in the U.S.
A picture leased by the French police shows Salah Abdeslam, a suspect in the November terrorist attacks in Paris. (Handout/Reuters)

The State Department on Tuesday designated Salah Abdeslam, a suspect in the November attacks in Paris, a global terrorist, imposing sanctions on him and prohibiting Americans from dealing with him.

Abdeslam was called an operative for the Islamic State. The French citizen, who was born in Belgium, has been charged with terrorist murder for his role in the Nov. 13 terrorist attacks in Paris that killed 130 people, among them an American college student, and injured more than 350 others.

Abdeslam was captured in mid-March in Brussels and is awaiting extradition from Belgium to France.

By naming him as a specially designated global terrorist, the government can block Abdeslams access to any assets under U.S. jurisdiction.

Read more:

Capture of Paris terror suspect in Brussels unfolded over several watchful days

Paris terror suspect was planning new attacks, Belgian official says

Whats not part of the Salah Abdeslam story? Anything to do with the plight of refugees.
Electrical Trades Union (ETU) and Professionals Australia (PA) members at Essential Energy, the state-owned New South Wales (NSW) electricity distribution company, have voted overwhelmingly to take industrial action this month in protest against management attacks on jobs and conditions. The current enterprise agreement expired last June.

The ballot was held as the company applied last month to the Fair Work Commission (FWC)the federal industrial tribunalfor the termination of existing work agreements covering thousands of its employees. A full bench of the FWC will start hearing the case on June 14.

In the ballot, 94.8 percent of Essential Energy employees voted to strike for up to 72 hours. Over 96 percent of workers endorsed a range of industrial bans, including limitations on overtime, training, processing paperwork and use of a range of work essential technologies.

United Services Union (USU) members also voted for industrial action but the number involved was below the legally-required 50 percent participation rate. According to the USU, many of those eligible to vote did not receive a postal ballot. The union plans to apply for another ballot.

In line with the NSW Liberal governments drive to slash costs across the states electricity distribution companies, Essential Energy wants a two-year wage freeze; the halving of payments to workers called in for emergencies; and the removal of requirements that contractors be paid appropriate wages and conditions. It is also seeking bans on redundant employees applying for other company jobs for two years, apart from casual positions.

In addition, management is demanding the elimination of no-forced redundancy clauses, which would allow the immediate shedding of 800 jobs and unlimited numbers after June 2018. Last year, the company confirmed that it plans to axe nearly 1,400 jobs.

Essential Energy, which services regional and rural areas across NSW, is the only one of the three remaining state-owned electricity network companies that will, for now, remain in government hands.

Last July, the Baird government pushed enabling legislation through the NSW parliament to privatise Ausgrid and Endeavour Energy, which service major urban centres, and the high-voltage network company Transgrid. The government aims to raise $30 billion.

Transgrid was sold last November for $10.2 billion but $3 billion of this was used to pay down the companys debt. Ausgrid and Endeavour are on track to be sold sometime later this year. There are only two bidders for Ausgrid, however, with predictions that it will not achieve its estimated sale price of $10 billion plus.

In its statement to the FWC, Essential Energy declared that ending previous agreements and removing all restraints, restrictions and inefficiencies were necessary to reduce operating costs. This, the company claimed, would make the company more efficient and contribute to sustainable long-term employment.

The vote by power workers for industrial action indicates their determination to defend jobs, wages and conditions. However, the unions, which have no fundamental differences with Essential Energy, have no intention of fighting the company attacks.

Essential Energys cynical claim that job cuts will contribute to sustainable long-term employment is the same argument that the unions have repeatedly used to justify their complicity in imposing the costing cutting demands of government and big business.

Over the past decade, the power unions have systematically worked to contain and divert all opposition by workers to the privatisation of electricity assets and the axing of hundreds of jobs. While organising harmless protests to let off steam, they have sat down with management to negotiate the destruction of thousands of jobs through voluntary redundancies.

Last November Endeavour told the ETU and USU that another 255 jobs would be slashed by the end of year on top of the 115 jobs that had been already shed via voluntarily redundancies. In response, the unions merely expressed concern that alternative options to maintain employment had not been explored. The cuts represent nearly a fifth of the companys workforce.

In the months leading up to the Essential Energy ballot, the unions insisted that the NSW government could be forced to change course if power workers appealed to rural and regional-based government MPsthat is, to those very forces involved in perpetrating the assault.

In a March 8 media release, ETU assistant secretary Neville Betts called for regional MPs to urgently speak up in defence of local workers who are being stood-over and intimidated by management.

Last year the unions issued the same appeals to crossbench MPs in the state parliaments upper house, calling on them to block legislation enabling the privatisation of the distribution companies. After obtaining worthless job security assurances, the crossbench MPs dropped all pretence of opposition and voted for the sell-off.

During last years state elections, the unions told power workers to put their faith in the Labor Partys bogus claim to oppose privatisation and job destruction in the state sector.

Two months after losing the election, NSW Labor leader Luke Foley endorsed the job cuts flagged by Networks NSW, which oversees the distribution companies. He declared his support for the distribution companies and for privatisation, declaring private and not-for-profit sectors should play a significant role in the delivery of our public services.

The prime concern of the power unions is that Essential Energys moves to tear up previous enterprise agreements will undermine company-union collaboration in the job destruction already underway at Ausgrid and Endeavour Energy.

By last September Ausgrid had already slashed 500 jobs across the extended Sydney metropolitan area, the Central Coast and Hunter Valley regions with another 500 positions slated for destruction.

If Essential Energy workers to want fight to defend jobs and conditions they have to make a break with the unions and their big-business program.

Rank-and-file committees should be established, independent of the unions, and a turn made to workers throughout the power industry and other sections of the working classin steel, mining, the car industry and across manufacturingall facing similar attacks.

What is required is a new political perspective based on the fight for a workers government and socialist policies that places vital industries and utilities in public ownership and under the democratic control of the working class.

This is the program of the Socialist Equality Party and we urge all power workers to make contact, provide information of developments in your area, and open a discussion on the SEPs perspective.
In a move that is sure to draw ire on the presidential campaign trail, Ford confirmed that it will be opening a new assembly plant in Mexico.

In a move that Donald Trump called an "absolute disgrace," Ford (F) on Tuesday announced that it will be adding a new assembly plant in Mexico.



The Detroit automaker said it will invest $1.6 billion into the facility and create 2,800 jobs by 2020, with construction expected to begin this summer.

Ford's expansion in Mexico has been expected for months, causing Republican presidential nominee Trump to repeatedly hammer the automaker.



"This transaction is an absolute disgrace. Our dishonest politicians and the special interests that control them are laughing in the face of all American citizens," Trump said in a statement.

"When I am president, we will strongly enforce trade rules against unfair foreign subsidies, and impose countervailing duties to prevent egregious instances of outsourcing."



Trump went on to call for renegotiating NAFTA "to create a fair deal for American workers."

Joe Hinrichs, president of Ford of the Americas, told CNBC that the new plant does not mean Ford is moving jobs out of the U.S.



"We're proud to be an American company," he told CNBC. "We've invested $10.2 billion here in the U.S. over the last five years and that commitment won't change even as we expand around the world."

The Mexican plant, in San Luis Potosi state, will build small cars that will be exported for sale in the U.S. and other countries, though the automaker has not decided which vehicles will be built there.



The company already has two final assembly plants and one engine plant in Mexico. It has a total of 8,800 employees there, compared with 85,000 in the U.S.

In response to Tuesday's announcement, Dennis Williams, president of the United Auto Workers, said, "Today's announcement that Ford is investing in Mexico is a disappointment and very troubling. For every investment in Mexico it means jobs that could have and should have been available right here in the USA."



Story continues

The Ford announcement comes the same day as the primary in Wisconsin, a blue-collar state that has lost manufacturing jobs  including many in the auto industry.



Overall, 36 percent of Ford's production is in the United States and just 6 percent is in Mexico, according to IHS Automotive.

Questions? Comments? BehindTheWheel@cnbc.com .



 CNBC's Krysia Lenzo contributed to this report.


Oxygen

A Tampa-area family's long wait for answers about the disappearance of their husband and father has come to an end. The Tallahassee Police Department announced this week that skeletal remains had been found in a wooded area off Apalachee Parkway, a commercial road dotted with strip malls and hotels on the east side of the city. Shortly thereafter, they announced that, with information received from the local medical examiner's office, they had identified the deceased as Jason Winoker, 52, of Lan
In his new book "Abandoned in Place," photographer Roland Miller takes readers on a visually stunning, emotionally charged tour of various abandoned facilities connected to NASA's space program, including now-unused launchpads and retired science facilities. Miller's images highlight the age and decay of these locations, but also forge a connection to their past lives.

Miller spoke with Space.com about how he first began photographing these sites more than 30 years ago, and what he hoped to convey with his particular approach to this visual documentation. In addition to the photographs, the book includes essays by Miller, and people connected to the various sites.

"I always joke with people that [if it weren't] for the fact that I wear glasses and about 40 or 50 IQ points, I'm sure I could have been an astronaut," Miller told me when I asked him about his connection to NASA and space exploration. [Stunning, Tragic Images of Abandoned Space History (Photos)]

Now a dean in the Communication Arts, Humanities and Fine Arts Division at the College of Lake County in Illinois, Miller taught photography for 22 years. He insists that photographing abandoned sites is a "side project" and a "hobby," and that he is neither a historian nor the kind of space enthusiast who can "name every astronaut who ever flew."

But Miller is a child of the Apollo era, and like many people his age, he has a deep sentiment for human spaceflight. And also like many others, he mourns the loss of the way NASA pushed boundaries when he was young. (You can read more about his thoughts on this in the op-ed he wrote for Space.com).

"Growing up in the 1960s  it was just such a fascinating time and such a unique experience," Miller said. "In the mid- and late '60s, there were a lot of awful things going on. Vietnam was in full swing. The civil rights movement was well on its way to making the changes it finally has made, but you know there was quite a bit of struggle that had to go on. The assassinations of Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King in 1968. The riots in Chicago in 1968. There was a lot of tension in America at that time, and the space program was a shining example of what we could do if we really set our hearts and our minds to a gargantuan task. And I think, as we move farther from that, that accomplishment is only going to seem more and more impressive."

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Miller moved to Florida in 1984, and shortly after arriving, he was asked to come out to NASA's Kennedy Space Center to help dispose of some old photo-developing chemicals. His guide at the facility offered to take him over to Launch Complex 19, the site of the Gemini crewed-vehicle launches in the 1960s. The complex was no longer in use, and stenciled on a concrete pillar was the phrase "Abandon in Place," which indicates that a site is no longer expected to be up to code. Miller was fascinated by what he saw. Around 1990, he approached NASA about a larger project to photograph more of the agency's abandoned launch sites and facilities.

"I'm a photographer  I like to make photographs, so [early on], it was really about making the photographs, and I hope I exhibit that," Miller said. "And then, I fairly quickly started to realize that this was a fairly unique opportunity I had. And, in part, I felt I had a great responsibility, because I don't think anyone has photographed at Cape Canaveral as much as I have.

"And it was obvious from the start that NASA wasn't going to be able to preserve these sites, because they're right on the ocean, and the salt water environment [causes things to] rust away," Miller continued. "It's a constant battle to keep that steel from rusting. So it was pretty obvious these were not going to be sites that could be preserved long-term. So I thought that photography was one way to preserve them and show the evolution of how time affected them."

The chapters of the book are divided by era or program, starting with facilities that hosted the early rocket tests, such as the Navaho Launch Complex 9 at Cape Canaveral. Miller's photos of Complex 9 show vines swallowing up stairways; the weathered paint on a group of electrical panels that has peeled away into a colorful abstract pattern; and massive metal bolts on which lives might have once depended, which are now rusted a deep red.

"[This work] does show the temporal nature of life," Miller said. "It does show the aging. It does show how something that was once the focus of the world's attention can, only a few years later, become completely obscure and out of touch with what's going on contemporarily."

Some of Miller's photographs impart a certain sadness  the locations from which humanity first escaped the clutches of gravity look like ancient ruins. But for the most part, Miller avoids that sadness. Instead, he photographs the structures with great dignity, capturing their awesomeness, even if it lies under a layer of rust and decay. Miller doesn't forget that these structures and facilities are still examples of great engineering and construction.

"There are visual references to other archaeological sites, like the great pyramids," Miller said. "I see things that remind me of Mayan ruins, of Greek ruins, of Anasazi Native American ruins in the southwestern United States. There are so many visual references to those types of sites that, once I started seeing [them], I was trying to connect that."

"Because [the sites in the book] really have become archaeological sites in many ways, and I think, just at a base level, I was just trying to preserve them in this state of their existence," he added. "There are obviously thousands of photographs of these facilities while they were active. I wanted to show how they've evolved and what had happened, and I do think there is that sense of loss."

Many of Miller's images try to convey the massive scale of these former launch sites and facilities, and those images cannot help but simultaneously illustrate the desertion that surrounds these locations. There are no cars, no lights on; and weeds poke through the cracked pavement. But more of the images in the book focus on smaller details. They closely examine the decay that is taking place, and frequently capture the unintentional beauty that has arisen from that decay.

One photograph zooms in on a "plug board" (it looks sort of like an old telephone switchboard, with wires connecting different peg holes in some indecipherable pattern) from the Redstone Launch Complex 26 Blockhouse. It's framed so that nothing else around it can be seen, and it's easy to imagine the people who focused so intently on it, and arranged those wires in just the right way. It looks frozen, rather than abandoned, like someone's hand might move into view at any moment and move one of the cables.

"I took what I refer to as a dual approach to the subject matter because, at some level, it has to be documentary in nature," Miller said. "There are a lot of overall shots where you see the whole pad or good portion of the structure, but I also wanted to photograph the nuances, the smaller details, the more abstract things, if you will  things you wouldn't necessarily notice.

"I think, when people think of a launchpad; they think of the whole thing," he said. "They think of the tower and the mobile service tower, but they don't really think about the details. So, to tell a fuller story, I made a very concerted effort to [do that]. Plus, there are so many visually interesting things going on when you get down to that detail level. It's actually one of the unusual things about the project  People tend to do one or the other, not both. And I took some grief at the beginning of the project for doing that, and I'm glad I stuck with it because I think it's one of the more important aspects of it."

Paired with the photographs are essays by Miller, as well as a handful of essays written by people with very different connections to the space program.

"I approached quite a number of people I knew in the space industry  and I guess it was one of the happy accidents, because these were the folks that responded and said, 'Yeah, I'd like to do that,'" Miller said.

"I think it actually fit very well with the flow of the book to have an art historian write the introduction and kind of describe the history of space and art," Miller said, referring to Betsy Fahlman, a professor of art history at Arizona State University. Craig Covault, an aerospace journalist who has "covered every U.S. space launch since Apollo," according to a statement from the book's publisher, wrote an essay about Launch Complexes 40 and 41, two locations that had great significance in the early days of human spaceflight and that have been repurposed for new phases of human spaceflight.

Col. Pamela Melroy, a former NASA astronaut and space shuttle commander, penned an essay about Launch Complex 34 for the book. In the essay, she touches on one of the great tragedies of NASA's human spaceflight program: It was on that launchpad that the Apollo 1 capsule caught fire during a test exercise, killing all three men inside. Melroy mentions in the essay her work on the Columbia reconstruction team  the group tasked with sifting through the wreckage of the shuttle that was destroyed on its way back to Earth.

"[Complex 34] became a touchstone for her during that very, very difficult work," Miller said. "She came up with a beautiful essay regarding how that site affected her. And I think [her essay] is a tribute to all the fallen astronauts."

The book's title, "Abandoned in Place," is one that resonates with people who visit these old sites. Ray Bradbury wrote a poem about this phrase, and Miller chose to place it at the very beginning of the book. In the poem's final lines, Bradbury urged, "Old ghosts of rocketmen, arise. Fling up your ships, your souls, your flesh, your blood/Your blinding dreams/To fill, refill, and fill again/Tomorrow and tomorrow wand tomorrow's/Promised and re-promised/Skies."

The book is available for purchase through the University of New Mexico Press, and Amazon.com.

Follow Calla Cofield @callacofield. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.

Editor's Recommendations

Copyright 2016 SPACE.com, a Purch company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Cape Town (AFP) - South African President Jacob Zuma easily survived an impeachment vote Tuesday after a stormy session of parliament over a court ruling that he had violated the country's post-apartheid constitution.

Lawmakers from Zuma's African National Congress (ANC) rallied to his defence, defeating the motion by 233 votes to 143 despite growing pressure for him to resign over the scandal.

During the debate, Zuma was likened by the leader of the main opposition party to a "large and malignant tumour" on the ANC, which came to power in 1994 with the election of Nelson Mandela and the end of white-minority rule.

"When the highest court in the land ruled that the man occupying the highest office violated the constitution, it should have been the end of President Zuma," Mmusi Maimane, leader of the Democratic Alliance, told the assembly.

"Corruption has infected the entire party like a cancer."

Acknowledging that the ANC would use its overwhelming majority to defeat the impeachment motion, Maimane said that "when ANC MPs defend President Zuma and his corrupt acts, they will show that they are complicit in the spread of the disease".

He vowed the ANC, which convincingly won the 2014 general elections, would pay the price when voters return to the polls.

The Constitutional Court last week issued a damaging ruling against Zuma over spending of public funds on his private residence.

As lawmakers on both sides shouted insults at each other, the firebrand leader of the radical Economic Freedom Fighters, Julius Malema, said that "Zuma and the ANC want to convert South Africa into a banana republic".

Speaking on behalf of the ANC, deputy justice minister John Jeffery said that any impeachment bid required a "serious violation" of the constitution.

While "the Constitutional Court judgement stated that the president failed to uphold, defend and respect the Constitution", it did not find a "serious" contravention, he said.

Story continues

The opening of the debate was suspended for more than an hour after opposition parties called on Speaker Baleke Mbete -- who is chairwoman of the ruling party -- to recuse herself. She refused.

- Critics speak out -

Zuma was not seriously threatened by the vote, which requires a two-thirds majority to succeed.

But he has been wounded by a series of scandals and has endured a torrent of criticism that could see him fail to serve out the last three years of his final term.

He has been urged to resign by a number of senior ANC veterans who led the struggle against apartheid.

The country's top court ruled last Thursday that Zuma had flouted the constitution by failing to repay some of the money spent on "security upgrades" at his rural home at Nkandla in the eastern province of KwaZulu-Natal.

The project, which cost taxpayers $24 million, included a swimming pool, chicken run, cattle enclosure and an amphitheatre.

A 2014 report by the government-appointed Public Protector, Thuli Madonsela, found that Zuma and his family had "unduly benefited" from the upgrades and ordered him to pay back some of the money, but Zuma stalled for two years.

After the court ruling, Zuma apologised in a national television address on Friday for the "frustration and confusion" caused by the affair, but made it clear that he had no intention of responding to calls to resign.

He said he would pay back some of the money as ordered.

Zuma was not in parliament for the impeachment debate, avoiding the chaotic scenes that have regularly erupted when he is present.

Previous disruptions have been sparked by Malema's EFF, which vowed last week that it would in future physically prevent the president from speaking in parliament.

Zuma has also been beset by allegations of corruption centred on a wealthy immigrant family from India that was alleged to have such influence that it could decide ministerial appointments.
Cape Town (AFP) - South African President Jacob Zuma was expected to easily survive an impeachment vote on Tuesday after a stormy session of parliament over a court ruling that he had violated the constitution.

Zuma was likened by the leader of the main opposition party to a "large and malignant tumour" on the African National Congress (ANC) party, which came to power in 1994 with the election of Nelson Mandela.

"When the highest court in the land ruled that the man occupying the highest office violated the constitution, it should have been the end of President Zuma," Mmusi Maimane, leader of the Democratic Alliance, told the assembly.

"Corruption has infected the entire party like a cancer."

Acknowledging that the ANC would use its overwhelming majority to defeat the impeachment motion, Maimane said that "when ANC MPs defend President Zuma and his corrupt acts, they will show that they are complicit in the spread of the disease".

He vowed the ANC, which convincingly won the 2014 general elections, would pay the price when voters return to the polls.

The Constitutional Court last week issued a damaging ruling against Zuma over spending on his private residence, fuelling calls for him to step down.

As lawmakers on both sides shouted insults at each other, the firebrand leader of the radical Economic Freedom Fighters, Julius Malema, said that "Zuma and the ANC want to convert South Africa into a banana republic".

Speaking on behalf of the ANC, deputy justice minister John Jeffery said that any impeachment bid required a "serious violation" of the constitution.

While "the Constitutional Court judgement stated that the president failed to uphold, defend and respect the Constitution", it did not find a "serious" contravention, he said.

The opening of the debate was suspended for more than hour after opposition parties called on Speaker Baleke Mbete -- who is chairwoman of the ruling party -- to recuse herself. She refused.

Story continues

- Pressure to resign -

Zuma was not seriously threatened by the vote, which requires a two-thirds majority to succeed.

But he has been wounded by a series of scandals and is under increasing pressure that could see him fail to serve out the last three years of his final term.

He has been urged to resign by a number of senior ANC veterans who led the struggle against apartheid.

The country's top court ruled last Thursday that Zuma had flouted the constitution by failing to repay some of the money spent on "security upgrades" at his rural home at Nkandla in the eastern province of KwaZulu-Natal.

The project, which cost taxpayers $24 million, included a swimming pool, chicken run, cattle enclosure and an amphitheatre.

A 2014 report by the government-appointed Public Protector, Thuli Madonsela, found that Zuma and his family had "unduly benefited" from the upgrades and ordered him to pay back some of the money, but Zuma stalled for two years.

After the court ruling, Zuma apologised in a national television address on Friday for the "frustration and confusion" caused by the affair, but made it clear that he had no intention of responding to calls to resign.

He said he would pay back some of the money as ordered.

Zuma was not in parliament for the impeachment debate, avoiding the chaotic scenes that have regularly erupted when he is present.

Previous disruptions have been sparked by Malema's EFF, which vowed last week that it would in future physically prevent the president from speaking in parliament.

Zuma has also been beset by allegations of corruption centred on a wealthy immigrant family from India that was alleged to have such influence that it could decide ministerial appointments.
Paris (AFP) - Shares in Air France-KLM went into freefall on Wednesday, a day after the company said Alexandre de Juniac is to resign as chairman and CEO to take charge of aviation industry group IATA.

Juniac helped Europe's second biggest airline group return to profit last year for the first time since 2008, but his four-year spell at the helm was also marked by acrimonious relations with pilots.

On announcing the surprise move, the Franco-Dutch company said it was hoping to appoint De Juniac's replacement from August 1 at the latest.

The company's shares were down 3.2 percent at the close at 7.90 euros on an overall firmer Paris stock exchange.

Air France-KLM paid tribute to De Juniac's role in "achieving the group's economic and financial recovery, enhancing its range of services and winning back customers."

De Juniac took charge at Air France in 2011, becoming chairman of Air France-KLM a year later.

He leaves the company on the track to recovery but still in a fragile position, facing tough competition from Gulf-based competitors for long-haul business and from low-cost rivals for short-haul market share.

The return to profits, announced in February, came after a major restructuring to boost productivity and a 2014 strike by Air France pilots that was one of the longest in the company's history.

The results marked a boost in fortunes for Air France after images of two of its executives, their shirts ripped by staff in an angry protest over redundancies, made world headlines last October.

Management in January unveiled a new 2017-2020 growth plan that will include 1,600 voluntary departures by the end of next year, according to union sources.
Algiers (AFP) - Algeria's army on Monday killed four armed Islamists in El-Oued, the defence ministry said, meaning almost a dozen have been killed in the lawless desert region in the past two weeks.

Four Kalashnikov automatic weapons, grenades and ammunition were also seized during the military-led operation in the Bir El Kasira area, near the Tunisian border, the ministry said on its website.

The deaths bring the number of "terrorists" -- what the government calls Islamists who launched an insurgency in the early 1990s -- killed in the Algerian Sahara region over the past two weeks to 11.

Last year the Algerian army killed or arrested 157 "terrorists," according to figures from the ministry of defence.

A brutal civil war in the 1990s between the government and Islamists claimed the lives of some 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.
Gaza City (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - Archaeologists have called for the preservation of an ancient church unearthed on a Gaza construction site, with different ministries in the Hamas-run Palestinian enclave seemingly at loggerheads over its fate.

The site is believed to be a church or cathedral dating back to at least the 7th century.

The Gaza ministry of antiquities and a number of prominent archaeologists called for all building to be suspended until the relics can be protected and preserved.

The ministry of endowments and Islamic affairs, however, owns the land and wants the commercial development to continue, with bulldozers working on Tuesday despite protests.

Hyam al-Betar, an archaeologist who works with the antiquities ministry, screamed at bulldozers to stop on Tuesday as they roughly moved marble columns from under the sand, breaking one.

Technicians from the ministries of antiquities were hurriedly taking columns, as well as ornate marble bases, to the Qasr al-Basha -- the only museum in Gaza -- to be cleaned and restored before being presented.

Mohammed Al-Zarad, a researcher in archaeology at Gaza's Islamic University, said it was a "very important site which must be protected."

"We found many of the rock layers had fossils in them dating back to the bronze age," he added, with other discoveries including plates and pottery  some of which were perhaps smashed by bulldozers.

Zarad said there were not enough resources to search for relics within Gaza and called on the world heritage body UNESCO to step in and "save the monuments of Gaza from loss."

Jamal Abu Raida, from the ministry of antiquities, said the pieces found include a marble column engraved with leaves, pillars and a foundation stone bearing a Greek Christian symbol.

Gaza, like much of the Palestinian territories and Israel, is filled with antiquities.

The territory has at various times come under the rule of Romans, Byzantines, Crusaders, Mamluks and Ottomans.

Story continues

Betar said it was important to try to find a solution.

"We extend our hand to all to cooperate in research into Gaza and its history because Gaza is one of the oldest cities in the world."

"There are treasures beneath our feet," she added.
HUAMBO (Reuters) - An Angolan court on Tuesday sentenced the leader of a Christian sect and some of his followers to up to 28 years in jail for the killing of nine police officers last year during a police raid on the group. The raids ended with the capture of preacher Jose Kalupeteka, leader of a millenarian sect called "The Light of the World", and his followers a year ago. Thirteen sect members were also killed in clashes, police said. On Tuesday, provincial court judge Afonso Pinto sentenced Kalupeteka and nine sect members to between 16 and 28 years in jail after their trial on charges including murder, attempted murder, resistance to police detention, illegal possession of weapons and damage to property. Defense lawyers later told journalists they would appeal against the sentences at the Supreme Court. Angola launched last year's raids to crack down on fringe Christian church groups deemed illegal under new rules requiring denominations to have 100,000 registered members spread across at least a third of the southern African country's 18 provinces. Kalupeteka's church has an estimated 3,000 members. The Angolan opposition party UNITA has said that more than 1,000 sect members were killed during clashes with police last year. (Reporting by Herculano Coroado; Writing by Stella Mapenzauswa; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
The Tesla Model 3 has been a very hot topic on the Internet for the past week, which also means that it's been a hot topic on Quora. While Tesla has given us a lot of basic details about the Model 3 and while some of the vehicle's hidden features have been uncovered by Internet sleuths, a lot of questions remain about the car, including how well it will stack up against competing cars in two years and whether Tesla actually has the production capacity to meet demand. Based on some of the most popular Model 3-related topics on Quora, we'll post answers to some of the most burning questions you might still have about Tesla's newest car.

RELATED: Tesla fans explain why they shelled out $1,000 to reserve the Model 3

1.) Will a range of 215 miles per charge really be that impressive in a couple of years?

This is really an important question for any prospective Model 3 buyers since no one wants to buy a new electric car only to discover that competing options will deliver much better battery life by the time the car is actually shipped.

Having a range of 215 miles per charge is impressive right now, but what if BMW and other manufacturers are able to build cars with ranges of 300 miles by 2019? That could significantly hurt the Model 3's attractiveness to electric car buyers.

The good news here is that Tesla right now has a giant head start when it comes to charging infrastructure. Tesla has 613 supercharger stations around the world today and it plans to double that number to over 1,200 by the end of next year. If that's not impressive enough, Tesla also plans to quadruple its Destination chargers that are set up at assorted hotels, shopping centers and restaurants by the end of 2017. This means that there will be approximately 15,000 different Destination chargers set up for you to use.

So even if a range of 215 miles doesn't sound that great to you, you should know that Tesla is seriously bumping up its charging infrastructure so you won't have to worry as much about finding a place to add juice to your Model 3's battery.

Story continues

2.) Does Tesla really have the manufacturing capacity to meet the insane demand for the Model 3 right now?

In a word: No.

In fact, Elon Musk basically admitted that Tesla's manufacturing capabilities are going to need a big upgrade if it's going to actually deliver on its promises for Model 3 shipments:

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/715955186175459332

For some perspective, it took Tesla three-and-a-half years to sell 100,000 Model S cars. Its registrations to buy the Model 3 are likely already past 300,000.

So is this a bad thing? Not entirely. As self-described Tesla fan Phillip Remaker writes on Quora, "In the short-term I suspect they will use the excess demand to create a halo effect for the brand." He also says that Tesla "would be much better off in the long term ensuring that the newest cars are extremely high-quality rather than carelessly for filling the demand with subpar vehicles."

Some good things are worth the wait. And if you haven't reserved your Model 3 yet, you could be in for a lot of waiting.

3.) How do tax credits work for the Model 3?

You can get a $7,500 federal tax subsidy for buying the Tesla Model 3, but you're going to have to reserve one relatively soon to take advantage of it... and honestly, it might already be too late. Once Tesla sells over 200,000 vehicles to customers in the United States, this tax credit will drop down to $3,750 for the next six months and then $1,875 for the next six months after that. Quora user Charles Wang notes that Tesla had sold just under 61,000 Model S cars by December 2015 and he estimates that it will cross the 200,000 car threshold in 2018.

This means that if your Model 3 doesn't get delivered until 2018, you may not be eligible for the full tax credit. This is why it made all the sense in the world for the early adopters to stand outside in lines on the first day Tesla started taking reservations for the Model 3 -- they were literally saving themselves thousands of dollars by doing so.

4.) Where is the speedometer located in the Model 3?

One of the things that a lot of drivers will need to get used to about driving the Model 3 is that it won't have a traditional dashboard or any physical instruments. Instead, everything you need to operate and monitor the car will be located on a 15-inch tablet. The speedometer on the tablet is located in the upper-left hand corner so you won't have to look over very far to see how fast you're going. In fact, you'll be able to see your speed right out of the corner of your eye.

tesla model 3 dashboard

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This article was originally published on BGR.com
When it comes to specs for the price, not many phones hold a candle to the recently released iPhone SE. In nearly every category, it's just as powerful as the flagship iPhone 6s, making it a tempting offer for Apple fans who want to upgrade before the fall. But there's at least one area where it doesn't stack up.

DON'T MISS: Video reveals hidden Tesla Model 3 details

In its most recent round of testing, SquareTrade determined that the iPhone SE is less durable than the iPhone 6s and only slightly more durable than the iPhone 6s Plus. You can see some of the tests in this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWRnDVcfA3g

Although the sleek size makes for a more grippable device, the iPhone SE lost to the iPhone 6s in nearly every other category, from a water test to corner drops to bendability. Obviously, if you're looking for a phone that can weather a rugged lifestyle, the iPhone is never going to be your first choice, but the iPhone SE should be even closer to the bottom of your list.

The iPhone 6s proved that thinner and bigger phones arent necessarily less durable than more compact phones like the iPhone SE, said Aileen Abaya, director of communications at SquareTrade. However, its important to remember that no phone is perfect. No matter the size and weight of a phone, accidental drops  especially on a sidewalk  can still cause its demise.

Here's an infographic with even more details:

iPhone SE Breakability Infographic

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This article was originally published on BGR.com


By Alex Bregman

Media mogul and writer Arianna Huffington thinks America is in a sleep crisis. She also thinks Donald Trump is a clear and present danger to the country. Huffington spoke to Yahoo Global News Anchor Katie Couric on Yahoo News Live about both of those topics, as well as her new book, The Sleep Revolution: Transforming Your Life, One Night at a Time.

Huffington told Couric that the sleep crisis stems from how Americans view work and the use of technology. She said, We began to look at sleep as something we have to give up to be productive.  That is a delusion. Weve come to think that we can treat human beings like machines. Exhaustion is a slippery slope, so the effects of it catch up with you.

Many wonder if Huffington would have been as successful if she had not cut back on sleep earlier in her career. How can she tell us to work less and get more sleep? She explained to Couric that its not really about working less.  You know me. Its not like Im slowing down or chilling under a mango tree. I think its [about] working smarter, because our work is not just a function of time we put into it. Its a function of the energy we put into it  creative ideas. So in every respect, I think I wouldve done what Ive done with less damage to my health, my relationships and also [have] more joy.

Finally, Huffington admitted, When Im sleep deprived, I dont like myself. I dont like the person I am.

Turning to politics and the 2016 campaign, Huffington said this is definitely the craziest campaign shes every witnessed in her life.

Huffington also called Trumps previous personal Twitter attacks against her meaningless. Trump attacked Huffington in 2012 after an op-ed on the Huffington Post that called Trump moody. Trump tweeted to Huffington in response that she is unattractive both inside and out. She said she laughed about them and downplayed their significance: Compared to what he has been saying in this campaign, that is really mild.



Huffington said that much of Trumps behavior could be explained by his sleep habits. She told Couric, The symptoms of his behavior are identical to symptoms of sleep deprivation. She continued, He has said he only sleeps about four hours a night, and he sleeps with his phone because he doesnt want to be disconnected with whats happening.

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She also cited an interview that Trump had given on one hour of sleep. The interviewer asked Trump where he gets his energy. Huffington said, The question is not where do you get the energy? Its, what is it like to operate like you are drunk? Because the effect of so little sleep is like operating legally drunk.

On why Trump has resonated so much, she said, He has played to everyones worst fears.



Huffington also had harsh words for the medias coverage of Trump, I think it is going to be a very dark time in American journalism. She continued, Being allowed to phone in, even on the Sunday shows, which no other candidate was ever allowed to phone in to. Most recently, Bob Woodward interviewed him for the Washington Post, a 96-minute interview in which he didnt ask him about the three most dangerous parts of his campaign.

The first, in her view, is his proposed ban on Muslims entering the U.S. She noted, That was not a middle of the night tweet and, as you know, he rarely reads anything. Second, he was not asked about the fact that he is the only candidate that still believes that Obama was not born here; thats the equivalent of not believing that the world is round. He needs to be asked about that every time he is interviewed. Third, He continues to promote violence at his rallies. She concluded, To have somebody as revered a journalist [as] Bob Woodward conduct an interview for an hour and a half and not ask about these questions shows how lamentable is the state of American journalism.



On whether Trump will be the Republican nominee, she said, A lot will depend on what happens in Wisconsin. If Cruz wins Wisconsin, I think its going to be much harder for him to get the required number of delegates at the first ballot.

Huffington did perceive a change in the depth of Trumps media coverage last week, however. Last week there was a shift.  There are more and more journalists asking him tough questions. She complemented Anderson Cooper on his comparison of Trump with a 5-year-old. She said The only problem is hes a 5-year-old maybe with his little hands on the nuclear button.



On the Democratic side, she told Couric, I think [Hillary Clinton] has the math, so right now, as we know this has been the most unpredictable campaign. Right now there is something that is exciting, I know my daughters are incredibly excited about having potentially the first woman president.

On the lack of support among younger women for Clinton, Huffington said, That is very surprising. You would have thought there would be more excitement around that. However, she explained, Young people have been so burdened by college debt  [and] with a sense that the American Dream is not what it was, that they are gravitating to Bernie.


FLORIDA-UNDERWATER ART - Divers hung the final photographs over the weekend for an underwater art exhibition on an artificial reef at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean in the Florida Keys. About a dozen works created by Austrian photographer Andreas Franke, which are encased in Plexiglas with steel frames and sealed with silicone, are displayed on the 534-foot (163 meter) Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg. The former military transport and missile tracking ship was sunk to create an artificial reef. It lies about 7 miles (11 km) south of Key West and is the world's second largest artificial reef. Franke staged a similar exhibition on the reef in 2011.
Athens (AFP) - A last-minute rush of asylum applications hampered operations Tuesday to return migrants from Greece to Turkey under an EU deal, as the UN watchdog voiced concern for 13 individuals sent back the day before.

Yiorgos Kyritsis, the spokesman for the Greek government panel coordinating the migration crisis, said no operations were planned for Tuesday.

They will resume "when there is a sufficient number" of migrants, Kyritsis said, as Turkish officials sketched Wednesday as a resumption date.

The procedure has been slowed "by an increase in asylum requests" in the last few days by migrants on Chios and Lesbos, the Greek Aegean islands in the front line of the migratory wave, Kyritsis said.

Out of around 6,000 migrants who arrived on the islands after a deadline of March 20, more than 2,300 had applied for asylum, he said.

The European Union (EU) signed the controversial deal with Turkey in March, desperate to defuse the continent's worst migration crisis since World War II.

More than a million people arrived in 2015, many of them from war-ravaged Syria.

The accord aims at curbing the main influx which comes from Turkey, especially those smuggled by illegal gangs on the short but perilous crossing over the Aegean.

All "irregular migrants" arriving since March 20 face being sent back, although the deal calls for each case to be examined individually.

On Monday, a first batch of 202 migrants, most of them Afghans and Pakistanis, were sent back from Chios and Lesbos in what the EU's border agency Frontex said was a "very calm... orderly" operation.

But on Tuesday, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR) raised fears for some of those deported.

"We are concerned that 13 people, most of them Afghans, who expressed the wish to request asylum were unable to be registered in time," the UNHCR's representative in Greece, Philippe Leclerc, told AFP.

The UNHCR is checking with the Turkish authorities to see if the 13 request asylum protection, Leclerc said.

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The 13 people, part of a group of 66 sent back from Chios, may have been victims of the "confusion" that reigned in the migrant camp of Vial on Friday after several hundred people bolted following a brawl between rival groups, Leclerc said.

Under the controversial EU plan, for every Syrian refugee returned, another Syrian refugee will be resettled from Turkey to the EU, with numbers capped at 72,000.

The idea is to encourage Syrians seeking to flee to Europe to stay safely in Turkey, with the prospect of asylum, rather than try to make the dangerous sea crossing in the hands of ruthless smugglers.

Under the one-for-one part of the deal, Germany on Monday accepted 32 asylum-seekers from Turkish soil.

Critics of the March 18 deal include Amnesty International, which says Turkey is not a safe country for refugees -- a charge Ankara rejects.
New Line Cinema's latest attempt to bring Phillip Pullman's epic trilogy of novels to the screen has found its writer.

Jack Thorne - who last week earned three BAFTA TV nominations across three separate categories - has been signed up to pen the new adaptation, announced as a BBC commission last year and being produced by New Line Cinema alongside Bad Wolf, the recently launched U.K./U.S. production banner founded by Jane Tranter and Julie Gardner.

"It is such an honor and a privilege to be given this opportunity to delve into Philip Pullman's world," said Thorne, who at just 37 has become one of the hottest writers working on British television. "What I always loved about Bad Wolf's intentions with this project was the notion of sounding every note. The His Dark Materials trilogy are vast and glorious books full of beautiful characters, and I'm going to work as hard as I can to try and do justice to them."

Pullman described Thorne as a "writer of formidable energy and range" and said that he's "greatly enjoyed" learning about his plans to adapt his books.

The new BBC series - which marks New Line Cinema's has first move into U.K. TV - will be executive produced by Pullman, Tranter and Gardner for Bad Wolf, Toby Emmerich and Carolyn Blackwood for New Line Cinema, Bethan Jones for BBC One and Deborah Forte for Scholastic.

Read More: New Line Cinema Makes Foray Into U.K. TV With BBC Drama Based on Philip Pullman's 'His Dark Materials'
DHAKA (Reuters) - A former Bangladeshi prime minister surrendered to a court on Tuesday in connection an arrest warrant over a deadly fire bombing attack on a bus. She was granted bail, a prosecutor said. A court issued a warrant for opposition leader Khaleda Zia on March 30 in connection with the attack on the bus last year as her supporters tried to enforce a transport strike as part of efforts to bring down the government. Khaleda, 70, surrendered before the court under tight security in the capital, Dhaka. "The court granted her bail considering her age and physical condition," public prosecutor Abdullah Abu told reporters. More than 120 people were killed and hundreds injured last year during opposition transport blockades and strikes aimed at toppling the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Two people were killed and 30 injured in the bus attack that Khaleda is wanted for. Khaleda did not speak to reporters at the court. She has not commented publicly on the warrant against her and 27 leaders and activists of her Bangladesh Nationalist Party. The party has dismissed the accusation as politically motivated. Bangladeshi politics has been mired for years in rivalry between Hasina and Khaleda. Both women are related to former national leaders, and they have alternated as prime minister for most of the past two decades. While the women feud, their Muslim-majority country of 160 million, has seen a surge in Islamist violence in which liberal activists, members of minority Muslim sects and other religious groups have been targeted. Hasina has blamed the violence on the BNP and a main ally, the Jamaat-e-Islami, many of whose leaders have been prosecuted for war crimes during a 1971 war of independence. The opposition denies involvement in the Islamist violence. (Reporting by Ruma Paul; Editing by Robert Birsel)
By John Tilak and Matt Scuffham

TORONTO (Reuters) - Bank of Montreal's <BM.TO> top executive played down the impact of the drop in oil prices, saying the lender's consumer loan delinquencies had not risen and that struggling energy companies would restructure rather than fail.

In an interview after the bank's annual meeting on Tuesday, Chief Executive Officer Bill Downe said the impact on BMO's consumer loan book was as expected, with strength in other areas offsetting weakness in oil-rich Alberta.

"We're not seeing increases in delinquencies yet," he said. "There's likely salary continuation among laid-off workers in the oil sector. There are many two-earner families. That sustains people in a downturn."

Alberta consumers represent 6 percent of total loans at BMO, Canada's fourth-largest lender. The oil and gas industry accounts for about 2 percent.

Like other Canadian banks, Bank of Montreal reported that bad loans in the energy sector had shot up in the first quarter, reflecting the effects of low oil prices.

Downe said he expected industry consolidation rather than widespread failures in the oil sector as companies adapt to market conditions.

"The story of the oil patch is much more a story of restructuring than it is one of failure and default," he said. "That means the strongest companies are going to buy weaker companies."

BMO is benefiting from restructuring situations in the energy industry, Downe said.

"In the last three to six months, we've had the opportunity to initiate some new business with clients who needed to restructure their banking arrangements because they had lenders who had less experience in this part of the cycle," he said.

More capital markets business as a result of merger and acquisition activity among energy companies is inevitable though not immediate, Downe added.

"Perhaps this time next year," he said, "the (energy) market in investment banking will be very active."

(Reporting by John Tilak and Matt Scuffham; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)
Yahoo Finance will live stream Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting, exclusively, on Saturday, April 30. For more information, click here.



Shares of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A) fell about 12% in 2015, a year when the S&P 500 was flat. It was the worst annual decline since 2008. However, its not all bad news. In his annual letter to Berkshire shareholders, CEO Warren Buffett emphasized the companys strong 6.4% gain in book value, which far outpaced the S&P.

In an interview with Yahoo Finance, long-time Berkshire investor Whitney Tilson, founder and managing partner of Kase Capital, says he sees significant upside in shares.

According to Tilsons analysis, Berkshire has a current intrinsic value of $283,000, which represents a significant upside to its recent price of $215,740. In 12 months, 6% annual growth of intrinsic value and an $8,000/share cashbuild could send Berkshires price to $308,000.

Tilson said he believes that continued earnings growth along with the likelihood of meaningful acquisitions, new stock investments, and additional cash build all support the upside story.

As for last years underperformance? Tilson said he viewed it as a buying opportunity.

There were a couple little pockets of weakness but overall the company is doing great, he said.

Tilson, who has been an investor in Berkshire for 20 years, said he sees long-term potential for the company.

Theres no one catalyst. Its not like I think theyre going to beat their whisper number, because there is no whisper number next quarter, he said. Instead, Tilson said he looks to buy the stock when its at the low end of its range of a discount to intrinsic value.

In a world in which there arent a lot of safe, cheap assets particularly with the market rally in the month or so, this ones a good solid foundation for a conservative portfolio, he said.

Buyback floor

In September 2011, Berkshire announced a formal share repurchase program, which was revised the following year, that has no time limit and no dollar cap. Buffett emphasized that if Berkshire traded below intrinsic value, buying back shares would be a great way to invest the companys cash.

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Tilson sees this policy as a floor for the stock price. Specifically, a floor of 1.2x book value represents just an 8% downside from its current 1.3x book value.

Buffett a few years ago said he would buy back stock enthusiastically at about 1.2x book value which is about $187,000 per share. As recently as about a month ago, the stock was under $200,000, and so you were very close to what I call the Buffett put, he said, adding that Buffett reiterated this position on the first page of his 2015 annual letter to shareholders.

With the stock having moved up to $215,000, the Buffett put is now 14% below its current trading levels, but Buffett said the upside outweighs the downside. Its a three-to-one gain-to-potential loss ratio. Thats pretty attractive in a fairly fully valued world.

Berkshire has $61.2 billion of cash and $26 billion of bonds, which comes to $87.2 billion. Tilson pointed out that even after Berkshires $32 billion Precision Castparts purchase goes through, the company would still have $55 billion along with $15.4 billion in cash flow generated in 2015.

Opportunistically putting cash to work

In his presentation, Tilson pointed to Buffetts ability to put cash to work in a smart way drives much of Berkshires outperformance relative to the market.

Most recently, during the 2008 recession, Buffett got preferred shares in Goldman Sachs and General Election and made the companys $26.7 billion purchase of Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad. During a similar dip in late 2011, he announced large investments in chemical maker Lubrizol and Bank of America.

The bottom line: As Tilson concluded in his presentation, Berkshires huge hoard of liquid assets, the quality and diversity of its businesses, the fact that much of its earnings (primarily insurance and utilities) arent tied to the economic cycle, and the conservative way in which its managed to protect Berkshires intrinsic value, while the share repurchase program provides downside protection for the stock.

For more on Yahoo Finance's conversation with Tilson about Berkshire, see: Berkshire after Buffett isn't the worst thing that could happen to the company.


Hoping to squeeze out a win, Sen. Bernie Sanders campaign aired more than 5,700 TV ads in the two weeks ahead of Tuesdays Wisconsin presidential primary  more than a third of the nearly 16,000 TV ads aired by both Republicans and Democrats leading up to the Badger State battle.

One Sanders ad, titled People Before Polluters, aired roughly once every 20 minutes since March 22, according to a Center for Public Integrity review of preliminary data compiled by Kantar Media/CMAG, a political advertising data firm.

Sanders Wisconsin ad blitz follows a massive $44 million fundraising haul in March, funds that can buoy Sanders campaign for months leading up to Julys Democratic National Convention. Meanwhile, Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton raked in a less stellar $29.5 million in March.

On the airwaves, Sanders outpaced Clinton by more than 2,400 TV ads ahead of Wisconsins primary.

When youre getting your message out there more than your opponent, thats helpful, said Travis Ridout, co-director of the Wesleyan Media Project, which tracks political advertising. It sends a signal that youre a viable candidate.

If all people saw were Clinton ads, they would question his [Sanders] viability, Ridout added.

Related story: Tracking TV ads in the 2016 presidential race

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.

Sanders is leading the polls by a thin margin in Wisconsin, where 86 delegates are up for grabs. But even if he wins, Wisconsins Democratic primary is not winner take all meaning that Clinton can still come away with a decent delegate haul.

Sanders path to the nomination is narrowing. Clinton is ahead by 263 pledged delegates, not counting super delegates. With the path to nomination clearing, Clinton supporters are pivoting to the general election.

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Priorities USA Action, a super PAC backing Clinton, has already started to reserve ad space in states such as Ohio, Nevada and Colorado in the months before Julys convention, according to Federal Communications Commission records. The super PAC plans to reserve $70 million worth of ads, according to the groups operatives.

The pro-Clinton super PAC  which can raise and spend money in unlimited amounts  has brought in more than $55 million. So far this cycle, billionaire George Soros has donated $7 million to Priorities USA Action. (The Center for Public Integrity receives some funding from the Open Society Foundations, which are funded by Soros.)

Though Sanders and Clinton have consistently traded public jabs  this week over Clinton receiving donations from the fossil fuel industry  all was positive on the airwaves. Neither aired an attack ad, opting to focus on character and proposals.

Meanwhile, it hasnt been quite as rosy on the Republican side.

Nearly 60 percent of ads shown in Wisconsin at least partially attacked another candidate, according to the Center for Public Integrity's analysis of Kantar Media/CMAG data.

Though slowing down from previous weeks, an anti-Donald Trump coalition of groups aired nearly 1,500 ads that in part attacked Trump.

Another popular target was Gov. John Kasich. A recently formed pro-Sen. Ted Cruz super PAC called Trusted Leadership PAC used all of its ad space to knock down Kasich. In one ad, Kasich is portrayed as President Barack Obamas BFF.

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.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Boeing Co has been awarded a $275 million contract to research and engineer technology that increases ground-based space capabilities, the Pentagon said on Tuesday.

In its daily digest of major weapons contracts, the Defense Department said the contract would be to increase scientific knowledge of these capabilities and apply the results to "achieve Air Force and national goals."

The contract comes as the Pentagon has been making efforts to defend U.S. government satellites. Last year, the Pentagon said it was seeking an initial $5.5 billion over the next five years to beef up protection of space assets and ground networks, a sum that is likely to grow.

The contract was awarded after a competition between four offers and work is expected to be completed by Nov. 3, 2020, the Pentagon added.

(Reporting by Idrees Ali; Editing by Chris Reese)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Boeing Co has been awarded a $235.3 million contract for 11 P-8A maritime surveillance aircraft, the Pentagon announced on Tuesday.

The work is expected to be completed in January 2017, the Department of Defense said in its daily digest of major weapons contracts.

(Reporting by Idrees Ali; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)
By Anthony Boadle BRASILIA (Reuters) - With neither side commanding enough firm support in the battle to impeach Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff, the outcome of a crucial vote in Congress this month may boil down to a handful of no-shows and abstentions. Brazil's lower house is due to vote within two weeks on a committee report about whether Rousseff, the country's first female president, broke fiscal laws to secure her 2014 re-election. With her allies wavering following mass protests against her scandal-hit government, Rousseff risks losing the impeachment vote in the 513-seat lower house. The Eurasia consultancy calculates the odds of her defeat at 60-70 percent. If the Senate agrees to put her on trial, Rousseff would be suspended from office. Financial markets favor her impeachment on hopes her substitute, Vice President Michel Temer, would introduce more-business-friendly policies. Yet polls suggest her opponents have not secured the 342 votes - two-thirds of the chamber - they need to take impeachment to this stage. Nor does Rousseff's Workers' Party and its allies have the 171 votes or abstentions needed to block it. Each abstention favors Rousseff by reducing the chances her opponents obtain two-thirds of the chamber. Brasilia-based consultancy Barral M Jorge Associates estimates the government has 115 firm votes against impeachment versus 213 in favor, with the rest of the votes undecided or not publicly stated, analyst Gabriel Petrus said. With the government's fate in the balance, both sides are using every means at their disposal to eke out an advantage. Rousseff's team is working overtime to build a new coalition, offering jobs in her embattled government in exchange for votes. "The government is scraping the bottom of the barrel, offering jobs in ministries and money for public works in congressional districts," said Darcisio Perondi, a lawmaker from Rio Grande do Sul state and a fierce Rousseff opponent. Government officials have denied offering public works spending in return for votes or abstentions. UNCERTAINTY Meanwhile, lower house Speaker Eduardo Cunha, a bitter rival to Rousseff, is seeking to favor impeachment by holding the roll-call vote on a Sunday, when most Brazilians will be at home and can follow which way lawmakers vote on television. Polls show more than two-thirds of Brazilians support impeachment, after Brazil's worst recession in decades and a sweeping corruption scandal at state oil company Petrobras drained Rousseff's support. Congressmen say Cunha plans to start the voting with southern states, where anti-Rousseff sentiment runs strongest, so momentum for impeachment piles pressure on uncertain lawmakers, especially from the northeast, a bastion of Workers' Party support, who would vote last. Rousseff suffered a blow last week when her main coalition partner, the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB), deserted her. The PMDB expected smaller parties in the coalition to follow suit, boosting chances that Rousseff would be impeached by Congress and Temer, leader of the PMDB, would take over until the end of her term in 2018. The Progressive Party, the Republic Party, the Social Democratic Party and the Brazilian Republican Party - with 142 seats in the lower house - signaled they might abandon Rousseff but have held off as the government wooed them with cabinet posts. Rousseff's negotiations have been complicated by several PMDB ministers who refused the instruction to resign, preferring to risk expulsion from the party. Barral M Jorge consultancy estimates that up to 30 percent of the PMDB's 68 lawmakers could swing one way or the other, depending on how the vote unfolds. Or they could just abstain, because they are unsure impeachment will succeed and are not prepared to commit themselves to an uncertain post-Rousseff scenario, said Petrus. "The offer of jobs will lure some, but uncertainty over what comes next will keep others away, preferring not to back Dilma or a future Temer government that might not succeed," Petrus said. "Their absence will work in Rousseff's favor." (Editing by Daniel Flynn and Andrew Hay)
By Anthony Boadle BRASILIA (Reuters) - With neither side commanding enough firm support in the battle to impeach Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff, the outcome of a crucial vote in Congress this month may boil down to a handful of no-shows and abstentions. Brazil's lower house is due to vote within two weeks on a committee report about whether Rousseff, the country's first female president, broke fiscal laws to secure her 2014 re-election. With her allies wavering following mass protests against her scandal-hit government, Rousseff risks losing the impeachment vote in the 513-seat lower house. The Eurasia consultancy calculates the odds of her defeat at 60-70 percent. If the Senate agrees to put her on trial, Rousseff would be suspended from office. Financial markets favour her impeachment on hopes her substitute, Vice President Michel Temer, would introduce more-business-friendly policies. Yet polls suggest her opponents have not secured the 342 votes - two-thirds of the chamber - they need to take impeachment to this stage. Nor does Rousseff's Workers' Party and its allies have the 171 votes or abstentions needed to block it. Each abstention favours Rousseff by reducing the chances her opponents obtain two-thirds of the chamber. Brasilia-based consultancy Barral M Jorge Associates estimates the government has 115 firm votes against impeachment versus 213 in favour, with the rest of the votes undecided or not publicly stated, analyst Gabriel Petrus said. With the government's fate in the balance, both sides are using every means at their disposal to eke out an advantage. Rousseff's team is working overtime to build a new coalition, offering jobs in her embattled government in exchange for votes. "The government is scraping the bottom of the barrel, offering jobs in ministries and money for public works in congressional districts," said Darcisio Perondi, a lawmaker from Rio Grande do Sul state and a fierce Rousseff opponent. Government officials have denied offering public works spending in return for votes or abstentions. UNCERTAINTY Meanwhile, lower house Speaker Eduardo Cunha, a bitter rival to Rousseff, is seeking to favour impeachment by holding the roll-call vote on a Sunday, when most Brazilians will be at home and can follow which way lawmakers vote on television. Polls show more than two-thirds of Brazilians support impeachment, after Brazil's worst recession in decades and a sweeping corruption scandal at state oil company Petrobras drained Rousseff's support. Congressmen say Cunha plans to start the voting with southern states, where anti-Rousseff sentiment runs strongest, so momentum for impeachment piles pressure on uncertain lawmakers, especially from the northeast, a bastion of Workers' Party support, who would vote last. Rousseff suffered a blow last week when her main coalition partner, the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB), deserted her. The PMDB expected smaller parties in the coalition to follow suit, boosting chances that Rousseff would be impeached by Congress and Temer, leader of the PMDB, would take over until the end of her term in 2018. The Progressive Party, the Republic Party, the Social Democratic Party and the Brazilian Republican Party - with 142 seats in the lower house - signalled they might abandon Rousseff but have held off as the government wooed them with cabinet posts. Rousseff's negotiations have been complicated by several PMDB ministers who refused the instruction to resign, preferring to risk expulsion from the party. Barral M Jorge consultancy estimates that up to 30 percent of the PMDB's 68 lawmakers could swing one way or the other, depending on how the vote unfolds. Or they could just abstain, because they are unsure impeachment will succeed and are not prepared to commit themselves to an uncertain post-Rousseff scenario, said Petrus. "The offer of jobs will lure some, but uncertainty over what comes next will keep others away, preferring not to back Dilma or a future Temer government that might not succeed," Petrus said. "Their absence will work in Rousseff's favour." (Editing by Daniel Flynn and Andrew Hay)
London (AFP) - British Business Secretary Sajid Javid on Tuesday said he wanted to secure an agreement on the future of Tata Steel's British assets at a meeting in Mumbai.

Speaking as he prepared to fly to India for Wednesday's meeting, Javid said the British government was ready to work with any potential buyers of the assets, a week after Tata Steel said it planned to sell them, putting thousands of jobs at risk.

"This meeting I'm having tomorrow will be with Cyrus Mistry, the chairman of the whole Tata group, and what I want to achieve mostly out of that is to have a final agreement on the sales process."

An Indian tycoon who could step in to buy some of Tata Steel's assets in Britain said Monday he hoped to avoid mass redundancies if the deal went through, as the government scrambled to find a new owner.

Sanjeev Gupta, the boss of steel and metals company Liberty House who has arrived in Britain for talks, told the BBC that he had held "very encouraging" discussions with the government.

He added that he would want to change the kind of furnaces used at the main asset, the Port Talbot steel works in south Wales, and retrain some 700 workers.

Javid said he had held a "very constructive" meeting Tuesday with the First Minister of Wales Carwyn Jones, adding: "What it shows is that you've got the UK government and the Welsh government working together on this really important issue and that's the way to continue."

Prime Minister David Cameron's government has been racing to find a buyer for the Tata Steel assets and save 15,000 jobs amid growing pressure from the opposition, trade unions and the press to safeguard the iconic British steel industry which dates back to the 19th century.

India's Tata Steel announced last week it would sell off its British assets due to a global oversupply of steel, cheap imports into Europe from countries including China, high costs and currency volatility.

Britain's government is meanwhile working on a plan to take on some pension liabilities and reduce energy costs to make a deal more attractive to a potential buyer.

And investment firm Greybull Capital is reportedly in the running to buy another of the Tata assets, the steel works at Scunthorpe in eastern England.
Britain's Prince Harry arrived in Nepal Saturday for a five-day visit and said he hopes to "shine a spotlight" on resilience of Nepali people recovering from last year's devastating quake.

"I pay my respects to those who perished and hope to do what I can to shine a spotlight on the resilience of the Nepali people," Prince Harry said in his address at a reception held by Nepal's government to welcome him on Saturday evening.

"I want to show all those people around the world who want to help that this is a country open for business  so please come and visit again," he said.

The prince will meet with survivors of last year's devastating earthquake and Gurkha soldiers who helped in rescue efforts on his first visit to the country, which celebrates 200 years of joint relations between Nepal and Britain.

Harry, 31, met Nepal's prime minister K.P. Sharma Oli after his arrival and is scheduled to hold a meeting with the country's first female president, Bidhya Bhandari, during the weekend.

The prince is set to visit heritage sites hit by a devastating 7.8-magnitude earthquake last April that killed nearly 9,000 people, with the country still reeling from the after-effects.

A member of the British army for 10 years before retiring in June, he served along with Gurkha soldiers in Afghanistan and will meet members of the brigade during his visit.

The British army's 2,500-strong Gurkha brigade is made up of soldiers recruited in Nepal and has been part of the military for 200 years.

"I served alongside Gurkhas during my first tour of Afghanistan and I look forward to visiting the communities that have produced and supported these extraordinary soldiers," he said.

The prince's tour will also take him to Bardia National Park in western Nepal, famous for its tiger conservation efforts, according to a statement on his official website.

Harry also plans to undertake a trek on the foothills of the Himalayas as well as spending a night at a Gurkha soldier's home.

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"I look forward to exploring your landscapes, celebrating your culture, and I hope to make many new friends along the way," the prince said.

"I cannot wait to get out and see all that this country has to offer."

Following the earthquake, Nepal is desperate to revive tourism including its mountaineering industry, key revenue-earners for the impoverished Himalayan nation.

"His visit is very important, and will send a positive message about Nepal to the world," said Ram Hari Adhikari, general secretary of the UK Nepal Friendship Society.

Nepal, a former kingdom, has been visited by Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip as well as Prince Charles and Princess Diana.
By Alex Whiting LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The first British university to adopt a policy aimed at cutting the use of conflict minerals in the products it buys, said on Tuesday it hopes to form a network of like-minded universities that together would combat the issue in their supply chains. With some 50,000 staff and students and an annual turnover of 850 million pounds ($1.2 billion), the University of Edinburgh is a major buyer of computers and other electronic goods. Campaigners have long raised concerns that such goods use minerals like tin, tungsten, tantalum and gold, which have in some cases been used to prolong conflicts in the Democratic Republic of Congo and elsewhere. Speaking on the day European legislators met to negotiate new regulations on the issue, a spokesman from the University of Edinburgh said he hoped its policy of questioning suppliers on the origins of their goods would set an example for others. "Many people would be horrified to know that they may be inadvertently supporting war lords," the director of social responsibility and sustainability, Dave Gorman, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "Part of the thinking behind having a policy rather than simply working away quietly, is to try and raise the level of awareness and hopefully bring more on board." The university hopes to eventually impact major British supply contracts by influencing those which are negotiated jointly with other British universities. "Our hope is ... that by starting to declare our colors and ask some questions, we can influence these much larger contracts of which we're just a part," Gorman said. "We're not naive, this isn't a magic solution, this is the start of a process we think that will have some influence over time," he added. The university's policy has been welcomed by campaigners on the issue. "It's really valuable to have that kind of leadership, and it's especially great that it's an academic institution," said Michael Gibb, campaign leader on conflict resources at Global Witness. But he added that such moves by institutions alone are not enough and European legislation was needed to force companies to carry out due diligence on their supply chains. "The longer it's the ... niche interest of a few, the harder it's going to be for them to do it, because they're not going to be able to count on ... cooperation from other parts of the chain," Gibb said. "The more transparent and open the whole supply chain is, the easier it is for every link in the chain to do this." European legislators are in the process of negotiating new regulations on the issue, but it is not yet clear whether they will be mandatory or voluntary, Gibb said. In the United States, companies by law have to try to establish the origin of four metals often used by rebel groups in the area to finance their activities. The legislation is having a big impact on both U.S. companies and on European companies supplying products to the United States, said Gibb. "This is about conflict financing and very serious human rights abuses, it's not the kind of thing that European companies or their investors or their consumers should want any part of," he said. "It's time (for Europe) to move on to something mandatory that will make this part of doing business as usual instead of the exception, or the niche interest of a few responsible companies," he added. ($1 = 0.7038 pounds) (Reporting by Alex Whiting, Editing by Katie Nguyen.; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, corruption and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org)
London (AFP) - British Prime Minister David Cameron said Tuesday he had no personal offshore funds as he faced growing pressure over the so-called Panama Papers, which raised questions about his family's financial affairs.

A massive leak of documents from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca revealed how an investment fund co-founded by the premier's late father, Ian Cameron, avoided paying taxes in Britain for 30 years by basing itself in the Bahamas.

Faced with calls by the opposition Labour Party for an investigation into all those implicated in the leak, including his family, Cameron said his wealth consisted of his salary, some savings and a house.

"I own no shares, no offshore trusts, no offshore funds, nothing like that," Cameron said.

Downing Street had previously insisted that any offshore holdings by members of his family were a "private matter".

However, it issued a statement Tuesday stating: "To be clear, the prime minister, his wife and their children do not benefit from any offshore funds."

The revelations about his father are embarrassing for Cameron, who has sought to lead international efforts to improve financial transparency and whose government hosts an anti-corruption summit next month.

He insisted that "no prime minister has done more" to tackle tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance, and said British authorities would look into the Panama leaks.

However, campaigners called for more action to tackle secretive company ownership in British overseas territories such as the Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn raised the prospect of Britain taking full control of the territories if they did not act.

- Pursuing tax evaders -

Ian Cameron helped found Blairmore Holdings Inc in the Bahamas in the early 1980s and was reportedly one of five UK-based directors until shortly before his death in 2010.

His offshore activities were already in the public domain but the leaked documents revealed that the investment fund hired local residents -- including a part-time bishop -- to sign its paperwork to avoid paying tax in Britain.

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"In 30 years, Blairmore has never paid a penny of tax in the UK on its profits," said The Guardian newspaper, which has seen the leaked documents, along with the BBC.

There is no suggestion that the fund acted illegally or that the family did not pay tax on any repatriated assets.

But Corbyn called for an independent investigation and said: "I think the prime minister, in his own interest, ought to tell us exactly what's been going on."

He demanded the government "stop pussyfooting around on tax dodging", saying: "There cannot be one set of tax rules for the wealthy elite and another for the rest of us."

Cameron's government has recovered A2 billion (2.49 billion euros, $2.83 billion) from offshore tax evaders since 2010 and introduced a range of measures to clamp down on evasion, officials said.

The prime minister also said Britain had "led the world" by introducing legislation forcing its companies to disclose who owns and benefits from their activities, which comes into effect in June.

- Direct rule option -

The leak of 11.5 million confidential documents from Mossack Fonseca, which specialises in creating offshore shell companies, shone the spotlight on tax havens as well as wealthy individuals.

Among them is the British Virgin Islands, a tiny British overseas territory in the Caribbean which is among the top five investors in Russia and China, according to a 2014 report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Cameron said Britain had made "huge progress" in pressing its overseas territories and crown dependencies to share tax information and make it harder for companies and individuals to hide their financial affairs.

But it has yet to persuade them to sign up to the company ownership law, and Corbyn said the government should consider imposing direct rule on overseas territories to resolve the issue.

"If they've become a place for systemic evasion and short-changing of the public in this country, then something has to be done about it," he told the BBC.
Ottawa (AFP) - Canada's revenue agency said Tuesday it has asked for copies of the Panama Papers in order to examine them for evidence of offshore tax evasion by Canadian clients of the law firm Mossack Fonseca.

In a statement, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) said it has requested the leaked data from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and plans to cross-reference the information with its own files.

The daily Toronto Star, which is part of the consortium, has said some 350 Canadians are listed in the 11.5 million leaked documents.

"The agency is actively pursuing the cooperation of its tax treaty partners (including Panama) and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists to obtain all of the leaked records that pertain to Canadian residents," the CRA said.

It said it would pursue audits in those cases "to identify Canadian taxpayers who may have used accounts to hide or conceal money offshore in an effort to avoid or evade paying tax."

Suspected wrongdoing would be probed by an internal CRA criminal unit or referred for possible criminal prosecution, it said.

The vast stash of records from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca was obtained from an anonymous source by German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung and shared with more than 100 media groups by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

The network of journalists published their first findings Sunday after a year-long probe.

Offshore financial dealings are not illegal in themselves, though they may be used to hide assets from tax authorities, launder the proceeds of criminal activities or conceal misappropriated or politically inconvenient wealth.
By Fergal Smith TORONTO (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar weakened to a one-week low against its U.S. counterpart on Tuesday after disappointing Canadian trade data and as risk appetite deteriorated, although losses were pared as oil prices turned higher. Canada's trade deficit unexpectedly jumped to C$1.91 billion ($1.45 billion) in February from C$628 million in January as exports slumped by their most in nearly seven years. "It suggests to me that the momentum that we seemed to have at the turn of the year in the economy is again going to be a false dawn," said HSBC Bank Canada Chief Economist David Watt. The implied probability of a Bank of Canada rate cut this year rose to 24 percent from 17 percent before the data. It had been above 50 percent a little more than one month ago. The data fed anxiety that the near 12 percent rebound in the Canadian dollar from a 12-year low in January at C$1.4689 will hinder rebalancing of Canada's economy toward non-energy exports. "Not cause for panic yet, but I think some concern which may be echoed by the Bank of Canada next week," said Scott Smith, senior market analyst at Cambridge Global Payments. The risk-sensitive, commodity-driven currency had already weakened before the trade data as investors sought refuge in safe-haven assets such as the Japanese yen and gold. However, U.S. crude prices settled at $35.89 a barrel, up 0.5 percent, after Kuwait said an output freeze by major oil producers would proceed without Iran. The Canadian dollar ended at C$1.3157 to the greenback, or 76.01 U.S. cents, weaker than Monday's close of C$1.3072, or 76.50 U.S. cents. The currency's strongest level of the session was C$1.3069, while it touched its weakest since March 28 at C$1.3219. Meanwhile, China's transition to a more sustainable pace of growth is welcome, but it will take time and could be marked by periods of economic and financial volatility, Bank of Canada Senior Deputy Governor Carolyn Wilkins said. Canadian government bond prices were higher across the maturity curve, with the two-year price up 5 Canadian cents to yield 0.52 percent and the benchmark 10-year rising 52 Canadian cents to yield 1.167 percent. The 10-year yield touched its lowest since Feb. 29 at 1.157 percent. The curve flattened in sympathy with U.S. Treasuries, as the spread between the 2-year and 10-year yields narrowed by 3.3 basis points to 64.7 basis points, indicating outperformance for longer-dated maturities. (Reporting by Fergal Smith; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn and Chris Reese)
China is considering a plan that would allow banks to swap bad debts for equity in the borrowing firm, according to reports, as the banking sector faces mounting bad loans and slowing growth in the world's second-largest economy.

Under the proposed scheme, banks would write down debts of companies in return for equity stakes, business magazine Caixin said Monday.

The government could allow swaps for as much as 1.0 trillion yuan ($155 billion), it said, quoting an executive at the China Development Bank.

Authorities could approve the move as early as this month, Bloomberg News reported Tuesday, quoting a person with knowledge of the matter.

The move could lead to the ownership of some struggling Chinese companies changing -- in developed economies, such debt-for-equity swaps frequently dilute existing shareholders on a huge scale, effectively handing over the company to its creditors.

But enabling inefficient companies to shed debt could prop them up instead of pressuring them to go bankrupt, analysts said, reducing the impetus for market-oriented reforms.

"Bank ownership stakes in clients would result in moral hazard issues, amplifying long-term financial risks," Nomura said in a note.

The speculation follows flat growth in net profits and rising bad loans at the nation's biggest banks last year.

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) -- the nation's biggest bank -- eked out a 0.48 percent rise in net profit to 277.13 billion yuan as its non-performing loan (NPL) ratio rose to 1.50 percent in 2015 from 1.13 percent the year before.

China Construction Bank, the country's second-largest lender, reported flat growth in net profit last year, as bad loans reached 1.58 percent, up from 1.19 percent in 2014.

Nomura said the move could lower risk in the banking system in the short term, "but we do not view this as the ultimate solution to the NPL problem".
China on Tuesday imposed restrictions on imports of North Korean coal and iron, Beijing's commerce ministry said, in line with United Nations sanctions on the country following its nuclear and missile tests.

The coal trade between the neighbours was worth $1 billion last year, Chinese Customs figures show, but the announcement allowed for trade to continue if the proceeds were for livelihood purposes.

The move also put in place bans on the import of gold, titanium and rare earth metals from the North, as well as some sales of aviation fuel to it, in line with the UN Security Council measures.

The council approved the measures in March, in the wake of a fourth atomic test by Pyongyang, and Beijing pledged strictly to implement them.

But the resolution's language -- concluded after seven weeks of hard negotiations between Washington and Beijing -- left significant loopholes for Pyongyang's key economic supporter to continue business as usual.

China is the North's main provider of trade and aid and the text allowed for commerce in certain goods, including coal and iron, to carry on as long as the proceeds did not support Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions.

The UN did not set criteria for making that determination, leaving each country to make its own decision.

The exceptions were mirrored in the text of the statement by China's commerce ministry, which also provided a letter for companies to sign "solemnly" pledging that their imports of the products were "not related to North Korea's nuclear programme or ballistic missile programme".

Aviation fuel sales could also be permitted for humanitarian and some civil aviation purposes.

Trade with China is crucial for the isolated and impoverished North, which has suffered regular food shortages and an outright famine in the mid-1990s.

In 2014 China accounted for more than 90 percent of North Korea's $7.61 billion in total trade, according to the latest available figures from South Koreas state-run Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency.

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Washington has long held that changing North Korea's behaviour depends on China's willingness to use its economic leverage.

But Beijing has resisted targeting Pyongyang's fragile economy for fear of provoking the regime's collapse, potentially leading to a flood of cross-border refugees and ultimately the prospect of US troops stationed on its border in a reunified Korea.

That stance has become harder and harder to maintain, as Pyongyang has continued to defy both the international community and Beijing's efforts to restrain it.

In recent weeks North Korea has repeatedly fired projectiles into the East Sea.

The latest fit of pique followed a meeting last week between US President Barack Obama and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, where they agreed to fully implement sanctions against Pyongyang.

The leader was in Washington for a two-day nuclear security summit being hosted by Obama, at which the American president also discussed North Korea's nuclear threat with Japan and South Korea.
By Ben Blanchard BEIJING (Reuters) - China on Tuesday accused one of its former top military officers of taking "huge" bribes for promotions, as President Xi Jinping presses home a campaign against graft in the country's vast defense establishment. Guo Boxiong, 74, was a vice chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission until he stepped down in 2012. The government announced a corruption investigation into Guo last July. In a terse statement on the Defence Ministry's website, the military said it had handed Guo over for prosecution after investigators completed their probe into him. "Guo Boxiong used his position to provide help for others in promotions or reassignments, and took a massive amount of bribes either directly or via his family," it said in the statement, which was also carried by the Xinhua official news agency. "Guo Boxiong confessed everything." Investigators collected a mass of evidence against him but also ensured he had access to a lawyer and read and signed off on all the transcripts of his questioning, Xinhua added. Sources had previously told Reuters that Guo might not face prosecution as he has cancer. His case follows that of Xu Caihou, who was also a Central Military Commission vice chairman at the same time as Guo, and died of bladder cancer in March last year. The government said in 2014 that Xu had also confessed to taking "massive" bribes in exchange for help in promotions. Before their retirement, the men had been two of China's top military officers who served together under Xi's predecessor, Hu Jintao. Xi was also a vice chairman with Guo and Xu from 2010 to 2012, before he became party head and military commission chief. Guo's son, Guo Zhenggang, who is a major-general, was put under investigation in March last year. It was not possible to reach either Guo for comment and it was not clear who their lawyers are. Xinhua said family members and others implicated in the case would also be dealt with by the law, though it gave no details. Guo Boxiong was a "greedy degenerate" who would get what was coming to him, the defense ministry said in an online commentary. For over a decade, Guo sat on the Central Military Commission, in charge of the world's largest armed force, numbering around 2.3 million, after joining the army in 1961 and rising through its ranks, according to his official biography. In 2006 he visited the United States and met then-defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Serving and retired military officers have said graft in the armed forces is so pervasive it could undermine China's ability to wage war. Xi has made weeding out corruption in the military a top goal. The drive comes as Xi steps up efforts to modernize forces that are projecting power across the disputed waters of the East and South China Seas, though China has not fought a war in decades. China intensified its crackdown on military corruption in the late 1990s, banning the People's Liberation Army from business. But recent years have seen the military involved in commercial deals, due to a lack of checks and balances, military analysts have said. (Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
By Paul Carsten BEIJING (Reuters) - China's ZTE Corp, in a routine management reshuffle, has replaced three senior executives alleged to be the main signatories to documents purportedly showing the company made efforts to dodge sanctions against Iran. The change in personnel was made just weeks after the U.S. government released the documents and imposed tough export restrictions on the telecom equipment maker. The U.S. government has since said it would ease the restrictions until the end of June and could further ease them if ZTE cooperated in "resolving the matter". On Tuesday, ZTE said it had named current Chief Technology Officer Zhao Xianming as its new president, effective immediately, replacing Shi Lirong, who had been in the role since 2010. "We will be taking extra measures to ensure that legal compliance and anti-corruption processes eliminate any possibility of non-compliance," Zhao said in a letter to ZTE's staff. "We will put practical measures in place to rebuild our operational philosophy and turn the challenges into opportunities," he said. The company also appointed seven executive vice presidents, but this list did not include Tian Wenguo or Qiu Weizhao, both of whom served in that position until Tuesday's shake up. Shi, Tian and Qiu, the only people dropped from ZTE's top management, were also the only member's of the firm's senior executive bench named in the documents released by the U.S. The company reshuffles management every three years, and the changes are in line with the company's regular schedule, a ZTE spokesman told Reuters on Monday. While reshuffles at ZTE happen frequently, a high-level change is almost certainly related to the U.S. export restrictions, said Kang Rongping, a director at the Institute for World Chinese Business at the think tank Center for China & Globalization. "In recent years, ZTE hasn't been doing too well, so adding these export restrictions is making a bad situation worse," said Kang, referring to the company's business growth. Outgoing president Shi had been in the position for six years. Tian had been an executive vice president since 2005 and Qiu since 2007, according to ZTE annual reports. Their terms, which are for three-year periods and can be renewed, were due to end March, 2016, according to a ZTE stock exchange filing in 2015. Shi, Tian and Qiu were three of the main signatories on alleged internal documents released by the U.S. Department of Commerce detailing efforts to circumvent Washington's export controls on Iran and other countries. The documents, marked "Highly Confidential", name Tian and Qiu as the people who had allegedly instructed ZTE to carry out a project for dodging export controls in Iran, North Korea, Syria, Sudan and Cuba, and made up the two-person "Project Executive Committee." ZTE declined to comment on the documents when contacted by Reuters on Tuesday. ZTE's Hong Kong-listed shares are currently suspended at a price of HK$14.16 ($1.83). (Reporting by Paul Carsten; Additional reporting by Clare Bladwin; Editing by Christopher Cushing and David Evans)
Washington (AFP) - An experimental drug that greatly increases levels of "good" cholesterol has no effect on heart health, a comprehensive clinical trial found, leaving researchers shocked and disappointed.

It is also a blow to patients who were hoping for an alternative because they cannot or will not take statins, which can cut low-density lipoprotein (LDL), or bad cholesterol.

The study involving more than 12,000 patients at high risk for serious cardiovascular problems found that the drug evacetrapib had no benefits, according to research presented Sunday at the American College of Cardiology conference in Chicago.

Manufacturer Eli Lilly stopped the trial in October when the drug was found to be ineffective. But now experts have given a comprehensive explanation of what happened.

Two other drugs in the same class as evacetrapib, known as CETP inhibitors and designed to raise levels of HDL cholesterol -- high-density lipoprotein, the "good" type -- have also failed, presenting experts with a quandary.

- 'Disappointed and surprised' -

"We have a paradox: here we've got an agent that more than doubles the levels of good cholesterol and lowers bad cholesterol and yet has no effect on clinical events," said lead author Professor Stephen Nicholls.

"We were disappointed and surprised by the results," added Nicholls, of The University of Adelaide in Australia and cardiologist at Royal Adelaide Hospital.

On average, patients taking evacetrapib daily for at least 18 months lowered their LDL cholesterol by 37 percent and increased their HDL cholesterol -- high-density lipoprotein, the "good" type -- by 130 percent compared with patients taking a placebo.

However, there was no difference between the two groups in terms of the primary "endpoint" of the research -- including the amount of time until cardiovascular death, heart attack, stroke or coronary artery bypass surgery.

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"As we close out the trial, we're trying to understand how a drug that seems to do all the right things in terms of blood cholesterol levels doesn't then translate into reducing clinical events," added Nicholls.

Steve Nissen, chairman of Cardiovascular Medicine at Cleveland Clinic, attempted to put a positive spin on the disappointing outcome.

"These findings illustrate the importance of performing large, high-quality outcome trials," he said.

"Just looking at the effects a therapy has on cholesterol levels doesn't always translate into clinical benefits."

However, Nicholls cautioned that evacetrapib could potentially benefit patients with low risk of serious heart trouble, although that was not part of the study.

The findings could challenge conventional thinking regarding the benefits of HDL cholesterol in protecting against cardiovascular problems, he said.

They also suggest that existing treatments, such as statins, are already so effective that they cannot be improved upon.

- Side effect woes -

However, some people with high cholesterol are hoping for an alternative to statins because they complain about side effects such as muscle pain and weakness.

They have high hopes for a new drug like Repatha, produced by the US company Amgen or its rival Praluent, sold by the French firm Sanofi with its American partner Regeneron.

The two new powerful anti-cholesterol drugs of the same class were approved last year by the Food and Drug Administration only to patients with a hereditary form of high bad cholesterol and those with cardiovascular disease but not for prevention.

These new anti-cholesterol drugs dont cause side effects on muscles in most people, according to a recent clinical trial. But they are very expensive, costing around 14,000 dollars a year.
Washington (AFP) - An experimental drug that greatly increases levels of "good" cholesterol has no effect on heart health, a comprehensive clinical trial found, leaving researchers shocked and disappointed.

It is also a blow to patients who were hoping for an alternative because they cannot or will not take statins, which can cut low-density lipoprotein (LDL), or bad cholesterol.

The study involving more than 12,000 patients at high risk for serious cardiovascular problems found that evacetrapib had no benefits, according to research presented Sunday at the American College of Cardiology conference in Chicago.

Manufacturer Eli Lilly stopped the trial in October when the drug was found to be ineffective but now experts have given a comprehensive explanation of what happened.

Two other drugs in the same class as evacetrapib, known as CETP inhibitors and designed to raise levels of HDL cholesterol -- high-density lipoprotein, the "good" type -- have also failed, presenting experts with a quandary.

"We have a paradox: here we've got an agent that more than doubles the levels of good cholesterol and lowers bad cholesterol and yet has no effect on clinical events," said lead author Professor Stephen Nicholls.

"We were disappointed and surprised by the results," added Nicholls, of The University of Adelaide in Australia and cardiologist at Royal Adelaide Hospital.

On average, patients taking evacetrapib daily for at least 18 months lowered their LDL cholesterol by 37 percent and increased their HDL cholesterol -- high-density lipoprotein, the "good" type -- by 130 percent compared with patients taking a placebo.

However, there was no difference between the two groups in terms of the primary "endpoint" of the research -- including the amount of time until cardiovascular death, heart attack, stroke or coronary artery bypass surgery.

"As we close out the trial, we're trying to understand how a drug that seems to do all the right things in terms of blood cholesterol levels doesn't then translate into reducing clinical events," added Nicholls.

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Steve Nissen, chairman of Cardiovascular Medicine at Cleveland Clinic, attempted to put a positive spin on the disappointing outcome.

"These findings illustrate the importance of performing large, high-quality outcome trials," he said.

"Just looking at the effects a therapy has on cholesterol levels doesn't always translate into clinical benefits."

However, Nicholls cautioned that evacetrapib could potentially benefit patients with low risk of serious heart trouble, although that was not part of the study.

The findings could challenge conventional thinking regarding the benefits of HDL cholesterol in protecting against cardiovascular problems, he said.

They also suggest that existing treatments, such as statins, are already so effective that they cannot be improved upon.

However, some people with high cholesterol were hoping for an alternative to statins because they complain about side effects such as muscle pain and weakness.
By Jonathan Saul LONDON (Reuters) - London Mayor Boris Johnson's leading role in campaigning for Britain to leave the EU is sending "unwelcome and unhelpful" signals to investors about the capital's future, the head of the City of London Corporation said on Tuesday. The Corporation, which runs the only global financial centre to rival New York, last month came out in favour of Britain staying in the European Union when the country votes in a June 23 referendum. In contrast, Johnson, who is responsible for running the whole of London, aims to convince voters into leaving the EU. Jeffrey Evans, head of the Corporation and also ceremonial lord mayor of the financial district, said Johnson's position was "disappointing". "The City of London is the leading international financial centre in the world," he told Reuters. "It is the most cosmopolitan major business city in the world and ... a step backwards from an international position, which I think many would see this as, is unwelcome and unhelpful." Evans said the City of London wanted "informed debate". "We want people to be out there with views, but I think people do appreciate Britains international position and they like to see leading spokesmen in London being pro-Europe," he said at his historic Mansion House office, close to the Bank of England. Johnson's support for leaving the EU has been viewed as a gamble aimed at securing the coveted top job of prime minister if Britain leaves. London dominates the $5.3-trillion-a-day (3.74 trillion pound) global foreign exchange market and is by far the most important financial centre in the EU. If Britons vote to leave, London faces losing the trade in trillions of euros in derivatives. Evans, who is the 688th lord mayor which is an ambassadorial role for the small financial area known as the City of London, said Britain's EU membership had been "a great factor for inward investment" into the country. "Britain's position as a major trading centre would, in my view, be harmfully impacted by a decision to leave," he said. (Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)
Brazzaville (AFP) - Congolese troops deployed across parts of the capital Brazzaville on Tuesday as business slowed to a trickle a day after fighting in opposition bastions that sent thousands fleeing for safety.

Following heavy gun battles that began before dawn on Monday and raged through the morning in the city's southern districts, sporadic gunfire continued until sunset but petered out overnight.

There was no immediate toll from the fighting, which came on the heels of a disputed presidential election and was blamed by the government on a rebel group known as "The Ninjas".

Troops deployed at key points throughout the city and manned roadblocks, searching the few cars and people out on the streets during Tuesday morning.

The southern districts of Makelekele and Mayana remained eerily quiet and few residents appeared to have returned home after fleeing the fighting in droves the day before.

Stalls were empty at the Total market, the city's biggest, while vendors only had fruit, vegetables, beans and onions on sale at the Makelekele market, where a handful of buyers did their shopping in a hurry.

Traffic was unusually thin on the main thoroughfare linking the southern districts to the city centre.

The government has issued no toll from what it called "a terrorist action" and has said it is investigating whether the assailants were linked to opposition figures who have contested President Denis Sassou Nguesso's re-election last month.

Late Monday, Congo's constitutional court confirmed the March 20 election victory of the former paratrooper colonel, who has ruled the country for more than 32 years despite accusations from critics of rampant corruption and nepotism.

The results of the poll, in which Sassou Nguesso took more than 60 percent of the vote, had been denounced by the five defeated candidates who alleged "massive fraud".

In a televised statement Monday, government spokesman Thierry Moungalla blamed the fighting on "disbanded Ninja Nsiloulou" fighters, saying they had attacked an army position as well as four police stations.

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- 'Peace always under threat' -

The Ninjas is a rebel group which fought two civil wars in the 1990s and was headed by Protestant preacher Frederic Bintsamou, known as Pastor Ntumi, whose trademark colour is purple and who disbanded the group in return for a junior government position.

He recently came out in favour of presidential candidate Guy-Brice Parfait Kolelas, who came second to Sassou Nguesso in last month's vote with 15 percent.

In a phone interview with AFP on Tuesday, Kolelas said the government allegations against the rebels were "overly hasty."

"I want a totally impartial enquiry carried out," said Kolelas. "It's a masquerade," he added. "I'd like to see proof ... of what happened."

He also slammed a Monday ruling by the constitutional court that his request to have the results of four regions annulled was "inadmissable as it was filed after the constitutional deadlines".

He said the request had been filed on time.

"We live in a country where, whether you vote or not, peace is always under threat," said a woman in the city's restive south who gave her name as Julienne.

Moungalla said the trouble had erupted in the wake of the March vote, which he dubbed "a great moment of peaceful democracy".

In an apparent reference to the opposition, he said the government "does not yet have proof that candidates or their supporters are involved in this affair", but noted that investigations "are ongoing".

Last week, there were strikes in several southern districts in protest over the election results.

Congo has been on edge since an October constitutional referendum that ended a two-term limit on presidential mandates, allowing the 72-year-old head of state to run again.

Former colonial power France on Monday called for "restraint" and urged French citizens to stay at home.

Sassou Nguesso served as president from 1979 to 1992 and returned to power in 1997 following a civil war.

He won two successive terms in 2002 and 2009, but the results of both elections were contested by opposition parties.
San Jose (AFP) - Costa Rica's president on Friday saw off one of the last planes carrying departing Cuban migrants, resolving a three-month period in which nearly 8,000 US-bound Cubans were stranded in his country.

"You are going full of dreams, but have also gone through very tough situations," President Luis Guillermo Solis told the Cubans before they boarded their flight in San Jose to Mexico.

The Cubans' passage through Central America had been blocked since mid-November, when Nicaragua -- a Cuban ally -- barred them from entering its territory.

That forced Costa Rica to negotiate "air bridges" over Nicaragua to El Salvador and Mexico that, from January, started flying out some of the 7,800 Cubans who piled up on its territory with no easy path north.

Panama, which was also forced to host around 2,000 Cubans when Costa Rica in turn closed its border to new arrivals, has also organized flights for them to Mexico.

Unlike other Latin American migrants, Cubans get relatively easy access to the United States when they cross a land border. A Cold War-era law puts them on a fast-track to American residency.

The number of Cubans aiming for the US has spiked over the past year, with many fearing that a thaw in US-Cuban relations underway will eventually end America's open-door policy for them.

According to official figures, 7,802 Cubans were given temporary visas for Costa Rica since mid-November.

Of them, 4,350 took the flights that they were required to pay for themselves, at a cost of between $555 and $790 each.

Another 3,450 were believed to have used "coyotes" -- people smugglers -- to clandestinely get them through Nicaragua and other Central American nations. The coyotes demanded around $1,000 each, according to a report in the newspaper La Nacion.

"People-trafficking is a tragedy for all of humanity," Solis told reporters at San Jose's airport.

"It's a dreadful business, more lucrative than drug-trafficking," he said.

He said that a small number of Cubans were still in Costa Rica and unable to make the journey north for different reasons.

But he said the "hard work" of supporting them and getting most of them out had been concluded satisfactorily.
Hong Kong (AFP) - The CEO of Credit Suisse said Tuesday the bank does not endorse offshore accounts for tax avoidance or shady dealings, the latest bank to defend itself against accusations made in the Panama Papers leak.

The scandal erupted on Sunday when media groups began revealing the results of a year-long investigation into a trove of 11.5 million documents from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, which specialises in creating offshore shell companies.

Among those named in the "Panama Papers" are close associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin, relatives of Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Iceland's Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, as well as Barcelona striker Lionel Messi.

Major international banks, including Credit Suisse, were also named in the leak among those that requested the most offshore companies for clients.

Offshore companies are not illegal and can be used for legitimate business needs, but commonly feature in corruption cases where they are used to secretly move ill-gotten gains abroad.

Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam said Tuesday they would only endorse "legitimate" offshore arrangements.

"We only accept offshore structures, vehicles if they serve legitimate purposes," Thiam said, speaking in Hong Kong.

"Clearly, tax avoidance is not one of those," he added.

"We insist on knowing who is the beneficial owner. If it's not revealed, we will not engage in business with that entity," he added.

His comments come after HSBC, another bank on the list of institutions that helped set up the most offshore accounts, also distanced itself from the revelations.

"The allegations are historical, in some cases dating back 20 years, predating our significant, well-publicised reforms implemented over the last few years," spokesman Gareth Hewett told AFP in an emailed statement.

Hong Kong is under the spotlight after the leak showed the city topped the list of territories where intermediaries operate between Mossack Fonseca and its customers, with the United Kingdom and Switzerland second and third on the list.

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Hong Kong film star Jackie Chan was revealed to have at least six companies represented by Mossack Fonseca, though he may have used the companies legitimately for business purposes rather than for tax avoidance.

The Guardian newspaper reported that executives from Hong Kong-based Sun Hung Kai, the city's biggest property developer, were also named in the leak over compliance issues with Mossack Fonseca.

Three executives from the company, including former co-chairman Thomas Kwok, were jailed for corruption in Hong Kong in 2014 over handouts to the city's former deputy leader Rafael Hui, who was also convicted.

The trove of Panama Papers documents was anonymously leaked to German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung and shared with more than 100 media groups by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). More revelations are expected over the coming weeks.

-- Bloomberg News contributed to this report --
HONG KONG/SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Credit Suisse and HSBC, two of the world's largest wealth managers, dismissed on Tuesday suggestions they were actively using offshore structures to help clients cheat on their taxes.

Their comments came a day after a leak of four decades of documents from a Panamanian law firm that specialises in setting up offshore companies showed widespread use of those instruments by global banks on behalf of their clients and triggered a raft of government investigations across the world.

The so-called "Panama Papers", revealed through an investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), exposed financial arrangements of politicians and public figures including friends of Russian President Vladimir Putin, relatives of the prime ministers of Britain, Iceland and Pakistan, and the president of Ukraine.

Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam, who is aggressively targeting Asia's wealthiest for growth, said his bank was only after lawful assets.

"We as a company, as a bank only encourage the use of structures when there is a legitimate economic purpose," Thiam, who took the helm at Switzerland's second-largest bank last year, told a media briefing.

Separately, HSBC said the documents pre-dated a thorough reform of its business model.

"The allegations are historical, in some cases dating back 20 years, predating our significant, well-publicized reforms implemented over the last few years," said Gareth Hewett, a Hong Kong-based spokesman for HSBC.

HSBC and Credit Suisse were named among the banks that helped set up complex structures that make it hard for tax collectors and investigators to track the flow of money from one place to another, according to ICIJ, which based its reports on the leaked documents from the Panamanian law firm, Mossack Fonseca.

More than 500 banks, their subsidiaries and branches registered nearly 15,600 shell companies with Mossack Fonseca, according to ICIJs analysis of the records. The vast majority of them were created since the 1990s, ICIJ said on its website.

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Thiam, in Hong Kong to attend Credit Suisse's annual Asian Investment Conference, acknowledged the Swiss wealth manager does use offshore financial structures, but only for very wealthy customers with assets in multiple jurisdictions, and it did not support their use for tax avoidance or allow them without knowing the identities of all those concerned.

"We do not condone structures for tax avoidance," he said. "Whenever there is a structure with a third party beneficiary we insist to know the identity of that beneficiary."

Credit Suisse agreed in May 2014 to pay a $2.5 billion fine in the United States for helping rich Americans evade taxes. Several Swiss-based wealth managers, including cross town rival UBS Group AG, also had to pay large fines in the United States for the same reason.

HSBC, which also had wealth management operations in Switzerland, agreed in 2012 to pay $1.92 billion in U.S. fines, mainly for allowing itself to be used to launder drug money flowing out of Mexico.

The tax spat with the United States critically undermined traditional Swiss banking privacy laws and resulted in a radical overhaul of Swiss private banking, a tightening of global tax compliance standards as well as massive outflows from Swiss bank accounts.

(Reporting by Lisa Jucca, Denny Thomas and Saeed Azhar; Editing by Martin Howell)
By Seyhmus Cakan DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuters) - Turkey bombed Kurdish militant targets in northern Iraq on Tuesday and declared a curfew in a southeastern town after a rocket attack, as Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu vowed Ankara would not step back in its crackdown on the rebels. Gunfire rang out through the night in Silopi, near the Iraqi border, where the curfew was imposed after one police officer was killed and four were wounded when a rocket hit their armoured vehicle, security sources said. In Iraq, Turkish F-16 and F-4 warplanes destroyed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) ammunition stores and shelters overnight in the mountainous Qandil area, where the group is based, the army said. It also said 15 PKK militants had been killed in southeast Turkey on Monday. The conflict, at its most intense for two decades, is a major challenge for Davutoglu, who has been promoting a redevelopment plan for the mainly Kurdish southeast after months of fighting. Pro-Kurdish politicians say Ankara should focus instead on reviving peace talks launched in 2012 with PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan but President Tayyip Erdogan ruled out such a move on Monday, vowing to stamp out the insurgency. Davutoglu reinforced that message in a speech on Tuesday. "There will be no turning back in the fight against terror," he told lawmakers from his ruling AK Party. "Turkey's policy in the peace process was correct and its anti-terror operation is correct. Our people have given great support to both processes." In Silopi, local authorities declared a curfew from 4:30 a.m. (0130 GMT) in an announcement delivered by loudspeaker from minarets and police vehicles, witnesses said. In the town of Nusaybin near the Syrian border, which has been under curfew for three weeks, a PKK rocket attack killed an army major and another officer on Monday, security sources said. Erdogan said last week that, since July, 355 members of the security forces had been killed and 5,359 militants "neutralised", a term usually meaning "killed". According to the Turkish Human Rights Foundation (TIHV), at least 310 civilians have been killed during the various curfews imposed in parts of the region between August and mid-March. It said 355,000 people had had to leave their homes as a result of the fighting, which has caused extensive damage in towns such as Cizre, Silopi, Nusaybin and Diyarbakir's Sur district, surrounded by UNESCO-listed Roman-era walls. More than 40,000 people have been killed since the conflict began in 1984. The PKK, which says it is fighting for autonomy for Kurds, is designated a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States and the European Union. (Additional reporting by Ercan Gurses in Ankara; Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Kevin Liffey and David Dolan)
Comparing womens rights in the U.S. with womens rights in China is an exercise in apples and oranges. Even so, Chinas very first gender-injustice case has taken place, with the government settling. Progress? Maybe, maybe not. A little over a year later and the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference, a bipartisan advisory group, has found that:

87%

of recent female college grads say there is still gender discrimination in the job search process.

Not surprised? Well, the whole thing is a lot more complicated than you might think.

First, theres the blatant nature of the discrimination. LOL level. Job ads specify they want tall, single and young (no older than 25) women for pink collar roles, aka secretaries. Men only, of course, for experienced or supervisory jobs. They dont hide it. Its explicit, says Peter Kuhn, a UC Santa Barbara professor who did a study that showed 10 percent of job postings state a sex preference. Women also earn less and are required to have higher qualifications than men. China actually does have laws barring employment discrimination on the basis of gender. It just rarely enforces them. Indeed, in gender-equality rankings, China comes in at 87 out of 142 countries.

So whats wrong with Chinas women? Why dont they act up? Its the year 2015, more than five decades after Title VII of the Civil Rights Act barred sex discrimination in the states (although we said we werent going to compare). Heres the catch: Chinese society brands unmarried, educated lady city dwellers as sheng nu  leftover women. Sweet! And this sobriquet isnt a gift from Chinese frat boys. It started with the government, the same one with those anti-discrimination laws. State-run media started using the term in 2007 as fears began to ratchet up over the countrys gender imbalance  the result of selective abortions and infanticide during Chinas three-decade-plus, one-child policy. Now there is an estimated 20 million male surplus.

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There is this dual situation; women are making gains and at the same time they have lost ground, says Cara Wallis, a communications professor at Texas A&M, who has studied gender dynamics in China. So basically, women in China have to choose: Fight for a career and get branded as a leftover, or marry and stay home and abandon your career. Is there a door No. 3?

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Former WWE wrestler Dave Bautista has signed up for a second sequel, the "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2" actor adding the next "Blade Runner" film to his schedule.

Director Denis Villeneuve has already been joined by original star Harrison Ford as well as Robin Wright and Ryan Gosling, with Ridley Scott, who directed the Philip K. Dick adaptation in 1982, installed as a producer.

Production is to begin in July 2016, Deadline reports, with an eye on a January 2018 release.
Beirut (AFP) - The Islamic State group has mounted a deadly gas attack against Syrian troops at a besieged eastern airbase, state news agency SANA said, the latest report of the jihadists' use of chemical weapons.

SANA did not say precisely how many soldiers had been killed in the attack on the government-controlled airbase outside the divided eastern city of Deir Ezzor.

"Daesh (IS) terrorists attacked Deir Ezzor military airport with rockets carrying mustard gas, causing some people to suffocate," it reported late Monday.

It is the latest in a string of suspected mustard gas attacks by the jihadists in Syria and neighbouring Iraq.

On March 9, a suspected IS gas attack on the Iraqi town of Taza, south of Kirkuk, killed three children and wounded some 1,500 people, with injuries ranging from burns to rashes and respiratory problems.

While the chemical agents allegedly used by IS so far have been among their least effective weapons, the psychological impact on civilians is considerable.

A total of 25,000 people fled their homes in and around Taza last month, fearing another attack.

IS has been battling to capture Deir Ezzor airbase since 2014.

It provides the only supply route other than air drops to the government-held sector of the city, where more than 200,000 civilians are living under IS siege.

On Monday, an IS bombardment of two government-held districts of the city killed seven civilians, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Two suicide bombers also blew themselves up in the village of Jafra near the airbase, the Britain-based monitoring group said.

Deir Ezzor province is vital for the jihadists because it lies between their de facto Syrian and Iraqi capitals Raqa and Mosul.

In recent weeks, IS has faced intense pressure in Syria at the hands of both the Russian-backed army and US-backed Kurdish-led rebels.

An offensive by the army pushed the jihadists out of the ancient city of Palmyra late last month, opening up the possibility of a strike across the desert to relieve the siege of Deir Ezzor.
(Reuters) - Wayne County, home to Detroit, Michigan, ended fiscal 2015 with a general fund budget surplus for the first time in eight years, the county executive announced on Tuesday.

The comprehensive annual financial report for the county, which was placed under state oversight last year, showed a $5.7 million surplus for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, according to County Executive Warren Evans.

"Having a surplus for the first time in eight years is a significant achievement when you consider the financial challenges we faced just over a year ago," Evans said in a statement.

A $52 million structural budget deficit and unfunded liabilities of $900 million for pensions and $1.3 billion for healthcare led Michigan Governor Rick Snyder to declare the county in a financial emergency last July. In August, the county opted to enter into a consent agreement with the state that set out measures to improve the county's cash position and reduce its liabilities.

Detroit's own financial emergency led to the state's appointment of an emergency manager in 2013 and the filing of the biggest-ever U.S. municipal bankruptcy, which the city exited in December 2014.

In his state of the county address last month, Evans said the county was able to reduce costs through new collective bargaining agreements with most of its unions and other measures.

Evans told the Detroit City Council on Tuesday that he is working on a plan to complete a jail project that had been halted due to cost overruns, while warning "it is going to be costly."

"I'm very comfortable that we will be able to borrow the funds to be able to complete the jail," he said.

Moody's Investors Service in February revised the outlook on the county's Ba3 general obligation debt rating to stable from negative, citing "diminished near-term fiscal challenges" due to reductions in pension liabilities and other operating expenses.

(Reporting By Karen Pierog; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)
Despite the fact that Captain America: Civil War is only a month away, there's another Marvel movie that has started creeping into everyone's mind: the Spider-Man reboot. Now that the casting has been done and the hero himself has made an appearance in a trailer, fans of the web-slinger are getting excited.

DON'T MISS: The Internet is furious about this years Walking Dead finale

To make matters even more interesting, the BBC recently noticed that Sony has registered a domain with the name SpiderManHomecomingTheMovie.com, possibly hinting at a title for the upcoming movie.

As Slashfilm explains, Homecoming was an arc of the Amazing Spider-Man comic book series, beginning with issue #252. In this arc, Spider-Man dons the black suit that eventually becomes Venom and several Avengers also make an appearance. This would be an interesting way to bring other MCU characters into Spider-Man's solo film (as well as potentially redeem the on-screen portrayal of Venom).

Unfortunately, there's no way to know exactly what the domain is referring to in the context of the movie. It could be that the team is using the comic arc as a platform to build on, or it could be a red herring, or it might even be in reference to the animated movie coming out in 2018.

Marvel's Spider-Man reboot (Homecoming or not) will hit theaters on July 7th, 2017.

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This article was originally published on BGR.com
Many Donald Trump supporters believe that their candidate is less likely to sell them out if elected because he wont be beholden to the Republican Partys donor class. I'm self-funding my own campaign, he has repeatedly told voters. It's my money."

During the GOP primaries, theres been a lot of truth to that claim: Trumps campaign brought in about $19.4 million by the end of 2015. Trump contributed nearly $13 million of that himself, Politifact reports. Most of the remainder comes from individual contributions, which federal law caps at $2,700 per candidate.

But theres something that his backers should know.

Despite all the talk of financial independence, Trump doesnt plan to fund his own campaign if he makes it to the general election. And his campaign is already behaving like it intends to tap the same big-money donors who bankroll the GOP establishment.

Recommended: How Much Does Bernie Sanders Know About Policy?

Last month, the Washington Post reported that his campaign has already quietly begun planning how to underwrite the cost of a national campaign if he becomes the Republican nominee, holding talks with longtime party fundraiser Ray Washburne about playing a supporting role at the Republican National Committee.

Who is that?

In 2000 and 2004, Ray Washburne worked with George W. Bush's presidential campaign  As a bundler for Bush, Washburne ranked among the "Pioneers" in 2000 and the "Rangers" in 2004, statuses bestowed on Bush's bundlers who raised over $100k and $200K respectively... In 2004, Washburne, along with George Seay III, co-founded Legacy, a politically influential evangelical group of wealthy families. Would-be Republican political candidatesincluding Rep. John Thune, Mike Huckabee, Sen. Tom Coburn , former Sen. Kay Bailey and Sen. John Cornynfrequently seek the backing of Legacy. Looking ahead to the 2012 presidential campaign, Washburne backed the incipient stages of then-Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty's presidential bid. However, after placing third in the Iowa Straw Polls, Pawlenty withdrew his candidacy. Subsequently, Washburne chose to back Mitt Romney for the 2012 presidential elections, becoming Romney's chief Texas donor and Texas co-chair. After Romney's loss in the general election, Washburne was appointed national finance chairman for the Republican National Committee. During his two-year tenure with the RNC, Washburne raised a record $160 million.

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Washburne was backing Chris Christie in 2016, until he dropped out.

Recommended: What If Mexico Really Does Pay for Trumps Wall?

Trump would have his supporters believe that he is averse to the GOP establishments money-grubbing even as he holds talks with one of its most prolific rainmakers.

And thats not all.

In the course of reporting a profile for New York, Gabriel Sherman got access to Trump, including a tour of his campaign office. He was told that Trump wont fund a general election himself. Then he overheard Trumps deputy campaign manager Michael Glassner, a former Bob Dole adviser, discussing campaign finance on the phone. I have to find a place for these rich guys to go to, Glassner said. Dinners, receptions, events. We need everything, because we dont have a finance committee.

Sherman added, It will be a hard sell for Trump, one of the hardest of his career, to persuade GOP donors to pony up, especially after his attacks on the donor class.

Yes, it will be hard.

To get their dollars, Trump will have to reverse positions and offer insiders incredible deals. The best deals. Hell have to convince them that GOP donors who help elect Trump will win so often with him in the White House that theyll get tired of winning.

The betrayal of his base will be yuge.

Read more from The Atlantic:

This article was originally published on The Atlantic.
HARARE (Reuters) - Production of tobacco, Zimbabwe's biggest export earner, is expected to fall 15 percent to 160 million kilograms this season following a drought that has left millions facing hunger, an industry survey showed on Wednesday. Zimbabwe earned $855 million from tobacco sales in 2015, nearly a third of its total exports and far outpacing receipts from platinum or gold. Farmers produced 189 million kgs of tobacco last year but an El Nino-triggered drought caused long dry spells that forced farmers to delay planting, affecting this year's output. Zimbabwe's tobacco selling season began on Wednesday. Monica Chinamasa, chairwoman of industry regulator the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board, said 72,000 farmers had registered to sell their crop compared with 91,000 last year, blaming the decline on drought and a lack of financing for producers. Before 2000, when President Robert Mugabe's government started seizing land from white-owned commercial farmers for redistribution to blacks, only 4,500 farmers grew Zimbabwe's entire tobacco crop. "There is need to empower farmers to overcome the adverse effects of low and erratic rainfall, mid-season droughts and extending the growing season," Agriculture Minister Joseph Made said in speech marking the start of the 2016 selling season. Zimbabwe exports the bulk of its tobacco to China, which has become the largest investor in the Southern African country. Up to 4 million Zimbabweans face hunger due to the worst drought in more than two decades. (Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; Editing by Stella Mapenzauswa and Mark Potter)
By Julia Fioretti LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) - An agreement between the European Union and Canada to share airline passenger data that they say is key to fighting terrorism drew tough scrutiny at an EU court hearing on Tuesday because of privacy concerns. The dispute over the retention and sharing of passenger name records (PNR) has become a shibboleth in Brussels for the debate over balancing people's privacy with the need to protect against terrorism. The agreement with Canada foresees the retention and sharing with Canadian authorities of airline passenger data by carriers operating flights between the EU and Canada. The Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) heard arguments for and against the agreement at a six-hour proceeding. "We ... know that these crimes do not respect borders," said D. Fennelly, a lawyer for Ireland. "The European Union cannot and should not act in splendid isolation." Islamist militant attacks in Paris last year and last month's attacks in Brussels have stoked calls for law enforcement agencies to have easier access to people's data. Ireland, France, Britain, Spain and Estonia, who intervened in the case, emphasized that PNR do not allow investigators to paint a detailed picture of someone's private life. But the European Parliament and privacy advocates cast doubt on that assertion. PNR includes name, travel dates, itinerary, ticket and contact details, travel agent and other details. "Practically all of the PNR data transferred by air carriers is systematically analyzed in order to make assumptions about who is or who is not a dangerous traveler," said Anna Buchta, agent for the European Data Protection Supervisor. The governments' lawyers said it was impossible for investigators to know beforehand which PNR data could prove useful. "If an agreement such as the envisaged agreement, which respects fundamental rights, is unable to be concluded, it will have a major impact on the conclusion of other agreements with other countries, including the European PNR," said Dominique Maidani, a lawyer for the European Commission, referring to a stalled proposal to share passenger data among EU security services. But the lead judge on the case, Thomas von Danwitz, seemed unconvinced about the privacy safeguards in the agreement. "No one tells me that these data are transferred to Canada and no one tells me why they are transferred to Canada," von Danwitz said. A nonbinding opinion from an adviser to the court is expected in June, with a final ruling to follow after the summer. (Editing by Matthew Lewis)
By Julia Fioretti LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) - An agreement between the European Union and Canada to share airline passenger data that they say is key to fighting terrorism drew tough scrutiny at an EU court hearing on Tuesday because of privacy concerns. The dispute over the retention and sharing of passenger name records (PNR) has become a shibboleth in Brussels for the debate over balancing people's privacy with the need to protect against terrorism. The agreement with Canada foresees the retention and sharing with Canadian authorities of airline passenger data by carriers operating flights between the EU and Canada. The Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) heard arguments for and against the agreement at a six-hour proceeding. "We ... know that these crimes do not respect borders," said D. Fennelly, a lawyer for Ireland. "The European Union cannot and should not act in splendid isolation." Islamist militant attacks in Paris last year and last month's attacks in Brussels have stoked calls for law enforcement agencies to have easier access to people's data. Ireland, France, Britain, Spain and Estonia, who intervened in the case, emphasized that PNR do not allow investigators to paint a detailed picture of someone's private life. But the European Parliament and privacy advocates cast doubt on that assertion. PNR includes name, travel dates, itinerary, ticket and contact details, travel agent and other details. "Practically all of the PNR data transferred by air carriers is systematically analysed in order to make assumptions about who is or who is not a dangerous traveller," said Anna Buchta, agent for the European Data Protection Supervisor. The governments' lawyers said it was impossible for investigators to know beforehand which PNR data could prove useful. "If an agreement such as the envisaged agreement, which respects fundamental rights, is unable to be concluded, it will have a major impact on the conclusion of other agreements with other countries, including the European PNR," said Dominique Maidani, a lawyer for the European Commission, referring to a stalled proposal to share passenger data among EU security services. But the lead judge on the case, Thomas von Danwitz, seemed unconvinced about the privacy safeguards in the agreement. "No one tells me that these data are transferred to Canada and no one tells me why they are transferred to Canada," von Danwitz said. A nonbinding opinion from an adviser to the court is expected in June, with a final ruling to follow after the summer. (Editing by Matthew Lewis)
VIENNA (Reuters) - The European Union should consider coming to refugee agreements with North African states along the lines of a deal it has already reached with Turkey, Germany's interior minister said on Tuesday. "We will have to hold discussions with North African states on models similar to the one we have set up with Turkey," Thomas de Maiziere said at a news conference in Vienna, adding that the goal was to put an end to trafficking. "That kind of deal is appropriate - we should apply it to the central Mediterranean route from North Africa via Italy as well," he said. Under the EU-Turkey agreement Ankara should take back all migrants and refugees who cross the Aegean to enter Greece illegally. In return, the EU will take in thousands of Syrian refugees directly from Turkey and reward it with money, visa-free travel and progress in its EU membership negotiations. (Reporting by Kirsti Knolle; Editing by Michelle Martin)
By Nate Raymond

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A onetime business partner of former U.S. Representative Michael Grimm is preparing to plead guilty to a tax charge in a case related to the prosecution that led to the congressman's imprisonment, his lawyer said on Tuesday.

Prosecutors in a filing in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, on Monday said they intend to file charges against Bennett Orfaly, Grimm's former partner in Healthalicious, a restaurant at the center of the Republican politician's criminal case.

James DiPietro, Orfaly's lawyer, in an interview said his client is "hoping to reach a quick resolution with a plea to a tax count."

The filing on Monday said the case would relate to the one against Grimm, who represented a district in the New York City borough of Staten Island. Grimm was sentenced in July to eight months in prison after pleading guilty to tax fraud.

DiPietro said that while the case stemmed from the investigation of Grimm, Orfaly will be charged in connection with other restaurants he owned. A deal could come as soon as next week or the following, he said.

A spokeswoman for Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Robert Capers and a lawyer for Grimm both declined comment. The expected plea was first reported by the New York Daily News.

Grimm, a former Marine who subsequently worked as an FBI agent, was elected in 2010 with a wave of conservative "Tea Party" Republicans advocating low taxes and government spending, but built a moderate voting record.

From 2007 to 2010, Grimm oversaw the day-to-day operations of Healthalicious, which he co-founded with Orfaly, according to authorities.

At a court hearing in 2012, a prosecutor, Anthony Capozzolo, said Orfaly had ties to a member of the Gambino family, Anthony Morelli, who was sentenced in 1996 to 20 years in prison in connection with a gas tax fraud.

That statement came during a bail hearing for a former campaign fundraiser for Grimm, Ofer Biton, who later pleaded guilty to visa fraud in 2013.

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Grimm was subsequently indicted in April 2014 on tax charges related to Healthalicious and pleaded guilty that December to aiding and assisting the preparation of a false tax return.

Prosecutors said Grimm under-reported wages paid to workers, many of whom did not have legal status in the United States, and concealed over $900,000 in Healthalicious' gross receipts from an accountant who prepared the restaurant's tax returns.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in New York; Editing by Leslie Adler)
By Lamine Chikhi and Patrick Markey

ALGIERS (Reuters) - After a deep slide in oil prices, Algeria's Sonatrach is shifting strategy to offer foreign firms direct negotiations to buy stakes in 20 oil and gas fields in a bid to attract investors and increase output, a source at the state energy company said.

The campaign to bring in energy investment comes at a crucial time for the North African OPEC producer as it tackles lower revenues and stagnating production.

Algeria, a key gas supplier to Europe, is also in talks with European Union officials on holding a summit in Algiers in May that will discuss energy investment opportunities in Algeria as EU leaders look to diversify from Russian gas.

The switch to bilateral deals follows two energy bidding tenders that failed to attract much interest. A bid scheduled for last year was canceled because of low crude prices.

"Direct negotiations are a more efficient, less expensive, a faster, and a less bureaucratic approach," the Sonatrach source said of the talks. "Sonatrach is already in negotiations with ENI and several other foreign firms."

The source did not give details of the other firms and ENI declined to comment. The stakes being sold are expected to leave Sonatrach the majority holder as Algerian law dictates.

The 20 fields, which the source said Sonatrach took over from state hydrocarbons agency ALNAFT in September as part of the streamlining process, include oil and gas fields across the center and south of the country in places such as Ouargla and Adrar provinces, and Illizi near the Libyan border.

As part of the campaign, Sonatrach chief Amine Mazouzi will travel to China at the end of the month for meetings with Chinese oil companies SINOPEC and CNPC, which are already operating in Algeria.

Algeria's energy potential is not in doubt, but oil executives say tough terms on production-sharing contracts, bureaucracy and other problems, such as customs delays and archaic banking systems, make the country a less attractive prospect.

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Reforms to open up the and gas sector to foreign investment in 2005 were reversed a year later, adding a windfall tax and more Sonatrach control, when oil prices were high and Algeria's reserves were in good shape.

Security is also a factor after the 2013 attack on the In Amenas plant run by BP and Statoil with Sonatrach in which 40 oil workers died. BP and Statoil on Monday said they were reducing staff in Algeria after rockets hit another gas plant last week.

Oil executives said bilateral contracts may offer flexibility, but Algeria's legal framework and red tape remained a major concern for some companies and it was still unclear what terms Sonatrach would be offering.

"They will need to change the contract terms in order to get real investment," said one oil executive with Algeria experience.

SQUEEZING MORE OUT

Reliant on its mature fields, Algeria's output as been declining for a decade. It peaked at 233 million tonnes of oil equivalent in 2007, before dipping to 187 million tonnes by 2012. Last year it was estimated at 190 million tonnes, but the government sees it at 224 million tonnes by 2019.

Sonatrach is now focused on maximizing output at its mature fields and seeking foreign partners for technology. That effort centers on Hassi Massoud, Hassi Berkine and Illizi in the southwest and west. Japanese firm GJC last month won a $339 million deal to help increase production at Hassi Massoud.

Southern gas fields already in development with foreign partners are expected to come online through 2018 after delays in initial start-up dates, and the government has said it expects gas output to increase by 13 percent by 2019.

After multiple delays, the In Amenas gas plant -- which produced 11 percent of Algeria's gas before the 2013 attack by Islamists militants -- is expected to be back in full operation in April. That would bring its gas production from 16 million cubic meters a day to 20 million.

BUREAUCRACY, DELAYS

Oil executives say beyond the tough financial terms and short exploration periods, other problems in Algeria can be traced back to bureaucracy, delays in data processing, and slow decision-making at Sonatrach and ALNAFT.

Mazouzi last October begun a restructuring aimed at saving money and streamlining bureaucracy to tackle the oil crisis. New assistants were put in charge of downstream, upstream, transport and pipelines, and commercial operations.

But the state company itself has been in constant flux, several former Sonatrach officials and analysts say, after four changes in top management and the loss of hundreds of technicians and engineers in recent years to overseas jobs.

Two corruption scandals and trials of former energy officials have also left Sonatrach ranks nervous and slowed decision-making, former company officials and executives said.

"Sonatrach is a huge company but it is not a great company," Said Beghoul, a former Sonatrach official who is now an oil consultant, said. "It is in serious need of reform."

At a North African oil conference in Algiers late last year, foreign executives repeatedly urged better incentives and flexibility while welcoming dialogue with the government to cut delays that can drag on for years. Even Algeria's energy minister last year called for Sonatrach to speed up work.

Those discussions may be reflected by ALNAFT, which is preparing for another bidding round in addition to Sonatrach's plans, according to the Sonatrach source.

That could be a more tailored process with fields open to only companies suited to developing them, one industry source said. But companies remain wary, with the most recent bid drawing only four deals even after changes in 2013 to oil laws to offer more incentives.

"Its fiscal terms are too tight especially with oil prices as they are, it is not economic. How do you change that, by being creative," one oil executive said. "They are aware of that, they are trying to change."

(Editing by Giles Elgood)
By Pamela Barbaglia (Reuters) - Drugmaker Pfizer Inc is leaning toward abandoning its $160 billion agreement to buy Allergan Plc in light of the U.S. Treasury's new measures to curb such tax evading deals, a source familiar with the situation said on Tuesday. The discussions between the two companies and their lawyers are set to continue for the remainder of Tuesday and no final decision has been made, the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. However, Pfizer is not willing to change the terms of its deal with Allergan which, under the new tax rules, would no longer benefit from the move to Ireland, the source said. Pfizer and Allergan declined to comment. The U.S. Treasury Department took new steps on Monday to curb tax-driven corporate inversions whereby companies seek to slash their tax bills by redomiciling overseas, though their core operations and management usually remain in the United States even as they claim a new tax home. Pfizer is concerned U.S. President Barack Obama's administration could change the rules again to thwart a deal. The source said the company's lawyers have presented alternative ways for the two companies to salvage the inversion but there was little appetite for it. "Pfizer is aware that the Treasury will keep ruling against any solution it can come up with," he said. One of the main hurdles to the deal was Treasury's decision impose a three-year limit on foreign companies bulking up on U.S. assets to avoid ownership limits for a later inversion deal. This means Allergan's latest deals -- which include the $66 billion merger of Allergan Plc and Actavis Plc, the $25 billion purchase of Forest Laboratories and the $5 billion takeover of Warner Chilcott - will not be counted and the business will fail to meet the ownership math for the deal. The source said the new rules came as a surprise as Pfizer was confident of delivering on its $160 billion proposed merger with Allergan. He said the management was rather expecting the Treasury to rule against inversions toward the end of last year when the two companies were looking at ways to bypass the existing law. Pfizer and Allergan have always had an exit strategy in place, the source said. The two drugmakers agreed that either party may terminate the deal if an adverse change in U.S. law would cause the combined company to be treated as a U.S. domestic corporation for federal income tax purposes. The terminating party would have to pay the other company up to $400 million for its expenses, according to the merger agreement. Pfizer's Chief Executive Ian Read has tirelessly worked to find a merger partner and redomicile the business in Europe since dropping a takeover bid for British drugmaker AstraZeneca in 2014. The source said Read firmly believes in the industrial logic of a deal with Allergan and the tax savings that the combined entity would achieve, but he has been put off by the Treasury's latest measures and is unwilling to fight a legal battle with the U.S. authorities. (Reporting by Pamela Barbaglia in London; Editing by Carmel Crimmins and Nick Zieminski)
By Chris Kahn NEW YORK (Reuters) - Republican presidential underdog Ted Cruz has pulled into a statistical dead heat with front-runner Donald Trump, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling. The U.S. senator from Texas has 35.2 percent support among Republicans to Trumps 39.5 percent, according to the survey taken from April 1-5, putting the two within the polls credibility interval of 4.8 percentage points. The two were also briefly in a dead heat on March 28. Trump first jumped to the top of the Reuters/Ipsos national poll in July 2015. The only time a rival came close to Trumps lead in the poll before Cruz was Nov. 7. when neurosurgeon Ben Carson briefly tied him. Cruz had trailed Trump nearly 20-points a month ago. (Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Leslie Adler)
(Reuters) - Nagorno-Karabakh is a mountainous and heavily-forested patch of land that sits inside the territory of ex-Soviet Azerbaijan. Under international law, Nagorno-Karabakh is recognized as part of Azerbaijan. But the ethnic Armenians who make up the vast majority of the population reject Azeri rule. They have been running their own affairs, with support from Armenia, since Azerbaijan's troops were pushed out in a war in the 1990s. Long-standing ethnic tensions in the region between Christian Armenians and their Muslim neighbors flared up in Nagorno-Karabakh in the late 1980s. At the time, the territory was within the borders of the then-Soviet republic of Azerbaijan, but that made little difference to the Armenian population because most decisions were made in Moscow. As the Soviet Union started to break-up, it became apparent that Nagorno-Karabakh would come under the direct rule of the government in the Azeri capital, Baku. The ethnic Armenians did not accept that. Sectarian conflict broke out, escalating into all-out war between Azerbaijan's troops on one side and, on the other, Nagorno-Karabakh's ethnic Armenian forces with support from Armenia. Thousands of people were killed and hundreds of thousands were displaced. By 1994, when an internationally-brokered ceasefire was agreed, the ethnic Armenians were in control of almost all of Nagorno-Karabakh, plus some surrounding districts that provided them with a buffer zone and a land bridge connecting their region to Armenia. From that point on, the war became one of the former Soviet Union's "frozen conflicts" - still unresolved but with little actual fighting. Nagorno-Karabakh's independence was not widely recognized internationally, leaving the ethnic Armenian administration there in a state of legal limbo and under blockade from Azerbaijan's government. Azerbaijan vowed to take back control over the territory, even using military force if necessary. International efforts to find a lasting peace settlement, involving France, the United States and Russia as mediators, came very close on at least one occasion but ultimately failed. In the meantime, a tense armed standoff developed on the "contact line" that separated the two sides' forces. There were periodic exchanges of fire, sometimes involving casualties, but the battle lines did not shift. The fighting that broke out on April 2 was the most intense in years, and prompted warnings that the conflict could spiral once again into all-out war. (Writing by Moscow bureau; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
(Reuters) - Global health officials are racing to better understand the Zika virus behind a major outbreak that began in Brazil last year and has spread to many countries in the Americas. The following are some questions and answers about the virus and current outbreak: How do people become infected? Zika is transmitted to people through the bite of infected female mosquitoes, primarily the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the same type that spreads dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever. The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said Aedes mosquitoes are found in all countries in the Americas except Canada and continental Chile, and the virus will likely reach all countries and territories of the region where Aedes mosquitoes are found. How do you treat Zika? There is no treatment or vaccine for Zika infection. Companies and scientists are racing to develop a safe and effective vaccine for Zika, but the World Health Organization (WHO) said it would take at least 18 months to start large-scale clinical trials of potential preventative shots. How dangerous is it? The PAHO said there is no evidence that Zika can cause death, but some cases have been reported with more serious complications in patients with pre-existing medical conditions. It has also been associated with Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare disorder in which the body's immune system attacks part of the nervous system. How is Zika related to microcephaly? According to the World Health Organization, there is a strong scientific consensus that Zika can cause the birth defect microcephaly in babies, a condition defined by unusually small heads that can result in developmental problems. In addition, the agency said it could cause Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare neurological disorder that can result in paralysis, though conclusive proof may take months or years. Research in Brazil is being conducted to confirm the suspected link to microcephaly, with initial findings expected within months, according to public health officials. Brazil said it has confirmed 944 cases of microcephaly, and considers most of them to be related to Zika infections in the mothers. Brazil is investigating an additional 4,291 suspected cases of microcephaly. Research in Brazil indicates the greatest microcephaly risk is associated with infection during the first trimester of pregnancy. Recent studies from other countries have shown evidence of Zika in amniotic fluid, placenta and fetal brain tissue. What are the symptoms of Zika infection? People infected with Zika may have a mild fever, skin rash, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain and fatigue that can last for two to seven days. But as many as 80 percent of people infected never develop symptoms. The symptoms are similar to those of dengue or chikungunya, which are transmitted by the same type of mosquito. How can Zika be contained? Efforts to control the spread of the virus focus on eliminating mosquito breeding sites and taking precautions against mosquito bites such as using insect repellent and mosquito nets. U.S. and international health officials have advised pregnant women to avoid travel to Latin American and Caribbean countries where they may be exposed to Zika. How widespread is the outbreak? Active Zika outbreaks have been reported in at least 41 countries or territories, most of them in the Americas, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Brazil has been the country most affected. (http://1.usa.gov/1ovAJyh) Africa (1): Cape Verde Americas (33): Aruba, Barbados, Bolivia, Bonaire, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Curacao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Saint Martin, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Maarten, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, U.S. Virgin Islands and Venezuela Oceania/Pacific Islands (7): American Samoa, Fiji, Kosrae, Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands, New Caledonia, Samoa, and Tonga What is the history of the Zika virus? The Zika virus is found in tropical locales with large mosquito populations. Outbreaks of Zika have been recorded in Africa, the Americas, Southern Asia and the Western Pacific. The virus was first identified in Uganda in 1947 in rhesus monkeys and was first identified in people in 1952 in Uganda and Tanzania, according to the WHO. Can Zika be transmitted through sexual contact? The World Health Organization (WHO) said sexual transmission is "relatively common" and has advised pregnant women not to travel to areas with ongoing outbreaks of Zika virus. The U.S. CDC is investigating about a dozen cases of possible sexual transmission. All cases involve possible transmission of the virus from men to their sex partners. On Feb. 27, France said it had detected its first sexually transmitted case of Zika in a woman whose partner had traveled to Brazil. On March 31, the WHO said six countries where Zika is not known to be spreading by mosquitoes have reported locally acquired infections, probably through sexual transmission, naming Argentina, Chile, France, Italy, New Zealand and the United States. British health officials reported Zika was found in a man's semen two months after he was infected, suggesting the virus may linger in semen long after infection symptoms fade. The WHO has advised women, particularly pregnant women, to use condoms. The PAHO said Zika can be transmitted through blood, but this is an infrequent transmission mechanism. There is no evidence Zika can be transmitted to babies through breast milk. What other complications are associated with Zika? The WHO says because no big Zika outbreaks were recorded before 2007, little is known about complications caused by infection. During an outbreak of Zika from 2013-14 in French Polynesia, national health authorities reported an unusual increase in Guillain-Barre syndrome. Health authorities in Brazil have also reported an increase in Guillain-Barre syndrome. Long-term health consequences of Zika infection are unclear. Other uncertainties surround the incubation period of the virus and how Zika interacts with other viruses that are transmitted by mosquitoes, such as dengue. (Compiled by the Americas Desk)
DETROIT/WASHINGTON/MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co on Tuesday announced it would invest $1.6 billion to build more small cars in Mexico, starting in 2018, triggering a fresh blast of criticism from Republican front-runner Donald Trump. Following the announcement, Trump labeled the move "an absolute disgrace." "These ridiculous, job crushing transactions will not happen when I am president," the real estate billionaire said in a statement released by his headquarters. Ford stood by comments on the issue made two weeks ago by its chief executive, Mark Fields, who said the company would not back down on its production strategy. "We are a global, multinational company and we will invest to keep us competitive and we will do what makes sense for the business," Fields said. The automaker announced the investment in Mexico as Trump, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Ohio Governor John Kasich competed in a primary in Wisconsin seen as crucial in the race to become the Republican presidential candidate in the November election. Trump, who has criticized U.S. companies for "sending jobs to Mexico," has singled out Ford for some of his harshest remarks. But data indicates that Ford builds fewer vehicles and employs fewer workers in Mexico than do its Detroit-based rivals, General Motors Co and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles' Chrysler unit. In the United States, Ford has 55,300 hourly paid plant workers, GM has 54,000 and FCA has 36,600, the companies said. GM has about 12,000 hourly paid workers in Mexico, while FCA has 9,547 and Ford has 6,191, the companies said on Tuesday. In 2015, 80 percent of Ford's North American production came from its U.S. plants while 63 percent of GM's North American production came from its U.S. plants and 64 percent of FCA's North American production came from its U.S. plants, according to IHS Automotive. A senior Mexican official said Mexico had stepped back from a high-profile announcement on the Ford plant to avoid stoking tensions in the U.S. election debate stemming from Trump's comments. "Due to the (election) debate, they (Ford) don't want to be in the spotlight," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Citing Mexican sources, Reuters reported the Ford plans in January. Joe Hinrichs, Ford executive vice president and head of the Americas, said on Tuesday that the automaker is investing more money in Mexico "to improve our small-car profitability." In Detroit, United Auto Workers President Dennis Williams described the new Ford investment in Mexico as "a disappointment and very troubling." U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown, an Ohio Democrat, said corporations moving jobs out of the United States only to profit by shipping products back "is why people are so upset with corporate America that outsources so often." Hinrichs declined to say which products Ford plans to build at the San Luis Potosi plant, which is slated to open in 2018 and will employ 2,800 by 2020. U.S. supplier sources have said the plant is expected to build the next-generation Ford Focus compact, as well as a Focus-based hybrid gasoline-electric model aimed at rival Toyota Motor Corp <7203.T> and described as a "Prius fighter." Ford joins a growing list of automakers investing billions in new production capacity in Mexico, where lower labor costs and favorable currency exchange mean companies have a better chance of turning a profit on low-margin small cars. And Mexico's numerous international free trade agreements allow for more profitable exports from Mexico to many countries, said Sean McAlinden, chief economist with the Center for Automotive Research. McAlinden said that Ford's Mexico workers make about $8.25 per hour in wages and benefits, compared with Ford's U.S. workers, who get $60 per hour in wages and benefits. During contract talks last summer, Ford confirmed that it would move Focus production out of its Wayne, Michigan plant in 2018. The UAW said at the time that Ford planned to build the next Focus in Mexico. Hinrichs on Tuesday reiterated that Ford is planning to build two new vehicles at the Wayne plant, beginning in 2018, but declined to provide details. (Reporting by Paul Lienert and Bernie Woodall in Detroit, David Shepardson in Washington and Ana Isabel Martinez in Mexico City; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
Former top Chinese military leader Guo Boxiong has confessed to bribe-taking, the official Xinhua news agency reported Tuesday, citing military prosecutors who described the sums as "extremely huge".

Guo was for a decade one of the two vice chairmen of the Central Military Commission, second only to the Chinese president in the top body of the People's Liberation Army (PLA). He retired in 2012 and was expelled from the ruling Communist Party last year.

His fall came as President Xi Jinping seeks to consolidate his power and enhance his control over the PLA, the world's largest military and technically the armed force of the ruling party rather than the Chinese state.

Guo was found to have taken advantage of his position "to assist the promotion and relocation of other people, accepting an extremely huge amount of bribe personally and through his family", Xinhua cited military prosecutors as saying in a statement.

The 73-year-old had been formally charged and the procedure to prosecute him had begun, it added.

In China criminal charges normally follow expulsion from the ruling party. Trial, conviction and a jail term is effectively guaranteed to follow in a court system controlled by the Communist Party.

Since coming to power Xi has sought to impose his authority on the military, one of the targets of his wide-ranging anti-corruption drive.

As well as being the world's largest active military, a vast network of businesses are linked to the armed forces -- so extensive that academics have dubbed it "PLA Inc". Officials have said it will be fully barred from providing "paid services" in three years' time.

Graft is endemic in China and critics say that without systemic reforms Xi's campaign is open to being used for political infighting.

The hugely powerful former security chief Zhou Yongkang, who was sentenced to life in prison last year, is its most high-profile scalp, while another former Central Military Commission vice chairman, Xu Caihou, died of cancer while under investigation.

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Along with Bo Xilai, whose fall predates Xi's ascension to the highest office, Guo is the fourth former member of the ruling party's 25-strong Politburo to fall.

- 'Anti-corruption sword' -

Guo "confessed to his suspected crime of bribery", Xinhua quoted an official of the military procuratorate as saying.

Prosecutors had taken a "highly responsible attitude to the law and to history", the official said, and seized money and properties involved "in accordance with the law". Others involved who had committed crimes would be punished "without tolerance".

Guo read and signed each interrogation transcript, the official said, adding his legal rights had been "earnestly guaranteed".

Military prosecutors could not be reached for comment.

Chinese media poured scorn on Guo after he was expelled from the ruling party last year.

"One demon killed, all demons deterred," declared a commentary in the People's Daily, the party's official mouthpiece.

"We must raise high and wield the sharp anti-corruption sword, so that the idea of going corrupt will be nipped in the bud and the corrupt will pay a price."

Guo's family built up an enormous fortune after he ascended to the highest echelons of power, news portal Netease.com reported at the time of his expulsion.

His wife He Xiulian acted as a broker between him and senior military officers, taking bribes for promotions and refunding the money if the post did not materialise, it said.
(Reuters) - Four men have been charged with raping a 9-year-old girl in a Utah home on Easter Sunday as her mother smoked methamphetamine in the garage, prosecutors said on Tuesday.

Uintah County Attorney G. Mark Thomas said first-degree felony charges of rape and sodomy of a child had been filed against all of the suspects by late Monday.

The four men - Larson RonDeau, 36, Josiah RonDeau, 20, Jerry Flatlip, 29, and Randall Flatlip, 26 - made their first court appearances on Tuesday, Thomas said.

They were not permitted to enter pleas at that first appearance in accordance with Utah law, he said.

Public defenders Clint Hendricks and Greg Lamb, who represent two of the men, could not be immediately reached for comment. Thomas said he was not sure which suspects were being represented by Hendricks and Lamb.

Two of the four suspects had not yet been assigned counsel.

The Uintah County Sheriff's Office said the girl's mother was visiting friends in the town of Vernal, about 175 miles east of Salt Lake City. The mother was not officially identified.

Investigators said that as the child slept on a couch, the mother went into the garage and began smoking meth. The girl was taken to another room and raped by the four men, according to a statement from the sheriff's department.

Thomas said the four men were present in the room throughout the sexual assault and took turns raping the girl.

The child was not hospitalized after the attack and has been taken into protective government custody, Thomas said. The mother has not been arrested.

Sheriff's deputies took a report of the rape on March 29 and arrested Larson RonDeau that day, the office said. The three others were arrested between March 31 and April 1.

Thomas said each charge carries a minimum mandatory sentence of 25 years to life. Each charge is also enhanced for being carried out as a gang rape, which would add an additional five years to the sentence.

(Reporting by Curtis Skinner in San Francisco; Editing by Sara Catania and Bill Trott)
PARIS (Reuters) - France hopes to reopen its embassy in Tripoli as a sign of support for Libya's new unity government, Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said on Tuesday, in what would be the first reopening of a Western diplomatic mission there. Western governments are growing increasingly concerned about Islamic State's success in establishing a firm foothold in Libya while two rival factions operating two governments fought for power. The West is now backing a U.N.-brokered national unity government, which arrived in Tripoli from Tunisia last week and has been operating from a naval base as it seeks to establish its authority. "Tunisia has reopened its embassy ... We are working on it if the security conditions are guaranteed ... It would be an extremely strong signal to show that we don't give in to terrorists," Ayrault told reporters after a meeting with his German counterpart, Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Ayrault, who described the arrival of the government as an important milestone, said Paris hoped to open its embassy "as soon as possible". Western diplomatic staff were evacuated from Tripoli in 2014 amid heavy fighting between rival factions. European Union sanctions, pushed by Paris, went into effect last week to pressure hardliners to accept the U.N. efforts to unite factions and militias that have competed for power since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Paris took a leading role in the NATO air campaign that helped rebels overthrow Gaddafi, and French aircraft are now conducting reconnaissance flights over Libya while French military advisers operate on the ground in conjunction with Britain and the United States. Asked what further military aid Paris could provide, Ayrault said: "If the Libyan government asks us for help to ensure its security, we are available, but ... there is no question of us deciding anything in their place, especially after what happened in 2011." (Reporting by John Irish; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
Paris (AFP) - French prosecutors have opened a third investigation into fresh allegations of sexual abuse by troops in France's Sangaris peace force based in the Central African Republic.

The prosecutors' office said the probe was opened after the United Nations passed on allegations to the defence ministry of sexual abuse involving French troops in the eastern town of Dekoa between 2013 and 2015, a judicial source told AFP.

There were no details on the number of alleged victims, their ages, or the number of soldiers involved, the source said.

The investigation was opened on Friday, a day after the UN said 108 more victims had come forward with horrifying new accounts of sexual abus, including bestiality, by UN peacekeepers and French troops based in the war-torn country.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he was "shocked to the core" over the allegations that emerged after a UN team traveled to south-central Kemo prefecture to interview the women and girls.

The investigators said "the vast majority" were under-age girls, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said last week.

And AIDS-Free World, a civil society group that tracks peacekeeper sex abuse cases, said three girls told a UN rights officer that in 2014 they were tied up and undressed by a French commander inside a camp and forced to have sex with a dog.

The girls were then allegedly given about $9 in payment.

France's defense ministry says French soldiers, if convicted, would face strict military discipline in addition to any criminal penalties that may be brought.

France sent an intervention force dubbed "Sangaris" to the Central African Republic in December 2013 to help control sectarian unrest.

They were not part of the UN mission, known as MINUSCA, but have been mandated by the Security Council to help restore peace to the country.

- Possible DNA testing -

The UN mission took over from an African Union force in September 2014 as the CAR was still reeling from a wave of bloodshed.

Story continues

The latest probe involving Sangaris soldiers is the third to date.

French prosecutors investigating rape claims by Central African minors have so far interrogated five soldiers but laid no charges.

The soldiers have said they gave away food but asked for nothing in exchange and have denied charges of abuse, a source close to the probe said.

Besides French troops, allegations have been levelled against the Burundi and Gabon contingents of the UN mission.

Dujarric said the UN would carry out joint investigations with Burundi and Gabon of incidents that allegedly took place between 2013 and 2015.

Herve Ladsous, the UN under-secretary for peacekeeping operations, said his organization was discussing the possibility of implementing courts-martial and DNA testing in countries where abuse occurs.

"This would show victims we are dealing with their plight," Ladsous said during a visit to Bangui, the Central African capital.

He also suggested taking DNA samples of troops about to deploy on peace missions "to facilitate paternity tests" in case of claims.

MINUSCA counts about 12,600 foreign police and soldiers, as well as more than 500 foreign civilians.

As disturbing allegations of sexual assault by troops targeting civilians mounted, Ban in August fired the mission chief, but new claims have continued to emerge.

Last week, the UN reported two new cases of sexual abuse by Burundian and Moroccan troops, including one that involved a 14-year-old girl.

In a bid to prevent new abuses, peacekeepers are now confined to their barracks when not working.
The Hague (AFP) - A French terror suspect arrested in weekend raids in the Dutch port city of Rotterdam is fighting his extradition to France, Dutch prosecutors said Tuesday.

The 32-year-old, identified by Dutch media only as Anis B., will remain in custody in the Netherlands, where a court has to decide within 90 days whether to grant a request from Paris to extradite him, the Amsterdam prosecutor said in a statement.

The man is wanted by France for "involvement in a criminal organisation linked to a terrorist enterprise," the prosecutor said.

He was arrested on Sunday at Paris's request suspected of receiving orders from the Islamic State group to attack targets in France.

He appeared before an Amsterdam court on Tuesday and was remanded in custody. The court also ruled he could only have contact with his lawyers and not with other people.

He must appear again this time in a public hearing within 60 days. But no date has been set for that.

France had sought Anis B.'s arrest after French police there said they had thwarted an attack by a man called Reda Kriket, 34, who was caught on Thursday.

French police discovered several assault rifles and explosives at Kriket's apartment in a Paris suburb.

Heavily-armed Dutch police then raided a home in the west of Rotterdam late Sunday following the French investigation.

Police found ammunition, SIM cards, hard drives, cash and drugs in the raids, during which several houses in the area were evacuated.

Three other men were also detained in the operation, including two suspects of Algerian origin aged 43 and 47. No immediate details were available about the third man.

They are also being held on suspicion of involvement in terror attacks, Dutch media reported.

The Netherlands was already on heightened alert after the airport and metro attacks in Brussels a week ago, with security stepped up at airports and train stations and border controls tightened.

Dutch Justice Minister Ard van der Steur on Tuesday told parliament he expected Anis B. "to be extradited to France soon".
The final episode of The Walking Dead season 6 aired Sunday night and it was a 90-minute thriller that ultimately enraged fans of the series. Sure, the episode finally brought us Negan  and what a performance that was  but the creators of The Walking Dead also ended with an amazingly annoying cliffhanger.

The Internet was obviously furious about the ending, but the upside of all that rage is that plenty of funny reactions followed. Youll see some of them below, but you should avoid them in case you still havent seen the grand finale, as theyll contain several spoilers.

DONT MISS: The Internet is furious about this year's 'Walking Dead' finale

If AMC shot a particular wedding scene from Game of Thrones

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVJkG6XXaoQ

Studying the trees

AMC be like

Not the cameraman

the-walking-dead-season-6-finale-cameraman

Guess who? The Walking Dead edition

the-walking-dead-season-6-finale-glenn-dies

Glenns got a way out

the-walking-dead-season-6-finale-glenn-dumpster

Why Carl isnt it

https://twitter.com/Northside_Mike/status/716843050551541760

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The Internet is furious about this year's 'Walking Dead' finale

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More from BGR: Answers to burning questions about the Tesla Model 3

This article was originally published on BGR.com
Libreville (AFP) - Niger's outgoing parliamentary leader Guy Nzouba Ndama on Tuesday announced he will stand in this year's presidential election against incumbent Ali Bongo Ondimba, widening a split in the ruling party.

A well-known figure in Gabonese politics, Nzouba Ndama resigned his post last week along with nine MPs, part of a growing rebel faction seeking to prevent Bongo from gaining re-election.

Speaking in front of hundreds of supporters in Libreville, Nzouba Ndama said he wished to distance himself from the ruling Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG).

Bongo's bid to secure a second seven-year term in the small, oil-rich nation has been formally endorsed by the ruling party.

Despite the hopes raised by Bongo during his election in 2009. following the death of his father Omar Bongo who had been president since 1967, "a sort of anaesthesia" has spread throughout the government, to the detriment of the infrastructure, schools, hospitals and economic development, said Nzouba Ndama.

He also accused those close to the president of "despising the weak and less fortunate with an indecent exhibition of the trappings of wealth" and of shifting huge amounts of capital to other countries as they treat Gabon as nothing more than a cash cow.

Back in 2009 the new presidential candidate Nzouba Ndama was a key supporter of Ali Bongo as he took up the reins from his late father.

But the excited crowd who hailed Nzouba Ndama on Tuesday chanted: "We are tired of the name Bongo, liberate the country!"

Anger over the Bongos' one-family rule has prompted several senior ruling party figures to defect to the opposition, including former African Union commission chief Jean Ping who also plans to run for president in the upcoming polls slated for the second half of 2016.

Raymond Ndong Sima, a former prime minister under Ali Bongo, has also put his hat in the electoral ring.

The rebel faction has so far drawn support from around 15 MPs and former ministers within the PDG.

The single-round presidential election must be held by the end of August, but no firm date as been announced.

Nzouba Ndama, who served as parliamentary leader for 20 years, and the nine parliamentary deputies who resigned last week were angered by the expulsion of three fellow party members for creating a breakaway group which said it would field its own candidate as a result of Bongo's "disastrous track record".
Berlin (AFP) - A German court on Tuesday threw out criminal charges stemming from a catastrophic stampede at a Love Parade street party in 2010 that killed 21 people, in a ruling that enraged victims' families.

The decision by the regional court in the western city of Duisburg for now halts efforts to prosecute those who planned the event over its chaotic crowd management.

"The state's accusations could not be proved with the evidence presented," the court said in a terse statement after dismissing the charges against six city officials and four parade organisers.

"Hence a conviction of the accused could not be expected."

Prosecutors said they would appeal the ruling, as lawyers representing survivors of the stampede and victims' families blasted the decision.

Attorney Baerbel Schoenhof told reporters it amounted to a "slap in the face" for the "extremely traumatised" people at the parade that day.

Julius Reiter, who is representing around 100 co-plaintiffs, called the dismissal a "judicial scandal".

German prosecutors had charged the 10 suspects with negligent manslaughter and bodily harm in February 2014.

The manslaughter charges could have carried sentences of up to five years in prison.

Twelve civil lawsuits are still pending and expected to be heard from next month.

In a rare press conference on a court ruling, presiding judge Ulf-Thomas Bender placed the blame for the case's collapse on major failings in an expert report that was to serve as the main basis of the prosecution's case during the trial.

Bender angrily denounced the evaluation by British crowd disaster expert Keith Still as flawed, biased and contradictory, saying it had little chance of holding up in court.

"Although the court posed 75 follow-up questions, the questions remained unanswered and gaps in the report were not rectified," Bender said.

- Crushed, trampled or suffocated -

The disaster occurred on July 24, 2010 when a large crowd of revellers at one of Europe's top techno music events was forced to go through a narrow tunnel that served as the only entrance and exit to the festival grounds.

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Those killed -- 13 women and eight men who were crushed, trampled to death or suffocated -- included seven foreigners, from Australia, Italy, the Netherlands, China and Spain.

More than 650 people were injured in the mass panic as pressure from a heaving sea of hundreds of thousands of young people squashed the victims against fences and walls.

Prosecutors blamed serious planning errors for the tragedy at the site, a former cargo rail depot in the industrial city.

The mayor of Duisburg at the time, Adolf Sauerland, became the prime target of public anger and was forced to resign by a 2012 city referendum, accused of having ignored warnings that the summer festival was a disaster waiting to happen.

The Love Parade started as an underground event in the former West Berlin in 1989 and was held there most years until 2006, at times drawing over one million people.

Following wrangling over permits and arguments over the mountains of trash left behind, the festival moved from Berlin to cities in western Germany's industrial Ruhr region until the tragedy of 2010.

The deadly disaster led organisers to declare that the Love Parade would never be held again "out of respect for the victims".
Vienna (AFP) - Germany could lift temporary border controls brought in last year to help stem the migrant flow by mid-May if the number of arrivals continues to dwindle, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said Tuesday.

"We would not extend the border controls beyond May 12 if the numbers remain this low," he told Austrian national broadcaster ORF, referring to a recent drop in arrivals following the closure of the main Balkan migrant trail.

De Maiziere made the comments following a meeting of interior ministers from German-speaking countries in the Austrian capital.

The controls on the Austrian border were introduced last September when more than 10,000 migrants and refugees were arriving in Germany on a daily basis.

A majority of them were fleeing war and violence in Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. Many had undertaken a dangerous sea journey from Turkey to Greece, before trekking up the western Balkans in their bid to reach northern EU nations.

Germany let in a record 1.1 million migrants last year as the continent grapples with its worst migration crisis since World War II.

But de Maiziere said the number of asylum-seekers has taken a plunge following border clampdowns by Austria and other countries along the Balkan route in February.
VIENNA (Reuters) - Italy should refrain from sending migrants north towards Austria and Germany or face restrictions on traffic along an important north-south transport corridor, German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said on Tuesday. Austria, which has mainly acted as a conduit into Germany for migrants who have flocked to Europe since last autumn, also played a leading role in effectively closing the main migrant route into Europe, through the Balkans from Greece. With warm weather returning to the continent, Austria is preparing for the arrival of more migrants taking another route - traveling up Italy after having crossed the Mediterranean from North African countries such as Libya. Vienna has said it is preparing to introduce tighter border controls if necessary at the Brenner crossing, an important gateway for goods flowing between Italy and northern European countries such as Germany. "Italy cannot depend on Brenner always staying open," de Maiziere told ORF television during a visit to Austria to meet his counterparts from other German-speaking countries, adding that Rome could not "as in the past simply guide people north". Austria has said that tighter controls, such as vehicle checks and crowd-control measures including barriers and a fence like those at its main crossing with Slovenia, will be introduced at Brenner if the number of arrivals requires it. "We hope that it will not have to be necessary to decide on such matters," de Maiziere told ORF, an Austrian broadcaster. He added, however, that it would also depend on Italy's behavior. "That is assuming that the numbers coming to Italy are not too high. That is assuming that Italy fulfils its obligations," he said, adding that he had been briefed on Austria's plans. An Austrian Interior Ministry spokesman said on Tuesday the number of migrants crossing Austria on their way to Germany had fallen to zero. De Maiziere said recently it had fallen to about 140 a day in March, compared to thousands just a few months ago. De Maiziere said that if the number of arrivals stayed low, Germany would scrap border controls that have held up traffic and angered many people who travel to Germany from Austria. "According to the current estimate, if the numbers remain this low, we would not continue border controls beyond May 12," he said, adding that Germany still wanted to be prepared for a possible change in the trend. (Reporting by Francois Murphy; Editing by James Dalgleish)
VIENNA (Reuters) - Italy should refrain from sending migrants north towards Austria and Germany or face restrictions on traffic along an important north-south transport corridor, German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said on Tuesday. Austria, which has mainly acted as a conduit into Germany for migrants who have flocked to Europe since last autumn, also played a leading role in effectively closing the main migrant route into Europe, through the Balkans from Greece. With warm weather returning to the continent, Austria is preparing for the arrival of more migrants taking another route - travelling up Italy after having crossed the Mediterranean from North African countries such as Libya. Vienna has said it is preparing to introduce tighter border controls if necessary at the Brenner crossing, an important gateway for goods flowing between Italy and northern European countries such as Germany. "Italy cannot depend on Brenner always staying open," de Maiziere told ORF television during a visit to Austria to meet his counterparts from other German-speaking countries, adding that Rome could not "as in the past simply guide people north". Austria has said that tighter controls, such as vehicle checks and crowd-control measures including barriers and a fence like those at its main crossing with Slovenia, will be introduced at Brenner if the number of arrivals requires it. "We hope that it will not have to be necessary to decide on such matters," de Maiziere told ORF, an Austrian broadcaster. He added, however, that it would also depend on Italy's behaviour. "That is assuming that the numbers coming to Italy are not too high. That is assuming that Italy fulfils its obligations," he said, adding that he had been briefed on Austria's plans. An Austrian Interior Ministry spokesman said on Tuesday the number of migrants crossing Austria on their way to Germany had fallen to zero. De Maiziere said recently it had fallen to about 140 a day in March, compared to thousands just a few months ago. De Maiziere said that if the number of arrivals stayed low, Germany would scrap border controls that have held up traffic and angered many people who travel to Germany from Austria. "According to the current estimate, if the numbers remain this low, we would not continue border controls beyond May 12," he said, adding that Germany still wanted to be prepared for a possible change in the trend. (Reporting by Francois Murphy; Editing by James Dalgleish)
It seems like just yesterday that Zayn Malik was engaged to girlband counterpart Perrie Edwards and Gigi Hadid was hanging off the arm of Australian export Cody Simpson.

But oh how Malik and Hadid have grown! Right before our very eyes! Now at the more mature ages of 23 and 20, respectively, the pair has harnessed their collective international superstar powers to become the hottest "It" couple since Kim and Kanye. Naturally, the next step in their relationship as such is to make it Vogue official.

"Gigi Hadid and Zayn Malik's Wanton Weekend in Naples" is the title of their retro-inspired shoot, photographed by Mario Testino in the city known for romance and our favorite frosty tricolored dessert.

Hadid, outfitted in Miu Miu, Marc Jacobs and a Solid & Striped bikini, truly gives us her full range as a model, contorting with grace for a casual upside down kiss. Though the dynamic duo has kept the details of their whirlwind courtship mum (save for a few cryptic Instagrams), they certainly weren't shy about PDA this time.

All in a weekend's work.

A photo posted by Gigi Hadid (@gigihadid) on Apr 5, 2016 at 10:23am PDT
New Delhi (AFP) - Google on Tuesday began offering its own doctor-vetted health information on search pages in India, as the Internet giant battles to boost user numbers in the key emerging market.

The "health cards", available in Hindi and English, cover more than 400 conditions and give basic information such as typical symptoms, the prevalence of a disease and medical illustrations for people with limited reading skills.

After the United States and Brazil, India is the third country to get the health cards, which appear at the top of a Google search page when searching using its smartphone app.

"How contagious is this condition, am I in the age range that's likely to get it, what are the common symptoms -- these are questions we see constantly," said Prem Ramaswami, a senior product manager at Google.

"We view this as a simple outline, a stepping stone, a framework from which an individual can learn about the health condition and have a more informed conversation with their doctor."

The health cards are part of Google's strategy to improve the quality of information available on the Indian Internet, to encourage people to use the search engine and help it tap the vast market.

With hundreds of millions of Indians not online or new to the Internet, Google is still seen by many as a specialist research tool rather than a daily information source.

Many people prefer to ask friends for information rather than search for it online, meaning Google has struggled to gather high-quality content, while India's plethora of official languages has also posed a barrier.

Approximately one in 20 Google searches worldwide is for health-related information, the search giant said.

The Indian health cards were produced together with India's Apollo Hospitals and Columbia Asia Hospitals.

India has roughly one doctor per 1,400 people according to the World Bank -- far fewer than in most developed countries.
MILAN (Reuters) - Italian luxury brand Gucci announced on Tuesday it will unify its women's and men's collections starting from next year in an effort to simplify the designer's business. The first show combining womenswear and menswear will be at Gucci's new Milan headquarters, President and Chief Executive Marco Bizzarri said in a company statement. It did not specify when the show will be scheduled, but a source close to Gucci told Reuters it was likely to be during the women's Fashion Week, the one receiving most attention from both media and buyers. The decision comes amid a growing debate in the fashion industry over the need to combine collections, condense dates for shows as well as putting items on sale immediately after the catwalk presentations.. The Florence-based brand, part of the Kering group, is following in the steps of Britain's Burberry group, which said last November that it would bring its collections under a single brand. Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele, who was promoted to the job in January last year, said it was a "natural" step but "not necessarily an easy path and will certainly present some challenges". The company, however, said it will maintain the 'see now, buy later' schedule by which collections do not land in shops immediately after shows, "respecting the necessities of the creative and production process in luxury fashion." Bizzarri said that the separate dates for the two collections was "a result of tradition rather than practicality" and that the brand would work with the Italian Chamber of Fashion to define the new calendar of dates. (Reporting by Giulia Segreti and Astrid Wendlandt; Editing by Tom Heneghan)
TORONTO (Reuters) - A Canadian plan to encourage private investment in the country's venture capital industry raised more than C$1.35 billion ($1.03 billion), a government bank for entrepreneurs said on Tuesday, after the last of four funds closed to new investors. Private equity investor HarbourVest Partners said its C$375 million ($285 million) fund, mostly dedicated to investing in venture capital funds that back Canadian companies, had been oversubscribed by the limited partners that account for two-thirds of the fund. The remainder of the HarbourVest Canada Growth Fund was provided by BDC Capital Inc, a subsidiary of the federal government-backed Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), which operates at arms length. The HarbourVest fund is part of a plan launched by Canada's former Conservative government in early 2013 to match and attract private-sector funding for local startups. That plan leveraged C$400 million of government cash to bring in more than C$900 million from private investors, which the BDC said had been invested in nearly 100 Canadian companies via the four funds. HarbourVest said it has so far funneled cash to Canadian funds run by Avrio Ventures, Genesys Ventures, Georgian Partners, Golden Venture Partners, Information Venture Partners, Inovia Capital, and McRock Capital, and invested directly in Intelex, a Toronto-based environmental and health and safety software company. It has also backed Battery Ventures, Index Ventures, and Spark Capital, three U.S. fund managers who invest in Canada. The three other funds that the government promoted to investors are the Teralys Capital Innovation Fund, the Kensington Venture Fund and the Northleaf Venture Catalyst Fund. ($1 = 1.3178 Canadian dollars) (Reporting by Alastair Sharp; Editing by Paul Simao and Fiona Ortiz)
By Camillus Eboh ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria's third most powerful politician went on trial on Tuesday accused of falsely declaring assets when he was a state governor. Senate President Bukola Saraki, a member of the ruling party who heads the upper house of parliament, has pleaded not guilty to the charges relating to when he was governor of the central Nigerian state of Kwara from 2003 to 2011. Since being elected last year, President Muhammadu Buhari has launched a crackdown on graft which has held most Nigerians in poverty despite the country's energy wealth. Saraki's lawyers had sought to stop the trial by arguing that the attorney general had no power to mount a case against him. He said on Tuesday he was confident he would be exonerated if the trial was conducted fairly. The 13 charges he faces at the national Code of Conduct Tribunal, a special court that deals with asset declaration misdemeanors, mostly relate to the ownership of land held by his company Carlisle Properties Ltd during that period. Other allegations include transferring $3.4 million to an account outside Nigeria while he was governor, and sending 1.5 million pounds to a European account to cover a mortgage for a London property. "In the course of our investigation, we discovered that there were several companies which were linked to the defendant," said the first court witness, Michael Wetkas, an official at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. The trial was adjourned. If found guilty, Saraki would be removed as Senate president, barred from holding any public office for up to 10 years and could be jailed. The start of trial coincides with Saraki being cited in the huge Panama Papers data leak about the tax affairs of public figures around the world. Nigerian newspaper Premium Times, which was among more than 100 news organizations involved in the leak with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, said Saraki's family held at least four undeclared overseas offshore assets, among them one London property. Responding to those allegations, Saraki said in statement he had declared all assets in line with the law. (Writing by Ulf Laessing; Editing by Alison Williams)
Its easy to assume that burglars and thieves are always after conventional valuables: cash, jewels, or high-end electronics. But some of the most memorable heists actually involve food.

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Gastropod

Inspired by Geoff Manaugh's new book, A Burglar's Guide to the City, we dive into the ancient history and detective science behind food crime. From Spartan hunger games to the McDonalds burglar, food is a surprisingly popular target (and tool) for thieves. Who knew that 4 percent of all the cheese produced in the world is destined to be stolen, or that Scandinavian burglars use potatoes to bust open vaults? In this episode, we talk to agricultural detective Rocky Pipkin about nut rustlers, cherry skims, and bee-hive heists. With the price of almonds up at half a million dollars per trailer-load, thieves in California's Central Valley have begun setting up elaborate schemes to strip an entire orchard or boost a truckand farmers are fighting back with military technology.

As regular Gastropod listeners will know, maple syrup is another valuable commodity: a barrel of the sweet stuff can be worth thirteen times more than crude oil. Journalist Brendan Borrell tells us the story of the Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist of 2012, explaining how the burglars managed to haul off six million pounds of syrupand where that syrup likely ended up. Throughout the episode, author Geoff Manaugh serves as our guest expert, helping us see the world through the eyes of a burglar while sharing stories of some of the greatestand the most stupidfood heists of history. Listen in nowbut please don't get any ideas!

This article appears courtesy of Gastropod, a podcast co-hosted by Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley that looks at food through the lens of science and history.

Read more from The Atlantic:

This article was originally published on The Atlantic.
Elizabeth Tasker, an astrophysicist at Hokkaido University in Japan. Elizabeth received her doctorate in astrophysics from the University of Oxford and a Master in Science in theoretical physics from Durham University. Her articles on astronomy and space science have appeared in a range of publications, including Scientific American, Astronomy Magazine, Nautilus and The Conversation. You can follow her on twitter @girlandkat. Tasker contributed this article to Space.com's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.

At 4:40 p.m. JST (07:40 GMT) on Saturday, March 26, scientists at the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) waited to communicate with the five-week-old X-ray space observatory Hitomi. They were met with silence.

The prospect of losing a spacecraft is the nightmare of every space scientist. Each mission is painstakingly selected for its potential for scientific discovery. Even more than cost, the loss of the observatory's knowledge is a terrible blow. And for Hitomi, the science stakes have never been higher.

At the edge of black holes

Hitomi's name comes from the Japanese word for "eye pupil." But unlike our eyes that focus visible light, Hitomi's four telescopes focus X-ray radiation. X-rays have far shorter wavelengths than visible light, corresponding to a much higher energy. To gain the energy needed to emit X-rays, gas must become extremely hot, with temperatures exceeding millions of degrees. This lets X-rays probe for the most violent events in the universe.

Buried in the center of nearly every galaxy is a supermassive black hole. The gravitational pull from these cosmic beasts, millions to billions of times the size of our sun, whips the encircling gas to incredible temperatures and bathes the galaxy in X-ray radiation.

This region of black hole and gas is known as an active galactic nucleus (AGN), and it is the site of the most extreme conditions in the universe. The highest-energy X-rays are emitted close to the black hole's edge. These reflect off of the surrounding material, producing a spread of wavelengths through the X-ray range that depends on the structure of the gas.

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This structure has intrigued astrophysicists for more than 40 years. The energy emitted from AGN strongly affects the evolution of the galaxy, while the motion of gas is a test bed for physics at its limits. Understanding these processes requires knowing the gas conditions that are revealed in the radiation. With four X-ray telescopes and a gamma-ray detector for even shorter wavelengths, Hitomi is sensitive to radiation in wavelengths from 4 to 0.002-nanometers. This combination of a wide wavelength range and extreme sensitivity surpasses previous satellites' abilities to probe the innermost mysteries of the AGN.

The flagship instrument

Hitomi's flagship instrument is a spectrometer to measure the strength of X-rays at different wavelengths. This is equivalent to measuring the intensity of colors in visible light. Called the soft X-ray spectrometer (SXS), this instrument is 50 times more sensitive than instruments on previous missions to the differences in X-rays emitted by sources that stretch across huge areas.

One such source is galaxy clusters. Containing hundreds to thousands of individual galaxies, these extended structures are full of hot gas. And even more intriguing, they might contain a signature of the most elusive puzzle in astrophysics: dark matter.

Dark matter makes up roughly 84 percent of all the matter in the universe, yet nobody knows what it is. While dark matter does not emit radiation, one possibility is that it's a particle that decays into X-rays. Such decay would be rare, but a huge galaxy cluster could contain enough events to produce a detectable signature. Possible detections have been reported in the past two years, but are these really from elusive dark matter?

Tesla Jeltema, an astronomer at the University of California, Santa Cruz, is skeptical. She believes the detection is most likely from more regular particles, such as hot potassium or sulfur.

The two options can be distinguished, but an accurate measurement of the X-ray wavelength from Hitomi's SXS is needed.

In a cruel twist of fate, the SXS on Hitomi is the fifth attempt at such an instrument. A similar design was initially considered for two NASA missions, but the plans were scrapped. The spectrometer then became part of the JAXA ASTRO-E mission, but a failure during launch sent the satellite into the ocean. It finally flew on the replacement mission, ASTRO-EII, which became the Suzaku satellite once in space. Despite Suzaku's success over 15 years of operation, the spectrometer failed to collect data due to a leak in the coolant.

It is a chronology that belongs in a science fiction book, if anyone would be heartless enough to write such a tale.

A lost conversation?

Since communications with Hitomi failed on Saturday, the news has been limited and speculative. Observations from ground stations ominously confirmed the presence of debris around the satellite's position. However, JAXA have received a fleeting signal four times since the debris was seen, raising hopes that the satellite is not completely inactive.

The SXS had previously been operating well over the past month, and scientists have yet to review all of that data. Although the amount of data is small compared to what would have been collected over the planned three years of the mission, there could be interesting results in the pipeline. However, whether a partial recovery of Hitomi is ultimately possible may not be known for a while.

The loss of Hitomi would be a hard hit for X-ray astronomy. No current telescope can replicate its data because it was the only observatory to have the groundbreaking SXS instrument and access to the range in wavelengths at that sensitivity. The current X-ray satellites also lack Hitomi's versatility or were launched in the late 1990s, making the duration of their remaining operation time uncertain.

The next planned mission is the European Space Agency's Athena telescope, which is due to launch in 2028. This leaves a sizable hole in time to be filled with old technology. Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, told Space.com that "The loss of Hitomi (would) leave a big gap in the world's capability."

The need for Hitomi was further increased by the announcement in February of a gravitational wave detection from merging black holes. Future events will need matching radiation observations to further test Einstein's predictions for the nature of space itself. However, the astronomy community may have to hold out for a miracle.

Follow all of the Expert Voices issues and debates  and become part of the discussion  on Facebook, Twitter and Google+. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. This version of the article was originally published on Space.com.

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TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - A 21-year-old American woman was detained in Honduras, authorities said on Wednesday, for allegedly heading a faction of the Mara Barrio 18, one of the gangs responsible for a crime wave in the Central American nation that has sent families flocking to the United States seeking refuge. Amarjit "La Chucky" Pabla and two other Hondurans were arrested on Tuesday night in a poor neighborhood of the capital Tegucigalpa, where authorities also seized seven firearms. A spokeswoman for the National Anti-Extortion Force (FNA) police unit said that Pabla planned and ordered killings in territorial disputes with rival gangs. Pabla, who was born in California to an American father and a Honduran mother, is the wife of Cristian Ariel "Little Sam" Calix, a Mara Barrio 18 leader who has been in prison since December on charges of arms and drug trafficking, according to FNA. A spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Honduras said the Embassy takes its obligation to support American citizens abroad very seriously and will provide all appropriate consular assistance to Pabla. Formed in the 1980s in the United States by Central American immigrants, the "maras" morphed into feared international gangs when, a decade later, many of their leaders were deported to their countries of origin such as Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. Women rarely hold leadership positions in the gangs. The two most dangerous gangs, Mara Barrio 18 and Mara Salvatrucha 13, are waging a war to dominate extortion, drug dealing and theft that has turned Central America into one of the most dangerous regions of the world. (Reporting by Gustavo Palencia; Editing by Alistair Bell)
TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - Honduras' governing party on Sunday proposed the sitting president as their candidate for 2017 elections, a decision likely to stir fresh debate over re-election, a contentious issue at the heart of a coup just six years ago. Though President Juan Hernandez, of the conservative National Party, has not yet confirmed whether he will run again, and any decision would have to be ratified in a party vote, he has the backing of the party leadership and, as yet, no credible opponent. Last April, the country's Supreme Court struck down a law that banned presidents from seeking a second term. Opposition leaders have said they would challenge that ruling. Since taking office in 2014, Hernandez' ramped-up military offense against drug traffickers and gangs has driven down the homicide rate. Allegations of abuses by soldiers, however, have also risen since the military was first deployed under his predecessor in 2012. The fight over presidential re-election led to a bitter political stand-off which ended in a coup against former President Manuel Zelaya in 2009. Honduras is set to hold a general election in late 2017. (Reporting by Gustavo Palencia; Writing by Christine Murray; Editing by Sandra Maler)
By Susan Cornwell WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The ethics committee of the U.S. House of Representatives said on Tuesday it would continue to investigate possible conflicts of interest by Representative Alan Grayson, a Florida Democrat and liberal firebrand running for the Senate seat soon to be vacated by Marco Rubio. The possible conflicts of interest relate to Grayson's roles as both a hedge fund manager and a member of Congress. The committee in a statement said the matter needed further review; it gave no time frame for completion. Grayson has denied any wrongdoing. In a statement Tuesday, his campaign called the ethics probe a "political witch hunt." The extension means the issue will still hover over a race that is seen as key to Democrats' bid to wrest control of the Senate from Republicans in November's elections. The primary is in August. The New York Times reported in February that emails and the fund's marketing documents showed Grayson had promoted his international travels, some with congressional delegations, to solicit business for the fund, in possible violation of House ethics rules. "The larger picture here is that the Washington political establishment has decided who their favored candidate is, and it's not Rep. Grayson," the statement from Grayson's campaign said. Top Democrats have tried to get Grayson to drop out of the Florida Senate race because of the questions about the hedge fund, throwing their support to Democratic opponent Representative Patrick Murphy. President Barack Obama has endorsed Murphy, and Vice President Joe Biden has campaigned with Murphy. Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid said earlier this year that Grayson's actions had disgraced Congress and that he should leave the Senate race immediately. But Grayson has been endorsed by some grassroots liberal groups who appreciate his outspokenness. One of his more famous lines, delivered during the Obamacare debate in 2009, was that the Republican health-care plan for America amounted to "don't get sick," and if you do, "die quickly." The New York Times reported that Grayson had created the hedge fund in 2011 after losing a race for re-election to Congress, and kept it open after he was re-elected in 2012. According to filings with the Securities and Exchange, the fund had been called the Grayson Fund, but Grayson changed the name to Sibylline Fund LP. The Times reported the fund had closed branches previously located in the Cayman Islands. Rubio, who recently ended a campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, leaves the Senate after this year after just one term. Republicans seeking the seat include Representatives Ron DeSantis and David Jolly. (Reporting by Susan Cornwell; Editing by Leslie Adler)
The 12-inch Retina MacBook represents the pinnacle of Apple's laptop design and engineering, a device thats already been cloned by many competitors. Apple is rumored to launch 13-inch and 15-inch MacBooks later this year, but until that happens, HP wants to impress you with a new notebook that's a worthy rival for Apple's best looking PC yet.

The newly launched Spectre is a 13.3-inch laptop that HP says is the thinnest in the world. It brings over a bold new HP logo, what looks like amazing design, and promises solid performance. The price? About what a MacBook costs.

DONT MISS: Answers to burning questions about the Tesla Model 3

The Spectre 13.3-inch is just 0.4-inches (10.4 millimeters) thick, slightly bigger than an iPhone 6s, or as thick as an AAA battery. The laptop is weighs 2.45 pounds, and its made from both aluminum (hood and body) and carbon fiber (base). Theres also a new hinge design in place that was inspired by cabinet door hinges, as Mashable points out.

hp-spectre-13.3-inch-2016-2

Thus, the new Spectre is thinner than the Retina MacBook, which is Apples thinnest laptop.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXV7k7Bt9ow

The device promises to offer users a worthy computing experience. Rather than go for a fanless design made possible by Intels Core M processor  as is the case of the MacBook  HP chose to offer customers more powerful Core i5 and i7 processors. Other specs include Full HD non-touch display, 8GB of RAM, up to 512GB PCIe SSD, an Intel hyperbaric cooling system, and Bang & Olufsen sound. The laptop packs a four-battery pack arrangement that lets it maximize interior space and offer almost 10 hours of battery life.

hp-spectre-13.3-inch-2016-1

When it comes to ports, the Spectre also outdoes the MacBook. The laptop has three USB Type-C ports, two of them ready to support Thunderbolt 3 speeds, and a 3.5mm headphone hack. Any USB Type-C port can be used to charge the laptop, or transfer data.

The laptop will have a starting price of $1,249.99, and will launch online on April 25th, and in Best Buy stores on May 29th. An early video review of the Spectre 13.3-inch model follows below.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2t77twzhD0w

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Reykjavik (AFP) - Iceland's prime minister has resigned, the first political victim of a mushrooming global scandal over hidden offshore financial dealings exposed in the so-called Panama Papers.

Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson was the biggest casualty so far of a worldwide media probe into 11.5 million leaked documents that purportedly reveal the offshore financial activities of 140 political figures.

"The prime minister told (his party's) parliamentary group meeting that he would step down as prime minister and I will take over," said the Progressive Party's deputy leader Sigurdur Ingi Johannsson.

Other leaders and celebrities implicated in the papers leaked from a Panamanian law firm have hit back at the allegations, denying any wrongdoing despite the international furore.

Those named include Russian President Vladimir Putin's associates, Chinese President Xi Jinping's relatives, FIFA's new president Gianni Infantino and stars such as Argentine footballing great Lionel Messi.

Iceland's leader had been under pressure after it emerged he and his wife invested millions of dollars in an offshore company that had stakes in three Icelandic banks that collapsed in 2008, tipping the country into a deep recession.

He denies any wrongdoing, but bowed out on Tuesday after thousands took to the streets.

"We want a new government," said Katrin Thorvaldsdottir, 63. "We want to be governed by people who pay their taxes in Iceland, and for that we need a new vote as soon as possible."

Gunnlaugsson's office sought to play down the decision, saying the premier had "suggested" his deputy take over "for an unspecified amount of time".

"The prime minister has not resigned and will continue to serve as chairman of the Progressive Party," it said in a statement.

- Panama lashes out -

The vast stash of records from Panama's Mossack Fonseca law firm was obtained from an anonymous source by German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung and shared with more than 100 media groups by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).

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The first findings were published on Sunday after a year-long probe.

Offshore financial dealings are not illegal in themselves, though they may be used to hide assets from tax authorities, launder the proceeds of criminal activities or conceal misappropriated or politically inconvenient wealth.

Australia, France and the Netherlands have announced investigations, while Canada has requested a copy of the papers for its own probe. A judicial source said Spain had opened a money-laundering probe into the law firm.

Panama has pledged to investigate the revelations, but France's Finance Minister Michel Sapin said his country would still put it back on a list of countries that do not cooperate in tracking down tax dodgers.

Minister for the presidency, Alvaro Alema, reacted angrily, threatening "retaliation measures against countries that include Panama in 'grey lists'" of tax havens.

Panama also hit back at the head of the OECD, Angel Gurria, saying his description of the country as the last major tax haven impenetrable to law enforcement was "unfair and discriminatory".

Mossack Fonesca, which was already being investigated in Germany and Brazil, blamed the leak on a hack from overseas and said it had lodged a criminal complaint with Panama prosecutors.

"That is the only crime that has been committed," one of the founders, Ramon Fonseca, told AFP.

- Latest allegations -

The papers, from around 214,000 offshore entities covering almost 40 years, have been met with anger, bafflement and denial since their release.

Beijing refused to respond to "groundless accusations" that eight current or former members of the ruling party's most powerful body concealed their fortunes through offshore havens, as well as relatives of Xi, who has overseen a much-publicised anti-corruption drive.

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif pledged to create a commission to investigate after three of his children were named in the papers, while the Kremlin blamed a US plot for claims a close friend of Putin's heads an offshore empire worth more than $2 billion.

Messi's family has denied wrongdoing over allegations the footballer and his father own an offshore company not disclosed in a Spanish tax probe.

Also among the revelations from the Panama Papers:

-- New FIFA president Gianni Infantino signed TV rights contracts for football tournaments in 2006 and 2007 using a company headed by two defendants in the body's corruption scandal. He denied any wrongdoing and told AFP he was "dismayed" by the claims.

-- Argentina's President Mauricio Macri said he had declared an offshore company registered to him, his brother and father to tax authorities and "there was nothing strange about the operation".

-- Prime Minister David Cameron's father ran an offshore fund that paid no tax in Britain for 30 years. A government source told AFP the premier did not have any such funds.

-- Oscar-winning Spanish director Pedro Almodovar cancelled a media event for his newest film, "Julieta," after being named in the papers.

-- Syria used Mossack Fonseca to create shell companies to help it break international sanctions and fund its war effort, French paper Le Monde reported.

-- The head of one of Chile's leading anti-corruption watchdogs resigned after being named in the papers.
REYKJAVIK (Reuters) - Iceland Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson will step down, the deputy head of his party said on Tuesday, after leaked files showed the premier's wife owned an offshore firm with big claims on Iceland's collapsed banks. Sigurdur Ingi Johannsson, who is also currently minister of fisheries and agriculture, told reporters that the progressive party will suggest to its coalition partners in the Independence Party that he should become the new prime minister. Earlier in the day, Gunnlaugsson asked Iceland's president to dissolve parliament in the face of a looming no-confidence vote and protests over the "Panama Papers", a leaked trove of documents revealing the financial arrangements of politicians and public figures from around the world. (Reporting by Ragnhildur Sigurdardottir; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
Reykjavik (AFP) - Iceland's prime minister on Tuesday asked the president to dissolve parliament as his government reeled from a political crisis over the so-called Panama Papers, but the president refused.

President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, who cut short a US visit to return to Reykjavik earlier Tuesday to deal with the crisis, told a televised press conference he wanted to consult the government's junior coalition member before making a decision.

Grimsson said a meeting with the premier "resulted in me refusing to sign a declaration to dissolve parliament nor make any promises to the prime minister that I would agree to that before I knew and had conversations with leaders of other parties about their stand."

Refusing a request to dissolve parliament was unprecedented in Iceland, political observers said.

Prime Minister Sigurdur David Gunnlaugsson, 41, has been under pressure to resign since leaked financial documents showed that he and his wife Anna Sigurlaug Palsdottir owned an offshore company in the British Virgin Islands and had placed millions of dollars there.

The leftwing opposition on Monday presented a motion of no-confidence in Gunnlaugsson, which could be voted on as early as this week.

Gunnlaugsson had said earlier Tuesday he would seek the dissolution of parliament if he did not get the support of the junior coalition member Independence Party.

Independence Party leader Bjarni Benediktsson, who is finance minister, was also named in the leaked "Panama Papers", and his party has not yet said whether it plans to support Gunnlaugsson.

Thousands of demonstrators protested outside parliament in Reykjavik on Monday, throwing eggs and yoghurt at the building and calling on Gunnlaugsson to step down.

Another protest was scheduled for Tuesday evening.

Gunnlaugsson's company, named Wintris Inc and acquired in 2007, was intended to manage his wife's inheritance from her wealthy businessman father, according to the Panama Papers.

The prime minister sold his 50-percent share to his wife for a symbolic sum of $1 at the end of 2009.

But when he was elected to parliament for the first time in April 2009, as a member of the centre-right Progressive Party, he neglected to mention his stake in his declaration of shareholdings.
By Francesco Canepa and Frank Siebelt FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The global economy's already modest prospects will decline further unless authorities take stronger action to boost growth, the head of the IMF warned on Tuesday, saying the Fund would cut its headline forecasts next week. Christine Lagarde said China's shift to an economic model based more on domestic demand, stubbornly low commodity prices and tighter funding conditions in some countries had all clouded the outlook. "Let me be clear: we are on alert, not alarm. There has been a loss of growth momentum," the International Monetary Fund's managing director said in a speech at Frankfurt's Goethe University. The recovery from the 2007-2009 global financial crisis "remains too slow, too fragile and risks to its durability are increasing." But if policymakers confronted the challenges and acted together, "the positive effects on global confidence -- and the global economy -- will be substantial." Lagarde advised the United States to raise its minimum wage, Europe to improve job training and emerging economies to cut fuel subsidies and boost social spending. She gave her strongest hint yet that the IMF will cut its global economic forecasts next week. "The global outlook has weakened further over the last six months so you can (deduce) from that there will be a slight revision (in the IMF estimates)," Lagarde said. SPRING MEETINGS Lagarde's remarks come less than two weeks before ministers, central bankers and other policymakers from the Fund's 188 member countries gather in Washington to assess the health of the world economy at the IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings. While the U.S. recovery has been gaining momentum and some emerging markets including as Mexico have performed well, the IMF views Europe and Japan as major disappointments, while China's slowing growth has hurt oil and commodity exporting countries, including Brazil and Russia. To counteract the headwinds, Lagarde called for accelerated structural reforms, increased fiscal support and continued accommodative monetary policy. She urged improved tax incentives for research and development investments, citing IMF data showing that a 40 percent increase in R&D spending in advanced economies could yield a 5 percent increase in GDP over 20 years. Asked about negotiations between the IMF, European lenders and Greece for a new bailout program for the heavily indebted country, Lagarde told Bloomberg TV the Fund continued to negotiate "in good faith". After Internet site Wikileaks published an apparent transcript of an IMF conference call, Lagarde denied that IMF staff might threaten to pull out of the bailout as a negotiating tactic to force more European debt relief for Greece. Introducing Lagarde's speech, Jens Weidmann, who sits on the European Central Bank's decision-making body and heads Germany's Bundesbank, said the IMF was "an essential component" in any euro zone rescue program. Among other sources of uncertainty facing the global economy, Lagarde listed Britain's debate over remaining in the European Union. (Additional reporting by David Lawder in Washington; Editing by John Stonestreet)
CAIRO (Reuters) - The Islamic State militant group released a video on Tuesday suggesting it may carry out further attacks in the West, naming London, Berlin and Rome as possible targets. "If it was Paris yesterday, and today Brussels, Allah knows where it will be tomorrow. Maybe it will be in London or Berlin or Rome," said a member of the group in English on the video which showed footage of the aftermath of previous attacks. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for bombings that killed 31 people in Brussels in March and attacks in Paris last November that killed 130. The video showed images of the House of Commons in London and Rome's Colosseum. (Reporting by Ali Abdelaty; Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Catherine Evans)
Washington (AFP) - Senior Republican lawmaker John McCain warned Tuesday the US-led coalition is headed for "slow, grinding failure" unless it scales up the fight against the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq.

"I bore witness to the failed policy of gradual escalation that ultimately led to our nation's defeat in the Vietnam War," Senator McCain, a Navy veteran who heads the Senate Armed Services Committee and ran against Barack Obama in 2008, wrote in a letter to Defense Secretary Ash Carter.

"This administration's grudging incrementalism in the war against the Islamic State risks another slow, grinding failure for our nation."

McCain said military commanders had told him they have been hamstrung in their pursuit of the IS group.

"They have been reduced from considering what it will take to win to what they will be allowed to do by this administration.... This is unacceptable," McCain said.

Following the drawn-out US-led war in Iraq, President Obama has been reluctant to commit large numbers of ground troops to anti-IS efforts in Syria and Iraq, preferring to partner with local forces he argues should lead the fight for their homelands.

The US military also has procedures to minimize civilian deaths, prompting critics to say restrictions are too tight.

McCain called on Carter to provide detailed information on US troop numbers in Iraq and Syria, and whether the Pentagon envisions sending more troops to Africa to deal with the IS group as it "metastasizes" across the continent.

The defense secretary was to meet with Obama in the White House later Tuesday along with a slew of the Pentagon's top brass to discuss defense strategies and priorities.

Speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank, Carter said the Pentagon is doing all it can to quicken the anti-IS fight, which began in August 2014.

The campaign has dealt some important defeats to the group, but the jihadists still control huge areas, including the key Syrian city of Raqa and Mosul in Iraq.

"We've got to get these guys beaten, and as soon as possible," Carter said.

"We are looking for every opportunity we can take to do that.... We are doing more every day and we are looking for opportunities to do yet more because we need to get this over with. I am confident we will defeat ISIL, I have no question in my mind about it."
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The acting associate attorney general at the U.S. Justice Department, Stuart Delery, will be leaving his job on April 14, Attorney General Loretta Lynch said on Tuesday.

"Stuart Delery has been an indispensable source of wisdom, leadership and inspiration at the Department of Justice, working relentlessly to make the ideals of equal opportunity and equal justice a reality for all," Lynch said in a statement.

Delery is expected to be replaced by Bill Baer, who is now the assistant attorney general in charge of the Antitrust Division, according to National Public Radio. Baer did not return a phone call seeking comment.

Justice Department spokesman Patrick Rodenbush said Delery was leaving for personal reasons and would explore options in the private sector.

Delery, who served seven years in total at the department, is openly gay and argued at the appellate court level against the Defense of Marriage Act, which prevented gay marriage from being recognized by the federal government.

After the key provisions of the act were overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, Delery led a government-wide implementation of the decision.

Former Attorney General Eric Holder announced Delery's promotion to acting associate attorney general, the No. 3 position at the department, in September 2014.

Delery led settlement negotiations that recovered $14.3 billion from cases of fraud against the government. He also oversaw monetary recoveries in health care, procurement and financial fraud cases.

(Reporting by Julia Edwards and Diane Bartz; Editing by Fiona Ortiz)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department is reviewing leaked documents from a Panama law firm involving offshore financial arrangements of global politicians and public figures for potential evidence of corruption, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

Earlier on Monday, the White House said it could not specifically comment on the "Panama Papers" but pointed to the Justice Department, along with the U.S. Treasury Department, as generally continuing to focus on financial corruption.

(Reporting by Julia Edwards and Susan Heavey; Editing by Chris Reese)
The Hague (AFP) - War crimes judges on Tuesday threw out charges of crimes against humanity against Kenya's Deputy President William Ruto over his alleged role in post-election bloodshed in 2007-2008, but left the door open to a possible new trial.

In a fresh blow to the prosecution, the judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) ruled the charges against Ruto and his co-accused Joshua arap Sang "are vacated".

Ruto, 49, and Sang, 40, had both denied three counts of crimes against humanity -- namely murder, forcible deportation and persecution.

The two men were however "discharged without prejudice to their prosecution afresh in the future," the judges said, as the presiding judge slammed a "troubling" pattern of "witness interference".

Chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said her case had been "eroded by a perfect storm of witness interference and politicisation" adding the intimidation of witnesses had been "methodical, far-reaching and exceptionally well-resourced."

The decision was also met with dismay by rights groups and the victims of the violence unleashed by the disputed December 2007 elections, which left hundreds dead.

"There is no doubt that this will come as a disappointment for victims," Wilfred Nderitu, the lawyer representing the victims, told reporters in Nairobi, urging Bensouda to appeal.

Human Rights Watch senior legal adviser Elizabeth Evenson said: "The end of this case leaves victims bereft of justice and the help they need."

- 'Political meddling' -

The chamber concluded "the prosecution did not present sufficient evidence on which a reasonable trial chamber could convict the accused," the ICC said in a statement.

The majority decision to drop the charges by two out of the three judges came in a complex 253-page ruling.

Presiding judge Chile Eboe-Osuji said he had wanted to declare "a mistrial due to the troubling incidence of witness interference and intolerable political meddling".

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But his colleague argued separately the two men should have been acquitted, while the third judge opposed the move to throw out the charges concluding the "prosecution case had not 'broken down' and ... there is sufficient evidence" to convict the two men.

Prosecutors, who allege more than 1,300 people died and some 600,000 others were left homeless in Kenya's worst wave of violence since independence from Britain in 1963, could still appeal Tuesday's ruling.

The case has been keenly watched in Kenya, which has led a high-profile campaign against the ICC among African nations, accusing the tribunal of bias against the continent.

President Uhuru Kenyatta, whose parallel ICC case was dropped in December 2014, welcomed the ruling saying he and Ruto had "endured a painful journey with the ICC" and had cooperated fully with the tribunal based in The Hague.

"This decision brings to a close what has been a nightmare for my nation," Kenyatta added in a statement.

- 'Free at last' -

On Ruto's home turf in Kenya's Rift Valley -- the site of some of the worst of the election violence -- there were celebrations as residents took to the streets of Eldoret in joy waving placards reading "Free At Last", "No Case To Answer" and "The Power of Prayer".

"This is a big day for us, Ruto is finally free," said Margaret Rotich.

But the victims had little to celebrate. "What the ICC should now tell us is who was behind the post-election violence," said Rogers Mwai, who was forced from his home by the fighting and now lives in an informal settlement outside Nakuru town.

"If it wasn't Ruto and it wasn't Uhuru (Kenyatta), then who was it?"

In an early victory for Ruto and Sang, judges barred the prosecution in February from applying amended ICC rules and using recanted testimonies in their case. The prosecution had said the recanted testimonies were key to their case.

Sixteen out of the 42 witnesses had changed their stories or refused point blank to testify, which the prosecutors alleged was due to intimidation, bribery or fear of reprisals.bur-jkb/jhe/kjl
Ankara (AFP) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday proposed stripping Turkish citizenship from supporters of Kurdish rebels waging a deadly insurgency against the security forces.

The comments by Erdogan marked the latest escalation in his drive to crack down on dissent against the government's relentless operation to wipe out the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

"To prevent them from doing harm we must take all measures, including stripping supporters of the terrorist organisation of their citizenship," Erdogan said in a speech to lawyers in Ankara.

"These people don't deserve to be our citizens. We are not obliged to carry anyone engaged in the betrayal of their state and their people."

But Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the government was not planning "for the moment" to strip PKK supporters of their nationality.

"This idea is not ready," Davutoglu told reporters during a visit to Finland.

The PKK has been blamed for a string of attacks in Turkey in recent weeks following the collapse last year of a truce in its decades-long fight for greater autonomy and rights for Kurds, which has left 40,000 dead.

In March, Erdogan came under fire for calling for the definition of terrorism to be expanded to include journalists, activists and others who "exploit their positions, pens and titles and put them at terrorists' disposal."

But this was the first time he has proposed that supporters of the PKK be stripped of their nationality.

"Supporters (of terror) who pose as academics, spies who identify themselves as journalists, an activist disguised as a politician ... are no different from the terrorists who throw bombs," Erdogan said Tuesday.

"But like a wolf in sheep's clothing, they serve the same purpose as the members of the terror organisation. As a nation we need to be careful. No one must commit treachery against the state and the nation behind our backs."

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Erdogan has also pushed for lawmakers from a pro-Kurdish party to be stripped of their parliamentary immunity so they can be prosecuted for "terrorist propaganda".

- ' A pit of treachery' -

The PKK launched a bloody insurgency against the Turkish government in 1984 seeking independence, but in the nineties watered down its demands to seek instead more autonomy with cultural and language rights.

Jailed PKK founder Abdullah Ocalan called a truce in March 2013, but tensions over the Syrian conflict kickstarted the violence last year.

Turkish forces launched an all-out offensive to eradicate the rebels from urban centres with a blistering military campaign in the southeast.

Erdogan said last week that 355 members of the security forces had been killed in fighting as well as over 5,000 PKK members -- although this could not be independently verified.

The conflict has also struck the heart of the country, with two attacks that killed dozens in the capital Ankara claimed by Kurdish rebels, at a time when citizens are already on high alert over bombings by the Islamic State group.

It has also strained diplomatic ties between Turkey and the US, which supports Kurdish militia in Syria that Ankara see as a branch of the PKK.

As part of a wider crackdown on free speech, Erdogan has particularly homed in on those seen as supportive of the PKK.

Prosecutors in January launched a major investigation against more than 1,200 academics who signed a petition denouncing the military operations against Kurdish rebels in the southeast that enraged Erdogan.

Days later, he personally warned the academics they would "pay a price" after falling into a "pit of treachery".

In mid-March three prominent Istanbul academics were arrested on charges of publishing "terrorist propaganda".

A fourth, Mercal Camci, is facing up to seven-and-a-half years in jail after being arrested on his return to Turkey from abroad on March 31.

Accused of increasing authoritarianism, Erdogan's government has also targeted journalists, with the president himself brushing off all criticism and declaring he doesn't need "lessons in democracy" from the West.

Two journalists from the leading opposition daily Cumhuriyet are currently facing life in prison after being charged with revealing state secrets over a story that accused the government of seeking to illicitly deliver arms to rebels in Syria.
By Alissa de Carbonnel BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Britain should abolish its carbon floor price to help the hard-hit steel industry, the lawmaker shepherding a reform of the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) through parliament said on Tuesday. With the British government looking for ways to save jobs threatened by the sale of Indian firm Tata Steel's British plants, Scottish Conservative Ian Duncan said repealing the carbon floor was one of the few tools available to it. "The carbon floor price must go," Duncan said, adding he would write to British Business Secretary Sajid Javid calling for an end to the policy in place since 2013. While cheap Chinese imports are the steel industry's primary worry, high energy prices, boosted by environmental charges, have added to their woes. Duncan's comments are seen fuelling a debate over how the EU's draft reform bill can promote a high-enough carbon price to spur green growth while maintaining industry competitiveness in the absence of a global carbon market. It runs counter to a French proposal for an EU-wide price corridor to fix what aims to be the bloc's flagship climate policy but which is floundering as oversupply depresses prices. While many in the 28-nation bloc oppose higher environmental taxes, such as coal-reliant Poland, EU sources said the French proposal was forcing a debate about how to shore up carbon prices. Benchmark carbon prices are hovering around 5 euros. "The real fix would be a minimum price of 30 euros," said Patrick Graichen of the Berlin-based think tank Agora Energiewende. British factories regulated by the ETS, including steel which accounts for some 27 percent of EU industrial pollution, pay an additional 18 pounds ($25.58) per tonne of carbon dioxide emitted. Along with other energy-intensive industries, steelmakers fret the ETS reform will slash some of their free carbon permits. The Eurofer industry group warns they will be short of half of the permits they needed in 2030 under the proposal. "What the European Commission is asking is too big," Eurofer head Geert Van Poelvoorde, a senior executive at ArcelorMittal, told Reuters last month. "It pushes de-industrialisation in Europe but to places where probably or most likely the CO2 emission is higher." The ETS handouts were a concession to some of the biggest employers in Europe to prevent their relocating abroad in what is known as "carbon leakage". (Additional reporting by Clement Rossignol; editing by Susan Thomas)
Brazzaville (AFP) - At least seventeen people died Monday in fighting in Congo's capital Brazzaville, the government said, adding they had been killed in a "terror attack" and the subsequent "rapid intervention" by security forces.

"Three members of the security forces, two civilians and 12 attackers" were killed in the unrest in the city's south, according to a "provisional toll" posted by government spokesman Thierry Moungalla on Twitter Tuesday.

"Six members of the security forces were injured, as well as some civilians. The number is being evaluated."

Six police stations, a town hall and two customs checkpoints were torched along with many vehicles, Moungalla said, adding that attackers had made off with "weapons of war and ammunition".

"In the course of the police operation during the assault, security forces arrested around fifty former militia members, the perpetrators of the attack," Moungalla said.

Officials have identified them as former members of the disbanded Ninja Nsiloulou militia, he added.

The Ninjas is a rebel group that fought two civil wars in the 1990s and is headed by Protestant preacher Frederic Bintsamou, known as Pastor Ntumi, who disbanded the group in return for a junior government position.

He recently came out in favour of presidential candidate Guy-Brice Parfait Kolelas, who came second to President Denis Sassou Nguesso in last month's election, which the opposition say was marked by massive fraud.

"The overwhelming evidence held by relevant services clearly points to the active implication of Mr Bintsamou in the events of Monday," Moungalla said.

Thousands of people on Monday fled the heavy fighting in southern Brazzaville districts loyal to the opposition.

Residents were woken by automatic gunfire and explosions before dawn on Monday.

The fighting continued sporadically until sunset, forcing many to spend the night sheltering in churches and government buildings.

On Tuesday, troops deployed across key points of the capital and manned roadblocks.
United Nations (United States) (AFP) - Fewer UN relief convoys are reaching starving civilians in Syria's besieged areas, prompting the United States on Tuesday to call for renewed pressure on the Damascus regime to allow access for aid deliveries.

The UN Security Council heard during a closed-door meeting that food aid in March reached 21 percent of Syria's 500,000 people trapped in besieged areas, down from 25 percent in February.

"We need the trend lines going in a much different direction," US Ambassador Samantha Power told reporters after the briefing.

"Every besieged area needs to be reached. All those in hard-to-reach areas need to be reached, and we are a long way from that."

The United Nations began scaling up deliveries of aid in Syria after a ceasefire went into force in February, hoping the desperately needed supplies will shore up a fragile peace process that began that same month.

Aid deliveries to hard-to-reach areas however climbed to 83,000 in March from 53,000 in February, according to UN aid officials.

Power singled out the rebel-held town of Daraya, which has received "not one crumb of UN food, since 2012" and was in urgent need of supplies after shelling polluted the water.

The United States and its partners have "appealed to those with influence" over the Syrian regime to press for more humanitarian access, said Power in a reference to Russia.

Chinese Ambassador Liu Jieyi, the council's president for this month, said Daraya was "part of a bigger problem" of humanitarian access in Syria.

"We need to really look at the problem from all dimensions and, whoever can have influence to bear on the different parties, we should really work together," he said.

Nearly half a million Syrians are trapped in towns besieged by the Syrian army, armed groups or Islamic State jihadists, in the complex war now in its sixth year.

The United Nations has asked Syria to grant access to 11 priority areas in April, but the government has so far approved only six, said Amanda Pitt, spokeswoman for UN humanitarian affairs.

Daraya, Duma and East Harasta have been left off the governments list.

An airdrop of humanitarian is planned for Deir-Ezzor, which is under siege by IS jihadists, after a first delivery failed to meet its target.
By Ahmed Elumami TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Tripoli's self-declared government said on Tuesday it was stepping down, just less than a week after the arrival in the Libyan capital of a U.N.-backed national unity government tasked with rebuilding the chaotic country. It was not clear if the written statement had the full support of all ministers in the self-declared National Salvation government. But it appeared to mark a step forward for a U.N.-brokered unity government whose leaders are seeking to establish authority over Libya after years of factional power struggles following the 2011 fall of autocrat Muammar Gaddafi. Western powers are counting on U.N.-backed leaders to tackle the threat from Islamic State militants exploiting Libya's anarchy, stem migration across the Mediterranean, and rescue the country's finances by restoring oil production. Unity government leaders arrived by ship from Tunisia last Wednesday, after the National Salvation government closed Tripoli's air space to prevent them from flying in, and have been operating from a heavily guarded naval base in the capital. The National Salvation government statement came after a number of ministers met to prepare a peaceful handover of power, a Justice Ministry official said. It carried the stamp of the government, although it bore no names or signatures of ministers. "From our belief in giving priority to the homeland and saving the blood of Libyans ... we inform you that we are stopping our work as an executive power, as the presidency, deputies and ministers of the government," it said. The National Salvation government was installed after a coalition of armed groups supporting it won a battle for control of Tripoli in 2014 and reinstated a parliament known as the General National Congress (GNC). A rival parliament and government, backed by a competing coalition of armed factions, moved to eastern Libya. The new Government of National Accord (GNA) emerged from a U.N.-mediated deal signed in December by figures from both sides of Libya's political divide. The GNA has faced opposition from hardliners in both the east and west, and has yet to win formal approval from the internationally recognized parliament now based in the east. But it is being protected by some of the key armed brigades in the capital and has been working with the Tripoli-based National Oil Corporation and central bank to chart an economic recovery. Earlier on Tuesday, nearly 70 members of the GNC held a session in Tripoli where they voted to formally adopt the U.N.-backed deal. They said they were forming a body called the State Council, which the U.N.-backed agreement envisages as a higher chamber made up of former GNC members. It was not clear the move would have any legal impact, given the absence of many GNC members and the fact the eastern parliament has not formally endorsed the deal or the GNA. A minority of GNC members who oppose the U.N.-mediated deal also met, and declared the declaration of the rival GNC grouping to be "illegal". (Writing by Aidan Lewis; Editing by Mark Heinrich and Peter Cooney)
BAMAKO (Reuters) - Authorities in Mali have arrested 21 people in connection with an attack on the headquarters of an EU military training operation there, a senior police official said on Wednesday. In the foiled gun attack on Bamako's Nord-Sud Hotel on Monday, one assailant was killed and two others arrested. There were no reports of casualties at the hotel, where the EU Training Mission-Mali is based. [nL5N16T59J] The EU mission is comprised of nearly 600 personnel deployed to train security forces as part of efforts to stabilise Mali after the defeat of Islamist militants who had seized the country's desert north in 2012. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but Mali and neighbouring West African countries have increasingly been the target of Islamists, some affiliated with al Qaeda. "Two individuals were arrested, and later we continued and arrested 19 other people," Moussa Ag Infahi, director general of the National Police, told state radio. Police at the scene recovered "a sack of grenades", ammunition, a sub-machine gun and a Kalashnikov assault rifle, he added. France led the military intervention that drove the Islamists from their control of northern Mail in 2013, fearing that the region could be used as a base for attacks against Europe. However, violence is again on the rise. Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, the group's North African affiliate, has claimed responsibility for three attacks in Mali, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast that have killed dozens in the past five months. (Reporting by Tiemoko Diallo; Writing by Joe Bavier; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)
GOP presidential hopeful Donald Trump kisses his wife, Melania, at a campaign rally April 4 in Milwaukee. (Photo: JIm Young/Reuters)

By Holly Bailey

MILWAUKEEDonald Trumps wife, Melania, has been a mostly silent presence on the campaign trail so far, offering a rare hello here and there as shes joined the GOP presidential frontrunner at debates or the occasional rally.

But on Monday night, she joined her husband on stage here and offered her most significant remarks to date, defending Trump against charges that he treats women disrespectfully.

Gliding to the podium in a short baby-blue dress, the former model and mother of Trumps youngest son, Barron, showered her husband with praise, calling him a hard worker who is kind and has a great heart. Hes tough, hes smart, hes a great communicator, hes a great negotiator, hes telling the truth, hes fair, she added.

But in what appeared to be a direct response to critics who say Trump has a problem with women, she defended him as a fighter unafraid of defending himself against anyone, no matter their sex.

As you may know by now, when you attack him he will punch back 10 times harder. No matter who you are, a man or a woman, he treats everyone equal, Melania Trump said. Hes a fighter, and if you elect him to be our president, he will fight for you and for our country. He will work for you and with you, and together we will make America strong and great again.

Her remarks lasted roughly a minute  but they were her lengthiest remarks of the campaign to date. They came on the eve of Tuesdays Wisconsin primary, where polls show Trump trailing Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. And they came just hours after Cruz held an event with Fox Newss Megyn Kelly, a frequent Trump nemesis, where he slammed his rival for having a problem with strong women.

It makes him feel really tough. It makes him feel like a very, very big man to threaten people. And in particular, he seems to have a problem with strong women, Cruz said. I dont know why that is, but it seems to really bother him.

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The real estate moguls approval ratings have been low with women for some time, and polls show his numbers falling even further in recent weeks, in the wake of the contretemps over his tweets about Heidi Cruz, repeated jabs at Kelly and highly controversial remarks on the campaign trail over abortion.

A CNN poll released Mar. 24 found 73 percent of women have an unfavorable view of Trump, while a Mar. 17 Reuters poll found 50 percent of women have a very unfavorable view.

In Wisconsin, 76 percent of registered female voters have an unfavorable view of Trump, according to Marquette Law Poll released last week. And that appears to be helping Cruz, who led Trump among likely women voters 39 percent to 24 percent. Overall, the Texas senator led Trump by 10 points ahead of Tuesdays primary, according to the Marquette poll.

In the last hours here before the election, Trump sought staunch the bleeding, bringing his wife to testify on his behalf during his final event here. He praised Melania as someone who will make an unbelievable first lady and called her remarks about him special. And then he predicted a come-from-behind victory in the GOP primary here, citing unidentified polls that have him surging like a rocket ship.

Boom like a rocket ship, he said.
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's government on Tuesday unexpectedly changed two of its top officials responsible for U.S. relations, citing concerns about an increasingly anti-Mexican climate across the border. Carlos Sada, previously the consul in Los Angeles, was named ambassador to the United States while Paulo Carreno, one of President Enrique Pena Nieto's communications chiefs, was appointed the deputy foreign minister for North America. The new ambassador must still be approved by the Senate. "We have been warning that our citizens have begun to feel a more hostile climate," Foreign Minister Claudia Ruiz Massieu told local radio after the announcement. "This (anti-Mexican) rhetoric has made it clear that we have to act in a different way so that this tendency being generated doesn't damage the bilateral relationship," she added. Mexican government officials have expressed concern about the rise of Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump due to his repeated verbal attacks on Mexico, and his insistence that Mexico should be made to pay for a border wall. Trump on Tuesday threatened to block remittances from undocumented Mexican migrants if elected president unless the country pays billions for his planned wall. Trump also called Ford's announcement that it would build more cars in Mexico "an absolute disgrace." (Reporting by Anahi Rama and Adriana Barrera; Editing by Sandra Maler)
By Karolina Tagaris LESBOS (Reuters) - Several dozen migrants being detained at a holding camp on the Greek island of Lesbos protested behind the barbed wire fence of the compound on Tuesday, shouting "We want freedom!" They were among thousands of refugees and migrants who have arrived on Lesbos on or since March 20 from Turkey and who are being held under a new EU agreement with Ankara until their asylum requests are processed and they are accepted or sent back. The first group of 202 migrants, most from Pakistan, were returned to Turkey on Monday from Lesbos and the Aegean island of Chios. Through barbed wire at the Moria camp on Lesbos, one man held up a piece of cardboard, which read: "Kill us if you want." On the wall of the sprawling gated complex, which was once an army camp, graffiti read: 'No one is illegal'. The European Union and Turkey reached a deal in March to seal off a route used in the past year by hundreds of thousands of migrants, many fleeing conflict zones. In return, the EU will take in thousands of Syrian refugees directly from Turkey and reward it with financial aid, visa-free travel and progress in its EU membership negotiations. Reporters have been barred from entering the Moria site, initially set up to register arrivals. The United Nations refugee agency UNHCR stopped transporting arrivals to and from the site since it became what it calls a "detention center". Other aid groups have pulled out from the site in protest at conditions there. UNHCR says there are some 600 people above capacity at Moria, including pregnant women, lactating mothers and children, with insufficient food. Just over 172,000 refugees and migrants have arrived by sea in Europe through the first weekend in April, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Tuesday. The figure includes small numbers of migrants arriving in Cyprus and Spain, as well as the busier routes connecting Turkey to Greece and North Africa to Italy, the agency said in a statement. (Reporting by Karolina Tagaris, additional reporting by Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva)
Vienna (AFP) - Talks to end the worst violence in decades in the disputed territory of Nagorny Karabakh kick off in Vienna on Tuesday, after 46 people were killed in three days of fighting.

The meeting will gather Russia, the United States and France in the so-called Minsk Group, spearheading attempts to end a low-key conflict that revived bloodily and dangerously last Friday.

Analysts say the crisis could set a spark to the Caucasus, a tinder-box region of rival groups.

Russia and the United States have called for the fighting to end but Turkey is standing by Azerbaijan, and predicts the territory its ally has lost will "one day" be recovered.

A landlocked mountainous region with an ethnic Armenian majority lying within Azerbaijan, Nagorny Karabakh has been in dispute since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Separatists backed by Yerevan announced allegiance to Armenia and then declared an independent republic, a move that has not been recognised elsewhere, including by Armenia.

In the subsequent fighting, around 30,000 lives were lost and thousands of people from both ethnic groups fled their homes.

A ceasefire brokered by Russia was signed in 1994, but the two foes have never agreed on a lasting peace.

Sporadic clashes occur along the front line, but but the latest bloodshed represents a perilous escalation, say commentators.

The flare-up "threatens the stability of the strategic Caucasus region which is a transit route of Caspian oil and gas to European markets that bypasses Russia, reducing Europe's dependence on Russian energy supplies," Sergi Kapanadze, a professor of international relations at the Tbilisi State University, told AFP.

- Standing 'side-by-side' -

Energy-rich Azerbaijan, whose military spending exceeds Armenia's entire state budget, has repeatedly threatened to take back the breakaway region by force.

It claims to have captured several strategic positions inside Karabakh since fighting erupted on Friday, in what would be the first change in the frontline since the end of the war.

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Baku announced a unilateral truce on Sunday, but it failed to stop the fighting, and on Monday Armenia said a ceasefire would only be possible if both sides return to their previous positions.

Azerbaijan's defence minister, Zakir Gasanov, instead ordered the army to be ready to strike Karabakh's self-declared capital Stepanakert "in case of continued Armenian bombardment of civilian targets in Azerbaijan."

Hundreds of ethnic Armenian volunteers have since headed to the city to fight alongside separatist forces, while local authorities have been busy organising shelters for the refugees from frontline villages.

The talks in Vienna were to start at 1300 GMT, but Tuesday's session was scheduled to be brief and with no announcement to the media.

President Vladimir Putin of Russia, which has sold weaponry to both sides but has far closer economic and military ties to Armenia, has called for a ceasefire, a move echoed by Washington.

But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan -- another regional power broker who has been at loggerheads with Putin since Ankara downed a Russian warplane near the Syrian border in November -- has stood alongside Azerbaijan.

"We are today standing side-by-side with our brothers in Azerbaijan. But this persecution will not continue forever," Erdogan said in televised comments.

"Karabakh will one day return to its original owner. It will be Azerbaijan's".
Israeli TV powerhouse Keshet International has sold two comedy series to Walter Presents, the recently launched on-demand platform for foreign drama from British broadcaster Channel 4.

The Baker and The Beauty and Milk & Honey will both be added to the service later this year, joining a growing line-up of international shows - including the likes of German Cold War hit Deutschland 83 and French crime drama Mafiosa - being made available free of charge to U.K. viewers.

"Keshet has a great reputation in the drama space but are also delivering highly accomplished comedy dramas," said Jason Thorp, CEO of Global Series Network, which partnered with Channel 4 to launch Walter Presents. "We are always on the lookout for comedies that we feel our audience can relate to, so we are ecstatic to have found two absolute gems."

Read More: MIPTV: Keshet U.K. Looks to Plant its Flag with BBC/SundanceTV Drama 'The A Word'
Vice is bolstering its international team as it embarks on an aggressive European expansion, appointing former Discovery Networks exec Arjan Hoekstra as European general manager for its Viceland channel.

Hoekstra will oversee the planned rollout of its new Viceland channel, which launched in the U.S. and Canada in February. The channel is set to debut on Sky in the U.K. and Ireland in September, the start of an ambitious strategy to launch the channel in more than a dozen international markets in the coming 18 months.

The move comes just a month after Vice revealed that it was planning to move into seven Eastern European territories - including Russia - following an expanded deal with Greece-based broadcaster Antenna. While the announcement mainly concerned establishing a digital presence and production hubs, Antenna's CEO Theo Kyriakou said he hoped to launch Viceland in each of the markets once Vice head Shane Smith gave "the green light."

Among the Vice-produced shows on Viceland are the Ellen Page and Ian Daniel-hosted travel series Gaycation, Fresh Off the Boat star Eddie Huang's Huang's World and Action Bronson's F*ck That's Delicious cooking shows, and music show Noisey. The company is continuing to develop additional lifestyle programming, as well as scripted and unscripted shows, and plans to produce local content in each of the countries in which it establishes a base.

The channel is the latest in Vice's strategic moves to distribute content across multiple platforms, including its Emmy-winning show on HBO and a partnership with FremantleMedia on a fully co-owned YouTube cooking channel.

Vice has also entered into strategic partnerships with Verizon and Spotify to distribute content across platforms.

Prior to Vice, Hoestra oversaw Discovery Networks in the Asia Pacific region across 36 countries, and previously served as managing director of Eurosport, also for the Asia Pacific region.

Read More: Vice Media Unveils Expansion Into Russia, Eastern Europe
RABAT (Reuters) - Morocco said on Thursday it had dismantled a suspected militant cell linked to Islamic State's affiliate in Libya and that some of the nine men arrested were planning attacks in the North African kingdom. It was the latest in a series of radical Islamist groups Morocco says it has broken up. An interior ministry statement said the cell was operating in the city of Marrakesh, the coastal town of Sidi Bennour and in Smara, which is in the neighboring territory of Western Sahara. It said the nine group members were inspired by another militant from Sidi Bennour who was killed in the Libyan capital Tripoli when militants attacked a prison in September 2015 in a attempt to free inmates there. Morocco's Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation (BCIJ), the judicial part of the Moroccan domestic intelligence service, has actively tracked alleged militants since Islamic State seized large parts of Syria and Iraq in 2014-15. Hundreds of fighters from Morocco and other Maghreb states like Tunisia and Algeria have joined Islamist militant forces in Syria's civil war. Some are threatening to return and create new jihadist wings in their home countries, security experts say. Nearby Libya has become a major draw for jihadists from North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa as Islamic State has taken advantage of the security chaos there to build a base, operate training camps and take over the city of Sirte. The Moroccan government believes 1,500 Moroccan nationals are fighting with militant factions in Syria and Iraq. About 220 have returned home and been jailed, and 286 have been killed in battle. Morocco, an ally of the West against Islamist militancy, has suffered militant attacks in the past, most recently in 2011 in Marrakesh when an explosion tore through a cafe and killed 15 people, mostly foreigners. (Reporting by Aziz El Yaakoubi; Editing by Patrick Markey and Mark Heinrich)
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Moscow (AFP) - With bad blood flowing between Turkey and Russia since Ankara shot down a Russian warplane in Syria in November, the latest wave of violence in Nagorny Karabakh could have wider implications.

Azerbaijan and Armenia-backed rebels in Karabakh -- which was seized from Azerbaijan in a war in the early 1990s -- agreed Tuesday to a ceasefire to stop the worse violence in decades that has claimed at least 64 lives since Friday.

But the differing reactions of Ankara and Moscow to the surge in violence has underscored how the crisis could divide more than just the warring parties.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday emphatically threw his weight behind ally Azerbaijan, saying Turks stood "side-by-side with our brothers in Azerbaijan" and predicting that Baku would "one day" retake the mountainous region.

Moscow has a military alliance with Armenia, where it maintains a base, but supplies both sides with weapons.

Russian President Vladimir Putin did not take a side in the conflict between the two ex-Soviet countries, instead urging an "immediate ceasefire" over the weekend.

Below is an outline of Russian and Turkish positions on Nagorny-Karabakh:

- RUSSIA -

Ex-Soviet master Moscow, like the rest of the world, has not recognised Nagorny-Karabakh as Armenian territory and on Tuesday was "very energetically" trying to defuse the standoff, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

Though it supplies both countries with weapons, there is some evidence Moscow has been selling arms to energy-rich Baku at a higher rate and cash-strapped Armenia at a lower price, according to Magdalena Grono of the International Crisis Group.

Moscow has historically served as the key mediator since the war in Nagorny-Karabakh ended with an inconclusive ceasefire in 1994, but its reputation as peacemaker has been eroded by its seizure of Crimea and role in a bloody conflict in east Ukraine, said Alexander Malashenko of Carnegie Moscow Center.

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The Kremlin would have the most to lose if Azerbaijan seizes Armenian-controlled territory, Malashenko said, as Russia risks losing Azerbaijan entirely as a partner in the region if it comes to Armenia's aid.

"Russia is at a dead end," he said.

A protracted conflict would "reinforce Turkey's influence in Azerbaijan," which may also reverberate in Russia's volatile North Caucasus region, Russia's independent daily Vedomosti said Monday.

- TURKEY -

Ankara has come out strongly in support of its Turkic-speaking historic ally Azerbaijan during the latest clashes, with Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu telling parliament Tuesday Turkey will back Baku "all the way until the apocalypse."

Turkey has no diplomatic relations with Armenia because of the century-old dispute over the mass killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, which Yerevan calls a genocide but Ankara refuses to admit as such.

Public opinion in Turkey shows "strong solidarity" with Azerbaijan due to shared national identity, said Can Kasapoglu, an analyst with the Center for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies in Istanbul.

But despite the high tensions with Moscow, "Ankara would still avoid a regional war," he said, instead opting for "capacity building measures to support its ally".
Nepal risks renewed unrest unless it resolves a deadly dispute with an ethnic minority over the new constitution, the International Crisis Group said Tuesday in a report that sparked criticism from the government.

More than 50 people have died in clashes between police and Nepal's ethnic Madhesi community over the constitution which was adopted in September, triggering a crippling months-long border blockade.

The constitution was meant to cement peace and bolster Nepal's transformation to a democratic republic after decades of political instability and a 10-year Maoist insurgency.

But the Madhesis, from Nepal's southern plains, dispute the state borders laid out in the constitution which they say will limit their representation in parliament.

The ICG report warned that the depth of the Madhesi community's anger and the lack of fruitful negotiations with the government risked sparking another round of bloodshed.

"Forcing acceptance of a flawed constitution could end the political transition and trigger unmanageable new conflict," it said.

The ICG said all stakeholders needed to redouble efforts to resolve outstanding issues as a matter of urgency.

"The underlying anger that fuelled the demonstrations and violence has not been assuaged and will re-emerge, potentially in more virulent form, unless all understand that without compromise and good faith Nepal faces an existential threat," the ICG said.

Information and Communication Minister Sherdhan Rai described the ICG's report as inappropriate, saying talks between the government and the community were ongoing.

"These are internal issues of Nepal and we are working to resolve it. It is unnecessary and inappropriate for external actors to comment on our internal issues," Rai said.

In an effort to end the deadlock, parliament in January amended the constitution to increase Madhesis' presence in government bodies. But Madhesis say the amendments do not address their main demand on internal borders.

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The ICG report called on Nepal's political parties to urgently agree on terms of reference for a mechanism to resolve the issues over state boundaries.

The government announced an 11-member committee in early March to review such issues, but has not yet nominated anyone to sit on it including from the Madhesi parties, further hiking frustration levels.

"As the negligence of the government and the major political parties continues, the country is collapsing, the economy is in ruins, and we are inviting more conflict," said Laxman Lal Karna, vice chair of the Sadbhawana Party that represents the Madhesis.

Madhesi demonstrators blocked a major trade route that sparked a national shortage of fuel and other supplies from neighbouring India, a crisis that was only resolved in February.
Niamey (AFP) - Niger's opposition said Monday it was ready to open a dialogue with President Mahamadou Issoufou after boycotting his contested re-election.

"We reiterated the willingness of the opposition to open a dialogue that is wide-ranging, sincere and inclusive," said Mahamane Malam Sani, secretary general of Moden, the party of opposition candidate Hama Amadou.

"It is not a question of sorting out some technical questions" but finding "lasting solutions" to the country's "extremely difficult situation," he said following talks with Prime Minister Brigi Rafini.

Issoufou won 92 percent of the vote in the March 20 run-off election in the impoverished but uranium-rich West African country, which was marred by low voter turnout in the face of an opposition boycott.

Amadou, imprisoned since November on shadowy baby trafficking charges, was flown to France for medical treatment just days before the second-round vote.

Issoufou has proposed forming a unity government, an offer repeated by Niger's premier in the talks with the opposition on Monday.

"I am ready to put in place a government of national unity with the opposition in order to face the threats facing the people of Niger," Issoufou told AFP in an interview Wednesday.

"There is not just a security challenge, there are other challenges including economic and social development. All these challenges need a sacred union," he said.

The opposition alliance Copa 2016, which groups several parties, did not indicate its response to Issoufou's offer. It has previously called for a period of transition with the view to holding new elections.

The poor West African state, where three-quarters of the population live on less than $2 a day, has only had a multi-party democracy since 1990.

Niger holds the lowest place on the comprehensive Human Development Index drawn up each year by the UN Development Programme.
By Jack Kim SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea can mount a nuclear warhead on a medium-range missile, a South Korean official said on Tuesday in a new assessment of the capability of a country that conducted its fourth nuclear test this year. "We believe they have accomplished miniaturization of a nuclear warhead to mount it on a Rodong missile," said the South Korean official, who has knowledge of South Korea's assessment of the Norths nuclear program. The official spoke to a small group of reporters on condition of anonymity. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said last month that his country had miniaturized nuclear warheads to mount on ballistic missiles. It was his first direct statement of a claim often made in state media though never independently verified. The Rodong missile can fire a 1 tonne (1,100 lb) warhead a distance of up to 2,000 km (1,250 miles), the official said. That would put all of South Korea, most of Japan and parts of Russia and China in range. "We believe they have the ability to mount a nuclear warhead on a Rodong. Whether they will fire it like that is a political decision," said the official. There was no direct evidence that the North has successfully mounted a warhead on such a missile, the South Korean official said, declining to discuss the basis for the change in assessment. The United States, South Korea's staunch ally, concurred. "We know that they've said they have that capability, and we have to take them at their word," Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis said at a briefing for reporters on Tuesday. "But we have not seen them demonstrate it, so we don't share that assessment necessarily but we do accept what they say as a threat we need to take as real." For decades, North Korea and South Korea have faced off against each other. An armistice ended the fighting in the Korean 1950-53 civil war but there was no peace treaty. The South's conservative president, Park Geun-hye, has reversed a policy of trying to engage the North in dialogue and has instead adopted a hard line against it, particularly since the North conducted its fourth nuclear test on Jan. 6 and a month later launched a long-range rocket putting an object into space orbit. The test and launch prompted the U.N. Security Council to impose new sanctions. South Korea has previously said North Korea had made progress in its efforts to miniaturize a nuclear warhead but the capability was incomplete. South Korea's Defence Ministry said on Tuesday that assessment remained the military's position. Rodong missiles, developed from Soviet-era Scud missiles, make up the bulk of the North's short- and medium-range missile arsenal with an estimated stockpile of 200. Experts have predicted that the delivery vehicle for the North's first nuclear warhead would be the medium-range Rodong missile, rather than an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), which the North has yet to test. Despite threats to strike the mainland United States, the North is seen as several years away from building an ICBM that can carry a nuclear warhead. Experts have previously said a functioning mid-range nuclear missile would need the technology to overcome the stress of launch and re-entry and to strike the target with precision, which requires repeated testing. The North fired a Rodong missile in March. It flew about 800 km (500 miles) into the sea, in the first such launch since two Rodongs were fired in 2014. (Additional reporting by Yeganeh Torbati in Washington; editing by Robert Birsel and Grant McCool)
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 5

By Azad Hasanli - Trend:

Azerbaijan's Financial Market Supervisory Body invited the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) to take part in preparation of a medium-term financial sector strategy and its analysis.

The invitation was made by Rufat Aslanli, head of the board of directors of the Financial Market Supervisory Body, at a meeting with the SECO Deputy Regional Director for South Caucasus Simone Haeberli, said the Supervisory Body Apr. 5.

In turn, Haeberli spoke about cooperation between Azerbaijan and the SECO in economic and financial areas, and expressed confidence that the Supervisory Body will work effectively in line with international standards, on the basis of the European experience.

The parties also discussed prospects for development of relations and promising areas for future cooperation.
President Obama on Tuesday bluntly dismissed Donald Trumps proposal to force Mexico to pay for a border wall as half-baked and counterproductive and said the Republican frontrunners wackier foreign policy ideas were hurting the United States abroad.



In a memo obtained by the Washington Post, Trump said he would threaten to cut off money transfers from workers inside the United States  including U.S. citizens  to relatives in Mexico unless that country makes a one-time payment of $5 billion to $10 billion to pay for the construction of a 1,000-mile border fence.

Obama, speaking to reporters in the White House briefing room, said that doing so could cause enormous damage to Mexicos economy, which depends on those transfers, usually known as remittances. The proposal is also impractical, he said.

The notion that were going to track every Western Union bit of money thats being sent to Mexico  you know, good luck with that, Obama said derisively. Then weve got the issue of the implications for the Mexican economy, which, in turn, if its collapsing, actually sends more immigrants north because they cant find jobs back in Mexico.

President Obama reacts to a question while delivering remarks on the economy in the White House press briefing room. (Photo: Gary Cameron/Reuters)



Trumps plan is just one more example of something that is not thought through and is primarily put forward for political consumption, Obama said.

World leaders dont expect half-baked notions coming out of the White House. We cant afford that, the president said. I am getting questions constantly from foreign leaders about some of the wackier suggestions that are being made.

Obama said he was hearing worries over proposals from Trump as well as his nearest rival for the GOP nomination, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas. Cruzs ideas in some ways are just as draconian when it comes to immigration, for example, Obama said.
Washington (AFP) - US President Barack Obama said Tuesday that the revelations that powerful international politicians and businessmen have hidden money in shell companies shows tax avoidance is a global issue.

He said wealthy individuals and corporations are "gaming the system" by making use of tax code loopholes that average taxpayers do not have access to.

He also labelled "insidious" the growing practice of US companies merging with foreign firms just to cut their tax liabilities.

While enjoying the strengths of the US economy -- its workers, rule of law, and infrastructure -- such companies are not "paying their fair share," he said.

"Tax avoidance is a big global problem," Obama said, making reference to documents leaked from a Panama law firm that show thousands of anonymous companies could have been used by wealthy people to hide income.

"It's not unique to other countries, because there are people in America who are taking advantage of the same stuff."

"A lot of it is legal, but that's exactly the problem."

Obama took aim at companies exploiting weaknesses in laws to legally slash their US tax obligations, effectively undercutting the US government's income base.

On Monday, the US Treasury tightened rules against "inversion" deals, in which US companies merge with foreign firms to move their official address offshore -- but not their US operations -- to avoid paying US taxes.

Such moves, like a pending $160 billion tie-up between pharmaceutical giants Pfizer and Allergan, exploit loopholes that allow the companies to "get out of paying their fair share of taxes here at home," Obama said.

"They effectively renounce their citizenship. They declare that they're based somewhere else, thereby getting all the rewards of being an American company without fulfilling the responsibilities to pay their taxes the way everybody else is supposed to pay them," he said.

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"It sticks the rest of us with the tab. And it makes hard-working Americans feel like the deck is stacked against them."

The president called for Congress to take action on tax code reforms to eliminate loopholes that allow such blatant avoidance.

Tax laws "are so poorly designed that they allow people, if they've got enough lawyers and enough accountants, to wiggle out of responsibilities," Obama said.

On Monday, the White House issued an update to its still-blocked 2012 business tax reform proposal to Congress, saying reforms are more urgently needed than before given the surge in inversion deals.

Reforms would slow inversions while better supporting investment and hiring inside the United States and cutting the costs to businesses of tax compliance, the White House said.

They would also stem the shifting offshore of an estimated $100 billion a year of corporate income to avoid taxes.

"Reform should not only eliminate undesirable incentives; it should also provide incentives to support economic activities that benefit the broader economy," the new outline said.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday urged Congress to take action to stop U.S. companies from taking advantage of tax loopholes that allow them to avoid paying taxes.

"When companies exploit loopholes like this... it sticks the rest of us with the tab and it makes hard-working Americans feel like the deck is stacked against them," Obama told reporters at the White House, adding that wealthy corporations and individuals should not be "gaming the system."

Obama, a Democrat, has called repeatedly for action by the Republican-controlled U.S. Congress on tax-avoiding corporate inversions, which lowers companies' tax bills by allowing them to redomicile overseas even though their core operations and management usually remain in the United States. So far, lawmakers have done little.

The U.S. Treasury Department took more decisive actions to crack down on inversions late on Monday, that imperils a number of proposed mergers, including Pfizer Inc's <PFE.N> $160 billion agreement to buy Dublin-based Allergan Plc <AGN.N>.

"I want to be clear. While the Treasury Department's actions will make it more difficult... to exploit this particular corporate inversions loophole, only Congress can close it for good," Obama said.

(Reporting by Lindsay Dunsmuir; Editing by Bernard Orr)
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - One Turkish soldier was lightly wounded on Tuesday after a military outpost in the southeastern province of Gaziantep came under fire from Islamic State militants from across the Syrian border, privately owned Dogan News agency said. Turkey's military responded in kind and fired artillery into Syria, the agency said. Turkey, which faces multiple security threats, is on heightened alert after four suicide bombings already this year, two of which have been blamed on Islamic State. Gaziantep province is near the Syrian border and part of it lies just across the frontier from the Islamic State-controlled Syrian town of Jarablus. (Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; Editing by David Dolan)
By Kylie MacLellan and Elizabeth Piper LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron and his family do not benefit from any offshore funds, his spokesman said on Tuesday, after the British leader came under pressure over his late father's inclusion in the "Panama Papers" revelations over tax havens. During a visit to a business in central England on Tuesday, Cameron said he did not own any shares or have any offshore funds but did not answer a question on whether he or his family had benefited from offshore investment funds set up by his father. On Monday, his spokeswoman had said it was a "private matter". In a statement on Tuesday, a spokesman for Cameron said: "To be clear, the prime minister, his wife and their children do not benefit from any offshore funds." He did not say whether they had benefited in the past. "The prime minister owns no shares ... Mrs Cameron owns a small number of shares connected to her fathers land, which she declares on her tax return." The leader of Britain's main opposition party urged the government to tackle tax havens, accusing Cameron of allowing "the super rich elite" to dodge taxes. Leaked documents from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca have provided evidence of how the world's rich and powerful used secretive offshore company structures to stash their wealth. The documents named Cameron's late father Ian and members of his Conservative Party among the list of the firm's clients. The government has promised to investigate the leaked data but opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn called for more to be done, including setting up an independent investigation. "There cannot be one set of tax rules for the wealthy elite and another for the rest of us," Corbyn said at the launch of Labour's campaign for local elections next month. "The unfairness and abuse must stop ... no more lip service, the richest must pay their way." Corbyn said Britain had a "huge responsibility" as many tax havens are British overseas territories, such as the British Virgin Islands and Cayman Islands, or crown dependencies, such as Jersey or the Isle of Man. TAX HAVENS When Britain hosted a G8 summit in 2013, Cameron put tackling tax avoidance at the heart of the agenda. Some of Britain's former colonies increasingly rely on revenues from shell companies and trusts that often hide wealth. Three years later, some opposition lawmakers say the release of the "Panama Papers" shows the battle is far from won and are demanding that Cameron exert more control over Britain's overseas territories, most of which are self-governing. According to media that have seen Mossack Fonseca's files, more than half of the 200,000 companies set up by the firm were registered in the British Virgin Islands, where details of ownership do not have to be filed with the authorities. The head of the secretariat of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes, Monica Bhatia, said the British Virgin Islands had improved transparency over the last five years, in contrast to Panama. Dominic Grieve, a former attorney general and Conservative chair of parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee, said preventing overseas territories from running their own financial services would push crime elsewhere. "The government has a responsibility towards encouraging overseas territories to find legitimate ways of economic development, and the financial sector is undoubtedly such a legitimate method," he told BBC radio, adding that people only used tax havens if their own systems were "onerous". "The best way of ensuring that ... people do not want to go to the BVI is to provide the right environment domestically." (Additional reporting by William James and Leigh Thomas; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier discussed in a phone call on Monday coordination of efforts to deescalate the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh region and urged an immediate cessation of hostilities in the conflict zone, the Russian Foreign Ministry said, according to Sputnik.

"The ministers expressed serious concern over the sharp escalation of tensions along the contact line in Nagorno-Karabakh, which has already led to numerous casualties, including among the civilian population," the ministry said in a statement.

"Lavrov and Steinmeier agreed that the conflict in the region has no military solution, and called on both sides to exercise restraint, to immediately cease all hostilities and to return to the negotiating table under the OSCE Minsk Group aegis," the statement said.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 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 Asad Hashim ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif addressed the nation by television on Tuesday to defend his family's business practices, denying any wrongdoing and calling corruption claims "old accusations repeated over and over again". Sharif set up a commission on Tuesday to investigate allegations, based on leaked documents from Panama, that offshore companies headed by members of his family were avoiding paying taxes or disguising assets and their origins. On Monday, leaked documents from the Panama-based Mossack Fonseca law firm showed that Sharif's daughter Mariam and sons Hussain and Hassan owned at least three offshore holding companies registered in the British Virgin Islands. Mossack Fonseca denied any wrongdoing. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists said these companies were involved in the purchase and mortgage of at least $13.8 million in UK properties. One of the holding companies also purchased another, Liberia-based, holding company for $11.2 million in August 2007, according to the documents. The documents do not show the source of the assets held by the holding companies. They are part of a tranche of 11.5 million documents leaked by the ICIJ, dubbed the 'Panama Papers'. Political opponents in Pakistan, notably Imran Khan, have accused Sharif's family of having gained the funds illegally through corruption during his two previous stints as prime minister in the 1990s. Sharif and his family have denied any wrongdoing, saying the assets were gained legally, mainly through the family's network of businesses and industries in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. "I say that those who are repeating tired accusations should go before this commission and prove their accusations," Sharif said in his televised speech. (Reporting by Asad Hashim; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)
Panama City (AFP) - Panama's government said Tuesday it could hit back if France makes good on a decision to put the Central American nation back on a "tax haven" list following the "Panama Papers" revelations.

"In Panama, there is a law that sets out retaliation measures against countries that include Panama in 'gray lists'," Alvaro Aleman, the minister for the presidency, equivalent to the post of prime minister, told a news conference.

The measures can include blocking foreign investment or withholding public tenders.

Aleman said that "the government is going to have to analyze the situation and is inclined to take a series of steps that naturally could go towards adopting means of retaliation."

The government of Panama and the country's vital financial services sector are panicking in the wake of the massive data leak from one of the country's law firms, Mossack Fonseca. The revelations show how some of the world's wealthy set up offshore companies for their assets to hide them from scrutiny.

They fear the revelations being published in media around the world could scupper years of work to shed Panama's past reputation as a haven for money launderers and tax cheats.

In February this year, the country managed to get off an international "gray list" of tax havens by passing some reforms that curbed to some extent the anonymity of offshore companies.

But after the so-called Panama Papers revelations, France's finance minister, Michel Sapin, on Tuesday told the French parliament that "France has decided to put Panama back on the list of uncooperative countries."

France removed Panama from the list of Uncooperative States and Territories (ETNC) in 2012 after the two countries reached a bilateral accord on fighting tax evasion.

Panama's deputy foreign minister, Luis Miguel Hincapie, told the same media conference that the French ambassador to Panama would be summoned on Wednesday to explain France's move.

Foreign Minister Isabel De Saint Malo was also going to speak with her French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault.

"Panama must categorically reject any inclusion of Panama in a list and we will take steps if that happens," Hincapie warned.
Panasonic has added to its Lumix range of compact interchangeable lens cameras with the new GX85 which is big on style and performance but won't break the bank, or split a jacket pocket.

The smartphone may have consigned the point-and-shoot digital camera to the history books, but it has also spurred imaging companies on in terms of innovation and in trying to build devices that offer something that an iPhone or a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge can't.

In the case of the new Lumix, it's the photographic performance and user control one would find on a mid-range DSLR but in a much smaller and lightweight package. The GX85 has a 16MP Live MOS Sensor without a low-pass filter. That basically means that the camera is primed for sharp, detailed images even when the subject is moving quickly or natural light is at a premium. It's responsive, too. Able to shoot at 10 frames per second (fps) via fixed autofocus and six fps when refocusing is needed.

Like a top-end smartphone, the latest Lumix captures 4K too, at 30 or 24 fps or when resolution is dropped down to full 1080 HD it can manage 60fps. This is all supported by in-body image stabilization, which should stop camera shake spoiling the composition.

But unlike any smartphone, the camera comes with a host of interchangeable lenses with their own integrated image stabilization. It comes as standard with a 14-42mm lens (the equivalent of a 28-84mm lens for those more familiar with full-frame DSLR cameras) with an f3.5-5.6 aperture so it should good enough for most street or travel photography scenarios, especially as the ISO can be pushed up to 25600.

It also has a viewfinder and a hinged, rotating touch screen for checking the framing of compositions and for adding effects and filters as well as simplifying the obligatory selfie. Captured images can also be edited and refocused in-camera before being sent, via wi-fi to the cloud, social media or simply a back-up hard drive.

And because the camera can be specified in either matte black or with a contrasting retro-style silver top plate, it has a timeless, Leica rangefinder quality about it, meaning that unlike this year's phablet, it is still going to look cool in years to come.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX85 Micro Four Thirds Digital Camera goes on sale in May with prices starting at $797 for the camera body plus lens bundle.
By Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani ABUJA, Nigeria (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Nigerian officials gave permission on Tuesday for a memorial event at a school in northeast Nigeria from where Islamist rebels abducted 276 girls two years ago with parents hoping this would remind the world their daughters are still missing. The event, a prayer session integrating both Muslim and Christian faiths, will mark the second anniversary of the girls' abduction by Boko Haram militants from Chibok that provoked an international outcry and a viral campaign #bringbackourgirls. It will be held on April 14 - exactly two years since Boko Haram fighters stormed the Government Secondary School in Chibok in the middle of the night and kidnapped 276 girls. In total 57 managed to escape but 219 remain missing. Lawan Zanna, secretary of the Parents of the Abducted Girls from Chibok association, said the government had agreed to give the parents access to the school that is heavily guarded and all the parents of the missing girls are expected to attend. The parents were hoping the event would again garner attention for the girls who have not been seen since the night of their abduction despite calls to find them from celebrities and politicians including U.S. first lady Michelle Obama. "We have also invited all the government officials from Chibok .. and they also promised to allow any person from the media to join us," Zanna, whose 18-year-old daughter is among the missing girls, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Boko Haram has kidnapped thousands of boys and girls in northeast Nigeria over the past seven years, turning them into cooks, sex slaves, fighters, and even suicide bombers to attack their own villages, according to Amnesty International. But the Chibok abduction remains the most high-profile. On the first anniversary of the abduction the parents held a memorial event at the school but then a military checkpoint was then set up outside the school and the area ruled out of bounds. Visitors are required to seek official permission from the government or the military to get access to the school and also to Chibok town. The parents received permission to use the venue for this year's event on Tuesday after three representatives of the parents' association met with government officials. In March last year, the previous Nigerian government of President Goodluck Jonathan began work on rebuilding the school that was razed by the militants on the night of the abduction. But weeks later Jonathan was forced from power by Muhammadu Buhari in a national election and no buildings have yet been erected on the school site. Buhari ordered a new investigation into the kidnappings in January. (Editing by Belinda Goldsmith; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, property rights and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org)
PayPals headquarters is located in San Jose. (Photo: Jeff Chiu/AP)

By Michael Walsh

By losing PayPal, North Carolina might have just suffered the most palpable financial consequence of having a law that many consider discriminatory against transgender people.

The California-based online payment company announced Tuesday that it is abandoning its plan to set up a new $3.6 million global operations center in Charlotte, N.C., which it said would have employed more than 400 people in skilled jobs.

Dan Schulman, president and CEO of PayPal, said House Bill 2 (HB2) invalidates protections of rights for LGBT citizens and denies them equal rights under the law.

This decision reflects PayPals deepest values and our strong belief that every person has the right to be treated equally, and with dignity and respect, Schulman wrote in a statement. These principles of fairness, inclusion and equality are at the heart of everything we seek to achieve and stand for as a company. And they compel us to take action to oppose discrimination.

He said PayPal regrets that it will not have the opportunity to become part of the Charlotte community and work with the regions many talented people.

While we will seek an alternative location for our operations center, Schulman continued, we remain committed to working with the LGBT community in North Carolina to overturn this discriminatory legislation, alongside all those who are committed to equality.

LGBT activists march against House Bill 2 in Chapel Hill, N.C. (Photo: Whitney Keller/The Herald-Sun via AP)

Under HB2, people in North Carolina are only permitted to use public restrooms that correspond with their biological sex, defined as the physical condition of being male or female, which is stated on a persons birth certificate. The bill also forbids local governments from passing local ordinances that would outlaw discrimination against particular groups of people.

Proponents of HB2 argue that it would stop violent men from sneaking into womens restrooms to sexually assault them. Opponents of HB2 argue that this is a scare tactic to legalize discrimination.

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Many businesses have already spoken out against the bill. PayPals announcement comes just days after Lionsgate pulled the plug on filming a new Hulu show in Charlotte.

The Human Rights Campaign, which advocates for LGBT rights in the state, said PayPal is sending a loud and clear message to North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory, who signed HB2 into law on March 23.

With every passing day that HB2 remains on the books, Governor McCrory is inflicting damage on the states economy and reputation, Griffin said in a news release. The fact also remains that this destructive and appalling bill continues to put people across the state at risk of harm and discrimination. It is time for Governor McCrory to stop this senseless crusade against equality and repeal HB2 once and for all.

The North Carolina Family Policy Council, a conservative nonprofit supporting HB2, argued that the Human Rights Campaign and other activist groups have manufactured this outrage on behalf of the LGBT agenda.

Far from an organic outrage by the business community, you have to hand it to the Human Rights Campaign for orchestrating a masterful PR and lobbying campaign against House Bill 2, NCFPC president John Rustin wrote.

Lawmakers in North Carolina approved HB2 in March to counteract an ordinance passed by the Charlotte City Council that prohibited discrimination against LGBT people and affirmed the right of transgender people to use the restroom that aligns with their gender identity.


By David DeKok

ENOLA, Penn. (Reuters) - A Pennsylvania man accused of homicide in the death of his 12-year-old daughter threatened to "go out in a hail of gunfire" if he were evicted from his home, but state officials declined to relay that to police, according to testimony in court on Tuesday.

Five days later, Donald Meyer, 58, raised an assault rifle to Penn Township constable Clark Steele when he came to carry out the eviction. Steele shot Meyer in the arm, but the bullet then struck his daughter Ciara Meyer, in the chest, killing her.

"We took no action. We get these calls all the time," testified Susan Evans, an agent of the state Bureau of Consumer Protection, a division of the state Attorney General's office,

"He did not seem violent and was not addressing a specific person," Evans said.

Evans was a witness at Meyer's preliminary hearing before Magisterial District Judge Richard Dougherty in Enola, a suburb of Harrisburg, the state capital.

The judge ordered Meyer to stand trial on a charge of criminal homicide for causing the death of his daughter on Jan. 11, aggravated assault for pointing the rifle at Steele, and illegal possession of firearms.

Meyer's threat was only evident through "20-20 hindsight," said Chuck Ardo, a spokesman for Attorney General Kathleen Kane. The bureau acted appropriately by notifying police after the tragedy, he said.

Besides the Israeli-made Tavor assault rifle, Meyer had an M-4 carbine, three handguns, and 258 rounds of .223 ammunition, Pennsylvania state trooper Trisha Campbell testified.

Meyer was barred from owning firearms because of an involuntary commitment to a mental hospital in 2011, Campbell said. But he failed to voluntarily disclose that to gun dealers, Campbell said.

Steele, the constable who fired the fatal shot, was cleared of any wrongdoing.

Steele, his voice cracking, testified that he saw Ciara standing next to her father, but then saw the assault rifle rising toward his chest.

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"I said no, no, oh God!" he said. "I knew I was dying. There was no way to retreat." He said he knew his body armor would not protect him against a rifle bullet.

Sherry Meyer, Ciara's mother, testified she was napping when the confrontation began, but then heard her daughter scream, "Dad, Dad, please stop!" The gunshot followed.

Meyer, who wore an orange jumpsuit and shackles, is being held without bail.

(Reporting by David DeKok; Editing by Daniel Trotta and Alan Crosby)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter on Tuesday called for changes in the U.S. military that would cut inefficiencies, streamline the acquisition process and improve the ability to respond quickly to threats such as Islamic State. The proposals by Carter, speaking to an audience at Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington, cut across all branches of the Defense Department because they affect its top leadership and service chiefs. He said some of the measures could be put in place "over the coming weeks" under existing authority while others will require legislative action. Some of the proposals aim to overcome organizational inefficiencies within the vast U.S. military that Carter believes do not allow it to best address transregional threats like the one from the Islamic State militant group, which stretches from Afghanistan to Africa. Carter's proposals, which did not go into specifics, follow a review of the Goldwater-Nichols law of 1986, which made sweeping changes to the structure of the U.S. military and has been criticized for being outdated. Senator John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, looking at whether Goldwater-Nichols needed to be updated because of changing security threats including Islamic State and North Korea. Carter said the role of chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff ought to be clarified to help move troops quickly across regional commands and provide military advice for current and future operations. He said the Pentagon would try to simplify some headquarters positions so that some jobs now filled by four-star generals could be done by lower-ranking officers in the future. Carter added that service chiefs would be involved more in making decisions on defense acquisitions. He said the Pentagon would seek to streamline the acquisitions process by reducing the amount of paperwork required. In order to make the acquisition process simpler, Carter said he would look at potentially reducing the number of members on the Defense Acquisition Board, which gives advice on acquisition programs. In recent congressional testimony, Michele Flournoy, a former top U.S. Department of Defense official, said the Goldwater-Nichols law was leading to a "tyranny of consensus" and "bloated headquarters." Reaching a consensus had "become an end in itself in too many areas," including strategy development and acquisition, she said in her written testimony. (Reporting by Idrees Ali and Yeganeh Torbati; Editing by Bill Trott)
With one day to go before the series finale, 12 cast members and creatives behind FX's The People v O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story gathered for an early screening in downtown Los Angeles on Monday night. Both a plug for the true crime's swan song and an event for Emmy voters, the ensuing panel discussion offered nearly all the big names associated with the project a chance to share their take on the trial of the century and its TV interpretation.

"There's been a joke on social media the last couple of months, 'Don't spoil it! Don't spoil it!' " said co-creator Larry Karaszewski of the fact that they had been building the show towards an event that would surprise absolutely no viewers. "We've come down to the verdict. Everybody knows the verdict. What we've found, strangely enough, is that knowing what happens makes it more powerful - like United 93 or Titanic. It's a slow-motion train wreck. We've always looked at this like a tragedy for every character but [Johnny] Cochran. He comes out with a victory."

The fact that O.J. Simpson was acquitted of murdering Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman will not surprise anyone. The Crime Story team instead seems intent on shedding new light to how all of the series' players weathered that verdict. "We wanted people to understand the verdict and how they got there, not agree with it or not," added executive producer Nina Jacobson. "We're more divided now than ever. We wanted to give people emotional access to both sides."

Cuba Gooding Jr., who greeted the audience by spraying a bottle of water on the first few rows as if they were in a spin class, again deflected questions about whether he played Simpson as guilty or not - and how he actually sees his alter ego.

"As you know, I obviously had an idea of his innocence or guilt before I sat down with Lord Ryan [Murphy]," said Gooding Jr., referring to the executive producer. "He told me to stay neutral. In the editing room, he would piece together my guilt or innocence in a way to keep it ambitious. I go back and forth a lot. I want to keep my opinions to myself. I want my performance in these episodes to be representative of a collective."

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Read More: 'The People v. O.J. Simpson' Finale: Writers Reveal What Major Moments Didn't Make the Cut

Sterling K. Brown, who plays prosecuting attorney Christopher Darden, was open about the fact that he celebrated the acquittal when it came down in 1995. He said that what interested him about the role was coming to the understanding that Darden was just doing his job. Darden has not been in the public the way former co-counsel Marcia Clark has been - nor has he met the actor who played him. But Brown was optimistic about how his portrayal might be perceived. "I felt like if indeed we did cross paths," he said, "I hope he could recognize a kernel of himself in this performance."

Clark, of course, is the opposite. She's been present in the media since the show's premiere and has struck up a friendship with the actress playing her, Sarah Paulson. Both Paulson and Brown were asked if they thought Clark and Darden ever got together, romantically speaking, as the series insinuated.

"Neither one of them have come out to confirm nor deny," said Paulson, as several of her co-stars cheered, "They did it!" "We're not going to present that as a fact. We have our opinions about how things might have happened."

Read More: A Conversation With Marcia Clark: Rape, Scientology Flirtation and When She Last Saw O.J.

Looking back on the run, both John Travolta (Robert Shapiro) and Courtney B. Vance (Cochran) said they took different research paths to playing their characters. Vance admitted he never even watched videos of Cochran, for fear of it "getting in his head," while Travolta noted that many people informed his portrayal of Shapiro.

"To be perfectly honest, I know people like him," he said. "There are through lines to people like Robert Shapiro. I've been around a long time. I've sat and watched lawyers, studio heads, directors and other people with idiosyncratic behavior."

One welcome non sequitur was the addition of Connie Britton. Seated at the opposite end of the stage from moderator Jeffrey Toobin and Murphy, the actress had the least amount of screen time of anyone there and a role even she seemed to admit was not among the most pivotal - but her assessment of Faye Resnick was a crowd pleaser.

"I was fortunate, because I like to keep as uninformed as possible, and I didn't really know who Faye was," Britton said of the recurring Real Housewives of Beverly Hills cast member, who quickly penned the tell-all Nicole Brown Simpson: The Private Diary of a Life Interrupted in 1994. "I read her book, which is thrilling. Guys, it's not easy to come by - but if you can track it down, do it."

But for all of the humor, there were also echoes of the timely motivations for finally telling the story of the trial on TV. Producers again talked about using the framing device of the L.A. riots at the top of the first episode and the need to tell why the story is different for black and white Americans.

"I did not just say 'Yes,' " said frequent Crime Story director and executive producer Anthony Hemingway of the initial offer from Murphy. "The line Sterling has in episode nine, what he says to Marcia in terms of being a black face on the story and not being allowed a black voice.... I wanted to make sure that I was here to really contribute something, and not just here."

"The Verdict" premieres April 5, at 10 p.m. ET, on FX.

Read More: Emmys: Verdict Reached for 'People v. O.J. Simpson' Stars' Categorizations
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 5

Trend:

US Vice President Joe Biden stressed the importance of resolving the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh on the background of worsening crisis.

Biden wrote on his Twitter account that comprehensive settlement in Nagorno-Karabakh is critical for stability, security and prosperity of ths sides.

On the night of Apr. 2, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from Armenians, who were using large-caliber weapons, mortars, grenade launchers and guns. Azerbaijani settlements near the frontline densely populated by civilians were shelled as well.

A counter-attack was carried out following the provocations of the Armenian armed forces on the night of Apr. 2.

Six Armenian tanks, 15 gun mounts and reinforced engineering structures were destroyed and more than 100 servicemen of the Armenian armed forces were wounded and killed during the shootouts.

Twelve servicemen of the Azerbaijani armed forces heroically died, one Mi-24 helicopter was shot down and one tank was damaged on a mine.

Three more soldiers of Azerbaijan were killed during the past day and night as a result of the ceasefire violation.

On Apr. 4, Azerbaijani armed forces destroyed three tanks and eliminated around 30 servicemen of the Armenian armed forces.

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.
Updated on April 4 at 3:57 p.m. ET

Disclosures from the Panama Papers are rocking the global political elite, with calls for the resignation of Icelands prime minister and protestations of innocence from the children of Pakistans leaders.

The documents were published Sunday by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, Suddeutsche Zeitung, the German newspaper, and several news organizations around the world, including the BBC, after a yearlong investigation. The actions described in the documents are not necessarily illegal, but some of the documents reveal a clandestine web of shell companies, their real owners concealed under layers of secrecy, and connections to firms in different tax havens.

Heres a summary of the fallout from the leaks so far:

Iceland: Prime Minister Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson is refusing to step down amid calls for his resignation. The documents from Mossack Fonseca, the Panamanian law firm, allege Gunnlaugsson hid millions of dollars of investments in his countrys banks in an offshore company. Gunnlaugsson and his wife, Anna Sigurlaug Palsdottir, bought the company in 2007, but he failed to declare his interest in it when he entered parliament two years later. The documents show Gunnlaugsson later sold half the company to his wife for $1. He denies any rules were broken. When asked about it by Swedish media, heres how he reacted:

Recommended: What If Mexico Really Does Pay for Trumps Wall?

There have been calls in Parliament for a no-confidence vote against the prime minister. Its worth pointing out here that its not clear if Gunnlaugsson did, in fact, break any laws. Avoiding taxes, long a strategy of the worlds wealthy, is perfectly legal in many places, even if evading taxes is not. Icelandic opposition leaders have called on the prime minister to resign, citing a conflict of interest, but his allies are defending him. When asked about the scandal, Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson, the minister for foreign affairs and external trade, said: There is nothing strange there.

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Still, if there is to be a fallout anywhere in the world from the disclosures, it is likely to be in Iceland, which ranks 13th in Transparency Internationals admittedly flawed ranking system. Here are protests Monday in the capital:

Gunnlaugsson may not have broken any rules, but he appears to have dissembled when asked in 2009 if he ever had an offshore company. Myself? No, he said. Well, the Icelandic companies I have worked with had connections with offshore companies.

Argentina: President Mauricio Macri, his father and brother were directors of an offshore firm from 1998 to 2009. According to the papers, Macri did not disclose his ties to the firm in 2007 and 2008 when he was mayor of Buenos Airesthough he did list other offshore accounts during that time. A spokesman told ICIJ the president did not list the company in the filings because though he was occasionally its director, he was not a shareholder. Opposition lawmakers, Reuters reports, say Macri may not have committed a fiscal crime, but he should address Argentines' concerns about his role at an offshore company.

Recommended: Panama Papers: Icelands Prime Minister Resigns

Pakistan: The documents allege that three of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifs four childrenMariam Safdat, Hasan Nawaz, and Hussain Nawaz Sharifused shell companies to buy property in London. Speaking to Geo TV, Hussain Nawaz Sharif said: Those apartments are ours and those offshore companies are also ours ... There is nothing wrong with it and I have never concealed them.

Allegations of corruption have swirled for years against the Sharifs, one of Pakistans wealthiest families. But its unclear if these alleged actions are illegal. Although lawmakers called for an investigation into the prime ministers wealth, its unlikely to make any headway. Several Pakistani politicians and business owners were among those named by the documents, including the family of the late Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, whose members now form a part of the countrys opposition.

Azerbaijan: The allegationsas well as the reactionin the Central Asian state is similar. President Ilham Aliyevs wife and their children are named as the owners of offshore companies. The family has financial interests in several sectors of the energy-rich former Soviet republics economy. A government spokesman told the BBC the practice alleged by the Panama Papers is not banned by any law.

Ukraine: Opposition lawmakers have called for President Petro Poroshenko to be impeached. The documents allege that at the height of Russias invasion of Ukraine in 2014, Poroshenko created a holding company in the British Virgin Islandone that wasn't included in his financial disclosure. The impeachment motion, which requires a three-quarters majority in the 450-seat parliament, is unlikely to pass. Poroshenko's faction controls 136 seats. His lawyers maintain the holding company had no assets, and so didn't need to be disclosed.

Investigations: Authorities in Austria and Australia have launched inquiries since the documents were released Sunday night. In Austria, authorities are investigating whether two banks broke the countrys laws on money laundering. Authorities in Australia are investigating 800 people, all residents of the country named in the Panama Papers.

Our overview of the allegations is here.

Read more from The Atlantic:

This article was originally published on The Atlantic.
REYKJAVIK (Reuters) - Iceland's opposition filed a motion of no confidence in the prime minister and protesters gathered outside parliament on Monday after the Panama Papers showed his wife owned an offshore company with big claims on the country's collapsed banks.

The allegations in the leaks released globally over the weekend first surfaced in Iceland last month. But the renewed spotlight has racked up pressure on Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson.

"I certainly won't (resign) because what we've seen is the fact that, well, my wife has always paid her taxes. We've also seen that she has avoided any conflict of interest by investing in Icelandic companies at the same time that I'm in politics," he told Reuters TV.

"And finally, we've seen that I've been willing to put the interests of the people of Iceland first even when it's at a disadvantage to my own family."

Opponents allege a conflict of interest and say he should have been open about the overseas assets and the company.

His center-right government coalition, in power since 2013, is involved in striking deals with claimants on the bankrupt banks.

A spokesman in the prime minister's office has said the claims of the firm owned by the prime minister's wife totaled more than 500 million Icelandic crowns ($4.1 million).

Crowds outside parliament demanded his and his government's resignation, beating drums and sounding horns. Organizers said more than 10,000 had gathered.

"What would be the most natural and the right thing to do is that (he) resign as prime minister," Birgitta Jonsdottir, the head of the Pirate Party, one of Iceland's biggest opposition parties, told Reuters.

"There is a great and strong demand for that in society and he has totally lost all his trust and believability."

The coalition holds 38 of 63 seats in parliament. It is unclear how the scandal might impact his coalition majority in a vote of no-confidence against him and his government that could take place later this week.

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"We've seen unprecedented improvements in the Icelandic economy and the living standards of people in Iceland in recent years since this government took office, so we'd certainly like to continue with that work," Gunnlaugsson added.

Many Icelanders blame politicians for failing to control bankers and for years of austerity after Iceland's big banks failed in 2008, sending the economy into a nosedive.

An online petition for the prime minister's resignation had roughly 27,000 signatures late on Monday. Iceland has a population of around 330,000.

"It is only logical new elections take place," Arni Pall Arnason, head of the opposition Social Democratic Alliance, told Reuters on Friday.

The details about Iceland make up just part of a huge data leak about possible tax evasion around the globe, much of it released on Sunday by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and news organizations.

(Reporting by Ragnhildur Sigurdardottir, Anna Ringstrom and Sven Nordenstam; Editing by Niklas Pollard and Andrew Roche)
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 5

Trend:

The US urges parties of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict for de-escalation and return to the negotiating process, Deputy Speaker of the US State Department Mark Toner said during the daily briefing.

He also said that the United States, as one of the co-chairing countries of the OSCE Minsk Group will make every effort to bring the parties back to the negotiating process.

"We strongly support the co-chairs' efforts to mediate a fair and just resolution to Nagorno-Karabakh that is based on the principles of international law, the UN Charter, and the Helsinki Final Act, particularly principles of non-use of force and territorial integrity," he added.

On the night of Apr. 2, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from Armenians, who were using large-caliber weapons, mortars, grenade launchers and guns. Azerbaijani settlements near the frontline densely populated by civilians were shelled as well.

A counter-attack was carried out following the provocations of the Armenian armed forces on the night of Apr. 2.

Six Armenian tanks, 15 gun mounts and reinforced engineering structures were destroyed and more than 100 servicemen of the Armenian armed forces were wounded and killed during the shootouts.

Twelve servicemen of the Azerbaijani armed forces heroically died, one Mi-24 helicopter was shot down and one tank was damaged on a mine.

Three more soldiers of Azerbaijan were killed during the past day and night as a result of the ceasefire violation.

On Apr. 4, Azerbaijani armed forces destroyed three tanks and eliminated around 30 servicemen of the Armenian armed forces.

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.
Kampala (AFP) - Uganda's main opposition leader was arrested and charged on Tuesday during his first public outing since police lifted a weeks-long house arrest.

Kizza Besigye was arrested as he waved at gathering supporters from the open sunroof of his 4x4 in the capital Kampala, four days after police ended his six-week-long house arrest.

Besigye, who has rejected President Yoweri Museveni's February 18 election victory, said he was trying to attend a prayer meeting at his Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party headquarters.

Kampala police spokesman Patrick Onyango said police had "no problem" with Besigye attending prayers, but said the politician was arrested, "because he was moving with a procession" and refused to abide by a police order to follow a particular route through the city.

"We advised him, 'For your safety and the safety of everybody, please take this route, don't pass through the city centre'," Onyango said, adding that Besigye's procession contravened a public order law that insists permission for gatherings be sought in advance.

Onyango said Besigye would be charged with unlawful assembly.

Police were withdrawn from outside Besigye's private residence on Friday after 43 days. Besigye said his detention was designed to block him from gathering evidence of fraud in what he called a "scandalous" election.

Museveni, in power since 1986, was declared winner of the February poll with 61 percent of the vote and has rejected claims that his victory was won through cheating and fraud.

Another opposition leader's legal challenge to the election result was dismissed by the Supreme Court the day before Besigye's house arrest was ended.

A long-standing opponent of Museveni, Besigye has been frequently jailed, placed under house arrest, accused of both treason and rape, teargassed, beaten and hospitalised over the years.
PARIS (Reuters) - Renault will apply measures to reduce the nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions of its diesel-engined vehicles from July, the French carmaker said in a statement on Tuesday. The measures will be applied in Renault factories for vehicles that have to abide by Diesel Euro 6b emissions standards, the company said. Renault customers who already own a car with Diesel Euro 6b emissions standards will be able to get free-of-charge modifications on their vehicle from October, the company said. A French probe found emissions from Renault diesels - and several other unnamed brands - in excess of statutory limits that had been met in European regulatory testing, widely acknowledged to be flawed. (Reporting by Mathieu Rosemain; editing by Michel Rose)
A UN report obtained by AFP highlighted regulatory lapses between the United Nations and outside groups linked to a Chinese real estate mogul who is accused of bribing former General Assembly president John Ashe.

Ashe, who was General Assembly president for a year from September 2013, was arrested in October by US authorities for allegedly accepting $1.3 million in bribes from a billionaire developer Ng Lap Seng.

Ng, from China's semi-autonomous city of Macau, is accused of using a foundation and non-governmental organisations to funnel bribes to UN diplomats in exchange for help promoting the construction of a proposed UN conference center in Macau.

The confidential report by the Office of Internal Oversight Services obtained by AFP found that several groups linked to Ng's Sun Kian Ip group "had partnered with departments/offices of the secretariat in various ways."

The review gave the UN secretariat a rating of "partially satisfactory" for its compliance with UN rules and procedures regarding such partnerships.

"A rating of 'partially satisfactory' means that important (but not critical or pervasive) deficiencies exist in governance, risk management or control processes," the report said.

Among those lapses, OIOS investigators found that an official UN document had been modified without clearance from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's office. And a UN employee and his wife went on a trip paid by a non-governmental organisation accused of being a front for the bribery scheme.

A exhibition at the United Nations sponsored by one of the NGOs "could lead to the perception that the NGO was given preferential treatment of favor," the report added.

Some UN staff members who received free iPads at an event co-sponsored by one of the NGOs finally gave them back after the audit was ordered, the report noted.

This indicates "the need for dissemination of additional guidance to enhance staff members' awareness of their obligations in regard to gifts," it added.

Ashe was arrested along with Francis Lorenzo, the UN deputy ambassador from the Dominican Republic, who heads South-South News, a UN-accredited media outfit that reports on development issues.

The arrest of Ashe was a major blow to the United Nations, which is seeking to promote corruption-free good governance worldwide.
By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A small group of Republican lawmakers will join President Barack Obama's historic trip to Cuba on Sunday, underlining growing divisions in the party over the future of the United States' trade embargo against the island nation. At least five Republicans, all known for favoring normal trade relations with Cuba, will make the trip, congressional sources and lawmakers told Reuters. Republican congressional leaders have made opposition to President Barack Obama's easing of the Cuban trade embargo a hallmark of their foreign policy. But an increasing number of party members, drawn by the economic benefits of scrapping the cold war-era embargo, are lining up to back the White House. "This is the right policy. He's done the right thing," said Republican Senator Jeff Flake, an outspoken proponent of closer ties with Cuba who is going to Havana. Besides Flake, Republicans making the trip include House of Representatives members Mark Sanford, Tom Emmer and Reid Ribble, as well as Senator Dean Heller, congressional sources and lawmakers said. All of the representatives confirmed their participation, except for Heller, whose office declined requests for comment. But other lawmakers confirmed his travel. Republicans backing Obama's policy cut against the grain of the party's establishment thinking that seeks to avoid giving Obama any kind of policy win, either domestically or internationally. Normalizing relations with Cuba would be a significant foreign policy legacy for Obama. Many Republicans see the embargo as contrary to their party's pro-business tenets and believe the government should not tell citizens where they can travel. "It's about Americans' freedom and embracing engagement rather than isolation as a way of changing other governments," Sanford said in a Facebook post explaining his decision to make the trip. At least 15 of the 54 Republicans in the Senate, mostly members from states like Kansas where agriculture is a significant industry, have publicly backed increased Cuban trade or fewer restrictions on travel. Supporters of Obama's policy say the total number of Republican supporters in the House and Senate reaches several dozen. Some members say they want to see how the election plays out before speaking publicly. The U.S. embargo on Cuba, first imposed in 1960, can be lifted only via a majority vote in Congress, which is now controlled by Republicans. COLD WAR RIVALS Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro shocked the world in December 2014 by abruptly announcing the Cold War adversaries would move to normalize relations after more than a half-century's estrangement. The news drew immediate condemnation in Congress, where a bloc of mostly Republican Cuban-American lawmakers has worked to keep tight restrictions on trade and travel with Cuba for years. Although polls show 72 percent of Americans want to abandon the embargo, the Republican party line has firmly supported the restrictions. Critics of Obama's policy say Cuba's government is still too repressive for the United States to ease restrictions. But this week businessman Donald Trump, who has questioned the embargo, easily won the Republican primary in Florida, defeating leading embargo advocate Senator Marco Rubio. Trump's victory countered the long-standing assumption that the state's Cuban exiles would defeat any anti-embargo candidate. A young generation of Cuban-Americans has warmed to Obama's engagement policy, with many excited about the chance to open businesses in their homeland. Ribble, a founder of the House Cuba Working Group who is going on the trip, represents Wisconsin, one of several states where farmers want the chance to sell to an island just 90 miles from the U.S. coast. "American producers are missing out on a market that imports the vast majority of its agricultural products, and Cubans are missing out on exposure to the freedom and democracy that lies just 90 miles from their shore," Ribble said in a statement. (This story corrects name to Dean Heller not Mark in paragraph 5.) (Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick; editing by Don Durfee and Chizu Nomiyama)
Bangkok (AFP) - An order by Thailand's junta giving sweeping police powers to soldiers is part of the "steady erosion of human rights protections", campaigners said Tuesday, calling for the law to be rescinded.

Last week the junta government of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha issued an executive order awarding all soldiers ranked sub-lieutenant or higher the power to detain suspects for up to a week for a raft of different crimes.

The military said the order was necessary to follow through on their vow to crack down on "mafia figures", adding there were not enough police officers to do the job.

But the move has been criticised by rights groups who say it is a new judicial power grab by a military government that has clamped down on dissent since seizing power just under two years ago.

In a joint statement released Tuesday, six groups, including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the International Commission of Jurists, condemned the move.

"We have observed a steady erosion of human rights protections in Thailand since the military coup of 22 May 2014 and this order signifies another jarring movement in the same direction," said Wilder Tayler, secretary general of the ICJ.

The comments were echoed by Brad Adams, Asia Director at HRW.

"Instead of paving the way for a return to democratic rule, the Thai junta has broadened its powers to do almost anything it wants, including committing abuses with total impunity," he said.

The US embassy in Bangkok said Washington also had "concerns" about the order.

"We continue to urge the Thai government to limit the role of the military in internal policing and to allow civilian authorities to carry out their duties," a spokeswoman told AFP Tuesday.

Prayut made the order under Section 44, a controversial power he granted himself allowing him to issue any executive order in the name of national security.

Under the terms published in the Royal Gazette last week, soldiers can detain suspects without arrest warrants as well as seize assets, suspend financial transactions and bar suspects from travelling abroad.

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The order also says soldiers are not covered by laws monitoring police abuses, effectively handing them immunity from prosecution.

Analysts say the order is the latest effort by the junta to chisel away at the powers of the police.

Prayut seized power in May 2014 promising to tackle corruption and end the kingdom's damaging cycle of street protests, coups and toppled governments.

But critics say the move was a power grab by arch-royalist generals jostling for power as the reign of the country's venerated and ageing King Bhumibol Adulyadej enters its twilight years.
The Rolling Stones arrived in Cuba's capital Thursday, on the eve of the rock band's historic free concert in a country where its music once was silenced.

Mick Jagger offered a brief greeting in Spanish and said he was happy to be on the island.

Friday night's concert will come three days after President Barack Obama wrapped up a visit to the communist-run island, during which he declared an end to the last remnant of the Cold War in the Americas.

The band's private plane flew into Jose Marti International Airport with the four British rockers and about 60 technical workers and family members. The concert will be at Havana's Ciudad Deportiva.

"We have performed in many special places during our long career, but this show in Havana will be a milestone for us and, we hope, for all our friends in Cuba, too," said the band in a statement released before the arrival.

In the heat of Cuba's revolution from the 1960s to the 1980s, foreign bands like The Rolling Stones were considered subversive and were blocked from the radio. Cubans listened to their music in secret, passing records from hand to hand.

The band's Cuba stop follows concerts in Brazil, Uruguay, Chile, Argentina and Mexico.

Read More: Mick Jagger Jokes About Sean Penn's El Chapo Story in Rolling Stones' Mexico Show
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 5

Trend:

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov in connection with the situation on the front line, had telephone conversations with the heads of the Foreign Ministry of Georgia, France and Lithuania, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry's press service told Trend April 4.

Mammadyarov, informing about events in the conflict zone, said that the Armenian units took target the population closely residing in frontline areas and civilian objects. He also said that as a result of the shelling of the Armenian side a number of civilians were killed and injured.

The Minister noted that despite the decision of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces on April 3 on unilateral ceasefire, the Armenian units continue to violate the ceasefire and shelling villages and civilians.

Mammadyarov added that the main cause of tension is the illegal presence of Armenian troops in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

The Foreign Minister said that to relieve stress and achieve progress, Armenian troops should be withdrawn from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, and also said that the conflict can be resolved only on the basis of the principles of territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan.

On the night of Apr. 2, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from Armenians, who were using large-caliber weapons, mortars, grenade launchers and guns. Azerbaijani settlements near the frontline densely populated by civilians were shelled as well.

A counter-attack was carried out following the provocations of the Armenian armed forces on the night of Apr. 2.

Six Armenian tanks, 15 gun mounts and reinforced engineering structures were destroyed and more than 100 servicemen of the Armenian armed forces were wounded and killed during the shootouts.

Twelve servicemen of the Azerbaijani armed forces heroically died, one Mi-24 helicopter was shot down and one tank was damaged on a mine.

Three more soldiers of Azerbaijan were killed during the past day and night as a result of the ceasefire violation.

On Apr. 4, Azerbaijani armed forces destroyed three tanks and eliminated around 30 servicemen of the Armenian armed forces.

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.
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia will support the efforts of U.N. mediator Staffan de Mistura to promote direct and inclusive talks between the sides in Syria's conflict, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told de Mistura on Tuesday. "As in any conflict, it is of course key that we ensure the inclusive character of the negotiations and that they are focused on promoting a direct dialogue between the two sides," Lavrov was quoted as saying by RIA news agency. "We will give you our full support in this," Lavrov was quoted as saying in opening remarks at a meeting with de Mistura, who was visiting Moscow. The U.N. mediator said he was hopeful for a new phase in negotiations about a political transition for Syria. So far talks in Geneva between a Syrian government delegation and the opposition have stalled because Damascus is unwilling to engage in discussions about President Bashar al-Assad possibly leaving office as part of that transition. The talks are scheduled to resume in Geneva on April 11. "We need to further develop the political process, to work on strengthening it, and on further progress. It is the cornerstone of our work," Interfax news agency quoted de Mistura as telling Lavrov. (Reporting by Polina Devitt; Writing by Christian Lowe; Editing by Alison Williams)
The director of Russia's renowned Hermitage Museum, which has an important collection of sculptures from Palmyra, has offered its expertise to help restore the ancient Syrian city retaken by President Bashar al-Assad's forces from the Islamic State group.

"Restoring Palmyra is the responsibility of all of us," Mikhail Piotrovsky told AFP, surrounded by displays of tomb stones, sculptures and coins from Palmyra at the museum in Saint Petersburg.

Following the IS campaign of destruction, "restoring Palmyra is a long-term task, and it's essential that we take our time," said Piotrovsky, estimating that up to 70 percent of the ancient historic site could have been damaged or destroyed by the jihadists.

"We will have to record where every stone was found before taking a decision on how to restore these historic monuments," he said of the painstaking work required.

The Hermitage director insisted that only an "international association" including UNESCO member countries and Syria's Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums should carry out the restoration of Palmyra.

Syria's antiquities chief Maamoun Abdulkarim on Friday told AFP journalists at Palmyra that he was appealing for "archaeologists and experts everywhere to come work with us because this site is part of the heritage of all humanity."

Among the highlights of the Hermitage's collection from Palmyra are four stone slabs, weighing a total of 15 tonnnes with inscriptions in Aramaic and Greek that show the customs tariffs in the 2nd century AD, when the city became an important crossroads for trading.

The slabs were brought to Russia by an aristocrat who was an amateur archaeologist, Prince Abamelek-Lazarev after he travelled to Palmyra in 1882.

The value of such intact treasures is now even greater after the destruction at the historic site.

The Hermitage chief noted that Russia has "plenty of experience with restoring destroyed historic monuments", notably after World War II.

He gave the example of Tsarskoye Selo, the tsars' summer palace outside the imperial city, which was almost entirely destroyed in fighting between Nazi and Soviet forces.

Despite this, the palace was entirely restored to the tiniest detail and is now a major tourist attraction.
A ban on French brie. The wanton wrecking of Moldovan wine. No more Lithuanian goats. It sounds like the plot of a Monty Python skit, but its actually Russia ramping up its aggression  and theres nothing funny about it.

While Russia has flexed its military muscle, the countrys real power comes from wielding its economy, specifically through economic sanctions like withholding gas and banning Western foods. In one bust alone last year, 470 tons of Parisian cheese were seized. Sure, these measures may seem petty, but they can cripple countries, especially those still emerging from post-Soviet-era influence. Even as Russias own $1.8 trillion economy trips over itself, and its status as a global power slips despite President Vladimir Putins bullying, the empire has remained relevant by holding cash  the ultimate bargaining chip  over its enemies, including Ukraine and European Union states. Russia has an important but narrow area in which it can exert economic pressure, says OZY columnist John McLaughlin, a former director of the CIA. Important, because the resources it controls are necessary for many of its neighbors.

Russias major economic lever is its energy reserves. After the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991, Russia and Turkey ended centuries of bickering and started ranking among each others largest trade partners. Russia provided natural gas and oil, while Turkish businesses cropped up in the motherland. But when Turks shot down a Russian jetliner in November, the warm fuzzies were over: Putin told Russian tourists to cancel vacation plans in Turkey, banned all food products and paused a major pipeline project that would have pumped energy directly to Turkey  which relies on Russia for 55 percent of its natural gas and 30 percent of its oil  through the Black Sea. Now, Turkey could lose as much as $3 billion in tourism dollars from the bans. (A Russian Embassy representative didnt respond to our request for comment.)

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But all of this maneuvering may come at a cost for Russia.

Some of the highest stakes are between Russia and its neighbor, Ukraine. The Eastern European country endured a cold and bitter winter, and Russia could pull the plug on its electricity at any point. After a last-ditch effort from Kiev last fall, Moscow agreed to a plan to keep the heat on. But as recently as November, the Kremlins energy minister threatened to turn the lights off again, if Ukraine didnt pay back its debts immediately. And after half of the Ivano-Frankivsk region in western Ukraine lost power for six hours over the holidays, the Ukrainian energy minister accused Russia of cyberattacks on key power distribution companies. (Later, the Ukrainian government changed the official diagnosis to malware.)

Russia has done this before. When Moldova, a tiny former satellite state bordering Romania, began to lean more Western a decade ago, Putin slapped bans on all exports of Moldovan wines and brandies, citing alleged pesticide pollution. The ban crushed Moldovas wine industry, which for a time was among the top 20 exporters in the world. Almost half a million Moldovans work in the industry, and its primary exports were to Russia. Now, winemakers create concoctions specifically made to meet Russias elevated standards  though theyre only allowed to be sold if they exclude the words Made in Moldova.

But all of this maneuvering may come at a cost for Russia. Outside groups have added pressure as of late; after Russia annexed Crimea two years ago, the EU unveiled a series of economic sanctions against Russia. More than half of the countrys budget relies on petroleum exports, and officials have said that the country requires oil prices to be at more than $100 a barrel to keep even, though its closer to a third of that price now  leaving a severe bruise on the countrys economy. Russias strength is a wasting asset, McLaughlin says.

Russias economic posturing on other nations has also had another negative side effect: soaring prices at home. Some have accused the Kremlin of shooting its own people in the foot, and its aggressive sanctions look even sillier when Russian police brag about busting a major smuggling ring of cheese. Putin is trying to strengthen ties with China and establish a foothold in Greece. But eventually, experts say, he will have to play ball with the Western heavyweights to rescue his economy. Which means adopting a softer tone  perhaps the reason why Putin said, in March, that Russia would start pulling out of Syria?  and maybe, just maybe, letting go of the economic stranglehold he has placed on neighboring states.

Then again, why should Putin change tack? He has been politically insulated from pressure at home: Despite the bad economy, he enjoyed a record 89 percent approval rating last year, according to Levada Center polls. And while the EU sanctions have hurt member nations  for instance, Italys farming, fashion and automobile industries, which have historically held Russian ties  theyve done little to affect Putins political will abroad. The sanctions have not, in any way, changed Russias policies, says Michael Kofman, a foreign policy expert at the Woodrow Wilson Center. As far as the elites in Russia are concerned, This place could be on fire and everyone would support us. 

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By Eric M. Johnson

(Reuters) - San Francisco became the first U.S. city to mandate six weeks of fully paid parental leave, requiring employers to shoulder much of the cost and exceeding federal and state benefit rules for private-sector employees, a city supervisor said on Tuesday.

The law, unanimously approved by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, grants six-week leave for fathers and mothers working for companies with 20 or more employees, nearly doubling the pay they are now eligible to collect under California law.

"Our country's parental leave policies are woefully behind the rest of the world, and today San Francisco has taken the lead in pushing for better family leave policies for our workers," Supervisor Scott Wiener said in a statement.

Better benefits for parents are part of campaigns across the nation aimed at combating rising income inequality. California's governor on Monday signed into law a bill raising the state's minimum wage from $10 to $15 an hour by the year 2023.

San Francisco already offers 12 weeks of fully paid parental leave to its approximately 30,000 city employees.

On Monday, New York's governor signed a bill granting 12-week paid family leave for private-sector workers that will phase in by 2021. California and New Jersey provide up to six weeks of partial pay, while Rhode Island offers four, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Under the San Francisco policy, effective in 2017, employers must pay 45 percent of wages for as long as six weeks. The remaining 55 percent of weekly wages comes from a worker-funded state disability program.

Payments are calculated as a percentage of wages up to an annual ceiling of $106,740.

Supporters said it will enable new parents to spend more time with their babies, while opponents said it would hurt profits and cost jobs.

In 2014, about 5,000 San Francisco residents accessed the state's program for paid family leave for an average of 5.4 weeks, according to state data.

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Nationally, 12 percent of workers receive paid family leave through their employers, Wiener's office said.

Technology companies in Silicon Valley have increased family leave benefits to help recruit and retain employees. Netflix Inc provides up to a year paid, while Facebook Inc provides four months and Microsoft Corp offers eight weeks.

Federal law provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for a newborn or adopted child for employees at companies with 50 or more workers.

(Reporting by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle; Editing by Sara Catania and Jonathan Oatis)
Sen. Bernie Sanders arrives for a campaign event in Milwaukee on Monday; Hillary Clinton speaks during a rally in Green Bay, Wis., on March 29. (Photos: Paul Sancya/AP; Patrick Semansky/AP)

Wisconsin has been a fast and furious fight for the Democratic presidential candidates. Both Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., set up operations in the crucial state, which votes Tuesday, only in the last few weeks.



Most polls show Sanders with a single-digit lead in the race for Wisconsins 86 delegates. The Midwestern state, could now serve as a springboard for Sanders, building on a three-week hot streak since March 15, during which he has won five states and lost only one.

But the Badger State might not be the answer to the senators prayers. Clintons current delegate lead means Sanders would need a huge win in the state  and in several more going forward  to threaten the frontrunner. But the favorable poll numbers have Sanders campaign aides hoping to build on the recent momentum as they seek to keep Clinton from clinching the nomination.

Clintons campaign is keeping expectations low for the state. On Monday, her team sent a fundraising email with the subject line We could lose Wisconsin. Clintons presidential campaign manager Robby Mook sent out a memo outlining her path forward. The memo cited Clintons current delegate lead and noted Sanders cannot defeat her without winning roughly 60 percent of the vote in the four remaining delegate-rich primaries  New York, Pennsylvania, California, and New Jersey. Mook didnt mention Wisconsin.

Sanders has performed well in the Midwest, but so far those victories have not been enough for him to catch up to the lead Clinton built in the South and with minority voters. And Tuesdays contest doesnt look to be a blowout win for the Vermont senator.

Wisconsins progressives have been drawn to Sanders, particularly in liberal Madison, the second largest city in the state.

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He does well in Madison, he obviously does really well, Jessie Opoien, a reporter who covers state government and politics for the Madison-based Cap Times, said. He also does really well in the western part of the state, which is sort of that more traditional, progressive grassroots, kind of populist sensibility.

While Wisconsins electorate may favor Sanders, local leaders are largely backing Clinton.

I think people expect Bernie to pull it out  but theres also a sense that, either one, it wouldnt be a huge surprise, Opoien said. Shes got the establishment support. Theres no question of that.

Sanders recent wins made Wisconsin an unexpectedly important race, leading both campaigns to set up shop in a state they had largely overlooked. Joe Zepecki, a Democratic operative who is a veteran of many campaigns in the state, including President Barack Obamas 2012 re-election bid, said the fight for Wisconsin was certainly not a months-long campaign. Zepecki, who is not working for either of the current Democratic campaigns, said Clintons team set up shop a couple of days after Sanders did.

Sanders Wisconsin director Robert Dempsey, who ran the show for the campaign in Minnesota as well, said the staff campaign effort in the state started about a month ago, and has focused on "very aggressive direct voter contact through door-to-door canvassing and phone calls.

We are reaching out to Wisconsinites across the spectrum, Dempsey said, including members of the states Native American population, who are very important for our overall strategy.

SLIDESHOW  Primary day in Wisconsin >>>

Wisconsin voters in Milwaukee cast their ballots for the states primary on Tuesday. (Photo: Charles Rex Arbogast/AP)

He adds that although the campaign has only been in Wisconsin for a month, there was a pretty aggressive volunteer base operation in place for months before his arrival.

Opoien agrees, noting that grassroots Sanders supporters have been mobilizing in Wisconsin for months now. She recalled seeing groups of Sanders supporters last September at Fighting Bob Fest, an annual progressive activist gathering in the state.

There were three or four different Bernie Sanders groups with tables there, Opoien said of the festival.

Clintons campaign would not comment directly on its strategy, but Clintons Wisconsin spokesman, Yianni Varonis, said her team has offices in seven cities across the state. Varonis said in a statement that Clinton has a nearly insurmountable lead in pledged delegates in the race overall but remains committed to Wisconsin.

Clintons team includes operatives with deep experience in the state.

The Clinton campaign in Wisconsin is run by Jake Hajdu, who was the executive director of the states Democratic party until last year and has extensive experience getting out the vote for Democrats in Wisconsin. Hajdu returned to Wisconsin after working for Clinton in Iowa and Maine.

Having him come back here made sense for them obviously to get stuff rolling quickly, Opoien said, adding, Shes got a couple of other folks working for her that have been involved in party politics here.

One possible wild-card factor is Wisconsins open-primary rules, which allow people from outside the party to vote in the race.

Were an open state, Zepecki says. Theres no registration by party. You dont even pick a different ballot up. Both races are listed on the same ballot.

But voters have to choose which primary they will vote in. In states that have voted so far, Sanders has done well with independents and in open primaries. Zepecki said Wisconsin may be decided by how many independents choose to vote on the Democratic side of the ballot. It could spell trouble for Sanders if the chance to vote for  or against  Donald Trump lures independents to vote in the Republican primary instead.

The only way I could envision a surprise, and thats how I would characterize Clinton winning here, is if the independents go over to the Republican side, Zepecki said.

Another Wisconsin law that could impact the Democratic primary is a voter ID law that passed in the state in 2011 and has not yet been in place during a presidential race. Zepecki said the law could affect a key Sanders base  college kids.

If there is confusion and people  are disenfranchised I think its likely to be on college campuses, Zepecki said. But I think the order of magnitude is likely to be pretty small, he added. I think the universities have done all they can to educate folks and help them get what they need, but it has been a little confusing.

Sanders campaign has also tried to educate Wisconsinites on the new voter ID law, explaining to them that they must show up with a photo ID with their current address on it or some other proof of their residency. Sanders has called the law voter suppression, and Clinton has also denounced it.

Dane County and its major city, the college town of Madison, is the main base of support for Sanders, but Dempsey said they have worked to drum up support across the state to win as many delegates as possible. Delegates will be awarded in each of Wisconsins eight congressional tickets rather than simply based on the total number of votes.

If we were running a governors race wed look to jack up turnout in Madison and then we go home. Thats not how this works, Dempsey said.

But the delegate math could prove problematic for Sanders unless he performs far better than his promising poll numbers. Zepecki pointed to 2008 where President Barack Obama won just ten more delegates than Clinton in the state, despite beating her by a statewide margin of 18 percent. So, while Zepecki said a five or six point victory for Sanders is expected, he doubted it would change the daunting delegate math for him.

A horse-race win has always been nice in terms of momentum, but Im not sure that the way the state sets up hes going to be able to get a big delegate haul, Zepecki said.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr.5

By Seba Aghayeva - Trend:

The main goal of Armenia's consistent policy is to keep the Azerbaijani territories under occupation, Azerbaijan's Deputy Foreign Minister Khalaf Khalafov said Apr.5.

He made the remarks during the meeting of the special working group for working out the convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea with participation of deputy foreign ministers.

"Armenia is fully responsible for what is happening," said Khalafov, adding that this country is not interested in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and ignores the international law.

The deputy foreign minister expressed concern over the latest developments on the line of contact of Azerbaijani and Armenian armies.

He said Azerbaijan urges the international community to force Armenia into the peaceful settlement of the conflict. Khalafov noted that Armenian troops should withdraw from Azerbaijani territories.

"The conflict should be resolved within Azerbaijan's territorial integrity," the deputy minister added.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements. The situation on the contact line remains tense.
DAKAR (Reuters) - Senegal voted in favour of constitutional changes including reducing presidential terms in a national referendum put forward by President Macky Sall. Sall proposed the reform arguing it would further bolster Senegal's already stable democracy. But he has been criticised for not proposing to cut his own first term, as he pledged before he was elected. The 'yes' vote in Sunday's referendum won 62.7 percent of ballots from a national turnout of 38.3 percent, Senegal's election commission said. The proposal they approved reduces presidential terms to five years from seven, starting after the next election in 2019. It also limits the age of presidential candidates to 75 and allows independents to run. In the past year leaders of several other African nations including Burkina Faso, Burundi, Rwanda and Congo have sought to extend their rule. In Burundi and Congo, this triggered protests and led to violence. In Senegal, prominent political opponents had called for people to vote "No", an outcome which would likely have weakened Sall politically. (Reporting By Diadie Ba; Writing by Edward McAllister; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)
By Rina Chandran MUMBAI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Six men were arrested in the Indian state of Rajasthan after media reports and a video emerged of three lower-caste boys being stripped naked and beaten by villagers for allegedly stealing a motorbike. In a video on the NDTV news channel, the teenaged boys are seen cowering on the ground as men rain blows on them. Some reports said they were stripped, tied to a tree, thrashed, and then paraded around the village. The police took them to the hospital and then detained them for allegedly stealing a motorbike belonging to an upper-caste man, the reports said. "We are forming a committee that will investigate this matter and then appropriate action will be taken after proper evidence is found," Manan Chaturvedi, the head of Rajasthan's child rights commission, told NDTV. Caste-based discrimination was banned in India in 1955, but centuries-old attitudes persist in many parts of the country and low-caste Indians including the Dalits still face prejudice in every sector, particularly in rural areas. Activists say a daylight attack last month on a newly married couple in southern India, in which the husband was killed, was an "honor killing" carried out because the groom was from a lower caste. "Our sense is that atrocities against Dalits are only increasing: the men are getting killed, women are being raped and there is more violence against children," Ramesh Nathan, general secretary of the National Dalit Movement for Justice in Delhi, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "The state is slow to take action and bring the perpetrators to justice. They must be made accountable," he said. News of the Rajasthan lynching came as Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday launched the 'Stand Up India' scheme to make it easier for lower-caste and other marginalised communities to get loans to set up businesses. (Reporting by Rina Chandran, Editing by Katie Nguyen.; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, corruption and climate change. Visit news.trust.org to see more stories.)
Tehran, Iran, Apr.5



By Mehdi Sepahvand, Elena Kosolapova - Trend:



Iran invites the parties of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to restraint, Mohammad Bagher Nobakht, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's adviser for supervision and strategic affairs and spokesperson of the government, told Trend Apr.5.



As a calm country in the restive region, Iran should help spread peace, he said. "We should prevent any further conflict in the region that is already burning in flames of war."



The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.



On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements.
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African President Jacob Zuma, who faces an impeachment vote, on Tuesday named a private sector advocate with links to finance minister Pravin Gordhan to head the police's corruption-busting Special Investigating Unit (SIU). Andy Mothibi is currently head of Legal, Governance, Risk and Compliance at Johannesburg-based healthcare services firm Medscheme. Before that, he worked for nearly two years as head of Operational Risk Management at Standard Bank, Africa's biggest bank by assets, and served in the same role at Nedbank for nearly five years, according to his LinkedIn page. Zuma faces a vote in parliament to impeach him after South Africa's top court ruled he had breached the constitution, though the motion, launched by the opposition Democratic Alliance, seems likely to fail since the African National Congress has given him the support he needs to survive. Medscheme said Mothibi had also worked at the South African Revenue Service during which time he was "personally appointed" by Gordhan - then head of the tax service - as part of a team tasked with transforming the unit. Mothibi was not available for comment. Gordhan served as finance minister in Zuma's first term from 2009 to 2014 and returned to the post in December after Zuma unexpectedly fired Nhlanhla Nene and replaced him with David van Royen, a political unknown with little financial experience. After a sharp drop in the rand and government bonds, he dismissed van Royen after four days and reappointed Gordhan, restoring a measure of calm to markets. Since then, Gordhan has presented himself as a bulwark of good governance and probity, in contrast to the scandal-plagued Zuma. According to its website, the principal functions of the SIU are to investigate serious malpractices, maladministration and corruption in connection with the administration of state institutions and to take appropriate action. (Reporting by Ed Cropley; Editing by James Macharia and Richard Balmforth)
As the critically acclaimed FX limited series The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story wraps tonight, castmember Sterling K. Brown, who has hooked viewers as prosecutor Christopher Darden, won't be hosting a viewing party. Rather, he'll be on stage at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, starring in the first preview performance of Father Comes Home From The Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3). The 2014 play by Pulitzer winner Suzan-Lori Parks is making its West Coast premiere, officially opening April 17.

For Brown, whose work as Darden has elevated him to breakout status after 15 years in the business (Army Wives, Person of Interest, Masters of Sex), processing the Emmy talk of recent weeks has been a bit surreal.

He is mindful that the subject matter of ACS is tragic. Yet simmering all through this series is the romantic subtext between Darden and Marcia Clark (portrayed so perfectly by Sarah Paulson), which has introduced Brown to the world of "shippers" and super-couple hashtags, in this case #Darcia. "To 'ship' Chris and Marcia, I had to learn what that meant," the actor admits.

A graduate of both Stanford and NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, the soft-spoken St. Louis native caught the theater bug in high school after stints in Godspell and West Side Story. Brown originated the role of Hero in Father Comes Home at New York's Public Theater in fall 2014.

Read More: 'Father Comes Home From the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3)': Theater Review

He spoke with The Hollywood Reporter during a rehearsal dinner break at the Taper, revealing what surprised him most about the blockbuster FX series and why he wanted to continue with Parks' play, plus his thoughts about Darden, diversity in Hollywood and why the stage will always be home to him.

The love story surprised you.

It did. Week by week it became clear just how strong the connection was for our audience. Then it started to hit me, oh - this is bigger than anything I could have possibly anticipated.

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But does the almost-soap opera undermine the important issues?

I don't think so. Life is as it is. It's not all serious. It's not all comedy. You have to allow for all the different emotions. The intimacy between those two people was apparent then and hopefully it's apparent as we replayed it. If the show weren't entertaining, the themes of racism, sexism and the actual trial itself wouldn't receive the attention they're getting.

You took a lot of heat online during episode 7.

When we took our trip to the Bay Area and we do not kiss at her hotel door. Lord have mercy! It was all, "What are you doing, DUDE?!"

In one of the more pivotal scenes you say to Marcia Clark, "You wanted a black face but not a black voice." Was it difficult for you to explore these themes, particularly through Darden, who was seen as a traitor to his community, and then as a loser?

It was a lot to balance. I had similar feelings 20-21 years ago about him being a race traitor or an Uncle Tom. By virtue of the fact that there were two prominent black lawyers in this case - one of them was the hero, the other has to be the fall guy. It wasn't a fair role for him to be placed in. Being able to step into his shoes allowed me to release the judgment that I had, and overall that's what I think is fascinating about acting. You can't play someone and judge them at the same time.

Read More: 'People v. O.J. Simpson' Cast Reunites to Talk Finale, Verdict, Prosecution Romance

With so much happening for you, tell me about your decision to continue with Father Comes Home From The Wars.

I love the stage. And I love this play. While it's set during the Civil War, it has a remarkable way of bringing things to light that are happening right now. This play recharges my batteries. One of my favorite things to do, when the ghost light is on and it's just an empty stage - I'll let my shadow spread right across the theater and I just say to myself, for the next few hours these folks are my responsibility. I get to share in something that is unique. It's like church.

Do you see yourself on Broadway?

Maybe. That's if my wife [actress Ryan Michelle Bathe] is willing to uproot our family and she can also be fulfilled artistically.

The diversity conversation has changed dramatically in this last year. But is the landscape really changing?

I see it changing - incrementally. I remember the great work that Norman Lear did. That was an incredible heyday to be a black actor. My wife and I will often have conversations about Good Times and The Jeffersons and Sanford and Son. They were doing incredible stuff that was very funny but also very socially conscious. It feels now like we're entering a time where people are willing to push that envelope again.

Tell me about what's next. You just did an M. Night Shyamalan film?

Yes, it's called Split. It'll be out in the beginning of 2017. And there's The Untitled Dan Fogelman Pilot. We shot in February and we're waiting, hopefully, to see if we get picked up.

Well, now that the guy who played Darden is in it ...

If that makes any difference at all, I'll take it.
A suicide bomber on a motorcycle killed at least six civilians and wounded 22 Tuesday when he detonated near a clinic and a school during a police chase in eastern Afghanistan, officials said.

The incident occurred in Parwan province, northwest of capital Kabul, provincial police chief for Parwan Mohammad Zaman Mamozai told AFP.

"We had been tipped off he was coming, he intended to target a police base, but when he found himself being chased by police, he detonated himself in an area close to a school and clinic," Mamozai said.

"Six civilians have been killed and another 22 injured. There is only one policeman among the wounded."

Waheed Sediqqi, a spokesman for the provincial governor, said the death toll could rise, with some of the injured in serious condition.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the Taliban are firmly entrenched in the remote mountainous area.

The insurgents have intensified their violent campaign to topple the Western-backed government since the end of NATO's combat mission in late 2014, multiplying bombings and attacks across Afghanistan.

In February another bombing claimed by the Taliban killed nine civilians and four police in Siagerd district.

The Afghan government has stepped up efforts to revive peace negotiations with the Taliban after an aborted bid last summer.

But they have persistently refused to sit at the negotiating table as long as their preconditions are not met, notably the withdrawal of all foreign troops from Afghanistan.
By Timothy Mclaughlin YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar's military lawmakers made clear their opposition to a bill to create a powerful new presidential advisory role for Aung San Suu Kyi on Tuesday by refusing to take part in a lower house of parliament vote on it. The bill, which creates a state counselor position enabling Suu Kyi to work in both in the executive and legislative branches of government, passed in the lower house but not before raising tension between the military and Suu Kyi's party. "The term 'state counselor' in the name of the bill is tantamount to mean that he or she can exercise both the executive and legislative powers, therefore it is against the constitutional provisions," said military member of the lower house Brigadier General Maung Maung. He was reiterating the concern voiced by military members of the upper house on Monday that the bill was unconstitutional. "It is important to make sure this bill is in conformity with the constitution," he said. Suu Kyi, who led her National League for Democracy to a sweeping election victory in November, is barred from becoming president under the military-drafted constitution because her children are not Myanmar citizens. She has vowed to govern from "above the president". Under the constitution, the military, which ruled for nearly 50 years after seizing power in 1962, holds a quarter of seats in parliament and three important ministries. Near the end of the parliamentary session, military lawmakers stood en masse in an apparent sign of protest against the bill's passage. Lower house speaker Win Myint, admonished the officers, telling them to be seated and that they already had a chance to discuss the bill. The bill will make its way to the president's office, where it is likely to be quickly signed into law by President Htin Kyaw, a handpicked confidant of Suu Kyi. Earlier, during a meeting of the parliament's combined houses, two new cabinet ministers were approved. Suu Kyi, who originally held four cabinet positions when the government took power on Friday, relinquished the energy and electric power and education portfolios. Myo Then Gyi, a former rector of the University of West Yangon, was confirmed as minister of education. Pe Zin Tun, a civil servant who served in the energy ministry under the previous government, will lead the reorganized ministry of energy and electric power. Suu Kyi retained the foreign affairs portfolio and the role of minister of the president's office. The Nobel laureate was set to hold her first official meeting as foreign minister with China's foreign minister, Wang Yi, later on Tuesday. (Additional reporting by Aung Hla Tun; Editing by Robert Birsel)
AMMAN/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Rebels shot down a second Syrian warplane in less than a month on Tuesday and a monitoring group said they captured its pilot in an area near Aleppo where heavy fighting has erupted in recent days despite a cessation of hostilities agreement. The Syrian army said the jet was shot down with an anti-aircraft missile, which have been long demanded by foreign-backed rebels against devastating aerial raids by Syrian and, since September, Russian forces. Rebels said the plane was downed with anti-aircraft guns. Their backers, which include Western and Sunni Muslim regional states, have been wary of delivering weapons such as anti-aircraft missiles that could fall into the hands of hardline groups. Any confirmation the rebels now have the missile equipment would be a major escalation in their weaponry. Syria says an anti-aircraft missile was also used by rebels to shoot down a warplane in western Syria in March. The aircraft crashed on Tuesday in the Talat al-Iss highland south of Aleppo city, an area where al Qaeda-affiliated insurgents have come under heavy bombardment by Syrian and Russian warplanes since capturing it in recent days, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The pilot was seized alive by fighters from al Qaeda's Nusra Front, the monitoring group said. Nusra Front later released a video of the wreckage smoldering in an open field, and of the pilot apparently at another location. He gave his name, Khaled Saeed, and said he had carried out bombing runs in the area and was hit by anti-aircraft gunfire. In a separate statement on Twitter, powerful Islamist group Ahrar al-Sham appeared to take responsibility for the downing of the jet. RESCUE EFFORTS Syria's military said the plane was on a reconnaissance mission when it crashed after being hit by a surface-to-air missile. The pilot survived and efforts were under way to rescue him, it said. The Observatory also said the plane was mostly likely brought down by an anti-aircraft missile. Rebels last downed a Syrian jet in the western province of Hama on March 12. Then they also denied a Russian Defence Ministry report they had used an anti-aircraft missile. The Observatory said on that occasion a rebel group had used two heat-seeking missiles. Ahmed al-Seoud, the head of a Free Syrian Army rebel group operating in northwestern Syria, said on Tuesday: "Not one faction in the opposition has surface-to-air missiles." A former rebel commander and army defector, Brigadier General Ahmad Rahal, said he had information that the warplane in Aleppo was brought down by artillery fire. "The Syrian air force planes are old and so after a certain mileage they need overhaul and are forced to fly at very low altitudes. They risk getting hit" by gunfire, he told Reuters. Missiles could hit jets flying at a higher altitudes and with greater accuracy. A Syrian military source said the incident was "a dangerous indication of the weapons the terrorists are obtaining". Aerial supremacy has been a major advantage for the Syrian army that has been battling insurgents seeking to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad. A fragile truce has held in Syria for more than a month as the various parties try to negotiate an end to the five-year civil war. But the truce excludes Islamic State and Nusra Front, and air and land attacks by Syrian and allied forces continue in parts of Syria where the government says the groups are present. (Reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi in Amman, John Davison and Tom Perry in Beirut; Editing by Tom Heneghan and Raissa Kasolowsky)
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 5



By Elena Kosolapova - Trend:



Azerbaijan is much stronger militarily now as evidenced by the destruction of ten Armenian tanks in the fighting over the weekend, President of the Jamestown Foundation Glen Howard told Trend April 5.



"Azerbaijan is not the Azerbaijan of 1994 but has had more than a decade to build an army and is able to defend its territory more than ever before," said Howard.



"I think the recent fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh is attributed to two things. The first is the visit to Washington DC by President Aliyev and his meeting with Vice President Joe Biden," he said.



The fact that the US is trying to give high level attention to the conflict and the fact that both presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia visited Washington DC and had high level meetings with the vice president is a sign that Azerbaijan's neighbor to the north continues to want the frozen conflict to remain frozen, said the expert.



He added that it is also a sign that instead of a frozen conflict, Karabakh, like Eastern Ukraine, has fallen victim to becoming a "bleeding conflict" designed to remind Armenia and Azerbaijan that the conflict cannot involve the western powers like the US in a peaceful resolution.



"Russia cannot be an independent peace negotiator while it is arming both sides of the conflict - by this I mean selling arms to both Azerbaijan and Armenia; it is creating the conditions for conflict between the two countries which is not helping the peace process," added Howard.



The expert noted that this conflict cannot be resolved unless the US takes the hands-on approach to the conflict.



It is not helpful when the US's chief negotiator for Karabakh, James Warlick attends events sponsored by the so called independent government of Nagorno-Karabakh in Washington DC, something that never happened during the days of the Bush Administration, said Howard.



This reflects how far the US has gone from being a neutral negotiator in the conflict, he added.



It demonstrates the lack of attention by the US Secretary of State John Kerry to find a peaceful solution to the conflict, according to the expert.



"This, in my opinion, set the stage for the events last weekend in Karabakh," noted Howard.



The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.



On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @E_Kosolapova
Beirut (AFP) - Veteran opposition figure Haytham Manna told AFP on Tuesday he has withdrawn from the Syrian Democratic Council, a Kurdish-Arab alliance based in northeast Syria that he co-chaired.

"I withdrew on March 19 from the presidency of the SDC and made it clear that I will not return until they rescind the March 17 declaration," he said, referring to an announcement by Kurdish and allied groups of a "federal region" in northern Syria.

Manna, an Arab, was co-president of the SDC, an alliance formed in December as the political branch of the Kurdish-Arab fighting force known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

The SDF have cleared Islamic State group jihadists out of swathes of territory in northern and northeast Syria and receive air support by a US-led coalition.

Both the SDC and SDF are dominated by Kurdish factions.

On March 17, Kurdish parties, including the powerful Democratic Union Party (PYD) and their allies, announced the creation of a "federal system" in northern Syria.

Kurdish parties already operate a system of three "autonomous administrations" in Syria's north, with independent police forces and schools.

The federal system would unite those cantons together under a single administrative unit.

But the announcement was heavily criticised by Syria's opposition, including Manna, who called it "counterproductive".

Syria's conflict erupted in March 2011 with anti-government protests but has since morphed into a multi-front war drawing in regional powers.
By Suleiman Al-Khalidi AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian rebel forces closed in on a town near the Turkish border held by Islamic State militants on Tuesday after seizing numerous villages from the group in the area, rebels and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The rebels involved in the offensive include factions fighting under the banner of the Free Syrian Army that have been supplied with weapons via Turkey. They are advancing towards the IS-held town of al-Rai. A sustained rebel advance near the Turkish border would erode Islamic State's last foothold in an area identified by the United States as a priority in the fight against IS. Rebels who have previously struggled to make sustained gains against IS in the area have mobilized several thousand fighters for the attack, rebel sources said. An alliance of rebel groups formed for the offensive includes the Turkish-backed Sultan Murad and Failaq al Sham groups. "The battles are continuing ... we have been able to liberate several villages very quickly from the Daesh (IS) gangs and God willing will cleanse northern Aleppo," Abu Yasser, a commander with Failaq al Sham group, speaking to Reuters. The Observatory said the rebel groups had seized at least 16 villages in an area held by IS for nearly two years. Islamic State's foothold at the Turkish border was significantly loosened last year by U.S.-allied Kurdish fighters of the YPG, which gained territory from the group further east. The YPG and rebels are however locked in their own conflict, notably near the city of Aleppo. Turkey, a major sponsor of groups fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad, has been alarmed by YPG gains near the frontier with Syria. Clashes that broke out at dawn on Tuesday when Islamist rebels launched attacks on the Kurdish-held Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood in northern Aleppo city still raged later in the day, the Observatory said. Dozens of mortars fired by the rebels killed 10 people and injured some 30 more. Four YPG fighters and a number of rebels were killed in the clashes, according to the Observatory. During the fighting, rockets were launched after Kurdish YPG units were able to make gains from Sheikh Maqsoud and disrupt the Castello highway, the main route for civilians and rebels into rebel-held parts of the city. (Reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi, additional reporting by John Davison in Beirut; Editing by Tom Perry/Mark Heinrich)
Taiwan on Wednesday gave its first ever international press tour of a disputed island in the South China Sea to boost its claim, less than two months after a visit by its leader sparked protests from rival claimants.

Taiping is the largest island in the Spratlys chain and is administered by Taiwan, which sees it as part of its territory.

But the Spratlys are also claimed in part or whole by China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei and have been at the centre of escalating rows.

A visit to Taiping by Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou in January triggered criticism from the United States which described it as "extremely unhelpful", as well as protests from Vietnam and the Philippines.

But Taiwan remains undeterred in asserting its claim.

"We hope that the international community will understand our position in safeguarding our sovereignty in the South China Sea and our effective administration of Taiping Island," deputy foreign minister Bruce Linghu said as the group visited the island.

The Philippines is currently in the midst of an arbitration case against China at the Hague over the South China Sea. A ruling on the case is expected before May.

As part of its case, the Philippines argues that Taiping and other islands are just "rocks", a categorisation which helps its broad claims in the area.

Taiwan disagrees, saying Taiping is a fully fledged island, a categorisation which entitles it to a 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone.

After the tour, Ma insisted Wednesday it was not provocative.

"Filipino lawyers have provided wrong information misleading the world, so we feel we have to come out to rebuff their claims," he said.

"To see is to believe," Ma added.

"We hope journalists can see for themselves that Taiping is an island, not a rock."

Taiwan Wednesday formally invited the Hague arbitration panel and representatives from the Philippines to visit Taiping.

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- Beefing up presence -

Philippine foreign ministry spokesman Charles Jose urged caution, calling on all sides "to refrain from taking actions that will further complicate the situation in the South China Sea".

China, which claims almost all of the sea, said it too would invite foreign journalists to visit the Spratlys "when the time is ripe," according to foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying.

"The Nansha islands (Spratlys) have always been China's territory. Chinese people on both sides of the strait have the responsibility to safeguard our heritage," she said.

As part of efforts to strengthen defence capabilities on Taiping, Taiwan last year inaugurated a solar-powered lighthouse, an expanded airstrip and a pier, all stops on Wednesday's press tour. The island is 0.51 square kilometres (0.19 square miles).

The trip aimed to highlight the island is self-sufficient, giving the press tours of a farm and a water well.

Journalists were shown other facilities including a hospital, post office and temple, as well as visiting a monument engraved with the words "Taiping Island" during the three-hour visit.

Most of the island's inhabitants work for the coastguard, which has about 160 staff there.

Rival claimants in the South China Sea have been beefing up their military presence in the disputed region, and other countries have complained China is becoming increasingly aggressive in pressing its case.

Beijing has reclaimed more than 2,900 acres of land from the South China Sea in less than two years in an intensive island-building campaign and has deployed surface-to-air missiles on a disputed island there, according to Taipei and Washington.
Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz continued to court female voters ahead of the Tuesday Wisconsin primary by contrasting his relationship with women against his rivals.



On Monday morning, Fox News commentator Megyn Kelly joined the Texas senator for a town hall at the Madison Masonic Center in the states capital, where he praised his wifes beauty, brilliance and resilience while accusing GOP frontrunner Donald Trump of having a problem with strong women.

According to recent polls, the majority of registered female voters have an unfavorable view of Trump. This would likely be a problem in the general election should he go up against Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton.

Kelly, who has had a highly publicized feud with Trump, asked Cruz to address several news stories that have been circulating the past few weeks  namely his spats with Trump involving their wives and the National Enquirer article that accused Cruz of having five affairs over the course of his marriage.

Ted Cruz talks with Fox News host Megyn Kelly at a campaign stop in Madison, Wis., on Monday. (Photo: Andy Manis/AP)



I have not [committed adultery]. That attack was complete and utter garbage. It was complete lies and it came from Donald Trump and his henchmen, Cruz told Kelly.

Cruz said that the only person quoted in the article was Trumps former political adviser Roger Stone. Kelly was quick to point out that Stone and Trump officially split ways in August, but Cruz countered that hes now the campaigns attack dog, spreading lies and personal smears.

I have always been faithful to my wife. I love my wife. She is my best friend in the whole world. And this is the kind of garbage that the Trump campaign engages in. And you know why? They cant debate substance.

Cruz speaks at a town hall campaign event in Madison on Monday. (Photo: Jim Young/Reuters)



Earlier in the conversation, Kelly brought up the time Trump retweeted an unflattering picture of Cruzs wife, Heidi, beside a nicer picture of his wife, former model Melania. At the time, this tweet prompted Cruz to call Trump a sniveling coward. Kelly asked Cruz if Trumps later admission that the tweet was a mistake had changed his feelings.

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Donald saying he made a mistake  I suppose miracles can happen, he said to laughter. But, to be honest, its gotten to the point, as this campaigns gone on, the silliness, the personal attacks, the nastiness, the cursing from Donald. My reaction is, Who cares?

Cruz said Trump lashes out because he does not have answers for the real issues facing Americans: lifting the boot of the federal government from the backs of small businesses, returning jobs to the U.S., defending the Constitution and Bill of Rights and protecting the nation from terrorism.

His response whenever he gets upset is he yells and screams and curses and he insults people. Thats his natural safe zone. You know something about that personally, Megyn, but thats how he treats everybody. When hes nervous, when hes scared, his security blanket is to insult people.

Kelly insisted that Trumps tweet had to have affected Cruz because hes not just a politician  hes also a human being who loves his wife. Then she pivoted to Trumps other threat to spill the beans on Heidi.

Donald Trump signs autographs after speaking during a town hall event at the La Crosse Center in La Crosse, Wis., on Monday. (Photo: Kamil Krzaczynski/Reuters)



I know that Donald, it makes him feel really tough, it makes him feel like a very, very big man to threaten people. And, in particular, he seems to have a problem with strong women. I dont why that is. But it seems to really bother him.

Cruz said there are no beans to spill and that his wife was in the rough-and-tumble business world for 20 years  where she had to deal with bullies like Trump  so she just laughs off his comments.

Shes dealt with people who think that they can just yell and scream at a strong woman and make her cower. Let me tell you, Heidi Cruz is not remotely scared of Donald Trump, Cruz said.

Cruz said he is proud that his daughters, Carolina and Catherine, are seeing their mother as a strong woman who stands up to bullies who attack her.

Thats a message I really hope little girls and little boys all across the country see, he said.

Meanwhile, during a rally at the La Crosse Center in La Crosse, Wis., Trump accused Cruz of being dishonest and in the pocket of special interests.

Look at the people supporting Ted Cruz, Trump told the crowd. These people  have total control over him. They will say, Jump, Ted. In some cases, they will say, Jump, Lying Ted because nobody lies like this guy. This guys a liar. We call him Lying Ted.

Last Wednesday, Cruzs mother, Eleanor Darragh, made a rare public appearance for her son during a celebration of strong women in Madison. Former Hewlett-Packard CEO and GOP candidate Carly Fiorina also participated.
By Emily Stephenson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz often tells supporters about his Supreme Court win against the federal government in 2008, defending Texas' right to execute a Mexican man for murder, as evidence of his conservative and anti-establishment credentials. But there is one part of the story that goes untold. The Medellin v. Texas case, decided when Cruz was the state's solicitor general, set the stage for years of diplomatic tension between the United States and its southern neighbor. Mexico has publicly protested U.S. executions of its citizens over the years, but interviews with diplomats and reviews of official Mexican government communiques reveal that the turmoil caused by the Medellin case ran deeper, coming up at nearly every meeting between the United States and Mexico and leading to an official protest to the United Nations Security Council in 2014. Given the level of frustration, Cruz's role in the court battle raises questions about U.S.-Mexico relations if he were to beat billionaire Donald Trump to the Republican nomination and win the U.S. presidential election in November. "I think relations would be complicated with a President Cruz, said Sergio Alcocer, who was Mexico's deputy foreign minister responsible for North America between 2012-2015. Alcocer praised Cruz as intelligent and pragmatic but said the senator was too inflexible on issues like immigration and the death penalty. Cruz takes certain positions that are very clearly defined. And he's much more conservative, much more dogmatic than Trump," Alcocer said. A Cruz campaign official did not respond to requests for comment. In Mexico City, a foreign ministry spokesman said Mexico had no preference among the U.S. presidential candidates and would not comment on the election. In the Medellin case, Cruz defended the death sentence a Texas court imposed on Mexican citizen Jose Ernesto Medellin after he was convicted in 1994 for his role in the gang rape and strangling of two teenage girls in a Houston park. In 2004, the International Court of Justice of the United Nations ruled that Texas and other states had violated the Vienna Convention by failing to notify Medellin and 50 other Mexicans on death row of their right to contact the Mexican consulate after arrest. President George W. Bush ordered Texas and other states to review the sentences. Cruz argued that, while the United States had submitted to the international court's decisions, the White House could not implement an international agreement that required states to change their court procedures without action by Congress. The Supreme Court agreed in a 6-3 decision. Winning the case raised Cruzs profile in conservative circles. He has recently said he would appoint justices who would narrowly interpret the Constitution - as he did in the Medellin case - a crucial talking point in the election following the death of Supreme Court conservative icon Antonin Scalia. "It was an unusual thing at the time for the state of Texas to be standing up against the president of the United States in front of the Supreme Court, particularly when that president was a Texan and a Republican and the former governor of this state, Cruz told cheering supporters at a Houston rally in February, one of the many times he has brought up the case. MEXICO PROTESTS The Supreme Court ruling removed a potential legal barrier to three more executions of Mexican nationals in Texas who had been part of the same international court case as Medellin, even as U.S. allies such as the European Union and Switzerland criticized what they saw as ongoing treaty violations. Mexico pressed U.S. officials and Congress to follow the international courts directive and require states to review death sentences where people had been denied consular access. "The issue came up as one of the top few issues (Mexico) raised in almost every bilateral meeting we had," said Harold Hongju Koh, who was legal adviser to the U.S. State Department from 2009-2013. Alcocer, the former Mexican deputy foreign minister, confirmed the issue of consular access was raised during negotiations on other cross-border issues like the extradition of criminals. "It's not resolved, and it's something that Mexico needs to keep insisting on, he said in an interview. Mexican officials said both the Bush and Obama administrations had been open to working on the issue. U.S. State Department officials supported consular-access legislation introduced in the Senate, but that was not enough to spur Congress to resolve the issue. Texas executed Medellin in August 2008, five months after the Supreme Court decision, drawing swift criticism from the United Nations court. Three years later, as Texas prepared to execute another Mexican national who had not received consular access, Mexico's then-ambassador to the United States, Arturo Sarukhan, wrote to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton saying the action would "seriously jeopardize" cooperation on a range of issues. "It serves neither the United States nor the Mexico-U.S. relationship if the U.S. cannot live up to its treaty obligations," said the letter, which was reviewed by Reuters. In 2013, Mexico warned Washington in another letter that the executions of Mexican nationals who had been denied consular access would mean "our whole forward-looking bilateral engagement could be questioned." A year later the government wrote to the president of the United Nations Security Council expressing indignation over the executions of Mexican citizens in violation of the international court directive. Sarukhan, the former Mexican ambassador, said Mexico had few options to put pressure on the United States without harming cooperation in other areas. "March 31st marks now 12 years since the decision was rendered and the United States is yet to comply with its international obligations," the government said in a statement, responding to Reuters questions about the Medellin case and Cruz's involvement in it. Critics of the Medellin ruling, and Cruz's boasts about it, say Texas could have simply reviewed the sentences as the international court had asked. Texas could have provided that remedy 20 times over in the time that it took to litigate that case up and down through the Texas courts and the Supreme Court, said Sandra Babcock, a law professor at Cornell University who was one of Medellins attorneys. The long-term damage, the reputational damage to the United States is still ongoing. But Cruzs supporters dismiss such criticism. His job as solicitor general was to defend Texas, not to worry about the international implications, they say. Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a former attorney general who was Cruz's boss at the time of the Medellin case, introduced the presidential hopeful at the February rally in Houston. "He fought against the United Nations, the world court and the United States of America itself to defend Texas sovereignty," Abbott said to cheers. (Reporting by Emily Stephenson in Washington and Dave Graham in Mexico City; Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Ross Colvin)
Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders speak simultaneously during a debate in Flint, Mich. (Photo: Jim Young/Reuters)

Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams is not satisfied with the setup for the Democratic presidential primary debate that is scheduled to take place on his home turf on April 14. Adams wants the debate moved from the Brooklyn Navy Yard to a recreational center in the boroughs troubled Brownsville neighborhood.



Adams is a Democrat, and he is one of the highest ranking New York City elected officials who has not made an endorsement in the partys primary. In a conversation with Yahoo News late Monday evening, shortly after the debate was announced, Adams said he believes the debate should take place in Brownsville because it is one of the last areas where gentrification has not settled in.

Its surrounded by a community thats really in crisis, Adams said of the neighborhood.

Brownsville has one of the highest murder rates in New York City, and it ranks as one of the poorest neighborhoods in Brooklyn. According to the most recent census data, just 1 percent of Brownsvilles residents are white, over three-quarters of the neighborhoods population is African American, and about 20 percent is Hispanic. In contrast, the Brooklyn Navy Yard is in the midst of a massive expansion, with hundreds of businesses opening in the area in recent years, including a coffee-roasting company, film studio, and multiple artists spaces. Census data shows nearly half of the residents in the neighborhood where the Navy Yard is located are white and the white population there climbed over 35 percent in the decade between 2000 and 2010.

I think the Navy Yard is a success story that is at the top of its game, Adams said. We need to go create more success stories, and no place in New York personifies the need to start a success story more than Brownsville.

Adams told Yahoo News he planned to contact the campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) about his call for a venue change on Tuesday morning. The debate will be aired on CNN and the local news channel NY1. An official for one of the campaigns told Yahoo News that CNN chose the debate venue.

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Spokespeople for CNN and the Sanders campaign did not respond to a request for comment from Yahoo News about Adams proposal. Harrell Kirstein, the Clinton campaigns New York communications director sent a statement on Tuesday emphasizing her travel throughout the state.

We are excited to be debating in Brooklyn on April 14, but that is far from the only campaigning Hillary Clinton is doing there. During the course of this campaign, Hillary is visiting all different parts of the city and state, including holding an event today at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyns Crown Heights neighborhood, Kirstein said.

New Yorks primary is scheduled to take place five days after the debate on April 19. The details of the debate were announced Monday evening after extensive negotiations between the two campaigns about where and when to hold the event.

Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams in front of New York City Hall. (Photo: Andy Katz/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Adams compared the prospect of a presidential debate in Brownsville to President Jimmy Carters 1977 visit to the Bronx. He said it could have a dramatic impact on the neighborhood by raising awareness of its problems.

All that were doing to attempt to turn around Brownsville, this would give it a great shot in the arm. Its almost like what Carter did years ago when he walked in the South Bronx and saw the devastation, said Adams. We cant continue to just drive by these communities in our motorcades. We have to pull over, roll down our windows, get out, and see and speak directly to the people. Trust me when I tell you this, at the Navy Yard, youre not going to have any Brownsville residents.

Adams said a debate could highlight how people in Brownsville have not benefitted from government. He pointed to the fact that New Yorks bike share program does not extend to the neighborhood as one example of how it does not enjoy the same resources that are given to more prosperous areas.

Brownsville deserves the city services. It deserves the quality of life that the gentrified communities are now receiving because they were gentrified, Adams said, adding, You dont see Citi Bike in Brownsville.  All of the nice things that are the signatures of gentrification, you dont see in Brownsville, and you darn sure dont see presidential debates in Brownsville.

Adams said he isnt concerned about whether the venue he proposed, the Brownsville Recreation Center, is ideally suited for the debate organizers needs.

We dont want a pristine beautiful location. We dont want Carnegie Hall. We dont want some luxurious place.  Its time for us to leave our comfort zones, Adams said. I think that if while theyre there they hear police sirens going by, if while theyre there they hear some tragedy, this is the real America. The real America is not some sterilized environment. Its the dirty reality that people are being left behind, and theyre giving up on government.

Adams plans to hold an alternate event and straw poll at the recreation center on April 14 whether or not the candidates participate.

If they dont change the location, I am not going to the debate in the Navy Yard. I am going to go to the debate in the projects and sit in the community center with residents from the housing development, and were going to do our own straw poll and a discussion after the debate, Adams explained. Were going to do those things that are done in other affluent communities to let Brownsville residents know they too can do a straw poll. Their votes matter.

Along with trying to move the debate to Brownsville, Adams said he would happily take any willing candidate, Democrat or Republican, on a walking tour of the neighborhood.

I will go through Brownsville with whoever is running for office, said Adams. The only skin I have in this game is representing Brooklyn. And thats important. Everyone has said on this campaign trail  Black Lives Matter, but look, Im going to tell them something else: Black votes matter as well.





This story was updated at 4:44 p.m. with the statement from the Clinton campaign.
It may seem like an odd thing to do but more and more parents are opting to put their babies in BOXES to sleep.

This isnt just some hipster fad, either - there is actually an extremely good reason for doing it, and it could even save your babys life.

The trend all started in Finland, where baby boxes were handed out by the government to every single expectant mother since the 1930s.

Coming fully equipped with baby essentials - including a medical kit, clothes and even a handbook for nervous dads - the box has been a godsend for parents.

It also comes with a handy mattress that can be slipped into the box, turing it into a miniature bed for the tot.

Handy: The boxes come with helpful items for new parents [Photo: Finnish Baby Box]

But this isnt just a handy space-saver - it is believed that the use of this makeshift cots is the reason for the drop in deaths by suffocation in newborns.

In fact, Finland consistently has the lowest rate of infant mortality in the world.

The boxes have now gone global and the Queen Charlottes and Chelsea Hospital, in collaboration with US company Baby Box Co, has decided to hand out their own boxes to expectant mums.

Karen Joash, the consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist, said that the scheme was also helpful to parents struggling with baby finances.

She said: We take it for granted people have money for a separate sleeping cot or Moses basket but that might not be the case.

Life-savers: The boxes are credited with curbing baby suffocation [Photo: Finnish Baby Box]

Other countries also have their own version of the boxes, which are credited with saving lives.

Mothers in Jagadiya, India, are given boxes with mosquito blankets and a clean-birth kit to help prevent infection during delivery.

Around 36,000 will also be handed out in Fort Worth, Texas over the next two years, in an attempt to curb the high mortality rates.

Dyann Daley, of Cook Childrens Hospital System, told the BBC: Our goal is to provide a box for every live birth in the city and give babies a safe sleeping environment because that is critical to preventing suffocation deaths.

Story continues

Would you be sleep your child in a baby box? Tweet us @YahooStyleUK.

Kylie Jenner Is Turned Into A Plastic Doll For Magazine Shoot, Gets Mocked By Internet

Editors Picks: The April Lust List
Three officials were arrested Monday for leaking a chemistry exam paper to students, which forced the test to be cancelled for the second time for the same reason.

Education authorities in southern Karnataka state last week cancelled the exam just hours before it was due to start after a student tipped them off about the leak.

The cancellation lead to violent protests by the class 12 students, who were initially meant to sit the test on March 21 but a leak of that paper caused the exam to be delayed.

"We have arrested three persons over the leaking of question papers. We are probing the role of many more," Sonia Narang, head of the criminal investigation department told AFP.

One of the arrested officials is a personal assistant to the medical education minister in the state government, she said.

An estimated 174,000 candidates were due to sit the pre-university course test across the state.

Media reports said 40 education department employees had been suspended following the scandal.

The leaked paper was sold for as little as 1,000 rupees ($15) on the Whatsapp messaging service, police said.

The agitated students attacked the office of the examining body over the weekend in Bangalore city, which has said the test will now take place on April 12.

Cheating in exams is common in India, including the paying large bribes to buy test papers.

Last year hundreds of parents and relatives were arrested in eastern Bihar state for scaling the walls of schools and providing crib sheets and study material to students during exams.

Last month authorities in western state of Gujarat blocked mobile phone Internet services in many districts to stop candidates from cheating during a public sector jobs test.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr.5

By Aygun Badalova - Trend:

Azerbaijan expects from Israel to relate to what is happening in Nagorno-Karabakh, because Israel can request Armenia to stop the fire and enter negotiations, Ali Hasanov, Azerbaijani president's aide for public and political affairs, told The Jerusalem Post.

"We view Israel as a strategic partner, and expect it to comment [on the situation]," he said.

Azerbaijan asks its strategic partner - Israel - to express its attitude toward the latest developments related to the military provocation committed by Armenia, according to Hasanov.

The top official noted that Israel has good relations with the US, Russia and France, and can urge them to bring Armenia to negotiations on the conflict.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements. The situation on the contact line remains tense.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @AygunBadalova
By Steve Bittenbender

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (Reuters) - A Kentucky lawyer, a former administrative law judge and a psychologist were indicted for conspiring to commit more than $600 million in disability fraud by submitting phony medical papers, according to court documents unsealed on Tuesday.

Eric Christopher Conn, a lawyer based in Stanville - about 130 miles east of Lexington - faces 18 counts, including three counts of mail fraud, three counts of wire fraud and five counts of money laundering after his indictment by a grand jury for the U.S. District Court in Lexington, Kentucky.

Conn, whose website is mrsocialsecurity.com, could not be reached at his office number and no attorney was listed in court documents. The attorney for Conn in a previous federal lawsuit could not be reached for comment.

David Black Daugherty, who according to court documents served as an administrative law judge for 21 years, was charged with three counts each of mail fraud and wire fraud, along with two counts of conspiracy. Alfred Adkins, of Pikeville, also was charged with three counts each of mail and wire fraud, two counts of giving false statements and a count of conspiracy.

Adkins provided contractual psychological services for Conn, according to court documents.

The three men, along with three unindicted co-conspirators sought to make money for themselves by submitting phony medical documentation to the Social Security Administration for disability benefits of more than $600 million, according to court documents. The false documents led to people getting retroactive disability benefits and Medicare and Medicaid benefits, according to court documents.

Conn also received fees to represent his clients, who lived primarily in four eastern Kentucky counties, according to court documents.

Daugherty and Adkins could not be reached for comment.

Conn and Adkins were scheduled to be arraigned on Tuesday afternoon. Federal officials could not be reached to determine their status, but Adkins was given his conditional release according to court documents.

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David Habich, a spokesman for the FBI in Louisville, said the three men had been taken into custody after the indictment, but he did not know if they remained in custody on Tuesday.

Last year, a federal judge partly dismissed a fraud lawsuit against Conn after she ruled whistleblowers did not produce sufficient proof that the claims were fraudulent.

The three unindicted co-conspirators were identified as two doctors and an office manager for Conn, according to court documents.

(Reporting by Steve Bittenbender; Editing by Ben Klayman and Bernard Orr)
Some of the greatest covers are the ones that totally efface and replace the original. How many artists can do that once? Aretha Franklin has done it over and overmost notably with Respect, which at this point is so tied to her that many people forget Otis Redding wrote and recorded it, as a rather less gender-progressive song.

I heard her recording of Border Song on the radio and only realized years later it was by Elton John; I only listened to his rendition as I wrote this. Dont bother: All you need is this version, which takes the ersatz gospel of the original and alchemizes it into the real thing. The main attraction is Arethas vocals, but the backing musicians bring it all togetherBilly Prestons organ, Chuck Raineys bass, Cornell Duprees chorus-drenched guitar solo, but especially the piano playing, which perfects the recording. Whos that? Just a little-known studio musician named Aretha Franklin.

(Track of the Day archive here. Access it through Spotify here. Submit via hello@)

Read more from The Atlantic:

This article was originally published on The Atlantic.
DETROIT (Reuters) - U.S. Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump said the move by Ford Motor Co <F.N> to build a manufacturing plant in Mexico "is an absolute disgrace" and shows the need to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

Earlier on Tuesday, Ford confirmed plans to build a plant in San Luis Potosi and an investment of $1.6 billion.

"This transaction is an absolute disgrace," said Trump's statement, sent to Reuters by email. "Our dishonest politicians and the special interests that control them are laughing in the face of all American citizens."

Trump said deals like the one Michigan-based Ford made to build a plant in Mexico "will continue until we can renegotiate NAFTA to create a fair deal for American workers."

Ford did not have an immediate comment on Trump's statement, but two weeks ago its chief executive, Mark Fields, said Ford would not back away from foreign investments if they made sense.

"We are a global, multinational company and we will invest to keep us competitive and we will do what makes sense for the business," Fields said.

Ford currently has more workers and makes more vehicles at its U.S. plants than do Detroit rivals General Motors Co <GM.N> or Fiat Chrysler Automobiles <FCAU.N> <FCHA.MI>, and has fewer workers and makes fewer vehicles in Mexico than the other automakers.

GM has about 12,000 hourly paid workers in Mexico, while FCA has 9,547 and Ford has 6,191, the companies said on Tuesday.

In the United States, Ford has 55,300 hourly paid plant workers, GM has 54,000 and FCA has 36,600, the companies said.

In 2015, 80 percent of Ford's North American production came from its U.S. plants while 63 percent of GM's North American production came from its U.S. plants and for FCA 64 percent of its North American production came from its U.S. plants.

(Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington and Bernie Woodall in Detroit; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
Washington (AFP) - President Barack Obama dismissed as "half-baked" Donald Trump's plan to force Mexico to pay for a border wall by holding hostage the money its citizens send home from the United States.

The Republican frontrunner's promise to build the wall and force Mexico to foot the estimated $8 billion bill is a cornerstone of his under-fire campaign to win the US presidency.

In a memo that the flamboyant New York tycoon handed over to The Washington Post, the candidate said he would force Mexico's hand by threatening to cut off billions of dollars sent home by Mexican immigrants.

"This is just one more example of something that is not thought through and is primarily put forward for political consumption," Obama told a news conference in response, on Tuesday.

"The notion that we're going to track every Western Union bit of money that's being sent to Mexico: good luck with that," he said.

Remittances are one of the most important sources of income for Mexico along with oil and tourism.

In 2014, more than $24 billion was wired into Mexico from overseas, including payments from immigrants not just in the United States but in other countries such as Britain and Canada, according to the World Bank.

The outgoing Democratic president said cutting off remittances, many of which come from legal immigrants sending money to their families, would be "impractical."

The policy was ill conceived, he said, warning that if the Mexican economy collapsed as a result, more immigrants would flock to the United States to look for work.

People expect the US president and other elected officials to address serious problems by proposing effective policies "that have been examined," analyzed and which take unintended consequences into account, he said.

"They don't expect half-baked notions coming out of the White House. We can't afford that."

- Intimidation tactics -

Story continues

In the memo, Trump threatened to change a rule under the anti-terrorism Patriot Act that would cut off a portion of the funds sent to Mexico through money transfers, the Post reported.

The paper said the feasibility of Trump's plan was unclear both legally and politically, and that the idea could decimate the Mexican economy and set up an unprecedented showdown between the United States and a key diplomatic ally.

Trump's memo said the threat would be withdrawn if Mexico made "a one-time payment of $5-10 billion" to pay for the wall, the newspaper added.

"It's an easy decision for Mexico," it quoted Trump as saying in the memo, which the Post said was written on campaign stationery.

Called "Compelling Mexico to Pay for the Wall," the document included other potential intimidation tactics such as increased trade tariffs, cancelling visas, and higher fees for border-crossing cards, the Post said.

The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request to comment.

Asked if Trump's foreign policy proposals were already doing damage to US relations abroad, Obama said yes and also called out Trump's closest Republican rival, the evangelical conservative Ted Cruz.

"I am getting questions constantly from foreign leaders about some of the wackier suggestions that are being made," he said.

"I do have to emphasize that it's not just Mr Trump's proposals. You're also hearing concerns about Mr Cruz's proposals, which in some ways are just as draconian when it comes to immigration, for example."

The Texas senator is leading Trump in the Republican contest for Tuesday's Wisconsin primary where a win for Cruz could bolster his chances of blocking the real estate mogul's drive for the Republican nomination.

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto has made clear "there is no scenario" in which his country would pay for a wall. He has compared Trump's rhetoric to the rise of European dictators Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini.
By Steve Holland MILWAUKEE (Reuters) - Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump tried to put a difficult week behind him and rally his supporters on Monday ahead of a crucial nominating contest in Wisconsin, where he was in the unfamiliar position of underdog. Opinion polls show Trump trailing U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas in the Midwestern state, where a loss on Tuesday could dent the New York billionaire's aura of inevitability and make it harder for him to win the 1,237 delegates needed for the party's nomination for the Nov. 8 election. Trump hunted for support at two rallies in the state on Monday, telling voters in La Crosse, Wisconsin, they could propel him toward the nomination by delivering him a surprise victory over Cruz. "If we do well here, folks, it's over," Trump said. "This could be the real beginning. If it's not, I think we get there anyway, and I'm pretty sure we get there anyway." Trump said an array of forces were aligned against him in Wisconsin, including the state's governor, Scott Walker, who has backed Cruz, a "very hostile media" and party establishment figures worried he will lead Republicans to a broad defeat in November. He ridiculed the "NeverTrump" movement to block his nomination and said the party establishment should have put the same effort into beating Democratic President Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012. "If they had worked this hard to stop Obama, Obama wouldn't have had a chance," Trump said at a rally in Superior, Wisconsin. He also said it was "unfair" that rival John Kasich, the governor of Ohio, refused to get out of the race despite trailing Trump and Cruz badly. Trump has won 736 delegates to the July nominating convention in Cleveland, but is still 501 short of the majority he needs to clinch the nomination. Rivals Cruz and Kasich hope to stop him short of a first-ballot victory and trigger a contested convention. "My eyes are wide open," Trump said of the possibility the party establishment would maneuver to deny him the nomination at the convention. "We're dealing with a corrupt system. We're dealing with a system that is not fair." Cruz told reporters the party was beginning to rally behind him, and said a win in Wisconsin would spark a surge of momentum for him in upcoming contests. 'A UNIFYING PARTY' "What were seeing is the party unifying behind our campaign," Cruz said in Madison. "I hope and believe tomorrow night's going to be a very good night here in Wisconsin." A Trump loss would cap a rough week, including an avalanche of criticism for his suggestion, which he later dialed back, that women be punished for getting abortions if the procedure is banned. Uncharacteristically, Trump also acknowledged that he made a mistake retweeting an attack on Cruz's wife, according to the New York Times. He also drew fire last week for saying he would not rule out using nuclear weapons in Europe and that Japan and South Korea might need their own nuclear arsenals to ease the U.S. financial commitment to their security. Trump told the crowd in Superior he had been advised that he should act more presidential but that if he did, it would be boring and "only about 20 percent of you would be here." Cruz was eager to capitalize on Trump's missteps, talking about his family during a town hall session in an attempt to soften his strident image and appeal to women turned off by Trumps recent comments. At a later rally, Cruz told voters the entire country was looking toward Wisconsin. "Lets show the country that this race is not about yelling and screaming and insults," he said in Madison. Even with a victory in Wisconsin, Cruz faces difficult odds to win the delegates needed to secure the nomination, given that the next states to vote, including New York on April 19 and five Northeastern states on April 26, are more Trump-friendly territory. Cruz has 463 delegates, 774 short of the total needed for the nomination, according to an Associated Press count. Kasich, with 143 delegates, has no chance to gather enough delegates to win on the first ballot but has refused to end his candidacy. He rejected Trump's call for him to get out of the race and poked fun at the front-runner's complaints. "I've got news for him. I'm gonna get a heck of a lot of his voters," he told a town hall meeting in Hempstead, New York. "I know how to fix these things that the Trump voters care about." In the Democratic race, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont has a small lead in opinion polls in Wisconsin over front-runner Hillary Clinton and is trying to add to his momentum after winning five of the last six contests. A Wisconsin win by Sanders would put the focus on the April 19 contest in New York, where Clinton was campaigning on Monday. Sanders still faces a tough task to overcome Clinton's lead of 263 pledged delegates in the Democratic race, which awards all delegates proportionally to their vote totals in each state. After days of sparring over the date for their next debate, Clinton and Sanders have agreed to hold the event on April 14 in Brooklyn, New York. Clinton reported on Monday that she had raised $29.5 million in March for the primary campaign, trailing the $44 million Sanders reported raising in March. Clinton's campaign said she raised an additional $6.1 million for the Democratic National Committee and state parties. At a New York City event celebrating a hike in the state minimum wage to $15 an hour, Clinton noted Trump had said wages were too high. That drew boos from the crowd, which included a large number of labor union members. "I dont know what the calculation is by Trump and others but Ill tell you this: They are selling Americans short, Clinton said. (Additional reporting by Doina Chiacu, Mohammad Zargham, Luciana Lopez, Susan Heavey, Megan Cassella and Eric Beech; Writing by John Whitesides; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Peter Cooney)
If you've flown across the country at any point in the past couple of years, you've probably come into contact with the Transportation Security Administration's Randomizer app on the iPad. It's an incredibly simplistic app that decides which lane you're going to stand in while you wait to pass through security.

What you might not know is that the TSA paid $1.4 million for the app.

DON'T MISS: Watch a Model S P90D in Ludicrous Mode race a Boeing 737

In December of 2014, software developer Kevin Burke submitted a Freedom of Information Act request for information regarding the TSA's app. 15 months later, he finally got a response which included two documents:

A disclaimer about how the TSA had to black out some of the information

The contract between IBM and the TSA

According to the contract, the TSA paid $336,413.59 for an app that randomly displays either an arrow pointing to the left or an arrow pointing to the right.

Shortly after Burke shared this information, TIME Magazine's Pratheek Rebala found several other payments relating to the contract which totaled an unbelievable $1,444,315. There's a chance that some of that money went to pay for the actual hardware itself, but nevertheless, it's a massive sum.

But the cherry on top of this whole story has to be the following video, which shows a coder recreating the app from scratch in just under 10 minutes flat:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GEpqmPL3bg

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This article was originally published on BGR.com
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 5

By Samir Ali - Trend:

More than 370 Armenian servicemen have been eliminated by Azerbaijani armed forces since Apr. 2 as a result of prevention of Armenian sabotages, said Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry in a message released Apr. 5.

Six Armenian tanks, 15 artillery units and reinforced engineering structures were destroyed and more than 100 servicemen of the Armenian armed forces were killed in the shootouts on Apr. 2.

Twelve servicemen of the Azerbaijani armed forces were killed, one Mi-24 helicopter was shot down and one tank was damaged on a mine.

Although the Azerbaijani armed forces have unilaterally stopped the retaliatory measures and counter-attacks on the frontline since Apr. 3, Armenians continued to aggravate the situation.

In order to return the lost positions, Armenians attacked the positions in Aghdere-Terter and Khojavend-Fizuli directions and intensively shelled the settlements near the line of contact.

Armenians suffered losses in manpower and military equipment in the shootouts on Apr. 3.

Three Azerbaijani servicemen were killed in the fighting. Azerbaijan's armed forces responded with crushing strikes on the Armenian positions.

During a counter-attack, Azerbaijani armed forces destroyed three tanks and eliminated around 30 servicemen of Armenian armed forces. Moreover, one enemy battery was destroyed as a result of a counter-strike of the Azerbaijani armed forces.

As a result of the preventive measures and strikes by Azerbaijani armed forces, Armenians fled in panic, suffering heavy losses, leaving their positions and throwing down weapons and ammunition. The enemy retreated in panic.

Afterwards, 12 armored vehicles were destroyed and up to 170 servicemen of Armenia were eliminated as a result of a return fire by the Azerbaijani armed units.

Azerbaijan's armed forces are working to construct engineering and fortification structures in the strategic positions that came under their control, and are carrying out visual intelligence and adjusting the fire.

A headquarters of the enemy's military base was destroyed in the strategically important Magadiz, located on the main road that leads to the city of Aghdere.

On the night of Apr. 4, three tanks of the enemy were destroyed along with their crews as a result of the strikes on the engineering and fortification positions.

In order to minimize the threat of damage to Azerbaijani settlements by fire from the opposite side, Azerbaijani armed units, deployed in the Khojavand-Fizuli direction, destroyed two tanks of the enemy along with their crews and up to five wheeled vehicles loaded with munitions.

Moreover, up to 70 Armenian servicemen were killed and around 20 military equipment of the enemy were completely destroyed by return fire during the operations carried out on Apr. 4 and Apr. 5.

Sixteen Azerbaijani servicemen were killed in the military operations in the last two days.
Istanbul (AFP) - Authorities in southern Turkey have arrested two men suspected of preparing to carry out suicide bombings for the Islamic State (IS) group, which has staged two attacks in Istanbul this year, reports said Tuesday.

The men were arrested in the southern province of Gaziantep, which borders Syria, the local governor's office said in a statement carried by the Dogan news agency.

One of them was named as Mehmet Mustafa Cevik, described as a member of IS and one of its Turkish affiliates, the Dokumacilar Group.

The Dokumacilar Group, named after its wanted founder Mustafa Dokumaci, is the suicide bomber unit suspected of being behind the October 2015 attack that killed 103 people at an Ankara peace rally in Turkey's bloodiest-ever attack.

The cell has also been linked to the killing of 34 people in the town of Suruc on the Syrian border in July 2015.

The other jihadist arrested was Ercan Capkin, the brother of Erkan Capkin, one of the suspected suicide bombers behind the March 19 attack on a famous Istanbul shopping thoroughfare that left four people dead.

A dozen German tourists were also killed in January when a suicide bomber linked to IS detonated his charge in the heart of Istanbul's historic centre.

Both suspects were ordered by a court in Gaziantep to be held in jail ahead of trial, the report said.

The Turkish interior ministry now has 23 suspected IS militants on its most wanted list with a total bounty of 42 million lira ($15 million) on their heads, the Hurriyet daily reported Tuesday.

Three suspected IS militants are on its urgently-wanted red list including Mustafa Dokumaci, the alleged leader of IS in Gaziantep, Ilhami Bali and Yunus Durmaz who is said to have planned the March 19 attack.

Turkey has been for several months on a state of high alert due to a series of attacks blamed both on IS and Kurdish militants amid the resumption of a conflict with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

The attack in Istanbul came less than a week after a car bomb exploded in central Ankara killing 35 people which was claimed by a radical Kurdish faction that split from the PKK.
Istanbul (AFP) - Turkish police on Tuesday detained almost 70 businessmen, local officials and teachers in a new nationwide sweep against supporters of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's arch foe, reports said.

Sixty-eight people were detained on suspicion of links to the US-based Turkish preacher Fethullah Gulen who Erdogan accuses of running a "parallel state" aimed at usurping him, the state-run Anatolia news agency reported.

The coordinated raids on suspects, which came after seven months of investigations, took place in 22 regions across Turkey including Istanbul, Ankara, the resort of Antalya and Gaziantep close to the Syrian border.

A total of 120 arrest warrants were issued and several of the wanted suspects are believed to be abroad.

Those detained include business people, charity executives, lecturers, teachers and municipal officials, it said.

Turkish authorities have since the summer of 2014 rounded up allies of Gulen in numerous police operations but this was one of the biggest to date.

Despite living outside of Turkey, Gulen has built up huge influence in the country through allies in the police and judiciary, media and financial interests and a vast network of private schools.

Ankara accuses Gulen of running what it calls the Fethullahaci Terror Organisation/Parallel State Structure (FeTO/PDY) and seeking to overthrow the legitimate Turkish authorities.

There have been numerous legal crackdowns on structures linked to the group and, in a move that sparked anger abroad, Turkey last month forcibly seized a media group closely linked to Gulen.

Gulen supporters decry the accusations as ridiculous, saying all he leads is a more informal group known as Hizmet (Service).

Gulen has been based in the United States since 1999 when he fled charges against him laid by the former secular authorities.

He and Erdogan used to be allies but fell out. The president blames Gulen for a 2013 corruption scandal that broke while he was prime minister and posed one of the biggest threats of his rule.

Turkey has asked the United States to extradite Gulen but Washington has shown little appetite for doing so.
By Orhan Coskun and Karolina Tagaris ANKARA/LESBOS, Greece (Reuters) - Turkey is ready to take in another 200 migrants deported from the Greek islands this week, a senior government official said, as it presses ahead with a disputed EU deal aimed at shutting down the main route for illegal migration into Europe. A first group of 202 migrants, mostly Pakistani and Afghan, were shipped back to Turkey on Monday under an agreement which will see Ankara take back all migrants and refugees who cross the Aegean to enter Greece illegally. In return, the European Union will take in thousands of Syrian refugees directly from Turkey and reward it with money, visa-free travel and progress in its EU membership negotiations. "This arrangement will prevent the Aegean Sea being turned into a cemetery for migrants," Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said in parliament of a deal meant to dissuade migrants from attempting perilous illegal sea crossings. Turkey was initially expecting a second group of 200 migrants to be sent back on Wednesday, but the government official said Greek authorities had informed their Turkish counterparts that the move would be delayed until Friday. The pact has been criticized by refugee agencies and human rights campaigners, who have cast it as inhumane, questioned its legality, and argued Turkey is not a safe country for refugees. Several dozen migrants being detained at a holding camp on the Greek island of Lesbos protested behind the barbed wire fence of the compound on Tuesday, shouting "We want freedom!" They were among thousands of refugees and migrants who have arrived on Lesbos on or since March 20 from Turkey and who are being held until their asylum requests are processed and they are accepted or sent back under the deal. The first group of returnees from Greece were brought from Lesbos and Chios to the Turkish Aegean coastal town of Dikili on Monday. They were then taken in buses escorted by gendarmes to a "reception and removal" center in a fenced compound in the town of Kirklareli near the Bulgarian border, from where most are expected to be sent back to their home countries. MIGRANTS DEMAND FREEDOM On parts of Turkey's Aegean coast where refugees had long gathered before attempting to cross the Aegean, the deterrent effect of the EU deal, struck last month, is apparent. Turkish security forces have increased checkpoints on roads in a bid to detain would-be migrants. Syrian and other refugees who once packed the cafes and hostels of Basmane, a district of the region's biggest city Izmir, have all but disappeared. "There's no work. The hotel has been empty for the last 20 days," said Mehmet, whose Basmane hotel had done a thriving trade sheltering migrants in the months ahead of the deal. But some stores in the neighborhood still stock unlicensed life jackets and, despite the risks, migrants are still trying to cross. Altogether, more people arrived on the Greek islands in the 24 hours to Monday morning than were transported to Turkey, Greek authorities said. Those returned from Greece on Monday included 130 Pakistanis, 42 Afghans, as well as nationals of Iran, Congo, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, India, Iraq, Ivory Coast and Somalia, people familiar with an internal European Commission report said. There were also two Syrians who had requested a return to Turkey, Turkish officials said. Davutoglu said a first group of 78 Syrians had been sent to Europe in return as part of the deal. Thirty-two went to Germany, 11 to Finland and another 34 were expected to go on Tuesday to the Netherlands, the European Commission report said. Rights groups and some European politicians have challenged the legality of the deal, questioning whether Turkey has sufficient safeguards in place to defend refugees' rights and whether it can be considered safe for them. The United Nations refugee agency UNHCR has stopped transporting arrivals to and from the Moria camp on Lesbos, initially set up to register arrivals but which has since become what UNHCR calls a "detention center". Through barbed wire at the camp, one man held up a piece of cardboard, which read: "Kill us if you want." On the wall of the sprawling gated complex, which was once an army camp, graffiti read: "No one is illegal". UNHCR says there are some 600 people above capacity at Moria, including pregnant women, lactating mothers and children, with insufficient food. Other aid groups have also pulled out from the site in protest at conditions there. (Additional reporting by Dasha Afanasieva in Izmir, Turkey; writing by Nick Tattersall; editing by Richard Balmforth and Peter Graff)
ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Tuesday that 78 Syrians were sent to Germany as part of a disputed EU-Turkey deal that aims to shut down the main route used by more than a million people fleeing war and poverty. Two Syrians were deported back to Turkey among the dozens of mostly Pakistani migrants who arrived on Monday from the Greek island of Lesbos to Turkish Aegean town of Dikili, Davutoglu said in a speech to parliament. (Reporting by Ercan Gurses; Writing by Humeyra Pamuk; Editing by David Dolan)
Dikili (Turkey) (AFP) - The next transfer of migrants to Turkey from Greece under a controversial deal with the EU has been postponed until later this week at Athens' request, a Turkish official said Tuesday.

"It has been postponed to Friday" from Wednesday, the official told AFP, asking not to be named.

"Greece could not send the people. Everything is ready here but we received a message from the Greek side," added the official.

The official did not give further details but the Greek government had admitted earlier the procedure had been slowed by an increase in asylum requests by migrants on the islands of Chios and Lesbos.

A local official in the Turkish region of Izmir had said earlier a new wave of around 200 migrants would be shipped from Lesbos into the Turkish harbour town of Dikili on the Aegean sea on Wednesday morning.

The first transfer of over 200 migrants from Greece took place on Monday, under the deal agreed between the EU and Turkey aimed at quelling the bloc's worst migration crisis since World War II.

But in Athens, a Greek government source denied that a date for the next transfer had ever been set.

"We don't plan in advance the date or number of those being sent back," the source told AFP, emphasising that the Greek government had to assess asylum applications by migrants.

"If by the end of the week, there is a satisfactory number of people who have not demanded asylum and which justifies a return, we will see if there will be a new transfer."

Under the pact with the European Union, Turkey has agreed to take back migrants who arrived in Greece in illegal crossings of the Aegean Sea after March 20.

Out of around 6,000 migrants who arrived on the islands after that deadline, more than 2,300 had applied for asylum, said Yiorgos Kyritsis, the spokesman for the Greek government panel coordinating the migration crisis

The deal has caused huge controversy, with rights groups including Amnesty International claiming Turkey could not be considered a "safe country" for the return of refugees.
By Ercan Gurses ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Tuesday condemned what he said were Armenian attacks in Azerbaijan's breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region and said Turkey would continue to stand by Azerbaijan in the conflict. Azerbaijan said 16 Azeri servicemen had been killed in fighting around the Armenian-backed region in two days, as a flare-up of the decades-old conflict showed no sign of abating. Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a war over the mountainous territory, whose population are mostly ethnic Armenian, in the early 1990s in which thousands were killed on both sides, and hundreds of thousands displaced A return to conflict could drag in Russia, which has a defense alliance with Armenia, and NATO member Turkey, which backs its ethnic kin in Azerbaijan. "I express my condolences to all Azeris ... over the deaths of Azeri citizens resulting from Armenian attacks," Davutoglu told a meeting of his AK Party in parliament, adding that he had called Azeri President Ilham Aliyev. "The whole world needs to know that Turkey will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Azerbaijan against Armenian aggression and occupation until the end of time," Davutoglu said. There have been sporadic bouts of violence in Nagorno-Karabakh since a fragile truce was declared in 1994. But the ceasefire was shattered over the weekend with the fiercest fighting in years, and dozens have been killed on both sides. Turkey and Russia also back opposing sides in the Syrian war and have been at daggers drawn since Turkey shot down a Russian fighter jet near the Syrian-Turkish border last November. "While Russian air strikes against Turkey-backed rebels in Syria continue, the South Caucasus - namely Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia - has traditionally been the main chessboard of their longstanding rivalry," defense analyst Can Kasapoglu wrote in a note for the Washington Institute think tank. "Given Moscow's adventurism in Crimea to the north and Syria to the south, Ankara sees the recent moves to the east as a particularly menacing threat and has expanded its military partnership with Turkic Azerbaijan in response." He said direct conflict was unlikely, however. (Additional reporting by Ayla Jean Yackley; Writing by Nick Tattersall; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Two people were killed and 15 others wounded when an explosion ripped through a mosque in the central Somalia region of Hiiraan during evening prayers on Thursday, police said. Local residents and police said it was unlikely that militants would target a mosque and thought the blast in the central town of Beledweyne was probably an accident. "We believe it was grenade that was accidentally dropped by those who were praying," a senior police officer, who gave his name only as Ibrahim, told Reuters from a police station near the scene. Six people, including two Turkish nationals, were gunned down in the capital Mogadishu on Wednesday and a suicide bomber blew up an official in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland earlier on Thursday. Beledweyne residents shared the view that the mosque blast was likely an accident. "The mosque was not attacked but it was an accident. We have not seen mosques being attacked. If it was deliberate, all could be killed easily. There was no gunfire," said Ahmed Nur, a local elder. Neither Somalia's al Shabaab militants nor any other group has claimed responsibility for the blast. (Reporting by Abdi Sheikh and Feisal Omar; Writing by Duncan Miriri; Editing by Tom Heneghan)
By Lawrence Hurley

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday upheld the ability of federal prosecutors to broker deals allowing corporate defendants to avoid criminal convictions in a case involving a Dutch company accused of illegally shipping aircraft parts to Iran and other countries.

The unanimous ruling by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit focused on a so-called deferred prosecution agreement with aerospace services company Fokker Services B.V.

The appeals court threw out a lower court judge's decision rejecting Fokker Services' agreement pay $10.5 million to resolve a criminal investigation into whether it had illegally shipped aircraft parts to Iran, Sudan and Myanmar in violation of U.S. sanctions.

The appeals court ruled that Washington-based District Court Judge Richard Leon lacked the authority to issue an order in February 2015 rejecting the agreement. Leon had described the company's payment as "grossly disproportionate" given the seriousness of its actions.

The appeals court ruling was authored by Judge Sri Srinivasan, who President Barack Obama considered nominating to the U.S. Supreme Court before selecting Merrick Garland, a fellow appeals court judge.

Srinivasan did not address whether the financial penalty was too low or not. "Rather, the fundamental point is that these determinations are for the executive - not the courts - to make," Srinivasan wrote.

Critics, including some members of Congress, have questioned whether the Justice Department overuses deferred prosecution agreements and whether judges should have greater oversight of such deals.

Under deferred prosecution agreements, companies can avoid a full-fledged criminal prosecution in exchange for agreeing to take certain actions.

Prosecutors agreed in 2014 to defer and ultimately drop charges that Fokker Services sent more than 1,000 parts, technology and services to sanctioned countries between 2005 and 2010 without first obtaining a license, as long as the company abided by the terms of the pact.

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The Justice Department cited the company's efforts to disclose the conduct, improve its compliance program and discipline employees as reasons for the lenient treatment.

The case is U.S. v. Fokker Services, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, No. 15-3016.

(Reporting by Lawrence Hurley; Editing by Will Dunham)
By Stephen Kalin BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A U.S. de-mining company is removing explosives and training Iraqis to dismantle the devices planted by Islamic State in the largest Iraqi city retaken from the militants, a diplomat and two U.S. officials said on Monday. Hundreds of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) planted throughout the streets and buildings of Ramadi, 100 km (60 miles) west of Baghdad, have delayed the return of around half a million displaced residents since the Iraqi military backed by U.S. air strikes recaptured the city three months ago. The United Nations and the governor of Anbar province, of which Ramadi is the capital, have said a shortage of Iraqi experts - military or civilian - trained in dismantling the explosives has slowed efforts to restore security. Several of the technicians have also been killed by snipers. The Iraqi government's strained finances have also limited its ability to secure and rebuild areas recaptured from Islamic State including the northern cities of Tikrit, Baiji and Sinjar. De-mining will be a critical first step in returning civilians to most of these areas. The United States said on Monday it was allocating $5 million for the contract with Tennessee-based Janus Global Operations Inc, which bills itself as "the largest commercial munitions management and de-mining company in the world". The company has experience operating in challenging environments, including Afghanistan and Somalia, Janus Global President Alan Weakley said in a statement. "Janus, this weekend, began moving equipment and people into Iraq to address this clearance effort and will begin removing these hazards as quickly as we can," he said. Weakley said the company on Monday changed its name to Janus Global Operations from Sterling Global Operations. A U.S. official told Reuters that Norway also had agreed to kick in $5 million and another $5 million was expected to come from other partners in the U.S.-led coalition battling Islamic State in Iraq and neighboring Syria. A senior diplomat in Baghdad confirmed the contract, adding that both Iraqi and foreign nationals would be engaged in de-mining activities. It was not clear which countries the foreigners will come from. Coalition advisers supporting Iraq's military did not set foot in Ramadi during the months-long battle to recapture it. A spokesman for the coalition said its forces would not be involved in protecting Janus' teams, which are expected to comprise around 40 individuals. A team of international experts arrived in Ramadi last week and conducted reconnaissance, according to Anbar Governor Sohaib al-Rawi. About 3,000 families returned over the weekend to districts that have been cleared of mines and explosives. But they are relying on electricity generators and water pumped from the nearby Euphrates River since public services have not been repaired. (Reporting by Stephen Kalin; Additional reporting by Eric Beech in Washington; Editing by Mark Heinrich and Sandra Maler)
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 5

By Elchin Mehdiyev- Trend:

A minute's silence observed at Azerbaijani parliament's plenary session on Apr.5 by the members of the parliament in the memory of the Azerbaijani servicemen, who died during the operations on the contact line the Azerbaijani-Armenian troops.

Parliament Speaker Ogtay Asadov thanked to Azerbaijan's army for the successfully conducted operations.

"Azerbaijan has respected the ceasefire regime for many years," said Asadov adding that every time Azerbaijan achieved great successes, the country faced Armenia's sabotages.

But recently, Armenians have begun shelling our civilians, he noted, adding that Azerbaijan gave a proper response to Armenia's diversion.

The speaker also said that the Azerbaijani army has taken control of important strategic heights.

On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
PARIS (Reuters) - The United States, France and Russia are to send envoys to Azerbaijan, Armenia and to Nagorno-Karabakh in a bid to resolve the conflict that has flared up in the border region, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said on Tuesday. "We can see that military conflict cannot be the solution, nor is the status quo," he told reporters after talks with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe is also going to send a fact-finding mission, said Steinmeier, whose country is chair of the OSCE. According to Azerbaijan, some 16 Azeri servicemen have been killed in fighting around the Armenian-backed region in two days, as a flare-up of the decades-old conflict showed no sign of abating. In the early 1990s, Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a war over the mountainous territory, whose population are mostly ethnic Armenian, in the early 1990s in which thousands were killed on both sides, and hundreds of thousands displaced. A return to conflict could drag in Russia, which has a defense alliance with Armenia, and NATO member Turkey, which backs its ethnic kin in Azerbaijan. (Reporting by John Irish; writing by Andrew Callus, Editing by Leigh Thomas)
By Lindsay Dunsmuir and Carl O'Donnell

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department took new steps on Monday to curb tax-avoiding corporate "inversions," with the pending $160 billion merger of Pfizer Inc and Allergan Plc seen as a potential casualty.

The changes, less than a year before President Barack Obama ends his term, follow sharp political criticism of Pfizer's and Allergan's merger, which would be the largest inversion deal ever. While the rules did not single out this deal, one of the provisions takes aim directly at it.

Shares of Dublin-based Allergan fell 22 percent in after-market trading, while shares of New York-based Pfizer rose 3 percent.

The companies said they were reviewing the Treasury Department's notice. "Prior to completing any review, we won't speculate on any potential impact, the companies said in a joint statement.

The federal government has grappled with a wave of inversions in recent years as U.S. companies have sought to slash their tax bills by redomiciling overseas, though their core operations and management usually remain in the United States even as they claim a new tax home. Several U.S. presidential candidates, including Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton, have seized on the issue in their campaigns.

Obama, a Democrat, has called repeatedly for action by the Republican-controlled U.S. Congress on inversions, but lawmakers have done little. He repeated his appeal to Congress on Monday and said he welcomed the Treasury's action.

The Treasury said in a statement it will impose a three-year limit on foreign companies bulking up on U.S. assets to avoid ownership limits for a later inversion deal.

"In simple words, Allergan's key deals in the prior 36 months won't be counted (as far as meeting the inversion threshold is concerned) when doing the ownership math for the Pfizer-Allergan deal," Evercore analyst Umer Raffat wrote in a note.

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These deals include the $66 billion merger of Allergan Plc and Actavis Plc, the $25 billion purchase of Forest Laboratories and the $5 billion takeover of Warner Chilcott.

"The real issue is not so much what Allergan may prove or disprove, or whether Treasury overstepped its authority. The real question is whether Pfizer reads today's regulations as reason enough to not continue to pursue the deal," Raffat wrote.

Under the agreement between Pfizer and Allergan, either party may terminate the deal if an adverse change in U.S. law would cause the combined company to be treated as a U.S. domestic corporation for federal income tax purposes. The terminating party would have to pay the other company up to $400 million for its expenses, according to the merger agreement.

LEW SAYS LEGISLATION STILL NEEDED

Treasury also said it is proposing rules to tackle a practice known as earnings stripping that is often undertaken following an inversion.

Earnings stripping covers a range of financial dealings that shrink the taxable U.S. profits of multinationals. A common strategy is to load up the U.S. unit of a redomiciled foreign company with debt and then shift U.S. profits to the new lower-tax foreign jurisdiction through interest payments.

The new Treasury rules would restrict related-party debt for U.S. subsidiaries in dealings that do not finance new investment in the United States. As part of these proposed regulations, the Internal Revenue Service would also be able to divide debt instruments into part debt and part equity, Treasury said.

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said the new actions would "further rein in" inversions, while he repeated his call that only legislation in Congress could prevent such deals.

But at least one business group, the Organization for International Investment, which advocates for foreign-based companies, condemned the new rules.

"Treasurys action would increase the cost of investing and expanding across the United States for all foreign companies and put at risk more than 12 million American workers that are supported by foreign direct investment in the United States," Nancy McLemon, the group's chief executive, said in a statement.

Such tax avoidance schemes have long been a thorn in Treasury's side. The proposed deal between Pfizer and Allergan, which would create the world's largest drugmaker, prompted renewed scrutiny.

Pfizer plans to redomicile in Ireland, where Allergan is based, and the companies expect to complete their merger in the second half of this year.

Last November, following the announcement of the Allergan-Pfizer deal, Treasury clamped down on inversions by limiting a U.S. acquirer's ability to set up a new foreign parent in a third country and to "stuff" assets into a foreign parent to meet post-inversion ownership limits.

On Treasury's latest steps, Senator Charles Schumer of New York, who has been a co-sponsor of legislation to curb inversions, said in a statement: "These regulations will make potential inverters and foreign acquirers think twice before making the leap, and those bad actors should be on notice that we intend to clamp down even further."

(This story has been refiled to add dropped word "Pfizer" in third paragraph)

(Reporting by Lindsay Dunsmuir in Washington, D.C. and Carl O'Donnell in New York; Editing by Leslie Adler)
HOUSTON (Reuters) - U.S. Judge Carl Barbier granted final approval on Monday to BP Plc's civil settlement over its 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill after it reached a deal in July 2015 to pay up to $18.7 billion in penalties to the U.S. government and five states. "Today's action holds BP accountable with the largest environmental penalty of all time while launching one of the most extensive environmental restoration efforts ever undertaken," U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in a statement. The company at the time said its total pre-tax charges from the spill set aside for criminal and civil penalties and cleanup costs were around $53.8 billion. (link.reuters.com/duz94w) Under the terms of the original agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice and the Gulf Coast states, BP will pay at least $12.8 billion for Clean Water Act fines and natural resource damages, plus $4.9 billion to states. The payouts will be staggered over as many as 18 years. The rig explosion on April 20, 2010, the worst offshore oil disaster in U.S. history, killed 11 workers and spewed millions of barrels of oil onto the shorelines of several states for nearly three months. (Reporting By Jonathan Stempel, Terry Wade and Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)
By Louis Charbonneau and Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - United Nations sanctions monitors confirmed in their latest report the recent presence of cluster munitions in Sudan's conflict-torn Darfur region in violation of a U.N. arms embargo while rebel groups earned cash from illicit gold mining. The U.N. Security Council's Panel of Experts on Darfur said it had evidence Sudan's air force recently had RBK-500 cluster bombs at the weapon loading area at the Nyala Forward Operation Base. "Although Sudan is not a signatory to the Cluster Munition Convention, it has previously denied either possessing or using cluster munitions," the panel said in its report, seen by Reuters on Tuesday. Cluster munitions explode in the air and scatter smaller "bomblets" over a huge area that detonate when stepped on or picked up. The panel's sighting of cluster munitions supports the findings of the U.N. Mine Action Service that the Sudanese Air Force has used RBK-500 cluster bombs. The panel also raised concerns about gold smuggling. Moscow, which has good relations with the Khartoum government, was unhappy with the panel's reporting. Russian Deputy U.N. Ambassador Petr Iliichev said Russia was opposed to publishing the report because "the experts are not behaving like they are required to." The U.N. Security Council sanctions committee has to agree by consensus to release the report. The experts said some 48,000 kg (105,822 pounds) of gold was potentially smuggled to United Arab Emirates from Darfur between 2010 and 2014 and "such an export level equates to an additional income of $123 million to the armed groups of Darfur over this period." The experts visited the Jebel Amir artisanal gold mines in June 2015 and said they were certain that the Abbala militia control at least 400 mines. They said the group earns some $54 million annually from levies on prospectors and support businesses, direct prospecting and the illegal exporting of mined gold. The panel said South Sudan violated the sanctions regime by failing to stop training of the Darfur rebel group known as the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) on South Sudanese territory, and by failing to prevent it from transferring weapons into Darfur. The experts said the Juba government clearly knew about JEM's presence and therefore violated the sanctions. The Darfur conflict began in 2003 when mainly non-Arab tribes took up arms against the Arab-led government in Khartoum, accusing it of discrimination. The U.N. says up to 300,000 people have been killed and millions displaced in Darfur. (Editing by Alan Crosby)
By Emma Farge DAKAR (Reuters) - The head of the United Nations labour agency ILO has urged Gambia's President Yahya Jammeh to investigate the death of a trade union leader allegedly killed by intelligence agents, a spokesman for the agency said on Thursday. Rights group accuse Gambian authorities of multiple violations, although Banjul denies a deterioration of civil liberties under Jammeh, one of Africa's "big men" who has been in power for two decades and will seek re-election this year. Sheriff Diba fell foul of authorities in the tiny West African country after his union lobbied Jammeh for a reduction in retail fuel prices, according to the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) which represents him. He was arrested last month and died on February 21 in Mile 2 prison after being beaten and tortured by members of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), the ITF said, citing local sources who wished to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals. "The ILO director-general (Guy Ryder) has expressed his deep concern urging the government to carry out an independent inquiry into the circumstances of Sheriff Diba's tragic death," International Labour Organisation spokesman Hans von Rohland said in an email to Reuters. Gambia's Information Minister Sheriff Bojang was not immediately available for comment on Thursday. Officials have previously said Diba died of malaria. Amnesty International echoed the ILO's call for an investigation into Diba's death and for Gambia to uphold freedom of association. Diba's union the Gambian National Transport Control Association has been dissolved by presidential order, according to the ITF. ITF officials say they are also considering filing a complaint against Gambia with the Banjul-based African Commission on Human and People's Rights or with the U.N. Human Rights Committee over the incident. Separately, rights groups this week called for Gambia to free a sick journalist whom they say was arrested by the NIA in July 2015 and charged with sedition. Alagie Abdoulie Ceesay is currently held in the Mile 2 Prison where Diba was also detained. U.N. rights officers were denied access to its security wing in 2014 while former prisoners have complained of a lack of access to medicine and lawyers. (Editing by Dominic Evans)
By Barbara Goldberg

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Two cancer charities accused of misusing $75 million in donations for Jet Ski outings, dating website subscriptions and other personal spending are being dissolved, attorneys general for all 50 U.S. states said on Wednesday.

Cancer Fund of America and Cancer Support Services Inc will shut down as the result of the largest-ever joint enforcement action undertaken by state charity regulators and the Federal Trade Commission, the attorneys general said in news releases issued simultaneously in their various states.

Jim Reynolds, the leader of the charities, is banned from managing charitable assets and profiting from charity fundraising and non-profit work, under the settlement filed in U.S. District Court in Arizona.

Altogether Reynolds and his family members were accused of running four sham charities that cheated donors out of $187 million. CFA and CSS accounted for more than $75 million of that amount. The two other charities settled with authorities in May 2015.

As little as 5 percent of the millions raised for cancer victims actually went to their aid, according to Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane.

Donations solicited to help cancer patients instead went to Reynolds and his colleagues for vacations, cars, college tuition, gym membership, luxury cruises, tickets to concert and sporting events and other fraudulent uses, Kane said.

Today we have ended a malignant charity fraud that siphoned hundreds of millions of dollars away from well-meaning consumers, legitimate charities, and people with cancer who needed the services that the defendants had falsely promised," New Hampshire Attorney General Joseph Foster said in a news release.

His state has been pursuing CFA for decades, suing the organization in New Hampshire state court as far back as 1991, Foster said.

"Twenty-five years later, Foster said, "this nationwide cooperative effort has finally put these fraudsters out of business."

(Reporting by Barbara Goldberg; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)
By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States urged Russia on Tuesday to push the Syrian government to allow humanitarian access to besieged areas after a boy starved to death and three children died from landmine injuries in Madaya in the past week because they could not be evacuated. The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, said less aid had reached besieged areas in Syria during March than in February, when world powers agreed in Munich to a cessation of hostilities to allow humanitarian access. U.N. aid chief Stephen O'Brien briefed the U.N. Security Council on the situation behind closed doors on Tuesday at the request of the United States. Power described his briefing as "extremely chilling, heartbreaking." "He described this boy who the U.N. tried to get evacuated (from Madaya)," she told reporters, holding a photo of the skeletal boy. "Because the Syrian government refused his evacuation, he died yesterday." She said it was "an abomination for a member state of the U.N. to be blocking food in the way that the Syrian government has done." The United Nations said 486,700 people are besieged in Syria - 274,200 people by government forces, some 200,000 people by Islamic State militants, about 12,500 people by armed opposition groups and Nusra Front, and another 6,000 people by both government and opposition forces. "We and other council members have appealed to those with influence over a government that has proven itself susceptible to influence when the pressure is intense enough," Power said. "It's going to take a very, very large push to change the trajectory for people who are this malnourished." An International Syria Support Group, led by Russia and the United States, set up a humanitarian task force in February. Members of the task force are charged with using their influence over the warring parties to boost humanitarian aid access. When asked about Power's remarks, Russian Deputy U.N. Ambassador Vladimir Safronkov said that was why the task force was set up. "It's a better way to work together," he said. Power also spoke specifically about the town of Daraya, where the World Food Programme has said some people have been reduced to eating grass. She said people are skeletal and mothers are too malnourished to nurse their babies. "Not one crumb of U.N. food has reached Daraya since 2012," Power said. (Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)
By Elias Biryabarema KAMPALA (Reuters) - Ugandan police arrested opposition leader Kizza Besigye on Tuesday amid clashes with his supporters, highlighting lingering tensions after a disputed presidential election. Veteran President Yoweri Museveni was declared winner of the Feb. 18 election with 60 percent of the vote, although Besigye and other candidates rejected the results as fraudulent. Besigye, who came second with 35 percent, said widespread rigging, intimidation by security personnel, ballot stuffing and other irregularities had made the vote invalid. That criticism was echoed by independent monitors from the European Union and the Commonwealth who said Uganda's electoral body lacked independence and transparency and that the poll had been conducted in an intimidating atmosphere. Police spokesman Patrick Onyango said Besigye had been arrested as he left his home after defying orders to use a designated route. "He insisted on driving through the city centre with his supporters ... he would not listen to orders to use a different route," Onyango said. Besigye was being held at a police station in Mukono, about 24 km east of the capital Kampala. Onyango said he had been charged with participating in an unlawful assembly. He did not say whether Besigye might be released on bond. Footage on local television showed a heavy contingent of police trucks, armoured vehicles and personnel intercepting Besigye as he was driving into the city centre with a procession of supporters. Officials say they suspect Besigye wants to topple the government through street protests, and he has been kept under virtual house arrest since polling day. On Friday, however, police said they would withdraw a contingent stationed outside his house, where he had been receiving visits from supporters, religious leaders and human rights organisations. Some analysts said the government might be becoming uncomfortable with the attention Besigye was getting. But Ingrid Turinawe, a senior official in Besigye's Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), said she believed the withdrawal of the police guard had been a ruse. "I think they wanted him to come out of his home so they could arrest him and keep him in a police cell for maximum isolation," she said. (Reporting by Elias Biryabarema; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron, his wife and their children do not benefit from any offshore funds, his spokesman said on Tuesday, after the British leader's late father was included in a leaked list of clients using a law firm in the tax haven of Panama. Earlier on Tuesday, during a visit to a business in central England, Cameron said he did not own any shares or have any offshore funds, but did not answer a question on whether he or his family had benefited from offshore investment funds set up by his father. (Reporting by Kylie MacLellan and William James; editing by Stephen Addison)
KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine's fiscal service will examine the documents relating to President Petro Poroshenko's offshore assets that were published over the weekend after a massive data leak, the head of the service, Roman Nasirov, said on Tuesday.

"We will analyse the information that was presented in the press, that which we can analyse, and we will let you know," Nasirov told journalists when asked about the data leak.

(Reporting by Natalia Zinets; Writing by Alessandra Prentice; editing by Matthias Williams)
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 5

By Elmira Tariverdiyeva - Trend:

The situation emerging in the Russian media over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is admittedly difficult for Baku, says Alexander Karavayev, leading expert of the Political Science Center 'North-South'.

Karavayev commented on the biased anti-Azerbaijani position of many Russian media outlets.

Karavayev said that the reason of such a difficult situation is that the influence of the Armenian interests on the Russian media has been evident and has been growing for a long time.

"The growing influence is connected with several factors," he told Trend by phone. "The first factor is a longstanding complementary attitude towards Armenia and Armenian culture, which has been created by the Armenian diaspora in Russia."

"This was directly implemented and used at the beginning of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict," he said. "Without going into details, the individuals having the liberal-minded public opinion in Russia perceived the Armenian version of the conflict as the only true variant."

The expert said that the Armenian diaspora's positions in various spheres of Russia's social and economic life, are strong enough, adding that this was also a factor influencing the conflict before its aggravating.

The expert said that Baku was not ready for such a situation.

"If Baku had been an initiator of this military campaign, it would have been prepared for it in terms of information," the expert said. "Perhaps, the Azerbaijani embassy in Russia would have created a staff, which had been organizing the daily press briefings."

"Certainly, groups of journalists would have been sent as part of the press-tours to the territories shelled by the Armenian armed forces," the expert said.

The expert added that it is not late to take such actions now.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.



On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers.



The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements. More than 370 Armenian soldiers, 12 tanks, 12 armored vehicles and 15 artillery guns have been destroyed from April 2 until today.
VOLENDAM, Netherlands (Reuters) - The leader of Britain's UK Independence Party said on Monday that a Dutch vote against an EU treaty with Ukraine would give a boost to the Brexit camp less than three months from a British referendum on quitting the 28-nation bloc. Voters in the Netherlands go to the polls on Wednesday in a referendum that is formally about the treaty, but that activists present as an opportunity to cast a vote against European integration. UKIP leader Nigel Farage told Reuters on a visit to the Netherlands that a Dutch 'No' would embolden British voters who believed they were alone in Europe in holding eurosceptic views. "If there is a healthy turn-out and if there is a strong 'No' vote in the referendum, it sends a big message," he said. "A 'No' vote here would be taken by many back home as a sign that this growth in euroscepticism isn't just in our country, it's happening elsewhere." British polls suggest that younger people overwhelmingly back continued EU membership, in sharp contrast to the more eurosceptical over-55s - a contrast that Farage attributed to the influence of university education. "The universities don't even attempt intellectual neutrality ... I do feel that British youth have a different view because of what they've been told," he said. The Dutch vote was triggered after a satirical website collected enough signatures to call a referendum on the treaty, a broad trade, political and defense agreement which grants Ukraine access to EU markets in exchange for ramped up reform efforts in the troubled former Soviet republic. Dutch politicians have warned that a rejection of the treaty would hand a symbolic victory to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who backs separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine who are widely blamed in the Netherlands for the downing of an airliner in 2014 with the loss of almost 200 Dutch lives. (Reporting by Thomas Escritt; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
New York (AFP) - The United States arrested 21 suspects on suspicion of visa fraud conspiracy for allowing more than 1,000 foreign students, primarily from China and India to extend their stay in America illegally, prosecutors said.

Federal agents set up a fake university to ensnare the suspects in an operation that spotlights growing concern about visa fraud at a time when illegal immigration has become a major issue in the US presidential campaign.

Prosecutors said the recruiters, brokers and employers were charged with conspiracy to commit visa fraud and conspiracy to harbor aliens for profit, which each carry a maximum sentence of five and 10 years in prison, respectively.

Homeland Security investigators set up the so-called University of Northern New Jersey in September 2013 in a bid to crack down on visa fraud from foreigners who fraudulently maintain their non-immigrant status on false pretenses.

They staffed offices in Cranford, New Jersey with undercover agents posing as administrators, but there were no teachers, no curriculum and no classes, prosecutors said.

They reeled in suspects by pretending to have the authority to grant the certificate that allows foreigners to get a legitimate student visa.

The defendants then enrolled their foreign clients to fraudulently maintain their student visa status in exchange for kickbacks, prosecutors said.

They created false student records and diplomas, for which their clients paid, to deceive immigration authorities and allegedly used the fake university to fraudulently obtain work visas for hundreds of clients, creating false contracts, employment verification letters, transcripts and other documents.

The defendants allegedly paid undercover agents thousands of dollars to put the school's letterhead on the sham documents and sign the paperwork.

US authorities said they were working to terminate the visas for the foreigners in question, who are mostly from Asian countries, and arrest them if necessary.

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The suspects "recklessly exploited our immigration system for financial gain," said chief New Jersey prosecutor Paul Fishman.

He said "Pay to Stay" schemes damage legitimate student and foreign worker visa programs and "pose a very real threat to national security."

Almost a million foreign students enrolled in US higher education programs in 2014-2015, up 10 percent on the previous year, the State Department has said.

China and India accounted for 67 percent of the increase in international students, and constituted nearly 45 percent of the total number of foreign students, said the Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange.
Dubai (AFP) - The US Navy said the world's largest maritime exercise kicked off Monday bringing participants from 30 nations for training across the Middle East.

The International Mine Countermeasures Exercise (IMCMEX) is organised and led by Bahrain-based US Naval Forces Central Command, which is responsible for more than 2.5 million square miles of ocean.

"These participating nations are united by a common thread  the need to protect the free flow of commerce from a range of maritime threats including piracy, terrorism and mines," said Vice Adm. Kevin Donegan, commander, US Naval Forces Central Command in a statement.

"This region provides a strong training opportunity for nations worldwide as three of the six major maritime chokepoints in the world are here: the Suez Canal, the Strait of Bab Al Mandeb and the Strait of Hormuz," he said.

The exercise will include mine countermeasures, diving operations, small-boat exercises, maritime security operations coordinated with industrial and commercial shipping, unmanned underwater vehicle operations, and port clearance operations, according to the statement.

The exercise ends on April 26.
Washington (AFP) - Six months after Washington and Beijing agreed not to conduct cyber attacks on each other's private sector for commercial gain, a top US spy questioned Tuesday whether China has cut such activities.

In September 2015, President Barack Obama and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping announced an accord under which neither the United States nor the Chinese government would conduct cyber-enabled theft of intellectual property.

But Admiral Michael Rogers, who heads the US military's Cyber Command, told lawmakers it was unclear if the Chinese government was holding up its end of the deal.

"We continue to see them engaged in activity directed against US companies. The question I think we still need to ask is, is that activity then in turn shared with the Chinese private industry?" Rogers told the Senate Armed Services Committee in Washington.

He acknowledged nations -- including the United States -- routinely use cyber to "gain access or knowledge" but suggested American spy agencies don't share insights with the private sector.

"The ... issue we've always had with the Chinese is while we understand we do that for nations to generate insight, using that then to generate economic advantage is not something that is acceptable to the US," he said, later adding the "jury is still out" on whether China indeed passes intel to the business world.

The US Cyber Command is charged with protecting America's military and some of its major civilian networks from attacks, as well as deploying its own offensive cyber strategies if needed.

By 2018, it will have more than 6,000 military and civilian technical experts working across 133 teams, Rogers said.

One such team, comprising about 65 people, today works in the Middle East and carries out cyber operations against the Islamic State group's networks.

"USCYBERCOM is executing orders to make it more difficult for ISIL to plan or conduct attacks against the US or our allies from their bases in Iraq and Syria to keep our service men and women safer as they conduct kinetic operations to degrade, dismantle, and ultimately destroy ISIL," Rogers told lawmakers, using an IS acronym.

The Pentagon pans to spend a total of $6.7 billion in the 2017 budget -- up 15.5 percent from the previous year. In all, the Pentagon is projected to spend $34.6 billion over the coming five years.
New York (AFP) - Shares of Dublin-based Allergan plunged Tuesday on doubts about the prospects of its merger with Pfizer following new US restrictions on cross-border deals designed to avert US taxes.

The two drugmakers said that they were reviewing their $160 billion merger deal announced last year after the US Treasury revealed new regulations to stymie "inversion" takeovers that would impact government tax receipts.

"We are conducting a review of the US Department of Treasury's actions announced today," they said in a joint statement late Monday. "Prior to completing the review, we won't speculate on any potential impact."

The deal, in which the larger US-based Pfizer would be taken over by Allergan and then move its corporate tax domicile to Ireland, is structured to reduce Pfizer's tax rate from about 25 percent in the US to 17-18 percent in Ireland.

The prospect it could be blocked sent Allergan shares falling sharply.

Near 1520 GMT, Allergan was down 16.3 percent at $232.50, while Pfizer added 1.0 percent at $31.01.

The Treasury's new rules make it more difficult for companies involved in stock-based merger deals to achieve the minimum foreign ownership required to avoid US corporate tax liability.

An acquirer in such a case would be barred from counting as foreign parent stock the acquisitions of US companies in earlier, recent inversion deals.

The rules also seek to block companies in such deals from stripping profits from US subsidiaries by setting up sizable loans to the subsidiaries from the parent abroad that are not related to concrete investments.

The rules "appear targeted to specifically derail Pfizer-Allergan," said a note from Credit Suisse.

Allergan has grown rapidly via acquisitions of US companies Forest Labs in 2014 and Warner Chilcott in 2013 that cut their US tax burdens. These acquisitions were actually made by Dublin-based Actavis, which in 2015, bought US-based Allergan and took its name.

"Clearly, these (Treasury) actions seem to have been targeted to block the Pfizer-Allergan merger," said BMO Capital Markets.

"Based on our initial understanding of Treasury's recent proposals . . . . we believe the tax benefits of the Pfizer and Allergan merger will likely be significantly diminished based on Treasury's recent actions," BMO said.
Washington (AFP) - The US Treasury announced new rules Monday aimed at stemming the tide of mergers between US and foreign businesses designed to sharply lower the US company's tax bill.

Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said the toughened regulations target companies moving their headquarters, but not their US operations, to low-tax domiciles abroad via so-called inversion deals.

The new rules make it tougher for companies involved in stock-based merger deals to achieve the minimum foreign ownership required to avoid US corporate tax liability.

They also make it harder for companies to "strip" earnings from their US units by loading them with debt from an offshore parent.

"For years, companies have been taking advantage of a system that allows them to move their tax residences overseas to avoid US taxes without making significant changes in their business operations," Lew said.

"Many of these companies continue to take advantage of the benefits of being based in the United States -- including our rule of law, skilled workforce, infrastructure, and research, and development capabilities -- all while shifting a greater tax burden to other businesses and American families."

The new rules add to a group of regulatory updates announced last November which were meant to stall the surge in inversions worth hundreds of billions of dollars especially in the pharmaceuticals industry.

That includes the Pfizer's record $160 billion proposed purchase of Allergan, which one anti-inversion group said could save it $35 billion in US taxes.

Lew said the Treasury's actions, which came in lieu of action by Congress to reform tax laws, had helped slow the pace of inversion deals.

They will apply to any deal not yet consummated, which potentially includes the Pfizer-Allergan deal.

He added that Treasury would explore other ways to stall the deals, but called on Congress to enact more substantial business tax reforms that would include specific anti-inversion laws.

"Congress should not wait to act as inversions continue to erode our tax base," he aid.pmh/mdl
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc will cut its sales force for Addyi, a treatment aimed at female sexual dysfunction, as well as some employees who sell dermatology products, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters. The memo said that its contract with an outside sales force ends on April 15 and will not be renewed. Addyi, which Valeant purchased with the $1 billion acquisition of Sprout Pharmaceuticals, has had slow sales since it was launched last fall. Bloomberg first reported the cuts. (Reporting by Caroline Humer; Editing by Chris Reese)
Details added (first version posted on13:38)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr.5

By Samir Ali - Trend:

The artillery shelling by Armenian armed units in Azerbaijan's Terter district, killed Turana Hasanova (born 2000), head of the district's executive power Mustagim Mammadov told Trend Apr.5.

This happened in the village of Hasangaya of Terter district on Apr.5 in the morning, he said.

Hasanova, who was inside the house hit by artillery fire, died of injuries.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers.



The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements. More than 370 Armenian soldiers, 12 tanks, 12 armored vehicles and 15 artillery guns have been destroyed from April 2 until today.

Edited by SI
Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, turned 85 on Aug. 30th.

So, it goes without saying that Berkshires investors are concerned about succession planning.

Investor Whitney Tilson, founder and managing partner of Kase Capital, says Buffett is irreplaceable. Yet, he sees three reasons Buffetts age doesnt concern him one bit.

First, Tilson thinks its 80% likely that Buffett will be running Berkshire for five more years and 50% likely hell be doing so for 10 more years. Tilson doesnt go into the actuarial math but cites a life expectancy calculator where he bets the over.

I dont think hes going anywhere anytime soon. His life expectancy according to actuarial tables is probably 8 years and Id put higher than that, Tilson told Yahoo Finance. So I think hes going to be running Berkshire very likely for another 5 years. Reasonable chance for another 8 to 10 years.

Second, the stock is undervalued even without factoring in a premium for Buffett.

My valuation of Berkshire of $283,000 per A share does not factor in any Buffett magic. Its very simply taking the investments per share of the existing business and putting a conservative 10x multiple on the earnings of the existing business. So there is no Buffett premium built into my estimate, he said.

And third, Buffetts powerful culture will endure. Berkshire operates via extreme decentralization. Though its one of the largest businesses in the world with approximately 360,000 employees, only 25 of those employees are headquartered with Buffett in Omaha.

In a recently updated presentation, Tilson included a number of quotations from Charlie Munger and Warren Buffett emphasizing decentralization, including this quote from Munger in May 2014: By the standards of the rest of the world, we overtrust. So far it has worked very well for us. Some would see it as a weakness.

Tilson said the uncertainty around a successor isnt something that keeps him up at night.

It makes sense for Buffett not to name his successor yet, he wrote. He added that naming a successor would be de-motivating for those not chosen while placing a lot of pressure on the pick. Furthermore, its just too early given much could happen in the meantime (which could be more than a decade).

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Regarding mortality, Tilson pointed to the minimal impact on Apple when Steve Jobs left and died--less than 1%.

Tilson said a far greater risk to Berkshire shareholders than Buffett dying suddenly is if he begins to lose it mentally and starts making bad investment decisions without recognizing it. But Buffett is aware of this risk and has instructed the board, publicly and privately, to take away the keys if they see him losing it.

For more on Yahoo Finance's conversation with Tilson about Berkshire, see: Why Berkshire could go up $90,000 from here.



Yahoo Finance will live stream Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting, exclusively, on Saturday, April 30.
By Dustin Volz WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Facebook on Tuesday announced it had bolstered the default encryption settings for the more than one billion users of its popular WhatsApp messaging service so that all messages will now be accessible only to the sender and recipient. The update arrives amid a heightened international debate over how much access law enforcement should have to digital communications and follows a high-profile showdown between Apple and the FBI over an encrypted iPhone linked to one of the San Bernardino shooters. WhatsApp began working on developing full end-to-end encryption on its messages about two years ago with the help of software provided by Open Whisper Systems, a security nonprofit. The communications app began offering it by default on text-only messages between two users in 2014, but group messages and those containing rich media such as photos and videos were not fully encrypted. As of Tuesday the entirety of WhatsApp messages will be supported by end-to-end encryption, the company said, meaning the company will not have any capability to read customers messages even if approached by law enforcement. The idea is simple: when you send a message, the only person who can read it is the person or group chat that you send that message to. No one can see inside that message, WhatsApp said in a blog post announcing the update. Not cybercriminals. Not hackers. Not oppressive regimes. Not even us. Facebooks decision to increase security of its messages occurs on the heels of the FBIs high-profile attempt to force Apple to unlock an encrypted iPhone belonging to a Syed Farouk, who along with his wife opened fire at a holiday party in San Bernardino, Calif., in December, killing 14 and wounding 22. The Justice Department declined to comment on the WhatsApp update. The FBI did not respond to a request for comment. (Reporting by Dustin Volz; Editing by Andrew Hay)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House has not seen any concerns raised about the world economy as a result of the so-called Panama Papers revelations, spokesman Josh Earnest said on Tuesday.

Earnest addressed reporters after Iceland's leader said he would step down after leaked documents from a Panamanian law firm shed light on the financial arrangements of an array of politicians and public figures across the globe and the companies and financial institutions they use.

(Reporting by Doina Chiacu)
New York (AFP) - The 2016 White House race is generating record audiences for cable news networks -- thanks in large part to controversial Republican frontrunner Donald Trump, who has dominated the media's election coverage.

But will the increased viewership, which comes after several tough years for CNN and its competitors, last beyond election day in November?

"I think they really have Donald Trump to thank. He's been a gift from the heavens to these people," said Gabriel Kahn, a professor at the University of Southern California's Annenberg school of journalism.

The 2016 campaign is "bringing back cable news from near-irrelevancy," he said.

During the first quarter of 2016, for the first time in the history of US cable TV, a news channel -- Fox News -- garnered more viewers than any other basic cable station, excluding optional cable networks such as HBO.

The same general trend holds true for news veteran CNN, which witnessed its highest viewership in seven years in the first quarter. And third-largest news channel MSNBC had higher viewership figures than at any other point in the past three years, according to figures provided by ratings firm Nielsen.

The increases go well beyond what is traditionally seen every four years during presidential campaigns.

Meanwhile, the price to air a commercial during a Republican debate on CNN in September was 40 times higher than the usual rate, according to US News & World Report.

"On the Republican side, you have candidates that are engaging in the sort of personal attacks and wild references and statements that make for excellent television," said Dannagal Young, an associate professor in the University of Delaware's communications department.

At the center of the personal attacks is none other than Trump himself, who has offended everyone from Muslims to women to Mexicans to Heidi Cruz, the wife of his main rival Texas Senator Ted Cruz.

Fanning the flames, news programs have "oriented their entire program into making it into a 24-hour Trump reality show" Kahn said.

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For Young, it's no longer a campaign focused "on where the candidates stand on issues, but a focus on who's saying what, who's attacking who, who's ahead in the poll, how are they going to deal with this new scandal."

President Barack Obama indirectly warned against the trend last week when he accused some in the media of letting the candidates dictate campaign coverage.

"A job well done is about more than just handing someone a microphone," Obama said.

- 'Flash in the pan' -

The spike in ratings for cable news networks is only expected to last the duration of the campaign, until November 8 -- or perhaps just until July, when Republicans and Democrats will choose their candidates.

"I think it will decrease with the election, substantially. I think when we move out of campaign mode and into governance mode, the tone changes," said Frank Sesno, a professor of media, public and international affairs at George Washington University.

The campaigns have halted a definitive downward spiral for the cable news channels, which saw viewership drop nearly 19 percent between 2009 and 2014.

But experts warn the audience spike could be short-lived.

"This is a flash in the pan. This is not a long-term strategy to help cable news rebound from what has been a circular downward trend," Kahn said.

Cable TV, a universe where three major news channels vie for viewers, "is a shrinking market," he said.

Those stations -- Fox News, CNN and MSNBC -- are losing audience as viewers turn to other forms of media, especially the Internet and social media.

During the campaign, the challenge for these networks is to make themselves legitimate and sought out by young voters.

"For millennials and younger people who are politically interested, Twitter and social media is where they go for breaking information," Young said.

"But MSNBC, Fox and CNN all have very active contributions to Twitter. So in many ways, they're still at the center."

Kahn warned that cultural change for the networks "is very, very difficult to pull off."

Beyond a pivot to the Internet and social media, the channels do have one hope left: a Trump presidency.

But the likelihood of such an event is yet to be determined.

"If it's Trump, shareholders of the cable news networks are just going to thank the gods above," Young said.
It might sound boring to most people, but the fact that scientists have finally been able to prove theres a new state of matter is very exciting, as it could have applications for the future of computing.

In short, scientists from the University of Cambridge and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennesse were able to prove that a state of matter theorized some 40 years ago does exist. The new state of matter is known as quantum spin liquid and is made of electrons that break into smaller quasiparticles, as Science Alert explains.

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The electron is the fundamental element of matter, which cant be divided into smaller blocks. However, this new experiment proves that electrons can fractionalize though theyre not really breaking into additional components.

"This is a new quantum state of matter, which has been predicted but hasn't been seen before," Cambridge researcher Johannes Knolle said.

The researchers were able to prove that quantum spin liquid exists and they observed the Majorana fermions that result from electron fractionalization. These fermions are exciting because they could be used to build quantum computers in the future, the kind of machines that will significantly outperform existing computers.

The quantum spin liquid state makes electrons act weirdly, but until these experiments, researchers did not know how this theoretical matter state would look or behave.

In a typical magnetic material, all electrons behave similarly. Cooled to low enough temperature, the electrons order themselves so that all the north magnetic poles point in the same direction. But with a material containing a quantum spin liquid, the electrons dont align anymore under the same conditions.

Scientists were able to prove that electron fractionalization and Majorana fermions exist by using neuron scattering techniques and observing the effects in alpha-ruthenium chloride, a material similar to graphene  the full study explaining this new state of matter is available in Nature Materials.

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Meanwhile, the following video explains how electrons can break into smaller particles, and how the technology could be used to build quantum computers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKFecm9NKbM

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The Grauers gorilla, the largest member in the great ape family, has experienced a 77 percent population decline since the 1990s, according to a new report from Fauna and Flora International and the Wildlife Conservation Society.

In 1995, an estimated 17,000 Grauers gorillasa close relative to the better known mountain gorillaroamed the eastern portion of the Democratic Republic of Congo, but only 3,800 of them are alive today. The drop in numbers is due mainly to human conflicts in their native territory, illegal hunting, and habitat loss from increased mining operations, according to the report.

Andrew Plumptre, ecologists at Wildlife Conservation Society and lead author of the study, said the loss of gorillas degrades ecosystems, and reduces a forests ability to store carbon.

Gorillas are important seed dispersers of some trees, and also modify the habitat by breaking branches of trees and saplings, Plumptre said. When large-bodied seed dispersers such as gorillas and elephants are lost from forests in Africa, the amount of carbon in the forest is lower because they tend to disperse the larger trees and also prune the forest so that trees can grow larger.

To get accurate gorilla numbers, the team surveyed widespread swaths of historically known Grauers gorilla habitata region that has shrunk from 15,000 square miles to about 7,300 square miles today. Researchers looked for evidence of ground nests and other physical signs of the animals, and gathered data from local wildlife rangers to estimate resident gorilla populations.

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Plumptre said the findings confirmed earlier fears from a 2008 estimate, which was based on less data.

To combat the rapid population decline, the studys authors recommend the Grauers gorilla be re-categorized as Critically Endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature to increase protections for the species worldwide.

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As one of our closest living relatives, we have a duty to protect this gorilla from extinction, said Stuart Nixon, a coauthor of the study with Fauna and Flora International. Unless greater investment and effort is made, we face the very real threat that this incredible primate will disappear from many parts of its range in the next five years. It's vital that we act fast.

The gorillas initial decline can be traced back to the Rwandan genocide in 1994, which was followed by the Democratic Republic of Congos seven-year civil war. Five million people killed during the conflicts and the resulting insecurity led to an increase in illegal bushmeat trade, and expansive deforestation.

The vulnerable primates have since been pressured by a new and growing threat: artisanal mining for coltan, a key mineral used in the manufacturing of mobile phones and other minerals found within the gorillas range.

Plumptre said the road to saving Grauers gorillas is long, but the decline can be halted. He noted one location, Kahuzi Biega Park, where gorilla conservation efforts have been well funded and security is in place for wildlife rangers in the region.

We found that gorilla numbers have increased since 2000 therethe only site in the whole survey that showed an increase, Plumptre said.

In total, the authors of the study laid out six actions to help preserve the surviving Grauers gorillas:

1. Establish and enforce boundaries for two known gorilla habitat areas: Itombwe Natural Reserve and Punia Gorilla Reserve. If protected, the areas would preserve 60 percent of the remaining gorilla habitat, only 25 percent of which is protected today.

2. Stop illegal mining inside protected areas and legally establish artisanal mining cooperatives in areas close to gorilla habitats.

3. Disarm militia groups operating in the region that threaten wildlife rangers.

4. Support park staff and community eco-guards protecting gorillas and their habitat.

5. Find alternative sources of income for local people other than employment from mining.

6. Lobby cellphone, tablet, and computer companies to ensure that source minerals from this region are purchased from mining sites that do not hunt bushmeat and are conflict free.

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Original article from TakePart
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 5

By Elchin Mehdiyev - Trend:

Armenia calls on old people to join the army, as follows from disseminated information, Azerbaijani Parliament Speaker Ogtay Asadov said Apr.5.

It indicates that there are no young people in Armenia; they left the country, noted Asadov adding that with such forces Armenia cannot solve any problem with Azerbaijan.

He made the remarks during the Azerbaijani parliament's plenary session.

Asadov noted that after Azerbaijan's armed forces took control of a number of important strategic heights, Armenia's President Serzh Sargsyan said that if the Azerbaijani army returns to their former positions, Armenia agrees to compromise.

"We don't need any compromises, Armenia must withdraw from the occupied Azerbaijani lands," said the speaker.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers.

The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements. More than 370 Armenian soldiers, 12 tanks, 12 armored vehicles and 15 artillery guns have been destroyed from April 2 until today.
Geneva (AFP) - Countries must urgently cooperate to halt the spread of violent extremism around the globe, the United Nations said Tuesday, ahead of a high-level conference focused on preventing dangerous radicalisation.

Jehangir Khan, head of the UN Counter-Terrorism Centre, warned that the problem of violent extremism was "mushrooming" and constituted a "clear and present danger" worldwide.

He noted that tens of thousands of foreign fighters, coming from more than 100 different countries, have flooded into conflict zones like Syria and Iraq, while home-grown extremists have wreaked havoc in Europe with deadly attacks like the ones recently in Brussels.

"Everybody is potentially affected by violent extremism. Nobody is spared," Khan said, insisting that "the need for international cooperation has never been more than now."

The UN will on Thursday and Friday co-host a conference on preventing violent extremism, drawing some 30 government ministers, including the foreign ministers of Belgium, Switzerland, Egypt and Malaysia.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon will open Friday's high-level segment in Geneva, alongside the foreign minister of co-host Switzerland.

Counter-terrorism experts, representatives of regional organisations and social media companies will also figure among the more than 600 participants.

The conference is meant to take stock of worldwide efforts to halt violent extremism, after Ban in January launched a global action plan and asked all countries to come up with national plans to address the problem.

The UN is hoping that the growing realisation of the global reach of violent extremism will spur countries to come together and rethink their approach to countering the threat from the Islamic State group and similar organisations.

"The security, military logic, while necessary, has shown its limits," Khan said, stressing that strategies aimed at preventing youths from radicalising in the first place needed to be given far more weight.

Story continues

Ban's plan encompasses a broad range of measures, from boosting education to promoting human rights to counter the recruiting drives of groups like IS and Boko Haram which prey on disaffected youth.

Among his 79 recommendations was a call for countries to try to appeal to foreign fighters who have joined groups like IS to return home by offering them education and job opportunities, and urges governments to engage with social media to find ways to challenge the jihadists' messages.

Experts have repeatedly warned that tough, sometimes brutal measures taken by some countries in the fight against extremism can be counter-productive by pushing more people to radicalise.

"We have to break this kind of vicious circle," said Stephan Husy, ambassador-at-large for counter-terrorism at the Swiss foreign ministry.

"One of the findings over the last 10 or 15 years (is) that maybe more terrorists have been generated than removed," he told reporters.
Sanaa (AFP) - Yemeni rebels have mounted a deadly counterattack against government troops advancing down the Red Sea coast from the Saudi border ahead of a planned ceasefire next month, military sources said on Thursday.

The rebels and their allies surrounded a government force that was attempting to recapture the coastal town of Midi and killed 45 loyalist troops on Tuesday and Wednesday, the sources said.

At least 15 rebels were also killed in the fighting.

Forces loyal to the internationally recognised government based in the south crossed the border from Saudi Arabia in mid-December in a bid to open up a new front in the north as offensives faltered in the centre and east.

They swiftly captured the inland town of Haradh and Midi port, but they have met heavy resistance from the rebels and their allies in the adjacent town.

Despite a Saudi-led military intervention, which is now in its second year, the Huthi Shiite rebels still control most of the Red Sea coast, including the key ports of Hodeida and Mokha.

With coalition air and ground support, forces loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi have pushed the rebels out of most of the south and made some headway in the east and northeast.

But with the support of renegade troops loyal to Hadi's ousted predecessor Ali Abdullah Saleh, the rebels have retained control of the capital Sanaa and most of the highlands of the north and centre.

The latest fighting comes as the warring parties prepare for a UN-brokered ceasefire on April 10 intended to pave the way for peace talks in Kuwait on April 18.

The planned truce was only agreed by the two sides after months of shuttle diplomacy by UN envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed.

Previous UN-sponsored negotiations between the rebels and the government failed to make any headway, and a ceasefire announced for December 15 was repeatedly violated and abandoned by the coalition on January 2.

- Qaeda pushed back -

There has been mounting international pressure for an end to the conflict as the civilian death toll has mounted and the humanitarian situation deteriorated.

Story continues

The seizure of several key southern cities by Al-Qaeda and the growing presence in the south of rival jihadists of the Islamic State group has also triggered international alarm.

The Sunni extremists of Al-Qaeda have exploited the focus of loyalist and coalition firepower on the Shiite rebels to expand their control across the south, even in parts of Aden, where the government has its base.

But in recent days, loyalist forces have gone on the offensive against the jihadists in the port city and the coalition has carried out a series of air strikes against Al-Qaeda in cities it has seized.

On Wednesday, troops and militia recaptured Aden's central prison and deployed across the residential neighbourhood of Mansura.

"Al-Qaeda militants have been pushed out of Mansura, and we have recaptured and secured government installations," said Aden governor Aidarus al-Zubaidi.

"We would not rule out the possibility that there are some dormant cells of Al-Qaeda in the city," he told AFP, adding that the next stage includes "pushing Al-Qaeda militants from the edges of Aden."

He said the government also intended to drive Al-Qaeda out of Huta and Zinjibar, the capitals of nearby Lahj and Abyan provinces.

Farther east, coalition warplanes struck Al-Qaeda positions overnight in Hadramawt provincial capital Mukalla, held by the jihadists since April last year, a security official said.

In Shabwa province, a US drone strike killed five suspected Al-Qaeda members in the town of Azzan on Wednesday a military official said.

There has been no let-up in the longstanding US air war against Al-Qaeda's Yemen-based branch, which it regards as the jihadist network's most dangerous.

US strikes have taken out a number of senior Al-Qaeda commanders in Yemen over the past year.
By Julie Steenhuysen CHICAGO (Reuters) - Top Zika investigators now believe that the birth defect microcephaly and the paralyzing Guillain-Barre syndrome may be just the most obvious maladies caused by the mosquito-borne virus. Fueling that suspicion are recent discoveries of serious brain and spinal cord infections - including encephalitis, meningitis and myelitis - in people exposed to Zika. Evidence that Zika's damage may be more varied and widespread than initially believed adds pressure on affected countries to control mosquitoes and prepare to provide intensive - and, in some cases, lifelong - care to more patients. The newly suspected disorders can cause paralysis and permanent disability - a clinical outlook that adds urgency to vaccine development efforts. Scientists are of two minds about why these new maladies have come into view. The first is that, as the virus is spreading through such large populations, it is revealing aspects of Zika that went unnoticed in earlier outbreaks in remote and sparsely populated areas. The second is that the newly detected disorders are more evidence that the virus has evolved. "What we're seeing are the consequences of this virus turning from the African strain to a pandemic strain," said Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. The Zika outbreak was first detected in Brazil last year and is spreading through the Americas. It has been linked to thousands of suspected cases of microcephaly, a typically rare birth defect marked by unusually small head size, signaling a problem with brain development. Evidence linking Zika to microcephaly prompted the World Health Organization to declare a global health emergency in February. The suspicion that Zika acts directly on nerve cells began with autopsies on aborted and stillborn fetuses showing the virus replicating in brain tissues. In addition to microcephaly, researchers reported finding other abnormalities linked with Zika including fetal deaths, placental insufficiency, fetal growth retardation and injury to the central nervous system. Doctors also are worried that Zika exposure in utero may have hidden effects, such as behavioral problems or learning disabilities, that are not apparent at birth. "If you have a virus that is toxic enough to produce microcephaly in someone, you could be sure that it will produce a whole series of conditions that we haven't even begun to understand," said Dr. Alberto de la Vega, an obstetrician at San Juan's University Hospital in Puerto Rico. First discovered in the Zika forest of Uganda in 1947, the virus circulated quietly in Africa and Asia, causing rare infections and producing mild symptoms. A 2013 outbreak in French Polynesia, the largest at that time, led researchers to make the Guillain-Barre link. Other neurological effects were noted but scientists made little of them at the time. A rare and poorly understood condition, Guillain-Barre can weaken muscles and cause temporary paralysis, often requiring patients to need respirators to breathe. An estimated 32,000 people in the French Polynesia Zika outbreak were infected, and 42 patients were confirmed to have Guillain-Barre, a 20-fold increase in incidence over the previous four years, the WHO reported. Another 32 patients had other neurological disorders, including encephalitis, meningoencephalitis, myelitis and facial paralysis. Guillain-Barre is an autoimmune disorder, in which the body attacks itself in the aftermath of an infection. But the newly discovered brain and spinal cord infections are known to be caused by a different mechanism - a direct attack on nerve cells. That has prompted scientists to consider whether the Zika virus also may infect nerves directly in adults, as they already have suspected in fetuses. In medical journals published last month, doctors described neurological syndromes in two patients that they attributed to Zika. Doctors in Paris diagnosed meningoencephalitis, an infection of both the brain and spinal cord, in an 81-year-old man who was hospitalized after being exposed to Zika on a cruise. Another French team reported acute myelitis, a paralyzing infection of the spinal cord, in a 15-year-old girl who had been infected with Zika on the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe. In its latest surveillance report, the WHO said the two cases "highlight the need to better understand the range of neurological disorders associated with Zika-virus infection." Other mosquito-borne viruses - including dengue, Japanese encephalitis and West Nile - are known to directly infect nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. But such viruses are seldom associated with Guillain-Barre, and never with microcephaly, said Baylor's Hotez. POSSIBLE EVOLUTION In a recent paper, WHO researcher Mary Kay Kindhauser wrote that Zika "appears to have changed in character," noting its transition from a mild infection to one causing "large outbreaks linked with neurological disorders." Scientists studying Zika in Brazil now are reporting the same neurological disorders seen in French Polynesia. From April through July 2015, doctors in Brazil identified a spike in Guillain-Barre cases. In Salvador, there were roughly 50 reported cases of Guillain-Barre in July alone, far more than would typically be expected, Dr. Albert Ko, a tropical disease expert from Yale University who is studying Zika in the coastal city of Salvador, recently told a research symposium. "Throughout Brazil, doctors have seen strange, atypical, neurological manifestations," Ko said told the symposium. Zika exposed patients have had other neurological problems as well, including acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, which causes inflammation of the myelin, the protective sheath covering nerve fibers in the brain and spinal cord. Other patients experienced tingling, prickling or burning sensations, which are often markers of peripheral nerve damage. In addition to Brazil and French Polynesia, at least 11 more countries and territories have reported hundreds of cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome linked to Zika. In Brazil, Guillain-Barre cases jumped 19 percent to 1,708 last year. El Salvador, a country that has an annual average of 196 cases of Guillain-Barre, reported 118 cases in six weeks in December and January. Zika's arrival in Colombia in October 2015 was associated with another increase in Guillain-Barre cases. The country typically reports 242 cases of the syndrome a year, or about five a week. But in the five weeks starting in mid-December, Colombia reported 86 cases of Guillain-Barre, or about 17 a week. Dr. Carlos Pardo-Villamizar, a neurologist at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, is studying Zika complications with colleagues in five Colombian research centers. They have seen cases of encephalitis, myelitis and facial paralysis associated with Zika and want to understand what is triggering these complications. They also want to study whether prior infection with dengue or chikungunya - two related viruses - are contributing to neurological disorders seen in patients with Zika. Scientists are turning their attention next to Puerto Rico, where Zika is expected to infect hundreds of thousands of residents by year-end. More cases hold the potential for "a better sense of the full spectrum of disease that Zika is capable of causing," said Dr. Amesh Adalja of the Center for Health Security at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. (Reporting by Julie Steenhuysen; additional reporting by Anthony Boadle in Brasilia, Brazil; Editing by Michele Gershberg and Lisa Girion)
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr.5

Trend:

President of French Senate Gerard Larcher and Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov discussed the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, RIA Novosti reported.

Gerard Larcher, who is on a visit to Russia, told reporters that Moscow and Paris urge both parties of the conflict to immediately stop the military operations.

He recalled that France is one of the co-chairing countries of the OSCE Minsk Group for resolving the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers.

The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population.

Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements. More than 370 Armenian soldiers, 12 tanks, 12 armored vehicles and 15 artillery guns have been destroyed from April 2 until today.

Edited by SI
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 5

By Elmira Tariverdiyeva, Elena Kosolapova - Trend:

The international community could help by elevating its engagement at this tense moment to the same level as Russia, whose president and ministers of defense and foreign affairs are active, says Matthew Bryza, former US assistant secretary for South Caucasus and former US ambassador to Azerbaijan.

"The international community, meaning the OSCE Minsk Group, seeks to facilitate a just and lasting settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," Bryza told Trend by phone.

The expert said that two decades ago, the international community passed four United Nations Security Council resolutions demanding that Armenia withdraw its military forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

"Additionally, the international community formed the Minsk Group under the OSCE, which, via its U.S., French, and Russian co-chairs, helped the parties negotiate a set of basic principles that define the framework for a settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," Bryza said.

"These basic principles derive from three core concepts of the Helsinki Final Act, namely, the territorial integrity of states, self-determination of peoples, and non-use of force," the expert added.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers.

The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements. More than 370 Armenian soldiers, 12 tanks, 12 armored vehicles and 15 artillery guns have been destroyed from April 2 until today.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 5

Trend:

The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - representatives of France, Russia and the US - will in few days visit Baku, Yerevan and the Nagorno-Karabakh region occupied by Armenians, according to French Foreign Ministry's spokesman Romain Nadal.

Nadal made the remarks at the briefing Apr. 5, RIA Novosti reported.

France's Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault held phone conversations with the Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian on Apr. 2 and the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov on Apr. 4.

"Ayrault confirmed France's commitment as part of the Minsk Group chairmanship, together with Russia and the US, to make efforts for finding a peaceful and sustainable solution to this conflict," said Nadal.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers.

The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements. More than 370 Armenian soldiers, 12 tanks, 12 armored vehicles and 15 artillery guns have been destroyed from April 2 until today.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 5

Trend:

The European Union is in constant contact with the foreign ministries of Azerbaijan and Armenia regarding the situation in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone, TASS news agency quoted Maja Kocijancic, spokesperson for the EU high representative Federica Mogherini, as saying Apr. 5.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.



On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers.



The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements. More than 370 Armenian soldiers, 12 tanks, 12 armored vehicles and 15 artillery guns have been destroyed from April 2 until today.
Details added (first version posted on 15:25)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 5

Trend:

The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - representatives of France, Russia and the US - will in few days visit Baku, Yerevan and the Nagorno-Karabakh region occupied by Armenians, according to French Foreign Ministry's spokesman Romain Nadal.

Nadal made the remarks at the briefing Apr. 5, RIA Novosti reported.

France's Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault held phone conversations with the Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian on Apr. 2 and the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov on Apr. 4.

"Ayrault confirmed France's commitment as part of the Minsk Group chairmanship, together with Russia and the US, to make efforts for finding a peaceful and sustainable solution to this conflict," said Nadal.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.



On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers.



The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements. More than 370 Armenian soldiers, 12 tanks, 12 armored vehicles and 15 artillery guns have been destroyed from April 2 until today.
Tehran, Iran, April 5

By Dalga Khatinoglu - Trend:

Iranian experts believe that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should be resolved with respect to the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

"Conflict in essence does not benefit any side, therefore, the issue should be resolved within the framework of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, upholding the rights of the area's residents," Iranian expert Hassan Beheshtipour told Trend April 5.



He underlined that while after two decades of ceasefire, the world community had on the surface forgotten about the Karabakh issue, recent tensions showed that the problem should be solved somehow, rather than be left untouched.

On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers.



The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements. More than 370 Armenian soldiers, 12 tanks, 12 armored vehicles and 15 artillery guns have been destroyed from April 2 until today.

Beheshtipour says that the continuation of war will not benefit the region since there is already enough conflicts in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, Davod Hermidas Bavand, former chairman of the Legal Committee of the UN General Assembly also told Trend that some positions adopted in the US, Europe, and Russia are inclined toward Armenia under the influence of religio-ethnic issues as well as Armenian lobbyism.

But, he added, a non-interested country can introduce models that would solve the issue within the framework of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and provide for the repatriation of the refugees and meet the satisfaction of all the residents of the occupied area.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
Details added (first version posted on 15:46)

All the sides are making efforts for the non-resumption of fire in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, RIA Novosti reported.

Everybody is making efforts for the lasting ceasefire, Lavrov told reporters.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers.

The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements. More than 370 Armenian soldiers, 12 tanks, 12 armored vehicles and 15 artillery guns have been destroyed from April 2 until today.

Military operations were stopped on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian armies on Apr. 5 at 12:00 (UTC/GMT + 4 hours) with the consent of the sides, said Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 5

Trend:

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's Aide for Public and Political Affairs Ali Hasanov has commented on the escalation of tension on the line of contact between Azerbaijan and Armenia as he was interviewed by Turkish TRT World television channel.

Hasanov said the United Nations adopted four resolutions demanding an unconditional withdrawal of the Armenian forces from the occupied Azerbaijani territories.

He said that every time Armenia feels pressed "they provoke us and then blame us for it".

Hasanov commented on Azerbaijan's retaliatory action, saying Armenians needed to see that they can no longer get away with these provocations.

"Therefore we responded with a response five times stronger than their assault," he added. "Our expectations from Minsk Group and the United Nations for that matter are that as we heeded their calls and respected their decisions they have to put pressure on Armenia to implement the decisions."

"It is only because Armenia has not been held accountable and has not been pressured that they perpetuated the status-quo for more than 20 years and even more than a million of our citizens are refugees," said Hasanov.

"We possess the ability to recapture those lands in a short time," he added. "But for the sake of humanity we are going with the international community to achieve it through peaceful means. But if they do not see this, Azerbaijan will reclaim its lands in its own way, and it will."
Details added (first version posted on 16:32)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr.5

Trend:

It is necessary to start a serious political process for solving the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, said Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov.

He made the remarks Apr. 5 during a phone conversation with the EU High Commissioner Federica Mogherini, according to Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry.

Mammadyarov and Mogherini discussed the situation along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian armies.

"Aiming their guns at the civilians living near the line of contact and at the civilian property, Armenian armed forces intensively shell Azerbaijani positions," said FM Mammadyarov.

He noted that a number of civilians were killed and injured as a result of the shelling.

"The main reason for escalation of the situation is the presence of Armenian armed forces on Azerbaijan's occupied lands," added Mammadyarov.

The foreign minister also stressed the necessity of withdrawing the Armenian armed forces from Azerbaijan's occupied lands in the shortest possible time.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers.

The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population.

Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements. More than 370 Armenian soldiers, 12 tanks, 12 armored vehicles and 15 artillery guns have been destroyed from April 2 until today.

Military operations were stopped on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian armies on Apr. 5 at 12:00 (UTC/GMT + 4 hours) with the consent of the sides, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry earlier said.

The ministry added that Azerbaijan's armed units are now carrying out fortification work in the retaken areas.
Tehran, Iran, April 5

By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:

Attacking civilian positions by any weapon is condemned and illegal everywhere and should be prevented, Iranian MP Osman Ahmadi said in reference to the recent Armenian attack on Azerbaijan.

On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers. The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population.

Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements.

In Azerbaijan's Terter district, heavy artillery shelling by Armenian armed units hit a house and killed an underage Turana Hasanova, head of the district's executive power Mustagim Mammadov told Trend earlier.

Meanwhile, Ahmadi told Trend that whatever the reasons for the conflict, there are certain things that must not be neglected.

On Iran's role as a neighbor country, Ahmadi said the Islamic Republic is able and willing to act as a stabilizing power to settle the dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr.5

Trend:

OSCE Minsk Group is holding a meeting in Vienna, the organization's source told RIA Novosti April 5.

The source said that the aggravated situation in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan occupied by Armenia and ways of its resolving is being discussed there.

"Perhaps, OSCE Minsk Group is trying to work out some common approaches," the source added.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.



On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers.



The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements. More than 370 Armenian soldiers, 12 tanks, 12 armored vehicles and 15 artillery guns have been destroyed from April 2 until today.
details added (first version posted at 17:26)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr.5

Trend:

OSCE Minsk Group is holding a meeting in Vienna, the organization's source told RIA Novosti April 5.

The source said that the aggravated situation in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan occupied by Armenia and ways of its resolving is being discussed there.

"Perhaps, OSCE Minsk Group is trying to work out some common approaches," the source added.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.



On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers.



The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements. More than 370 Armenian soldiers, 12 tanks, 12 armored vehicles and 15 artillery guns have been destroyed from April 2 until today.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr.5

Trend:

OSCE Minsk Group has urged the parties of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to cease using force immediately.

"We, the representatives of the OSCE Minsk Group countries (Russian Federation, the United States of America, France, Belarus, Finland, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Turkey), as well as the incoming Austrian OSCE Chair (2017) and the Serbian OSCE Chair (2015), strongly condemn the outbreak of unprecedented violence along the Line of Contact," said a statement posted on the OSCE website.

"We extend our condolences to all affected families. We urge the sides to cease using force immediately. There is no military solution to the conflict," said the statement.

The deterioration of the situation on the ground demonstrates the need for an immediate negotiation, under the auspices of the co-chairs, on a comprehensive settlement, according to the OSCE Minsk Group statement.

"The representatives of the Minsk Group member states affirm their support for the Russian, American, and French Co-Chairs' mediation efforts and welcome their plans to undertake direct consultations with the sides as soon as possible," said the statement.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers.

The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population.

Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements. More than 370 Armenian soldiers, 12 tanks, 12 armored vehicles and 15 artillery guns have been destroyed from April 2 until today.

Military operations were stopped on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian armies on Apr. 5 at 12:00 (UTC/GMT + 4 hours) with the consent of the sides, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry earlier said.

The ministry added that Azerbaijan's armed units are now carrying out fortification work in the retaken areas.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 5

Trend:

Foreign ministers of Azerbaijan, Iran and Turkey - Elmar Mammadyarov, Mohammad Javad Zarif and Mevlut Cavusoglu expressed the need for speedy settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, read a declaration adopted by the FMs on Apr. 5

The declaration was adopted following a trilateral meeting in the Iranian city of Ramsar.

The parties stressed the common interest in promoting peace and stability in the region, according to the declaration.

In this aspect, they also emphasized their commitments on respecting the sovereignty, territorial integrity and internationally recognized borders in line with the norms and principles of international law, says the declaration.

The three FMs also stressed the commitment to prevent the use of their territories for threats and activity of individuals or groups against each other.

The parties also agreed to develop and strengthen cooperation in economic and humanitarian areas.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 5

By Farhad Daneshvar - Trend:

Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Asia-Pacific Affairs Ebrahim Rahimpour has called for resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict through negotiations.

In an exclusive interview with Trend on Apr. 5, Rahimpour emphasized the need for a peaceful settlement of the crisis.

The deputy foreign minister further expressed his regret over the recent developments in Karabakh which has been a scene of fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the past couple of days.

Calling for a truce in Nagorno-Karabakh, Rahimpour said that Iran backs restoring calm to the region within international law.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers.

The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population.

Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements. More than 370 Armenian soldiers, 12 tanks, 12 armored vehicles and 15 artillery pieces have been destroyed from April 2 until today.

Military operations were stopped on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian armies on Apr. 5 at 12:00 (UTC/GMT + 4 hours) with the consent of the sides, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry earlier said.
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 6

Trend:

I urge the sides to respect the ceasefire, show restraint and prevent any new escalation, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on April 5.

NATO supports the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group. The parties need to go back to the negotiating table and find a comprehensive settlement, under the auspices of the Co-chairs. There is no military solution to the conflict, Jens Stoltenberg said .

The peaceful resolution of conflicts is one of the core commitments to which all NATO's partner countries commit when joining the Partnership for Peace, he added.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 per cent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the U.S. are currently holding peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.
Clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan have reached serious levels after Armenian artillery attacks on the night of April 1, Turkey's parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee has said, Anadolu reported.

The committee, which comprises of members from Turkey's ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party and opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), condemned Armenian attacks in a joint statement Tuesday.

"The aggressive and unlawful manner of Armenia, which has been occupying one fifth of Azerbaijan's lands for quarter of a century, has been reiterated in the latest attacks in Karabakh.

"In this context, we strongly condemn Armenia for its recent attacks targeting civilians and its occupation of Azerbaijan's territories for a long time, which has displaced a million Azeri people," the statement said.

"We wish Allah's mercy and grace for the martyred Azeri people, offer our sympathy to the families of those killed in the attacks and wish a speedy recovery to the injured," it added.

Reiterating the call for Armenia to retreat from the occupied lands of Azerbaijan, the statement expressed solidarity with Azerbaijan.

"As Grand National Assembly's Foreign Affairs Committee, we call on Armenia to halt its offensive acts which threaten the peace of the region and the world, and to stop its aggressive attitude towards Azerbaijan [that has been ongoing] for quarter of a century," it said.

The statement also urged the international community to prevent such aggressive acts. "As member of the Minsk Group, Turkey will continue supporting all kinds of efforts to find a fair and permanent solution respecting Azerbaijan's integrity and unity," it added.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 per cent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the U.S. are currently holding peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 6

Trend:

The format of the OSCE Minsk Group shouldn't be changed, because it would undermine their role in the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement, Russia's permanent representative to the OSCE, Alexander Lukashevich said at the meeting of the Permanent Council, TASS reported.

"The format of the ''three representatives'' whose role is fixed by the OSCE decisions and UN Security Council is efficient and doesn't require adjustments", he added.

Lukashevich said that Russia will continue mediation to resolve the conflict. "As a member of Minsk Group co-chairs, we are in close cooperation with the United States and France and we will continue mediation efforts to assist the parties to find a mutually consensual basis for resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," Russia's permanent representative to the OSCE said.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 per cent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the U.S. are currently holding peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr.5

By Seba Aghayeva - Trend:

Speedy signing of the convention on the status of the Caspian Sea will contribute to cooperation of the littoral states, Azerbaijan's Deputy Foreign Minister Khalaf Khalafov said Apr.5.

He made the remarks during the meeting of the special working group for working out the convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea with participation of deputy foreign ministers.

Azerbaijan attaches great importance to the agreements on delimitation of the seabed signed between Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Russia, according to Khalafov.

The deputy minister noted that all the issues related to the legal status of the Caspian sea should be resolved based on respect for the sovereign rights of states and mutually beneficial partnership.

The issues related to the sovereignty and jurisdiction which are on the agenda of today's meeting, require detailed and comprehensive discussions, he added.

The Caspian Sea plays an important role in transportation corridors and is an important part of international and regional projects, according to Khalafov.

"During the negotiation process, major work was carried out to agree on the provisions of the draft convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea, as well as various areas of cooperation between the littoral states," said the deputy minister.

Azerbaijan has already ratified all the agreements inked during the 4th summit of the heads of state of the Caspian littoral states, he added.

Fulfillment of the agreements signed by heads of the Caspian Sea countries remains the priority of the negotiation process on the legal status of the sea, according to Khalafov.

The success of the work on the five-sided agreement on the draft convention mainly depends on the continuation of a constructive exchange of views in the negotiations process, he added.

Khalafov said that the discussion of certain issues in the format of exchange of views between experts is a positive experience for reaching general agreements.

The issues related to strengthening the international cooperation, improving the investment climate for developing and transportation of energy resources to world markets, creation of reliable and secure communication, attracting highly profitable and environmentally friendly technologies are of special importance, according to the deputy ministers.

It is planned to hold the sixth meeting of the parties to the Framework Convention for the Protection of Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea in Baku, said Khalafov, adding that opening of the permanent secretariat of the framework convention will be one of the main goals of the conference.

"Azerbaijan has worked out the draft agreement on placing the secretariat in Baku and presented this draft to all the Caspian Sea countries," he said. "We emphasize the importance of developing a common position regarding the further activities of the secretariat."

The Caspian Sea states (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan and Iran) signed a Framework Convention for the Protection of Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea in November of 2003.

Russia and Kazakhstan signed an agreement on the delimitation of the northern part of the Caspian Sea in order to exercise sovereign rights for subsoil use in July of 1998. The two countries signed a protocol to this agreement in May of 2002.

Moreover, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan signed an agreement on the delimitation of the Caspian Seabed and a protocol to it on Nov. 29, 2001 and Feb. 27, 2003, respectively.

Additionally, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Russia signed an agreement on the delimitation of adjacent sections of the Caspian Sea on May 14, 2003.

Edited by SI

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @Asebaa
Details added (first version posted on 11:10 )

Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr.5

By Seba Aghayeva - Trend:

Speedy signing of the convention on the status of the Caspian Sea will contribute to cooperation of the littoral states, Azerbaijan's Deputy Foreign Minister Khalaf Khalafov said Apr.5.

He made the remarks during the meeting of the special working group for working out the convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea with participation of deputy foreign ministers.

Azerbaijan attaches great importance to the agreements on delimitation of the seabed signed between Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Russia, according to Khalafov.

The deputy minister noted that all the issues related to the legal status of the Caspian sea should be resolved based on respect for the sovereign rights of states and mutually beneficial partnership.

The issues related to the sovereignty and jurisdiction which are on the agenda of today's meeting, require detailed and comprehensive discussions, he added.

The Caspian Sea plays an important role in transportation corridors and is an important part of international and regional projects, according to Khalafov.

"During the negotiation process, major work was carried out to agree on the provisions of the draft convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea, as well as various areas of cooperation between the littoral states," said the deputy minister.

Azerbaijan has already ratified all the agreements inked during the 4th summit of the heads of state of the Caspian littoral states, he added.

Fulfillment of the agreements signed by heads of the Caspian Sea countries remains the priority of the negotiation process on the legal status of the sea, according to Khalafov.

The success of the work on the five-sided agreement on the draft convention mainly depends on the continuation of a constructive exchange of views in the negotiations process, he added.

Khalafov said that the discussion of certain issues in the format of exchange of views between experts is a positive experience for reaching general agreements.

The issues related to strengthening the international cooperation, improving the investment climate for developing and transportation of energy resources to world markets, creation of reliable and secure communication, attracting highly profitable and environmentally friendly technologies are of special importance, according to the deputy ministers.

It is planned to hold the sixth meeting of the parties to the Framework Convention for the Protection of Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea in Baku, said Khalafov, adding that opening of the permanent secretariat of the framework convention will be one of the main goals of the conference.

"Azerbaijan has worked out the draft agreement on placing the secretariat in Baku and presented this draft to all the Caspian Sea countries," he said. "We emphasize the importance of developing a common position regarding the further activities of the secretariat."

The Caspian Sea states (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan and Iran) signed a Framework Convention for the Protection of Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea in November of 2003.

Russia and Kazakhstan signed an agreement on the delimitation of the northern part of the Caspian Sea in order to exercise sovereign rights for subsoil use in July of 1998. The two countries signed a protocol to this agreement in May of 2002.

Moreover, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan signed an agreement on the delimitation of the Caspian Seabed and a protocol to it on Nov. 29, 2001 and Feb. 27, 2003, respectively.

Additionally, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Russia signed an agreement on the delimitation of adjacent sections of the Caspian Sea on May 14, 2003.

Edited by SI

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @Asebaa
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 5

By Elmira Tariverdiyeva, Aygun Badalova - Trend:

Azerbaijan's position in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which requires that the situation be corrected, especially given the UN resolutions in connection with this, is logical and fair, Sergey Markov, the Russian president's trustee, the member of the Russian Public Chamber and political analyst, told Trend Apr. 5.

"The status quo reflects the allocation of forces observed over 20 years ago, at the time when Armenia was stronger," said Markov, adding that since then, the allocation of forces has changed significantly.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is in a unique state in comparison with other local conflicts, he said.

"Firstly, there are no peacekeepers in the line of separation, so the outbreak of hostilities may occur at any time," Markov said.

"Secondly, we see the frozen talks on the conflict," said Markov adding that first of all, the OSCE Minsk Group is responsible for this freezing of talks.

"There is a unique situation where the Minsk Group co-chairs are the three countries - the US, France and Russia - where the Armenian diaspora is the largest in the world," he noted. "And, of course, these countries are not in a hurry with the negotiations."

The current collisions on the contact line of the Azerbaijani-Armenian troops will force the Minsk group to act and unfreeze the negotiation process, according to him.

Moreover, Azerbaijan's hope should be only on Russia, as there is not only Armenian, but also powerful Azerbaijani diaspora in Russia, said Markov.

"Unlike France and the US, there are close ties with both Armenia and Azerbaijan in Russia," said the expert. "And Russia has a more centrist position in this sense than the US and France, where some diplomats' actions are paralyzed by very strong Armenian communities."

The expert added that it is necessary to switch to the ceasefire regime and use the large temporary historic compromise, reflected in the updated Madrid principles.

Markov also stressed the biased, anti-Azerbaijani position in many Russian media outlets.

Markov said that despite pro-Armenian, pro-Azerbaijani and neutral positions have been reflected in the Russian media, Azerbaijan's position has not been fully presented.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers.

The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements. More than 370 Armenian soldiers, 12 tanks, 12 armored vehicles and 15 artillery guns

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @AygunBadalova
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 5

By Samir Ali - Trend:

Armenia's armed units continue artillery shelling of frontline villages in Azerbaijan's Terter district, Mustagim Mammadov, head of the district's executive power, told Trend Apr. 5.

Mammadov said up to 160 houses have been damaged from April 2 until today.

He added that seven houses have been destroyed completely.

On the night of Apr. 2, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from Armenians, who were using large-caliber weapons, mortars, grenade launchers and guns. Azerbaijani settlements near the frontline densely populated by civilians were shelled as well.

There are killed and injured among the Azerbaijani civilians as a result of the shelling.

More than 370 Armenian soldiers, 12 tanks, 12 armored vehicles and 15 artillery guns have been destroyed from April 2 until today.

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, Apr. 5

By Elchin Mehdiyev - Trend:

Azerbaijani MP Ganira Pashayeva has offered to write off loan debts of the servicemen killed during the recent operations on the contact line of Azerbaijani and Armenian troops, as well as their families.

She made the remarks Apr. 5 during a plenary session of the Azerbaijani parliament.

She said that such a move on the part of banks will be well received by the public.

On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers.

The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements. More than 370 Armenian soldiers, 12 tanks, 12 armored vehicles and 15 artillery guns have been destroyed from April 2 until today.

Earlier it was reported that the International Bank of Azerbaijan on Apr. 5 will decide on liquidation of loan debts of the Azerbaijani servicemen killed in the fighting on the frontline, as well as their families.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr.5

Trend:

Azerbaijan's president, Commander-in-Chief of Azerbaijani Armed Forces Ilham Aliyev visited the injured servicemen receiving treatment at the Central Military Clinical Hospital of the Defense Ministry Apr.5.

The president met with the servicemen who were injured in the fighting on the contact line.

Azerbaijan's Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov said that some of the servicemen who heroically fought and were injured while preventing the Armenian provocations on the contact line, were taken to this military hospital for treatment.

The hospital's medical staff does their best around the clock for the speedy recovery of the injured servicemen.

Then, President Aliyev met with a group of families of the martyrs and relatives of the injured.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 5

Trend:

Armenia is deceiving the international community by exacerbating the situation and trying to divert attention from the main issues that form the basis of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict settlement, as well as to maintain the status quo, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said.

He made the remarks Apr. 5 at a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif in Iran's northern city of Ramsar.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers.

The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements.

Military operations were stopped on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian armies on Apr. 5 at 12:00 (UTC/GMT + 4 hours) with the consent of the sides, said Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry.

Mammadyarov said that the international community must exert pressure on Armenia, demand the country to put an end to provocations and withdraw its armed forces from the occupied Azerbaijani territories.

The meeting was held within the framework of the trilateral meeting of the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan, Turkey and Iran.

It is planned to discuss issues of regional cooperation, fighting against international terrorism, transit cargo transportation, as well as development of cooperation in the political sphere at the trilateral meeting.

Previous meetings of the foreign ministers of the three countries in this format were held in Urmia (Iran) and Nakhchivan (Azerbaijan).
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 5

Trend:

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev received Speaker of the Nevada State Assembly John Hambrick April 5.

President Aliyev recalled his recent visit to the US and said he held fruitful meetings there. He described these meetings as a sign of strategic cooperation between the two countries.

President Aliyev highlighted the Nuclear Security Summit organized on the initiative of US President Barack Obama, saying it was of pivotal importance at a time when there was a growing threat of terrorist organizations` obtaining nuclear material. President Aliyev extended congratulations to the US government on the successful organization of the fourth Nuclear Security Summit.

The president hailed the development of relations between Azerbaijan and different states of the US, including Nevada. President Aliyev said the friendly relations were already established with the State of Nevada.

Hambrick said he was happy to visit Azerbaijan, and hailed hospitality given in the country. Hambrick informed President Aliyev of his meetings held at the Milli Majlis (parliament) of Azerbaijan.

Hambrick said the Nevada State Assembly adopted a resolution supporting Azerbaijan.
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 5

Trend:

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev received President of the International Weightlifting Federation Tamas Ajan on April 5.

Ajan said he was deeply impressed by the ongoing development processes in Azerbaijan and Baku, adding the capital had become more beautiful since his last visit two years ago.

Ajan said Azerbaijan had already become a venue of internationally important events, and extended his congratulations in this regard. He emphasized the excellent organization of the first European Games in Baku. Stressing the significance of Baku`s hosting Formula One Grand Prix of Europe this June, Ajan said this race enjoyed great popularity worldwide. He said a large number of tourists would come to Baku from European countries to watch the event.

President Aliyev expressed his confidence that Formula One would cause great interest and bring a large number of tourists.

Azerbaijan`s paying great attention - on a state level - to the development of different sports, including weightlifting, was hailed at the meeting. The country`s contribution to international cooperation in the field of sport was also underscored.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 5

By Aygun Badalova - Trend:

Pakistan expects Armenia to refrain from violating ceasefire and resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict by implementing the UN Security Council resolutions on the issue, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said in a message Apr. 5.

"We have observed with concern the escalation in the South Caucasus region caused due to the continuous artillery firing by Armenian forces deployed along the Line of Contact that has resulted in civilian and military casualties," said the message. "Pakistan will continue to promote a peaceful resolution 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 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers.

The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population.

Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements. More than 370 Armenian soldiers, 12 tanks, 12 armored vehicles and 15 artillery pieces have been destroyed from April 2 until today.

Military operations were stopped on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian armies on Apr. 5 at 12:00 (UTC/GMT + 4 hours) with the consent of the sides, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry earlier said.

The ministry added that Azerbaijan's armed units are now carrying out fortification work in the retaken areas.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 5

By Aygun Badalova - Trend:

Escalation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is largely due to inactivity of the international community, Georgian expert Gia Khukhashvili told Trend Apr. 5.

"What is happening now is largely a consequence of the idleness the international community has been demonstrating for many years," Khukhashvili said.

On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers.

The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements. More than 370 Armenian soldiers, 12 tanks, 12 armored vehicles and 15 artillery guns have been destroyed from April 2 until today.

Military operations were stopped on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian armies on Apr. 5 at 12:00 (UTC/GMT + 4 hours) with the consent of the sides, said Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

Khukhashvili said that the international community, on the one hand, states about its respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of countries, and on the other hand it gets used to the fact that the settlement of the problem is protracted.

"It is very dangerous to remain in such a position," Khukhashvili said. "The international community must intensify its efforts for the peaceful resolution of the conflict," he said, adding that it is like a time bomb for the region.

He went on to add that Azerbaijan's territorial integrity must be respected and restored.

He also expressed hope that Russia also will take a constructive stance in this issue and won't stay aside.

"It is not in Russia's interests," Khukhashvili said. "I hope that they, too, will treat this issue with understanding and act effectively. They have such opportunities."

He said that stability in the region is very important for Georgia.

"We are a single geopolitical link with Azerbaijan," Khukhashvili said. "We are not just neighbors, we are partners, friends, and we are forever linked both politically and economically."

He went on to add that if Georgia has to make a choice, the country will be with Azerbaijan for many reasons.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 5

By Elena Kosolapova - Trend:

It is clear that there cannot be a status quo in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict any more, Amanda Paul, analyst at the European Policy Centre (EPC), told Trend in email Apr. 5.

Something needs to change and change fast, she believes.

"Even if the current situation stabilizes, to talk about a functioning ceasefire is not realistic under the current conditions - and indeed never was - it was simply a ticking time bomb," added Paul.

The expert also said the situation is very serious in the zone of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

"This is the worst outbreak of fighting since the ceasefire came into force in 1994," Paul said.

She believes there is a very real risk that the conflict will escalate further still, as Armenia battles to take the positions that Azerbaijan has retaken and Baku pushes back against that.

"Hence a fully blown war, which would have devastating consequences for the region, cannot be ruled out," Paul added.

The analyst said the line of contact is now so militarized with heavy weaponry on both sides, including tanks, aircraft, drones and helicopters along with modern technology, that it creates a far more dangerous situation than in the past.

"The current situation requires the full attention of the international community, in particular the US and Russia," Paul said. "Coming at a time when Russian-US relations are in poor shape is not helpful, yet they need to put their differences aside and work together. Other regional players which have some influence - Turkey and Iran - may also take on a role."

"If the conflict explodes the price will be paid by the entire region, hence a unified approach is important," she added.

Paul noted that so far the Russians "have been the most-active in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict."

"While Russia uses the conflict for its own purposes, which is not helpful in terms of helping to bring about a solution or shoring up regional security, at the same time the Russian's do not want a fully blown war in the region," Paul added. "Rather Russia has been more comfortable with simmering conflict situations, which allow Moscow to project its power and influence in the region."

Paul believes there can be little doubt that ultimately Russia would like its own peacekeepers on the ground in Karabakh and this is apparently included in a new peace plan that that Moscow has been putting together.

"Yet history has shown that once Russian boots are on the ground, getting rid of them is difficult and often conflicts become even harder to resolve," added Paul. "Hence there is likely to be continued objection against this."

"What is very clear is that the current system of a tiny OSCE mission visiting the conflict area now and then and only after giving prior warning - even requesting permission from Azerbaijan and Armenia - is totally ineffective," said Paul.

The analyst said that unfortunately the renewed conflict seems to have left the EU paralyzed, unable to go beyond words of concern, which are simply not adequate for such a dangerous escalation right in the EU's backyard.

"Furthermore, if we compare the EU's reaction to the 2008 Russia-Georgia war to its reaction to the escalation over Karabakh there is a stark difference because in 2008 the EU acted swiftly, carrying out shuttle diplomacy and taking a lead in efforts to stop the fighting," added Paul.

"Today, the EU remains on the sidelines continuing to hide behind the OSCE fig leaf," she noted. "However, the OSCE has become more of a conflict manager than a resolver, and its role and influence has weakened over the years as the peace process has become stale and run out of steam."

"When there are long periods of time without an active peace process/settlement negotiation it serves to cement the status quo, which for Azerbaijan, in particular, is frustrating because it is their land that is occupied," said Paul.

"Not surprisingly, therefore, the status quo is far more acceptable for the Armenians," she added.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @E_Kosolapova
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 5

Trend:

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan had phone talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the initiative of the Russian side, Putin's official website reported Apr. 5.

During the phone talks, the sides discussed in details the latest developments in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone.

Expressing serious concern over the large-scale armed clashes, which have led to numerous casualties, Putin called on the both sides to urgently ensure a complete cessation of hostilities and observe the ceasefire.

It was stressed that Russia is taking and will continue to take the necessary intermediary steps aimed at promoting the normalization of the situation.

The parties also stressed the importance of resuming the negotiation process between Baku and Yerevan with the assistance of the OSCE Minsk Group in order to seek the ways for a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The presidents agreed to continue contacts in different formats.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers.

The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population.

Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements. More than 370 Armenian soldiers, 12 tanks, 12 armored vehicles and 15 artillery pieces have been destroyed from April 2 until today.

Military operations were stopped on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian armies on Apr. 5 at 12:00 (UTC/GMT + 4 hours) with the consent of the sides, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry earlier said.

The ministry added that Azerbaijan's armed units are now carrying out fortification work in the retaken areas.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 5

Trend:

Russia's President Vladimir Putin phoned to Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev on Apr. 5, the Azerbaijani president's press service reported.

The Russian president once again expressed concern over the latest developments on the frontline and stressed the importance of strengthening the ceasefire.

In turn, President Aliyev said that despite the fact that since the first day Azerbaijan made a statement on the ceasefire, the opposite side continued military operations.

The president added that the ceasefire was restored today, on Apr. 5 afternoon, and the responsibility for its violation lies on the Armenian side.

During the phone talk, the presidents once again expressed their support to the negotiation process within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group.

Presidents of Azerbaijan and Russia once again emphasized the successful development of bilateral relations between the two countries in all the areas.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers.

The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population.

Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements. More than 370 Armenian soldiers, 12 tanks, 12 armored vehicles and 15 artillery pieces have been destroyed from April 2 until today.

Military operations were stopped on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian armies on Apr. 5 at 12:00 (UTC/GMT + 4 hours) with the consent of the sides, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry earlier said.

The ministry added that Azerbaijan's armed units are now carrying out fortification work in the retaken areas.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr.5

By Azad Hasanli - Trend:

Azerbaijani banks suspended the issuance of consumer loans in foreign currency on Apr.5 for a period of one month, said the message from the Financial Market Supervisory Body.

The decision was made during the meeting of the Supervisory Body.

Nevertheless, the Financial Market Supervisory Body retains the right to prolong this period.

In order to ensure the financial stability and protect the consumer rights, to carry out in-depth and comprehensive analysis in the sphere of issuing foreign currency loans, it was decided to set new regulatory frameworks within a month.

Addressing the meeting, Rufat Aslanli, head of the Board of Directors of the Financial Market Supervisory Body talked about loans issued in manats and foreign currencies and the status of these loans following the devaluation.

Deputy head of the Board of Directors of the Body, Nigar Mammadova, for her part, spoke about the structure and quality of banks' loan portfolios.
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 5

By Elena Kosolapova - Trend:

Oil production in Kazakhstan's Kashagan oil field is planned to resume in the autumn of 2016, said a message of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), via a pipeline system of which it is planned to transport oil from this field.

The information about the plans on resumption of oil output was received from leaders of Kazakhstan's oil and gas sector.

Kashagan is a large oil and gas field in Kazakhstan, located in the north of the Caspian Sea.

The geological reserves of Kashagan are estimated at 4.8 billion tons of oil. The total oil reserves amount to 38 billion barrels; some 10 billion out of them are recoverable reserves. There are large natural gas reserves at the Kashagan field - over one trillion cubic meters.

The production at the Kashagan field started in September 2013, but in October, it was ceased after a gas leak in one of the main pipelines. The production at Kashagan is expected to resume in late 2016.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @E_Kosolapova
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 5

By Fatih Karimov - Trend:

Azerbaijan is ready to boost cooperation with Iran in agriculture sector, the country's Minister of Agriculture Heydar Asadov said.

He made the remarks during a meeting with Iran's envoy to Baku, Mohsen Pak Ayeen, the Iranian embassy's press office told Trend April 5.

Referring to recent agricultural cooperation agreement signed between the two countries last February during the visit of President Ilham Aliyev to Tehran, Asadov said that Baku is ready to cooperate with Tehran in various fields of agriculture sector including research and training, soil and water, seed exchange and agricultural products' trade as well as boosting the cooperatives.

The two countries can widely cooperate in the field of agricultural products' import and export, the Azerbaijani minister said.

He also invited Iran's Agriculture Minister Mahmoud Hojjati to pay an official visit to Baku in the near future.

Pak Ayeen also said that the two parties are determined to boost cooperation in the fields of veterinary and agriculture.

Tehran and Baku have good potential in agriculture sector, and can exchange their capacities through mutual cooperation, Pak Ayeen added.

President Aliyev visited Tehran last February, which took place on the invitation of Iran's President Hassan Rouhani. The high-level official visit resulted in conclusion of documents covering various areas of cooperation between Tehran and Baku.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 5

By Umid Niayesh - Trend:

Iran has expressed readiness to act as a mediator between Yerevan and Baku in the recent Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that Iran is ready to play role in the peaceful settling of the conflict, in case if the involved parties are interested, Iran's Fars news agency reported April 5.

He made the remarks in a phone conversation with his Armenian counterpart Edward Nalbandian. Zarif also is scheduled to meet with his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov April 5 within the framework of a trilateral meeting of foreign ministers of Azerbaijan, Turkey and Iran in the Iranian city of Ramsar, where it is planned to discuss issues of mutual interests as well as regional and international developments.

Meanwhile, during talks with Nalbandian, Zarif underlined the necessity of ceasing armed clashes between the sides.

He further called for return of peace to the region and peaceful settlement of Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements. The situation on the contact line remains tense.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 5

By Umid Niayesh - Trend:

Iran has called for urgent end of armed clashes in the recent Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Iran's Minister of ICT Mahmoud Vaezi, who is co-chairman of Iran-Azerbaijan joint economic commission, made the remarks in a phone conversation with Azerbaijan's Economy Minister Shahin Mustafayev, IRNA reported April 5.

Iran is ready to use all its capacities to remove the tension and establish ceasefire between Armenia and Azerbaijan and settling of the conflict within the framework of bilateral and international negotiations, Vaezi said.

He further said that the continuation of the clashes would impose loses to entire region.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif earlier expressed readiness to act as a mediator between Yerevan and Baku.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers. Azerbaijan responded with a counter -attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements.
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 5



By Farhad Daneshvar - Trend:



Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his Azerbaijan counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov discussed regional developments at a meeting in Iran's northern city of Ramsar.



Speaking of the recent developments in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Zarif called for truce, voicing Iran's readiness to act as a mediator between Yerevan and Baku to resolve the existing crisis between Armenia and Azerbaijan, ILNA news agency reported.



"We should join efforts to rule out witnessing new crisis in the region," ILNA quoted Zarif as saying.



He further pointed to his phone conversation with Armenian counterpart, Edward Nalbandian, regarding Karabakh conflict and called for establishing peace in the region.



On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements. The situation on the contact line remains tense.



The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 5

By Farhad Daneshvar - Trend:

Foreign ministers of Azerbaijan, Turkey and Iran - Elmar Mammadyarov, Mohammad Javad Zarif and Mevlut Cavusoglu held the fourth round of trilateral talks in the Iranian northern city of Ramsar.

During the talks, the parties signed two documents on cooperation, said Zarif.

He said the FMs also agreed to set up a committee comprised of deputies for political affairs in order to make sure that the decisions made at the Apr. 5 meeting will be implemented.

One of the signed documents provides a plan for cooperation between the involved countries for the next two years, said Zarif.

Further saying that the sides had discussions over maintaining security and peace in the region, he added that proper talks were held on fighting terrorism and also on the Karabakh conflict.

Zarif also said that Azerbaijan will host the next round of trilateral talks.

Previous meetings of the three countries' foreign ministers were held in Iran's Urmia, Azerbaijan's Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic and Turkey's Van.
Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili urged the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to exert maximum efforts to achieve a peaceful settlement of the tensions in Nagorno-Karabakh, Russian news agency TASS reported.

Margvelashvili made the statement at an international people's diplomacy forum held within the framework of the NATO Week in Georgia.

"We very much hope that the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan will exert maximum efforts for settling the tense situation by both peaceful and diplomatic means with the active participation in the international community for the conflict's peaceful resolution," he said.

On the night of Apr. 2, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from Armenians, who were using large-caliber weapons, mortars, grenade launchers and guns. Azerbaijani settlements near the frontline densely populated by civilians were shelled as well.

There are killed and injured among the Azerbaijani civilians as a result of the shelling.

More than 370 Armenian soldiers, 12 tanks, 12 armored vehicles and 15 artillery guns have been destroyed from April 2 until today.

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.
Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov is scheduled to visit Baku on Thursday to meet with Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov, Sputnik reported.

"The minister's participation in the trilateral meeting has not been canceled," ministry's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, adding that the escalation of conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh will be on agenda of talks.

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.
Canada is not looking to freeze oil production along the lines proposed by Russia and other large producers, Canadian Energy Minister James Gordon Carr told reporters on Monday, according to Sputnik.

"It would not be our position to freeze production," Carr said on the sidelines of the Bloomberg New Energy Finance summit.

The minister added that Canada will continue to look for ways to extract oil "more sustainably" during what he described as a "transition period" away from fossil fuels. Until that transition, Carr asserted that "there will be the exploration of fossil fuels, particularly in western Canada."

On April 17, major oil producers are expected to meet in the Qatari capital of Doha to discuss an agreement to freeze oil output at January 2016 levels. In February, representatives from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Venezuela, and Russia discussed possible measures to stabilize the current oil market, including the oil production freeze.



The stabilization measure could help reduce the past year and a half of oil market volatility if major producers agreed to the output freeze.

James Gordon Carr also told reporters that Canada will continue to send its energy experts to Ukraine to help that government improve their energy security.

"We have sent teams of experts to Ukraine in the past to talk about energy security, and we will continue to do that," Carr said.

Since the 2014 outbreak of the Ukraine crisis, the country has shifted its import of energy toward Europe and away from Russia.

Canada, a large producer of natural gas, has begun work on a major LNG export facility and is expecting a regulatory decision approving a second Pacific Northwest LNG project in the coming four months, Carr said.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr.5

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

Head of Turkey's opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Devlet Bahceli has called on the government for more decisive fight against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), TRT Haber TV channel reported Apr.5.

The opposition leader believes that within two days, Turkish government should evacuate the civilians from the cities where the PKK is active and carry out crushing strikes on these cities.

Earlier, Bahceli urged for restoring the death penalty for terrorists.

Head of the justice commission of Turkey's Grand National Assembly (parliament) Ahmet Iyimaya earlier said that Turkey's parliament may consider the restoration of death penalty.

Earlier, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that over 5,350 PKK members have been eliminated as a result of the operations against this terrorist group since July of 2015. He added that 355 Turkish servicemen were killed during these operations, which will continue until the complete destruction of the PKK.

The conflict between Turkey and the PKK, which demands the creation of an independent Kurdish state, has continued for over 25 years and has claimed more than 40,000 lives. The UN and the European Union listed the PKK as a terrorist organization.

Edited by SI

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Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 5

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

Turkey supports and will continue supporting Azerbaijan, reports the Turkish TRT Haber TV channel.

"Let no one doubt of Turkey's support for Azerbaijan," the TV channel reported April 5 citing Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkish prime minister.

Davutoglu further added that Turkey is closely following the current events on the contact line of Azerbaijani and Armenian troops.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 5

By Elena Kosolapova - Trend:

The EU- Turkey deal designed to halt the uncontrolled influx of refugees to the EU is in danger, Paul Levin, director at Stockholm University Institute for Turkish Studies believes.

"The deal is in danger, in part due to the lack of planning and commitment from the EU to help Greek authorities to manage the large number of asylum requests," Levin told Trend in an email.

Under the EU-Turkish deal, signed last month, migrants arriving illegally in Greece are expected to be sent back to Turkey if they do not apply for asylum or if their claim is rejected. In exchange, the EU agreed to resettle up to 72,000 Syrian refugees under the so-called "one-for-one plan" directly from Turkey and speed up financial aid to help Turkey care for the Syrian refugees it is hosting.

The first boats carrying migrants, mainly from Pakistan, were deported from Greece to Turkey on April 5. Turkey has agreed to accept up to 500 migrants per day.

Levin noted that the EU will need to step up considerably in order to improve implementation of the deal with Turkey in weeks ahead because since for all its flaws, the realistic alternatives to this deal are all much worse.

"If it can be made to work, the EU-Turkey deal has the potential to limit the number of refugees who risk their lives trying to cross the Aegean Sea, and to offer them a safe passage to Europe instead," the expert noted.

To insure the deal's work, the airlifting of Syrian refugees from Turkey to the EU needs to begin immediately, and the additional voluntary commitments in the deal - whereby individual EU member states agree to take many more than the 72,000 Syrians mentioned in the deal - are essential, the expert said.

Europe is facing its biggest refugee crisis since the Second World War, according to the UN assessment.

Levin noted that the migrant crisis will only end when people in Syria and neighboring countries no longer find a need to flee so a multi pronged approach is needed, which includes stepped up efforts to end the conflict in Syria.

Speaking about deportation of illegal migrants to Turkey the expert said that recent allegations by international human rights organization Amnesty International about large-scale illegal returns of refugees to Syria by Turkish authorities are very worrying.

Amnesty last week accused the Turkish army of turning back thousands of Syrians trying to flee their country in the last few months, sometimes using force.

"Such practices, if confirmed, would make it difficult to consider Turkey a "safe third country" and hence to send refugees from Greece back to Turkey," Levin said.

The expert believes that the EU needs to put pressure on Turkey to immediately halt any violations of the non-refoulement principle and ensure proper rights also for the non-Syrian asylum seekers it will take from Greece.

Speaking about the visa-free travel to the EU countries for Turkish citizens envisaged by the EU-Turkey deal since June, Levin noted that escalation in Turkey's south-eastern region could make it difficult to implement.

Follow the author on Twitter: @E_Kosolapova
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 5

By Elena Kosolapova - Trend:

Turkey and the EU - have political interest in making the deal designed to halt the uncontrolled influx of refugees to the EU to work, Nimrod Goren, the founder and chairman of Mitvim - Israeli Institute for Regional Foreign Policies, believes.

"Given the problematic nature of Turkey-EU relations - the hardships of the recent years, and the significant EU criticism regarding [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan's domestic conduct on issues of democracy - it is not trivial for the two sides to able to reach such an agreement," Goren told Trend.

He noted that it has been made possible because both sides understand the need and identify potential gains, and are willing to withstand domestic criticism of the deal.

Under the EU-Turkish deal, signed last month, migrants arriving illegally in Greece are expected to be sent back to Turkey if they do not apply for asylum or if their claim is rejected. In exchange, the EU agreed to resettle up to 72,000 Syrian refugees under the so-called "one-for-one plan" directly from Turkey and speed up financial aid to help Turkey care for the Syrian refugees it is hosting.

The first boats carrying migrants, mainly from Pakistan, were deported from Greece to Turkey on April 5. Turkey has agreed to accept up to 500 migrants per day.

Goren noted that the deal may somewhat ease the immediate refugee crisis in the EU. However it will not solve many pressing issues related to the continuation of the civil war in Syria, the humanitarian disaster taking place there, and domestic European issues regarding the legal status of incoming refugees, their absorption into societies, and the rise of anti-Muslim/anti-immigrants voice, he said.

Edited by SI

Follow the author on Twitter: @E_Kosolapova
The installation of new door at International Space Station will result in the launch of commercial crew capsules sooner than expected. (Photo : Getty Images/NASA)

On April 2, the International Space station successfully received the Russian unmanned cargo ship Progress, which gave the space station's crew with needed supplies like food and fuel. Russia's mission control confirmed that there were no problems along the ship's journey.



Progress-63 docked at the space station precisely at the scheduled time, said an official at the Russian mission control to TASS. The unmanned cargo ship carried three tons of food, fuel, and other types of supplies to the cosmonauts from Russia who are Oleg Skripochka, Yuri Malenchenko, and Alexy Ovchinin. Also aboard on the space station are the NASA astronauts Tim Kopra and Jeff Williams, and British astronaut Tim Peake.



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Cosmonaut Malenchenko was on standby to take over the controls by remote control if ever the cargo ship ran into issues, according to CBS News. The cargo ship lined up with the aft port of the space station and safely docked with the hooks and latches to lock it in place.



This was the second flight of an MS-series Progress from Russia's Baionur space base in Kazakhstan and now it has new upgraded communications and navigation tools. In June, Russia is expected to press on with their plans to launch the first MS-series Soyuz crew ferry craft, due to their successful launch and docking at the space station. Manned flights to the space station are usually handled by Russia, but sometimes the United States carry out resupply missions.



It can be noted that there were two previous cargo ships docked at the space station. First was Cygnus that took off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and docked at the station on March 26, while the other is the Progress M-29M cargo ship, which has been detached on March 30 and will slowly go down to Earth before it hits the Pacific Ocean on April 8. Both cargo ships provided necessary supplies for the space station such as food water, science and research gear, and extra clothes.



In other news, SpaceX is also planning to launch a Dragon cargo ship from Cape Canaveral on April 8 to deliver more equipment for the space station crew. The whole cargo will weigh 3.5 tons, which will include a compartment that is inflatable that is planned to be attached to the Tranquility module on the station.



Check out the Progress-63 docking video below:






The search for the ill-fated Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 continues. (Photo : YouTube/National Geographic TV)

New debris found in the Indian Ocean near Mauritius is being examined by Australian authorities to confirm if it belongs to flight MH370. The latest find comes just weeks after two pieces of debris confirmed to be part of the mysterious Malaysian Airlines flight was discovered in Mozambique.



A couple on vacation on the island of Rodrigues in Mauritius discovered the debris, Yahoo News said quoting an AFP report. Australian Minister of Transport Darren Chester was quoted in the wire report as saying that the Malaysian government is working towards gaining custody and examining the debris.



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Chester told the news agency that the debris is an "item of interest." However, he said, until it is examined by officials, it is difficult to ascertain if it is associated with the missing flight. The report claimed that it remains unclear as to which country will examine it first.



According to media reports, aviation experts believe the debris could be part of the internal bulkhead belonging to the Boeing 777 flight. Experts believe the fragment is a piece from the economy or business class cabins.



Just weeks ago, Australian officials said debris found in Mozambique was "certainly from MH370." In 2015, French authorities also claimed part of a wing belonging to the ill-fated flight was discovered on the island of Reunion, the BBC reported.



Furthermore, should the latest piece of debris be confirmed as being from MH370, it would be the first piece of debris from inside the plane, the British website reported. Despite an extensive search

by the governments of Malaysia, Australia and China, progress has been slow.



The search for the missing flight is to end once the target area has been fully searched. The Malaysian Airlines flight bound for Beijing from Kuala Lumpur is reported to have diverted its route, and the flight disappeared on March 8, 2014, with more than 200 passengers and crew on board.



At the moment, Australia is leading the hunt, with more than 90,000sq km from an area of 120,000sq km combed during the search. The hunt for the missing flight is set to end in June. It is reported that by such time, the remaining area would be covered.



Watch a documentary on MH370:




As Graveyards Continue to Fill Up, Government Calls for Eco-burials

According to traditional Chinese beliefs, having a proper burial ceremony is the correct way to treat the dead. (Photo : Getty Images)

Eco-burials are becoming a popular alternative for traditional burial ceremonies among Chinese public officials as the country's graveyards continue to get filled up, China Daily reported.



According to traditional Chinese beliefs, "burial is the correct way to treat the dead," hence, the heavy investment people in China put in their loved ones' tombs.



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Nonetheless, this has paved the way for tomb congestion in various cemeteries in the country, especially in key Chinese cities such as Beijing.



An official report shows that last year, the average cost of a funeral service in the Chinese capital reached 70,000 yuan.



Because of land scarcity, grave plots have also become expensive, Qiao Kuanyuan, an expert with the China Funeral Association, pointed out.



In light of this matter, the Chinese government has called for eco-friendly alternatives, which have been countered by conventional beliefs. These suggestions include burying ashes under trees or scattering them in the sea.



Hang Juan, a publicity officer from the Nanjing funeral reform and management department, noted that the city is eyeing for more campaigns encouraging its residents to choose environmental-friendly burial alternatives.



However, some Chinese are opting to hold burials in their respective neighboring cities so as to continue their traditional beliefs. For instance, 80 percent of the plots in the cemeteries of Hebei Province are sold to Beijing residents.



An employee of the Lingshan Pagoda Cemetery surnamed Chen revealed that a third of the cemetery's 30,000 plots have already been purchased.



Chen said that compared with those in Beijing, "tombs [in the cemetery] are much bigger."



This increase in burial activities has already been reflected to the companies' accounts, which shows extremely high profit margins. In 2015, Fucheng Wufeng, the cemetery's parent company, reported an 83.3-percent gross profit margin.



The China Daily article stated that the firm aims to make a 100-million-yuan profit this 2016.



The 50-hectare Lingshan Cemetery is located in Hebei's Sanhe City, 50 kilometers away from the Chinese capital.



Other large cemeteries can also be found in the province's Yixian County and Zhuohou City.


Fallout 4 DLC update: F4s 'Lonesome Rhode' DLC to arrive in November, along with new missions, new villain; Fallout 4s final DLC 'To Del and Back slated early 2017 release

Lonesome Rhode DLC will be a complete recreation of the whole state of Rhode Island with its own Fallout 4 twist. (Photo : YouTube/UndeadGodGaming20)

After a successful release of one of their famous games, Bethesda is continuing to grant the wishes of its fans by releasing news on their upcoming DLCs for "Fallout 4."



According to Geek.com, the game development company has announced another DLC that will be released in the coming months. Dubbed as "Lonesome Rhode," the new DLC will be a complete recreation of the whole state of Rhode Island with its own "Fallout 4" twist.



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Vice President for Public Relations Howard M'aiq was the first to release the news of the upcoming "Fallout 4" DLC in a press conference earlier this month. Bethesda's VP also released a short info on the upcoming "Lonesome Rhode" gameplay stating:



"The Sole Survivor will receive a mysterious message from fan-favorite character Ulysses, which will send the player on a dangerous quest through the Glowing Sea to the exotic land of Rhode Island. There, players will find a barren stretch of wasteland so desolate that not even feral ghouls will set foot upon its accursed soil" explained M'aiq.



Fans would have to wait a little longer for "Lonesome Rhode" as it is set to be released by November.



Furthermore, the Bethesda executive has also released a couple of hints on the final DLC of the "Fallout 4" series, "To Del' and Back." The final downloadable content will be another recreation of Highway 95 and will go from the Commonwealth all the way to Delaware. Fans of "Fallout 4" would be excited to hear that "To Del' and Back," which is slated to be released early 2017, will let players drive their own vehicles, plus Highway 95 will also be a big map that would be taking gamers from Boston to Wilmington, Delaware.



M'aiq has also announced that gamers will finally use their excess core fusions in "Fallout 4's" "To Del' and Back" DLC as the vehicles would be using them as their main source of power. Players will also have a kick with the new survival mode in the final DLC.



Meanwhile, it has already reported, according to Forbes, that Bethesda has begun rolling out "Automatron" in different regions. The recently released DLC will give gamers a chance to customize their own robot sidekick from the scraps of their new AI foes, while new missions in the new downloadable content "Lonesome Rhode" will include a new villain only known as The Mechanist.



Watch the video below to know more about the new "Fallout 4" DLC:




The students were arrested on charges of leaking school exam papers

Related Egypt minister to travel to Sudan over arrest of Egyptian students

Twenty-six Egyptian students who were arrested in Sudan last week on charges of leaking school exams will be released within hours the Egyptian foreign ministry said on Monday night.

The Sudanese embassy in Cairo has confirmed that the students will released, according to a statement published by state agency MENA on Tuesday.

The embassy said the decision to release them came in consideration of the "special and brotherly" relations between Egypt and Sudan.

Sudan will apply only an educational punishment, the embassy said, by depriving the students from participating in this year's high school exams.

The Egyptians were among a group of students of mixed nationalities who were arrested on 28 March on charges of buying and selling high school exam papers.

Egypt's foreign ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said the Egyptian embassy in Khartoum and relevant authorities have been working for the students' release.

"The foreign spokesman thanked the Sudanese government for its cooperation with the Egyptian authorities to solve the crisis, which reflects how deep and special the relations between the two countries are," the statement read.

Expatriate Affairs Minister Nabila Makram travelled to Khartoum last week to address the matter.



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Egypt's top prosecutor has said a delegation of Egyptian investigators will head to Rome on Wednesday to provide Italian officials with the latest findings of their investigation into the murder of Italian student Giulio Regeni.

Egyptian officials were initially due in Italy on Tuesday but the trip was postponed.

Earlier reports suggested it would instead take place on Thursday. But the office of Egypt's prosecutor-general said in a statement on Tuesday morning that the delegation would travel on Wednesday to "present the outcome of investigations carried out by the Egyptian general prosecution."

It added that the visit by prosecutors and police officers involved in the probe comes as part of a "positive cooperation" with Italian prosecutors and is pursuant to agreement with Italian Attorney General Giuseppe Buitoni during his visit to Egypt last month.

The PhD student, who was in Cairo conducting research on independent trade unions, went missing on 25 January. His body was found, bearing signs of torture, by a roadside on the outskirts of Cairo on 3 February.

Egypt has vigorously denied claims that security forces were involved in Regeni's murder.

Egyptian police said in March they had discovered Regeni's passport and other items following a shootout with a criminal gang whose members had been killed.

The developments had been dismissed by Italian officials who have insisted they seek the "truth" behind the student's death.



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A Giza criminal court ordered two senior Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya leaders, detained for almost two years, to be released on bail pending trial for charges of inciting violence.

Safwat Abdel-Ghany and Alaa Abu El-Nasr, members of the group and leaders of its political arm the Building and Development Party, were released on 1,000 EGP bail each.

They have been in detention since July 2014, and are charged with inciting violence while participating in the pro-Morsi Rabaa Al-Adawiya protest camp, which was forcibly dispersed by Egyptian security forces in August 2013.

Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya, a militant Islamist group which formally renounced violence in the 1990s, played a key role in the pro-Mohamed Morsi National Alliance to Support Legitimacy. The alliance was banned after Morsi's ouster and many leading figures arrested.

Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya formed its political party after the 2011 revolution and won 13 seats in the parliamentary elections of 2011-12.



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Leading press syndicate member Elbalshy still asserts, however, that the case against him for 'insulting police' is still ongoing

The head of Egypt's press syndicate Yehia Kalash said on Tuesday that an arrest warrant issued Monday against leading syndicate member Khaled Elbalshy for "insulting the police" has been dropped, and that the matter will be resolved without a probe.

"The arrest order has been cancelled because it was illegal in the first place, and the matter is now being settled between the syndicate and the [interior] ministry," Kalash told Ahram Online on Tuesday.

According to Egyptian law, authorities can only summon syndicate members for questioning through notifying the syndicate.

Kalash said he was informed of the cancellation of the arrest warrant by knowledgeable authorities, adding that a provincial judicial official said that the legal complaint did not identify Elbalshy as a journalist.

However, Elbalshy has asserted that the case, brought against him by an interior ministry official, is still in effect, saying that he could still "be subjected to investigations," without elaborating further.

He argues, nevertheless, that the main issue lies with "all [other] imprisoned journalists."

"It is a case of all those unjustly imprisoned and detained," he said. "Freedom of expression cannot be achieved without general freedoms."

The syndicate head said earlier this year that a total of 27 journalists remain behind bars in Egypt, with some sentenced to prison for publishing false news and belonging to the banned Muslim Brotherhood group.

El-Balshy, who is editor-in-chief of independent news website Al-Bedaiah, is known for advocating democracy and supporting freedom of speech and expression.

The arrest warrant against him came after a legal advisor to interior minister Magdy Abdel-Ghaffar filed a legal complaint against El-Balshy, accusing him of "libel and slander" against the ministry and of "insulting the police, as well as calling for the disturbing of public order and the overthrow of the regime."

An urgent meeting due on Tuesday that was called by the syndicate to discuss the matter will still be held, according to Kalash.

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The health ministry had previously ordered the centre be shut down in February

Egypt's health ministry attempted to close down leading anti-torture NGO the El-Nadeem Centre for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence on Tuesday, but was thwarted when staff refused to leave.

Personnel from the health ministry arrived at the centre's Cairo headquarters and instructed staff the centre was to close, but staff refused to leave when the bureaucrats could not produce the official order to close down the venue.

"The centre is still open," Mohamed Abdel-Aziz, a lawyer who works with the centre and arrived at the scene after the officials had left, told Ahram Online.

Dr. Magda [Adly] and I told the forces we will not leave," wrote psychiatrist Aida Seif El-Dawla, who is the director of the centre, on her Facebook page.



"So Dr. Ashraf Sami Ibrahim from the freelance medical care department [of the health ministry] called the interior ministry and they left, as the [Nadeem centre] doctors prevented them from executing the order."

Egyptian authorities had previously tried to shut down the NGO in February; the health ministry issued an order for its closure, but the centre's lawyers managed to postpone the execution until they had reached the ministry for clarification.



Different licence

The health ministry responded a week later saying that the NGO had changed its name from a clinic to a centre, and would therefore require a different licence, and had changed the centre's activities from medical to human rights-related.

The centre provides services including psychological support to victims of torture and other kinds of violence, and periodically issues reports on torture.

El-Nadeem rejected the health ministrys arguments, saying it was an NGO which has nothing to do with the health ministry.

Founded in 1993, El-Nadeem's representatives also said the centre had not changed its name as the clinic is one of the activities of the larger centre. They also denied claims that their activities had changed.

"It was the centre and not the clinic that issued reports related to torture by police officers against members of terrorist groups, El-Nadeem said in a Feburary statement.

The clinic was established with a licence from the Doctors' Syndicate, before receiving another licence from the health minster, which permits the establishment of a medical facility," the statement read.

The justice ministry in March re-opened a case alleging that dozens of NGOs, some working in the field of human rights, had received illegal funding from foreign governments and institutions, a case that originally dates back to 2011.

A judicial committee is conducting investigations and a gag order was imposed on the media in relation to the case.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said in March that he is "deeply concerned" about the deterioration of the situation of human rights in Egypt, in the wake of the decision to reopen the investigations, comments which were rejected by the Egyptian foreign ministry.



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The Egyptian president told a NATO delegation in Cairo that 'individual incidents' like Regeni's murder will not affect Egyptian-Italian relations

President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said on Wednesday that the murder of Italian student Giulio Regeni earlier this year will not affect Egypt's relations with Italy.

El-Sisi's statement came hours after Italian foreign minister Paolo Gentiloni said that his government was ready to adopt "immediate and proportionate" measures if Cairo does not fully cooperate in uncovering the truth surrounding the murder of Regeni.

Many have speculated that Regeni  whose body was found in Cairo in January with signs of torture  was murdered by security forces, a charge the Egyptian government has strongly denied.

In a meeting with a delegation from the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Cairo, El-Sisi stated that Egypt was committed to "full and transparent cooperation with Italy to reveal the truth and bring the perpetrators to justice."

"Egypt is also concerned with the disappearance of Egyptian citizen Adel Mowad in Italy in October 2015," he added.

The Egyptian president also expressed his confidence in the strong Egyptian-Italian relations, adding that these "individual incidents" will not affect this relationship.

El-Sisi also discussed with the NATO delegation the latest developments in Libya, where he stressed on the importance of having a unified international vision in resolving the country's civil conflict, adding that military action was not enough and stressing the need for a political settlement.

He also said that NATO military operations in Libya were not complete and that the failure to fight militant groups in Libya has let these organisations expand their power in several areas.

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Saudi-led coalition warplanes carried out a series of raids in southern Yemen on Sunday targeting Al-Qaeda positions that killed five suspected militants, a Yemeni military official said.

The official, who requested anonymity, said the militants were killed in air strikes that targeted buildings in the city of Zinjibar, including an intelligence and special forces headquarters occupied by the militants.

Several people were also wounded and taken to a hospital in the nearby town of Jaar, the official said.

An abandoned army weapons factory in Jaar which the militants had taken over was also hit, the official added, but was unable to say if there were any casualties.

Other raids carried out by the Saudi-led coalition struck suspected Al-Qaeda positions in second city Aden at dawn, according to the same official.

It was not immediately clear if anyone was killed or injured.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has taken advantage of Yemen's war between Iran-backed rebels and pro-government forces backed by a Saudi-led Arab coalition to expand in the south.

AQAP, which has long been entrenched in Yemen, is regarded by Washington as the network's most dangerous branch, and it has carried out deadly attacks on the West in the past.

Last week a US air strike on an AQAP training camp in Hajr, in the southeastern province of Hadramawt, killed 71 fighters, according to provincial officials.

The militants have seized parts of Hadramawt including its provincial capital Mukalla in April last year.

The Saudi-led coalition launched its intervention in Yemen a year ago against the Houthi rebels but it has recently turned its guns on militants in southern Yemen.

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One Turkish soldier was lightly wounded on Tuesday after a military outpost in the southeastern province of Gaziantep came under fire from Islamic State militants from across the Syrian border, privately owned Dogan News agency said.

Turkey's military responded in kind and fired artillery into Syria, the agency said.

Turkey, which faces multiple security threats, is on heightened alert after four suicide bombings already this year, two of which have been blamed on IS militants.

Gaziantep province is near the Syrian border and part of it lies just across the frontier from the IS-controlled Syrian town of Jarablus.

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Related Hamas slams Twitter for closing its accounts

A Palestinian official on Tuesday denied Israeli charges of syphoning off cement imports to Gaza and warned of a potential "explosion" unless a cement ban is lifted.

Israel on Monday announced it had stopped private imports of cement to the Hamas-run Palestinian enclave, accusing Imad al-Baz, deputy director of the economy ministry, of diverting supplies.

But Baz denied any offence, saying the imports were in line with a UN-brokered Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism, aimed at allowing for reconstruction following a devastating 2014 war with Israel.

"We don't interfere with the cement mechanism," he told AFP, adding that all cement distribution sites in Gaza are monitored by Israeli cameras.

He warned that Israel's decision would have "dire consequences" including "stopping the wheels of reconstruction, destroying the economy and increasing unemployment with adverse repercussions for tens of thousands of citizens".

"If Israel continues to prevent the supply of cement to Gaza, the situation will explode in the face of the occupation and it will bear the responsibility."

The Israeli defence ministry body responsible for implementing government policies in the Palestinian territories, COGAT, accused Baz on Monday of taking "construction materials intended for civil reconstruction".

"This is a clear example of how Hamas continues to abuse and harm Gaza's civil population to advance their own personal agenda," it charged.

Robert Piper, the UN humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories, said they did not have the evidence Israel was referring to, but were seeking to resolve the issue.

The ban only affected private providers, he said, so Qatar, a major donor to Gazan reconstruction, and the United Nations were still able to bring in cement.

"We're hoping that this will be kept to a very short window," he told AFP. "It mustn't drag on because it will have an impact on the recovery process."

Over 1.2 million tons of construction materials have entered Gaza since the reconstruction mechanism was set up in 2014.

According to an Israeli official, 80 truckloads of cement enter Gaza weekly, each one carrying 40 tonnes.

Israel has imposed a blockade on Gaza since 2006. Israel has launched three military offensives on Gaza since 2008.

In recent months, Hamas has been accused of rebuilding tunnels destroyed in 2014 that could be used to attack Israel. Hamas officials say any such tunnels would be defensive in nature.

The strip of 1.8 million people has one of the world's highest unemployment rates and poverty is widespread.

*This story was edited by Ahram Online.

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The UN Libya envoy travelled to Tripoli and met the new prime minister designate Tuesday, in the latest sign an internationally backed unity government is asserting its authority over the capital.

Martin Kobler flew into Tripoli for his first visit since Fayez al-Sarraj arrived with members of his cabinet in the capital last week.

The UN envoy had been prevented from travelling to the capital last month by authorities in charge of the city, who have so far refused to cede power.

The new government's arrival has raised hopes it will be able to restore some stability in Libya, which has been plagued by chaos since Moamer Kadhafi's 2011 overthrow.

Kobler said on Twitter he had a "great meeting" with Sarraj and members of the unity government and that he was "moved by their courage and determination" in trying to set up in Tripoli.

He later told AFP that he also met municipal officials, adding: "We want to show that the UN and the international community support Prime Minister Sarraj and members of the presidency council."

Kobler said the UN was ready to provide "all the support needed" towards an "immediate and peaceful handover of power", and urged Libya's internationally recognised parliament to endorse the unity government.

The German diplomat, appointed last year to spearhead international efforts to resolve the Libya conflict, posted photographs of himself descending from a UN turboprop plane and then meeting with officials including Sarraj.

He was later seen walking in the streets of Tripoli's Old City, chatting with patrons in cafes and stopping for people to take selfies with him, an AFP photographer said.

Libya has had rival administrations since the Libya Dawn militia-backed alliance seized control of Tripoli in mid-2014, forcing the internationally recognised government to flee to the country's far east.

The unity government has been formed under a power-sharing deal agreed by some lawmakers in December.

Sarraj arrived by sea last Wednesday after the Tripoli authorities closed airspace to keep him out, and has since been operating out of a naval base.

The new administration has been broadening its support, winning the backing of the Libyan Investment Authority, the National Oil Corporation and the Central Bank.

Ten coastal cities that were under the control of the Tripoli authorities have also backed the new government.

Mattia Toaldo, a policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said Kobler's visit was a clear signal that the Government of National Accord (GNA) was putting down roots in the capital.

"Kobler's visit to Tripoli, after the many times he was refused landing and access... shows the degree of control of Tripoli by the GNA," Toaldo said.

An adviser to Kobler said the UN envoy discussed with Sarraj "ways to support the action" of the unity government.

Western governments are deeply concerned that Libya's disarray has allowed the jihadist Islamic State group (IS) to gain an important foothold in the country, but have said a foreign intervention can only take place at the request of a unity government.

Most foreign representations have long since left the capital but Tunisia on Monday said it was reopening diplomatic missions in Tripoli following the new government's arrival.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault praised Tunisia's decision on Tuesday and expressed hope for an eventual return of other embassies.

"The question of the return of our embassies is obviously a relevant one," he told reporters in Paris after talks with German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

"We hope that this situation consolidates itself. If the Libyan government asks us to help it ensure its security, we are available."

Kobler said the people he met on the streets of the Old City "specifically demanded the return of the embassies and the United Nations to Tripoli".

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The authorities in Libya's capital announced Tuesday they were ceding power to a UN-backed unity government in an attempt to prevent further bloodshed.

"We inform you that we are ceasing the activities entrusted to us as a legislative power," said the statement issued almost a week after prime minister-designate Fayez al-Sarraj arrived in Tripoli to assert the unity government's authority.

The statement, bearing the logo of the so-called National Salvation Government headed by Khalifa Ghweil, said the Tripoli prime minister, his deputy premiers and cabinet ministers were all stepping aside.

It said the Tripoli authorities took the decision to quit because they were determined to "preserve the higher interests of the country and prevent bloodshed and divisions" in the North African country.

The statement, received by AFP and published on the website of the justice ministry of the unrecognised Tripoli authorities, said that the Ghweil administration was "no longer responsible... for what could happen in the future".

Libya has had two rival administrations since mid-2014 when a militia alliance overran the capital, setting up its own authority and forcing the internationally recognised parliament to flee to the country's remote east.

Sarraj, a businessman from Tripoli, and his unity government have not yet received the endorsement of the government backed by the internationally recognised parliament in the east.

The country has been in turmoil since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi, with rival forces battling for its cities and oil wealth.

Sarraj, who was named prime minister-designate in December under a UN-brokered power-sharing deal, arrived at a naval base in Tripoli by sea Wednesday following growing international calls for Libya's rival political camps to unite behind his administration.

Since then he has received numerous pledges of allegiance, including from the National Oil Corporation and the Central Bank, backbones of the country's oil wealth and both based in Tripoli.

Hours after Sarraj arrived in the capital, the Tripoli authorities had demanded he leave or "hand himself in", branding the unity government "illegal".

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Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday announced the creation of powerful new National Guard security force, a move analysts said could be aimed at warding off unrest over the country's economic crisis.

Putin said in a televised meeting with Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev and other security officials that the force would merge the country's interior ministry troops with riot police and swat teams.

The Kremlin said that the National Guard will answer directly to Putin and tackle terrorism and organised crime, but did not specify how many troops would be included in the new structure.

The force will be led by interior ministry troop boss Viktor Zolotov, who previously headed Putin's own security detachment.

Analysts say the move comes as the Kremlin strives to bolster its security apparatus ahead of parliamentary elections in September in the face of a crippling economic crisis authorities fear could stir unrest.

"The economic crisis is continuing and could give rise to a social crisis," said Konstantin Kalachev, head of the Moscow-based Political Expert Group think tank.

"This means that security forces need to be reinforced and prepare for the worse."

Regional security expert Mark Galeotti called the restructuring "a big deal" and asked "what does it say when you need your own personal army?".

"There is no real reason for creating the (National Guard) out of the Interior Troops and other forces unless you have a serious worry about public unrest," Galeotti, a professor at New York University, wrote in a blog posting.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied that the new force was being created with an eye to quelling any potential anti-government protests but admitted that its remit did include stopping unsanctioned demonstrations.

Putin warned in February that security forces should remain vigilant as "foreign enemies" were seeking to disrupt Russia's upcoming parliamentary elections.

Russian leaders have consistently voiced fears of a Western conspiracy to oust Putin through anti-government protests.

Ex-Soviet Ukraine -- locked in a bitter feud with Moscow over the seizure of the Crimean peninsula from Kiev in 2014 and the fuelling of a separatist uprising in the east of the country -- created a national guard to bolster its defence forces days before Russia took control of Crimea.

Putin also announced Tuesday that Russia's federal migration service and its drug control service will be folded into the interior ministry.

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Argentine President Mauricio Macri's opponents attacked him Tuesday over his involvement in two offshore companies after his name appeared in the so-called Panama Papers leaks.

A lawmaker from the Left Front party introduced a bill in the lower house of Congress calling on Macri to report on "his past and present contractual and financial relationship" with companies registered in the Bahamas and Panama.

The move came after lawmakers allied with the conservative president's predecessor and opponent, Cristina Kirchner, called for a congressional investigative commission to probe any irregularities in Macri's finances.

Macri, who vowed to fight corruption during his presidential campaign last year, said Monday there was "nothing strange" about his offshore financial dealings.

His chief of staff sought to fortify that line of defense Tuesday, telling a press conference that the administration was "extremely calm, because there's nothing to hide."

The information about Macri's offshore interests emerged in the leak of millions of documents from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, which has put a host of world leaders and celebrities in the hot seat over their secret financial dealings.

Argentine newspaper La Nacion, one of the more than 100 media organizations wading through the leaks, reported that Macri, his business magnate father and his brother Mariano were on the board of directors of Fleg Trading, an offshore company registered in the Bahamas.

Subsequent press reports said Macri was also listed as president of a second offshore firm, Kagemusha SA, set up in Panama in 1981.

Macri did not list either company in his financial declarations when he became Buenos Aires mayor in 2007 or president last year.

Chief of staff Marcos Pena said neither company had any capital, cash flow or shares.

"It's the same (in both cases), a company that belonged to his father, which was set up for some reason but which afterward never carried out activities, and where family members were named as directors because of issues of trust," he said.

Macri has unleashed a flurry of market-friendly reforms since taking office, seeking to undo 12 years of left-leaning, protectionist economic policy under his predecessors, which he blames for the slowdown of Latin America's third-biggest economy.

But in a deeply divided country, the former executive faces accusations of being too friendly to big business.

"The president isn't a businessman anymore, but he still has the attitude of a businessman who thinks he has the right to everything," opposition lawmaker Felipe Sola said in a radio interview on the Panama Papers controversy.

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An effort to prosecute five men held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for the Sept. 11 terrorist attack has hit another snag.

A two-week pretrial hearing scheduled to start Tuesday was abruptly canceled late last week by the military judge presiding over the case after he received a confidential notice from Justice Department lawyers.

The document is sealed, its contents not even disclosed to prosecutors or the defense. But there are indications the filing has raised issues that will result in further delays in a case that has been mired in the pretrial stage for years.

"I suspect we are back in this limbo stage and it will take some time to get out," said Jim Harrington, a lawyer for Ramzi Binalshibh, one of the five men facing a tribunal known as a military commission for his alleged role in the Sept. 11, 2001, hijacking plot.

From what little information can be gleaned from the judge's brief cancellation order, the new issue appears to be at least tangentially related to an FBI investigation of a possible security breach involving members of the Binalshibh defense team. The investigation was closed without criminal charges and the judge, Army Col. James Pohl, ultimately decided that it did not create a conflict of interest that required Harrington to step down.

Pohl had directed a special review team of Justice Department lawyers to look into the FBI investigation and any potential conflict. He also told them to notify him of any new investigations. That may have happened Friday, when the judge received the notice that prompted him to cancel the session.

"My best guess, and this is purely speculation, is that there is some new investigation that the special review team is advising the commission of," said James Connell, a lawyer for defendant Ammar al-Baluchi.

A Justice Department spokesman declined comment Tuesday.

The revelation of the FBI investigation in April 2014 stalled proceedings in the case for 18 months. Though the judge ruled there was no conflict, Harrington said he is still receiving court-ordered information into what he called a "gross violation of the attorney-client privilege" and there may be future revelations that the judge will have to address.

The five defendants, including self-proclaimed mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, face charges that include terrorism and nearly 3,000 counts of murder. They could get the death penalty if convicted.

All five men were held in secret CIA prisons for interrogation before they were brought to Guantanamo in September 2006 for military prosecution. The case has been dogged ever since by legal and political issues as well as the logistics of trying a case at the isolated base in southeastern Cuba. They were arraigned for a second time in May 2012 and more than a dozen pretrial hearings have been held since.

The chief prosecutor, Army Brig. Gen. Mark Martins, is legally barred from any involvement with the work of the special review team and did not predict when the proceedings would resume in a statement on the cancellation of the hearing. He said prosecutors are still working seven days a week to compile classified evidence for the defense by a Sept. 30 deadline.

"We pledge to the families of the 9/11 fallen that the United States will not rest until justice is fully achieved," Martins said.

The next hearing is to start May 30 but the judge said in his order that "further adjusting the schedule" may be necessary.

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The sons of Egypts ousted president Hosni Mubarak may be summoned before the countrys Illicit Gains Authority for questioning over the recently leaked 'Panama Papers' for allegedly offshoring money, an anonymous Egyptian judicial source told Ahram Online on Monday.

On Sunday, the US-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) launched its Panama Papers project; a global investigation into the sprawling, secretive industry of offshore that the worlds rich and powerful use to hide assets and skirt rules by setting up front companies in far-flung jurisdictions, according to ICIJ website.



ICIJ said that its investigations revealed the names of 140 politicians and their relatives and associates in a cache of 11.5 million leaked files from Panama's Mossack Fonseca, one of the biggest offshore service providers.

Mubaraks eldest son Alaa was revealed to be involved in dealing with Mossack Fonseca through his British Virgin Islands firm Pan World Investments Inc., which is managed by Credit Suisse.

"Our firm has never been accused or charged in connection with criminal wrongdoing," a Mossack Fonseca public relations officer told ICIJ.

ICIJ clarified that persons, companies or other entities included in its investigation have not necessarily broken the law or otherwise acted improperly, as there are legitimate uses for offshore companies, foundations and trusts.

Alaa and Gamal were released from prison in January 2015 after serving the maximum pre-trial detention period of 18 months.

Their release decision overturned a lower court conviction that saw the pair given four-year jail sentences and a three-year sentence for the elder Mubarak.

They were charged with embezzling public funds earmarked for the renovation of presidential palaces and using the money to spruce up private properties.

A Cairo court dropped other graft charges against the two sons in late 2014.

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Egypt's Ministry of International Cooperation will finalise a $500 million funding agreement with the World Bank to finance developmental projects in Upper Egypt and create more jobs for locals, the ministry said in a press release on Monday.

On Sunday Minister of International Cooperation Sahar Nasr chaired a meeting held with the World Bank's Egypt country director Asad Alam to complete the final arrangements for the implementation of the Upper Egypt development programme.

Last year, Egypt and the bank signed a $1 billion development policy finance operation for Egypt to support the governments economic reforms programme across key economic areas.

The loan, which is awaiting parliamentary approval, is the first in a series of three annual development finance loans to the Arab nation.

The current portfolio of the World Bank in Egypt includes 28 projects with a total commitment of US$6.47 billion, according to the bank.



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Egypt will sign the final version of four funding accords with Saudi Arabia worth roughly $22 billion, to come into effect as of Friday, during King Salman's first official visit to Cairo, official sources said on Tuesday.

The Saudi King Salman, who took power in January 2015, visited Egypt in March 2015 for the Arab League summit in Egypt's southern Sinai city of Sharm El-Sheikh.

Of the four accords, the North African nation is expected to finalise two framework agreements of soft loans signed in March, with the first worth around $20 billion to finance its five-year petroleum needs from the oil-rich kingdom, and the second worth $1.5 billion for 12 development projects in Sinai, the sources told Ahram Online on condition of anonymity.

The government will also sign an agreement of a concessional loan worth 450 million Saudi riyals (around $120 million), which was approved by the Saudi Development Fund (SDF) in January to renovate Cairo's historical Kasr El-Aini hospital.

Another $100 million loan, approved by the SDF in November 2015 to finance the expansion of the West Cairo power station to generate an additional 650 megawatts, is also among the deals to be completed, sources said.

Other memorandums of understandings for new projects are scheduled to be signed with the Saudi side during the kings visit, said one of the sources.

Saudi Arabia has supported Cairo with billions of dollars in aid, grants, oil products and cash deposits to help buoy the country's economy following the toppling of president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013.

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Heritage and Modernity opens on 11 April with a qanoun performance by Saber Abdelsattar

The European Egyptian Contemporary Music Society is organising a forum titled Heritage and Modernity, set to take place between 11 and 14 April.

The forum is a gathering of more than 30 professional and young contemporary music composers from around the world, who will meet in Cairo for an exchange of discussions, as well as a programme of workshops, lectures and concerts.

According to the society's website, the forum will discuss the relationship between different musical traditions and European Modernism and will shed light on the significance of the cultural heritage from an artistic and a socio-political viewpoint.

Roundtables and seminars will be open for the participation of guests and audience members to present their own advances in their respective fields.

Highlights of the seminars will include the exchange with composers Oscar Bianchi and Zaid Jabri.

The programme will also include three concerts:

On 12 April Caprice 1 will be performed by Oscar Bianchi, Zaid Jabri, and Wilbert Bulsink.

On 13 April The World of Yi Ji-young will feature Yi playing the gayageum, a traditional Korean 12-string instrument, and Kim Woong-sik on the Jang-gu, a traditional Korean slim waist drum.

On 14 April Taraban will feature music by Hassan Khan.

The society has partnered with the American University in Cairos art department, the events and concerts will be taking place at the AUCs downtown campus in Ewart hall, and the new Cairo campuss Malak Gabr theatre, with the exception of Caprice concert at Manesterly palace and a Tanoura performance in El-Ghoury complex.

For more details about the programme, see the schedule below.





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The fourth annual India by the Nile festival will take place between 23 April and 7 May, with a dynamic programme that includes six cities

The annual India by the Nile festival is back this month for the fourth year in a row, bringing contemporary and classical Indian arts, wellbeing techniques, food and other insights into Indian culture to an Egyptian audience.

The festival will take place from 23 April to 7 May, and India's ambassador to Egypt, Sanjay Bhattacharya, has said that this year's edition will see new activities and locations.

"We would like the success of the cultural activities to spill over to other aspects of life as well, the ambassador said at a press conference last week, adding that the festival will include events in Cairo, Alexandria, Ismailiya, Port Said, Sharm El-Sheikh and Beni Suef.

The ambassador invited all Egyptians, from students to businessmen, to share the excitement.

The festival is organised by the Indian embassy and the Maulana Azad Centre for Indian Culture (MACIC) in Cairo, in partnership with Egypt's Ministry of Culture, the Cairo Opera House, Bibliotheca Alexandrina and Teamwork Arts company, with the support of a number of sponsors.

This year, the festival will offer a large array of events, starting with Women of Substance, an event which will take place on 23 April at Cairos India House.

Aiming to acknowledge the role of women in the society, the event will feature ten prominent Egyptian women who will share their success stories and achievements.

Throughout the festival, a photography exhibition by Harun Kumar titled Colours of Life will be a visual starting point for discussion about environmental and social issues, such as street children and underprivileged children.

Its launch in Cairo will be followed by a seminar on NGO engagement, designed to exchange social and community practices.

Undeniably, for the majority of audiences and followers of India by the Nile, music and dance performances presenting Indias rich culture are the most anticipated events.

There is no need to underline Bollywood's strong positioning in Egypt. A large segment of the Egyptian population follows Bollywood soap operas and films on the television channels, and they can never get enough of the colours and emotions.

Bollywood devotees still remember a visit by Indian megastar Amitabh Bachchan to Cairo during last year's festival.

Although this year no stars are expected, a performance titled Love Story, directed by Sanjoy Roy, will bring Bollywood's essence with performances scheduled to take place at the Cairo Opera House (26-29 April), Sharm El-Sheikhs Soho Square (1 May) and Alexandrias Sayed Darwish theatre (3-4 May).

And as per the festivals regular practice, the choreographer and artistic director of Love Story, India-based French dancer Gilles Chuyen, will conduct the Bollywood dance workshops at Midan Theatre which is located in front of the Hanager Arts Centre in the grounds of Cairo Opera House.

On a more classical note, Dona Ganguly and her 13-strong dance group will bring from the Indian state of Odisha the graceful lines, symbolic gestures and spectacular costumes of the traditional Odissi dance.

 We want to show there is something beyond Bollywood in Indian culture, the ambassador said during the press conference.

There are eight types of classical dance in India, and Odissi is one of them, representing the way Indians used to dance two millennia ago.

In fact, Odissi dance closed the first edition of India by the Nile, back in 2013, when Nrityagram Dance Village performed this captivating art in Cairo and Alexandria. The following years hosted other classical dance forms such as Kathak.

Communicating with Egyptian young people is one of the key points of the festival, so the renowned band Indian Ocean will be addressing the tastes of the young with their fusion rock performance.

The Indian band will perform in four different Egyptian cities: at Gomhoria Theatre on 25 April and at Ain Shams University on 27 April, both in Cairo; in Ismailiya on 28 April, and at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina on 30 April.

Successfully mixing classical Indian raga music with contemporary music mainstream trends since 1990, Indian Ocean made their way through Bollywood and beyond towards independence from the movie industry, reaching the status of the highest-selling Indian band ever.

To experience the Indian culture from within, the Food Fiesta will be open at the Four Seasons in Cairo. Acclaimed chef Vikram Udaygiri will be presenting an Indian cuisine buffet based on traditional recipes embellished with novelties such as molecular gastronomy.

The fiesta will take place from 24-30 April.

With all kinds of yoga gaining popularity in Egypt, an extensive schedule of wellbeing events is planned in the framework of India by the Nile this year. These include a variety of activities, ranging from a seminar on alternative medicine at MACIC centre in Zamalek, to an open air yoga event at Al-Azhar Park on 30 April, which marks World Health and Meditation Day.

Other wellbeing events will be held on 29 April at the Childrens Civilization and Creativity Centre in Heliopolis, and on 1 May at the Bibliotheca Alexandria.

Indian experts will also participate in the World Healing and Meditation Day at the Al-Azhar Park event on 30 April, while a seminar on alternative medicines will be held on 28 April at MACIC in Cairo.

A new addition to this years festival is a business seminar that will be held on 27 April, with the attendance of the representatives and experts of the business community of both countries.

They will meet at the Indian embassy in order to explore the opportunities for investment and collaboration under the umbrella of the ongoing Make in India campaign.

Except for the Bollywood extravaganza performance, most of the festival activities will be free of cost, or with admission by online registration.

Opportunities to experience Indian culture in Egypt do not come to a halt once the festival is over. Among the other upcoming events featuring Indian art is the International Festival for Drums and Traditional Arts, scheduled to take place in May, during which a percussion group from South India will give yet another flavour of their home country.

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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Anja Ahcin and Ahmed Yehia will take part in the gala evening of the Interdanza project that brings international ballet dancers to Italy's port city Livorno

Anja Ahcin and Ahmed Yehia, first dancers of the Cairo Opera Ballet Company, will perform during the 4th edition of Interdanza, an annual event organised by Italy's Arts4all Intercultural Association in Livorno, which runs throughout April and until 4 May.

Ahcin and Yehia will dance in leading roles in Coppelia, a ballet to music by L. Delibes and choreographed by Valentin Bartes.

Coppelia is part of the series of events planned for this year's Interdanza, a project which, according to its website, aims "to primarily promote the practice and knowledge of dance and its related arts (music, literature , visual and expressive arts) and culture at large, involving dance students of different nationalities led by well-known teachers and supported by international professional dancers."

The final gala concert will be held at Teatro Goldoni of Livorno as part of the celebration of International Dance Week.

Coppelia, performed by the professional dancers and joined by the students will be performed in the second half of the evening, culminating the dance weeks.

The first half will include a series of performances staged by the various participating schools and choreography obtained as a result of work performed during the choreographic modern and contemporary laboratory.

In Coppelia, the Egyptian Yehia, in the role of Franz, and Egypt-based Serbian ballerina Anja Ahcin, in the role of his fiancee Swanhilda, will be accompanied by Romanian choreographer Valentin Bartes dancing Coppelius.

It is worth noting that Coppelia, which included Yehia, Ahcin and Bartes, was staged at the Cairo Opera House in October 2015 and was one of the most remarkable recent productions by the Egyptian company.

Yehia and Ahcin are probably the best-known ballet pair in Egypt. Both first dancers of the Cairo Opera Ballet Company, managed by artistic director Erminia Kamel, they have created many of iconic duets together.

Their skills took them onto international stages, most recently performing a segment of the Romeo and Juliet ballet during the closing gala of the International Ballet and Contemporary Dance Competition Domenico Modugno in Bari, Italy last March.

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The Socialist government is desperate to push through reforms to France's controversial labour laws, billed as a last-gasp attempt to boost the flailing economy before next year's presidential election.

For the latest news, features, arts and culture from Al-Ahram's English language website, click here.
Dialogue and open discussion is the only way to resolve the dilemma of finding balance between human rights and security. And this is the responsibility of the government, parliament as well as human rights organisations

In the lives of nations, there are many dual concepts that arise in public debate and stir much controversy whereby the relationship between them is a zero-sum game. If one issue supersedes, then the other is obliterated.

One such pairing we face today is the dilemma between security and human rights. The former relates to combating terrorism, which is likely to take some time until we ascertain that the country is safe from the threat of extremism.

The latter pertains to human rights in its broader and multi-dimensional sense that starts with the right to life and ends with the highest levels of human dignity and its implications of full freedom in all aspects, whether speech, expression, mobility, organisation and communication with others across borders without disruption or restriction.

It is more of a theoretically ideal condition rather than a realistic one. No matter what they say about societies and countries living this condition, there are restrictions and rules  at least for the sake of regulation  for everyone under normal circumstances.

In extraordinary circumstances, such as wars, existential threats to society and state, and terrorism, it is natural to be resolute in applying these regulatory restrictions. Sometimes the level and frequency is higher when there is a higher goal that must be achieved first: the right to life and the necessary security for this.

We watched and followed events in France, the uncontested hub of freedoms. After it was struck by several terrorist threats since the end of 2014, emergency laws were enforced for a limited time. The constitution was also amended to include clauses allowing emergency laws to combat terrorism, since protecting the existence of individuals and institutions is the highest goal of letting freedom reign, but this could give terrorists an opportunity to threaten the public domain.

It also took strict measures in granting visas for travel, even for Schengen countries. These amendments were not viewed as contradicting Frances heritage of freedom, but were interpreted as a means to protect the French way of life against threats, sabotage and terrorism.

In Egypt, the situation is harsher than in France or any European country where terrorist cells were discovered plotting attacks, and they closed ranks to exchange information and coordinate to stamp out his growing threat. We have been in a real war for more than two years and it remains an open battle despite all successes. Anyone who denies this is beyond ignorant or pretending to be blind.

Thus, the claim in the official letter sent a few weeks ago by human rights groups to the UN that some government agencies are using the war on terrorism as a pretext to impose more restrictions on human rights in Egypt is unfair by all measures. Meanwhile, claims that human rights in Egypt are ideal are also incorrect. What is more appropriate is to say that human rights protections in Egypt are struggling but not hopeless, and that overcoming obstacles requires close understanding and awareness of all conditions in Egypt today. Especially during extraordinary times such as fighting terrorism.

This requires discussion and research on how to end these difficulties while remaining Egyptian in character and concept, and avoiding animosity and foreign pressure, whether from the US or international organisations, such as UN bodies or so-called international NGOs.

This basically means that trying to impose a human rights reality based on the perception that it would be easier if foreign pressure escalates is an absolute delusion.

It is certain that dialogue between government agencies and human rights groups will not be easy, especially due to lack of trust between the two sides and suspicion about the actions of some activists because of lack of transparency. Also, foreign interference that public opinion viewed as unacceptable attempts at guardianship. Nonetheless, there is no alternative to safeguarding everyone except through dialogue and open discussion. This is a joint responsibility of the government, parliament and human rights organisations. A clear example here is a new law that is more meticulous and accepting of NGOs.

It is logical for government and parliament to propose draft legislation that is subjected to public investigation and discussion in order to arrive at a comprehensive legislative construct that meets the interests of the country, organisations, individuals and freedoms at the same time.

It is natural and expected that some human rights and development organisations would also present a draft law or amendments of draft laws presented by the government or some MPs.

It is certain that the law that will be passed in the end would be an expression of a delicate balance between these stakeholders and will not be an absolute victory for one camp at the expense of the other. This is a natural outcome of any democratic approach.

One of the problems of mistrust between officials and some sectors in society, on the one hand, and some human rights organisations on the other, pertains to funding  especially foreign funds. As long as this matter is not transparent and public in every aspect of activities and foreign funding, according to the law, there will not be any support from the Egyptian public.

The foreign relations of a group or figure may succeed in obtaining a strong official reaction from a country or international organisation, but this will never serve the interests of the local organisation or its leaders among Egyptians. On the contrary, amid all the activities sponsored by human rights groups to apply the global concepts of human rights in the Egyptian environment, the general outlook of simple Egyptians is that this is an elitist issue and not a priority for those seeking to put food on the table every day. Also, the issue is tainted with suspicion of unacceptable foreign intervention.

National dialogue is the remedy and only path, with no other alternatives. No matter what is said, international human rights standards are obligations of governments and cannot be abandoned. Applying them in Egypt, like in any other country, requires a domestic environment created by citizens through consent and sacrifice, and not to appease an angry statement or document that the majority knows nothing about.

The writer is a political analyst.

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(Beijing)  The Chinese government wants to revive debt-for-equity swaps and disperse trillions of yuan in toxic loans before they choke the nation's banks.

A yet-to-be-finalized swaps program outlined March 25 by top officials in Beijing could mirror a successful 1999-2004 project through which banks took stakes in 580 companies in exchange for canceling 405 billion yuan worth of overdue loans.

Premier Li Keqiang recently told the National People's Congress that a new round of swaps could cut company leverage ratios and mitigate financial system risks. He reiterated the government's interest in debt-for-equity swaps March 24 at the annual Boao Forum for Asia conference of government and business leaders in Hainan.

But a lot has changed since 2004.

The nation's banks, for example, are juggling far more bad debt than they used to. Banks had an estimated 2 trillion yuan worth of non-performing loans on their books at the end of February, rising 35 percent in value from the same period 2015, Caixin learned from sources close to the China Banking Regulatory Commission. The value of all overdue loans owed by the nation's non-financial companies alone equaled more than 160 percent of the nation's gross domestic product as of May 2015, according to Yu Yongding, research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Since 2004, banks with no other options have been packaging bad loans and selling them at a discount to the government's four asset management firms (AMCs), which in turn find investors willing to assume the debt. But as bad loans have surged in recent years, AMCs have been increasingly reluctant to accept bad debt.

Major state companies face enormous challenges, too, from rising wages to shrinking markets. Volatility over the past year has shaken investor confidence in China's equity markets. And the nation's economy is no longer expanding at the double-digit rates pace common a decade ago.

Against the backdrop of this new business environment, the latest effort to resurrect swaps has received mix reactions.

While Li and other government officials have given the plan their full support, and one bank executive told Caixin he thinks "debt-equity swaps will help banks" overall, other bankers and economists say they're approaching the plan with caution.

For example, an executive at a state-owned bank who declined to be named told Caixin the nation's financial sector would face new risks if, as proposed, the program loosens investment requirements for banks that accept equity in exchange for forgiving debt.

So far, most of the nation's bankers have been lukewarm about participating in debt-equity swaps, according to several bankers interviewed by Caixin. Chief among their concerns is how swaps might or might not affect asset value.

The chairman of a joint-stock commercial bank, who asked not to be identified, said "banks are not willing to swap debt for equity" for fear of increasing bad asset levels in the future. And a lawyer who works in the financial industry and asked to remain anonymous said banks with large equity holdings could face liquidity risks.

Shen Minggao, managing director of the Caixin think tank China Insight Group, argued that "debt-equity swaps can push forward economic restructuring but, if not properly implemented, may also increase volatility levels in the economy."

That volatility, Shen noted, would stem from the fact that "problematic companies would be bound to banks."

Narrow Focus

Sources told Caixin that the government's March 25 meeting laid a foundation for the new program, although as of early April many details had yet to be finalized. Attending were officials from the State Council, Ministry of Finance, People's Bank of China, China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC), and other agencies.

In mid-March, CBRC Chairman Shang Fulin said technical details would have to be ironed out before a new swaps program would be finalized. One possible hurdle involves a rule that currently bars banks from holding stakes in non-financial companies. Yet this hurdle might be overcome through a clause that says that under "special arrangements" the ban may be waived.

Some heavily indebted companies have already announced plans to negotiate swaps with creditors. These include private shipbuilder Rongsheng Heavy Industries Group Holdings, industrial machine manufacturer China Erzhong Group (Deyang) Heavy Industries Co., and the state-run steel trader Sinosteel Corp.

An executive at China Development Bank (CDB), a government policy bank, said the first batch of debt-equity swaps would be worth around 1 trillion yuan. The executive also said it should take about three years to complete all of the deals between debtors and creditors. More batches would follow.

CDB is among the banks expected to participate in the first round, sources told Caixin. Others include Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Minsheng Bank, the Export-Import Bank of China, and China Merchants Bank.

A source close to CBRC said the government would only let a handful of big banks participate in the program. Small banks would be barred out of concern they might accumulate volatile equities which, due to fluctuating values, could put them in financial danger.

On the debtor side, the source said, the program is expected to focus on state-owned companies with viable markets and in business sectors where excess capacity is not a problem. So-called "zombie" companies with few business operations and clients would be excluded, too. The government wants the program to follow a market path without any need for taxpayer-funded bailouts.

On March 8, Rongsheng announced a plan to exchange debt for up to 17 billion company shares. The shares would be distributed to 22 banks and 1,000 other creditors.

According to the plan, Caixin learned from sources close to Rongsheng, the largest shareholders would be Minsheng Bank, Bank of China and the Export-Import Bank of China, with stakes of 13.9 percent, 10.8 percent and 10.3 percent, respectively, in the troubled shipbuilder.

Sinosteel, which owes some 75 billion yuan to more than 80 banks, has submitted a swap plan to central government departments for review, sources told Caixin. The trader has proposed converting some bank debt into company stakes that would be distributed among the subsidiaries of affected banks.

Accepting Responsibility

An often-mentioned objection to the country's previous debt-equity swaps project was that, while it brought relief to companies and banks, it meant that "the state eventually had to foot the bill," said Wang Xuedong, chairman of the financial firm CDB Leasing Co. in Beijing. "It was actually money from taxpayers" that made the program work, he said.

Some experts are now arguing against a new swaps program on grounds that it would simply shift responsibility for handling non-performing loans to banks from companies. They also fear weak oversight and vague rules might make it possible for China's weakest state companies to participate.

Although indebted zombies are not supposed to participate, for example, one bank executive said the government has not offered a clear definition of "zombie" to help bankers identify these companies. As a result, he said, banks in many cases will have to decide for themselves whether or not to accept equity in exchange for debt from a languishing state company.

Debt-equity swaps are supposed to help guarantee that a company "has value or potential value," the bank executive said, "and that their problems are only temporary."

Some experts say Sinosteel is already a zombie because it's been behind on payments and losing money for years. But others argue that a swap project may help with a turnaround at Sinosteel, and that the company could rebound after shedding non-performing assets.

Bankers who worry about getting stuck with worthless equity may be less fearful if the government makes capital reserve requirements less stringent, according to a source close to the government who said that's exactly what's now on the policymakers' table for consideration. Reserve rules might be relaxed, the source said, to encourage banks to participate in the swaps program.

The government also may give banks permission to set up their own AMCs through bank affiliates. These new AMCs would work alongside existing, government-run counterparts to manage equity after it's exchanged for debt.

Shen said banks are rightfully concerned about how debt and equity will be priced through a swaps program. China's ongoing, economic slowdown has intensified this concern.

"Only an economic rebound over the next few years (in China) will make the debt-equity swaps successful, as that would give banks a way to exit," said Shen. "If the economy remains sluggish, there will be a possibility of a systemic crisis in the banking sector."

During the 1999-2004 swaps period, several analysts said, rising property values nationwide helped banks raise their overall asset values despite the burdens of equity in weak companies. A Shenzhen-based Essence Securities report said past debt-equity swaps essentially gave banks more time to recoup from bad loans.

Today, though, the nation's property market is much weaker, and banks face a variety of new challenges.

"Banks can't be immune from the overall economic slowdown, since they will lose when a company fails," said a Bank of China source. "They must find balance and overcome the crisis."

But the government can help by tweaking its rules to help banks manage bad debt, said Bu Xiangrui, chief consultant of China Banking Association. "Banks should be given more authority and power to deal with non-performing assets," he said.

Bu said CBRC, banking industry associations and courts should cooperate to force debtors to face their respective responsibilities. They should also improve credit rating services so that banks and other financial institutions are in a better position to make sound lending decisions in the first place, he said.

(Rewritten by Han Wei)
Greece and the European Union began deporting migrants Monday from the islands of Lesbos and Chios, sending them to Turkey under terms of a controversial March deal between the EU and Ankara.

Despite predictions of violence, the departure of the first ferry from Lesbos early Monday happened without incident as a small number of protesters gathered at the port to condemn the deal.

Officials began moving busloads of people from the camp at Moria in the predawn hours and taking them to the port at the islands main city, Mytilini, where they boarded a Turkish ferry for the short trip to Turkey.

A Greek government official told VOA that 202 people were deported aboard three ferries Monday. Two ferries left from Lesbos carrying 136 migrants, while a third ferry took 66 migrants from Chios. The official said none of those deported had applied for asylum. He said "almost all" of those sent back to Turkey on the first day of deportations were Pakistani, while two were Syrians who chose to go to Turkey for personal and family reasons.

As part of a swap with Turkey, the EU has pledged to rehouse one Syrian in the bloc for every one deported from Greece, with numbers capped at 72,000.

Forty-three Syrian asylum seekers were flown to Europe on Monday under that part of the deal. Thirty-two of them arrived in the northern German city of Hanover.

Eleven other refugees arrived in Finland, with more expected Tuesday in the Netherlands.

Reporters were not allowed close access to the departure, which took place under the cover of darkness, with officials declining to make public the times of departures or any other details before they happened.

The deal aims to break up the lucrative people smuggling operations that operate out of Turkey.

Turkey is readying itself for the return of hundreds of migrants under the agreement with the European Union.

In the early hours of Monday, VOA observed a number of buses entering Moria camp, the main detention center in Lesbos where Greek authorities, with the help of European Union border officials, are trying to ease overcrowding. The camp was built for 2,000 migrants but currently houses about 3,000.
North Korea on Monday called for talks with the U.S. a month after the UN Security Council enforced tougher sanctions against the North following its latest nuclear test.

A spokesman for the powerful National Defense Commission complained of "unilateral sanctions" but added "preparing steps for negotiations" is a more fundamental solution than military pressure.

The spokesman said "a war of aggression" against the North "to stifle it militarily created the worst crisis in which it may make a retaliatory nuclear strike at the U.S. mainland any moment."

The Choson Sinbo, a pro-Pyongyang mouthpiece in Japan, also urged Washington to negotiate with Pyongyang in order to "avoid the crisis of war and destruction."

The North added that it has grown used to sanctions and claimed the sanctions strengthened its self-reliance.

But there was a hint that the sanctions are biting. The commission likened them to the siege of Leningrad by Nazi Germany during World War II and added the "evil hand" of sanctions stretched deep into all corners of North Korea.

Pundits said the call for talks demonstrates the concrete impact the latest sanctions are having.

Singaporean media cited data that the North's exports dropped following the latest UN sanctions, which had a direct impact on its economy.

China has apparently enforced tougher border checks on imports of North Korean minerals and coal shipments.

"It's impossible for China to enforce crackdowns along the whole 1,400 km border with North Korea, but Beijing does appear to be applying increased pressure against the North in financial and other dealings," a source said.

At the nuclear security summit in Washington last week, Chinese President Xi Jinping promised President Park Geun-hye and U.S. President Barack Obama "sweeping" sanctions against North Korea.

Pyongyang's latest threats, experts say, appear to be a last-ditch effort to intimidate the international community in order to create divisions between them ahead of a massive Workers Party congress in May.

A senior government official here said, "At a time when China is mentioning the need for both sanctions and negotiations, North Korea is attempting to foment divisions among the international community by raising the negotiating card."

But South Korea's Defense Ministry rejected North Korea's call for talks. "Now is the time to focus on implementing sanctions over North Korea's reckless behavior," said ministry spokesman Moon Sang-gyun.
The exports of small and mid-sized companies rose for the first time in eight months in February.

The Small and Medium Business Administration on Monday said SMEs' exports rose 0.6 percent on-year to US$14 billion. And the proportion of Korea's total exports by SMEs increased 4.9 percentage points to 38.4 percent.

In spite of an overall decline in Korean exports, shipments by SMEs fared well because they sold more ships, mobile device components and cosmetics.

Exports by small and mid-sized shipbuilders surged 129 percent on-year in February to $850 million after they delivered vessels ordered from Libya and Greece.

Cosmetics exports by smaller firms surged 33 percent over the same period to $160 million. They were especially strong to China (up 43 percent), Hong Kong (up 27 percent) and the U.S. (up 34 percent).
The U.S. Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights Issues met with senior South Korean diplomat Lim Sung-nam in Seoul on Monday.

Robert King and Lim discussed the dire human rights situation in North Korea after President Park Geun-hye and her U.S. counterpart Barack Obama agreed to strengthen efforts to improve them.

King and Lim discussed progress on a South Korean bill on North Korean human rights and measures by the UN Human Rights Council adopted last month, a government source here said.

King will stay in Seoul until Wednesday and meet with various government officials, civic groups, and North Korean defectors, the source added.

King told reporters Monday that the two governments are working together to protect the rights of North Korean overseas laborers and to prevent funds flowing into the nuclear and missile programs in North Korea.

Meanwhile, the UN Human Rights Office in Seoul, which opened last year to monitor the situation in North Korea, has embarked on a full-scale investigation of crimes against humanity in North Korea based on interviews with North Korean defectors.
That casts some doubt on the gaffe-prone military's readiness to defend the country against North Korean provocations.

The South Korean military is under fire for yet another blunder after reporting that North Korea test-fired only one new surface-to-air missile last Friday instead of three.

At around 1:30 p.m. on Friday, the military said the North fired just a single surface-to-air missile from Sondok, South Hamgyong Province into the East Sea about an hour earlier.

It added it was maintaining "a close readiness" posture in response.

But photos and footage published by the North on Saturday show that surface-to-air missiles were being fired from two mobile launch vehicles.

The military later admitted the North fired two more missiles but offered a somewhat baffling explanation.

"We said one missile because the North had fired only one missile by the time we made the announcement," a military spokesman said. "Usually we don't tell the public about many of the North's firings of surface-to-air missiles because they're defensive and thus don't pose a big threat to our country."
Disney characters first appear on Chinese zongzi gift packages

By:Jiang Wenran | From:english.eastday.com | 2016-03-30 11:24

China time-honored food brand Wu Fang Zhai yesterday reached cooperation with Walt Disney.



Classic characters in Marvel movies like Captain America will also appear on Chinese zongzi gift packages.



Mickey and Minnie Mouse this year will celebrate the traditional Chinese Dragon Boat Festival with you.



Shanghai, March 30- Can you imagine when Mickey and Minnie are rowing a dragon boat to celebrate the traditional Chinese Dragon Boat Festival?

China time-honored food brand Wu Fang Zhai yesterday reached cooperation with Walt Disney, and Disney and Marvel cartoon characters will first appear on the packing box of Chinese traditional food zongzi.

Vice president of Retail Sales and Marketing, the Walt Disney Company (China) Angela Wang interprets this cooperation to be the integration of international classics and Chinese traditions.

Foreign cartoon characters and Chinese traditional food zongzi are two things at first glance. However, chairman of Wu Fang Zhai Group Li Jianping thinks that the two has brand values in common, Disney creates happiness and we create delicacy all with our heart and soul.

The newly launched zongzi gift packages, through elaborate design, covers both Disney classical animation cartoon characters like Mickey, Minnie and Donald Duck and classic characters in Marvel movies such as Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Green Giant Hulk, etc.
The blueprint for the anti-Governor agitation was drawn up at the LDF meeting held in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday.
#COVID-19 New COVID-19 cases post sharp on-week rise amid resurgence woes South Korea's new COVID-19 cases stayed below 30,000 for the fifth consecutive day Sunday, but the daily count recorded a sharp hike from the previous week amid rising concerns ove...

#illegal gambling China-based online gambling ring busted; 20 arrested Law-enforcement authorities here said Sunday they have busted an online gambling ring based in China for illicit operations in South Korea, worth a total of 5.7 trillion won (US$3....
" " Conspiracy theorists may think the moon landing was an elaborate hoax by Stanley Kubrick, but this astronaut seems to be enjoying it. inhauscreative/Vetta/Getty Images

What is it about some movies that makes them urban legend magnets? According to conspiracy theorists, dozens of seemingly innocent Disney animated films contain subliminal adults-only messages. "The Wizard of Oz" has spawned countless myths, ranging from suicidal Munchkins to alternate Pink Floyd soundtracks. "The Shining" is another big one -- the 2013 documentary "Room 237" features at least nine conspiracy theories connected with Stanley Kubrick's classic 1980 horror film. Was it actually about the Holocaust? A study of American imperialism? Or -- as the most elaborate theory goes -- an apology for Kubrick's role in helping NASA fake the first moon landing?

The "fake moon landing" theory is so widespread there's even a mockumentary (2002's "Dark Side of the Moon") poking fun at it. The story goes like this: NASA, desperate to best the Soviet Union in the "space race," secretly hired Kubrick to film two fake moon landings in 1968. Kubrick spent almost a year and a half creating an elaborate series of phony movies in a studio in Huntsville, Alabama, during which time he also filmed "2001: A Space Odyssey." On July 16, 1969, the Saturn V rocket carrying Apollo 11 with Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins onboard launched from the Kennedy Space Center but actually went into a low orbit instead of speeding to the moon. NASA then released Kubrick's footage to the media, completing a hoax so massively successful that people believe it to this day. Kubrick was tormented by his role in the stunt but faced dire consequences for letting the cat out of the bag. To ease his conscience for deceiving the world, he decided to add secret messages in to "The Shining."

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The theory is Kubrick couldn't be explicit in this apology, so he had to keep things subliminal (a handmade Apollo 11 sweater is the only overt reference in the film to Kubrick's shame). Kubrick envisioned the two main characters (Jack and his young son Danny) as two sides of himself -- Jack as the practical one and Danny as the dreamer. The Overlook Hotel represents America, the harsh winter symbolizes the Cold War and the Overlook's haunted room is a manifestation of the secret NASA soundstage. But after these broad strokes, Kubrick really gets down to the nitty-gritty with all kinds of hidden messages.

In Stephen King's novel, the Overlook's haunted room was number 217. Kubrick apparently changed it to 237, because the distance to the moon is 237,000 miles (it's actually 238,857) [source: Lamb]. The hexagonal pattern on the hall carpet is a reference to the Apollo 11 launch pad design. The twin ghosts in the movie (as opposed to the novel's solo ghost) are a shoutout to NASA's Gemini program. Numerous appearances by stuffed bears represent the Soviet Union. All of these moments, according to the theory, are Kubrick's desperate attempts to express his regret.

It's definitely a far-fetched scenario. Stanley Kubrick died in 1999, so he can't weigh in on its truth (and even if he could, would he dare?). One of his assistants on "The Shining" has gone on the record to refute the theory, but it has certainly provided an entertaining rabbit hole for thousands of movie buffs and conspiracy theorists.
The Jon Favreau live action/CGI blended version of The Jungle Book is easily the best-reviewed film of the year so far, with critics falling over themselves to praise the Disney film.

Some raves from top drawer critics (via RT where it currently stands at 100% fresh) below

"Jon Favreau brings a welcome lightness of touch to this visually immersive adventure story." Variety

"Visually stunning and entirely engaging." The Hollywood Reporter

"One of the big screen's most engrossing artificial worlds since Avatar." The Wrap

"Idris Elba's Shere Khan is the best villain of the year so far." Uproxx

"Shot beautifully, and with a fantastic sense of wonder within the world being created, which translates to big-screen magic" Cinema Blend

Our Gavin Burke gave the April 15th release 4 stars, and was a huge fan of it also. This should do strong business for Disney over the course of the weeks leading into blockbuster season.

It stars Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba, Scarlett Johansson (the late, great) Garry Shandling and Neel Sethi as Mowgli.

Couldn't be more delighted for Jon Favreau, an excellent filmmaker, and actor, as well as a generally sound chap. We can't wait to see it.
Fleet Foxes fans who have been wondering what the hell has been going on with the band have finally had their questions answered.

Although they never officially split, the Seattle band have not released an album since 2011's 'Helplessness Blues', and it was widely reported that frontman Robin Pecknold had returned to university.

In more recent times, he had been singing with supergroup The Gene Clark No Other Band and had been touring with Joanna Newsom, including at her recent Dublin gig.

Now, however, an end to the 'wilderness years' are in sight, according to guitarist Christian Wargo.

He told DISTINCT magazine that they had discussed getting Fleet Foxes back together at Newsom's recent LA gig.

Its not, like, announced or anything, and none of us really knew it was coming, but its happening, he said. Possibly unofficially at this stage, but its definitely a thing.


For people of a certain age, the name 'Kula Shaker' will conjure up all sorts of memories - and not all of them good ones.

The indie band were reasonably big in the mid to late 1990s, with hits including 'Hey Dude', 'Tattva' and a cover of 'Hush'.

They split in 1999, reformed in 2004 and have been playing together semi-regularly since, although they haven't released an album since 2010's 'Pilgrim's Progress'.

Crispian Mills and co. recently returned with a new album 'K 2.0' and will embark on a tour to promote it, that includes stop-offs in Dublin, Belfast and Limerick.

They'll play The Academy on May 5th, Belfast's Limelight on May 6th and Dolan's, Limerick on May 7th.

Tickets for the Dublin gig are 27.50 including booking fee, and on sale from usual outlets this Friday at 10am.
With summer approaching it really is time to start thinking about holidays. Is 2016 the year you'll start ticking off your bucket list? Here are the best places to travel in 2016 as long as you're ready for an adventure..

1. AUSTRALIA

Theres nothing quite like Australia. As the 6th largest country in the world, if youre craving a relaxing and beachy holiday  this is the perfect getaway for you.

WHY WE LOVE IT: Stunning beaches, unique landmarks, hot locals and delicious brunches.

WHEN TO GO: All year round. Sunshine all year round.

TOP 5 EXPERIENCES:

Explore Whitehaven beach in Queensland.

Go snorkeling in the Great barrier reef  the worlds largest coral reef.

Delve into the great outback and experience Uluru in the Northern Territory.

Climb the harbour bridge in Sydney and go for a dip at iconic Bondi beach.

Take a selfie with a Quokka or Koala.

2. USA

New York, Florida, Vegas, and everything in between and more. Dont let the strong dollar in the US deter you from visiting this land of opportunity. It really is worth seeing with your very own eyes.

WHY WE LOVE IT: World class national parks, surreal landscapes, BIG everything and legendary road trips.

WHEN TO GO: Summer (June  September).

TOP 5 EXPERIENCES:

A visit to the Yellowstone national park.

Get amongst nature and explore the Yosemite national park.

Watch the sunset over the Grand Canyon or take a helicopter ride to see its vast horizons.

Soak up the hippie atmosphere in Haight-Ashbury, San Francisco.

Hit the town in New Orleans by visiting one of many jazz clubs.

3. JAPAN

Japan has topped the list for many years and continues to draw in travellers from all over the world. From the bustling city of Tokyo, culture in Kyoto and the history of Hiroshima, this country really does have it all.

WHY WE LOVE IT: Unique, futuristic, fun, and quirky. A mixture of traditional modern meets ancient traditions.

WHEN TO GO: April is considered the best time to visit Japan.

TOP 5 EXPERIENCES:

Cherry blossom festival in March.

Hokkaido in January to experience the world-class snow in the North of the country.

Visit the crazy Robot restaurant in Tokyo.

Experience the fastest bullet trains in the world, Shinkansen.

Eat fresh sushi at the worlds largest Tsukiji fish market.

4. CANADA

Experience everything that Canada and The Rockies has to offer.

WHY WE LOVE IT: World-class adventure activities in the great outdoors, beautiful mountains and scenery, breathtaking lakes.

WHEN TO GO: Spring, Summer or Fall.

TOP 5 EXPERIENCES:

Visit a world class rodeo a.k.a the Calgary stampede.

Walk, or cycle around Stanley parks seawall in Vancouver city boasting the beautiful English bay.

Explore some of the best lakes in Canada; Lake Louise and Lake Moraine in Banff.

Take a trip up to Whistler during winter to ski at Blackcomb or Whistler mountain.

Eat all kinds of poutine from street food vendors.



5. PERU

Peru is diverse in its own right with breathtaking scenery and mountains of adventure. With the 2016 Olympics looming in Brazil, why not detour to Peru on your visit.

WHY WE LOVE IT: Unbelievable culture, ancient cities and the ultimate adventure for all.

WHEN TO GO: Anytime from May  September.

TOP 5 EXPERIENCES:

Hike up the Inca trail or take a scenic train ride and see the Machu Picchu for the first time.

Drink a pisco sour and eat a traditional Cuy Chactado (short for guinea pig) if you dare..

Paddle through the Amazon river into a jungle lodge.

Visit the ancient city of Cusco and hit up a local market to pick up beautiful handicraft and textiles.

Explore the Sacred Valley in Perus andean highlands that stretches over 60kms.







6. CROATIA

Croatia is a relaxing country with plenty of sights and sun. From the walled cities of Dubrovnik, the fun island of Hvar and Split  theres a reason Croatia is a must visit.

WHY WE LOVE IT: The swimming, sailing and coastal towns.

WHEN TO GO: July  August (Peak Europe summer season), June or September for a more relaxing visit.

TOP 5 EXPERIENCES:

Visit and explore a UNESCO world heritage site and the largest national park in Croatia  Plitvice lakes.

Travel to Dubrovnik, the old town encircled with huge stone walls from the 16th century. Hit up Buza cliff bar to witness a magical sunset.

Sail Croatia across some of the finest towns and islands it has to offer. Soak up the sun and swim in the sea.

Check out Hvar, one of the most popular islands in Croatia

Hit up a renowned music festival in Croatia. From Ultra, to Soundwave.







7. MEXICO

Viva Mexico! Rich in cultural history and diverse geography  there are plenty of pristine beaches, jungles and World Heritage sites to see and do. Immerse yourself in adventure activities, delicious food and a nightlife like no other!

WHY WE LOVE IT: Ancient pyramids, stunning beaches and secret cenotes.

WHEN TO GO: All year round is recommended except November is the best time to go.

TOP 5 EXPERIENCES:

Relax and swim in Cancuns crystal clear waters.

Jump off the secret cenote (clear sink-holes with towering alamo trees stretching down) in Puerto Vallarta.

Climb the impressive pyramids and imagine how this was once central Americas greatest city. Learn about the Teotihuacanos beliefs and rites as you walk around the site and see the Sun and Moon Temples.

Taste the local cuisine by heading to the Coyoacan Markets  the buzzing food stalls are perfect for trying authentic Mexican food, like a torta (Mexican sandwich), enchiladas and tacos.

8. NEW ZEALAND

Kia Ora! Exploring New Zealands landscapes, both in the North and South island, tops the list for many. With plenty of outdoor activities, sport, adventure, food and wine  youll be spoiled for choice.

WHY WE LOVE IT: Breathtaking and natural scenery, world class snowfields, glaciers and the #1 destination for adventure travel.

WHEN TO GO: Winter (May  July).

TOP 5 EXPERIENCES:

Conquer your fears and bungee jump for the first time at the original Nevis  if you dare jump 134 metres!

Head to Searle lane, one of the best bars in Queenstown.

Cruise down the Milford Sound, one of the 8th wonders of the World that was carved out by glaciers during the ice ages.

Visit home of Middle Earth from Lord Of The Rings and check out Hobbiton.

Explore Wanaka in winter and learn to ski or snowboard at world class fields of Cardrona and Treble Cross.

9. BRAZIL

Brazil and specifically Rio is one to put on your radar for 2016. With the Olympics underway, this is guaranteed to be a favourite amongst travellers so its important to book ahead and be ready for the adventure of a lifetime.

WHY WE LOVE IT: Charming cities, extraordinary landscapes, wild jungles and perfect for smaller group adventures.

WHEN TO GO: Low season (May  September).

TOP 5 EXPERIENCES:

Hike up the Corcovado mountain and witness the majestic views sprawled across Rio and of course  Christ the redeemer.

Jump on a cruise and float through the Amazon river.

Be a part of the worlds biggest party parade at the one and only Rio Carnivale

Indulge in world-famous Brazillan Churrasco and sample delicious grilled meats from cuts of beef, lamb, pork, chicken etc.

Get a sense of Brazillian culture by visiting a local market. Sao Paulos Mercado Municipal is particularly fascinating.

10. ITALY

Italys got the whole package. From the colourful coastal city of Cinque Terre, to the always incredible ancient city of Rome, the leaning tower of Pisa and the floating city of Venice, the good life in Italy is where its at.

WHY WE LOVE IT: Authentic and delicious cuisine, ancient culture, plenty of sights and history.

WHEN TO GO: April  July (however it can get pretty hot from July  August)

TOP 5 EXPERIENCES:

Get lost in Venice, ride a gondola and visit Basilica di San Marco.

Roam around Rome and hit up the classical must sees  The Colosseum, the Forum and Palatine Hill.

Escape to the seaside by visiting the Amalfi coast of Italy. This 50 km stretch of coastline includes Positano, and goes further down to Sorrento. Indulge in delicious world-famous mozzarella cheese and wine.

Florence is easily one of the most beautiful cities in Italy and perfect for art lovers. Check out the Duomo (an iconic cathedral), the statue of David, and stroll across the river Arno.

Do a day trip to the smallest country in the world  the Vatican city.

11. ICELAND

Iceland is one-of-a-kind, boasting a climate like no other and spectacular scenery to match.

WHY WE LOVE IT: Magnetically cool, unique sights, landscapes and a chance to see the Northern lights.

WHEN TO GO: Iceland weather is pretty unpredictable but we recommend heading over in winter from the months of September and October.

TOP 5 EXPERIENCES:

Complete the Golden circle, 300 kms of incredible landmarks and waterfalls.

Head over in winter for a chance to see the Northern lights.

Take a dip in the blue lagoon, Icelands top attraction and easily one of the best spa experiences in the world.

Visit world-class (and weirdly unique) museums like the The Icelandic Phallological Museum.

Dive in the Silfra, one of the top dive sites in the world as its considered to have the clearest water on earth. The crack you can dive into is the only place you can dive in between two continents; North America and Eurasian.

From quick breaks to epic journeys, Contiki trips cover the world from all angles for 18 to 35 year old travellers. Its about making every moment count, thats what Contiki does best!

Drop what you're doing and start packing! For more information, check out www.contiki.com, contact your local Travel Agent or contact 1800 98 98 98.
Charlie Cox says his return as Daredevil "still feels too good to be true"
Comedian David McSavage has decided to take a stand against RTE for what he feels is their 'terrible' comedy output and is refusing to pay his license fee to the point that he is due to appear in court later in the month.

It seems The Savage Eye star is annoyed that his 1916 show wasn't aired on the national broadcaster, telling The Sun;

"RTE didnt commission my Savage Eye special because they were too scared and we might have done something funny.

Instead they hired Irish Pictorial Weekly to do a 1916 which ended up being derivative of the Savage Eye, it was awful."

He didn't hold back after that either saying how "the Rubberbandits are now as mainstream as Ryan Tubridy".

They used to be quirky and bent"; he added, "but I thought that their 1916 special was awful."

And as for the last series by Mario Rosenstock? Im willing to go to prison for that.

"Shows like this are so bad they are making people tune out, with the result that people wont bother watching on RTE because they will assume its terrible."

McSavage will now be up in court on April 22nd following a summons where no doubt he will use the opportunity to expand on the above further.

Can't wait...
It was announced last December that the Irish version of Dragons' Den will be returning to RTE1 after a 2 year hiatus, and now we know just who exactly the Dragons will be that the aspiring entrepreneurs will be pitching to.

Three familiar faces will be returning to the hot seats - Gavin Duffy, Barry O'Sullivan and Eamonn Quinn, but they will be joined by two newbies - Alison Cowzer and Eleanor McEvoy, who will be replacing Ramona Nicholas and Peter Casey.

For those that don't know them, Alison is co-founder of the East Coast Bakehouse, which she set up with husband Michael Carey, and is fast becoming one of the biggest biscuit-making facilities in Ireland and the UK.

While Eleanor McEvoy is founder and CEO of Budget Energy Northern Ireland, and is planning to launch her company in the Republic this year.

Dragons Den will return to RTE1 on April 17th.

Via Independent.ie
Despite the vows of European leaders to prioritize the fight against radicalization, this security concern has so far received the smallest contribution from the EU security budget. The European Union has earmarked a mere 3.5 million in 2014 to prevent radicalisation and stop young adults from leaving Europe to fight in Syria and other war zones, which makes it the smallest allocation compared to any other security challenge. In contrast, the EU allocated 5.17 million to Law Enforcement Information Exchange, 5.1 million to Fighting Cybercrime and Child Sexual Abuse, and around 6 million to the fight against Economic and Financial Crime, Corruption and Environmental Crime.

Radicalization and the willingness of young Europeans to join terrorist organizations fighting in conflict areas has become one of the most pressing challenges for EU security in recent years and especially following the recent attacks in Paris and Brussels. After the attacks on Charlie Hebdo in Paris, Brussels said that preventing radicalization was a key element of the fight against terrorism. In fact, it was defined as one of the three pillars of the EU security strategy along with judicial measures and law enforcement. Although this security issue has received a lot of attention and got high on the agenda, this has not yet been accompanied by an increased budget at the EU level. Looking at the blocks security priorities for last year, returned foreign fighters were not listed among the top ones, despite calls by EU authorities to take steps to tackle the issue.

Despite the fact that the primary responsibility in the fight against terrorism lies with national governments, the EU can and should play a supportive role that helps respond to the cross-border nature of the threat. The European Commission now also confirmed that it plans to allocate an extra 5 million for the Radicalisation Awareness Network (RAN) Centre of Excellence. The RAN centre serves as a platform for exchange learning and best practices as well as facilitates collaboration of all stakeholders involved in the issues. The EU executive added that it had allocated 13.6 million to four anti-radicalisation projects in 2007-2013.
Cal-Maine Foods Posted Its 3Q16 Results, Stock Rose 8%

(Continued from Prior Part)

Analysts recommendations for Cal-Maine Foods

As of March 29, 2016, Cal-Maine Foods (CALM) was trading at $53.4. Well discuss what Wall Street analysts recommended for Cal-Maine Foods after the earnings release. Lets see what the assigned price target for Cal-Maine Foods is over the next 12 months. The results show that analysts are consistent with the recommendations mentioned earlier. Most of the analysts, close to around 40%, rate the company a hold. Around 40% rate it a buy and 20% rate it a sell.

Analysts target prices for Cal-Maine Foods

The average broker target price for Cal-Maine Foods reduced to $55.5 from $56.75. This price is 4% higher than the closing price of $53.4 on March 29. The companys peers such as Pilgrims Pride (PPC), Hormel Foods (HRL), and Hain Celestial (HAIN) have average broker target prices of $25, $43.38, and $47.14, respectively. These figures imply returns of 0.12%, -2.3%, -14.3%, respectively, over the next 12 months. The Guggenheim S&P Smallcap 600 Pure Growth ETF (RZG) invests 0.92% of its portfolio in Cal-Maine Foods.

Sidoti & Company and D.A. Davidson & Co. gave the stock a strong buy before the results. However, on March 29, they both downgraded from buy to neutral after the fiscal 3Q16 results.

Cal-Maine Foods is valued below its peers

Compared to its peers like Tyson Foods (TSN), Cal-Maine Foods is trading at a lower forward PE (price-to-earnings) ratio. Currently, its trading at 13.5x the next 12-month EPS (earnings per share) as of March 29. Tyson Foods is trading at 16.9x the next 12-month EPS. Pilgrims Pride (PPC) is trading at a slightly higher PE ratio of 12.06x compared to Cal-Maine Foods.

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What Recent Trends Could Affect Apple's Performance This Year?

(Continued from Prior Part)

Over 21 million hits on website

According to AppleInsider, the traffic to Apples website in China and India (EPI) saw significant surges on March 21, 2016, the day Apple announced the iPhone SE and 9.7-inch iPad Pro. According to market research firm SimilarWeb, the overall traffic stood at 21.5 million visits on March 21, an 83% increase over the previous day. This was below the 87% one-day surge for the iPhone 6s announcement last year and a 195% spike on the unveiling of the iPhone 6 in 2014.

China and India observe significant increase

Apples (AAPL) India (INDA) website witnessed an increase of 160% when iPhone SE was launched compared to a 59% rise on September 9, 2015, when iPhone 6S was launched. The 160% launch was much lower compared to the 186% rise when the iPhone 6 made its debut.

The website traffic in China (FXI) rose 150% for the iPhone SE event, suggesting a high level of interest. However, this was lower than the 155% increase in September 2015 and the massive 234% increase for the iPhone 6 event.

AppleInsider noticed that as the iPhone SE is not Apples flagship product, any comparisons with previous iPhone launches would not be fair. The iPhone SE is a product targeted towards emerging economies (EEM) including India and China. The product offers high performance at a relatively lower price.

Apple accounts for 15.6% of the Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK). The other top holdings of this ETF include Microsoft (MSFT), Facebook (FB), and Google (GOOG). These three companies make up 10%, 5.6%, and 5.1% of the ETF, respectively.

Continue to Next Part

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HOUSTON, TX --(Marketwired - April 05, 2016) - Lulu C. Wang, Founder and CEO of Tupelo Capital Management, joins Asia Society Texas Center as the keynote speaker for the third installment of the Women's Leadership Series (WLS).

The final program in the series is designed to "inspire, educate and empower" women by connecting them with established leaders across the globe. In this discussion about Asian women representation in the C-suite, Wang will share personal experiences and challenges of her climb to the top in corporate America.

Mia Mends, CEO of Sodexo Benefits and Rewards Services, US, and Anne Taylor, Houston managing partner, Deloitte LLP, will also join the discussion as panelists. Gina Luna, Chairman of JPMorgan Chase, Houston Region, will serve as moderator.

The program takes shape Monday, April 18 (2016) at Asia Society Texas Center (1370 Southmore Boulevard, Houston, TX). To register for tickets, please visit Asia Society's website at www.AsiaSociety.org/Texas.

About the Keynote Speaker

Lulu C. Wang, Founder and CEO of Tupelo Capital Management, has held senior positions in money management since 1982. She served as a Director and Executive Vice President of Jennison Associates Capital Corporation for ten years before founding Tupelo Capital Management in 1998. While at Jennison, a primary platform for asset management at Prudential Financial, Wang managed assets for pension, endowment, and mutual funds. She joined Jennison Associates in 1988 from Equitable Capital Management where she held the title of Senior Vice President and Managing Director, overseeing active growth equities. She had been with Equitable since 1978 and prior to that, was affiliated with Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette. Wang received her B.A. from Wellesley College and subsequently earned an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School.

Mia Mends is the CEO of Sodexo Benefits and Rewards Services, U.S. and serves on Sodexo's North America Regional Leadership Committee. In her position, she leads the strategic evolution and growth of the business, with a focus on delivering outcome-based employee engagement solutions through recognition and well-being programs and platforms. Before joining Sodexo, she was General Manager of the Prepaid Debit Card Division of PreCash Inc, in Houston, Texas. Mends' experience in the field includes developing and managing 11 co-branded credit card partnerships in nine countries for United Airlines. Mends holds a B.A. in Economics from Wellesley College and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Story continues

Anne Taylor is Houston managing partner for Deloitte LLP. She has more than 25 years of experience as a management consultant with a focus on technology, strategy, and change management. Anne has held national, regional, and global leadership roles at Deloitte, including U.S. Chief Strategy Officer and regional managing partner of the eight-state Mid-America Region. She was the first woman to serve on Deloitte's U.S. Executive Committee and the global Management Committee of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited. Anne holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in Civil Engineering from the University of Utah, as well as an M.A. in Engineering from Princeton University, where she also completed Ph.D. studies.

About the Moderator

Gina Luna is Chairman of JPMorgan Chase in the Houston Region and leads the Middle Market Banking business. Prior to her current role, Luna was Chief Marketing Officer for Chase Commercial Banking, directing marketing and communications for the national commercial banking business. She has spent her entire career with JPMorgan Chase. Luna is a summa cum laude graduate of Texas A&M University with a BBA in Finance and Management.

About the Women's Leadership Series

The Women's Leadership Series, launched in September 2015, is designed to celebrate influential and diverse women who are making an impact in today's global environment.

The Women's Leadership Series is made possible through generous support from presenting sponsors Anne and Albert Chao, Nancy T. Chang, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, and United Airlines. Lead funding provided by Nancy C. Allen, and BP America, with additional support from Wells Fargo, Cathay Bank, EastWest Bank, the Mandy Kao Foundation, Paula Hinton, Teri and Jeff Lee, Amegy Bank, and TopHay. Generous funding also provided by the Friends of Business & Policy at Asia Society Texas Center, a premier group of individuals and organizations committed to bringing the best in public programming.

The Women's Leadership Steering committee is chaired by Dr. Anne Chao and Paula W. Hinton. Members include Nancy C. Allen, Ming Chen Burdette, Donna Cole, Kathy Goossen, Mandy Kao, Rosine Matthews, Alice Mong, and Y. Ping Sun. Henrietta Holsman Fore serves as an honorary member.

About Asia Society Texas Center

With 12 locations throughout the world, Asia Society is the leading educational organization promoting mutual understanding and strengthening partnerships among the peoples, leaders, and institutions of Asia and the United States. Asia Society Texas Center executes the global mission with a local focus, enriching and engaging the vast diversity of Houston through innovative, relevant programs in arts and culture, business and policy, education, and community outreach. www.AsiaSociety.org/Texas

Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2016/4/5/11G091859/Images/Photo-Lulu_C._Wang-5de3444d90168930b759f1c2ccce010c.jpg


VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / April 5, 2016 / Asiamet Resources Limited ("ARS" or "the Company") is pleased to announce the results of a Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") completed on its Beruang Kanan Main ("BKM") copper deposit in Kalimantan, Indonesia. The PEA has been finalized in compliance with the guidelines of Canadian National Instrument 43-101 by independent Australian mine planning consultants, Orelogy.

The PEA is the first study undertaken to evaluate the economics of developing an open pit mine and heap leach solvent extraction electro-winning facility ("SX-EW") to directly produce copper cathode based on the near surface copper deposit reported in the 2015 BKM Resource estimate (ARS NR October 21, 2015). Results of the PEA study demonstrate excellent potential for developing a robust, low strip ratio, low capital intensity copper project with low operating costs, strong cash flow generation capacity and significant upside potential through further Resource growth.

PEA base case highlights:

- Target annual production of 25,000 tonnes LME grade A (99.999%) copper metal

- After-tax Net Present Value ("NPV") of US$204.3 million (10% discount rate)

- After-tax Internal Rate of Return ("IRR") of 38.7%

- Gross Revenue of US$1.27 billion (US$3.25Ib copper price over Life of Mine ("LOM")

- C1 Operating cost of US$1.28 per pound

- Initial Capital Cost of US$163.8 million with low capital intensity

- 2.4 year payback (After-tax from the start of production)

- Robust mine plan derived from Indicated Resources (29%) and Inferred Resources (71%)

- Initial 8+ year mine life at a low average strip ratio of 1.23

- Significant potential for additional mineralization close to BKM

Asiamet considers target production of 25,000 tonnes of copper cathode per year for an initial 8 year LOM to be the most appropriate option for the PEA given the significant exploration potential already identified close to the BKM deposit. Copper mineralization at BKM remains open in several directions and locally at depth. Adjacent high potential prospects at Beruang Kanan South ("BKS"), Beruang Kanan West ("BKW") and BKZ Polymetallic ("BKZ") also represent attractive targets for additional mineralization as demonstrated by the strong surface and drilling results returned to date e.g. 10m at 2.52% Cu incl. 2m at 7.45% Cu from 19.5m at BKS (ARS NR November 16, 2015). Increasing the Mineral Resource base, and thus the potential feed available to the BKM processing facilities evaluated in the current PEA, is likely to have a strongly positive impact on the BKM Copper Project value and will be a key focus for Asiamet going forward.

Analysis conducted as part of the PEA to test the BKM project's sensitivity to the copper price highlights a robust project with the potential for a large lift in value at higher copper prices i.e. NPV10 of US$269.1M at US$3.50Ib and NPV10 of US$334.0M at US$3.75Ib.

BKM Project Preliminary Economic Assessment Results Summary

Asiamet Resources CEO Tony Manini commented:

"Asiamet is extremely pleased with the results of the BKM project PEA. To exceed our expectations on this most important milestone speaks volumes for the quality of the asset and the potential of the BKM deposit. The opportunity to develop a robust, low strip ratio, low capital intensity copper mine with low operating costs at a time when the copper market is forecast to be in supply deficit and a stronger price environment is highly compelling.

The Company considers the PEA base case economics to be highly attractive and is firmly of the view that additional detailed study work and exploration in and around BKM will further enhance the value of the project. The BKM deposit remains open in several directions and the adjacent high potential prospects at BKS, BKW and BKZ represent excellent targets for additional copper mineralization as demonstrated by the strong surface and drilling results returned to date. Our confidence in delivering this upside has provided strong support for assessing a larger project in the PEA than originally envisaged.

We look forward to building on the strong momentum we have established over the past year with a continued flow of news from ongoing project optimization and study work, drilling to increase Resource confidence and to test some of the exciting targets around BKM, and various corporate initiatives focused on partnering and funding for the ongoing development of the Company and its projects.

Success in developing BKM to its full capacity will provide the foundations for Asiamet to continue building a leading Asian copper and gold company through the exploration and development of its large asset base in Indonesia. I would like to thank the highly experienced Asiamet team together with its expert consultants for delivering a high quality PEA to time and budget."

A further detailed summary of the various technical inputs to the study are provided below and full details will be provided in the Technical Report compliant with NI 43-101 which will be published and available on the Company's website and SEDAR (www.sedar.com) within 45 days of publication of this news release.

BKM Project Preliminary Economic Assessment

Mineral Resources

ARS reported the Beruang Kanan Main Zone 2015 Copper Resource Estimate on the 21st October 2015. The 2015 Resource Estimate for the BKM mineralization is based on the drill hole logging and sample assay databases of Asiamet and their joint venture partners on the KSK Contract of Work (COW) as at 15th October 2015 and the geological and structural interpretation undertaken by Mr. Stephen Hughes (Asiamet-KSK) and Mr. Duncan Hackman of Hackman & Associates Pty Ltd (H&A). The data analysis, triangulation domaining, block modelling and grade interpolation was undertaken by Mr. Hackman. Mr. Hackman verified components of the exploration activities and mineralization features during site visits conducted between the 2nd and 3rd September 2014 and the 21st and 28th June 2015.

Table 1 details the Beruang Kanan Main Zone Copper Mineral Resource as estimated in the 2015 Resource model.

Table 1 - Beruang Kanan Main Zone Copper Resource Estimate, October 2015

Notes: Mineral Resources for the BKM mineralization have been estimated in conformity with generally accepted Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum ("CIM") "Estimation of Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserves Best Practices" guidelines. In the opinion of Duncan Hackman, the block model Resource Estimate and Resource classification reported herein are a reasonable representation of the copper Mineral Resources found in the defined area of the Beruang Kanan Main mineralization. Any computational discrepancies in the table and the body of the Release are the result of rounding.

The PEA mine plan is based on a subset of the 2015 Mineral Resource and is detailed in Table 2. This mining inventory is reported within a pit design which in turn is based on an economic confining "shell" generated in Geovia WHITTLE pit optimization software. The shell selected for the PEA design was based on a "minimum mining width" approach in WHITTLE to ensure the shell reflected a practical design geometry. The mining inventory is also based on a slightly elevated variable cut-off over the life of the mine to maximize value and remove marginal low grade mineralization.

There are no known environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio-economic, marketing, political or other factors that could materially affect the Resource Estimate used in the cash flow analysis.

Table 2 - Subset of Mineral Resources contained within the PEA Mine Plan

1. Cut-off grade variable over Life of Mine, minimum of 0.1% CuLeachable (~0.12% CuTotal)

2. Assumed heap leach recovery of 85%

Notes: All mineralized material classified as Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resources was considered in the optimization. Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. The PEA is preliminary in nature as it includes Inferred Mineral Resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be characterized as Mineral Reserves, and there is no certainty that the preliminary assessment and economics set forth in the PEA will be realized.

Mining, Processing and Production Plan

The Project is based on extracting mineralized material and waste from an open pit mine utilizing conventional truck and shovel methodology. The services of a mining contractor will be utilized for all on-going bulk earthmoving, whereby they will deliver waste to pre-defined dumping locations and mineralized material to a crushing and agglomeration facility. The agglomerated material will be re-handled by a separate truck fleet to a stacker for placement on the heap leach. Leaching will be conducted with dilute sulphuric solution applied using dripper based irrigation. The resulting pregnant leach solution ("PLS") is collected and delivered to an SX-EW plant that will generate up to 25,000 tonnes of copper cathode per annum.

The leaching characteristics of the copper minerals have been determined using a well-documented and industry accepted diagnostic sequential assay procedure. The procedure determines:

1) the acid soluble copper

2) the cyanide soluble copper on the acid leached material and

3) the remaining copper on the cyanide leached material.



The diagnostic assay is used as an analogue for acid/ferric leaching of mixed oxide and sulphide material; where the sum of the acid + cyanide soluble assays provides the ultimate leachable copper. The acid/ferric leach is bacterially catalyzed by both sulphur and iron oxidizing bacteria, which occur naturally in the mineralized material. A "mining model" was developed based on the leachable copper from the diagnostic assay on the majority of above cut-off grade samples within the pit shell. The open pit optimization and subsequent mining inventory developed for the PEA utilized this model.

The results from the testing program showed that a significant proportion of the copper responds directly to acid leaching. Bottle roll tests on material with an average Total Cu grade of 0.6% (CuTotal) achieved 75% recovery in 62 days with an 8 mm crush size. This is equivalent to 78% of the leachable copper (CuLeachable). A sample of 0.97% CuLeachable achieved 60% recovery in the same period.

None of the tests achieved any significant bacterial activity, mostly due to the short times utilized in this preliminary program. Industry experience is that bacterial activity can increase recovery and decrease the time to target recovery. All extended testing showed that the mineralized material is mildly acid producing in the latter part of the leach cycle.

Benchmarking of the number of sulphide copper acid/ bacterial heap leaching operations shows that an 85% recovery of the leachable copper is generally achievable over time, even if the material is acid consuming.

With the BK mineralized material being mildly acid producing there is no acid-cost-driven economic limit to the copper leaching, and leaching can continue for longer times without an economic penalty. The benchmark recovery of 85% of the leachable copper has been used in the evaluation of the deposit. Due to the mild acid production from the mineralized material, a neutralization facility has been included in the process plant. The level of acid production is unknown but the currently tested production rate from the bottle roll tests has been extrapolated and a figure of 30 kg/t acid has been selected. The plant has also been sized to treat excess rainfall before discharge off the site.

The BKM mine plan and cathode production schedule is shown in Table 3 below. The economic breakeven cut-off grade for the project is 0.09% CuLeachable. However the scheduling tool utilized for the Life of Mine (LoM) plan, Maptek EVOLUTION, utilizes a marginally elevated variable cut-off grade over the LoM (0.09% to 0.11% CuLeachable) to maximize project value. Based on the global conversion of total to leachable grade of 74%, these cut-offs equate to approximately 0.12% to 0.15% CuTotal.

Table 3 - BKM Mine Plan

Infrastructure

The processing facilities and associated infrastructure include:

- Solvent extraction plant

- Electrowinning tank house and tank farm for auxiliary vessels

- Solution ponds to handle: PLS, raffinate, process water, emergency pond

- Water treatment plant

- Ancillary facilities including warehouse and maintenance shop

- Administration offices.



The BKM Copper Project will require approximately 20 MW of peak load power for 25,000 tonne-per-annum operation demand. A key infrastructure component is the supply of electrical power as this constitutes 25% of the total operating cost. An established Indonesian power supply company has provided initial cost estimates to the Company for a power rental and supply arrangement based on an appropriately sized liquefied natural gas fired power plant.

Transport and Logistics

Bulk materials movement is proposed to be via a combination of trucking and low-cost barge transportation. Trucking will utilize the current all-weather unsealed road route extending approximately 120 km north from the Kasongan River Port to the BKM site and the working assumption in this PEA study is for Asiamet to negotiate an ongoing access and maintenance agreement with the company that constructed and maintains this all-weather logging road (Asiamet currently has an access agreement in place for the use of this road route). The proposed barging route is from the Kasongan port to the Java Sea and onto Banjarmasin Sea Port, a distance of approximately 510km. The Banjarmasin Sea Port is a deep water port located 25km from the Java Sea and caters to international vessels. It has a large container handling and storage service together with a customs clearance/bonded area for international freight. Marine barging would utilize self-propelled Landing Craft Tanks ("LCTs") that are highly suited for the upper reaches of the Katingan river system and commonly used to transport bulk materials, predominately timber, equipment and fuel, to and from Kasongan. Copper cathode will be packed in 20 tonne containers at the process plant, locked, tagged, then transported via road and LCT barge to Banjarmasin Port where the copper cathode will be trans-shipped in line with sales contracts. All transport, logistics and product security will be outsourced to specialist contractors. Assessment of bulk materials transport and logistics for the project has been completed by PT. Resindo Resources and Energy, a highly experienced provider of similar infrastructure solutions throughout Indonesia.

Operating Costs

Operating cost estimates reflect the current market environment in Indonesia. The mining costs are based on submitted quotes from three reputable Indonesian mining contractors. Process operating costs are based on best estimates by Graeme Miller of Miller Metallurgical Services Pty Ltd, QP for the processing aspects of the PEA. Mr. Miller has significant copper heap leach - SXEW experience globally.

Asiamet intend to fill as many positions as possible with local or Indonesian personnel, and in the long term operate with a minimal expatriate presence on site.

A mining camp consists of accommodation for the personnel, offices, warehouses, maintenance facilities, and a medical centre operated by qualified personnel. The accommodation facilities can host up to 250 people. Accommodation for mining contractor personnel is the responsibility of the contractor and they have priced their estimate accordingly.

Power, diesel and transport costs have been sourced from local suppliers. LOM operating costs by cost area are shown in Table 4. The two major components within the LOM operating costs are contract mining/earthmoving and power at US$0.60/lb and US$0.34/lb of copper cathode produced respectively.

Table 4 - Life of Mine C1 Operating Cost

Capital Costs

Table 5 below details the capital cost breakdown for the BKM Project. The source of the costs includes quotation estimates from Indonesian suppliers wherever possible. The main exception is the SX-EW capital cost which is an estimate based on equivalent plants constructed recently in locations remote from established infrastructure.

Table 5 - Life of Mine Capital Costs

Pre-Financing Financial Analysis

The Project has been evaluated on both a pre-tax basis and after all Indonesian taxes, inclusive of government royalty and Net Smelter Return (NSR) payments.

The economic assessment was prepared using the expected capital and operating costs shown in Tables 4 and 5. Modelling incorporates fiscal aspects of the Indonesian mining law and conventions applicable to the BKM copper project, including:

- 25% Indonesian corporate tax rate

- 25% Depreciation rate of capital expenditure of 8 year asset life

- 4% Indonesian Government royalty (copper)

- 1% Freeport McMoRan royalty



A financial model was developed for a Base Case scenario using a long-term copper price forecast of US$3.25/lb (average of the annual forecast prices between 2018 and 2025 from independent global metals and minerals research group Wood Mackenzie's Q1, 2016 copper research report). Base Case results are shown in Table 6 together with the results of various sensitivity cases using copper prices of $US2.75, US$3.00, US$3.50 and US$3.75 to demonstrate a measure of the sensitivity of the project economics to copper prices.

Table 6 - BKM Economic Evaluation - Copper Price Sensitivity Summary

BKM Project Upside Opportunities

The PEA study also identified a number of opportunities to further improve the economics of the project and work programs are planned to investigate these opportunities including:

- Further assessment of hydropower as an alternate power supply

- Further detailed metallurgical test work to improve copper recoveries

- Assessment of owner/operator mining and earthmoving options

- Assessment of contract crushing and agglomeration options



The biggest impact on the BKM Copper Project value however is likely to be achieved through increasing the Mineral Resource base and thus the potential feed available to the BKM processing facilities as evaluated in the current PEA. Increasing the Mineral Resource base has the potential to increase the mine life and/or the scale of annual copper production contemplated.

The BKM deposit mineralization remains open in several directions and locally at depth and several nearby prospects within the Beruang Kanan project area namely Beruang Kanan South, Beruang Kanan West and BKZ Polymetallic also represent attractive targets for additional copper mineralization. Asiamet is therefore committed to ongoing exploration and plans to drill test all significant targets identified from geology, geochemistry and geophysics within the Beruang Kanan project area over the next 2-3 years. If warranted by the exploration results, sufficient delineation drilling will be undertaken to quickly convert any mineralization discovered into Mineral Resources.

BKM NI43-101 Technical Report

The PEA study, the details of which will be set out in a technical report prepared in accordance with NI 43-101 and filed on SEDAR within 45 days of this press release, was led by the following Qualified Persons ("QP"), as such term is defined in NI 43-101, each of whom is independent of Asiamet Resources and have read and confirmed that this news release fairly and accurately reflects the contents of the PEA report:

- Mr. Ross Cheyne (BE Mining, FAusIMM)

- Mr. Graeme Miller (FAusIMM, CP AusIMM, RPEQ), M.D. of MillerMet Consulting

- Mr. Duncan Hackman (B.App.Sc., MSc., MAIG)

The technical information has been included herein with the consent and prior review of the above noted QPs, who have verified the data disclosed, including sampling, analytical and test data underlying the information or opinions contained herein.

Mr. Ross Cheyne was responsible for the overall compilation of the PEA Study. He is MD of ORELOGY Consulting Pty Ltd and is the QP for purposes of National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Cheyne has more than 28 years' experience, and has experience relevant to this style of operation to qualify as a Qualified Person as defined in NI 43-101.

Mr. Graeme Miller is the QP responsible process metallurgy, process design and associated cost estimation for leach pad through to SX / EW. This includes supervising the metallurgical test work and estimated the copper recoveries. He is a hydrometallurgical and mineral processing engineer with more than 30 years of experience, much of it related to heap leach projects (+12) and solvent extraction operations (+40).

The QP responsible for the independent Resource Estimate at BKM is Mr. Duncan Hackman (B.App.Sc., MSc., MAIG), a consultant geologist with more than 30 years' experience. Mr. Hackman is Principal of Hackman and Associates and is a member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists. He has sufficient experience relevant to the style of mineralization and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity undertaken to qualify as a Qualified Person as defined in NI 43-101. All mineral Resources have been estimated in accordance with the definition standards on mineral resources and mineral reserves of the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum ("CIM") referred to in National Instrument 43-101, commonly referred to as NI 43-101. U.S. reporting requirements for disclosure of mineral properties are governed by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") Industry Guide 7. Canadian and Guide 7 standards are substantially different. This News Release uses the terms "measured," "indicated" and "inferred" resources. We advise investors that while those terms are recognized and required by Canadian regulations, the SEC does not recognize them. Mineral resources which are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.

Engineering designs for Infrastructure buildings, road and earthworks, where required, were undertaken by DRA Global. (DRA). DRA also provided indicative cost estimates for those items not quoted by Indonesian suppliers. This work was peer reviewed by Mr. Johan Du Preez (BSc Eng., P.Eng). Mr. Du Preez is a civil engineer with 40 years' of relevant mining infrastructure experience.

Pt. Prastiwahyu Trimitra Engineering investigated various energy supply options for BKM project. PT SMEC Denka Indonesia assessed Hydropower development potential within the BKM project area. PT. Resindo Resources and Energy Indonesia (Resindo) reviewed the preferred options / alternatives for the supply of mining and copper processing plant equipment and/or large volumes of bulk materials to the BKM site. PT Lorax Indonesia completed a Flora and Fauna Ecology Study and provided input to development of a site-specific biodiversity management plan and a general reference for future environmental management strategies.

The information that relates to geology, mineralization, drilling, and mineral resource estimates on the BKM copper deposit, is based on information prepared under the supervision of, or has been reviewed by Mr. Stephen Hughes P. Geo., Asiamet Resources' Vice President of Exploration, a geologist with more than 20 years of experience, a director of ARS and a Qualified Person within the meaning of NI 43-101 and the AIM Rules for Companies. Mr. Hughes has reviewed and validated that the information contained in the release is consistent with that provided by the QPs responsible for the PEA. All principal technical personnel and Qualified Persons ("QP") participating in the development and review of this Report have extensive relevant experience.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Tony Manini, Deputy Chairman and CEO

For further information please contact:



Tony Manini

Deputy Chairman and CEO, Asiamet Resources Limited

Telephone: +61 3 8644 1300

Email: tony.manini@asiametresources.com

FlowComms Limited

Sasha Sethi

Telephone: +44 (0) 7891 677 441

Email: Sasha@flowcomms.com / Mehrdad@flowcomms.com



Asiamet Resources Nominated Adviser

RFC Ambrian Limited

Andrew Thomson / Oliver Morse

Telephone: +61 8 9480 2500

Email: Andrew.Thomson@rfcambrian.com / Oliver.Morse@rfcambrian.com

VSA Capital Limited

Andrew Raca / Justin McKeegan

Telephone: +44 20 3005 5004 / +44 20 3005 5009

Email: araca@vsacapital.com

Optiva Securities Limited

Christian Dennis

Telephone: +44 20 3137 1903

Email: Christian.Dennis@optivasecurities.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release contains forward-looking statements that are based on the Company's current expectations and estimates. Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "suggest", "indicate" and other similar words or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from estimated or anticipated events or results implied or expressed in such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others: the actual results of current exploration activities; conclusions of economic evaluations; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; possible variations in ore grade or recovery rates; accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry; delays in obtaining governmental approvals or financing; and fluctuations in metal prices. There may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such statements due to the inherent uncertainty therein.

SOURCE: Asiamet Resources Limited
VIENNA (Reuters) - The European Union must take action to ensure offshore companies cannot be used for money laundering and tax evasion, Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann said on Tuesday, commenting on the fallout from the massive "Panama Papers" data leak.

"Work is urgently needed in unison with the European Union," Faymann told a news conference. Austria would take part in international discussions on how to increase data exchange and data security, he said, calling for full transparency.

"We need to review all current cases and everything that's possibly still to come," he said regarding investigations into whether two Austrian banks followed rules aimed at preventing money laundering.

(Reporting by Kirsti Knolle; editing by Francois Murphy)
The Boeing logo is seen at their headquarters in Chicago, in this April 24, 2013 file photo. REUTERS/Jim Young/Files

By Alwyn Scott

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Boeing Co (BA.N) said on Monday it had picked a new aircraft seat supplier for its most popular jet, the 737, a move that industry experts said adds competition to leading seat makers Zodiac Aerospace (ZODC.PA) and B/E Aerospace (BEAV.O).

In response to questions from Reuters, Boeing said it will buy seats directly from the new supplier, LIFT by EnCore of Huntington Beach, California - a break from the past practice of allowing airlines to purchase seats that led to some costly delays in finishing aircraft because seats did not always arrive on time.

Boeing and LIFT planned to announce their agreement on Tuesday at the Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg, Germany.

Boeing said it already has 11 approved economy seat suppliers, but LIFT will be the first and only supplier selling directly to Boeing for the current 737NG and successor 737 MAX aircraft. The other suppliers sell to airlines, a process that has for decades allowed carriers to customize their respective cabins.

As plane production soared in recent years, suppliers had increasing problems delivering seats on time. The delays fouled production at Boeing and Airbus.

Last year, both plane makers took the rare step of criticizing Zodiac after missed deadlines caused plane deliveries to be delayed.

France-based Zodiac has issued several profit warnings as it failed to keep up with delivery schedules.

Boeing's shift is most likely to affect Zodiac and B/E Aerospace, which together supply about two-thirds of the global seat market worth about $4.6 billion a year, according to consulting firm AlixPartners.

"It appears Boeing is warning the two main incumbents that it isn't satisfied with their current performance," said Phil Toy, a managing director at AlixPartners.

LIFT by EnCore is a new venture that has not yet delivered a seat. But founders Tom McFarland and Jim Downey are industry veterans who sold their previous seat and interior company, known as C&D Aerospace, to Zodiac in 2005.

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LIFT plans to begin delivering the new seats, known as "tourist class" in mid-2017. LIFT designed its seat in consultation with Boeing, allowing it to gear the seat's dimensions, structure and weight for the 737 and Boeing's new "Sky Interior" cabin design.

The seat width of 17.9 inches (45.47 cm) is among the widest available. It uses lightweight composite materials and includes about two dozen options airlines can configure, such as headrests, cushions, power outlets and holders for tablets and personal electronics.

Boeing said its strong supply chain and the LIFT seat would "provide customers the stability and reliability they have come to expect from the 737."

(Reporting by Alwyn Scott, editing by G Crosse)
By Anthony Boadle

BRASILIA, April 4 (Reuters) - With neither side commanding enough firm support in the battle to impeach Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff, the outcome of a crucial vote in Congress this month may boil down to a handful of no-shows and abstentions.

Brazil's lower house is due to vote within two weeks on a committee report about whether Rousseff, the country's first female president, broke fiscal laws to secure her 2014 re-election.

With her allies wavering following mass protests against her scandal-hit government, Rousseff risks losing the impeachment vote in the 513-seat lower house. The Eurasia consultancy calculates the odds of her defeat at 60-70 percent.

If the Senate agrees to put her on trial, Rousseff would be suspended from office. Financial markets favor her impeachment on hopes her substitute, Vice President Michel Temer, would introduce more-business-friendly policies.

Yet polls suggest her opponents have not secured the 342 votes - two-thirds of the chamber - they need to take impeachment to this stage.

Nor does Rousseff's Workers' Party and its allies have the 171 votes or abstentions needed to block it. Each abstention favors Rousseff by reducing the chances her opponents obtain two-thirds of the chamber.

Brasilia-based consultancy Barral M Jorge Associates estimates the government has 115 firm votes against impeachment versus 213 in favour, with the rest of the votes undecided or not publically stated, analyst Gabriel Petrus said.

With the government's fate in the balance, both sides are using every means at their disposal to eke out an advantage. Rousseff's team is working overtime to build a new coalition, offering jobs in her embattled government in exchange for votes.

"The government is scraping the bottom of the barrel, offering jobs in ministries and money for public works in congressional districts," said Darcisio Perondi, a lawmaker from Rio Grande do Sul state and a fierce Rousseff opponent.

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Government officials have denied offering public works spending in return for votes or abstentions.

UNCERTAINTY

Meanwhile, lower house Speaker Eduardo Cunha, a bitter rival to Rousseff, is seeking to favour impeachment by holding the roll-call vote on a Sunday, when most Brazilians will be at home and can follow which way lawmakers vote on television.

Polls show more than two-thirds of Brazilians support impeachment, after Brazil's worst recession in decades and a sweeping corruption scandal at state oil company Petrobras drained Rousseff's support.

Congressmen say Cunha plans to start the voting with southern states, where anti-Rousseff sentiment runs strongest, so momentum for impeachment piles pressure on uncertain lawmakers, especially from the northeast, a bastion of Workers' Party support, who would vote last.

Rousseff suffered a blow last week when her main coalition partner, the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB), deserted her.

The PMDB expected smaller parties in the coalition to follow suit, boosting chances that Rousseff would be impeached by Congress and Temer, leader of the PMDB, would take over until the end of her term in 2018.

The Progressive Party, the Republic Party, the Social Democratic Party and the Brazilian Republican Party - with 142 seats in the lower house - signalled they might abandon Rousseff but have held off as the government wooed them with cabinet posts.

Rousseff's negotiations have been complicated by several PMDB ministers who refused the instruction to resign, prefering to risk expulsion from the party.

Barral M Jorge consultancy estimates that up to 30 percent of the PMDB's 68 lawmakers could swing one way or the other, depending on how the vote unfolds.

Or they could just abstain, because they are unsure impeachment will succeed and are not prepared to commit themselves to an uncertain post-Rousseff scenario, said Petrus.

"The offer of jobs will lure some, but uncertainty over what comes next will keep others away, prefering not to back Dilma or a future Temer government that might not succeed," Petrus said. "Their absence will work in Rousseff's favor."

(Editing by Daniel Flynn and Andrew Hay)
(Releads with government request, adds details, opposition reaction; figures in Canadian dollars unless otherwise stated)

By David Ljunggren and Matt Scuffham

OTTAWA/TORONTO, April 4 (Reuters) - Canada on Monday sought a copy of the "Panama Papers" revelations about potential tax evasion while a big Canadian bank defended its practices after documents allegedly showed it had used the services of the firm at the heart of the case.

Governments across the world began investigating possible wrongdoing by the rich and powerful after a huge leak of documents from a Panamanian law firm revealed the financial arrangements of global politicians and other figures.

Canada is closely watching the cases of citizens found to have set up offshore companies in Panama and elsewhere and will refer cases to prosecutors if necessary, said a spokeswoman for National Revenue Minister Diane Lebouthillier.

"The Minister of National Revenue has instructed Canada Revenue Agency officials to obtain the list of data leaked through the Panama Papers," said Chloe Luciani-Girouard.

Royal Bank of Canada said it had controls in place to prevent illegal activities after documents allegedly showed it had regularly used the services of Mossack Fonseca, the Panama-based firm.

RBC, Canada's biggest bank, and its subsidiaries were associated with 378 shell companies registered in the Mossack Fonseca data, the Toronto Star newspaper reported.

RBC said that it worked within the legal and regulatory framework of every country in which it operates and had an extensive due diligence process to understand what its clients' intentions were.

Canada's opposition left-leaning New Democrats said the fact a prominent Canadian bank could be involved was "very worrying."

A spokesman for federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau said that "at this point, we have no reason to believe Canadian banks have acted unlawfully."

Canada's new Liberal government last month promised to invest almost C$450 million ($345 million) over five years to gather more information about tax evasion and tax avoidance.

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Since January 2015, Canada had already been monitoring all international transfers of funds worth more than C$10,000, including those from Panama, said Luciani-Girouard.

"Compliance actions will be taken as appropriate - including referrals to Public Prosecution Services of Canada for possible criminal prosecution," she said in an e-mail.

The Toronto Star named one Canadian listed in the documents as Eric Van Nguyen, who along with seven others was charged in New York in 2014 with duping investors out of $290 million. He could not immediately be contacted.

($1=$1.31 Canadian) (Writing by David Ljunggren; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli)
(Adds comments on debt, comments from Antofagasta CEO)

By Anthony Esposito and Pratima Desai

SANTIAGO, April 5 (Reuters) - Chile's state copper producer Codelco is slashing spending by $6 billion over the next five years in the wake of a steep fall in the price of copper, significantly reducing its targeted output, Chief Executive Nelson Pizarro said on Tuesday.

The world no.1 copper miner has previously said it would trim some $4 billion of budgeted spending from its key investment plan.

Added to other cost cuts, that implied around $6 billion spending cuts over the next five years - meaning a loss of 13 percent of planned output over the next 25 years, said Pizarro at the annual Cesco/CRU copper conference in capital Santiago.

Cooling demand in key buyer China has driven the copper price to over a six-year low in recent months, leading miners globally to reduce production, freeze operations and lay off workers. The cumulative effect of those cuts would likely lead the market to a deficit from 2018, said Pizarro.

Although the price slide had hit some small mining operations in Chile, the larger outfits could easily survive at the current market level, said Diego Hernandez, chief executive of London-listed copper miner Antofagasta, on the sidelines of the conference.

"There are no signs that the price will change this year...and we have to adapt ourselves to this reality," he said. Antofagasta had cash positive operations and "most large mining operations in Chile can resist current prices," he said.

But for Codelco, the copper price fall has come just as it was seeking to implement an ambitious investment plan to open new mine projects and revamp older ones.

Its spending cuts would mean 70,000 fewer tonnes of refined copper between 2015 and 2019, rising to 600,000 tonnes less in the next five years, Pizarro said.

Over 25 years, that would add up to 4 million tonnes, about 13 percent of the 44 million tonnes it had planned. Last year Chile overall produced around 5.76 million tonnes of copper.

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Codelco returns its profits to the state and is funded by a combination of government financing and debt issuance. Pizarro said that 2016 was already financed and no more funds were needed, but that there remained a gap for 2017.

"Next year we have an investment plan of around $3 billion and probably we will need an additional loan injection," he said. When asked if the shortfall would be made up with a debt issue, he replied "yes".

(Reporting by Anthony Esposito and Pratima Desai, Additonal reporting by Felipe Iturrieta, Writing by Rosalba O'Brien; Editing by Marguerita Choy and Andrew Hay)
The ZTE company logo is seen as a guest delivers a speech during the company's 15th anniversary celebration in Beijing in this April 18, 2013 file photo. REUTERS/Barry Huang/Files

By Paul Carsten

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's ZTE Corp, in a routine management reshuffle, has replaced three senior executives alleged to be the main signatories to documents purportedly showing the company made efforts to dodge sanctions against Iran.

The change in personnel was made just weeks after the U.S. government released the documents and imposed tough export restrictions on the telecom equipment maker.

The U.S. government has since said it would ease the restrictions until the end of June and could further ease them if ZTE cooperated in "resolving the matter".

On Tuesday, ZTE said it had named current Chief Technology Officer Zhao Xianming as its new president, effective immediately, replacing Shi Lirong, who had been in the role since 2010.

"We will be taking extra measures to ensure that legal compliance and anti-corruption processes eliminate any possibility of non-compliance," Zhao said in a letter to ZTE's staff.

"We will put practical measures in place to rebuild our operational philosophy and turn the challenges into opportunities," he said.

The company also appointed seven executive vice presidents, but this list did not include Tian Wenguo or Qiu Weizhao, both of whom served in that position until Tuesday's shake up.

Shi, Tian and Qiu, the only people dropped from ZTE's top management, were also the only member's of the firm's senior executive bench named in the documents released by the U.S.

The company reshuffles management every three years, and the changes are in line with the company's regular schedule, a ZTE spokesman told Reuters on Monday.

While reshuffles at ZTE happen frequently, a high-level change is almost certainly related to the U.S. export restrictions, said Kang Rongping, a director at the Institute for World Chinese Business at the think tank Center for China & Globalization.

"In recent years, ZTE hasn't been doing too well, so adding these export restrictions is making a bad situation worse," said Kang, referring to the company's business growth.

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Outgoing president Shi had been in the position for six years. Tian had been an executive vice president since 2005 and Qiu since 2007, according to ZTE annual reports.

Their terms, which are for three-year periods and can be renewed, were due to end March, 2016, according to a ZTE stock exchange filing in 2015.

Shi, Tian and Qiu were three of the main signatories on alleged internal documents released by the U.S. Department of Commerce detailing efforts to circumvent Washington's export controls on Iran and other countries.

The documents, marked "Highly Confidential", name Tian and Qiu as the people who had allegedly instructed ZTE to carry out a project for dodging export controls in Iran, North Korea, Syria, Sudan and Cuba, and made up the two-person "Project Executive Committee."

ZTE declined to comment on the documents when contacted by Reuters on Tuesday.

ZTE's Hong Kong-listed shares are currently suspended at a price of HK$14.16 ($1.83).

(Reporting by Paul Carsten; Additional reporting by Clare Bladwin; Editing by Christopher Cushing and David Evans)
By Joyce Lee and Hooyeon Kim SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's coffee shop craze is frothing over. In fashionable retail and commercial districts of southern Seoul, nearly one in every two buildings boasts a coffee shop - evidence of a boom that has delivered dizzying growth for the likes of Starbucks and local chains. But now the market is getting even more crowded, as convenience stores such as 7-Eleven offer 1,000 won (87 cents) cups, and smaller players are feeling the heat. "We declared an emergency situation, gathered all employees eight times to debate strategies," Moon Chang-ki, CEO of mid-priced coffee chain Ediya, the country's largest operator by location with about 1,800 stores, told reporters recently. "If we sell at that price, our store owners won't earn any margins." To compete, Ediya says it has instead focused on improving the quality of its coffee, and actually raised prices last year. Other chains have responded to growing competition by cutting back on store numbers and staff, or expanding overseas. The number of chain and stand-alone coffee shops in South Korea more than tripled to about 49,600 in 2015 from 12,400 in 2011, according to Korea Contents Media - far faster than overall consumption of coffee, which Koreans have been drinking for decades. PEAK COFFEE South Korea's per capita coffee consumption has nearly doubled since 1990 to 2.3 kg (5 lb) per person, according to the International Coffee Organization - still roughly half the 4.5 kg that Americans consume. Revenue growth at coffee chains in the country slowed to about 8 percent in 2014, however, from more than 20 percent annually between 2008 and 2012, analysts say. While the number of new coffee shops in Seoul increased, so did closures, according to city data. Brewed coffee sales at 7-Eleven, run by Lotte Shopping's <023530.KS> Korea Seven Co Ltd, jumped 88 percent in 2015 after it introduced drip coffee early last year costing about a dollar, almost one-fifth the cost of an average Starbucks cup. McDonald's Corp stores cut coffee prices to 1,500 won from 2,100 won early last year, and have seen sales of the beverage almost triple, the company told Reuters. By contrast, local chain Cafe Droptop, with about 225 shops, cut about 20 percent of its workforce at the end of 2015. Another chain, Coffine Gurunaru, with about 100 shops, incurred combined operating losses of 2.5 billion won ($2.2 million) in 2013 and 2014 after being profitable in the previous two years, filings show. "Even fried chicken restaurants and pubs are adding coffee, trying to be a cafe, while espresso machines are spreading in offices," said Lee Kyung-hee, who heads the Korea Business Strategy Institute, a consultancy. "The coffee industry is fighting a war without borders." GOING ABROAD Starbucks entered the market in 1999, and is widely credited with starting the country's habit for splurging on higher-quality coffee and creating a cafe industry SK Securities said was worth about 2.5 trillion won ($2.2 billion) in 2014. Starbucks Coffee Korea, a 50-50 joint venture between the world's biggest coffee chain and South Korean hypermarket operator E-Mart <139480.KS>, now has 860 stores, putting the country behind only China and Japan as the company's biggest markets in Asia, with sales more than doubling between 2011 and 2014. It posted a 20 percent increase in net profit to 30.77 billion won in 2014, the most recent year for which results are available, on revenue of 617 billion won, up 28 percent. But with industry growth slowing, some chains have been pushing abroad. Caffe Bene, which reached 932 domestic stores in 2014 before trimming back to 850 at the end of March, posted a 3.3 billion won net loss in the first three quarters of 2015, according to the latest public data. Last month, a joint venture between Singapore's Food Empire and Indonesia's Salim Group acquired a 38 percent stake in Caffe Bene, becoming the second biggest shareholder after South Korean private equity fund K3 Equity Partners. The chain said it was looking to expand in Southeast Asia to drive growth. Zoo Coffee, with 65 domestic shops, has opened about 200 franchise stores in China since entering the country in 2013 and in December announced a tie-up with China's giant Dalian Wanda Group to open 50 stores per year there. Cafe Droptop in November opened its first overseas outlet in Shanghai. (Editing by Tony Munroe and Alex Richardson)
By Denny Thomas and Lisa Jucca

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) Chief Executive Officer Tidjane Thiam said on Tuesday the Swiss bank has been "underweight" in China and would look to build its wealth management capabilities in the world's second-biggest economy, despite slowing growth.

Thiam told a media briefing on the sidelines of the annual Credit Suisse Asian Investment Conference in Hong Kong that he was not concerned by the slower economic growth in China. The CEO said he saw this as a natural development as the country transforms itself into a consumption-driven economy rather than one led by investment.

"We have been underweight (in) China and will continue to invest," said Thiam, 53, who joined the Zurich-based bank in July 2015. The banker said he would be spending five days in China as part of his current Asia trip, meeting clients and seeking to develop his understanding of their needs.

Thiam's focus on China comes at a time when Credit Suisse has made wealth management a key plank for its future growth. The bank is also shifting its focus to the Asia-Pacific region, where it already has an important presence in Southeast Asia: Thiam aims to more than double Asia-Pacific pre-tax income to 2.1 billion Swiss francs ($2.19 billion) by 2018.

China's blistering economic growth over the past decade has made it home to a million high-net-worth individuals, according to consultants Bain & Co, twice as many as in 2010. For foreign banks, Asia - and China in particular - has become the new battleground in developing wealth management business.

But making money onshore in China has proved a challenge for most foreign banks, hampered by the heavily protected nature of China's financial services sector.

Credit Suisse currently lacks an onshore licence to operate wealth management business in China, but is considering securing one.

"Our strategy is primarily driven by wealth management and private banking," Thiam said. "We have a good customer base. Today we are offshore, but ultimately we will be onshore."

(Reporting by Denny Thomas and Lisa Jucca; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)
April 5 (Reuters) - A World Bank tribunal has ordered Venezuela to pay damages of nearly $1.4 billion to Crystallex International Corp, a Canadian mining company, as compensation for expropriating the miner's Las Cristinas mining project, Crystallex said on Tuesday.

The $1.386 billion award was released on Monday by the World Bank's International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, the company said in a statement.

Venezuela's Oil and Mining Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Crystallex filed its arbitration request on Feb. 16, 2011 after former president Hugo Chavez's government took over the gold project in 2008 as part of a plan to put key industries into state hands.

The miner last November filed a complaint in a U.S. court, seeking to recover $2.8 billion it says it is owed from Venezuela's state-run oil company PDVSA and its U.S. subsidiary.

(Reporting by Nicole Mordant in Vancouver; Editing by Bernard Orr)
US President Barack Obama (L) and Argentinian President Mauricio Macri meet at the Casa Rosada presidential palace in Buenos Aires (AFP Photo/Damian Dopacio )

Buenos Aires (AFP) - Fresh from his landmark trip to Cuba, US President Barack Obama traveled Wednesday on to Argentina, where four decades later resentment still simmers over Washington's backing for its former dictatorship.

After calling for freedom and democracy as he stood alongside Cuba's communist leaders on the first leg of his regional visit, Obama touched down in another Latin American nation with a history of delicate relations with the United States.

Obama, who hopes to remake the United States' image in Latin America, met Argentina's new free market-friendly President Mauricio Macri at the Casa Rosada presidential palace in Buenos Aires on Wednesday morning.

Roads were closed as Obama's motorcade headed to the Casa Rosada, where he and Macri were scheduled to give a news conference shortly before 1600 GMT.

Tuesday's deadly bomb blasts in Brussels prompted Argentina to put its security forces on high alert as it received Obama, who is traveling with First Lady Michelle Obama, their two daughters and his mother-in-law.

There was a security alert when police arrested a man who burst into the offices of a state radio station near the presidential palace threatening to blow the building up, station employees told media. The building was evacuated and no one was reported hurt.

It is the first visit by a US president to Argentina since 2005. That year George W. Bush was met by angry protests at a summit where regional leaders blocked his plans for a free-trade deal.

Macri has reached out to Washington and other foreign powers since taking office in December after years of combative relations under his leftist predecessors.

But the delicate issue of US involvement in Latin America's violent history will rear its head during Obama's visit to Buenos Aires -- after the Havana visit touched on sensitivities over human rights in Cuba.

On Thursday morning Obama will pay homage to victims of the "dirty war" by Argentina's dictators against dissidents.

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That day marks the 40th anniversary of the military coup that started the 1976-1983 dictatorship. Declassified documents have shown that top US officials backed the coup and America's wider image in Latin America was tarnished by involvement in coups and death squads.

- US and the 'dirty war' -

After the talks with Macri, Obama was due to lay a wreath at Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral and meet local people, before attending a state dinner.

His administration said last week it would declassify military and intelligence records linked to Argentina's "dirty war."

"We're determined to do our part as Argentina continues to heal and move forward as one nation," said Obama's National Security Advisor Susan Rice.

The sensitive date of the Argentina visit angered some victims' groups. Several organizations have called on Obama to apologize for US support of the military regime.

But four opinion polls showed a majority of Argentines approved of Obama's visit.

Obama "believes that part of moving forward in the Americas or any other part of the world involves a clear-eyed recognition of the past," said Ben Rhodes, one of the president's top advisors.

"He will be more than willing to speak to what took place 40 years ago, to the suffering that took place after the coup and to the complicated history between the United States and Argentina as it relates to those events."

Adolfo Perez Esquivel, 84, an Argentine human rights activist who like Obama is a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, recalled that US military academies trained troops from Argentina and other Latin American regimes in torture techniques.

"It would be good to have a public recognition of United States interventionism," he said.

- US 'vulture' funds -

Some small leftist groups called for demonstrations against Obama's visit in Buenos Aires and in the Andean resort town of Bariloche, where the Obamas are due to head on Thursday for a few hours' leisure time.

Demonstrations are also planned Thursday in memory of the dictatorship. Some vowed also to protest in anger at the treatment of Argentina by its US creditors.

Macri's government has reached a settlement with US hedge funds that his predecessor Cristina Kirchner branded "vultures."

The Obamas are scheduled to leave Argentina on Thursday night.
(This version of the story corrects paragraph 3 to show cases refer to mental illness and suicide) By Stanley White TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan is witnessing a record number of compensation claims related to death from overwork, or "karoshi", a phenomenon previously associated with the long-suffering "salary man" that is increasingly afflicting young and female employees. Labour demand, with 1.28 jobs per applicant, is the highest since 1991, which should help Prime Minister Shinzo Abe draw more people into the workforce to counter the effect of a shrinking population, but lax enforcement of labour laws means some businesses are simply squeezing more out of employees, sometimes with tragic consequences. Claims for compensation for mental illness and suicide caused by excessive work rose to a record high of 1,456 in the year to end-March 2015, according to labour ministry data, with cases concentrated in healthcare, social services, shipping and construction, which are all facing chronic worker shortages. Hiroshi Kawahito, secretary general of the National Defense Counsel for Victims of karoshi, said the real number was probably 10 times higher, as the government is reluctant to recognise such incidents. "The government hosts a lot of symposiums and makes posters about the problem, but this is propaganda," he said. "The real problem is reducing working hours, and the government is not doing enough." The labour ministry did not respond to requests for comment. Kawahito, a lawyer who has been dealing with karoshi since the 1980s, said 95 percent of his cases used to be middle-aged men in white-collar jobs, but now about 20 percent are women. Japan has no legal limits on working hours, but the labour ministry recognises two types of karoshi: death from cardiovascular illness linked to overwork, and suicide following work-related mental stress. A cardiovascular death is likely to be considered karoshi if an employee worked 100 hours of overtime in the month beforehand, or 80 hours of overtime in two or more consecutive months in the previous six. A suicide could qualify if it follows an individual's working 160 hours or more of overtime in one month or more than 100 hours of overtime for three consecutive months. Work-related suicides are up 45 percent in the past four years among those 29 and younger, and up 39 percent among women, labour ministry data show. TWO-TIER WORKFORCE The problem has become more acute as Japan's workforce has divided into two distinct categories - regular employees, and those on temporary or non-standard contracts, frequently women and younger people. In 2015 non-regular employees made up 38 percent of the workforce, up from 20 percent in 1990, and 68 percent of them were women. Lawyers and academic say unscrupulous employers operate a "bait-and-switch" policy, advertising a full-time position with reasonable working hours, but later offering the successful applicant a non-regular contract with longer hours, sometimes overnight or weekends, with no overtime pay. Refusing overtime pay and break time are illegal, and the applicant could refuse the job, but activists say companies tell them they will be given regular contracts after six months or so. They say young applicants often accept due to lack of experience, while women trying to re-enter the workforce after childbirth often feel it would be difficult to get a foothold elsewhere. Emiko Teranishi, head of the Families Dealing with Karoshi support group, said she hears lots of complaints about hiring tactics, with some companies telling new hires that their salary includes 80 hours of overtime, and they must reimburse the company if they work less. Some people dont even make minimum wage under this system, said Teranishi, whose own husband committed suicide after working long hours. Such abuses have become so common in the past 10 years that such companies have been dubbed "black" companies in the media. Hirokazu Ouchi, a professor at Chukyo University, wrote a book last year about such companies when he realised some of his students were being treated illegally at their part-time jobs. Ouchi said their hiring practices typically follow a similar pattern. "Companies will hire someone for two to three years, but they have no intention of investing the time or the money to nurture that employee," said Ouchi. He added that the labour ministry lacked the manpower to follow up on complaints. A ministry official working in corporate surveillance acknowledged that his department was somewhat short-staffed but the government was taking steps to recruit more every year. He declined to give his name as he is not authorised to speak to the media. Japan's working-age population has been falling since the mid-1990s, which would normally lead companies to improve working conditions to attract workers, but Ouchi said it was not happening because they can get away with bending the rules. "This is a way for companies to keep labour costs down, but it is also a path that leads to death by overwork," he said. (Editing by Will Waterman)
Donald Trump.

Donald Trump's presidential campaign faces another crucial test in Wisconsin's Republican primary on Tuesday night.

The GOP frontrunner's chances of securing the 1,237 delegates needed to clinch the GOP nomination outright would greatly increase if he can secure a win.

But if he falls short, the odds of a contested convention, in which anti-Trump forces could potentially coalesce around an alternate presidential candidate, would increase instead.

Trump appears aware of the stakes.

"I want to get there with Wisconsin," he said at a Monday campaign stop.

But Trump's top rival, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, is favored to win.

Most recent surveys found Trump trailing Cruz in the Badger State. The RealClearPolitics average of polls conducted in the last several weeks found Cruz about five points ahead of Trump. The more historically reliable surveys have found Cruz ahead by an even wider margin.

Much of the major conservative infrastructure in Wisconsin is lined up against Trump. Gov. Scott Walker, who dropped out of the race last year, endorsed Cruz and cut an ad on his behalf. And many prominent conservative talk-radio hosts in the state have spent months criticizing Trump.

The structure of Wisconsin's primary contest could also allow Cruz to take home all of the state's 42 delegates if the senator performs well across the map. Wisconsin allocates 15 delegates to the statewide winner and the rest are awarded to the winners of individual congressional districts.

ted cruz

Trump's last two weeks have not been kind to him, either.

He botched a question about abortion rights, and his campaign spent days clarifying his position. He admitted that it was a mistake to promote an unflattering photo of Cruz's wife. And his campaign manager was charged with simple battery in connection to an incident in which a reporter accused the aide of grabbing her.

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But Trump nevertheless dug in with a major, last-minute push to win Wisconsin.

He barnstormed across the state since the end of last week. The billionaire even spent multiple nights in Wisconsin hotels, which cuts against his typical habit of flying back to Manhattan or southern Florida after his speeches. He also did retail-campaign stops on Monday and Tuesday at diners, the type of appearance he usually eschews for gigantic rallies.

Trump hasn't attempted to downplay expectations, either. He has repeatedly dismissed the polls showing him behind in Wisconsin and predicted again and again that he would ultimately defeat Cruz there.

"I said, 'What do you think? I'm not seeing polls that are great. I'm down, I'm a little down,'" Trump told his supporters on Monday of a conversation he had with a friend.

"No," his friend replied, according to the candidate. "You're going to win."

NOW WATCH: 'I'm dropping in, I'm not dropping out: Watch Kasich mock Trump and explain why he refuses to leave the race





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The BRIC in the Wall is Cracking: An Assessment

(Continued from Prior Part)

Chinas economic growth drivers

Chinas economic growth model was simple: attract investment, expand credit, and dominate world exports. It was successfully able to implement this given that the state towered above all and dictated policy. Cheap labor, low wages, and long work shifts ensured that Chinas exports were the cheapest in the world.

The Great Recession of 2008 has haunted China, but not in the way the US and Europe were affected, though. China did not have to do much in terms of stimulus measures to remain healthy in the face of the recession. Because it is hard to predict the impact of events like recessions, everyoneincluding Chinakept hoping for the world economy to heal itself.

Almost no one anticipated the recession to have such a lasting impact. The worst event in modern world economic history since the Great Depression changed the landscape of many countries forever. It also showed that economic fundamentals catch up with everybody, regardless of their economic might.

The countrys forex reserves are still formidableover the $3 trillion markhowever, they have weakened considerably and are down by $791 billion from a peak of close to $4 trillion seen in June 2014. The reserves for February 2016 were the lowest since December 2011.

The new China

The lingering impact of the Great Recession forced the Asian dragon to retreat into its den. We know that its new drivers must be consumption-driven. China has to grow from within and to rely less on the outside world. This structural change has begun, but doubts remain over the time that it will take and its eventual success.

At the two-week China National Peoples Congress held in March, Chinas premier, Li Keqiang, set out a growth target of 6.5%7% for this year. During the proceedings of the Congress, which is a grand marquee event and lacks substance, the premier hoped that the reform process would be a win-win for all.

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A structural reform is hardly joyful and can be quite painful, as Japan and Brazil are discovering. Further, it can take decades for it to show its full effect. The Chinese premiers remarks were intended to smooth frayed nerves, similar to what the official machinery has been trying to do for investors.

Investors with a long-term horizon can find information technology (WUBA) (CMCM) (QIHU) and consumer-driven companies (ZNH) (GSH), along with financial institutions that deal in personal credit, to be viable investment options if the structural reform process succeeds. Energy companies (CEO) (SNP) have done well in March and if crude oil prices head northward, these companies may do better in the medium to long term.

In the next article, well pit passive (ASHR) and active funds (NGCAX) investing in China against each other and see how they have fared in 1Q16.

Continue to Next Part

Browse this series on Market Realist:
Protesters hold an Italian flag covered with photos of murdered Italian student Giulio Regeni during a demonstration in front of the Egyptian embassy in Rome on February 25, 2016 (AFP Photo/Filippo Monteforte)

Rome (AFP) - Italy has upped its pressure on Egypt over slain student Giulio Regeni, warning it would not accept a "fabricated" account of the Italian's torture and murder from Egyptian prosecutors and police due in Rome on Wednesday.

As Cairo confirmed the investigative team would fly to the Italian capital, Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni warned of unspecified "proportionate" consequences if Rome's demands for greater transparency on Regeni's fate were not met.

Regeni, 28, and a PhD candidate at Cambridge University, was found dead outside Cairo on February 3, his body bearing the signs of torture which an autopsy concluded had been inflicted over several days.

On March 25, Cairo announced police had killed four members of a criminal gang specialising in abducting foreigners, and that they had found Regeni's passport in the apartment of a sister of one of the slain suspects.

That version of what happened to Regeni has been greeted with outraged scepticism in Italy, where there is a widespread suspicion that the murder was the work of elements in the security services. Cairo has rejected that theory as baseless.

Gentiloni reiterated that Italy regarded the kidnapping gang story as a "new attempt to give credence to a convenient truth" and said he would reject any attempt to have it accepted as "a conclusion to the investigation".

Egypt responded tersely to those remarks. "We refrain from commenting on these statements which complicate the situation, particularly as they come one day prior to the arrival of the Egyptian investigators' team," the foreign ministry in Cairo said in a statement.

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said Italy would not stop until it got "the truth, full stop. The real truth.

"We owe that to Giulio, his friends, his mother, father, his little sister and we owe it to all of us. We hope and we think Egypt can cooperate with our magistrates ... we want, we want, we want the truth to the see the light of day."

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- Close ties at risk -

Gentiloni told Italian lawmakers that Rome was still waiting to receive Regeni's mobile phone records and CCTV images from the neighbourhood in which he was abducted. The minister also said Italy was seeking information on Regeni having "probably been placed under surveillance prior to his abduction."

If these elements are not forthcoming, Gentiloni warned of damage to the usually close relations between the two countries.

"The government is ready to react by adopting immediate and proportionate measures," he said, rejecting suggestions Italy could not afford a bust-up with a major trade and security partner.

"In the name of reasons of state, we will not accept a fabricated truth... and we will not allow the dignity of our country to be walked all over."

Egypt's public prosecutor's office said the team headed for Rome would be led by deputy general prosecutor Mostafa Suleiman and would "present the results of the investigation conducted by the Egyptian general prosecution in the case so far".

The delegation was initially due in Rome on Tuesday, but the trip was delayed for undisclosed reasons.

- Barely recognisable -

Regeni disappeared in central Cairo on January 25, and his body was found nine days later on the side of a motorway. His mother later said his body had been so badly mutilated she could only recognise him by the tip of his nose.

Regeni had been researching labour movements in Egypt, a sensitive topic, and had written articles critical of the government under a pen name.

He disappeared on a day when Cairo was almost deserted and security tight as the country marked the fifth anniversary of the uprising that ousted longtime leader Hosni Mubarak.

Since the 2013 ouster of Islamist leader Mohamed Morsi, rights groups have accused Egypt's security services of carrying out illegal detentions, forced disappearances of activists and the torture of detainees.

Since Morsi's removal by then army chief and now President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, a police crackdown targeting Morsi's supporters has left hundreds dead and tens of thousands jailed.

Hundreds more have been sentenced to death, including Morsi himself.
While they have some power to shape economic policy, Donald Trump and other potential presidents could not prevent a U.S. recession on their own, Mohamed El-Erian said Monday.

"A president on his or her own is limited" in responding to an economic slowdown, the Allianz chief economic advisor told CNBC's "Fast Money."

At a campaign stop in Wisconsin on Monday, Trump suggested a "massive recession" would hit the U.S. if he is not elected. The business magnate and Republican presidential contender predicted an economic "mess" without his leadership.

"I'm going to straighten things out before it happens," he said.

El-Erian said he sees a 30 percent chance of a recession next year, with a slowdown even less likely this year. He added that, even if a recession looks imminent, the president's power to curb it is limited by the other branches of government.

He argued that the economy needs less "reliance on central banks" and a "more comprehensive policy response." Separately, markets have priced in further Federal Reserve intervention, leaving stocks more vulnerable if the policy course changes, El-Erian argued.

"It's not just that we're pricing continued central bank support but we're expecting the Fed to reverse course. I don't think that's going to happen, and therefore I think there's vulnerability," he said.

El-Erian said he believes market watchers will continue to view the Fed's policy message as inconsistent.





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LUXEMBOURG, April 5 (Reuters) - International lenders may finish their review of Greek reforms, needed to unblock further credit to Athens and start debt relief negotiations, in early May, the head of the euro zone bailout fund Klaus Regling said on Tuesday.

"My hope is that we will be able to conclude this review in early may, before the Orthodox Easter," Regling told journalists in Luxembourg.

Euro zone and International Monetary Fund officials said last week they were aiming to have an agreement on the reforms with Greece by April 12, before many top officials leave for the IMF's spring meetings in Washington on April 15.

Concluding the reform review has been delayed for months because it involves negotiations on some politically difficult steps for the leftist Greek government like a pension reform, the treatment of non-performing loans and an income tax reform.

(Reporting By Francesco Guarascio, writing by Jan Strupczewski)
WHITE ROCK, BC / ACCESSWIRE / April 5, 2016 / EUROPEAN URANIUM RESOURCES LTD. ("EUU" or the "Company") (EUU.V) has filed a technical report regarding the Unkur copper-silver project, Russia ("Unkur Report") to support the indirect acquisition of the initial 60% of the Unkur project as announced on March 1, 2016. The Unkur Report was authored by Robin Simpson, MAIG, of SRK Consulting (Russia) Ltd. ("SRK") an independent Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101.

The highlights of the Unkur Report include:

- The Unkur Project is interpreted as a sediment-hosted stratiform copper deposit type. The copper-bearing horizon has been traced, from historic drill holes, trenches and outcrop, for a length of about 5 kilometers northwest-southeast in the southwest limb of the Unkur Syncline. No material exploration works have yet been conducted by, or on behalf of the Company.

- Eight historical diamond drill holes returned copper samples with grades greater than 0.6% Cu (the grade historically used for defining substantial mineralization). The mean length of these intersections is 13 m and the mean grade is 0.78%. The deepest intersection is 250m down hole. Within the zone of copper mineralization, silver grades were estimated by sampling composites of the copper samples. Average silver grade of these composites was 68.3 g/t. The reliability of these historical results is in doubt though, because of significant core recovery problems: recovery in the mineralized intervals was 65% on average, and as low as 31%. In addition to the poor recoveries, the overall quantity and quality of historical data are insufficient to be the basis for preparing a mineral resource estimation.

- Despite the risks and uncertainties arising from data quality, SRK considers that the Unkur Project has a high exploration potential. Continuity of the mineralized horizon has been established over a strike length of at least 5 km, and the extent of this horizon has not yet been closed off, either along strike or down dip. Information from geophysics, and sparse outcrop exposures, implies that the same copper-bearing horizon is also present, several kilometres away, on the northeast limb of the Unkur Syncline.

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- Metallurgical testing results of a single 350kg sample of the oxide copper-bearing ore of the Unkur deposit taken in December 24, 2014 indicate that copper and silver can be recovered. Preliminary tests indicate recoveries up to 96% of both copper and silver.

- In the opinion of SRK, the potential of the Unkur Project is sufficient to justify additional exploration, which will also satisfy the minimum exploration expenditure requirements. SRK has proposed a work program to delineate the copper and silver mineralization, estimate mineral resources and prepare an initial mineral resource statement and preliminary economic assessment to meet NI 43-101 disclosure guidelines.

- The overall work program can be divided into phases. The initial phase should comprise 6 to 8 "top priority" holes for approximately 2,800m of drilling, with the objectives of confirming results obtained from historical drilling and of providing geologic information to be used in planning the subsequent phases. The estimated budget for this first phase is approximately C$479,000.

The Unkur Report titled "Technical Report for the Unkur Copper-Silver Deposit, Kodar-Udokan Area, Russian Federation" is dated effective March 1, 2016, is filed on the Company's profile on www.sedar.com.

The pending acquisition of the Unkur project is part of a reorganization and restructuring of the Company as described in the March 1, 2016 news release, and all remains subject to Exchange approval of all elements of these transactions on terms acceptable to the parties and the closing of all the transactions is each conditional on the closing of the other.

Qualified Person

This release has been reviewed and approved by Robin Simpson, MAIG, an employee of SRK Consulting (Russia) Ltd. and the author of the Unkur Report, who is a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101. This release has also been reviewed and approved for the Company by Dorian L. (Dusty) Nicol, President and CEO of the Company, also a Qualified Person as defined in NI 43-101.

EUROPEAN URANIUM RESOURCES LTD.

"Dusty Nicol"

Dorian L. (Dusty) Nicol, President and CEO

For further information please contact: Doris Meyer, at (604) 536-2711 ext 6, or visit www.euresources.com.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that ter is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Statement:

This news release contains forward-looking statements that are based on the Corporation's current expectations and estimates. Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "plan," "expect," "project," "intend," "believe," "anticipate," "estimate," "suggest," "indicate" and other similar words or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from estimated or anticipated events or results implied or expressed in such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others: the completion of the acquisition of the Unkur Project and the ancillary transactions including the part-and-parcel private placement, the debt settlement and the consolidation and name change. In addition, the actual results of current exploration activities; conclusions of economic evaluations; changes in project parameters as plans to continue to be refined; possible variations in ore grade or recovery rates; accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry; delays in obtaining governmental approvals or financing; and fluctuations in metal prices. There may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, the Corporation disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such statements due to the inherent uncertainty therein.

SOURCE: European Uranium Resources Ltd.
With its alliterative moniker, the Panama Papers scandal has brought to light a colossal calumny of massive proportions.

The gargantuan document leak published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists indicts a "clandestine network" including Russia's President Vladimir Putin, a FIFA ethics committee member and other individuals previously accused for corruption by the United States.

Millions

Over 11 million documents are included in the leak, spanning a period over 40 years. The documents are said to be connected to Mossack Fonseca, a Panama law firm, thus garnering the nickname "Panama Papers."

According to CNN's ongoing report of the document leak, there are 12 world leaders and 128 other political or public figures implicated within the documents. "In addition to allegations involving Putin and FIFA, the papers also accuse Iceland's prime minister of having ties, through his wife, to an offshore company that were not properly disclosed. The documents allegedly show Argentina's president did not correctly disclose assets when he was mayor of Buenos Aires," Jethro Mullen reported.

Related Link: The Market In 5 Minutes: April, Come She Will

Billions

From the ICIJ, the opprobrium cashes in at billions of dollars. "According to analysis, as much as $2 billion has been secretly shuffled through banks and shadow companies linked to Putin's associates. Bank Rossiya, identified by the U.S. as Putin's personal cashbox, has been instrumental in building a network of offshore companies. Dozens of loans, some worth hundreds of millions of dollars, sold between offshore companies for as little as $1 or less," ICIJ summarized.

"About 100 financial deals related to the network are described in the leaked documents," ICIJ reporters continued. "They are complex. Payments are disguised in various ways. On paper, shares in companies are swapped back and forth in a day. Documents are backdated. Questionable financial penalties are assessed. The rights to multimillion-dollar loans are sold between offshore companies for $1.

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"In almost every instance, the result is the same: money and power moves in the direction of the network, to companies and people allied to Putin."

Related Link: Brazil From The Ground: What Right And Left Are Saying About The Crisis

Whispers Ahead Of The Leak

ICIJ revealed that there have been reports, primarily from whistleblowers, regarding Putin's "secret wealth." In addition to the whistleblowers, "various news organizations" have made observations about Putin's associates becoming enormously wealthy; "Yet a detailed picture of the hidden financial affairs of Putin's circle have remained elusive."

The documents have originated from Mossack Fonseca, ICIJ confirmed. "The records reveal what until now has mostly been the stuff of rumor: how Putin's cronies secretly conduct their business."

"The law firm's internal files show how minions and proxies created structures to hide and move the secret wealth. The records include email correspondence, bank account forms, loan agreements, share transactions and passport scans. Dates, cash amounts and contract terms are detailed," ICIJ explained, elaborating the depth and breadth of the document leak.

Who All Is Involved

The interconnected web of people involved in the scandal as revealed by the Panama Papers is more than complex. It's byzantine and multifarious. It involves countries in every quadrant of the globe and a ridiculous amount of institutions and individuals.

Brian Kilmartin, editor of digital production for Irish Times, has created an interactive visual to represent just how convoluted the leak's information is.

Titled "Panama Papers: Where The Money Is Hiding," the map looks like a chicken pox-inflicted world, dotting "companies in Mossack Fonseca database connected' to a particular country by address. The data also shows clients, beneficiaries, and shoreholders by country."

panama.jpg

For an interactive view, click here.

See more from Benzinga

 2016 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Lesbos (Greece) (AFP) - Greece sent more than 200 migrants back to Turkey on Monday, the first wave of deportations under a hugely controversial deal aimed at easing Europe's worst migration crisis since World War II.

The orderly return of the 202 migrants aboard three chartered Turkish ferries stood in stark contrast to the journey many have taken over perilous seas aboard crowded rubber dinghies.

Two boats left the Greek island of Lesbos at dawn, and another from the island of Chios, carrying mostly Afghan and Pakistani migrants who Turkey will eventually deport to their home countries.

The grim-faced deportees were boarded onto the boats by security guards from the EU's Frontex border agency, who wore sanitary face masks.

Facing an unprecedented influx that has threatened to tear the bloc apart, the European Union clinched a last-ditch deal with Turkey to take back all irregular migrants landing in Greece after March 20.

In a heavily criticised swap deal, the EU has pledged to rehouse one Syrian in the bloc for every one deported from Greece, with numbers capped at 72,000.

Forty-three Syrian asylum seekers were flown to Europe on Monday under that part of the deal. Ten children and an adolescent in a wheelchair were among 32 Syrians who arrived in the northern German city of Hanover.

A further 11 refugees arrived in Finland, with more expected Tuesday in the Netherlands.

European leaders hope the agreement will discourage migrants from risking the Aegean crossing that has claimed 366 lives this year alone, and break up the lucrative racket that smuggled about one million migrants into Europe last year.

But rights groups have slammed the pact as inhumane and a blow to the right to request asylum, and protesters on Lesbos brandished banners reading: "Stop the dirty deal", "Stop deportations" and "Wake up Europe".

Amnesty International has accused Turkey of not being a safe country for refugees by forcibly returning Syrians back home to their war-torn countries -- a charge Ankara rejects.

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"The returns today are in many ways symbolic," said Gauri Vangulik, Deputy Europe director for Amnesty International.

"They are the first starting point of what is to become really one of the most disastrous episodes in European asylum policy."

- 'Guests for a while' -

The first to be deported under the deal arrived at the Turkish resort of Dikili to a heavy security presence, with media kept at a distance by metal barriers.

"The taking of fingerprints, the landing at the port, medical checks ... the transport of the 202 people in buses to reception centres in Kirklareli (on the Bulgarian border) is all taking place successfully," said Mustafa Toprak, governor of Turkey's Izmir region.

Yorgos Kyritsis, Greece's migration spokesman, said the first wave contained citizens of Iran, Congo, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, India, Ivory Coast and Somalia.

Only two were from Syria and they had requested to return for personal reasons, Kyritsis said.

Turkish EU Affairs Minister Volkan Bozkir told HaberTurk television that the non-Syrian migrants would be sent to the northern Kirklareli region for checks before being deported to their own countries.

"People who have migrated for purely economic reasons are to be sent back according to the rules," he said.

"We will apply to the countries of the illegal migrants. They can be our guests for a while and then bit by bit we will send them back."

The first group of migrants was already seen boarding buses for the long drive to Kirklareli.

- 'Disastrous episode' -

Despite the controversy surrounding the deal, it appeared to be reducing the flow.

Turkey's Interior Minister Efkan Ala said at the weekend that the numbers crossing had already fallen substantially in the last 10 days to just 300 people a day.

But some decided to chance it despite the risk of being sent back, and the Turkish coastguard on Monday blocked a boatload of about 60 mostly Afghan migrants, an AFP correspondent said.

Those in Greece are now rushing to speed up their asylum requests to avoid deportation.

"Lawyers came to talk to us through the fence and explain that it was best to do that," said Toufik, an Afghan in the Moria migrant camp on Lesbos.

Greek authorities are trying to relieve pressure on overcrowded makeshift camps on the border with Macedonia and at the port of Piraeus, where some 15,000 people are living in dire conditions following the closure of the migrant route through the Balkans to northern Europe.

Deputy defence minister Dimitris Vitsas on Monday said room for an additional 10,000 people would be available by April 10.

"Piraeus will be cleared before (May 1)," Vitsas told Mega TV.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has a particular interest in the deal, as her country accepted a record 1.1 million migrants last year after she refused to cap refugee numbers, earning her criticism at home and within the EU.

In return for its assistance in implementing the deal, Turkey will receive billions in EU aid, accelerated visa-free travel for its citizens and progress in its bid for membership of the bloc.
A logo of Ford is pictured on a car at the 86th International Motor Show in Geneva, Switzerland, March 1, 2016. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

DETROIT/WASHINGTON/MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co (F.N) on Tuesday announced it would invest $1.6 billion to build more small cars in Mexico, starting in 2018, triggering a fresh blast of criticism from Republican front-runner Donald Trump.

Following the announcement, Trump labelled the move "an absolute disgrace."

"These ridiculous, job crushing transactions will not happen when I am president," the real estate billionaire said in a statement released by his headquarters.

Ford stood by comments on the issue made two weeks ago by its chief executive, Mark Fields, who said the company would not back down on its production strategy.

"We are a global, multinational company and we will invest to keep us competitive and we will do what makes sense for the business," Fields said.

The automaker announced the investment in Mexico as Trump, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Ohio Governor John Kasich competed in a primary in Wisconsin seen as crucial in the race to become the Republican presidential candidate in the November election.

Trump, who has criticized U.S. companies for "sending jobs to Mexico," has singled out Ford for some of his harshest remarks.

But data indicates that Ford builds fewer vehicles and employs fewer workers in Mexico than do its Detroit-based rivals, General Motors Co (GM.N) and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles' (FCHA.MI) (FCAU.N) Chrysler unit.

In the United States, Ford has 55,300 hourly paid plant workers, GM has 54,000 and FCA has 36,600, the companies said.

GM has about 12,000 hourly paid workers in Mexico, while FCA has 9,547 and Ford has 6,191, the companies said on Tuesday.

In 2015, 80 percent of Ford's North American production came from its U.S. plants while 63 percent of GM's North American production came from its U.S. plants and 64 percent of FCA's North American production came from its U.S. plants, according to IHS Automotive.

A senior Mexican official said Mexico had stepped back from a high-profile announcement on the Ford plant to avoid stoking tensions in the U.S. election debate stemming from Trump's comments.

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"Due to the (election) debate, they (Ford) don't want to be in the spotlight," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Citing Mexican sources, Reuters reported the Ford plans in January.

Joe Hinrichs, Ford executive vice president and head of the Americas, said on Tuesday that the automaker is investing more money in Mexico "to improve our small-car profitability."

In Detroit, United Auto Workers President Dennis Williams described the new Ford investment in Mexico as "a disappointment and very troubling."

U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown, an Ohio Democrat, said corporations moving jobs out of the United States only to profit by shipping products back "is why people are so upset with corporate America that outsources so often."

Hinrichs declined to say which products Ford plans to build at the San Luis Potosi plant, which is slated to open in 2018 and will employ 2,800 by 2020.

U.S. supplier sources have said the plant is expected to build the next-generation Ford Focus compact, as well as a Focus-based hybrid gasoline-electric model aimed at rival Toyota Motor Corp and described as a "Prius fighter."

Ford joins a growing list of automakers investing billions in new production capacity in Mexico, where lower labour costs and favourable currency exchange mean companies have a better chance of turning a profit on low-margin small cars. And Mexico's numerous international free trade agreements allow for more profitable exports from Mexico to many countries, said Sean McAlinden, chief economist with the Center for Automotive Research.

McAlinden said that Ford's Mexico workers make about $8.25 per hour in wages and benefits, compared with Ford's U.S. workers, who get $60 per hour in wages and benefits.

During contract talks last summer, Ford confirmed that it would move Focus production out of its Wayne, Michigan plant in 2018. The UAW said at the time that Ford planned to build the next Focus in Mexico.

Hinrichs on Tuesday reiterated that Ford is planning to build two new vehicles at the Wayne plant, beginning in 2018, but declined to provide details.

(Reporting by Paul Lienert and Bernie Woodall in Detroit, David Shepardson in Washington and Ana Isabel Martinez in Mexico City; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
BERLIN, April 5 (Reuters) - German industrial orders dropped unexpectedly in February due to weaker foreign demand, particularly from euro zone countries, data showed on Tuesday, suggesting a slowdown in the global economy was leaving its mark.

Contracts for 'Made in Germany' goods were down 1.2 percent on the month, the Economy Ministry said, marking the biggest monthly fall in six months. That compared with a Reuters consensus forecast for a rise of 0.2 percent.

Domestic demand in Europe's biggest economy rose by 0.9 percent while foreign orders slipped 2.7 percent, with demand from euro zone countries tumbling 3.7 percent.

The data for January was revised up to a rise of 0.5 percent from a previously reported dip of 0.1 percent.

"Industrial orders were subdued at the start of the year. This reflects, not least, the sluggish development at present in the global economy," the Economy Ministry said in a statement.

It added, however, that business morale in the sector had brightened of late and said it expected a moderate upward trend in general.

(Reporting by Caroline Copley and Madeline Chambers)
REYKJAVIK (Reuters) - Iceland Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson will step down, the deputy head of his party said on Tuesday, after leaked files showed the premier's wife owned an offshore firm with big claims on Iceland's collapsed banks.

Sigurdur Ingi Johannsson, who is also currently minister of fisheries and agriculture, told reporters that the progressive party will suggest to its coalition partners in the Independence Party that he should become the new prime minister.

Earlier in the day, Gunnlaugsson asked Iceland's president to dissolve parliament in the face of a looming no-confidence vote and protests over the "Panama Papers", a leaked trove of documents revealing the financial arrangements of politicians and public figures from around the world.

(Reporting by Ragnhildur Sigurdardottir; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
Iceland's Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson stepped down after being named in the Panama Papers (AFP Photo/Jonathan Nackstrand) (AFP/File)

Reykjavik (AFP) - Iceland's prime minister on Tuesday asked the president to dissolve parliament as his government reeled from a political crisis over the so-called Panama Papers, but the president refused.

President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, who cut short a US visit to return to Reykjavik earlier Tuesday to deal with the crisis, told a televised press conference he wanted to consult the government's junior coalition member before making a decision.

Grimsson said a meeting with the premier "resulted in me refusing to sign a declaration to dissolve parliament nor make any promises to the prime minister that I would agree to that before I knew and had conversations with leaders of other parties about their stand."

Refusing a request to dissolve parliament was unprecedented in Iceland, political observers said.

Prime Minister Sigurdur David Gunnlaugsson, 41, has been under pressure to resign since leaked financial documents showed that he and his wife Anna Sigurlaug Palsdottir owned an offshore company in the British Virgin Islands and had placed millions of dollars there.

The leftwing opposition on Monday presented a motion of no-confidence in Gunnlaugsson, which could be voted on as early as this week.

Gunnlaugsson had said earlier Tuesday he would seek the dissolution of parliament if he did not get the support of the junior coalition member Independence Party.

Independence Party leader Bjarni Benediktsson, who is finance minister, was also named in the leaked "Panama Papers", and his party has not yet said whether it plans to support Gunnlaugsson.

Thousands of demonstrators protested outside parliament in Reykjavik on Monday, throwing eggs and yoghurt at the building and calling on Gunnlaugsson to step down.

Another protest was scheduled for Tuesday evening.

Gunnlaugsson's company, named Wintris Inc and acquired in 2007, was intended to manage his wife's inheritance from her wealthy businessman father, according to the Panama Papers.

The prime minister sold his 50-percent share to his wife for a symbolic sum of $1 at the end of 2009.

But when he was elected to parliament for the first time in April 2009, as a member of the centre-right Progressive Party, he neglected to mention his stake in his declaration of shareholdings.
DUBLIN (Reuters) - Growth in Ireland's services strengthened in March, a survey showed on Tuesday, but new business from abroad expanded at the slowest pace in almost four years as weaker sterling affected some exporters.

The Investec Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) of activity in services rose to 62.8 from 62.1 in February and back towards the 64.0 it reached at the start of the year, the highest since June 2006, at the height of the "Celtic Tiger" economic boom.

The index, which covers businesses from banks to hotels, has risen for more than 3 1/2 years of unbroken growth, denoted by a reading over 50, and been above 60 for most of that time.

However, the sub-index measuring new export business, which in November was at a 12-month high, slipped to 54.0 from 57.1 the previous month, its lowest level since May 2012, when Ireland was in the middle of a three-year international bailout.

Irish exporters are particularly vulnerable to movements in sterling, since Britain is the country's largest trading partner, and the pound has lost around 12 percent of its value against the euro since November.

"While panellists indicated that the UK remained a source of new business, there were suggestions that the recent strengthening of the euro against sterling had weighed on growth of new business," said Philip O'Sullivan, Chief Economist at Investec Ireland.

"Despite the moderation in new orders and (we suspect related) global uncertainty, business sentiment ticked higher in March, with 19 times as many panellists expecting a rise in activity over the next twelve months as opposed to those who anticipate a contraction."

A sister survey on Friday showed Irish manufacturing growth rebounded to an eight-month high in March (Full Story),

"Taken together, the services and manufacturing PMIs suggest that the pace of growth across much of Ireland's private sector improved slightly at the end of Q1 2016," O'Sullivan said.

((Reporting by Padraic Halpin, editing by Larry King))
By Paola Arosio and Stefano Bernabei

MILAN/ROME (Reuters) - Italy is considering setting up a state-backed fund that would help troubled lenders by buying up bad loans and plug capital shortfalls, three sources close to the matter said, as the government looks for ways to shore up its ailing banks.

The governor of the Bank of Italy, the economy minister and the chief executives of UniCredit (CRDI.MI), Intesa Sanpaolo (ISP.MI) and UBI (UBI.MI) discussed the idea at the prime minister's office on Tuesday, the sources said.

Italy's banks together hold 360 billion euros ($410 billion) of bad loans, a third of the European total and equal to a fifth of the nation's gross domestic product. They have also fared worst in financial strength tests carried out by the European Central Bank (ECB).

No agreement was reached at Tuesday's meeting and the parties are expected to meet again soon, the sources said. Also some of the officials voiced doubts about whether such a plan could work.

The fund would be majority owned by private investors, a structure that would aim to comply with European rules that limit the use of state aid.

State lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) and a representative of banking foundations also attended the meeting, they said.

A government spokesman declined to comment on the meeting.

"The idea on the table is a vehicle including CDP, the banking foundations, investment funds, pension funds and other private investors," said a source.

"It is not clear how big the vehicle would be, whether it would buy non-performing loans from the banks or help recapitalise them and how it would operate. There is no agreement yet."

The source said no firm accord was likely to be struck in time for Banca Popolare di Vicenza, which must carry out a 1.75 billion-euro rights issue and list on the market by the end of April to meet capital requirements set by the ECB.

UniCredit, the sole underwriter foe that cash call, said last week it was considering postponing it if market conditions did not improve as it sought to drum up support for the fundraising.

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However, bankers said UniCredit's options were limited and it risked ending up with a big chunk of unsold shares in Popolare di Vicenza, eroding its own capital base.

Intesa, in turn is leading a consortium of banks for Veneto Banca's 1 billion-euro cash call and initial public offer, due by mid-June. Intesa's CEO Carlo Messina said last week the bank would meet its commitment and was confident the deal would be successful.

The bank with the biggest bad loans problem is Monte dei Paschi di Siena (BMPS.MI), with 47 billion euros of gross soured debts or 40 percent of its total loans.

It has been looking for a buyer for the past 18 months following the ECB's request, but no suitor has come forward out of concerns that the bank would need a big capital increase if it sold its bad loans at current market prices.

Genoa-based Carige (CRGI.MI) has also been told by the ECB to submit a new business plan and review its strategic options by the end of May.

($1 = 0.8783 euros)

(Additional reporting by Giuseppe Fonte; Writing by Silvia Aloisi; Editing by Mark Bendeich, Greg Mahlich)
The headquarters of Italian defence and aerospace company Finmeccanica is seen in Rome May 3, 2012. REUTERS/Max Rossi

MILAN (Reuters) - Italian defence company Finmeccanica (SIFI.MI) signed a long-delayed contract with Kuwait for 28 Eurofighter jets on Tuesday, a company statement said.

A memorandum of understanding for the multi-billion jet deal was signed in September but the closing of the deal had been repeatedly postponed.

"The contract... includes logistics, operational support and the training of flight crews and ground personnel, which will be carried out in cooperation with the Italian Air Force...(it) also provides for the upgrade of ground-based infrastructure in Kuwait which will be used for Typhoon operations," the statement said.

The statement issued by Finmeccanica did not give the value of the deal, estimated to be worth between 7 billion and 8 billion euros (6 billion-7 billion pounds), with Finmeccanica's share seen at roughly half of the total.

The rest is in the hands of a group of companies in the Eurofighter consortium, including planemaker Airbus (AIR.PA) and Britain's BAE Systems (BAES.L).

"This is Finmeccanica's largest ever commercial achievement", Chief Executive Mauro Moretti said in the statement.

(Reporting by Giulia Segreti)
* LatAm currencies fall on global risk aversion * Marfrig board approves capital increase * Commodity weakness to weigh on future LatAm growth: Moody's By Mike Gambale NEW YORK, April 5 (IFR) - No deals priced in the LatAm primary market on Tuesday.

Here is a snapshot of LatAm sovereign credit spreads: SOVEREIGN 4/4 4/1 3/31 1D 10D YTD 2015/16 HIGH BARBADOS 654 653 653 1 14 50 659 (2/11/16) BRAZIL 384 381 384 3 13 -102 542 (2/11/16) CHILE 100 99 101 1 15 14 143 (2/11/16) COLOMBIA 273 272 278 1 17 -16 412 (2/11/16) COSTA RICA 479 494 504 -15 -8 -38 587 (2/11/16) DOMINICAN REP 407 415 425 -8 -4 -8 542 (2/11/16) ECUADOR 1123 1121 1101 2 53 -192 1765 (2/11/16) EL SALVADOR 669 669 670 0 9 29 840 (2/11/16) GUATEMALA 297 296 300 1 -1 -5 385 (2/11/16) JAMAICA 446 449 453 -3 -13 -3 519 (2/11/15) MEXICO 196 195 199 1 10 2 278 (2/11/16) PANAMA 195 195 200 0 9 -11 272 (2/11/16) PERU 218 217 218 1 13 -13 291 (2/10/16) TRINIDAD & TOBAGO 158 157 158 1 11 60 173 (1/15/15) URUGUAY 266 267 269 -1 8 -2 344 (2/11/16) VENEZUELA 3250 3172 3159 78 376 458 3713 (2/12/16) Source: Bank of America Merrill Lynch Master Index SPREAD TRENDS: Ten-day trend shows 12 out of 16 LatAm sovereign credits wider Venezuela wider 458bp YTD LATAM PIPELINE: Brazil could issue again this year if conditions allow, the treasury's interim debt coordinator Leandro Secunho said. "There is no need for new (global bond) sales, but if we see new windows of opportunity we will consider reentering the market." The sovereign sold a US$1.5bn 2026 dollar-denominated bond on March 10, tapping global markets for the first time since it lost its investment-grade rating.

Argentina named BBVA, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, JP Morgan, Santander and UBS as joint bookrunners for a possible bond sale, a source familiar with the matter told IFR.

Timing and currency not yet certain, but the deal could come in early April.

The sovereign is likely to try to issue up to US$15bn of bonds to help pay litigant investors.

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Colombia has mandated BBVA, Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan to organize meeting with fixed-income investors in Europe to discuss opportunities in the capital markets this year.

The board of Argentine real estate developer IRSA has approved the issuance of up to US$470m of debt, according to a filing with local regulators.

The Province of Mendoza is looking to raise US$300m in both the local and international markets to refinance debt, according to local reports.

Neuquen province is contemplating a bond issue.

The United Mexican States has filed an up to US$10bn debt shelf with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Proceeds will be used for general purposes, including refinancing and the repurchase of debt.

Argentine E&P company Medanito has wrapped up roadshows ahead of a possible transaction through Itau and UBS. Expected rating is CCC+ by Fitch.

Argentina utility Pampa Energia's shareholders have approved a US$500m debt program.

Uruguay plans to raise up to US$1.5bn in bonds this year.

(Reporting By Michael Gambale)
The BRIC in the Wall is Cracking: An Assessment

(Continued from Prior Part)

Brazilian stocks are fueling the Latin American funds rally

In the opening article of this series, we mentioned that Brazil has been facing economic trouble. So, why are its financial markets rallying? For one, commodity prices have had a better time in 2016 since they reached their nadir in mid-February. Both the Thomson Reuters/CoreCommodity CRB Excess Return Index and the Thomson Reuters/CoreCommodity CRB Ex-Energy Index (Total Return) are up year-to-date in 2016.

The primary reason for optimism for Brazilian stocks (EBR) (ELP) (SBS) is the hope that the countrys president, Dilma Rousseff, will be impeached soon, bringing political stability to a nation where moving stalled economic reforms ahead is a priority.

Latin American funds

We recently performed a fund-by-fund analysis of nine Latin-America focused mutual funds in which we explored the quantitative metrics of these funds to see which has benefited the most out of the rally in Brazilian stocks.

The effects of a surge in Brazilian stocks is visible in Latin American funds (UBPIX) (SLANX). However, the rally reminds one of the rally in Chinese stocks in the first half of 2015. Both were fueled by a distorted vision rather than underlying fundamentals. Even if Rousseff is impeached and a new government is elected, the task ahead for the new government remains as difficult as it is now.

The rebound in Brazilian stocks is also quite sharp because of their forgettable performance in 2015. It seems like the laws of physics are working herea thorough beat-down has been followed by a sizable, though not equal, rebound.

Currently, Brazils economic fundamentals are shaky at best. Lets take a look at them in the next article.

Continue to Next Part

Browse this series on Market Realist:
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Apr 5, 2016) - Metals Creek Resources Corp. ("Metals Creek" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:MEK) announces that it intends to complete a private placement of flow-through and non flow-through units (the "Private Placement").

The Company intends to issue up to 2,800,000 flow-through units at a price of $0.125 per unit (the "FT Units") for aggregate proceeds of up to $350,000. Each FT Unit will consist of one flow-through common share (the "FT Shares") and one-half of one non flow-through common share purchase warrant (the "FT Warrants"). Each whole FT Warrant will entitle the holder to purchase one additional non flow-through common share of the Company at an exercise price of $0.18 per common share for a period of 24 months from the date of issue. The FT Shares will entitle the holder to receive the tax benefits applicable to flow-through shares, in accordance with provisions of the Income Tax Act (Canada).

The Company also intends to issue up to 1,250,000 non flow-through units at a price of $0.12 per unit (the "NFT Units") for aggregate proceeds of up to $150,000. Each NFT Unit will consist of one non flow-through common share and one non flow-through common share purchase warrant (the "FT Warrants"). Each FT Warrant will entitle the holder to purchase one additional non flow-through common share of the Company at an exercise price of $0.18 per common share for a period of 24 months from the date of issue.

In connection with the private placement, the company may pay finders' fees in cash or securities or a combination of both, as permitted by the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange. All securities issued pursuant to the Private Placement will be subject to a four-month hold period. The Private Placement is subject to approval by the TSX Venture Exchange.

The proceeds raised from the FT Units will be used to further exploration work on the Ogden Gold Project in Timmins Ontario and other Canadian Exploration Expenses (within the meaning of the Income Tax Act (Canada)), with the Company using its best efforts to ensure that such Canadian Exploration Expenses qualify as a "flow-through mining expenditure" for purposes of the Income Tax Act (Canada), related to the exploration of the Company's exploration projects.

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About Metals Creek Resources Corp.

Metals Creek Resources Corp. is a junior exploration company incorporated under the laws of the Province of Ontario, is a reporting issuer in Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario, and has its common shares listed for trading on the Exchange under the symbol "MEK". Metals Creek has earned a 50% interest in the Ogden Gold Property, including the former Naybob Gold mine, located 6 km south of Timmins, Ontario and has a 8 km strike length of the prolific Porcupine-Destor Fault (P-DF) that stretches between Timmins, Ontario and Val d'Or, Quebec. The Company has also entered into a JV with Benton Resources on Metals Creeks Staghorn Gold Project in Newfoundland. Metals Creek has also recently made a new gold/silver discovery in the "White Gold District" on the Squid East project in the Yukon and is also engaged in the identification, acquisition, exploration and development of other mineral resource properties, and presently has mining interests in Ontario, Yukon and Newfoundland and Labrador. Additional information concerning the Company is contained in documents filed by the Company with securities regulators, available under its profile at www.sedar.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "estimates", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, such as costs of sales, general economic conditions, the success of marketing and competition from competing suppliers and businesses. Actual results and developments are likely to differ, and may differ materially, from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
MEXICO CITY, April 4 (Reuters) - A Mexican state government said on Monday it could reach a deal with Kia Motors in "the coming days" in a dispute over the terms surrounding the opening of the South Korean carmaker's first plant in the country.

The government in the northern state of Nuevo Leon, led by independent Jaime Rodriguez, has been demanding that Kia renegotiate some of the incentives pledged in an accord struck in 2014 under the previous state administration.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye was visiting Mexico on Monday and the Nuevo Leon government said state officials held a productive meeting with members of the South Korean delegation to seek a resolution to the impasse.

"There's been a big advance, neither side is negatively predisposed, there are efforts that each (side) has to make for the other (side), but we're open," Rodriguez said in a statement that asserted a deal could be reached in "the coming days."

No comment was immediately available from the South Korean delegation.

Nuevo Leon said the 2014 accord violated state law by offering what it had called "excessive" incentives, such as waiving Kia's obligation to pay state income taxes for 20 years and agreeing to fund a party to inaugurate the plant.

"Our government is being completely open, but we can't waive their (taxes) for 20 years if they're going to put me in prison for allowing it," said Rodriguez, who took office in October.

Nuevo Leon's government said it hoped it would have a response from Kia in a week about what had been proposed on Monday. It did not give details on the substance of the talks.

The $1 billion Kia project aims to build a plant with a production capacity of 300,000 vehicles a year. It will cater to demand from North America and South America.

(Writing by Dave Graham; Editing by Peter Cooney)
By Letitia Stein (Reuters) - Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant on Tuesday signed a far-reaching law allowing people with religious objections to deny wedding services to same-sex couples and protecting other actions considered discriminatory by gay rights activists.

The measure also clears the way for employers to cite religion in determining workplace policies on dress code, grooming and bathroom and locker access, drawing criticism from civil rights leaders.

Bryant, a Republican, said in a statement he signed the law to protect sincerely held religious beliefs and moral convictions of individuals, organizations and private associations from discriminatory action by state government.

Mississippi is the latest state drawing national protest for a law seen as anti-lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT). North Carolina recently barred transgender people from choosing bathrooms consistent with their gender identity.

Tennessee is considering similar legislation related to school bathrooms, and civil rights groups are watching a Missouri measure seen as discriminatory. Last week, the governors of Georgia and Virginia vetoed religious liberty bills.

The latest wave of measures, pushed by social conservatives, came after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year that legalized same-sex marriage.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) criticized the Mississippi law, which is expected to take effect in July.

This is a sad day for the state of Mississippi and for the thousands of Mississippians who can now be turned away from businesses, refused marriage licenses, or denied housing, essential services and needed care based on who they are, said Jennifer Riley-Collins, executive director of the ACLU of Mississippi, in a statement.

SLIDESHOW  Mississippi anti-LGBT law >>>

Protesters call for Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant to veto House Bill 1523, which they say will allow discrimination against LGBT people, during a rally outside the Governor's Mansion in Jackson, Miss., on April 4, 2016. (Photo: Rogelio V. Solis/AP)

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo responded by banning all non-essential state travel to Mississippi.

We will continue to reject the politics of division and exclusion. This Mississippi law is a sad, hateful injustice, Cuomo said in a statement.

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The ACLU, which is involved in a federal lawsuit challenging the North Carolina law, said it was considering its next steps in Mississippi.

Major U.S. companies have pushed back against such legislation, with the North Carolina law opposed by Apple Inc, Twitter Inc, Alphabet Inc and others.

On Tuesday, PayPal Holdings Inc canceled plans to open a global operations center in Charlotte, North Carolina and invest $3.6 million locally.

In Mississippi, critics included large employers such as Nissan North America and MGM Resorts International.

Still, nearly two-thirds of Mississippi voters supported the law, according to a poll highlighted on Tuesday by the Family Research Council, an influential Christian lobbying group.

(Reporting by Letitia Stein; Editing by David Gregorio and Richard Chang)
Armenian servicemen of the self-defense army of Nagorny-Karabakh fire a shell towards Azeri forces from their positions in the town of Martakert in Armenian-seized Azerbaijani region of Nagorny Karabakh on April 3, 2016 (AFP Photo/Vahram Baghdasaryan)

Moscow (AFP) - With bad blood flowing between Turkey and Russia since Ankara shot down a Russian warplane in Syria in November, the latest wave of violence in Nagorny Karabakh could have wider implications.

Azerbaijan and Armenia-backed rebels in Karabakh -- which was seized from Azerbaijan in a war in the early 1990s -- agreed Tuesday to a ceasefire to stop the worse violence in decades that has claimed at least 64 lives since Friday.

But the differing reactions of Ankara and Moscow to the surge in violence has underscored how the crisis could divide more than just the warring parties.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday emphatically threw his weight behind ally Azerbaijan, saying Turks stood "side-by-side with our brothers in Azerbaijan" and predicting that Baku would "one day" retake the mountainous region.

Moscow has a military alliance with Armenia, where it maintains a base, but supplies both sides with weapons.

Russian President Vladimir Putin did not take a side in the conflict between the two ex-Soviet countries, instead urging an "immediate ceasefire" over the weekend.

Below is an outline of Russian and Turkish positions on Nagorny-Karabakh:

- RUSSIA -

Ex-Soviet master Moscow, like the rest of the world, has not recognised Nagorny-Karabakh as Armenian territory and on Tuesday was "very energetically" trying to defuse the standoff, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

Though it supplies both countries with weapons, there is some evidence Moscow has been selling arms to energy-rich Baku at a higher rate and cash-strapped Armenia at a lower price, according to Magdalena Grono of the International Crisis Group.

Moscow has historically served as the key mediator since the war in Nagorny-Karabakh ended with an inconclusive ceasefire in 1994, but its reputation as peacemaker has been eroded by its seizure of Crimea and role in a bloody conflict in east Ukraine, said Alexander Malashenko of Carnegie Moscow Center.

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The Kremlin would have the most to lose if Azerbaijan seizes Armenian-controlled territory, Malashenko said, as Russia risks losing Azerbaijan entirely as a partner in the region if it comes to Armenia's aid.

"Russia is at a dead end," he said.

A protracted conflict would "reinforce Turkey's influence in Azerbaijan," which may also reverberate in Russia's volatile North Caucasus region, Russia's independent daily Vedomosti said Monday.

- TURKEY -

Ankara has come out strongly in support of its Turkic-speaking historic ally Azerbaijan during the latest clashes, with Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu telling parliament Tuesday Turkey will back Baku "all the way until the apocalypse."

Turkey has no diplomatic relations with Armenia because of the century-old dispute over the mass killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, which Yerevan calls a genocide but Ankara refuses to admit as such.

Public opinion in Turkey shows "strong solidarity" with Azerbaijan due to shared national identity, said Can Kasapoglu, an analyst with the Center for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies in Istanbul.

But despite the high tensions with Moscow, "Ankara would still avoid a regional war," he said, instead opting for "capacity building measures to support its ally".
SAN MATEO, CA--(Marketwired - Apr 5, 2016) - Neo Technology, creator of Neo4j, the world's leading graph database, has just announced that the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) has used its technology to unearth The Panama Papers (panamapapers.icij.org) -- an expose of offshore tax haven activity of many members of the global elite.

The Papers expose the internal operations of one of the world's leading firms in incorporation of offshore entities, Panama-headquartered Mossack Fonseca. The 2.6 Terabytes of data that make up the files were obtained by German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung and shared with Washington-headquartered ICIJ, a network of independent reporting teams around the world, and more than 100 media partners.

Key to not just this scoop but a number of its other major investigations is Neo4j -- the graph database technology with the Linkurious graph visualization platform that is being used to organize and access this highly connected data, as it did for its last major finance data scoop, Swiss Leaks.

The reason: Graph databases excel at managing highly connected data and complex queries. Instead of using 'tables' the way a relational database does, graphs use special structures incorporating nodes, properties and edges to define and store data, making them highly proficient at analyzing the relationships and any interconnections between data -- and allowing journalists to 'follow the money' easier than ever.

Unprecedented Volumes of Highly Connected Data

According to Mar Cabra, the ICIJ's Data and Research Unit Editor, using Neo4j was the only solution available to meet her requirements. "It's a revolutionary discovery tool that's transformed our investigative journalism process," she confirms, "because relationships are all important in telling you where the criminality lies, who works with whom, and so on. Understanding relationships at huge scale is where graph techniques excel."

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"At least 11.5m documents, and far larger than any data leaks we have investigated before, we needed a technology that could handle these unprecedented volumes of highly connected data quickly, easily and efficiently."

"We also needed an easy-to-use and intuitive solution that didn't require the intervention of any data scientist or developers, so that journalists around the globe would work with the data, regardless of their technical abilities. Linkurious Enterprise (https://linkurio.us/) was the best platform to explore this data and to share insights in a secure way. Using the Linkurious graph visualization platform with Neo4j is a powerful combination," she adds.

According to Neo Technology's co-founder and CEO Emil Eifrem, "Whatever else we can be sure of as the 'Panama Papers' scandal unfolds, it's only with world-class tools like Neo4j and Linkurious that world-class investigation of vast and complex datasets like this can happen in our Information Age."

"Graph databases are the only option when trying to make sense of the vast terabytes of connected data that we are producing more and more of, and are an essential tool for international agencies, governments, financial services and security firms trying to uncover the truth."

Neo4j customer Mar Cabra will be updating you on this story as it unfolds when she speaks at Europe's biggest graph event, Neo4j's GraphConnect Europe, on Tuesday 26th, at the QEII Centre in Westminster, www.graphconnect.com

She will also be available for press interviews at a pre-GraphConnect Europe Media Reception in London on Tuesday, 25 at St Martin's Lane Hotel, 5-6:30pm GMT

About Neo Technology

Neo Technology is the creator of Neo4j, the world's leading graph database that brings data relationships to the fore. From companies offering personalized product and service recommendations; to websites adding social capabilities; to telecom providers diagnosing network issues; to enterprises reimagining master data, identity, and access models; organizations adopt graph databases as the best way to model, store and query both data and its relationships. Neo Technology researchers pioneered the modern graph database and have been instrumental in bringing the power of the graph to numerous organizations worldwide. Large enterprises like Walmart, eBay, UBS, Nomura, Cisco, CenturyLink, HP, Telenor, TomTom, Lufthansa, and the National Geographic Society, as well as startups like Medium, Polyvore, Zephyr Health and Elementum use Neo4j to unlock business value from data relationships.

Neo Technology is a privately-held company funded by Fidelity Growth Partners Europe, Sunstone Capital, Conor Venture Partners, Creandum and Dawn Capital, and is headquartered in San Mateo, CA, with regional offices in Sweden, UK, Germany, France and Malaysia. For more information, please visit Neo4j.com.
OSLO (Reuters) - Revelations that top Norwegian bank DNB (DNB.OL) helped customers set up offshore companies in the Seychelles could undermine the general trust in the industry, the Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway (FSA) said on Monday.

DNB's Seychelles activities were first reported by daily Aftenposten, quoting leaked documents from Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca.

"Customer arrangements of the kind that have now emerged can contribute to weakening the trust in affected banks and of the financial industry in general," FSA head Morten Baltzersen said in a statement.

The regulator will ask for an explanation from the boards of affected banks, he added.

(Reporting by Ole Petter Skonnord, writing by Terje Solsvik, editing by Gwladys Fouche)
(Corrects final paragraph to show that future allocation to real estate, not infrastructure, could reach 7 pct)

OSLO, April 5 (Reuters) - Norway's $850-billion sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest, should not be allowed to invest in unlisted infrastructure projects, the government said on Tuesday in its annual white paper.

The central bank, which manages the fund, had recommended that it should be allowed to invest in infrastructure.

The fund currently invests about 60 percent of its value in stocks, 35 percent in bonds and up to five percent in real estate, all outside Norway. In the future, allocations in real estate could rise to 7 percent, the government said.

(Reporting by Joachim Dagenborg and Gwladys Fouche, editing by Terje Solsvik and Stine Jacobsen)
By Barani Krishnan

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Tuesday after Kuwait insisted major producers will agree to freeze output later this month even as key player Iran continued to balk at the plan.

The market extended gains in post-settlement trade after preliminary data on U.S. crude supply-demand for last week from industry group American Petroleum Institute (API) showed a surprise draw of 4.3 million barrels.

Analysts polled by Reuters had expected U.S. crude stockpiles to have risen by 3.2 million barrels to an eighth straight week of record highs. The U.S. government's Energy Information Administration (EIA) will release official inventory data on Wednesday.

"This is totally unexpected," John Kilduff, partner at New York energy hedge fund Again Capital, said on the API data.

"It could open a new run higher in crude prices, though I'd say for the rally to last, we have to see higher refinery runs in tomorrow's EIA report, or other indications of demand, like big gasoline draws. Just lower imports won't do."

Crude prices remain nearly 40 percent above 12-year lows struck in mid-February, although their recovery has fizzled lately on skepticism over the output freeze idea floated by producers.

U.S. crude (CLc1) finished the session up 19 cents at $35.89, hitting a one-month low of $35.24 during the session. It rose to $36.58, gaining 88 cents, after the API data.

Brent crude (LCOc1) settled up 18 cents at $37.87 a barrel, after sinking to a March 4 low of $37.27 earlier. It got to a post-settlement high of $38.44.

Oil finished the session higher on remarks from Kuwait's OPEC governor that a meeting of oil-producing countries in Doha on April 17 will deliver an agreement to hold output at January highs despite Tehran pouring cold water on the plan.

Iran's Deputy Oil Minister Marzieh Shahdaei reiterated on Tuesday Tehran's wish to focus on raising its crude exports to pre-sanction levels. The country is the second largest exporter in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and fourth largest oil producer in the world.

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Last week, a Saudi prince was reported saying the kingdom will not participate in the production freeze without Tehran's involvement.

Oil prices were weighed down earlier on Tuesday by government data from Monday showing U.S. gasoline demand fell in January for the first time in 14 months. Gasoline demand has been one of the strongest pillars of U.S. crude for months.

A Reuters analysis, however, showed the January data in line with low weekly consumption numbers that have since rebounded.

(Additional reporting by Karolin Schaps in LONDON; Editing by Marguerita Choy and Chris Reese)
A North Korean front company used to help fund the country's nuclear weapons programme was among the clients of the Panamanian law firm at the centre of a massive data leak, reports said on Tuesday.

With a Pyongyang-based address, DCB Finance Ltd. was registered in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) in 2006, and leaked papers show that the Panama firm, Mossack Fonseca, legally incorporated the company, the Guardian newspaper and BBC reported.

The same year saw North Korea conduct its first nuclear test, triggering the first of numerous US Security Council resolutions imposing sanctions on Pyongyang.

DCB Finance Ltd was registered by North Korean official Kim Chol-Sam and Nigel Cowie, a British banker who had moved to North Korea in 1995 and went on to head its first foreign bank, Daedong Credit Bank -- of which DCB Finance was an offshoot.

Leaked papers suggest that, despite the Pyongyang address, Mossack Fonseca failed to notice DCB's link with North Korea until the BVI's Financial Investigation Agency sent it a letter in 2010 asking for details of the company.

It was only then that the law firm resigned as DCB's agent.

The following year Cowie, who says he was unaware of any unlawful transactions, sold the share he had brought in Daedong Credit Bank to a Chinese consortium.

Both the bank and DCB -- as well as official Kim Chol-Sam -- were targeted by US sanctions in June, 2013 on the grounds that they had, since 2006, provided financial services to two North Korean entities with a "central role" in developing the North's nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.

The US Treasury said DCB Finance had been used to "carry out international financial transactions as a means to avoid scrutiny by financial institutions avoiding business with North Korea."

A leaked e-mail from Mossack Fonseca's compliance department in August 2013 appeared to acknowledge a lack of due diligence on the part of the law firm.

"We have not yet addressed the reason we maintained a relationship with DCB Finance when we knew or ought to have known from incorporation in 2006, that the country, North Korea was on the black list," the e-mail said.

"We should have identified from the onset that this was a high risk company," it added.
Pope Francis has previously spoken out on the migrant crisis, using his recent Easter address to criticise the "rejection" of refugees (AFP Photo/Alberto Pizzoli)

Athens (AFP) - Pope Francis will travel to the Greek island of Lesbos on the frontline of Europe's refugee crisis next week, Athens announced Tuesday, as a controversial EU accord to send migrants back to Turkey stalled.

The trip by the pope, who will be accompanied by the head of the Eastern Orthodox Church, is likely to pile pressure on EU leaders already facing criticism over the controversial deal struck last month.

"The Greek government will welcome Pope Francis and the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew as valuable defenders of support to refugees," a government source in Athens said, adding the trip would happen on April 14 or 15.

"Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will go with (them) to the island of Lesbos," a tourist hub that has been transformed into a major gateway for new arrivals seeking a better life in Europe.

Hundreds of thousands of people have landed on the island's shores over the past year after crossing over from Turkey in flimsy boats, part of Europe's worst migration crisis since World War II.

Brussels sought to tackle the problem by signing an agreement with Ankara last month to send new arrivals back to Turkey, in exchange for resettling some of the millions of Syrians living in refugee camps on its soil.

The deal has already contributed to a slowing of new arrivals, and Germany's interior minister said Tuesday that his country could lift temporary border controls brought in last year by mid-May if the arrivals continue to dwindle.

But the deal has been slammed by rights groups, the UN and even the pope, who used his Easter address to criticise the "rejection" of refugees, and has been slowed by a last-minute rush of asylum applications.

The Greek Orthodox Church said it had approved the papal visit to Lesbos after Francis expressed a desire to "shed light on the major humanitarian problem" of the migrant influx.

- Migrants hunger strike -

Tensions were running high on the Greek islands after the first tranche of 200 migrants were deported on Monday.

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A Turkish official said the next transfer "has been postponed to Friday" at Greece's request.

The process has been slowed "by an increase in asylum requests" in the last few days on Lesbos and another Aegean island, Chios, said Greek migration spokesman Yiorgos Kyritsis.

On Samos, less than two kilometres (one mile) by sea from Turkey, Ali, a Pakistani, told AFP that 100 migrants had gone on hunger strike.

"We risk our lives to come here, we don't want to go back to Turkey because they are going to send us back to Pakistan," he said. "We don't want to apply for asylum in Greece, we want to go to Germany."

All "irregular migrants" arriving in Greece since March 20 now face being sent back, although the EU deal calls for each case to be examined individually.

For every Syrian refugee returned, another Syrian refugee will be resettled from Turkey to the European Union, with numbers capped at 72,000.

EU border agency Frontex described the first deportation operation as "orderly", but on Tuesday the UN's refugee agency said some of those sent back may not have had access to proper asylum procedures.

"We are concerned that 13 people, most of them Afghans, who expressed the wish to request asylum were unable to be registered in time," the UNHCR's representative in Greece, Philippe Leclerc, told AFP.

The numbers crossing from Turkey have dropped since the deal came into force, with hundreds landing on the Greek islands per day as opposed to thousands.

This, along with a series of border closures further up the migrant route, has reduced the number of new arrivals in northern Europe -- the main destination for the more than million people who arrived in Europe last year.

French President Francois Hollande told German daily Bild that Europe had to work together to stop the crisis, adding: "There can be no question that what happened in 2015 is repeated in 2016."
Union and fast food workers play drums during a demonstration in support of a proposal to raise the California minimum wage to $15 by 2022 (AFP Photo/Justin Sullivan)

Washington (AFP) - New York, Seattle, California: in the battle over the US minimum wage, cities and states are taking their own initiative, making regional advances toward the goal of a $15 an hour floor.

Some cities have voted through spectacular increases, making the dream of better pay a reality for hundreds of thousands of employees in a country where the federal minimum wage level has remained unchanged at $7.25 an hour since 2009.

New York was the latest state to act. State lawmakers reached a deal Thursday with Governor Andrew Cuomo to raise the minimum wage in New York City to $15 an hour by the end of 2018.

Under the deal, the minimum will go up more slowly in the rest of the state, hitting $12.50 an hour by the end of 2020.

To close the deal, Cuomo needed to get the state's Republican-controlled senate on board.

Republicans and Democrats have generally split on the need for a national wage hike.

Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders both support an increase, differing only on the scale and timing of such a move.

The former secretary of state calls for a smaller, slower raise while the Vermont senator wants the minimum doubled.

With rare exceptions such as Mitt Romney, the presidential nominee in 2012, Republicans have generally resisted calls for an increase, citing potential job losses.

Republican control of Congress over the past five years has ensured that the federal level remained unchanged.

It's now a third below the minimum wage in France, Belgium and other wealthy European countries, taking into account the relative purchasing power in those countries, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development says.

Like many other progressive causes in a country polarized between left and right, action is taking place at the state and municipal levels.

Minimum wages in 29 states and the capital Washington have surpassed the federal level. New York has instituted $9 an hour and California, $10. Major companies in Seattle have paid $13 an hour since January 1. In New York City, fast food employees earn at least $10.50.

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A total of 18 states have voluntarily increased their minimum wages since 2013, some after holding referenda on the issue, according to the White House.

A new wave is expected in 2016.

The most significant change is brewing in California, the most populous US state, where local officials have recently agreed to progressively reach $15 an hour by 2023, a target large companies will hit even earlier.

More than a third of California's workforce would benefit from wage increases, according to a study from Berkeley University.

Clinton hailed the plan on Monday, tweeting a "big win for workers."

Sanders parried, also on Twitter. "But here's the difference," he said. "I support a $15 federal minimum wage. @HillaryClinton does not."

Her proposal calls for raising the federal level from $7.25 to $12.

- Regional Differences -

A sudden minimum wage increase would be felt differently in various regions.

In the relatively poor South, the cost of living is far lower than on the country's wealthy coasts.

Doubling restaurant employees' salaries in Mississippi would have greater effect than in San Francisco, where salaries are already higher.

New York's high cost of living also makes raising the current minimum wage more urgent there.

"You're going to have higher legislated minimum wages in urban areas versus rural areas, Northeast and California versus the deep South," Jacob Kirkegaard of Washington's Peterson Institute said.

He believes those variations will only grow.

Unions and activists are pushing for a nationwide increase nevertheless.

In real value, the federal minimum wage has fallen to around a third of its peak level in 1968.

"The $7.25 minimum wage is only about $15,000 a year for a worker, and that's not enough to support a family anywhere in the country," said Laura Huizar of the National Employment Law Project.

The government sets the poverty line for a family of three at $20,160.

It's an issue that is almost never raised in the Republican primary campaign.

Texas Senator Ted Cruz has come out against any minimum wage increase.

Ohio Governor John Kasich flirted with a "reasonable" increase in September before changing tack during a debate earlier this month.

"Well, well, wait a minute, first of all, I didn't say I was for an increase in the federal minimum wage," he said in response to a question in apparent alarm.

"If states want to do it, they ought to sit down with businesspeople and the lawmakers and figure out what will work."

Donald Trump said in November that wages were "too high," which was hurting American competitiveness.

That changed after Republicans began taking President Barack Obama to task over wage stagnation.

Trump corrected himself in December: "Wages in our country are too low."
* Govt approved 150 bln rbls in support last week

* VEB met all debt covenants - chairman

* New business model to be prepared by June 30 (Adds details, quotes, background)

By Darya Korsunskaya

MOSCOW, April 5 (Reuters) - Russian state development bank VEB does not expect any problems with its liquidity this year and does not expect any additional support from the finance ministry, VEB's chairman, Sergei Gorkov, told reporters on Tuesday.

Gorkov, a former Sberbank executive, replaced Vladimir Dmitriev as VEB's chairman in February, after VEB amassed bad loans and was at risk of missing external debt repayments.

Last week Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said the government would provide 150 billion roubles ($2.17 billion) to recapitalise VEB, in addition to non-cash support agreed late last year in the form of revised terms for deposits at VEB held by the government's National Wealth Fund.

"We don't have problems with liquidity now. The finance ministry has provided us with aid of 150 billion roubles to pay our international investors," Gorkov told reporters in his first public speech as VEB's chairman.

Gorkov said VEB managed to meet all covenants on its debt, with its capital adequacy ratio now exceeding 11 percent compared to a minimum of 8 percent set by the central bank for most banks.

VEB is a non-commercial bank and therefore the central bank's requirements do not apply to it. However, some of its debt covenants are linked to the central bank requirements.

HOUSEKEEPING

Russian officials have estimated that VEB may need 1.2 trillion roubles ($17.34 billion) in state support.

The bank had been involved in lending heavily to loss-making projects including ones linked to the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics and investments in Ukraine.

Gorkov said that up to half of its assets were not profitable enough. He added that Olympic projects accounted for some 10 percent of VEB's loan portfolio and they were "by far not the worst".

"When people say that the Olympic projects are a black hole of VEB, I assure you they aren't," he said.

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However, Gorkov said the bank's business model needed changing.

"It is now clear that the old business model does not work," he said. "The model built on attracting market funds which need to be returned, on the one hand, and on the other hand placing them in non-working assets."

VEB will prepare a new business model by June 30. Gorkov said he did not support the idea of turning VEB into a pure commercial bank, but VEB was interested in attracting deposits from companies.

Gorkov also said that VEB was looking to leave Ukraine, where its subsidiary Prominvestbank may need an additional $650 million for operations and a capital increase, according to a Vedomosti daily newspaper report last week.

($1 = 69.1898 roubles) (Reporting by Darya Korsunskaya; writing by Katya Golubkova; editing by Jason Bush and Richard Balmforth)
* King Salman makes rare foreign trip

* Riyadh determined to shore up Egyptian state

* Saudi Arabia strongly backed Sisi's rise

* Business council sees $4 bln of Saudi investments

* Sources say $21.5 bln energy deals also in prospect

* Both countries seeking to soothe strains

By Angus McDowall and Lin Noueihed

RIYADH/CAIRO, April 5 (Reuters) - Despite years of mutual frustration and disappointment over diverging priorities, Saudi Arabia and Egypt remain fundamental to each other's security, a message King Salman's visit to Cairo this week is intended to reinforce.

The rare foreign trip by the 80-year-old Saudi ruler will counter media commentary in both countries of discord between the richest Arab state and the most populous, to show Riyadh still backs Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

Gulf monarchies have lavished aid on Egypt since 2013, but have grown increasingly disillusioned at what they see as Sisi's inability to address entrenched corruption and inefficiency in the economy, and at Cairo's reduced role on the regional stage.

However, with Iraq, Syria and Yemen immersed in civil war, and Saudi Arabia preoccupied by its own region-wide tussle with Iran, Riyadh is determined to stop the Egyptian state from failing. It will maintain some aid despite its own tighter budgets from falling global oil prices, analysts say.

That position contrasts with Riyadh's approach to Lebanon, from which Gulf states have pulled aid in response to the growing role there of Iran's ally Hezbollah, evidence of Saudi Arabia's with-us-or-against-us regional doctrine.

"The Saudis are very keen not to allow Egypt to collapse, but at the same time the Saudis cannot pay forever. I think King Salman will try to explain these issues," said Mustafa Alani, a security analyst with close ties to the kingdom's Interior Ministry.

In recent months, groups of Egyptian ministers have flown to Riyadh almost weekly for meetings with their Saudi counterparts, a diplomat said, and officials are planning to unveil Saudi investments of $4 billion this week.

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Saudi Arabia is also expected to sign a $20 billion deal to finance Egypt's petroleum needs for the next five years and a $1.5 billion deal to develop its Sinai region, two Egyptian government sources told Reuters.

Egyptian intelligence sources said Sisi wanted the visit to soothe the recent strains in the relationship, attract more Saudi investment, reassure Riyadh over Cairo's support for its stance towards Iran and discuss possible arms deals.

Agreements to cooperate more closely on a range of issues, from the armed forces to the economy, will be announced, say people in Riyadh, but are seen as unlikely to make the relationship significantly deeper.

"It is like a married couple who argue but decide to stay together for the sake of the children," said Jamal Khashoggi, a prominent Saudi journalist.

DISAPPOINTMENT

Once a central axis of Middle East politics, the relationship between Cairo and Riyadh has become increasingly peripheral since the 2011 Arab uprisings in a region now beset by civil wars and widespread unrest elsewhere.

In Syria, where Saudi Arabia is a leading backer of rebels, it has worked most closely with Qatar and Turkey, political rivals of Egypt. In Yemen, Cairo has contributed naval forces to a Saudi-led military intervention, but Riyadh's main ally has been the United Arab Emirates.

Riyadh was a strong supporter of Sisi's rise to power as army chief in 2013 and president the following year, after his military overthrew a Muslim Brotherhood-led government that emerged from the revolution.

While Saudi Arabia views Iran as its most pressing regional adversary, it also sees Sunni Muslim Islamist movements like the Muslim Brotherhood ultimately posing a greater threat to its dynastic system of rule and fears their rise in Arab allies.

However, as Saudi Arabia has turned to confront what it sees as a threat of Iranian expansionism across the region, Egypt has grown ever more introverted, focusing on the turbulent aftermath of its uprising and counter revolution.

Riyadh wanted Cairo to play a central role in its coalition confronting Yemen's Houthi group, which the kingdom says is allied to Iran. Egypt was reluctant to commit ground troops.

Western diplomats in Cairo and the Gulf said this strained ties somewhat, but that Riyadh had ultimately accepted Egypt's reasoning and its public pronouncements that it would defend Saudi Arabia from any external threat.

"The fact is that because of its revolution and its domestic economic situation, Egypt is not what it was, and more and more the Saudis are taking this prominent role," said a diplomat. "The Saudis have some differences with them, but it's between consenting adults."

Still, Egypt's naval participation in the Yemen campaign is seen in Riyadh as important and despite Cairo's unwillingness to join Gulf states in declaring Hezbollah a terrorist group, its regional position has broadly aligned with that of the kingdom.

LAVISH AID

Both Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri and Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir dismiss any talk of recent strains, insisting there was no ill feeling over the Yemen campaign or other issues.

"This is an historic visit," said Jubeir at a news conference on Tuesday. Shoukri, in an interview with the pro-government daily Al Youm Al Sabee last week, he and Jubeir were "amazed" at suggestions the relationship was difficult.

Since Egypt's army deposed the Islamist government in 2013, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait have given Cairo around $35 billion in aid in the form of oil shipments, cash grants and deposits into the central bank.

Meanwhile, Riyadh and Cairo have spoken of the need to increase Gulf investments into Egypt, a goal that has faltered as prominent businessmen in Saudi Arabia and its neighbours have complained openly about red tape and corruption.

For some in Riyadh's elite, the fault lies with Egypt's president, a man regarded when the army seized power from the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013, and upon his election in 2014, as Saudi Arabia's newest best friend.

"Sisi enjoyed the position of a hero at that time. He was the guy to fix Egypt and save it from chaos. Now in the same majlises (salons) in Riyadh, he's lost that appeal," said Khashoggi.

(Additional reporting by Michael Georgy in Cairo and Sami Aboudi in Dubai; editing by William Maclean and Peter Graff)
It dominated Hong Kong and Shanghai.

Singapore remains the hottest spot for multi-national companies (MNCs) to set up their regional headquarters (RHQs), though competition is expected to intensify, according to a report by Cushman & Wakefield.

The commercial real estate company found that among the six cities studiedSingapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Tokyo and BeijingSingapore and Hong Kong are first and second in rankings respectively. Both are well established RHQ locations, and have longstanding economic and regulatory environments designed to lure in companies.

However, Singapore leaves Hong Kong in the dust in several aspectsHong Kong has a higher cost of living, as well as increasing competition from Tier 1 Chinese cities. Further, on a square metre basis, Hong Kong is almost twice as expensive as Shanghai and Singapore. Hong Kong also has the worst space efficiency compared to Singapore and Shanghai (which ranked third among the six).

In contrast, Singapore is the most space efficient market of the top three. And as a result of rental decline in 2015, it is cheapest on both a per square metre and per workstation basis.





More From Singapore Business Review


ABC/Randy HolmesTori Kelly kicks off her North American headlining tour tonight in San Diego, California. What can fans expect? A show that Tori says will include "everything that has me in it."

"I definitely want to keep elements in there that have kind of gotten me to where I am, which is those moments where it's just me and a guitar, very stripped-down acoustic," she tells ABC Radio, adding, "I'm definitely gonna play with a couple of covers...as a thank-you to the people who've been watching me on YouTube over the years."

She adds, "For me, it's a show that just kind of, it's everything I love as an artist, everything that has me in it. So, I'm excited about that."

Tori also says that if you saw her play live a year ago, you'll notice how much better she's gotten on stage. "My favorite part about being an artist is always singing live, but as a kid I had really bad stage fright," she explains. "So...just being able to move around and kind of give a good performance was something that's just gotten better over time. So this last year especially has just helped me feel even more comfortable on stage."

While Tori is criss-crossing the country and playing what she calls "check-off-the-bucket-list" venues like Nashville's Ryman Auditorium, New York's Beacon Theatre and the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, Tori says she'll be spending her downtime creating new music.

"I feel like I'm gonna be writing a lot," she reveals. "I feel like I kind of caught the writing bug right after the Grammys...it just kind of felt like a new page was turning. And I'm stoked. I think I'm gonna have a little studio set up and kind of just be writing all day with the band."

As Tori heads out, she's thinking about the end of an institution that helped her get her start: American Idol, which airs its final episode this week. She was a contestant on season nine of the show and made it to Hollywood Week, but failed to make the top 24. Still, it helped her get a lot of exposure.

As Tori tells ABC Radio, "In my career, it's been a very significant piece of the whole puzzle. So, it's sad to see it go, but at the same time it's left such a mark on music, and I think people are always gonna remember it...I definitely am gonna miss it."

Tori's tour wraps up May 21 at L.A.'s Greek Theatre.

Copyright  2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.




LIMA, April 5 (Reuters) - Copper output in Peru jumped 70 percent in February from the same month in 2015 as Freeport McMoRan Inc's Cerro Verde deposit displaced Antamina as the country's top mine for the second month, the government said Tuesday.

Cerro Verde, which has been expanding its mine in southern Peru, produced 41,873 tonnes of copper in February, up 180 percent from February 2015, according to official data. Antamina produced 38,865 tonnes.

Las Bambas, a new project by China's MMG Ltd, reported 10,632 tonnes in copper output in February.

Peru is set to become the world's second biggest copper producer this year behind neighboring Chile, thanks to Cerro Verde and Las Bambas.

The following are official mineral output figures for February:

METAL FEBRUARY PCT CHANGE

Copper 169,114 tonnes +69.59

Gold 13,121,954 grams +13.31

Silver 367,894 kilos +24.17

Zinc 107,003 tonnes -5.43

Lead 25,276 tonnes +4.36

Iron 636,212 tonnes -3.50

Tin 1,488 tonnes -8.44

(Reporting By Mitra Taj; Editing by Bill Trott)
Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) announced on Tuesday that it will be building a new small car assembly plant in Luis Potosi, Mexico. The Detroit automaker said the project represented an investment of roughly $1.6 billion, and that it would create 2,800 jobs by 2020.

Construction is expected to start this summer.

While Joe Hinrichs, president of Ford of the Americas, told CNBC this did not mean that the company is moving jobs out of the U.S., others argued that creating jobs outside of the U.S., instead of creating more employment for the country is just as troubling.

Among those who oppose to Fords expansion in Mexico is none other than Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, who has been criticizing the company for this move for quite some time now.

This transaction is an absolute disgrace, Trump said in a statement. Our dishonest politicians and the special interests that control them are laughing in the face of all American citizens. These ridiculous, job crushing transactions will not happen when I am President.

The United States now has a three quarter trillion dollar merchandising trade deficit with the world. NAFTA has incentivized plants to move to Mexico, closing factories across the United States, he continued.

"When I am President, we will strongly enforce trade rules against unfair foreign subsidies, and impose countervailing duties to prevent egregious instances of outsourcing. This will continue until we can renegotiate NAFTA to create a fair deal for American workers. Cheap goods are not cheap when you consider the cost of lower wages and higher unemployment. Once we reduce the incentive to outsource and keep business in the US -- and reduce taxes and regulations -- the relative price of goods will go down as decades of wage stagnation finally come to an end.

Disclosure: Javier Hasse holds no positions in any of the securities mentioned above

See more from Benzinga

 2016 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Getty Images. Trump would force Mexico to pay for the border wall by blocking Mexican immigrants from sending money back home, The Washington Post reports.

Donald Trump said he would force Mexico to pay for a border wall with the United States by blocking Mexican immigrants from sending money back home, the Republican presidential front-runner told The Washington Post in a memo.

This marked the first time Trump has disclosed in detail how he would make good on his promise that Mexico would fund the wall he has promised to build if elected president. Mexican leaders past and present have scoffed at the idea that their country would pay for the wall.

In the two-page memo to the Post, Trump said he would take the threat off the table if Mexico made "a one-time payment of $5-10 billion." The transfers would be allowed to continue once the wall is funded, Trump said.

It is uncertain whether the proposal is legally or politically feasible, the Post said.

Remittances sent from Mexicans living in the United States are a crucial part of the Mexican economy. Nearly $25 billion in U.S. remittances were sent home last year, the Post said, citing the Mexican central bank.



President Barack Obama on Tuesday called the plan impractical, poorly thought through, and designed for political consumption.

"The notion that we're going to track every Western Union bit of money that's being sent to Mexico  good luck with that," he told reporters at the White House.



If the Mexican economy were to collapse, it would only send more immigrants north to find jobs, he said.

Read the full story here.





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The UN envoy for Libya, Martin Kobler (C) meets Libyans during a tour in the Tripoli's old city on April 5, 2016 (AFP Photo/Taha Jawashi)

Tripoli (AFP) - The UN Libya envoy travelled to Tripoli and met the new prime minister designate Tuesday, in the latest sign an internationally backed unity government is asserting its authority over the capital.

Martin Kobler flew into Tripoli for his first visit since Fayez al-Sarraj arrived with members of his cabinet in the capital last week.

The UN envoy had been prevented from travelling to the capital last month by authorities in charge of the city, who have so far refused to cede power.

The new government's arrival has raised hopes it will be able to restore some stability in Libya, which has been plagued by chaos since Moamer Kadhafi's 2011 overthrow.

Kobler said on Twitter he had a "great meeting" with Sarraj and members of the unity government and that he was "moved by their courage and determination" in trying to set up in Tripoli.

He later told AFP that he also met municipal officials, adding: "We want to show that the UN and the international community support Prime Minister Sarraj and members of the presidency council."

Kobler said the UN was ready to provide "all the support needed" towards an "immediate and peaceful handover of power", and urged Libya's internationally recognised parliament to endorse the unity government.

The German diplomat, appointed last year to spearhead international efforts to resolve the Libya conflict, posted photographs of himself descending from a UN turboprop plane and then meeting with officials including Sarraj.

He was later seen walking in the streets of Tripoli's Old City, chatting with patrons in cafes and stopping for people to take selfies with him, an AFP photographer said.

- Visit shows 'degree of control' -

Libya has had rival administrations since the Libya Dawn militia-backed alliance seized control of Tripoli in mid-2014, forcing the internationally recognised government to flee to the country's far east.

Story continues

The unity government has been formed under a power-sharing deal agreed by some lawmakers in December.

Sarraj arrived by sea last Wednesday after the Tripoli authorities closed airspace to keep him out, and has since been operating out of a naval base.

The new administration has been broadening its support, winning the backing of the Libyan Investment Authority, the National Oil Corporation and the Central Bank.

Ten coastal cities that were under the control of the Tripoli authorities have also backed the new government.

Mattia Toaldo, a policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said Kobler's visit was a clear signal that the Government of National Accord (GNA) was putting down roots in the capital.

"Kobler's visit to Tripoli, after the many times he was refused landing and access... shows the degree of control of Tripoli by the GNA," Toaldo said.

An adviser to Kobler said the UN envoy discussed with Sarraj "ways to support the action" of the unity government.

Western governments are deeply concerned that Libya's disarray has allowed the jihadist Islamic State group to gain an important foothold in the country, but have said a foreign intervention can only take place at the request of a unity government.

Most foreign representations have long since left the capital but Tunisia on Monday said it was reopening diplomatic missions in Tripoli following the new government's arrival.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault praised Tunisia's decision on Tuesday and expressed hope for an eventual return of other embassies.

"The question of the return of our embassies is obviously a relevant one," he told reporters in Paris after talks with German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

"We hope that this situation consolidates itself. If the Libyan government asks us to help it ensure its security, we are available."

Kobler said the people he met on the streets of the Old City "specifically demanded the return of the embassies and the United Nations to Tripoli".
Texas' Republican authorities enacted a statute in 2011 that required voters to show one of seven types of official ID (AFP Photo/ERICH SCHLEGEL)

Washington (AFP) - The US Supreme Court on Monday upheld the principle of setting legislative districts based on total population, unanimously rejecting a conservative challenge that would have disadvantaged urban areas with large Hispanic populations.

The court ruled that the "one person, one vote" rule allows counting non-voters, including minors, prisoners, ex-convicts and immigrants -- a decision that traditionally helps Democrats.

"We hold, based on constitutional history, this court's decisions, and longstanding practice, that a state may draw its legislative districts based on total population," Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg wrote in delivering the court's opinion.

The plaintiffs -- Sue Evenwel and Edward Pfenninger -- argued that Texas should count only eligible voters in drawing up legislative districts of roughly equal size.

That would have favored rural areas with a high proportion of eligible voters in the allocation of legislative districts, over urban areas with larger absolute populations but a smaller proportion of eligible voters.

Since urban areas tend to vote Democratic and rural areas lean Republican, how the population is counted has a direct political impact.

If a state bases its electoral districting on the total population -- and all 50 states do -- people who are ineligible to vote are counted in the process.

These ineligible populations, such as non-citizen Hispanic immigrants, are usually present in larger numbers in urban areas.

As a result, each eligible voter in those areas proportionally has greater clout.

"Even so, it remains beyond doubt that the principle of representational equality figured prominently in the decision to count people, whether or not they qualify as voters," the court said.

"Adopting voter-eligible apportionment as constitutional command would upset a well-functioning approach to districting that all 50 states and countless local jurisdictions have followed for decades, even centuries. Appellants have shown no reason for the court to disturb this longstanding use of total population," the court added.

Story continues

- Unanimous decision -

The justices heard oral arguments in the case in December before the sudden death of Justice Antonin Scalia on February 13, which has left the court evenly divided between liberals and conservatives.

But even before Scalia's death, the justices had expressed skepticism about the challenge to the Texas law, which was borne out by the unanimous decision.

Had the court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, legislative districts would have had to have been redrawn in states from New York to California.

Civil rights leaders and minority groups backed the status quo, arguing a change would negatively impact Hispanics.

"Our representatives represent people," said Nina Perales of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

"Representatives don't represent land. They don't represent acres. They don't represent counties."

The NAACP civil rights group said that 75 million children, 13 million of whom are black, "would have been counted out of the redistricting process" since children cannot vote.

The case, it said, harked back "to nefarious periods in our democracy similar to when black people were counted as 3/5ths of a person for redistricting purposes."

Meanwhile Democratic presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders chimed in from the campaign trail in support of the decision.

"In our democracy, every one of our voices should count. Glad the Supreme Court affirmed this fundamental right," Clinton tweeted.

- 'Significant leeway' -

Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito were part of the majority, but wrote separate concurring opinions.

Alito, while agreeing with the majority, rejected the government's argument that there is a constitutional basis for requiring that legislative districts be equal in total population.

In a similar vein, Thomas noted that the court's decision did not provide clear guidance on what exactly "the one person, one vote" principle protects.

"The Constitution does not prescribe any one basis for apportionment within states. It instead leaves states significant leeway in apportioning their own districts to equalize total population, to equalize eligible voters, or to promote any other principle consistent with a republican form of government.

"The majority should recognize the futility of choosing only one of these options. The Constitution leaves the choice to the people alone - not to this court," he wrote.
Global warming has found an unlikely  and possibly short-lived  friend: French wine.

According to a study recently featured in Nature Climate Change journal, researchers revealed that warmer temperatures in France have compressed the standard growth cycle for wine grapes. Those early ripening grapes are more likely to have the perfect balance of sugar and acid  which is key to producing a higher-quality wine.

Before 1980, you basically needed a drought to generate the heat to get a really early harvest, the studys co-author, Benjamin Cook, a climate scientist with NASAs Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City, told NPR. But since 1980, its been so warm because of climate change that you can get the hot summers and really early harvests without needing a drought.

The study is focused on more than 500 years of harvest records in France.

Unfortunately, while wine enthusiasts may be enjoying some exceptional French vintages now, in part due to the earlier harvests caused by global warming, its a trend that wont be positive in the longer term.

If we keep warming the globe, we will reach a tipping point, study author Elizabeth Wolkovich of Harvard said in a statement. The trend, in general, is that earlier harvests lead to higher-quality wine, but you can connect the dots here  we have several data points that tell us there is a threshold we will probably cross in the future where higher temperatures will not produce higher quality.

Watch the video of Why Climate Change Is a Boon to French Wine on MoneyTalksNews.com.

Climate change does seem to have a varied impact on different winemaking regions across the globe. While France may be enjoying some higher-quality wine grapes as a result of earlier harvests  not all winemakers are so fortunate.

Lee Hannah, a University of California, Santa Barbara-based climate change biologist with Conservation International, co-authored a 2013 study that warned that grape growers may eventually need to move their vineyards to higher elevations and latitudes to escape the higher temperatures resulting from global warming.

Story continues

Hannah told NPR that the increases in temperatures and drought conditions in California have many worried that winemaking regions like Napa and Sonoma Counties could become too hot to produce quality wines.

People have been very worried about what this latest drought could mean for wine production in California, Hannah explained.

Are you a wine lover? What do you think of the potential impact climate change has on wine quality? Share your comments below or on our Facebook page.

This article was originally published on MoneyTalksNews.com as 'Why Climate Change Is a Boon to French Wine'.

More from Money Talks News
WASHINGTON, April 5 (Reuters) - A New York state man who charged an airliner cockpit saying "jihad" was sentenced on Tuesday to nine months in prison and three years of supervised release, federal prosecutors said.

David Diaz, 36, of Poughkeepsie, pleaded guilty to interfering with a United Airlines flight crew in the March 2015 incident, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia said in a statement.

It said that Diaz shouted threats when he charged the airliner cockpit shortly after the plane took off from Dulles International Airport outside Washington.

After being tackled by passengers, Diaz said "jihad" and that there was something in the belly of the plane. Travelers and flight attendants restrained him until the plane returned to Dulles.

U.S. District Judge Anthony Trenga in Alexandria, Virginia, also ordered Diaz to complete mental health and substance abuse treatment programs and to pay $22,151.77 in restitution to United.

(Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Fiona Ortiz)
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Giant leap forward for the libertarians here.Ontario premier meets with Black Lives Matter protesters at the legislatureTORONTO  Premier Kathleen Wynne told a crowd of Black Lives Matter protesters who marched to the Ontario legislature today that she agrees racism still exists and that its a very important issue to her.The activists have been camping out in front of Toronto police headquarters for two weeks, with demands that include an overhaul of Ontarios police watchdog and the release of the name of an officer who fatally shot a man last summer.The Special Investigations Unit recently found that the officer who shot the hammer-wielding Andrew Loku did not exceed the range of justifiable force.The protesters marched to the legislature today, chanting, black lives, they matter here and calling for the premier to come out and meet with them.Wynne and her security detail waded into the crowd of about 100 people and spoke with two of the organizers, telling them that she wants to arrange a formal meeting.




Okay you made me do it.



Yes, you made me go on reddit to see if the OP that I posted was on there, and I can not find it.



I even went back 6 days and it's not there so. Possibly since you may be more familiar with reddit you can point out where it is.



I got the original post in my e mailbox.



I don't know what you are seemingly so agitated about that post?



The intent of the information is to warn all Canadians of what Free Trades can open up and why we should all do what we can to convince the Liberals to not follow through on the TPP at all.



The following article, was not found on reddit......





After all, those who have the most wealth  namely large corporations and the billionaire class  have the power, influence, connections and money to ensure they pay as little taxes as possible.



Which gets me back to Diane Franciss observation about why nothing changes: it means taking on the most powerful lobby in Canada, and probably in the world.



In fact, too often you have a complete collusion of political and corporate interests when it comes to offshore tax havens. Take, for example, Paul Martin Jr.



Prior to entering politics, Martin became a wealthy man running his family business, Canada Steamship Lines (CSL), a global shipping company based in Montreal. But CSL has a complex offshore tax structure which allows it to pay minimal Canadian corporate taxes.



Part of that structure includes a subsidiary in Barbados. Which is no accident: Canada has a tax treaty with this Caribbean outpost.
You were prepared to have Steven Clarke murdered?""Yes, sir.""You asked someone if they were willing to have Steven Clarke murdered?""Yes, sir."That was the strange exchange carried out in a Hamilton courtroom Friday as one-time convicted murderer Christopher McCullough agreed with Hamilton police defence counsel Kieran Dickson that after his May 24, 1990 arrest for the killing of Beverly Perrin, he counselled a would-be hit man to kill Clarke for testifying against him.That hit man would prove to be an undercover police constable, leading McCullough to plead guilty to counselling to commit murder. McCullough would be sentenced to 10 years in prison.McCullough would be convicted in December 1991 of second-degree murder in connection with the rape and strangulation of Tapleytown school teacher Perrin. He would serve nine years for both the murder and the counselling murder conviction before he was released in 1999.Clarke said the trio forced Perrin into her car and drove to Pearce's home. With Pearce at the wheel, the foursome drove to a field off Cascade Avenue, where Perrin was raped and strangled with a rope before her body was dumped at a Tapleytown Road field.McCullough, 47, and Perrin murder co-accused Nicholas Nossey are suing Hamilton police for more than $10 million for malicious prosecution before Ontario Superior Court Justice James Ramsay.Nossey, who lives in Orillia, was acquitted of the Perrin murder. But he spent 19 months in pre-trial custody. The lawsuit is unusual in that it has been at least 15 years in the making but subject to numerous delays and postponements."I should never have been put in position where I could be charged with counselling to commit murder," McCullough shot back."The carrot was put in front of me and I bit," he continued.McCullough told his lawyer, Neil Jones, about his struggles to lead a productive life after his release.His last job was as a cashier at a Wendy's fast-food restaurant.That was in 2009.McCullough hasn't been able to find a job since.more
War-wounded military dog awarded charity medal

BBC News5 April 2016A military dog who lost her leg on duty in Afghanistan has received a vet charity's medal honouring the work of animals in war.Lucca, a 12-year-old German Shepherd, suffered injuries including the loss of a leg during a search for improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in 2012.She received the medal at a ceremony at Wellington Barracks in central London.The Dickin medal, founded in 1943, is awarded by the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA) charity.Lucca was trained by US Marine Corps as a search dog to sniff out munitions and explosives and, according to the Marines, protected the lives of thousands of allied troops.On her final patrol Lucca discovered a 30lb IED and, as she searched for additional explosives, a second device detonated.She instantly lost her front left leg and suffered severe burns to her chest.Her previous handler Corporal Juan Rodriguez recalled the moment she was injured: "The explosion was huge and I immediately feared the worst for Lucca."I stayed with her constantly throughout her operation and her recovery. She had saved my life on so many occasions - I had to make sure that I was there for her when she needed me."Lucca, who is now retired, completed over 400 missions in Iraq and Afghanistan during six years of active service.She lives in California with her handler, Gunnery Sergeant Chris Willingham, but has been flown to London for the medal ceremony.Lucca's Dickin Medal will be presented by the PDSA director general, Jan McLoughlin, who praised her "conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty".Her award will bring the total number of PDSA Dickin Medals awarded to animals in military conflict to 67. Since its introduction it has been awarded to 31 dogs, including Lucca, 32 World War Two messenger pigeons, three horses and one cat
In further No Lives Matter news, Major Byron Conaway of the Baltimore PD was just sprung from desk duty as the DA's office announced that his shooting of John Rau was "justified." Rau, who is white, traumatized Major Conaway when Conaway stopped him by pulling a pink Chap-Stick out of his pocket. The appearance of the pink Chap-Stick caused Conaway to flash back to his slave ancestors, who were oppressed by people who looked sorta like John Rau, at least in the article of "window tint," naamean?



The DA's office has not released any of the paperwork in the investigation, but a police department spokesman said "Yo, cracker ain't dead, ain't in the joint. Ain't gonna be no riot, so muh-fuh better consider himself lucky and step off!"
The rule of law is foundational to how we as Americans and as Nebraskans create an ordered society. Without respect for the law, for our national and state constitutions, for private property, or for individual rights, our lives would be chaotic and our economy would be unstable.

As governor, it is my duty to work with the Legislature to ensure that our laws create the orderly society we need to protect our rights. As my administration examines legislation, we are always looking to grow our state, protect public safety, and ensure that Nebraska continues to be the best place to live, work and raise a family.

This session, we have been working with senators to apply these principles. In recent weeks, senators voted to kill legislation that would have granted public benefits for drug dealers with repeat convictions. Additionally, the Legislature also voted down a bill which would have granted additional taxing authority to political subdivisions that have increased their property taxes an average of more than 96 percent over the last decade. Just this week, the Legislature wisely rejected Medicaid expansion for the fourth year in a row. This bill was based on a failed model of expansion used in Arkansas, and posed great risks to our state.

While the session has only a few weeks left, taxpayers should pay close attention to the bills senators have brought to the floor to debate. Much of the work of the session happens in the closing days, and there are still key proposals which will be debated on the floor of the Legislature.

One such bill, LB947, would give individuals who have come to Nebraska illegally access to professional and commercial licenses. Specifically, this legislation would extend benefits to a group of people who have immigrated illegally and have been deemed temporarily to be lawfully present in our country by the Obama administration. It is important to understand that President Obama unilaterally granted this status through executive order and it is only temporary. As your Governor, I have consistently opposed expanding public or taxpayer benefits to these individuals who came illegally because it undermines the rule of law.

If LB947 passes, Nebraska will be rewarding illegal immigration and preferencing those who are here illegally over those who use our legal immigration system. This sends the message that immigrants need not respect our laws. Think about what this means on a practical level. Nebraska has a multitude of international students studying at our universities and state colleges on legal student visas. Those who have followed our laws to be here must then get a work visa if they want to get a professional Nebraska license to stay and work here. This bill would allow people who came here illegally to circumvent the legal system used by the law-abiding immigrants coming to our state today.

In recent years, the Unicameral has granted some benefits to individuals who have come here illegally in spite of the concerns I hear from Nebraskans. A previous Nebraska Legislature gave in-state tuition to illegal immigrants, which means we preference illegal immigrants over a legal student from Kansas, Colorado, South Dakota, or Iowa. Last year, I vetoed a bill that gave drivers licenses to illegal immigrants, and this Legislature overrode that veto.

Nebraska should not continue down this path. In spite of the federal governments failures, we should uphold the rule of law to preserve the Good Life and ensure that our state remains the best place to live, work, and raise a family. Until the federal immigration system is fixed, we will continue to experience the impact of the federal governments failures on a daily basis. Giving benefits to individuals who came here illegally is not a solution for the schools, communities, and churches in our state that are on the front lines of dealing with the fall out of the federal governments failure to enforce immigration laws.

If you agree and want to see the Legislature defeat LB947, I encourage you to contact your state senator. The bill is on its second round of debate in the coming weeks, and senators are listening for your feedback. You can find all the information you need to contact your senator by visiting www.NebraskaLegislature.gov.
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) announced the opening of two Holiday Inn Express Hotels in India. Second Holiday Inn Express hotel opens in Chennai and the first in New Delhi.

Holiday Inn Express Chennai - Old Mahabalipuram Road, the second Holiday Inn Express hotel in Chennai is conveniently located on Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR). It has 136 rooms and is a perfect destination for business and leisure travelers visiting Chennai. The hotel offers great access to the district's commercial center that is the hub of automobile plants, IT technological parks and dedicated Special Economic Zones (SEZ). It is also nearby major tourist attractions like ECR Beach, VGP Universal Kingdom Amusement Park and the shopping district.

Additionally, strengthening the brands presence in north India, IHG has announced the first Holiday Inn Express hotel in New Delhi - Holiday Inn Express New Delhi - International Airport Terminal 3. The 93-room hotel is the first to open in the airport which is easily accessible by both the international and domestic terminals. Offering guests a comfortable and affordable nights stay, the hotel is perfect place for guests wanting to rest and re-charge.
Air France resumes flights to Iran which were suspended in 2008 when Irans nuclear policy was implemented. Many of the female Air France crew are resistant to the ruling, which asks them to wear pants and a loose fitting jacket on the flight and don a headscarf when outside the plane in Tehran.

Unions for the airlines cabin crew held talks with management after several female crew members opposed an order to wear a headscarf in Iran.

Air France will fly to Tehran three times a week from 17 April.

The company will introduce an exception so that employees who dont want to work on the route will be reassigned on other destinations with no sanctions.

A note sent to female cabin crew members requires them to wear a headscarf on their arrival in Tehran. They must also wear the uniforms long-sleeved jacket and trousers rather than a knee-length dress.

In Iran and at its airports as well it is required by law, even for Westerners or non-Muslim women, to wear a headscarf and long sleeves/skirt/trousers when going out in public. Failure to do this will result in being arrested and fined.
AccorHotels acquires onefinestay, a high-end hospitality pioneer specializing in luxury serviced Home rental in key worldwide gateways, for 148 million.

Launched in 2010 in London by Greg Marsh (CEO and co-founder), Demetrios Zoppos, Tim Davey and Evan Frank (co-founders), onefinestay is the leading brand in the luxury segment of the Serviced Homes market, combining the best homes and the finest service. Leisure and business guests stay in hand-picked distinctive private homes with made-to-measure, personal service from a personal welcome on arrival to a team on call 24/7. For homeowners, onefinestay provides peace of mind, convenience and flexibility, by taking care of everything from marketing, distribution and insurance to screening each guest, to professional cleaning, management and maintenance.

The company today operates a portfolio of 2,600 properties under exclusive management with strategic locations in London, New York, Paris, Los Angeles and Rome (representing an estimated asset value of more than 4bn).

With its global presence and strong expertise in both operations and digital services, AccorHotels will support a new development phase of onefinestay, accelerating its expansion across new key urban markets, providing it with its powerful distribution capacity, strong customer base, incremental synergies and its know-how as a world-leading hotelier. As a result, onefinestay has an ambitious strategy to expand to 40 new cities around the world over the next five years growing revenues tenfold.

onefinestay will remain an independent business unit within the AccorHotels Group and will continue to be led by Greg Marsh and the key management team.
The Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre is now sanctioned to provide training to external participants following receipt of the Certified Training Provider accreditation from the Malaysian Ministry of Human Resources Human Resource Development Fund* (HRDF).

This certification fits perfectly with our vision of being a knowledge centre and training provider for local industry players and stakeholders, to help raise the level of service delivery and grow Malaysias business events footprint globally. We look forward to sharing our training experience and knowhow; garnered from over a decade of operations, with partners and stakeholders to help boost Malaysias competitiveness against regional and international competition, said Rohizat Baharum, the Centres Director of Human Resource.

According to Rohizat, the certification process took about three months to complete and involved an online submission and an on-site audit by HRDF officers. The facility was also required to have a minimum one HRDF certified trainer on board and this, the Centre passed with flying colours with four certified trainers - Rohizat; Suya Sumithra Thangaiah, Training Manager; Girbakran a/l Balachandran, HR Supervisor - Training and Azman Ali, Assistant Catering Manager.

Since opening in June 2005, the Centre has made great strides in responding to the Malaysian governments call to nurture and retain local talent and to develop innovations that will benefit the hospitality industry in Malaysia as a whole. The Centre was the first in Malaysias hospitality arena to address the flexible staff shortage faced by the industry with a manpower development initiative, the Ambassador Programme. Designed to nurture and grow a talent pool, the Centre's Ambassadors, when not on duty at the venue, can freelance with other hospitality organisations. To date, more than 6,700 Ambassadors have been trained under the programme.

The Centre also collaborates with institutions of higher learning on programmes aimed at familiarising students with the industry and the different career opportunities available to them. They include the Student Employment Programme (STEP) which involves participants attending multiple workshops and receiving on-the-job training and exposure to various departments within the Centre and the six-month Experiential Learning Programme (ELP) whereby participating Diploma students spend four days working at the Centre and one day in the classroom at their respective college.

For all the latest news and information on the Centre, visit www.klccconventioncentre.com.
More than 80 global Information and Communications Technology (ICT) companies will participate at Posidonia 2016 which will be held from June 6  10 at the Athens Metropolitan Expo.

Greek shipping industry runs the worlds largest merchant fleet comprising over 4.500 vessels with an estimated value of US$ 92bn. As Greek shipping operates a very young fleet with an average age of 11 years, some 2 years less than the world average, it is evident that a great percentage of the US$ 8,6bn invested by Greek interests in newbuildings will be spent on new technology.

Satellite communications, cargo tracking, navigation and crew management are some of the key areas ICT innovations can help improve for the global shipping industry as indeed is energy efficiency, which is mandated by the International Maritime Organisation headed by Secretary General Kitack Lim, who will attend the opening ceremony of Posidonia 2016.

Cutting carbon footprint generated by the seaborne transportation of over 10bn tonnes of cargo a year by 50% may be a tall order for the ICT sector to deliver single handedly but recent advancements in software technology can contribute to fuel efficiencies thus driving carbon levels down.

From communications to procurement and from safety to vessel reporting, financial accounting and navigation, ICT providers for every aspect of shipping operations will be exhibiting at this years Posidonia to showcase their ability to create a more connected, integrated and efficient shipping industry.

They come from all four corners of the world, from India to Scandinavia and from Australia to North America to compete with each other and against a strong contingent of Greece-based antagonists for a slice of the ever increasing ICT budgets of shipping companies.

The event is organised under the auspices of the Greek shipping community and the five major associations representing Greek shipping interests: Ministry of Maritime Affairs & Insular Policy, Municipality of Piraeus, Hellenic Chamber of Shipping, Union of Greek Shipowners, Greek Shipping Cooperation Committee, Hellenic Shortsea Shipowners Association and Association of Passenger Shipping Companies.
German tourism sector celebrates double digit growth in overnight stays in Germany by visitors from the UK and Ireland. The German National Tourist Board (GNTB) announced the number of overnight stays that has seen yet another rise.

During the 12 month period of January  December last year, there was an increase of 7.4% in overnight stays by visitors from the UK compared to 2014. Visitors from Ireland registered an impressive 13% rise in overnight stays and figures just received for January 2016, indicate this trend shows no sign of abating: in January alone, overnight stays by visitors from the UK increased by 10.2 %, with a 10.8% rise for Ireland.

GNTB says that the reasons behind this continuing upward trend are: the sheer choice and variety of types of holidays to be found in Germany, value for money, fast modern infrastructure and easy access from the UK and Ireland. In addition, the amount and type of holiday products sold by Tour Operators increased in 2015, leading to greater choice and service.

Another factor is the German countryside; with the UKs enduring passion for all things rural currently making the news, similarly as in Ireland, the GNTO is predicting that its Holidays in the Heart of Nature campaign could be an extenuating factor for increased tourism in 2016. GNTOs Director for UK and Ireland, Klaus Lohmann said: its clear from the popularity of rural interest television shows, specialist publications and the media, that people in the UK and Ireland have a deep-seated love and respect for rural life  just as we do in Germany. Exploring rural and green Germany will enable visitors to discover many fascinating regions and areas they may not previously have known, with picture-box villages, incredible landscapes and the chance to relax and get away from it all.

Sporty types will not be disappointed: freeclimbing was invented in Germany and the many hiking and walking routes wind their way through different terrains and levels to suit all needs. With more than 200 long-distance cycle routes, cyclists are spoilt for choice, combining rural landscapes with urban discovery. The bracing coastline in the North offers a huge array of activities from windsurfing to sailing and kitesurfing, plus Germanys 16 National Parks, more than 100 Nature Parks and 15 unique Biosphere Reserves provide wildlife enthusiasts with the chance to get close to nature, throughout the whole year.
Hot Topic

I am a moderator for the facebook group "Video Game - Composers & Sound Desginers" (https://www.facebook.com/groups/2541910980/), one of the hottest topics in the group is about how much should a composer charge, should composers work for free, or give music away? Its a topic that just never seems to die down.

This particular week a composer called Fabian Gremper posted the following:



Hey. I make free music for video games. This new track is inspired by casino sounds  and it definitely feels like you're winning . This and all other tracks for SUPER GAME MUSIC are licensed under Creative Commons. You're free to use them in any projects of yours.Let me know what you think! Have a great day. https://soundcloud.com/supergamemusic/sugarrush

Jeff Lawhead then quipped :



Jeff Lawhead In before the "OMG NEVER DO MUSIC FOR FREE YOU'RE RUINING THE INDUSTRY" flood.

and Fabian replied :



Fabian Gremper If this is ruining the industry, then the industry is in really bad shape yo

Nils Orwell didn't agree :



Nils Orwell Well...the industry is in a pretty bad shape actually. because of the amount of people that are offering stuff for free to everyone (not only music). In general i think everyone who has contributed to a commercial project, should benefit from it financially, because if people want to pay for a game, then your work has a value to it.



In your case I would give those tracks to either nonprofit projects (there are tons of them out there) or to student projects. And leave the commercial market for people who are working for money.

My view is that writing music like this and giving it away under a creative commons license is great, as it doesn't really effect the work for hire composer industry. Mainly because publishers, and developers really do want to own all their assets, and they also like their assets to be original and exclusive to their product. So this is great for no budget indie developers who like Fabian make games content for fun. But anyone intending to monetize their release will want it to be exclusive and owned by them. There will of course be exceptions to the rule, there always is, but highly unlikely.

I am more concerned that composers offer to work for funded developers exclusively for free. But there is just no justification to work for a funded developer for free. But that doesn't mean a composer cannot choose to work for a revenue share if the project is exciting to them. Not all dev's have funding, especially if they are just starting out. I have recently offered my services to 3 indie developers to work on a revenue share deal, because I like the people and the projects they are doing.

Julian Beeston had this to say :



Julian Beeston FREE = BAD Bad for the industry, bad for you, bad for me, bad for everyone trying to make a living in this field or any other related field. Please don't offer you're services for free unless it's a registered charity or your brothers' scout group cake sale.

I don't believe that free music non-exclusive music affects AAA productions in anyway. I feel that this is more an issue of the so called "indie" scene, where indie means home made, or low budget teams that are doing it for fun in the hope they make a living from it some day. Yes, the app store is a wash with home made titles that use free resources, but I don't see those games as part of the professional side of the industry - however that does not mean that they are not quality games and worth buying, its about how they are made. I just cannot see the impact it has on the likes of established premier developers like Rebellion, Rock Star, and Sumo Digital.

But not everyone agrees with me, Sylvio Pretsch had this to say.



Sylvio Pretsch The industry is in a bad situation! A lot of well-known composers had to look for a normal job to be able to earn enough money to pay their bills because a lot of music producers like you offers their music for free. This is really bad! Why do you offer your music for free? Did you get your music equipment for free? I'm sure you paid a lot of money to create your own recording studio. Everyone of us has got fixed costs every month! We have to pay the rent for our recording studio and our flats. We have to pay for foods, insurance and other things. And when somebody wants to use my music he or she has to pay for! Your music equipment can break at any time where you need money to let it be repaired by a technician or where you need money to buy you something new. That's not nice what you are doing

Syvlio's reaction to Fabian is common amongst professionals who make their living from writing music, but I think that there is a misunderstanding between what constitutes as professionally made, and what is hobbyiest work. In part this is an issue with the Indie Scene in general because teams, and individuals present themselves as professionals, but the hard truth is that the true difference between being a professional and a amateur is not, talent, ability or skill, it is simply down to if they are funded or not. Indie Developers will bristle at this distinction because they feel they are doing quality work (and some are!), and that they conduct themselves in a professional manner (which some do!), but when it comes down to clearly defining if you are a professional company or not, funding is the very heart and soul of it.

Definitions of Developers

At this point in the discussion it occured to me that part of the issue for both developers and composers was they didn't clearly understand where they slotted in with each other at the various levels of developer within the industry, from bedroom indie to boardroom giant.

Self Funded or Bedroom Developer

An indie with no capital, and no up front milestone funding from a publisher. They are self funded, a solo or small team, and perhaps are all working from home. My advice to those teams is to find a composer who is in the same position. Don't ask established composers for their help for free, most will just ignore you, some might be polite and say no, and yes others might join your team and do it for a revenue share later. But never expect composers who make their living to just want to work for nothing because you ask nicely. I wouldn't mind free bus rides into town, but the Bus driver won't let me on the bus even if I ask nicely.

Now lets flip it, if you are a bedroom composer, you need to think about who you approach. If you have a kick ass portfolio then you can aim as high as you like, and chase those very rare jobs that come up at the major publishers and developers, but it is more likely that you will be looking for work with people who are in a similar situation to yourself. Embrace this, find teams via the various support sties like: Indie Gamer http://forums.indiegamer.com/

or : TIGSource Forums https://forums.tigsource.com/index.php

Profit Funded

So lets say you run an indie company that has made some money, in my view you are now "profit" funded. You are using the profit from your first game to fund your next game. Now if the profit was below a certain threshold then you are still technically "self funded", so stick to plan A. However if you do have a few thousand kicking around, and you fancy having a composer with a proven track record, or if you have always liked a particular composer then maybe some of that budget can go on audio. You need to decide how much you want to spend. Never think about it from the point of view of "how cheap" because that's the wrong way of thinking. You have a budget, and lets say you have a composer in mind. JUST ASK THEM, it really is that simple, send them an email, tell them your budget, and ask if they will do it. Now if your budget is 50 per minute of music. Lets hope the composer who you love isn't busy or in a bad mood, because that's at least 200 short for a reasonable level of experience. Now if your budget can stretch to 200+ per minute of music. Then you will be taken seriously, and you can expect professional behavior and quality material. Now of course if your composer hero is Jesper Kyd, or Marty O'Donnel then you might need to have an even bigger budget. But then again you never know. Be polite and ask.

Now a note for experience composers, do not dismiss these approaches out of hand, ALWAYS take a look at their game first, they may be creating the next Minecraft, or Angry Birds, or Tomb Raider. It is always worth considering what these small developers have to say, it might be small money now but it "could" lead on to the most rewarding experience of your working life, both creatively and financially.

Funded Small Developers

"Funded Small Devs" well, you have made it this far, you are doing well, and you have a milestone based contract with a publisher. Or perhaps you have crowd funded your game on Kick Starter. Again its similar to "profit funded" in terms that you are looking for a professional composer who is known in the industry and has a good pedigree of games behind them. But there are other options, you might want to hire someone if your year on year budget can now support this. Getting an audio producer (like me), someone who can do all the audio jobs on a project can be a GOLD MINE for some small funded dev teams. I have done some stellar work where I have been the only audio person on the team, making everything and implementing it all - its quite an amazing thing to do, and in the long run you can really save yourself money, especially if you have multiple games in development for different publishers. When I worked at APE, I worked on several titles over my 2 years, but if I had worked freelance on each one, I would have been paid twice as much, so they saved well.

Working in house seems like a great gig, and to be fair it is. Its a regular wage and you get hardware and software bought for you, and you'll be working on games all the time, and have lots of things to focus on, this can be some of the most rewarding work you will ever do, however!

There are some pitfalls, not being your own boss can be frustrating for some people, also working directly with other people in an office can be difficult, especially if there are bad apples there who make things hard for you, this can be soul destroying. As a free lancer you seldom suffer this kind of behavior but sadly it is common in most work places not just our industry. Another pitfall is that you may have to move a long way from your home town to follow your career. The final and worst part of working in house is that permenant does not really mean forever. Redundancies happen, and sadly in the video game industry they can happen even if a project was successful, so be mindful of that and make sure you are invaluable to the company, or make sure you have an escape plan if the worst does come to the worst.

Funded Large Developers / Publishers

"Funded Large Devs" - This "should" be obvious. Hire an in house team, or use professionally qualified external contractors, and stick to your budget. I've hired audio teams for Frontier and Acclaim, and that is a whole new level of complication, because then you have to manage them, as well as doing other audio work. It can get quite complicated. But by this stage the company "should" be well setup and know how to hire the right people, for the right money, and get great quality games out of the door.

Composers and other sound people who work at this level know how the industry has changed over the years, and those that have continous careers have evolved with the industry, there is little I can say to you, except that you will need to keep evolving and changing, and that may mean embracing the indie scene as well, doing some low paid work, not for the money but because you are creating amazing works of art, so pick wisely and enjoy.

Summing Up

Clearly composers feel that free music harms their chances at getting paid work, but from my experience, most Funded small devs and upward will always pay for exclusive music. I do think there is some confusion, certainly with members of the gaming community between what is a "proper" development company, and what is essentially a team of talented people, who just do not have the funding in place to hire composers. I am approached on a weekly basis by teams who want me to work for them but have no grasp of the difference between their setup and what a company like Rebellion, or Frontier actually do. I admire the people working in the "indie" scene, I think there is some exceptional talent there, but they are not business men, they are not registered companies, so to me there is no surprise that some of them have no clue about how to behave with professional people. But these guys probably do need composers like Fabian, so they can get there first game out and perhaps take that next step up to being in a position that they can pay for music, and perhaps they will come to Fabian and say - hey man, we are doing a sequel to "insert unicorn joke name here" and this time we can pay you XXX for YYY but can you do us some exclusive music this time, and then maybe the next game they will be well funded and they suddenly realize they have come from bedroom to boardroom, and now they have to understand scary stuff like Corpation Tax, Copyrights, and Health insurance.

Tim Haywood is an Audio Director, Composer and Sound Designer of 25 years of experience

http://playroomsent.wix.com/portfolio
He is a veteran conservative politician known for attempting to introduce strict Shari'a law in Pakistan in the late 1990s before a military coup temporarily sent him into exile. But since his return as prime minister, Nawaz Sharif has emerged as an unlikely torch-bearer for reform.



Sharif and his Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) party, which has strong support among conservatives, have surprised many observers by confronting the powerful religious establishment and calling for a more tolerant Pakistan.



Since the turn of the year, the 66-year-old has enacted a landmark domestic violence bill, promised a tougher stance on so-called honor killings, officially recognized holidays celebrated by Pakistan's religious minorities, and overseen the execution of a man revered by hard-line clerics.



Observers suggest the change of course is down to the prime minister's ambitious plans to overhaul the economy, the considerable influence of his daughter Maryam Nawaz Sharif, and his easing relationship with the country's powerful army, which has an oversized role in domestic and foreign affairs.



"He's a politician and a businessman," Mohammad Taqi, a U.S.-based Pakistan political analyst, said of Sharif, who oversees a vast business empire.

"Jihadist anarchy doesn't suit politics or business. Also, unlike the military, the politicians evolve and learn," Taqi said. "The military sees archrival India and neighboring Afghanistan as zero-sum games; politicians don't. Therefore the utility of jihadism is limited for politicians."



Confronting A Community

After making a triumphant return to Pakistan in 2007, Sharif went on to regain his former post as prime minister in 2013. His ascension to an unprecedented third term came after strong support among rural voters and the religious community spurred his party to a decisive parliamentary election victory.

Sharif has long been closely tied with Pakistan's conservative establishment, an identity forged during his two terms as prime minister in the 1990s. But, in recent months, he has shaken that very establishment and challenged his traditional support base.

In January, the government ended a three-year ban on YouTube that had been supported by clerics to block access to videos defaming Islam.

The same month, in a bid to curtail child marriages, Sharif's party introduced a bill calling for the age limit for brides to be raised from 16 to 18. The Council of Islamic Ideology, the country's top Islamic guidance body, declared the bill un-Islamic. But while the proposed legislation was withdrawn, Sharif made clear that his government was intent on making changes.

In the province of Punjab, where Sharif's brother, Shahbaz, serves as chief minister, lawmakers approved new legal protections for abused women. More than 30 religious groups have threatened to launch protests if the bill is not withdrawn.

Thousands of Muslim hard-liners took to the streets to denounce the execution of Islamist assassin Mumtaz Qadri.

Earlier this month, Sharif officially recognized holidays celebrated by Pakistan's religious minorities, including Easter and the Hindu festival of Holi.

Perhaps the clearest indication that Sharif had changed tack was an execution that took place under his government's watch. Mumtaz Qadri was executed in February at the order of the Islamabad High Court five years after he assassinated a liberal Punjab governor over his calls to reform the country's blasphemy laws.

Thousands of hard-line Islamists rallied in the heart of the Pakistani capital for four days to denounce Qadri's execution and to call for the introduction of strict Shari'a law in Pakistan.

The sit-in protest ended on March 31 after protest leaders said they were given assurances that controversial blasphemy laws would not be amended and more than 1,000 Islamists detained by police during the protest would be released. The government, however, denied it had acceded to any of the protesters' demands.

"A few years ago a death penalty like this for a religious fanatic would not have been possible," analyst Taqi said. "So credit to the prime minister because he's the one who has to deal with the political backlash."

Going Too Far

Some warn, however, that Sharif risks taking things too far.

Observers have linked pro-Qadri protests with a recent militant attack in the southern city of Lahore that killed 70 people and injured some 300 others. Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a breakaway Pakistani Taliban faction that supports the Islamic State (IS) group, claimed responsibility and said it specifically targeted Christians.

"If Sharif pushes too far, then both the terrorists and the more moderate religious forces will be galvanized and could respond in terrifying and traumatic ways," said Michael Kugelman, South Asia associate at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington.

Kugelman said both the Lahore attack and the pro-Qadri protests in Islamabad "underscore, in a big way, how religious forces can make the Pakistani government vulnerable."

True Reform?



Even as Sharifs government has managed to push through some reforms, however, it has come under strong international criticism.



The United Nations, the European Union, and human rights groups have deplored the governments heavy-handed measures taken following the Pakistani Taliban's gruesome ambush of a military-run school in the northwestern city of Peshawar in December 2014 that left 147 people dead, the deadliest ever attack in Pakistan.



Pakistan has hanged more than 300 people since lifting a moratorium on the death penalty in December 2014. Many were convicted in closed military courts, which critics say fail to meet fair trial standards.

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's influential daughter, Maryam.



And, in the broader scope of things, analysts say, Sharif has not managed to bring about true reform.



"I would characterize Sharif's moves so far as isolated and even token gestures that haven't occurred in a sufficiently sustained fashion to constitute a formal reform plan," said Kugelman. "There is only so far that he can go, given the constraints posed by powerful conservative vested interests such as mullahs and the military."



Emboldened Position



But observers have said there could be several reasons why Sharif might have changed course in his third term.

"I suspect that some of it may have to do with the thought of leaving a legacy after his third term," Taqi said. "His daughter may be an influence on him too on women's issues."

Sharif's influential 42-year-old daughter, Maryam, has been a voice of moderation on women's issues and the protection of minors.

But perhaps the key to emboldening Sharif to change direction has been his improved ties with the army.

Sharif spent most of 2014 locked in disputes with the powerful military, with tens of thousands of protesters camped near the prime minister's residence demanding that he resign. During those protests, speculation was mounting that the military was considering a coup to oust Sharif. In order to keep his job, Sharif reportedly conceded foreign-policy decisions to the military.

"His relations with the military are perhaps a bit better now than they were months ago," said Kugelman. "So maybe there is a bit more space for him to operate independently."
CHARLES CITY | A Charles City man accused of squeezing an infant and twisting its arm behind its back has pleaded not guilty to two counts of child endangerment resulting in serious injury.

William Khuns, 21, was arrested March 8 by the Charles City Police Department. No trial date has been set.

In August Khuns squeezed the babys ribs until they broke, according to the criminal complaints.

Police also allege that in September he twisted the infants right arm behind its back until he heard a pop.

The baby had numerous serious injuries, including nine broken bones, according to the police.

Child endangerment resulting in serious injury is a Class C felony.

-- Mary Pieper
MASON CITY  Going to the Naval Academy was a dream that almost didnt happen for Meeghan Rodamaker.

After turning in her application for the service academy last fall, the Mason City senior, 18, found herself on the verge of a denial by February despite multiple appeals.

Medical screeners had found she carried a mutation for Factor V Leiden  a rare condition that could make her more prone to abnormal blood clots if she would become pregnant.

Since visiting Georgetown three years ago, she had set her sights on attending the academy, hoping to become a surface warfare officer.

But that was in doubt.

It was something so totally out of my control, Rodamaker said. I was very hurt and I was disappointed in myself.

U.S. Service Academy applicants must receive a nomination from their member of Congress or the vice president, who typically nominates two applicants per year.

According to the Naval Academys website, 4,000 candidates are typically nominated each year but only 1,500 are accepted.

In February, U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, intervened after her family contacted his office. King contacted the Congressional Naval Liaison office to push Rodamakers case.

King said Rodamaker has the highest combined score from her academic record and screening interview of this years applicants.

This (medical issue) is an anomaly, he said. I heard in her voice and saw in her eyes the look of someone we need in our academies.

Rodamaker was on a friends boat in Stuart, Florida, when King called her to tell her she had been accepted.

I had truly thought that my chances were over, she said.

At Annapolis, Rodamaker plans to study political science and psychology. She will report for induction on June 30.

She is the daughter of Marti and Bill Rodamaker of Mason City.
NEW YORK, April 04, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Santander Consumer USA Holdings Inc. (Santander or the Company) (NYSE:SC) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in United States District Court, Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division, and docketed under 16-cv-00919, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons or entities who purchased Santander securities between February 3, 2015 and March 15, 2016 inclusive (the Class Period). This class action seeks to recover damages against Defendants for alleged violations of the federal securities laws under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the Exchange Act).



If you are a shareholder who purchased Santander securities during the Class Period, you have until May 17, 2016 to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com. To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at rswilloughby@pomlaw.com or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll free, ext. 9980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and number of shares purchased.

Santander is the holding company for Santander Consumer USA Inc., an Illinois corporation, and subsidiaries, a specialized consumer finance company focused on vehicle finance and unsecured consumer lending products.

The Complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements, as well as failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Companys business, operations, and prospects. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose: (1) that the Companys methodology for estimating credit loss allowance on individually acquired retail installment contracts was improper; (2) that, as a result, the Company would need to correct its previously issued financial statements; and (3) that, as a result of the foregoing, Defendants statements about Santanders business, operations, and prospects, were false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis.

On February 29, 2016, after the market closed, the Company filed a NT 10-K with the SEC on Form 12b-25 revealing that Santander was unable to timely file its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the Companys fiscal year ended December 31, 2015 because the Companys financial statements had not yet been completed. According to the Company, it has an open comment letter from the Division of Corporation Finance of the SEC on the Companys Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2014 and Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2015 with respect to the Companys credit loss allowance, including the removal of seasonality and the increase in troubled debt restructuring (TDR) impairment during the quarter ended September 30, 2015 as well as certain TDR disclosures in both periods. According to the Company, it is still discussing these matters with the SEC and its independent accounting firm and will file the Form 10-K as soon as possible.

On March 15, 2016, the Company revealed that the Company was unable to meet the March 15, 2016 extended filing deadline for its 2015 Annual Report because it was still unable to complete its financial statements. According to the Company, it still has an open comment letter from the Division of Corporation Finance of the SEC on the Companys Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2014 and Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2015 with respect to estimating the Companys credit loss allowance, including the removal of seasonality and the increase in TDR impairment during the quarter ended September 30, 2015 as well as certain TDR disclosures. According to the Company, as a result of the review, the Company is changing its methodology for estimating credit loss allowance on individually acquired retail installment contracts and will correct prior periods in Item 9B in the Form 10-K. On March 15, 2016, the Company notified the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) that it is not in compliance with Rule 8.01E of the NYSEs listed company manual as a result of its failure to file the Form 10-K within the extended time period.

On this news, the Companys shares fell $1.70 per share, or 16%, over two trading sessions to close on March 16, 2016, at $9.00 per share, on high trading volume.

The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Florida, and Los Angeles, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com
Latvian English

About the Legal Protection Proceedings application submission, to world markets held dramatic decline of fur sales price resulting to make the company's accumulated liabilities restructuring using Insolvency Law provided legal protection methods

JSC "Grobina" board informs that the world market occurred dramatic fall in fur sales price as compared with the March 2015 auction house average auction price was EUR 48.44 - March 2016 average auction price fell by 54% and amounted to only EUR 22,30. Consequently considering that at March 2016 auction was sold essential JSC "Grobina" produced skin amount ~ 78,300 skins - JSC "Grobina" planned cash flow from auction revenues lagged behind by about 2 million EUR. As the result of these developments the company is currently unable to meet in full its obligations towards its creditors. Thus, the rapid response to the situation of JSC "Grobina" management, informing the greatest public secured and unsecured creditors of AS "Citadele banka", with investment fund FlyCap support, decided to submit an application to court for the JSC "Grobina" Legal Protection Process. Consequently, on the April 5, 2016 on Court of Liepaja will be submitted a relevant application.

The Company's management and the majority of creditors' view, legal protection process will allow the continuation of production and postponing the payment of debts in time for legal protection proceedings plan, restore its ability to settle its accrued liabilities. As already shown the world's auction houses statistics, fur price fall in the world is temporary in nature (eg. 2008 / 2009 year auction average price was EUR 28.20, but in the 2009/2010 season  EUR 36.80 and 2010, - 2012 seasons - already 42.40 / 55.40 EUR for the skin), as a result of the company management and the majority of creditors' view, during the legal protection process plan, the fur prices on world markets will recover at least 2009/2010 growing season level.

After the court decision on the JSC "Grobina" legal protection process, management of the Company without changes will continue to ensure production as usual and at the same time stipulated by the law will develop and agree with its creditors specific legal protection process plan, applying to the Insolvency Law provided legal protection methods.

Any issue on the case on the above, please contact the JSC "Grobina" Chairman of the Board Gundars Jaunsleinis, +371 26353885, e-mail: asgrobina@gmail.com.

AS Grobina

Chairman of the Board

G.Jaunsleinis
San Francisco, California, April 05, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Global FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) industry is estimated to account for USD 9,882.5 million by 2020. Consumer electronics industry growth owing to rising demand for smart devices such as phablets and smartphones is projected to be key driver for market growth. Upsurge in electronic utilities and functionalities in the automotive sector may trigger demand growth of Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEV) which is anticipated to drive the market over the next six years.

The market demand has potentially increased attributing to miniaturization of devices across various application domains. In addition, significant increase in bandwidth demand in wireless network coupled with technological advancements is expected to have a positive demand on the market. Application of FGPA in medical imaging systems is projected to provide new avenues attributed to their ability to be reused and re-programmed. Availability of application specific integrated circuits may act a restraint for global FGPA market over the forecast period.

Telecom is estimated to witness growth at a CAGR of 9.8% from 2014 to 2020 to remain the fastest and largest growing application sector over the next seven years. FGPA upgradation is a simplified procedure that involves mere changes in the software along with high degree of flexibility. Consumer electronics contributed to over 12.0% of the revenue share in 2013, and is estimated to grow rapidly over the forecast period.



Advanced Driving Assistance Systems (ADAS) including GPS maps, collision avoidance system, AFS (Advanced Front-lighting System), and 3D visualization are key applications of FPGA systems. Furthermore, use of this technology in aerospace and military applications including warfare electronics, unmanned vehicles, SONAR, and RADAR is also estimated to contribute to rising demand.

Browse to access In-depth research report on Global FPGA Market with detailed charts and figures: http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/fpga-market

Asia Pacific is projected to grow at a CAGR of 9.6% from 2014 to 2020. It contributed to over 40.0% of the overall market share in 2013. Rising demand from application areas is projected to drive the industry in this region. Promising regulatory scenario to ensure safety in automotive is also anticipated to fuel FPGA implementation in developed economies.

Altera and Xilinx are the major industry players; other organizations functioning in the industry include Microsemi Corporation, Lattice Semiconductor, Freescale Semiconductor and Atmel Corporation. New product introductions and technology advancements is the key approach adopted by market participants. FPGA architectures involve fuse, anti-fuse and Static Random Access Memory (SRAM).

Altera offers a wide range of devices categorized on the basis of cost into low-cost FPGA (Cyclone series), mid-range FPGA (Arria series) and high-end FPGA (Stratix series), On the basis of performance and functionality; Xilinx devices are classified as Artix, Spartan, Virtex, Kintex, Virtex Ultrascale and Kintex Ultrascale.

Request for free sample of this research report: http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/fpga-market/request

Grand View Research has segmented the global FPGA market on the basis of application and region:

FPGA Application Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2012 - 2020)

 Automotive

 Consumer Electronics

 Data Processing

 Industrial

 Military and Aerospace

 Telecom

 Others

FPGA Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2012 - 2020)

 North America

 Europe

 Asia Pacific

 RoW

Browse related reports by Grand View Research:

About Grand View Research

Grand View Research, Inc. is a U.S. based market research and consulting company, registered in the State of California and headquartered in San Francisco. The company provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. To help clients make informed business decisions, we offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across a range of industries, from technology to chemicals, materials and healthcare.

Access press release of this research report by Grand View Research: http://www.grandviewresearch.com/press-release/global-fpga-market

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Ah, SOM vs Ross.Both schools have great consulting stats, so you'll get in front of all the main firms if that's what you're going for. If you want to do something more niche, definitely look at placement stats to see what firms recruit for. Also, do think about where you want to end up geography wise; the split is a little different between the two schools.Ultimately this does come down to fit as revul mentioned. I personally struggled with this decision a lot. For someone who didn't ultimately choose to attend Ross, I have a very strong positive view of the school and have encouraged a lot of people to look into the program. Attend the admitted student weekends if you can (and hopefully they're not on the same weekend again....); IMO the business school personalities have many similar qualities but the parent universities are quite different. You'll want to see where you fit best with the overall culture of school as well as your classmates. The schools' students as a whole have varying interests -- not only in terms of career placement -- so you'll want to see who you want to be around with for your business school journey.PM me if you want to chat further._________________
Are you a hard-working middle class liberal arts graduate with a deep appreciation for post-war Pop Art? Well if that's the case, too bad, because Andy Warhol's first New York City studio is back on the market, and it's definitely going to get snatched up be some multi-millionaire asshole. You might be able to expatiate on the post-Dada masscult genius of Campbell's Soup Cans, but in this town, historical authenticity gets sold to the Panama Papers guy in the Zenga loafers. He loves his coffee table book!

The studio, which is located at 159 East 87th Street, is currently listed for $10 million by brokerage Cushman & Wakefielda stark contrast from the $150 per month rent that Warhol paid when he worked there from 1962-63 (during that year he lived a few blocks away at 1342 Lexington Avenue). The space itself is an out-of-use firehouse that's conveniently located near the Met and Guggenheim museums and is labeled by the real estate company as a "blank canvas" because yeah, you can see what they did there.

DNAinfo reports that the 5,000 square-foot space is currently being used to store art by dealer Wildenstein & Co., and was originally built as a Hook & Ladder 13 firehouse in 1910. According to Blouinartinfo, the studio was Warhol's staging ground for many of his "Disaster" paintings. The art site also reports that the lease for the 87th Street propertyjust the document, signed by Warhol himselfsold at a Sotheby's 2014 auction for $13,750.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- Despite speaking out against President Obama choosing a Supreme Court nominee, another Republican senator is planning to meet with D.C. Chief Judge Merrick Garland.

On Monday evening, a spokesperson for Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley said the senator had invited Garland to breakfast to discuss the nomination "and why the Senate will not consider a nominee until the next president takes office."

The spokesperson said the date and time for the meeting was still to be determined.

While Senate Republican leaders continue to insist there will be no hearing and no vote for Garland or any nominee, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told ABC News earlier Monday that the fact that many are warming to the idea of a courtesy meeting with Garland represents a sea change on its own.

When ABC News later asked Grassley about the "sea change" before his phone call with Garland, he said, "I think if I was President of the United States, I'd take the same position."

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A communication breakdown during a shift change may have kept an Amtrak engineer in the dark about workers on the tracks in Pennsylvania on Sunday morning, according to sources familiar with an investigation into a passenger train derailment that killed two workers and injured 37 passengers. Amtrak train 89 was traveling 106 mph in a 110 mph zone, en route from Savannah, Georgia, to NYC with 341 passengers on board when it crashed into a backhoe on the tracks in Chester, about 15 miles outside Philadelphia.

The crash killed backhoe operator Joseph Carter Jr., 61, of Wilmington, Delaware, and Peter Adamovich, 59, of Lincoln University, Pennsylvania. None of the passengers' injuries are described as life-threatening.

Investigators are trying to determine why the backhoe was on the tracks being used by train 89. According to a preliminary investigation, the engineer hit the emergency brakes five seconds before plowing into the backhoe, and the eight-car train traveled another mile before finally stopping.

"I believe without question it's a communication problem," says U.S. Rep. Bob Brady, who toured the crash scene Sunday. The backhoe was on one of four tracks when it was hit by train 89, and unnamed sources familiar with the investigation tell Philly.com that "problems with Amtrak's dispatch could have been a key factor in the crash. Information about the work crew's presence on the rails may not have been shared during a shift change."

Two are reported dead according to philly.com after an Amtrak train derails this morning in Chester. A Chester County... Posted by WCHE 1520 AM Radio on Sunday, April 3, 2016

"Typically, the dispatcher has to give very specific permission for maintenance ... equipment, like a backhoe, to be on the track," professor Allan Zarembski, who teaches railroad engineering at the University of Delaware, tells ABC. "They have to take the track out of service for a defined distance and a defined time period. And then, they have to confirm that they understand it, repeat back the instructions, and only then can they get on the tracks."

In a statement released yesterday, Amtrak said, "Everyone at Amtrak is deeply saddened by the death of two Amtrak employees and injuries to our customers as a result of Train 89 hitting a piece of track equipment and derailing. We are working with the NTSB to identify the issues that led to this incident and will make any needed changes immediately.

"Amtrak has strict protocols that crews must follow when tracks are taken out of service for maintenance or when work is being performed along the right-of-way. These protocols help ensure safe operations - both for the crew performing the work, and for the trains traveling through the work area."

The union representing Carter tells ABC that a total of three workers have now been killed on the job in Amtrak's Northeast Corridor since March 1st. Sunday's derailment comes almost a year after a NYC-bound Amtrak derailment killed six and injured dozens more in Philadelphia.
Daily Show host Trevor Noah gave voice to Bernie Sanders supporters skeptical of the Democratic National Committee on Monday night during his interview of Committee chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, asking, among other things, whether Sanders is "being cock-blocked by the DNC."

"A lot of people feel that Bernie SandersIm going to paraphrasethat Bernies being cock-blocked by the DNC," Noah asked. "Is there any merit to this?"

The audience cheered.

"You know, as powerful as that makes me feel, Im not doing a very good job of rigging the outcome, or...blocking anyone from being able to get their message out, Wasserman-Schultz said. "The reality is, is I have a job as national party chair that is one that requires a thick skin, it requires me to be able to absorb the body blows so our candidates can stay above the fray. And if I have to take a few punches for them to be able to get their message out, then so be it."

In the interview that followed, Noah did his best to keep Wasserman-Schultz on topic as she tried to steer questions about the DNC's role in determining the nomination to the "clown car" of the Republican party race. In another exchange, Noah pressed the Democratic Party boss on the undemocratic nature of super-delegates, many of whom have pledged their support for Hillary Clinton without input from voters.

"Doesn't the idea of a super-delegate go against the very fact that people should be voting for the people who represent them at the convention?" Noah asked.

Wasserman-Schultz replied that voters have always "determined the outcome," but that there are "activists who are also a part of that process."

Wasserman-Schultz: But if you look at what's going on on the other side, I bet my [GOP] counterpart is wishing for some kind of magic pill or some

Noah: super-delegates.

Wasserman-Schultz: some Harry Potter

Noah: yeah, super-delegates.

Wasserman-Schultz: invisible cloak that he could use to make his problems go away. Because, at the end of the day, we're going to come together, I'm confident. We're going to have our primary process unfold, and a nominee will be chosen by the people who have cast votes, well before we get to the convention, and you'll watch the chaos unfold on the other side.

The Florida congresswoman has backed off of her earlier limiting of debates, which in December she said was an important part of "preserving [candidates'] ability to be out on the campaign trail, so that they can get up close and personal with voters." After sustained pressure from the Sanders camp, Clinton and Sanders are set to debate at the Brooklyn Navy Yard on April 14th. The debate will air on CNN and NY1.

For a differently awkward example of a comedian using the term "cock-block" to discuss a serious topic, here's Gothamist pal Jena Friedman talking to disgraced former prosecutor Ken Kratz of Making a Murder fame.
A man pleaded guilty to killing a woman named Islan Nettles because she was transgender in Harlem in 2013. James Dixon, 25, copped to a manslaughter charge on Monday as part of a deal with prosecutors. He will get 12 years in prison, though prosecutors had asked for 17.

"With this conviction, James Dixon has finally been brought to justice for this brutal and lethal assault," Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance said in a statement. "Members of the transgender community are far too often the targets of violent crime. I hope that this conviction provides some comfort to Ms. Nettles family and friends, and affirms my offices commitment to protecting members of the LGBTQ community."

Dixon took the plea after a judge ruled that his taped confession could be shown to a jury at trial. In the course of three statements, Dixon reportedly said that he and a group of friends encountered a group of women while walking along Eighth Avenue near West 148th Street on a late summer night, "thinking they were girls," and that he tried to hit on Nettles.

Dixon said his friends heckled him, and he allegedly asked Nettles "if she was a guy," according to a detective's testimony. When Nettles said yes, Dixon allegedly pushed her, punched her in the face, knocking her down, and beat her further. When she fell, Nettles sustained a brain injury. She died five days later at Harlem Hospital.

Dixon allegedly wrote that he had "got fooled by a transgender" prior to the attack on Nettles, which could explain his "blind fury." The explanation is what's known as the "trans panic" defense, in which those who attack transgender people blame the victims by saying that they misrepresented their gender, the discovery of which made the attacker temporarily insane. The defense recently helped Marine Joseph Pemberton shave decades off of a prison sentence in the Philippines, for fatally choking a trans woman who he was hooking up with in a hotel room after discovering that she was "a man," which he said made him feel "raped." California banned the use of the defense in 2014.

Police had initially arrested another man, Paris Wilson, for the attack, and charged him with misdemeanor assault and harassment, but later dropped the charges. Police arrested Dixon in March 2015. Gay City News has documented inconsistencies in his alleged confessionsat one point in the videotaped statement, a detective tells Dixon, "What youre saying doesnt make sense."

In a 2015 jailhouse interview with DNAinfo, Dixon said, "They got the wrong guy. I didn't kill anyone." He claimed that he was at his aunt's house at the time of the fatal beating.
Police have released a photograph of an 18th century statue that was stolen from a Manhattan gallery last month, in hopes someone has come across it.

According to the NYPD, the grand larceny took place on March 16th at 2:30 p.m. at the Nancy Wiener Gallery on East 74th Street, where "an unidentified person removed a Gilt Bronze statue from the 60-year-old female victim's residence during an open house art exhibition at her residence."

Police sources tell the NY Post that Wiener "told cops that she saw 'nothing unusual' while the $90,000 gilt bronze Sino-Tibetan statue was on display during the event that coincided with Asia Week New York... It wasnt until the next day when Wiener went to move the piece to a more secure location because the statue went up in value during an auction that she noticed it was gone."

The statue "depicts the Hindu gods Yama  known as the Lord of Death  Yami and a buffalo," the Post reported.

The authorities had raided a number of galleries during Asia Weekincluding Wiener'sin search of apparently looted works of art.

Anyone with information in regards to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-577-TIPS.

The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers Website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or texting their tips to 274637(CRIMES) then enter TIP577.
Three students at P.S. 169 were arrested yesterday after one allegedly threatened another student with a loaded gun, police said.

According to an NYPD spokesperson, police got a call from the Robert F. Kennedy school on the Upper East Side just before 2 p.m., during which a school staff member said there was a student with a handgun. When the police arrived, they found three studentsa 13-year-old, a 14-year-old, and a 15-year-old, all malein an administrative office. They were all taken into custody.

The investigation so far has revealed that the 13-year-old allegedly pointed the gun at another student (reportedly a 12-year-old girl), but the gun itself was discovered in the jacket pocket of the 15-year-old. The 14-year-old was allegedly carrying a box of ammunition in his jacket, police said.

All three were charged with criminal possession of a weapon in varying degrees, and the 13-year-old was also charged with menacing in the second degree. They'll go to Family Court, where they'll be treated as juveniles.

P.S. 169 has students in kindergarten through twelfth grade. Miguel Gonzalez, who has a son in first grade at the school, told the Daily News that he wasn't immediately informed about the incident yesterday afternoon.

"I'm very concerned for my son's safety, for everyone's safety," he told the tabloid. "I have a lot of questions."

The city's Department of Education said it is working with the NYPD on the investigation, and that "nothing is more important than the safety of all students and staff and there is zero tolerance for weapons of any kind...Students and staff are safe and no injuries were sustained. Parents will be notified and we are providing ongoing supports to the school community."

This is the fourth time in three weeks that a student has been found bringing a gun to a New York City school. On March 23rd, a 14-year-old boy was arrested after bringing an unloaded 9mm handgun to M.S. 61 in Brooklyn. On March 17th, a 15-year-old student at York Early College Academy in Queens was arrested after threatening another student with a loaded gun. And just the day before that, an 11-year-old student at P.S. 40 in Queens flashed a loaded gun at his classmates on March 16th, leading to the arrest of his grandfather after police alleged the gun had been taken from his home.
Victor King took a job at Whole Foods' Chelsea location last August, only after receiving assurance that his supervisors would be sensitive to the fact that he is a transgender manbut for six months, he was repeatedly subject to harassment by his coworkers and supervisors, who refused to accept him as male and retaliated when he reported their remarks, according to a lawsuit filed this week in Manhattan federal court.

When King, a 21-year-old Bronx resident, started working at the store at the end of August, he had already changed his name and begun hormone therapy. However, the Social Security Administration had not yet processed his name change, and it was on those grounds that Whole Foods' Human Resources department refused to accept his name as Victor Alexander, even after a court order, his suit alleges.

That was just the start of what would prove to be a trying six months of employment: shortly after he began work, his coworkers allegedly began to refer to him as "she," "her," or "it"; in one instance described in the suit, his coworker Pria Minickchen told a customer to "give it to he/she/it/whatever it is." A customer service supervisor named Quadry Scott allegedly told him that "I know you're not a guy, I am not going to refer to you as a guy," and King's Team Leader laughed at that comment, which made King feel like he couldn't bring his concerns to him, according to court papers.

Finally, in December, King says that he reported the discrimination to his Regional Manager, who told him to make a complaint with another Team Leader in the store. That supervisor in turn failed to take any action, the suit alleges. King then sought help elsewhere: he'd gotten the job through the Ali Forney Center, which provides housing and support to LGBT youth, and a career developer at the center got in touch with Whole Foods' regional management. As a result, King's supervisors had to go through sensitivity training in February 2016.

After that mandated sensitivity training, things only got worse for King, according to his complaint: his supervisors allegedly retaliated against him by refusing to talk to him or tell him which register to workand then only speaking to him to inform him he was working at the wrong register.

By March, it was getting to be too much: King had a breakdown in one of the store's bathrooms and says that he once more begged his supervisor for help. He wound up quitting in early March, after the only solution the supervisor offered was to move him to another store, according to his complaint.

"After all, if the Whole Foods in Chelsea was this hostile, why would any other be more inviting?" the suit questions. "It is also a terrible solution to punish the only innocent person in order to avoid addressing the offending staff and managers."

The lawsuit states that Whole Foods violated the New York City Human Rights Law, which requires that employers use an individual's preferred name, pronoun, and title, regardless of sex, anatomy, gender, or medical history; the NYCHRL also prohibits discriminatory harassment based on gender identity or expression in the workplace.

"Whole Foods Market just received the lawsuit and is currently reviewing the claims," Whole Foods PR representative Michael Sinatra said in a statement. "As a company, we have long celebrated diversity and acceptance and have zero tolerance for discrimination. Our diverse and inclusive culture is reflected in our team member base, including our leadership, as well as in community partnerships here in New York City."

Sinatra did not respond to inquiries about the sensitivity training provided to Whole Foods employees.

This isn't the first time Whole Foods has been sued by employees alleging discrimination; the store has also come under fire in New York City from customers claiming that they were overcharged for pre-packaged foods.
News

Russian strikes cause blackouts in much of Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Russian attacks had struck on a "very wide" scale. He pledged his military would improve on an already good record of downing missiles with help from its partners.
A 28-year-old man who walked away from the Helena Prerelease Center Monday morning has been arrested in Jefferson County, according to Helena Assistant Chief of Police Steve Hagen.

"On April 4th, at approximately 4 p.m., Christopher Wojciechowski, 28 years of age, who walked away from the Helena Pre-Release Center the morning of April 4th, was arrested in Montana City by deputies from the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office (JCSO). Our officer assigned to the Montana All Threats Information Center (MATIC) was following up on leads as to the whereabouts of Wojciechowski, when he learned he may be at a residence in Montana City. The information was relayed to JCSO. Wojciechowski was located and arrested at the residence without incident."

********

Authorities are looking for a 28-year-old man who walked away from the Helena Prerelease Center early Monday morning.

Police say Christopher Wojciechowski went missing at about 3:45 a.m. He was last seen at Burger King on Prospect Avenue.

He is described as 5-foot-9, 160 pounds with brown hair and blue eyes. Officials say he was last seen wearing a black coat, gray shirt, black pants and black shoes.

Wojciechowski has many tattoos, including demons and lightening bolts.

He was serving a sentence out of Cascade County for aggravated burglary and criminal possession of dangerous drugs.

Anyone with information concerning his whereabouts is asked to contact the Helena Police Department at 447-8461. Anonymous tips can be made via CrimeStoppers at 443-2000.
The other day a mayor here in Montana signed on to recognize Indigenous People Day. I was not clear if he meant it should be a new federal holiday or that it was to coincide with Columbus Day. (What, they need another paid day off?) Either way, it caused me to ponder even more about all the migrants and refugees in Europe and here in America.

Some 400 years ago there were others that fled  this being Europe  to the new world America. They fled under religious persecution. They came to set up a place where they could worship God as they believed He should be. They were not the first to try this, but these persecuted Christians made a shot at it and God blessed them and they made a go at it. This grew into a migration of Europeans coming to America for the same reasons. From these came forth this nation we call the United States of America.

Today we are led to believe that all they did is wrong  all the accomplishments, all the aid, all the inventions and so forth were wrong  that their migration was wrong. If it was wrong, then why is the migration taking place today in the Middle East right? Will this new migration melt in or will they live apart until they grow strong enough until they push the old out? Will they bring great advances to the world or chaos?

I guess if the world lasts another 200 years we may see if it was right or wrong.

Charlie P. Hull Jr.

East Helena
New Braunfels, TX (78130)

Today

Clouds and some sun this morning with more clouds for this afternoon. High 88F. Winds S at 15 to 25 mph. Higher wind gusts possible..

Tonight

Cloudy skies this evening. A few showers developing late. Low 73F. Winds SSE at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 30%.
The campus of the states Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake youth prisons in Lincoln County.
Kevin L. Kearns: Voters should think about manufacturing when heading to the polls
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP)  University of Iowa officials have proposed a new location for a building to house its art museum less than a month after pulling out of a public-private partnership for the project.

The Iowa City Press-Citizen (http://icp-c.com/1qkSbqt ) reports that the University of Iowa Museum of Art's executive director, Sean O'Harrow, announced Saturday that the new location is just a few blocks from the site in the previous proposal.

Last month, the university pulled out of the initial agreement with local developers to construct a building that would house the university's 14,000-piece art collection. University officials cited higher than expected costs as the reason.

O'Harrow says the new proposal includes access to additional event spaces and visitor services through the university's main library, including a cafe and auditorium.

___
Donald Trump's campaign slogan is "Make America Great Again!" This implies America was great at some point in the past -- and no longer is.

When was America great? Send us your view, 200 or fewer words, to wsjopine@madison.com. We'll publish a selection of responses in print and online. Please include your address and phone number for verification.
Cyprus PIO: Turkish Cypriot and Turkish Media Review, 16-04-05 Cyprus Press and Information Office: Turkish Cypriot Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article From: The Republic of Cyprus Press and Information Office Server at <http://www.pio.gov.cy/> TURKISH CYPRIOT AND TURKISH MEDIA REVIEW No. 62/16 05.04.2016 [A] TURKISH CYPRIOT / TURKISH PRESS [01] Akinci criticizes President Anastasiades for the third round of tenders alleging that it constitutes a potential risk for the Cyprus negotiations [02] Kalyoncu's "government" tabled its resignation [03] Talat on search for new patterns to form a "government" [04] The "draft law" on the water management was approved by the "parliamentary committee" [05] Columnist: "Ankara's team in Nicosia" carries out a coup whenever the Turkish Cypriots do not abide by its wishes [06] Turkish Cypriot daily: "If the negotiating process will be harmed, it means that the Ankara government wants to harm the process" [07] Columnist: Turkey demands the regime's "citizenship" to be massively granted to another 26,000 settlers [08] Ozersay said that the old political understanding of the political parties makes the "citizens" dissatisfied with the "state" [09] Incidents between Kurds and Grey Wolves students in occupied Keryneia; Twenty students arrested by the so-called police [10] Fikri Toros re-elected as chairman of the KTTO [11] The Turkish Minister of Tourism expressed optimism over tourism in Turkey [A] TURKISH CYPRIOT / TURKISH PRESS [01] Akinci criticizes President Anastasiades for the third round of tenders alleging that it constitutes a potential risk for the Cyprus negotiations Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper (05.04.16) reports that Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci has said that the potential income from the newly found natural gas reserves in Cyprus' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) could contribute in the financing of the agreement for reunifying the island. In statements to Associated Press (AP), Akinci argued that the natural gas could contribute to peace in our turbulent area by increasing cooperation among Israel, Turkey and Cyprus. However, the "unilateral drillings" could cause tension again, he claimed, arguing that the natural gas could be turned into an "asset" as long as it is used wisely in a manner that does not (further) trigger tension in the area. Akinci criticized the launching of the third round of tenders by the Republic of Cyprus in spite of an agreement they had allegedly reached on the issue with President Anastasiades in the beginning of the negotiating process. Recalling that the debates over the island's natural resources have been continuing for years and that the negotiating process for finding a solution to the Cyprus problem was interrupted allegedly because of drillings in the southern sea of the island, Akinci claimed that "when starting the negotiations last year with Anastasiades, we had agreed that this issue will not negatively influence the negotiating process". Akinci reiterated the allegation that the launching of the third round of tenders for natural gas constitutes a potential risk for the negotiating process. Akinci said that they have come very close to the solution during the negotiating process they are holding with President Anastasiades for the last ten months. He argued that the Turkish Cypriots should constitute the majority in the north part of the island which will be under their administration in a possible bi-zonal solution and that the method of exchange of property would guarantee respect to the property rights. (I/Ts.) [02] Kalyoncu's "government" tabled its resignation Turkish Cypriot Bayrak (05.04.16) broadcast that "prime minister" Omer Kalyoncu presented this morning the resignation of the "government" to the Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci. According to Bayrak, Akinci will hold meetings with the parties that are represented in the "assembly" today in order to safeguard that a new "government" will be established the sooner possible. In addition, the Turkish Cypriot press reports today (05.04.16) about the scenarios for the formation of a new "government". Diyalog writes that the key for the new "government" is again at the hands of the Democratic Party (DP). The paper argues that the issue of a coalition between the Republican Turkish Party (CTP), DP and the Social Democratic Party (TDP) came into the agenda. Speaking yesterday at a meeting of the "assembly", DP's leader Serdar Denktas sent the message that DP will demand more than 3 "ministries" in order to co-operate with a party. On his part, TDP leader Cemal Ozyigit stated to Diyalog that the party's priority is early "elections", not to be a part of a new "government". Star Kibris writes that the four "independent deputies" are playing a key role to the formation of the new "government" since CTP may form a new "government" with the support of the "independent deputies". Under the title "Someone to sigh is needed", Detay reports that following the collapse of the "promising coalition" between CTP and the National Unity Party (UBP) Turkey is now looking for a new "government" that will be willing to sign the "economic protocol". Finally, Kibris Postasi writes that a coalition between UBP and DP is very possible and argues that in this case the economic protocol with Turkey will be signed right away without any questions. (CS) [03] Talat on search for new patterns to form a "government" Turkish Cypriot daily Havadis newspaper (05.04.16) reports that the leader of the Republican Turkish Party (CTP) Mehmet Ali Talat stated that the party will not escape from its responsibilities. Talat who was commenting on the collapse of the "coalition government" between CTP and the National Unity Party (UBP) after the latter's decision to leave the cooperation, stated that CTP will start meetings with all the parties that are represented in the "assembly', as well as with the "independent deputies" in order for a new "government" to be established. In statements this morning to Bayrak (05.04.16) Talat further said that UBP's decision came as a shock to him since he had a meeting with UBP's leader Huseyin Ozgurgun a few days ago and he did not mentioned that leaving the "government" was on his agenda. He went on and added that following the meetings he will hold with the parties it will be determined if a new "government" will be established or new "elections" will be held. He also said that in the framework of his duty he will assist the Cyprus negotiations and added that the aim is the establishment of a "government" that will help towards this direction and aim towards the solution. (CS) [04] The "draft law" on the water management was approved by the "parliamentary committee" Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris (05.04.16) reports that the "law draft of the agreement regarding the management and the supply of the water between Turkey's government and the government of the TRNC (translator's note: the breakaway regime in the occupied area of the Republic of Cyprus)" was unanimously approved by the "committee on law, political and foreign affairs" of the so-called assembly. (DPs) [05] Columnist: "Ankara's team in Nicosia" carries out a coup whenever the Turkish Cypriots do not abide by its wishes Under the title "The package and the policy which ended the government", columnist Sami Ozuslu writes in Turkish Cypriot daily Yeni Duzen newspaper (05.04.16) that some details of the draft of the "economic protocol" between Turkey and the breakaway regime which is "kept secret" and caused the end of the Republican Turkish Party (CTP) ? National Unity Party (UBP) self-styled government were revealed last night by Kanal Sim television. "The known reality of this country has once more been confirmed when the details of the Draft of the Turkey-TRNC Economic Program came to surface last night on a special program of Kanal Sim", reports the columnist recalling that UBP's "ministers" and officials have been stating on the one hand that they were not aware of the economic program's content and on the other they were demanding the immediate signing of the "protocol". The columnist notes: "Ankara's team in Nicosia does not refrain from administrating the TRNC as they know and carrying out a political coup when their wishes are not followed! Even though it is not known to what extent the center, that is, the political circles in Ankara are aware of these issues, it is very evident that the reports and the information sent from here are full with 'misguidances'". In spite of some "correct provisions", argues Ozuslu, the documents obtained by Kanal Sim include also some "unacceptable demands" which will lead the Turkish Cypriot community to "the point of losing everything". Except for the issues of the electricity, the ports and the "municipalities", the "protocol" includes some "new demands by Ankara which will influence very seriously the life and the future of the individuals, writes the columnist noting that the increase of the retirement age to 65 is one of these issues. (I/Ts.) [06] Turkish Cypriot daily: "If the negotiating process will be harmed, it means that the Ankara government wants to harm the process" Turkish Cypriot daily Afrika newspaper (05.04.16) refers to the worries expressed that the resignation of the Republican Turkish Party (CTP) ? National Unity Party (UBP) self-styled government will harm the negotiating process for finding a solution to the Cyprus problem and reports that if the negotiating process will be harmed, it means that Ankara wants to harm the process. "It is as if there are people among us who do not know that the TRNC governments have a button and as soon as Ankara presses the button governments can be established and collapse. Do not make fun of us gentlemen by alleging that the continuation of the process depends on the TRNC government. If the solution process will be harmed, it means that the Ankara government wants to harm the process. It is so simple. The fact that the TRNC is administrated by the Turkish government through blackmails and threats is evident. If you do not privatize the electricity, the water, I will spoil the government. If you do not privatize the ports, I will cut your salaries and spoil the government. There is no need to become comical by referring to the 'process' in these conditions. Those who spoiled the government can destroy the negotiating table as well. [?]" On the other hand, columnist Mert Ozdag in Turkish Cypriot daily Yeni Duzen newspaper (05.04.16) argues that after the collapse of the "government" the "federal Cyprus alliance" has become weaker [in the occupied ara of the island], because there will not be a "prime minister" believing in the "federal Cyprus", unless a surprise is experienced and the Republican Turkish Party will participate again in the "coalition". (I/Ts.) [07] Columnist: Turkey demands the regime's "citizenship" to be massively granted to another 26,000 settlers Under the title "Critical threshold for the citizenship", Turkish Cypriot daily Yeni Duzen newspaper's (05.04.16), general director and general editing director, Cenk Mutluyakali reports that Turkey demands the "citizenship" of the breakaway regime in the occupied area of Cyprus to be massively granted to another 26,000 Turkish settlers. "[?] This demand has repeatedly been submitted at all levels starting from Turkish President Erdogan to Prime Minister Davutoglu, from ministers to permanent undersecretaries, and it was rejected", writes the columnist adding that the reply given to the Turkish authorities was that "this will happen within the framework of the new law". The columnist adds the following: "Now it is once more asked that this law and the criteria to be 'a dead letter'. The reason for the so little interest towards the white identity card practice is actually the message sent by some places that 'you should wait', because Turkey's Cyprus policy has not accepted the 'white identity card' from the very first day. 'Direct citizenship' is asked. And this is one of the elements which ended the CTP-UBP coalition government. Twenty six thousand new and massive citizenships! Yesterday, one of the newspapers of the big capital which came to the island from Turkey, known with its 'pro-non-solution' stance on the Cyprus problem, put forward an 'UBP-DP coalition' giving the message for 'ten thousand new citizenships immediately'. It presented this as action of priority for the UBP-DP government! The number of the Turkish Cypriots who possess identity card or passport of the 'Republic of Cyprus' is around 100 thousands. The latest data says it is 98 thousand and 287. There is also the number of 114 thousands additionally accepted at the negotiating table. Basically it is provided for all the citizens in the north to become 'United Cyprus' [citizens] with the solution. If another adventure is not attempted again. That is, an irresponsible step will cause serious damage both to the negotiating process and especially to the status of the people who have taken citizenship by coming to the island from Turkey. This danger is very serious. Let no one try to present it over 'the good relations between Turkey and north Cyprus'. On the contrary, it cannot be a bigger injustice than this for the families which migrated to the island from Turkey after 1974, for their children born here and even for their grandchildren. And for all Cyprus and Cyprus' future". (I/Ts.) [08] Ozersay said that the old political understanding of the political parties makes the "citizens" dissatisfied with the "state" Turkish Cypriot daily Diyalog (05.04.16), The People's party (HP) announced that the old political understanding, which is conducted by cooperating on the basis of the political party interests, makes the "citizens" who live in the occupied area of Trikomo-Karpasia to be dissatisfied with the "state".. According to a press release by HP, the leader of HP and former Turkish Cypriot negotiator Kudret Ozersay, in meeting with the inhabitants of the occupied villages of Tavros, Rizokarpaso, and Galinoporni, said that the economic and social collapse encountered in the occupied regions of Rizokarpaso, Varosha and Morphou brought along also the problems of a certain marginalization. (DPs) [09] Incidents between Kurds and Grey Wolves students in occupied Keryneia; Twenty students arrested by the so-called police Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper (05.04.16) reports that a fight occurred yesterday at the illegal American University of Keryneia ("GAU") between a group of Kurdish students and a group of ultra-nationalist "Grey Wolves". According to the paper, the so-called police intervened and after an operation it carried out at student's dormitories, it arrested around 20 students. The arrested students will be sent to the occupied Keryneia district court today, writes the paper. (AK) [10] Fikri Toros re-elected as chairman of the KTTO Turkish Cypriot daily Democrat Bakis newspaper (05.04.16) reports that Fikri Toros has been re-elected as the chairman of the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Trade (KTTO) during the ordinary general congress of the Chamber which took place during the week-end. (AK) [11] The Turkish Minister of Tourism expressed optimism over tourism in Turkey Turkish daily Hurriyet Daily News (05.04.16) reports that the Turkish Culture and Tourism Minister Mahir Unal has optimistically suggested that Turkey would manage to close this year's tourism season only with 20% loss amid rising security concerns and a significant decline in the number of Russian tourists visiting Turkey. Delivering a speech at Parliament, Unal said: "I am hopeful about the tourism sector. We have just received the latest figures for this season. There is only a 10% of decrease in the number of tourists visiting Turkey in February compared to the same month of 2015. The reservations for this year have been slow as people are cautious. We believe the reservations will rebound again by the end of April," he said. "The reservations for Italy and Spain have already been full?I believe the reservations for Turkey will rebound again by the end of April and we will close the year with only 20% of loss compared to the previous year," he said. According to data released by the Tourism Ministry, the number of foreign visitors coming to Turkey tumbled 10% in February, the biggest drop in a decade. The decline was the biggest since October 2006. The industry is also suffering from a chill in relations with Russia as Russian visitors fell by more than half during the month. Unal supported that there has been some recovery in the number of Russian tourists visiting Turkey. "Some 4.5 million Russians visited Turkey last year. I believe around 2.5 million Russians will visit Turkey as the ties with Russia have already started to recover. We will try to close the gap by luring more Iranian and local tourists. I do not expect such a big loss, contrary to several estimates," he noted. TURKISH AFFAIRS SECTION http://www.moi.gov.cy/pio (AK/AM) Cyprus Press and Information Office: Turkish Cypriot Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article
Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-04-05 Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/> CONTENTS [01] Piraeus to be decongested by end of week, says minister [02] PM Tsipras speaks with Hollande, Biden on Greek program review, refugee issue, energy [01] Piraeus to be decongested by end of week, says minister Piraeus port will be decongested from the bulk of refugees and migrants by the end of the week and it will be emptied by Easter, Alternate Defence Minister Dimitris Vitsas said in an interview with private TV channel Mega on Monday. "By the end of the week Piraeus will be decongested significantly and we'll start transferring refugees from Idomeni," he was quoted as saying. "There are currently 2,600 empty spots in accommodation centers and another 10,000 are being built, most of which will be ready by next Sunday," the minister added. [02] PM Tsipras speaks with Hollande, Biden on Greek program review, refugee issue, energy Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras had separate telephone conversations with French President FranAois Hollande and U.S. Vice President Joe Biden on Monday, his office said. In his talks with Hollande, they noted the need to conclude the country's program review very soon, as well as the full implementation of the July agreement, Tsipras' office said. Speaking with Biden, the two sides focused on the ongoing negotiations for Greece's economic program, developments on the refugee crisis and energy cooperation in the region. On the program review, both sides agreed for a need to conclude it quickly and start talks on debt relief in April. On the refugee crisis, Tsipras and Biden noted the efforts of Greece to manage the issue in a humane and effective manner, while on energy they discussed the operation of TAP and IGB pipelines. Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article
Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-04-05

From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] About 200 migrants and refugees arrived at eastern Aegean islands in 24h

[01] About 200 migrants and refugees arrived at eastern Aegean islands in 24h

More specifically, 187 persons arrived at Lesvos and 20 persons at Samos.
Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-04-05 Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/> CONTENTS [01] Greece will get out of the financial crisis stronger, US President Barack Obama says [02] 52,352 refugees in Greece on Tuesday [01] Greece will get out of the financial crisis stronger, US President Barack Obama says Greece will get out of the financial crisis stronger, US President Barack Obama said during a reception for the celebration of March 25 national holiday at the White House. The US President, in his statement, referred to the bonds of the two countries, Greece and the USA, and compared the struggles of both countries for their independence. He underlined that Greece is a major US ally in NATO and that his country will continue to support Greece. He also referred to the situation in Greece and the refugee crisis and praised the way the Greeks deal with refugee flows. The Greek government was represented by Deputy Economy, Development and Tourism Minister Alexis Charitsis and Greek Ambassador to the US Christos Panagopoulos. The reception was held at the White House in honor of the Greek American community for 30th consecutive year. The event was attended by Vice President Joe Biden and His Eminence Archbishop of America Dimitrios. In his introductory statement, Biden referred to the US-Greece friendship and noted that the conversation with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras proved once again that the US is an ally and friend of Greece. Charitsis had a private conversation with Biden and stressed the need for the immediate conclusion of the Greek program review so that the country implements its development plans and boost its economy. "I presented the positions of the Greek government on critical issues as well as the government programme for the next three years. I underlined that the government has implemented the major reforms included in the programme. What we aim for it the first program review to be concluded as soon as possible, which is beneficial for all sides," he said. Referring to the discussion with Biden, Charitsis said: "Biden expressed his support and agreed that all sides need to cooperate so that the Greek program review is concluded on time. He also praised the Greek government for its stance on the refugee issue and its solidarity with the refugees." [02] 52,352 refugees in Greece on Tuesday 52,352 refugees and migrants were on the Greek territory on Tuesday while 225 new arrivals were recorded in the last 24 hours. According to the Refugee Crisis Management Coordination Body's figures, 28,980 of the refugees are in northern Greece, 11,280 of them are in Idomeni, 14,506 are in the region of Attica (4,761 are at Piraeus port), 5,984 on the Greek islands and 2,882 are hosted in different areas in Central Greece. Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article
Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-04-05 Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/> CONTENTS [01] 39 percent of Greek companies want to transfer their activities abroad, survey shows [02] Refugees refuse to leave Piraeus port for other hosting facilities [01] 39 percent of Greek companies want to transfer their activities abroad, survey shows 39 percent of Greek companies consider transferring their headquarters abroad, almost double compared to last July when capital controls were imposed, according to a survey by Endeavor Greece. This percentage translates into more than 9,000 small, medium and large Greek companies that are examining the pros and cons of their transfer to another country. At the same time, 15 percent of companies participating in the survey have already transferred their activities abroad. The survey was conducted between March 23 and March 31. [02] Refugees refuse to leave Piraeus port for other hosting facilities The efforts of the authorities to persuade refugees and migrants to move from Piraeus port to other hosting facilities were once again fruitless on Tuesday. According to sources, the new accomodation centre at Skaramangas will be ready at the end of the week. Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article
Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-04-05 Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/> CONTENTS [01] Tsakalotos: 'We want to complete program review by April 10-12' [02] Political, economic stability key in allowing banks to support economy-head of banking body [03] Planes to be grounded on April 7 due to air traffic controllers' strike [01] Tsakalotos: 'We want to complete program review by April 10-12' The Greek government wants to complete the ongoing review of its third program by April 10-12 in order for the economy to turn a new page, Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos said in an interview with news website news247 on Tuesday. "We want to conclude the negotiation by April 10-12, then go to the IMF's spring meeting, then to the Eurogroup on April 22 and I hope we'll have a package on this. If the international community marks with this package a new page [for Greece], then I think the light at the end of the tunnel will shine brighter," the minister was quoted as saying. He then said that if the program review completes by the end of April and Greece gets something on debt relief, then the worst part of this crisis will have passed. "After that, we can return to growth. I believe that," he added. Asked about developments after the Wikileaks affair, Tsakalotos said that the government concluded from the reply of IMF chief Christine Lagarde that the Fund wants the same thing as Greece: the completion of the program review soon. "Now they have to prove it," he added. [02] Political, economic stability key in allowing banks to support economy-head of banking body Political and economic stability as well as the effective management of non-performing loans (NPLs) are two of the five main preconditions that would allow the domestic banking system contribute effectively to Greece's growth and provide loans to small and medium-sized businesses, the head of the Hellenic Bank Association, Louka Katseli, said on Tuesday. Katseli, who is also the governor of the National Bank of Greece (NBG), was speaking at an event organized by Greek-German Business Forum and the Economist Conferences on Greek innovation and the role of start-ups in the economy's return to growth. The NBG governor said the first precondition is to complete the country's program review to achieve political and economic stability in the country so that banks can help the real economy. "The banking system, not only in Greece but also internationally, is not isolated from the wider economic and political environment. The successful completion of the first review of the Greek program is the first key parameter in building confidence and reducing uncertainty," she said. The second precondition is ensuring a climate of stability to the financial system that would allow the return of bank deposits. The third is the effective management of NPLs and specifically of business portfolios held by banks. The fourth element is creating innovative funding tools to attract investments, by limiting the cost of money, especially for small and medium-sized businesses, as well as improving corporate governance in the banking system. Katseli said the last precondition is to have a comprehensive rebranding of the Greek financial system. [03] Planes to be grounded on April 7 due to air traffic controllers' strike Flights to and from all Greek airports scheduled for April 7 have been cancelled due to the participation of air traffic controllers and civil aviation employees to a 24-hour strike called by public sector union ADEDY, their union said on Tuesday. ADEDY is protesting against planned reforms in the social security and pension system. According to the air traffic controllers' union, the strike will start at 00:01 after midnight, on early Thursday morning and will end on midnight on Thursday. Exceptions to the decision will include air force flights, humanitarian aid, search and rescue and health emergency flights, as well as those transporting heads of state. Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article
SPRINGFIELD - Should parents be made aware if their kids are being taught at school from materials considered "sexually explicit"? Would you as a parent want to know?

Those are questions being tossed around in the Virginia state legislature. The legislature said yes, parents should be notified, but Monday, Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe vetoed the measure that landed on his desk, saying educators rejected the idea. Educators are concerned that sexually explicit could be applied to a work based on one scene, without further context.

Numerous educators, librarians, students, and others involved in the teaching process have expressed their concerns about the real-life consequences of this legislations requirements, the statement said.

The issue was raised when a Fairfax County student said in 2013 that the book Beloved, written by author Toni Morrison, gave him night terrors and was gross. The novel is about a former slave who kills her 2-year-old daughter rather than return her to slavery, the Virginia Pilot reported.
The new Micra is going to be as heavily styled as the Nissan Sway concept, featuring the characteristic Nissan V-shaped grille flanked by sleek headlamps, an aggressive front bumper and sculpted hood.

The 2017 Nissan Micra will pack a 1.6-litre 4-cylinder engine that could output 109 horsepower and 145 Nm.

By India Today Web Desk: Based on Nissan's CMF platform, the Global-spec Nissan Micra is slated to be manufactured at Renault's Flins plant in France, instead of the Renault-Nissan Alliance plant in Chennai, India, which has been manufacturing and exporting the current generation Micra.

This change of production plant is attributed to its new platform and improving the build quality of the next generation model.

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ALSO READ: Nissan to unveil Qashqai concept, X-Trail concept at Geneva Motor Show

The new Micra is going to be as heavily styled as the Nissan Sway concept, featuring the characteristic Nissan V-shaped grille flanked by sleek headlamps, an aggressive front bumper and sculpted hood.

The production model will also adopt the concept's floating roof design and C-shaped taillight enclosures.

ALSO READ: Auto Expo 2016: Nissan ropes in John Abraham as brand ambassador

The 2017 Nissan Micra will pack a 1.6-litre 4-cylinder engine that could output 109 horsepower and 145 Nm.

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The State Bank of India has released an employment notification, inviting interested, eligible candidates to apply for the positions of Junior Associates and Junior Agricultural Associates in the clerical cadre.

By India Today Web Desk: The State Bank of India (SBI) has released an employment notification, inviting interested, eligible candidates to apply for the positions of Junior Associates (customer support and sales) and Junior Agricultural Associates in the clerical cadre. Candidates can apply for vacancies in one state and for one post only.

Under this special recruitment drive for Tura (Meghalaya) and Kashmir Valley and Ladakh, candidates can apply for one district only.

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Vacancy details

Name of the posts:

Junior Associates

Junior Agricultural Associates



Eligibility criteria

Educational qualification:



Junior Associates: The candidates interested in applying for this post should have done graduation in any discipline from a recognised university or must possess any equivalent qualification recognised as such by the central government.

Junior Agricultural Associates: The candidates interested in applying for this post should have done graduation in agriculture or agriculture allied activities from a government recognised university/institute.

Those who are in the final semester/year of graduation may also apply provisionally subject to the condition that, if called for interview/joining, they will have to produce proof of having passed the graduation examination.

Age limit:

The age of the candidates applying for this post must not exceed 28 years and must be minimum 20 years. Relaxation in age will be provided as per the government norms.

Selection procedure

The selection process will consist of an online test (preliminary and main examinations), test of official and/or local language and subject to government of India approval and an interview.

Pay scale

11765-655/3-13730-815/3-16175-980/4-20095-1145/7-28110-2120/1-30230-1310/1-31540.

How to apply

The candidates interested in these posts are required to apply at the official website www.statebankofindia.com or www.sbi.co.in.

Important dates

The last date for submission of application is April 25



Preliminary examination will be conducted on May 11

Main examination will be conducted on June 17



Read: Cabinet Secretariat is hiring, apply now



For information on more latest government jobs, click here.



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The Karnataka police arrested two people on Monday in connection with two different rape cases involving minors in Ballari and Belagavi districts respectively.

By Aravind Gowda: The Karnataka police arrested two people on Monday in connection with two different rape cases involving minors in Ballari and Belagavi districts respectively.

According to the police, an 8-year-old girl was raped in Hosapete, the iron ore mining town in Ballari district last week. A youth named Tipu Sultan was arrested for allegedly committing the crime by luring the girl. He is now in judicial custody.

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Another minor girl was raped in Munavalli in Belagavi district last week. The police identified the rapist as a construction worker from Uttar Pradesh. He was hiding in Belagavi from where the police arrested him. However, the accused is not cooperating with the police, who have now sought the help of his employers to establish his identity.

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The incident occurred on March 30 when Jyothi K, a second year law student and a leader of the All India Students' Federation and All India Youth Federation vice-president V Chinappa were distributing pamphlets at the government PU college.

By Aravind Gowda: Two students from the education cluster of Tumakuru in Karnataka have been charged with sedition by authorities for allegedly raising pro-Pakistan slogans while distributing pamphlets in a government college and questioning the alleged saffronisation of education.

However, the student duo has refuted the allegations and accused Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad members, who thrashed them inside the college, of framing them in the case.

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The incident occurred on March 30 when Jyothi K, a second year law student and a leader of the All India Students' Federation and All India Youth Federation vice-president V Chinappa were distributing pamphlets at the government PU college.

According to sources, around 80 activists of the ABVP barged into the college when the duo was distributing pamphlets.

The activists grabbed the pamphlets, which had content expressing support for Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union president Kanhaiya Kumar and Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula, who committed suicide in Hyderabad. The duo said the ABVP activists took objection to the same and got into an altercation with the two students.

Even as Jyothi and Chinnappa tried to walk out of the college, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad activists thrashed the two black and blue with helmets and sticks. They sustained minor injuries in the attack. Jyothi and Chinnappa managed to escape from the college premises.

By then, the local police arrived at the scene and rescued the duo from the angry Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad activists. Later, Jyothi and Chinnappa lodged a complaint against the ABVP members

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By Samonway Duttagupta: The world of mankind is making the world more beautiful with its innovative ideas on a regular basis. But the beauty that lies in nature's creations is undeniably stunning. Some of them are so awe-inspiring that people believe God to be an artist, whose canvas is planet Earth. India is home to quite a few natural wonders -- those that can fill a traveller's heart with joy. Let's take a quick look at the ones that deserve a place in every traveller's diary.

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Lonar Crater Lake, Maharashtra

Picture courtesy: Wikimedia/V4vjk/Creative Commons

Located right outside the Lonar town in Maharashtra, there's lake which looks like the creation of something unearthly. Well, not an alien of course! The space was formed when a meteor crashed on Earth about 50,000 years ago. Considered as the world's third largest crater, the Lonar Crater Lake is both saline and alkaline in nature and looks green in colour when looked at from a distance. The circumference of the lake is said to be eight kilometres at the top, and 4.8 km at the bottom. One can find various mentions of this lake in ancient scripts like Skanda Puran, the Padma Puran and Aaina-i-Akbari.

Balancing Rock, Tamil Nadu

Picture courtesy: Flickr/Nicolas Mirguet/Creative Commons

Most travellers want to visit Mahabalipuram in search of amazing heritage sites and beautiful ancient temples. But when you are there, do take out some time to witness this natural wonder as well. A massive stone, popularly known as the Krishna's Butter Ball, has balanced itself precariously at the slippery edge of a hill for ages. Looking at it, one wonders as to how come a 20-feet-high, 5-metre-wide and 250-ton stone stood the test of time to remain stuck at that place for so many years. Apart from attracting travellers, the rock also serves as a shade for animals who want to stay away from the sun for a while.

Heart Shaped Lake, Kerala

Picture courtesy: Flickr/Sudheesh S/Creative Commons Picture courtesy: Flickr/Sudheesh S/Creative Commons

It's places like these that make you wonder if God is actually an artist. Located at Chembra Peak, the highest point of Wayanad at an altitude of 6,900 feet, is the famous Heart Shaped Lake. As the name suggests, the lake is actually in the shape of a giant heart! Adding to the beauty of this lake is the charm of the Western Ghats, which the Chembra Peak is a part of, and the enchanting Nilgiri Hills lying right next to it. What makes this lake even more wondrous is the fact that it has never dried up.

Valley of Flowers, Uttarakhand

Picture courtesy: Flickr/Alosh Bennett/Creative Commons

This place looks like one right out of a fairy tale. At first look, Valley of Flowers in Uttarakhand, doesn't look like a place that has naturally come into being. After all, nowhere else in the world will you see acres of land filled with so many colourful flowers arranged uniformly in different clusters spread across the place naturally. Talking about the variety, the place is home to more than 300 endemic types of alpine flowers. The snow-clad Himalayan peaks make for a stunning backdrop to this place. Also read: 6 of the most beautiful homestays in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh



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Hogenakkal Falls, Tamil Nadu

Picture courtesy: Flickr/Sankara Subramanian/Creative Commons

Thanks to the sheer size of this waterfall, it is often referred to as the Niagara of India. Located on River Kaveri, in the Dharmapuri district of Tamil Nadu, the Hogenakkal Falls is counted amongst the most stunning tourist attractions in the country. One can spend hours looking at the milky-white water lashing down the heights along with the constant sound of the gushing water, which is soothing to the ears. The waterfall can be best experienced with the help of boat rides, that are also popular among the tourists visiting this place.

St Mary's Island, Karnataka

Picture courtesy: Flickr/Arun Prabhu/Creative Commons

What makes this island so special is its numerous volcanic rock formations. Known as the Columnar Basaltic Lava, this set of hexagonal and polygonal rocks were formed about 60 million years ago, during the formation of the Deccan Traps, when dense viscid basaltic lava cooled down and took various interesting shapes. The shapes are so distinct that these rocks actually look man-made.

Belum Caves, Andhra Pradesh

Picture courtesy: Flickr/Praveen/Creative Commons

The dark caverns of Belum Caves are there to make travellers feel delighted in more ways than one. With a depth of around 3.5 km, it is the second largest cave in India and is also considered one of the longest caves in the Indian subcontinent. The stalactite and stalagmite formations in this cave make for a sight that is hard to forget in an entire lifetime. A traveller is often left awestruck at the beauty of this place, which was formed due to the constant flow of underground water for centuries. With all that in knowledge, one wonders as to how ancient this place is, and the kind of secrets and memories it has had over the years. Only 1.5 km of the cave is open to the tourists.

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Air France, part of the Franco-Dutch group Air France-KLM, is preparing to restart flights to Tehran from April 17 after an eight-year hiatus due to sanctions.

By Reuters: Air France said it would allow female cabin crew and pilots to opt out of flying routes to Tehran after some staff said they did not want to be forced to cover their hair when in Iran.

Air France, part of the Franco-Dutch group Air France-KLM, is preparing to restart flights to Tehran from April 17 after an eight-year hiatus due to sanctions.

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After a meeting between Air France management and unions on Monday, the French carrier said it would offer female staff the choice of opting out of the flights.

Under Iranian law, women must cover their hair in public places. Unions had raised concerns over an Air France ruling obliging female crew to wear a headscarf on leaving a plane.

The debate on the wearing of headscarves and other religious symbols in public is particularly heated in France, which attaches importance to the separation of state and religious institutions.

"This obligation does not apply during the flight and is respected by all international airlines serving the Republic of Iran," Air France said in a statement on Monday.

A spokeswoman for British Airways, part of International Consolidated Airlines Group, which is planning to restart flights to Iran from Heathrow on July 14, said it would make recommendations to its crew nearer the time.

Germany's Lufthansa, which continued to fly to Tehran throughout the sanctions, said it had not experienced any problems and that crew followed the rules to cover up when in public spaces.

Nicoley Baublies, head of Lufthansa's main cabin crew union, said some crew members had raised concerns, but not to the extent seen at Air France.

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Ravi Shankar Prasad has said that the slogan 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' was being unnecessarily dragged into controversy by some people as it was simply a praise for the motherland.

By Siraj Qureshi: Union Minister for Communications Ravi Shankar Prasad has said that the slogan 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' was being unnecessarily dragged into controversy by some people as it was simply a praise for the motherland, which is perfectly acceptable in every culture.

Answering a question, Prasad said that the 'Fatwa' issued by the Deoband sect of Muslims against this slogan apparently had a hidden purpose behind it, as even the Muslims of India were not averse to praising their motherland. Infact, he said, even PVC Abdul Hamid, who fought against the enemy and was martyred, used to praise his motherland. Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad never shied away from singing 'Vande Mataram' and shouting 'Bharat Mata ki Jai'. This is a perfect example of love for the country.

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Prasad had arrived in Vrindavan to attend the closing ceremony of a medical camp, where he commented that the government medical camps had a long way to go before they could compete with private medical camps in terms of post-operative care of patients.

Asked for his comments on the flyover collapse in Kolkata, Prasad said that it was a shocking display of callousness on the part of the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is washing her hands from the responsibility of the disaster claiming that the tender was issued before her tenure. He said that the investigation into this incident is on and those responsible will be brought to justice soon.

When questioned about his views on the jeweller strike all over India against 1 per cent excise levied on jewellery, Prasad praised the Narendra Modi government for being a highly efficient government, but skirted away from the main question. The district administration also did not allow the delegation of Agra jewellers to meet the union minister.

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"The friendship between China and Pakistan appears to be very strong but the day is not far when China too gets affected by Pakistan-backed terrorism," Singh said.

By PTI: With Beijing scuttling India's latest bid to have JeM chief Masood Azhar designated as a terrorist by the UN, Union minister V K Singh has warned that the day is not far when China would have to pay a heavy price once it gets hit by Pakistan-backed terrorism.

"The friendship between China and Pakistan appears to be very strong but the day is not far when China too gets affected by Pakistan-backed terrorism," Singh, who is in Gorakhpur to take part in a function at the Gorakhnath temple, told reporters last night.

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"When such a situation arises, China will have to pay a heavy price," the Minister of State for External Affairs said, adding, "Pakistan has an important place in Chinese diplomacy...China's intervention in that case must be seen in this context."

After the attack on the IAF base at Pathankot on January 2, India in February had written to the United Nations calling for immediate action to list Azhar under the Al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee.

India's submission was considered by the Counter- Terrorism Executive Directorate (CTED) for technical aspects of the evidence provided. The technical team then with the support of the US, the UK and France had sent it to all the members. However, hours before the deadline, China requested the Committee to put a hold on the issue of banning the Jaish-e-Mohammed chief.

Chinese Permanent Representative to the UN Liu Jieyi said Azhar does not qualify to be nailed as a "terrorist" to face UN sanctions as his case "did not meet" the Security Councils requirements.

China, one of the five permanent members of the UN with veto powers, has claimed that its decision is based on facts and rules.

To a question on BJP-PDP alliance in Jammu and Kashmir being termed as opportunistic, Singh asked whether it was right when PDP had entered into an alliance with Congress in the past.

"The senior leaders of both the parties have taken this decision after a lot of deliberation...Such things are important in democracy," Singh said.



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The proposal was amended as the bungalow was allotted to Union Tourism and Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma forcing the AAP government to find an alternate location for the 'knowledge centre' in memory of Kalam.

By Shashank Shekhar: Delhi will soon have a memorial for late former president APJ Abdul Kalam even though the original plan to convert his residence in Lutyens' zone had to be amended.

The proposal was amended as the bungalow was allotted to Union Tourism and Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma forcing the AAP government to find an alternate location for the 'knowledge centre' in memory of Kalam. The centre will showcase his simple lifestyle, his contribution in the field of science before becoming the first citizen of the country.

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The memorial will come up at Delhi Haat-a popular cultural and commercial centre frequented by tourists. Delhi Tourism and Culture minister Kapil Mishra is scheduled to travel to Rameshwaram on Tuesday, Kalam's native place, to get his belongings, which will be part of the memorial. Till the time a permanent structure is built, his belongings will be housed at the Delhi Assembly.

AAP criticised the central government's move to allot Kalam's bungalow to Sharma and said Kalam had been 'insulted' as the late President's residence into was not converted into a 'knowledge centre'. Kalam stayed at his 10, Rajaji Marg residence after his term as President ended in 2007.

"The proposal to erect his memorial was raised in the Assembly and was passed. Everyone wanted his official residence to be converted into a knowledge centre but it was allotted to a Union minister. Limiting Dr Kalam's work to Rameswaram and shifting all his documents, books and Veena to Rameswaram is his insult. I am visiting Rameswaram tomorrow to bring back APJ Kalam's belongings to Delhi," Mishra said and added that several things related to the former President, including books, veena and spectacles are at his native place.

Mishra highlighted that Kalam's possessions from his residence at 10, Rajaji Marg were sent to Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu by the Centre after his death. "Our final plan is to make a permanent memorial for which we have identified Dilli Haat at INA market as the place receives high footfall. His belongings will be kept inside the Delhi Assembly till July 27," Mishra said.

Also read: Maharashtra to celebrate APJ Abdul Kalam's birth anniversary as 'Reading Inspiration Day' every year



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The 60-year-old director, known for 'Parineeta', 'Mardaani' and hundreds of popular ad films, has now come out with his short, 'Others', premiered during the India Today Conclave 2016 in New Delhi last month. The three-minute short was formally launched online today.

By India Today Web Desk: In November last year, K Prithika Yashini became India's first transgender police officer following a landmark Madras High Court verdict directing the Tamil Nadu Uniformed Services Recruitment Board to include members from the community under a "third category".

Following the 25-year-old's fight for her rights, 21 other transgenders also received their appointment orders from the Chennai Police. Six months later, ace filmmaker Pradeep Sarkar has teamed with the India Today Group to share Yashini's remarkable story with the world.

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The 60-year-old director, known for 'Parineeta', 'Mardaani' and hundreds of popular ad films, has now come out with his short, 'Others', premiered during the India Today Conclave 2016 in New Delhi last month. The three-minute short was formally launched online today.

Celebrating Yashini's story, Sarkar says he dreams of an India where transgenders will be accepted and made part of the mainstream. "We know very little about them. We generally see them on traffic signals but refuse to find out what their stories have been," he says.

Celebrated Bollywood directors created short three-minute films for the mobile generation on the future of our nation



In the film, Sarkar highlights the stereotypes around transgenders through the birth of a transgender baby in a hospital. As a group of 'hijras' (as transgenders are called in India) visit the hospital to claim the newborn, Sub-Inspector Ritika appears to stop them.

When she asks where the group is taking the baby, the leader of the group says, "We are taking it to a place where nobody asks if she is a boy or a girl."

"Nobody asks me," says the police officer to a stunned silence. She then takes the hospital form, which mentions a third category for transgenders, and says, "Nobody will ask this baby either."

How the group of transgenders reacts to Ritika's intervention is not to be missed in Sarkar's short film. Watch it here:

Also Read

India's first transgender sub-inspector to take charge in Chennai

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Edward Snowden is a computer boss who once worked for CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) and is known for leaking classified information from United States National Security Agency (NSA), which was not meant to be leaked publicly. Just like the recent Panama leaks. After which he pushed a few tweets, and they were hilarious.

By Mohak Gupta:

Edward Snowden is your infamous computer guy who is known for leaking details of classified United States government surveillance programs and how US government spies on their citizens.

In other words, he allegedly went rogue on his own nation. But if revealing the truth about a nation's government directly to the nation's people is a crime, then he is a criminal. Otherwise, for a large number of people, he still remains a superhero.

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Recently a mega leak was made, termed as 'Panama Papers' or 'Panama Leaks' which is about a global web of corruption and tax avoidance.



Coming from the same league of revelations which displace the world, and leaks that show the reality of corrupt governance around the world, Edward Snowden went total berserk with his Twitter shenanigans and the result was crass sarcasm which was only legit.

In other words - HILARIOUS! Snowden's wife must have fallen for this smile haa!



After Panama leaks, all governments around the world were just ready to be toppled.

There were tweets claiming that Iceland's Prime Minister has already resigned after Panama leaks, which apparently was not true.

A rumour that went off because Google Translate made an error while translating a statement from Iceland's former Prime Minister, asking the present Prime Minister - Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson, to step down.

And how Snowden took the case, oh boy, truly like a boss.





That time when newsrooms had nobody who spoke Icelandic. https://t.co/lJfmPLLO0Z Edward Snowden (@Snowden) April 3, 2016

This one comes more like 'in your face' humour. Given the record, Snowden has been a subtle guy with his words. He never likes confusing it, be it tweets, or be it leaks.

Snowden gives it out to Iceland's Prime Minister - Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson, who got up and left the interview when he was asked about Panama leaks and his investments.





Redefining 'LOL' is this tweet. Statistically, the population of Iceland is only 330,000 which made it the largest protest by percentage of population.

And then the Prime Minister of Iceland even mocked the protestors when 22,000 protestors started protesting.

And now for the main-course. It seems that Snowden really wanted to Tweet this for a very long time. As if he had this in his Twitter drafts. As if waiting for a perfect moment to tweet this.

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And why now Cameron wants privacy? Fun fact is - UK is the world's most surveilled state and is the most spied on nation in the world. And now Cameron wants privacy?

Also UK's porn censorship seems hilarious, esp. after Cameron needing privacy. Since watching porn is broadly a "private matter," and it should be a private matter for its citizens as well? Whatever happened to its citizens' privacy.

Isn't it ironically funny when diplomats, politicians and bureaucrats want privacy, where the very same privacy is not given to their citizens?

Oh, now he's interested in privacy. https://t.co/jfCSYgensb Edward Snowden (@Snowden) April 4, 2016

Thank you once again Edward Snowden, both for the past leaks and the present humour.

Go Snowden, go humour!



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Taj Safaris comes up with its first jungle lodge outside India, and it is ready to impress every wildlife lover.

By India Today Web Desk: Generally, when someone mentions Nepal, what is the first thing that comes to your mind as a traveller? Must be a landscape filled with pristine snow-clad mountains, yaks, sherpas and of course, Mount Everest. But there's more to this place than just that. Very few Indians have explored the country's wildlife -- for now, we are talking about the Chitwan National Park, which is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

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Interesting, isn't it? A forest in the land of mountains, which is also a part of the elite list of heritage sites around the world. Chitwan National Park is known to have as many as 55 native bird species, including the Great Hornbill, Ruddy Shelduck and Pied Kingfisher, and is home to approximately 68 species of mammals. The majestic Royal Bengal Tiger, leopards, wild dogs and sloth bears are in abundance in this natural paradise, but the park's main attraction is the Greater One-Horned Rhinoceros.

Every room offers stunning views of the forest.

Taj Safaris, a subsidiary of the Taj Group of Hotels, that offers unique wildlife accommodations to travellers in India, has come up with its first lodge in this national park by the name of Meghauli Serai Jungle Lodge. Perched in the middle of Chitwan's stunning landscape, including dense Sal groves, thick grasslands and meandering water bodies, this jungle lodge by Taj Safaris can prove to be a dream accommodation for any wildlife lover. Besides, being located at a prime position, just next to the Rapti River, the lodge offers unparalleled views of the forest from its 30 rooms and suites.



Out of the 30 accommodation options in Meghauli Serai, 13 are well-appointed rooms, while 16 of them are independent villas, and one Rapti Mahal presidential suite. Each of them ensures an unforgettable experience by offering the best of local traditions in a luxurious setting. Apart from that, there's a spa with signature treatments and an infinity swimming pool overlooking the tranquil flow of Rapti River.

As far as the property's design is concerned, Meghauli Serai has incorporated plenty of local hues -- from its Newari- and Tharu-inspired front doors and the use of natural earthy tones that reflect the landscape, to the locally-sourced ingredients used in the inventive cuisines.

Guest activities offered by this jungle lodge include jungle safaris on jeeps and elephant-backs, jungle walks, trip to the local Tharu village for a glimpse into the local traditional way life, canoeing on the Rapti River, trekking through the awe-inspiring Himalayan foothills.

Outdoor dining options within the lodge's promises, with unmatched views of the Rapti River. Outdoor dining options within the lodge's promises, with unmatched views of the Rapti River.

Getting there

Meghauli is easily accessible from Kathmandu by road or by flight. It takes a short 20-minute flight from Kathmandu to Bharatpur airport, followed by a 45-minute or 30 km drive to Meghauli Serai Jungle Lodge in Chitwan National Park.



An alternative is to take a private charter from Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, to the Meghauli Airstrip in Chitwan. Helicopter charters are also available from Kathmandu to Meghauli Serai Jungle Lodge.

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For more details and reservations, click here

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By PTI: by states

New Delhi, Apr 5 (PTI) Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu today said he was confident that each state would be able to set up its regulator for the real estate sector within a year as envisaged in the Bill passed by Parliament.

The ministry is working on the rules which need to framed for the Real Estate Bill within three months and then it will be circulated to the states.

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"My department is now internally discussing the rules which need to be framed within three months. Then it has to communicated to the states and then each state has to set up a regulator.

"I am confident about achieving the time-frame given in the Bill itself or even before the time-frame. I am actively pursuing it. It will be before one year," he said during an interaction with journalists at Indian Womens Press Corps.

The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill, 2015, seeking to regulate the real estate sector, bring transparency and help protect consumer interests was passed last month in Parliament in the first leg of the Budget session.

It will help establish state-level Real Estate Regulatory Authorities (RERAs) to regulate transactions related to both residential and commercial projects and ensure their timely completion and handover, Naidu had said in Parliament.

He said today that the government had recently released a set of building by-laws which empower urban local bodies to grant building permissions.

"Things are moving fast. Recently urban building bye-laws were released. Somebody told me its revolutionary since for 105sq.m area, you need not get the land approved by anybody and dont have to wait for permission to start construction," he said. PTI MP/SKC PAL KKM

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The initiative encourages women to do whatever they can for refugees. Be it providing a meal, a place to stay or even be friends with them and help them adjust to the new culture. Sure, this is a message of kindness and hope.

By India Today Web Desk: It has been five years since the Syrian conflict started and the situation has only worsened. Millions of civilians of the country are displaced and have been taking asylum in the European Union.

Initially, they were welcomed with open arms. But as the number of refugees went up, the European Union too came with a plan to deport migrants and refugees to limit the amount of migration to Europe.

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In fact, after the Paris and Brussels attack, prejudice and discrimination against Muslims has increased, and after fleeing one's own country to take refuge in another dismissal is not what someone wants.

So, the least that can be done is to welcome them with kindness and compassion and that is what a church in United States of America is doing.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (also known as Mormonism) has started a new campaign called I Was a Stranger to encourage Mormons to help the refugees settle well in their new neighbourhoods.

The church works on the teachings of Jesus Christ which involves being kind to other people and having empathy for strangers. The I Was A Stranger campaign asks Mormon women to offer whatever they can. Be it food or a place to stay or even be friends with the refugees.

It also encourages the church members to help refugees adjust to the new culture and help build them new lives. There is also a hotline established in the US so that people can call and learn how to serve refugees in their communities.

The church has decided to cross all barriers of religion and help everyone. When religion is used only to divide people, this church sure is sending out a message of kindness and hope.

Watch how the service of one woman helped a young refugee from the Ivory Coast.

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By Siraj Qureshi:

Agra welcomed the countrys first semi-high-speed train Gatimaan Express today, which has been touted to reduce the time of travel between Delhi-Agra to just 100 minutes. However, when the luxury train reached Agra Cantonment railway station having departed from Hazrat Nizamuddin railway station in Delhi, the welcome was somewhat lukewarm, with a majority of Agra divisions railway employees protesting the fact that the train had been completely taken over by Delhi based loco staff and no Agra staff had been appointed on the train, when 16 Agra loco pilots had received special training to run the train.

Talking to India Today, North Central Railway Employees Union President Gyanendra Singh said that if the demands of the Agra loco pilots are not met, the union will not hesitate from stalling the operation of Gatimaan Express. A memorandum of demands were also presented to the Divisional Railway Manager of Agra.

The drivers also demonstrated before the Shatabdi Express to protest the complete exclusion of Agra railway staff from operating the train.

Meanwhile, the tourism industry of Agra is also not pleased with the schedule of the train, which they claim, has been specifically tailored to cause damage to the local tourism industry at the behest of powerful lobbyists of the Delhi tourism industry.

Talking to India Today, Vishal Sharma, Secretary of Agra Tourist Welfare Chamber said that the operation of Gatiman Express will severely damage Agras demand for an international airport as this train has been scheduled in such a way that the tourists arriving in Delhi could board the train for a day trip to Agra and be back in Delhi by the time of dinner. While this may bring big bucks to the Delhi based tour operators, it will snatch away the bread from the Agra tourism industry which will lose a large number of possible night-staying tourists. Also, a large number of tourists arriving on this train wont have the time to visit Fatehpur Sikri and will only visit the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort, further damaging the growth prospects of tourism industry in the city.

If there was any doubt that the train was for the general populace, he said, it was dispelled by the fact that the train wont operate on Fridays, when the Taj Mahal is closed, clearly indicating that the train was in fact, a state-sponsored chartered service for Delhi based tour operators to send their clients on a day-trip to Agra.

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Sharma claimed that with the operation of the Gatiman Express, there was a very slim chance that the Central government will now approve the construction of an international airport in Agra or anywhere near the city, regardless of the tall promises made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his electoral campaign in November 2013.

ALSO READ

Gatimaan Express reaches Agra within targeted 100 minutes



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Senior representatives of the Deobandi sect, which controls nearly half of Britain's 1,600 mosques, hosted Azhar during the visit in which hundreds of young Muslims were urged to seek weapons training at terrorist camps in Pakistan.

By Press Trust of India:

Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Maulana Masood Azhar was allowed to preach extremist ideology at several British mosques during a month-long visit to UK in 1993 on the invitation of Islamist scholars when young Muslims were asked to seek weapons training at terrorist camps in Pakistan, it emerged on Tuesday.

Senior representatives of the Deobandi sect, which controls nearly half of Britain's 1,600 mosques, hosted Azhar during the visit in which hundreds of young Muslims were urged to seek weapons training at terrorist camps in Pakistan, according to a BBC investigation.

Azhar was chief organiser of the Pakistani jihadist group Harkat-ul Mujahideen in early 1990s.

According to the report, during his UK tour - until now kept under wraps - Azhar delivered "sermons on jihad" to large audiences in London, Birmingham, Yorkshire and Lancashire and the message was of hatred for Christians, Jews and Hindus.

Witnesses said that large sums of money were donated after each talk.

Azhar, then 25, was the product of a radical Karachi seminary and shortly before his arrival in Britain in August 1993, he had helped supply Osama bin Laden, then based in Sudan, with 400 jihadist fighters to wage attacks in Somalia.

The investigation, shared with 'The Times', has uncovered the details of his tour in an archive of militant group magazines published in Urdu.

The contents provide an astounding insight into the way in which hardcore jihadist ideology was promoted in some mainstream UK mosques in the early 1990s - and involved some of Britain's most senior Islamic scholars.

Azhar's tour lasted a month and consisted of over 40 speeches.

Azhar, captured in India shortly after his British trip, was released from prison in 1999 in exchange for 155 passengers of a hijacked plane in Kandahar. After his release, he formed the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorist group which is blamed for several attacks in India.

Masood Azhar is currently in "protective custody" in Pakistan after the Pathankot terror attack, which claimed the lives of seven Indian soldiers in January this year.

The Deobandis trace their roots back to a Sunni Islamic seminary founded in Deoband in 19th century India.

The original seminary in India has issued a fatwa against terrorism but some Deobandi madrassas in Pakistan reportedly propagate extremist jihadist ideology.

ALSO READ

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India furious as China blocks UN blacklisting of Masood Azhar



No information on India's move to call Masood Azhar a terrorist, says Pakistan

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According to the police, Obalaraj, Special Officer to Minister for Medical Education Sharanaprakash Patil, Public Works Department Officer Rudrappa and a government college PE trainer Manjunatha were arrested for circulating questions from the Chemistry paper.

By Mail Today: A special officer of a powerful minister along with two other government officials have been arrested for allegedly leaking the 2nd pre-university (PU) examination paper (Chemistry) twice in Karnataka. The gang reportedly made Rs 25 lakh by selling the question paper.

According to the police, Obalaraj, Special Officer to Minister for Medical Education Sharanaprakash Patil, Public Works Department Officer Rudrappa and a government college PE trainer Manjunatha were arrested for circulating questions from the Chemistry paper. All the three were arrested by the CID on Monday while search is on for the kingpin of the racket, a former government employee called Kiran, who is now on the run.

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While the special officer reportedly pocketed lakhs, the other two allegedly sold the question paper for Rs 15 lakhs. The Chemistry examination was scheduled for March 21 but the questions were leaked online prompting the government to reschedule it to March 29. However, hours before the examination, the questions were leaked online once again. The government has rescheduled the examination to April 12 putting 1,85,000 students in to a lot of trouble.

The CID, who are probing the case, searched the source of the leak, as a majority of the questions were circulated on WhatsApp. They found out that the questions were circulated by a mobile phone number used by Kiran. When the police raided the home of Kiran in Tumakuru, he was not present. The police suspect that he might have fled in the wake of the probe. His phone is switched off and the police are tracing his movements.



Also read: PU question paper leak: Prime suspect on the run



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HALLDOR KOLBEINS/AFP/Getty Images(REYKJAVIK, Iceland) -- The leak from Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca has claimed its first victim.

Iceland Prime Minister Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson stepped down Tuesday after the leaked Panama Papers revealed he owned an offshore company with his wife that had not been declared when he entered office, according to BBC.

Earlier this week, Gunnlaugsson walked out of an interview with Sweden's public broadcaster when he was confronted about the revelations.

An Icelandic lawmaker tweeted a photo of the now former prime minister running out of the country's parliament, Tuesday.

Thousands protested outside the parliament building in Reykjavik on Monday, calling for the prime minister's resignation. The small island nation has a population of over 320,000 and is still recovering from the global financial crisis in 2008.

The documents, released over the weekend by German newspaper Sueddeutsche and then shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, appear to reveal various financial dealings of many elite figures around the globe. According to the Guardian, the documents indicate that more than 140 politicians, as well as family members and other relations, use off-shore tax havens. The use of tax havens are perfectly legal and have many legitimate purposes, but some transactions have raised serious questions.

Copyright  2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
This letter is a sweet reminder that every child is unique and skilled differently. The exam score can never tell how smart the child is and will always show an incomplete picture.

By India Today Web Desk: Students who just gave their board exams must be gearing up for the impending entrance exams and well that is equally stressful.

Those who could not performed well during boards will be burning the midnight oil thinking it is the last chance to save their career. And those who did well won't risk depending on the high cut-offs or on CBSE for a good result. Amid the stress and the high expectations parents have from their children, here is a letter that every student, teacher and even parents should read.

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The teachers of an elementary school in Florida wanted to put certain things into perspective before the students sat for their exams and this is how they did it.

Teachers of third grade at Blue Lake Elementary School in Florida wrote a letter for students and their parents and asked them to get it signed. Now what they wrote was not a critique of the education system but a reminder that every child is unique and is skilled differently.

The letter that was posted by one of the parents on social media read, "The FSA does not assess all of what makes each of you special and unique. The people who create these tests and score them do not know each of you the way I do, and certainly not the way your families do."

While the letter focused on letting the students know that each one of them is special, it gave value to the importance of being a good human as well. "They do not know that you can be trustworthy, kind or thoughtful, and that you try every day to be your very best," it read.

The teachers wrote about the examiners not knowing about the 'bad circumstances' students face and still come to school with a smile. Through the letter they appreciated the love for extra-curricular activities the students have and emphasized that exam results do not show the whole picture

The letter ended with a great perspective and perhaps needs to be told to all the students!

"The scores you will get from this test will tell you something, but they will not tell you everything. There are many ways of being smart. You are smart! You are enough! You are the light that brightens my day!"

Here is the letter-

Source: Upworthy





So board exams or entrances, you all are smart!

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By PTI: Srinagar, Apr 5 (PTI) A local milk processing company has been been found guilty and convicted for selling misbranded, substandard and unsafe milk products by a court in central Kashmirs Budgam district.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs nine lakh on it.

In his order yesterday, Sub Judge Imtiaz Ahmad Lone said, "Accused company M/S Khyber Agro Farms Pvt Ltd village Ladhoo Tehsil Pampore Pulwama is held guilty and is convicted through its Incharge Operational/nominated person Mohammad Shafi Ganie and is accordingly convicted for sections 51, 52 and 59 of FSS Act 2006".

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Besides imposing a penalty of Rs nine lakh on Khyber Agro Farms, the court also handed down a sentence of six months imprisonment to the accused company through the nominated person.

The court said in order to prevent further consuming of adulterated and substandard food items by the general public, the Commissioner Food Safety should collect the samples of all food items of the company and other companies for testing.

"Samples of all milk products, oil, ghee and other edible products available in the market in the name of the convicted company and other companies (be collected) and shall send it to Referral Laboratory Kolkata for opinion and action as warranted under law be initiated against the company whose product if declared unsafe, mis-branded and sub-standard or otherwise harmful for consumption.

"The Commissioner Food and Safety shall immediately take all steps in ensuring that the convicted company is closed or products are taken off from the market unless Referral Laboratory Kolkata declares that the products of the convicted company as safe to consume," the court directed.

The court was acting on a complaint filed against the company on March 23, 2014.

In the complaint, the company was accused of selling sub-standard and misbranded food articles prohibited under the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.

The prosecution has succeeded in establishing a case beyond reasonable doubt against the company for manufacturing milk products with detergent and declared unsafe, misbranded and sub-standard by the referral laboratory in Kolkata as well as during the trial of the matter, the court observed.

The court has also ordered removal of the Food Analyst, Kashmir, Hamidullah Dar.

"Let displeasure of the court be conveyed and reflected in his service records and the court lacks trust in him and justice has been all the time casualty at his hands. Person like Hamidullah Dar is more dangerous than a fatal disease like cancer for the entire nation," it said. PTI MIJ DV

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National Investigation Agency officer Mohammed Tanzeel Ahmed was shot by unidentified assailants late on Saturday. The attackers on motorbike pumped over 24 bullets into the NIA officer.

National Investigation Agency officer Tanzil Ahmad's relatives mourn his death at his residence in Shaheen Bagh area of New Delhi on Sunday.

By India Today Web Desk: With mystery still looming over the murder of National Investigation Agency officer Mohammed Tanzeel Ahmed, eight teams including NIA, UP STF, ATS and UP Police that are probing the case have confirmed that the assailants were professional killers.

The eight teams including NIA, Special Task Force (STF), Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and UP Police, that are probing the case, have also discovered that the weapon used was country made 9 MM pistols.



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Moving ahead with the investigation, Police has recovered a CCTV footage of the marriage, which Tanzil had attended before he was gunned down on his way back home. Based on the footage two unidentified guests have been zeroed down and their pictures have been circulated to Bijnaur and other UP jails for identification.



"We have zeroed down on two unidentified guest present in marriage and still verifying their relation with the families. No identity is stable shed till now," said Daljeet Singh Chaudhary, ADG, Law and Order.

Police is also trying to find out CCTV footage of Shaheen Bagh area to confirm whether Tanjeel was followed by someone in recent days before murder.

In addition to questioning more than 100 persons in the area to find out bikers, police has also been interrogating local gangs to ascertain if it was an act of hired killing.

Police has also revealed that several calls were made Delhi, Nepal and other cities during incident from few suspected numbers. Numbers are being tracked.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi also reacted over Ahmad's murder today and demanded justice for the slained officer.

"Brutal murder of NIA officer Tanzil Ahmad investigating key terror cases including Pathankot is extremely shocking," Gandhi tweeted.

Brutal murder of NIA officer Tanzil Ahmad investigating key terror cases including Pathankot is extremely shockinghttps://t.co/sUXiS8InQd&; Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) April 5, 2016

Tanzil Ahmad was returning with his family after attending a wedding function near Sahaspur town of Bijnor late Saturday night when assailants on motor bikes pumped over 24 bullets into him. While his wife sustained serious injuries, children watched their father succumb to death.



ALSO READ:

NIA officer Mohammed Tanzil given martyr status, probe into murder widens

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By PTI: From Lalit K Jha

Washington, Apr 5 (PTI) US President Barack Obama has said NATO is "critical" to the security of America and its allies in Europe, a virtual rejection of Republican front-runner Donald Trumps views that the intergovernmental military alliance has outlived its utility.

"NATO continues to be the linchpin, the cornerstone of our collective defense and US security policy," Obama told reporters yesterday along with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in the White House.

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The Obama-Stoltenberg meeting came in the wake of Trumps remarks.

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest has termed such remarks as "ill-advised". Obama, however, did not make any direct comment on Trumps comments.

Obama said he had an excellent discussion that started with marking the tragedy that had taken place in Brussels, and reinforcing the importance of us staying focused on ISIL and countering the terrorism that has seeped up into Europe and around the world.

"We agreed that one of the most important functions that NATO is performing and can continue to perform is to help in the training and assisting process for troops in Iraq, in Jordan, in many of the areas in the region.

"And we are continuing to cooperate on an ongoing basis about operations potentially in areas like Libya, where you have the beginnings of a government and we can I think provide enormous help in helping to stabilize those countries," Obama said.

Obama and Stoltenberg also discussed situation in Afghanistan, Russia and Ukraine.

"We continue to be united in supporting Ukraine in the wake of Russian incursions into Ukrainian territory. We continue to work in a train-and-assist fashion in helping support Ukraine develop its military capabilities defensively," he said.

Stoltenberg said NATO is as "important as ever".

"Because NATO has been able to adapt to a more dangerous world. We stand together in the fight against terrorism. Terrorism affects us all, from Brussels to San Bernardino, and all NATO allies contribute to the US-led efforts to degrade and destroy ISIL.

"And just last week, we started training Iraqi officers, and we will continue to support the efforts of the United States and other countries to fight ISIL," he said.

The US value the contributions it received from the large number of NATO members who are a part of counter-ISIL coalition, Earnest said. PTI LKJ DBS

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By PTI: From Shirish B Pradhan

Kathmandu, Apr 5 (PTI) Nepal today summoned EUs envoy here over the reference to Nepals Constitution in the India-EU joint statement last week and asserted that "external meddling" was unacceptable.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Kamal Thapa, in his meeting with Ambassador or Head of European Union Delegation to Nepal Rensje Teerink, questioned the envoy on how the Nepals Constitutional issue found mention in the joint statement, sources said.

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Thapa told the envoy that the Constitution falls under Nepals internal affairs.

"Its our internal issue and we are capable of seeking its solution ourselves. We would not accept any external meddling over the issue of the Constitution," Thapa said.

Teerink reiterated that European Union is not for offending Nepal when asked whether EUs view on Nepals Constitution has changed.

The India-EU joint statement, issued after the 13th India-EU Summit in Brussels, had said that the two sides had "agreed on the need for a lasting and inclusive Constitutional settlement in Nepal that will address the remaining Constitutional issues in a time bound manner, and promote political stability and economic growth."

Nepal had hit out at the statement saying it was "uncalled for" and hurt peoples sentiments.

Following the promulgation of the new Constitution, the EU had described it as a historic event marking the culmination of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.

The India-EU statement came as the Madhesis, mostly of Indian origin, have been demanding the new Constitution be amended to include their concerns about adequate political representation and redrawing of federal boundaries.

They had enforced months-long blockade of Nepals all trading points with India, creating huge shortage of essential commodities in the country and souring Indo-Nepal ties.

Nepal had accused India of imposing the "economic blockade", which India strongly denied. PTI SBP ASK AKJ ASK

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The leaks from one of the world's most secretive companies, Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca (MF), show that Sharif's sons and daughter, Hussain Nawaz, Hasan Nawaz Sharif and Mariam Safdar, set up at least four offshore companies in British Virgin Islands (BVI).

By Kaswar Klasra: Mohammad Nawaz Sharif, third-time Prime Minister of Pakistan, found himself in a soup on Monday after 11.5 million leaked documents exposed offshore assets of 40 political figures across the world, including him. The accusation may compel him to step down eventually.

The leaks from one of the world's most secretive companies, Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca (MF), show that Sharif's sons and daughter, Hussain Nawaz, Hasan Nawaz Sharif and Mariam Safdar, set up at least four offshore companies in British Virgin Islands (BVI). These companies owned at least six upmarket properties overlooking London's Hyde Park. Thousands of MF documents reviewed by Mail Today and subsequent enquiries revealed that the Sharif family mortgaged four of these properties to the Deutsche Bank (Suisse) SA for a loan of GBP 7 million and the Bank of Scotland part financed the purchase of two other apartments.

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'Not false'

Hussain Nawaz told Mail Today on Monday afternoon over telephone that these aren't false claims, but insisted he and his family had done nothing wrong.

"It's true that we own those apartments in question. In addition, we own offshore companies," he said, adding he and his family had worked hard over the years to generate funds to own the properties. Hours later, Hussain Nawaz repeated the same to leading Pakistani private news channel ARY News.

"There is nothing wrong. I have never concealed these facts, nor do I need to do so. I live in the UK. It is a legal way to avoid unnecessary tax via offshore companies," Hussain Nawaz told the private broadcaster during a special transmission on Monday.

Sharif's family is not the only one from Pakistan that is facing the heat. According to the leaks, there are more than 200 Pakistanis who have been identified. The list includes lawyers, lawmakers and some names from the judiciary.

It is interesting to note that Arshad Sharif, a veteran Pakistani investigative journalist and anchorperson, had broken the news of Sharif's offshore companies almost two months before the Panama Leaks. Arshad Sharif told Mail Today that he studied the documents which were accessible through various websites in the United Kingdom, including Companies House and HM Land Registry.

Call for action

"I followed the trail through those documents. Multiple companies of Hasan Nawaz were set up since 2001. Their audit reports reveal the financial trail," Arshad said.

When asked what was likely to happen in Pakistan following the leaks, Arshad was of the opinion that the leaks have dented the credibility of the ruling family. "It's up to the government to investigate Sharif and his family which is highly unlikely as long as he is calling the shots," he said. Following the leaks, Imran Khan, chairman of Pakistan's Tehreek-e-Insaf, issued a swift call for action against Sharif and his family.

Khan told Mail Today Panama Leaks have endorsed his stand that Sharif and his family have wealth abroad. "Our stance is vindicated again as Sharif's wealth that is stashed abroad has been exposed," Khan said over telephone. Khan urged Pakistan's accountability watchdog, tax authorities and election commission to take action following the leaks.

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It is not the first time that Sharif has found himself in trouble since his party came to power with a landmark victory in the May 2013 elections. In December 2015, Sharif came under sharp criticism from Pakistan's mainstream media after he reportedly advised his key ministers to be careful while giving statements regarding Pakistan-India bilateral ties.

Meanwhile, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Pervaiz Rashid denied any wrongdoing on Sharif's part. "Every man has the right to do what he wants with his assets, to throw them in the sea, to sell.

Also read:

Panama Papers: Australian tax office probes hundreds for tax evasion after leak

Panama Papers name Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai among 500 Indians with hidden assets

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By PTI: New Delhi, Apr 4 (PTI) Promoters of corporate houses, DLF, Apollo Tyres and IndiaBulls today denied violating laws after being named among 500 Indians in leaked Panama Papers for alleged offshore holdings. "This (report) is aimed at distorting public perception which is extremely dear and important to all corporates and promoter families, especially when they have followed all applicable rules and regulations of government of India, RBI, FEMA and IT Department to the last detail," DLF CEO Rajeev Talwar told PTI. The report published by the Indian Express had said that DLF Promoter Family owns firms BVI and the familys three offshore entities together held almost USD 10 million. He further said: "We vehemently and strongly emphasise that all remittances were made after the government introduced the LRS Scheme in 2004. Each year the remittances were below the limit prescribed by RBI." Stressing that all the remittances were made to the banks which were the authorised dealers, Talwar said: "therefore there is no question of wrongdoing. No companies were set up by the promoter groups in BVI. All these were existing companies to which shares were subscribed to as permitted by government of India." Each year, this was reported to IT Department, it was also mentioned in DLFs annual report, he added. The report also said Onkar Kanwar, Chairman of Apollo Group, and his family members floated an offshore entity in British Virgin Islands in 2010 and two trusts in 2014.

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Reacting to it, an authorised spokesperson said, "India lawfully permits foreign investments in accordance with certain regulations. Any investment abroad, that the Kanwar family may have, is in due compliance with the Indian laws, where applicable, including making disclosures wherever required.

"Much of the family members mentioned are NRIs. They are covered by other nations permissible laws for their foreign investments and are not covered by Indian laws and restrictions on residents in matters such as Income Tax and RBI. Mumbai-based Indiabulls Sameer Gehlaut, who was also named among those with links to entities in offshore tax havens, later said all his overseas investments were made after "paying full taxes in India, each and every overseas remittance is disclosed to RBI as and when it has been made". "All disclosures related to these investments are also made with Income Tax authorities in yearly returns as well as with RBI in Annual Performance Reports. All my overseas investments are done strictly in accordance with RBI framework of Overseas Direct Investments," he said in a statement. (MORE) PTI MJH BEN RKL BJ VSC MR

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India has accused Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorists for the January siege at the Indian Air Force base in Pathankot, in which seven security personnel were killed along with all six attackers.

By India Today Web Desk: Accusing India of using Pathankot terror attack for a "vicious propaganda" against Pakistan, the country's Joint Investigation Team (JIT) that visited India last month to probe the incident has said it was staged.

A prominent Pakistani newspaper Pakistan Today has quoted officials from the JIT as saying in their report on Pathankot that "the Indian authorities had prior information about the attackers".

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India has accused Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorists for the January siege at the Indian Air Force base in Pathankot, in which seven security personnel were killed along with all six attackers.

The JIT members visited Pathankot airbase on March 29 where the National Investigation Agency (NIA) officials briefed and showed them the route from where the attackers stormed the airbase. During their five-day stay in India from March 27, the Pakistani team, including from the military, police and intelligence agencies, visited the terror scene in Pathankot and interacted with NIA officials in Delhi.

The JIT now claims the Indian authorities did not cooperate with them and "instead made attempts to hinder the probe".

The Pakistani investigators have claimed that they were allowed to enter the military airbase from the narrow adjacent route instead of the main entrance and the duration of their visit was just 55 minutes, enough to take a mere walk through the airbase, adding that the JIT could not collect evidence in this limited time.

The NIA is handling the Indian investigation of the January 2 terror attack that also left a civilian dead before the suspected Pakistani terrorists, who had infiltrated from across the border into the airbase, were killed in a gun fight that lasted for some 80 hours.

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By PTI: From M Zulqernain Lahore, April 5 (PTI) A petition has been filed in the Lahore High Court here by Pakistani films producers and distributors seeking ban on exhibition of Indian movies in the country. Advocate Qasim Khan, representing the The Pakistan films producers and distributors, said the exhibition of Indian films in Pakistan is in violation of Motion Pictures Ordinance 1979 and the Import Policy 20130. The petition said Indian movies, which are very popular in the country, are leaving "bad impact" on Pakistani youth besides depriving level playing field for Pakistani films.

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The LHC office will fix the date of hearing. Almost a year ago the LHC had dismissed a similar petition seeking a permanent ban on exhibition of Indian films in Pakistan LHC Justice Ejazul Hasan had asked petitioner comedian Iftikhar Ahmad Thakur to take up the matter with the ministry of culture, terming it a relevant forum. The petitioner had said he exhibition/promotion of Indian films in Pakistan is in conflict with articles 2, 28, 31 and 37 of the Constitution. Therefore, the court should put a permanent ban on the exhibition of Indian movies in Pakistan. PTI MZ BK

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By PTI: From M Zulqernain

Lahore, Apr 5 (PTI) Pakistani films producers and distributors today filed a petition in the Lahore High Court seeking a ban on exhibition of Indian movies in the country, claiming they are having a "bad impact" on youths.

"The exhibition of Indian films in Pakistan is in violation of Motion Pictures Ordinance 1979 and the Import Policy 20130," said advocate Qasim Khan, representing The Pakistan films producers and distributors.

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The petition said Indian movies, which are very popular in the country, are having a "bad impact" on Pakistani youth besides depriving level playing field for Pakistani films.

The court office will fix the date of hearing later.

Almost a year ago, the Lahore High Court had dismissed a similar petition seeking a permanent ban on exhibition of Indian films in Pakistan.

Justice Ejazul Hasan had asked petitioner comedian Iftikhar Ahmad Thakur to take up the matter with the ministry of culture, terming it a relevant forum.

The petitioner had said the exhibition/promotion of Indian films in Pakistan is in conflict with articles 2, 28, 31 and 37 of the Constitution. Therefore, the court should put a permanent ban on their exhibition in Pakistan. PTI MZ BK ZH

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By India Today Web Desk: Launching a scathing attack on the BJP government, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi must apologise to the country for allowing a Pakistani team to visit Pathankot in connection with January 2 terror attack probe. Kejriwal said the Centre has stabbed "Mother India" in the back by allowing Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) members visit Pathankot.

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Kejriwal said there was mass anger over the Modi government's decision to allow a Pakistani Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to visit the Pathankot base and also hold talks with the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

He recalled that Modi used to thunder at election rallies during the 2014 general election that one had to be stern with Pakistan and that sending "love letters" to Islamabad won't help.

"So what happened now? Why did our prime minister surrender to Pakistan? What were the compulsions that made him go to Pakistan to wish Happy Birthday to (Prime Minister) Nawaz Sharif? Let them (government) tell us what has been the deal... What happened when Modi went to Pakistan... Modi should apologize to the nation," Kejriwal said.

Responding to a question over his cabinet colleague Kapil Mishra's tweet in which the minister compared Prime Minister Narendra Modi with as agent of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Kejriwal said, "We are not worried about the language. The whole nation is angry over what PM has done. PM Modi should apologise to the nation."

"Do we have a ISI agent as PM now?? Its very serious the way PM is surrendering to anti India forces?" Mishra had tweeted earlier today.

"Even though BJP/RSS chants 'Bharat Mata ki Jai,' but by inviting ISI to India they have stabbed Mother India in the back," Kejriwal had tweeted in the morning.

The government allowed a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) from Pakistan, including an ISI official, to visit India last month to probe the terrorist attack in January on Pathankot air force station in Punjab.

The JIT has concluded, according to media reports in Pakistan, that the Pathankot attack was staged by India to spread "viciuos propaganda" against Pakistan.

Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has been protesting against allowing Pakistan's JIT a role in the investigation on the ground that the ISI, a state actor, has long been the instigator of terrorism in India.

BJP hits back at Kejriwal

Moments after Kejriwal's press conference, Delhi BJP President Satish Upadhyay hit back at the Delhi CM. "We all know that CM Kejriwal and his ministers have no respect for the Constitution and he carries out an anarchic agenda just to garner political brownie points," Upadhyay said.

"Today by doing a press conference on the Pathankot issue and making his minister Kapil Mishra tweet to label PM Narendra Modi as an ISI agent, the Delhi CM has shamed the nation more so people of Delhi," he added.



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Modi kickstarted the scheme from Noida in Uttar Pradesh, a move many believe was an apparent attempt to lure the Dalits and other backward classes ahead of the crucial Assembly election in the state next year.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi rides in an e-rickshaw during distribution of e-rickshaws under Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana launched under Stand up India Scheme in Noida. (Photo: PTI)

By India Today Web Desk: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today launched his ambitious Stand Up India scheme under which banks will provide cheap loans to women entrepreneurs belonging to backward castes. Modi kickstarted the scheme from Noida in Uttar Pradesh, a move many believe was an apparent attempt to lure the Dalits and other backward classes ahead of the crucial Assembly election in the state next year.

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Speaking on the occasion, PM Modi remembered Dalit leader Babu Jagjivan Ram on his birth anniversary today and said," Whatever one's party is, we have to remember those who have lived for the nation. As agriculture minister Babu Jagjivan Ram did a lot to usher the green revolution. During the 1971 war he was the defence minister."

"Stand up India aims to empower every Indian and enable them to stand on their own feet," he added.

During the programme at Noida's Sector 62, PM Modi also distributed 5100 radios and e-rickshaws under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojna scheme.

The Stand up India scheme is aimed at promoting entrepreneurship among Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes and women by giving loans in the range of Rs 10 lakh to Rs 1 crore for setting up a new enterprise.

SC/ST and women entrepreneurs who avail loan would be given a RuPay Debit Card for withdrawal, besides comprehensive support like pre-loan training, facilitating loan, factoring and marketing.

This was PM Modi's second visit to Noida in four months. In December, the prime minister had laid the foundation stone for the Delhi-Meerut Expressway project. However, the project is yet to be initiated as the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has failed to finalise a contractor to construct the expressway.

After the humiliating defeats in Delhi and Bihar Assembly elections, the BJP is pushing hard to repeat its 2014 Lok Sabha election success in Uttar Pradesh by wooing Dalits and other backward castes. Uttar Pradesh has over 20 per cent Dalit voters. BJP won 71 out of 80 seats in 2014 general election.

Also Read

Stand up India aims to empower every Indian and enable them to stand on their own feet: PM Modi





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Dolly had later clarified that she shared the conversation with her friends and not the media.

By India Today Web Desk: TV personality Dolly Bindra has landed herself in a soup for leaking images of Pratyusha Banerjee's dead body and a phone conversation with her mother in the media.

Dolly, who was one of the first people to reach Kokilaben Hospital after Pratyusha was rushed there by her boyfriend Rahul Raj Singh on April 1, had reportedly shared with the media her phone conversation with Pratyusha's mother, Soma Banerjee. In the phone conversation, the late TV actor's mother is heard wailing inconsolably, while Dolly continues to quiz her about her daughter's death. Later, another picture of Dolly along with Pratyusha's dead body was also leaked.

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According to reports, a social organization named Sangarsh, has sent an application to the Versova police station, Mumbai to register a complaint against Dolly Bindra and the hospital's medical staff for manhandling Pratyusha's body. Also read: Rahul Raj Singh's condition said to be fragile



Slamming Dolly, Prithviraj Maske, the president of the organization, said that how can a person take advantage of someone's misery. He also criticised the hospital staff for allowing Dolly to go near Pratyusha's body.

"It is deeply disturbing that the leaked image of Dolly Bindra along with the dead body of Pratyusha is going viral. I even heard that Dolly has leaked in the media her conversation with Partyusha's mother," he was quoted by Tellychakkar as saying. Also read: Cops to quiz Rahul after he is discharged from hospital



"Anyone, who commits suicide must have gone through a lot of pain, how can someone try to take undue advantage of such a situation? Moreover, her body was later on sent to Siddharth hospital for post mortem and no one was allowed inside, given the security of the matter. Then how the staff allowed Bindra to click an image of the body?" he asked.

Maske also feels this kind of negligence can put public interest at risk. He said that since many people visit the hospital for treatment, the authorities shouldn't allow such negligence. Also read: Pratyusha's friends reveal shocking details



"If they continue to do so someday, someone else can tamper with someone's corpse, which would hamper forensic investigations later on," he said.

Dolly however, had later clarified that she shared the conversation with her friends and not the media, to prove that Pratyusha's death was not an April Fool's joke.



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TV reports say, Rahul is under severe depression and that he was "screaming and crying".

By India Today Web Desk: According to reports, late actor Pratyusha Banerjee's boyfriend Rahul Raj Singh's medical condition has worsened.

Rahul was admitted to Shree Sai Hospital in suburban Kandivali on Sunday after he complained of chest pain and low blood pressure. He was later shifted to general ward from ICU. He has reportedly been shifted back to the ICU.

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TV reports say, Rahul is under severe depression and that he is "screaming and crying". Also read: Police examining Pratyusha Banerjee's bank accounts



A psychiatrist and a counselor also reportedly visited Rahul in the hospital.

The Asian Age quoted Rahul's lawyer Niraj Gupta as saying that "Rahul was crying a lot on Sunday, saying, 'Baby, why did you leave me'", adding "on Monday Rahul was in shock and was not speaking much."

"Rahul has been admitted to ICU. His condition is very fragile. He hasn't eaten. He is in a state of depression after Pratyusha's death. The doctors say if this continues, he will have brain haemorrhage," Niraj Gupta had earlier told the press.

Head of the hospital Dr Santosh Goyal had on Monday stated in Rahul's medical bulletin that he cried the whole day, and refused to eat anything.

Rahul's condition is said to be fluctuating and he is not in a position to give a statement to the police. Also read: 5 things you should know about Pratyusha's boyfriend Rahul Raj Singh



Meanwhile, the police today said that Rahul will be questioned again by police after his discharge from the hospital. Also read: Cops to quiz Rahul after he is discharged from hospital

The 24-year-old Pratyusha was found dead at her home in Goregaon, Mumbai on April 1, in a suspected case of suicide. Her friends Kamya Punjabi and Vikas Gupta on Sunday claimed that Rahul was cheating on Pratyusha and that they were in a "messy relationship". They also alleged that Rahul physically abused her several times.

At least 10 friends, colleagues and co-stars of Pratyusha have offered to reveal details which could help police in the ongoing investigations into her suicide. Also read: Pratyusha Banerjee's on-screen mother-in-law Smita Bansal remembers her laado



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A day after the CID arrested a special officer working for Karnataka's Medical Education Minister Sharanprakash Patil in connection with the 2nd PU chemistry examination question paper leak, the politician is under pressure to quit.

By India Today Web Desk: A day after the CID arrested a special officer working for Karnataka's Medical Education Minister Sharanprakash Patil in connection with the 2nd PU chemistry examination question paper leak, the politician is under pressure to quit.

The Opposition leaders and students' bodies want the minister to quit, as his staff was directly involved in the question paper leak putting lakhs of students to a lot of hardship. However, Patil has refused to step down.

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"I was not even aware that Obalappa (Special Officer) was involved in the case. The CID police are doing a good job. I am nowhere connected to the case. Hence, my resignation is of no consequence," he added.

More arrests are expected today, as the police are searching for two more prime accused in the case and they are on the run. The minister's staff allegedly pocketed lakhs of rupees by leaking the question paper online.

Also read:

Karnataka Chemistry board exam paper leak: PU board director removed

PU question paper leak: Prime suspect on the run



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Come April 24, Naagin actress Mouni Roy will turn host for the Indian version of So You Think You Can Dance.

First look: Mouni Roy is all set to host So You Think You can dance along with Rithvik Dhanjani Picture courtesy: Instagram/Mouni Roy

By India Today Web Desk: Mouni Roy, the face of Indian Television's most popular soap right now--Naagin, has begun shooting for her next show So You Think You Can Dance. The actress, who'll be hosting the Indian version of the popular international reality dance show, took to Instagram to share her first look from the upcoming show. Rithvik Dhanjani will co-host the show along with the Naagin star.

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The actress will share the stage with judges Madhuri Dixit, Terence Lewis and Bosco Martis. The show is all set to premiere on April 24, and will air every Saturday and Sunday at 8:30 pm.

First page of a new diary ??? #soyouthinkyoucandanceIndia Outfit by @sonaakshiraaj Accessories by @bblinggaccessories Styled by my beautiful @rishika_devnani , assisted by @sashamiranda91 Make up by @cheragbambboat Hair by @queenslychettiar A photo posted by mon (@imouniroy) on Apr 2, 2016 at 11:37pm PDT

Mouni seems to be excited about her new look. "First page of a new diary," she captions one of her first look pictures. While we have seen Mouni only in traditional outfits, she loves to experiment with her wardrobe. Want proof? Take a look at her recent instagram pictures.

Meanwhile... A photo posted by mon (@imouniroy) on Mar 2, 2016 at 10:41pm PST

Pashmina dhagon ke sang... A photo posted by mon (@imouniroy) on Feb 16, 2016 at 12:38am PST

Honeyed or subtlety piquant A photo posted by mon (@imouniroy) on Jan 29, 2016 at 12:30am PST

Few hours ago in Saadi Dilli in a gorg @ashhautecouture cape & #anmol s jewellery with my @anishavarma xx A photo posted by mon (@imouniroy) on Dec 26, 2015 at 11:49am PST

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So You Think You Can Dance is touted as the world's biggest reality dance platform. The original American show, created by Simon Fuller and Nigel Lythgoe, has had 12 seasons so far, and the telecast of a few seasons in India has seen good response among dance addicts.

Like most reality shows, a typical season of So You Think You Can Dance is divided between an audition process where judges select competitors who will participate in the competition phase. The show is based on audience polls, and the participant who grosses maximum votes will win the contest.

Meanwhile, Mouni Roy's Naagin is veering towards its culmination, with an array of mysteries unfolding in the recent episodes. Naagin will reportedy wrap up sometime in May and will be replaced by another Ekta Kapoor show called Kavach, starring Mona Singh and Vivek Dahiya.

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By PTI: Beijing, Apr 3 (PTI) With burial sites in most Chinese cities including Beijing reporting full, running a cemetery has emerged as a booming business in the most populous nation.

"Death has become a rather expensive business," state media reported citing high profit margins of Chinese cemetery companies.

For example, the Lingshan cemetery reported a gross profit margin of 83.3 per cent in 2015. It aims to make 100 million yuan (over 15,000,000 USD) in profits this year, the company said. Fu Shou Yuan, which owns cemeteries in several Chinese provinces, has also reported a profit. Its average grave price was 80,211 yuan (about 12,340 US dollars) in 2015. The average cost of a funeral service in Beijing was 70,000 yuan (about 10,700 US dollars) in 2015, Xinhua news agency reported.

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Traditional Chinese beliefs dictate that burial is the proper way to handle a dead body. In order to show filial piety, many Chinese invest heavily in their parents tombs.

Most cemeteries in Chinese cities are full, so burials in neighboring cities have become popular. About 80 per cent of plots in cemeteries in Hebei cities surrounding Beijing are sold to Beijing residents. Larger tomb space and lower prices are the biggest draws. Chen said the Lingshan cemetery has 30,000 grave plots, and a third have been sold.

Qiao Kuanyuan, an expert with the China Funeral Association, said grave plots have become expensive due to land scarcity, and government calls for eco-friendly alternatives have been countered by old beliefs.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs and eight other ministries jointly issued a circular about eco-burials and efficient use of burial sites in February. It called on people to support group burials of family members in a single grave site. Wang Hongjie, director of the Shanghai Funeral Industry Association, said the eastern metropolis Shanghai has been promoting group burials since 2010. But not all accept the new methods. Cemetery managers complain group burials drain their profits, and it is difficult to add chambers without damaging the existing tomb structure. Hang Juan, an official of the Nanjing funeral reform and management department, said more campaigns will be organised to persuade the public to switch to environment-friendly burials, such as burying ashes under trees or scattering them into the sea. PTI AKJ AKJ

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The MEA has directed the Rajasthan government to provide all assistance to the foreign tourists and take strict action against those found guilty of the crime.

By India Today Web Desk:

A day after a Spanish couple was assaulted by a group of six men in Ajmer, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has sought a detailed report on the case.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has also directed the Rajasthan government to provide all assistance to the foreign tourists and take strict action against those found guilty of the crime.

The incident took place on Monday afternoon when the couple rented a bike and were on their way to a temple in a rural area in Pushkar when a group of young men, in an inebriated state, allegedly molested the woman and assaulted the male tourist. The woman alleged that her clothes were torn off by the perpetrators.

Local villagers rushed to the spot after the couple raised an alarm. The victims was taken to a local hospital and later discharged.

Congress leader Sachin Pilot has condemned the attack and demanded immediate arrest of the culprits.

ALSO READ

Foreigners assaulted by drunk men in Rajasthan's Ajmer

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Additional troops have been rushed to the areas to prevent the terrorists from fleeing the cordon.

By India Today Web Desk:

A massive search operation has been launched in the Lolab Valley in north Kashmir's Kupwara district following a tip-off about the presence of militants.

Another encounter erupted between militants and security forces in Pulwama district of south Kashmir. An official said that three to four militants are believed to be trapped in Gadoora village of the district.

A brief exchange of fire took place between security forces and militants today afternoon. No casualties were reported in the brief firing and a search operation has been launched in the region to track down the militants.

Additional troops have been rushed to the area to prevent the terrorists from fleeing the cordon.



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ALSO READ

Jammu: 2 civilians go missing, families fear Machil encounter



Protests in south Kashmir after 3 local terrorists killed in encounter



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By PTI: From Lalit K Jha

Washington, Apr 5 (PTI) The Pentagon has announced transfer of two Libyan nationals from the controversial Guantanamo Bay detention center to Senegal.

"The United States appreciates the generous assistance of the government of Senegal as the United States continues its efforts to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters yesterday.

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Earlier in the day, Department of Defense announced the transfer of Salem Abdu Salam Ghereby and Omar Khalif Mohammed Abu Baker Mahjour Umar from the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay to Senegal.

The announcement, which came in the backdrop of US President Barack Obamas announcement that he was submitting a four-point plan to the Congress to permanently close the terrorist detention facility, reduced the total number of detainees to 89.

"The US is very grateful to our partner, the Republic of Senegal, for offering humanitarian resettlement to two individuals formerly in Department of Defense custody at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba detention facility," Secretary of State John Kerry said.

"As the President has repeatedly made clear, the Administration is determined to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility," he said.

The continued operation of the detention facility weakens our national security by draining resources, damaging our relationships with key allies and partners, and serving as a propaganda tool for violent extremists, he said.

"We are taking all possible steps to reduce the detainee population at Guantanamo and to close the detention facility in a responsible manner that protects our national security," Kerry said.

The White House alleged that the Republican-majority Congress is preventing the Administration from preventing the closer of Gitmo.

"Congress is focused on preventing the transfer of those detainees to any state in the United States. Now of course, Congress position is rather ironic, because there are already dozens of convicted terrorists that are currently serving prison time in the United States, on US soil, in US prisons," Earnest said.

"The administration has forcefully made the case that the ability of our criminal justice system to prosecute those individuals and hold them accountable for their crimes in a way that is consistent with our values, actually does enhance our national security," he said.

"What also enhances our national security is detaining those individuals in prisons where they cannot pose a future threat to the US national security. So, we found a mechanism for handling these kinds of cases responsibly. Thats why the case that is made by members of Congress, is frankly inconsistent with available evidence," he added.

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"When we know that continuing to detain these individuals at the prison at Guantanamo Bay, that is inconsistent with our values and does give extremist organizations the kind of propaganda victory and recruiting tool that theyve already used effectively. And why would we continue to provide that to them, makes no sense to me," he said. PTI LKJ DBS

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The US is reviewing the leaked 'Panama papers', which lifted the shroud on the murky offshore financial dealings of a slew of politicians and celebrities across the world.

By India Today Web Desk: The US is reviewing the leaked 'Panama Papers ', which lifted the shroud on the murky offshore financial dealings of a slew of politicians and celebrities across the world, including 500 from India, and will follow up on corruption linked to it, the US Department of Justice has said.



"We are aware of the reports and are reviewing them," US Justice Department spokesman Peter Carr said yesterday. "While we cannot comment on the specifics of these alleged documents, the US Department of Justice takes very seriously all credible allegations of high level, foreign corruption that might have a link to the United States or the US financial system," Carr said.

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Panama Papers have unearthed the offshore links of some of the world's most prominent people, including 12 current and former world leaders, and has revealed how associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin secretly shuffled as much as USD2 billion through banks and shadow companies.

The White House did not have any specific comments in the leaked documents, but said, the US has been a leading advocate of for increased transparency in the international financial system.

"We've seen the extensive reporting that's been done on these leaked documents. I don't have a comment on the specific allegations that are included in those documents, but I can tell you that the US continues to be a leading advocate for increased transparency in the international financial system, and in working against illicit financial transactions and in fighting corruption," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters.

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest(Reuters) White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest(Reuters)

"There's been a lot of talk over the course of the last year or so about how effective US sanctions that are imposed by the Treasury Department can be in advancing the national security interest of the United States," he said.

"That's true if we are isolating the Russians because of their violation of the territorial integrity of the sovereign nation of Ukraine, or increasing isolating and pressuring the North Korean regime to give up their pursuit of nuclear weapons, or in targeting ISIL's financial operations," he said in response to a question on the leaked Panama papers.

That's why the US is a leading advocate of greater transparency in international financial transactions.Greater transparency allows to root out corruption and to fight efforts to get around US sanctions that have been put in place, he argued.

Also Read: Panama Papers leak reveals Nawaz Sharif's offshore holdings



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So grave was the situation of water distribution that the local administration had to invoke section 144 in Marathwada's Latur fearing war over water. But this hardly featured in the heated debates

By Kamlesh Damodar Sutar: It has been a month since the Budget Session of Maharashtra legislature began, and almost 4 weeks have been lost in issues that have originated outside the Vidhan Bhawan, and have led to pandemonium inside the house.

While the legislators were busy slogging it out, a large part of the state was reeling under severe water shortage. So grave was the situation of water distribution that the local administration had to invoke section 144 in Marathwada's Latur fearing war over water. But this hardly featured in the heated debates. Some places in the state are getting water after a month, but the high decible debates did not focus on that as well.

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Lakhs of people from drought affected Marathwada have already migrated to cities in search of jobs. Even the ones with sound educational qualifications are forced to take up menial jobs. But the uproarious scenes inside the Maharashtra legislature were not focused on this plight either.

Instead the law makers of Maharashtra were busy discussing these issues: Owaisi refusing to say Bharat Mata ki Jai, followed by suspension of an All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen MLA for the entire session, Advocate General of Maharashtra demanding a separate state of Marathwada and his subsequent resignation, anti national slogans allegedly chanted in Pune's Fergusson college, RSS's Bhaiyyaji Joshi's remarks on the national flag and Vande Mataram and finally the Chief Minister himself crooning the patriotic Rahul Gandhi asking those who do not say Bharat mata ki Jai to leave the country.

These issues completely overshadowed the severe drought and plight of the people struggling for every drop of water.

Interestingly, there is a striking similarity in the statements made by Owaisi, Shrihari Aney, Bhaiyyaji Joshi and CM Devendra Fadnavis. All these statements were made on weekends during the Assembly session as if these people were setting the agenda for the legislature. And it did, after every statement valuable hours of the legislature in the following week were lost in cacophony and ugly scenes.

And even if it is to be believed that these issues were raised to divert attention from core issues like drought, the opposition parties Congress and NCP in Maharashtra failed totally in raising issues concerning the common people. On the contrary, the opposition seemed to be competing in raising the vocal chords over issues like Bharat Mata ki Jai.

Amidst all the ruckus the state even presented a mediocre Budget, claiming to be a farmers budget. But sadly the farmers plight failed to feature.

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The BJP-PDP coalition in Jammu and Kashmir has seen numerous controversies since it came to power in 2015 and ensuring smooth functioning of the government will be one of the main challenges for Mehbooba.

By India Today Web Desk: After months of uncertainty, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti took oath as Jammu and Kashmir's first woman chief minister on Monday. Mehbooba, daughter of former CM Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, is also the first Muslim woman to become the CM of any state in India.

The BJP-PDP coalition in Jammu and Kashmir has seen numerous controversies since it came to power in 2015 and ensuring smooth functioning of the government will be one of the main challenges for Mehbooba. At a time when the PDP is struggling to keep its ranks intact due internal conflict within the party, Mehbooba Mufti has her task cut out.

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Tackling rebellions has thrown fresh challenges at Mehbooba as senior leader and MP Tariq Hamid Karra raised a banner of revolt by boycotting her oath-taking ceremony on Monday.

"What has the party achieved after staying away from alliance for nearly three months? Those people, who have failed her father have been again inducted in to the Cabinet," Karra said. He alleged that PDP leaders Haseeb Drabu, Naeem Akhtar and Altaf Bukhari worked against both the parties interests in these three months and the party president.

10 Big Questions

J&K govt formed but have difference ended? Has war over important cabinet portfolios ended? Will PDP-BJP coalition resolve their conflicts? Can PDP-BJP coalition focus on development? Can Mehbooba live upto her father's legacy? Can Mehbooba keep PDP united? Decision to form government to prevent imminent split? How will CM tackle separatists in J&K? Will government ensure return of Kashmiri Pandits? PDP-BJP 'indecisiveness' hampered governance?

Speaking to Karan Thapar on the show To The Point, Former Jammu and Kashmir Finance Minister and veteran PDP leader Muzaffar Hussain Baig said that the delay in forming government in Jammu and Kashmir after Mufti Mohammad Sayeed's death was because Mehbooba wanted to ensure a comfort zone for herself to carry out her plans.

"That kind of assurance came when she met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi recently," Baig said while rejecting claims that she lacked confidence to take over as the CM.

"She was measuring the challenges against the opportunities. She had to go through a lot of emotional turmoil," Baig added.

J&K stalemate: A timeline

January 7, 2016: Mohammad Sayeed dies

January 9, 2016: Jammu and Kashmir placed under Governor's Rule

January 17, 2016: Mehbooba calls party meet

March 4, 2016: Mehbooba softens stand, meet Governor

March 17, 2016: Mehbooba meets Amit Shah. Both refuse to soften stand

March 22, 2016: Mehbooba hold talks with PM Modi in Delhi

March 24, 2016: Mehbooba elected as party's legislature leader

March 26, 2016: Mehbooba meets Governor to stake claim to form government

April 4, 2016: Mehbooba sworn-in as J&K's 13th CM

Not possible to withdraw Army completely from J&K

Responsding to a question regarding demands to withdraw Army from Jammu and Kashmir, Baig said," It is a highly misunderstood concept that Army should get out of Kashmir. It is not possible, Kashmir is a troubled state."

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Watch full show here:

Also Read

Mehbooba Mufti: Know the first woman CM of Jammu and Kashmir

Omar Abdullah expects PDP-BJP leaders to chant 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' after swearing in

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The users who yearn for early access for Android 6.0 update, can sign up via the BlackBerry Beta Zone update.

By Sahil Mohan Gupta : BlackBerry Priv which launched in India in January is an interesting phone. It became the first BlackBerry smartphone to run on Android. It also packed a QWERTY keyboard, but there's a problem with the device. It is stuck on Android Lollipop which was launched way back in 2014. Now, BlackBerry has launched an open beta programme for the update to Marshmallow, which is currently the latest version of the operating system.

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As BlackBerry rewrites the kernel of Android to make it as secure as its own BlackBerry 10 operating system, it takes time for the company to release an update. However, users who yearn for early access for Android 6.0 update, they can sign up via the BlackBerry Beta Zone update.

There are caveats for who can join in on the beta programme. People who have bought the phone through either Amazon or British retailer Carphone Warehouse can sign up for the beta programme. Those who have bought the phone from somewhere else can also sigh-up but they will have to be in a waitlist.



Also Read: BlackBerry Priv review: A new hope, but at what cost?

BlackBerry specifies that registration for the beta programme will open in the next two weeks. The entire programme could last between 4-8 weeks, starting in mid-April going till even June.

As interesting a phone the Priv is, it has done nothing to revive BlackBerry's hardware ambitions. Sales remain dismal. It only managed to sell 250,000 units in Q4. Its own OS BB10 is more or less dead. Facebook has dropped support for its app and its subsidiary WhatsApp will soon drop support for it.



Also Read: BlackBerry looks to improve BBM after WhatsApp ends support

Some analysts have said that BlackBerry should quit hardware altogether as it accounts for at least 50 per cent of its R&D.

However, there is talk that the Waterloo-based company could be working on a couple of devices. There are rumours that it is working on two devices called Rome and Hamburg, in addition to a product called Vienna.

The Priv alone is a pretty high-end phone. It has a unique slide-out keyboard which even has touch controls. It is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 hexa-core processor coupled with 3GB RAM and has a 5.2-inch qHD AMOLED display. However, it hasn't been enough to brighten BlackBerry's stars.

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He is now the first Indian and the youngest ever to become an executive officer of the corporation.

By India Today Web Desk: Panasonic on Tuesday elevated its Managing Director for India operations, Manish Sharma to the position of executive officer of Panasonic Corporation and president and CEO of Panasonic India and South Asia. He is now the first Indian and the youngest ever to become an executive officer of the corporation.

Daizo Ito, previously president of Panasonic India, has been elevated to the role of managing executive officer, Panasonic Corporation and chairman of the Panasonic India & Regional Head of ISAMEA region.

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"The elevations, effective immediately, are part of the company's global organisational shift in preparation for new business initiatives and future growth," the company said in a statement to the media.



Also Read: Panasonic Eluga Turbo with octa-core CPU, 3GB RAM launched at Rs 10,999

Manish Sharma will preside over operations of Panasonic in India including group and sister companies and the group support operations as president & CEO of Panasonic India & South Asia. He will be responsible for driving profitable growth along with strategy planning and sustainable business development across businesses.

"India is at the heart of the Panasonic global growth strategy and both Ito and Sharma have been pivotal in driving growth for Panasonic India. I am confident they will continue to propel our business forward. I would like to congratulate them both on their new roles and wish them continued success," Kazuhiro Tsuga, president, Panasonic Corporation said.

Sharma joined Panasonic in 2008 and has been instrumental in spearheading the growth and transformation of Panasonic India from a consumer-electronics company to a technology solutions company.



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This is the latest indication of a deepening economic conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia as the former works to regain market share lost during the era of economic sanctions imposed on the Iranian nuclear program. The influx of Iranian oil threatens to further depress global oil prices that have eaten into the profits of oil exporting countries for many months. Saudi Arabia is leading efforts to finalize an agreement among OPEC and some non-OPEC countries including Russia to freeze or cut output in order to stabilize prices.

This plan will be further discusses in a meeting scheduled to take place on April 17 in Doha. But it is already threatened by Saudi insistence that all parties, including Iran, sign onto the freeze. This is something that the Iranians have indicated they will not do; and indeed Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh has declared that his country will produce oil at the highest possible level.

The Iranian-Saudi discord over this issue presumably has its roots in the longstanding and much more general conflict between the two leading Middle Eastern powers. Consequently, the deteriorating prospects for economic cooperation may point the way to similarly diminished prospects for reconciliation in other areas.

Already, the National Council of Resistance of Iran has reported that Saudi Arabia also barred Irans commercial airline Mahan Air from passing through Saudi airspace.

Riyadh justified the ban with vague reference to airline safety violations. But it is just as likely that it is at least in part a punitive measure, following upon the severing of diplomatic relations between the two countries after Iranian mobs burned the Saudi embassy and consulate in January.

Furthermore, the ban effectively mirrors persistent American-led sanctions on Mahan Air stemming from accusations that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps has used it to secretly transfer weapons and personnel to foreign militias and terrorist groups like those fighting on behalf of Syrian dictator and Iran ally Bashar al-Assad.

Saudi Arabia and its allies have been notably concerned about the increase in Iranian power and influence in the broader region in the aftermath of the July 14 nuclear agreement between Iran and six world powers. This was emphasized once again on Monday in an editorial that appeared in the Wall Street Journal, written by Yousef al-Otaiba, the United Arab Emirates ambassador to the United States. In it he stated that despite a years worth of Western efforts at outreach, the Iran we have long knownhostile, expansionist, violentis alive and well, and as dangerous as ever.

The architects of the Iran nuclear deal  chiefly the Obama administration  have variously made efforts to paint a different picture, portraying the deal as a success not just by virtue of its constraints on the Iranian nuclear program but also by virtue of its encouragement of moderation and a globally cooperative mindset with the regime.

On Monday, the Associated Press reported upon one of the latest efforts at such an optimistic portrayal. That is, the White House now claims that in the wake of international negotiations and a tentative ceasefire among non-ISIL combatants in the Syrian Civil War, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps is scaling back its presence in the conflict, thereby putting pressure on the Assad regime to decrease his dependence on foreign patrons.

But the AP emphasizes that a number of other commentators on the situation disagree, including several Iranian officials who have declared that IRGC deployments are ongoing, or even increasing. Global security analysts have tended to conclude that Iran has always had designs for a permanent foothold on the shores of the Mediterranean, and that it is unlikely to scale back its direct presence or its control over Shiite militias in Syria unless it is compelled to do so.

Given how much the Obama administration has apparently been contradicted on this latest claim, the White Houses critics are sure to find more fuel for their accusations that the administration is maintaining a policy of appeasement. This concern was newly expressed on Monday in an editorial in the Al Arabiya, which made the case that by giving more concessions to Iran or withdrawing scrutiny of its activities in Syria and elsewhere, the West would only encourage Tehran to perceive weakness and demand more.

But notwithstanding the Gulf Arab nations concerns about ascendant Iranian power, the West has certainly not yet ceased to confront at least some Iranian provocations and illicit activities. This fact was highlighted, for instance, by Fox News when it reported on Monday that a cache of weapons had been seized which was believed to be in transit from Iran to the Houthi rebels fighting in Yemen.

The US Navy seized the shipment, which consisted of thousands of weapons including AK-47 assault rifles and rocket propelled grenades. US military officials noted that this seizure in the Arabian Sea was the third of its kind in less than two months, a fact that seems to point both to the continued expansion of Iranian influence and to the confrontation of that influence.

Meanwhile, although the Obama administration has come under fire for apparently moving to grant Iran limited access to the US dollar, it is also the case that the US government continues to enforce non-nuclear economic sanctions and take legal action against persons known to have been responsible for prior illicit dealings with the Islamic Republic.

The Associated Press reported on Monday that a Singapore man was scheduled to appear in court in the US that day after having been extradited for his provision of components that were used in Iranian-made improvised explosive devices, which were used by Iraqi militants.
But IranWire was more circumspect about the actual impact that the halalnet was likely to have, given that Iran is already the country with the second most restrictions on the internet after China, that Iranian citizens nonetheless circumvent many of the existing restrictions, and that the isolation of the Iranian internet could interfere in the use of global systems by Iranian businesses, causing a backlash not only from the population as a whole but also from socially and financially prominent individuals.

However, the threat of the National Internet project is arguably not only practical but also symbolic. That is, the substantial investment  at least 285 million dollars in 2015 alone  that the Iranian government has put into tightening the reigns on its internet infrastructure is indicative of a larger project of attempting to isolate Iran from the outside world and reassert an Iranian identity that is strictly controlled by the clerical regime.

Some Western observers have been hopeful that last summers nuclear agreement with the Islamic Republic would result in a cultural opening between it and the wider world, spearheaded by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who saw the nuclear deal through and who had previously promised reforms in a number of domestic areas.

But no noticeably progress has been made toward these reforms in more than two and a half years, and an expansion of anti-Western rhetoric from the office of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has helped to drive home the point that the regime as a whole is clamping down on the perception of reconciliation in any areas outside of the scope of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

The Iranian resistance group the Peoples Mojahedin Organization of Iran led protests in Vienna last week which were meant to coincide with a visit by President Rouhani to Austria. But the Iranian government cancelled that trip over Viennas refusal to cancel the protests, which focused on Rouhanis human rights record, lack of credentials as a moderate, and inability or unwillingness to institute domestic reforms during his time in office.

Indeed, many of the criticisms that had been levied against Irans domestic rhetoric during the eight-year tenure of Rouhanis predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, remain in full force to this day, even as the associated abuses receive fewer rhetorical boosts from the Rouhani administration.

This phenomenon was discussed in another IranWire article on Monday. As the article indicates, although Rouhani has avoided the same sorts of provocative statements as his predecessor, the regimes policies and practices remain fundamentally unchanged. Homosexuals remain subject to the same institutional discrimination, sometimes leading to unnecessary medical procedures. Those who do not embrace such radical solutions can still be subject to the death penalty.

Discrimination against other minority groups remains in full effect, as well, and new examples of its implementation emerge regularly from human rights groups and the general mediaFor example, on Friday an Iranian human rights group reported upon the arrest and educational disenfranchisement of another member of the Bahai religious community. This came only days after reports detailing how Bahai parents had been jailed without advanced notice, leaving their five year-old child without a caregiver.

The more recent story concerns Rouhie Safajoo, a young student who was arrested in early March in a raid upon her familys home because she had posted to social media with an account of how she was being barred from entering Iranian universities, in line with the regimes regular disenfranchisement of Bahais.

The parents who had been sent to serve overlapping sentences without regard for their small child had been charged with acting against national security by providing instruction through an unofficial university attended by Bahai students who had had their university entrance exam results withheld because of their religious identity.

These and other pressures on the Bahai community are generally understood to be aimed at compelling them to either convert or emigrate. In other words, institutional discrimination serves to defend a strict Islamic cultural identity, much as the isolation of the Iranian internet would ostensibly prevent Iranians from being exposed to culturally undesirable information and influences.

However, this sort of information often comes from fully Iranian, Muslim sources as well, especially in the form of human rights activism by prominent citizens. And these cases are generally dealt with just as harshly, as indicated by a recent Urgent Action notice by Amnesty International concerning the renowned Iranian human rights lawyer Narges Mohammadi.

Mohammadi is not only being held as a prisoner of conscience for her human rights activism; she has also been ordered to return to prison and stand trial on April 20 against the advice of doctors, who insist that she is in need of specialized medical treatment for her deteriorating health conditions, including a pulmonary embolism and a neurological disorder that has caused several seizures.

Far from heeding this advice, the Iranian judiciary has moved to bring her up on new charges as punishment for having written an open letter detailing her mistreatment during the time when she had been transferred from her prison cell to a hospital.

It can be anticipated that the establishment of the Iranian National Internet might slow down such critical communications regarding the domestic situation. But wherever this is ineffective, various political prisoners cases speak to the types of traditional repression that are used against the same sorts of criticism.
According to the attached documents, Zia-ollah Azazi bought votes for 60000 tomans (equivalent of 17 dollars) each. Contracts have been uncovered that described these sales and were signed by Azazi or his representatives and a number of villagers, bearing dates prior to the election.

One such contract was agreed between Hossein Abgoon, representing Zia-ollah Azazi, and two of the heads of Nezamabad Village by the names of Sahebali Rashidi and Taqavi on January 10 2016. In it, the two commit themselves to bringing four busloads of people from this village to the city of Bonab to vote for Azazi in return for 12 milliontomans, or approximately 3,500 US dollars, with payment being made on the .

Another document shows a contract between Azazis representative and Reza Soudmand signing on behalf of Islamabad Village in Miandoab, dated January 28. The contract promised that Soudmand would take 120 people to Bonab County to vote for Azazi in return for 7.2 million Tomans, or just over 2,000 US dollars. The date of the payment is February 25.

According to Khabar Online, Reza Baqeri, who lost the election to Azazi, issued a statement the day after the elections protesting that votes had been bought. Baqeri urged government authorities to not be indifferent to such large-scale breach of Iranian election laws.
[April 04, 2016] The Society for Information Display Honors Luminaries from Around the Globe

CAMPBELL, Calif., April 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The Society for Information Display (SID) today revealed this year's industry innovators chosen to join the prestigious ranks of SID's Honors and Awards recipients. These exceptional scientists, engineers, professors and business leaders are selected from a field of highly talented professionals for their remarkable contributions to the field of information display technology. The 2016 honorees will be recognized during SID's annual Honors and Awards Banquet on May 23 during Display Week in San Francisco, Calif. The 15 winners, chosen by the depth of their contribution to display technology, represent the best of the best in the industry. More details surrounding each of this year's distinguished winners can be found in the "2016 SID Honors and Awards" article in Information Display Magazine in the March/April issue. 2016 SID Honors and Awards Recipients The Karl Ferdinand Braun Prize : Outstanding technical achievement in, or contribution to, display technology. Dr. Ho Kyoon Chung, SID Fellow and professor at Sungkyunkwan University, receives the Karl Ferdinand Braun Prize for his contributions to the large-scale commercialization and technology development of AMOLED displays. The Jan Rajchman Prize : Outstanding scientific or technical achievement in, or contribution to, research on flat-panel displays. SID Fellow and professor at Chonbuk National University, Dr. Seung Hee Lee is awarded this esteemed prize for his invention, product development, commercialization, and research work surrounding fringe-field-switching LCD devices. The Otto Schade Prize : Outstanding scientific or technical achievement in, or contribution to, the advancement of functional performance and/or image quality of information displays. Dr. Nikhil Balram, SID Fellow and President and CEO of Ricoh Innovations Corp., is this year's recipient for his outstanding contributions to image, video, and display processing technology and development of objective image-quality benchmarking methodology that helped bring world-class image quality to mainstream consumer displays. The Slottow-Owaki Prize : Outstanding contributions to the education and training of students and professionals in the field of information displays. Dr. Shunsuke Kobayashi, SID Fellow and professor at Tokyo University of Science at Yamaguchi, will receive this year's prize for his long-term outstanding contributions to the education and training of students and professionals in LCD science and technology.



The Lewis and Beatrice Winner Award : Exceptional and sustained service to SID, by a Society member. Anthony C. Lowe, SID Fellow, receives the 2016 Lewis and Beatrice Winner Award for his outstanding and sustained contributions to the leadership and governance of the Society and the exceptional benefit provided to SID's members throughout his editorship of the Wiley/SID book series. 2016 SID Fellow Awards honor individuals who have made significant contributions to the information-display field. This year's winners are:

Dr. Achintya K. Bhowmik , Vice President, Intel Corp.

, Vice President, Intel Corp. Dr. Hideo Hosono , Professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology

, Professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology Dr. In- Byeong Kang , Chief Technology Officer, LG Display Co.

, Chief Technology Officer, LG Display Co. Dr. Changhee Lee , Professor at Seoul National University

, Professor at Seoul Dr. Chung-Chih Wu , Professor at National Taiwan University 2016 SID Special Recognition Awards are presented to members of the technical, scientific and business community for distinguished and valued contributions to the information-display field. The 2016 recipients are: Dr. Jongseo Lee , Principal Engineer at Samsung Display Co.

, Principal Engineer at Samsung Display Co. Dr. Chang Ho Oh , Senior Vice President of LG Display Co.

, Senior Vice President of LG Display Co. Mr. Testsuro Urabe , Senior Researcher, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology

, Senior Researcher, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology Dr. Robert J. Visser , Senior Director, Advanced Technology Group at Applied Materials

, Senior Director, Advanced Technology Group at Applied Materials Dr. Emi Yamamoto , Chief Research Chemist, Nissan Chemical Industries (recognized for work done while at Sharp Corp.) A video tribute to this year's winners can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=no5Ygp-6fX4&feature=youtu.be SID will be honoring this year's Honors & Awards winners on Monday evening, May 23, during Display Week. The banquet will be held at the Intercontinental Hotel in San Francisco; tickets cost $100 and must be purchased in advance. More information can be found at www.displayweek.org About Display Week 2016

The 53rd SID International Symposium, Seminar and Exhibition, or Display Week 2016, will take place May 22-27 at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, Calif. Display Week is the premier gathering of system integrators, designers, consumers, scientists, engineers and manufacturers in the field of electronic information displays. For more information on Display Week 2016, visit www.displayweek.org or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter @DisplayWeek. Display Week tweets can be created, viewed and shared using the hashtag #DisplayWeek16 . About SID

The Society for Information Display (SID) is the only professional organization focused on the display industry. In fact, by exclusively focusing on the advancement of electronic display technology, SID provides a unique platform for industry collaboration, communication and training in all related technologies while showcasing the industry's best new products. The organization's members are professionals in the technical and business disciplines that relate to display research, design, manufacturing, applications, marketing and sales. To promote industry and academic technology development, while also educating consumers on the importance of displays, SID hosts more than 10 conferences a year, including Display Week, which brings industry and academia all under one roof to showcase technology that will shape the future. SID's global headquarters are located at 1475 S. Bascom Ave., Ste. 114, Campbell, CA 95008. For more information, visit www.sid.org. To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-society-for-information-display-honors-luminaries-from-around-the-globe-300245659.html SOURCE Society for Information Display

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[April 04, 2016] Salesforce Signs Agreement with NEC to Establish Second Data Center in Japan

TOKYO, April 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Salesforce (NYSE: CRM), the Customer Success Platform and world's #1 CRM company, along with NEC Corporation (NEC; TSE: 6701), a leading provider in IT and network technology integrations and a wide range of cloud solutions, today announced Salesforce has signed an agreement to establish a second data center in the Kansai region of Japan, selecting NEC as its service provider. The data center in Japan will support Salesforce's growing local customer base and expand the company's data center capacity across the entire Asia-Pacific region. NEC will provide a safe, secure and high-efficiency data center that leverages leading design elements including on-site solar, free air cooling and the company's proprietary Phase Change Cooling Unit[1]. Comments on the News "Salesforce's plans to open a second data center in the Kansai area reflects our commitment to Japan and the Asia-Pacific region," said Shinichi Koide , CEO and chairman, Salesforce Japan. "Salesforce continues to increase its strategic investments in the market, enabling local companies to leverage the latest cloud, mobile, social, data science and IoT innovations to create connected experiences that matter to their customers."

area reflects our commitment to and the region," said , CEO and chairman, Salesforce Japan. "Salesforce continues to increase its strategic investments in the market, enabling local companies to leverage the latest cloud, mobile, social, data science and IoT innovations to create connected experiences that matter to their customers." "NEC is pleased to be selected by Salesforce as one of its data center providers in Japan ," said Kimihiko Fukuda , Executive Vice President, NEC Corporation. "NEC shares Salesforce's commitment to customer success and customer trust, which makes this a powerful partnership to support local Japanese and Asia-Pacific companies. Because NEC has the capability to provide cloud services and build open cloud systems, we are able to support a customer's entire ICT system including Systems of Record (SoR) and Systems of Engagement (SoE)." Cloud Computing Momentum in Japan

Japan's public cloud service market grew to 2.6 billion yen in 2015 and is forecasted to reach 6.3 billion yen by 2020[2]. Salesforce is the global leader in CRM and has set the standard for innovation in the cloud. Tody, companies in Japan are choosing the Salesforce Customer Success Platform to connect with customers in new ways, run their business from their phones, create 1-to-1 customer journeys and make smarter, more predictive decisions from anywhere, in real timeall of which helps drive business transformation and accelerate growth.



About NEC Corporation

NEC Corporation is a leader in the integration of IT and network technologies that benefit businesses and people around the world. By providing a combination of products and solutions that cross utilize the company's experience and global resources, NEC's advanced technologies meet the complex and ever-changing needs of its customers. NEC brings more than 100 years of expertise in technological innovation to empower people, businesses and society. For more information, visit NEC at http://www.nec.com. The NEC Group globally provides "Solutions for Society" that promote the safety, security, efficiency and equality of society. Under the company's corporate message of "Orchestrating a brighter world," NEC aims to help solve a wide range of challenging issues and to create new social value for the changing world of tomorrow. For more information, please visit

http://www.nec.com/en/global/about/solutionsforsociety/message.html.

About NEC Cloud Solutions

http://www.nec.com/en/global/solutions/cloud/ About Salesforce

Salesforce, the Customer Success Platform and world's #1 CRM company, empowers companies to connect with their customers in a whole new way. For more information about Salesforce (NYSE: CRM), visit: http://www.salesforce.com. Any unreleased services or features referenced in this or other press releases or public statements are not currently available and may not be delivered on time or at all. Customers who purchase Salesforce applications should make their purchase decisions based upon features that are currently available. Salesforce has headquarters in San Francisco, with offices in Europe and Asia, and trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "CRM." For more information please visit http://www.salesforce.com, or call 1-800-NO-SOFTWARE. "Safe harbor" statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This press release contains forward-looking statements. The achievement or success of the matters covered by such forward-looking statements involves risks, uncertainties and assumptions. If any such risks or uncertainties materialize, or if any of the assumptions prove incorrect, the company's results could differ materially from the results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements we make. Further information on factors that could affect the company's financial and other results is included in the reports on Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K and in other filings we make with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time, including the company's most recent Form 10-K. These documents are available on the SEC Filings section of the Investor Information section of the company's website at www.salesforce.com/investor. Salesforce.com, inc. assumes no obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law.  2016 salesforce.com, inc. All rights reserved. Salesforce, Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, AppExchange, Salesforce Platform, and others are trademarks of salesforce.com, inc. Other brands featured herein may be trademarks of their respective owners [1] Phase Change Cooling Unit: A system that works by removing large amounts of heat when it turns from liquid to vapour and takes it directly outside of the server room

[2] Source: IDC Japan, Feb 2016 "Japan Public IT Cloud Services Forecast, 2016-2020" (JPJ40591516) Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130612/SF30598LOGO To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/salesforce-signs-agreement-with-nec-to-establish-second-data-center-in-japan-300245013.html SOURCE Salesforce

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[April 05, 2016] GTN and LinkNet Connect Indonesias Digital Economy with Epsilon

Epsilon is supporting the growth of Indonesias digital economy by delivering global connectivity to some of the countrys fastest growing infrastructure providers SINGAPORE, 05 April 2016  Epsilon, a privately owned global communications service provider, has been selected to provide global network connectivity for both Graha Teknologi Nusantara (GTN), a leading Indonesian data centre provider, and LinkNet, a nationwide cable television and broadband internet service provider. The deal will enable these providers to connect their customers to destinations in more than 170 countries around the world.







GTN will add global connectivity to its portfolio of data centre services for the Indonesian market, advancing its 3-S strategy of delivering a Safe, Secure, and Substantial Service menu. LinkNet will expand its network coverage beyond its depth of metro connectivity across Indonesia to include Epsilons network footprint covering Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe and the Americas.



Indonesia has one of the fastest growing and unique digital economies in the world with a young social savvy population that is hungry for high quality connectivity. GTN and LinkNets customers will benefit from this quality of service that will take their online and communications experience to new levels. We are proud to be supporting the growth of the digital economy in Indonesia and look forward to delivering the best possible service for users, said Jerzy Szlosarek, Chief Executive Officer at Epsilon.





Indonesia is the fourth largest mobile market with 319 million subscribers, according to the CIA Factbook. It has more than 73 million internet users, which is an estimated 29% of its population, according to Indonesias Communications and Information Ministry. 58.4% of these users are between 12 and 34 years old. Indonesias Digital Economy will be the biggest in ASEAN in 2020 for US$130 billion as CAGR 40% growth in 2015 for US$18 billion.



Our customers are increasingly looking beyond their home markets and need flexible and agile connectivity to support them. Epsilons intelligent Network Infrastructure as a Service (iNaaS) offering is an ideal complement to our high availability data centre services. This is an exciting time in the communications market in Indonesia and we have the network and data centre infrastructure to support its next wave of growth, said Richard Kartawijaya, Chief Executive Officer at GTN.



GTN offers co-location services, managed data centre services, as well as hosting services. Its Rate/Tier 4 ready data centre facility can accommodate 21,000 racks and has been built to be both environmentally friendly and energy efficient.



The Indonesian digital economy relies on robust and scalable infrastructure. With the support of Epsilon, we are able to serve the local needs of our enterprise and consumer customers with global connectivity. As more and more people get online in Indonesia, we need to be able to deliver the best network infrastructure with the flexibility to grow to meet their needs. Epsilon helps us to do that, Joseph Lembayung, Enterprise Sales Director at LinkNet.



LinkNet offers consumer internet services under its FastNet brand, and subscription based cable TV product under the HomeCable brand. It targets the business market under its DataComm brand.



About Epsilon Epsilon provides connectivity and infrastructure solutions to Communications, Applications, Content and Cloud service providers. Its underlying network infrastructure, intelligent application layers and industry expertise enables its customers to seamlessly deliver mission critical, high performance applications and communications services globally. Epsilon offers a wide range of communications infrastructure services from network connectivity, co-location or data centre services and system integration through to an on-demand ordering platform for Ethernet services and cloud access.



www.epsilontel.com About PT Graha Teknologi Nusantara PT Graha Teknologi Nusantara (GTN) is a company focused on data center management services, and is also a subsidiary of PT Multipolar Technology Tbk (MLPT). GTN Data Center is a joint venture project between MLPT, Mitsui & Co., Ltd. (Mitsui) and Mitsui Knowledge Industry Co., Ltd. (MKI). GTN is positioned to be the leading data center services provider in Indonesia.



www.grahateknologi.co.id About LinkNet Link Net is a leading provider of high-speed next generation Dedicate broadband ("NGBB") and cable TV in Indonesia, serving the residential and enterprise markets across Greater Jakarta, Greater Surabaya and Bandung. Link Net commands a 98% market share of Indonesia's NGBB market and its technologically advanced Hybrid Fibre-Coaxial cable ("HFC") and DOCSIS 3.0 network to provide high-speed internet access (up to 800 Mbps) and richly differentiated TV content with the largest HD channels available.



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[April 05, 2016] Talkdesk Announces List of Speakers for Opentalk, A Visionary Conference On The Future Of Customer Communication

SAN FRANCISCO, April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Talkdesk, the world's leading cloud-based call center software provider, offered a glimpse into the outstanding speaker list for their customer experience summit, Opentalk, on May 17th at The Village in San Francisco. Opentalk will host speakers and attendees from organizations at the forefront of the real-time revolution in customer communication. Among the speakers announced is Nick Mehta, CEO of Gainsight, the leading Customer Success Management solution. He will be joined by Emmanuelle Skala, who places customer advocacy at the core of marketing and sales efforts as Vice President of Sales at Influitive. Also on stage will be Eric Burdullis, Director of Customer Experience at the high growth startup, Lyft. Talkdesk investors Jason Lemkin and Josh Stein will speak as well. Lemkin is the Founder and CEO of SaaStr and a noted B2B advisor. Stein is a Partner at DFJ and a serial investor. "We are thrilled about the speaker list for Opentalk," said Talkdesk Founder and CEO Tiago Paiva. "We have brought together an outstanding collection of innovators in the customer experience space. Their insights will form the backbone of this groundbreaking summt."



Opentalk has been carefully design to facilitate conversations on the implications and trajectory of the revolution in customer communication. The relationship between companies and their customers has changed. It's time for companies to adapt their strategies to meet the expectations of the modern consumer. "What it means to be a customer-centric company today isn't the same as it was yesterday. Staying relevant in the modern marketplace requires a new approach to interacting with your customers," said Paiva. "Opentalk invites industry leaders to share insights and compare notes on the future of the customer experience."

Opentalk will be one amazing day filled with an expansive content lineup and a focus on the attendee experience. The abovementioned speakers and many other innovators in this field will speak on a variety of topics, including the ROI of investing in your customers to what CX can learn from UX to Twitter as a service strategy. In addition to talks and panels with renowned speakers from innovative companies, Opentalk will offer a curated networking opportunity for like-minded business people. Storm Ventures, DFJ, SVB and 500 Startups have announced early sponsorship of Opentalk. Other sponsorship and branding opportunities remain available for this event. "Talkdesk's mission has always been to advance a radically customer-centric agenda in the SaaS space," said Paiva. "Opentalk is just one more step we are taking to promote this movement." Talkdesk is headquartered in San Francisco and has a satellite office in Lisbon, Portugal. Register for Opentalk: http://www.talkdesk.com/opentalk

Learn more about Talkdesk: www.talkdesk.com

Follow @talkdesk on Twitter About Talkdesk

Talkdesk is next-generation cloud-based call center software that helps you connect with your customers. The easy-to-use interface offers robust functionality with advanced features, comprehensive reporting and seamless integrations with 25+ business tools to empower sales and service teams to have personalized, real-time conversations with customers. RELATED LINKS

https://www.talkdesk.com

https://www.talkdesk.com/opentalk Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150608/221658LOGO To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/talkdesk-announces-list-of-speakers-for-opentalk-a-visionary-conference-on-the-future-of-customer-communication-300246086.html SOURCE Talkdesk

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[April 05, 2016] Fitch Affirms Sierra View Local Health Care District (CA) Rev Bonds at 'A'; Outlook Stable

Fitch Ratings has affirmed the 'A' rating on the approximately $18.375 million Sierra View Local Health Care District (Tulare County, California) revenue refunding bonds series 2010. The Rating Outlook is Stable. SECURITY Debt payments are secured by a gross revenue pledge. KEY RATING DRIVERS STRONG LIQUIDITY: The affirmation of the 'A' rating and Stable Outlook largely reflects Sierra View's strong balance sheet with 472.2 days cash on hand and 263.1% cash-to-debt at Dec. 31, 2015. Cash-to-debt has significantly improved since Fitch's last review in April 2014 due to the reduction in debt as part of the refinancing of the series 2007 bonds in 2015. Fitch expects the balance sheet to remain strong. WEAK DEBT SERVICE COVERAGE: Debt service coverage has historically been low for the rating level due to Sierra View's heavy debt burden. Maximum annual debt service (MADS) of $7.5 million equates to a high 5.5% of fiscal 2015 total revenues (June 30 year-end) as compared to 'A' category median of 2.8%. Coverage of MADS by EBITDA was 2.7x and 2.4x in fiscal 2015 and 2014, respectively, and has declined through the six months ended Dec. 31, 2015 to 1.7x. VOLATILE OPERATING PERFORMANCE: Sierra View's profitability has been solid but volatile with 5.8% operating margin in fiscal 2015, 3.8% in fiscal 2014, 6.2% in fiscal 2013 and 11.9% in fiscal 2012. Through the six months ended Dec. 31, 2015, Sierra View posted an operating loss with a negative 2.1% operating margin. This is expected to be temporary, as Sierra View has invested in various service lines which should result in improved revenue in the near term. In addition, Sierra View receives approximately $7 million-$8 million in Medicare and Medi-Cal disproportionate share funds a year. MASTER FACILITY REDESIGN UNDERWAY: Sierra View is in the planning stages of addressing its seismic retrofit regulatory requirements, which were eased and led to a new plan being developed. Prior plans are now being re-evaluated and a final plan is expected in 2017-2018. Management is contemplating a general obligation bond issue (would require voter approval) to fund these needs. Sierra View still has approximately $17 million of bond funds remaining for capital expenditures. CHALLENGING SERVICE AREA: Sierra View's revenue base is small and its operations in a relatively rural service are challenging, with a difficult payor mix of 40% of gross revenue from Medi-Cal. RATING SENSITIVITIES IMPROVE OPERATING PERFORMANCE: Fitch expects Sierra View Local Health Care District to improve the weak interim profitability as a result of its strategic investments in various service lines that should lead to improved revenue growth. A sustained decline in debt service coverage would likely result in negative rating pressure. FINALIZED MASTER FACILITY PLAN: Fitch will evaluate the impact of the revised master facility plan and planned sources of funding on Sierra View Local Health Care District's rating when details are available. CREDIT PROFILE Sierra View owns and operates a 167-licensed-bed acute care hospital (199 including dialysis chairs), 35-bed long-term care facility, and several outpatient clinics. The hospital is located in Porterville, California, approximately 70 miles southeast of Fresno. Sierra View had total operating revenue of $137.7 million in fiscal 2015. The current CEO and CFO have been in place for about three years and are focused on enhancing services to meet the community's needs. Strategic Investments Several strategic initiatives are underway, which has pressured operating performance through the six months ended Dec. 31, 2015 due to start-up costs and initial investments. After prior failed attempts to bring in a hospitalist group, there is now a hospitalist team in place since April 2015, which is expected to lower length of stay, improve documentation and result in better throughput in the emergency department. Sierra View opened a urology clinic in October 2015 in partnership with University of Southern California, which should fill an underserved need. Additional programs under way include a cardiac catheterization lab and an urgent care facility, which should open in late spring 2016.



Master Facility Plan Sierra View is currently re-evaluating its master facility due to the changes in the state seismic requirements and expects to have a finalized plan in 2017-2018 that would leave sufficient time to meet the 2020 deadline. Sierra View expects to retrofit existing space for earthquake mitigation. In addition, there are other capital needs including a new building for the IT department and the expansion of the emergency department. Sierra View is contemplating a general obligation bond issue to fund these needs, which would require voter approval. Fitch will evaluate the impact of the revised master facility plan and planned sources of funding on Sierra View's rating when details are available.

Strong Liquidity Sierra View's 'A' rating has been supported by its strong liquidity with $160 million in unrestricted cash and investments at Dec. 31, 2015. Although the master facility plan is still in its preliminary stages with funding sources to be determined, Fitch believes a material equity contribution for its master facility plan would be a credit concern and would result in negative rating pressure. Series 2015 Refinancing In 2015, Sierra View refinanced its series 2007 bonds and used approximately $10 million in project funds to reduce the amount of debt outstanding. The refinancing is privately held with a final maturity in 2030 and no additional covenants. Total outstanding debt was $61 million at Dec. 31, 2015 and is 100% fixed rate. Sierra View has almost $4 million in note payables, which results in a front-loaded debt structure. MADS of $7.519 million occurs in fiscal 2017. MADS coverage was 2.7x in fiscal 2015, 2.4x in fiscal 2014, 2.7x in fiscal 2013 and 3.3x in fiscal 2012 compared to the 'A' category median of 4.2x. Volatile Profitability The operating performance volatility can be somewhat attributable to the variability in supplemental funding, which includes disproportionate share funds, meaningful use funds, and provider fees. Fiscal 2015 performance improved from the prior year due to increased volume and reduced self-pay, and total revenue increased 7% after a two-year decline. Sierra View also receives approximately $1 million a year in tax revenue for operating purposes (reclassified to other operating revenue). The operating loss in the first six months ended Dec. 31, 2015 is related to the start-up costs and strategic investments in addition to an increase in agency staffing expense due to its high nurse vacancy rate. Sierra View has recruited new grads this year and expects this expense to continue to decline through the rest of the year. The fiscal 2016 budget is for an operating margin of 3.1%, which is not likely to be reached. However, through February 2016, operating losses were held at the same level as in December. Challenging Service Area The hospital does maintain a dominant market share in its service area, which has garnered favorable managed care reimbursement to date; however, the socio-economic indicators are challenging with 40% of its gross revenue from Medi-Cal. Disclosure The district covenants to provide annual and quarterly disclosure through the Municipal Rule Making Board's EMMA system Additional information is available at www.fitchratings.com Applicable Criteria Revenue-Supported Rating Criteria (pub. 16 Jun 2014) https://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=750012 U.S. Nonprofit Hospitals and Health Systems Rating Criteria (pub. 09 Jun 2015) https://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=866807 Additional Disclosures Dodd-Frank Rating Information Disclosure Form https://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/press_releases/content/ridf_frame.cfm?pr_id=1002027 Solicitation Status https://www.fitchratings.com/gws/en/disclosure/solicitation?pr_id=1002027 Endorsement Policy https://www.fitchratings.com/jsp/creditdesk/PolicyRegulation.faces?context=2&detail=31 ALL FITCH CREDIT RATINGS ARE SUBJECT TO CERTAIN LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS. PLEASE READ THESE LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS BY FOLLOWING THIS LINK: HTTP://FITCHRATINGS.COM/UNDERSTANDINGCREDITRATINGS. IN ADDITION, RATING DEFINITIONS AND THE TERMS OF USE OF SUCH RATINGS ARE AVAILABLE ON (News - Alert) THE AGENCY'S PUBLIC WEBSITE 'WWW.FITCHRATINGS.COM'. PUBLISHED RATINGS, CRITERIA AND METHODOLOGIES ARE AVAILABLE FROM THIS SITE AT ALL TIMES. FITCH'S CODE OF CONDUCT, CONFIDENTIALITY, CONFLICTS OF INTEREST, AFFILIATE FIREWALL, COMPLIANCE AND OTHER RELEVANT POLICIES AND PROCEDURES ARE ALSO AVAILABLE FROM THE 'CODE OF CONDUCT' SECTION OF THIS SITE. FITCH MAY HAVE PROVIDED ANOTHER PERMISSIBLE SERVICE TO THE RATED ENTITY OR ITS RELATED THIRD PARTIES. DETAILS OF THIS SERVICE FOR RATINGS FOR WHICH THE LEAD ANALYST IS BASED IN AN EU-REGISTERED ENTITY CAN BE FOUND ON THE ENTITY SUMMARY PAGE FOR THIS ISSUER ON THE FITCH WEBSITE. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160405006574/en/

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EDITOR'S NOTE: A former Sullivan and Charleston resident, Jerry Ginther writes a column the first Tuesday of each month in the JG-TC with his remembrances of years gone by in Charleston, Sullivan and the area.

Visiting a famous battlefield such as Gettysburg and standing on the very ground where so many brave men had fought and died takes one back in time. It becomes more than just a place, which one has read about in American History. Several years ago, when our children were in school, we made the journey to Pennsylvania and legendary Gettysburg. We moved about the battlefield to the different locations of interest and discussed what had occurred at each. From each site we had the view of the terrain as the soldiers would have had during the bloody conflict.

We read aloud the words of President Lincolns Gettysburg Address and they yielded stronger meaning than when we had read them from our history book. Being there made longer lasting impressions than photographs or written accounts could ever furnish. It was a day of learning for our family and an unforgettable family experience. Much to their teachers surprise, my kids had much to share and became the authorities in their classrooms on that battle of the Civil War, because they had actually been to the battlefield.

Springfield, Illinois, is another town rich in American history pertaining to Abraham Lincoln. It exhibits the home and the tomb of our illustrious 16th president. The tomb itself is located in Oak Ridge Cemetery and is visited by thousands of history buffs from around the globe each year. Having lived in the state for the first 40 years of my life, I personally have been there several times.

Extended family and other visitors from out of state would often want us to accompany them to Springfield to see the historical sites while they were there. In some cases it would be the one and only time the opportunity would be available to them. A small item most of them remembered from their visit was the bust of old Abe just outside the tomb. His nose is bright and shiny, because everyone who goes in and out of the tomb gives it a rub.

We had moved to Texas by the time our youngest son was born and had the privilege of home schooling him. During our study of Americas presidents we thought it would be a great idea and a pleasant educational field trip to visit Springfields historical sites once again. So, we loaded the wagon (station wagon) and headed back to the Prairie State for more on-site education.

During my tour of duty in the U.S. Army, I was fortunate to be stationed at Fort Dix, N.J., for several months, having been sent there from Fort Hood, Texas. Realizing that it may be the only time I would have the opportunity to be this close to a couple of historical sites, I decided to take advantage. One such place was the city of Philadelphia. This famous town was the birthplace of the Declaration of Independence and many historical decisions. Carpenters Hall was open to the public and I was able see, but not touch, the Liberty Bell among many other artifacts from the era. If everyone who passed the bell gave it a rub it would be as shiny as Abes nose.

Next, an army buddy and I boarded a flight to Washington, D.C. There we toured the White House, the Smithsonian Institute, the Capitol Building, the Supreme Court Building and many of the monuments. We even went to the top of the Washington Monument. Since we only had three-day passes it was a rushed tour, but one Im glad we were able to take.

However, memories of that trip are all I have. When we returned to Fort Hood, Texas, shortly thereafter, he was shipped off to Vietnam with all of the pictures we took and I never saw him again.

If one has the opportunity and is interested in Americas history, there are not many better educational experiences than visiting her historical sites, especially with family or friends. Sharing those times together builds lasting memories as well. If you are retired and have young grandchildren, such trips would enhance their education and motivate them to participate in class discussions. Of course there are many more than those Ive mentioned above and being there far surpasses reading about them.
Who has inspired you?

The people who inspire me look out for others and act for the common good. I see examples of this on my street: for years, neighbors shoveled snow from the driveway of the most elderly couple on our block. One of my Lincoln heroes, Roger Larson, used to say, We all drink from wells that we did not dig, as he encouraged us to pay it forward for our city. Vanessa Diffenbaugh, a friend, used proceeds from the sale of her first novel to found a national organization that supports foster youth. A 1960s Mississippi civil rights activist I studied in college, Fannie Lou Hamer, inspired me because she was one courageous woman who stood up for equality and never gave in despite great personal cost.

Whom do you hope to inspire?

One reason I ran for City Council sprung from the fact that, at the time, no other women were in the race. I didnt want my kids or anyone elses to look up at the dais and see only men behind the microphones. If girls see me at a City Council meeting, they might think to themselves, I could do that, too. Ill never forget the day my daughter Ava, when she was 7, informed me that only men are doctors. Wasnt I raising her to believe she could be anything she wanted? Yet she still came to that conclusion because shed never actually had a woman doctor. So often, seeing is believing. All you young girls out there: your turn on City Council is coming!

What is your favorite quote or motto?

Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.  Oscar Wilde

How would you describe a great day at work?

It begins with a warm cup of tea and a to-do list Im excited to tackle. At the top of that list is getting answers for people who seek my help. Also on the list is uninterrupted time to think about big-picture ideas and research the pros and cons of policy decisions the Council faces. Casting votes in favor of things that make Lincoln an even better place  from new park playgrounds to an expanded trails network to improved emergency response times to high speed internet service to wrap-around services for the homeless  definitely makes the list. I also enjoy teasing Carl Eskridge about how impossibly nice and polite he is to everybody! A great day at work has to include some fun.

Whats the best advice youve ever received, and who gave it to you?

My dad, who moved through life with the relaxed style of an accomplished athlete (he played college basketball and competed in international tournaments into his late 60s), was fond of saying, Start slow and taper off. Im still trying to learn how to follow his advice.

Whats the highlight of your career (so far)?

When I worked as the director of a Boys & Girls Club, a quiet and modest 8-year-old girl named Michelle caught my notice with her winning, buck-toothed smile and clear academic promise. I got to know her parents  a house cleaner and a house painter with no college education themselves  and worked with them to apply for special academic opportunities and scholarships for their daughter. Years later, after I had left the club to start my own family, I got a call from Michelle asking if I would write a recommendation for her college application to Stanford. I still remember beginning that recommendation with the words, This is a letter Ive waited 10 years to write ... Then came the call that she had been accepted. We had tears of joy on both ends of the phone line.

How have you changed over the course of your career?

Throughout my career, Ive proven to myself time and time again that I can do things that at first seem daunting. Theres a confidence born from experience, one that builds over time.
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In the past few weeks, there has been a regional conversation regarding whether Waukesha should be allowed to withdraw Great Lakes water and return it as approximately 16.7 million gallons of treated wastewater per day through the Root River.

At the public meetings, the comment was made that there will be no adverse environmental impacts if Waukesha is allowed to return their treated wastewater down the Root River.

This seems to be a rather sweeping comment, one that should be grounded in sound science. Any impacts to the Root River, and ultimately Lake Michigan, should be assessed using a robust monitoring program, which fundamentally requires the collection of sufficient data.

At present, there is no conditional monitoring requirement attached to the potential release of wastewater plant effluent to the Root River and, therefore, the statement that there will be no adverse impact cannot be assured. Previous studies at other locations along the Root River have shown that water quality becomes poorer at the point of wastewater effluent discharge and for some distance downstream. However, the current dischargers are releasing a much smaller amount of treated sewage than is proposed by the City of Waukesha. Without monitoring, we do not know what the extent of influence will be with respect to a variety of potential pollutants.

Waukesha claims that increased flow would improve habitat and recreational fishing opportunities. While the increase in water levels resulting from the return flow may benefit migrating fish, increased flow may not be entirely beneficial. Some possible negative effects associated include resuspension of more pollutants such as sediment, phosphorus (a nutrient) and bacteria into the water column or the introduction of new pollutants, such as pharmaceutical and personal care products.

Portions of the Root River are already impaired for phosphorus, which means the amount present exceeds state standards. Too much phosphorus can cause increased growth of algae and other aquatic plants. When this vegetation dies, it can result in reduced oxygen levels, negatively affecting fish and other aquatic life. Waukeshas return flow of treated wastewater will add a new source of additional phosphorus to the Root River. During the summer, treated wastewater could also make up the majority of water in the river channel at some locations. This could present a public health concern for residents that wade, swim or recreate on the Root River.

In my opinion, Waukeshas proposed return flow plan leaves some important questions unanswered. Increased pollution could negatively impact the significant progress we have already made in restoring the Root River and our Lake Michigan beaches, but there is no way to know for sure without a comprehensive monitoring plan.

As the lab director and research scientist for the City of Racine Department of Public Health, I have 25 years of experience monitoring Lake Michigan beaches and the Root River. I have been very involved in the restoration of our Blue Wave certified North Beach, recently voted one of the Top 5 Freshwater Beaches in the United States by USA Today, and the development of the Root River Watershed Restoration Plan. I take great pride in the efforts the City of Racine has made to preserve and protect the water resources on which we rely.

It is my recommendation that the WDNR requires, reviews and approves a comprehensive monitoring program before proceeding any further with Waukeshas diversion application, and that the City of Waukesha bear the costs associated with monitoring in perpetuity as a condition of their permit.
The Messy Reality of Self-Defense

By Rob Morse. March 30th, 2016

This is an adult discussion. It's neither fit for college students who major in the art of being perpetually offended, nor other sensitive children. I report on self-defense -- the good and the bad. I talk about the messy reality when we defend ourselves from criminal attack. I mean real physical harm, not the emotional "trauma" of seeing the name of a Presidential Candidate written in chalk. This is what I've noticed as I studied civilian self-defense. First, thousands of ordinary people defend themselves with a firearm every day. These people are our friends, neighbors, and relatives, who were simply going about their lives when they had to defend themselves. Second, successful self-defense isn't magic. The people who studied and practiced seemed to do a better job at it. Third, the reality of self-defense is very different from what we see from Hollywood. That means we are carrying around some bad ideas unless we've taken enough training to replace Hollywood fiction with fact. Here are some simple facts that leave this student of self-defense wanting to learn more.

If we study self-defense for very long, we'll see that robbers practice and plan ahead. The sooner we interrupt their plans the better. Right there is where training and practice can give us an advantage. It is too late to start your home study course in self-defense once you're being attacked. The people who trained for self-defense chose better options than those who had to learn through on-the-spot, in-the-moment, on-the-job training. Good training before the fact can help us avoid being attacked in the first place. I like that.. a lot!

We are most likely to be attacked when we are away from home. That means the arsenal in our gun safe is useless most of the time. Think about that for a minute. What we have on our body right now is what we will use to win or lose a self-defense encounter. It is unlikely that we will have time to go to our car or safe room and get our gun, cell phone, flashlight, and trauma kit. That is why criminals attack people who are, for example, on jogging trails.

Sorry, but there are no magic tokens to save you. This is reality as opposed to a role-player video game. .......

Points to remember well and take away from this article are -- if you do not have your means of self-defense on your body then it probably will be of little use. Also, the old adage that is so valid - "when seconds count" - usually a success or failure happens within moments and certainly long before any help from law enforcement or other third party.

"You don't have to be Jewish to fight by our side."

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18 injured in passenger bus accident

At least 18 people were injured when a passenger bus met with an accident at Udipur Dalal along the Dumre-Besisahar road section on Tuesday.
6 Nepalis manage to get to Delhi

Six aspiring Nepali migrant workers, who made a narrow escape from what they describe as a hostage-like situation in Afghanistan, have come in contact with the Embassy of Nepal in New Delhi.
Application at CIAA seeks anti-graft Chief Karkis property details

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Caste of characters

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Doti, Dadeldhura losing their pine forests to resin extraction

Authorities have raised alarm over rampant deforestation taking place in the far-western hills.
Drought takes toll on Bajhang

Crop production in Bajhang has dwindled because of prolonged drought. The district has not received rain since August, 2015.
Government to probe matter

Nepal government is preparing to launch an investigation following reports of Nepali children being sold to the United Kingdom as household workers.
Panama Papers: High time Nepal opened own probe

As the world woke up to the Panama Papers, an unprecedented leak of 11.5 million files from the database of the worlds fourth biggest offshore law firm, Mossack Fonseca, on Monday, with documents showing the myriad ways in which the rich can exploit secretive offshore tax regimes
Int'l passenger traffic drops for first time in 13 years

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NOC to hire 50 more gas tankers to boost imports

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PM to lay foundation stone for Pokhara Int'l Airport on April 13

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Roadside hotel collapse leaves 17 injured including two children

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WASHINGTON  In Wisconsin, Democrats went with the candidate who excited them the most, and Republicans chose the candidate who wasn't Donald Trump.

As Texas Sen. Ted Cruz won the state's GOP primary, exit polls show his victory appeared to be driven more by fear of Trump than excitement about Cruz. In fact, a majority of Wisconsin Republican voters say they're either concerned or scared of a potential Trump presidency.

On the Democratic side, voters chose Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who they saw as the more exciting, inspiring and honest candidate, according to early results of exit polls conducted for The Associated Press and television networks by Edison Research.

But even then, more voters view former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as the candidate most likely to beat Trump, who has been the Republican front-runner throughout the primaries.

Other highlights from the exit polls:

Scared or concerned

A majority of Republican voters say they're either concerned or scared of a potential Trump presidency, exit polls show. Nearly 4 in 10 say they're scared about what Trump would do as president, and about 2 in 10 say they're concerned.

At the same time, though, about a quarter of Wisconsin GOP primary voters say they're excited about Trump, while less than 15 percent say that of either Cruz or Ohio Gov. John Kasich.

But the exit poll shows Republicans could face a challenge in uniting their party whether Trump or Cruz emerges as the eventual nominee. A third of Wisconsin GOP voters say that if Trump and Clinton are the nominees they'd vote for a third party candidate, stay home or even vote for Clinton. Three in ten say that of a Cruz versus Clinton matchup.

Excitement, realistic, honest

About 7 in 10 Democratic primary voters in Wisconsin said they are excited or optimistic about what either candidate would do in office, but they're more likely to be excited about Sanders. About a third say they're excited about what he would do, while about half as many say that about Clinton.

Nearly 60 percent say Sanders inspires them more about the future of the country. But more than half also say Clinton is the candidate best suited to beat Trump. Three-quarters say Clinton has realistic policies, more than the two-thirds who say that of Sanders.

Democratic voters were more likely to describe Sanders than Clinton as honest. About nine in 10 say so of Sanders, while about 6 in 10 say so of Clinton.

Contested convention

When it comes to a contested Republican convention, nearly 6 in 10 Republicans say the party should nominate the candidate with the most support in the primaries, which so far would be Trump. About 4 in 10 say it should nominate the candidate the delegates think would make the best nominee.

Even among voters who favored Cruz, 4 in 10 said the candidate with the most support going into the convention should be the party's nominee.

Trade and jobs

Democratic voters in Wisconsin are divided on the effect of trade on unemployment, but among those who think trade takes jobs, 6 in 10 supported Sanders.

About 4 in 10 Democratic voters say trade with other countries takes away jobs in this country, while 4 in 10 see trade as beneficial, exit polls show. Only about 1 in 10 sees trade as having no effect on jobs in the United States.

The polls indicate a mixed response on an issue that Sanders has put at the center of his television ads. In the ads, he's connected job losses with the North American Free Trade Agreement, which was signed into law by former President Bill Clinton, and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which Clinton initially supported but has since said she opposes.

Demographics

Young voters supported Sanders by an overwhelming margin. More than 6 in 10 men voted for Sanders, while women split about evenly between the two candidates.

Six in 10 white voters went for Sanders, while 7 in 10 black voters voted for Clinton. Self-described Democrats split about evenly between the two candidates, while about 7 in 10 independents voted for Sanders.

On the GOP side, Cruz won a majority of self-described Republicans, while independents were about evenly split between Trump and Cruz. Two-thirds of very conservative voters supported Cruz, as did about half of those describing themselves as somewhat conservative. Moderates were somewhat more likely to support Trump than either Cruz or Kasich.

In his victory, Cruz swept all age and education levels and won with both men and women.

The survey was conducted for The Associated Press and the television networks by Edison Research as primary voters left their polling places at 35 randomly selected sites in Wisconsin. The preliminary results include interviews with 1,774 Democratic primary voters and 1,532 Republican primary voters and have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
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People opposed to the government exchanged gunfire with police in the Republic of Congo capital of Brazzaville Monday.

A police station and a government building were attacked in the Makelekele district of the city, according to the BBC. Violence also occurred in the Bacongo neighborhood of Brazzaville.

The Associated Press reported that police battled militia fighters. Reuters news agency said that young, male Congolese who oppose President Denis Sassou Nguesso battled police.

There are no reports of injuries or deaths from Mondays shootings.

A government official told the Associated Press the militia are known as the Ninjas. They take their name from an anti-government group in the 1998-1999 civil war.

The violence comes a month after Nguesso won re-election. Some accused him of massive fraud in the 2016 election.

He ruled the Republic of Congo from 1979 to 1992. He won disputed elections in 2002 and 2009.

Im Jim Dresbach.

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

according - adv. as stated by or in

massive  adj. large in amount or degree

fraud  n. using dishonest methods to take something valuable from another person


Jaelyn Young seemed both excited and frightened about what her life would be like when she joined the Islamic State in Syria.

Twenty-year-old Young is a former high-school cheerleader and a chemistry student at Mississippi State University. She shared her feelings on social media with people she thought were Islamic State recruiters.

They were actually United States FBI agents.

Young admitted guilt March 30 to conspiring to provide material support to the Islamic State. She had planned to travel with a male friend, 22-year-old Muhammad Dakhlalla, to Syria to join the Islamic State. He admitted guilt to a similar charge on March 11.

A report by the organization New America says 1-in-7 of the 4,500 Westerners who joined the Islamic State or other Sunni militant groups are women.

Young recently converted to Islam and is the daughter of a police officer. The U.S. Justice Department released some of her conversations with the FBI agents.

One exchange explains that Dakhlalla got his passport and that her passport was due to arrive over the weekend.

She explains that most people she knows do not approve of the Islamic State. But Young says she and Dakhlalla know this is the true Khalifa. Khalifa refers to the Islamic caliphate promised by the Islamic State.

Still, Young is worried about traveling from Turkey to Syria. She messages the person she believes is an Islamic State contact, but is really an FBI Agent.

She and Dakhlalla dont know Turkey very well.

I havent even traveled outside U.S. before, she says.

She asks if she will be with people that speak English when she arrives in Syria. Young also discusses her skills in math and chemistry and says she and Dakhlalla hope to treat the wounded.

Dakhlalla, whom she met at Mississippi State University, appears to be a big influence. Young says on social media that they were married in June 2015.

He says a lot of Muslims are caught on their doubts of Islamic State bc (because) of what US media says and he wants to assure them the US media is all lies when regarding Dawlah, she writes. Dawlah is another word for Islamic State.

Young and Dakhlalla were arrested last August at a Mississippi airport. The FBI said that is where they planned to start their long trip to Syria.

Arie Kruglanski is a professor at the University of Maryland who has studied why people join terrorist groups.

They do so because joining the fight and defending the caliphate would bestow upon them a sense of meaning and significance, he told VOA.

Other women are attracted to the traditional role of women that ISIS promises and their role in supporting real heroes and bearing their children, the future fighters for Islam.

Some women and girls who joined the Islamic State drew news coverage.

Twins Zahra and Salma Halene left their home in the United Kingdom two years ago. They were 16 when they traveled to Syria.

New reports from the United Kingdom said they married Islamic State fighters, both of whom were killed in fighting.

Recent reports offer seemingly conflicting information. Some stories said they were trying to escape and return to the UK. Another said they had tried to get family members to join Islamic State.

The New America report offers some examples of women trying to join Islamic State.

Three teenage girls from Colorado were stopped in Germany on their way to join the Islamic State. Their fathers reported them missing.

Shannon Conley, 19, also of Colorado, was arrested after federal officials say she arranged to travel to Syria to join a foreign fighter she had met online.

Hoda Muthana, 20, of Alabama made it to Syria and was assigned to recruit more Islamic State members online.

Brigitte Nacos is an expert on terrorism and mass media at Columbia University in New York. She says there is no single profile for girls and young women who try to join the Islamic State. Some are leaders and others are followers.

She adds that there are warnings for women, even within the propaganda posted on the online Islamic State magazine, Dabiq.

She posted this report from the magazine about responsibilities of the wife of an Islamic State fighter:

Every sister should know that when her husband wants to marry another woman, its not obligatory for him to consult her, not to seek her permission, not to try and appease her. The author writes that it is also fine for an Islamic State fighter to take a child bride.

Bruce Alpert reported on this story for VOA Learning English. Kathleen Struck was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section or share your views on our Facebook Page.

_______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

recruiter  n. someone who fines people to join a group or company

conspire  v. to secretly plan with someone to do something that is harmful or illegal

caliphate  n. an area containing an Islamic head of state

assure  v. to tell someone that it will be okay

regarding  prep. relating to something

bestow  v. to give something to a person

significance  adj. the quality of having notable worth or influence

attract  v. to cause someone to choose to do or be involved in something

obligatory  adj. required by a law or rule

consult  v. to ask for the professional opinion

appease  v. to make someone pleased or less angry by giving or saying something desired
Russia is waging a disgraceful war on Ukraine. Stand With Ukraine!
After his name was revealed to be among those of 500 Indians in connection with the Panama Papers leak, actor Amitabh Bachchan has denied any knowledge of the case.

In a statement released through his PR firm on Tuesday, Bachchan categorically denied having any knowledge of the companies he had been linked to. He further said that it was possible his name had been misused.

"I do not know any of the companies referred to by Indian Express  Sea Bulk Shipping Company Ltd, Lady Shipping Ltd, Treasure Shipping Ltd, and Tramp Shipping Ltd. I have never been a director of any of the above stated companies. It is possible that my name has been misused," Bachchan said.

He also asserted that he had paid all the taxes that he was eligible to. "I have paid all my taxes including on monies spent by me overseas," Bachchan said in his statement. "Monies that I have remitted overseas have been in compliance with law, including remittances through LRS, after paying Indian taxes. In any event the news report in Indian Express does not even suggest any illegality on my part."

The text of Amitabh Bachchan's statement

He also claimed that even the news report had not suggested any wrongdoing on his part.

The Indian Express carried a report on Monday based on leaked documents of a Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca which is said to feature links of over 500 Indians to firms and accounts in offshore tax havens.

"I have paid all my taxes including on monies spent by me overseas. Monies that I have remitted overseas have been in compliance with law, including remittances through Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS), after paying Indian taxes. In any event the news report in Indian Express does not even suggest any illegality on my part," his statement read.

The names of his daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai, her parents and brother also figured in the leaked documents as being directors in a firm in the British Virgin Islands.

The newspaper quoted her media adviser Archana Sadanand, who raised questions about the International Consortium of Investigating Journalists and said all the information the paper had was totally untrue and false.

The Indian Express report on the Panama Papers had stated that Bachchan was the director of at least four offshore shipping companies.
Barely four months in, and 2016 is already beginning to seem like the year of the superheroes. Deadpool isn't yet a distant memory, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is still playing in theatres, Captain America: Civil War is already on its way, and we have Suicide Squad to look forward to.

In the meantime, theres yet another Batman film that fans can see this summer  an animated one, based on Alan Moore and Brian Bollands iconic graphic novel The Killing Joke.

The trailer for Batman: The Killing Joke has just been released, and we can tell you whats in store for our caped crusader  an epic run-in with a very vengeful Joker!

As the trailer begins, we see that the Joker has been incarcerated for over two years, and has gone so far over the edge (even by his admittedly insane standards) that he has no recollection of who he is, leave alone who his arch-nemesis, Batman, is. Or thats how it seems.

But when those closest to Batman end up threatened, you know that the Joker has an ace up his sleeve.

DCs animated series have been consistently good, and The Killing Joke  with its rich source material  seems well placed to carry forward that legacy. Some reports have also claimed that it may be the first animated Batman film to get an R rating, with The Killing Joke being much darker in tone than audiences are used to.

While the focus will be on Batman and the Joker, well also get an in-depth look at another character  Batgirl. The Killing Joke will be delving into Barbara Gordons story to tell us why she has chosen to become a vigilante.

In their book, Moore and Bolland had explored the Joker's origin story, indicating that he was an unnamed engineer who agrees to help criminals rob a chemical plant so he can make ends meet and support his pregnant wife. However, when the criminals are confronted by Batman at the factory, the Joker jumps into a vat of chemicals, and gets the bleached complexion and dyed green hair that is part of his signature look. Incidentally, it is believed that DC will unveil the Joker's real name  which has long been shrouded in mystery, in its latest Justice League title.

Batman: The Killing Joke will get a premiere at the San Diego Comic Con in July this year, and then released on BluRay, DVD etc. It brings back Kevin Conroy as Batman, Mark Hamill as the Joker and Tara Strong as Barbara Gordon, as well as veteran animation producer Bruce Timm.

Watch the trailer for The Killing Joke here:

https://youtu.be/DDj4zGFf4F8
Noida: Giving a push to the government's financial inclusion programme, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday launched the StandUp India scheme under which 1.25 lakh bank branches will provide loans up to Rs 1 crore to SC/ST and women entrepreneurs.

At a function, which was organised to mark the birth anniversary of Dalit leader and former deputy prime minister Babu Jagjivan Ram, Modi flagged off 5,100 e-rickshaws.

Explaining the contours of Stand Up India programme, Modi said this will help in creating 2.5 lakh entrepreneurs throughout the country as every bank branch will be required to provide two such loans ranging from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 1 crore without collateral for setting up a new enterprise.

Stressing that it is not possible for the government to provide jobs to everyone, the Prime Minister said the scheme will convert "job-seekers into job-creators...This scheme is going to transform the lives of people from Dalit and tribal communities."

Stand Up India, he said, aims to empower every Indian and enable them to stand on their own feet.

The scheme was announced by Modi in his Independence Day address.

Modi also took a dig at the Congress by pointing out that no previous government had organised any function on the birth anniversary of Jagjivan Ram, who as agriculture minister did a lot to usher the green revolution and was defence minister at the time of 1971 war.

"It is unfortunate that contribution of such people is being ignored," he said.

Speaking at the function, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said his ministry, which is usually associated with big business houses, in the last two years has tried to work for the betterment of the poor people.

He recalled various schemes of the government like Jan Dhan Yojana, insurance and pension and MUDRA Yojana to promote financial inclusion with a view to empower the poor.

Jaitley further said that banks have given loans to 3.26 crore beneficiaries totalling Rs 1.35 lakh crore under Prime Minister MUDRA Yojana in 2015-16, which is more than the target of Rs 1.22 lakh crore fixed by the Prime Minister.

Modi, who entered the launch venue on a decorated e-rickshaw, distributed keys to some beneficiaries and flagged of 5,100 e-rickshaws.

The Prime Minister appealed to e-rickshaw owners to educate their children especially the girl child saying that the country cannot progress unless the poor and the Dalit get an opportunity to come up in life.

He said the e-rickshaw scheme is environment friendly as there will be a provision for recharging the battery from solar-powered battery station. "E-richshaw will help in fighting global warming," he said.

Although UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav was absent, the function among others was attended by state Governor Ram Naik, Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha and MPs. The state government was represented by Food and Civil Supplies Minister Kamal Akhtar.

Under the scheme, SC/ST and women entrepreneurs who will avail loan would be given a RuPay Debit Card for withdrawal, besides comprehensive support like pre-loan training, facilitating loan, factoring and marketing.

There would be a Rs 10,000 crore refinance window through Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) and the National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company Ltd (NCGTC) will create a corpus of Rs 5,000 crore.

SIDBI would engage with the Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and various institutions. The offices of SIDBI and National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) shall be designated Stand Up Connect Centres.
Lucknow: In light of the killing of an NIA officer in Bijnor and inmates setting afire a prison barrack in Varanasi, BJP on Tuesday hit out at Uttar Pradesh Police and accused it of working as a cadre of the ruling Samajwadi Party.

"When will the police administration, which is working as cadre of ruling SP, wake up and realise its responsibilities," BJP spokesman Vijay Bahadur Pathak said.

He claimed that police came into action in the killing of National Intelligence Agency (NIA) officer

only after Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav intervened in the matter.

"Incidents took place in Varanasi jail, but the top officers did not bother to act. When will the state's administrative apparatus become sensitive on these incidents," Pathak asked in a statement.

He alleged that police officers get postings on senior designations because of political connections but fail to execute their responsibilities. He said Akhilesh had appealed to officers during IAS and IPS weeks to work so that his party could remain in power.
Jaipur: Four foreigners were today allegedly attacked and looted by around six unidentified youths who also

molested one of them at Ajmer district in Rajasthan.

The foreigners were going to visit Ajaypal dham when the youths allegedly attacked them. They also molested and tore the clothes of a woman in the group, Additional Superintendent of Police Avinash Kumar said.

Two women in the group are from Spain and Turkey and one man is from the US, while the nationality of the other foreigner is not yet known, police said.

A case under relevant sections of IPC including molestation has been registered and investigation is on, Kumar said, adding no one has been arrested yet.
Days after a brutal caste-related atrocity in Tamil Nadu, there has been another similar incident, this time in Karnataka. In what is suspected to be a case of honour killing, a Hindu girl, Monica, from Mandya district, was murdered by her family for being in love with a Dalit boy, said an IBNLive report.

According to a report in The Hindu, the girls father Mohan Bevooragowda (44), and his relative D Suresh (35) have been arrested after they admitted to killing Monica because they believed it was important to protect the familys honour.

Monica was 18 years old and belonged to the Gowda community. Speaking to The News Minute, District Superintendent of Police, Sudheer Kumar Reddy said that the family cremated her body on their farmland in Mandya in the wee hours of Sunday morning.

Apparently the familys hurried cremation gave rise to suspicion, proceeding which the police arrived but the body was completely burnt, leaving no proof.

Monica had eloped, before she was found and brought back home, said the IBNLive report. The report further added that the girl was forced to write a suicide note before she was strangled to death.

SP Reddy also said that the girl was physically tortured. Monica allegedly went missing on 31 March, before she was found with the help of Mandya Rural police.

The family is said to have found out about the elopement as Monica had previously attempted to elope and the family discovered through sources that she was in love with a Dalit boy, said the The News Minute report.

A human rights group named Karnataka Jana Shakti organised a protest on Monday, rallying against the incident. One of the members said that there have been five instances of honour killing in the last five years across different districts in Karnataka but none of these cases are pursued further as the minority communities are discouraged to do so, said The News Minute's report.

News of Monica's murder comes just weeks after a Dalit man was murdered in Tirupur, Tamil Nadu. The Dalit man and his upper caste wife were attacked by goons, hired by the girl's father. Five men have been arrested in connection with the brutal murder of the Dalit youth.

Shankar (22) and Kausalya (19), whose inter-caste marriage was opposed by their families, were attacked by a gang, who came on a motorcycle, with sickles in full public view on Sunday in nearby Tirupur district, resulting in the death of the husband.

The couple, who married eight months ago despite opposition from their families, were waiting at the Udumalpet bus stand when they were attacked.

With inputs from PTI
Actor Rakhi Sawant, in a dramatic media conference on Tuesday, spoke about the suicide of Pratyusha Banerjee, and invoked 'maa-behen', and Bharat Mata ki Jai, and called for banning ceiling fans as a measure to stop suicides.

"Main chahti hoon ki Bharat Mata ki Jai zyada zaroori nahi hai, har ghar se ceiling fan hatana zyada zaroori hai," (I believe that chanting Bharat Mata ki jai is not as important as removing ceiling fans from every house)," Sawant said, brandishing (no prizes for guessing) a ceiling fan. It was not immediately clear whether there was a ceiling fan in the room where the media conference was held

Sawant, however, would have a slightly tough time explaining why several farmers with no electricity in their homes commit suicide.

She also claimed that in one year (360 days), 1000 girls committed suicide in this manner. However, there is no confirmation from the National Crime Records Bureau on this statistic.

Here's a short trip into recent history  Rakhi Sawant had got as many as 15 votes in the Lok Sabha elections in 2014, when she had contested after forming a party called the Rashtriya Aam Party. Let us take a moment to let that sink in.

"I request Modiji to remove this ceiling fan from every house," Sawant said. As of now, the Prime Minister has not made any statement on the issue.

"One can keep a table fan, or an AC," the controversial actor said.

It took a while after Sawant made her statement on ceiling fans before one journalist could gather his senses and ask a question on how the poor could be expected to do without a basic amenity like a ceiling fan. Not to be outdone, the actor said, "Jaan hai toh jahan hai"

Saying that Pratyusha's death was a murder and not a suicide, Sawant demanded that the government should award a compensation of Rs 5 crore to her family.

Not surprisingly, Rakhi Sawant soon became a trending topic on Twitter, with many taking a dig at the bizzare statements-

BREAKING: Rakhi Sawant Confirms Her Statement Against Fan Was Just Because SRK Didn't Offer Her A Role In Movie FAN.   Sir Ravindra Jadeja (@SirJadeja) April 5, 2016

#RakhiSawant wants to ban ceiling fans post #PratyushaBanerjee's suicide. Wow what Lateral Thinking!!!  Priya Gupta (@priyagupta999) April 5, 2016

Rakhi Sawant insists ceiling fans should be removed from households.... I mean.... Isko koi leke jaao aur Mars pe chhod do ..  Nishit (@i_EnVy) April 5, 2016
On 14 July 1991, I became aware of the killing of ten terrorists in three separate encounters in Pilibhit district of Uttar Pradesh. Those were times when Punjab terrorists were drawn to UPs Himalayan foothills, known as Terai region, comprising Lakhmipur Kheri, Pilibhit, Nainital, Rampur and even Bijnore, as a safe haven. The UP police were not adequately trained to deal with the menace and central forces were overstretched in Punjab.

Since it was not yet the time of 24x7 media channels or the blitzkrieg of social media, these incidents would have passed as truth paraded by the police. But there were too many holes in the story. The first doubt about the authenticity of the police version arose from the fact that district police RD Tripathi was known for his reckless policing. His name figured in the infamous Maliana case in which he headed a battalion of Provincial Armed Constabulary in the 1987 Meerut riots. Able-bodied Muslim youth were dragged out of their homes and shot dead in cold-blood.

In this context, Tripathis role as head of the district police where three encounters took place raised serious doubts. At the same time, it was also unbelievable that the UP police force, which usually took to its heels at the sight of AK-47 wielding Punjab terrorists, could become so efficient overnight as to kill ten terrorists in separate encounters on the same day.

I was working as staff reporter in The Times of Indias Lucknow edition. Unfortunately there was a workers strike at the paper. We were told to work for the Delhi edition instead and given a free hand to hire a taxi and go to the spot to gather news. I rushed to Pilibhit through Shahjehanpur where I caught hold of a police officer, who was quite disillusioned with Tripathis style of policing. After some cajoling and prodding, he gave details of the logbook of the control room and General diary (GD) entries that revealed that the encounters were fake.

I came to realise that a total of 11 Sikh pilgrims, aged between 14 and 40, were taken down from a bus on its return journey from Nanded to Nanakmata. They were intercepted at Kachla Ghat near Budaun and segregated from the women passengers.

Later in the night they were split into three groups and carried to the encounter spots like trussed up chickens and shot dead in cold blood. I visited the encounter-spots and asked villagers if they were aware of exchange of fire between the police and terrorists. In most places, eyewitnesses grudgingly admitted that they heard about police vehicles passing by their villages late in the night. Some of them heard cries  maar daala (killed me)  before the rattle of guns silence their voices. The same story was repeated in all three places of encounters.

I met the deputy SPs who were in charge of three different locations. Though they began by bragging about their prowess in eliminating terrorists, they meekly yielded when they learned that I was aware of the real story. I did not do it but I cant disobey my boss, was the refrain. Additional SP Badri Prasad Singh was quite coy when he pointed out that they had staged fake encounters. A relative of a powerful Congress politician, Singh was cocksure of getting away with murder. But the most amazing conversation I had was with RD Tripathi, the man who supervised the entire operation. Right from the word go, he was remorseless.

But what about taking down pilgrims at Kachla ghat from a bus? I insisted. Without betraying any feelings, he said, I am not aware of any Kachla ghat episode. Did you not collect pilgrims instead of terrorists from the bus? I persisted. You must have been wrongly briefed. These are genuine encounters, he said while lighting his Wills filter cigarette. Since I had the minutest details of the story, I decided not press the issue further and rushed to Lucknow to file the story. Later I realised that number of those killed rose to 11.

Just as I reached Lucknow and sat on telex to file the copy, I recalled the terror-stricken faces of victims family and carefree, smiling face of Tripathi puffing on his cigarette  these images became imprinted in my mind. The next day TOIs, Delhi edition carried a banner with this screaming headline: Pilgrims not terrorists shot in Pilibhit. Parliament was stalled as UP was run for the first time by a BJP government headed by Kalyan Singh. All hell broke loose as the Punjab police then headed by the formidable KPS Gill came to the rescue of the Pilibhit police and leaked selected details about the criminal antecedents of some of those killed in the encounter.

Things started getting muddled up as the Centre and the state governments got together to defend this criminality by diverting the attention from fake encounters to the criminal past of those killed. Just then Supreme Court took cognisance of my report and entertained a PIL filed by advocate RS Sodhi. A CBI inquiry was ordered to probe the case. An officer of the CBI approached me and put some queries only once in connection with the case.

I occasionally followed up the case only to find that the CBI carried out its investigation in the most partisan manner by absolving all senior officers who were instrumental in planning the execution of 11 Sikhs. Not even one officer of the rank of deputy superintendent of police, not to say the district police chief RD Tripathi, was named in the CBIs chargesheet. If one goes by the CBI story, it appears that police constables and inspectors were responsible for fake encounters not their officers. As the CBI court in Lucknow sentenced 47 policemen to life imprisonment  men who were trained to obey their bosses  the 25-year journey of the case reveals a hideous face of the justice system and the Indian state. RD Tripathi would be far too happily puffing his Wills filter, feeling vindicated by the system.
Do you recall this trick question? There are two lines of the same length. Can you shorten one without lengthening the other?

The solution of course is to erase a part of one line from either end, and there it was. One short, one long.

Nashik's Trimbakeshwar temple, one of the 12 Jyotirlingas, has come up with a similar solution to the issue of allowing women to enter the sanctum sanctorum. Instead of conferring equal rights on women and allowing them to enter, they have taken away the rights of men by barring their entry.

There is something called a vested right which is hard to take away. But a denied right can be conferred. That is a positive action. Otherwise it is like the old socialists and the communists ways of ensuring economic equality: make everyone poor instead of pulling up the poor.

Soon after the Bombay High Court ordered that women be allowed entry on the basis of existing laws, two things happened: women sought entry to the Shani Shingnapur temple, even warned the state that they would file a contempt of court charge. However, they were prevented access on the grounds that they would be "attacked". The Trimbakeshwar temple trust initially assured the authorities that they would comply with the ruling and open the sanctum's doors to women. However, media reports stated that soon after, the Trimbakeshwar trust reneged on their agreement and took away the men's right.

Women who are true proponents of equality will not like this at all. Men too are going to be ruffled.

However, curiosities never end. The priests at Trimbakeshwar are upset because a significant part of their income comes from taking men to the sanctum sanctorum and performing pujas. Not being able to do so means their income would lessen considerably. They are now singing a different tune and saying they'd rather allow women in than bar the entry of men.

The interesting thing is everyone wants to bring the temperature down without extinguishing the fire. Even the consultations involving Chief Minister Devendra Fadanavis, held prior to the court order, achieved nothing.

Had it not been for the High Court taking up the petition by women activists to end discrimination at places of worship, we may not have known that there was a law against discrimination on statute since 1956. It is called The Maharashtra Hindu Places of Public Worship (Entry Authorisation) Act. It is applicable to places of worship of Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and Buddhists.

The point to note is that while citizens may not have been aware of the law, the government certainly was and yet did little to end the discriminatory practice. If Dalits were denied entry, the law invoked was the Protection of Civil Rights Act, instead of the The Maharashtra Hindu Places of Public Worship (Entry Authorisation) Act. Did the authorities think that Dalits were not Hindus and could not benefit from the law? It was the High Court which asked the Maharashtra government to invoke the law.

The High Court demanded that women be allowed access because provisions in law already allow this. The authorities have to act against those preventing it. And yet, when the Bhoomata Brigade went to Shingnapur, they were prevented access because of the fear that they would be attacked. Also, the local authorities were waiting for a formal legal notification.

Obviously the forces of orthodoxy are strong and allow custom and belief to prevail over the law.
Lucknow: After dithering for months on the issue of recommending a CBI probe into the Dadri lynching case, the Uttar Pradesh government said that if the Allahabad High Court found an inquiry by the investigation agency relevant, it would honour and implement the order.

"If the court finds anything incomplete in the investigation, then the government will take immediate cognisance and an impartial inquiry will be conducted," an official spokesman said in a statement in Lucknow.

"Even after that, if the court finds a CBI investigation relevant, then the government will completely honour and implement it," he said. The Allahabad High Court had in February sought a reply from the Centre and the Uttar Pradesh government on a petition filed by a BJP worker from Noida who alleged that he was being "falsely implicated" in the case relating to the Dadri lynching over rumour of beef consumption and demanded that the probe in the matter be handed over to CBI.

A division bench, comprising Justice Bala Krishna Narayana and Justice Naheed Ara Moonis, asked the Centre and the state to file their counter affidavits within four weeks and granted two weeks time thereafter to the petitioner for filing a rejoinder. It fixed 6 April as the next date of hearing in the matter.

The order was passed on the petition of BJP worker Sanjay Singh who has alleged that the state police was not investigating the matter in a fair manner and falsely implicated him in the case at the behest of ruling Samajwadi Party.

The spokesman said that in the criminal writ petition filed before the Allahabad High Court, the petitioner's statement that the investigation was done under political or administrative influence was wrong.

"In reality, the investigation is completely based on impartial evidence and facts. The chargesheet has been filed against accused against whom concrete evidence were found," he said.

Ikraman, wife of Akhlaq who was lynched on 28 September last year, had alleged that 10-15 armed people barged into their house and started beating up her husband and son Danish with an intention to kill.

Ikraman alleged that when she, her mother-in-law Asgari and daughter Shaista tried to rescue them, they too were assaulted and pushed away.

The matter is pending before the fast track court in Gautam Budh Nagar and 7 April has been fixed for hearing.

The spokesman said the petitioner's statement that action was taken against him for being BJP worker was also wrong.
Hyderabad: Rights activist and former bureaucrat Harsh Mandar on Monday said the young voices for justice and equality being raised in universities are the sparks which should light the whole nation in these dark times.

Addressing students at University of Hyderabad, he said the young voices in this university, at Jawaharlal Nehru University and other campuses give a hope for the future.

He said young people showed how to join hands regardless of identity, birth gender, caste, class, religion and age and how to stand together unitedly to fight politics of injustice, of hatred and of division.

"Perhaps every generation in difficult times will generate its own young people who have vision, imagination and courage to speak truth and reflect on injustices," said the former IAS officer.

Mandar managed to address students at shopping complex, the venue of student protests, despite the continued ban on entry of activists, leaders and media into the university.

CPI-M MPs from Kerala, activists Teesta Setalvad, Medha Patkar, Yogendra Yadav and others were stopped from entering the university during last few days.

Mandar was in the university at the invitation of Sarojini Naidu School of Arts and Communication to deliver a talk and he also used the occasion to address the students demanding immediate ouster and arrest of Vice Chancellor P. Appa Rao for his alleged role in the suicide of Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula.

He said Rohith, through his words in the suicide note, stirred a battle that has grown and spread to many campuses.

"What is troubling establishment is not just young voices speaking truth but reminding us about our unequal and unjust world which we are not ready to accept," he said.

The human rights activist said Rohith was thrown into such a despair that he had no option but to take his life while the young people in JNU were charged with crime against the nation and called for thousands of people to come out in the form of civil disobedience to challenge the notion who is for the nation and who is against it.

Stressing the need for people standing up in solidarity of victims of injustice, he pointed out that Rohith was described anti-national for raising the issue of Muzaffarnagar riot victims and also of Yakub Memon's hanging. Kanhiya Kumar got into trouble for raising the issue of justice of Azal Guru's hanging and of Kashmir.

He pointed out that JNU student Umar Khalid, though a Muslim, did not raise the issues of Muslims but spoke about the injustice being meted out to tribals.

"Many of us are challenged whether we are far the nation or against the nation. We need not to be defensive," he said.

The former bureaucrat said whether JNU students shout offending slogans or not is not the central issue.

"Regardless of whether they raised slogan or not they should not be victimized. They must have freedom to raise questions even against their nation," he added.
'Aligarh Muslim University is not a minority institution - it had been established by an Act of Parliament, and had not been established by Muslims', said the 1967 five judge bench judgment of Supreme Court in S Azeez Basha versus Union of India.

Dismissing Azeez Basha's petition challenging some "radical" amendments introduced by the government in 1965 in the AMU Act, the Supreme Court had concluded, "we are therefore of opinion that there is no force in any of these petitions. It is not disputed that the 1951 and 1965 Acts are within the competence of Parliament unless they are hit, by any of the constitutional provisions to which we have referred above. As they are not hit by any of these provisions, these Acts are good and are not liable to be struck down as ultra vires the Constitution. The petitions therefore fail and are hereby dismissed."

Fifty years later, an intense legal battle is again being fought in the Supreme Court on the same question i.e. whether or not AMU is a minority institution.

The Modi government's position, as articulated by Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, is that AMU is not a minority institution and it's contention in the court was simple: "you cannot override the Aziz Basha judgment. The Union of India's stand is that according minority status to AMU would be contrary to the judgment and it still holds good".

The provocation for the issue to be brought before the apex court is twofold :

Firstly, AMU's refusal to give reservation to Schedule Castes, Schedule Tribes, OBC, and instead issuing an order in 2004 that 50 percent seats in post graduate medical courses would be reserved for Muslims.

This was challenged in Allahabad High Court, which in 2005 (single judge) and 2006 (division bench) ruled that the apex court's judgement in Azeez Basha case continues to hold good. The High Court also ruled that the reservation for Muslims was unconstitutional.

The UPA 1 government at the Centre and AMU filed appeals against the HC verdict in 2006 citing the 1981 amendment to claim minority status, arguing that it allowed the institution to carve out reservation for Muslims.

Secondly, a petition filed by Prashant Bhushan before the Supreme Court challenged the appointment of its vice-chancellor Lt General (retd) Zameeruddin Shah, which was allegedly done in contravention to the UGC norms.

The legality of the AMU minority tag issue will take its own time to settle but the issues involved here have raised some critical questions for public debate, and the so called "minority appeasement" politics around it.

It also questions whether institutions established by the Union Government through an Act of Parliament, AMU and Jamia Millia Islamia in this case, can refuse to give reservation to the SCs, STs, OBCs and reserve 50 percent seats for Muslims alone.

These universities, like any other central or state university, are fully funded by the government and therefore functions on tax payers' money.

The question then arises as to how could the university on its own claim minority status, reserve half of the seats for Muslims and deny rights to socially, economically, educationally backward communities to get an entry into the university

Interestingly, all the national or regional parties that claim to be champions of the social justice cause for the marginalised sections of society, the backward castes and Dalits, like the Congress, SP, JD(U), RJD, BSP are not taking up this question.

They all argue on common lines that Article 30 of the Indian Constitution gives a right to minorities to establish and administer a minority institution, notwithstanding the fact that AMU and Jamia were established by the central government through due parliamentary process.

For the moment, it seems that these parties are keen to be seen as protectors of interests of the Muslim community, whether or not they are fully conversant with the existing law of the land. In the case of Jamia's minority tag, there was a difference of opinion in the UPA government between HRD minister Kapil Sibal and Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, but unmindful of the contrarian opinions within the ministries concerned, the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions, in February 2011, granted minority status to Jamia Millia.

The apex court judgement on AMU will have a bearing on Jamia as well. But that has to be decided separately.

The unfolding events as well as the political legal positions taken up by the so called secularist parties have raised another interesting equation -- all these parties are on one side of spectrum on the AMU and Jamia issue, while the BJP is on the other.

Modi government has already put a spanner on AMU's 2010 decision to open five off-campus centres, one each at Murshidabad, Malappuram, Kishanganj, Bhopal and Pune. The Congress was keen to push the establishment of these off campus centres and had even made it a political issue in the run up to the parliamentary elections.

Recently, HRD Minister Smriti Irani had explained her government's position in plain terms to Kerala Chief Minister Ooman Chandy, when the latter had met her to seek her support for the Malappuram centre of the AMU. Irani had even snubbed the AMU VC on the issue.

Incidentally, by the time the Supreme Court will begin hearing the AMU case again in July, the current round of assembly elections in Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry would be over, and the heat will be on for the UP assembly elections.

The legal battle in the Supreme Court will depend only on the legal-technical issues involved, but it will also have a significant bearing on public perception. The protagonists for the AMU minority tag have already decided to go national to raise public opinion of those concerned, something which is bound to have a counter-polarising effect.

"In this case the BJP has to do nothing, say what it has to say in the Court and leave the rest of the action for the rival social and political formations", said an expert, who is closely monitoring the court proceedings.

Incidentally, one of the charges against the Samajwadi Party, which gave an upward swing to the BJP in the 2014 parliamentary elections in Uttar Pradesh, was the Akhilesh Yadav government's excessive minority appeasement policies.
15:05 (ist)

Congress committed to 'Make in Assam': Rahul

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi said his party is committed to 'Make in Assam' initiative to provide employment to more than 10 lakh youths.

"Our party is committed to the welfare and development of the poor and the Congress government led by Tarun Gogoi was committed to 'Make in Assam' to provide employment to the youth of the state," Gandhi said at an election rally in Goalpara.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks of 'Make in India' but for us the development of Assam and its youth are priority and we have been doing it for the last 15 years.

"If you recall the situation in 2001 before the Congress came to power, there was violence and killings all over the state. The Congress with its policy of love and compassion brought about a change to ensure development of the local people," he added.

It was the Congress that brought peace and started the development process in the state leading to a rise in the per capita income, constructing more than 24,000 kms of roads, setting up three new medical colleges and providing scholarships to more than seven lakh students in the state, he said.

"We don't make false promises like Modi did before the last Lok Sabha elections but we toil hard by giving our blood and sweat to improve the condition of the poor in the country," Gandhi said.

Gandhi said that if the Congress returns to power, it will continue with this development process and ensure more jobs to the youth of Assam, employment to two lakh teachers, scholarships to children of poor families for preparing for civil services, and address the problems faced by farmers by ensuring that they get proper price and market for their products.

"I have also asked Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi to provide free medical help in state-of-the-art government hospitals to those having annual income below Rs 2.5 lakh," he said.

He said the Congress cares for the security of the poor and is "not like BJP which is only interested in creating division in the society, guided as they are by RSS ideology from Nagpur".

He also alleged that the BJP government at the Centre was serving the rich and was only committed to further the interests of a few industrialists.

"Vijay Mallya looted thousands of crores and the BJP government allowed him to leave the country. The Prime Minister says something and does something else," he said.

Modi had promised before the Lok Sabha polls that he would "ensure return of black money and deposit Rs 15 lakh in the bank account of all citizens but now he is trying to turn black money into white by his 'Fair and Lovely' scheme", Gandhi said, referring to an amnesty scheme announced in this year's Union Budget. - PTI
Rampur (Uttar Pradesh): Uttar Pradesh Minister Azam Khan has demanded yoga guru Ramdev's apology for his remarks over chanting of 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai', terming the utterances "malicious".

In controversial remarks, Ramdev had said he respects the law of the land and the Constitution otherwise he would have "beheaded" lakhs of people for refusing to chant 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai'.

Terming Ramdev as "vaidya", a practitioner of ayurvedic medicine, Khan said he should confine himself to his own business.

"How a person who had fled from Ramlila Ground (in Delhi) by putting on a woman's dress can talk of beheading those raising dissenting voices," Khan, who is in Australia, said in a statement.

He was referring to the police crackdown on Ramdev's rally in Ramlila Ground in June 2011.

Khan alleged that Ramdev is "busy in spoiling the congenial atmosphere in accordance with agenda of BJP and RSS".
Three Dalit teenagers were paraded naked in public and brutally beaten up in Chittorgarh, Rajasthan on Saturday by a vicious mob for allegedly stealing a motorcycle from a upper caste man, reported the NDTV.

Accusing the boys of stealing a bike, the angry mob tied them to a tree, thrashed and stripped for half-an-hour while the boys were seen cowering in fear and begging for help, the report added. An eye-witness even shot a video of the entire incident.

According to The Times of India, even though the entire incident took place in full public view, nobody came to their rescue. The report stated that the police showed up about an hour later and rushed them to the civil hospital.

"Locals stripped and beat them after they caught them with the stolen motorcycle on Saturday in Laxmipura. Police rescued them and brought them to the local police station along with the motorcycle," SP, Chittorgarh, Prasan Kumar Khamsera said on Tuesday. Khamsera emphasised that "it was not a caste-related issue."

The boys, between the ages of 15 and 18 were beaten by the villagers because they caught them with a stolen bike. According to the police, six of those who thrashed them have been arrested and others are being identified.

Gaj Singh, SHO, Bassi police station told The Times of India, that the teens confessed to lifting the bike. "A case of theft has been filed against them and they have been sent to correction home," he said.

The boys belong to the Kanjar community, which generally lives on the fringes of the city. They were going to their village on the stolen motorcycle which was identified by some youths of Laxmipura village who caught them.

With inputs from PTI
New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday hit back at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for his criticism of the NDA government for allowing a Pakistani team to probe the Pathankot airbase attack, saying his remarks exposed his "lack of knowledge".

Senior BJP leader MJ Akbar told IANS: "Kejriwal has exposed his own lack of knowledge, his own ignorance of the nuances of foreign policy and relationships with a neighbour with whom we have a complex history."

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief in a series of tweets in Hindi on Tuesday wrote: "Even though BJP/RSS chants 'Bharat Mata ki Jai,' but by inviting ISI to India they have stabbed Mother India in the back."

The government allowed a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) from Pakistan, including an ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) official, to visit India last month to probe the terrorist attack in January on Pathankot airbase in Punjab.

The JIT has concluded, according to media reports in Pakistan, that the Pathankot attack was staged by India to spread "vicious propaganda" against Pakistan.

"It is very shameful. It is for the first time that any Prime Minister has insulted the country before Pakistan," Kejriwal said in another tweet.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has been protesting Pakistan JIT's role in the investigation on the ground that the ISI, a state actor, has long been the instigator of terrorism in India.
Kolkata: Braving the sweltering heat and oppressive humidity, nearly 81 percent of the 40 lakh voters exercised their franchise in three Maoist-affected districts on Monday in the first phase of the West Bengal assembly polls covering 18 constituencies.

Choppers hovered above and there was heavy security presence as 13 of the constituencies that went to the hustings were in areas identified as affected by Left-Wing Extremism (LWE).

An Election Commission official said in Delhi that polling was "by and large peaceful".

"There was no incident of violence, any injury or death to any person, which is a creditable achievement," the official said.

Till 6.30 p.m., the overall polling percentage was 80.92.

While 81.66 percent voters cast their ballot in West Midnapore district, the figure was 80.59 percent in Bankura, and 80.18 in Purulia, state Chief Electoral Officer Sunil Gupta said in Kolkata.

The scheduled time of polling was reduced by two hours in six insurgency-hit constituencies of West Midnapore, four in Purulia and three in Bankura districts. The elections got over at 4 p.m. in these constituencies.

In five other constituencies of Purulia, polling ended at 6 p.m.

However, the polling figure may go up as people were in queue in many of the areas long past the closing time, said Gupta.

He said there were no arrests, or formal complaints about booth capturing.

"Polling was peaceful and fair. We did not receive any serious complaints from the candidates, voters or parties," said the CEO.

Gupta's office has recommended repoll in a booth in Ranibandh assembly constituency in Bankura district following discrepancy in recording the number of votes in an Electronic Voting Machine. The erring polling official was removed.

Gupta also said a presiding officer was removed after allegations that a polling agent was moving to the voter's compartment in a polling station of Purulia district's Balarampur constituency.

For the first phase of the elections, there were 40,09,171 registered voters eligible to record their democratic choices in 4,945 polling stations. Of these, 1,962 were classified as critical.

Gupta said there were no reports of poll boycott in any of the booths. Altogether 34 EVMs were replaced after they developed snags.

Prominent among the 133 candidates -- 11 of them women -- were Paschimanchal Development Affairs Minister Sukumar Hansda of the Trinamool Congress from Jhargram and the CPI-M's Pulin Bihari Baske from Gopiballavpur.

The Congress and the Left Front accused Trinamool activists of attempting to influence and intimidate voters in many booths across the three districts, and also complained that the central forces were not active in many of the areas.

"Our expectations were not completely fulfilled. We don't know yet the extent of terrorisation of voters in the interior areas," said state Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.

Communist Party of India-Marxist politburo member Md. Salim said polling was "more or less peaceful", but not "entirely fair".

"The polls were fairly peaceful but I will not say it was entirely fair. In places like Salboni (West Midnapore), Bankura and Purulia, the Trinamool, even though it failed to resort to malpractices in a big way, did try to disrupt the polls by orchestrating attacks, intimidating voters and the like," he said.

Salim alleged that in some areas a few of the election Commission's lower level officials worked in the interest of the ruling party.

Rubbishing the opposition's claims, the Trinamool asserted that the large turnout was an indication of the masses' trust in the Mamata Banerjee government.

"The massive turnout displays the people's faith in the Mamata Banerjee government," state Panchayat Minister Subrata Mukherjee said.

The Trinamool, Left Front-Congress combine and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were in the fray for all the 18 constituencies.

Among the Left Front partners, the CPI-M put up candidates in 11 seats, and the Communist Party of India and the All India Forward Bloc in one seat each. The Congress was in the race in five constituencies.

Multi-layered security was put in place around the constituencies, with at least 10 personnel of a central paramilitary force deployed to secure each polling station in the LWE-affected constituencies.

Besides two helicopters carrying out sorties, an air ambulance and quick response teams were on standby.
Gorakhpur: With Beijing scuttling India's latest bid to have Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar designated as a terrorist by the United Nations, Union Minister VK Singh has warned that the day is not far when China would have to pay a heavy price once it gets hit by Pakistan-backed terrorism.

"The friendship between China and Pakistan appears to be very strong but the day is not far when China too gets affected by Pakistan-backed terrorism," Singh, who is in Gorakhpur to take part in a function at the Gorakhnath temple, told reporters on Monday night.

"When such a situation arises, China will have to pay a heavy price," the minister of state for external affairs said, adding, "Pakistan has an important place in Chinese diplomacy...China's intervention in that case must be seen in this context."

After the attack on the IAF base at Pathankot on 2 January, India in February had written to the United Nations calling for immediate action to list Azhar under the Al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee.

India's submission was considered by the Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate (CTED) for technical aspects of the evidence provided. The technical team then with the support of the US, the UK and France had sent it to all the members. However, hours before the deadline, China requested the committee to put a hold on the issue of banning the Jaish-e-Mohammed chief.

Chinese Permanent Representative to the UN Liu Jieyi said Azhar does not qualify to be nailed as a "terrorist" to face UN sanctions as his case "did not meet" the Security Council's requirements.

China, one of the five permanent members of the UN with veto powers, has claimed that its decision is based on facts and rules.

To a question on BJP-PDP alliance in Jammu and Kashmir being termed as opportunistic, Singh asked whether it was right when PDP had entered into an alliance with Congress in the past.

"The senior leaders of both the parties have taken this decision after a lot of deliberation...Such things are important in democracy," Singh said.
You may love them. You may hate them. But you certainly cannot ignore them.

Responsible for some of the most major events in contemporary times, whistleblowers all over the world have been responsible for some of the biggest exposes in the world.

The latest controversy revealed by a whistleblower, whose identity remains a secret till now, has been the one about the Panama papers.

All hell broke loose when The Indian Express newspaper carried a report based on leaked documents of a Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca which is said to feature links of over 500 Indians to firms and accounts in offshore tax havens.

Now, as a whistleblower has managed to bring the focus of the entire world on black money and tax evasion like never before, here is a look at some of the most well-known whistleblowers in India and the world:

Edward Snowden

A former intelligence contractor with the US National Security Agency (NSA), 32-year-old Edward Snowden made headlines across the globe after he leaked sensitive documents to the media about NSA's internet and phone surveillance.

He has been living in exile in Russia since June 2013 and has been charged by the US with espionage and theft of government property.

Chelsea Manning

Born Bradley Manning, Chelsea is the US soldier who was found guilty of 20 of 22 counts related to her leaking of a huge trove of secret US diplomatic cables, government records and military logs to the WikiLeaks website.

Manning was working as an intelligence analyst in Baghdad in 2010 when she gave WikiLeaks a trove of diplomatic cables and battlefield accounts that included a 2007 gunsight video of a US Apache helicopter firing at suspected insurgents in Iraq, killing a dozen people including two Reuters news staff.

Ashok Khemka

IAS officer Ashok Khemka had shot into limelight in 2012 when he had cancelled the mutation of a land deal between Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra's M/s Skylight Hospitality and DLF Universal Ltd. The IAS officer has faced over 40 transfers during his career so far.

The 1991 batch officer was promoted to the rank of Principal Secretary in January by the BJP-led Haryana government.

Mark Felt aka 'Deepthroat'

Arguably the most famous whistleblower till now, Mark Felt was an FBI agent who helped Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein crack the Watergate scandal that brought down the then US President Richard Nixon.

In its report on Felt's death, New York Times had called him "the most famous anonymous source in American history." Felt, the No 2 official at the FBI when the Watergate case broke, kept his role in the story a secret for 30 years and was known only as 'Deepthroat'.

(With inputs from agencies)
AMMAN Islamic State militants attacked Syrian army troops with mustard gas in an offensive against a Syrian military airport in the eastern province of Deir al-Zor that borders Iraq, state media said on late Monday.

Syrian state media did not disclose how many casualties were sustained in the latest drive by the hardline fundamentalist Sunni militants to capture the heavily defended airport located south of Deir al Zor city, whose main neighbourhoods are under the militants control.

"The terrorists fired rockets carrying mustard gas," a statement said on state owned Ikhbariyah television station.

Deir al-Zor is a strategic location. The province links Islamic State's de facto capital in Raqqa with its fighters in Iraq.

Reuters could not independently verify the media reports.

Amaq news agency, which is close to the militants, had earlier said Islamic State fighters had launched a wide scale attack on Jufrah village near the airport in which it said two of its suicide bombers rammed their vehicles into army defences causing "tens of dead".

"The battles continue on more than front and posts and we pray to Allah (God) victory for his Mujahdeen (holy warriors)," an official statement by the militants said.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitor which tracks violence across the country, said the militants had advanced with heavy aerial strikes aimed at repelling their offensive.

The Syrian army backed by heavy Russian air strikes was able last January to drive back the hardline militants from several villages near the airport but has so far failed to dislodge them.

Separately, the Observatory said fighting flared on several frontlines in the major northern city of Aleppo which is divided between government and rebel held sectors.

Rebel shelling of Kurdish YPG outposts in Sheikh Maqsoud neighbourhood caused several casualties, the monitor said.

The Syrian army had earlier said that at least four hundred al Qaeda affiliated Nusra Front led militants fully equipped with heavy arms staged a major attack on army outposts in the Aleppo countryside.

The army statement also said at least eight civilians were killed in mortar attacks by rebels on residential areas of Sheikh Maqsoud with scores injured.

A fragile "cessation of hostilities" truce has held in Syria for over a month as the various parties to the conflict try to negotiate an end to Syria's civil war.

But the truce excludes Islamic State and the al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front. Air and land attacks by Syrian and allied forces continue in parts of Syria where the government says the groups are present.

(Reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi; Editing by Bernard Orr)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Panama City: The state prosecutor's office in Panama has said it will launch an investigation into revelations contained in a massive data leak of a law firm that created offshore companies for the world's rich and powerful.

"The facts described in national and international communication media publications under the term 'Panama Papers' will be the subject of criminal investigation," the office said in a statement yesterday.

The probe will aim to establish what crimes might have taken place and who committed them, as well as identifying possible financial damages, it said. The law firm involved, Mossack Fonseca, says the leak of 11.5 million documents from its servers was the result of a "limited hack," suggesting it believed an outside party was responsible.

One of its founders, Ramon Fonseca, told AFP the leak was an attack on Panama itself, which is dependent on its financial services sector.

Panama's president, Juan Carlos Varela, said his country would cooperate with "whatever government and whatever investigation" resulted from the scandal. But he also vowed to "defend the image of our country,"

which had been making progress in trying to lose a reputation as a hub for money laundering and other shady transactions.

Offshore entities, of themselves, are not illegal. But they can be used to launder money or hide assets from tax authorities in other countries.
DOHA, Qatar -- Starwood Hotels & Resorts (NYSE:HOT), just celebrated the grand opening of The Westin Doha Hotel & Spa, in partnership with Ghanem Al Thani Holdings, headed by Sheikh Ghanem al Thani. Located in the heart of Qatar's rapidly growing capital, the hotel is poised to introduce a new level of wellness to downtown Doha. Thisopening marks Westin's debut in the country and reinforce the brand's growth in the region, with hotels opening in the UAE, Jordan, Oman and Saudi Arabia within the next three years.

"In response to an increasing global demand for wellness, we are seeing tremendous growth in the Middle East; and we are delighted to introduce the Westin brand in Qatar," said Brian Povinelli, Global Brand Leader, Westin Hotels & Resorts. "Unlike any hotel in the market, The Westin Doha is sure to deliver the brand's well-being promise allowing guests to leave feeling better than when they arrived."

The Westin Doha Hotel & Spa features 365 thoughtfully-designed guestrooms and suites, including five expansive pool villas and an impressive presidential suite. The nine-story hotel's crisp limestone and glass facade floods the space with natural light, while a custom art installation anchors the atrium-like foyer to create a modern sense of arrival. Featured throughout the hotel, meandering paths and lush botanicals reinforce Westin's biophilic design principles, which suggest a connection to nature enhances well-being.

The hotel features The Heavenly Spa by Westin, inviting guests to relax and recharge in a serene sanctuary within the bustling city. With nine treatment rooms as well as dedicated female and male spa areas, the expansive spa offers customized experiences from healing massages and cleansing facials, to energizing body treatments and Hammam.

For a more active well-being experience, the airy surroundings of the WestinWORKOUT fitness studio features the finest exercise equipment whether guests are looking to elevate their energy on the treadmill, tone up with strength machines or de-stress by stretching with complimentary yoga mats. In addition, the hotel offers an indoor and outdoor infinity pool as well as squash courts tucked away for guests to enjoy at their leisure.

The hotel also features the city's first man-made wave pool, which has proven to be popular with families. As part of the brand's global Westin Familyprogram, the hotel also offers signature amenities and interactive programming that draws inspiration from the destination and nature to promote a sense of well-being.

The Westin Doha Hotel & Spa boasts seven delectable dining options: the Luxe Lounge, which welcomes guests with a relaxing ambience and offers organic gourmet food and beverage; located off the coffee lounge, Seasonal Tastes serves popular international fare and local Arabic specialties throughout the day, including the brand's signature SuperFoodsRx menu; the Waves Pool Cafe offers healthy snacks and refreshing drinks poolside; while MIX Bar, Lounge & Terrace features cocktails with the largest terrace in Doha. The hotel also introduces two new dining concepts to Doha: the contemporary South African influenced Hunters Room & Grill as well as authentic Thai cuisine at Sabai Thai, which features a stunning show kitchen, private bar and luxurious decor.

Home to the second largest ballroom in Doha, the hotel also features over 3,000 square meters of function space. For an unforgettable wedding experience, The Westin Doha offers a beautiful venue, dedicated bride and groom dressing rooms, delicious cuisine and sublime details that create a wedding experience that's tailored to each guest's personal style.

The Westin Doha Hotel & Spa is located right in the heart of Doha, few minutes away from Doha's central business district, museums and unique cultural venues as well as Hamad International Airport, which is a mere 20 minute drive from the property.

The opening of The Westin Doha Hotel & Spa marks Starwood's fourth hotel in Qatar. In the Middle East, Starwood currently operates 53 properties with a pipeline of nearly 40 hotels to open in the next five years. For more information, please visit www.westin.com.

About Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.

Starwood Hotels &

Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with more than 1,300 properties in some 100 countries and approximately 188,000 employees at its owned and managed properties. Starwood is a fully integrated owner, operator and franchisor of hotels, resorts and residences under the renowned brands: St. Regis, The Luxury Collection, W, Westin, Le Meridien, Sheraton,Tribute Portfolio, Four Points by Sheraton, Aloft, and Element, along with an expanded partnership withDesign Hotels. The company also boasts one of the industrys leading loyalty programs, Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG). Visit www.starwoodhotels.com for more information and stay connected @starwoodbuzz on Twitterand Instagram and facebook.com/Starwood.

Katie Roberts

212-380-4049

Starwood
By the age of 30, my mum and dad were settled, prosperous parents of three; homeowners, tenured workers tucking away super and long-service leave, and possessors of both everyday and special-occasion cutlery.

Growing up in the striving suburbia of the Hawke and Howard eras, I never doubted that my friends and I would lead lives that eclipsed theirs. I assumed we'd continue the golden trend tracing back to the Great Depression, yet another Australian generation to enjoy more wealth and opportunity than our parents did.

In my own 30th year, I doubt it now.

As I look around the bar on a Friday after five, I see none of the steady satisfaction that brimmed from my parents and their peers. Instead, I see young people squeezed by creeping pressures not of their making and largely beyond their control. I find people in their 20s living out an ever-extending adolescence as the building blocks for a stable, comfortable life slip further from their reach. I hear brittle laughter at black jokes about renting until 50 and retiring beyond the grave.
The full extent and implications from a leak of records about offshore bank accounts from a Panamanian firm are not yet clear, and more stories about them are expected in the coming days, but already governments across the world are pledging investigations or denouncing the reports as unfounded attacks.

Panama's President Juan Carlos Varela is among those publicly championing transparency, saying his government welcomes any investigation that protects its financial system from abuse.

Will Fitzgibbon, a reporter for the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists that is leading the probe of documents from law firm Mossack Fonseca, told VOA illegal or morally suspicious activities were in the minority among the 220,000 companies in the documents. But he said even with a small percentage facilitating corruption or bribery, that for many advocates is enough to scrutinize the entire offshore system.

"As Mossack Fonseca and others have told us in the industry, they work according to the laws of these nations, of Panama, of the British Virgin Islands, even of the United States, which has a very large offshore industry," Fitzgibbon said. "Therefore, the problem is even I think, according to many advocates, an issue of what is allowed by the laws of countries where these companies are created."

Denial of wrongdoing



Ramon Fonseca, one of the firm's co-founders, has strongly denied breaking any laws. He told the Associated Press that focus on the company is unfair and would not happen if it were based in the United States instead of Panama.

Fitzgibbon said the documents were amazing in the number of "specific requests" companies and individuals made to create offshore companies in order to avoid paying taxes, as well as notices from governments writing to those companies to make those allegations.

The head of Switzerland's Credit Suisse, Tidjane Thiam, said Tuesday his firm only advocates clients use an offshore structure "when there is a legitimate economic purpose." Similarly, British banking giant HSBC said Tuesday it does not condone offshore activity for tax avoidance, and that allegations involving its clients predate its recent reforms.

Credit Suisse agreed to pay the U.S. a $2.5 billion fine in 2014 for helping Americans evade taxes, while HSBC agreed in 2012 to pay $1.92 billion for its role in laundering drug money from Mexico.

An ICIJ report Monday said the Mossack Fonseca documents included more than 500 banks registering 15,600 offshore companies. It said HSBC and its subsidiaries accounted for 2,300 of those shell companies, with Credit Suisse responsible for another 1,100.

Those banks were also among a group that were given special arrangements by Mossack Fonseca that required less due diligence in documenting why clients wanted to create a shell company, ICIJ said, allowing the banks to be insulated from the deals.

Syrian link



The ICIJ report also detailed the creation of offshore companies used by Rami Makhlouf, a powerful billionaire cousin of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, with accounts at HSBC. It says Mossack Fonseca contacted the bank with concerns about Makhlouf as Syria's civil war was beginning, but was told there was no problem.

"From my part if HSBC headquarters in England do not have an issue with the client, then I think we can also accept him," a Mossack Fonseca partner wrote in an email. The firm later cut ties with Makhlouf's companies.

ICIJ's Fitzgibbon highlighted an offshore company alleged by the U.S. Treasury Department to have supplied oil and fuel to the Syrian government as "one of the most striking examples of harm that can be done through shell companies."



"Syria's been involved in a very deadly barrel bomb-fueled war over many years, so the fact that this company, which allegedly had done these things, was allowed to have offshore companies and to continue using them was for me a pretty stark example of how those two worlds of victim and offshore collide," he said.



WATCH: Interview with ICIJ Reporter Will Fitzgibbon

Russia denounces leak

The Russian government denounced the disclosures, saying Monday they were mostly aimed at President Vladimir Putin and claiming former U.S. State Department and Central Intelligence Agency officials helped analyze the documents.

A report from the leak said Putin associated have funneled nearly $2 billion through offshore accounts.

"This Putinophobia abroad has reached such a point that it is in fact taboo to say something good about Russia or about any actions by Russia or any Russian achievements," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Iceland's PM under pressure



In Iceland, Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson is under pressure to resign after the documents showed he and his wife, Anna Sigurlaug Palsdottir, bought an offshore company in the British Virgin Islands in 2007. He said the couple has not hidden any assets, but stormed out of an interview with a Swedish public broadcaster when pushed to explain the nature of the investment.

Ukrainian lawmakers demanded parliament investigate allegations that President Petro Poroshenko moved his confectionery company, Roshen, to the British Virgin Islands in August 2014 to avoid taxes at a time when there was a peak in fighting between Kyiv's forces and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.

A spokeswoman for British Prime Minister David Cameron declined to comment on whether his family had money in offshore accounts set up by his late father, Ian Cameron. She called it "a private matter."

India's Finance Minister Arun Jaitley declared anyone who did not take advantage of a government offer last year to disclose hidden offshore accounts would now find "such adventurism extremely costly."

Norwegian, Austrian and Swedish authorities started investigations of key banks to determine their role in creating offshore accounts, while France said it would review the taxes of individuals mentioned and assess penalties for unpaid taxes.



WATCH: Related video report by Zlatica Hoke



US, France vow investigations

French President Francois Hollande called the leaked documents "good news," saying, "Investigations will be carried out, cases will be opened and trials will be held."

The U.S. Justice Department said it is reviewing the journalists' report and "takes very seriously all credible allegations of high-level, foreign corruption that might have a link to the United States or the U.S. financial system."

An anonymous source provided the millions of documents involving 214,488 companies and 14,153 clients of the Mossack Fonseca law firm to Germany's Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, which in turn engaged the investigative journalists' group to work on the project.

Putting money in offshore accounts is not necessarily illegal, and can be used to establish legal tax shelters or ease international business deals. But the report said the documents show banks, law firms and other offshore players often fail to follow legal requirements to make sure their clients are not involved in criminal enterprises, tax dodging or political corruption.
Cameroon says a regional force arrested more than 300 Boko Haram fighters and freed at least 2,000 people in the first five days of an operation to flush the terrorists from their remaining hideouts along the borders of Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

A thousand soldiers from the regional force, composed of fighters from Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Cameroon, returned from the Walasah area in Nigeria to their base at Mora, Cameroon.

Cameroon General Bouba Dobekreo, one of the commanders, said Tuesday that 17 villages had been freed. He said soldiers destroyed a Boko Haram logistics base and training center, plus vehicles, and had seized huge stocks of weapons and other materiel. He said they were ready to go farther into the hinterlands and do away with Boko Haram.

Dobekreo said people freed from Boko Haram strongholds had been handed over to the Nigerian army or had left the area with the soldiers' protection.

Among the returning soldiers was Eyong Levis, who said he and five other soldiers had been wounded by a land mine.

"Where I am now, I am getting better and I am determined that when I will be strong, I have to go there because those men are not armies," Levis said. "They are just rebels, and I am determined to finish with them. I hope that by the end of this year, Boko Haram will be history."

Beya Jude, a 47-year-old father of four, said he had crossed into Cameroon because so many people in his village died during the raids.

"On Saturday in the morning, they called us," he said. "We gathered our children, our wives and others. I brought my family all here."

Hundreds of Nigerian refugees were sent to the Minawao refugee camp in Cameroon.

Raids organized by the joint force since December have increased the number of internally displaced persons and refugees in Cameroon from 150,000 to more than 200,000.

More than 1,000 humanitarian workers have also been deployed to attend to the refugees and internally displaced.
Governments around the world are vowing to chase down the wealthy, powerful and famous who set up offshore bank accounts to hide their assets and possibly evade taxes, the immediate reaction to a massive investigative journalists' report.

What we see is that its very easy for people that want to hide their identity to set up secret shell companies in a variety of jurisdictions. And thats essentially to hide their connection to the money, said Maggie Murphy of anti-corruption campaign group Transparency International.

The Kremlin denounced the disclosures, saying they were mostly aimed at Russian President Vladimir Putin, and claiming former U.S. State Department and Central Intelligence Agency officials helped analyze the 11.5 million documents leaked from Panama's Mossack Fonseca law firm.

Putin allegations

The report said Putin associates have funneled nearly $2 billion through offshore accounts over the years.

"This Putinophobia abroad has reached such a point that it is in fact taboo to say something good about Russia or about any actions by Russia or any Russian achievements," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Governments elsewhere scrambled to start investigations for possible tax evasion, with key political figures left to explain why they had created the offshore accounts named in the report by the Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

A reporter for the consortium, Will Fitzgibbon, told VOA's Jim Randle on Monday, "Certainly the examples of illegality or even moral suspicion that we found were in the minority. I think the problem with this offshore system is that when you're creating hundreds of thousands of companies, even if a small percentage of those are using those companies to facilitate corruption or bribery, let alone smuggle drugs or weapons across the world, then that alone in itself is, in the eyes of I think many advocates, reasons to scrutinize the offshore world and potentially to enact reforms."



Pressure to resign

Iceland Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson is under pressure to resign after the documents showed he and his wife, Anna Sigurlaug Palsdottir, bought an offshore company in the British Virgin Islands in 2007.

Gunnlaugsson said the couple has not hidden any assets, but stormed out of an interview with a Swedish public broadcaster when pushed to explain the nature of the investment.

"It's like you are accusing me of something," he said.

Investigation requested

Ukrainian lawmakers demanded parliament investigate allegations that President Petro Poroshenko moved his confectionery company, Roshen, to the British Virgin Islands in August 2014 to avoid taxes at a time when there was a peak in fighting between Kyiv's forces and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.

A spokeswoman for British Prime Minister David Cameron declined to comment on whether his family had money in offshore accounts set up by his late father, Ian Cameron. She called it "a private matter."

The Australia Tax Office said it is investigating more than 800 clients of the Panama law firm for possible tax evasion.

One tax official said, "The message is clear: Taxpayers can't rely on these secret arrangements being kept secret, and we will act on any information that is provided to us."

India's Finance Minister Arun Jaitley declared anyone who did not take advantage of a government offer last year to disclose hidden offshore accounts would now find "such adventurism extremely costly."

Investigations opened

Norwegian, Austrian and Swedish authorities started investigations of key banks to determine their role in creating offshore accounts, while France said it would review the taxes of individuals mentioned and assess penalties for unpaid taxes.

French President Francois Hollande called the leaked documents "good news," saying, "investigations will be carried out, cases will be opened and trials will be held."

The U.S. Justice Department said it is reviewing the journalists' report and "takes very seriously all credible allegations of high-level, foreign corruption that might have a link to the United States or the U.S. financial system."

An anonymous source provided the millions of documents involving 214,488 companies and 14,153 clients of the Mossack Fonseca law firm to Germany's Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, which in turn engaged the investigative journalists' group to work on the project.

The Munich-based newspaper said the amount of data it received last year is several times larger than the U.S. diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks in 2010, and the secret intelligence documents given to journalists by Edward Snowden in 2013.

Panama law firm

The law firm at the center of the leak has strongly denied breaking any laws.

We are a company with almost 40 years in the national market and the international market, and we have never been found guilty of absolutely anything, said Ramon Fonseca, co-founder of Mossack Fonseca.

But campaigners want further investigations.

If it is money laundering, if it is sanctions busting, if it is tax evasion that is definitely illegal. One of the things that we have seen is that there are over 23 clients of this company are on international sanctions lists, said Robert Palmer of Global Witness.

Fonseca told the French news agency AFP that leaking the information to journalists is "a crime, a felony."

"Privacy is a fundamental human right that is being eroded more and more in the modern world. Each person has a right to privacy, whether they are a king or a beggar," the law firm co-founder said.

Putting money in offshore accounts is not necessarily illegal, and can be used to establish legal tax shelters or ease international business deals.

But the report said the documents show banks, law firms and other offshore players often fail to follow legal requirements to make sure their clients are not involved in criminal enterprises, tax dodging or political corruption.

The report covered transactions from 1977 through 2015.

ICIJ says these documents:

Reveal the offshore holdings of 140 politicians and public officials around the world, including 12 current and former world leaders. Among them are the prime ministers of Iceland and Pakistan, the presidents of Ukraine and Argentina, and the king of Saudi Arabia.

Include the names of 33 people and companies blacklisted by the U.S. government because of evidence they were involved in wrongdoing, such as doing business with Mexican drug traffickers, terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah, or rogue nations such as North Korea and Iran.

Show how major banks have driven the creation of hard-to-trace companies in offshore havens. More than 500 banks, their subsidiaries and their branches have created more than 15,000 offshore companies for their customers through Mossack Fonseca.

The Panamanian firm told The Washington Post it follows "both the letter and spirit" of financial laws that vary throughout the world.

It said in nearly 40 years of operation it has never been charged with criminal wrongdoing.

In an interview with VOA Sunday, Michael Hudson, a senior editor at ICIJ, said, "This is really the shadow side of our global economy  the money that flows around mostly unchecked, undetected.

"You can't say in every single case that someone is doing something wrong, or that they're hiding improper practices. But it certainly raises lots of questions about transparency when you have politicians, and especially top leaders of countries, moving their holdings offshore and using offshore entities to obscure what they're doing," Hudson said.

The report lists the British Virgin Islands as the most popular offshore tax haven, with Panama, the Bahamas and the Seychelles next.

ICIJ's report also sheds new light on a 1983 British gold heist that has been called the "crime of the century."

Gold heist

Seven thousand gold bars, cash and diamonds were stolen from the Brink's-Mat warehouse at London's Heathrow Airport, and much of the money was never recovered.

The report said a Mossack Fonseca document shows an official at a company the law firm created 16 months after the robbery was "apparently involved in the management of the money from the robbery.

The company itself has not been used illegally, but it could be the company invested money through the bank accounts and properties that was illegitimately sourced."

The law firm denies it helped conceal the proceeds of the London theft.
They gather under the blazing sun and blue skies of an Australian beach, looking out at the water that once symbolized so much misery: Terrifying boat trips marked by sickness and death and the constant dread that their own lives might be nearing the end. But today, the sea will become their unlikely savior.

For these five asylum-seekers, a novel program introducing them to the iconic Aussie sport of surfing is helping to transform both their feelings toward the ocean and their lives and allowing them, at least for a brief time, to forget the pains of the past.

We know that getting into the ocean and surfing makes everybody feel good, says Brenda Miley, surf school director at Lets Go Surfing, which is providing the lessons. [] I just think its a win-win because it helps build confidence, they learn some skills, they learn about being a local Aussie.

There is a rush of nervous laughter and chitchat as the men file into the Lets Go shop at Sydneys famed surf haven, Bondi Beach. Inside, instructors Conrad Pattinson and Will Bigelow demonstrate how to put on wetsuits.

Amin, an asylum-seeker from Iran, flexes his muscles under the neoprene and chuckles. He has been urging his fellow Surfing Without Borders buddies along all morning, eager to get on a surfboard for the first time. But he admits his excitement is tinged with anxiety.

Like the tens of thousands of asylum-seekers who have fled to Australia in recent years, Amins trip involved a harrowing ocean crossing that began in Indonesia, where smugglers pack migrants into rickety boats that frequently break down or capsize. Those who survive the journey are often scarred by it.

Amins memories of that trip and the relentless seasickness that came with it are dark. Today, though, he hopes to forget all that.

Down on the beach, Pattinson and Bigelow give the men a pep talk. They explain how the current works and the different parts of the surfboard.

Were going to make a plan to keep it safe and get heaps and heaps of waves, Bigelow says.

Amin eyes the turquoise water, where the swells are gaining strength. He asks how far out they will go. Not deep, Bigelow assures him.

The students practice standing on the boards from the safety of the sand. Pattinson warns them that if they dont use proper form, theyll lose their balance and do a helicopter. At this, he circles his arms wildly. The men crack up.

Finally, it is time to hit the water. The men slide onto their boards and paddle toward a sandbar where the waves are breaking. There, the instructors help maneuver the students boards into the proper position. And when Amin is ready, Pattinson pushes him forward onto his first wave.

Amin presses himself up with his hands, pops into a brief, unsteady crouch and

Splash!

Fell down, no good! he says. Undeterred, he wipes his face, grabs his board and paddles back out.

One by one, the men make their first shaky attempts as Pattinson and Bigelow whistle and cheer. Flanked by other student surfers, they are largely indistinguishable from the rest of the rookies: Their hips wobble, their arms do the helicopter, they occasionally collide, and they belly flop more than they stand. But more than anyone else in the water, they laugh.

This kind of joy is exactly what the staff at Settlement Services International hoped to achieve when they launched the surf program last year. They knew their clients were grappling not only with the trauma associated with their boat journeys and the wars and persecution they had fled, but also with the anxiety of settling into a new country.

Sandra Oehman, a case manager at the not-for-profit organization and a surfer herself, researched the concept of ocean therapy, which has been used to help everyone from sexual assault survivors to war veterans. Many find that being in the water and focusing their energy on riding the waves produces a calming sensation that helps clear the mind. Maybe, Oehman thought, it could do the same for her clients.

Her manager, Robert Shipton, thought it was a brilliant idea. After all, their organizations goal is to help asylum-seekers adapt to their new culture  and what could be more Australian than surfing?

Conscious that students might harbor fears of the ocean, instructors took a gradual approach, says Miley, the surf school director. First, they encouraged the men to go in the water just up to their hips, then helped push their boards onto the waves, and calmed any jitters along the way.

The technique worked wonders for the dozen or so participants, who quickly gained confidence and became so enamored with the sport that many of them now surf on their own, using boards donated by locals and the surf school.

We just found that once we just encouraged people and got them in and gave them that safe space to be in the water, that very quickly those worries about anything that had to do with the water  that just disappeared, Shipton says. And its now to the stage where theyre like, Lets go to the beach, we want to go surfing, lets do it more!

Danny, an asylum seeker from Iran who was part of the pilot group, says surfing helped clear his head of the horrors he left behind.

It was very different from my [boat] journey, says Danny, who like the other students spoke on condition that their last names be withheld to protect themselves and loved ones in their home countries. My worries when I was in the ocean were gone and I had the feeling of freedom. And I was happy.

Back at the beach, Kumar, an asylum-seeker from Sri Lanka, hops off his board after riding a wave into shore. He cant stop grinning. In his former life as a fisherman, he spent a lot of time on the water. But it was nothing like Bondi.

I will never forget this, he says. Ever. Kristen Gelineau, Sydney, AP
A former top Chinese general will be tried in a military court on charges he took bribes, the countys military said yesterday, in what is believed to be the highest-level prosecution of a military figure in decades.

Military prosecutors have proof that Guo Boxiong and his family took advantage of his position and accepted bribes to arrange promotions and assignments for others, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

Citing prosecutors, it said Guo, 74, confessed to the bribery charges.

The announcement ensures a swift trial, conviction and what is likely to be a heavy penalty against the former vice chairman of the Central Military Commission led by president and ruling Communist Party leader Xi Jinping.

Formerly one of 25 members of the partys Politburo, Guo is among the most powerful figures to fall in Xis sweeping anti-corruption drive. Guos former immediate subordinate on the commission, Gen. Xu Caihou, was also facing prosecution when he died of cancer in March last year.

Hong Kongs South China Morning Post newspaper quoted an unidentified military source as saying Guo had accepted a total of 80 million yuan (USD12.3 million) in bribes.

Under the founder of the Communist state, Mao Zedong, military leaders were often shifted into civilian roles, where many fell victim to Maos political campaigns. Maos successor, Deng Xiaoping, sought to professionalize the military and such efforts have gained pace in recent years.

Though officially retired, Guo continued to enjoy many of the rights and privileges of his exalted status.

As the commissions first-ranking vice chairman, Guo was responsible over a decade for the daily operations of the 2.3 million-member Peoples Liberation Army, the worlds largest standing military. During that time, the military enjoyed large annual budget increases, fueling competition for potentially lucrative control over funds, units and support functions such as construction.

Guos prosecution had been expected since March 2015, when his son, Maj. Gen. Guo Zhenggang, was placed under formal investigation for corruption and unspecified criminal activity. The senior Guo was expelled from the party last July.

Some top generals are reported to have accumulated stunning fortunes through corruption in both cash and gifts, including golden statues of Mao Zedong and cases of expensive liquor stacked to the ceiling in secret underground caches.

Such practices are believed by some to have sapped morale and battle worthiness in the Peoples Liberation Army, and Xi has relentlessly driven home the need for officers to keep their hands clean during recent visits to military units. AP
The Philippine Consulate General in Macau has recently recognized two Filipinas for their contributions to the Filipino community in Macau during its 2016 National Womens Month celebration in the city.

Weve always been trying to identify the best of the Philippines in the community because we want them to be an inspiration to the other members of the community, said the Philippine Consul General of Macau, Lilybeth Deapera.

With over 25,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFW) living in the city, the diplomat revealed that the consulate is cooperating with its labor office to provide short courses for the OFWs to learn extra skills. These include skills such as bartending, massage, leadership and social entrepreneurship, money management and others.

In one of my talks with the government leaders, they recognize that one of the reasons why the country has developed is the contributions of our kababayans [a Tagalog word for fellow Filipino] who have been here, reveals Deapera.

We have several programs, and the idea is to recognize positive contributions to the Macau society and Filipino community, said the consul general.

One of those awarded was Remedios Salamanes, a local resident who has been working in the city for over 28 years. She is also a finalist of the Gawad Geny Lopez Jr. Bayaning Pilipino Awards, an annual search for modern-day heroes that recognizes ordinary people who have performed heroic acts and extraordinary deeds in the Asia-Pacific region.

Its the first time that the search has included Macau. They only used to include Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan. So we disseminated the information, says Deapera.

She was shortlisted, the consul general continued, and we recognize her because [poverty] was not something that stopped her from achieving her goals. She has helped in raising her nieces and nephews [] shes able to help a lot of our kababayans [in Macau].

Meanwhile Salamanes, a librarian at a local school, told the Times about a few issues that Filipino migrant workers face in the city.

They worry so much about their children [in the Philippines] and also the influence of wrong friends, friends who like to gamble. Some are facing low wages and high rent for boarding houses, explained the awardee, who is also a financial council officer for the Filipino pastoral care program for migrants.

The diplomat also said that the consulate is on its third intake of students for its Leadership and Social Entrepreneurship course.

The plan is to be able to qualify them for the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, commonly known as TESDA [an agency of the Philippine government responsible for managing technical education and skills development]; thats our goal. Were trying to work on that, says Deapera.

She explained that there are numerous workers who have come to the territory as tourists. However, she hopes that at some point in time theyll be able to take the exams so as to be certified by an assessing body in the Philippines, which she believes adds to the chance of a salary increase.Staff reporter
Sands Resorts Cotai Strip Macao and Sands Macao have launched the Sands Resorts Buffet Pass which provides access to four buffet restaurants at The Venetian Macao, Sands Cotai Central and Sands Macao within a 24-hour period.

With buffets covering every meal, the offer can save guests up to 40 percent. The promotion gives access to seven different buffet options, namely Bambu and Golden Peacock in Venetian, DreamWorks Shrekfast, Feast, Grand Orbit and Xin at Sands Cotai Central and 888 Buffet at Sands Macao.

According to a statement, by following the official Sands Resorts Macao WeChat account and booking a room via the official websites of any of the four hotels, guests are eligible to purchase the pass.

WeChat followers can download the buffet pass card pack and then activate it using the 12-digit code, to make a direct on-line reservation. The promotion will be valid until December 31, 2016.

mgm donates mop300,000 to holy house of mercy

For the fourth consecutive year, MGM has donated MOP300,000 to Macau Holy House of Mercy to support the operation of its annual Welfare Shop.

According to a statement, Grant Bowie, chief executive officer and executive director of MGM China Holdings Limited, together with other executives, led over 50 volunteer team members on Saturday to visit the Holy House of Mercys Welfare Shop.

Mr Bowie presented a donation check of MOP300,000 to Antonio Jose de Freitas, president of board of trustees of Macau Holy House of Mercy, in funding the charitys daily operations and charity projects.

During the distribution of food hampers, the volunteer team members were divided into groups to help pack the daily goods including rice, noodles, and canned food, into MGMs tailor-made handcarts. These hampers are distributed to the 360 low-income households referred by the General Union of Neighborhood Association.
Deutsche Bank has warned that the rally of Macaus stocks last month will be short-lived, contrary to the March evaluations of brokerage firms, Macquarie Research and Nomura Securities.

As cited in Barrons Asia, Deutsche Bank analyst Karen Tang cautioned that the Macau stock rally has already ended and that a hotel price war is in full swing.

We think that the Street [Wall Street] had misinterpreted the return of high-end players during [the] Chinese New Year as a permanent trend, Tang wrote, going on to suggest these figures had led to a forecast gross gaming revenue stabilization in the first quarter of 2016, followed by a recovery during the second quarter.

We think this is incorrect, she countered. In fact, since the number of high-end players (both VIPs and premium mass) are now smaller than in previous years, their pent-

up demand is now being exhausted very quickly over the holidays.

Tang also wrote in the note that, since these high-end players now rarely return to Macau over the non-holidays, Macaus low-season is becoming much weaker than in previous years. This is something which the market has not been able to grasp yet.

Also pointing to weak retail spending despite the slight increase in visitor traffic over the Easter weekend last month, Tang wrote that mainlanders in Macau are spending less, another sign that Macaus visitor mix is shifting towards more leisure and less spending/gambling.

Furthermore, as casino operators seek to maximize their share of the market and maintain high occupancy rates, Macau can expect an abundance of sales promotion activities and price slashing.

All of this is trending to a price war that the Deutsche Bank analyst believes is already underway in the MSAR. After checking the operators websites, the note concluded that Sands, Galaxy and Melco Crown are all offering room discount packages, with some as high as 40 percent for a stay before the end of 2016. DB
Macaus Secretary for Economy and Finance, Lionel Leong, told reporters yesterday that the government needs more time and information before commenting on the so-called Panama Papers documents, which are believed to have been leaked from Panama-based law firm, Mossack Fonseca.

Leong added that he has no knowledge on the involvement of any local companies in this scheme.

Franco Dragone, creator and director of City of Dreams House of Dancing Water, is allegedly among those implicated in an international media investigation which has exposed hidden offshore financial arrangements in the wake of the information disseminated by German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung which has been shared with more than 100 media organizations.

The daily Belgian newspaper Le Soir reported that Franco Dragones name had been found linked to the Panama Papers.

Le Soir commented: The talented stage director [] is equally competent and imaginative when it comes to concealing financial transactions and contracts in exotic paradise.

The Panama-based law firm operates a regional head office out of their Mossack Fonseca & Co. (Asia) unit based in Tsim Sha Tsui in Hong Kong. The office operates as just one of eight China-based units, and is alleged to be connected to individuals mentioned in the documents.

According to information leaked throughout the almost 11.5 million file cache of documents, and published on infographic website, The Atlas, Hong Kong has rated as the ninth most popular tax haven, behind British Anguilla and Nevada.

However, sorted by the number of intermediaries operating in such schemes, including banks, law firms and accountants, Hong Kong outstrips all others with 2,212 mentions in the Panama Papers, out of the approximately 14,000 clients with which Mossack Fonseca is alleged to have worked. The city also tops the list of countries and territories with the most active intermediaries, with 37,675 offshore companies.

The accusations leveled against individuals incriminated in the leaked files include money laundering, avoiding sanctions and evading taxation.

Among the Hong Kong individuals implicated in the documents is executive director Thomas Chan of Hong Kong-based Sun Hung Kai Properties, Asias largest property developer. Chan was arrested in 2012 as part of a corruption probe by HKSARs Independent Commission Against Corruption.

The leaked papers reveal that the case sparked internal disagreements within Mossack Fonseca over whether to terminate the companys relationship with the senior executive who was found guilty and sentenced in 2014.

Furthermore, in an embarrassing blow against the central governments anti-corruption purge, various leaders within senior ranks of the Communist Party of China have also been identified in the documents. These range from Xi Jinpings brother-in-law, Deng Jiagui, who owns two offshore companies registered by Hong Kong-based WBC Secretaries Limited, to the family of former Chinese premier Li Peng.

It may also stand in contrast with Beijings policy to curb out- bound investments in order to stymie capital flight and restore a weakening yuan.

Chinas media coverage of the Panama Papers scandal was initially limited to accusations against Russian President Vladimir Putin. More recently however, the media coverage has been further restricted and a number of China-based news reports have been removed altogether.

Current restrictions extend to social media and search engines like Baidu, where the search Panama Papers (in simplified characters) retrieves the message: The search results are not shown as they may not be in accordance with relevant laws, regulations and policies.

On Weibo, searching for the term only retrieves results relating to foreign politicians identified in the leak.

Chinese tabloid Global Times accused Western media of scrutinizing only individuals from non-Western countries, adding that the Western media has taken control of the interpretation each time there has been such a document dump, and that Washington has demonstrated particular influence [in the past]. Daniel Beitler
The Latest on the publication by a coalition of media outlets of an investigation into offshore financial dealings by the rich and famous:

Slovenia: Boxer Dejan Zavec named

Slovenias finance ministry has called for greater international sharing of data to tackle the kind of tax fraud allegedly revealed by the data leaked by a Panama-based law firm.

The ministry said Slovenia was active in tackling tax havens by investigating hundreds of suspected cases of tax evasion. It says an additional 24 million of euros was collected between 2011 and 2015 as a result of probes into suspected transactions.

Slovenias Delo newspaper says that according to leaked documents it analyzed, at least 78 Slovenian companies and 74 Slovenian individuals are reportedly associated with offshore companies set up through the Panama-based Mossack Fonseca law firm.

The newspaper says that Slovenias most prominent boxer Dejan Zavec is among those named in the leaked documents. He has said he has done nothing wrong.

Putin: Spokesman says Russian leader has no connection whatsoever

President Vladimir Putins spokesman says the Russian leader has no connection whatsoever to offshore accounts allegedly owned by his close friend, a Russian musician.

Dmitry Peskov says the leaked documents from a Panama-based firm have been wilfully interpreted by an international consortium of investigative journalists to make what he called an unfounded claim that cellist Sergei Roldugins offshore assets were linked to the Russian president.

Peskov, speaking to The Associated Press yesterday, emphasized that there is not a word about President Putin in those papers, and dismissed the alleged link between Russian owners of offshore assets and Putin as a product of imagination.

He said the scandal around the so-called Panama Papers has proven that Putin was right when he urged Russian businesses to pull out their assets from offshores.

UK: Corbyn calls for independent investigation

British opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn has called for an independent investigation into the tax affairs of people and companies accused of wrongdoing in the leak of the Panama Papers.

Labour leader Corbyn said yesterday the investigation should include a look at the finances of Prime Minister David Cameron and his family.

Corbyn spoke after the British press published extensive stories about Camerons late father setting up an offshore account at a tax haven.

He told reporters: I think the prime minister, in his own interest, should tell us exactly whats been going on.

The information about Camerons father was first published several years ago.

Corbyn said the government should stop pussyfooting around and deal aggressively with tax havens.

Real Sociedad: Kovacevic amassed USD1.4 million on a USD2,000 salary

The Belgrade-based KRIK network investigating crime and corruption, which issued the list yesterday after going through documents leaked from the Panama-based law firm, says Darko Kovacevic had officially earned about $2,000 a month while playing for Spanish club Real Sociedad during the 2006-2007 season.

The leaked documents, however, show the club had paid Kovacevic $1.4 million that season to his offshore account. That means that both the club and Kovacevic had avoided paying full taxes in Spain, KRIK says.

Fashion designer Roksanda Ilincic had a firm in British Virgin Islands, KRIK says, adding that the ownership of a shell company is not a crime, but that it can be used for money laundering or evading taxes.

Icelandic PM resigns

Icelands embattled prime minister has resigned amid a controversy over his offshore holdings, a Cabinet minister said yesterday as outrage over the accounts roiled the North Atlantic island nation.

Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson is stepping down as leader of the countrys coalition government, Agriculture Minister Sigurdur Ingi Johannsson told Icelandic broadcaster RUV.

No replacement has yet been named, and Icelands president has not yet confirmed that he has accepted the resignation.

Thousands of Icelanders protested outside the parliament building in Reykjavik on Monday, demanding that Gunnlaugsson resign over reported offshore financial dealings by him and his wife that opposition lawmakers say amount to a major conflict of interest with his job.

Germany ministers proposes a national transparency register

Germanys justice minister is proposing setting up a national transparency register that would list the real beneficiaries of letter-box companies  but only those set up in the country itself.

Heiko Maas proposal to expand national money-laundering legislation followed a massive leak of documents from a Panama-based law firm. German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported Tuesday that 28 German banks used the companys services to set up or administer over 1,200 shell companies.

Maas conceded that German legislation could only apply to companies set up in Germany, which has pushed for tax havens to open up. He said: Those who are pushing for this at the international level have to have corresponding national rules themselves.

Maas added: I can imagine many countries considering this. AP
Indias central bank Governor Raghuram Rajan urged caution on drawing premature conclusions a day after the government announced an investigation into the reported offshore accounts of hundreds of citizens, from Bollywood stars to business tycoons.

The Reserve Bank of India will participate in a multi-agency probe ordered by Prime Minister Narendra Modi after news reports this week cited leaked files from Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca to shed light on offshore holdings around the globe. The report by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, known as ICIJ, says that theres no implication that anyone has broken the law or acted improperly.

It is important to note that there are legitimate reasons also to have accounts outside, Rajan told reporters in Mumbai on yesterday when asked about the probe. We have to see what is legitimate and what is not legitimate.

Undisclosed assets  referred to locally as black money 

have long been a hot political topic in India. Prior to his landslide election win in 2014, Modi promised to bring back enough illicit funds stashed abroad to give each of Indias 1.3 billion people as much as 2 million rupees (USD30,000) 

almost 25 times the average national income.

In announcing the investigation, Indias Finance Ministry noted that previous leaks had led to more than 200 complaints for prosecution and brought about 58 billion rupees into government coffers. Those cases were based on a 2013 report by ICIJ and information received from the government of France in 2011 on the Swiss bank accounts of more than 600 Indians. More than 500 Indians are linked to the documents known as the Panama Papers, according to the Indian Express, a local newspaper.

The government is committed to detecting and preventing generation of black money, the Finance Ministry said in a statement on Monday. In this context, the expose of Panama Papers will further help the government in meeting this objective.

India has long struggled to bring in enough revenue, leaving it with one of the widest budget deficits among the largest emerging markets. Modi has sought to lure funds from the shadows with windows for individuals to declare income without facing prosecution in cases where wrongdoing is uncovered.

India brought in about 25 billion rupees (USD385 million) from a three-month window that ended last year before fines increase on funds stashed abroad. A similar measure has been proposed for local cash.

In 2004, Indias central bank allowed companies to invest up to 100 percent of their net worth in certain companies overseas by scrapping a cap of $100 million. It also introduced the liberalized remittance scheme that permitted resident individuals to remit up to $25,000 annually. The limit was raised subsequently in phases.

Indian citizens who were named in reports by ICIJ and the Indian Express include Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan and his daughter-in-law, actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan; DLF Ltd. Chairman Kushal Pal Singh; and Sameer Gehlaut, co-founder of Indiabulls Financial Services Ltd., which owns Indias third-most valuable real estate company.

Bachchan and Rai didnt immediately respond to e-mails sent to the address provided by Bachchans office. The Indian Express reported that Bachchan and his family didnt respond to repeated emails, as well as calls made to their mobile phones, homes and offices. In a statement, DLF said all remittances were reported to authorities, complied with all applicable laws and were in line with opportunities available to every Indian.

Gehlaut said he made overseas investments after paying full taxes in India, every remittance was recorded with the central bank and all disclosures related to the investments are made in annual reports to the Reserve Bank of India and income tax authorities. Authorities have scrutinized the returns, and they received a clean order with no tax demands, Gehlaut said in an e-mailed statement.

The ICIJ report says that shell companies can be and are used for legal purposes. Mossack Fonseca said it does not foster or promote illegal acts and allegations that it helps hide the identities of real owners are completely unsupported and false. Panamas government said it will cooperate with any legal probe resulting from the data leak, Agence France-Presse reported. Vrishti Beniwal and Siddharth Philip, Bloomberg
CHINA banned most imports of North Korean coal and iron ore, the countrys main exports, in a significant increase in pressure on the North under U.N. sanctions against its nuclear and missile tests. China buys an estimated two-thirds of impoverished North Koreas exports.

NEW ZEALAND Helen Clark, a former New Zealand prime minister who is now a senior U.N. official, announces she is running for the top position at the United Nations, saying she would bring nearly 30 years of leadership skills to the job of secretary-general in a world of increasing challenges. Portuguese former PM Antonio Guterres is seen as the top contender for the position.

AUSTRALIA They gather under the blazing sun and blue skies of an Australian beach, looking out at the water that once symbolized so much misery. For these five asylum-seekers, a novel program introducing them to the iconic Aussie sport of surfing is helping to transform both their feelings toward the ocean and allowing them, at least for a brief time, to forget the pains of the past.

MYANMAR Former Myanmar President Thein Sein sheds his formal attire and his hair to join the Buddhist monkhood, days after relinquishing power to a party led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

INDONESIA Authorities blow up 23 foreign vessels that were captured for fishing illegally in the countrys waters. The boats, 13 from Vietnam and 10 from Malaysia, were blown up simultaneously in seven ports from Tarakan in northern Kalimantan to Ranai on the Natuna Islands in the South China Sea.

CAMBODIA A leading international environmental group has called on the Cambodian government to investigate an attack on a young forest activist who was slashed with a machete while she slept in a hammock after patrolling for illegal loggers.

MARKETS Global shares fall as oil prices drop further and the head of the International Monetary Fund sounds downbeat on the outlook for the world economy.

VATICAN Discussions are underway about a possible trip by Pope Francis to Greece as early as next week as the country begins deporting migrants back to Turkey. Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said that no decision had been made but in an email to The Associated Press he said I dont deny that there are contacts about a possible trip.

USA Tennessee lawmakers voted yesterday to make the Bible the states official book. Theyve already made a .50-caliber sniper gun the official state rifle. The state Senate gave final approval on a 19-8 vote despite arguments the measure conflicts with a provision in the state Constitution that no preference shall ever be given, by law, to any religious establishment or mode of worship.
Idahos wolf population remained statistically flat during 2015, reflecting the species resilience despite efforts to reduce the number of packs and individuals roaming the states wildland.

According to an early-April report by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, the state had a minimum of 786 wolves and 108 packs at the end of last year. That compares with 785 wolves in 104 packs at the end of 2014.

The report documented 358 wolf deaths during 2015, of which 99 percent were human-caused. Lethal control amounted to 75 of the wolf deaths, including 54 that were killed for preying on livestock and 21 killed in the Lolo Zone to help struggling elk herds there. Hunters and trappers killed 256 wolves in 2015, the same number killed in 2014.

Biologists for the department took a more in-depth look at 53 of the states 108 documented packs to determine breeding success. According to the results, 33 of the 53 packs, or 62 percent, qualified as breeding pairs. A breeding pair is a pack with at least one adult male and one adult female that produced two or more pups that survived until the end of the year. At the end of 2014, the state documented 23 breeding pairs.

According to the Idaho Wolf Management Plan and criteria outlined by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service when wolves were delisted in 2011, the state must maintain a wolf population numbering at least 100 animals and 10 breeding pairs.

We have been harvesting wolves for five years now and these numbers show wolves are very sustainable and their population overall, its a healthy population, said Mike Keckler, a spokesman for the department.

Keckler said efforts to reduce wolf numbers in areas such as the Lolo Zone  where biologists say they are killing too many elk  will continue in the future. The report indicates the Lolo Zone had six packs at the end of the year. However, that was prior to a joint operation by the department and the U.S. Wildlife Services Agency in February, when 20 wolves were shot from helicopters.

We still have some areas where wolves are having unacceptable impacts on our big game species and we will continue to take actions where necessary in order to limit those impacts, Keckler said.

Keckler noted that the number of livestock killed by wolves dropped again last year. The report indicates wolves were confirmed to have killed 35 cattle, 125 sheep, three dogs and one horse in 2015.

This could be the last year Idaho publishes an in-depth wolf population monitoring report. When wolves were removed from Endangered Species Act protections in 2011, the state was required to monitor wolf numbers for five years and report them to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Last month, five environmental groups said they planned to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to force the state to continue wolf monitoring and report writing. The groups contend the states wolf population monitoring effort relies too much on statistical analysis rather than actual documentation of wolves on the ground.

Idahos claim that the population remains stable is highly questionable in light of aggressive hunting and trapping, aerial gunning and the recent hiring of professional trappers to wipe out wolf packs, said Andrea Santarsiere, a staff attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity at Driggs, Idaho.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has said the states wolf monitoring method is acceptable.
An exhibition held by Israels permanent mission to the UN on Monday at the UN headquarters was censored by the UN as three of the posters were considered inappropriate.

The exhibition, held in partnership with non-profit organization , is aimed at promoting Israels image, according to the organizers.

Three panels were withdrawn, but one of them defining Zionism as the liberation movement of the Jewish people, who sought to overcome 1,900 years of oppression and regain self-determination in their indigenous homeland was later on displayed again.

Israels Ambassador to the U.N Danny Danon said accepting the panel to be exhibited is a clear win for Israeli diplomacy and a victory for the truth about Israel as he called on the UN to lift the censorship on the remaining panels.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said exhibitions within UN premises should be in conformity with the purposes and principles of the UN and competent authorities work towards ensuring that the area is free from polemics.
The Israeli Prime Minister and the Israeli President Monday offered they were ready to meet Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas after he suggested he was available for talks with Israeli authorities to end latest surge in attacks.

Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu said at a meeting with visiting Czech Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek he was ready to direct talks with Mahmoud Abbas who previously, last week offered to meet Israeli Prime Minister in an effort to restart peace talks.

A few days ago, on Israeli television, I heard president Abbas say that if I invite him to meet, hell come, Netanyahu said.

Im inviting him again, he said before adding Ive cleared my schedule this week. Any day he can come, Ill be here.

Asked what he will discuss with Abbas when they meet, Netanyahu said: We have a lot of things to discuss, but the first item is ending the Palestinian campaign of incitement to murder Israelis.

The Israeli President Reuven Rivlin also said in the presence of the Czech top diplomat that he too was keen to meet Abbas provided there is mutual trust.

Without mutual trust between the sides there wont be negotiations and there wont be a solution, Rivlin said.

We need to find a way to build mutual trust. I am prepared to meet him [Abbas] with the coordination of the State of Israel of course.

Mahmoud Abbas and Palestinians have conditioned direct talks with Israel on the acceptance by Israeli authorities of the two-state solution and freeze of settlements.

Since October tensions have heated up between the two camps with around 200 Palestinians killed against 28 Israelis mostly in stabbing spree by Palestinians who Israel brands terrorists.

President Abbas who has been criticized for inciting violence pointed out lack of hope, lack of trust, have fed the knife attacks, adding that should Netanyahu engage in serious talks, the attacks will cease.

If he tells me that he believes in the two-state solution and we sit around the table to talk about a two-state solution, this will give my people hope. And nobody will dare to go and stab or shoot or do anything here or there, he said.
The leader of Nigerian Islamist group Ansaru, described as the second in command to Abubakar Shekau in the hierarchy of the Boko Haram terrorist group, was arrested in central Nigeria, the army confirmed on Sunday.

Security officers achieved a breakthrough on Friday in the fight against terrorism by arresting Khalid al-Barnawi, the leader of the terrorist group Ansaru in Lokoja, capital of Kogi State (Center), army spokesman Rabe Abubakar said late on Sunday.

Local media reports also quoted Ahmad Salkida, a journalist, known for his access to some Boko Haram leaders as having said that Albarnawi was arrested by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) in Kogi State and moved to Abuja.

Al-Barnawi, 47, whose real name is Usman Abubakar Umar is regarded as the most influential member of Nigerias terror network with contacts to other Jihadi groups in North Africa and the Middle East.

Al-Barnawi, who reportedly underwent training in the North African country of Algeria, was since 2012 on the top list of the US most wanted international terrorists, alongside Abubakar Shekau, leader of Boko Haram.

The arrested militant is believed to have masterminded the kidnappings of two British and an Italian construction engineers in 2011 and a German engineer in 2012.

His group claimed responsibility for an attack on the Special Anti-Robbery Squad Headquarters, in the capital city Abuja in late December 2012, killing two Nigerian policemen and freeing 40 Islamists detained there.
By Emmanuel Vitus, Accra-Ghana

Ghanaian president John Dramani Mahama on Sunday said the peace that Ghana enjoys is envied by many countries globally.

He made the statement when he joined the Muslim community in a night vigil in the north region of the west-African nation.

His comment comes days after the countrys top security officials have warned locals and foreign residents to be vigilant and to report any suspicious character to security agencies, as the country faces a credible terrorist threat after its neighbors suffered a sequence of deadly attacks.

Analysts have expressed doubt at the countrys preparedness and ability to deal with any threat.

However, in his Sunday speech, the President assured Ghanaians that the Security agencies are up to the task to ensure citizens protection and peace.

President Mahama noted that Ghana continues to attract investors due to the favorable peaceful environment.

Ghana ranked sixth in Africa in the 2015 Global Peace Index (GPI) and 54th worldwide out of the 162 countries sampled, scoring 1.840 in the group of seven that made a positive outturn in Africa.
(HealthDay)Many Americans would take a class to learn how to stop or control bleeding to help victims of shootings, accidents or other emergency situations, a new survey suggests.

The telephone poll of more than 1,000 civilians nationwide was conducted in November 2015. More than four out of five people said they'd be interested in taking a class to learn how to stop bleeding from an injury.

Almost half had already received first aid training. Thirteen percent of that group had trained in the past two years and 52 percent said they had trained in the past five years, the poll showed.

People aged 50 to 64 were most likely to have had first aid training (57 percent). Younger peoplethose aged 18 to 29were the least likely (37 percent). Of those who had first aid training, 72 percent said the training included how to control severe bleeding.

Among respondents with first aid training, 98 percent said they would be very or somewhat likely to attempt to control severe bleeding from a leg wound in a family member. A random sample of respondents found that 61 percent would be very likely and 31 percent somewhat likely to try to stop severe bleeding in a car crash victim they didn't know.

The survey results were published online recently in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.

"We know that to save life and limb, you need to stop the bleeding very early, within five to 10 minutes or victims can lose their lives," Dr. Lenworth Jacobs Jr., director of the Trauma Institute at Hartford Hospital in Connecticut, said in a college news release.

"However, until now, there has been no clear indication of how well trained the general public is in bleeding control and how willing they might be to participate as immediate responders until professionals arrive on the scene," added Jacobs. He is also chairman of an American College of Surgeons Committee examining how to improve survival rates in mass casualty events.

Another random sample from the poll found that 75 percent of respondents said they would try to give first aid in a mass shooting situation if it seemed safe to act, 16 percent said they would stay and wait to see what happened, and 8 percent said they would leave the area.

If the situation was safe, 62 percent said they'd be very likely and 32 percent said they'd be somewhat likely to try to stop bleeding in someone they didn't know.

Many respondents said they had concerns about trying to control bleeding in a person they didn't know. Some of those concerns included causing the victim additional pain or injury (65 percent), the risk of catching a disease (61 percent), causing a bad outcome (61 percent), personal safety (43 percent) and the sight of blood (30 percent).

Despite those concerns, 82 percent of physically able respondents said they would be very or somewhat interested in taking a two-hour bleeding control course. There was also strong support for placing bleeding control kits (gloves, tourniquets, compression dressings) in public places.

"Moving forward, we plan to use these new insights to develop a training program for the public, not health care professionals, so civilians can learn how to act as immediate responders. We want to steer interested people toward getting the right training, and to understand when victims are experiencing the signs of massive bleeding so they can 'stop the bleed' and save lives," Jacobs said.

Copyright  2016 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Lowering cholesterol with statins significantly reduced adverse cardiovascular events in people with average cholesterol and blood pressure levels who were considered to be at intermediate risk for heart disease, while the use of blood pressure-lowering medications was beneficial only in those with higher blood pressure levels, according to three separate reports from the large HOPE-3 trial presented at the American College of Cardiology's 65th Annual Scientific Session.

Previous studies have focused on the impacts of cholesterol and blood pressure-lowering drugs for people with established cardiovascular or renal disease, diabetes, other high risk conditions or in those with markedly elevated cholesterol or blood pressure levels. Current guidelines recommend the use of these drugs mainly in patients at high risk for cardiovascular disease. The trial, called HOPE-3, is the first to assess outcomes of preventative treatment with cholesterol and blood pressure-lowering drugs in a large, globally diverse population at intermediate risk for developing cardiovascular disease. Statinsalone or in combination with blood pressure-lowering drugswere found to be superior to placebo for both the study's first co-primary endpoint, a composite of cardiovascular deaths, heart attacks and strokes, and its second co-primary endpoint, a composite of those events plus heart failure, resuscitated cardiac arrest and revascularization procedures, such as bypass surgery or angioplasty. For these endpoints, blood pressure drugs were found to improve outcomes compared with placebo only in patients with elevated blood pressure; these drugs were associated with no improvements in patients without elevated blood pressure, and there was a trend toward worse outcomes in those with relatively low blood pressure.

"The implications for practice are hugeI think we certainly should consider using statins much more widely than we have used them thus far," said Salim Yusuf, M.B.B.S., D.Phil., professor of medicine at McMaster University, executive director of the Population Health Research Institute of McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences and a senior member of the research team. "In particular for patients with hypertension, our study suggests you can essentially double the benefit of lowering blood pressure in hypertensives if you also lower cholesterol simultaneously."

The trial included 12,705 people in 21 countries on six continents. All participants had at least one known cardiovascular risk factor, such as smoking, an elevated waist-to-hip ratio or a family history of heart disease, but none had been diagnosed with cardiovascular disease. The trial was designed to focus on preventing cardiovascular disease before it starts.

Participants were randomly assigned to receive either a cholesterol-lowering drug10 milligrams of rosuvastatinor a placebo pill daily and either a blood pressure lowering druga combination pill with 16 milligrams of candesartan and 12.5 milligrams of hydrocholothiazideor a placebo pill daily. Through this randomization, patients were sorted evenly into four categories: those receiving both a cholesterol-lowering drug and a blood pressure-lowering drug, those receiving only a cholesterol-lowering drug, those receiving only a blood pressure-lowering drug and those receiving only placebo pills. Outcomes were tracked for a median of 5.6 years.

Cardiovascular death, heart attack or stroke occurred in 3.5 percent of patients receiving both drugs and in 5 percent of patients receiving only placebo. The relative risk reduction in those taking both drugs was 30 percent overall, 40 percent in those with elevated blood pressure and 20 percent in those without elevated blood pressure. The results for the study's second co-primary endpoint were identical for this analysis.

A separate analysis focusing on the use of statins alone showed 3.7 percent of participants who took statins experienced the first co-primary endpoint, a composite of cardiovascular deaths, heart attacks and strokes, a significant reduction compared with 4.8 percent among patients taking a placebo. Among patients taking statins, 4.4 percent experienced the second co-primary endpoint, a composite of the events in the first co-primary endpoint plus heart failure, resuscitated cardiac arrest and revascularization procedures, such as bypass surgery or angioplasty, a significant reduction compared with 5.7 percent among patients taking a placebo. Patients taking statins experienced, on average, a drop in low-density lipoprotein, or LDL, cholesterol of 39.6 mg/dL, about 25 percent, after 12 months.

The benefits of statins were similar across all ethnic groups and across all baseline LDL levels, suggesting that a person's starting cholesterol levels are not important in determining whether the person will benefit from statins. These findings suggest that many people who have average cholesterol and blood pressure levels and are at average risk for heart diseaseand not just those with extremely high cholesterol or blood pressure levelscan benefit from statins. The treatment was also remarkably safe; although some patients reported muscle weakness or pain, these effects were generally alleviated by stopping the statins or reducing the dose.

"The take-home message is that statins are safe and effective, and that because benefits were similar irrespective of pretreatment cholesterol levels or levels of inflammatory markers, no baseline blood tests are required to identify the patients who will derive benefits from this treatment," said Jackie Bosch, Ph.D., associate professor of rehabilitation science at McMaster University and director of the prevention Program at the Population Health Research Institute, who led the report focused on rosuvastatin. "Our results were remarkably consistent across all subgroups."

An analysis focusing on the use of blood pressure lowering drugs alone revealed no significant improvements overall in those receiving the drugs compared with those receiving a placebo. However, in a pre-specified analysis, when the patients were stratified into thirds by baseline systolic blood pressure, an analysis of subgroups with the highest, middle and lowest starting systolic blood pressure revealed significant differences. Among the one-third of participants with the highest blood pressure, a starting systolic blood pressure above 143.5 mm Hg, 4.8 percent experienced the first co-primary endpoint and 5.7 percent experienced the second co-primary endpoint, significantly lower than 6.5 and 7.5 percent, respectively, among patients taking placebo.

"Overall in this population the blood pressure lowering drugs had no clear benefit, but in those with higher blood pressure before therapyover 143.5 mm Hgthe treatment was effective. However, there was no benefit in those with lower blood pressure and even a tendency towards harm in those in the lowest third of the blood pressure distribution," said Eva Lonn, M.D., FACC, a cardiologist and professor of cardiology at McMaster University and senior scientist at the Population Health Research Institute, who led the report focused on blood pressure lowering medications. "These data suggest blood pressure-lowering medications are appropriate for people with hypertension but that people with lower blood pressure who have no other reasons to use blood pressure reducing drugs should avoid taking these drugs."

Treating high blood pressure can be a time-consuming and intensive process involving multiple visits to the doctor's office for blood tests to help adjust dosing. This itself has been a significant impediment to reducing risk in people with hypertension because many patients find it inconvenient to make multiple visits or use multiple drugs, especially at full doses, which carries a higher risk of side-effects. Yusuf said the study findings point to the value of a more simplified approach, which places more emphasis on statins in the general population and adds low doses of combination blood pressure medications to the statins in patients with mild hypertension. In this study, combination therapy reduced risk among people with elevated blood pressure by 40 percent safely, without dose titration or the need for frequent blood tests.

"Most of the hypertension guidelines right now focus on what agents to use and what blood pressure to aim for, and there has been very little emphasis on the importance of statins in treating patients with hypertension," Yusuf said. "Our approach, which used a combination of moderate doses of two blood pressure lowering-drugs plus a statin, appears to produce the biggest 'bang,' in terms of reducing events, with few side effects."

One limitation of the study is that, while it tracked patients for more than five yearsa long period of time compared to most clinical trialsit can take many more years or even decades to show the full improvements in outcomes from primary disease prevention interventions. It is possible that extending the study for a longer period of time may have revealed larger benefits.

Participants will be tracked for an additional three to five years. The researchers will continue to conduct additional analyses examining the effects on cognitive decline, erectile dysfunction and vision, along with detailed analyses of potential differences among ethnic groups and geographic regions.

The study was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and AstraZeneca, the manufacturer of the drugs tested. The study was independently designed and conducted by the Population Health Research Institute at McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences in Canada, which conducts epidemiologic studies and clinical trials in more than 50 countries.

Yusuf, Lonn and Bosch have received institutional research grants from several pharmaceutical companies, and Yusuf and Lonn have served as consultants for several pharmaceutical companies.

The results of the study will be simultaneously published in three reports online in the New England Journal of Medicine at the time of presentation.

Explore further Combination therapy best combats heart disease
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A global study of gender disparities among patients with the most deadly form of heart attack found that women have double the mortality rate of men. The Yale-led investigation highlights the need for a coordinated international effort to reduce the gender gap, say the researchers.

The study was presented April 4 at the 65th Annual American College of Cardiology Scientific Session & Expo in Chicago.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death worldwide. International efforts to improve mortality rates for a particularly lethal form of heart diseaseST-segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI)have reduced mortality rates but revealed disparities for various groups, particularly women.

To examine the gender differences across the globe, the international research team conducted the largest meta-analysis of STEMI care and outcomes to date. Their review encompassed studies of more than 700,000 patients in 29 counties and six geographic regions. They studied gender disparities in patient characteristics, treatment times, and mortality at multiple points in time: in-hospital, 30 days, 6 months, and 1 year after the heart attack.

The researchers found that women in all countries studied experienced a mean delay of 5.3 minutes from hospital presentation to restoration of blood flow to the heartknown as "door to balloon" time. This finding is notable given that successful intervention and survival depends on minimizing treatment time, said the researchers.

They also determined that compared to men, women in all regions have double the in-hospital mortality rate, and women's overall mortality rate was 70% higher at all follow-up time points.

"It highlights that there is a gender discrepancy between men and women in mortality outcomes with STEMI," said first author Hyon Jae Lee. "All countries were affected, even here in the United States and Europe where there are STEMI initiatives that are meant to optimize care for everybody. That highlights the need to delve into this question and figure out why women have two-fold higher mortality rate than men."

Root causes of the gender gap include barriers to care as well as differences in women's risks factors, the study noted. Barriers include lack of awareness and knowledge about STEMI symptoms, in addition to financial, social, and cultural impediments to care. Women also tend to have different risk factors, such as older age at the time of heart attack and more co-morbidities such as diabetes, the researchers said.

The researchers, led by senior author and Yale professor of cardiology Alexandra Lansky, M.D., called for greater collaboration at the global level to address the problem. They are spearheading a new initiative called GLOW (Global Lumen Organization for Women), a global collaboration to improve outcomes of women with heart attacks worldwide, said Lansky, GLOW program co-chair.

A first step in the initiative, said Lee, could be to coordinate collection of data on STEMI and gender. "Once we have that data, it will take concerted effort to disperse the information to the medical community and increase awareness. A third step would be implementing programs to improve access and outcomes tailored to each region."

Explore further Young women more likely to die in hospital after STEMI
In this February 2013 photo provided by the Pacific Disaster Center, Ray Shirkhodai, executive director of the Pacific Disaster Center, demonstrates how to use the mobile app, Disaster Alert, at the center based in Kihei, Hawaii. A Zika outbreak has taken hold in Latin America, but researchers thousands of miles away in Hawaii are trying to figure out where it might spread. Researchers from the University of Hawaii at the Pacific Disaster Center are working with data to show where the virus might spread, and which countries might need more help to combat it. (Pacific Disaster Center via AP)

As the Zika outbreak takes hold in Latin America, researchers thousands of miles away in Hawaii are using data to figure out where it might spread next.

In the last three months, researchers from the University of Hawaii at the Pacific Disaster Center have focused on combatting the mosquito-spread virus.

So far, the Maui-based center has worked to map the spread of Zika, which can help health officials and local governments figure out where to target mosquito eradication efforts or increase access to health services.

Gwen Tobert, a foreign affairs officer with the State Department, said they're using the center's products to follow how the Zika outbreak is developing and to better understanding how it affects communities in Latin American countries. She said their maps help officials to decide where and how to respond to the outbreak.

The World Health Organization recently declared Zika virus a "public health emergency of international concern," which is linked to birth defects and has infected thousands of people in Latin America.

Pacific Disaster Center Executive Director Ray Shirkhodai said his organization is using data that's publicly availablefor instance, the number of Zika casesas well as data on rainfall, the location of roads and airports to show where Zika could spread.

In this February 2013 photo provided by the Pacific Disaster Center, the Pacific Disaster Center's app, Disaster Alert, maps hazards like infrastructure damage in disaster zones so emergency responders can be aware of dangerous situations in Kihei, Hawaii. A Zika outbreak has taken hold in Latin America, but researchers thousands of miles away in Hawaii are trying to figure out where it might spread. Researchers from the University of Hawaii at the Pacific Disaster Center are working with data to show where the virus might spread, and which countries might need more help to combat it. (Pacific Disaster Center via AP)

They've also worked directly with governments in Latin American countries to gather information such as locations of hospitals and health care policies to figure out which countries could respond better to an outbreak. For instance, a map that charts data involving ambulance response as well as the number of available hospital beds and physicians shows Brazil could recover faster from a potential health crisis like Zika than Paraguay or Bolivia.

"The impact has been on the ground and pretty real," Shirkhodai said, adding that the center is working with government officials to figure out what other kinds of products might be useful.

In recent years, the Pacific Disaster Center has worked with agencies ranging from the Department of Homeland Security to the Department of Defense to create apps to map disasters. Their work has been used to direct international rescue efforts during disasters ranging from a 2015 earthquake in Nepal to Tropical Cyclone Winston in Fiji last month.

In this 2013 photo provided by the Pacific Disaster Center is the Pacific Disaster Center based in Kihei, Hawaii. The researchers at the center work to aggregate global data to track global disasters like Zika virus or avalanches. A Zika outbreak has taken hold in Latin America, but researchers thousands of miles away in Hawaii are trying to figure out where it might spread. Researchers from the University of Hawaii at the Pacific Disaster Center are working with data to show where the virus might spread, and which countries might need more help to combat it. (Pacific Disaster Center via AP)

The Federal Emergency Management Agency works closely with the Pacific Disaster Center to map storms and other hazards in the Pacific, said Susan Hendrick, an agency spokeswoman. FEMA also worked with the center to understand disasters' impact on local residents and infrastructure.

During Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines in 2014, Brian Steckler, who recently retired as director of the Naval Postgraduate School's Hastily Formed Networks program, said the school teamed up with the Pacific Disaster Center to help set up Internet service for emergency responders. The groups also helped to map out areas where the storm had damaged Internet infrastructure and phone lines.

That information was then charted on the Pacific Disaster Center's mobile app, Disaster Aware, so emergency responders could know where potentially dangerous areas were.

In this April 2012 photo provided by the Pacific Disaster Center, The Pacific Disaster Center's app, Disaster Alert, is displayed at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance in Jakarta, Indonesia, to map an earthquake. A Zika outbreak has taken hold in Latin America, but researchers thousands of miles away in Hawaii are trying to figure out where it might spread. Researchers from the University of Hawaii at the Pacific Disaster Center are working with data to show where the virus might spread, and which countries might need more help to combat it. (Pacific Disaster Center via AP)

"We also let the public use laptops to be able to reach out to loved ones and tell them they're OK, or insurance companies to tell them they have a claim," Steckler said.

The University of Hawaii has been managing the Pacific Disaster Center since 2006, and was recently awarded a contract up to $75 million with the U.S. Department of Defense to run the center for the next five years.

Explore further Florida braces for Zika: officials

 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
ICE Special Agents (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) arresting suspects during a 2010 raid in Houston. Credit: ICE via Wikimedia Commons

Immigration raids could have considerable health effects in the surrounding community, further marginalizing people and preventing them from seeking health-care services, a new study says.

The study by the University of Michigan School of Public Health was based on a survey that was in progress when an immigration raid took place in November 2013 in Washtenaw County in southeastern Michigan.

The survey found that people, including those born in the U.S, were less likely to seek government services after the raid and less likely to engage with their community.

The study also showed a decline of self-rated health among community members, with 55 percent of respondents rating their health as excellent or very good before the raid. But 51 percent said their health was excellent or very good after the raid.

"People might not realize it, but this affects our entire community on a daily basis. These are our family and friends, students and coworkers. They are the people preparing our food, caring for our children," said William Lopez, a doctoral student at U-M School of Public Health and one of the researchers in the project.

Daniel Kruger, lead researcher of the study, said, "Even if we can't change the immigration policies or prevent raids from happening, people should know that they can access these services. If they know how the system works and what would and would not put them at risk, hopefully people would be more likely to use those services."

He added, "One thing that agencies can do is to explicitly tell people in their marketing materials that using their services will not put them at risk of deportation."

The study was published in the Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health.

Explore further National plan needed to address violence against immigrant and refugee women

More information: William D. Lopez et al. Health Implications of an Immigration Raid: Findings from a Latino Community in the Midwestern United States, Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health (2016). William D. Lopez et al. Health Implications of an Immigration Raid: Findings from a Latino Community in the Midwestern United States,(2016). DOI: 10.1007/s10903-016-0390-6
People are using brain-machine interfaces to restore motor function in ways never before possible - through limb prosthetics and exoskletons. But technologies to repair and improve cognition have been more elusive. That is rapidly changing with new tools - from fully implantable brain devices to neuron-eavesdropping grids atop the brain - to directly probe the mind.

These new technologies, being presented today at the Cognitive Neuroscience Society (CNS) annual conference in New York City, are mapping new understandings of cognition and advancing efforts to improve memory and learning in patients with cognitive deficits.

Eavesdropping on neurons

"A new era" of electrophysiology is now upon us, says Josef Parvizi of Stanford University who is chairing the CNS symposium on the topic. "We have gotten a much sharper view of the brain's electrophysiological activity" using techniques once relegated to science fiction.

Over the past decade, scientists have gathered a wealth of new data via grids of sensors inserted into the top layers of the brain. "You can basically eavesdrop on each millimeter of the human brain in real-time using 300-400 sensors, recording simultaneously from a large mantle of the human brain." That data, combined with new data mining and processing techniques, has led to an explosion in studies involving humans.

"Just compare recent papers in humans and non-human primates," says Gyorgy Buzsaki of New York University (NYU). "In the latter case, 2 or 3 subjects are used with typically fewer than 50 recording sites, and a typical papers is based on 100-200 neurons. In contrast, observations in humans report on dozens of patients and an order of magnitude more data than in monkeys."

Buzsaki, who is presenting at the CNS meeting today, has been working to understand the syntactical rules of the brain - how information is parsed, packaged and transmitted. He thinks the answer is in the self-generated rhythms of the brain. His work has found that nearly all brain rhythms are preserved through mammalian evolution. Despite a 15,000-fold brain volume increase from the smallest to the largest mammal, "the dynamics of brain rhythms vary remarkable little across species," he says.

In a new study, Buzsaki and colleagues have been studying epilepsy in rats, specifically looking at interictal epileptic discharges (IEDs). Distinct from epileptic seizures, IEDs can impair memory in epilepsy patients. The new results suggest that the IEDs hijack the physiological patterns connected to memory consolidation, including during sleep.

"Eliminating IEDs would be an ideal solution," Buzsaki says. Short of that, scientists may be able to decouple IEDs from electrochemical signals associated with memory consolidation.

To help support such interventions, Buzsaki has been working on a new tool for recording and stimulating signals from the cortex. The scalable system offers higher spatial resolution for the superficial cortex layers and, unlike the commonly used subdural grids, sits atop the brain rather than penetrating it.

"Young students of cognitive neuroscience are lucky to be in the midst of a new era where we have access to amazing new tools of science for eavesdropping on the population of cells with a superb temporal resolution," Parvizi says.

Stimulating for memory deficits

"Brain disease is a growing socioeconomic problem," says Dejan Markovic of UCLA. Traumatic brain injury (TBI) and epilepsy alone affect millions of patients a year. Neuromodulation - adjusting the electrochemical signals at the neural level - offers a potential solution.

Today's technology is inadequate for treating complex diseases at the network level, Markovic says: "Drugs have very limited success, making the development of new neuromodulation technology for treating cognitive and psychiatric disorders a major medical and social priority."

Tackling this is a challenge, as the brain is a massively parallel, complex system: about 10 layers of cells sit between the regions of the brain that handle our senses and our cortex, where memories are stored. And each cell has thousands of connecting points to other cells with multiple branches. Since mapping out the basic neuroanatomy of neural cells in the late 1800s, scientists have worked to understand how these cells dynamically interact.

Some scientists think the secret is in short electrochemical pulses exchanged between neurons - the language of the brain. In work previously only possible in animals, scientists are now recording these signals directly from the brain and in some cases trying to stimulate the brain with those signals to help patients with cognitive deficits. Markovic - with an interdisciplinary team including Lawrence Livermore National Labs, UCLA, and UCSF and a grant through DARPA - is working on a platform technology for such brain stimulation.

Epilepsy patients commonly have electrodes implanted in their brain to help doctors pinpoint the location of their seizures. The team is using these already-implanted electrodes to record and stimulate the activity of single neurons and small neuronal populations during the patients' 2-3-week-long hospitalization. Some patients receive a chronic implant that uses surface and depth electrodes for sensing and stimulation. The project builds off past work demonstrating memory strengthening by stimulating the brain's entorhinal region, the gateway to long-term memory storage in the hippocampus.

As Markovic is presenting at the CNS meeting today, the team is starting animal testing of a new system and will test in humans sometime this year. Among their goals for this system are: a higher density electrode array to allow for more precise targeting on neurons, new recording circuits that vastly increase the volume of data captured, and a new wireless power and telemetry technology that allows for real-time data transmission from the brain. The hope is to develop a neuroprosthetic that could not only help patients with epilepsy and TBI but also those suffering from depression, anxiety, PTSD, and other neuropsychiatric disorders.

What makes cognition especially challenging as a target of this technology, as opposed to motor behavior, is that memory function is represented by sparse and partially overlapping neural networks consisting of millions of neurons, Markovic says. "Obviously, access to all these neurons with the interface and recording technology that we have today is not possible, and clinical neuroscientists have to work hard to make inferences from very limited data they can access," he says. "Our technology will greatly increase the efficacy of neuromodulation and enable access to broader patient population."

While the work of Markovic and his colleagues "may well be science fiction at this point," Parvizi says, "their research will definitely push the envelope, and all of us will benefit from it."

In this new era of big neural data, "new analysis and theory are needed to make sense of data leading to discoveries," says Xiao-Jing Wang of NYU. His work combines experimental data computational modeling of oscillations in the brain to understand the many feedback systems across different scales in space and time.

Explore further Using network science to help pinpoint source of seizures

More information: Parvizi, Buzsaki, Markovic, and Wang are presenting in the symposium, "Human Intracranial Electrophysiology: A New Era," CNS annual meeting in New York City; Sabine Kastner (Princeton) is moderating a discussion panel following the talks. More than 1,500 scientists are attending the meeting from April 2-5, 2016.
IBRD offers $80m to support rural development in Georgia

A multi-million dollar loan from an international bank will help residents and businesses in Georgias rural areas improve their professional skills and promote innovation, while additional aid will support road asset management through better road maintenance.On March 28 Georgias Ministry of Finance and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) signed two agreements that envisage the financing of the Georgia - National Innovation Ecosystem Project and the Domestic Road Asset Management Project.The IBRD will allocate $40 million USD financial assistance for each project.On March 18, the World Banks board of executive directors approved a $40 million USD loan to the IBRD for the Georgia - National Innovation Ecosystem Project.Within this project funds will be used to establish innovative centres in Georgias towns and villages wherein the population will have the opportunity to learn various professions, said Georgias Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili at last weeks Governmental meeting.Furthermore, regional areas will also receive grants to finance innovative and high-technological businesses, said the PM.Few details were released about the Domestic Road Asset Management Project, however it is understood that funds allocated to this cause will be used to support road asset management through better road maintenance.
EPP honorary president names a challenge for Georgias visa liberalization

By Messenger Staff

The European Peoples Partys (EPP) honorary President Joseph Daul has told Georgias private broadcaster Rustavi 2 that the EPP group will support visa liberalization if Georgias 2016 parliamentary elections are conducted freely and fairly.The statement was promptly responded by Georgian officials and the opposition.The majority said the current Government had proved in previous elections that it was for free and transparent races.Joseph Daul is no longer the head of the European Peoples Party  the European Parliament faction  and an MP. He is the honoured President of the party. Therefore, he cannot influence the European Parliament's decision, Tedo Japaridze, the head of Georgias Foreign Relations Parliamentary Committee, said.He said all European Institutions have positively assessed Georgias progress on the path of Euro-integration. However, he addressed the chronic bickering of Georgia's various political factions. In our opinion, international organizations must not be an arena of Georgias domestic political battles but an instrument of consolidation, in favour of Georgias national interests, he said.As we have been informed, the European Peoples Party supports the decision over Georgias visa-free travel with Europe. Therefore, Mr. Dauls statement is only his private point of view, Japaridze added.Meanwhile, the UNM says Georgia could have obtained visa-liberalisation with the EU earlier than this summer, it was announced.The party representatives said the current Governments incompetence dragged out the process.The fact is that striving to Europe is a choice of the Georgian people and multiple steps have been made for Georgia to become closer to the Euro-Atlantic structures.High-level Georgian reforms have been acknowledged by many influential organisations and world powers, especially in the defence sphere; Georgia remains one of the biggest contributors to international peace and security.Georgia deserves reciprocate steps from its international partners, including the visa-liberalisation, as the country has met all the necessary requirements.Georgia appreciates the support from its partners, but all sides should relalise that Europe is a choice of the people and not a single political party or group.On the long road to Euro-Atlantic integration, Georgia requires encouragement both from domestic and foreign forces.
via @learyreports

WASHINGTON - Florida Rep. Alan Grayson is bracing for the release Tuesday of a House Ethics Committee report into a Cayman Islands-based hedge funds he started, a development that could shape an already heated Democratic primary for U.S. Senate.

The committee in February moved to extend the probe and said it would announce a course of action by today.

The Tampa Bay Times first reported last year that Grayson ran a hedge fund based in the offshore tax haven of the Cayman Islands. Grayson said all his investors were "friends and family, later describing it as only family.

But conflict of interest questions remain given Graysons position as a lawmaker. Background on the case here.

Grayson, a hard-charging liberal from Orlando, is running in the Democratic primary against fellow Rep. Patrick Murphy of Jupiter, who has drawn the support of the party establishment.

Murphys campaign did not wait for the ethics announcement, issuing a news release with five questions for unethical hedge fund manager Grayson.
@ByKristenMClark

A 30-year-old graduate of Florida International University's law school is joining the fray of a competitive state Senate race in Miami-Dade County.

Democrat Daniel E. Horton announced his candidacy this week for District 39, where current state Sen. Anitere Flores, R-Miami, and Democrat Andrew Korge are already in a fierce contest.

Horton and Korge will now face-off first, though, in the Aug. 30 party primary. As it stands, the winner will challenge Flores in the November general election. Sheila Lucas George has also filed as an independent candidate in the race.

District 39 spans western and southern Miami-Dade County and Monroe County, including the Florida Keys and Horton's alma mater of FIU.

Horton's credentials include serving as president of the FIU College of Law student body and various accolades for his community service work. Among them, he was named the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce's 2016 Most Valuable Graduate and last year, he received the American Law Institutes Scholarship and Leadership Award.

The north Georgia native moved to South Florida in 2011 to attend FIU. Recently, he became a founding board member of the newly formed Progressive Democratic Caucus of Miami-Dade.

The people of District 39 deserve to have a representative that is a hard-working and dedicated member of their community, Horton said in his announcement. For too long, many South Florida politicians have practiced lip service rather than public service. The people of South Florida are tired of electing politicians that only serve big corporate interests and their own ego.

Photo credit: votehorton.com




Bernie Sanders says he successfully changed the lives of exploited tomato workers in Florida.

In an ad for Sanders, which ran nationally on Univision, U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., praises Sanders for taking up the plight of Immokalee tomato workers.

"He went and visited personally. Then he came back and convinced Ted Kennedy to hold some hearings, and it fundamentally changed the lives of those workers."

There is no dispute that Sanders, a Vermont senator, was a passionate defender of the tomato workers from Central Florida in 2008. A coalition representing those workers successfully reached an agreement with the growers about two years later to improve pay and working conditions. But how much credit does Sanders get, and has the agreement "fundamentally changed" the workers lives?

Keep reading from PolitiFact Florida to see how we rated this claim.
@MichaelAuslen

A Florida guardian ad litem's documentary about problems in the state's foster care system will premiere this month at the Palm Beach International Film Festival.

Foster Shock director Mari Frankel describes it as a look at Florida's foster care system through the eyes of children. It also appears to be a political call to action opposing the privatization of the system.

And it includes Miami Herald reporter Carol Marbin Miller, whose reporting has shone a light on neglect and abuse in child welfare agencies in the state.

Watch the trailer below:
via @learyreports

Jeb Bush's Super PAC plans to give anyone who contributed $1,000 or more at least a 10 percent refund, part of a plan to return $12 million in unused funds.

"This process will entail making over three-thousand (3,000+) contribution refunds and we anticipate starting and completing this process in May," reads a letter from treasurer Charlie Spies.

Right to Rise raised a breathtaking $118 million and spent much of that trying to prop up Bush and knock down his opponents. Bush left the race on the night of the Feb. 20 South Carolina primary.

The Tampa Bay Times obtained the letter from a donor, and it appears in full below:
Gov. Rick Scott on Tuesday appointed two new members of his leadership team: Will Spicola as general counsel and Kevin Reilly as legislative affairs director.

Both appointees are University of Florida graduates with strong ties to Tampa Bay. Spicola hails from a politically prominent Tampa family and Reilly grew up in Palm Harbor. The Times/Herald reported last week that Spicola was poised to win the appointment.

Spicola, 32, has been general counsel at the Department of Business and Professional Regulation since January 2015, and before that held other posts at DBPR. Reilly, 29, has been deputy staff director for House Majority Leader Dana Young, R-Tampa, since November 2014. He's a former legislative affairs director for the Florida Commission on Offender Review and was a regional director on Scott's first campaign for governor in 2010. Reilly is a former student body president at UF.

As general counsel, Spicola will serve as Scott's chief legal adviser, while assisting on appointments to judgeships and to judicial nominating commissions. He replaces Tim Cerio at a pivotal time, as Scott will make his first appointment to the Florida Supreme Court in early 2017 following the retirement of James Perry, one of two African-Americans on the seven-member court.

As LAD, as Reilly's new post is known in Tallahassee jargon, his responsibility is to manage Scott's relationships with members of the Legislature in his final two-and-a-half years in office. Reilly replaces Kim McDougal, who became Scott's new chief of staff.
Celebrated every April, National Donate Life Month is a time to honor those who have saved lives through the gift of donation.

Currently, there are over 120,000 people in the United States waiting for a life-saving transplant. Unfortunately, many never receive that second chance at life. Around 22 people die each day waiting for an organ transplant. Montana leads the nation in the number of residents registered for organ, tissue and eye donation with 86 percent of the population over age 18 registered to save lives.

Why is this? Some would say that the residents of the Pacific Northwest, and Montana in particular, have a strong sense of community and the desire to help others. Last year 26 Montanans gave the gift of life through organ donation.

Organ donation is the process of giving an organ to another person. Organs that can be transplanted include the heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, pancreas and small intestine. Tissues that can be donated include corneas, skin, bone, heart valves, ligaments, tendons and veins.

Almost anyone can be an organ, tissue or eye donor regardless of age, race, or medical history. Donation is never considered until all life-sustaining measures have been exhausted by the medical staff. After a person has suffered an irreversible brain injury, specific tests are completed to determine lack of activity in the brain. Once these tests are performed, a team of professionals is consulted to determine donation suitability.

When a person registers as an organ, tissue, and eye donor, he or she is giving consent for donation upon death. If not registered, the patients legal next of kin is asked for permission to proceed with donation. Speaking with your loved ones about your wishes regarding donation is very important. There is no cost to the donors family for organ, eye and tissue donation. All costs related to donation are paid by the donation agency.

LifeCenter Northwest (LCNW) is the Organ Procurement Organization that serves Montana, as well as Alaska, Northern Idaho, and Washington. We work hand in hand with medical professionals and local communities to provide education on the life-saving gift of donation. When a patient needs a transplant, his or her name is added to the transplant waiting list. LifeCenter Northwest works closely with the United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS) to find recipients for these life-saving gifts. Factors such as blood type, location, medical urgency, and body size factor into finding the best donor-recipient match. Based on these results, a list is generated of recipients in need of an organ transplant.

The loss of a loved one is a time of unfathomable grief. Donation often offers hope to families suffering a loss, and renewed life to those in need of an organ, tissue, or cornea transplant. At LCNW we know every situation is unique. Our team of professionals provides support to donor families throughout the donation process, and for the weeks, months, and years that follow. For more information or to register to be an organ, tissue, or eye donor, please visit lcnw.org.

***

This Nurse's Notes column was written by Liz Peterson, a registered nurse and organ recovery coordinator at Providence St. Patrick Hospital.
POLSON  William Hilton Sargent Jr. of Polson passed away peacefully Tuesday, March 29, 2016, in Yuba City, California. Bill was born May 2, 1932, in Huntington Park, California, and spent his childhood in Southern California.

He often reminisced fondly about streetcars, canyons he explored, exotic ethnic food, and his fathers football coaching. A sailor early on, Bill spent a year after high school in the Merchant Marines, voyaging to Korea. During college, he enlisted in the United States Naval Reserve and served for over 20 years, retiring as a lieutenant commander. Of all his varied Naval experiences and training, he was especially proud of qualifying in submarines.

Following graduation from the University of California, Los Angeles, with a Bachelor of Science in engineering, Bill worked as an electrical engineer for Hughes Aircraft Company. His career at Hughes allowed him to work and live first in Texas, then in Germany for a number of years, where his daughters Erica and Andrea were born. Many of Bills favorite sayings were of German or military origin. He enjoyed the opportunities his career afforded to travel to parts of the world including Europe, Hawaii and the Middle East. After retirement, Bill took advantage of military flights to embark on a variety of adventures, at times traveling with his son Scott.

Bill first moved to Polson in 1971 with his wife, Linda, and their young children. He founded Western Montana Scale Systems, designing and building electronic weighing systems for cattle and large truck scales. Returning to California in the 1980s, he resumed work at Hughes, but his love for Montana remained strong. He moved back to Polson for retirement to enjoy sailing, bagpiping and working on his property on Flathead Lake. Bill loved the lake and sharing the beautiful view with others; a summertime visit from his children and grandchildren brought him great joy.

Bill lived with his son Scott Sargent, daughter-in-law Cindi Sargent and grandsons Owen Sargent and Tavis Sargent for the last years of his life. He is also survived by his daughter Erica Sargent and granddaughters Clara Schaeffer and Amelia Schaeffer; and his daughter Andrea Harbin, son-in-law Beau Harbin and grandchildren Rowan Harbin and Duncan Harbin. He will also be missed by his brother John Sargent, sister Sharon Rumfalo, and many nieces and nephews. Bill will be remembered as a loving and generous grandpa who was very proud of his childrens and grandchildrens accomplishments, and as a warm friend with a ready smile.

Bill was preceded in death by his parents, William Hilton Sargent Sr. and Sarah Louise Sargent (nee Bailey); and his brother, Michael Patrick Sargent.

The family will receive visitors Thursday, April 7, from 4 to 7 p.m. at The Lake Funeral Home, 101 Sixth Ave. E. Services will be held at 10 a.m. Friday, April 8, at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, 1002 Fourth Ave. E. Burial will follow at Lakeview Cemetery with full military honors. Memories and condolences may be sent to the family at thelakefuneralhomeandcrematory.com. Arrangements are under the direction of The Lake Funeral Home and Crematory.
I truly hope the people of Missoula are allowed to make an informed decision on whether they wish the city of Missoula to have ownership of the water system. There are a number of major issues being glossed over or misrepresented by the city.

Missoula has not had a change in rates since Western Water Holdings was purchased by the Carlyle Group. Rates were based on costs incurred prior to the transfer. Regardless of the purchase price by a private company, rates will be based on actual expenses and existing rate base (between $37 million and $42 million). The Montana Public Service Commission will not allow an acquisition adjustment, any of the legal fees that are a result of the transfer to Liberty Utilities, nor the ongoing eminent domain proceedings to be recovered in rates. It did not allow any of the legal fees associated with the Carlyle acquisition.

The city has accepted the arbitrated price of $88 million is a fair price. Borrowing costs for a general obligation bond for the city are around 3.5 percent. $88 million times a 3.5 percent borrowing cost is $3 million per year, interest only, not debt service. Brokerage costs are not included in this estimate. Assuming all costs remain the same as based on the last rate case, it is a minimum rate increase of $1 million to customers just to pay interest on the purchase.

The cost to eliminate about 50 percent of the leakage problem will be around $90 million. Customers pay about $350,000-$375,000 extra annually for extra pumping costs. The Montana Consumer Council was asked if they would approve into rate-base the cost of repairing the leakage of the system, estimated at about $90 million. They responded that they would only if it were prudent and cost-justified. The interest on $90 million at 3.5 percent is $3.15 million. It is difficult to justify spending $90 million to save about $200,000 per year in pumping costs. In addition, Mountain Water Co. is charged a $20-per-square-foot "pavement disturbance fee" by the city in addition to complete repair and rebuilding of any roads they replace lines under. It costs more in fees to the city than it does to replace the water lines.

PSC and Montana Consumer Council staff audit and verify allocations and expenses for Mountain Water in every rate case. The protections provided by the PSC and Montana Consumer Counsel will be lost if the city becomes the owner of Mountain Water. Neither the Montana Consumer Council (the legal representative of the customers) nor PSC will be able to investigate the costs or operations of a city-run water company.

MWC pays about $1 million in property taxes a year. The city stated that it would pay a payment in lieu of taxes for the loss of property taxes for a 10-year period. Roughly half of MWC's property taxes go to the city, the rest is for schools, etc. Based on what it will cost the city to obtain Mountain Water, it really can't afford to pay PILT and keep rates anywhere close to what they are now.

Regardless of who is the ultimate owner of the water system, customers will be footing the legal costs of the eminent domain proceeding. If Mountain Water ultimately prevails, the legal costs will be borne by the city, but the costs will not be recovered in the customers' water rates. If the city prevails, those costs will be added to the acquisition costs paid by the city.

The approximately 25,000 customers of Mountain Water are being asked to bear the burden. Those are the people who should be being asked whether they prefer city or private ownership of Mountain Water. The tired argument that Missoula is the only major metropolitan area in the state of Montana that does not own its own water utility, and its rates to customers are among the highest in Montana, is simply false, but does make a great 15-second sound bite.

I don't have a dog in this fight and the analysis and opinion is my own, but is the result of 10 years experience as lead analyst on Mountain Water for the Montana Public Service Commission. If you wish more in-depth discussion, I can be reached at lebeeby@yahoo.com.
I love to brag about Montana. The current environment for the tech industry in Montana is outstanding because of Montana's strong business climate and the fact that Montana has always been an inclusive state.

As a technology business advocate and business owner, I simply can't understand why states like North Carolina and Indiana think discriminatory laws are good for business and actually benefit their economies.

The truth is, we've only seen evidence to the contrary. So far, Indiana has already taken a $60 million hit to their economy, and that is just 12 months after adopting their discriminatory law. These laws from legislators who claim they are Republican and represent the interests of business, hurt small and large businesses alike. Businesses in North Carolina spoke out against the law and threatened to leave. Many tech companies, including Google, Facebook, Apple, Twitter, AirBNB and Paypal all spoke out against this type of discrimination, while states and cities are now prohibiting their employees from traveling to the state.

The reason being, the tech industry relies on young, innovative, creative minds to continue finding new ways to expand and grow. These young minds don't want to be surrounded by discrimination. They come from people pushing the boundaries of what we can imagine and do. They come from all walks of life and every race, gender, sexual orientation and religion. This innovation comes from people on the autism spectrum and people with physical and mental disabilities, which stimulate their creativity and drive to solve problems.

Montana has never been a place of discrimination, and its one of the reasons why our tech industry is booming.

But if we want technology to continue to grow, to continue to solve the problems facing our country, we need reassurance from our elected leaders, or those who want be an elected leader, that they won't put their own social or religious agenda ahead of the importance of our economy. One of the founding precepts of this country we love so much is separation of church and state to prevent just this type of legislatively supported religious belief, which includes some and excludes many others.

We've seen that reassurance in Gov. Steve Bullock, who just recently signed an executive order banning workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

Unfortunately, Greg Gianforte is singing a very different and terrifying tune. All we've seen from Gianforte is evidence that he actually would put his own personal radical religious agenda ahead of ensuring the business environment in Montana remains conducive for our growing tech industry.

Gianforte fought against Bozeman's non-discrimination ordinance, even saying he believes discrimination is good for business. It was reported that he donated millions to anti-LGBT groups, even a known hate group. And worst of all, now he refuses to publicly denounce discrimination and the anti-LGBT laws we're seeing in Indiana and North Carolina.

"Homosexual advocates try to argue that businesses are leery of locating in towns that aren't friendly to homosexuals. I believe the opposite is truer," Gianforte wrote in an email to Bozeman Mayor Jeff Krauss and Bozeman city council members.

The bottom line is that we don't want Montana to be Indiana or North Carolina. Montana's tech industry is doing well, and we simply can't afford the economic devastation of discrimination.
In November 2004, nearly 62 percent of Montanans thought medical marijuana was a good idea for Montana. In 2005, the Montana Legislature had a full plate and failed to establish a framework for the industry to be regulated. In 2007, again the Legislature had other, bigger fish to fry. Yes, even in 2009 they never got around to it. Finally, in 2011, after much public outcry and an industry that had grown to nearly 30,000 patients, the Legislature tackled the task of developing regulations that would rein in the unbridled expansion.

Unfortunately for Sen. Jeff Essmann, he drew the short straw and it was his bill, Senate Bill 423, that finally, without then-Gov. Brian Schweitzers signature, became law. It was a grueling session and the House majority had no taste for medical marijuana. They had their own idea and that was full repeal of the citizen-approved initiative. They would not even take up Essmanns bill until the Senate put the House repeal bill on the governors desk. The Senate did and Schweitzer promptly vetoed it. Actually, Essmanns SB 423, before the House started amending it, was a pretty good start toward a reasonable framework for regulating the industry.

As a conservative, and my voting record speaks for itself, it pains me to have to call out my fellow GOP, but what the heck were you thinking? I mean, aside from the desperation of not having another bill and SB 423 being the last bill heard before the gavel went down? When you argue against a $15 minimum wage as un-American and anti-free market then vote for an arbitrary three-patient/provider restriction, that is common core politics. The constitutionality of it is sketchy at best.

Enough of the blame game; my sincere apologies but lets look at the facts. SB 423 missed its mark and continues in the courts. It has reduced the patients from nearly 30,000 in 2011 to 13,640 as of January 2016. The average patient is 47 and some are Montana veterans thanks to U.S. Sen. Steve Daines and his amendment providing veterans access to medical marijuana without risk of losing their benefits. Currently, 6,165 of the patients are between 50 and 100, with 10 over 90 years young. Crime is down and incarcerations are up but not due to medical marijuana; meth and big pharma meds like Oxycontin are the real culprits and thats where Id suggest we redirect our energy and our resources.

Currently, 23 states and the District of Columbia have legalized medical marijuana and 18 more, including the very recent passage by Utah, have legalized CBD oil. The Food and Druge Administration has approved specific medical uses and continues to review applications as research is submitted. In 2015, S 683 was introduced in Congress to remove marijuana from the list of Class I drugs. Its proven medicinal value exempts it from the class with heroin, LSD and cocaine. Congress needs to pass S 683.

So while the Supreme Court weighs the motion for reconsideration and a stay until the 2017 Legislature can have another look at SB 423, nearly 10,000 Montana patients wonder where will they continue to get their medication.

This isnt about recreational marijuana and I am not for that or a Colorado "free the weed" program. But in 2004, Montanans, by 62 percent, thought medical marijuana was a good idea. The Department of Public Health and Human Services program administrator says it is working. Patients are getting an affordable prescription alternative, and one they can live with while not destroying their kidneys and liver. Montanans were right: it was the right idea in 2004 and the facts show it still is 12 years later. Call your legislators and candidates and tell them "no patients left behind." Its just not how we roll in Montana, just ask a vet.
More, more, more is not the way to achieve growth in this digitally obsessed and ever more competitive era, according to luxury goods executives and analysts trying to strategize for the future.

Instead, it is narrative over quantity. Brands are seeking multiple avenues that leverage legacy and immediacy to tell their stories at a time when customers are gripped by selfies, designers are constantly pressed to churn out collections, the see-now-buy-now idea is gaining momentum and seasons are increasingly blurred.

One crucial step in building relationships with the clients is to engage them and bring them into your world, said Isabelle Harvie-Watt, global chief executive at LuxHub, the strategic consulting practice of Havas.

Brands must develop a reason why rather than I need another bag, creating a great experience between the boutique and e-commerce, she said, adding that shopping online for luxury goods can be a somewhat sterile and cold experience.
Gov. Terry McAuliffe vetoed a bill Monday that would force schools to warn parents if their children will be assigned books with sexually explicit content. Mr. McAuliffe, a Democrat, said that the State Board of Education was already examining such a policy and that curriculum decisions should be left to local boards. The bill won unanimous support in the Republican-controlled House, but outcry from Democrats and free-speech groups grew, and the 22-to-17 vote in the Senate means there is most likely not enough support to override the veto there.
PARIS  It was published several years ago, but a cartoon on the front page of the French newspaper Le Monde roughly summed up the situation across the country last Thursday when several hundred thousand public employees and students went on strike.

What if we went on strike for nothing, asks one demonstrator in the cartoon, which appeared in 2010 during one of Frances periodic strikes. Ah! Not a bad idea, another answers.

The strike and mass demonstrations by air traffic controllers, train drivers, schoolteachers and cafeteria staff, hospital and museum workers were nominally in protest against President Francois Hollandes attempt to change French labor law.

Like a similar but smaller show of force on March 9, the walkout had a crippling effect on Paris and cities across France. Parents had to stay home from work to take care of children, and nonstriking employees were forced to cram onto trains and subways with reduced service to reach their jobs.
Egyptian officials have postponed a trip to Rome to discuss the investigation into the killing of a 28-year-old Italian graduate student whose body was found on the outskirts of Cairo in February, judicial and security sources said on Monday. Human rights groups have said torture marks on the body of the student, Giulio Regeni, indicated that he died at hands of the Egyptian security forces, an allegation the Cairo government denies. The case has raised fresh questions about accusations of police abuse in Egypt, a strategic ally of the West and an important trade partner for Rome. Egyptian officials were initially scheduled to arrive in Italy on Tuesday. They will now make the visit on Thursday and Friday, judicial sources said, giving no reason for the decision. They had earlier said there was no new date set for the visit. On March 25, the Egyptian police said they had discovered Regenis bag and passport following a shootout with a criminal gang whose members had posed as policemen. Italian officials dismissed the story and Mr. Regenis family said it was clear he had not been killed for criminal gain.
FRANKFURT  The gap between rich and poor is feeding protectionist sentiment that could have tragic consequences for the global economy, Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, said on Tuesday.

Free trade pacts have been sharply criticized by Donald J. Trump and Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, helping the candidates win presidential primaries in major states like Michigan.

While Ms. Lagarde did not mention the American presidential campaign during a speech at Goethe University here, she said that a yawning gap in individual fortunes had fed perceptions that the cards are stacked against the common man  and woman  in favor of elites.

She continued, The temptation is to say, Well why dont we just look inward, why dont we just hide behind our borders? 
SAN FRANCISCO  San Francisco on Tuesday became the first city in the United States to approve six weeks of fully paid leave for new parents  mothers and fathers, including same-sex couples, who either bear or adopt a child.

California is already one of only a few states that offer paid parental leave, with workers receiving 55 percent of their pay for six weeks, paid for by employee-financed public disability insurance. The new law in San Francisco, passed unanimously by the citys Board of Supervisors, mandates full pay, with the 45 percent difference being paid by employers.

Before the vote, the supervisors amended the proposal to make employees eligible only when they have worked for a company 180 days. The ordinance goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2017, for companies with more than 50 employees, and a year later for those with 20 or more workers.

The new law will make San Franciscos policy far broader than that of New York City, which has also expanded its parental leave policy. In December, Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York ordered that 20,000 nonunionized workers be given six weeks of fully paid parental leave, but that amounts to a sliver of the total municipal work force of around 300,000.
BEIJING  Last month, as Donald J. Trumps lead in the Republican presidential primaries widened and his feud with the party establishment intensified, Ding Qiushi, a chemist in Nanjing and founder of the online Trump Fan Club, sang his praises: A political outsider is taking the country by storm, with unflinching courage.

In China, as in the United States, Mr. Trump is a divisive figure. He has accused China of erecting a Great Wall of protectionism, of stealing jobs from American workers and of currency manipulation. He has also said that Chinese should be issued fewer skilled-worker visas.

Portrayals of Mr. Trump in the Chinese state media are overwhelmingly negative. He has been branded a big mouth and lunatic. He has been showcased by Global Times and Xinhua as an example of the failures of American democracy. On social media, many Chinese take the same line and fire back at his criticisms of China.

But as Mr. Trump has gained ground, his Chinese fans ranks have swelled, and new fan microblogs have sprouted. In addition to the Trump Fan Club on Sina Weibo, these include Trump the Great Man from Heaven and Trump Goes to the White House. Their followers have cheered the real estate billionaire, mocked Republican leaders and criticized the American news media as unfair.
For decades, it hung near the dining room inside a family home: a genre painting by a Dutch old master depicting an old man and his wife weighing and counting their gold coins. Judged a genuine work by Jan Steen and dated to the 1660s, it was once valued at $400,000.

But now, the work is almost impossible to sell  rejected by Sothebys, by Christies and by a renowned Dutch art dealer who were all put off, not by its authenticity, but its history.

Sometime in the years leading up to World War II, when Jewish art collections in Germany were already being pillaged, it was owned  if thats the right word  by a Dutch Nazi collaborator and war profiteer, Dirk Menten.

Did he steal it or buy it, and when? Did his brother, Pieter, a war criminal who murdered Jews and plundered their art collections, play a role?
And if they go to college, most of them struggle to finish, or dont at all. There are 12.5 million 20-somethings with some college credits and no degree, by far the largest share of the 31 million adults who leave college short of a degree, according to the National Student Clearinghouse. In many ways, these young adults are no better off financially than high-school graduates who never attempted college at all. Employers, after all, dont advertise they want some college. They want a degree.

The longer life expectancy for children born today means that we can chart new routes to adulthood that space out opportunities in different ways. We no longer should think of college as one physical place we go to at one time in our lives  i.e., age 18. Yet educators continue to press on families a one-size-fits-all route. Its almost impossible in our hypercompetitive culture to think differently as a parent about when a college education should happen. The result: Finding a pathway to a fulfilling career and a meaningful life has become much more difficult than it ever should be.



In Dr. Setterstens critical thinking class at Oregon State University, the classroom conversation on the day of my visit wandered to a discussion of what the students, mostly seniors, wanted to do next in life. Many said they planned to go on to graduate school.

Dr. Settersten asked how many of them knew their professors well enough to request a letter of recommendation for the application. Only a smattering of hands went up. He wondered aloud: Why hadnt more of them visited him during office hours, an easy way to build a one-on-one relationship with a professor who teaches hundreds of students a semester?

What shocked me is that they say, No one has told me this before,  he said to me later. Theyre seniors and they dont know how to navigate the institution. Fewer than half of college seniors in the annual National Survey of Student Engagement said they talked often with a faculty member about their career plans.

Dr. Setterstens research focuses on what it means to become an adult today. Unlike many parents and pundits, he doesnt worry as much about the longer runway to adulthood, arguing that the timetable is more gradual and varied than it was 50 years ago. The traditional markers such as marriage and parenting are now the culmination of adulthood rather than the start of it.

I asked about the somewhat clueless students in his class; doesnt he worry about them? Sure, he said. When I think of adult life, one of the hallmarks of it is that its not predictable.
When the 38th Intercollegiate Mining Competition was over and done, student organizer Lydia Huckeby was exhausted. But it was a good exhaustion.

"We got nothing but positive feedback," said Huckeby, trying to get her bearings Monday morning after three intense days of competition at Montana Tech. "It was all very positive. It was the biggest competition held in Butte."

Tech hosted 40 teams that hailed from national and international colleges. Mining engineer majors and assorted majors duked it out in seven events harking back to old-time mining: mucking, Swede saw, hand steel, gold panning, jackleg drilling, track stand and survey.

Top teams overall were the Wombats A and Wombats B teams of Australia; they finished 1-2 in men's. The Wallabies Women of Australia captured the women's first-place trophy.

Top winners in each men's event were Camborne School of Mines Great Britain in mucking, Wombats B in gold panning, University of Arizona in jackleg, Wombats A in hand steel, and Colorado Blasters in survey.

Overall, the Tech teams made their mark as the Men's Copper squad finished in third place, Co-Ed Copper placed fourth, Co-Ed Green fifth, and the Men's Green sixth.

The Men's Green and Copper teams each won their respective track-stand events. Copper shined, clocking a 4 minute, 17-second winning time.

Co-Ed Copper fielded a team for the first time  and performed well.

"Our Co-Ed Copper team did awesome," Huckeby said. "Our two first-place wins were in jackleg and Swede Saw. The Swede-saw win was unexpected. We made sure we won the jackleg  so we really put it out there."

Alumni competed in their own category, too, while drawing previous and new competitors and graduates from Tech, Australia, Great Britain and numerous U.S. schools. The annual awards ceremony and banquet was also a smash hit Saturday night, said Huckeby, who thanked the sponsors:

"We couldn't have done it without our sponsors. We had lots of fans, too  a huge turnout. It was crazy. We had a lot of team parents come back to watch.

"I'm really impressed," she said. "We stepped up to the plate and got it done. We had so much fun, it should be illegal."

The 2017 competition will be held in Kentucky.
Dr. William (Bill) Hawkins passed away on the afternoon of April 4, 2016 at the age of 88 following a brief illness.

He was born Nov. 10, 1927 in the old Barrett Hospital in Dillon, Montana, to William Hap Hawkins, and Catherine (Jones) Hawkins. He attended local schools, and was graduated from Beaverhead County High School in 1944. After high school he attended Montana State College in Bozeman. His college education was interrupted due to his enlistment in the Army, where he served in the Pacific during World War II as a surgeons assistant/medic. In 1945, after his discharge at the end of the war, he returned to MSC and finished his undergraduate degree in Dairy Production. He married Ethel Andersen in Dillon in 1948. After college, they returned to Dillon to ranch. At this time, he also taught Physics and Chemistry at the Dillon Normal School (now UMW) as well as the veterans on the Farm Classes for returning GIs.

In 1953, he applied to, and was accepted into the Washington State College School of Veterinary Medicine. He received his DVM in 1957, and in that same year, he started his career at Montana State College, (now MSU), in the Veterinary Science Department. While there, he did research on diseases of cattle, sheep and horses, as well as practiced the clinical aspects of Veterinary Medicine. He also taught classes, and he was a pre-vet advisor and mentor for many students.

In 1973, he left MSU as the head of the Department of Veterinary Research to return to Dillon where he entered private practice. He was a nationally recognized expert on sheep and sheep diseases. He was a past president and life member of both the Montana Veterinary Medical Association, and the Intermountain Veterinary Medical Association as well as a life member of the American Veterinary Medical Association. He was also a member and secretary of the Montana Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners for many years.

He was a long time member of the Montana Wool Growers, the Montana Stock Growers Association, as well as the Southwestern Montana Stock Growers. He was the Ram Sale Veterinarian for the Montana Wool Growers from 1957 until 2014. He served several terms as a Dillon City Councilman, was on several local boards, and was currently on the Beaverhead County Health Board. He belonged to the Dillon Elks, the Danish Brotherhood in America, as well as the local VFW Post. He enjoyed hunting, and the outdoors. His real passion was his work, and visiting with his many clients/friends that he served for so many years. He was a story teller for sure, and will be missed by all.

Bill was preceded in death by his parents, and his wife of almost 51 years, Ethel.

He is survived by his children, James B. Hawkins (Jean) of Great Falls, Montana, Jane M. Hawkins (Wayne Carley) of San Francisco, California and Polaris, Montana, and John D. Hawkins ( Debbie) of Dillon. He is also survived by his granddaughter, Catherine Hawkins of Dillon; his brother, Dan Hawkins of Fairbanks, Alaska; nephews, Mike and Bill Hawkins, also of Alaska; niece, Elizabeth Hammer of Washington; and nephew, Russell Jones of Bozeman.

There will be a gathering for family and friends that is scheduled from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, April 8, at the Brundage Funeral Home.

Services will be at 10 a.m. Saturday April 9, 2016, at Our Saviors Lutheran Church in Dillon.

Memorials may be sent to the local Pink Heals SWMT Cancer travel fund in c/o The Stockman Bank in Dillon, the SWMT mammography Program in c/o Barrett Hospital Foundation, or the Barrett Hospital Foundation general fund, or charities of the donors choice.

A guestbook and video tribute is available at www.brundagefuneralhome.com.

Express condolences at www.mtstandard.com.
Its time to delist the Yellowstone grizzly. The population has recovered over the past 40 years and stabilized in the past decade. But delisting shouldnt open the door to hunting Yellowstones iconic bruin.

As reported by Matthew Brown of the Associated Press, a draft memorandum of agreement between Wyoming, Montana and Idaho sets out how the three states will divvy up the grizzly population for hunting after delisting. The draft says the hunting will be allocated according to the percentage of Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem land outside of the national parks. So, Wyoming would get 58 percent of the bear hunting, Montana 34 percent and Idaho 8 percent. The memo doesnt restrict grizzly hunting outside the GYE.

A final draft memo says the states wont allow hunting if the grizzly population falls below 600  unless necessary to address human safety issues.

Last year, the GYE grizzly population was estimated to be 717 bears. If this hunting allocation were in effect, the states could potentially hunt more than 100 grizzlies.

Grizzly hunters arent looking to put meat on the family table. This is a trophy sport where the prize is the head and hide.

The Billings Gazette cheered the recovery of the Greater Yellowstone grizzly 11 years ago, and agreed then with a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposal to remove that bear population from the endangered species list. In 2005, the Yellowstone grizzly population was estimated at 600, a remarkable improvement from an estimated 136 in 1975.

Tourist attraction

In 2015, Yellowstone National Park logged a record high number of recreational visits: more than 4 million. Every one of those visitors came to the park hoping to see a bear.

Bear jams are part of the park experience. Grizzlies are an awesome sight. But Yellowstone visitors dont always see grizzlies; they arent nearly as numerous or frequently visible as the bison and elk. Some grizzlies become tourist favorites because they show up repeatedly near roads where folks can observe them from the safety of their vehicles  or from a reasonable distance monitored by park rangers.

The Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission is expected to finalize the draft memo in May, according to Ron Aasheim, FWP spokesman in Helena. Aasheim pointed out that Montanas involvement in grizzly management after delisting also is subject to the Southwest Montana Grizzly Management Plan that was updated last year, and a multi-agency conservation strategy signed by wildlife agencies of the three states and the federal government.

Yet if all those plans still allow Yellowstone grizzlies to be hunted for sport  not because they caused a problem  the result could be disastrous. Imagine if a popular bear wanders out of the park and becomes a trophy. The grizzly will be missed, the backlash from bear watchers will be loud. Visitors who come from all over the world to enjoy Yellowstone and Grand Teton parks will have less opportunity to see grizzlies.

Public opinion

How much do grizzlies matter to their fans? Consider the scathing criticism the National Park Service gets when it euthanizes a problem bear.

Of course, individual bears that threaten human safety must be moved or removed. But theres simply not a proliferation of grizzlies in the Greater Yellowstone Area  the two national parks and adjoining national forests.

Its important to tell the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Department and Idaho Department of Fish and Game that managing Yellowstone grizzlies shouldnt mean hunting them.

We believe the population is ready to be delisted, but our argument is harder to sell when the states are preparing to hunt the bears that were nearly lost a generation ago and now are a top draw for the regions tourism industry.

Lets conserve the iconic grizzly and hunt more plentiful wildlife populations that arent world-class tourist attractions.

The states that benefit richly from Yellowstone Parks recreation and business must protect the bears. Yellowstone grizzlies are more valuable alive than dead.

-- The Billings Gazette
Deutsche Bank Nation Trust Company, as Trustee for Home Equity Mortgage Loan Asset-Backed Trust Series INABS 2007-B, Home Equity Mortgage Loan Asset-Backed Certifications Series INABS 2007-B

Plaintiff,

vs.

Scott Kropf a/k/a Scott A. Kropf, a/k/a Scott Allen Kropf; Parties in Possession; Unknown spouse, if any, of Scott Kropf; CitiFinancial Inc; John Eldon Wunder; Community Bank / Peoples Office, et al.

Defendants.

You are notified that a petition has been filed in the office of this court naming you as a defendant in this action. The petition was filed on February 25, 2016, and prays for foreclosure of Plaintiffs mortgage in favor of the Plaintiff on the property described in this notice and judgment for the unpaid principal amount of $29,405.49, with 6.62% per annum interest thereon from November 1, 2014, together with late charges, advances and the costs of the action including (but not limited to) title costs and reasonable attorney's fees, as well as a request that said sums be declared a lien upon the following described premises from February 5, 2007, located in Muscatine county, Iowa:

The South 60 feet of Lot Five of Auditor's Plat of Singleton's subdivision of parts of the West half of the Southwest Quarter of Section 17, Township 76 North, Range 4 West of the 5th PM, situated in the City of Conesville, Muscatine County, Iowa, commonly known as 602 Burlington Street, Conesville, IA 52739 (the "Property")

The petition further prays that the mortgage on the above described real estate be foreclosed, that a special execution issue for the sale of as much of the mortgaged premises as is necessary to satisfy the judgment and for other relief as the Court deems just and equitable. For further details, please review the petition on file in the clerk's office. The Plaintiffs attorney is Emily Bartekoske, of SouthLaw, P.C.; whose address is 1401 50th Street, Suite 100, West Des Moines, IA 50266.

NOTICE

THE PLAINTIFF HAS ELECTED FORECLOSURE WITHOUT REDEMPTION. THIS MEANS THAT THE SALE OF THE MORTGAGED PROPERTY WILL OCCUR PROMPTLY AFTER ENTRY OF JUDGMENT UNLESS YOU FILE WITH THE COURT A WRITTEN DEMAND TO DELAY THE SALE. IF YOU FILE A WRITTEN DEMAND, THE SALE WILL BE DELAYED UNTIL TWELVE MONTHS (OR SIX MONTHS IF THE PETITION INCLUDES A WAIVER OF DEFICIENCY JUDGMENT) FROM THE ENTRY OF JUDGMENT IF THE MORTGAGED PROPERTY IS YOUR RESIDENCE AND IS A ONE-FAMILY OR TWO-FAMILY DWELLING OR UNTIL TWO MONTHS FROM ENTRY OF JUDGMENT IF THE MORTGAGED PROPERTY IS NOT YOUR RESIDENCE OR IS YOUR RESIDENCE BUT NOT A ONE-FAMILY OR TWO-FAMILY DWELLING. YOU WILL HAVE NO RIGHT OF REDEMPTION AFTER THE SALE. THE PURCHASER AT THE SALE WILL BE ENTITLED TO IMMEDIATE POSSESSION OF THE MORTGAGED PROPERTY. YOU MAY PURCHASE AT THE SALE.

You must serve a motion or answer on or before 10th day of May, 2016, and within a reasonable time thereafter file your motion or answer with the Clerk of Court for Muscatine County, at the county courthouse in Muscatine, Iowa. If you do not, judgment by default may be rendered against you for the relief demanded in the petition.

If you require the assistance of auxiliary aids or services to participate in a court action because of a disability, immediately call your District ADA Coordinator at 563-326-8783. If you are hearing impaired, call Relay Iowa TTY at 1-800-735-2942.

By: Jeff Tollenaer

CLERK OF THE ABOVE COURT

Muscatine County Courthouse

401 East 3rd Street,

Muscatine, IA 52761

IMPORTANT:

YOU ARE ADVISED TO SEEK LEGAL ADVICE AT ONCE TO PROTECT YOUR INTERESTS.
MUSCATINE, Iowa  Congressman Dave Loebsack will have a member of his staff in Southeast Iowa for open office hours. Jared Hershberger, Loebsacks district representative, will be on hand to work with individuals who are having difficulty with a government agency, have suggestions for the congressman, or would just like to share their concerns. Members of the public are invited to attend. If residents are unable to attend but have a concern to share with the congressman, they can call 1-866-914-IOWA (4692).
Les emplois a Rennes sont abondants et varies. Il y a quelque chose pour tout le monde. Que vous soyez a la recherche dun emploi []
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 []
Paul Jourdan, a mineral policy analyst, said that "Chinese factory-relocation is the way to go for Africa." LUCIE MORANGI / FOR CHINA DAILY

A paradigm shift is set to take place with the planned relocation of Chinese factories to Africa.

Paul Jourdan, a mineral policy analyst from South Africa, said the transfer highlights the need for Africa to steer away from deals focusing on the extractive industries.

By developing value-addition, future treaties should instead drive industrial development, which is behind China's economic success.

"China entered into deals that directed foreign investments into powering existing factories while allowing new ones to be set up," he said. "Technology transfer led to increased job opportunities that is key in reduction."

For Africa to realize it Agenda 2063 and its Sustainable Development Goals, "this is the way to go", said Jourdan, former president and CEO of Mintek, a South African mining, processing and minerals beneficiation science council.

He was speaking on the sidelines of an experts meeting during the African Development Week in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where the topic was the need for due diligence by African states before they sign bilateral treaties.

Several countries are facing litigation over the cancellation of contracts that have been deemed unresponsive to prevailing economic challenges.

"What the Chinese are proposing by setting up industries under the Special Economic Zones (SEZ) concept is helping Africa overcome the aid dependency syndrome and own the process of industrialization," Jourdan said.

"This will see investments translated into long-term benefits, unlike when resources are exported," he said. "Africa needs to industrialize. We need to start beneficiation and product differentiation to enable us to enter the global value chain."

A report prepared by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), titled Investment Policies and Bilateral Investment Treaties in Africa, states that there are more than 2,750 bilateral investment treaties and 2,894 double-taxation treaties globally. Africa claims more than 1,000 deals.

"Sixty-nine percent are agreements with countries located outside the continent, while 31 percent are within the continent," the report stated.

An uptick was recorded in the early 1990s, when Africa pushed for foreign investments to fund economic and social projects.
The highly anticipated 2017 elections is already taking a toll on some parliament hopefuls, among them Nairobi senator Mike Sonko.

The senator, who recently ranked as the worst performing senator in the country, is one of the hopefuls for the Nairobi gubernatorial seat. The flashy parliamentarian has acknowledged how hotly contested the seat and will be, and as such has taken drastic measures in preparation.

Through his Facebook page, he has announced that he has had to change his one of a kind hairdos for a more decent look. He added that his new political ambitions had forced him to wear his jewelry at selected times, and is contemplating on donating them.

Too much stress. This governor seat truly has issues. I have changed my haircut to a decent style. I can only adorn in my jewelry at night and on weekends hence I am contemplating on donating them, He posted alongside photos of the expensive pieces.



Heres what is up for grabs:
















Daniel Ndambuki aka Churchill is a household name that does not need any introductions. He is one of the most revered and respected public figures in the country.

Commonly refereed to as the Father of Kenyan comedy, Churchill is also the father to a young boy who is takes after him. For the first time in many years, fans and followers of the comedian can finally get to meet his offspring.

Churchill, who doubles up as a radio presenter on Classic 105 alongside Maina Kageni, was spotted while attending a church service with his son, and the photo went viral.

Check them out:




Students of the University of Nairobi on Monday caused chaos in the campus as they set ablaze the Students Organisation of Nairobi University (SONU) offices.

The students were protesting over the controversial re-election of Paul Ogili commonly referred to as Babu Owino, as the students body chairman. The angry students insisted that Babu rigged the elections held last week.

The enraged protesters also took to the streets blocking University Way, Uhuru Highway, State House and Harry Thuku roads, causing a huge traffic snarl up in the Capital.

The institution has been in a state of unrest since Saturday when Babu was sworn into the seat amid doubts over the authenticity of the elections. The learners engaged police in running battles along the busy Uhuru Highway and University Way bringing traffic to a stand still.

On Monday, they took the protests a notch higher by razing SONU offices. The fire was contained by The Nairobi County fire brigade.

Here are some photos and a video:



















Nairobi County fire fighters battle the SONU office fire lit by @uonbi students in anti-@Babu_Owino demos. pic.twitter.com/jSsmofSg0f  Mac Otani (@MacOtani) April 4, 2016
When added together, the 25 families on this list have a combined net worth of $943.7 billion. If they were a country, they'd be the 17th richest nation in the world.
Garden Club plant sale

The Calistoga Garden Club will have a plant sale as part of the Citywide Yard Sale on Saturday, April 23, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. The club will be at 1314 Washington St., across the street from the Sharpsteen Museum.

Info: 942-6063 or 942-6768.

High school production is several 1-act plays

The Calistoga High School arts departments production this year is called Calistoga Wild Acts, composed of several one-act plays and monologues highlighting the individual talents of the drama class.

Among the selections featured is Once Upon a Crime: The Trial of Goldilocks by Flip Kobler and Cindy Marcus. In this production the students have the opportunity to bring some of the classic fairy tale characters to the schools Black Box theater stage.

Another one-act play to be featured is Blue Sky by Lindsay Price, featuring three drama students in a play about imagination, hope and companionship.

Performances will be held in the Calistoga High School Black Box Theatre beginning at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 21; Friday, April 22; Saturday, April 23; and at 6 p.m. Sunday, April 24.

For tickets or reservations call Toni Weems at the Calistoga High School office Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 942-6278.

Tickets: $5 students; $10 adults

Calistoga Art Center Small Plate Social

The Calistoga Art Center, 1435 N. Oak St., will hold its first-ever Small Plate Social Fundraiser to benefit its growing ceramics program, and to help keep monthly class prices affordable, as well as materials stocked and the kiln firing.

Included in the price will be a one-of-a-kind handmade plate as well as appetizers, desserts and wines donated by local restaurants and wineries followed by live music at the end of the night. There will also be a silent auction of arts, crafts and wines.

The event will be April 30 from 5 to 8 p.m.

Tickets: $35 per person

Power of Garbage discussed at Rianda House

Clover Flat Resource Recovery Park, aka, the dump, has been producing power made from landfill methane since the end of 2014. Christy Abreu, education director from Upper Valley Disposal, will explain the process and bring the latest recycling and dump news at 3 p.m. Wednesday, April 13, at the Rianda House Senior Activity Center, 1475 Main St., St. Helena. RSVP to ensure a seat: 963-8555.

Uptons photography on exhibit

The Rianda House Art Gallery will showcase the photography of Priscilla Upton from April through June. This local artist has had the opportunity to take her camera into many different locales: from beautiful Napa Valley to the Plains of the Midwest to the subways of New York; from Chile to China; from Japan to the European continent; and from Yosemite to the Hibernian Isles. Drop in to view her show during regular business hours, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. The Rianda House Senior Activity Center is located at 1475 Main St. in St. Helena.

Schaupp to address GOP group

The Upper Napa Valley Republican Women Federation will host Charlie Schaupp, candidate for state Assembly District 4 on Monday, April 11, at Cindys Backstreet Kitchen, 1327 Railroad Ave. in St. Helena.

The event begins at 11:30 a.m. with a meet and greet, and lunch is served at noon. Cost is $27, which includes main course, dessert, ice tea or coffee. Reservations are required by Wednesday, April 6, by calling Bev Borges at 963-3148.

Orsini to discuss

Californias primary election

Robyn Orsini, vice president of the nonpartisan League of Womens Voters Napa County, will discuss the upcoming primary election at 3 p.m. Thursday, April 21, at the Rianda House Senior Activity Center, 1475 Main St. Orsinis topic is How a New California Primary Election Law Makes Voting on June 7 More Important Than Ever. Attendees will learn about these ballot changes plus other important voter information.

Gala for wildlife planned for April 22

The second annual gala for the Wildlife Rescue Center of Napa County will celebrate the launch of the groups capital campaign to build a new, full-range center where raptors, birds and other wildlife can be treated and rehabilitated to be released back into the wild.

A Wild Night at The Castle II, with Honorary Chairman Dario Sattui, will take place from 6:30 to 10 p.m. Saturday, April 22, at Castello di Amorosa, 4045 St. Helena Highway in Calistoga. Tickets at $165 per person are available at napawildliferescue.maestroweb.com.

Youth Symphony holds Red Gala

The Napa Valley Youth Symphonys Red Gala will be from 5 to 10 p.m. Saturday, April 16, at Lincoln Theater, 100 California Drive in Yountville. This years gala includes a very personal concerto by Angel Romero, a celebrated soloist, composer and conductor who debuted with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the age of 16, performing Joaquin Rodrigos Concierto de Aranjuez, and has since performed around the world. Romero will be accompanied by the Napa Valley Youth Symphony, as well as Vivaldis Concerto for Guitar in D Major.

Tickets: $25-$75, or $130 for the concert and VIP dinner.

Photos of Cuba

Susan Rada will share photos of her recent trip to Cuba at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 20, at Rianda House. Rada visited the country, whose diplomatic ties with the U.S. are being restored, on a family heritage adventure. Light refreshments will be served. Admission: Free, with a $5 donation appreciated.

Cameo screening will benefit Rianda House

The Cameo Cinema will show Grumpier Old Men as a benefit screening for the Rianda House Senior Activity Center at noon Saturday, April 23. The 1995 comedy sequel is set six months after the wedding between John (Jack Lemmon) and Ariel (Ann-Margret). John and Max (Walter Matthau) resolve to save their beloved bait shop from turning into an Italian restaurant, just as its new owner (Sophia Loren) catches Maxs attention. Rated PG-13 (1H 51M). As a door prize, one lucky guest will join Star fishing columnist Bill Ryan and professional bass fishing guide Bob Myskey for a day of bass fishing at Clear Lake.

Live Shakespeare at the Opera House

NapaShakes will present New Yorks acclaimed Fiasco Theaters production of William Shakespeares comedic romance Cymbeline Friday, April 22, and Saturday, April 23, at the Napa Valley Opera House, 1030 Main St. in Napa. Set in ancient Britain during the Roman invasion, Cymbeline tells of a beautiful princess separated from her beloved, the cruel stepmother who tries to foil her, a credulous husband duped by an adversary, and an exiled nobleman who kidnaps a kings sons. A young ensemble of six versatile actors resolves the twisted fates of 14 characters at lightning speed, with live music from a cappella to bluegrass. The show is suitable for most ages, with mild stage violence, sword fighting and brief nudity. Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. April 22, and 2 and 7:30 p.m. April 23.

Tickets: $65 general; $45 for kids 16 and under.

There will also be a cast party at 10 p.m. April 23, with $25 tickets benefiting NapaShakes.

St. Helena Choral Society performance

The St. Helena Choral Society will present A Tapestry of Music at 7 p.m. Saturday, April 23, at the St. Helena Elementary School auditorium. The concert will include the Jazz @ 7 vocal ensemble singing a variety of jazz and swing tunes, followed by St. Helena High School graduate Tyler Johnson playing Bachs Piano Concerto, and concluding with the St. Helena Chamber Choir performing Gabriel Faures Requiem Mass with orchestra and soloists Eileen Hunt and Ted von Pohle.

Tickets: $20 adults/$10 children and students. Available at the Napa Valley Coffee Roasting Co. in St. Helena and Napa.

Tickets: $15. All proceeds benefit Rianda House.

Shakespeare at the Cameo

NapaShakes 2016 season of Shakespeare on Screen at the Cameo Cinema continues with the Globe on Screen production of Twelfth Night at 2 p.m. Sunday, April 24. The play stars Mark Rylance, winner of the 2016 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Bridge of Spies. This years season combines performances by two of Londons most acclaimed theater companies. Five productions captured live onstage at the Shakespeares Globe Theatre will join three star-studded performances filmed at The Garrick starring Kenneth Branaghs new theater company, featuring Judi Dench and Derek Jacobi. All eight productions are captured live in digital high-definition.

The season continues with:

June 19: The Duchess of Malfi (Globe on Screen in the Wanamaker Playhouse)

Aug. 21: Romeo & Juliet (starring Lily James, Richard Madden and Derek Jacobi)

Sept. 11: The Comedy of Errors (Globe on Screen)

Oct. 16: Titus Andronicus (Globe on Screen)

Nov. 20: The Entertainer (starring Kenneth Branagh)

Calling all moms

Join Rianda House for an afternoon of theater and song honoring moms, grandmas, aunties and more at 4-5:30 p.m. Friday, April 29. The Rianda House Readers Theatre will perform short and humorous plays, and Kathryn Sculatti and Cynthia Ermshar will serenade with lively tunes.

Admission: RSVP to 963-8555.
Vallejo police notified the public that the department is conducting training on Mare Island Wednesday through Thursday.

Between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., residents and visitors to Mare Island may see smoke near police or fire department training buildings or hear an occasional loud bang resembling a gunshot, police said.

The training will continue during the same hours Wednesday and Thursday, according to police.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and US President Barack Obama discussed the Alliances response to key security challenges at the White House in Washington D.C. and preparations for the Warsaw Summit in July. Their meeting on Monday (4 April 2016) had special symbolism, as it took place 67 years since the signing of the Washington Treaty, on which the Alliance is founded.

The Secretary General stressed that "NATO is as important as ever, because NATO has been able to adapt to a more dangerous world." He thanked President Obama for his personal leadership and his commitment to transatlantic security.

The two leaders discussed the common fight against terrorism. "Terrorism affects us all, from Brussels to San Bernardino," Mr Stoltenberg said, noting that all NATO Allies contribute to the US-led effort to degrade and destroy ISIL and that NATO has just started training Iraqi officers. They also discussed how NATO can increase its support to other countries in the region, including Libya. 

Afghanistan was also high on the agenda. Mr Stoltenberg underlined that NATO's biggest operation, a response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks against the US, shows the importance of Europe and North America standing together.

The Secretary General outlined NATO's strengthening of its collective defence in response to a more assertive Russia, and thanked President Obama for the important US contribution through the European Reassurance Initiative.

The two leaders also stressed the importance of increased investments in defence at a time of greater security challenges.

On Tuesday (5 April 2016), the Secretary General will meet with senior US defence officials and observe a military training exercise at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. On Wednesday, Mr. Stoltenberg will also meet with members of the Armed Services Committee and Foreign Relations Committee on Capitol Hill, and deliver a keynote speech at an event organised by the Atlantic Council in Washington D.C.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg thanked US service personnel on Tuesday (5 April), praising their skills and dedication to keep all Allies safe. In the second day of a visit to the United States, the Secretary General today visited Fort Bragg in North Carolina, home of the US Army airborne forces and Special Forces. The base plays an important role for the security of the United States and NATO. Mr Stoltenberg saw how the 82nd Airborne Division, 18th Airborne Corps maintain readiness and sustain their fighting capability.

Meeting with commanders and paratroopers, Mr. Stoltenberg told them that what they do is really important for NATO and an example of readiness for the whole Alliance. He was briefed on the capabilities and the units of the base and observed a training exercise of the Global Response Force  the US rapid reaction force, which is able to deploy anywhere in the world at short notice. The Global Response Force is counterpart to NATOs high-readiness Spearhead Force, led by European Allies.

Mr. Stoltenberg also met some of the paratroopers he saw in action during NATOs large Trident Juncture Exercise in November 2015, when 500 US airborne troops flew directly from Fort Bragg to parachute drop onto a training ground in Spain. Some of them will return to Europe in the months ahead for more military exercises together with the troops of other NATO Allies.

The Secretary Generals US visit continues tomorrow (6 April) in Washington D.C. He will hold meetings with members of the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Capitol Hill, and deliver a keynote speech at an event organized by the Atlantic Council. The speech will be web-streamed live on the NATO website (http://www.nato.int) and on the website of the organiser: http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/events/webcasts/a-conversation-with-nato-secretary-general-jens-stoltenberg.
US President: It's a great pleasure to welcome back once again my good friend, the Secretary General of NATO, Secretary General Stoltenberg. We are marking the 67th anniversary of the NATO alliance, and NATO continues to be the lynchpin, the cornerstone of our collective defense and U.S. security policy.

We had an excellent meeting that started with marking the tragedy that had taken place in Brussels, and reinforcing the importance of us staying focused on ISIL and countering the terrorism that has seeped up into Europe and around the world.

And we agreed that one of the most important functions that NATO is performing and can continue to perform is to help in the training and assisting process for troops in Iraq, in Jordan, in many of the areas in the region. And we are continuing to cooperate on an ongoing basis about operations potentially in areas like Libya, where you have the beginnings of a government and we can I think provide enormous help in helping to stabilize those countries.

We also discussed generally what's been happening in the Southern Flank of NATO. Traditionally, a lot of focus has been on the East, but we recognize that there are a broad set of challenges that have to be addressed all around the world. And NATO is going to be working with the European Union, for example, to help prevent the tragedy that we saw last summer of migrants taking very dangerous trips across waters to try to reach Europe. In cooperation with Turkey, Greece, and other countries, it's important for us to do that in a way that is humane and thoughtful, even as we're also working together to try to bring an end to the Syrian conflict.

We had an excellent conversation about Afghanistan, in which NATO obviously has been an extraordinary partner with the United States. The coalition there continues to focus on assisting the government and the Afghan national security forces, building up capacity, pushing back against the Taliban, and helping Afghans to provide security for their own country and, hopefully, being able to arrive at some sort of political settlement that would end decades of conflict and violence there. And we are grateful for the sacrifices that NATO countries have made -- their men and women fought alongside U.S. troops. They have fought together and they have died together.

And in the Warsaw Summit that is coming up, we expect to be able to follow through on the pledges that we've made to continue to support the Afghan people in those efforts.

And we discussed the eastern side of the equation. We continue to be united in supporting Ukraine in the wake of Russian incursions into Ukrainian territory. We continue to work in a train-and-assist fashion in helping support Ukraine develop its military capabilities defensively. We continue to provide reassurance to the frontline states there, our NATO allies, to make sure that they have not just reassurance of words, but that we have actually deployed concrete assets that let them know that Article 5 means something, and that we stand by our commitments to our allies. And I have in my budget put forward a quadrupling of the resources that we spend, and allocated a portion of that money to make sure that we've got ground brigades that send a clear message about our commitments to our NATO allies to the east.

That does not mean that we are not continuing to work with Russia to try to find resolution to the problems in Ukraine. We think it is important to maintain a dialogue, and NATO has continued to consult with Russia and, in very transparent fashion, indicate the firmness of our resolve to protect our values and our allies, but also our interest in being able to reduce tensions and the dangers of potential escalation.

So I just want to state how effective I think Secretary General Stoltenberg has been in managing a whole range of challenges. This is obviously a tumultuous time in the world. Europe is a focal point of a lot of these stresses and strains in the global security system. We are lucky to have a strong NATO Secretary General and a strong team that is such an excellent partner with us.

And it is because of the strength of NATO and the Transatlantic partnership, this Transatlantic Alliance, that I'm confident that, despite these choppy waters, we will be able to continue to underscore and underwrite the peace and security and prosperity that has been the hallmark of the Transatlantic relationship for so many decades.

NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg: Thank you so much Mr. President. Its always an honour to be here, and, especially on a day like this because as you said today is the anniversary of our Alliance. NATO was founded in this very city.

And NATO is as important as ever, because NATO has been able to adapt to a more dangerous world. Not least because of your personal commitment and your personal leadership. And we are very grateful for that.

We stand together in the fight against terrorism. Terrorism affects us all, from Brussels to San Bernardino. And all NATO Allies contribute to the US lead efforts to degrade and destroy ISIL. And just last week we started training all the Iraqi officers. And we will continue to support the efforts of the United States and other countries to fight ISIL.

We also discussed how NATO can increase our support to other countries in the region and to enable them to stabilise their own countries and to fight ISIL, and therefore different ways of building local capacity is high on our agenda in NATO.

We welcome the progress we have seen in Libya when it comes to establishing a government of national accord and NATO stands ready to provide support to the new government in Libya.

We also addressed the migrant and refugee crisis in Europe. NATO assists, helps the European Union, Turkey, Greece to handle the situation in the Aegean Sea. And NATO has deployed ships in the Aegean Sea.

Afghanistan is high on our agenda. Afghanistan is our biggest military operation ever and it shows the importance of unity in North America and Europe because our military operation in Afghanistan is a direct response to the terrorist attack against the United States, 9/11, and the European, Canadian soldiers have fought together with the American soldiers in Afghanistan for many, many years.

Were also responding to a more assertive Russia, responsible for aggressive actions in Ukraine. And I very much welcome, again, the leadership you have shown in increasing our collective defence in Europe. With the European Reassurance Initiative which is, as you proposed, going to be quadrupled in the budget you proposed for the Congress.

This is really a strong example of the Transatlantic bond, how the United States is important for the security of Europe and also other European Allies. The European Allies are also stepping up. So together we are now implementing the biggest reinforcement to our collective defence since the end of the Cold War.

I will work together with all the other NATO Allies to make sure that they make good on the pledge they made together to increase defence spending. And this is about how we have to invest more in our security when tensions increase and therefore we have to make sure that we do what we promised and that is to invest more in defence in the following years.

We will meet again in Warsaw at our Summit. We have a lot to do but Im certain that we will deliver, because we have seen time and again that North America and Europe are able to deliver when we stand together in a strong NATO Alliance.

So thank you once again for having me here, thank you.
Established and emerging scholars from around the globe will converge on Emory this week to discuss the complex social identities surrounding race, gender and disability.

"Critical Juncture: Exploring the Intersections of Race, Gender, and Disability" will take place April 8-9 at the Rollins School of Public Health, with a focus on the body and how it is represented in those different identities as well as in the arts and the sciences.

"There is value in making these connections across disciplines and realizing we are having different discussions, different perspectives, on the same issue of bodies," says Lindsey Grubbs, an English doctoral candidate who is organizing the event with RSPH graduate student Ilana Raskind, with help from Kellie Vinal, a doctoral candidate in microbiology and molecular genetics.

Grubbs already has developed a similar cross-discipline connection with Karen Rommelfanger, neuroethics program director at the Center for Ethics.

The two paired on a chapter in the forthcoming "Routledge Handbook of Neuroethics" that Rommelfanger is editing. In it, Grubbs contributes a cultural understanding to the science of "invisible illnesses" such as psychogenic movement disorder, which can present as Parkinson's Disease.

The conference looks to expand on similar overlaps. For instance, sociologist Tatsiana Shchurko of Belarus will talk about reproductive technologies in that Eastern European nation, and connect it to the kinds of bodies seen as ideal.

Keynote speaker Ellen Samuels, an associate professor of English and gender and women's studies at the University of Wisconsin, will discuss her research on environmental disasters and the subsequent media coverage  after, for example, Agent Orange  on genetic abnormalities.

Samuels' lecture begins at 4:15 p.m. Friday, April 8, in the Klamon Room on the 8th floor of the Claudia Nance Rollins building.

The event also features several workshops led by prominent Emory scholars, including Sander Gilman of the ILA and Sherman James, a research professor of epidemiology and African American studies.

Organized by Laney Graduate School students, the conference also features a performance by Full Radius Dance, an Atlanta-based physically integrated professional dance company, following Samuels' presentation Friday night.

The performance will be followed by a documentary on the troupe by ILA doctoral student Anastasia Klupchak and a question-and-answer session.

"This is the third year Emory has hosted Critical Juncture and I have been fortunate to watch it grow from a one-room conference to this year's conference with concurrent events, a poster session, a performance and wonderful seminars," says Jennifer Sarrett, a lecturer in the Center for the Study of Human Health and faculty adviser for the conference, who co-organized the first event in 2013.

The conference is free and open to the public. For more information or to register, visit the Critical Juncture website.

Those interested can also follow the event live on Facebook and Twitter.
Thousands of Icelanders gathered in front of parliament to express their anger against the government following the release of the Panama Papers, which suggest Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson and two other cabinet members have ties to offshore companies. The riot gear equipped police used iron fences to separate protester and the parliament building. After the speeches, the protesters chanted, banged drums and threw bananas, toilet paper and yogurt towards the parliament building, demanding the government's dismissal, Xinhua reported. "The government should respect the basic rules of democracy and stand down at once. We therefore demand elections now!" said a demand on Facebook. The documents, leaked from a Panamanian law firm called Mossack Fonseca, reveal Gunnlaugsson co-owned a company called Wintris Inc, set up in 2007 on the Caribbean island of Tortola in the British Virgin Islands, to hold investments with his wife Anna Sigurlaug Palsdottir. He sold his entire shares to Palsdottir for one dollar in late 2009. But he failed to declare his interest in the company after he entered Iceland's parliament in 2009. As the Wintris claimed millions dollars in assets in three bankrupted Icelandic banks after the financial crisis in 2008, Gunnlaugsson is faced with allegations from opponents that he has hidden a major financial conflict of interest from voters ever since he was elected a parliament member seven years ago. The prime minister's office said in a statement that his holding of Wintris shares was an error. He and his wife corrected it after they got married in 2009. However, in an interview with the media on Monday, Gunnlaugsson said he was not going to resign and the current government performs well. The documents also suggest both the minister of finance and economic affairs Bjarni Benediktsson and the interior minister Olof Nordal were in connection with offshore companies. --Indo-Asian News Service py/vm ( 317 Words) 2016-04-05-11:27:30 (IANS)
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Government of indulging in dual standards by allowing Pakistan's Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to probe the Pathankot terror attack, saying that on one hand the Centre preaches 'Bharat mata ki jai' and on the other they allow ISI on Indian soil. Kejriwal also trained guns at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and asked as to what was the deal between the latter and his Pakistan counterpart Nawaz Sharif. "Muh mein Ram bagal mein churi. BJP/RSS vale muh se "Bharat mata ki jai" bolte hain aur ISI ko bulakar Bharat Mata ki peeth mein chura bhok dete hain (On one hand they say 'Bharat mata ki jai' and on the other they call ISI and back stab 'Bharat Mata')," the Delhi Chief Minister tweeted. "Modi ji ne ISI ko bulakar Bharat Mata ke saath bahut bada dhoka kiya hai. Pata nahin Modi ji aur Nawaz ke beech kya deal hui hai (Modi ji has betrayed the nation by inviting ISI. Don't know whjat is the deal between Modi ji and Nawaz)," he said in another tweet. On Friday, the JIT returned to Pakistan after their five-day visit to India during which all evidence pertaining to the January 2016 attack was shared with them, including the DNA of four terrorists, their identities as well as call records showing involvement of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). The JIT had on Thursday examined 13 witnesses, including former Gurdaspur Superintendent of Police Salwinder Singh. According to Pakistani media reports, Pakistani investigators were allowed to enter the Indian air force base from narrow adjacent routes instead of the main entrance and the duration of the visit was just 55 minutes, enough to take a mere walk through the military facility. Pakistani terrorist attacked the Pathankot Air Force Station in January this year, in which four attackers and two security forces personnel were killed in the initial battle, with an additional security force member dying from injuries hours later. (ANI)
The Sri Lankan Navy on Tuesday apprehended four Indian fishermen along with their boats near Palk Strait, a stretch of land between India and the island nation, for allegedly crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) and fishing in their territory. The Lankan authorities have taken the fishermen to Kankesanthurai Naval camp to initiate legal action against them. On March 20, the Sri Lankan authorities had apprehended two Nagapattinam fishermen and also seized a country boat from them at the Bay of Bengal. The Lankan authorities later claimed that they also recovered 6.5 kg of Marijuana from the arrested fishermen. On March 13, the Sri Lankan Navy personnel arrested 28 Indian fishermen and seized one mechanised boat and two country boats from them. Sri Lankan Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Mahinda Amaraweera had earlier instructed the island's Navy and the Coast Guard to take tough action against the fishermen, who are using illegal fishing practices. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had last month written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take action with regard to repeated arrests of Indian fishermen by Sri Lankan Navy, and expressed concern over the Centre's inadequate response in the matter. In a strongly worded letter, she said that the continuous detention of Tamil fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy is causing a deep sense of anger amongst the fishermen community, adding that their right to livelihood of fishing in their traditional waters of the Palk Bay is being infringed upon repeatedly by Sri Lanka. (ANI)
"Even though BJP/RSS chants 'Bharat Mata ki Jai,' but by inviting ISI to India they have stabbed Mother India in the back," Kejriwal tweeted in Hindi.

The government allowed a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) from Pakistan, including an ISI official, to visit India last month to probe the terrorist attack in January on Pathankot air force station in Punjab.

The JIT has concluded, according to media reports in Pakistan, that the Pathankot attack was staged by India to spread "viciuos propaganda" against Pakistan.

"It is very shameful. It is for the first time that any Prime Minister has insulted the country before Pakistan," Kejriwal said in another tweet.

Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has been protesting against allowing Pakistan's JIT a role in the investigation on the ground that the ISI, a state actor, has long been the instigator of terrorism in India.

--Indo-Asian News Service av/kb/vm

( 192 Words)

2016-04-05-11:39:35 (IANS)
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said that those responsible for the murder of National Investigation Agency (NIA) officer Tanzil Ahmad must be brought to justice. "Brutal murder of NIA officer Tanzil Ahmad investigating key terror cases including Pathankot is extremely shocking," Gandhi tweeted. "My heartfelt condolences to his family. Those responsible for his murder must be brought to justice," he added. Ahmad was returning with his wife after attending a wedding function near Sahaspur town of Bijnor late Saturday night when assailants on motor bikes pumped over 20 bullets into him, killing him. His wife also sustained serious injuries. Police have termed the killing a planned attack. --Indo-Asian News Service ar/rn/vm ( 127 Words) 2016-04-05-11:59:32 (IANS)
Sewing hair extensions to the plaits on a middle-aged woman's head, Nigerian hairdresser Bridget Okoidegun is not sure how much tax she pays -- something the government plans to change.The owner of a small salon in Lagos could soon find herself on the hitlist of officials who have started cracking down on the small traders who account for almost half of Africa's biggest economy but don't pay taxes.President Muhammadu Buhari wants to squeeze the sector to boost tax revenues by 33 per cent this year to offset a slump in oil revenues that has plunged Africa's top crude producer into its worst crisis for decades.Authorities in Lagos, a city of 21 million where one-room businesses are everywhere, are sending officers out on street patrols to register entrepreneurs and make them pay tax for the first time.But the case of Okoidegun, who employs four stylists and charges customers up to 5,000 naira (25 dollars)a time, shows the challenge they face. As few Nigerians benefit from the country's oil wealth, most entrepreneurs spend what they earn in order to survive and do not keep accounts."I don't really know how much I make," the 46-year-old said, raising her voice above the noise of the generator that keeps the fan turning overhead."Any money I make, either I use for school fees or usually to take care of one thing or another," said the mother-of-four. As for taxes, she said they were supposed to be part of the 800,000 naira (4,000 dollars) she pays her landlord every year.To hammer home the message of change, Lagos state -- which generates a third of Nigeria's 500 billion dollars GDP -- has set up a special court to try those chased down by a new "Rapid Tax Prosecution Unit".Large firms have begun receiving phone calls from officials demanding tax returns. The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has used full-page newspaper adverts to warn that companies that fail to file will be punished after April 1."Prosecution and jail term for defaulting tax payers will be a tool that we will be actively using," Lagos state attorney general Adeniji Kazeem said. "Tax officers ... will be very aggressive."As a result, Lagos state tax collections rose by 12 per cent in January, officials say. For 2016, the government has set the FIRS a tough target of raising 4.95 trillion naira ($25 billion) in taxes, up from 3.73 trillion last year."Really, there is no room for failure. Please ensure you deliver," Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun told tax officers in February. "The nation will depend on FIRS to fund the budget."GPS TO TRACK FIRMSBuhari appointed Babatunde Fowler head of FIRS after he proved an effective tax chief in Lagos, where in the four years to December 2012 monthly tax revenues surged by 70 per cent.But tracking down small businesses is hard. Okoidegun's salon is a converted living room with three chairs placed in front of mirrors and walls adorned with synthetic and human hair for sale.The streets outside, in the upmarket Victoria Island district, are filled with similarly makeshift enterprises beyond government control, from roadside eateries and fruit stalls to motorcycle taxis weaving through traffic.In 2015, Nigeria had 37 million informal sector businesses which employed 60 million people or 84 percent of the workforce, said Yemi Kale of the National Bureau of Statistics.His officers use GPS technology to map shops and other small firms street by street to help direct tax officers. But stricter rules may not be enough to increase tax revenues."Formalising the sector requires offering incentives to them to enter the formal system and pay taxes," said Kale, citing the example of farmers being given fertilizer and other subsidies if they register their business and pay taxes.To encourage cooperation, Buhari's government plans an "enlightenment" campaign to persuade small-scale entrepreneurs of the importance of paying tax.The tax problem is not new. Under Buhari's military administration in the 1980s a poster in a government office urging people to "Join the good Nigerians, pay your taxes" was defaced by somebody who had crossed out the "s" in Nigerians.CREDIT RATINGFor the future, Nigeria must get a grip on tax and the informal economy to avoid jeopardising its credit rating.In 2014, Nigeria overtook South Africa as the continent's biggest economy. But two years on parts of the economy are drifting off the official books.A dollar shortage has forced firms onto the black market to find hard currency to fund imports, pushing transactions outside the banking system and beyond the reach of tax authorities.Buhari has resisted calls to devalue the naira, which might attract investment and bring in dollars."The sooner Nigeria puts in place reforms aimed at safeguarding its formal economy - through the adoption perhaps of meaningful business climate and FX market reforms - the more it is likely to reassure on its long-term creditworthiness," Razia Khan, Standard Chartered Bank's chief Africa economist, said in a note. REUTERS PS SB1152 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0421-668526.Xml
A goldsmith commited suicide at Bhuleshwar, in south Mumbai, as he became jobless following the ongoing strike of Jewellery Industry against hike in excise duty by the union government. A small time goldsmith Susanta Samanta, who was depressed as he had no work due to jewellers strike, so he took extreme step,hanging himself to ceiling fan last night at his resident in Bhuleswar, police said here today.His body has been sent to G T hospital and further investigationwas on, sources added. UNI ST NV HK CJ PR1319 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0169-668568.Xml
A hardcore criminal, Hiba Tajuk, accused indifferent heinous crimes, surrendered with arms and ammunition to the local police station here.Tajuk surrendered last night with a Chinese-made pistol with magazine and 10 rounds of live catrigedes, 5 Thailand made hand grenades, one tear gasgrenade along with some incriminating documents related to NSCN militantgroups.Tajuk was wanted in the various bank robbery cases and murder of a businessman T Chako. He escaped from the Central Jail, Jullung, on November 20 with other two accused.On the persuasion of Arunachal Pradesh deputy Chief Minister Kameng Dolo,also the in-charge of Home Department, the hardcore criminal has surrendered to the local police.The deputy CM said he would be given a chance to surrender and live a peaceful life. He said no criminals will be allowed to undermine peace of the state. He further said that if he cooperates with the police, the law will show leniency with him. UNI PB PL PL PS PR1334 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0211-668633.Xml
The Tamil Nadu Government today denied the Centre's allegations that it refused to sign the Memordandam of Understanding (MoU) for UDAY Scheme. In a joint statement, Electricity Minister Natham R Viswanathan and Rural Development Minister S P Velumani said the government did not sign the pact because there were several shortcomings in the scheme. They said the Central government was aiming to provide 24-hours electricity and reduce the loss. But at a recent press conference, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar had said that the State government was not interested intaking the benefits to honest consumers in Tamil Nadu and wanted to favour the dishonest who steal power. ''By uttering such words, did the Minister mean that farmers and those living in hutswere stealing power'', they asked. Elaborating about power connections,the Ministers said apart from farmers andslum-dwellers all power connections were properly metered and noted down in theElectricity Board (EB) card. Moreover, in Tamil Nadu around 98 per cent of electricity bills are paid. In 2011, around 40 vigilance squads consistingof ex-servicemen were created in order to check and inspect power thefts. ''Currently, it (power thefts) stood at around 0.01 per cent'', they said. Pointing out to the drawbacks in the scheme, the Ministers said the UDAY scheme was aimed at reducing the losses to 15 per cent by 2018-19. They charged that the Centre hadneither provided infrastructure nora single rupee to the cause. But Tamilnadu has been taking severalsteps to reduce losses. In 2014-15, the overall loss was around Rs 12,700 crore, but it had come down due to various steps taken by the state government, theysaid.UNI GV VS RSS 1455 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0415-668841.Xml
A massive search operation was launched in Lolab area in the frontier district of Kupwara following a tip-off about the presence of militants, official sources said here this afternoon. They said troops of Rashitriya Rifles (RR) and Special Operation Group (SOG) of Jammu and Kashmir police launched a joint search operation at Dardpora, Lolab in north Kashmir district of Kupwara. However, when the area was being sealed, firing shots were heard from the area. They said later the entire area was cordoned off and a massive search operation has been launched. Further details were awaited, they said.UNI BAS RSA VN1504 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0153-668737.Xml
American Multinational Company Rockwell Collins says it is working in alignment with the Make-In-India initiative.In an interview to UNI, Sunil Raina, Rockwell Collins Managing Director, India, said,'' We are working in alignment with the Make-in-India initiative. We have engineering design centres in Hyderabad, and more recently, in Bangalore. Together these design centres house over 700 employees contributing to the initiative. We organize an annual innovation fair at the Hyderabad centre which leads to many new innovation concepts.''Mr Raina said, ''We are also aligned with the newly-announced Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) by the Defence Minister Mahohar Parrikar with the focus towards indigenous design. The company's strategy is to partner with local companies to customize solutions, while developing capabilities in its local design centres.''About partnerships of the company, Mr Raina said, ''Rockwell Collins has partnerships with companies such as Zen Technologies for their flight simulators. We have received a contract from Electronics Corporation of India Ltd (ECIL) to supply communications and navigation components for radios being ingenuously manufacturedby ECIL for Indian defence forces. We also have a long standing alliance with Tata Power SED for its SDRs (Software Defined Radios).'' Mr Raina said the components supplied by Rockwell Collins would used for integration into digital V/UHF radio, an IP enabled state-of-the-art trans receiver for ship to ship, ship to shore and ground to air communications. The award was part of a long-term agreement signed with ECIL in 2010, he said, adding till now Rockwell Collins has delivered more than 1000 units to ECIL. Rockwell Collins participated in the just concluded 9th edition of Defence Expo 2016 where it announced the selection of its CAAS cockpit by Boeing for their Chinook CH-47F helicopters in India.During the expo, the company showcased a number of technologies that included Pro Line Fusion, an integrated, touch screen flight deck leveraging advanced commercial technology for military platforms. Italso demonstrated TruNet networked communications system for enhanced situational awareness. The TruNet family of networked SDRs offers the capability for Indian military customers to establish a ground-air network tailorable to their mission needs. The company also showcased Patrol Persistent Surveillance System, a scalableintegrated sensor solution to protect defence forces from perimeter breach. UNI AKM NV HK1433 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0169-668792.Xml
Alleging that private practice by doctors posted in government hospital has hit the patient care badly, Doctors Association in Kashmir (DAK) said it was the root cause of health care mess. The private practice by government doctors in Jammu and Kashmir particularly in teaching hospitals has badly hit patient care, DAK president Dr Nisar ul Hassan said in a statement here this afternoon. Demanding complete ban on private practice, he said it was the root cause of healthcare mess and patients suffer the consequences. He said it was ironical that full-time government doctors were allowed to run private clinics depriving poor and underprivileged of essential health care. Under the provisions of service rules, doctors are not permitted to indulge in private practice, yet they are allowed, which has resulted in deterioration of services they are required to render to people. Dr Hassan said Medical Council of India (MCI) puts a bar on private practice of doctors in all medical institutions which not only are crucial life saving assets but full time centers for medical education and research. Private practice of government doctors was banned by State High Court in a Public Interest Litigation on November 8, 2011 and therefore it is illegal to allow doctors to do private practice. ''The menace of private practice has eaten away our health institutions and is responsible for rising corruption in health and medical education,'' he said, adding that there was misuse of hospital facilities like out of turn admissions and surgeries for private patients in government hospitals and poor patients who cannot afford private consultations suffer. Also this dual practice creates a pervasive incentive for doctors to increase waiting times in government hospitals so that patients are forced to go to private hospitals. The DAK president said the previous attempts to ban private practice have been stalled by a strong lobby and they have misled past regimens on this issue. If present dispensation is serious to revive the health sector and mitigate the sufferings of poor people, it should immediately ban private practice of government doctors particularly in teaching hospitals he demanded.UNI BAS RSA AS1634 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0153-668937.Xml
Infrastructure major Larsen & Toubro (L&T)saidthat it construction arm has won order worth Rs 2,125 crore, invarious businness The transportation infrastructure business has bagged a newengineering, procurement and construction order worth Rs 821 crorefrom the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI)," the companytoday said in a statement. The contract is for four-laning of the Addahole (Gundya) to Bantwalcross of NH-75 (old NH no. 48) in Karnataka. The project is scheduled be completed in 30 months and involvesconstruction of 63 kms of four-lane dual carriage way with concretepavement in addition to the construction of 14.5 km of serviceroads, two flyovers, two major bridges, 14 minor bridges, nineunderpasses and a toll plaza. "The order is an index of L&T's expansion in the road infrastructurespace, with the company having bagged prestigious road and bridgeprojects both in the international and domestic markets, thanks toits well-established capabilities," the company said. It said its Smart World and Communication business has bagged ordersworth Rs 761 crore, which involve design and implementation of safecities using integrated security features and intelligent andintegrated traffic management systems. The company said additional orders worth Rs 543 cr have also beenreceived from various ongoing jobs of Power Transmission &Distribution and Buildings & Factories businesses. UNI JS NV NP1604 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0169-668993.Xml
BJP national president Amit Shah today challenged the Congress government in Assam to specify what developmental and welfare measures the party had undertaken in the state in the past 15 years. Addressing back-to-back election rallies at different parts of western Assam, Mr Shah said the Congress, which has been in power in the state for past 15 years and 10 years in the Centre, must answer to the people what it has done in the name of development. Hitting out at Congress president Sonia Gandhi, he said, "Sonia Gandhi came to Assam for election campaigning and questioned what Narendra Modi has done in the past two years. But I want to ask her, what has the Congress party done in the last 15 years?" He pointed out that barring two stints of the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), the Congress has mostly ruled the state since Independence and out of the past 15 years of uninterrupted Congress regime here, the same party was in power in the Centre for 10 years and the then prime minister Manmohan Singh is a representative of Assam in the Rajya Sabha. "Even after so many years in power, Assam's youth are unemployed, there are no roads or healthcare facilities, no uninterrupted power in the state. There is no development," he said. Mr Shah said if the BJP-led alliance is voted to power, it would ensure 24x7 power for all, creation of employment avenues, all-round development of the state. He said the people of the state were ready for a change and the BJP-led alliance was the people's preferred choice to replace the Congress government. Mr Shah, who had toured the state twice before the first phase polling that was conducted yesterday, today addressed several rallies, including at Nalbari and Mirza as he returned for a day-long trip to canvass for the second and final phase polling, scheduled on April 11 next. BJP is leading an alliance of regional AGP and Bodoland People's Front and two smaller tribal bodies in the state polls.UNI SG AD SW RSA RAI1731 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0129-669201.Xml
A former lecturer at the National Defence Academy (NDA) in Pune and Urdu Ph.D scholar, Anwar Ali Javed Ali Khan (50), who is among the ten persons convicted by a special Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) court in Mumbai in connection with the three serial blasts between December 2002 and March 2003, is likely to walk free when the quantum of punishment will be announced tomorrow. Arguing before the POTA judge today for the sentences to be given to the convicts, public prosecutor Rohini Salian said Anwar and two other convicts who were found guilty by the court last week under the Arms Act, be given the sentences while considering their period in jail as an under trial accused.Anwar Ali has been convicted under sections of the Arms Act. His counsel, advocate Sudeep Pasbola said maximum punishment for this is three years and so having already spent more than seven years in jail, he is likely to walk free. Pasbola said Anwar Ali has been let free of terror conspiracy charges. He has been held guilty only for the alleged recovery of a pistol from his house. ''We would move high court to prove his innocence in this regard,'' he said. UNI AAA NV RSA RAI1703 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0169-668994.Xml
Army Chief Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag, who is on a four-day visit to the US, today met United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon at the UN headquarters. Gen Suhag was accompanied by India's Permanent Representative to UN Syed Akbaruddin. "The Secretary General appreciated the strong support of India to UN Peacekeeping, which is the second largest at 7695 troops among all UN troop contributors," an official statement said here. He admired the commitment, discipline and quality of Indian Peacekeepers in the United Nations. The Army Chief assured the Secretary General of the continued commitment of Indian Peacekeepers to global peace, with the highest standards of training, discipline and dedication. UNI MK SW SB 1851 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0090-669335.Xml
A 272-member strong contingent of the Indian Air Force along with two Su-30 Mki frontline fighters, one Jaguars and a refueler aircraft will participate in the Exercise Red Flag with the US Air Force. The fortnight-long exercise is to commence from April 28 at Eielson AFB Alaska. The Exercise Red Flag is a multinational air exercise, originally conceived in 1975 by USAF to provide operational exposure and mutual exchange of Op capability of friendly Air Forces. "The IAF contingent along with the aircraft departed from Jamnagar on April 3, for Eielson Air Force Base Alaska," an official statement said here today. The fighters will be touching down Bahrain, Egypt, France, Portugal, Canada before finally reaching Alaska airbase. The contingent led by Group Captain H Assudani would aim to demonstrate its ability to project air power in transcontinental deployment of a task force comprising Su-30 MKI, Jaguars, IL-78 tankers and C-17 strategic airlift aircraft, the statement said. During the exercise, Su-30 MKI and Jaguars along with USAF fighters will be operating in composite formations under various near realistic scenarios. The exercise will provide ample opportunity for exchange of ideas relating to concept of operations in a dynamic warfare environment. This multinational air exercise assumes importance in view of the continued engagement of the IAF with Foreign friendly countries.The IAF had for the first time taken part in the Red Flag in 2008. UNI MK SW SB 1857 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0090-669425.Xml
On March 22, hundreds of Sena activists allegedly disrupted the BJP women's meet, leading to a scuffle between the Sena and BJP activists following Vijaya Rahatkar's statement over separate Marathwada issue.

Ms Rahatkar had reportedly stated that the demand for separate Marathwada is the feeling of the people and it should be respected.

Following Ms Rahatkar's statement, Sena women's wing president Satyabhama Gadekar and hundreds of other activists shouted slogans against Ms Rahatkar and the BJP at the 'Adishaktri Mahila Gaurav Sanman' programme. A scuffle broke out between the Sena and BJP activists over the statement.

Mumbai Naka police arrested Badgujar today for his alleged involvement in the scuffle.

On Mar 23, police arrested nine Sena activists, including the party's women's wing chief Satyabhama Gadekar, and remanded them to judicial custody. On April one, the local court released them on bail on personal surety of Rs 20,000 each and on a condition to report to the Mumbai Naka police station on every Sunday.UNI RDS SS SB AN1834

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Veteran actor Amitab Bachchan on Tuesday rejected suggestions of him having any links with offshore companies listed in the "infamous" Panama Papers. In a statement, Bachchan said, "I do not know any of the companies referred to by Indian Express - Sea Bulk Shipping Company Ltd, Lady Shipping Ltd, Treasure Shipping Ltd, and Tramp Shipping Ltd. I have never been a director of any of the above stated companies. It is possible that my name has been misused. I have paid all my taxes including on monies spent by me overseas. Monies that I have remitted overseas have been in compliance with law, including remittances through LRS, after paying Indian taxes. In any event the news report in Indian Express does not even suggest any illegality on my part." Thank you The Panama Papers are a leaked set of 11.5 million confidential documents created by the Panamanian corporate service provider Mossack Fonseca that provide detailed information on more than 214,000 offshore companies, including the identities of shareholders and directors. The documents identify (as directors and shareholders of such companies) current government leaders from five countries - Argentina, Iceland, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine and the United Arab Emirates - as well as government officials, close relatives and close associates of various heads of government of more than 40 other countries, including Brazil, China, Peru, France, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Syria and the United Kingdom. Comprising documents created since the 1970s that amount to 2.6 terabytes of data, the papers were supplied to the Sddeutsche Zeitung in August 2015 by an anonymous source, and subsequently to the U.S.-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). The papers were distributed to and analyzed by about 400 journalists at 107 media organizations in more than 80 countries. The first news reports based on the set, along with 149 of the documents themselves, were published on April 3, 2016, and a full list of companies is to be released in early May 2016. the Government said Monday it was constituting a special multi-agency group to look into all cases of Indians setting up offshore entities in tax havens after The Indian Express published the first set of names as part of its ongoing investigation in The Panama Papers. The Finance Ministry, in a statement, said the group, comprising officers from the investigative unit of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and its Foreign Tax and Tax Research division, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), will monitor the flow of information in each case. According to the Indian Express, Bachchan, one of India's biggest movie stars, was appointed director of at least four offshore shipping companies in the British Virgin Islands and the Bahamas. The Indian Express was one of the news outlets that obtained the trove of confidential documents dubbed the Panama Papers. The companies, which were set up more than 20 years ago, were small, but they traded in ships worth millions of dollars, the newspaper said. (ANI)
The Mysore government laboratory today submitted its report to the Supreme Court in connection with the presence of MonoSodium Glutamate (MSG) in the 2-minute popular noodle, Maggi. The lab was asked by the Apex Court to submit a report whether the presence of MSG in Maggi noodles were within permissible limits.On the contrary, Maggi's manufacturer, Nestle, told the division bench, comprising Justices Dipak Misra and N V Ramanna, that the MSG occurs naturally in Maggi and is not an added flavor. The apex court had in January this year had asked the leading research laboratory in Mysore to conduct the necessary tests on Maggi in this regard and submit a report to it. The 2-minute popular noodle, Maggi, has come under the regulatory scanner after samples collected in some parts of the state of Uttar Pradesh and other were allegedly found containing added MSG and lead in excess of the permissible limit.FSSAI had approached the Apex Court and told it that the sale of Maggi was contrary to the Section 22 of the FSSAI Act.FSSAI is an agency of the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India, responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the regulation and supervision of food safety. The FSSAI has been established under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 which is a consolidating statute related to food safety and regulation in IndiaNestle during the hearing told the Apex Court that the food department notification concedes no lab test can determine MSG presence.Nestle further maintained its stand and defended that the MSG occurs naturally in grains and that no added MSG was present in Maggi noodles.The Apex Court has fixed the next date of hearing as July 19 when all the test results would be argued before it.The Supreme Court had stayed the proceedings before the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) and directed that the test reports, including the earlier one, be placed before it.UNI XC SHS RP1927 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0329-669571.Xml
The Central government today told the Supreme Court that it would meet the officials of the Telecommunication Ministry this weekend and also the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India to settle the matter on the issue of call drops. Attorney General Mukul Rohtagi, appearing for the Central government, told a division bench, comprising Justices Kurian Joseph and Rohinton Fali Nariman, that he would meet on April 9 or 10 the officials of the Telecommunication Ministry and also the TRAI to resolve the issue arising out of call drops. The Apex Court had earlier asked the TRAI to apprise it about its stand as to whether it could consider amending the rules and regulations to impose penalty on telecom firms.The Apex Court had also earlier said that prima facie it appeared that TRAI's technical papers, which cite reasons for call drops, were not taken into account while framing of the 2015 regulation.Additional Solicitor General P S Narasimha, appearing for TRAI, said such technical papers are "periodically" released by the regulator and both regulations and the technical papers are "inconsistent with each other" and are "stand alone" things.Senior counsel Kapil Sibal, appearing for cellular operators association, told the Supreme Court that the companies are willing to sit with TRAI to chalk out a road map to address the problems of call drops. Mr Sibal had earlier argued that there was no system in the world where there is zero default. The Delhi High Court had in its earlier order had upheld the TRAI order mandating them to compensate consumers Re 1 for call drops from January 1, 2016. The HC bench had said, "We are of the view that regulation cannot be held to be beyond the scope of the regulating power of TRAI on any ground whatsoever." It said that under "no circumstances" the decision of the TRAI can be "termed as penalty." TRAI had announced on October 16, 2015, that the telecom operators would pay for call drops under which a rupee will be credited to the mobile users' account for every call drop (restricted to three per day) starting January 1, 2016.The TRAI had said the policy was made after consumers began getting regular call drops. In first quarter of 2015, about 25,787 crore outgoing call were made, out of which in 200 crore cases of call drops were encountered by consumers.UNI XC SHS RP1947 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0329-669603.Xml
Hitting back at Pakistan's Joint Investigating Team (JIT) over media reports that the Pathankot attack was staged by India, Union Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu today said Pakistan should once and for all cleared its stand on terrorism. During a press meet at the Indian Women Press Corp, Mr Naidu said, "Pakistan is, in fact, creating a drama. They do it all the time. They will know best. Pakistan should decide once and for all its stand on terrorism." The Minister said India wants friendly relations with its all neighbours, including Pakistan. "We want to have good neighbourly relations with Pakistan but they have to take a decision. I guess Pakistan is also impacted by certain external forces," he added.Earlier in the day, a Pakistani daily reported that Joint Investigation Team (JIT) probing the Pathankot airbase attack has said in its report that the Pathankot terrorist attack was a drama staged by the Indian authorities as part of vicious propaganda against Pakistan. The JIT on Thursday had examined 13 witnesses, including former Gurdaspur Superintendent of Police Salwinder Singh. UNI ASH SW SB 1942 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0388-669620.Xml
Union Minister of State for Textiles Santosh Kumar Gangwar today inaugurated the apparel and garment making centre at 6th mile here in the presence of Chief Minister T R Zeliang. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Gangwar termed apparel and garment making as an ambitious project launched in the textile industry and expressed happiness of the fact that Nagaland has become a pioneer of this revolution. "This is the first time the Union Government is concerned about employment of the people of Nagaland and the apparel and garment making centre was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 1, 2014 for the state", he said. Informing that the apparel centre was ready for operation in a record time of one year, Mr Gangwar dedicated the centre to the people of the state. He appreciated the support rendered by the state government and also thanked the entrepreneurs for coming forward to enhance the project. On the need for attachment of hostel expressed by Mr Zeliang for housing the trainees at the apparel and garment making center, the union minister assured to sanction the money for the same. On the occasion, Mr Gangwar laid the foundation stone for Muga P3 basic seed station at Kobulong in Mokokchung district and also launched the newly approved integrated Eri silk development project under NERTPS for women empowerment and sustainable livelihood in Kohima district from Dimapur itself. Viewing sericulture as another high potential area, Mr Gangwar observed that Nagaland can be a front runner in terms of quality and its promotion. He informed that the central government would support sericulture projects in Nagaland covering Eri, muga and mulberry silk projects. More than 5,000 cultivators engaged in plantation of these three varieties of silk are expected to be benefited, he maintained. Pointing out that handloom as deep rooted tradition in Nagaland, the minister said the unique designs and motifs are expressions of the rich cultural heritage of Nagaland. He further said that the ministry intends to take the cultural heritage beyond the boundaries of the state, by giving international recognition through market linkage and technological inputs. Reiterating the central government's commitment for overall development of North East Region under the initiative and leadership of Narendra Modi, the minister expressed optimism that the inauguration and launching of various projects under textile ministry would provide gainful employment to the state of Nagaland. Mr Zeliang in his address said that the inauguration of the 3 units would help in skilling the Naga youths to become professional entrepreneurs. Informing that the apparel and garment making centre in Dimapur was the 1st center in the entire NE region, Zeliang expressed confidence that it would go a long way in exploiting the talents of NE people thereby converting them into economic assets. He further hoped that these centers would become the breeding ground for many successful entrepreneurs who would help in uplifting the economy of the region. Mr Zeliang thanked the ministry for sanctioning the project for establishment of Muga P3 basic seed station and Integrated Eri silk development project besides the apparel and garment making centre, stating that it has taken Nagaland on the front page of the region. Earlier, Mr Gangwar along with Mr Zeliang, his cabinet ministers, parliamentary secretaries, and officials from union ministry of textiles and other officials of the state government visited the complex of the apparel and garment making Centre. Later, Mr Gangwar left for Guwahati by flight this afternoon. UNI AS AKM RSA SB RAI1934 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0213-669503.Xml
The red rebel operating in Malkangiri district in South Odisha received a big jolt today when about 100 Maoists sympathisers surrendered before the police. Police sources said the supporters belonging to three villages under Mathili police station limits surrendered before Malkangiri superintendent of police Mitrabhanu Mohapatra. The Maoist supporters said they have decided to shun violence and join the mainstream. The surrendered Maoist sympathisers, Mr Mohapatra said will be rehabilitated as per government norms. For over a month hundreds of maoist supporters residing in villages within the Mathili police station limit have surrendered before the police.UNI DP AKM SB RAI1944 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0213-669539.Xml
Former Congress MP Priya Dutt today wooed voters for her party in different parts of Guwahati, Assam's main city that goes to the polls in the second and final phase on April 11. Dutt, sister of 'Munnabhai' Sanjay Dutt and a former Congress MP herself, campaigned for West Guwahati candidate Juri Sharma Bordoloi. Urging the people to vote for the Congress in several small meetings across the constituency, Dutt said the women and youth were especially attracted to the Congress. She said, "The youth should know that the mobile phones and computers that are so easily available now were introduced by the Congress in the country. They will surely vote for the Congress." Among other star campaigners who wooed voters for the ruling Congress today were former union minister Gulham Nabi Azad and CM Tarun Gogoi.UNI SG AKM SB AN2008 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0136-669744.Xml
A couple of senior United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) officials viewed development activities in Madhya Pradesh during a three-day visit that concluded today. Principal Officer Programmes Henriette Ahrens and UNICEF India's Chief (Field Services) Forogh Foyouzat visited Sheopur to see the work being done as part of the Chief Minister Community Leadership Programme and implementation of the Tribal Sub Plan (TSP) in the district. They went to a training centre of the programme, interacted with participants and mentors, a release said. The duo also visited Ranipura and Sesaipura villages to meet with the community and see work being done by community leaders being trained. Families in Ranipura showed them toilets constructed due to community leaders' motivation. The village committed to make itself open defecation free (ODF) by Independence Day this year. In Sesaipura, they met village committees formed as part of TSP implementation. The committees have managed to obtain pipes, some power connections and irrigation facilities. The officials also visited a community radio station. On day two, the duo viewed health, education, child protection and sanitation interventions in Shivpuri. They were part of celebrations in Benheta village, which is now ODF. They visited a special new born care unit, a maternity ward, a kangaroo mother care unit and a sub health centre in Jhiri and Rathor villages. Today they met mothers who were part of the Suposhan Abhiyan, which is a campaign to reduce malnutrition, called on state Women and Child Development Minister Maya Singh and assured her that UNICEF would continue to support the Abhiyan and knowledge management.UNI AC SB BL2035 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0044-669765.Xml
Medical Education Minister Vinod Tawde today informed the Maharashtra Legislative Council that an inquiry would be conducted into allegations levelled by resident doctors against J J Hospital dean T P Lahane and appropriate action would be taken immediately. Replying to a question raised by Leader of Opposition Dhananjay Munde in the House, under rule 289 of Legislature, about the ongoing strike of resident doctors affiliated to MARD and his demand to resolve the issue and direct all the doctors to resume duty, Mr Tawde informed the members that he had already held a meeting with Dr Lahane and representatives of MARD. He further said, ''An inquiry would be conducted into the matter and the matter would be solved soon.'' The members demanded that the Minister should first ask the agitating doctors to resume duty and thereafter, conduct any inquiry so that patients should not be inconvenienced. Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan also demanded that doctors be asked to resume duty first and then conduct any inquiry in the matter. On this, Mr Tawde replied in affirmative saying that he will ask the doctors to resume duty, not to take on patients and in due course inquiry would be conducted and justice would be done, he added.UNI ST SS RSA SB RAI2002 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0169-669579.Xml
Drought-stricken Palau could dry up completely this month, officials warned on Monday as the Pacific island appealed for urgent aid from Japan and Taiwan, including shipments of water.

The tiny country of about 18,000 people declared a state of emergency last month, the latest Pacific island nation to do so as one of the worst ever El Nino-induced droughts in the region worsens.

"We're still in the state of emergency, there's a sense of urgency to address the crisis," said a government spokesman as the National Emergency Committee met to discuss strategy.

An NEC report prepared for President Tommy Remengesau offered a bleak outlook for the already-parched country.

"Based on the current water level and usage rates, and assuming conditions persist unabated, a total water outage is likely to occur in the next two to three weeks," it said.

Access to tap water is already rationed to three hours a day or less in the capital Koror and schools are only open half days because they cannot give students enough to drink.

"The NEC has been in contact with the governments of Japan and Taiwan regarding support of materials and equipment, as well as direct shipments of water as necessary," it said.

The Japanese embassy in Palau confirmed it had received a request for assistance and discussions were ongoing about what form it would take. The nature of what type of assistance and in what volume is expected to be finalized as soon as possible," it said in a statement.

Palau also expects help from Taiwan.

The NEC report added that the US military had been asked to supply portable water filtration systems to alleviate the increasingly desperate situation.

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the El Nino weather pattern - associated with a sustained period of warming in the central Pacific which can spark climate extremes - was unlikely to ease before the second half of the year.

The Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia have also declared states of emergency.

In Koror, bottled water has become scarce as people stockpile dwindling supplies.

"There are no words to describe the level of stress, worry and burden of hauling water from one place to another," said resident Rolynda Jonathan. "Every morning we struggle to shower, clean up and prepare for the day with the limited amount of water we have."

(China Daily 04/05/2016 page10)
Mahanadi Coal Field Ltd (MCL), one of the leading coal producing cpmpaniesin the country, has targeted to produce 167 million tons of coal during 2015-16 and 250 MT of coal by 2020. Addressing a press conference here on the completion of 25 years of the company, MCL CMD A K Jha said the company needed huge infrastructure and would go for state of the art technology to achieve the target and provide good quality coal to its consumers. He said by 2020 the Coal India Ltd has targeted to produce one billion tons of coal, and the MCL would contribute 250 MT which constituted 25 per cent of the total target to achieve the goal. Mr Jha said a SPV, a state of the art washing plant would be made operational soon. He said two Coal Wasing Plants with total capacity of 20 MT would be set up for which the order has been placed for a 10 MT coal washing plant at Bharatpur which would be made operational by 2018. A railway line from Jharsuguda to-Barpalli and from Barpalli to Subdega for the speedy transportation of coal would also be constructed. He said while the Jharsuguda-Barpalli railway line would be completed by June 2016, the Barpalli-Subdega railway line would be completed by March 2017. Mr Jha said the growth in coal production had gone up significantly during the last two years. From the earlier 1 to 2 per cent growth in coal production the MCL had achieved a growth of 13.61 per cent in 2015-16. He said while the thermal power plants were facing acute shortage of coal during 2012-13 and 2013-14. But at present almost tall the thermal power plants have a stock of coal for 28 days. Not a single power plant is in a critical or supercrticial situation, Mr Jha remarked. Replying to a question, the MCL CMD said the construction of the proposed medical College has already been started and it would be completed within two and half years. The academic session of the college would be started in 2019-20. When asked to comment on the Chief Minister's request to allocate the Baitarani East Coal Block to state owned OPTCL, Mr Jha said coal is a property of the central government and he would have no objection if it was given to OPTCL. He said it would have no impact on the business of the Company. Mr Jha said the company wanted to set up a 1600 MW Super critical Thermal Power plant at Gajabahal within three years. The company has already obtained the environmental clearance, completed land acquisition. The state government, he said has assured water for the project and the work on the Project would soon after the company gets the coal linkage. The MCL CMD said the company has produced 137.90 MT coal in the fiscal 2015-16 by the end of March 2016 over 121.38 MT produced last year registering a growth of 13.61 per cent. The gross turn over of MCL in 2015-16 was 19053.15 crore against 15693.71 crore in 2014-15. The company made Rs 3186.20 crore profit after tax in 2015-16 against 3554.10 crore in 2014-15. The company, Mr Jha said had paid Rs 2585.54 crore to the state exchequer in 2015-16 against Rs 2003.82 crore in 2-014-15. Similarly Rs 7388.95 crore was paid to the Central government in 2015-16 against Rs 4525.69 crore in 2014-15.UNI BD DP SB NS2055 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0214-669728.Xml
Both personal issues and the terrorist angle are being examined thoroughly to determine who murdered NIA official Mohammad Tanzil Ahmad, a senior police officer said on Tuesday. The Uttar Pradesh Police is investigating the National Investigation Agency (NIA) officer's murder from three major angles, Additional Director General Daljeet Chaudhary said. Talking to the media at the crime spot, Chaudhary said: "We are looking at local connections, personal issues and the terrorist angle." NIA Deputy Superintendent Ahmad, 48, who was involved in probing cases pertaining to the Indian Mujahideen and the arrest of its head Yasin Bhatkal, was shot dead shortly after midnight on Saturday in his native town Sahaspur. Chaudhary said Ahmad's family possessed substantial agriculture land in Sahaspur town and there was no one to look after the ancestral property after his father died two years ago. "We have ordered that every local issue must be screened minutely along with other issues pertaining to the officer's involvement in important investigations handled by him. "Some vital enmity might have developed during investigation of counterfeit currency related cases. So we shall screen all such important investigation. "The third angle is the terror angle. We are looking that angle very minutely," Chaudhary added. The slain officer was about to enter Sahaspur town after attending the wedding of his niece in Syohara. His elder brother, Razib Ahmad, was following him in a separate car and reached the crime spot just five minutes later. Both the brothers had planned to spend the night in their hometown which they used to visit frequently. The officer was accompanied by his wife Farzana, daughter Zarnees (14) and son Sahbaaz (9). The children were in the rear seat of the car and escaped unhurt. His wife is now battling for life after suffering four bullet wounds. She was seated by her husband. As his car took a turn from the main Dhampur-Moradabad road and slowed down at a narrow bridge, two unidentified men opened indiscriminate fire from automatic weapons of .9mm calibre. They pumped 21 bullets on the officer's body from the driver's window which was open. An assistant commandant with the Border Security Force, Ahmad was on deputation with the National Investigation Agency for the past six years. He had planned to visit his home town after completing his job as the liaison officer for the five-member Pakistan Joint Investigation Team that was in Delhi to probe the Pathankot terror attack, police sources said. --Indo-Asian News Service sps/mr/vd ( 427 Words) 2016-04-05-21:15:30 (IANS)
India on Tuesday termed as "total concoction" a Pakistan report, quoting sources in the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) that visited India, that the Pathankot attack was staged by India. Meanwhile, union Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu said no one, including people in Pakistan, will believe that the Pathankot airbase attack was stage-managed by India. "The report in Pakistan Today is a total concoction. While in India, the JIT took onboard the detailed evidence which was shared by the NIA," sources from the external affairs ministry (MEA) said. "Since the JIT collected evidence in accordance with Pakistani law which applies to Pakistani citizens committing an offence abroad, the involvement of Pakistanis in the Pathankot attack is self evident," the sources added. Pakistan Today, quoting sources in the JIT said "the attack was a drama staged to malign Pakistan". Reacting to the Pakistani newspaper report that claimed that the JIT that probed the January 2 attack said it was "staged" by India, Venkaiah Naidu said: "Pakistan has always done this." The minister said the newspaper report was not an official version from Pakistan but quoted sources. "I hope they (Pakistan) won't take such a stand. No one will believe it, including the Pakistani people," Naidu said during an interaction with the Indian Women Press Corps. "They are under pressure of extremist groups... people want dialogue, but a dialogue cannot go along with terror," he said. On similar lines, National Investigation Agency (NIA) spokesperson Sanjeev Singh told IANS: "We had provided all kinds of information sought by the five-member Pakistani team. The report being run on news channels is quoting sources. We have not had any talk with Pakistani officials on this so far." A report in Pakistan Today newspaper, quoting sources, said the JIT concluded that the Indian authorities had prior information about the attackers. The daily claimed its source said India "used the attack as a tool to expand its vicious propaganda against Pakistan without having any solid evidence to back the claim". The report also quoted a member of the JIT as saying that NIA officer Tanzil Ahmad's murder on Saturday night in Uttar Pradesh showed that "Indian establishment wants to keep the matter under wraps". The JIT arrived in India on March 28 and visited Pathankot the next day. It returned to Pakistan on April 1. The January 2 attack on the Indian Air Force base at Pathankot in Punjab left seven security personnel and the intruding terrorists dead. India blamed banned terror organisation Jaish-e-Mohammad for the attack. --Indo-Asian News Service ao/pm/dg ( 435 Words) 2016-04-05-22:01:31 (IANS)
A defence ministry spokesman told UNI that the operation was going on.

Sources said following an intelligence input, security forces and Special Operation Group (SOG) of Jammu and Kashmir police launched a joint search operation at village Gadoora in south Kashmir district of Pulwama.

However, when the security forces were moving towards a particular area in the village, militants opened indiscriminate firing with automatic weapons. Security forces also retaliated ensuing in a fierce gun battle.

They said one militant was killed in the encounter so far. Operation was going on when the reports last came in, they said.UNI BAS SB AN2212

-- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0153-669883.Xml
In the backdrop of alleged lathi-charge on students studying in Srinagar based National Institute of Technology from different parts of the country, Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh today assured safety of the students asserting that the security has been enhanced in the campus. ''The safety of all the students from different parts of the country studying in NIT Srinagar, is a responsibility of Jammu and Kashmir Government,'' Dr Singh told UNI here this evening. He said that adequate measures have been taken while contingents of CRPF have also been deployed within and around the institute to prevent any kind of untoward like incident. ''There is no local issue involved into the matter but the demand of security to the outside students is being considered,'' he said adding that all issues have been settled and addressed. ''A team from Human Resources Development (HRD) Ministry will also be visiting the campus to review the situation on ground,'' the Deputy Chief Minister said and assured the parents of the students not to be worried as the government is taking all safety measures and responsibility of their wards. The Deputy Chief Minister however, said that in case of any emergency or urgency, the parents can contact at 094191-49494. Police this evening allegedly resorted to lathi-charge on students trying to move out of the College premises in form of procession demanding security. Some of the students reportedly have also sustained injuries. UNI VBH AY SB 2325 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0352-669914.Xml
Prosecution today sought death penalty for Muzamil Ansari in the series of blasts that rocked Mumbai from December 2002-March 2003. It also demanded life and other sentences for the nine others who were convicted by the special POTA court here last week. The convicts include Saquib Nachan, a top SIMI functionary. Earlier POTA court had convicted ten people while acquitting three others in the case. While opening the arguments from the prosecution side, special public prosecutor Rohini Salain told POTA Judge P R Deshmukh that considering the role of the convict Muzamil, he deserve nothing less than death penalty, while the other convicts should also be given life and the harsh punishments starting fromlife to ten years. The court was told that accused were involved in the three blasts, in which over 50 people were killed and 139 injured. It was submitted by the prosecution that the act was the handiwork of the banned organisation SIMI and that its former general secretary Saquib Nachan, along with Pakistani national and member of Lashkar-e-Taiba Faisal Khan, were the mastermind behind the blast, along with 23 other accused. Of the total 25 accused, five including Khan died ,while five other accused are still absconding. Prosecution beside seeking death for Muzamil , demanded life for four convicts Saquib Nachan, Dr Abdul Wahid, Akbar Khotal and Farhan Khot. The ten years rigorous imprisonment was also sought for Akif Mulla and Haseeb Mulla while the public prosecutor said that the convicts Noor Mohamed, Kamil Shaikh and Haroon who were in jail since last more than seven years their underground period should be considered as their sentences . The convicts were found guilty by the POTA court in the Mulund, Vile Parle and Mumbai Central blast cases, police have charged the accused with offences under POTA, Explosive Substances Act and offences of `preparation to wage war against the nation' and criminal conspiracy under the Indian Penal Code. The Mulund blast occurred on March 13, 2003, killing 12 and injuring 71. Earlier, on December 6, 2002, several persons were injured in the blast at McDonald's at Mumbai Central station, while a person died when a bomb attached to a cycle exploded in a market area in suburban Vile Parle on January 27, 2003.UNI AAA NV SB AN2345 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0169-668971.Xml
Islamic State militants attacked Syrian army troops with mustard gas in an offensive against a Syrian military airport in the eastern province of Deir al-Zor that borders Iraq, state media said.Syrian state media did not disclose how many casualties were sustained in the latest drive by the hardline fundamentalist Sunni militants to capture the heavily defended airport located south of Deir al Zor city, whose main neighborhoods are under the militants control."The terrorists fired rockets carrying mustard gas," a statement said on state owned Ikhbariyah television station yesterday.Deir al-Zor is a strategic location. The province links Islamic State's de facto capital in Raqqa with its fighters in Iraq.Reuters could not independently verify the media reports.Amaq news agency, which is close to the militants, had earlier said Islamic State fighters had launched a wide scale attack on Jufrah village near the airport in which it said two of its suicide bombers rammed their vehicles into army defences causing "tens of dead"."The battles continue on more than front and posts and we pray to Allah (God) victory for his Mujahdeen (holy warriors)," an official statement by the militants said.The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitor which tracks violence across the country, said the militants had advanced with heavy aerial strikes aimed at repelling their offensive.The Syrian army backed by heavy Russian air strikes was able last January to drive back the hardline militants from several villages near the airport but has so far failed to dislodge them.Separately, the Observatory said fighting flared on several frontlines in the major northern city of Aleppo which is divided between government and rebel held sectors.Rebel shelling of Kurdish YPG outposts in Sheikh Maqsoud neighbourhood caused several casualties, the monitor said.The Syrian army had earlier said that at least four hundred al Qaeda affiliated Nusra Front led militants fully equipped with heavy arms staged a major attack on army outposts in the Aleppo countryside.The army statement also said at least eight civilians were killed in mortar attacks by rebels on residential areas of Sheikh Maqsoud with scores injured.A fragile "cessation of hostilities" truce has held in Syria for over a month as the various parties to the conflict try to negotiate an end to Syria's civil war.But the truce excludes Islamic State and the al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front. Air and land attacks by Syrian and allied forces continue in parts of Syria where the government says the groups are present.REUTERS DS GC0502 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0098-668315.Xml
Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump tried to put a difficult week behind him and rally his supporters ahead of a crucial nominating contest in Wisconsin, where he was in the unfamiliar position of underdog.Opinion polls show Trump trailing US Senator Ted Cruz of Texas in the Midwestern state, where a loss today could dent the New York billionaire's aura of inevitability and make it harder for him to win the 1,237 delegates needed for the party's nomination for the November 8 election.Trump hunted for support at two rallies in the state yesterday, telling voters in La Crosse, Wisconsin, they could propel him toward the nomination by delivering him a surprise victory over Cruz."If we do well here, folks, it's over," Trump said. "This could be the real beginning. If it's not, I think we get there anyway, and I'm pretty sure we get there anyway."Trump said an array of forces were aligned against him in Wisconsin, including the state's governor, Scott Walker, who has backed Cruz, a "very hostile media" and party establishment figures worried he will lead Republicans to a broad defeat in November.He ridiculed the "NeverTrump" movement to block his nomination and said the party establishment should have put the same effort into beating Democratic President Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012."If they had worked this hard to stop Obama, Obama wouldn't have had a chance," Trump said at a rally in Superior, Wisconsin.He also said it was "unfair" that rival John Kasich, the governor of Ohio, refused to get out of the race despite trailing Trump and Cruz badly.Trump has won 736 delegates to the July nominating convention in Cleveland, but is still 501 short of the majority he needs to clinch the nomination. Rivals Cruz and Kasich hope to stop him short of a first-ballot victory and trigger a contested convention."My eyes are wide open," Trump said of the possibility the party establishment would maneuver to deny him the nomination at the convention. "We're dealing with a corrupt system. We're dealing with a system that is not fair."Cruz told reporters the party was beginning to rally behind him, and said a win in Wisconsin would spark a surge of momentum for him in upcoming contests.'A UNIFYING PARTY'"What we're seeing is the party unifying behind our campaign," Cruz said in Madison. "I hope and believe tomorrow night's going to be a very good night here in Wisconsin."A Trump loss would cap a rough week, including an avalanche of criticism for his suggestion, which he later dialed back, that women be punished for getting abortions if the procedure is banned. Uncharacteristically, Trump also acknowledged that he made a mistake retweeting an attack on Cruz's wife, according to the New York Times.He also drew fire last week for saying he would not rule out using nuclear weapons in Europe and that Japan and South Korea might need their own nuclear arsenals to ease the US financial commitment to their security.Trump told the crowd in Superior he had been advised that he should act more presidential but that if he did, it would be boring and "only about 20 per cent of you would be here."Cruz was eager to capitalize on Trump's missteps, talking about his family during a town hall session in an attempt to soften his strident image and appeal to women turned off by Trump's recent comments.At a later rally, Cruz told voters the entire country was looking toward Wisconsin."Let's show the country that this race is not about yelling and screaming and insults," he said in Madison.Even with a victory in Wisconsin, Cruz faces difficult odds to win the delegates needed to secure the nomination, given that the next states to vote, including New York on April 19 and five Northeastern states on April 26, are more Trump-friendly territory.Cruz has 463 delegates, 774 short of the total needed for the nomination, according to an Associated Press count. Kasich, with 143 delegates, has no chance to gather enough delegates to win on the first ballot but has refused to end his candidacy.He rejected Trump's call for him to get out of the race and poked fun at the front-runner's complaints."I've got news for him. I'm gonna get a heck of a lot of his voters," he told a town hall meeting in Hempstead, New York. "I know how to fix these things that the Trump voters care about."In the Democratic race, US Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont has a small lead in opinion polls in Wisconsin over front-runner Hillary Clinton and is trying to add to his momentum after winning five of the last six contests.A Wisconsin win by Sanders would put the focus on the April 19 contest in New York, where Clinton was campaigning yesterday. Sanders still faces a tough task to overcome Clinton's lead of 263 pledged delegates in the Democratic race, which awards all delegates proportionally to their vote totals in each state.After days of sparring over the date for their next debate, Clinton and Sanders have agreed to hold the event on April 14 in Brooklyn, New York.Clinton reported yesterday that she had raised 29.5 million dollars in March for the primary campaign, trailing the 44 million dollars Sanders reported raising in March. Clinton's campaign said she raised an additional 6.1 million dollars for the Democratic National Committee and state parties.At a New York City event celebrating a hike in the state minimum wage to 15 dollars an hour, Clinton noted Trump had said wages were too high. That drew boos from the crowd, which included a large number of labor union members."I don't know what the calculation is by Trump and others but I'll tell you this: They are selling Americans short," Clinton said. REUTERS DS GC0648 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0098-668324.Xml
The Pathankot terrorist attack was a drama staged by the Indian authorities as part of vicious propaganda against Pakistan, the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) probing the incident is understood to have concluded.Quoting "a source privy to the details of the report", the Pakistan Today daily reported that JIT report has concluded that the Indian authorities had prior information about the attackers. "India used the attack as a tool to expand its vicious propaganda against Pakistan without having any solid evidence to back the claim," the report said. Pakistan's JIT had recently visited India and was taken to the Pathankot airbase for an on-the-spot inspection the incident. The team was also briefed by the NIA of India, which is lead agency investigating the January 2 terror attack. "The JIT has finalised its report and will submit it to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in next few days," the English daily said. "The report also raises serious questions over the veracity of Indian claims regarding the Pathankot attack. The JIT has concluded that contrary to the claims of the Indian government about the duration of the encounter, the standoff between the Indian army and alleged terrorists ended within hours of the attack," it added. It said that the finding has made it clear that the attack was a drama staged to malign Pakistan and persuade the world community that the country was involved in terrorism."Indian authorities also failed to establish that the attackers entered from Pakistan," the report says adding that within hours of the assault, all the attackers were shot dead by the Indian security forces. "However, the Indian authorities made it a three-day drama to get maximum attention from the world community in order to malign Pakistan." The media report added that the total duration of the JIT's visit to the base was about 55 minutes. He said the team was denied the opportunity to collect evidence from the site of the attack.The source, according to the report, said no major damage was done to the base and the Indian authorities showed the JIT the place from where the assailants had entered the base. He said the investigators were informed that perimeter lights were also not functional on the day of the attack."This raises serious questions on the attack as India had prior information about the attackers and the entire area had been sealed three days ahead of the attack," the maintained. It added that the Indian claims about the entry from the Pakistani side were unsupported as they failed to answer why the electric fence on the border failed to hinder the entry."The Indian response was ridiculous. They claimed that the breach was possible as power was not running through the electric fence due to some electricity problem that night," the source told the Pakistani media. UNI MK SW RP1442 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0090-668745.Xml
Under the Foreign Military Sales Program, the combat helicopters will be manufactured and delivered to Pakistan.

"Foreign military sales funds in the amount of $170,173,188 will be obligated at time of award. The contract awarded for the manufacture and delivery of nine AH-1Z aircraft and nine auxiliary fuel kits for the government of Pakistan is expected to be completed in September 2018", Dawn quoted the US Department of Defense statement as saying, adding that the Naval Air Systems Command is contracting the activity for the Pakistani government.

According to reports, the Bell AH-1Z Viper is a twin-engine combat chopper based on the previous SuperCobra model developed for the US Marine Corps. It has a top speed of 420 kilometers per hour and a range of 610 kilometers.

The U.S. State Department last April had approved the Foreign Military Sale to Pakistan for the AH-1Z Viper Attack Helicopters and AGM-114R Hellfire II Missiles and associated equipment, parts, training and logistical support for an estimated cost of $952 million.

The United States had earlier in the year approved the sale of eight F-16 fighter jets of $700million to Pakistan saying that sale was made in order to improve Pakistan's precision strike capability.

The US administration in document to its lawmakers told that its Foreign Military Funding (FMF) to Islamabad would focus on seven priority areas identified and agreed to with the government of Pakistan. (ANI)
A suicide bomber on a motorcycle blew himself up near a school north of the Afghan capital, Kabul, today, killing at least six people, officials said.Twenty-six people including three children were wounded in the blast, said Wahid Sediqqi, a spokesman for the governor of Parwan province."He carried out the attack on poor civilians to spread fear among the people but they will never achieve anything by such brutality," Sediqqi said.There was no claim of responsibility.The Taliban, fighting to oust foreign forces and topple the US-backed government, have stepped up their insurgency since most foreign troops withdrew from Afghanistan at the end of 2014.On February 22, a Taliban suicide bomber killed 14 people and wounded 11 at a clinic in the same district. The bomber's target in that attack was a police commander.REUTERS SHS SB1601 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0329-668965.Xml
A senior Russian official on Tuesday said Moscow is to make the first shipment of its S-300 air defence systems to Iran in the coming days as part of a long-running contract between Tehran and Moscow. I dont know if this will happen today, but they (the consignments) will be loaded (for shipment to Iran), Zamir Kabulov, a department chief at the Russian foreign ministry, was quoted by Russias Interfax news agency as saying. In mid-February, the official had said that Moscow would deliver the surface-to-air missile systems to Tehran in the nearest time. Russia was committed to delivering the systems to Iran under a $800-million deal in 2007. Moscow, however, refused to deliver the systems to Tehran in 2010 on the plea that the agreement was covered by the fourth round of the UN Security Council sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme. The sanctions barred hi-tech weapons sales to Tehran. Following Moscows refusal to deliver the systems, Iran filed a complaint against the relevant Russian arms manufacturer with the International Court of Arbitration in Geneva. In April 2015, Russian President Vladimir Putin lifted a previous ban on the delivery of S-300 to Iran, and in November last year, Russia signed a new contract to supply Iran with the systems by the end of that year for the first time since the 2010 freeze on supplies under the UN Security Council sanctions. Recent pledges to make the delivery came after Iran and the P5+1 states -- five permanent members of the UN Security Council Russia, China, France, Britain, the US, and Germany -- reached a landmark agreement, dubbed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), on Tehrans nuclear programme in July last year. Under the JCPOA, all nuclear-related economic and financial bans against the Islamic Republic were lifted. --Indo-Asian News Service ahm/vt ( 314 Words) 2016-04-05-17:21:32 (IANS)
After announcing its decision to sale eight F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan, the US has approved a proposal to supply nine attack helicopters to the neighbouring country under the foreign military sales programme. The US navy has ordered nine Bell AH-1Z for Pakistan at the cost of 170 million dollars, Pakistani news portal Dawn reported today quoting a report of US department of defence. Under the contract Bell company of the US would deliver nine combat choppers to Pakistan by September 2018. The decision to sale attack helicopters to Pakistan comes couple of months after the Obama Administration approved the sale of eight F-16 fighters to it, attracting a sharp reaction from the Indian External Affairs Ministry, which had summoned US envoy Richard Rahul Verma to lodge its strong protest. "Last April, the US State Department approved the Foreign Military Sale to Pakistan for the AH-1Z Viper Attack Helicopters and AGM-114R Hellfire II Missiles and associated equipment, parts, training and logistical support for an estimated cost of 952 million dollars," the news report said. The US had approved a 700 million dollars sale of eight F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan, ostensibly improve neighbouring country's precision strike capability against terrorists. Rejecting the US State Department's contention that the sale of fighter jets was in the US vital national security interests as it helped Pakistan fight terror groups, the MEA had said, "We disagree with their rationale that such arms transfers help to combat terrorism. The record of the last many years in this regard speaks for itself."UNI MK SW RSA 1753 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0090-669194.Xml
France is working to reopen its embassy in Tripoli as a sign of support for the country's unity government, Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said today."Tunisia has reopened its embassy... We are working on it if the security conditions are guaranteed... It would be an extremely strong signal to show that we don't give in to terrorists," Ayrault said after a meeting with his German counterpart.The leaders of Libya's unity government arrived in Tripoli from Tunisia last week, and have been operating from a naval base in the capital as they seek to establish their authority over two previously existing rival governments. REUTERS SHS NS1700 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0329-669127.Xml
A day of high drama was expected in the House of Assembly in Cape Town on Tuesday where members of Parliament were to debate a motion to impeach President Jacob Zuma, brought by the Democratic Alliance (DA). The motion comes after the Constitutional Court, in an unanimous judgment on Thursday, found that Zumas failure to comply with the remedial action imposed on him by the public protector in her 2014 report on Nkandla was "inconsistent" with the Constitution, BDlive reported. Outlining the partys plans to press for Zumas impeachment on Friday, Maimane listed a litany of alleged indictments against the behaviour of the executive branch of government. The DA would be campaigning to give the "legislature back its teeth" but more broadly would be appealing for the electorate to "vote for change", he said at a media briefing in Sandton. On Friday, the 73-year-old president gave a televised address to the nation in which he apologised and said he would pay back some of the money, as ordered. He said that he never knowingly or deliberately set out to violate the constitution . The president travelled to his home province of Kwazulu-Natal on Sunday to launch a relief programme as part of government efforts to support areas affected by South Africas worst drought in more than a century. He told a cheering crowd that he was still South Africas leader and joked about how youthful he was, but made no specific mention of the Nkandla matter, the pending impeachment motion or calls for him to step down as he addressed the gathering in Zulu, his native language. --Indo-Asian News Service ahm/bg ( 281 Words) 2016-04-05-19:53:32 (IANS)
The resignation of the Iceland prime minister is the first prominent political fallout after the leak of documents from a secretive Panamanian law firm about offshore shell companies and tax shelters.

According to the New York Times, the resignation was announced by Sigurdur Ingi Johannsson, a government minister and the deputy chairman of the Progressive Party.

Gunnlaugsson had earlier insisted that he would not resign from his post following the leak which revealed that he and his wife, Anna Sigurlaug Palsdottir, had set up a company in 2007 in the British Virgin Islands through the law firm, Mossack Fonseca.

The documents also claimed that the Iceland prime minister had sold half of the company to his wife for One Dollar on the last day of 2009.

Gunnlaugsson had claimed that the leak contained no news, adding that he and his wife had not hidden their assets or avoided paying taxes. (ANI)
Buenos Aires (AFP) - Argentine President Mauricio Macri's political opponents urged him Monday to clarify his links to a company named in the Panama Papers offshore finance scandal.

The conservative president, his father, and his brother Mariano were on the board of directors of Fleg Trading, an offshore company registered in the Bahamas, the newspaper La Nacion reported.

Several top members of the Renewal Front, a center-right alliance that forms part of the political opposition, called for Macri to explain his role.

"There must be no doubt over the president's image. He should be on national television giving a very good explanation," said Marco Lavagna, a senior Renewal Front lawmaker.

The government said in a statement on Sunday that Macri was never a stakeholder in the company and was therefore not obliged to declare his "circumstantial" role as director.

The company was registered in the Bahamas in 1998 and operated until 2009, when Macri was mayor of Buenos Aires, La Nacion said.

He took office as president of Argentina in December last year after beating his leftist rival in a runoff election. During campaigning he vowed to fight corruption.

La Nacion is one of more than 100 newspapers that published leaked documents revealing offshore accounts allegedly used by public figures worldwide to avoid tax.

Before becoming president, Macri was convicted of tax evasion in 2001 for activities in an auto company that he founded with his father.
BERLIN (Reuters) - Austria plans to deploy soldiers at the Brenner border with Italy to stem an expected increase in migrants trying to get to northern Europe, Defence Minister Hans Peter Doskozil told news outlets on Saturday. Austria, whose introduction of border restrictions in February has caused a sharp fall in the number of migrants to Germany, previously said it was preparing to introduce tighter controls if needed. But the minister's choice of words appeared to toughen the discourse. "As the EU's external borders are not yet effectively protected, Austria will soon ramp up strict border controls. That means massive border controls at the Brenner (Pass), and with soldiers," Doskozil told daily Die Welt. Separately, he told the Austrian newspaper Oesterreich he was leaving open-ended the number of soldiers who might be deployed for border duty at the Alpine pass, saying it would be based on need. "From the state of Tyrol alone, there are three companies with 100 men each ready to deploy," Doskozil told Oesterreich. "If we need more forces for border protection, we'll get them." Soldiers, already helping police handle migrants at borders, could help with border protection, migrant registrations, the humanitarian effort and deportations, he said. Doskozil also reiterated his call for a civil-military EU mission to support the bloc's border agency Frontex where needed at external borders, possibly in Greece, Bulgaria or Italy. With the main migrant route through the Balkans and Austria largely closed, the number of migrants entering Germany from Austria fell more than sevenfold in March to below 5,000, the interior ministry in Berlin said on Saturday. In February, 38,570 migrants arrived, already down sharply from 64,700 in January. Austria is the main entry point for migrants crossing into Germany. But Vienna believes new routes will develop through Bulgaria or Albania as Mediterranean crossings to Italy from Libya resume. On Monday, a deal takes effect between the EU and Turkey that is aimed at stopping the flow of migrants to Europe in return for political and financial rewards for Ankara, sealing off the main route by which a million migrants crossed the Aegean into Greece last year. "We expect strong use to be made of the central Mediterranean route in the coming weeks," said Doskozil, adding last week alone 5,000 refugees came that way. "When the weather gets better, these numbers will increase strongly," he said. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, under pressure to stem the influx of migrants to Germany after 1.1 million arrived last year, is critical of tighter border controls and is banking on the EU-Turkey deal being a success. Under that agreement, Germany is to take in 1,600 migrants initially. About 40 people could arrive on Monday, said an interior ministry official. Critics say the deal may make Europe soften its line towards Ankara on human rights, while aid agencies say safeguards needed to start returning refugees to Turkey from next week -- also part of the agreement -- are not yet in place. (Reporting by Madeline Chambers and John Miller in Zurich; Editing by Jeremy Gaunt and John Stonestreet)
N'Djamena (AFP) - Police in Chad arrested a fifth leading activist Monday on the eve of a banned anti-government rally planned days before polls in which President Idriss Deby Itno is seeking to extend his 26-year rule.

Albissaty Salhe Alazam, one of the leaders of the "Ca suffit" (That's Enough) protest movement, was detained by police in the capital N'Djamena after being summoned for questioning, a spokesman for the movement said.

"This state of affairs confirms the government's desire to snuff out democratic values in Chad," Bertrand Sohhoh Ngandjel told a press conference, held with the Chadian trade union confederation and another rights coalition named "Trop c'est trop" (Enough is Enough).

The groups vowed to push ahead with a "peaceful march for a democratic transition of power" in N'Djamena on Tuesday, despite it being banned, and warned the security forces against "any repression of unarmed demonstrators".

Demonstrations have been banned across the desert state of 13 million since opponents of Deby's quest to win a fifth term in elections on Sunday took to the streets in February.

Four protest leaders have been held for two weeks on charges of attempting to disturb the peace for urging anti-government demonstrations.

To protest their arrests civil society representatives last week pulled out of several state institutions, including the electoral commission.

Anger at the government was already running high following the gang rape in February of a young woman by the sons of several leading officials who posted images of her on Facebook, naked and crying. The video triggered nationwide student protests.

The security forces cracked down on the demonstrations, killing two youths.

Deby, an ex-armed forces chief who seized power in 1990 after toppling his former rival Hissene Habre, faces 13 challengers in the first round of the presidential election on April 10.
By Nate Raymond

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Colombian who pleaded guilty to U.S. narcotics charges stemming from a probe that began with him trying to help a paramilitary group get uranium for a "dirty bomb" to attack the U.S. embassy in Bogota was sentenced to 13 years in prison.

Jhon Jairo Cruz Trejos, who authorities call a freelance weapons trafficker, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald in Manhattan after pleading guilty in November to charges including conspiring to import cocaine into the United States.

Cruz Trejos, who is expected to get credit for time spent in custody after his February 2014 arrest in Colombia, said in court that "a lot that was done there was bluster," adding that he had been seeking money to fund his legitimate business as a mechanic.

Buchwald said while some evidence indicated he lacked criminal sophistication, "that evidence is inconsistent with the amount of discussion about weaponry and the numerous discussions the defendant was involved in over numerous years."

Prosecutors said in 2009, a Colombian claiming ties to Colombian paramilitary groups and the Venezuelan government began talking with a Federal Bureau of Investigation source posing as a drug trafficker tied to Russian organized crime.

The Colombian later introduced the source to Cruz Trejos, his partner, who indicated he had ties to the Colombian paramilitary groups Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and National Liberation Army (ELN), prosecutors said.

In meetings, Cruz Trejos expressed his desire to obtain weapons, including highly enriched uranium, which he and his partner said FARC would use to make a bomb to target the U.S. embassy in Bogota, prosecutors said.

Cruz Trejos said he also represented the Venezuelan government, and referenced then-President Hugo Chavez, prosecutors said.

His partner told the FBI source that FARC wanted 125 grams of uranium and the Venezuelan government wanted two kilograms of the substance, prosecutors said.

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No deal took place. A FARC member, Franklin Ramos Sanchez, in 2013 said FARC had postponed its attack plans, prosecutors said.

Cruz Trejos and Sanchez, who died in 2015, meanwhile proposed supplying cocaine to FBI sources they thought were Russian organized crime members to sell in the United States to finance buying weapons, prosecutors said.

Cruz Trejos in 2013 provided the purported Russians with 17 kilograms of cocaine, in order to obtain 100 rifles and machine guns plus surface-to-air missiles that he could sell to either the FARC or the ELN, prosecutors said.

(Story corrects headline and first paragraph to say sentence was 13 years in prison, not 12).

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in New York; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
Amtrak said its trains will run as regularly scheduled on Monday, as federal officials investigate the deadly derailment outside Philadelphia after a train struck heavy equipment on the tracks.

In travel alerts on its website, Amtrak advised that services would resume on the heavily traveled start of the workweek, although commuters may encounter delays on Acela Express, Northeast Regional and other services between Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware.

Amtrak referred all other questions about the Sunday crash to the National Transportation Safety Board, which is conducting the investigation. The train was heading from New York to Savannah, Georgia, at about 8 am when it hit a piece of equipment that was on the track in Chester, about 15 miles outside of Philadelphia, officials said. The impact derailed the lead engine of the train that was carrying more than 300 passengers and seven crew members.

Chester Fire Commissioner Travis Thomas said two people were killed. An NTSB official confirmed that one was the equipment operator. US Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, said Amtrak board Chairman Anthony Coscia told him the other person killed was a supervisor and both were Amtrak employees.

The Delaware County medical examiner's office said no information would be released until after autopsies on Monday.

More than 30 passengers were sent to hospitals; their injuries were not considered life-threatening, officials said.

NTSB investigator Ryan Frigo said at a Sunday news conference the locomotive engineer was among those taken to hospitals. He said he did not know why the equipment was on a track the train was using. Scheduling, the track structure and the work being performed at the time of the accident would be part of the investigation, he said.

The event data recorder and forward-facing and inward-facing video from the locomotive were recovered, he said, and the recorder was sent to the NTSB laboratory in Washington. Frigo said it will help determine how fast the train was going at the time of the crash.

Schumer said it's unclear whether the equipment was being used for regular maintenance, which usually is scheduled on Sunday mornings because fewer trains are on the tracks then, or whether it was clearing debris from high winds in the area overnight.

But he said Amtrak has "a 20-step protocol" for having equipment on the tracks, described by Amtrak as a backhoe, and no trains are supposed to go on a track when equipment is present.

"Clearly this seems very likely to be human error," Schumer said, calling for Amtrak to review its processes. "There is virtually no excuse for a backhoe to be on an active track."

An Amtrak spokeswoman said in an email to the Associated Press on Sunday that any information about the type of equipment on the track and why the train was using that track would have to come from the NTSB.

Investigators examine the scene after an Amtrak train struck a backhoe, killing two people, in Chester, Pennsylvania, on Sunday. The train was traveling from New York to Savannah, Georgia, with about 341 passengers and seven crew members aboard. Reuters

(China Daily 04/05/2016 page10)
Stepanakert (Azerbaijan) (AFP) - Azerbaijan and Armenian separatists in Nagorny Karabakh on Tuesday announced a ceasefire after four days of bloodshed, as international powers scrambled to end the worst violence in decades over the disputed region.

The two sides said they had agreed to halt fighting from 0800 GMT after clashes since Friday left at least 73 people dead, but Armenia's defence ministry claimed there was still "sporadic shooting" going on.

Key regional powerbroker Russian President Vladimir Putin called the leaders of ex-Soviet Armenia and Azerbaijan after the ceasefire agreement and told them to "ensure" an end to the violence.

"Putin called on both sides to urgently ensure a complete cessation of military hostilities and respect for the ceasefire," the Kremlin said after Putin spoke to the two presidents separately by telephone.

On a visit to a hospital to meet wounded soldiers Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev said the conflict could still be resolved peacefully if Armenia's leadership "behaves sincerely at the negotiating table".

The "Minsk Group" of the US, French, and Russian ambassadors to the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which has long mediated Karabakh peace talks, urged both sides to respect the truce after meeting in Vienna.

The Minsk Group co-chairs "stressed that it is important to return to the political process on the basis of a sustainable ceasefire."

The US State Department welcomed the ceasefire and said it fully supported the work of the group.

"There is an established process here," US spokesman Mark Toner said. "We've had a complete breakdown, a violation, of the existing ceasefire. We now have a new one in place. It needs to be adhered to."

In a flurry of diplomacy the mediators are heading to the region to shuttle between the two warring sides, while Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev is set to travel to both Yerevan and Baku in the coming days.

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Russia's foreign ministry also said that the top diplomats from Russia, Iran and Azerbaijan will focus on the conflict when they meet for planned talks in Baku on Thursday, RIA Novosti reported.

- Changing the frontline -

On the ground, an AFP photographer in the frontline Azeri town of Terter said that both sides appeared to have stopped shelling Tuesday afternoon after a night of sporadic artillery fire across the front.

At the Karabakh army checkpoint near the Iranian border, shelling halted as well around midday, another AFP photographer said.

The fragile truce comes after Azerbaijan's army claimed to have snatched control of several strategic locations inside Armenian-controlled territory, effectively changing the frontline for the first time since an inconclusive truce ended a war in 1994.

But Yerevan said the Azeri side no longer held any Armenian territory.

"Even if certain Armenian positions were at some point taken by Azeris, now they are all returned under Karabakh's control," Armenia's defence ministry spokesman Artsrun Hovhannisyan told AFP.

Azerbaijan's ambassador to the United States, Elin Suleymanov, told AFP Armenia had provoked the conflict to overshadow Baku's successful diplomacy.

Last week Aliyev received a warm welcome to Washington at President Barack Obama's Nuclear Security Summit.

Suleymanov dubbed this "one of the most positive days" in US-Azerbaijan relations and thanked Secretary of State John Kerry for backing Azerbaijan's territorial integrity.

"So, history shows that every time something like this happens, there is a provocation that overshadows that success," he complained.

"This time with the summit just finished and President Aliyev still in transit back home -- he hadn't even landed -- when the escalation began."

In updated death tolls Tuesday evening, Azerbaijani authorities told AFP 31 soldiers and two civilians on their side had died. Rebel Karabakh officials said 35 Armenian fighters and five civilians were killed.

- Regional fears -

Both sides accused each other of starting the latest outbreak which has sparked concern of a wider conflict that could drag in Russia and Turkey.

While Moscow has sold arms to both sides, it has a military alliance with and a base in, Armenia and far closer ties to Yerevan.

Turkey -- which is locked in a feud with Moscow after Ankara downed a Russian warplane in Syria in November -- has pledged its full support for traditional ally Azerbaijan, with Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu vowing to stand by Baku "until the apocalypse."

Washington refused to comment on NATO ally Turkey's rhetoric, but Toner insisted that the Minsk process "does not include taking sides or picking one side over another."

Security alliance NATO called on all sides to "show restraint and prevent any new escalation."

Separatists backed by Yerevan seized control of mountainous Nagorny Karabakh, a majority ethnic Armenian region lying inside Azerbaijan, in an early 1990s war after the Soviet Union crumbled that claimed some 30,000 lives.

The sides have never signed a peace deal despite the 1994 ceasefire and sporadic violence on the line of contact regularly claims the lives of soldiers on both sides.

Energy-rich Azerbaijan, whose military spending exceeds Armenia's entire state budget, has repeatedly threatened to take back the breakaway region by force.
By Ian Simpson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Smoking marijuana in public or in clubs was banned permanently on Tuesday by the District of Columbia's city council, reversing course for a second time.

Council members in the U.S. capital voted 7-6 to approve the measure, a spokeswoman for Council Chairman Phil Mendelson said. A second vote will be needed to finalize it.

Two months ago, the council voted unanimously to create a task force to study the licensing of marijuana clubs and ending the ban on public consumption of pot.

A law that took effect in February 2015 allows adults to possess small amounts of marijuana and grow and consume it at home. The District bans the sale of marijuana, but public smoking has become common as arrests have dried up.

A council spokesman was not immediately available to comment on the vote.

Tuesday's vote was the second turnaround by the council. Lawmakers voted this year to let the ban expire but then reversed themselves under pressure from Mayor Muriel Bowser.

Besides the District of Columbia, the states of Colorado, Washington, Oregon and Alaska have made pot lawful for recreational use. It remains illegal under federal law.

Kate Bell, a legislative analyst for the Marijuana Policy Project, an advocacy group, said the task force should have been allowed to do its job.

"We are very disappointed that the council voted to permanently impose this unnecessary ban on the freedoms that the vast majority of the voters support," she said in a statement.

(Reporting by Ian Simpson; editing by Grant McCool)
By Phil Stewart, Warren Strobel and Jonathan Landay WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. administration is considering a plan to greatly increase the number of American special operations forces deployed to Syria as it looks to accelerate recent gains against Islamic State, U.S. officials told Reuters. The officials, with direct knowledge of the proposal's details, declined to disclose the exact increase under consideration. But one of them said it would leave the U.S. special operations contingent many times larger than the around 50 troops currently in Syria, where they operate largely as advisors away from the front lines. The proposal is among the military options being prepared for President Barack Obama, who is also weighing an increase in the number of American troops in Iraq. A White House spokeswoman declined comment. The proposal appears to be the latest sign of growing confidence in the ability of U.S.-backed forces inside Syria and Iraq to claw back territory from the hardline Sunni Islamist group. Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, controls the cities of Mosul in Iraq and Raqqa in Syria and is proving a potent threat abroad, claiming credit for major attacks in Paris in November and Brussels in March. But there are mounting indications that the momentum in Iraq and Syria has shifted against Islamic State. U.S. officials say the group is losing a battle to forces arrayed against it from many sides in the vast region it controls. In Iraq, the group has been pulling back since December when it lost Ramadi, the capital of the western province of Anbar. In Syria, the jihadist fighters have been pushed out of the strategic city of Palmyra by Russian-backed Syrian government forces. Since U.S.-backed forces recaptured the strategic Syrian town of al-Shadadi in late February, a growing number of Arab fighters in Syria have offered to join the fight against the group, the U.S. officials said. U.S. forces have also had increased success in eliminating top ISIS leaders. Air strikes in recent weeks killed a top official called Abd al-Rahman Mustafa al-Qaduli, and an Islamic State commander described as the group's "minister of war" -- Abu Omar al-Shishani, or Omar the Chechen. The United States announced last December it was deploying a new force of special operations troops to Iraq to conduct raids against Islamic State there and in neighboring Syria. That followed its announcement in October that dozens of U.S. special forces would be deployed in Syria, the first U.S. ground troops to be stationed there. The additional U.S. forces in Syria would be primarily assigned to establishing sites where they would train Arab tribesmen who have been volunteering to fight ISIS. The tribesmen eventually would be provided weapons, paving the way for offensive against the de facto ISIS capital of Raqqa under U.S. air cover. The dozens of U.S. special operations forces now in Syria are working closely with a collection of Syrian Arab groups within an alliance that is still dominated by Kurdish forces. The United States has been supplying Arabs in the thousands-strong alliance with ammunition since October. While the strategy is showing results so far, U.S. officials and Kurdish leaders agree that a predominately Arab force is needed to take Raqqa, a majority Arab city whose residents would consider Kurds as occupiers. The new push by U.S. special operations forces in Syria would be separate from a revised U.S. military effort under way to train a limited number of Syrian fighters in Turkey. That effort is focused on teaching them to identify targets for U.S.-led coalition air strikes. (Editing by Stuart Grudgings)
Kinshasa (AFP) - The first soldiers to face justice in a huge sex abuse scandal that has rocked the UN and France went on trial in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday.

The three Congolese men from the UN's MINUSCA peacekeeping mission in Central African Republic wore blue prison gear as they appeared before the tribunal in Ndolo, a military prison north of the capital Kinshasa.

They are the first troops to be prosecuted in the scandal, which has seen more than 100 victims come forward with horrifying accounts of sexual abuse by UN peacekeepers and French forces.

Another 18 soldiers from DR Congo accused of rape -- or attempted rape -- of the civilians they were meant to be protecting during a peacekeeping mission in CAR were also present in the court.

"Sergeant Jackson Kikola is being prosecuted for raping a (young girl) of 17 and for not following orders," said public prosecutor Lieutenant Mposhi Ngoy, reading the indictments.

Sergeant major Kibeka Mulamba Djuma faces similar charges, while sergeant major Nsasi Ndazu was charged with disobeying orders and attempted rape. All three pleaded not guilty.

"We want absolute transparency in this trial," the justice minister, Alexis Thambwe Mwamba, told AFP, adding that "a few individuals cannot discredit our army".

Three hearings are scheduled each week, meaning the entire process could take months to complete.

Ida Sawyer, an advocate for Human Rights Watch in the Democratic Republic of Congo, told AFP the trial at Ndolo was "a first, and good, step to end impunity" and called on all countries involved to ensure "real justice".

But Venance Kalenga, who attended the hearing as an observer for Congolese human rights charity ACAJ, said "the absence of victims constitutes a major obstacle in the demonstration of truth".

- 'Shocked to the core' -

The UN said last week its investigators have identified 108 alleged new victims, "the vast majority" of them under-age girls who were raped, sexually abused or exploited by foreign troops.

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Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he was "shocked to the core" by the allegations made to UN investigators by victims in south-central Kemo prefecture in CAR.

Witness statements gathered by AFP at a camp in Bangui said young girls would have sex with men -- some of them soldiers -- in exchange for bread, or cash worth the equivalent of less than $1.

AIDS-Free World, a civil society group that tracks peacekeeper sex abuse cases, said three girls told a UN rights officer they were tied up and undressed by a French commander and forced to have sex with a dog.

The girls were then allegedly given about $9 in payment.

The UN's MINUSCA operation, which counts 12,600 foreign police and soldiers, took over from an African Union force in CAR in September 2014 in a bid to end a year of brutal sectarian violence.

Former colonial power France had sent its own intervention force, dubbed "Sangaris", nine months earlier.

Paris has said any French troops convicted would face military discipline and possible criminal penalties.

"We cannot -- and I cannot -- accept the slightest stain on the reputation of our armed forces or of France," French President Francois Hollande said on Friday.

Under UN rules, the responsibility for investigating and prosecuting peacekeeper sexual abuse lies with the countries that contribute the troops and police to the peace missions.
By Belinda Goldsmith STOCKHOLM (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The threat of terrorism and mass migration will grow worse in rich and poor nations without greater global cooperation to tackle the causes of poverty and conflict, leaders of an international forum on peace building said on Tuesday. The Swedish co-chair of the International Dialogue on Peacebuilding and Statebuilding (IDPS) said conflict and violent extremism - such as the attacks in Paris and Brussels - coupled with rising migration had changed the global landscape. Minister for International Development Cooperation Isabella Lovin called for all nations to speed and scale up efforts to tackle the causes of conflict and meet global goals agreed last year to end poverty and inequality by 2030. Studies show the number of conflicts globally had been stable for the last decade but are now on the rise and 2014 was the most lethal year since the end of the Cold War, she said. Conflict, poverty and climate change have forced 60 million people from their homes - the highest level since World War Two - with up to 1.5 billion people living in fragile states. Lovin called for a "coalition of the willing" to commit to supporting fragile and conflict-hit states, saying failure to tackle root causes of conflict and poverty would exacerbate world volatility and increase the risk of violence. "This is maybe the opportunity to see the world is one and we need to work long-term to help poor people in their countries and to create global security for all of us," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation at the fifth global IDPS meeting. "The refugees that are coming into Europe right now remind us that the war going on in Syria is not so far away ... and we do have the instruments to try to stop new conflicts erupting." RISKS OF VIOLENCE INCREASING The IDPS meeting is the first international peace forum since the United Nations' 193 member states agreed last year to 17 global goals to end poverty and promote peace by 2030. United Nations Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson said the world was at a "critical juncture", facing turmoil and risks from various forms of violence as well as "glaring inequality". "We see civilians continue to pay the highest price in today's crises ... We have to confront these threats together," said Eliasson, a former Swedish foreign minister. But he said there was some good news with peace talks starting for Syria and Yemen and agreement on the U.N. global goals known as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). "If we live up to these intentions we could turn a different direction," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. In this new global landscape, Lovin said there was a need for the IDPS to play a stronger, more relevant role. Launched in 2008, its mission is to find ways through political dialogue to support countries move from conflict to peace and resilience. The IDPS includes more than 40 countries, nine multilateral organizations including the World Bank and the United Nations and a rising number of civil society groups. Lovin led a renewed commitment by the IDPS to the so-called New Deal agreed in 2011 that outlined five peace and statebuilding goals - legitimate politics, security, justice, economic foundations, revenues and services - with locally driven and locally led processes. "I hope this gives a new injection into the thinking of how we provide development aid and also how we do peacekeeping and peacebuilding," Lovin said. (Reporting by Belinda Goldsmith, Editing by Katie Nguyen. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, property rights and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org)
By Christian Elion and Philon Bondenga BRAZZAVILLE (Reuters) - Seventeen people have died in clashes that erupted in the wake of President Denis Sassou Nguesso's disputed re-election, according to a government statement released on national television and radio on Tuesday. Gunbattles broke out on Monday in southern Brazzaville, an opposition stronghold, shattering the relative calm since the March 20 election that opposition candidates say was fraudulent. Three police officers and two gunmen were killed in the clashes, police spokesman Jules Monkala Tchoumou said on Tuesday. The government said former members of the "Ninja" militia that fought Sassou Nguesso in a 1997 civil war raided and set alight military, police and local government offices. Twelve assailants and two civilians were among the dead, according to Tuesday's statement from the Ministry of Communication. "The government informs the national and international public that during the operation launched during the assault, security services proceeded to arrest about 50 ex-militants who authored the attack," said Thierry Moungalla, the communication minister. Residents of southern neighbourhoods of the capital said that they had seen armed men in civilian attire but could not confirm whether they were indeed former Ninja militiamen. In a joint statement released on Tuesday, Initiative for Democracy in Congo (IDC) and The Republic Front for the Respect of the Constitutional Order and Democratic Transition (FROCAD), did not comment on the Ninja allegations. Instead the coalition urged the government to stop what it called "warlike operations", asked the international community to foster a political dialogue and called on Congo's population to participate in peaceful civil disobedience to end the crisis. Guy Brice Parfait Koelas, the opposition candidate who came in second in March polls and whose father had once led the Ninjas, said in a statement on Monday that police had harassed residents of the southern neighborhoods since the elections and arrested and jailed people without reasonable cause. On Tuesday morning, Brazzaville was quiet, though many shops and schools remained closed and only a few residents of southern neighbourhoods who had fled to the north on Monday were willing to return home. Sassou Nguesso has ruled the oil-producing Central African country for 32 of the last 37 years. He won re-election after pushing through a constitutional referendum last October that lifted age and term limits that would have prevented him from standing. (Writing by Aaron Ross and Marine Pennetier; Editing by Makini Brice, Toni Reinhold)
YENAGOA, Nigeria (Reuters) - Gunmen killed a Nigerian soldier and kidnapped a Lebanese construction worker on Tuesday in a shootout in the southern oil-producing Niger Delta, police said. Pipeline attacks and violence have been on the rise in the swampland since authorities issued an arrest warrant in January for a former militant leader on corruption charges. "One Lebanese, Ramzi Bau Hadir, aged 53 years, was kidnapped by the armed bandits," said Butswat Asinim, a police spokesman in Bayselsa state. A resident said a second foreigner had been kidnapped but Asinim did not confirm this. "It was a movie scene. The soldiers were shooting and the armed men were shooting," a driver who gave his name as Monday told local newspaper Leadership. "We later saw signs of blood everywhere." Attacks have been on the rise for weeks in the Delta, which provides most of Nigeria's oil and gas wealth. Militant groups have long demanded a greater share of the mineral wealth and an end to oil pollution in the region. Last month gunmen blew up an oil pipeline belonging to Italy's ENI, killing three workers who had been repairing the pipe, according to officials. In February militants staged a sophisticated underwater attack, probably using divers, on a Shell pipeline, shutting down the 250,000 barrel-a-day Forcados export terminal. President Muhammadu Buhari, elected a year ago, has extended a multi-million dollar amnesty signed with the militants in2009, but he has upset them by ending generous pipeline protection contracts. (Reporting by Tife Owolabi; Writing by Ulf Laessing; Editing by Richard Balmforth)
Rome (AFP) - Italy's main opposition parties threw down the gauntlet to Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's government on Saturday, with a no-confidence motion over a sleaze scandal which has already seen a top minister resign.

The centre-right Forza Italia party, led by former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, joined forces with the anti-immigrant Northern League to draw up the motion of no-confidence for both the upper and lower houses of parliament to consider.

"Game over for Renzi," said Renato Brunetta, head of Forza Italia in the lower house.

The anti-establishment Five Star movement (M5S) is also preparing its own motion, according to media reports.

"We all have to show we want to send Renzi packing. We will vote for no-confidence," said Five Star member Luigi di Mario, deputy head of the lower house of parliament.

A defiant Renzi played down any threat to his government.

"And so they present the umpteenth no-confidence motion. We will go to parliament, I hope as soon as possible," he said on his website, having refused calls on Friday to step down.

The opposition's move followed the resignation on Thursday of Economic Development Minister Federica Guidi over allegations she tweaked the country's 2015 budget to suit her businessman boyfriend.

- 'We can be unpleasant' -

Guidi stepped down hours after it emerged that her partner is under investigation for abusing his connection to the government in a suspected bid to help his engineering company win contracts with French oil giant Total.

In a wiretap recording leaked to the press, Guidi is heard telling him that an amendment to the budget law streamlining the approval process for new oilfields in southern Italy would be approved.

"Guidi's immediate willingness to resign threw the various opposition parties into panic, so much so that -- not knowing what to do -- they began shouting for the resignation of the whole government, guilty of who knows what," Renzi said.

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"Once again, parliament can send us home if it wants to. But I don't think it will happen," he said.

The 41-year old prime minister also said his centre-left Democratic Party (PD) was going to sue Beppe Grillo, former comedian and founder of the Five Star party, for saying everyone in the party had "their hands dirty with oil and money".

"We can be unpleasant or arrogant. But we are honest people," Renzi said.

Opposition leaders have seized on Guidi's resignation as fresh evidence that Renzi's administration is every bit as prone to sleaze as its predecessors.

Guidi's resignation came almost exactly a year after then transport minister Maurizio Lupi resigned after it emerged a businessman embroiled in a major public works corruption scandal had given Lupi's son a 10,000-euro Rolex watch.

While the PM continues to enjoy good approval ratings and has won plaudits for pushing through reforms in the two years since he seized power in an internal party coup, he faces a potentially tricky test at local elections expected in June.

He has also staked his reputation and political career on a contentious referendum over constitutional reform, scheduled for the autumn, which promises to be bitterly contested.
LAGOS (Reuters) - Nigeria's army arrested the leader of Islamist militant group Ansaru, a splinter faction of Boko Haram that has been accused of kidnapping and killing Westerners. In 2012 the U.S. State Department named Ansaru leader Khalid al-Barnawi one of three Nigerian militants blacklisted for ties to Boko Haram and al-Qaeda's north African wing. Defence spokesman Brigadier General Rabe Abubakar said al-Barnawi was arrested in Lokoja, the capital of the central state of Kogi, on Saturday. "We have made that giant stride," said Abubakar. He also said some Boko Haram fighters had surrendered to Nigerian troops. Muhammadu Buhari has made it a priority of his presidency to defeat Islamist militancy in Africa's most populace nation, which also has the continent's biggest economy. (Reporting by Alexis Akwagyiram; editing by John Stonestreet)
By Kim Palmer CLEVELAND (Reuters) - The Ohio childhood home of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, available for rent in time for the Republican National Convention this summer, could have been had for $8,000 a month until Friday afternoon, when the price went up and references to the infamous criminal came down. The home where Dahmer grew up and in 1978 committed his first murder is in Bath, Ohio, 26 miles south of Cleveland, where the convention is scheduled to be held in July. The listing on a real-estate company website initially included a reference to Dahmer but on Friday that was removed and the price had been increased to $10,000 a month. Dahmer was convicted in 1992 in the murder and dismemberment of 17 boys and men, some of whom he ate, over a period of 14 years. He was beaten to death in 1994 by another prison inmate while serving 15 life terms in Wisconsin, where most of the murders took place after he moved there. The listing by Howard Hanna, the official real estate broker for the convention, had been up since February and initially included the fact that the three-bedroom, two-bathroom, 2,170-square-foot home was once occupied by Dahmer. It had described the house as a mid-century modern home with a true park-like setting. Smoking and animals okay. This is Jeffrey Dahmer's childhood home. Close to Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Montrose shopping. Easy access to I-77 highway. By Friday afternoon, the Dahmer sentence had been removed. Julia Domenick, the listing agent at Hanna, could not be reached for comment. In 1978, at age 18, Dahmer killed a teenaged hitchhiker, then dismembered and buried the body in a shallow grave behind the Bath house. Homeowner Chris Butler, a member of the Akron-based punk band The Waitresses, bought the house in 2005 for $295,000 after its history was disclosed. He could not be reached for comment. (Story corrects third paragraph to say that Dahmer was serving terms in Wisconsin, not Minnesota). (Reporting by Kim Palmer, Editing by Ben Klayman)
Lagos (AFP) - Embattled Nigerian Senate president Bukola Saraki on Tuesday brushed off allegations of wrongdoing concerning his wife's offshore assets revealed in the Panama Papers, as he went on trial in Abuja on fraud charges.

The latest graft claim to hit the senate president emerged from the "Panama Papers" investigation into a trove of 11.5 million tax documents leaked from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, which specialises in creating offshore shell companies.

Saraki is alleged to have failed to declare at least four offshore assets listed under his wife Toyin's name that appear in the leaked documents, according to the investigation's media partner Nigerian newspaper Premium Times.

Under Nigerian law, it is mandatory for the president, the vice-president, state governors and their deputies to declare their assets along with those of their wife and children under 18 when they take office and before stepping down.

But Saraki said he did not do anything illegal and argued that the assets are listed as part of his wife's "family estate".

"I've fully complied with (the) law on asset declaration," Saraki said in a statement issued on Monday and posted on his website.

"The law does not require a public officer to declare assets held by the spouse's family," Saraki's spokesman Yusuph Olaniyonu said.

"It is public knowledge that Mrs Saraki comes from a family of independent means and wealth with numerous and varied assets acquired over decades in family estates and investments."

- Huge payments -

Saraki's corruption trial finally got under way before the Code of Conduct Tribunal in Abuja on Tuesday after months of delays.

He faces charges including false declaration of assets while he was governor of the western state of Kwara from 2003 to 2011, all charges that he denies.

Michael Wetkas, head of the team that investigated Saraki at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, took the stand as the first prosecution witness, telling the court Saraki had made massive payments into private company accounts.

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He used the deposits to repay personal loans from a local commercial bank and purchased property in Nigeria and abroad, Wetkas said.

Wetkas also said Saraki had laundered money through his British and US Bank accounts and failed to properly declare most of the assets.

Between 2005 and 2013, his Nigerian account had a total inflow and outflow of up to 4 billion naira ($20 million, 17.6 million euros), Wetkas said, with the local bank loan being the major source of the inflow.

A trained physician and former banker, the senate president is considered Nigeria's third most senior politician behind President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo.

Yet anti-corruption campaigners fear that the powerful politician will, like others before him, outmanoeuvre the law.

"The latest revelation about Saraki's family should not surprise anybody," Debo Adeniran, chairman of the Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders lobby group, told AFP of the Panama Papers leaks.

"We suggest that the Nigerian anti-graft agencies should collaborate with their foreign partners to move against Saraki and make him accountable," Adeniran added.

"If Saraki escapes the Nigerian laws because of the loopholes and leniency in our laws, the international community should not allow him to escape.

"He should get the Ibori's treatment," Adeniran said, referring to the case of former Delta state governor James Ibori who was acquited in Nigeria on corruption charges but jailed in London for a similar offence.

Several high-profile politicians are currently standing trial as part of Buhari's drive to tackle endemic corruption in Nigeria, Africa's largest crude producer and biggest economy.
Paris (AFP) - World leaders and celebrities exposed in a massive leak of their secret offshore financial dealings are hitting back, saying they have done nothing wrong despite a growing international furore.

Some of the biggest names in the scandal said they were being unfairly targeted even as the scandal mushroomed and a series of countries vowed to open tax evasion investigations following the leak of 11.5 million confidential documents -- the so-called Panama Papers.

The vast stash of records from Panamanian legal firm Mossack Fonseca was obtained from an anonymous source by German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung and shared with more than 100 media groups by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which published their first findings Sunday after a year-long probe.

Among those named by the ICIJ and fellow media groups for their offshore dealings are relatives of Chinese leader Xi Jinping, close associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Iceland's Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, and Barcelona striker Lionel Messi.

- 'Groundless allegations' -

Offshore financial dealings are not illegal in themselves but may be used to hide assets from tax authorities, launder the proceeds of criminal activities or conceal misappropriated or politically inconvenient wealth.

In Beijing, there was no official reaction to ICIJ allegations that eight current or former members of the ruling party's most powerful body concealed their fortunes through offshore havens, as well as relatives of Xi Jinping, who has overseen a much-publicised anti-corruption drive.

Asked whether China would investigate those named in the reports, however, foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said: "For such groundless accusations, I have no comment."

The Kremlin suggested a US plot after the leaks put a close friend of Putin's at the top of an offshore empire worth more than $2 billion.

"Putin, Russia, our country, our stability and the upcoming elections are the main target, specifically to destabilise the situation," said a Kremlin spokesman, claiming many of the journalists were former officers from the US state department, the CIA and special services.

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- 'Will not quit' -

Iceland's prime minister, former journalist Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, resisted mounting pressure to step down after the leaked documents purportedly showed that he and his wife bought a company in the British Virgin Islands in 2007.

Huge crowds gathered outside parliament late Monday demanding he quit and the opposition is set to table a motion of no-confidence over the allegations. But the prime minister insisted he had never hidden money abroad.

"I have not considered quitting because of this matter nor am I going to quit because of this matter," he told Icelandic television.

The family of footballing great Messi said the revelations showed no wrongdoing after the footballer and his father were named as owners of a Panama company that had not previously been disclosed during a Spanish probe into their tax affairs.

"The Panama company to which they refer to is a totally inactive company that never had any funds or any open current accounts," the Messi family said in a statement Monday.

Australia, France and the Netherlands have announced investigations into revelations contained in the papers. A judicial source said Spain had opened a money-laundering probe into the law firm.

- British PM's father named -

Panama also pledged to identify whether any crimes had been committed and any financial damages should be awarded.

Among the latest allegations of the Panama Papers investigations, which named about 140 political figures, including 12 current or former heads of state:

- A North Korean front company used to help fund the country's nuclear weapons programme, Pyongyang-based DCB Finance Ltd, was among the clients of the Panamanian law firm at the centre of a massive data leak, according to the BBC and The Guardian.

-- Prime Minister David Cameron's father ran an offshore fund that paid no tax in Britain for 30 years, according to the Panama Papers probe. Cameron's Downing Street office insisted it was a "private matter" although a government source later told AFP that the prime minister himself did not have any such funds.

-- Aides to French far-right leader Marine Le Pen put in place a "sophisticated offshore system" to hide money, according to Le Monde newspaper.

-- Syria used Mossack Fonseca to create shell companies to help it break international sanctions and fund its war effort, the French paper said.

Le Monde also said its investigation into the papers found British banking giant HSBC has 2,300 offshore companies created through Mossack Fonseca, Credit Suisse has 1,105 and UBS, also of Switzerland, has 1,100, while France's Societe Generale has 979.

Credit Suisse chief executive Tidjane Thiam said Tuesday the bank would only endorse "legitimate" offshore arrangements. "Clearly, tax avoidance is not one of those," he added.

HSBC has also distanced itself from the revelations. "The allegations are historical, in some cases dating back 20 years, predating our significant, well-publicised reforms implemented over the last few years," spokesman Gareth Hewett told AFP in an emailed statement.

- Leak 'a crime, a felony' -

The papers, from around 214,000 offshore entities covering almost 40 years, also name the president of Ukraine and the king of Saudi Arabia. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko denied any wrongdoing, but he may face an attempt to impeach him.

One of the Panama law firm's founders, Ramon Fonseca, told AFP the leaks themselves were "a crime, a felony" and "an attack on Panama".

Mossack Fonseca is subject to investigations in Germany and also in Brazil, where it is part of a huge money laundering probe that has threatened to topple the current government.
By Paul Lienert DETROIT (Reuters) - Tesla Motors Inc said orders for its new Model 3 electric sedan topped 253,000 in the first 36 hours -- a fast start for the company's first mass-market vehicle, which may not begin to reach customers for another 18 months or more. Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk tweeted on Friday that the Model 3, which is slated to go into production in late 2017, will sell at an average price of $42,000, including the price of options and additional features, which would give the initial flurry of orders an estimated retail value of $10.6 billion. That intense interest, fanned in part by a steady stream of tweets by Musk, could help boost Tesla's stock price, which closed Friday at $237.59, up 3.4 percent. The stock has soared more than 60 percent since hitting a 12-month low in February. The car's average selling price projected by Musk is well above the $35,000 base price. Analysts earlier had estimated the first Model 3s off the factory line in Fremont, California, could be loaded with extra equipment and sell for $50,000 to$60,000. Tesla has undertaken a costly expansion of the Fremont plant, aiming to boost annual capacity to 500,000 by 2020, with production of the Model 3, the company's first mass-market car, ramping up slowly through 2019. Some analysts said the company could have trouble filling all the initial Model 3 orders, which are accompanied by a refundable $1,000 deposit, until 2020. Barclays analyst Brian Johnson on Friday said the heavy influx of Model 3 orders "sets the stage for an equity offering" later this year by Tesla, much of which would go toward factory construction and product development. Johnson had estimated Tesla could take 250,000-300,000 orders for the car by the end of June. Musk unveiled a prototype of the Model 3, a smaller companion to the Model S sedan and Model X utility vehicle, amid considerable fanfare on Thursday night. Some prospective buyers who placed early orders may have anticipated paying a lower price for the Model 3 after factoring in a $7,500 federal tax credit on electric cars. But that credit begins to phase out once manufacturers sell more than 200,000 EVs - a mark that Tesla, at its current sales pace, is likely to surpass next year before the first Model 3 is delivered. (Reporting by Paul Lienert in Detroit; Editing by Alan Crosby)
By Wiktor Szary WARSAW (Reuters) - Thousands attended a pro-choice rally outside parliament in Warsaw on Sunday after the powerful leader of Poland's ruling party backed a call by Polish Catholic bishops for a full ban on pregnancy terminations. Poland already has one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the European Union. Official statistics show only several hundred abortions are performed every year, but pro-choice campaigners say underground abortions are very common. The debate around reproductive rights has been building up for months. The conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, which came to power in October, plans to tighten regulations to bring them into line with the Catholic Church's teachings, infuriating liberals and women's rights activists. Chanting "keep your hands off the uterus" and "my body, my business," the protesters waved wire coat hangers, a crude pregnancy termination tool widely seen as a grim symbol of the abortion underground. "Even Iran's abortion laws are more liberal than this proposal, that's why we must protest," said Marta Nowak, one the protesters at the rally, which was organized via social media by the left-wing Together party. Poland currently allows terminating pregnancy only at an early stage and when it threatens the life or health of the mother, when the baby is likely to be permanently handicapped or when pregnancy originates from a crime, for example rape or incest. In a letter read out in churches across the country on Sunday, but made public earlier this week, Polish bishops called for legislative action to tighten the 1993 regulation. ".. Catholics' position on this is clear, and unchangeable: one needs to protect every person's life from conception to natural death," they said. "We ask the lawmakers and the government to initiate the legislation." Kaczynski told reporters earlier this week that as a Catholic, he had to follow the bishops' call. While he would not force his party to vote for a ban in parliament, he was "convinced that a vast majority of the caucus, or perhaps all of it, will back the proposal." PiS plans to end state funding for in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and reinstate a prescription requirement for "morning after" emergency contraceptive pills. The party has a majority in parliament, and Kaczynski's influence means that the party's lawmakers tend to follow his cue. Prime Minister Beata Szydlo also expressed support for a ban. (Reporting by Wiktor Szary; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)
TUNIS (Reuters) - Tunisia said on Monday that it was reopening its embassy and consulate in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, following the arrival there of the U.N.-backed unity government. The diplomatic missions would be reopened "in the framework of backing the Libyan political process and support for consensus between Libyans", Tunisia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Tunisia closed its consular operations in Tripoli after gunmen stormed its consulate last June and kidnapped 10 staff, who were later freed. The leaders of Libya's unity government arrived in Tripoli from Tunisia last week, and have been operating from a naval base in the capital as they seek to establish their authority over two previously existing rival governments. (Reporting by Tarek Amara; Writing by Aidan Lewis; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
The Hague (AFP) - UN war crimes judges have ordered an indefinite halt to the trial of Croatian Serb rebel leader Goran Hadzic who is suffering from brain cancer, according to a ruling released Tuesday.

In a majority decision, the judges at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) found that Hadzic "is currently unfit to stand trial".

Hadzic, 57, was the ICTY's final suspect, wanted on 14 war crimes and crimes against humanity charges for his role in the 1991-95 war in Croatia, including the murder of civilians taken from Vukovar hospital in 1991 in one of the conflict's darkest episodes.

He is also charged with responsibility for the massacre of Croat civilians who were forced to walk into a minefield in the Croatian town of Lovas in October 1991 -- one of the first crimes of the long, bloody conflict.

In its judgement made on March 24 but only released Tuesday after being redacted, the court said reports from UN medical officers had shown "a recent and marked deterioration in Hadzic's ability to communicate".

In addition to the tumour which trebled in size between November 2014 when he was diagnosed and May 2015, a new lesion was found in his brain which was likely to impair his functioning "from week to week."

Various medical reports had thus led the court to find Hadzic was "no longer able to effectively exercise his fair trial rights, even with the assistance of counsel".

Rather than drop the proceedings, the judges ordered that they be halted "indefinitely".

Hadzic was arrested in Serbia in 2011 after seven years on the run, after the initial indictment was issued against him in 2004. He was transferred to the UN tribunal's detention unit where his trial opened in October 2012.

He was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer in November 2014, with doctors saying he had at best another two years to live. He was released provisionally in April 2015 to be allowed to travel to northern Serbia for treatment and has lived at his home in Novi Sad since then.

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- 'Final stage of life' -

Hadzic wanted to create a Serb-dominated state after the splintering of the former Yugoslavia in 1991 following the collapse of communism.

To this end, he is accused of "cleansing" non-Serbs from about a third of Croatia by using murder, unlawful jailings, beatings, deportations and forcible transfers.

With the ICTY based in The Hague preparing to wind down having indicted 161 people for the brutal Balkans wars, Hadzic was the last of a string of defendants to be prosecuted.

The one-time leader of the self-proclaimed Republic of Serbian Krajina during the early 1990s, he was the last of the 161 suspects to go on trial after being captured in northern Serbia's idyllic Fruska Gora mountains, two months after the court's most wanted fugitive former Bosnian Serb army chief Ratko Mladic.

The breakthrough in his capture came when investigators tracked Hadzic down as he was trying to sell an early 20th-century painting by Italian master Amedeo Modigliani, valued at several million dollars.

Dissenting judge Antoine Kesia-Mbe Mindua disagreed with halting the trial, saying instead that a judgement should be returned as soon as possible.

"Even a person who is in the final stages of his/her life is also entitled to a judgement... even if there is no hope of him/her serving a prison sentence," he wrote.

Recent weeks have seen a string of high-profile cases at the ICTY.

Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic was found guilty of genocide and sentenced to 40 years in jail on March 24. A week later radical Serb leader Vojislav Seselj was acquitted on all charges in a controversial decision which saw him declared "a free man."
Moscow (AFP) - The United Nations envoy on Syria, Staffan de Mistura, met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow Tuesday as he looked to lay the groundwork for peace talks expected to resume next week.

The visit came as the UN said the talks will likely restart in Geneva on April 11, but that regime negotiators would only arrive several days later, after the completion of parliamentary elections in the country.

"I plan to go to other locations, Tehran, Damascus, Ankara, Riyadh, in order to prepare better, but it's really important to start here in Moscow," de Mistura said at the start of the meeting.

"Moscow has been instrumental to what can be seen as the real momentum in the political solution."

Russian forces intervened in Syria last year in support of long-time ally, President Bashar al-Assad. Russia's support has helped Assad's regime make major advances, including recapturing the ancient city of Palmyra from Islamic State jihadists.

The last round of peace talks broke up on March 24, without making any concrete advances towards a political solution to the country's devastating five-year war.

Assad's fate remaining a major sticking point, with the opposition demanding he leave power before any transitional government is agreed.

The regime says the president's future is not up for discussion.

Lavrov said it was very important to make sure that the opposing sides had "completed their homework" ahead of the next round of talks and reiterated calls for direct negotiations to start as soon as possible.

De Mistura has so far been leading indirect talks, meaning that the regime and opposition have so far not met face-to-face.

Before the previous round of talks were suspended, President Bashar al-Assad's representatives said they would not return to Geneva until after the elections on April 13.

The UN does not recognise Syria's upcoming vote and is trying to strike a peace deal that would see fresh general elections, with opposition candidates included, held within 18 months.
Cops probe sexual assault of 7-year-old

The girl could not remember the times when the alleged sexual assault took place but said that it was on more than one occasion and involved a ten-year-old and 14-yearold, both relatives who live close to her. The girl said she did not tell anyone about the incidents because she felt afraid.

However, on Saturday the girl revealed all to her mother who took her to the police station and reported the matter to Sgt Dexter Pacheco.

A search was carried out for the two suspects but they could not be found. It was later discovered that the ten-year-old is out of the country while the 14-year-old was not at home when the police went there.

Officers of the Child Protection Unit were contacted and Cpl Figaro was assigned to the case.

The girl was initially taken to a doctor for examination and will be revisiting the doctor again today for further examination.

In an unrelated matter, a 14-yearold form three student of Chase Village, was abducted and taken to a bushy area where she was sexually assaulted on Saturday night.

According to reports, the girl left her home at about 8.30 pm on Saturday to go to an area known as the Triangle in Chase Village to purchase food.

While on her way to the food establishment she was accosted by a man known to her who ordered her into a bushy area at Lime Head Road, Chase Village where the man sexually assaulted her.

The girl made a report to the Freeport police and was medically examined by a District Medical Officer at the Couva Hospital.

An arrest warrant has since been issued for the suspect.
Man falls 30 feet and dies at harvest

Newsday understands that the incident took place at around 6.45 pm during harvest celebrations in the village of Betsys Hope.

According to police reports, Eric Warrick of Lucy Vale, Speyside was participating celebration and it was whilst leaning on a rail, in a yard that is 30 feet above the level of the roadway, piece of the rail broke off and Warrick fell off the embankment into the main road.

He was rushed to the Scarborough General Hospital in a private vehicle, however, he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Warricks daughter, Amrika Johnson Kerr told Newsday that even as the family continues to grieve, they are putting the blame squarely on the shoulder of the homeowner who their father visited.

This is really sad. But at the same time, I am trying to be strong for my family. What does the woman who they visited have to say in such a situation because, you know you keeping harvest, part of your place is unsecured.

No one is stopping you from keeping harvest but you could have placed some sign, some caution tape something to avoid a possible accident. She had nothing in place to say that the rail is unsafe.
Man pleads not guilty to attacking granny

Teejai, 28, appeared in the First Court before Senior Magistrate Rajendra Rambachan, who denied the accused bail for the court to obtain his criminal records tracings at the next hearing tomorrow.

The charge against Teejai alleged that on the night of March 25, at Buen Intento Road, Princes Town, he broke and entered the home of Kuntie Bachan with intent to rob and robbed her of a quantity of jewelry as well as TT$1,000 and US$1,000 together valued at $79, 800.

All items were the property of Bachan, a great-grandmother of six.

The charges were laid by Police Constable Mitchell of the Princes Town Police Station.

Teejai is also from Buen Intento Road, Princes Town.

After the magistrate read out the charge yesterday, court prosecutor Sgt Roger Richardson recommended that the case be heard summarily and Teejai pleaded not guilty.

Attorney Hosein Ali, who represented the accused, made an application for bail but the prosecutor objected on the basis that the tracing system was down.

As such, the prosecution did not have the criminal records of the accused.

Magistrate Rambachan denied Teejai bail and remanded him into police custody to reappear tomorrow.

On March 25, while asleep in her bedroom, two masked men broke into Bachans home.

One of the men sat on Bachans chest, striking her repeatedly about her head with a metal weapon while the other demanded she tell them where her money and jewelry were.

Bloodied and battered, she was bawling and beating up during the attack and then she decided to play dead.
Escapee: Judicial system failing me

Dressed in a blue Abercrombie and Fitch t-shirt and black pants, Henry was kept handcuffed throughout his court appearance.

As he stood in the prisoners dock he complained of the slow pace of the judicial system, saying it was failing him.

The judicial system failing me maam. It forcing me to take illegal ways, he said.

Henry, 32, complained that despite his attempts to get his matters started, nothing was happening.

When I trying to get my case started, they sending me to St Anns, he said.

The Chief Magistrate spent close to 20 minutes sorting out and seeking clarification on the court cases against him. Throughout this process, Henry assisted, after which it was determined that all of the matters except the murder charge and the gun possession cases had already been dismissed.

Some of the cases dated back to 1997.

He said he has been in prison since 2004 on the murder and gun charges. I inside since 19, I am 32 now and none of those matters start, he complained.

Thomas also provided some comic relief when he remarked that hes been locked up since Big Bird was a Hummingbird. Henrys mother, Claudine, who was also in court, said she wanted to fight her sons case of escaping lawful custody.

That is my son. He in prison but like Im in prison with him, she said, also telling the Chief Magistrate of the unjust treatment being meted out to her son in the prison.

Let him get his justice.

If he kill a man let him serve his time and come out, she added.

Henry too complained about being beaten during his detention at the Eastern Correctional Rehabilitation Centre (ECRC) in Arima, saying he was kept in a container without air.

In November last year, Henry was transferred from the remand section of the Golden Grove Prison in Arouca to the ECRC. In March, he was ordered to be remanded to St Anns for psychiatric evaluation, from where he and the five other prisoners escaped.

The other five appeared in court on Friday last, also charged with escaping lawful custody.

Thomas was the last of the escapees to be recaptured.

He was held on Saturday by officers of the Coast Guard and the Western Division Task Force in the Chaguaramas area. It is alleged he hid under a jetty before he was pulled out by a Coast Guard diver and handed over to the police.

I went and get a lil fresh air. I just wanted my freedom, he said during his court appearance yesterday.

He was also adamant that despite the information provided by the police, his name was not Sheldon Thomas, but Sheldon Shaka Ajuju Henry.
Chinese nationals fined for working

Deong Xueh He, 28, of Shiyan City, China, had been working at Happy Sunday gaming room at St Charles Village, near San Fernando. Yan Hong Cao, 48, had also been working at the gaming room, without a work permit.

Also appearing before Magistrate Brahmanand Dubay, was Xiaxi Li, who was packing mayonaise on shelves at Pong Yang Supermarket, along Cipero Road, near San Fernando.

The three pleaded guilty to the charge and, through interpreter Helen Lee, Dubay heard the allegations.

The court police prosecutor Sgt Krishna Beedasie, told the magistrate that Police Constable Chairam Singh of the Port of Spain CID, and who is attached to the Immigration Department, arrested the three Chinese.

Dubay ordered the three to pay the fine forthwith.

The magistrate also heard from the prosecutor that Xueh He, Cao and Li, had overstayed their time in Trinidad and Tobago.
Scraping the scalp can cause damage

However, I must warn you, when you scrape your scalp with a hard comb or a brush to remove these flakes, you can be creating a much more sensitive and damaged scalp environment.

Everyday our body spills off dead skin cells that are replaced by new cells.

You know its best to shower with a rag in order to rub your skin to remove, what our parents would call dirt. They taught us to soap that rag and rub your skin good.

Well, that so call dirt, is dead skin cells that our body is throwing off. Most of us bathe once or twice a day, but how often do we wash our hair.

The answer for most of us is that we wash our hair and scalp once a week, or even once every two weeks. Can you imagine how many dead cells we are accumulating on our scalp? Specialised shampoos are great for removing the dead cells from the scalp.

On the other hand, there are harsh detergent type shampoos that strip the hair and scalp of special natural lubrication  sebaceous oils (sebum).

This causes a drying of the scalp and leads to itching and flaking.

The side effect of the itching is that the scalp can become damaged, which can cause hair loss.

Now, you see how it all ties in.

Seborrhoea dermatitis can be seen on the hairline of most sufferers.

I say sufferers because if it is not treated with a multi-therapeutic approach, it can return with more vengeance. I see this one frequently and though this condition is not curable, it is controllable.

This condition is caused by a combination of things including, medical condition, use of some medications, stress, dry/cold weather and environmental toxins.

Hence before treatment, one must consider the internal and external factors that may be contributing to this condition.

Scaly scalp disorders can be embarrassing, since the flakes can be seen on clothes, in spite of the colour of the garment.

Black fabric against white flakes is even more noticeable.

In severe cases, flakes can also be seen in the eyebrows, moustache and the side of the nose.

So look around your office today and see whether there are or co-workers whom you may be able to advise to see a trichologist.

Tell them to seek advice so they can be saved from embarrassment.

Tell them that topical shampoo alone will not work, since it is necessary for the trichologist to examine the scalp, discuss their history and then take a holistic approach, for best result. Tell them that seborrhoeic or seborrhoea dermatitis may be a simple and common skin disease, but it is a disease that can be controlled.

Germaine Williams-Beckles is a Doctor of Trichology (DT T?CT) and nutrition consultant (NC), geesexclusive.com. For more info: 627-4659 or email your questions to queries@geesexclusive.

com
TT Card problem fixed

A statement from the ministry advised that the problem has been rectified and all systems related to the card continue to function, allowing clients to use their cards to make purchases at affiliated retail outlets and grocery stores throughout the country. Card holders are therefore encouraged to visit their groceries and perform their transactions.

Please call the ministrys hotline number 623-4770 for any issues or difficulties related to accessing funds under the TT Card, the statement added.

The ministry also reminds TT Card holders to complete their biometric enrolment by April 15. Failure to do so, it said, will result in a temporary disruption in the ability to access funds, as accounts will be placed on hold. The statement added that this exercise is being undertaken to ensure that updates and processing of TT Card applications, along with the distribution of funds, continue to be managed in an effective manner, to guarantee food support to those who need it most.

For further information related to the TT Card and enrolment process, citizens can contact the ministrys hotline or visit any of the nine enrolment centres in Trinidad and the one in Tobago
UNC chairman: PM justifies luxury vehicle with character assassination

Addressing a Peoples National Movement (PNM) Special Convention, at St Johns Ambulance Brigade Headquarters, Port-of- Spain on Sunday, Rowley, asked about PCM 1, said vomit is very difficult to wash out, cause even after you clean it, the smell is still there. However in an emailed statement yesterday, Lee described Rowleys statements as very appalling saying his demeaning allegations were not only aimed at assassinating the character of the Opposition Leader but was also a poor attempt to divert national attention away from the purchase of a Luxury vehicle during these presently turbulent economic times. Prime Minister Rowleys statements were unbecoming as a national leader and he must take into consideration when holding public office one must desist from political jabs as uttered on the election hustings but operate with diplomacy, decorum and respect towards all members of society, Lee stated, adding a Prime Minister was required to echo a tone, language and sentiments of national unity, mutual understanding and progress to ensure we forge ahead as a united nation regardless of political differences. Meanwhile, UNC deputy political leader, Khadijah Ameen, also described Rowleys statements as unstatesmanlike and wondered how long the PNM administration would continue to blame the former Prime Minister for its mistakes.

Also commenting was Tabaquite MP and former Works and Infrastructure Minister, Dr Surujrattan Rambachan, who, in a Facebook post, described Rowleys language as base and disgraceful.

I wish to strongly condemn the base and disgraceful vomit language used by Prime Minister Keith Rowley to defend the purchase of a $2 million Mercedes Benz at a time when the people of the nation are being asked to make sacrifices.
Work is proceeding

Work is proceeding, he said, and this year we expect we will have before Cabinet the outcome of our efforts in moving forward with Tobagos aspirations. Noting that in the September 2015 general elections the party had promised to bring to the fore Tobagos quest for internal self government, Rowley said that at present the economic crisis, unemployment, and security issues were attracting Cabinets attention in a way that was not anticipated when the party spoke of giving priority to move forward with Tobagos self government.

Paying tribute to Political Leader of the Tobago Council of the PNM Orville London  who announced that he will not be contesting the leadership race in Tobago at the partys elections yet to be announced  Rowley expressed Sincere and warm thanks to him.

This was greeted with a standing ovation and loud and prolonged applause for London at the partys special convention held on Sunday at St Johns Ambulance Brigade headquarters, Port-of-Spain.

According to Rowley, London represented the best that Tobago and the PNM could offer TT.

Noting that every politician has his own distinctive style, Rowley said that Londons was deliberate, communicative, serious and fair.

Relating how London joined the PNM, he said that he tried to persuade him to join the PNM when it was in Government during 1991 and 1995.

London told him that he would not join then because people would say that he joined because he wanted something. He said he would have joined when the party loses the election. The PNM lost the elections in 95 and he joined the PNM in Tobago.

One of Londons desire in public life, he said, was to see a future for children who should not depend on which party was in office in Trinidad and Tobago.

London was leaving a legacy of accomplishments, he said and has joined a list of illustrious men and women of Tobago who have given tremendous public service to TT. At the appropriate time in the year, Rowley said, it was his intention to recommend that London and former THA member William McKenzie be given special recognition.

In brief remarks, London expressed thanks for confidence and trust placed in him and called on the PNM membership to rally behind its new Tobago leader to retain all the 12 seats it now holds in the THA.
What you need to know about the Octagon Art Festival on Sunday in Ames

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After CNN journalist Dean Obeidallah is caught lying about right wing extremism in Belgium, he tells viewer to go f yourself!

CNN and Daily Beast contributor Dean Obeidallah told a Twitter user to go fuck yourself after he was asked to apologise for spreading a false story about far right activists and a hit and run attack on a Muslim woman in Molenbeek in Brussels.

(Article by Breitbart London, republished from //www.breitbart.com/london/2016/04/04/go-fk-comedian-dean-obeidallahs-reaction-learned-muslims-not-far-right-activists-mowed-muslim-woman-brussels/)

When confronted with the truth behind the falsely reported story that Mr. Obeidallah tweeted out on April 3rd  the Sirius XM host of the Dean Obeidallah radio show reacted angrily, first implying that no reputable news outlets had updated their stories to reflect the fact that the two men who ran over a Muslim women in Molenbeek this weekend were Muslim youths, not far right activists.

Breitbart Londons Editor in Chief Raheem Kassam provided Mr. Obeidallah with the facts behind the article, citing a Times of London story which included the attackers names  Mohamed B. and Redouane B.  as well as showing that the Daily Mail website had changed its headline shortly after Breitbart London reported that its story was false.

When Mr. Obeidallah was confronted by the facts of the case, as Breitbart London hasreported here, he offered the following response, claiming that he would only clarify if a Us media outlet like one from CNN or even Fox News was cited  despite the fact that his original link was from Britains Daily Mail, which has now quietly edited its headline, though its social media share buttons still allege the attackers were far right.

When asked by Twitter users if he would apologise, Mr. Obeidallah told them to go fuck themselves:

Earlier today Breitbart London reported that a hit and run on a Muslim women in Molenbeek this weekend, blamed on far right anti-Islam demonstrators, was in fact perpetrated by an allegedly drunk local youth named Mohamed.

The incident has been seized upon by anti-Islamophobia campaigners, many of whom have since failed to correct their original assertions, claiming that the attack was perpetrated by far right activists.

Breitbart London has reached out to CNN and the Daily Beast, where Mr. Obeidallah contributes, for comment on the matter.

Mr. Obdeidallah has previously claimed that Donald Trump is a bigger threat than ISIS  echoing comments made by the Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros who funds open borders groups around the world. He has also raised cash for the Council on American Islamic Relations, claimed that radical Islam is a made up idea, and attacked Christian terrorists on a day that 21 Christians were slaughtered by ISIS affiliates in Libya.

Read more at: //www.breitbart.com/london/2016/04/04/go-fk-comedian-dean-obeidallahs-reaction-learned-muslims-not-far-right-activists-mowed-muslim-woman-brussels/

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Chinas vaccine infrastructure found to be run by criminals and fraudsters Just like the vaccine industry in the USA

Fraud is a well stirred recipe in the U.S. corporate state. But the guilty parties are megalithic pharmaceutical companies like GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). In July of 2012, GSK was fined $3 billion dollars in criminal and civil liabilities concerning their branding and use of Paxil and Wellbutrin. It was the largest healthcare fraud settlement in history. But a company like GSK has deep pockets to pay huge fines and keep on marching. In the case of Chinas recent vaccine scandal, the guilty party was not a huge conglomerate with deep pockets; it was a mother and daughter. The BBC reports:

Chinese citizens have reacted with anger and alarm at news of a massive illegal vaccine operation uncovered in Shandong province. The illegal vaccine ring [in operation since 2011] involved hundreds of people, and affected 24 provinces and cities, local media said

The ringleaders, who have been arrested, were allegedly a mother and a daughter who purchased the vaccines from licensed and unlicensed sources, and then sold them on to illegal agents or local disease control and prevention centres for high prices, reported Xinhua state news agency.

The $88m (61m) worth of vaccines [which included those for polio, rabies, mumps, encephalitis, hepatitis B and meningococcal diseases] were not adequately refrigerated nor transported in approved conditions. The potentially compromised vaccines could cause disability and death, Xinhua said.

Chinese authorities had known about this illegal vaccine ring for nearly a year, yet said nothing

Saying nothing was the playbook used by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in the case of Poul Thorson, whose so called research was used to disprove the link between vaccines and autism. His indictment for fraud, as the Age of Autism reports:

He is a fugitive wanted by American authorities [under] investigation for collecting millions of dollars in bogus grant money, misrepresenting himself to his employers and the world and possibly forging the documents that enabled the scam It appears the CDC and several other major autism research centers have known about this for months and stayed publicly silent, even as the debate over autism and vaccines has reached several decisive moments

Chinese and U.S. medical systems share a dont care if you live or die policy

The sentiments of the Chinese affected by these fraudulent vaccinations are the same heard in the U.S., as reported by BBC:

This is such a huge case and not a single regulatory official has come out to apologize, not a single one has resigned this system which doesnt care whether ordinary citizens live or die makes ones soul tired, said one [Chinese] user.

 Its been nearly a year and then they reveal this! Isnt this genocide? Words cannot express how angry I am! said another.

Merck, the makers of the Gardasil vaccine, also used lies that led to death when marketing their pain reliever Vioxx. Health Impact News reports:

According to OSHA head David Michaels excellent book Doubt is Their Product, Merck knew from their pre-release clinical studies that Vioxx had four times the risk of heart attack as the placebo they used (naproxen) According to Michaels book, scientists at the FDA estimate that Vioxx caused between 88,000 and 139,000 heart attacks, probably 30%-40% of them fatal.

 So Merck (with foreknowledge) deliberately killed about 40,000 people that were simply taking a pain reliever drug (most werent heart patients). That is almost as many deaths as US combat casualties in the Vietnam war. That must make Merck the biggest corporate mass-murderer in history. Where is the outrage?

Indeed. Crime and Big Pharma are global brothers in arms.

Protect your immune system with food, not pharmaceuticals.

(Photo credit: New China)

Sources:

Justice.gov

BBC.com

AgeOfAutism.com

HealthImpactNnews.com

Science.NaturalNews.com

FoodForensics.com

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ISRO working with as many as 60 Ministries of GoI: Dr Jitendra Singh

New Delhi, Tue, 05 Apr 2016 NI Wire

10th SPIE Asia Pacific Remote Sensing Symposium inaugurated

The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh inaugurated the International Conference & Exhibition on Space under the aegis of Asia Pacific Remote Sensing Symposium here today.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Jitendra Singh said, the experience gained from various Space missions and its benefits have universal application and therefore, coming together of Space Scientists from different leading centres of the world does not only augur well for todays global world, but would also help in pooling our resources and inputs for a faster progress in the area of Space Technology. He expressed satisfaction at the fact that the major world centre of NASA is working in close collaboration with ISRO with the Indian Space Scientists and not only there is an exchange of scientific visits between the two centres from time to time, but many of Indian origin scientists like Sunita Williams have contributed richly to the NASA. At the same time, he also lauded participation of Space Scientists from France, Japan and China.

Dr Jitendra Singh said, it is a matter of pride that during the last two years of the Modi Government, Indias Department of Space and ISRO have been regularly launching foreign satellites from its launching stations at Sriharikota and the collaboration with Space centres across the world has been reinforced due to the personal initiative and interest taken by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi which has resulted in signing of a number of MoUs and further exchange of technical knowhow with countries across the world.

At the same time, Dr Jitendra Singh said, ISRO is expanding its activities and is now working with as many as 60 Ministries in Government of India and offering its inputs for developing Smart Cities, laying of new Railway tracks, construction of roads, assessment of soil and agricultural conditions, etc. He said ISRO portals Bhuvan and MOSDAC are providing satellite data which is being globally used across the world.

Similarly, images provided by Mangalyan Mission are also being borrowed by other Space Centres in the world, he added.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), along with the Ministry of Earth Sciences and the SPIE (the International Society for Optics and Photonics), is organising the four-day, Asia Pacific Remote Sensing Symposium, 2016 (APRS-2016) beginning today. The Indian Society of Remote Sensing (ISRS), which is a professional society of more than 4000 scientists/researchers, is hosting this Symposium. The symposium aims to focus on the applications of remote sensing technologies for disaster mitigation and to better monitoring of global climate change. The deliberations of the symposium will generate new initiatives and collaborative international efforts.

About 100 International participants and 300 National participants are attending the symposium. Many Heads of Space Agency including the Administrator of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), President of French National Space Agency (CNES), Vice President of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Vice Administrator of China National Space Administration (CNSA), Director General of EUMETSAT and Mexican Space Agency (AEM) are participating in the Symposium.

Todays symposium consisted of Special Plenary session on Next Steps in Space Observations - Vision for International Collaboration with Chiefs of Many Space Agencies as distinguished speakers followed by a Panel discussion on 'Space, Earth and Humanity'. Another Plenary session on 'Roadmap to Space based Earth Observations & Applications' was held with distinguished speakers from India and abroad.

During the symposium, 7 parallel conferences distributed in 80 technical sessions and 10 poster sessions and an International Exhibition will be held. These conferences will be focussing on remote sensing for atmosphere, clouds, and precipitation, land surface and cryosphere, oceans and inland waters, Lidar for environmental monitoring, hyperspectral and ultraspectral technology, techniques and applications, earth observing missions and sensors, modeling of the atmosphere, oceans and interactions, etc. The participants from India and abroad will present their scientific work related to various aspects of remote sensing, the latest developments and applications, discuss cutting-edge technologies, exchange research ideas, and promote international collaboration.

The symposium was preceded by two-day pre-symposium tutorials on 'Trends and Challenges in Remote Sensing & Geoinformatics', 'Satellite Meteorology and Data Assimilation', Remote Sensing Optical Sensor Calibration and Characterisation, and 'Designing the Climate Observing System of the future.

Later in the evening, Shri A. S. Kiran Kumar, Secretary, Department of Space and Chairman, ISRO, Major General Charles Frank Bolden, Jr., Administrator, NASA and Mr. Jean-Yves Le Gall, President, CNES addressed a Press Conference.

Source: PIB
Delhi BJP accused Kejriwal for defaming India's Image

New Delhi, Tue, 05 Apr 2016 NI Wire

Kejriwal and his Ministers are violating constitutional sanctity and their acts shaming people of India

New Delhi, 5th April. Delhi BJP President Sh. Satish Upadhyay has condemned the Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for misusing the government machinery & official residence for his political promotion and damaging the federal fabric of India by speaking on issues of international ramification from official CM residence.

Sh. Upadhyay has said that normally Chief Ministers in India never speak on topics related to national security or on Union Government decisions in Press Conference abiding by constitutional provisions and traditions.

We all know that CM Kejriwal & his Ministers have no respect for the constitution and he carries out anarchic agenda just to garner political brownie points.

Today by doing a Press Conference on Pathankot issue and making his Minister Kapil Mishra tweet to label PM Sh. Narendra Modi as ISI Agent the Delhi CM Kejriwal has shamed the nation more so people of Delhi and violated constitutional sanctity.

Delhi has seen political heavy weight CMs like Sh. Madan Lal Khurana, Sh. Sahib Singh Verma, Smt. Sushma Swaraj & Smt. Sheila Dixit for as long as 15 years but none of the 4 Titans ever misused their official residence for political agendas. Traditionally Delhi CMs held official PCs only for Delhi related issues.

Delhi BJP knows that CM Kejriwal will never desist from his anarchic agenda but we warn if to not to misuse public funds for his dirty politics. He is free to conmen all but should do it from his Party platform.
Mehbooba Mufti Took Oath as first CM of Jammu and Kashmir

New Delhi, Tue, 05 Apr 2016 NI Wire

For the first time Jammu and Kashmir got it's woman CM after months of negotiation with BJP

Jammu and Kashmir got its first ever woman chief minister as Mehbooba Mufti. She is not only comes from a dominating political family but also current president of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). She took Oath to head a 22-member coalition ministry with the BJP.

For past few week Jammu and Kashmir state was under the political uncertainty after the death of Mahbooba's father and former chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed On January 7.Though it was quite clear the Mahbboba Mufti will become the next CM of state but it took more than two months and became possible after several rounds of hectic negotiations between the two parties and apparent intervention by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Jammu and Kashmir have collation government formed by PDP and BJP. Both parties are known for their different Ideology. In the Legislative Assembly election, 2014 PDP won 28 seats mostly in Kashmir valley and wherein with big surprise BJP won 25 seats but remain dominate in Jammu. J&K assembly consist of 87 seats and in order to form government minimum required seats are 44 which none of the party achieved. After election negotiations started among the parties, finally BJP and PDP came together to form government in the state. Mufti Mohammad Sayeed became the CM from PDP and Nirmal Singh became the deputy CM from BJP. This time BJP managed to get equal representation in the cabinet.

The 56 year old Mehbooba, a single mother of two daughters took oath under the administered of Governor N N Vohra at Raj Bhawan in winter capital Jammu. Union ministers M Venkaiah Naidu and Jitendra Singh attended the swearing-in along with BJP general secretary Ram Madhav, who played important role in forming the alliance, National Conference leaders Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah. Congress leader did not attend the ceremony to protest against what happened in Uttrakhand.

It's not going to be easy task for her to remain in power and take decisions because politics of Kashmir is not easy especially when the collation is between BJP and PDP who think differently on the major issues of state including article 370 and AFSPA (armed forces special act).

PDP president Mehbooba Mufti was sworn in as 13th and the first women chief minister. She also became the second Muslim woman to head a state  the first was Syeda Anwar of the Congress who became the chief minister of Assam in 1980.
All Sections of the Society will have to Work Together for Water Conservation Says Uma Bharti

New Delhi, Tue, 05 Apr 2016 NI Wire

India Water Week-2016 Begins

Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Sushri Uma Bharti has said that all sections of the society will have to work together for water conservation. Inaugurating India Water Week 2016 in New Delhi today. The Minister said that water conservation is very essential for the sustainable development of the country. She said that increasing demand for water for various purposes on account of growing population, industrialization and urbanization pose serious challenges of creating facilities for conservation and proper utilization of available water resources. She said, at the same time, the deterioration of the water quality  of river water as also of the ground water  are serious issues. The likely impact of climate change on water resources adds to our challenges. The Minister said We have to address these issues on priority. Efforts are required at all levels and joint efforts are necessary to ensure that all sections of the society get benefitted from water, the precious gift of the nature to us. Sushri Bharti said Water for All: Striving Together is not merely the theme for this years India Water Week but also the need of the hour for all of us.

Referring to inter-linking of rivers the Water Resources Minister said Government of India is fully committed for water security through implementation of Interlinking of Rivers Projects. She said ever since the Government has come to power in 2014, Interlinking of Rivers (ILR) Programme under National Perspective Plan (NPP) has been taken up on a high Priority in right earnest. Sushri Bharti said I am confident that the work on Ken-Betwa link would commence shortly.

Referring to Jal Kranti Abhiyan the Minister said, I wish to pursue water conservation as a mass movement. She said the objectives of Jal Kranti Abhiyan are strengthening and grass root involvement of all stakeholders including Panchayati Raj Institutions and local bodies in the water security and development schemes like Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) and to encourage the adoption/utilization of traditional knowledge in water resources conservation and its management.

Welcoming the participation of Israel as a partner country the Minister said that she considers Israel as her guru who can teach the world how to save water.

The Union Minister for Finance, Corporate Affairs and Information and Broadcasting Shri Arun Jaitely underlined the importance of water conservation in the agricultural development of the country. He said investment in irrigation projects show immediate results vis-a-vis investment in other sectors. Underlining the contribution of agriculture in Indias economy the Minister observed that during the past two years we had erratic monsoon which calls for more attention on water management. While noting that irrigation is a state subject, Shri Jaitely said that centre will extend all out help to states in completing their irrigation projects.

Speaking on the occasion Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Shri Prakash Javadekar said that Government has managed to release industrial pollutant flowing into river Ganga by 30 per cent. Union Agriculture Minister Shri Radha Mohan Singh said that per capita availability of water in the country has gone down drastically which requires better water managements efforts. Union Minister for Rural Development, Drinking Water and Sanitation and Panchayati Raj Chaudhary Birendra Singh said the prime concern of the Government is, therefore, not just the creation of additional water related infrastructure but also of ensuring quality, sustainability and efficiency in water supply service. The Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that his state has extended its full support to the Ken-Betwa river link project.

The Agriculture Minister of Israel Mr. Uri Ariel thanked the Government of India for inviting his country as partner country of the event and expressed the hope that India and Israel both will benefit from each others experience in the field of water conservation and management.

The Union Water Resources Minister Sushri Bharti also launched a user friendly android based mobile application Jal Sanchayan which comprises all components of rainwater harvesting in single platform. It allows user to know from location conditions and interactive module enable user to calculate potential rainwater to be harvested in users location.

The fourth edition of India Water Week will be observed upto 08 April, 2016. The theme for this years India Water week is Water for all: Striving together. Israel is associated as the partner country for this mega event. About 1500 delegates from India and 20 other countries are attending the conclave.

The event has been divided into Seminars (eight nos.), Brainstorming sessions (six nos,), Panel Discussions (seven nos.), Case studies (six nos.) and Side Events (five nos.). These events will take place at ITPO, Pragati Maidan. Apart from this, an Exhibition Water Expo-2016 showcasing the technologies and solutions in water resources sector has also been organised at Hall No. 9, Pragati Maidan for the benefit of delegates.

It is a multi-disciplinary conference enriching the theme with dialogue by national and international community alongwith the exhibition. Delegates at the event will be immensely benefitted from Israeli experience in efficient management of water resources as well as other national and international experiences. Many reputed National and International Organizations, Research Institutes, Educational Institutions and NGOs from water resources, agriculture, power sectors etc. are participating in the event to share their knowledge and experience in the sector. Most important stakeholder of water, i.e. farmers from different parts of the country are also participating in this important event as a part of INPIM Programme on Participatory Irrigation Management and share their experiences.

The multi-disciplinary dialogue will be addressing the important initiatives of the Water Resources Ministry and priority programmes like Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojna (PMKSY), Jal Kranti Abhiyan, More crop per drop, Interlinking of Rivers, etc. apart from other important topics such as (a) Water and Health  managing water quality (b) Agriculture and Irrigation (c) Water and Power  hydro and thermal (d) Industrial water efficiency (e) Water supply and sanitation for rural and urban areas (f) Environment, climate change and water resources sector.

Partner country Israel will exclusively organise two sessions viz. (i) Role of Micro Irrigation in existing command and (ii) Israel makes in India - COEs and commercial success stories, water management. International Commission for Irrigation and Drainage (ICID) has organized first in the series India Irrigation Forum-2016 as a part of India Water Week-2016.

Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Government of India has been organising India Water Week since 2012 as an international event to focus on water related issues. Three editions of India Water Week have been organised so far in 2012, 2013 and 2015.

Source: PIB
Shri J P Nadda at the 6th Convocation Day celebration at PGIMER, Dr. RML Hospital

New Delhi, Tue, 05 Apr 2016 NI Wire

During the 6th convocation function the health minister said we are working toward the vision of Digital India and Swachch Bharat

Government taking concrete steps to strengthen tertiary medical infrastructure in the country said Shri J P Nadda, Union Minister of Health and Family welfare.

Mr Nadda continued and said the central government is giving a lot of importance to tertiary healthcare services and medical education. Our government has already announced 11 new AIIMS like institutions which we will be setting up in various parts of the country and also stated their government is pledged in order to realize Hon'ble Prime minister vision of Digital India and Swachh Bharat Abhiyan . He was speaking at the convocation ceremony of PGIMER & DR. Ram Manohar hospital.

While addressing the gathering Shri J P Nadda said in order to realize the dream of Swachch Bharat a scheme has been launched called KAYAKALP to increase and promote cleanliness in public health facilities and we are setting up AMRIT Pharmacy which is affordable Medicines and reliable implant for treatment which will avail the anti cancer, cardio vascular drugs and implant at discounted price to the common people. Not only this government is also trying best to encourage setting up of new medical colleges and strengthening the existing ones. Around 70 such colleges are being upgraded to super specialty in the entire countries.

Mr. Nadda further informed that government is upgrading 58 district hospitals to medical colleges and also 20 state cancer institutes and 50 tertiary cancer care centers are being set up.

The health Minister have urged the institutes to explore the tremendous potential of the IT services in Medical education to facilities students and patients and government is already taking steps to expand scope of Telemedicine, Tele-education, Tele-consultation, Tele-radiology and National Medical College Network (NMCM)is going to link 35 government medical colleges with national resource centre and 6 regional resources centers to utilize high bandwidth connectivity for the better use of Telemedicine.

DR. Jitendra was present at the convocation the importance of empathy and compassion and urged the students to concentrate and work up their communication skill with the patients. Shri Bhanu Pratap Sharma, Secretary, HFW, Dr. Jagdish Prasad, DGHS, Dr. A. K. Gadpayle, MS and Director, Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital we also presented at the ceremony
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Bandwidth (News - Alert) these days is a valuable commodity on par with gold, coffee or anything else. We need it to run a large and growing portion of our lives and livelihoods, and we need it in progressively more places. It is why leading companies like TELUS (News - Alert), despite economic uncertainties are willing to invest in next generation communications infrastructure as exemplified by the announcement that it plans to sink $4.5 billion into augmenting infrastructure across British Columbia, Canada.





A plan running the next three years, through 2019 calls for TELUS to lay in $1.2 billion this year alone just to bolster fiber operations to both urban and rural locations. Wireless service will also get upgrades, and both education and healthcare sectors will see new benefits. That's just part of a larger overall plan, both in the short termwhere the number will reach that $4.5 billion markand in the long term, as described by TELUS president and CEO Darren Entwhistle. Entwistle describes how, since 2000, TELUS will have invested over $51 billion in British Columbia to help offer better access to wired and wireless access alike.

With TELUS providing wireless coverage to almost 1,000 miles of previously-unserved highway, building several new wireless sites, adding a host of new communities to the TELUS Fiber networka gigabit-speed operationand nearly completing a project to bring fiber access to the west coast of Vancouver Island, it's easy to see where TELUS has already been.

TELUS' future is also noteworthy, as it is working on new security measures to help protect British Columbian businesses against online threats, as well as bolstering its data center operations in Kamloops to deliver private and public cloud options. And, just as aside, TELUS has even been seen as a patron of the arts, offering over $4.2 million in grants to bring local, original stories for air on TELUS Optik Local's video on demand service.

TELUS is proof that next generation connectivity and communications infrastructure are economically critical. As noted, it is actively looking at all aspects of its operations including new data center operationspotentially a major component of services like virtualization and cloud-based operationsand online security systems. Plus, obviously upgrading wireless and fixed broadband connectivity is key.

With communications service providers understandably concerned about their centrality as something more than dumb pipes, the moves by TELUS to invest to insure that centrality are to say the least substantial and come as they should with some sense of urgency.

Edited by Peter Bernstein
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Only two minutes after I had listed a dresser online for sale, someone was interested. I was ecstatic that the dresser would not only be off our hands, but wed get a little cash besides and in such short time. The buyer must have been searching for dressers for months, I thought, judging by
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Norfolk has grown, but some of the needs and wants havent kept up with the growth. A proposed half-percent sales tax would get the city caught up with many of those needs and wants with safety, streets, sports and recreation.
US Republicans Sunday stunned the world as they threw support behind Egyptian strongman al-Sisi calling him the right man at the right time to lead Egypt even as the latter is lambasted by right groups and the Obama Administration for the gloomy human rights situation in Egypt.

A group of US Republicans led by war-thirsty senator Lindsey Graham cheered President al-Sisi for his determination to wipe out IS, which is posing a big threat to the democratization and economy recovery process taking place in a post-2011 Egypt.

For Senator Graham, who was in Cairo, al-Sisi is the right man at the right time for Egypt at this juncture.

Graham took an opposite stance on al-Sisis human rights record deemed alarming by the Obama Administration and human rights groups around the world who have laid into the Egyptian president defining him as a human rights butcher.

For Gharam, al-Sisi was faced with the difficult task of striking a balance between security and rule of law.

I understand that the country is a new democracy and coming out of chaos, told reporters in Cairo.

He (Sisi) has to balance security with the rule of law there are elements that come to Egypt to disrupt the nation and there are many people coming here to help you. Dont treat them all in the same way, Gharam said.

Sisis regime is deemed worse than that of ousted Hosni Mubarak. Since toppling the only democratically elected Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi in 2013, al-Sisi has ruled Egypt with iron-hand, cracking down on supporters of the Islamist President. Hundreds have been killed and thousands, including Morsi himself, have been put in jail following trials deemed unfair.

Sisis regime has also been accused of forced disappearances of human right activists and silencing of outspoken journalists blacklisted by the regime. The latest report of Reporters without borders revealed that Egypt, under Sisi, is Africas largest prison for journalist and second behind China.

In the wake of the military coup against Morsi, the Obama Administration froze the US annual $1.3 billion of military aid to Egypt but would later release the funds in a move to help the regime overcome the ascending threat of IS in the Sinai and other cities including capital Cairo.
Libyas unity government yet to be approved issued Monday a decree freezing all state and institutions bank accounts expect for accounts for state salaries.

The decree followed a meeting between the Presidency Council, the Central Bank of Libya (CBL,) the Audit Bureau and major banks in an attempt to discuss the urgent financial and economic problems plaguing the Libyan economy and national currency which has seemingly lost its value.

The Faiez Serraj-led Presidency Council, since arriving in the capital Tripoli last Wednesday, has sought to assert its authority and has been enjoying approval of key actors including the Libyan Tripoli-based National Oil Corporation (NOC) in control of the countrys oil production and sale.

The Presidency Council issued another decree announcing the establishment of a finance committee headed by one of its members to oversee financial affairs until ministers of finance, economy and planning are approved by the House of Representatives (HoR.)

Even though Prime Minister-designate Serraj is gradually receiving the support of Libyans, he is still unsure whether Libyas internationally recognized parliament known as House of Representatives (HoR) will bless his government. The HoR expected to endorse the unity government, according to the December political accord signed in Morocco, has failed several times to proceed to the vote.

The House led by President Aguila Saleh has maintained that until it approves the unity government, it remains sole legitimate authority in Libya.

It reportedly issued a statement rejecting EU sanctions against Saleh, and against the Head of Tripolis unrecognized government now reportedly based in Misrata as well as Head of the HoRs rival parliament General National Congress based in Tripoli.

The EU has branded the trio as spoilers of the political process endorsed by the United Nations which has been trying to unite rival factions.
Algerian Defense Ministry Monday announced its forces killed four Islamists and seized weapons and ammunition in El-Oued, near the Tunisian border.

The four terrorists were killed by a detachment of the army in Bir El-Kasira area of El-Oued in the desert near the Tunisian border, said the Defense Ministry in a statement published on its website.

The statement indicated the national forces also seized at the flashpoint four Kalashnikov automatic weapons, grenades and ammunition. The operation deemed quality operation by the army is reportedly still under way to weed out other terrorists still running loose.

This latest military operation in the desert brings the number of terrorists killed at 11 over the past two weeks.

The Algerian army is still on the alert, confronting terrorists who continue to pose a threat to the Algerian regime after blistering bloody civil war in the 1990s left around 200,000 people dead.

Last year the Algerian army reportedly killed 157 terrorists.

Before 2011, Algeria was classified as the most unsecured country in the North African region with repetitive acts before Libya took over as lawless country where terrorist organizations among which IS have found playground and fertile land to expand.

In another development, Algerian and Tunisian authorities have expressed their determination to work together in fighting terrorism through intelligence sharing and increasing security at their common borders.

Receiving his Tunisian counterpart Mohamed Ennaceur on Monday, Algerian Parliament Speaker Mohamed Larbi Ould Khelifa, called on both countries to further enhance cooperation in their fight against terrorism.
Head of Moroccos internal intelligence service, Abdellatif Hammouchi, who is also Chief of the General Directorate of National Security (DGSN,) is visiting Moscow to seal bilateral collaboration in the fight against terrorism.

The visit is taking place less than a month following the official visit King Mohammed VI paid to Moscow mid-March. Morocco and Russia then signed an array of agreements including a joint Declaration on the fight against international terrorism.

The two parties stressed in this regard the need to upgrade international cooperation to combat terrorism and violent extremism under all their forms and called for strengthening the central role of the United Nations in the fight against international terrorism, transnational organized crime, corruption and other criminal challenges.

Hammouchi who is accompanied by a team of close collaborators is to meet Nikolai Patrouchev, the Head of Russian Security Council, according to Moroccan Arabic daily Assabah. For the Moroccan daily, Russian authorities are eager to work with Moroccan security authorities due to Moroccos renowned know-how and efficiency in the fight against terrorism.

Before the trip to Russia, Hammouchi was late March in Spain along with Moroccos Interior Minister for similar talks. They met with Spains Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz and Security Secretary of State Martinez Fransico and went over the two countries positive long standing security cooperation which has helped disrupt many terrorist cells, including those that recruit and send foreign terrorist fighters to hotbeds of tension.

Since the attacks on Paris and other terrorist assaults in Europe and Africa, the Moroccans are front and center in resistance against Islamic extremists.

Moroccan intelligence tips helped French authorities to neutralize Paris November attacks ringleader, Abdelhamid Abaaoud. Morocco sent warnings to Belgian authorities against nuclear attacks being planned by IS fighters. Two IS terrorists blew up themselves in Brussels last month killing more than 30 people.

Also, Moroccan intelligence service had informed Ivorian authorities of a likely al-Qaeda attack but the West African countrys authorities ignored the warnings, according to a high ranking officer of the Ivorian army. Yet, Morocco played a valuable role in the identification of Kounta Dallaha, the alleged mastermind of the heinous attack, claimed by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM.)
Mohammed VI Foundation for Environment Protection and UNESCO have agreed to enhance cooperation in the field of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD,) a program which enables people to acquire the necessary knowledge and skills for a better sustainable future.

Princess Lalla Hasnaa, the Moroccan Kings youngest sister and Chairwoman of the Mohammed VI Foundation for Environment Protection, presided over Tuesday in Paris the signing ceremony of a partnership agreement between the Foundation and UNESCO.

The agreement was signed by UNESCO Director-general Irina Bokova and the president delegate of the foundation Lahoucine Tijani. It is part of the UN Decade of ESD launched by UNESCO within the frame of its Global Action Plan (GAP) for 2015-2030.

The agreement will enable Morocco to benefit from UNESCO know-how and experience in ESD training. This will enhance the capacity of the Mohammed VI Foundation and give momentum to its programs such as Eco-schools, Young Reporters for the Environment and other programs related to the protection of environment.

Mohammed VI Foundation for the Protection of the Environment had partnered with UNESCO in the 1st UN Decade of ESD (2005 -2014.) Education for Sustainable Development means including key sustainable development issues into teaching and learning; for example, climate change, disaster risk reduction, biodiversity, poverty reduction, and sustainable consumption.

It also requires the adoption of teaching and learning methods that motivate and empower learners to change their behavior and take action for sustainable development.

ESD promotes efforts to rethink educational programs and systems (both methods and contents) that currently support unsustainable societies. ESD affects all components of education: legislation, policy, finance, curriculum, instruction, learning, assessment, etc.

ESD calls for lifelong learning and recognizes the fact that the educational needs of people change over their lifetime. Many individuals and organizations around the world already implement ESD (e.g. a teacher weaving sustainability themes into primary education using participatory methods; a community development worker raising peoples awareness on rights which are denied to them; or a public health worker training people to draw water from clean sources.) There are many programs using an ESD approach to learning which is critical for achieving sustainability.
He puts the AS in ASSHoL. Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images

Last week, George Mason Universitys law school announced that it was renaming itself the Antonin Scalia School of Law, in honor of the late, not-so-great Supreme Court jurist. In so doing, GMU nearly redeemed Scalias legacy  atoning for his fatal expansion of the Second Amendment, his oligarchy-entrenching vote on Citizens United, his various attempts to deny the full humanity of gay Americans  by providing generations of students with the opportunity to giggle about the ASSoL at George Mason University.

Alas, like most of the good things in this life, Twitter ruined the Scalia schools beautiful acronym.

Pro-Tip: Practice safe #branding. Watch your acronyms.

Mom! Dad! I got into the ASSoL! https://t.co/UvbDQtZcjj  Oliver Griswold (@originalgriz) April 1, 2016

Hearty congratulations to David Bernstein, who is now, officially, an ASSoL professor. https://t.co/9pnp1jwRp8  Henry Farrell (@henryfarrell) April 1, 2016

After days of mocking tweets, the universitys administration will be renaming the school the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Next time you see something, say nothing  at least when that something is the profane implications of a law schools acronym.
Photo: KENA BETANCUR

Mere days after Donald Trump declared there should be some form of punishment for women who have abortions  and then quickly changed his mind  another presidential hopeful is in trouble with both sides of the abortion debate. Hillary Clinton drew criticism on Monday after referring to the unborn as a person in an interview with NBCs Meet the Press. The unborn person doesnt have constitutional rights, she said, before adding, that doesnt mean that we dont do everything we possibly can to help a mother who is carrying a child and wants to make sure that child will be healthy to have appropriate medical support.

As mightve been expected, both abortion-rights advocates and abortion opponents quickly seized on Clintons remarks. Usually when you hear her talk its about the fetus, Tina Whittington, executive vice-president of Students for Life, told the New York Times. To acknowledge its a human person, a human child, to us its huge. Other activists condemned her use of the word person, saying it implies the fetus is an unborn child  rhetoric the pro-choice movement opposes.

Some people dont have constitutional rights, says @HillaryClinton. The civil rights issue of our time. #Prolife https://t.co/QR5pHAR4s8  Cong. Tim Huelskamp (@CongHuelskamp) April 4, 2016

.@HillaryClinton further stigmatizes #abortion. She calls a fetus an 'unborn child' & calls for later term restrictions. #MeetThePress  Diana Arellano (@diaarellano) April 3, 2016

Still others pointed out that, if Clinton does see a fetus as a person, that person ought to have constitutional rights. Its interesting that Hillary has now recognized the unborn as [a] person and that she wants to deny them equal protection, Rebecca Kiessling, a spokesperson for the abortion opposition group Personhood Alliance, told the Times. You cant have it both ways.

Planned Parenthood has already endorsed Clinton, and her gaffe is fairly minor compared to Trumps. However, the backlash serves as a reminder that abortion is a loaded, contentious issue, which will play an increasingly larger role as candidates vie for the support of female voters.
Ready for soaking the rich. Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

There are ways of reducing inequality in America that are too politically toxic to be implemented any time soon. For example, the government could stop subsidizing upper-middle-class families mortgages and give the savings to unemployed poor people. Or we could enact a land-value tax, which would drastically lower the cost of housing by socializing the value of the land on which its built. Even less extreme redistributive programs with the potential to benefit all, like single-payer health care, face the hurdle of pitting the immediate interests of one large swath of Americans  those who already have private insurance that they like and are afraid to lose  against those of the less fortunate.

But cracking down on tax havens? Punishing plutocrats and corporations who circumvent our tax laws with the help of scheming lawyers that no working family can afford? Thats as politically risky as wearing an American flag pin. Sure, taking aggressive action against tax shelters threatens the interests of one small group of Americans, but so does outlawing homicide. And forcing the superrich to pay their taxes is about as popular as preventing murder. Happily, this politically convenient target for populist rage just got lit up with a big spotlight: Over the weekend, news outlets across the globe began publishing the Panama Papers, a 2.6-terabyte trove of confidential documents from a Panamanian law firm that specializes in helping the wealthy avoid their tax burdens.

According to Pew Research Center, Americans No. 1 complaint with their tax system  ranking way ahead of I pay too much  is the feeling that some wealthy people get away with not paying their fair share. Even among Republicans that complaint ranked second after the complexity of the tax system, which implies a similar concern with fairness, albeit in less populist language. And tax avoidance is one of the few issues that unite the American left and the small-business community, which believes that multinational corporations talent for hiding money from Uncle Sam puts them at a competitive disadvantage.

Combating tax evasion isnt just good politics or a symbolic gesture with little real-world consequence. At least $8 trillion, or around 8 percent of all the worlds financial assets, is going untaxed in the Cayman Islands, Panama, Switzerland, or some other shelter state, according to Berkeley economist Gabriel Zucman. (Delaware is among said other shelter states. More on that later.) The combined tax-dodging of jet-setters and corporations costs the U.S. at least $165 billion a year, by Zucmans estimates  enough to fund Bernie Sanderss plan for free tuition at public colleges twice over.

And Tuesdays collapse of a merger between Allergan and Pfizer offers fresh proof of our governments capacity to rein in corporate perfidy. Pfizers plan to buy the Dublin-based company was motivated entirely by a desire to execute a corporate inversion  a scheme by which a company relocates to a low-tax nation, even as the bulk of its operations remain in a high-tax one. On Monday, the Treasury Department issued new regulations that prevent Pfizer from performing such an inversion through its merger with Allergan. On Tuesday, the deal fell apart, and Allergan shares are in free fall.

And yet neither Democratic presidential candidate has offered a detailed plan for rescuing our governments money from these freeloading oligarchs and their accomplices. But now some public-spirited soul, who happened to have access to the classified documents of a Panamanian law firm, has just given Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders the perfect opportunity to fill this hole in their partys platform.

The Panama Papers expose the inner workings of Mossack Fonseca, which, despite how it may sound, is not a delicious Mediterranean entree. If you want to know what Mossack Fonseca is all about, check out this line from one of the law firms (formerly) classified memos: Ninety-five per cent of our work coincidentally consists in selling vehicles to avoid taxes. Among the penny-pinching rich who purchased such vehicles were Icelands prime minister, Ukraines president, and pretty much everyone in Vladimir Putins inner circle.

Photo: Rodrigo Arangua/AFP/Getty Images

These revelations are a gift that the Democratic Party needs to accept. The Panama Papers have focused global attention on a source of economic inequality that only a tiny fraction of the American public has an interest in defending  a tiny fraction that exerts outsize influence over the GOP. In case you forgot, the Republicans last standard-bearer was a multimillionaire who minimized his tax bill by banking in the Cayman Islands  and said that anyone who doesnt go to such lengths to deny America revenue isnt qualified for the presidency. As this years primary campaign has grotesquely illustrated, much of the Republican base has lost faith in its Establishment. Democrats can use tax-haven reform as a tool for encouraging that justified distrust: Its hard to imagine a better way of highlighting the divergent interests of the GOP Establishment and the American public than by forcing Paul Ryan to block the Superrich Should Pay Their Fair Share Act of 2016. And make no mistake: The Kochs favorite legislator will block it. In 2011, Ryan told American Business magazine that the best way to combat wealth offshoring was to make this country a tax shelter for other countries instead of having other countries be a tax shelter for America. Make America Luxembourg again.

To be sure, drafting effective anti-tax-haven legislation will come with challenges. Tracking the global movement of private capital is no easy task. But researchers have generated a host of policies for making it easier. Zucman, who wrote the (recently released, critically acclaimed) book on tax havens, has proposed an international financial registry. In the United States, the Depository Trust Company registers the owners of stocks and bonds in order to facilitate electronic payments. The U.K. and Europe have similar systems. Thus, creating an international financial registry would be a political challenge, but not a technical one: You just have to give governments access to these preexisting registries and check tax returns against them. More immediately, Zucman recommends sanctions against money-laundering nations. As for corporate tax evasion, he proposes that we stop taxing companies based on where they reside geographically, and start taxing them based on where they sell their products, under a system of formulary apportionment. This means that if a corporation based in Switzerland makes 40 percent of its profits in the American market, that company would pay the American corporate tax rate on that portion of its profits. Economist Marshall Steinbaum has deftly illustrated the tax-haven-thwarting implications of this change:

The current system is subject to transfer pricing manipulation, whereby, for example, valuable but unmarketable intellectual property is sold to Googles Bermuda subsidiary for a pittance (where there is no corporate tax), and the rest of its units pay high rents to that subsidiary for its use. Under formulary apportionment, Google would have to assign profits to the places where its customers reside, and unlike the geography of its profits, it cannot control the location of its customers.

Once the U.S. unilaterally implements such a system, other countries will have great incentive to join  if they dont, their most profitable firms will start relocating to the United States, where there will no longer be a corporate tax for resident companies who sell entirely overseas.

After our foreign foes are vanquished, well need to take a hard look in the mirror: One of the many problems with Speaker Ryans remedy for wealth offshoring is that the United States is already a tax shelter.

In 2015, the U.S. placed third on the Tax Justice Networks Financial Secrecy Index, a list that ranks jurisdictions based on their secrecy and the scale of their offshore financial activities. That puts us eight spots ahead of Panama. In January, Bloomberg declared America the worlds favorite new tax haven. The reason? The United States is one of four countries that have refused to sign onto the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Developments standards for financial disclosure  standards that are already showing strong results in discouraging tax evasion. Signing onto those standards is something the U.S. could do unilaterally. Another thing we could do by ourselves is pass a bill that was once co-sponsored by Senator Barack Obama that would crack down on anonymous shell companies by requiring states to collect the names of the beneficial owners of enterprises incorporated within their borders. Although addressing the problem at home will spur some political resistance, for the few states that have a lot to lose from de-Caymanization (Delaware, Nevada, South Dakota), there are many more that are tired of these little pseudo-Switzerlands siphoning off their tax base.

These policies have their flaws. A global financial registry could be subverted through derivatives. Corporations could try to circumvent formulary apportionment through passive investment companies and other schemes. But in the estimation of many economists, these policies would be an improvement on the status quo. And Zucmans prescriptions arent the only policies that wonks have cooked up, or the only tools a Democratic president would have at his or her disposal.

One tool this Democratic president had at his disposal was Panamas desire to make a trade deal with the U.S. in 2011. And the Obama administration did reach a bilateral tax-transparency deal with the nation. But as Voxs Matt Yglesias notes, the provision wasnt nearly as robust as the agreements protections for American firms intellectual property. Public Citizen, along with a host of other watchdog groups and a certain Vermont senator, argued that the tax deal would do little to boost transparency, as it merely requires Panama to stop refusing to provide information to U.S. officials on specific cases if U.S. officials know to inquire.

This years Democratic primary has been, in part, a referendum on whether the next president should aspire to emulate Obamas tenure, or govern sharply to his left. Bernie Sanders argues that rampant inequality and stagnant middle-class incomes demand a radical break from the status quo. Hillary Clinton maintains that Sanderss program is politically impossible, and that making real progress requires deference to the broad consensus of the American people. To your average BernieBro, that just sounds like an excuse for showing deference to the Davos set. The Panama Papers give Clinton a chance to prove such bros wrong  to grapple with the crisis of inequality and assert her independence from moneyed interests, all without risking her prospects in the general election. For the sake of the country, the Democratic Party, and soaking the rich, lets hope she does.
Photo: JIM WATSON

Mississippi just signed into law one of the most sweeping anti-LGBT measures in the United States, allowing businesses, religious organizations, and private individuals (including government workers) to deny some services to gay and transgender people based on their sincerely held religious beliefs or moral convictions.

Mississippi governor Phil Bryant signed the religious liberty bill  interestingly named the Protecting Freedom of Conscience From Government Discrimination Act  on Tuesday, saying in a statement, The legislation is designed in the most targeted manner possible to prevent government interference in the lives of the people from which all power to the state is derived.

I have signed House Bill 1523. Full statement: pic.twitter.com/00DbgQADFt  Phil Bryant (@PhilBryantMS) April 5, 2016

Those sincerely held beliefs include opposition to same-sex marriage and the idea that a persons gender refers to his or her anatomy and genetics at the time of birth. Heres just a sampling of some of the provisions in the law. (You can read the full legislation here.) Private individuals, businesses, and religious organizations wont be punished if they refuse services, accommodations, or anything relating to the celebration or recognition of any [same-sex] marriage. (For individuals, the law lists out everything from photographers to DJs.) The law also protects religious entities when refusing housing or adoption services. It says businesses can determine who can use its restrooms, locker rooms, and other facilities. It grants government workers the right to recuse themselves from issuing marriage licenses. Businesses can decide whether to hire, fire, or discipline employees based on those moral convictions.

The law is set to take effect July 1, though a legal challenge is certainly possible. Mississippi businesses  including the Chamber of Commerce  and civil-rights groups have come out against the law.

Georgias governor vetoed a similar, but not as far-reaching, bill last month, after pressure to ditch the legislation from major players in the state economy, including Disney and the NFL. But as Daily Intelligencers Ed Kilgore pointed out last week, unlike Georgia, Mississippi doesnt rely on Hollywoods dollars, and unlike the rest of the sports mad Deep South, college and professional teams dont have the same presence  or leverage. So its desire to make itself a safe haven for anti-LGBT discriminators, Kilgore wrote, is allowed to burn more brightly than is the case with its more outgoing neighbors.

North Carolina, which passed a bill to override local anti-discrimination LGBT protections, just got slammed by PayPal today. The company said theyre nixing plans to build a global-operations center in Charlotte because of the new law, which was signed in response to a city of Charlotte measure that would have let people use the public restroom that matched his or her gender identity.
Make the Mexican-American War Happen Again. Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images

Every time Donald Trump promised that Mexico would finance a monument to American xenophobia across the length of our shared border, the mainstream media laughed. The notion was farcical, even by the deranged standard set by the moguls other policy proposals. Why would any government ever fund the quixotic boondoggle of a vastly wealthier neighboring state? For months, Trumps only answer seemed to be that Mexico would simply be cowed into doing so by the Donalds supreme toughness.

Its a dangerous thing to laugh at Donald Trump.

It turns out there are a lot of crazy things an American president can do if he has the willpower, some creative attorneys, and the capacity for great cruelty. (This is a lesson we should have learned by now.) On Tuesday, Trump revealed his plan to extort $5 billion to $10 billion from our ally to the south: use an anti-terrorism provision in the Patriot Act to freeze all money transfers from the United States to Mexico, until the ransom is paid. In other words, the Trump administration would intercept all the money that Mexican immigrants send home to their dependent family members and wait for the suffering of women and children to force Mexicos hand.

On day 2 Mexico will immediately protest. They receive approximately $24 billion in remittances from Mexican nationals working in the United States, Trump writes in a memo sent to the Washington Post. It serves as de facto welfare for poor families in Mexico.

According to the Post, $25 billion was sent home by Mexicans living abroad in 2015  but that accounts for Mexicans all across the globe, not just in the United States. Trump also proposes raising fees on visas and/or threatening to cancel them en masse for Mexican visitors.

Beyond the plans cruelty and diplomatic recklessness, it confirms fears that Trumps interpretation of executive authority would be expansive. Trumps plan requires reinterpreting key clauses of the know your customer provision of the Patriot Act. To enact such changes immediately  Trump vows to begin extorting Mexico the second he enters the Oval Office  the Donald would need to declare illegal immigration an emergency that poses an immediate threat to health and public safety. But canceling visas or limiting wire transfers doesnt directly limit immigration. Thus, Trumps plan would invite legal challenge. If its upheld, the proposal would spur yet another drastic expansion to executive authority.

We have the moral high-ground here and all the leverage, Trumps memo concludes, after rattling off the various ways that Mexico  a country we invaded and expropriated several states worth of land from  has always taken advantage of the United States. It is time we use it in order to Make America Great Again.
Photo-Illustration: Getty Images

Welcome to Its Complicated, a week of stories on the sometimes frustrating, sometimes confusing, always engrossing subject of modern relationships.





Most people dont know what conscious uncoupling is, so I have to explain that its what Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin did, and then they get it.

My husband and I met in college when we were 20, and we were together for 20 years  so our entire adult life. A big part of our problem was the fact that we both needed to become independent people. We only knew each other. But given that hes been such a large part of my world for so long, I couldnt imagine not having him in my life. And I dont mean just as my childrens father: I wanted to do whatever it took to maintain our friendship. I couldnt fall into that stereotypical hes the worst and I am perfect pattern. I really wanted to come out of it in a way that we could still be friends, even though I caught him cheating.

I follow Gwyneth Paltrows site, so I had heard about conscious uncoupling. We live in L.A., where theres a real openness to this type of thought process. We knew our relationship was ending but we wanted to be co-parents. So many of our friends are divorced and arent on good terms. Im a logical person and this seemed like a very logical solution to a deeply emotional problem.

After we got married, we had two kids in three years. Suddenly I was a wife and mother. I was responsible for taking care of everything in the house and he could focus on work. I was upset he didnt want to spend time with me or make me a priority. I felt like I had turned into a chauffeur, nanny, and cook. I felt like the hired help; I didnt feel like a partner.

My mom is from Mexico and my dad moved here for school from Iran when he was about 19. They have that immigrant mentality, no complaints about working hard or life being difficult because where they were from life was truly difficult. I didnt want to complain, so I kept a lot of it inside. Id been building resentment toward him for years.

He started seeing someone else and he moved out just after I found out. When he came back, he said we had to figure out what to do with the kids because he missed them. But he was saying it in a really cold, angry way. He didnt know what he wanted, he just knew he wanted to be separated. He didnt come out and tell me about this other woman, I had to shake it out of him. I could have been angry about that and cut him off forever, but why make it about her? To be honest, it was a relief. I was never going to admit that we had to break up; I know I would never have had the courage.

At first I didnt tell anyone except my parents, and I think they felt an additional pressure to maintain a friendly relationship with him. They feel like hes their son; they have known him for over 20 years. My mom took it personally. She was crushed. Shed ask, why would he do that? How could he leave us? She would ask if she could call him. I had to constantly pull her back. I was really hurt, but at the same time thats why I do love my family, because they are caring. That doesnt take away how painful it was for me. That was a huge part of why I knew I had to stop it from getting ugly. I didnt want to feel responsible for failing him and I didnt want him to resent me.

So we did the process together, with a therapist. He said he wasnt seeing this other woman anymore and I just decided to trust him. We had worked so hard to build this sense of stability for our children and we were determined to maintain that. And I knew thats what he wanted as well.

The plan was that we would have seven meetings either in person or on Skype. Ideally we would be together, but we could be separated by video phone if we wanted. Then we had five steps of uncoupling to go through. We only saw each other during the sessions  those scheduled face-to-face encounters really helped.

I was skeptical. I was taking a huge chance on trying this new type of therapy with someone who had just broken my heart and I didnt know what to expect. I was afraid he was going to hate it and blame me, I was afraid we were going to spend all this money on something that wasnt going to help us, and I was worried that I was not going to ever heal from this breakup.

Deep down I was thinking, If I change all this, if i improve, if I accept responsibility, he will want to be with me. But theres a specific chapter in the book that warns you about those feelings. They say they are natural feelings but you cant believe them. That was very comforting.

The steps are:

1. Find emotional freedom

In this step, I identified my feelings about my sudden breakup. It was not planned or discussed before so I was very confused about what was happening and why. Step one helped me name the exact feelings I was having so that I could later address them.

2. Reclaim your power and your life

Thats when I learned how I was victimizing my breakup. By victimizing my breakup, I was holding myself back from truly healing and growing.

3. Break the pattern, heal your heart

Step three was where I had to identify the patterns I was playing out in my relationship that were coming from my childhood fears and traumas. Then I could recognize when Im doing it and break the pattern so that I can live in the truth. My life is incredible, I love my life.

4. Become a love alchemist

In this step, I learned to make new agreements for myself: to let go of the marriage vows and promises my husband made to me in our relationship, to set healthy boundaries, to focus on my new healthy life.

5. Create your happy-ever-after

I told my husband that he is released from having to keep his promises to me. I learned to inspire forgiveness by speaking well of him. I wanted my friends and family to mirror my behavior toward him, to accept my part in the breakup, and become a new authentic person. Here the focus was on creating a new future together with my friends and family, not focusing on the breakup or unhappy times of the past.

Ive always had a huge wall up guarding my heart because I was so terrified of losing my husband and afraid of being hurt by him. But here I am facing the thing I feared the most: not having him as my partner. He even cheated on me, and I am alive.

I think I have avoided the word divorce because of the negative stigma it has. I dont want our friends or family to choose sides or our children to think hes to blame. I think that is normally what society envisions when we hear someone is getting divorced, so I like to use the uncoupling phrase breakup instead.

I recently started becoming more open, telling others besides my very closest friends and family about our breakup. I say, my husband and I are separated. I dont use the word divorce because it is not where we are at the moment, but once that process starts I will feel more comfortable saying it. When people ask how Im doing I say Im doing well and they are usually surprised. I tell them Im very happy to have found conscious uncoupling. I say that we have gone through the process of conscious uncoupling because we want to remain friends and continue to be great co-parents. I am the sort of person who needed to be told to focus on my feelings and not my husbands.

Its been about six months since he first left, and things arent as great as I thought they would be. We dont really talk unless it is about the children and even then it is by text. He does see the kids every other day. That part is still in progress. I have the kids all the time, and it is so hard to move on and focus on myself without him feeling like I have the best of everything. I dont have to work yet, and hes resentful. But I have found myself, finally, after 20 years. I have started setting goals that are only for me  like going to Bali  which I would never have done before. The uncoupling process made me focus on the future rather than dwell on the past. I dont feel anger, but I do feel like I am mourning a death. I think thats good, though, because its final. I am not getting on with my life to prove something to him or make him come running back to me.
A January pro-choice rally in Belfast for the 21-year-old woman. Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images

On Monday, in archaic-abortion-legislation news: A 21-year-old woman in Northern Ireland is facing a suspended prison sentence after buying the pills mifepristone and misoprostol on the internet to induce a miscarriage when she was 19. Her housemates reported the illegal act to the Police Service of Northern Ireland, according to The Guardian.

The woman pleaded guilty to using a poison and of supplying the poison with intent to procure a miscarriage, according to the newspaper. If she were anywhere else in the U.K., the woman would not be facing charges, but Northern Ireland still has a strict abortion ban.

A high-court judge ruled in November 2015 that the ban violates the human rights of women and girls, but Northern Irelands justice minister and attorney general appealed the ruling in January. As the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 remains in effect, women in Northern Ireland must flock to the U.K. to receive the care they need.
Aish looks like a wax figure in that pic

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and amitabh bachchan looks like a harrison ford wax figure

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With a bad lacefront.

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I honestly thought that was Harrison Ford when I glanced at the photo

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lmao

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LMAO

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Yeah because not paying greedy, exploiting companies a 1.99 song is the same as not paying taxes for your billions.

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Nah, I'm a hypocrite. I come down hard on these people while I torrent Star Wars just to fuck with Disney's shrinking bottom-line.



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I saw some people speculate that it might be being held back so that assets can be frozen before people move their shit. Idk how plausible that is, though.

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Iceland? Oh no.

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The PM already resigned. See what happens when people actually hold their elected officials accountable?! It CAN be done, USA!

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GET THE LUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUDES

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YESSSSSS lmao

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ONTD, have you ever had your presidential aspirations dashed by your offshore holdings?



Only every day :(

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ugh I feel you sis. #thestruggleisreal

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It benefits me. And really that's all that matters. Why are they trying to dash my hopes and dreams???

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Never.



I was smart enough to hide my off-shore holding in gold and sink them off the coast so that a coral reef could grown on them and eventually I'd go back and dive for them when I needed them. I mean currently I flush my gold down the super secret toilet I have and wait for it to land in that coral reef and then wait for it to get covered up.



Luckily my off-shore holdings are located in the Great Garbage Patch and since no one wants to really go there, they are are safe from further exploitation. I'm also thinking of expanding to the Bermuda Triangle.



I really thought this plan through. Please don't share it with anyone else.



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Our prime minister was named in the Panama Papers, too. He's such a scumbag.

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Yes, him.

LOL



Edited at 2016-04-05 04:32 pm (UTC)

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I mean did they get to Asif Zardari yet?



I can't wait for that!



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OMG @ Aish! So disappointed in her.

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I'm here for naming every person that is there, but it is a derailment act like it's worse that Messi or Jackie-chan are there than u know, drag the motherfucking politicians with money there, money that is 500% likely to have been earnt by corruption, the media is transparent.

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yeah, mte.

to be honest tho, i find the idea of the leak itself crazier (like the sheer scale of documents/info, how journalists coordinated this, and who the source was etc.) than the actual info itself. like...we know rich people ain't shit. i'm not surprised by that.

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Ok, who is the guy in your icon? asking for a friend.

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MTE! I'm just sad that this is the 4th largest firm that does this. Imagine if information from the Top 3 were leaked. If only....



Also, this is why we need DAMN MONEY OUT OF POLITICS.COM!!!!

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And why isn't the British press dragging the politicians through the rails? Because I think David Camerons father, senior Tory peers and former Conservative MPs are among the hundreds of individuals named in this shit storm.

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thiiissss

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Cuz the British Press and its owners are hiding their money too

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oh shit, he's her father-in-law right?



Aish and Abhishek are my irl OTP because of this movie







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Abhishek looks so young here omg, I had forgotten.



And I still remember how people on a Bollywood forum I used to visit had stan wars about Abhishek&Aishwarya and Abhishek&Rani... it was so stupid thinking back on it lol

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my facebook feed keeps saying the panama papers are gonna "ruin" HRC? How are people jumping to this conclusions. I'll be completely honest i haven't read much into since i haven't had the time.

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Is your facebook feed bull of Bernie bros? NO US politicians have been named yet. That's all speculation.

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It actually didn't come from my Bernie supporting friends it was more so my Trump supporting friends on FB tbh.

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Indeed, if she/Bill/Chelsea/the Clinton Foundation were a client of Mossack Fonseca, she would be toast. But the likelihood of that is kinda not so great. It's not impossible but far far from inevitable. So I am not sure what your feed is smoking.

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expose IT!! my not-so-secret hope is that this dismantles the american congress



ETA: I KNOW THIS ISNT GONNA HAPPEN, but



Edited at 2016-04-05 03:05 pm (UTC)

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I don't see a problem with this lol, I know the government is entitled to taxing your income/finances but...after a certain point when you reach such a top tier in money...the govt takes SO much. /shrugs I say go for it if you can get away with it lol

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most rich people in the US are going to pay a lower percentage in income tax than middle class people even if they keep all their money in the US, since capital gains taxes are drastically lower.

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exactly! plus, once you reach that level of wealth, you have so much fucking money that you'd never miss it if you didn't know it was going to taxes.

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wtf girl

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are you kidding?

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Yeah I mean fuck it, let the middle class shoulder everyone's asses, right? Because that sounds sustainable.

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that's because at a certain point two things happen



1) you have so much money, taking more doesn't impact your quality of life or degree of wealth. you're still ultra rich even if you're taxed at a much higher rate. that's why we have a progressive tax system.



2) you have an ethical/moral obligation to give more considering you hold most of the world's wealth. wealth redistribution is the only way to counterbalance free market capitalism.



the government should use that money for social programs rather than political theater/war, but yanno, that's another convo altogether

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This shadow-y "fake company" shit isn't merely legal tax avoidance, it also helps terrible people who do not merely want to avoid to taxes but need legal fronts for illegitimate businesses. In this particular case, doing this was illegal. In another case Mossack Fonseca's offshore company founding helped North Korea getting their nukes built This shadow-y "fake company" shit isn't merely legal tax avoidance, it also helps terrible people who do not merely want to avoid to taxes but need legal fronts for illegitimate businesses.

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the world is a mess because of people like you



shut up please

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You know most of the money kept in the of the offshore "shell companies" are millions of dollars of unpaid taxes. It's corruption.



Unpaid taxes mean more money for the middle class to get fucked over.



Edited at 2016-04-06 12:28 am (UTC)

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Isn't he the dad in Piku? Gods damn was he annoying.

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lol at Amitabh being reduced to 'the dad in Piku'.

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lmao ikr

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Lmaoooo

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Last week, a sweeping investigative report published by The Huffington Post and Fairfax Media put a little known Monaco-based company, Unaoil, at the center of a wide-ranging bribery scandal that involved dozens of corporate giants from around the world. The article calls it the worlds biggest bribe scandal.

After spending months investigating and combing through vast troves of emails and internal documents, The Huffington Post and Fairfax Media published a bombshell report on the bribery empire setup by Unaoil, a company based in Monaco. The report alleges that Unaoil and its subcontractors bribed foreign officials to help major multinational corporations win contracts in a variety of countries including Iraq, Kazakhstan, Iran, Libya, Syria, Tunisia, and many more countries in Africa, the Middle East, and the former Soviet Union.

Unaoil is not a household name, but the family-run company from Monaco, according to thousands of internal documents reviewed by the reports authors, worked to win contracts for many regulars in the oil and gas industry, including Halliburton, KBR, Rolls-Royce, Samsung, Honeywell, FMC Technologies, Hyundai, and many more. Related: Company Accused Of Bribing Oil Producers Has Offices Raided By Police

The publication of the report, putting Unaoil at the very center of a massive international bribery ring, was met with head scratching by many energy analysts. Despite its seemingly crucial role in so many oil and gas contracts awarded around the world, very few have heard of the company.

The alleged operation was relatively straightforward. The clients  exploration companies, construction and engineering firms, and oilfield service contractors  would pay Unaoil large sums, and Unaoil would secure contracts for them by bribing government officials in the country of interest. Many of Unaoils clients claim that they did not know that Unaoil was bribing government officials on their behalf, but the report asserts that some were either willfully blind or were fully aware of the corruption.

In the case of Libya, the exhaustive report describes one glaring exchange, in which a Canadian fracking company contacted Unaoil, asking questions about how to approach a bribe in Libya, using astonishingly candid language. Related: Irans Masterplan To Ramp Up Energy Exports

What we are curious about is to what type of Baksheesh [a common slang term for bribery] is needed to present to these men in order to get work started, the president of the Canadian fracking company wrote to Unaoil. I believe this is common practice in Libya, but we are not sure how to handle this. Is this something that needs to be done after work hours one on one? An added value amount to the ticket for them, or a flat fee a month, we are not sure. What are your thoughts on this?

Iraq was one particular place where Unaoil had a heavy presence. The reports says Unaoils country manager for Iraq, Basil Al Jarah, routinely bribed Iraqi government officials who were deemed useful to us and to Unaoil's clients  multinationals such as British firms Rolls-Royce, Petrofac and Clyde Pumps, U.S. listed giants Weatherford, Cameron/Natco and FMC Technologies and European firms such Saipem, SBM Offshore and MAN Turbo. Using coded language in communications, Unaoil built relationships with powerful officials in the Iraqi government, including the oil ministry. The Unaoil fixers would take Iraqi officials on shopping trips and pay them bribes, which were called holidays in coded language. Related: Oil Bust Takes Its Toll On Latin-American Oil Output

The result? Unaoil and its clients were fleecing the people of Iraq, and in the process making a mockery of the U.S. government's promise, after toppling Saddam Hussein, to ensure Iraq's oil wealth would benefit all Iraqis. Most of the documents reviewed by the investigation took place between 1999 and 2012, corresponding with the post-2003 invasion and rebuilding of Iraq, a period of time when much of the current landscape of Iraqs oil sector was constructed.

Coming in the wake of the publication of the huge investigative report, police officials raided the offices of Unaoil in Monaco last week. The U.S. Department of Justice, the FBI, the anti-corruption police in the UK and Australia have all opened up a joint investigation into Unaoil.

The report illustrates the extensive corruption that exists in the oil and gas world, particularly when it comes to the process of tendering lucrative contracts in countries with weak governance and corrupt bureaucracies.

By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
The most intriguing news on the world stage this week came from uranium. Where a longtime no-go mining nation looks to be on the verge of signing a major deal to restart production.

Thats Argentina. A country with substantial uranium deposits, which have been under a mining moratorium since 1997.

But that could soon change, according to reports from Bloomberg at a nuclear summit being held in Argentina. With the news service citing familiar persons as saying that one of the biggest owners of uranium projects in the country has signed up a deal for development financing and technology.

The company is UrAmerica. A privately-held uranium developer that has consolidated 61 licenses covering 255,000 hectares of mineral projects in Argentinas Chubut Province. Related: OPECs No.2 Producer Rudderless As Oil Minister Resigns

Reports noted that UrAmerica signed a deal at the nuclear summit with an unidentified U.S. listed company. With the incoming partner to provide up to $150 million in production technology to jumpstart output from the UrAmerica deposits.

UrAmericas CEO Omar Adra was quoted as saying that the company will now be able to produce uranium in Argentina in 2019.

The big move is reportedly coming as Argentina is seeking higher levels of uranium supply  to feed a fourth nuclear reactor now in construction, as well as a fifth unit planned for construction using financing from China. Related: The Worlds First 24/7 Solar Power Plant

If such a deal does come to pass, it would be a major signal that Argentina is committed to re-opening uranium mining. With incoming investors unlikely to pony up the reported sums unless they had reasonable certainty that officials will give mining the go-ahead.

The money involved also suggests that the incoming financier is a major player in uranium. And likely a current producer  given that reports also stated the firm could send its own uranium supply to Argentina.

The most likely candidate given the description is Cameco. Watch for a final announcement from UrAmerica or perhaps the Argentinean government on the exact identity of the key player in this developing story.

Heres to bringing it back,

By Dave Forest

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Supporters of Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton vehemently agree on one issue: Donald Trump should not be president.

Despite Sanders and Trump sharing an unprecedented number of potential constituents due to similarly emotional campaigns, democratic socialists abhor Trumps gaudy wealth and evident narcissism. Despite Clinton receiving political contributions from Trump in the past, moderate democrats despise Trumps racial scapegoating and loud, proud misogyny.

But both camps need to learn to comprehend and communicate with Trumps many, many supporters.

Even conservatives are struggling to communicate with their own base. In the National Review, a conservative publication struggling to comprehend and explain the rise of Donald Trump, Kevin Williamson wrote that "the white American underclass is in thrall to a vicious, selfish culture whose main products are misery and used heroin needles. Donald Trumps speeches make them feel good. So does OxyContin."

The thrust of the article insists that the poor, uneducated white voters whose anger has buoyed Trumps successful campaign have "failed themselves." This toxic rhetoric is similar to the rhetoric which insists that poor, uneducated black citizens are intrinsically deficient. Although impoverished workers could be natural allies, poor whites must learn how to recognize intersectional oppression before contributing to meaningful dialogue.

Poor black populations and poor white populations are opposed to each other because market forces place them in direct competition for wealth and prestige. Blue-collar whites in rural America exhibit last-place aversion: They politically support candidates who promise to ensure that minorities, especially undocumented immigrants, are situated below them. Blue-collar blacks in urban America do not currently have a major party candidate who addresses their fears and concerns.

It is difficult to convince a white man whose job was deleted and replaced by a new computer or shipped away as part of some acronym-named international trade deal that his black neighbor has it tougher. When comparing two tragic tales, how does one convincingly insist that black pain is more deserving of advocacy? History, facts, truth, logic and argumentation: These are inefficient when addressing purely emotional pain. The ardent Trump supporter will not be swayed by your truth. With that said, we have two choices: write them off or find a new way to discuss systemic racism.

We cannot fault people of color who are willing to write off Trump supporters. As Matthew Braunginn wrote in Madison365: "[Trump is] letting people know its OK to lash out against those they fear  now, they have a leader to coalesce around." Having a leader to coalesce around is, in itself, a white privilege. Although the Democratic candidates for president give lip service to race  especially in the days before primary contests with large minority populations  neither Bernie Sanders nor Hillary Clinton have addressed solutions to systemic racism. In lieu of addressing race, both candidates emphasize class, as if to solve poverty would instantly resolve racial divisions. As usual, minority populations must settle for the least unsettling candidate while poor white Americans have strong voices in Sanders and Trump.

I do not believe that writing off Trump supporters is the best decision for resolving racial divisions. The most militant poor blacks and the most racist poor whites have common ground  economic inequality hurts them both, albeit unequally. How do we convince Trump supporters that wealth and opportunity inequality is caused by those who control the market rather than the minorities who are competing for the same rung of the economic ladder? It is an especially difficult question when Trumps extreme wealth is not viewed as a detriment but as a goal for poor white voters.

We have to start with understanding. Voters are self-interested; how does Trump appeal to the self-interest of a poor white man? Simplified rhetoric using few syllables and plenty of reassurance is diametrically opposed to, say, Clintons evasive, lofty, often out-of-touch utterances. Liberals speak in large ideas that require education. The definition of the term "institutional racism" is not part of an Appalachian coal miners network of information. Trump is easy to understand. That matters. It is also encouraging: it means that communication is not impossible, just difficult.

My first recommendation is to simplify terms when communicating with Trump supporters. This is not an insult to Trump supporters, but rather an indictment of the rhetoric used by liberals supporting people of color. We too often shut down dialogue by insisting that participants in our conversations must arrive to the table with the same sets of information. For example, the term "person of color" is a relatively new term that is used to emphasize the humanity of minority populations. It is also a shibboleth. A 74-year-old white Trump voter who calls a black person a "colored person" is immediately marked as someone who does not have the information to participate in a meaningful conversation about race. Those hoping to have critical conversations about race must learn to correct with care rather than derision.

My second recommendation is to focus more intently on the sociology of racism rather than the psychology of racism. Even conservative pundits recognize the ugly racism of Donald Sterling or David Duke, and by focusing on calling out racists rather than racism, we harm our own conversations. How? By focusing only on the ugliest, least subtle forms of racism  those exhibited by individuals who are verbally racist  we give space for Trump supporters to oppose Trump to the KKK. Instead, we should be focusing on the systems which perpetuate racism. Racism functions after Sterling is admonished. Giving them such heavy attention allows institutional racism to persist because it operates subtly, sociologically, and Trump supporters have a psychological view of racism.

My third recommendation is to give them incentives to listen. Trump supporters are humans who are voting primarily for one incentive: dignity. In an article entitled "Trump Supporters Arent Stupid," Emma Lindsay wrote that "[w]e are depriving the white working classes of their means to give. As we export manufacturing jobs internationally and as we streamline labor with technology, we start moving people to the sidelines. Its not just that they have less money, its that their identity as providers is being threatened." The key to dialoguing with a Trump supporter is to keep last-place aversion in mind.

How do we assure them that resolving systemic racism will, in fact, benefit their socioeconomic circumstances? How do we communicate that the worries of the proletariat affect both whites and blacks? How do we maintain patience in the face of an angry white person willing to sucker punch a black protester at a Trump rally?

Conversation can feel futile. But if the best solution of social justice advocates is to write off Trump supporters as too angry, too unwilling or too uneducated to have a reasonable discussion about racism, we are committing the same sin as political rhetoricians who decided that black communities were too angry, too unwilling and too uneducated to deserve attention.
Americas Navy is coming home to Milwaukee in 2016, one of 15 cities selected to host a Navy Week, one of the Navys signature outreach programs.

Milwaukee Navy Week is scheduled for July 4-10, coincident with Summerfest, and is designed to give area residents an opportunity to learn about the Navy, its people and its importance to national security and prosperity. The Navy plans to include the following elements in the week-long celebration:

Navy divers and Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal teams

Sailors from USS Constitution, the oldest commissioned warship afloat in the world

Navy Band musical performances

Senior Navy leaders, who will engage with local corporate, civic, government and education leaders

Navy simulator(s) and other interactive displays

Visits to area schools

Community service projects

Visits with local veterans

Since 2005, the Navy Week program has served as the Navys signature outreach effort into areas of the country which do not have a significant Navy presence, with 181 Navy Weeks being held in 68 different U.S. cities.

"Navy Weeks are designed to help Americans understand that their Navy protects and defends America on the worlds oceans, that their Navy is deployed around the world around the clock and is ready to defend America at all times," said John Wallach, Deputy Director of the Navy Office of Community Outreach, which plans and executes the Navy Week program. "Because the Navy is concentrated primarily on both coasts, were challenged to communicate our mission away from fleet concentration areas. Thats where the Navy Week program comes in."

Navy Weeks focus a variety of outreach assets, equipment and personnel on a single city for a week-long series of engagements with key influencers and organizations representing all sectors of the market.

"During a Navy Week, 75-100 outreach events are coordinated with corporate, civic, government, education, media, veterans, community service and diversity organizations in the city," said Lt. Cmdr. Brett Dawson, Navy Office of Community Outreach Event Planning Department. "We bring in as much of the Navy as we can. The Blue Angels, the Navy Parachute Team, bands, divers, Seabees, EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) teams, crews of ships and submarines that are named after a city or state or have a tie to the area, hometown Sailors, medical personnel, environmental displays, USS Constitution Sailors and equipment, and Navy recruiting assets all have participated in the Navy Week program."
Last Friday, I was in Chicago, where the Chicago Teachers Union was staging a one-day strike. While the Milwaukee Public Schools, for which I teach, was on spring break last week, a number of my Milwaukee colleagues were marching alongside their Chicago brothers and sisters.

I wasn't; I was having a long-planned and much-needed vacation. Part of me felt guilty for not walking the streets with my fellow educators. Most of me, though, was glad to have some time not thinking about what has been a grueling school year here in Milwaukee, not thinking about what has happened to public schools here in Wisconsin, not thinking about what consequences will follow the April 5 elections and the Nov. 5 elections and on and on.

But I followed some of the run-up and aftermath on social media, including a series of thought-provoking tweets from Shaun Johnson, who writes the "@ The Chalkface" blog. He is an elementary school teacher in D.C., a former college professor and one of my current favorite teacher-bloggers.

"One day is certainly not the end of the world, but I'm not sure I support the CTU walk out from here in DC," he tweeted. "Teachers have already worked and will work numerous hours beyond what contracts stipulate. Why the walkout then?" In other words  if he'll forgive me the paraphrase  what lesson do you teach management by withholding labor you regularly already provide for free?

Johnson elaborated some on his blog later, including his distaste for calling teachers who remain in the classroom for the students (or, as he pointed out, for the sake of fellow employees who would not get paid for the day if school were called off) "scabs."

Striking or sick-outing as a teacher is a tricky business. I won't judge those striking in Chicago; their grievances are significant and real. For all that Wisconsin's teachers feel that they have been dumped on and maltreated in the last five years, what's happening to teachers in Chicago right now seems an order of magnitude worse. It deserves far wider attention than it's been getting.

Still, the counterpoint, as articulated by other Chicago teachers, hits my right in the gut. "Our profession has always cared about showing up for our children. Now isn't the time to stop." Though some of us got into teaching thinking we could change the world  and I did think that once!  we thought we would do so by working with the children: Those we teach will be the real change agents, and we teachers merely the ones holding open the door.

I couldn't help but think back five years to February 2011, when Wisconsin teachers, legally forbidden from striking, nonetheless called in sick for days at a time to go march in Madison to protest Act 10. MPS had to cancel school one day as a result; other districts lost more than that. While I did go to march in Madison, I did it on Saturdays after the initial round of weekday sick-outs had ended. Like my presence in Chicago over the weekend, this choice was more coincidental, as it turned out I was out of the country the week all that went down. I had already agonized over whether to leave my classroom and decided to go.

I had a supportive principal, a competent student teacher, some pretty self-motivated Advanced Placement students and an A/B-day schedule that meant even a week away was really only two or three days away from any one group of students I taught. Still, it took a pretty remarkable opportunity, and those specific mitigating circumstances, to convince me it was okay to be away from my classroom for a whole week. I had never done it before, and I have never done it since in nearly twenty years of teaching.

When I got back to U.S. soil, I wrote about exactly how hard a decision that kind of thing is and whether I would have been calling in sick like my colleagues. "I am not comfortable with the kind of labor actions that have shut down schools," I said. I wrote that while I was sitting in an airport and didn't really have the space or the iPhone-thumb dexterity to get deeply into it, but here's some of what I was thinking.

A whole lot of the students I teach get their most reliable meals at school. Where do they eat while I'm marching through the streets that day? Where do families find child care? How do parents who had to stay home with their children make up a day's missed wages? How do I tell a school principal I liked and trusted  and who, as I said, supported me  that though none of it was her fault I was going to be one of those teachers piling on problems for her. And like Johnson, I worried about non-teachers whose non-work day would be non-paid, too, from bus drivers to crossing guards to lunch ladies.

Mostly, I wondered what kind of teacher I would be if I chose to walk away from what was by far the most teachable moment in my students' lives.

A lot of students around the state, especially Milwaukee and Madison, made the trip to march with their teachers, which was undoubtedly a catalyzing moment for many of them who are now in college "feeling the Bern" or otherwise being the kind of activists we change-the-world teachers always hoped for.

Those who stayed, though, needed someone in the classroom who could help them understand the issues and figure out what this moment of revolt, if not revolution, was all about. And they wanted to know! They asked not just why school was canceled and why we marched, but why the other side felt it was important to change the rules about collective bargaining and health insurance and pensions (a related question I answered a lot: what's a pension?). And yes, I presented a variety of sides; I may be a flaming liberal online but try to be a neutral arbiter in the classroom.

The AP exam later that spring  remember my self-motivated AP students?  featured a question inspired by Thomas Paine, who wrote in 1791 that the young United States lived in "cordial unison," that Americans' "government is just ... and as there is nothing to render them wretched, there is nothing to engender riots and tumults."

I have rarely been more proud of my students than when they came to me that afternoon following the exam excited about how their answers had been deeply informed by what we discussed and read and watched and heard in class. For those kids, because I was in the classroom for them and used the Madison protests as way to get them writing and thinking critically, their answer to Paine was not grounded in dusty history but in a real and living present. That's powerful.

At the same time, it wouldn't have been possible for me and my students to even have that conversation without the actions of my colleagues who did throw caution and ambivalence and worry to the wind and went to Madison, without the college students and other activists  among whom number some of my good friends  who occupied the capitol for hundreds of hours straight.

In the end, if I were a Chicago teacher and not a Milwaukee one, I probably still come down where I was five years ago: I support the goal of their activism, but not walking away from their students.

I no longer labor under the naive belief that I am going to change the world. But I do remain firmly convinced that I can change some of my students, because I have seen it happen. I saw it happen in 2011. I saw it happen after Sept. 11. I saw it happen in 2008 after Barack Obama's historic campaign and victory. I bet a lot of Chicago teachers will see it this spring  but only if they are in the classroom.




When it comes to dissidence and democracy, nobody does it better than KPFK, KPFA, WBAI and their sister stations in DC and Houston, and more than a hundred eighty affiliates.

We can make a strong case that Pacifica Radio, the bastion and bulwark of listener-funded media for well over a half century, has done more to protect our lives and liberty, and has done it better, than the Department Of Homeland Security.

In plain fact, there is probably no other uniquely American institution in our times that has done more to watch our backs.

KPFK in my home town L.A. and its parent Pacifica Radio, nationally, both as my long-time Democracy University on-the-air, have done more to educate and enlighten me than any other source I've known, including Youtube and the rest of the new media universe.

And so it should come as no surprise that for the past three years, as has happened a number of times before in its storied past, there has been an intense putsch and ongoing coup to loosen up and appropriate Pacifica's licenses, and hence to drive it off our cultural and political landscape.

Starting in 2013 at its flagship station in Berkeley, Pacifica Radio has been put through the most convoluted fifth column-style shenanigans, now recently culminating with the new CFO there, Sam Agarwal "anticipating" a 60 day deadline for recommending the liquidation of WBAI in New York and WPFW in DC. The two East Coast stations, the closest to the national centers of power, would be put up for auction or sale, due to their being a number of months behind in network payments (although in recent years both famed California stations, KPFK and KPFA, had fallen behind in the same way, and for longer periods, without them being offered up for liquidation at that time).

Summer Reese, the executive director, was fired only six weeks into a three year contract two years ago, as she began to audit the stations and crack down on alleged piracy in NY. She and stalwarts occupied the national office until forced to decamp by court order. At the time, Reese said she was "occupying to stop the breakup of the network".

Those words look prescient today.

Gary Null, a very popular muckraker and host at WBAI with a high national profile in the dissident community, says he has had forensic evidence of illegally-copied premium products, both his own and those of others, even as all kinds of malfeasance from the usual suspects are proliferating across our landscape.

Roy of Hollywood, aka Roy Tuckman, host of KPFK's most popular broadcast, "Something's Happening", had his show recently trimmed from its perennial schedule ~ maintained for the past forty years from midnight to 6 AM ~ to half that, now starting at the very wee hour of 3AM, as an apparent consequence of his raising the alarm on the air at KPFK, with his staunch efforts resulting in a crucial success for the stations' listeners in recent elections, through a majority of independents for Pacifica being voted into office on the LA local board. (I have been fan and listener to his show, "Something's Happening ~ Dynamite Radio for Night People" since its inception in 1977.)

Meanwhile, there are Tea Party affiliates and millionaires pulling all kinds of strings to try to wrest control of the stations and boards, gaining entrance to their affairs through a variety of Trojan Horse incursions. Can you say, "Operation Mockingbird" or "COINTELPRO" or the 1% trying to buy out "Radio for the 99%"?

Coincidence or Conspiracy?? We report, you decide.

For a more comprehensive calendar of all the derring-do, see this article "A Timeline of the Coup" at http://pacificainexile.org/archives/1817 .

We don't expect all readers to have a complete grasp of the blow by blow of this 15 rounder. But we ask all lovers of free speech, civil liberties, and American media democracy (i.e., the free flow of information) to write Pacifica at PNB@PACIFICA.ORG and sound the alarm at the mere mention of so dastardly a deed as liquidation of these unique and singular franchises of freedom.

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Reprinted from Consortium News

Sadly, some important duties of journalism, such as applying evenhanded standards on human rights abuses and financial corruption, have been so corrupted by the demands of government propaganda -- and the careerism of too many writers -- that I now become suspicious whenever the mainstream media trumpets some sensational story aimed at some "designated villain."

Far too often, this sort of "journalism" is just a forerunner to the next "regime change" scheme, dirtying up or delegitimizing a foreign leader before the inevitable advent of a "color revolution" organized by "democracy-promoting" NGOs often with money from the U.S. government's National Endowment for Democracy or some neoliberal financier like George Soros.

Or as the Guardian writes : "Though the president's name does not appear in any of the records, the data reveals a pattern -- his friends have earned millions from deals that seemingly could not have been secured without his patronage. The documents suggest Putin's family has benefited from this money -- his friends' fortunes appear his to spend. "We are now seeing what looks like a new preparatory phase for the next round of "regime changes" with corruption allegations aimed at former Brazilian President Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The new anti-Putin allegations -- ballyhooed by the UK Guardian and other outlets -- are particularly noteworthy because the so-called "Panama Papers" that supposedly implicate him in offshore financial dealings never mention his name.

Note, if you will, the lack of specificity and the reliance on speculation: "a pattern"; "seemingly"; "suggest"; "appear." Indeed, if Putin were not already a demonized figure in the Western media, such phrasing would never pass an editor's computer screen. Indeed, the only point made in declarative phrasing is that "the president's name does not appear in any of the records."

A British media-watch publication, the Off-Guardian, which criticizes much of the work done at The Guardian, headlined its article on the Putin piece as "the Panama Papers cause Guardian to collapse into self-parody."

But whatever the truth about Putin's "corruption" or Lula's, the journalistic point is that the notion of objectivity has long since been cast aside in favor of what's useful as propaganda for Western interests.

Some of those Western interests now are worried about the growth of the BRICS economic system -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- as a competitor to the West's G-7 and the International Monetary Fund. After all, control of the global financial system has been central to American power in the post-World War II world -- and rivals to the West's monopoly are not welcome.

What the built-in bias against these and other "unfriendly" governments means, in practical terms, is that one standard applies to a Russia or a Brazil, while a more forgiving measure is applied to the corruption of a U.S. or European leader.

Take, for instance, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's millions of dollars in payments in speaking fees from wealthy special interests that knew she was a good bet to become the next U.S. president. [See Consortiumnews.com's " Clinton Stalls on Goldman-Sachs Speeches ."]

Or, similarly, the millions upon millions of dollars invested in super-PACS for Clinton, Sen. Ted Cruz and other presidential hopefuls. That might look like corruption from an objective standard but is treated as just a distasteful aspect of the U.S. political process.

But imagine for a minute if Putin had been paid millions of dollars for brief speeches before powerful corporations, banks and interest groups doing business with the Kremlin. That would be held up as de facto proof of his illicit greed and corruption.

Losing Perspective

Also, when it's a demonized foreign leader, any "corruption" will do, however minor. For example, in the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan's denounced Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega for his choice of eyewear: "The dictator in designer glasses," declared Reagan, even as Nancy Reagan was accepting free designer gowns and free renovations of the White House funded by oil and gas interests.

Or, the "corruption" for a demonized leader can be a modest luxury, such as Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych's "sauna" in his personal residence, a topic that got front-page treatment in The New York Times and other Western publications seeking to justify the violent coup that drove Yanukovych from office in February 2014.


The Grand Old Party -- To Live and Die in Wisconsin?

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"When the head of the Ku Klux Klan"comes out in favor of the candidate of my party, either they are not Republicans or I'm not" -- from "Confessions of a Republican ," a 1964 anti-Barry Goldwater political ad

It happened in the days leading up to this month's Republican Wisconsin primaries, a perhaps life, or death point in time for the GOP which in 1855, was born -- aptly it now seems -- in a little white schoolhouse in Ripon, Wisconsin. In prepping for this article I Google-imaged the phrase: "GOP demise." The first photo that popped up was of Donald Trump wearing a white hood....I mean "cap" emblazoned with his tired misnomer, "Make America Great Again."

The guess here is that any individual American whose concern for this country's greatness comes equipped with a built-in bullshit detector, would likely view that search outcome as easily predictable, but still worthy of serious contemplation -- at least for a moment.

But for the masses of so-called "establishment" Republicans now stressing over their Party's current image and future viability, the thought of a rabble-rousing carnival-barker like Trump appearing as the top result of that random Google search requires a much lengthier period of scrutiny. In this instance, Trump's orange-hued visage comes out on top of the wrong kind of poll; one that hints of demise. And so, it's easy to assume that a truly introspective Republican would interpret the result of that image query as a kind of creepy "canary-in-the-coal-mine" moment; an illustration of ominously prescient symbolism that feeds an increasing anxiety directly related to Trump's presence in their Party.

Without question that anxiety is raised by the suggestion that because of Trump, the Republican Party is sinking in demise so potentially wide-ranging that it portends of something far worse than just a temporary slump. The whispers are becoming deafening, and they speak of total extinction; the Death of the Party.

Life of the Party?

Of late, it's become far easier for the GOP to deny climate change than to deny the changes that have heated its own political environment to extinction-level proportions. Both sides -- the anti-Trump establishment and pro-Trump outsiders -- are equally fanatical in the belief in their cause, and immovably absolute in the naked contempt they hold for that of the other's. On one end there's Trump, who --ginned up by an uptick in GOP voter participation and packed campaign rallies -- literally sees himself as the new "Life of the Party." While on the other are the establishment Republicans who view him as breathing new life into a failed political agenda from which the GOP had planned on distancing itself.

A report released last December by the non-partisan Center for American Progress provides a basic summary of the political realities which hurt the GOP in 2012 and from which the Party's establishment had hoped to start moving away as 2016 drew near. In part it reads:

"The main challenges for Republicans in 2016 are twofold: first, an overreliance on white votes at the expense of building a broader demographic coalition in battleground states and, second, an agenda and political tone that is too conservative and exclusionary for a national electorate."

The Center's assessment essentially mirrors the findings of a similar evaluation -- commissioned in 2013 by the Republican National Committee and characterized as an "autopsy" -- of the GOP's 2012 defeat. Together they strongly suggests that the GOP cannot survive as a viable national party as long as its focus remains on wooing the type of voter who is attracted to the kind of messages delivered by candidates like Trump. After the calamity of 2012, this reality started to become more widely accepted within GOP circles. South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, for example, began warning that the Party's core voter bloc is losing a demographic race to an invincible foe -- geriatrics.

"We are not generating enough angry white guys to stay in business for the long term," Graham conceded back in 2012. Incidentally, Graham's acknowledgement came on the heels of a confrontation during that year's GOP Convention that could be interpreted as a preview of the stuff that's been going on at today's Trump rallies. That 2012 incident involved a black CNN camerawoman who had been pelted with peanuts at the convention as she was told: "This is how we feed the animals."

That was then and -- as illustrated by the racially-charged nature of Trump's rallies, where punches not peanuts are being thrown -- things have obviously gotten much worse. Indeed, rather than considering the warnings about xenophobia and divisive rhetoric, Trump seems to have fashioned them into the blueprint for running his campaign.

In terms of his standing with, and impact on, the GOP, Donald Trump symbolizes the privileged Frat House member who refuses to follow the rules. He's the one who undermines Frat House leadership, disparages fellow members, backstabs others, pits frat boy against frat boy, and brings such a ruckus to Frat House meetings that they often explode in temper and bloody violence. Few organizations could survive in an environment of such insufferable conduct and Frat House's leaders would likely conclude that there is no basis to further acquiesce the troublemaker's membership.

Such is the case with Trump. Therefore, what the GOP needs to do -- without negotiation, pretense, subtle coercion, trade-off, or any form of political bribery -- is handle its Trump problem by the same manner in which Trump handles troublemakers at his rallies. As Trump would say; "Get him out!" At this point it's all but inarguable; for the sake of both its survival and the resurrection of its brand, the GOP must carry out an immediate, complete, wholly transparent, and fully prejudicial purge from their Party of Donald Trump.





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Eva Resnick-Day, the activist who asked Clinton to take the pledge, said the following in an op/ed on the Greenpeace web site:

The Clinton campaign also attacked Bernie Sanders on guns when they held an event with parents of an Aurora, Colorado, shooting victim. The parents attempted to sue the gun manufacturer, but the case was thrown out because of immunity laws that protect gun manufacturers. Sanders supported the legislation that granted immunity but has expressed willingness to re-address the issue.

Click Here to Read Whole Article

Hillary Clinton is also taking aim at Sanders' time as an Independent, claiming that her long ties to the Democratic Party should mean something.

Let's be clear, if the Clinton campaign thought they had the nomination wrapped up, they would not be attacking Sanders. They will need his supporters in November to beat the Republican nominee.

Sanders has also turned up the heat, challenging Clinton to a debate in New York. The pressure seems to be working, and it appears that both sides are close to a date and location. If Sanders were no longer a threat there would be no New York debate talks.

Despite the media narrative, Bernie Sanders does have a path to victory. The media is doing everything they can to spin for Clinton. One example is John King reporting on CNN that he has run the numbers and if Bernie won the rest of the races with 55% of the vote he would not catch Clinton. Why did King pick 55%? Maybe it has something to do with Nate Silver showing how Sanders would catch Clinton with 56% of the remaining vote.

OK, 56.6% -- not an easy task, but possible. King did point out that if Sanders got 55% of the remaining delegates Clinton would not have enough delegates to win on the first ballot, but she would be ahead. Even with that admission, it is so clear that the mainstream media is trying to tell voters what will happen instead of reporting what is happening. There are over 2,000 pledged delegates left to be allocated and 208 super delegates who are uncommitted. Of course, the super delegates who have committed can change their mind at any time. So while Hillary Clinton has the easiest path to the nomination, it is not a sure thing.

Many Sanders supporters have had enough of the media spin and are taking to the streets. On Sunday over 1,000 protesters showed up at CNN's Los Angeles headquarters to protest the lack of coverage of the Sanders campaign. The strength of his campaign despite the biased media coverage Sanders has received makes you wonder where he would be if the media did their job and didn't constantly dismiss his chances.
NEH Citizenship Under Siege Open Forum



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The Lone Star College Center for Civic Engagement partnered with the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) and The Democracy Commitment (TDC) to sponsor a local public forum entitled "Citizenship Under Siege".

William O' Rourke, emeritus professor, The University of Notre Dame and Dr. Nancy Beck Young, University of Houston history professor will speak on the subject of inequality and broaden the discussion from political or economic perspectives to how it effects the humanities. After they speak, there will be question and answer period followed by deliberative dialogue.

"We are delighted to offer Lone Star College students and members of the community the opportunity to take part in this very important dialogue," said Dr. John Theis, director, LSC Center for Civic Engagement. "These public forums are grounded in the nation's history and explore creative ways to use the power of the humanities to bridge differences and build strong communities."

The AAC&U and TDC recently received a $200,000 grant from the National Endowment for Humanities (NEH) to sponsor a series of public forums across the country. LSC was one of seven community colleges selected to host a forum.

"We need the humanities, now more than ever, because they give us access to the most fundamental and consequential dimensions and forces of our experience," said William D. Adams, NEH chairman.

In addition to LSC, City University Kingsborough Community College, New York; Middlesex Community College, Massachusetts; County College of Morris, New Jersey; Santa Fe College, Florida; Mount Wachusett Community College, Massachusetts; and Miami Dade College, Florida will also participate and host similar forums.

Below is the full encapsulation of the forum. Please enjoy and enlighten yourself.



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Both speakers explained wealth disparity and income inequality. They listed the factors that were causal. More importantly, they drew the map that brought us to this point. Understanding how we got here is essential in mapping the path back to a better life giving all access to success.



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Professor Chris Phlegar framed the problem that is our current politics. He introduced the moderators that navigated each table through a deliberative dialogue. Professor Michael Moode showed the video that described the topic for the deliberative dialogue, Making Ends Meet, a National Issues Forum project that presented three options for 'solving' our prosperity problem (inequality problem).



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Each table participated in a 50-minute dialogue where every interchanged ideas. Most importantly, the debate procedure required everyone to listen to each speaker deliberately before engaging. Each table had many with different political viewpoints. Yet communication occurred without shouting are talking over each other. The young moderators performed exceptionally well.

Video playlist and pictured in one place here.
Congress Switchboard: 202-224-3121

"Rob Kall's book Bottom-Up: Tapping the Power of the Connection Revolution is both a welcomed manifesto and a guide for rethinking the power of human agency, understanding the connections that both make us human and legitimate human planetary relations. Moreover it is a powerful call for providing the ideas, social practices, and relations that make human connections possible, enable them to work together from the bottom up, and to transform such connections into a powerful movement in which people take control of their lives and create a better future for everyone."



Henry Giroux, Director of the McMaster Centre for Research in the Public Interest, author of Zombie Politics and Culture in the Age of Casino Capitalism, Americas Education Deficit and The War on Youth, and dozens more.
This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. To receive TomDispatch in your inbox three times a week, click here.

[Note for TomDispatch Readers: Here's a special offer for you today. A TD favorite, bestselling author Andrew Bacevich, has just published America's War for the Greater Middle East: A Military History, a stunning new book on Washington's roiling set of conflicts in the Middle East from 1980 to late last night. I've been following the subject at TD for years and I still was repeatedly surprised by what he covers and makes sense of. For a limited period, in return for a $100 contribution ($125 if you live outside the United States), you can get a signed, personalized copy of the book and believe me, if you want to understand our screwed-up world, it's one you'll want to read. Check our donation page for the details. Tom]

It was a large banner and its message was clear. It read: "Mission Accomplished," and no, I don't mean the classic "mission accomplished" banner on the USS Abraham Lincoln under which, on May 1, 2003, President George W. Bush proudly proclaimed (to the derision of critics ever since) that "major combat operations in Iraq have ended." I'm actually referring to a September 1982 banner with those same two words (and an added "farewell" below them) displayed on a landing craft picking up the last Marines sent ashore in Beirut, Lebanon, to be, as President Ronald Reagan put it when they arrived the previous August, "what Marines have been for more than 200 years -- peace-makers." Of course, when Bush co-piloted an S-3B Viking sub reconnaissance Naval jet onto the deck of the Abraham Lincoln and made his now-classic statement, major combat had barely begun in Iraq (and it has yet to end) -- nor was it peace that came to Beirut in September 1982: infamously, the following year 241 Marines would die there in a single day, thanks to a suicide bomber.

"Not for the last time," writes Andrew Bacevich in his monumental new work, America's War for the Greater Middle East: A Military History, "the claim proved to be illusory." Indeed, one of the grim and eerie wonders of his book is the way in which just about every wrongheaded thing Washington did in that region in the 14-plus years since 9/11 had its surprising precursor in the two decades of American war there before the World Trade Center towers came down. U.S. military trainers and advisers, for example, failed (as they later would in Iraq and Afghanistan) to successfully build armies, starting with the Lebanese one; Bush's "preventive war" had its predecessor in a Reagan directive called (ominously enough given what was to come) "combating terrorism"; Washington's obsessive belief of recent years that problems in the region could be solved by what Andrew Cockburn has called the "kingpin strategy" -- the urge to dismantle terror organizations by taking out their leadership via drones or special operations raids -- had its precursor in "decapitation" operations against Muammar Gaddafi, Saddam Hussein, and Somali warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid with similar resulting mayhem. The belief that "an additional increment of combat power might turn around a failing endeavor" -- call it a "surge," if you will -- had its Iraq and Afghan pretrial run in Somalia in 1993. And above all, of course, there was Washington's unquenchable post-1980 urge to intervene, military first, in a decisive way throughout the region, which, as Bacevich writes, only "produced conditions conducive to further violence and further disorder," and if that isn't the repetitive history of America's failed post-2001 wars in a nutshell, what is?

As it happened, the effects of such actions from 1980 on were felt not just in the Greater Middle East and Africa, but in the United States, too. There, as Bacevich writes today, war became a blank-check activity for a White House no longer either checked (in any sense) or balanced by Congress. Think of it as another sad tale of a surge (or do I mean a decapitation?) that went wrong. Tom

Writing a Blank Check on War for the President

How the United States Became a Prisoner of War and Congress Went MIA

By Andrew J. Bacevich Let's face it: in times of war, the Constitution tends to take a beating. With the safety or survival of the nation said to be at risk, the basic law of the land -- otherwise considered sacrosanct -- becomes nonbinding, subject to being waived at the whim of government authorities who are impatient, scared, panicky, or just plain pissed off. The examples are legion. During the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln arbitrarily suspended the writ of habeas corpus and ignored court orders that took issue with his authority to do so. After U.S. entry into World War I, the administration of Woodrow Wilson mounted a comprehensive effort to crush dissent, shutting down anti-war publications in complete disregard of the First Amendment. Amid the hysteria triggered by Pearl Harbor, Franklin Roosevelt issued an executive order consigning to concentration camps more than 100,000 Japanese-Americans, many of them native-born citizens. Asked in 1944 to review this gross violation of due process, the Supreme Court endorsed the government's action by a 6-3 vote. More often than not, the passing of the emergency induces second thoughts and even remorse. The further into the past a particular war recedes, the more dubious the wartime arguments for violating the Constitution appear. Americans thereby take comfort in the "lessons learned" that will presumably prohibit any future recurrence of such folly. Even so, the onset of the next war finds the Constitution once more being ill-treated. We don't repeat past transgressions, of course. Instead, we devise new ones. So it has been during the ongoing post-9/11 period of protracted war. During the presidency of George W. Bush, the United States embraced torture as an instrument of policy in clear violation of the Eighth Amendment prohibiting cruel and unusual punishment. Bush's successor, Barack Obama, ordered the extrajudicial killing of an American citizen, a death by drone that was visibly in disregard of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments. Both administrations -- Bush's with gusto, Obama's with evident regret -- imprisoned individuals for years on end without charge and without anything remotely approximating the "speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury" guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment. Should the present state of hostilities ever end, we can no doubt expect Guanta'namo to become yet another source of "lessons learned" for future generations of rueful Americans. Congress on the Sidelines Yet one particular check-and-balance constitutional proviso now appears exempt from this recurring phenomenon of disregard followed by professions of dismay, embarrassment, and "never again-ism" once the military emergency passes. I mean, of course, Article I, section 8 of the Constitution, which assigns to Congress the authority "to declare war" and still stands as testimony to the genius of those who drafted it. There can be no question that the responsibility for deciding when and whether the United States should fight resides with the legislative branch, not the executive, and that this was manifestly the intent of the Framers. On parchment at least, the division of labor appears straightforward. The president's designation as commander-in-chief of the armed forces in no way implies a blanket authorization to employ those forces however he sees fit or anything faintly like it. Quite the contrary: legitimizing presidential command requires explicit congressional sanction. Actual practice has evolved into something altogether different. The portion of Article I, Section 8, cited above has become a dead letter, about as operative as blue laws still on the books in some American cities and towns that purport to regulate Sabbath day activities. Superseding the written text is an unwritten counterpart that goes something like this: with legislators largely consigned to the status of observers, presidents pretty much wage war whenever, wherever, and however they see fit. Whether the result qualifies as usurpation or forfeiture is one of those chicken-and-egg questions that's interesting but practically speaking beside the point. This is by no means a recent development. It has a history. In the summer of 1950, when President Harry Truman decided that a U.N. Security Council resolution provided sufficient warrant for him to order U.S. forces to fight in Korea, congressional war powers took a hit from which they would never recover.

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John Ervin is a freelance writer involved for the past ten years with investigations of electronic voting fraud and its derivatives, and on occasion several of the other highly organized corporatic crimes. He has been the radio guest of Jim Hogue at www.wgdr.org, Goddard College in Vermont (one of Pacifica Radio's 200 affiliates). [While a longtime member of the American Federation of Musicians (local 4) he has performed as a concert pianist. He has also served as member of the Cleveland Orchestra's choruses, in live performances at Severance Hall and Blossom Music Festival, as well as those recorded in group performances for EMI in England, and broadcasts for the BBC, and WCLV in Cleveland, some highlighted by North American terrestrial radio transmissions, and the whole distributed world-wide on the internet by WCLV. The chorale CD in Great Britain for EMI was nominated for a Grammy.] During and after the Bush v. Gore fiasco, he became by degrees an accidental journalist as he began to study in greater depth the activities and rise of America's secret government, much of its CIA founding years with intersticed and substantive roots in Nazism, and the heavy-handed influence of the American intelligence communities in disrupting or re-directing many of our democratic processes and institutions. This research has served as a resilient motivation to share historical facts and questions surrounding the hidden and deeper politics that contribute to the long-standing and ongoing deformation of our society as a whole, and also in tragic personal accounts of many. For over ten years Ervin has been an advocate for the heightened and more coordinated alliance of independent media throughout the world ~low power radio broadcasters, community radio programmers and volunteers, independent film makers, indy musicians and journalists, et al.~ to form and maintain a clearing-house of information that in assessment of intel risks bears upon the security of communities world-wide, a global "neighborhood watch", a sure defense against our common antagonist: top-down, privatized governmental intelligence, chief among them: American. Ervin continues to lobby for the establishment of a parallel "intelligence analysis in exile" ~ one that can become a far more faithful mirror of what CIA was originally intended to be: strictly a non-operational intelligence-gatherer. But evolved by us as a grass-roots creation and built for the safety of all our peoples.
Keynote Speakers: Rob Kremer & Jim Pasero

Executive Club Meeting

7:00 pm  Wednesday April 6th  Airport Shilo Inn

You know our tag-team speakers,and probably have a memorable blood pressure moment tuned to their voices, while they squared off against an adversary.

Rob Kramer & Jim Pasero

Rob is co-host of Kremer & Abrams, the longest running and highest rated weekend political radio talk show in Oregon, which airs on KXL Radio. He has long been involved in Oregon politics, as a school choice advocate, as a candidate for statewide office, as a consultant to office seekers, and as a treasurer of a major state PAC.

Jim was publisher of BrainstormNW magazine, and has been in politics since the 80s, as a congressional staffer and speechwriter. Just left-leaning enough to be annoying, filling in for Mark Abrams.

Theres certainly enough to talk about, what with communists and capitalists, conservatives and liberals, some eligible and some not, all throwing their hats in. Ought to be a pleasant verbal ruckus to watch, dont you think?

Join us Wednesday, April 6th, for Kremer & Pasero, live and in person.

~ ~ ~

Portland Airport Shilo Inn ~~ 11707 Northeast Airport Way

Bring a friend! ~~ optional $20 select menu ~~ no host bar

Next meeting after this: May 4th
Imran should prove his baseless allegations against the sons of PM: Pervaiz Rashid

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage Pervaiz Rashid on Monday asked Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan to prove his baseless allegations against the sons of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the courts of United Kingdom.



Addressing a press conference along with MNA Daniyal Aziz, he said in case allegations against the PMs family in court of law are proved and Imran returns respectfully, he would garland him at the airport and PML-N would pay entire expenditure of the case along with Imrans personal expenses in UK. He said Panama documents have confirmed the stance of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif that they have no assets abroad. He said Imran has golden opportunity to prove his allegations in the UK courts as he did not acknowledge Pakistani courts.



There are various examples that Imran Khan had rejected Pakistan courts decisions. Judicial Commission rejected his claims of organised rigging in 2013 general election, but still he claims that the elections were rigged systematically. Imran Khan has been leveling baseless allegations on countrys leadership to hide his crushing political defeat at the hands of PML-N. After his failure to compete in political arena, he has indulged in mudslinging, he said, adding that Panama Leaks have not questioned the legality of business of PMs family. Referring to interviews of Hussein Nawaz Sharif, the minister said that the PMs son has not concealed any information about his property abroad.



Panama Leaks have merely made the information public which was private earlier, the minister said, adding that they do not carry any negative information about properties of Hassan Nawaz and Hussein Nawaz Sharif. Imran Khan was hurling unnecessary allegations against the sons of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who have been living abroad for about 22 years. Imran Khan must answer from where he had bought Bani Gala palace. He said Imran claimed that his ex-wife had donated him the Bani Gala land, but she had given an affidavit that Imran Khan, son of Inamullah Khan Niazi, had purchased the land and then transferred it to her name.
NAB should investigate Nawaz Sharif family assests: Imran Khan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan on Monday demanded that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) initiate a thorough investigation into the financial holdings of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family members after a massive leak of secret files from a Panamanian law firm revealed they owned or had the right to authorise transactions for several offshore companies.



Probes have already been initiated in several countries  including Australia, New Zealand, Sweden and France  across the globe after their leaders and office bearers were implicated, said Imran. Why not an investigation in Pakistan? he questioned.



If NAB wants to maintain its credibility, it should immediately begin a probe into Nawaz Sharifs family. He went on to say that Nawaz Sharif should explain how his children made all this money. Have you paid tax on this income?



Imran said the data leak was a defining moment for Pakistan, adding that: How can those who launder money from Pakistan to offshore accounts ask others to invest in Pakistan? He said Maryam Nawaz had given a statement two years ago saying her family did not have any asset abroad. But now Hussain Nawaz comes on TV and accepts that Maryam owns two offshore companies.



The PTI chief alleged this money that is going abroad is corruption money from mega projects. I have declared all my assets, said the PTI chief. Whatever I own is under my name and is inside Pakistan. Anyone can ask me for an explanation. Can we not ask them the source of their money? Who are they? Are they royals?



An investigation published April 3 by an international coalition of more than 100 media outlets, based on 11.5 million records of offshore holdings, details how politicians, celebrities and other famous people use banks, law firms and offshore shell companies to hide their assets.



According to documents available on the ICIJ website, the PMs children Mariam, Hasan and Hussain were owners or had the right to authorise transactions for several companies.



Mariam is described as the owner of British Virgin Islands-based firms Nielsen Enterprises Limited and Nescoll Limited, incorporated in 1994 and 1993.



On one of the documents released by ICIJ, the address listed for Nielsen Enterprises is Saroor Palace in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The document, dated June 2012, describes Mariam Safdar as the beneficial owner.
Panama leaks brought storm of controversies in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The Panama leaks have whipped a storm of controversy over off-shore wealth of the political elite of Pakistan, especially the ruling Sharif family.



In a snowballing scandal, the unprecedented confidential documents leaked from one of the worlds most secretive companies, Mossack Fonseca, reveal how the rich and powerful across the world use tax havens to hide their wealth.

More than 200 Pakistanis including lawmakers, lawyers, people from the judiciary and businessmen have been identified in the report, available on the website of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).



The report, being dubbed only the tip of the iceberg, contains names of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifs family, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharifs relatives, Benazir Bhutto, Javed Pasha, Senator Rehman Malik, Senator Osman Saifullahs family, Waseem Gulzar, Zain Sukhera (a co-accused with former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilanis son in the Hajj scandal), serving judge of Lahore High Court Justice Farrukh Irfan; retired judge Malik Qayyum, owner of Hilton Pharma Shehbaz Yasin Malik, Chairman ABM Group of Companies Azam Sultan, Pizza Hut owner Aqeel Hussain, Chairman Soorty Enterprise Abdul Rashid Soorty, hotel tycoon Sadruddin Hashwani, real estate czar Malik Riaz Hussains son, Hussain Dawood family, Abdullah family of Sapphire Textiles, Gul Muhammad Tabba of Lucky Textiles, Shahid Nazir of Masood Textiles, Zulfiqar Ali Lakhani of Lakson Group and Zulfiqar Paracha of Universal Corporation (Pvt) Ltd, among several others.

Though Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif himself does not own any company, three of his children  Maryam Nawaz, Hasan Nawaz and Hussain Nawaz  are among those named in the leaks, with records showing they owned London real estate through offshore companies administrated by the firm.



The leaks have put severe pressure especially on the ruling Sharif family to clear their position on a volley of questions rising in the minds of millions of people who have voted them into power. The Sharifs need to satisfy the nation as to what was the source of this huge wealth that they have stashed abroad; why didnt they declare these assets to the tax department and the Election Commission of Pakistan; what prompted them to secret away their money in offshore jurisdictions.

It is also interesting to note that while the ruling Sharifs are every other day heard giving sermons to overseas Pakistanis as well as foreign entrepreneurs to invest their money in Pakistan, ironically their own wealth is off limits for use in their own countrys development and progress.



While some opposition leaders have called for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to be investigated over his familys wealth stashed abroad, his son Hussain Nawaz maintained that all their business affairs were legal.



A defiant Hussain said that they had done nothing wrong. Those apartments are ours and those offshore companies are also ours, he said, as he fully owned the revelations made in the leaks. He was bold enough to declare that the British law and laws of other countries provide a legal way to avoid unnecessary tax via offshore companies, and that the leaks had made no allegations of wrongdoing against the Sharif family. He said that they have been residing in Saudi Arabia and US for over two decades, hence Pakistani tax laws didnt apply to them and nor were they legally bound to declare their assets to the Pakistani authorities. However, we have been diligently filing our company reports and tax returns in our legal tax jurisdictions, he said.



Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan was quick to call for action against Sharifs after the release. Our stance vindicated again as Sharifs wealth stashed abroad exposed, he tweeted, calling upon the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), tax authorities and the Election Commission of Pakistan to take action.



To Imran Khans call for NAB to launch investigation, Hussain said, We voluntarily present ourselves before NAB or any other judicial or investigative institution in Pakistan.
PSPCs delegation left for China

LAHORE  The Punjab Saaf Pani Companys (PSPCs) delegation left for China on Monday to hold road show and invite investments in clean water projects.



According to reports, Pakistans counsel general has arranged a road show on behalf of the company on April 6 in Beijing where the delegation will showcase documentaries and share presentations regarding the investment opportunities in the province.



The delegation will also hold one-on-one meetings with businessmen and heads of leading international firms in Shanghai, where as Pakistans Ambassador to China Masood Khalid has arranged a conference in Beijing to interact with the Chinese investors.



Before departure, Minister for Housing Urban Development Malik Tanveer Aslam said that the Punjab government had taken special measures to ensure enabling environment for international investment in various development projects under the leadership of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif.



He said that beside several sectors, the chief minister had launched a initiative of providing safe drinking water to the under-served and marginalised segments of the society in rural and peri-urban areas of the province.



He said that for that purpose, the PSPC had been established as a special purpose vehicle to plan, design and execute water supply projects in 144 tehsils of 36 districts of the Punjab.



One of the basic purposes of arranging a road show and holding meetings with the heads of the leading international firms and companies is to invite them to invest in this project and meet international standards in provision of community-based water supply solutions to the marginalised segments of society, said PSPC Chief Executive Officer Waseem Ajmal.



He said that they are focusing on inviting the Chinese investors to come to Pakistan and sign in Engineering, Planning and Construction (EPC) contracts with the PSPC to provide safe drinking water to the teeming millions across the province.



PSPC Chairman Kashif Padhyar said that they were interested in extending invitation and meeting Chinese investors to convince them to join our ranks in the development of the biggest province of Pakistan.
HP v. MPHJ (Fed. Cir. 2016)

Over the past few years, MPHJ has raised the ire of many with its enforcement campaign of U.S. Patent No. 6,771,381. The claims seemingly cover HPs multi-function scanner-printers that can be configured to email the scanned documents. However, rather than suing HP for infringement, MPHJ sent letters to tens of thousands of businesses who HP printers seeking royalties. A number of states took direct action against MPHJ, including Vermont and Nebraska.

HPs response to this was to file an inter partes review proceeding challenging all 15 claims of the 381 patent. IPR2013-00309. The PTAB largely sided with HP  finding 14 of the claims unpatentable, but confirmed the patentability of claim 13. HP appealed on claim 13, but the Federal Circuit has affirmed the Board ruling.

HP challenged claim 13 on both obviousness and anticipation grounds. However, the Board refused to institute review on the obviousness grounds  seeing that ground a redundant to the two counts of anticipation. The unique aspect of claim 13 is that it requires a list of available module means for maintaining a registry (e.g., input, output, and process modules). This list was not found in either of the two separate anticipation references (Cotte or SJ5) as such, the Board found no anticipation.

As a question of fact, an anticipation conclusion by the Board is given substantial deference on appeal and will be affirmed if a reasonable mind might accept the evidence presented as sufficient to support the finding. Here, the appellate panel agreed that at least some evidence supported the conclusion that the element was missing from the prior art since HP was unable to specify how the required list was disclosed in the prior art.

HP also challenged the Boards refusal to institute on obviousness grounds and its failure to explain its redundancy conclusion. On appeal, the Federal Circuit refused to address that issue  finding that appellate review of the institution decision is barred by statute.

Allowing an APA challenge to the Boards decision to institute on the basis that the Board had insufficiently articulated its reasoning would eviscerate  314(d) by allowing substantive review of the institution decision. Although there is a strong presumption of judicial review of administrative action, that presumption may be overcome where there is persuasive reason to believe that such was the purpose of Congress. Bowen v. Mich. Acad. of Family Physicians, 476 U.S. 667 (1986). Congress, through  314(d), has explicitly stated that the Boards institution decision shall be final and nonappealable. Thus, that specific statutory language precludes our review.

It is unclear to me at this point whether Claim 13 is valuable  i.e., do the current HP models infringe? I guess that well see.

= = = = =

MPHJs case against Vermont is still pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.

= = = = =

The court here did not address how HP had standing to appeal, from the briefs neither party addressed that issue as well.
Off to Tierra del Fuego. Credit: Christoph Zellweger / Empa

Levels of greenhouse gas CO2 continue to rise and are about to exceed the next threshold. Empa makes sure that this and other air pollutants can be measured correctly and in a globally comparable way. To do this, Empa researchers will even go to the "ends of the Earth."

"At first I thought that this long journey wasn't worth it for the small number of measurements needed," admits Empa researcher Christoph Zellweger, "but we want to bring the station at this unique location in terms of air quality up to date technically." So the climate researcher packed his bags after all. His destination: The end of the world. It is situated in Tierra del Fuego, on a group of islands at the southern tip of South America, not far from Cape Horn. The measuring station is located on a peninsula a little distance outside of Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world. It is part of a global measurement network of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), which records climate-relevant substances in the atmosphere.

Working all over the world

For a contribution to the Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) programme of the WMO, which was initiated by MeteoSchweiz, Zellweger travels each year, to three to four of the total of 28 global measuring stations to make sure that the devices are correctly calibrated and are functioning. This involves taking comparative and parallel measurements for the health-damaging gases ozone and carbon monoxide and the climate-relevant gases methane and carbon dioxide  the two main culprits when it comes to global warming.

Credit: Christoph Zellweger / Empa

While the health-damaging gases have returned to more or less steady levels after an initial increase and are no longer demonstrating a clear trend, the climate-relevant gases are increasing constantly. The development of carbon dioxide is particularly alarming. "At the moment it is just about to break through the threshold of 400 ppm," ponders Zellweger, "that is really a lot, as the levels before the Industrial Revolution were 280 ppm." To stop this increase, he says, we would have to avoid burning fossil fuels completely. But the researcher is pessimistic: "Even if the emissions were to stop immediately, the atmosphere would continue to heat up for a while." This is because CO2 is very long-lived and remains in the air for decades until it is absorbed by the oceans or converted back to biomass by plants. However, deforestation is a topic even in as remote a place as Ushuaia. The forest around the city has to yield more and more to uncontrolled urbanization.

The proximity to the city is not a problem for the measuring instruments, as they record not the urban emissions but generally unpolluted air that blows in from the South Pole. The researcher is satisfied with the quality of the data. While the values are not always within the quality targets, Zellweger is surprised that the devices still provide such reliable measurements despite their age. Because they are over 15 years old and their maximum life span has actually been reached, Argentina wants to invest in new equipment in the near future.

The next station that Zellweger will visit is not quite as remote, but no less spectacular. It is located in France, on the "Puy de Dome" volcano in the department of the same name, on the highest of 80 extinct volcanoes in this mountain range.

Credit: Christoph Zellweger / Empa

Credit: Christoph Zellweger / Empa
A bacterium using type IV pili to walk on a surface. Credit: Gerard Wong, UCLA Bioengineering, CNSI

The most ancient kinds of microbes on Earth often have a special filament lining their surfaces. Scientists are discovering that these structures can play a variety of roles in helping microorganisms survive the most hostile environments on Earth, findings that could shed light on how alien life might withstand extreme conditions on distant worlds.

The most complex forms of life on Earth nowadays are eukaryotes, organisms whose cells possess nuclei. However, the first life on Earth were prokaryotes, single-celled microorganisms that do not have nuclei. There are two kinds of prokaryotesthe familiar bacteria, and the archaea, many of which thrive in harsh environments such as hot springs, salt lakes, underground petroleum deposits and deep-sea hydrothermal vents.

Scientists have discovered a number of prokaryotes that could potentially withstand many of the same extreme conditions found on Mars and other distant planets. A better understanding of how bacteria and archaea survive these dangerous habitats might yield insights into the adaptations that could make life on other worlds possible, said Mechthild Pohlschroder, a microbiologist at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

Pohlschroder and her colleague Rianne Esquivel detailed their research in the March 2015 issue of the journal Frontiers in Microbiology. Their research was supported by a grant from the Exobiology & Evolutionary Biology element of the NASA Astrobiology Program.

A bacterium that causes deadly cerebrospinal meningitis, Neisseria meningitidis, uses type IV pili to help it erode and cross the human blood brain barrier, a structure that surrounds the brain tissue and ordinarily protects it from invasion. Credit: Xavier Nassif.

A class of protein structures known as type IV pili (T4P) are filaments found on the cell surfaces of species in nearly all known major groups of prokaryotes. This prevalence suggests that these appendages are extremely ancient in origin, Pohlschroder said.

"Because these appendages are found on many archaeal and bacterial species, spanning a broad array of organisms in both prokaryotic domains of life, it's likely that they had important roles to play in the common ancestor of the bacteria and the archaea " Pohlschroder said.

Indeed, these structures might have played a major role in the survival of these microbes, helping them flourish for millions of years, she added.

T4P are filaments composed of small proteins known as pilins that link together to form helical fibers. Pilins all contain short segments called signal peptides that help the pilins get incorporated into T4P. Although pilins can differ greatly across species, their signal peptides are structurally similar to each other, indicating common origins, Pohlschroder noted.

Although T4P are often relatively simple structures, researchers are discovering that bacteria and archaea have adapted T4P to play an extraordinarily diverse set of roles. "Amazingly, although many cell appendages are adapted, to an extent, to efficiently perform a single function, T4P are quite versatile, and can, depending on local conditions, serve many and varied functions," Pohlschroder said.

One key role T4P plays involves adhesion. Sticking onto surfaces can help prokaryotes either colonize fertile new habitats or cluster together in slimy fortresses known as biofilms to withstand potentially lethal hazards such as ultraviolet radiation, desiccation, antibiotics and toxins, Pohlschroder said.

In addition to adhesion, many T4P have evolved to carry out additional functions, such as movement. For example, in many archaea, a kind of T4P sometimes known as archaellum or archaeal flagellum, can rotate like propellers and help the microbes swim through the water. Moreover, in some bacteria, T4P can also retract, allowing a twitching form of locomotion.

T4P can also help microbes grab items. For example, in the archaea Sulfolobus, T4P possess proteins that help them snag sugar for food, while in the bacterium Bacillus subtilis, a kind of T4P known as pseudopili help the microbes glom onto DNA, which the microorganism can then use to repair genetic damage from radiation or toxins, or even use to change its own genome.

Different kinds of pseudopili in bacteria can help the microbes secrete proteins. For instance, the cholera bacterium uses T4P to release a compound that helps it colonize human intestines. Some bacteria may even use electrically conductive T4P to get rid of electrons generated as waste as the microorganisms synthesize vital molecules.

"A highly diverse assortment of single-cell organisms produce T4P, including many organisms that inhabit highly variable and extreme environments," Pohlschroder said. "Therefore, it is not surprising that these cellular appendages have evolved along diverse and varied paths to support processes that allow organisms to thrive under a wide variety of extreme conditions, including conditions similar to those that are found in some extraterrestrial environments, such as the highly salty fluids on Mars."

Researchers have found that the functions of T4P depend on small, precise modifications of pilins. Prokaryotes are capable of quickly modifying the pilins they synthesize, "allowing cells to make rapid transitions between living as a free-swimming cell or living within the constraints of a protective biofilm structure, depending on local environmental conditions," Pohlschroder said.

Future research can focus on T4P proteins that help microbes adhere to surfaces or swim through fluid, which could help scientists better understand how these appendages help microorganisms respond to stress, Pohlschroder said. "We will also attempt to determine the specific roles T4P of specific compositions play in various cell processes, especially with regard to the pili that aid in responding to changes in such things as salt concentration or nutrient conditions."

Explore further How the motility structure of the unicellular archaea is fixed to their surface

More information: Mechthild Pohlschroder et al. Archaeal type IV pili and their involvement in biofilm formation, Frontiers in Microbiology (2015). Mechthild Pohlschroder et al. Archaeal type IV pili and their involvement in biofilm formation,(2015). DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2015.00190

This story is republished courtesy of NASA's Astrobiology Magazine. Explore the Earth and beyond at www.astrobio.net .
Bed bugs (Cimex lectlarius). Credit: Allen Szalanski, Bugwood.org

In order to determine where bed bug outbreaks are occurring and the best way to prevent and control infestations, entomologists examined 2,372 apartments in New Jersey and looked at factors such as the age, race, and gender of the inhabitants. The results are published in the Journal of Medical Entomology.

Dr. Changlu Wang and colleagues from Rutgers University examined 43 low-income apartment buildings and 2,372 individual apartments. They found that about 12 percent of apartments had bed bug infestations, although the rates of infestation varied from building to building.

They also learned that:

Women were more likely to report symptoms of bed bug bites and more likely to express concern upon learning their homes were infested.

Infestations were more prevalent in the homes of African Americans than in those of white or Hispanic residents.

Fifty percent of residents with bed bug infestations were completely unaware of them.

Apartment buildings with a high turnover of tenants had higher bed bug infestations.

Statistics like these are critical for controlling bed bug infestations, Dr. Wang explained, because "[they] can be used to target our education and bed bug prevention efforts to the most vulnerable communities."

The researchers also found that they were able to detect nearly 75 percent of infestations with brief visual inspections that took just 10 minutes or less per apartment, which would cost about $12 per apartment for labor based on a $50/hour labor rate.

Explore further Review highlights steps needed to deal with bed bugs in multi-family housing

More information: The full article, "Bed Bugs: Prevalence in Low-Income Communities, Resident's Reactions, and Implementation of a Low-Cost Inspection Protocol," is available at Journal information: Journal of Medical Entomology The full article, "Bed Bugs: Prevalence in Low-Income Communities, Resident's Reactions, and Implementation of a Low-Cost Inspection Protocol," is available at dx.doi.org/10.1093/jme/tjw018
Manuscript Chest. Credit: Wat Phan On/2015 David Wharton, Digital Library of Northern Thai Manuscripts (CC BY-NC 4.0).

The University of Pennsylvania and the National Library of Laos have launched the Digital Library of Northern Thai Manuscripts bringing thousands of ancient manuscripts out of monastic temples and making them available as open source material online.

The digital library contains images of approximately 5,000 manuscripts of ancient Thai literature, codes of law and history, which can be searched and viewed online or downloaded for free at lannamanuscripts.net. More materials with related resources from the region will be added to build the database out to more than 7,000 manuscripts.

Justin McDaniel, professor and chair of the religious studies department is principle investigator for the project working with the National Library team in Thailand led by Harald Hundius, David Wharton and Bounleut Thammachak.

McDaniel has spent much of his career working with manuscripts in monastic libraries in rural areas of Thailand and Laos, reading, translating and helping to preserve them. He said he is thrilled that these materials are now being preserved and made accessible to people all over the world.

"This is a huge project to preserve, make accessible, catalogue and scan the entire corpus of Northern Thai manuscripts," McDaniel said. "Anyone from students and researchers to monks and nuns can now read this preserved literature of an entire people."

Much of the original content is being shared online for the first time. Most of the texts were written on palm-leaf and have been stored in the libraries of Buddhist monasteries and in private collections.

"It's mostly Buddhist material, but also scientific material, historical material, botany, astrology, grammar, folk tales, philosophical tales, a massive corpus going back from 1410 to the 1950s when print became more popular," McDaniel said.

The database also contains material from the Preservation of Northern Thai Manuscripts Project, with permission of Chiang Mai University Library, digitized microfilms and handwritten copies of manuscripts made in the early 1970s as part of research conducted by Hundius, the project's head digitizer, as well as digitized manuscripts made during the current Digital Library of Laos Manuscripts project implemented by the National Library of Laos.

Explore further Israel-British project makes Hebrew texts available online
Male broadbill (Rufous-sided Broadbill). Credit: Alex Kirschel

Broadbills - birds found in some parts of Africa - produce a startlingly loud sound that they make with their wings to mark off territory. Males fly abruptly in a tight circle, landing where they began, and produce a klaxon-like sound - brreeeeet! - that they could also be using to attract females. Researchers have hypothesized that it is the outermost wing feathers that make the sound, but no studies have been conducted to verify this hypothesis.

A team of researchers led by a biologist at the University of California, Riverside has now conducted a study that shows that it is not the outermost wing feathers but the ones just inside of these feathers that make the klaxon-like sound.

"We got high-speed videos of these birds in Uganda to see how they flap their wings," said Christopher J. Clark, an assistant professor of biology who led the study. "We then tested the feathers in a wind tunnel to reproduce the sound. We found that it is not the outermost three wing feathers that flutter, but two feathers just inside of these outermost ones."

Study results appear in the March 30 issue of the Journal of Experimental Biology.

When a person walks down a hallway, his/her footsteps make a sound that could be used to communicate a message, such as who the person is. One possibility, according to Clark, is that when birds, like broadbills, are engaged in their behavioral displays, they make sounds with their feathers that eventually get coopted into a communication signal.

A broadbill wing, showing the P6 and P7 feathers that generate the sound. Credit: Christopher Clark, UC Riverside.

"What's interesting is that broadbills are only distantly related to other birds, like hummingbirds, that use their feathers to make sounds," Clark said. "In the case of broadbills, this is an independent evolution of making sounds with feathers. The wing song appears to have functionally replaced vocal song."

Broadbills are poorly studied largely because they are found only in remote areas in Africa. To capture footage of the birds, Clark and his team flew to Uganda, where, escorted by an armed park guard, they had to drive over bumpy dirt roads for several hours to get to remote regions near the country's border with the Democratic Republic of Congo - an area visited by very few people.

"We had to load high-speed cameras with heavy battery belts and haul them out into the jungle," Clark said. "Such cameras also need a lot of light to work. Broadbills, however, live in the dark understory of jungles in Africa - which posed yet another challenge."

In most species of birds that use their feathers to make sounds, the feathers are distinctly modified. But the high-speed videos Clark and his team took in Uganda showed that the sound-producing feathers in broadbills are not modified.

"These feathers, named P6 and P7, are not narrow, twisted or stiffened in any way," Clark said. "Indeed, there is nothing remarkable about their shape and nothing about them betrays their role. The broadbill is using its wings as an instrument, yet when we look at the wing feathers, there is no obvious modification to the feathers to make them into a musical instrument."

The male broadbill is a brown bird, about five inches tall, and weighs about 30 grams. When it does its display, a white patch on its rump becomes visible. It usually initiates this display by jumping and rotating 180 degree in yaw. The klaxon-like sound that males make lasts about a second and can travel more than 100 meters in the jungle. The synchronized high-speed video and sound recordings of displays in the field that Clark and his colleagues took showed that the P6 and P7 feathers, the primary sound-producing feathers, flutter a thousand times per second to make the sound. The sound pulses are produced during the downstroke. Feathers P5 and P8 may be involved in sound production; P9 and P10 are not.

Birds have evolved to make sounds with their wings or tails at least 69 times across the entire bird clade, Clark explained.

"This is certain to be an underestimate," he said. "This is because many sounds are poorly described. Also, it is hard to tell if a sound being produced is for communication or just an incidental byproduct of flight. We know that all birds make sounds when they fly. In some cases, the sound is distinctive. For example, ducks make a whistling sound when they fly. It is not easy to tell, however, if this is communication by them or just a byproduct of them flapping their wings."

Clark collected field data for the study when he was a postdoc at Yale University. He was joined in the study by Alexander N. G. Kirschel and Louis Hadjioannou at the University of Cyprus; and Richard P. Prum at Yale University, Conn.

All four researchers traveled to Uganda in 2011 to get the initial high speed videos and sound recordings. At Yale, Clark did experiments with broadbill feathers in a wind tunnel and collected the data. He joined UC Riverside in 2013.

"This work helps us understand biodiversity," he said. "Animals live their lives in many extraordinary ways. This work uncovers yet another pocket of diversity."

Explore further Mystery of broadbills' wing song revealed

More information: Clark, C. J., Kirschel, A. N. G., Hadjioannou, L. and Prum, R. O. (2016). Smithornis broadbills produce loud wing song by aeroelastic flutter of medial primary wing feathers. J. Exp. Biol. 219, Journal information: Journal of Experimental Biology Clark, C. J., Kirschel, A. N. G., Hadjioannou, L. and Prum, R. O. (2016). Smithornis broadbills produce loud wing song by aeroelastic flutter of medial primary wing feathers.. 219, DOI: 10.1242/jeb.131664
It's no surprise that most conservation efforts in the United States focus on animals that are hunted. But a new study from Colorado State University researchers found that improving habitats for game animals has mixed consequences for other animals in the same setting.

The study calls for more scrutiny of and a more holistic approach to current management efforts.

Hunting provides substantial economic benefits for states. Deer and elk hunters in Colorado, for example, must apply for permits annually. A deer license for non-residents runs $432; a permit for in-state residents is $43. A license to hunt elk is nearly $500 for non-residents; the in-state charge is $48. Nearly $2 million from these fees support wildlife management and public land conservation in the state each year.

"There's this notion that habitat management that's good for game species is good for all wildlife," said Travis Gallo, Ph.D. student in the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Biology, and lead author of the study. "There's a lot of money that goes into habitat management for game species, and we wanted to see if there were any synergies between game management and conservation of species that were not the target of management actions."

While conducting a review of published papers, Gallo said that he and Associate Professor Liba Pejchar, also in the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Biology, switched gears once they saw the lack of scientific research on the topic. The duo ended up writing an opinion piece or perspectives essay on the issue.

"We found only 26 studies that measured the direct and indirect effects of game management efforts on non-game animals," said Gallo.

Among the studies that did measure the effects of game management on non-game species, they found both positive and negative effects: a study of sage grouse management in the Western U.S. found that conservation efforts would likely protect 13 songbird species, while a study in Spain found that an increased abundance in wild boar, red deer and aoudad sheep decreased resources for native species.

The team also found instances where there were no effects. For example, a study that looked at prescribed fire on lizard abundance in central Texas found no short-term effect on other species.

Gallo said that one way to even the management playing field is to create new funding sources for wildlife conservation. The federal Pittman-Robertson excise taxwhich was implemented in 1937has successfully raised more than $10.1 billion from sales on sporting goods that involve hunting, like ammunition and guns, fishing rods and reels. In 2009, following a similar model, a group of more than 6,300 state fish and wildlife agencies, biologists, hunters, birdwatchers and others proposed the Teaming with Wildlife Act, which would have provided additional funding for wildlife preservation through a small tax on all outdoor gear, including camping gear, binoculars and outdoor apparel. This bill, however, failed to pass through Congress.

Gallo said that there's talk in the conservation community about reviving this sort of proposal. "A tax like this would not only increase funding for conservation, but it may create a sense of investment by those people that are now helping pay for conservation," he said.

Gallowho will graduate in Maysaid his research provides a good example, and hope, for the type of holistic approach that is needed.

"My research is piggy-backed on a mule deer experiment in northwestern Colorado," he said. "Colorado Parks and Wildlife was removing pinyon-juniper trees to increase the shrubs and grasses that mule deer like to eat. We collaborated with them and added another layer of research to assess the effects that this management may have on all the other birds and mammals in the area."

"The hunting and fishing communities contribute a lot of money and effort to wildlife management," he added. "If you can find synergies between management for hunted species and conservation for biodiversity, we would be more effectively and holistically managing the land."

The article, "Improving habitat for game animals has mixed consequences for biodiversity conservation," was published in advance online in Biological Conservation. The study will appear in the May print issue of the journal.

Explore further Socioeconomic conditions a critical key to wildlife protection

More information: Travis Gallo et al. Improving habitat for game animals has mixed consequences for biodiversity conservation, Biological Conservation (2016). Journal information: Biological Conservation Travis Gallo et al. Improving habitat for game animals has mixed consequences for biodiversity conservation,(2016). DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2016.02.032
ClearSale Brings its End-to-End Fraud Solution to Magento Imagine 2016

MIAMI, FLApril 5, 2016International e-commerce fraud management company ClearSale (www.clear.sale) will showcase its cutting edge fraud prevention solutions at the upcoming Magento Imagine 2016 conference in Las Vegas, April 11-13. The team from ClearSale will join e-commerce executives, developers, and other professionals to exchange ideas about fraud abatement, risk management, and other industry issues.

ClearSale is one of the worlds largest and most experienced fraud management enterprises of its kind, with fifteen years of experience in some of the fastest-growing and most dynamic e-commerce markets and a team of over 500 in-house fraud analysts.

ClearSale will be sponsoring a networking breakfast for all Imagine attendees on the final day of the conference where they will share details about their Total Guaranteed Protection fraud detection product for e-commerce retailers. Additionally, ClearSale will be promoting their referral program where software providers can earn money just by introducing potential merchants.

Were looking forward to growing our relationships with Magento and Imagines attendees, said Rafael Lourenco, ClearSales VP of US Operations. We welcome the opportunity to speak with e-commerce professionals about our extensive fraud prevention solutions that help them eliminate chargebacks, reduce false declines and protect their businesses. We look forward to hosting breakfast and sharing knowledge with fellow e-commerce experts attending the show.

ClearSales networking breakfast takes place on Wednesday, April 13, from 8:15 AM to 9:15 AM in the Latour Ballroom and on the poolside Sunset Terrace at the Wynn Las Vegas. Imagine attendees are welcome to enjoy coffee, networking, and continental fare before the days sessions get underway.

To book an appointment with ClearSale while at Imagine, visit https://clearsale.youcanbook.me/. For more information and to find out how to become a referral partner, email contact@clearsale.com.br.

About ClearSale

ClearSale is a CardNotPresent (CNP) fraud prevention enterprise that protects ecommerce merchants against chargebacks. The companys flagship product is Total Guaranteed Protection, an endtoend fraud detection and management solution that combines advanced technology with a passionate team of seasoned, inhouse fraud analysts that take personal care to understand and work with every clients unique needs. Founded in 2001 by two-time Olympic athlete Pedro Chiamulera, ClearSale has offices in Sao Paulo, Brazil and Miami, Florida. More information at http://clear.sale.



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Holler & Dash Launches First Location with Revel Systems as iPad Point of Sale

SAN FRANCISCO (April 5, 2016)  Revel Systems, the worlds leading iPad Point of Sale management solution for brick-and-mortar retail, food businesses and more, today announced that Holler & Dash, a contemporary fast-casual restaurant brand from the Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, has selected Revels iPad Point of Sale as their strategic partner for their first location, with plans to expand to additional locations once they open.

When opening Holler & Dash, we were looking to align with a modern, fast-growing company that empowers businesses to grow, so Revels iPad Point of Sale solution was the natural choice. We wanted a cutting edge operating system that is easy to use, reliable and customizable to meet our specialized needs and Revel was up for the challenge, says Mike Chissler, Chief Operating Officer of Holler & Dash.

Holler & Dash recently opened their first location in Homewood, Alabama a suburb of Birmingham, on March 15 with plans for expansion. Created for the modern, food-savvy customer, the biscuit-inspired menu pays homage to its Southern roots. The new restaurant is reinventing comfort food with a twist by delivering premium ingredients, bold recipes and signature biscuits created by Nashville bred chefs, Jason McConnell and Brandon Frohne.

Were excited that Holler & Dash has selected Revel as their iPad Point of Sale management solution of choice to both launch and grow their business, says Lisa Falzone, co-founder and CEO of Revel Systems. Were transforming the in-restaurant experience for staff and revolutionizing the transaction process for business owners and entrepreneurs. Our platform is designed to fit the unique needs of any business, whether its for a small stand-alone shop or large scale businesses with multiple locations.

Holler & Dash selected Revel Systems based on their advanced and fully customizable iPad Point of Sale features that meet their business needs and allow their staff to operate with ease. Most used features include employee scheduling, food ordering, kiosk, customer facing display, KDS (kitchen display system), line buster and online ordering.

About Revel Systems

Revel Systems iPad POS was founded in 2010 in San Francisco with the goal of changing the Point of Sale market. Founders Lisa Falzone and Christopher Ciabarra developed a quick, intuitive and secure iOS-based Point of Sale system by combining cloud-based technology and the mobility of the Apple iPad. Revel Systems software offers a feature-rich POS solution for restaurant, retail and enterprises with integrated payroll, inventory tracking, customer relationship management and more. With the introduction of the Revel Marketplace, Revel iPad POS System users can now integrate directly into third-party enhancements, including mobile payments, online ordering, gift or reward cards and advanced financial software suites. For more information on the new standard in Point of Sale, please visit http://revelsystems.com/



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Churches Burnt, Cemeteries Desecrated in Liberated Town of Al-Qaryatayn, Syria

RT's Lizzie Phelan in the liberated Christian city of Al-Qaryatayn. ( RT) After several days of heavy assault fighting, Syrian government troops and local militia have retaken the town of Al-Qaryatayn from Islamic State. As RT's Lizzie Phelan traveled there, she found a devastated place. Al-Qaryatayn had been held by terrorist groups since late August. The liberation of the city proclaimed April 3 came days after Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) was pushed out of the ancient city of Palmyra, 100km (60 miles) to the east. The army expects Al-Qaryatayn to serve as a springboard for further advances against IS strongholds in eastern Syria. "Al-Qaryatayn is at a junction that connects the Iraqi border with Palmyra and from Palmyra through to Damascus," Ahmad Albuhamad, first lieutenant in the Tribesmen regiment, an ally of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), explained to RT. With the ancient city of Palmyra now retaken, pro-government forces are pressing ahead with their campaign to cut off IS supply routes through the oil and gas-rich desert around the city, Phelan reports. Al-Qaryatayn looks totally deserted - no sign of the hundreds who IS reportedly kidnapped there. A fighter from a local tribe said the citizens were moved out long ago - to Raqqa, the de facto IS capital, where the terrorist group is most heavily entrenched. "Most information shows that the kidnapped Christians from Al-Qaryatayn were taken to an ISIS prison under the Batath Dam [22km upstream from the city of Raqqa]. They put them under the dam to avoid being targeted by Russian and Syrian aircraft," Ahmad Albuhamad said. Al-Qaryatayn used to have a large Christian population. Now the signs of IS persecution are quite visible. The jihadists apparently used a bulldozer to partially destroy St Elias Monastery, which dates back more than 1,500 years. Human bones from ancient graves are strewed amidst the rubble. Inside the monastery there is an Assyrian church and all Christian symbols in it have been destroyed. In the church graveyard, the gravestones have been trashed and all the crosses removed. Thankfully, the monastery's beautiful old church is still standing, but has been severely desecrated. After an apparent attempt to set the building on fire from inside, the old beams look burnt and the floor is covered with burnt pages with texts in Assyrian from Christian holy books. RT's crew reports many Assyrian churches in the area have been either demolished or badly damaged. There is not one building left in Al-Qaryatayn that has escaped damage from the fighting. In the meantime Syrian forces, with the help of Russian sappers, are working to de-mine the city of Palmyra, the taking of which is being held up as both a strategic and symbolic win in the battle against the jihadists. After IS seized Palmyra last May, they not only demolished objects of world heritage, but rigged the entire ancient city with explosives, leaving behind thousands of mines before their retreat. Russian mine clearance specialists are now scanning the ancient complex in search of explosives. Over 100 mines have already been defused.
Hiking season is picking up in earnest now that winter is (almost) behind us. The busy season for state forest rangers is coming as more people take to the trails. Pasted below is the DEC's latest recap of some recent ranger rescues. (The last entry is a particularly interesting "what not to do" for novice hikers).

-- Don Lehman

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Forest Rangers respond to search and rescue incidents statewide. Working with other state agencies, local emergency response organizations and volunteer search and rescue groups, Forest Rangers locate and extract lost, injured or distressed people from the backcountry.

Across New York, DECs Forest Rangers are on the front lines helping people safely enjoy the great outdoors, said Acting DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos. Their knowledge of first aid, land navigation and technical rescue techniques are critical to the success of their missions which take them from remote wilderness areas, with rugged mountainous peaks to white-water rivers, and throughout our vast forested areas statewide.

Recent missions carried out by DEC Forest Rangers include:

Saratoga County

Town of Hadley

Wilcox Lake Wild Forest

Injury hiker: On April 2, 2016 at 1:24 p.m., DEC Ray Brook Dispatch received a request for assistance from New York State Police Communication (NYSP COMSEC) for a 25-year-old man from Schenectady, NY with lower leg injury near the summit of Hadley Mountain. He was able to continue with the support of other hikers but he needed additional assistance. DEC Forest Rangers responded and reached the injured man at 2:54 p.m. Forest Rangers escorted the man out to the trailhead and he told them that he would seek medical attention on his own. The incident concluded at 3:12 p.m.

Essex County

Town of North Elba

High Peaks Wilderness

Injury hiker: On April 2, 2016 at 4:10 p.m., DEC Ray Brook Dispatch received a request for assistance for a 49-year-old man from Toronto, Ontario with an injured arm near the summit of Mount Colden. He managed to walk with assistance of his hiking companions and they decided to continue down the trail to Lake Arnold. One DEC Forest Ranger responded with a Utility-Terrain-Vehicle (UTV) as far as Marcy Dam and then hiked into Lake Arnold. He reached the injured man at 6:35 p.m. and provided basic First Aid. The Forest Ranger escorted him out to Marcy Dam where a UTV transported him to the trailhead. From there, Ranger Patrol transported him to AMC Lake Placid for treatment at 8:30 p.m.

St. Lawrence County

Town of Clifton

Cranberry Lake Wild Forest

Distressed hikers: On March 29, 2016 at 9:00 a.m., St. Lawrence County 911 contacted DEC Ray Brook Dispatch reporting a call for help from a hiking party in distress on the shore of Cranberry Lake.

After losing the call, 911 tried calling back with no success, but cell phone pings from the closest tower provided an approximate location. Based on the cell tower location, DEC Forest Rangers immediately concentrated New York State Police Aviation search efforts on the eastern shore of Cranberry Lake. They located the group at 11:53 a.m. Forest Rangers responded by boat and transported the group to the Cranberry Lake Fire Department for evaluation. An 18-year-old man from Syracuse, NY, 19-year-old man from Watertown, NY, and 19-year-old man from Carthage, NY had started to hike the "Cranberry Lake 50" the previous day. They did not have a map, compass, or any navigational aids and their gear was not appropriate for winter/spring hiking or camping. The group completed approximately 9 miles and set up camp for the night. By Tuesday morning, they realized they could not continue and called 911 for assistance. No further medical treatment was needed.
American-born, London-based author Meg Rosoff is the winner of the 2016 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. The award was announced in a broadcast from the National Library of Sweden in Stockholm on Tuesday, which was broadcast live at the Bologna Book Fair, as well as online. The Lindgren Award is the worlds largest childrens book prize, with an award of five million Swedish kronor, currently worth more than $600,000. In Bologna, agent Catherine Clarke accepted a bouquet of flowers on Rosoff's behalf.

Rosoff is the acclaimed author of several young adult novels, including How I Live Now, which won a Printz Award; the Carnegie Medalwinning Just in Case; and Picture Me Gone, which was shortlisted for the National Book Award. She is also the author of three picture books: Meet Wild Boars, Wild Boars Cook, and Jumpy Jack and Googily, all illustrated by Sophie Blackall.

Meg Rosoffs young adult novels speak to the emotions as well as the intellect, read the jurys citation. In sparkling prose, she writes about the search for meaning and identity in a peculiar and bizarre world. Her brave and humorous stories are one-of-a-kind. She leaves no reader unmoved.

The award, which is administered by the Swedish Arts Council, will be presented to Rosoff in a ceremony at the Stockholm Concert Hall on May 30.
According to him, the increasing number of the population in the country requires the expansion of health facilities to "accommodate the increase in population."

"That is why we are pressing on with the district hospitals project in order that we can bring quality healthcare to the people's doorsteps.

The completion of the Shai Osudoku hospital reflects an unwavering commitment to my 2012 social contract with the people of Ghana to expand access to quality healthcare across the length and breadth of our dear country Ghana, he said.

The president added that areas such as Sawla Kalba, Somanya, Buipe, and Torlon will soon be provided with district hospitals.

The on-going construction of the districts in Fomena and Kumewu, he said, are expected to be completed by October, 2016.

He added that the ones in Garu-Tempane and Abertifi would be completed in the early part of 2017.

The president showed appreciation to the team that worked on the Shai Osudoku hospital for being able to put up one of the first district hospitals to be completed this year.

Some of the workers on the project were rewarded for their hard work.
According to the facts of the case, on May 14, 2015, Gregorys brother, Mr Paul Afoko, and Mr Kwabena Agyepong, the National Chairman and the General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), respectively, arrived in Bolgatanga for a meeting.

The deceased organised some thugs to violently attack them for campaigning against the flag bearer, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, and also not notifying him, scuttling the planned meeting at the Azumsolon Guest House. The situation was later brought under control by the police, the prosecution said.

According to the prosecution, an upset Gregory confronted Mahama but was chased out by thugs.

The facts also noted that Gregory and Asabke formed another youth group in their bid to protect persons perceived to be against Nana Akufo-Addo.

It said the accused persons held a series of meetings with the youth and on May 20, 2015, they laid ambush at Mahamas residence with a substance suspected to be acid.

The deceased returned home around 11:10 p.m. in his pickup vehicle, with registration number NR 761  14, and immediately he parked the vehicle in front of his house, the suspects went close and signalled him to roll down the glass. The deceased identified the suspects to be party members and rolled down the glass to talk to them. Suddenly, the suspects poured the substance suspected to be acid on his head, face and other parts of his body and fled on a motorbike.

The deceased started screaming for help and his wife, Hajia Zenabu Adams, came to the aid of the deceased and managed to bring him out of the vehicle, the prosecution stated.

The prosecution also stated Mahamas wife sustained burns on the right side of her chest and breast while assisting her husband. When she enquired about what had happened to him, he told her Gregory and Asabke had attacked him.

Mahama died while arrangements were being made to airlift him to Accra for treatment. Gregory, who was later picked up, led the police to Asabkes fathers house.
The National Security Advisor, Alhaji Baba Kamara confirmed ordering the arrest of the managing director of the quarry company, Dr. Ayo Ani.

According to him, it was wrong for Dr Ani to take pictures of vehicles parked in his (Kamaras) warehouse on the Spintex Road, circulate them on social media, and later accuse him (Kamara) of rebranding the vehicles meant for the NCCE.

The Marbles and Granites boss has subsequently denied the accusations.

Touching on the subject matter, the director of communications for the NPP, Nana Akomea, said the action of Mr. Kamara is rather unfortunate, as "he is taking Ghana back to the regime of settling civil disputes through the use of the coercive tools of the criminal justice system.
District Police Commander of Anfoegah, ASP Twumasi Ankrah, who confirmed the incident to Accra-based Joy FM said the clashes began after installation of a chief, Torgetse Felix, in addition to another already on the throne.

In December last year, about three houses were burnt after the installation of the new chief and the least provocation triggers firing of gunshots by the factions. ASP Ankrah added.

He said the recent clashes occurred on Sunday at the funeral of a sister of Torgetse Felix.

A follower of Torgetse Felix was beaten and his teeth were removed by some people believed to be sympathizers of Togbui Kofi Nyarko, the Commander said.

The action angered the followers of the other chief, Togbui Kofi Nyarko, which resulted in a reprisal attack on a house on Monday.

They stood on a hill and started firing gunshots at the people in the house, but unfortunately, one of the gunmen was shot too he added.

The deceased sustained gunshot wounds from the attack and was rushed to the Anfoegah Catholic Hospital, but died shortly after, the Commander said.

The gunman, who is believed to be a suspect is still on admission at the Anfoegah Catholic Hospital, and being guarded by the police, the Commander added.
The Deputy Attorney General, Dominic Ayine, who is asking for the case to be dismissed has argued that the case has no foundation in law.

According to him, the plaintiffs have come to the court with "dubious" hearsay evidence and must not be entertained in the highest court of the land.

The plaintiffs also said the agreement should have gone to parliament for ratification, but the deputy Attorney General believes otherwise.

He said the agreement under which the two terror suspects came to Ghana does not fall within the remit of international transaction or treaties.

There exists an agreement between the two governments which was reached by exchange of confidential diplomatic notes otherwise known as Not Verbales, Dominic Ayine stated in his claim.

He further argued that the documents being used by the plaintiffs were fake and not official.

The two ex-detainees: Mahmud Umar Muhammad Bin Atef and Khalid Muhammad Salih Al-Dhuby, arrived in Ghana on Thursday January 7, 2016 for a two-year stay as part of a deal reached between the United States of America and the Government of Ghana.
Nana Addo abused and threatened me, I was so sad and scared but I kept quiet because I didnt want to be the fall guy through which something happens and they would say it is because of Adakabre so I kept quiet.

I was afraid becauseI was told to the face that you will be killed at a specific date, I have all the evidence, I can substantiate themI have everything on my phone, I have kept the phones and I would be willing to show it to anybody who wants to see them, Frimpong Manso said in an interview with Joy News.

The party in a quick rebuttal released a long statement signed by its Deputy Director of Communications, Anthony Abayifaa Karbo yesterday to rubbish the claim.

Read the full NPP statement below:

RE: AKUFO-ADDO THREATENED AND ABUSED ME  ADAKABRE

The attention of the New Patriotic Party has been drawn to the contents of an interview granted by Adakabre Frimpong Manso on Monday, April 4, 2016 on Joy FM, where, amongst others he stated that Nana Akufo-Addo had made threats on his life and abused him.

Adabkabre is quoted as saying that Nana Addo abused and threatened me, I was so sad and scared but I kept quiet because I didnt want to be the fall guy through which something happens and they would say it is because of Adakabre so I kept quiet. I was afraid becauseI was told to the face that you will be killed at a specific date, I have all the evidence, I can substantiate themI have everything on my phone, I have kept the phones and I would be willing to show it to anybody who wants to see them.

We would like to state emphatically, without any shred of doubt, that the above statements made by Adakabre are completely false, unfounded and mischievously put out all in the continuous attempts to tarnish the image of Nana Akufo-Addo and paint him as an intolerant and violent person. It is not surprising that a known Akufo-Addo hater, like Adakabre, would join this NDC-led propaganda bandwagon aimed at denting the image of Nana Akufo-Addo. Unable to defend their non-existent record of achievement, and their abysmal mismanagement of the Ghanaian economy, which has brought untold hardships to the people of Ghana, the NDC and its minions have resorted to fruitless attempts to paint Nana Akufo-Addo black.

Just as the NPP has complained time without number about the conduct of Adakabre Frimpong Manso on his show on Neat FM, which has resulted in the party boycotting the latters show, Nana Akufo-Addo also expressed his displeasure about the treatment being meted out to him on a daily basis by Adakabre on his show in April 2014, at the residence of the late Alhaji Aliu Mahama in Tamale, when the pair met. This was not done in private, but in the full glare of other persons present at the time. Nana again, confronted him at a press soiree in his home at Nima. At no point, in these discourse, did Nana Akufo-Addo make threats on the life of Adakabre Frimpong Manso. Threats on the lives of people do not form part of Akufo-Addos politics.

It is instructive to note that in Adakabres interview on Joy FM this morning, he claims to have evidence on his phone about the threats Nana Akufo-Addo made against him, and is prepared to show it to anybody who wants to see. We dare Adakabre to publish in full the evidence he claims to have on his phone, which points to the fact that Akufo-Addo threatened him. Additionally, threats against the life of a person is a criminal act and we would encourage Adakabre to lodge a formal complaint against Nana Akufo-Addo at the nearest Police Station, and subsequently the matter referred to the Court of Law.

If Adakabre fails to substantiate these accusations against Nana Akufo-Addo, we demand nothing short of a retraction of these baseless and false allegations and an unconditional apology to Nana Akufo-Addo.

signed

Anthony Abayifaa Karbo
According to the Daily Guide newspaper, sources from the Schools Students Representative Council (SRC) indicated that he had been given the green light to be at the event and had earlier held a series of meetings with the university authorities.

Bawumia was last month prevented by authorities of St. Francis College of Education in the Volta region from addressing the school, citing orders from above.

Bawumia has been touring pre-tertiary schools to sell the NPPs message of arise for change to first time voters.

Pre-tertiary schools have become a target for the party because most of the pupils will turn 18 before the November polls.

The party has accused the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) of being behind the two incidents.
He said a section of the students approached his office to complain about the event because it was a Students' Representative Council (SRC) event and that they also pay dues so their money should not be used to host a lecture that will favour one political party.

On the 30th of March, the SRC executives led by its president came to us and said as part of SRC week, Dr Bawumia has been invited to come and talk on the topic: Peace, a pre-requisite for economic development', so we asked them whether all the constituents of SRC had agreed and they said yes, and so we gave them the approval to go ahead to invite him, Mr Doku said, Graphic Online quoted him as saying.

The Vice Chancellor directed the pro-vice chancellor, me [Registrar] and the Finance Officer to give Dr Bawumia the necessary protocol that he deserves when he comes, in the presence of the SRC.

So we agreed that we were going to host him for him to deliver but later after the discussion, another group of students came to complain that they all pay SRC dues and SRC was politically neutral and so why should SRC use dues of students who do not belong to Bawumias party to invite him. When they raised the argument we saw some merit in it and management wanted to ensure peace and harmony for academic work," he explained further.

We didnt want any chaos on our campus and so we invited the SRC again and we told them the complaints that have been given by the other group and we were surprised when they said they had consulted all the constituents of SRC and that they had all agreed."

Dr. Bawumia was yesterday denied access to the premises of UMaT to deliver a lecture.

In a similar event last month, Bawumia was prevented by authorities of St. Francis College of Education in the Volta region from addressing the school, citing orders from above.

Bawumia has been touring pre-tertiary schools to sell the NPPs message of arise for change to first time voters.

Pre-tertiary schools have become a target for the party because most of the pupils will turn 18 before the November polls.

The party has accused the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) of being behind the two incidents.
According to them, four batches from the Accra, Ho, and Tamale Schools of Hygiene are still at home with no work in spite of having successfully graduated from their respective schools.

The said graduates embarked on a similar protest in October last year, but were asked to call it off after government's promise to address their concerns.

But, the graduates say they are yet to get those promises fulfilled.

In an interview on Accra-based Citi FM, Haruna Iddrisu said even though government has failed to to issue the clearance letters from the Ministry of Finance and Local Government, "As a stop gap measure, we will recruit all of them under the Youth Employment Programme."
The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr. John Kudalor, who made this known at a meeting held with the chairpersons and general secretaries of the various political parties said the move forms part of security arrangements being initiated to ensure a peaceful electioneering process.

We are prepared to provide four and two personnel each for the flag-bearers and their running mates respectively," the IGP said, adding that party executives are allowed to make inputs to decide the kind of security details they would want to be assigned by the Police.

Mr. John Kudalor stressed that security of flag-bearers and their running mates was of greatest concern to the police, as similar arrangements made in 2012 yielded positive results.

The security arrangement follows the controversy which surrounded the three ex-South African police officers who were brought in by the NPP to train the security detail of the flagbearer of the party.

The three were subsequently deported after they were arrested by the BNI and charged with conspiracy to commit crime and unlawful training.

The meeting, which was held at the National Police Headquarters, Accra on Friday April 1, 2016, had in attendance the NDCs General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, Hon. Freddie Blay, John Boadu and Dr. Charles Dwamena for the NPP; Prof. Edmund Delle and Nii Armah Akomfrah for CPP, Nii Allotey Brew Hammond and Mr. Mutala Mohammed Ahmed for the PPP.
Baamu Yaddaa is an hausa phrase which means we wont agree.

Wednesdays protest in the Ashanti Region will not be the end of this matter. It is only the beginning of a series of public agitations to force the EC to be professional, unbiased, wise and responsive to the concerns of the electoral process, a statement released by Convener of the LMVCA on Sunday said.

Some selected top people, including Dr. Bawumia, would then address the crowd at the converging point, the statement said.

Organizers say the demonstration is to demand for free, fair, credible elections and a peaceful election.

It said the protest march would be used to charge the EC to do the right thing by making sure that the validation exercise  which virtually all the political parties in the country are in full support of  is carried out to make sure that the voter register is thoroughly cleaned to ensure peaceful polls.
AMCU members had voted in October to strike in the gold sector, including at Sibanye, but had agreed not to down tools immediately.

AMCU spokesman Manzini Zungu said on Monday the union had given a 48-hour strike notice to Sibanye.

"We will go on strike for as long as our members are saying 'stay on a strike'," he said.

"Sibanye is on a shopping spree, acquiring other assets but their workers are paid very low wages."

Sibanye spokesman James Wellsted said the company had received the strike notice.

"They have a right to strike but we have the right to limit the potential damage to our business," he said. "We have robust strike plans and will be implementing," he said, without elaborating how Sibanye would cope with the work stoppage.

Zungu said the union aimed to get the salaries paid to its members in the gold sector to match the higher wages in coal and platinum.

AMCU led a bruising five-month wage strike in the platinum sector demanding more than a doubling of wages in 2014 to 12,500 rand ($847) - the same demand sought in gold last year. In both instances the demands were unsuccessful.

Wage talks in the platinum industry are set to begin in the next few weeks as a two-year wage deal expires end-June.

"We will be receiving demands from branches. It is our wish to sign an agreement by 1 July because we do not want a strike," Zungu said.
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Toyin Aimakhu is currently in Maryland, WashingtonDC filming her reality series which would focus on her everyday activities titled Keeping up with Toyin Aimakhu.

Speaking on her estranged relationship with ex-husband, Adeniyi Johnson, the "Iya Ibadan" actress disclosed she got married to a Yoruba guy who had an unsatiable appetite for the ladies.

She said, "I got married to a Yoruba guy but I packed my load away because he loves girls too much."

"I still love him but can't marry him again. Never."

The actress whose marriage with ex husband, Johnson was plagued with infidelity rumours was previously in a drama filled relationship with the CEO of Ebony Films and Records Production International after her breakup from husband, Johnson.

Aimakhu was recently reportedly kidnapped and assaulted by her ex-lover, undefinedwho is also a filmmaker.

She has since undefined
The actress in a recent unscripted video of herself revealed she would not be walking down the aisle soon except its with a whiteman. The video was posted on her reality TV series YouTube channel 'KUWTA" yesterday, April 4, 2016.

According to her,"married women are trying, may God give me the strength to marry again. I don't think I can go through it anymore."

"I will remain single or marry a whiteman," she continued.

Speaking on her estranged relationship with ex-husband, Adeniyi Johnson, the 'Iya Ibadan' actress disclosed she got married to a Yoruba guy who had an unsatiable appetite for the ladies.

She said, "I got married to a Yoruba guy but I packed my load away because he loves girls too much."

Aimakhu who is currently separated from her husband Adeniyi Johnson, was recently reportedly kidnapped and assaulted by her ex-lover, undefinedwho is also a filmmaker.
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! 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!
Da Viva is an African Print fashion brand known for its innovative, colourful printed fabrics that has fast become a favourite across Africa.

Da Viva chose to partner with AFWN 2016 because the show promotes/showcases high fashion, celebrates both up coming and established designers and attracts fashion endorsed celebrities and individual in the society and also projects the African culture in a stylish way.

Over the years, Da Viva has indicated its interest in partnering/fostering a relationship with African fashion which AFWN/AFWL is presenting with the fashion weeks hence the perfect synergy via partnering with the show.

The range of Da Viva quality collections include Ultimate by Da Viva, Expression by Da Viva, Ultimate Gold by Da Viva, Plain Dyed by Da Viva, Collezioni by Da Viva, Texturi by Da Viva and more.

Recently added is the limited edition Da Viva pure silk. The range of Da Viva quality fabric allows the fashion conscious Nigerian to create stunning garments to blend with the ever evolving world of fashion.

This year's edition of Africa Fashion Week Nigeria is slated to take place at the Eko Hotel from July 1st- 3rd 2016. While the London edition is slated for Sept, 2016.
Speaking when the team visited Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal in Sokoto on Tuesday, April 5, 2016, the leader of the delegation and the Director General of Health Services in Uganda's Ministry of Health, Dr. Aceng Jane Ruth, said they were in the state to assess the success of the drug and interact with those who have used it.

While in Sokoto, our team will also hold discussions with religious and community leaders considering the fact that Sokoto has adopted a community approach in the usage of the drug.

"From my interactions here so far, Misoprostol has proven to be life saver to many women. It has drastically reduced the number of deaths for mothers during child birth which in turn ensured survival of new born babies," she said.

The DG added that Nigeria and Uganda share a lot of similarities in areas of socio-economic indices, and requested the two governments to work closely for the benefit of their citizens.

In his remarks, Tambuwal said Sokoto government gives priority attention to the issue of community health, the result of which has improved survival rate of women and children.
Travelers to areas with cases of Zika virus infection are at risk of being infected with the Zika virus," the CDC said in its notice.

Mosquitoes that spread Zika are aggressive daytime biters. They also bite at night. There is no vaccine or medicine for Zika virus. The best way to avoid Zika virus infection is to prevent mosquito bites.

"To help stop the spread of Zika, travelers should use insect repellent for three weeks after travel to prevent mosquito bites," the CDC advised.

CDC further urged travellers to watch out for the symptoms of the virus..

"People who do have symptoms have reported fever, rash, joint pain, and red eyes," the CDC said.

Zika patients to take acetaminophen to relieve fever and pain. "Do not take aspirin, products containing aspirin, or other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen," CDC advises.

"Travelers to areas with Zika should monitor for symptoms or sickness upon return. If they become sick, they should tell their healthcare professional when and where they have traveled."
According to a member of the Appropriation Committee, Rep Joseph Edionwele, who spoke to the newspaper, the joint committees will meet Tuesday, April 5, to produce the clean copy for the onward transmission to the president.

Pulse recalls that last week, the Presidency had said that President Muhammadu Buhari would not sign the passed budgetbecause it was not detailed.

In his reaction to that, the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation, Rep Abdulmumuni Jibrin said that some previous administrations in the country signed the budget without the details.
In 2012 the U.S. State Department named Ansaru leader Khalid al-Barnawi one of three Nigerian militants blacklisted for ties to Boko Haram and al-Qaeda's north African wing.

The confirmation was given by Director of Defence Information, Brigadier General Rabe Abubakar.

We have confirmed as the one being arrested. We are sorting it out and looking for full details. The moment we finished our investigation we will inform the members of the public, Abubakar told ThisDay.

His arrest had earlier been announced by Ahmad Salkida, a journalist, with ties to Boko Haram.
This was disclosed by the groups president, Omoba Aigbegbele who also accused Buharis aide, Garba Shehu of attempting to politicize the war against Boko Haram.

Aigbegbele made the comment after Shehu allegedly said that former Chief of Defence Staff, Alex Badeh, used money meant for the purchase of arms to build palaces in Abuja, Vanguard reports.

This is a deliberately false and misleading statement by Mallam Garba Shehu which was calculated to tarnish the unblemished professional reputation of a distinguished professional, who has spent the better part of his life protecting and defending this country from external aggression and securing the territorial integrity of Nigeria, Aigbegbele said.

Shehu went beyond the charges against Badeh. There is not a single allegation in the charges against the former Chief of Defence Staff that he built palaces in Abuja with monies given to him to procure arms to secure his community.

Second, it is quite unimaginable of the Senior Special Assistant to use the scourge of the Boko Haram terrorist to score cheap political points, knowing full well that no one is exempted from the terrorists and their nefarious activities. Even President Buhari was also once attacked by the same group.

It is, therefore, a matter of grave concern that he would make such unguarded pronouncements about a matter, which is currently sub judicial, and to which the former Chief of Defence Staff has pleaded not guilty.

This again is a hollow attempt to unduly interfere with the functions of the judiciary, a conduct, which is repugnant to the constitutional principle of separation of powers. Shehu should rightly direct his media and publicity functions to address the increasingly deteriorating plight of the good people of Nigeria, he added.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has accused Badeh of money laundering to the tune of N3.9 billion.

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According to the commander of the joint forces Cameroon, Bouba Dobekreo, the arrests were made during a three-day operation launched on the area known to be one of the strongholds of the terrorists.

AP reports that the governor of Cameroon's Far North province, Midjiyawa Bakari, has directed the military to move all displaced people to the Minawao refugee camp in northern Cameroon, so that they can be better tracked.

The joint forces include about 9,000 soldiers from Cameroon, Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Benin with the singular objective to fight the Boko Haram sect.
Akande said Dr. Masha added that no fewer than 20,000 lives were lost while 1.8 million people were displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency and the planned interventions are to be implemented over time, in view of resources that are available for its implementation.

He said this based on a report carried out by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Internally Displaced Persons, Dr. Marian Masha, titled: Nigeria Recovery and Peace Building Assessment.

The Vice Presidentsaide also said The assessment and validation exercises completed in Nigerias North-East geopolitical zone have revealed the quantum of damage and the requirements to address the post-conflict recovery.

For instance, while the extent of damage was put at about $9bn, the assessment revealed that over $6bn would be needed for immediate and near term stabilisation and recovery of the region.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Army has arrested the leader of Islamist militant group Ansaru, a splinter faction of Boko Haram that has been accused of kidnapping and killing Westerners.

Watch video of the Federal Government's assessment of Boko Haram's attacks below.
Punch also reports that the raid was carried out by a joint team comprising of men of the 152 Task Force Battalion and the Sector 1 of the Multinational Joint Task Force

One of the hostages who was rescued, reportedly gave birth to a baby boy immediately she was released.

Usman in a statement said The troops cleared terrorists in Madawaya, Jere, Kardile, Koujili, Ngenere and Maksamari as well as Douse, Bembem, Zombulum and Taraji villages. In addition, they recovered several vehicles and motorcycles.

They also discovered and destroyed the Boko Haram terrorists IED-making factory at Bula Umara and killed 15 terrorists in the same area.

The gallant soldiers also rescued 275 persons held hostage by the Boko Haram terrorists. One interesting thing is that one of the rescued persons gave birth to a baby boy shortly after their liberation..

an AK-47 rifle, four fully-loaded magazines with 7.62mm ammunition, two power generating sets, welding machines, assorted batteries and solar panels, Usman said.
The sentiment was expressed by the groups National President, Gambo Gujungu.

As the umbrella body of all Youths in the North and also concerned about the welfare of Nigerians and most especially the youths of the country, we are concerned about the current situation being witnessed in the country by all and sundry, Gujungu said.

However, we also want to say that looking at events of the immediate past in the country that culminated in the election of President Muhammadu Buhari, shows that Nigerians wanted change and we all know that change anywhere in the world does not come easy and takes time and sacrifice.

It is in view of this that we are calling on Nigerians as a whole, the political elite and youths in particular, to exercise patience with President Muhammadu Buhari and his Minister of state for Petroleum, Dr. Kachikwu, to bring the needed change especially in the petroleum sector.

We have the hope that the Minister means well and his promise was also corroborated by the Group Executive Director (GED)/ Chief Operating Officer (COO) Upstream sector, NNPC, Alhaji Bello Rabiu Babura who said that refineries in Warri and Port Harcourt were now set for adequate fuel supply in the country, insisting that era of shortage of the petroleum product supply will be over soon, he added.

Minister of Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu had earlier promised that the fuel scarcity would be brought under control by April 7.

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To make matters worse, the Federal Government has once again started paying petrol subsidies.

According to the Petroleum Product Pricing Regulation Agency (PPPRA), the government will begin to pay N5.84 on every litre of petrol sold from April 1, 2016.

The removal of subsidies by the Buhari administration was one of its most commendable decisions and it showed Nigerians that change was truly on the way.

The step also earned the president praise from leading international publication, The Economist.

Mr Buharis tenure has in some ways been impressiveHe has indicated that he will stop subsidising fuel and selling it at below-market prices. This is brave, since the subsidies are popular, even though they have been a disaster (the cheap fuel was often sold abroad and petrol stations frequently ran dry), The publication wrote in January 2016.

It is therefore confusing that the government has decided to take a step backward in this area by recommencing subsidy payments.

The most confusing aspect of the scenario however, is Buharis decision to remain silent despite all the problems plaguing the country.

Citizens also deserve to know what steps the Buhari administration is taking to ensure that this suffering stops once and for all.

President Buhari, why dont we have fuel? When are we going to have fuel? How are you making sure this years fuel scarcity will be the last? What are your plans?

Dear Mr President, we have placed a lot of confidence and trust in you, this is not the time to operate a stealth mode presidency, we need to know what youre doing and how youre doing it.
Sharif dismissed the rumour while speaking with newsmen in Kano on Monday.

He described the rumour as ``baseless and unfounded saying that the Danmasani was hale and hearty.

"The rumour of the death of Danmasani is not true because as I am talking to you now he is hale and hearty, he said.

"Following the rumour, we have been receiving phone calls from within and outside Kano to verify the story, he said.
Punch reports that the lawmakers exchanged blows during the House session.

Governor Tanko Al-Makura had earlier announced the appointment of 11 sole administrators to oversee the affairs of the councils pending an election.

Channels Television also reports that the two year tenure of the council chairmen expired on March 24, 2016.

Reports say all the furniture in the chambers were destroyed.

A lawmaker who opposed the Governors move, Mr. Makpa Malla said The Section 7 of the Federal Republic of Nigeria  as amended  guarantees a democratic system of governance at the local government level. The provision of the constitution is explicit on how the local government structure should be run.

That is why we are kicking against the appointment of the sole administrators. Sole administrators only existed during the military era and as respecters of the rule of law, we must ensure that the executive must also respect the rule of law.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Speaker, Godiya Akwashiki said The Governor had to inaugurate the 11 sole administrators because of the security situation in the state, adding that on account of this, it would be wrong to fault the governors decision.

We cannot afford to leave the councils without heads. The tenure of the former local government chairmen expired on March 24, 2016.

The lawmakers who opposed Governor Al-Makuras move, also accused those who supported the appointments of receiving N50m bribe each, from the Governor.

Watch a video report of the incident below.
This is contained in a statement signed by the force spokesman Col. Isa Ado and made available to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Yenagoa.

Ado said the feat was achieved in multiple operations conducted by the military in March 2016.

He said that the soldier, whose name was not mentioned, was kidnapped by pirates on March 24 along the Nembe waterways.

Ado said that the force also arrested medical personnel who specialised in treating wounded militants and sea pirates after exchange of gun battle with the military.

"It was revealed from our source that the medical worker has been operating in the creeks for long and providing medical service to the pirates and militants at a medical facility at Okiama Village in Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa.

"He was responsible for the treatment of the wounded sea pirates and their leader who recently engaged troops of the Joint Force in a shootout along Nembe water ways in Bayelsa.

"During the encounter, four of the sea pirates were killed while others sustained injuries.

"However they ran out of luck as troops on getting the information cordoned off the area and arrested the medical worker while the wounded pirates escaped before the arrival of troops, the statement read in part.

In another development, the troops arrested a suspected oil thief during anti-illegal oil bunkering around Igbematoru, Ogu-Bolo and Bille axis of Bayelsa and Rivers.

Seven wooden boats, two Cotonou boats, four surface tanks loaded with suspected stolen products, seven storage tanks each loaded with 30,000 litres of stolen crude were impounded at the site.

The site and the items were subsequently destroyed.

Also troops deployed at Afiesere Flow Station in Ughelli North LGA of Delta on March 18 foiled an attempt to vandalise and cart away valves from wellhead 18/37 at Afiesere.

Afiesere Flow Station is operated by Nigeria Petroleum Development Company (NPDC).

Ado stated that troops on getting information responded swiftly and recovered two valves supposedly abandoned by fleeing suspects.

He said the recovered exhibits are in custody of the Joint Force while efforts are on top gear to apprehend the perpetrators.

"Meanwhile, troops while on land trotting along NPDC Erhoike Flow Station Kokori Ethiope East LGA of Delta arrested two suspects in connection with the vandalism of wellheads 3 and 19 at an Oil field in the area.
According to Premium Times investigation on Monday, April 4, 2016, Saraki failed to declare the assets among those filed with the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), as required by the Nigerian laws.

Saraki, through his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Yusuph Olaniyonu, however insisted that he complied with the provisions of the law.

He said the controversial assets belongs to his wife's family estate.

It is public knowledge that Mrs. Saraki comes from a family of independent means and wealth with numerous and varied assets acquired over decades in family estates and investments, Mr. Olaniyonu said.

But in contrary, the claims by the Senate President contradicts those by his wifes lawyers who said the assets in question solely belongs to Mrs. Saraki.

The London-based law firm of Harbottle & Lewis, who are lawyers to Mrs. Saraki, in clarifying the legal position of the controversial assets, said its client solely own them.

Our client is the sole shareholder in Sandon Development Limited. There are not and have never been any other shareholders in Sandon Developments Limited, Harbottle & Lewis stated in a response to enquiries by the ICIJ in a letter dated March 19, 2016.

Also in the document obtained by Premium Times, Mrs. Saraki insists she is the sole director of Girol Properties Limited.
The Senate Presidents appeal is based on the CCTs decision to dismiss a petition that it had no jurisdiction to try the case.

Saraki appeared before the tribunal today, April 5, 2016, for the continuation of the trial.

Meanwhile, fresh allegations of wrongdoing have trailed the Senate President following a leak of confidential documents which show that his wife owns four offshore assets.

In response, Saraki explained that his wife comes from a wealthy family and that he cant be expected to declare her family assets as his.

The property in question forms part of Dr Sarakis wifes family asset. It is public knowledge that Mrs. Saraki comes from a family of independent means and wealth with numerous and varied assets acquired over decades in family estates and investments, Saraki said via a statement released on Monday, April 4, 2016, by his media aide, Yusuph Olaniyonu.

Furthermore, the law only requires a public officer to declare both his own assets and those held by his spouse and his children under 18 years of age. The law does not require a public officer to declare assets held by the spouses family.

It is not expected by the law that a public officer should declare such assets held in the spouses family estate. Indeed, the Code of Conduct form does not make provision for declaration of spouses family assets, he added.

The Senate President has also maintained that his trial is political and has nothing to do with the war against corruption.

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"DNB says this should not have happened and that the bank should not have participated. That I agree to," Trade and Industry Minister Monica Maeland said.

The Norwegian government is the bank's top owner with a stake of 34 percent. DNB's Seychelles activities were first reported by daily Aftenposten, quoting leaked documents from Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca.

The leak involves more than 11.5 million documents from the files of the law firm, revealing details of hundreds of thousands of clients in multiple jurisdictions.

DNB said in a separate statement it regretted assisting about 40 customers in setting up the firms between 2006 and 2010, and that the practice had ended.

"It's the customers' responsibility to report their own funds to tax authorities. Still, we believe we should not have contributed to establishing these companies," Chief Executive Rune Bjerke said, referring to the Seychelles firms.

"The structures could be abused for tax evasion," the CEO added.
Buhari said Nigeria needs to work on her potentials, so that we dont remain permanently at the level of potentials.

If Ethiopia is sustained largely by her airline industry, we have greater potentials here. But we must move out, engage with the rest of the world, as we need to re-establish the integrity of this country. We need to rebuild this country again.

Adding that In the First Republic, more enduring infrastructure was built with meagre resources.

We showed a lot of indiscipline in managing our economy, and that is why we are where we are today. But this time round, well do our best.
The lawmakers were caught on camera throwing objects and punches at each other.

The suspension was announced by the Deputy Speaker of the Assembly, Godiya Akwashiki.

13 lawmakers and me have voted in support of a motion moved for the suspension of the six lawmakers who misbehaved during our sitting on Monday, he said.

They are Kassim Mohammed-Kassim (APC-Akwanga South), Murtala Sodangi(APC-Nasarawa Central), Mohammed Okpoku (APC-Udege/ Loko, Musa Ali(APC-Keffi East), Makpa Malla (APC-Wamba) and Abubakar Kana (APC-Kokona West).

These lawmakers are suspended from the house indefinitely without salary and allowances over their misconduct, he added.

The legislators were said to have resorted to physical combat when a disagreement occurred over the appointment of sole administrators for 11 local government councils in the state.

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He stated this in Abeokuta at the public presentation of a book authored by a leading politician, Chief Alani Bankole.

Osoba, who was the special guest of honour at the programme, acknowledged the mediatory roles played by the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo, and the Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Adetona.

The former governor, who commended the two monarchs, described them as "bridge builders.

It would be recalled that Osoba defected from the APC to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) shortly before the 2015 general elections.

But on Sunday, April 3, 2015, national leaders and chieftains of the APC held a reconciliatory meetingwith Osoba at his Ikoyi, Lagos residence during which he announced his return to the party.

"I am a founding father of the APC. I am back in my father's house," he said.
The Lagos Angel Network (LAN) planned to raise at least N25 million per quarter in the deal events but the first edition raised about N50 million.

"LAN had qualified three syndicates led by members to raise money within their syndicates to put in the best companies that applied. With support from VC4Africa, the 238 companies that applied for the DealDay were pruned initially to 57, then to 10 and finally to 5. It was the last five that pitched to investors on the 31st," said Collins Onuegbu, Signal Alliance founder, in a LinkedIn post.

Five companies pitched on the day and three of those companies got investment. The LAN panel said the remaining two companies will probably get investment as well but on subsequent deal days.

The three companies that got investments were not mentioned but LAN said they operate in the retail, education and media industries respectively.
New Zealand submitted a letter on Monday to the president of the 193-member General Assembly formally nominating Clark, who heads the U.N. Development Programme, as a candidate to succeed Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Ban, a former South Korean foreign minister, will step down at the end of 2016 after two five-year terms. A man has held the top job at the United Nations since its inception 70 years ago and there is a strong push for a woman to be elected.

"I'm seeking election on the basis of the skills that I have and I would expect in the 21st century to be given equal consideration to any male applicant," Clark, New Zealand prime minister from 1999 to 2008, told Reuters in an interview.

Clark is currently up against seven candidates, including three women: U.N. cultural organization (UNESCO) Director-General Irina Bokova of Bulgaria, former Croatian Foreign Minister Vesna Pusic and Moldova's former foreign minister, Natalia Gherman.

The other four candidates are former Macedonian Foreign Minister Srgjan Kerim, Montenegro Foreign Minister Igor Luksic, former Slovenian President Danilo Turk and former U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres, who is also a former Portuguese prime minister.

The 15-member U.N. Security Council, including veto powers China, Russia, the United States, Britain and France, will recommend a candidate for election by the General Assembly later this year to succeed Ban.

"The biggest challenges (facing the United Nations) are the changing nature of the peace and security issues - they are not what the U.N. was founded to deal with," Clark said. "It requires a new set of tools."

The General Assembly will hold a series of informal public meetings with each candidate next week.

"Coming from New Zealand, we live in a very diverse region, we have a very diverse country, so trying to reconcile differences, bridge gaps, has been in my DNA," she said. "Those are very valuable skills here at the U.N."
An investigation by The Sun newspaper suggested that gangs operating in the north Indian state of Punjab are preying on destitute Indian children, as well as Nepali children who migrated to India after earthquakes hit their country last year.

The article published on Monday prompted British Home Secretary Theresa May to call for a police investigation into the allegations of child trafficking - "a truly abhorrent crime" - and action against perpetrators.

Government officials in Nepal and India said they are aware human trafficking is common, especially after natural disasters, but were surprised victims are being sent as far away as the UK.

"We have no proof now. If any proof is found out during investigation, we will bring those involved it the crime to justice. There is no question of leaving them without punishment."

An official from India's home ministry said the government was trying to tackle the "menace" of human trafficking "with all seriousness".

"It is a known fact that children from poor families are trafficked from states such as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh bordering Nepal. The last devastating earthquake in Nepal has added to this problem," said the official, who did not want to be named.

He said cases of human trafficking were possible in Punjab where drug trafficking is a problem, and that the same gangs could be involved in buying and selling children as well.

"TAKE A NEPALESE TO ENGLAND"

The Sun's investigation was carried out by an undercover reporter posing as a wealthy British-Indian visiting the city of Jalandhar, looking for a child worker to take back to the UK.

It quotes a trader called Makkhan Singh, who had lined up three children for the reporter to choose from, claiming he had supplied mostly Nepali boys to rich families in England.

"Take a Nepalese to England. They are good people. They are good at doing all the housework and they're very good cooks. No one is going to come after you," he was quoted as saying.

"India is flooded with boys. Nepal has been destroyed and all the Nepalese are here. We go to the poor parents, we talk to them, we do a deal," he added.

South Asia is the fastest-growing and second-largest region for human trafficking in the world, after East Asia, according to the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

India, alone, is home to almost half the world's 36 million slaves, according to the 2015 Global Slavery Index, produced by the Australia-based Walk Free Foundation.

Thousands of children, mostly from poor rural areas, are taken to cities every year by gangs who sell them into bonded labour or hire them out to unscrupulous employers.

Many end up as domestic workers or labourers in brick kilns, roadside restaurants or small textile and embroidery workshops. Many women and girls are sold into brothels.

Experts say the risks of being exploited are even greater after disasters when homes, jobs and livelihoods are lost.

40,000 CHILDREN HIT AFTER QUAKES

Earthquakes that struck Nepal in April and May 2015, killed some 8,800 people, left hundreds of thousands of families homeless and raised concerns among rights groups that trafficking rings would take advantage of the vulnerable.

Nepali officials say more than 40,000 children either lost their parents, were injured, or were placed in a precarious situation following the disaster.

Authorities launched anti-trafficking awareness campaign in 22 districts bordering India and alerted police and child rights activists to remain vigilant against child exploitation.

Over the last year, Nepali officials say they had intercepted 400 children moving in groups without their parents.

In India, officials in Uttar Pradesh state say they have rescued more than 160 Nepalis, mainly women and children, from human trafficking after the twin quakes.

Back in Britain, Home Secretary May called on The Sun to help with the police investigation in the UK.
Six weeks after the city of Rock Island denied an Iowa-based catering business acquisition of a historic property, aldermen Monday approved an incentive package to help the business redevelop a downtown convention center.

Bridges Catering, of Princeton, Iowa, plans to purchase and renovate the Stern Center, 1713 3rd Ave., spending about $1.3 million for the project, according to city documents.

Following a 30-minute study session, aldermen unanimously approved a redevelopment agreement that permits the city to contribute $600,000 from its Tax Increment Financing, or TIF, revenues to the project. Under the agreement, the city will pay Bridges $300,000 once it gains ownership of the property, and chip in the rest of the request following major rehab work.

Specifically, Bridges will renovate the first-floor event space, build offices and a commercial-sized kitchen on the second floor and open up the third level to an outside retailer.

Bill Healy Jr., an owner of the family catering business, said the company also will repaint the 17th Street side of the former McCabe's Department Store/Hyman's Furniture building.

"We want to make it a shining gem for the city," said Healy, who noted the facility can seat up to 500 people for an event.

I just think its a win-win for everybody involved, said Stern, who hopes to close on the sale May 2.

In other business, aldermen discussed plans to assist Pawn King, the last standing business at the former Watchtower Plaza site, where Walmart wants to build a SuperCenter. The St. Louis-based business wants to relocate less than 1 miles to the north to the former Salvation Army store, at 2125 11th St., and hopes the city will donate two adjacent parcels of land for additional parking.

Meanwhile, pawn shop representatives at the meeting said they're finalizing a deal with Walmart to lease the current location while they renovate their future location, which could cost up to $500,000.
DES MOINES  Sen. Chuck Grassley and Supreme Court nominee Judge Merrick Garland will sit down over breakfast to discuss why the Iowa Republican opposes setting a hearing on the nomination.

Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he spoke with Garland on Monday and invited the federal judge to breakfast in the Senate dining room. The time and date are to be determined.

Grassley has repeatedly said hes standing on principle in refusing to hold hearings on President Barack Obamas Supreme Court nominee.

According to a brief announcement from Grassleys office, the senator invited Garland to meet to discuss the nomination and why the Senate will not consider a nominee until the next president takes office.

This is not about a person or an individual, he said about Senate majority Republicans refusing to hold confirmation hearings. This is about the principle of letting the people decide.

Monday was the second time Grassley spoke to Garland since the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals chief judge was nominated to succeed the late Justice Antonin Scalia. They talked by phone in mid-March. Grassley congratulated Garland and, according to the White House, an in-person meeting was being planned.

Garland called Grassley on Monday, as they had discussed before the Easter recess, but the senator was on the floor. Grassley returned the call and during a short conversation invited Garland to meet.

The confirmation process for Supreme Court nominees starts in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Majority Republicans, including Grassley, have said they wont have hearings on any Obama nominee until after the election.

That position has been unpopular with liberal groups as well as four Iowa Democrats seeking their partys nomination to challenge Grassleys re-election in November.

Sen. Rob Hogg of Cedar Rapids called for an up-or-down vote on Garland. Former Lt. Gov. Patty Judge called Grassleys position obstructionism.

In short, the message delivered to Grassley repeatedly at his town hall forums in northwest Iowa during the Senates Easter recess was do your job. Progressive groups demonstrated outside of Grassleys offices and events, and questions about the Supreme Court nomination dominated those forums.

Grassleys position was not without support, however. At Northwestern College in Orange City, for example, the most applause was when a woman thanked Grassley for his decision not to hold hearings.

The controversy around Grassleys decision has given new hope to Democrats who hope to deny him a seventh term. However, the Rothenberg-Gonzales Political Report called that likelihood a far-fetched scenario. It calls the race Safe Republican.

Still, Iowans representing unions and advocacy groups not supporting Grassleys re-election will travel to Washington today to participate in activities on Capitol Hill and a news conference at the Supreme Court. The group, which will include a former Grassley staffer and a GOP precinct committee member, will mark the 20th day that has passed since Garlands nomination.
Like "Breaking Bad," "Better Call Saul" is a first-rate thriller as well as a character study, but the prequel is a stranger, more unlikely beast. Case in point: this week's episode, "Fifi," featured Mike (Jonathan Banks), everybody's favorite taciturn enforcer, preparing for an attack on the Salamanca family, while the opening saw a scrupulous search for contraband at border patrol, yet the most nerve-wracking and exhilarating scene in the episode involves Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk) making copies.

Before that, the open: a Regala Helado ("frozen treat") truck hits border patrol, with a long-take that seems to be inspired by Orson Welles' "Touch of Evil" while using that film's methods for an opposite effect. In that film, Welles' unbroken opening take shows a bomb snuck onto a car, only for the crane to lift and lose the car on the Mexican border, with the vehicle coming in and out of the picture as we're the only ones aware of what's on board. In "Fifi," the camera follows a truck that we're certain must have some involvement with the Salamanca's illegal trade, but we're not sure, and the camera moves all over the place as if it's searching (much like the border patrol agents with mirrors on long sticks, searching under the trucks), losing sight and coming back to the Regala Helado truck. We eventually settle on the driver, with the distant look in his eyes of a man who's done this a million times before and knows how to get through. When he's clear, he takes out a popsicle, drives down the road and stops in the middle of the desert, finding a gun in a tin under a rock and sticking the finished popsicle stick in the ground next to several others, like a graveyard. He brings tasty treats and death, and he does it with regularity, precision and a hell of an organization behind him.

We see the driver again, later in the episode, as Mike trails Hector Salamanca (Mark Margolis) to some sort of a warehouse, after watching him earlier in the ice cream shop he operates out of. Mike's equally careful and precise, but he's not yet the man who'll serve as Gus Fring's top enforcer, and he certainly doesn't have Fring's organization behind him the way the driver does the Salamancas. He's instead forced to be careful, savvy, and improvise. When his granddaughter Kaylee is over at his place, he tasks her to help him on his latest project, drilling holes into a hose that he tells his daughter-in-law will be a soaker. Mike's playful when he's with his granddaughter, thanking her for being a big help and complimenting her for being much smarter than he was when he was a kid ("Maybe you needed better teachers," she says helpfully). When she leaves, however, we quickly cut to Mike drilling a hole to him washing the hose in the sink, getting ready for what's next. We cut to him sitting on the couch, watching Cary Grant using his charm to try to win back Rosalind Russell in "His Girl Friday. It's a good way to pass the time while he sticks nails through the holes, preparing what's either a nasty home-security measure or something even uglier (we'll see that in the next episode, "Nailed"). But without that organization behind you, you have to improvise or act quickly.

That's something Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn) learns: though Jimmy advises her to make sure she locks her clients down before living Hamlin, Hamlin & McGill, she has to do it her way, respectably, shaking Howard Hamlin's (Patrick Fabian) hand as she tells him she's striking out on her own. Howard is understanding, in his chilly, stiff fashion, moving from more or less ignoring Kim as a co-worker to respecting her as she's heading out the door, even saying that HHM will still pay off her student loans and noting that he thought about heading out on his own before his father stopped him to add another "H" in the firm. "Things work out the way they're supposed to, I guess," Howard says with a sigh as director Larysa Kondracki cuts to a wide shot of the office, Howard's achievements laid bare as sterile, cold and somewhat empty, the world's most comfortable prison. After a final note to Kim ("If I pushed you, it was because I knew I could expect more from you"), Howard shifts back to business: he's going to keep Mesa Verde Bank if it kills him.

Kim works fast, literally racing to her phone as soon as she's out of Howard's office and making sure she's still on for lunch with the Mesa Verde folks. She's next seen selling them on taking a shot with her instead of HHM, in a comfortable (and comforting) blue suit while she assuages all of their fears. Her best moment is a question about whether or not the bank president got his suit off the rack, underlining the importance of having things tailor-made. "Either you fit the jacket or the jacket fits you." She's ready to devote herself to Mesa Verde, and her friend gives her a signal that she's as good as in (usually a sign on "Better Call Saul" that something terrible is going to happen). She's on cloud nine when she meets up with Jimmy, even willing to lease an expensive space that was designed to be a dentist's office. It doesn't matter: they're all set.

Until Howard brings Chuck McGill (Michael McKean) into the picture. Howard is nervous about losing Mesa Verde and not confident in the realm of bank expansion. Chuck knows it, and instead of helping Howard brush up, Chuck grabs a suit...without space blanket lining. Kondracki juxtaposes the two men in a great image that shows Howard distant in a mirror, stiff, uncomfortable and all business while Chuck is loose, a bit of a mess but ready to rise to the task, or at least confident enough that he can rebuke Howard for doubting him. And the courtesy meeting with Mesa Verde goes well: Chuck's a better salesman than Howard, good at insinuating weaknesses while pretending to compliment Kim, saying that she's young and exciting while he's a boring guy who reads FEC and ISO reports for fun, noting that a minor slip-up could mean years of trouble with the SEC, mentioning Enron and Worldcom as a scare tactic. It works: Kim's friend twitches, the bank president's mouth is agape, and Kim loses Mesa Verde.

It's not without a price: the scene's best touch is how Kondracki highlights, well, the lights, opening with a high shot right next to an overhead light, then moving down to the table where the lamps are shining brightly. Chuck is all smiles and confidence in the scene, but as soon as the deal is sealed, he collapses, his electromagnetic sensitivity acting up again. And much as Ernie (or "Ernesto," as only Chuck calls him) tries to nurse him back to health, he's still in rough shape all night as Jimmy drives in to take over. Jimmy's first instinct is to take care of his brother, make sure he gets the help he needs...but when there's nothing more he can do until morning and Chuck is passed out on the couch, Jimmy notices the Mesa Verde boxes on Chuck's floor, and he gets an idea.

It should be noted that Jimmy isn't the only underhanded lawyer this week. Chuck's actions in the meeting are some cheap, fear-mongering tactics, taking away a client that's sizable but not essential to HHM (it's far less money than the Sandpiper case, for example) but all-important to Kim, essentially wiping out her strong start. But Jimmy runs to a copy shop with key documents from the Mesa Verde files, putting Post-It notes in to remember where to place them, and gets an exacto knife, a ruler, and starts cutting out and switching addresses on the forms to make sure Chuck completely flubs the case. It's a great scene, moving from fast-motion to superimpositions and dissolves of Jimmy working over many, many forms. It's also unsettling, because Jimmy's now getting vengeful, stabbing his brother in the back in a move that's almost certainly illegal and definitely going to come back to bite him. It's set to "Why Don't You Do It," a song by British garage rock/R&B group Little Barrie (who also provide the show's theme song), giving the whole enterprise a relaxed, cool undercurrent.

But it's not going to make Jimmy feel great in the end. Chuck is self-righteous and tired when he speaks to Jimmy in the morning, but he ends the conversation with a thanks for staying with him over the night. "I know we have our issues, but if things were reversed, I hope you know I'd do the same for you." One could argue that he already has by socking Kim in the gut when he poached Mesa Verde, but Jimmy's still left looking uneasy. He's done a bad thing, and it could hurt Kim as well as Chuck if things go poorly (all signs point to "yes"). Things do work out the way they're supposed to, but that's not necessarily a good thing.

Stray thoughts:

-Seehorn, Odenkirk, McKean and Banks are all typically great, but I'm most impressed with Patrick Fabian this episode. Howard's a stiff, but Fabian does solid work making him look like a stiff with a bit of a soul, even if he's not great at expressing it.

-I mentioned director Larysa Kondracki's many flourishes above. It's some of the best direction in the show's history for what's a relatively low-key episode, where all of the dangerous decisions are handled very quietly. She gives it the edge it needs.

-Composer Dave Porter outdoes himself this week with that opening number, which starts like a percussive thriller bit that reminded me of Elliot Goldenthal's score for the heist scene in "Heat," only to get funkier and more confident. Our worries are for naught, at least for now. The Salamanca crew is too professional to let things go wrong at the border.

-But how is that gun going to come into play? I imagine that guy will meet a not-too-pleasant end by way of Mike's nail-hose.

-The episode's title is taken from the last B-29 bomber, which Jimmy uses illegally in a commercial by sneaking a camera in under a wheelchair, which his veteran doesn't need (additionally: I was pretty uncomfortable with how Jimmy was using a senior citizen who couldn't speak, only to laugh loudly when that turned out to be an act).

-"Paige gives me the double thumbs-up, BOOMP BOOMP, just like that!" Kim is so great when she's flying high that it's heartbreaking to see that taken away from her.

-Jimmy talks to his veteran by saying he fought the Germans, but he insists that he fought the Japanese.

-Mike to Kaylee: "I'm a grown-up. Grown-ups get to be stupid." That'll only take him so far.
MOSCOW, April 5 (RAPSI)  The corruption case involving among others Russias Culture Deputy Minister Grigory Pirumov may result in a review of lucrative restoration contracts signed with BaltStroy company, Kommersant newspaper reported on Monday.

The contracts at initial stages of execution are considered to be reconsidered, as evidenced by a freeze of restoration of Koporye Fortress in the suburbs of St. Petersburg amounting to 100 million rubles (about $1.5 million), what Ministrys experts say is an overestimate.

Some of the tenders won by BaltStroy, a part of Petersburg-based Forum Holding, may be reconsidered and annuled, Kommersant reported, citing some undisclosed sources close to the Culture Ministry.

Forum Holding is owned by Dmitry Michalchenko, a billionaire arrested on March 29 on charges of alcohol trafficking.

In the meantime, investigators claim that about 186 million rubles earmarked for the restoration of Izborsk Fortress carried out by BaltStroy were embezzled.

Obviously, this contract is already closed; however, at this time auditors are working at the Culture Ministry, therefore, the tenders BaltStroy has won relatively recently may well be reviewed,  a source close to the Ministry says. According to this source the contracts yet to be carried out or at initial stages of execution may be affected first. The state procurement database show that at the moment BaltStroy has about 10 such contracts ranging from 14 mln to 110 mln rubles.

The Culture Ministrys press service has said that the internal audit announced by Minister Vladimir Medinsky is underway since March 18; however, as yet auditors have no evidence justifying pull-out of contracts made with BaltStroy. Nevertheless, the Ministry is putting on hold some tenders, where contractors have not been determined yet. For instance, on March 28 it had to cancel a contest for development of Koporye Fortress restoration project under pressure of 11 experts, who had signed a letter to this effect. After a consultation with the protesting experts the internal Ministrys commission concluded that this project amounting to almost 100 mln rubles of federal budget money was overestimated by at least 50 mln rubles.

Atecks, a company founded by the Federal Guards Service (FSO) and BaltStroy are currently two largest players on the Russian restoration and construction market. According to Goszatraty [State Expenditures] database on state procurement, since 2012 the Culture Ministry has made more than 230 contracts with Atecks amounting to 70 bln rubles and 160 contracts with BaltStroy totaling to 58 bln rubles.
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Russian eccentric artist Pavlensky turns to ECHR over detention

MOSCOW, April 5 (RAPSI) - Russian performance artist Pyotr Pavlensky, accused of setting fire to the Moscow headquarters of the Federal Security Service (FSB), has filed a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) regarding his detention, his lawyer Irina Khrunova told RAPSI on Tuesday.

Pavlensky insists that Russian authorities have violated Article 5 (Right to Liberty and Security) by illegally detaining and Article 10 (Freedom of expression) of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Earlier, the Tagansky District Court in Moscow extended the detention of Pavlensky until May 5. The artist said that charges against him had been reclassified from vandalism to destruction of cultural heritage sites.

Investigators reclassified the charges because many prominent men have been repressed in this building, Pavlensky said. The arson caused an estimated 480,000 rubles ($7,000) of damage.

Pavlenskys lawyer Dmitriy Dinze told RAPSI earlier this move by the investigation cant be viewed as either easing or tightening of charges. Both articles of the Criminal Code provide the same maximum prison sentence of three years.

Pavlensky has been found sane; he would not face compulsory treatment in a mental hospital.

Eccentric artist Pavlensky was arrested on November 9, 2015, along with several other people who claim to be journalists that were invited to the artists performance. The next day Pavlensky was detained under a court decision.

Pavlensky is known for a number of controversial performances.

In July 2012, he sewed up his mouth and stood at the Kazan Cathedral with a poster in support of Pussy Riot.

In May 2013, Pavlensky lay down on the ground in front of the St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly naked with barbed wire around his body.

In November 2013, also naked, Pavlensky nailed his scrotum to the Red Square pavement near the Lenin Mausoleum.

In October 2014, he staged an eccentric stunt on the roof of the Serbsky Mental Institution in Moscow by cutting off one of his earlobes.

In February 2015, Pavlensky and his accomplices burned car tyres, waved Ukrainian flags and banged sheet metal with sticks in a show of solidarity with the anti-government protesters in Ukraine. The performance was held near the Church of the Savior on Blood in St. Petersburg.
Italy to extradite Russia's former border agency head

MOSCOW, April 5 (RAPSI)  Italy on Tuesday will extradite to Russia Dmitry Bezdelov, former head of the Federal Border Development Agency charged with embezzlement of more than one billion rubles ($14.6 million), RIA Novosti reported citing spokesman for the Prosecutor General's Office Alexander Kurennoy.

Bezdelov resigned from his post in October 2013 after a probe revealed inappropriate use of budget funds by the agency.

Investigators found out that Bezdelov, then head of the Federal Border Development Agency, conspired with a range of unnamed people to embezzle public funds allocated for the construction of the railway checkpoint Adler, Kurennoy said.

He has transferred over one billion rubles ($14.6 million) to the Agrosoyuz bank whose main beneficiary by that time was his father, Kommersant newspaper reported earlier.

Bezdelov was arrested in Rome in October 2014 after he had been put on the international wanted list.

Italy's court of appeals upheld in October 2015 the decision to extradite Bezdelov to Russia. The Supreme Court has left the judgment intact.
Investigators launch case over Aum Shinrikyo activities in Russia

MOSCOW, April 5 (RAPSI)  Investigators have launched a case over illegal activities of Aum Shinrikyo sect in Russia, Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin told journalist on Tuesday.

According to Markin, searches are currently being conducted in Moscow and St. Petersburg in order to identify individuals who can be involved in the sect activities and to find literature, documents and other evidentiary items that are germane to the case.

Investigators assert that unidentified persons created religious groups of Aum Shinrikyo adepts in Moscow and St. Petersburg in 2011. Leaders of these groups exerted physical and moral coercion on people to take possession of their property. From 2012 to 2014, the sect raised money via Internet. Meetings of the sect members were held in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Aum Shinrikyo (Supreme Truth) was set up in 1987 by Chizuo Matsumoto (aka Shoko Asahara). It combined Buddhist and Hindu meditation practices and apocalyptic teachings and was believed to have between 30,000 and 50,000 followers, with more than 10,000 members in Russia, where Aum was engaged in missionary activity and economic enterprise. The sect was banned worldwide in 1995, with Russia leading the crackdown.

In 1994, Aum Shinrikyo members dispersed sarin gas in Matsumoto, Nagano, killing seven people. After the March '95 attack on Tokyo, police arrested about 30 of the sect leaders, some of whom, including Shoko Asahara, were sentenced to death.
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.
" " In advanced cases of leprosy, gangrene can occur, resulting in parts of the body becoming deformed, as with these bones. Science & Society Picture Librar; /Getty Images

Riddled with sores, maybe missing toes, definitely unclean. Lepers spark some pretty hideous things in our imaginations, don't they? That's imagination and NOT reality. Yet there's a long-standing stigma when it comes to this disease; think about what you're really saying when you call someone a leper. It was even once believed the victims of the diseases were, actually, victims of sin (mentioned  through possible dubious translation  in Leviticus 13:14 in the Old Testament). Although leprosy has a history of being thought of as a highly-contagious (it's not) and deadly, it's actually totally treatable. And there's such a low risk of transmission there's no reason to isolate or ostracize people with leprosy.

Leprosy has been with us since roughly 1500 B.C.E. (that's when it's first mentioned in the Egyptian Ebers Papyrus, but it's also mentioned in other ancient writings, including in prehistoric Asian writings dating to 600 B.C.E.). But it's probably been plaguing humans for much longer, at least since the ancient civilizations of China, Egypt and India. In 2009, anthropologists discovered evidence of leprosy in a 4,000-year-old skeleton, which dates the infection back to prehistoric India, around 2000 B.C.E. [source: Robbins]. Scientists theorize that the infection spread as empires and trade routes grew, and that it likely arrived in the Americas during European exploration of the New World.

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In 1866, after leprosy began infecting Hawaiians, the Kalaupapa peninsula of the island of Molokai was turned into the first leprosy colony  which it remained through 1969. (That's is about a decade after Hawaii became a U.S. state). Eight thousand Hawaiians were sent to live (and die) there, quarantined in an effort to prevent the disease from spreading. Today the only leprosy victims living on Kalaupapa number only about a few more than dozen or so; there are more tourists.

Modern-day medicine has renamed leprosy to Hansen's disease (HD), after Gerhard Henrik Armauer Hansen, the scientist who discovered the cause of the infection  a germ  back in 1873. Although it's not eradicated, not many cases appear these days; in fact, in 2012 there were only 232,857, and those that do pop up are usually contained in 16 countries, mainly in the tropics. The U.S. isn't immune from the disease, but incidents are few. There were only 213 new cases of leprosy reported in the U.S. in 2009 (most occurred in California, Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New York, and Texas, and most occurred in people who had recently immigrated). In total there are about 6,500 people living with leprosy in the U.S. (including some who still live on Molokai), and typically between 150 to 250 newly diagnosed infections every year [sources: National Hansen's Disease (Leprosy) Program , Doerr]. And let this ease your mind: About 95 percent of humans are naturally immune to the infection.
Seguin, TX (78155)

Today

A mix of clouds and sun during the morning will give way to cloudy skies this afternoon. High 89F. Winds S at 15 to 25 mph. Higher wind gusts possible..

Tonight

Overcast. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 74F. Winds SSE at 15 to 25 mph.
 "Summary Injustice: A Look at Constitutional Deficiencies in South Carolinas Summary Courts" | Main | "Keeping Track: Surveillance, Control, and the Expansion of the Carceral State" 

April 5, 2016

Disconcerting data on racial skew in application of mandatory minimums in Iowa

This lengthy local article, headlined "Blacks hit hard by Iowa's mandatory sentences," reports on the disparity in the application of certain state sentences in the heartland. Here is how the article starts:

More than 1,190 inmates are serving time in Iowa prisons for violent crimes that, by law, require a specific number of years behind bars and at least 70 percent of the sentences be served before they're considered for parole. And at least 35 percent of those inmates are black  in a state where 3.4 percent of the population is African-American. If you want to know why Iowa imprisons a larger share of its black residents than almost any other state, mandatory minimum sentencing laws are one place to start, critics say. Iowa's lopsided statistics have prompted the states Public Safety Advisory Board for three consecutive years to recommend that the Legislature ease sentencing mandates on two crimes  first- and second-degree robbery  that have been especially tough on African-Americans, said Thomas Walton, the boards chairman and a Des Moines attorney. During a four-decade period, 42 percent of Iowa inmates serving prison time for robbery were black, state data show. A Des Moines Register review of robbery sentencing guidelines for 11 Midwestern states shows that Iowas are the most restrictive. They allow the least amount of judicial discretion in determining how much time an offender will spend behind bars. The theory behind mandatory minimum sentences was, Lets lock them up for a longer period of time  and then weve avoided those re-offenses for the period of time that theyve been incarcerated, Walton said. Some of those assumptions, based on studies done by our board staff, were not necessarily correct. Iowa finds itself embroiled in the same debate raging nationally over the impact of mandatory minimum sentences, which were put in place during the get-tough-on-crime decades of the 1980s and '90s and have ballooned prison populations.... This year, the Iowa House, acting on part of the advisory boards recommendation, approved a bill that includes loosening the mandatory minimum sentence for second-degree robbery. Judges would have the discretion to say how much time an offender would serve  from three to seven years  before becoming eligible for parole on the 10-year sentence. Now, offenders must serve at least seven years. But Sen. Kevin Kinney, D-Oxford, filed an amendment stripping the proposal from House File 2064, which has not been voted on by the Senate. When there is a weapon brandished during a robbery, I have a hard time reducing the sentence, said Kinney, a retired Johnson County sheriffs officer. I just dont want to reduce penalties for violent crimes.

April 5, 2016 at 09:15 AM | Permalink

Comments

Interesting headline--shouldn't it be "black criminals"? I don't see how law-abiding African-Americans are "hurt" by harsh penalties for those who brandish weapons during an armed robbery. Perhaps, Doug, you could explain.

Posted by: federalist | Apr 5, 2016 10:03:52 AM

Interesting quote "black criminals" (dog whistle?), clearly statistics show that African-Americans as a population do not commit more crimes because of their race, compared to that of whites or Hispanic. Social-economic factors including systematic and institutional biases, at the least, and racial discrimination at the worst, are arguable reasons that any race around the world, that represents just 3.4% of a population, but constitutes 34% of a prison population clearly screams, yells, and cries out demonstratively of a broken system, this clearly is unjust any were around the world. It must be daid any criminal policy must include conversations that begin with education (Jobs), medical care (mental health), unfair targeting by police, unfair jury pools (peers?), unfair sentencing discretion, justice demands much to be administered FAIRLY for ALL.

Posted by: Hector | Apr 5, 2016 10:55:28 AM

Cute Hector. Perhaps if you took the time to read, you'd note that I was suggesting a change to the headline which used the term "black" to refer to African-Americans.

You're an idiot.

Posted by: federalist | Apr 6, 2016 11:00:18 AM

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April 5, 2016

More reflections and criticisms of clemency work past, present and future

I reprinted here over the weekend a lovely and positive report by Lisa Rich about all the activity emerging from the White House last week on the important topic of clemency. Thanks to Mark Osler, I have now learned that Thursday's extended "White House Briefing on Life After Clemency" can be watched in full via YouTube here. Here is how the event is described:

Building on the President's efforts to make our criminal justice system more fair by granting clemency to men and women sentenced under outdated sentencing rules, the briefing brings together academics, advocates and Administration officials seeking to remove obstacles to successful reentry. The briefing provides a collaborative environment to discuss and share ideas on the President's clemency initiative and ways to improve paths to reentry.

Critically, not everyone is having warm feelings about the work of Prez Obama and his administration's work to date in this arena. In particular, Mark Osler followed up his participation in the White House briefing with this New York Times op-ed headlined "Obamas Clemency Problem." Here are excerpts:

In the spring of 2014, the Obama administration announced an initiative to consider granting clemency to thousands of federal prisoners serving what Mr. Obama called unjust sentences for low-level drug crimes. Federal prisoners were notified of the project, and more than 30,000 responded by submitting surveys to begin the process. Despite the relatively high number of commutations that Mr. Obama has now granted, there are still more than 9,000 pending commutation cases, many of the sort singled out in the 2014 initiative as potentially worthy. So why has the president acted on so few? Typically, a reluctance to exercise the pardon power is a result of political timidity. But in this case, the Obama administration already took the political risk two years ago when it announced the clemency initiative. The problem here is that too many cases cant be adequately considered by the president because of a sluggish and often intransigent review process. Clemency petitions undergo no fewer than seven levels of review, four of them within the Department of Justice. Within the Justice Department, clemency petitions run not only through the Office of the Pardon Attorney but also through the office of the deputy attorney general. When the pardon attorney, Deborah Leff, resigned in January, she complained in her letter of resignation that meritorious clemency cases had been thwarted by those above her. She noted in particular that some of her own recommendations had been overruled by the deputy attorney general, Sally Quillian Yates. It is not an incidental fact that Ms. Yates is a career prosecutor. When the Department of Justice reviews clemency cases, the opinions of prosecutors in the district of conviction are solicited and given considerable weight. But prosecutors are the wrong people for the task of vetting clemency cases. I was a federal prosecutor for five years. In that job, deciding someones fate is a necessary but difficult emotional commitment. The prospect of being wrong  and a clemency initiative like Mr. Obamas can feel like a judgment that prosecutors were wrong  can be a lot to bear. We should not be surprised if, when it comes to Mr. Obamas clemency initiative, prosecutors systematically resist what is, in effect, an indictment of their work. President Obama can and should fix this problem with a simple executive order that places the Office of the Pardon Attorney in the White House, rather than at the bottom of the institutional structure at the Department of Justice. An empowered pardon attorney (or perhaps a pardon board, as we find in many states) would then report directly to the president. That would allow an independent but thorough review of clemency petitions free from the influence of career prosecutors.

And while Professor Osler is concerned about the slow and cumbersome process for considering clemency requests, this letter to AG Loretta Lynch authored by Senator Richard Shelby highlights that others are troubled by some of the few offenders who have already received sentence commutations. Here is how Senator Shelby's letter gets started:

I am writing to you in response to yesterdays announcement that President Barack Obama granted sentence commutations to 61 individuals. I have strong concerns that 12 of these 61 individuals were convicted of one, if not more, firearm-related offenses. These include: Seven convictions of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime;

Four convictions of possession of a firearm by a felon; and

Two convictions of use of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense. In August 2014, the Department of Justice announced its rubric for considering federal inmates for the Presidents new initiative for executive clemency. Part of these criteria included: non-violent individuals who would not pose a threat to public safety if released; low-level offenders without significant ties to large-scale criminal organizations, gangs, or cartels; inmates who do not have a significant criminal history; and those who have no history of violence prior to, or during, their current term of imprisonment. By my count, the President has commuted the sentences of over 200 of these non-violent federal inmates, of which 33 were convicted of firearm-related offenses. I am troubled by the nature of the firearm-related convictions and the fact that some individuals are previously convicted felons who continued to commit crimes. This announcement clearly demonstrates that the Administration is not following its own selection criteria. Frankly, I am left wondering why the President and the Justice Department consider individuals who carry guns to drug deals as non-violent.

April 5, 2016 at 11:03 AM | Permalink

Comments

Kudos Doug for putting the Shelby letter out there--I would be curious to hear your thoughts. I won't respond to them--just curious what they are.

I think I have you on the USERRA thing--DoJ cared more about Ernest Spiller than combat vets. That's a problem.

Posted by: federalist | Apr 5, 2016 4:48:26 PM

I have now responded to your concerns on the Spiller thread, so we can continue that discussion elsewhere. On the Shelby front, I do not think anyone who possesses a gun is by definition violent. Weldon Angelos never hurt anyone when dealing weed, but he now served more than a dozen years for possessing guns and will have to serve 40 more absent getting clemency relief or a change in federal law.

I am inclined to guess that many of the clemency cases involving guns included folks who got very long mandatory sentences based only on gun possession, and who have already served a decade or more in prison. And I am glad to see some evidence that clemency application are each being consider on their individual merits without too many rigid disqualifying criteria. At the same time, I am glad Senator Shelby and others are keeping an eye on and asking hard questions about Obama's clemency efforts.

Posted by: Doug B. | Apr 5, 2016 6:00:23 PM

Thx Doug.

Now if you could just assuage legitimate concerns about whether Bernice Donald is a good jurist.

Posted by: federalist | Apr 6, 2016 8:15:02 PM

Post a comment


Ahmed Salah, a former Egyptian democracy activist and the author of You Are Under Arrest for Masterminding the Egyptian Revolution: A Memoir, seems to like San Francisco okay. In an excerpt posted to Pricenomics, Salah shares details of his activism in Cairo and his life now, formerly working as an SRO desk clerk and now teaching Arabic to get by.

In summary, writes Salah, "For years, I led protest movements, organized demonstrations, survived a hunger strike, torture, and prison, and trained activists to lead rallies on a day of revolution. It all culminated in the best day of my life: February 11, 2011, when Hosni Mubarak resigned and Egyptians sang songs and set off fireworks in the street. "

Salah had been involved in activism for many years beforehand, he writes, and hardly was any of it celebratory. After his encampment was raided on one occasion, Sala writes that "I spent six weeks in prison, indefinitely detained and on hunger strike. Guards beat me, held mock executions, and told me my death would just be a bit of paperwork. Before the guards released me, the head of State Security threatened to bury me in prison if I showed my face at a protest again."

Even after Mubarak's defeat, there was an assassination attempt, criticism in the media, and further threats. As Salah explains, "For the last three years, though, I have lived in self-imposed exile in San Francisco. I was fleeing assassination attempts and newspaper headlines that smeared me as a traitor. I found safetyand the pain of dislocation and loss."

Why here? "I chose San Francisco because I knew it was a hub for activistsand I thought I would face fewer racist comments about Arabs and Muslims in California." Salah also appears to have a loose connection here in an Occupy Wall Street activist whom he had met in the States. But so far from home while much work remains to be done in Egypt, Salah appears frustrated.

I have a place to live, and while I am in debt, Ive managed to make enough money from teaching Arabic to keep going. I like this city and the fact that I can go to the ocean, even though it fills me with survivors guilt. I do not know why I should live free while brave Egyptians suffer.

Indeed, the contrast is stark. As Salah writes, "Once I spent my days hustling between protests, interviews with journalists, and meetings with foreign diplomats. My goal was to free Egypt." And now? "on any given day," Salah says, "I struggle to make enough money to afford a slice of pizza. My goal is to avoid homelessness."




Facebook yesterday announced a new service designed to assist the millions of visually impaired people who use one of its many products on a daily basis. Called automatic alternative text, according to the social media giant the system uses a neural network to automatically generate and append descriptions to photos uploaded to Facebook (an Instagram and WhatsApp rollout is likely in the future). These approximate descriptions can then be read aloud by screen readers, enabling the visually impaired to have an understanding of the contents of a photo. This development also, of course, allows for an automatic tagging of photos beyond the text a user might assign  thus permitting more finely tuned advertising.

"Before today, people using screen readers would only hear the name of the person who shared the photo, followed by the term 'photo' when they came upon an image in News Feed," reads Facebook's announcement. "Now we can offer a richer description of whats in a photo thanks to automatic alt text. For instance, someone could now hear, 'Image may contain three people, smiling, outdoors.'

Wired spoke with one of the engineers behind the development, Matt King, who explained that sure, the rough capabilities of the AAA system leave a lot to be desired, but something is absolutely better than nothing.

My dream is that it would also tell me that it includes Christoph with his bike, King, speaking of a photo showing his friend biking through Europe, told the publication. But from my perspective as a blind user, going from essentially zero percent satisfaction from a photo to somewhere in the neighborhood of half is a huge jump.

The service will first be available for English iOS screen readers, but Facebook expects to expand it to other platforms and languages soon.

Related: Day Around The Bay: Sorry Catfishers, Facebook Testing Anti-Impersonation Tool
A 20-year-old man was killed Monday evening, the victim of a shooting near Interstate 280 in San Francsico's Portola neighborhood.

According to the San Francisco Police Department, the man was shot at around 9:13 p.m. Monday near the intersection of San Bruno and Silver Avenues.

The shooting at Silver & San Bruno is being investigated as a Homicide. Any additional information will be released by PIO in the morning.  Captain Vaswani (@sfvas) April 5, 2016

The victim, who has yet to be publicly identified by the San Francisco Medical Examiner's office, was transported to San Francisco General Hospital for treatment of his injuries. He was pronounced dead on arrival, police say.

The suspect in the shooting is described only as an "unknown male." Citing the ongoing investigation, a spokesperson with SFPD said that at present, no additional details regarding the motive behind or circumstances of the shooting were available.

The slaying is San Francisco's tenth homicide for 2016, following the fatal shooting of a man near the intersection of Santos Street and Sunnydale Avenue on Saturday, March 26.
When the news broke that five giant light-up rabbits would be coming to San Francisco's Civic Center, there was discussion among the SFist staff on how long it would be before something vile happened to the bunnies. As the rabbits were erected Monday, numerous SFist commenters joined us in wondering when (not if) the installation would be vandalized  but according to reports, the bunnies will have a security team in place to make sure that doesn't happen.

"They'll be brown bunnies by the time it's over with, full of stab holes and/or stolen," SFist commenter TheJewsofSunset predicted, and he or she wasn't the only one. "This will not end well for the bunnies," Ima Gination warned, with Jennifer/The Yaoi Review replying "If they make it through tonight without one stabbing, I will be stunned."

Well, stunned you will be, Jennifer/The Yaoi Review! For it appears that the City of San Francisco saw the evil that existed in all our hearts, and has taken steps to thwart it. According to CBS 5, "To prevent the kind of vandalism that Super Bowl 50 artwork was targeted with, the bunnies will get 24-hour security from now until the exhibit ends on April 25th."

So, miscreants, choose another target! (Which shouldn't be hard, since most of the city isn't under round-the-clock protection.) Or, better yet, find something productive to do with your time.

Previously: Five Giant, Light-Up Rabbits Coming To Civic Center

Look For Those Giant Inflatable Rabbits At Civic Center Starting Today
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Since its launch back in 2005, Etsy has grown into a huge ecommerce market for handmade and vintage goods. Browsing through Etsy, you can see products from a huge variety of sellers.

If youre just getting started or thinking about joining Etsy, it can be inspiring to look through the shops of those who are finding success on the platform. Below are many successful African American entrepreneurs who are finding success selling their handmade products on Etsy.

Successful African American Entrepreneurs on Etsy

Camille Peace, Peace Images

Peace is the proprietor of Peace Images, a shop that sells handmade jewelry items (pictured above). Peace is one of many successful African American entrepreneurs on Etsy. Her business journey started how many others have started  as a hobby. She then grew it into a full-time business.

Peace told Small Business Trends, About 9 years ago, while working in the Social Work sector, I began making myself earrings. At the time It was very hard to find things that I felt culturally represented me (ie Africas, Ankhs, etc). So I made a few pairs for myself, posted them to facebook and was encouraged by both friends and my husband to list them on etsy. My first pair sold within 48 hours and my husband gave me the best advice ever, keep going. So I did. I never stopped. I am now self-employed and have been for about 6 years.

Akua Washington, Waists By Wednesday

Waists By Wednesday is a shop that sells waist beads, a tradition in West Africa. Washington sees them as an important part of her familys heritage. And with thousands of sales on Etsy, its clear that many value the beads as much as she does.

Washington says, WbW sells primarily West African Traditional Waist Beads. I was introduced to them by my step-mother during my early teenage years and have never been without beads around my waist since then. My dad is from Ghana and as Ive gotten older Ive grown more intrigued by that side of my heritage. I always had friends asking me where to get waist beads from and I just realized there was a void in the marketplace for real, traditional African Waist Beads. So one day I just decided to see how well a few of them would sell. Long story shortWaists by Wednesday was born.

Shadra Strickland

Strickland was already an illustrator before getting involved with Etsy. When she would show off her work (pictured above), people would ask where they could buy prints. So she looked into Etsy and found that it provided an easy way for people to buy prints of her artwork.

She says, The shop itself has always been a very organic thing. Due to my publishing and teaching schedules, I dont have the luxury of planning new lines, but the personal work that I do include stems from continuous ideas about my childhood and memories. I would love to have more time to really craft a specific line or series that had a continuous look, but my life just doesnt allow for that right now.

Chantel Weaver, PaintingsThatPop

Weavers shop, PaintingsThatPop, includes a variety of different products featuring her artwork, including coasters, jewelry and even coloring books.

Weaver, another one of the many successful African American entrepreneurs on Etsy, offered the following advice for others looking to get into selling handmade items, Remember your community. This is a time more than ever where we need to be uplifting each other breaking free from the stereotypes, and creating positive representations. Do not give up if you do not see the fruit of your labors right away. You will probably spend more money than you earn within your first year. It will be a hard and trying period and people will try to sway you in lot of different directions, stick to your goals.

Brenda Walker, Teenys Sweet Soaps

Teenys Sweet Soaps is home to handmade soaps, bath bars and a variety of other bath and beauty products. Walker said she is grateful for the opportunities that Etsy has provided for her to reach customers around the country.

She says, My advice to African American entrepreneurs who are interested in selling on Etsy is to jump in! My products have been purchased by people all over the country, and I am so grateful for the feedback and reviews from everyone.

Keyshondra Pringle, SoJourn Naturals

SoJourn Naturals (pictured above) began because Pringle saw a lack of products in the market that gave women with natural hair options for chemical-free, non-harmful hair products.

She explains, My business started with the idea with women of color not putting harmful chemicals in their hair to change the natural state of it while in the process damaging and destroying the beautiful hair that theyre born with. I want them to be able to take care of their hair naturally with products that are meant for them and for them to embrace their beautiful curls.

Dee Dee, Dimensional Vision

Dimensional Vision is a shop full of unique accessories. Owner Dee Dee got started selling her handmade items at local craft fairs and events. And one day happened upon Etsy by coincidience.

She explains, I came across Etsy while surfing on the web on Craigslist actually. Someone had posted a craft event and shared that they also sold their items on Etsy. So I Googled Etsys website. Then did some research about Etsy. And they looked legit, and their site looked clean and bright and very eye-catching. Etsy had a lot of awesome reviews from customers and Etsy sellers. So I decided to sign up with Etsy and give them a try.

Dana Osborne-Biggs, Urban Heirlooms

Urban Heirlooms is a shop featuring artisan leather bags and other accessories. Osborne-Biggs said that the decisions of choosing Etsy for her business was a fairly easy one.

She says, Low overhead and the ease of starting were the biggest attractions. All I needed was a decent camera, a handmade product, and a little bit of enthusiasm and I could open up shop. At the time it was truly a niche marketplace with a community that was eager to help a newbie. Etsy was a grassroots marketplace where the one-on-one maker/buyer relationship was honored and encouraged. It was like an artists Utopia!

See Also: Successful Entrepreneurs Never Do These 7 Things

Nandi Tahir, Three Little Birds Tees

Three Little Birds Tees is a shop full of t-shirts (pictured above) and other clothing items featuring quotes, sayings and artwork. Tahir started her business as a brick and mortar store. But when she switched over to a home based business, she discovered Etsy as an outlet.

She explains, I had a brick & mortar store here in Philadelphia for 20 years. After closing when my husband passed away in 2012, I wanted to continue as an entrepreneur but I wanted more of a home based business. I created my line of t-shirts and discovered Etsy as an outlet to sell them.

MiMi Dabo, Boutique Mix

Boutique Mix is a shop full of African clothing, jewelry and other fashion accessories. Dabo opened the shop back in 2008 and has been most impressed with Etsys resources and wide reach.

She explains, I chose Etsy because it is a global platform. It provides a small business like mine access to consumers all over the world with just one click. It also has excellent resources for learning how to run a business, and tools for growth.

Jocelyn Hamilton, LunarEclectic

LunarEclectic is a shop that features handmade jewelry. Hamilton says that her favorite part of selling on Etsy is the large community of other makers available on the site.

She explains, I chose Etsy to sell my handmade jewelry because I was a buyer here, long before I ever thought of having my own shop. After doing my research, I liked the fact that Etsy helps you to sell (if you are willing to learn and apply the information given). The community here is great, everyone is so helpful! I also liked that most buyers are familiar and comfortable with Etsy as well.

Cynthia, Prayer Notes by Cynthia

Prayer Notes by Cynthia is a popular Etsy shop that sells Christian artwork, coasters (pictured above), bookmarks and more.

Owner Cynthia says, Ive used a few other venues for my crafts, but Etsy has proven to be the most efficient and easy-to-use platform. My customers trust Etsy and come back to visit my shop, over and over, again. Ive made wonderful cyber-friends through Etsy and I am grateful.

Vallen Cordon, Fab Creations Ear Candy

Fab Creations Ear Candy is Cordons shop full of unique earrings. Though still a relatively new shop, Cordon has made consistent sales since joining Etsy.

She offered the following advice for other Etsy sellers, Etsy is a wonderful selling platform, however with an estimated 1.6 million sellers, it is very easy to be another seller lost in the sauce, waiting for sellers to miraculously find you. Take the time to learn SEO and how to properly use keywords in your listings to get your shop found in searches and take the time to learn what it takes to get your shop on the first page of search results in Etsy. Do this before or immediately when opening your shop (dont delay like I did). Learn what it takes to begin getting sales sooner than later.

Tisha Howell, Skinfolk

Howells job was downsized in recession of 2008, which is why she decided to join Etsy. Her shop, Skinfolk, sells handmade skincare and similar beauty products.

She says, Etsy was recommended by a co-worker as we were packing up our personal items to leave corporate America for good. It was an eclectic, worldwide artisan playground at the start when I initially signed up in 2008. I met many fellow artists and customers, that would became cheerleaders, supporters and friends throughout the years. It was a warm welcome to independent selling.

Angela Holbert, Getawaygirl Jewelry

Getawaygirl is a jewelry shop full of handcrafted items (pictured above). Holberts Etsy journey also began as a hobby.

She explains, I enjoyed making jewelry and I began to make it in enough quantities that pretty soon my dresser was covered with pieces. New techniques were always of interest, leading to increasingly interesting, marketable pieces. Seeing this beautiful mess one day, a friend suggested (not for the first time) that I should finally start selling my pieces!
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
Assistant Sheriff Major John Horne addresses the county commissioners at the budget work session of March 15.

HOLLYWOOD, Md.

Sheriff Timothy K. Cameron said last week that he has engaged the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office to investigate the actions of his top subordinate, Assistant Sheriff Major John Horne, after Horne publicly chastised several county commissioners during a tense budget work session on March 15 Cameron said he chose to reach out to the Montgomery agency because it was the same kind of law enforcement entity but it was "not contiguous" with the borders of St. Mary's.In other words it was far enough away to not have any entangling relationships with members of the local force that might be involved in the investigation."They are a very disciplined agency with a robust office of professional responsibility," Cameron told The County Times.Horne, who has a long history of service with the agency, accused Commissioner John O'Connor in particular of trying to micromanage the agency through the budget process.Horne called the efforts of O'Connor and that of Commissioner Mike Hewitt "ridiculous" and told O'Connor, a former law officer, that it was not his job to try to run the agency.O'Connor shot back by claiming he had every right as a commissioner to examine the agency's budget for cost savings and even filed an official complaint against Horne for what he called his unprofessional behavior.O'Connor's wife is a deputy sheriff.Immediately following the work session of March 15, Cameron said he believed Horne was expressing frustration that many in the agency felt and that he, too, believed O'Connor was trying to control the agency.In his formal complaint O'Connor had requested that the Maryland State Police head up the investigation into whether Horne violated any of the sheriff's office policies on conduct of its personnel.For more local stories from Calvert and St. Mary's counties, visit the County Times newspapers online
HOLLYWOOD, Md. Clearing and grading for the long awaited St. Mary's Marketplace project, located on the western corner of routes 4 and 235, has begun, but improvements for the county's biggest intersection may still be years away.



The new development, which is set to include 90,000 square feet of commercial space on 15 acres, will sit at the door step of the busiest traffic flow in St. Mary's County, coming directly from the Thomas Johnson Bridge into the heart of the Lexington Park Development District.



The history of the project has been a turbulent one over several years with one developer dropping out and another, Klein Enterprises of Baltimore, taking over the project after consenting to a long list of requirements from the county, including building another section of FDR Boulevard from St. Andrews Church Road through Wildewood.



The prior developer had wanted to keep and renovate the shopping strip currently at the intersection but the county wanted it demolished and the land donated to the State Highway Administration (SHA) for eventual improvements to the major intersection.



One such option was to build a flying overpass at the intersection to reroute traffic, according to SHA, but, said Commissioner Todd Morgan, it was not a consideration for the shopping center's sake.



"The reality is is that the intersection at routes 4 and 235 has failed," Morgan said. "The flyover is one proposal but the center was not the reason for that.



"The shopping center is going to increase traffic but the state has an implied responsibility to fix route 4 and 235."



Morgan said he had not seen anything in the state budget from Gov. Larry Hogan's administration that puts any more money into improving the intersection there, though the project is part and parcel to eventual improvements to the Thomas Johnson Bridge.



"It could take years and years," Morgan said.



In the meantime, Morgan said, the developer would be granted access to the project over the county right of way on the Three Notch Trail to provide access from Route 235's south bound lanes.



There was no access granted to bring traffic in from the north bound lanes, he said.



"The developer's been patient and followed the rules," Morgan said.



County officials had also commented privately throughout the process that the prior developer's plans to move the Food Lion grocery store from the Laurel Glen shopping center further south to the new site was not a favored option.



Essentially that move would have left a major storefront vacant in an older, harder-to-fill shopping center.



"They didn't have the wherewithal to meet all the conditions," saidPhil Shire, director of the Department of Land Use and Growth Management.



The prior board of county commissioners, of which Morgan was also a member, denied the prior developer's access to Route 235 across the county right of way, essentially derailing the project for a time.



Klein Enterprises has announced in recent months that Harris Teeter would be opening a store at St. Mary's Marketplace.



As earth movers clear away the many trees at the site, SHA officials have said that actual improvements to the critical intersection are indeed far off in the future.



"The intersection project at MD 4 and MD 235 is not currently funded for design, right-of-way acquisition or construction," according to a statement from SHA representative Charlie Gischlar. "SHA is working very closely with St. Mary's government stakeholders and ascertaining their desired priorities in that region."



Morgan said that commissioners would continue to join with the Calvert and Charles counties in making the Thomas Johnson Bridge project their top priority, despite the growing development around the MD 4/235 intersection.



"[The bridge] will remain the top priority," Morgan said.



The average traffic on Route 4 between Route 2 in Calvert and Route 235 in St. Mary's is 30,800 vehicles per day, which is expected to increase to 36,700 vehicles by 2035, according to SHA projections.



For more local stories from Calvert and St. Mary's counties, visit the County Times newspapers online.
WASHINGTON

(April 5, 2016)The U.S. Department of Defense recently announced the following contract awards that pertain to local Navy activities., is being awardedfor modification P00047 to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-13-C-0023) for the manufacture and delivery of nine AH-1Z aircraft, and nine auxiliary fuel kits for the government of Pakistan under the Foreign Military Sales program. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas (60 percent); and Amarillo, Texas (40 percent), and is expected to be completed in September 2018. Foreign military sales funds in the amount of $170,173,188 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The, is the contracting activity., is being awardedfor cost-plus- fixed-fee modification to delivery order 0096 previously issued against basic ordering agreement N00019-12-G-0006 in support of the V-22 aircraft. This modification provides for the procurement of nonrecurring engineering in support of the CV-22 Integrated Aircraft Survivability Equipment (IASE) joint urgent operational need effort as well as 10 CV-22 IASE A-kits. Work will be performed at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (72 percent); Mesa, Arizona (11 percent); St. Louis, Missouri (7 percent); Fort Worth, Texas (3 percent); and various locations throughout the U.S. (7 percent), and is expected to be completed in March 2017. Fiscal 2015 aircraft procurement (Air Force); and fiscal 2015 research, development, test and evaluation (Air Force) funds in the amount of $6,999,999 will be obligated at time of award; $5,119,766 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The, is the contracting activity., is being issuedfor delivery order 0003 against previously awarded basic ordering agreement N00019-16-G-0012 for the procurement and installation of eight AN/APR-39D(V)2 radar system integration kits (A-kits) into Lot 13 AH-1Z and UH-1Y aircraft. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas, and is expected to be completed in December 2018. Fiscal 2016 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $7,466,150 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The, is the contracting activity., is being awardedfor cost-plus- fixed-fee order 0130 against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00019-12-G-0006) for non-recurring engineering services associated with the development of the capability for the Navy variant of the V-22 (CMV-22B) to perform the carrier on-board delivery mission. The capability being added to the baseline MV-22 aircraft is extended range, high frequency beyond line-of-sight radio and a public address system. Work will be performed at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (71.02 percent); Fort Worth, Texas (20.31 percent); Rockmart, Georgia (3.96 percent); St. Louis, Missouri (2.57 percent); and various locations within the continental U.S. (2.14 percent), and is expected to be completed in September 2020. Fiscal 2016 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $15,674,576 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The, is the contracting activity., is being awarded anmodification to previously awarded firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (N00174-11-D-0002) to extend the ordering period and exercise option-year five for the procurement and support of the Transmitting Set, Countermeasures AN/PLT-4 to support explosive ordnance disposal personnel. The AN/PLT-4 is a man-portable system in support of the Joint Service Explosive Ordnance Disposal Counter Radio Controlled Improvised Explosive Device Electronic Warfare program. Work will be performed in Annapolis, Maryland, and is expected to be completed by March 2017. No funds are being obligated at the time of this action. The, is the contracting activity.
LA PLATA, Md.

(April 5, 2016)The College of Southern Maryland (CSM) and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) signed an articulation agreement March 30 to provide a seamless transition from Associate of Arts in General Studies or Associate of Arts in Arts and Sciences to bachelor degree programs in Building Construction or Real Estate."We are privileged to be the first out-of-state institution that has an [undergraduate] agreement with Virginia Tech. Why this is so important is that as a transfer institution, over half of our studentsclose to 60 percentexpect to transfer. It is our responsibility to have a pathway for them [to complete their bachelor's degree]," said CSM President Dr. Brad Gottfried.The agreement stemmed from Chaney Enterprises CEO Frank Chaney's desire to create a pipeline for Southern Maryland students to pursue careers in the building industry. Chaney's own experience as a student at Virginia Tech led him to contact and ultimately bring together administrators from his alma mater and CSM in 2013 to discuss the possibilities of a transfer agreement."[The College of Southern Maryland] speaks to the words 'Transforming Lives.' We all agree at Virginia Tech that we need to form that pathway to higher education to transform lives," said Virginia Tech Vice Provost for Enrollment and Degree Management Wanda Hankins Dean, who, along with Myers-Lawson School of Construction Associate Director Dr. Andrew McCoy and Building Construction Department Head Yvan J. Beliveau traveled to Southern Maryland for the ceremony.Over the past two years, CSM has been collaborating with colleges and universities to make bachelor's degrees affordable and accessible for residents of Southern Maryland, and as a result has more than 50 guaranteed articulation agreements in place for students to start locally and transfer seamlessly to the college of their choice. Last year, more than 1,700 CSM students transferred to 226 different four-year colleges and universities located in 45 states and the District of Columbia, with Virginia Tech among the top-20 colleges and universities who receive CSM students.This agreement with Virginia Tech provides opportunities that are appropriate for students who have completed an associate degree, earning a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better, and plan to pursue a major in construction management or real estate. The real estate degree integrates all components of the real estate industry from conceptualization of a project, through financing to asset management of developed projects. Kevin Boyle, director of the Program in Real Estate, said, "We are pleased to provide a path for CSM graduates to enter successful careers in the real estate industry.""We are always looking forward at Virginia Tech. The Department of Building Construction is one such innovative departmentjust look at their motto, 'Change the World, Build the Future.' That means always striving to find the new technologies needed, new skill sets, new best practices to make certain we are preparing students to emerge into the world as engaged citizens not only in their local communities but nationally and globally. That's what we look for when we are looking for students who desire to attend Virginia Tech," Dean said.Students in the Virginia Tech Building and Construction Program work on community service projects throughout the country and the world, including rebuilding refugee camps or towns devastated by natural disasters, said Dean.Referencing U.S. employment projections, Virginia Tech reports students with a bachelor's degree in construction science, construction management or construction/civil engineering, coupled with construction experience, will have excellent job prospects. Virginia Tech's Department of Building Construction has reported 100 percent job placement by its graduates for the last five years in various traditional positions such as field engineers, project managers, estimators and field superintendents as well as jobs in development, IT and others. The median starting salary for these graduates is $60,000."What a great opportunity this is for all of us. A lot of times, construction is just considered a two-year degree and then there is going to be a job at the end of that pathway. With this agreement, there is a great opportunity for students to be able to finish a bachelor's degree and pretty much have a job guarantee on the back side of it," said CSM Vice President of Academic Affairs Dr. Eileen Abel."Congratulations, to you in the audience for what you have accomplished," said Maryland Higher Education Commission Secretary James C. Fielder Jr. "Thanks, also to Frank for the long-term commitment he made to get this started. You saw the barren field and said, 'Okay, what can we put there?' You had this vision, and now we're getting ready to pour the foundation."Fielder said that higher education in Maryland should focus on what students really want and what industry really needs. "When you put those together, that is what we need to be doing on a regular basis."Reading from an email that Chaney sent to Virginia Tech's provost explaining his idea, Chaney said, "Since the 1980s I've had a dream to create an articulating career path for the overall construction, building and mining industries. With my dream, at least the industries would have an easy map to show how diverse, exciting and flexible these industries are. A high school student should be able to intern in these industries, jump from one blue collar segment such as carpentry to one white collar segment such as engineering with ease. All in all, they should have the ability to find a job they love in order to achieve the American dream.""A 1979 graduate of Virginia Tech, Mr. Frank Chaney is a good friend of the College of Southern Maryland," Gottfried said. "As chairman of the board at Chaney Enterprises, Frank has been a strong advocate of the college and a believer in supporting educational opportunities for the community through scholarships, equipment donations for training purposes and the essential funds to further develop our programs. We are especially grateful for his focus on partnering with his alma mater, offering our students an opportunity to partner with a standout division I research institution."For information on the CSM and Virginia Tech articulation agreement, as well as more than 50 other transfer articulation agreements, visit http://www.csmd.edu/student-services/advising/transfer-services/ . For information on the Virginia Tech Building Construction Program, visit http://www.bc.vt.edu/about . For information on the Virginia Tech Program in Real Estate, visit http://www.realestate.vt.edu/ . For photos from the signing ceremony, visit http://csmphoto.zenfolio.com/csmvatech.
Over the years, CSM President Dr. Brad Gottfried and his wife, Linda, left, have established annual scholarships for students at the College of Southern Maryland. Particularly satisfying for the Gottfrieds has been the opportunity to connect with their scholarship recipients, such as Emma Ansell, right, during an annual reception that brings students and donors together for an evening.

LA PLATA, Md.

(April 5, 2016)College of Southern Maryland President Dr. Brad Gottfried and his wife, Linda, have a passion for education that they want to carry forward to future generations. Although the Gottfrieds invest in both an annual and an endowed scholarship fund at CSM every year, they want to ensure their financial support not only provides scholarships for current students but also impacts generations of students that they will never meet.Their aspirations are being realized by making a leadership gift of $110,000 in cash and a deferred gift to the CSM Foundation as part of its $10 million "Make An Impact Campaign." Of their gift, $10,000 is directed to their annual scholarship with the remainder to be directed to the Bradley and Linda Gottfried Endowment Fund as part of their Living Trust to the CSM Foundation.In creating opportunities for students that will reach far beyond their lifetimes, Linda Gottfried in quoting the Greek proverb of "A society grows great when men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in," said, "That's what we are doing. We're planting a tree (whose shade we're never going to sit in) but somebody will, and they'll benefit from the scholarship money and go on to do great things. It's a gift that keeps giving."Previously, Brad and Linda Gottfried have established Against All Odds annual and endowed scholarships at CSM to support students who are overcoming personal challenges, followed by their establishing an art scholarship to help art majors with tuition and supplies for their myriad of projects."As president of this college for 10 years, I'm out in the community regularly. I know the students. I know what their dreams and aspirations are and I know so many of them just are not able to get an education," said Brad Gottfried. "So for Linda and me, it's giving back to the community. It's helping individuals who really want an education to be able to afford an education. You can't take your money with you, so it makes perfect sense for us to leave a legacy for the college and for the community."Both are success stories of community colleges, with Linda Gottfried attending Bergen County Community College in New Jersey and Brad Gottfried, Montgomery Community College in Pennsylvania. "I started my college career at my local community college," said Brad Gottfried. "Being associated with colleges for over 40 years, I see so many individuals in the community who aren't [in college] because of personal circumstances. If I can help any individual to get an educationthat resonates with me, that other individuals will benefit and get an education that they would not have been able to otherwise."Particularly satisfying for the Gottfrieds has been the opportunity to connect with their scholarship recipients during annual scholarship receptions that bring students and donors together for an evening. "To see these students go beyond their hardship and moving forward, you just want to give them a hug," said Brad Gottfried. "It's not just the money, although that's important, but it's their knowing that someone cares about them, cares about their future, and they are so grateful. Having someone believe in you, that's a vote of confidence."Linda Gottfried agrees. "As they say, 'It's better to give than receive,' it's really true. All you have to do is see [the students] at the scholarship ceremony and you know it. That's the best part about giving. It's meeting those students face-to-face, seeing how this is changing their life," she said. "The second greatest moment is graduation, when you go to commencement and you see somebody that was sitting at the scholarship table with you and then you see them graduating. I would pay 10 times what we give just for that moment."In making their leadership gift to CSM, the Gottfrieds are encouraging the larger community to also consider the Impact Campaign as a way to invest today to transform tomorrow. "What do you want to be remembered for? What do you want to leave for future generations? We're leaving a legacy that will go on for generations," said Brad Gottfried. "We are planning for the future as well as paying for the here-and-now. Through our current scholarships we are giving two to four scholarships a year. The endowment will continue when we pass and the interest will go to pay for scholarships, letting us direct our money to something we both believe in.""Even after we are gone it's as if we're still both doing the work, we're still providing the education, we're still encouraging the against all odds students, the arts students. We're doing something that goes far beyond this plane," said Linda Gottfried.CSM's Impact Campaign is a transformative three-year outreach and fundraising effort that will culminate in 2018 with the college's 60th anniversary. "Make Your Impact: Invest Today to Transform Tomorrow" addresses access, affordability and achievement by ensuring that degree programs and career training are available to everyone through scholarships, that high caliber programs, facilities and technology are accessible, and that strategic partnerships and innovation are created and sustained in the community."The public launch of the campaign is planned for this fall," said Vice President of Advancement Michelle Goodwin. "The CSM Foundation and our employees look forward to reaching out to alumni, supporters and friends to help keep CSM affordable and accessible and the best value in higher education, career training and personal enrichment for the people of Southern Maryland."As part of the Gottfrieds' Impact Campaign gift, the Center for Business and Industry Conference Room 104 and the Business Building first floor lobby located on the La Plata Campus will be named in their honor. For information on the Impact campaign initiatives, naming opportunities and more, visit http://IMPACT.csmd.edu or call the CSM Foundation at 301-934-7649.
A total of 24 economists from the banking sector, NGOs and public institutions have subscribed to the initiative.

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Economists in Slovakia have called on politicians to support an initiative called The Best of All Possible Worlds - Value for Money in Slovak Public Policies, a co-architect of which was missing, presumed deceased economist Martin Filko, the TASR newswire learnt on April 4.

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A total of 24 economists from the banking sector, NGOs and public institutions have subscribed to the initiative. Apart from Filko, the authors are also Stefan Kiss and Ludovit Odor.

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The initiative stands a good chance of significantly improving the quality of decision-making processes regarding public resources in Slovakia and could facilitate the search for the best cost-benefit solutions, in this case in terms of benefit to society, according to the text of the appeal.

Were convinced that the initiative has the potential to serve as a key reform on Slovakias path to becoming a well-governed country, said Economic Analysts Club chair Juraj Kotian.

The initiative has been addressed to President Andrej Kiska, Prime Minister Robert Fico, all the vice-premiers, Finance Minister Peter Kazimir, Parliamentary Chair Andrej Danko, the Supreme Audit Office chair and other public officials.

In addition, the initiative signatories consider it important for the government to commit itself to carrying out The Best of All Possible Worlds in its Manifesto.

Filkos canoe capsized on the Danube River in Bratislava on March 28, but his body still has not been found. The text states that the tragedy probably means that Slovakia has lost a respected economist, leader and administrator, but it does not have to lose his work. Filko has left this behind as his legacy and public testament.

Theres a need to develop an effort to ensure that the important reforms that he was drafting continue and that the people of Slovakia will receive constantly growing value for their money, reads the initiative.
Slovaks abroad would like to see the finances for dealing with Slovaks living abroad rise to its former level of 1.33 million per year.

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Slovaks living abroad hope that the new government will be helpful in terms of their rights and cultural-social efforts and in preserving their language and distinctive culture.

Slovaks abroad also hope to see increased cooperation between Slovakia and its nationals abroad. As of the beginning of the previous governments term in office, the Association of Slovaks Living Abroad (SZSZ) has sent a memorandum of cooperation to the newly established cabinet, the TASR newswire learned on April 1.

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Its a hand held out for mutually profitable cooperation in areas of foreign policy, the generation and dissemination of culture and information, education and the promotion of Slovakia, SZSZ director Vladimir Skalsky told the TASR.

Skalsky noted that Slovaks abroad would like to see the amount reserved via state policy for dealing with Slovaks living abroad rising to its former level of 1.33 million per year.

The annually decreasing level of support doesnt correspond with the significance and number of Slovaks abroad, explained the SZSZ director, as quoted by TASR. Its also incomparable with the states surrounding Slovakia.

Nationals abroad have also asked for a Slovakia Abroad Centre to be set up in Bratislava under the auspices of SZSZ. The centre would focus on presenting the history of Slovaks abroad as well as their contemporary culture. Also required is the restoration of a commission for nationals abroad by the parliamentary foreign affairs committee.

The commission, which should include representatives of Slovaks abroad, should make voting in other countries more convenient and amend the law on Slovaks living abroad in line with current developments.

The numerous community of Slovaks abroad needs to be considered as a significant factor in implementing foreign policy goals, including economic diplomacy, stated Skalsky, as quoted by TASR expressing his hope that Slovakias state administration will fully realise the importance of the more than two million Slovaks living in other countries.
The global scandal of money laundering and offshore tax havens also reaches Slovakia.

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The National Criminal Agency (NAKA) is investigating the scandal which has been worked on by the international association of investigative journalists, the TASR newswire wrote, adding that they broke the story on April 3 worldwide.

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There is also a Slovak connection mentioned in the 11.5 million documents leaked from the Panama law company Mossack Fonseca, TASR wrote, naming one company  Latem Trading s.r.o., residing on Sulekova Street in downtown Bratislava.

Latem Trading allegedly helped legalise income from criminal activities, the Sme daily wrote on April 5. The owner of this company Gustaaf David Poelen officially did not deny the allegations by the Panama-based law firm, but he refused any illegal steps.

There are also 106 Slovak individuals involved in the money laundering and tax evasion, of whom six directly profited on firms in tax havens. Their names have not been disclosed so far officially, Sme wrote. It seems, however, that they include two directors of big companies, and several have featured in infamous past scandals.

The Czech centre for Investigative Journalism named Slovaks Jana Lutken (of the Interblue Group involved in emission quotas and bulletin-board tender) and Zuzana Herichova (also of Interblue Group, but also of Ibertax e-toll company) as listed in the leaked documents. Elsewhere in the world, these include top politicians, their cronies, as well as renowned businesspeople or dubious dictators.

The scandal nicknamed Panama Papers is the result of the yearlong work of 400 journalists from 100 organisations, according to Sme. From Slovakia, Pavla Holcova has been involved in the journalistic work, checking on thousands of documents.
Suspecting politics to be dirty, and having a map of the kleptocracys secret hoardings are two entirely different things.

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No one with even a rudimentary understanding of human nature will have been surprised by the news that some world leaders have squirreled away millions (billions) in secret bank accounts beyond the reach of tax authorities. Its been the stuff of political thrillers for decades, and more lately has everywhere fueled the rise of anti-establishment parties, with their premise that a voter is a shit, a voter perceives just the mere surface.

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But suspecting politics to be dirty, and having a map of the kleptocracys secret hoardings are two entirely different things. The former is a doubt that can co-exist with faith in human governance; the latter destroys it. And that is why the Panama Papers need to be treated with more caution than has so far been displayed.

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The records of the Panama law firm that triggered the latest scandal are of course not the first financial leak concerning business and political leaders. And like past leaks, they have a crucial shortcoming  they dont tell us how the funds in each account were accumulated, or even whether they were first taxed before being hidden. Not to mention why they had to be concealed  to avoid embarrassment or prosecution? Or to prevent seizure by an autocratic government?

Do they come from terrorism, from drug smuggling, from corruption? Or from unethical behaviour such as trading weapons or hard-to-renew commodities, like wood from protected areas?

Accordingly, the initial reports of who owns how much where, while titillating, cannot be considered investigative stories.

Yes, it may look bad, but appearance is not necessary reality, and certainly is insufficient to support decisive legal action. Its enough to stir passions among voters, but not enough to change the behavior of our elites (beyond perhaps changing the people tasked with hiding their loot).

Finally, the material that led to these first reports has been shared out with a limited number of media, reducing the amount of reporting that can be done, and giving an incentive to those with access to exaggerate the importance of what they find.

But the importance of such information might be groundbreaking for the perception of democracy in the world. Potentially it could endorse the widespread conviction that we are all ruled by oligarchs with minimum respect to their homeland, their compatriots, and to laws and principles.

And that is mainly why its necessary to wait until we know more.

So while the Panama Papers undoubtedly have the potential to shake the world order, until they are provided for public inspection  like the US State Department cables on Wikileaks  that potential will not be fully realized.
After Most-Hid joined the coalition with Smer, its chair does not want to pursue the change to citizenship rules.

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One of the top topics of the Most-Hid party in the past few years was the change to the State Citizenship Act, based on which Slovaks lose their citizenship if they become citizens of another country. The law was adopted in 2010, in response to the Hungarian double-citizenship act. At the time, Most-Hid MPs even challenged the rules at the Constitutional Court.

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Moreover, deputies have been calling for an amendment, but the proposal to stop stripping Slovaks of their citizenship has not been passed.

The party, however, is not more restrained to the topic. It is even possible that its MPs will not support the amendment submitted by MPs for Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) Ondrej Dostal, Martin Poliacik and Peter Osusky, which is similar to their own 2014 proposal, the Dennik N daily reported.

Dostal has already sent an open letter to Most-Hid chair Bela Bugar, calling on him to support the amendment to the State Citizenship Act. He reminds him of the fact that the partys current coalition partners Smer and the Slovak National Party (SNS) were the ones that adopted the 2010 change.

Both parties claim they have changed and that anti-Hungarian nationalism, which was present in their politics and which was the real reason for the change to the State Citizenship Act in 2010, is now part of the past, Dostal wrote, as quoted by Dennik N. Thus I call on Most-Hid to use its influence within the ruling coalition.

Most-Hid, however, was critical about the letter. Its MP Gabor Gal said that Dostal tried to use the law to cast a bad light on Most-Hid. Party spokesperson Matej Kovac meanwhile told Dennik N that the ruling coalition has not reached any agreement in state citizenship rules yet.

Gal added that the change does not have a chance to be passed, even if the whole SaS and Most-Hid parties supported it. Both Smer and SNS have already claimed they do not want to change the law, as reported by Dennik N.

The Interior Ministry currently grants only exceptions from the law. The change was adopted in February 2015, and allows people who lost their Slovak citizenship due to the current law to ask for its return under certain conditions. Of 1,331 people who have lost their Slovak citizenship, 79 people have already been granted an exception, the TASR newswire wrote.

Among the conditions the applicants have to meet is that they need to submit their request in writing to the district authority in the regional capital, at Slovak diplomatic representation abroad or at the Slovak consular office. The applicants need to have residency registered at the foreigner police, i.e. they need to have permission for foreigners to stay in the territory of Slovakia, TASR wrote.

When assessing the request, the ministry takes into consideration the conditions under which the people were stripped of their Slovak passports, and also conditions under which they were granted their second citizenship, especially regarding the residency permission.
The ceremony to commemorate the liberation of the Slovak capital was attended by politicians, but also diplomats.

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Respect for the soldiers who perished during the liberation of Bratislava and the whole of Slovakia is one of the basic pillars of national policies, said Prime Minister Robert Fico at the Slavin memorial in Bratislava on the occasion of the 71st anniversary of Bratislavas liberation. The memorial was constructed to pay tribute to 6,845 Red Army soldiers who fell in liberating Bratislava and the surrounding areas.

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Irrespective of whether Im part of the executive or legislature, Ill keep supporting this pillar, Fico said, as quoted by the TASR newswire. Youll always find me at these events honouring the memory of those who came here but werent able to leave.

Many Red Army soldiers died when liberating Bratislava, Fico noted.

I reaffirm that well show great interest in preserving all memorials attesting to these events, the PM continued. Youll find us everywhere.

He also stressed he has great respect for all those who were killed in WWII.

Bratislava Mayor Ivo Nesrovnal said in his speech that the tragedies of WWII should serve as a warning on how dangerous it is to ignore racism, xenophobia and intolerance.

Its important to recall this especially now, at times of growing support for those who introduce hate, animosity and rudeness to our society, said Nesrovnal, as quoted by TASR.

He also said that people in Bratislava will care for the graves of foreign fallen soldiers as if they were their own.

Nevertheless, we also remember a different period of lack of freedom  the communist one, Nesrovnal added, as quoted by TASR. His criticism of communism was booed by some of the attendees, however.

The commemorative event at Slavin was also attended by President Andrej Kiska, members of government and parliament, ambassadors, Supreme Court President Daniela Svecova, Judicial Council Chair Jana Bajankova, Bratislava Region's Governor Pavol Freso, and Martin Krno from the Regional Committee of the Slovak Association of Anti-fascist Fighters.

Krno apologised in his speech for having figures in brown shirts in Bratislava again, who even need to conquer it by force.

Society itself has opened the door for them, said Krno, as quoted by TASR, referring to the presence of 14 MPs from the far-right Peoples Party  Our Slovakia of Marian Kotleba in parliament following the March general election.
The tram stops on Jesenskeho and Mostova streets in Bratislava will be scrapped between June and mid-October 2016.

The renovated Reduta building will host many events of the EU presidency (Source: Sme)

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Since Slovakia will preside over the Council of the European Union in the second half of the year and Bratislava will become one of the EU capitals, the city will have to adopt several security measures. One of them will be the temporarily cancellation of the tram stops at Jesenskeho and Mostova streets, the Imhd.sk website reported.

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This will affect trams number 1 (in direction to the main railway station), 4 (both directions) and 6 (both directions).

The Reduta building will be a main spot for ministerial meetings and conferences during the Slovak presidency, the Foreign Affairs Ministry explained.

There will be altogether 20 top-level meetings, attended by EU ministers, top representatives of EU institutions, ministers from partner countries and representatives of the international agencies and institutions. Moreover, also the press centre for domestic and foreign media will be located in Reduta, the Foreign Affairs Ministry added.

In addition, the nearby L. Stura Square will be used as parking place for vehicles of domestic and foreign television staff, Imhd.sk wrote.

The security questions are more pressing following the March terrorist attacks in Brussels, but the exclusion of trams was planned even before these events.

The security forces decide about the character of limitations, the Foreign Affairs Ministry explained, as quoted by Imhd.sk. They, however, will be implemented in a way not to limit the life in the city centre.

It is not clear yet how the trams will be redirected. There is also a question whether the planned connections to the Petrzalka borough, and especially the tram line on Sturova Street, will be launched before the changes, the website wrote.
Of course, oil prices are a big concern for the Russian government. As oil prices decrease the ruble loses its purchasing power. The Russian national currency is tightly bound to oil prices. Oil incomes are important for Russias federal budget and its overall trade balance. For example, in 2012 when Brent crude prices were $125 a barrel the ruble was close to its peak of 29 to $1.

Falling oil incomes and the weakening ruble has put significant pressure on the Russian economy. As a result, Russia has insisted on talks with Saudi Arabia to cap oil output at all time highs, in a bid to stabilize the prices.

"If oil prices were Moscows top foreign policy priority, the oil-price theory of Russian foreign policy would predict simultaneous efforts to destabilize the region, thereby creating new risks to oil production and putting upward pressure on prices. This is not happening," Sanders wrote.
According to The Financial Times, referring to the oil brokers and ship brokers, the tankers that had previously docked in the Iranian ports are permitted to enter the territorial waters of Saudi Arabia only upon obtaining a special permit.

Can the Saudis port closure cause serious damage to Iran's oil industry? In an interview with Sputnik Persian, an independent Iranian expert and economist from London, Manouchehr Takin, said, For the Iranian oil tankers Saudis ban will not cause much harm. After loading at the Strait of Hormuz they may come into free international waters. However, for tankers that load oil from several places, certain difficulties will be created. These vessels have to first load oil in other countries and then reach Iran.

The expert further said that this is a politically motivated move. Although he added that, It will not cause much damage to the Iranian oil industry.

In this case, Iran will only need to adjust the logistics policy: routes of tankers. Iran will hold talks with its customers regarding sending tankers via a different route: through Iranian territorial waters. New mechanism of handling the fuel and devising an unloading scheme will take a few weeks longer than usual.

Takin said that Iran was seriously expressing its willingness and desire for peaceful economic cooperation with the states of the Persian Gulf.

Iranian Foreign Minister Dr. Mohammad Javad Zarif has repeatedly called on saying that political differences should not affect the healthy trade partnership in the oil sector. But some states have taken a hostile attitude towards Iran. It has left its mark on the political factor, the analyst concluded.
She described the Dutch referendum as an ideal opportunity for EU leaders to step out of the shadows and campaign for European security and stability. Yet none of this has played a role in the referendum campaign.

And with the exception of European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, who warned of the consequences of a no vote, EU leaders have been silent at worst and halfhearted at best.

If the Netherlands votes against the Agreement in a referendum, this could cause a continental crisis with the EU, according to the European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte thought it wise to duck out from the yes vote campaign.

He fears that he has little to gain from leading [the yes campaign]. He faces general elections in Spring 2017, and his [conservative-liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy] is neck-and-neck with Geert Wilders right-wing populist Freedom Party in the race to become the countrys largest [in the Dutch parliament], argued Rem Korteweg of the Center for European Reform.

Ruttes party is also divided over the issue.

If [Rutte] is too pro-European, he will alienate more Eurosceptic voters. If he is too critical of the EU and the agreement with Ukraine, it will complicate his relations with the rest of Europe, Korteweg added.

The Ukrainian economy is not ready for integration with the EU and its government has not implemented the reforms it promised, making it likely that Dutch voters will reject the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement when they vote in a referendum on April 6, Kiev-based Dutch journalist Stefan Huijboom told Radio Sputnik.

"First of all, we're talking about a country that is at war, there's unrest in the East. European integration just means that the unrest in Ukraine will become an even bigger European problem," Huijboom said.

Meanwhile, Ukraine is mired in an economic crisis, President Poroshenko's promised campaign to fight corruption has completely failed, and trust in the government is at an all-time low.

The Netherlands is the only EU country that has not yet ratified the association deal. The government decided to hold a referendum after more than 400,000 people signed a petition calling for a popular vote on the agreement.

According to the latest opinion polls over 55 percent of the Dutch electorate are going to vote against the measure and only 44.5 will vote for Ukraines proposed association with the 28-nation European Union.
Following #PanamaPapers leak, forthcoming International Anti-Corruption Summit must end impunity for the corrupt https://t.co/3Q5SVzs8bt  Transparency Int'lUK (@TransparencyUK) 4 April 2016

While there has been much talk in recent years of governmental efforts to crack down on illegal or unethical financial dealings, the latest leaks revealed such practices were globally widespread, with Mr Kelso describing the information in the Panama Papers as the "tip of the iceberg."

#PanamaPapers confirm that the world's corrupt elite are gaming the international financial system to launder & protect their stolen wealth  Transparency Int'lUK (@TransparencyUK) 3 April 2016

He hopes that the revelations will lead others to come forward with more information about similar types of practices in other parts of the world.

"I hope that, as there are copycat crimes, there is copycat whistleblowing as well. I'd like to see what other records could be dredged up and divulged from London, for example.

"It's not just Panama, there's Singapore, London, Zurich that also have as many Mossack Fonseca [style] law firms as in Panama itself. So, to look at Panama is one thing, but there's a lot of other people and a lot of other information and data out there that will never be disclosed."

Attention Turns to UK

With the UK hosting the global summit of tax evasion and offshore financing issues, many believe Britain could prove to be a world leader in tackling financial corruption.

While Prime Minister David Cameron has been applauded for his tough rhetoric on corruption, many have criticized the PM's perceived lack of action on the issue.

And the biggest chunk of the iceberg is controlled by the UK. #panamapapers https://t.co/OizdKNcXoO  Diane Abbott MP (@HackneyAbbott) April 5, 2016

Britain was only second to Hong Kong in a list of international jurisdictions where banks, law firms and other stakeholders associated with the Panama Papers operate, leading to widespread criticism of the government's actions.

"This leak highlights the key role that UK-linked tax havens play in allowing a privileged elite to dodge paying their fair share of tax," said Richard Pyle of Oxfam.

To complicate matters further, Cameron's late father Ian was implicated in the scandal, with a Bahamas-based investment fund formerly run by the prime minister's father also being mentioned in the leaks.

Secrecy in the UK's overseas territories makes a significant contribution to UK's role as a safe haven for corrupt funds #panamapapers  Transparency Int'lUK (@TransparencyUK) 4 April 2016

Despite acknowledging the understandable skepticism surrounding the British government's commitment to crackdown on tax evasion, Mr Kelso told Sputnik he held some optimism.

"We're quite hopeful that this could be Cameron's legacy; that he will try to make a big political mark."

While there is hope of significant change, he said there were still many questions to be asked in relation to the UK's commitment to financial regulation, particularly in regards to Britain's overseas territories and crown dependencies, which are known tax havens, used by many businesses and investors worldwide.

"What will happen with them? If you see strong tougher measures at the summit in May, if there's enforcement and sanctions that back up the political ask, that will be the breakthrough to seeing major change."

Taking Practical Steps

With the release of the Panama Papers sparking discussion about a crackdown on irregular global financial activity, tax campaigners have come up with many different suggestions on how to effectively regulate the industry.

According to Transparency International, one method to assist in such a crackdown would be the establishment of a "global registry" that would "collect the information on the human people" behind companies, preventing those behind so-called shell companies from remaining anonymous.

"Having one central global registry of all of the companies and all of the owners  the human beings that breathe and live and profit from them  would be a way to stop such multi-layered complex schemes to hide billions from the public," Kelso said.

While acknowledging that "there's a large road to travel yet in trying to convince the banking institutions to change their culture to better enforce due diligence requirements," Kelso said governments should be doing more in regards to the procurement of public contracts, to encourage companies to be more transparent.

"A major step they could do is simply require anyone who gets public money and who bids for a public contract has to disclose who is the human person who is actually going to win the contract. That has not yet been done."

While the extent of the Panama leaks has shocked many worldwide, many anti-corruption campaigners were not as surprised by the findings, with many critical of government inaction over the issue enforcing greater transparency.

Kelso told Sputnik that while G20 nations last year agreed to adopt new transparency commitments, very little had been done in real terms.

"The chickens are coming home to roost."
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The violence in Nagorno-Karabakh, a breakaway region of Azerbaijan with a predominantly Armenian population, escalated on April 2. Baku and Yerevan have accused each other of provoking hostilities. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), at least 33 people were killed and more than 200 injured as a result of the violence escalation.

"This [escalation] threatens with the outbreak of a very big conflict in the Caucasus region that's why the leaders, first of all of Azerbaijan, should understand it," Nikolay Bordyuzha said.

He added that the CSTO was participating in the settlement of the conflict by political means.
Mikael Johansson, who initiated the Soldiers of Odin patrols in Sweden and currently is the group's spokesman, told the web newspaper Fria Tider that the incident occurred sometime after half past 2PM on Friday. According to him, the culprit was trying to rob his victim of his golden necklace. This is when the civic guards stepped in, stopped the robber and held him under surveillance until the police arrived, even though their "shift" was over by that time.

"They made a citizens' arrest," police spokesman Mats Eriksson confirmed. The suspect, who is a man in his 40s, was taken to the police station for identification and interrogation on the attempted robbery. Later, he was released.

Last month, the black-clad Soldiers of Odin, who originally hail from Finland but later expanded into the neighboring countries as well, were reported to have made their first entrance in Sweden, initiating civil patrols in a number of towns, including the capital city of Stockholm. Although the "soldiers" themselves claim the patrols to be necessary to protect Swedish citizens, particularly women, from violent attacks and sexual assaults carried out by immigrants, the nightly rounds evoked mixed feelings, with the mainstream media as well as some of the top ranking politicians branding the militia as "racists" and condemning the patrols as potentially harmful.
Turkey reports on forced return #refugees to Syria are shocking. EU cannot be an accomplice to violations of international law  Guy Verhofstadt (@GuyVerhofstadt) 1 April 2016

If @EU_Commission confirms that Turkey isn't complying with international law, #EUTurkey deal should be reconsidered https://t.co/pvdhEazQUz  Guy Verhofstadt (@GuyVerhofstadt) 1 April 2016

Over three days last week, Researchers gathered multiple testimonies of large-scale returns from Hatay province, confirming a practice that is an open secret in the region. All forced returns to Syria are illegal under Turkish, EU and international law.

"In their desperation to seal their borders, EU leaders have willfully ignored the simplest of facts: Turkey is not a safe country for Syrian refugees and is getting less safe by the day, The large-scale returns of Syrian refugees we have documented highlight the fatal flaws in the EU-Turkey deal. It is a deal that can only be implemented with the hardest of hearts and a blithe disregard for international law," said John Dalhuisen, Amnesty International's Director for Europe and Central Asia.

Allegations @AmnestyOnline are very serious and must be examined by the EU. We must not sell our soul to #Turkey & condone HR violations  Guy Verhofstadt (@GuyVerhofstadt) 4 April 2016

Serious Allegations

"These allegations are very serious and must be examined by the EU. As long as there are question marks about the safety of Turkey for refugees in need of protection, the returns should stop. We must never sell our soul to Turkey and condone human rights violations, simply because we are unable to deal with our own problems," Verhofstadt said.

Meanwhile, the Italian interior minister Angelino Alfano has said the EU should secure deals with African nations to take back migrants, similar to the Turkey agreement. "Europe was able to find the resources when it was urgent  I am referring to Turkey," he told the Financial Times.

The #EU's relocation policy began yesterday. Here's a useful graphic on the key aspects of the #EUTurkeyDeal @ecfr pic.twitter.com/qb0ztQCTr0  Gareth Davies (@garethaledavies) 5 April 2016

It remains unclear how such a deal could possibly be arranged with North African Nations  particularly in Libya, where the coalition government is still not in control of the whole country.

Filippo Grandi, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, said: "An asylum seeker should only be returned to a third state, if the responsibility for assessing the particular asylum application in substance is assumed by the third country; the asylum-seeker will be protected from refoulement [the movement of a victim or persecution back to the persecutor]; and if the individual will be able to seek and, if recognized, enjoy asylum in accordance with accepted international standards, and have full and effective access to education, work, health care and, as necessary, social assistance."
The Party leader Pernille Vermund , whose motto is "Less State, More Human", called Islam "a violent religion", claiming that Islam challenges the rule of the law in Denmark, because its rules and commandments run contrary to the Danish society values.

In a debate article in the Jyllands-Posten under the headline "Nothing Is Like Before," Vermund unleashed criticism towards Europe in general and Denmark in particular to their approach to the migrant crisis.

"Is the integration for which we have paid billions and which is increasingly expensive really a success? Or are we so stupid that we think that more of the same treatment will provide a different and better result?" she asked rhetorically.
When flight attendant or pilot will be assigned to a flight to Tehran, Air France will give them the opportunity to refuse and to change their flight. All employees must inform about their refusal to wear a headscarf beforehand, the airline spokesperson was quoted by Reuters as saying.

French Minister for Women's Rights, Laurence Rossignol, welcomed this decision.

But to get an idea as to how this decision was handled in Iran, Sputnik spoke to expert Emad Abshenass.

According to the legislation of the Islamic Republic of Iran all women including foreigners must abide by the Islamic dress code in public places. It is necessary to cover head, clothing should be long sleeves and it should be lose. It must not be tight to the body, that is, we are talking about the requirements of the Islamic dress code.

This rule has no exceptions for anyone. It is therefore understandable why these requirements are put forward and to its staff, in this case  the stewardess. Even high-ranking foreign officials like for example, the distinguished Prime Minister of Australia. When she stayed on an official visit to Iran, she dressed in appropriate clothing  in a hijab. All foreign high-ranking persons, female representatives of foreign states must respect the laws of the country to where they have come  to Iran.

Abshenass further said that there is no need for women to cover their faces in Iran. Hence, complying with this manner of clothing should not create such a big problem for foreign women in Iran.
In particular, AfD has rapidly gained 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.

"The refugee crisis and especially the way our society deals with it, unfortunately, totally confirms analyzes and theories that I have tried in my book. I think the refugee crisis is ultimately less important with respect to the financial or demographic influence it has on the individual countries; the most important finding, I believe, is rather the apparent inability of our political elite to deal with this crisis in a democratic way," Engels said.

According to the expert, the inability of the EU to resolve the crisis demonstrates strong democratic deficit in European states. It also shows that Europeans are unable to engage in a dialogue and work out a common strategy, the expert argued.

"Today, as 2000 years ago in Rome, our society suffers from far too sophisticated structure of our state institutions. Our countries have made themselves so complicated that it's become impossible to handle important issues [..]. Such endeavor would only be possible in case of a common, long-planned reform of our entire society. But that would certainly be difficult to implement given the current, very short-term thinking and mutually blocking political institutions," the expert stated.
Sokrates Syriodis, councilor on the Greek island of Chios, told Sputnik that while the transportation of people back to Turkey has begun, it doesn't seem to be working effectively or easing the strain on locals.

"The recent deal actually created a problem here on the island because the flows of people are not decreasing  the flows only change due to the weather. So we have the same flows, but the problem is that the people are staying here because they have nowhere else to go  the borders are closed," Syriodis told Sputnik.

Syriodis said the island's resources were becoming stretched as more refugees and migrants were traveling to Chios, while efforts to send people back to Turkey are slow.

"Maybe it's too early to see the result [of the EU-Turkey deal], but so far it seems that it's not working that well," he added.

Blockade of the Port Causing Problems

The increased numbers of people on the island, and the fact that they can't travel onward to mainland Europe, has also led to further problems for the authorities and people of Chios.

Syriodis said that an estimated 300 of the island's 1,500 refugees and migrants moved from designated resignation centers to the island's port, which was creating problems for residents, tourists and others looking to travel to and from the island.

He said this was subsequently putting a strain on the island, and was "an effect of the recent EU-Turkey deal".
During a later meeting with President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, the PM requested him to dissolve the parliament, which the president refused, wrote the Icelandic newspaper Morgunbladir . At the same time, Prime Minister Johanna Sigurardottir said that Sigmundur Davi should resign.

Sigmundur Davi Gunnlaugsson, who was ushered in office in 2013 following the financial crash that almost crippled Iceland's economy, is the youngest Prime Minister in the history of the Icelandic Republic and was at that time the world's youngest democratically elected head of government. It is also noteworthy that Icelanders' dissatisfaction was already high due to other allegations of corruption even before news of the Panama Papers broke. According to an opinion poll conducted earlier this year, nearly 70 percent did not support the current coalition government.

Meanwhile, Reykjavik's famous ice cream parlor Isbuin Valdis has responded to the controversy with an ice cream flavor called "Panama offshore". The new dessert is touted as a mixture of lemon sorbet and vanilla ice. The sweet course has been aptly named Wintris after Gunnlaugsson's offshore company and is described as "sour, with a tinge of arrogance" as well as "tax deductible".
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The initial set of some 40 measures aimed at making Norway less attractive for migrants presented by Listhaug in the beginning of 2016 was met with criticism both from the opposition parties and human rights groups. Norway's immigration minister, who is also a member of the Progress Party, promised to take those concerns into account while presenting her final initiatives.

"Nothing was really dropped. It was just a couple of the proposals that became a small amount softer," Kristian Larsson said, asked about the changes in the final draft.

The initial package included, in particular, restrictions on the right to family reunion, integration criteria for permanent residence, greater opportunity to return people whose applications for asylum are clearly unfounded as well as temporary basis for the protection of unaccompanied minors and the legal basis to decide not to consider individual applications from asylum seekers who enter Norway directly from a neighboring Nordic country.
Among the released data were shocking videos of atrocities committed by US troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as millions of top secret US diplomatic cables.

The disclosure got both the source and the publisher in trouble. Bradley Manning, who underwent a sex change to become Chelsea Manning, was arrested, put on trial and jailed. Wikileaks and Julian Assange were personally being investigated with the intention of prosecuting them under the US Espionage Act of 1917.

Heres Assange himself talking about the espionage allegations in an interview to The Young Turks host Cenk Uygur in December of 2010:

Now we got this antiquated act that they are trying to apply to publishers  arguably unconstitutional. But that would take many years to get through the court. And in the meantime  what happens? In the meantime weve got our people harassed, we have calls to apply this to other newspapers. All members of the press, and all the American people who believe in freedom and the good founding principles of their revolutionary fathers have got to pull together and resist this attack on the First Amendment.

The work of Julian Assange made waves all over the world. Australian government officials were calling it illegal, while the countrys police said that he didnt break any Australian laws. In the US he was being called a terrorist, while Russian, Ecuadorean, Brazilian and Argentinian officials, have expressed support to Assange.

The activist himself said he believes that over time, more people will realize the righteousness of his cause.

As time goes by, the large number of people  the silent majority, start to become organized. And thats what weve seen over the last two or so weeks  the gradual organization of the silent majority to resist a new type of tyranny, a new type of privatized censorship, a new type of Digital McCarthyism that is being pushed from Washington.

Facing allegations of sexual assault in Sweden, charges he denies, and fearing further politically-motivated extradition to the US, in 2012 Julian Assange, who was in the UK at the time, applied for asylum in Ecuador, which he received shortly after, and since then hes been living in the Ecuadorean embassy in London.

Western mainstream media outlets often attacked Assange. In 2012, when RT television launched World Tomorrow  a series of political interviews hosted by Assange, he was criticized by The Guardian and other mainstream publications.

Nevertheless, the power of Wikileaks was growing. The overthrow of the presidency in Tunisia of 2011 has been attributed partly to reaction against the corruption revealed by leaked cables.

Despite pressure from governments and the mainstream media, Julian Assange became a new type of digital age celebrity, channeling his influence through the Internet and making Wikileaks a powerful online community that changed the worlds political landscape.
- Mr. President, lets move on to the political part. How do you assess the results of the Geneva talks on Syria that ended last week?

Of course, we cannot say yet that something was achieved at the Geneva talks, but we started with the main things, namely with working out the main principles that will form the basis of the talks, because any talks without defined principles to rely on become chaotic and cannot lead to anything, leaving room for every party to express stubbornness and allowing other countries to subjectively get involved in them. Right now weve started with the document on the principles.

We mostly worked with Mr. De Mistura and not with the opposition that we will hold talks with. We will continue negotiations and dialogue on this document during the next round. Right now I can say that what was achieved in the course of the previous round is the start of the drafting of the course for successful talks, and if we continue along this course, the rest of the rounds will be productive.

- I also wanted to ask you: what are going to be the positions that Syria will be guided by during the next round of talks? When will the so-called political transition be discussed? Will the issue of a transitional authority be brought up and what is your point of view with regard to the mechanism of its formation?

 First of all, regarding the definition of the transitional period, such a definition does not exist. We in Syria assume that the term political transition means the transition from one constitution to another, and a constitution is what defines the form of the needed political composition in the next stage. Thus, the transition period must be under the current constitution, and we will move on to the new constitution after the Syrian people vote for it. Before that, what we can work on, as we see it in Syria, is the government. This transitional structure or transitional format is a government formed by various Syrian political forces  opposition, independent, the current government and others.

The main goal of this government is working on a constitution, then presenting it for the Syrians to vote on, and after  a transition to the new constitution. Neither the Syrian constitution, nor the constitution of any other country in the world includes anything that is called a transitional body of power. Its illogical and unconstitutional. What are the powers of this body?

How will it govern the daily lives of citizens? Who will be assessing it? Today, there is the Peoples Council [Syrias parliament] and the constitution that regulates the work of the government and the state. Thats why a solution is a government of national accord that will prepare a new constitution.

- With regard to that government I would like to ask: what is the mechanism of its formation? Who will appoint it? Can the parliament that will be elected on April 13 do it? Or you personally? Or will you allow international participation in this? How will the government be formed?

 Thats the goal of Geneva  an intra-Syrian dialogue during which we will agree on the format of this government. Of course, we have not yet worked out a final understanding, because other Syrian parties have not yet agreed to this principle. Some have agreed, but we will announce how it will be implemented in practice when we work out this principle all together.

It is logical that independent forces should be represented there, as well as opposition forces and forces loyal to the government. Thats in principle. With regard to how it will be distributed from the technical perspective, as you know, there are ministries with briefcases and without, there are ministers who will join the government without having experience working in it, and how will they resolve the citizens daily problems? There are a lot of similar questions that we must discuss in Geneva, but they are not difficult questions. I do not consider them difficult, they can all be resolved. The Peoples Council will not play any role in this process, this process will be carried out between us and the opposition from abroad. The Peoples Council regulates the work of the government, but in Syria it does not appoint the cabinet of ministers.

- Do you think that new elements [parties] will be presented within the structure of the new parliament?

 It depends on the Syrian voters. Will there be new elements in the Syrian society? It is not enough to just have new parties, like it was during the 2000 parliamentary elections. You can create 100 parties, but that does not mean that they will represent everybody at the elections. Which form will a Syrian citizen approve for going to vote?

This question, as you know, does not get resolved fast. Time is needed for its resolution. Every new party must get its point of view, political program across to the citizensin such difficult conditions it is possible that citizens, due to their nature, will not want to experience innovations. It is possible that when the security situation improves we will have a more positive perspective on this. Then politics will play a more important role for the citizens, than concerns about the questions of daily life.

Today, citizens are thinking about their security first of all, about the security of their lives, then  about everyday problems, childrens education, health. Only after that they start to think about other issues. Thats why in the current conditions I do not expect that we will become witness to any core, major changes.

Q: Despite this, the political process in Syria is happening amid a ground invasion of the country, possibly an undeclared one. Turkey is constantly shelling Syrian territory. Is there a red line after which your patience will end and you will begin to respond to this as a direct attack? Is there such a red line that certain countries, for example Turkey or Saudi Arabia, can cross in course of their interventions in Syria, that would push you toward more dramatic action?

A: First of all, in regard to Turkey, in regard to Saudi Arabia, they have  possibly from the first weeks of the Syrian war  crossed all possible red lines. Everything they did from the very beginning can be considered aggression. Aggression in a political sense or in a military sense, providing terrorists with arms, or direct aggression with the use of artillery and other military disturbances.

Q: Just what Erdogan is doing.

A: First of all, he directly supports terrorists. He allows them to move into Turkish territory, to carry out maneuvers with tanks. This concerns not only individuals; he finances them [terrorists] through Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and through Turkey itself, of course. He trades oil that has been stolen by Daesh, at the same time carrying out artillery attacks against the Syrian army when it moves close in order to help the terrorists. He has sent Turkish militants to fight in Syria, this continues. The attack on a Russian aircraft in Syrian airspace is also aggression against Syria, as the aircraft was in its sovereign airspace.

This has gone on from the very beginning. He also makes statements that constitute interferences in internal affairs. All Erdogan has done is aggression in all senses.

We can say that we have lost patience, we lost hope a long time ago that this person would change. Today, the war against Erdogan and against Saudi Arabia is a war against terrorists. The Turkish army, which is not even Turkish, is Erdogan's army that is fighting today in Syria. They are terrorists and when we attack these terrorists in Syria, this leads to Erdogan's direct defeat. Our response must be, first and foremost, within our own country.

After that, I believe, we will be able to defeat terrorism. The Turkish people is not against Syria, not hostile toward Syria. Relations will be good if Erdogan does not interfere.
Until the early-1990s, there were no representative government bodies. The coronation of a new king only presumed that clerics, tribal leaders and representatives of the regional families pledged allegiance to the throne. Any attempt by the government to change the balance of powers between the ruling dynasty and the class of clerics provoked outrage from the ulema (the body of Islamic religious leaders and jurists).

In the late 1940s, the oil age began in the kingdom, which intensified contacts between Riyadh and the West. The kingdom gradually involved in global political and economic processes. Under external influence, the Saudi government became more centralized, introducing modern institutions and procedures.

The trend accelerated in the early-1990s when the Al Saud family initiated a round of reforms. As a result, representatives of other families gained access to the politics in the kingdom. This was the beginning of Riyadhs social transformation.

Currently, 81 percent of the population (29.8 million people, according to the 2010 census) lives in cities. By stimulating public secondary and higher education, the government contributed to the emergence of the "educated class." Over 96 percent of the working Saudi citizens (four million people, at the age of 25-44) are educated. Some 90,000 Saudi citizens a year travel to study abroad. There 265 universities in the kingdom and 52 regional technical colleges.

The involvement of the educated class in politics put in the spotlight the issue of human rights. The term "citizen" was introduced to the official lexicon of the government, and is now applied to everyone residing in the country.

The political system has also undergone major transformations. In 1992, the first constitutional-like acts were passed  the Basic Law of Saudi Arabia and the Consultative Assembly Establishment Act. Since then, the king has not been described as the sole ruler in the kingdom, and the country has not been considered an absolute monarchy.

The Consultative Assembly of Saudi Arabia has 150 members, including 30 women. The vast majority of them have higher education. In 2014, the Assembly was invested with the right to initiate laws. The Consultative Assembly is gradually transforming into the center concentrating educated citizens of the kingdom. The government formed in February 2015 comprises of members of the Assembly, except for two ministers.

In Spring 2015 and in Autumn 2012, the kingdom held elections of municipal councils which allowed only the participation of men. The municipal election campaign of 2015 already involved women.
The Minister of Forestry and Waterworks also added that Turkish aerospace technology is ahead of NASA's.

"They might have satellites, but we have our Gokturk [Turkey's observation satellite]," Eroglu said.

It's certainly a good thing to have a firm belief and optimism in your country's technology, but it should come with a healthy dose of reality.

Until now Turkey has only managed to send two satellites into orbit. Since Ankara can't even launch satellites itself it, but rather has to depend on other countries to do it. The pride and joy of Turkey's space program, Gokturk-2, was launched from Russia in 2011, for example.

Meanwhile, "inadequate" NASA aero-scientists are currently managing over 500 active satellites in space.

The Turkish government recently announced it aims to become a "space power" in the near future and send 16 satellites into space by 2020. Not bad for a start, but chances are that in four years the number of NASA satellites would go well beyond 500.
The Christian city of Al-Qaryatayn is situated in Homs province. It was captured by Daesh militants almost a year ago. RIA Novosti correspondents were the only journalists who accompanied the army during the liberation of the city.

The city of Al-Qaryatayn, which has a population of 40 thousand, was seized by militants with little or no resistance. The terrorists were supported by pre-prepared troops recruited from among local residents. Most of the inhabitants of the Christian population managed to flee to Homs, but about two hundred people were taken as slaves.

The terrorists promised to execute all the Christians if the Syrian army decided to storm the city. It took almost 9 months to release the hostages.

The army decided to attack Al-Qaryatayn simultaneously from different directions. Twenty-five militia fighters of the Social-Nationalistic Party of Syria were sent to town via the main road. About 20 people from the military climbed on to the parapet to monitor the progress of combat.
His recent revelations come after President Assad earlier accused the West of dishonesty and violations of international law while pursuing its policies.

In an exclusive interview to Sputnik, Assad said that the most important lesson Syria has learned during five years of civil war is that the West cannot be trusted. Former American Intelligence Linguist Scott Rickard told Radio Sputnik that its evident that the West has committed war crimes in Syria.

Unfortunately, this is the modus operandi that the Americans had done not only in Syria but actually for the past five to six decades post the WWII the Americans have been very active not only in the Middle East but also in South East Asia and certainly in Korea.

He further said, There have been hundreds of other wars that the US has instigated. To say that Americans and the media cannot be trusted is an understatement. I totally agree with Bashar Assad's announcements and leaks coming out of the intelligence community.

Rickard further spoke about the involvement of the US in the Middle East. He gave an example of the war in Libya saying, If you look at the people who took over the operations after Americans destroyed Libya, most of those individuals are former American intelligence operatives from Libya and Qatar.

Talking about the US politics inside the United States, the analyst said, They are trying to paint Barack Obama as if it was his fault. Saying that he was not aggressive enough but at the end of the day it comes down to the fact that you have an international community, Russians and the Chinese as well.

Rickard spoke about the war crimes that are being committed by the West and how the international community must hold these people accountable for their crimes.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The fact that the Syrian Kurds have not been invited to take part in the intra-Syria talks in Geneva contradicts UN Security Council resolutions on the Syrian reconciliation, Russias permanent representative to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin said.

The reconciliation talks are expected to kick off on April 11, with the Syrian governments delegation anticipated to come to Geneva on April 14.

"We are concerned that the Syrian Kurds, historically woven into the social fabric of the country, still have not been invited to the Geneva talks. Such policy contradicts the line of the UN Security Council resolutions on inclusiveness of the political process in Syria," Churkin said in a comment.
The magazine referred to a number of recent arrests and attacks on Turkish journalists. One of them took place on March 4, when the Turkish police stormed into the editorial office of Turkish newspaper Zaman in Istanbul and virtually "forced" the newspaper to stop publishing critical articles and news.

In November 2015, two Turkish journalists from the newspaper Cumhuriyet Can Dundar and Erdem Gul were arrested after they published an article bringing to light MIT arms deliveries to Syria.

Turkey's crackdown on journalists and restrictions on freedom of speech have been severely criticized by the international community, but so far the situation has not changed for better. Moreover, Erdogan went further and tried to exert pressure on German media that blamed him for violating democratic principles and imposing restrictions on press freedom in Turkey.

Last week, the Turkish government summoned the German ambassador Martin Erdmann to express its criticism about a recent satirical video released by German TV Channel NDR and even asked him to remove it from the country's multimedia libraries.

According to Der Spiegel, this move once again demonstrated that Erdogan has a consciousness "of a sultan, not a democrat and that "in recent years Turkey has increasingly moved away from the values of the EU".
In light of this it is hardly surprising that Moscow decided to build a naval base on the Kuril Islands, he stresses.

Meanwhile, on March 22, 2016, US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter confirmed that Washington and South Korea have reached an agreement to deploy the THAAD missile defense system to the Korean Peninsula to counter Pyongyang.

In an interview with Sputnik Russian Ambassador to China Andrey Denisov underscored that the deployment of THAAD to South Korea poses a threat to Russia and China's security.

"This creates considerable challenges to the security of other countries, including Russia and China. I am talking about the US system THAAD, a missile system that cannot be considered other than the creation of a certain threat to China and Russia," Denisov told Sputnik on March 21.

It becomes clear that the Pentagon wants to kill two birds with one stone.

"It is perhaps for this reason that Russia's decision to build a naval base in its far east comes as a direct force multiplier for China, which has, on its part, been looking to boost up its alliance with regional states as a means to counter the US' geo-strategic moves," Sheikh elaborates.

"While it is going to pose a big challenge to the US and Japan, it is also explicitly indicating to the US and its allies that its 'Asia Pivot' would have very limited maneuvering space in the region-hence, Japan's 'deep concerns' over Russia's heavy military presence in its far east," the analyst concludes.
He calls attention to the fact that while pointing the finger at Russia, Washington's hawks are openly training militants along Syria's borders "in an attempt to further perpetuate the violence that has ravaged Syria now for 5 years."

Indeed, the Pentagon has acknowledged publicly that it continues to train so-called Syrian rebels.

In an interview with Radio Sputnik Middle East analyst and Editor of Politics First magazine Marcus Papadopoulos stressed that the Pentagon is manipulating public opinion.

"The reality is that the people who the Americans have been training for the last five years in Syria are not freedom fighters, they are not rebels. They are militants. They are Islamist militants. They are terrorists. These are the people who have been carrying out some of the most heinous crimes imaginable not just against Sunnis in Syria but also against Shia, Alawites, Jews and Christians," Papadopoulos emphasized.

Analyst of Middle East geopolitics Sharmine Narwani echoes Papadopoulos' stance. "The US is prepared to let al-Qaeda, [Daesh] and other terrorist groups thrive in order to keep the 'Axis of Resistance' at bay," she told Radio Sputnik.

According to Narwani, there are enough ground forces in the Syrian theatre; however, by pouring new militants into the war zone Washington's hawks want to swing the balance in their favor.

Cartalucci notes that it is hardly surprising that the Western foreign policy establishment and its subservient media sources are trying "to frame the Syrian crisis as everyone's fault but their own." To make matters even worse, they are not going to abandon their Middle Eastern strategy.

Unlike the US and its NATO allies, Russia is the legitimate military actor in Syria along with the Syrian Arab Army: it is acting in accordance with the official request from the Syrian democratically-elected government.

Russia is acting in a "measured, prudent and proportional manner, respecting the principles of the multipolar world," and the supremacy of national sovereignty.
The drug was made in powdered form and is mixed with water, alcohol, applesauce or juice before intake. According to reports is doesn't taste as good as the most popular prescription, burns the mouth and may take longer to work, but many suggest it is a better option.

In 2015, 55 of the 155 Death with Dignity patients chose the cheaper drug, according to Dr. Robert Wood, a University of Washington HIV/AIDS researcher, who now volunteers with End of Life Washington.

Doctors in Oregon have also adopted the mix, saying that they want their patients to have a choice. Last year, 16 of the 132 people who died in Oregon under the state's Death with Dignity Act used the new medicine.

"We thought we should concoct an alternative that would work as well," Wood said. "It does work as well."

Last year California became the fifth state to approve the right-to-die law. Valeant Pharmaceuticals was accused of deliberately raising the price on its medication in response to the new law, but company officials denied allegations.

"The suggestion that Valeant raised the price to take advantage of a law that had not yet passed, for a use for which the drug is not even indicated, defies common sense," they said in a statement.

However, the firm's track record is revealing: it bought two lifesaving heart drugs, Nitropress and Isuprel, then tripled the price for one and increased the other sixfold, The Associated Press reported.

Valeant officials, along with those from Turing Pharmaceuticals, faced scrutiny in Congress this year after federal lawmakers released excerpts from documents detailing how drugmakers hiked prices to wring more revenue from new medications.
PayPal had previously intended to open a global operations center in Charlotte, providing the state with 400 new jobs, but that plan has now been scrapped in protest.

"Becoming an employer in North Carolina, where members of our teams will not have equal rights under the law, is simply untenable," PayPal CEO Dan Schulman said in a statement. "The new law perpetuates discrimination and it violates the values and principles that are at the core of PayPal's mission and culture.

PayPal has a 100% rating from the Human Rights Campaign, as of their 2016 Corporate Equality Index, a survey that grades workplace equality.

"We will stand firm in our commitment to equality and inclusion and our conviction that we can make a difference by living and acting on our values," Schulman said. "It's the right thing to do for our employees, our customers, and our communities."

Schulman announced Tuesday that the company is seeking an alternative location for their business, and governors across the US are vying for the privilege, including Governor Peter Shumlin of Vermont.

 Peter Shumlin (@GovPeterShumlin) April 5, 2016

The North Carolina bill has also led to bans on official travel to the state, including by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.

In New York, we believe that all people  regardless of their gender identity or sexual orientation  deserve the same rights and protections under the eyes of the law, Cuomo said in a press release on Monday.

From Stonewall to marriage equality, our state has been a beacon of hope and equality for the LGBT community, and we will not stand idly by as misguided legislation replicates the discrimination of the past. As long as there is a law in North Carolina that creates the grounds for discrimination against LGBT people, I am barring non-essential state travel to that state.
"From the outset, there is a filing after the presidents executive order is made and you have 25 other states joining Texas, all of them red states, Republican states playing politics," added Diamante. "At the same time, you had Sheriff Arpaio in Arizona who has been the vanguard of the anti-immigrant movement file a lawsuit and his case failed in the DC Circuit Court."

Diamante wholly expects that the Supreme Court will overturn the Texas federal court ruling affirmed by the 5th Circuit, saying it is "ridiculous these courts ruled the way they did because the President does have the power to enforce immigration laws, it was given to him by Congress, and it has been used multiple times since Eisenhower."

Eisenhowers plan, dubbed "Operation Wetback"  a racist term that was the formal name of the program  is actually an example of the presidents discretionary authority of how strongly the office can implement immigration laws. In 1954 under this program, Eisenhower rounded up "over 1 million mostly Mexican immigrants and repatriated them back to Mexico in trains," explained Gutierrez.

Donald Trump calls for reinstituting Operation Wetback to deport over 11 million immigrants. What is the response among the immigrant community?

"It is really surprising that someone in the aftermath of the defeat of fascist troops in WWII would undertake the ideology of Nazi Germany to justify that the only way to make our country again is to engage in these racially charged political practices," said Gutierrez. "And it is important to underscore that many of the deported in 1954 were actually US citizens caught in the dragnet and deported without Due Process of law. They never saw a judge. They were just placed in trains and sent back to Mexico."
WASHINGTON (Sputnik)  The US government and Congress need to reform the US military command system to give more power to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs and their staff to move forces quickly around the world on daily basis, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said on Tuesday.

"We need to clarify the role and authority of the chairman and, in some cases, the Joint Chiefs and the Joint Staff to help synchronize resources globally for daily operations around the world," Carter stated in a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

The new powers for the Joint Chiefs were needed to enhance the Department of Defenses flexibility in moving its forces rapidly between combatant commands around the world, Carter noted.
Leading US Democratic presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton have called for tough restrictions on fracking. In recent months, Sanders argued that other US states should follow the example of his home state, Vermont, in implementing a ban on fracking.

Efforts have been made across the United States to ban or restrict fracking. In Pennsylvania, New York, and Ohio the state legislatures attempted to heavily regulate fracking, which would restrict industry access to the large Marcellus shale stretching across those states.

"Personally, I think local governments should have a big part to play in the permitting process, but should not ultimately be able to ban it," Ritter argued. He cited the ongoing state Supreme Court case addressing whether it is lawful for local communities in Colorado to ban fracking.

The practice of fracking has led to an abundance of natural gas glut in the United States. Environmental activists and some policymakers claim that fracking leads to water contamination.

"I believe that with a good set of regulations, with good enforcement, with good compliance on the part of the industry, it [fracking for natural gas] can be a part of a clean energy future," Ritter said.

He added that as a result of global climate change and the carbon load on the atmosphere, "There will be a daywhere we are going to have to turn down the spigot on natural gas as well."
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Addressing participants of the 37th Russian Pobeda (Victory) Organizing Committee on preparations for celebrating the 71st anniversary of Victory in the 19411945 Great Patriotic War, Lavrov noted a considerable international presence at last years May 9 military parade "despite some Western countries attempts to downplay the significance of Moscow celebrations."

"But we see that Western media campaigns against Russia continue, attempts to use the subject of World War II as part of this campaign to conduct media attacks on our country are not abating In this environment, the spread of objective information about our countrys decisive contribution to the defeat of Nazism, the consistent promotion of the inadmissibility of revising the results of Victory, remain an absolute priority in the activities of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs," the Russian diplomat said.

The leaders of India, South Africa, Egypt, Vietnam, and the Czech Republic were among the 30 state leaders who attended Russias largest military parade last year, including UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
Operators of a new off-track wagering location in London, Ont. are hoping that their establishment will be ready to accept bets on horse races by the time the Kentucky Derby rolls around next month.

An article by The London Free Press has cited Bob DiFruscia, owner of the Oar House, as saying that his establishment will cater to punters that wish to bet a few bucks, and will not poach customers that are loyal to the Western Fair Districts simulcast lounge.

The Oar House is located on Wonderland Road, and the article explains that DiFruscia was approached by Western Fair District representatives in regard to adding wagering into the mix at his bar.

Champions Off-Track Betting Ontario Operations Manager Tom Papakonstantinou told The London Free Press that Champions was looking to expand into the London market.

It has a good reputation as a busy bar, Papakonstantinou has been quoted as saying. It is awesome to be able to get into a place like that.

We are not going to get the heavy betters, said DiFruscia. I felt like it was time we added something fun and new.

DiFruscia also added that the Oar House wants to introduce it (wagering) to people who do not usually bet on horse racing, that will just bet a few bucks when they are in the bar for fun.

(With files from The London Free Press)
Aiming to better prepare dental assistants and keep more of them in Cowlitz County, two Longview clinics have started the countys first dental assisting school.

Lower Columbia Dental Assisting Academy (LCDAA) taught its first classes Monday to six students. The 13-week course can enroll 12 students at a time, will take place quarterly and costs $4,000. Students take classes twice weekly and are taught by former lead dental assistants and current officer managers, Tara Parker and Kelley Knowles.

Unlike hygienists  who generally do higher-level tasks such as cleaning teeth, taking x-rays and filling cavities  dental assistants sterilize equipment, prepare and clean-up rooms and assist dentists during procedures by organizing tools.

Executive director Scott Gourley said Longview Family Dental and Apple Family Dental, which run the academy, have seen a frustrating number of assistants who are poorly prepared. He estimated that one in four dental assistants the companies hire quit because of stress or because theyve been poorly trained.

Gourley said students lack technical expertise and frequently have never worked on patients until their first day on the job. Because the academy is Cowlitz Countys only dental assisting school, Gourley hopes more local residents will be able to get jobs closer to home, rather than in Vancouver or Portland, where the nearest schools are.

Theyd see blood or pus for the first time or smell it, and theyd walk, said Gourley, also the marketing manager and chief financial officer for Apple and Longview Family. (Here) they get hands-on experience from day one.

Combined with online courses, students do regular job-shadowing at either of the clinics. One week of the course is dedicated to job placement and interview practices. Hopefully, with regular hands-on experience, students can decide early on whether they fit the industry, Gourley said.

Gourley said typical dental assisting courses last nine months. LCDAA fast-tracked its course by shortening the time it takes to teach ancillary topics, such as the history of dentistry and the role of women in the industry.

Gourley said dental assistants are in high demand, and his clinics have had a hard time finding qualified assistants. Theyre hiring currently.

We want to have that shock early on so they know what they like, Gourley said, adding that students can be refunded for classes they dont take should they decide to leave the academy. One of the worst things you can do is go into a profession that doesnt fit your personality.

Workforce Council Hires Alyssa Joyner as outreach specialist

The Southwest Washington Workforce Development Council (SWWDC) has hired Alyssa Joyner as its Cowlitz Wahkiakum Outreach Specialist.

Joyner will seek to connect businesses, education and community groups with the free employment training services provided by WorkSource, and other programs involved in the public workforce system.

Prior to joining SWWDC, Joyner was a Vet Corps Navigator with the Washington Department of Veteran Affairs.

In the last two years, SWWDC has invested more than $2.3 million in Cowlitz and Wahkiakum counties by funding programs at WorkSource, Lower Columbia College, Educational Service District 112 and Goodwill. In the past year, SWWDC has provided Cowlitz companies more than $109,000 in grants to improve the skills of their existing employees, thereby helping the companies remain competitive.
tech2 News Staff

A Gartner report claimed that Acer is the worlds leading Chromebook brand with over 33 percent market share in 2015. Now, it further expands the lineup with a new touchscreen Chromebase (CA24V), an all-in-one system dedicated for video-conferencing.

The new Chromebase includes all the hardware, software and services that one may require in a small video conference room, says Acer. It also includes 24 x 7 technical support. It features a large 24-inch Full HD (1920 x 1080) display with IPS technology with up to 178-degree wide viewing angles. To ensure that participants can hear and respond properly, it has four microphones and two speakers. There's the adjustable HD webcam and a chassis that tilts from 5 to 30 degrees.

The Chromebase for meeting solution utilises Google Hangouts to host videoconferences with up to 25 participants, supporting multiple device platforms such as laptops, tablets, and smartphones. A meeting link will allow colleagues to join the call, irrespective of where they are.

Moreover, enterprise IT administrators can deploy and manage multiple Chrome devices via Chrome Device Management. It reduces the workload of technical support and eventually the cost, claims the company. The Chromebase for meetings also integrates with other videoconferencing systems and existing phone systems.

Automatic updates will be released every six weeks to ensure security, says Acer. All the data stored will be encrypted and protected by its TPM (Trusted Platform Module) 1.2 chip. On each boot up, Verified Boot will check the integrity and validity of system files.

The Chromebase for meetings will be available at $799 that translates to approximately Rs 52,900 in the US. The amount is inclusive of the first year's $250 management and support fee. It is available for users in Canada, UK, Ireland, and Australia.
tech2 News Staff

Amazon.com Inc's latest Kindle version is ready and further details could be expected next week, Chief Executive Jeff Bezos tweeted on Monday.

This device would be Amazon's eighth-generation e-book reader. The company launched a $50 tablet last year. Amazon declined to provide any additional comment.

Currently, Amazon is in talks with a consortium of German carmakers about taking a stake in high-definition digital mapping company HERE, two auto industry sources familiar with the matter said.

Last August, BMW, Audi and Mercedes agreed to pay 2.5 billion euros ($2.8 billion) to buy Nokias mapping business as part of plans to develop self-driving cars. Since then, the consortium has started negotiations with potential new partners mainly from the automotive industry.

Now, online retailer Amazon has emerged as a possible shareholder. Amazon would take a stake as part of a broader deal to lock them in as a provider of cloud computing services, one source familiar with the talks said.

The consortium needs the capacity of cloud computing to ensure that maps can cope with live updates on traffic and road conditions using data collected from sensors on thousands of Mercedes, BMW and Audi cars. It has been in talks with cloud computing providers, including Amazon, one of the sources said.

Taking a stake in HERE could make sense strategically for Amazon, which is rolling out new one- and two-hour delivery services in major cities in the United States and Europe and needs accurate, real-time maps to compete with rivals for the best logistics. Intelligent mapping systems like HEREs are the basis on which self-driving cars, linked to wireless networks, can perform functions such as recalculating a route to the nearest electric charging station or around a traffic jam or ice patch.

With inputs from Reuters
tech2 News Staff

Technology major Apple may get its new spaceship-lookalike campus in California completed much before its planned completion date that was originally set for end of 2016 or early 2017, a media report said.

"A new drone video shows Apple's massive campus coming together. Yes, it looks like a UFO. And, yes, it is estimated to cost close to $5 billion dollars," a report in The Verge said.

A few months ago, the buildings appeared to be in their primary stages. However, the latest aerial drone video of the Cupertino-based campus shows that glass and solar panels are being put in place. There is even a new peek at the auditorium where the company may hold its events in future.

Recently, Apple's plan to sell refurbished or used iPhones is facing stiff opposition from local players such as Samsung, Micromax, Intex and Karbonn.

According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple had applied to become the first company to import and sell used iPhones in 2015 but, environment ministry had rejected its request. Why even consider allowing import of used phones when import of other used goods such as cars are precluded by 300 percent duty levies? asked Ravinder Zutshi, chairman of the newly formed Mobile and Communications Council, which issued the letter.

With inputs from IANS
tech2 News Staff

Google has introduced new health cards in the Knowledge Graph that will help anyone in India search for health information more quickly. When people ask Google about common health conditions, they will see information cards with typical symptoms, as well as details on how common the condition is. Details will also be available on how critical it is, if it's contagious, what age groups it affects, and more. Google worked with Apollo Hospitals and Columbia Asia Hospitals to review the content and the health information covers over 400 health conditions, including those common to India, like malaria and dengue fever.

As connectivity can sometimes be a challenge in India, Google will automatically load a lighter version of the cards when a slow connection is detected so people can get to the information they need quickly. India is also the third country after the US and Brazil to have health information in the Knowledge Graph, and the content has been specifically designed for the Indian context, claims Google.

People will be able to see the new cards when they search for conditions with the Google app on Android or iOS devices, as well as desktop browsers. For some conditions, Google will also offer high-quality illustrations from licensed medical illustrators. One can also search by symptom, for example, if one looks up "Madras eye symptoms", they will be taken straight to the symptom tab and users can then download a PDF copy of these to print as well.

Google stated in a press statement that these search results are not intended as medical advice, but for informational purposes only. People should always consult a medical professional if they have a health related concern.

Prem Ramaswami, Senior Product Manager at Google said, "Around the world, health conditions are among the most important things that people ask Google about. In fact, one in 20 searches are for health-related information. We worked closely with a team of local and international doctors to curate and validate this information, including Apollo Hospitals and the Columbia Asia Hospitals here in India. During product development we also consulted the All India Institute of Medical Sciences and ASHAs, who are community health workers, to ensure the information on the cards is useful and accessible."
tech2 News Staff

Higher education guidance platform Shiksha unveiled its Ask & Answer app -- a dedicated platform for aspirants to get quick, reliable and personalised answers to their specific career and education related questions. These answers will be given by an education community that comprises of faculty from colleges and test prep centers, current students and alumni from premier colleges, entrance exam toppers, experienced professionals including CxOs from global companies, as well as career and education counselors

Maneesh Upadhyaya, Executive Vice President & Business Head, Shiksha said, Tens of millions of students look to pursue a higher education course every year. In todays age, there are a huge number of career and education options available to students. However, there is a lack of reliable information and credible guidance that can help students make informed decisions. And therefore, majority of these students are confused. This app is our attempt to help the aspirants to take right career and education path for themselves.

Anurag Jain, Senior Vice President & Product Head, Shiksha explains, The content a user sees on the app will be contextually relevant to that user. As users interact with the content and the community on the app, we will serve an experience that is fresh and relevant to each user basis the users interest or preference. Our vision at Shiksha is to help every higher education aspirant make an informed career and education decision and the Ask & Answer app is another significant step in fulfilling that vision.
tech2 News Staff

Motorola is believed to have been working on a smartphone dubbed Moto X3. The device was spotted on the import/export logistics website Zauba. In addition, this could possibly be the first smartphone to sport the 'Moto by Lenovo' branding.

According to the Zauba listing, the device will sport a 5-inch display and a single-SIM slot. However, no other details regarding specifications have been shared. The mentioned price for one unit is currently Rs 6,812.

Lenovo and Motorolas combined shipments were just short of 3 million units, up almost 60 percent year-on-year, moving them past Intex to take third place in the market, a report by Canalys had pointed out. Lenovo also emerged as the favorite smartphone brand of 2015, according to Flipkart.

According to #FlipTrends, a year ender report by Flipkart, Lenovo A6000 Plus and Lenovo K3 Note were the top two most sought after smartphones in 2015. Motorola closely followed with two smartphones  Moto G 3rd Gen and Moto E 2nd Gen  featuring at the third and sixth positions, respectively. This month, Amazon India was also offering some big discounts on all Motorola smartphones and wearables.
tech2 News Staff

Samsung may soon unveil a game-changing device for consumers in 2017. The company is reportedly planning to introduce a 5-inch smartphone, which when folded, can turn in to a 7-inch tablet!

According to a report by ET News, a prototype of foldable display is finished with development and the company is hoping to mass-produce the device starting from second half of this year. Currently, the device is being referred to as 'smartlet.'

The device can bend a screen in half by using OLED Display and one can simply carry it like a wallet and use it by opening it. "Although mass-production cannot be concluded hastily since Samsung Electronics still has few other major tasks to complete, Ive heard that Samsung Electronics had made considerable amount of results in the time being," said a representative of an industry that is familiar with development of Samsung Electronics foldable smartphone.

A previous report pointed out that Samsungs foldable phone was expected to debut in January this year. Citing a source from China related to the matter, it was pointed out that the project dubbed Project Valley was undergoing testing.

The foldable device was being tested in two configurations  one featuring Snapdragon 620 processor and the other with a Snapdragon 820 chipset. Some other specs include microSd card slot, 3GB RAM and a non-removable battery.
tech2 News Staff

At a launch event in Mumbai, Vivo unveiled the Vivo V3 at a price of Rs 17, 980 while the Vivo V3 Max is priced at Rs 23,980. The smartphone are said to launch "soon" in India. No details regarding availability were shared. Vivo also announced actor Ranveer Singh as its brand ambassador.

In terms of specifications, the Vivo V3 features a 5-inch display along with an Snapdragon 616 processor, paired with 3GB RAM. It includes an internal storage of 32GB and can be further expanded up to 128GB via microSD card. The smartphone comes equipped with a 13MP rear camera with dual LED flash and PDAF along with an 8MP front facing camera.

https://twitter.com/tech2eets/status/717285498910334976?lang=en

https://twitter.com/tech2eets/status/717284519649390593?lang=en

Running Android 5.1 Lollipop based FunTouch OS 2.5, the device includes connectivity features such as 4G LTE, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and GPS. A 2,550mAh battery completes the package.

On the other hand, the V3 Max features a 5.5-inch full HD display. It is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 octa-core processor paired with 4GB RAM. The smartphone includes an internal storage of 32GB which can be further expanded up to 128GB via microSD card.

The smartphone comes equipped with a 13MP rear camera with dual LED flash and PDAF along with an 8MP front facing camera. It runs on Android 5.1 Lollipop with FunTouch OS 2.5 on top and connectivity features include 4G LTE, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and GPS. A 3,000mAh battery completes the package. Both devices also feature a fingerprint sensor.

https://twitter.com/tech2eets/status/717279282402357248?lang=en

https://twitter.com/tech2eets/status/717288282602749953?lang=en

Commenting on the launch, Alex Feng, CEO of Vivo India said, "It gives me immense pleasure to announce the launch of our innovation, the V3 and V3 Max for the Indian market. The V series designed with creativity and equipped with state of art technology will be a landmark for Vivo India. India remains our prime focus and the launch of these models is a testimony of our commitment to cater to the ever growing demand of meticulous customers in India and worldwide. The V3 and V3 Max offer an unbeatable proposition of cutting edge technology, impressive looks and Hi-Fi music quality in the industry."
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Khaleda gets bails in both arson, Gatco cases

Separates court here on Tuesday granted bails to BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia in two cases filed over an arson attack on a bus at Jatrabari in the city last year and in Gatco graft case filed by the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC). Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge Mohammad Quamrul Hossain Molla and Judge Abu Ahmed Jamadar of Dhaka Special Judge's Court-3 passed the orders after hearing the bail petitions in the two cases on Khaleda's surrender to the courts. BNP leader Khandaker Mahbub Hossain also secured bail in the arson case. Later, the BNP Chairperson appeared before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's court seeking bail in three other cases. Earlier in the morning, Khaleda Zia and Khandaker Mahbub Hossain surrendered to the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions. On March 30, this court issued warrants for the arrest of Khaleda and 27 BNP-Jamaat men in the case over the arson attack at Jatrabari in the city during the BNP-led 20-party's blockade programme. Sessions Judge Mohammad Quamrul passed the order after accepting the chargesheet against 38 people submitted by Jahidul Islam, sub-inspector of the Jatrabari Police Station. The order came after the investigation officer showed Khaleda and 27 others fugitives, and appealed to the court to issue warrants for their arrests. On January 23 last year, at least 31 people suffered burn injuries after miscreants hurled two petrol bombs at a bus at Jatrabari intersection. One of the injured later died at Dhaka Medical College and Hospital. Sub-inspector of Jatrabari Police Station KM Nuruzzaman filed two cases -- one for killing and another for hurling petrol bombs -- under the Special Powers Act on January 24, making Khaleda the mastermind of the attack. On February 23, the Dhaka Special Judge's Court-3 ordered BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia and 12 others to appear before it on April 13 in the Gatco graft case filed by the ACC. Judge Abu Ahmed passed the order after receiving the copy of a High Court verdict in this connection. On February 15, the High Court ordered Khaleda to surrender before the trial court in two months as the Court (HC) released the full text of its verdict rejecting her two writ petitions challenging the legality of the graft case and its inclusion under the Emergency Powers Act. On September 2, 2007, the ACC filed the Gatco graft case against Khaleda, her younger son Arafat Rahman Koko, Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Motiur Rahman Nizami and 10 others for causing a loss of Tk 145.64 crore to the national exchequer by allegedly awarding the contract of container handling at the Chittagong port and the Dhaka's Inland Container Depot to Gatco. Khaleda on September 27, 2007 filed a petition with the HC challenging the legality of the inclusion of the case under the Emergency Powers Act and seeking a stay order on the trial proceedings. In 2008, a High Court bench issued a rule and stayed the trial proceedings after hearing the petition of the BNP chief. In the same year, the graft case proceedings were stayed again as Khaleda filed another petition challenging its legality. -- Dhaka, Apr 5 (UNB)
Jessore AL Secy sued

Jessore Correspondent :

Shahin Chaklader, general secretary, Jessore district unit Awami League was sued by Kotwali police after being instructed by the election commission on Thursday night, Ilias Hossain, officer in-charge, Kotwali police station confirmed.

Chairmen elect unopposed Shaharul Islam of Arabpur union council and Anisur Rahman of Deyara union council under Jessore sadar upazila were also sued in the case filed by Mosaddeq Hossain, second officer, Kotwali police station.

Jessore district unit Bangladesh Nationalist Party in a press conference held at Jessore Press Club told that three chairman candidates were compelled to withdraw their candidatures due to repeated threat on their lives. The AL men confined Abdus Sattar, chairman Churamankathi union council at a place recently. The police unlocked him.

Anisur Rahman, superintendent of police, Jessore said having a fax message sent by the election commission; the police filed the case with Kotwali police station.




US think tank sees suspicious activity at North Korea nuclear site

Pyongyang calls for negotiations with Washington

Kim Jong-Un has personally monitored numerous rocket and missile launches into the East Sea.

AFP, Washington :Recent satellite images of North Korea's main nuclear complex show suspicious activity that could be linked to re-processing plutonium for additional nuclear bombs, a US think tank said on Tuesday.Analysis of the images focused on exhaust plumes from a steam plant used to heat a radiochemical laboratory facility at the Yongbyon complex. The facility is used for processing plutonium from a five-megawatt reactor at Yongbyon into weapons-grade fissile material.Whether the exhaust plumes mean "re-processing additional plutonium is under way or will be in the near future remains unclear", analysts at the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University concluded.However, they noted a recent statement by US National Intelligence Director James Clapper that North Korea could be ready to extract weapons-grade plutonium from the nearby reactor's spent fuel rods in a matter of weeks.North Korea mothballed the Yongbyon reactor in 2007 under an aid-for-disarmament accord, but began renovating it after its third nuclear test in 2013.Satellite imagery analysis by another US think tank in January suggested the reactor was still not operating at full capacity. When fully operational, the reactor is capable of producing around six kilos (13 pounds) of plutonium a year -- enough for one nuclear bomb, experts say.North Korea has carried out four nuclear tests -- the most recent on January 6, when it announced it had detonated its first hydrogen bomb.Experts have disputed the H-bomb claim, saying the yield from the test was far too low for a full-fledged thermonuclear device. However, the report noted that in Feb. 9 congressional testimony, the director of U.S. National Intelligence, James Clapper, had said North Korea could begin to recover plutonium from spent fuel at Yongbyon "within a matter of weeks to months."The prospect of North Korea acquiring more plutonium will be looked on with concern by members of the United Nations Security Council, including Pyongyang's sole major ally, China. The council agreed to tough new sanctions on North Korea after it conducted its fourth nuclear test on Jan. 6 and a long-range rocket launch a month later.At a nuclear security summit in Washington last week, U.S. President Barack Obama, South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed to ramp up pressure on Pyongyang in response to its recent nuclear and missile tests.North Korea rejects criticism of its nuclear and missile program and its leader Kim Jong Un said last month it would soon test a nuclear warhead and ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads.Experts at 38 North, a website run by the Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, predicted in February last year that North Korea's nuclear weapons stockpile could grow to 20, 50 or 100 bombs within five years, from an estimated 10 to 16 weapons at that time.Meanwhile, One month after the adoption of sweeping sanctions at the United Nations Security Council, North Korea is calling for negotiations with the United States.Pyongyang issued a long statement through its National Defense Commission, calling for an end to hostilities, Yonhap reported."Maintaining stability is more urgent than unilateral sanctions, and providing negotiations can find a better solution than reckless military pressure," North Korea said in the statement.The statement marks a departure from the warmongering rhetoric from North Korea in February and March, when state media threatened to turn Seoul into "powder" and suggested South Korean President Park Geun-hye be assassinated.The statement also comes on the heels of tests of several short-range projectiles in March.Officials in Seoul have said North Korea tested Scud and Rodong missiles, as leader Kim Jong Un provided field guidance at practices meant to target the South.South Korea has not ruled out the possibilities of a fifth nuclear test.The North Korean statement, issued on Sunday, included the use of what South Korean media described as "unprecedented" words, including "stability" and "negotiation."Moon Sang-kyun, spokesman for Seoul's defense ministry, told reporters Monday the statement was "very long," but dismissed the call for talks with the United States. There has been a "gap between words and behavior" from the North in past instances, and therefore a lack of credibility in the statement, Moon said.Yang Moo-jin, a professor of North Korean studies in Seoul, said the North is claiming that it hasn't felt the impact of sanctions while showing its "preparedness" for dialogue.The lengthy announcement is also likely a reflection of internal circumstances in North Korea in a run-up to the Seventh Party Congress, to be held in May.The United States has said negotiations with North Korea are possible only if Pyongyang decides to turn away from its diplomatic and economic isolation and commits to denuclearization.
Prime Bank, Bengal Vacation Club sign agreement

Kazi Mahmood Karim, Head of SME Banking and SEVP of Prime Bank Ltd and Brig General (Rtd) AHM Mokbul Hossain, CEO of Bengal Vacation Club, sign an agreement recently. Under the agreement, Bank cardholders will enjoy PMI facility (Payment in monthly Instal

Economic Reporter :

Prime Bank has signed an agreement with Bengal Vacation Club recently. Head of SME Banking & SEVP of the Bank Kazi Mahmood Karim and CEO of Bengal Vacation Club, Brig. General (Rtd) A H M Mokbul Hossain signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organizations.

Head of Cards & SVP Amir Hossain Majumder of Prime Bank , Director of Sales & Marketing of Sea Pearl Beach Resort Amit Razdan and other officials of both organizations were also present. Under the agreement, Prime Bank Cardholders will enjoy PMI facility (Payment in monthly Installments) @ 0% interest up to 18 months for availing the Products and Services of Bengal Vacation Club.

It is mentionable that Bengal Vacation Club is an exclusive private residence club, which is the first its kind in Bangladesh and they provide 3,000 member resorts over 90 countries for their member.
Three ramp models together in new TV commercial

Sheikh Arif Bulbon :

Proma, Ankhi Afroz and Sadia Mishu have been engaged with ramp modeling for last couple of years. They are now popular as promising ramp models. Earlier they had experiences to work independently in modeling. But Proma has showed her talent as a dance artiste besides modeling.

For the first time, these three models worked together in a TV commercial (TVC) of Electra LED TV under the direction of Komol Chowdhury who has experience of making hundred TVCs. Shooting of the TVC was done at the showroom of Electra in the citys Tejkunipara area recently.

Ripon Khan wrote lyrics of the jingle of the TVC, which was also composed by him. Designer and TV actress Dolon Dey worked as a costume designer of the models in the TVC.

From 1992 Komol Chowdhury has been making TVC regularly. He first made a TVC of Samsung TV. From that time to till date he has made more than 100 TVCs.

While talking about the making of new TVC director Komol Chowdhury told this correspondent, Ripon Khan has made an outstanding jingle for the TVC. I believe jingle of the TVC will create hype among the viewers. I have made the TVC carefully and sincerely. Three models performed well and presented themselves in glamorous mood. I hope viewers will enjoy the TVC.

Komol Chowdhury informed that the TVC will go on air in different satellite channels from next week. He made first TV serial titled Dhaka To London nine years ago. His directed first TV play was Nonta Cha.
Mustafizur, Shakib off to India

Sports Reporter :

New sensation Mustafizur Rahman and famous all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan left the city for India on Tuesday to take part in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The IPL will start on April 9.

Prolific all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan will play for Kolkata Knight Riders while 'Wonder Boy' Mustafizur Rahman will play for Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Mustafizur Rahman said, "If BCB gives No Objection Certificate, I have on objection to participate in the IPL. I want to execute my opportunity."

Pacer Mustafizur Rahman will get Rupees (Indian) 1.4 crore.

World famous all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan played a vital role for KKR to clinch the IPL title for two times.

Team Management of KKR has confidence about Shakib Al Hasan. So, Shakib was not available in auction. Shakib will get 1.5 times money this year than that of last year he got.

Shakib scored 383 runs with 21.27 average playing 32 matches. He claimed 38 wickets with 21.76 average playing as many outings.
Forging a better EU-China economic relation

Luigi Gambardella :

It seems that in Europe, the debate over granting China the status of market economy (MES) is not hitting the spot. Semantics are often the cause of misunderstandings.

Whether China has now become a market economy is irrelevant, because a market economy and compliance with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreement are two different things. The ongoing debate is about the interpretation of Paragraph 15 of China's accession protocol to the WTO. This paragraph relate to the technicalities of investigating anti-dumping claims.

Dumping is normally the result of state interference in economic operations, or of protection or lack of competition in the exporting countries' markets which allows local producers to charge artificially high prices in their home market and subsequently use the profits from such activities to 'subsidise' exports at prices below real market costs.

When China joined the WTO in 2001, it agreed to a 15-year transitional period during which other WTO members were allowed to use the 'non-market economy methodology' when investigating anti-dumping claims. Under this methodology, the trade officials of the European Commission are entitled to estimate by analogy the domestic production cost and prices of export products, instead of basing their investigation from the domestic market prices.

The Chinese government argues that when the transitional period ends on 11 December, 2016, the trade officials from the Commission will no more be entitled to apply the 'nonmarket economy methodology'.

Conversely, some lawyers argue that until the other WTO members grant MES status to China in their national legislation, their anti-dumping investigators can continue to use the 'nonmarket economy methodology'. That is, in a nutshell, what the whole MES debate is about.

The interpretation of the WTO agreement could be tested in a dispute settlement procedure. But is this advisable? Let us not forget the political and symbolic dimensions of the debate.

According to the Mission of China to the EU already 88 countries, including New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Chile and ASEAN countries, gave China early recognition of MES. Their choice was primarily dictated by political reasons, including the conclusion of free trade agreements (FTAs).

To deny MES to China would be a rather strong political signal from the EU and may well cause the deterioration of the warming political relationship between the two economies. In the short term, there are concrete risks of retaliation from the Chinese side, causing EU economies serious pain and uncertainty on what will be the end result.

It could threaten the positive outcome of the ongoing negotiations for the bilateral investment treaty and the potentiality to conclude a FTA between China and the EU - which according to Commission estimates could raise European prosperity by 250 billion EURO. Moreover China is the first, and only, non EU country which has so far generously committed to invest in the Juncker Plan.

Closing the door to China may thus have very negative effects. As the saying goes, the best way to win a dispute is to avoid it. A wise decision should be to adopt a forward looking political approach, whereby granting MES could be used by the European institutions to strengthen the bilateral dialogue with the Chinese authorities in support of the institutions' endeavor to facilitate the business activities of EU companies in China.

One of the main drivers of the MES debate is the fear of job losses in Europe's less competitive manufacturing industries. It is time however, for the EU to reflect on why its ability to compete with other economies is getting worse in many sectors. One of the reasons. no doubt,lies in the burden of EU overregulation, which hampers overall industrial ability to innovate and invest.

The EU could face negotiations in a stronger position when it comes to defend its industry and the jobs of European citizens: there would probably be fewer dumping disputes if European governments would proceed with the necessary structural reforms, and if market players could enjoy better competitiveness conditions.

With China, what is is needed is more dialogue, not less. We need to find win-win solutions rather than to start a new fight. Today the key word is cooperation.

History has demonstrated that dialogue and cooperation, not conflict, are able to overcome misundertandings and reduce distances. Europe must not to be afraid of China. Fear is a bad advisor.

Let us not to allow fear to guide us. On the contrary, China and Europe should work together more closely in the future, and on the future. Cooperation with China on digital, 5G and Industry 4.0, or the fourth industrial revolution, will be crucial if we want to keep a competitive, strong and solid European industry.



(Luigi Gambardella is President of ChinaEU)
UK tax havens should face direct rule

The government should consider imposing "direct rule" on British overseas territories and dependencies if they do not comply with UK tax law, Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has said.

A huge data leak from Panama-based Mossack Fonseca showed the law firm registered more than 100,000 secret firms to the British Virgin Islands. Mr Corbyn said their governments must understand the "anger" of Britons. Downing Street said the UK was "ahead of the pack" on tax transparency.

Eleven million leaked documents showed how Mossack Fonseca clients were able to launder money, dodge sanctions and avoid tax - the law firm says it has operated beyond reproach for 40 years.

There are links to 12 current or former heads of state in the data, including dictators accused of looting their own countries.

Leaked files also mention UK Prime Minister David Cameron's late father, Ian, who used one of the most secretive tools of the offshore trade after he helped set up a fund for investors.

Downing Street sources told the BBC Mr Cameron did not have any shares in Blairmore Holdings, the Panama-based company his late father Ian helped set up in 1982.

The sources are not saying that other members of the Cameron family do not own shares in the offshore firm, however.


Khaleda gets bail in 5 cases

Court Correspondent :BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia on Tuesday was granted bail in five cases after she had appeared in several courts with bail pleas. Of the courts, one allowed her exemption from appearing in person. The courts gave the decisions considering her age, health and social status. She appeared in the courts in phases from 10:45 am and left the court area at about 1:20 pm.The cases include bomb attack on a procession of Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan, a sedition case filed about raising questions about the number of martyred in the War of Liberation and another case for petrol bomb attack on a passenger bus in city's Jatrabari area.Earlier, two Judge Courts of Dhaka granted bail to Khaleda Zia in GATCO scam case and petrol bomb attack case. Meanwhile, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP, Media) Deputy Commissioner (DC) Maruf Hossain Sardar said DMP had beefed up security in the capital from Gulistan to Sadarghat area in this connection. Magistrate Md Jakir Hossain Tipu granted Khaleda Zia bail after she surrendered to his court at noon. In this case, she was charged for raising question about the actual number of martyrs on December 21, 2015. Momtaz Mehedi, also a former secretary of Supreme Court Bar Association lodged the case against Khaleda with necessary permission of the Government.Dhaka's Metropolitan Sessions Judge Md Kamrul Hossain Molla granted bail to the BNP Chief in Jatrabari arson attack cases. Besides, her Adviser Khandaker Mahbub Hossain also secured bail in the same case. On January 23, last year, at least 28 people allegedly suffered burn injuries after miscreants hurled two petrol bombs on a passenger bus in Jatrabari area in the city during the BNP-led 20-party alliance's blockade programme. Of the injured, Nur Alam, 60, died at Dhaka Medical College Hospital on February 1.SI KM Nuruzzaman of Jatrabari Police Station filed two cases one for killing and the other for hurling petrol bombs under the Special Powers Act on January 24, making Khaleda Zia the mastermind of the incident.Meanwhile, Magistrate Mohammad Rashed Talukder granted her bail in another case filed over the incident.Besides, Judge Abu Ahmed Jamader of Dhaka's Special Judge Court-3 granted the BNP leader bail in the Gatco graft case on Tuesday morning. On February 15, the High Court asked Khaleda Zia to surrender to the trial court within two months after the full verdict reached the court. On September 2, 2007, the ACC filed the case with Tejgaon Model Police Station against Khaleda Zia and her late son Arafat Rahman Koko with some of her the then Cabinet colleagues. The case was filed for graft in awarding Gatco the contract for container handling at depots in Dhaka and Chittagong, causing a loss of over Tk 14 crore to the national exchequer.
6200 sued over Banshkhali clash

Anisul Islam Noor :Three cases have been filed against some 6,200 people in connection with Monday's triangular clash at Gandamara village of Banshkhali upazila in Chittagong over constructing a proposed coal-based power plant that left four people dead. Bahar Uddin, a Sub-Inspector of Banshkhali Police Station, filed a case against 57 identified and 3,200 unidentified people for attacking police and obstructing them from performing their duties, police sources said.Besides, Moulvi Bashir filed a case against six identified and 1,500 unidentified people for killing Anwar alias Angur, 40, and his brother Murtuza Ali, 42, sons of late Ashraf Ali of Uttar Charpara village. While Monwara Begum, 45, wife of deceased Zakir Ahmed, filed the other case against 1,500 unidentified people, said additional superintendent of police, Chittagong (South) Habibur Rahman.Protesting the killing of Gondamara in Bashkhali, Chattra Oikya Forum (COF) has called full day hartal in Bashkhali today (Wednesday).The declaration came from a human chain in front of Chittagong press club, which was arranged by different organizations including National Committee to protect oil, gas, minarel resources, Bangladesher Samajtrantrik Dal, Gono Sanghati Samity and Bashkhali Sapno Tarisanga.They claimed withdrawal of case against unidentified people which may use for harassing general people, compensation to the family of victims and arrange treatment of the injures. Otherwise a greater movement will be staged against the power plant. Speaking in the human chain also called to pay actual value of the land to its real owner and ensure to take action for saving the people of that area from the affect of coal power plant.Some people claimed that they did not get full money of their land. Brokers and mediators force them to registration their land after paying half money adding that rest of money will be given within few days.Besides, some people told media that they have lost professon as their salt field occupied by the power plant. So only land value is not enough, compensation for leaving traditional profession has to pay. However, Subrota Bhaimic, a spoke person of S Alam power plant wing said, the company already paid the money of land owner and registrations had given after taking full money.Three people has arrested in connection of the incident. They are Abdul Khaleq (24), Zahirul Islam (40), and Mahiu Uddin (20), all of them are inhabitant in Gondamara union, said Sapan Kumar Majumther, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Bashkhali police staion.Meanwhile, Chittagong district administration formed a committee to probe into the incident. Headed by Additional District Magistrate Mominur Rashid, the committee was asked to submit its report within seven working days.Additional police have been deployed in the area as a tense situation was prevailing there following Monday's incident. Earlier on Monday, four people, including the two brothers, were killed in 'police firing' at Gandamara village in Banshkhali upazila during a demonstration against the construction of a coal-fired power plant there.The deceased are Mortuza Ali, 35, Anwarul Islam, Jaker Hossain, 30 and Jaker Ahmed, 55.
Iceland PM to step down after Panama disclosures

Reuters :Iceland Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson will step down, the deputy head of his party said on Tuesday, after leaked files showed the premier's wife owned an offshore firm with big claims on Iceland's collapsed banks.Sigurdur Ingi Johannsson, who is also currently minister of fisheries and agriculture, told reporters that the progressive party will suggest to its coalition partners in the Independence Party that he should become the new prime minister.Earlier in the day, Gunnlaugsson asked Iceland's president to dissolve parliament in the face of a looming no-confidence vote and protests over the "Panama Papers", a leaked trove of documents revealing the financial arrangements of politicians and public figures from around the world.
Khaleda wants judicial probe

Staff Reporter :

BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia has demanded a judicial probe into the Monday's Banshkhali killing in police firing for justice.

She said in a statement on Tuesday. "I am stunned at the killing of innocent people. I am deeply shocked, worried and aggrieved also. It has now become a common practice in the country to kill and injure demonstrators by police," said the BNP Chief. Khaleda Zia strongly criticised police for opening fire on demonstrators in Chittagong's Banshkhali. She said that although it was the duty of the police to maintain peace between the opponent groups, they could have avoided such a murder incident there.

"Members of the police have become desperate for illegally using them to protect the present government who came to power through a voter-less election," she added. Khaleda Zia also said that the law enforcers are killing and injuring people in many places by bullets on trivial grounds, "The Banshkhali incident is the latest example," she said. She asked the government not to use the police illegally. "I think it is neither possible to protect power, nor, to suppress people's ire for an indefinite period by resorting to killing and repression," she said.

Khaleda Zia prayed for salvation of the departed souls of the victims of Banshkhali. She also conveyed deep sympathy to their bereaved family members. She also demanded of providing compensation to the victims' families and ensure proper treatment for those injured in the incident.
Corruption unbridle in BRTA

Minister's directives not followed: Brokers control different deptts

Sagar Biswas :Widespread corruption and massive irregularities thrive in the country's Road Transport System, while the regulatory body Bangladesh Road Transport Authority [BRTA] has not taken any initiative to check the mismanagement.There is allegation that the BRTA authority has been patronizing the ill-practice, in view of which questions have been raised about the role of the regulatory body. Its chairman recently appointed some officials in several important departments apparently bypassing the guideline given by Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader.In the latest official order signed by Director [Engineering] Md Nurul Islam [on behalf of Chairman] on March 20, gave appointment to Mohammd Babul as speed governor seal contractor, which triggered severe discontent among the employees and officials.The situation is also same in other departments also. A gang of brokers are openly controlling the activities of BRTA, from issuance of driving license to registration of new vehicles. General people who usually go there for different jobs have to face an obnoxious situation being pressurised by the brokers. Whereas, the Minister Obaidul Quader in a recent visit to BRTA had directed the concerned officials to free the organization from the grip of brokers. Chairman of BRTA Md Nazrul Islam, however, refrained from making any comment about the irregularities and controversial appointments despite repeated attempts last night. It is not the end. Officials of concerned agencies, including traffic department of police, have alleged that most of the country's drivers have no proper training how to run vehicles during heavy rush or in adverse situation. Sources close to the traffic department said that about 61 per cent drivers got license without appearing in the driving test while bribe paid for driving license varied from Tk 100 to Tk 7,000 depending on the type of the license. Besides, 54 per cent drivers are running vehicles with their expired licenses while fifty per cent of driving licenses carried by drivers across the country are fake and prepared with irregularities, the sources said. "We issue licenses to those drivers who have passed the driving test. We also do not issue fitness certificate to unfit vehicles. The allegation of taking bribe for giving fitness certificate and driving license is false," Zahangir Alam, Assistant Director of BRTA [License and Fitness], said. "A section of staff of BRTA are providing drivers with fake licenses. The government lost at least Tk 50 crore as revenue in the last eight years due to corruption at BRTA," said a senior official of Road Transport and Bridges Ministry preferring anonymity. Sources said, a new vehicle owner has to pay up to Tk 50,000 as bribe during registration depending upon the type and value of the vehicle. In Dhaka Metropolitan Area, a bus owner has to pay bribe amounting to Tk 10,000 to Tk 300,000 as entry fee for each bus. The vehicle owners have to pay bribe up to Tk 20,000 to BRTA personnel and brokers to get route permit and transfer of vehicle ownership documents."We have authority to cancel registration of vehicles, but in fact the number of cancelled vehicles is very few. Only 10/12 vehicles' registrations were cancelled in last two years due to fault in import document," Shamshul Kabir, Assistant Director of BRTA [Registration of bus, truck and covered van] said. "We usually give registration to brand new vehicles. We cancel Registration if the vehicles are unfit, or without any route permit," Sanaul Hoque, Assistant Director, [registration of private car, micro bus and jeep] said. It is learnt that there is no workable audit system to check out how motor trade unions spend their collected subscriptions. Whereas, the illegal tolls are usually collected at entry points of district and divisional towns and the amount varying between Tk 10 and Tk 100 in case of a commercial vehicle, according to the sources.
Then who killed Tonu?

Autopsy report a plot to veil killers!

Staff Reporter :Investigators are grasping for new leads in horrific murder of 19-year-old Sohagi Jahan Tonu, an undergraduate student of Comilla Victoria College.She was murdered near her house inside Comilla Cantonment on March 20. Tonu's father Yaar Hossain, an office assistant of the Cantonment Board, filed a murder case with Comilla's Kotwali police the next day without naming anyone.The investigators initially suspected that Tonu was raped before the murder but the forensic experts didThen who killed not find any evidence of rape in the first autopsy report. They even did not find any specific reason behind her death making the case further complicated. Rejecting the forensic report, activists of different women rights groups, student and social and cultural bodies who have been demonstrating in the capital and in several districts demanding justice for Tonu's murder, on Tuesday said that the report has been prepared in order to divert the murder case in other direction. "We are rejecting the findings of the first autopsy report conducted by the forensic team of Camilla Medical college," Bangladesh Mahila Parishad President Ayesha Khanom, told the New Nation on Tuesday. She said, "It is unacceptable that the forensic experts did not find any sign of rape before her death or the cause behind the death. All these seem to be a plot to veil the perpetrators of Tonu murderer".Ayesha Khanom said that the blood stained body of Tonu indicated that a group of people was involved in the killing of Tonu but the investigators are yet to identify any of them raising many questions in the minds of general public. "Why they are taking much time to make the breakthrough of the case.. Are they trying to hide anything big or anybody? She questioned. Yaar Hossain on Tuesday also rejected the findings of the first autopsy conducted on Tonu's body as it failed to clear whether she was raped before the murder or how she was killed.Talking to reporters, Yaar Hossain expressed his discontent over the autopsy report. "I myself took the bloodstained body of my daughter to the CMH. My daughter was killed. But what the doctors are saying now! Is that my daughter was killed by an evil spirit?" he questioned.Yaar Hossain hoped that the second autopsy will unveil the real cause of her death, and sought the Prime Minister's intervention in getting justice for Tonu's murder. "Sixteen days have already been elapsed into murder, no arrests have been made. The investigators are pursuing promising leads even failed to find any clue raising concerns in my mind that the case is getting cold. Who killed Tonu....my family is still looking for answers," he added. Earlier on Monday, doctors of Forensic Department at Comilla Medical College Hospital revealed that the autopsy did not find any sign of rape before the death of Tonu. "We didn't find any sign of rape and it is not even clear how she was killed," Forensic Department Professor Kamoda Prosad Saha told media. On Wednesday last, the body of Tonu was exhumed from her grave in Muradnagar upazila of the district for a fresh postmortem in compliance with a court order. "There are challenges around investigationEvidential difficulties made the case further complicated," a CID official told The New Nation on Tuesday, preferring anonymity. He added: We are trying our best to make headway into the investigation as soon as possible. Before this, we have to wait for the second autopsy report. The murder case was initially handed over to Detective Branch (DB) of police on March 25. The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) was put in charge of the case on March 26.A CID team, headed by Special Superintendent Abdul Kahar Akand, on Sunday visited the crime scene and talked to doctors at the Comilla Combined Military Hospital, said Special Superintendent Md Nazmul Karim Khan of the CID's Comilla-Noakhali region.The CID police had interrogated one son of an army officer in connection with the murder of Sohagi Jahan Tonu.The youth named Piyal, student of a private university, was quizzed at the Comilla Cantonment on Sunday evening, said Officer-in-charge AKM Manzurul Alam of Comilla Detective Branch (DB)According to DB Inspector Manzurul Alam, Tonu's father Yaar Hossain had told them that Piyal had proposed marriage and used to harass her on her way to and from home. "The CID has quizzed Piyal in continuation of the DB's interrogations," Alam. Dr Kamada Prasad Saha, who conducted the autopsy on Tonu, said the CID team had talked to his team over the post-mortem.
AMCL will file case to recover BB heist fund

Staff Reporter :The Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) of Philippines will file a civil forfeiture case next week to seize assets from casinos and junket operators allegedly linked to the $81 million Bangladesh Bank (BB) heist fund."We are preparing a civil forfeiture case and hopefully we can it next week. The case will be filed to seize assets from casinos and junket operators to recover BB's $81 million heist fund," AMLC Executive Director Julia Bacay-Abad said during the fourth Senate hearing.The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee probing the money-laundering case, held the hearing on the $81 million BB heist on Tuesday, according to Philippines media reports. Officials of Bangladesh embassy in Manila and representatives of Bangladesh Bank also attended the hearing.During the hearing, Casino operator Kim Wong promised to turn over P450 million or $9.64 million, part of the $81 million heist fund, to the Bangladesh government within 15-30 days."Will you promise publicly that you will return the P450 million to the Bangladeshi authorities,"Senate Blue Ribbon Committee Chairman Teofisto Guingona III asked Wong during the hearing."Yes, I will give a promissory note, because I have to borrow from my friends, and also get from my stocks. So, within 15 days, I will return the amount in cash," Wong told Guingona.Wong later qualified his reply to between 15 and 30 days. The panel resumed its inquiry into how the money, stolen by hackers from Bangladesh Bank's account with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, had been laundered through the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) and subsequently into Philippine casinos.The amount Wong, owner of East Hawaii Leisure Corp., promised to return was what he earlier said was payment for what Xua Hua Gao, one of the two foreigners who supposedly brought in the stolen money into the country, owed him after losing in his casino.The probe has so far established that the stolen $81 million had been transferred to four fake bank accounts with the RCBC Jupiter Makati branch and then withdrawn and delivered by remittance firm PhilRem Service Corporation to junket operators in Solaire Hotel and Casino Manila.Wong had earlier returned $4.63 million and $0.38 million to the AMCL in cash that he said was left over from the Philrem delivery. The junket operator claimed that the remittance firm still has $17 million of the stolen money.But the Philrem authorities denied the claim during the hearing contradicting their earlier testimonies on their transactions linked to the BB fund heist.During the first hearing, PhilRem President Salud Bautista's testified that his company only delivered P600 million to Weikang Xu in Solaire and in the second hearing, he said, there was another $18 million delivered to Weikang Xu.And then during the third hearing, he said everything went to Weikang Xu and some are picked up by him, Kim Wong, and other Chinese.Bautista clarified that her firm "transferred P600 million and $18 million in 6 tranches to Weikang Xu."PhilRem treasurer Bautista then said his 18-year-old company has a "flawless, spotless" reputation, which is all that the company has."We've accepted that this transaction is a mistake but we are not keeping any money," Bautista told the Senate.The PhilRem president, however, denied this. "We've given all our records. All the receipts are with you. We delivered everything. No money is with us."According to AMLC Executive Director Julia Bacay-Abad, the actual amount in PhilRem's frozen account is only P29,000.Other than the money delivered to Xu, the rest of the $81 million stolen funds were transferred to Philippine casinos, AMLC said.About $29 million went to Bloomberry Resorts, which operates the Solaire mega-casino in Manila; and another $21 million was transferred to Eastern Hawaii Leisure, which operates a casino that caters to mainly Chinese clients in Cagayan province, AMLC added.
Director of Corrections Rob Reardon and Sheriff Mike Neustrom Photo by Robin May

In the Lafayette Parish Correctional Center, we house just a handful of 17-year-olds each day in our adult jail, though we wish that number were zero. Because Louisiana is one of only nine states that prosecute every 17-year-old as an adult  even for the most minor offenses  these kids walk through our doors.

Our staff tries hard, but adult jails cannot prepare 17-year-olds for success.

Outside, these kids are juniors in high school. We dont offer a high school education in the jail. Our staff is not equipped to manage the unique needs of adolescents. And most of the offenders we house have been through the system before  they are not the right peers for 17-year-old children.

Research shows that 17-year-olds prosecuted as adults are more likely to re-offend. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that processing a minor as an adult increases recidivism by as much as 34 percent. In Louisiana, recidivism rates for youth released from the Department of Corrections are more than double those of similarly aged youth released from the Office of Juvenile Justices secure facilities.

Including 17-year-olds in the juvenile justice system will improve safety in our jails. We work hard to keep all our inmates safe, but youth in adult facilities are at greater risk of sexual assault that any other group of prisoners. This is why the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act requires that we take specific steps to protect minors in our facilities. But LPCC was not designed to house youth under 18 separately from adults, as required by law. Retrofitting would be difficult and expensive. While we do our best to protect young people, simply moving them to more appropriate juvenile facilities will keep them safer and make better use of

staff time and public money.

Right now, the Legislature is considering Senate Bill 324, which will Raise the Age of juvenile jurisdiction to 18. The bill doesnt affect district attorneys discretion to prosecute 17-year-olds who commit serious or violent crimes in the adult system. But the vast majority of 17-year-olds are arrested for minor, nonviolent crimes and should remain in the juvenile justice system, where the possibility of reform is far greater.

Raising the age is right for Lafayette Parish, and its right for Louisiana. We hope the Legislature will pass this very smart public safety bill.

Mike Neustrom is sheriff of Lafayette Parish, and Rob Reardon is director of corrections for the sheriffs department.
Pre-purchase property inspection is a relatively new thing in the United Kingdom. Its not something that most people have heard about, but it has become increasingly popular over the last few years with the rise in property prices and increased demand for high quality homes.

What are the benefits of pre-purchase building inspection? What can you expect to find out when you pay someone else to inspect your home before you buy it? And what should you look for during an inspection?

Many people want to know if theyre buying a house thats been well maintained or if its had any serious problems. If youve found a place on the market that seems attractive, but then discover some issues after moving in, you may not be as excited about buying it as you thought you were.

Its important to do your due diligence when looking at properties. A lot goes into making a property appealing to potential buyers, from the landscaping to the flooring to the kitchen appliances. The same applies when inspecting a property  there are many things that need checking over to make sure everything is running smoothly.

Here are some of the benefits of performing a pre-purchase inspection:

You get to see exactly what will happen to your money

When you go shopping for a new car, youll probably be shown several different models. You might even be shown one that looks like a great value, but doesnt fit around all of the extra features that you want. When it comes time to actually buy the vehicle, however, you wont have seen how your money will be spent on it once you drive it off the showroom floor.

Likewise, when you shop for a new home, you dont really know what youre getting yourself into until you move in. In order to get a feel for whether the home youre considering is what you want, you normally have to spend quite a bit of time inside it. This allows you to learn more about everything that youre going to be spending your hard-earned cash on.

A pre-purchase building inspection gives you much the same kind of experience without having to spend thousands of dollars. Since youre paying for the service, you can expect to see exactly what youre paying for, instead of just seeing a vague idea of what you might end up with.

You find out about potential major repairs

Some buildings are very expensive to maintain, which means that owners often neglect them for the sake of saving money. While youre paying for a building inspection, youre also paying for a professional who knows how to spot signs of trouble and repair work that needs doing.

If you notice that a particular area of your new home needs fixing right away, you can call in an expert to take care of it quickly. If you find that theres something wrong with your boiler, you wont have to wait weeks for a plumber to come over and fix it. Instead, youll have access to a solution immediately.

You can save hundreds of pounds by finding out about potential problems early on

One of the biggest expenses when you first buy a home is the cost of moving in. Many people dont realize this until its too late. Buying a home involves not only paying for the actual house, but also for moving costs, furniture, and other items that have to be moved along with the home.

Having a good idea ahead of time of what youre likely to encounter can help you avoid these kinds of costs. If you know youll need to replace the plumbing system, for example, youll be able to put together a budget for the expense and plan accordingly.

You can protect your investment by finding out if the homes been well cared for

While there are plenty of people who think that houses always look better when theyre newly built, youd be surprised at how well maintained older residences can still look nice. Sometimes, though, those homes need some additional maintenance to keep them looking their best.

This could involve repairs that arent so noticeable or small improvements that you wouldnt consider otherwise. Even worse, some houses have fallen into disrepair without anyone noticing. This is why having a professional perform a building inspection prior to purchasing a home is such a big benefit.

Not only will it give you insight into the state of the property, but it will also give you peace of mind knowing youre not getting taken advantage of. As long as youre aware of the potential pitfalls, youll have less reason to worry about the state of your new home.

You can use information gathered during a building inspection to negotiate a lower price

If youre worried about buying a home because you suspect that it may need extensive renovation work, you may already have a rough idea of how much work youll need to do to bring it up to scratch. That knowledge can come in handy if you decide to buy the home.

You can use all of the details that you gather during a building inspection to present a realistic picture of what the home is worth to prospective buyers. If a potential buyer thinks that the home is worth more than what you paid for it, you can try negotiating a lower price.

You can sell your home faster and for more money

If you decide to list your home on the market soon after buying it, youll need to price it accurately in order to attract buyers. But if youve already done a thorough building inspection, youll know exactly what work is needed and what the current market conditions are.

In other words, youll be able to make a more accurate estimate of the amount of money youve invested in the home and how much its worth. If you find that youre selling your house for close to its full market value, you can use this information to convince the potential buyer that your home is worth the asking price.

Even if youre planning to stay in the home for a while before you decide to sell, the fact that you did a thorough building inspection will give you more confidence when listing it. Prospective buyers will know exactly what theyre paying for.

Your home will hold its value longer

As mentioned earlier, the value of a home depends heavily upon the condition of the building itself. If your home is in bad shape, potential buyers wont be interested in buying it. On the other hand, if youve performed a thorough building inspection and know what sort of repairs are necessary, you can offer your prospective buyer a compelling reason to invest in your property.

When you buy a home, youre essentially agreeing to have it inspected periodically to ensure that it stays in top shape. Not only does this allow you to avoid expensive repairs down the road, but it can also increase the value of your home.

You can make smart decisions about property investments

Buying real estate isnt as simple as just driving a couple of minutes to pick up a house. There are lots of considerations involved, ranging from location to cost. The same is true when youre investing in property.

If you find a house that meets all of your requirements, youll want to make sure that you have a solid understanding of where it stands with regards to the rest of the market. If you havent spent enough time researching the area, you could inadvertently end up with a bad deal.

There are lots of resources available online that can help you determine the overall level of competition in your area. They can also help you figure out if there are any properties that meet your requirements that you didnt know about.

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Of course, the main benefit of structural inspections perth is that it helps you avoid purchasing a home thats in poor condition. Before you make the decision to buy a home, you should do whatever you can to find out about the state of the building.

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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.
The role of manufacturing in the US economy is often discussed and has been at the center of many presidential debates in regards to trade policies and the outsourcing of our manufacturing jobs to China.

Over the last 30 years, the level of manufacturing in general has grown, with the exception of the recent recession. In addition, manufacturing jobs once lost to China are coming back, according to the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. Since March 2010, when manufacturing employment in the U.S. hit a low of 11.45 million jobs, nearly a million factory positions have been created according to the New Yorker. The Reshoring Institute, a nonprofit trade organization, notes over 100,000 manufacturing jobs have returned to the US from overseas in the last five years. However, the number of employees has grown less than the growth in manufacturing, according to the St. Louis Federal Reserve.

Our region is no exception as we, too, have seen the ups and downs of the manufacturing jobs. Thankfully, when Maytag/Whirlpool and TUMS closed, other manufacturing entities increased hiring so that our region is still robust with manufacturing positions. However, the manufacturing jobs of today are not those of 30 years ago.

Gone are the days of one-page, hand-written applications. Gone are the days of having a family member help you complete a typewritten, two-page application. Todays manufacturing applicant has to be able to complete a multi-step application online and hope the application completion isnt being timed, since you arent good with the computer application, even though you are a great worker who will be productive every day.

Gone are the days of your parent or uncle taking you into the manufacturing facility where they work and introducing you to the supervisor who offers you a job on the spot because you are a relative of a good worker. The family connection may now be a deterrent as employers must consider potential conflict of interest issues within the facility. Gone are the interviews with one person within the facility who understood if your hands were sweaty and you were so nervous you stuttered when you answered. The one-person interview has been replaced with an interview with teams of people watching your body language, posture, and concluding that nervousness means you will not be good under stress on the plant floor.

No one can find fault with employers attempting to use every tool in the screening process to increase employee retention. It is difficult to find fault with newer technology-based applications that screen for key words so that HR personnel do not have to take the time to look through hundreds of applications. It is also important to know the psychology of interviewing and the potential connection between interviewing and being a productive employee. It is hard to argue with advances and todays applicants for the manufacturing world need to be prepared to compete in this new hiring environment.

Once inside the facility, greatly diminished are the assembly lines where each worker performs a singular task and the product is moved along an assembly belt where other workers perform a singular task until the unit is built. Todays modern factory environment is driven by high-tech equipment, robotics, and workers who are capable of programming the high-tech equipment to handle multiple tasks with lightning fast speed and accuracy. Technology skills once considered a bonus are now critical to success in our manufacturing environment.

Gone are the days of week-day, straight shifts with weekend work being offered as an overtime option. The demands of todays manufacturing facilities require swing shifts across every day of the week. Overtime is often an expectation and todays manufacturing workers must be prepared with support systems to assist with changing child care and transportation needs.

Gone are the low-skilled, repetitive task jobs, and piece work is almost nonexistent. One need only look around Southern Illinois to understand the loss. Some of the jobs lost are never coming back due to new advances in technology, which make American production cheaper by increasing productivity and shrinking labor costs. Again, it is impossible to argue with technology advances that allow a lower cost per unit and encourage business growth for our economy.

Much can be learned from the teamwork demands of todays manufacturing environment and our ability to stay competitive in a global market. Workers need to understand the difference in the expectations of the manufacturing workplace today as opposed to the manufacturing environment of their father or grandfather in order to compete and attain employment.

Thankfully, Southern Illinois is home to important and growing manufacturing facilities. Yet, positions go unfilled because there is a disconnect between the skill needs of the manufacturer and the skills and abilities of the applicants. Understanding the needs of manufacturers has never been more important as we begin to reap the benefits of recent re-shoring activities in our country.

Helping our workers meet the demands of todays manufacturing environment remains a priority. Multiple types of training must continue to evolve as manufacturing needs advance at rapid pace. Workforce professionals, college and university partners must continue to offer multiple types of training to grow a world class workforce. The manufacturing facilities in the region are reliant on a dependable and trained workforce, more today than ever before. Workforce boards throughout the country and our region are committed to the continuous improvement of our workforce. Join us!
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/By Azernews/

By Amina Nazarli

The renewed hostilities on the frontline between Armenian and Azerbaijani since April 2, when the Armenian side began to shell the Azerbaijani positions and settlements along the frontline, has become the reason for drop in number of visitors to Armenia.

Russian Aviasales, a leading search engine for flights and hotel bookings, reports 25 percent decline in demand for flights to Armenia.

Meanwhile, Russian Travel.ru travel service says Azerbaijans capital Baku is in the Top 10 cities, popular for Russians traveling during May holidays.



The Top 10 popular destinations among Russian tourists during the May holidays includes Minsk, Prague, Rome, Riga, Barcelona, Vilnius, Tallinn, Helsinki, Baku and Bratislava.

The flaring of long-simmering tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan again on April 2, resulted in the killing of two civilians and injuring of 10 another, including a 13 year old child. More than 10 houses as well as local people`s property were also damaged.

To protect civilian population, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces launched counter attacks and repulsed the enemy forces back. The Azerbaijani troops retook hills around the village of Talish capable of posing threat to Goranboy region and the town of Naftalan, as well as Seysulan settlement, and also took over Lele Tepe hill located in the direction of Fuzuli region.

Six Armenian tanks, 15 gun mounts and reinforced engineering structures have been destroyed and more than 100 Armenian servicemen were wounded and killed during the shootouts.

Twelve servicemen of the Azerbaijani armed forces heroically died, one Mi-24 helicopter was shot down and one tank damaged by a mine.

Despite Azerbaijan's decision on unilateral suspension of the counter-attacks and response measures in the territories occupied by Armenia, the Armenian Armed Forces resumed shelling of Azerbaijani positions along the line of contact on the night of April 4.
Pakistan, Belarus and Georgia have openly expressed readiness to support the fair settlement of the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia, said Ali Ahmadov, deputy prime minister, deputy chairman and executive secretary of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party.

Speaking to reporters Apr. 4, Ahmadov praised this readiness, adding this indicates that the leaderships of those countries no longer want to tolerate the injustice against Azerbaijan.

"That, in turn, shows that Azerbaijan is not alone in this conflict," added Ahmadov. "All this is the result of the successful foreign policy pursued by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and the victory of diplomacy."

"Azerbaijan's policy of multiplying its supporters by bringing its fair position to the world is yielding positive results," said Ahmadov, adding this indicates the weakening of the positions of Armenians, who occupied Azerbaijan's lands, and the positions of their protectors.

On the night of Apr. 2, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from Armenians, who were using large-caliber weapons, mortars, grenade launchers and guns. Azerbaijani settlements near the frontline densely populated by civilians were shelled as well.

A counter-attack was carried out following the provocations of the Armenian armed forces on the night of Apr. 2.

Six Armenian tanks, 15 gun mounts and reinforced engineering structures were destroyed and more than 100 servicemen of the Armenian armed forces were wounded and killed during the shootouts.

Twelve servicemen of the Azerbaijani armed forces heroically died, one Mi-24 helicopter was shot down and one tank was damaged on a mine.

Three more soldiers of Azerbaijan were killed during the past day and night as a result of the ceasefire violation.

On Apr. 4, Azerbaijani armed forces destroyed three tanks and eliminated around 30 servicemen of the Armenian armed forces.

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.
An Iranian house in East Azerbaijan Province was destroyed by a mortar shell, fired by Armenian troops on April 4, ISNA reported.

Saeid Shabestari-Khiabani, the deputy governor-general of East Azerbaijan Province for security affairs told ISNA that after investigation Iranian experts found out that the martor shell was fired by Armenian troops.

He added that a village house in Khudaferin County was destroyed, but no one was killed.

Shabestari-Khiabani further added that Foreign Ministry will discuss the issue with Armenian side.

Iran announced of April 3 also that three mortar shells landed in a village in Khudaferin Country.

On the night of Apr. 2, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from Armenians, who were using large-caliber weapons, mortars, grenade launchers and guns. Azerbaijani settlements near the frontline densely populated by civilians were shelled as well.

A counter-attack was carried out following the provocations of the Armenian armed forces on the night of Apr. 2.

Six Armenian tanks, 15 gun mounts and reinforced engineering structures were destroyed and more than 100 servicemen of the Armenian armed forces were wounded and killed during the shootouts.

Twelve servicemen of the Azerbaijani armed forces heroically died, one Mi-24 helicopter was shot down and one tank was damaged on a mine.

Three more soldiers of Azerbaijan were killed during the past day and night as a result of the ceasefire violation.

On Apr. 4, Azerbaijani armed forces destroyed three tanks and eliminated around 30 servicemen of the Armenian armed forces.

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.
The representatives of the separatist regime of Nagorno Karabakh have recognized that as a result of Azerbaijan's strikes 20 people were killed, 72 injured, 26 people are missing, News.am reported.

The report noted that the Armenian side also lost seven tanks.

The Armenian Defense Ministry in its turn reported the death of seven volunteers in the conflict zone as a result of strikes of Azerbaijani Armed Forces' drone, according to RIA Novosti.

Earlier, Defense Ministry reported the death of five volunteers as a result of strikes of Azerbaijani Armed Forces' drone.

On the night of Apr. 2, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from Armenians, who were using large-caliber weapons, mortars, grenade launchers and guns. Azerbaijani settlements near the frontline densely populated by civilians were shelled as well.

A counter-attack was carried out following the provocations of the Armenian armed forces on the night of Apr. 2.

Six Armenian tanks, 15 gun mounts and reinforced engineering structures were destroyed and more than 100 servicemen of the Armenian armed forces were wounded and killed during the shootouts.

Twelve servicemen of the Azerbaijani armed forces heroically died, one Mi-24 helicopter was shot down and one tank was damaged on a mine.

Three more soldiers of Azerbaijan were killed during the past day and night as a result of the ceasefire violation.

On Apr. 4, Azerbaijani armed forces destroyed three tanks and eliminated around 30 servicemen of the Armenian armed forces.

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.
Iran has expressed readiness to act as a mediator between Yerevan and Baku in the recent Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that Iran is ready to play role in the peaceful settling of the conflict, in case if the involved parties are interested, Iran's Fars news agency reported April 5.

He made the remarks in a phone conversation with his Armenian counterpart Edward Nalbandian. Zarif also is scheduled to meet with his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov April 5 within the framework of a trilateral meeting of foreign ministers of Azerbaijan, Turkey and Iran in the Iranian city of Ramsar, where it is planned to discuss issues of mutual interests as well as regional and international developments.

Meanwhile, during talks with Nalbandian, Zarif underlined the necessity of ceasing armed clashes between the sides.

He further called for return of peace to the region and peaceful settlement of Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements. The situation on the contact line remains tense.
/By Azernews/

By Nazrin Gadimova

The situation remains tense on the contact line between Armenian and Azerbaijani troops, Azerbaijans Defense Ministry reported on April 5.

Realizing that it will fail to return back territories liberated by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, the enemy continues to shell settlements in the direction of Khojavend-Fizuli and Agdere-Terter.

During the counter-attack carried out by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, up to 70 people and around 20 military equipment of Armenia were destroyed from April 4 to the morning of April 5.

The Azerbaijani armed forces have completely destroyed the headquarters of enemys strategically important military base in Madagiz, which is located on the main road to Agdere region, according to the defense ministry. The Armenian side also lost three main battle tanks and their crews holding defensive positions.

Moreover, to minimize damages caused to residential areas from the opposite side Azerbaijans armed forces annihilated two enemy tanks and their crew, as well as five wheeled vehicles loaded with military equipment on Khojavand-Fizuli direction.

The loss of the Azerbaijani army was 16 people in the past two days, according to the ministry.

During the last night, the enemy shelled Azerbaijani settlements near the frontline densely populated by civilians as well. Thus, Armenian armed forces 120 times violated ceasefire on various parts of the contact line between the troops using 60, 82 and 120-millimeter mortars, grenade launchers and large-caliber machine-guns.

Azerbaijani positions located in the village of Gizilhajili of the Gazakh district were fired at by Armenians stationed in the Berkaber village of Armenia's Ijevan district.

Armenian military stationed in the Aygepar village of Armenia's Berd district opened fire at the Azerbaijani army positions in the Alibayli village of the Tovuz district.

Azerbaijani army positions, located on nameless heights in Azerbaijan's Gadabay district, were fired at by the Armenian military stationed on nameless heights in Armenia's Krasnoselsk district.

Armenian army also opened fire from positions near the Gulustan village of the Goranboy district, the Goyarkh, Yarimja, Chilaburt villages of the Tartar district, the Shikhlar, Bash Garvand, Javahirli, Sarijali, Kangarli, Novruzlu, Shuraabad, Merzili, Yusifjanli villages of the Aghdam district, the Kuropatkino village of the Khojavand district, the Garakhanbeyli, Horadiz, Gorgan, Ashagi Seyidahmadli villages of the Fizuli district and the Mehdili village of the Jabrayil district.

Armenians also opened fire upon the Azerbaijani army positions from nameless heights in the Goygol, Goranboy, Khojavand, Fizuli and Jabrayil districts. Azerbaijani armed forces inflicted 126 strikes upon Armenian positions.

To protect civilians the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry once again threatened to carry out missile blow on Khankendi city.

"We have warned that Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov has issued an order to be ready for the missile blow on Khankendi if they continue shelling the settlements along the contact line in Karabakh, spokesperson for the ministry, Vagif Dargahli told on April 5. The Armenian side has been shelling settlements in Agdere and Fizuli directions over the night. By their actions they bring close a blow to Khankendi.

The Defense Minister ordered on April 4 the Armed Forces to stand ready to launch devastating strikes on Khankendi.

Acting inhumanly, the Armenian side provokes Azerbaijan to take counter measures despite the continuous warnings made by Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry to the Armenian side," said the message. "Azerbaijan once again calls on Armenia to respect the international law and norms and stop the use of lethal force against civilians.

Long-simmering tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan flared again on April 2 when the Armenian side began to shell the Azerbaijani positions and settlements along the frontline.

To protect civilian population, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces launched counter attacks and repulsed the enemy forces back. Six Armenian tanks, 15 gun mounts and reinforced engineering structures have been destroyed and more than 100 Armenian servicemen were wounded and killed during the shootouts.

Twelve servicemen of the Azerbaijani armed forces heroically died, one Mi-24 helicopter was shot down and one tank damaged by a mine.

Despite Azerbaijan's decision on unilateral suspension of the counter-attacks and response measures in the territories occupied by Armenia, the Armenian Armed Forces resumed shelling of Azerbaijani positions along the line of contact on the night of April 4, further deteriorating the situation on the contact line.
/By Azernews/

By Nazrin Gadimova

Armenia, realizing that it will fail to keep control over the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region, resorts to every kind of falsification.

Since the eruption of new hostilities on the frontline following the Armenian provocation, the enemy has been spreading false photos and videos on alleged losses of the Azerbaijani side.

Azerbaijans Defense Ministry announced that Armenians used the photos taken in the conflict zone in Ukraines Donbas as the evidence of the mass murder of the Azerbaijani Special Forces.

Moreover, Ministrys Spokesperson Vagif Dargahli accused Armenians in spreading false information regarding death squads that shoot deserters. This is another lie and a provocation of the Armenian side, he said.

He further reported that the morale and combat readiness of the Azerbaijani army are at a high level.

All the information distributed by the Armenian side is provocative, he stressed. One does not need to believe in these rumors. Our army is beating off enemy attacks worthily.

The situation on the frontline aggravated on April 2 after the Armenian military units in the occupied lands started shelling Azerbaijans positions.

To protect civilian population, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces launched counter attacks and as a result, the Azerbaijani troops retook hills around the village of Talish, as well as Seysulan settlement, and also took over Lele Tepe hill located in the direction of Fizuli region.

The hostilities renewed in the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan on April 4, as the Armenian side continued to shell the Azerbaijani positions although the Azerbaijani side announced unilateral ceasefire on April 3.

As a result of the counter-attack, Azerbaijans Armed Forces neutralized up to 170 servicemen and 12 units of armored vehicles of the Armenian side, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry reported.

The Azerbaijani Army destroyed about 270 enemy soldiers since the start of the hostilities, according to the ministry.
/By Azernews/

By Aynur Karimova

Armenia, whose efforts to take Azerbaijani army by surprise - through launching intense firing on the Azerbaijani posts and settlements- have gone in vain, spreads false information about its so-called victories over the glorious Azerbaijani Army.

Being in a deadlocked situation due to its aggressive and non-constructive position in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Armenia reports about the destruction of five tanks and three drones of Azerbaijani in the conflict zone.

Azerbaijan' Defense Ministry has immediately answered the reports and informed that these reports are regular misinformation spread by the Armenian side to show its  combat readiness to the displeased Armenian society.

"The Defense Ministry of Armenia takes such provocative steps to restore the lost image of the army. We reiterate that this is a lie and a provocation," the Ministry stated.

Long-simmering tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan flared again on April 2 when the Armenian side began to shell the Azerbaijani positions and settlements along the frontline.

To protect civilian population, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces launched counter attacks and repulsed the enemy forces back. The Azerbaijani troops retook hills around the village of Talish capable of posing threat to Goranboy region and the town of Naftalan, as well as Seysulan settlement, and also took over Lele Tepe hill located in the direction of Fuzuli region.

Six Armenian tanks, 15 gun mounts and reinforced engineering structures have been destroyed and more than 100 Armenian servicemen were wounded and killed during the shootouts.

The hostilities renewed in the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan on April 4, as the Armenian side continued to shell the Azerbaijani positions although the Azerbaijani side announced unilateral ceasefire on April 3.

As a result of the counter-attack, Azerbaijans Armed Forces neutralized up to 170 servicemen and 12 units of armored vehicles of the Armenian side, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry reported.

During the counter-attack carried out by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, up to 70 people and around 20 military equipment of Armenia were destroyed from April 4 to the morning of April 5.

The loss of the Azerbaijani army was 16 people in the past two days.

Realizing that their attempt to regain lost positions in the Khojavend-Fuzuli and Terter-Aghdere direction does not give any result, the Armenian army continues to shell villages located near the frontline and tries to destroy the infrastructure of Azerbaijan's frontier regions.

By using heavy artillery, the Armenian troops have fired at the power substation in the Garadaghli village in the Aghdam region, leaving 11 villages without electricity.

The residents of a nearby village of Evoghlu said that there is a problem in water supply of the village. Moreover, there is a problem with gas supply.

However, Ragub Mammadov, the Head of the Aghdam Region Executive Power, told media that works on the restoration of infrastructure will be started today.

Unfortunately, as a result of shelling of a mosque in the Ahmadaghalilar village of the Aghdam region, the village's resident Garash Dadashov, who was in the mosque that time, died of the sustained injuries.

The region's police department and prosecutor's office reported that a number of settlements of Terter region in the frontal zone, including the Azadgaragoyunlu and Duyerli villages were once again subjected to fire by Armenians.

One of the artillery shells fired by Armenian Armed forces towards the Azadgaragoyunlu village, hit a house owned by Mirza Rahimov at around 21:00 (UTC/GMT + 4 hours), on April 3. Later, at around 14:00 (UTC/GMT + 4 hours), on April 4, three artillery shells fired by Armenian troops towards the Duyerli village, hit Etibar Guliyev's house and completely destroyed it. Mehpara Aliyeva and Kamala Aghayeva, living in the neighborhood, received shrapnel wounds and were rushed to the hospital.

A criminal case has been initiated over the injury of civilians as a result of the artillery fire by Armenians.
/By Azernews/

By Amina Nazarli

Azerbaijan is interested in developing trade and economic relations with the U.S. State of Nevada.



The statement was made by Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov, as he received the delegation headed by Speaker of the Nevada State Assembly John Hambrick in Baku on April 4.

Talking about the participation of President Ilham Aliyev in the 4th Summit on Nuclear Security in Washington upon the invitation of President Barack Obama and meetings held by the head of the state, Mammadyarov expressed hope that this visit will contribute to even greater development of the relations between the two countries.

The foreign minister noted that Azerbaijan attaches great importance to development of the relations with U.S. states, and brought to the attention that the country is also interested in developing trade and economic relations with Nevada.

Hambrick, for his part, said that Nevada is also interested in developing economic and trade fields with Azerbaijan, noting the importance of the mutual visits of Assembly members and businessmen.

The meeting also discussed the exchange of views on regional and international issues.

During their visit, the American delegation also met Chairman of the Azerbaijan Parliament Ogtay Asadov, who hailed the expansion of the ties between the two states.



The chairman said that the two countries have good opportunities for the development of cooperation, adding that Azerbaijan is interested in developing relations with the U.S. and its states.

He expressed his confidence that Hambrick`s visit would give impetus to deepening cooperation with the state of Nevada, hailing the fact that the U.S. has made more than $10 billion investments in Azerbaijan so far.

In 2015, the trade turnover between Azerbaijan and the U.S. reached $1 billion, Asadov added.

Hambrick, in turn, said Nevada was interested in trade and economic partnership with Azerbaijan.

The two sides also agreed on holding lectures on Azerbaijan multiculturalism in Nevadas higher education institutions in the near future.

Kamal Abdullayev, the State Counselor for multiculturalism, international and religious affairs and Hambrick agreed that in the next stage, one of the Nevada universities will teach Azerbaijan multiculturalism lesson.

Abdullayev reminded that Azerbaijani multiculturalism lesson is taught in 13 universities around the world including Europe. Abdullayev also informed the American guests about the International Multiculturalism summer and winter school, attended by students from Ukraine, Turkey, Lithuania, Japan, Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Russia, Belarus, Italy and Indonesia.

Earlier in April 2015, the Nevada State Assembly issued a proclamation, highlighting Azerbaijans traditions of tolerance, which was signed by speaker Hambrick.

Abdullayev thanked the American official for his benevolent actions towards Azerbaijan.
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Supreme Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev has visited the wounded servicemen who are treated at the Central Military Clinical Hospital of the Defense Ministry.





The head of state met with the soldiers who were wounded in the fighting on the line of contact.





Minister of Defense Zakir Hasanov said part of the servicemen who heroically fought and were wounded while repulsing the Armenian provocation on the line of contact were brought to this hospital. All necessary measures have been taken to ensure their treatment. The staff of the hospital are tirelessly working day and night to ensure their swiftest possible recovery.





President Ilham Aliyev met with the families of the martyred and wounded servicemen.




The international community could help by elevating its engagement at this tense moment to the same level as Russia, whose president and ministers of defense and foreign affairs are active, says Matthew Bryza, former US assistant secretary for South Caucasus and former US ambassador to Azerbaijan.

"The international community, meaning the OSCE Minsk Group, seeks to facilitate a just and lasting settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," Bryza told Trend by phone.

The expert said that two decades ago, the international community passed four United Nations Security Council resolutions demanding that Armenia withdraw its military forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

"Additionally, the international community formed the Minsk Group under the OSCE, which, via its U.S., French, and Russian co-chairs, helped the parties negotiate a set of basic principles that define the framework for a settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," Bryza said.

"These basic principles derive from three core concepts of the Helsinki Final Act, namely, the territorial integrity of states, self-determination of peoples, and non-use of force," the expert added.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers.

The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements. More than 370 Armenian soldiers, 12 tanks, 12 armored vehicles and 15 artillery guns have been destroyed from April 2 until today.
/By Azernews/

The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry has issued a press statement on provocative information spread by Lifenews TV channel, saying that in the face of defeat, the military and political leadership of Armenia has been benefiting from provocative information released by anti-Azerbaijani mass media.

The information about Azerbaijanis fighting for ISIL terror organisation in Syria crossing Turkish territories to come to Azerbaijan and fight against Armenians in Karabakh is absolutely groundless and a disinformation, the report reads.

Military technical capabilities and potential of Azerbaijan Armed Forces are fully sufficient in terms of ensuring at the highest level the sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of our country.

We would like to reemphasize that any terror organization irrespective to its members' nationality, religion and others does pose a serious threat to international peace and security as well as national security of Azerbaijan. Any member of terror organization attempting to enter to the territory of Azerbaijan by any intention will be prosecuted.

Long-simmering tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan flared again on April 2 when the Armenian side began to shell the Azerbaijani positions and settlements along the frontline.

To protect civilian population, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces launched counter attacks and repulsed the enemy forces back. Six Armenian tanks, 15 gun mounts and reinforced engineering structures have been destroyed and more than 100 Armenian servicemen were wounded and killed during the shootouts.

Twelve servicemen of the Azerbaijani armed forces heroically died, one Mi-24 helicopter was shot down and one tank damaged by a mine.

Despite Azerbaijan's decision on unilateral suspension of the counter-attacks and response measures in the territories occupied by Armenia, the Armenian Armed Forces resumed shelling of Azerbaijani positions along the line of contact on the night of April 4.

As a result of the counter-attack, Azerbaijans Armed Forces neutralized up to 170 servicemen and 12 units of armored vehicles of the Armenian side

During the counter-attack carried out by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, up to 70 people and around 20 military equipment of Armenia were destroyed from April 4 to the morning of April 5.

The loss of the Azerbaijani army was 16 people in the past two days.

Realizing that their attempt to regain lost positions in the Khojavend-Fuzuli and Terter-Aghdere direction does not give any result, the Armenian army continues to shell villages located near the frontline and tries to destroy the infrastructure of Azerbaijan's frontier regions.

Azerbaijan and Armenia have agreed to cease operations on the line of contact starting from 12.00, April 5.
/By Azernews/

By Nazrin Gadimova

With renewing escalation in the Nagorno-Karabakh area and raising hands against the civilian population of Azerbaijan living along the frontline, Armenian militaries have once again showed their insidious essence.

Daily frontline skirmishes have always posed big challenges to Azerbaijans civilian population living along the frontline between the troops. The intense firing of the Azerbaijani positions and settlements along the frontline since April 2, have caused causalities among Azerbaijani civilians.

Over the past four days, the Armenian armed forces have subjected a number of settlements of Azerbaijans Terter, Aghdam and Fuzuli regions to the intense firing from heavy weapons.

On the first day of the hostilities, two civilians were killed, while 10 another were wounded by Armenian militaries. More than 10 houses as well as local peoples property were also damaged during the first day of the fighting.

The enemy forces also fired the Sarijali school #1 in Azerbaijans Aghdam region on April 2. No casualties were reported, however, the schools building was seriously damaged. One of the shells also hit a school in the village of Ayag Gervend.

On April 4, 62-years-old Garash Dadashev was killed while being in mosque in Aghdam. Moreover, Akif Mustafayev, Pakiza Maharramli (Aghdam residents), Ulviyya Aliyeva and Kamala Aghayeva (Terter region) were wounded by Armenian armed forces.

The Seydimli village of Azerbaijans Terter region was subjected to the artillery fire by Armenian armed forces on April 4. One of the shells hit the courtyard of villager Sahib Veliyev, injuring the house owner and his 13-year-old grandson.

Armenians' recent shelling of Tartar region has damaged 160 houses. Many of the damaged houses became completely unusable. A shell burst in the village of Hasangaya village, killing civilian Turana Hasanli, 16, and wounding Mehpara Aliyeva.

Several journalists have made photo reportage as they visited the front line in Garadaghli, Gapanli, Duyarli villages in the Tartar region. The reporters took photos of the ruins after the area was shelled by the Armenians. Photos provide a description of the Armenians` provocation, their targeting civilians and houses.

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 situation on the frontline aggravated on April 2 after the Armenian military units in the occupied lands started shelling Azerbaijans positions.

To protect civilian population, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces launched counter attacks and as a result, the Azerbaijani troops retook hills around the village of Talish, as well as Seysulan settlement, and also took over Lele Tepe hill located in the direction of Fizuli region.

The hostilities renewed in the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan on April 4, as the Armenian side continued to shell the Azerbaijani positions although the Azerbaijani side announced unilateral ceasefire on April 3.

The Azerbaijani Army destroyed about 370 enemy soldiers since the start of the hostilities, according to the defense ministry.

Azerbaijan and Armenia have agreed to cease operations on the line of contact starting from 12.00, April 5.

The Azerbaijani armed units are now carrying out fortification work in the retaken areas, Defense Ministry reported.
Armenia is deceiving the international community by exacerbating the situation and trying to divert attention from the main issues that form the basis of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict settlement, as well as to maintain the status quo, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said.

He made the remarks Apr. 5 at a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif in Iran's northern city of Ramsar.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers.

The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements.

Military operations were stopped on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian armies on Apr. 5 at 12:00 (UTC/GMT + 4 hours) with the consent of the sides, said Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry.

Mammadyarov said that the international community must exert pressure on Armenia, demand the country to put an end to provocations and withdraw its armed forces from the occupied Azerbaijani territories.

The meeting was held within the framework of the trilateral meeting of the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan, Turkey and Iran.

It is planned to discuss issues of regional cooperation, fighting against international terrorism, transit cargo transportation, as well as development of cooperation in the political sphere at the trilateral meeting.

Previous meetings of the foreign ministers of the three countries in this format were held in Urmia (Iran) and Nakhchivan (Azerbaijan).
OSCE Minsk Group has urged the parties of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to cease using force immediately.

"We, the representatives of the OSCE Minsk Group countries (Russian Federation, the United States of America, France, Belarus, Finland, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Turkey), as well as the incoming Austrian OSCE Chair (2017) and the Serbian OSCE Chair (2015), strongly condemn the outbreak of unprecedented violence along the Line of Contact," said a statement posted on the OSCE website.

"We extend our condolences to all affected families. We urge the sides to cease using force immediately. There is no military solution to the conflict," said the statement.

The deterioration of the situation on the ground demonstrates the need for an immediate negotiation, under the auspices of the co-chairs, on a comprehensive settlement, according to the OSCE Minsk Group statement.

"The representatives of the Minsk Group member states affirm their support for the Russian, American, and French Co-Chairs' mediation efforts and welcome their plans to undertake direct consultations with the sides as soon as possible," said the statement.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers.

The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population.

Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements. More than 370 Armenian soldiers, 12 tanks, 12 armored vehicles and 15 artillery guns have been destroyed from April 2 until today.

Military operations were stopped on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian armies on Apr. 5 at 12:00 (UTC/GMT + 4 hours) with the consent of the sides, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry earlier said.

The ministry added that Azerbaijan's armed units are now carrying out fortification work in the retaken areas.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's Aide for Public and Political Affairs Ali Hasanov has commented on the escalation of tension on the line of contact between Azerbaijan and Armenia as he was interviewed by Turkish TRT World television channel.

Hasanov said the United Nations adopted four resolutions demanding an unconditional withdrawal of the Armenian forces from the occupied Azerbaijani territories.

He said that every time Armenia feels pressed "they provoke us and then blame us for it".

Hasanov commented on Azerbaijan's retaliatory action, saying Armenians needed to see that they can no longer get away with these provocations.

"Therefore we responded with a response five times stronger than their assault," he added. "Our expectations from Minsk Group and the United Nations for that matter are that as we heeded their calls and respected their decisions they have to put pressure on Armenia to implement the decisions."

"It is only because Armenia has not been held accountable and has not been pressured that they perpetuated the status-quo for more than 20 years and even more than a million of our citizens are refugees," said Hasanov.

"We possess the ability to recapture those lands in a short time," he added. "But for the sake of humanity we are going with the international community to achieve it through peaceful means. But if they do not see this, Azerbaijan will reclaim its lands in its own way, and it will."
Escalation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is largely due to inactivity of the international community, Georgian expert Gia Khukhashvili told Trend Apr. 5.

"What is happening now is largely a consequence of the idleness the international community has been demonstrating for many years," Khukhashvili said.

On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers.

The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements. More than 370 Armenian soldiers, 12 tanks, 12 armored vehicles and 15 artillery guns have been destroyed from April 2 until today.

Military operations were stopped on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian armies on Apr. 5 at 12:00 (UTC/GMT + 4 hours) with the consent of the sides, said Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

Khukhashvili said that the international community, on the one hand, states about its respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of countries, and on the other hand it gets used to the fact that the settlement of the problem is protracted.

"It is very dangerous to remain in such a position," Khukhashvili said. "The international community must intensify its efforts for the peaceful resolution of the conflict," he said, adding that it is like a time bomb for the region.

He went on to add that Azerbaijan's territorial integrity must be respected and restored.

He also expressed hope that Russia also will take a constructive stance in this issue and won't stay aside.

"It is not in Russia's interests," Khukhashvili said. "I hope that they, too, will treat this issue with understanding and act effectively. They have such opportunities."

He said that stability in the region is very important for Georgia.

"We are a single geopolitical link with Azerbaijan," Khukhashvili said. "We are not just neighbors, we are partners, friends, and we are forever linked both politically and economically."

He went on to add that if Georgia has to make a choice, the country will be with Azerbaijan for many reasons.
It is clear that there cannot be a status quo in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict any more, Amanda Paul, analyst at the European Policy Centre (EPC), told Trend in email Apr. 5.

Something needs to change and change fast, she believes.

"Even if the current situation stabilizes, to talk about a functioning ceasefire is not realistic under the current conditions - and indeed never was - it was simply a ticking time bomb," added Paul.

The expert also said the situation is very serious in the zone of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

"This is the worst outbreak of fighting since the ceasefire came into force in 1994," Paul said.

She believes there is a very real risk that the conflict will escalate further still, as Armenia battles to take the positions that Azerbaijan has retaken and Baku pushes back against that.

"Hence a fully blown war, which would have devastating consequences for the region, cannot be ruled out," Paul added.

The analyst said the line of contact is now so militarized with heavy weaponry on both sides, including tanks, aircraft, drones and helicopters along with modern technology, that it creates a far more dangerous situation than in the past.

"The current situation requires the full attention of the international community, in particular the US and Russia," Paul said. "Coming at a time when Russian-US relations are in poor shape is not helpful, yet they need to put their differences aside and work together. Other regional players which have some influence - Turkey and Iran - may also take on a role."

"If the conflict explodes the price will be paid by the entire region, hence a unified approach is important," she added.

Paul noted that so far the Russians "have been the most-active in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict."

"While Russia uses the conflict for its own purposes, which is not helpful in terms of helping to bring about a solution or shoring up regional security, at the same time the Russian's do not want a fully blown war in the region," Paul added. "Rather Russia has been more comfortable with simmering conflict situations, which allow Moscow to project its power and influence in the region."

Paul believes there can be little doubt that ultimately Russia would like its own peacekeepers on the ground in Karabakh and this is apparently included in a new peace plan that that Moscow has been putting together.

"Yet history has shown that once Russian boots are on the ground, getting rid of them is difficult and often conflicts become even harder to resolve," added Paul. "Hence there is likely to be continued objection against this."

"What is very clear is that the current system of a tiny OSCE mission visiting the conflict area now and then and only after giving prior warning - even requesting permission from Azerbaijan and Armenia - is totally ineffective," said Paul.

The analyst said that unfortunately the renewed conflict seems to have left the EU paralyzed, unable to go beyond words of concern, which are simply not adequate for such a dangerous escalation right in the EU's backyard.

"Furthermore, if we compare the EU's reaction to the 2008 Russia-Georgia war to its reaction to the escalation over Karabakh there is a stark difference because in 2008 the EU acted swiftly, carrying out shuttle diplomacy and taking a lead in efforts to stop the fighting," added Paul.

"Today, the EU remains on the sidelines continuing to hide behind the OSCE fig leaf," she noted. "However, the OSCE has become more of a conflict manager than a resolver, and its role and influence has weakened over the years as the peace process has become stale and run out of steam."

"When there are long periods of time without an active peace process/settlement negotiation it serves to cement the status quo, which for Azerbaijan, in particular, is frustrating because it is their land that is occupied," said Paul.

"Not surprisingly, therefore, the status quo is far more acceptable for the Armenians," she added.
Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Asia-Pacific Affairs Ebrahim Rahimpour has called for resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict through negotiations.

In an exclusive interview with Trend on Apr. 5, Rahimpour emphasized the need for a peaceful settlement of the crisis.

The deputy foreign minister further expressed his regret over the recent developments in Karabakh which has been a scene of fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the past couple of days.

Calling for a truce in Nagorno-Karabakh, Rahimpour said that Iran backs restoring calm to the region within international law.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers.

The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population.

Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements. More than 370 Armenian soldiers, 12 tanks, 12 armored vehicles and 15 artillery pieces have been destroyed from April 2 until today.

Military operations were stopped on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian armies on Apr. 5 at 12:00 (UTC/GMT + 4 hours) with the consent of the sides, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry earlier said.
/By Azernews/

By Fatma Babayeva

Polymetal International plc, the leading precious metals mining company in Russia, has signed a deal to purchase Orion Minerals- the company which holds license for the Komarovsky gold deposit located in the northeastern part of Kazakhstan, the Russian company reported.

The agreement was signed with the Kazakh company Kazzinc, a subsidiary of Glencore plc. The completion of the deal is expected to take place in 2016 depending on receiving approvals from the relevant regulatory bodies in Kazakhstan.

Komarovsky is a low-sulfide quartz gold deposit. The estimated reserves amount to 28 million tons with a gold content of 1.5 gram / ton (approximately 1.4 million ounces) at the end of 2015. Resources evaluated only to a depth of 280 meters, while the mineralization traced down to 450 meters.

The asset comprises an active open pit mine and a 500 ktpa heap leach facility with grid power available on site. Mining at the property commenced in 2006 and has been focused on the oxide mineralization, which now is largely depleted. Over 200 ounces of gold was produced so far.

Mining of primary ore and its sale to Varvara commenced in 2010. A total of over 1 Mt at an average grade of 2.5 g/t have been processed at Varvara in 2010-2013 with average recovery of 88%.

The initial investment is expected to be less than US$ 5 million as mine fleet will be mostly transferred from Varavara and complemented by contractors. Ore processing at Varvara plant is expected to start within three months after transaction completes.

In accordance with the financial statements of 2015, the value of the gross assets of the company is subject for the transaction which amounts to $28 million, and the loss before tax deduction related to these assets equals to $23 000.




Iran says the International Court of Arbitration will announce its final verdict on the country's gas dispute with Turkey in summer.

The court hasn't announced its final verdict on the issue yet, Azizullah Ramazani, Director of the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) for International Affairs, said, the oil ministry's official SHANA news agency reported April 5.

In 1996, Iran and Turkey signed a 25-year deal on supplying 30 million cubic meters of gas to Turkey per day. Ankara appealed to the International Court of Arbitration regarding the price on Iranian gas in March 2012.

Although the contract is still in place, it remains a sore point in the two countries' gas relationship. The two sides have held new talks on both price and volume of imported gas from Iran.

Turkey wanted a 25-percent discount from Iran which provides one-fifth of the country's consumption, while Iran said to agree to the discount if Turkey increases the amount of imported gas. Eventually, the sides had to settle the dispute in the court.

Earlier Hamidreza Araqi, head of the NIGC said that the International Court of Arbitration court has ruled against Iran in its gas dispute with Turkey, and Tehran should provide Ankara with compensation of 10-15 percent for the gas supplied to that country within 2011-2015.

Following Araqi's statement the NIGC released a report on its official website, saying that the court hasn't announced the verdict and the final decision would be announced in future.
New measures to raise revenue in Saudi Arabia will bring in at least an extra $100 billion a year by 2020, more than tripling non-oil income and balancing the budget, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has said in an interview with Bloomberg News.



The biggest economic shake-up will accelerate subsidy cuts and impose more levies.



Its a large package of programmes that aims to restructure some revenue-generating sectors, the prince said in the five-hour interview. Non-oil income rose 35 percent last year to SR163.5 billion ($44 billion), according to preliminary budget data.



While there are no plans to tax incomes, the new policies would bring the kingdom closer to the rest of the world, where governments rely on charges to fund spending, the Bloomberg report said.



The prince said authorities are weighing measures that include more steps to restructure subsidies, imposing a value-added tax and a levy on energy and sugary drinks as well as luxury items.



Another revenue-raising plan under discussion is a programme similar to the US Green Card system that targets expatriates in the kingdom.



The strategy would complement a plan to sell a stake in Saudi Aramco on the stock exchange and create the worlds largest sovereign wealth fund, steps meant to make the kingdom more reliant on investment income than oil within 20 years. The $2 trillion fund would be big enough to buy the four largest publicly traded companies on the planet, the report said.



The Saudi government is also planning to increase its debt in the meantime to help finance spending and test the market with a dollar bond later this year.



The VAT will bring in about $10 billion a year by 2020, while the restructuring of subsidies will generate more than $30 billion a year, said Prince Mohammed, who appeared at ease discussing technical details and figures of his various plans.



The Green Card-like programme and a plan to allow employers to hire more foreign workers above their official quotas for a fee could generate $10 billion a year each, he said.



The prince said measures taken by the council last year succeeded in lowering the budget deficit which could have reached $250 billion to less than $100 billion.
Entrepreneurs should focus on ensuring that they have control of their companies and only give investors selective control terms such as a board seat, vesting and some limited reserved matters, an industry expert said.



They must remember that this is a long-term venture and they will be relinquishing more control after each round of funding, so they need to be careful as to what precedent they set at the earlier stages and focus on keeping control over their ventures, added Amir Farha, co-founder and managing partner of Beco Capital, a regional venture capital firm focused on technology investments in the GCC.



Farha was speaking at STEP Conference in Dubai, UAE, addressing over 6,000 tech entrepreneurs and investors from all over the Middle East.



According to Amir, a good rule of thumb is that entrepreneurs should give away anywhere between 15 per cent and 33 per cent in each round of funding. Anything less than that signals greediness and future funding difficulties. Anything more than that indicates that the entrepreneur is not fully committed to the venture and willing to get diluted significantly for the sake of growth, he explained.



A lot of entrepreneurs tend to focus on valuation, rather than the more important terms that can affect the outcome of the venture and their control over its success over the long-term. The real VCs should care about the entrepreneur, and that will be reflected in the term sheets they negotiate.



At Beco Capital we invest in innovative tech entrepreneurs who have found a local solution to a local problem that is scalable. We look for entrepreneurs who fight hard on the negotiating table as that is an indicator of how they will negotiate with the next set of investors, he explained.



We also admire those that share the wealth with their employees and include them in their success story as they grow. Such entrepreneurs are perfect partners and Beco helps them, not just with funding, but also through operational support; developing new products, taking them to new markets and assisting them in every aspect of their operations.



Treat others how you'd like to be treated, added Amir Farha. We do not take advantage of the entrepreneurs position when leading a transaction, and ensure that we support them by introducing them to potential co-investors that we think can provide value-add.



Beco also encourages its portfolio companies to look at allocating shares to its teams through employee stock ownership plans (ESOP).



Entrepreneurs should allocate 5 per cent to 15 per cent of ESOP at each round of funding to be distributed among their employees. This is not only good for the start-up tech venture, but also to the start-up ecosystem as a whole. We have seen the magnifying effect of ESOP in developed markets, when these talented employees monetize their shares on exit and reinvest them into a new tech start-up, to create a virtuous cycle. Farha said.



Farha recommended young tech entrepreneurs to build their relationships at that early stage of their ventures, whether with early investors or employees, as long-term partnerships: Its all about smart leadership and smart money. Whoever you get in your team and in your cap table at this stage is with you for the life of your venture. Therefore you'd want them to be value-added in every stage of growth, so you need to choose wisely. - TradeArabia News Service
Siemens has been awarded a contract by Egyptian National Railways (ENR) to modernise 260 km of railway network in Egypt with advanced technology for signalling, level-crossings and communications.



The upgrades, which are part of a national plan to modernise Egypts rail system, will increase safety levels and allow the railways maximum speed to be raised from 140 km/h to 160 km/h, boosting throughput of passenger trains and freight services.



The routes between Benha and Port Said to the north east and Zagazig and Abu Kebir in the north of Cairo, will have their mechanical interlocking systems replaced with modern, centrally controlled electronic systems from Siemens.



New point mechanisms, level-crossing technology and communications infrastructure will also be implemented along the routes, which include approximately 20 stations. The contract will also include the equipping of the operations control centre located in the city of Zagazig. The routes are expected to be commissioned in 2020.



The Egyptian rail network carries approximately 500 million passengers and six million tonnes of freight annually, and a capable, robust transport network is essential to accommodate rapid population and industrial growth, said Joerg Scheifler, senior executive vice president, Mobility, Siemens Middle East.



Siemens technology supports the programme to modernise Egypts railway system by updating existing infrastructure with innovative, environment-friendly solutions for maximum reliability, safety and efficiency in operation.  TradeArabia News Service
The long-term opportunities of the Saudi Arabian real estate sector as well as the steps investors are taking to protect themselves in the current period of turbulence will be reviewed at the Euromoney Saudi Arabia Conference to be held in Riyadh this May.



The sector, which is a major area of interest for residents and international financial institutions, will be discussed by a panel of industry experts in a special session at the 2016 event, said the event organisers.



Economic turbulence has impacted every aspect of the real estate sector in 2016, from the construction industry, which has seen significant slowdowns in the opening months of the year, through to the residential and commercial sales sector, they stated.



Saudi Arabia had recorded real estate deals worth $6.58 billion between February 10 and March 9, down 20 per cent over the corresponding period of 2015.



The health of the kingdoms economy also has a dramatic impact on the global real estate sector, they added.



According to JLL Saudi Arabia, Middle East investors purchased more than $11 billion of overseas real estate assets in 2015, and capital outflow is expected to decline significantly in 2016.



Richard Banks, the consulting editor of Euromoney Conferences, said: "The real estate discussion is one of the most popular sessions every year at Euromoney Saudi Arabia, and 2016 will be particularly interesting due to the major changes experienced over the past 12 months."



"Our panel of experts will assess how significant the long-term impacts of the current slowdown will be, and look at the positive steps the government is taking to encourage sustainable growth in this sector," stated Banks.



Debating the topic will be Imad Damrah, the managing director of Colliers International Saudi Arabia and Amro Nahas, the head of Real Estate Investment of Masic.



Areas under discussion by the panel will include pricing, demand, real estate regulation, and the impact of the changing economy on new investment structures in the kingdom.



According to Banks, one of the most anticipated subjects to be discussed will be the impact of White Land Tax, which could have a regressive effect on land prices, which in turn will increase the level of real estate development activity for middle income housing across the kingdom.



The impact will be huge as the mid-income segment accounts for over 60 per cent of all Saudi Arabian households, he stated.



With senior representatives from some of the worlds leading banks in attendance, Euromoney Saudi Arabia conference will provide an ideal opportunity to review the real estate market of the Kingdom, and hear from leading executives from within the Kingdom on their views on its challenges and opportunities. -TradeArabia News Service
Britain said on Sunday that UK steel producers must be considered for infrastructure and other government contracts involving steel supplies, as part of plans to find a long-term solution to a crisis in the industry.



The government is looking for ways to support domestic steel producers after India's Tata Steel put its loss-making British plant up for sale on Wednesday, putting thousands of jobs at risk.



Prime Minister David Cameron has said there was no guarantee of a buyer for Britain's biggest steel producer, which has been hit by high costs and Chinese competition, and a state takeover was not the answer.



Under its support measures, the government will create an approved supplier list for steel companies wanting to bid for public sector projects, such as Britain's 55 million ($78.25 million) high-speed rail link, which will need two million tonnes of steel.



"By changing the procurement rules on these major infrastructure projects we are backing the future of UK steel - opening up significant opportunities for UK suppliers and allowing them to compete more effectively with international companies," business secretary Sajid Javid said in a statement.



The introduction of measures to ensure British steelmakers are considered for government contracts could take six to nine months, a spokeswoman for Javid's department said.



The government has faced criticism over its response to Tata's decision to sell its UK plant in south Wales, which employs 15,000, with opposition politicians saying it was "asleep at the wheel.



The government has said it is working to broker a deal with potential buyers after Tata's decision to pull out of its almost decade-long venture in Britain.



Investment firm Greybull Capital is interested in buying Tata's Scunthorpe steelworks and could announce a deal as early as Wednesday, a source familiar with the deal told Reuters.



The deal is expected to be for 400 million ($568.5 million), with about half of the investment coming from Greybull and the other half from a consortium and maybe a government loan of up to 100 million ($142.1 million), the source told Reuters.



A Greybull spokesman said talks were continuing constructively.



British newspaper the Telegraph first reported on Sunday that the Meyohas brothers are set to buy the Scunthorpe plant from Tata.



Liberty House Group, which produces steel in Britain, has begun talks with the government over a potential partnership but does not want to buy all of Tata's UK operations, its executive chairman Sanjeev Gupta was quoted as saying by the Sunday Telegraph.



Javid told the BBC he would not talk about specific offers but said he wanted to find a buyer for the whole business and the government would engage with any willing and serious buyer.



He said the government was looking at how it could help with issues such as Tata's pension burden and costly energy supplies.



"These are the kind of things we have already thought of, we have already started working on and what I hope is that you will have the offer document from Tata, overlay on top of that the help the British government can provide and then you have the makings of a successful deal," he said.



Cheap Chinese imports have hit Britain's steel industry. Britain imported 826,000 tonnes of Chinese steel in 2015, up from 361,000 two years earlier, according to the International Steel Statistic bureau.



Cameron has said he wants Britain and China to work together to tackle overcapacity in steel. Last week, however, China imposed anti-dumping duties of up to 46 percent on specialist steel products from Japan, South Korea and the European Union. - Reuters
Iran-based Mobarakeh Steel Company (MSC) has exported 1.793 million tonnes of products during the year to March 19, said a report citing a senior official.



MSC is Iran's biggest industrial complex and the biggest crude steel producer in the Middle East.



The company had set an export target of 1.5 million tonnes of products last year but the company managed to export more than that amount thanks to the efforts put in by its staff, the company's deputy managing director for sales and marketing affairs Mahmoud Akbari was quoted as saying in an Iran Daily News report.



Akbari added that more than 65 per cent of MSC's products were exported to European markets.



The company mainly exports to Europe, Middle East, Far East and Africa, but recently it has successfully entered new markets such as Morocco and Algeria in Africa, Poland in Eastern Europe and Turkmenistan in Central Asia, he added.


The Islamic State militant group released a video on Tuesday suggesting it may carry out further attacks in the West, naming London, Berlin and Rome as possible targets.



"If it was Paris yesterday, and today Brussels, Allah knows where it will be tomorrow. Maybe it will be in London or Berlin or Rome," said a member of the group in English on the video which showed footage of the aftermath of previous attacks.

slamic State has claimed responsibility for bombings that killed 31 people in Brussels in March and attacks in Paris last November that killed 130.



The video showed images of the House of Commons in London and Rome's Colosseum.  Reuters


Mawdoo3.com, the Arab worlds first comprehensive online Arabic language digital encyclopaedia, has become the top ranked portal in Mena, Levant and GCC, reaching 23 million unique users and 100 million page views.



The figures which were issued by Effective Measure in February 2016 also indicate that Mawdoo3.com, the media partner of Digital Media Services (DMS).



The portal attributes its success to its unique strategy of directing professional Arabic writers to create articles that address the most queried topics across global search engines, a statement said.



This enables the portal fill the gap between users need for Arabic content and the available Arabic language content on the internet.



Mawdoo3.com delivers what people are searching for on search engines and provides direct and accurate answers via its growing library of premium content, penned by subject matter experts. The portals success in auditing all content entries protects its status as a trusted information resource for users, who in turn advocate for the site and activate new users through word of mouth.



Dr Mohammad Jaber, Mawdoo3.coms founder & COO said: Mawdoo3.com has recently been featured in a variety of very established media sources, announcing us as the leading Arabic website. We have been covered by global heavy-hitters including the Associated Press, The New York Times, Washington Post, Daily Mail, ABC, The Independent, Fox, Business Insider, Al-Arabiya and The Jordan Times.



Looking ahead to accelerating the growth of users and views, the portals will enhance its social media presence and will continue to add on more quality content. Mawdoo3.com has also started producing video content and will shortly be launching its mobile app.



DMS chief operation officer Michel Malkoun said: With its exceptional user experience and interface, Mawdoo3.com, which features over 70 Thousand articles and continues to grow, has become the fastest and easiest way for users to reach the information which they need, accessible from any device (PC, Tablet or Mobile). We greatly look forward to future developments from Mawdoo3.com and its ongoing ability to enable brands and advertisers to reach a variety of Arab audiences.  TradeArabia News Service
Assailants shot dead a senior Saudi security officer west of the capital Riyadh on Tuesday, the interior ministry said in a statement carried by state media, and the attack was claimed by the militant Islamic State.



The Western-allied kingdom, the world's top oil exporter, has been hit by a spate of deadly shootings and bombings targeting security forces or its Shi'ite Muslim minority since last year, many of them claimed by Islamic State.



Saudi state news agency SPA quoted an interior ministry spokesman as saying that the officer, Colonel Kitab Majed Al Hammadi, was shot dead in the al-Arja area of al-Dawadimi province west of the Saudi capital.



The spokesman said security authorities were investigating the killing.



Islamic State's Amaq news website said the group's Saudi branch, known as the Nejd Province, carried out the attack and identified Hammadi as the director of internal security in the al-Quwayiyah region.



The Nejd Province group claimed responsibility on Sunday for an explosion next to a police station south of Riyadh that killed one person and damaged police vehicles.-Reuters
Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Monday that he may meet his Saudi Arabian counterpart Ali Al-Naimi before a planned oil producers' meeting in Doha on April 17.



Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, will agree to freeze crude oil production levels only if Iran and other major producers do so, the kingdom's deputy crown prince said in an interview with Bloomberg last week.



"If there is such an opportunity, surely we will talk to our colleagues," he said about a possible meeting with his Saudi Arabian colleague.



Iran has said it will not join fellow Opec and non-Opec members in a plan to be discussed in Doha to freeze oil production to boost prices.



Novak also said he hoped that a common position would prevail at the oil producers' meeting.



"I hope that in this case a common position will prevail during the discussions and all sides will come to an agreement, ... especially given that Iran has confirmed its participation," he said. - Reuters
Turkish Airlines continues to expand its operations in Europe with the addition of Dubrovnik, one of the largest cities in Croatia to its network.



Beginning from May 10, Dubrovnik flights will be operated three times weekly.



Introductory trip fares are available from Istanbul to Dubrovnik starting from $99 and from Dubrovnik to Istanbul $112.7 (99), inclusive of taxes and fees.



Additionally, for the first six months of operation to the new destinations, there is a special offer for Miles&Smiles members, with a 25 per cent reduction in the miles needed to redeem either award tickets or upgrades. - TradeArabia News Service


Wednesday support meetings

Alcoholics Anonymous: 6:30 a.m., 917 N. Beech; 8:30 a.m., 500 S. Wolcott; 10 a.m., 328 E. A St.; noon, 500 S. Wolcott, Ste. 200; 5:09 p.m., 917 N. Beech; 7 p.m., 500 S. Wolcott, Ste. 200; 7 p.m., Glenrock, 615 W. Deer St. (downstairs); 7:30 p.m., 837 E. C St.; 8 p.m., Douglas, 628 S. Richards #5; 8 p.m., 328 1/2 E. A (upstairs), closed; 8:23 p.m., Evansville, 719 3rd, Evansville Christian Church.Unless otherwise noted, all meetings are open. Casper info: 266-9578; Douglas info: (307) 351-1688.

Al-Anon: 7-8 p.m., 500 S. Wolcott, Ste. 200, 12-24 Club for grades 6 and up. Info: 377-7260 or 258-1444; 7 p.m., First United Methodist Church, 302 E. 2nd. Use east entrance, meet downstairs in Room 12.

Narcotics Anonymous: 12 p.m., 500 S. Wolcott, 12-24 Club; 8 p.m., 302 E. 2nd St., Methodist Church, enter east side. Web site: http://www.urmrna.org.

Nicotine Anonymous: Noon, 500 S. Wolcott, 12-24 Club. Info: Pam M., 577-0518; Troy Y., 267-6326.

Wednesday Writers

Would you like to leave a legacy by sharing your memories with the world? Practice writing, share your work and receive constructive feedback from fellow writers at 10 a.m. on the main floor of the Natrona County Library. Call 577-READ ext. 2 or email reference@natronacountylibrary.org for more information.

After School at the Library

Elementary-age students are invited to attend our weekly After School at the Library program at 4 p.m. at the Natrona County Library. This week, Casper College students will host a math carnival featuring snacks, games and prizes! Call 577-READ ext. 122 or email reference@natronacountylibrary.org for more information.

Glenrock culinary fundraiser

A chicken fried steak dinner to raise money for the Glenrock High School culinary team, which will represent Wyoming at nationals in Dallas later this month, is 5 to 8 p.m., at the Rock Bottom Steak House (formerly the Four Aces) downtown Glenrock at the four-way stop. Tickets are $15 for adults for the famous chicken fried steak dinner and $7 for a chicken strip and fries basket. To make a donation to the team by check, send it to Glenrock High School, Wyoming Culinary Team, Box 1300, Glenrock, WY 82637.

Community impact at Pizza Ranch

Pizza Ranch, 5011 E. Second St., hosts Community Impact nights from 5 to 9 p.m. normally on Mondays and Wednesdays. Members of nonprofit groups bus tables for tips, and 20 percent of meal tickets from diners who mention the group are donated as well. Dine-in, delivery or pickup orders qualify. Wednesdays nonprofit is 4H Trail Busters.

Family continues suicide support

Good Grief, Support will continue from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., Wednesdays at the 12-24 Club, 500 S. Wolcott, by request of attendees. The family of J.R. Hunter, who died from suicide in June 2015 began the support before the especially tough holiday season. Anyone who is grieving a suicide, death, or considering suicide is encouraged to attend. Attendance at the meeting, as well as the content, will be strictly confidential.

The Fresh Start Cafe will be open, and you can eat during the meetings. This meeting place was offered by Dan Cantine of the 12-24 Club. You need not be a member to attend.

Veteran Cigar Night

Every Wednesday from 5:30 to 7 p.m., all veterans are invited to Veteran Cigar Night at the Casper Cigar Company, 4717 W. Yellowstone Highway, sponsored by Casper Cigar Company. There is no cost to attend.

This is a time and place for our communitys combat veterans to relax and share their stories with other combat veterans while enjoying a good cigar. Veterans receive 20 percent off cigars. For more information, call Josh Cruse at (307) 337-4400 or josh@caspercigar.com

Chicken fried steak at the Elks

Wednesday Night Special at the Casper Elks Lodge is chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans and corn. All you can eat for $7, children 5 to 12 are $4. Serving from 6 to 7 p.m. or until gone. Members, significant other and guest accompanied by a member. For more information, call 234-4839.

Nutrition open house at CC

The Casper College nutrition program will hold an open house from 6 to 8 p.m. for those interested in nutrition.

This open house is designed to highlight everything about our program including the associate program in nutrition, specific courses offered, outreach, and partnerships, said Kelsey Phillips, environmental science instructor. Those attending will also be able to visit with current students and program graduates, experience the classroom, and have their questions answered regarding the associate degree in nutrition, nutrition and food science courses available, applying to Casper College, financial aid, transfer, and more, Philips added. In addition, the open house will feature activities for children and light refreshments will be served.

The nutrition program open house is free and open to the public and will be held in the Myra Fox Skelton Energy Institute, Room 103 on the Casper College campus.

Auto club meets

Members of the Oil Capitol Auto Club are reminded and encouraged to attend the Memorial Day Car Show meeting to be held at Stan and Judys house. The meeting will start at 6:30 p.m. as usual. All members and interested parties are urged to attend as volunteers are always welcome, as are committee heads. For any questions or further information please contact Jerry Barton at 251-1377.

Long Island Medium at Events Center

Theresa Caputo, from TLCs hit show, Long Island Medium, will be appearing live at the Casper Events Center at 7:30 p.m. Theresa will share personal stories about her life and explain how her gift works. She will deliver healing messages to audience members and give people comfort knowing that their loved ones who passed are still with them, just in a different way.

Tickets can be purchased at caspereventscenter.com, 800.442.2256, or the Casper Events Center Box Office. Tickets start at $39.75 (plus applicable service charges) and are subject to change. Purchasing a ticket does not guarantee a reading.

The Experience brings Theresa face-to-face with her fans, as she lets spirit guide her through the audience. A video display ensures everyone in the venue has an up-close-hands-on experience regardless of seat location. The experience isnt about believing in mediums. Its about witnessing something life-changing, says Theresa Caputo. Its like Long Island Medium live, witnessing first-hand spirit communication.

Reserve for Forum luncheon

Meeting in conjunction with the Democratic Partys County Convention on Saturday, the Democratic Womens Forum luncheon will be held as usual at the Casper Petroleum Club at 12:30 p.m. For further information, or to make reservations for the luncheon, please call Jerre at 234-8625 by Wednesday. Forum luncheons are open to all interested in attending, regardless of gender.

Democrats may attend the luncheon whether or not they are attending the convention, which is convening at the nearby Events Center that morning. Guest speaker at the luncheon will be University of Wyoming associate professor Dr. Andrew Garner.

Luncheon and the program may be enjoyed by both forum members and those attending the convention. Forum members may intend to take part in the convention also, or they may wish to attend the luncheon only. The luncheon charge will remain the same at $15, to include tax and gratuity.
The president of Wyoming Catholic College will step down in May, after a three-year tenure that involved a lawsuit against the state over the Affordable Care Act.

Kevin Roberts announced his decision Friday, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family. He will move to Texas to take a position at the Texas Public Policy Foundation.

Roberts was a vocal opponent of big government and argued that the First Amendment was intended to protect the church from the state.

During Roberts time at the head of Wyomings only private, four-year college, the school became known for its fierce protection of religious freedoms, refusing government financial aid for its students and opposing the Affordable Health Care Acts mandate to provide contraceptive coverage to employees.

Wyoming Catholic College was one of many Catholic organizations in the state that sued the Wyoming Department of Health and Human Services over the Affordable Care Acts order.

The school was founded in 2003 by a Catholic priest. Roberts was the second president in the schools history. When hired in 2013, the native Louisianan said that he hoped Wyoming would be his familys home for decades.

He has accepted a position on the colleges board of directors but will be moving to Texas to serve as the executive vice president at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, which promotes individual liberties, according to its website.

Roberts said in his speech Friday that he hoped his work at the foundation would help the country, the church and Wyoming Catholic College.

The colleges board selected Glenn Arbery, the schools academic dean, as interim president.

Arbery said he would focus on growing the colleges presence as a unique Catholic institution.

Nowhere else does a Great Books curriculum build upon the experience of wonder in the outdoors and incorporate training in leadership, he said in a statement. I look forward to leading this excellent institution that my wife and I have come to love so deeply.
A federal appeals court is rejecting an effort by a Salt Lake City man to overturn his conviction for bilking investors in a fraudulent wind farm business, just days after rejecting a similar appeal from the mans sister.

The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver on Monday rejected the latest appeal from Robert Arthur Reed of Salt Lake City.

Reed is serving a 12-year federal sentence at a prison in Texas after pleading guilty in 2013 to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and conspiracy to launder money.

The same appeals court on Friday dismissed the latest challenge filed by Reeds sister, Lauren Elizabeth Scott of Morgan, Utah. Shes serving a federal prison sentence in California of nearly five years after pleading guilty in 2013 to charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering.

Prosecutors have said investors nationwide lost more than $4.4 million after investing in what they were told were wind farm projects in Wyoming and South Dakota. In fact, prosecutors have said, there were no wind farms and investors lost their money.

According to court records, Reed and others acquired land near Casper and in Butte County, S.D., to satisfy investors that construction of the promised wind farms was moving forward. They put up signs at the South Dakota site and took pictures of contractors they hired to push dirt around to make it appear construction was ongoing, prosecutors have said.

Following Reeds guilty pleas, U.S. District Judge Scott Skavdahl of Casper sentenced him to prison in August 2013.

At sentencing, Skavdahl called Reed a manipulative person and said it was clear he served as puppeteer, directing others how to perpetuate the massive fraud.

Despite pleading guilty, Reed wasted little time after his sentencing before filing court pleadings attacking his convictions. Court records show hes filed eight separate appeals with the Denver court, in addition to other challenges in federal court in Wyoming.

Reed maintains that investors had agreed to lend money to the wind farm enterprise for three years and say no crime was committed before he was arrested before the three-year term had run its course.

Earlier this year, Reed filed a federal lawsuit against Skavdahl in federal court in Wyoming, claiming that the judge had committed fraud and misappropriated millions of dollars by ordering federal prosecutors to seize cash, real estate and other assets from Reed and other defendants. Skavdahls office recently declined comment on Reeds lawsuit against the judge.

U.S. District Judge Nancy Freudenthal of Cheyenne dismissed Reeds suit against Skavdahl last month, ruling the judge was immune from the suit.

Neither Reed nor Scott, whos serving time in a federal prison in California, is represented by lawyers in their recent appeals.

The U.S. Attorneys Office in Cheyenne prosecuted both Reed and Scott and has filed responses to their many appeals. Office spokesman John Powell declined comment Monday.
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Democratic presidential hopeful, is the candidate most concerned about the gap between the rich and poor and the declining middle class, his wife Jane Sanders told a group during a Monday night town hall meeting in downtown Casper.

Jane Sanders, a community organizer and former college president, spoke to about 120 people at The Wolcott Galleria.

She met her husband 35 years ago while working with low-income residents of Burlington, Vermont, and organizing a mayoral debate. He was a political newcomer who ultimately won the race.

He still embodies everything Ive ever believed in, she said. Hes never let me down. Hes never let the people of Vermont down.

The Sanders campaign event came hours after Bill Clinton campaigned for his wife in Cheyenne. Bernie Sanders is expected to speak Tuesday night at a rally in Laramie. The Democratic candidates are vying for delegates from Wyoming. The Wyoming Democratic Party county caucuses are Saturday.

Many attendees wore T-shirts and buttons in support of her husband and applauded when she spoke about Bernies plans for free college and trade schools, single-payer health care and increasing the minimum wage to $15 an hour. The format was a town hall meeting. Attendees asked about a variety of topics, from her husbands views on drugs  Bernie believes marijuana should be removed from the list of Schedule I drugs and states should choose how far they want to loosen its prohibition  to the gender pay-gap  Bernie believes in equal pay for equal work and supports paid maternal and family leave. Casper City Councilman Shawn Johnson, the only person who approached the microphone and identified as a conservative Republican, touched on the recent layoffs of nearly 500 coal miners in northeast Wyoming.

Jane Sanders expressed sympathy for the miners and described Sanders plan to retrain them. That includes $41 billion over the next decade to transition workers from the fossil fuel industry. The package would ensure miners maintain the same level of wages, pension and health care while obtaining job training and vocational skills -- perhaps on the side while they worked in fossil fuels  and to invest in the revitalization of coal communities through improving broadband and infrastructure. The $41 million would come from closing tax loopholes.

Hes very clear he wants to move away from fossil fuels, she said.

Visit trib.com this evening for news from the Sanders rally.
DENVER  Prosecutors have charged a man accused of starting an apartment building fire that injured 11 people in Denver.

The Denver District Attorney's Office announced Monday that 57-year-old Kenneth Shepard is facing one count of first-degree arson and twelve counts of fourth-degree arson stemming from the March 27 fire at the Federal View Apartments. He is due in court Wednesday.

Eleven people, including two infants, went to the hospital, where two patients were initially listed in critical condition.

Residents said hallways of the 26-unit building were filled with thick smoke. Some witnesses say a woman threw a baby from a third-floor window to people below.

Investigators say Shepard jumped out a window and ran before he was arrested.

Booking documents do not indicate his he has hired an attorney.
M. Scot Skinner was one of the first people Tucson actress Annette Hillman met when she moved to town in 1990.

He was someone that in some ways made her shudder  he was six years into what turned out to be a nearly 30-year career as theater and arts critic with the Arizona Daily Star.

Skinner never reviewed any of Hillmans plays, which she said probably preserved their friendship. She was one of Skinners regular plus-ones when he reviewed movies, plays and concerts over the years.

We would go to places together and see the show and stuff and then we would end up in the car and we would spend hours talking. Thats what I am going to miss the most, Hillman said hours after Skinner died late Sunday at Banner-University of Arizona Medical Center from an antibiotic-resistant bacterial infection. He was 54 and had been hospitalized for three weeks.

I thought the most interesting story that Scot had to write, which he hadnt written yet, was the story of his life, the Chicago native said.

Anyone who ever met Scot has a favorite memory about him. He had a big personality  smart and funny and caring  that drew people in. All of that showed in his writing for the Star, said Star Editor Bobbie Jo Buel.

Skinner was born in Safford on Aug. 8, 1961, the oldest of four children. When his parents divorced, his mother, Betsy Rhudy, moved the family to Tucson, where Skinner attended Catalina High School.

He attended the University of Arizona, but dropped out in his senior year after landing a job at the Star.

He was brilliant and exuberant. He had great language skills, great writing skills, said John Peck, the former managing editor who hired Skinner in 1984. He was always looking for things to write about in a really wonderful way. I wanted him to do theater criticism.

Peck, who left the Star in 1990 and is now presiding judge at the Ajo Justice Court, sent Skinner to the National Critics Institute for a month-long theater criticism boot camp.

He came back and he was a very wonderful critic. He had a great humaneness to him, Peck said. Often in journalism, journalists put themselves in a position of being a little above things. Scot was never that type of journalist. He was personable, he was witty, he was funny and he really cared about what he was writing about.

Former Star editor and restaurant critic Colette Bancroft recalled how Skinner would work on two stories simultaneously, toggling between two computer screens. He would write a paragraph or two of one story, then pop over to the second. Back and forth, back and forth, until both were finished.

That sort of spoke to his energy and how his mind worked, said Bancroft, who left the Star in 1995 to work for the Tampa Bay Times in Florida. As an editor I really trusted him as a critic. He really had good judgment and mature judgments.

In addition to covering theater, Skinner also covered music and movies. One of his early starstruck moments came when he did a face-to-face interview with Tucson native Linda Ronstadt in Los Angeles in 1987.

I was starstruck, nervous and not very skilled. (Alfredo) Araiza, the photographer who accompanied me, saved my butt several times by jumping in and asking perfect questions (he knew more than me about her and the music), Skinner recalled in a late 2013 blog post on his website (mscotskinner.com). My story, which came up short in every way, came out the following Sunday. Bob Cauthorn, my smarty-pants colleague, complimented me anyway and then told me a dozen things I should have done. He was right, of course.

On Monday Lee Skinner recalled his brothers sense of humor and deep compassion and sensitivity.

He was somebody who had an incredible affinity to feel for others, he said. He would make friends with an enormous slice of life, and they were all equally important to him. He managed to keep and maintain friendships in a way I never could.

Lee Skinner said the family was last together at Thanksgiving when they had a reunion in Las Vegas, one of many trips Scot Skinner took with his mother. After he left the Star in 2011, he freelanced public relations and taught journalism for the past three years at Pima Community College.

Its just hard to imagine life without him right now, Rhudy said. I really cant believe it yet.

In addition to his mother and brother, Skinner is survived by his stepfather, Walter Rhudy; his brother Dustin Skinner of Tucson; and his brother-in-law Levent Ileri of Maryland. He is predeceased by his sister, Shelly Skinner, and father, Melvin Skinner.
BURNETT, Charles Fritz passed away peacefully on March 31, 2016 in his home. Charles was born to David Pierpont and Julia Omega (Speckman) Burnett on March 17, 1948 in Portales, NM. He lived with his parents and younger brothers, David and Robert on a peanut farm two miles north of Portales. He moved to Tucson, AZ after graduating from Eastern New Mexico University in Portales. Charles graduated from Eastern in 1970 with a degree in chemistry. Charles worked at the Duval Cooper mine near Green Valley, AZ, now known as Freeport-McMoRan. Shortly after he was hired, the army drafted Charles. He served for two years in Germany before returning to Arizona. His career as a chemist involved analyzing ore samples to determine the location of the best quality. Charles retired as the Chief Chemist. Charles' true passion was fishing, hunting, and camping with friends and family. His favorite place to camp and hunt was Point of Pines, AZ. He looked forward to his trips to Alaska to fish for salmon and halibut. He also enjoyed fishing in Arizona, Montana, and New Mexico. He was even able to make a fishing trip to Lake Roosevelt with his brother, David, at the beginning of last week. Charles was always ready to help his family and friends. He, without hesitation, opened his home for two and a half years to his brother, David, and family while they waited for their house in sell in Kansas. Tucson felt like home to them instantly because of Charles' unconditional love and big heart. His family and friends love him dearly and he will be remembered fondly. From his unforgettable laugh to his warm presence, Charles touched the lives of so many people around him. He is survived by his brothers, David Burnett and Robert Burnett; his sister-in-law, Renee Burnett; his nieces, Julia Burnett and Stefanie Keefe; his nephew-in-law, James Keefe, and great niece and nephew, Zoey and Amari Keefe, respectively. Life was better because of him and will not be the same without him. Memorials can be made in Charles' name to Ducks Unlimited or a charity of your choice. Arrangements by BRING'S BROADWAY CHAPEL.
The tough life started early for John P. Ringo.

He was born on May 3, 1850, in Wayne County, Indiana. In 1864, while the Civil War raged, his family headed from Missouri to California. Along the trail his father accidentally shot himself to death.

When Ringo, his sisters and his mother arrived in San Jose, California, they stayed for a time at the home of Coleman Younger, who was married to John Ringos aunt and was uncle to the notorious Younger brothers, who rode with Jesse and Frank James.

Ringo was not formally educated, but some evidence suggests that he was well-read and had better manners than other outlaws of his time.

According to family lore, he became a heavy drinker and left home at age 19. He drifted to Texas, where he had relatives.

In 1875, in Mason County, Texas, he partnered with Scott Cooley during one of Texas many feuds, this one known as the Hoodoo War. The hostilities started when a group of citizens lynched four people for rustling cattle, then escalated into two years of murder and destruction. During this time Ringo was involved in the killing of Charley Bader and a gambler named James Cheyney, but he appears to have avoided any significant jail time for his involvement.

In 1877, Ringo was incarcerated in Travis County, Texas, with a number of well-known outlaws, including John Wesley Hardin. But the following year, at least according to one source, he began a short stint as constable in Loyal Valley, Texas.

Ringos first appearance of record in the Arizona Territory was when he was accused of attempting to kill Louis Hancock for refusing to have a drink with him in a saloon in Safford on Dec. 14, 1879. While out on bail for the Hancock shooting, he shot himself in the foot and was forced to write the Pima County sheriff to explain his inability to appear before a grand jury. In July 1880 he was part of a violent spree in Safford that included Ike Clanton and others.

Legend has it that he was involved in many other criminal incidents, but there isnt much evidence to support these beliefs. However, one such incident did occur on Aug. 5, 1881 in Galeyville, Arizona Territory, a town on the east side of the Chiricahua Mountains.

Ringo lost all his money in a poker game that day, but  determined to come out ahead one way or another  he returned to the table and took $500 in cash from the players.

After the effects of alcohol wore off, he returned the ill-gotten gains to their rightful owners. He was still arrested by William Breakenridge, a deputy sheriff, but was soon released.

Although he was connected with the Clantons, he managed to avoid most of the Earp-Clanton troubles in Cochise County until after the shootout at the OK Corral on Oct. 26, 1881. On Jan. 17, 1882, he confronted Doc Holliday, a friend of the Earps, on Allen Street in Tombstone and offered to shoot it out with him. Both men were disarmed before any shots were fired.

At some point, Ringo returned to San Jose, but received an unwelcome reception from his family. Demoralized, he returned to Arizona and started drinking even heavier than he had in the past. On July 14, 1882 he was found dead, apparently of suicide.
For 30 years, Bruce Dinges has been on the hunt for a story.

And not just any story.

As editor of the Arizona Historical Societys quarterly publication The Journal of Arizona History, Dinges wants to read something meaningful about the state.

Unlike academic journals, were really geared toward narrative history and memoirs, so Im looking for something that has a compelling story, but Im also looking for something that has something new to say about Arizona, casts an old story in a new light or reveals something that I didnt know before, says Dinges, 68.

In the three decades that he has held the position, Dinges estimates he has published more than 500 articles. Over that time, his staff his shriveled from three full-time and two part-time employees to just him  challenging but doable because of technology.

The next challenge is establishing an online presence, he says.

When you start a job, 30 years seems impossible, says Dinges, who has also been executive director of the Arizona History Convention since 1993. But now it seems like it has gone by in a blink of an eye.

Monday night, the Tucson Corral of the Westerners honored Dinges for his 30-year editorship at its monthly dinner meeting. Each month the group of history lovers gathers for a meal and to discuss projects and research related to the American West.

Dinges joined the Tucson chapter, or corral, of Westerners International not long after moving to Tucson in 1978. In his 30s, he was one of the youngest members.

He would later serve as the corrals sheriff, or leader, for both the Tucson and Tucson-Adobe corrals and the whole of Westerners International.

He doesnt seek the limelight or trumpet his own accomplishments and is extremely low-key and down to earth, says James Klein, another past sheriff. I dont know how many aspiring authors and contributors have benefited from his input. He gives them tips and ideas and references and suggestions and never takes credit for himself.

Dinges considers himself a bridge between the writer and the journals audience.

Im not being modest at all, but its not actually about me, he says. My job is to select the best articles I possibly can and then to work with the authors to make sure that I get the best out of them that they are capable of giving.

Dinges interest in history began when he was a child on an Illinois farm. He remembers his aunt had a boarder in her 90s who shared meals and stories with the family.

When she was a little girl, her dad came home one day and got her mother and her and took her down to the train station to see President Lincolns coffin as it came through on the train, Dinges says. And that just stuck with me, because I knew someone who saw Lincoln, not on a better day, but still, it shows you how close it is.

Always a reader, Dinges tore through a kids series of biographies on famous Americans. His interest grew as a teenager, during the Civil War centennial and the significance of Lincoln to Illinois.

He wrote his dissertation at Rice University in Houston on the Civil War career of Benjamin H. Grierson.

The completion of graduate school brought him to Tucson for a job as the assistant editor of the University of Arizonas publication Arizona and the West (now Journal of the Southwest). After eight years there, he applied for his position at the Journal of Arizona History.

The Journal has a wide appeal, says June Caldwell Martin, a former Arizona Daily Star reporter and retired writer of the Southern Arizona Authors column. It can be popular and very specific, and its always accurate. This is a skill not many editors have, to take a subject and take a book and turn it into something that will have a wide range of interest.

Dinges and Martin began working together in 1987 when Dinges joined the panel for Southwest Books of the Year, a guide to fiction and nonfiction set in the Southwest that grew out of a shopping special Martin organized for the Star in the late 1970s.

He has just been a brick, Martin says. You can just count on Bruce for whatever you need him for, and you can count on the fact that he will do an excellent job and leave no stone unturned.

The Pima County Public Library now runs Southwest Books of the Year, and Dinges guesses he still reads about 60 books each year as a panelist.

He has also edited and published about two dozen books with the Arizona Historical Society, along with a book on Grierson. For Arizonas centennial, he, along with six others, put together Arizona 100: A Centennial Gathering of Essential Books on the Grand Canyon State.

Somehow he still makes time for pleasure reading.

Its funny, if you went back and looked at the Journal, it wouldnt tell you much about what my tastes are, Dinges says.

It would tell you about what people are studying and how they approach topics.

He has seen the emphasis change from cowboys and Indians and outlaws to environmental history and ethnic experiences. This broad view affects the way he sees modern-day Arizona.

Im probably more optimistic than most about the future of Arizona, Dinges says, pointing to the states rich cultural, ethnic and racial diversity. There is a certain frontier spirit here. People want to be left alone, but they also want to work things out one way or another. But part of that depends on cultivating an understanding of the states history and appeal.

Nowadays, where we are members of a global community and attached to our iPhones, I think with a sense of place you just live a much richer and fuller life, he says. You just have to watch the sunset tonight ... and you know why people come here.
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.
Federal attorneys are investigating how the states largest county conducted the Presidential Preference Election even as the states top election official insisted Monday she could not have done anything differently ahead of the March 22 vote.

Chris Herren, chief of the voting section of the Department of Justice, told Maricopa County Recorder Helen Purcell in a letter Friday that his agency is trying to determine if there were violations of the federal Voting Rights Act, which prohibits states from making changes in election procedures that discriminate against minorities.

None of that affects the states 14 other counties. But Secretary of State Michele Reagan, in formally announcing the results of the primary Monday, said she was powerless to deal with the problems that resulted statewide. That includes not only long voting lines at some polling places, but that thousands of voters claim they were reregistered as political independents without their consent. Reagan said that appears to stem from situations where Republicans, Democrats and Green Party members updated their addresses on a website linked to the state Motor Vehicle Division but did not affirmatively say they want to remain with their party.

You would think that the system would say, Well, youre just changing your address so Im going to keep you as a Green Party member and Im going to keep you on PEVL, she said, referring to the permanent early voting list of people who automatically get ballots by mail ahead of each election.

Reagan said its not programmed that way. And the result is those who updated their addresses were reclassified as independents.

Reagan sidestepped the larger question of whether she, as the states chief elections officer, should have questioned Maricopa County ahead of the March 22 vote on whether it was violating the Voting Rights Act by setting up just 60 polling places.

A 2013 Supreme Court ruling eliminated the requirement of the Voting Rights Act that Arizona and a handful of other states with a history of discrimination had to get pre-clearance from the Department of Justice before changing election laws and procedures. That includes changing the number and location of polling places.

The underlying federal law, however, remains in place. But Reagan said she has no official authority to force counties to change their procedures.

Still, Reagan said that perhaps it is her role to at least speak up publicly.

In the letter to Purcell, Herren asked how she determined to have just 60 polling places and where they would go. Potentially more significant, he wants to know whether the county ever looked at how its decision to sharply trim the number of polling places would affect minority groups.

Four years ago, when only the Republicans had a contested race, there were more than 200 places to cast a ballot. And in 2008, when both parties had presidential primaries, there were more than 400 polling places.

The Department of Justice also wants any information Purcell has about people who believe they were incorrectly reregistered as independents.

In his complaint to the Department of Justice, Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton said Phoenix, a majority-minority city, got one polling location for every 108,000 residents. But he said Anglo communities like Paradise Valley had one polling place for every 13,000 residents; the towns of Cave Creek and Carefree got one polling place for 8,500 residents.

Stanton said this isnt just a Maricopa County issue, saying there is a culture of voter disenfranchisement in this state.

He cited the new law, pushed by Reagan, to make it a felony for volunteers to pick up and turn in someone elses ballot. Stanton said that law aims to suppress voter turnout.

On Monday, Reagan backed away from her statement on Saturday that she sent Janine Petty, her deputy elections director, to the governors office on election day to collect unmailed early ballots. The law making it a felony has not yet taken effect and Reagan contends she and her staff are exempt.

Reagan did not dispute personally going to the governors office  one floor above her 7th floor office  on election day to inquire about unmailed ballots.

Reagan now says she sent Petty up to the governors office solely to inform people in the Executive Tower that ballots could be brought to her office. And Reagan said her comment to Capitol Media Services on Saturday that the person who went upstairs to collect things from the eighth floor was Janine Petty is now an inoperative statement.
Help India!

By M. Noushand for TwoCircles.net

A.G. Noorani is a famous author of history books and a lawyer at Supreme Court of India. He recently visited Calicut to receive CH Muhammed Koya Foundation Award for eminent writers. He talked to M Noushad.

Support TwoCircles



You are a regular reviewer of history books. How do you assess the academic quality of history writing in India in comparison and contrast with the history projects in foreign countries, especially the west?

Most of the history writing in India is dazed with nationalism; the history of the freedom struggle minimizes the role of everyone except Gandhi, Nehru and Patel. The role of great nationalists like Maulana Mohammad Ali, MA Ansari, Hakim Ajmal Khan and many others is ignored. Even Maulana Azad is not acknowledged as much he deserves. It feels like the freedom movement began with Gandhi. Gandhi came only in the second decade of the 20th century. The freedom movement was built up by, let us say, Raja Ram Mohan Roy to begin with. Leaders like Dadabai Navaroji and Surendra Nadh Banerji were there. Who talks about Badaruddin Tyabji? He had a very interesting debate with Sir Syed Ahmed Khan on why Muslims should join the Congress. I have written a biography of Tyabji, which is published by the publication division of India. There were many great leaders.

In Indian history writing, I am afraid, there is no critical scrutiny. There is either idolatry or denigration. Both are wrong. There must be informed and documented criticism.

Is this subjective history writing caused by Indians natural tendency for hero worshipping?

Thats right. There is a lot of Bhakti and cult of Bhakti in India. But in Pakistan it is much worse, though I must tell you that terms are changing in Pakistan. They published some criticism of mine in Pakistan on Jinnah and a book I have written on Jinnah will be published before long.

Muhammed Ali Jinnah has been debated in Indian media even now. The founding father of Pakistan is haunting BJP for quite some time. Why do you think Hindutva leaders like LK Advani and Jaswant Singh are attracted to Jinnah?

Both Advani and Jaswant are motivated. Lal Krishna Advani was advised that if you praise Jinnah, youll get a moderate image. Advani is a rank opportunist; he praised Jinnah, not because he believed it; even not to please Pakistanis but to have an image in India. Jaswant Singhs book seemed to me absolutely lacking objectivity. Of course, he has departed from the national consensus that Jinnah doesnt mean much. His book doesnt deserve any comment.

One important thing is that the people who either praise Jinnah or attack Jinnah should submit themselves to a careful scrutiny of records on Jinnah. For example, the two-nation theory: he said the Muslim homelands are in Punjab, frontier and all that. What about Kerala? Islam first came to Kerala, and its believed that the first mosque here was built in the time of the prophet himself. Is it not a homeland? I am a Bombay man. Is not Bombay my homeland? Two-nation theory was built on falsehood, that these are homelands because you are in majority. Remember, there is homeland for Hindus also. There is greater respect for minorities in India that there has ever been in Pakistan.

As far as Muhammed Ali Jinnah is concerned, I am afraid, both Indian and Pakistani historians have agreed on one thing: Jinnah was politically born in 1940s when he demanded partition. There was a great Jinnah before that  from 1906 to 1936. In 38-39, he was treated shabbily by Gandhi as well as Nehru. And he became bitter. That shabby treatment doesnt justify bitterness. The fact remains that he did much harm to India, he harmed the Muslim community in India. However, people dont realize that he harmed Pakistan also. Because, the Kashmir settlement was possible on the 1st of November 1947 when Mountbatton offered a plebiscite in Kashmir and Hyderabad. Jinnah was very fond of Hyderabad and he refused. Had he done that there would have been no cold war between India and Pakistan; everything would have been settled there. Sardar Patel was prepared and Nehru would have been prepared, had he but agreed to plebiscite in Hyderabad. This is Jinnahs shortsightedness. There is a couplet by Ghalib: Lazim nahi ke Khizer ki ham payravi karen, jana ke ek buzurg hame humsafar mile. It is not necessary that we should worship the wise man Khizer, but realize that he was the companion on the journey. So we must treat all the elders with respect, but we must take them to critical scrutiny.

While dissecting the role of Indian nationalist leaders in partition, do you think Indian historians have been honest? A typical and very common style is blaming Jinnah and the British.

Very many of our historians are either absolutely dishonest or simply opportunistic. You see the point is, in India, the State controls the universities. The State has a grip over the institutions of learning, the so-called think tanks  some of them may be autonomous by name  and other centres of research. You cant invite foreign scholars for conferences without clearance from the Home Ministry, as well as the External Affairs Ministry. This is particularly strong on certain sensitive things, like Kashmir.

We must honestly acknowledge the historic role played by our leaders in partition. Ill give you an instance: when there was a proposal for United Bengal, there was an agreement drawn out between Sarat Chandra Bose, the elder brother of Subhash Chandra Bose and HS Suhurawardi, the League Chief Minister of United Bengal. They say well neither join Pakistan nor India. It was sabotaged by Gandhi, Nehru and Patel. Gandhi demanded terms for Hindus in Bengal which he would not have considered for Muslims in United India. Thats history. I respect Gandhi as he knew that he was playing with his life. He chose the path of martyrdom and I salute him as a martyr for the protections of Muslims. But his historical mistakes should be realized. They all realized their mistakes. Jinnah praised secularism in his famous speech in 1947 August; Nehru fought for Muslims after partition. Nehru was secular as the word go. But his secularism had a funny Marxist twist. He said there are no religious differences in India, there are economic differences. So, if you solve the economic problems, religious problems will also be solved. He was wrong. People in our country, irrespective of their economic status, are conscious of religious identities. We have to attempt to address that emotion as well as economic problems. Nehru was consistently secular, Patel was not. Patel was rabidly communal, I use the word rabidly. He even attacked the integrity of Maulana Azad in December 1947.







AG Noorani with Barkha Dutt in Kerala to receive CH Muhammed Koya Foundation Award for eminent writers.



You mentioned Kashmir. You have written that the self-rule should be linked to the constitution and the cry for Azadi needs a sound response.

Kashmir is a sensitive issue. The fact is that the people of Kashmir are totally alienated. But as Prof. Hiren Mukherji said, even the best of us do not realize the depth of alienation. After a weeks stay I returned from Kashmir, only two days back. I can tell you that the alienation there is total. Even people who make pro-Indian noises admit that there is alienation. At the same time, its not that the people want to go to Pakistan. The pro-Pakistani settlement has declined. They talk of Azadi in a vague way. Azadi really means independence.

But I think we should give them the self-rule within the Indian union. You cannot settle this unilaterally, we need to involve Pakistan also. The Musharraf formula broadly was acceptable to New Delhi. It sounded mainly total self-rule to both parts of Kashmir, subject to central linking. A kind of joint mechanism involving two parts of Kashmir. The Line of Control (LoC) is to be opened up completely. As Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh said, its a line on the map. So there would be movement of goods, men and literature; demilitarization would come only after settlement. Here I must attribute to Dr. Manmohan Singh. I do not believe that Mr. Vajpayee was at all sincere in this matter; and he was head-locked. Otherwise he wouldnt have held the Agra summit. Dr. Singh is sincere, but Pakistan let him down by the Bombay blast in 2006, then by the clumsy handling of judiciary crisis by Musharraf. In Mumbai blast Pakistan has to give a full account to India.

I must say that Dr. Singh is sincere in his Kashmir interventions in spite of the problems he faces from his colleagues in the cabinet and members in the party.

But the valley is still erupting with violence, especially after the Shopian tragedy.

The point is justice. Do you remember the people of Nepal erupted with violence over Hritik Roshan affair? They had nothing against Hritik Roshan. But India had handled it and continues to handle it in a very clumsy fashion. India had always been bad at behavior with neighbors. Look at Sri Lanka. Who armed the LTTE? We have to answer this. You know LTTE used to issue communication from Chennai on their offences here and there. India did that in Bangladesh. We have not been innocent in many things. I mean the Pakistani charges against us may not be correct. And certainly Pakistan has a lot to answer for, including the blast in Indian embassy in Kabul. I am sure certain elements in Pakistan are responsible for it, then you have the crime of Mumbai. Even if the attackers were non-State actors, Pakistan cant escape from its responsibility.

Youve been a very strong defender of secularism for a long time, especially during the BJP regimes fascist interventions. What do you think would be the task ahead for the civilian society  including Hindus, Muslims and Christians  to undertake in the fight for Indias pluralism?

Well, it has to be in both ways: the majority community has to show greater understanding of Muslims and other minorities. But the Muslims in turn, must discard the leadership of fake self-styled leaders. You take the case of Syed Shahabuddin. He has done enormous harm to the Muslim community. I had great hopes for him, as he was an educated man on the foreign services; but he has turned out to be a complete disappointment. For example, on the Babari Masjid, when he set up the action committee of Muslims, he asked for a boycott of official functions, including the Republic Day. The point is that you alienated the vast majority of non-Muslims. The best research on Babari Masjids history, archeology and law was done by non-Muslims. Whats the contribution of Muslim leaders? Nothing. All that they have done is that they promoted themselves. After 1992, Shahabuddins leadership has completely collapsed. He broke from Janata Dal and couldnt cooperate with any other party. I am sorry for wasting time discussing this; I just want to show how Muslim leadership engages with sensitive issues.

The Babari Masjid was protected by an act of Indian Parliament as a heritage structure, an ancient monument. We should have taken a secular stand as the word go. There is a mosque and there is the chabutara. Let them build a temple on the chabutara, I have collected and published documents on Babari Masjid, I have studied it.

What the Muslim leaders should remember is that there are no separate electorates. Weve joint electorate and everybody has to seek vote from everybody. Even BJP has to seek vote from Muslims, thats why they have people like Shahnawaz Khan and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi. They all need your votes. If you allow yourselves to be led by leaders who have no concern for you, then nobody cant help it.

In Kerala, you have Muslim League, which is rooted in this soil. It was not a plant imported as per the orders of Liaqat or Jinnah. The local leaders in Kerala like Syed Bafaqi Tangal and CH Muhammed Koya could connect the party with Congress and take it to mainstream politics. Thats a very constructive point. Kerala is a blessing that youve temple, mosque and church in the same street and different communities live together.

After his disastrous involvement in partition, the last message Jinnah gave to Muslims in India was not to engage in unnecessary fights with Hindus. He asked to concentrate on education, technology, business, industry so that there is a hopeful future. And while setting up educational campuses, I think, they must not be isolated. Living in ghettos will make you perish. For the survival of Indian pluralism, Muslims must bring in Hindu students, Hindu teachers and cooperate with the State in building up these centres.

The only people who tried to create difference in Indian mind are RSS and BJP. Many riot enquiry commissions have found that they have been inciting hatred and violence in majority communitys mindset. Since partition to 1961, there was hardly any riot. It began with Jabalpur riots, then in Bhiwandi, Jamshedpur, Ahmedabad, countless other cities. There has been no end.

Dont you think the Congress was unsuccessful in controlling the communal violence, and thus they too are responsible?

Absolutely, yes. The Congress is opportunistic and Ill tell you the Babri Masjid would not have been demolished without the complicity of that dishonest man PV Narasimha Rao. He knew what is happening and he complied. And so did SB Chavan. But where were those Muslim leaders in the cabinet? People like Salman Khurshid and Ghulam Nabi Azad, the contractors who take Muslims responsibility?

The 2009 Lok Sabha results apparently showed that the power and charisma of BJP are fading away. How do you assess the future of BJP as a party?

BJPs future depended entirely on two mens partnership: Lal Krishna Advani and Atal Behari Vajpayee. Vajpayee is a man of many qualities, I am sorry he is unwell. Advani is totally, completely discredited. Now he is fighting to retrieve the position. But his credibility is gone. In 1991, he won the New Delhi constituency by narrow margin. He was certain to lose from New Delhi, but there was a lady called Manju Mohan, the wife of Janata Party leader Surendra Mohan, who foolishly contested elections only to split the anti-BJP vote. Had she not stood, Advani would not have won even by the narrow majority. That damage to his prestige apparently caused him to take up Radh Yatra again. He is an utterly unprincipled man, he has waged through human blood, he destroyed a heritage building, he created communal tension and some of the Muslim leaders played into his hand.







Do you think the current crisis in BJP is an organizational one or ideological?

It is a fatal illness; the young leaders hate one another more than they hate the Congress. The BJP may not remain as a core, but remember even before partition there was an anti-Muslim constituency in the country, after partition it got aggravated by riots, Babari Masjid, Shyama Parasad Mukharji and immature Muslim behavior.

BJP began its march in 1989 with Babri Masjid. It has been played out; 20 years later it is finished. The point is that the Hindus are a great people. They have produced great men who fought even their own community for their principles: men like Jayaprakash Narayan and Jawaharlal Nehru. You would not find such men in Pakistan or Bangladesh.

Though there are several setbacks for BJP in Hindi heartlands and even in Maharashtra in recent elections, new outfits of Hindutva are active: like Sri Ram Sena in South Canara, Sanathan Sanstha who managed blasts in Goa. And Gujarat is still ruled by Narendra Modi.

The BJP represents a constituency. That constituency existed even before independence. Men like Lala Lajpat Rai, Madan Mohan Malaviya, Bipin Chandra Pal and several other leaders were people who were inciting Hindutva. You study the politics of Malaviya and Goonje. RSS was born in 1925. In fact the first person who advocated partition of India was Lala Lajpat Rai. He did that in 1924. Savarkar wrote his essay on Hindutva in the same year and in 1939 he demanded Hindu nation. Later only the Muslim League reacted. Jinnah was such a fierce nationalist that he was constantly opposed for that reason by Punjabi Muslim leaders like Muhammed Shafi and Aga Khan. Jinnah was in those days, a mediator between Hindus and Muslims. Unfortunately the Hindus let him down and he became an advocate of Muslim rights. He took some of the further steps to acquire Muslim support. Nehru was the man who told the Cabinet Mission Plan that Jinnah had no place in this country. He said this in 1946. So how would you expel him form the country? Partition was the answer. Jinnah was prepared for the Cabinet Mission Plan, on Indian unity. Not only Nehru, Gandhi also sabotaged it. Vallabhai Patel sabotaged it. The only man who wanted the Plan to succeed was Maulana Azad. He knew that partition would ruin the country and the Muslims.

[All photos by Rajan Karimoola/Madhyamam]


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New Delhi : The Delhi government will soon send 90 school principals to Cambridge University for an education leadership training exercise, as part of its teachers training initiative.

At first, 90 principals will be sent to Cambridge University in three batches. This education leadership programme will span over 10 days, a government official said.

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The move came after two Cambridge University officials  Jaydeep Prabhu and Harold Chi  met Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who also holds the education portfolio, at the Delhi Secretariat on Monday.

The principals will also be sent to other top institutions and universities like Oxford, Harvard, IITs and IIMs.

The Delhi government has allocated Rs.102 crore for international training of principals and teachers in the budget for the current financial year.

During his interaction with the Cambridge officials, Sisodia said: Our principals and teachers are very talented, but we need to impart them with the necessary leadership skills.

Officials from Cambridge University revealed that the principals going for training would also be visiting local schools to understand the education system of UK in detail. They will also interact with the teachers of government schools there.


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Lucknow : Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Monday announced financial assistance of Rs.20 lakh for the family of NIA official Tanzeel Ahmad, who was shot dead by unidentified assailants in the states Bijnor.

Expressing sadness at the incident, the chief minister assured the family that the state government was with them in this hour of sorrow. He also directed the director general of police to extend all cooperation to the agencies probing the incident that occurred early Sunday and facilitate investigations so that the culprits behind the heinous crime are brought to justice at the earliest.

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Meanwhile, police continued to probe the incident but there has been no breakthrough.
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By Masood Peshimam for TwoCircles.net,

A new dimension is added to the controversial suspension of AIMIM legislator Waris Pathans over refusing to say Bharat Mata ki Jay. Interestingly some well known Muslims in Mumbai have sought to interpret the event as match fixing between Owaisi and the BJP. Advancing this dimension is the brinkmanship at its worst. Such linkage between the two contrasting events as projected in a Press Conference by some Muslims in Mumbai flows from no logic, reason or evidence.

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Is Waris Pathans suspension a part of match fixing? Is filing of FIR against Owaisi a part of match fixing? Is denigration of Owaisi by the Hindutva communal forces part of match fixing? The protest against the slogan Bharat Mata ki Jay has provoked a big backlash against the protesters. Has such backlash been cast within the ambit of match fixing? These so called spoke persons of the Muslims have not defined their own stand over the contentious slogan. Such platforms are created to enhance the social clout oriented to earn the dividends in different forms and shapes.

The Muslim leadership in our country has turned in to a commercial proposition. Some persons join the social life to save their skin and slowly crawl to the strength of flexing the political muscles with no or less perspective to serve the just social interest.

There is no problem for raising the slogans like Madare Watan ko Salam, Jay Hind or Ma Tujhe Salaam. Even Bharat Mata ki Jay has not aroused objection from certain quarters. Those opposing the slogan have their own logic. Their contention is that the slogan carries an element of material not in consonance with Islam.

However the fact remains that both the schools of thought do not want anything interfering with the concept of Tawhid or the oneness of God, forming the very essence of Islam. But notwithstanding any controversy over the contentious slogan the fact remains that Muslims in this country are no less patriotic than their other counterparts. The community despite the grievance of being socio-politically marginalized has always remained nationalist to the core. The Muslims living in the predominant Hindu area like Dombivli in Maharashtra are amenable to the cosmopolitan cultural influence than to any influence from any Muslim country. Their love for the country does not deserve to be doubted. The dispute is never concerning raising of some slogans. The dispute crops up when any slogan assumes the religious connotation not in consonance with the letter and spirit of monotheism distorting the religious beliefs. Its not the question of Muslims; any community may not share the beliefs of others and would opt to express its reservation or opinion.

In the teeth of intense and competitive communalism, the BJP or its patron RSS are playing the dangerous game of dividing the people in the name of nationalism to occupy much of the electoral space. In the teeth of already hostile atmosphere not discouraged by the Modi government the issues like love jihad, Gharwapsi or the beef eating are intensely hyped up leading to dangerous consequences. The brutal murders of Muslims on the pretext of beef eating and the growing intolerance has aroused the concern at the International level. The U.N.O., Amnesty International and Human Rights groups abroad have taken note of such unhappy events. The current anti pluralism trend turning into the ethnic chauvinism with the muscular show of communalism and is posing a danger to the very survival of the secular Democracy.

Owaisi is blamed for the rise of communal temperature with his rhetorics to seek the electoral pastures but what about Bollywood stars facing serious constraints over their freedom of expression. Bollywood stars like Amir Khan, Shahrukh Khan or Saif Ali Khan have no passion for sporting Islam up their sleeves or talk in the religious perspective still they are also attacked by the frenzied Mob or sometimes to face the hostile opposition.

The Urdu poet Javed Akhtar while delivering the farewell speech had a chance to clarify the situation to mitigate the madness in the name of nationalism but instead indulged in a drama projecting his over secular stance to earn the plaudit from the receptive ant liberal and anti democratic forces thus putting himself in the die of being opportunist.

The late Nida Fazli despite his irreligious temperament did not play the sycophancy or flattery card. Nida was so anti religious that once at Sansar Hotel in Kurla Mumbai he called the creation of world as an accident rather than an Art, thus blowing an atheist in him. Nida Fazli despite his increasingly critical view of religion did not show his ambition to flirt with the political class looking at the prospect of the smiling fortunes. Javed Akhtar drawing lesson from Nida Fazli should have opposed the suppressing of dissent and should not have given leverage to the rightist Hindutva forces.

What is further muddying the water is the dubious role of Congress which has no hesitation in casting its lot with the communal forces making the MIM MLA bite the dust in the Assembly. The track record of the so called Secular Congress is not comfortable as far as the victimization of Muslims is concerned. Right from the frequent occurrence of the communal flare ups to the demolition of Babri Masjid to the blatant injustice to Muslims the Congress only paid lip service to the secular cause and had to pay the price of the political brinkmanship.

However, notwithstanding the growing controversy over the slogan the focus is to be shifted to the redress of the miseries of the common man and pushing up the development agenda. Real Bharat Mata ki Jay lies in the economic prosperity of the common man rather than inflaming the social climate to divert attention from the economic failure in which the role of the present ruling dispensation cant be overlooked.

(Author is an advocate by profession and a social activist)


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By Amit Kumar, TwoCircles.net

Hailakandi: The first thing that strikes you about Hailakandi, Assam, is that given the condition of the roads in its neighbouring district Karimganj, the roads here are relatively better: of course, when it comes to Assams roads, the word relatively must be used carefully, and only in a certain extent. But so far, so good for Hailankadi, Assams southernmost district that shares an 80-km border with Mizoram and has three assembly constituenciesHailakandi, Katlicherra and Algapur.

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Womens showing their inked fingers after casting their votes in Katlicherra constituency of Hailakandi district.

The district voted in the first phase of elections on April 4, and while the political activity was at an all-time high, for the administration, organizing elections in this remote district proved nothing less than a mammoth task, made worse by a problem familiar to all of Assam: roads.

Twenty four hours before polling began; about 700 polling officials started their journey in over 700 vehicles into the interiors of the district, armed with polling machines and other essentials. The local administration, under the eyes of the Deputy Commissioner of Police Moloy Bora, had been preparing for over a month for the same, and the task had been anything but easy or smooth.

A long queue of people waiting to cast their votes.

The district had asked for 29 companies of armed forces to ensure a smooth election, given that it had marked over 300 polling stations as highly sensitive. However, the Assam government had provided with only 15, after initially promising 23. This meant that the local administration had to secure all stations in Hailakandi with just half the forces.

The reason for asking for so many forces became clear when Bora explained to Twocircles.net that this district, especially along the Mizoram border, was vulnerable to insurgent threats, especially from the United Democratic Liberation Front of Barak Valley (UDLFB). One polling stationGudgudian island on the border was particularly vulnerable.

An alert BSF Jawan manning a polling station in Assam elections.

The island, which had about 1,000 voters, had to be secured with the help of Mizoram authorities. From the border, polling officials and five men from the Border Security Force had to go in boats to the station and would be provided additional security by the Mizoram police. The administration had also received about 100 vehicles, including 62 from Tripura, to ensure that election requirements are met.

But for zonal officer Anil Dutta, a forest officer who was in charge of Ward number 58, Katlicherra, the issues were not limited to just Gudgudi. Thankfully, the Gudgudi team had reached the polling station safely just before the rains arrived. Duttas biggest concern was to ensure that all polling officials reached their place by the night of April 3. But while logistical issues at hand could be tackled, Dutta, a forest range officer in charge of the Gharmura Range, had little to fight against nature. On April 3, Hailakandi saw rains, and lots of it, which meant that for all the officials going to the interior regions of Katlicherra, it was nigh impossible to do so in vehicles.

Polling team digging mud covered roads to make way for their vehicles to the polling station.

One polling station, in Jhalnacherra area under the Ramanthpur Police Station, proved more difficult than all others. Given that the only road to Jhalnacherra was a mud track through an uneven terrain, the heavy rain meant a mini-bus and a jeep were unable to wade through. Around 12 am, with less than five hours to go before all of the polling procedures were to be in place, Dutta got a call from one of the officials that the team for Jhalnacherra polling stations had got stuck and due to poor signal, could not be contacted. Given that this was listed as an insurgency prone area, Dutta had no option but to go out in the heavy rain to search for the team and ensure their safety.

However, he neither had any arms nor any personnel for his disposal so he took the staff from his office, along with his brother, to the spot. Five minutes into the drive, this correspondent, who had accompanied Dutta, saw the pitiable condition of the roads. The mud tracks had been all but washed off, and had developed huge cracks in other places.

The continuing rain made driving nigh impossible, and it took them nearly one hour to wade through the 10 km distance thanks to a four-wheel drive vehicle. On reaching the polling station, it was found that the 17 members of the polling team including five armed officers from the BSF and the state armed police, had abandoned their vehicles and walked 11 kms through the jungles and rains to arrive at the station.

Condition of road after rainfall.

The circle officers phone had stopped working; they had little to eat and since all their clothes were wet, some of them had borrowed lungis from a nearby village to sleep at the polling station. One BSF officer, who despite all still stood guarding the station, spoke to Twocircles.net. I had to carry about 40 kgs of luggage and heard three rounds fired at a distance on my way. The village in which the polling station fell had no electricity, and the team had no option but to set up bed on the floor and somehow catch some sleep before getting up for work.

For Dutta however, the problems did not end there: even though the team had reached safely, the vehicles remained stranded and had to be rescued so that the polling officials could head back to Hailakandi in the evening. On the day of polling, Dutta, who went around his ward to ensure that the smaller issues are dealt with, had to also somehow find a way to retrieve the vehicles. A tractor was called from a nearby tea estate, but instead of retrieving the vehicles, it also fell in a ditch.

Numerous attempts to start the vehicles yielded nothing either. It was only at 3 pm, with less than two hours before polling ended, that he was able to find an earth-mover vehicleJCBwhich finally managed to somehow save the Jeep. The mini-bus was retrieved only to get stuck again, such was the condition of the roads. It was not until the next day that the vehicle could be saved.

Almost all roads leading to the villages have become slippery due to the incessant rains.

However, through all this, the best news for the local administration was that in a district which had hitherto seen about 100 incidents of re-polling in various levels of election since 2001, all stations had managed to conduct elections peacefully without any glitch. And despite the incessant rains, Katlicherra had recorded over 70% of casting across all its stations. As one of the polling officers who had been stationed in Gudgudi, said, It was amazing to see the excitement, especially among the women of Gudgudi, at the polling station. They had been lining up since 5.30 am to cast their votes. However, when I see how difficult their lives are with no clean water, no electricity, a school where the entire roof leaked and no mobile signal, I wonder what they are voting for.
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Award defies logic given Modis record before and after taking office as Prime Minister

By TCN News,

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Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC), an advocacy group dedicated to safeguarding Indias pluralist and tolerant ethos has condemned the Saudi governments decision to confer Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the nations highest civilian award.

During his visit to Saudi Arabia Prime Minister Modi on Sunday was conferred the Arabian countrys highest civilian honour  the King Abdulaziz Sash  by King Salman bin Abdulaziz at the Royal Court.

IAMC criticized Saudi Monarchy for honoring Modi while a case against him for Gujarat pogrom 2002 is still pending before Gujarat High Court.

PM Narendra Modi being conferred with Saudis highest civilian award. (Photo Courtesy: New Indian Express)

It is expected that the Indian Prime Minister is accorded the respect befitting a head of state. However, conferring of the highest civilian award on Modi by those who claim to be the custodians of the two Holy Mosques is a slap in the face of survivors of the Gujarat pogroms of 2002. It is also a demonstration of indifference to the increased attacks and threats against the religious minorities and Dalits in India, said Umar Malick, President of IAMC.

Since coming to power, the Modi administration is widely viewed as working steadily to erode religious freedom and Indias long-cherished traditions of tolerance among its diverse populace.

Ranging from attacks on churches and mob violence against Muslims and Dalits, to felicitating the killer of Mahatma Gandhi, supporters of Modi have been openly pursuing a divisive agenda, which is antithetical to the countrys Constitution and its egalitarian ideals. However, Modis administration has not taken any stern action against them neither it issued any strong statements of condemnation.

Coming from the Saudi monarchy, which is known for its repressive domestic policies and human rights violations, the award itself is of dubious value. It diminishes, rather than enhances the office of the Prime Minister of India, added Malick.
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By Raqib Hameed Naik, TwoCircles.net

Jammu: Continuing the PDP-BJP coalition in Jammu and Kashmir, Mehbooba Mufti, the daughter of late J&K Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Syeed was sworn in as the 13th chief minister of J&K on April 4.

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Mehbooba Mufti is the first womsn chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir and second Muslim women Chief Minister of India.

The people of Jammu and Kashmir are hoping that her tenure will see her addressing issues ranging from un-employment, development to revocation of draconian laws, Armed Forces Special Power Act (AFSPA) and Public Safety Act (PSA).

Mehbooba Mufti (TCN File Photo)

Unemployment has always been a major problem in our state. There are around half a million educated but unemployed youth in our state. Maybe, we will see some more employment opportunities during her reign. Still, a lot depends upon the central government, how much cooperation they are going to extend, said Aquib Bashir, 22 a student of agriculture from Jammu.

Haq Nawaz Nehru, a resident of Doda district in Pir Panjal region in J&K, feels that successive governments have been neglecting this region, revolving their development works only around two districts of state, Jammu and Srinagar.

We have past experience of neglect by the successive governments in state. As a leader and president of PDP, I am not much sure about her doing anything for this region, he says.

Mufti has no doubt spoken much about our sufferings, but she has to take herculean steps. She must fix her priorities for this region from Poonch to Marwah. These regions are in dire need of multi-specialty hospitals, universities and better roads which usually become death traps when incessant rains flock this region, he adds.

Meanwhile, people from the Kashmir region, besides development, want an end to human rights violations and revocation of AFSPA and PSA.

TCN File Photo

Development is a secondary issue. She needs to first work for the revocation of draconian laws like AFSPA and PSA because she has closely followed the effects of Kashmir conflict. There should be an end to nonstop killings of unarmed people, a Journalist, Bilal Bhat said.

Echoing similar sentiments, Ghulam Hassan Pandith, 51 from Kakpora, Pulwama, feels that the new Chief Minister have to ensure peace and stability in the region which can only be possible by her late fathers healing touch policy, if implemented in real sense.

Our district is the hot spot of unrest since last many years. Young and educated youths are joining militant ranks due to physical and mental torture by security forces. Mehbooba in first place should look into this matter as it requires immediate attention, he says.

As Mehooba is the first women CM of J&K state, the women are anticipating greater attention and policies conducive for their growth in terms of opportunities.

Being a woman, she knows how many problems we do face in our day to day lives. We are educated but we are not able to find jobs and even we cant move out of the state for jobs so she should chalk out a plan for better representation of womens in public services, says Nowsheen Bhat, 21 an engineering student from Srinagar.

Others, however, believe that she wont be much different than her predecessors.

We were also hoping for the best when Omar Abdullah became the youngest CM of the state but what did he do? Hundreds of youths were gunned down under his rule. This is all politics, only chain of command changes, rest the policies remain same, said Rozi Khatoon, 26 a student of Political Science.

Unlike last year swearing-in ceremony of late CM Mufti Mohammad Syeed where Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP national president Amit Shah, former president Lal Krishan Advani, were among various dignitaries, this time, only three Union Ministers Venkaiah Naidu, Jitendra Singh and Harsimrat Kaur Badal attended the swearing-in ceremony on the behalf of BJPs central government.

Initially, the new CM had been reluctant to take call on government formation after her fathers death in coalition with the right-wing BJP. However, it was after her meeting on March 22 with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, where she was assured of all help from centre to J&K that she decided to take up the position.

Jammu and Kashmir was placed under Governors rule on January 8, 2016 after the death of Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.


Help India!

By A Mirsab, TwoCircles.net,

Ahmedabad: Many people, including four Muslim women, have been arrested in connection with rioting that took place between two communities in Vansda town of Navsari district in Gujarat following Indias defeat to West Indies in the World T20 semi-final last week.

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Police have arrested twenty four people so far for rioting and all have been sent to judicial custody.

The four women arrested are identified as Sameena Banu, Shamim Bibi Shaikh, Zulekha Shaikh and Naseem Bibi Shaikh. They were arrested from their homes on Monday in Champawadi.

On Friday night, a youth was beaten up by five youths of another community. Following this, a mob ransacked shops, mosques, and broke vehicles in Vansda town. Navsari District Superintendent of Police M S Bharada had reached the spot with an SRP battalion and police had to lob two teargas shells on the public to disperse them.

Soon the news spread on WhatsApp creating tension in the area. Indian Express reported that a mob gathered in Champawadi Friday night and went on a rampage pelting stones on the dargah and a mosque in Champawadi.

The VHP and Bajrang Dal declared a bandh on Saturday, following which all shops and business establishments remained shut. During bandh police arrested six people, who were booked for rioting and damaging public property.

Police is further investigating the case after recording complaints of both sides and booked over 100 people from each side.


Help India!

By IndScribe

One after the other, shocking incidents of crimes and atrocities on the Dalits are being reported from Rajasthan.

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The latest incident has occurred in Chittorgarh where three Dalit boys were stripped and beaten up publicly.

*Vigilante justice: Dalit boys stripped, beaten*

The photographs are shocking and it is not proper to share them. Surprisingly, there has been no major action so far.

The boys were suspected of stealing, but the minors were publicly strippedit is nothing but total lawlessnessThe Rule of the Jungle.

*Innocent Kashmiri students were arrested for no fault*

This is the same district where Kashmiri students were arrested by police for no fault. There was a false allegation that they had cooked beef. It was finally proved that beef was not cooked at all.

However, police said that they had to arrest the youths for their safety

from the right-wing elements on the campus.

Doesnt it show that the Rajasthan police are subservient to the trouble-makers and the beef vigilantes. Innocents were made the accused?

*Institutional killing: The case of Delta Meghwal*

The murder of teenaged girl Delta Meghwal has also been a major case that shows the insensitivity of the administration.

It is a clear case of institutional murder where the Jain college management is clearly at fault.

The teenaged girl was sent to clean a male instructors room. She was later allegedly raped and then killed.

The role of the authorities is questionable as for days no action was taken. A bandh call has been given in Barmer, in this regard.

*Isnt it Jungle-Raj in Rajasthan?*

IndScribe is an India-based journalist and blogs at http://www.anindianmuslim.com
Help India!







By TCN News,

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New Delhi: The members of Dalit Bahujan Adivasi Collective have written an open letter to the Vice Chancellor, Ambedkar University, Delhi (AUD) registering protest with the manner AUDs flagship event, the annual Ambedkar Memorial Lecture (AML) is held every year.

AUD has invited Prof. Romila Thapar for 2016 Ambedkar Memorial Lecture, at a time when the University will be celebrating 125th birth anniversary of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.

However, Dalit Bahujan Adivasi Collective has taken a strong exception to the fact that every year only the speakers from upper caste have been called for the yearly programs.

when one looks at the list of previous speakers of the AML, it is surprising to find that the University has not invited even once, a speaker belonging to Dalit, Bahujan, Adivasi, minority and other such oppressed sections of the Indian sub-continent, the letter reads.

The group also criticizes Thapars work and says, we believe that Prof. Thapars work, like those of the previous speakers, represents the same upper caste discourse which preserves the status quo and has suppressed those interpretations of Indian history and society which have emerged painstakingly from the margins over several decades

Following is the text of the open letter :



We, the members of Dalit Bahujan Adivasi Collective, are writing this Open Letter to the Vice Chancellor, Ambedkar University, Delhi (AUD) in order to register our protest with the manner in which AUDs flagship event, the annual Ambedkar Memorial Lecture (AML) is held. We would like to draw your attention to certain exclusionary practices that we have observed in the organisation of the AML over the past few years, particularly with regard to the selection of speakers. Addressing such issues is especially urgent in the context that this year, the University is celebrating the 125th birth anniversary of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.

It hardly needs restating that the upper castes (savarnas led by the Brahmins), by carefully and wilfully sustaining a caste hierarchy, have monopolised the production of knowledge within academia, both in India and abroad. Such hegemonic practices have systematically and consistently placed hurdles before Dalits, Bahujans, Adivasis and minorities from accessing spaces of knowledge production on equitable grounds. This is more than evident given the overwhelming representation of savarnas in both faculty and student positions across universities in India. Such monopolisation is accompanied by other (very often invisible) forms of institutionalised caste discrimination both within and outside the university space. This is indeed antithetical to the very idea of the university, which in principle must be a space of higher learning and critical thinking on the basis of equal opportunity for, and equity among all members of society.

As stated on its website, Ambedkar University, Delhi (AUD) was named and founded on Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkars vision, who believed in education as the right weapon to cut social slavery [which] will enlighten the downtrodden masses to come up and gain social status, economic betterment and political freedom. The University believes therefore, that its vision and mission is to combine equity and social justice with excellence, and to pioneer an institutional culture of non-hierarchical functioning, teamwork and creativity. The University strongly believes that no knowledge becomes socially productive unless it spreads across society, transcending barriers of caste, creed and class. Only then can teaching and learning become liberating undertakings, contributing to the promotion of equality, social justice and excellence. Here, we would like to demand that if the University claims its commitment towards Dr. Ambedkars vision, it then behoves upon its stakeholders to ensure the implementation of this vision both in letter and in spirit. Moreover, introspect on any departure from this commitment.

Let us revisit what seems to be the sole objective of the Ambedkar Memorial Lecture (AML), as stated by the University. It is, to invite an eminent scholar or public personality from among the best minds across the world [emphasis ours] to share their thoughts in areas of knowledge and human experience such as democracy, constitutional law, equity, social justice, social transformation, social action and engaged spiritualities. Despite what is seemingly a broad mandate, when one looks at the list of previous speakers of the AML, it is surprising to find that the University has not invited even once, a speaker belonging to Dalit, Bahujan, Adivasi, minority and other such oppressed sections of the Indian sub-continent. Let us quickly refresh our memories and take a look at the names and topics of speakers invited to deliver the previous AMLs:

 2009: Bhikhu Parekh  Ambedkars Legacy

 2010: Veena Das  Citizenship as a Claim or Stories of Belonging among the Urban Poor

 2011: Deepak Nayyar  Discrimination and Justice: Beyond Affirmative Action

 2012: Ashis Nandy  Theories of Oppression and Another Dialogue of Cultures

 2013: Upendra Baxi  Restoring Title Deeds to Humanity: Lawless Law, Living Death, and the Insurgent Reason of Babasaheb Ambedkar

 2014: Gopal Krishna Gandhi  Leading India

 2015: Aruna Roy  Is unbridled capitalism a threat to Constitutional Democracy?

While these speakers may be some of the best minds of the country, it is more than evident that there is a clear (if not deliberate) pattern of exclusion of scholars from Dalit, Bahujan, Adivasi and minority communities. This oversight leads us to believe that after all its sincere efforts, the University still remains a place where caste privileges are naturalised. Or to put it differently, this exercise reaffirms the Brahmanical idea that the most dominant knowledge producer is considered as the most natural knowledge producer  a belief which emerges from the very idea of the caste system.

The dominant knowledge producer in a caste society invariably protects the interests of the class to which he or she belongs. In the words of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar:

There is a great difference between an intellectual class and an educated class. An intellectual class has no limitations arising out of any affiliations to any class or to any interest. An educated class on the other hand is not an intellectual class although it has cultivated its intellect. The reason is that its range of vision and its sympathy to a new ideology is circumscribed by its being identified with the interest of the class with which it is affiliated.

Further, the University must also introspect as to why it is an Ambedkar Memorial Lecture and not anything else? Is Ambedkar in this rendition a mere inert public figure or does he exemplify a historical synonym for a political philosophy that provides an alternative to existing modes of thinking and analysing the contemporary Indian polity? If the latter is true, the AML would ideally be imagined as a platform for discourses that engage with Ambedkars thoughts, insights, and political actions that level a systematic critique of Brahmanism, Hinduism and the caste system, which in turn provided us with newer frameworks to understand and critique the society that we inhabit. However, we feel that the previous AMLs hardly resonate with this line of thinking and we demand a collective review of them.

All of this indicates that the invocation of Ambedkar in the Ambedkar Memorial Lecture is merely a tokenistic gesture. This is all the more evident by the fact that hardly any of the aforementioned speakers have demonstrated in their body of work, an exceptional commitment to Ambedkars vision and thoughts in challenging the hegemony of Brahmins and other savarnas in all spaces of our society, especially in the domain of knowledge production.

As a tangent, it is important to point out here that AUD might arguably be the only university in the country to have boldly released a press statement condemning Dalit scholar Rohith Vemulas institutional murder. The statement noted that [i]t is a moment to take a pledge at AUD towards sustaining the culture of dialogue and co-creation of knowledge. And it is precisely in keeping with the spirit of this pledge to co-create knowledge that we feel that the tenets under which the Ambedkar Memorial Lectures are annually organised need to be rethought. In a stronger commitment to Ambedkars vision, the AML should be a platform for discourses emerging about and from the margins which challenge the status quo and the hegemonic structures and ideas which sustain it.

However, the University has decided to invite Prof. Romila Thapar for the 2016 Ambedkar Memorial Lecture which is also designed as the culmination point of the ongoing celebration around the 125th birth anniversary of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. While we respect her vast body of work, our prime difference with the selection of Prof. Thapar is not because of her upper caste identity alone, but due to the fact that most of her intellectual and political positions have largely been determined by a Left liberal ethos, which in its Indian avatar has overlooked, to a great extent, the centrality of caste in social, political, economic, and cultural formations. This lacuna, which we can broadly identify even in Prof. Thapars work, is also a by-product of an array of privileges (including her upper caste/class location). Also significant in this context is the fact that her body of work has shown no direct commitment to Ambedkars radical vision on history and politics. Therefore, we believe that Prof. Thapars work, like those of the previous speakers, represents the same upper caste discourse which preserves the status quo and has suppressed those interpretations of Indian history and society which have emerged painstakingly from the margins over several decades. In other words, this naturalisation of privileges is in fact detrimental to the development of Dalit, Bahujan, Adivasi and minority discourses on history.

As a student collective that is motivated by Ambedkarite vision and thoughts, we would like to place the following demands to the University:

1. Immediately reconsider Prof. Romila Thapars selection to deliver the Ambedkar Memorial Lecture in 2016 and consider more relevant scholars. A list is attached herewith.

2. Henceforth, in the selection of speakers to deliver the AML, there should be an institutional mechanism to ensure participation of only:

a. Scholars from Dalit, Bahujan, Adivasi and minority communities.

b. Scholars from any other backgrounds who have had a longstanding commitment to Dalit, Bahujan, Adivasi and minority discourses in ways that mark them in the league of Ambedkarite scholars.

c. Scholars whose work has engaged directly with Ambedkars own speeches and body of writing.

3. The University should ensure that year-long public programmes dedicated to exploring Ambedkarite thoughts and practices are organised in all the coming years. This must not be limited to occasions such as the 125th birth anniversary.

4. A high-level committee should be formed immediately to ensure that Ambedkarite ideas are made an integral part of every programmes curriculum.

5. The University should institute an Ambedkar Chair and invite scholars of repute from all over the country and abroad to channelise the Universitys commitment to Ambedkars vision.

Jai Bhim,

Dalit Bahujan Adivasi Collective


Study: 45% Of Common Sun Cream Ingredients Disrupt Sperm Function

Attention: 45% Of Common Sun Cream Ingredients Disrupt Sperm Function

Long Story Short

A laboratory study done in Denmark on sun cream ingredients raises fertility concerns after it was shown some UV filters can affect the way sperm swim. Maybe it's time to start wearing a hat after all.

Long Story

Research at the University of Copenhagen suggests some UV filters commonly found in sun creams can affect sperm mobility. Older research on sun cream chemicals has already suggested potential hazards to human health, which is why the Danish team decided to have a closer look.

They tested 29 of the 31 UV filters approved for US sun creams (many of which are available in the UK). The researchers placed sperm cells in a solution that resembled female Fallopian tubes and then hit them with sun cream filters.

They discovered 13 of the 29 filters initiated calcium signalling, which provides sperm cells with a pathway for healthy swimming.

Normally, calcium signalling is handled by progesterone, a hormone secreted by the female reproductive system, but some of the sun cream filters seemed to imitate progesterone, preventing the sperm cells from swimming the way they should.

If sun creams are messing with sperm mobility, the larger issue becomes fertility.

RELATED: This Male Fertility Study Has A Happy Ending (Twice)

Lead researcher Niels Skakkebaek says, Our study suggests that regulatory agencies should have a closer look at the effects of UV filters on fertility before approval.

Research has shown the common sun cream ingredient oxybenzone can be toxic to reproductive systems in animals.

The nonprofit research organisation, Environmental Working Group (EWG), has studied mineral and chemical filters in sun creams, assessing their skin penetration, hormone disruption, possible allergic reactions and inhalation concerns. Sun cream ingredients produced some pretty shady results.

Right off the bat, EWG recommends consumers steer clear of oxybenzone because it can penetrate the skin, cause allergic reactions, disrupt hormones and cause cell damage that could lead to cancer. Read the ingredients before you buy.

More than 96 percent of Americans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, show traces of oxybenzone in their bodies.

Its presence appears to be linked to endometriosis and lower birth weight in daughters.

Many sun cream chemicals disrupt hormones and can be detected in the urine and blood of sun cream users, as well as in mothers milk, meaning newborns and unborn fetuses may be exposed to these substances.

The environmental watchdog EWG says dont go for sun creams with an SPF over 50 and, FYI, mineral sun creams, which use zinc oxide and titanium dioxide, generally have a higher safety rating in the EWG listings. The other option is organic sunscreens, which EWG also rates.

Research at the University of Copenhagen was done on human sperm cells in a lab, not on living people, so the results are not entirely conclusive. The Danish researchers do suggest further testing.

And don't forget, repeated exposure to UV rays is linked to skin cancer, so don't think you can go and give up sunblock completely. When buying sunscreen, make sure it's suitable for your skin type and blocks both ultraviolet A (UVA) and ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation.

The sunscreen label should have:

the letters "UVA" in a circle logo and at least 4-star UVA protection

at least SPF15 sunscreen to protect against UVB

With normal sperm cell function in mind, a little reading can go a long way to making sure you're covered when it comes to sun cream.

Own The Conversation

Ask The Big Question: What about this study that says people who regularly sun bathe live longer??

Disrupt Your Feed: Since sun cream is so essential in preventing skin cancer, regulators need to be certain that the ingredients are safe  and consumers need to educate themselves.

Drop This Fact: A survey of 2,000 UK adults found one in five was unaware that the SPF rating does not mean protection against all sun damage  only that from UVB rays. Protection against UVA rays has its own separate rating system.
Have you ever wanted to see a movie that received a terrible rap from critics, put off seeing it due to the reviews, only to eventually see it and find that it was nowhere near as bad as the reviews stated? Having seen it twice now, I can tell you that 'Pan' is worlds better than Rotten Tomatoes would have you believe. Surprisingly, it also gets better with a second viewing  especially with this fantastic high-def Blu-ray presentation.

If you've read my semi-controversial review of 'Hook,' then you already know that I'm a grand fan of Peter Pan tales (with the exception of the 2003 rendition of 'Peter Pan'). There's a greatness to J.M. Barrie's timeless tale. As a child, it filled my mind with a wonder so powerful that it never left. When I first saw 'Pan' in theaters, because of that nostalgic love and my deep admiration for director Joe Wright, I came in with huge expectations. I left the theater pleased, but not wholly satisfied. Watching it a second time on Blu-ray, and knowing what I was getting into, I not only enjoyed it quite a bit more, but found the complete satisfaction that I expected and missed the first time.

Through creative writing, 'Pan' gives solid answers to the questions that Peter Pan fans have had in the back of their minds. Where did Peter come from? How did he get to Neverland? Why is it that he can fly while none of the other Lost Boys can? For the most part, this is the core of 'Pan.' We get all of those answers and more through this fun, family-friendly origins story.

'Pan' kicks off with a quick teasing introduction that shows Peter's mother (Amanda Seyfried) mysteriously abandoning her baby at a London orphanage and telling the infant that they'll reunite before long. Cut to 12 years later. World War II is raging through Europe. Peter (Levi Miller) remains in the cruel orphanage that's ran by corrupt and spiteful nuns that rival those in the original 'Problem Child.' Every so often, Peter and the other children awaken to find that some of their fellow orphan friends have been adopted in the night. Suspecting the evil nuns of being up to something, the two hide away late one night to see what really happens to the kids. Just as they suspected, the nuns are in on a crooked deal that allows the pirates of Neverland to purchase the children for slave labor. And this is where the fun begins.

There are a lot of thing in 'Pan' that don't work too well. We'll get to that in a minute. But director Joe Wright is no chump. If you've seen any of his previous films  especially 'Atonement,' 'Hanna' and 'Anna Karenina'  then you know that he's extremely creative when it comes to concepting and visual design. It's during Peter's pirate kidnapping that Wright's trademark style first kicks in. Like a spectacular staged play or a Cirque du Soleil performance, pirates drop from wonderfully lit pillars of light through the ceiling with bungee-like ropes and snatch the children up in single quick fluid movements. After boarding the pirate's flying ship, they begin their departure for the Second Star to the Right, but catch the attention of the British Air Force. Mistaken for an secretive German war plane, the pirates engage in a high-speed dogfight over London. The result is an exhilarating action scene that's only made better with a 3D presentation.

After arriving in the slave mines of Neverland, we meet the film's villain, Blackbeard (Hugh Jackman). The merciless bad guy is much more evil than Captain Hook has even been portrayed. His slaves serve one purpose: to mine for the crystalized remnants of pixie dust. When Blackbeard first learned the value of pixie dust, all Neverland pixies vanished. Knowing that he would kill them all, they went into hiding. The only people aware of their whereabouts are a band of savages that live deep within the jungle and roguely combat again Blackbeard and his pirate army.

Believing that newcomer Peter might be the prophesied messiah of Neverland, fellow slave miner James Hook (Garrett Hedlund) partners with Peter for a daring escape that will connect them with the so-called savages led by Tiger Lily (Rooney Mara).

There are many elements in 'Pan' that work extremely well. But on the flipside, there are also a couple that don't work at all. Fortunately, those that do work  the fun screenplay, the chemistry between the leading actors, Joe Wright's wonderful direction and brilliant design (including two pieces of amazingly animated backstory storytelling)  work exceptionally well and are strong enough to overshadow those that don't work. My theory on the film's failures stem from the fact that this is Wright's first studio picture. I believe that he had a much grander, ambitious and artistic vision in mind, but that the studio jumped in and meddled with his creativity. The two elements that don't work so well are: music and CG effects. Much like Steven Spielberg's 'Hook,' 'Pan' benefits from wonderfully large and gorgeous set pieces. Unfortunately, there's also an overabundance of CG effects that ultimately end up clashing with the practical ones. Perhaps this was always Wright's intention, but the CG animation definitely isn't the greatest when paired with the practical.

When it comes to the musical issues, it's not the scoring that I'm referring to. John Powell's score is great and only made greater through the Blu-ray's stunning Dolby Atmos mix. The music that I'm referring to is of the unfitting and inconsistent variety. I'm fine when filmmakers decide to throw seemingly unfitting music into their films  like what Quentin Tarantino did by adding rap into the soundtrack for 'Django Unchained.' I'm all for it. Surprise me. Make something work that otherwise wouldn't work  but what's done with music here is not only unfitting and unexplainable, but it's also entirely inconsistent.

Once in Neverland, Peter and the other miners stop working so that Blackbeard can introduce himself to the newcomers. The thousands of slave miners and pirates begin chanting the lyrics to Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit." When I first saw 'Pan,' I was initally caught off-guard, but thought to myself, If they're going to make this a quasi-musical picture that's creatively in the vein of 'A Knight's Tale,' then I'm on-board. Like I said, I'm always up for a good director proving me wrong. And if any director was going to do that, it would be Joe Wright. But he didn't. Instead, it's only done on two occasions, then left by the wayside. Shortly after the Nirvana song, The Ramones' "Blitzkrieg Bop" is performed in the same chant-fashion by the miners - and then it ends. We don't get another musical variation ever again. It's as if they filmed the entire movie with contemporary musical selections, only to have the studio give the concept the axe in post-production and realize that they couldn't cut around those two tracks. It's not like there weren't other chances to add more music either. Two other scenes with the savages offer up similar settings and potential moments for pop music renditions, but the music is completely average, unforgettable and inconsistent with the first two uses.

Is 'Pan' as unforgettable and timeless as Disney's animated 'Peter Pan' or Spielberg's 'Hook?' No  but it's definitely not bad. Don't let the negative critical response fool you. Aside from my overly-critical critic friends, everyone else that I know who saw 'Pan' enjoyed it as thoroughly as I now do.

The Blu-ray: Vital Disc Stats

Warner Home Video brings 'Pan' to 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray as a two-disc combo pack with a flyer for a Digital HD Copy. At the moment, we are unable to verify the size of the content, or if the disc is dual-layered or tripled-layered. The new UHD disc sits comfortably opposite a Region Free, BD50 disc inside a black, eco-cutout case with a glossy slipcover. At startup, the disc goes straight to the main menu with full-motion clips and music playing in the background.
Yongsheng group acquires one of France's largest lace producers Updated: 2016-04-05 13:25 By Tuo Yannan in Paris and Wang Zhuoqiong in Beijing(chinadaily.com.cn)

The textile and apparel producer Hangzhou Yongsheng Group has acquired Desseilles, one of the oldest lace producers in France.

Michel Berrier, general director of Desseilles, in an interview with China Daily, said the company produces two kinds of lace products, and holds second and the third place in terms of market share. After the acquisition, the company's plan is to become the No 1 lace producer.

Desseilles had a 5.4 million euro sales revenue in 2015, and 8.3 million in 2014. The company produces six million meters of lace, with many well-known international brands such as Victoria's Secret, as their clients.

"Yongsheng will bring us the financial benefit as well as the access to new markets, especially the Chinese market," said Berrier.

"We can offer more designs to Yongsheng as we are considered as the leading company in lace and designs."

The director said their strengths also lie in the possibility of bringing products which do not exist in China, especially the ones using traditional methods, "with sophisticated and complicated world leading technique," according to Berrier.

Desseilles encountered a legal problem before the acquisition, as former employees sued the company for violations of French labor law and the court sentenced the company to be fined 1 million euros. Desseilles could not pay the 1 million so it started its liquidation process. However, after they signed the agreement with Yongsheng, the court withdrew the fine.

In the agreement, the French company has a plan to reduce its employees from 74 to 60, and it has already got the green light from the authority this time.

"The 60 employees who will keep their jobs are mostly skilled workers, but the idea is to come back to 74 or 76 employees within two years," Berrier said.
Li: Tax reform to boost vitality of real economy Updated: 2016-04-05 02:23 By Zhao Huanxin(China Daily)

Premier Li Keqiang's message to the country's tax and financial authorities is crystal clear: The ongoing landmark tax reform must reduce burdens on all industries.

One month before the May 1 deadline of a sweeping reform that seeks to replace China's decadeslong business tax with a value-added tax, Li visited the State Administration of Taxation and the Ministry of Finance on Friday, making sure tax-reduction measures are in place to benefit numerous enterprises.

Beginning on May 1, the country's business-tax-to-VAT pilot program, which began four years ago, will expand to the remaining four sectors  property, construction, finance and consumer services  which involve at least 10 million companies. Together they contribute 80 percent of China's total business tax revenue.

An 11 percent VAT will be levied on construction and real estate companies, while a 6 percent rate will be imposed on finance and consumer service sectors. In addition, VAT deductions will cover all of enterprises' new real property, the State Administration of Taxation and the Ministry of Finance said last month.

"The business-tax-to-VAT reform is key to ensuring the effectiveness of the proactive fiscal policy, and to pressing ahead the structural, especially supply-side, reform for this year," Li said. "If this is well done, the real economy will be more vital."

The premier said China had augmented the government deficit this year, and the increase  560 billion yuan ($86.45 billion) more than last year, to 2.18 trillion yuan  is meant primarily to cover tax reductions for enterprises following the tax reform.

The reform measures will alleviate the tax burden on enterprises by over 500 billion yuan, Li said.

The reform will bolster the development of the service sector, which contributed more than half of the country's gross domestic product last year.

The country has imposed a value-added tax on tangible goods, with services being subjected to a business tax imposed on a company's sales, including costs, thus resulting in double taxation.

Unlike a business tax, a VAT avoids double taxation by taxing only the difference between a commodity's price before taxes and its cost of production.

By eliminating repeated taxation, the reform will unify the country's taxation system and help create a fair market environment, Li said.

Zhu Qing, a finance professor at Renmin University of China in Beijing, said expanding VAT reform will help cut the price of goods and services and ultimately benefit consumers.

Hu Yijian, a tax professor at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, said China's ongoing taxation reform may help blaze a trail in terms of taxing the finance sector.

Most countries exempt VAT on financial products, but China's financial services will be subjected to VAT under new reform measures.

"Therefore, China may discover ways that will be useful to other countries in this endeavor," Hu said.
More funds likely to protect heritage in private hands Updated: 2016-04-05 08:52 By Wang Kaihao(China Daily)

More funds will be mobilized to protect endangered heritage that is currently outside government domain, according to a top official of the Culture Ministry.

The move comes in the wake of related national guidelines released by the State Council, China's cabinet, in February.

The State Administration of Cultural Heritage, affiliated to the ministry, is drafting relevant rules on social participation in projects that involve privately owned cultural items, Zhu Xiaodong, director of the agency's legal department, told a news briefing last week.

How best to protect cultural relics that are in individual possession is a question that Zhu and the ministry are now trying to answer.

"Many old residences, for example, are immovable cultural relics, and it is difficult to allow public revenue for private property," Zhu says.

That aside, when the owners renovate such residences, they tend to introduce new facilities and unintentionally harm the original facades.

"Their personal incomes are usually far from enough to support huge projects," he adds.

China has inscribed 2,555 national-level traditional villages that have some 11,000 immovable cultural relics, including 6,600 traditional residences, the ministry's data show.

"The vast majority of such residences is privately owned, and it is estimated that two-thirds of them are in poor condition due to the lack of repairs over long periods," Zhu says.

Relics' protection in traditional villages will be the first to benefit from the new government initiative.

"People will thus be encouraged to better safeguard the cultural relics, and more creative channels are being discussed to fill the monetary void," he adds.

According to the heritage administration, the country has 760,000 immovable cultural relic sites that government efforts alone can't protect.

Even so, cultural authorities are working on creating a registry system and database for immovable cultural heritage based on results of a recent nationwide investigation.

"A single general investigation can only give us a panorama, but more specific policies need to be based on supervision of the dynamic changes in the field of cultural heritage," Zhu says.

Experts say new policies in this regard can also work as a stimulus for the booming antiques market.

The government is also emphasizing the protection of intangible cultural heritage.

According to Ma Shengde, a supervisor in the ICH arm of the Culture Ministry, each national-level ICH inheritor will get 20,000 yuan ($3,100) annually in funds from this year onward, double the figure of earlier years.

While the money will be directly given to individuals to avoid lengthy bureaucratic procedures, a supervision mechanism and an annual evaluation process are being introduced to ensure that the funds are used for teaching or toward the inheritance of craftsmanship rather than just meeting the daily expenses of the ICH inheritors.

"The country encourages such inheritors to spread their knowledge of intangible heritage among the people," Ma says. "But they also need to use the money in the right way."

wangkaihao@chinadaily.com.cn

Hongcun village in Anhui province is a UNESCO World Heritage site famed for its traditional architecture.Zuo Dongchen / CFP

(China Daily 04/05/2016 page20)
Nefertiti's tomb may be hidden behind Tut's Updated: 2016-04-05 08:52 By Associated Press In Valley Of The Kings, Egypt(China Daily USA)

Egypt invited archaeologists from all over the world to examine new, more extensive scanning conducted on King Tutankhamun's tomb to discover whether chambers have been hidden for millennia behind two walls in the boy king's burial place and determine what could be inside.

The open invitation, issued by Egyptian Antiquities Minister Khaled el-Anani at a news conference on Friday just outside the tomb in the Valley of the Kings, holds a double purpose. First, it would bring broader scientific review to the new exploration of the tomb, which was prompted by a theory advanced by British Egyptologist Nicholas Reeves.

Also, the mystery is a golden opportunity for Egypt to boost its deeply damaged tourism industry by drawing world attention to its wealth of Pharaonic antiquities. Adding to the allure: Reeves believes secret chambers behind a false wall may be the tomb of Queen Nefertiti, one of the most famous symbols of ancient Egypt and classical beauty.

If chambers - whether containing Nefertiti's tomb or not - are discovered behind the western and northern walls covered in hieroglyphs and bas-reliefs in Tut's tomb, it would likely be the biggest discovery in Egyptology since Howard Carter first discovered the king's 3,300-year-old burial chamber and its treasures in 1922.

Tantalizingly, Egyptian officials say scans carried out earlier suggested that there was a "90 percent" chance that there were two open spaces behind the walls, perhaps containing metallic and biological matter.

"I believe and I still believe" that the Tut's tomb is "simply the outer elements of a larger tomb that is of Nefertiti", Reeves says.

Reeves' theory was prompted by the unusual structure of Tut's tomb. It is smaller than other royal tombs and oriented differently. Furthermore, his examination of photos uncovered what appear to be the outlines of a filled-in door frame in one wall.

He has speculated that Tutankhamun, who died at age 19, may have been rushed into an outer chamber of what was originally Nefertiti's tomb. Nefertiti was one of the wives of Tut's father, Akhenaten, though another wife, Kia, is believed to be Tut's mother.

Egypt's archaeologists announced on Friday they have completed more extensive scanning of the supposedly two hidden chambers. The 12-hour process involved five different levels of the walls and produced 40 scans. The data will be analyzed by US-based experts, but the results would not be known for at least another week.

Another radar scan will be carried out at the end of the month. It will be done vertically from atop the hill above the tomb, using equipment with a range of about 40 meters.

El-Anani, the antiquities minister, invited Egyptologists and experts on the Valley of the Kings to attend a conference on Tut to be held at Egypt's new national museum near the Giza Pyramids outside Cairo. There, they can discuss the findings. The outcome will guide what course of action Egypt takes.

Egypt's Pharaonic sites were once the country's main tourism draw. But cities like Luxor, across the Nile from the Valley of the Kings, have suffered heavily from the plunge in tourism amid turmoil since the 2011 uprising that ousted longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

Now, visitor numbers to Egypt's beaches have also fallen since the crash of a Russian airliner in October over the Sinai Peninsula that killed all 224 people onboard. Russia said it was downed by an explosive device.

King Tutankhamun's tomb in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor, Egypt. A radar survey is scheduled on Thursday to confirm if the tomb contains hidden undiscovered chambers.AP

(China Daily USA 04/05/2016 page10)
Japan's moves risk creating a new Cold War Updated: 2016-04-05 08:12 By Cai Hong(China Daily USA)

Days before the country's new security laws came into effect on March 29, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe asked National Defense Academy graduates to prepare to implement them.

But, embarrassingly, an increasing number of cadets are not interested in careers in the country's Self-Defense Forces.

Cadets at the academy pay no tuition fees and receive free room and board along with monthly stipends. The academy's graduates usually end up becoming SDF officers. However, 47 out of 419 graduates this year preferred the private sector rather than joining the SDF, double the number last year.

It is the largest number since 1991 when a record 94 graduates declined to join the SDF. That year, Japan was deliberating on whether SDF personnel should be sent to the Gulf War.

Japanese defense ministry officials have tried to play down the choice of the cadets, claiming that private businesses offer more openings for university graduates.

But the truth is that those graduates are appalled by the just-executed security laws, which greatly expand the SDF's duties overseas and allow Japan to come to the aid of allies around the globe in contingencies that "gravely affect" Japan's security.

Many people in Japan call the new laws "war legislation," fearing the nation will either enter, or be dragged into, military conflicts that are not of its making.

Some 600 lawyers are scheduled to file a lawsuit with the Tokyo District Court challenging the constitutionality of the laws this month.

When a country attempts to build a bigger army, it usually tries to find justifications. The Abe administration cites China's efforts to protect its maritime territory, along with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's nuclear and missile programs, as concrete examples of the changing regional security climate necessitating the new laws.

When US President Barack Obama met with Republic of Korea's President Park Geun-hye and Abe on the sidelines of the nuclear security summit in Washington on Thursday, some Japanese observers claimed there was a "new Cold War". They were thrilled to put the US, Japan and the ROK in one camp and China, Russia and the DPRK in the other.

This "new Cold War" is taking shape in action. Japan's Defense Agency has stationed 160 Ground SDF personnel on Yonaguni Island, which is some 150 kilometers south of China's Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea, to monitor vessels and aircraft in the area by radar.

Japan also plans to dispatch GSDF troops to the Miyako Island and Ishigaki Island in its Okinawa prefecture and Amami Oshima Island of Kagoshima prefecture.

Drills to simulate the recapturing of a remote island have been conducted by the SDF with the US military.

Japan has also supported countries with disputes with China in the South China Sea in a bid to keep China in check.

The security legislation "merely lays the foundation", Abe was quoted by Japanese media as saying to those lawmakers who are close to him on the occasion of the security laws taking effect. He said it is what happens in the future that matters.

Indeed, Japan's neighbors need to pay close heed to what the country will do in the years ahead.

The author is China Daily Tokyo bureau chief. caihong@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily USA 04/05/2016 page12)
Fuyao Ohio plant comes online Updated: 2016-04-05 11:08 By HEZI JIANG in Philadelphia(chinadaily.com.cn)

A worker inspects parts at Fuyao Glass America, the US branch of China's largest automotive glass maker, on March 29. The company is working toward achieving full production capacity at its 1.6 million-square-foot facility in Moraine, Ohio. HEZI JIANG / CHINA DAILY

The 1.6 million-square-foot factory that used to be a dank and deserted space - except for a few raccoons - is now reborn.Robots transport fabricated glass in a flowing rhythm, while men and women, many of whom were unemployed a year ago, busily work three fully up-and-operational production lines and installation stations.

Fuyao Glass America, the US branch of China's largest automotive glass maker, is working toward its goal for 2016 of achieving full production capacity at its first US manufacturing facility in Moraine, Ohio, and further sealing their corporate image as a global manufacturer.

It's been about 20 months since Fuyao took over the vacant plant abandoned by General Motors years ago. The factory now has 1,300 workers - about 700 full-time employees and 600 with part-time jobs that could turn into permanent ones with benefits after 90 days.

The factory will employ a total of 1,800 to 2,000 local workers by early next year, said John Gauthier, president of Fuyao Glass American.

Ohio Gov John Kasich, a candidate for the 2016 Republican nomination for president, has been highly supportive and very proud of the project. He met with Cao Dewang, chairman of Fuyao Glass Industry Group, many times to finalize the deal.

On March 11, Kasich hosted a town hall attended by more than a thousand locals at the Fuyao factory in advance of the Ohio Republican presidential primary on March 15.

"The whole process has gone smoother than I expected,"said Cao. "Every Chinese from Fuyao has been working really hard. It's also very important that the US support us. Otherwise, it would never be possible."

Apart from 120 Chinese workers from Fuyao's Chinese factories who are running the installation of Fuyao-designed equipment and new employee training, everyone was hired in the US, mostly from the Dayton area.

"Our largest challenges lie in the language barrier and cultural differences," Cao said. "We are working on bridging that culture gap. We have to learn a lot of things. For example, American workers demand a break room, which we never have in our Chinese factories."

"We have to localize. We tell our Chinese leadership to respect the US management team, and help them establish credibility," he said.

Including Gauthier, four of Fuyao America's top nine management executives are Americans.

Dealing with US Environmental Protection Agency, Occupational Safety and Health Administration and unions are among the challenges Chinese manufacturers face.

Also, American workers are different from workers in China. Many have no experience in auto glass-making, and they have different working hours and habits, said Gauthier.

"We are establishing our own culture by puttingFuyaoculture, Chinese culture and American culture all together into a hybrid culture," said Gauthier.

He said that some departments have been doing a "Word of the Day" exchange, where Chinese workers teach American workers a Chinese word, and the Americans will teach Chinese workers the equivalent English word - like bo li and glass - and they practice throughout the workday.

"It all comes down to trust," said Gauthier. "It's about building the relationship with trust."

"It's a rare chance that we get to work with a Chinese team, get to know people in a personal way," he said.

"Challenging? Yes. Frustrating? Yes, sometimes. But to work through the cultural issues as a team, to come to a greater understanding of the Chinese culture and history, and make that fit with the American culture, to me, it's so exciting that way," he said.

Gauthier has been in the glass industry for years. His last job was as plant manager of a glass manufacturing facility in Mt Zion, Illinois, which was acquired by Fuyao in 2014 to make pre-fabricated glass for the Ohio facility.

"It seems like we had been managing decline," he said. "It's been very exciting to be involved in a project like this where we have real growth, real potential and such a bright future.

"It's tough days, but you really feel like you are working on something important. You really feel like you are making a difference," said Gauthier.

Not only does Fuyao America provide jobs, Cao said, the Americans welcome the new manufacturing plant because it fills a gap in the US auto parts market.

During the financial crisis, many American auto part-makers shut down. Now as the auto market has been recovering, the fact that Fuyao America opened a new factory is great news for its US clients.

"Our American clients are thrilled," Cao said. "We now fulfill their orders faster, and they can communicate with us right away if any changes of the products have to be made."

The factory is now making windshields, backlights and sidelights for Chevy Silverado pickups, Hyundai Sonatas, BMW X5s, Ford F150 pickups, Jeep Grand Cherokees, Honda Civics and VW Passats, among others.

"I prepared for 20 years before opening this facility," said Cao.

Fuyao has had two offices and warehouses in Alabama and South Carolina since the 1990s. Eight years ago, it opened a bigger facility in Michigan to offer direct support to its clients in the Detroit area. The facility now employs close to 400 people.

In 2014,asFuyaowas growing bigger as a brand and Chinese labor costs kept going up, Cao decided the time had come.

"Raw materials we need are cheaper in the US, and having a plant will effectively reduce our transportation cost for orders from the US," Cao said.

He bought the glass manufacturing facility in Mt Zion, Illinois, and refurbished the Ohio plant, which is Fuyao's newest and most automated factory in the world.

Fuyao has factories in 15 Chinese provinces, employing 25,000 workers, and a factory in Russia serving the European market.

Cao said that 60 percent of its revenue comes from the Chinese market, and the rest comes from foreign markets, with North America and Europe the largest buyers.

"As driverless cars become the next big move, glass plays a more important role. Driverless cars need a lot of data, and all of that will come from the windshields," Cao said.

He said Fuyao was putting about 6 percent of its revenue into research and development. "I'm planning to open an R&D center here in the US," he said.

hezijiang@chinadailyusa.com
Nation's water supply may soon run dry Updated: 2016-04-05 08:13 By Agence France-Presse in Koror, Palau(China Daily)

Drought-stricken Palau could dry up completely this month, officials warned on Monday as the Pacific island appealed for urgent aid from Japan and Taiwan, including shipments of water.

The tiny country of about 18,000 people declared a state of emergency last month, the latest Pacific island nation to do so as one of the worst ever El Nino-induced droughts in the region worsens.

"We're still in the state of emergency, there's a sense of urgency to address the crisis," said a government spokesman as the National Emergency Committee met to discuss strategy.

An NEC report prepared for President Tommy Remengesau offered a bleak outlook for the already-parched country.

"Based on the current water level and usage rates, and assuming conditions persist unabated, a total water outage is likely to occur in the next two to three weeks," it said.

Access to tap water is already rationed to three hours a day or less in the capital Koror and schools are only open half days because they cannot give students enough to drink.

"The NEC has been in contact with the governments of Japan and Taiwan regarding support of materials and equipment, as well as direct shipments of water as necessary," it said.

The Japanese embassy in Palau confirmed it had received a request for assistance and discussions were ongoing about what form it would take. The nature of what type of assistance and in what volume is expected to be finalized as soon as possible," it said in a statement.

Palau also expects help from Taiwan.

The NEC report added that the US military had been asked to supply portable water filtration systems to alleviate the increasingly desperate situation.

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the El Nino weather pattern - associated with a sustained period of warming in the central Pacific which can spark climate extremes - was unlikely to ease before the second half of the year.

The Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia have also declared states of emergency.

In Koror, bottled water has become scarce as people stockpile dwindling supplies.

"There are no words to describe the level of stress, worry and burden of hauling water from one place to another," said resident Rolynda Jonathan. "Every morning we struggle to shower, clean up and prepare for the day with the limited amount of water we have."

(China Daily 04/05/2016 page10)
Azerbaijan and Armenia locked in deadly clashes over Karabakh Updated: 2016-04-05 08:13 By Agence France-Presse in Yerevan, Armenia(China Daily)

Deadly clashes between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces over the Nagorny Karabakh region continued for a third day on Monday despite international pressure to halt the worst fighting in decades over the disputed territory.

Azerbaijan said three of its troops were killed overnight when Armenian forces shelled its positions using mortars and grenade launchers, taking the overall death toll in the latest surge of violence to at least 36.

"In the event of continued Armenian provocations, we will launch a full-scale operation along the entire front line, using all kinds of weapons," Azerbaijan's defense ministry spokesman Vagif Dargahly told journalists.

The separatist authorities in Karabakh said that Azeri troops "intensified shelling of the Karabakh army positions on Monday morning, using 152-millimeter mortars, rocket-propelled artillery and tanks".

The fresh outbreak of fighting over the region - which was seized by Armenian rebels from Azerbaijan in a war that ended with an inconclusive truce in 1994 - erupted on Friday night with the two sides accusing each other of attacking with heavy weaponry.

Azerbaijan claimed to have snatched several strategic positions inside the Armenian-controlled territory in what would be the first change in the front line since the cease-fire 22 years ago.

In the Armenian capital of Yerevan, defense ministry spokesman Artsrun Hovhannisyan said on Monday that Karabakh forces had "seriously advanced at certain sectors of the front line and took up new positions".

The report was dismissed as "untrue" by Azerbaijan.

Russia and the West have called for a cease-fire, with Russian President Vladimir Putin pushing for an immediate end to the fighting, and Moscow's diplomats and military pressuring both sides.

At least 18 Armenians, 15 Azeri troops and three civilians were reported killed, and one of Azerbaijan's attack helicopters was shot down.

On Sunday, Azerbaijan said it had decided to "unilaterally cease hostilities" and pledged to "reinforce" the positions it claimed to have captured.

The authorities in Karabakh which claims independence, said they were willing to discuss a cease-fire but only if it would help them regain their territory.

(China Daily 04/05/2016 page11)
Chinese FM meets with Myanmar's Suu Kyi Updated: 2016-04-06 00:31 (Xinhua)

NAYPYIDAW -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi Tuesday met with his Myanmar counterpart Aung San Suu Kyi here to discuss the development of bilateral relations shortly after the installation of Myanmar's new government.

During their meeting, Wang said that his official visit to Myanmar at the invitation of Suu Kyi immediately after the Southeast Asian country's new government took office is a clear demonstration of the "paukphaw friendship" -- "brotherly friendship" in Burmese -- between the two countries.

"Myanmar is standing at a new starting point in history. China hopes and believes that the new Myanmar government will unite all parties across its country and lead its people to create a new era of development and progress," Wang told Suu Kyi.

The relationship between China and Myanmar is also "standing at a new starting point," the Chinese foreign minister said, adding that China stands ready to join hands with the new Myanmar government to carry forward the traditional China-Myanmar friendship, deepen political mutual trust and expand the mutually beneficial cooperation so as to "open up a new chapter" for bilateral relations.

"The China-Myanmar 'paukphaw friendship' goes beyond differences in social institutions. And the changes in Myanmar's inner affairs will not alter China's Myanmar policy," Wang said.

Wang said he hoped that the two sides could strengthen their high-level engagements as soon as possible in order to jointly map out the next step for the two countries' comprehensive cooperation.

He also hoped that the two countries' ruling parties could strengthen their inter-party communication, exchange experience on managing state affairs, deepen reciprocal cooperation in various areas and properly handle the problems emerging from collaboration.

"On the basis of respecting Myanmar's sovereignty and territorial integrity, China stands ready to play a conducive role in Myanmar's national reconciliation in accordance with Myanmar's needs and willingness," the Chinese diplomat said.

Noting that Myanmar and China are neighbors with their interests closely connected, Suu Kyi said that she personally felt the profound friendship between the two peoples when she visited China in 2015, adding that "Myanmar won't forget China's support and help," especially the help that came at critical moments.

"As the new Myanmar government aspires to promote national reconciliation and achieve stability and development, the substantial assistance from China in various aspects means a great deal for our country," Suu Kyi said.

The new Myanmar government is ready to work with China to strengthen accomplishments in China-Myanmar relations and expand high-level exchanges and economic cooperation so as to lift bilateral ties to a new height.

"I believe that China will continue to be Myanmar's good friend," she said.
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People look at bicycles at a store. The Vietnamese bicycle market now features many international brands.  VNS Photo

HCM CITY (VNS)  Two years after the return of Peugeot, the Vietnamese bicycle market has welcomed several more famous brands.

According to bike traders in HCM City, famous global brands like Peugeot, Puch, Gitane, and Definitive are available in the country, imported mostly from France, the Netherlands and Italy.

Last week Velo Chic, a company that distributrd imported bikes, unveiled two new brands, Dahon from the US and Bianchi from Italy.

Tran Trong Quang, deputy director of the company, told Viet Nam News: Consumers prefer imported bikes thanks to their high quality, good design and, especially, safety. So many famous companies are bringing their products to Viet Nam.

He said many consumers used to prefer cheap imported bikes but have changed their minds after using top-quality ones.

Le Ba Hoang of District 7 said after visiting many shops he decided to buy two bikes imported from Europe, one himself and one for his son to ride.

Quang said that with living standards improving, people care more about their health while others use bikes daily, seeking to change their lifestyle. People are willing to pay a lot for quality bikes, he said.

In the last three years his company has sold more than 3,000 imported bikes.

More foreign brands would come, he said, revealing his company is negotiating with some to distribute their products in Viet Nam.

Traders said the prices of imported bike are not unreasonable. A Dahon bike, a leading brand, costs from VN7 million (US$340) to VN20 million ($900); a Peugeot costs around VN10 million. VNS
Viet Nam remained a safe destination for many foreign-invested companies, and the ratio of foreign-invested firms which used materials and parts supplied by Vietnamese enterprises has been increasing.  Photo thanhnien.com.vn

ONG NAI (VNS) To effectively utilise opportunities through free trade agreements (FTAs) provinces and cities should launch databases on foreign-invested enterprises and domestic suppliers to help domestic firms become suppliers of foreign counterparts.

Nestor Scherbey, senior consultant at the Viet Nam Trade Facilitation Alliance (VTFA), made this suggestion during a conference held yesterday in the southern province of ong Nai.

With the assistance of technical experts, provincial governments need to conduct surveys on foreign-invested enterprises in order to define types of materials and intermediate goods that local manufacturers could provide foreign firms. This move would ensure that the final product would be eligible for tax incentives from agreements such as Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and EU-Viet Nam FTA.

Not only localities, he said, but multinational companies should also draw up plans and make changes in their global supply chains, in order to meet TPPs regulations on origin and that of other agreements if they wanted to take advantage of tax incentives that these agreements could bring, as countries to which they exported their finished products participated in these agreements.

In his speech, au Anh Tuan, director of the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industrys Legal Affairs Department, said Viet Nam remained a safe destination for many foreign-invested companies, and the ratio of foreign-invested firms which used materials and parts supplied by Vietnamese enterprises has been increasing.

A report from the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) showed that the purchase of spare parts from Japanese firms in Viet Nam in 2015 was 32.1 per cent. The rate was higher than 22.4 per cent in 2010. However, the rate was lower than those of Japanese enterprises operating in China with 64.7 per cent, Thailand with 55.5 per cent, Indonesia with 40.5 per cent, and Malaysia with 36 per cent.  VNS
The ASEAN Finance Ministers agreed to strengthen cooperation and launch integration initiatives with a view to maintaining ASEANs stable development amid potential external shocks and financial uncertainties.  VNA/VNS Photos Pham Kien

VIENTIANE (VNS)  The ASEAN Finance Ministers have committed to adopting cautious monetary and fiscal policies to sustain economic growth and stabilise the macro-economy, in which, economic restructuring remains a priority in the region.

They made the commitment at the 20th ASEAN Finance Ministers Meeting, the 12th ASEAN Central Governors Meeting, and the second Finance Ministers and ASEAN Central Governors Meeting that took place in Vientiane, Laos on April 3-4.

Finance Minister Dinh Tien Dung and Deputy Governor of the State Bank Nguyen Thi Hong attended the event.

Ministers agreed to strengthen cooperation and launch integration initiatives with a view to maintaining ASEANs stable development amid potential external shocks and financial uncertainties.

Reviewing tasks in the ASEANs financial-monetary integration roadmap in terms of liberalisation of financial services and capital, as well as capital market development, they said regional countries concluded negotiations on the seventh package of financial services liberalisation and are set to launch the eighth round of negotiations this year to further open the financial services market, with a focus on further liberalising insurance services in the region.



Ministers and central governors pledged to continue removing existing obstacles to trade and direct investment. Indirect investment and other sources of capital will continue to be liberated depending on each countrys conditions and appropriate trade defence measures.

They vowed to promote regional capital market connectivity via creating a regional integration environment and building infrastructure while supporting financial cooperation initiatives for increased connectivity and internal trade development.

At the meetings, participants reaffirmed the commitment to developing inclusive finance as a policy priority and a pillar in the ASEAN financial co-operation within the framework of the ASEAN Economic Community Blueprint.

They also discussed an action plan on ASEAN financial integration strategy with a vision to 2025, which will serve as a reference to orient regional integration and financial coordination for the next decade.

On the occasion, they also agreed to hold the ASEAN Finance Ministers Investors Seminar this year.

On the sidelines of the event, ministers held meetings with the ASEAN Finance Ministers and the EU  ASEAN Business Council.  VNS
NA Vice Chair are Phung Quoc Hien (left) and General o Ba Ty (right).  Photo VNA

HA NOI (VNS)  The National Assembly Standing Committee submitted to the NA a list of candidates for the positions of NA Vice Chair and member of the NA Standing Committee for the 13th tenure during a plenary session yesterday.

The candidates for the position of NA Vice Chair are Phung Quoc Hien, Party Central Committee member, incumbent member of the NA Standing Committee and Chairman of the NA Finance-Budget Committee; and General o Ba Ty, Party Central Committee member, Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam Peoples Army and Deputy Minister of National Defence.

In addition, seven candidates were named for election to the NA Standing Committee. NA deputies then discussed the list of candidates.

Later, President Tran ai Quang submitted to the NA a proposal for approval of a diplomatic note on an agreement between Viet Nam and the US regarding visa issuance.

NA Vice Chairwoman Tong Thi Phong said the NA agreed to allow the issuance of one-year visas for US citizens. Based on the report and deputies opinions, the NA Standing Committee will prepare a resolution on approving the diplomatic note in line with the Constitution and laws.

Deputy Hoang Thanh Tung of Soc Trang Province voiced his support for the agreement, saying that it matches the growing ties between the two countries.

The NA was scheduled to elect the NA Vice Chairman and a number of NA Standing Committee members in the afternoon via secret ballots.  VNS
The ak Mi hydropower joint stock company did not have any plans to deal with the risk of dam collapse and other safety issues.  Photo news.zing.vn

HA NOI (VNS)  ak Mi hydropower joint stock company has been fined VN810 million (US$36,000), following a recent decision made by inspectors of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE).

On March 14, inspectors of the ministrys Department of Water Resources Management conducted a surprise check at the ak Mi 4 hydropower reservoir in the central Quang Nam Province.

According to the inspectors, the company did not have any plans to deal with the risk of dam collapse and other hazards. The firm was fined VN400 million ($17,800) for this lapse.

Another failure, for which the firm has been fined VN140 million ($6,200), was the absence of plans to manage water in reservoirs and to announce water management plans to peoples committees in all areas that have reservoirs and reservoir lowlands.

The company has also been fined VN270 million ($12,000) for not ensuring a minimum flow in the lower section of the Vu Gia River in line with reservoir operating rules.

The ak Mi 4 hydropower plant, built by the Viet Nam Urban and Industrial Zone Development Investment Corporation, has a 190MW capacity and annually generates 752 million kW per hour on average.

In a related report, MONRE inspectors also fined the Buon on hydropower joint stock company VN66 million ($2,930) for failing to follow regulations on the exploitation and use of water resources.  VNS
Tam said that in the last few years, Vietnamese fishermen have faced a number of difficulties, particularly security issues when working at sea.  Photo plo.vn

NHA TRANG (VNS)  Viet Nam has pledged to co-operate closely with other members of the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Centre (SEAFDEC) in its fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, said Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Vu Van Tam.

The 48th meeting of the council of SEAFDEC was hosted by the Directorate of Fisheries on April4, 2016 in central Nha Trang City. More than 100 delegates from 10 Southeast Asian countries and Japan attended the meeting.

Tam said that Viet Nam joined with other countries in making efforts to develop a dialogue for better information exchange, and to settle cases relating to fishing grounds or fishing activities on principles of friendship, humanity and the security for fishermen.

He emphasised the need to launch a hotline among ASEAN countries.

Tam said that in the last few years, Vietnamese fishermen have faced a number of difficulties, particularly security issues when working at sea.

When it comes to the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, the safety of fishermen and their boats must be taken into account, he said.

SEAFDEC Director General Wimol Jantrarotai said that bilateral and regional co-operation was very important in effectively addressing illegal fishing.

The 48th meeting of SEAFDEC that lasts until Friday will also discuss sustainable fishing, post-harvest technologies and the management of aquaculture resources.

The SEAFDEC is an autonomous inter-governmental body established in 1967. The mandate of SEAFDEC as endorsed by the 41st Meeting of the SEAFDEC Council is To develop and manage the fisheries potential of the region by rational utilization of the resources for providing food security and safety to the people and alleviating poverty through transfer of new technologies, research and information dissemination activities.

SEAFDEC is comprised of 11 member countries: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam.  VNS
According to the contest theme, the airport terminal projects first phase will have designed capacity for 25 million passengers and 1.2 million tonnes of goods per year, covering a total area of 400,000sq.m.  Photo zing.vn

HCM CITY (VNS)  Airports Corporation of Viet Nam (ACV) has asked the Ministry of Transport to approve a competitive examination for architecture of Long Thanh International Airport terminal.

The national and international candidates will be individuals, groups or companies. The examination dates are from April to June, 2016.

According to the contest theme, the airport terminal projects first phase will have designed capacity for 25 million passengers and 1.2 million tonnes of goods per year, covering a total area of 400,000sq.m.

The terminal must meet both International Civil Aviation Organization and International Air Transport Association standards that ensure user-friendly services designed for passengers.

The terminals overall design must ensure enough acreage to connect runway, airplane and car parking grounds, and supporting infrastructure, including ingoing and outgoing airport roads.

An official of ACV said the competitive examination aims to select the best feasibility study meeting mandatory criteria regarding maximum usage and capacity, aesthetics, and architectural programming.

The winning feasibility study must also be relevant to construction of a terminal at an international airport set to become Viet Nams largest airport. The winning study must also be suitable for the airports long-term programming goals.

The investor will work with the competitive examination results to set up a terminal project, the ACV official said.

A council of examiners will be established. It will include senior officials from ACV and other relevant ministries and agencies.

The Ministry of Transport previously acknowledged the Prime Minister for allowing it to receive US$4.3 million in non-refundable aid from the Japanese Government. The money will be invested in the Long Thanh airport terminal projects feasibility study.

Official plans said that Long Thanh airport terminal will have a capacity of 100 million passengers and 5 million tonnes of freight per year when it is fully completed by 2050. The first phase of the terminal project is expected to be completed in 2025.

Investment in the ong Nai southern provinces Long Thanh airport terminal project is estimated to total about VN336.63 trillion ($14.96 billion), with the first phase costing about VN114.45 trillion ($5.09 billion).  VNS
A class in HCM Citys Vo Truong Toan Primary School. Many schools in the city fail to offer day boarding for students because of class room shortages.  VNA/VNS Photo Manh Linh

HCM CITY (VNS)  A shortage of classrooms in HCM City primary schools is the main barrier keeping students from day boarding, which includes staying at the school from early morning until late in the day, including lunch.

Nguyen Quang Vinh, head of the city Department of Education and Trainings Primary Education Division, said that primary students at day boarding schools should attend no more than seven classes each day.

Vinh spoke at a meeting with the Culture and Social Affairs Board of the Peoples Council held last week in HCM City.

He said that in the afternoon, students could study elective courses such as English, computer or others.

For the 2015-2016 academic year, the city has 515 primary schools. Day boarding is available at 430 of the schools, a drop of only 1.9 per cent compared to the previous year.

However, most of them are in only seven out of 24 districts, including 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, Nha Be and Can Gio.

The districts of Tan Phu, Binh Tan, Go Vap, Binh Chanh and 12 have under 50 per cent of day boarders in the districts.

Tan Phu District has the lowest rate in the five districts, with only 24.1 per cent, following District 12 with 27.4 per cent.

Ta Tan, head of the Tan Phu Districts educational division, said that the district had seen an increase of 7,200 first graders each year.

The districts proportion of day boarders is expected to rise to 35 per cent from 24.1 per cent by 2020, Tan said.

However, the speed of population growth is higher than the forecast, he added.

Tran Van Phuc, deputy chairman of the Tan Phu District Peoples Committee, said the districts leaders were under pressure to build schools because of the rapid increase in students.

In addition, the number of teachers for elective subjects, especially English, is insufficient for day boarding, he added.

Phan Van Quang, deputy head of Tan Binh District educational division, said the district has many old primary and secondary schools with insufficient space for day boarders.

This academic year, three more new schools were put into use. But they can only be used for half a day.

More than sixty-four per cent of students in the district are day boarders.

Le Son, deputy chairman of the district Peoples Committee, said the district would give priority to build more primary and secondary schools to reduce the student overload.

Solutions

Nguyen Van Hieu, deputy head of the citys Department of Education and Training, said that more than 14,000 classrooms by 2020 were needed for day boarding.

He said that private schools or centres should be allowed to work with public schools.

Under the co-operation, staff of private schools or centres could pick up students for day boarding after the end of the morning shift at the public school.

Hieu said that at the private school, the students can have lunch, take a nap and take part in extra activities, as well as enroll in elective courses. Parents can then pick them up at 5 pm.

However, many parents, whose children study either in the morning or afternoon, are too busy to pick up their children, and use services provided by private schools and individuals to pick up their kids.

But since these private services are not regulated and have not been issued licenses, safety and hygiene cannot be assured, according to Hieu.

The private services are expected to expand, particularly in industrial and export processing zones, as the number of day boarding slots at schools decline.

To solve the issue of safety and hygiene, Hieu recommended that agencies such as Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs and Department of Health work with the educational department to manage the situation.

The educational department could issue licences to the private schools and services, he said, adding that safety would be at risk if there was no oversight.

The local peoples committee should be in charge of frequent supervision of private schools and services, Hieu added.

Thi Thi Tuyet Nhung, head of the Culture and Social Affairs Board, said she would ask the Peoples Council to approve the implementation of the private services.  VNS
Traffic police and port authorities check life jackets on a tourism ship in the northern province of Quang Ninh. The country will start a campaign to check the safety of vehicles on their waterways late this month.  Photo thanhtra.com.vn

HA NOI  The Viet Nam Inland Waterways Administration (VIWA) has asked the waterway police departments in cities and provinces to start a campaign to check the safety of vehicles on their waterways.

The campaign will take place later this month, deemed an action month for waterway traffic safety, following the request of Deputy Minister of Transport Le inh Tho.

Under the campaign, waterway traffic police will check and penalise drivers of unregistered waterway vehicles, overloaded vehicles and those that do not comply with technical safety specifications. Drivers who do not have the proper qualifications will also be fined.

Inspections will be stepped up on vehicles transporting building materials including stones, sand and gravel.

The VIWA asked the Traffic Police Department to stay in touch with and share information on violations with the local inland waterways administrations and registry departments for more efficient management.

Hoang Hong Giang, director of the VIWA, said waterway traffic safety had recently shown significant results and waterway traffic accidents had reduced due to good co-ordination between the traffic police and inland waterways police.

However, the results were not sustainable and risks of waterway accidents remain, Giang said.

Three waterway accidents occurred last month, seriously affecting waterway, railway and road traffic and causing great losses for the State.

On March 6, the Thanh Luan 28 Ship, which was past its best use period, voluntarily left its port and crashed into An Thai Bridge on Kinh Thay River in the northern province of Hai Duong. The crash seriously damaged the bridge.

On March 12, an unregistered waterway vehicle crashed into Con o Bridge on Nha Le Cannal in the central province of Ha Tinh, causing it to collapse.

On March 20, another ship that was past its best use period, crashed into the Ghenh Bridge piles in Bien Hoa City in the southern province of ong Nai, and two of the piles collapsed.  VNS
HA NOI  Thousands of houses and several hectares of vegetable crops in the northern provinces of Tuyen Quang and Ha Giang were reportedly damaged by large hailstones last weekend.

According to preliminary statistics from Ha Giang Provinces Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control, the hailstones destroyed a house in Quan Ba District, blew away the roofs of 21 houses and damaged 950 others.

As many as 19 welfare projects such as schools, teachers residences and medical stations in Quan Ba, Yen Minh and Meo Vac districts were severely damaged.

The hail storm also seriously damaged nearly 140ha of vegetable crops, 50ha of medicinal crops of high economic value and nearly 900ha of corn crops.

A thunderstorm that occurred during the hail storm killed five buffaloes in Hoang Su Phi District, with the damage estimated to be worth more than VN130 million (US$5,780).

The total destruction to crops and property is estimated to be worth VN15 billion ($667,000), the VietnamNews Agency reported.

In Tuyen Quang Provinces Chiem Hoa District, the five-minute hail storm, with stones having an average diameter of 5cm to 10cm and some being even 15cm-wide, seriously damaged more than 2,000 houses and destroyed 300ha of vegetable crops. Tan Thinh Commune was the hardest hit.

The authorities in these two localities are trying to help the residents to recover from the destruction.

Nguyen Minh Tien, deputy chairman of the peoples committee of Ha Giang Province, said the committee ordered authorised departments and sectors to take measures to help the people recover from the hail storms destruction.

Local authorities are preparing seed and fertiliser to help residents resume production. In addition, the province has stepped up efforts to warn local people about damage control in hail storms during the stormy season.

Officers have been sent to hail storm-hit areas to help people repair their houses roofs. The funds for house repair would come from the standby state budget, Nguyen Cong Ham, from Tuyen Quang Provinces Ha Giang Provinces Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control, told the Voice of Viet Nam (VOV) radio station.  VNS
HA NOI (VNS)  The health ministry announced the detection of Viet Nam s first two Zika cases in the central Khanh Hoa Province and HCM City at a press conference yesterday.

The two patients are in a stable condition, Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long said at the event.

Tests have showed that none of the relatives or neighbouring families of the two patients has the Zika infection, Long said.

The first patient is a 64-year-old woman in Phuoc Hoa Ward in Khanh Hoas Nha Trang City . She fell sick and had symptoms such as slight fever, headache, hives on feet and conjunctivitis.

She was admitted to the Khanh Hoa Tropical Diseases Hospital on March 23, where she tested positive for the Zika virus on March 31. The National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE) and the HCM City Pasteur Institute yesterday also confirmed the result.

The second patient is a 33-year-old woman, who is in the second month of her pregnancy, in Thach My Loi Ward, District 2, HCM City . She fell sick with symptoms such as hives and conjunctivitis on March 29, and was admitted to District 2 General Hospital on the same day for a check-up.

Test conducted at the HCM City Pasteur Institute on March 31 and April 1, the NIHE on April 2 and the Nagasaki University laboratory located in the NIHE yesterday also confirmed she had the Zika virus.

Long said people should not worry too much about Zika, even though the disease could spread to more localities in the future.

The health ministry asked Khanh Hoa Province and HCM City to intensify measures to localise and eliminate Zika outbreaks. The ministry also said Khanh Hoa and HCM City should disseminate information about the Zika virus at commune and ward levels, as per legal regulations.

The health sector said as of April 4, it had conducted 1,215 tests on samples collected from suspected Zika patients in 32 provinces and cities nation-wide.

Long said the health ministry did not recommend people to limit travel between regions and provinces in the country.

We only warned pregnant women to consider carefully before entering a Zika-affected area, because the virus might cause brain damage or microcephaly in babies if the mothers had the Zika infection during their first three months of pregnancy, Long said.

Zika is mainly transmitted through mosquito bites. The best way to prevent the Zika infection is to kill mosquitoes and their larvae. Each person and household should take measures to prevent mosquito bites. Hospitals and medical units had prepared enough facilities, medicines and tests in response to the Zika threat, added Long.

The health ministry recently raised the warning level for the Zika virus nationwide. Provinces and cities were requested to take urgent measures against the spread of the virus in the country.

HCM City unveils emergency measures

HCM City Peoples Committee yesterday met with a delegation led by Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien to discuss prevention of possible Zika outbreaks in the city.

Le Thanh Liem, deputy chairman of the city Peoples Committee, instructed the Department of Health to work closely with health authorities in the 24 wards to improve screening for outbreaks.

The department yesterday announced emergency plans to contain the disease by killing mosquitoes and carrying out communication campaigns to raise public awareness.

Nguyen Tan Binh, the department director, said passengers arriving at Tan Son Nhat International Airport were screened for fever, especially if they are coming from areas where there have been Zika outbreaks.

City hospitals were obtaining samples from high-risk patients who have lived in or returned from infected areas and have Zika symptoms, and sending them to the HCM City Pasteur Institute, he said.

District-level preventive medicine centres and hospitals had been instructed to report to the citys Preventive Medicine Centre about any suspected cases for timely treatment, he said.

Tien said obstetrics hospitals in the city should keep a close eye on pregnant women in their first trimester for symptoms such as fever, rash, headache, muscle ache and conjunctivitis, which could indicate Zika infection.

The health ministry delegation yesterday inspected the PetroVietnam Tower in District 1 where the citys first Zika patient, a 33-year-old pregnant woman, works.

It also visited her house in Thanh My Loi Ward in District 2.

The Preventive Medicine Centre has identified 10 areas in District 2, including Thanh My Loi, as facing a high risk of dengue fever.

Last year the number of dengue fever cases in the district had risen three-fold, the centre said.

On the same day, after a Zika case was announced in Khanh Hoa Province, the provincial Peoples Committee issued an urgent decision to announce the epidemic within wards.

According to the decision, the director of the provincial health department and chairpersons of peoples committees at all levels in Khanh Hoa Province have been called on to take preventive measures.

At a meeting to announce the decision yesterday afternoon, Deputy Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long said that the Zika infection in the province was transmitted through mosquito bites, however, it is not yet clear where the patient was infected.

He asked Nha Trang Pasteur Institute to take blood samples from six members in the patients family for testing.

He also warned that the possibility of the virus spreading to the whole province and other localities was very large. He asked the province to spray chemicals to kill mosquitoes on large-scale areas.

Le uc Vinh, chairman of the provincial Peoples Committee said that the province had warned the patient not to leave her house for 14 days.

The peoples committees at all levels must launch campaigns to kill mosquito larva while the provincial Peoples Committee would order relevant sectors to cooperate with each other to conduct treatment and identify outbreaks, he said.  VNS
Addressing the annual summit of the on Monday, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, minister of state for skill development and entrepreneurship (independent charge), highlighted the pitiable state of skilled manpower in India by citing various examples. He said some months back he received a letter from the Peruvian ambassador to India. The ambassador wanted to know why India was issuing visas to Peruvian nationals to come all the way from the Latin American country to work as drillers in India. Rudy said he inquired into the matter and found out that there were not enough trained drillers in India; that was why Hindustan Zinc Limited was hiring drillers from overseas to work in Rajasthan. These included drillers from Peru, who travelled 17,000 km and across continents, to come to work in India.
Satellite imagery indicates activity at a North Korean laboratory that could separate plutonium for nuclear weapons, a US website that monitors sensitive sites in the isolated country has said.

The website, 38 North, said yesterday that during the past five weeks, exhaust plumes have been seen two or three times at the radiochemical laboratory complex at Nyongbyon, which is North Korea's known nuclear facility.

That suggests buildings there are being heated, but it's unclear for what activity.

The lab is where separates weapons-grade plutonium from waste from a nuclear reactor. The North announced in 2013 its intention to refurbish and restart nuclear facilities, including the reactor, which was shut down in 2007 under aid-for-disarmament negotiations it later withdrew from. The reactor has been the source of plutonium for the North's small arsenal of weapons.

In February, US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told Congress that has been operating the reactor long enough that it could begin recovering material for nuclear weapons "within a matter of weeks to months." He was speaking after had conducted its latest nuclear test explosion in January and then a long-range rocket launch weeks later.

The website said the exhaust plumes are unusual and it had not observed any on commercial satellite imagery during the winter.

"The plumes suggest that the operators of the reprocessing facility are heating their buildings, perhaps indicating that some significant activity is being undertaken, or will be in the near future. Whether that activity will be additional separation of plutonium for nuclear weapons remains unclear," says the analysis by satellite imagery specialists William Mugford and Joseph Bermudez.

North Korea expelled UN nuclear inspectors from Nyongbyon in 2009, so it is very difficult to confirm what is happening there.

Daniel Russel, the top US diplomat for East Asia, declined yesterday to comment about potential reprocessing activities by North Korea, saying it was an intelligence matter. But he told the Institute for Korean-American Studies that North Korea is facing unprecedented isolation and "no amount of fissile material" will improve its strategic position.
Chinas former leader mysteriously removed A rare public spectacle has drawn attention at the closing ceremony of China's Communist Party's National Congress, as President Xi Jinping prepares to be handed a third term in office.

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.
Smoky Mountains crash kills 5 tourists

SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. (AP)  Five people died Monday when a sightseeing helicopter crashed near the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in eastern Tennessee, officials said.

The crash of the Bell 206 tourist helicopter was reported about 3:30 p.m. near Sevierville, a Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman said.

About four hours after the crash, more than a dozen emergency vehicles were at the site, less than a mile from a large outlet mall in Sevierville. Smoke billowed over the wooded area.

Judge OKs $20 billion BP spill settlement

NEW ORLEANS (AP)  A federal judge in New Orleans granted final approval Monday to an estimated $20 billion settlement over the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, resolving years of litigation over the worst offshore spill in the nations history.

The settlement, first announced in July, includes $5.5 billion in civil Clean Water Act penalties and billions more to cover environmental damage and other claims by the five Gulf states and local governments. The money is to be paid out over a 16-year period. The U.S. Justice Department has estimated that the settlement will cost the oil giant as much as $20.8 billion, the largest environmental settlement in U.S. history as well as the largest-ever civil settlement with a single entity.

Train hit backhoe at 106 mph; 2 killed

CHESTER, Pa. (AP)  An Amtrak passenger train was going 106 miles per hour in a 110 mph zone when it struck a backhoe sitting on the same track, killing the backhoe operator and a track supervisor, federal and local officials said Monday.

The engineer applied the emergency brakes five seconds before impact, the National Transportation Safety Board said late Monday. No one on board was killed, although more than 30 passengers were injured.

Rail safety workers said track workers are supposed to double-check their assignments with dispatchers to be sure they are not working on or around an active track.

High court rejects overdraft fee appeal

WASHINGTON (TNS)  The Supreme Court on Monday let stand a $203 million verdict in favor of Californians who were repeatedly charged overdraft fees by Wells Fargo Bank a decade ago.

A federal judge in San Francisco ruled in 2010 Wells Fargo had sought to maximize the number of overdrafts by subtracting the highest charges first on the debit card, followed by the lower charges. When the account was overdrawn, this so-called high to low policy had the effect of multiplying the number of overdrafts, each of which carried a $25 to $35 fee.

Man in video kills neighbors dog

LOS ANGELES (TNS)  A man who authorities said shot and killed his neighbors dog was arrested Saturday after purported video of the dogs death was posted online.

Riverside County Sheriffs Department investigators arrested Christopher Samuel, 54, on animal cruelty and firearms charges.

Video posted on Facebook by Alexis Lemmon, who said she was the dog owners daughter, shows the dog running around a yard as a man shoots at it.

Another man recording the expletive-filled video shouts his dog had been enclosed in the yard and then screams as a gunshot rings out and the dog falls to the ground. As the man screams at the shooter, the shooter shoots the dog once more.
Waterloo

Fire Alarms March 25

12:06 p.m., 3350 University Ave., fire in vent.

2:17 p.m., 2215 E. Fourth St., false alarm.

2:23 p.m., 1214 Franklin St., vehicle fire.

2:35 p.m., 4730 W. Fourth St., smoke alarm.

5:30 p.m., 600 Linden Ave., smoke alarm.

10:25 p.m., 2014 Mulberry St., assist resident.

Fire Alarms March 26

12:48 a.m., 209 W. Fifth St., smoke removal.

10:31 a.m., 1830 Sycamore St., assist resident.

6:46 p.m., 632 W. Fourth St., water leak.

7:03 p.m., Commercial Street and Mullan Avenue, automobile accident.

11:21 p.m., 615 Ricker St., natural gas leak.

Fire Alarms March 27

7:31 a.m., 184 Sabrina Circle, assist resident.

9:18 a.m., 1709 Commercial St., natural gas leak.

11:37 a.m., 717 Johnson St., unauthorized burning.

12:54 p.m., 1125 W. Fourth St., investigation.

3:09 p.m., La Porte Road and Mitchell Avenue, automobile accident.

3:12 p.m., 600 Upton Ave., assist resident.

3:17 p.m., 3260 University Ave., fluid spill.

Fire Alarms March 28

5 a.m., 1111 Locke Ave., assist resident.

6:38 p.m., 230 West Hills Lane, smoke removal.

7 p.m., 1318 W. Sixth St., unauthorized burning.

10:15 p.m., 3807 W. Fourth St., cooking fire.

Fire Alarms March 29

1:24 a.m., 3863 Logan Ave., carbon monoxide alarm.

11:10 a.m., 1813 Castle St., false alarm.

1:06 p.m., 1809 Commercial St., unauthorized burning.

10:57 p.m., 605 Magnolia Parkway, unauthorized burning.

Fire Alarms March 30 12:12 a.m., 209 W. Fifth St., smoke removal.

1:23 a.m., 222 W. Wellington St., water leak.

Fire Alarms April 2 8:36 a.m., 1649 Patton Ave., power line down.

9:52 a.m., 1312 Magnolia Pkwy., unauthorized burning.

1:40 p.m., 3312 Parkridge Road, gasoline or other hazardous waste.

2:58 p.m., 1173 Dixon Drive, overheated motor.

Waterloo Police Log

Andrea Lee Caines-Garcia, 47, of 159 Prospect Ave., was arrested April 3 at the intersection of Independence and Steely avenues and charged with harassment of a public official. She allegedly harassed Waterloo Police Officer Thomas Schuster by refusing to identify herself during a traffic stop.

Rebecca Shree Todd, 33, of 1125 Langley Road, #12, was arrested April 2 at 1334 Flammang Drive and charged with third-degree theft. She allegedly shoplifted from Wal-Mart.

Tommie Lee Brown, 58, of 617 West Second St., #1, was arrested April 1 at 300 Allen St. and charged with third-offense operating while intoxicated, driving while license revoked and habitual offender.
WATERLOO, IA  A sparkling roster of soloists led the wcfsymphony to two inspired concerts Saturday, at the Brown Derby Ballroom in downtown Waterloo. These (identical) concerts, led masterfully by the orchestras Music Director and CEO Jason Weinberger, completed a two-part presentation of orchestral works of J.S. Bach, the earlier concerts occurring in the same venue on February 6.

The Brown Derby offers audiences a chance to hear concerts up close and personal, not unlike attending a secular concert in the Baroque era itself, which were often given in a citys tavern or public hall. In fact, drinks were served at Brown Derby for the concerts.

The orchestra employed reduced forces, probably similar to performances of the time. It is unfortunate that the programs were printed so early that no names were included, and these concerts were played in anonymity. First violins were Anita Tucker, Beth Hoffman and Todd Williams. Seconds included Daniel Kaplunas and Robert Espe, and violists were Kathleen Siehler and Sally Malcolm. The continuo was formed by Isaac-Paster-Chermak, cello; Alexander Pershounin, bass; and Jason Weinberger at the harpsichord.

I attended and am reviewing the earlier concert, which began with Bachs Orchestral Suite No. 2, BWV 1067 (Bachs works are identified by number  BWV in English means catalogue of Bachs works). Claudia Anderson, the orchestras principal flutist, was absolutely masterful in the soloists role, playing the demanding work on her modern flute, not that different from the wooden traverso used at the time (she also spoke informatively about performance tractice). As in most Baroque suites, the piece began with a French overture, followed by a series of stylized dances, much in fashion at the time. Of particular interest were the spritely bourrees, with an almost Mendelssohnian effervescence.

As is often the case, the solo part was written without much concern for breathing, an issue that Anderson handled capably. The final movement, the "Badinerie," is an iconic work for flute, beyond the reach of all but the most accomplished when played at this breakneck tempo. Anderson was up to the task, but exhibited also in earlier movements the ability to bring to life Bachs intertwining lines in his slow movements, as well as finely executed ornamentation of her own design  even in the "Badinerie." The orchestra supported her in precise and energetic fashion in this well-played and difficult work.

Bach wrote at white heat, generally under tremendous time pressure, burdened as he was with a host of administrative and non-musical duties. It is only natural that he recycled many of his works (and even those of others). We find the same scores reappearing in other guises throughout his writing. This is the case with the second suite and the two pieces that followed.

We next heard an instrumental movement (BWV 1040), which also appeared in two different cantatas. It is known as the Canonic Trio Sonata  a trio sonata being played by two soloists and continuo. A canon is a compositional form already in use for hundreds of years in the imitative counterpoint that formed the basis of Western art music. In a canon, the second voice repeats a measure later what has just happened in the first. The two soloists, the orchestras concertmistress Anita Tucker, violin; and principal oboe Heather Armstrong rendered a faultless and intriguing performance of this light work, particularly notable to me for superb intonation. Even the cellist departed from his bass lines to weave a melody or two. Canons being by nature unsuitable for extended composition, the work lasted less than two minutes, and was followed by the Sinfonia from the Cantata BWV 156.

This instrumental work is a suitably solemn first movement for the cantata, entitled somewhat forbiddingly I Stand With One Foot in the Grave, and was supposedly borrowed from an earlier oboe concerto of Bachs, and later appeared most famously as a part of a harpsichord concerto. Weinberger discussed the use of figured bass, a method of indicating harmonies to be played by the keyboardist, similar to a jazz pianists notation today, and then turned the soloist chores over to Heather Armstrong, oboe. Armstrong exhibited a beautiful solid tone, not disguised by excessive vibrato, and impeccable intonation, as she worked her way through this familiar piece.

The concert ended with the Brandenburg Concerto No. 2. The concerto was one of a series of six written as part of Bachs job application to the Margrave of Brandenburg  one of the many minor potentates of the bewildering labyrinth of petty fiefdoms that comprised what we now know of as Germany. We have Bachs obsequious letter to the Margrave  he did not get the job, and the Margrave ignored the works, which ironically succeeded in making his name immortal.

The major uniqueness of the second Brandenburg lies in the eclectic makeup of its four soloists  violin, oboe, clarino (high) trumpet and flauto dolce (which we know today as recorder). A major issue is one of balance, particularly between the latter two instruments. This problem was somewhat ameliorated by the use of the modern flute, instead of the intimate wooden timbre of the recorder, but it is also necessary to have the trumpet play in a decidedly unbrasslike volume  which was accomplished at these concerts.

Soloists were Anita Tucker, violin; Heather Armstrong, oboe; Claudia Anderson, flute; and James Bovinette, trumpet. Dr. Bovinette, long-time trumpet professor at Iowa State University, gave a brief explanation of the intricacies of his part and instrument. In the era before the advent of changing tubing by valves, trumpets and horns could only play stepwise melodies in the very highest of their registers, where the available notes were closer together. This is why Baroque writing for high brass was so stratospheric. Indeed, a curious chapter in music history ensued, where the techniques of high brass playing were actually lost in the early 1800s, and not revived until the latter part of the 20th century.

The slow movement featured accomplished interplay between Tucker, Armstrong and Anderson, in a texture described by Weinberger as a quartet sonata. The outer two movements exhibit complex contrapuntal work between soloists and orchestra. As excellently as all soloists and orchestra played, special praise must be given to Dr. Bovinette. This trumpet part may be the most difficult in the literature, with its demands on high register and nerves. I have seen two nationally acclaimed trumpet players crash and burn on the work  this was emphatically not the case with Bovinette, who exhibited spectacular accuracy, pitch, dynamic control and confidence, and had to do it again at the later concert! An absolutely top-tier performance.

All in all, the evening offered the orchestra at its best, in a convivial atmosphere  it is hoped that they will return to the venue.

Sponsors of the evening included Radio 1250, Midwest One Bank, JSA Developers and Cedar Valley Eye Care.

The next concert will be April 23, and is a celebration of bicycling (one of conductor Weinbergers main passions). It will feature British composer Edward Elgars Enigma Variations (with a cycling connection), as well as other works celebrating the sport.

Thomas Tritle holds emeritus status at the School of Music of UNI, and is the former principal horn and program note writer for the Waterloo/Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra.
DES MOINES -- Complaints to Iowa citizens watchdog over government increased 7 percent in the past year. Acting Iowa Ombudsman Kristie Hirschman said complaints and questions were up in 2015, and those numbers may be higher this year. The Ombudsman opened more than 4,400 cases last year -- more than two thirds of which were jurisdictional complaints, according to the offices annual report. Issues pertaining to state and local governments ranged from unreasonable water bills and unemployment denials to delays in prescription approvals and decisions of state licensing boards. Cases involving state government agencies made up 46 percent of the cases; local government represented 39 percent of the cases opened in 2015. Hirschman said she anticipates complaint numbers to increase again in 2016 due to two recent developments. The states transition to managed care for Medicaid recipients is expected to spur questions and concerns among recipients and providers. Hirschman said she has requested additional employees to handle the anticipated increase in these contacts. Prison inmates also have begun to call the office more frequently after a decision by the Federal Communications Commission prompted the Iowa Department of Corrections to dramatically lower phone rates, she said. The Ombudsmans report can be found online at www.legis.iowa.gov/Ombudsman.

State budget

Closed-door talks continued Monday aimed at resolving differences among House Republicans, Senate Democrats and Gov. Terry Branstad over the fiscal 2017 state budget. Among the issues standing in the way of agreement are funding for water-quality efforts, infrastructure and potential cuts to erase a $23 million shortfall created by a downward revision in expected state tax collections. At the moment, we are agreeing to disagree, said Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs. Branstad told reporters on Monday the state budget is a tough situation for everybody even though several of the biggest issues  school funding, tax coupling  have been resolved. Branstad said the key is setting a budget that is sustainable without overpromising with spending commitments the state cant deliver with some certainty in the coming year. Sen. Bob Dvorsky, D-Coralville, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, the fiscal 2017 spending plan is a really tight budget and I think its fairly difficult to try to come up with the answer on this one.

Environmental award

Nominations for the Iowa Farm Environmental Leader Award, which recognizes farmers who have taken voluntary actions to improve or protect the environment and natural resources, are due by June 15. The nomination form and other information can be found at www.iowaagriculture.gov/EnvironmentalLeader.asp. The award is a joint effort between the governor, lieutenant governor, and the departments of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and Natural Resources.

Farmers who are nominated should have made environmental stewardship a priority on their farm and incorporated best management practices into their farming operation. Farm owners and operators are eligible for consideration. An appointed committee of representatives from both conservation and agricultural groups will review the nominations and select the winners who will be announced at the Iowa State Fair.
Universal Pictures

The law of diminishing returns dictates that when Hollywood seizes on a sleeper hit and begins cranking out sequels, prequels and spin-offs, the desire to make money will suck all the life out of the material and produce a film of inferior quality.

Released in 2004, James Wans Saw was a movie for the head, a well thought-out psycho-thriller that didnt skimp on character. By the time of Saw 3D, the series had become a parody of its former self, resorting to violence so cartoonish and overdone that it was impossible to take seriously.

Memo to aspiring filmmakers: when you open a movie with 2 alpha males being forced into combat by a tricycle-riding puppet, youve abandoned the source material and lurched into high camp. Sure you can recycle shtick from earlier installments, but as another victim faces another round of torture porn, were reminded that weve seen it all before and simply raising the volume doesnt change that.

In a perfect world, every franchise would be The Fast And The Furious, becoming steadily bigger and better until audiences get the scene theyve always wanted  Dwayne Johnson leaving his hospital bed so he can destroy a city block with a gun bigger than Ol Painless.

Until then, here are 10 movies that followed Saw 3D into Bad Movie Hell.
Twitter

With Scott Derrickson confirming that Doctor Strange has wrapped and heads into the great Quantum Realm that is post-production ahead of its November release, the Internet has been captivated by one question relating to it more than any other.

Who the bloody hell is Mads Mikkelsen actually playing?

We already knew he was a bad guy, even without any hint of what he was going to look like and it probably wasn't a terrible over-reach to have assumed that the first look at the character might offer some concrete hints. But even now, with New York shots of the fabulous Danish actor now out in the wild, we're probably no closer to determining which classic Strange villain he's playing.

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https://twitter.com/TheAvenger...

That is of course assuming that he's not playing someone entirely new, but that would surely be a mistake, when most of Doctor Strange's fanbase will be die-hard fans. Despite having Benedict Cumberbatch and the strength of the MCU brand behind it, the film is still a difficult mainstream sell (see also, Ant-Man), and won't compete with the likes of Cap, Iron Man or the Avengers. So it's probably safe to assume Derrickson will cater to established fans and go classic.

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So far, the front-runner rumours for who this sparkly eyed baddy are suggest either Nightmare or Kaluu. The former is probably the more interesting choice, since he's basically the Marvel version of FreddyKrueger and opens the possibility of a magic realist Inception-like comic book movie.

But it's more likely that someone like Kaluu would fit the bill. With Strange's origin story seeing him trained by The Ancient One, it would make sense that he would clash with an equivalent master and his apprentice. Think Star Wars. Or Karate Kid. "Pain does not exist in this dojo!"

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That rivalry would certainly fit with what Kevin Feige has already teased about the character:

"Mads character is a sorcerer who breaks off into his own sect. believes that the Ancient One is just protecting her own power base and that the world may be better off if we were to allow some of these other things through."

In terms of powers, you have to suspect he's similarly magically endowed as Doctor Strange, and the pictures that have leaked so far seem to suggest that he's either capable of optic blasts or he really, really needs some eye drops.

Who do you think MadsMikkelsen is playing in Doctor Strange? Share your theories below in the comments thread.
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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:

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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.

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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.

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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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That expression is now for the first time, as Brrr!'s co-founders strongly believe, poised to undergo a profound transformation -- the dawn of a "fabric revolution."

ATLANTA, GA, April 05, 2016 /24-7PressRelease/ -- An independent nonprofit founded by MIT has been selected to run a new, $317 million public-private partnership announced Friday by Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter. The partnership, named the Advanced Functional Fibers of America (AFFOA) Institute of which Brrr!, Inc. is a charter member, has won a national competition for federal funding to create the latest Manufacturing Innovation Institute. The institute is designed to accelerate innovation in high-tech, U.S.-based manufacturing involving fibers and textiles.



Professor Yoel Fink, director of MIT's Research Laboratory of Electronics (RLE), led the proposal for the institute. Spread across 27 states and Puerto Rico, the partnership includes 32 universities, 16 industry members, 72 manufacturing entities, and 26 startup incubators. Companies such as Warwick Mills, NextFlex, Dupont, Steelcase, Nike, and Corning are among the industry partners who will be members of the partnership. Among the academic partners are the University of Georgia, Drexel University, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, the University of Tennessee, and the University of Texas at Austin. Brrr! is one of the 16 industry members.



This is the eighth Manufacturing Innovation Institute established to date. The headquarters will be established in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in proximity to the MIT campus and its U.S. Army-funded Institute for Soldier Nanotechnology and the Natick Soldier Research Development and Engineering Center. Fink says that this unique partnership has the potential to create a whole new industry, based on breakthroughs in fiber materials and manufacturing. These new fibers and the fabrics made from them will have the ability to see, hear, and sense their surroundings; monitor health; control temperature; communicate; store and convert energy; and change their color.



The new initiative will receive $75 million in federal funding out of a total of $317 million through cost sharing among the Department of Defense, industrial partners, venture capitalists, nonprofits, universities, 27 states and Puerto Rico. The initial funding will cover a five-year period and will be administered through the new, independent, nonprofit organization set up for the purpose. The partnership, focusing on both developing new technologies and training the workforce needed to operate and maintain these production systems, will also include a network of community colleges and experts in career and technical education for manufacturing.



For thousands of years, humans have used fabrics to provide basic warmth and aesthetics. Clothing represents "one of the most ancient forms of human expression," Fink says. That expression is now for the first time, as Brrr!'s co-founders strongly believe, poised to undergo a profound transformation -- the dawn of a "fabric revolution." The desire to be a part of this revolution has always been a part of Brrr!'s core mission. New technology is making it possible to integrate many materials and complex functional structures into a fabric's very fibers, and to create fiber-based devices and functional fabric systems.



Through AFFOA, innovators across the country will be invited to execute "advanced fabric" products on prototyping and pilot scales. The center will link these innovators with funding from large companies and venture capital investors in order to execute their ideas through the manufacturing stage. The center will thus lower the barrier to innovation and unleash product creativity in this new domain.



For the new institute, the federal selection process was administered by the U.S. Department of Defense's Manufacturing Technology Program and the U.S. Army's Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center and Contracting Command in New Jersey. The position of Chairman of the AFFOA Institute will be filled by Retired Gen. Paul J. Kern. He states, regarding the creation of the institute, the aim is to ensure "that America leads in the manufacturing of new products from leading edge innovations in fiber science, commercializing fibers and textiles with extraordinary properties. Known as technical textiles, these modern day fabrics and fibers boast novel properties ranging from being incredibly lightweight and flame resistant, to having exceptional strength."



About Brrr!

Brrr! is an Atlanta-based, women-owned, textile technology startup leading the textile revolution through their permanently cooling fabrics and groundbreaking fiber innovation. Brrr! will bring wearable technology to everyday lives through a focus on licensing to some of the world's most recognized brands under the Brrr! trademark. For more information, visit www.brrr.com.



# # #
Apr 5, 2016

Desktop 3D printer manufacturer MakerBot today announced that it has sold more than 100,000 3D printers worldwide. MakerBot is also the first company in the 3D printing industry to reach this milestone.

Founded in 2009, MakerBot introduced its first 3D printer, the Cupcake CNC, in 2009. In 2010, MakerBot became the first company to present a 3D printer at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). After being acquired by Stratasys in 2013, MakerBot introduced its Fifth Generation 3D Printers in 2014, which was the first Wi-Fi connected desktop 3D printers with a swappable Smart Extruder. According to the company, out of the 100,000 3D Printers MakerBot has sold over 40,000 are Wi-Fi connected.

Being the first company to have sold 100,000 3D printers is a major milestone for MakerBot and the entire industry, said Jonathan Jaglom, CEO at MakerBot. MakerBot has made 3D printing more accessible and today is empowering businesses and educators to redefine whats possible. What was once a product used only by makers and hobbyists has matured significantly and become an indispensible tool that is changing the way students learn and businesses innovate.

To celebrate, MakerBot announced that it is reducing the MakerBot Replicator from $2,899 to $2,499 until June 15, 2016. The company is also launching a social media contest to encourage customers to share their own #MakerMilestones for a chance to win one of three MakerBot Replicator Desktop 3D Printers.

Were challenging people across our social media platforms to share their #MakerMilestones, said Colby Dennison, Vice President of marketing at MakerBot. Tell us the moment in which 3D printing inspired you, changed the way you work or led to a positive outcome for a student, colleague, or friend.

A panel of judges will select the best of the submitted stories from the 50 most popular posts across MakerBots social media platforms. The judges include Jonathan Jaglom, MakerBot CEO, Deanne Bell, Co-Host of CNBCs Make Me A Millionaire Inventor and Founder and CEO of Future Engineers, Jason Frasca, Entrepreneurship Instructor at Montclair State University, and Tom and Tracy Hazzard, CEO and COO of Hazz Design. MakerBot will award three 3D printers with filament and MakerCare to the winners.

Posted in 3D Printer Company

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Fardin Amin wrote at 4/11/2016 8:16:24 AM:Nice job guys, its great to have a 3d printer that is desktop size. We also build 3d printers in our company




John Sexton at The New Atlantis:

The hardcover American edition of Sapiens weighs two and a half pounds  a little less than the average weight of a Homo sapiens brain. This is unusual for something that is neither a reference work nor a coffee-table book, and that runs to fewer than five hundred pages. The reason for such disproportionate heft is the quality of the paper: the pages are thick like those of a book of prints, crisp white and replete with color illustrations. At any time, but especially in the age of the e-book, such pages in a book with a mass run represent a considerable investment by the publisher. The biography of Harari on the inside jacket boasts that Sapiens has already become an international bestseller in, among other places, Slovenia, so the confidence of the publisher may well be justified. Certainly, Mark Zuckerbergs decision to select Sapiens for his online book club devoted to big ideas wont have hurt sales.

Books like this meet an appetite for sweeping history written in an accessible style and stressing the role of science and technology in shaping human destiny. Probably the best-known work in this genre is Jared Diamonds Guns, Germs, and Steel (1997). Diamond endorses Sapiens on the cover and receives special thanks in the acknowledgments: Diamond taught me to see the big picture, Harari writes. But whereas Diamond stressed the role of climate and disease as well as technology in shaping human history, Harari makes the curious claim that it is only when humans have started making things up  imagining entities that do not objectively exist, like gods, ethical principles, and limited liability corporations  that we have made progress toward becoming a super species. Hararis vision of history is therefore actually quite different from Diamonds: while Diamond was really concerned with the influence of the external environment on human culture, or the power of matter over mind, for Harari, history is the story of the gradual triumph of mind over matter.

more here.
Frank Guan at n+1:

In spite of Gores smug demeanor and relentless interruptions, Perot maintained an even, though naturally increasingly vexed, tone; when Gore attempted to shift the topic, Perot retained his focus; when Gore cast aspersions on his motives, Perot parried them without excessive difficulty, albeit only by exposing himself as a traitor to his class.1 It is difficult, reading the transcript of the NAFTA debate, not to come to certain conclusions: it was by far the most substantive televised debate on economic policy in American history, and the majority of the substance came from Perot, who by that token was the clear victor of the debate.

Yet the gloating and unanimous response on the part of the political media was precisely the opposite: Gore had triumphed, absolutely. His churlishness was taken as a mark of tactical genius, while Perots displeasure was played up as a sign of mental incompetence: William Safire, in the New York Times, cheerfully compared the debate to a bullfight, with the Texan in the role of the hapless, goaded beast; Dana Carvey mocked Perots requests to be allowed to finish his sentences onSaturday Night Live. A week later, NAFTA passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 234 to 200; Senate approval soon followed, and President Clinton signed the treaty into law in early December.

more here.
Steve Edwards in Orion:

Our move East had been necessitated by a pair of crises. Bouts of unemployment during the economic meltdown left Rebecca and me mere weeks from homelessness, and Wyatt  with his blue eyes and blonde curls, all sunshine and prairie  was chronically ill. A series of shifting, catch-all diagnoses followed him from doctor to doctor: colic became a protein intolerance, became reflux, became the suggestion of autism. He put on weight but had low muscle tone. He could say and repeat words but couldnt really talk. And though he was meeting developmental milestones for growth and development, by two he still required the attention of a newborn. He raged and whined, napped in fitful spurts, spent half the night crying. If Wyatt played at helping with the chores, or if he had a peaceful afternoon nap, Id think we were turning a corner, that the sweet boy we knew was inside him somewhere might now come blossoming out. Its what we thought with each new doctors appointment, too. In the weeks following the hurricane, we discovered from a geneticist at Boston Childrens that his glycine numbers were high and his carnitine numbers were low. From an allergist we learned he had milk and tree-nut allergies. Each new clue brought with it changes we thought might somehow break the spell. We ditched the almond milk an old doctor had suggested in favor of rice milk. We went gluten free. On the advice of a nurse practitioner, we began giving him melatonin before bedtime.

Exhausting every option until he was healthy was our duty as his parents.

More here.
This article is reprinted from FORUM, the statewide magazine of the Florida Humanities Council  Florida Humanities CouncilA blast of humid air hit my face as I walked out of the Tampa airport with my parents, each of us with two suitcases in tow. We were greeted by a stranger welcoming us into our new life. She drove us to a motel room that we would call home for the next 10 days. That was 18 years ago. We were war refugees from the Balkans -- Serbs from Croatia.The civil war erupted in former Yugoslavia in 1991 and concluded in 1995 but not before it damaged millions of lives, produced thousands of casualties, turned cities into ashes and changed the fate of everyone who once lived there. In August of 1995 the war escalated in Croatia, forcing more than 200,000 people to leave their homes in a matter of days. We were among them and sought refuge with relatives in neighboring Serbia, a home away from home. But that country was struggling with its own aftermath of the war, trying to accommodate a half-million refugees, and it felt more like a shelter than home.If I look back on that time, several moments clearly stand out. I remember the day we left for the United States. We had the biggest farewell entourage at the Belgrade airport -- grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins who felt and still feel more like siblings than cousins, and friends. I remember saying goodbye to each individually, and each goodbye felt like another sharp tear to my heart. I remember my father telling me not to look back as we approached the terminal. The 15-year-old in me didnt listen and turned around anyway. I still wish I hadnt.I remember how much we laughed the night before as we attempted to pack our life in six suitcases. Each of us had our perception of what was important to bring, what we would need, what we could leave behind.I remember how happy I was a couple of months prior to that when, after two years of waiting, we received the approval letter for residence in the United States from the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees in conjunction with the Dioceses of Catholic Charities. The final destination was to be St. Petersburg, Florida. I remember how quickly the feeling of guilt overshadowed the happiness -- a feeling that still trails behind: that I left my own family, traditions, culture.I remember spending the majority of my childhood in a war-torn country. My cousin and I planned an escape route to use if sirens started during school; we would wait for one another in between the buildings and then run home. Sirens became a part of my everyday life. Just a few years earlier, we contemplated an escape route to use during a game of hide-and-seek.Moments like these defined me, but they also prepared me for what was to come in my life in the United States.They prepared me for those 10 days spent with my parents in a small motel room in St. Petersburg as we patiently waited for our apartment to become available. They prepared me to walk into a modest two-bedroom apartment with bare white walls and reminisce about the baby-blue teenage room I left behind when war intensified and we fled.As I spent a few days in the motel room waiting to become an American student, I watched afternoon talk shows, trying to grasp the language and to prepare myself for my new peers. I remember thinking how their problems seemed so different from mine. Their problems seemed scarier. They dealt with teenage peer pressure -- something I avoided while dealing with the effects of the war.Memories of living in a war-torn country, and surviving, prepared me to face a culture shock in a new country where I barely knew the language and would be a freshman in high school -- a trying time for any teenager. As Florida experienced a surge of refugees from various ethnicities in the mid-1990s, my high school became a melting pot of nations. We all sought refuge in each other in our English-as-a-second-language classes, which we used as training wheels until we were ready to ride on our own. I left the program in my second year and became a sophomore in high school along with everyone else.But, accompanying me was the determination to succeed, to belong, to prevail.My memories also prepared me to focus on journalism as my major in college, and be the only one in class who wasnt from here. I looked back on that 15-year-old who first arrived in this country with her thick accent, and she became my drive. They prepared me for those ever-so-familiar questions: Where are you from? Why are you here? and the reactions that followed after my not-so-common answers.They prepared me to deal with the unpleasant moments one experiences in a new country -- or was that just in life itself?But they didnt prepare me for losing bits and pieces of what I left behind in Serbia -- my family.Five years after that tearful goodbye, I returned to Serbia with painful knots in my stomach. It now was an established home to family who stayed behind. No longer a child and already adapting to my new life, I wondered if they would recognize me and if I would recognize them. They said that I seemed shorter to them, but I know they seemed taller to me. Photographs can be deceiving that way.After a few weeks of repeatedly answering the same question: How is it over there? in not-so-perfect Serbian, I slowly started re-adapting. Soon, I felt as if I had never left. I returned to Florida that summer, my English now rusty, and felt the familiar old nostalgia over the new memories of being back there.And then, just like that, in a few months I was back into my new life again, being in college and using English as my first language. After all, I wrote, prayed, dreamed in English. All of my lists, thoughts, diaries were written in English. All my emotions came flooding in English regardless if I was happy or sad. It felt more real. It still does.Years passed, with many trips there and many returns here, each bringing different emotions and experiences. Each trip was shorter as I focused more on my studies, then my interests, then my career -- my life. I began to cherish the small-town feel of St. Petersburg -- similar to my first hometown in Croatia and the opposite of the busy, rushed lifestyle of Belgrade, my adopted hometown in Serbia.But, somehow I always felt as though I was living two lives, being two people, halfway here and halfway there.And then I fell in love with my husband, with an American. For the first time I felt that I completely belonged here. I realized that Florida is my home and a place where I am building a new life here -- not losing, but incorporating, pieces of my old life there.My friends are no longer friends just because they come from there. Some were born here and some were born there. They vary in cultures, nationalities and experiences. As my husband and I gather for a birthday, holiday, or either of two Christmases -- his on December 25th and mine on January 7th -- we embrace our differences and celebrate the joys and milestones with our family and friends.These celebrations are often bittersweet for an ever-present realization that I am not there for my nieces and nephews first baby steps, first words, or first birthdays. Those things cant be planned. I just have to make do and experience them in person on my terms when I am there. Ive learned to appreciate and read pictures until they tell a story. Ive learned to celebrate birthdays through videos and perfectly timed presents. I appreciate love despite miles, years and life experiences between us.After half of my life spent there and half of it lived here, I have fully adjusted to the Florida life. Along the way, the late-October humidity, the adjustment shocks and the language barriers were replaced by sunshine, cultural richness and endless opportunities.Irena Milasinovic Karolak, currently pursuing her masters degree from the University of South Florida St. Petersburg, works as a Public Information Officer for Pinellas County. She resides in St. Petersburg with her husband.If you have immigrated similarly from another country to the Tampa Bay region, 83 Degrees would like to consider publishing your story. Write your story in 700-800 words and email to [email protected] for consideration. Comments? Contact 83 Degrees
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Expands Its Fernie Phosphate Project

Brisbane, April 5, 2016 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Fertoz Ltd ( ASX:FTZ ) is pleased to announce that the Company has secured 2,453 ha of land prospective for direct application phosphate at Mt Lyne, in the Elko region of British Columbia, Canada, which will form part of the Company's Fernie phosphate project. The Mt. Lyne property was granted to the Company upon application to the British Columbia department of energy and mines and is a low cost addition to the Company's portfolio of phosphate projects and potentially expands on the Company's existing direct application rock phosphate supply options. This increases the Company's land position in the Fernie project which is well serviced with road and rail infrastructure with access to well-known agricultural areas in Canada and the USA.



Mt Lyne is 15km north of the Company's 100% owned Crowsnest Property (see attached map). Historical exploration reports covering Mt Lyne suggest the property is highly prospective with potential for magnitude and phosphate grades that are similar to the Company's existing Crowsnest/Marten/Barnes Lake properties. When added to the Company's existing Fernie project, the potential strike length of the phosphate-bearing horizon within the Company's tenements now exceeds 25km.



Managing Director Stephen Keith commented: "Fertoz continues to focus on long-term growth through the acquisition of near surface phosphate targets on or near infrastructure with the potential for low-cost development. We are pleased with the significant increase in size and potential of the Fernie Project through the acquisition of the Mt. Lyne property at minimal cost. This property adds to our potential supply options as we continue to focus on our stated objective of selling 10,000 tonnes of rock phosphate this calendar year from our British Columbia projects. The 2016 calendar year is shaping up to be a transformative year for Fertoz as our sales and marketing partners assist us in moving Fertoz to a cash flow generative business by supporting our sales and marketing efforts and product positioning in the large agricultural markets of Canada and USA."



The south-eastern region of British Columbia is shaping up to be an important area for the Company, with numerous third party organic fertiliser manufacturers and users in the region, including large farming operations in South Western Alberta, Oregon, Washington State, Montana and Idaho. The infrastructure in the region is well developed and facilitates fast and efficient delivery of product. The Company is currently securing Organic Certification for direct application phosphate rock, undertaking more farming trials, and arranging the crushing of mined rock for sale to local farming establishments and fertiliser manufacturers.



To view tables and figures, please visit:

http://abnnewswire.net/lnk/34YOP506





About Fertoz Ltd





Fertoz (ASX:FTZ) is an Australian-based phosphate exploration and development company with a range of projects in British Columbia, Canada as well as Queensland and the Northern Territory. The Company is focused on becoming a fertiliser producer as quickly as possible, initially focusing on the Canadian/USA markets.

Fertoz plans to develop its exploration assets in Canada in order to identify any potential Direct Shipping Ore (DSO) projects. It intends to seek joint venture partners to assist in funding the exploration projects in Australia.

Phosphate is a commodity necessary for feeding the world, and Fertoz is ready to capitalise on this growing demand.
A former U.S. Tax Court judge and her husband have been indicted for conspiracy to commit tax evasion and obstruction of an Internal Revenue Service audit.

Diane L. Kroupa, 60, and her husband, Robert E. Fackler, 62, were charged Monday with conspiring to evade assessment of taxes. They are expected to appear later this week in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis.

The allegations in this indictment are deeply disturbing, said U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger in a statement. The tax laws of this county apply to everyone, and those of us appointed to federal positions must hold ourselves to an even higher standard.

Kroupa was appointed to the U.S. Tax Court on June 13, 2003 for a term of 15 years, but she retired on June 16, 2014. Fackler was a self-employed lobbyist and political consultant who owned a business known as Grassroots Consulting.

According to prosecutors, Kroupa and Fackler fraudulently claimed personal expenses as Grassroots Consulting business deductions. They also fraudulently claimed a number of personal expenses as deductible business expenses, including rent and utilities for their Maryland home; utilities, upkeep and renovation expenses of their Minnesota home; Pilates classes; spa and massage fees; jewelry and personal clothing; wine club fees; Chinese language tutoring; music lessons; personal computers; and expenses for vacations to Alaska, Australia, the Bahamas, China, England, Greece, Hawaii, Mexico and Thailand.

They allegedly made a series of other false claims on their tax returns, including failing to report approximately $44,520 that Kroupa received from a 2010 land sale in South Dakota. According to prosecutors, they falsely claimed financial insolvency to avoid paying tax on $33,031 on cancellation of indebtedness income.

In 2006, Kroupa and Fackler allegedly concealed documents from their tax preparer and an IRS tax compliance officer during an audit. During a second audit in 2012, Kroupa and Fackler caused misleading documents to be delivered to an IRS employee in order to convince the IRS employee that certain personal expenses were actually business expenses of Grassroots Consulting.

As a former tax court judge, Kroupa dealt regularly with individuals who cheated on their taxes, which makes these allegations particularly troubling, said IRS Criminal Investigation chief Richard Weber. Reporting personal expenses as business expenses on your tax returns is not tolerated, regardless of your job or position. We expect all taxpayers to follow the lawwhether you are a business owner, individual, or government officialwe all must play by the same rules and pay our fair share.

Between 2004 and 2010, Kroupa and Fackler allegedly understated their taxable income by approximately $1 million and understated the amount of tax they owed by at least $400,000.

This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the IRSs Criminal Investigation Division and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Benjamin Langner and Timothy Rank are prosecuting the case.
(Bloomberg) President Barack Obama issued a forceful denunciation of companies that shield profit overseas through corporate inversions, praising new rules that would curb what he called one of the U.S. tax systems most insidious loopholes.

This is something that Ive been pushing for a long time, Obama said at the White House Tuesday, a day after the Treasury Department announced the new measures. When companies exploit loopholes like this, it makes it hard to invest in the kinds of things that are going to keep Americas economy going strong.

The rules, which would limit companies ability to participate in inversions if theyve already done them within the past 36 months, could thwart a planned $160 billion merger between Pfizer Inc. and Allergan Plc. Allergan has been involved in repeated inversions, under which a U.S. company adopts a foreign tax address, a move that can reduce its American tax bill.

During his remarks Tuesday, Obama called inversions one of the most insidious loopholes out there, and emphasized the importance of restoring faith in the U.S. tax system. Republicans in Congress have called for addressing inversions in the context of comprehensive corporate tax reform. Obama, who has said inversions result from an unpatriotic tax loophole, faulted lawmakers for not having acted yet.

Favors the Wealthy

When politicians perpetuate a system that favors the wealthy, he said, its not surprising that people feel they cant get ahead. Its not surprising that that may produce politics where people feel frustrated.

The Obama administration announced the rule just as Republican and Democratic voters prepared to go to the polls in Wisconsin, where presidential candidates from both parties are in close races in the states primary. Inversions have become a political flash point for both parties.

The Treasury Departments move comes less than three weeks after Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders, who is seeking the partys presidential nomination, sent a letter calling on Lew to take action to block the corporate inversion planned by the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer.

Exit Tax

At a rally in New York on Monday, after the new rules were announced, Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton said she would slap companies leaving the U.S. to invert with an exit tax.

Speaking to voters in Wisconsin on Tuesday, Republican Donald Trump said the Obama administration has been unable to stop companies from leaving the U.S.

We have so many companies leaving us, it is disgraceful, he said. The politicians dont know how to stop it. They dont have a clue.

In a statement released Monday, Pfizer and Allergan said they are reviewing the Treasurys actions and wouldnt speculate on any potential impact.

Since the announcement Monday evening, Allergan shares have dropped more than 16 percent to $230.69 as of 11 a.m. in New York Tuesday. While Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said the measure would address serial inverters, he didnt name any specific companies or transactions, and Treasury officials have said the rules arent targeted at any specific companies.

Earnings Stripping

Also Monday, the Treasury announced new rules that would make it more difficult to engage in a tax strategy known as earnings stripping, which enables U.S. subsidiaries of multinational companies to reduce their tax bills by issuing debt to their foreign parents.

Under those rules, which would apply to related-party transactions after April 4, certain securities of at least $50 million that were previously considered debt will be at least partially treated as stock. That would make it more difficult for foreign companies to load their U.S. units with related-party debt, according to a Treasury news release.

Obama on Tuesday referred to a massive disclosure of documents from a Panamanian law firm related to thousands of offshore shell companies and allegations of hidden wealth. Tax avoidance is a big global problem, he said. Here in the United States, there are loopholes that only wealthy individuals have access to. They are gaming the system.

With assistance from Lynnley Browning, Michelle Fay Cortez, Kevin Cirilli, Angela Greiling Keane and Justin Sink.
(Bloomberg) Panama and the U.S. have at least one thing in common: Neither has agreed to new international standards to make it harder for tax evaders and money launderers to hide their money.

Over the past several years, amid increased scrutiny by journalists, regulators and law enforcers, the global tax-haven landscape has shifted. In an effort to catch tax dodgers, almost 100 countries and other jurisdictions have agreed since 2014 to impose new disclosure requirements for bank accounts, trusts and some other investments held by international customersstandards issued by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a government-funded international policy group.

Places like Switzerland and Bermuda are agreeing, at least in principle, to share bank account information with tax authorities in other countries. Only a handful of nations have declined to sign on. The most prominent is the U.S. Another, Panama, is at the center of a storm over tax evasion and global cash flight that broke out over the weekend.

A law firm there helped set up tens of thousands of shell companies, according to a report by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. ICIJ and other news organizations published reports they said showed global efforts to hide wealth, undertaken by global politicians and the ultra-rich, with the aid of banks and lawyers. The central tool: shell companies that people used to shield the identity of the owners assets. While such structures can be legal, they can also support efforts to avoid taxes.

U.S. Secrecy

The latest reporting "underscores the secrecy in Panama," said Stefanie Ostfeld, the acting head of the U.S. office of the anti-corruption group Global Witness. "Whats lesser known, is the U.S. is just as big a secrecy jurisdiction as so many of these Caribbean countries and Panama. We should not want to be the playground for the worlds dirty money, which is what we are right now."

Advisers around the world are increasingly using the U.S. resistance to the OECDs standards as a marketing toolattracting overseas money to U.S. state-level tax and secrecy havens like Nevada and South Dakota, potentially keeping it hidden from their home governments.

Last month, members of Congress in both the House and Senate introduced bills to require disclosure of the true owners of U.S. companies, an effort to crack down on money laundering and tax evasion.

In 2010, Congress passed the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, or FATCA, as the U.S. Justice Department began prosecuting Swiss banks for enabling tax evasion. FATCA forces certain financial firms to disclose to the Internal Revenue Service any foreign accounts held by U.S. citizens.

FATCA doesnt, however, bind banks to provide information on foreigners with U.S. accounts to regulators abroad. The U.S. has entered into agreements with some other countries requiring such exchange with foreign regulators, but tax planners say they are considered relatively easy to avoid.

Thats where the OECD came in, with its own international take on FATCA that the U.S. declined to sign.

Panamas Conditions

Panama, for its part, committed to the OECD standard in November. But the country attached a number of conditions, which many advisers viewed as undermining its position.

In a January interview, an official at Trident Trust Co., a big provider of offshore vehicles, said it was seeing a large number of accounts moving into Panama because of its weak commitment to the OECD regulations. "The Panama office was extremely overworked, because a lot of people are re-domiciling to Panama from BVI and Cayman," said Alice Rokahr, a Trident official based in South Dakota.

In late February, OECD officials said publicly that Panama had been "removed from the list of committed jurisdictions" that agreed to share information.

The latest coverage of shell companies created by a Panamanian law firm could give the OECD new ammunition to put pressure on the country to sign onto the information-sharing agreements, some tax experts said.

"The U.S. doesnt follow a lot of the international standards, and because of its political power, its able to continue," said Bruce Zagaris, an attorney at Berliner Corcoran & Rowe LLP who specializes in international tax and money laundering regulations. "Its basically the only country that can continue to do that. Others like Panama have tried, but Panama cant punch as high as the U.S."

Indeed, in a statement issued Monday by the OECD, OECD secretary general Angel Gurria said, "Panama is the last major holdout that continues to allow funds to be hidden offshore from tax and law-enforcement authorities."

The statement didnt mention the U.S., which is the OECDs largest funder.

Pascal Saint-Amans, the OECDs tax policy director, said the two countries werent comparable, as the U.S. regularly provides information to regulators and law enforcers in other countries, even if it hasnt signed onto the OECD standard.

"The politics are favorable to the U.S. and unfavorable to Panama," Zagaris said.
Vizeum, the media agency from Dentsu Aegis Network, has roped in Amita Karwal as Chief Operating Officer, North and South. Karwal is a media veteran, with an experience of working with ZenithOptimedia, Initiative Media as well as global advertisers Samsung and Reckitt Benckiser. Prior to this, Karwal was Executive Vice President, North and East at DDB Mudra Max.

As per the mandate, Karwal will be responsible for heading all businesses in the North and South and will report to Shripad Kulkarni, Managing Director, Vizeum.

Speaking on the appointment, Kulkarni said, Currently, we are on an extremely strong growth trajectory, especially in Delhi, and Amitas joining will bring in fresh momentum to this pace. Amitas experience in leading the media marketing discipline for blue chip global brandsSamsung and Reckitt Benckiser will add tremendous value to our clients business.

On joining the agency, Karwal said, Today, Vizeum is ranked as the fastest growing media network in the world and I am extremely proud to be joining this network. Backed by the Dentsu Aegis network, I look forward to offering clients new-gen integrated solutions that will not only be futuristic but also clutter breaking.

Vizeums roster of clients includes BMW, Panasonic, HDFC Bank, MTV, TI Cycles, Saint Gobain, C&S Electric, Lotus Herbals, Dalmia Cement and Maya Appliances, among others.
Flares keep birds in the sky

They are hot, bright and a visual spectacle. But they are not your run-of-the-mill fireworks being shot off in celebration. Flares used by pilots are life-saving emergency countermeasures that keep Dover Air Force Base aircraft in the skies delivering airlift cargo to the warfighter.



Flares play a pivotal role keeping Dover's C-5M Super Galaxies and C-17A Globemaster IIIs from being shot down while conducting combat operations downrange. Flares protect aircraft by forcing infrared threats, such as heat-seeking, surface-to-air or air-to-air missiles, to lock onto their heat signatures rather than the aircraft's engine.



Each aircraft is loaded with various types of flares depending on mission, location and requirements. Flares are either punched out automatically by the aircraft's electronic countermeasure systems or they can be manually jettisoned by aircraft pilots. But flares go through various stages before meeting their blistering end.



Staff Sgt. John Judy, a 436th Maintenance Squadron munitions inspector, oversees flare operations within the ammo section at Dover AFB. Judy, along with other ammo Airmen, build flare sets specific to each aircraft and mission.



"Part of our mission is to keep the C-5 and C-17 aircraft replenished with good flares," Judy said. "That way when they fly into combat, they have something to defend themselves with."



After the flare sets are assembled, strict protocols are taken to deliver the flares to the flightline where they are uploaded onto the aircraft by trained Airmen from the 436th and 736th Aircraft Maintenance Squadrons. It takes at least three qualified personnel to conduct flare uploading or downloading operations, two personnel handling the flares and one safety observer.



Staff Sgt. Matthew Calvo, a 736th AMXS communication, countermeasure and navigation system craftsman, ensures that flares are properly and safely loaded onto C-17s. Calvo also ensures that the aircraft's countermeasure dispensing system is functioning properly so flares are guaranteed to dispense from the aircraft when needed.



"The purpose of the countermeasure dispensing system is to defeat infrared threats," Calvo said. "The threats are defeated by manually punching out flares or if the system is interfaced with an active electronic countermeasure system, such as the missile warning system or infrared countermeasure system, that system would then punch out flares automatically according to the threat."



Both C-17 and C-5 onboard computers are uploaded with specific mission data that tell the computer what kind of threats the aircraft is likely to face based on the location of the mission. If the aircraft comes under fire, the computer registers the threat and based off of factors such as the threat's temperature and speed, the aircraft will automatically dispense the appropriate flares that have the best chance of defeating that specific threat.



Most flares that are dispensed from aircraft at Dover AFB are from controlled training missions. Aircrews from the 9th and 3rd Airlift Squadrons routinely fly over the Bollen Live-Fire Range Complex on Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania, where simulated surface-to-air missiles, or smokey SAMs, are fired at the aircraft to test the aircraft's countermeasure systems.



First Lt. Taylor Warren, a 3rd AS pilot, recently flew her first training mission over Bollen Range. Warren and other aircrew members made eight passes through the range, encountering smokey SAM threats with each pass.



"They were shooting different things at us from different sides of the aircraft," Warren said. "We had some front aspect shots, we had some shots from the three-to-nine line and even some rear aspect shots. So we got to see the different ways the jet's defensive systems reacted to those threats."



As the smokey SAMs were shot at the Dover C-17, the countermeasure system responded by punching out the most likely flare to defeat the threat, allowing the pilots to focus on threat and escape maneuvers. Warren said the training has increased her confidence in her abilities to recognize and respond to threats in an efficient, timely manner.



"The most important thing I've learned as a new co-pilot is what the flares actually sound like when they go off," Warren said. "Now I will know if I heard them and I don't need to hit the button or I didn't hear them and we are getting a missile launch warning that I need to punch the button myself."



Some Dover pilots have had flares punch out from their aircraft while in a combat theater.



Last year, 1st Lt. Tristin Everett, a 9th AS pilot, was the acting co-pilot of a C-5M taking off from Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, when flares suddenly shot out from the aircraft.



The takeoff seemed pretty normal, Everett said. After about 1,000 or 1,500 feet or so, we started making our turn and then we heard this loud thud. It was just like a kick in the pants and the flares started dispensing."



Although there was never a clear confirmation that the aircraft actually came under fire, Everett said he was thankful the flares did their job at neutralizing any potential threat.



"It was one of those moments you can't forget and it makes the hair stand up on the back of your neck," Everett said. "I am definitely thankful for the maintenance and everything that goes into keeping the aircraft and defense systems working like it should."



For the maintainers at Dover AFB, Airmen know why their job of uploading flares is crucial in saving lives.



"Everything we do out here on the flightline we take pride in," Calvo said. "It definitely feels good when you work with flares because you know the aircraft, aircrew and everything onboard is safe. We are helping these aircraft be safer when they are down range performing the mission and that's something we take a lot of pride in."
Balancing act

When she first joined the Reserve, she doubted that her military and civilian jobs would have anything to do with each other. The more leadership roles she picked up as an occupational therapist, the more she realized her background as an Airman translated to her success in managing people.



Maj. Amy Hansen works full-time as the Vice President of Pediatric Services for Easter Seals Superior California and serves as Inspector General at the 940th Wing.



"I've learned a lot of leadership and progressive discipline skills in the military that directly translated into the success I have in my full-time job," said Hansen. "I also feel like sometimes the military might benefit from some of the newer styles of leadership and management in the private sector. Being able to make a positive change even if it's within our small wing is great."



As an occupational therapist, Hansen helps people with various disabilities live a more fulfilling life by teaching them how to do things that will help them be more self-sufficient.



"I frequently work with children and their families on fine motor and self-help skills, such as helping a child who has autism learn how to eat with a spoon more independently."



Hansen's desire to help others doesn't stop there.



In her position as inspector general she oversees the prevention of government fraud, waste and abuse, serves as the eyes and ears for the wing commander, and acts as a resource for those unable to resolve concerns through their chain of command.



"Members can turn to me and I will do my best to help them solve their problem."



Not only does she maintain multiple jobs, but as a wife, mother of two young daughters and multi-pet owner, Hansen recognizes the importance of prioritization.



"Having all these different roles is the ultimate challenge because they all require time," said Hansen. "You can't be good at all of it, but you certainly learn to balance and prioritize as best you can."



That balancing act helps complement all aspects of her life, especially being a Citizen Airman.



"As a reservist, most days of the week I am just your average citizen, so when I come in to do my military duty, I not only have my training and background to rely on, but I bring this outside perspective," said Hansen. "I think that's been very valuable to provide a sense of balance to what we do."
Eielson selected to receive operational F-35A aircraft

Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, was selected as the new home for the Air Forces first operational overseas F-35A Lightning IIs.



Air Force officials chose Eielson AFB after a lengthy analysis of the locations operational considerations, installation attributes, environmental factors and cost.



Alaska combines a strategically important location with a world-class training environment. Basing the F-35s at Eielson AFB will allow the Air Force the capability of using the Joint Pacific Alaska Range Complex (JPARC) for large force exercises using a multitude of ranges and maneuver areas in Alaska, said Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James. "This, combined with the largest airspace in the Air Force, ensures realistic combat training for the (Defense Department).



Proximity to the JPARC will enable the Air Force to take advantage of approximately 65,000 square miles of available airspace for realistic, world-class training in the Air Forces most advanced fifth-generation fighter.



The decision culminates a three-year process that included an extensive environmental impact statement that examined impacts on such factors as air quality, noise, land use and socioeconomics.



"The decision to base two F-35 squadrons at Eielson AFB, Alaska, combined with the existing F-22 Raptors at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, will double our fifth-generation fighter aircraft presence in the Pacific theater," said Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh III. "Integrating that fifth-generation force with Navy, Marine, and allied F-35 forces will provide joint and coalition warfighters unprecedented survivability, lethality and battlespace awareness in contested environments. It's an exciting time for Pacific airpower."



The base is projected to receive two squadrons of F-35As, which will join the wings F-16 Fighting Falcon aggressor squadron currently assigned to Eielson AFB.



On-base construction to prepare for the aircraft is expected to start in fiscal year 2017 in order to be ready to accept the first F-35As, which are currently scheduled to begin arriving in 2020.



Preliminary estimates had the new aircraft arriving a year earlier, but officials say the 2020 arrival will provide the Air Force more time and grow its active-duty maintenance force.



The Air Force is facing a shortage of experienced, active-duty fighter aircraft maintainers as we transition from legacy aircraft to the F-35A, said Lt. Gen. John B. Cooper, the deputy chief of staff the Air Force for logistics, installations and mission support. Adjusting the initial plan and slightly accelerating F-35A arrivals at Burlington Air Guard Station, Burlington, Vermont, to fall 2019 will allow the service to stick to the overall F-35 rollout schedule, while capitalizing on the Air National Guards experienced fighter aircraft maintenance force as we put additional measures in place to increase the number of trained active-duty maintainers.



The F-35A, manufactured by Lockheed Martin, is a fifth-generation fighter aircraft intended to be the Air Forces premier strike aircraft through the first half of the 21st century. It is a multi-role fighter that is expected to eventually replace the services legacy air-to-ground fighter fleets.




The April issue of Airman magazine is now available to download and is viewable through a Web browser.Featured on our cover, The perfect storm gives a birds-eye view of the F-35 Lightning II as it goes through rigorous testing and evaluation in order to be declared initial operational capability within the projected deadline later this year.Next, we follow a maintainer and his jet from the battlefield to the boneyard in Struck by the Thunderbolt.In our final feature, the past mingles with the present during a heritage flight experience at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona.Airman magazine provides an interactive experience for tablet readers and a limited interactive version is viewable in Web browser format.You can download Airman magazines April issue for your tablet here:To read this issue on a PC/Mac, click here For more stories, visit Airman Online , the website for the official magazine of the U.S. Air Force.
F-16 crews soar in South Korean exercise

F-16 Fighting Falcon pilots from the 80th Fighter Squadron practiced combined flying operations March 28-31 alongside counterparts from the South Korean air forces 19th Fighter Wing at Jungwon Air Base during Buddy Wing 16-3.



Buddy Wing training, conducted multiple times a year, polishes the ability of South Korean and U.S. pilots to train and operate as a combined force.



These exercises certainly help you understand what the Koreans are bringing to the fight, said Maj. Nicholas Longo, the assistant director of operations for 80th FS, based at Kunsan AB, South Korea. We also look at the similarities and differences of tactics, strategies and technical subjects.



Buddy Wing helps examine the similarities and bridge the gaps in understanding the differences between how things are done on both ends of the table.



Even though our pilots have a lot of flying skills, I think its important to highlight that our key to success is that were continuing to maintain, develop and share every aspect of how we plan to defend (South Korea), said Lt. Col. Bokman Jung, the commander of the 162nd FS at Jungwon AB. It helps us consolidate our plans so were both going in the same direction in the end.



This iteration of Buddy Wing training included two air combat maneuvering exercises, eight air interdiction exercises, 11 strike coordination and reconnaissance exercises and 14 defensive counter-air exercises.



We always talk about fitting our host nation partners into our game plan, but theyre also fitting us into their game plan, Longo said. Because for us to be able to fight alongside them, we have to understand how we fit into the big picture with them.



The 80th FS pilots were also able to communicate differences in verbiage and build on coordination techniques they use with their South Korean counterparts and ground forces.



Even with a slight language barrier, our pilots are ready to fight tonight, Jung said. On the (South Korean) side, the pilots are still developing their English speaking skills. I cannot guarantee that there is no barrier between (South Korean and U.S. forces), but we are narrowing down those gaps. Its narrow enough to be able to perform combined missions.



Getting to know South Korean pilots on a personal level was also instrumental to enhancing communication and the understanding of each other's culture.



Almost everything we worked on stemmed from the focal point of communication, Longo said. If there was a breakdown there, then we had a hard time moving forward. However, as the week progressed, weve started to see the communication gap narrow as we get on the same page.



Not only did the Buddy Wing training strengthen relationships, but it also enabled U.S. and South Korean pilots to further solidify their skills in air combat.



We really appreciate the patience, friendship and devotion to the mission that the U.S. pilots bring to the table, Jung said. We are the edge of the sword, so we have to always prepare to fight with the enemy. Through our combined Buddy Wing training, we have opportunities to sharpen that sword.
Ramstein mobility wing credited for smooth departure from Turkey

Even before the flow of families arrived at Ramstein Air Base after they were ordered to depart from Turkey on March 29, Airmen from the 521st Air Mobility Operations Wing were getting ready to make their transition as fluid as possible.



The 521st Aerial Port Squadron at Ramstein AB and the 728th Air Mobility Squadron at Incirlik AB, Turkey, both part of the 521st AMOW, kept in constant contact to help the departing passengers.



The 721st Aircraft Maintenance Squadron maintenance and support Airmen diagnosed and repaired two C-17 Globemaster IIIs continually making flights between Ramstein AB and Incirlik AB. The 721st APS logistics crews kept the bags and cargo moving and Airmen of the 313th Expeditionary Operations Support Squadron Air Mobility Control Center provided updated timing, coordination and notifications.



"I am proud of the flexibility and tenacity demonstrated by the Airmen of the 521st AMOW," said Col. Charles Henderson, the 521st AMOW vice commander. "Their dedication to customer service and team spirit made the ordered departure go as smoothly as possible and contributed greatly to its success. This event only proves that America, our Airmen and their families can depend on us."



The 521st AMOW had their Airmen at the right time and place that allowed them to react quickly and prevent many dependents from being stranded on Ramstein AB.



Air Mobility Command's premier mobility wing in Europe worked long hours shifting pets, luggage and coordinating with base agencies to ensure the dependents had a one-stop shop to transition to and from Ramstein AB.



"It has been impressive to watch so many of our base organizations come together and be prepared to help our Air Force family members as soon as they get here," said Master Sgt. Chad Oswald, the 721st APS passenger operations NCO in charge. "I think we are really ready for anything. Some of the agencies that are set up to help the incoming travelers include pre-coordinated hotel reservations and customs procedures, American Red Cross services, travel specialist to assist with onward travel reservations and many others."



Airmen from Ramstein AB gathered to support and one of them was a first sergeant from the 435th Construction and Training Squadron who gave his time to answer questions, escort, offer advice and support the families in any way possible. According to Master Sgt. Steven Williams, the 435th CTS first sergeant, the effort the 521st AMOW provided was appreciated.



"As their first sergeant I am constantly in contact with the families," Williams said. "I have received great reviews from the families on the support they have received. I want to thank Ramstein Airmen, key spouses and all the agencies for their outpouring support."



The State Department and secretary of defense approved the ordered departure of dependents from bases across Turkey to allow their safe return due to ongoing security concerns in the region. U.S. European Command officials announced March 29 that the move does not signify a permanent decision to end accompanied tours in Turkey.
B-52 conducts long-range training with Colombian forces

A B-52 Stratofortress from Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota, conducted a long-range training sortie to engage with South American military partners April 1-2.



During the course of the 27-hour, nonstop mission, the aircrew trained with the Colombian air force before executing a flyover of the International Fair of Air and Space in Santiago, Chile.



"This bomber mission is just one of many demonstrations of our ability to maintain a credible strategic defense force," said Adm. Cecil D. Haney, the U.S. Strategic Command commander. "Within the last year, U.S. Strategic Command bomber forces have conducted missions with Canadian, Colombian, Australian and Jordanian forces in national and international airspace. In addition to the outstanding training value realized by the U.S. and our partners, these missions demonstrate the credibility of our forces to address a global strategic and security environment that is more diverse and uncertain than at any time in our history."



STRATCOM routinely displays its capability to command, control and conduct global bomber missions, most recently by deploying B-52s into the U.S. European Command and B-2 Spirits into the U.S. Pacific Command areas of responsibility last month.



One of nine Defense Department unified combatant commands, STRATCOM has global strategic missions, assigned through the Unified Command Plan, which include strategic deterrence; space operations; cyberspace operations; joint electronic warfare; global strike; missile defense; intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; combating weapons of mass destruction; and analysis and targeting.
Gorenc discusses European Reassurance Initiative, air police mission

The commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa said April 5 that the increase in European Reassurance Initiative funds next year will allow his command to improve its presence and facilities on the eastern side of NATO and to deter Russia.



Gen. Frank Gorenc also told the Defense Writers Group that his command is working on transferring the air policing mission over the Baltic States into an air defense mission.



The European Reassurance Initiative is set at $3.4 billion in the fiscal year 2017 defense budget request -- four times greater than in 2016. The budget line is in response to aggressive Russian actions in Ukraine.



Building capacity



The ERI increase will allow Gorenc, who also heads the NATO Allied Air Command, to build on what is already a pretty robust training program in Europe. He is planning more heel-to-toe training -- meaning that training is continuous. It will also allow for more bilateral and multilateral exercises.



We already had a pretty robust training regime in Europe with our partners and allies, but this will allow us to do another aspect that I am keen on and that is continuing to develop the airfields, particularly on the eastern side of NATO -- the Baltic (States), Poland, Romania and Bulgaria, he said. This will allow for an easier place to go, to accomplish high-volume, high-velocity operations.



Airfields are more than just runways, he said. Airfields need infrastructure -- weapons storage, fueling capabilities, maintenance facilities. It needs to be an environment that can generate sorties and combat power from the air as part of the joint campaign, Gorenc said. The reassurance money will allow him to do just that.



The NATO air component is looking at the Baltic air-policing mission. Air policing is a peacetime mission designed to provide a capability assure the sovereignty of NATO airspace, Gorenc said. But air policing is just one part of what I consider comprehensive air defense.



Air defense is the integration of aircraft, surface-to-air systems and air-space control measures, he said. Weve been talking about this inside the NATO context, and weve been working on the air police to air defense initiative and so its a journey, he said.



Air policing has been going on over the Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania since 2004 when they joined NATO. The three nations didnt have the resources to conduct the air-policing mission alone, so NATO nations joined to ensure the mission could be accomplished. Other NATO nations -- Luxemburg, Albania and Slovenia -- have similar air policing arrangements.



In 2015, NATO bulked up the air-policing mission after a steady increase in Russian military air activity. There are currently eight NATO aircraft performing the mission.



Gen. Philip Breedlove, NATOs supreme allied commander in Europe, said last week in Vilnius, Lithuania, that NATO should build up its air police to an air defense force that could be effective in war.



The air defense journey is important because it gets us in the mindset to be able to quickly transition to a more robust defense of the air in case it is necessary, Gorenc said.
Living with mental illness has been a harrowing ordeal for Safiatu Kondeh. The 34-year-old, who lives in Kabala, northern Sierra Leone, with her mother and two children, has had to endure conditions almost worse than the disease.
Quantico actress Priyanka Chopra has been invited for the annual White House Correspondents dinner later this month to be attended by President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama.

The actress is among some of Hollywoods biggest names like Bradley Cooper, Lucy Liu, Jane Fonda and Gladys Knight to have been invited for the special dinner, which will take place at the White House, said a statement from Priyankas representatives.

However, Priyanka is still not sure if she will be able to attend the get-together or not given her tight shooting schedule for Quantico as well as for her Hollywood debut Baywatch, said a source close to her.

The non-profit White House Correspondents Association, whose members include the reporters, producers, camera operators and other journalists regularly covering the White House, traditionally hosts this annual dinner to raise money for journalism scholarships.

In Quantico, Priyanka plays FBI agent Alex Parrish. The American thriller TV series also features Josh Hopkins, Jake McLaughlin, Aunjanue Ellis and Yasmine Al Massri among others.

TheBajirao Mastani actor will also be seen in Baywatch alongside Hollywood stars Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron.
Following the series of events that unfolded in the past few days in the Pratyusha Banerjee suicide case, boyfriend Rahul Raj Singh has been being booked under section 306, 504, 506, 303, IPC for abetment of suicide.

Rahuls lawyer has said that he will approach court after going through FIR. The complainant is Pratyushas mother. The lawyer also added that Rahul is not in the condition to be interrogated by the police.

Rahul Raj Singh, who runs a production company, is currently in Shree Sai Hospital in Kandivali where he was taken on Sunday after complaining of chest pain and low blood pressure. He has now been moved from the ICU to a general ward. Though Rahul has been shifted to general ward, his condition is still not proper as he is in trauma, said Mr Singhs lawyer Neeraj Gupta.

Reportedly, Pratyusha and Rahul were in a relationship prior to the TV actress suicide on Friday, April 1. The Balika Vadhu actress allegedly hanged herself at a young age of 24 in her Mumbai flat.
A court in Bangladesh granted bail to opposition leader Khaleda Zia on Tuesday after issuing a warrant for her arrest over a deadly fire-bomb attack on a bus, her lawyer said.

The 70-year-old was given bail when she surrendered to the court, where an estimated 5,000 supporters of her Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) gathered, shouting anti-government slogans.

The party had threatened to stage protests across the politically volatile country if she was arrested on the charges, which date back to a nationwide anti-government campaign of arson in January 2015.

She surrendered to the court this morning and was granted bail in the arson case. She also got bail in four other cases, her lawyer Masud Ahmed Talukder said, referring to long-standing corruption and other cases.

The Dhaka magistrate court last week issued a warrant for Zias arrest on charges of instigating the attack, which left two people dead and dozens injured.

It took place during a nationwide blockade last year of roads, rail and waterways that Zia called to try to force Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to resign and pave the way for new elections.

The blockade unleashed a wave of bloody violence, leaving more than 120 people dead as opposition activists fire-bombed hundreds of buses and trucks and police responded by firing live rounds.

Zia was confined to her office compound in Dhaka for months during the blockade after she threatened to lead an anti-government rally through the capital on the anniversary of a disputed national election.

Hasina has vowed to prosecute BNP officials for the violence. Around 15,000 opposition supporters and dozens of senior BNP officials were arrested as part of a crackdown in the wake of the unrest.

It is not the first time that Zia  a bitter political rival of Hasina  has faced arrest.

Last year a Dhaka court issued an arrest warrant against her for alleged corruption. She was granted bail after she surrendered, but the charges remain live.

Zias aide Shimul Biswas said the cases against Zia were baseless and fabricated, aimed at keeping her under pressure politically. They are designed to harass her, Biswas said.

The BNP boycotted the 2014 general election, leaving the field clear for its rivals.

The party was further weakened by the crackdown last year, when police pressed charges against thousands of their leaders and grassroots activists over the fire-bombing campaign.
Hitting out at Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, ally Shiv Sena on Tuesday said he has no moral right to chant Bharat Mata Ki Jai so long has he failed to put AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi behind the bars for refusing to do so.

The Sena also took potshots at Fadnavis for going soft on the slogan issue after taking an aggressive stand at a public meeting at Nashik recently.

After getting aggressive, the CM has now gone soft. There was no need for him to go back on his statement. He needs to make it clear why did he do so and put all the blame on media, the Sena said in an editorial in its mouthpiece Saamana.

Fadnavis, while speaking in the Assembly yesterday, had said that whether or not he remains the CM, he will keep chanting Bharat Mata Ki Jai and blamed the media for only focusing on a part of his speech made at Nashik where he had said that those who refuse to chant the slogan have no right to stay in this country.

Referring to Owaisi who had said that he would not chant the slogan even if his throat was slit, the Shiv Sena sought to know from the Chief Minister as to where his guts have vanished and why he did not book the AIMIM leader for sedition.

If you werent able to do this, you have no right to chant a pro-India slogan and you are at fault as much as Owaisi, it said.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman Imran Khan has demanded that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) initiate a thorough probe into the financial holdings of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family members after the Panama Papers leak.

A massive leak of documents from a Panamanian law firm revealed that Sharif family owned or had the right to authorise transactions for several offshore companies, Dawn online reported.

Probes have already been initiated in several countries  including Australia, New Zealand, Sweden and France  across the globe after their leaders and office bearers were implicated, said Imran.

If NAB wants to maintain its credibility, it should immediately begin a probe into Sharifs family.

Imran said: Sharif should explain how his children made all this money. He asked if Sharifs family have paid tax on this income.

Imran said the data leak was a defining moment for Pakistan, and added: How can those who launder money from Pakistan to offshore accounts ask others to invest in the country?

He said that Maryam Nawaz had given a statement two years ago that her family did not have any assets abroad.
If situation doesnt improve then there is a possibility of deterioration of law and order in the state says Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil.

Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil criticised the Maharashtra governments decision to impose section 144 in Latur and Parbhani. Patil said that at a time when several regions of the state is witnessing severe drought the state government has barred the assembly of five or more persons near water supply spots in these districts. Instead of resolving the water scarcity issue the government is only imposing restrictions on the movement of people said Patil.

He said, Maharashtra has been reeling under severe drought since last four years but the BJP government is least bothered about addressing this issue. If situation doesnt improve then there is a possibility of deterioration of law and order in the state and we will witness water riots in the state. We have already been urging the government to undertake drought relief work but they are focussed about discussing irrelevant issues in the house. Farmers are committing suicide due to the lackadaisical attitude of the government.

The government has been announcing about supplying water to the drought hit areas of the state since last six to seven months. Even though the BJP is in power in the centre and state we are yet to see water being supplied to Marathwada region through railways.

On 17th August, 2015 Maharashtra water supply minister Babanrao Lonikar had forwarded a proposal to the centre for supplying water to Osmanabad and Latur through the assistance of railways. Subsequently Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu had tweeted that railways will transport water to these districts.

On 22nd March 2016 Revenue Minister Eknath Khadse had announced that water from Ujjani dam near Pandharpur will be transported to Latur through railways. For how long will the state government continue to make announcements without implementing them? asked Patil.

Already people have stand in queues for hours for filling water in Latur. People even fight with each other while filling water. Despite this the government has failed to resolve the water scarcity issue.

The Congress had asked the government waive loans of farmers but they have not taken any action in this regard. Instead of undertaking drought relief measures the government is involved in a debate over the chanting of Bharat Mata Ki Jai slogan in the house.

On the other hand, Eknath Khadse Agriculture Minister said the government will be taking steps to address the water scarcity issue. He said, Railways will be working on a plan to transport water from Miraj to Latur. The state government has urged the Railways to either reduce the transportation cost or transport it for free as a humanitarian cause.

Maharashtra is known for agrarian crisis and rising number of farmer suicides in the country. Already 90,000 farmers have been affected due to the drought and crop failure.
A petition filed in the Pune civil court sought to restrain JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar from visiting Pune on the occasion of Babasaheb Ambedkars birth anniversary on April 14.

Judge S R Yadav posted the petition for hearing tomorrow, said lawyer Wajid Khan, who appeared for Hemant Patil, the petitioner.

The petition contends that Kumars visit may create law and order problem as he may give inflammatory speeches.

A Delhi court has already restrained the JNU student leader, arrested on sedition charge before being released on bail last month, from delivering speeches for six months and on this ground alone he should be restrained from visiting Pune, it said.

Kumar has accepted an invitation by a joint group of students from the city-based Ranande Institute of Journalism, Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) and Fergusson College to visit and speak in Pune.
By John Stone



For a year or two now I have more or less given up trying to comment on mainstream blogs - what with the harassment and the censorship I felt I ought to devote more of my time to other projects. But I have been back in the past few days given the disgraceful debacle over "Vaxxed". Below is an example of unacceptable comment to the UK's Guardian newspaper in 2016, made after several comments disappeared.

One of the notable features of the three year long hearing against Wakefield and colleagues was that at no point did any of the mainstream media report any of the defence - no one unless they were prepared to search wider on the internet would have any idea of what it was. It goes on. Below I put up a link to my own blog and it was deleted as infringing community rules, but there is no possible way it did that. We are having a discussion where all the counter argument is being deftly removed. If an international terrorist was on trial they would stand a much better chance of having their defence reported by the mainstream media than someone voicing mild concern about the safety of the vaccine program. The problem is that with these voices of concern systematically removed the program is destined to become ever more harmful because basic checks and balances have been eliminated.

This is something which apparently falls outside reasonable comment now.



John Stone is UK Editor for Age of Autism.
Alaska Air Group, parent company of Alaska Airlines, and California-headquartered Virgin America have confirmed their boards of directors approval of a deal under which the former will acquire Virgin Americas shares for $2.6bn; including Virgin Americas debt and aircraft lease obligations, the transaction is valued at approximately $4.0bn.

The merger will expand Alaska Airlines presence in California, adding to its core market in the Pacific Northwest. It will also secure its position as the USs fifth-biggest carrier and as a serious competitor to the big four US airlines.

The combined entity will be able to offer 1,200 daily flights throughout a network incorporating hubs in Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Anchorage, Alaska and Portland, Oregon.

Headquartered in Seattle, it will have a fleet of approximately 280 aircraft, although some of them will be smaller, regional types, while the combined airline is projected to have annual revenues of more than $7 billion.

Until regulatory approval to close the deal is received and a single operating certificate can be achieved, Alaska Air Group chairman and CEO Brad Tilden and Virgin America president and chief executive David Cush will co-lead a transitional management team.

The companies expect to complete the transaction with the required regulators approval no later than January 1 next year.

There had been rumours of a Virgin America acquisition for a while. JetBlue Airways had also been interested.

Alaska Air Group intends to form a wholly-owned airline service provider subsidiary called McGee Air Services. The enterprise will undertake roles such as ground handling and aircraft cleaning, and will operate independently; it will initially solely meet the requirements of Alaska Airlines, but is also expected, as the business expands, to serve other carriers.

Alaska Airlines traces its roots back to 1932, when Linious Mac McGee created McGee Airways. The name McGee Air Services is said by Alaska Air Group to hark back to McGees strong work ethic, entrepreneurial spirit and fortitude.

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Qatar Airways has launched a new QR Cargo app to answer queries on freighter and passenger flight schedules, shipment tracking, charter service requests, office contact details and product descriptions.

It is also linked to Qatars CROAMIS system (Cargo Reservations, Operations, Accounting and Management Information System), giving real-time updates for each logistic milestone achieved, explained chief officer cargo, Ulrich Ogiermann.

He predicted that it would provide more convenience and value to our customers, giving them the freedom to manage and access to their global business anywhere and anytime.

A recent search history option allows users to look for frequently searched shipments, routes or schedules without having to remember 11-digit air waybill (AWB) numbers or other lengthy details. The office directory is integrated with an application giving location maps or phone numbers.

The app is available for both Android and iOS devices through Google Play Store or Apple App Store at http://www.qrcargo.com/apps

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April 4, 2016

BTselem Director Hagai El-Ad has appealed to the Israeli army and the police to demand protection for Imad Abu Shamsiya, the Palestinian who filmed the March 24 shooting death of assailant Abdel Fatah al-Sharif by an Israeli soldier in Hebron. Since the video became public, and especially since the soldiers arrest, Jewish settlers in Hebron have been threatening Abu Shamsiyas life and throwing stones at his home in the Tel Rumeida neighborhood. They even uploaded his photo onto right-wing websites with a call to execute him. Abu Shamsiya has lodged a complaint with the police, but so far no suspects have been arrested. He said neither the Israel Police nor the Israel Defense Forces are in any rush to act against the violent Hebron settlers.

In a conversation with Al-Monitor, Abu Shamsiya talked about life in the shadow of fear since the video went public, and about his work as a cameraman for Israeli human rights organization BTselem, which tries to make public the complex life of Palestinians under threat by Hebrons most radical Jewish settlers. Six settler families live in Tel Rumeida, one of which is the family of radical right-wing activist Baruch Marzel.

The first threats were made by phone, he said. I got a call on my cellphone from an unidentified number. The caller asked me, Are you Imad Abu Shamsiya? When I said I was, he told me, We will kill you; we will burn you and your family if you dont leave Tel Rumeida.

Attempts to kick Abu Shamsiya out of the tense neighborhood did not start with the recent video. About a year ago, a firebomb was thrown at his house, burning part of the building. Several weeks later he observed a settler pouring something into the water tanks on the roof of his house. When the police arrived, it turned out the settler had poisoned the water. The police ordered Abu Shamsiya to move the water supply tanks from the open roof to a sheltered area that the settlers cannot access. Harassments became a daily occurrence, he said. The day after publication of the execution video and the arrest of the soldier, another, larger group of settlers came and attacked my home with stones and threatened to burn it down. Afterward, on their websites, they put up my picture with the English caption, Wanted. In Hebrew it said, This is the dog Imad Abu Shamsiya who filmed the Israeli soldier. He needs to be eliminated.

Since the growing number of attacks and threats against him, Abu Shamsiya does not leave the house. Im afraid to go out. I can say Im a hero until Im blue in the face, but I have a family and children to look after. My job now is to protect them. When I went to the police station to file a complaint, the policeman told me, Dont worry, these are just threats. I told him that if anything happens to me or to any member of my family, I will hold all of them totally responsible.

Abu Shamsiya started filming for B'Tselem in Hebron five years ago, after Tel Rumeida settlers threw stones at his 13-year-old daughter as she was walking home from school. She suffered moderate injuries to her face and required medical treatment. A BTselem investigator who came to his house to take down his testimony about the incident suggested to Abu Shamsiya that he be given a camera with which to document incidents that the Israeli public must be shown. I agreed immediately, he told Al-Monitor. BTselem gave us instructions and lectures on how to film in a way that does not violate the law; they taught us our rights, how to conduct ourselves in dangerous situations and how to distance ourselves from Israeli soldiers in order not to risk violating the law.

Abu Shamsiya soon became a familiar figure in the neighborhood. Residents started calling him when they saw an incident that they thought should be documented. You have to understand, he said, when I arrive on the scene with a camera, the army acts differently. They [the soldiers] understand the power of photography and the significance of the cameras presence. The camera has become a means of deterrence. Gradually we also understood something else of importance  we started believing that the camera was our weapon in defending our rights.

On the day that the Israeli soldier shot the Palestinian attacker as he lay wounded on the ground, Abu Shamsiya was sitting with his wife on the balcony of their home in the Tel Rumeida neighborhood. Suddenly he heard a hail of bullets. He grabbed his camera and ran to document the incident, as he usually does.

At first I saw a man wearing a black jacket and black pants spread eagle on the ground, Abu Shamsiya said. He was still moving. Next to him was another man who was already dead, his face was covered in blood. Within seconds dozens of Israeli soldiers and settlers from the area arrived and congregated at the site. The soldiers prevented me from filming. I moved away and climbed up to a higher spot from where I could see what was going on. Then two ambulances arrived to treat a third man who was lying on the ground. That was the Israeli soldier who had been stabbed. After they put the soldier in the ambulance and closed the door, I heard an Israeli soldier preparing to shoot. I heard him cock his weapon a few times. I concentrated on him. At that moment I was scared, I thought he had seen me filming and was going to shoot me any minute. But he walked past me and shot Abdel Fatah al-Sharif in the head.

Abu Shamsiya said that what really makes him angry was the indifference of the people at the scene to the execution they had witnessed. The soldier who had fired even walked up to Marzel and shook his hand warmly. But what really bears examination and investigation, he said, is the fact that before the soldier carried out the shooting, he went up to an officer standing near the wounded Sharif, who was still showing signs of life and whose body was moving. You can clearly see in the video footage: He handed the officer his helmet, probably also exchanged a few words with him, and then went and shot the Palestinian in the head. I can only assume he was given a green light. I dont want to say an order, but he got permission from the officer to go and kill Sharif.

Abu Shamsiya knows that his video footage, which has stirred up a storm in Israel and has been aired all over the world, not only brought to public attention the price of the Israeli occupation of the territories and the events there, but also honed a troubling development in Israeli society. The fact that the soldier has been turned into a national hero by many segments of Israeli society is very dangerous for you, Shamsiya said. I know that without the footage, no one would have been arrested and life would have gone on as usual. After the shooting no one standing around there was bothered by what they had seen. But I am a man who believes in human rights. And Ill tell you frankly, anyone violating the law must stand trial. If Sharif had lived, he should have been brought before a court for what he did. But not like this. Not an execution. Turning the shooter into a national hero is something I cannot grasp.
April 5, 2016

CAIRO  On March 13, nearly 1,000 people of the Oromo ethnic community took part in a big ceremony celebrating the second anniversary of the Oromia Media Network (OMN), which opposes the ruling regime in Ethiopia.

The ceremony was the first event held by the Ethiopian opposition in Cairo since the outbreak of violence in Ethiopia between the government and the ethnic community in December. The violence arose over Ethiopias master plan to expand the capital, Addis Ababa, into large parts of Oromo farmlands without any actual compensation.

At that time, Egypts Foreign Affairs Ministry contented itself with issuing a press statement on Dec. 21, saying that the incidents are an internal Ethiopian issue.

We are looking forward to stability and the completion of the comprehensive economic and social development programs in Ethiopia, the ministry said.

Yet local Ethiopian media outlets continued to circulate statements by Ethiopian officials accusing Cairo of supporting the opposition and of being behind these events in order to weaken Ethiopia. These statements were based on the remarks in November 2010 by late Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi that there was irrefutable evidence of Egypts support for insurgents in Ethiopia, under the rule of former President Hosni Mubarak.

At the second anniversary ceremony, OMN head Jawar Mohammed spoke of the need for the Oromo uprising to continue against the policies of the Ethiopian government and the ruling Tigrayan People's Liberation Front (TPLF) party. He accused the government of adopting systematic policies against the Oromo community and of seizing its land.

A government official who coordinates African affairs and spoke to Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity said, The Egyptian authorities have nothing to do with the ceremony.

He explained, A group of Ethiopian activists applied for a security approval for the ceremony, which they obtained, similarly to any other foreign communities wishing to hold activities in Cairo.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) fact sheet issued in February said that 6,916 Ethiopian asylum seekers are registered with the UNHCR in Cairo.

Most of the Ethiopians who are registered with the UNHCR are of the Oromo people, whose registration rate has been constant since 2015, Marwa Hashem, assistant public information officer for the UNHCR in Cairo, told Al-Monitor.

The UNHCR have provided all political asylum seekers and refugees from Africa with services such as material aid to the most needy, educational grants, health care and psychosocial support.

Ahmad Badawi, head of the Egyptian Foundation for Refugee Support, told Al-Monitor, Egypt is committed to its international obligations not to reject asylum seekers when they do not oppose national security, even those who enter illegally.

The Egyptian government does not provide any special advantages to Ethiopian refugees without providing the same to other foreign nationals, he said. UNHCR is in charge of providing services to all refugees.

The Oromo ethnic community makes up 40% of Ethiopia's population, followed by the Amhara and Tigrayan communities, which make up 32%  though Tigrayans control the government through the ruling TPLF party. The Oromia Regional State stretches over large areas in central Ethiopia, where the capital is located, and includes most of Ethiopias wealth, as it controls the countrys coffee exports, gold mines and the rivers headwaters.

Due to the escalating protests, the Ethiopian government canceled the plan to expand the capital. Yet the Oromo revolution has not ended, as the people continue to demand freedom and fair representation in the government and to protest the ruling partys practices.

The Oromo community will continue to protest not only against the Ethiopian governments master plan, which raised problems in the past, but also to preserve the Oromo ethnic communitys land, culture and language, against the ethnic policies of the Tigrayan who control the rule, Girma Gutema, an Oromo community activist, told Al-Monitor.

Eritrea and Sudan supported the Oromo struggle. Yet following the Sudanese-Ethiopian rapprochement, many rebels fled to Eritrea, Gutema said. However, the Egyptians, as well as the international community, dont know enough about the Oromo communitys problems to be able to offer support.

Such rumors, he said, are propaganda spread by the Ethiopian government due to its historic bickering with Egypt.

Galma Guluma, an Ethiopian political activist and organizer of the ceremony in Cairo, told Al-Monitor that Cairo is the safest place for Oromo people fleeing Ethiopia, particularly since Sudan changed its policy and is now turning over Ethiopian oppositionists to their government.

Fleeing to Cairo was not an easy thing to do. Many refugees went through difficult situations and conditions until they reached the Egyptian border, Guluma said. Most of the Oromo refugees in Cairo do not have permanent jobs, and some girls are working as domestic servants. Moreover, they receive very little aid from the civil society organizations.

Guluma added, We do not have weapons to face the regime in Ethiopia. Our goal is to focus on [getting] the media to speak of the suffering of the Oromo people, who are oppressed despite the great wealth in their state.

He noted, Cairo has been a historical place for the Oromo struggle and the idea of the media network and Oromo radio started in Cairo more than 50 years ago with Sheikh Mohammed Rashad, who studied at the Al-Azhar University in the 1960s and was honored by [former Egyptian President] Gamal Abdel Nasser.

The Egyptian political administration has said that, while it seeks to build trust and goodwill, its open-door policy for Oromo refugees is part of an international commitment to the refugees case and should not be perceived as an attempt to exploit any internal conflicts to weaken the Ethiopian state.

Nevertheless, this issue remains a focus of constant tension in Egyptian-Ethiopian ties, in addition to the historic conflict over Nile water management.
April 4, 2016

Tensions between regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran are not new, but recent statements by Iranian officials suggest that Saudi Arabia is intentionally delaying meetings between the two countries that would prevent Iranian pilgrims from performing their hajj obligations for the first time in nearly three decades.

An article by Arman Daily titled Hajj without Iranian pilgrims! covered the most recent statements by Iranian officials in charge of the pilgrimage. The delay by Saudi Arabia for preparatory talks on the hajj means they do not want hajj to be completed [by the Iranians], said the representative of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Hojat al-Islam Seyed Ali Ghazi Askar, on April 3. He warned that if there are no talks in the coming days on the issues of housing, transportation, food and other logistical matters for Iranian pilgrims, the conditions to conducting a desirable hajj will become very difficult.

Just before the Iranian New Year on March 20, Saeed Ohadi, the head of Irans Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization, addressed some of the issues preventing talks between the two sides. Ohadi said that Saudi officials postponed a Jan. 7 meeting to March 9. According to Ohadi, Saudi officials, citing miscommunication between their Foreign Ministry and consular services in the United Arab Emirates, then refused to issue visas to the Iranian delegation for the March 9 meeting. Ohadi said that by this time last year, preparations for the 2015 hajj were already underway, adding, Unfortunately, there is no hope for hajj [for Iranians] this year.

In January, Saudi Arabia cut relations with Iran after a mob stormed the Saudi Embassy in Tehran. The group had originally gathered at the embassy to protest the Saudi execution of Shiite leader Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr.

Even before the severing of diplomatic relations, and regional rivalries and proxy wars in Syria, Yemen and Lebanon, Iran and Saudi Arabia were on an ominous trajectory in regard to hajj. In April 2015, Iran suspended nonmandatory hajj pilgrimage (umrah), which can be undertaken any time, after two Iranian boys were separated from their families and sexually assaulted by Saudi airport security. While Saudi Arabia says that they punished the individuals involved, Ghazi Askar said the punishment and reaction by Saudi Arabia was insufficient. Approximately 850,000 Iranians attend umrah pilgrimage every year, according to an Ebtekar article, which also covered the possibility that Iranians may not attend hajj this year due to what it called Saudi obstruction.

After the Jeddah incident, 107 pilgrims were killed in a crane crash in September, including eight Iranians, and a stampede killed over 400 Iranians in the city of Mina. Iranian officials and the public were incensed over what they viewed as poor Saudi management during hajj. According to Ghazi Askar, Iranians have still not been compensated over the stampede and crane crash.

He acknowledged the political issues between the two countries, but said that in previous years they were able to put aside their differences for hajj; however, the situation this year is the opposite, he said.

The last time Iranians had not attended the mandatory hajj pilgrimage was after a 1987 protest in which Iranian demonstrators clashed with Saudi police, resulting in the deaths of hundreds. As a result, Saudi Arabia reduced the number of Iranian pilgrims, prompting Iran to boycott the hajj until 1990.

Alluding to Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir's comments that despite political tensions Iranian pilgrims are welcome in Mecca and Medina, Ohadi said, I hope that the contradictions and inconsistencies between the words and actions of Saudi officials is resolved soon.

The mandatory hajj pilgrimage this year will begin Sept. 9.
April 4, 2016

TEHRAN, Iran  Upon taking office in August 2013, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani initiated a new foreign policy in sharp contrast to that of his conservative predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Rouhanis policy of detente and constructive engagement was quickly welcomed internationally. Instead of only Asian, African and Latin American countries hosting Iranian diplomats, Europe also welcomed the idea of expanding relations with Iran.

Meanwhile, within Iran, especially as far as hard-liners were concerned, this shift  including the developments it brought about  was not seen as very desirable. Factions opposed to the administration were rather enraged by Rouhanis foreign policy and repeatedly expressed this anger and worry. Indeed, the core of their concern was that Rouhani was unnecessarily focused on relations with Europe.

Mehdi Mohammadi, a conservative analyst who was part of the team of former chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, and who is one of the most serious critics of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), has argued that Rouhanis administration spends a lot of money in Europe trying to keep this deal alive. Rouhani goes out of his way to make the Europeans happy in order to ensure the survival of the JCPOA.

This reading of the situation does not, however, appear to be completely accurate. In a conversation this author had with Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif back in February, Zarif talked about the importance of expanding cooperation between Iran and other countries in the fields of economy and security. To achieve this goal, and to overcome any possible future obstacles thrown in its way by the United States, Iran needed to change and diversify the scope of its activities. Indeed, the Iranian foreign minister is of the conviction that predisposition toward either the East or the West no longer works, and is not even possible. Thus, to implement this vision, Iran has needed to adopt a more proactive approach toward regions that had previously gone unnoticed.

Earlier this year, Zarif was slated to travel to Latin America along with a major economic delegation. However, this tour was postponed due to the escalating tension and eventual halt in diplomatic relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia, which was triggered by the execution of dissident Saudi Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr and the ensuing storming of the Saudi Embassy in Tehran by hard-line protesters. In this vein, it is said that the Latin America tour will take place next month.

Meanwhile, Zarifs plans to visit the Asia-Pacific region in March were left unchanged. Zarif had very important economic goals for this tour, which included stops in four Asian countries (Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei and Thailand) and two Pacific ones (Australia and New Zealand). Of note, Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in parallel brought up the importance of collaborating with Asian countries. During his March 15 meeting with the visiting president of Vietnam, Khamenei indeed stated that cooperation with Asian nations is Irans definite policy.

One of the senior Iranian diplomats who accompanied the Iranian foreign minister on his Asia-Pacific tour told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, The No. 1 priority of these visits was to expand bilateral economic relations with these countries. Iran wants to expand and diversify its economic relations with other countries. As such, this tour was in a way a declaration of Irans capabilities and [about] encouraging these countries to pay attention to the Iranian market.

The senior Iranian diplomat, who spoke to Al-Monitor onboard the plane carrying Zarif from Bangkok to Canberra, Australia, also talked about the details of the various meetings with Asian officials. In some of the countries, what we were talking about was redundant. For example, in Thailand and Singapore, we had to repeat what we had already said in Brunei. We were trying to do marketing and talk about our abilities in the areas of tourism, hospitality, fishery, energy, oil and natural gas. We were more successful in Brunei and Thailand compared with Indonesia and Singapore, and both Brunei and Thailand expressed their interest in collaborating with Iran in the fields of hospitality, tourism, oil and natural gas, he said.

However, from the very beginning, it was obvious that to Iran, Pacific countries were more important than Asian countries. Bruneis and Thailands gross domestic product are not comparable to those of Australia and New Zealand, and Australias and New Zealand's technology are also much more advanced.

Zarifs March 15 visit to Australia was the first by an Iranian foreign minister in almost two decades. The previous Iranian foreign minister who visited was Kamal Kharazi, under former President Mohammad Khatami (1997-2005).

Irans relations with New Zealand also have plenty of room to grow. Under Ahmadinejad, bilateral ties reached an all-time low amid stepped-up sanctions on the Islamic Republic over its nuclear program. Trade between the two countries was estimated at more than $182 million in 2006, a year after Ahmadinejad took office. However, by 2015, this figure had dropped to $74 million, of which only $4 million was of Iranian exports to New Zealand  a country with a GDP of $171 billion and $182 billion in 2013 and 2014, respectively.

Zarif was warmly welcomed in Wellington, New Zealand and Canberra, with his schedule packed with one meeting after the other, most of which were focused on paving the way for economic cooperation. One of the Iranian diplomats who participated in these meetings told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, In Australia, aside from the issue of Iranian refugees, we also talked about the possibility of collaboration in various technological fields such as the water industry and use of the desert. The two sides showed their willingness to consider expanding their collaboration with each other.

However, although these Asian and Pacific countries showed a readiness to engage with Iran, the way forward might not be as easy as it seems. These countries are hesitant about expanding their economic relations with the Islamic Republic, and especially about transferring assets to Iran. More importantly, the campaigning ahead of the presidential election in the United States later this year, which has featured various candidates threatening to tear up the JCPOA, has added to anxieties. For now, one can only wait and see whether, as Zarif puts it, Irans behavior alone is enough to neutralize the threats of the United States and whether it can help expand Irans cooperation with the world.
April 4, 2016

AMMAN, Jordan  Amman is stranding approximately 50,000 Syrian refugees near the countrys border with Syria, according to multiple UN officials who provided this exclusive information to Al-Monitor. The number of trapped Syrians in Ruqban and Hadalat is nearly double what has been previously reported to be around 26,000 on Feb. 29. Al-Monitor has obtained confidential documents by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which show that 53% of the Syrians who have been blocked in this isolated desert are minors.

Al-Monitor has requested since Jan. 24 to visit the Berm, the name used by international aid officials to describe this area. The Jordanian military has refused to provide access and allow Al-Monitor to speak with the trapped Syrian refugees.

In a video posted by the Red Cross, a Syrian refugee named Khadija Taleb, whose relatives have been stuck in the Berm after fleeing their Syrian hometown due to heavy bombing, described the area as an arid desert devoid of everything and inhabited by scorpions, snakes, insects and wild animals.

Human Rights Watch researcher Adam Coogle, who is based in Amman, noted the large increase of Syrians stranded in Ruqban. Coogle told Al-Monitor, What that tells me is how terrible things are in Syria that people will just go live in the middle of the desert in a tent with no security just because at least they wont starve to death. It is just hard to fathom.

Spokespeople from UNHCR, UNICEF and the Red Cross all declined to provide any details of humanitarian conditions facing Syrian refugees in the Berm. One diplomat told Al-Monitor that if the agencies speak with the media, they are terrified that their lives will get even more miserable than they already are. Already they have very limited access, but they feel that access could get more restricted. International aid workers and diplomats fear upsetting the Jordanian government, despite the deteriorating humanitarian crisis.

An international aid official speaking on condition of anonymity described to Al-Monitor the frustration his organization felt not being permitted to provide humanitarian assistance due to the Jordanian governments restrictions. We want to be there and support, but we are not getting access.

While acknowledging the legitimate Jordanian security concerns, diplomats speaking on condition of anonymity based in Amman described the conditions in Ruqban and Hadalat as horrendous and terrible.

On Feb. 2, King Abdullah II told the BBC that there were elements of the Islamic State (IS) among the refugees. Abdullah noted that security forces must perform rigorous inspections to protect Jordans security and therefore keep the refugees in this isolated desert. He said that any Western country is welcome to accept the refugees, but no nation has volunteered for the task.

However, on Feb. 29, a senior international aid official rejected Abdullahs allegations as an unsubstantiated claim. The official told Al-Monitor, There is no evidence of IS infiltration in that group. The UNHCR data shows that fewer than 7% of the Syrian refugees in the Berm come from Raqqa, IS' capital.

Given that the majority of the population stranded is under 18 years of age and has been languishing in the Berm for many months, an aid official expressed her frustration, Where is our humanity? Can we actually imagine that the 10-year-old child is first and foremost a potential threat and not somebody who needs assistance?

Jordan has accepted 638,000 Syrian refugees since the beginning of the 2011 conflict, according to the United Nations.

An international aid worker noted that the United States has the biggest leverage over the Hashemite Kingdom given that Washington provides Amman $1 billion annually in aid in addition to the countries strong military ties. However, Washingtons moral credibility on this issue is limited given that President Barack Obama's administration has absorbed only 2,647 Syrian refugees during the first five years of the conflict, according to a thorough New York Times investigation. The Hashemite Kingdom has accepted approximately 200 times more Syrian refugees than America, despite being much smaller, poorer and without significant natural resources. Eric Barbee, US Embassy spokesman in Amman, rejected Al-Monitors interview request for this article.

Minister of State for Media Affairs and government spokesman Mohammad Momani told Al-Monitor that Jordan is allowing over 100 refugees into the countrys Azraq camp daily. Momani noted that the refugees also receive food, water and health care.

However, even basic humanitarian distribution has become problematic. An aid worker noted that since the Berm is a black hole, it is unclear if those most vulnerable, including children and elderly, are receiving their food distributions, since multiple reports describe tribal leaders using their influence to divert the assistance for personal gain.

Security remains a major challenge in the Berm as the Jordanian border guards do not enter the area, especially given the spike of 50,000 Syrians. According to the confidential UNHCR document, on March 13 an asylum seeker threatened a staff member with a knife. Multiple incidents of disorder continue to challenge aid workers, and UNICEF facilities were vandalized on March 12. UNHCR notes that some asylum seekers have sought to register multiple times or include children of others to increase their family size.

Currently, 279 pregnant women reside in Ruqban and Hadalat, including many in their final three months, despite the minimal medical care.

The Red Cross notes that they first provided assistance to those in the Berm one year ago. With the number of Syrian refugees stranded in the Berm doubling during the past two months to approximately 50,000, without any security and limited medical services, Jordan and the international community face a humanitarian crisis that has only dramatically worsened with no end in sight.
April 5, 2016

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip  A new current has been active within the Fatah movement. Its founders have named it the Democratic Reformist Current, which consists of a large number of leaders who were dismissed by the movements leader Mahmoud Abbas, because they refused its policies, as well as other active leaders.

The conflict within the movement started to fully surface after former leader Mohammed Dahlan was dismissed from Fatahs Central Committee on corruption charges and ended all ties with the movement on June 12, 2011. Yet in 2015, the Corruption Crimes Court in Ramallah rejected the accusations directed against him and closed the case. Dahlan has been residing in the United Arab Emirates ever since.

Dahlans dismissal was followed by the dismissal of many other leaders and cadres supporting him, which resulted in the movement splitting into two currents: the pro-Abbas current and the opposing reformist current led by Dahlan.

Abdul Hamid al-Masri, a former member of Fatah's Revolutionary Council, who was dismissed from the council two years ago, and who is a founder of the reformist current from the Gaza Strip, told Al-Monitor that the current is a part of the Fatah movement and that they are seeking reforms within Fatah through this current.

He said, We want to bring about reforms in terms of all of the defects caused to the movements internal regulations, the violations and the monopoly of leaders over the movements decision-making. These include the dismissal of Dahlan and fellow members of the Revolutionary Council, including myself. We do not perceive the dismissal as legal, because it did not go in line with the movement's internal regulations, such as a two-thirds vote of the Revolutionary Councils members that is required for the members dismissal. For that reason, many Fatah members and leaders have rejected the dismissal.

The current, whose popular base within Fatah goes beyond the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, manages many charities that receive financial support and aid, according to Masri.

He added, There are members of the current who are still exercising their role within the formal structure of the Fatah movement at home and abroad; they are cadres and officials of the movement. Others are assuming their role through institutions that we are running. While each may be running an institution, the external funds received through these institutions are for all the Palestinian people, not for the reformist current.

Masri believes that the changes that will be brought about and the elimination of corruption within Fatah will inevitably end its problems.

He said, I think that Abbas and those members opposing the return of the reformist currents members to Fatah  who rejected the policy of marginalization, isolation, persecution and oppression that they have been subjected to  are few. In contrast, those voices calling for the members to return to the movement and assume their roles are the majority. Abbas is not the inevitable fate of Palestine or the Fatah movement. He was preceded by Yasser Arafat, who died, but Fatah survived. Abbas will leave and the movement will survive.

Al-Monitor contacted pro-Abbas Fatah leaders in Gaza, but they refused to comment on the matter.

Since its inception on Jan. 1, 1965, Fatah has witnessed a limited number of internal political defections starting with the defection of Sabri al-Banna (aka Abu Nidal), head of Fatahs office in Baghdad. Banna established the splinter group Fatah - The Revolutionary Council in 1974, in protest against what he called peaceful solutions to the Palestinian cause, which he described as capitulatory solutions.

Then a number of Fatah leaders in the Lebanese Taalabaya and Taanayel areas defected in 1983 and formed the corrective movement, which later became known as Fatah al-Intifada that was supported by the regime of late Syrian President Hafez al-Assad.

Despite the limited defections and subsequent formation of small factions, which their founders view as natural extensions of Fatah, the main branch soon restored its unity.

Yet are the founders of the reformist current planning to establish a new independent political body that represents them?

Political analyst Akram Atallah told Al-Monitor, Although roughly four years have gone by since Dahlan and his supporters were dismissed from the movement, it is still unknown whether or not Dahlan and those supporting him will form a new party or return to the movement, based on reconciliation between him and Abbas."

He added, A feeling that work is underway toward the formation of a parallel party prevails sometimes. At other times, there is a feeling that work is underway to go back to the movement. This time, the matter is different from the previous defections, or even from the other Palestinian factions, like the defection of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine that split up into two parties in 1968. So far, it is still unclear where this issue is heading.

Atallah believes that Fatahs history shows that top Fatah leaders defected and formed political currents that soon withdrew from the political scene while the movement remained unified. He attributed it to several reasons, saying, First, their dismissal and subsequent defection resulted from the use of weapons in the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, which is unacceptable, making the dismissal fair and reasonable. Second, Arafat was the one leading the movement and he preserved its strength, and third, they lacked financial foundations enabling them to build a large and powerful party.

According to Atallah, these reasons no longer exist, which means that the factors behind the failure of a parallel current no longer exist. Arafat, who was a symbol, no longer exists. Dahlan has the money to build a party, and the way he was dismissed from Fatah prompted other members to support him as they viewed that he was unjustly dismissed.

Atallah pointed out that Fatahs unity is at risk after the emergence of this current, particularly since the dispute was aggravated between Dahlan's and Abbas' currents. He said, This matter will affect the unity of the Fatah movement. The internal dispute is tense, and it is clear that it has aggravated following Dahlans dismissal. Two poles, two currents and two delegations have started to be seen in pleasant and unpleasant public occasions lately.

Previous defections have failed to result in the establishment of new currents, due to the lack of an environment favorable for their survival. The circumstances, however, have changed at present, which strengthens the fears that the new reformist current will turn into a splinter party.
April 5, 2016

Iraq is facing a new crisis with Saudi Arabia as a result of their differing points of view regarding regional issues, most notably those related to Lebanon-based Hezbollah, which was recently classified by the Arab League and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) as a terrorist organization.

The crisis started March 11 when Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari dropped a bombshell during the Arab League meetings in Cairo. He said, Iraqs Popular Mobilization Units and Lebanons Hezbollah preserved the dignity of the Arabs. Those accusing them of terrorism are the terrorists.

The Saudi delegation withdrew from the meeting, but returned after Jaafari finished speaking.

Tense Saudi-Iranian ties were already affecting the whole region. In a Jan. 19 article by Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, Saudi Arabia accused Iran of supporting all radical and violent groups, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen and sectarian militias in Iraq.

At the March 11 meeting, Saudi Arabia was obviously angered by the Iraqi minister defending Hezbollah. However, Jaafari told the press later that day that his defense of Hezbollah will not affect Iraqi-Saudi ties, and it is normal that two countries have different perspectives." Those divergent views will not harm bilateral ties between Arab parties, he added.

Jaafari said he merely characterized Hezbollah as a resistance rather than a terrorist group and rejected the idea that Hezbollah and the Popular Mobilization Units should be discriminated against. He said the Saudi delegation, led by its permanent representative to the Arab League, Ahmed bin Abdul-Aziz Kattan, did not leave the meeting while Jaafari was delivering his speech, but rather during a side dialogue.

He added, "Every country has the right to express its stance on any issue."

While the Arab League has labeled Hezbollah a terrorist organization, Jaafaris discourse may ignite a new crisis between Iraq and the Gulf states in general, and Saudi Arabia in particular.

Iraqi Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmad Jamal told Al-Monitor that Iraq is keen to be part of any Arab consensus to unify positions and, as a member state, is part of the Arab Leagues general framework and charter.

The vote on draft resolutions within the Arab League, and moving toward an Arab consensus, should not take place at the expense of Iraqs principles. The most important among these is the noninterference in the other countries internal affairs. Thus, the decision to label Hezbollah as terrorist, when it is represented in parliament and the government, is interference in Lebanons internal affairs, which Iraq rejects," he said.

Jamal added, The Iraqi-Saudi ties are fully developed, and Iraq is keen to promote them. Saudi Arabia is an important border country, and ties must necessarily be balanced.

Khaled al-Assadi, a member of Iraqs parliamentary foreign affairs committee, told Al-Monitor, Raising issues and decisions deemed unacceptable by some member states taking part in the Arab League meetings is unprofessional, and Iraq has the right to object to such conduct.

He said, A sectarian agenda is behind decisions that ignite a political or sectarian crisis in the region. Iraq does not and will not accept them, considering that such decisions [diminish] Iraqs role in promoting peace in the Arab region. Assadi added, Saudi Arabia is dealing with Iraq based on a sectarian agenda, which would harm bilateral ties. This is although we believe that having different views does not prejudice anyone. Rather, it is perceived as a healthy situation.

Speaking to Al-Monitor, Ihsan al-Shammari, a political science professor at Baghdad University, predicted the disagreement will not fracture Iraq's relationship with Gulf countries.

Iraq has sovereignty in foreign decision-making. It does not want to be a dependent state or to be involved in a Gulf-Iranian conflict," he said. "[Iraq] prefers to not interfere in other Arab countries affairs.

He added, Despite the factors that have pushed Iraq to make a decision that contradicts the Arab decision on Hezbollah  which may be justified  the [GCC] countries positions toward Iraq will change a little bit. But the situation will not reach a rupture in the Gulf-Iraqi ties. This is because the Gulf countries have different positions toward Iraq. This also seems to apply to Arab [opinions of] Iraq.

Iraqi journalist Zaher Mousa told Al-Monitor that Iraq is acting on principle and shouldn't be expected to do otherwise.

Hezbollah is a resistance that has defended its people and the major Islamic issues in Iraq, Bosnia, Syria and Palestine. [Iraq's decision] is a point of honor, and the Gulf states no longer assume a trusteeship over Iraq in order to determine its position.

Mousa thinks the Gulf states eventually will conclude that the momentum behind "the criminalization of Hezbollah is a mere reaction to the US-Iranian nuclear deal.

Anyway, Iraq can't be expected to preserve balanced positive relations with both Iran and the GCC countries at the same time. This is because Iran has a great influence there. Besides, the internal Iraqi dispute over regional and international issues has a negative impact on its foreign ties, particularly with Saudi Arabia. This is due to the division between Iraq's political sphere and its public regarding Saudi Arabia and to protesters' demands that the Saudi Embassy not be allowed to reopen in January after 25 years, which reflected poorly on Iraqi diplomacy.
April 5, 2016

TEHRAN, Iran  Iranian hard-liners and US Republican presidential candidates are considered to be staunch enemies on virtually every issue  apart from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), apparently.

My No. 1 priority is to dismantle the disastrous deal with Iran. I have been in business for a long time. I know deal-making and let me tell you, this deal is catastrophic.

If we know the JCPOA is disastrous, then we should reject it, and be sure that nothing will happen afterward.

These quotes arent from the same person; in fact, the two live far away from each other. The first one is from Donald Trump, and the latter is from Hossein Shariatmadari, the well-known hard-liner and editor-in-chief of Kayhan newspaper.

Iranian hard-liners and Republicans  who many ordinary Iranians consider to be American hard-liners  have always been unequivocal enemies. As seen under former Iranian and US presidents Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and George W. Bush, no constructive negotiations were held between the two countries. Iranian moderates, who seized the presidency in 2013, do not consider the US administration  whether Democratic or Republican  to be reliable either. However, in contrast, they do not pass up opportunities to negotiate when windows appear. Moreover, theyre always looking for useful and peaceful tools to resolve outstanding disagreements and problems.

For instance, in response to a question about the Iran-US relationship, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told a local magazine, Interaction doesnt mean that we are friends. Interaction means that we should take advantage of the opportunities to improve the countrys situation. In fact, interaction has the connotation of decreasing costs.  However, we have no enmity toward the American people; we have issues with the US administrations policies.

On a separate occasion, Zarif said in a speech at the University of Tehran, Thanks to the discourse of Irans Islamic Revolution, we have the ability to engage in interaction, confrontation and negotiation.

Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is not opposed to negotiations either. Publicity should not be done in a way that indicates that we are opposed to talks. We should negotiate strongly and with vigilance so that we will not be deceived.  Our time calls for both talks and missiles, Khamenei said recently.

Now, in a surprising move, Shariatmadari has publicly endorsed Trump. The wisest plan of the crazy Trump is tearing up the JCPOA, Shariatmadari said. The editor also said, The JCPOA is a golden document for the US but is considered nothing except humiliation and a loss for Iran. This line of reasoning has been met with censure by a senior member of the Iranian nuclear negotiating team. Im astonished that Mr. Hossein Shariatmadari has supported Trump, Hamid Baeidinejad, director general for political affairs of the Foreign Ministry, wrote on his Telegram channel.

The manner in which Shariatmadari and Trump are publicly sharing an objective or view, particularly as representatives of fiercely opposed political factions, may astound many in Iran and the United States. Yet the reality is that these two factions in effect play complementary roles for each other, as they give one another excuses to advance their respective domestic agendas.

For instance, on May 7, 2015, amid the intense negotiations leading up to the JCPOA, the US Senate approved a bill that established congressional review of any nuclear deal as part of the six world powers negotiations with Iran. Five days later, on May 12, 2015, hard-liners in Iran seized the opportunity to obstruct the negotiations on their end  negotiations that they altogether considered as a trump card for President Hassan Rouhani in the then-upcoming Feb. 26 parliamentary and Assembly of Experts elections. Thus, they introduced a bill to stop the nuclear negotiations. However, parliament Speaker Ali Larijani stepped in to stop the measure.

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Mahdi Motaharnia, a political science professor at Islamic Azad University, said, Radicalism in any country has one single identity. Hard-liners all over the world seek a tenacious situation in order to take advantage of it to their own benefit. This is why you see Donald Trump as a hard-liner in the US, and Hossein Shariatmadari as one of the mouthpieces of hard-liners in Irans conservative camp who have convergence against the JCPOA.

To some extent, the Republicans measures over the years have come to have an impact on Irans domestic politics. For instance, Bushs labeling of Iran as a member of the infamous axis of evil helped Ahmadinejad in his bid for office in the 2005 presidential election, ultimately contributing to ever deepening and twisting the nuclear crisis.

Motaharnia told Al-Monitor, During Bushs tenure, former President [Mohammad] Khatami had a Reformist approach, and his efforts to seek rapprochement in foreign policy were set back by Bush accusing Iran of terrorism. That obstructed Khatamis foreign policy and helped a hard-liner, namely Ahmadinejad, to become president. Thus, the [Iranian] hard-liners hope a Republican [will] win the [upcoming] US presidential election.

Ultimately, the victory of a US presidential candidate such as Ted Cruz or Donald Trump  both of whom are known in Iran as American versions of Ahmadinejad  is actually preferred by hard-liners in Iran, as it serves their interests. In fact, Iranian hard-liners continuously seek to find a way to make their case, often aided by remarks by US politicians such as Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton, to crush the moderates in Tehran.

Indeed, threatening remarks against Iran by some US senators during the course of the negotiations, including Cotton, were quickly utilized by opponents of the JCPOA in Iran. For instance, outgoing hard-line member of parliament Hamid Rasaee, a prominent critic of the JCPOA, said, If the JCPOA is approved, the US will definitely attack Iran. They have said that the next president of the US has a better opportunity for invading Iran. In this vein, it should be noted that the latter is not a one-sided game, as hard-line officials in Iran in turn give the required pretexts for anti-Iran figures in the United States to obstruct constructive interaction between the two countries.

Motaharnia concluded, In the world of politics, any development can affect the outcome [of other developments]. Thus, Trump or another Republican candidates victory will surely have its own effect on Irans [June 2017] presidential election. The victory of a radical like Trump or Cruz in the [November US presidential] election provides an opportunity for more pressure on the moderate Rouhani administration.
April 5, 2016

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's months-long war against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) has become unbearably destructive and deadly, and the violence is threatening to spill over into western Turkey. The general picture emerging is that the PKK cannot be eliminated militarily and no negotiated settlement with the organization is foreseeable.

In this context of impasse, Turkey is trying to manage a crisis that becomes deeper and harder to control. The growing casualty toll among security forces is but one dimension of the crisis. During the last week of March, 21 soldiers and police were killed in the urban warfare raging in the southeast. Most of them were killed by PKK-made roadside bombs, in booby-trapped buildings, by vehicle-borne bomb attacks and by sniper fire. According to official figures, fatalities among security forces since July have exceeded 420.

The situation is obviously extremely disturbing for Erdogan, who is seen as the proprietor of this war. He took on the PKK militarily and used the campaign to his political advantage. He persuaded voters that he and his Justice and Development Party (AKP) were the only ones who could cope with the PKK terror threat, which the public suddenly perceived as its No. 1 problem as the Nov. 1 elections approached.

But now, Erdogan finds he cannot deliver his promised solution. The terror threat shows no sign of easing and the number of combat deaths increases daily. Erdogan is to trying to persuade the public to accept the security forces' fatalities by constantly invoking the significance of "martyrdom" in Islam. He never misses an opportunity to emphasize how the PKK is suffering disproportionate casualties.

Speaking March 18 in Ankara, he said Turkey had suffered more than 300 casualties since the war began. He added, But do you know what we have gained? We have demonstrated once again to friend and foe that this is our land. This is a magnificent gain that can be compared only with the Battle of Gallipoli. He said in a March 25 speech, The number of our martyrs has passed 300. But the number the terrorists have lost is at least 10 times as much.

Erdogan has turned his accolades of martyrdom into his standard rhetoric in the war against the PKK. While talking of the Turkish republic, whose borders are defined by treaties, he is taking a risk when he says, For a land to be a country, it needs the blood of martyrs. Is he unaware that the Kurdish separatists, who have lost many more people, could adopt the same narrative?

This is Erdogans style. When he undertakes a tough challenge, he always says, We will go to the end. Is it possible for the Turkish forces to "go the end" of the war by totally eliminating the PKK? Is it possible, given the realities of the Middle East, to find a military solution to Turkeys Kurdish problem, similar to Chechnya and Sri Lanka? Given the balance of power that heavily favors Ankara, it is possible  but only theoretically.

If Turkey tries to see this military battle through to the bitter end, we can visualize the result. Take the destruction and death of the past eight months and multiply it by as much as 10. Terrorism would increase in major western Turkish cities. It is not far-fetched to predict tens of thousands of fatalities, and the destruction of even more Kurdish-populated towns. The number of displaced Kurds could exceed a million people. Another wave of migrants would flood Europe via Turkey, and Turkey's economy would suffer severely.

Such a war could, of course, spill over to Syria and Iraq, and Turkey could find itself confronting major powers. The PKK has sizable popular support bases in all countries where Kurds live. It is well-organized, has developed alliances with major powers and has no shortage of manpower. As such, it is able to absorb severe blows.

Could "going to the end" in the Kurdish war mean the end of Erdogan's regime, or even the end of Turkey? A military solution is practically impossible.

Then, what about a political solution? Never mind a political settlement  is it possible even to agree to a cease-fire with the PKK? In the current circumstances, that goal, too, is out of reach. One can achieve a cease-fire only through negotiations. But as long as Erdogans main political ambition is his executive presidency, it seems impossible to conduct overt or covert negotiations with the PKK.

In 2016, Erdogan will submit to the parliament a draft constitution that calls for an authoritarian presidency. If the draft goes through parliament, we will have a constitutional referendum. If not, Erdogans game plan calls once again for early elections. While passing through these phases, Erdogan cannot reach an accord with the PKK without risking the nationalist votes he badly needs. He would also jeopardize his plan to keep the pro-Kurdish Peoples Democratic Party below the 10% vote threshold in an early election.

Because of all this, one must accept the reality that Turkey will continue to live in a civil war environment of great risks. As long as the war rages, the cost of a potential political settlement will continue to rise, regardless of whether Erdogan attains his ideal presidency  which actually means a dictatorship.

The PKK is raising the bar. In a March 29 radio message, PKK military chief Murat Karayilan told his followers to escalate the fighting. He listed Kurdish autonomy and the release of imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan as essential to resolving the war.

Cemil Bayik, co-chair of the Union of Kurdish Communities, the highest political structure of the PKK, told The Times of London in mid-March that the movement's basic goal is to smash Erdogan and the AKP.

Erdogan is using his war against the PKK as a tool for his presidential agenda, bringing the country to the threshold of a crisis. It is urgent to sever the link between the war and his presidential agenda, but Erdogan himself remains the major obstacle to that goal.
April 5, 2016

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey  In December 2015, armed clashes raged inside the ancient walls of the district of Sur, the historic heart of Diyarbakir in mainly Kurdish southeast Turkey. Using heavy weapons and even tanks, the security forces battled to regain control of residential neighborhoods, where young militants loyal to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) entrenched themselves behind ditches and barricades. A group of journalists, including this reporter, were touring areas exempt from the round-the-clock curfew imposed on the district when a local resident approached and asked a strange question: When will the urban transformation finish? The question made no sense at the time, but the man insisted the clashes had to do with an urban transformation plan.

The topic popped up again a few days later as journalists conversed with a group of people who were forced to flee their homes amid the mass exodus from Sur. The locals were convinced the security operations were more about emptying Sur ahead of an urban transformation drive rather than battling the PKK. As implausible as it sounded, the governments alleged intention to empty and rebuild Sur in its own way was soon the talk of the town.

Sur, which means fortress walls in Turkish, takes its name from the centuries-old walls encircling the old city of Diyarbakir, which was added to UNESCOs World Heritage List last year, shortly before the unrest broke. Home to some 125,000 people, half of them residents of the ancient walled city, the district is dotted by numerous historical monuments and houses of traditional architecture. Its labyrinth-like neighborhoods, crisscrossed by narrow alleys and dead ends, have proven convenient for PKK militants to hide, escape police raids and organize. At the height of the Kurdish conflict in the 1990s, many impoverished people from villages emptied or burned down by the army settled in Sur, which offered the PKK a fertile base to rally support and recruit members.

The district emerged in ruins from the security operations, which ended after 103 days in early March. Yet the curfew remained in place as heavy-tonnage trucks moved in to remove debris. Still barred from their neighborhoods, the anxiety of locals grew. They knew something was going on, and soon, the alleged urban transformation plan turned out to be true. In late March, the government issued a decree for the expropriation of some 7,000 plots in Sur, corresponding to more than half of the districts land. Residents now fear losing homes and shops in return for low compensation, while many believe the government plans to destroy the human fabric of the area.

Kemal Akyol, a 70-year-old Kurd who has resided in Sur for five decades, owns a 10-room traditional house in the district. He believes Sur residents are being victimized, and he worries more about ancestral legacies than material issues. I wont sell my house even if they give me a trillion. Its an old, beautiful structure with 10 rooms, which are all empty now, Akyol told Al-Monitor. They can move us out only after killing us. I dont want to leave Sur, no matter what place they offer me in return.

Another Sur resident, Mehmet Celik, said both his shop and house were destroyed, but he vowed to stay on. We wont give away our properties even if we have to live in tents, he said, adding he would go as far as the European Court of Human Rights if his properties are forcefully seized.

Civic society in Diyarbakir is also up in arms. More than 300 nongovernmental groups and civic leaders issued a joint statement last week, denouncing the expropriation move. Serefhan Aydin, chairman of the Diyarbakir Architects Chamber, a signatory of the joint statement, told Al-Monitor the chamber would initiate a lawsuit to stop and cancel the expropriation decree.

According to Mehmet Kaya, head of the Diyarbakir-based Tigris Social Research Center, urban renewal may have not been an original purpose of the operations, but recent developments reveal something different that goes beyond security.

Speaking to Al-Monitor, Kaya said, The fact that almost all of Sur is being expropriated without any explanation and consultations [with locals] has inevitably fueled concern, showing that the fears are not groundless. Although the curfew was lifted and all sorts of security measures were put in place, [the authorities] continue to speak of security concerns. This leads people to stay away from Sur, and businesses, in turn, become incapable of paying their rents. All this is evolving into a process of abandoning Sur.

The air of secrecy, Kaya noted, suggests that a plan withheld from residents, civic society and the Kurdish-held local administrations is underway. If they intend real rehabilitation in the wake of the clashes, this cannot be the method to do it, he said.

Kaya worried that the drive resembled the forced resettlement of Kurds in the early years of the Republic. That was not the sole purpose of the security operations, but the methods employed since the closing stages of the operations are laying the ground exactly for such a move, he said, stressing that nearly 500,000 Kurds have been displaced across the southeast since the urban clashes began last summer. If you act so insensitively as if encouraging the displacement of 500,000 people, while developing accommodation policies for Syrian refugees, no other explanation seems possible, he added.

As the fears grew, the government sent three ministers to Diyarbakir to soothe the anxiety. On April 1, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu himself visited the city and pledged that no one would be victimized under the urban renewal plan. He promised that property owners would be able to overhaul their buildings as they wish according to architectural plans and that residents, including those who dwell in decrepit shanty houses, would get modern homes under the best conditions.

How the promises play out remains to be seen, but the governments record in this field is less than flattering. Urban renewal projects, especially in Istanbul, have uprooted entire communities and caused serious damage to the fabric of historic settlements.

In Sur, trucks continue to move out debris from sealed-off neighborhoods, almost a month after the operations ended, as locals wonder what will be left behind for renewal.
April 4, 2016

In our quest to find the best tea in Istanbul, my friends and I recently stopped by Van Sofrasi, a restaurant chain named after the eastern province of Van famous for its lavish morning feasts. Unfortunately, as it turns out, we found that it is merely an urban myth that the smuggled mahogany-colored tea from Iran and Syria is the best.

As we sat down, a news reporter on TV announced that a truck loaded with smuggled cigarettes worth 4 million Turkish lira (about $1.5 million) had been seized in the largely Kurdish southeastern province of Diyarbakir.

As the Turkish public is asked to mobilize against terror, operations against smuggling have intensified. Yet in this tense environment, it is hard to find recent news or debates about the governments efforts to dry up the coffers of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). The waiter at Van Sofrasi said, After the fighting started in the east, you know many Turks stopped coming here, saying they dont want to support the PKK. But our tea is addictive, so now they call and ask for delivery. Pointing to a sizable thermos, he added, We deliver in style.

Can one be supporting a terror organization by consuming smuggled goods? Social media chatter focuses on signs at stores reading HDP [pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party] members cannot enter or Do not buy from PKK members. Even writing a petition to the government asking for peace and reconciliation with the terror organization is considered a crime. Government representatives reiterate that the PKK and its offshoot organizations are as dangerous for Turkish national security as the Islamic State and other Islamist terror organizations.

Indeed, since the peace process ended eight months ago, Turkey's official death toll of security personnel  excluding civilians  has surpassed 400. While the government keeps telling people the battle against the PKK is successful, the rising number of casualties makes one wonder. Is it sufficient to deploy more troops into the cities to battle PKK terror? For the duration of the peace process, what was accomplished to curtail PKK financial sources?

A two-star retired general who asked to remain anonymous told Al-Monitor, If anything, during the peace process, the PKK and its allied organizations got richer. We had the upper hand, as Syria and Iran were willing to cooperate with us prior to 2011  the start of Syrian civil war. The government knew well [that] even in northern Iraq, Kurdish entities charged an exorbitant illicit tax on Turkish businesses, and all around Turkey and Europe, Kurdish businesses had to pay through extortion  and the AKP [Justice and Development Party] turned a blind eye.

"The PKK sustains its finances through smuggling, extortion and money laundering. With the start of the Syrian civil war, the PKK gained better financial means.  So smuggled tea is the least of your worries.

Ali Nihat Ozcan, a professor of international relations from TOBB University of Economics and Technology in Ankara who studies terrorism and the PKK, told Al-Monitor that, as the peace process collapsed, the government tried to curtail the PKKs financial resources, yet the operations only had a limited effect on the PKK."

"The PKKs main funding comes from HDP municipalities support," Ozcan said. "The military operations had a direct impact on how much HDPs local governments can help PKK. Dozens of elected HDP officials are now in jail. Now there is more vigilant border control, which limits smuggling. Also, the PKKs ability to collect donations from the public is curtailed because it is now busy fighting.

Yet when asked if these efforts can be considered effective, Ozcan was pessimistic. The PKK does not work with banks; it works with cash. And about 45% of the Turkish economy is informal, underground. Since during the peace process PKK was allowed to strengthen its income sources, the current efforts are not sufficient.

Ryan Gingeras, an associate professor at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, concurs with Ozcan that, while it is difficult to gauge, the impact of government operations on PKK finances cannot be called effective based on the government's 2014 KOM Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime Bureau report.

According to the 2014 KOM report, smuggling across the Turkish frontier has risen dramatically as a result of the conflicts in Syria and Iraq. In addition to the more-reported commodities such as oil, cigarettes and people, an immense array of smuggled goods [such as medicine, cellphones and cars] are traded along the southern Turkish border," Gingeras told Al-Monitor.

"To genuinely evaluate the financial impact smuggling has on the PKK, one really must consider that smuggling is the economy for many rural communities in Anatolia, not just for border communities. Since the founding of the republic, Ankara has seen smuggling as a critical enabler of Kurdish militancy. It is [an enabler], if one also accepts that it is the lifeblood of the regional and, to some degree, the national Turkish economy as well. [The government] has tried many things  mining the border, closer monitoring of automobile traffic with checkpoints and military/gendarmerie patrols. Since 1923, government efforts to deal with smuggling through force or criminalization has had no discernible impact on illegal trade, Gingeras concluded.

Analysts agree that the PKK has benefited from several situations: the lack of planning during the peace process to control its finances, the oddly intertwined nature of the Turkish underground economy with the PKKs and organized crime networks' livelihoods, and the lack of proper cooperation between Turkey and other European countries. Indeed, the PKK is known to accrue income not only from narcotics and other types of smuggling, but also by pressuring Kurds to donate money to it in Europe; it also makes money through legitimate businesses, such as media outlets. In addition, Turkey has failed to develop a system to curtail the group's global income sources.

The longer an armed non-state organization survives, the harder it becomes to eliminate. The PKK has been operational for more than 35 years and cannot be eliminated while its finances thrive.

Is Turkey's battle against the PKK sincere? Can the government wage a comprehensive war to eliminate terror while enabling its thriving economy? Is it really the smuggled tea and cigarettes that are enriching the PKK and allowing it to purchase weapons and arms, or is it the inefficient financial accountability of the Turkish economy? The recent changes in Turkey's customs code, which allow for unlimited cash to enter into the country without any reporting, could be a factor that helps terrorism financiers. With laws that turn the country into a haven for money laundering, how can Turkey seriously claim to want to end terrorism?
April 4, 2016

The State Department is expected to soon approve a $1 million program for a disputed North African region in a compromise that could yet anger all those involved.

The agency is gearing up to approve the grant for the Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara under pressure from Rabats friends in Congress. In a twist, however, the program is restricted to boosting civil society rather than promoting the kind of economic development long sought by Morocco.

The State Department is in the process of concluding negotiations on a civil society and local governance program in the Western Sahara, a State Department official told Al-Monitor.

The planned $1 million program will support the people of the Western Sahara to form meaningful linkages with civil society organizations and local government.

The grant comes after lobbyists for Morocco convinced Congress to legislate that US foreign aid be spent in the Western Sahara, in a bid to legitimize Rabats control over the mineral-rich territory. Language mandating that bilateral aid to Morocco shall be made available for assistance for the Western Sahara was included in last years omnibus appropriations bill at the behest of Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., while a related nonbinding report further clarified congressional intentions.

The committee expects funds to support democratic reforms and economic development, reads report language from Diaz-Balarts foreign aid appropriations panel. The committee also encourages the administration to support private sector investment in the Western Sahara.

Congress is in effect siding with Morocco, which claims historic sovereignty over what it considers its southern half and has proposed an autonomy plan. Native Sahrawi activists, backed by neighboring Algeria, want a referendum on independence as promised by the United Nations a quarter century ago.

The State Department and Congress are in ongoing consultations regarding the execution of this program, Diaz-Balart told Al-Monitor in an emailed statement. Congress is intent on ensuring this program is executed within compliance of the law. Morocco is an important ally in the region, and has worked hand in hand with the United States on a number of programs, reforms, and economic agreements. I am confident that this program will be another positive and successful partnership between our two nations.

Thrust into the debate, the State Department has opted to thread the needle by focusing its efforts on democracy-building. In a letter explaining its approach to the congressional mandate, Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs Julia Frifield made clear that the $1 million grant does not reflect a change in the Obama administrations policy of supporting a peaceful, sustainable and mutually agreed solution to the conflict.

"This program will address the legitimate needs of the people of the Western Sahara, Frifield wrote in a Dec. 23 letter to Rep. Joseph Pitts, R-Pa., the co-chairman of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission and the top Sahrawi advocate in Congress. It will seek to strengthen civil society organizations and local representative bodies to bolster the ability of citizens to play an active role in making decisions that affect their lives.

The State Department grant is being offered under the auspices of the Near Eastern Affairs bureaus Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI), which funnels aid through nongovernmental organizations rather than funding foreign governments. The program was launched in 2002 as part of President George W. Bushs democracy promotion agenda and has been described in the past as an attempt to find a middle ground and encourage reforms without challenging the legitimacy of the host Arab government.

A lobbyist for Morocco said the kingdom welcomed the program.

In a joint statement after King Mohammed VIs 2013 visit to Washington, DC, the King and President Obama pledged a shared commitment to the improvement of the lives of the people of the Western Sahara, Jordan Paul, executive director of the Moroccan American Center for Policy, said in an emailed statement. The State Department [grant proposal] focuses on providing official U.S. assistance to local Moroccan elected representatives and civil society and represents an opportunity for the U.S. to address the presidents pledge.

The Western Sahara program aims to fund activities that develop the capacity of local civil society, political parties, and/or government officials with the goal of strengthening the ability of citizens to have a regular opportunity to play an active role in making decisions that affect their lives and in holding their governments accountable, according to the grant application. Proposed activities should focus on addressing needs and opportunities to strengthen inclusive governance institutions.

The bidding process opened in August and closed in mid-October, but no winner has yet been named.

Some pro-Sahrawi advocates applauded the State Departments approach.

It's pretty disconcerting as an American citizen and taxpayer to see this attempt to use language to change long-standing US policy on this issue, said Suzanne Scholte, who chairs the nonprofit US-Western Sahara Foundation. But fortunately it failed as the State Department is making sure that funds are not expended to enhance Morocco's illegal occupation of Western Sahara.

The Sahrawis themselves arent as sanguine, however.

Mouloud Said, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republics US envoy, said Moroccan lobbyists have been trying to legitimize Rabats administration of the region ever since the 2004 trade deal with the United States excluded the Western Sahara.

This sort of program is very welcome once we find a solution to the conflict. But this is not the right moment, Said told Al-Monitor in a phone interview. Its not a good idea because the real Sahrawi civil society is not going to be a part of it. They understand that this is a game by Moroccans to try to legitimize their occupation by getting the US involved through what appears to be an innocent and genuine program  which is everything but genuine or innocent.

David McKean, a Western Sahara program officer with the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights center, said much will depend on how the State Department implements the grant. While it could help strengthen Western Sahara groups, he said theres also a risk that it could end up legitimizing unrepresentative, pro-government organizations on the ground.

Were kind of waiting to see who actually gets the grant, how its implemented, he told Al-Monitor. But it certainly has a lot of room to be a positive development.
These aren't your elementary school's tater tots.

These tater tots are elevated with homemade sausage gravy, or are topped with exotic ingredients like kimchi or carnitas. And they're on a food truck.

Birmingham natives Michael Cannova and Seth Beisher are launching Tot Spot and are hoping to get rolling by June.

"My favorite food in the whole world is tater tots, so over the years, every time I saw a tater tot on the menu it just kind of trumped any other kind of starch down there, whether its onion rings, homemade fries, shoestring fries, tater tots always win," Cannova said. "I saw it as a great canvas. It's salty, savory, and I just started to think how can I elevate this?"

Cannova, 34, left Birmingham in 2001 to go to college at the University of Alabama, then moved around the country before landing in Manhattan. He's been a creative director at an ad agency the last few years. For now, he's going to run the truck from New York.

"Just coming home over the past couple of years I thought, this place is really starting to pop, and seeing that people were a little more open to these newer concepts," Cannova said. "Grabbing a bite to eat from a truck wasn't such a foreign idea anymore."

Cannova is planning for the truck to serve breakfast and lunch and is still developing some of the recipes. One idea he's working with takes a classic southern favorite of biscuits and gravy and replaces the biscuit with tots.

"I'm way more of a potato fan than a biscuit fan, so we took the sausage gravy and poured it over some homemade russet potato tots and it's that simple," Cannova said. "It's that nice, spicy country sausage gravy that you grew up with."

Another option he's calling "Cinnatots" - sweet potato tots tossed in cinnamon and sugar and drizzled with cream cheese icing.

For lunch, one idea struck Cannova when he was home visiting and stopped at Miss Myra's in Cahaba Heights. He got the same thing he's been ordering since he was a kid - two barbecue sandwiches, one with white sauce and one with the dark red sauce.

"I always ate them separately, and I thought, why don't we eat them together?"

So he put his two favorite barbecue sauces on tots and it just worked.

The pair is still nailing down its exact menu, but Cannova said he expects to be open by June. Check the truck's Instagram, Twitter and Facebook to find out where it's stopping.

Cannova said New York has hundreds of food trucks, but he wanted to open one in his hometown to be part of the city's resurgence.

"This is something where I wanted to give a little back to Birmingham," Cannova said. "Birmingham inspired me to go into the arts, and now that I've gotten that chance, and I've had great success a little bit, it's time to give back a little, and that's what I'm doing with Tot Spot."
A lawsuit filed Monday in Huntsville seeks to overturn a state law that says only licensed funeral directors can sell caskets and burial shrouds.

The case involves The Good Earth Burial Ground founder Shelia Champion, who is suing the Alabama Board of Funeral Service in Montgomery for what she believes is an unconstitutional abuse of government power.

The lawsuit states Champion is not allowed to sell caskets, burial shrouds and urns to the public because she is not a state-licensed funeral director. Champion, a grandmother and former contracts manager in Huntsville, says she will not be able to operate the cemetery in Hazel Green if she can't provide the biodegradable products families need to bury their loved ones there.

"I could make you a cedar chest and sell it to you all day long as a piece of furniture; however, if you call me and ask me to make you a coffin using the same pattern, I could be prosecuted," she said. "I could make you clothing all day long. I could make you a dress and sell it to you, but if you ask me to sew you a shroud, I could be prosecuted.

"That's why I'm fighting this law against the state, trying to get that removed."

Champion is working with the Institute for Justice (IJ), a nonprofit public interest law firm in Arlington, Va., that handles strategic constitutional cases at no charge. IJ successfully represented the monks of Saint Joseph Abbey in their challenge to Louisiana's casket-sales law in 2013.

IJ Senior Attorney Jeff Rowes said Champion's case isn't just about caskets.

"It's about the right to earn an honest living and one of the most important unresolved questions in constitutional law -- can the government restrict your economic liberty just to make politically-connected special interests better off?" he said. "The federal courts are actually in disagreement across the country about whether private economic protectionism is a legitimate use of government power and that's why Shelia's case is actually on a possible path all the way to the Supreme Court."

Champion launched The Good Earth for humans and pets to allow remains to return to the earth naturally while leaving the smallest environmental footprint possible.

Bodies are prepared without embalming fluid, dressed in biodegradable clothing, placed into an earth-friendly shroud or casket, and buried without a vault to allow nature to take its course. Only live flowers are permitted inside the cemetery, which also accepts cremated remains in an economical container.

The five-acre cemetery features two areas: a large untended forest in its natural state and a small meadow with burial plots arranged in rows as one would see at a traditional graveyard. The Good Earth requires caskets, shrouds and urns be made of eco-friendly materials like untreated cardboard or wood, silk or bamboo.

IJ Attorney Renee Flaherty said to sell these items legally, Champion would have to attend mortuary school, serve as an apprentice for two years, pass an exam and transform her natural cemetery into a funeral home.

"That would mean she would have to build a room for embalming bodies and a showroom for fancy, expensive, non-biodegradable caskets that she would never sell," Flaherty said. "All of this to sell a cardboard box or a shroud that might literally be a bed sheet."

Flaherty, who said Alabama law does not require caskets for burial, said "there is no health and safety reason to require a casket for burial and there is no reason at all to require a license for selling one."

Charles M. Perine, executive secretary for the Alabama Board of Funeral Service, said the board does have any comments at this time on the litigation.

The average national cost of a funeral in 2014 with a vault (not including cemetery, monument or marker costs) was $8,505, while a funeral with a viewing and cremation was $6,078, according to the National Funeral Directors Association.

Champion charges $1,750 to $1,950 for single plots and $250 to bury cremains or pets at The Good Earth. It is free to scatter cremains at the cemetery without a memorial stone.

When someone dies today, Champion said the body is whisked away out of sight and brought to a funeral home. As a result, some Americans have lost touch with the death process.

"That's another thing I hope to accomplish is getting people talking about dying and death and the prices -- the practical side of death," she said. "So that they know they will have choices and hopefully in the future will have even more choices."
Carla Jean Whitley | cwhitley@al.com

Determination, Drama and Daring: The Life of Louise Wooster

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Determination, Drama and Daring: The Life of Louise Wooster

Louise "Lou" Wooster is one of the most memorable characters from Birmingham's past: She was a brothel owner who worked to save many during a cholera epidemic. Vulcan Park and Museum will present the one-woman play "Determination, Drama and Daring: The Life of Louise Wooster" Wednesday, offering the city a glimpse into its past. The show features actress and playwright Elise Mayor. It draws in part from Wooster's "The Autobiography of a Magdalen."

Take a look at archival images related to Wooster, and then attend the show for additional insight. Tickets are $10 for the general public or $8 for members, and the show is presented in partnership with the University of Alabama at Birmingham's School of Public Health. It will run from 5:30-7 p.m.

Woosters autobiography straddles the line between fact and fiction, some have said, and some of its claims are difficult to prove (or refute). Among them: Woosters relationship with John Wilkes Booth. She claims romantic involvement with the actor, best known for assassinating Abraham Lincoln. Booth performed in Montgomery during the time Wooster lived and worked there, so its possible their lives overlapped.

But thats only one of the madams claims to fame.

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Photo: A drawing of Louise Wooster, The Birmingham News File

Meet Louise Wooster

Wooster was born in Tuscaloosa on June 12, 1842, to Mary and William Wooster. The family, including Woosters younger sisters, relocated to Mobile when Wooster was young, and both Mary and William died by 1857. In her autobiography, Wooster recounts a family friend taking them in and eventually seducing 11-year-old Wooster. She eventually found work at a Montgomery brothel, and she relocated to Birmingham in the citys early days.

A cholera epidemic struck in 1873, and Wooster became legendary because she cared for those who werent able to flee the city. At the time, the city was home to 4,000 people; 100 died.

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The location

Wooster opened her own brothel in the 1880s on what is now Fourth Avenue North and found great success. She became a wealthy woman and land owner. Brothels became something of a family business for the Wooster sisters; Maggie Wooster Bracken owned a brothel on the same block as her more-famous sister. Louise Wooster claimed to be the inspiration for Belle Watling, a character in Margaret Mitchells Gone with the Winda claim that former Birmingham Public Library Archivist Marin Whiting and Bill Bugg believed. Bugg was the director of Alabama Operaworks, which in 2001 performed an opera based on Woosters life, and he and Whiting shared their confidence in this story with The Birmingham News in 2000.

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Photo: The Birmingham News File Photo | Bernard Troncale

And now

The brothel may have been illicit in purpose, but it wasnt hard to find. The building was across the street from then-City Hall and near the fire station.

This image shows the brothel's neighborhood in 2012.

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Photo: The Birmingham News File Photo | Bernard Troncale

Louise Wooster's scrapbook

The Birmingham History Center collection includes Wooster's scrapbook. "It's all clippings of things that she was interested in," BHC Executive Director Jerry Desmond told The Birmingham News in 2012.

Theres a notable omission from the scrapbook: It doesnt include a picture of Wooster herself. In fact, no such photo is known to exist.

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Photo: The Birmingham News File Photo | Bernard Troncale

Louise Wooster's couch

Both the scrapbook and Woosters couch came to BHC courtesy of Bertie Jones of Northport. At the time of the scrapbooks donation, Jones told The Birmingham News the items had long been in her family. Jones grandmother was believed to be friends with Wooster.

BHC's collection is not currently available for public view; its exhibition space closed in 2013, when its lease at the Young & Vann building ended. The collection is in storage. Learn more about the museum at birminghamhistorycenter.org.

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Photo: The Birmingham News File Photo | Bernard Troncale

A landmark burial

Wooster retired in 1901 and died in 1913. Some accounts indicate few people attended her funeral, but legend claims Birminghams prominent men honored her, either by attending themselves or sending their empty carriages in their stead. (A respectable man wouldnt show his face at a prostitute and brothel owners funeral, after all.)

Staff of Oak Hill Cemetery, where she is buried, have said that Wooster's grave is the site's most visited.

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Photo: The Birmingham News File Photo | Bernard Troncale

An enduring legacy

The University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health created an award in Wooster's name in 2007. The school will recognize this year's honorees, Black People Run Bike and Swim founders Patrick Packer and Jerri Haslem, before Wednesday's performance.

Woosters legacy lies in doing what it takes with what youve got, even if the first is terrifying and the second is not much to speak of at all. Its also a matter of seeking help and looking for answers wherever you can find them, even if its from outsiders. Often, its reaching out especially to outsiders, and not for their benefit alone. On the whole, it sounds a lot like the practice of public health, physician Steven Rudd wrote in The Birmingham News at the time.
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The crowd gathers in a circle around the casket of Mother Angelica as it is carried out of the chapel at the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament, a pilgrimage center founded by Mother Angelica in Hanceville, Ala.

(Greg Garrison/AL.com)

Joyce Fecteau of Huntsville waves a white scarf and shouts 'Saint Now!' as Mother Angelica's casket is carried onto the piazza after her funeral at the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, Ala.

After Mother Angelica's funeral on Friday at the shrine she founded in Hanceville, Joyce Fecteau of Huntsville waved a white scarf as the casket was carried out of the church.

"Saint now!" she shouted. "St. Mary Mother Angelica!"

Fecteau thinks that Mother Angelica should be declared an official saint in the Roman Catholic Church.

"She's a saint now, baby," Fecteau said. "In our hearts and minds, she's a saint. If she ain't a saint, nobody is. She had total abandon to God and the love of God."

Becoming an official saint recognized in the Catholic Church can be a long process. Typically there is a five-year wait after death before the process begins. And miracles have to be attributed to the person's intercession.

That won't be a problem, Fecteau said.

"She has so many miracles," Fecteau said. "It rains miracles here. Only God has got the clicker of how many miracles. Only the angels know the numbers. What is a saint? She's helped countless people. She's the most extraordinary person I've ever met."

The Rev. Mitch Pacwa, the Jesuit priest who took over Mother Angelica's live TV talk show when she retired, believes Mother Angelica has a good chance to become a saint.

"I think so," he said. "The process is one where first popular devotion starts. You'll see a lot of people coming here on pilgrimages."

No candidate for sainthood has ever founded an international network that by its very existence promotes her candidacy. Mother Angelica founded EWTN Global Catholic Network in 1981 and it continues to air her hundreds of recorded programs. If the network chose to promote the sainthood of Mother Angelica, it's hard to imagine a more powerful advocate.

After a five-year waiting period, the bishop of the local diocese can begin an investigation into a candidate for sainthood. That would include speaking to witnesses who knew the person and looking at her writings. If the bishop finds the person worthy, he can forward the information to the Vatican's Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

The Congregation for the Causes of Saints can reject the application, or accept it and begin their own investigation. If they accept the candidate, she will be called a "Servant of God." That's the first step.

"They will investigate, was she heroic or not?" Pacwa said. "They will look at her 20 years of TV broadcasts and ask, 'Do those contradict the faith or not?"

If the Congregation for the Causes of Saints determines her to have lived a life of heroic virtue, she can be granted the title of "Venerable."

That's step two. Then there must be evidence of a miracle to advance to the next stage, called beatification. A person who is beatified is given the title of "Blessed." If she is credited with one miracle, "then she can become Blessed," Pacwa said.

The next step is canonization, which is being officially declared a saint. That requires another miracle.

The miracles typically take the form of someone praying for the saintly person in heaven to intervene and ask God for healing on their behalf. That's called intercession, which is kind of like heavenly lobbying.

"There have to be healings that are clearly miraculous that are attributed to her intercession," Pacwa said. "They want doctor's reports to prove that the person was really sick and was really healed and that it was truly miraculous."

After the second miracle is verified, the cause is presented to the pope for judgment. If the pope approves, he can initiate canonization.

The Catholic Church does not claim to "make saints." By canonizing someone and recognizing them as a saint, it holds up that person's life as an example for the church.

"Pope John Paul II wanted more modern saints that people could relate to," Pacwa said. "They serve as an example that anyone can be holy. If we only had saints from a thousand years ago, people can't relate to that as easily as someone from our time."

Actor Jim Caviezel, who portrayed Jesus in 'The Passion of the Christ,' talks to EWTN TV host Mitch Pacwa after the funeral of Mother Angelica on April 1, 2016. Pacwa said he believes Mother Angelica has a good chance of being canonized by the Roman Catholic Church. Caviezel, who paid his respects at the casket, declined to comment on Mother Angelica. He has appeared several times on the network she founded, EWTN.

Pope John Paul II set aside the five-year waiting period for Mother Teresa, starting the process in 1999, less than two years after her death. She was beatified in 2003 and is scheduled to be canonized later this year.

Pope Benedict XVI set aside the five-year waiting period for Pope John Paul II after his death in 2005. He was beatified in 2011 and canonized in 2014.

The list of American-born saints is very short. St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, who was born in New York, was canonized a saint in 1975. Sister Katharine Drexel, born in Pennsylvania, was canonized in 2000.

Takeri Tekakwitha, a Native American from Canada known as the "Lily of the Mohawks," was canonized in 2012.

Mother Angelica was born in Ohio and moved to Alabama to start Our Lady of the Angels Monastery in 1962.

The push for more modern saints, and more American-born saints, could definitely work in Mother Angelica's favor. Canonization seems inevitable to many of those who loved her and already consider her a saint.

"I came from Cuba when I was 10; I learned the faith from Mother Angelica," said Barbara Diaz, who came from Miami to attend Mother Angelica's funeral on April 1. "I know she'll be a saint."
Once upon a time, in the days before interstate highways, entrepreneurs created theme motels to set them apart from boxy chain inns and entice motorists to stay. One of those businessmen was Frank A. Redford, who built the Wigwam Village Motor Court in Kentucky in 1937. It consisted of a teepee-shaped restaurant surrounded by 15 teepee-shaped guest rooms.

Eventually, there would be seven Wigwam Villages in six states, including one in Alabama. Today, only three remain.

The seven Wigwam Villages

Although Redford called his structures "wigwams," they were in the shape of teepees rather than a dome-shaped wigwam. Redford had a love of Native American culture and amassed a large collection of artifacts. In the early 1930s, he built a teepee-shaped restaurant in Horse Cave, Ky. According to Roadside Architecture at roadarch.com: "The building also housed his huge collection of Native American artifacts. In 1933, he decided to add 15 teepee-shaped cabins for tourists to stay in. This would become the model for the six other Wigwam Villages." Each guest room was about 25 feet in diameter and featured two diamond-shaped windows. Wigwam Village No. 1 was torn down in 1981.

By 1949, there would be seven villages:

Wigwam No. 1: Horse Cave, Ky. Operated from 1933-1935 when Redford built the second village nearby. It was operated under other names until it was abandoned and eventually torn down.

Wigwam No. 2: Cave City, Ky., built in 1935, still open.

Wigwam No. 3: New Orleans, built in 1940, torn down 1954.

Wigwam No. 4: Orlando, Fla., built in 1948, torn down 1974.

Wigwam No. 5: Bessemer, Ala., built in 1940, torn down in1964.

Wigwam No. 6: Holbrook, Ariz., built in 1949, still open.

Wigwam No. 7: San Bernardino/Rialto, Calif., built 1947, renovated 2005, added to the National Register of Historic Places, 2012. Still open.

Alabama's Wigwam

The Wigwam Village No. 5 was built in 1940 on U.S. Highway 11, four miles north of downtown Bessemer. According to this Google map, it was located in the vicinity of Super Highway Auto Sales on Bessemer Super Highway/Ninth Avenue.

The village had 15 wigwams arranged in a semicircle around a restaurant wigwam as well as offices and restrooms. The motel went out of business in 1964 and the guest rooms soon became dilapidated and were demolished. The restaurant teepee remained until 1970, according to BhamWiki.

A 1947 postcard named Mr. and Mrs. Willie Staton as owners and described the village: "These wigwams are shaped like tipis. Each wigwam is an individual room ... with a bed, chair, and table... Each with complete bath. Solid hickory furniture. Hot and cold running water. Heat in winter. Fans in summer. Excellent food."

BhamWiki.com wrote: "The rooms were insulated and featured Native American-themed hickory furniture and decor and complete baths. The exteriors were coated in aluminum paint with red zigzag graphics. The cafe menu was printed on teepee-shaped paper."

Other teepee inns

Here are descriptions of a few of the other Native American themed motels and cabins built in from the late 1920s-1940s.

Indian Village was built in 1927 in Lawrence, Kansas, according to RoadArch.com. The 14 guest rooms were demolished but the 50-foot tall restaurant teepee and two smaller teepees remain.

The Wigwam Lodge was motel built in 1945 on the Mesa Highway in Tempe, Az., by Maurice Barth, who would later build the Wigwam Village in Holbrook. The teepees were wood frame covered with stucco, according to RoadArch.com. It was torn down in 1983.

Mac's Indian Village was built in Cherokee, N.C., in 1934. It had teepee-shaped entrances built onto typical cabins. The cabins have been renovated and only a few of the teepee entrances remains. The village is now part of Qualla Motel and Cabins. Visit the Facebook page for information.

The Tee Pee Motel and RV Park in Wharton, Texas, was built in 1942 and restored in 2005. It remains in business today. Visit its Facebook page for more information.

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.
An Albertville man was arrested Friday on drug charges after an unusual traffic stop, authorities said.

Etowah Drug Enforcement Unit Commander Randall Johnson said Stanley Scott Fowler, 45, has been charged with drug possession.

Johnson said deputies responded to a call of a suspicious vehicle parked in a Mountain View Road residence driveway driven by a white male. However, the man was dressed in women's clothing wearing a blonde wig.

Deputies spotted the vehicle on Mountain View Road and made a traffic stop. Johnson said Fowler was "incoherent and confused" while speaking to deputies. A small bag of methamphetamine was found on him.

Fowler was taken to the Etowah County Detention Center, where he is being held without bond.
Authorities are searching for two men who held up an Irondale convenience store, and fired shots while inside.

The robbery happened at 5 a.m. Friday at Shell on the coroner of Crestwood Boulevard and Alton Road, said Irondale Det. Sgt. Michael Mangina.

The two men - a tall, white male with his face covered, and a light-skinned black male - entered the store with one of them brandishing a handgun. They went to the counter, where they robbed the store clerk of her purse, and undisclosed amount of store cash and cigarettes.

The gunman - described as the white male - fired two shots inside the store at the glass doors. Mangina said there was a third suspect waiting outside in the getaway car, which was an older white Ford Crown Victoria with damage to the passenger side of the vehicle.

"These April fools had no regard for human life, firing this gun at the front doors from inside the store" Mangina said. "They are armed and dangerous and should be taken off our streets."

Anyone who recognizes the suspects or has information about the robbery is asked to call Irondale police at 205-956-5990, or CrimeStoppers 205-254-7777.
Authorities have now released the name of a man shot to death at a Bessemer gas station.

The Jefferson County Coroner's Office identified the victim as Joel Nahshon Jordan. He was 30.

The shooting happened just before 4:30 p.m. Sunday at the Shell service station at 2801 Ninth Avenue North. According to Bessemer police, they arrived on the scene to find Jordan in the parking lot suffering from multiple gunshot wounds to the upper body.

Bessemer Fire and Rescue took him to UAB Hospital. He was pronounced dead at 10:55 a.m. Monday.

Bessemer police Sgt. Cortice Miles said detectives have identified a suspect in the deadly shooting, but said no arrests have been made. Anyone with information is asked to call Bessemer police at 205-425-2411 or the department's Tip Line at 205-428-3541.
A Jefferson County physician has been awarded the nation's most prestigious award for medical examiners.

Dr. Gregory G. Davis, Jefferson County's chief coroner/medical examiner, received the 2016 Milton Helpern Award from the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. Davis took over the county position following the 2013 death of longtime Jefferson County Medical Examiner Robert Brissie who was found dead at his Hoover home on his 70th birthday in 2013. Brissie had been the medical examiner since 1980.

Davis accepted the award at the AAFS's 68th Annual Scientific Meeting held in late February in Nevada. He is also the director of the Forensic Division of UAB's Department of Pathology.

"I was humbled, to see all of the previous recipients and to think I would be considered by my peers worthy of being on that list,'' Davis said. "I didn't grasp how big it was until I looked and saw what all it entailed. I've just been doing my work."

Davis has held multiple offices with the AAFS and served on many committees with the association. The husband, and father of two daughters, attended college and medical school at Vanderbilt University, and also completed his pathology residency there. He did his forensic pathology fellowship at the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office and obtained his Master of Science in Public Health from UAB. He joined the Jefferson County Coroner/ Medical Examiner's Office in 1993.

His most noted published articles include a comparison of heart mass in seizure patients dying of sudden unexplained death in epilepsy to sudden death due to some other cause, the relationship of drug abuse to unexplained sudden death, recommendations for the investigation, diagnosis, and certification deaths related to opioid drugs.

The Jefferson County Coroner/Medical Examiner's Office investigates about 25% of the deaths occurring in Jefferson County. Notification is made when there is suspicion of criminal violence or criminal neglect, when death occurs in suspicious or unusual circumstances and when deaths are thought to result from trauma or violence.

Milton Helpern was the most famous chief medical examiner for the City of New York, called " Sherlock Holmes with a microscope." Born in East Harlem, Helpern joined the New York City Medical Examiner office in 1931 and became its chief in 1954. During his 20-year tenure, he performed over 20,000 autopsies, and was also a key witness in some infamous murder trials. He died in 1977 at the age of 75.
It isn't clear exactly who, how, and where the recordings were made of a few racy phone conversations purportedly between Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley and a woman on the other end believed to be his senior adviser Rebekah Mason.

Apparently neither was the person who recorded the conversations.

But if the conversations were recorded without the permission of either Bentley or the woman on the other end of the phone, the person who recorded it may run afoul of Alabama and/or federal eavesdropping laws, a law professor said.

Alabama is what is known as a one-party recording state, said Jenny Carroll, a professor at the University School of Law. That means one of the persons in the conversation may record, or allow to be recorded, without informing the other party, she said.

But if you are a third party -- someone who is not part of the conversation and you don't have consent - "you are probably out of luck under Alabama law," Carroll said.

Violation of the state eavesdropping statute is a Class A misdemeanor, with a penalty of up to one year in jail.

There are some exceptions, particularly for public officials, Carroll said. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals -- which has jurisdiction over Alabama -- has held that the First Amendment protects even non-consensual third party recordings as long as you can demonstrate the recording is of a public official, the discussion is a matter of public interest, and it was recorded on public property, she said.

Carroll pointed to the case of Smith vs. City of Cumming decided in 2000. The court said "the First Amendment protects the right to gather information about what public matters, discussed by public officials on public property, and specifically, a right to record matters of public interest."

Bentley is clearly a public official, but is Bentley's alleged dalliance a matter of public interest? And was the recording made in a public location?

These are questions that would need to be answered before a court could decide if the recordings violate state or federal law, Carroll said.

At least one tape was purportedly created by members of the Bentley family in 2014.

"If the recordings were made in the governor's mansion, for example, Bentley might argue he was in a private space and he had an expectation of privacy during the phone call. This claim of privacy might be heightened by his claim that discussion was one of a personal nature unrelated to his role as governor," Carroll said.

"The eavesdropping statutes are designed to protect this expectation of privacy -- even for public officials," Carroll said.

But the calculation is complicated, Carroll said.

Even if Bentley was discussing a personal matter, if he did so in a room he shared with his wife and she made the recording, his expectation of privacy might be diminished, Carroll said. These are factors the court would need to consider. she said.

Likewise if the governor's call was about public matters, arguably the expectation of privacy might decrease, Carroll said.

Another issue is whether both parties, Bentley and Mason, were in Alabama when the conversations were surreptitiously recorded, Carroll said.

During the Clinton White House Monica Lewinski sex scandal, Linda Tripp ran afoul of Maryland's eavesdropping statutes when she recorded Lewinski over the phone, Carroll said. While Lewinsky was in D.C. -- a one party consent jurisdiction like Alabama -- Tripp was in Maryland -- a state that required all parties to consent to the recording, she said.

Charges in Maryland against Tripp were eventually dropped.

In Bentley's case if the recording or the conversation occurred across state lines, the recording must comply with the applicable state laws in all locations, Carroll said. This means that while Alabama is a one party consent state, if the recording occurred in a two party consent state -- like Maryland -- even if the individual who made the recording had the consent of one of the parties, the recording may still be illegal if he/she did not get the consent of all the parties, she said.

If found to be illegally recorded, could it be used in some type of criminal or civil court proceeding?

If a recording is determined to be illegally obtained, could it be used in a court, legislative hearing, or some other governmental proceeding?

"I think criminal and civil use of the information is problematic," said Birmingham attorney Jim Sturdivant, a shareholder at Birmingham's Sirote & Permutt, P.C. and a former federal prosecutor.

Sturdivant, who defends clients in federal and state criminal and white collar cases, did not want to address specific cases, or potential cases, against anyone, but talked about the law in general regarding eavesdropping.

Alabama's eavesdropping law specifically addresses the release of the information obtained from an illegal recording under 13A-11-35, Sturdivant said.

That section reads: "A person commits the crime of divulging illegally-obtained information if he knowingly or recklessly uses or divulges information obtained through criminal eavesdropping or criminal surveillance."

Violation of that section is a Class B misdemeanor, which carries a jail sentence of not more than six months.

That would have implications for the person who divulged the recording and for an attorney - including a prosecutor - who tried to use it in court if they knew the recording was illegally obtained, Sturdivant said.

There are defenses to obtaining a recording by a third party, such as it being made in a public place or being obtained by a law enforcement officer through a court order, Sturdivant said. So being able to use the recording in a court proceeding isn't absolutely barred, he said.

If attorney or prosecutor has such a recording, Sturdivant said, "I would want to look carefully at that statute."

Even though it is a misdemeanor for divulging the information, for a lawyer to do so would risk loss of their license, or facing discipline from the bar, Sturdivant said. "They should be very careful," he said.

Ultimately, whether a recording could come into a court would be a question for the judge or court to consider.

One of the things a judge would have to consider is the circumstance in which a recording was made, Carroll said.

If a state or federal prosecutor really wants the tape to come in, even if there is some violation of state law it may still be admissible, Carroll said. They can argue the eavesdropping was not committed by a "state actor" and as such there is no constitutional claim for Gov. Bentley, Carroll said..

Bentley may still challenge the admissibility of the recording -- either by asserting a privacy claim (assuming one exists) or by questioning the reliability or the authenticity of the recording, Carroll said. He has standing to make this challenge if the State seeks to admit this evidence against him even though he has acknowledged that it is his voice on the recording, she said.

The question, however, may be more complicated for Mason, Carroll said.

Mason can certainly raise an evidentiary challenge to the recording -- questioning its reliability or authenticity -- but if she wants to stake a privacy claim she will have to first acknowledge that she was a party to the call as Bentley has claimed, Carroll said.

Even if she does acknowledge her participation in the call, her voice may be heard only faintly in one conversation. Was her privacy violated given that she cannot be heard?

Her best claim would likely be that her privacy was invaded based on the implications of the governor's words, Carroll said.

Carroll is interested in how it might play out in a court, before the legislature, or Ethics Commission as to whether the tapes could be used. Its going to be very exciting, she said.
Lilly Ledbetter

Alabama's Lilly Ledbetter tells about her fight for equal pay in a speech at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville on April 5, 2016. (Lee Roop/lroop@al.com

Alabama's Lilly Ledbetter made a federal case of Gadsden's Goodyear plant paying her less than men doing the same job, and that case led to a federal law named for her that makes it easier for today's women to seek fair pay.

But don't think the story ends there with swelling music and credits rolling, Ledbetter said Tuesday at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville. She spoke as a part of Women's History Month at the center.

There are still companies - lots of them - where the attitude is, "If you discuss your pay, you will not work here," Ledbetter said. And finding out as much as you can about pay - who's making what - is the first step in finding unequal pay.

As one of Alabama's most famous residents, Ledbetter still meets women who believe they aren't earning what men are getting. Discrimination remains "in every field a woman goes into," Ledbetter said.

She told the NASA women their situation as federal workers is better than many, and the task now is to pay that forward. "That's what we're doing here," Ledbetter said. "We're trying to make a difference for the future."

10 scripts in Hollywood

Ledbetter's story sounds like a movie, and she said there are at least 10 scripts circulating in Hollywood. Who plays her will likely depend on scheduling and who can master her serious Southern drawl.

Ledbetter had no idea what other managers at Goodyear made when she started in 1979 - talking pay was against company policy - and she didn't find out until someone slipped her an anonymous note in 1998. The note showed Ledbetter's pay - $3,727 a month - and the pay of three men with the same title ranging from $4,286 to $5,236 month.

"Common sense told me I wouldn't (be getting) dollar for dollar. I knew that," Ledbetter said Tuesday of her expectations. "I just wanted to be in the ballpark. I didn't even get in the gate."

Ledbetter found a young Birmingham attorney, Jon Goldfarb, and filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission. Goodyear refused to settle, and the case took five years to reach trial.

Ledbetter won $3.8 million from a jury of five men and two women - immediately reduced to $300,000 because Congress had capped penalties - and Goodyear appealed. The strategy was always "spend you out, wait you out and wear you out," she said. In the end, she never "got a penny," Ledbetter said.

It was a technicality

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against Ledbetter, and the U.S. Supreme Court agreed. It was a technicality. Under the law, workers couldn't challenge pay discrimination more than 180 days after their first unequal pay check. Ledbetter didn't find out for years.

Ledbetter and her supporters lobbied to change the law, and Congress passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act in early 2009. It was the first act signed into law by President Obama with Ledbetter standing beside him, and it gives employees 180 days from their latest paycheck to file a complaint. It resets the clock with each paycheck.

Find out what you can

Ledbetter urges young workers to find out as much as they can about their pay at their hiring interview and each performance review. Ask where it fits on the scale for the job, she said, and find a mentor.

Pay echoes through your career, Ledbetter said. It affects your family now, and it affects your retirement benefits, your 401K and your Social Security.

"We work for the money," Ledbetter said. Then she advised women - and men - to make sure the money they're working for is fair.
Five people were killed when a tourist helicopter crashed in the mountains of eastern Tennessee Monday afternoon.

The Bell 260 sightseeing helicopter was flying in Sevier County on Monday afternoon when it crashed around 3:30 p.m., WVLT reported. The helicopter was destroyed in the fire, with smoke from the blaze visible for miles.

"There was not much left of the helicopter," Pigeon Forge Police Chief Jack Baldwin told NBC News. "There's just a small piece of the tailwing and that's about what's left of the helicopter."

The owner of Smoky Mountain Helicopter said the five people on board were part of a sightseeing ride along the range. Firefighters are also battling a wildfire sparked by the crash.
A state employee who was charged last month with sexual abuse of a young girl has resigned and faces new charges.

Nicholas Ketter, 36, was arrested by Hoover police on March 1. He was taken into custody that morning at his ABC Board office in Montgomery and was released after posting $36,000 bond.

He stepped down as product general manager for the state's Alcoholic Beverage Control board after being on personal leave since March 1. His resignation was effective March 31, according to spokesman Dean Argo.

Argo declined further comment because it is a personnel matter.

The alleged incident happened in Hoover in 2014 and involved a juvenile girl. Hoover police spokesman Capt. Gregg Rector told AL.com that police first received information about the allegations six weeks before Ketter's arrest. The victim was under the age of 16, Rector said.

In that case, Ketter faces charges of second-degree sex abuse and second-degree sodomy.

Court records show that Ketter was arrested Friday in Montgomery, where he is charged with second-degree sodomy and electronic solicitation of a child. He has since been released on bonds totaling $60,000.

Tommy Spina is representing Ketter on the charges out of Hoover. Ketter is in the process of acquiring counsel in Montgomery.

"All cases are in their extremely early stages," Spina said. "Until such time as the discovery process is complete, we would respectfully remind all that one of the basic rights that an individual maintains in our criminal justice system is the presumption of innocence."
house of representatives feb 9 2016 julie bennett.JPG

(Julie Bennett/jbennett@al.com)

The Alabama Legislature overrode a veto by Gov. Robert Bentley and passed the General Fund budget without his signature today.

The governor said the budget did not adequately fund Medicaid.

The Senate voted 22-11 to override his veto, and the House followed with a 71-24 vote.

House budget chairman Steve Clouse, R-Ozark, said the budget was adequate for most agencies.

It calls for spending $1.85 billion from the General Fund, 5 percent more than this year.

Clouse said House and Senate budget committees plan to hold joint meetings starting next week to study rising costs of Medicaid.

"We want to give everybody on the committees and any other members of the Legislature a chance to zero in on Medicaid," Clouse said.

Bentley sought a $100 million increase in Medicaid's General Fund appropriation, to $785 million. The budget passed by the Legislature provides $700 million.

The governor has said he might call a special session on Medicaid funding.

Bentley and Medicaid Commissioner Stephanie Azar will hold a press conference Wednesday to talk about the budget impact on Medicaid.

Azar has said the agency will have to cut optional programs if it does not receive the requested funding, including a home health program, hospice, outpatient dialysis, adult eyeglasses and PACE, a program to help some elderly people avoid having to be admitted to nursing homes.

Azar said the agency will also have to reduce payments to doctors, which could cause some to stop seeing Medicaid patients.

Some Democrats criticized the budget for cutting what they said were critical services, like dialysis.

"That's life or death," said Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham. "I want you to understand what we are doing. Your vote is a vote to cut out dialysis for people who need it."

Executive Director Kimble Forrister of Arise Citizens' Policy Project -- an advocacy group for low-income families -- said the budget would force "devastating" Medicaid cuts, the Associated Press reported.

"We can't build a stronger Alabama by taking a sledgehammer to the foundation of our state's health care system. But that's just what this inadequate General Fund budget would do," Forrister said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Edited at 5:28 p.m. to correct vote total in Senate.
The 16 finalists for Alabama Teacher of the Year are well-trained, dedicated, caring, enthusiastic and innovative educators working in schools across the state.

"The educators nominated for this prestigious award nurture the character, intellect, and talent of Alabama's students, and are committed to helping their students achieve success in the classroom and beyond," Sherrill Parris, Senior Deputy State Superintendent of Education, said in a news release. "They exemplify teaching at its best, and we are proud to have them teaching in our state."

The finalists were selected from an applicant pool of more than 140 educators. The group will soon be narrowed to four, and the 2016-2017 Teacher of the Year will be announced at a ceremony hosted by the Alabama State Board of Education and the Alabama State Department of Education on Wednesday, May 11, at 6 p.m. at RSA Plaza Terrace in Montgomery.

Alabama's Teacher of the Year spends the majority of the school year serving as a full-time ambassador for education and presenting workshops. Alabama's representative also is a candidate for the National Teacher of the Year.

Jennifer Brown was selected as Alabama's 2015-2016 Teacher of the Year. (AL.com file photo)

2015-2016 Alabama Teacher of the Year Jennifer Brown reflected on her experiences and thanked this year's finalists for their dedication and service.

"What an honor and a privilege it has been to represent Alabama's passionate and dedicated army of educators who are educating and advocating for students each and every day," Brown said in a news release. "I am grateful to have been granted the opportunity to visit, observe, and share stories from many of the classrooms of our teacher champions of Alabama. Congratulations to the 16 teachers chosen to represent their districts. Thanks to each of you for the wonderful work you do with your students as well as the work you do to elevate and strengthen our profession."

The elementary school finalists are:

Kelly Cleere from Orange Beach Elementary School in the Baldwin County School System

Dawn Davis from Montana Street Magnet School in the Dothan City School System

Kathryne Flippo from Bluff Park Elementary School in the Hoover City School System

Mikki Powell from Rock Quarry Elementary School in the Tuscaloosa City School System

Dawn Judy Ellis from Peter Crump Elementary School in the Montgomery County School System

Connie Bowman from Iola Roberts Elementary School in the Pell City School System

Sandy Georgette Deades Ritchey from Crestline Elementary School in the Mountain Brook City School System

Nancy Spencer Brandon from Rainbow Elementary School in the Madison City School System

The secondary school finalists are:

Judy Peacock Bridges from Baldwin County High School in the Baldwin County School System

Kathryn Johnson Enos from Enterprise High School in the Enterprise City School System

Vinny Chiaramonte from Robert F. Bumpus Middle School in the Hoover City School System

Joseph Smith III from John Herbert Philips Academy in the Birmingham City School System

John C. Conway from Booker T. Washington Magnet High School in the Montgomery County School System

Mary Katherine "Kate" White from Guntersville High School in the Guntersville City School System

Dana Jacobson from Clay-Chalkville High School in the Jefferson County School System

Carol Bohatch from James Clemens High School in the Madison City School System
Willard Fenner and Pamela Price.jpg

Willard Fenner and Pamela Price (Louisville Metro Police Department)

Two Alabama residents arrested Monday in Kentucky are believed to be part of a large-scale scam that bilked an elderly Louisville woman out of more than $10,000.

WDRB-TV out of Louisville reports that Willard Fenner, 56, and 38-year-old Pamela Price were arrested Monday afternoon near Jefferson Mall in Louisville. Alabama court records have Fenner living in Fairfield as of last August.

Price's last known address in court records show her living in McCalla.

Fenner and Price are accused of going to the woman's home and posing as police officers investigating the initial scam that cost her thousands. The woman was tricked out of her money at a local Kroger last month, the news station reports.

A neighbor saw the strangers at the victim's house and confronted them, at which point they fled but were stopped by police near the mall a short time later. Both are charged with complicity to second-degree burglary and complicity to impersonating an officer.

Investigators believe the pair was involved in the initial theft of the victim's money and that there are other suspects involved in the scheme.

Anyone with information about the crime is asked to call the Louisville Metro Police Department's tip line at 502-574-5673.
One of the most influential business leaders in the state - Mark Crosswhite, the leader of Alabama Power - will be the featured speaker at today's Kiwanis Club of Birmingham meeting.

Crosswhite is due to address the group just after noon at the Harbert Center in downtown Birmingham.

Crosswhite was named chairman, president and chief executive office at Alabama Power two years ago, taking the helm of a company that provides electricity to over 1.4 million Alabamians and a company seen by many as among the most influential in the state.

In addition to his day job at Alabama Power, Crosswhite is chairman of the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama and The Birmingham Business Alliance.
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The merger of Brookwood Medical Center and Baptist Health System five months ago created the largest health network in Alabama - and now that system has a new name and logo.

Brookwood Baptist Health encompasses five hospitals, one freestanding emergency department, 77 outpatient offices and more than 1,300 doctors. The new logo features three overlapping rings, which represent the three partners: Baptist, Brookwood and Tenet Healthcare, the parent company based in Dallas.

Officials from all three companies are unveiling the new name and logo today at events across the region.

Although there has been some staff loss due to retirement, health system executives said there have not been any layoffs since the hospitals merged. There are no plans to change the services offered at any of the five hospitals in the system.

Baptist Health System, which has roots in Alabama that date back about 90 years, surrendered its non-profit status to merge with for-profit Brookwood. Keith Parrott, CEO of Brookwood Baptist Health, said the hospitals that were previously part of Baptist Health System will continue to operate with a faith-driven mission.

"We are delivering the same amount of charity care as if we were before," he said. "But we are paying taxes now."

During the last five months, executives have used doctors in the new system to bolster services in some of the smaller hospitals. Specialists from Brookwood have taken their expertise in obstetrics to improve childbirth services at the smaller Walker Baptist Medical Center, Parrott said. And Citizen's Baptist in Talladega has received a boost in orthopedic services from the new partnership.

Valeta Neal, president of the employed physician network, said physicians who worked for Baptist Health System are also incorporating some online scheduling technology that Brookwood already had in place.

But the main benefit of the merger will be to give patients access to a larger network of integrated care, she said. The new system will serve more than 1 million patients every year in its hospitals, doctors offices and imaging centers, according to a press release.

"It really is exciting and it does increase the opportunity to make care more accessible to patients," Neal said.

The number of hospital mergers has gone up in recent years, driven by changes in the payment model and incentives to streamline care. Some health economists worry that mergers can drive up the costs of health care, allowing big systems more leverage to negotiate prices, according to an article in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Federal regulators approved the system merger last year. The health systems have been slowly merging practices, but many patients won't notice much change beyond the new logo, Neal said.

"I don't really think at the practice level, patients will notice any difference," she said. "Patient care is driven by the consistency of the care team at a given location."

Patients will have access to a larger network of doctors affiliated with both health care systems.

Garry Gause, CEO of Tenet Health's Southern Region, also said the hospitals in the new health system will maintain their unique identities.

"The communities that we serve are unique and the hospitals have evolved a unique approach," Gause said. "They are part of a larger system but still maintain their own culture."

Baptist Health System started operating in 1922 in Birmingham, and became a major player in the medical sector before scaling back in recent years. Brookwood Medical Center opened in the 1970s to serve a growing suburban community.

Parrott said the merger offers a great opportunity to improve care, but acknowledged that some patients might be put off by a new name and logo.

"It's change and I think the only thing that I can guarantee is that there will be people upset about it," Parrott said. "This capitalizes on Brookwood's strong brand and Baptist's faith-based history. We are coming together to put the patient center in what we do."
I feel that anything that I have done in the past has been done by some other artist, but these subjects have not been done. I can get something entirely new.

Carrying with him only basic drawing and painting equipment, Dobell was captivated with what he saw, later commenting to Colin Simpson: First of all, what appealed to me was the dignity of the people  a surprising dignity. They had character that I didnt expect

He was the guest of Sir Edward (E J) Hallstrom of the Nondugl Experimental Sheep Farm and accompanied by a number of others, including the authors Colin Simpson and Frank Clune.

IN April 1949, William Dobell, the celebrated artist and twice an Archibald Prize winner, visited New Guinea.

Dobell returned in 1950 for three months, this time with full painting and drawing kit.

An exhibition, currently at the Queensland University of Technology displays drawings and photographs from this trip.

I visited this exhibition recently and was most impressed.

During my Papua New Guinea service as a kiap, I spent a total of seven years in the highlands. Much of the country and many of the people captured by Dobells pen, pencil and brush were very familiar to me.

Viewing his works so many years later, I was surprised at my feelings of pleasure in the artistic sense and in my familiarity with so much of what he portrayed. It was emotional too.

There are paintings and drawings in the exhibition that he did at the time and over several subsequent years.

His evolution in style is very apparent as is the influence these years had for the rest of his artistic life.

The captioning throughout is simple, showing only title, date, media used and the current home of the work. Thankfully, there is no pretentious curatorial waffle interpreting what Dobell so eloquently provides through his pencil and brushwork.

I strongly recommend that any person with an interest in art of the Papua New Guinea highlands finds an opportunity to see this exhibition in Brisbane.

It finishes in about three week, on 1 May, and can be viewed at the QUT Art Museum, 2 George Street Brisbane, Tuesday to Friday 10am to 5pm. Saturday and Sunday 12pm to 4pm. Closed Monday.
The early missionaries frequently shed blood to establish Christianity in this country. In terms of progress, the role of the churches cannot be ignored. In the absence of a government presence or even support, churches have had to carry the heavy burden of development in Papua New Guinea.

Papua New Guinea is also said to be one of the last frontiers of the great crusade to Christianise and subsequently civilise the uncivilised. These efforts have not been easy.

Yet, given the influence of Christianity, Papua New Guineans who affiliate themselves with other religions such as Islam or Hinduism make up just a tiny minority of our people.

PAPUA New Guinea is regarded as a Christian country. Its constitution declares Christianity as a State religion, although our homeland also embraces freedom of religion.

Our public institutions involved in the work of justice and governance, such as the courts and Parliament, are required to have reverence to God in carrying out their mandated duties and responsibilities.

By the same token, we the governed are expected to conduct ourselves in a manner that reflects high moral principles and aspirations. Even miscreants and convicts are required by law to take an oath on a Bible before they give their testimony to the court.

However, as a nation, it is fair to say that we have failed miserably to live up to the high ideals of Christianity. We are not alone, of course. Every nation is at fault in not living up to its Constitution or moral laws.

Yet, in Papua New Guinea, one almost gets the feeling that we deliberately allow this mischievous behavior to flourish even though we feel the pain that it inflicts upon us. Or worse, when it contradicts the Christian values our nation has adopted in its Constitution.

This is where calling ourselves a Christian nation becomes a form of hypocrisy. These days our Christian values and principles are muddled with the tide of ideas promoting a liberal and humanistic lifestyle. Yet, our government does not see the necessity of policing such behaviour to ensure we conform to the Constitution.

Take for instance, the way we celebrate Christmas and Easter. We tend to promote two contradictory messages. At Christmas there are Papua New Guineans who flock to the shopping malls to buy gifts for their loved ones. Kids go into shops hoping to shake Santas hands or wish that he would come by in his sleigh to drop off gifts. Papua New Guineans conduct vigils in churches to commemorate the birth of Jesus.

Then there are the young people who indulge themselves in binge drinking accompanied by loud music which is the new way of celebrating Christmas, sadly becoming the norm. Nobody cares about asking whether it is an acceptable practice or not.

At Easter, the same trend is displayed where one group takes part in church activities to acknowledge the significance of Christ death on the cross while the others go looking for bunnies, chocolate eggs and beer. Is this how citizens of a self-professed Christian nation should behave?

Our nations hypocrisy was on display when Speaker Theo Zurenuoc replaced parliamentary carvings and totems and installed a 400-year old bible. This was his attempt to institute reforms in parliament. However even this noble idea was met with strong opposition from Papua New Guineans, including certain members of the body of Christ.

This was said to be part of the Speakers attempt to fight the corruption pervasive in PNGs echelon of power. Perhaps by replacing these traditional totems with Christian symbols he was trying to reinforce the fact that we are a Christian country; that Christianity and not PNGs diverse cultures and traditions is the underlying commonality that is critical to our unity.

While some argued from a philosophical standpoint about the importance of maintaining some level of independence between the State and church others saw the move as anti-nationalism; a slap in the face for PNGs culture and traditional values.

Regardless, in a Christian country, such a hostile reception towards an endeavour to promote Christianity is nothing short of an act of hypocrisy.

PNGs founding Judeo-Christian principles should be the yardstick to help our leaders chart our course towards our destiny.

Our journey as a nation has been one of taking huge strides and great leap of faith. Sometimes we do so at our own expense and other times we find ourselves riding its waves of success. In moving forward we should confess that PNG is a Christian country. Faith without works is not faith at all.

A country is a lion when it leaves behind a lions footprints. Let us live up to what we profess to be - a Christian country  otherwise we show hypocrisy of the highest order
Why Australias controversial refugee resettlement deal with one of the worlds poorest countries is a failure.

Phnom Penh, Cambodia  For Mohammed Roshid, Australia was the land of his dreams. Having fled his village in Myanmars troubled Rakhine state, Roshid made his way to Indonesia and boarded a rickety boat, setting sail towards the country where he hoped he would find a better future.

But Roshid never made it to mainland Australia.

Instead, he now lives in Cambodia, an impoverished nation where some locals resort to begging to survive. Roshid is one of five refugees who voluntarily came to the Southeast Asian nation under a multimillion-dollar transfer deal with Australia.

Now, only two remain.

During a year-long investigation, Al Jazeeras 101 East discovered that the other three refugees have returned to their home countries.

Roshid also wants to leave Cambodia, because life in Cambodia is no good. The other remaining refugee, an Iranian man, plans to return to his homeland, one of his relatives told Al Jazeera.

The Cambodian government admits the resettlement programme has been a failure.

If youre talking about the programme to help the refugees settle in Cambodia because of the money, it is a failure, says Phay Siphan, a Cambodian government spokesman.

Australias Cambodia solution

Known for its tough border policy, Australia sends all asylum seekers who arrive at Australian shores to detention facilities on the Pacific island nations of Nauru and Papua New Guinea.

With refugees unable to remain there indefinitely, the Australian government struck a deal with Cambodia, which would accept any of the refugees who voluntarily chose to resettle there.

In exchange for accepting the refugees, Cambodia received $30m in aid money plus $12m to cover resettlement costs for an unspecified number of refugees.

Human rights organisations and activists have slammed the deal, with Amnesty International calling it a new low in Australias deplorable and inhumane treatment of asylum seekers.

But in a video shown to refugees, the Australian government says that the Southeast Asian nation provides a wealth of opportunity for new settlers.

It is a fast-paced and vibrant country with a stable economy and varied employment opportunities, Immigration and Border Protection Minister Peter Dutton states in the video.

But Mouen Tola, a Cambodian activist and labour unionist, says that the Australian government did not paint an accurate picture of the reality of life in Cambodia.

Millions of Cambodian people are still suffering from the system at the moment, so how come you lie to the people about employment opportunities, good opportunities and so on?

Tola believes the aid money Australia is giving to Cambodia will not help Cambodians, a country ranked in the top 20 of the worlds most corrupt nations.

Cambodia receives millions of dollars from the development partner but we dont see where that money has been spent accountably or transparently. So personally I feel Australia is bribing Cambodia to accept those people, says Tola.

No help for refugees

Roshid says he is unable to work because he doesnt speak the local language, Khmer, and suffers from anxiety, depression and other health problems he developed while on Nauru.

While he could attend language classes provided by the International Organisation for Migration, the agency tasked with supporting the refugees in Cambodia, Roshids poor health makes it difficult for him to study.

Under the Australian deal, he receives $8,000 in cash staggered over a year. Then theres an extra $9,000 in support for accommodation, set-up costs for a business and other expenses.

The agreement he signed states that he must return these funds if he tries to go to Australia again illegally.

Joe Lowry, from the International Organisation for Migration, says the Cambodian government had given assurances that all refugees in the country would be entitled to the same benefits as those from Nauru. But other refugees say they have not received any support.

There is no help for refugees in this country like other places. They just accept refugees without support. by Mohammed Roshid, refugee in Cambodia

Mohammed Yusuf, a Rohingya refugee who came to Cambodia eight years ago by his own means, says he had not seen any improvements for refugees in the year since the deal took effect.

He is unable to get a work permit or drivers licence. He sells roti at a street stall to feed his family of four. Yusuf approached the IOM and the UNHCR in January to ask for support, but was told he wasnt entitled to any.

Yusufs experience has Mohammed Roshid deeply concerned about how he will survive once he stops receiving funding at the end of the year.

I am worried about the future, in case I have to live in Cambodia permanently, as I cannot go anywhere. I am worried about how to live here. If I will have to live here the way other refugees live here, how will I survive? There is no help for refugees in this country like other places. They just accept refugees without support, says Roshid.

Despite the assurances Cambodia gave the IOM, the government says its limited in how much it can help refugees.

We dont have social services like ultra-modern governments. We dont have that much money to help them, explains Siphan, the Cambodian government spokesman.

The Australian government did not reply to Al Jazeeras repeated requests for comment on the Cambodia programme. But Peter Dutton, Australias immigration minister, has told a local television station that the governments border protection policy is working.

I think the policy has been a success, he reportedly said. We have been able to close 13 of 17 detention centres. At the same time, we have been able to increase the number of refugees we take through the United Nations process. So restoring order to our borders and making sure we have strong border security, as we are seeing in Europe, is as important today as it ever has been.

Roshid says he voluntarily chose to come to Cambodia, but that he made that decision because he was ill and wasnt receiving adequate medical care at the detention centre in Nauru. After two years in the detention centre, he was desperate to get out.

But it wasnt until after he arrived in Cambodia last November and received medical treatment that the impact of his decision sunk in.

I had never been to Cambodia before. I didnt know anything about Cambodia, he said. I was thinking to myself, Where am I now, why did I come here?'

More than 2,500 refugees and asylum seekers remain on Nauru and Papua New Guinea with no viable future there, and the Australian government is trying to find other countries like Cambodia who will accept them. Third country resettlement may be a solution for Australia, but refugees such as Roshid, hoping for a better life in Australia, remain as far away as ever from finding a new home.

From the 101 East documentary Cambodia: My New Home Watch the full film here

Follow Yaara Bou Melhem on Twitter: @yaaraboutv

Follow Liz Gooch on Twitter: @liz_gooch
The Syrian dictator warned of the alternative and then helped create it.

Ever since the Syrian uprising started five years ago, Bashar al-Assad warned of the consequences of opposing him and threatened to remain in power at any cost.

And he delivered on his threat.

Unlike the Tunisian, Egyptian, Yemeni and Libyan autocrats who stepped down or were deposed, Assad held on tighter to his power.

He rejected all pleas for a new democratic transition, and confronted Syrian attempts at replacing his regime with extreme violence that plunged the country into civil war.





Worse, he abetted and conspired in the creation of the worst case scenario in the form of ISIL, playing on Arab fear that is best summarised in the maxim: Better one hundred years of tyranny than one day of chaos.

It could be worse

Assads strategy is best understood in the lesson learned from an old Jewish fable in which a Rabbi advises a man who complains about his bad fortunes to bring his animals into his home.

First the goats, then the sheep, followed by the dogs and finally the donkeys. When the situation becomes unbearable, the Rabbi suggests that the farmer remove the animals from the house. When he does so, the farmer feels relieved.

READ MORE: Did Putin trump Obama in Syria?

In the same breath, Assad now hopes, after the advent of foreign forces and foreign fighters to the country, that Syrians will look back with nostalgia at the good old days of peaceful dictatorship.

Only after the tragic bombings in Paris and Brussels, and the weakening of the Syrian opposition, did Assad and his allies begin to direct their attacks at ISIL positions, hoping to earn favour in the West as the guardians of Syrian stability. by

Assad has brought in the Iranians, the Lebanese Hezbollah, and the Russian military when his massacres and barrel bombs failed to protect his regime from collapse.

They have wreaked havoc on the country, and focused their wrath on the moderate Syrian opposition, allowing the utterly repressive ISIL group to grow and control major parts of Syrian territories.

Only after the tragic bombings in Paris and Brussels, and the weakening of the Syrian opposition, did Assad and his allies begin to direct their attacks at ISIL positions, hoping to earn favour in the West as the guardians of Syrian stability.

Now he expects Syrians and Westerners to be grateful to him for clearing out the ISIL group from Palmyra and other areas of the country, and accept the utility and legitimacy of his rule.

Beyond cynical

There is of course something terribly cynical about all of this, but some self-declared realists are buying into the dictators arguments.

What they miss is Assads psychopathy. He is utterly careless about the consequences of his actions and totally indifferent to the harm and hurt he causes his people.

More than 330,000 Syrians have been killed, and millions more have become refugees as most of the country laid in ruin. And for all the talk of peace, Assad clings ever harder to power regardless of the costs.

One anecdote in particular reflects his character best. After gazing at his people in 2013 and being forced to give up his chemical weapons to avoid US retaliation, Assad joked that it should have been he who received that years Nobel Peace Prize, not the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

And the joke continues.

Confusing problems with solutions

The Russians and Iranians have succeeded in forcing Assad on the Syrians as a peace partner in the effort to roll back the very tragedies he helped to create.

Now, Assad is betting that the Wests frustration with the threat of ISIL and the refugee question will lead to expediency in dealing with the Syrian question.

A growing number of Western pundits are now preaching the gospel of stable autocracy to deal with insecurity and terrorism after counter-revolutionaries recovered the initiative in Syria and other Arab states.

READ MORE: The Assad ultimatum

Officially and in public, the consequential powers  the US, France and Britain  continue to make it clear that Assad has no place in Syrias future.

But in reality, Western powers have compromised with the Russians on the practical steps needed to make the transition to a secular, democratic Syria.

Judging from the compromise over the UN Security Council resolution 2254 that mandated the Syrian Geneva talks, the US and its allies are no longer categorical about shunning Assad from the future plans for the country.

Fool me twice, jokes on me

Assad might take Westerners for idiots, but Syrians can be fooled no more. Yes they want peace and stability, but not a return to dictatorship. And they are not buying into Assads claim of patriotism and love of country, unless we add necrophilia to his other pathologies.

Anyone who thinks that after 40 years of Assad family rule, coupled with horrendous repression and unprecedented violence, the Syrians are going to forget about the atrocities, or to lay low and accept more of the same, is hallucinating.

Even prominent members of Assads own Alawite base are disassociating themselves from his actions, which further isolated their communities and deepened the sectarian tensions.

Yes, Assad might have regained the initiative thanks to Russian air power. But that will not ensure him the leadership. It will only prolong the inevitable, his departure.

Marwan Bishara is the senior political analyst at Al Jazeera. Follow him on Facebook.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
Vugar Seidov is a political analyst and representative of AzerTAG in Germany. He holds a PhD in History from Moscow University and MPhil in international relations from Cambridge university.

Over recent years, the Armenian assaults against the Azeri civilians, residents of the villages along the line of contact, have considerably intensified.

Armenia opted to use heavy artillery, mortars and large-calibre machine guns, which had not been recorded in the first decade of the ceasefire.

Constant provocations and escalations of the situation by Armenia undermined the peace process  within the framework of the Organization for Security Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group  aiming to freeze the current status quo and prepare the ground for the future formal annexation.

On April 2, Armenia launched the heaviest ever assault since the 1994 ceasefire agreement, firing at the positions of the Azerbaijani army along the entire frontline and specifically targeting civilians in the densely populated areas. As a result, a number of civilians were killed and seriously wounded, and substantial damages were inflicted upon the private and public properties.

By doing so, Armenia once again exposed its intention to escalate the situation and sabotage the peace process.

Through the Armenian aggression and ethnic cleansing policy, 20 percent of the internationally recognised Azerbaijani territory (Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven adjacent districts) were occupied by Armenia, and more than one million Azerbaijanis were expelled from their ancestral lands.

In order to restore the peace and stability in the Caucasus region, the international community must demand Armenia cease the illegal occupation of Azerbaijan's territories, withdraw its troops from all seized lands and engage constructively in the conflict settlement process in the spirit and language of the adopted resolutions and norms and principles of international law. by

Armenia committed war crimes and crimes against humanity, including the massacres in Khojaly in 1992, which Azerbaijanis consider genocide. By pursuing its military build-up in the occupied territories, illegally changing demography through illegal settlement policy, altering the centuries-old toponyms and destroying cultural heritage in the occupied lands, Armenia tries to legitimise its presence in the occupied territories and make the de facto annexation irreversible.

This proves that Yerevan is not genuinely interested in seeking political settlement of the armed conflict.

Azerbaijan has repeatedly brought to the attention of the international community that the illegal presence of Armenian armed forces in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan provokes further escalation of situation, and poses a threat to regional peace and stability.

In order to achieve progress in the peace process, first and foremost, the armed forces of Armenia must be withdrawn from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, and the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan within its internationally recognised borders must be ensured.

The international community has consistently deplored, in the strongest terms, the use of force by Armenia against Azerbaijan and the occupation of the Azerbaijani territories.

The fundamental basis for the conflict settlement is outlined in the United Nations Security Council resolutions 822 (1993), 853 (1993), 874 (1993) and 884 (1993) and the UN General Assembly resolution 62/243 (2008), which condemn the use of force against Azerbaijan, and the occupation of its territories, as well as reaffirm the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and the inviolability of its internationally recognised borders.

According to those resolutions, the Nagorno-Karabakh region is an inalienable part of Azerbaijan while Armenia is called upon to withdraw its forces from all the occupied territories of Azerbaijan immediately, completely and unconditionally.

OPINION: Nagorno-Karabakh  rehearsal for an upcoming war?

The military occupation of the territory of Azerbaijan is not tolerable. The sooner Armenia reconciles with this reality, the sooner the conflict will be resolved and the countries and peoples in the region will benefit from the prospects of cooperation and economic development.

In order to restore peace and stability in the Caucasus region, the international community must demand Armenia cease the illegal occupation of Azerbaijans territories, withdraw its troops from all seized lands and engage constructively in the conflict settlement process in the spirit and language of the adopted resolutions and norms and principles of international law.

Vugar Seidov is a political analyst and representative of AzerTAG in Germany. He holds a PhD in History from Moscow University and MPhil in international relations from Cambridge university.
Rights groups warn new decree could lead to troops committing serious abuses with total impunity.

Rights groups have condemned a new law issued by Thailands military-led government that gives the countrys soldiers police powers, warning it could lead to troops committing human rights abuses.

Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the International Commission of Jurists were among six groups that released a joint statement on Tuesday calling for the legislation to be rescinded.

On March 29, the countrys armed forces, including paramilitary units, were given wide-ranging powers to detain suspects without arrest warrants for up to a week for several crimes.

The military said a crackdown on mafia figures was needed because of the lack of police officers to do the job.

But the rights groups said the move was a judicial power grab that would give troops immunity from prosecution and may lead to abusive acts such as torture and enforced disappearances.

They see it as part of a government campaign to stifle dissent and activism since military leaders seized power two years ago.

Instead of paving the way for a return to democratic rule, the Thai junta has broadened its powers to do almost anything it wants, including committing abuses with total impunity, Brad Adams, Asia Director at Human Rights Watch, said in the statement.

WATCH: Thaksin Shinawatra  let Thailand return to democracy

Repression becomes a daily reality as Thailand descends further into military dictatorship.

Champa Patel, Interim Director of Amnesty Internationals South East Asia and Pacific Regional Office, also warned of the absence of judicial oversight in the law.

The order is yet another example of the pernicious removal of powers from the judicial system to review the militarys actions, to the detriment of rights protection and the rule of law, he said.

Wilder Tayler, Secretary General of the International Commission of Jurists, said the law would certainly lead to violations of Thailands international human rights obligations.

We have observed a steady erosion of human rights protections in Thailand since the military coup of May 22, 2014 and this order signifies another jarring movement in the same direction, he said.
Warring neighbours agree to stop fighting after four days of intense violence that threatened to spiral into war.

Azerbaijan and Armenia said they were halting hostilities after four days of intense fighting between them that had prompted warnings the conflict could spiral into all-out war.

In a statement on the ceasefire, Azerbaijans defence ministry said: On April 5 at 12:00 (0800 GMT), on the basis of a mutual agreement, military actions on the contact line between the armed forces of Armenia and Azerbaijan are halted.

An official with the Armenian-backed armed forces of Nagorno-Karabakh told the Reuters news agency: Weve been ordered to halt fire.

Talks aimed at ending the worst violence for decades in the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh had started in Vienna on Tuesday after 46 people were killed in three days of fighting.

Russia and the US have called for the fighting to end but Turkey is standing by Azerbaijan, and predicts the territory its ally has lost will one day be recovered.

A landlocked mountainous region with an ethnic Armenian majority lying within Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh has been in dispute since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

WATCH: What triggered the conflict?

Separatists backed by Yerevan announced allegiance to Armenia and then declared an independent republic, a move that has not been recognised elsewhere, including by Armenia.

In the subsequent fighting, around 30,000 lives were lost and thousands of people from both ethnic groups fled their homes.

A ceasefire brokered by Russia was signed in 1994, but the two countries have never agreed on a lasting peace.

Azerbaijan announced a unilateral truce on Sunday, but it failed to stop the fighting, and on Monday Armenia said a ceasefire would be possible only if both sides return to their previous positions.

Azerbaijans defence minister Zakir Hasanov instead ordered the army to be ready to strike Karabakhs self-declared capital Stepanakert in case of continued Armenian bombardment of civilian targets in Azerbaijan.

Hundreds of ethnic Armenian volunteers have since headed to the city to fight alongside separatist forces, while local authorities have been busy organising shelters for the refugees from frontline villages.
Turkish leader says those who support terrorist group dont deserve to be citizens as tensions with rebels rise.

Turkey should consider stripping supporters of terrorism of their citizenship, President Tayyip Erdogan said, adding that the government had nothing to discuss with terrorists.

His comments on Tuesday, in a speech to a group of lawyers in the capital, Ankara, came a day after he ruled out a revival of peace talks with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

Turkey regards the PKK as a terrorist organisation.

To prevent them from doing harm we must take all measures, including stripping supporters of the terrorist organisation of their citizenship, he said.

These people dont deserve to be our citizens. We are not obliged to carry anyone engaged in the betrayal of their state and their people.

Supporters [of terror] who pose as academics, spies who identify themselves as journalists, an activist disguised as a politician  are no different from the terrorists who throw bombs.

But like a wolf in sheeps clothing, they serve the same purpose as the members of the terror organisation. As a nation we need to be careful. No one must commit treachery against the state and the nation behind our backs.

Erdogan also vowed to stamp out the conflict in Turkeys mainly Kurdish southeast, at its deadliest in two decades, once and for all.

PKK tensions continue

Two members of the Turkish security forces were killed in fighting in the southeast on Monday, officials said.

The autonomy-seeking PKK abandoned its two-year ceasefire in July, reigniting a conflict that has claimed more than 40,000 lives, mainly Kurdish, since 1984.

The violence wrecked a peace process, spearheaded by Erdogan, that was seen as the best chance at ending one of Europes longest-running insurgencies.

We said resolution process, and they deceived us, their word cannot be trusted. Thats over now, we are going to finish this off, Erdogan said in a speech to the state-run Red Crescent humanitarian organisation. It was aired live by TRT.

The terrorists can choose two paths: surrender to justice or be neutralised, one by one. There is no third way left in Turkey. We tried that repeatedly in the past, he said, then denied rumours there had been recent contacts with the PKK.

Almost 400 soldiers and police and thousands of militants have been killed since July, Erdogan said last week.

Opposition political parties say between 500 and 1,000 civilians have also perished in the fighting, centred in towns and cities in the southeast, home to most of Turkeys estimated 15 million Kurds.

In the town of Nusaybin at the Syrian border, PKK fighters used a rocket launcher to fire on soldiers, killing one and wounding two others, security officials said.

In a separate attack, a member of the local village guard militia was killed while taking his children to a health clinic, they said.
State announces prohibition that will include bars, pubs and restaurants in a move seen as fulfillment of poll promise.

Indias Bihar state has declared a total ban on the sale of all forms of alcohol with immediate effect in a move seen as fulfillment of an election promise made by state Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

Liquor will not be sold in any bar, pub or hotel from now onwards, Nitish Kumar said at a press conference in the state capital, Patna, days after a partial ban was implemented in the state of 100 million.

We have decided to place a complete ban on liquor in the state, Kumar, who had promised to ban liquor before re-election in November last year, tweeted.

Abdul Bari Siddiqui, the states finance minister, told Al Jazeera that positive public response and demand from women led the government to go for total prohibition five days after a partial ban was put in place.

On Thursday, the state assembly passed a bill to ban country-made liquor, which has been blamed for deaths in the past. The bill has provision for capital punishment for those engaged in manufacturing or trading illicit liquor in case people die after consuming it.

Revenue losses

Bihar has become the fourth state after Gujarat, Nagaland and Mizoram states to impose a blanket ban on liquor.

In the name of revenue collection we cannot allow poison to be served to people by Abdul Bari Siddiqui, Bihar finance minister

One of the biggest rationales behind the alcohol ban was that it played a role in violence against women. During the state elections last November an alcohol ban was one of the issues, and Kumars coalition partners also mentioned it in their manifesto.

Whatever the cost might be, we have to implement the law as it is a respect of the mandate we got in the last elections, Siddiqui said.

Critics have said that a total ban will lead to revenue losses in a poor state such as Bihar and will give rise to black market and underground production activities.

In the name of revenue collection we cannot allow poison to be served to people, Siddiqui told Al Jazeera by phone from Patna.

Families have been destroyed, as a large number of rural youth took to drinking due to the proliferation of cheap local liquor stores, he said.

The minister, however, said that to make up the lost revenue the government will bring more sectors into the tax net.
Rome threatens to take immediate and proportionate measures unless Cairo fully cooperates over Italian student death.

Italy will take immediate and proportionate measures against Egypt if authorities do not fully cooperate in uncovering the truth behind the murder of an Italian student earlier this year.

Foreign Minister Paolo Gentilonis warning came on Tuesday after Egypt postponed a meeting in Rome over investigations into the death of Giulio Regeni, who moved to Cairo in September to research Egypts trade union movement.

Regeni, a University of Cambridge student, disappeared on January 25 during the fifth anniversary of the uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak from power. At the time, Egypts massive security apparatus was on high alert to prevent possible demonstrations.

His body showed signs of extensive torture and was discovered in a ditch on the outskirts of the Egyptian capital on February 3.

Egypt has denied any involvement of its state apparatus, and promised to fully investigate the murder, but there has been friction with Rome over the lack of progress and explanations offered by Egyptian officials and media.

If there is not a change in tack [by the Egyptian authorities], the government is ready to react, adopting measures that are both immediate and proportionate, Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni told parliament.

The head of the Italian parliaments human rights committee, Luigi Manconi, said last month that the government should recall Italys ambassador to Cairo and declare Egypt unsafe for visitors if the Egyptian investigation went nowhere.

OPINION: An Italian students death in Egypt and now we care?

Egyptian prosecutors and policemen will meet Italian counterparts in Rome at the end of this week to discuss investigations.

According to an Italian police statement, two Egyptian magistrates and three police officers will be in the Italian capital on Thursday and Friday to take stock of investigations and examine related documentation.

Rome prosecutors investigating the murder, as well as members of special investigative units from the state police and Carabinieri police, will represent the Italian side at the meeting, the statement added.

Talks were initially foreseen for Tuesday.

The death has attracted renewed scrutiny of Egypts record under President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, amid allegations from rights groups and opposition politicians that state security agencies had most likely had a hand in Regenis murder.
The ICC has terminated the case against Kenyas deputy president over insufficient evidence.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has terminated the case against Kenyas deputy president William Ruto and ended his trial, saying there is insufficient evidence he was involved in deadly violence that erupted after his countrys 2007 presidential elections.





Tuesdays announcement marks the second time the court has had to admit defeat in its attempts to prosecute alleged ringleaders of the violence that left more than 1,000 people dead and forced 600,000 from their homes in Kenya.

Ruto, 49,and his co-accused radio boss Joshua arap, 40, have both denied three charges of crimes against humanity  namely murder, forcible deportation and persecution  arising from Kenyas disputed elections in late December 2007 and their violent aftermath in early 2008.

Prosecutors say more than 1,300 people died and some 600,000 were left homeless in the countrys worst violence since independence from Britain in 1963.

The case has been carefully watched in Kenya, which has led a high-profile campaign against the ICC by several African nations who accuse the tribunal of bias against the continent.

READ MORE: Africans push UN to call off racist court

Several African nations have threatened to walk out of the court, set up in 2002 to deal with the worlds worst crimes.

The Kenyan government has long argued that the charges should be dismissed after a similar case against Rutos erstwhile bitter rival and now Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta.

In a major setback for the ICC, prosecutor Fatou Bensouda abandoned the case against Kenyatta in late 2014.

The prosecution closed its arguments in Rutos main trial in September 2015, and the defence has yet to start.

Instead, Rutos defence team filed an unusual separate motion calling for the charges to be dismissed, arguing that the ICC prosecutors had failed to prove his role in the convulsion of post-polls violence.

Sangs team have also maintained in their motion filed in 2015 that there is no case to answer.

Reporters, witnesses silenced one by one with ICC link deadly in Kenya

A decision on Tuesday to throw out the case would be a heavy blow for the ICC, especially after the charges were dropped against Kenyatta.

It is unclear what the judges will decide in their written ruling late on Tuesday.

They could dismiss the charges, or rule in the prosecutions favour.

But court officials told AFP news agency that both the prosecution and the defence would have the right to appeal.

Violence broke out in late 2007 after Kenyan opposition chief Raila Odinga, from the Luo ethnic group, accused then president Mwai Kibaki, a Kikuyu, of rigging his way to re-election.

Ruto was accused of holding meetings of his Kalenjin tribe in his Rift Valley home to allegedly plan attacks on Kenyattas Kikuyu tribe.
Former detainees who suffered abuse while in Israeli custody say they are struggling to regain a sense of normality.

Jalazone refugee camp, occupied West Bank  Abed Abu Sharefas hand was on the front door of his home in Jalazone refugee camp as Israeli soldiers worked to break through from the other side and arrest him.

The scar under his left eyebrow, where the metal door blew inwards, is still visible seven years on. Abu Sharefa, 25, told Al Jazeera that his right ear still hurts from the beatings he received at the hands of Israeli interrogators early in the 14-month detention that followed his violent arrest.

Abu Sharefa, who has a tattoo of an M16 rifle on his chest, is among dozens of residents of Jalazone refugee camp near Ramallah who say they are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder after being arrested, detained and tortured by Israeli security forces.

Residents of Jalazone, which is near the Israeli settlement of Beit El, are often targeted for arrest amid frequent clashes with Israeli soldiers.

Sitting in front of a rusted electric heater, Abu Sharefa takes long draws from a cigarette as he describes being beaten by Israeli interrogators. He reenacts the stress positions he says he was forced into for long hours while detained in the basement of a compound in Jerusalem.

Even before I was interrogated, I knew detention would be violent; Id heard about other Jalazone detainees experiences, Abu Sharefa said. In one way or another, there is always violence in Israeli detention. Im afraid to be arrested again.

READ MORE: Report details inhuman treatment in Israeli jail

Abu Sharefa, who was detained twice after his first arrest, says he now has difficulty sleeping. He lifts his hands, palms facing out, to show his chewed nails, which he says he bites incessantly and nervously. He says he frequently considers suicide.

Abed changed completely, said Tahani, Abu Sharefas older sister. Sometimes when we tried to speak to him, he didnt respond, like he had experienced some trauma. Hes still nervous and agitated.

Mohammad Absi, a psychologist with the Ramallah-based Treatment and Rehabilitation Centre (TRC) who has worked in Jalazone refugee camp since 2009, says he has treated around 100 former detainees who experienced torture, abuse or mistreatment while in Israeli detention.

Someone who has experienced trauma is usually helped and supported by their community, but everyone here is psychologically tired. by Nour Alyan, former detainee

Abu Sharefas experience was severe, Absi said, but such anxiety upon release is not uncommon. Individuals who experience psychological torture or severe stressors manifest symptoms like Abeds, he said.

According to Addameer, a Palestinian human rights group, there are currently 7,000 Palestinians in Israeli-administered prisons. There have been hundreds of cases of alleged torture over the past 15 years.

Nour Alyan, 27, has been arrested five times and spent a total of eight years in Israeli prison. He recently replaced the front door of his home in the Jalazone camp for a fourth time, after Israeli soldiers broke it down to arrest him in mid-2014. Alyan was most recently released in February.

Alyan said he was held in stress positions for hours, and in solitary confinement for more than two weeks. Many in the camp  including eight of his cousins  who say they were mistreated while in Israeli custody are now struggling with depression and sleeping problems, he said.

Someone who has experienced trauma is usually helped and supported by their community, but everyone here is psychologically tired, Alyan told Al Jazeera.

Psychiatrist Mahmud Sehwail, who founded the TRC, said the consequences of this type of torture are devastating for communities.

Torture does not aim to kill an individual; it aims to kill an individuals spirit. It aims to alter their mentality and character, Sehwail said. In reality, though, torture alters not just a victim, but a victims family, their community, and their society.

With limited rehabilitative resources available and dwindling donor funds to organisations like the TRC, some former detainees have turned instead to smoking drugs, or alcohol, Alyan said.

READ MORE: Youngest prisoner in Israeli jail is a 12-year-old girl

Israeli human rights groups BTselem and HaMoked recently released a report detailing abuses against Palestinian detainees at the Shikma facility in southern Israel. Based on affidavits and witness accounts of 116 Palestinians, the report found they were subjected to a variety of abuses, some of which were tantamount to torture.

The report found that that such abuse was facilitated by a broad network of partners as Israeli justice officials turned a blind eye.





Israels Ministry of Justice maintains that Israeli interrogations are conducted within the confines of the law and with the aim of pre-emptively foiling and preventing illegal activities aimed at harming state security, its democratic regimes or its institutions, noting that detention facilities are under constant and continuous inspection of several internal and external reviewing bodies.

Since 2001, the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, working in concert with Palestinian and Israeli rights groups, has submitted at least 950 complaints of torture to the Israeli Security Agency, at least 95 percent of which were on behalf of Palestinians.

None have resulted in criminal investigations. The Israeli system protects torture in Shabak interrogations, the committees CEO, Rachel Stroumsa, told Al Jazeera.

It legalises these interrogations [and] it exempts interrogators from the rule of law  At stake is whether Israel sees itself as a military society, living in fear, acting out of fear, acting in ways it will not be able to countenance later  or whether we see ourselves as a law-abiding society.

Follow Jonathan Brown on Twitter: @jonathaneebrown
Three Congolese peacekeepers appear before tribunal in first prosecutions for sex abuse crimes in the CAR.

Three Congolese peacekeepers accused of sex abuse in the Central African Republic have appeared before a tribunal in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The three men  from the UNs MINUSCA peacekeeping mission  are the first troops to be prosecuted in the scandal, which has seen more than 100 victims come forward with accounts of sexual abuse by UN peacekeepers and French forces.

The tribunal is being held in Ndolo, a military prison north of the capital, Kinshasa.

We want absolute transparency in this trial, Alexis Thambwe Mwamba, the countrys justice minister, told the AFP news agency, adding that a few individuals cannot discredit our army.

Sergeant Jackson Kikola is being prosecuted for raping a (young girl) of 17 and for not following orders, said public prosecutor Lieutenant Mposhi Ngoy, reading the indictments.

Sergeant Major Kibeka Mulamba Djuma faces similar charges, while Sergeant Major Nsasi Ndazu was charged with disobeying orders and attempted rape.

All three pleaded not guilty.

Step to end impunity

Another 18 soldiers from DR Congo accused of rape  or attempted rape  of the civilians they were meant to be protecting during a peacekeeping mission in CAR were also present in the court.

Three hearings are scheduled each week, meaning the entire process could take months to complete.

Ida Sawyer, an advocate for Human Rights Watch in the DRC, told AFP the trial at Ndolo was a first, and good, step to end impunity and called on all countries involved to ensure real justice.

But Venance Kalenga, who attended the hearing as an observer for Congolese human rights charity ACAJ, said the absence of victims constitutes a major obstacle in the demonstration of truth.

The UN said last week its investigators had identified 108 new victims, the vast majority of them under-age girls who were raped, sexually abused or exploited by foreign troops.

The UNs MINUSCA operation, which counts 12,600 foreign police and soldiers, took over from an African Union force in CAR in September 2014 in an effort to end a year of brutal sectarian violence.

"The fight against sexual exploitation & abuse is 1st & foremost a fight for human rights."  @UN_CAR chief https://t.co/r50VhHeBdj  United Nations (@UN) March 31, 2016

Last week a report by a US-based advocacy group said three girls in CAR told UN staff they were tied up and forced to have sex with a dog by a French military commander in 2014.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric called the allegations shocking to the core and promised exemplary disciplinary action if theyre proven to be true.

French prosecutors on Tuesday opened a preliminary investigation into new allegations of sexual abuse against French troops, a judiciary source said.

The prosecutors office said the alleged acts took place in the eastern town of Dekoa between 2013 and 2015.

Paris has said any French troops convicted would face military discipline and possible criminal penalties.

We cannot  and I cannot  accept the slightest stain on the reputation of our armed forces or of France, French President Francois Hollande said.

Under UN rules, the responsibility for investigating and prosecuting peacekeeper sexual abuse lies with the countries that contribute the troops and police to the peace missions.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich will bring his presidential campaign to upstate New York Saturday.

Kasich, a Republican, will hold a town hall meeting at 11 a.m. at the Town of Greece Community and Senior Center, 3 Vince Tofany Blvd. in Greece, Monroe County.

The event is free and open to the public. Doors open at 10:30 a.m.

To RSVP, visit kasich-rochester.eventbrite.com.

"With a recent change in New York State Republican Party rules, New York is no longer a winner-take-all state," Monroe County Republican Chairman Bill Reilich said. "This makes New York more relevant than ever before as 95 delegates are up for grabs. I welcome Governor Kasich to our community and look forward to hearing his plan for the future of our country."

Kasich is the first Republican presidential candidate to announce an upstate campaign event ahead of New York's April 19 primary. He held two town hall meetings Monday on Long Island and visited Sagamore Hill, former President Theodore Roosevelt's residence.

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump plans to campaign in New York after the Wisconsin primary on Tuesday. While it hasn't been officially announced, he will likely hold a rally Wednesday in Bethpage.

Trump, who holds a large lead over U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and Kasich in the New York primary, is expected to visit upstate cities before the primary.

Onondaga County Republican Chairman Tom Dadey, one of the first GOP leaders in New York to endorse Trump, said in March he's "optimistic" that the real estate mogul will hold a campaign event in central New York.

New York Republicans will get a chance to see the party's three remaining candidates at a $1,000-a-person fundraiser later this month.

Cruz, Kasich and Trump accepted invitations to the New York GOP gala. The event will be held Thursday, April 14 at the Grand Hyatt New York in Manhattan.
US-based Atlantic Council releases report that says Russias claim to have mainly targeted ISIL in Syria was false.

Russias claim to have mainly targeted the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) during a six-month military intervention in the Syrian civil war was false, a private think-tank on international affairs said in a report.





The US-based Atlantic Councils 32-page report released on Tuesday, Distract, Deceive, Destroy: Putin at War in Syria, compiled using open sources, further alleged that Russian forces sometimes struck civilian targets and used cluster munitions.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in September as the Russian military was preparing the operation that his goals were to fight ISIL and remove terrorist impediments to peace talks.

Neither claim squares with the facts, the report said.

Initial Russian Defence Ministry combat reports claimed that [ISIL] was the only target. Yet analysis of open source and social media intelligence (OSSMINT) quickly revealed that the ministrys claims were deceptive.

The report said that Russian air strikes had a minimal effect on ISIL, they directly enabled the Assad government to advance against other groups and they weakened the US-backed opposition more than it did ISIL.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the conflict through a network of activists on the ground, said in March that Russian air strikes had killed at least 5,081 people since they started in September 2015.

Russia vs the West: The information war over Palmyra

In fact, the main beneficiary of the Russian air strikes was Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose forces were able to retake key areas in and around Latakia and Aleppo, the report said.





The hallmark of the Russian campaign was disinformation. It accompanied the launch of the campaign; it covered the targets chosen and the weapons used to strike them; it masked the real purpose of the campaign, and the strategic effect that it achieved.

In a forward to the report, Atlantic Council executive vice president Damon Wilson said that the Russian military campaign actually prolonged the Syrian war, which arose from peaceful reform protests in 2011 against Assad, whose government is allied with Moscow.

The results have been grievous. Russia carried out its air strikes with scant regard for the rule of war: Open-source footage shows the repeated use of banned cluster munitions, and strikes on targets including mosques, hospitals, and water treatment plants, he said.

Wilson said that Putin cynically claimed to have been fighting ISIL: Nothing could be further from the truth.
President had support of 233 politicians from ruling African National Congress while 143 voted in favour of impeachment.

South African president Jacob Zuma survived an impeachment vote in parliament on Tuesday that was launched after the constitutional court ruled that he ignored an order to repay state funds spent on his private home.

Zuma had the support of the ruling African National Congress (ANC), which controls almost two-thirds of the assembly.

Despite rumblings of discontent within the ANC party over a series of scandals involving the president, 233 lawmakers voted against the impeachment motion, while 143 voted in favour.

Zuma did not attend the impeachment proceedings, which were delayed after opposition politicians demanded that the Speaker of parliament recuse herself from presiding over the proceedings.

The court ruled last Thursday that Zuma had flouted the constitution by failing to repay some of the money spent on renovating his private home at Nkandla in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal province.

The project, which cost taxpayers $16m, included a swimming pool, a chicken run, a cattle enclosure and an amphitheatre.

On Friday, 73-year-old Zuma, in a televised address, apologised and said he would pay back some of the money, as ordered. He said that he never knowingly or deliberately set out to violate the constitution.

Opposition calls for his resignation got a boost on Saturday, when anti-apartheid veteran Ahmed Kathrada backed demands for Zumas removal.

The latest to call for his resignation is former Finance Minister Trevor Manuel, who said on Tuesday that Zuma should step aside as president, Reuters news agency reported.

Zuma, a 73-year-old Zulu traditionalist, has been under fire since December, when his abrupt sacking of Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene sent the rand into a tailspin.

The current Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan has said that the current political situation is among the considerations for ratings agencies.
Jacob Zuma faces the vote in parliament after the countrys top court ruled that he had violated the constitution.

A debate over a motion to impeach South African President Jacob Zuma has been delayed on Tuesday after opposition politicians demanded that the Speaker of parliament recuse herself from presiding over the proceedings.

Opposition lawmakers said Speaker Baleka Mbete was also a respondent in a case in which the Constitutional Court ruled last week that Zuma breached the law by ignoring an order to repay some of the $16m in state funds spent on renovating his private home.

Mbete said the constitution did not require her to recuse herself from presiding over the debate, and suspended proceedings to consult with parliamentary officials.

The impeachment vote, which is expected on Tuesday, requires a two-thirds majority, as his ruling African National Congress holds an overwhelming number of seats.

WATCH: Jacob Zumas friends and foes in South Africas media

Despite rumblings of discontent within the party over a series of scandals involving the president, there is unlikely to be a revolt among ANC lawmakers, particularly as it will not be a secret ballot.

The court ruled last Thursday that Zuma had flouted the constitution by failing to repay some of the money spent on security upgrades at his rural home at Nkandla in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal province.

On Thursday, Thuli Madonsela, the Public Protector of South Africa, said early estimates indicated Zuma might have to repay the government at least $680,000.

INSIDE STORY: Is Zuma turning South Africa into a mafia state?

The project, which cost taxpayers $24m, included a swimming pool, a chicken run, a cattle enclosure and an amphitheatre.

The uncompromising nature of the verdict  chief justice Mogoeng Mogoeng described it as a profound lesson for South Africas young democracy  piles more pressure on Zuma, already feeling the heat from a string of scandals.

Zuma, a 73-year-old Zulu traditionalist, has been under fire since December, when his abrupt sacking of finance minister Nhlanhla Nene sent the rand into a tailspin.
Syrian government plane shot down by a surface-to-missile, state media and opposition sources say.

A Syrian army plane has been shot down in the north of the country and the the pilot captured alive, according to government media and the opposition.

SANA, the state news agency, said on Tuesday that the fighter jet was downed by a surface-to-missile and that the pilot ejected over the Aleppo province.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said al-Nusra Front, al-Qaedas affiliate in the country, had shot down the plane over the town of Al-Eis.

Al-Nusra Front is not party to a ceasefire between government forces and the opposition fighters that has been in place since February 27.

In footage circulated on social media, which purported to show the scene where the plane crashed, about a dozen men crowded around a man lying in the dirt.

Some of them shout: Hes Syrian, hes Syrian! and others cry: Get his weapons off him!

On Friday, al-Nusra and its allies pushed government loyalists out of Al-Eis.

Last month, opposition fighters shot down a Syrian army plane over the village of Kafr Nabuda in the central province of Hama.
Turkish army says air strikes hit weapon stores, shelters in Qandil area of northern Iraq.

The Turkish military has said it carried out air strikes in northern Iraq against targets belonging to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

In a statement posted on its website, the Turkish Armed Forces said the airstrikes had targeted weapon stores, shelters and other PKK sites in the Qandil area of northern Iraq.

Iraqi Kurdistans mountainous, remote Qandil region is the main base for the PKK.

Is the West too soft on Turkeys PKK?

Turkish jets have carried out intermittent strikes against the PKK in north Iraq since July 2015 after the fighters abandoned a ceasefire.

Security operations inside Turkey have resulted in the deaths of thousands of civilians, soldiers, police and PKK militants.

Last week, Turkish warplanes struck PKK targets in northern Iraq and seperately killed 24 PKK fighters in southeastern Turkey.

More than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict since the PKK launched its insurgency in 1984.

The PKK, which says it is fighting for Kurdish autonomy, is designated as a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.
If she wins, Helen Clark would become the first woman to hold the position of UN secretary general.

Helen Clark, a former New Zealand prime minister who is now a senior UN official, will run for the top position at the United Nations, saying she would bring nearly 30 years of leadership skills to the job of secretary general.

Clark is the eighth candidate and the first from outside Europe to enter the race to succeed Ban Ki-moon, whose second term expires at the end of this year. If she wins, she would become the first woman to hold the post.

Some in the UN are pushing for a woman to take the top role. Clark becomes the fourth female candidate for the job, joining UNESCOs Bulgarian head Irina Bokova, former Croatian Foreign Minister Vesna Pusic and former Moldovan Foreign Minister Natalia Gherman.

The New Zealand government has formally nominated Clark.

READ MORE: Is it time for a woman to run the UN?

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key raised the possibility of Clarks candidacy with US President Barack Obama and other senior American officials when he was in Washington last week.

Key said he will make the case to Chinese President Xi Jinping when he visits the Asian nation later this month.

I think the position is open, Clark said in an interview with The AP news agency in New York. The New Zealand government is responding to that, saying they think Helen is the best person for the job. So I go into it believing that at this time the critical thing for member states to look at is: What are the challenges?

Horse-trading

The UN secretary-general is chosen by the 193-member General Assembly on the recommendation of the 15-member Security Council, which means it is crucial to get support from its five veto-wielding members known as the P5: US, China, Russia, Britain and France.

I could make a very strong case to you that Helen Clarks credentials are far better than any other candidate that is currently on the list, or anyone that Im aware of that might put their name forward, said Key.

But unfortunately, in the world of multilateralism, things are not quite as simple as that. There is a lot of horse-trading that goes on. It will depend enormously on the views of the P5 and ultimately if they feel its the turn of the Eastern Europeans or someone else.

Clark was prime minister for nine years until 2008, and has headed the UN Development Programme for the past seven years.

She said that if she were to win the post, a top priority would be dealing with conflict caused by civil wars and violent extremists.

She said she thought she could bring a modernising touch to the organisation.

I think its probably fair to say that as an administration it can be a little clunky and a little old-fashioned, she said.

The UN General Assembly will begin preliminary meetings with candidates in New York from April 12 to 14 but there is no closing date for nominations and more are expected.
Israeli pianist/composeraugments her longstanding trio with bassistand drummerby adding Italian reedman(who plays alto clarinet throughout) for her third ECM album, following 2010's And If. The trio had long been based in New York City, but since Fort 's return to Israel and Schneier's return to Berlin the band is now spread between three countrieswhich only makes their reunions more joyful. Fort and Trovesi first played together as a duo at Italy's Novara Festival, followed by the clarinetist joining the trio for concerts in Tel Aviv.After making the group recordings, Fort and producerdecided that the album needed more solo piano, which resulted in the opener "First Rays" and the closer "Sun." As usual with ECM albums the track sequencing sounds so inevitable that it is hard to believe those tracks weren't part of the plan all along. "Earth Talks" shows the empathy of Fort and Trovesi with a duet, and Schneifer's tom rolls bring in the full rhythm section in dramatic fashion for "Not The Perfect Storm." "It's Your Song" (which is just as lyrical as the title implies) pares the group back to the core trio, with space for a lovely bass solo from Wang. "Jumpin' In" shows a rubato side, its striking theme counterbalanced by turbulent playing. The exploratory group improvisation "Inner Voices" briefly goes into more abstract territory.Fort's music reflects her many influences: 80s pop, Middle Eastern music, and jazz. Despite her trio's formation in New York City, there is a definite European flavor, further enhanced by Trovesi's rich alto clarinet playing. While generally melodic and reflective, Birdwatching also goes into other areas. She says the album title is concerned with literal bird-watching in naturebut also more generally with "watching, listening, waiting."
A UF club is raising money to send students to a ceramics conference.

Handbuilt Or Thrown Clay started its semesterly clay sale on the Plaza of the Americas on Monday. It will continue today. The money will go toward sending about 15 students to the 2017 National Council on Education of the Ceramic Arts conference, which will be held in March.

The club will send slightly fewer students than this year because the conference is in Portland, Oregon, said Paige Ward, the clubs president. The 2016 competition was in Kansas City, Missouri.

The club is selling items including dishes and vases, she said. Theyre hoping to raise about $2,500.

Half of the money from sales goes back to the artists who created the works, while the other half goes to the club, Ward, a UF ceramics masters student, said.

Most pieces cost between $5 to $80, and the price is determined by the artist, she said. Pieces come from class projects and students who enjoy sculpting.

We put the sale on to get our work out there to the public, the 27-year-old said.

Stephanie Wilhelm, a UF ceramics masters student, said she brought about 50 pieces to sell, ranging from $25 to $75.

She started preparing for the sale during Winter Break, the 30-year-old said.

Just talking to people and seeing them buy things and be excited about the work is a really good feeling.

Erin Wagner, 21, examines ceramic cups on the Plaza of the Americas at the Handbuilt or Thrown Clay Spring Sale on Monday. The UF art junior said she admired the work of Stephanie Wilhelm, who she said worked with bodies a lot.

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Burglars have targeted rural homes in four counties, grabbing guns, jewelry and cash before escaping in broad daylight.

More than 20 similar incidents have been reported to sheriffs offices in Alachua, Marion, Levy and Citrus counties over the last four months, according to county officials.

Since mid-January, property crime detectives with the Alachua County Sheriffs Office and other departments have worked to find an answer, sheriffs office spokesman Art Forgey said.

Deputies from Levy County reported eight cases, and those from Citrus County reported 12, according to their respective websites.

Forgey said he will not have a definitive number of burglary incidents until all of the forensic evidence is complete.

He said detectives believe one group of burglars is behind all of the cases.

The burglaries within the other counties are very similar to some that we have experienced and therefore we believe they are being committed by the same people, Forgey wrote in an email.

Anyone with information on the burglaries in Alachua County can receive a reward of up to $1,000 by calling Crime Stoppers at 352-372-7867.

Citrus County Sheriff Jeffrey Dawsy said a murder Thursday night may be related to the burglaries.

The suspected killer broke into a home in Dunnellon, a rural Citrus County city, and killed the homeowner, Dawsy said during a press conference Monday.

That homicide had a lot of similarities to the burglaries that weve had throughout our community and possibly to the surrounding communities, he said.

@martindvassolo

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mvassolo@alligator.org
Proposed Florida building codes may help prevent kitchen and laundry fires in the coming years.

The Florida Building Commission voted in favor of the proposed 2018 Florida Building Code at a meeting at the Hilton UF Conference Center on Monday. The new codes, if accepted, would require fire prevention equipment to be placed in all kitchens and laundry rooms built after Jan. 1, 2018.

Under the proposal, new buildings would need to have arc fault circuit interrupters, which detect arcing in wires and shut down electrical systems before a fire happens, said Bryan Holland, the southern regional field representative for the National Electrical Manufacturers Association.

The commission discussed an amendment from the Florida Home Builders Association to take kitchens and laundry facilities out of the code.

Douglas Buck, the director of governmental affairs for the FHBA, said they submitted the amendment to eliminate the cost of installing the technology in new homes, which could reach up to $200.

Theres always a balance between cost of the house and what the new requirement does, he said.

The amendment also outlined concerns over the technology shutting off appliances, including refrigerators.

Holland said 29 states  including Georgia, South Carolina and Texas  have adopted the proposed changes, and electrical companies have an obligation to protect consumers.

The state of Florida is a little bit behind, he said.

At the meeting, Florida firefighters and burn survivors defended the new code.

Rebekah Johnson was a 27-year-old taking time off from Santa Fe Community College in 2002 when an outlet sparked, causing her house to catch fire.

She and her bed caught fire as she slept, Johnson said.

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Johnson said she instinctively ran outside and dropped to the ground to extinguish the fire. She then went back to search for her 6-year-old golden retriever, Wendy, and her two cats, Simpson and Sammy, none of whom survived.

The house burned down, and Johnson sustained second-degree burns on her face and neck, she said. About 50 percent of her body had third-degree burns.

She then underwent a dozen skin grafts.

Now, at the age of 40, Johnson stood in front of the Florida Building Commission to uphold the safety proposals.

She said the threat of a refrigerator losing power under the new technology is a small risk compared to the devastating effects of a fire.

I let them know that I would have gladly have thrown away a gallon of milk to not have to have gone through my injuries, she said.

While the commission voted to keep kitchens and laundry rooms in the changes, it could be challenged in future months, Holland said.

Were gonna have to keep an eye on it, he said.

@ceostroff

costroff@alligator.org
Once again, the Affordable Care Act has been dragged into the U.S. Supreme Court. This time it was because some conservative religious groups protested the accommodation that requires them to complete a one or two page form. The form allows them to state their objections to providing contraceptive coverage for their employees, and to provide the names of their insurance carriers so that the government can ensure that the rights of their female employees will not be violated at the whim of their employer. The complaining groups protest that this is an undue burden. I dare say, it is less of a burden than an unwanted pregnancy would be for their employees.

The lead group in filing the case is the order of nuns known as the Little Sisters of the Poor. The order of nuns runs a chain of 29 nursing homes in the United States. The sisters took some time away from their nursing homes to demonstrate in front of the Supreme Court building. Festooned in the religious garb of their order, some of the nuns paraded with signs declaring Well have nun of this. Thats fine. While demonstrating on similar occasions, I have worn a clerical collar to identify myself as an ordained minister, and carried signs saying Prayerfully Pro-Choice or Clergy for Choice. Neither side has a monopoly, let alone exclusive rights to the use of God on this topic.

The Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), which is the basis of the case, was originally written to protect individuals. The Supreme Court, through its machinations, has deigned to make it more elastic, by treating every economic permutation up to and including for-profit corporations as individual persons.

From their website, I gleaned that the Little Sisters count on primarily secular funds in the form of Medicare, Medicaid, and their clients personal funds in order to function. As a religious organization, they also gain tax advantages unavailable to secular nursing homes. Just as their clients represent a wide range of religious, ethnic and cultural backgrounds, the same can be said of the women who work for the Little Sisters. These employees should not be forced to relinquish their own religious freedom. Rather than protesting that they will have nun of it, the Little Sisters should say Were grateful for the sum of what we receive from society so that we can fulfill our mission, and complete their one-page forms.

The Rev. Dr. Stan Sears

Auburn

Sears is minister at Auburn Unitarian Universalist Society
Readers, Id like you to know I was followed just yesterday by members of the #StopMichael movement. I could feel them lurking behind me for 10 minutes before I turned back to see the entirety of The Really Independent Florida Crocodile editorial staff. They satirized the daylights out of me. No dead horse went unbeaten that day.

As such, Ive made further strides to change my appearance. My beard is now shaven. Gone. Cleaved off in one fell swoop with a butchers knife. Good luck finding me now, radicals.

What makes a cheap joke? What elicits a cheap laugh? We can all agree cheap jokes exist, right? What kinds of jokes rob us of our artistic integrity? Jerry Seinfeld would argue profanity taints a joke. Profanity and sex are inherently funny because theyre taboo, and Seinfeld says a comedian should earn that laugh; you dont have to rely on swearing in your routines. Meanwhile, comedians like Lenny Bruce and George Carlin have made careers and defined generations with profanity, as I discussed last week. Rodney Dangerfields signature comedy album No Respect is full of profanity  and its masterful. Give it a listen. Its dope.

From 1976 to 1984, cartoonist Stuart Hample wrote the syndicated comic strip, Inside Woody Allen, which mimicked Woody Allens style of comedy.

Throughout its syndication, Allen would advise Hample to never pander to the audience. Allen wanted to carve a niche in the comics, but Hamples publishers wanted more mainstream, broad humor. Allen pushed for highbrow esoteric references. He pushed for frank discussion of death and sex. He pushed Hample to change the medium of the comic strip. And as a result, no ones ever heard of Inside Woody Allen.

Allen proposes the notion that cheap jokes stem from uninteresting content. If the joke is about something elementary, its not a clever joke.

Seinfeld proposes something different, though. He suggests that cheap jokes stem from poor structure: How do you tell the joke?

If you have to rely on profanity to cover up a poorly paced joke, its not a very clever joke. If you can speak eloquently and let every word contribute to the punchline, then the joke is clever and stimulating.

In the past, I have also addressed the duality of a jokes content and a jokes structure. They are two separate entities. A joke can look good on paper, but if its delivered or paced poorly, its no longer funny. Conversely, weve all met folks who we deem naturally funny because they possess a certain charisma.

Where was I going with all this?

So, generic content and traditional structure create cheap comedy. Can we define both generic content and traditional structure? Lets try. Well, generic content so far seems to be taboo subjects: sex, drugs and profanity. This is the kind of stuff we all laugh at because we all live in a society that deems them taboo.

What about traditional structure? Well, we all know one traditional joke structure: the knock-knock joke.

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But more importantly, when I think of a cheap joke I think of shock value.

I think were all familiar with what that means and how its connotation differentiates it from subversion of expectation. Shock value is the middle-schooler who swears on the playground because its edgy. Shock value is every Seth Rogen movie ever. Shock value is pushing societal boundaries without advocating a positive message.

Shock value is the epitome of a cheap joke.

How did this take 600 words? I feel pretty foolish. But, Im glad I answered that. I feel like any schmuck on the street could have more eloquently stated the definition of a cheap joke, though. Good thing Im not a schmuck. Right?

Michael Smith is a fresh UF comical engineering man. His column runs in 12 countries and is banned for frank discussion of Michael Smith in 26 of them.
I am deeply disturbed by Jordan MacKenzies column from Wednesday, The meaning of the word apartheid. First, I am always amazed when a Floridian criticizes Israel, given how Floridians live and work on land stolen by force from Native Americans who were ethnically cleansed.

Second, to call Israel an apartheid state is a patent falsehood. I do not dispute the horrors of the occupation. The present right-wing government does nothing to solve the problem. Israel is a democracy, and sooner or later the people will elect a government that does deal with the issue. However, to defame and slander Israel by calling it an apartheid state not only twists the facts on the ground, but also trivializes the real apartheid practiced in South Africa.

How can Israel be called an apartheid state when Israeli Arab citizens sit as judges in Israels courts, including the Supreme Court? Is it apartheid when Arab students attend all of Israels major universities and sit side-by-side with Jewish students? When Israeli Arab citizens are police officers in Israel? When all Arab citizens of Israel vote and sit in the Israeli Knesset (Parliament) in a large voting bloc?

Is it apartheid when Arab and Jewish doctors work together in Israeli hospitals? When the Druze serve with distinction in the Israel Defense Forces as officers and enlistees in combat and other roles? When Arabs and Jews travel together on the same public transportation and  in some cases such as the major Israeli city of Haifa  live in the same neighborhoods and buildings?

When the terror stops and the Arab/Muslim world recognizes this tiny state as the ancestral home of the Jewish people, there will no longer be any need for an occupation or stringent security measures. I realize it is not fashionable to defend Israel on todays college campuses. However, I always thought education included an honest rendition of the facts. Criticizing Israeli policy is fair game. Demonizing Israel by slandering and defaming the country with a word like apartheid is cheating students by telling them less than half of the true story.

Harold Cohen

Retired Florida circuit judge now

residing in High Springs, Florida
The last few years have improved the lives of those of us who live squarely where the makeup-fan and animal-lover Venn diagram overlaps. With tons of new green brands debuting and vegan lines becoming more high profile than ever, finding products that make us look great and don't harm our fuzzy friends is easier than ever. But while those brands are still the exception to the rule, a new scientific breakthrough is putting us another step closer to living in a world free of animal testing.

One of the major barriers to moving cosmetic testing to all-synthetic skin has always been the constraints of what artificial skin can do. Without hair follicles and glands that secrete oil and sweat, there has traditionally been a limit to the extent to which faux skin could mimic real flesh and, in turn, limits on how effective testing done on it replicated the effects of ingredients on human skin. Now researchers in Japan have developed a new technique to grow artificial skin that functions almost identically as real skin.

First off, fair warning: While this technique may help put an end to animal testing in cosmetics one day, the actual development of it did involve the use of lab mice. The complicated process involved extracting cells from the mice's gums, treating the cells so that they would become induced pluripotent stem cells (a.k.a. cells that can develop into any kind of cell from the body), and then placing them into the proper environment to turn them into skin cells. Once the cells matured, they were implanted on the lab mice and allowed to grow. And grow they didcompletely normally, in fact, connecting with the surrounding muscle tissue and nerves and even growing hair.

In addition to its potential role in cosmetic testing, this tissue development technique may one day be able to grow skin grafts for burn victims, say researchers. There's still a long way to go for both achievementsnumerous issues still need to be worked out with the process, including finding a way to get the lab-grown skin to develop nerve fibers of it's own, not just connect to the naturally occurring nerves around it. The researchers estimate it will take another five to ten years before the process can be adapted to humans, though the results are certainly hopeful. John McGrath, a professor of molecular dermatology at Kings College London told BBC News that the new system puts us "over the halfway mark" toward growing functional skin for human patients. How that time line will translate for cosmetic testing isn't clear yet, but it is, without a doubt, a huge step forward in the fight to end animal testing.
           2005     ..        




AR's Editor Joe Shea Talks About Elections On Iranian TV Bear Stearns Saved By Fed As Lehman Bros. Falters; Major Bank

Failure Looms Over Wall Street, Sends Markets Into 200-Pt. Dive Lie Upon Lie Five Years Into the Iraq War

The Administration Still Churns Out Lies by Randolph Holhut A Small Tragedy Even at 90, As Friends Turn Cool

She Knows the Show Must Go On by Joyce Marcel I'll Take Me Imagine John Wayne or Arnold

In Heels, Silk and a Girdle by Elizabeth Andrews Sen. Nelson Calls For New Fla. Primary; Gov Crist Backs 'Do-Over' Who'll Win? Ask Spock Spock.com Engine Predicts Winners

By Site Searches; It Can be Wrong by Jay Bhatti Chatting Up The Cat God Gave Me Dominion Over Him

But I Think He's a Non-Believer by Constance Daley Death of a Thug The Life and Horrors of Suharto by Andreas Harsono ___________________________ This Just In Sierra Club: McCain Ducked All 15 Key Votes On Green Laws (AR) A Work By AR's T.S. Kerrigan Is Chosen As 'Best Poem' By Wordpress Site Murder At Mile 63

The Deadly Assault and

Bush Administration Cover-Up

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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

COMFORTABLE WITH MYSELF by Elizabeth T. Andrews CARTERSVILLE, Ga. -- I'm not sure but I think I may be socially incorrect. [MORE] On Native Ground

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

OUT OF STRUGGLE, ART by Joyce Marcel DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Here we are again at the crossroads of art and social change, having the opportunity to watch good and great films about the lives of women in support of the Women's Crisis Center. [MORE] Campaign 2008

HOW TO PREDICT SUPER TUESDAY II WINNERS? ONLINE SEARCH by Jay Bhatti NEW YORK, March 4, 2008, 7:00PM ET -- With the outcomes of the Texas, Vermont, Ohio and Rhode Island primaries to be decided tonight, how possible is it that online searching can predict who will win tonight's primaries? [MORE] One Woman's World

DON'T VOTE; IT ENCOURAGES THEM by Elizabeth T. Andrews CARTERSVILLE, Ga. -- Call me angry and disgusted but don't call me un-American because I won't be voting come November. [MORE] On Native Ground

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

FIDEL RETIRES: NOW THE COLD WAR IS REALLY OVER by Randolph T. Holhut DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Maybe now, we can finally say the Cold War is over. [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] One Woman's World

POLITICS IS NO PARTY by Elizabeth T. Andrews CARTERSVILLE, Ga. -- Are you having a hard time focusing your eyes? Do you have faint red spots all over your body? Is there a ringing in your ears and do you see wavy lines when you look at your television set? Do your hands shake when you try to hold a cup of coffee? And have you recently been forgetting what day of the week it is - or what year? [MORE] Make My Day

FOR BETTER OR WORSE ... A LOT WORSE by Erik Deckers INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- "Marriage: It's Only Going to Get Worse." [MORE] Constance

YOU CALL THESE RIGHTS? by Constance Daley ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- When you express an opinion you hope to persuade others to your point of view. It doesn't always happen but still, opinion writers try. [MORE] Momentum

THE BRIDGE WOMAN by Joyce Marcel DUMMERSTON, Vt. - Out there in America - yes, still - is a generation of women who were born in the 1940s, raised in the 1950s, and who came to radical consciousness in the late 1960s and early 1970s. I am one of them. Hillary Clinton is one of them. [MORE] On Native Ground

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:

WARNING: THIS MEDICATION MAY MURDER YOUR FRIENDS by Joe Shea BRADENTON, Fla. -- You've heard the warnings, haven't you? Stop Prozac and you may take a shotgun, an Uzi or an AK-47 and mow down your family and friends, or even a whole classroom full of your fellow students. You didn't? Well, that warning is not on the bottle, but like countless mass-murder incidents before it, Friday's shootings at Northern Illinois University, as well as the Virginia Tech shootings that killed 32 last year, was probably precipitated by the effect of stopping medications that suppress anger and other powerful emotions but do not relieve the underlying cause. Isn't it time we started warning people - or stopped prescribing these medicines? [MORE] One Woman's World

DON'T KNOCK ON MY DOOR by Elizabeth T. Andrews CARTERSVILLE, Ga. -- I wish I could feel delight in my poet's mansion being like Grand Central Station all the time, but I can't. And I wish my place was such a place that someone would one day write: "Her door was always open and she always made you feel all fuzzy and warm in her presence. She could make a cup of coffee seem like a banquet." [MORE] Reporting: Panama

PANAMA'S VIOLENT LABOR UNREST INTENSIFIES Mark Scheinbaum PANAMA CITY, Panama, Feb, 15, 2008 -- After just one day of relative calm, wildcat construction strikes by some members of Panama's largest union flared up again Friday morning, four days after a police sniper shot one worker. More than 140 demonstrators have been injured and at least 500 arrested, authorities say. [MORE] Brasch Words

TO STIMULATE ECONOMY, BUY A CHINESE-MADE U.S. FLAG by Walter Brasch BLOOMSBURG, Pa. -- Walking down Main Street, pushing a grocery cart loaded with clothes, toys, and appliances was Marshbaum. Fastened to the right front corner of the cart was an American flag tied onto a three-foot ruler. [MORE] Make My Day

THE TOOTH, AND NOTHING BUT THE TOOTH by Erik Deckers INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- To commemorate the death of noted shark exploder Roy Scheider, and the "Jaws" movies that resulted in Erik never setting foot in the ocean again, we are reprinting this column from 2003. Shark Experts 0, Sharks 1 [MORE] Momentum

THE WINTER OF MY DISCONTENT by Joyce Marcel DUMMERSTON, Vt. - As I write this, it's raining ice. Maybe a half a foot of snow and ice has already landed up here in the woods of Dummerston. Our cars are encased in it, and the door to the house is blocked. The satellite dish that brings in our Internet service quit about 20 minutes ago - frozen solid. [MORE] The Willies

AMERICA TO HILLARY: GET OUT! by Joe Shea BRADENTON, Fla., Feb. 13, 2008 -- Sen. Hillary Clinton has adopted the Rudy Giuliani strategy, and it's working - for Sen. Barack Obama. It turns out to be the strategy all Democrats are seeking - an exit strategy. But it's not for Iraq. It's for her exit from the race for the 2008 Democratic Presidential nomination. [MORE] Constance

CONFESSIONS OF A DISAPPOINTED VOTER by Constance Daley ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- A week ago at just about this time, I completed an article and was about to submit it as scheduled to The American Reporter. I was feeling rather elated, ready to show up on Super Tuesday morning, firmly touch the X next to Rudy Giuliani's name and get on with my day. He was my choice; he would get my vote. [MORE] Reporting: Florida

SIERRA CLUB SET TO SUSPEND FLA. CHAPTER by Joe Shea BRADENTON, Fla., Feb. 10, 2008 -- The national Sierra Club is set to suspend its Florida chapter after years of divisive infighting, the president of the national club told Florida members in a letter delivered to some this weekend. It is the first time in its 116-year history that such a step has been considered by the club, according to news reports. [MORE] One Woman's World

PLANT A NEW WORLD THIS SPRING by Elizabeth T. Andrews CARTERSVILLE, Ga. -- For a little while, the men will just have to toss and turn in their fear-free-women beds. For a small space of time Hillary Clinton will just have to trudge on toward the White House without my faint applause in the background. [MORE] On Native Ground

VERMONT AND THE 5 STAGES OF CONSERVATIVE GRIEF by Randolph T. Holhut DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- First, Vermont tried to convince the nation to impeach President Bush and Vice President Cheney. [MORE] Make My Day

REBEL WITHOUT A TONGUE by Erik Deckers INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- Kids' brains work in amazing ways. At times, they can grasp complex concepts and make impressive discoveries. Other times, you have to wonder how we ever survived as a species. [MORE] The Willies

FOR DEMOCRATS, NOW IT'S ABOUT RACE, INCOME AND GENDER by Joe Shea BRADENTON, Feb. 6, 2008 -- It's not a good time to be a Democrat. As the Super Tuesday results demonstrated, the presidential race between Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton has divided the partly along clear racial, income and gender lines - the very distinctions the party has sought to erase in principle but has emphasized in its pursuit of diversity. [MORE] Momentum

SUPER TUESDAY BLUES by Joyce Marcel DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Super Tuesday has come and gone and I still can't get excited about the upcoming presidential elections. [MORE] The Willies

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

DEATH OF A KEMUSU THUG by Andreas Harsono JAKARTA - A few minutes after hearing that former president Suharto had died in his hospital bed, Marco, a militia leader in downtown Jakarta, raced to Suhartos house, wearing his jungle camouflage and began guarding the Suhartos residence on Cendana Street. [MORE] Constance

I REMEMBER YOU by Constance Daley ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga.. -- It seems to be more often lately that the sentiment is spoken but it's always been out there: "You never get over the death of your child." This is true. But the heartfelt expressions come from some who cannot fathom the notion of losing a child; their own child is who is in their mind, not another mother's child. [MORE]
Looking for the perfect way to support your favorite nonprofit this year? Arizona Gives Day is today and this year more than 900 Arizona nonprofits are participating.

Arizona Gives Day is statewide day of giving hosted by the Alliance of Arizona Nonprofits and Arizona Grantmakers Forum. Last year, Arizonans donated $2,054,417 during Arizona Gives Day.

Prize money is available for the nonprofits that raise the most during the event. The prize categories are based on the annual revenue of each nonprofit. There will also be six power hours during the day during which the nonprofits that generate the most $100, $50 or $25 donations will win prizes.

Some of the local organizations listed as part of Arizona Gives Day include: Victim/Witness Services for Coconino County, The Arboretum at Flagstaff, Second Chance Center for Animals, Coconino Humane Association, Flagstaff Master Chorale, Flagstaff Symphony Association, Flagstaff Youth Chorale, Coconino Community College Foundation, Heritage Square Trust, Sharons Manor, Literacy Volunteers of Coconino County and many others.

A full list of nonprofits participating is at https://azgives.givebig.org/c/GivesDay/
It has been far too many years since the Woke theology interlaced its canons within the fabric of the Indoctrination Realm, so it is nigh time to ask: Does this Representative Republic continue, as a functioning society of a self-governed people, by contending with the unusual, self absorbed dictates of the Woke, and their vast array of Victimhood scenarios?

Yes, the Religion of Woke must continue; there are so many groups of underprivileged, underserved, a direct result of unrelenting Inequity; they deserve everything.

No; the Woke fools must be toppled from their self-anointed pedestal; a functioning society of a good Constitutional people cannot withstand this level of "existential" favoritism as it exists now.
Fund-a-Book 2018 Lucky Number 11

This year marks our eleventh acquisitions fundraiser (formerly known as Adopt-a-Book). Eleven is a lucky number for some of us at the American Antiquarian Society  including our newly appointed eleventh head librarian  and we hope that the following offerings will inspire you to add to our good fortune.

Due to the construction project on Antiquarian Hall, this years acquisitions fundraiser is online only. It is not our traditional Adopt-A-Book with donations that will sponsor a specific item, but rather a general call for assistance with acquisitions across all of our collecting areas. The items listed below are representative of our holdings in a wide variety of formats and subject matters. You can help us by clicking on any link to donate the amount of your choice toward a future purchase when funds are running short in the eleventh hour. Our goal? Eleven thousand dollars, of course!

All donations will be acknowledged on our website and in our annual report.

Over the summer we will post examples of the purchases funded by this campaign on this page.

Should you wish to make a special gift for a specific purpose or in honor of a birthday, anniversary or event please use our online form or mail a check to the American Antiquarian Society, 185 Salisbury Street, Worcester, MA 01609-1634.

Join us in 2019 when we hope to have both an online and in-person event in our new multipurpose room.
Immediately after the recent terrorist attack in Brussels, a number of market signals showed an increase in the probability that British voters could exit the European Union. Leaving the European Union will reduce the free movement of people into Britain, which some hope would reduce the threat of terrorism.

Britain leaving the EU, commonly referred to as Brexit, is very likely to have a negative effect on British corporations and U.K. banks. Additionally, because of how interconnected the world of banking is, large internationally active U.S. banks should also be wary of Brexit.

Alastair Winter, chief economist at the London-based investment bank Daniel Stewart, told me recently, "Over 40% of U.K. trade in goods and services is with other EU member countries," driving the conclusion "that corporates would be very affected" by Brexit.

In a recent report about the creditworthiness of British companies, Moody's stated that 'U.K. and non-U.K. companies could curb investments until the [Brexit] uncertainty is resolved. It is likely to take at least two years for the EU Treaty to cease to apply if the U.K. votes to leave and negotiating alternative agreements would be a protracted and complex process." Moody's has already warned that it could lower the credit rating of the U.K., since Brexit would slow down the U.K.'s growth even further. The downgrade would increase the sovereign's cost of borrowing and would eventually also increase the cost of borrowing of British corporations and banks.

According to the British Bankers Association's survey of domestic and foreign banks in the U.K., "almost 60 percent of banks that responded to the survey on the EU referendum believe Brexit would have a negative impact on their organisation, with 26 percent saying the impact would be significant."

British banks' earnings have already been under pressure because of the numerous fines that the banks have had to pay or for the provisions that they have set aside due to litigation costs. In a March 22 report, Moody's stated that "litigation and conduct remediation charges continue to pose downside risks for the U.K.'s five largest banks." The litigation charges for Lloyd's Bank, Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC and Santander U.K. have become recurring items and continue to affect their profitability, which Moody's says hurts their creditworthiness.

Although the risks of Brexit are playing out more directly in Europe, U.S. banks and their regulators should not grow complacent. The threat is very real here due to interconnections between the U.S. and British banking sectors. U.S. banks also lend to domestic and foreign companies that are counterparties to British transactions. Regulators and other market participants for too long have viewed country risk as emanating from emerging markets. But they might want to look across the pond.

According to data from the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council, 90% of U.S banks' foreign exposures are to U.K. corporations and banks.

U.S. bank regulators should exercise their authority to require the eight U.S.-based global systemically important banks to prove that they can quickly and accurately calculate their current credit exposures to the U.K. to provide certainty that they are sufficiently capitalized to withstand unexpected losses. It is these eight behemoths that are the most interconnected to both the British financial sector and the British economy.

In 2013, the international bank standards-setter, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, released the Principles for Risk Data Aggregation, commonly known as BCBS239, which provide guidance to banks and bank regulators to test banks' ability to calculate their credit, market and concentration risks in periods of economic or market stresses. Global systemically important banks are supposed to comply with these principles this year. The looming threat of Brexit presents regulators with a more immediate justification to ascertain whether banks can comply with the risk data standards promptly and accurately.

Meanwhile, several British banks  including HSBC, Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds  have a sizable presence here, meaning they are extremely interconnected not only to large U.S. banks but also to U.S. companies and individuals. It is imperative that U.S. bank regulators verify whether these banks are independently well capitalized and liquid. Should those U.K. banks run into Brexit-related difficulties, it is also important to determine whether they can provide guarantees to their U.S. subsidiaries, or whether it is actually the U.S. subsidiaries that would have to help their British parents.

U.S. bank regulators should also be monitoring whether internationally active U.S. banks and British bank subsidiaries in the U.S. are calculating increased risk in their portfolios influenced by Brexit. Increased risk-weighted assets would show bank regulators that banks need to increase their capital to survive unexpected losses.

When Lehman Brothers was imploding in August and September 2008, bank regulators asked major banks if they could calculate their risk exposures to the investment bank. Bank regulators discovered that banks were incapable of calculating those exposures in a period of market stress because of the banks' poor risk data collection and weak technological systems.

Banks regulators should not wait until Brexit materializes to test the capital resilience of U.S. banks and the U.S.-based subsidiaries of the British banks. We have already seen this movie and are still living with the bad ending.

Mayra Rodriguez Valladares is managing principal at MRV Associates, a New York-based capital markets and financial regulatory consulting and training firm.
When JPMorgan Chase recently launched a new website, Gavin Michael, head of digital for consumer and community banking, credited much of the success and speed (it took 18 months) of the project to the bank's recent migration to agile development.

Last year, when BBVA Compass opened a new operations center in Birmingham, Ala., it too signaled a commitment to agile development, and showed off a space redesigned with agile pods. Tangerine Bank and Capital One have also spoken of shifting to agile methods.

The benefits of agile development  a way of building software in small chunks and short spurts rather than in one big, long "waterfall" project  are well-known: faster-moving projects that are adaptable to change, collaborative groups, end-user feedback throughout the process, quicker successes and failures.

"You're designing at the same time as you're developing, testing and implementing, so it's much faster," said Jose "Pepe" Olalla, interim head of business development at BBVA Compass; previously he was BBVA's CIO for Digital Banking. "You work in what's called 'sprints' of two to three weeks, so every two to three weeks there's some kind of new capability."

The method has existed in some form since 1957; today's version dates to 2001, when a group of developers at a Utah ski resort published the Manifesto for Agile Software Development.

It raises the question of why banks are getting into this now.

One reason is that they finally can. In the past, banks beholden to old core systems written in languages like COBOL haven't been able to use agile methods. But for the many institutions that have either written middleware that links legacy cores to new front-end software or have created or bought customer-facing software written in more modern languages like Java, agile is becoming an option.

"As time moves on and legacy systems are replaced by new platforms built in more current languages, the opportunity to try agile methods of software development start opening up," said James O'Neill, senior analyst at Celent. "If I'm building something new from scratch, I can try agile methodology to do that."

Newer, more modern applications tend to be in the areas of mobile banking, online banking and payments.

Another reason for the shift to agile is the fact that banks are creating more of their own customer-facing technology that needs to adapt quickly to changes in customer preferences.

"The most relevant reason is we're producing more technology for our customers, and our customers have rapidly transforming demands," Olalla said. Agile "is the way you come out with a minimum viable product ASAP, you learn quickly from the customer response and you react quickly to generate new releases or new versions of the software."

Banks typically appoint a product manager to act as the voice of the customer and dictate customer needs to the programmers. This way, "developers aren't trying to guess what users need," O'Neill said.

A third motivation for moving to agile is it can help attract highly skilled developers. It more closely matches the skills and ideals of young developers.

"Developers now want to be in front of the customers, they want to understand what they're producing, who's going to be using that, what's the reason they're working," Olalla said. "They like to see on a daily basis what they produce, the reason for it, who's using it and what kinds of revenues it's producing."

Agile development also sidesteps the money pit of traditional software development "where you have this elongated, linear process of collecting requirements for software, then going to specifications and then building code, then testing it and bringing it to the user, only to find out it was a disaster and having to write off a big project," O'Neill said.

Agile methods allow a project to "fail fast." "If the project is not going anywhere, you haven't tied up a bunch of capital in a three-year program, you can figure out quickly what's not working and learn how to pivot from that initial failure toward something that makes more sense," O'Neill said. "That's the secret sauce of agile, the fact that development cycles are much shorter, and they can get real user feedback more often."

BBVA, Chase All In on Agile

BBVA started shifting to agile two years ago in Spain. In summer 2014, it brought the methodology to its subsidiaries in other countries. BBVA Compass in the U.S. has been working with agile for one year. About 50% of the U.S. unit's programming is done with agile development, Olalla estimated.

One example of an agile project at BBVA is the one that created BBVA Wallet, an app customers use to manage their payment cards.

"With agile methodology we could develop and very rapidly have new releases," Olalla said. "Now we have come out with a lot of other functionality like the ability to block and unblock cards, the ability to acquire a new card or cancel a card and the ability to convert a card payment into instalments."

JPMorgan Chase moved its digital team into new agile-friendly digs in December. There are pool tables, scrum rooms, and almost every surface can be written on.

"We've got multidiscipline teams that sit together; product design, technology quality assessment, all work together in relatively small teams focused around product features, and work on the requirements that result in a daily build,"said James Young, managing director and chief information officer of the digital group.

"Every day we can demonstrate an improvement to the site," Young said. "And every three weeks we've got a ship of a product. This translates into great predictability in terms of what we build."

Adjusting to Agile

Agile methods can bring culture shock to a traditional company.

Some departments adjust better than others, Olalla said. "Marketing fits perfectly, typically product design fits perfectly. Risk tends to fit quite well. Finance is more difficult," he said. "There are people who can't work in agile. It's something you need to learn over time and not everybody is willing. There are people who prefer to have clear job descriptions  this is what I'm supposed to do and this is what I'm supposed to produce, in a stable and predictable environment. In agile, things happen fast, you're a bit of everything in the team and you need to be willing to adapt to changes quickly, to work with uncertainty and be accountable for the results."

Unless the whole organization embraces agile, budgeting can be a problem, Olalla said. "If you still budget in the old way, it's difficult to budget for an agile team."

The flow of investment dollars is less predictable in agile projects than in traditional projects, O'Neill said. "It's a completely different mindset. I would understand why someone would have growing pains trying to manage it."

Also a challenge: banks' conservatism and risk-aversion. "Managers by nature can feel that in an agile project they have limited control, because it's injecting the basic principles of entrepreneurship into the process," O'Neill said. "It's not top-down management, it's almost bottom-up management. You have to have the right people making correct judgments on what's being built and when, and you have to trust that they're doing the right thing."

Misperceptions can make bank executives shy about doing agile. "Inside an institution people sometimes think, this is loose and people aren't paying attention," said Jason Alexander, head of digital platforms at Chase. "It's very disciplined, it's very structured, it's very methodology driven."

The banks making this shift are positioning themselves well for future relevance. If it's hard to find IT talent today, it will only get harder for those that cling to archaic software practices.

Editor at Large Penny Crosman welcomes feedback at penny.crosman@sourcemedia.com.


Delaware, whose business-friendly laws have lured more than half the country's publicly traded corporations and more than 60% of the Fortune 500 to incorporate in the state, is now vying to become a hub for blockchain technology.

Gov. Jack Markell is set to announce an initiative Tuesday to encourage businesses incorporated in the First State to develop distributed ledger and smart contract technologies through a suite of programs.

"We are laying the groundwork for a more modern, secure and transparent business environment for years to come," he said in a press release, which did not spell out what incentives the state would offer Delaware corporations to use these technologies.

The announcement comes as banks are cautiously investigating the potential of the blockchain  a decentralized electronic recordkeeping system that was created for the digital currency bitcoin but is now believed to have a variety of other applications. One such potential application is smart contracts  agreements in which some or all of the terms are automatically enforced by software, reducing (theoretically) the need to resort to courts.

Delaware is working with Symbiont, a startup focused on blockchain-powered smart contracts, and law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman's blockchain practice to develop the initiative's technical aspects and legal infrastructure, respectively.

The state historically has maintained a leadership position in incorporation services, making it "an ideal proving ground for smart contracts," Symbiont chief executive Mark Smith said in a press release.


Two appeals court judges raised constitutional questions Monday about the structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in the agency's case alleging that PHH Corp. accepted illegal kickbacks.

Judges with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia said that lawyers involved in the case should be prepared to answer several constitutional questions at the next hearing, including, "What independent agencies now or historically have been headed by a single person?"

The judges also asked, "If an independent agency headed by a single person violates Article II [of the Constitution]  what would the appropriate remedy be?"

The appeals court is expected to hear oral arguments in the PHH case on April 12.

One of the issues that PHH raised in its appeal of a $109.2 million judgment by the CFPB last year is whether the structure of the bureau violates the Constitution's separation of powers doctrine.

PHH's "argument is that the president would not have the ability under the constitution to remove the director," said Richard Horn, a former senior counsel and special adviser at the CFPB who now runs his own law firm.

"There is an inherent conflict between the statute that created the CFPB, which allows its director to removed only "for cause," and Article II of the Constitution, in which the president can remove any executive officer without delay, Horn said.

"It looks like the court is taking a narrow view and determining whether to strike the 'for cause' provision of the statute," Horn said.

The CFPB declined to comment. PHH could not immediately be reached for comment, and lawyers for the mortgage bank in Mount Laurel, N.J., did not return calls seeking comment.

Last June, CFPB Director Richard Cordray overruled the recommendation of an administrative law judge that said PHH should disgorge $6.4 million for its involvement in a scheme that allegedly violated the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act. Cordray expanded the scope of the allegations, ordering the firm to instead pay more than $100 million. Lawyers had expected arguments in the case to focus on the statute of limitations and Section 8 provisions of Respa.

Instead, the judge's questions renew questions about the bureau's structure.

"This order makes it clear the court is giving very serious consideration to the constitutional concerns around the bureau's structure, and they are considering what to do if they in fact find it to be unconstitutional," said Joe Rodriguez, who formerly worked in the CFPB's fair-lending group and is now of counsel at Morrison & Foerster.

The questions allow for a wide range of outcomes depending on what the court decides.

"The court could do something as easy and simple as removing 'for cause' provision, which makes Cordray or any future director removable for any reason," Rodriguez said. "That would be the easiest and cleanest way to deal with this if they find it is a violation."

Alternatively, the appeals court could find all actions of the agency are unconstitutional, at which point the CFPB would presumably appeal the case to the Supreme Court.

The three judges on the panel hearing PHH's appeal were all appointed by Republicans. Many GOP lawmakers have protested the CFPB's structure, arguing it should be headed by a five-person commission rather than a single director. (Other independent regulators  notably the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency  are led by a single director, while the Federal Reserve Board and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. have multi-person boards of director.)

The questions were asked by Brett Michael Kavanaugh, a protege of Kenneth Starr, who was nominated to the D.C. Court by President George W. Bush in 2003, and by Karen LeCraft Henderson, who was appointed to the court of appeals by President George H.W. Bush.

The third judge, Circuit Judge Arthur Raymond Randolph, was nominated to the court in 1990 by President George H.W. Bush.

Last July, the D.C. Circuit court unexpectedly reopened State National Bank of Big Spring's case against the CFPB, concluding the Texas community bank has legal standing to sue despite the fact that it is not directly supervised by the agency.

The court said the $340.5 million-asset bank's claims that the CFPB should be run by a commission rather than a single director and that Cordray was improperly appointed during a Congressional recess could move forward.


Its hard to believe but for the first time in her adult life, when Hillary Clinton referred to a preborn human being as an unborn person or child, the woman whos made prevarication a lifestyle choice actually spoke the truth. The problem for Sir Edmund Hillarys purported namesake is that truth telling is something she usually dodges like sniper bullets in Bosnia because of the potential that facts have to get her in trouble.

And trouble is exactly what followed when Hillary attempted to counter Donald Trump by trying to portray herself as the champion of abortion rights.

While being interviewed on NBCs Meet the Press, Hillary responded to Chuck Todd's question about the constitutional rights of the unborn by saying that the unborn person doesnt have constitutional rights. The problem with the former first ladys answer was that while trying to deny unborn personhood she inadvertently assigned personhood to an entity the pro-choice movement views as a nonviable clump of cells.

And so, it seems that while straddling the abortion fence, Mrs. Clinton got her designer pants leg stuck on a big old rusty nail. Of all people, Hillary should know by now that in pro-choice circles admitting preborn humanity portrays the slaughter of 3,000 babies a day in a distasteful light.

Then, Mrs. Clinton, who, when not getting $600 haircuts spends time rustling up votes by rubbing her pregnant daughter Chelseas belly like it was Aladdins lamp, went on to talk about the constitutional rights of unborn persons whose mothers opt not to abort:

Now that doesnt mean that we dont do everything we possibly can in the vast majority of instances to, you know, help a mother who is carrying a child and wants to make sure that child will be healthy, to have appropriate medical support.

So, after saying that an unborn person has no right to life or protection under the Constitution, Hillary awkwardly attempted to reassure women who choose to allow offspring to breathe outside the womb that the unborn person she just said had no protection will be protected under the law.

Talk about a quagmire.

Nonetheless, Hillary wants America to know that if she ends up in charge, and if a mother chooses not to exercise the right to legally murder her offspring, the law that Hillary claims doesnt protect an unborn persons life, will be enforced to protect the unborn persons life.

Then, with Chelseas swollen third-trimester belly as her muse, Hillary burrowed herself in deeper when she said, there is room for reasonable kinds of restrictions in the third trimester of pregnancy.

What? The woman who heartily supports partial birth abortion blurted out, clearly without thinking, that, on occasion, it might be better to not insert scissors into the base of the skull of a living baby who is halfway out of the womb?

Huma really should have reminded Secretary Clinton beforehand that in baby extermination circles, even implying the word restriction, undermines the cause for abortion rights. Thats why, Diana Arellano, manager of community engagement for Planned Parenthood Illinois Action, quickly responded to Mrs. Clintons comments.

Diana probably didnt like it either when the Planned Parenthood baby body part chop shop was called a baby body part chop shop, because Hillary labeling unborn persons as unborn persons really got under the manager of community engagements skin.

Arellano tweeted this about Hillary Clinton: she calls a fetus an unborn child & calls for later term restrictions, which, according to the Illinois Baby Chop Shop representative, further stigmatizes #abortion.

According to Arellano, butchering and then selling preborn infant liver doesnt stigmatize abortion. In Dianas opinion, what stigmatizes abortion is Hillary losing lip control and calling a child a child and then suggesting that murdering viable human beings should be restricted.

Now either unborn babies are non-persons and thus have no constitutional rights, or pre-birth existence does not negate personhood. If the latter is true, that means Hillary Clinton and the whole pro-choice movement have put all our lives in danger by eroding a constitutional right that was established to protect all life.

In the meantime, Mrs. Clinton has really got to figure out how to talk her way out of the abortion chaos shes gotten herself into. Maybe Mrs. Clinton should follow Donald Trumps example and just make it up as she goes along.

Hillary can start by clarifying what choice is all about and explain that what she really meant to say was that women who decide to terminate a pregnancy have the right to choose whether the unborn persons theyre planning to destroy are persons or not.

In fact, this may be a real opportunity for Hillary to turn a faux pas into an excuse to break new ground on behalf of the right to choose crowd. Mrs. Clinton can explain that if a woman chooses an abortion, only then is an unborn person considered a non-person. But, if a woman chooses to carry to term and give birth, an otherwise non-person is then mysteriously granted unborn person status and is, hence, constitutionally protected.

Either way, this is the kind of misunderstanding that results when Hillary Clinton loses her bearings and the truth manages to slip out. Thats why if the presidential hopeful wants to retain her faithful constituency, it might be best for her to continue to do what she does best, which is to keep lying.

Jeannie hosts a blog at www.jeannie-ology.com
The eternal frustration of every conservative is the way the public square is skewed in favor of liberals. Right-wing extremism is said to be a problem, but left-wing street riots are nothing but peaceful protest. We are to understand that anything less than a flat-out denunciation of loser David Duke and the pathetic remnants of the Ku Klux Klan is disqualifying while the accomplished racist agitator, Reverend Al Sharpton, gets White House invitations and fawning profiles in Vanity Fair.

We saw this game played on Friday March 11, when lefty protestors shut down a rally organized by presidential candidate Donald Trump. According to the mainstream media, the problem was Trumps violent rhetoric; thats what had provoked the Soros-funded protesters to their well-rehearsed rage. And the worst of it was that Trumps Republican opponents chimed in agreeing with the lefts violent rhetoric meme.

No wonder Donald Trump is the darling of the white working class. Hes the only man in town with the cojones to stick it to the liberals. If only he werent just winging it.

Nobody has done this since Vice-President Spiro Agnew infuriated liberals with his talk of the nattering nabobs of negativism and President Nixon rallied the silent majority. Notice what happened to those two who dared to stick their heads up above the cultural rampart. It wasnt pretty.

The awful truth is that nothing is going to change -- GOP establishment types are not going to get a backbone, real reform is not going to start until GOP candidates at all levels can confidently go on the cultural offensive and live to tell the tale.

Heres how that would look: GOP candidate goes on MSNBC and calls Al Sharpton a racist thug who incited a race riot against Freddies Fashion Mart, and the MSNBC host quails in terror and changes the subject. Bernie Sanders proposes free college and health care and GOP candidate fearlessly go on CNN and ask the host whether just the Koch Brothers and the One Percent are going to pay for all this free stuff. Then they drop the hammer. Free college means ordinary middle-class Americans forced to pay for a bunch of rich kids learning how to harass ordinary Americans and deny them their free speech rights while working-class Americans cant find jobs. This new generation of GOP candidates might well talk casually about trash Nazis, feminist Nazis, gay Nazis, and green Nazis, because calling liberals fascists would be wrong.

In other words, politics is downstream from culture, as Andrew Breitbart told us.

And not just Breitbart. In Revivals, Awakenings and Reform by William G. McLoughlin argued that great eras of reform are preceded by turbulent eras of religious revival, such as the Protestant Reformation that gave us the Thirty Years War, the Puritans, and the execution of the English Charles I; the Great Awakening that gave us the American Revolution; and the Second Great Awakening that gave us the end of slavery.

For lefties, the first great moral movement was the rise of the working class in the 19th century and the successful political reforms that gave us wage and hour laws, labor unions, and social insurance. It was following by the Civil Rights movement that brought traditionally marginalized groups like women and minorities to full participation in the political life of the nation and legislated equal pay, abortion rights and marriage equality.

Moral and cultural revolutions are one thing, but political reform involves government, and government is force. So any reform program is likely to provoke a reaction from the folks that find they are paying for the reform. The bourgeois revolutions in the years around 1800 advocated free trade and markets and named and shamed the poor with Poor Law reform. They provoked in England the Chartist riots of the 1840s. The Second Industrial Revolution provoked the industrial workers because industrial products were subject to international supply and demand. Workers rebelled against wage cuts and layoffs and heavy-handed attempts by their employers to respond to international markets.

You can see where our liberal friends might be sailing into danger. Their whole philosophy is that they are educated and evolved people who are thereby empowered to rule over us by regulation, executive action, and Supreme Court fiat. Opponents of their social agenda are racists, sexists, and homophobes beyond the pale and are to be fined and/or lose their jobs. But there may come a time when those racists, sexists, and homophobes might not like being oppressed and marginalized. They might decide to fight back.

For those offended by the crudities of Trumpism, think of the Trump phenomenon as a portent of the coming cultural revolution against liberal hegemony. It will empower GOP politicians from the president on down to rock loyalists of the liberal ancien regime right back on their heels.

Christopher Chantrill @chrischantrill runs the go-to site on US government finances, usgovernmentspending.com. Also see his American Manifesto and get his Road to the Middle Class.
Four murdered Americans among the thirty-five victims in Brussels and seventy-one murdered Christians in Lahore, mostly women and children, blown apart over the Easter weekend are representative of the true face of Islam and the severe existential security threat Islam and Muslims pose to America. Americans delude themselves by thinking otherwise. This is a threat that will only be made worse through the delay of commonsense action and the immediate halt of Muslim immigration into our country.

Americans cannot place any hopes on the elusive "peaceful" and "moderate" Muslims. While 70% of the followers of traditional Islam have been deemed "moderate" by leftist politicians and intelligentsia, far too often, the reality has shown us otherwise, and once described "moderates" are found in the ranks of "radicals," usually after another bloody terrorist attack and too late to do anything but collect the wounded, maimed, and dead.

If, as stated by a few U.S. senators, it is an insult to Muslims to advocate tracking Muslim refugees already here and to halt Muslim immigration for any period of time, then I suggest that Muslims stop murdering Americans. And for those who tell us to view the Muslim graves at Arlington, for each headstone, there are a hundred more Muslims who would happily betray America and see her destroyed.

Ali Mohammed, top aide to Osama bin Laden, immigrated to the U.S. in the 1980s from Egypt. He became a U.S. Army sergeant and an instructor at the JFK Special Operations Warfare School at Ft. Bragg. Then Mohammed went on to smuggle suspected terrorists into the U.S. through Vancouver, Canada. And in his greatest betrayal of this generous America that offered him so much, Mohammed trained El Sayyid Nosair and Mahmud Abuhalima, who took part in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

Brussels bombers Ibrahim and Khalid Bakraoui's plot to force a nuclear scientist to make a dirty nuclear bomb brings to mind the New Jersey al-Qaeda member Sharif Mobley, currently serving time on terrorism charges. Mobley worked in several nuclear plants in Salem County, N.J., and he had passed multiple federal background checks through 2008.

Muslims are the only people committing global wholesale murder in the name of Islam. They are the only people who openly proclaim their desire to kill Jews and Westerners. Muslims are the only people vowing to conquer the world. These facts are not irrelevant to America's immigration policy.

If every single Muslim grievance against the West and America were addressed and assuaged today, tomorrow a hundred more would be posited by the leaders of Islam, simply because we exist and are not Muslim. Anyone saying "we cannot afford to alienate" Muslims act as though it's America's fault that Muslim's attack us. Offend the Muslim world or not, Islam will always manufacture one more reason to attack America.

Noted by Kyle Shideler, over the last four decades, Shamim Siddiqqi, leader of the Islamic Circle of North America, has advocated subverting our republic by linking Islamist front groups to racial politics. During the 2015 joint conference of the Muslim American Society, an overt arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, and the ICNA, Khalilah Sabra, MAS leader, openly called for "revolution" as she discussed Muslim support for Black Lives Matter. Drawing parallels between the U.S. and the Middle East and events leading to the Muslim Brotherhood-led Arab Spring revolutions, Sabra suggested, "We are the community that staged a revolution across the world. If we can do that, why can't we have that revolution in America?"

Any Muslim calling for the reform of Islam, in the Western sense of the meaning of the word "reform," is considered a heretic. However, an infinitesimal number of liberal-thinking secular Muslims, such as Irshad Manji, Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, and Asra Nomani, are attempting to counter the integral violent doctrines and reform Islam. But any successes will be next to impossible to achieve, due to Islamic texts and the competing theological hierarchies of Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. And compounding the difficulty of their task, Saudi Arabia and Egypt are still exporting the virulent Wahhabi brand of Islam to 2,000 mosques across America. No one can reasonably expect Islam to achieve reformation in this lifetime or the next.

Perhaps millions of Muslims are already living peacefully with the rest of the world, the non-Muslims, the Christians, the infidels, as the Progressives and Muslim apologists would have us believe. But on the whole, I have yet to see it anywhere  not even in Jordan, where King Abdullah has called for "reform" and yet still allows the persecution of Jordan's Christian minority. And in the meantime, their "religion of peace" is awash in the blood of Americans, Europeans, Yazidis, and Christians and their fellow Muslims.

Where is the historical evidence of a mainstream "moderate" Islam or even Islam "the religion of peace" after Islam's first ten years?

Isn't it reasonable for Americans to decide who is allowed into our country? Isn't it logical to determine that banning the immigration of Muslim "refugees" will prevent many terrorists from entering America, too?

Americans have had enough of placing memorial flowers on the graves of their loved ones, who were murdered by Muslims seeking to impose Islam in the name of Allah. As Progressives and Obama lecture the rest of America on retaining our "American values," it becomes obvious that their "values" are a perversion of everything "American." Our American values are based on Western and Judeo-Christian principles, not Middle Eastern values or oppressive teachings of the Koran, whether Muslims like it or not.

Resisting a government utopian policy of open borders and coexistence that allows hundreds of thousands of Muslims to enter America and commit mass murder is not a "hate crime." It is our duty to prevent the murder of innocent civilians in America and to defend America and not let her perish. Here and abroad, we must fight or die.
The world has been horrified by the rapid growth of the mosquito-borne virus Zika that has spread through all of South American and has threatened the United States. The virus may cause birth defects in children and neurological problems in adults. The World Health Organization has declared a global emergency to deal with the virus as the world faces an increase in the widespread levels of the virus.

No one except certified lunatics or perhaps the villains in James Bond movies are likely to call for an increase in the Zika virus. But an unfortunately large number of people, neither certified or uncertified lunatics, are keen on spreading another virus, the cancer of anti-Semitism, that is spreading throughout the world. Yet, like Zika, anti-Semitism is a public health risk and requires a coordinated international response, including perhaps the WHO, and immediate international action. As in the case of Zika, finding a vaccine to counter the virus of anti-Semitism may take years but the task must be undertaken because the cancer is growing and must be eliminated.

It is true that in 1882 in his pamphlet Auto-Emancipation, the early Russian Zionist thinker and activist, Leon Pinsker, a physician, wrote that Judeophobia is a variety of demonopathy it is a psychic aberration and, as a disease transmitted for two thousand years it is incurable. Yet, if he were writing today he would search for a cure.

The concern and the search continue. At the Inter-Parliamentary Coalition for Combatting Anti-Semitism held in Berlin on March 14, 2016, the British Minister for Justice Michel Gove remarked that anti-Semitism is not just the oldest hatred in the world, it also a virus that mutates.

In Britain today the virus has found a home in people of all political persuasions.

Not surprisingly, the virus is in the usual places. In those of the extreme political right the long-held prejudices still remain and are rationalized in a new way. Fear of and opposition to globalization have been used as an excuse to revive and increase anti-Semitic attitudes. It is overwhelmingly evident that some part of the British Islamic community is prone to the disease. We hear that the Israeli Mossad killed Princess Diana, and that 4,000 Jews in New York were told to stay home on 9/11. The antagonism to Israel and to Zionist Crusader, is interrelated with anti-Semitic tropes.

From Karl Marx on there has been a strain of anti-Semitism in leftist circles. Even Wilhelm Marr, the man who coined the word anti-Semitism was a German leftist. What is distressing, though it should not therefore come as a total surprise, is the number of leftists, especially too many in the British Labour Party, who have succumbed to the disease. The carriers of the disease are gradually becoming known and they should be named to prevent others being infected. The irony is that these carriers always claim they oppose discrimination.

A few can be mentioned. We already know of Vicki Kirby, vice-chair of the Woking Labour Party who told us that Jews slaughter the oppressed. The former Lord Mayor of Bradford, Khadim Hussain, welcomed a cartoon complaining of the emphasis that schools were putting on teaching the Holocaust, on Anne Frank, and on the six million Zionists [sic] killed. On April 1, after he had been criticized, he resigned or was bidden farewell from the Labour Party.

A student named Rayhan Uddin, vice-chair of the London School of Economics Labour Society and member of the Labour Party is ambitious to become president of the student union at LSE. He did not win because he did not receive the necessary quota of votes. However, he knew that leading Zionists had taken over the union.

Beinazir Lasharie, a Labour councillor in Kensington, London, told us that many people knew that Jews were behind 9/11 and behind ISIS. Among the others who can be named are Gerry Downing (Zionists rule the world), Scott Nelson (the Israeli flag reveals a swastika), and Bob Campbell (the rat with the Star of David is the real plague).

Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the Labour Party, is not himself anti-Semitic and indeed has denounced anti-Semitism on a number of occasions. Nevertheless, he has mixed with curious company. One such is Paul Eisen, a Holocaust denier, who published an extraordinary work, The Holocaust Wars. In it he not only attempts to rehumanise Ernest Zundel, the notorious German promoter of Holocaust denial and Nazi supporter, but even the person of Adolf Hitler himself, the Nazi regime, and the German people. Eisen founded a group, Deir Yassin Remembered, a pro-Palestinian pressure group. He was also friendly with David Duke, former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard. He is pleased to announce he has also been friendly with Corbyn for 15 years.

Another individual who Corbyn has not repudiated is the hate preacher Shekh Raed Salah, head of the Northern Islamic Movement in Israel. He was imprisoned for funding Hamas, for links with an Iranian intelligence agent, and for a blood libel. On his visit to Britain in 2011 when the two met, Corbyn praised him as an honored citizen.

The most recent member, perhaps the most extreme, of this leftist group is Tony Greenstein, a member of the Brighton and Hove Trades Council, and other organizations. He was suspended from the Labour Party, but has been quietly reinstated under Corbyns leadership. He is a political activist focusing mainly on pro-Palestinian activity, as a founding member of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, and active in Jews for Boycotting Israeli Goods. He rejected the idea that comparing Zionism and the State of Israel to the Nazis was anti-Semitic. Indeed, according to him, Zionists collaborated with the Nazis.

Greenstein cannot be regarded as a model figure not only for Labour Party members but even for aspiring anti-Semites. He was arrested and found guilty for stealing a credit card and using it. At his trial he asked for seven other offences of dishonesty to be considered. At other times he was convicted of drug possession, and for damaging property at Sussex University.

Nevertheless, it is useful to peruse the Greenstein version of the truth, especially since he is both the son of an Orthodox rabbi and a law graduate. Critics are often Zionist scum, or Zionist idiots. The State of Israel has forbidden mixed race marriages. Israel has been responsible for the wanton murder of Palestinian civilians. Israel is a racial state, and miscegenation, the mixing of the races, is strictly forbidden in Israel. Zionists collaborated with the Nazis. All this from a law school graduate living in the civilized seaside town of Brighton!

The virulent disease of anti-Semitism must be eradicated. It should be the task of all political leaders, particularly a leftist leader like Jeremy Corbyn, not simply to criticize anti-Semitism, an action that is commendable, but also to distance themselves from the carriers of disease. Researchers throughout the world are seeking to find the formula for expelling the virus Zika. The political and social leaders of the world should similarly expel the carriers of the virus of anti-Semitism from all rational and respectable organizations.
Donald J. Trump is rich and therefore is a macroeconomic genius and Jedi mind trick negotiator who always wins. So we are told by his legions of anonymous prolific keyboard cowboys on the internet and a lot of talk show hosts who formerly understood economics. If this is correct, he certainly has a strange way of demonstrating that economic genius situation in interviews. This is especially true when he confuses trade deficits and government deficits, as he often does. Case in point is his recent sit down with Bob Woodard of The Washington Post, which I really look forward to parsing in a minute.

First, as a set up, my fellow American Thinker contributor James Lewis wrote this week that "our colleagues at National Review seem to despise Donald Trump, but they haven't really told us why." With all due respect to Mr. Lewis, and he is due a lot, they actually have told us why. Frankly NRO, including some of the 22 authors who contributed to their anti-Trump issue, lean too establishment at times for my tastes -- but truth is truth and over the past several months numerous contributors from David Limbaugh (defying his brother) to Andrew McCarthy (defying his friend and David's brother) to Kevin Williamson and Jonah Goldberg have indeed told us why. Often. Passionately. Completely. Logically.

I will continue to do the same, and I'll start with the fact that I indeed despise the idea of a Presidential nominee who seems to conflate trade deficits with budget deficits -- or at a minimum conflates countries doing business with private concerns doing business. The Socialists already have their entry on the Democrat side from this belief system.

And yet, that same intellectual SNAFU was merely one of the big piles of nonsense the Donald stepped in during the Woodard interview, and that fact cannot be changed by his net worth.

Here is just a snippet of their exchange, picking up right after Trump himself broached the subject of vaporizing the National Debt.

Trump: I think I could do it fairly quickly, because of the fact the numbers Woodward: Whats fairly quickly? Trump: Well, I would say over a period of eight years. And Ill tell you why. Woodward: Would you ever be open to tax increases as part of that, to solve the problem? Trump: I dont think Ill need to. The power is trade. Our deals are so bad. Woodward: That would be $2 trillion a year. Trump: No, but Im renegotiating all of our deals, Bob. The big trade deals that were doing so badly on. With China, $505 billion this year in trade. Were losing with everybody.

Oh dear, what a mess. Where to start?

First, Trump says that because we have a trade deficit with China that "we" are "losing to China." This is taken for granted by millions of economically challenged internet drones, not to mention a handful of rich talk show hosts who know better. And yet, this explanation is proof that any purveyor of this opinion doesn't understand trade. (Mr. Buchanan, call your office.)

First, "we" don't trade with China, or Mexico or Japan or anyone else. Free American citizens, American companies and American investors like to buy goods from these places. Are we to believe that we as citizens and business owners are too stupid to make wise decisions without Daddy Donald approving of our deal? Is it a fact that when an American company buys a foreign truck that will allow it to earn a profit and hire people and create equity in this country that someone is losing?

That is beyond preposterous on its face.

And yet, if you support Trump, or Bernie Sanders for that matter on trade, then you have answered, "yes" to the questions above, even if you don't realize it. Especially if you don't realize it.

What happened to liberty and the freedom to make buying and selling decisions that work for your company or your family? What happened to the notion that both parties in a deal can win? When I bought this laptop from the Apple Store, Apple won -- but so did I, as well as the American mall owner and the American sales person and the American Genius Bar employees who help me out.

This is called free enterprise.

I think it is illustrative, and disturbing, that Trump appears to think that there is always a loser in a deal. That's really not how most of the world works, and it certainly shouldn't be the driving principle behind government.

Secondly, it's apparent Trump thinks renegotiated trade deals are some kind of magic elixir that's going to rapidly solve our economic woes and allow many over taxed and over regulated companies to re-employ millions of out of date over paid and under worked union members in the Rust Belt.

It won't.

Even if it did, it would hardly move the needle on the budget deficit.

These workers were out of work because of the taxes, regulations and union work rules in the first place. That's where this needs to be addressed. And guess what? China didn't have a damned thing to do with any of it, and China's got precious little to do with any solution. China is not our problem. Our own liberalism is -- and China merely takes advantage of that. And yet Trump rarely if ever mentions any of that.

So not only is Donald's math absurd, his reasoning is out of the New Deal era.

Third, this notion that the President is in some smoke filled room hammering out trade deals with the Chinese, Mexico, Japan and so on as part of his job description is just, well, almost humorous. The idea that Super Trump could swoop in and make America great again instantly at the table is cartoonish. And yet, this is largely what passes for pro Trump economic discussion in many circles.

Fourth, the idea of cronyism and government picking winners and losers was at one point a major point of contention between conservatives and the establishment. There is no single issue that invites just this kind of picking of winners and losers than the ability to protect certain industries by levying tariffs on certain products. Most Trump supporters insist that Donald is going to jump out of his phone booth and blow up this whole system. He is this system, and his trade policies will by definition expand it. The arbitrary, or worse, corrupt hand of government will only expand under a President Trump.

And it's not just on trade. Trump is a reflexive liberal on almost everything and his solutions almost always originate in the idea of a powerful president using a big powerful government to do great things inspired by his amazing competence.

He demonstrated that again by attacking Scott Walker with only the finest Daily Beast MSNBC talking points. And who can forget Code Trump and 9-11? Or universal care in Scotland and Canada? Or ethanol in Iowa? Or calling Scalia a racist?

He comes from the left. It's his template and has been for decades. And dare I say it, this is precisely why I despise not Trump himself, but the notion of him as nominee. If this were not the case, I would welcome such an occurrence. I am pretty sure David Limbaugh, Andy McCarthy and others would concur. Agree or disagree, we have told you why.

Edmund Wright is a contributor to American Thinker, Breitbart, Newsmax TV and Talk Radio Network.
They're voting in Wisconsin today and for two candidates, it's a question of keeping their campaigns viable. Victories for Ted Cruz and Bernie Sanders won't materially change the race. Their respective partys' front runners - Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton - will maintain large leads.

But a loss by either candidate would weaken their argument for continuing with the race. For Sanders especially, who has won 5 primaries and caucuses in a row, it's vital to keep the Democratic party questioning whether they really want to nominate such a weak candidate in Hillary Clinton.

And given Clinton's huge lead in delegates, some believe Sanders must not only win, but win big.

The Hill:

But problem for Sanders, they say, is that it is not enough for him simply to eke out a tight victory in Wisconsin. If Sanders cannot win big in Wisconsin  a state that naturally favors him given it has an overwhelmingly white electorate and a proud progressive history  he might as well go home, said veteran Democratic strategist Joe Trippi. Its gotta be 10 points, Trippi said. If he cant win by 10 points in Wisconsin then where the hell is he going to make up the delegates? Sanders trails Clinton by nearly 300 pledged delegates, and because Democrats award delegates proportionally, Sanders needs to not only win states from here on in, but to beat Clinton resoundingly to close the delegate gap. In a recent interview with The Hill, Sanderss top strategist Tad Devine said the campaign had shifted to a strategy of winning states and proving that the Vermont Senator has appeal across the nation. Devine said the campaign is determined to press on and a Wisconsin win will provide another data point to tell supporters that Sanders is on a roll. Trippi said some voters might fall for that line and keep sending checks  Sanders raised an astonishing $44 million last month despite trailing Clinton badly in delegates  but while the strategy might keep Sanders in the race until the convention, he has no path to the nomination unless he crushes Clinton in Wisconsin and then beats her in the New York primary on April 19. Although Sanders has spent more time in Wisconsin over the last week than Clinton, there have been some concerning signs in recent days for Sanderss campaign, said Thad Nation, a Badger State Democratic strategist who is unaffiliated in the 2016 Democratic primaries. A rally in at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on Sunday night had an estimated 5,000 people attend but the Kohl Center venue had a capacity of 17,000 and expectations were that Sanders would fill it, particularly given the young demographic he attracts. Then, on Monday, Nation observed that the Sanders campaign had moved its Milwaukee rally at the last minute to a much smaller venue  a "very significant" change, he said.

Ted Cruz has his own challenges. He must break the Trump mystique and win a state with a large number of blue collar white voters - a demographic Trump has dominated elsewhere. If Cruz can demonstrate appeal across the board in Wisconsin, it will fuel his main argument; Trump is unelectable.

Trump hasn't helped himself this week:

Trump, who has steadily maintained he will pull off an upset victory in Wisconsin, has polled relatively stable at 30 percentage points but his popularity has hit an apparent ceiling, Franklin said, for three reasons. Wisconsins Republican elites and elected officials have coalesced around Cruz, and the states right-wing talk radio hosts have been pounding Trump since September for not being a true conservative. The conservative talk radio infrastructure in Wisconsin is among the most powerful and ideologically developed in the country and it is squarely against Trump. The third reason, Franklin said, is that Trump appears to have underestimated just how unifying and beloved a figure Gov. Scott Walker is in Wisconsin. Franklin said he cant figure out why Trump thought it was a good idea to come to the Badger State and attack the popular sitting governor. Going after a guy with an 80 percent approval rating is kind of puzzling, Franklin told The Hill on Monday.

And it's an open question whether Trump can put last week's unfrorced errors behind him:

In recent days, Trump has advocated for the spread of nuclear weapons to allies, reversing decades of U.S. policy; he stumbled over the role of the federal government, naming education and health care as key areas of needed involvement, before quickly walking his comments back. And, most notably, he said women who have abortions should be punished if that procedure is made illegal. He quickly reversed that position, saying he misspoke, but not before castigating both sides on the abortion rights issue. On Friday, in an interview with CBS, Trump dug himself an even deeper hole in the eyes of many Republicans, arguing that abortion should remain legal.

Trump did no damage to his base who will vote for him anyway. But if he expects to win, he needs to attract persuadables, including independents and more educated whites. Polls in Wisconsin are unreliable given the fast moving series of events that occurred late last week. But if Cruz wins big, it might give Cruz even more momentum in his hunt for delegates - something that is looking more and more crucial as Trump's chances of winning the nomination outright recede.
Iran held elections late last month. Headlines across the Western media loudly declared a victory for moderate electoral forces, with the implicit strapline that there is no longer an ethical case against doing business in Iran. This is music to the ears of would-be profiteers -- and their would-be partners in Tehran -- who are keen to get their teeth into the Iranian market.

The truth remains, however, that Iran is ruled by one of the worlds most evil regimes, and these elections do nothing to alter that fact. From day one of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, various factions of Western political elites have practiced willful self-delusion when it comes to Iran, insisting that moderates or reformists exist and are only an election cycle away from fundamentally changing everything. But this has always been a lie, and one which becomes more transparent and more farcical every time it is told.

Why Elections in Scare Quotes?

There were ballot papers, of course. But who was on them, and how did they get there?

The answer to that question tells you everything you need to know about democracy, Iran-style. Every single candidate running in these elections was vetted and pre-approved by a committee of six clerics and six sharia judges, all of whom are appointed by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

When more than half of the initial 12,000-plus parliamentary hopefuls are disqualified for insufficiently zealous loyalty to the regime, and when over 600 of the 800 candidates running for the 88-seat Assembly of Experts are purged for the same reason, the term election seems inappropriate in this context.

Why Moderates in Scare Quotes?

We already know that two former intelligence ministers, Ghorbanali Dorri-Najafabadi and Mohammad Mohammadi Reyshahri, ran for the Assembly of Experts on a list supported by Irans moderate president, Hassan Rouhani.

Irans democratic opposition, the National Council of Resistance of Iran, has repeatedly accused both of orchestrating the murder of political dissidents.

These are just two examples.

Former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, now the putative leader of Irans moderate faction, is wanted for questioning over his role in the 1994 Buenos Aires Jewish community center bombing that left 85 dead and hundreds wounded.

Ali Fallahian, another ex-spy chief who sought a seat alongside his fellow moderates in the Assembly of Experts (and failed, fortunately), is notorious among Iranians for stage-managing the horrific chain murders of the late 1990s. If these are the moderates, who needs hardliners?

What Does the Future Hold?

The Islamic Republic of Irans history is one of tyranny and terror, and its future holds more of the same in store. In the absence of genuine, free, and fair elections, anyone forecasting a brighter tomorrow is guilty of wishful thinking. Iranians are crying out for change -- major change, regime change -- but their elected representatives will continue to ignore them; their loyalty to the status quo has already been tested, and is assured. Even if it were not, Irans parliament, the Majles-e Showra-ye Eslami (translation: Islamic Consultative Assembly), has no real authority. As its name suggests, its role is that of an advisory council; a rubber stamp, in other words. So expect nothing new or different from Irans fundamentally unreformable regime.

Rather, expect it to continue its proxy wars against the United States and its Middle Eastern allies, using the windfall of billions of dollars from sanctions relief to purchase even more -- and more advanced -- weapons. Expect it to take further dangerous steps in defying non-nuclear-related restrictions, like the ballistic missile tests we saw after the nuclear agreement was sealed. And expect the appeasers in Washington to go on turning a blind eye to it all, waxing lyrical about the moderates that dont exist, and the reforms that never change anything.

Basiri is an Iranian human rights activist and supporter of democratic regime change in Iran. Follow him on Twitter: @Amir_bas
A warning issued by the Department of Housing and Urban Development yesterday points in the direction of eventually declaring criminals a protected class, the coveted status that gives a person more rights than ordinary Americans. Blake Neff of The Daily Caller News Foundation reports:

The Obama administration released a warning Monday telling the nations landlords that it may be discriminatory for them to refuse to rent to those with criminal records.

Now, technically, this is not (yet) making criminals into a protected class:

The Fair Housing Act doesnt include criminals as a protected class, but the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) says refusing to rent based on a criminal record is a form of racial discrimination, due to racial imbalances in the U.S. justice system.

This is the pernicious disparate impact theory in use. If a rule (or the rule of law) tends to affect a protected class (like blacks  for historic reasons) more than other groups, it is construed as discriminatory. Underlying this theory is the absurd contention that absent discrimination, every group would experience identical outcomes in every aspect of life.

And we are inching toward the contention that criminals -- a disproportionately black group  are now a protected class:

The Fair Housing Act prohibits both intentional housing discrimination and housing practices that have an unjustified discriminatory effect because of race, national origin, or other protected characteristics, say HUDs newly-released guidelines. Because of widespread racial and ethnic disparities in the U.S. criminal justice system, criminal history-based restrictions on access to housing are likely disproportionately to burden African-Americans and Hispanics. While the Act does not prohibit housing providers from appropriately considering criminal history information when making housing decisions, arbitrary and overbroad criminal history-related bans are likely to lack a legally sufficient justification.

What this means in practice is that if a landlord denies an apartment to someone with a criminal record, and expensive and tedious legal battle may lie ahead, with a thumb on the scale in favor of the criminal (who almost certainly will enjoy free legal representation).

HUD says that landlords may be allowed to bar those with criminal records from living in a facility, but they will have to prove that such a policy is necessary for protecting the safety of other tenants, and designed to avoid illegal discrimination. The new guidance recommends that landlords consider factors such as the severity of the criminal history and how long ago it occurred.

So rent to the ex-con or you might be in big and expensive trouble.

It is not many baby steps to people with criminal records enjoying more legal protections than upstanding citizens with no cirminal record and a racial, religious, or sexuality background that is not preferred by the left.
Hillary Clinton now has proclaimed that "an unborn person has no Constitutional rights." She used the word "person," not the preferred-by-the-left "fetus." Oops! Big mistake. The pro-choice crowd always refers to unborn humans as embryos or fetuses. Never are they actual persons; an unborn fetus is, most importantly, not a "child." Perhaps Hillary never accompanied Chelsea to an ultrasound or an HD video of Chelsea's unborn daughter. If she did, then she is a colder, crueler woman than previously known. No one who has had the privilege to watch her own child move about in utero, or a grandparent who has been fortunate enough to be present at these glorious moments, can come away from the experience and say that what they saw was not a very human life. If a person is lucky enough to see several, subsequent ultrasounds or videos of the growing baby in utero, he or she will be astounded, awestruck, by the humanity of that tiny person.

While ultrasound has been around since the 1960s, it was not routine here in the US until the 1980s. It has steadily improved in quality. By the late '90s, people could learn the gender of their babies, if the pregnancy was one of multiples, if the baby needed help (and surgical help could and can be provided in utero), or if the baby had special needs that would have to bee addressed at birth. In short, the technology altered forever the debate about when life begins. Now a pregnant woman can capture a high definition video of her unborn child moving about. Unless one has seen one of these videos, one cannot imagine the take-your-breath-away humanity of that tiny human.

Legally, Hillary is correct (for the moment); the law has yet to catch up science. But the technology has progressed so far beyond the law that her statement on Meet the Press was shocking. Hillary apparently still believes a woman should have the right to abort a child at any time throughout her pregnancy, right up to moment before delivery. Like Obama, who fought hard to defeat the Infant Born Alive act in Illinois, Hillary clearly feels nothing whatever about an unborn "person." Nothing at all. This is hard to imagine given the fact that she had to have seen ultrasounds of her granddaughter and that Chelsea is again pregnant. But then, accompanying her daughter to the obstetrician may not be in her wheelhouse. That she could say what she did was as blatantly cold and lifeless as a sixty-eight year-old grandmother "person" could possibly be. She is the most tone-deaf person in politics.

There is a federal law on the books that makes it a crime to cause the death of an unborn child, the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, 2004, which makes it a crime to kill, even accidently, an unborn child. If a drunk driver kills a pregnant woman and her unborn child dies, that driver is charged with a double homicide. But despite this law, the Obama administration has not charged Nidal Hasan with the murder of an unborn child amidst his slaughter of thirteen plus one. Like Obama, Hillary believes that unborn victims of violence are human detritus.

Hillary's contention that a developing human has no constitutional rights, given the technology we all have access to today, is depraved. She must not become the President of the United States, for this and countless other reasons.
Bernie Sanders is genuine left wing radical, and unless he has changed since the time he was mayor of Burlington, Vermont, believes that the shared misery of impoverished-by-communism Cuba is preferable to the unequally-distributed abundance of the United States. David Horowitz and others have made the point that unless a former communist explicitly rejects his former beliefs, you can assume that he or she still adheres to them.

In that conext, take a look at the excerpts from Sanders television interviews of yore dug up by Michael Moynihan of the Daily Beast and John Stossel, and aired on Stossels Fox Business Network show, showing Sanders praising bread lines as a good thing:
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Amazons Kindle e-book readers are some of the best-selling devices in the segment around the world. Originally introduced back in November 2007, the Kindles incredible initial success saw Amazon launching several variants and iterations of the gadget over the next few years, most of which have been well-received by the buying public. Now, according to tweet by the companys CEO, Mr. Jeff Bezos, the next all-new, top of the line Kindle e-reader is almost ready to be launched. The device will be the 8th-generation Kindle and is expected to be announced next week by the online retail giant. The upcoming e-reader will be a follow-up to the Kindle Voyage, which is the current top-shelf Kindle from Amazon and was introduced back in late 2014.

While Mr. Bezos has promised to reveal more details regarding the upcoming device next week, it isnt immediately clear whether the next-gen Kindle will only be announced next week or if Amazon will also make it available for purchase with immediate effect. Either way, with no way to know that for sure, those waiting to get their hands on the next-gen e-reader from Amazon will simply have to wait out the next few days to see what the Seattle, Washington-based online retail giant has in store for its customers. It will also be interesting to note the pricing of the upcoming device, as the Kindle Voyage can currently be bought at around $200 in the U.S. The 2015 Kindle Paperwhite, meanwhile, is priced at around the $120 mark currently.

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Talking about the pricing of various current-generation Kindle e-readers, Amazon Prime members are actually eligible for some pretty decent discounts on these devices. While a $50 discount on the Voyage takes its price down to $150, the Kindle Paperwhite can be had for as low as $90 if youre an Amazon Prime member. Whats more, the basic $80 Kindle also gets a $30 price-cut for those putting down the monthly fees for Amazon Prime membership, making it a steal at just $50. With less-expensive tablets becoming the norm, the company also launched a Fire tablet at the $50 price point last year, making it one of the best-selling tech items last holiday season.
When the iPhone was first getting off the ground it quickly became clear that the smartphone wasnt the device that locked people to one brand or another, but was more like the key to the wider ecosystem. This has led many to believe that its all about the ecosystem these days, and that locking users into a particular ecosystem is the way to keep customers hooked and to keep coming back to your devices. For Apple and Google, this is still true today, but Googles services are available on the iPhone just as well as they are on Android  give or take some deeper integration of Google Now and such. Microsoft, finding themselves with next to no presence in the mobile market, have discovered that playing nice with everyone else is not only a nice thing to do, but a damn fine business idea. Apple will never adopt this stance  and yet even Apple Music has an Android app!  so why is it that Google continues to treat Windows and its users so poorly? Surely, this has gone so far as to hurt Google more than it could be helping them?

If we take a look at the key Microsoft products that are now available on Android we can find great apps for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and of course, OneDrive. This is the same for iOS, and in fact Microsoft Office has become one of the more useful apps on the new iPad Pro. What about Googles services, then? Well, with the exception of the Play Store itself  and things like Google Play Movies and such  the majority of big-name Google services are well-represented on iOS. Including Maps, Gmail, Google Now, Drive, Docs and so on. There are often stories of updates hitting Google Apps on iOS before they do on Android, which understandably upsets some people, but Google sees apps on other platforms just another part of their whole; unless its a Microsoft platform.

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I have a Surface 3, after years of spending time with  some very good  larger smartphones masquerading as tablets I wanted something that I could do more with and a tablet thats also an x86 Windows 10 machine does that nicely. I use very few Google products on the machine, and aside from Google Chrome I have no other Google apps actually installed on my Surface 3. Because Google just dont make any. Searching the Microsoft Store for the word Google and youll only end up with a variety of third-party apps and one pathetic offering from Google that does voice search and wraps websites in an app wrapper. This doesnt make sense, aside from maybe the argument of Microsoft vs Google. I keep on thinking on to myself what Google really has to gain at this point by not making their apps and services better available on Windows.

When I got the Surface 3, I was given a free years subscription to Office 365, along with installations for two computers and 1TB of OneDrive storage space. So, I switched to Office, and I love it. My use of Office is fairly limited, but the tight integration with OneDrive on my Mac for work and my Surface 3 make it a no-brainer. Besides, Microsoft has made all of the services that matter to me available on Android as well, so OneDrive works well on Android as well as apps like OneNote and Word which I use frequently. As for Google Docs and Drive? Well, outside of work I have very little use for them. Google Drive works well on pretty much everything else but my Surface tablet, and when Microsofts services work well everywhere I work, why would I choose Drive and Googles offerings over Microsofts?

OneNote is a fine, fine example of how Microsoft can win new users over. It might sound like just any other note taking app out there, and in many ways it is, but it looks good, works well and is available on everything. Google Keep on the other hand is not only very basic, but if I wanted to use it on Windows or Mac Id have to use a web browser, and frankly not everyone wants to use a web browser for absolutely everything, no matter how good Chrome becomes.

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Googles model has always been one of making sure everyone and anyone can get to their products. The more eyeballs, the better. Gmail is an oldschool example of this, but a good one nonetheless. Ads in Gmail are what help Google offer a pretty excellent email service for absolutely nothing, and even so it runs brilliantly on Android and iOS as well. Try to get a Gmail account setup on a Windows 10 device however, and youll find no such dedicated app from Google  as there is on iOS  and setting it up in Outlook well, just wont work properly thanks to some mud-slinging from Google and Microsoft regarding authentication methods and security. The line starts to blur when we talk about things like Maps and YouTube, as these work well on the web, but again iOS has apps for these  good apps  and yet there are no apps for Windows.

Admittedly, Microsoft havent been all that helpful here. With the whole Windows 8 and then 8.1 debacle, developers have not had an easy time developing apps and programs for Windows these past few years. This is now changing with Windows 10, the code base runs the same on tablets and desktops now  thanks to the shunning of ARM chips used in tablets  and its not a lot easier to make an app for Windows that will work for all users of the platform, regardless of whether or not they spend more time in the Modern UI or on the Desktop, so the excuses that Google has are becoming less and less believable.

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Im not just complaining here, either. I make do with Google Chrome and the Desktop version of Gmail quite nicely, the same goes for Maps and pretty much anything else that I need. This sort of shunning of Microsoft by Google is beginning to wear thin, especially as Microsoft has thawed out since appointing Satya Nadella CEO two years ago now. Since then, Nadella has steered Microsoft into a company that is content to make their services available to all, no matter which platform theyre using, and its undeniable that this move is working well for them. There are more stories and more talk about Microsoft among Android or iOS users than ever before, and it seems as though were starting to see Microsoft in a similar light as we did many years ago. Microsoft is a big deal, they have great products to offer, and theyre finally figuring out how to offer them to people in a modern way, fit for the 21st Century.

Google, on the other hand, hasnt quite mastered that. We havent spoken about Windows Mobile here because really, whats the point? Even Microsoft has practically given up on a platform that never really stood a chance from the beginning, but Windows 10 is becoming a force to be reckoned with when it comes to tablets. If anyone was looking at a tablet to get work done and enjoy mostly all of the content that they want, they wouldnt choose an Android device. Why? Well, not only does Android still feel like a larger phone OS on a tablet  Android N cant come soon enough!  theres no need to go with an Android tablet to get all of the same Google services you know and love. You can go with an iPad Pro and get some pretty great Google apps or go the Windows 10 route and get many Google services through the web. This is perhaps the crux of the matter, not many people choose an Android tablet anyway, so for Google to keep services away from Microsoft just pushes people towards an iPad, and why would anyone want to do that?

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Its clear that getting services on to Windows 10 isnt a priority for Google, and for Desktop users it doesnt really make much of a difference, everything is done through a web browser. For tabelt users however  of which many are choosing Windows 10 devices  Google is simply missing out on more eyeballs, and if Android N doesnt save Android tablets from increasing irrelevance, then Google will sorely miss those eyeballs.
Throughout the past several years Lenovo has been one of the main suppliers of Windows-powered 2-in-1 convertible tablets; a concept that is relatively new and one that has increased in popularity along with Microsofts own Surface tablets. Interestingly enough, however, a series of recent leaks and rumors suggests that Lenovo might be planning the release of a new 2-in-1 convertible powered by Android OS, as opposed to Windows 10. As yet the slate is referred to as the Lenovo Yoga Book, and much like most other Lenovo Yoga 2-in-1s powered by Windows, the so-called Yoga Book seems to feature the companys intricate, proprietary hinge that allows for multiple ways of usage, including laptop, tablet, stand, tent and so on.

To be precise, at the moment theres no official word regarding the release of the fabled Lenovo Yoga Book, but earlier this week the convertible was pushed back into the spotlight by the official website of Red Dot Design Award, where a brief explanation has been given regarding the 2-in-1s design. As detailed by the source, the Lenovo Yoga Book features a 3-axis hinge that allows the screen to be flipped at up to 360 degrees around its axis. Not unlike other Yoga models with a similar hinge, the Yoga Book also adopts the companys proprietary self-flattening keyboard design to prevent unwanted key strokes in modes other than laptop. The Red Dot award website also mentions that the Lenovo Yoga Book should offer more than 15 hours of usage, and reveals that all of the tablets components are wrapped in a profile measuring only 9.6 mm in thickness.

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The source didnt reveal any other details in regards to what might make the Lenovo Yoga Book tick; however, assuming that the convertible mentioned by Red Dot is the same Yoga Book that leaked over the past several weeks, the slate should make use of an Intel Atom X5-Z8500 Cherry Trail CPU, 4 GB of RAM, a 10-inch display with a resolution of 1920 x 1200, and 32 GB of internal memory. The convertible should also offer GPS, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi connectivity, and once again, it is expected to run Android OS. Availability details are lacking, but the fact that the convertible was mentioned by Red Dot might suggest that an official release could be just around the corner.
Of all the processor manufacturers, Intel does seem to be the one which is finding it hardest to establish its place in the mobile market. While Samsung, Huawei and LG, all have their own devices to showcase their processor capabilities, Intel does not. Likewise, Qualcomm is relatively the go-to manufacturer for many smartphone brands, just as MediaTek has become for a number of Chinese and mid-range brands. Again, leaving Intel with little room to find their position and this is in spite of the company making it clear how much they would like to get more involved in the mobile chip sector.

On that note, an interesting announcement came out of Intel today and it could be one which provides some insight into the workings of the mobile chip division going forward. The announcement from Intel came as a joint release from Dr. Venkata Murthy Renduchintala and Brian Krzanich. While the later is the known CEO of Intel, the former is a hire who arrived from Qualcomm a few months back and is now President of the Client and Internet of Things (IoT) Businesses and Systems Architecture Group. A group which was specifically formed upon Renduchintalas arrival and includes aspects like the Client Computing Group and their Internet of Things Group. Of which, the announcement today detailed that Kirk Skaugen and Doug Davis are both leaving the company. The two SVPs for the two Client and Internet of Things (IoT) Businesses and Systems Architecture Group sub-sections mentioned.

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As a result, it is hard to ignore the relationship between these two aspects. The fact that shortly after Renduchintalas arrival at Intel, two of the SVPs of groups within Renduchintala broader division are leaving does suggest that this is part of a bigger shakeup that the ex-Qualcomm hire is looking to bring about. Especially as Skaugens department was focused on the mobile chip side of things. Of course, whether this is the extent to the shakeup or whether this will lead to most announcements in the near future, remains to be seen. Especially as it is not the only Intel mobile-related departure that has been talked about recently. However, the announcement does detail that Davis is retiring and Skaugen from April 8th is moving from Intel to an unspecified next career opportunity. Following which, Navin Shenoy will take over the Client Computing Group.
It seems that the Big Three  Rogers, Bell or Telus  in Canada are always changing their plans or data services, and that is usually not a good sign for the customers. Our source had information that Bell is going to change their data overage amounts from $.05 per megabyte to $.06 a megabyte and will be amending the names of their plans  effective today. Today, Bells website was updated to reflect those changes, and while the increase in data overage pricing is higher priced than either Rogers or Telus, who remain at five cents, the renaming is less confusing for potential customers and a welcomed change.

The top tier for Bells flagship smartphones  read that as Samsung Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 Edge, the Galaxy S6 series, Galaxy Note 5, iPhone 6S, Nexus 6P, LG G5, etc.  on a two-year contract changed from a Plus to Premium Plan. There you have a choice of a $60 per month plan with unlimited local calling or a $65 per month plan with unlimited nationwide calling. Both plans include unlimited nationwide text, picture and video messaging, unlimited access to Canadas largest WiFi network including McDonalds, Tim Hortons, Indigo and Chapters locations, where applicable. You also receive Call Display, Message Centre, Conference Calling and Call Waiting. There is a one-time connection fee of $15 and an SIM card charge of $9.95 that may apply. After you chose the plan, you then must pick your data allowance for each month  500MB for $20 per month up to 15GB for $100 per month, with the most popular selection being 2.5GB of shareable data for $35 per month.

Bells Lite Plans for a mid-range smartphone  iPhone 5S, Samsung Galaxy S5, Galaxy A5, Moto X Play, Sony Xperia M4 Aqua, etc.  are just called their Smartphone Plan. They cost $55 or $50 per month depending on whether or not you get unlimited nationwide calling or local calling. The remaining options are the same as the Premium Plans, as are the data buckets and pricing. The last share plan is now called BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) and Bell is charging the same as they would for a Smartphone plan  $55 or $50 per month. The Premium and Smartphone Plans offer a bonus access to Mobile TV for 24 months for a two-year term, but there are a few restrictions in the fine print.
Late last year, Canadian smartphone manufacturer and specialist security software company, BlackBerry, released their first (official) device running the Android operating system. This is the BlackBerry Priv, based around a 5.4-inch, QHD high resolution curved AMOLED panel and powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 System-on-Chip, which is clocked at up to 1.8 GHz. The Snapdragon 808 is backed up by 3 GB of RAM and the Priv has 32 GB of onboard storage plus a microSD card slot. The Priv comes with an 18MP Sony sensor rear camera and a high capacity battery, which supports Qualcomm QuickCharge and for some models, a wireless charging back. When BlackBerry released the Priv, it was made available running Android 5.1.1 Lollipop with the promise of Android 6.0 Marshmallow to follow early in 2016. The final detail of the device is that it comes with a touch-sensitive slider keyboard design, which may be used as a cursor or mouse pointer, or to scroll around the operating system and applications.

When initially released, the BlackBerry Priv was an exclusive handset to North American cellular carrier, AT&T, although customers could also buy the unlocked device from the BlackBerry website. After the initial sixty days the device was made available with other carriers but the unlocked model has continued to be available from BlackBerry plus other selected retailers. However, the standard, non-offer price of $699 in the US, 559 in the United Kingdom and 779 in Continental Europe (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and The Netherlands), has remained. Whilst it has only been around six months since the Priv was released, we have seen a number of high end competitor devices released in this time  most notable the Samsung Galaxy S7 family and the LG G5. The BlackBerry news today is that the company has dropped the price of the BlackBerry Priv across these three regions.

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In the US, the price has dropped by $50 to $649; in the UK the price has fallen by 40 to 529 and the drop in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and The Netherlands is 50 to 729. This is a permanent price drop and takes effect immediately. Alongside the price drop, BlackBerry has reaffirmed that the update of the device to run Android 6.0 Marshmallow will follow later in the year. We are already some months behind the initial estimate that Android Marshmallow will be available in February for the Priv, although it does seem likely that further Marshmallow developments will come through soon enough.
Samsung has introduced the companys new flagship devices back in February during the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona. The Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge have, since then, been released for sale, and according to reports, the sales are going better than expected for the South Korea-based tech giant. These two devices are currently available in a number of regions around the world, and even though it has been quite a while since they were announced, new coverage still keeps popping up, read on.

The Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge have been tested in various ways, reviews to the side, these two phones have been submitted to various durability tests, water resistance test and T-Mobile even unboxed the phone under water, which managed to surprise quite a few people. Anyhow, these two phones ship with IP68 certification for water and dust resistance. This essentially means that the devices can be submerged up to 1.5 meters for 30 minutes, according to Samsung. Thanks to a number of various tests, it was concluded that Samsungs statement is true, but that was not enough for some people. I bet you were wondering if the Galaxy S7 can be submerged for much longer than 30 minutes, well, were about to find out.

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If you take a look at the embedded video down below, youll get to see a test performed by Unbox Therapy, during which the Galaxy S7 Edge was submerged for 16 full hours. Now, this is obviously not recommended by the company, and youd expect the phone will die after such prolonged submersion. So, did the Galaxy S7 Edge stop working after a while? Well, no, it did not, the phone managed to survive all 16 hours it was submerged, and it still functioned perfectly it seems. You, of course, cannot charge it right away, but then again you cannot do that even after a short dip in the water. This sure is a testament to Samsungs build, even though we do not recommend anyone leave the phone in water for such a long time, of course. Anyhow, take a look at the video down below in order to see this test for yourself.
Huawei has made significant progress in the smartphone market, making its way to the third position in the world, leaving behind big names such as LG. In 2015 the company sold more than 108 million smartphones and for this year the Shenzhen-based giant is already gearing up its war equipment to battle the fierce competition of Samsung, Apple and other manufacturers in the high-end segment. One of the phones that are expected to be launched in just a few days is the Huawei P9 and much is (probably) known about the handset thanks to several leaks appearing online in the past few months. One recent leak revealed benchmarking results from AnTuTu, showing the hardware the P9 will have under the hood, and today another benchmark test was leaked giving more light on the matter.

The test shows the P9 running the Kirin 955 chipset, a processor made by Huawei itself through their subsidiary HiSilicon. This is an octa-core beast that runs at 2.5 GHz and is composed of four ARM Cortex-A72 and four Cortex-A57 cores to provide optimal performance on low and high processing power tasks. Previous AnTuTu tests revealed a score of 96,043 points, which is a respectable number, meaning the handset isnt likely to stay far behind other flagship phones, at least in raw processing power. The model tested has 32 GB of internal storage and 3 GB of RAM in tow and it is said that there will be a 64 GB version that will ship with 4 GB of RAM. The screen has 5.2 inches and has a Full HD resolution (1080 x 1920 pixels) display. The chosen resolution might seem inferior to the QHD of current flagship phones from Samsung or LG, but it is important to note that the higher the resolution, the higher the power consumption. That said, with a 2900 mAh, the P9 might manage to provide a significant usage time otherwise not possible with a QHD resolution with the same amount of battery capacity.

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A recently leaked press render shows that Huaweis new flagship phone will feature a dual-camera setup on the rear and these sensors will sport the Leica branding. Additionally, it will have a metal body and other features include a pressure-sensitive display, fingerprint reader on the rear and a laser autofocus near the dual-camera set. The device is just two days ahead, as it is expected to be revealed on April 6th, and we shall see everything that Huawei has been working on for this device very soon.
It is no secret that virtual reality (VR) is the next big thing. In fact, it seems to be one of the most currently discussed topics in the tech world. Not to mention, a large number of manufacturers and content providers are already looking to bring their options to the market, with the most recent of which, the HTC Vive, said to be now shipping out to buyers.

With VR being a market that is considered to be an important one, it is probably not that surprising that Google is already heavily investing in the platform. They were one of the first to bring about a more affordable version of virtual reality with the introduction of their Cardboard headset and many rumors are pointing to an increased level of attention from Google at this years I/O event in May. However, what might be surprising is that it seems Google does not view VR as the most important industry of now, but instead as a stepping stone to their real ambition, augmented reality (AR).

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At least that is what is coming from a new report this week from The Information. According to the report, sources have revealed that both Sundar Pichai and Clay Bavor have privately made it clear that augmented reality is where the future is for Google. Specifically referring to the platform as mixed reality, with the idea being that a reality which fuses digital information and images with the real world is where the market will be in the future. While this might sound somewhat like Google Glass, it is worth keeping in mind, that this information and images is likely where Google can profitably position themselves within the reality market. In fact, we have already started to see instances of what Googles view of augmented reality could be like. Of course, this is all someway off becoming a real-world industry, although the report does make it clear that the AR-focus is at the back of Googles mind in terms of the direction in which the company is looking to proceed in the long terms. However, while technology catches up and the specifics of how to bring about a mixed reality are finalized, it does seem clear that Google will continue to focus on virtual reality, much like the rest of the industry.
Samsung, who is the largest smartphone maker (with Apple not far behind), has been posting some pretty bad quarters in the past year or so. Now for any other manufacturer, these numbers would be fantastic. But for Samsung, they are less than stellar. Last week, CNBC actually noted that Samsung had shipped about 10 million Galaxy S7 units (it was not specified whether that included the Galaxy S7 Edge as well), and many began to speculate that Samsung would have a fantastic Q1, seeing as the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge launched in the beginning of March, giving them almost a month to sell these two flagships.

There are a couple or reports coming out of South Korea this week stating that the earnings for Q1 may not be as great as expected. One report is stating that the Display arm for Samsung is going to have a much wider loss than expected. The loss was expected to be about $174 million, but now it looks as if it could be as much as $521 million. Keep in mind that these are reports, and not official from Samsung. The other report, and perhaps more important for Samsung, is that their sales in China are still falling. In 2013, the company made 40.15 trillion won in China. In 2015, they tallied sales of about 30.98 trillion won. Thats around a 10 trillion won decrease in just two years. With the current currency rate, $1 USD is equal to about 1,155 Korean won. So while 9.17 trillion won sounds like a big number, in reality its actually much lower. Thats close to $8 billion that Samsung has lost in sales in just two years. Seeing a decline of 22.8% in the last two years in China. Samsungs overall sales decline was 12.3% for the same two years. Additionally, Samsung dropped to fourth in market share in China with 7.7% in 2015.

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Samsung is not alone in seeing sales decrease in China. With the amount of competition in China, many of the global players  LG, Sony, HTC, etc  have seen their sales decline in China. Perhaps the only one to see less of a decline is Motorola, and thats due to their owner Lenovo being from China. There is a ton of competition in China right now, with manufacturers like Xiaomi, Meizu, Elephone, ZUK, and many others leading the charge there. Not only are they putting out great devices, but they are also putting them out much cheaper than what Samsung can do. Largely because their products are entirely made there, so its cheaper to sell.

Guidance for Q1 2016 is slated to come out from Samsung on Thursday, April 7th. So we should know a bit more from Samsung later this week and see how bad of a quarter they are expecting. This will just be guidance for the quarter, as its a bit too soon to put out earnings for that quarter, seeing as it just ended on March 31st, 2016.
There are plenty of reasons to consider making the Samsung Galaxy S7 or Galaxy S7 Edge your next flagship phone, one of which could be the fact that Consumer Reports recently gave the handset the best smartphone rating. Otherwise, the Samsung Galaxy S7 series is equipped with a very powerful camera; it has expandable storage and waterproof capabilities, and thanks to the inclusion of the Vulkan API along with a Snapdragon 820 / Exynos 8890 SoC, the new flagship might also be the best choice in terms of mobile gaming. Samsung went to extra lengths to promote mobile gaming on the new Galaxy S7 series, offering enthusiasts additional gaming-related features such as a Game Launcher and a handful of Game Tools for capturing screenshots and recording gameplay. Even more recently, the Korean tech giant created a so-called Galaxy Game Pack bundle for the new Samsung Galaxy S7 lineup, which includes a handful of iconic titles you might not want to miss out on.

Owners of the Samsung Galaxy S7 or Galaxy S7 Edge who might not be familiar with mobile gaming might find themselves overwhelmed by the countless titles available for download on the Google Play Store. To help users finding and experiencing some of the best games the mobile market has to offer, Samsung is now offering a Galaxy Game Pack designed for the new series of flagships, which includes a handful of free titles from a wide variety of genres. The list includes adventure games such as BADLAND and Gods of Rome, puzzle titles like Cut the Rope 2, and city builders including Township and SimCity BuildIt. Racing fans can experience high-speed chases combined with aerial stunts by downloading Asphalt 8: Airborne, and Star Wars enthusiasts can embark on a journey in a galaxy far, far away by giving Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes a try. Last but certainly not least, its worth noting that Samsung also promotes Blizzards iconic trading card game, Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, which was originally launched on PC, and later released on both iOS and Android.

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Samsungs Galaxy Game Pack contains several other titles unmentioned in this article, so feel free to check out the source link below for a closer look at some of the few mobile games you can play on your Samsung Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge for free, today.
Google has been working at making self-driving cars a reality since 2009, testing and building away while making little progress in talks about regulations that would help them get this new product out of test labs and designated streets and into the commutes, driveways and hearts of the buying public. All of that has been changing recently, however, with big wigs like U.S. Department of Transportation head Anthony Foxx getting involved, and even President Barack Obama finding opportunities to say a few words on the matter. Its easy to think, at this point, that by the time Google has self-driving cars ready for public use, the law will accommodate them. Unfortunately, thats not the state of things at the moment; in essence, self-driving cars are going to require either the rewriting and amending of numerous existing laws, or an entire framework of laws to be written in conditionally. Either method will obviously take a lot of time, effort and, more than likely, money.

On that subject, Google has seen more than their fair share of ups and downs. With testing going swimmingly in most areas, its safe to say, at this point, that the long arm of the law is likely to end up being their biggest hurdle to public deployment. While Canada is a bit divided on the issue but has welcomed the cars for testing, Google got a bit of a stinger from their home state of California, saying that self-driving cars were cool, but only if humans could intervene at a moments notice. For the most part, this is the state of current laws nationwide and it largely defeats the point of a self-driving car. With the laws as they are now, the idea of unowned self-driving cars driving down transport costs and giving more freedom to those who cant drive is a bit of a pipedream.

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There is some progress being made toward bringing the law up to snuff and setting the stage for Google to roll out self-driving cars the way they planned and spark a revolution, but it will take time. The Federal D.O.T., according to a ruling, has until July to get it together and lay out some ground rules for Google to comply with on a nationwide level. This doesnt, of course, negate the authority of individual states, counties and cities to legally limit the usefulness and scope of self-driving cars as a concept. In order for everything to be set up properly for optimal integration of self-driving cars into the nations existing transportation framework, a great deal of current laws would have to be altered, which could take a good few years.
Xiaomi has been around since 2010, and the company sure has managed to achieve a lot in 6 years. Theyve not only managed to become Chinas number one smartphone manufacturer (in less than 5 years), but also intrigue consumers outside of Asia, and in a way re-define what an extremely smartphone can do. That being said, Xiaomi is not only a smartphone manufacturer, they tend to sell various other smart devices, ranging from tablets and fitness trackers, all the way to smart scales and smart rice cookers.

Well, this new product definitely comes as a surprise, and is a result of a partnership between Xiaomi and Hasbro, a US-based toy company. Hasbro has partnered up with Xiaomi and released, believe it or not, a Mi Pad transformer toy. This toy is called Soundwave: Mi Pad 2, and it can transform into a 9.7-inch tablet. Despite the fact this tablet is not functional (of course), this is rather interesting and definitely a surprise. When the tablet transforms, it becomes a Decepticon, which is a term that might not be familiar to those of you who dont know much about transformers. This toy is based on a Transformers cartoon which originally aired back in the 80s, but is still quite popular in Asia, not the movies directed by Michael Bay which have been arriving for years now. Decepticons are included in the movies as well, but the character design is definitely based on the 80s cartoon series. For those of you who might be wondering, no, this is not a piece of tech of any kind, its just a toy, theres no battery, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or anything similar on the inside.

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That being said, some of you are probably wondering how much does this toy costs? Well, this Mi Pad transformer toy is priced at 169 Yuan in China, which translates to $26 dollars. That is pretty much it, if youd like to take a closer look at this product, take a look at the gallery down below. It will surely going to be interesting to see how well will this toy sell in China, it sure is an interesting move by both Xiaomi and Hasbro. We still dont know if the two companies intend on selling this toy outside of China, but well let you know if any additional info surfaces.
Panama Papers: the murky world of newspapers and dictators

Youve heard news of the Panama Papers. The Guardian is hot for them:

In the files we have found evidence of Russian banks providing slush funds for President Vladimir Putins inner circle; assets belonging to 12 country leaders, including the leaders of Iceland, Pakistan and Ukraine; companies connected to more than 140 senior politicians, their friends and relatives, and to some 22 people subject to sanctions for supporting regimes in North Korea, Syria, Russia and Zimbabwe; the proceeds of crimes, including Britains infamous Brinks-Mat gold robbery; and enough art hidden in private collections to fill a public gallery.

Can it be that the corrupt are corrupt? As the Guardian studiously ignores its own off-shore tax arrangements, the Mirror leads with Davids Camerons link to the Panama Papers. It asks: So, do you STILL have family money stashed in a secret offshore tax haven, Prime Minister? To which you might asks, Does the Mirror have any investigative journalists or is it all clickbait?





Before more on Cameron, a few words on the source. The 11.5 million documents were leaked by someone at Panama-based law company Mossack Fonseca, and shared with more than 370 journalists affiliated with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

The ICIJ is the watchdog journalism branch of the Center for Public Integrity, a Washington nonprofit, nonpartisan investigative group.

And:

Founded in 1977, Mossack Fonseca is headquartered in Panama but has a presence in dozens of countries including known tax havens such as Switzerland, the British Virgin Islands and Seychelles. It specializes in helping companies and individuals set up offshore, tax exempt entities, according to its website, and is reportedly the worlds fourth largest provider of such services. According to the Guardian, one of the two U.K. publications that partnered with the ICIJ in the investigation, one of the firms partners said in a leaked memorandum that ninety-five per cent of our work coincidentally consists in selling vehicles to avoid taxes. Mossack Fonseca has strongly denied any wrongdoing, saying in an initial statement to ICIJ that it conducts a thorough due-diligence process before helping to incorporate companies. The company also provided a more detailed response, which can be read in full here.

The leak is the biggest in history, greater than the cache of documents released by Wikileaks, and contains information from 1977 to December 2015, including the details of 214,000 entities, such as trusts, foundations and shell companies that can be used to hide the true ownership of assets.

Back to Cameron. The Times also leads with the Cameron link. And its a good read:

Blairmore Holdings, set up by Ian Cameron [Daves dad] in 1982, held board meetings abroad and allegedly placed up to 50 Caribbean officers including a lay bishop in executive positions to legally avoid being taxed as a British company. The Bahamas-based investment fund, which managed tens of millions of pounds on behalf of wealthy families, used anonymous bearer shares to shield its clients from public view, according to a data leak that has implicated world leaders, celebrities and businessmen in offshore tax avoidance. Bearer shares can be used to facilitate money laundering and tax evasion as they enable investors to hide ownership and transfer assets without a paper trail. The prime minister banned them last year and has called for an international crackdown on aggressive tax avoidance and evasion. Last night Mr Cameron said that his familys tax affairs were a private matter. Downing Street would not be drawn on whether the Cameron family still had a stake in the fund.

The Mirror says they are not a private matter. Of course, what is and what is not private is far from being the Mirrors special area of expertise, what with it being embroiled in phone hacking payouts for invading peoples privacy.

The row came after an unprecedented leak of 11.3 million documents from Mossack Fonseca, a Panamanian law firm. Jurisdictions such as Panama offer companies and individuals the chance to legally mitigate tax bills and maintain anonymity, but failure to declare assets to the taxman in their own country can be illegal.

The Mail leads with much the same, although early on it points out that Bearer shares are now banned in the UK. Over on Page 9, the Mail looks Putins 1.4bn if shady deals. To which cynics might say, and the rest of them arent?

Its all murky stuff. But given the levels of secrecy and massive wealth, the cast of billionaires, celebrities and global leaders, what do we expect to be the result of it all?

Anorak

Posted: 5th, April 2016 | In: Money, Politicians, Reviews Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
The rape of Radstock: the foreign gang who might still be here

The Daily Mail and Sun want to tell you about Michelle Pavey, the victim of a sickening crime. Pavey, of Radstock, Bath, was raped in Bristols Eastville Park in November 2008. At 4:15pm. She is willing now to share the story of her ordeal

The Mail: They were like a pack of wolves: Woman relives the moment she was gang raped by five foreign men as she went to pick up a KFC takeaway for her boyfriend

The Sun: They were like a pack of wolves: Woman who was gang-raped by five foreign men when she popped out for a KFC speaks about her horrific ordeal

The headlines are almost identical. And the story is the same twice over: Michelle Pavey was raped by five man who dragged her into their car. Only one of the rapists was caught and tried. Hes Afghan asylum seeker Ahadullah Khughiani. In 2009 he was jailed for eight years for rape and stealing the victims mobile phone (he was cleared of kidnapping), and was recently deported.

The Bristol Post says police caught him because, Evidence was found to match the DNA taken from Khughiani when he arrived in Britain in 2008 seeking asylum.

Both national tabloids then add: The other attackers are believed to have fled the country.

Believed to have fled? They dont know?

Anorak

Posted: 5th, April 2016 | In: Reviews, Tabloids Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
(ANSA) - Rome, April 5 - Italian defence giant Finmeccanica on Tuesday signed a contract to supply 28 Eurofighter Typhoons to Kuwait on the basis of an inter-governmental accord with Italy. It is the biggest contract ever signed by Finmeccanica, believed to be worth between three and four billion euros. The exact worth of the deal has not been released but Finmeccanica is said to be counting on just under 50% of a 7-8 billion-euro contract. "This is Finmeccanica's largest ever commercial achievement", said Mauro Moretti, Finmeccanica CEO and General Manager. "It is an outstanding industrial success with significant benefits, not only for our company and the other Eurofighter consortium partners, but also for the entire Italian aerospace industry. The contract will support expertise and skilled jobs at Italian small and medium-sized security and defence companies." In a statement, Finmeccanica said "the Kuwait Ministry of Defence and Finmeccanica, which leads commercial activities in Kuwait on behalf of the Eurofighter consortium, today signed a contract for the supply of 28 Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft, to be produced in Italy. "The contract, part of an intergovernmental agreement between the two countries, was signed in the presence of the Italian Defence Minister Roberta Pinotti and her Kuwaiti counterpart, H.E. SHAIKH Gen. Khaled Al Jarrah Al Sabah.

"The contract signed by Finmeccanica includes logistics, operational support and the training of flight crews and ground personnel, which will be carried out in cooperation with the Italian Air Force. The contract also provides for the upgrade of ground-based infrastructure in Kuwait which will be used for Typhoon operations.

"The Eurofighter Typhoon for Kuwait, which will be provided in its most advanced configuration, will be equipped with the cutting-edge new E-Scan radar (Electronically Scanned array radar). The radar is developed by the European EuroRADAR consortium which is led by Finmeccanica.

"The contract with Kuwait was signed following a thorough flight and technical evaluation of a number of competing aircraft in the same category. It is part of a wide-ranging partnership between the Italian Ministry of Defence and the Kuwait Ministry of Defence, which will continue to strengthen cooperation between the two nations and other European members of the Eurofighter consortium (the UK, Germany and Spain).

Finmeccanica is the leading industrial group in the high-technology sector in Italy and one of the main global players in aerospace, defence and security. It operates in five sectors: aeronautics, helicopters, electronics, defence systems and space. The company is partially owned by the Italian government through the economy ministry, which holds 30.204% of Finmeccanica's shares.


(ANSA) - Rome, April 5 - Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni told the Senate on the Cairo murder of Italian student Giulio Regeni Tuesday that "unless there is a change of pace (by Egypt), the government is ready to react by adopting immediate and proportional measures".

Gentiloni said that "for reasons of State we will not let Italy's dignity be trampled on".

Gentiloni said that "the dossier sent to Italy at the beginning of March by the Egyptian investigators was lacking, it lacked at least two of the five chapters requested by Italian prosecutors: the data on Regeni's phone traffic and those on the Cairo metro video".

Gentiloni said that "important" Rome meetings with an Egyptian delegation Thursday and Friday "could be decisive for the development of the investigations". He said "Regeni's murder shook our consciences and the whole country because the life of an exemplary Italian was cut short, because of the way in which he was atrociously tortured and killed, and for the lesson in composure of his parents". Gentiloni said that "we will only stop when we find the truth, the real one and not a convenient one".

He said Italy would not lend credit to "distorted" truths and wanted to get the missing information.

A 2,000-page dossier has been prepared in view of this week's visit by a delegation of Egyptian investigators to Rome to share information on Regeni's murder, daily newspaper 'Al Shourouk reported Monday, citing security sources.

Regeni, 28, went missing in Cairo on January 25, the heavily policed fifth anniversary of the uprising that ousted former strongman Hosni Mubarak, and his mutilated body was found on February 3 in a ditch on the city's outskirts.

Egypt has denied speculation its security forces, who are frequently accused of brutally repressing opposition, were involved in the death of the Cambridge doctoral student.

Italian and Egyptian investigators will meet in Rome to discuss the case of the murder of Italian researcher Giulio Regeni on April 7 and 8, the interior ministry's department of public security said on Monday.

Two magistrates and three police officials will take part for the Egyptian delegation.

The meetings had been expected to take place two days earlier, on Tuesday.

Rome has complained of a lack of cooperation over the case after a series of possible Egyptian versions of how Regeni might have died met incredulity in Italy.

Egyptian media reported last week that Egyptian authorities are set to admit at the keenly awaited Rome meeting that they kept tabs on Regeni before he was tortured and murdered.

At that 'summit', Rome prosecutors have said they will ask for the phone and cellphone records of Regeni's friends and acquaintances to help reconstruct his last days.

An "exhaustive dossier" that an "Egyptian security delegation" will hand over to Rome prosecutor Giuseppe Pignatone will contain the results of investigations by security forces into meetings which Regeni - who was working as a visiting scholar at the American University in Cairo - had with street traders and trade unionists in the Egyptian capital, Egyptian daily Al-Akhbar reported on Friday.

The most recent Egyptian version of Regeni's death - which however was reportedly disowned by the interior ministry over the weekend - was that he was murdered by a gang specialising in kidnapping foreigners who, in turn, were killed by the security forces.

Al-Akhbar said the Egyptians' dossier will include evidence from Regeni's friends and "many documents and important information" including photos and "all the investigations on Regeni from his arrival in Cairo to his disappearance".

Regeni's mother said last week she had seen "the world's evil" on her son's battered face.

"At the mortuary I only recognized Giulio by the tip of his nose," Paola Deffendi told a press conference at the Senate in Rome.

"What they did to him is unspeakable".

"In Italy we have not seen torture since (the time of) anti-Fascism, but Giulio was not at war - he went to do research," Deffendi added.

She continued by saying the family trusts in a firm response from the government should Egyptian investigators fail to come up with convincing answers at the meetings with their Italian colleagues in Rome.

"If (the meetings) turn out to be empty we trust in a strong response from our government - a very, very strong one," she said. "We have been waiting for answers about Giulio since January 25".

The Italian media has speculated the government might recall its ambassador from Cairo or even go as far as imposing economic sanctions if Egypt keeps up the alleged stonewalling on the case.

Egyptian government critics and human rights organisations have suggested the Friuli-born student was tortured and killed by a security-forces cell because of his research work with the trade union movement and the opposition, like many others.

Regeni's body had signs of torture all over it, including cigarette burns, multiple fractures, cuts under the soles of the feet, clipped ears, a torn fingernail and a torn toenail.


(ANSA) - London, April 5 - Italy is calling for greater cooperation on defence and intelligence sharing among EU member states in the wake of the November terrorist attack in Paris and the more recent March attack in Brussels, Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said in an interview to the Financial times published Tuesday. "The terrorists have two attacks, we don't even have a directive on the 'passenger name record'," Alfano said in reference to an EU proposal to share information on airline passengers that has remained dead letter. "This is what worries me the most," he added.

The minister explained the fact that Italy has so far been spared a major terrorist attack by experience gained in fights against the Mafia and domestic terrorism in the 1970s, as well as by co-operation from Muslims reporting suspicious behaviour.

"Evidently our model doesn't incite hatred. We have sowed well, at least until now. But there is no country with no risk and we can never be certain," Alfano said.


(ANSA) - Rome, April 5 - Former industry minister Federica Guidi will travel to give evidence in a Potenza oil probe Thursday, judicial sources said Tuesday, as magistrates' union ANM chided Premier Matteo Renzi for criticising the alleged slowness of the Potenza prosecutors.

Premier Matteo Renzi's Monday criticism of Potenza prosecutors' probes into oil projects as yielding results as often as the Olympics come round was "inopportune in its timing and tenuous as regards the facts,"

the head of the Basilicata chapter of magistrates union ANM, Salvatore Coella, said Tuesday. Renzi has been criticised for saying the Potenza probes were too slow on a day when a verdict was handed down in an investigation that started in 2008. Renzi insisted that he wants justice to do its work swiftly, unlike predecessors such as Silvio Berlusconi.

Renzi on Tuesday again denied attacking Potenza magistrates over the alleged slowness of their cases. "I read in the papers today 'Renzi accuses

magistrates': come off it. The guy accusing magistrates was here a few years ago (Berlusconi). We urge magistrates to go as fast as possible and speak with their sentences. The more

sentences there are the happier we are". He added: "according to Italian law people are condemned if they have a definitive sentence".

Guidi, who is not under investigation, will be heard in Potenza as "a person informed of events", in Italian legal parlance. The minister quit Thursday after wiretaps revealed she

discussed an oil-related government amendment with her boyfriend, oil industry businessman Gianluca Gemelli. He is being investigated for corruption conspiracy and falsely

claiming influence over a public official in order to obtain bribes. The minister, a former head of the youth chapter of employers' lobby Confindustria, resigned after widespread calls

for her resignation over conflict of interest. Potenza prosecutors on Monday travelled to Rome to quiz Reforms and Relations with Parliament Minister Maria Elena Boschi, who is

also not under investigation. In the wiretap, Guidi said Boschi was on board with the amendment.

The anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) on Tuesday filed in the Senate a no-confidence motion in the government over an oil probe that has rocked Premier Matteo Renzi's executive. "We ask (Speaker Pietro) Grasso to immediately call a meeting of caucus leaders to schedule the examination of the motion as soon as possible," the M5S said. "We want this government, a friend of oilmen and enemy of the health of citizens and the environment, to go home".

Renzi accused the M5S) of being "anti-industrial" and said he was "proud" of the southern Italian Tempa Rossa oil project over which the M5S has filed the

no-confidence motion. "I can't get my head around the anti-industrial policies of some people in this country. They think they're living in a bucolic land, where

there's no need to get to the end of the month, where there's happy de-growth. But in order to grow you need businesses, firms that respect the rules. And what decides if they respect them

are definitive sentences, as the Constitution says, not the trolls of (M5S co-founder Gianroberto) Casaleggio".

Gemelli, Guidi's boyfriend, is being investigated for corruption conspiracy and falsely claiming influence over a public official in order to obtain bribes. Prosecutors on Tuesday started questioning a number of people arrested in three different branches of the probe.

Carabinieri health and safety (NOE) police on Tuesday seized thousands of patient files from Basilicata hospitals in relation to the incidence of tumours in the southern Italian region possibly linked to waste disposal at ENI's Centro Oli facility which has been implicated in a criminal probe. Tests of 'bioindicators' are being carried out to gauge the possible levels of pollution of local farm products and livestock, sources said. In the oil probe, five people have been arrested and several others placed under investigation including the oilman boyfriend of former industry minister Federica Guidi, Gianluca Gemelli. Guidi quit last week over a tapped phonecall to Gemelli telling him about a government amendment that would favour him in the Tempa Rossa oil project.


(ANSA) - Bolzano, April 5 - Austrian Defence Minister Hans Peter Doskozil said Tuesday that Vienna was ready to deploy hundreds of troops at the Brenner pass to bolster checks at its border with Italy, according to Austrian agency APA. "The Austrian army is ready for a reinforced intervention and has planned additional forces," APA quoted Doskozil as saying. "If necessary, hundreds are soldiers are ready and, if necessary, that number could be increased". Austria announced at the weekend that it was increasing checks at its border with Italy, saying the EU's external frontier was not being sufficiently protected. The European Commission has criticised unilateral measures to combat the asylum-seeker crisis introduced by individual member states.


Tunisia reopens its embassy in Tripoli, in support of Sarraj Diplomatic missions closed since summer 2014

(ANSAmed) - TUNIS, APRIL 5 - Tunisia's foreign ministry announced in a statement that it was reopening its embassy and consulate in Tripoli to show its support for Premier Fayez Sarraj's national unity government recently installed in the Libyan capital.



Tunis closed the diplomatic mission in bordering Libya in July 2014 when the coalition of Islamist militias Fajr Libya (Libya Dawn) took control of Tripoli, causing a precarious security situation in the region. The decision to reopen the mission in Libya takes into account the historic relations of friendship between the Tunisian and Libyan people and demonstrates Tunisia's commitment to support Libya, according to the statement.



It also aims to protect the interests of Tunisian citizens in Libya and will contribute to the development of cooperative relations between the two countries in various sectors, the statement concludes. (ANSAmed).




Archaeology: curse tablets found in ancient Greek tomb May have been left for deceased to take to gods-researcher

(ANSAmed) - ROME, APRIL 5 - In Classical Athens, tombs contained all that was needed for the journey into the afterlife. That included tablets inscribed with terrible curses directed at people who were hated by the deceased. And curses on their property, such as taverns. Inscriptions on four tablets dating to 2,400 years ago and found in 2003 in a burial ground north east of Piraeus port are proof of this, according to a study published in Live Science by a researcher from the John Hopkins University in Baltimore.



The tablets discovered in the tomb of a young woman (five altogether) carried curses against two couples, husband and wife, presumably the owners of some taverns in the Greek city.



They addressed the gods of the underworld, asking them to go after these four tavern keepers. The fifth slab found had no inscriptions and was probably used for reciting spells aloud.



All five slabs were hammered with an iron nail and placed in the tomb.



The tablets made it possible to reach the gods, which according to ancient beliefs, would have ensured the curses were carried out. One of them speaks of one of the two couples: Demetrios and Phanagora.



"Cast your hate upon Phanagora and Demetrios, and their tavern and all of their property," one tablet reads. "Reduce my enemies in blood and ashes. And I will hit your tongue with a Kynotos." That term means "dog's ear", and was a word used in gambling jargon of the time, researcher Jessica Lamont explained in her publication.



The curse directed towards Demetrios reveals that in classical times the taverns of Athens were places where people placed bets and where "disgusting activities" happened, said Lamont, who studied the tablets in Piraeus museum.



The curses were kept in underground areas so that they would reach the gods of the underworld. The tomb in which they were found may have nothing to do with the victims of the curses, Lamont said, and it could be just a coincidence. The woman buried in the tomb may have died at a time when someone wanted to go after these people. During funeral rites, burial sites were easily accessible to anyone. (ANSAmed)
ROME - Global military spending rose 1% in 2015 compared to 2014 to about 1.7 trillion dollars, according to a study by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute that attributed the rise to issues including the war against ISIS, the Saudi-led war in Yemen, the annexation of Crimea by Russia and its support for Ukrainian separatists.



The list of countries with the biggest military budgets is topped by the United States with spending of 596 billion dollars, followed by China with 215 billion dollars and Saudi Arabia with 87.2 billion dollars. Among other countries, Iraq spent 13.1 billion dollars on weapons in 2015, a more than 500% increase compared to 2006.
(ANSAmed) - ROME, APRIL 5 - Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni told the Senate on the Cairo murder of Italian student Giulio Regeni Tuesday that "unless there is a change of pace (by Egypt), the government is ready to react by adopting immediate and proportional measures".



Gentiloni said that "for reasons of State we will not let Italy's dignity be trampled on".



Gentiloni said that "the dossier sent to Italy at the beginning of March by the Egyptian investigators was lacking, it lacked at least two of the five chapters requested by Italian prosecutors: the data on Regeni's phone traffic and those on the Cairo metro video".



Gentiloni said that "important" Rome meetings with an Egyptian delegation Thursday and Friday "could be decisive for the development of the investigations". He said "Regeni's murder shook our consciences and the whole country because the life of an exemplary Italian was cut short, because of the way in which he was atrociously tortured and killed, and for the lesson in composure of his parents". Gentiloni said that "we will only stop when we find the truth, the real one and not a convenient one".



He said Italy would not lend credit to "distorted" truths and wanted to get the missing information.



A 2,000-page dossier has been prepared in view of this week's visit by a delegation of Egyptian investigators to Rome to share information on Regeni's murder, daily newspaper 'Al Shourouk reported Monday, citing security sources.



Regeni, 28, went missing in Cairo on January 25, the heavily policed fifth anniversary of the uprising that ousted former strongman Hosni Mubarak, and his mutilated body was found on February 3 in a ditch on the city's outskirts.



Egypt has denied speculation its security forces, who are frequently accused of brutally repressing opposition, were involved in the death of the Cambridge doctoral student.



Italian and Egyptian investigators will meet in Rome to discuss the case of the murder of Italian researcher Giulio Regeni on April 7 and 8, the interior ministry's department of public security said on Monday.



Two magistrates and three police officials will take part for the Egyptian delegation.



The meetings had been expected to take place two days earlier, on Tuesday.



Rome has complained of a lack of cooperation over the case after a series of possible Egyptian versions of how Regeni might have died met incredulity in Italy.



Egyptian media reported last week that Egyptian authorities are set to admit at the keenly awaited Rome meeting that they kept tabs on Regeni before he was tortured and murdered.



At that 'summit', Rome prosecutors have said they will ask for the phone and cellphone records of Regeni's friends and acquaintances to help reconstruct his last days.



An "exhaustive dossier" that an "Egyptian security delegation" will hand over to Rome prosecutor Giuseppe Pignatone will contain the results of investigations by security forces into meetings which Regeni - who was working as a visiting scholar at the American University in Cairo - had with street traders and trade unionists in the Egyptian capital, Egyptian daily Al-Akhbar reported on Friday.



The most recent Egyptian version of Regeni's death - which however was reportedly disowned by the interior ministry over the weekend - was that he was murdered by a gang specialising in kidnapping foreigners who, in turn, were killed by the security forces.



Al-Akhbar said the Egyptians' dossier will include evidence from Regeni's friends and "many documents and important information" including photos and "all the investigations on Regeni from his arrival in Cairo to his disappearance".



(ANSAmed).
TUNIS - Tunisia's foreign ministry announced in a statement that it was reopening its embassy and consulate in Tripoli to show its support for Premier Fayez Sarraj's national unity government recently installed in the Libyan capital.



Tunis closed the diplomatic mission in bordering Libya in July 2014 when the coalition of Islamist militias Fajr Libya (Libya Dawn) took control of Tripoli, causing a precarious security situation in the region. The decision to reopen the mission in Libya takes into account the historic relations of friendship between the Tunisian and Libyan people and demonstrates Tunisia's commitment to support Libya, according to the statement.



It also aims to protect the interests of Tunisian citizens in Libya and will contribute to the development of cooperative relations between the two countries in various sectors, the statement concludes.




The flights will take off from Amman Queen Alia International Airport at 15:45 and arrive at Riyadh King Khalid International Airport at 17:50. Return flights will depart Saudi Arabia at 18:30 and land in Jordan at 20:15. They will be operational on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays.



As the capital and largest city in Saudi Arabia Riyadhserves as the main financial hub of the country and maintains strong business relations with Jordan. With a growing population and an economy that is diversifying away from oil and gas, the citys domestic market proposes a strong opportunity for investment.



Commenting on the new route, an Air Arabia Jordan spokesperson said: We are excited to expand this year to Riyadh and continue increasing connectivity between the Levant and the GCC. We believe our proposition for being the best value carrier in the region will attract travellers to favour Air Arabia Jordan as their primary carrier. In a short span of time, we have grown significantly in Jordan and will continue to do so carrying forward into the year.



Air Arabia Jordan commenced operations in Amman in early 2015. Dammam joins Jeddah as Saudi Arabian cities served by Air Arabia Jordan. The carrier also flies to Erbil in Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Sharam El Sheikh in Egypt, and Kuwait City in Kuwait. This announcement is aligned with its strategy of expanding into the Middle East and becoming a key hub of its parent operator, Sharjah-based Air Arabia.




The contract, part of an intergovernmental agreement between the two countries, was signed in the presence of the Italian Defence Minister Roberta Pinotti and her Kuwaiti counterpart, HE Sheikh Gen. Khaled Al Jarrah Al Sabah.



The contract signed by Finmeccanica includes logistics, operational support and the training of flight crews and ground personnel, which will be carried out in cooperation with the Italian Air Force.

The contract also provides for the upgrade of ground-based infrastructure in Kuwait which will be used for Typhoon operations.



The Eurofighter Typhoon for Kuwait, which will be provided in its most advanced configuration, will be equipped with the cutting-edge new E-Scan radar (Electronically Scanned array radar). The radar is developed by the Euroradar consortium, led by Finmeccanica.





Above: The fighters large nose aperture, combined with the ability to move the antenna, will give the Eurofighter Typhoon greater vision, delivering better operational performance to the aircraft and its weapon systems.

The contract with Kuwait was signed following a thorough flight and technical evaluation of a number of competing aircraft in the same category. It is part of a wide-ranging partnership between the Italian Ministry of Defence and the Kuwait Ministry of Defence, which will continue to strengthen cooperation between the two nations and other European members of the Eurofighter consortium (the UK, Germany and Spain).





This is Finmeccanicas largest ever commercial achievement", said Mauro Moretti, Finmeccanica CEO and General Manager. "It is an outstanding industrial success with significant benefits, not only for our company and the other Eurofighter consortium partners, but also for the entire Italian aerospace industry. The contract will support expertise and skilled jobs at Italian small and medium-sized security and defence companies.
Kuwait Airways one of the pioneers of air travel in the Middle East has selected aeroLINE CREW from Information System Associates FZE (ISA) as their new Crew Management System. aeroLINE CREW is an unparalleled Crew Management System, built with latest cutting edge technologies, empowers airlines to significantly lower operating costs, improved operational efficiency and empowers crew members to manage their needs on their own.

In February 2016, Kuwait Airways signed a contract with ISA to implement aeroLINE CREW, the industry leading Crew Management Solution. Mrs. Rasha Alroumi, the chairperson of Kuwait Airways said that I expect that the implementation of the aeroLINE CREW system will enhance the current operational performance of Kuwait Airways and reduce the operational cost significantly, which is in line with KACs recently, developed Business Plan. We look forward to seeing the added value the new system will bring to our operations.

Nader Shukralla, chief executive officer, ISA said: We are glad to add Kuwait Airways to our list of partners. The selection of aeroLINE CREW system by one of the regions leading airlines demonstrates the capability of the product and its evolvement to a new level of performance within a short span of time.
The meeting focussed on prospects of mutual cooperation between the two countries within the space sector. The session came in the context of UAE Space Agencys collaboration with a number of international and foreign agencies, throughout which the Agency has continued to expand its efforts to exchange information and knowledge.

Luxembourg is home to the Society of European Satellites (SES)  the largest satellite operator in the world. SES controls 50 geostationary communications satellites, which run thousands of channels around the world. These include over 200 channels in the Middle East region.

Dr. Khalifa Mohammed Al Rumaithi, chairman of the UAE Space Agency, said This visit falls in line with the commitment of the UAE Space Agency  as the official representative of the state within the space sector  to establish relationships of cooperation and collaboration with various international bodies. This principle is at the core of our strategic plan to develop and upgrade the states space sector, and to contribute to global trends in the space sector.

Dr. Mohammed Nasser Al Ahbabi, director general of the UAE Space Agency, said: Where space research is concerned, the products of our combined effort are greater than the sum of our parts. In other words, mutual cooperation is not only beneficial for all parties involved, but also the future of space research and exploration on the whole. To this end, we discussed with the Luxembourg delegation ways to exchange knowledge and engage in collective international efforts.
Le CBD, cette molecule active du cannabis a aujourdhui le vent en poupe. Et cela est en grande partie du au fait quil permet...
The trio will have to serve a sentence of six months in prison. Upon expiry of the terms of custody they will be expelled. They have also done business, economic and political, "without the necessary permits." A satirical cartoon and an offensive placard further exacerbate relations between Beirut and Riyadh.

Beirut (AsiaNews / Agencies) - A United Arab Emirates court (UAE) has sentenced three Lebanese citizens to prison, one of them with dual Canadian and Lebanese citizenship, for having formed - allegedly - a local movement affiliated with Hezbollah.

According to reports from the Ittihad newspaper, the Federal Supreme Court has sentenced the three men to six months in prison. In its judgment the court said that the trio was forming a point "group for the [terrorists] Hezbollah in the country".

Local sources also add that once the three Lebanese citizens have served their sentence, they will be expelled from the UAE. The condemnation came yesterday confirming the progressive deterioration in relations between Lebanon and Arab nations, with the governments of the region threatening to expel Lebanese citizens and block their bank accounts.

Reporting the condemnation, the Gulf News said that the judges also questioned "the commercial, economic and political conduct without the necessary permits.

The three convicted are Canadian-Lebanese citizen Suhail Gareeb Naif, 62, the Lebanese Asaad Ameen Qansouh 66 years and 30 year-old Lebanese Ahmed Ebrahim Qansou.

Hezbollah is a Shiite militant armed group disliked by Riyadh and the Arab states of the region, whose influence in Lebanese politics has grown more in recent decades. Allies and supported by Iran, they have put their military force at the service of the Syrian President Assad in fighting the al-Nusra Front (Al-Qaeda) and the Islamic state (IS), inflicting heavy defeats.

Last month the Arab League declared the Lebanese Shiite movement "terrorist", following a similar decision taken earlier by the Gulf monarchies for the movements alleged interference in Yemen and Iraq.

Meanwhile, a new front has opened in the conflict between Lebanon and Saudi Arabia, over a satirical cartoon published last week by the Saudi daily Asharq al-Awsat, likening the Land of the Cedars to an April fool. In response, in the following days some nationalists have posted a billboard on the Nahr el-Mott highway, very critical of Saudi Arabia. The gesture resulted - albeit with a few caveats - in a wave of Lebanese political condemnations.



The bilboard, exposed on a large scroll director in a predominantly Christian area, is depicts the words "machinery of death", a reference to the Saudi royal family, and a bloody saber, another reference to the Wahhabi kingdom, ready to sever the head of a person. It was removed after a few hours by Lebanese security forces.



It should also be added that Riyadh has recently carried out two other death sentences bringing to 84 the total number of people put to death so far this year.
by Christopher Sharma

At the closing ceremony last Saturday, the apostolic vicar stressed the need to boost evangelisation across the country. Two nuns, a catechist and a priest receive the first award named after Bishop Anthony Sharma, Nepals first bishop.

Kathmandu (AsiaNews)  Nepals Catholic community celebrated the end of the Year of Consecrated Life with a pledge to boost the mission of evangelisation across the country.

The Years closing ceremony took place last Saturday (2 April) at Kathmandu's Assumption Cathedral, in the presence of the apostolic vicar, Mgr Paul Simick, as well as scores of men and women religious from around the country.

The event also saw the presentation of the first awards honouring the late Mgr Anthony Sharma, Nepal's first bishop, who passed away last December.

The Universal Church celebrated the end of the Year of Consecrated life on 2 February, which also was the day of the Jubilee of Consecrated Life. The Nepali Church postponed the event because of the difficulties caused by last years earthquake, which killed more than 9,000 people.

"The lives of priests and nuns are never singular; they involve sacrificing everything for society, Mgr Simick said in his address, after greeting those present. I see the great contribution you give to the Church, to our mission and to our country. I thank you. I am proud of your work."

The vicar noted that Nepal "needs even more service from you. We must reach out to every place and provide real help to people who need it. Our tools are Jesus way of life, and our guidelines are Gods words. When societies become more complex and are driven by superstition, Gods presence becomes even more urgent."

During the ceremony, the first awards honouring the late Bishop Anthony Sharma were presented to four men and women of faith who spent their lives working for Nepals Catholic community.

The award recipients are US-born Fr Cap Miller, who has worked for Jesuit Works for 57 years, and Bhimsen Rai, a catechist and editor of Church publications, who said, "When I started, there were very few people. Today, the community has grown and spread across the country. This is a positive sign, but we have to work harder to be anywhere."

Two nuns were also honoured. Sister Yokihata, from Japan, and Sister Monique Niraula, from India.

My award goes to Nepals people and society, Sister Yokihata said, because we serve their needs. I am very happy to work in Nepal and follow Gods path. This award encourages me to live further and to work harder."

"I thank God, as well as Nepals people and society, said Sister Monique, who has recently started teaching catechism, and dedicated her award to her students. This reward goes to my students who are truly under Gods grace.
Report: Iceland Prime Minister Sigmundur Davi Gunnlaugsson Resigns After Panama Papers Scandal

Trending News: The Panama Papers Scandal Claims First Victim - Iceland's PM

Why Is This Important?

Because the Panama Papers haven't even been out for 48 hours.

Long Story Short

Reports are coming in that the Prime Minister of Iceland has resign after massive protests brought the island nation to a standstill. Sigmundur Davi Gunnlaugsson was one of the first politicians to be confronted by reporters after the release of the Panama Papers, which indicated the he was hiding wealth offshore.

Long Story

Is this just the beginning? Though neither his coalition partners nor the countrys president, Iceland Prime Minister Sigmundur Davi Gunnlaugsson has tendered his resignation in the wake of the bombshells revealed by the so-called Panama Papers. According to local media, the move isn't official until it's confirmed by both the rightwing Independence party and the president, Olafur Ragnar Grimsson.

Icelands prime minister resigns. The #panamapapers claim their first political scalp. Whos next?  Rory Challands (@rorychallandsAJ) April 5, 2016

Updates are still rolling in, but The Guardian reports that Gunnlaugsson will stay on as chairperson of his Progressive party. Sigurur Ingi Johannsson, Iceland's agriculture and fisheries minister, will likely take his place as Prime Minister. More or less as soon as the Panama Papers dropped, Gunnlaugsson and his family's allegedly hidden offshore millions made him the target of angry protests.

The real parasites. Not refugees, not migrants, not the disabled, not the unemployed.#panamapapers pic.twitter.com/MhWZwr8pQz  Lauren Alder (@LaurenAlder) April 5, 2016

Gunnlaugsson isn't the only tax-dodging politician to have some 'splaining to do. While he's not named anywhere in the leak, The Guardian has done a pretty nice job of following the money and linking it to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who's allegedly tied to billions in dirty money.

Though potentially a boon to some, most politicians hope their name doesn't get anywhere near the damning reports.

Own The Conversation

Ask The Big Question: Will this be the first of many political resignations?

Disrupt Your Feed: He shouldn't have resigned until more time could be spent looking at the facts.

Drop This Fact: Iceland sent 29 bankers to prison for their role in the global financial crisis.
Recent mergers of law firms have not delivered on their aims for either the firms or their clients. Analysis of deals by consultancy firm Gulland Padfield looked at the stated aims of the mergers and compared them with the outcomes.The firm found that greater value would be derived from mergers if robust planning was implemented to confront difficult issues during negotiations. For a successful merger the report says, firms should also have an established business strategy ahead of talks and a willingness to put value to clients foremost in the post-merger integration phase.Among the top reasons a merger is not successful according to Gulland Padfields research: no plan to deliver client value post-merger; operational integration issues; no compelling shared-vision; clash of cultures between firms.Three international firms have announced additions to their Asia-Pacific capabilities with new partners in Singapore and Hong Kong.Simmons & Simmons has expanded its financial markets team in Singapore with Matthew Cox joining from Dentons , where he was managing partner in the Singapore office. Ashurst has hired Jon Ornolfsson for its global oil and gas industry team in the city state. He joins the firm from Herbert Smith Freehills having worked in their offices in Singapore, Tokyo and Dubai.Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, offshore specialists Harneys has added Lilla Zuill to its team. She joins on secondment from the firms Bermuda office. The firm is seeking to strengthen links between the two offices and Zuill will be based in Hong Kong for the next year. Corrs Chambers Westgarth has appointed Jonathan Lawe Davies as special counsel in its Perth office. His particular expertise is in commercial transaction and advisory work for start-up technology and leading IT/IP businesses. He joins having worked in his own commercial IP and IT practice and began his career at Freehills.
Ramon Fonseca, head of the Panama law firm at the centre of the massive leak of offshore financial data has denied any wrongdoing, saying his firm has fallen victim to an international campaign against privacy.



Fonseca said Mossack Fonseca had suffered a successful but limited hack in a phone interview with Reuters this week.

We believe there's an international campaign against privacy, he told Reuters.



Privacy is a sacred human right [but] there are people in the world who do not understand that and we definitely believe in privacy and will continue working so that legal privacy can work.



German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung received 11.5 million leaked documents and shared them with more than 100 other news outlets as well as the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.



Fonseca, who was a senior government official in Panama until earlier this year, said that the majority of the 240,000 companies formed by the firm were legitimate but that Mossack Fonseca isnt responsible for the activities of the companies it incorporates.

We're dedicated to making legal structures which we sell to intermediaries such as banks, lawyers, accountants and trusts, and they have their end-customers that we don't know, he said.



The Guardian in the UK said the papers revealed over $2bn worth of secret offshore deals and loans led by close friends of Russian President Vladimir Putin, but the Kremlin dismissed the report and trying to discredit the president before parliamentary elections.



It appears that you have had unauthorized access to proprietary documents and information taken from our company and have presented and interpreted them out of context, the law firm said in a statement published by the Guardian.



Panamas government said in a statement that it would cooperate with any eventual judicial proceeding.




Perth barrister Lloyd Rayney wants remaining professional disciplinary proceedings against him thrown out.



His lawyer, Martin Bennett, claimed at a direction hearing yesterday that further proceedings are an abuse of process, an AAP report said.



Rayney successfully fought a claim by the Legal Practice Board that he was not a fit and proper person for practise law and had his certificate reinstated back in February.



The claim stemmed from phone interception charges before a District Court to do with the investigation of the death of his wife. The charges were thrown out by a judge last year.



But the Legal Profession Complaints Committee has brought separate disciplinary proceedings against him, which he is seeking to have dismissed. Bennett said that the committee has already withdrawn five out of eight of the allegations against Rayney.



The president of the State Administrative Tribunal Jeremy Curthoys said yesterday that he didnt know why the complaints brought by the Legal Practitioners Complaints Committee were not dealt with under the Legal Practice Boards proceedings.



The LPCC indicated that it would be applying for Justice Curthoys and two other members who heard the Legal Practice Boards case not to be allowed to preside over its hearing because of apprehended bias, according to a report by the ABC.



The matter was adjourned yesterday, allowing both sides to provide written submissions to the tribunal.




Hi all,



I've been through these forums but could not find a similar situation to mine. I'm an Aussie citizen from Melbourne and late last year I met a girl on a temporary work visa (For the life of me I cannot remember which exact visa she's currently on) through online dating who's been working in regional NSW (about an hour out of Sydney) for the last 10 months. I've flown up to Sydney and she's come down to Melbourne to visit with me. It's been almost 3 months since we've decided to become a couple and the relationship is quite serious and it's now coming to the question of how we can make this work. The idea being that she eventually come to live with me in Melbourne.



Her current visa expires in September this year and she's in the process of filing an application for a 457 visa, although her work is willing to sponsor her for a 187, and in fact, they're trying to convince her to go for the 187. Her reasoning for going for the 457 is due to it having slightly lesser\easier requirements and a bit cheaper, although as I understand it's not that much cheaper. But, she's stubborn and is set on the 457.



What I'm requiring assistance with is what options do we have to get her to come to Melbourne? I understand the following:

- We cannot register as a De Facto because we don't live together.

- She can come to Melbourne if she finds an employer who will "take on" the 457 sponsorship.

- PMV is out of the question since she's already here.



At this stage the only way I can think of us being together is me selling up and moving to Sydney where I used to live a few years ago and to be honest, I hated and vowed to never return (sorry if you're a Sydneysider, it's not your city, it's me).



Does she really have to work 2 years after being granted the 457 before she can apply for PR since she's already been employed for almost a year?

If she is granted the 187, is she only allowed to be employed in regional areas?



Any advise\options anyone can provide will be very much appreciated.



Edit: To be honest, there's a very real chance the relationship doesn't work out, there's also a good chance it will work out as we both love each other. If it comes down to it I'll wait the 2+ years before she can be allowed to move to Melbourne. I'm already keeping logs of calls and messages and we have quite a lot of photos together.
As part of its 'Fight Fake, Stay Safe drive, Hero MotoCorp managed to seize almost 70,000 fake parts and counterfeit packaging materials.

As part of its ongoing initiative to curb the menace of spurious parts, Hero MotoCorp launched a raid against a number of dealers in the Karol Bagh area in New Delhi on April 2. The raids that fall under the bike maker's initiative Fight Fake, Stay Safe were conducted in cooperation with the Economic Offence Wing of Delhi Police. They seized almost 70,000 fake critical replacement parts and counterfeit packaging materials and labels.



The company has said that it will further intensify action against counterfeiters as the use of such forged parts can lead to severe repercussions, including vehicle failure and chances of a fire. Original Hero parts, which are sold through over 6,000 customer touchpoints across the country, come with a Unique Parts Identification (UPI) code. Customers can verify the authenticity of the parts by sending the UPI code through SMS on +91 9266171171. The MRP sticker on a genuine part contains the Hero logo and many features like 'Colour shift Ink', 'Scratch & See' and the HGP logo which is visible under UV light.
The product range includes premium motor oils such as Repsol Moto, Repsol Elite and Repsol Diesel; will be available by May 15, 2016.

GP Petroleums Ltd, a subsidiary of United Arab Emirates-based Gulf Petrochem group, today launched a range of Repsol lubricants in India. Last year, the company had announced its partnership with Repsol, Spains leading petroleum company, to exclusively manufacture and sell the latters comprehensive line of lubricants in the country.

The range of motor oils include Repsol Moto for two-wheelers, Repsol Elite for passenger cars, and Repsol Diesel for heavy-duty vehicles. The lubricants for two-wheelers and passenger cars will go on sale by end-April, and the entire range will be available by May 15, 2016. The company is, however, initially focusing on expanding its sales in the two-wheeler segment in India.



Moreover, GP Petroleums also plans to supply Repsol range of lubricants to automakers such as Honda, Maruti Suzuki and Tata Motors in India and will soon start negotiations with them.



We will soon start discussions with carmakers such as Tata Motors, Honda and Suzuki in India to supply the Repsol range of lubricants. The fact that Tata Motors and Suzuki are already associated with Repsol in Spain, while Honda is working with Repsol in Indonesia will be quite helpful, Thangapandian Srinivasalu, executive director, Gulf Petrochem, told Autocar India.



The companys plans to set up a new Rs 100-120 crore production facility in Pipavav, Gujarat have been put on hold for atleast two years since they have ramped up capacity at their plant in Vasai near Mumbai, Srinivasalu said.



GP Petroleums already has a presence in the industrial lubricants space in India with its flagship brand IPOL, and Repsol will be banking on the same to market its range of lubricants for the automotive segment in the country. Besides, GP Petroleums also has a manufacturing facility in Daman which could be utilised in manufacturing Repsols range of lubricants.



Repsol is famous for its association with the Honda MotoGP team. In 2014, Repsol extended its sponsorship deal with the team and will remain its title sponsor until the 2017 season. The Repsol-Honda MotoGP association has been in place since 1995, making it the longest running deal in the history of premier-class motorcycle racing.



India is the third-largest market for lubricants in the world after US and China. Around 58 percent of the same is contributed by automotive segments in different spaces.
Tata's all-new hatchback marks the carmaker's arrival in the competitive midsize hatchback segment. We take a look at some facts.

The Tata Tiago, Tatas mid-size hatchback, has been on sale since April, with prices starting as low as Rs 3.20 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). Here is a quick refresher of what it is all about:



1. The Tiago is virtually all new

The last time Tata Motors launched an all-new vehicle was way back in 2010, when the Aria hit the streets (the Bolt and the Zest were heavily reworked versions of the Vista). The Tiago, thus, marks the reinvention of Tata. Pretty much everything has been developed from the ground up. Except for the base floorpan, which is borrowed from the Indica.

2. The Tiago heralds a new design language for Tata

Tatas new 'Impact' design language will make its debut with the Tiago. The design language, according to Tatas head of design, Pratap Bose, is based on the impression formed on prospective customers within the first 20 seconds of viewing a car. 'Impact' design cars, Tata says, will feature appealing cabin-to-body ratios, best-in-class size, driver-centric layouts and cleverly designed in-cabin storage spaces.

3. The Tiago is powered by new three-cylinder petrol and diesel engines

Tata Motors has developed new three-cylinder petrol and diesel engines, called Revotron and and Revotorq respectively, which will be introduced in the Tiago. The 1.2-litre Revotron petrol engine is a lightweight, all-aluminium, four-valve, DOHC setup with variable cam timing for the intake valves. The Revotorq is the three-cylinder 1.05-litre turbo-diesel with a cast iron block, aluminium head and four-valve, twin-cam setup. Both come with City and Eco drive modes. Read our review to know how these are in action.

4. The Tiago is very fuel efficient

With an ARAI-rated fuel efficiency of 23.48kpl for the petrol variant and 27.28kpl for the diesel, the Tiago locks horns with the Maruti Celerio, which is rated at 23.1kpl for the petrol variant and 27.6kpl for the diesel.

5. The Tiago is big on in-car entertainment

In a bid to out-rival competitors, the Tiago features a segment-topping multimedia system. The infotainment system has been developed by Harman, and comes with an impressive four-speaker four-tweeter setup. You also get the Juke Car app, which allows each passenger to add songs from their device to a playlist on the phone that is paired with cars audio player. The cooled glovebox features a dedicated recess for tablets  tech junkies rejoice!

The petrol variant of the Tiago starts at Rs 3.20 lakh and goes up to Rs 4.75 lakh for the top-spec, whereas the diesel variant is priced in the range of Rs 3.94-5.54 lakh (all prices ex-showroom Delhi).


Its interior, however, has remained a bit of a secret. Spy photographers have managed to catch a glimpse of it on previous occasions, but it's always been covered to some degree, or full of devices used solely for testing purposes that cluttered the dashboard and didn't allow a clear view.Unfortunately, this video isn't going to shed any more light on this small remaining mystery regarding the S-Class facelift, but it does reveal something somewhat promising. Using what's probably a regular video camera (judging from the zoom option), the man filming this clip didn't have the benefit the DSLRs get thanks to a polarizing filter. That's why his attempt to film the interior through the window didn't come to much, with glare preventing a clear shot at the uncovered dashboard.The driver, on the other hand, had no idea about the cameraman's equipment or the lighting situation outside of his car, so when he realized the car was being filmed (quite late, we might add), he did his best to cover the interior. He first did so with his hands, but then used those thick, black pieces of fabric that are usually employed for this purpose. His reaction is enough to give us a little bit of hope: it might not be much, but there is something worth hiding.To recap, from what we've seen so far, the changes are less than overwhelming focusing mostly on the two displays - the one posing for an instrument cluster and the one to its right, on top of the center console. While they're still divided by a thin strip of black plastic, the buttons found there on the current model appear to be gone and there's now a single piece of glass covering both of them.Apart from that, the dashboard appears largely unchanged, with just the option of new trims likely to become available. Also, there's going to be a new steering wheel, but all the shots captured so far don't seem to show the actual model that will make it into production.More likely than not, the S-Class facelift will focus on updating the quasi-autonomous driving abilities of the S-Class limousine and crunching in as much technology as possible into Mercedes-Benz's flagship model. Not that the S-Class is a simpleton as it is, mind you, but since the Stuttgart brand is one of the most active companies in the self-driving business , it's got things to prove.
The matter entered the spotlight once more, after Ducati's Andrea Iannone clashed with Repsol Honda's Marc Marquez in the opening laps of the Termas de Rio Hondo race. None of the riders fell and Marquez did not sustain any injury, but strange scuff marks could be observed on his leathers.Race Direction analyzes the incident depicted in the attached photo where it's clear as daylight that the upper left winglet of the factory Ducati is touching Marc Marquez' back.Without analyzing the onboard footage, it's impossible to tell whether this incident was the one that caused the rear camera on Marquez' bike to come off and dangle under the bike's tail until entering the pit lane. It may be so, but in any case, the camera did not break off that moment, because we can see it in its rightful place for at least a couple of laps.Former motorcycle racer and current Safety Advisor for MotoGP, Loris Capirossi, demands clarifications and says that he hand-tested said winglets. Apparently, they were impossible to break by hand and could pose a threat on the track."I went to the Ducati garage to check the solidity of the spoiler, I asked them to give me an old fairing and it is in fact impossible to break the winglet. This means that if contact were to be made, they could cause damage. For now, I'm not saying they'll be banned, but it's something we'll discuss in the future. In a collision, they could become dangerous," Capirossi says, quoted by gpone The dimensions, positioning and structural aspects of these winglets will most certainly be discussed, but for the moment, it looks like they will remain unchanged.
This time around, the focal point of the story isnt represented by shady business practices, airbags, and people who died before their time in Honda cars equipped with Takata airbags. According to a statement from the Japan Transport Ministry and two releases from Honda, the company is recalling the Fit and Vezel due to two separate reasons.The first of the two recalls affects 164,388 cars, namely Fit hatchbacks assembled from August 2, 2013, through August 17, 2015 and Vezel crossovers assembled from December 10, 2013, through February 13, 2016. These vehicles are being recalled because theyre into spontaneous combustion. Six fires have been reported up to now, all of them caused by a flaw in the start & stop system. Put simply, the system can overload with electricity, leading to heat build-up or a short circuit and, eventually, a full-on vehicle fire.The second recall affects 118,715 units of the Fit. The vehicles have been made from August 2, 2013, through August 31, 2015, and the fault lies within the electric power steering (EPS) control module. In certain situations, the EPS can act funny and cease to assist the driver. Furthermore, the EPS warning light on the dashboard wont light up to inform the driver that theres something wrong with the steering. Honda has been prompted to recall these vehicles after the manufacturer had caught wind of two collision reports.This is the sixth round of major recalls involving the Fit hatchback in the last three years. The saga started in October 2013, when the automaker called back 4,883 cars to fix their automatic transmissions and control modules. In December 2013, Honda extended the campaign to 36,100 units of the Fit. Then February 2014 came, a month that saw Honda recall the Fit and Vezel over a fault with the engine control unit. By July 2014, the automaker had raised the tally of recalled Fit and Vezel vehicles to 175,356. After that, Honda called back 321,501 Fits and Vezels over engine ignition coils and power supply circuits in October 2014.When will Honda move past these quality woes, I wonder...
However, while we can get over many Chinese "replicas," things are about to get serious at the upcoming Beijing Auto Show. At least that's the conclusion that stands if the concept car we see in these leaked images is real.Coming from BAIC (Beijing Automotive Industry Corporation), this promises to be nothing short of an electric supercar. While the powertrain details are unknown for the moment, the machine is expected to deliver a 0 to 62 mph sprint of under three seconds, as well as a top speed of over 155 mph (250 km/h), as autocar writes. As for the driving range, this is expected to hit 186 miles (300 km) on a single charge.The vehicle is also expected to jump the driving modes bandwagon, with these various settings also set to alter the ride height.Since BAIC is the country's largest automaker, being involved in joint ventures with Mercedes-Benz and Hyundai, their designers didn't just stick to copying the BMW i8 , whose color scheme we see here.Instead, the styling of the concept seems to bring a melange of many supercar world realms. This is why the Lambo-style doors meet the McLaren-like rear end, for instance. Sure, nowadays it's difficult to check out a new car and not see an element that seems to look familiar, but there's more than a hint of resemblance to the models mentioned above here.Nevertheless, the Chinese automaker is not just doing this to put on a show. In fact, BAIC is expected to put its electron juice-sipping vehicle into production.As we mentioned back in December last year, we might be dealing with BAIC's Atieva sub-brand. We're talking about a start-up that collaborates with Germany's Siemens and Korean battery cell builder SK Group, as well as Italian styling specialist CECOMP. And yes, they plan a whole range of EVs, with the supercar being just the first step. Did we mention the mandatory grain of salt?
EV

With remarkable tact and looking at the future of the auto industry, Ghosn explained that he welcomes healthy competition. The CEO of Nissan considers this push as a good sign for the sector of electric vehicles.Ghosn was most impressed by the fact that people paid to be on the waiting list for the Model 3 even if they knew they would not get their cars until the end of 2017.We are also impressed about this aspect, as it is a leap of faith made by those customers, which will probably not purchase any other car in the next 18 months and wait for their Tesla Model 3 to be manufactured and sent to them.Tesla has managed to sell 107,000 Model S and Model X cars from 2012 to 2015, but it has now received payments of $1,000 from over 276,000 people By the end of 2016, Tesla wants to deliver somewhere between 80,000 and 90,000 Model S and Model X vehicles, while the Model 3 will start deliveries in late 2017.Meanwhile, the company run by Carlos Ghosn is a world leader concerning the sale of electric vehicles. By the end of last year, the Renault-Nissan Alliance passed the 300,000 EVs sold milestone. The total figure is of 302,000 cars, an impressive feat when compared to Teslas results, but self-explanatory considering the smaller prices provided by the French and Japanese consortium.The Nissan Leaf came to market in 2010 and had accounted for 211,000 units sold, Automotive News reports. Until now, it is the best-sellingin the world.Tesla has a long way to go until it has a chance of reaching the same milestone. However, Nissans results show that having a vision that focuses on electric cars can pay off, and we hope to see that other companies will come with comparable products.
The automaker announced in February that it would sell 16,000 Model S and Model X units combined in Q1, but the published results showed that they only reached 14,820 units.Once the results were published and analysts started crunching the numbers, Tesla shares value suffered a slight drop, but it was not as severe for the company thanks to the fact that its stock value had risen last week after the presentation of the Model 3.Therefore, as Automotive News notes, the value of Tesla stock had come closer to where it was before they showcased the Model 3.Tesla has an explanation for why the Model X did not fare as expected concerning sales. The American carmaker says that hubris in adding too much technology to the Model X in version 1 was to blame for the mishap. The term hubris refers to a loss of contact with reality and an overestimation of ones competence or capabilities, according to Wikipedia.So, Tesla blames itself for underperforming on sales of the Model X for being too proud of itself and arrogant enough to add technology that proved difficult to manufacture on a production scale.These errors, usually associated with a lack of humility, led to delays in Model X deliveries and production. As analysts note, Tesla does score some kudos for the honesty involved in explaining why their results were under their expectations.Other carmakers might have said that the issues were caused by suppliers, shifting market trends, financial insecurities, and other possible reasons. While some of these are usually valid excuses, especially for a difference of a little over 1,000 cars on a global scale, Tesla preferred to point a finger at itself and not play the blaming game.
Still, blame it on the movies or on the fact that hope dies last, felons continue to try and escape the long arm of the law. This fellow right here, driving a red sedan, led the way for a few police cruisers on the highway until he committed the ultimate mistake and ran into a dead end.He seemed to finally realize his mistakes and tried to get out of the car, holding his hands up. The only problem was he was stuck between the car and a fence, unable to move towards the officers. However, there was enough room for one of the two K9 units to reach him and, even though we can't see it, to probably grab him by the leg. Since he didn't like getting bitten, the man got back into the car.At this point, the police officers became the aggressors. The man was obviously giving up, surrendering, but spirits were too high following that chase and the police officers weren't satisfied just to take him in. So they released the dogs for no apparent reason, since he didn't need subduing. When he re-entered the vehicle to protect himself, the policemen became even more agitated. They opened the passenger-side door and tried to throw (literally) the second dog in. They succeeded on the second attempt, and the first joined the party as well. But since it couldn't get to the target but was overly-excited, it started biting the first dog's behind.A cat doesn't seem to appreciate all the hubbub and can be seen (at 1:23) running into a crack in the fence, just in front of the car. Meanwhile, after chewing at our suspect for a few seconds, the two dogs are pulled out, and the man is asked to exit through the passenger door. In other words, they're telling him to come willingly towards the two dogs that were just attacking him not five seconds ago. Oh, and close to twenty armed police officers pointing their guns at him.Despite what every cell in his body must have been telling him, he does it, laying on the ground face-down. He's jumped by more than ten men, even though two would have probably been enough as he wasn't resisting arrest (anymore). And the officers kept piling up, as if a dozen wasn't enough. The only reason I can think of is to cover the two or three that are closest to him while they vent everyone's accumulated frustration by unnecessarily hitting the man. If you're a fan of the zombie movies, the scene will appear extremely familiar: it's just like when the hordes of undead get their hands on a fresh body.Normally, we would all side with the police. We have no idea what that man did, but he clearly did something wrong. But whatever it was, as long as we have laws, the police are only entitled to apprehend the lawbreakers, and not dish the punishment as well. These are the kind of incidents that make people lose their respect towards the force, and you can't blame them. This is just state-backed bullying. We don't need a gang of psychopaths serving and protecting us, thank you very much.
At least that's what Toyota seems to be thinking, and it's also got software and technology giant Microsoft on board. The two companies have been working together since 2011, but their collaboration will gain some extra speed shortly thanks to a $5.5 million investment the Japanese manufacturer will be making in a new venture called Toyota Connected that will be based in Plano, Texas.With technology becoming an increasingly important presence in our cars, Toyota feels it would be better if its products didn't come across as soulless machines and developed a stronger bond with their owners. Zack Hicks, the man who will be in charge of Toyota Connected, says that this new division "will help free our customers from the tyranny of technology."If this weren't coming from the world's biggest carmaker that also happens to be working together with Microsoft, we'd be tempted to interpret the statement in an entirely different way. It's almost as if Toyota were saying "technology is bad, let's go back to using sticks and stones." In fact, though, the message is completely different. Bloomberg reports that "Toyota plans to use data science through Microsofts Azure cloud technology to develop services that 'help to humanize the driving experience.'" What that basically means is that the AI that will inevitably be present in our future cars won't just use its artificial synapses for driving the car, but will also act as a proactive personal assistant. It'll learn your schedule and your habits and will take them into account every time you ask something of your car's infotainment system. For instance, if it's Tuesday evening and you want to go to a restaurant, the car will know it's your meat-free day and will automatically recommend vegetarian places.It'll book parking in advance, make reservations for a smoking room at the hotel because it knows you like to kill yourself slowly and will send a lovely message to your mother-in-law whenever you punch her address in the sat-nav because it knows you'll get sick if you try to do it yourself. The car will become your robotic friend on wheels, but if Toyota has its way, it'll be a "humanized" robot. On wheels.
Graphic courtesy of fueleconomy.gov.

The average fuel economy for new vehicles sold in March was 25.3 mpg  unchanged from the value that was revised for February, according to the University of Michigan's Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI).

The value has remained unchanged since January, when it increased 0.2 mpg from December of 2015.

Fuel economy is down 0.5 mpg from the peak reached in August of 2014, but remains 5.2 mpg higher than October of 2007, when UMTRI began tracking the data, according to UMTRI researchers Michael Sivak and Brandon Schoettle.

The University of Michigan Eco-Driving Index  an index that estimates the average monthly emissions of greenhouse gases generated by an individual U.S. driver  was 0.84 in January, which is 0.01 higher than the value for November of 2015.

This value indicates that the average new-vehicle driver produced 16% lower emissions in January than in October of 2007, but 6% higher emissions than the record low reached in August of 2014.
Photo courtesy of Atlas Car and Truck Rental.

Australian-based Atlas Car Rental and New Zealand-based Omega Rental Cars have signed an affiliate agreement to work in co-operation.

Working together, the two companies will be able to offer rental services for both leisure and corporate markets at 20 locations across Australia and New Zealand.

Atlas Australia has expanded to eight corporate-owned locations and two licensee locations. Operating in Australia for 25 years, it has seen considerable growth in the last three years, according to the company.

It is exciting times for Atlas, launching our first international footprint and affiliate program with Omega Rental Cars, said Scott Atkins, general manager of Atlas. Our steady growth has certainly made us one of Australias largest independent family-owned rental businesses, and we are excited to be able to team up with another independent business in New Zealand who are market leaders in their own right.

Omega Rental Cars has been renting cars in New Zealand since 1992. The company has city and airport branches in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Queenstown, along with depots serving the Picton Ferry Terminal and Nelson Airport.

We are looking forward to working with Atlas Car & Truck Rental, being able to provide our New Zealand clientele the opportunity to hire from a trusted Australian car rental company is a natural extension of our business, said Simon Sceats, CEO of Omega Rental Cars. We are also excited to be able to offer our services to Atlas clients when they are here in NZ. It seems both sides of the Tasman have come so close together over the past few years with the rapid expansion of flights on offer between the destinations of Australia & New Zealand; it just makes total sense to have this affiliation.
Known automaker Honda would be part of an upcoming breed of noted car makers that has the capability to detect and avoid accidental collisions with other cars, making the streets feel safer for everyone.

Other popular brands such as Kia and Porsche together with up to 20 automakers have joined in agreement regarding this much-needed auto feature, in a Digital Trends post. Other automakers which participated included Fiat-Chrysler, Maserati, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Subaru, Toyota, Tesla, Volvo, Volkswagen, Ford, Hyundai, General Motors, Land Rover, Jaguar, BMW, Audi,and Mitsubishi.

As recently announced by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), these OEM manufacturers would be adding the Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) to new vehicle releases by September 2022.

Considering most modern cars can be as heavy as 3,000-4,000 pounds, abrupt stoppage of a moving car is an absolute huge deal. With good tires, about 30 feet of minimal allowable distance to stop one is required as well as zeroing out much inertia just to do this.

Honda's Acura MDX has further gotten top-of-the-line assistive technologies, apart from the AEB system, according to a MySanAntonio post. With the unveiling last week of its updated model for 2017, the Acura MDX would then have the following added self-driving features such as Lane Keeping Assist, which can automatically divert the driver's attention via steering wheel vibration once it detects the vehicle shying away from its lane while on the move.

Another helpful feature would be a Forward Collision Warning system. As the name suggests, a camera aids in looking out for objects that could obscure driver vision and pose as a risk for possible collision at hand. Once the car is going beyond 10 miles per hour, the system would then beep and flash a warning to the driver. Also, both features can be manually switched off and on by the driver. Know more of the Acura MDX here.
General aviation manufacturers have been talking for years about revising Part 23, the rule that regulates certification of small aircraft, and a draft new rule was recently released by the FAA. This far-ranging rule will affect almost everyone involved in general aviation, especially aircraft buyers and aircraft manufacturers. Tom Peghiny, president of Flight Design USA, has been keeping a close watch on the rulemaking process, and told AVweb at Sun n Fun today that from our immediate position, regarding two- and four-place aircraft, it all looks good Theres more options for bringing more light aircraft to the market.

What the rule changes mean, for example, Peghiny said, is that it might be possible for aircraft now sold as light sport aircraft to be certified, under the new rules, to fly into IMC, or to offer higher gross weights, or to offer increased performance in the two-place category. It will make it easier for manufacturers in Europe and elsewhere to offer their products for sale in the U.S. market. It will also make it easier for entrepreneurs in the US to make simple four- and six-place airplanes, he said. It really opens things up again. I think its exciting, and its a move forward for general aviation. Peghiny added that one thing the new rules wont do is to offer a pathway for certifying electric-powered GA aircraft.

Flight Designs C4 design has pushed against the limits of the current Part 23, coming out last year with a plan to use non-certified avionics, which is not currently possible. This was critical for the C4, Peghiny said. We really couldnt move forward that much  its very positive that the NPRM came out and now it can move forward. The proposed rule is long and complex, and AVweb will be talking with more GA manufacturers, advocates and experts here at Sun n Fun for more reaction to what it will mean, and opinions about how it might change before coming a final rule  and how long that process might take.
5 April 2016 11:15 (UTC+04:00)

By Nazrin Gadimova

It seems that Armenia, whose aggressive policy against its neighbor resulted in emergence of the long-lasting Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, has finally recognized that it can no more resist the just stance of Azerbaijan.

Serzh Sargsyan, the head of the predatory regime in Armenia, has made a loud remark on April 4 saying that Yerevan is ready for compromises in the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

This statement can be regarded a step backwards of the invaders in their occupation policy. However, should we believe the statement? Armenia is the very country that resorts to provocations every time when the peace talks on the conflict resolution is close to breakthrough. Armenia is the country which invaded its neighbors historical territories and pursued the policy of ethnic cleaning against Azerbaijanis, forced over 1 million Azerbaijanis to leave their homes and live the life of a refugee.

A precarious cease-fire was signed in 1994, but the Armenian forces committed armistice breaches on the frontline almost every day since then. The recent hostilities are also the result of Armenias provocation against Azerbaijani army and civilian population.

Azerbaijani MP Aydin Mirzazade believes that Sargsyans move is nothing but a ruse.

He [Sargsyan] has stated a condition that all the armed forces should return to their positions as of April 1, 2016, which is nonsense, Mirzazade stressed. Armenia is again trying to deceive the international community, he believes.

The MP noted that those wishing to reach a peace should withdraw the occupation forces from Azerbaijans occupied territories, instead of demanding the Azerbaijani Armed Forces to return the liberated areas.

The Azerbaijani side, commenting on Sargsyans statement, announced that Baku is ready for a ceasefire, however the Armenian troops must withdraw from all the occupied territories of Azerbaijan in line with the UN Security Council resolutions.

Hikmet Hajiyev, Spokesperson for Azerbaijans Foreign Ministry told Trend that Azerbaijans territorial integrity and sovereignty should be ensured within its internationally recognized borders.

The spokesperson reminded that Azerbaijan decided to unilaterally suspend the counterattack and response measures on April 3, but the Armenian side did not obey the ceasefire.

Long-simmering tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan flared up again on April 2 when the Armenian side began to shell the Azerbaijani positions and settlements along the frontline.

This resulted in the killing of two civilians and injuring of 10 another, including a 13-year-old child. More than 10 houses as well as local people`s property were also damaged.

To protect civilian population, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces launched counter attacks and repulsed the enemy forces back. The Azerbaijani troops retook hills around the village of Talish capable of posing threat to Goranboy region and the town of Naftalan, as well as Seysulan settlement, and also took over Lale Tepe hill located in the direction of the Fuzuli region.

Six Armenian tanks, 15 gun mounts and reinforced engineering structures were destroyed and more than 100 Armenian servicemen were wounded and killed during the shootouts.

Twelve servicemen of the Azerbaijani armed forces heroically died, one Mi-24 helicopter was shot down and one tank damaged by a mine.

Despite Azerbaijan's decision on unilateral suspension of the counter-attacks and response measures in the territories occupied by Armenia, the Armenian Armed Forces resumed shelling of Azerbaijani positions along the line of contact on the night of April 4.

Azerbaijan`s defense ministry announced that Azerbaijan and Armenia have agreed to cease operations on the line of contact starting from 12.00, April 5.
5 April 2016 11:41 (UTC+04:00)

By Nazrin Gadimova

The situation remains tense on the contact line between Armenian and Azerbaijani troops, Azerbaijans Defense Ministry reported on April 5.

Realizing that it will fail to return back territories liberated by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, the enemy continues to shell settlements in the direction of Khojavend-Fizuli and Agdere-Terter.

During the counter-attack carried out by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, up to 70 people and around 20 military equipment of Armenia were destroyed from April 4 to the morning of April 5.

The Azerbaijani armed forces have completely destroyed the headquarters of enemys strategically important military base in Madagiz, which is located on the main road to Agdere region, according to the defense ministry. The Armenian side also lost three main battle tanks and their crews holding defensive positions.

Moreover, to minimize damages caused to residential areas from the opposite side Azerbaijans armed forces annihilated two enemy tanks and their crew, as well as five wheeled vehicles loaded with military equipment on Khojavand-Fizuli direction.

The loss of the Azerbaijani army was 16 people in the past two days, according to the ministry.

During the last night, the enemy shelled Azerbaijani settlements near the frontline densely populated by civilians as well. Thus, Armenian armed forces 120 times violated ceasefire on various parts of the contact line between the troops using 60, 82 and 120-millimeter mortars, grenade launchers and large-caliber machine-guns.

Azerbaijani positions located in the village of Gizilhajili of the Gazakh district were fired at by Armenians stationed in the Berkaber village of Armenia's Ijevan district.

Armenian military stationed in the Aygepar village of Armenia's Berd district opened fire at the Azerbaijani army positions in the Alibayli village of the Tovuz district.

Azerbaijani army positions, located on nameless heights in Azerbaijan's Gadabay district, were fired at by the Armenian military stationed on nameless heights in Armenia's Krasnoselsk district.

Armenian army also opened fire from positions near the Gulustan village of the Goranboy district, the Goyarkh, Yarimja, Chilaburt villages of the Tartar district, the Shikhlar, Bash Garvand, Javahirli, Sarijali, Kangarli, Novruzlu, Shuraabad, Merzili, Yusifjanli villages of the Aghdam district, the Kuropatkino village of the Khojavand district, the Garakhanbeyli, Horadiz, Gorgan, Ashagi Seyidahmadli villages of the Fizuli district and the Mehdili village of the Jabrayil district.

Armenians also opened fire upon the Azerbaijani army positions from nameless heights in the Goygol, Goranboy, Khojavand, Fizuli and Jabrayil districts. Azerbaijani armed forces inflicted 126 strikes upon Armenian positions.

To protect civilians the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry once again threatened to carry out missile blow on Khankendi city.

"We have warned that Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov has issued an order to be ready for the missile blow on Khankendi if they continue shelling the settlements along the contact line in Karabakh, spokesperson for the ministry, Vagif Dargahli told on April 5. The Armenian side has been shelling settlements in Agdere and Fizuli directions over the night. By their actions they bring close a blow to Khankendi.

The Defense Minister ordered on April 4 the Armed Forces to stand ready to launch devastating strikes on Khankendi.

Acting inhumanly, the Armenian side provokes Azerbaijan to take counter measures despite the continuous warnings made by Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry to the Armenian side," said the message. "Azerbaijan once again calls on Armenia to respect the international law and norms and stop the use of lethal force against civilians.

Long-simmering tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan flared again on April 2 when the Armenian side began to shell the Azerbaijani positions and settlements along the frontline.

To protect civilian population, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces launched counter attacks and repulsed the enemy forces back. Six Armenian tanks, 15 gun mounts and reinforced engineering structures have been destroyed and more than 100 Armenian servicemen were wounded and killed during the shootouts.

Twelve servicemen of the Azerbaijani armed forces heroically died, one Mi-24 helicopter was shot down and one tank damaged by a mine.

Despite Azerbaijan's decision on unilateral suspension of the counter-attacks and response measures in the territories occupied by Armenia, the Armenian Armed Forces resumed shelling of Azerbaijani positions along the line of contact on the night of April 4, further deteriorating the situation on the contact line.

--

Nazrin Gadimova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @NazrinGadimova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
5 April 2016 10:42 (UTC+04:00)

By Nazrin Gadimova

While the situation in the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region remains tense, the international community expresses serious concern over the renewed hostilities.

The U.S., being a member of the OSCE Minsk Group mediating to find a peaceful solution to the Nagorno- Karabakh conflict, encouraged Armenia and Azerbaijan to immediately restore ceasefire.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden stressed the importance of resolving the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh on the background of worsening crisis.

As I told Presidents Aliyev and Sargsyan, comprehensive settlement in Nagorno-Karabakh is critical for their stability, security, prosperity, Biden wrote in his Twitter on April 4.

Earlier, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry noted that the country condemns in the strongest terms the large-scale ceasefire violations along the Nagorno-Karabakh, which have resulted in a number of reported casualties, including civilians.

We extend our condolences to all affected families, he said. We urge the sides to show restraint, avoid further escalation, and strictly adhere to the ceasefire. The unstable situation on the ground demonstrates why the sides must enter into an immediate negotiation under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs on a comprehensive settlement of the conflict.

Kerry believes that there is no military solution to the conflict.

As a co-chair country, the United States is firmly committed to working with the sides to reach a lasting and negotiated peace, he concluded.

Long-simmering tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan flared again on April 2 when the Armenian side began to shell the Azerbaijani positions and settlements along the frontline.

To protect civilian population, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces launched counter attacks and repulsed the enemy forces back. Six Armenian tanks, 15 gun mounts and reinforced engineering structures have been destroyed and more than 100 Armenian servicemen were wounded and killed during the shootouts.

Twelve servicemen of the Azerbaijani armed forces heroically died, one Mi-24 helicopter was shot down and one tank damaged by a mine.

Despite Azerbaijan's decision on unilateral suspension of the counter-attacks and response measures in the territories occupied by Armenia, the Armenian Armed Forces resumed shelling of Azerbaijani positions along the line of contact on the night of April 4, further deteriorating the situation on the contact line.

--

Nazrin Gadimova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @NazrinGadimova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
5 April 2016 16:48 (UTC+04:00)

By Nazrin Gadimova

With renewing escalation in the Nagorno-Karabakh area and raising hands against the civilian population of Azerbaijan living along the frontline, Armenian militaries have once again showed their unwillingness to peace.

Daily frontline skirmishes have always posed big challenges to Azerbaijans civilian population living along the frontline. The intense firing of the Azerbaijani positions and settlements along the frontline since April 2, have caused causalities among Azerbaijani civilians.

Over the past four days, the Armenian armed forces have subjected a number of settlements of Azerbaijans Terter, Aghdam and Fuzuli regions to the intense firing from heavy weapons.

On the first day of the hostilities, two civilians were killed, while 10 other were wounded by Armenian militaries. More than 10 houses as well as local peoples property were also damaged during the first day of the fighting.

The enemy forces also fired the Sarijali school #1 in Azerbaijans Aghdam region on April 2. No casualties were reported, however, the schools building was seriously damaged. One of the shells also hit a school in the village of Ayag Gervend.

On April 4, 62-years-old Garash Dadashev was killed while being in mosque in Aghdam. Moreover, Akif Mustafayev, Pakiza Maharramli (Aghdam residents), Ulviyya Aliyeva and Kamala Aghayeva (Terter region) were wounded by Armenian armed forces.

The Seydimli village of Azerbaijans Terter region was subjected to the artillery fire by Armenian armed forces on April 4. One of the shells hit the courtyard of villager Sahib Veliyev, injuring the house owner and his 13-year-old grandson.

Armenians' recent shelling of Tartar region has damaged 160 houses. Many of the damaged houses became completely unusable. A shell burst in the Hasangaya village, killing civilian Turana Hasanli, 16, and wounding Mehpara Aliyeva.

Several journalists have made photo reportage as they visited the front line in Garadaghli, Gapanli, Duyarli villages in the Tartar region. The reporters took photos of the ruins after the area was shelled by the Armenians. Photos provide a description of the Armenians` provocation, their targeting civilians and houses.

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 situation on the frontline aggravated on April 2 after the Armenian military units in the occupied lands started shelling Azerbaijans positions.

To protect civilian population, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces launched counter attacks and as a result, the Azerbaijani troops retook hills around the village of Talish, as well as Seysulan settlement, and also took over Lele Tepe hill located in the direction of Fizuli region.

The hostilities renewed in the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan on April 4, as the Armenian side continued to shell the Azerbaijani positions although the Azerbaijani side announced unilateral ceasefire on April 3.

The Azerbaijani Army destroyed about 370 enemy soldiers since the start of the hostilities, according to the defense ministry.

Azerbaijan and Armenia have agreed to cease operations on the line of contact starting from 12.00, April 5.

The Azerbaijani armed units are now carrying out fortification work in the retaken areas, Defense Ministry reported.

--

Nazrin Gadimova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @NazrinGadimova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
5 April 2016 17:01 (UTC+04:00)

By Aynur Karimova

Azerbaijan as a very important partner of the international community in the global fight against terrorism has contributed to the prevention of proliferation and smuggling of nuclear materials. Therefore, participation of Baku at the 4th Nuclear Security Summit was quite noticeable.

The nuclear threat in todays world is more complex and unpredictable than ever. Amid the rising nuclear threat, Azerbaijan has reiterated its support to the nuclear security and demonstrated a firm position in fight against nuclear terrorism.

President Ilham Aliyev, addressing the 4th Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, voiced Azerbaijan's support to the activity and efforts of President Obama to strengthen nuclear security in the world.

Azerbaijan, as a country suffering from Armenian aggression for more than two decades, attaches great importance to non-proliferation. On the background of emerging proliferation threats and due to its geographic location, Azerbaijan also attaches utmost importance to the prevention of possible use of its territory as a transit route for illicit nuclear trafficking.

"In close cooperation with our international partners we have developed a comprehensive national export control system with the solid legislation basis in line with international standards," President Aliyev said in his speech. "Up to date our national export control system has proved itself as a reliable mechanism in preventing illicit nuclear trafficking."

Unfortunately, due to the fact Armenia has occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territories, Azerbaijan is not able to control these occupied lands, and to implement full scale programs.

From this point of view, Azerbaijans participation at the 4th Nuclear Security Summit was very important for counteracting the current threats for the whole South Caucasus region. During the summit, Azerbaijan raised a very serious issue related to the nuclear security of several countries in the region.

"Another issue which I want to draw your attention to is the functioning of the outdated Armenian nuclear power plant which was built in 1976," President Aliyev said. "It is situated in the very seismic zone with a shortage of water to cool its ageing reactor and poses a direct threat to the region. Instead of decommissioning the power plant Armenia plans to extend its operation until 2026. That means that the whole region, including Armenia itself will live under threat for another decade."

President Aliyev also urged the international community to influence Armenia to stop the activity of this power plant and to comply with the rules and procedures which the international community is expecting.

Baku, for many years, has been saying at all international platforms that the operation of Metsamor plant poses a serious threat, since it was constructed with old technology and its service life has expired.

Located in the earthquake-prone region, the operation of this outdated nuclear becomes even more dangerous day by day.

The accident at Japans newest nuclear power plant in Fukushima, caused by an earthquake in 2011, led to a huge environmental disaster. It is scary to think what will happen in case of a strong earthquake in Armenia, for example, similar to the one that happened in the countrys Spitak city in 1988.

Today, all the countries in the region, including Iran, Turkey, Georgia, Russia and Azerbaijan are exposed to the threat of suffering the same fate of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, Sayano-Shushenskaya hydropower plant and the Japanese Fukushima nuclear power plant.

Azerbaijan and other countries in the region must continue drawing attention to a huge probability of technical accidents. As a result of these accidents, the region can be subjected to radioactive contamination.

Diplomatic triumph

President Aliyev's visit to Washington was of significant importance. Within three days the head of state held meetings with the U.S. officials, in particular with Vice President Joe Biden, State Secretary John Kerry, as well as senior representatives of political and business circles and heads of public organizations.

Azerbaijan, after restoring its independence in 1991, established diplomatic ties with the U.S. in 1992. The U.S. became one of the first countries to recognize Azerbaijan's sovereignty immediately after the Soviet Union collapsed. Azerbaijan opened its diplomatic mission in Washington on March 6, 1992, and the U.S. opened its mission in Baku on March 16, 1992. Immediate establishment of diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and the U.S. shows the importance of Azerbaijan for Washington.

Baku, which has always pursued independent and multi-vector policy, eyes stable development of bilateral relations with the U.S. in many fields. The main direction of the mutual ties is strategic partnership in the field of energy, security and the development of economic relations.

The foundation of successful cooperation of Baku and Washington in the energy field was set in 1993, when Azerbaijan was in active negotiations to attract investment in the oil and gas sector of the country. These talks were followed by the Contract of the Century signed on September 20, 1994 (in which many U.S. companies participated), as well as construction and commissioning of the Baku-Supsa, the Baku-Tbilisi Ceyhan oil pipelines, and Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline. It is not a secret that the administrations of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush provided their political support to the implementation of these projects.

It is noteworthy that the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline is the foundation and an integral part of a larger and more important project - the Southern Gas Corridor, which is strongly supported by the current U.S. government.

Besides strategic partnership in the energy sector and developed economic relations, Azerbaijan is an important ally of the U.S. in the field of security and counterterrorism.

Azerbaijan was one of the first states offering its help to the U.S. in fight against terrorism. Immediately after the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, DC, then Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev proposed Baku's unconditional support to the U.S. in combating terrorism.

Azerbaijan, being a victim of terrorism and military aggression of Armenia, has allowed the NATO planes carrying non-combat loads for a mission in Afghanistan to fly through Azerbaijan's airspace and to use the country's airports. About 40 percent of all cargo destined for the NATO mission in Afghanistan pass through Baku (southern route, the so-called Northern Distribution Network). In addition, Azerbaijan has for many years participated in peacekeeping missions in Iraq and Kosovo.

All the above mentioned facts once again prove the triumph of Azerbaijan's diplomacy and the effectiveness of the government's foreign policy aimed at the prosperity of the country, the liberation of the occupied territories and the transformation of Azerbaijan into a major political and economic player in the region
5 April 2016 09:38 (UTC+04:00)

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov in connection with the situation on the front line, had telephone conversations with the heads of the Foreign Ministry of Georgia, France and Lithuania, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry's press service told Trend April 4.

Mammadyarov, informing about events in the conflict zone, said that the Armenian units took target the population closely residing in frontline areas and civilian objects. He also said that as a result of the shelling of the Armenian side a number of civilians were killed and injured.

The Minister noted that despite the decision of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces on April 3 on unilateral ceasefire, the Armenian units continue to violate the ceasefire and shelling villages and civilians.

Mammadyarov added that the main cause of tension is the illegal presence of Armenian troops in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

The Foreign Minister said that to relieve stress and achieve progress, Armenian troops should be withdrawn from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, and also said that the conflict can be resolved only on the basis of the principles of territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan.

On the night of Apr. 2, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from Armenians, who were using large-caliber weapons, mortars, grenade launchers and guns. Azerbaijani settlements near the frontline densely populated by civilians were shelled as well.

A counter-attack was carried out following the provocations of the Armenian armed forces on the night of Apr. 2.

Six Armenian tanks, 15 gun mounts and reinforced engineering structures were destroyed and more than 100 servicemen of the Armenian armed forces were wounded and killed during the shootouts.

Twelve servicemen of the Azerbaijani armed forces heroically died, one Mi-24 helicopter was shot down and one tank was damaged on a mine.

Three more soldiers of Azerbaijan were killed during the past day and night as a result of the ceasefire violation.

On Apr. 4, Azerbaijani armed forces destroyed three tanks and eliminated around 30 servicemen of the Armenian armed forces.

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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5 April 2016 11:29 (UTC+04:00)

Iran has expressed readiness to act as a mediator between Yerevan and Baku in the recent Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that Iran is ready to play role in the peaceful settling of the conflict, in case if the involved parties are interested, Iran's Fars news agency reported April 5.

He made the remarks in a phone conversation with his Armenian counterpart Edward Nalbandian. Zarif also is scheduled to meet with his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov April 5 within the framework of a trilateral meeting of foreign ministers of Azerbaijan, Turkey and Iran in the Iranian city of Ramsar, where it is planned to discuss issues of mutual interests as well as regional and international developments.

Meanwhile, during talks with Nalbandian, Zarif underlined the necessity of ceasing armed clashes between the sides.

He further called for return of peace to the region and peaceful settlement of Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements. The situation on the contact line remains tense.

---

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5 April 2016 13:52 (UTC+04:00)

By Amina Nazarli

Azerbaijan is interested in developing trade and economic relations with the U.S. State of Nevada.



The statement was made by Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov, as he received the delegation headed by Speaker of the Nevada State Assembly John Hambrick in Baku on April 4.

Talking about the participation of President Ilham Aliyev in the 4th Summit on Nuclear Security in Washington upon the invitation of President Barack Obama and meetings held by the head of the state, Mammadyarov expressed hope that this visit will contribute to even greater development of the relations between the two countries.

The foreign minister noted that Azerbaijan attaches great importance to development of the relations with U.S. states, and brought to the attention that the country is also interested in developing trade and economic relations with Nevada.

Hambrick, for his part, said that Nevada is also interested in developing economic and trade fields with Azerbaijan, noting the importance of the mutual visits of Assembly members and businessmen.

The meeting also discussed the exchange of views on regional and international issues.

During their visit, the American delegation also met Chairman of the Azerbaijan Parliament Ogtay Asadov, who hailed the expansion of the ties between the two states.



The chairman said that the two countries have good opportunities for the development of cooperation, adding that Azerbaijan is interested in developing relations with the U.S. and its states.

He expressed his confidence that Hambrick`s visit would give impetus to deepening cooperation with the state of Nevada, hailing the fact that the U.S. has made more than $10 billion investments in Azerbaijan so far.

In 2015, the trade turnover between Azerbaijan and the U.S. reached $1 billion, Asadov added.

Hambrick, in turn, said Nevada was interested in trade and economic partnership with Azerbaijan.

The two sides also agreed on holding lectures on Azerbaijan multiculturalism in Nevadas higher education institutions in the near future.

Kamal Abdullayev, the State Counselor for multiculturalism, international and religious affairs and Hambrick agreed that in the next stage, one of the Nevada universities will teach Azerbaijan multiculturalism lesson.

Abdullayev reminded that Azerbaijani multiculturalism lesson is taught in 13 universities around the world including Europe. Abdullayev also informed the American guests about the International Multiculturalism summer and winter school, attended by students from Ukraine, Turkey, Lithuania, Japan, Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Russia, Belarus, Italy and Indonesia.

Earlier in April 2015, the Nevada State Assembly issued a proclamation, highlighting Azerbaijans traditions of tolerance, which was signed by speaker Hambrick.

Abdullayev thanked the American official for his benevolent actions towards Azerbaijan.

--

Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli



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5 April 2016 12:14 (UTC+04:00)

Azerbaijan expects from Israel to relate to what is happening in Nagorno-Karabakh, because Israel can request Armenia to stop the fire and enter negotiations, Ali Hasanov, Azerbaijani president's aide for public and political affairs, told The Jerusalem Post.

"We view Israel as a strategic partner, and expect it to comment [on the situation]," he said.

Azerbaijan asks its strategic partner - Israel - to express its attitude toward the latest developments related to the military provocation committed by Armenia, according to Hasanov.

The top official noted that Israel has good relations with the US, Russia and France, and can urge them to bring Armenia to negotiations on the conflict.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements. The situation on the contact line remains tense.

---

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5 April 2016 13:10 (UTC+04:00)

By Amina Nazarli

Reports claiming that a group of Armenian hackers hacked a number of government websites in Azerbaijan do not correspond to reality.

Deputy Communications and High-Tech Minister Iltimas Mammadov announced about this while talking to Day.az on April 5. He added that the information spread by the Armenian side is provocative.

Personally, I do not have any information on the matter. And if any website would actually be hacked, my colleagues and I would have been aware of this, Mammadov said.

Information that allegedly Armenian hackers gained access to the personal data of 25,000 military of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces also contradicts the reality, he added.

Earlier, several reports appeared in the Armenian segment of social networks claiming that Armenian hackers broke into some government websites of Azerbaijan.

Long-simmering tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan flared again on April 2 when the Armenian side began to shell the Azerbaijani positions and settlements along the frontline.

To protect civilian population, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces launched counter attacks and repulsed the enemy forces back. Six Armenian tanks, 15 gun mounts and reinforced engineering structures have been destroyed and more than 100 Armenian servicemen were wounded and killed during the shootouts.

Twelve servicemen of the Azerbaijani armed forces heroically died, one Mi-24 helicopter was shot down and one tank damaged by a mine.

Despite Azerbaijan's decision on unilateral suspension of the counter-attacks and response measures in the territories occupied by Armenia, the Armenian Armed Forces resumed shelling of Azerbaijani positions along the line of contact on the night of April 4, further deteriorating the situation on the contact line.

--

Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli



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5 April 2016 13:40 (UTC+04:00)

By Laman Ismayilova

Vice-President of the Brazil-Azerbaijan inter-parliamentary friendship group at the Brazil's Chamber of Deputies Rodrigo Maia and Rio de Janeiro City Councils external affairs committee chairman Cesar Maia have made joint statement on the violation of ceasefire at the frontline of the Armenian-Azerbaijani troops, the Azerbaijani embassy in Brazil reported.

We condemn the latest provocations committed by the Armenian armed forces against Azerbaijan on the troops contact line. We all know that Azerbaijan is victim of the Armenian aggression.

It is over 20 years that Azerbaijani lands are under the Armenian occupation. As a result of this occupation more than one million of Azerbaijanis have become refugees and IDPs. Unfortunately, Armenia ignores Four Resolutions adopted by UN Security Council in 1993 when Brazil was the non-permanent member of the UN SC and supported these documents. The world community, including the OSCE Minsk Group should make every effort and exert pressure on the aggressor to implement these Resolutions. Related to the happenings, we express our full solidarity with the fair position of Azerbaijan, the statement.

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 situation on the frontline aggravated on April 2 after the Armenian military units in the occupied lands started shelling Azerbaijans positions.

To protect civilian population, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces launched counter attacks and as a result, the Azerbaijani troops retook hills around the village of Talish, as well as Seysulan settlement, and also took over Lele Tepe hill located in the direction of Fizuli region.

The hostilities renewed in the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan on April 4, as the Armenian side continued to shell the Azerbaijani positions although the Azerbaijani side announced unilateral ceasefire on April 3.

The Azerbaijani Army destroyed about 370 enemy soldiers since the start of the hostilities, according to the defense ministry.

---

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5 April 2016 13:13 (UTC+04:00)

Azerbaijan is much stronger militarily now as evidenced by the destruction of ten Armenian tanks in the fighting over the weekend, President of the Jamestown Foundation Glen Howard told Trend April 5.



"Azerbaijan is not the Azerbaijan of 1994 but has had more than a decade to build an army and is able to defend its territory more than ever before," said Howard.



"I think the recent fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh is attributed to two things. The first is the visit to Washington DC by President Aliyev and his meeting with Vice President Joe Biden," he said.



The fact that the US is trying to give high level attention to the conflict and the fact that both presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia visited Washington DC and had high level meetings with the vice president is a sign that Azerbaijan's neighbor to the north continues to want the frozen conflict to remain frozen, said the expert.



He added that it is also a sign that instead of a frozen conflict, Karabakh, like Eastern Ukraine, has fallen victim to becoming a "bleeding conflict" designed to remind Armenia and Azerbaijan that the conflict cannot involve the western powers like the US in a peaceful resolution.



"Russia cannot be an independent peace negotiator while it is arming both sides of the conflict - by this I mean selling arms to both Azerbaijan and Armenia; it is creating the conditions for conflict between the two countries which is not helping the peace process," added Howard.



The expert noted that this conflict cannot be resolved unless the US takes the hands-on approach to the conflict.



It is not helpful when the US's chief negotiator for Karabakh, James Warlick attends events sponsored by the so called independent government of Nagorno-Karabakh in Washington DC, something that never happened during the days of the Bush Administration, said Howard.



This reflects how far the US has gone from being a neutral negotiator in the conflict, he added.



It demonstrates the lack of attention by the US Secretary of State John Kerry to find a peaceful solution to the conflict, according to the expert.



"This, in my opinion, set the stage for the events last weekend in Karabakh," noted Howard.



The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.



On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
6 April 2016 00:46 (UTC+04:00)

By Fatma Babayeva

Baku hosted the next meeting of the special working group created at the level of deputy ministers to develop a convention on a legal status of the Caspian Sea.

Deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Khalaf Khalafov, addressing the session on April 5, stated that achieving an early conclusion of the convention will serve to the cooperation and interaction among the Caspian littoral states.

Azerbaijan attaches a great importance to the agreements signed on the delimitation issue of the Caspian Sea between Baku, Astana and Moscow, the deputy minister added.

All the issues related to the legal status of the Caspian Sea should be resolved based on respect for the sovereign rights of states and mutually beneficial partnership, he said.

The deputy minister emphasized that questions related to the sovereignty and jurisdiction which included to the agenda of the meeting require a detailed and thorough discussion.

The Caspian Sea plays an important role in the transport corridors, along with being an important part of the international and regional projects, Khalafov stressed.

Azerbaijan has already ratified all the agreements inked during the 4th summit of the heads of state of the Caspian littoral states, he further added.

Fulfillment of the agreements signed by the heads of the Caspian Sea countries remains the priority of the negotiation process on the legal status of the sea, according to Khalafov.

Khalafov believes that the success of the work on the five-sided agreement on the draft convention mainly depends on the continuation of a constructive exchange of views in the negotiations process.

He said that the discussion of certain issues in the format of exchange of views between experts is a positive experience for reaching general agreements.

The issues related to strengthening the international cooperation, improving the investment climate for developing and transportation of energy resources to world markets, creation of reliable and secure communication, attracting highly profitable and environmentally friendly technologies are of special importance, according to the deputy minister.

Igor Bradcikov- President's Russian representative for the delimitation and demarcation of the state border with the CIS countries, Ibrahim Rahimpur- Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister and the country's special representative for Caspian affairs, Zulfiya Amanjolova- Ambassador at large of the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Kazakhstan, and Muradgeldi Atadjanov- Turkmen representative were also among participant of the meeting.

Determining the legal status of the Caspian Sea has become one of the problematic issues among the five littoral states since demise of the Soviet Union.

The legal status have been remained unsolved during the past two decades, preventing development and exploitation of its disputable oil and gas fields and creating obstacles to the realization of major energy projects.

The countries of the Caspian Sea have been holding different views on the delimitation of the sea for a long time which mainly rooted in uncertainty whether it should be considered as sea or a lake as different practices exist to determine legal status of various water basins.

---

Fatma Babayeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Fatma_Babayeva

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5 April 2016 13:36 (UTC+04:00)

The members of the House of Representatives of the US State of Georgia Pat Gardner and Demetrius Douglas, who were the authors of the resolution HR1580, which called for the recognition of the separatist regime created on Azerbaijan's occupied territories, addressed a letter to Azerbaijan's Ambassador in the US Elin Suleymanov as a response to the embassy's protest in this regard.



"In this letter, the legislators of the State of Georgia expressed gratitude to the Azerbaijani side for the provision of information on the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and noted that after the issue's careful consideration, as well as learning about the strategic partnership between the US and Azerbaijan, they decided to withdraw their support for the draft resolution HR1580," said the embassy's message.



"The representatives had no intention to question the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and taking this opportunity once again acknowledged it," said the message.



"Over the past twenty four years, Azerbaijan has proven itself as a reliable and proven ally of the United States, supporting it in the fight against international terrorism, drug and human trafficking, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and etc.," said the representatives in their letter.



"Meanwhile, both legislators of the State of Georgia became the authors of the new project of the resolution HR1892 that expresses support for the strategic cooperation between the US and Azerbaijan, recognizes Azerbaijan's strategic importance, as well as expresses its support for Azerbaijan's sovereignty and territorial integrity," said the embassy's message.



A large Armenian lobby in the US, in particular, such organizations as the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) and the Armenian Assembly of America (AAA) stand behind this kind of provocations, which are sharply against the US's official position on the conflict, according to the message.



It should be noted that by efforts of these organizations two more resolutions were presented at the same time at the House of Representatives and the Senate of the US State, but after an active and timely intrusion of the Azerbaijani side, including activists of the Azerbaijani diaspora, and in particular the head of the Azerbaijan Center in Houston city Irada Akhundova, both resolutions were withdrawn by their authors.



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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5 April 2016 14:36 (UTC+04:00)

Turkey supports and will continue supporting Azerbaijan, reports the Turkish TRT Haber TV channel.

"Let no one doubt of Turkey's support for Azerbaijan," the TV channel reported April 5 citing Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkish prime minister.

Davutoglu further added that Turkey is closely following the current events on the contact line of Azerbaijani and Armenian troops.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements.

---

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5 April 2016 14:48 (UTC+04:00)

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his Azerbaijan counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov discussed regional developments at a meeting in Iran's northern city of Ramsar.



Speaking about the recent developments in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Zarif called for truce, voicing Iran's readiness to act as a mediator between Yerevan and Baku to resolve the existing crisis between Armenia and Azerbaijan, ILNA news agency reported.



"We should join efforts to rule out witnessing new crisis in the region," ILNA quoted Zarif as saying.



He further pointed to his phone conversation with Armenian counterpart, Edward Nalbandian, regarding Karabakh conflict and called for establishing peace in the region.



On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements. The situation on the contact line remains tense.



The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

---

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5 April 2016 15:48 (UTC+04:00)

Azerbaijan's position in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which requires that the situation be corrected, especially given the UN resolutions in connection with this, is logical and fair, Sergey Markov, the Russian president's trustee, the member of the Russian Public Chamber and political analyst, told Trend Apr. 5.

"The status quo reflects the allocation of forces observed over 20 years ago, at the time when Armenia was stronger," said Markov, adding that since then, the allocation of forces has changed significantly.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is in a unique state in comparison with other local conflicts, he said.

"Firstly, there are no peacekeepers in the line of separation, so the outbreak of hostilities may occur at any time," Markov said.

"Secondly, we see the frozen talks on the conflict," said Markov adding that first of all, the OSCE Minsk Group is responsible for this freezing of talks.

"There is a unique situation where the Minsk Group co-chairs are the three countries - the US, France and Russia - where the Armenian diaspora is the largest in the world," he noted. "And, of course, these countries are not in a hurry with the negotiations."

The current collisions on the contact line of the Azerbaijani-Armenian troops will force the Minsk group to act and unfreeze the negotiation process, according to him.

Moreover, Azerbaijan's hope should be only on Russia, as there is not only Armenian, but also powerful Azerbaijani diaspora in Russia, said Markov.

"Unlike France and the US, there are close ties with both Armenia and Azerbaijan in Russia," said the expert. "And Russia has a more centrist position in this sense than the US and France, where some diplomats' actions are paralyzed by very strong Armenian communities."

The expert added that it is necessary to switch to the ceasefire regime and use the large temporary historic compromise, reflected in the updated Madrid principles.

Markov also stressed the biased, anti-Azerbaijani position in many Russian media outlets.

Markov said that despite pro-Armenian, pro-Azerbaijani and neutral positions have been reflected in the Russian media, Azerbaijan's position has not been fully presented.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers.

The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements. More than 370 Armenian soldiers, 12 tanks, 12 armored vehicles and 15 artillery guns.

---

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5 April 2016 17:55 (UTC+04:00)

By Amina Nazarli

The tense situation on the contact line between Armenian and Azerbaijani troops has become one of the main topics at the plenary session of the Azerbaijani Parliament on April 5.



The session started with a minute of silence in honor of Azerbaijani servicemen killed during the operations on the frontline, following which Parliamentary Speaker Ogtay Asadov thanked the national army for the successful operation.

For many years Azerbaijan respected the ceasefire. Every time achieving great successes, Azerbaijan faced Armenian sabotage. But during the past years, our civilians were subjected to Armenians artillery shelling. This time, our army responded to the Armenian diversion by holding a strong operation and put Armenians in their place, he said.

The speaker further hailed the fact that the Azerbaijani army has taken control of important strategic heights.

Asadov noted that after Azerbaijan's armed forces took control of a number of important strategic heights, Armenia's President Serzh Sargsyan said that if the Azerbaijani army returns to their former positions, Armenia agrees to compromise.

"We don't need any compromises, Armenia must withdraw from the occupied Azerbaijani lands," said the speaker.

Armenia calls on old people to join the army, as follows from disseminated information. It indicates that there are no young people in Armenia; they left the country, noted Asadov, adding that with such forces Armenia cannot solve any problem with Azerbaijan.

Long-simmering tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan flared up again on April 2 when the Armenian side began to shell the Azerbaijani positions and settlements along the frontline.

This resulted in the killing of two civilians and injuring of 10 another, including a 13-year-old child. More than 10 houses as well as local people`s property were also damaged.

To protect civilian population, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces launched counter attacks and repulsed the enemy forces back. The Azerbaijani troops retook hills around the village of Talish capable of posing threat to Goranboy region and the town of Naftalan, as well as Seysulan settlement, and also took over Lele Tepe hill located in the direction of the Fuzuli region.

First Vice-Speaker of the Parliament Ziyafat Askerov also reminded that Armenia has not complied with a ceasefire reached back in 1994.

Every day soldiers and civilians, including children and the elderly, were killed on the contact line. However, the Azerbaijani side has always been for the peace and the negotiation process, he said, adding that now Azerbaijan made a conclusion that the international law is no longer valid in this conflict.

In this case, Azerbaijan has demonstrated its strength. Until today, we have demonstrated commitment to the principles of international law, and this will continue. But sometimes it is necessary to demonstrate the power so that the enemy knows its place. The enemy now is aware of the Azerbaijani Armys power. Azerbaijan was armed not for parades, but for this day, and the enemy has experienced this, he said.

MP Gudrat Hasanguliyev, addressing the session, announced that he will transfer his salary to the fund, adding that Armenian army is broken, and Azerbaijan must destroy the enemy army.

The MPs backed the proposal and voiced readiness to transfer their salary to the Fund.

MP Siyavush Novruzov further said that queues of volunteers, who are ready to join the fights to liberate the occupied territories, have been lined up in the offices for the mobilization and conscription.

Every citizen of Azerbaijan, regardless of age, is ready to fight in the ranks of the Armed Forces, he said.

The MP noted that the international organizations have already realized that the frozen conflict does not mean peace and the conflict can flare up with renewed vigor at any time, leading to very serious consequences.

The international organizations once again saw that due to ineffective activity of the OSCE Minsk Group, the settlement of this conflict is deliberately delayed. Armenia believed that a new generation in Azerbaijan would forget about Nagorno-Karabakh and other occupied lands, and hoped that the level of combat capability would fall. But the opposite has happened. Every Azerbaijani youth is ready to go to war, holding a flag in hands, the MP said.

MP Ganira Pashayeva, in turn, offered to write off loan debts of the servicemen killed during the recent operations on the contact line, as well as their families.

She said that such a move on the part of banks will be well received by the public.

Despite Azerbaijan's decision on unilateral suspension of the counter-attacks and response measures in the territories occupied by Armenia, the Armenian Armed Forces resumed shelling of Azerbaijani positions along the line of contact on the night of April 4.

Azerbaijan`s defense ministry announced that Azerbaijan and Armenia have agreed to cease operations on the line of contact starting from 12.00, April 5.

--

Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

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5 April 2016 15:59 (UTC+04:00)

Azerbaijans President, Supreme Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev visited the wounded servicemen who are treated at the Central Military Clinical Hospital of the Defense Ministry on April 5.

The head of state met with the soldiers who were wounded in the fighting on the line of contact.

Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov said part of the servicemen who heroically fought and were wounded while repulsing the Armenian provocation on the line of contact were brought to this hospital.

All necessary measures have been taken to ensure their treatment. The staff of the hospital are tirelessly working day and night to ensure their swiftest possible recovery.

President Aliyev met with the families of the martyred and wounded servicemen.

Long-simmering tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan flared again on April 2 when the Armenian side began to shell the Azerbaijani positions and settlements along the frontline.

To protect civilian population, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces launched counter attacks and repulsed the enemy forces back. Six Armenian tanks, 15 gun mounts and reinforced engineering structures have been destroyed and more than 100 Armenian servicemen were wounded and killed during the shootouts.

Twelve servicemen of the Azerbaijani armed forces heroically died, one Mi-24 helicopter was shot down and one tank damaged by a mine.

Despite Azerbaijan's decision on unilateral suspension of the counter-attacks and response measures in the territories occupied by Armenia, the Armenian Armed Forces resumed shelling of Azerbaijani positions along the line of contact on the night of April 4.

As a result of the counter-attack, Azerbaijans Armed Forces neutralized up to 170 servicemen and 12 units of armored vehicles of the Armenian side

During the counter-attack carried out by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, up to 70 people and around 20 military equipment of Armenia were destroyed from April 4 to the morning of April 5.

The loss of the Azerbaijani army was 16 people in the past two days.

Realizing that their attempt to regain lost positions in the Khojavend-Fuzuli and Terter-Aghdere direction does not give any result, the Armenian army continues to shell villages located near the frontline and tries to destroy the infrastructure of Azerbaijan's frontier regions.
5 April 2016 16:01 (UTC+04:00)

Iranian experts believe that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should be resolved with respect to the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

"Conflict in essence does not benefit any side, therefore, the issue should be resolved within the framework of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, upholding the rights of the area's residents," Iranian expert Hassan Beheshtipour told Trend April 5.



He underlined that while after two decades of ceasefire, the world community had on the surface forgotten about the Karabakh issue, recent tensions showed that the problem should be solved somehow, rather than be left untouched.

On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers.



The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements. More than 370 Armenian soldiers, 12 tanks, 12 armored vehicles and 15 artillery guns have been destroyed from April 2 until today.

Beheshtipour says that the continuation of war will not benefit the region since there is already enough conflicts in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, Davod Hermidas Bavand, former chairman of the Legal Committee of the UN General Assembly also told Trend that some positions adopted in the US, Europe, and Russia are inclined toward Armenia under the influence of religio-ethnic issues as well as Armenian lobbyism.

But, he added, a non-interested country can introduce models that would solve the issue within the framework of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and provide for the repatriation of the refugees and meet the satisfaction of all the residents of the occupied area.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
5 April 2016 16:21 (UTC+04:00)

The international community could help by elevating its engagement at this tense moment to the same level as Russia, whose president and ministers of defense and foreign affairs are active, says Matthew Bryza, former US assistant secretary for South Caucasus and former US ambassador to Azerbaijan.

"The international community, meaning the OSCE Minsk Group, seeks to facilitate a just and lasting settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," Bryza told Trend by phone.

The expert said that two decades ago, the international community passed four United Nations Security Council resolutions demanding that Armenia withdraw its military forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

"Additionally, the international community formed the Minsk Group under the OSCE, which, via its U.S., French, and Russian co-chairs, helped the parties negotiate a set of basic principles that define the framework for a settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," Bryza said.

"These basic principles derive from three core concepts of the Helsinki Final Act, namely, the territorial integrity of states, self-determination of peoples, and non-use of force," the expert added.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers.

The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements. More than 370 Armenian soldiers, 12 tanks, 12 armored vehicles and 15 artillery guns have been destroyed from April 2 until today.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
5 April 2016 17:55 (UTC+04:00)

Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev has received Speaker of the Nevada State Assembly John Hambrick.

President Aliyev recalled his recent visit to the U.S. and said he held fruitful meetings. The head of state described these meetings as a sign of strategic cooperation between the two countries.

The President highlighted the Nuclear Security Summit organized on the initiative of President Barack Obama, saying it was of pivotal importance at a time when there was a growing threat of terrorist organizations` obtaining nuclear material.

President Aliyev extended congratulations to the U.S. government on the successful organization of the fourth Nuclear Security Summit.

The head of state hailed the development of relations between Azerbaijan and different states of the U.S., including Nevada. President Aliyev said the friendly relations were already established with the State of Nevada.

Hambrick said he was happy to visit beautiful Azerbaijan, and hailed hospitality they were given in the country. The Speaker of the Nevada State Assembly informed President Aliyev of his meetings held at the Milli Majlis of Azerbaijan.

John Hambrick said the Nevada State Assembly adopted a resolution supporting Azerbaijan, Azertac state news agency reports.

---

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5 April 2016 19:06 (UTC+04:00)

By Nazrin Gadimova

The aggravation of the situation in Azerbaijans occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region has demanded an immediate reaction from the OSCE Minsk Group, which has not managed to resolve the conflict over the entire period of its existence.

The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs have decided to hold a meeting in Vienna on April 5 following the news on escalation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict.

The co-chairs, after the Vienna talks, urged the parties to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to stop the use of force immediately.

We strongly condemn the outbreak of unprecedented violence along the line of contact. We extend our condolences to all affected families. We urge the sides to cease using force immediately, the statement read, once again emphasizing that the co-chairs see no military solution to the conflict.

The member states believe that the deterioration of the situation demonstrates the need for an immediate negotiation under the auspices of the co-chairs on a comprehensive settlement.

Representatives of the OSCE Minsk Group countries -- Russian Federation, the United States of America, France, Belarus, Finland, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Turkey, as well as the incoming Austrian OSCE Chair and the Serbian OSCE Chair affirmed their support for the mediation efforts of the Russian, American, and French co-chairs and welcomed their plans to undertake direct consultations with the sides as soon as possible.

Actually, the OSCE MG co-chairs have not made any new statement that could play a decisive role in the settlement of the conflict.

The OSCE Minsk Group acted as the only mediator in resolution of the conflict, proceeding talks based on the renewed Madrid principles. The statements promising a sincere contribution to the peaceful resolution of the conflict have become frequent, but declarative in essence.

The very attitude, unfortunately, ruined confidence in success of the mediators representing the U.S., Russia and France.

The group's activities were subjected to criticism many times and Azerbaijans ministers have numerously stated the government's dissatisfaction with the work for pushing the conflict from the dead point.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has also blamed the "inability" of an international mediation group to find a peaceful solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict for recent deadly clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia.



"If the Minsk Group had taken fair and decisive steps over this, we wouldn't have seen this incident happening right now," Erdogan said commenting on the clashes.

The Minsk Group could not arrange for a meaningful pathway forward to end the conflict and start moving toward the end of the occupation.

Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a fragile ceasefire in 1994. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities. Since the war, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions.

--

Nazrin Gadimova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @NazrinGadimova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
5 April 2016 20:22 (UTC+04:00)

Pakistan expects Armenia to refrain from violating ceasefire and resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict by implementing the UN Security Council resolutions on the issue, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said in a message on April 5.

"We have observed with concern the escalation in the South Caucasus region caused due to the continuous artillery firing by Armenian forces deployed along the Line of Contact that has resulted in civilian and military casualties," said the message. "Pakistan will continue to promote a peaceful resolution 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 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers.

The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population.

Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements. More than 370 Armenian soldiers, 12 tanks, 12 armored vehicles and 15 artillery pieces have been destroyed from April 2 until today.

Military operations were stopped on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian armies on Apr. 5 at 12:00 (UTC/GMT + 4 hours) with the consent of the sides, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry earlier said.

The ministry added that Azerbaijan's armed units are now carrying out fortification work in the retaken areas.
5 April 2016 20:36 (UTC+04:00)

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan had phone talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the initiative of the Russian side, Trend reports with reference to Putin's official website on April 5.

During the phone talks, the sides discussed in details the latest developments in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone.

Expressing serious concern over the large-scale armed clashes, which have led to numerous casualties, Putin called on the both sides to urgently ensure a complete cessation of hostilities and observe the ceasefire.

It was stressed that Russia is taking and will continue to take the necessary intermediary steps aimed at promoting the normalization of the situation.

The parties also stressed the importance of resuming the negotiation process between Baku and Yerevan with the assistance of the OSCE Minsk Group to find the ways for a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The presidents agreed to continue contacts in different formats.

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 situation on the frontline aggravated on April 2 after the Armenian military units in the occupied lands started shelling Azerbaijans positions.

To protect civilian population, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces launched counter attacks and as a result, the Azerbaijani troops retook hills around the village of Talish, as well as Seysulan settlement, and also took over Lele Tepe hill located in the direction of Fizuli region.

The hostilities renewed in the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan on April 4, as the Armenian side continued to shell the Azerbaijani positions although the Azerbaijani side announced unilateral ceasefire on April 3.

The Azerbaijani Army destroyed about 370 enemy soldiers since the start of the hostilities, according to the defense ministry.

Azerbaijan and Armenia have agreed to cease operations on the line of contact starting from 12.00, April 5.

The Azerbaijani armed units are now carrying out fortification work in the retaken areas, Defense Ministry reported.
5 April 2016 20:44 (UTC+04:00)

Azerbaijan`s Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov talked on the phone with Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy on the recent tension in the frontline.

Mammadyarov stressed that Armenian armed forces targeting civil objects and civilians densely residing in the territories adjacent to the frontline area open intensive heavy weapons fire at the positions of Azerbaijans armed forces along the line of contact and as a result, a number of civilians were killed and wounded.

The minister emphasized that illegal presence of Armenian armed forces in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan remains a main cause for the escalation of situation and underlined that in order to ease the tension and achieve progress in the settlement Armenian forces must be withdrawn from all occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

Mammadyarov added that serious political process should start in the settlement of the conflict.

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 situation on the frontline aggravated on April 2 after the Armenian military units in the occupied lands started shelling Azerbaijans positions.

To protect civilian population, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces launched counter attacks and as a result, the Azerbaijani troops retook hills around the village of Talish, as well as Seysulan settlement, and also took over Lele Tepe hill located in the direction of Fizuli region.

The hostilities renewed in the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan on April 4, as the Armenian side continued to shell the Azerbaijani positions although the Azerbaijani side announced unilateral ceasefire on April 3.

The Azerbaijani Army destroyed about 370 enemy soldiers since the start of the hostilities, according to the defense ministry.

Azerbaijan and Armenia have agreed to cease operations on the line of contact starting from 12.00, April 5.

The Azerbaijani armed units are now carrying out fortification work in the retaken areas, Defense Ministry reported.
5 April 2016 20:50 (UTC+04:00)

Azerbaijani President`s Assistant for Public and Political Affairs, Ali Hasanov has commented on the escalation of tension on the line of contact between Azerbaijan and Armenia as he was interviewed by Turkish TRT World television channel.

Hasanov said that the United Nations adopted four resolutions demanding an unconditional withdrawal of the Armenian forces from the occupied Azerbaijani territories.

Every time Armenia feels pressed they provoke us and then blame us for it, he said.

Hasanov, commenting on Azerbaijan`s retaliatory action, stressed that Armenians needed to see that they can no longer get away with these provocations.

Therefore we responded with a response five times stronger than their assault.

Our expectations from Minsk Group and the United Nations for that matter is that as we heeded their calls and respected their decisions they have to put pressure on Armenia to implement the decisions. It is only because Armenia has not been held accountable and has not been pressured that they perpetuated the status-quo for more than 20 years and even more than a million of our citizens are refugees, he said.

Hasanov further added that Azerbaijan possesses the ability to recapture those lands in a short time. But for the sake of humanity we are going with the international community to achieve it through peaceful means. But if they do not see this Azerbaijan will reclaim its lands in its own way, and it will.

The situation on the frontline aggravated on April 2 after the Armenian military units in the occupied lands started shelling Azerbaijans positions.

To protect civilian population, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces launched counter attacks and as a result, the Azerbaijani troops retook hills around the village of Talish, as well as Seysulan settlement, and also took over Lele Tepe hill located in the direction of Fizuli region.

The hostilities renewed in the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan on April 4, as the Armenian side continued to shell the Azerbaijani positions although the Azerbaijani side announced unilateral ceasefire on April 3.

The Azerbaijani Army destroyed about 370 enemy soldiers since the start of the hostilities, according to the defense ministry.

Azerbaijan and Armenia have agreed to cease operations on the line of contact starting from 12.00, April 5.

The Azerbaijani armed units are now carrying out fortification work in the retaken areas, Defense Ministry reported.
5 April 2016 22:47 (UTC+04:00)

Russia's President Vladimir Putin phoned to Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev on Apr. 5, the Azerbaijani president's press service reported.

The Russian president once again expressed concern over the latest developments on the frontline and stressed the importance of strengthening the ceasefire.

In turn, President Aliyev said that despite the fact that since the first day Azerbaijan made a statement on the ceasefire, the opposite side continued military operations.

The president added that the ceasefire was restored today, on Apr. 5 afternoon, and the responsibility for its violation lies on the Armenian side.

During the phone talk, the presidents once again expressed their support to the negotiation process within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group.

Presidents of Azerbaijan and Russia once again emphasized the successful development of bilateral relations between the two countries in all the areas.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers.

The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population.

Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements. More than 370 Armenian soldiers, 12 tanks, 12 armored vehicles and 15 artillery pieces have been destroyed from April 2 until today.

Military operations were stopped on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian armies on Apr. 5 at 12:00 (UTC/GMT + 4 hours) with the consent of the sides, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry earlier said.

The ministry added that Azerbaijan's armed units are now carrying out fortification work in the retaken areas.
5 April 2016 12:29 (UTC+04:00)

By Fatma Babayeva

Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping Company (ACSC) announced that the company will buy six vessels for the operation in the Black and Mediterranean Seas.

Three vessels will be handed over to the shipping company on April 11, while the remaining three by late April, the report says. The vessels deadweight amounts to 5,500 tons.

New vessels each designed in Russia are similar to the type of those procured in 2014: Natavan and Uzeyir Hajibeyov ships.

The task of transforming the Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping Company into a modern company which meets international standards have made fleet placement, as well as increasing the number of vessels used in the Black and Mediterranean Seas an inevitable process.

Currently, personal of the vessels are being decided. The Azerbaijani sailors are able to adequately represent the country in foreign waters, said the JSC.

The company further reported that the repair of several foreign ships has been planned in 2016 as well. Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping Company has the most powerful ship repair base in the region.

It recently renovated the tugboat Shirin belonging to Turkmenistan. Hull of the ship has been cleaned and painted, mechanisms and screw steering gear have been repaired as a part of the provided maintenance work.

Repair of the two other vessels- Turkmen Soltan and Bossan tugboats are almost finished and they will be also delivered to the customer soon. These vessels were raised to the docks of the Zig dockyard for the renovation.

Caspian Shipping Company s merchant fleet consists of 98 vessels: 34 tankers, 13 ferries, 14 universal dry-cargo, 2 Ro-Ro ships as well as 35 different auxiliary ships at the moment.

And the offshore support fleet is comprised of 188 vessels including 21 crane vessels, 22 supply and tug vessels, 29 passenger ships, 2 pipe-lay barges, 7 firefighting vessels, 5 geological survey vessels, 11 diving support vessels, and 84 other support vessels, based on the data provided by the company.

--

Fatma Babayeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Fatma_Babayeva

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
5 April 2016 16:11 (UTC+04:00)

By Amina Nazarli

The renewed hostilities on the frontline between Armenian and Azerbaijani since April 2, when the Armenian side began to shell the Azerbaijani positions and settlements along the frontline, has become the reason for drop in number of visitors to Armenia.

Russian Aviasales, a leading search engine for flights and hotel bookings, reports 25 percent decline in demand for flights to Armenia.

Meanwhile, Russian Travel.ru travel service says Azerbaijans capital Baku is in the Top 10 cities, popular for Russians traveling during May holidays.



The Top 10 popular destinations among Russian tourists during the May holidays includes Minsk, Prague, Rome, Riga, Barcelona, Vilnius, Tallinn, Helsinki, Baku and Bratislava.

The flaring of long-simmering tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan again on April 2, resulted in the killing of two civilians and injuring of 10 another, including a 13 year old child. More than 10 houses as well as local people`s property were also damaged.

To protect civilian population, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces launched counter attacks and repulsed the enemy forces back. The Azerbaijani troops retook hills around the village of Talish capable of posing threat to Goranboy region and the town of Naftalan, as well as Seysulan settlement, and also took over Lele Tepe hill located in the direction of Fuzuli region.

Six Armenian tanks, 15 gun mounts and reinforced engineering structures have been destroyed and more than 100 Armenian servicemen were wounded and killed during the shootouts.

Twelve servicemen of the Azerbaijani armed forces heroically died, one Mi-24 helicopter was shot down and one tank damaged by a mine.

Despite Azerbaijan's decision on unilateral suspension of the counter-attacks and response measures in the territories occupied by Armenia, the Armenian Armed Forces resumed shelling of Azerbaijani positions along the line of contact on the night of April 4.

--

Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli



Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
5 April 2016 15:20 (UTC+04:00)

By Laman Ismayilova

Azerbaijan will soon host Booktrailer Festival for the first time. The festival aims at promoting books, supporting and developing creative forms of reading, searching talented young people in cinematography and promoting bookrailers as a part of art and business.

The Organizing Committee announced that it continues to accept applications for participation in the first Booktrailer Festival until April 10.

The winner will be announced on the International Book Day - April 23, 2016, the founder and director of the festival, Ruslan Sabirli told Trend Life.

The first place will get a prize in the amount of 1000 manats ($604), while the winners of the second and third places 800 manats ($483) and 500 manats ($302), respectively.

Booktrailers are short videos that promote a book or an author, providing a good illustration of the book content.

The Festival aims at promoting books, supporting and developing creative forms of reading, searching talented young people in cinematography and promoting bookrailers as a part of art and business.

The Festival is going to be held once a year. Films accepted to the Festival will be available on social networks. The Organizing Committee will first review the submitted films and present them at the upcoming event. Later, the jury consisting of professionals will choose the winners.

The organizing committee of the event has revealed steps that you need to follow to join the contest:

You can join the contest with a booktrailers of one book or a series of books regardless of their date and place of publication; the number of submitted works by one participant is not limited; the copyright is the film owner responsibility;

Booktrailers must not contain material that promotes any ethnic, racial, religious forms of hate, pornographic, any content that violates or encourages the violation of any law, rule or regulation;

The films will not be returned after application;

The Organizing Committee have the right to use the booktrailers to promote the festival through social networks, sites, YouTube, mass media etc., without informing the director and payment .

Booktrailers shall meet the following requirements :

-Participating trailers will be limited to 4 minutes;

- video formats : mpeg4, mpeg, mpg, avi, wmv;

-video can be shot with actors or without actors, as well as animation (cartoons);

- before sending your booktrailer post the logo of the Festival;

- finish your application with the book poster, and the website address of the Festival (www.booktrailer.az);

-booktrailer must not contain any mention of specific brands of goods, trademarks, and commercial organizations and sponsors aside the organizations of the festival

Here are the steps to follow:

1. Chose the book;

2. Create a book trailer by scripting your idea;

3. Shoot the booktrailer;

4. Send the final product;

Conditions of participation and requirements can be found here:

www.booktrailer.az

Facebook page: www.facebook.com/BooktrailerFest

For all questions, please contact: [email protected]

Media partners of the event are Trend, Day.az, Milli.az and Azernews.az.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
 

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The Farm Shop & Deli Awards Baker of the Year shortlist has been announced  British Baker caught up with the finalists ahead of the big day.

As reported last week, Baker of the Year is one of 12 categories at this years Farm Shop & Deli Awards, which runs from 18-20 April at the NEC, Birmingham.

The finalists are Bondgate Bakery of Otley, Leeds; Dee Light Bakery of Balham, London; and Hambleton Bakery of Exton, Rutland.

Rob Hill, sales and customer service manager at Hambleton Bakery, said: We take great pride in our work here at Hambleton Bakery, and so to be recognised for it on a platform that welcomes the very best in the speciality food industry is a great opportunity.

Having won quite a few awards in the past, including Britains Best Bakery in 2012, and our master baker, Julian Carter, winning Baker of the Year at the Baking Industry Awards in 2013, were hoping to make it a hat-trick in April.

Hambleton has grown from a team of two in 2008, to 97 bakery experts and six shops, catering to more than 130 wholesalers.

Dee Monteleone, owner of Dee Light Bakery, said: Its a phenomenal feeling to be a finalist in this years awards. I am very proud of my bakers and front-of-house staff, who have formed a reliable team, producing quality food and coffee to the people of Balham.

It has been a busy year, with opening up my new wholesale site, and my team has been a great support throughout it all.

Dee Light was set up in 2011, and was Baker of the Year at the Farm Shop & Deli Awards in 2014. It has its own cafe, and runs classes in baking and decorating.

Sally Hinchcliffe, co-founder and owner of Bondgate Bakery, said: Were really pleased to be shortlisted  it makes all the hard work weve put in worthwhile. Baking really is hard work  you have to be passionate about it, so we value the commitment of our team here. This nomination is a great boost.

Our philosophy is to ensure that our ingredients are of the highest quality. Combining this with ensuring everything is handmade from scratch produces fresh, delicious foods.

Bondgate Bakery has 15 staff, including five bakers, and operates in both the retail and wholesale channels. Since the business opened as a one-man team 30 years ago, it has expanded its premises and significantly extended the team.

The winner of the award will be announced at the Farm Shop & Deli Show, which runs from 18-20 April at the NEC, Birmingham.
Chalmers Bakery in Aberdeen has been charged with producing 50 underweight packs of cheese straws and one pack of underweight oatcakes.

As reported by The Press and Journal, the case against the company was called at Aberdeen Sheriff Court on 1 April. Court papers revealed that Chalmers was alleged to have used unverified equipment, which only calculated weight in 10g divisions, when 150g packs should be measured in 1g divisions.

It is also claimed that, on 10 November 2015, the company sold four packets of cheese straws to trading standards workers at a shop in Aberdeens Castle Street, in circumstances where they knew or had reasonable grounds to believe they were not the correct weight.

Pamela Chalmers, director of Chalmers Bakery, said in a statement that the company had taken steps to make sure the labelling error on its biscuits can never happen again.

She said: "We freshly make on average 5,000 individual products per day and this happened simply due to human error, with the wrong weight being printed onto one of our product labels.

"In more than 60 years in business this is the first time that an error has been made and it has made all of us more determined to ensure that every single customer continues to enjoy our high-quality freshly baked products. We have now changed all our procedures for weighing and packing and implemented very strict quality control processes.

"Chalmers is very much part of the community and we pride ourselves in employing local people and we are confident that this one off mistake wont be repeated."

The case has been continued until 28 April.
Bakers have been warned to lock in their dairy commodity prices, which are at a 10-year low.

The caution, from leading commodities trader Greenfield Ireland, comes as the European Commission is buying up skimmed milk powder through its Intervention Scheme to prop up the market and is widely expected to extend this measure to butter in the next few weeks.

According to Belfast-based Greenfields Ireland, as soon as a market balance is achieved, prices are almost certain to rise again.

The EU butter price is currently hovering around 2,250 per tonne, down from a high of around 4,500 just three years ago

Ian Thomas, managing director of Greenfields Ingredients, the UK division of Greenfields Ireland, said: For companies in the bakery, confectionery and ready meals categories, who often use large volumes of dairy ingredients, this is an opportunity thats simply too good to miss. Wait too long, however, and it could be too late. Intervention by the European Commission will take excess supplies of milk out of the market, and product prices will soon start to creep up.

Dairy ingredients are cheap right now because there is too much milk in the market and not enough demand for it. However, according to Thomas, prices will not stay low for long. Now is the time to consider locking into a long-term pricing model.

This will give you the assurance of knowing that when prices eventually rise, which we expect them to do in the second half of 2016, the price you pay for your dairy ingredients will be more favourable than that available on the market.
Designer Jewelry, Fashion and Cocktails for a Cause

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - Alexander James Andriadis Killen invites everyone to come out to Garland's del Rio on Wednesday, February 6 from 5-8 pm for an unforgettable evening of designer jewelry, fashion and cocktails to benefit Corazon de Nina, a shelter for abused and abandoned children in Puerto Vallarta.

Located at Aquiles Serdan 359 in Col. Emiliano Zapata, Garland's del Rio is the sister of the fabulous Rivera del Rio boutique hotel. Owner Alexander James Andriadis Killen will be hosting Sucesos clothing, Gillian Leone Designs and Kimberly Rei, who will delight us with a fashion show featuring the latest Spring styles.

You'll also enjoy live music and a silent auction featuring select pieces from the designer's collections while enjoying a fabulous cocktail party in a gorgeous setting.

20% of all sales will benefit Corazon de Nina, a home for children and youth who come from high-risk situations such as abandonment, negligence, physical, emotional or sexual abuse. The organization is a safe haven that currently houses 23 girls and 22 boys in two neighboring houses. Corazon de Nina is fully dependent on donations and fund raising events like this for its operations, as they receive no funding from the government.

Come out to Garland's del Rio on Wednesday, April 6th and enjoy a fabulous evening of fun and fashion for a good cause. You'll be glad you did!
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A political firestorm was ignited when U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia passed away.

President Barack Obama said he would nominate a successor as per the Constitution. Meanwhile, Republican presidential candidates and U.S. Senate leaders said Obama should let the next president make the nomination  among them, Senate Majority Leader and Kentucky Republican Mitch McConnell.

During a nationally televised interview, McConnell said Senate Republicans are "following a longstanding tradition of not filling vacancies on the Supreme Court in the middle of a presidential election year."

PolitiFact Florida heard the claim and gave it a FALSE rating.

PolitiFact writer Joshua Gillin said the longstanding tradition McConnell is referencing doesnt exist.

"Theres been four times that a Supreme Court vacancy has had to be filled in an election year," Gillin said. "Three times, it actually was [a presidential election year]."

For that reason, Gillin says McConnells claim received a FALSE rating.

SOURCES: Republicans holding up U.S. Supreme Court nomination 'tradition' McConnell says
A Manatee County non-profit is using dolls to spread love to those who use their services.



Turning Points, located in Bradenton, works to help men, women and children who are at risk of homelessness or who are homeless.



Recently, a group of women from the New Life Lutheran Church in Sarasota donated 500 handmade ragdolls to Turning Points.



The dolls are handed out to children with families visiting the center for medical and dental services, as well as showers, food, or utility and veterans services.



When a child comes in here, we know they are going through a lot and that family is going through a lot, said Margi Dawson, Development Director. So, just bringing them a doll and giving it to them, handing it to them, and they know there is much love put into making these dolls. It really just brightens their face and makes them feel better.



The Sarasota church group has donated dolls to Turning Points for the past few years. So, far theyve donated over 2,000 dolls.



Those interested in helping with Turning Points' efforts to end homelessness are invited to participate in their Walk a Mile in Their Shoes event Saturday, April 16. The event will feature a one mile family fun awareness walk, a sand castle competition between local schools, a rock climbing wall, food and kids activities.



All of the proceeds of this event go directly to fund programs benefiting homeless children and their families.The event will be held at South Coquina Beach starting at 4 p.m. To sign up, visit www.turningpointswalk.org.


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April 5 marks the 402nd wedding anniversary of Pocahontas and John Rolfe.

Who's John Rolfe, you ask? It appears Disney left off that part of the story.

There are some discrepancies between the Disney version and real-life version of Pocahontas' life. Some believe she didn't actually save John Smith from execution, and there are even tales of her disliking him and throwing shade at him when they ran into each other in London years later.

In reality, Pocahontas was captured by the English and held hostage in Jamestown, Virginia in 1613 at just 17 years old. A year later, she married John Rolfe, who was known for commercializing tobacco (umm, thanks?) and nine months after that gave birth to their son Thomas.

She converted to Christianity during her captivity and was re-branded Rebecca Rolfe.

SEE ALSO: Top 10 Walt Disney myths and facts

Her life was used as an example of a "civilized savage," all in the hopes of people throwing more money at a Jamestown settlement. She was wined and dined and even became something of a celebrity in London, but all of that would be short-lived.

After setting sail from London to Jamestown with her family, she fell ill and died at 21 years old. The cause of death is believed to be smallpox, but there's no official word on that.

There are no pet raccoons, no going just around the river bend. Just kind of a sad tale of a woman whose world was turned upside down.

This isn't the first time Disney took liberties with a real-life person's tale. Take a look at the true stories behind these Disney legends in the gallery above. Then, keep clicking to see the faces behind some of the most recognizable Disney voices.
Here are six recent ASC industry acquisitions and partnerships.

NueHealth acquired Blue Chip Surgical Partners, a company focused on developing and managing ambulatory surgery centers.

Surgical Care Affiliates is partnering with St. Paul, Minn.-based HealthEast on a merger of HealthEast's Midway Surgery Center and Maplewood Surgery Center, both located in St. Paul.

Sacramento, Calif.-based Sutter Health recently signed an agreement to become the majority owner of Modesto, Calif.-based Stanislaus Surgical Hospital.

EMU Health acquired Glendale, N.Y.-based Queens Surgical Center.

Chicago-based MedProperties acquired Mokena, Ill.-based Center for Minimally Invasive Surgery.
Quintin Thomas has been selected to serve as Atlanta-based Back Pain Centers of America's new director of physician partnerships.

Here are four key notes:

1. Mr. Thomas will oversee the physician network expansion to meet the demands of more than 150,000 patients annually.

2. He previously worked at Atlanta-based ZocDoc as well as Charlotte, N.C.-based BB&T Investment Services and Washington, N.C.-based First Citizens Investor Services.

3. Back Pain Centers of America connects patients with local physicians.

4. The company strives to assist physicians in providing quality care while maintaining a cost-effective practice.

"Back Pain Centers of America has the right business model at the right time to help surgical practices scale, but at the same time save money by being a part of a larger network for marketing, call center and analytics so they can focus on the practice of medicine," said Mr. Thomas.

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The CDC issued the "CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain, United States, 2016" earlier this month with 12 recommendations, including:

 Nonopioid therapy is preferred for the treatment of chronic pain and opioids should only be used when benefits outweigh risk to the patient

 Before starting an opioid therapy, physicians should establish goals with the patient and consider how opioids will be discontinued

 Physicians should only prescribe the lowest effective dosage of an opioid when starting a new therapy and reassess risks of upping the dosage

 An opioid therapy should be revisited every three months, or more frequently, to evaluate harms and benefits of the regimen



"When the government and regulatory agencies get involved there are a lot of people who give input with tangential knowledge of the subject, like the old parable of the blind men and the elephant. Interventional pain physicians haven't given input yet and we can offer effective treatment," says Scott Glaser, MD, DABIPP, President and co-founder of Pain Specialists of Greater Chicago. "Opioid use and consequently abuse is at epidemic levels because individuals in pain are looking for answers and opioids are effective short term and convenient. Unfortunately, they have huge risks and dont work long term. Interventional pain management specialists understand this and we are always treating the sources of pain with minimally invasive procedures that provide high quality relief for months or years which can be repeated if the pain returns. It is the safest, most efficacious and cost effective treatment for pain."



Here are 10 things to know about the new guidelines:

1. Prescriptions and sales for opioid pain medications have quadrupled since 1999, according to the CDC. Overdose deaths related to prescription opioids took 165,000 lives from 1999 through the present.

2. Forty-plus people die every day with prescription pain killers as the sole or contributing cause. "Patients take these potent painkillers and get used to them and think they'll be fine, but long term, those painkillers can be as risky as surgery," says Dr. Glaser. "We can do image guided joint injections and nerve blocks or other interventional pain procedures and the patient will experience high quality pain relief for months or years over 90 percent of the time."

3. Short acting opioids such as hydrocodone and oxycodone are now only indicated for severe pain. They used to be indicated for moderate or severe pain, according to Dr. Glaser. This is a subtle change but will likely be exploited by insurance companies to reduce reimbursement for these medications effecting people who truly need stronger opioids.

4. Non-narcotic analgesics use is routinely recommended prior to using narcotics.

5. The FDA boxed warning alerts prescribers to the risk of misuse, abuse, addiction, overdose and death associated with the drugs, as well as the risk of neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome if taken during pregnancy.

6. New warnings on both extended release and short acting opioids include information about the risk of drug interactions that can lead to serotonin syndrome as well as effects on the endocrine system, including adrenal insufficiency, and on decreased sex hormone levels.

7. It is suggested that physicians carefully assess the risks and benefits of continued therapy when daily doses hit 50 morphine milligram equivalents or more, and they should avoid increasing the dose to 90 MME per day or higher.

8. For acute pain, the guidelines recommend no more than three days worth of opioids should be prescribed.



"There are some people who have pain that is effectively and safely treated with opioids and if their PCPs stop prescribing opioids, those patients will be driven to us," says Dr. Glaser. "The CDC recommends only three days of pills for acute pain, but acute pain comes in so many different forms. It can be due to bone issues, a strain, back problems or a herniated disc. To lump all these syndromes together and arbitrarily say they will not need strong pain medications after three days will drive up ER and acute care visits."

9. Many groups, including the American Cancer Society, have grave concerns about the CDC guidelines and are calling for them to be withdrawn. The evidence behind the guidelines was limited and low quality. They also question the methodology and lack of transparency of the entire process.



10. More than 50 percent of opioid prescriptions are prescribed by primary care physicians. This is where the opportunity to change the paradigm lies, when acute pain persists. This is the time for interventional pain management physicians to step up to the front of the continuum of care," says Dr. Glaser. "We know surgery and narcotics can be dangerous and we understand the long term risks of both. It's time for interventional pain doctors to take the reins and accept responsibility for patients in this subacute phase as their pain goes from acute to chronic. We have all the tools and knowledge to treat these pain syndromes minimally invasively and keep patients healthy and away from surgery and excessive narcotic use."



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When incarcerated Medicaid enrollees are released from jail, it can be difficult to get back on track in the U.S. healthcare system. However, health homes in New York are looking to change that, according to Crain's New York Business.

"The risk of relapse, of recidivism, of hospitalization are so high in those first months out of incarceration," said Sebastian Solomon, director of New York state policy at New York City-based Legal Action Center, according to the article. "People are often lost to the system if they aren't connected to care immediately."

Health homes work to prevent that likelihood by helping previously incarcerated individuals find access to primary care, mental health and housing services. In 2012, a number of such health homes began a pilot program through which they could begin working with inmates prior to their release.

After failing to receive $5 million from the New York Health Department for fiscal year 2016, the program has obtained its necessary funding for fiscal year 2017. On top of that, health officials from the state are considering applying for a waiver, which would allow the program to gain money from Medicaid funding, according to Mr. Solomon.
Healthcare advocates in Puerto Rico wrote a letter Monday to House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) to call for higher reimbursement rates for Medicare and Medicaid amid the island's "crippling" healthcare crisis, according to The Hill.

"We desperately need relief from recent reductions in our rates. Without it, our ability to provide care is simply unsustainable," Jim O'Drobinak, president of the Medicaid and Medicare Advantage Product Association, wrote in a statement, according to The Hill.

More than 60 percent of Puerto Ricans are on Medicare or Medicaid, with about 1.6 million people enrolled in Medicaid. As a U.S. territory, Puerto Rico's Medicaid reimbursement rates are capped, so it foots the bill for a considerably larger portion of Medicaid than the states. The island's Medicaid program could run out of funds as early as the end of this year.

Speaker Ryan has previously vowed the House will act on legislation to help Puerto Rico restructure its debts and avoid running out funds this year, according to the report. The draft of this bill was criticized by many, however, according to the report.

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Via Christi Hospital in Pittsburg, Kan., and Joplin, Mo.-based Mercy Medical Center are teaming up to build a new 13,500-square-foot, $4.2 million primary care facility on Via Christi's Pittsburg campus, according to The Morning Sun.

Construction could start as early as May with a possible opening in temporary quarters this fall, Via Christi Senior Administrator in Pittsburg Randy Cason said during the announcement Monday, according to the report. The new facility is expected to open by mid-2017.

Four primary care physicians and support staff will be the initial tenets of the new facility, though up to nine physicians could eventually practice there, Mr. Cason said.

The cost for the facility will be underwritten with an investment from both MercyMedicalCenter and Via Christi Hospital. The partnership includes a 51 percent share for Via Christi and a 49 percent share for Mercy, according to the report.

"We decided that collaborating rather than competing would help and assist in this particular area," said Mr. Cason, according to the report. "Over the last several years we've continued to have shortage of primary care physicians both here in Pittsburg and southeast Kansas."
At least three major hospital construction projects are underway or have been recently completed in Tampa Bay, Fla., according to the Tampa Bay Business Journal.

Such projects include Tampa GeneralHospital's four-story, 130,000-square-foot outpatient medical center in Brandon, Fla.; Memorial Hospital of Tampa's 18,500-square-foot surgical services expansion; and BrandonRegionalHospital's 22,000-square-foot addition to its emergency room, according to the report.

Eric Obeck, senior regional president for Hancock Bank in Tampa, said the city's expanding population and payer mix makes it an attractive market for expanding healthcare services, according to the report. Mr. Obeck leads Hancock's expansion in healthcare lending division.

TampaBay is fertile ground for the construction of outpatient facilities because it is a certificate of need state, meaning approval from the Agency for Health Care Administration is required to build a new hospital or expand the number of beds within an existing hospital. Building outpatient facilities in the region but off of the main hospital campus enables hospitals to expand their market share, according to Mr. Obeck.

The increase of strategic partnerships has also driven the construction of new facilities. "There are more and more affiliations happening these days between hospitals and physician groups. In some cases, those affiliations are being coupled with promises to expand facilities," Mr. Obeck said, according to the report.

At the same time, banks are actively seeking ways to make good loans, and they are competing to do so.

"This heightened competition amongst banks and availability of credit is making it attractive for healthcare providers to consider capital expansion projects right now. Those healthcare providers that are good credit risks are readily able to find capital," said Mr. Obeck, according to the report.
The Boston Globe published a detailed analysis of Boston-based Brigham and Women's Hospital's most recent brush with VIP syndrome  when a hospital accommodates wealthy or important patients who can pay the full medical bill with luxury amenities added on top.

In this instance, which occurred in 2014, the hospital compromised its standards to accommodate a Middle Eastern prince. This prince sought care at the Pavilion at Brigham and Women's Hospital and took over two penthouse rooms for seven months, according to The Boston Globe report, which is based on interviews and state reports obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Here are the newspaper's key findings.

1. Despite that the patient had a drug-resistant infection, nurses and physicians complied when he asked that they not wear protective gowns because he felt the gowns implied he was "dirty" and he found it offensive.

2. The prince came with an entourage that included a chef, a personal physician, six attendants and a helper/cleaner, according to the report. Against its own policies, the hospital allowed the patient's personal aides to administer routine medicines and clean his intravenous catheter, according to the report. At one point, a hospital physician was concerned the intravenous catheter was infected, but it was never removed as it would have been according to hospital policy. The report suggested this may have been because the prince was concerned about something happening to the catheter.

3. There were concerns the patient was over-medicated due to the large amounts of narcotics he was prescribed, according to the report. However, The Boston Globe reported that a state report found the drugs prescribed were appropriate.

4. The prince gave thousands of dollars to staff as gifts, which nurses told The Globe they turned over to managers.

5. A staff member anonymously tipped off the health department of the situation in November 2014, which prompted the hospital to perform an internal investigation, according to the report. It also prompted the hospital to go over its private duty nurses, drug administration and infection control policies with staff, according to the report. The hospital declined to comment directly about the patient due to privacy laws, but a hospital spokeswoman told The Globe the hospital has been challenged by VIP patients before and is working to better educate staff on the impact of accommodating such requests, according to the report.

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Harvard. Johns Hopkins. Yale. In addition to being some of the most elite institutions in the nation, these schools share one other commonality: None of their medical schools have family medicine departments, according to STAT.

Including these three, only 10 medical schools in the U.S. lack departments of family medicine, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians. The others? Columbia, Cornell, George Washington University, New York University, Stanford, Vanderbilt and Washington University in St. Louis.

"We call those schools the 'orphan schools,' because they are deficient," said John Meigs Jr., MD, president-elect of the AAFP. "They're shortchanging their students and also shortchanging the needs of this country."

It wasn't always that way. Back in 1965, Harvard Medical School created one of the nation's first family medicine residency programs. But by the 1970s, the program lost federal funding and failed.

The difficulty in creating a family medicine department now is that Harvard can't do so without more assistance from its affiliated hospitals, according to Jeffrey Flier, MD, dean of Harvard Medical School. Only one of its affiliated facilities  Cambridge Health Alliance  has a family medicine residency program.

In 2013, Harvard attempted to gain more support from its affiliated hospitals, offering them $2 million in matching funds to create a family medicine residency. But none of the hospitals took the bait.

Now a group of Harvard Medical School students  which includes Dr. Flier's daughter, Lydia  is taking another whack at it with a campaign to garner advocacy. The group has gained staff support, including the help of Russell Phillips, MD, director of Harvard's Center for Primary Care.

Perhaps the technique will work, as it has at New York City-based Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, which created a family medicine department in 2012. Neil Calman, MD, chair of its Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, believes the program is important.

"It's bizarre to me that you have these institutions that don't really feel that there's a requirement to introduce their students to the second-largest subspecialty in the U.S.," Dr. Calman said, according to the report.
Bert Fish Medical Center in New Smyrna Beach, Fla., has joined the East Florida Region of Altamonte Springs, Fla.-based Adventist Health System.

In November 2014, Adventist was selected to acquire Bert Fish, and the organizations worked together over the last 16 months to finalize the agreement.

Under the agreement, Adventist will pay $40 million in cash to acquire the net assets of 112-bed Bert Fish and invest another $35 million into the hospital.

"The Board of Bert Fish, along with our employees and medical staff, are excited for our future with Adventist Health System," said Bert Fish Medical Center CEO Steve Harrell. "We are all pleased to see this agreement come to fruition and to officially join the Florida Hospital family."

With the transaction complete, Bert Fish has been renamed Florida Hospital New Smyrna. It will join the following five hospitals as a member of Adventist's East Florida Region: Florida Hospital DeLand, Florida Hospital Fish Memorial in Orange City, Florida Hospital Flagler in Palm Coast, Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center in Daytona Beach and Florida Hospital Oceanside in Ormond Beach.

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Alpena (Mich.) Regional Medical Center has joined Midland-based MidMichigan Health as the fifth hospital in the system.

Alpena Regional began partnership talks with MidMichigan in October 2015, and the organizations signed a definitive affiliation agreement in January.

With the transaction complete, 139-bed Alpena Regional has been renamed MidMichigan Medical Center  Alpena.

Regarding the transaction, MidMichigan Medical Center  Alpena President Karmon Bjella said, "This affiliation with MidMichigan moves us forward in a powerful way. It enables us to be better positioned to provide patient care that is safer, more effective and well-coordinated. Together, we will offer more convenient access and navigation to treatment and care that is not locally available."

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CDC health officials are urging U.S. states and cities to re-examine their protocols for handling mosquitoes  an increasingly pressing concern as the Zika virus outbreak continues to creep north and the weather in America continues to warm, according to Reuters.

Traditional methods of exterminating mosquitoes, such as evening insecticide fogging campaigns from truck-mounted sprayers, are not an option for dealing with the Zika-carrying Aedes aegypti mosquito since the bug tends to live in an around people's homes, health officials have said.

Another reason why conventional mosquito abatement efforts may be ineffective is because they typically target nuisance mosquitoes that bite at dusk, but the Aedes aegypti mosquito is active during the day and bites humans exclusively, according to the report. Additionally, the pest has developed widespread resistance to several insecticides in some parts of the country.

Instead, CDC Director Tom Frieden, MD, told Reuters that health departments should consider a "four corners approach" to killing the mosquitoes indoors and outdoors, and including both larvae and adult insects. Dr. Frieden shared his concerns at the CDC's Zika Action Plan Summit in Atlanta on Friday. He also posted a blog about the U.S. Zika response.

For more information on the Zika Action Plan Summit, click here.

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An investigation that began last fall has confirmed at least 16 people were infected with hepatitis C at two Utah hospitals. The cases are linked to a healthcare worker formerly employed at both hospitals, according to a release from the Utah Department of Health.

The employee is 49-year-old Elet Neilson, also known as Elet Hamblin, a former nurse who was employed at McKay-Dee Hospital in Ogden, Utah, where 15 of the hepatitis C cases were confirmed. Prior to her position at McKay-Dee, Ms. Neilson worked in the emergency department at Davis Hospital in Layton, Utah, where an additional infection has been confirmed.

According to a report from the Desert News, the former nurse was fired from McKay-Dee in 2014 after being confronted with evidence suggesting she'd stolen opioids from the hospital. Intravenous drug use is one of the most prominent ways in which hepatitis C is spread.

In similar cases, healthcare workers have been known to recirculate injection equipment after use to avoid detection. Scott Byington, president of the Utah chapter of the National Association of Drug Diversion Investigators, told the Desert News healthcare workers can become skilled at finding weak links in the system, "When they start diverting medication like that, especially in the healthcare arena, they become very, very good at it and covering it up."

"This investigation has been a massive undertaking for both the hospitals and for public health," Angela Dunn, MD, a CDC epidemiologist stationed at the UDOH, said in a department statement. "We commend the hospitals for doing the right thing and ensuring their patients were alerted to the situation and provided free testing and access to treatment where necessary."

According to the health department, approximately 3,700 of the 7,200 patients that may have been exposed have been tested for hepatitis C. Both hospitals will continue to offer free testing to patients notified of their potential exposure.

While the health department was aware of the initial hepatitis C infection as early as November 2014, they closed the investigation before considering a link to local hospitals, according to Dr. Dunn. The case was reopened after the CDC requested local officials look into the possibility of a healthcare-associated infection.

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More than half of those polled ahead of a major debate last night said they were in favour of the UK remaining part of the EU.

But following the frank exchanges, it seems opinions were swayed, with 48% in favour of staying, and 41% against.

It was one of the most comprehensive discussions and debates to take place in Northern Ireland in the run-up to the EU referendum vote on June 23.

A snap poll carried out by business owners, politicians and members of the public in the room ahead of the debate showed 59% were in support of the UK remaining as part of the EU.

Around a fifth said they favoured a Brexit, while a further 20% said they were unsure.

Business owners in the audience were asked if they traded with EU nations outside of the UK. Around 60% said they did business with other countries, aside from the Republic.

During the lively discussion that followed the opening remarks, host Jeffrey Peel of Quadriga Consulting clarified his own pro-Brexit position.

He was joined on stage during the question-and-answer session by Danske Bank chief economist Angela McGowan, who supports staying in the EU.

While the panellists were forthright in their strong pro and anti-EU sentiments, there were a couple of moments that brought a lighter atmosphere.

That included an unfortunate slip of the tongue by former Northern Ireland Secretary Owen Paterson, who described himself as "head of state".

Addressing the current crisis in the UK steel industry, the Conservative MP said the sector was trying to do business with both hands tied. He added the problems included companies having to hit environmental targets.

Labour MP Kate Hoey said there was a need for the Government to help the industry, as it did with the banking sector.

And Ms McGowan claimed there would be "capital flight from the UK" in the event of a Brexit.

She also warned there would be lower domestic investment, lower foreign direct investment and a drop in the value of sterling."This will be a bump in the road economically," she said.

But asked how the UK could benefit from leaving, Mr Paterson said he saw a "huge gain", as it would save around 8.5bn each year. "The money we do get out is given back to us under very tight conditions," he added.

Former Tory MP John Stevens said being on the outside of the EU would mean the UK had no say on how it was run.

And he claimed leaving would be "extremely bad news" for the City of London.
The Northern Whig, whose famous Russian statues are being removed as part of its revamp

A surge of activity in the hospitality trade in Belfast and Bangor - with investments of around 4m - could signal a rebirth in the sector, it's been claimed.

Two top venues in Belfast - the Northern Whig in the Cathedral Quarter and Madison's Hotel in Botanic Avenue - are getting major revamps under new owners.

And Bangor venue the Ava Bar and restaurant has been sold to Andrew and Johnny Gedge, who also run three other pubs.

The Ava had been owned by the Hillen family for over 80 years.

The Gedge brothers  who also run the Frisky Bear in Holywood as well as the Goats Toe and the Hop House in Bangor  will be closing their existing restaurant the Corin, also on High Street, and moving it into the Ava.

The Gedges say they plan to spend 350,000 on revamping the Ava  bringing the total investment on the site to well over 1m.

The Corin will be adapted to return as a more casual venue called Corins Kitchen upstairs in the Ava complex in July.

The Gedge brothers employ around 150 staff and said that the jobs of 15 staff at the Ava were safe.

Andrew Gedge said he hoped to double the workforce at the Ava as the business grows. He said: We will be able to increase our volume up to 80 tables. Before, we werent able to turn tables properly as the Corin was too small. We were booked out every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night and couldnt take on any more customers whereas the Ava is much bigger.

When youve the same family running things for so long, things are done in the same way so we will be putting a new set of eyes on it.

The Northern Whig in Belfasts Cathedral Quarter is also receiving a 300,000 facelift from owners Horatio Group.

Horatio Group is now outright owner of the property after running it on behalf of the Republics bad bank, Nama.

It acquired the venue for around 1.7m. Lorraine Ormsby, finance director of the Horatio Group, added: This is our single biggest investment in a property, and one which were confident will cement the Northern Whigs reputation as a premier venue in Belfasts Cathedral Quarter.

Both Northern Whig and Madisons were part of former pub empire Botanic Inns before it went into administration.

Now former Botanic Inns manager Michael Stewart is back at the helm of Madisons after it was bought by developer Shamus Jennings for a reported 1.75m.

Everything is going to change about Madisons, including possibly the name. This is a major investment from top to bottom. The bedrooms will be completely overhauled as well as the club and the restaurant, he said.

There will be a new brand which will aspire to an older age group and a different style of customer base. It will be a total sea change.
Becca shows off a prototype of her app which she began working on in 2014

Becca Hume is developing a product which will transform and even save lives

It started out as an attempt to learn sign language so she could communicate with a colleague.

And now Becca Hume is developing a product which will transform and even save lives.

The 25-year-old from Newtownabbey is hoping to bring to the market an app that will allow people who cannot speak to contact the emergency services.

She hopes it will be the first in a long line of products created by her fledgling business, Becca Hume Designs.

"Basically, the company is all about creating designs for inclusivity and looking for opportunities to find limitations in products or services, that are maybe not accessible to everyone, and find a way to address that," she explained.

"Our first product is a non verbal method of contacting 999, but I do have other ideas that I hope I will be able to develop in future."

Becca was studying a masters in product design at the University of Ulster when she began to develop the idea for the app, having already identified a gap in the market.

She said: "Back when I was 16, I was working part-time in Marks & Spencer and I was working with a colleague who was deaf.

"It was the first time I had met a deaf person and there was obviously a communication barrier - and I wondered how I would be able to speak to them, so I went and learnt sign language.

"I have been going to classes ever since and have been working my way through the different levels.

"We were always encouraged by the teachers to get involved in the deaf community and so I have come into contact with lots of people with hearing problems over the years.

"That's where the idea for the app came from. At the moment, the products available are quite limited and this app will allow a lot more information to be passed on to the first responders."

Becca's decision to follow a career in product development is a fairly new development.

She originally studied silversmith and jewellery design, but took a career break for a year to help her dad set up his own business.

It was during this time that she decided to start Becca Hume Designs.

While it was a big step, it is one she would recommend.

"I would tell anyone thinking of starting up their own business not to be afraid to go for it," she said.

"My university tutor said to me that you should say yes to things and worry about it later and I think that's good advice." The development of the app has not been without its problems, however. Becca began working on it in July 2014 and believed it would be ready for the market before now, but as she is creating something that will be used in life or death situations, the quality of the app is crucial.

To this end, she has been working closely with British APCO - an independent organisation formed to promote, influence and advance the development of communications and information management for public safety professionals.

This has allowed her to ensure the app meets industry standards and she believes consultation with those who will use the app is an important aspect of product development.

She is currently looking for more investment to allow her to develop it further.

"We have working demos, prototypes to show people how it works, but it doesn't actually connect to 999 at the moment," said Becca.

Using the app, people can enter all their medical information into their mobile device so that it is passed on to the emergency services when required.

"You can create a user profile and all the medical history is stored," explained Becca.

Within 30 seconds of activation, and just a few simple steps, the emergency services are informed, and by using GPS, they can pinpoint the location of the person who needs help.

"It started out as something for people who are hard of hearing or deaf, but it can be used by anyone who finds themselves in a situation where they can't talk, maybe they have taken a stroke, heart attack or they've suffered an allergic reaction," Becca continued.

"It is also of use to anyone who is a victim of domestic violence and may be unable to speak.

"It is useful to anyone who is in a panicked situation, who might not know exactly where they are when they need help.

"As I was developing the app, I sat down and brainstormed on when you might need to call 999 but can't speak. I think it is important to do your research."

A successful marketing plan will also be key to the success of the device and Becca plans to begin by targeting organisations and charities who can promote the app to their members.

"In five years I would like to be doing this, running my company, and coming up with new products," she continued.

"Specifically I want to look at developing products that break down the barriers for people with disabilities and I hope that the business takes off and sustains itself."
Would it surprise you to know that 30bn was spent last year across the UK economy covering absenteeism and sickness?

Paula Milligan set up Live A Life Less Ordinary, which now designs, manufactures and distributes resources to assist companies and other organisations to address this very problem.

The 41-year-old has developed the business from her home in Antrim and has already sold her product to 60 companies globally since first taking it to the market in 2013.

With a background in sales and marketing, the mum of two believes she is ideally placed to sell her unique product throughout the world.

"What we are selling is quite intangible, so it is quite difficult for people to comprehend," she explained.

"We are really trying to sell the idea that by investing in staff, by finding out what makes them tick, you increase productivity.

"We're trying to get across the fact that it is like putting the wrong fuel in the car, you never really get to where you want to be.

"It has been more challenging convincing the older generations, the more traditionalists, but we are trying to put forward the importance of getting this right.

"We're saying that if it isn't right, then people are not working to their full potential - we're trying to convince people that actually, this is business critical."

According to Paula, organisations that invest a mere 10% of their time and resources into the engagement of their staff can create profits of 2,700 per employee every year - which can lead to a staggering 49bn of growth across the UK.

She added: "We help organisations to connect with their people in order to increase performance.

"The greatest leadership challenge of any group is how they communicate with each other and the relationships at play within their teams.

"We have developed a unique range of hands-on resources to help break down barriers, promote open communication, build trust and reach a place of mutual understanding to allow positive action moving forward."

Among the products created by Paula are card decks and board games that encourage colleagues to get to know one another better.

Paula said: "A lot of the content is about getting to know what makes people tick.

"By doing that, it allows people to shift pre-conceived notions about the people they work with - they realise there is a lot they didn't know about the other person and they really allow you to develop relationships with colleagues."

Live A Life Less Ordinary has targeted three specific areas: corporate, education and community sectors.

It already counts CME Group, Danske Bank and Belfast City Council among its clients. It has sold its products as far afield as America - in fact, Michelin US is currently piloting one of its games with a view to rolling it out across 13 factories.

Paula also has plans to push into the Middle East.

To do this, she has employed the time of a non-executive director who has extensive experience working in the region.

"I believe the product would go very well in the Middle Eastern market and we now have someone with good contacts in the area as part of the team," continued Paula.

"Business in the Middle East has a lot to do with trust.

"I don't believe an unknown young female is necessarily the best package for doing business, you need someone who has an existing relationship or someone who can introduce you to appropriate people." Another important aspect to develop in the bid to go global, according to Paula, is the digital platform. "This will allow our resources to reach a global audience," she said.

But the most challenging part of her work is the fact that she is self-employed. Paula left a successful career to establish Live A Life Less Ordinary, but she believes this demonstrates her commitment and belief in her product.

"You have to be really passionate about what you're doing," she said.

"Being your own boss is certainly a challenge because downtime really becomes a thing of the past, especially as I have two young sons.

"There is no such thing as home time, you don't ever really switch off.

"You end up thinking you will do that piece of work on a Sunday - in fact Sunday mornings have become a time for me to work.

"I do think you have to be a particular type of person to be able to do that and you also have to be very passionate about what you're doing.

"You can spend so much time working that you're not actually getting paid for, but when you believe in your product, it is worth it.

"Because we have developed the product, it is something we really care about and want to see it grow."
David Cameron must be prepared to take a public stake in the steel industry in order to protect the jobs and pensions of workers in the crisis-hit sector, Jeremy Corbyn has said.

The Labour leader said the Government had an "ideological allergy" to nationalisation but Tata Steel's decision to sell its UK plants, including the giant Port Talbot works, meant taxpayers' cash may be needed.

He warned that cheap Chinese steel dumped on European markets would not last forever and the UK must take action to preserve its own manufacturing base.

Speaking at an event in Harlow, Essex, he said he was not convinced the industry was safe because ministers "were not absolutely on the case" as decisions about its future were taken in Mumbai, India, with no UK Government minister involved.

"They seem to be unclear about the role the Government could take in this. We have to guarantee the industry, we have to guarantee the jobs and the pensions, we have to be prepared to take a public stake in it to guarantee that," he said.

"Because we all need the steel industry in Britain."

He told Labour activists: "Quite simply this industry is too important to our manufacturing economy, the security of all of us, to fail.

"The Government's ideological allergy to public ownership must not be allowed to prevent it taking the steps necessary to save UK steel."

Speaking at the launch of Labour's local election campaign, he said the Prime Minister had refused to recall Parliament despite a petition signed by more than 150,000 people demanding an emergency session of the Commons to debate Tata's decision.

He offered to support Mr Cameron in ensuring any deal to protect the industry was approved in Brussels but insisted that trade union representatives must be involved in talks on the future of the plants.

"Finally the Government is meeting with trade unions representing thousands of workers whose jobs are now in the balance in an industry they have given their lives to," he said.

"The Government must ensure that the trade union representatives are part of any negotiation and assessment of bids for Tata Steel.

"These are people who have given their lives to the industry. Their voice and their intelligence must part of the solution to the crisis."

Mr Cameron, speaking at an event in Birmingham focused on the EU referendum, said: "We've got a very difficult situation with the steel industry in our country just as other countries do because we've got massive global over-capacity, a collapse in global prices and this makes a real challenge for our steel industry.

"But we've got a Government that's determined to help in every way that we can. I met this morning with the Welsh First Minister to talk about all the things we can do."

Mr Cameron said help has previously been provided on issues including energy and procurement, adding: "We now want to make sure that Tata is looking seriously at a potential buyer for this business - and all of the business, I think it's very important to say that."
Mondeo Man rides again. So does Audi Executive and White Van Man. The cliched vehicles of choice for travelling sales staff, middle managers and tradesmen are going to be even more visible on our roads as the Northern Ireland economy grows, according to the man who keeps many of our large and small companies moving.

Philip Miley, sales and marketing director of the Belfast-based contract hire specialist Fleet Financial, said the company was feeling the effects of business revival.

"We're well-placed to see exactly how the economy is performing," said Philip, "and we've had a really pleasant start to the year. We have more than 600 orders for deliveries this year and that's from businesses of all sizes, from sole traders up to huge companies. I would venture that we will have our best sales year ever.

"The economy is improving, businesses are growing more confident, companies are hiring more sales people and therefore they need to order new cars for their fleet. In addition, we supply vehicles to many major construction companies and they are getting busier, so they also require more vehicles."

Apparently, the Ford Mondeo and Focus still dominate the fleet sector, Audi is popular with middle management, as is BMW, while Vauxhall and Ford are the leaders in the commercial sector.

Fleet Financial, based at Mallusk, employs 32 people and has more than a thousand customers driving 4,100 vehicles ranging from cars to light commercial vans. Clients include some of Northern Ireland's best-known companies in construction, utilities, agri-food and distribution such as Gilbert Ash, McLaughlin and Harvey, Phoenix Gas, Sky, SHS Group and Dale Farm, as well as small firms with fewer than 10 employees. Its last annual accounts recorded pre-tax profit of 950,000 on revenue of almost 26m - up nearly 18% on the previous year.

Apart from the recent boost to the order book, Fleet Financial has much to celebrate in 2016. The company is 20 years old and during that time, it's come full circle.

The company was founded in 1996 by Philip Miley and a group of directors who'd built up the contract hire arm of Charles Hurst, but decided to leave when Charles Hurst was sold by its then owners, TBF Thompson, to the UK plc Lookers Group. Four years ago, Charles Hurst re-acquired Fleet Financial, a sweet moment for Philip in more ways than one.

"I suppose it brought a certain amount of closure and a sense of satisfaction and achievement, because when we left Charles Hurst all those years ago to set up our new business, I was told that we would never be able to compete in contract hire.

"We set up the company in the conservatory of a house in Holywood belonging to one of the directors. We had two rented mobile phones and two hire cars and the first big challenge was to find premises. From that basic start, we grew the business very quickly and by 1999, we were the market leader."

Managing director Damian Hughes, who joined the company 16 years ago as financial controller, said that the buy-out by Lookers-owned Charles Hurst had enabled Fleet Financial to grow at a time when its planned expansion was being hindered by local financial institutions.

"The sale of the business really came about because of the economic downturn. People were turning increasingly to leasing and customers needed leasing finance, but the banks were capping the limit of our growth. We were dealing with two local banks at that time, but when Lookers came on board via Charles Hurst we found ourselves with access to six or seven lending institutions who were knocking on our door. The difference was massive. We were able to serve more customers, recruit more sales people and become more aggressive in our expansion."

Around 18 months ago, the company launched 'Preferences', a move into the growing personal contract hire market.

"In the United States everyone leases cars and that's starting to become more popular here," explained Philip Miley. "The retail market in Northern Ireland is still very much about the used car, but customers are realising that you can get a new car for the price of hire purchase payments on a used vehicle. It's opened up a new strand of business and on a personal level it's very exciting - it feels almost like starting up another new business."

The only cloud on the economic horizon, said Damian Hughes, is the looming vote on the EU referendum.

"Some of the funders are a bit nervous about the referendum because they think that it's affecting some of the larger capital expenditure growth. We should stay in Europe because that gives us certainty. We haven't even scratched the surface of what might happen if Britain pulls out. Private sector companies need confidence to expand and invest, and I don't see how us leaving the EU would give us that."

The company's immediate focus is a charity gala ball, to be held at the Culloden Hotel on April 22. It's hoped that the event, in aid of Hope for Youth NI, will raise at least 20,000.

"We're very pleased with the response," said Philip. "Many of our large customers, as well as banks and motor manufacturers are supporting the event. We've partnered with a charity that is, like us, celebrating its 20th anniversary. We've benefited a lot as a business over the past 20 years and we want to give something back."
Oxford and Gloucester House was sold for more than its asking price of 5.75m

A major government office building in Belfast with a 5.75m asking price has been sold to a private investor.

And selling agents CBRE said the sale of Oxford and Gloucester House signalled that private investors were returning to the market.

The agency did not reveal the identity of the buyer of the Chichester Street building, which has been 100% occupied by government tenants since it was built in the Seventies.

Its the latest sale of a big commercial building in Belfast to a private investor.

In February, a former Danske Bank building  now home to Visit Belfast  was sold to a private investor for over its 5.75m asking price.

Last year Middleton Building and River House, also in the city centre, were snapped up  while Windsor House was acquired by Hastings Hotels Group.

Oxford and Gloucester House has two interconnected buildings on seven floors.

CBRE said investors were enjoying strong yield returns and the agency has predicted that office rents will grow from 16 to 18 per sq ft during 2016.

Capital markets director Andrew Coggins said: So far in 2016, we have seen increased interest from local high net worth individuals wanting to invest in commercial properties.

Investors are increasingly seeing opportunities to build a good income-producing portfolio with strong returns now that the sector is bouncing back.

Mr Coggins said the commercial property sector was now in positive territory and was viewed as a good investment opportunity. These yields that we are seeing are once again making commercial property in Northern Ireland an attractive prospect to investors, with excellent returns on many properties.

But Mr Coggins said the market still required institutional investors as well as private individuals.

Belfast City Council recently led a delegation to international property expo MIPIM to highlight investment opportunities in the city. CBRE was delighted to be part of the delegation attending MIPIM to showcase the city to potential investors, said Mr Coggins.

The investment market in Belfast is beginning to really pique the interest of high profile individuals and investors. We believe now is the time for investors  both institutional and local, to keep Belfast strongly on their radar.

The council has announced plans to develop the Linen Quarter as a central business district and has established a Belfast Investment Fund to help fund landmark sites in the city centre.

During MIPIM it emerged that office space 9 Lanyon Place let to US firm Allstate has achieved rental of 20 per square foot. The building belongs to Kilmona Holdings, led by Paddy Kearney.
Philip Pullman praised Jack Thorne who will script the TV dramatisation of the His Dark Materials trilogy

This Is England '90 writer Jack Thorne said he will "work as hard as he can" to do justice to the TV dramatisation of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy.

Thorne has been announced as the writer for the upcoming BBC One drama series based on Pullman's epic fantasy novels.

His previous works include The Last Panthers and BBC Three's Don't Take My Baby, both of which he received Bafta TV nominations for last week.

He said: "It is such an honour and a privilege to be given this opportunity to delve into Philip Pullman's world.

"What I always loved about Bad Wolf's intentions with this project was the notion of sounding every note.

"The His Dark Materials trilogy are vast and glorious books full of beautiful characters and I'm going to work as hard as I can to try and do justice to them."

Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy consists of Northern Lights (also known as The Golden Compass), The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass.

The books document the adventures of two children, Lyra and Will, as they travel to parallel universes. Bond star Daniel Craig and Hollywood actress Nicole Kidman starred in the 2007 film adaptation based on the first book and titled The Golden Compass.

Pullman said: "I'm delighted to welcome Jack Thorne as writer on the TV dramatisation of His Dark Materials.

"Jack is a writer of formidable energy and range, and I've greatly enjoyed talking to him and learning about his plans for bringing His Dark Materials to the screen.

"I'm certain he'll do a superb job, and I look forward to seeing the whole project develop as he shapes the story."

No air date has yet been given.
Picture of health: Adeva Hillis with her dad Paul Magill and her daughter Madison at home in Banbridge

She didn't wrap it up with a bow and it didn't cost her a penny but the 'present' that Adeva Hillis gave to her father was the most precious one he'd ever received.

For what Paul Magill got from his daughter was the priceless gift of life, in the shape of a desperately-needed kidney.

Yet 25-year-old Adeva insisted that her decision to donate the organ to her beloved dad was the easiest she'd ever had to make.

"People always say to me that it must have been a very difficult thing for me to do but honestly it wasn't," says Adeva, as she sat next to her father, the picture of health and happiness, on the sofa of his home in Seapatrick near Banbridge. "I love him so, so much.

"He made bigger sacrifices for me when I was growing up."

Which was a reference to the fact that 49-year-old Paul, who's a skilled cabinet maker, raised Adeva and her two older siblings on his own after his wife, their mother, passed away nearly 20 years ago.

The bond between father and daughter has always been strong, but they became even closer after Paul was diagnosed with a rare kidney disease nearly seven years ago.

Paul was in and out of hospitals around Northern Ireland repeatedly, as baffled medics tried to find a remedy for his problems and last year they came to the conclusion that the only way to save him was through a kidney transplant. A live one. And the search then began for a suitable donor with the initial emphasis on finding a family member whose kidney would be a match.

After it was established that one of Adeva's kidneys would be perfect for her father, the doctors sat her and Paul down together and explained the potentials and the pitfalls of a transplant from daughter to dad.

But Adeva says: "They wanted to ensure that we had the full picture, but I told them there and then that I was going to give my dad my kidney and I just wanted them to get on with it."

But it wasn't quite that simple. More examinations had to be undertaken over the next months to make sure as far as possible that everything would be alright and last July the pioneering medical teams at Belfast's City Hospital finally gave the go-ahead for the transplant.

Just over a month ago, Adeva and Paul were brought into the hospital for what they both knew would be one of the most important days of their lives, Tuesday, March 1.

"It was nerve-wracking," says Paul. "Adeva and I were in rooms which were close to each other and they took her away in the morning to remove her kidney.

"And when it came time for me to be prepared for the operating theatre, I asked if I could see her just to reassure myself that she was okay, because I was really worried about her.

"I had a lot to lose, but it was even worse for Adeva and I was concerned how the organ donation would leave her, coping with just one kidney.

"They brought me into the intensive care unit and she was just coming around. She was able to give me a little thumbs-up sign which was just wonderful to see. It meant the world to me and I was able to face my surgery in a more settled state of mind."

Paul says he felt like a new man after the transplant. But it was only a temporary respite: "I was really sick again for days afterwards. I lost over a stone in weight, and I was starting to wonder if the procedure had been a success and if I had put Adeva through all this for nothing."

But the patient was urged to be patient, that things would get better and he was discharged from hospital after a couple of weeks to continue his recovery at home.

"Being allowed back to my own house was fantastic and helped me no end," he says. "The sickness has gone away, even if the pain hasn't, and I was told that my bloods have shown that it's all looking good."

Paul has been warned however that there's a 40% chance the disease could return. "But we will just have to wait and see," he says. "However, I am really grateful to Adeva for what she has done for me. She is a special girl.

"I didn't put any pressure on her at all. If she had decided against giving me her kidney I would just have sat on and, if hardy had come to hardy, I would have taken the consequences of whatever came along. And that could have meant going on dialysis, which was something I didn't want.

"I have seen people on dialysis when I go to Newry and it is scary, even though the patients I met there were all upbeat and always had a smile on their faces."

As for Adeva, who has an 18-month-old daughter called Madison, doctors have said they're happy with her progress in the wake of the transplant.

Adeva was able to go back to her home in Donacloney after four days with a warning that she would have to rest.

"They told me I couldn't even lift my daughter, and that was very difficult for Madison and me," says Adeva who won't be returning to her work as a waitress at the Albert Bar in Banbridge until the end of May.

"But seeing my dad looking so much brighter than he has done is just the tonic that I and the rest of his family need, including his fiancee Karen and their three young children."

Karen (32) was also prepared to give a kidney to Paul. "But after I was examined they told me I wasn't a match," Karen says.

"However, the option was for me to give my kidney to someone who had a kidney that would have been suitable for Paul, and then his or her organ would have been transplanted.

"The choice was down to me and Adeva but eventually the doctors said that her kidney would be the one they would use."

Paul and his extended family are hoping they've now come through a protracted nightmare from which they feared they might never awaken after his kidney problems surfaced following a severe bout of tonsillitis

"I started to pass black blood and I was rushed to hospital where they found I had a disease which had damaged both of my kidneys," Paul says.

"I was going back and forwards to hospitals for three or four weeks at a time, and I was vomiting all the while and there were complications with my liver and my pancreas. The tiredness was unreal and I was sleeping 24/7, plus another side effect was memory loss.

"Doctors were baffled about how to proceed and I was undergoing tests, lots of them. I was on loads of medications. They didn't want me to go on to dialysis and they finally said a live transplant would be the best solution, so they tested five members of my family including a brother and sister.

"And when they told us that Adeva's kidney would be ideal, we both knew we were in safe hands."

Adeva, whose dad proudly walked her down the aisle at her wedding to Jonathan Hillis almost three years ago, said medics have been pleased with her recuperation after the surgeries.

"I got a call just the other day to tell me that my kidney function was at a level which would be normal for someone who had both of their organs," she says. "And apart from a little bit of tiredness occasionally, I feel no different now from the way I felt before the operations."

Paul says he was feeling 'a hundred times' better than he had done for years and he was looking forward to rebuilding a normal life for himself and his family. He also says he can't thank the medical teams around Northern Ireland enough for going the extra mile to help him. "It was a long, long road but their dedication, professionalism and commitment were quite remarkable," he says.

"It's no surprise to me that the City Hospital have a marvellous reputation for kidney transplants.

"I think there were over 120 of them last year but most of them were organs from deceased people."

Paul and Adeva hope that by sharing their story they can help raise awareness of the importance of organ donations across Northern Ireland.

"We didn't know much about them until we were informed we would be going through the whole process, and we would really hope that more people will agree to become donors," he says.

"We want folk here in Northern Ireland to know that their decision could help give someone else the prospect of a longer life.

"And we are pleased to say that there have already been quite a few of our friends and neighbours who have gone on the (organ donor) list," adds Paul, who has been so buoyed up by his transplant that he and fiancee Karen have now set a date for their wedding in June.

"We didn't want to arrange anything until I'd come through the transplant with a positive result.

"And we have Adeva and the medics to thank for everything."
Christine Diamond (38) a Head of Early Year's teacher is married to Neil Diamond (38), a factory operator. They live in Banbridge with their two sons Riley (3) and Rory (2). She says:

I don't remember walking into the bathroom. I just remember coming to and finding myself standing there with a razor at my wrists and calling my husband Neil.

I just looked at him and said I think I need to go to the hospital. This wasn't the first thought of suicide I'd had. Other times I had found myself driving along in the car and thinking if it crashed it would all be over and I could escape.

I wanted to escape the pain and the demons in my head. All those feelings of guilt, that I was a bad mother and I didn't deserve my babies.

People were surprised when I got pregnant so quickly with my second baby. I'd had such a difficult time with postnatal depression and it had taken me months to recover and here I was going back to work from one pregnancy and I was three months pregnant.

However, I knew I didn't want Riley to be an only child and as tough as it was for me, I thought if I didn't do it soon and put it off I would never do it.

After Riley was born, I was great for a few weeks then all of a sudden I found myself in a shop and I had a complete breakdown. I started sobbing uncontrollably and I knew I had to get home.

I called my sister Martina and my husband and they came home to find me in hysterics. I was shaking and screaming and they couldn't get me to calm down.

They took me to the doctors who helped me relax and suggested a low dose of anti-depressants.

It took a few weeks for the medication to set in and during that time I couldn't even function. It sounds ridiculous but I couldn't even boil a kettle. All I could do was lie in bed or the sofa. I was frightened to be on my own with the baby and if Neil nipped out for a while, I would call him and he would have to come straight back.

I was worried and anxious all the time.

I couldn't believe this had happened to me. I was well educated, had a great job which I loved. I was in a managerial position at school, had a great husband and fantastic family support. How could this happen to me?

It turns out PND is no respecter of character. It can happen to anyone at any time.

During those times when I couldn't function, I wasn't capable of looking after Riley, so Neil had to take time off work. My family were also a great support and helped me out.

Slowly, I started to do things. I would find I had made a cup of tea or cooked something for dinner and this was a huge achievement.

And while I knew I loved Riley, I hadn't had that instant bond with him that I knew I was meant to have. So this happened slowly over a period of time.

By the time I returned to school, I was feeling a good bit better and hoping that lightening wouldn't strike twice.

I had Rory and everything seemed to be going well for the first few days and then I remember thinking maybe I should contact the doctor just to get a low dose of medication to help me through the first few weeks.

Then it just hit me like a ton of bricks again. I couldn't get out of bed I just wanted to disappear.

I went to lie down one afternoon but then I woke up from a sort of trance and I was standing in the bathroom with the razor.

Neil drove me to Trasna House in Lurgan, where there was emergency support on call and they arranged for me to be admitted to Blue Stone, the psychiatric hospital in Craigavon.

By this stage I was past caring where I was or what was happening, I just wanted it all to be over.

I remembering sleeping a lot in hospital and peace came with sleep. They increased my meds and kept an eye on me there for a couple of weeks.

I was discharged and sent home with a home care team who came out to my house every day to check on me.

I was in the hospital over Mother's Day and I remember feeling so guilty that my babies needed me. Neil was doing everything. He was looking after the boys and visiting me.

When I got out, I had a Clinical Psychiatric Nurse looking after me and she encouraged me to get out and about with the boys and take them to toddler groups.

I also went and visited nuns in a local convent a lot and got a lot of support and prayer from them.

Slowly, I started to get my life back on track, but the PND has made me a different person.

I don't worry about things the way I used to and everything doesn't have to be run so routinely.

I try to relax a bit more and just enjoy family time. I am a much stronger person now. I don't get stressed about things.

I will talk to anyone about my experience, as I want to raise awareness that this can happen to anyone and I want people to break down the stigmas, especially that surround hospitalisation.

Going into hospital saved my life. I know I'll never have another baby. I couldn't go through that for a third time or put Neil and my family though it, but I am blessed to have two gorgeous boys.

I just take things a day at a time now. I know I can still have a bad day and there are certain triggers that lower my mood.

I try not to be too hard on myself. Everything doesn't have to be organised and perfect. That's the teacher in me wanting routine.

I've got my ambition back and I want to be a great mum but I want to be other things as well and I would like to do my post grad and look at becoming a play therapist.
The scene of the murder at an apartment block in Victoria Street, Lurgan

A young woman who was murdered in Lurgan has been described as "bubbly, fun-loving and full of life" by her shocked friends.

Laura Marshall, a 31-year-old dental nurse, was found dead in a block of flats in Lurgan on Sunday night.

After a post-mortem examination yesterday, the PSNI announced that it had launched a murder investigation.

Ms Marshall's 36-year-old boyfriend Gary O'Dowd was arrested for questioning over her sudden death. He remained in police custody last night.

On Tuesday police said they had been granted an extra 36 hours to question the suspect.

Ms Marshall was from a well-known republican family in the town. Her uncle was former republican prisoner Sam Marshall, who was murdered by the UVF in 1990 as he left Lurgan police station with his brother-in-law Tony McCaughey and republican Colin Duffy. The Police Ombudsman is investigating allegations from his family of state collusion.

Yesterday there was a heavy police presence outside the block of flats in Victoria Street where Ms Marshall's body is understood to have been found by a maintenance man.

Due to the close proximity of the flats to the Kilwilkie estate, a dissident republican stronghold, officers guarding the scene were heavily armed with rifles.

An aunt of Ms Marshall stopped momentarily outside the flats yesterday morning, but said she was too upset to discuss the tragedy.

A friend paused to bless himself as he walked past.

Expand Expand Previous Next Close Gary ODowd Dental nurse Laura Marshall was found dead on Sunday / Facebook

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"I knew Laura for a while. She was a nice girl. She was with Gary a couple of years. She'd never pass you without saying hello," he said.

Ms Marshall was a keen traveller. She travelled around Australia for 13 months in 2008/09, which she described on social media as "the best time of her life".

She also lived in the US and England for a few years and had intended to travel again. However, after meeting Mr O'Dowd in August 2013 she decided to stay with him in Lurgan. At the time she told her friends on Facebook that Mr O'Dowd "was good" to her.

Several friends took to social media to pay tribute to her.

Dean Oxby wrote on Facebook that Laura "was a very popular and outgoing inspirational woman who can always put a smile on your face ... you made many friends around the world where you have travelled on your journeys and they are sadly touched by the news of your death."

Another wrote: "I'm devastated ... I cannot believe this has happened to a happy young beautiful woman who was a huge part of my life." One friend described Ms Marshall as "so bubbly fun-loving and full of life".

Sinn Fein councillor for the area Catherine Seeley said the "tragic event has sent a wave of shock throughout the community in north Lurgan and beyond".

She said: "It is very early for any details to be released and the PSNI should be allowed space to carry out their investigations. I would call on anyone with any information to contact the PSNI immediately."

Ulster Unionist Lurgan councillor Colin McCusker said: "The news of this young woman's death has come as a complete shock to the Lurgan community."
A disgraced doctor who fleeced an elderly Alzheimer's patient out of 10,000 has avoided prison.

Former GP Michelle Mellotte yesterday received a suspended sentence following her conviction for fraud by abuse of position.

The court was told that the Co Fermanagh doctor went to the wealthy patient's home and asked to borrow money after getting into financial difficulties.

She was given a cheque for 10,000 with a written endorsement that she would repay the money by the summer of 2010.

However, the 61-year-old, from Bannagh Road, Kesh, failed to return the sum for more than a year, only repaying it after the police launched an investigation into her actions.

The mother-of-six, who has since removed herself from the medical register, accepted that she was occupying a position in which she was expected to safeguard the financial interests of the pensioner but dishonestly abused it to obtain the money from him.

Mellotte targeted an elderly patient, Michael McGrory, who suffered from Alzheimer's.

Mr McGrory, who died in December 2012, lived in a remote area of Fermanagh for most of his life. The court heard that he had inherited a substantial amount of money from a relative in 1997, which the doctor was aware of.

Downpatrick Court heard that the victim's mental and physical health was deteriorating. His memory was also fading and he had been suffering from long-term health conditions.

In February 2010, Mellotte called to his home and spoke to his home help, saying that she needed to ask Mr McGrory for a favour as she was in a "bit of a diff".

Mr McGrory agreed to lend her the money and handed over a cheque for 10,000.

At the time, she was said to be in financial difficulty and was under pressure from her bank.

The cheque was placed into her account and paid out immediately to a number of people, one of whom was a patient of the defendant's.

Mellotte failed to repay the loan by the summer, and the following Easter - more than a year after she borrowed the money - she was confronted by home help worker Rosemary McElhill, who had significant concerns.

Ms McElhill was told not to worry about it and that the money would be paid back.

Judge Stephen Fowler QC said Mellotte failed to recognise the significance of the breach of trust she had committed, given that Mr McGrory was unlikely to remember lending her the cash.

The money was eventually repaid to Mr McGrory in November 2011, but by this stage Mellotte had been suspended by the General Medical Council and police were investigating the matter.

The defendant, who has no previous criminal record, was described by the judge as a woman of "good standing" who had worked in medicine for four decades.

The court heard that she helped some of her patients with their medical and financial needs and sometimes gave them money for rent and groceries.

Judge Fowler said: "She didn't think she had done anything wrong but now recognises that this was unorthodox and inappropriate."

Mellotte was suspended from her practice and removed herself from the medical register.

Judge Fowler said: "She has ended her career in a publicly inauspicious way. This is a significant punishment in itself."
A new inquest into the massacre of 10 workmen in Northern Ireland 40 years ago is the last chance for closure, the sole survivor of the IRA attack has said.

Alan Black hopes those involved in the Kingsmill killings will come forward before the case is opened next month.

He said: "It has gone past the point of calling for anyone to be punished. This is about getting to the truth.

"It has been like a raw wound for 40 years and this is about bringing some form of comfort to the families."

The comments come as a coroner launched a public appeal for information.

Judge Brian Sherrard is particularly keen to hear from anyone who was arrested or suspected of involvement in the shootings.

Mr Black, now 72, added: "The gunmen were probably around the same age as myself, so we are now looking at our own mortality.

"You would want to ease your own conscience before passing on."

The textile factory workers were ambushed as they travelled along the Whitecross to Bessbrook road in rural south Armagh on January 5 1976 - one of the worst years of the Troubles.

Their minibus was stopped and those on board were asked their religion.

The only Catholic on board was ordered to flee as the gunmen, who had been hidden in the hedges, opened fire on 11 of his Protestant colleagues.

The 10 men who died were John Bryans, Robert Chambers, Reginald Chapman, Walter Chapman, Robert Freeburn, Joseph Lemmon, John McConville, James McWhirter, Robert Samuel Walker and Kenneth Worton.

Mr Black, then a 32-year-old father of three, was seriously wounded and spent months recovering in hospital.

The attack was claimed by a little-known republican paramilitary group considered to be a front for the supposedly-on-ceasefire IRA.

However in 2011 the Historical Enquiries Team found the IRA had been responsible and had targeted the workmen because of their religion.

No one has ever been convicted.

The original inquest in 1978 lasted just 30 minutes and recorded an open verdict, b ut after a long campaign for justice by Mr Black and victims' families, the new inquest was ordered by Northern Ireland's Attorney General, John Larkin, in 2013.

It has been listed to start at Laganside Court in Belfast on May 23.

In a statement the Coroners Service urged anyone with information to come forward.

It said: "There may, for example, be persons with relevant information concerning the deaths but who have not yet brought that information to the attention of the authorities.

"There may be persons who were arrested in connection with the deaths and who wish formally to renounce any connection with the matter.

"Or there may be persons who have been mentioned in connection with these deaths or who have regarded themselves as under suspicion in relation to the deaths, who wish formally to renounce any suggestion of their involvement or who have information that may assist the coronial inquiry.

"Any individual who has information in relation to the deaths, or who wishes to clarify their position in relation to the deaths, is asked to email Legacy@courtsni.gsi.gov.uk or write to the Coroners Service for Northern Ireland
It was a disappearance that baffled staff at a Belfast bar when their menu board went missing.

Staff at The Errigle on the Ormeau Road searched everywhere for their menu board but it was nowhere to be found.

However, when they examined the CCTV footage, they spotted some strange goings on. The menu board had shuffled off into the distance

The menu still hasn't been found and there is a free meal in it for anyone that can help track it down.

And if you are stuck for what to order, the bar has bought a new board to publicise its fare.

Manager Phil McGurran said: "Our original menu board mysteriously disappeared but after an unsuccessful appeal, we gave in and bought a new one. After a little bit of investigation, we've found that these menu boards have legs of their own, the tricky little bugger escaped.

"We're sure the original board is out there somewhere promoting our new menu and there's a reward of a meal for two for anyone with information leading to its safe return."
Tributes have been paid to a man in his 60s who died yesterday afternoon in a two-vehicle car crash in Lisburn

Tributes have been paid to a man in his 60s who died yesterday afternoon in a two-vehicle car crash in Lisburn.

The collision happened just after 3pm on the junction of Wallace Avenue and the Belfast Road.

It is understood the man, who has not yet been named, was the driver of one of the vehicles.

Both Wallace Avenue and the Belfast Road area remained closed to traffic for several hours yesterday while police attended the scene.

The man's death is the second on Lisburn's roads in recent weeks after Syrian dentist Mahfouz Balid was killed after being knocked off his bike by a lorry.

Lisburn Ulster Unionist councillor Jenny Palmer said she heard one of the cars had crashed near the front gate of Seymour Street Methodist Church.

"It's very tragic circumstances," she said.

"It's a very sad occasion, that's the second fatality in Lisburn in a few weeks with the cyclist.

"My heart goes out to the family and those involved.

"Obviously there's two cars involved in that accident and I don't know how many people have been injured."

Police are still working to determine what caused the crash and remained at the scene until last night.

Posting online, Seymour Street Methodist Church said: "We are very saddened by the news of the death of a driver involved in a collision near our church gate this afternoon.

"We offer our heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family."

One church member, Peter McCormack, said: "Condolences to all involved.

"That can be a confusing and hectic set of lights. I hate crossing as a pedestrian."

Yesterday's victim was the 15th person to die on our roads this year - one more than at the same time last year.

PSNI Inspector Jim McGrillen said: "I would ask anyone who witnessed the collision to contact Lisburn Police Station or the collision investigation unit on the non-emergency number 101."
The abortion drug Mifepristone 'blocks the hormone that makes the lining of the womb suitable for the fertilised egg' according to the NHS website

A young woman who bought drugs on the internet to induce a miscarriage after failing to raise enough money to travel to England for a termination has been handed a suspended prison sentence.

A barrister for the woman told Belfast Crown Court that had his client lived in any other region of the UK, she would "not have found herself before the courts."

The 21-year old, who cannot be named due to a court order, bought two types of drugs online, took them then miscarried on July 12, 2014. The male foetus, which was between 10 and 12 weeks, was later found in the bin of a house she shared with two other people.

She appeared in court today where she pleaded guilty to two charges - namely procuring her own abortion by using a poison, and of supplying a poison with intent to procure a miscarriage.

Handing the woman a three-month prison sentence, which was suspended for one year, Judge David McFarland spoke of the difference in legislation surrounding abortion in Northern Ireland, compared to England, Scotland and Wales.

The Belfast Recorder also spoke of the potential dangers of taking these drugs, which are readily available on the internet but which should only ever be taken under medical supervision.

Prior to sentencing, Crown prosecutor Kate McKay said that on July 20, 2014 police were contacted by the woman's housemates and were made aware that she had bought drugs online which had induced a miscarriage on July 12.

When officers arrived at the rented accommodation in south Belfast, they conducted a search and located various items - including a foetus which was located in a black bag in the household bin.

A subsequent post mortem confirmed that the male foetus was between ten to 12 weeks and was the woman's biological son.

Mrs McKay said that when the woman moved into the house in May 2014, she told her two housemates that she was pregnant but that she was trying to raise the money to travel to England for a termination.

However, after she was unable to raise enough money, she contacted an abortion clinic in England for advice. She claims that she was told by the clinic about two drugs - mifepristone and misoprostol - that were available on the internet and which would induce a miscarriage.

She miscarried on July 12, and the following day her housemates found both blood-stained items and the foetus in the bin. One housemate described the foetus as a "wee baby" around four inches long.

Mrs McKay said at this point the housemates were in a dilemma about what to do and were "taken aback by the seemingly blase attitude" adopted by the woman. Around a week later, they contacted the PSNI.

When she was arrested, the then 19-year old gave a 'no comment' interview.

Defence barrister Paul Bacon said his client's prosecution highlighted the difference in legislation between here and the rest of the UK. He told the court "had she lived in any other jurisdiction, she would not have found herself before the court", adding she felt "victimised by the system."

Regarding the incident, Mr Bacon that at that time the woman was living in Belfast with people she barely knew and when she fell pregnant she felt "isolated and trapped ... with no-one to turn to."

Mr Bacon said the drugs she took were normally administered under medical supervision only, meaning that she put her own health at risk. He branded her actions as "a 19-year old who felt trapped" and who turned to "such desperate measures."

The barrister concluded by revealing the woman is now 21, has a new baby with her partner and is "trying to put her life back together again."

Before passing sentence, Judge McFarland said there were no guidelines or similar cases to compare this to, adding in his experience there have been no other prosecutions under this specific piece of legislation - namely Section 58 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861.

Judge McFarland said the legislation was 150 years old and had been substantially amended in England, Scotland and Wales but not in Northern Ireland.

Acknowledging that as a UK citizen the woman could legally have travelled to England for a termination, Judge McFarland said that the advice given by the clinic "without knowledge of her background and details was perhaps inappropriate".

He also said that while there are agencies in Northern Ireland that give advice on such issues "unfortunately they are part of a polarised debate that can be part of a more toxic debate."
A "paedophile hunter" ordered to pay damages to a convicted child abuser failed to turn up in court yesterday for his appeal against the ruling.

Limavady man Joe McCloskey and Facebook are both challenging a verdict that they were jointly liable to the sex offender awarded 20,000 compensation.

His efforts to overturn the judgment have been surrounded by continued uncertainty over his legal aid status.

As the hearing got under way at the Court of Appeal, a panel of three senior judges was informed McCloskey was not in attendance.

Inviting Facebook's lawyers to open their case, Lord Chief Justice Sir Declan Morgan said: "If at any stage Mr McCloskey makes an appearance, we can deal with that."

McCloskey was sued along with the social media giant over a page he operated to name and shame sex offenders in Northern Ireland. In a landmark ruling last year, the High Court held that the payout should be made to one of those who featured.

A judge also found Mr McCloskey and Facebook liable for misusing private information.

The sex offender who brought the privacy action, identified only as CG, was released from jail in 2012 after serving a sentence for gross indecency and indecent assault offences against a young girl and a teenage boy.

Now aged in his 40s, he remains under supervision by the authorities but has been assessed as posing no significant risk to the public. He claimed harassment, violation of his right to privacy and breaches of the Data Protection Act against Facebook and Mr McCloskey after his photograph and details appeared on the page Keeping Our Kids Safe From Predators 2.

Amid a string of abusive comments and information on his location, one user called for him to be hanged while others endorsed shooting or castrating him.

In evidence, CG claimed he had been threatened with being thrown off a pier, hounded out of a cinema and had to use a supermarket trolley to fight off another tormentor. His lawyers said the campaign had reached the level of dangerous vigilantism.

Ruling in favour of CG's right to privacy, the High Court awarded damages in the total sum of 20,000, with Mr McCloskey liable for 15,000 of that amount.

Since the verdict, two of CG's victims have issued writs against him. An injunction was also secured to stop any payout to the sex offender until that litigation was dealt with.

Appealing the ruling against Facebook, Anthony White QC challenged the finding that the firm was liable for misuse of private information.

He said a large category of comments that included "vulgar, abusive language" could not be complained about.

"CG did not object to name calling, stating it was part his conviction and he had to live with that," the barrister contended.

Turning to notification letters issued by the offender's lawyers in a bid to have the postings removed, he also noted how defamation claims were not advanced at the original trial.

Mr White added: "It's perhaps not difficult to see why - he's a convicted child sex offender and although some of the words are defamatory, they are true and justified."

The appeal continues.
The abortion drug Mifepristone 'blocks the hormone that makes the lining of the womb suitable for the fertilised egg' according to the NHS website

A protest against the prosecution of a Northern Ireland woman who bought abortion drugs online has been held outside the British Embassy in Berlin.

The 21-year-old woman, who cannot be named due to a court order, bought drugs on the internet to induce a miscarriage after failing to raise enough money to travel to England for a termination. On Monday she was handed a suspended prison sentence.

A barrister for the woman told Belfast Crown Court that had his client lived in any other region of the UK, she would "not have found herself before the courts."

Prior to the rally, the Berlin-Irish Pro Choice Solidarity said on Facebook: "How many people were disgusted by Trump's comments about how women seeking abortions should be punished? Well, this is actually happening right now in Northern Ireland!

"That women, people, are still being punished for attempted self-induced abortions in states where abortion is banned is an appalling state of affairs in 2016. "

Read More

Drugs bought online

The woman bought two types of drugs online, took them then miscarried on July 12, 2014. She appeared in court on Monday where she pleaded guilty to two charges - namely procuring her own abortion by using a poison, and of supplying a poison with intent to procure a miscarriage.

Handing the woman a three-month prison sentence, which was suspended for two years, Judge David McFarland spoke of the difference in legislation surrounding abortion in Northern Ireland, compared to England, Scotland and Wales.

The Belfast Recorder also spoke of the potential dangers of taking these drugs, which are readily available on the internet but which should only ever be taken under medical supervision.

Prior to sentencing, Crown prosecutor Kate McKay said that on July 20, 2014 police were contacted by the woman's housemates and were made aware that she had bought drugs online which had induced a miscarriage on July 12.

Mrs McKay said that when the woman moved into the house in May 2014, she told her two housemates that she was pregnant but that she was trying to raise the money to travel to England for a termination.

However, after she was unable to raise enough money, she contacted an abortion clinic in England for advice. She claims that she was told by the clinic about two drugs - mifepristone and misoprostol - that were available on the internet and which would induce a miscarriage.

Defence barrister Paul Bacon said his client's prosecution highlighted the difference in legislation between here and the rest of the UK. He told the court "had she lived in any other jurisdiction, she would not have found herself before the court", adding she felt "victimised by the system."

Regarding the incident, Mr Bacon that at that time the woman was living in Belfast with people she barely knew and when she fell pregnant she felt "isolated and trapped ... with no-one to turn to."

Mr Bacon said the drugs she took were normally administered under medical supervision only, meaning that she put her own health at risk. He branded her actions as "a 19-year old who felt trapped" and who turned to "such desperate measures."

The barrister concluded by revealing the woman is now 21, has a new baby with her partner and is "trying to put her life back together again."

Northern Ireland legislation 150 years old

Before passing sentence, Judge McFarland said there were no guidelines or similar cases to compare this to, adding in his experience there have been no other prosecutions under this specific piece of legislation - namely Section 58 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861.

Judge McFarland said the legislation was 150 years old and had been substantially amended in England, Scotland and Wales but not in Northern Ireland.

Acknowledging that as a UK citizen the woman could legally have travelled to England for a termination, Judge McFarland said that the advice given by the clinic "without knowledge of her background and details was perhaps inappropriate".

He also said that while there are agencies in Northern Ireland that give advice on such issues "unfortunately they are part of a polarised debate that can be part of a more toxic debate."

Prosecution 'in public interest'

Prosecutors in Northern Ireland have insisted it was in the public interest to bring a case against a woman found guilty of buying drugs online to abort her unborn child.

The maximum penalty for the crime of administering a drug to induce miscarriage under the relevant law in Northern Ireland, namely the Offences Against The Person Act 1861, is life imprisonment.

Across the border in the Irish Republic, the offence of procuring an abortion carries a potential 14-year jail term.

The case has sparked a fresh row about abortion laws in Northern Ireland. Both sides of the ever divisive debate have criticised the outcome, though for very different reasons.

While pro-choice campaigners have denounced the prosecution, pro-life advocates have insisted the sentence was too lenient.

The Northern Ireland Public Prosecution Service said the case met the evidential threshold and its pursuance was in the public interest.

"The test for prosecution has two elements," said a PPS spokesman.

"It involves an assessment as to whether the available evidence provides a reasonable prospect of conviction - and also whether prosecution is in the public interest.

"In this particular case it was decided, having carefully considered all of the relevant evidence and information, that both elements of the test for prosecution were met. A range of factors were relevant to the balancing of the public interest, including the important fact that the law in Northern Ireland makes the conduct in question a serious criminal offence in respect of which a conviction carries the potential of a significant custodial sentence."

Amnesty International said it was appalled by conviction

Amnesty's Northern Ireland director, Patrick Corrigan, said: "A woman who needs an abortion is not a criminal. The law should not treat her as such.

"This tragic case reveals, yet again, that making abortion illegal does not stop women in Northern Ireland needing or seeking terminations.

"Those who can afford it travel to England for the treatment they need - over 1,000 women make that journey from Northern Ireland every year. Those that can't afford it, as appears to be the situation in this case, may take medication in an attempt to terminate their pregnancy - without medical supervision or support."

Anti-abortion group calls for appeal

Pro-life campaign group Precious Life has called for an appeal against the sentence, alleging it was unduly lenient.

Precious Life director Bernadette Smyth claimed the judge had seriously undermined the legislation.

"The woman in this case accepts that she committed a crime by procuring her own abortion by purchasing abortion pills online," she said.

"Precious Life is very shocked that this judge's sentencing was so manifestly lenient in respect of such a serious crime, and is very concerned that this court judgment could set a very dangerous precedent for similar cases."

Ms Smyth said her group would be writing to Northern Ireland Attorney General John Larkin and Director of Public Prosecutions Barra McGrory in an effort to have the case referred to the Court of Appeal.
A school girl was taken to hospital following the incident. Pic: Mourne Mountain Rescue Team.

A schoolgirl suffered severe hypothermia after her group got into difficulty on the Mourne Mountains on Monday night.

Several other members of the group of 11 suffered mild hypothermia.

They had been out on a Duke of Edinburgh expedition.

The major search and rescue operation swung into action just after 7.15pm when the Mourne Mountain Rescue Team received a call for assistance on the western side of Slieve Beg.

Specialist paramedics were also called in due to the potential number of causalities.

In all 23 people were involved in the rescue which ended at around 1am.

All the school children were treated at the scene and guided to safety, however, the schoolgirl was taken to hospital.

Conditions have been especially arduous with a constant downpour over the past three days.

A spokesperson for the Mourne Mountain Rescue Team praised the group for their efforts in keeping safe.

"Clearly had it not been for the outstanding efforts of the young people in this group, this situation would have been much much more serious."

Before the drama was resolved, concerned residents posted their support for the search. David Scott said: "As a former youth leader, I never rested easily until the young people returned safely."

Ulster Unionist councillor Harold McKee said care should be taken on the slopes. "It's always a danger," he added.

"With heavy rain the streams can turn into a river. It can be so dangerous."

The Mourne Mountain Rescue Team is a non-profit organisation and is made up of volunteers who are on call 24 hours every day of the year.

Donations can be made to its JustGiving page.
One of the greatest historical questions ever may finally have been answered in the shape of 2,000 year old dung.

Scientists from Northern Ireland believe they may have pinpointed the route taken by Hannibal as he crossed the Alps with 30,000 men, 37 elephants and more than 15,000 horses and mules in a bid to bring the mighty Roman army to its knees.

Microbiologists from Queen's University are part of a team that has found traces of faeces in earth taken from a site in France and have established it dates back to 218 BC - the time when Hannibal and his troops were making their way through the region.

It is an incredible breakthrough that could bring to an end 2,000 years of furious debate by historians, statesmen and academics.

Dr Chris Allen, from the Institute for Global Food Security at Queen's, explained: "It is very exciting. It is one of those questions - an enigma if you like - that has been around for an awful lot of time and that no one has been able to find the answer to."

"For example, at one point people thought they had found some elephants at one of the places where Hannibal may have been, but it turned out to be much older than that - it was actually a woolly mammoth," Dr Allen added.

"This is the very first solid scientific evidence because we have found specific DNA sequences linked to the exact date he went across the Alps."

The team at Queen's have been working with other experts from countries including the Republic of Ireland, Canada, USA, France and Estonia.

They travelled to a national park in France to an area that is one of the possible routes taken by Hannibal - the Col de Traversette pass.

This crossing point was first proposed over a half century ago by the biologist and polymath Sir Gavin de Beer, but has not previously been widely accepted among members of the academic community.

The team narrowed down the search location by analysing soil samples that revealed the location of water in the area. It also showed signs of a large footfall by thousands of animals and humans at some point in the past.

"We knew that if Hannibal had passed through they would have stopped here for water for the animals," explained Dr Allen.

The team then extracted tiny amounts of soil from the scene and tested it for the presence of microbes called Clostridia.

They are found in the faeces of humans and animals, including horses and elephants, and can survive for thousands of years.

Dr Allen said: "It has been estimated they will survive for about 8,000 years in soil.

"We are now conducting more research to show with an even greater degree of certainty that this is the route taken by Hannibal."

This will include genetic testing to work out whether the Clostridia came from humans, horses or elephants.

"If it turns out that it came from elephants, that would really then be the smoking gun," said Dr Allen.

"We're actually working with a scientist who can look at parasite eggs under a microscope and identify whether it came from an elephant or horse.

"We've found one parasite egg so far, and tests on that could take just weeks or months, so we will hopefully have a lot more data by the end of this year.

"It's very exciting. It's a very good example of how you can use modern biological sciences to answer very old questions."
A file of evidence linking serial child killer Robert Black to the murder of Genette Tate has been submitted to prosecutors

A file of evidence linking serial child killer Robert Black to the murder of Genette Tate has been submitted to prosecutors.

The Scottish-born sex attacker, 68, died in non-suspicious circumstances in Maghaberry high security jail in Northern Ireland.

He was serving multiple life sentences for the murders of four schoolgirls in the 1980s and a number of other crimes.

Black, a delivery driver who stalked the roads of the UK searching for victims, has long been suspected of murdering 13-year-old Genette.

Genette, a newspaper delivery girl, vanished from a rural lane in Aylesbeare, Devon, in August 1978. Her body has never been found.

A spokesman for Devon and Cornwall Police confirmed the evidence file had been submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

"The major part of a file concerning this matter has now been sent to the CPS for a charging decision," the force spokesman said.

"This has been a long and complex enquiry and we have kept the family of Genette Tate informed throughout.

"We now await further direction from the CPS on how this may progress in the coming weeks."

Earlier this year, police said Black was likely to have been charged with Genette's abduction and murder.

Black first became a suspect in Genette's murder in 1994 and was interviewed by Devon and Cornwall Police in 1996.

A reinvestigation into Genette's murder began in 2014 following a court of appeal ruling against Black in 2013.

Devon and Cornwall Police have had a team of 10 working on the case extensively for the past two years.

The team is understood to have identified new potential witnesses in the case.

Detective Superintendent Paul Burgan, of Devon and Cornwall Police, previously said the CPS were "weeks" away from charging Black when he died.

He confirmed the file would still be submitted for a charging decision for Genette's family, describing Black's death as "a complete shock".

"Robert Black was ultimately an aggressive, predatory paedophile," Mr Burgan added.

"He was every parent's worse nightmare. He was a danger to children.

"Robert Black did kill on a number of occasions around the country and we would attest that Genette was one victim in that reign of terror he committed from 1978 until his arrest in 1990."

Black's offending ended in 1990 when he was caught red-handed by police with a barely alive six-year-old girl hooded, bound, gagged and stuffed in a sleeping bag in the back of his van in the Scottish village of Stow. He had sexually assaulted her moments earlier.

Once in custody, detectives were able to link the predator to a series of unsolved crimes in the previous decade.

In 1994, Black was found guilty of three child murders in the 1980s - those of 11-year-old Susan Maxwell, from the Scottish Borders, five-year-old Caroline Hogg, from Edinburgh, and Sarah Harper, 10, from Morley, near Leeds - as well as a failed abduction bid in Nottingham in 1988.

In 2011, he was found guilty of the 1981 murder of nine-year-old Jennifer Cardy, from Ballinderry, Co Antrim.
The proportion wanting to remain in the EU fell from 58% in June 2015 to 56% in March this year

Support in Northern Ireland for staying in the European Union (EU) has fallen by 2%, according to a survey by Danske Bank.

Middle-class households, men and full-time workers remained most eager for EU membership.

However, older people, those in low-income households and those living in the north of Northern Ireland were more likely to support a Brexit, the bank's chief economist Angela McGowan said.

Support for membership of the union was strongest in Belfast and the north-west.

Ms McGowan said: "The latest poll shows that there has been a very small shift when it comes to Northern Ireland's preference for EU membership.

"Support for staying in Europe is by far the majority view, although the Leave campaigners have made a little ground over the last year."

The poll said 56% of people wanted to stay in the EU while 18% sought an exit. A quarter of participants remain uncertain.

Ms McGowan added: "EU membership is one of the most important decisions that people in the UK will have taken in decades.

"The result will have economic, political and social consequences and it is alarming that 26% of people are uncertain about how they will vote."

According to the study, 60% of men and 53% of women favoured staying in Europe.

Those who were unemployed or on low incomes were most likely to want UK to leave.

People in Northern Ireland still remained more supportive of the UK staying in Europe than people in Great Britain, according to the poll.

Last month Danske Bank surveyed 1,000 people across Northern Ireland on EU membership.

The proportion wanting to remain in the EU fell from 58% in June 2015 to 56% in March 2016.

Simultaneously there was a small rise in those wishing to exit. In June 2015 only 16% of those surveyed wanted to exit, with this rising to 18% in the latest poll.
The Police Federation of Northern Ireland has called on the government to put in place "comprehensive treatment" for officers suffering from psychological conditions as new figures reveal officers and staff on long-term sick leave has risen by a third in the past five years.

Despite overall staff numbers falling, the number of police officers and civilian staff taking time off for psychological reasons increased from 4,544 in 2010 to 6,129 in 2015.

The figures, which come from a Freedom of Information (FOI) request submitted by BBC Radio 5 live Daily, also show a steady increase in overall long-term sick leave over the same period.

In 2010/11, 19,825 employees were recorded as being on long-term sick leave - defined by forces as either 28 or 29 days or more - compared with 22,547 in 2014/15.

Of the 46 forces in the UK, 40 responded to the BBC's Freedom of Information request. They came from England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Police Scotland did not reply.

The PSNI was not able to provide the specific breakdown reasons for those on long-term sick leave because of the way it records the absence, but could provide the numbers.

The year when the highest number of officers were off on long-term sick leave was in 2014/2015 with 1,453 officers off on long-term sick leave along with 391 staff, making a total of 1844 employees of the PSNI.

This was an 11% increase on the previous year of 2013/2014 where 1,292 officers and 368 staff were off making a total of 1,660 employees on long term sick.

This was a further increase on 2012/2013 where 1,204 officers were off on long-term sickness along with 365 staff making a total of 1,569 employees.

And in 2011/12 1,150 officers were off on long-term sick leave along with 336 staff. A total of 1,486.

Chairman of the Police Federation for Northern Ireland Mark Lindsay said the figures were of "great concern" and pointed out "very clearly the need to take immediate steps to address long-term sickness".

Mr Lindsay in a statement, said: "We have too few officers for the demands placed upon them. That, in turn, places massive pressure on our men and women.

"They are unable to take time off. They work excessive hours. Securing leave can be problematic. They are stretched beyond the limit and these figures are symptomatic of this fact.

"All the time, they have to remain on high alert, ever conscious of a terrorist threat from dissident republicans thats deemed 'severe'.

"When inordinate demands are placed on our officers, its inevitable they become fatigued, which makes them more vulnerable."

Mr Lindsay said those battling with post traumatic stress and anxiety require more than a few days off work.

"We have voiced serious concerns for some time about the number of officers suffering psychological illnesses. These people have long-term issues to combat including post traumatic stress and anxiety and these conditions arent always addressed with a few days off work," he added.

"There has to be a meaningful programme put in place to assist these particular officers. Right now, theyre failing to get the service they need to deal with the day-to-day stress involved in policing society, which in turn is inevitably leading to more severe forms of psychological illness.

"They must be treated professionally and in a timely and humane manner. They are suffering dreadfully because of their psychological conditions and the onus has to be on the government to provide comprehensive treatment for these officers.

West Yorkshire Police recorded the largest rise in long-term sick leave over a year - up 44% between 2013/14 and 2014/15 - with Warwickshire police showing the biggest decrease, 17%.
Jean Caldwell at a memorial service for the 20th anniversary of the massacre in 2012

Jean Caldwell, the widow of one of the eight men killed at Teebane crossroads, with daughter Grace in 1992

The DUPs Ian McCrea stands beside a memorial to victims of an IRA bomb in Co Tyrone after it was vandalised. Photo credit should read: DUP/PA Wire

The widow of one of the men killed in the Teebane massacre said her family had been left "sickened" after the memorial to the workmen was attacked for the second time in five weeks.

White paint was thrown at the stone column memorial erected in memory of the eight Protestant men murdered in the notorious 1992 attack.

Six others were injured when the IRA blew up their minibus at the Teebane crossroads between Omagh and Cookstown.

The victims worked for Karl Construction and had been returning from their job at the Lisanelly Army Barracks.

Just last month, vandals destroyed floral tributes laid for the anniversary of the deaths.

Jean Caldwell, whose husband Jimmy died in the attack, said she was sickened by the latest incident.

After visiting the damaged monument, the mother-of-two added: "I was totally shocked and felt sick standing looking at it. To think the scum of the earth could do that again.

"It's only five weeks since they pulled every flower off it, which they then threw across the road. We were trying to get our lives back to normal after the anniversary service, then this takes you right back again to the day the atrocity happened. My hands were shaking. Why have they such a hatred towards that memorial?

"I believe it's the same people targeting the memorial, and it seems to happen at the weekends. I couldn't get over they could stoop so low.

"Are they getting a kick out of it? It adds to the pain and it takes us back to the beginning.

"I have to tell my two daughters about this and it's going to be so horrible for them as well. To me that's where they drew their last breath, and it's sacred for us."

Grand Secretary of the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland Drew Nelson also condemned the latest attack.

"This is a deplorable act," he said. "Such memorial tributes should be sacrosanct, and those responsible ought to be utterly ashamed of their actions. Their wickedness goes beyond the pale and is deeply hurtful and upsetting to the relatives of the deceased, who have no doubt been re-traumatised by such vile and reprehensible criminality."

Trevor Wilson, an Ulster Unionist councillor for the Cookstown area, said he was "disgusted" by the incident. "This is one of the worst attacks on the memorial I have seen," he added. "Those who have taken the time to throw paint over the memorial show utter contempt for the victims' families, who will be totally distraught."

DUP Assembly member, Ian McCrea said: "It beggars belief that there are those who will stoop so low as to attack a memorial to eight innocent men murdered by the IRA. I want to appeal to anyone who may have witnessed any activity to contact the police."
British Prime Minister David Cameron's father Ian was among the hundreds of individuals named in the the so-called Panama Papers leak of confidential documents. HMRC could not confirm whether or not the affairs of Blairmore Holdings would be investigated

David Cameron has no shares in an offshore investment fund set up by his late father Ian, he has said.

The Prime Minister was asked specifically whether he or his family had derived any benefit from the fund, but did not directly answer that question.

The offshore company came to light as part of a leak from Panama-based Mossack Fonseca show it registered over 100,000 secret companies in the British Virgin Islands.

Mr Cameron's father Ian Cameron was a director of a firm which held its meetings in the Bahamas so that it did not have to pay British tax.

Downing Street yesterday said the fund was a private matter and had also said he has no shares in the fund.

On a visit to Birmingham, Mr Cameron was asked by Sky News: Can you clarify for the record that you and your family have not derived any benefit in the past and will not in the future from the offshore Blairmore holdings fund mentioned in the Panama papers?

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David Cameron: "I have no shares, no offshore trusts, no offshore funds" when asked about #PanamaPapers allegations https://t.co/SjcOwDpnEw  Sky News (@SkyNews) April 5, 2016

He replied: In terms of my own financial affairs, I own no shares, I have a salary as Prime Minister, and I have some savings, which I get some interest from, and I have a house, which we used to live in which we now let out while were living in Downing Street.

Thats all I have: I have no shares, no offshore trusts, no offshore funds, nothing like that. That is, I think, a very clear description.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has called for an independent inquiry into all British people linked to the so-called Panama Paper leak, including Mr Cameron.

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He said the PM had to set the record straight.

Mr Cameron was in the Midlands taking questions from the press and members of the financial services firm PWC.

Last month a report by the charity Oxfam estimated that the UK Treasury loses 5 billion a year to tax havens.

Independent
Undated handout photo issued by Durham Police of a 18th century Chinese jade bowl with a Chinese poem inscribed on it, on its wood carved stand, one of two items stolen from Durham University's Oriental Museum on April 5, 2012.

A Chinese Dehua porcelain figurine of seven fairies in a boat, one of two items stolen from Durham University's Oriental Museum (Durham Police)

Members of a skilled organised criminal gang at the heart of a 57 million conspiracy to "plunder" British museums of rhino horn and other priceless Chinese artefacts have been jailed for up to six-and-a-half years.

The group, dubbed the Rathkeale Rovers because of their links to the Irish town, targeted high-value objects in a string of break-ins, including Cambridge's Fitzwilliam Museum and twice at Durham's Oriental Museum in 2012.

Judge Murray Creed heard that although the items stolen in Durham and Cambridge were valued at up to 18 million, detectives believe they might have fetched more than three times that figure on the booming Chinese auction market.

Members of the same gang also masterminded a bungled attempted theft at Gorringes Auction House in Lewes, East Sussex, and organised the disposal of stolen artefacts in what the judge said was "an extremely sophisticated conspiracy".

Sentencing members of the 14-strong gang, Judge Creed said on Monday: "It is a conspiracy both sophisticated, skilled and persistent, and involved significant cultural loss to the UK of museum quality artefacts and items from international collections."

In all, 13 men have been sentenced over two days, after three trials which concluded with the gang and its associates convicted of wide-ranging criminal conspiracy to steal, with connections to Ireland, Europe and China.

John "Kerry" O'Brien, aged 26, of Orchard Drive, Smithy Fen, Cottenham, Cambridgeshire - but also of Rathkeale in Ireland - was said by the judge to have had a central role in the conspiracy. He was jailed for six-and-a-half years.

Terrence McNamara, of Marquis Street in Belfast, was told he would be jailed for four years.

Addressing 43-year-old Michael Hegarty, also of Orchard Drive in Cottenham, and Rathkeale in Ireland, he said: "I believe you were controlling him (McNamara) in relation to events at Durham Museum in the first instance."

Hegarty was jailed for six-and-a-half years.

He sentenced 47-year-old Richard Sheridan, of Water Lane in Smithy Fen, and Patrick Clarke, aged 34, of Melbourne Road, Newham, London, to five-and-a-half years apiece for their part.

Ashley Dad, aged 35, of Crowther Road in Wolverhampton, who did not appear at court, was jailed for five years and three months.

On Monday the judge sentenced seven other men to between four years and six years and eight months behind bars, including "fence" Donald Wong, while another man had already been jailed for his part.

Sheridan is a former spokesman for the Dale Farm travellers site in Essex and was seen in Wong's company, shortly before 50,000 in cash was found in Chinese businessman's car.

The judge said the operation to "plunder" rhino horn, carved horn and jade items started off "small-scale" in January 2012, but that after initial failures and botched thefts - in one case the burglars forgot where they had hidden their haul - "planning paid off".

"It was serious organised crime," he added.

In their most successful theft 18 pieces of Chinese jade were stolen from the Fitzwilliam Museum and although experts provided various valuations up to almost 18 million the judge described them as "priceless".

He added: "They were part of a national collection split between the museum in Cambridge and the British Museum in London."

Afterwards, that haul was stored in a safe-house before being taken by taxi to Purfleet in Essex where the goods were spirited away.

The judge continued: "The conspiracy spanned England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic, references were made to France - the Cherbourg visit, Hong Kong and also the United States and Germany, also featured in the evidence the court heard over the three trials."

He said the gang had either stolen or tried to steal "highly prized museum-quality" items, often with historic Imperial Chinese dynastic connections, with the exception of an attempted theft on an auction house in March 2012 in which the bungling thieves took the wrong item.

On two occasions the Oriental Museum in Durham was targeted, but also the Castle Museum in Norwich, Gorringes Auction House in Lewes, East Sussex, and the Fitzwilliam Museum.

The men carried out reconnaissance of these and other sites, including three museums in Glasgow, and another auction house in Yorkshire.

The judge said the conspiracy had been centred on the family seat in Rathkeale, telling the defendants: "At the heart of this enterprise was a family - a number of you are members of the O'Brien family."

He added: "Of 14 original conspirators, seven were connected with that home, seven were associates, like Terrence McNamara, while others were recruited in to find thieves prepared to carry out burglaries, particularly in carrying out the second attack on Durham museum.

"No doubt others were involved too."

Robert Gilbert Smith, formerly of Hockenden Lane in Kent was jailed for his part in the crime last year.
The process for selling Tata Steel's UK plants will start by Monday but there is no set timeframe for it to be completed.

Business Secretary Sajid Javid revealed the details after a two-hour meeting with Tata officials in Mumbai, just over a week after the Indian conglomerate took the shock decision to sell its loss-making UK assets.

Mr Javid said Tata will allow a "reasonable amount of time" for the process to be completed.

The minister stressed that the Government wanted to work with any prospective buyer, saying "a number" of people had already started coming forward.

"I would like to see many more come forward when the formal process begins," he said.

Mr Javid met Cyrus Mistry, chairman of the Indian conglomerate, and other company officials to discuss the planned sale.

He said afterwards that he understood there would be some "issues" to deal with, such as power, which the Government "might be able to help further with".

The minister had been urged by unions to stress the need for Tata to act responsibly as a search for a buyer continues, and to allow enough time for the process to be completed.

Sanjeev Gupta, the head of the Liberty Group, held talks with Mr Javid on Tuesday and has raised hopes that jobs could be saved, especially at the huge plant in Port Talbot, South Wales.

Mr Gupta said: "UK Government appears highly supportive and is proactively engaged in finding a long-term solution. We have also actively engaged with Welsh Government and again we are encouraged by their approach.

"The next step is for Tata to define the formal sales process and request indications of interest from potential buyers. We await further details on this and then will assess our own next step.

"Liberty has already proven its ability to build value from UK steel assets with our acquisition of our Newport Steel plant, Midlands engineering operations and most recently in Scotland where we acquired mills from Tata. Everyone is very motivated to find a solution."

Meanwhile, workers are voting on temporary changes to terms and conditions as part of an impending sale of Tata's giant steel plant in Scunthorpe.

Union members are being balloted on a 3% cut in pay and a reduction in pensions, part of a "transformation plan" ahead of the expected sale to investment firm Greybull Capital.

Negotiations over the sale of the plant, which employs around 4,000 workers, have been taking place for several months, well before Tata's announcement last week.

Steve McCool, national officer of the Community union, said terms and conditions at Scunthorpe would be restored after a year.

"We are hopeful that the deal between Tata Steel and Greybull can be completed soon. Our own independent experts, Syndex, have found the transformation plan to be robust with a high probability of success. Our experts have also advised us that Greybull has the necessary capabilities to deliver the plan and secure a sustainable future for the business.

"Having given all the proposals and the context full consideration, myself and the national officers from the other unions are recommending that our members vote for the temporary changes to terms and conditions on the basis that this will give the transformation plan with Greybull a greater chance of success," he said.

Members of Unite and the GMB are also being balloted, with the result due on April 19.

Community said negotiations with managers at Tata's Long Products division over the transformation plan had been difficult.

Labour said its MPs have raised the issues facing the steel industry 203 times in Parliament since the general election and secured eight debates.

Shadow business secretary Angela Eagle said: "The perfect storm threatening the future of the steel industry in the UK didn't appear out of nowhere, it's been brewing for many months.

"Labour has raised the serious issues facing the steel industry time and again, yet the Tory Government have failed to take the necessary action to avert the crisis.

"As the crisis escalated, trade union representatives and the local Labour member of Parliament were in Mumbai fighting for the future of the industry, but the Government was missing in action. The Prime Minister was on holiday, the Chancellor was keeping his head down after his disastrous budget, and the Business Secretary was at a black tie dinner in Australia extolling the virtues of the free market.

"The steel industry is hanging by the thinnest of threads, the time for action from the Government to save our steel is now."

Mr Gupta said buying Tata's UK steel business was a "daunting" prospect, especially as the sale announcement was so unexpected.

He told the Press Association he expected other companies to show an interest now that the sale process was about to formally start.

"We have had very good interaction with the government and unions but we now need a proper analysis, and work out many details."

Mr Gupta said any buyer would have to "turn around" Tata's loss-making business and would not want to take on the huge pension liabilities.

Tata would probably want to make progress on any sale within weeks, but Mr Gupta said he believed the process would take months.

"We are interested and we now need to work out a business plan."

Mr Gupta said Tata workers would have to be retrained and he still believed jobs could be saved, although he added it was time to "take a breather" to consider details of the sale.

Speaking after a conversation this evening with Sajid Javid, Roy Rickhuss, general secretary of the Community union said: " I welcome the fact that the secretary of state informed me of the constructive conversation he had with Tata. I am pleased that he raised those issues I had raised with him before he flew to India.

"I am encouraged to learn that Tata have committed to be a responsible seller and to allow the time we need to secure a new commercial operator.

"This is a credit to the campaign our members have run over the past week. Now is the time to get to work. Community has already begun working with independent experts to map out a plan for our steel industry. We look forward to continuing to work with government to build a sustainable future for steelmaking in the UK."

Harish Patel, Unite national officer for manufacturing, said: "This is an agonising time for these workers and their communities so we look forward to a fuller debrief on the next stages from the minister on his return. Our members are sure to have questions on the details and the next steps.

"Tata has made it clear that they want to make this process as swift as possible, and while we welcome their commitment to be a responsible seller, we now need to focus on how this industry is safeguarded for the future.

"We are extremely concerned that this uncertainty will have wider ramifications. We also want to discuss the supply chain implications, where Unite has thousands of members who also face an uncertain future, so we will be seeking further urgent discussions with the minister on his return."
Tulisa Contostavlos put her Hollywood dreams on hold after she crashed her Ferrari on the wrong side of the road while drink-driving, a court has heard.

The former X Factor judge (27), was banned from driving for 15 months after admitting being over the limit in the incident outside Southgate Tube station in north London on September 10 last year.

Contostavlos said she was "sleep-walking" or "sleep-driving" in an interview at the police station afterwards, prosecutor Tarika Jayaratne told Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court.

Mitigating, lawyer Kirsty Brimelow QC said Contostavlos was "a very talented young woman" and had been signed up by an agent in Hollywood, adding: "She has placed everything on hold because of this."

But District Judge Gill Allison dismissed the application.

Contostavlos pleaded guilty to driving with 54 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35 microgrammes.

The former N-Dubz star was ordered to pay 1,185 and disqualified from driving for 15 months. A charge of dangerous driving was dropped by prosecutors.
Erik Bauersfeld reprised his role as Admiral Ackbar in Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Voice actor Erik Bauersfeld, who delivered Star Wars character Admiral Ackbar's famous line "It's a trap!", has died aged 93.

The performer died at his home in Berkeley, California, on Sunday.

Bauersfeld voiced two minor roles in 1983's Return Of The Jedi, providing the voice of military leader Admiral Ackbar, as well as Jabba the Hutt's henchman, Bib Fortuna.

He was not given a screen credit in the movie, which was the third in the franchise.

But the Rebellion's Admiral Ackbar, with his distinctive large domed head and fish-like eyes, soon became a fan favourite as he led major combat operations against the Galactic Empire.

His key line, "It's a trap!", became a well-known Star Wars quotation, and he was later transformed into an internet meme.

Bauersfeld returned to Star Wars for 2015's The Force Awakens, reprising the role of Admiral Ackbar alongside original puppeteer Tim Rose.

The voice actor and radio producer, who spent much of his career focusing on his radio work, was bemused by the fame he gained for his minor role - which took him just an hour to film.

He told the San Francisco Chronicle in 2011 that he had not watched Return Of The Jedi since it came out in 1983, and still had not seen the first Star Wars movie.

He said: "The fans who write say they'll never forget 'It's a trap!' I don't even remember how I said it ... It's not that I don't like it or don't respect it - I just don't have time to be a fan and see it 10 times or 20 times."

Bauersfeld said he stumbled into the part when he was at Lucasfilm, working on a radio project with Oscar-winning sound designer Randy Thom, a lifelong friend.

He was asked to read for Admiral Ackbar by the film's sound designer, Ben Burtt.

"I went over, he showed me the picture of Admiral Ackbar, and I did it," Bauersfeld said.

"I saw the face, and I knew what he must sound like."

After recording the part, he spent another half-hour on the part of Bib Fortuna, who speaks the fictional language of Hutt.

Apart from his work on Star Wars, Bauersfeld served as the director of talk radio and music radio station KPFA's drama and literature department for more than three decades.

He oversaw the arts and humanities programming of the California-based station, which broadcasts in the San Francisco Bay Area.

He then left in the mid-1990s to pursue theatre projects with West German Radio, and to launch his Bay Area Radio Drama project.

Susan Stone, of KPFA, wrote on the radio station's website that Bauersfeld died with Thom holding his hand and his long-time friend, poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti, reading to him over the phone.

Shortly after the release of The Force Awakens, Bauersfeld revealed how he returned to the role of Admiral Ackbar - at the request of director JJ Abrams.

He told BBC radio show 5 Live: "T hey called me up one morning, and it was JJ. He said he wanted to do an audition, come on over.

"They had a big shiny black car in front of my door, and I was on the plane, and there was the screen, and there was Ackbar.

"Right up on the screen: 'It's a trap!' I don't know if I said that, there were a lot of other lines."

Joking about not having seen all the Star Wars films, he said: "I read my lines, take my money, and go home."
Michaella McCollum during her exclusive first interview with the Irish broadcaster RTE (RTE/PA)

Members of the public have hit out at the soft soap RTE interview with convicted drug smuggler Michaella McCollum which focused more on her hairstyle than the drug gang she worked for.

Here we pose the significant questions which were never even put to the Tyrone woman during the interview.

1. Have you ever taken drugs?

2. You said you were not sober when you were leaving Ibiza. Was this because you were drinking or were you taking drugs?

3. Had you taken drugs before you went to Ibiza?

4. Had you ever been involved in the sale of drugs?

5. Was this the first time you attempted to transport drugs?

6. In your two weeks in Peru - before you were due to leave, how much did you speak about transporting the drugs?

7. How much were you offered to transport drugs to Spain?

8. Did you receive any of that money in advance? If yes, what did/will you do with it?

Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close PARTY SCENE: Michaella in Ibiza Michaella McCollum Connolly in one of her club hostess outfits Michaella McCollum after her arrest AP Photo/Martin Mejia CAUGHT ON CAMERA: Michaella and Melissa caught on CCTV loading bags into a car in Peru Michaella McCollum's mother Norah McCollum and sister Samantha McCollum vist the Peru prison Melissa Reid Michaella McCollum and ex-boyfriend Dwayne Mullan Dungannon drugs mule Michaella McCollum Michaella McCollum Connolly, handcuffed, arrives for a court hearing in Lima, Peru, clutching the book 'Secrets About Life Every Woman Should Know: Ten principles for spiritual and emotional fulfillment' (AP Photo/Karel Navarro) AP Michaella McCollum Connolly arrives to court for her sentencing in Callao, Peru (AP Photo/Martin Mejia) AP Police escort Michaella McCollum Connolly (right) and Melissa Reid (front) in handcuffs as they are moved from the National Police anti-drug headquarters to a court to be formally charged for drug trafficking in Lima, Peru, Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2013 AP Michaella McCollum Connolly with reality TV star Mark Wright at a promotional night hosted by Belfast's M Club Michaella McCollum Connolly with Brad Houston from England Michaella McCollum Connolly Michaella McCollum Connolly with rugby star Tommy Bowe while doing promotional work at an official Ulster Rugby event / Facebook

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Whatsapp PARTY SCENE: Michaella in Ibiza

9. You said that you left Belfast for sectarian reasons. What were these reasons?

10. You were planning on returning home after two months in Ibiza, so, how serious were these sectarian concerns?

11. When your phone was confiscated by the people you were with, why did you not run to the police?

12. You put your hair in a bun because you were left with no facilities to wash yourself and were aware of how you looked in the media. If you were so aware of how you were presenting yourself to the media is it possible to believe that you only attempted to transport the drugs because you were naive?

13. You said you knew you would be arrested, so, why do it?

14. Who gave you the drugs?

15. Have they contacted you since you were arrested?

16. Will you speak to them again?

17. Who told you how to act and speak to the police if you were stopped with the drugs?

18. Who physically put the drugs in your luggage?

19. Have you been in touch with Melissa Reid?

20. Do you consider her to be a friend?
Michaella McCollum Connolly pictured during an interview with RTE in 2016 after being released on parole from a Peruvian prison

Michaella McCollum during her exclusive first interview with the Irish broadcaster RTE (RTE/PA)

Drugs mule Michaella McCollum's makeover is an attempt to prove she is a reformed character, an image consultant has claimed.

The convicted cocaine smuggler appeared on TV on Sunday sporting a glamorous image overhaul, complete with newly dyed blonde locks, glamorous make-up and trendy jeans.

According to Bangor-based image consultant, Jennifer Kelly, the 23-year-old, from Dungannon, Co Tyrone, is likely to have had image advice before the controversial interview.

"My first impression is that she has had someone take care of her appearance, and I think a lot of it is for the media," said Ms Kelly.

"However, I'm not sure I agree with all the choices. It all seems a bit constructed. I think her hair colour and make-up are a bit over the top. The first thing you notice is the colour of her hair and the very red lipstick.

"They wouldn't be my choice and I'm not sure how good an impression she has created. Sometimes less is more.

"Her outfit has very clean lines. It looks like she's trying to communicate that she has matured. She is very dressed up, although she is wearing ripped jeans."

Cathy Martin, fashion and PR expert, said that while crime should not be glamorised, she felt sorry for the drug smuggler.

She added: "She may be a criminal - and one who not only had to pay in terms of incarceration but also in family shame and notoriety for all the wrong reasons - but she is still a human being and we cannot deny her her freedoms in so far as they've been granted, be they to walk the street in peace or to get a new 'do.

"I think she was a naive and possibly arrogant girl who thought she could get away with it for her own personal gain and she failed.

Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close Michaella McCollum Connolly in one of the Ibiza clubs where she worked as a dancer PARTY SCENE: Michaella in Ibiza Michaella McCollum Connolly in one of her club hostess outfits Michaella McCollum after her arrest AP Photo/Martin Mejia CAUGHT ON CAMERA: Michaella and Melissa caught on CCTV loading bags into a car in Peru Michaella McCollum's mother Norah McCollum and sister Samantha McCollum vist the Peru prison Melissa Reid Michaella McCollum and ex-boyfriend Dwayne Mullan Dungannon drugs mule Michaella McCollum Michaella McCollum Connolly, handcuffed, arrives for a court hearing in Lima, Peru, clutching the book 'Secrets About Life Every Woman Should Know: Ten principles for spiritual and emotional fulfillment' (AP Photo/Karel Navarro) AP Michaella McCollum Connolly arrives to court for her sentencing in Callao, Peru (AP Photo/Martin Mejia) AP Police escort Michaella McCollum Connolly (right) and Melissa Reid (front) in handcuffs as they are moved from the National Police anti-drug headquarters to a court to be formally charged for drug trafficking in Lima, Peru, Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2013 AP Michaella McCollum Connolly with reality TV star Mark Wright at a promotional night hosted by Belfast's M Club Michaella McCollum Connolly with Brad Houston from England Michaella McCollum Connolly Michaella McCollum Connolly with rugby star Tommy Bowe while doing promotional work at an official Ulster Rugby event / Facebook

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"I am pretty sure she is being media-managed over there, with all the soundbites in her RTE interview, plus she wore angelic white. She played to the strength of her good looks and then some, but can you blame her for taking advice after the massive publicity which surrounded her initial arrest and imprisonment?

"Call me shallow if you wish, but if I am really honest, I have to admit one of the first things I would like to do after being in one of the continent's worst prisons, aside from seeing family, is get myself a few pamper treatments.

"Of course, I'm sure that if she had quietly disappeared into obscurity and was then discovered working with street kids, the same haters on social media would be commenting about her scraggy hair, dirty fingernails, sloppy sandals, or something equally as pointless as the comments about her attempt at cleaning up."
The lack of action to save the remnants of the UK steel industry beggars belief and demonstrates how in hock the UK government is to the Chinese.

Those in favour of Brexit will undoubtedly blame the European Union, but the blame should be laid firmly and squarely at the door of the Conservative government, whose ineptitude on this matter beggars belief.

The biggest problem facing the sector is dumping by China of steel into Europe.

One reason for this dumping is that many other parts of the world have put heavy tariffs on such exports.

The US, for example, has slapped 236% on Chinese steel. Crucially, India has also introduced tariffs, with steel prices predicted to grow by 15% in the country in the first six months of 2016 as a result. This has led to pressure being put on Tata Steel in India to pull out of the UK and focus on the growing domestic market.

The EU has not introduced measures to protect the steel industry because this is, in fact, opposed by the UK government, which desires to generate positive trade links with China.

Indeed, the government did not seek EU permission for exemptions for steelmakers from green taxes until December, long after German steelmakers had acquired such breaks.

It is a strange world we are in that sees it as appropriate to intervene to bail out the insolvent banking industry at a cost of 1 trillion, but that somehow trying to salvage a steel sector, whose loss would see us become increasingly a plaything of international markets, is somehow acceptable.

ALEX ORR

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As the alleged VIP paedophile ring story at Westminster crumbles, there is still one scandal involving powerful people, blackmail and the abuse of children that continues to churn out disturbing, but credible, material from the past: Kincora.

The so-called former 'boys' home' - an inappropriate, cruel misnomer if ever there was one - in east Belfast has this enduring ability to cast up fresh demons which haunt the lives of the victims that were sent there and also raise serious questions for the British state in Northern Ireland.

Last week's revelations about the paedophile doctor, Morris Fraser, contained this killer line: that a Freedom of Information request about the child psychiatrist's work in Belfast during the early years of the Troubles was blocked on the grounds of "national security".

Which raised the possibility that Fraser, who - incredibly - was allowed to keep practising in his field of child psychiatry right up until the mid-1990s, despite a number of convictions for sexually abusing boys, was a "protected species" by the security services.

In addition, one of the Kincora survivors, Richard Kerr, remembers that his torment began not at the home itself, but in Fraser's clinic in Belfast's Royal Victoria Hospital, when the paedophile took pictures with a Polaroid camera of Kerr with his trousers down.

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It was on Fraser's later recommendation that Richard Kerr was sent to Kincora - and into the lair of a ring of child abusers working there.

Fraser's activities, his link to Kincora and his ability to continue to work - even though the RUC and others knew he had a conviction for child abuse as far back as 1971 in London - suggests the paedophile rings connected to the home did not just involve a few old perverts who happened to be members of the Orange Order.

It raises the possibility that the web of abusers reached deeper into the middle-class professions, such as medicine, and was seen by the security services at the highest level as being of use in terms of spying, so-called "black ops" and blackmail in relation to extreme unionism at the time.

Academic Niall Meehan's disclosure about the Freedom of Information request - and the reason for it being turned down - also remind us of another similar decision taken at Cabinet level, now in the 21st century.

It is worth remembering that Home Secretary Theresa May was prepared to allow for full and frank disclosure of all police, security service and other classified files that related to claims of a VIP paedophile ring allegedly operating in London around Dolphin House as well as Westminster in the 1970s and 1980s.

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However, the Home Secretary has refused to include Kincora in that open investigative remit and, indeed, has even moved to block another inquiry based here in Northern Ireland gaining total, open access to all the sensitive case files and information relating to the east Belfast abuse centre network.

At the time of writing, the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry, based at Banbridge courthouse, is hearing evidence against allegations of abuse of children at Lissue Hospital in Lisburn, which will run for at least a week.

The HIAI inquiry has already heard heartbreaking and shocking evidence, including eyewitness accounts about the sexual and physical abuse of children at homes, orphanages and other institutions across Northern Ireland since the state's inception.

The long-running tribunal will eventually get to Kincora and what could be one of the most sensational set-piece public hearings since the Bloody Sunday inquiry.

Victims and eyewitnesses will be called to retell stories of rape and abuse by powerful and seemingly highly protected men; to amplify claims that the abusers were being spied on (and blackmailed to spy on others) and to charge that, all the time, the authorities knew, but did nothing to save boys from this gang of predatory child rapists.

In order for the full truth to come out about this festering and toxic scandal from the Troubles, the Home Secretary should be forced to reverse the decision not to hand over all of the files related to Kincora to Sir Anthony Hart, the retired judge heading up the HIAI inquiry, and his team.

Because, even if there are some grounds for not publishing these files in the full public glare of Banbridge courthouse, then surely Sir Anthony, Geraldine Doherty and David Lane could at least be trusted to protect "national security" while at the same time being able to read these documents in full and eventually factor the material contained within them into their final report.

Pressure on Theresa May and the Home Office should begin at Stormont and the next power-sharing administration following the Assembly elections on May 5.

Every political party seeking power in the new devolved government - and even those who will enter Opposition - should promise the electorate they will press London on this issue.

They should commit themselves to demanding a change in policy in London allowing for total transparency in connection to Kincora.

The demand that the Government in London hand over all the files to the Banbridge-based tribunal should be in every party's manifesto in the run-up to the election next month.

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Given this recent development regarding Fraser and his ability to have access to children in Northern Ireland and the referrals to Kincora in the 1970s, it is surely correct that the HIAI inquiry be allowed to quiz those health professionals, members of the General Medical Council, any RUC senior staff who knew about the 1971 conviction and, of course, former Secretary of State Lord Patrick Mayhew, whom as journalist Lyra McKee revealed in this newspaper on Monday, was a panel member at one session of a GMC disciplinary committee in the mid 1970s into Dr Fraser's activities.

All these prominent people should also be summoned to Banbridge courthouse when the HIAI tribunal finally gets around to investigating Kincora to be questioned about the quality of the information in relation to Fraser in that period; to be asked if they think they were hoodwinked for reasons of state.

There are other cases, too, of "protected species" with links to extreme loyalism (their identities and activities revealed to this author by the late David Ervine in the early 1990s before he was a household name) that have connections to Kincora who continued to be used as assets by the security services right into the 1990s and who should now come under the spotlight of this inquiry.
Ex-INLA man Gerard Forward (circled right) was snapped with DUP politicians Jim Shannon and Billy Walker (circled left)

DUP politicians have been left red-faced after they posed for a picture with a convicted criminal and former republican paramilitary.

Strangford MP Jim Shannon and councillor Billy Walker said they had no clue that standing next to them in the photo was Gerard Forward  who was jailed for five years for his role in an INLA robbery bid.

The DUP men, along with Alliance MLA Kieran McCarthy, were snapped next to the former hardline republican at a recent meeting of the Killyleagh District Youth Forum.

The shaven-headed 41-year-old was there in his capacity as leader of the PSNI-backed Streetsafe programme in the neighbouring town of Ardglass.

He wants to establish a similar project, which promotes community safety, in Killyleagh and looked to have the support of politicians until revelations about his past emerged.

After last weeks meeting Forward beamed: We are happy to come over to Killyleagh and assist in the setting up of this model of community activity, if that is the direction the new forum wants to go in.

But the ex-INLA mans plan to see Streetsafe set up in Killyleagh appears to be in jeopardy after the politicians he was cosying up to learned of his past.

DUP councillor Billy Walker said: I represent everyone in my area. A group of young people invited me to attend a meeting to speak up for my constituents. I will always do that regardless of who is there.

Every political party bar Sinn Fein was represented at the meeting.

Last weekend Gerard Forwards ex-wife Lorraine and pregnant 18-year-old daughter Sarah Louise ONeill told Sunday Life how he made their lives hell.

Expand Expand Previous Next Close Defiant: Gerard Forward at a INLA event in 2006 in Dublin Ex-INLA man Gerard Forward (circled right) was snapped with DUP politicians Jim Shannon and Billy Walker (circled left) / Facebook

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The mother and daughter, from the Short Strand area of east Belfast, described him as an embarrassment.

The idea that he is a role model and hero makes me feel sick, said Sarah Louise, who revealed her father once threatened to kill her for looking at the police.

Before moving to Ardglass from Belfast around five years ago, Forward was a spokesman for the IRSP  the political wing of the INLA.

He took on the role after serving a five-year prison stretch for his role in a robbery plot involving members of the terror gang.

Forward, along with 47-year-old Gerard Mallon, broke into a house in west Belfast and took a family hostage believing their 16-year-old daughter worked in the local post office.

Wearing masks and brandishing imitation firearms they told their victims that they were from the republican movement.

The pair took a polaroid photo of the teen with a pistol pressed against her head. They then ordered her to take it to the post office and relay their demands for ransom money.

But when the schoolgirl got there she told staff what had happened and they called the police.

Forward and Mallon were arrested a short time later and jailed for five years.

After being released from Maghaberry Prison in 2003 Gerard Forward, who spent his time in the jail as an INLA inmate, took on the role with the IRSP.

Appearing on stage at an INLA event in Dublin in 2006, which was attended by masked paramilitaries, he told a cheering crowd: We do not accept the offers or the proposals of the British.

We do not accept their police force, regardless of uniform, name or otherwise.

Forward then said: We demand the complete withdrawal of the British from this land, both militarily and economically.

We warn you, until that day, if you strike at, imprison, or kill us, out of our prisons or graves we will still evoke a spirit that will thwart you, and perhaps, raise a force that will destroy you. We defy you. Do your worst.
What is the formula for a Christ-centered marriage? First realize that no matter what you will have disagreements, and that not every relationship is sheer bliss.

There will be disagreements, imbalances, and annoyances. We all make mistakes, but it is when we realize that we made them that we can grow in the relationship and in Christ. We will look at the dos and donts of a Christian marriage, and how to we can grow together and during our own walk. Are there rules we can go buy? Yes, the Bible is a blueprint for our lives and marriages.

We can start with Isaiah:

"Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, I am the LORD your God, who teaches you to profit, Who leads you in the way you should go. If only you had paid attention to My commandments! Then your well-being would have been like a river, And your righteousness like the waves of the sea.

We still need to pay attention to the commandments of God like love, forgiveness, mercy and learning to let go of the faults of others. Jesus taught to respect each other.

Just because we got married doesnt mean we still dont implement these principles into our relationships marriages. We will have arguments and we will get mad at each other, but we also let it go and forgive them and love them as ourselves.

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged.

Changing our behavior patterns is paramount to a good relationship. You need to forgive those who wronged you in the past as if there are old wounds it will impact the marriage. Forgive yourself and them.

Luke talks about this. If another believer sins, rebuke him; then if he repents, forgive him. Even if he wrongs you seven times a day and each time turns again and asks forgiveness, forgive him. Be proactive and find scriptures that go with your situation. This will help you during times of challenges or even when you have nothing more to give. Dont take each other for granted. Love each other, and spend time doing things you both love!

Time is short. Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sunall your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun (Ecclesiastes 9:9).

Love them even though you want to throw a pillow at them due to bad behavior. Try communicating with your spouse about frustrations and confide in them. We need to accept each other for who we are. We dont condone bad behavior, but we can accept each other for our flaws. 1 John 4:7-8: "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love."

Be there for them and be their safe place. We need to go to our spouse when we need to vent or need shelter from the world. Be that for them. Remember the power of God and keep prayer at the center of the relationship. Resit the temptation to go outside the marriage or have an emotional affair. It is the same thing. "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God *is *faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it (1 Corinthians 10:13). Pray together and for each other for a covering. There is power in two. Prayer should be essential for the relationship and to remain in tune with God.

Ask for wisdom to be a better leader or serve your spouse better. If you are strong willed, humble and seek God to help you deal with it. Being over independent can harm a marriage, as well as demanding your own way.

2 Chronicles 7:14 : If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

If you dont know what to do, see a marriage counselor or therapist on how you can add to the marriage. Take responsibility and lean into the lord with the marriage.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

Corine Gatti is a Senior Editor at Beliefnet.com.
Indian journalist Malini Subramaniam was forced to leave the restive state of Chhattisgarh after reporting articles that criticized the government.

Journalist Malini Subramaniam knew she was ruffling a few feathers when she published a series of articles criticizing a government shutdown of schools in central Indias Chhattisgarh state.

But never did it cross her mind that she would be forced to leave the Maoist guerrilla-infested region altogether because of her stories published on Scroll.in, she told BenarNews.

She said she paid the price for questioning Indias ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the Maoist belt, where state police are using draconian laws to silence journalists while they weed out armed communist groups.

Subramaniam, 52, is among a growing number of journalists in Chhattisgarh and other parts of India who complain that, under the countrys Hindu nationalist-led government, they have been threatened or jailed by authorities, or harassed in other ways for trying to do their jobs.

On Feb. 7, a mob threw stones at Subramaniams house before she, along with her domestic help, were picked up and detained by the police until she promised to leave the state.

They (the police) want any journalist, who questions their press releases, out. For the sake of Mission 2016  to rid the region of Naxalites by the end of the year  they want to silence all questions. Neutral, impartial reporting is not encouraged, Subramaniam told BenarNews from the south Indian city of Hyderabad, where she lives.

The Maoist or Naxalite movement, which was born in 1969 as a left-wing revolutionary peasant uprising, is an armed struggle against what its supporters call illegal exploitation by the state of the tribal and peasant population in the resource-rich forested regions of central and eastern India.

The crackdown on journalists, she said, was to ensure that anti-government news did not get national and international attention.

Even those insisting upon freedom of the press are either arrested with trumped up charges or forced to leave the region, she said.

A climate of fear

A colleague of hers in Chhattisgarh, Hindi-language journalist Prabhat Singh, was arrested on March 21 after he criticized a senior police official on a localized WhatsApp group. He was charged with circulating obscene material.

Lawyers for Singh, who is well-known in journalistic circles statewide as a fearless reporter who often questions police versions publicly, alleged that police were torturing him.

Singh is one of four journalists from Chhattisgarh to have been jailed over the past year.

Following Singhs arrest, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a New York-based nonprofit that promotes press freedom, slammed the state government.

The arrests and hounding of journalists and their defenders has given way to a climate of fear that risks turning parts of Chhattisgarh into a media black hole, CPJs Sumit Galhotra said.

Indias National Human Rights Commission issued a notice to the state government to explain the illegal arrest, detention and torture of a progressive journalist, saying human rights defenders were being targeted for doing their legitimate work as defenders of tribal rights.

Alok Putul, a BBC radio reporter (pictured below), who, like Subramaniam, was threatened into leaving Chhattisgarh, told BenarNews: They [the police] feel that if they are presenting a press release about Naxalites surrendering, the media should simply report their version.

If we question them on the identities of these so-called Naxalites to find out if they havent made scapegoats out of innocent villagers, we are instantly labeled anti-national, [and] our reports are dubbed biased.

Right-wing thought process

Indian journalists said that the situation in Chhattisgarh was an extension of the kind of pressure that Prime Minister Narendra Modis Hindu nationalist BJP, which is often criticized for stifling dissent, is exerting across the country to subdue government critics.

Even previous governments have undermined the freedom of the press, but there has been a lurch to the right-wing thought process in Indian public opinion, and the present government is seeing it and trying to benefit from it, columnist Ajai Shukla told BenarNews.

In the case of Barkha Dutt, a consulting editor for news channel NDTV, she was called anti-patriotic and subjected to sexually abusive threats on Twitter after she published a column criticizing the recent arrest of Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union president Kanhaiya Kumar on sedition charges.

Despite filing a police complaint, no arrests have been made so far in connection with the threats that were made against Dutt in March.

Similarly, Sindhu Sooryakumar, chief coordinating editor for south Indias Asianet TV, said she had received more than 2,000 threatening and abusive phone calls after she hosted her Malayalam-language program Cover Story, which sought to debate Kumars arrest.

Five men linked to right-wing groups have been arrested for those threats to Sooryakumar.

Sagarika Ghose, consulting editor of Times of India, who has faced several threats on social media, including that of being gang-raped, has filed complaints with the Delhi police twice.

But no action was taken, she said.

I have nothing against constructive criticism, but the character assassination that happens on social media is clearly intended to damage our credibility so that we stop asking questions  an obvious attempt to muzzle the media, Ghose (pictured below) told BenarNews.

Media not credible: BJP

The BJP, which came to power in May 2014 following a landslide victory, denied it was attempting to choke journalists.

If the government was trying to control the media there would not be such venomous and negative reporting, party spokeswoman Meenakshi Lekhi told BenarNews, adding that the media had by and large lost its credibility.

If the media is being called out for its biases and false reporting by the general public, it is the media itself which is to blame. People have seen through the biased and agenda-driven reporting and have grown impatient and increasingly dismissive of journalists, Lekhi added.
A Dhaka court Tuesday granted bail to Bangladeshi opposition leader Khaleda Zia after she turned herself to face an arson charge stemming from violent anti-government protests last year.

Zia, a three-time prime minister, surrendered to an arrest warrant issued on March 30 over her alleged role in abetting a deadly firebombing of a bus in Dhakas Jatrabari area during protests in January 2015.

This is unbelievable that she ordered people killed; these are politically motivated cases. Madam was confined to her office in Gulshan when the arson attack took place, Mahbub Uddin Khokon, Zias lawyer, told BenarNews, referring to the petrol-bombing of the bus, which killed one passenger and injured at least 27 other people.

Zia also appeared in separate courts on Tuesday to answer charges in several other cases, including cases of alleged sedition and corruption, and was given bail in them as well, lawyers said. One of the corruption cases dates to 2007.

In May 2015, police filed a charge sheet against Zia and 37 others, including 27 leaders of her Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), in connection with the fire-bombing in Jatraburi.

Zia was declared an abettor of the attack because, on Jan. 4, 2015, she announced an indefinite economic blockade while demanding the government to resign and hold fresh elections under a neutral caretaker government. The strike turned violent and at least 120 people were killed over the course of the three-month blockade.

The protests started around the first anniversary of the 2014 general election, which the BNP boycotted because the incumbent Awami League party had refused to let a caretaker administration govern the country during the electoral season  as stipulated in Bangladeshs constitution.

Cat-and-mouse game

At least political observer called the warrant for her arrest a government ploy to pressure Zia and her party.

Ataur Rahman, a teacher of political science at Dhaka University and former president of Bangladesh Political Science Alumni Association, described the warrant and granting of bail as basically a cat-and-mouse game of the government.

The BNP has become very weak as an organization. The ruling party has established absolute control over the country. So, it is a government ploy to keep the opposition under pressure through the courts, Rahman told BenarNews.

Despite the charges against her, it was unlikely that Zia would be arrested because her popularity would increase if that happened, Rahman said.

So, the government would not risk such move. Again, the BNP has no option left other than joining the next general election in 2019. The ruling party would not mind a free Khaleda Zia as the election is three years away, he added.
A new decree giving soldiers police-like powers to arrest suspected criminals will help maintain order, a Thai junta spokesman said Tuesday in defending the move from criticism by rights groups.

The intention of the order is to allow the military to respond to the law breakers in order to keep the public peace, Col. Piyapong Klinpan, deputy head of the public relations office for the National Council for Peace and Order  the juntas formal name  told BenarNews.

We fairly exercise laws in line with good governance, which is the most important thing. We will not arbitrarily use the laws against any groups of persons or person, he added during a phone interview.

On Tuesday, six international NGOs that advocate human rights issued a joint statement condemning NCPO Order 13/2016, the decree issued by the junta last week that gives military personnel as well as paramilitary volunteers from the rank of sub-lieutenant and up powers normally reserved for law enforcement officers.

The NGOs demanded that the Thai government revoke the order immediately.

The implementation of Order 13/2016 will almost certainly lead to violations of Thailands international human rights obligations and the rule of law and must be revoked immediately, Wilder Tayler, Secretary General of the International Commission of Jurists, said in the joint statement, which was co-signed by Amnesty International, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), and Human Rights Watch, among other groups.

We have observed a steady erosion of human rights protections in Thailand since the military coup of 22 May 2014 and this Order signifies another, jarring, movement in the same direction, Tayler added.

The decree is an extension of Article 44, a clause in the interim constitution that the junta evoked last year when it ended martial law but gave the military sweeping powers. The decree authorizes military personnel to arrest people suspected of involvement in 27 crimes, including gambling, loan sharking and human trafficking.

The powers give soldiers and other military personnel the authority to summon, arrest and detain suspects in non-prison facilities, search peoples premises and seize assets at their discretion, according to the Associated Press.

According to the six NGOs, the decree is legally problematic and could pave the way for human rights violations for several reasons. Among them, the order creates potential impunity by giving military personnel immunity from prosecution; actions taken under the order are not subject to judicial review; the decree allows the military to hold suspects for seven days without judicial oversight; and it could be opened to abuse and used to silence government critics, the NGOs said.

The Order is yet another example of the pernicious removal of powers from the judicial system to review the militarys actions, to the detriment of rights protection and the rule of law, Champa Patel, Interim Director, South East Asia and Pacific Regional Office, Amnesty International, said as part of the statement from the NGOs.

Responding to the NGOs particular concern about immunity for military personnel, Col. Piyapong told Benar, The order realizes the need to provide soldiers with lawful protection, in which the NCPO adheres to the rules of laws.
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For Immediate Release, April 5, 2016 Contact: Ileene Anderson, (323) 654-5943, ianderson@biologicaldiversity.org BLM OKs Industrial Solar Project That Would Block Bighorn Sheep Movement in Mojave BARSTOW, Calif. The Bureau of Land Management today issued a decision allowing the Soda Mountain Solar project to move forward on developing more than 2,813 acres of public land directly adjacent to the Mojave National Preserve that would cut off a vital route for desert bighorn sheep and damage other desert resources. This massive, industrial solar array would block the last, best linkage for desert bighorn sheep between the Mojave National Preserve and the Soda Mountain Wilderness Study Area  a key pinch-point for keeping the sheep populations in the preserve connected to populations in the Soda Mountains and ranges beyond. The Center for Biological Diversity, National Parks Conservation Association, Sierra Club and Defenders of Wildlife oppose the decision because the project will affect biological, cultural and water resources on the site and in the adjacent Mojave National Preserve. It also runs counter to the principles adopted in the desert-wide planning under the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan because it fragments important habitat and increases sprawl. We need to get off fossil fuels and transition to renewable-energy generation, but it has to be done right, said Ileene Anderson of the Center for Biological Diversity. There are other ways to implement this amount of renewable energy without hurting our precious wildlife and irreplaceable parks. The project was proposed prior to the extensive planning for renewable energy in the California desert under the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan and undermines key conservation objectives of that plan by blocking a critical movement corridor across the landscape. The BLMs environmental review was based on the false assumption that Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, which controls the only transmission lines in the area, would buy the power. However, the department has publicly stated that it will not purchase power from this project. That means additional power lines would need to be built to deliver the power to the grid, causing even more damage to the desert. A recent report identifies nearly 1.5 million rooftops throughout Los Angeles County that could be used as solar power generators that would create 19,000 megawatts from rooftop solar. The total rooftop solar potential for the city of Los Angeles is more than 5,500 megawatts (more than 15 times what the Soda Mountain solar project would generate), which could power the city on most days since the highest-ever peak in Los Angeles was 6,177 megawatts. Generating electricity locally eliminates the need for new long-distance transmission lines and losses associated with transmission, creating a more efficient clean-energy alternative. The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 990,000 members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.


For Immediate Release, April 5, 2016 Contact: Jonathan Evans, Center for Biological Diversity, (213) 598-1466

Lisa Owens-Viani, Raptors Are The Solution, (510) 292-5095

Courtney Fern, Humane Society of the United States, (213) 618-7335

Catalina Tresky, Defenders of Wildlife, (202) 772-0253 57 Groups, Municipalities Urge Ban on Rat Poisons in California Cities More Than 45,000 People Oppose Widespread Poisoning of Wildlife, Pets, Children SACRAMENTO, Calif. A coalition of 57 conservation, public-health, research and wildlife-rehabilitation groups, the city of Malibu, Marin County, the mayor of Richmond and more than 45,000 people have called for prohibitions on the most toxic rat and mouse poisons because of the unnecessary risk to wildlife, pets and children. The coalition will hold a rally today at the state capitol in Sacramento at 12:30 p.m. urging support for Assembly Bill 2596, introduced by California Assemblymember Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica), and calling for an end to the misuse of toxic rodenticides. A.B. 2596 would restrict the most dangerous rodenticides that have been linked to the poisoning of people and animals in cities and communities across California. San Joaquin kit fox photo courtesy USFWS. Photos are available for media use. I am very aware that too many of our native wildlife, especially bobcats and mountain lions, have become severely ill and in many cases died after eating smaller animals in the food chain that were needlessly poisoned by rodenticides, said Senator Fran Pavley (D-Agoura Hills), chair of the California Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee. Toxic-free alternatives are available. We can do better through the adoption of better management practices, elimination of the sale of rodenticides and the marketing of safer alternatives. Common-sense controls are needed to prevent these toxic poisons from killing Californias iconic wildlife and needlessly hurting our families, said Jonathan Evans, environmental health legal director at the Center for Biological Diversity. A.B. 2596 would ban some of the most dangerous rodenticides in residential and commercial areas where people, pets and wildlife are frequently exposed, but still allow their use to protect Californias agricultural economy and to protect public health and the environment during an emergency rodent or disease outbreak. The rally supporting A.B. 2596 will be held across the street from a meeting of the Pest Control Operators of California, which has come out in opposition to the bill. Every time we lose a hawk or owl to these poisons, we lose an important part of our free, nontoxic, natural solution to rodent control; each time it is a tragedy, said Lisa Owens Viani, director of Raptors Are The Solution. The harm caused by these poisons is widespread. More than 70 percent of wildlife tested have been exposed to dangerous rodenticides in California. Wildlife officials have documented poisonings in at least 37 different types of animals, including raptors (eagles, hawks, falcons and owls), bobcats, mountain lions and endangered wildlife such as the San Joaquin kit fox and Pacific fisher. A.B. 2596 will protect the unintended victims of these anticoagulant poisons, such as family pets and a wide range of bird and mammal species, who suffer immensely and die upon consuming the rodenticide either directly or by eating poisoned rodents, said Courtney Fern, California director of the Humane Society of the United States. More than 8,500 children under age 6 were poisoned with rodenticides in the United States in 2014, according to the American Association of Poison Control Centers. The Environmental Protection Agency has found that children in low-income families are disproportionately exposed to the poisons. Thousands of incidents of pets being poisoned by rodenticides have also been reported, many resulting in serious injury or death. Our states wildlife  including highly imperiled species protected under the Endangered Species Act  are killed by these poisons every year and far more suffer from anemia, hemorrhaging and increased vulnerability to predation, noted Pamela Flick, California representative with Defenders of Wildlife. This bill will go a long way to save our wildlife that is now being poisoned at massive and unacceptable levels throughout California, said Kian Schulman, director of Poison Free Malibu. A separate coalition of nonprofit organizations, municipalities, businesses and scientists formed the Safe Rodent Control Coalition to promote effective, affordable rodent-control strategies that protect children, pets and wildlife. Effective alternatives include rodent-proofing of homes and farms by sealing cracks and crevices and eliminating food sources; providing owl boxes in rural areas to encourage natural predation; and utilizing traps that dont involve these highly toxic chemicals. What: Rally Against Dangerous Rodenticides

When: 12:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 5

Where: Sacramento Capitol Park, east of the state Capitol, on L Street between 12th and 13th streets and across from the Hyatt Regency (1209 L St., Sacramento, CA)

Who: Representatives of a coalition of more than 55 groups

Media availability: Protestors will be available for interviews before and after the rally and photos are available to the media here.

Visuals: Protestors with signs and banners Background

Anticoagulant rodenticides interfere with blood clotting, resulting in uncontrollable bleeding that leads to death. Second-generation anticoagulants  including brodifacoum, bromadiolone, difethialone and difenacoum  are especially hazardous and persistent in body tissues. These slow-acting poisons are often eaten for several days by rats and mice, causing the toxins to accumulate at many times the lethal dose in their tissues, which subsequently results in the poisoning of nontarget animals that feed on their carcasses. Steps taken by the state of California and the EPA in recent years to place greater restrictions on consumer use of dangerous rodenticides have not been effective in curbing wildlife poisoning. At least 26 California cities and counties have also passed resolutions urging the public and pest-control operators to avoid the most harmful rodent poisons, including San Francisco, Richmond, Malibu, Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks, Davis, Belmont, Brisbane, Foster City, Whittier, Fairfax and Calabasas and Ventura, Marin and Humboldt counties.


The University of Georgia and Ben-Gurion University research team site-specifically inserted a small molecule named coralyne into the DNA and were able to create a single-molecule diode Researchers at the University of Georgia and at Ben-Gurion University in Israel have demonstrated for the first time that nanoscale electronic components can be made from single DNA molecules. Their study, published in the journal Nature Chemistry, represents a promising advance in the search for a replacement for the silicon chip.

The finding may eventually lead to smaller, more powerful and more advanced electronic devices, according to the study's lead author, Bingqian Xu.

"For 50 years, we have been able to place more and more computing power onto smaller and smaller chips, but we are now pushing the physical limits of silicon," said Xu, an associate professor in the UGA College of Engineering and an adjunct professor in chemistry and physics. "If silicon-based chips become much smaller, their performance will become unstable and unpredictable."

To find a solution to this challenge, Xu turned to DNA. He says DNA's predictability, diversity and programmability make it a leading candidate for the design of functional electronic devices using single molecules.

In the Nature Chemistry paper, Xu and collaborators at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev describe using a single molecule of DNA to create the world's smallest diode. A diode is a component vital to electronic devices that allows current to flow in one direction but prevents its flow in the other direction.

Xu and a team of graduate research assistants at UGA isolated a specifically designed single duplex DNA of 11 base pairs and connected it to an electronic circuit only a few nanometers in size. After the measured current showed no special behavior, the team site-specifically intercalated a small molecule named coralyne into the DNA. They found the current flowing through the DNA was 15 times stronger for negative voltages than for positive voltages, a necessary feature of a diode.

"This finding is quite counterintuitive because the molecular structure is still seemingly symmetrical after coralyne intercalation," Xu said.

A theoretical model developed by Yanantan Dubi of Ben-Gurion University indicated the diode-like behavior of DNA originates from the bias voltage-induced breaking of spatial symmetry inside the DNA molecule after the coralyne is inserted.

"Our discovery can lead to progress in the design and construction of nanoscale electronic elements that are at least 1,000 times smaller than current components," Xu said.

The research team plans to continue its work, with the goal of constructing additional molecular devices and enhancing the performance of the molecular diode.

Source: University of Georgia
24-hour #LetsTalkColour campaign sparks progressive debate about race in South Africa

To celebrate Human Rights Day and the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination last month on 21 March, Viacom-owned youth and music channel MTV (DStv channel 130) and an integrated team at Ogilvy & Mather (O&M) Johannesburg and Gloo@Ogilvy Johannesburg launched #LetsTalkColour  a 24-hour campaign which saw MTV symbolically change all of its broadcast, digital and social media platforms across Africa to black and white.

All creative, content and visuals for #LetsTalkColour were conceptualised and produced by both MTV and O&M in a rapid 48-hour turnaround and encouraged conversation on racial discrimination through broadcast, digital and social media. Pan-African youth channel MTV was aired in monochrome throughout the day, featuring animated quotes on race from various contemporary song lyrics as well as inserts of everyday people talking about the importance of diversity. These were also shared across MTVs social media platforms for a multi-display experience.

"March 21 is a significant day in South African history," said Dillon Khan, Head of MTV South Africa. "For Human Rights Day, we wanted to get young people to openly speak out against racism and discrimination. And were thrilled that the multi-screen approach from Ogilvy & Mather helped us encourage a progressive public debate about the issue, and what it means to young people today."

Within the 24-hour campaign period, the #LetsTalkColour hashtag produced 22.7 million impressions on Twitter and trended for several hours.

Matthew Barnes, Executive Creative Director of Gloo@Ogilvy Johannesburg, added, Everything about this campaign was non-traditional  the platform, the content, the timelines and the diversity of the team who helped make it happen. Not having the time to overthink and overanalyse gave the idea an authentic and energetic message. The approach is proof that there is power in collaborating with brave clients who are stepping outside of the traditional advertising model.

O&M South Africa was delighted to support MTVs courageous campaign and amplify their message by also going black and white across its website (ogilvy.co.za) and social media channels. O&M is committed in creating a diverse workplace for its people by honouring individuality, human dignity and equality, and believes that Diversity Inspires Creativity.

Client: Viacom  MTV Africa (Dillon Khan, Spencer Mparutsa)

Agency: Ogilvy & Mather Johannesburg, Gloo@Ogilvy Johannesburg

Chief Creative Officer: Pete Case

Executive Creative Directors: Matthew Barnes, Mariana OKelly

Creative Directors: Fred Cilliers, Charles Pantland, Terry Mckenna

Art Directors/Designers: Michael Zulu, Marina Le Roux, Henry Pieterse, Nikita Gemeliaris, Titus Bogatsu, Fraternity Mathabatha, Brent Streeter, Kyle Bowman, Brad Delacoliniere, Agi Masekela, Bheki Mavuso, Kiara Pandaram, Nonhlanhla Mkwanazi, Cecile Brits, Anneke Jacobs, Greg King

Copywriters: Lizell van der Westhuizen, Ntando Msibi,

Business Director/Account Director: Shannon Gahagan, Steph De Raedt

Animators: Marina Le Roux, Henry Pieterse, Nikita Gemeliaris, Jared Gower

Social Media Manager: Lizell van der Westhuizen

Media Buyer: Matthew Watson

Marketing Manager, O&M SA: Mark Zeller




TMI usually stands for 'too much information'. But for The Media Image, the digital agency for which TMI is an acronym, the quantity and quality of info they shared proved just right at the recent IAB Bookmarks Awards.

With TMIs strong focus on paid search, SEO, display, content, design and social media disciplines, its little wonder the digital agency shone at last months IAB Bookmark Awards, with a Bronze Craft Award for Paid Search Marketing in the tough casino PPC vertical for Corals make every click count campaign  clicks cost R2,400 upwards there as well as a coveted golden Pixel for their search brand protection for client Neilson.

The Media Image team

TMIs director Peter Brooke-Sumner let us in on the extreme planning and technical PPC skills behind these winning entries

We entered the best paid search campaign category with two entries that we felt demonstrated above-normal knowledge of how to optimise and use third-party technology tools like the full DoubleClick technology stack and other competitor tools to enhance the results for our clients. The real hard work was in achieving the results. We always want our entries to show how much technical insight went into executing the campaigns for our clients, as this knowledge and execution within the agency is the real winner. We often have very technical entries, so it is hard work to get all of it onto one page for the awards entry. The team worked very hard to do this and it took some creative thinking to also include data and graphs, says Brooke-Sumner.

The local digital agency-client relationship

Brooke-Sumner says its important to always keep learning and training, as there are always new tools, techniques and products. Being aware of these and testing them will ensure that not only your agency adopts new ideas and techniques but that you are also passing on these skills to your clients. This knowledge sharing ensures digital growth both in agencies and on client side.

He adds that trust plays a huge role between an agency and a client and being honest, open and completely transparent go a long way to ensure trust. At TMI they strive to be seen as part of their clients extended team, rather than having a traditional agency-client relationship, which is often driven by remuneration.

Brooke-Sumner

Some clients are sceptical about PPC and SEO agencies, partially due to past incompetence through poor results or extremely high or misleading fee structures, explains Brooke-Sumner. Unfortunately, clients also believe that they know exactly how PPC, SEO or display channels should be managed or optimised and often push this onto their agencies rather than working together to achieve set goals and KPIs.

Brooke-Sumner adds that some local clients believe that if another agency offers the same services cheaper, thats a good enough reason to move agencies rather than to look at the results and relationship they currently have and measure the intrinsic value, not only based on price but also on results, innovation, product offering and relationships. Skilled digital marketing experts and agencies are scarce in South Africa so work with them, listen to their advice, support their decisions and grow with them.

Drumming up digital knowledge

And while South Africa is often a few years behind the scale and size of other digital markets, Brooke-Sumner says we generally have access to the same tools and technologies as any other market, so knowledge is the true key to digital growth in SA. This means that traditional agencies should be engaging with specialist digital experts and agencies, and ensure they are involved with media strategies from the start in order to provide digital results rather than executions that are amazing but not using the full scope and scale of what can be achieved. Its not pie-in-the sky: There are already Africa-produced digital products that are innovative and world leading, such as M-Pesa, which has Kenyan origins.

According to Brooke-Sumner: I believe certain clients and agencies are still afraid of digital and often revert to traditional marketing channels such as billboards or print purely due to how vast and complex digital can appear. However, digital adoption is scaling fast! We will see a tipping point where media budgets start growing substantially towards digital. Digital is not going away. Channels and adoption are growing significantly and it is only going to get bigger.

Consider yourself warned, especially as TMI itself looks to expand its own service offering rapidly. Itll do so by offering digital media buying solutions for any client as well as end-to-end tracking technology thats producing world-class programmatic buying results. Its linked with accurate tracking across all digital channels and mapping live results, KPIs and ROI across multiple digital channels, even traditional media  it truly is the digital future.

Visit their website for more and keep an eye on their Twitter feed.
PARIS - Belgian designer Anthony Vaccarello took over on Monday as creative director of Yves Saint Laurent, three days after the departure of the hugely influential Hedi Slimane.

His appointment, which had been rumoured for weeks after Slimane had dropped some heavy hints of his exit, is a calculated risk for the brand, which has seen profits skyrocket under Slimane.

After Slimane's rock star chic, Vaccarello will bring a sexy, leggy look which he has developed since he first came to fame with a collection inspired by the Hungarian-Italian porn actress turned politician la Cicciolina.

Vaccarello's "modern, pure aesthetic is the perfect fit," YSL's CEO Francesca Bellettini said.

He "impeccably balances elements of provocative femininity and sharp masculinity in his silhouettes," she added.

He "has long been recognised as one of the most talented emerging creative minds of our time," YSL's parent company Kering said.

The rumour mill has been working overtime since Slimane left, with many fashion insiders convinced that Vaccarello in his early thirties would succeed him The young designer, who comes from an Italian family, had quit Versace's Versus label earlier in the day.

Making the announcement, Donatella Versace seemed to hint that Vaccarello as going on to greater things.

"In the past several years, I have worked with three great young talents on Versus Versace, Christopher Kane, JW Anderson and Anthony Vaccarello," she said.

Scottish-born Kane's own brand has since been bought by Kering, while Irishman Anderson now heads the Spanish luxury label Loewe.

Vaccarello's typically monochrome dresses, often with plunging necklines, have an almost wild edge to them, and have won him major fashion prizes, including the top prize at the Hyeres festival.

Although his designs may be sexy and confident, he has a reputation for shyness.

He also worked for Karl Lagerfeld at Fendi before setting up his own brand in 2009 and becoming a regular fixture of Paris fashion weeks.

Slimane's departure from YSL after four years as its creative director did not come as a surprise.
Specialist B2B tech PR and digital marketing agency DUO Marketing and Communications welcomes two new clients to its growing portfolio of customers that want to grow market share in South Africa and the sub-Saharan region.

Judith Middleton

Both Entersekt and Goodwell Investments join DUOs growing client base of customers looking for PR, marketing and digital services beyond South Africas borders. The consultancy now services five clients with a reach into sub-Saharan Africa.

The rest of the continent has long been on the radar for many of our clients and it's particularly rewarding supporting them with PR and digital marketing solutions across sub-Saharan Africa, says Judith Middleton, CEO and founder of DUO Marketing + Communications.

Goodwell Investments, an impact investment firm, provides early stage growth capital to businesses in sub-Saharan Africa and India. For Entersekt, an innovator in push-based authentication and app security, the DUO team will raise awareness of the companys world leading mobile authentication service.

After operating for twelve years as a specialist Tech PR and digital communication agency, we have a strong South African portfolio and are building confidence in our solutions for our cross border clients. Our South African clients have requested extensions of our partnership across borders and together we are discovering the best methods and approaches for each country, says Middleton.

Goodwell Investments requires solutions in Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa and Entersekt across Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria and Tanzania.

In our experience PR is very expensive across Africa and the South African model doesnt translate very well into the rest of Africa. Newswires definitely dont work. PR is about relationships, a depth of knowledge of the client as well as the country and finding an approach that matches the clients business objectives, she says.

Recent partnerships with Procre8 in Dubai and The Plexus Group, a representative of specialist Tech PR agencies from around the world, have enabled DUO to recommend partners across Europe, the USA and other territories to clients. Our partnerships expose us to best practice case studies, campaigns and new methodologies from industry peers and enable us to tap into a global pool of experts to strengthen our ability to deliver tailored campaigns that yield irrefutable returns for our clients, says Middleton.




Jan Vermeulen will serve as commander at MyGaming, with assistance from senior staff members and two new journalists Jamie McKane and Ryan Brothwell joining him in the trenches.

Jeremy Proome and Marco Cocomello will continue to contribute to the site, so readers can expect tons of gaming, hardware, and tech news on MyGaming from now on.

There will also be regular competitions, a new daily newsletter, and more conversations in the forum.

"In short: we are going to make MyGaming a website you look forward to visiting every day," Jan Vermeulen said.

"Over the past 12 months, Clockwork Media managed MyGaming's News section, and we would like to say thank you to them for keeping the site up to date with the latest news and gaming developments, and all the great work they put in while at the helm."




Anglo American has sold more than a 70% stake in an open cut coal mine in Queensland, Australia to raise up to $6bn from disposals by the end of this year.

A consortium led by Taurus Fund Management, an Australian fund manager specialising in the commodities industry, has agreed to buy Anglos holding in the Foxleigh mine, which produces high quality pulverised coal injection coal. Anglos share of production last year amounted to 1,86m tonnes.

The mining house raised the target for the amount of money it needs to raise to $5bn-$6bn by the end of this year, so it can survive the weak commodities market. It expects to raise $3bn-$4bn from selling projects this year, on top of $21bn from 2015.

Last year, Anglo sold its 83,33% interest in the Dartbrook coal mine in the Hunter Valley, New South Wales, Australia in its disposals drive.
Ocular Technologies has donated computers and software to Coronation Training Centre, a school based in Newlands, Johannesburg that caters for learners with special educational needs - both intellectually and physically impaired children.

L-R: Phebe Botsman-Kerspuy, Coronation Training Centre; Ebrahim Dinat, Ocular Technologies; Rosemary Foster, Coronation Training Centre; Letacia Singh, Ocular Technologies; Pooja Rama, Ocular Technologies; Bilkees Dinat, Ocular Technologies; Ria Westerbeek, Stichting Ikusasa

A team from Ocular recently visited the school to formally hand over eight computers and software for use by the schools administrative staff, teachers, speech and occupational therapists, and learners. In addition, the company has registered Coronation as a non-governmental organisation (NGO) with Microsoft South Africas NGO support programme, which will provide the school with free software for the more efficient use of technology, and also allows for other organisations to provide funding to the training centre.

Ocular has made educational support a focal point of its corporate social investment programme, explained Ebrahim Dinat, COO at contact centre solutions provider, Ocular Technologies. Once we had been alerted to Coronations needs, we were so touched by the staff and children of the facility that we knew Ocular had to help them wherever possible."

Role of technology

Aside from helping staff to run the school more efficiently, it is Oculars belief that technology plays an instrumental role in helping children to reach their fullest potential, and will provide these special learners with greater freedom and a new experience. This ties in perfectly with the schools vision to serve differently abled children by developing their capacity to reach their fullest potential in order to take their rightful place in society.

Our donation of the computers is just the starting point of our relationship with Coronation Training Centre, and we look forward to moving together into the future, Dinat said.
Since the launch of SAB's underage drinking campaign, 18+ 'be the mentor you wish you had', there has been a 52% decrease amongst the mentees.

The 18+ Campaign was launched in November last year when 150 ordinary working South Africans from Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town, aged between 23 and 30 years old, were appointed by Instant Grass Marketing to champion the cause. These young adults shared their stories of the mistakes made in their teenage years and gave advice to a total of 225 younger mentees, ranging from siblings, relatives, friends or someone in the community.

Mentors were encouraged to follow SABs 18+ Campaign on social media and share the content so that others could take the pledge online to 'Be the Mentor'.

By engaging in the programme, many of mentors found themselves looking at themselves in a new light, or starting up various community initiatives to help others such as a girls youth group and a mentorship programme for young men in a township.

Initial problem

I realised that, with my experience, that alcohol was not the initial problem. The main problem is the social construction and the situation they are in which at times has led them to turn to alcohol or people who influence their lives in a bad way, said Wongie Mafilika, who mentors a girl group in Khayelitsha.

The majority of the mentors said they had encouraged other adults to take on a mentorship role. In the five months since the launch of the campaign, more than 3,500 people have taken the online pledge to mentor someone.

South Africans are encouraged to take the pledge and to mentor the youth of the country by helping them make the right decisions, including saying no to underage drinking.
Research supports the contention that greater diversity equals greater business success. Internationally, this has prompted a hunt for hiring tools that foster recruitment based solely on aptitude and competencies. Sometimes, the search is also spurred by pangs of conscience, as evidence mounts that discrimination has contaminated past recruitment practice.

Advocates of blind hiring believe the application of these techniques will make the hiring process more objective and lessen the effect of unconscious bias. The trend is most evident in the US, though British companies also show interest. It has yet to be extensively explored in South Africa, however.

Process

Blind hiring takes many forms.

The simplest is perhaps the redacting of names on resumes. Redaction is prompted in part by a US study, which proved that applicants with traditional white names were more likely to receive a call-back for a job interview than those with African-American names, though resumes were statistically identical.

Another method is to postpone face-to-face interviews, helping to combat initial-stage gender, age or ethnic bias.

Other companies ask candidates to work on mock projects, perform tasks or take up a challenge  perhaps writing a blog post. Candidates are then judged on content and the skills on view.

In some cases, employer and employee enter web-based chat rooms to talk anonymously. Blind auditioning software is also available.

Attendance at top universities or previous work for a glamour company can also skew recruitment. Information like this is liable to be redacted.

Concerns

Some object that projects and challenges get job seekers to work free, while some employers complain that these processes add to recruitment costs and prolong selection.

A major concern is that anonymous focus on skills ignores the cultural fit needed for successful placement. Attitude can be as important as aptitude, especially when cohesive teamwork is demanded.

Pros and cons are still coming in. Some proponents claim top performers have been hired as a direct result of these practices  people who previously would have been ignored. Others complain that if diversity is the goal it can only be assured when you know whom you are hiring.

Some advocate a mix of hiring practices  blind hiring blended with referencing and interviews. As experience grows, we may find blind hiring is sometimes relevant, sometimes not.

Role at junior level

It may have a role in entry-level recruitment where basic skills are important or in technical specialisations, as blind hiring techniques appear to produce better indicators at junior level and specialised skills levels, than at executive level.

The higher up the managerial ladder you go, the greater the need for interaction with the candidate. Employers need to see top talent and judge their reactions to questions and situations. A candidates emotional and cultural intelligence is a key issue. If there is a choice between personality and anonymity, organisations will go for personality every time.
There are many poor practices within the recruitment industry, ranging from illegal (charging job seekers) to unethical (misleading advertising or breaching confidentiality). These behaviours are unfortunately rife and can result in job seekers being disappointed, demotivated and even exploited.

In many cases, unethical behaviours are not illegal, but they do give the industry a bad reputation, says KC Makhubele, president of the Federation of African Professional Staffing Organisations (APSO) - an industry body committed to the professionalisation of the staffing industry in South Africa.

Ethics are the principles or standards that guide day-to-day business in accordance with established corporate values. Among ethical values are trust, honesty, respect and responsibility.

Roly Boardman, chair of ethics at APSO, warns that unethical behaviours range from sharing confidential information without consent, to charging candidates for placement services. As a recruiter, you are responsible for acting in the best interests of candidates that trust you with their future career, as well as client companies who rely on you to find the very best person for the opportunity at hand.

Tell-tale signs of an unethical recruitment agency include those that share CVs without the consent of candidates, email jockeys who do not interview candidates but rather just obtain and share information via email, and those who have not joined a reputable professional body which holds members to a code of good practice and ethical standards.

Under no circumstances, should candidates pay for the services of a recruitment agency. The law forbids employment organisations from charging job-seekers to secure them employment and this should therefore never be the case when dealing with a reputable and compliant agency.

Essential ethical factors

The organisations ethical standards are consistent with other international bodies in Europe, UK and US and it notes some essential factors for businesses to consider for ethical recruiting:

Never place misleading job advertisements: This includes misrepresenting the requirements of a particular position. It also refers to working conditions and the current or projected state of the organisation.

This includes misrepresenting the requirements of a particular position. It also refers to working conditions and the current or projected state of the organisation. Interview correctly to ensure proper matching: It is vital for agencies to interview candidates thoroughly to match them with the right job. This includes giving guidance to candidates and helping them understand the offer and its associated career implications.

It is vital for agencies to interview candidates thoroughly to match them with the right job. This includes giving guidance to candidates and helping them understand the offer and its associated career implications. Treat all candidates equally: An important ethical factor, it is essential not to discriminate because of gender, race, origin, religion or political views. Always review candidates based on their merits. It is critical for HR professionals to be honest, consistent and objective throughout the recruiting process.

An important ethical factor, it is essential not to discriminate because of gender, race, origin, religion or political views. Always review candidates based on their merits. It is critical for HR professionals to be honest, consistent and objective throughout the recruiting process. Solicit only necessary information: For instance, information such as the city a candidate was born does not matter or have an impact when it comes to their ability to perform a certain role. Where they currently reside, however, does have implications of where they are able to commute to on a daily basis.

For instance, information such as the city a candidate was born does not matter or have an impact when it comes to their ability to perform a certain role. Where they currently reside, however, does have implications of where they are able to commute to on a daily basis. Maintain confidentiality on the use and storage of candidate information: Confidentiality is essential. This includes obtaining the candidates consent to release their details to a specific client or for a specific position. Conduct yourself in a transparent fashion, ensuring that a candidate fully understands the possible risks involved if going to work for a competitor to their current employer.

Confidentiality is essential. This includes obtaining the candidates consent to release their details to a specific client or for a specific position. Conduct yourself in a transparent fashion, ensuring that a candidate fully understands the possible risks involved if going to work for a competitor to their current employer. Never practice redirection: This is when a recruiter takes feedback from a hiring manager after a candidates interview and sends it to the candidate. If the candidate can address the hiring managers worries, it increases the likelihood that they will be chosen for the job and the recruiter will secure their fee. It may be effective, but it is highly unethical.

This is when a recruiter takes feedback from a hiring manager after a candidates interview and sends it to the candidate. If the candidate can address the hiring managers worries, it increases the likelihood that they will be chosen for the job and the recruiter will secure their fee. It may be effective, but it is highly unethical. Inform candidates appropriately of the selection decision: Always let a candidate know within a specified - and communicated - time-frame whether they got the job or not. Do not leave them hanging.

Boardman highlights that candidates can also be unethical. For example, those that use agencies to obtain offers that they use as leverage in bargaining with their current employers. Another example would be those who try to circumvent the agency by going directly to the client once they have found out who the client is.

It is crucial that we are ethical in the recruitment process as we are facilitating life-changing decisions. People often make big decisions based on job offers; for example, buying a house. Human capital is regarded as one of a companys most valuable assets, and the correct placement of crucially important staff will impact directly on their bottom line, he concludes.
Student activist group Open Stellenbosch is to approach the Equality Court to challenge the University of Stellenbosch's "discriminatory" language policy.

Yesterday, 4 April 2016, Open Stellenbosch spokesman Majaletje Mathura said: "The university has regressed and things are worse now following the granting of the AfriForum interdict (by the Western Cape High Court).

"The majority of students are having to attend extra classes, which is a major inconvenience. "We are left with no choice but to approach the Equality Court to challenge the language policy, which discriminates against most students and academics."

The university, which aims to increase its black, coloured and Indian student numbers to more than 15,000 in the next five years, has a student body of 30,000 - 62% of whom are white, 18% coloured, 17% black and 3% Indian, according to this year's preliminary figures.

The institution uses both English and Afrikaans as mediums of instruction at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

Critics charge the language policy, which was the subject of an AfriForum Youth court battle with the university last month, is vague. They cite as problematic the fact that it states "Afrikaans and English are applied in various usage configurations", while "parallel-medium teaching and real-time educational interpretation are used as preferred options where practically feasible and affordable".

Open Stellenbosch says the policy neglects those who cannot understand Afrikaans because the quality of the university's interpretation services is poor.

Mathura said proposed new language guidelines, which were opened to comment last month, were little changed.

"It (the proposed policy) seeks to maintain Afrikaans as a medium of instruction, but the key principle - which most university stakeholders agree on - is that English should be the primary medium, with extensive support for Afrikaans and isiXhosa," he told Business Day.

The high court granted AfriForum Youth an interdict last month, ordering the institution to implement its interim language policy that accords parity to Afrikaans and English.

Last month, university management said a push to give English and Afrikaans equal status had added pressure on academic staff.

Johan Hattingh, the university's dean of arts and social sciences, said Stellenbosch wanted to be "100%" accessible to students not academically literate in Afrikaans and all module content covered in lectures would also be available in English.

"Most departments will return to the conventional Tmodules, with the proviso that this will be implemented with the utmost circumspection to ensure that no student is excluded on the basis of language of tuition," said Prof Hattingh in a communique to students.

Source: Business Day via I-Net Bridge
A small group of protesting Wits University students led by the EFF Student Command torched a lecture hall after disrupting classes and demanding free education.

The protesters said although they were a faction of the #FeesMustFall movement, the action was a continuation of the #FeesMustFall campaign of last year. They claimed some students were facing exclusion for not being able to come up with the agreed portion of tuition fees after they missed a registration fee waiver at the beginning of the academic year.

The fees office was shut down and the police were called in to monitor the protest.

But Wits management said no students would be de-registered or barred if they were unable meet the payment deadline of 31 March.

It said only 140 Fundza Lushaka teaching students were unable to secure funding from the Department of Higher Education scheme but alternative arrangements would be made to keep them in the system.

Wits SRC secretary general Fasiha Hassen said yesterday's protest had not been endorsed by the SRC, #FeesMustFall or #RhodesMustFall movements.

She said a meeting held over the weekend that had not included "vital structures, student leaders and groups" had decided on the protest.

"We continue to be committed to the fight for decolonisation and free education, but will not allow factions that exclude us to gain relevance. There were deliberate, determined attempts to exclude a lot of people from the meeting and the protest," said Hassen.

EFF Student Command leader Vuyani Pambo said the action was also about students who were suspended after protests in January.

Meanwhile, chaos is expected at Tshwane University of Technology Soshanguve campuses as classes resume this morning.

The university was closed indefinitely on 7 March due to violence and intimidation.

Yesterday the university said safety measures and security would be in place.

Source: The Times via I-Net Bridge
The Deputy Minister of Tourism Tokozile Xasa, in partnership with the UNISA Graduate School of Business Leadership recently launched the Executive Development Programme (EDP) for Black women managers in the tourism sector and we wanted to know more about the role the programme will play in growing their participation in upper-level management.

Deputy Minister of Tourism Tokozile Xasa

You said in your speech that There are few women in management and executive positions of tourism sector businesses. How large is this discrepancy and how does the EDP aim to change that?

Tokozile Xasa: In 2011, the National Department of Tourism (NDT) conducted a study to assess the state of transformation in the tourism sector in line with the Tourism B-BBEE Sector Code. The study found that there was a low percentage of women at the board and executive management positions of large enterprises. The low percentage of women at board and executive management positions was attributed to unavailability of women managers with the required profile. Furthermore, there was no existing database of women managers with the required qualification and experience in the tourism sector.

In 2011, only 12% of large enterprises in the tourism sector had achieved the 50% target for black directorship, whilst only 4% had achieved the 25% target for black female directorship. It was also found that these enterprises need support to recruit or groom suitable black directors and black female directors to join their boards and executive management positions.

To address the aforementioned challenges, the Tourism B-BBEE Charter Council recommended that the NDT should partner with a business school with a view on customising an executive development programme for women managers in the tourism sector. The content of the programme would cover the accommodation, hospitality and travel and related services subsectors of the tourism sector.

Tell us more about the Executive Development Programme.

Xasa: The Executive Development Programme is envisaged to be an open programme offered by NDT in partnership with UNISA SBL. The programme is accredited by South African Qualification Authority at NQF level 8. In order to make the programme more tourism sector specific, additional sector specific modules were added. The modules cover content on the three tourism sub-sectors, namely: Accommodation, Hospitality and related services and Travel and related services.

The programme delivery method will include, but not limited to, lectures, case studies, group work discussions, interactive methods and any other emerging training methods. The programme will run for a maximum period of 18 months, part-time. The language medium for the EDP is English.

Kirill Kedrinski via 123RF

What kind of skills will women participating in the EDP get exposed to?

Xasa:  Sound executive managerial knowledge in areas of leadership, finance, marketing, human resources, change management, programme/project management, strategy, global business;

 Develop candidates to be innovative thinkers and to remain relevant and competitive as leaders today;

 Over and above the lectures and all other interactive methods, seasoned managers, academics and entrepreneurs in the tourism sector would be invited as guest speakers to share their experience with the candidates, hence offering candidates a good opportunity for networking;

 Candidates will be empowered with skills and know-how for promotion into management and executive positions in the tourism sector;

 Candidates will acquire the necessary business management skills and confidence to start and grow their own tourism businesses;

Why is it important to address this issue now and in Tourism specifically?

Xasa: In 2012, the South African government launched the National Development Plan which offers a long-term perspective to eliminate poverty, reduce gross inequality and transform the economic landscape of South Africa in 2030. The NDP further identifies tourism as one of the catalyst sectors in reaching that goal. Subsequent to the NDP launch, it became pivotal for the tourism sector to equip women in the three tourism sub-sectors (accommodation, hospitality and travel related services) with skills in order to eliminate gender inequality in the management structures of tourism enterprises.
The SAP Startup Focus Forum has engaged with more than 2,600 innovative startups across globally and brought 200 of their validated technology solutions to market over the last three years. SAP Africa will be hosting the third iteration of the African chapter in Johannesburg on 7 and 8 April.

Startup Forum

This programme forms part of SAPs global strategy to empower startups and entrepreneurs to grow their businesses, while helping fledgling businesses build applications on the SAP HANA cloud platform and accelerate their go-to-market strategy.

Getting ahead in todays competitive digital economy is no mean feat but many of these startups demonstrate the potential to harness digital transformation through technology in the industries in which they plan to do business, said Elke Simon-Keller, innovation lead at SAP Africa. The primary benefit of attending the SAP Startup Focus Forum is that entrepreneurs and small business owners will be able to meet and learn from successful startup founders who are currently thriving in the SAP programme. Another exciting aspect of attending the event is that every startup will have the opportunity to pitch their business ideas to a distinguished panel of venture capitalists, enterprise customers, accelerators and SAP executives.

The process

Startups that secure a place in the programme can avail themselves of SAP HANA test and development licenses, development toolkits and ongoing technical support from SAP throughout the development process.

As part of the selection process, SAP will identify relevant startups which are then invited to join a development accelerator (DA). The objective of a DA is to build a Proof of Concept (PoC) and, eventually, a product with explicit business value. Startups will be selected based on feasibility and viability. The DA kicks off with an intensive boot camp on SAP HANA development topics.

Once software development is underway, SAP will further support the startups with regular software architecture reviews, technical support and consulting. Once past the PoC stage, the best software solutions will be promoted to the public and will be featured in promotional materials. Once startups are ready with their product, they will progress to SAPs Go-To-Market stage.

Additional benefits of participating in the SAP Startup Focus Forum include the ability for entrepreneurs to interact with media professionals and learn how to better promote and connect with like-minded startup owners. In addition, attendees will gain insight into all the operational details of running a startup, including how to raise capital, hire teams and understand how to leverage SAP HANA and the ecosystem of customers for viable commercial opportunities.

Click here for more information and to register to attend the event.
Headed for its new home at the Port of Port Elizabeth, the first of Transnet National Ports Authority's nine new, powerful tugboats set sail on 2 April 2016 from Southern African Shipyards in Durban. Ceremonially launched as MVEZO last October, the tug arrived in Port Elizabeth in the early hours of Monday, 4 April.

The crew of MVEZO onboard the tug prior to her departure from the Port of Durban.

Port Elizabeth port manager, Rajesh Dana, said: The arrival of MVEZO in the Eastern Cape is particularly significant given that the tug was named after the small village in our province where former president, the late Nelson Mandela, was born. So in a sense, we really are welcoming her home.

MVEZO will assist in bolstering the efficiency of our ports marine operations. She will be the first of two new large, powerful tugs planned for our fleet as part of this large-scale contract, he added. The nine-tug contract  valued at R1.4 billion  is the largest single contract TNPA has ever awarded to a South African company for the building of harbour craft.

TNPA chief executive, Richard Vallihu, said after the tugs ceremonial launch last year: The building of MVEZO and the eight other tugs in this project, demonstrates that this country has the expertise to compete in the global shipbuilding industry and to use the maritime economy to unlock the economic potential of South Africa, in line with the governments Operation Phakisa initiative.

MVEZOs arrival at the Port of Port Elizabeth will be marked with an official handover ceremony in the coming weeks. Thereafter, there will be handovers every three months until the last tug is launched in early 2018. Two tugs each will be allocated to the Ports of Durban, Richards Bay and Port Elizabeth, while Saldanha, which handles the largest carriers, would receive three tugs.

Big benefits

The tug building project kicked off in August 2014 and is providing a big boost to the local economy over its 42-month lifespan. Given the projects tight deadlines, five tugs are under construction simultaneously at any given time.

TNPA programme manager Eugene Rappetti, senior manager for Marine Operations, said TNPA had 29 tugs presently in service nationally, but the requirement for bigger, strong tugboat fleets had increased in line with bigger commercial vessels calling at South African ports more frequently. TNPAs new fleet will include nine tugs that are 31 metres long with a 70-ton bollard pull. The older tugs have 32.5 to 40-ton pulls.

The increased bollard pull of these new generation tugs meets international standards and they also feature the latest global technology. The tugs have Voith Scheider propulsion which makes them highly manoeuvrable and able to change the direction and thrust almost instantaneously while guiding large vessels safely into our ports, he said.

Durban based Southern African Shipyards, which owns and operates the largest shipyard in Southern Africa, also built TNPAs previous 12 tugs. The company scooped the latest contract through an open and transparent process. Its employees have a 12 percent stake in the company, which has 60 percent black ownership.

Subcontractors on the project include well-known multinationals such as Barloworld Equipment, Siemens, Voith Schneider, as well as local contractors such as Bradgary Marine Shopfitters.

CEO Maharaj said his company had created 500 direct and 3,500 indirect jobs through the project. We have also committed to ensuring that each tug has a minimum of 60% locally manufactured components while partnering with international companies on the remaining aspects that cannot be manufactured here, for example the engines and propulsion units, he said.

Brooke Tarin, Southern African Shipyards Technical Manager; Don Arbuckle, TNPA Marine Technical Manager and Thandi Mehlo, TNPA Senior Marine Engineer and Project Manager.

Maharaj said the intention was to maximise local content and spread the benefits of the project to black suppliers, women- and youth-owned businesses. Ultimately South Africa will achieve a socio-economic benefit of more than R800 million as a result of the Supplier Development Plan attached to the contract, he said.

In addition, a number of national and international training and development opportunities are being created for local employees, with TNPA already set to send employees to Germany for training on the new propulsion units. They would also receive training locally for four to six weeks. Rappetti said TNPA also had a large training programme in place for engineering and deck cadets to ensure that the vessels had skilled people in place to operate them.
It is truly an age-old industry dispute: the value of strategy and planning versus the value of implementation and creativity. In spite of the various arguments put forth by both camps in the past, contemporary opinion within the industry is pointing to the fact that both of these areas have a critical role to play in the fields of marketing and communication.

Strategy, planning, implementation and creativity are all heavily reliant on each other. For without a sound strategy, there is no foundation upon which to execute relevant and resonant creative work. And without inspiring and timeous creative execution, there is no visible or audible manifestation of the strategy beyond the boardroom and into the minds and hearts of consumers.

In recent years, this debate has gained further traction, with more and more corporates, marketers and creative agencies re-assessing (and realising) the importance of strategy as a key driver of both brand and business value. While this is certainly a step in the right direction for an industry in which silo mentalities and conflicting agendas have sadly been all too prevalent in years gone by, it also comes with an awareness that the field of strategic planning (as we have traditionally understood it) is undergoing  and will continue to undergo  constant redefinition as both a business tool and a process.

As such, it is crucial that we bear in mind the changing role of strategy in todays world  one in which the time-honoured theories, methods, techniques and rules of yesteryear are rapidly becoming outmoded. A recent report by Stanford Social Innovation Review sums this up succinctly, drawing on the words of Dwight E. Eisenhower, who was once quoted as saying: Plans are useless, but planning is everything.

In order to ensure relevance in a rapidly changing world, we thus need to afford greater consideration to the shifting role of strategy and the ways in which we build brand and communication strategies going forward. Against this backdrop, in Part One of this article I look at the first of six of the key shifts that are shaping the field of strategic planning in 2016 and beyond.

Strategic shift: The rise of the micro-strategy

In todays dynamic and increasingly volatile marketplace, there is a growing imperative for strategic planning to be more agile, more responsive and more adaptive. This notion forms the crux of the so-called micro-strategy, which postulates a much shorter-term view of the strategic way forward  whilst simultaneously remaining flexible enough to be modified as and when often unpredictable changes within a brands macro-, meso- and/or micro-environments occur.

Bearing in mind the fact that we can no longer treat the past as a reliable predictor of the future, the exponential advancements we are witnessing in technology and the ever-increasing narrowing of time gaps between major market shifts, it is evident that the era of the rigidly defined strategic plan is coming to an end. As such, going forward, strategies (and strategists) will need to become ever more adaptable and geared towards the present and immediate future. Constant reorientation will be key in this regard!

As organisations continue to grow more decentralised in nature, planning will no longer happen in isolation. To this end, we will need to ensure that strategy, creative and customers remain aligned (and engaged) throughout.

That wraps up Part One of 'Shifts in strategy for 2016 and beyond'. In Part Two well look at small data as the missing link, paying attention to the outliers, overcoming the digital backlash and more.
Almost two years after its collapse,and following an intensive restructuring process, the unsecured loans provider, African Bank, has re-emerged and started trading on 4 April as African Bank Limited. But the question remains: will this new incarnation survive given the tough economic climate?

Complex restructuring process

The commencement of the new African Bank represents the culmination of the restructuring announced by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) in August 2014. We are delighted at the overwhelming support received from the creditors for the restructuring of the bank and now hand the baton over to the new board of directors and management team of the new African Bank, wishing them every success, says PwC curator, Tom Winterboer.

Following problems within the African Bank Investments Limited group of companies, PwC worked to develop a restructuring proposal that was accepted by the SARB and leading banks of South Africa.

While under curatorship, a considerable amount of time was spent on the restructuring proposal, including steps to amend the Banks Act to provide necessary flexibility and engagement with affected creditor groups.

This included publishing the detailed restructuring plan for comment in September 2015, following the changes to the legislation. Engagement with creditor groups culminated in over 95% of them electing to accept the proposed restructuring terms.

Winterboer says: The curatorship and restructuring of African Bank has been an extremely complex and arduous process with a number of challenging legal, regulatory and financial processes and matters.

Investors hold back

Although its still very early days, investors seem to have adopted a wait-and-see approach, and according to a report on Fin24, some remain sceptical as to the restructured banks success.

The current spreads are inadequate and they might blow out significantly when they start trading. The increased term isnt necessarily compensated for, or the bad economy, or the new management team. The coupons are below where we see value, Wafeeqah Mallick, credit analyst at Cape Town-based Futuregrowth Asset Management, one of the senior debtholders that was swapped into the new notes, says in the article.

While another says that his company would definitely not be looking to buy any African Bank debt as there is still so much uncertainty surrounding the bank.

Part of the restructure includes a greater spread of risk from African Banks former one-channel unsecured loan model. The bank is planning to launch a series of new insurance and lending products, as well as to venture into transactional banking.
Robyn Smith is the head and heart behind Faithful to Nature, an online retailer that only stocks ethical products that are light on the Earth, consumer-friendly and cruelty free. With eight years under her belt, Smith dreams of running the "Green Amazon" of Africa.

Robyn Smith

Where does your passion for product ethics and sustainability come from? What inspired this venture eight years ago?

I started this business because I really wanted people to find a haven in our hectic world where they could shop in peace. We all deserve to know exactly what it is that we are buying  this determines so much of the kind of world we wish to live in. I believe that you deserve to be able to purchase products where full product description is enclosed from absolutely honest ingredient lists; to country of origin and the cruelty free status of the item. The products that we choose to buy have a massive impact on the health of every creature on our planet. Its a really big deal that we are all empowered to make the best purchasing decisions that we can.

Apart from the products themselves, how do you keep your business green?

One of the five values that we live and work by is responsibility and that guides all our decisions in the business. Responsibility for us is about always taking the highest road and this translates into the fact that we repurpose all paper in the business for packaging; we only use biodegradable packaging in our orders; we even re-use boxes from stock that has come into the business into orders that leave the business. We obviously recycle and do all the usual green business practice like using recycled printing paper and drinking organic coffee. Any marketing material is printed onto recycled paper and we make a point of only creating marketing collateral that adds value.

We also encourage our customers to make donations to Food and Trees for Africa and Greenpop reforest projects when they checkout. It is an informal but very simple way that they can help keep their purchases more carbon friendly.

How much of a role does social media and content creation play in the marketing of your business? How have you used these marketing techniques to grow your consumer base?

We primarily grow our customer base by word-of-mouth  that is, we aim to over-deliver all the time so that our customers help recruit new customers for us. As a result, our social media efforts are more to build our brand and give our customers a sense of community. We are a very content-centric organisation though  so much of the work we do is around educating our customers on how they can live greener lives and so we put a lot of resources into our blog and newsletters, which of course is shared via social media.

For local businesses, what's the easiest way of getting their products on your virtual shelves? What is the local organic supply and demand market like from your point of view as a business owner?

We ask any potential suppliers to send ingredient lists of their products to our purchasing department at az.oc.erutan-ot-lufhtiaf@sesahcrup. This is the most important part of the vetting we do of new suppliers. Once we are confident that the product is as safe as it claims to be, we will further the conversations with requests for samples, prices and terms. The local organic and natural industry is amazing  we see fantastic green innovation all the time and there is an abundance of products. The market is still quite a cottage industry but it is maturing with time.

What is the biggest challenge for you in running an online shopping store in SA?

I would say that the delivery infrastructure in the country is probably one of our biggest challenges. Although there are constant improvements and I do feel positive about the future, we would obviously love to be able to offer our customers more delivery options and faster lead times.

Is there any possibility of Faithful to Nature trying out a bricks and mortar store in the future?

We talk about this often but I dont think so. There are so many other future projects in the pipeline that we feel have stronger advantages over a brick and mortar business. We truly believe that e-commerce is the future, as it is so much more convenient and efficient.

What are your expansion plans, if any?

We are looking to be able to serve more of Africa. We are also constantly growing our catalogue with the dream of being the Green Amazon of Africa. We are also looking to get more involved in the manufacture of green products to ensure that the growing demand of products is met with a very healthy and consistent supply of ethical product options.

Robyn Smith is the founder and director of South African online organic and natural store, Faithful to Nature. She started the business in 2007 after returning from a stint in London where she worked as an innovation consultant, supporting top businesses across the world with insights and learnings on creating a sustainable innovation culture within their corporations.

For more on Faithful to Nature, go to www.faithful-to-nature.co.za.
KUWAIT CITY: Middle Eastern and North African nations can make a "net benefit" of $750bn if they achieve their set targets on the use of renewable energy, a senior official said on Monday, 4 April.

"Almost every country in the (MENA) region has a target for renewable energy from 5-15%," by 2030, Adnan Amin, director general of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) said.

"If we are able to meet these targets, we will have a net benefit of about $750bn for the power sector in the MENA region," Amin said on the sidelines of the sixth MENA (Middle East and North Africa) renewable energy conference.

Amin said the world is looking to double the current share of renewable energy of 16-17% in the global mix to 36% by 2030.

He said doubling the renewable energy share will help achieve the reduction by half of carbon emissions which would a pre-requisite for limiting global warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) as decided by the Paris climate change summit.

Amin told the conference that global investments in renewable energy rose by 22% last year to a record $330bn.

The cost of production of renewable energy has dropped significantly in the past few years, he said.

In the past five years, the cost of solar photovoltaic power generation dropped by 80%, Amin said.

"It is already competitive with natural gas. There can be further reduction in cost," he said.

But Bassam Fattouh, director of Oxford Energy Institute Studies, said the targets set by MENA countries are "very ambitious."

He said several challenges hamper renewable energy production in the region, like state monopoly of the power system, a lack of institutional capacity and conventional energy subsidies.

Nearly half of all new installed power generation capacity in 2014 was in renewables - 37% wind, a third solar and a quarter hydro, according to the International Energy Agency.

Renewables only account for about 20% of global electricity generation, and three-quarters of that is hydro.

Source: AFP
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Karen Womens Organization (KWO) Secretary Naw Knyaw Paw told the KIC that women need more legal protection for their rights and hopes that Nan Khin Htwe Myint will enact them. She said the KWO plans to meet with her in the future.

I want her to encourage women to participate more in peace building and (civil) societies.

Female youth leader Naw Eh Paw Wah from the Karen Affairs Committee wants the new chief minister to work towards changing negative views towards women in Burmese culture and religion. Often regarded as incapable, powerless or unsuitable, women just need the right opportunities to show their true capabilities, she said.

Nan Khin Htwe Myint and other cabinet members in the Karen State government took their seats in parliament on April 1.

The new chief minister told the KIC of plans in the works that will see to significant changes for residents in Karen State in the next 100 days.

Ba Maung Chain was the first ever Karen woman appointed to Karen State Minister in 1952 during the administration of the multi-party democratic government led by President U Nu.

Translated by Thida Linn

Edited by BNI Staff
Over the past year, the military has fought with at least six different armed groups in Shan State, the Shan Herald News Agency reported this week.

The day President Htin Kyaw took office, army troops exchanged fire with the Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA), a group that didnt even exist when former President Thein Sein became president in early 2011.

In recent months, tensions between Ethnic Armed Organizations (EAO) that signed the National Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) and those that have not signed have been increasing.

A worrying development since the signing of the NCA has been the increased division between signatory and non-signatory EAOs, said a report recently released by Burma Partnership (BP), an NGO led by longtime activist Khin Ohmar.

In the weeks leading up to the official handover of power to the National League for Democracy, the situation in northern Shan state appeared to have become even more precarious with the arrival of more military reinforcements, said the ethnic news agency.

Burma Partnership noted that the government reinforcements has put civilians under further stress.

The BP report said the number of IDPs [Indigenous Displaced Persons] as a result of armed conflict reportedly increased up to 662,000 in 2015, due to 70,000 fleeing war.

A national ceasefire agreement that ends all fighting between the government and ethnic armed groups and between ethnic groups themselves is at the top of the new governments agenda.
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This isn't necessarily a big surprise but the Huffington Post's DC bureau chief and senior politics editor are reporting that the Kochs would be delighted if Republicans stole the nomination from Donald Trump and handed it to Paul Ryan.

Koch believes Ryan would be a shoo-in at a contested convention, should the campaign get to that point. Though Kochs wealth gives him significant influence within the Republican Party, it does not necessarily translate into skill in political prognostication. Still, he and his brother David are fond of Ryan. As a source close to the brothers told The Huffington Post, they appreciate the agenda he has pursued as speaker, including opposition to tax extenders and heightened warnings against corporate welfare  positions that contrast with the admittedly vague portfolio pushed by Donald Trump.

This is perfectly in line with what we already know.

We already know Speaker of the House Paul Ryan has no intention of altering the party's agenda in Congress even if Donald Trump becomes the nominee because, in his Ryan's words, Trump does not represent true conservative values. Those values, we can infer, include an unquenchable thirst for cutting and ultimately dismantling Medicare and Social Security; programs Donald Trump has vowed to protect.

Paul Ryan has followed the Koch Brothers' agenda to the letter for most of a decade so why wouldn't they want him to be president? Trump is running on a populist and nationalist platform that is, in many ways, antithetical to the Koch's Randian agenda.

This almost makes it sound like Donald Trump is the good guy in this story, but he's not. They're all bad guys. Trump's populism stops at the water's edge of race and promotes the idea that minorities have deprived white people of the good, subsidized life they deserve and which they supposedly stand to lose if they fail to elect Trump. The story, the way Trump tells it, is that Democrats and even a soft wing of the Republican party have taken their money and handed it over to those people so that none is left for them.

The Koch Brothers, on the other hand, want to dismantle our entire system of governance and social support structures for all races, including white conservatives, so that all voters are completely dependent on, and subservient to, corporations and men like the Kochs who have fleeting, self-aggrandizing aspirations for altruism.

They've done so for their own selfish reasons, but white Republican primary voters have insofar rejected the Koch Brothers' and Paul Ryan's vision for America. They were told the system would be there for them when they need it but the party elites want to dismantle all of it.

This is a topic for another time, but I did not recognize the dangers of extreme populism prior to this election cycle.
CHICAGO  A month after voters overturned Michigan's controversial emergency management law, lawmakers last week passed new legislation that restores many of the state's powers over distressed local governments and features a new focus on Chapter 9 bankruptcy as an early option.

If signed into law by Gov. Rick Snyder as expected, the legislation will take effect in late March.

The law comes as Detroit teeters on the edge of insolvency, with the municipal finance world watching to see if it will be the largest American city to file for Chapter 9.

But despite the new law's emphasis on bankruptcy as an option to deal with a financial emergency, it will likely remain a last resort for Detroit and many other local governments struggling across the state, experts said.

Michigan has never had a local government declare bankruptcy, despite a recession that started in 2000 and battered cities and school districts across the state.

Under the state's old law for distressed governments, only an emergency manager could declare bankruptcy, with the governor's permission.

The new law moves the option up earlier in the process, giving the choice to the local government, with the governor's final approval. An emergency manager still has the power to ask for bankruptcy.

"Chapter 9 is on the table now," Richard Ciccarone, chief research officer at McDonnell Investment Management. "The chance of bankruptcy in Michigan today is greater than under the old law. But the state is trying to do what it can to keep Detroit and others out of bankruptcy."

Treasury spokesman Terry Stanton said in an email the state considers Chapter 9 as the "last option" but "one that cannot be dismissed."

Voters in November rejected the state's former emergency management law, Public Act 4, amid criticism that it gave the state too much control over troubled local governments.

After the election, legislators, the treasurer's office, and Snyder quickly introduced new a bill that would restore key powers while giving local governments more involvement at various points in the process. The Legislature passed Senate Bill 865 last week in a busy lame-duck session that was dominated by controversial right-to-work legislation.

The new emergency management law, which is called the Local Government and School District Fiscal Responsibility Act, restores powers that proponents consider key to resolving financial emergencies, particularly the ability to terminate or amend labor contracts. The new law exempts a local government from collective bargaining for five years after a financial emergency has been declared.

Under the new law, if a local unit is found to be in a state of financial emergency, the governing body has seven days to select one of four options: It can opt for a consent agreement with the state, an emergency manager, a so-called neutral evaluation process similar to California's Assembly Bill 506 process, or Chapter 9, with the governor's consent.

"Everybody is talking about the Chapter 9 provision, and if all else fails, that's an option," Louis "Bud" Schimmel, a Michigan public finance veteran who is currently emergency manager of the troubled city of Pontiac. "But I've taken what is probably the worst situation in Michigan, or darn close to it, and I've been able to pretty well straighten it around with an EM," he said. "This new act provides the tools you need, so I don't see bankruptcy happening really quick."

The law gives the local governing body and mayor the ability to vote out an emergency manager after one year and replace the manager with a mediator.

It expands to 18 the number of triggers for a state review and broadens to 30 the actions that an EM may take. Sixteen of the actions are new, according to an analysis of the bill by the independent House Fiscal Agency. It also outlines a specific exit strategy for governments emerging from state oversight.

The new law is similar to recent efforts by other states to manage troubled local governments, said Manny Grillo, chair of the financial restructuring practice at law firm Goodwin Procter LLP.

"Everyone is trying to figure out a way to either limit or clarify the rights of municipalities to file, because clearly it appears to some extent it's going to be inevitable," Grillo said.

If a local government chooses a neutral evaluation process, the evaluator must have either served as a U.S. bankruptcy judge or have Chapter 9 experience.

The evaluator will try to work with the parties to solve the problems, informing the local government of the "limited authority" of the Chapter 9 process, such as the inability to interfere with government property or 'cram down' debt payments, according to the fiscal analysis.

If the evaluator is not able to settle the differences  as has been the case in California  the local governing body would be required to adopt a resolution recommending a Chapter 9 filing.

"Sometimes you need an 'or else,' to get something done," said James Spiotto, a bankruptcy attorney at Chapman and Cutler LLP, referring to the requirement that a local government move toward Chapter 9 if the evaluation process fails. "You need some teeth in it."

For investors, the state's history of avoiding local bankruptcies and the strong state oversight in the new law are positive.

"From the investment perspective, there is a lot of comfort knowing that even though Michigan has gone through profound economic structural changes, they have a track record of keeping cities out of bankruptcy or causing bondholders to suffer losses," Ciccarone said. "The state program for EMs has kept some severely challenged communities that otherwise might have gone into bankruptcy out of bankruptcy, and that record is admirable."

The new law is also good for Detroit from an investor standpoint, said a recent Municipal Market Advisors weekly outlook report.

"Greater state oversight would be positive for the city as it would help to mitigate the political dysfunction that has plagued progress under the [financial stability agreement]," the MMA report said.

SB 865 passed the same week that the state launched a fresh review into Detroit's finances. The preliminary review was followed last Friday by state Treasurer Andy Dillon's announcement that a serious financial problem exists in the city and that he would recommend to Snyder a full investigation into the city's books. The move is widely seen as preparation for the appointment of an emergency manager.

Despite Detroit's problems, there are reasons that other big cities, like New York, Philadelphia, and Cleveland, have historically avoided the federal courts, Spiotto said.

"With a larger city, there are more dynamics and more volatility," he said. "Chapter 9 is complicated, time-consuming, and the results are not generally what they expect or what they desire. You don't get any additional financing, and in fact the process may increase your need for cash."

Grillo, like other muni experts, is waiting to see if Detroit is able to stabilize itself through the state's existing EM process or ultimately head into bankruptcy.

"The signs are certainly pointing that way," Grillo said of a Detroit bankruptcy. "A lot of people believe today that Detroit has to head down that path, otherwise it will be really hard to cut deals and get everybody to contribute something."
DALLAS  The time may be ripe to rethink Michigan's emergency management law after the Flint and Detroit Public Schools crises exposed flaws that critics say highlight how the law can fail citizens and ultimately hurt the state's credit.

The emergency manager program, in which the state governor appoints a manager with extensive powers over a troubled municipality or school district that meets certain criteria, was launched in 1990. It's the state's go-to method for dealing with local government financial trouble. So far, 11 Michigan municipalities and three school districts have had EMs appointed.

The intervention program has been a longtime target for critics who complain that it usurps local democracy. It's future is now in play amid scrutiny triggered by the public health crisis in Flint. Many municipal market participants see room for improvement.

"The challenge of an EM is the concentration of authority in one person, magnifying the impact of any mistakes they make," said Matt Fabian, a partner at Municipal Market Analytics. "In Michigan, because the EM is appointed by the state, their mission is a little unclear: is it to remediate the local government's finances for the benefit of local citizens or is it to reduce the state's potential costs related to that local government?

"Those two can be very different points and the Michigan law may need to clarify what exactly the EM is about," Fabian said.

On March 24 a task force appointed by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder to investigate the Flint water contamination crisis concluded that the state's EM law should be reviewed to identify measures to compensate for the loss of the checks and balances provided by the local elected government.

The task force's report said the EM law hamstrung Flint as it attempted to manage its water supply.

The crisis began after the city, under oversight of an EM appointed by Snyder, broke off from the Detroit Water and Sewerage System in 2014 when its contract to receive Detroit-supplied water ended.

The city began pulling water from the Flint River and intended to use it until later this year, when it links to a new Karegnondi Water Authority pipeline.

No one made sure the Flint River water was property treated, and it corroded pipes throughout the system, creating lead contamination that remained even after the city switched back to Detroit water.

"Emergency managers charged with financial reform often do not have, nor are they supported by, the necessary expertise to manage non-financial aspects of municipal government," the report said. The state should "consider alternatives to the current emergency manager approach."

Darnell Earley, who was appointed by Snyder as the Flint EM in October 2013, delayed the city's return to Detroit water. Snyder appointed Earley in 2015 to fix Detroit's fiscally distressed public school system. Earley quit DPS on Feb. 2, ahead of schedule, after he came under fire for his role in Flint's contamination crisis.

DPS has been under state oversight for seven years. The district's operating deficits ballooned over the last four years to an expected $335 million at the end of 2016 from $83 million in 2012, according to the Citizens Research Council of Michigan, a nonpartisan public affairs research organization.

"Despite the emergency manager's successes with Detroit's government, the city's schoolsalso run by emergency managershave not seen similar progress in wiping out debt, boosting academic progress, or repairing aging buildings, according a Pew Charitable Trust report.

Earley has been replaced with a temporary "transition manager"  Steven Rhodes, the retired bankruptcy court judge who presided over the city of Detroit's bankruptcy -- to run the schools' operations and finances, and an interim superintendent to supervise the district's academics as lawmakers work on a long-term restructuring of the system.

Snyder's decision to move away from emergency management in Detroit schools is effectively his "admission that the program has not worked in this instance," the Pew report stated.

Still, emergency management has had some success.

No cities remain under emergency managers, and Detroit is the only one to go bankrupt.

Frank Shafroth, the director of the Center for State and Local Leadership at George Mason University, labels Detroit a successes.

"The appointment of Kevyn Orr was invaluable to Detroit," Shafroth said of the city's emergency manager, because his actions put the city on a firmer financial footing, enabling future success.

Orr wasn't universally popular; Detroit citizens decried the loss of local control over their own city government, and bondholders suffered significant haircuts.

EMs are most successful when they can overcome criticism from local elected leaders by involving key community stakeholders in discussions about the difficult cuts needed to balance budgets, according to the Pew report.

Eric Scorsone, an expert on state and local government finance at Michigan State University, believes there is little chance that the law will be repealed but said there is likely to be some serious discussion about reform.

In 2012 Michigan voters repealed the emergency manager program in a referendum, but one month later Snyder and lawmakers re-adopted an intervention program.

To address critics who argued that the state was attempting an end-run around voters, new statute allowed local governments to choose among three new options, in addition to the appointment of an emergency manager who reports directly to the governor.

They are bankruptcy, mediation, or a consent agreement between the state and the city to permit local elected officials to balance their budget on their own. Wayne County, for example, is now trying to close a $52 million deficit under a consent agreement.

Cities that exit emergency management remain under the oversight of a receivership transition advisory board while executive powers are slowly restored to elected mayors and city councils. The goal of the RTAB is make sure the city stays on track to meet its fiscal milestones.

RTABs are now in place in Flint, Ecorse, Pontiac, Benton Harbor, Allen Park, Lincoln Park and Hamtramck.

Scorsone said the choice between the three options is not as straightforward as it looks. That's mostly because "it has to be agreed by the state and if the state doesn't agree with the choice they can veto it, which means that the state can basically force a city" under EM oversight by vetoing all other options.

The law needs to better address accountability, he said. Although emergency managers are accountable to the governor and can be impeached by the legislature, they aren't accountable to the local population, and that was clearly part of the problem in Flint.

"There needs to be more transparency about what these people are doing, what is the basis for the decisions that they are making," said Scorsone.

Scorsone said that approaches in other states, such as the installation of a financial control board as opposed to an individual, should be reviewed. With that approach, outside technical advisers with government finance experience would assist local elected officials in making their own decisions. They would not actually run the city.

He also thinks state lawmakers may need to consider reviewing mandates and policies that make it difficult to operate city governments. Michigan cut aid and restricted tax revenue options available to local governments.

"Maybe it would be easier to just change some of those policies that have nothing to do with emergency management and approach the fix as prevention rather than the cure," he said.

One of the criticisms of the law is the level of protection EMs have coupled with a lack of transparency behind the decisions they make. EM's have legal immunity, "so even if you do sue a city, the city pays, not the EM," Scorsone said. "It is a pretty powerful set of protections and on top of that Michigan has pretty strong governor immunity laws."

The rationale behind the powerful legal protection is because EMs are ultimately making tough choices during difficult times that will always come under scrutiny.

One lawsuit, filed in 2013 against Snyder and then-state Treasurer Andy Dillon, challenged the constitutionality of the law. Scorsone believes that more lawsuits over the EM law will follow.

"The Governor is open to reviewing the current emergency manager law and possibly suggesting improvements, such as identifying subject matter experts to assist managers in decisions involving projects that require specialized knowledge  such as public works department," said Snyder's deputy press secretary, Anna Heaton.

Meanwhile Flint's citizens, who have regained their elected representatives' control of the city though a special board retains some oversight powers, begin the long road to cleaning up its crisis. That means a critical need to find money to tackle the short-term health and long-term safety concerns of Flint residents.

Fabian believes that a reform of the law could have the unintended consequence of making Michigan bonds more attractive to investors.

"The market has come to equate Michigan's EM law with the state pushing local governments to default on their bonds. So any changes that weaken state control over the EM are a positive," he said.

With the cost of fixing Flint's problems largely laid at the state's doorstep, Snyder has requested $232 million in state funding for Flint but the costs could grow beyond that figure. Snyder has asked for $715 million to restructure Detroit Public Schools.

Moody's Investors Service and Standard & Poor's recently affirmed Michigan's ratings of Aa1 and AA-minus respectively. However Standard & Poor's lowered the outlook on Michigan's credit rating to stable from positive, citing the costs of dealing with the Flint crisis and the costs of restructuring Detroit's school district.

This, according to Shafroth, will translate into higher capital costs for both Flint and Michigan to complete the cleanup in Flint.
WASHINGTON  Most municipal bond analysts believe Chapter 9 bankruptcy is taboo for municipalities and should be avoided, according to an analyst survey by PNC Capital Markets LLC.

More than half of the analysts also said Chapter 9 bankruptcy for Puerto Rico would be unfair to holders of the commonwealth's bonds.

The PNC survey, which polled 146 municipal bond credit specialists, 73% of which were buy-side analysts, found that 94% of the participants believed the act of filing for Chapter 9 should be avoided and would make them at the least think twice about buying the issuer's credit.

Eighty percent of the respondents said the overall municipal market thinks the act of filing for bankruptcy is somewhat taboo and 57% said it would be unfair if Puerto Rico was able to access some type of Chapter 9 protection.

The survey found 76% of analysts considered the 2014 Detroit Chapter 9 decision to be unfair to bondholders.

Meanwhile, the Center for Individual Freedom has been stoking fears about a possible Super Chapter 9 solution allowing Puerto Rico to file for bankruptcy protection in a national campaign of television ads that warn viewers that this would lead financially troubled states like Illinois to take similar steps. The group has budgeted about $2 million for ads, according to one knowledgeable source.

CFIF started the campaign following the House Natural Resources Committee's March 29 release of draft legislation to help Puerto Rico. The draft bill would not extend bankruptcy protections to the commonwealth but would allow a federally imposed oversight board to file restructuring petitions in federal court on behalf of Puerto Rico if attempts to reach agreements through voluntary restructuring talks with its creditors are unsuccessful.

"As written, [the bill] is an even more dangerous version of the Obama administration's unprecedented Super Chapter 9 proposal, and amounts to a bailout of Puerto Rico on the backs of American savers and retirees," Timothy Lee, CFIF's senior vice president of legal and public affairs said on the group's website. "We want to make sure that every American knows of the disastrous and far-reaching implications of this bill."

But legal experts and muni market participants dispute CFIF's message, saying the U.S. Bankruptcy Code does not permit states to file for bankruptcy protection. It only allows them to authorize their municipalities to file for bankruptcy.

James Spiotto, a managing director at Chapman Strategic Advisors, said no state is asking to file for bankruptcy, as far as he knows, and states even cited their opposition to this in 2011 statements from the National Governors Association and the National Conference of State Legislatures. Additionally, states are dual sovereigns under the Constitution while territories are not, leaving states with more control over their own government, affairs and revenues than territories.

"This resorting to the easy way, namely, a fresh start through a bankruptcy proceeding, would be more costly and less beneficial for the states than other possible solutions," Spiotto said.

PNC in its survey also asked analysts about the top five issues and trends currently facing the municipal market and they overwhelmingly said public pensions were one of the five, with 93% including it on their list.

The next most popular addition to the list was declining investor trust in an issuer's willingness to pay, which 41% of analysts included. While 84% of survey respondents said they have a "high" or "moderate" level of trust toward state and local governments' willingness to honor their obligations, 79% said that level of trust is "lower" or "much lower" than it was five years ago.

Chapter 9 proliferation, infrastructure, and Puerto Rico rounded out the rest of the consensus top five list with 38%, 36%, and 35% of analysts including them, respectively.

Other frequently cited issues were disclosure, the threat to tax exemption, and level of liquidity, each of which were included in over 30% of the surveyed analysts' lists.

The survey also asked respondents to provide insight on their concerns about financially troubled states like Illinois and Pennsylvania. They were asked to assess the general state support of local governments. Ninety-six percent of those surveyed have a "moderate" or "higher" level of concern about Illinois and Pennsylvania's budget delays and 67% said they are questioning those states' abilities to repair their fiscal conditions.

However, 88% said they believe states at least moderately support local governments.
Botswana is among the top 20 countries in Africa capable of providing electricity on a permanent basis to a larger section of its citizens, a report has revealed.

According to the latest survey findings from Afrobarometer released last week, Botswana has been ranked 12th and third in Africa and the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) region respectively, where citizens access electricity on permanent basis. In the SADC, top on the list is Swaziland, followed by South Africa while Zimbabwe is fourth and Namibia comes fifth.

The report titled Off-grid or off-on: Lack of access, unreliable electricity supply still plague majority of Africans, said Mauritius and Egypt are rated first and second respectively with a 100 percent reach of electricity, while Tunisia (99 percent), Algeria (99 percent), Cape Verde (98 percent), Swaziland (97 percent, South Africa (95 percent), Morocco (94 percent), Cameron (93 percent) Sao Tome and principle (90 percent), Nigeria (90 percent), Botswana 89 percent, Ghana (85 percent),Gabon (83 percent) , Senegal (72 percent), Sudan (65 percent), Zimbabwe (62 percent) and Namibia (62 percent) make the list.





The survey is based on nearly 54 000 interviews in 36 African countries in 2014/205. The Afrobarometer report concludes that more than a century (1879) after Thomas Edison invented the light bulb a majority of African countries are still in the dark, either intermittently or constantly. While North African countries are able to provide reliable electricity for most or all their citizens, they are the exception, particularly when it comes to serving rural and poor populations, according the report. The report stated that in some countries, the electric grid reaches only a fraction of the population, in others, an extensive grid is undermined by inadequate supply and poor service.

While more Africans live within reach of an electric grid than a decade ago, only four in 10 enjoy a reliable power supply, reads part of the survey findings. Afrobarometer is a pan-African, non-partisan research network that conducts public attitude surveys on democracy, governance, economic conditions and related issues across more than 30 countries in Africa. Botswanas power situation is likely to further improve after the government put in place a number of power projects to increase power generation. Minerals, energy and water resources minister Kitso Mokaila recently told journalists that at least three units from the 120 MW Morupule A power station will return to work close to four years after the power plant was mothballed.One unit is expected to be up and running by August this year and the two others three months later.

The minister said the other units are expected to be running in 2017. Mokaile said there has been also improvement of power provision at Morupule B. The government availed about P3, 43 billion towards increasing power generation and increasing water availability in the country in its 2016/17 budget. Major energy infrastructure projects included Morupule A Power Station rehabilitation at P135 million, North-West Electricity Transmission Grid at P225 million and Rakola sub-station at P257 million.
Government has raked in close to P300 million from beers drinkers who seem unmoved by the introduction of the Alcohol Levy, which has made drinking beer highly discretionary due to its prohibitively high price. The Levy was introduced in 2008 to among others curb alcohol abuse.

The latest information on the contribution of the Levy towards government coffers is contained in the recent Botswana Unified Revenue Services (BURS) for the year to March 2015. According to the report, P298, 731 million was collected under the Levy on alcohol beverages fund order during the 2014/15 financial year. During the period under review, Botswana Unified Revenue Service (BURS) collected P475.4 million in levies and others on behalf of government departments and agencies. BURS Commissioner General Ken Morris says most of the collections were raised from the Alcohol Levy, which contributed 62.8 percent, an increase from P245, 691 during the previous financial year.

The money is collected by BURS, routed through the Accountant General, who then disburses the funds to respective beneficiaries in the proportions stated above. The Road Transport Permit fees followed at 22.4 percent while other levies each contributed less than 10 percent of total collections. Atleast 587 detentions and 551 seizures were made. Goods detained during the year under review were mainly assorted clothing materials, anointing water, radios, cigarettes and tobacco leaves, agricultural products, books, fishing nets, blankets and various food items and kitchenware products.





The main reasons for seizing goods were because of non-declaration, failure to produce proper clearance documents, failure to produce original goods invoices, abandoned goods and ex-detentions. According to Morris the main focus during the 2014/15 financial year was on the procurement of an electronic document and records management system for improving efficiency in the timely retrieval of records and information for decision making. He says the business case for the procurement of the system has been approved and the tender will be floated during the next financial year. The system, which is estimated to cost P13, 5 million will be installed in phases during the 2015/15 and 2016/17 financial years.

He says that BURS still experience a lack of proper office space, accommodation, and infrastructure at some of the service centres, regional officers and border posts. There are also administrative and logistical problems relating to issues of maintenance of the border post facilities, he says. Meanwhile, there was a reduction of 28 percent on the old arrears.
Botswana Building Society (BBS) Managing Director, Pius Molefe has been reported to the police for alleged perjury. Molefe allegedly did not tell the truth while under oath in the over P40 million protracted legal battle between the society and Zambian investor, Baldwin Nchite.

Southern African Furniture Manufacturing Company (PTY) Ltd (SAFCO) is suing BBS for P40, 550, 000.00 for loss of business due to unlawful auctioning of the SAFCOs immovable and movable properties. SAFCO represented by Vandecasteele Attorneys want the money to be paid with a 10 percent interest per annum from the date of the judgement to date of full and final payment.

According a police report seen by this publication, Molefe in his affidavit filed with the court was not telling the truth when he said the prescriptive period for an action for damages is three (3) years and that the alleged wrong upon which the claim for damages is based came to the knowledge of SAFCO in May 2005.





Another claim by Molefe that the police have been requested to ask him for proof is when he said in his affidavit that, much as SAFCO was registered owner of the properties, some of which on its own account it disowns, the society had a real right over same to the extent that they were hypothecated in the societys favour. In terms of the loan agreement, and subsequently the judgement of court, it was lawful to attach and execute either and/or both moveable and immoveable property to liquidate and discharge the judgement.

A police statement by Nchite and seen by this publication therefore calls on the Botswana Police to ask Mr Molefe to provide proof of the Deed of Hypothecation. Nchite confirmed that he did report the matter to the police but declined to comment further on the matter.

Detective Sergeant Marapo of CID who is said to be handling the case could not be reached as his mobile rang unanswered at press time after he requested to be called later on.Speaking in an interview BBS's spokesperson Sipho Showa said "we are not aware of that (police report). What we know is that the isue that deals with hypothecation and prescription is part of the case filed before court by Nchite and that is where he wil have to argue about those isues."
There are many untold stories about African women who have lived extraordinary lives of national service. One of those stories can be found right here at home. It is the beautiful story of none other than Dr Gaositwe Keagakwa Tibe Chiepe.

Her granddaughter, Moduduetso Lecoge, wanted to be the first to finally bring her story to the public, by writing about it and acting it out. The play will premiere at this years Maitisong Festival. The play promises to give a glimpse into the life of Mma Chiepe and her many accomplishments, something that has never been done before despite the fact that she has achieved a lot of milestones.

The play premieres at the Moving Space (at Maru-a-Pula School) on April 14th at 1900hrs, and on April 15th and 16th of April both at 1730hrs. According to a press release penned by Lecoge, A Woman of Many Firsts chronicles the life of Dr G.K.T Chiepe from her childhood as a young Motswana girl growing up in Serowe, the same village where Botswanas founding President Sir Seretse Khama and his family originates from. It tracks her education path through secondary school at the prestigious Tigerkloof College in South Africa during apartheid era.





Thereafter, with the help of the Government of Botswanas (then Bechuanaland Protectorate) scholarship, she proceeded to Fort Hare University where she became the first black African female graduate with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Zoology and Botany. Furthermore, she went to read for her Masters Degree at the University of Bristol in the UK in the 1950s. She was the first Motswana female to attain a Masters degree.For those who might not know about Dr G.K.T Chiepes illustrious career in education and administration, her diplomatic service and politics spans over five decades from 1948 to 1999.

She was the first Motswana female Education Officer during her time. She climbed the ranks until she became the first female Director of Education. Then she later became the first female African High Commissioner to the United Kingdom after Botswanas independence. For a long time, Dr. Chiepe was the only female in the Botswana Cabinet; first as a specially elected Member of Parliament and later an elected Member of Parliament for Serowe South, says the release. During her life, she achieved a lot of firsts as a young girl, as a working woman and in politics, hence the title of the play A Woman of Many Firsts.

Botswana needs to know a bit more about this icon. She has created a legacy by being grounded on selflessness, respect, tenacity and hard work, characteristics of a typical Motswana. She will go down in the annals of history as one of Botswanas pioneers, championing unparalleled quality education for every Motswana child, says the press release. Her legacy and character must live on and be emulated by young women in Botswana and Africa to always become the best that they can be.

As Botswana celebrates her 50th anniversary of independence, it is also fitting that a story of the daughter of the soil is told, the release says.

For more information about this epic production contact Lecoge on 74049239 or [email protected]


Air Chief Marshal K A Gunatilleke. A Sri Lanka MoD photo

NEW DELHI (PTI): Chief of Defence Staff of Sri Lanka Air Chief Marshal Kolitha Aravinda Gunatilleke arrived in New Delhi on Monday on a four-day visit aimed at deepening bilateral ties in the sector.



Gunatilleke, who was given a guard of honour, met Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar at his South Block office.



He also met with his counterpart in IAF Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha and the Navy chief.



The top Lankan military official also paid tribute to the martyrs after laying wreath at Amar Jawan Jyoti, India Gate.



He will also meet National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.



Gunatilleke will visit the Western Naval Command in Mumbai on Tuesday.



The South Asian neighbours are aiming to build closer cooperation in maritime domain in the Indian Ocean region, besides increasing cooperation in other military areas like training among others.




USS Blue Ridge.

MUMBAI (PTI): USS Blue Ridge (LCC-19), the lead ship of the two Blue Ridge class command ships of the United States Navy and the command ship of the United States Seventh Fleet, is on a visit to Mumbai.



The warship, whose primary role is to provide command, control, communications, computers, and intelligence support to the commander and staff of the United States Seventh Fleet, arrived in Mumbai on Sunday.



It is currently forward-deployed to US Navy Fleet Activities, Yokosuka, in Japan and is the third Navy ship named after the Blue Ridge Mountains in the Appalachian Mountains of the eastern USA.



Blue Ridge is the oldest deployable warship of the US Navy, an official on board the warship told a group of visiting media persons on Monday.



The warship, which has been operational for the last around 40 years, is expected to remain in service for 20 more years after a major repair and overhaul, he said.



The warship has accommodation for over 250 officers, 1200 enlisted men and 100 enlisted women, he said.



With an ability to track land, sea and air movements throughout the region, the warship is among the most technologically advanced ships in the world, the official added.


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REGINA - The company that operates the largest hog production company in Saskatchewan has been fined $98,000 in the death of a worker.

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This article was published 05/04/2016 (2392 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Brandon University president Gervan Fearon admitted that use of behavioural contract was "a mistake."

The statement comes after a first-year student was forced to sign the document  which has been described as nothing more than a gag order that winds up disciplining the complainant  after reporting shed been sexually assaulted in a residence.

"We learn from errors and we go forward with improvements," said Fearon, who acknowledged repeatedly during a nearly hour-long press conference on Tuesday that it was "not appropriate" or "helpful to the survivors."

Tim Smith / Brandon Sun Brandon University President Dr. Gervan Fearon, flanked by BU's acting vice-president of academic services Steve Robinson, chief human resources officer Sharon Hooper and Brandon University Students' Union president Aaron Thompson, addresses students and members of the media regarding the university's stance on sexual assault on Tuesday following complaints about how the university treats victims in sexual assault cases.

Fearon said that despite the universitys best intentions, the contract was originally meant to protect victims from harassment, but he has since condemned their use as a way to prevent survivors of sexual assault from speaking out.

"Were listening to our students  and we are taking action," said Fearon, to a packed room of students at Clark Hall. "Where mistakes are made, we address them."

The behavioural contract was revealed through a website called We Believe Survivors, created by a group of students. In addition to supplying a list of resources for assault victims, the site invites stories of sexual assaults on campus, one of which included a copy of the contract.

We had heard that this contract may exist so we created  the online platform for students to reach out with their anonymity being upheld  and they came forward wanting to share that contract with us, said Stefon Irvine, one of the sites creators.

The Brandon Sun is not identifying the woman or publishing details about the incident that may identify her or the alleged offender.

The signee is required to not discuss the event which happened  between you and the male student with anyone other than a counsellor. It threatens expulsion or suspension from university if she breaches the agreement.

According to this contract, survivors of violence on campus are being told what to do and who to speak to about their experiences, said Corinne Mason, a BU gender and womens studies professor.

By this letter, one could not even call the sexual assault crisis line at Klinic (a community health centre that provides medical care, counselling and education) without risking suspension or expulsion.

This letter was obviously written without much knowledge of sexual assault, and without survivors needs in mind.

The day after the alleged assault, the woman complained to a BU student services employee. At first, she said, the only action the university took was to move her to a new room.

Brandon police Sgt. Bill Brown confirmed that police investigated a complaint of a sexual assault on campus in the fall of 2015. In that case, both parties were interviewed, a Crown attorney was spoken to and no charges were laid.

The Brandon Police Service does not discuss the identity of compainants of investigations.

On Monday, Tom Brophy, BUs registrar and associate vice-president of student services and enrolment management, said that the university had only one report of sexual assault in the last six years on its campus.

The woman said she has had several mental breakdowns following the incident.

I was drowning in paranoia. Every guy I saw that had features like (the alleged assaulter), the hair colour of that person  it was driving me nuts, she said.

On Monday, BU administration posted a statement in the comments of a post on a Brandon University Students Union Facebook page, admitting that the use of behavioural contracts needs to be reviewed.

Brophy said the details in such a contract vary based on the situation for which its required.

Since he started at BU in September 2013, Brophy has used two behavioural contracts, one of which involved a sexual assault allegation. Both were signed.

Many Canadian universities use similar contracts, Brophy said.

Brock University, in St. Catharines, Ont., and the University of Victoria have come under criticism for attempts at silencing sexual assault victims.

Originally these discussions were held informally between staff members and students and then students would go out and breach it again  so basically its a way of putting in writing a common understanding of whats agreed to from a behavioural perspective, Brophy said.

Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun Brandon University student Stefon Irvine is part of a group of students who have created We Believe Survivors, a website where sexual assault victims can submit their experience anonymously as well as access information about getting help.

He also confirmed that for the six years before this fall, Brandon University had no reports of sexual assault on its campus.

But that doesnt mean they dont occur, said Carissa Taylor, who served as BUSU president during the 2012-13 school year.

During her term, Taylor said BU faculty came to BUSU to help spread the word among students about specific, recurring instances of sexual assault.

These assaults had happened to Brandon University students, and the (faculty) members felt that we were their only form of recourse to protect students after being told by administration that they could not publicly act on disclosures, she said in an interview Monday.

The lack of reporting and people believing that were not as welcoming to reporting or creating a welcoming environment for students to report sexual assaults  that certainly would reduce the instances, which is why we take this very seriously, Brophy said.

The original complainant said shes considering not returning to BU next year, but that shes happy by the efforts of her peers in creating the website.

Currently, the schools response to sexual violence falls under the Respectful Environment Policy, a 23-page document last updated in August 2011.

BUs Facebook statement said the school is in the process of forming a committee on sexual assault, violence and harassment that will review all university policies and protocols relating to sexual assault, sexual violence, and sexual harassment.

The committees recommendation will be presented to students next fall.

The result will be a new, stand-alone formal BU policy addressing sexual assault, sexual violence and sexual harassment, including training and education that is aimed at prevention, the statement reads.

Bill 3, which seeks to mandate similar policy across Manitoba universities, made it to first reading in the legislature last year, but wasnt proceeded with.

Ive been a student for five years and every single year theyve been working on drafting a sexual assault policy and have failed, Irvine said.

Its great they are saying, We want to sit down and we want lots of student representation, we want to create this, but thats been the same narrative for the last five years, so whats different now?

Irvine and the We Believe Survivors group is organizing a visual display dubbed Airing BUs Dirty Laundry on Wednesday on the BU campus.

They hope it will raise awareness about the problems that students face in reporting sexual assaults.

 tbateman@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @tbatemann
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This article was published 04/04/2016 (2393 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

VANCOUVER  A Mexican-born construction worker says he hung his native countrys flag high above Vancouver to remind Donald Trump that his compatriots built a 63-storey tower that carries the billionaires name.

Diego Reyna has drawn the attention of international media after hanging a Mexican flag atop the Trump International Hotel and Tower over the weekend and recording a 43-second video that said the building wouldnt exist without immigrants.

In the video he says Mexicans performed everything from drywall to concrete finishing on the project.

This building is standing here today thanks to us, to our work and our labour, he says. Theres a little present for Mr. Trump, so every time you judge us you can think who is building your towers.

The Holborn Group of Companies, the Vancouver developer behind the project, could not be reached for comment.

During his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, Trump has been criticized after suggesting some Mexicans entering the U.S. are murderers and rapists.

Reyna, who wasnt available for comment on Monday, said in a separate Facebook post that Mexicans didnt steal or rape but just did the best work they possibly could.

Your tower here in Vancouver is premium quality, and we were a crucial part of it, not just Mexicans but immigrants as a whole, like your ancestors were, he said.

The insults you have said about us have not changed our work ethics.

This isnt the first time the building has been at the centre of a Trump backlash.

In December, Mayor Gregor Robertson sent a letter urging the developer to drop Trumps name from the tower, writing that Vancouver is known for diversity, equality and freedom from discrimination.

He referenced a petition signed by more than 50,000 people asking that the U.S. businessmans name be removed from the tower following the Republican hopefuls call to ban Muslims from entering the United States.

The Holborn Group did not respond to a request for comment on the mayors comments at the time.

British Columbia Premier Christy Clark said then that she agrees Trumps name doesnt represent Vancouver, but that ultimately the city and the developer should make the decision.

Trump visited the city in 2013 to help announce the $360-million project. The Trump Organization said it was lending its brand power and operating the tower, but that the family would not be investing in the development.

When it is completed, the building will become the second Trump International Hotel and Tower in Canada after the one in Toronto.
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VANCOUVER - CIBC's chief executive says the bank has been actively looking at acquisition opportunities that would allow it to expand into the United States.

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CALGARY  Canadas energy watchdog is ordering pipeline companies to post their emergency response plans online as part of a broader effort to build public trust.

The National Energy Board believes its the first regulator in North America to have that requirement. Companies must have their emergency procedures manuals available on their websites by the end of September, according to the order issued Tuesday.

Some information may be excluded, such as personal information and details that may jeopardize security or harm traditional indigenous sites or at-risk species.

Board chairman Peter Watson has been travelling the country discussing the role of a regulator that at one time flew under the radar of most Canadians.

Based on the feedback he got, Watson said there is a growing public appetite for transparency as the debate intensifies over pipelines and the development of the oil and gas they carry.

Weve always reviewed manuals, weve always reviewed companies emergency management systems to make sure theyre robust, but Canadians are now saying they want more information and were just acting on what Canadians are telling us, Watson said in an interview in the NEBs downtown Calgary office.

This is an example where I felt quite strongly that we could put more information out about companies emergency response plans and help people understand whats at play and how these things work. And that will, I think, give them more confidence that we know what were doing around these systems for emergency response.

The order applies to Kinder Morgans existing Trans Mountain pipeline, which ships 300,000 barrels a day of various petroleum products from Alberta to the B.C. Lower Mainland.

Kinder Morgan is aiming to triple the capacity of the line. The NEB has wrapped up hearings into that contentious project and Ottawas final decision is expected in December.

If the expansion is approved, and the project goes ahead, they will then need to update their (emergency response) plan for the expansion project, said Watson.

The NEB completed public consultations last summer about how emergency response information should be handled. It received 35 submissions, hearing from industry, first responder groups, municipal governments and others.

Environmental advocates welcomed the move, but said there are lingering concerns.

Sven Biggs, with ForestEthics, called the order a step in the right direction, but said there are much bigger problems at the NEB.

Biggs referred to a scathing audit by the federal environment commissioner in January that found the board had failed to properly track pipeline approval conditions and follow up on compliance problems.

Adam Scott, with Environmental Defence said: I dont think its going to solve all of their problems, but I think its a really positive step.

I think it will be very interesting to see what the companies post.

In particular, Scott said hes not optimistic companies will have adequate emergency response plans to clean up tarry oilsands bitumen thats been diluted with less viscous petroleum products.

Chris Bloomer, president and CEO of the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association, called the order a proactive step on the part of the regulator and said it strikes the right balance.

The public needs to know some of these things, he said.

But they also have to be mindful that there are some security aspects of those plans that need to remain in the hands of the first responders and not (be) generally out there in the public.

Follow @LaurenKrugel on Twitter.
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This article was published 05/04/2016 (2392 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

(Special)  Donald Trumps victories in recent U.S. primaries could have tax repercussions for Canadians based on comments the Republican Party candidate has made.

During the months-long campaign the billionaire entrepreneur has made a number of pledges regarding estate tax, taxation of low income earners and regulations regarding visas, all of which could have an impact on Canadians. Many Americans have said in news reports and on social media that they would leave the United States and come to Canada to escape the countrys political climate should Trump become President.

Whatever happens in the U.S. we in Canada tend to get tarred with the same brush, which may not necessarily be a bad thing, says Carol Bezaire, vice president of tax and estate planning with Mackenzie Investments.

For example, Trump is talking in his platform about getting rid of the U.S. estate, or death tax. This could be good news for Canadians who own property in the U.S. and hold U.S. bonds and stocks in their portfolio. If the net worth of those individuals worldwide exceeds $5.45 million (U.S.) their U.S. situs (legally situated) property and investments in their estate is currently subject to U.S. estate tax up to the top tax rate of 45 per cent. If Trump indeed gets rid of this tax there will be a lot more less-worried Canadians around, Bezaire says.

Trump is promising to eliminate income tax on U.S. workers who earn less than $25,000 a year. This could be an advantage for Canadians who work in border cities like Windsor/Detroit but who live in Canada. Under current Canadian income tax rules that do not tax income that is not taxable in the U.S. the first $25,000 in income could be tax free.

Trumps platform also calls for getting rid of many deductions that Canadians living in the U.S. now enjoy. He wants to lower the tax rate for the middle class and this could mean disallowing some deductions to Canadians such as the interest deduction on their vacation property. He also may have new property taxes, Bezaire says.

Trump also is proposing to tighten up on visa offenders, which could have an impact on Canadians.

U.S. tax implications for Canadians depends on how many days they spend in the United States per year. The U.S. Internal Revenue Service has a complicated way of conducting the substantial presence test which determines whether you have been in the U.S. long enough to be considered a U.S. resident for tax purposes.

The formula works this way. Each day in the U.S. in the current calendar year counts as one day; each day in the U.S. in the prior year counts as one-third of a day; and each day in the U.S. in the year before that counts as one-sixth of a day. If the sum of those three numbers totals 183 or more, the IRS may insist you file a U.S. tax return.

Spending too much time in the U.S. also can affect your eligibility to receive benefits here in Canada such as OHIP.

He (Trump) really wants to have more scrutiny over who is coming across the border and not having too many non-American citizens in the country, Bezaire says. You have to watch your timing because there can be tax and financial implications on both sides of the border.

News reports and comments on social media show that many Americans say they would move up to Canada if Trump is elected President.

Canada is one of the few countries that allows people from foreign countries such as the U.S. and United Kingdom to transfer their registered retirement plans into an RRSP here without using up its contribution room. This can only be tax effective for Americans if they relinquish their U.S. citizenship. However, there is a departure tax in the U.S. for those renouncing their U.S. citizenship and U.S. citizens still have to file a U.S. return if they remain a U.S. citizen while in Canada.

Our consultants are getting a lot more inquiries and interest from Americans about moving up here because they feel U.S. politics is getting worrisome and theyre not sure they could stand the political climate there if Trump became President, Bezaire says. If he does there likely will be tax implications on both sides of the U.S./Canada border.

Talbot Boggs is a Toronto-based business communications professional who has worked with national news organizations, magazines and corporations in the finance, retail, manufacturing and other industrial sectors.

Copyright 2016 Talbot Boggs
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TORONTO  Premier Kathleen Wynne took another step Tuesday to try to stop complaints about the ways Ontario Liberals solicit donations, announcing she was cancelling all her private fundraising events.

I think we have to lead by example, and thats why Ive made the decision to immediately cancel upcoming private fundraisers that I attend, Wynne said during question period. Ive also asked the same of my ministers.

Wynne has been scrambling to defuse rising criticism about fundraising quotas of up to $500,000 each for Liberal cabinet ministers, and started by promising new legislation to ban corporate and union donations to political parties.

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne delivers her speech during a signing ceremony at the COP21, the United Nations Climate Change Conference, Monday, Dec. 7, 2015 in Le Bourget, north of Paris. Wynne is cancelling her future fundraising events and calling on the Opposition to do the same.Her call comes one week after Ontario's Liberals raised $2.5 million at a Toronto dinner. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Christophe Ena

I think its important that we get this right, she said. Weve moved the introduction of the legislation up from the fall to the spring so that we can have a good opportunity for the committee to talk to people around the province.

However, Wynnes office said the Liberals would continue to hold fundraising events that have been publicly advertised, but cabinet ministers would no longer try to solicit donations from groups looking to do business with their ministry.

The Progressive Conservatives went on the attack again Tuesday, accusing the Liberals of letting lobbyists who want government business buy access to cabinet ministers at expensive fundraising dinners and receptions.

What is a private fundraiser? Is the Liberal version of a private fundraiser where they negotiate contracts, the terms or the size of contracts, asked PC Leader Patrick Brown.

I was shocked to learn about all the secretive, private fundraising theyre doing.

Brown told the legislature that seven renewable energy companies who donated $255,000 to the Liberal Party were all given government contracts.

All seven of those companies were awarded contracts from the minister of energy a couple of weeks ago _ for energy we dont even need, he said.

Would all of those contracts have been approved if it wasnt for a quarter of a million dollars in donations to the Liberal Party?

The Liberals blurred all ethical lines between the government and the party with their fundraising activities, added Brown.

Wynnes office said last weeks Heritage Dinner in Toronto, which raised $2.5 million for the Liberal Party, was advertised as a public event and would not have been cancelled under the premiers new directive.

Its a little bit rich to announce it after one of the largest fundraisers weve ever seen, after theyve essentially milked everyone that the province does business with, said Brown.

The fundamental problem here, I cant stress this enough, is that ministers should not be fundraising off stakeholders within their departments.

Brown also dismissed Liberal calls to cancel his planned fundraisers.

We in the Opposition are not awarding contracts. It is the government, he said.

The crux of the problem is that donors are feeling that to have the ear of the government that any group has to donate to the Liberal Party.

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath again pressed Wynne to have Ontarios chief electoral officers lead the review of political fundraising rules.

I believe that the premier putting herself in charge of making the rules that govern political campaigns is just wrong, Horwath told the legislature.

Using the governments majority to force through changes on how our democracy is financed will only lead to more public cynicism.

Wynne has said there will be a transition period for the legislation that bans corporate and union donations and imposes new limits on personal contributions to political parties, so all the changes wont be in effect for the next election in 2018.

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TORONTO  Jean-Marc Vallee cant help but offer up his two cents as a photographer sets up a light for a quick photo shoot before an interview.

Its too close, too bright and too hot, the Quebec director says.

This is not the way he likes to shoot, Vallee adds wearily as a long day of media interviews takes place at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Director Jean-Marc Vallee is pictured in a Toronto hotel room as he promotes "Demolition " during the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival on Sunday, Sept. 13, 2015. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

And its certainly not the way he approached his latest film, Demolition.

Jake Gyllenhaal stars as a young widower who is unable to express his grief and spirals into increasingly erratic and destructive behaviour.

As with Vallees previous films Wild, Dallas Buyers Club and Cafe de Flore, this emotion-laden drama featured a loose production style that eschewed lights, makeup and blocking.

Its not (a situation where) the actor has the feel of the light of a spotlight  like (the light) that was so bright earlier for the picture  so when you have this on set, the actors they know, they feel the light and now they want to be lit, he said during a round of interviews last September.

Now, when you dont have this, they dont get self-conscious, they dont have to hit a mark and it doesnt put style on top. Style doesnt matter. Its not about style, its about storytelling and characters and emotion.

Its an approach that has established Vallee as a master of drawing out raw, emotional performances not to mention Academy Awards attention  from his actors.

That includes the Oscar-winning turns from Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto in Dallas Buyers Club, and Oscar nominations for Reese Witherspoon and Laura Dern for their work in Wild.

This time, Vallee found a willing partner in Gyllenhaal, who plays the emotionally stunted Davis, and co-star Naomi Watts, as a single mom who is gradually drawn into his grief-stricken orbit.

Watts said she embraced Vallees unconventional approach, which included using only natural light sources during filming and virtually no makeup or hair-styling.

Theres really no vanity involved. Once you let go of that, the actors can be free, Watts said at the festival, adding that every day youd go to work and never know what was going to happen.

Ideas just flow out of him. You can be doing a scene and if he doesnt like it hell take a break. For instance, there was a scene we were shooting on a bench in Coney Island and he just wasnt feeling it. So he said, Get up, climb the fence and run down the beach. Jake and I both started running down and the birds flew in and suddenly it started coming to him because it felt more poetic. Then we came back and did the scene and it worked better. There was something really refreshing about that.

Not that its easy.

Vallee called Demolition especially tough to make, although it was moving for him personally.

Much of it hung on Gyllenhaal, and he described their relationship as one of great partners, great friends.

His face has a quality, he has an intelligence, a sadness, a subtle sadness, and a goodness. And so that helps for Daviss character. And then he starts to act. And then you go, Wow, so natural. This is the kind of actor that explores and tries some stuff totally different from one thing to the other. Its challenging and its beautiful to watch and to witness.

Vallee traces his distinct style to Cafe de Flore, when he worked with several child actors with Down syndrome and had to improvise new ways of coaxing out authentic performances.

I asked everyone to get out of the set and I asked the (cinematographer) not to use light and no reflectors and no bounce and nothing, just a set. And lets even sometimes hide the camera, put it outside through a window, said Vallee, who teams with Witherspoon and Dern again for the HBO limited series Big Little Lies.

We did it on Dallas because it helped us with the budget we had, that was so small. And then I kept doing it, shooting handheld, he continued.

That gives (the actors) a space of freedom and a feeling of freedom and they can use the space however they want.

Demolition opens Friday.

 With files from David Friend
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Lace up your dancing shoes  the Brandon Dance Ensemble will be hosting a father-daughter dance for girls ages four to 12 on Saturday from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.

With the latest craze of mother-daughter tea parties and princess parties, the ensemble has decided to give dads a chance to spend some quality time with their daughters, too.

As far as we know, this is the first event of its kind in Brandon, or at least the first in decades, says Brandon Dance Ensemble board president Naomi Forman. These dances are very popular in the U.S. but not as common in Canada.

Submitted Members of the Brandon Dance Ensemble pose in their Blue Airline outfits last year. The ensembles father-daughter dance on April 9 promises to be loads of fun.

Ensemble member Victoria Rust and her dad, Gord, attended a number of father-daughter dances together in Winnipeg when Victoria was younger.

I loved having the opportunity to dress up and be a princess. If I hadnt turned 13, Id still be going today! says the 18-year-old dancer.

I have fantastic memories of those dances that Victoria and I will share for a lifetime, Gord says. Its a wonderful way for fathers and daughters to spend time together and a great opportunity to support a worthy cause.

Proceeds from the event will support the Brandon Dance Ensemble, a non-profit charitable organization whose mandate is to spread the joy of dance to the greater Westman community.

Kent Forman, president of event sponsor Forman Auto Centre, will be attending with daughters Ava and Anne.

Im excited, says 10-year-old Anne. My dad is not sure what to think, but I think Ill have a great time.

The afternoon promises to be memorable, with professionals on hand to teach the foxtrot, the waltz and the jive to dads and daughters.

Tickets are $25 for two, and $5 for each additional daughter. Grandpas are welcome to attend. Come as you are, whether that is jeans or frilly dresses. Coffee, tea and cookies will be served at no extra charge.

The event will be held at the Brandon School of Dance, 126 10th St. For information or to purchase tickets, contact Michelle at mjhood@mymts.net or call 204-573-4570.

 Submitted
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EDMONTON  Alberta is closing its arms-length environmental monitoring agency and moving its work back to the government after a critical report called the group a failed experiment.

Government is responsible for government business, including monitoring, which has an effect on public health and public safety, Environment Minister Shannon Phillips said Tuesday.

Phillips pointed to the report done for her office that painted the Alberta Environmental Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting Agency as needlessly expensive, poorly co-ordinated and split by bureaucratic infighting.

Alberta Minister of Environment and Parks Shannon Phillips responds to a questions during a discussion on the environment at the Progress summit in Ottawa, Friday April 1, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

It is hard to escape the conclusion that AEMERA is a failed experiment in outsourcing a core responsibility of government to an arms-length body, wrote report author Paul Boothe, director of the Lawrence National Centre for Policy and Management at Western Universitys Ivey School of Business.

The agency was founded in 2012 after years of criticism over how Alberta was keeping track of what environmental impacts the then-rapidly expanding oilsands were having.

Provincial scientists were to come together with resources from Environment Canada to jointly monitor how the industry was affecting the regions air, land and water. The resulting agency was funded by $50 million from industry and another $28 million from the province, which was to fund the expansion of environmental monitoring across the province.

The agencys research plans have been hailed as a dramatic improvement and numerous scientific papers have been published from its work. But Boothe, a former Environment Canada deputy minister, said the organization itself never gelled.

Lorne Taylor, chairman of the agencys now-disbanded board of directors and a one-time environment minister in the former Conservative government, said the new structure reduces accountability.

You now have one government department thats determining what to monitor, when to monitor, how to monitor and how you report, he said. It can lead to politicization of science.

Taylor pointed out that the first studies suggesting oilsands facilities were releasing contaminants were pooh-poohed by the government of the day.

He said the board was never given a copy of the Boothe report or an opportunity to respond to it. Asked if the reports content was a foregone conclusion, he said: Absolutely.

Phillips said monitoring will now be done by scientists working for the province, but independent advice will continue to come from the scientific advisory panel created under the old agency.

The agencys former chief scientist, Fred Wrona, will move to government in a similar role.

Phillips said any money saved by the government taking back administration of the work will be spent on improving the departments scientific capacity.

Savings we do achieve will be reinvested, she said. We will have more front-line science capacity.

Phillips said the move will allow all kinds of monitoring to come under the same office. Under the former structure, responsibility for some issues, such as caribou habitat, remained with government, while others were handled by the agency.

We cant have fragmentation of scarce resources, she said.

While the funding agreement with industry expired about a year ago, negotiations are ongoing to renew it, Phillips said. She also said talks have opened with First Nations about their involvement.

Aboriginal groups had largely abandoned the agency, although efforts were underway to bring them back through a traditional ecological knowledge committee.

Environmental groups were cautious about Tuesdays move.

Andrew Read of the Pembina Institute said it doesnt matter whether monitoring is done by government or an outside agency  as long as it does the job and reports directly to Albertans.

Ive seen a pretty firm commitment to getting this reporting system to be independent, he said. Albertans will be receiving this information at the same time as ministers.

Greenpeace spokesman Mike Hudema said hes watching to ensure monitoring remains independent.

Without those principles being built into the new structure, we risk a return to a body that is politically driven or corrupted by industry, he said.

 Follow Bob Weber on Twitter at @row1960
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TORONTO  Emma-Jayne Wilson is eager to help take Canadian thoroughbred racing in a new direction this spring.

Woodbine Racetrack will stage 25 turf events clockwise this season, a shift from the traditionally run counter-clockwise races.

Wilson, who became the first female jockey to win the Queens Plate in 2007, has ridden clockwise in Hong Kong and England and is looking forward to the first clockwise race at Woodbine in late May. The Toronto oval will be the first in North America to race in the opposite direction.

Jockey Emma-Jayne Wilson guides Don't Be So Salty, centre, to victory in the $125,000 Display Stakes at Woodbine Racetrack, in Toronto, on Nov. 29, 2015. Emma-Jayne Wilson is eager to help take Canadian thoroughbred racing in a new direction this spring. Woodbine Racetrack will stage 25 turf events -- about one a week -- clockwise in 2016, a shift from the traditionally run counter-clockwise races. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Woodbine Racetrack, Michael Burns

Id love to say were going in the right direction but Europeans have always said we North Americans have been going the wrong way for years, Wilson said with a chuckle. But its something Im very much looking forward to because what makes good jockeys what they are is being able to adapt to different situations.

Its going to be really, really fun.

Woodbine CEO Jim Lawson hopes the innovation will boost interest in an industry that has struggled since the Ontario government in 2012 cancelled the slots-at-racetracks partnership, which annually pumped millions into horse racings coffers.

If you dont try you never know, Lawson said. We need innovative ways to attract more fans, horses and horse people to Woodbine.

At a practical level, its using a part of the turf course we werent using very much to hopefully create larger field sizes. In turn, theres no question larger field sizes mean more wagering so theres a whole business aspect to it.

Woodbine will offer 133 racing dates from Saturday to Dec. 4 and feature a new Tapeta main track, replacing the nine-year-old Polytrack surface. Tapeta, a patented wax-coated mixture of sand, rubber and fibre, offers better protection for a horses legs and feet.

The Queens Plate, Woodbines marquee race, will continue to be run counter-clockwise on the new surface. Major turf stakes races like the Woodbine Mile will also remain counter-clockwise.

Clockwise races will take place only on turf about once a week, reducing wear and tear on the final turn and backstretch of the 1 1/2-mile E.P. Taylor course. They will generally cover 5 1/2 furlongs to utilize the area from the traditional first turn down to the finish line, which is rarely used because most counter-clockwise races dont require two turns.

The most obvious adjustment jockeys and horses face is direction. But Wilson said one change she had to make riding clockwise was strengthening the muscles on her right side.

From a physical standpoint, I think its going to take a little bit more adjustment for the jocks because none of the horses presumably have gone clockwise, she said. So I think for us to guide them through thats going to be something were going to have to adjust to.

Wilson said its hard to predict how horses will react.

I remember one horse I rode in Hong Kong was a sprinter, he loved going 5/8ths of a mile, she said. In Hong Kong they have two 5/8ths races, one straight and another around a bend.

My horse was terrible going around the bend but deadly going straight. Thats what I think youre going to see . . . a horse that didnt do well in other races do very well in this style, for whatever reason.

Lawson agrees.

Just think about skating and doing the right-handed crossover versus the left-handed crossover, he said. I definitely think were going to find some horses are better right-turners, which is a whole other interesting handicapping angle.

In October, Wilson and fellow jockeys Patrick Husbands of Brampton, Ont., and David Moran of Mississauga, Ont., made a clockwise test run at Woodbine. They rode three-deep, with Wilson on the rail, where she got a read on the turf and handling in the two bends.

My horse was a three-year-old filly that had run maybe 10 times, Wilson said. She handled it like she had done it 10 times and I was really surprised.

Theres enough of a bank to that turn that really helps carry the horses around. It rode a lot smoother than I think any of us anticipated.

Hall of Fame trainer Roger Attfield, an eight-time Queens Plate winner, rode right-handed in his native England and made his own clockwise trip at Woodbine.

Theres a wonderful grade on that turn, much better than I thought, Attfield said, adding theres ample room off the final bend to make a solid finishing charge.

Attfield believes horses can adapt to running clockwise if introduced to it in training.

Actually, its better for their bodies physically instead of just going the same way all the time, Attfield said. It creates a bit more interest for them . . . Ive never seen any difference one way or the other with most horses.
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TORONTO  The brother of former Toronto mayor Rob Ford visited the Ontario legislature Tuesday, but denied speculation  that he helped generate  that he wants to seek the Progressive Conservative nomination in an upcoming byelection.

Doug Ford spoke to a Toronto newspaper about the Scarborough-Rouge River riding, vacant since Liberal Bas Balkissoons recent resignation, saying no politician anywhere has fought harder for the east-end Toronto region than he and his late brother.

The former city councillor did not confirm that he would seek the Tory nomination in the yet-to-be-called byelection, but told the Toronto Sun that when he ran for mayor in 2014 after stepping in for the ailing Rob Ford, he won that area with the highest percentage outside his own ward in west-end Etobicoke.

Doug Ford greets supporters at an event to mark a celebration of Rob Ford's life at the Toronto Congress Centre, on Wednesday, March 30, 2016. Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown says former Toronto city councillor Ford is ???perfectly entitled??? to run for the party's nomination in an upcoming byelection. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

He arrived at the legislature Tuesday for a scheduled meeting with Progressive Conservative MPP Lisa MacLeod and expressed surprise that reporters were waiting to speak to him.

Somehow this got blown out of proportion, Ford said. The purpose of the meeting was just to have a coffee with his friend MacLeod, he said.

My priority is to make sure Renata (his brothers widow) and the kids and my mom and the family are taken care of. Just want to keep busy.

PC Leader Patrick Brown said party headquarters told him there is no meeting scheduled with Ford. The Ford familys political base  the so-called Ford Nation  is in Etobicoke, and Brown said he was surprised to hear the former city councillor is interested in Scarborough.

It will be an open nomination and I understand there is more interest than weve ever seen before, Brown said. I think theres 10 or 15 candidates expressing interest. Doug has expressed interest in Etobicoke before, but this is the first Ive heard of Scarborough.

Last year, Ford endorsed Christine Elliott in the PC leadership race  which he had also at one point considered joining.

Ford was a staunch defender of his brother, who died two weeks ago of cancer, as the one-time mayor was in the midst of an international media maelstrom for smoking crack cocaine. But he also came under fire in his own right, including for reportedly saying a home for developmentally disabled youth had ruined the community.

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. An earlier version had an incorrect reference to a Lisa MacLeod tweet, which has now been removed.
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LA PRAIRIE, - A funeral will be held Saturday for the pilot in the plane crash that killed former federal cabinet minister Jean Lapierre and four other members of his family.

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BRANDON, Man.  The president of a Manitoba university admits it was a mistake to ask an alleged sex assault victim to sign a behavioural contract and the school will no longer use them in sex-related cases.

Gervan Fearon, president of Brandon University, told a news conference Tuesday that the female student signed the contract in September 2015.

The document required the woman not to contact her alleged attacker or talk about the incident with anyone but a campus counsellor. A breach would result in disciplinary action, including suspension or expulsion.

Fearon said such contracts are used at some Canadian universities to ensure opposing parties dont interact or engage in shaming on social media.

But he said the university also encouraged the woman to go to police, and the contract was not meant to silence her.

Categorically, we acknowledge it was not appropriate, he told reporters. And we acknowledge that it was not helpful to the survivor.

The contract was made public this week through a campus group called We Believe Survivors.

Organizer Stefon Irvine said the woman who signed the document, a 17 year old in her first year of studies, was allegedly assaulted in her dorm room by a male student. She reported the incident to school officials the next day.

She later went to police but no charges were laid, Irvine said.

He questioned the universitys initial decision to have the woman to move into a different dorm building instead of making the suspect move out. The school has said the man is no longer living on campus but wont reveal if hes still a student.

A month after the woman reported the alleged assault, the university created a task force to look into victim supports, said Fearon. It recommended the school stop using the contracts.

The universitys academic vice-president, Steve Robinson, said a behavioural contract has been used in one other case, and it did not involve alleged sexual violence.

A committee is also working to create a formal policy about sexual violence and harassment that could be in place by the end of the year, Fearon added.

Irvine said he hopes the policy comes quickly and explicitly states that survivors should be free to speak in whatever way they feel is their healing process.

Other Canadian universities are working on similar policies, said Vanessa Doriman of the Canadian Federation of Students. She agrees the policies need to make clear that alleged victims should not be signing contracts.

As much as we dont want to spell it out, I think we kind of have to because of everything were seeing, she said.

The University of Victoria and Brock University in Ontario have been accused of warning women not to talk about their sex assault allegations.

Toronto lawyer Kristen Pennington said schools may have a misguided desire to protect student and staff information.

What is more likely the justification is that universities want to maintain harmony on campus and protect their reputations by trying to ensure that details of sexual violence do not become public knowledge, Pennington said in an e-mail.

It is shameful that individual survivors are bearing the heavy consequences of schools looking to protect their reputations.
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VANCOUVER  A man who says he narrowly escaped the submerged interior of a capsized whale-watching vessel is one of two men suing a Vancouver Island nature-tour company alleging negligence.

Christian Barchfeld and his brother Dirk, both of Germany, have filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against Jamies Whaling Station, saying in court documents that the company should have known better than to allow the Leviathan II out in treacherous ocean conditions on Oct. 25, 2015.

Company owner Jamie Bray and ship captain Wayne Dolby are also named in the suit. Bray declined comment, and Dolby could not be reached.

Corene Inouye, a spokeswoman for Jamies Whaling Station, said the company will continue to reach out and offer help to passengers affected by the accident.

We have no reason to believe the crew or operators were in any way negligent, she said in a telephone interview from Tofino, where the company is based.

One thing the (statement of) claim does say is that this was a very sudden and unexpected event, which is consistent with everything we know about this accident being caused by a rogue wave.

None of the allegations have been tested in court and a statement of defence has not been filed.

Five Britons and an Australian died after the 20-metre tour vessel flipped with 24 passengers and three crew on board.

The statement of claim filed earlier this month in B.C. Supreme Court says Christian Barchfeld had felt ill and retreated to the lower, inside deck of the vessel as waves taller than two metres struck the ship.

The Leviathan II suddenly tipped violently to the left and Barchfeld was thrown about the cabin as though he were in a washing machine, the document says.

It describes how he tried to escape via a blocked stairwell before attempting unsuccessfully to break the cabin windows.

He eventually found an escape passage and made it to the vessels exterior, where he clutched a side rail while waves continued to slam into him, the notice of claim says.

His legs were entangled in ropes and cables and he could do nothing to untangle them, it says.

He was losing strength in the cold water and from the exertion of clinging to the vessel and almost gave up hope of surviving.

A fishing boat eventually arrived and pulled him to safety, at which point he fell unconscious during the half-hour trip back to land, the claim says.

His brother Dirk Barchfeld found a life ring and crowded together with several other people in the water, the document says.

Approximately 25 minutes after the capsize, Dirk and the other passengers saw a male body floating face down in the water. But they were unable to reach him.

The notice of claim says Dirk Barchfeld and the others with him were rescued by a fishing boat more than an hour after the vessel capsized.

The Barchfeld brothers, who were vacationing in Canada, are seeking compensation for alleged physical and psychological injuries.

The Transportation Safety Board is conducting an investigation to determine the cause of the capsizing.

The statement of claim speculates that the orientation of the ship broadside to the waves and the majority of passengers crowding onto the left side of the vessels upper viewing deck may be partly to blame.

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WINNIPEG - A Winnipeg woman is in court this week for allegedly stealing from a medical trust fund set up for her niece who was waiting for a life-saving heart transplant.

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The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Charlie Flanagan, has met his UK counterpart to discuss ways Ireland can support the British government ahead of the UK's Brexit vote in June.

There are concerns at the knock-on effect on Ireland if Britain votes to leave the European Union.
Shares in one of Ireland's largest pharmaceutical firms have plummeted amid a crackdown on US companies relocating overseas for tax purposes - know as tax inversion.

Allergan, which is based in Dublin, had been expected to merge with Pfizer of New York, which would move its HQ here, to take advantage of our lower corporate tax rate.
Beaumont Hospital is asking people to visit their GP before attending the hospital's Emergency Department because of increased volumes.

The ED has experienced a high number of presentations over the past week, which was further exacerbated by an outbreak of the winter vomiting bug and influenza.
The Abortion Rights Campaign want an immediate reform of abortion laws in Ireland, after a young Belfast woman who bought drugs online to miscarry was given a suspended prison sentence yesterday.

The ARC, which campaigns for law reform in the Republic and also works with campaign groups in the North, said that had the 19-year-old lived in any other jurisdiction in the UK, she would have been able to legally access abortion services on the NHS.

The woman had not been able to raise enough money to travel from Belfast to England for a termination.

Following advice from a clinic in England, she bought two types of drugs online, took them and then miscarried in July of 2014.

ARC spokesperson Linda Kavanagh said in actuality, this woman was convicted for being too poor to travel to England.

Amnesty International Northern Ireland director Patrick Corrigan also criticised the judgement.

"Were utterly appalled by the courts decision to impose a suspended prison sentence on this woman," he said.

"A woman who needs an abortion is not a criminal. The law should not treat her as such.

"This tragic case reveals, yet again, that making abortion illegal does not stop women in Northern Ireland needing or seeking terminations.

"By denying access to healthcare services, Northern Ireland is violating women and girls' human rights, as has now been established in Belfasts High Court.

"Instead of sanctioning women and girls for seeking the healthcare they need, the Northern Ireland Executive should lead the way in reforming abortion laws to bring them into line with international standards."

She added: "Until abortion is decriminalised in Ireland, North and South, this will continue to happen.

"Women who can afford to travel have choices, and those who cant are punished."

Colm OGorman, executive director of Amnesty International Ireland, agreed.

"Of course, Northern Ireland is not alone in criminalising women and girls who have abortions," he said.

"Here in the Republic, a possible 14-year prison sentence is provided for if a woman has an abortion in any circumstances other than where she might die under legislation enacted less than three years ago."
Members of a skilled organised criminal gang at the heart of a 57m conspiracy to "plunder" British museums of rhino horn and other priceless Chinese artefacts have been jailed for up to six-and-a-half years.

The group, dubbed the 'Rathkeale Rovers' because of their links to the Limerick town, targeted high-value objects in a string of break-ins, including Cambridge's Fitzwilliam Museum and twice at Durham's Oriental Museum in 2012.

Judge Murray Creed heard that although the items stolen in Durham and Cambridge were valued at up to 18 million, detectives believe they might have fetched more than three times that figure on the booming Chinese auction market.

Members of the same gang also masterminded a bungled attempted theft at Gorringes Auction House in Lewes, East Sussex, and organised the disposal of stolen artefacts in what the judge said was "an extremely sophisticated conspiracy".

Sentencing members of the 14-strong gang, Judge Creed said on Monday: "It is a conspiracy both sophisticated, skilled and persistent, and involved significant cultural loss to the UK of museum quality artefacts and items from international collections."

In all, 13 men have been sentenced over two days, after three trials which concluded with the gang and its associates convicted of wide-ranging criminal conspiracy to steal, with connections to Ireland, Europe and China.

John "Kerry" O'Brien, aged 26, of Orchard Drive, Smithy Fen, Cottenham, Cambridgeshire - but also of Rathkeale, Co. Limerick - was said by the judge to have had a central role in the conspiracy. He was jailed for six-and-a-half years.

John 'Kerry' O'Brien Jr and Richard 'Cash' O'Brien.

Terrence McNamara, of Marquis Street in Belfast, was told he would be jailed for four years.

Addressing 43-year-old Michael Hegarty, also of Orchard Drive in Cottenham, and Rathkeale, he said: "I believe you were controlling him (McNamara) in relation to events at Durham Museum in the first instance."

Michael Hegarty and Daniel' Turkey' O'Brien.

Hegarty was jailed for six-and-a-half years.

He sentenced 47-year-old Richard Sheridan, of Water Lane in Smithy Fen, and Patrick Clarke, aged 34, of Melbourne Road, Newham, London, to five-and-a-half years apiece for their part.

Ashley Dad, aged 35, of Crowther Road in Wolverhampton, who did not appear at court, was jailed for five years and three months.

On Monday the judge sentenced seven other men to between four years and six years and eight months behind bars, including "fence" Donald Wong, while another man had already been jailed for his part.

Sheridan is a former spokesman for the Dale Farm travellers site in Essex and was seen in Wong's company, shortly before 50,000 in cash was found in Chinese businessman's car.

The judge said the operation to "plunder" rhino horn, carved horn and jade items started off "small-scale" in January 2012, but that after initial failures and botched thefts - in one case the burglars forgot where they had hidden their haul - "planning paid off".

"It was serious organised crime," he added.

In their most successful theft 18 pieces of Chinese jade were stolen from the Fitzwilliam Museum and although experts provided various valuations up to almost 18m the judge described them as "priceless".

He added: "They were part of a national collection split between the museum in Cambridge and the British Museum in London."

Afterwards, that haul was stored in a safe house before being taken by taxi to Purfleet in Essex where the goods were spirited away.

The judge continued: "The conspiracy spanned England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic, references were made to France - the Cherbourg visit, Hong Kong and also the United States and Germany, also featured in the evidence the court heard over the three trials."

He said the gang had either stolen or tried to steal "highly prized museum-quality" items, often with historic Imperial Chinese dynastic connections, with the exception of an attempted theft on an auction house in March 2012 in which the bungling thieves took the wrong item.

On two occasions the Oriental Museum in Durham was targeted, but also the Castle Museum in Norwich, Gorringes Auction House in Lewes, East Sussex, and the Fitzwilliam Museum.

The men carried out reconnaissance of these and other sites, including three museums in Glasgow, and another auction house in Yorkshire.

The judge said the conspiracy had been centred on the family seat in Rathkeale, telling the defendants: "At the heart of this enterprise was a family - a number of you are members of the O'Brien family."

He added: "Of 14 original conspirators, seven were connected with that home, seven were associates, like Terrence McNamara, while others were recruited in to find thieves prepared to carry out burglaries, particularly in carrying out the second attack on Durham museum.

"No doubt others were involved too."

Robert Gilbert Smith, formerly of Hockenden Lane in Kent was jailed for his part in the crime last year.
A branch of Anglo Irish Bank was repeatedly recommended by the law firm at the centre of the 'Panama Papers' leak.

Mossack Fonseca, told clients the Anglo's branch in Austria would open off-shore accounts, to avoid tax, without disclosing the name of the "ultimate beneficial owner".
By Elaine Loughlin, Political Reporter

Sinn Fein would not accept the outcome of its own Independent commission on Irish Water unless it rules in favour of scrapping charges.

However, Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams has said that the terms of reference for such an investigation would be set so tightly that it would be impossible to recommend keeping water charges.

Asked how the party would respond if the commission found in favour of retaining water charges he said: They cannot do that.

In a bizarre analogy Mr Adams compared the investigation to a home renovation.

Mr Adams said: If you want to convert my kitchen, you give me the terms of reference, you tell me the type of kitchen I want, you tell me the price I want so on and so forth and I am obliged to handle that, you dont go and make my kitchen into a dining room.

Every commission or every agency which is put in place to perform a job of work does so under terms of reference which are set to it.

Sinn Fein TD Eoin O Broin last month announced that the party would set up an independent commission to examine the best way to deliver water services.

The Dublin Mid-West TD told RTEs The Week in Politics that this investigation would be set up to find the best possible model of public ownership.

However, speaking on the plinth of Leinster house this morning Mr Adams made it clear that the party would only accept one outcome and would frame the investigation in such a manner to guarantee that outcome.

We have made it very, very clear that we are going to scrap water charges, we have made it very, very clear that we are going to scrap Uisce Eireann.

The commission would be set up under very, very strict terms of reference which would be about which is the best model for public ownership of that right of people to water.

All these commissions, all of these bodies which are set up to do certain jobs of work are given terms of reference.

So the terms of reference are, [would be based on] whats the best public model for ownership for water and for water as a human right for citizens.

We are very firmly of the view that you pay for water charges already, you already pay for water, Mr Adams said.

He also refused to say whether the party would support a Fianna Fail bill to suspend water charges and scrap Irish Water, adding that they would have to look at the details of the bill.
Update 8.22am: Retail giant Tesco has today refuted claims made by the Mandate trade union, whose members are voting on industrial action today.

It is incorrect to say that we have refused to implement the recommendation and is really disappointing that the trade union has decided to adopt this position when the vast majority of our store colleagues have received the benefits of the recent Labour Court recommendation and when we remain open to discussions with the trade unions in regard to our pre-1996 colleagues, the statement read.

In recent weeks, eligible colleagues received a 1.5% lump sum cash payment which is consistent with the spirit of the Labour Court recommendation and which did not apply to pre-1996 colleagues as their contract gave them an automatic entitlement to a 5% award which was honoured in 2015.

We also announced a 2% pay increase backdated to April 2015 to all eligible colleagues covered by the collective agreement with the exception of pre-1996 colleagues whose terms are currently subject to discussions between the company and the trade unions.

No final decision has been made with regard to these colleagues which is not uncommon where there are other discussions taking place.

Tesco remains the only large food retailer to operate collective bargaining with the trade unions across all of our stores and so we are really disappointed with their approach on this.

Tesco has proposed that staff who joined before 1996 adopt the companys modern contract in the coming weeks to unlock the inflexibility in our business.

The company said that the older contracts, which include guaranteed overtime, doesnt take account of the needs of each store or give colleagues an equal opportunity to work overtime when it arises.

Earlier: More than 12,000 workers at Tesco will begin balloting on industrial action today.

Unions say the company has refused to implement a Labour Court recommendation for a 2% pay increase.

It is expected that the workers will vote in favour of walking off the job.

The result will not be known for several weeks given the numbers of staff involved, however.

Assistant general secretary of Mandate, Gerry Light, said that the mood amongst his members is grim and a strike now seems likely.

"It's an entirely democratic, secret ballot process," he said.

"But I think that it's entirely likely, that there's a real possibility that because of not only the way Tescos treated workers in respect to this 2% wage increase issue, but also again as I say the very people that they have denied the 2% to are the people who are threatening to remove and reduce significantly their earning power on the 18th of April this year."
Trainer Jim Best was described as a "dishonest individual" by the disciplinary panel of the British Horseracing Authority after being given a four-year ban from the sport following his part in the breaching of the rules regarding the running and riding of two horses in December last year.

In case you missed it, trainer Jim Best banned for four years under the non-triers rule: https://t.co/PyhNVGpdyu pic.twitter.com/ZQK1ZF5Fj7

Jockey Paul John was suspended for a period of 150 days when he cannot apply for a licence.

Best - who is "highly likely" to appeal, according to his legal team - and his former conditional rider John faced the disciplinary panel last month over the performances of Echo Brava at Plumpton on December 14 and Missile Man at Towcester on December 17.

Both horses finished unplaced with Best and John accused of failing to ensure the horses ran on their merits.

John was banned for 14 days by the Plumpton stewards for his ride on Echo Brava after being found guilty of failing to take all reasonable and permissible measures to ensure the best possible placing, but this was subsequently amended with John charged with intentionally doing so, prompting a further charge for Best.

Following an inquiry, Best was found guilty of failing in his "duty to secure the best possible placing" on two occasions as well as "conduct prejudicial to horseracing in Great Britain."

John was found guilty of two counts of failing to run a horse on its merits.

In its written reasons for the penalties, the disciplinary panel said it concluded Best "has forfeited the right to enjoy the privilege of being a licensed trainer for a significant period of time.

"The panel is mindful of the wider effects any period of disqualification will have on the owners who have horses with Best and the staff who rely upon Best for employment but that does not override the panel's concern to appropriately censure Best.

"He is a dishonest individual who corrupted a young man to ensure horses were not run on their merits."

The panel found John should be banned for 300 days but "having assessed John's co-operation and the provision of information enabling action to be taken against Best have deemed that John should be entitled to the full reduction of one half.

Jockey Paul John said: "I'm just glad the truth has come out," after BHA panel heard submissions on penalties to be decided another day  Racing Post (@RacingPost) March 11, 2016

"John's penalty for the rides at Plumpton and Towcester will be a period of 150 days during which time he will be ineligible to apply for a licence. The panel has also considered when the penalty should commence.

"In the panel's view it would be apposite and fair in all the circumstances for the penalty to commence at the point John removed himself from Best's yard - in effect he imposed a suspension upon himself at this point.

"John will therefore be ineligible to apply for a licence for 150 days from December 21, 2015 to May 19, 2016 inclusive."

Adam Brickell, Director of Integrity, Legal and Risk for the BHA, said: "The case against Jim Best and Paul John concerned an issue that cannot be tolerated in British racing - the exploitation of a vulnerable young jockey by his employer in order to coerce him into breaking the rules of our sport to gain an unfair advantage.

"As Paul John has admitted, he should not have committed the offences that he has, and for which he has been penalised. The BHA is grateful to him for subsequently admitting his part in the case and for explaining the reasons for his actions, as this has helped to reveal the full extent of Jim Best's breach of the rules in these two cases.

"The disciplinary panel stated that Paul John deserves significant credit for his actions in distancing himself from Mr Best, seeking guidance from the Professional Jockeys Association and admitting the truth of the events, and the 50 per cent reduction they have applied to his penalty reflects this.

"It is the responsibility of any trainer to act as guide and mentor to young jockeys who are attached to their yard. No trainer can be allowed to abuse that relationship by pressurising jockeys to breach the rules and this is reflected in the sanctions incurred by Jim Best. In the words of the disciplinary panel, Jim Best's behaviour was reprehensible, and an abuse of the privilege of holding a licence to train racehorses.

"We would encourage any jockey who finds themselves in a similar situation to Paul John to seek assistance before they feel compelled to commit breaches of the Rules of Racing. Support is available from both the BHA and the PJA and any rider raising such issues would be met with full understanding and be offered every assistance to prevent them being drawn into actions which could jeopardise their future career.

"The recent BHA Integrity Review confirmed that education remains a central part of the BHA's long-term approach to integrity. As we further increase our focus on this aspect of our work, we will aim to provide additional help to those who find themselves in a similar position to Paul John."

On behalf of Best, Harry Stewart-Moore of Stewart-Moore Solicitors Ltd said: "Unfortunately we have been given very little time to review the decision (of the disciplinary panel) before it was made public, all we can say is that from a preliminary review it seems highly likely that Mr Best will appeal."

John, who is not currently licensed, was represented by Rory Mac Neice, who said: "The panel's decision on penalty reflects Mr John's approach to the disciplinary process and permits him to reapply for his licence on May 20.

"The panel's decision reflects the courageous step taken by Mr John in deciding to tell the truth to the disciplinary panel.
Inhalers are being dished out like "fashion accessories", leading UK doctors have said as they warned that medics are over-diagnosing asthma in children.

The diagnosis of asthma has been "trivialised", two leading respiratory doctors said.

Over-diagnosing the condition matters, not only because of the cost of inhalers but also because of their side effects, which are more likely to occur in patients who are prescribed an inappropriate dose, they said.

Writing in the Archives of Disease in Childhood, the authors highlight a previous study in which half of 100 children with chronic cough received an asthma diagnosis, but once the coughs were thoroughly investigated, the number actually thought to have asthma dwindled to 5%.

Professor Andrew Bush, from the Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust in the UK, and Dr Louise Fleming of Imperial College London, said the National Review of Asthma Deaths highlights the need for correct diagnosis.

They continue: "It is an intensely depressing document which shows that no lessons have been learnt over the last 15 years, and children still die because of failures in basic management.

"We propose that one contributing factor is that the diagnosis of asthma has been trivialised and inhalers dispensed for no good reason, and have become almost a fashion accessory.

"The result is the fact that asthma is a killing disease, if not correctly managed, is overlooked."

They add: "Is there any other chronic disease in the world in which children are committed to potentially hazardous, long-term therapy without every effort being made objectively to document the diagnosis?"

The authors say children of school age should be properly assessed to see if they have variable airflow obstruction before receiving a diagnosis.

And if doctors trial different treatments on youngsters these must be "focused" and "children should not be left on an unproven treatment ad infinitum".

The authors outline various approaches to aid correct diagnosis, including the need to remember that many children outgrow asthma symptoms, and that treatment should not simply be stepped up if the child fails to respond, because there is a chance the diagnosis might not be right in the first place.
Five people have been killed after a tourist helicopter crashed in the Great Smoky Mountains in eastern Tennessee.

The Bell 206 sightseeing helicopter crash was reported near Sevierville, officials said.

US federal aviation authority Spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said the helicopter was destroyed by fire.

Pigeon Forge Fire Department said units are at the scene.

Tennessee Emergency Management Association spokesman Dean Flener confirmed later that five people had died.

5 killed after tourist helicopter crashes in Tennessee https://t.co/zUGC4LbYpO pic.twitter.com/6UqS0FkAwb  FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) April 5, 2016

About four hours after the crash, more than a dozen emergency vehicles were at the site, which is less than a mile from a large outlet mall in Sevierville and adjacent to a neighbourhood off the main tourist drag.

The site is about three miles from Dolly Parton's Dollywood theme park.

"There's not much left of the helicopter," Pigeon Forge Police Chief Jack Baldwin said.

"It's pretty much gone from the fire."

He said the helicopter appeared to have come down the side of a mountain and crashed at the foot of it.

"There's a little bit of the tail fin of the helicopter, and that's about all that's left, that and the console, that's about it."
A jealous husband told jurors in England he cut off the head of his wife of 30 years and flushed it down the toilet because she "betrayed" him by having affairs with other men.

Crane driver Dempsey Nibbs, 69, is on trial at the Old Bailey accused of murdering bubbly and vivacious meals on wheels worker Judith Nibbs, 60, at their flat in Hoxton, east London, in April 2014.

The prosecution say medical evidence indicates that Mrs Nibbs was probably unconscious when Nibbs decapitated her before smashing her skull into pieces and disposing of them in an "unspeakable" act of violence.

But Nibbs told jurors that he never meant to kill her when he went into the living room to confront her about "proof" of her infidelity in the form of a bank statement showing a transfer of money to a male friend of hers.

He said he intended to "slap her around a bit" but she died in the struggle as he hit her on the head with a metal bar he was trying to force into her mouth.

Despite not checking her pulse or breathing, he assumed she was dead as her eyes were "rolled over in her head", he said.

Cross examining, Crispin Aylett QC said: "Bearing in mind you spent a large amount of your life with this woman, the mother of your two children, with whom you spent many happy years, how do you feel?"

Nibbs said: "I feel terrible. Still, she let me down."

Mr Aylett went on: "Realising she was dead you were very angry with her? And so angry you did unspeakable things to her head."

The defendant said: "I felt that was me finished. I'm dead as well. She betrayed me. I'm dead anyway."

Nibbs dismissed a doctor's evidence that Mrs Nibbs had been alive at the time, saying: "That's his opinion."

Mr Aylett said: "I'm going to suggest from the time you decided to confront Judith, the time you went into the living room where she was minding her own business on the phone to her friend, you were intent on killing her.

"In the end you chopped her head off and smashed it up and flushed it down the lavatory because you felt she betrayed you."

Nibbs replied: "She did betray me. When she died that was me finished. Me, myself I'm dead because I did not see a way out for me. I cut her head off because I'm finished, I'm dead.

"I feel terrible about the whole incident because she died. I'm a 69-year-old man. What did I get myself into this fix for?"

Mr Aylett pressed: "Are you thinking about yourself or what you did to Judith? What about Judith herself, 60 years old, vibrant?"

Nibbs said: "She was going to leave me anyway, so what can I say?"

The defendant, of the Charles Estate, in Hoxton, denies murder and obstructing the coroner from holding an inquest in the violent death of Judith Nibbs by disposing of her decapitated head. The trial continues.
David Cameron has said he has "no shares, no offshore trusts, no offshore funds," after questions were raised about his family's tax affairs following the Panama Papers data leak.

Labour has demanded an independent investigation into the tax affairs of those implicated by the records, which includes details about the British Prime Minister's dead father, Ian Cameron.
An independent investigation must be held into the tax affairs of those implicated in the Panama Papers data leak, including David Cameron's family, Jeremy Corbyn has demanded.

The Labour leader said the leaks had exposed tax avoidance on an "industrial scale".

Downing Street has insisted that the business affairs of Mr Cameron's late father Ian, which were detailed in the Panama leak, were a private matter.

But Mr Corbyn told reporters in Harlow: "It's a private matter in so far as it's a privately held interest, but it's not a private matter if tax has not been paid.

"So an investigation must take place, an independent investigation."

Mr Corbyn said: "I think the Prime Minister, in his own interest, should tell us exactly what's been going on."

Speaking at Labour's local election launch event, he told reporters he wanted an investigation conducted by HM Revenue and Customs "about the amount of money of all people that have invested in these shell companies or put money into tax havens and to calculate what tax they should have paid over the years".

Asked whether the PM should resign if he is found to have benefited, Mr Corbyn said: "Let's take one thing at a time. We need openness, we need an examination, we need a decision after that."

Pressed on whether he would publish his own tax return, Mr Corbyn said: "There is no problem with my tax affairs, they are very, very limited indeed. I have got an income as an MP, sadly I have got no family trusts of any sort."

The Labour leader also suggested the Government could intervene to take direct control of the UK's offshore tax havens.

"If it's necessary for ministers to intervene because the governments of the Overseas Territories won't act, they can use an order in council to take control of them immediately," he said.

Mr Cameron's father ran an offshore fund which avoided ever having to pay tax in Britain by hiring a small army of Bahamas residents - including a part-time bishop - to sign its paperwork, according to the Guardian.

Ian Cameron, who died in 2010, was a director of Blairmore Holdings Inc, which, until 2006, used unregistered "bearer shares" to protects its clients' privacy.

His use of the firm to help shield investments from UK tax helped build up a significant legacy, part of which was inherited by the Prime Minister.

There is no suggestion that this avoidance arrangement or others exposed by the leak were anything but entirely legal or that Mr Cameron's family did not pay the UK tax due on any repatriated assets.

The Prime Minister has championed the transparency agenda at a series of international summits, and legislation forcing British companies to disclose who owns and benefits from their activities comes into force in June.

But despite several years of pressure, few UK Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories - said to make up a large part of the tax havens referred to in the papers - have taken concrete action to open up the books.
Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians, will visit the Greek island of Lesbos next week to highlight the plight of refugees, the Greek government said.

The visit will come as refugees and other migrants are being deported back to Turkey under the European Union's controversial move to ease Europe's migrant problem.

Francis, the son of Italian immigrants to Argentina, has been outspoken about Europe's moral obligation to welcome refugees and his visit to Greece will likely embarrass EU leaders already under fire from human rights groups over the deportations.

The Holy Synod of the Church of Greece, the decision-making body of the Greek church, said Francis had asked to go to highlight the plight of refugees. It said the request had been accepted, and the island of Lesbos suggested, adding it had also extended an invitation to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians, to visit the island on the same day.

The Istanbul-based Ecumenical Patriarchate confirmed Bartholomew would visit the island.

Vatican spokesman the Rev Federico Lombardi said on Tuesday that no decision had been made, but said "I don't deny that there are contacts about a possible trip".

The Greek government issued a note saying the pope and patriarch would be visiting Lesbos on April 14-15 along with Athens' Archbishop Ieronymos, and that prime minister Alexis Tsipras would join them.

Francis has made the plight of migrants a priority of his three-year pontificate, insisting in particular that Europe and other countries open their doors and hearts to people fleeing persecution and poverty.

He told the Vatican's diplomatic corps in January that Europe had the means to welcome refugees without compromising its security or culture and that the continent bore the "moral responsibility" to care for others who have fled their homes to seek a better life.

Europe's deal with Turkey has come under fierce criticism from human rights groups and aid organisations, who accuse European countries of ignoring their commitments to protect vulnerable refugees.
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After weeks of rehearsal, the cast and crew of Free-Rain's production of The Little Mermaid are just about ready to go "under the sea". The Canberra premiere of the Disney musical, directed by David Atfield, opens at the Canberra Theatre on Friday.

Producer Anne Somes said, " I've always loved Hans Christian Andersen and it's a beautiful story ... that everyone can relate to from nine to 90."

Ariel played by Mikayla Williams in The Little Mermaid at The Canberra Theatre. Credit:Karleen Minney

And, she said, the score added another dimension to the tale  the songs included Kiss the Girl, Part of Your World and Under the Sea.

In the Disney version, adapted from the 1989 movie of the same name, the mermaid Ariel (played by Mikayla Williams) is the youngest daughter of King Triton (Steve Galinec). She wants to pursue the love of the human Prince Eric (Tim Dal Cortivo) but the bargain she makes with the sea witch Ursula (Louiza Blomfield) to trade her tail for legs isn't all it seems and she needs the help of her friends including Sebastian the crab (Fraser Findlay) to make things right again.
7.24am: An earlier single-car crash on Staff Cadet Avenue and Morshead Drive at Campbell is clear. Police say the car is off the road.

6.48am: Looks like there's been a prang on Staff Cadet Avenue and Morshead Drive at Campbell.

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.

Bell Shakespeare's new production of Romeo and Juliet is on at the Canberra Theatre Centre until April 9. Tickets from canberratheatrecentre.com.au.

Secrets, Stories, Spaces exposes the secret spaces of the National Archives and its 82-year history as home to many government departments including the Postmaster General and ASIO. On Mondays and Wednesday from 4.30pm until April 13. Free.

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.

See 2015's best political cartoons at the Behind the Lines exhibition at the Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House.

Bush Capital: The natural history of the ACT at the Canberra Museum and Gallery (CMAG) shows the natural history of the Territory with specimens, illustrations, photographs, works of art and sound. From March 12 to June 26. Free.

Touch or click through for more David Pope

Today: Sunny. Winds northwesterly 15 to 25 km/h increasing to 25 to 40 km/h during the morning. Max 31.

Thursday: Partly cloudy. Light winds. Min 11, max 21.

Friday: Cloudy. Light winds. Min 10, max 21.


The sleek and non-transparent Mossack Fonseca building in Panama City. On Monday, Mossack said in a phone interview that the leak stemmed from the hacking of the firm's computers and that an outside sleuth had been hired to investigate. 'da Vinci Man' Of the two men, it is Mossack, a 68-year-old with German roots, who displays a keen mastery of the nuts and bolts of the business. He did most of the talking during the March 29 interview in their Panama City headquarters. The building is sleek, with a distinctive glass facade, but looks diminutive amid the skyscrapers that dominate the financial district. Across the street is the iconic F&F Tower, a helix-shaped building that helped give the booming city its nickname the "Dubai of Latin America".

As the two men spoke that morning, they were flanked by their legal director and two consultants. In all, the firm employs about 500 people in Panama and across the globe. Panama doesn't charge foreigners taxes on income earned abroad. If Mossack is the nitty-gritty guy, Fonseca, 63, is the self-proclaimed dreamer. He boasts that his friends have labelled him "a da Vinci man" for his interests in politics, law, business, letters and philanthropy. He's penned a half-dozen novels over the years, and for a while as a young man had considered becoming a priest. It was during his time as a bureaucrat at the United Nations in Geneva, where he was surrounded by international lawyers, that Fonseca said he was lured by the mysterious world of offshore businesses.

"One day it occurred to me that I could do it too," he said. "I created my little office and left the UN and started with one secretary to create and sell companies." He'd join up with Mossack soon thereafter. Like selling cars Setting up offshore vehicles has become routine for corporations, investment funds, family offices and billionaires. Low- or no-tax jurisdictions offer places to base a company or to send and park cash, company shares, art and other assets. Establishing a structure for them typically costs just a few thousand dollars. Once those fees are handed over to shops like Mossack Fonseca, the organisational and operational framework for the entity is drafted and registered in the local jurisdiction. Annual fees are then charged to maintain the company. Although offshore holdings are usually legal, they can also be used to hide wealth. Since the 2008 financial crisis, Western governments have sought to shed greater light on offshore banking centres, arguing they can be used to avoid taxes or hide illicit funds.

In addressing the legality question, Mossack is fond of drawing an analogy to the car industry. When you create hundreds of thousands of offshore companies, he says, some are bound to end up in the hands of rotten characters: It's just the nature of the business and isn't the fault of the manufacturer. He makes a reference to Volkswagen AG recalling some of its cars before one of the firm's consultants suggests that isn't the most appropriate parallel. The scrutiny that the partners are under, Mossack says, stems in part from all the success they've had over the years. Shipping-industry roots How Panama came to be a key stop in the offshore investing business is a story that dates back almost a century, to the years right after construction of the inter-oceanic canal was finished. The Central American country was already becoming the flag of choice for ship owners looking to avoid stricter labour and fiscal rules back home when Panamanian officials based their requirements for company incorporation on the laws of Delaware, a US state that protects information on ownership. Panama doesn't charge foreigners taxes on income earned abroad.

Although the Financial Action Task Force recently commended efforts to clamp down on money laundering, the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development calls Panama the "last major holdout that continues to allow funds to be hidden offshore from tax and law enforcement authorities". Panama's presidential office said in a statement that it has zero tolerance for any legal or financial operations that aren't managed with the highest levels of transparency. Whether the new regulations are up to the OECD's standards or not, the industry is feeling the squeeze, according to Mossack and Fonseca. A law implemented in 2011 required Panama-registered agents to provide client information when requested on all new incorporations, and the British Virgin Islands has adopted restrictions on due diligence. It's a far cry from the boom years, a period when Mossack said he and Fonseca used to keep a vast inventory of "shelf companies" on hand because banks would request as many as a hundred at a time. The weekend's document leak will only add to the firm's woes, he said. Loading
Media reports that the International Monetary Fund has labelled China the No.1 risk to global financial stability speaks volumes about the importance of the outlook of China to the global economy, including Australia.

It also says a lot about the change in sentiment towards the so-called miracle economy in the past few months.

IMF's Global Financial Stability Report warned that any downgrade in China's reported growth of 6.5 per cent would have a negative impact on global equity markets.

It is the latest in a long line of reports from various organisations and investment banks raising concerns that China may be in for more instability in the next few years.
What can be packed into a small snap lock bag, weighs about 30 grams and is worth $2000?

No, it's not suspicious white powder but 2000 mini cucumber seeds.

Abundant Produce has spent five years developing its technology with the University of Sydney.

It sounds like the stuff of fairy tales.

Will these seeds grow into an enormous plant that will lead to a land of giants and a goose that lays golden eggs?
It has always been the poor cousin to chocolate and strawberry, but vanilla has become the richest flavour of them all.

The global price of vanilla beans has more than tripled in the past year as demand outstripped supply in part due to industry turmoil in Madagascar, one of world's top producers.

George Gonthier said demand for his Queensland-grown vanilla was up. Credit:Romy Bullerjahn

Wesley Meineke, owner of Queensland-based vanilla wholesaler Sunshine Vanilla, said the cost of importing vanilla beans had increased about fourfold over the past 12 months.

As a result, he had been forced to increase the price of the beans he sells to restaurants, retailers and manufacturers from about $80 a kilogram a year ago to $270.
Ten days ago, on ABC TV's Media Watch program, presenter Paul Barry quizzed departing ABC managing director Mark Scott about his 10 years in the job. Scott's responses to Barry's more predictable questions caused apoplexy in even more predictable quarters.

"How can the man heading our biggest media organisation be so blind to the ABC's unlawful and dangerous Leftist bias?" frothed Andrew Bolt.

"Mark Scott has clearly failed to enact his promised reform agenda", fumed Gerard Henderson in his Media Watch Dog blog.

In my final months as Media Watch host, when my successor had already been announced, I dealt with Bolt's claim that Paul Barry would be the eighth left-wing presenter of Media Watch, whereas no conservative had ever fronted the program. "Andrew's world is a simple one," I said. "It has two boxes. There's the one that right-minded people like himself inhabit, and there's the box in which just about everybody else sits, which he calls 'the Left'."
In the blizzard of claim and counter claim swirling about the CSIRO's current strategic direction in climate science, a revealing email surfaced at Parliament House this week. Penned by CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere research director Andreas Schiller, it suggested that the organisation aimed to make a "clean cut" on "public good/government-funded climate research". Sent two weeks before the CSIRO announced cuts to its climate change programs in February, the email also canvassed the possibility of axing 120 climate science staff, suggesting "if we aim for less, we will inevitably face the problem of keeping some of the climate scientists (who will no longer be aligned with the new CSIRO strategy, Dr Schiller wrote.

At the time of the February announcement, the CSIRO intimated that affected staff would be reallocating to other climate work dealing with the real and immediate challenge of emissions reduction; and last year, CSIRO boss Larry Marshall sought to allay concerns that the organisation was moving away from pure to applied science by saying it would be almost doubling its investment in fundamental blue skies research. The Schiller email tends to undermine both claims.

The CSIRO's decision to redirect resources away from global warming research has been highly contentious, the more since as Dr Marshall claimed at the time that warming had been well modelled and that it was time to start doing something about it. More than 3000 climate scientists condemned it in an open letter to the Turnbull government, and The New York Times published on editorial on the matter on March 4 headlined "Australia turns its back on climate science". Whatever the wisdom of the move, it closely aligns with Dr Marshall's vision for the CSIRO over the next five years.

In an interview outlining his strategy last October, Dr Marshall said shrinking government budgets required the organisation to generate more of its own revenue. This meant a greater emphasis on applied science, commercial collaboration, and innovation efficiency, the later being one endeavour in which the CSIRO had long under-performed. Dr Marshall cautioned, however, that while it might be "easy" for the organisation to become an industry consulting company with "great revenue growth", this would be "a terrible thing for CSIRO to become. You wouldn't be creating strategic value for CSIRO or the country".
Kerrie Lester 1953 - 2016

For many years Kerrie Lester was a fixture in the Archibald Prize. She was awarded the Packer's Prize, and named official "runner-up", but never made the winner's circle. Occasionally Lester felt she was getting close, but one year when she told me she had painted her best-ever entry, she didn't even get selected. She was not the only artist to have had this experience, but it was bitterly frustrating.

Distinctive stitching style ... Artist Kerrie Lester in her Mosman home studio in 2008. Credit:Anthony Johnson

Lester recognised that she had enjoyed a better run than most Archibald regulars, with many people getting to know her work through the show. It was also her pathway to the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra, which acquired her paintings of Margaret Fink, Fred Hollows, James Morrison and Cathy Freeman.

She made light of her Archibald frustrations in her entry of 1998, Self-portrait as a bridesmaid, in which she portrayed a glamorous version of herself leaning back precariously in a chair, clutching a bouquet. Painted in a vivid red, it was a work that was always meant to be noticed.
One day at the Melbourne bookshop he works in, a reader came up to A.S. Patric to talk to him about his first published novel, Black Rock White City. He had loved the book, he said, but it would never win the Miles Franklin Literary Award.

"When I asked why it couldn't win the prize, the man said because it's not about Australia," Patric says. "But it is. So much of our literature is about the privileged, middle class. But Black Rock White City is a working-class book about refugees in Melbourne. This is Australia as well."

Author Lucy Treloar's first novel Salt Creek is longlisted for the 2016 Miles Franklin Literary Award. Credit:Joe Armao

Black Rock White City is longlisted for the 2016 Miles Franklin, the prestigious $60,000 prize for "the novel which is of the highest literary merit and which must present Australian life in any of its phases".

Patric's novel tells the story of a poet and his wife, refugees from the former Yugoslavia, and their physical and emotional exile. Fairfax's review described Patric as a writer who "deliberately or not, continues Patrick White's mission to bring European modernism to the Australian suburbs".
Erik Bauersfeld, the actor who gave the voice to beloved Star Wars character Admiral Ackbar, has died at aged 93, his management office confirmed Monday.

A statement from Coolwaters Productions said Bauersfeld died on Sunday in his Berkeley, California home.

Admiral Ackbar was the leader of the rebel forces in Star Wars. Credit:Twitter

"Actor Erik Bauersfeld, known by Star Wars fans around globe as the voice of Admiral Ackbar, has passed away," the statement said. "His passing comes at the age of 93 and the cause was natural causes. Erik will be deeply missed by his family here at Coolwaters and our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends."
Belvoir's artistic director Eamon Flack believes there is a new hunger for Australian stories in the community.

From the company's bottom line perspective, there had better be, given Flack has programmed eight new Australian works (including comedian Hannah Gadsby's stand-up show Dogmatic), a revival of a modern Australian classic (The Blind Giant is Dancing), interspersed with just three overseas works and Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.

Fertile ground: Belvoir artistic director Eamon Flack (right) is preparing to launch Kit Brookman's new play The Great Fire. Credit:Lousie Kennerley

"I really do believe we're seeing a return of interest in our own history," Flack says as he prepares to launch the company's latest new Australian play, Kit Brookman's The Great Fire.

"People are taking time to reflect on our past and imagine the future and for us it's an opportunity to look at what a so-called Great Australian Story is and what kind of stories there might be in the future."
The Bureau of Meteorology has offered to save climate research that CSIRO plans to axe under a plan that would see long-term programs and dozens of jobs transfer between the two national science agencies.

The proposal, discussed at a meeting convened by chief scientist Alan Finkel last month, is the most concrete of several ideas thrown up by the scientific community in a bid to retain internationally respected climate researchers and data collection.

Scientific agencies were taken by surprise when CSIRO chief Larry Marshall announced in February that the organisation would stop climate data collection as it re-positioned itself as an "innovation catalyst", focusing on work that was financially attractive to government or private partners.
When it comes to product relaunches, they don't come much more ambitious than the one which has brought Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, back to Sydney after a 13-year hiatus.

This time the product she is spruiking is a "new, improved" version of herself, having appointed high-powered, London-based public relations firm Kruger Cowne which also handles Sir Bob Geldof, Fergie is busy re-positioning herself as a sort of Oprah Winfrey-style corporate svengali. She is in Sydney as a keynote speaker for the Macquarie Graduate School of Management (MGSM), offering her insights into how women can build a successful career in the male-dominated world of business through education.

Given her well documented financial woes and her disastrous attempt to sell access to her blue-blood ex-husband during a British tabloid sting which became one of the biggest scandals to rock the royal family in modern times, Ferguson's latest pitch as a corporate leader has raised eyebrows.

Having previously been paid vast wads of cash to come to Australia to spruik everything from Twinings Tea, Weight Watchers and one particularly memorable trip to flog Wedgwood fine china, during which she stood atop a tiny tea cup, balancing on one foot in front of hundreds of bemused onlookers to show just how strong the product was.
"What is done or learned by one class of woman, becomes by virtue of their common womanhood, the property of all women," said Elizabeth Blackwell, who, in 1849, became the first female medical doctor in the US.

Blackwell was 28 when she became a doctor, but thankfully, given people aged 65 and over are Australia's fastest-growing age group, it's not just the young women showing us what's possible.

Dame Quentin Bryce, who became Australia's first woman governor-general at 65. Credit:Bradley Kanaris

At 72, American Margaret Ringenberg ew around the world. At 75, cancer survivor Barbara Hillary became one of the oldest people, and the rst black woman, to reach the North Pole.

Quentin Bryce was 65 when she became Australia's first woman governor-general while Julia Gillard was 48 when she became our first woman prime minister.
Scarcity is the fundamental economic problem.

If humans possessed the ability to produce all the goods and services they desired in a cheap and easy fashion, there would be no scarcity and no need for economists.

But scarcity does exist, in both time and in resources. And it's one of the most powerful influencers of price.

Products that are not particularly scarce, like televisions, can be produced and sold at a price not too far above the cost of production. A consumer desires a television, so she chooses from the abundant supply of makes and models and buys one. If lots of consumers suddenly desired a new television, television manufacturers could respond with increased supply, which would limit any price increases.
The family of Scott Johnson, whose body was found at the bottom of a Sydney cliff, say NSW Police should have nothing to do with the investigation into his death, claiming the force's "bias" could unfairly affect the coronial process.

Instead, they want to see a new team replace investigators currently on the case.

Scott Johnson was about to receive a doctorate in mathematics before his death. Credit:NSW Police

A third inquest is set to be held into the death of Mr Johnson, a 27-year-old mathematics prodigy, whose naked body was found at the bottom of a cliff near Blue Fish Point, Manly, in 1988.

His family believe Mr Johnson was thrown or chased off the cliff and that his death was one in a spate of gay hate murders in Sydney in the 1980s.
One of Australia's leading criminal defence barristers will represent the man accused of a break-in murder in the Newcastle suburb of Hamilton, and says he will "expedite" an application to release the 33-year-old from jail.

Top Sydney silk Winston Terracini SC and barrister Brian Murray visited Benjamin Batterham at Cessnock Correctional Centre on Tuesday, a day after taking over the high-profile murder case.

Mr Batterham, an apprentice chef, is alleged to have murdered Ricky Slater-Dickson after he discovered Mr Slater-Dickson inside his Cleary Street home about 3.30am on March 26.
How do you turn a $100 million cost blowout into a $10 million saving? If you're the NSW government, focus on the positives.

The state government has been on a drive to slash $750 million in "red tape"; an ambitious target It claims to have exceeded comfortably.

But questions are being asked about how it arrived at some of these "savings".

In particular, the government's claimed savings from a major overhaul of the education department's IT system, Learning Management and Business Reform, are coming under question.
One man is in hospital and another was arrested after a fight broke out between two drivers on the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Police believe the fight may have been sparked by an earlier road rage incident, resulting in the two men coming to blows in the south-bound lanes of the Sydney Harbour Bridge about 5.30pm on Tuesday.

The fight on the city landmark during peak hour sparked a number of triple zero calls.

Police from the Sydney City Local Area command arrived to find a 19-year-old man with a cut to his head.
Almost eight months after he rolled out the red carpet for his traffic-stopping wedding, Salim Mehajer may be forced to roll up the fake grass.

In the latest blow to the suspended deputy mayor of Auburn, council staff have recommended Auburn's Independent Assessment Panel order Cr Mehajer to rip up artificial turf outside his palatial pile in Frances Street, Lidcombe because it "detracts from the appearance of the area".

The 29-year-old developer sought retrospective approval for the non-compliant nature strip in September last year, after his lavish nuptials to former beautician Aysha made headlines around the country in August.
Go directly to Boggo Road. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200.

The board game Monopoly is set to get a distinctly Brisbane flavour, with its manufacturer announcing a local edition that will be in shops in time for Christmas.

But first, Hasbro licensee Winning Moves needed input from Brisbane residents about what our Mayfair, Park Lane and even Old Kent Road would be.

Top hats were the uniform of choice when Monopoly announced its Brisbane edition in front of the city's eponymous sign at South Bank on Tuesday morning.
A three-vehicle crash in Brisbane's north is causing major traffic headaches for commuters.

The crash at Nudgee on the Gateway Motorway stopped traffic at 7.30am, with delays stretching back 20 kilometres to Mango Hill, according to the government-run 131940.org website.

Delays building on the Gateway behind an accident southbound at Nudgee. Credit:Penny Dahl

Police managed to clear the crash about that time but an hour later Australian Traffic Network traffic reporter Penny Dahl said there were still big delays on the Deagon Deviation to Brighton and Sandgate Road to Virginia.

She said the delays should improve slowly.
A lone private plane continues the search for two missing fishermen off the Queensland coast after police admitted their chance of survival was too low to continue the official search.

The police-run aerial search for skipper Matthew Roberts and deckhand David Chivers, 60 and 31, was called off on Wednesday.

It followed the suspension on Tuesday of a sea search in central Queensland involving a dozen vessels because of rough conditions.

Hervey Bay Water Police acting Sergeant Craig Collings said officers would continue to patrol the shoreline near where the duo's boat capsized, off the north-west tip of Fraser Island, for the next few days.
Heads or tails?

A new species of gecko with a unique fat tail that matches its stubby snout has been discovered by a Queensland Museum scientist.

A new species of fat-tailed gecko has been discovered by scientists in outback Queensland. Credit:Angus Emmett

The species, Diplodactylus ameyi, is about 85 milimetres long and has a round snout that matches its tail.

It is this particular tail feature, among others, that distinguishes the Diplodactylus ameyi from other geckos in the Diplodactylus species group.
Lord Mayor Graham Quirk has completely overhauled his civic cabinet, with every member assigned new portfolios ahead of next week's first council meeting of the current term.

But there were no promotions to Cr Quirk's first cabinet of the 2016-20 term, despite the Liberal National Party having a bigger team in the council chamber in the wake of last month's comprehensive election victory.

Lord Mayor Graham Quirk has announced his new civic cabinet. Credit:Chris Hyde

As expected, Deputy Mayor Adrian Schrinner was re-elected by the LNP party room unopposed on Monday, but has moved from Infrastructure to Public and Active Transport, with special responsibility for the development of the Brisbane Metro and international relations.

"I think it's very important (to bunch them together)," Cr Quirk said.
Law authorities attempting to access private citizens' phone messages and telephone calls have suffered a new setback with cross platform messaging service WhatsApp announcing full encryption for their one billion users.

WhatsApp users began receiving messaging on their app early on Wednesday, Australian time, informing them their entire communications will now enjoy complete protection with end-to-end encryption, meaning more than one-seventh of the world's population can communicate without hackers or authorities snooping on their conversations.

The move comes just weeks after the FBI dropped its lawsuit against Apple attempting to force the tech-giant to unlock an iPhone belonging to one of the San Bernadino shooters.
The accident-prone Montague Street Bridge has lit up the imagination of Melburnians online, with parody accounts and memes confirming one way of dealing with a major traffic hazard is to anthropomorphise it. It is only a matter of time before T-shirts and tea-towels start emerging.

There have been at least five collisions since the start of this year alone, including a serious tour bus crash.

This means the bridge has been has been hit by a total of 99 vehicles since 2009.

VicRoads has started working on new gantries to alert bus and truck drivers to the bridge's height.
A 14-hour siege in Melbourne's north-west has come to an end with the promise of a cigarette and a dramatic arrest.

A 43-year-old man kept police at bay from a house in Duffy Street, Maribyrnong, from about 3.30pm on Monday.

The scene of a siege in Duffy Street, Maribyrnong. Credit:Pat Scala

Police had initially gone to the house to speak to the man over an alleged domestic-violence incident.

But the man phoned Channel 7, telling the television station he would burn the place down if police took action.
City of Perth inspectors "very sheepishly removed" parking tickets from the vehicles of media reporting on the forced removal of tents from Heirisson Island on Tuesday morning.

At 9am, local rangers and dozens of police entered the site, which is home to around 150 people of no fixed address, and began taking down camp sites and removing belongings.

Some people on the island had been camping in the area for more than four months.

The City of Perth had blocked entrance to the island's car park in preparation for the clean-up.
The Aboriginal tent embassy on Perth's Heirisson Island is being decamped again.

A police spokeswoman said officers were there to support the City of Perth rangers as they removed equipment from the island in the Swan River.

Greg Martin, Herbert Bropho and Aaron Hubert believe Heirisson Island should be returned to its traditional owners. Credit:Heather McNeill

Weeks of protests were held on Heirisson Island in 2012 after a group of Aboriginal activists objected to the West Australian government's $1.3 billion native title offer to the Nyoongar people.

People have continued to camp at the site over the years, prompting the City of Perth to regularly remove the tent embassy.
But even today, few people realise the depth of the flakka crisis in Broward County, a beach-lined locale with 1.8 million residents and familiarity with drug crazes of the past. Flakka was different. Emergency services in Broward were strained by the strange and often violent reactions of flakka users. Police regularly needed four and five officers to subdue a single agitated person. Local emergency rooms were overwhelmed by the number of flakka-induced delirium cases. Traditional drug treatment programs had to be retooled. This escalated for months as addicts sought out flakka's potent high at just $US5 a hit. "At the height of the flakka craze, you were almost praying for crack cocaine to come back," recalled Don Maines, a drug treatment counsellor with the sheriff's office. Jim Hall, an epidemiologist at Nova Southeastern University, had never heard of flakka until police in the county seat of Fort Lauderdale reported seeing a few cases in late 2014. And even as its popularity soared, the drug remained centred on South Florida. It popped up only sporadically across the country. But no one had any experience with flakka. "First thing we had to do was figure out how to spell it," Hall said.

The flakka's chemical name is alpha-PVP. And it was stronger than similar headline-grabbing synthetic drugs such as molly, K2 or bath salts. Flakka was almost too good at its job. The chemical attached itself to brain pathways with such ferocity that slight changes in purity or dose resulted in bizarre, sometimes deadly reactions. A series of videos made flakka famous. In Fort Lauderdale, a security camera captured a man high on flakka trying to kick in the doors of police headquarters, thinking he was being chased by wild dogs. Another impaled his leg on a steel fence as he tried to flee his hallucinations outside the police station. There was the naked man who ran through traffic, known as the Broward Boulevard streaker. Plus, the naked man who got stuck atop an open drawbridge. Getting naked was a distinguishing feature of flakka. The drug caused a user's body temperature to soar - 40 degrees was not uncommon. Some users complained it felt like their body was on fire. The resulting hyperthermia contributed to the 63 flakka-related deaths that Broward County reported by the end of 2015. Many flakka users suffered hallucinations and agitation. Last summer, county hospitals were admitting on average 12 new cases of flakka-related excited delirium every day. Other drugs rarely cause psychosis, experts said. But with flakka, it approached routine. "We were in an emergency scenario," said Hall, the epidemiologist.

Police had to change tactics. Two deputies usually responded to a "signal 57" - a drug call. But flakka users could exhibit adrenaline-fuelled, super-human strength. In Broward County, the sheriff's office started sending at least four deputies to every flakka call. They treated it like a bank robbery, Tianga said. All hands on deck. Tasers didn't always work on flakka users. And talking them down never did. Deputies had to wrestle users to the ground, punching them along the way to gain control, Tianga said. The official protocol was to attack and attack hard. It looked brutal. And in a post-Ferguson world, where US police use-of-force is scrutinised, Tianga knew the scenes could be interpreted as his deputies going too far. "We were always one incident away from making national news," Tianga said. But, he said, "there was no one to turn to for advice". So he started visiting churches on Sundays to explain to people why deputies needed to be so rough. They weren't taking people to jail, he told them. They were taking them to the hospital. And no one went willingly, even though they were often near death. Tianga started calling the incidents "awful but lawful".

Last March, as flakka use soared, the United Way of Broward County organised a Flakka Action Team. It was the first time the social services agency had formed a group for a particular drug. The taskforce contained members of local law enforcement, substance abuse counsellors and other professionals. They developed a plan to educate the community, to teach police how to respond and to figure out how to stop flakka production. "I never knew you could collaborate your efforts with the United Way," Tianga said. Heather Davidson, a United Way prevention specialist, said they plastered the county with anti-flakka posters with the slogan "Lose your mind. Lose your life." They held community forums. They educated officials at schools, jails and homeless shelters. They staged anti-flakka marches. Traditional drug treatment didn't work with flakka. Chronic users struggled with concentration, one of several lingering side effects. Even filling out paperwork was a challenge. They suffered from paranoia and insomnia. Some were light sensitive, so therapy sessions took place in the dark. "With crack cocaine, we know how to deal with that," Davidson said. "What we were seeing with flakka was unique."

Then the taskforce began pressuring Chinese authorities. It was an open secret that you could place an online order for flakka from a Chinese manufacturer and have it delivered to your door. A kilogram of flakka sold for $US1500 online. That was worth $US50,000 on the street. And flakka was just one of hundreds of lab-made substances so new that governments did not have time to identify and ban them. Hall, at Nova Southeastern University, made sure to bring up the China connection in media interviews last summer. He hammered away at the issue. Their cause won support from the US Department of Treasury when, in mid-October, the agency imposed Kingpin Act sanctions on one alleged synthetic drug producer in China named Bo Peng. The Drug Enforcement Agency also arrested 151 people in a nation-wide synthetic drug investigation, although most of the focus was on the cannabinoids often called synthetic marijuana. Then, in November, Florida law enforcement officials, including Tianga and local DEA agents, visited China to directly plead their case to the government there. When they returned, China announced that back on October 1 it had banned 116 different synthetic drugs, including fentanyl and flakka. The combined efforts turned the tide. Hospitals in Broward County went from seeing 306 flakka cases in October to 187 cases in November. The next month, it was just 54. Drug treatment admissions for flakka plummeted. The last person to die from flakka was in December. Police calls for the drug have disappeared, too.

"There's a drought on," Davidson of the United Way said. "There's no more flakka." In February, the Flakka Action Team even dropped "flakka" from its name. The task force now focuses on a range of drug problems. In Tianga's office, the sheriff's lieutenant keeps several framed newspaper front pages from last summer detailing flakka's power. One of the "Lose your mind. Lose your life" posters that were plastered across the county now covers one office wall. They look like artefacts from a different time. For Tianga, they are reminders of just how bad it got and how they still beat it.
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

A former Queensland mortgage broker has admitted to eight charges of home loan fraud.



Emma Feduniw, also known as Emma Khalil, a former mortgage broker with AHL Investments, trading as Aussie, has admitted through her solicitor to eight charges brought by ASIC.



The charges related to the falsification of employment documents to secure approvals for home loans, submitted to Westpac.



ASIC's investigation found that between March 2013 and February 2014, Feduniw submitted eight loan applications, totalling $2,720,400, containing false borrower employment letters. Of the eight loan applications, five were approved and disbursed, totalling $1,608,400. Feduniw received commission on those five loans of $6,847.53.



The eight loan applications ranged in value from $250,000 to $480,000.



Feduniw appeared before Beenleigh's Magistrates Court and through her solicitor admitted to providing documents knowing they were false or misleading.



The credit laws are designed to ensure borrowers do not take out loans they cannot afford. Actions by mortgage brokers to circumvent the laws, for their own financial benefit, erode trust and confidence in the mortgage broking industry and will not be tolerated, ASIC deputy chairman Peter Kell said.



Feduniw will next appear in court on 3 June 2016 for sentencing.


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 Finance Brokers Association of Australia ( FBAA ) is warning brokers about offering unqualified advice which isnt covered by their Professional Indemnity (PI) insurance.The FBAA has cited a recent case in which a broker was found to have breached his duty of care by the Credit Ombudsman Service and forced to pay more than $115,000. The Ombudsman claimed the broker had given incorrect and unqualified advice.In addition, the client  who was forced to sell an investment property at a substantial loss  took the legal action against the broker.The chief executive of the FBAA, Peter White, says in this instance the broker went outside the bounds of his role by providing property advice and acting as a real estate agent when he did not have a licence to do so."This should serve as a warning to brokers. If you give unqualified advice, your Professional Indemnity insurance wont cover you, he said.White is now urging brokers to educate themselves and update their knowledge of PI insurance."I would plead for any broker who may have let their education slide to update their knowledge on the rights and wrongs when it comes to advice and insurance.According to White, unqualified advice is potentially a growing problem as the line between financial planners and real estate property sales and other arms of the broking industry become blurred in an endeavour to diversify revenue streams.If you are only a qualified finance broker, act as a broker and do your best to meet your clients needs. If you also want to assist a client in other areas like property purchasing, get the necessary qualifications and training otherwise you may be at risk of a life changing personal pay out, White said.
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Cupids arrows are made of metal!

Single headbangers should thrash their way to the St. Vitus bar in Greenpoint on April 10 for a night of metal music and speed dating. The dates might be as short as a blistering Slayer tune, but sometimes that is enough, says the evenings host.

You see someone you find attractive in a Motorhead t-shirt and then you unzip your biker jacket to reveal your Black Sabbath t-shirt  and the next thing you know youre at the free clinic together. It can happen really fast if you just believe, said Dave Hill.

The comedian and self-proclaimed King of Metal has a proven track record of combining music and romance, regularly hosting a Morrissey-themed speed dating night at Greenpoint bar Black Rabbit.

It was instantly really popular, said Hill. The place was packed and people were making out in the bathroom and stuff. Mission accomplished. Anyway, since I love metal it seemed crazy not to try a similar thing with metal music.

Hill, who says that Living After Midnight by Judas Priest is the most romantic song of all time, confirms the night will run like any other speed dating event, with metalheads pairing off for dates that last just a few minutes. But the evenings atmosphere will be assisted by a fog machine, and Iron Maiden Trooper beer.

Hill reports that Brooklyns population of female metal fans have jumped at the opportunity, with as many ladies signing up for the night as dudes. And Hill has also kept gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender metal fans in mind for the night.

If the night proves not to be LGBT-friendly enough, we will start an LGBT Speed Metal Dating night, said Hill. In fact, I cant wait to whip up the flyer.

People are also welcome to come and observe that night, without a need to jump into the mosh pit of love.

The world of metal music is split by huge divisions between the micro-genres, with trash metal fans set against symphonic metal enthusiasts, and both snubbing the growls of death metal warblers. But Hill thinks that love will be able to conquer all.

I am hoping everyone can open their hearts to other forms of metal and, while theyre at it, their pants to love, he said.

Speed Metal Dating at St. Vitus (1120 Manhattan Ave. between Clay and Box streets in Greenpoint, www.saint vitus bar.com ). April 10 at 8 pm. Free.
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Democratic presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton will go head-to-head in a televised debate at the Navy Yard in Fort Greene on April 14, in a battle for the hearts and minds of the most important voters in the country  Brooklynites.

The two camps finally settled on a date and venue for the war of words on Monday night after days of squabbling  each publicly accusing the other of avoiding the verbal skirmish  but their campaigns didnt let that stop them getting one last jab in.

Its great for the people of New York that there will be a debate in Brooklyn, something that the Clinton campaign has long opposed, said Sanders spokesman Michael Briggs, noting the campaign moved a planned rally forward a night to accommodate Clintons preferred date.

A staffer for the former secretary of state fired right back, accusing the Vermont senator of dragging his feet.

We had thought the Sanders campaign would have accepted our offer for a Brooklyn debate on April 14 in a New York minute, but it ended up taking a few extra days for them to agree, said Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon. We are glad they did.

CNN and NY1 will co-host with anchor Wolf Blitzer moderating  a blatant snub of the Brooklyn Papers own offer to sponsor an authentic Kings County showdown between the two combatants under the relentless scrutiny of former editor Gersh Kuntzman, who proposed the event live on Mondays edition of Brooklyn Paper Radio.

The debate itself  five days ahead of the New York primary  will take place inside Navy Yard event venue the Duggal Greenhouse, a cavernous warehouse on the waterfront.

Tickets are not available yet, but a rep from the venue said there would likely only be around 1,000 seats up for grabs, and to keep an eye on CNN and the candidates websites.
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Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton is making her pitch to Brooklynites  ahead of her April 14 debate with adversary and Brooklyn native Bernie Sanders  by hosting a town hall on womens issues with Rep. Yvette Clarke (DFlatbush) and First Lady Chirlane McCray at Medgar Evers College in Crown Heights. Tenacious political reporter Julianne Cuba is on the scene. (This story is changing every minute! Hit refresh on your browser for the latest.)
Phillies bash Padres in wild Game 4 to move to brink of World Series

Philadelphia hit four home runs in the win, overcoming a 4-0 deficit before they even came to bat against San Diego.
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Islam will be the focus of scholarly events at UB

Highlights include a student panel titled, Muslim Students Experiences in the U.S.

Our goal is to educate the community about the meaning of Islam as practiced by the majority of Muslims. 

BUFFALO, N.Y.  A series of public events on Islam will be hosted by scholars, students and groups affiliated with the University at Buffalo this April, with the goal of educating the community about the religion and engaging in scholarly dialogue on issues facing Islam today.

Titled Redefining the Narrative: Islam in Focus, the event series is being held in response to some of the anti-Muslim rhetoric in the media and U.S. presidential campaign, organizers say.

Our goal is to educate the community about the meaning of Islam as practiced by the majority of Muslims, said Associate Professor of Urban and Regional Planning, Samina Raja, a co-organizer of the events. The hope is to spark thoughtful consideration of and scholarly discussion on this important issue.

The series will include four events between April 7 and April 28, including a panel discussion in which Muslim students will discuss their faith and their experiences living in the U.S. and elsewhere.

The other three events are a lecture titled, An Introduction to Islam; a Muslim Student Association banquet featuring a keynote speech on The True Message of Islam: A Religion of Peace"; and a keynote speech on Islam in the time of ISIS and Islamophobia delivered by the director of the Islamic Studies Center at Duke University.

All sessions are open to the public, and all are free with the exception of the banquet, which is a ticketed event (see details below).

Attendees are encouraged to bring monetary donations for Food for All, a Western New York organization that strives to reduce hunger. The charitable effort reflects the importance that Islam places on giving and supporting ones community, Raja says.

The series is organized by the UB Office of International Education, UB School of Architecture and Planning, the UB Muslim Student Association, UB Intercultural and Diversity Center and UB Asian Studies Program, with support from those entities, UB and donations from Western New York residents.

Details on events:

Thursday, April 7: An Introduction to Islam

5-6:30 p.m. on April 7 in 120 Clemens Hall, UB North Campus

Presented by Jeannette Ludwig, associate professor in the UB Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, and an affiliate of the UB Asian Studies Program, this free, public lecture will focus on Islams role in shaping world history theologically, politically, commercially and artistically.

Ludwig will examine the foundations of the religion (Muhammed and the Quran), its central practices and how Islam affects the daily life of both men and women.

Friday, April 15: Muslim Student Association banquet

6-9 p.m. on April 15 at the Buffalo Marriott Niagara, 1340 Millersport Hwy., Amherst

Tickets are $15 for UB faculty, staff and students, and $20 for the general public.

The keynote speech, The True Message of Islam: A Religion of Peace," will be presented by Shabir Ally, imam and president of the Islamic Information and Dawah Centre International in Toronto. According to a description of the lecture, the talk will discuss the religion of Islam, which found its origins at a period in time when blood feuds, slavery and prejudiced class systems were widespread. Then, the Prophet of Islam came during this turbulent time as a messenger of mercy and changed the course of history.

Thursday, April 21: Muslim Students Experiences in the U.S.

5-6:30 p.m. on April 21 in 210 Student Union, UB North Campus

In this panel discussion, Muslim students at UB will discuss their upbringing, their faith and their experiences as Muslims in the U.S. and other countries.

Thursday, April 28: Islam and Muslims in an age of ISIS and Islamophobia

7 p.m. on April 28 in 104 Knox Hall, UB North Campus

This keynote speech will be delivered by Professor Omid Safi, director of the Islamic Studies Center at Duke University.

This lecture will explore the state of the American Muslim community and the American democratic experiment 15 years after the horrific attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Asserting that few American communities are viewed with more hostility, negativity and suspicion, Safi will explore the challenges faced by the Muslim community as Muslims consistently condemn the attacks of groups like ISIS while at the same time perpetually defending themselves against Islamophobia.

At a time when some leading presidential candidates talk seriously about increasing the surveillance of Muslim communities, turning away Muslim refugees and shutting down mosques, Safi will explore questions of importance to American democracy in an age of fear and fear-mongering: Where do we go from here? and How do we rebuild the bonds of the Beloved Community? (The Beloved Community is a term popularized by Martin Luther King Jr. that refers to an inclusive world defined by virtues such as justice, love, compassion and nonviolence.)
UB STEM summit seeks to advance women in science, technology, engineering and math careers

Connections that extend beyond the classroom are a key to building STEM success

There are terrific opportunities for young women entering STEM fields now. Women in STEM jobs earn 33 percent more than those in non-STEM jobs. 

BUFFALO, N.Y.  According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, women make up 47 percent of the overall workforce, but hold only 27 percent of STEM-related occupations. Women comprise just 15.6 percent of chemical engineers, 12.1 percent of civil engineers and 7.5 percent of computer network architects.

Women are still significantly underrepresented in many other STEM-related fields as well: Women lag behind men as environmental scientists and geoscientists, physicists and in computer and math occupations.

And yet, in a recent report, Solving the Equation, the American Association of University Women found that by 2022, the United States will need 1.7 million more engineers and computing professionals.

As part of its commitment to raise awareness and promote the progress of women in science, technology, engineering and math careers, the University at Buffalo will host its second Women in STEM Summit: Work Smarter, Not Harder.

The event will be held April 13 from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Student Union on UBs North Campus.

It is free and open to the public. To register, visit http://www.pss.buffalo.edu/womeninstem/summit.html.

The summit will bring UB STEM undergraduate and graduate students, scholars and educators together with professionals from across Western New York to discuss STEM-related issues, network and share academic and career experiences.

Tonawanda Engine Plant Manager Steve Finch, one of several local thought leaders speaking at the event, said: Having a diverse workforce, one that really mirrors our customer base, is critically important for any business, but especially in a global business like GM.

The automotive industry is dynamic, exciting and offers a multitude of careers. Women influence more than 85 percent of all purchasing decisions, so it makes great business sense to attract, engage, develop and retain more women into our workforce.

Making STEM connections beyond the classroom can provide crucial guidance toward finding the right career. This year, the summit will present an information fair featuring nearly 30 campus and community groups, encompassing a wide range of STEM-related educational, career and professional areas. Also new this year, the Women in STEM Summit is showcasing 27 posters presented by UB STEM undergraduate and graduate students.

The events keynote address, Identity and Career Progression for Women in STEM, will be delivered by Gilda Barabino, PhD, Berg Professor and dean of the Grove School of Engineering at The City College of New York.

Real innovation comes at the intersection of fields, it comes with new perspectives and it comes with diversification, Barabino said.

Women are a valuable, yet under-tapped resource in STEM. I cant emphasize enough the importance of fueling passions and increasing exposure to career paths in the STEM fields  especially early on. The impact is transformative.

There are terrific opportunities for young women entering STEM fields now, said Liesl Folks, dean of UBs School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Women in STEM jobs earn 33 percent more than those in non-STEM jobs.

Young women who are interested in math and science dont need to sacrifice any life goals to pursue great careers in STEM fields. Quite the opposite is true, in fact. STEM careers are important to women, offering flexible, exciting and challenging opportunities that provide fulfillment and success, allowing them to work on the most pressing problems we face as a society.

The Women in STEM Summit is sponsored by: Engineers for a Sustainable World; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Buffalo; UB Institute for Research and Education on Women and Gender; New York State Society of Professional Engineers (NYSSPE); Praxair; UB School of Engineering and Applied Sciences; Technical Societies Council; UB College of Arts and Sciences; UB Honors College; UB Professional Staff Senate; UB Intercultural and Diversity Center; UB Ronald E. McNair Scholars Program; UB STEM Programs; UB Student Life and UB Women in Science and Engineering (WiSE).
Electrorad, distributor of electric radiators, controls and towel rails, has expanded its head office in Leeds to meet increased demand for its heating products.

Located in Clayton Wood Rise, Leeds, the current office has now almost trebled in size to provide additional space for training rooms, stock, sales and warehousing.

Richard Brown, managing director at Electrorad said: Our new office space will allow us to expand our core teams to support the growth we are experiencing, while giving us sufficient space to support our future expansion plans.
Continuing its support of both suppliers and individuals within the merchant industry, the Institute of Builders Merchants (IoBM) is delighted to welcome Snows Timbers as its latest member, as a Supplier Partner.

Snows Timber is one of Britains leading importers, distributors and processors of wood products. It provides wholesale wood products to builders merchants, timber merchants, and wood-using industries. The company has operated for over 100 years and currently employs over 200 staff members, topping 43m in annual sales.

Allan Durning, president of the IoBM, said: Its fantastic to be able to welcome Snows Timber to the institute. Together we can continue to help the merchant community and engage in a relationship that is mutually beneficial.

With an extensive knowledge of the timber product category, Snows is perfectly placed to help the IoBM expand its areas of expertise. The partnership will also focus on encouraging professional development for those in the industry. Snows recognises the outstanding contribution IoBM has made to merchants careers, together theyll continue to help merchants enrich their careers and businesses.

Snows commercial director Mark Bowers said: Were pleased to be joining the Institute as a Supplier Partner, and look forward to playing a useful role as we develop our partnership. Timber can account for up to a quarter of a general merchants business, so were happy to share our wealth of knowledge.
5 changes to you, your seafood and the Shore from warming Atlantic
A Burnham-On-Sea woman is this week celebrating after winning the title of Miss Bristol 2016 and a place in the Miss England Final.

Emily Sanders, 23, won the title on Sunday (April 3rd) during a ceremony at the Grand Mercure Hotel in Bristol.

Emily had a great year as Miss Somerset in the 2015 Miss England competition.

She was shortlisted for many rounds last year including talent, eco fashion, beach beauty, modelling and charity.

She also raised over 7,000 for the Beauty with a Purpose campaign, supporting youth charities and projects across the UK, in addition to her wider commitments.

Emily is a fully qualified teacher at the beginning of her career in education and has recently accepted a place to study her Masters degree at the University of Oxford. She says that shell continue to support Burnham-On-Seas mental health charity, In Charleys Memory, and fulfil her ambition to travel.

Emily told Burnham-On-Sea.com: I had so much support last year from my local community and sponsors, so a massive thank you to them for helping me along the way. I am hoping to make them proud with a more successful year as Miss Bristol.

Beauty competitions are recognised to advocate a stereotypical image of beauty, but I hope to continue to show that Miss England is not just glamour and gowns!

Emily will now compete in the Miss England final on 20th and 21st July in Southport.


Somersets Police & Crime Commissioner has said this week that Burnham-On-Sea Police Station is three times bigger than needed  and thats one of the reasons why its due to close down.

Sue Mountstevens, right, officially launched her candidacy this week for Mays local elections to choose the next Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC).

But the looming closure of Burnhams Police Station  which was first reported by Burnham-On-Sea.com here last year  continues to be a key local issue on the campaign trail.

She told Burnham-On-Sea.com: As your PCC for four years, I can see that much has been achieved but much remains to do to create a police force for our times. I have led the introduction of much greater transparency into Police processes, devoted protection for our most vulnerable (especially child sexual abuse and domestic abuse) and hit an all time low in number of burglaries. Local residents satisfaction with our Police has improved from 71% to 79%.

So far so good. However, our Avon & Somerset Police have had to find 60million savings over the last four years, and there is still at least 16million more to find before 2020.

It is ironic  almost laughable  that the Tory PCC candidate is criticising the downsizing of some police stations. The Tories have cut 17,000 police officers in England & Wales and imposed 20% cuts. If the Tory candidate retained the police stations that the police themselves do not want to keep open, where will his axe fall  fewer beat officers?

She added: The Burnham police station is three times larger than they need, say the Police themselves. This is inefficient.

Somerset County Council is currently in discussions with the Police about a possible move into Burnham library.

She added: The truth is that the Police are moving within Burnham  not leaving. Voters need to be very sure that whoever they choose to take up the role of the PCC has the managerial and leadership skills to lead a complex policing organisation. Clearly, not just a career politician.

She continued: To further improve residents accessibility to the Police, I have agreed to increase investment into the 101 number for non-emergencies. This will result in being able to get through quicker. Satisfaction from callers is high but we must answer the calls more quickly.

The Chief Constable and I want to strengthen our neighbourhood Police teams. We have agreed to recruit 128 Police Officers this year. I was delighted to attend the graduation of 16 Police Officers and 15 PCSOs last month.

To fund more Police officers, we need to operate efficiently. Thats why I want to continue in co-locating with local authorities, fire and ambulance. Using your money wisely to reinvest. Remember for every 1million saved, 20 Police officers jobs are protected.

I want to protect our Police officers and staff. Residents confidence comes from seeing local officers and PCSOs in local neighbourhoods. Robust and strong communities that look out for each other are safe communities. That is why I am a passionate supporter of Community Speed Watch and Neighbourhood Watch.

If given the opportunity to remain your PCC, I will continue to use your money wisely. I will support further collaborations with other forces sharing back offices. We need to reinvest these savings into tackling Child Sexual Exploitation and Child Abuse, crimes against our most vulnerable and Cybercrime.

So in Burnham and other rural towns I would ask the Chief Constable to deliver strong neighbourhood teams, embedded in our local communities, so that we can be safe and feel safe. Together we are stronger.

But Mark Weston, the Conservative Police and Crime Commissioner candidate, told Burnham-On-Sea.com: I do not support the closure of Burnham-On-Sea Police Station. I regard it as an important part of the fabric of community policing.

I believe that the station is especially important in the summer when people flock to Brean. The station serves as the hub for policing the massive increase in people coming to the area.

I believe that since the financial situation has improved over what was previously expected that we have the flexibility to review the planned closure plans and think again at how we best serve local communities across Somerset, including here in Burnham.

The debate comes as residents across the Burnham-On-Sea and Highbridge area will go to the polls for the PC election on Thursday 5th May.

Also see:

Burnham-On-Sea Police Station to close as move to fire station nears

Burnham voters set to go the polls to choose police commissioner
PREMIERUL NICOLAE CIUCA:

"Nu accept sa intrerupem procesul de invatamant pentru ca nu exista termie in vreuna dintre scoli"
SIX LENSES

Vignettes of Success, Career and Relationships

R Gopalakishnan

Rupa Publications

205 pages; Rs 395



With a broad theme like six lenses that shape our perception of the leadership challenges encountered in work and family, the book ran the danger of becoming a 205-page-long boring lecture on philosophy. But Six Lenses: Vignettes of Success, Career and Relationships ends up being a gripping narrative of life's many shades, which can encourage readers to look at their lives and careers in a different light.

There are three reasons for this: one, the author's mastery of the art of story-telling and his intellectual rigour that helps connects the dots. R Gopalakrishnan is a prolific writer (this is his fifth book in eight years) but this one is clearly his best. Two, he has carefully avoided the predictability of countless management books that offer instant, pre-packaged wisdom on how to succeed in one's career. And three, the book subtly revolves around management and philosophy with multiple references from religious texts and binds them all with several interesting anecdotes - the extraordinary lessons the author learnt from everyday experiences of people to which readers can relate. In the process, the author shows how, by altering our perceptions, people can better overcome the challenges they face at work and in family matters.

Mr Gopalakrishnan also draws from the Vedantic idea of myth and reality to conclude that the idea of reality does not exist and that all man sees is through his perception of the world around him. It's like a visit to the optician for an eye test - on the support frame, there are lenses that can be rotated to improve vision during testing. The rotation of each lens changes the clarity and the view. There are many perspectives that the viewer can get and he or she has to select the view that best suits him or her. Like an optician who keeps turning the lenses till the patient can see clearly, people need to keep shifting the proverbial six lenses until they find and arrive at an awareness of their life's purpose and fulfilment.

Take the story of Nihal Kaviratne who gave up a chance to study at Harvard to ensure that he did not lose his girlfriend, who later became his wife. Viewed through the lens of work, his decision may be termed a failure. But viewed through the lens of purpose and family, he might well appear to be a big success. Both are valid views, depending on the lenses through which the event is viewed.

The six lenses (the book has a chapter each that corresponds to each of these lenses) are: Purpose (the deep-seated belief about life's aim); Authenticity ( who you are, at the core); Courage (overcoming obstacles and inequity); Trust (encompasses virtues such as reliability, never letting anyone down, etc); Luck (people pretend they don't believe in it except when it suits them) and Fulfilment (it is about enjoying what exists rather than cry about what might have been missed).

Universally, people define success in terms of what other people think of it. But the important lesson the book provides is that there is no universally accepted measure of success. But the paradox is that while all success doesn't lead to fulfilment, all fulfilment leads to success. The delightful stories about "people like us" tell us how each of them sought success and fulfilment and are great examples of what happiness means - it's a complex phenomenon called emotional well-being. Young readers may scoff at the author's prognosis that happiness is tied to giving rather than taking, to volunteering and to donating, but they could gain some deep insights when Mr Gopalakrishnan says, "Life often seems to bestow its bounties at the wrong time on the wrong people. Banks lend to those who are creditworthy, which means they have quite a lot of money to repay. When one is of the age to go on a honeymoon, one is most likely strapped for cash. And when one has the cash one may not be in the age bracket for a honeymoon."



Though its inclusion as a lens may be considered unusual by many, Mr Gopalakrishnan is at his best in the chapter on "Luck". Through countless examples, he has shown how good outcomes are dressed up by the corporate types as strategic strokes of genius while catastrophes are attributed to bad luck. For example, when he was posted to Jeddah in 1990 as chairman, Unilever Arabia, war clouds were gathering. Many thought he was unlucky to be posted there at such a time. They were right, because the war broke out soon after. But after the war ended, there was massive government spending throughout the Gulf Cooperation Council states; the economy became buoyant and greatly helped him establish Unilever's business on a sound footing. It may have been "unearned" luck, but he was lucky nevertheless. One wishes many of his peers, both past and present, were as forthcoming about the reasons for their success.

Overall, Six Lenses is a great read, made richer by an author who has enough experience and knowledge to offer readers views on the choices and assumptions that people make, as also their outcomes.
The Manesar-Palwal section of the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal Expressway was inaugurated on Tuesday by Nitin Gadkari, the union minister of road transport and highways. According to Gadkari, the project had been languishing for several years. However the Centre and the Haryana Government resolved the issues plaguing it and the 52.33 km long section of the expressway has been completed in a record time of 11 months. The Eastern and Western Peripheral Expressways are targeted for completion within 400 days from the start of the project, said Gadkari. Once the two peripheral expressways are ready, traffic congestion in Delhi will come down by 50 per cent, pollution levels will be reduced and the farmers, traders and the people of the region as a whole will benefit due to better connectivity. The Manesar-Palwal section of the Expressway has been built at a cost of Rs 457.81crore. It is an access controlled, six-lane, divided road with 1.5 metre wide paved shoulder on each side. It intersects with the Delhi-Jaipur NH8 near Manesar, Palwal-Sohna-Rewari NH 919, Sohna-Nuh-Alwar Road NH 248A and finally joins NH2 near Palwal. The road will provide uninterrupted highspeed link for traffic, especially commercial traffic from Haryana to neighbouring states. It will also decongest road traffic through Delhi by allowing bypass of traffic not destined for the capital. Road side amenities are under development. The road also has several underpasses, cattle crossing underpasses, agricultural vehicle underpasses bridges, pedestrian crossing underpasses and box culverts.

Source : BS Motoring
French automaker Renault plans to launch at least one new model in India every year over the next few years. The company sold 12,424 units in March.

According to Sumit Sawhney, country CEO and managing director, Renault India Operations, the company is keen to introduce the right products at the right time in the country. Renault plans to launch one litre and AMT versions of its popular Kwid in India. The French carmaker was hoping to achieve a market share of five per cent by 2017, but looking at the huge demand for its models, Sawhney expects to reach the target by the end of this year. The company sold 29,289 cars during the first three months of 2016, a 157 per cent growth over the same period in 2015. India is today among the top five markets for Renault globally, said Sawhney. The fully-owned subsidiary of Renault S.A.S. France currently offers seven models in the Indian market  the premium sedan Fluence, the luxury SUV Koleos, the premium compact car Pulse, the segment-breaker SUV Duster, the premium sedan Scala, the MPV Lodgy and the recently-launched global compact hatchback, Renault Kwid. Renault India cars are manufactured at its facility in Oragadam, Chennai. It has a production capacity of 480,000 units per annum. The company also has a network of more than 205 sales and service facilities across the country.

Source : BS Motoring
Toyota Connected, Inc is being launched by the Japanese auto major to serve as a data science hub for its global operations and to support a broad range of consumer, business and government facing initiatives. Toyota Connected will help free our customers from the tyranny of technology, said Zack Hicks, CEO, Toyota Connected and CIO, Toyota Motor North America. It will make lives easier and help us to return to our humanity. From telematics services that learn from your habits and preferences, to use-based insurance pricing models that respond to actual driving patterns, to connected vehicle networks that can share road condition and traffic information, our goal is to deliver services that make lives easier. The new venture will significantly expand the companys capabilities in the fields of data management and data services development. The launch builds on Toyotas global vision of a future of mobility that is clean, safe and convenient. The company will leverage the power of data science through Microsofts Azure cloud technology to develop predictive, contextual, and intuitive services that help to humanise the driving experience while pushing technology into the background. Based in Plano, Texas, Toyota Connected will launch with two mandates: delivering seamless and contextual services, and using cutting-edge data analytics to support product development for customers, dealers, distributors, and partners. In support of these goals, the new company will consolidate Toyota initiatives in data centre management, data analytics, and data driven services development. In addition, the new company builds on Toyotas existing partnership with Microsoft to accelerate R&D efforts and deliver new connected car solutions and elevated customer experiences. Microsoft engineers will work with Toyota Connected in their new facility, providing continuous support across technology areas and leveraging a broad range of data analytics and mobile programs. Toyota Connected will adopt Microsofts Azure cloud computing platform, employing a hybrid solution globally.

Source : BS Motoring
will join Gujarat, Kerala and Nagaland in banning the sale of all forms of alcohol. The decision, to take effect right away, was taken at a state cabinet meeting on Tuesday, covering what is termed Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL), too.

The move has far-reaching implications for IMFL makers. Notably, the top three, the Diageo-owned United Spirits (USL), French major Pernod Ricard and Kishore-Chhabria-owned Allied Blenders & Distillers (ABD). The three control almost 70 per cent of the close to six million cases by volume market. Which in value terms is pegged at Rs 1,500-2,000 crore.

While USL and Pernod Ricard are estimated to have 30 per cent each of the IMFL market, ABD has 20 per cent. Popular brands include McDowell's No 1 and Bagpiper from USL, Imperial Blue and Royal Stag from Pernod Ricard and Officer's Choice from ABD.

Deepak Roy, vice-chairman, ABD, said: "We have crores worth of material at godowns, for which excise has already been paid. All this will become redundant with the ban. We were hoping to start the new financial year with a bang and look at what has happened." USL and Pernod could not be reached.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is fulfilling an election promise with the blanket ban and is unlikely to go back on his word. It was during the assembly elections last year that Kumar had said he'd start a people's movement against liquor.

Manufacturers say a blanket ban will fuel the illicit liquor trade, impacting the health of people. "I don't know how effective this is going to be, despite the state government's intention of curbing the drinking habit. I find the move counter-productive," said an executive from a liquor major.
The arguments over whether is safe for consumption are to be heard on July 19, the Supreme Court said on Tuesday. Earlier in the day, a laboratory in Mysuru gave the test reports it conducted on 16 Maggi noodle samples to the SC. The SC in December had directed the CFTRI laboratory in Mysuru to submit complete test report on to determine whether Maggi contains any harmful elements for human consumption.

The food major, fighting against the Union government over alleged substandard quality of its flagship brand argued that since monosodium glutamate (MSG) originates from natural sources, its presence in Maggi cannot be termed artificial. Incidentally, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India recently came out with a notification regarding the same. The regulator asked its food commissioners, in charge of different states, not take action against food manufacturers for presence of MSG in their noodles and pastas, unless there is mislabelling.
Shares of have been hammered by investors of late. The stock has fallen 21 per cent over the past three months due to rising concerns over capacity crunch and lower margins. The delay in the Gujarat plant will impact the companys ability to meet new demand in the new financial year (FY17). The sharp fall in operating margin in the December 2015 quarter also impacted the stocks performance. Sequentially, Marutis operating margin fell 190 basis points (bps) to 14.4 per cent. The Street now expects margins to deteriorate further.

Religare Institutional Equities has factored in lower volumes and margins for the company after its December 2015 quarter numbers.

The Street is of the view that the best might be over for Maruti as far as margin expansion is concerned. Adverse currency movement is expected to impact the companys operating margin in the coming quarters. The market had estimated the countrys largest passenger car maker to sustain margins at 16 per cent levels. However, the view now is that Maruti will not be able to sustain its margin profile.

The start of 2016 has seen negative currency movements. Maruti continues to import from Japan and the Japanese yens movement against the rupee impacts the company. Marutis margins started inching up from 2013 as the Japanese yen fell 15.4 per cent between July 2013 and April 2015. However, more than half of this has been undone in the past three months as the Japanese yen has appreciated against the rupee by seven per cent. While exports might offset some of this impact, analysts are toning down their margin estimates for this year as well as the next. IIFL Institutional Equities expects currency fluctuations to impact margins by around 50 bps.
Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL) which has emerged as the biggest coal producing subsidiary of Coal India Ltd (CIL), may contribute Rs 4,000 crore to the state government exchequer by 2020.

CIL's coal output is envisaged to touch one billion tonne by 2020 of which is tipped to contribute 250 million tonne (mt).

"In 2014-15, we have contributed more than Rs 2,000 crore to state government exchequer. By 2020, when our coal production will be in excess of 200 mt, our contribution to the state exchequer may touch Rs 4,000 crore", AK Jha, chairman and managing director, MCL, said. Read more from our special coverage on "MCL" MCL becomes number 1 coal producer of India in FY16

According to provisional figures released by MCL, its contribution to state government's exchequer in 2015-16 is pegged at Rs 2,585.54 crore while that to the Centre's exchequer is Rs 7,388.95 crore.

MCL's gross turnover in 2015-16 at Rs 19,053.15 crore is 21% higher than Rs 15,693.71 crore posted in the year-ago fiscal. The coal producer had clocked a net profit of Rs 3,554.10 crore in 2014-15. By the end of December 2015, its net profit stood at Rs 3,186.20 crore.

achieved an all-time high coal output of 137.9 mt in 2015-16.

It also despatched 140.22 mt of coal last fiscal, registering growth of 14%. In this fiscal, has set a target of producing 167 mt of coal.

The coal company has lined up a massive Rs 20,000 crore Capital expenditure (Capex) plan to help ramp up coal output. The investment would be chiefly on infrastructure creation and is expected to be completed by 2020.

To cater to the requirement of enhanced coal handling, MCL in partnership with Railways, is developing crucial Jharsuguda-Sardega line and Talcher-Angul rail link. Total expenditure on the rail network would be Rs 2,500 crore.

The Jharsuguda-Barapali-Sardega line is expected to be commissioned by March 2017, Jha said.

MCL has forged a special purpose vehicle (SPV) called Mahanadi Coal Railway Ltd with Ircon International Ltd and the Odisha government for evacuation of coal. MCL would have major stake in the SPV with 64%, Ircon will hold 26% and the rest 10% by state owned Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Idco). Around Rs 3,000 crore would be spent on this SPV.
Despite the Uday scheme rolling in to relieve immediate stress from power distribution (discoms), the benefits are yet to trickle down to the other stakeholders in the power generation chain, mainly the monolith coal producer, whose outstanding dues from various power and steel have rocketed to over Rs 11,000 crore.

Although Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC), in March-end has cleared a part of its dues, as on April 1, 2015, is yet to recover Rs 11,700 crore from various power and steel .

A senior official in the company said power companies from West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and DVC are the major defaulters whose combined outstanding amount is over 50 per cent.

As per the official, power producers from West Bengal owe Rs. 2,100 crore while Madhya Pradesh owes Rs, 1,300 crore and Rajasthan accounts for another Rs. 700 crore.

However, DVC has paid back Rs 500 crore which has brought down its outstanding to Rs 1,700 crore.

Besides, companies in the stressed steel sector also owes Rs 1,000 crore to the mining company.

"West Bengal and DVC buys higher graded coal because of which their outstanding is higher", the official said.

Last year, DVC owed Rs 1,500 crore to which had increased to Rs. 2,100 crore in February this year. The Uday scheme helped the power producer clear off 23 per cent of its outstanding to Coal India after getting a part of their payment released from Jharkhand Urja Vikash Nigam Ltd recently.

As on November last year, power companies owed Rs. 8,279 crore to Coal India which scaled up to Rs. 11,000 crore in December and further to Rs. 11,700 crore in February 2015.

This situation came into being as the demand for coal declined rapidly and the coal monolith resorted back to its credit policy which it had abandoned earlier to keep its uncleared receipts in check.

"We always try to implement the cash-and-carry model but there are social commitments towards power generation which we cannot ignore as a public sector company", another senior official in the company said when asked about the reason for re-starting its credit policy.

In previous occasions, cash strapped DVC has complained about this cash-and-carry model which had been starving its power plant in Raghunathpur in West Bengal.

The financially better off NTPC, which buys coal worth nearly Rs. 4,000 crore on an average, however, has not been able to reap any benefits of the credit policy.

"We always buy coal on a prepaid basis.

However, there may be minor outstanding dues on our part but its shouldn't largely affect Coal India's earnings", an NTPC official said.

Nevertheless, the debts power companies owe may not be cleared soon.

"It may take atleast a year for the power generators to reap the benefits of the Uday scheme post which their dues to Coal India may be cleared", the NTPC official said.

However, reeling under heavy pressure of over 50 mt idling coal stocks, Coal India's move to sell coal on a credit basis may widen the dues it is yet to recover.

"We have to sell coal whatever the situation may be. If we idle the stocks, we cannot continue mining more coal to meet our targets and these stocks will also deplete in quality. Besides, there is a risk of fire too", the Coal India official said.

According to power and coal minister Piyush Goyal, power plants across the nation have a 39 mt of coal stocks.
Sanjeev Gupta, a potential buyer of Tata Steels British assets, is meeting Britains business secretary on Tuesday to discuss his plan to turn around the struggling operations without the loss of thousands of jobs.

Prime Minister David Camerons government has said it was working to broker a deal with potential buyers after Indias Tata Steel put its British operations up for sale last week, threatening thousands of jobs.

Read more from our special coverage on "TATA STEEL UK" Tata Steels plan to restructure UK biz credit positive: Moodys

Gupta, head of the Liberty House Group which has bought other steel assets in Britain, told BBC Radio he believed the business could be saved but said he had not yet carried out due diligence or held talks with the sellers of the business, which includes the huge Port Talbot site in Wales.

ALSO READ: UK minister rushing to India to hold talks with Tata Group

Many of them are lossmaking at the moment but we believe they can be turned around, he said.

Camerons government has faced criticism over its response to Tatas decision, a move that has put 15,000 jobs at risk and exposed the government to accusations of failing to protect the industry from high energy costs and cheaper Chinese imports.

Gupta said he was looking at the broad concept of the business and believed the majority of it could be saved. He said the blast furnaces were the biggest problem but that staff could be retrained to modify the plant.

We have an alternative suggestion which is to still make hot metal but to make it from local raw material rather than imported raw material, so it's a change of technology rather than ending liquid steel making, he said.

If we get involved in Port Talbot we will only do so on the basis that we are confident there will not be any mass redundancies.
Hedge funds and India-dedicated funds had diminished the pace of their investments into the country in the second half of 2015-16 compared to the first half. However, family offices were more active in the second half, according to a report from research firm Venture Intelligence. The family office category was up 38 per cent, led by names such as Ratan Tata, Ronnie Screwvala and various Infosys co-founders, who were also active in the first half but accelerated in the second. Read more from our special coverage on "INVESTMENT" Use the right measure of return

India Incs Jan overseas investment rises 40% at $3.14 billion

HSIIDC signs MoU for setting up of electronics cluster in Haryana



According to the data, Ratan Tatas own office invested in 12 in the second half of the year  Nestaway, Moglix, Invictus, Bollant Industries, SnapBizz, Dogspot, Tracxn, CashKaro, FirstCry, TeaBox, UrbanClap and LetsVenture. In the first half, it had seven investments, in Zivame, Yourstory, Ola, Ampere Vehicles, Lybrate, Kaaryah and Holachef. According to the data, Ratan Tatas own office invested in 12 in the second half of the year  Nestaway, Moglix, Invictus, Bollant Industries, SnapBizz, Dogspot, Tracxn, CashKaro, FirstCry, TeaBox, UrbanClap and LetsVenture. In the first half, it had seven investments, in Zivame, Yourstory, Ola, Ampere Vehicles, Lybrate, Kaaryah and Holachef.

N R Narayana Murthy's private entity, Catamaran Ventures, invested in three in the second half and three during the first half. Nandan Nilekani invested in five during the second half and two in the first part. A third Infosys co-founder, S Gopalakrishnan, invested in one company in the first half and three in the second half.

Unilazer, promoted by Screwvala, invested in two companies during the first half and another six in the second half.

Interestingly, among traditional venture capital funds, the India  dedicated ones  which have raised money to be deployed only in India, like Sequoia Capital India (16 deals in the second half vs 31 in the first half) and Accel India (17 vs 27)  slowed (down 36 per cent) as compared to foreign VCs (down 22 per cent). Among foreign funds (which have a choice to deploy their capital in geographies other than India, Japanese early-stage VCs like Beenos Partners (seven deals vs five later) and M&A Partners (five vs four) stepped up their pace, it said.

In the first half of the financial year (April to September 2015), things were rosy all round and all kinds of international investors, from hedge funds to European & Russian billionaires, were putting capital into Indian start-ups. The next six months saw a relative cooling in such activity.

 activity of hedge funds and related investors, including key Flipkart backer Tiger Global (which made five investments in the latest six months vs 18 in the previous six months)was down the most, as much as 67 per cent, it added.

Strategic investors and corporate VCs activities were down by 46 per cent. Angel networks and the like saw activities down by two per cent, it said.

Hedge funds which followed Tiger into India, such as Steadview Capital and Falcon Edge Capital were missing after October 2015. Corporate VCs  like Qualcomm Ventures which had four investments in the latest six months against nine in the previous six and Nokia Growth Partner slowed by 44 per cent.

Angel investment networks and 'super angels', as well as the impact investors/social VC segments, maintained about the same pace across both periods. In fact, the recent six months witnessed the entry of several more independent angels, making their first set of investments as professional investors, into the Indian start-up eco-system. The period has also witnessed impact investors leading rounds at online services and e-commerce companies. For example, Aspada Investments led a $5-million round for entry jobs marketplace Aasaanjobs, with existing financial VCs in the company (IDG Ventures India and Inventus Capital) co-investing, said the research entity.
UK business minister Sajid Javid is rushing to Mumbai to hold crunch talks with Tata Group Chairman Cyrus Mistry in an effort to save the British steel industry after the Indian steel giant decided to sell its loss making plants in the country.

But, before he leaves on Tuesday for the hurriedly planned India trip, Javid is also set to hold crucial talks with businessman Sanjeev Gupta, who has expressed an interest in acquiring Tata Steels embattled Port Talbot plant in South Wales.

Many of them are loss making at the moment but we believe they can be turned around, Gupta, founder & chief executive of commodities firm Liberty House, told the BBC.

His firm is conducting due diligence of the Tata Steel operations and have held talks with the Tata Group over the prospect of acquiring the unit and saving thousands of jobs.

"If we get involved in Port Talbot we will only do so on the basis that we are confident there will not be any mass redundancies," he said.

"We have an alternative suggestion which is to still make hot metal but to make it from local raw material rather than imported raw material, so it's a change of technology rather than ending liquid steel making," he added.

Gupta indicated Tata Steels pension fund, with 130,000 members and liabilities of almost 15 billion pounds, could prove a barrier to rescue.

Meanwhile, British Prime Minister David Cameron has become personally involved in trying to work out a solution to the crisis triggered as a result of a combination of cheap imports from China, falling global demand, high energy prices and a tougher tax regime than many rival nations.

According to the 'Financial Times', Downing Street has indicated that under state aid rules, the UK could provide financial support for the steelmaking sites, which could include reducing pensions and energy costs.

But the government remains opposed to imposing higher tariffs on Chinese steel imports.

Cameron held a meeting with Welsh first minister Carwyn Jones to discuss how to attract potential buyers for sites such as Port Talbot. He said the UK was "doing everything it can to find a long-term, viable solution to save the Port Talbot steelworks".

Tata Steel Europe had announced its plans to sell its UK steel business last week after a "strategic review" by its board, throwing the industry into chaos.

UK steel unions have called for state support as members of the Community, GMB and Unite trade unions held talks in London on Monday.

They urged the government to back a plan that involves 1.5 billion pounds being invested into Tatas operations over 10 years, with the government providing support for two to three years until the business is self-sufficient.
Chennai-based speech recognition solutions company Software Systems has been recognised amongst top 20 emerging global in India, by a programme organised by London Mayor's office.

The initiative honours successful in India, established after 2000, from knowledge-based sectors such as technology, life sciences, creative media and finance.

As part of their expansion strategy, they aim to set up offices in London in order to encourage international businesses

India Emerging 20 is an initiative spearheaded by a group comprised of London & Partners, BDO India, British Airways, and UK Trade and Investment.

Their purpose is to find the top 20 most dynamic, high-growth in India and recognise them on an international platform in London.

In a statement Ravi Saraogi, Co-Founder & COO, Software Systems, said, "We at strive to rapidly expand our footprint and being recognised as one of the IE20 companies gives us widespread visibility on a global platform. This recognition is a testimony for our work at Uniphore, and we will continue bringing more innovative products to reinvent human-machine interaction."

Umesh Sachdev, Co-founder & CEO, Uniphore Software Systems added the company was recognised with India Edition of MIT Technology Review's 'Innovators Under 35' and has qualified as a finalist for the MIT Technology Review Global Innovators under 35 list.
Movie actor denied any links to the Panama companies and says his name may have been misused.

His name was among the 500 Indians, including his daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai, in the Panama Papers' money laundering list that was released by the Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca. According to investigations by the Indian Express newspaper, Bachchan was the director of four shipping firms in BVL and the Bahamas in 1993, which traded in millions of dollars.

Don't know companies referred to by media, have never been a director of any of them, he said.

Monies that I've remitted overseas have been in compliance with law, after paying Indian taxes, he further said in the statement that he issued today.
The Indian government has termed media reports saying the Pathankot terror attack was "stage-managed" by India, as "double-speak" by Pakistan's security establishment.

"The report in a pro-government daily only shows that Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Army were doing double-speak. India has provided irrefutable evidence to Pakistan Joint Investigation Team (JIT) during their visit here regarding the involvement of Pak-based terrorists," a government source said.

The news report in the daily Pakistan Today quoted an unnamed JIT member saying that the attack was nothing but "vicious propaganda" against Pakistan as Indian authorities did not have any evidence to back their claims.

"Within hours of the assault, all the attackers were shot dead by the Indian security forces. However, the Indian authorities made it a three-day drama to get maximum attention from the world community in order to malign Pakistan," the report added.

Rebutting the report, another government source said the evidence provided to JIT can stand international scrutiny and expressed surprise over media reports emerging that the Investigation Agency (NIA) had not provided enough evidence to the visiting team.

"The JIT was handed over whatever they asked for which included certified copies of statements of witnesses, DNA reports of four terrorists, memos of articles seized from them," the source said.

Pakistan had made a request under section 188 of Criminal procedure Code of Pakistan for collecting the evidence from the NIA.

The call data records of the two phones snatched from Superintendent of Police Salwinder Singh and his jeweller friend Rajesh Verma which were used by the terrorists to call a number in Pakistan were also shared with the JIT, the source said.

India also shared the conversation recorded between Nasir Hussain, one of the four terrorist who carried out the attack on Indian Air Force (IAF) base during the intervening night of January one and two, with his mother Khayyam Babber.

The NIA has asked for a DNA sample from Nasir's family.

The agency has also handed over call recordings of terrorists holed up inside the IAF base with their handlers including Kashif Jaan, who has since been missing.

The Pakistani JIT had asked NIA to hand over swabs of four terrorists identified as Nasir Hussain (Punjab province), Abu Bakar, (Gujranwala), Umar Farooq and Abdul Qayum (both from Sindh).

However, the NIA handed over to the visitors the DNA report of the terrorists and asked them to match those with their family members, the sources said.

The Pakistani JIT headed by Additional Inspector General of Police, Counter Terrorism Department, Muhammad Tahir Rai and also including ISI's Lt Col Tanvir Ahmed, had recorded statements of 16 people. The list for recording the witnesses was submitted to the NIA by Pakistani team only.

The 16 witnesses questioned in all included Singh, Verma and cook Madan Gopal. The three were kidnapped by the Pathankot attack perpetrators belonging to the banned Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed on the intervening night of December 31 and January one.

The terrorists had allegedly dumped Verma after slitting his throat and continued their journey with Singh and Gopal before jettisoning them a few kilometres away from the strategic air base at Pathankot.

The terrorists entered the air base and mounted the brazen assault on the intervening night of January one and two. In the fierce encounter that ensued, seven security personnel besides four terrorists were killed.
The government will soon meet officials of the telecom ministry and the telecom regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) to discuss compensation for dropped calls.

Attorney General Mukul Rohtagi, appearing for the central government, told a division bench of Justice Kurian Joseph and Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman, he would meet on April 9 or 10 officials of the telecom ministry and also the Trai to resolve the problems arising out of frequently dropped calls.

The next hearing is slated for April 12.

The Supreme Court had earlier asked the Trai to apprise it about its stand as to whether or not it could consider amending the rules and regulations to impose a penalty on telecom firms.

It had said prima facie, it appeared that the Trai's technical papers, which cite reasons for dropped call, were not taken into account while framing of the 2015 regulation.

Telecom players have challenged the Trai's regulation of giving one rupee compensation for every dropped call, to a maximum of three calls per day.

The Delhi High Court had, in its earlier order, had upheld the Trai order mandating them to compensate consumers Rs 1 for from January 1, 2016.
The initial euphoria over the easing of foreign investment rules for e-commerce players has now waned, and many industry watchers have started to wonder whether the new rules are meant to open up the sector or introduce fresh hurdles.

The riders, primarily two of them, could come in the way of doing business for e-commerce players, who so far have not flinched from raising dollar funds from marquee foreign investors, hard-selling their eye-popping sales GMV (gross merchandise value), or burning cash to woo consumers with deep discounts.

So what did the National Democratic Alliance government do that got the e-commerce industry excited last Tuesday? Well, the government attempted to remove policy ambiguities for the e-commerce sector. So far, the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) had maintained that FDI was not permitted in e-commerce. The policy did not make a distinction between marketplace (where a platform owner hosts sellers and acts as a facilitator between the buyer and the vendor) and the inventory-led model (where the platform owner holds inventory and sells directly to the buyer).

This greyness had allowed several e-commerce marketplace players to exploit the loopholes in the policy to source foreign funds; these players described themselves as technology enablers rather than e-retailers to circumvent the rules.

The DIPP policy has ended this ambiguity. It said 100 per cent FDI would be permitted in e-commerce marketplace, and that no FDI would be allowed in inventory-led e-commerce businesses. While the policy cheered companies, which had anyway tweaked their business models to turn marketplace conformists, the riders threatened to rock their world.

Aamir Jariwala, secretary, E-commerce Coalition, argues that "unnecessary restrictions on the number of sellers and sole responsibility on them for warranty and guarantee will throttle the growth of the industry.''



Jariwala is referring to the guidelines in the policy that says no vendor can generate more than 25 per cent of the total sales of any platform, and that guarantee and warranty of products will be the responsibility of sellers rather than that of the platform owners.

Of these, the 25 per cent cap is the toughest to handle, especially for companies like Flipkart and Amazon. WS Retail is the most dominant seller on Flipkart, accounting for at least 50 per cent of the online retailer's sales. For Amazon, Cloudtail exceeds the 25 per cent cap, analysts say. This must change. Also, since the policy clearly says that inventory-led model will not have any FDI, several niche portals, especially in the fashion vertical such as Koovs, Jabong and Zivame, will have to rejig their business formats.

There's another rider in the policy that is drawing a lot of attention from online buyers and vendors alike. The platform owners (read Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal, Paytm, Myntra) cannot directly or indirectly influence pricing of products, so as to ensure a level-playing field in the sector. Analysts interpret the condition as an end to deep discounts and mega sales that make winners out of e-commerce companies.

But without those discounts and mega sales, why will shoppers go online? This has been a big question worrying many. There are signs the government is going to take any violation of the pricing rule seriously. Replying to questions on the discounting issue from reporters, DIPP Secretary Ramesh Abhishek said that if companies violate this condition, the "government knows how to deal with them".

This warning has struck a jarring note on a policy that is meant to open up a sector which has attracted as much as $5 billion foreign investment in 2015. Roughly, e-commerce has drawn an estimated $10 billion foreign investment so far, with 2015 getting the largest chunk. Goldman Sachs recently forecast e-commerce in India will surpass $100 billion (including travel) by 2020. Leaving travel out, it is estimated to become a $70-billion industry by 2020 from $16 billion today.

A differing view

However, many government officials say the intention of the policy is not to upset the applecart. In fact, they agree that it is not the government's business to intervene in pricing matters as it's a market-driven mechanism.

Analysts and consultants too believe government should let market forces determine the prices. Arvind Singhal, founder, Technopak, a retail consultancy, says most of the conditions in the e-commerce policy are practically impossible to execute.

Singhal argues it will be business as usual for e-commerce companies even after the FDI policy. "Discounts will continue," he says. As for the 25 per cent sales cap on vendors, companies will work around it. "There are many sharp lawyers to help companies,'' he adds.

Discounts rule

Singhal may be right. So far e-commerce players have refused to bow down, at least when it comes to slashing discounts. American e-commerce giant Amazon has been showing the way, sending out mails on deals and discounts for its spring sales. Given its big ambitions for India, it is unlikely the company is going to slow its promotional events. It announced $2 billion in investments in July 2014, and it has maintained that "there's an open cheque book for the India market''. Also, in February, Amazon increased its authorised capital from Rs 8,500 crore to Rs 16,000 crore, according to data with the Registrar of Companies.

Other online firms have sent out feelers too. However, they are not banking on discounts alone to increase their market footprint. Sanjeev Mohanty, CEO & MD, Jabong, says a discount-led strategy never helps build true customer loyalty. The idea is to offer a combination of quality products with good promotion, he adds.

At the same time, the industry also needs more changes. Today, the rules vary from brick and mortar multi-brand to single brand and wholesale retail. The FDI announcement holds hope for more reforms in the retail sector as a whole.
Industrial tariff rates for power might be high but is crucial for subsidising electricity provided to rural populations and farmers, Power minister said on Tuesday.

Speaking at an event organised by industry body Confederation of Indian Industry, Goyal said the rich could not complain over a system that helps electricity reach to lower income groups. He was replying to concerns laid out by members of industry who complained that high industrial tariff for power was holding back economic growth.

"We are not oblivious to the problem and are fighting it by increasing efficiency and reducing costs for businesses," Goyal said. He added this efficiency will be best achieved through the reforms announced for government distribution companies through the recently announced Ujjwal Discom Assurance Yojana (UDAY) scheme.

The scheme, announced in November, has been touted as a bailout of Indias almost bankrupt state-owned discoms that are weighed down by Rs.4.3 lakh crore of collective debt and Rs 3.8 lakh crore of losses and cant even afford to buy electricity from power generators.

The scheme envisages the states taking over 75% of the debt held by their discoms as of 30 September, 2015 in two years and pay back lenders by selling bonds. Discoms will sell bonds guaranteed by state governments to cover the balance 25% of the debt.

The minister also said central transmission utility Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL) has accomplished the highest ever yearly commissioning of projects worth Rs 30,300 crore. He said the establishment of two new international interconnections, with Nepal and with Bangladesh, will go a long way towards cementing India's working relationship with its immediate neighbors, which he remarked were better than ever.

Goyal also stressed the government's target for rural electrification was on track. "During 2015-16, 7,012 villages have been electrified till date and the remaining 11 thousand others will be electrified within the year," he said. Goyal added that electricity will reach every home in all these villages by 2018 and every home in the entire country by the next year.
The government has planned a series of events in the next three weeks to highlight the rural and agrarian focus of its policies and programmes, particularly those for farmers and Dalits.

These events would include celebrating the centenary of Mahatma Gandhis Champaran Satyagraha in Bihar in a big way. It was Gandhis first mass agitation in India, where he had led a protest of peasants against forcible cultivation of indigo.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister launched a Stand-up India scheme for Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST) and women on the occasion of the birth anniversary of veteran Cabinet minister Jagjivan Ram, a Dalit. In his speech, the PM lauded Rams contribution as Union defence minister in the 1971 Bangladesh war and as agriculture minister. As part of the scheme to encourage entrepreneurship, each of the 125,000 branches of nationalised banks will offer loans from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 1 crore to one woman and one person each from the SC and ST communities. Modi said each year at least 250,000 SCs, STs and women entrepreneurs will be so funded. The PM unveiled the scheme along with all 17 of his Bharatiya Janata Partys Dalit MPs elected from Uttar Pradesh. In 2014, the BJP had won all of the 17 reserved seats of UPs 80 Lok Sabha constituencies. The state is scheduled for Assembly polls in early 2017 and Dalits are a significant part of the states electorate.

FOR A GREATER GOOD

Modi govts rural, agrarian, peasant and Dalit push April 1,16: Start of centenary year celebrations of Gandhis Champaran Satyagraha

Start of centenary year celebrations of Gandhis Champaran Satyagraha April 5: Launch of Stand-up India for SCs, STs and women on Jagjivan Rams birth anniversary

Launch of Stand-up India for SCs, STs and women on Jagjivan Rams birth anniversary April 6: Workers to mark BJP foundation day by spreading the message of Antyodaya

Workers to mark BJP foundation day by spreading the message of Antyodaya April 14 to 17: Ambedkar birth anniversary celebrations

Ambedkar birth anniversary celebrations April 18 to 21: Spread the message of govts farmer friendly budget

Spread the message of govts farmer friendly budget April 22 to 24: Spread the message of budget proposal of Rs 80 lakh for each panchayat

On Monday, the BJP had expelled its UP womens wing chief, Madhu Mishra, for making a statement insulting to Dalits. The BJP is still smarting under the oppositions campaign of it being anti-Dalit after the suicide of Hyderabad University research scholar Rohith Vemula in mid-January. It has planned a determined outreach to show itself as a party that works for the welfare of Dalits, tribals and peasants.

On Wednesday, the BJP will mark its 36th foundation day, with all its workers asked to hoist the party flag atop their homes, and asked to help spread the word on its belief regarding Antyodaya, working for the welfare of the poorest. This is to be followed by events to mark the birth anniversary of Dalit icon B R Ambedkar on April 14. From April 14 to 17, party workers have been asked to visit Dalit hamlets and homes in the area of their polling booths and honour Dalit students.

Also, several ministries will come together on taking the Gram Uday se Bharat Uday to villages from April 18 to 21. This is supposed to highlight the farmer-friendly elements of the Union Budget to each of the countrys panchayats. The government will also mark Panchayati Raj Day on April 24 with a series of programmes, culminating with the PMs speech from Jamshedpur on the day.

The government has asked 600 Krishi Vikas Kendras and Agricultural Technology Management Agency centres to spread information about government policies to each gram panchayat, including the budgetary proposal of allocating Rs 80 lakh for each. Dalit panchayat leaders are scheduled to meet for a days discussion in Hyderabad.

The BJP believes that each village in India should promote social harmony among people, and have ek talab/kuan, ek mandir, ek shamshan (one pond, one temple and one cremation ground) for all people, BJP national secretary Shrikant Sharma said.

The plan to mark the centenary of Gandhis Champaran satyagraha would focus on encouraging cultivation of indigenous variety of seeds and breeding of indigenous livestock. Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh is expected to be the pointsperson for the programme.
Taking a dig at wilful defaulters, Prime Minister on Tuesday compared them with the countrys poor and backward who, according to him, voluntarily deposited their life savings into the bank accounts under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY).

There are poor people in the country, who are so rich that they are wilfully depositing money into the Jan Dhan accounts opened for them. On the other hand, there are rich people who are so poor that they take loans from the countrys banking system and then flee the country, the Prime Minister said at the launch of the Standup India scheme on Tuesday.

Standup India, which has been played up as one of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) governments flagship initiatives, aims to provide loans between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 1 crore to the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and women entrepreneurs.

While the PM did not take any names, his comment assumes significance in the backdrop of 17 lenders, including State Bank of India (SBI), trying to recover around Rs 9,000 crore from liquor baron Vijay Mallya. The industrialist, who faces prosecution in India, is reportedly in London.

This nation has seen the generosity of the poor. Rich borrowers look for ways to run away after borrowing money from banks. The poor were required to open zero-balance account under the Jan Dhan scheme. Look at their honesty, their self-respect. They opted to put money into their accounts... Rs 50, Rs 100, Rs 200. The deposits exceeded Rs 35,000 crore. This is the generosity of our poor people, said Modi.

Meanwhile, Modi also indicated that PMJDY would be linked to mobile wallets, a move that will mean millions of new user base on the digital payment platform. PMJDY is already linked to direct benefits transfer, RuPay Card and other government social security schemes.

The PM said one would soon be able to pay for things such as e-rickshaw fares via mobile phone wallets linked to Jan Dhan accounts. Now, you would be able to book a ride in a e-rickshaw with the help of this app (Ola) and then, even if you do not have money in your pocket, you would be able to pay via your mobile phone, which would be linked to your Jan Dhan accounts.



Mobile wallet companies such as Paytm and Freecharge clarified that the PM was talking about an option of linking mobile wallets to Jan Dhan.

Freecharge and taxi-cab aggregator Ola introduced varied plans in association with the government. On Tuesday, the PM distributed 5,100 e-rickshaws to people in the National Capital Region. Customers would now be able to book an e-rickshaw ride via the Ola App and make payments to drivers using Freecharge. All this is part of the PMs digital India initiative.

Freecharge also plans to add around 10,000 e-rickshaw drivers on its platform by the end of this month and a million merchants in the rickshaw category by end-2016.

From Bhojpuri songs and Hindi religious numbers to chants of Bharat Mata Ki Jai, Standup India event was a contrast to Startup India, which was organised at New Delhi's Vigyan Bhavan in January. It was at the Startup India function that the PM had unveiled the policy roadmap for tech-based entrepreneurs, and subsequently the Union Budget carried it forward. Founders of well-known start-ups and venture capital funds had gathered at the January event.

While Startup India was a jazzed up event complete with fireside chats with prominent entrepreneurs and investors, Standup India looked more like a political rally.

At the Noida event, member of Parliament Manoj Tiwari, among others, sang popular numbers to woo the thousand-plus villagers who had come from nearby villages as well as the chosen recipients of 5,100 e-rickshaws, which the PM distributed.

Around 50 senior executives from banks, including SBI Chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya, were present at the event. From the start-up world, Olas Bhavish Aggarwal and senior representatives from Freecharge attended.

The PM and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley held a short chai pe charcha with families of the would-be e-rickshaw owners. To give an added effect to the mock tea stall at the grounds in Noida, Babu Bhaiya Chaiwala served tea to the PM in an earthen cup.

What is Standup India?

Standup India is one of the flagship schemes of the Modi government aimed at providing loans between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 1 crore to the backward sections of the society and Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and women entrepreneurs to start or expand their businesses. The scheme was first announced by the PM on August 15, 2015 from the ramparts of Red Fort along with its sister scheme Startup India. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the Union Budget 2016-17 had allocated a combined sum of Rs 1,100 crore to the two schemes. Out of that, Rs 500 crore is allocated for Standup India. Jaitley announced on Tuesday that 1.25 lakh people would benefit from the scheme.
The upcoming assembly election in Tamil Nadu is going to be a major challenge for the two national parties, the BJP and Congress, as farmers in the state are unhappy with them over several issues.

The two major issues are GAIL's natural gas pipeline project and the recent suicides by farmers due to pressure from lenders. Interestingly, the farmers' sentiments against the national parties could be to the advantage of the ruling party in the state, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), as they feel that the state government tried its best to stop the GAIL project, paying heed to their complaints.

Farmers went on a protest in railway stations at Coimbatore, Thanjavur and other belts on Tuesday, and raised slogans against the Central government. Leaders spearheading the protest have alleged that in the past 20 days, at least two or three farmers have committed suicide allegedly owing to the growing debt and pressure from the lenders.

While two farmers committed suicide, another was beaten up by the police and his tractor taken away for alleged default in payment. The farmers have also alleged that the Prime Minister's promise of doubling their income will remain just an electoral statement and also warned the BJP will feel the pinch during the upcoming election in the state.

The other major issue which is expected to have an impact in the upcoming assembly elections, especially in seven districts of the state, is GAIL's pipeline project. While the ruling AIADMK and its rival DMK have opposed the move to have the project cut through agricultural land -- the state government has even suggested it run along the side of the National Highway -- GAIL, a public sector company, wants the pipeline to be laid as per the previous layout.

Thousands of farmers in these seven districts are opposing the project, stating that it will impact their livelihood, as it will be difficult to do use the land once the pipeline is laid.

Sudha, who reside in Mannur, Periyampalayam, says that her land has already turned dry as there is no ground water and now, there is the threat of the GAIL pipeline project. Like Sudha and her family, villagers in this belt, on the Tirupur-Erode border, feel that AIADMK should be voted in again, considering it took the initiative to stop the project, though other parties also raised their voices against it.

This is one of the major threats to livelihood, says E Eswaran, a villager from Therrkupalayam. Today, he is not able to use his land for agriculture, because of the lack of water and the Petronet and GAIL pipeline.

"I want to exit from agriculture and start an industry, but I am unable to arrange money as banks are not lending against the land. Nobody wants to buy the land, thanks to the two projects," he says.

The GAIL project may hit the prospects of BJP and Congress, considering the project was initiated by the Congress-led UPA government. Farmers allege that BJP has done nothing to stop the project and address their concerns.

Tamil Nadu's Finance Minister, O Panneerselvam, alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not give an appointment to AIADMK Members of Parliament (MPs) to discuss various issues, including the pipeline project.

It may be recalled that GAIL (India) Limited had been instructed by the Government of Tamil Nadu in 2013 to lay the pipeline alongside the National Highways without affecting the agricultural holdings of Tamil Nadu's farmers. The company says the realignment will push up its costs and has challenged the state government's order in the Madras High Court which quashed the administration's order in November 2013.

The Tamil Nadu government's plea challenging the High Court ruling in the Supreme Court was dismissed two months back. The apex court ordered the state to fix the market value of land as on January 1, 2016 for Right of Use (RoU) compensation purposes. Under this arrangement, the ownership of the land remains with the farmer -- the RoU permits GAIL to lay the gas pipeline.

After laying the pipeline, the land is restored in original condition to the land owner. Compensation is paid to the land owner asper Petroleum & Minerals Pipelines Act and the Supreme Court has ordered that the RoU compensation against land will be 10 per cent of market value as on January 2016, plus a 30 per cent Solatium.

Farmers can continue agricultural activities after the restoration of land and only the construction of a permanent structure and plantation of deep-rooted trees are not allowed in the acquired RoU. As such the interest of the farmers eill not be impacted, GAIL says.

However, farmers fear that any kind of digging of land above the pipeline could be construed by the company as potentially damaging the pipeline, and even if it the damage is due to other reasons, it is the farmer who is likely be blamed and suffer legal action.

Farmers also allege that if the pipeline cuts across a parcel of splitting it into two parts, the owner will not be able to lay a pipeline for water for fear of damaging the GAIL pipeline.

The 925 km Kochi-Kottanad-Bangalore-Mangalore pipeline passes through Kerala (505 km),Tamil Nadu (310 km) and Karnataka (60 km). The pipeline has already been laid for 200 km at a cost of Rs 685 crore. The project was originally started in 2012. Of the total project only 50 km has been completed in Ernakulam (Kerala). Apart from Tamil Nadu, farmers have also been protesting in Kerala fearing that they will lose their livelihood. They also want the government to withdraw the Petroleum & Mineral Pipelines Act, 1962 (PMP Act). The Kerala government also supports the farmers in this matter.
In an another setback for actor-turned-politician Vijayakanth's Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK), 10 district secretaries and five lawmakers of the party said aligning with Makkal Nala Kootani (MNK) or People Welfare Front (PWF) for the upcoming state elections is a bad decision. And that instead, the party should be joining forces with DMK.

DMDK's propaganda secretary and lawmaker V C Chandrakumar said that the decision to align with MNK (People Welfare Front) was taken without consulting officer bearers and party cadre.

"We told our leader that DMDK should align with DMK if we have to defeat AIADMK," said Chandrakumar, who gave the party leadership till tomorrow to reconsider the decision of aligning with MNK. Read more from our special coverage on "VIJAYAKANTH" Vijayakanths DMDK announces plans to go alone in Assembly polls

It may be noted, during 2011 Assembly election DMDK joined hands with AIADMK and contested in 41 seats, of which it had won 29 seats, becoming the second largest single party. DMK, which contested in 124 seats, won 23 seats. During the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, DMDK was part of BJP-led NDA, but didn't win a single seat.

On March 23, announced his decision to join with MNK- a combination of two communist parties, Dalit party VCK and Vaiko-led MDMK.

This was announced after MNK leaders agreed that will be the Chief Ministerial candidate. As per the deal sealed DMDK will contest in 124 seats of the 234-member assembly.

Chandrakumar said 95% members of the party are in favour of an alliance with DMK. "The decision to align with AIADMK in 2011 assembly elections was in line with the party cadre wish. Today the situation has reversed," he said.

It may be noted, today's development comes at a time several functionaries are quitting DMDK to join DMK for the last few days. Deputy Secretary of DMDK's Farmers Wing from Cuddalore V C Shanmugam and four others from the district joined the DMK in the presence of party treasurer M K Stalin.

Besides, more than 50 members of DMDK from Tiruvallore, including its youth wing leader S B Somasundaram, quit the party and joined the DMK fold.

The desertions started with DMDK North Chennai District Secretary Yuvaraj who quit the party and joined DMK in the presence of its chief M Karunanidhi. This was followed up by DMDK's Kanyakumari District (West) Secretary Dinesh who embraced DMK on Sunday.

Both Yuvaraj and Dinesh had said that they decided to shift their loyalty after DMDK refused to join hands with DMK to contest the Assembly polls.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has shifted its stance on liquidity in the banking system, from keeping it in a certain amount of deficit (about one per cent of net demand and time deposit liabilities) to one of keeping it close to zero (or neutrality).

This is expected to help banks reduce lending rates in the days ahead. The central bank also mentioned it had hitherto underestimated the amount of excess cash in the system at a time when many states are going for elections. Explaining the change, Governor Raghuram Rajan said in the backdrop of the various measures taken to fix the policy rate close to the repo rate, through overnight instruments, the need to maintain the system in liquidity deficit is no longer there.

Banks had often complained that tight liquidity often came in the way of revising their lending rates. The steps taken to improve liquidity will now give them room to pass on rate cuts, noted Rajan.

Moving from a one per cent deficit to about neutral means an additional Rs 80,000 to 90,000 crore. has to see how much the system can take, he added.

Some of the steps outlined to erase liquidity pressure were reduction in the minimum daily maintenance of the cash reserve ratio (CRR), from 95 per cent of the requirement to 90 per cent.

also decided to narrow the policy rate corridor from plus or minus 100 basis points (bps) to 50 bps. So, the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate would be seven per cent and the reverse repo would be six per cent. Previously, the MSF rate was 100 bps above repo and the reverse repo was 100 bps lower than the repo.

Madan Sabnavis, chief economist, CARE Ratings, said lowering of the policy corridor would be especially useful when banks are borrowing in the market. By lowering the MSF rate, call rates would tend to move down. And, banks with surplus funds can earn more through the reverse repo window.

The liquidity issue with banks caused by lower growth in deposits has been addressed partly by lowering the minimum daily balances to be held under CRR. Banks will gain to the extent of Rs 20,000-21,000 crore on this count. However, this is lower than the impact of a CRR reduction of, say, 0.5 per cent; this would have released around Rs 50,000 crore, said Sabnavis.

On excess cash in the system, the governor said the bank was trying to understand it. Around election time, cash with the public increases, not only in those going for polls but in neighbouring ones, too. At present, this is Rs 50,000-60,000 crore more than what had anticipated, he said.

The central banks report said liquidity conditions, tighter since mid-December, were stretched further by the larger than usual accumulation of cash balances by the government. The unusually heightened and persistent demand for currency, a pick-up in bank credit and flatter deposit mobilisation at this time, relative to past years, also contributed to the pressure.

RBI said it had tried to quell these pressures and supplemented normal operations with large amounts of liquidity injected through fine-tuning of variable rate repo auctions. in tenors ranging between overnight and 56 days. The average daily liquidity injection (including variable rate overnight and term repos) increased from Rs 1.34 lakh crore in January to Rs 1.93 lakh crore in March.

Durable liquidity was also provided through open market operations of the order of Rs 51,400 crore and Rs 37,500 crore through buy-back operations in February and March.

It had also started conducting reverse repo and MSF operations on holidays in Mumbai, to enable frictionless functioning of the payment and settlement system.
After the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) announcement on Tuesday of liquidity support to banks and with the new marginal cost-based lending rate (MCLR), lenders will have to cut their rates.

"The transmission of (reduced) policy rates will entirely depend on how fast banks can adjust their deposit rates (DRs), which will subsequently lead to change in MCLR," wrote State Bank of India chief economist Soumya Kanti Ghosh.

ICICI Bank's managing director, Chanda Kochhar, said RBI's liquidity stance will help in transmission, though she wouldn't commit to how much.Bankers and economists agree that rates will soften. "It could soften by another 20 basis points but will really depend on their asset-liability profile. Of course, if a large bank announces some rate cuts, the element of competition will kick in and other banks will have to follow," said Manoranjan Sharma, chief economist of Canara Bank.

"It is likely banks will pass on the benefit of the rate cut within this quarter. However, this will have to be preceded with a cut in DRs. Though RBI's stance on liquidity will help in transmission, right now they have only laid out the steps they will take. It will take four to six weeks for them to take the required steps. So, transmission might also come with a lag," said the chief financial officer of a private bank.

Some banks had already started reducing their DRs. These will be in a better position to reduce lending rates faster than others.

A senior executive with a large public sector bank, however, ruled out an immediate cut. The pace of growth in liabilities was low in March, a crucial month for business. Banks need resources, he pointed out. The year-on-year growth in deposits dropped to 9.7 per cent till March 18, from 10.7 per cent a year before, according to RBI data.

Some tweaking in DRs for a few maturity buckets might happen over the next few months but not by much, the official said. Also noting that small savings deposits are still offering a higher rate than bank deposits, even after a steep cut in March. "If banks lower their DRs further, it would be a challenge to mobilise deposits," said the executive.

The central bank, though, has done its own calculation. "Our first estimate from the 26 largest banks in the system, accounting for 83 per cent of the activity, has been that since the last week of March, the median overnight MCLR is down by 50 bps from the base rate and by 25 bps across all tenures," said RBI governor Raghuram Rajan at the start of his policy statement. "This is important because it means an actual rate cut to the borrower of at least 25-50 bps even before today's rate cut."



RBI on Tuesday cut its policy rate by 25 bps to 6.5 per cent. The base rate pass-through of the previous 125 bps in rate cuts was only 60-70 bps. The governor had earlier chastised banks for not passing on rate cuts.

Banks had said the liquidity provided by RBI was too short-term and small savings rates were much higher than those for bank deposits. While the former were cut sharply in March, RBI on Tuesday promised to provide more 'durable liquidity', eliminating banks' chances of complaint.

"We have now given them (banks) more liquidity, so transmission should take place," Rajan said, adding "there will be no uncertainty about liquidity now."
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is investigating the recently leaked Panama files of law firm Mossack Fonseca, where about 500 Indians, including business people and Bollywood actors were found to have accounts in offshore locations.

RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan in the post-policy conference on Tuesday said having foreign accounts was not an offence per se. Under the liberalised remittance scheme (LRS), any Indian can legally take out up to $250,000 per financial year for various purposes.

"We are part of the investigative team that is going to look into these matters. It is important to note that there are legitimate reasons also to have accounts outside. LRS scheme allows you to take money out," Rajan said, adding "we have to see what is legitimate and what is not legitimate." He did not go into further details on the issue.

After the names were published by The Indian Express, the finance ministry announced a multi-agency investigative team comprising the Central Board of Direct Taxes' financial intelligence unit, its tax research unit and officials from RBI.

"The group will monitor the flow of information in each one of the cases. The government will take necessary actions as required to get maximum information from all sources, including foreign governments, to help in the investigation," the finance ministry said.
A delegation from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace calls on the Prime Minister .

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A delegation led by Mr.

William Burns, President of Carnegie Endowment for International Peace called on the Prime Minister today. .

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Prime Minister welcomed the Carnegie Endowment's initiative to open a Centre in India stating that it was reflective of democratic traditions and liberal thinking in the country. Prime Minister expressed hope that the Centre would further promote the climate of research in liberal arts, especially among the youth, in India; and strengthen strategic partnership between India, the US and the rest of the world. .

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Gen Dalbir Singh, Chief of the Army Staff along with Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin, Permanent Representative of India to UN met Mr Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary General, United Nations on 04 Apr 2016. The Secretary General appreciated the strong support of India to UN Peacekeeping, which is the second largest at 7695 troops among all UN troop contributors. He admired the commitment, discipline and quality of Indian Peacekeepers in the United Nations. .

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The Chief of the Army Staff assured the Secretary General of the continued commitment of Indian Peacekeepers to global peace, with the highest standards of training, discipline and dedication. .

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Col Rohan Anand, SM PRO (Army)
There has been a paradigm shift and family planning has now emerged as a key strategy to reduce maternal and child mortalities and morbidities". This was stated by Shri J P Nadda, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare during his inaugural address at the two-day National Summit on Family Planning, here today. .

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The Union Health Minister launched the new revamped logo for Family Planning media awareness campaign along with the 360 degree communication plan for enhanced awareness regarding various issues surrounding family planning in the country. Highlighting the importance of communication in addressing such issues, he noted that a comprehensive strategy has been worked out where maternal and child health and wellbeing have been placed at the centrepoint of the new approach, Shri Nadda pointed out. Shri Amitabh Bachchan is the brand ambassador and anchor for the new communication approach. The IEC package has several TV and radio spots which focus on the role of various stakeholders such as the mother, father, mother-in-law, husband and other in the families as well as the role of community health workers, doctors, nurses, ANMs and ASHAs to educate and inform regarding the available choices. The promotion of family planning and ensuring access to preferred contraceptive methods for women and couples is essential for securing the well-being and autonomy of women, while supporting the health and development of communities, Shri Nadda stated. .

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The Health Minister also launched the new packaging of contraceptive Nirodh with a view to increase its uptake and use. He said As a part of our continued efforts to offer Indian women a broader basket of choice, a method mix of contraceptives - Injectables, Centchroman and POPs - have now been introduced into the public health system under the National Family Planning program. The improved access to contraceptives will address all the development dimensions, he informed. Highlighting the importance of linkages and involvement of the private sector, Shri Nadda said that the Ministry will work closely through the private sector engagement using approaches such as social marketing and franchising to build strong public-private partnerships to ensure that the interventions reach everyone. .

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Noting that Family Planning is a key development imperative, Shri Nadda said that Family planning reinforces peoples rights to determine the number and spacing of their children. The freedom to personally determine the timing of a pregnancy strengthens above all the position of women in society. It helps reduce child mortality and improve maternal health, because many pregnancies in quick succession put mother and child at risk. .

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The Union Health Minister also stated the new strategic approach emphasizes continuum of care and integrated action, and Family Planning has now been put in the centre-stage as a major pillar of our RMNCH+A strategy to improve survival and health of women and children with special focus on delaying the first birth and spacing between births. The Health Minister highlighted the centrality of issues such a social and cultural practices, low literacy, poverty and lack of timely access to appropriate healthcare facilities. We know that Child survival, maternal health, increasing age at marriage, postponing the birth of the first child, increasing birth intervals, women's empowerment and employment, literacy and antipoverty efforts are important determinants for stabilizing the population", Shri Nadda stated. Hence increasing access to family planning services can have a transformative effect on everything from poverty reduction to climate change in short all aspects that matter for our nation. .

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The Health Minister informed that India has made notable progress in several health indicators. Considering that 45% of the maternal deaths occur in the age group 15 to 25 years where 52% of the total fertility is also clustered, we are moving from limiting to delaying and spacing for wider health benefits, he noted. There has been a sharp decline in decadal growth rate from 21.54 percent in 1990-2000 to 17.64 percent during 2001-11, the Health Minister added. The Total Fertility Rate (TFR) has also come down from 6 in 1951 to 2.3 in 2013, and 24 states/UTs have achieved the replacement level fertility of 2.1 or less. .

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Shri Nadda also awarded States for their contribution towards the Family Planning efforts of the country. TAMIL NADU was awarded for its exemplary contribution in Post-partum Sterilization, MADHYA PRADESH for it contribution in PPIUCD, BIHAR for its contribution on Female Sterilization and HIMACHAL PRADESH for exemplary contribution in Male Sterilization. The Health Minister also launched the Techno-Managerial guidelines for injectable contraceptives at the Summit, along with a Mobile app for Mission Indradhanush. .

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Also present at the function were Shri B P sharma, Secretary (HFW); Shri C K Mishra, AS&MD; Dr. Rakesh Kumar, JS (RCH, IEC) and other senior officers of the Ministry and representatives of development partners. .

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PM in Noida

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? Launches "Stand Up India" initiative to boost entrepreneurship among Dalits, Adivasis and Women . . ? 5100 e-rickshaws distributed; PM's "Chai pe Charcha" with rickshaw drivers and families

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The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today launched the Stand Up India initiative, which aims to boost entrepreneurship among the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Women. The initiative envisages loans to at least two aspiring entrepreneurs from these categories. The loan shall be in the ten lakh to one crore rupee range. 5100 e-rickshaws were also distributed on the occasion. .

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The Prime Minister paid homage to Babu Jagjivan Ram on his birth anniversary, and recalled his great contributions and service to the nation at crucial periods in various official capacities. .

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Explaining his vision for converting job seekers into job creators, the Prime Minister said the Stand Up India initiative will transform the lives of the Dalits and the Adivasis. .

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The Prime Minister said that India's development journey will be stronger when it is scripted by the poor. He urged the gathering to educate their children, and especially the girl child. .

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Earlier, the Prime Minister interacted with the families of some of the beneficiaries, over a cup of tea. The beneficiaries explained how e-rickshaws would change their lives for the better. The Prime Minister exhorted them to ensure that they educate their children. .

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The Prime Minister booked an e-rickshaw, and took a brief e-rickshaw ride towards the stage, making the payment for the ride through a cellphone. .

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The Public Sector Day is being organised on next Monday i.e. 11th April, 2016. The main function will be held at Vigyan, Bhawan, New Delhi where President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee will address the Chief Executives of Public Sector Enterprises (PSEs). On this occasion, he will also present SCOPE Excellence Awards to the PSEs. .

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Shri Anant G. Geete, Minister of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises and Shri G.M. Siddeshwara, Minister of State for Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises shall also address the function. On this occasion Mr. A. Luikham, IAS, Secretary, DPE, Mr. R.G. Rajan, Chairman, SCOPE & CMD, Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers Ltd, Mr. Nirmal Sinha,Vice Chairman, SCOPE & CMD, Handicrafts & Handlooms Exports Corporation of India and Dr. U.D. Choubey, Director General, SCOPE will also be present. .

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Every year, the Public Sector Day is jointly organized by Standing Conference of Public Enterprises (SCOPE) and Department of Public Enterprises (DPE). .

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The function is a part of Week long Public Sector day celebrations beginning from 10th April to 16th April 2016 wherein entire Public Sector fraternity throughout the country and abroad will hold seminars, conferences, quiz competitions, talk by eminent persons, and cultural programmes. .

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ST/rs
The Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways and Shipping Shri Nitin Gadkari inaugurated the Manesar-Palwal section of the Kundli- Manesar-Palwal Expressway in the presence of Haryana Chief Minister Shri Manohar Lal Khattar and Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Shri Krishna Pal Gurjar in Palwal today. Speaking on the occasion Shri Gadkari said that the project had earlier been languishing for several years. However the Centre and the Haryana Government resolved the issues plaguing it and the 52.33 Km long section of the expressway has been completed in a record time of eleven months. He said that Eastern and Western Peripheral Expressways are targeted for completion within 400 days from the start of the project. Once the two peripheral expressways are ready, the traffic congestion in Delhi will come down by 50 percent, pollution levels will be reduced and the farmers, traders and the people of the region as a whole will benefit due to better connectivity. Shri Gadkari reiterated his Governments commitment for bringing in policies aimed at improving the condition of villages, poor people, farmers and labourers. He said, strong infrastructure plays a major role in fostering development. Road building activity, he said, has caught speed, and today we are building about 20 Km of roads per day. .

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The Manesar-Palwal section of the Expressway has been built at a cost of Rs 457.81Crores. It is an access controlled, six-lane, divided road with 1.5 metre wide paved shoulder on each side. It intersects with Delhi-Jaipur NH8 near Manesar, Palwal-Sohna-Rewari NH 919, Sohna-Nuh-Alwar Road NH 248A and finally joins NH2 near Palwal. The road will provide uninterrupted high speed link for traffic, especially commercial traffic from Haryana to neighbouring states. It will also decongest road traffic through Delhi by allowing bypass of traffic not destined for Delhi. Road side amenities are under development. The road also has several underpasses, cattle crossing underpasses, agricultural vehicle underpasses bridges, pedestrian crossing underpasses and box culverts. .

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Haryana Chief Minister Shri Manohar Lal Khattar said that after having just four National Highways for so many years, Haryana has got 9 new National Highways in the last one and a half years. He said that the Kundli-Palwal section of the Western Peripheral Expressway will be completed within this year. .

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Speaking on the occasion Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Shri Krishna Pal Gurjar commended the Haryana government on having speedily completed a project that was languishing for so long. He said that the Government at the Centre was committed to building sound infrastructure in the country. .

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The Panama secrecy leak claimed its first scalp after Icelandic Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson resigned following revelations about his personal finances. The decision was announced in parliament after the legislature had been the focus of street protests that attracted thousands of Icelanders angered by the alleged tax evasion of their leader. Gunnlaugsson, who will step down a year before his term was due to end, gave in to mounting pressure from the opposition and even from corners of his own party. The Panama documents leak, printed in newspapers around the world, ...
With strong growth and rising real income, India remains a bright spot in the global economy, IMF chief said on Tuesday.

In her major policy address, Lagarde said overall, the global outlook has weakened further over the last six months  exacerbated by Chinas relative slowdown, lower commodity prices and the prospect of financial tightening for many countries.

Emerging markets had largely driven the recovery and the expectation was that the advanced economies would pick up the growth baton.

That has not happened, the Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director said in her address Decisive action to secure durable growth at Goethe University, Frankfurt in Germany.

She said regarding fiscal policy, for most countries the issue is how to make policies more growth friendly. This can be done by shifting the composition of revenue and expenditure. India, for example, has reduced spending on costly energy subsidies so it can invest more in growth-enhancing social infrastructure, she said.

The same is true for the Middle East  hit hard by the oil price decline. Many African and low-income nations also face diminished prospects.

India, by contrast, remains a bright spot  with strong growth and rising real incomes, she said.

The ASEAN-5 economies  Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam  are also performing well, while countries such as Mexico continue to grow, Lagarde said.
After the initial euphoria of India coming up with its own ranking system-- the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF)-- B-schools say there are many "surprise elements" in the ranking, beginning with slotting of institutes which do not make the cut.

The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) brought out the first ever India Rankings 2016 on Monday. A faculty member from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) said as compared to international rankings that are mostly programme specific, the generic nature of the rankings raises doubts over verifiability of data.

"International rankings are more programme specific and stakeholder specific and follow a feedback driven methodology. The NIRF, on the other hand, though comprehensive, has followed a data driven methodology. However, this comprehensiveness comes with its own baggage. For instance, one doesn't know how verifiable the data could be," the faculty member added.

IIM-A has been ranked at the second spot among best institutions. While IIM-Bengaluru was ranked number one. All these institutions were ranked across five parameters  teaching learning and resources, research, consultancy and collaborative performance, graduation outcome, outreach and inclusivity and perception. While 1,438 engineering colleges participated in the ranking process, 609 institutes, 454 pharmacy colleges, 28 architecture colleges, 803 arts and science colleges and 233 universities took part in the ranking process.

Among universities, the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, was ranked the top varsity while the Jawaharlal Nehru University comes at third position. IIT-Madras has been ranked the best engineering institute in the country.

A professor from an IIM said, "Many B-schools which have no history or culture of research figure on the list of the top institutions. It is surprising to see that IIM Indore figures at the 10th spot despite being a good ."



Saibal Chattopadhyay, Director, IIM Calcutta said, "If there are issues with regard to the ranking, we should look at improving upon it. Now we have a general idea of the ."



MHRD in its document on ranking of institutions said: "It is recommended that the submitted data be also uploaded on their own (institute's), publicly visible website in the interest of transparency. The data should remain there in an archived form for the next 3 years to enable easy crosschecking,wherever required."



Institutions that fail to do this honestly or resort to unethical practices should be automatically debarred from participation in the future Ranking Surveys for a period of two years. Their names may also be displayed on the Ranking Portal indicating the nature of their unethical conduct. An attempt should also be made by the Ranking Authority to maintain the archived form of this data for due diligence as needed.

Ashish Nanda, director of IIM Ahmedabad (IIM-A) said: "We are gratified to be recognized as one of the top management institutes by NIRF. External rankings are valuable, since they give us a sense of how we are doing in comparison to other institutions on various metrics. Eventually, however, we consider good rankings the outcome of effectively pursuing our vision of educating leaders of enterprises, not the objective of our efforts. We will continue to strive to conduct high quality research, teach effectively, and connect proactively with our various stakeholders in pursuit of our vision."
The Securities and Exchanges of India (Sebi) has written to the Union ministry of finance for allowing acceptance of banks' Know Your Customer (KYC) checks for making investments in mutual funds (MFs).

The regulator has been in discussions on the issue with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the government for some time. Sources in the MF sector say acceptance of banks' KYC for opening of fund accounts is likely to be accepted soon. Meaning, a bank account holder will be eligible to invest in any MF scheme on the strength of the bank passbook, doing away with the KYC red tape in opening an MF account. This would also reduce the costs for fund houses in doing a KYC of investors.

Currently, the MF sector has only 10 million distinct investors, not even two per cent of the 600-plus mn savings bank account holders. In the past two years, the number of bank accounts opened by way of the Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana has crossed 200 mn. MF investors have multiple accounts or folios --the total number of folios is a little more than 40 mn.

Sector officials say allowing banks' KYC to open an MF account will help catapult the reach of funds as an investment product. Sundeep Sikka, chief executive officer of Reliance MF, says: "It would be a step in the right direction. We have not yet scratched the potential India has for MFs; this would be a game changer."



According to sector executives, Indians by nature do not want to do away with their privacy in money matters. Asking for too many details from first-time investors like the PAN card detail and bank account statement, among various other proofs, tend to put them off. Nimesh Shah, managing director of ICICI Prudential MF, said: "The sector has long been asking for allowing of investors' banks' KYC for opening an account." Once an MF investor is KYC-compliant, s/he does not need to go through the process even if new accounts are opened at fund houses.
After tomato, farmers are reeling under price fall for onions where the same has decreased by nearly 30 per cent to Rs 7 per kg from 11 a kg in January this year. Farmers and traders alike state that weak exports against higher production has put pressure on prices which have reached at two years low levels in recent times.

The recent fall is being attributed to fresh arrivals of in the market.

New crop arrivals of have begun in the market with daily supply being registered at over 4,000-5,000 tonnes at India's biggest onion market Lasalgaon in Maharashtra, while the same is at about 16,000 tonnes a day across the country. Onion production stood at 18.9 million tonnes in 2014-15 crop year (July-June). In the 2015-16 crop year, production is estimated at 20.6 million tonnes, higher by about nine per cent.

"New season has started and fresh supply of onion has been growing leading to fall in prices. On the other hand, the market is relying only on domestic demand as exports this year seem to be muted, adding further pressure on prices in past few months," said Purshottam Chothani of Nasik based Vishal Exports, an onion merchant.

According to farmers, the fall in price has led to reduction in cost realisation for farmers. Farmers are currently realising roughly 20 per cent less than their cost. As against a production cost of about Rs 70,000 per acre, farmers are realising only about Rs 55,000 per acre.

"At current price level, farmers are losing about Rs 15,000 per acre or 21 per cent of the cost.

Farmers had shifted to onion farming on the back of good returns last year and as a result production has gone up this year," said Shri Ram Gadhave, president of Vegetable Growers Association of India.

To worsen things, onion prices are expected to decline further in near future. However, so far farmers have abstained from making any demands for support from state or central government for assistance.

According to traders, arrival of onion may double during April and is likely to go upto over 50,000 tonnes in May this year, thereby further pressurising prices to Rs 6 per kg in wholesale market.

According to exporters, hike in minimum export price (MEP) of onion in 2015 has pulled down export by 10.45 per cent to 695,000 tonnes in April to December period as against 776,000 tonnes in corresponding period last year. Though in December 2015 government removed MEP to push export from India, it failed to boost export demand.

"Last year, government imposed MEP two times to control higher domestic prices which restricted onion exports from India. Fresh export demand may come after mid April and price movement will depend on the demand. If new demand will not come, prices of onion may decline further in April too," said Atul Shah, onion exporter and director of Pipalgaun mandi near Nasik in Maharashtra.

At this time most of the arrival is consumed by stockists and traders who are supplying onion to different parts of India for domestic consumption. Some supply goes to dehydration units in Gujarat.

Bhavnagar based onion trader said, "Currently, most of the stock is being consumed by domestic demand. Buying for export is almost nil. After mid April export demand is likely to gain momentum."
The algorithm-trading whistleblower from Singapore has also turned advisor for the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), offering it unsolicited advice on how to deal with his complaints.

In a letter written in August, the whistle-blower expresses concerns about lack of action on issues raised by him and offers detailed advice through which wrongdoing can be established.

"I refer to my letter dated January 14, which I believe set off the investigation into market manipulation at the NSE (National Stock Exchange) collocation. It has been eight months since I sent the first letter and I am able to notice some activity on the ground but obviously has not been able to reach a conclusion," the whistle-blower said.

UNSOLICITED ADVICE Whistle-blower in Singapore has written three letters since January last year

Not happy with the response in the initial months

In his second letter in August, he has suggested several measures to Sebi

The suggestions include details on analysing up to 200 GB of data everyday

In the third letter in October, he suggests using data given to IGIDR

These letters have been forwarded by the finance ministry to . Business Standard had reported a study by the regulator's technical advisory committee on March 19. Sebi is yet to pass any order or direction in the matter.

"No one seems to be taking a view of what actually happened in that period and who was guilty and what should be the remedial action," the letter added.

Acknowledging Sebi's limitations, the trader, who has refused to reveal his identity, said an "ideal situation" would be to simply "crowdsource the data of orders and trades during the said period (after masking the identity of the members and not disclosing the client identity either)."



He cited the example of Netflix in the US, which had given out masked user information in a context.

Stating that he had not adequately explained the methodology to be followed to establish his claims in the first letter, the whistle-blower wrote, "The data analysis would require you to parse at least 200 GB of database for each of the dates. Hence, it would be advisable to either have a database expert or Big Data expert for the analysis." Big Data are sets of information that are too large or too complex to handle, analyse, or use with standard methods.

The letter went on to elaborate "the logical way of how Sebi can go about verifying" the allegations.

The Sebi spokesperson did not respond to an e-mail sent on Monday seeking comments on the usefulness of this advice and whether the regulator had acted upon it.

The first step discussed in this "logical way" was to get order and trade logs from the exchange with millisecond timestamps. "In such a case, you would need to only check all the IOC (immediate or cancel) orders fired and see if there is any pattern of first IOC orders being fired for the most volatile periods consistently from one member." If the data showed any one member cornering 25 per cent or more trades, that would be a red flag.

If the millisecond timestamps were not available, Sebi should ask the exchange for a log of who was connected to which TBT server during the three-year period under scrutiny. "If you do get the log, all you need to check is whether there were some servers to which only a few members were connected as compared to other crowded servers," the whistle-blower wrote. He goes on to discuss other options for Sebi, such as Instance Numbers and Fill Ratio.

In the third letter dated October 3, where he had talked about the "dark fibre" links between the NSE and the BSE, the trader shared a discovery about the algo-trading data. "I have come across a significant way to prove or disprove my allegation," he wrote.

"Surprising it came from innocuous research data" provided by the exchange to IGIDR (Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research).

"The complete data for orders and trades along with timestamp has been provided to IGIDR for the purpose of proving that HFT/algo-trading leads to improvement of liquidity."



This data would be in the order of picoseconds, he estimated.

According to the third letter, IGIDR was provided data with such granularity "far greater than the one required for proving or disproving the allegation."



The simplest way to handle the investigation would be to convert the jiffy timestamp to even say a microsecond one and then see the latency between the various IOC orders generated by the members, the whistleblower said.
The 21st Foundation Day of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) was celebrated recently in national capital New Delhi. On the eve of the event, the AAI hosted a gala evening that included a dinner hosted by Chairman S.Raheja for employees, current and retired, and their families.

Employees who had done excellent work during the year were felicitated.

R.N. Choubey, Secretary, Civil Aviation, said, "We are proud of Airports authority of India and they are the largest airport operators of the country. Running 125 airports without any hassle is not an easy task. People believe that the government authorities don't work well, but the kind of recognition and award Airports Authority of India has received is quite commendable. We are all proud of them."

The Airports Authority of India manages 125 airports across the country. Recently, Jaipur and Lucknow airports won the first and second place of the 2015 Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Awards in the category of 2 to 5 million passengers per annum.

S.Raheja, AAI Chairman, said, "This time, we have given a record dividend of Rs. 538 crore to the government. Our net worth has also reached above Rs. 12,000 crores. Scheduled airlines are operating on our 70 airports. In total, we have 95 operational airports. We have further plans to operationalise 30 non-operational airports under the regional connectivity scheme of National Civil Aviation Policy of the Civil Aviation Ministry."

Witnessing a 20 per cent growth of domestic travellers, the Airports Authority of India has extensive plans to expand 11 airports, including Jaipur, Patna, Guwahati, Leh and Ahmedabad.

Anuj Aggarwal, Member HR, Airports Authority of India, "We want to highlight the achievements and good work done by our team. We have given awards to those who have done good job."

G.S. Bawa, General Manager (Public Relations), said, "On the occasion of 21st anniversary, we are proud that the task awarded to us to construct airports, four of them have ranked in ASQ (Airport service Quality) ratings. It clearly indicates that our work it at par with international standards."

The airport infrastructure, loaded with world-class facilities, is developing in the country as the demand is rising with more people travelling through domestic and international airports.
Chief of Army staff General Dalbir Singh and India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations met United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.

During their meeting on Monday, the secretary general appreciated the strong support of India to UN peacekeeping efforts.

Ban Ki Moon said he admired the commitment, discipline and quality of Indian peacekeepers. Among all UN troop contributors, India is ranked second with 7695 troops.
The medical condition of the widow of former Investigation Agency (NIA) Deputy Superintendent Mohammad Tanzil Ahmed, remained critical on Tuesday, days after she and her husband were shot at by motorcycle-riding unknown assailants.

In a medical bulletin issued today, Fortis Hospital, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, said,

"Our doctors are closely monitoring the patient and are doing their best. The condition of the patient however continues to be critical."

Ahmed, 49, was shot dead past midnight Saturday by unidentified men at Sahaspur in Bijnor district of western Uttar Pradesh. Police said his body bore 22 bullet injuries.

He was returning from a family wedding along with his wife and two children when the attack took place.

An Assistant Commandant with the BSF on deputation to the NIA, Ahmed had proceeded on leave on April 1 after completing his job as the liaison officer for the five-member Pakistan Joint Investigation Team (JIT) that was in Delhi to probe the Pathankot attack, NIA sources said.

Shortly before 1 a.m., two men on a motorcycle stopped Ahmed's Wagon R car near the Sahaspur police post and opened fire. His wife too sustained serious injuries. She was shot four times. His teenaged son and daughter were in the rear of the car.

NIA Inspector General Sanjeev Singh said the attack on Ahmed and his family was a planned one.
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday asked Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, who is involved in a money laundering and disproportionate assets case, to cooperate with the Central Bureau of Investigation (c) so that the probe may conclude soon.

The court also asked Singh to appear before the agency at the earliest.

Earlier in the day, the CBI submitted in the court that the evidences against Singh are very crucial. Stating that the case is very serious, the CBI said the investigation is being hampered due to the stay granted by the Himachal Pradesh High Court.

The Delhi High Court will resume the hearing in this case tomorrow.

The Himachal Pradesh High Court had earlier passed an interim order, saying the CBI cannot interrogate, arrest or chargesheet Singh without its permission. The CBI has filed a plea in the Delhi High Court against this order.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached some of the assets of the Chief Minister worth Rs. eight crores in connection with the money laundering case.

On March 16, the Delhi High Court had refused to grant a stay on the proceedings initiated by the ED against him.

The ED had last year registered a money laundering case against Singh and others under provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after taking cognizance of a criminal complaint filed by the CBI in this regard.
The son and daughter of Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, who is involved in a money laundering and disproportionate assets case, on Tuesday, challenged the Enforcement Directorate's order in the Delhi High Court, to attach their properties.

The Delhi High Court had earlier today asked Singh to cooperate with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) so that the probe may conclude soon.

The court also asked Singh to appear before the agency at the earliest.

Earlier in the day, the CBI submitted in the court that the evidences against Singh are very crucial. Stating that the case is very serious, the CBI said the investigation is being hampered due to the stay granted by the Himachal Pradesh High Court.

The Delhi High Court will resume the hearing in this case tomorrow.

The Himachal Pradesh High Court had earlier passed an interim order, saying the CBI cannot interrogate, arrest or chargesheet Singh without its permission. The CBI has filed a plea in the Delhi High Court against this order.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached some of the assets of the Chief Minister worth Rs. eight crores in connection with the money laundering case.

On March 16, the Delhi High Court had refused to grant a stay on the proceedings initiated by the ED against him.

The ED had last year registered a money laundering case against Singh and others under provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after taking cognizance of a criminal complaint filed by the CBI in this regard.
With Pakistan's JIT claiming that India used the Pathankot attack as part of its 'vicious propaganda' against Islamabad, the Congress Party on Tuesday said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Government at the Centre was 'naive' in believing that the Islamic republic would accept its role in terrorist activities in India.

Congress leader Manish Tewari told ANI that the only export from Pakistan to South Asia in the last four decades has been 'terrorism'.

"If the Indian Government expected the Pakistan authorities to admit that their deep state- the ISI- and the non-state actors, which they have promoted, were responsible for the Pathankot attack then there were being completely naive. Pakistan is a very deeply entrenched soft terrorist state," Tewari said.

"And if the immature imbecile mandarins sitting in the highest echelons of Delhi had thought that the Pakistan would acknowledge its involvement, then they living in a cuckoo land," he added.

Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi, echoing similar sentiments, dubbed the government's decision to invite Pakistan JIT as 'silly and unwarranted', adding that such a move had elevated the 'perpetrator to the level of an investigator'.

"The Pathankot attack was dastardly, but the government's absolutely needless knee jerk action of inviting Pakistani team was absolutely suicidal. It was self defeating and unprecedented. It amounts to calling the perpetrators as inspectors, it elevates the accused to the level of investigators. This JIT has debunked the government of India and lowered its credibility," Singhvi told ANI.

With Pakistan's Joint Investigation Team (JIT) probing the Pathankot attack, set to table the report to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, sections of the Pakistan media have claimed that the report accuses India of using the attack as part of its 'vicious propaganda' against Islamabad.

Sources told Pakistan Today that the JIT has slammed India over its claims of Pakistani hand in the attack, saying that New Delhi continues to expand its propaganda "without having any solid evidence to back the claim".

The report also claims that the Indian Government did not cooperate with the JIT and instead made efforts to hinder the probe by the Pakistani team.

On Friday, the JIT returned to Pakistan after their five-day visit to India during which all evidence pertaining to the January 2016 attack was shared with them, including the DNA of four terrorists, their identities as well as call records showing involvement of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).

The JIT had on Thursday examined 13 witnesses, including former Gurdaspur Superintendent of Police Salwinder Singh.

Pakistani terrorists attacked the Pathankot Air Force Station in January this year, in which four attackers and two security forces personnel were killed in the gun battle, with an additional security force member dying from injuries hours later.
The U.S. Air Force (USAF) has invited the Indian Air Force to take part in the Air Exercise, "Ex-Red Flag-16-1" which is scheduled from April 28 to May 13, 2016 at the Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska.

The Exercise Red Flag is a multinational air exercise, originally conceived in 1975 by USAF to provide operational exposure and mutual exchange of Op capability of friendly Air Forces.

The IAF contingent along with the aircraft departed from Jamnagar on April 3, 2016 for Eielson Air Force Base Alaska in USA.

The contingent led by Group Captain H Assudani would aim to demonstrate its ability to project air power in transcontinental deployment of a task force comprising Su-30 MKI, Jaguars, IL-78 tankers and C-17 strategic airlift aircraft.

During the exercise, Su-30 MKI and Jaguars along with USAF fighters will be operating in composite formations under various near realistic scenarios.

The exercise will provide ample opportunity for exchange of ideas relating to concept of operations in a dynamic warfare environment.

This multinational air exercise assumes importance in view of the continued engagement of the IAF with Foreign friendly countries.
India and Iceland on Tuesday held discussions on bilateral issues as well as important regional and multilateral issues of mutual interest and agreed to strengthen the bilateral economic relations between the countries, such as in the areas of renewable energy, particularly geothermal energy, tourism, start-ups and extended trade relations.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Foreign Minister of Iceland Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson discussed the issues during the latter's visit to India from April 3 to 9.

He was accompanied by a business delegation organized by 'Promote Iceland'.

To further strengthen the relations between the two countries the ministers agreed to work on increasing the number of high-level official visits between the two countries and advocate for further mutual visits of business delegations between the two countries.

Sveinsson had a separate meeting with Minister of State (Independent charge) for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman and had fruitful discussions on the ways of increasing the volume of bilateral trade and diversifying the trade basket between the two countries.

The ministers discussed the importance of reaching an early conclusion of the Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement between India and the EFTA countries.
India and Iceland on Tuesday condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations that constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Foreign Minister of Iceland Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson discussed the issue during the latter's ongoing visit to India from April 3 to 9.

They reaffirmed that any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable regardless of their motivations, whenever and by whomsoever committed.

In this context, they called for an early adoption of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism.

Both the ministers also underlined their shared interest in strengthening global non-proliferation objectives.

In this regard, Iceland expressed its support for India's membership in the relevant multilateral export control regimes.

During the visit, Sveinsson had a meeting with Union Minister of State (Independent charge) for Power, Coal and New and Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal.

They discussed their mutual interest in promoting renewable energy and in cooperating in the area of geothermal energy, where Icelandic and Indian companies are exploring the possibilities of setting up joint ventures to harness geothermal energy in India.

The ministers, furthermore, discussed the importance of the Global Geothermal Alliance for promoting the use of geothermal energy throughout the world.
India and Iceland on Tuesday affirmed the urgent need for a comprehensive reform of the United Nations Security Council, including its expansion in both permanent and non-permanent categories, so as to make it more effective, efficient and representative of the contemporary geo-political realities.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Foreign Minister of Iceland Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson discussed the issue during the latter's visit to India from April 3 to 9.

Iceland re-affirmed its support to India as a permanent member in an expanded United Nations Security Council.

The two countries expressed support for forward movement in the Intergovernmental Negotiations on United Nations Security Council reforms, and reiterated their commitment to initiate text-based negotiations within the 70th Session of the UN General Assembly.

Both the ministers stressed their shared interest in promoting women's rights and gender equality.

Sveinsson briefed Swaraj on the second Barbershop Conference to be held at the UN in New York next May. Both the ministers agreed to encourage the participation of UN Permanent Representations in the event.
Launching a frontal attack on the Centre for allowing the Pakistan Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to India to investigate the Pathankot terror attack, Shiv Sena chief Sanjay Raut on Tuesday said India will have to pay the price for it.

The Shiv Sena chief asserted that it was expected from Islamabad to shift the blame on New Delhi.

"It was India's mistake to allow the Pakistan Joint Investigation Team in India to investigate the Pathankot terror attack. It was expected of Pakistan to blame it all on India. Hafiz Saeed has given statement on the Pathankot attack. The Lashkar-e-Taiba has taken its responsibility," Raut told ANI.

"Today the Pakistan's team is adopting a complete opposite attitude. It was India's biggest mistake to allow Pakistan to step on our soil. Now Pakistan will shift all the blames on us. There was no need to allow them. We will have to pay the price for it," he added.

The Pakistan JIT is set to give its report to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, and sections of the Pakistan media have claimed that India is indulging in 'vicious propaganda' against Islamabad.

Sources told Pakistan Today that the JIT has slammed India over its claims of a Pakistani hand in the attack, saying that New Delhi continues to expand its propaganda "without having any solid evidence to back the claim".

The report also claims that the Indian Government did not cooperate with the JIT, but instead made efforts to hinder the probe.

On Friday, the JIT returned to Pakistan after their five-day visit to India during which all evidence pertaining to the January 2016 attack was shared with them, including the DNA of four terrorists, their identities as well as call records showing involvement of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).

The JIT had on Thursday examined 13 witnesses, including former Gurdaspur Superintendent of Police Salwinder Singh.

Pakistani terrorists attacked the Pathankot Air Force Station in January this year, in which four attackers and two security forces personnel were killed in the gun battle, with an additional security force member dying from injuries hours later.
Training guns at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for questioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi's foreign policy and demanding an apology from him for inviting Pakistan's Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to probe the Pathankot terror attack, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday said that the nation would not forgive him for his unwarranted remark.

"We may have forgiven you (Kejriwal) keeping large hearts when you called the esteemed Prime Minister of a 125 crore Indians a coward and a psychopath. But remember the country won't forgive you for calling the Prime Minister an ISI agent," BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra told the media here.

"What kind of message are you sending to the international community? Whose hands are you strengthening by uttering such kind of words?" he asked.

Citing Prime Minister Modi's recent visit to the gulf countries and the United Nations, Patra said "When the whole world is paying heed to Prime Minister Modi's idea of tackling the terrorism, using such use words by an elected Chief Minister is highly condemnable."

Kejriwal earlier said Prime Minister Modi's invitation to Pakistan's Joint Investigation Team (JIT), which gave a clean chit to the ISI for the Pathankot attack, was a 'monumental' foreign policy failure and a stab in the back of 'Bharat Mata'.

The AAP chief also alleged that Prime Minister Modi had entered into a deal with his Pakistan counterpart Nawaz Sharif during his Lahore visit in December last year.

"The Prime Minister called over ISI officials despite being aware that it was behind the Pathankot terror attack which amounted to a clean chit. Now, the JIT has reportedly claimed that India had itself staged the attack," Kejriwal said.

Reports in a section of the Pakistani media earlier stated that the JIT after returning from India claimed that the concerned authorities failed to provide evidence to prove that Pakistan-based terrorists had stormed the Indian Air Force base in Pathankot.
Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli's advisors as well as staff members of his secretariat have announced plans to donate three days of salary in the month of Chaitra to reconstruct Dharahara, the nine story (50.2m) tall tower in the center of Kathmandu.

In a press statement issued by Oli's press advisor Pramod Dahal, the advisors would donate their salaries to an account opened to collect funds for reconstruction of the historic monument, reports the Himalayan Times.

An account has been created by the government at Thapathali-based Rastriya Banijaya Bank where the funds will be credited.

Prime Minister Oli had earlier announced that he would give a month's salary for the reconstruction of the tower.

Dharahara also called Bhimsen Tower, built in 1832 A.D. by the Prime Minister of the time; Bhimsen Thapa of Nepal, was destroyed in the April 2015 earth quake.
The investigation Agency (NIA) has rubbished Pakistan media claims that India did not cooperate with the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) during its probe into the Pathankot terror attack and failed to produce solid evidence to back its claim.

The NIA, according to sources, stated that India had given enough evidence in the form of intercepts, phone record, DNAs of terrorists, besides other things.

The top investigating agency said they have even provided additional information to Pakistan JIT as demanded.

Sources told ANI that the NIA even offered Pakistan's JIT to show bodies of the dead terrorists but they refused to see them.

Rejecting reports circulating in the Pakistan media, the NIA has stated there is an element within Pakistan which wants to create confusion, adding the Indian investigating agency will not fall into such a trap.

With Pakistan's JIT, probing the Pathankot attack, set to table the report to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, a section of the Pakistan media has claimed that the report accuses India of using the attack as part of its 'vicious propaganda' against Islamabad.

Sources told Pakistan Today that the JIT has slammed India over its claims of Pakistani hand in the attack, saying that New Delhi continues to expand its propaganda "without having any solid evidence to back the claim".

The report also claims that the Indian Government did not cooperate with the JIT and instead made efforts to hinder the probe by the Pakistani team.

On Friday, the JIT returned to Pakistan after their five-day visit to India during which all evidence pertaining to the January 2016 attack was shared with them, including the DNA of four terrorists, their identities as well as call records showing involvement of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).

The JIT had on Thursday examined 13 witnesses, including former Gurdaspur Superintendent of Police Salwinder Singh.
In a significant move, the Bihar Government has banned the sale of alcohol, thereby following the footsteps of Gujarat, Nagaland and Mizoram.

"There would be a complete ban on liquor, including the Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) and country liquor. We would be implementing it phase by phase. In the first phase, we would ban the country made liquor and later the foreign liquor would be banned," Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar told the media here today.

Nitish mentioned the decision to ban liquor ban has got tremendous response, especially from the women and youth of the state.

"We had asked the school children to get an oath letter signed from their parents that they would not consume liquor and would ask others to follow the same and astonishingly we got we got one crore 17 lakh oath letters till March 31," he said.

The Bihar Government gets revenue of nearly Rs. 2,000 crores from the sale of IMFL. The state government earned a revenue of around Rs. 4,000 crores from country liquor sales in 2015-16.
North Korea has claimed that if it could, it would kill more Americans than the 9/11 attacks.

According to an article in the country's state-run publication DPRK Today, it said their weapons are trained on the White House, the Pentagon and other vital U.S. locations.

"If three civilian aeroplanes' attacks from 15 years ago resulted in 3000 deaths and brought a nightmare to life for the US, the outbreak of our final war will wipe the country from history, leaving no time [for them to] even regret or have nightmares about it," news.au.com quoted the reported article as saying.

The article added, "Being beaten by only three civilian aeroplanes, the US was ashamed in front of the and has suffered incalculable psychological and economical damage."

The article comes soon after North Korea's supreme leader Kim Jong-un defied a UN weapons ban to oversee the testing of Pyongyang's new surface-to-air missiles.

North Korea continues missile launches during elevated military tension on the Korean peninsula .

In recent weeks, North Korea has also claimed to have miniaturised a thermonuclear warhead that can fit on a ballistic missile which experts say the claims with a mix of fact and exaggeration.

The United States, Republic of Korea and Japan during the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington DC , had vowed to deter and defend against North Korean nuclear threats and stand united in fighting global terrorism.
Several Norwegian defence producers recently participated in the DefExpo exhibition in Goa last week.

The exhibition was aimed at projecting India's defence sector as an attractive area for investment.From March 28 to 31, Indian and international companies, as well as Indian government officials and foreign delegations met for showcases, seminars and business-to-business meetings.

Innovation Norway organised a Norwegian pavilion at the DefExpo in association with the Norwegian Defence and Security Industries Association (FSi). The organisation is the primary interlocutor for the Norwegian government in matters of importance to the industry and advocates for the interests of the Norwegian Defence and Security Industries.

They were joined by at least 1,000 Indian and international companies that are taking part in the exhibition this year, almost double the number from 2014 when it was held the last time. The official delegations and international companies came from 45 different countries.

Leading Norwegian companies which specialize in military technology and equipment, Kongsberg Defence, NAMMO, Norsafe, Nordic Shelter and Sensonor were present in the Norwegian pavilion. Additionally, a few companies such as Sohome, IMS, Vestdavit, H.Henriksen, Water Mist Engineering and Redrock showcased their items with their Indian partners.

Instead of selling main platforms like aircrafts, combat vehicles and warships, Norwegian companies focussed on subcomponents like command and control systems, communication equipment, combat systems and technology based systems that allow bigger systems to make use of their full potential. This should make them ideal cooperation partners for India, focusing on "Make in India".

Ambassador Kamsvag, Defence Attache Captain Hogne Rykkje and representative from Innovation Norway participated in the expo. One of the main events was a "Make in India" seminar for the defence sector.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday dubbed reports circulating in the Pakistan media about India not cooperating with the JIT probing the Pathankot terror attack as a charge without substance and said the onus is now on Islamabad given the fact that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has clearly stated that the guilty should be punished.

BJP spokesperson Nalin Kohli told ANI there are three pillars of the India-Pakistan policy, which have been clarified and has been the hallmark of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government from the beginning.

"We want to resolve all issues peacefully. This will be done bilaterally with no third party, third country involvement and terror and talks can't go together....With regard to the Pathankot incident, the Pakistan Prime Minister clearly said that we want to see that the guilty are punished. So, the onus is on Pakistan as they sent their team. Now, this report hasn't come out officially, these are media reports," said Kohli.

"What its Prime Minister is assuring then the onus is on Pakistan more that they have a duplicitous policy of good terrorists, bad terrorists...How has India's stand become weaker? This is a charge without substance," he added.

Meanwhile, the investigation Agency (NIA) also rubbished Pakistan media claims.

The NIA, according to sources, stated that India had given enough evidence in the form of intercepts, phone record, DNAs of terrorists, besides other things.

The top investigating agency said they have even provided additional information to Pakistan JIT as demanded.

Sources told ANI that the NIA even offered Pakistan's JIT to show bodies of the dead terrorists but they refused to see them.

Rejecting reports circulating in the Pakistan media, the NIA has stated there is an element within Pakistan which wants to create confusion, adding the Indian investigating agency will not fall into such a trap.

With Pakistan's JIT, probing the Pathankot attack, set to table the report to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, a section of the Pakistan media has claimed that the report accuses India of using the attack as part of its 'vicious propaganda' against Islamabad.

Sources told Pakistan Today that the JIT has slammed India over its claims of Pakistani hand in the attack, saying that New Delhi continues to expand its propaganda "without having any solid evidence to back the claim".

The report also claims that the Indian Government did not cooperate with the JIT and instead made efforts to hinder the probe by the Pakistani team.

On Friday, the JIT returned to Pakistan after their five-day visit to India during which all evidence pertaining to the January 2016 attack was shared with them, including the DNA of four terrorists, their identities as well as call records showing involvement of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).

The JIT had on Thursday examined 13 witnesses, including former Gurdaspur Superintendent of Police Salwinder Singh.
A report published in Pakistan Today, which states that the Joint Investigation Team has concluded that the Pathankot terror attack was staged by India to spread 'vicious propaganda' against Pakistan, is a total concoction, said sources.

The sources claimed that while in India, the JIT took onboard the detailed evidence which was shared by NIA and since the JIT collected evidence in accordance with a Pakistani law which applies to Pakistani citizens committing an offence abroad, the involvement of Pakistanis in the Pathankot terror attack is self evident.

The Pakistan JIT is set to give its report to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, and sections of the Pakistan media have claimed that India is indulging in 'vicious propaganda' against Islamabad.

Sources told Pakistan Today that the JIT has slammed India over its claims of a Pakistani hand in the attack, saying that New Delhi continues to expand its propaganda "without having any solid evidence to back the claim".

The report also claims that the Indian Government did not cooperate with the JIT, but instead made efforts to hinder the probe.

On Friday, the JIT returned to Pakistan after their five-day visit to India during which all evidence pertaining to the January 2016 attack was shared with them, including the DNA of four terrorists, their identities as well as call records showing involvement of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).

The JIT had on Thursday examined 13 witnesses, including former Gurdaspur Superintendent of Police Salwinder Singh.

Pakistani terrorists attacked the Pathankot Air Force Station in January this year, in which four attackers and two security forces personnel were killed in the gun battle, with an additional security force member dying from injuries hours later.
Expressing his condolences to the family of NIA officer Tanzil Ahmad, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi today said that he was shocked by the horrific act and added that those responsible for the former's murder must be brought to justice.

"Brutal murder of NIA officer Tanzil Ahmad investigating key terror cases including Pathankot is extremely shocking. My heartfelt condolences to his family. Those responsible for his murder must be brought to justice," Gandhi's office said in a series of tweets.

Tanzil, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, was returning home with his wife after attending a wedding function late on Saturday night when assailants on motor bikes shot the couple from close range near Sahaspur town.

Tanzil was pronounced dead on arrival at a medical facility in Moradabad, while his wife Farzana is battling for her life at the Fortis Hospital in Noida.

A medical report from the hospital said that doctors are providing best medical treatment to Farzana.

Tanzil, who was given a martyr status, was on deputation with the NIA and was part of the Pathankot terror attack probe.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday constituted a committee headed by a retired high court judge to submit a report on the rising incidents of dog bites in Kerala.

The committee to be headed by retired Justice Sirijagan shall entertain the complaints of dog bites, treatment administered to victims, availability of ant-rabies vaccines and cases of unfortunate deaths.

The first report of the commission should be filed in 12 weeks.

The apex court earlier directed all states to sterilise and vaccinate stray dogs under supervision of Animal Welfare Board of India.

The Supreme Court passed interim order on a petition of Animal rights groups against the culling of dogs by some state government.

The apex court said that vaccination and sterilisation should be done according to the rules of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act and no animal rights group should interfere in the exercise.

In November 2015, the Supreme Court had allowed the municipal authorities in the country to eliminate stray dogs which are irretrievably ill or mortally wounded.

The apex court is hearing a bunch of pleas including Animal Welfare Board of India's petition to decide the issue of primacy of laws framed by Centre and state governments in this regard.

One of the pleas was filed against Kerala High Court decision approving the decision to cull stray dogs by the Thiruvananthapuram civic body.
Sony is willing to strike an exit deal with Kesha, but the label has to save the label's star player Dr. Luke.

Reportedly, Sony made secret overtures to Kesha that it will agree to end the deal and the trigger is a mea culpa in which she confesses Luke didn't rape her, reports TMZ.com.

It is said that Kesha vowed that she wouldn't retract her allegation which has cast a dark cloud over Luke, who is one of the most important producers and creative talents in the label's arsenal.

Sony said they will not even sit with Kesha's attorney Mark Geragos unless she clears Luke.
The Taliban in Afghanistan's Kandahar province has demanded the opening of health centers in unstable districts of the southern province.

The demand comes as several districts in the province are faced with a shortage of health care facilities due to insecurity.

Public Health Director Dr. Abdul Qayyum Pukhla confirmed the Taliban's demand.

"The Taliban have demanded the opening of health services in Shorabak, Registan, Mianshin, Ghorak and Shah Walikot districts," Tolo New quoted him, as saying.

Admitting that heath services at the district level were limited or non-existent, he said that the Ministry of Public

Health should positively respond to the demand.

There are a total of 97 healthcare centers with 14 of them private in Kandahar province. Fifty of the centers are open in districts and the rest in Kandahar city, the capital of the province.

Pukhla acknowledged that given Kandahar's huge population, current health services were insufficient as most of residents were without essential facilities.

Meanwhile, Governor Hamayon Azizi asserted that the Taliban's call for providing health services to the people was positive adding, departments concerned should take advantage of the opportunity and open health centers in remote districts and border areas.

He emphasized that due to security threats it was impossible in the past to open health clinics in restive areas.

Even Public Health Minister Dr. Firozuddin Firoz said his ministry remained committed to extending health services to all people without any discrimination.

Verifying that 60 percent of Kandahar residents did not have access to health services, he pledged all-out efforts to augment medical coverage despite a shortage of funds.

He promised of building 30 sub-clinics in Kandahar province and the process of constructing a 350-bed hospital to be accelerated this year.

Residents have welcomed the Taliban's suggestion.
With the Americans return to the polls for yet presidential primary election, Republican frontrunner Donald Trump is pushing his rival John Kasich to leave the White House race, saying the nomination is beyond his grasp.

Trump, who is trailing GOP presidential hopeful, Ted Cruz in the polls ahead of Tuesday's primary in Wisconsin had argued that Kasich was unfairly siphoning off delegates who will be selecting the party's candidate for the November general election.

Trump said that it was unfair for Kasich, who has won just one primary in his home state of Ohio, to continue campaigning.

"If I didn't have Kasich, I automatically win," news.com.au quoted him as saying on Sunday evening in Wisconsin.

The New York billionaire suggested that Kasich, who has pledged to make it to the convention, should follow the lead of former candidates Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush and quit.

Although Trump holds a significant lead over Cruz in primaries and caucuses so far, it seems he would not be able to gain the 1,237 delegates needed to lock up the nomination ahead of this summer's national convention in Cleveland.

Meanwhile, Kasich's campaign countered that neither Trump nor Cruz would have enough delegates to win the nomination.
At least two policemen and three Taliban insurgents were killed in fierce clashes in Afghanistan's south-eastern Paktika province late on Monday.

The clash took place in Mata Khan district, close to Sharan, when Taliban insurgents attacked a police outpost, reports Tolo News.

In addition, three other police personnel and four Taliban insurgents were injured.

However, more details about the clash were not provided by the officials.
Shares of three aviation firms rose 0.71% to 2.56% at 12:53 IST on BSE on decline in crude oil prices

Jet Airways (India) (up 2.56%), SpiceJet (up 1.1%) and InterGlobe Aviation (up 0.71%) rose. Lower crude oil prices benefit aviation firms as jet fuel prices, which typically constitute about 50% of airlines' operating costs, are directly linked to international crude oil prices.

Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 348.50 or 1.37% at 25,051.15

Crude oil prices edged lower in the global commodities markets on mounting skepticism that key global crude producers would reach an agreement to freeze production at a meeting later this month. Brent for June settlement was currently down 26 cents at $37.43 a barrel. The contract had declined 98 cents or 2.53% to settle at $37.69 a barrel during the previous trading session. Saudi Arabia on Friday, 1 April 2016, said that it would freeze oil production only if Iran follows suit. Iran has ruled out freezing output until its production recovers to pre-sanction levels.

The world's major crude oil producers led by Russia and Saudi Arabia have convened a meeting on 17 April 2016 in Doha, Qatar to discuss measures to stabilise prices, including a proposal to freeze output.

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Air France's female flight attendants will be allowed to refuse to fly on the company's new route to Iran, the company has decided after several crew members opposed an order to wear a headscarf in Iran.

Air France will fly to Tehran three times a week from April 17.

The company will introduce an exception so that employees who do not want to work on the route will be re-assigned on other destinations with no sanctions, the Guardian reported.

A note sent to female cabin crew members requires them to wear a headscarf on their arrival in Tehran.

They must also wear the uniform's long-sleeved jacket and trousers rather than a knee-length dress.

The rule is already in place when flying to destinations such as Saudi Arabia.

The crew unions, however, wanted the Tehran flights to be staffed on a voluntary basis and an agreement that any staff who refuses to fly to Iran because of the headscarf rule would not have their pay deducted.

Air France suspended flights to Iran in 2008 but is resuming the service after international sanctions imposed over Tehran's nuclear programme were lifted.
A former Tamil militant group that has renamed itself the Social Democratic Party of Tamils (SDPT) wants all Sri Lankans to learn each other's language -- Tamil and Sinhalese.

"Mutual understanding between ethnic communities is essential to rebuild the broken relationship between different nationalities," the new party said in a statement issued in Jaffna.

"This process will be accelerated by learning each other's language."

It urged Colombo to make Tamil and Sinhalese besides English, the link language, "essential languages in the school curriculum".

It also called upon the government to make fluency in Tamil and Sinhalese a pre-condition for employment. "English is also a link language and a gateway to the world of knowledge."

The demand is aimed at rebuilding ethnic ties in the island nation where the linguistic divide first led to militancy by Tamils, eventually leading to three decades of armed conflict that claimed thousands of lives.

The new party was formerly known as the Pathmanabha-Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF), which lost its leaders and many supporters to the dominant Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

The party urged Sri Lanka, India and the international community to ensure justice to the thousands of people killed by the LTTE.

"The plight of those families whose members were killed by the LTTE has been ignored. In addition, several hundreds were abducted and disappeared by the LTTE in 1987-90 when an attempt was made to establish a provincial government (in the country's northeast).

"Members of other Tamil organisations who were killed by the LTTE have not been recognised as war affected people and families of these victims were not given compensation or housing aid."

The SDPT also pointed out that there were thousands of parents of the disappeared LTTE members "who are agonising about the fate of their loved ones.

"This Congress calls upon elected Tamil representatives and the government to act honestly and transparently to end their agony."

The party also urged India and Sri Lanka to find a speedy solution to the recurring conflict between the fishermen of the two countries.

It called for an impartial investigation into human rights violations during the final days of the war which led to the military defeat of the LTTE in May 2009.

"The legitimate security forces cannot act the same way the terrorists act," it said.

"It is important that the government takes effective measures to find the truth to ascertain what happened during the final days of the war" when thousands of innocents are also known to have died along with fighters on both sides.

The new party demanded "a permanent and durable political solution" to the ethnic conflict in the form of a federal formation.

It urged Colombo to engage with the almost one million Sri Lankans who migrated to other countries as a result of the civil war to harness their expertise to enrich Sri Lanka.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday spoke to Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje in connection with an attack on two Spanish tourists near Ajmer.

"The external affairs minister spoke to the chief minister of Rajasthan who has said that strict action is being taken against the accused," external affairs ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup said.

"The bags of the Spanish tourists have already been located," he added.

The tourists were attacked at a place called Ajaypal near Ajmer late Monday evening.
The seven-month-old Bandhan Bank already commands a business of Rs.27,000 crore already and is targeting a 30 percent growth this fiscal year, a top official of the bank has said.

"At present, our total business including liability and assets stands at Rs.27,000 crore. We are looking at a 30 percent growth by this fiscal-end," bank's managing director and chief executive Chandra Shekhar Ghosh told IANS in an interview.

Having started banking operation in August last year, the focus has been on liabilities side. It has garnered over Rs.11,000 crore in deposits so far. Of this, around 21 percent comprises low cost savings and current account deposits.

Most of the term deposits are of one to three year tenure.

"We also looking at 30 percent growth of deposits by end of next March," said Ghosh, who rose to the present position after working in his father's small sweet shop in Agartala, before starting the micro-finance company in 2000.

He said the bank had got good responses so far from the depositors and almost 33 percent of the funds had come from retail depositors.

"Our focus will remain on the doorstep services, as also on building relations with depositors and customers, as a strategy to garner more deposits and increase business volume," the bank's founder said how the targets will be pursued.

The bank, with a capital base of Rs.3,200 crore and a healthy capital adequacy ratio of nearly 40 percent, has extended its branch network to 656 across 27 states. It plans to further increase it to around 750 by March end, 2017, he said.

On lending, the bank's total advances stood at Rs.15,000 crore. New lending channels like home loans, car and two wheeler loans, small and medium business loans have also been opened.

"In terms of lending to new channels, we plan to focus and operate in a segment where borrowers normally do not get funding from other banks. Since there is more risk involved in this segment, we are taking more time in scaling up our lending programme in new channels," Ghosh said.

At the beginning of the banking operation, the Kolkata-based private lender had Rs.8,500 crore of high-cost loans on its book, borrowed from other banks for microfinance operations. "We've repaid Rs.5,000 crore and will repay rest of the high-cost loans within next one year."

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had given a special permission to the bank to carry its high-cost loans on its book. Before becoming a bank, as microfinance institution, Bandhan used to borrow from banks at an average 12-14 percent rates.

Since the West Bengal-headquartered lender is able to access public deposits, the cost of funds seems to have come down. This, in turn, is likely to translate into its lending rates. Bandhan Bank's base rate is now at 12 percent, which is relatively higher than other banks.

"We will likely take a decision in this month (April) on our base rate, to see whether we can reduce it or not," he said. The central bank's monetary policy for this fiscal, in which the short-term lending rate has been cut, should help Bandhan in this regard.

"The base rate of a bank depends on the operating cost and cost of procuring funds. Our operating cost as a new bank is relatively higher than other banks. The risk premium in segments we operate in is also high. All of that reflects in our base rate," Ghosh said.

"But we will definitely review our base rate."
A bank employee was found dead here on Tuesday on a busy street with injury marks all over his body, police said.

The body of Pradyumn, 27, who worked at an Axis Bank branch here, was found in posh Gomtinagar area, police officer Satyendra Rai told IANS.

His face had turned black and there were injuries on his face and other parts, apparently inflicted by a blunt object, Rai said.

Pradyumn, who lived and worked in Lucknow, had been visiting his parents in Bahraich district and had returned to the city with them late on Monday.

He got off from the bus at the Polytechnic roundabout, telling his parents that he would be home after meeting a friend.

He was found dead on Tuesday morning.

"The body has been sent for post-mortem examination. We are probing the matter with all angles in mind," a police official told IANS.
The BJP government has stabbed "Mother India" in the back by allowing Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) inside the country to probe the Pathankot attack, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Tuesday.

"Even though BJP/RSS chants 'Bharat Mata ki Jai,' but by inviting ISI to India they have stabbed Mother India in the back," Kejriwal tweeted in Hindi.

The government allowed a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) from Pakistan, including an ISI official, to visit India last month to probe the terrorist attack in January on Pathankot air force station in Punjab.

The JIT has concluded, according to media reports in Pakistan, that the Pathankot attack was staged by India to spread "viciuos propaganda" against Pakistan.

"It is very shameful. It is for the first time that any Prime Minister has insulted the country before Pakistan," Kejriwal said in another tweet.

Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has been protesting against allowing Pakistan's JIT a role in the investigation on the ground that the ISI, a state actor, has long been the instigator of terrorism in India.
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati on Tuesday accused the BJP of showing "fake love" for the Dalits. The BJP hit back, saying the former chief minister was rattled by its growing popularity among the weaker sections.

The "Bharatiya Janata Party and company" were indulging in falsehood to project themselves as the champions of Dalits, Mayawati said in a statement here.

Criticising the state BJP's now-expelled women wing leader Madhu Mishra for her alleged casteist remarks, Mayawati said if the BJP was so serious about the honour of the Dalits, it should act against union minister Gen V.K. Singh who allegedly likened a Dalit's death in Haryana to that of a dog.

The former chief minister said the BJP always spoke in two voices, adding that there were many instances like the Hyderabad University research scholar Rohit Vemula's case wherein it was established "beyond doubt that the BJP was grossly anti-Dalit and anti-backwards".

In response, BJP Uttar Pradesh unit spokesman Vijay Bahadur Pathak said Mayawati was "rattled by the growing acceptance of the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi by the Dalits."

"She is heading a party fighting for its very existence as a national party after the Election Commission's notice in this regard. Mayawati is now trying to hold on to her fast-eroding Dalit vote bank, as seen in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections where the BSP drew a blank," the BJP leader said.
Two British brothers are believed to have been killed fighting for the Islamic State (IS) in Syria.

Khalif Shariff, 21, and Abdulrahman, 18, left their home in Manchester and travelled to the war-torn country in November 2014, the Daily Mail reported.

Their parents Abdullahi and Fatuma were informed of the news by IS militants.

Mohammed Shafiq, chairman of the Greater Manchester-based Ramadhan Foundation, said the terror group had confirmed Abdulrahman was killed and that his elder brother was missing and "presumed dead".

Abdulrahman attended the University of Central Lancashire before going to Syria. Khalif attended South Trafford College.

It is believed he abandoned his first year in his law degree at Lancaster University to travel to Syria with his older brother.
A delegation from Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, led by its president William Burns, on Tuesday called upon Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who welcomed their initiative to open a centre in India, an official statement said.

Modi said Carnegie Endowment's initiative to open a centre in India was "reflective of democratic traditions and liberal thinking in the country".

The prime minister also expressed hope that the centre would further promote the climate of research in liberal arts, especially among the youth, in India; and strengthen strategic partnership between India, the US and the rest of the world.

Carnegie India will be the sixth international centere of the endowment, which describes itself as a "private nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing cooperation among nations and promoting active international engagement".
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is scheduled to meet his Myanmar counterpart Aung San Suu Kyi on Tuesday.

Wang arrived here on his first visit to Myanmar within days of the new government taking office on March 30, Xinhua reported.

He is also the first foreign country's minister to come to the Southeast Asian nation after the new government led by President U Htin Kyaw was sworn in.
Democratic Party front-runner Hillary Clinton and her opponent, self-styled socialist Bernie Sanders have agreed to debate in Brooklyn on April 14 ahead of the April 19 New York primaries.

The debate will be hosted by TV channels CNN and NY1. It will be held at the Brooklyn Navy Yard at 9.00 p.m.

The announcement came on Monday, a week after back-and-forth between the Clinton and Sanders campaigns as they tried to negotiate a day and time for a debate in New York.

Over the weekend, the Clinton campaign accused the Sanders campaign of playing "games" over the debate schedule and for rejecting three possible dates that they had offered, including April 14.

"Brooklyn. April 14. It's on." Clinton national press secretary Brian Fallon tweeted on Monday night.

In January, the Clinton and Sanders campaigns agreed to add four more debates into the schedule, after criticism from many in the Democratic Party, including Sanders, that there were too few debates.

The two candidates have not sparred on-stage since the Univision-Washington Post debate on March 9.

So far, Clinton is leading the Democratic Party race with 1,742 votes against Sanders. He has gained 1,051 votes. Clinton still needs about 600 more votes to win the party nomination, according to a report by CNN.
One of the guns used by famous wildlife conservationist Jim Corbett, known for hunting down maneaters, is now on display at Chhoti Haldwani, also known as Corbett village, in the hill state of Uttarakhand, officials said.

Put up at the Ramnagar auditorium, the century-old gun is said to have come back to the area after more than 69 years, officials said.

The gun was brought back to India by the owner of an arms manufacturing unit -- John Rigby and Sons from Britain -- under the supervision of its owner Mark Newton, after the management of the Corbett park made a fervent appeal to display the gun for wildlife lovers.

Corbett is learnt to have deposited the gun with the governor of the United Provinces (Uttar Pradesh) -- Uttarakhand was part of Uttar Pradesh till 2000 -- when he was leaving India in 1947 after India's independence.

The gun passed on to the arms manufacturer through legal channels after a fee was paid for the prized property.

The motive behind getting the gun for display was to create awareness about wildlife conservation and propagating the vision of Corbett, an official told IANS.
A Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) head constable, posted near the Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine in Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi district, shot himself dead on Tuesday, police said.

"A head constable of CRPF identified as Salinger Singh posted at Bavant near Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine in Reasi district shot himself with his service rifle today. He died immediately," a police officer said.

A case has been registered and investigations are going on, the officer added.
Ten district secretaries and five legislators of actor-turned-politician A. Vijaykant's DMDK on Tuesday said their party must align with the DMK and end its alliance with the four-party People's Welfare Front.

Addressing the media here, DMDK propaganda secretary V.C. Chandrakumar said: "The decision to align with the MNK (People's Welfare Front) was taken within Vijaykant's household, without consulting party leaders or cadres."

He said party leaders and cadres had told Vijaykant that the DMDK should align with the DMK to unseat the AIADMK in next month's Tamil Nadu assembly elections.

"Only DMDK MLAs and partymen were affected the most in the form of cases (registered against them) during the five years of AIADMK rule," he said.

He said the disgruntled party legislators and district secretaries were not quitting the DMDK now.

"We are appealing to Vijaykant through the media to rescind the alliance with MNK and join with DMK," he said.

On March 23, Vijaykant announced his decision to joing forces with MNK - a combination of two Communist parties, Dalit party VCK and Vaiko's MDMK.

The alliance declared that Vijaykant will be its chief ministerial candidate.

As per the deal, the DMDK will put up candidates in 124 of the 234 seats. The remaing will be shared among the other four parties.

"On March 24 itself we wrote to Vijaykant expressing our opposition to the alliance and requesting him to review the decision," Chandrakumar said. "We told him the decision to align with MNK will destroy the party."

He said 95 percent of party members favoured an alliance with DMK.

"The decision to align with the AIADMK in 2011 was in line with the party cadres' wish. Today the situation has reversed," he said.

On Monday, after sealing a seat sharing pact with the Congress, the DMK said no more parties will be included in the alliance.
Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority on Tuesday set final stage inspections for the restart of a reactor at the Ikata nuclear power stationn.

The plant in Ehime prefecture is the third facility to undergo such restart checks since stricter regulations were introduced following the Fukushima Daiichi accident.

The No.3 reactor at the Ikata plant passed new regulations in July last year and the prefecture and town hosting the plant agreed it could go back on-line.

The inspectors from the NRA secretariat visited the facility to check the condition of about 400 pieces of equipment, including emergency power supply vehicles and pumps to inject cooling water into the reactor.

The plant's operator Shikoku Electric Power presented a plan to restart the reactor in July.

The operator will place 157 fuel assemblies into the reactor in late June, which will include MOX fuel, a mixture of plutonium extracted from spent fuel and uranium.

In Japan, two other nuclear facilities have undergone final stage inspections. Two reactors at the Sendai plant in Kagoshima prefecture are back online.

At the Takahama plant in Fukui prefecture, two reactors were also checked and restarted.

However, mechanical problems halted the operation of one and the other was suspended by a court injunction.
Two foreigners, including a woman, were injured when six miscreants attacked them at a tourist spot near Ajmer late Monday evening, Rajasthan Police said on Tuesday.

According to police, two couples -- a man from Britain, another from the US and two women, one from Spain and another from Germany, -- rented two motorbikes from Pushkar to visit Ajaypal, a popular tourist spot near Ajmer.

"On reaching the spot, some goons attacked two of the four tourists. The clothes of one of the women tourists were torn off as these persons tried to molest her and one of the male tourists was also hit on the head," police said.

These tourists, all in their mid-30s, later called up one of their friends in Pushkar, who took them to a hospital in Ajmer where their medical examination was conducted.

"The FIR was filed late night. We have launched an investigation into it. We have already detained some persons and questioning is going on. We hope to arrest the miscreants soon," a police official said.
Three policemen and a prisoner were killed on Tuesday when a police van carrying undertrials to the district court in Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur fell from a bridge, police said.

Officials told IANS that the vehicle fell off the Vijra bridge. The dead policemen have been identified as constables Avdhesh Yadav and Radhe Shyam Yadav and sub-inspector Gouri Shanker Sharma.
Rome, April 5 (IANS/AKI) Police at Rome's main airport detained a university professor with a human skull concealed in his luggage, which he said he wanted to take back to Germany "for scientific purposes".

The unnamed academic faces charges of illegal possession of human remains. He told Italian border police on Monday that he bought the skull for 50 euros at a bazaar in Rome's historic centre, Il Messaggero daily reported.

The skull was detected during scans of the academic's hand luggage at Fiumicino airport's Terminal 1 as he headed to catch a flight to Dusseldorf.

Police forensic police seized the skull, whose jawbone is missing, and were trying to identify it.
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh's son and daughter on Tuesday challenged in the Delhi High Court the Enforcement Directorate's order to provisionally attach their properties in a money laundering case.

A division bench of Chief Justice G. Rohini and Justice Jayant Nath will hear their plea on Wednesday.

The Enforcement Directorate's action is "pre-emptive, presumptuous and arbitrary" and hence has "no authority to initiate attachment proceeding against the petitioners", the chief minister's daughter Aparajita Kumari and son Vikramaditya Singh said in their petition.

They sought the quashing of the ED's order of March 23 issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The petitioners said the ED had attached Aparajita's movable assets worth over Rs.15.85 lakh and Vikramaditya's assets worth Rs.62.8 lakh.

The petitioners said their properties were attached even though they were not named in the first information report in the case.

They said the ED decision was based on the Income Tax department's inquiries and investigation, which were themselves under challenge.

The petitioners said there were no allegations against them, though there was an alleged InTome tax violation case against their father Virbhadra Singh. That too is pending adjudication before the Income Tax authorities, they pointed out.

The duo said they were also not summoned before the ED passed the attachment order.

"No property of the petitioners could have been attached without giving them an opportunity to explain the sources of the property under attachment," the petitioners said.

"The allegations in the Enforcement Case Information Report do not disclose any offence of money laundering and thus the proceedings under the PMLA is bad in law."

In November 2015, the ED registered a case under the PMLA at its New Delhi office against Virbhadra Singh and his family members, including his wife Pratibha Singh.
The International Criminal Court on Tuesday threw out the case against Kenyan Deputy President William Ruto.

The presiding judge declared it a mistrial because of a "troubling incidence of witness interference and intolerable political meddling".

Ruto denied murder, deportation and persecution charges during violence that followed the 2007 elections in which about 1,200 people were killed.

His lawyers wanted the case to be terminated due to a lack of evidence.

Ruto was one of the most senior politicians to be tried by the ICC.

In February judges at the ICC barred the use of recanted testimony, meaning that prior recorded witness statements could not be used by prosecutors.

Several key witnesses in the case have changed their statements, which prosecutors said was due to intimidation and bribery.

Ruto's lawyers said he should be acquitted because so many key prosecution witnesses either dropped or changed their original statements.

ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda acknowledged that the loss of witnesses weakened the case against the deputy president - but she argued there still remained enough evidence to proceed with the trial.

In 2014, the prosecutor dropped similar charges against Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, alleging that witnesses had been intimidated to make them change their testimony.

Ruto and Kenyatta were on opposite sides of the 2007 election, but formed an alliance that won the 2013 election.
Iceland's Foreign Minister Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson on Tuesday reaffirmed his country's support for a permanent seat for India in the UN Security Council.

During a meeting here, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Sveinsson "affirmed the urgent need for a comprehensive reform of the United Nations Security Council, including its expansion in both permanent and non-permanent categories, so as to make it more effective, efficient and representative of the contemporary geopolitical realities", according to a joint statement issued by the external affairs ministry after the meeting.

"Iceland reaffirmed its support for India as a permanent member in an expanded United Nations Security Council," it stated.

"The two countries expressed support for forward movement in the intergovernmental negotiations on United Nations Security Council reforms, and reiterated their commitment to initiate text-based negotiations within the 70th Session of the UN General Assembly."

Both the ministers also agreed to continue strengthening bilateral economic relations such as in the areas of renewable energy, particularly geothermal energy, tourism, start-ups and extended trade relations.

"They agreed that a trade and economic partnership agreement between India and the EFTA (European Free Trade Association) countries (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland) would facilitate more economic relations between the two countries," the statement said.

Sushma Swaraj and Sveinsson discussed the challenges of climate change for the Arctic and the Himalayan regions and the importance of continued scientific cooperation aimed at understanding better the implications of climate change for the ice covers and glaciers in the two regions.

"They also acknowledged that any economic activities in these ecologically fragile regions needed to be based on the principle of sustainable development," the statement said.

Both the ministers also stressed their shared interest in promoting women's rights and gender equality.

Sveinsson briefed Sushma Swaraj on the second Barbershop Conference to be held at the UN in New York in May this year.

The Barbershop Conference is aimed at reflecting the casual setting in which men get their hair cut, while delving deeper into gender stereotypes perpetuated by social norms, and helping dispel the fallacy that women and girls cannot be equals in the economic, social or political life.

"Both ministers agreed to encourage the participation of UN permanent representations in the event," the statement said.

Sveinsson and Sushma Swaraj also condemned terrorism in all forms and manifestations.

"They reaffirmed that any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable regardless of their motivations, whenever and by whomsoever committed," the statement said.

They also called for early adoption of the India-initiated Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism.

"Both ministers also underlined their shared interest in strengthening global non-proliferation objectives. In this regard, Iceland expressed its support for India's membership in the relevant multilateral export control regimes," the statement said.

During the course of his visit, Sveinsson also had a meeting with Minister of State for Power, Coal and New and Renewable Energy, Piyush Goyal.

"They discussed their mutual interest in promoting renewable energy and in cooperating in the area of geothermal energy, where Icelandic and Indian companies are exploring the possibilities of setting up joint ventures to harness geothermal energy in India," the joint statement said.

"The ministers, furthermore, discussed the importance of the Global Geothermal Alliance for promoting the use of geothermal energy throughout the world."

Sveinsson had a separate meeting with Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman during which the importance of reaching an early conclusion of the trade and economic partnership agreement between India and the EFTA countries was discussed.

Sveinsson, accompanied by a business delegation, is on a week-long visit to India from April 3 at the invitation of Sushma Swaraj.

He is also scheduled to visit Bengaluru and Mumbai and is expected to meet with the leadership of Karnataka and Maharashtra to discuss mutual business opportunities.

On Monday, he launched a road show to promote tourism in Iceland.
India is the fourth country that has most number of attacks by the Downadup malware family, a report by Finland-based online security and privacy company F-Secure, said. It added that besides India, this threat was most frequently detected in Finland, France, Germany, Italy and Norway.

F-Secure Threat Round up Report 2015 details the trends and events in global cyber threats that hit consumers and companies last year.

In 2015, Downadup was the most frequently detected type of malware in computers in Finland, France and Germany. India is the fourth on the list while Italy and Norway follow the suit.

According to the report, the computer worm, which was first discovered in 2008, is now recognised as one of today's most widepread malware infections.

Downadup is a computer worm that infects unpatched Windows machines (including various versions of Windows Server) and then invades exposed networks attached to infected devices.

Downadup's combination of different tactics gave it a sophistication beyond other computer worms known to researchers at the time, making it one of history's most invasive families of malware.

At one point, Microsoft had offered a $250,000 reward for information regarding the worm's authors, the report said.

While many antivirus products can detect and remove the infection for individual consumers, it is still quite challenging to purge the worm once it infects large networks, such as those run by telecommunication companies or global enterprises.
A 34-year-old man was on Tuesday detained by the NIA at the Pune airport while he was about to fly to Syria via Dubai to join the Islamic State terror outfit, officials said.

Ismail Musab Abdul Rawoof -- who hailed from Bhatkal in Karnataka -- was detained at the airport by sleuths of the National Investigation Agency.

Security agencies were keeping a strict vigil after his name cropped up in internet chats with IS members. The chats are being monitored by sleuths to look for possible followers of the terror group.

Officials said he was detained after the union home ministry issued a 'look out circular' against him some time back.

Over 20 people have been arrested by the NIA this year as part of its probe on indoctrination of youths by the terror outfit.
Israel is waiting for the first ever bilateral visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as it will bring the country closer to India, Israeli Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel said on Tuesday.

"We are expecting Prime Minister Modi to visit Israel," Ariel said while addressing the media after inaugurating the Israeli pavilion at the India Water Week exhibition here along with union Minister of State for Water Resources Sanwar Lal Jat.

"We are preparing for this visit. It will bring the two countries closer," he said.

Stating that President Pranab Mukherjee already visited Israel in October last year, he said that Israeli President Reuven Rivlin would also visit India "in the near future".

In January this year, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj also visited Israel.

Ariel, who is heading an Israeli delegation for the India Water Week that got underway on Monday, said that he was happy to be in India.

"I look forward to extending the already excellent relations between the two countries," he said.

"The cooperation between India and Israel can set an example for the world."

Israel is the partner country in this year's India Water Week.

Ariel said that he has discussed with union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti the possibilities of expanding the already existing collaboration between India and Israel on water management.

Israel is a world leader in water management and treatment technologies.

"The water issue is extremely important for Israel. It is a very critical subject," the visiting minister said.

He said his country wanted to use its technology for water treatment in India for use in agriculture.

"There are Israeli and Indian companies in this exhibition. We want to help these companies to work together," Ariel said.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to "apologize to the nation" for allowing a Pakistani team to probe the terror attack on the Pathankot IAF base.

Amid Pakistani media reports that the Pakistani investigators had concluded that the January 2 attack was staged by India, Kejriwal insisted that there had been some "deal" between the BJP and Islamabad.

"What's the deal, we are unable to understand," the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader said at a media meet. "What was the need to invite the very people who attacked the base to investigate the attack?"

Kejriwal said there was mass anger over the Modi government's decision to allow a Pakistani Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to visit the Pathankot base and also hold talks with the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

He recalled that Modi used to thunder at election rallies during the Lok Sabha election of 2014 that one had to be stern with Pakistan and that sending "love letters" to Islamabad won't help.

"So what happened now? Why did our prime minister surrender to Pakistan? What were the compulsions that made him go to Pakistan to wish Happy Birthday to (Prime Minister) Nawaz Sharif?

"Let them (government) tell us what has been the deal... What happened when Modi went to Pakistan... Modi should apologize to the nation."

The chief minister mocked at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over its leaders' enthusiasm to make everyone say "Bharat Mata ki Jai".

"They keep telling everyone to say 'Bharat Mata ki Jai'. And they stabbed Bharat Mata in the back... This is a foreign policy failure."

Earlier, Kejriwal tweeted: "Even though BJP/RSS chant 'Bharat Mata ki Jai,' but by inviting ISI to India, they have stabbed Mother India in the back."

The Pakistan team that visited India included an officer from its premier intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

Pakistani media reports say the Pakistani JIT had concluded that the January 2 Pathankot terror attack that left seven Indian security personnel dead was staged by New Delhi to spread "vicious propaganda" against Islamabad.

Kejriwal added: "It is very shameful. It is for the first time that any prime minister has insulted the country before Pakistan."
The Bharatiya Janata party on Tuesday hit back at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for his criticism of the NDA government for allowing a Pakistani team to probe the Pathankot airbase attack, saying his remarks exposed his "lack of knowledge".

Senior BJP leader M.J. Akbar told IANS: "Kejriwal has exposed his own lack of knowledge, his own ignorance of the nuances of foreign policy and relationships with a neighbour with whom we have a complex history."

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief in a series of tweets in Hindi on Tuesday wrote: "Even though BJP/RSS chants 'Bharat Mata ki Jai,' but by inviting ISI to India they have stabbed Mother India in the back."

The government allowed a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) from Pakistan, including an ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) official, to visit India last month to probe the terrorist attack in January on Pathankot airbase in Punjab.

The JIT has concluded, according to media reports in Pakistan, that the Pathankot attack was staged by India to spread "vicious propaganda" against Pakistan.

"It is very shameful. It is for the first time that any Prime Minister has insulted the country before Pakistan," Kejriwal said in another tweet.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has been protesting Pakistan JIT's role in the investigation on the ground that the ISI, a state actor, has long been the instigator of terrorism in India.
Reacting to a Pakistan media report on the JIT's stand that the Pathankot attack was "staged" by India, the Congress on Tuesday said it had exposed the neighbouring country's "double-faced policy" on terrorism.

"We could not have expected anything better from Pakistan, when its own state agencies are complicit both in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks and the attack on the strategic Indian Air Force base in Pathankot in Punjab," senior Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma said.

"We had questioned the visit of Pakistan's Joint Investigation Team (JIT), which included a representative of the Inter-Services Intelligence. Surely, the JIT and the ISI would not have indicted themselves," he added.

"We also know that both Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba are operating from Pakistan because of its overt and covert support and assistance they have received and will continue to receive," Sharma said.

Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala said: "They (JIT) came to our country with a predetermined agenda and went after levelling allegations. Even China has come to their rescue in the United Nations by vetoing a move to declare JeM chief Maulana Masood Azhar as terrorist."

"Reports in Pakistan media quoting leaked contents of the JIT team on the Pathankot attack has once again exposed the double-faced policy of Pakistan in dealing with terrorism."

Sharma said: "First, it happened post-Ufa when there was an attack in Udhampur in Jammu and Kashmir; then Gurdaspur in Punjab; and then after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's dramatic visit to Lahore and Raiwind to his Pakistan counterpart Nawaz Sharif's residence, we saw the attack in Pathankot after five days."

"What the prime minister (Modi) and his government claimed as a diplomatic triumph turned out to be a diplomatic disaster," said Sharma.

Sharma also took a dig at Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah.

"Shah had given a certificate of sincerity to Pakistan. He heads the ruling party but lacks even an elementary comprehension of the strategic issues involved and the complexity of relations between Pakistan and India," the Congress leader said.

"We would like to make this clear that after or during the JIT visit, Pakistan establishment and its agencies used the occasion to portray India in bad light."
The family of FC Barcelona's Argentine star Lionel Messi has stressed it has never used the services of Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca to escape tax scrutiny.

The law firm had 11.5 million of its documents anonymously leaked in the so-called 'Panama Papers' scandal on Sunday, that suggests that 140 politicians and officials from around the globe, including 72 former and current world leaders, have connections with secret "offshore" companies to escape tax scrutiny in their countries, reports Efe.

Messi's family underlined in a statement released on Monday that it "wants to make clear that Lionel Messi has not carried out any of the acts attributed to him, and accusations he created a ... tax evasion plot, including a network of money-laundering, are false and insulting."

"The Panama Company to which they refer to is a totally inactive company that never had any funds or any open current accounts," the statement continued.

They added that the firm was created by the family's former tax advisers and that everything had since been brought into line where Messi's fiscal situation was concerned.
Militants on Tuesday shot down a Syrian warplane in Aleppo province, a monitor group reported.

The Al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front targetted the warplane in the town of Eis, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The London-based watchdog group did not give details of the plane crew or their fate, Xinhua news agency reported.

Meanwhile, other activists published a 20-second online video purporting to show the warplane while falling down in flames.

Activists also released another 30-second video clip, showing the pilot of the downed warplane being beaten up by an angry crowd of rebels while he lay down.

One militant said "Take whatever weapon he may have," while another one called him a "dog".
A motion to impeach South African President Jacob Zuma, proposed by the opposition, was defeated in parliament on Tuesday.

The motion comes after the Constitutional Court, in an unanimous judgment on Thursday, found that Zuma's failure to comply with the remedial action imposed on him by the public protector in her 2014 report on Nkandla was "inconsistent" with the Constitution, BDlive reported.

Outlining the party's plans to press for Zuma's impeachment on Friday, Maimane listed a litany of alleged indictments against the behaviour of the executive branch of government.

The DA would be campaigning to give the "legislature back its teeth" but more broadly would be appealing for the electorate to "vote for change", he said at a media briefing in Sandton.

On Friday, the 73-year-old president gave a televised address to the nation in which he apologised and said he would pay back some of the money, as ordered. He said that he never knowingly or deliberately set out to violate the constitution .

The president travelled to his home province of Kwazulu-Natal on Sunday to launch a relief programme as part of government efforts to support areas affected by South Africa's worst drought in more than a century.

He told a cheering crowd that he was still South Africa's leader and joked about how youthful he was, but made no specific mention of the Nkandla matter, the pending impeachment motion or calls for him to step down as he addressed the gathering in Zulu, his native language.
The Supreme Court was told on Tuesday that one report of a test on Maggi noodles by the government research institute has shown that the lead content was within permissible limits but monosodium glutamate (MSG) was on the higher side.

Senior counsel Vibha Datta Makhija, appearing for the central government, told the bench of Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Shiva Kirti Singh that the reports by the Mysuru-based Central Food Technological Research Institute were directly sent to the apex court in a sealed cover but one of the reports seen by her had this conclusion.

In response, senior counsel Harish Salve, appearing for manufacturers Nestle India Ltd, told the court that that MSG occurs naturally in Maggi and was not an added flavour and added that government notification has accepted Nestle's position that its presence could not be determined by any laboratory tests.

The court directed that the copies of the test report be given to all the parties appearing before the court in the matter within three days as it adjourned the hearing to July 19.

The apex court by its January 13, 2016 order, while perusing the tests reports by the institute, had asked it to tell it whether the results of the test report relating to lead and glutamic acid, were within permissible parameters or not.

The institute, the court had said, "shall also clarify whether the test relating to glutamic acid includes the test pertaining to monosodium glutamate".

The CFTRI had conducted tests on Maggi samples in pursuance to the October 15 directions of the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC), and the December 16 direction of the apex court, modifying the NCDRC's December 9-10 order asking a Chennai-based lab to test the samples.

Nestle India had moved the apex court challenging the NCDRC order, contending that once NCDRC had sent Maggi samples for testing by CFTRI by its October 15 order, then there was no necessity of further testing by the Chennai lab.

The central government had moved the apex court against August 13, 2015 Bombay High Court order which had held that the labs that tested Nestle's Maggi noodles were not accredited by the NABL, thus their findings could not be relied upon.

Relying on the high court order, Nestle India has assailed the NCDRC order holding that if a laboratory in terms of section 2(1)(a) of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 is recognised by the central or the state government or has been established under the law and maintained, financed or aided by the central or state government, then it need not necessarily be accredited by the NABL or notified by the Food Safety Standard Authority of India.

The government filed, before the NCDRC, a class action suit against Nestle India, seeking about Rs.640 crore in damages for alleged unfair trade practices, false labelling and misleading advertisements.

The hearing on the suit is on hold in the wake of ongoing hearing by the apex court.
The prosecution on Tuesday sought death penalty for Muzammil Ansari, and lifers for nine others who were found guilty in the triple bomb blasts between December 2002-March 2003 by a Special POTA Court here.

Pronouncing the guilty verdict on the 10 prime accused, Special POTA Judge P.R. Deshmukh on March 29 acquitted three others for lack of sufficient evidence.

Forcefully arguing on the quantum of sentencing for the 10 guilty, Special Public Prosecutor Rohini Salian said: "Considering the role of the convict Muzammil Ansari, he deserves nothing less than the death penalty... The other convicts should also be given life."

The defence lawyers closed their arguments on the quantum of sentence on Monday.

The prosecution said the accused, mostly members of the outlawed SIMI (Students Islamic Movement of India), wanted to avenge the razing of the Babri mosque in Ayodhya in 1992 and the communal riots in Gujarat in 2002.

The court convicted Saquib Nachan, a former general secretary of the outfit, who was described by police as the "mastermind" of the triple blasts.

Besides Nachan, the nine others found guilty are: Muzammil Ansari, Ateef Nasir Mulla, Hasib Zubeir Mulla, Gulam Khotal, Mohammed Kamil, Farhan Khot, Noor M. Malik, Dr. Wahid Ansari and Anwar Ali Khan.

Haroon Lohar, Nadeem Paloba and Adnan Mulla were acquitted by the court for lack of sufficient evidence against them.

The blasts occurred near McDonald's eatery in Mumbai Central Terminus on December 6, 2002, another in a Vile Parle market on January 27, 2003, and the third in a crowded ladies first class compartment of a suburban train near Mulund on March 13, 2003, killing 12 and injuring over 139 others.

The three cases -- though far between and in different parts of Mumbai -- were clubbed together by the court as a common conspiracy linked them.

All the accused were charged with murder, attempt to murder, causing grievous hurt, waging war against the nation, criminal conspiracy besides several charges under the Indian Penal Code, Railways Act, Arms Act, Explosive Substances Act and POTA -- some of which attract the maximum death penalty.
Days after Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party assumed office in Myanmar in a historic transition of power, former president Thein Sein has joined the Buddhist monkhood.

Thein Sein, a former army general who ruled Myanmar for five years, was ordained on Monday, the information ministry revealed in a Facebook post.

The post, which was accompanied by a photograph of Sein with his head shaved and wearing saffron robes, said he will now spend five days at the Dhamma Dipati Monastery outside Pyin Oo Lwin, a hill town near Mandalay.

Temporary stints in the monastery are common in the Buddhist-majority nation.

Sein's term as president ended on March 30, when the new civilian administration led by President Htin Kyaw was sworn in following the NLD's sweeping victory in the historic November 2015 general elections.
Myanmar parliament's lower house on Tuesday passed a bill calling for appointment of a state counsellor in the new cabinet, a post to be created for Aung San Suu Kyi.

The bill was approved by the majority of the members of parliament without any amendment to the bill agreed by the upper house after serious debate by the bill committee and some non-elected military representatives who constitutes 25 percent of the seats in the house.

The state counsellor bill, submitted to the upper house last Thursday, was approved by 137-68 vote.

The bill guarantees Aung San Suu Kyi's right to contact government ministries, departments, organisations, associations and individuals for counsel.

She will be accountable to parliament.

The term of office for the counsellor of state is the same as that of the president.

The bill is aimed at ensuring a multi-party democratic system, a market-oriented economic system, a federal union, peace and development in the country.

Aung San Suu Kyi, the National League for Democracy chairperson, was first appointed on Wednesday as Myanmar's new foreign minister concurrently holding the portfolios of minister at the president's office, minister of education, and minister of electric power and energy.

As proposed by President U Htin Kyaw, parliament on Tuesday approved to re-allocate two of Aung Saan Suu Kyi's four portfoliuos -- U Myo Thein Gyi as the education minister and U Pe Zin Tun as electric power and energy minister.

Her first two portfolios as foreign affairs minister and president's office minister remained unchanged.

The lower house had also appointed Aung San Suu Kyi as chairperson of the Joint Coordination Committee for development of parliamentary affairs.
Islamabad, April 5 (INAS) Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman Imran Khan has demanded that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) initiate a thorough probe into the financial holdings of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family members after the "Panama Papers" leak.

A massive leak of documents from a Panamanian law firm revealed that Sharif family "owned or had the right to authorise transactions for several offshore companies", Dawn online reported.

"Probes have already been initiated in several countries -- including Australia, New Zealand, Sweden and France -- across the globe after their leaders and office bearers were implicated," said Imran.

"If NAB wants to maintain its credibility, it should immediately begin a probe into Sharif's family."

Imran said: "Sharif should explain how his children made all this money." He asked if Sharif's family have "paid tax on this income".

Imran said the data leak was a defining moment for Pakistan, and added: "How can those who launder money from Pakistan to offshore accounts ask others to invest in the country?"

He said that Maryam Nawaz had given a statement two years ago that her family did not have any asseta abroad.

"But now Hussain Nawaz accepts that Maryam owns two offshore companies," Imran said.

Documents published by an international coalition of more than 100 media outlets, based on 11.5 million records of offshore holdings, details how politicians, celebrities and other famous people use banks, law firms and offshore shell companies to hide their assets.

According to documents available on the ICIJ website, Mariam, Hasan and Hussain "were owners or had the right to authorise transactions for several companies".
Union Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday called upon the Export Promotion Councils (EPCs) to take a pro-active stance to promote exports.

Addressing concerns expressed by the EPCs, the minister "urged the councils to be more pro-active on behalf of exporters", a commerce ministry statement said here.

Sitharaman held a meeting with the EPCs to review the current trend of exports from India and take stock of issues faced by the exporters. As many as 14 EPCs participated in the meeting, the statement said.

"In terms of (export) volumes, most commodities have shown resilience and have maintained the levels achieved in the 2014-15 fiscal. Keeping in view the initiatives like Interest Equalisation Scheme (IES) for supporting exports, along with the global factors, there was a feeling that exports will increase," the statement said.

Meanwhile, export organisations sought government support on interest subvention for gem and jewellery sector, inclusion of merchant-exporters under the IES, promotion of brand India on a consistent basis and more incentives for project exports etc.
The Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG) has warned that Nepal was likely to witness fresh turmoil if the dissatisfaction over the new Constitution was not addressed soon.

There is a clear risk of escalating violence in the Terai, the ICG said in a report published on Tuesday.

The depth of social discontent, lack of fruitful negotiations and disillusionment with Madhesi political parties was creating room for radical positions, it said.

If implementation of the Constitution begins before these issues are addressed, the mainstream parties risk wholesale rejection of the new statute by a large section of the population, the group warned.

Nepal's new constitution was promulgated in September 2015.

The ICG also urged the Nepal government and the Madhesi political parties to build trust and refrain from taking provocative action.

"Positions are not irreconcilable, but the prerequisites for any solution -- respect, trust, political will, a degree of selflessness -- are in short supply," the report said.

"The deficit is fuelled by ideological struggles to maintain a status quo that challengers say cements discrimination and supporters say protects the country, and by the behaviour of political parties, their lack of internal democracy, factionalism and opportunism."

The report warned that there was a clear risk of escalation of violence as mainstream parties would be tempted to launch counter-protests, which may lead to clashes in the event talks failed to resume and Madhesi parties launched another round of protests.

"The security forces are seen as discriminating against Madhesis and using excessive force. Employing them repeatedly to quell local protests fuels anger and radicalization, could encourage armed Madhesi groups, of which the region has a history, and might also allow a fringe Madhesi secessionist movement to gain traction.

"While unlikely to be successful or widespread, it would increase the volatility of a complex region," the report said.

The ICG recommended that the government restore trust with the Madhesi and Tharu populations by forming an independent mechanism to investigate the protest-related deaths and avoid a heavy-handed security response during protests.

It also asked the government to refrain from ultimatums and provocative comments, and to address the economic and humanitarian consequences of the earthquakes and blockade.

It also urged the Madhesi parties to rebuild trust with all social groups which live in the plains, refrain from arbitrary protest strategies, provocative speeches and violence.

The ICG also called on India to maintain an open approach to all sides.

(Anil Giri can be contacted at girianil@gmail.com)
At least nine people were injured in clashes between workers of the Trinamool Congress and the CPI-M in Birbhum and West Midnapore districts of West Bengal since Monday night, police said.

Around six people were injured when activists of the two parties, carrying sharp and blunt weapons, clashed at Labhpur of Birbhum district.

"There was a political clash between the Communist Party of India-Marxist and the Trinamool. Two-three people from each side were injured," Birbhum's Superintendent of Police Mukesh told IANS over phone.

The CPI-M alleged that its supporters were mercilessly beaten up and their houses ransacked by Trinamool activists in Labhpur for campaigning for the CPI-M-Congress alliance ahead of he assembly polls in the area.

The Trinamool, however, denied the charges.

Labhpur goes to the hustings on April 17.

Three people were injured in a post-poll clash at Shuknator village under Salboni police station of West Midnapore district, police said.

The CPI-M claimed two of its supporters had to be hospitalised with serious injuries.

A Trinamool supporter was also injured.

Salboni was one of the 18 constituencies where polling took place on Monday.
Union Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday said no one, including people in Pakistan, will believe that the Pathankot airbase attack was stage-managed by India.

Reacting to a Pakistan newspaper report that claimed that the Joint Investigation Team that probed the January 2 attack has said the attack was "staged" by India, Naidu said: "Pakistan has always done this."

The minister said the newspaper report was not an official version from Pakistan but quoted sources.

"I hope they (Pakistan) won't take such a stand. No one will believe it, including the Pakistani people," Naidu said during an interaction with the Indian Women Press Corps.

"They are under pressure of extremist groups... people want dialogue, but a dialogue cannot go along with terror," the minister said.

Naidu said the responsibility for creating a conducive atmosphere for talks with India rested with Pakistan now.

"Pakistan should take a decision on what it is doing about its policy of funding and support to terror. We want friendly relation with all neighbours," he said.

"The responsibility is with Pakistan to create the conducive atmosphere (for talks)."

The minister said that "dialogue is the only way" for India and Pakistan to resolve long-standing bilateral issues.

A report in 'Pakistan Today' newspaper, quoting sources, said that the JIT report has concluded that the Indian authorities had prior information about the attackers.

The daily claimed its source said India "used the attack as a tool to expand its vicious propaganda against Pakistan without having any solid evidence to back the claim".

The JIT arrived in India on March 28 and visited Pathankot the next day. It returned to Pakistan on April 1.

The January 2 attack on the Indian Air Force base at Pathankot in Punjab left seven security personnel and the intruding terrorists dead.

India blamed banned terror organisation Jaish-e-Mohammad for the Pathankot attack.
Prime Minister David Cameron has come under pressure to check the usage of British overseas territories and crown dependencies by the wealthy as tax havens.

A massive data leak from Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca showed it registered more than 100,000 secret firms in the British Virgin Islands.

Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said the government needed to "stop pussyfooting around" on tax dodging.

Downing Street said Britain was "ahead of the pack" on tax transparency, BBC reported.

At least 11 million leaked documents showed how Mossack Fonseca clients laundered money, dodged sanctions and avoided tax -- the law firm said it has operated beyond reproach for 40 years.

There are links to 12 current or former heads of state in the data, including dictators accused of looting their own countries.

The leaks have gained worldwide attention and reactions, with crowds gathering outside Iceland's parliament demanding Prime Minister Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson step down over allegations he concealed investments in an offshore company.

Close relatives of seven current or former Chinese leaders have also been found to have links to offshore firms, the papers said.

The Australian Tax Office (ATO) is investigating more than 800 individual taxpayers, all residents of Australia, following the leak.

The US Department of Justice is reviewing the leaked documents to look for evidence of corruption that could be prosecuted in the US, the Wall Street Journal reported.

France and Spain are also investigating money laundering exposed by the leaks among their resident taxpayers.

Panama President Juan Carlos Varela has said that his government has "zero tolerance" for illicit financial activities and would co-operate vigorously with any judicial investigation in any country.

Leaked files also mentioned Cameron's late father, Ian Cameron, who used one of the most secretive tools of the offshore trade after he helped set up a fund for investors.

At the launch of Labour's local government campaign, Corbyn said: "It is time to get tough on tax havens. Britain has a huge responsibility. Many of those tax havens are British overseas territories or crown dependencies."

"As the leaked documents show, tax havens have become honey pots of international corruption, tax avoidance and evasion," he said.

"There cannot be one set of tax rules for the wealthy elite and another for the rest of us."

Geoffrey Robertson QC, an international human rights lawyer, said: "The British Empire has shrunk largely to a number of tax havens -- treasure islands, as they are known."

"Britain is at the heart -- the hub -- of international tax avoidance by allowing these little remnants of empire to have tax secrecy laws and enable offshore trusts and offshore companies to operate without transparency," Robertson said.

"These little countries are endowed by international law with sovereignty. They can set up their own regimes which promise utter secrecy and have no transparency."

He said change could come with "some form of international convention" to require transparency, lawyers reconsidering their ethics and an international enforcement body able to inquire, inspect and punish.

The documents held by the Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca have been passed to German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung, which then shared them with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.
The Panama Papers leak, claimed by many as the "world's biggest", has created ripples across the world, upsetting the rich and mighty with accounts in tax havens. But there is confusion about who actually leaked the papers.

The leak turned out to be a Monday mayhem for around 214,000 hidden offshore companies after a group of global journalists, International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), got hold of the papers of the practically unknown law firm Mossack Fonseca based in Panama.

So who leaked the 'Panama Papers' -- a collection of over 2,600 GB of data comprising more than 11 million documents?

According to reports, over a year ago, an anonymous source contacted German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) and submitted encrypted internal documents from Mossack Fonseca, detailing how the firm set up and sold anonymous offshore companies around the world.

In the months that followed, the number of documents continued to grow far beyond the original leak.

Ultimately, Suddeutsche Zeitung acquired about 2.6 terabytes, or 2,600 GB, of data --making the leak the biggest that journalists had ever worked with.

The source, who contacted the German newspaper's reporter, Bastian Oberway, via encrypted chat wanted neither financial compensation nor anything else in return, apart from a few security measures, the daily said on its website.

After getting their hands on the data, the Suddeutsche Zeitung decided to analyse the data in cooperation with the ICIJ as the consortium had already coordinated the research for past projects that the daily was also involved in.

In the past 12 months, around 400 journalists from more than 100 media organisations in over 80 countries have taken part in researching the documents. The team included journalists from the Guardian and the BBC in England, Le Monde in France, La Nacion in Argentina and The Indian Express in India.

In Germany, Suddeutsche Zeitung journalists cooperated with their colleagues from two public broadcasters, NDR and WDR. Journalists from the Swiss Sonntagszeitung and the Austrian weekly Falter have also worked on the project, as have their colleagues at ORF, Austria's national public broadcaster.

The international team initially met in Washington, Munich, Lillehammer and London to map out the research process.
India on Tuesday termed as "total concoction" a Pakistan report, quoting sources in the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) that visited India, that the was staged by India.

Meanwhile, union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said no one, including people in Pakistan, will believe that the Pathankot airbase attack was stage-managed by India.

"The report in Pakistan Today is a total concoction. While in India, the JIT took onboard the detailed evidence which was shared by the NIA," sources from the external affairs ministry (MEA) said.

"Since the JIT collected evidence in accordance with Pakistani law which applies to Pakistani citizens committing an offence abroad, the involvement of Pakistanis in the is self evident," the sources added.

Pakistan Today, quoting sources in the JIT said "the attack was a drama staged to malign Pakistan".

Reacting to the Pakistani newspaper report that claimed that the JIT that probed the January 2 attack said it was "staged" by India, Venkaiah Naidu said, "Pakistan has always done this."

The minister said the newspaper report was not an official version from Pakistan but quoted sources.

"I hope they (Pakistan) won't take such a stand. No one will believe it, including the Pakistani people," Naidu said during an interaction with the Indian Women Press Corps.

"They are under pressure of extremist groups... people want dialogue, but a dialogue cannot go along with terror," he said.

On similar lines, Investigation Agency (NIA) spokesperson Sanjeev Singh said, "We had provided all kinds of information sought by the five-member Pakistani team. The report being run on news channels is quoting sources. We have not had any talk with Pakistani officials on this so far."

A report in Pakistan Today newspaper, quoting sources, said the JIT concluded that the Indian authorities had prior information about the attackers.

The daily claimed its source said India "used the attack as a tool to expand its vicious propaganda against Pakistan without having any solid evidence to back the claim".

The report also quoted a member of the JIT as saying that NIA officer Tanzil Ahmad's murder on Saturday night in Uttar Pradesh showed that "Indian establishment wants to keep the matter under wraps".

The JIT arrived in India on March 28 and visited Pathankot the next day. It returned to Pakistan on April 1.

The January 2 attack on the Indian Air Force base at Pathankot in Punjab left seven security personnel and the intruding terrorists dead. India blamed banned terror organisation Jaish-e-Mohammad for the attack.
Police here on Tuesday registered a case against actor-producer Rahulraj Singh for allegedly abetting the suicide of popular TV actress Pratyusha Banerjee following a statement from her mother Soma Banerjee, an official said.

Police in Bangur Nagar, who are probing the case, registered the first information report (FIR) after Soma Banerjee implicated Rahulraj for her daughter's suicide, said Mumbai police spokesperson Deputy Commissioner of Police Dhananjay Kulkarni.

Among other things, she accused Rahulraj of allegedly assaulting Pratyusha, but his (Rahulraj's) lawyer said they would challenge it in the Bombay High Court.

Rahulraj -- who was interrogated by police for two days after Pratyusha's suicide on April 1 -- is presently undergoing treatment in a suburban hospital for the past two days.

Police have sought a report on his health status and he is likely to be arrested after his discharge from hospital in a day or so, although his lawyers point out that he was not in a condition fit for interrogation.

Police have charged Rahulraj with abetment of suicide, voluntarily causing hurt, criminal intimidation and intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.

Since Pratyusha's death, her friends, colleagues and television industry workers have claimed that one of the reasons behind her suicide was the alleged rocky relationship with her boyfriend.

At least 10 of them have come forward to give statements pertaining to the tumultuous relationship between Pratyusha and Rahulraj, allegations of assault, unconfirmed financial issues between them and reported torture of Pratyusha by a former girlfriend of Rahulraj.

This is the second high-profile case in which the victim's boyfriend has been booked for abetment -- the previous being the Jiah Khan case in which her boyfriend, actor Sooraj A. Pancholi, is facing similar charges.

Jiah's body was found from her Andheri flat on June 3, 2013 and the case was subsequently also probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation after a plea by her mother Rabiya Khan. The probe agency filed a supplementary chargesheet in December 2015.
President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday said the sustenance of mankind depends only on environmentally sustainable mining practices.

Presenting the National Geoscience Awards 2014 here at Rashtrapati Bhavan, the President said availability and use of minerals in any country has been "one of the factors determining self-sufficiency of its economy".

"These natural resources have to be explored, extracted, refined and processed to use them for nation building. At the same time, we must understand that sustenance of mankind depends only on environmentally sustainable mining practices," he said.

Mukherjee said: "Our effort to use our natural resources should be informed by the dangers of natural and man made disasters."

The president said he was happy to note that the Geoscientists of the country were working hard to meet these challenges. "The diverse fields work of the awardees are testimony to this inherent spread of the geoscientific developments in the country."

He said the exploration of mineral resources in the country required a greater thrust with an even greater caution.

"As the search for the near surface deposits have reached a point of saturation, the Geoscientists of the country now face the crucial challenge of finding deep seated and concealed mineral resources.

"There is a need to focus on exploration of the offshore mineral resources which hold enormous potential of supplementing the increasing needs of the society. Similarly, it is also important to find strategic and rare earth elements to support Space and Information Technology Missions of the Nation to ensure self-reliance of the nation in these fields. However, all of this needs to be accomplished with the environmental sustainability concern in mind," he said.

The National Geoscience Awards, earlier known as the national mineral awards, were instituted by the ministry of mines in 1966 to honour individuals and teams of scientists for their extraordinary achievements and outstanding contributions in fundamental and applied geosciences and mining and allied fields.

Among the dignitaries present on the occasion were union Minister of Steel and Mines Narendra Singh Tomar and Minister of State for Steel and Mines Vishnu Deo Sai.
Both personal issues and the terrorist angle are being examined thoroughly to determine who murdered NIA official Mohammad Tanzil Ahmad, a senior police officer said on Tuesday.

The Uttar Pradesh Police is investigating the National Investigation Agency (NIA) officer's murder from three major angles, Additional Director General Daljeet Chaudhary said.

Talking to the media at the crime spot, Chaudhary said: "We are looking at local connections, personal issues and the terrorist angle."

NIA Deputy Superintendent Ahmad, 48, who was involved in probing cases pertaining to the Indian Mujahideen and the arrest of its head Yasin Bhatkal, was shot dead shortly after midnight on Saturday in his native town Sahaspur.

Chaudhary said Ahmad's family possessed substantial agriculture land in Sahaspur town and there was no one to look after the ancestral property after his father died two years ago.

"We have ordered that every local issue must be screened minutely along with other issues pertaining to the officer's involvement in important investigations handled by him.

"Some vital enmity might have developed during investigation of counterfeit currency related cases. So we shall screen all such important investigation.

"The third angle is the terror angle. We are looking that angle very minutely," Chaudhary added.

The slain officer was about to enter Sahaspur town after attending the wedding of his niece in Syohara.

His elder brother, Razib Ahmad, was following him in a separate car and reached the crime spot just five minutes later.

Both the brothers had planned to spend the night in their hometown which they used to visit frequently.

The officer was accompanied by his wife Farzana, daughter Zarnees (14) and son Sahbaaz (9).

The children were in the rear seat of the car and escaped unhurt. His wife is now battling for life after suffering four bullet wounds. She was seated by her husband.

As his car took a turn from the main Dhampur-Moradabad road and slowed down at a narrow bridge, two unidentified men opened indiscriminate fire from automatic weapons of .9mm calibre.

They pumped 21 bullets on the officer's body from the driver's window which was open.

An assistant commandant with the Border Security Force, Ahmad was on deputation with the National Investigation Agency for the past six years.

He had planned to visit his home town after completing his job as the liaison officer for the five-member Pakistan Joint Investigation Team that was in Delhi to probe the Pathankot terror attack, police sources said.
Nagaland Chief Minister T.R. Zeliang on Tuesday asked the farmers to revive the production of traditional cotton in the state.

"In the past, our people used to grow cotton along with paddy as the climate in many parts of Nagaland is suitable for growing cotton," Zeliang said at the inauguration of the first Apparel and Garment Making Centre here.

"Our people produced cotton and made clothes locally, but today this practice is disappearing in our present society. I feel that the local population should also revive the production of our traditional cotton," he said.

The Apparel and Garment Making Centre at the District Industries Centre complex was inaugurated by union Textiles Minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar.

The project was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Nagaland in December 2014.

Zeliang said this centre will help in utilising the talents of the people of the northeast as they have their own ingenuity, as can be seen from the beautiful motifs and unique designs in their textiles.

"Of late, many youth of the northeast are taking keen interest in fashion technology and fashion designing, either as a hobby or as a profession," he said, adding that Naga youth Atsu Sekhose has made a name for himself as a successful fashion designer in Paris.

Gangwar said his ministry has sanctioned three sericulture projects in Nagaland, with central support of Rs.101.25 crore in the last two years, and added that these projects will support production in all three varieties of silk -- Eri, Muga and Mulberry, from plantation to finished product to marketing.

He said these projects will help about 5,000 farmers.
A senior Russian official on Tuesday said Moscow is to make the first shipment of its S-300 air defence systems to Iran in the coming days as part of a long-running contract between Tehran and Moscow.

"I don't know if this will happen today, but they (the consignments) will be loaded (for shipment to Iran)," Zamir Kabulov, a department chief at the Russian foreign ministry, was quoted by Russia's Interfax news agency as saying.

In mid-February, the official had said that Moscow would deliver the surface-to-air missile systems to Tehran in "the nearest time".

Russia was committed to delivering the systems to Iran under a $800-million deal in 2007. Moscow, however, refused to deliver the systems to Tehran in 2010 on the plea that the agreement was covered by the fourth round of the UN Security Council sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme. The sanctions barred hi-tech weapons sales to Tehran.

Following Moscow's refusal to deliver the systems, Iran filed a complaint against the relevant Russian arms manufacturer with the International Court of Arbitration in Geneva.

In April 2015, Russian President Vladimir Putin lifted a previous ban on the delivery of S-300 to Iran, and in November last year, Russia signed a new contract to supply Iran with the systems by the end of that year for the first time since the 2010 freeze on supplies under the UN Security Council sanctions.

Recent pledges to make the delivery came after Iran and the P5+1 states -- five permanent members of the UN Security Council Russia, China, France, Britain, the US, and Germany -- reached a landmark agreement, dubbed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), on Tehran's nuclear programme in July last year.

Under the JCPOA, all nuclear-related economic and financial bans against the Islamic Republic were lifted.
A Saudi police officer was shot dead in the capital city of Riyadh in an attack claimed by the Islamic State militant group, Al Arabiya News reported on Tuesday.

The police colonel was working as head of the criminal investigation department in a district in western Riyadh and was shot on the highway, the Saudi Interior Ministry's spokesperson was quoted as saying.
At least six people were killed and many injured in a suicide bomb attack in Parwan province of Afghanistan on Tuesday, official said.

A suicide bomber detonated his explosive-laden vehicle in Seyagerd district, Tolo news quoted district governor Sayed Sediqqi as saying.

Hospital officials confirmed at least six people were killed and more than 15 injured.
A day of high drama was expected in the House of Assembly in Cape Town on Tuesday where members of Parliament were to debate a motion to impeach President Jacob Zuma, brought by the Democratic Alliance (DA).

The motion comes after the Constitutional Court, in an unanimous judgment on Thursday, found that Zuma's failure to comply with the remedial action imposed on him by the public protector in her 2014 report on Nkandla was "inconsistent" with the Constitution, BDlive reported.

Outlining the party's plans to press for Zuma's impeachment on Friday, Maimane listed a litany of alleged indictments against the behaviour of the executive branch of government.

The DA would be campaigning to give the "legislature back its teeth" but more broadly would be appealing for the electorate to "vote for change", he said at a media briefing in Sandton.

On Friday, the 73-year-old president gave a televised address to the nation in which he apologised and said he would pay back some of the money, as ordered. He said that he never knowingly or deliberately set out to violate the constitution .

The president travelled to his home province of Kwazulu-Natal on Sunday to launch a relief programme as part of government efforts to support areas affected by South Africa's worst drought in more than a century.

He told a cheering crowd that he was still South Africa's leader and joked about how youthful he was, but made no specific mention of the Nkandla matter, the pending impeachment motion or calls for him to step down as he addressed the gathering in Zulu, his native language.
One of the positives of the present dispensation in Delhi is described as its pursuit of an active foreign policy. Some also describe this as all too proactive. However, for all the criticism, India has done well overall in its foreign policy engagements, the most recent visits of Prime Minister Narendra Modi being to Belgium, the US and Saudi Arabia.

A crucial part of the foreign policy is driven by foreign trade and geography - and this is where India is looking at its neighborhood for development. A recent publication from Observer Research Foundation (ORF) titled "Neighbourhood First: Navigating Ties under Modi" brings together critical thinking on both foreign policy and geo-economics and issues about development to the fore.

The geographic expanse covers the seven SAARC nations, Afghanistan to the west and Myanmar to the east. The narrative at present is driven by concerns of development and trade over expansionism which is where some would argue India is trying to use its benign power status to look for development reforms.

South Asia is one of the fastest growing regions in the world today with GDP growth of 6.9 percent in 2013. The only other region growing at that rate is East Asia, also at 6.9 percent according to IMF's Regional Economic Outlook for April 2015. The growth is expected to rise to 7.4 percent by 2016 that will make South Asia the fastest growing region in the world.

Regardless of the growth, there are profound problems facing the region. South Asia is home to 23 percent of the world's population and yet accounts for less than 3.5 percent of the global GDP. A part of what explains this is the political and economic choices that leaders of different nations within the region have individually and collectively made over the decades.

Political strife, intra-regional conflicts, security problems, lack of trust, and thereby less trade integration, have all contributed to South Asia being one of the most autarkic regions for international trade. Both inter-regional and intra-regional trade remains a key impediment to not only economic development and social progress but also explains conflict within the region. These cannot be corrected immediately. All this will take time, but the direction should be positive.

Trade as a percentage of GDP (in 2014) is not even high for countries as small as the Maldives (76 percent) and Sri Lanka (74 percent), which have small overall GDP. Contrast this with some of the East Asian and ASEAN economies like Singapore (252 percent), Hong Kong (252 percent), Vietnam (160 percent) and Malaysia (135 percent). The results are in the open for all to see.

This is where India and its neighborhood can look at the development experience of other regions for greater growth and prosperity. The open model of trade growth first demonstrated by Japan and later by South Korea and China has helped move millions of people out of poverty and expand their choices in life.

A similar if not the same model can be adopted in the South Asian countries. The ORF report in this context becomes important and brings to the fore the thinking behind such an endeavor and the likely consequence that follow. It would start by being more open to ideas, trade and movement of people both within and outside the region. Along with this, more transparent and accountable institutions and greater P2P (people to people), B2B (business to business) and G2G (government to government) linkages will make these geographically close countries even more proximate.

It could start with year-round interactions of people, businesses, and governments within the region. The idea of establishing a South Asian University was a great first step to understanding and gaining from each other's ideas, cultures, and traditions. More such measures and initiatives are needed for a greater intra-regional cooperation.

In the years ahead a proactive political, social and economic consensus is needed for greater integration with the region. The governments of the individual countries will do well to initiate the dream of a prosperous and more open South Asia. It will start with the present thinking being concretised into actionable steps and execution over the longer time frame.

(The article is co-authored with Sankalp Sharma, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Competitiveness, India. Amit Kapoor is Chair, Institute for Competitiveness & Editor of Thinkers. The views expressed are personal. The author can be reached at amit.kapoor@competitiveness.in)
Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Tuesday that Colombo was seeking to expand its economic and trade ties with China.

In an interview with Xinhua news agency ahead of his four-day official visit to China starting on Wednesday, Wickremesinghe said he would be looking to set up a long-term economic and investment relationship with Beijing.

"Today, China has become one of the leading economic powers of the world. China has made many investments in Sri Lanka and it has also given loans and grants," Wickremesinghe said.

The purpose of his visit, according to the prime minister, was to boost economic relations between Sri Lanka and China and discuss a bilateral Free Trade Agreement.

"We like to have more emphasis on Chinese private investments into Sri Lanka and there are some other economic issues such as future loans that I hope to discuss," he said.

The visit to China next week will be Wickremesinghe's first since winning a parliamentary election in August last year.

His United National Party (UNP) defeated the former United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) led by former president Mahinda Rajapakse. The government led by President Maithripala Sirisena wants to transform Sri Lanka into South Asia's international hub.

Sri Lanka's largest foreign investment, the Colombo Port City Project, funded by China, was recently given the green light to resume after it was suspended by the government in March 2015 due to environmental concerns.

Wickremesinghe said the project will now be granted a special status as a unique financial and business district of Sri Lanka and will be included in the government's mega development plan.

"The Port City will become a special financial and business district of Sri Lanka which will have its own laws. Of course the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka must have the final say," he said.

There will be a separate financial and legal system operating in the Port City "where people can come and transact business internationally," he said.

Sri Lanka is in talks with the Chinese government in setting up a special economic zone in Hambantota in the country's south with Chinese investments.

With the Mattala Airport and the Hambantota port in the area, Sri Lanka hopes to attract Chinese companies that have experience in operating airports and harbours, Wickremesinghe said.

"Once it is set, it will become one major economic zone as we plan to transform Hambantota into the second largest economic area in Sri Lanka."

In addition, China has extended its cooperation with Sri Lanka in the government's western megapolis development plan and the integrated development plan in Pollonnaruwa in the North Central province, he added.
Tibetan Prime Minister-in-exile Lobsang Sangay on Tuesday congratulated Mehbooba Mufti for becoming the first woman chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir.

"As you embark upon the responsibility of the first woman chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, I wish you all the luck and success in your endeavours. May the new government under your supreme leadership work for the public aspirations and peace of the region," Sangay said in a statement.

He also congratulated Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh and the ministers of the new government.

Peoples Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti on Monday took oath as the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir. She heads a coalition government with the BJP.

The Tibetan exile administration is based here in Himachal Pradesh state.
Bollywood's 'bad man' Gulshan Grover says a good-looking average actor can get away as a hero, but an anti-hero ought to be an excellent actor.

"I believe that to be a hero, you can get away with good looks and average acting skills, but to be a villain, you have to be a fantastic actor," Gulshan said here.

On being asked about his favourite villain, he said: "Look at the names of great villains in Hindi films -- Pran saab, Amjad Khan saab, Amrish Puri... all of them.

"Villains are not going to do something you can't predict and yet they create an aura on screen. Therefore, it is very unfair to say any name particularly. I have learnt from all of them."

Gulshan is also set to star in a web movie called "BadMan", which will follow a fictional story of Gulshan Grover as himself, an actor who wishes to now be the hero and not the villain. It will be showcased on Voot, Viacom18's new digital platform.

A host of Bollywood faces including Rishi Kapoor, Farah Khan, Shoojit Sircar, Manisha Koirala have made special cameos in "BadMan", whose title track has been sung and composed by Vishal Dadlani.

The 60-year-old actor is also happy to see the successful transition of Bollywood actors to Hollywood nowadays.

"I am proud of the fact that I have led a mud path between Bollywood and Hollywood, but I am more proud to see that mud path is being cemented and followed by many actors also showing tremendous success. Priyanka Chopra, Irrfan Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Anupam Kher and many more. There will be many younger actors, who will be making this transition and making us all very proud."

Asked to pick one film that is dear to him, the "I Am Kalam" actor said: "Each and every film is dear to me. I put my heart and soul in every film. I do nothing half-heartedly. So I have given whatever I have got to each and every film."
Japanese carmaker Toyota on Tuesday announced it will collaborate with US tech giant Microsoft to improve services for cars connected to the internet in the future.

The auto giant has set up a new company called Toyota Connected to create these services and develop products for drivers and distributors based on advanced cloud-based data analysis, EFE news reported.

Among the products under consideration are policies adapted to each driver, based on a study of their driving patterns.

The company, based in Texas and with an initial investment of around $5.5 million, is primarily owned by Toyota Media Service, a subsidiary of the Japanese group, and Microsoft, which has a 5 percent stake.

The company, which was founded by Bill Gates, had first invested in Toyota Media Service in 2011.

Toyota already sells internet-connected automobiles in Japan although they are limited to a few Lexus models and some other high-end models.

The firm aims to expand the number of cars with data communications systems for sale in the US and Japan initially.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has said he would cut off money sent to Mexico to force them to pay for a border wall with the US.

In a memo to the Washington Post, the businessman said he would threaten to change a law to cut off cash transfers.

The prospect of losing a vital source of income would force Mexico into a "one-time payment" of $5-10 billion, said Trump.

Voters in Wisconsin were picking their presidential candidates.

They were going to the polls in a vote that could reshape the Republican race, with front-runner Trump facing a strong challenge from Texas Senator Ted Cruz.

Asked about the memo at a campaign stop in Wisconsin, he said he stood by it.

"Absolutely, 100 percent," Trump told reporters. "The wall is a fraction of the kind of money in many ways that Mexico takes from the US."

Building a border wall with Mexico has been a core message of Trump's campaign but until now he has not said in much detail how he would make Mexico pay for it.

The Mexican central bank said that money sent home from overseas hit nearly $24.8 billion last year, more than its oil revenues.

The law Trump wishes to changes, as outlined in his memo, is part of the US Patriot Act - he would stop anyone living illegally in the US from sending money overseas.

Just the threat of enacting this would make Mexico "immediately protest," the Trump memo reads, and they would be compelled to pay for the wall.

He also proposed raising visa fees and cancelling visas for Mexicans.

--Indo-Aisan News Service

ahm/dg
The makers of Dhanush-starrer Tamil romantic action film "Enai Nokki Payyum Thota", which also features Rana Daggubati, will shoot some important sequences in Turkey.

The shooting at the foreign location will start this weekend.

"The team plans to shoot a few scenes and a song across exotic locations in Turkey. While the team has already reached Turkey, Dhanush is expected to join later this week to shoot through the weekend," a source from the film's unit told IANS.

The film is directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon and also stars Megha Akash.

Double Oscar-winning composer A.R. Rahman was rumoured to be the composer; however, the source denied it.

"As of now, we haven't finalised on any composer. Talks are going on with a few music directors and a final decision will be taken soon," he said.

Jointly produced by Gautham Menon and P. Madan, the film is slated for release later this year.
Beirut, April 5 (IANS/AKI) Two Hezbollah commanders were among a dozen fighters from the militant Lebanese Shia group killed in attacks at the weekend in northern Syria, medical sources close to Hezbollah said Tuesday.

The sources named the men as Fawzi Taha, said to have been Hezbollah's most senior leader in Syria, and Bilal Nadir Khayreddine, also known as 'Abu Jaafar', who is also said to have played a key role.

Taha and Khayreddine were buried on Monday in Baalbek in eastern Lebanon's Bekaa valley, according to the sources.

Both Taha and Khayreddine were allegedly founding members of the Al-Rida Forces, the Syrian military wing of Hezbollah.

Taha was said to have been killed in an attack by militants led by Al-Qaeda's Syria branch - known as the Nusra Front - on the northern village of al-Ais. Twelve Hezbollah fighters were killed and dozens wounded in the attack, according to the Syrian Human Rights Observatory monitoring group.

Khayreddine was reportedly killed in fighting in Qaryatayn outside the city of Homs. Originally from the village of Majdaloun in the Bekaa valley, he is said to have played a prominent role in recruiting, training and equipping Hezbollah militiamen fighting in Syria alongside government forces.

--IANS/AKI

vd
The director general of police has been "directly and personally" monitoring the brutal killing of NIA official Tanzil Ahmad in Uttar Pradesh.

According to an official, following the intervention of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Monday, Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Daljeet Chowdhary was going to Bijnor to visit the crime scene and review the progress made in the case.

The police, so far, had only been assisting the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and other central agencies in the probe, providing them logistical support.

The investigating team has zeroed in on a video clip of the wedding which Tanzil attended and on the way back home shot dead, sources said.

A man shown in the video was at the centre of the probe, as no one was able to identify him as belonging to either the bride's or groom's party.

NIA officials believe that the man shown in the clip could be the one who killed Tanzil.

"We are taking the matter ahead and hope to get some vital clues by Tuesday evening," an NIA official said.

He also said that a recce of the crime scene was done three days before the actual attempt.
The US Navy has ordered nine AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters for Pakistan, the US defence department has said.

The US Navy on Monday awarded a $170 million contract to Bell Helicopter for the manufacture of the AH-1Z helicopters, Dawn online quoted a Defence Department statement as saying on Monday.

The combat helicopters will be delivered to Pakistan under the Foreign Military Sales Programme, the statement said.

The Bell AH-1Z Viper is a twin-engine combat chopper based on the previous SuperCobra model developed for the US Marine Corps, Sputnik reported. It has a top speed of 420 km per hour and a range of 610 km.

The contract awarded "for the manufacture and delivery of aircraft and nine auxiliary fuel kits for Pakistan" is "expected to be completed in September 2018".

Last April, the US State Department approved the foreign military sale to Pakistan for the AH-1Z helicopters and AGM-114R Hellfire II Missiles and associated equipment, parts, training and logistical support for an estimated cost of $952 million.

Earlier this year, the US approved a $700m sale of eight F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan, to which India strongly objected.

The sale was made in order to improve Pakistan's precision strike capability, the US said.

In a document released in February, the US administration told US lawmakers that its Foreign Military Funding (FMF) to Pakistan would focus on seven priority areas "identified and agreed to with the government of Pakistan".
Taking note of a CAG report on the KG basin gas blocks in which around Rs.19,576 crore were invested by the then Gujarat government led by Narendra Modi, the Congress on Tuesday sought a JPC probe into the matter.

There was no 'commercial production' in the gas blocks, said the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) and also questioned the project's "financial viability".

The report was tabled in the Gujarat assembly on March 31.

"Narendra Modi must own responsibility for this gross loss to the exchequer, running into nearly Rs.20,000 crore. He must be held accountable by the same standard he applies to others and submit himself to a probe by the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), based on the CAG findings," said Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma.

"The prime minister can only be probed by a JPC because all the investigative agencies are under him," said Sharma, who is the deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha.

"We demand that a JPC is constituted because the prime minister cannot be examined in a free and fair manner otherwise. He is definitely not above the law of the land. He is fully accountable and we must establish this," he added.

For the Congress, the issue is going to be on its parliamentary agenda in the future, a Congress source said.

In June 2005, the then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi announced the discovery of 20 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of gas by the Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) in the KG basin, valued at 50 billion dollars (Rs.2,20,000 crore).

Sharma said that despite tall claims on 20 trillion TCF, not a single cubic feet of gas had been produced commercially in the basin from 2005 till date.

The CAG report said: "The audit observed that the trial production from the DDW field commenced in August 2014, but the average production achieved in March 2015 was only 19.45 MSCFD (million standard cubic feet of gas per day) (total targeted commercial production from DDW is 200 MSCFD). Commercial production has not commenced (November 2015) as production rate has not yet stabilised."

It added: "After the revision of gas pricing under the New Domestic Natural Gas Pricing Guidelines 2014, the financial viability of the project after commercial production remains doubtful as per the prevailing market scenario."

The report said that the Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation invested Rs.19,576 crore in the KG basin gas blocks without any assessment of the risk involved, construction technology, estimate of natural gas reserves or gas pricing.

"The company did not address properly the risks associated with cost, technology and gas pricing. This has resulted in uncertainty regarding the future prospects from the KG block where an investment of around Rs.19,576 crore was made as of March 2015. The development costs incurred in the block also resulted in increased borrowings and stressed finances for the company," stated the CAG report.

The report said that a tender for 'platform rigs' was given to a company not qualified to design, engineer or construct a 'platform rig' as per the bid document.

"As on April 1, 2011, the GSPC owned 64 gas blocks. Between April 1, 2011, and March 31, 2015, the GSPC surrendered 45 blocks, which is 70.31 percent of all blocks owned by it. Total loss from surrender of 45 blocks to the public exchequer is Rs.2,992.72 crore.

"Out of this, the surrender of 11 'overseas blocks' (five in Egypt, three in Yemen, two in Indonesia and one in Australia) caused a loss of Rs.1,757.46 crore. Surrender of the remaining 34 'domestic blocks' caused a loss Rs.1,235.26 crore," Sharma quoted from the CAG report.

Quoting the report further, Sharma said: "The GSPC incurred an expenditure of Rs.2,319.43 crore towards the shares of the two joint venture partners, i.e., 'Geo Global' and 'Jubilant' and completely failed to recover a single penny from them. Moreover, the GSPC even failed to conduct audit of the joint venture accounts."
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday asked Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh why he didn't join the investigation in a disproportionate assets case registered against him by the CBI.

"You have been named in the FIR. Why don't you join the investigation and finish it. Ultimately, you have to join it," Justice Pratibha Rani told Virbhadra Singh, who is protected from arrest or interrogation by an order of the Himachal Pradesh High Court.

In an oral observation, Justice Pratibha Rani said: "If you have intention to join the investigation, join it."

The court, however, did not pass any order to ask Virbhadra Singh to join the probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation.

Additional Solicitor General P.S. Patwalia told the court that the investigation in the case was "seriously held up", adding that the central agency had completed a dossier in the case and the "facts which have come up are very very serious".

The Himachal Pradesh High Court had, through an interim order on October 1, 2015, restrained the CBI from arresting or interrogating Virbhadra Singh or filing a charge sheet against him in the Rs.6 crore disproportionate assets case.

The CBI has urged the Delhi High Court to vacate the Himachal Pradesh High Court order, contending that the order was hampering investigation.

The Delhi High Court was hearing the Congress leader's plea for quashing the first information report lodged against him by the CBI.

Meanwhile, since the Himachal Pradesh High Court order was passed by a two-judge division bench, Justice Pratibha Rani on Tuesday sought clarification on whether the case could be heard by a single-judge bench.

She referred the case to Delhi High Court Chief Justice G. Rohini to decide whether the court could continue to hear the case. The matter was posted for further hearing on Wednesday.

In November 2015, the Supreme Court transferred the disproportionate assets case against the chief minister to the Delhi High Court from the Himachal Pradesh High Court, saying the transfer was necessary "to protect the institution from embarrassment" and to "avoid further controversy".

The apex court, however, did not pass any order to modify the Himachal Pradesh High Court order that restrained the CBI from arresting Singh. The CBI has challenged this order.

Virbhadra Singh had moved the Himachal Pradesh High Court following CBI searches at his residences in Delhi and Shimla on September 26 last year which, he contended, were mala fide and out of political vendetta.

The case was registered on September 23 last year under the Prevention of Corruption Act against the chief minister, his wife Pratibha Singh, Life Insurance Corporation agent Anand Chauhan and associate Chunni Lal.

The case was registered after a preliminary inquiry that allegedly found that Virbhadra Singh, as union minister during 2009-2012, accumulated assets worth Rs.6.03 crore in his name and in the name of his family members, which were disproportionate to his known sources of income.
Peugeot Citroen's Chief Executive Carlos Tavares has disappointed investors with conservative profit and growth targets until 2018. In that sense, he looks like the opposite of ever-bullish Fiat Chrysler boss Sergio Marchionne. Both are making progress in turning around stricken mass-market carmakers with a terrible track record, and both are heading in a good direction. Tavares is just less likely than his rival to end up eating his words.
While announcing that one billion Indians were registered under Aadhaar, Minister for Communications and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad on Monday thanked Nandan Nilekani, former chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India, and R S Sharma, chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, for the success of the project. When asked why he didn't thank the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government that conceptualised the project, he said, "We do things in a better way - achchey se - while they (UPA) only start things. This is why the people of the country have brought us here."


Allow me to make some observations about Vikram Gopal's review of the book, The Communist Party of India and the Indian Emergency by David Lockwood (March 31). The policies adopted by the Communist Party of India (CPI), when it was undivided as well post split, were totally Soviet Union-centric. This caused the downfall of the party.
The government's response to the revelation of rich and influential Indians parking their money in offshore havens has been understandably swift. On Monday, The Indian Express reported that, based on its reading of an estimated 11.5 million leaked tax documents, more than 500 Indians paid Mossack Fonseca, a law firm headquartered in Panama, to set up offshore entities in tax havens. Panama, a well-established Caribbean tax haven, also helps the global rich to create offshore companies in an easy and tax-free environment with a veil of secrecy that is not easy to pierce. On the direction of the prime minister on Monday itself, the government has set up a multi-agency investigation team to probe if any illegalities have been committed in such remittances.
Biocon has been in the news due to its insulin drug pipeline. A few days earlier, it got approval from the Japanese regulator to sell its biosimilar insulin, Glargine, in disposable pens, in what is the worlds largest market for insulin outside of the US and Europe. This is positive, given the $144-million Glargine market in Japan.

Thus, it is not surprising that the Street and experts have started turning upbeat on the companys prospects and are looking at success with the products it is developing for the US market.

While pharmaceutical companies are currently exploiting the generic opportunities offered by drugs going off-patent in the US, biosimilars is the segment likely to drive growth. Biosimilars are made of living organisms. The DNA of these is genetically engineered to make it capable of curing ailments. The process is highly complex and technologically advanced.

Many companies have been spending to develop a biosimilar pipeline, including Dr Reddys, Lupin and Sun Pharmaceutical, etc. Biocon has been working on this for a very long time and there are significant developments it has made. Biocon is currently conducting global phase-3 trials for four biosimilars (insulin glargine, trastuzumab, adalimumab and pegfilgrastim). Further, last month, it entered into an agreement with Mexico-based Laboratorios PiSA for co-development and commercialisation of generic recombinant human insulin (Rh-insulin) for the US market. This can accrue benefits in the longer run, as the company is likely to introduce the product by 2020.

The four insulin products under advanced trials are the ones that, after filings and approvals, can start contributing to Biocons financials much earlier. The company is likely to file for regulatory approvals in FY17 in the US and European Union, which could be a major trigger for the stock.

These events have lent confidence to the Street. Analysts at Morgan Stanley on Tuesday said 2016 could be a turning point for Biocon. Four potential product filings each in the US and EU would add credibility to its pipeline and bring market recognition. They estimate the four products to contribute $244 million by 2020 to revenues and, at 30 per cent margins, they say it implies a doubling of current profit.

In this backdrop, the analysts have raised their target price for the stock to Rs 622. This led to a surge of 7.4 per cent on the bourses to Rs 527.40 on Tuesday.

Among other brokerages, Phillip Securities and Axis Capital have given a target price of Rs 600 and Rs 650 in March, respectively. Analysts at HSBC, in a mid-March report after the agreement between Biocon and PiSA, had said they were not making any changes to their estimates or rating. Their fair value target price stands at Rs 500.
The parliamentary standing committee for the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has produced a report on the Medical Council of India (MCI), which would shame all those at the helm if they were capable of such feeling. The transgressions of the regulatory body under the ministry, charged with overseeing medical education and doctors' right to practice and ethical conduct, are well known. The report has validated a lot of the relevant media coverage and, through the committee's own investigations, laid down solid fundamentals for bringing about systemic change.
Bihar on Tuesday became a dry state and Chief Minister said the production of liquor would not be encouraged.

"We will not encourage the production of alcohol now. The breweries will now have to decide on this. After this decision, there is no market for alcohol in the state. They can sell their products to other states. We cannot encourage liquor industry. If they want, they can move out of the state," he said.

Country and composite liquor was already prohibited in rural areas across the state since April 1. With this ban, Kumar has fulfilled his election promise. "In the first four days after banning country liquor, it has become a social movement. Even in cities, women started opposing government-run shops selling IMFL. And so I feel this is the right time for social change in Bihar," said a visible happy chief minister, as he emerged after a two-hour Cabinet meeting.

No alcohol can be legally sold, bought or consumed, including at bars and restaurants in the state. The chief minister said no new liquor licence would be given. Army cantonment areas would be exempted from the rule as the sale and consumption of alcohol there is regulated by their mechanism, the chief minister said. He said neera (a drink made of sap from palm trees before sunrise) would be allowed, while toddy would be barred.

The announcement in Patna came as shock to liquor companies, especially those with units in the state. Cobra and Carlsburg have plants near the capital. United Spirits is constructing a beer-bottling plant near Patna. Most company officials concerned refused to comment. However, some confirmed on conditions of anonymity that it would force senior management to take harsh steps, including shutting down of factories.

Analysts said the ban would have little impact on domestic liquor sales as the state was a small contributor in this market. However, they said it would have a negative sentiment as more states could follow suit to attract women's votes.

The move would have far-reaching implications for IMFL manufacturers, notably the top three - Diageo-owned United Spirits (USL), French major Pernod Ricard and Kishore-Chahhabria-owned Allied Blenders and Distillers (ABD). The three firms control almost 70 per cent of the six-million-case Bihar market, valued at Rs 1,500-2,000 crore.

While USL and Pernod Ricard are estimated to have a share of 30 per cent each of the Bihar IMFL market, ABD has a 20 per cent market share. Popular IMFL brands include McDowell's No 1 and Bagpiper from USL, Imperial Blue and Royal Stag from Pernod Ricard and Officer's Choice from ABD, respectively.

Deepak Roy, executive vice-chairman of ABD, said, "We have crores worth of material lying at the godown for which excise has already been paid. All of this will become redundant with the ban kicking in. We were hoping to start the new financial year with a bang and look what has happened. Forget the loss of business due to the ban - that is one aspect. Finished stock lying at the godown unable to be shipped out has hit us hard."



USL and Pernod Ricard could not be immediately reached for their comments.

Manufacturers privately admit that a blanket ban will fuel the illicit liquor trade, impacting the health of people. "I don't know how effective this is going to be. I find the move counter-productive," said an executive with a liquor major.

The chief minister, when asked about the fate of liquor manufacturing companies and factories in the state, said they could continue manufacturing but cannot trade. "Besides, they have to abide by rules like having a digital locking system and GPS monitoring equipment in vehicles transporting the liquor manufactured at outlets in Bihar to places outside the state for sale," Kumar said.

Bihar, Gujarat, Nagaland and Manipur have total prohibition, while Kerala has been implementing a ban in a phased manner.

While Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab and the Union territory of Delhi are big consumers of IMFL, Bihar (prior to the ban) figured in the top 10 markets, experts said.

Bihar had earned Rs 5,300 crore from liquor sale for the financial year ended March 31. This year, with a ban on country liquor, the state government had aimed at earning almost Rs 4,000 crore from the sale of Indian made foreign liquor.

Prohibition was a key electoral promise Kumar had made to women voters in the run-up to last year's Assembly elections. Many political analysts said this had played a pivotal role in his returning to power.

"The support to our call for a ban alcohol was tremendous. There was a huge clamour for a ban on liquor. This shows that our move has created a clean and great environment for complete prohibition. Therefore, we feel that the time for complete prohibition has arrived," said Kumar.
One person was killed and five others injured today when a bomb planted on the track hit a train in Pakistan's troubled Balochistan province, the second such incident involving the same train within six months.

The Jaffer Express was hit by the remote-controlled bomb near Bakhtiarabad area of Sibi in the Balochistan province while coming from Rawalpindi to Quetta.

A police official said that one passenger was killed and five others injured in the attack.

"It was an improvised explosive device which was planted on a track some 150 kilometres from Quetta," Balochistan Home Minister Mir Sarfaraz Bugti said.

He said a three feet section of the track was destroyed in the blast which left one passenger dead and five others wounded. The injured were shifted to hospital for treatment.

Bugti said the explosion hit the second carriage of the train which was destroyed.

Paramilitary forces and police arrived at the scene and launched search operation. No groups claimed responsibility.

Balochistan Chief Minister Sanaullah Khan Zehri condemned today's attack and sought an inquiry report.

Attacks on trains are common in Balochistan where Baloch nationalists are fighting for greater control over natural resources.

This is not the first time that the Jaffar Express has come under attack. Four people were killed in November last year when the Rawalpindi-bound train was attacked with bomb planted on its track in Mastung.
At least one person was killed and five others were injured today when a a rocket-propelled grenade hit a passenger train in Pakistan's south-western Balochistan province, officials said.

Unknown militants fired a rocket-propelled grenade at Jaffer Express near Bakhtiarabad area of Sibbi district, when it was on its way to the provincial capital Quetta.

A police official said that one passenger was killed and five other injured in the attack.

"One of the carriages was also slightly damaged," he said.

Paramilitary forces and police arrived at the place of attack and launched search operation.

Attacks on trains are common Balochistan where Baloch nationalists are fighting for greater control over natural resources.

Four people were killed in November last year when a Rawalpindi-bound train was attacked with bomb planted on its track in Mastung.

So far no groups claimed responsibility.

Balochistan Chief Minister Sanaullah Khan Zehri condemned the terror attack and sought an inquiry report.
US law enforcement agencies today arrested 21 people, including 10 Indian Americans, on charges of visa fraud involving about 1,000 foreign students.

Arrested in New York, New Jersey, Washington and Virginia these 21 individuals were brokers, recruiters and employers who conspired with more than 1,000 foreign nationals to fraudulently obtain student and foreign worker visas through a "pay to stay" New Jersey college, Department of Justice said.

"Today's arrests, which were made possible by the great undercover work of our law enforcement partners, stopped 21 brokers, recruiters and employers across multiple states who recklessly exploited our immigration system for financial gain," US Attorney Paul J Fishman said in a statement.

"Pay to Stay schemes not only damage our perception of legitimate student and foreign worker visa programs, they also pose a very real threat to national security," he said.

As per the federal compliant unsealed today, the defendants, many of whom operated recruiting companies for purported international students, were arrested for their involvement in an alleged scheme to enroll foreign nationals as students in the University of Northern New Jersey (UNNJ, a purported for-profit college located in Cranford, New Jersey.

Unbeknownst to the defendants and the foreign nationals they conspired with, however, the UNNJ was created in September 2013 by federal agents.

Through the UNNJ, undercover HSI agents investigated criminal activities associated with the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP), including, but not limited to, student visa fraud and the harboring of aliens for profit.

The UNNJ was not staffed with instructors or educators, had no curriculum and conducted no actual classes or education activities.

The UNNJ operated solely as a storefront location with small offices staffed by federal agents posing as school administrators, the Justice Department said.

During the investigation, HSI special agents identified hundreds of foreign nationals, primarily from China and India, who previously entered the US on F-1 non-immigrant student visas to attend other SEVP- accredited schools.

Through various recruiting companies and business entities located in New Jersey, California, Illinois, New York and Virginia, the defendants then enabled approximately 1,076 of these foreign individuals - all of whom were willing participants in the scheme - to fraudulently maintain their nonimmigrant status in the US on the false pretence that they continued to participate in full courses of study at the UNNJ.

During the course of their dealings with undercover agents, the defendants fully acknowledged that none of their foreign national clients would attend any actual courses, earn actual credits, or make academic progress toward an actual degree in a particular field of study, it said.

Rather, the defendants facilitated the enrollment of their foreign national clients in UNNJ to fraudulently maintain student visa status, in exchange for kickbacks, or "commissions".
Spanish police said today they have arrested three people on suspicion of making a bomb hoax that caused a plane to return to Madrid airport escorted by an air force fighter jet.

Spanish airport operator AENA on December 14 ordered a Brazilian TAM airlines plane with 315 passengers and 16 crew members on board back to Madrid 90 minutes into its flight to Sao Paulo, after getting call from a man claiming a bomb was on board, police said in a statement.

The man, who spoke Spanish with an Arabic accent, mentioned the flight and then could be heard saying "Today people will die" and "Allahu Akbar", an Islamic phrase meaning "God is Great", the statement added.

The passengers were evacuated from the plane and police searched the aircraft, finding no bomb.

A police probe determined that the call was made from a public pay phone in a town in Cuenca in central Spain and officers detained two men and a woman who they believe are responsible for the call.

The three had ties to a Brazilian woman on board the plane who had been denied entry into Spain due to a Swiss court order, the police statement said without giving further details.

The three suspects have been charged with causing public disorder and may also be held liable for the economic damage caused by the false alarm which police said was initially estimated to be over USD 225,000.

The plane was escorted back to Madrid airport by a Spanish air force fighter jet and the airport's runways were closed for an hour while police inspected the aircraft.
Three policemen and two undertrials were today killed and one injured when a van carrying them fell into a 35 deep drain in Belipar area in Gorakhpur district.

The police van was returning to Gorakhpur district jail after producing two undertrials Bharat Kumar and Ram Milan before the court of judicial magistrate in Bansgaon this afternoon, a police spokesman said.

Police said that near Yami river, the van lost control and fell into the drain in which undertrial Bharat Kumar, constable Radhey Shyam Rai and constable Awadhesh Kumar Yadav were killed.

Driver constable Sachidanand, constable Gaurishanker and an undertrial Ram Milan were injured and were taken to a hospital where Sachidanand and Ram Milan succumbed.
Four students of Delhi University's Satyawati college were detained when they allegedly tried to stop Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's car to submit a memorandum when he was leaving the institute after attending a fest today.

However, college authorities said the students wanted to click selfies with Kejriwal and hence were stopped by security personnel.

Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia were at the college as chief guests of its annual National Cadet Corps (NCC) fest in which cadets from various DU colleges participate in a series of activities.

The students identified as Dhanpal, Raj Singh, Raj Aryan and Utkarsh Bhardwaj, all activists of left-backed All India Students Association (AISA), alleged that they wanted to submit a four-point memorandum to the Chief Minister.

"We wanted to submit a memorandum of our demands including AC bus and metro concession passes for students, university special and women special buses and better facilities for differently abled students. We peacefully wanted to approach him but were stopped by police officials who detained us later," Dhanpal claimed.

Police officials said the four students were detained and released an hour later.

Bharat Singh, NCC officer of the college who was incharge of the event said, "the allegations raised by students are baseless. The students wanted to get selfies clicked with the Chief Minister and hence were stopped by the security".
At least four people have been killed and 25 others, including policemen, injured in clashes that erupted after protests against the construction of a Chinese- backed power plant on a farmland in northeast Bangladesh.

Clashes erupted yesterday when rival groups of villagers simultaneously rallied near the site of USD 2.4 billion project to oppose the installation of the twin power plants to be built with the help of two Chinese companies at Bashkhali area at the outskirts of the port city of Chittagong.

Police meanwhile said they filed a case charging over 3,000 villagers for vandalism in which 11 members of the law enforcement agency were also wounded.

"Three of the villagers died during the clash and one succumbed to his wounds at a nearby hospital after the clashes with police," a witness said.

The reports said a group of villagers opposed the construction of the proposed plant by a private company fearing loss of their livelihood as the area was suitable for salt and shrimp cultivation.

They alleged S Alam Group, which is set to install the 1320-megawatt coal-based thermal power plant was acquiring the lands using force without any rehabilitation scheme for the residents there.

The two Chinese firms -- SEPCOIII Electric Power and HTG -- are financing USD 1.75 billion of the plants' estimated USD 2.4 billion cost, the Daily Star reported.

The media reports suggested the clash erupted as police intervened at the scene to drive away the rival groups using gunshots.

"Police were attacked when they tried to disperse the warring groups ... They (police) had to use their guns for self-defence," a police official said.

The authorities, meanwhile, launched an investigation with an additional district magistrate as its convenor.
Hitting out at the Aam Aadmi Party for its stand the issue in the Supreme Court, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today said the party has back stabbed the people of Punjab especially farmers.

"The AAP has miserably failed and stands fully exposed in its very first test of loyalty to the state, especially to our toiling farmers. This is the height of political opportunism and broad daylight falsehood," Badal said.

"I am sad this has come at the expense of the beleaguered farming peasantry of my state," the Chief Minister said, adding, "I do not know how Kejriwal will now face the people of Punjab after this fraud."



The Kejriwal government yesterday supported the stand of Haryana on SYL issue by filling an affidavit in the apex court, said Harcharan Bains, Advisor, National Affairs and Media to Punjab Chief minister.

"Delhi's stand on SYL issue is clearly opposite to what Kejriwal had said in Punjab," he said.

During the hearing, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir and Delhi supported the stand of Haryana on Presidential Reference over canal.

Badal said, "The saga of outsiders coming to Punjab to offer fake sympathies and then going back to betray the state within hours and leave its people bleeding continues. Does it behove a Chief Minister to indulge in such an act of deceit against the poor, innocent and trusting farmers?"



People have been talking about Kejriwal's of "falsehood" and "opportunism". But he should have spared the brave and patriotic farmers who are already facing such hardships, Badal said.

"How shocking that Kejriwal and his party had been befooling the farmers of Punjab by visiting and offering crocodile tears to the tragedy-stricken families here only to take a brazenly treacherous stand against the same farmers in the Supreme Court," he added.

"In Punjab, Kejriwal said the state alone had an exclusive right over the Ravi-Beas waters and that he and his party were opposed to the construction of the SYL. But no sooner did he leave the sate than he went back on his word and declared that Ravi Beas waters belonged to Haryana, Himachal, J&K and Delhi and that Punjab did not have any exclusive right over these waters," Badal said.

The Chief Minister said he had not reacted to Kejriwal's earlier flip-flop because he thought that the Delhi Chief Minister might have been misquoted by the media. "But what happened in the Supreme Court yesterday shocked me and everyone else, especially the farmers."



"I do not know how will the AAP leadership in Punjab face the Punjabis now, having betrayed the state and its farmers on the most critical issue on the very first opportunity they got to stand by them," Badal added.
Adani Group is believed to be in talks with the US-based renewable energy major SunEdison to acquire the latter's Indian assets.

Led by billionaire Gautam Adani, Adani Group has been approached by the bankers appointed by SunEdison for sale of its Indian assets and the Group is still analysing the offer, people in know of the developments said.

Adani Group has asked the bankers to inform it on whether SunEdison is also putting on the block solar power projects that it has, they added.

When contacted, an Adani Group spokesperson declined to comment on market speculation.

Calls and email sent to SunEdison media representative did not elicit any response.

Sources said the debt-heavy SunEdison is looking at selling some of its assets in India to pare debt.

The firm is reported to have a debt of around USD 12 billion. It has also delayed the filing of its 2015 annual report in the US.

In February, SunEdison said it has built more than 470 MW of renewable energy in India so far, while it has commissioned 146 MW of solar power projects in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The firm has plans to develop more than 1,500 MW solar and wind energy plants over the next 18 months.

In November last year, SunEdison won a bid to sell solar power from a 500 megawatt plant in Andhra Pradesh under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission at Rs 4.63 per kilowatt-hour (kwh or unit).

The world's biggest developer of renewable energy power plants had bid at Rs 4.63 per unit. It had offered a tariff lower than SoftBank Group Corp of Japan and Chinese solar product maker Trina Solar Ltd in the auction.

Interestingly during the Vibrant Gujarat Summit last year, Adani Enterprises and SunEdison decided to establish a JV to invest about Rs 25,000 crore for setting up a solar park in the state and to build India's largest vertically integrated solar photovoltaic manufacturing facility.

However, the project is still to take off.
A notorious Afghan warlord who lives in hiding has dropped a key condition for ending his war of more than 40 years with Kabul, an associate said today.

According to Amin Karim, an official of the Hezb-i-Islami Party, the party's leader, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, is no longer demanding that all foreign troops leave Afghanistan.

Hekmatyar is designated a "global terrorist" by the United States and blacklisted by the United Nations. He is widely believed to live in Pakistan, though his supporters say he is in Afghanistan.

Last year, he briefly came out of the shadows to set his conditions for peace that included the withdrawal of foreign forces.

Karim told The Associated Press that for Hekmatyar, the "departure of foreign troops is not a condition, it is a goal," and added that the warlord's followers "have no conditions, we have principles."



The move by Hekmatyar, whose current following is hard to gauge, is likely as much an overture to the government of President Ashraf Ghani as it is an attempt to stay relevant on the Afghan political scene.

Hekmatyar has led an extreme life; his mujahedeen followers were responsible for the deaths of thousands during the devastating Afghan civil war. He is said to have offered himself as interlocutor to former President Hamid Karzai in 2008, but was deflected amid concerns over his extremist reputation and human rights abuses.

The last known attack carried out by his militant group was in 2013, when at least 15 people, including six American soldiers, were killed in central Kabul.

Ghani came to power in 2014 promising to end the 15-year war with the Taliban. A diplomatic offensive aimed at getting Pakistan to bring the Taliban into peace talks has so far failed, and this year is expected to be as brutal on the battlefield as 2015, when 11,000 civilians were killed or wounded, according to UN figures.

Afghan officials have said that a peace deal with Hekmatyar, a former prime minister of Afghanistan, could be useful in potentially convincing Taliban commanders on the battlefield to join the peace process.

Hekmatyar's move to drop the condition on foreign forces could also raise questions among Taliban leaders and commanders about their own goals. Like Hekmatyar and his followers, the Taliban have long said they are waging their insurgency to expel all foreign forces from Afghanistan.
has said Afghanistan was high on its agenda as the White House termed the military alliance as an effective partner in the war against terrorism in the south Asian country.

"Afghanistan is high on our agenda. Afghanistan is our biggest military operation ever," Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said yesterday after his meeting with US President Barack Obama.

Read more from our special coverage on "NATO" NATO is critical to security of United States: Barack Obama

"It shows the importance of unity in North America and Europe, because our military operation in Afghanistan is a direct response to the terrorist attack against the United States on 9/11. And European, Canadian soldiers have fought together with the American soldiers in Afghanistan for many, many years," he said.

"We had an excellent conversation about Afghanistan, in which obviously has been an extraordinary partner with the United States," Obama said.

"The coalition there continues to focus on assisting the government and the Afghan national security forces, building up capacity, pushing back against the Taliban, and helping Afghans to provide security for their own country and, hopefully, being able to arrive at some sort of political settlement that would end decades of conflict and violence there," Obama said.

"We are grateful for the sacrifices that NATO countries have made -- their men and women fought alongside US troops. They have fought together and they have died together," Obama said.

The White House said NATO has been an effective partner of the US in the war against terrorism in Afghanistan.

"We welcome the valuable contribution that NATO has made to our efforts in Afghanistan. Much of the progress that we have made in Afghanistan would not have been possible without the significant contributions that NATO has made to that effort," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said.

"It is that effective partnership that allowed the United States to succeed in decimating core Al Qaida, that previously operated with virtual impunity in the Afghanistan and Pakistan region. And we've made enormous progress in helping the Afghan government begin to assume much more control for the security situation in their own country," he added.

"The United States and our military personnel in Afghanistan are going to continue to focus on their two missions, which are counter terrorism and training Afghan security forces," Earnest said.
Air India aims to provide point-to-point connectivity to African and Scandinavian regions, where it currently does not operate, besides enhancing services on existing routes, as part of its aggressive network expansion plan.

In the immediate future, the government-run airline will launch services to Washington, DC from the national capital, Air India Chairman and Managing Director Ashwanai Lohani said, adding, the national carrier is also looking at taking its services to African and Scandinavian countries.

Air India plans to expand further in the US, where it already operates in four places -- New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and Newark, Lohani said.

"We will soon launch a flight service to Washington DC from New Delhi," he said.

In the last four months alone, Air India has added two international destinations --San Francisco and Vienna in its network.

It is all set to launch five-times-a-week services to the Austrian city Vienna from here from tomorrow. In Europe, the airline currently flies to seven cities including London, Paris, Milan and Franfurt.

"In the next couple of years, we will be expanding our international network in a big way. Very soon we are looking at connecting the fifth US destination with Delhi with a non-stop service to Washington, DC. (Then) We have Madrid, Barcelona, Copenhagen and Stockholm, which we are looking at as well," Air India Director (Commercial), Pankaj Srivastava said.

The airline currently operates to 35 international destinations across the US, Europe, Australia, Far East and South East Asia and the Gulf.

A senior Air India official had last month said that the airline was planning to expand its Boeing wide-body feet in view of the proposed international route expansion.

"The choice of these four destinations is predominantly because there is till now no direct connectivity between Spain and India. Also, there are no direct connections at present to Scandinavian countries. So, this gives us opportunity to tap these bright spots," Srivastava said.

He said Air India teams are doing the necessary viability study in this regard, adding, "hopefully we should be able to mount flights to these European destinations going forward.

According to Srivastana, Air India is also looking at



reviving its flying operations to Kenya and Tanzania, which it had discontinued some years back.

"We are looking at connecting some of the points in African continents. We used to operate to Nairobi and Dar es Salaam from Mumbai, which we discontinued a few years ago. With the capacity (aircraft) coming in, we should be able to connect these two cities in the region," he said.

Besides, the airline is also in talks with the South African authorities for possible operations to Durban, the airline official said.

Along with this, the services to Sydney and Melbourne have picked up very well and "we are looking at increasing the frequencies to both cities to five each from the current four and three times week respectively," he said.

The frequency of the San Francisco flight, which was launched in December last year, will also be increased to five times a day, Srivastava added.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister today again skipped Prime Minister Narendra Modi's event at this town adjoining the national capital, apparently owing to the so-called 'Noida jinx'.

Yadav skipping the Stand Up India event is the second instance of his avoiding going to Noida in three months time.

Modi at a gala event at Sector-62 of Noida township launched the 'Stand up India' scheme under which banks will give loans between Rs 10 lakh to Rs 1 crore to SC/ST and women entrepreneurs.

While Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik was present at the event, Yadav was absent. His government was represented by a state cabinet minister.

Earlier on December 31, 2015, Akhilesh had not attended Modi's programme to lay the foundation of Delhi-Meerut Expressway.

Noida jinx, as per political circles, has in the past caught up with several chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh, including Veer Bahadur Singh, Narayan Dutt Tiwari, Kalyan Singh and Mayawati, who lost their chairs soon after visiting Noida.

The jinx started in 1988 when former chief minister Vir Bahadur Singh lost power within days of visiting Noida that year.

Later in 1997, Mayawati lost power after visiting Noida.

Earlier, in 1989, N D Tiwari and 10 years later, in 1999, Kalyan Singh suffered the same fate.

In 1995, Mulayam was out of power within months of his Noida visit.

The last one was Mayawati, who lost power in 2012 assembly elections after she flew down to Noida in October 2011 to inaugurate the Dalit Prerna Sthal.

In August 2012, Akhilesh inaugurated the Yamuna Expressway from Lucknow and avoided travelling to Noida. The following year, he inaugurated infrastructure projects in Gautam Buddh Nagar without visiting the city.

In 2001, the then UP CM Rajnath Singh inaugurated the DND flyway from Delhi, but did not visit Noida.
Algeria's army has killed four armed Islamists in El-Oued, the defence ministry said, meaning almost a dozen have been killed in the lawless desert region in the past two weeks.

Four Kalashnikov automatic weapons, grenades and ammunition were also seized during the military-led operation in the Bir El Kasira area, near the Tunisian border, the ministry said on its website yesterday.

The deaths bring the number of "terrorists" -- what the government calls Islamists who launched an insurgency in the early 1990s -- killed in the Algerian Sahara region over the past two weeks to 11.

Last year the Algerian army killed or arrested 157 "terrorists," according to figures from the ministry of defence.

A brutal civil war in the 1990s between the government and Islamists claimed the lives of some 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.
Hitting out at Congress president Sonia Gandhi for "asking" Prime Minister Narendra Modi "to give an account" of his two-year-old government, BJP president Amit Shah today reminded her that election in Assam is being held for its Assembly and not Lok Sabha.

"Sonia Gandhi came in Assam for election campaigning and asked Narendra Modi to give an account of the last two years of his government. Soniaji, this is not Lok Sabha election but Assam's Assembly election," Shah said at an election rally in Assam ahead of the second and last phase of polling on April 11.

"When we come to Assam in 2019 (for Lok Sabha polls), we will give an account of all the work we have done and you don't have to ask us," he said.

"People of Assam gave you 15 years and sent a prime minister (Manmohan Singh) from here for 10 years. Sonia madam, people of Assam are instead asking you to give an account," the BJP chief said.

Expressing confidence that yesterday's large voter turnout in the first phase of polling in Assam pointed to the ouster of Congress from the state, Shah appealed to voters of the the second phase to give their mandate to BJP-AGP combine for bringing in change in the state and a "corruption-free government."



"Who will you (Congress) support now? Do you want support from Badruddin Ajmal to be chief minister of Assam," he asked referring to AIUDF president.

"Congress cannot stop him (Badruddin). Only BJP can. We are ready to sit in opposition for 50 years but not form government here with his support as it will be an insult to the people of Assam," Shah asserted.

Claiming that BJP can change Assam's future to make it the country's most developed state, he asked the people to "throw away the old (Congress) government and establish BJP-AGP government here."



Continuing his attack on Congress, he alleged that Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and Ajmal fight publicly "but they can be seen uniting together at night in Guwahati."



Raking up the issue of infiltration of Bangladeshis in Assam, the BJP president claimed that Congress has left the border open and allowed them to enter using them as vote bank.

"These migrants then snatch away the jobs of the youth of Assam. If Tarun Gogoi or Congress wanted, they could have stopped infiltration in the last 50 years of their rule.

"Modi government is in the Centre. Make Sarbananda Sonowal chief minister here and no Bangladeshi infiltrator can enter Assam," Shah assured.

Shah said the Prime Minister wants the youth of Assam to do as well as the youth outside the state and be trained in IT.

Claiming that development has taken place wherever BJP has formed the government, Shah charged Congress with doing nothing in the last 15 years in Assam.

"In the last 50 years, Congress has indulged in corruption and Assam's development has been arrested. Crores of rupees come from Delhi. Where is that money? It can be found in Congress peoples' house in your villages," he claimed.

Shah also charged Congress government here with failing to submit project completion certificates utilising central funds, as, he alleged, the money went into "Congress pockets".
An Amtrak passenger train was going 106 miles per hour in a 110 mph zone when it struck a backhoe sitting on the same track, killing the backhoe operator and a track supervisor, federal and local officials have said.

The engineer applied the emergency brakes five seconds before impact, the National Transportation Safety Board said late Monday. No one on board was killed, although more than 30 passengers were injured.

Videos showed construction equipment on the track and a contractor's equipment on an adjacent track before the crash Sunday morning, NTSB investigator Ryan Frigo said.

He could not comment on who was authorized to be there, but said work crews were scheduled to be interviewed on Tuesday.

"There is a large amount of data to be looked at," Frigo added.

Amtrak issued a statement Monday night saying it was "deeply saddened" by the deaths of the two workers and the injuries suffered by passengers. It said it was working with the NTSB to "identify the issues that led to this incident."



Amtrak trains on the Northeast Corridor resumed regular service on Monday.

The train was heading from New York to Savannah, Georgia, at about 8 AM Sunday when it hit a piece of equipment in Chester, about 15 miles outside of Philadelphia. The impact derailed the lead engine of the train, which was carrying more than 300 passengers and seven crew members. The injuries were not considered life-threatening.

The Delaware County Medical Examiner's Office identified the victims as backhoe operator Joseph Carter Jr., 61, of Wilmington, Delaware, and Peter Adamovich, 59, of Lincoln University, Pennsylvania. They died of blunt force trauma.

The union representing Carter said a total of three workers have now been killed on the job on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor since March 1. And that raises questions about worker safety, the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees said.

Amtrak introduced a set of new safety protocols effective March 15. It says violations are handled with zero tolerance, and some cases lead to immediate dismissal.

Rail safety workers said track workers are supposed to double-check their assignments with dispatchers to be sure they are not working on or around an active track.
Vice President Hamid Ansari today paid tributes to freedom fighter Babu Jagjivam Ram on his 109th birth anniversary.

Ansari along with Minister of State, Social Justice and Empowerment Vijay Sampla paid floral tributes to Jagjivan Ram at his samadhi known as Samtha Sthal.

A prominent Dalit leader, Babu Jagjivan Ram was a freedom fighter and national leader who fought for the upliftment of the downtrodden. His birth anniversary is celebrated as 'Samta Diwas' in the country.

He was a cabinet minister for 35 years and held several key portfolios, bringing about path-breaking reforms.

As Food and Agriculture Minister, he is credited with the Green Revolution, and as Defence Minister he led India to victory in the historic 1971 war against Pakistan which saw the birth of Bangladesh.
Azerbaijan and Armenian separatists in Nagorny Karabakh today announced a ceasefire after four days of bloodshed, as international powers scrambled to end the worst violence in decades over the disputed region.

The two sides said they had agreed to halt fighting from 0800 GMT after clashes since Friday left at least 73 people dead, but Armenia's defence ministry claimed there was still "sporadic shooting" going on.

Key regional powerbroker Russian President Vladimir Putin called the leaders of ex-Soviet Armenia and Azerbaijan after the ceasefire agreement and told them to "ensure" an end to the violence.

"Putin called on both sides to urgently ensure a complete cessation of military hostilities and respect for the ceasefire," the Kremlin said in a statement after Putin spoke to the two presidents separately by telephone.

On a visit to a hospital to meet wounded soldiers, Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev said the conflict could still be resolved peacefully if Armenia's leadership "behaves sincerely at the negotiating table".

The so-called Minsk Group of the US, French, and Russian ambassadors to the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which has long mediated Karabakh peace talks, also urged both sides to respect the truce after a meeting in Vienna.

The Minsk Group co-chairs "stressed that it is important to return to the political process on the basis of a sustainable ceasefire," a statement said.

In a flurry of diplomacy the mediators are heading to the region to shuttle between the two warring sides, while Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev is set to travel to Yerevan and Baku in the coming days.

Russia's foreign ministry also said that the top diplomats from Russia, Iran and Azerbaijan will focus on the conflict when they meet for planned talks in Baku on Wednesday, RIA Novosti reported.

On the ground, an AFP photographer in the frontline Azeri town of Terter said that both sides appeared to have stopped shelling today afternoon after a night of sporadic artillery fire across the front.

At the Karabakh army checkpoint near the Iranian border, shelling halted as well around midday, another AFP photographer said.
Azerbaijan's defence ministry said it has agreed on a cease-fire in the separatist Nagorno-Karabakh region starting noon local time today, after the heaviest fighting in the disputed region since 1994.

The ministry said in a statement today that the operations of Azerbaijani and Karabakh troops "have been stopped."



An Associated Press reporter in the front-line area of Azerbaijan heard shelling this morning but there was no sound of fighting in the early afternoon.

Earlier, the Azeri government said 16 Azerbaijani troops and one civilian were killed in the past two days of fighting against separatists in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Fighting in what had been a dormant conflict erupted over the weekend with each side blaming the other for the escalation and using heavy weaponry.

The outbreak of hostilities is the worst since a war that ended in 1994 and left Nagorno-Karabakh - officially a part of Azerbaijan - under the control of local ethnic Armenian forces and the Armenian military. Armenian forces also occupy several areas outside Karabakh proper.

The conflict is fueled by long-simmering tensions between Christian Armenians and mostly Muslim Azeris. Armenia, although supporting the separatists, insists that its army does not engage in the fighting.

Azerbaijan's defence ministry said Karabakh militia had continued to shell its positions Monday night.

In Terter, an Azerbaijan front-line town over 300 kilometres west of the capital Baku, artillery salvos were heard late yesterday.

"We're used to fighting but I can hardly remember such intense shelling as in the past days," Malahat Novruzova, a 50-year old local resident, told The Associated Press.

The region's chief, Mustagim Mammodov, said Tuesday that a 16-year-old girl was killed in shelling in the village of Hasangaya, south-west of Terter, a third civilian victim since the fighting broke out.

The numbers of casualties claimed by both sides have varied greatly since the fighting erupted since Saturday, with both Azerbaijan and Karabakh reporting dozens if not hundreds of troops killed on the other side.

Gapanli, a village south of Terter, has been one of the hardest hit. Houses bear the marks of the recent shelling; metal doors are riddled with shrapnel, power lines are cut down, craters are seen in the yards.
Amnesty International India's Human Rights Education programme has joined hands with NGO Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti to implement 'Bal Cabinet' programme in 1,372 schools in four blocks of Betul and Sehore districts of Madhya Pradesh as a pilot project.

"The Bal Cabinets or children's parliaments will seek to promote human rights values and principles of equality, dignity, inclusion, non-discrimination and participation among students and other key stakeholders.

"It is the first step towards building a collective conscience in schools," Somya Dimri, Programme Coordinator at Amnesty International India's Human Rights Education Programme said in a release.

The programme will eventually cover over 3,00,000 students by June 2016.

"It is important to build a culture of respect, dignity, and civic responsibility at an early age, and this programme provides an opportunity for experiential learning for children, thereby encouraging better democratic participation," said Asha Mishra of BGVS.
Bangladesh's beleaguered former prime minister Khaleda Zia today surrendered before a court here which granted her bail for allegedly instigating a deadly petrol bomb attack on a bus during an anti-government protest last year.

"She has secured bail against the arrest warrant surrendering before the court," an official of the metropolitan sessions judge's court told reporters.

Hundreds of Bangladesh Nationalist Party's (BNP) supporters and leaders surrounded the Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court complex in old Dhaka while police in riot gears kept a sharp vigil as Zia appeared in the court, electronic media footages showed.

The development came six days after the court issued an arrest warrant against the 70-year-old Zia and 37 others in connection with instigating a deadly petrol bomb attack on a bus during an anti-government protest last year.

Zia was spearheading a violent nationwide campaign to topple Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's ruling Awami League government.

Judge Kamrul Hossain Mollah last week issued the arrest warrant, asking police to execute the order and submit the compliance report by April 27.

Mollah, after accepting the charges against 38 people, including the 28, ordered Zia's arrest in connection with the arson attack in Jatrabari area here in January last year when her party spearheaded a violent nationwide campaign to topple Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League government.

"Khaleda will surrender before the Court of Metropolitan Sessions Judge on April 5," Sanaullah Mia, one of her lawyers, had told reporters on Sunday.

Zia was charged by police with masterminding the arson attack on the bus that left one person dead and 30 others injured, nine critically.

The incident was one of many bomb attacks that Bangladesh witnessed in the three months since early January last year when the BNP-led 20-party alliance started an indefinite blockade.

The arrest order was another blow to the embattled two- time former premier, who has described previous cases, including corruption-related, against her as politically motivated and aimed at keeping her out of the country's politics.
Bangladesh's beleaguered former prime minister Khaleda Zia today surrendered before separate courts and got bail in five cases, including the one in which she is accused of instigating a deadly petrol bomb attack on a bus during anti-government protests last year.

The five cases in which she secured bail are -- Jatrabari arson attack and killing case, Gatco graft case, a case filed over a crude bomb attack on a procession led by Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan and a sedition case.

The 70-year-old Bangladesh Nationalist Party's (BNP) chief was also exempted from personal appearance in the cases filed over Jatrabari arson attack and the crude bomb attack on Khan's procession.

Her motorcade reached court premises around 10:30 AM after which Zia appeared before five separate courts.

She first surrendered to the court of Metropolitan Sessions Judge in the case initiated under the Special Powers Act over the bus attack.

The development came six days after the court issued an arrest warrant against Zia and 37 others in connection with instigating a deadly petrol bomb attack on a bus during an anti-government protests last year.

Zia's counsels petitioned for bail, which the court accepted.

She then turned to the court of Dhaka's Special Judge in the Gatco graft case filed by the Anti Corruption Commission and pleaded for bail.

Zia had moved the High Court challenging the legality of the case. But her plea was turned down and she was asked to surrender to the trial court. The court granted bail upon a Taka 100,000 bond.

The former prime minister then went to the court of Dhaka's Chief Metropolitan Magistrate and petitioned for bail in three cases.

The court of Metropolitan Magistrate Rashed Talukder granted bail in the case over a man's death in the Jatrabarhi firebombing.

After surrendering in the case over bomb attacks on a rally led by Khan, the former prime minister was given bail by Metropolitan Magistrate Kaisarul Alam.

The last court appearance Khaleda made was over the sedition charges for her remarks over 1971 martyrs. Awami League leader and Supreme Court lawyer Momtaz Uddin Ahmed Mehedi had filed the case, after which the court summoned her.

The court of Metropolitan Magistrate Jakir Hossain Tipu accepted the BNP chief's bail petition.

Hundreds of BNP supporters and leaders surrounded the Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court complex in old Dhaka as police in riot gear kept a sharp vigil while Zia was in court.

The arson attack case against Zia is from the time when she was spearheading a violent nationwide campaign to topple Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's ruling Awami League government.

Zia was charged by police with masterminding the arson attack on the bus that left one person dead and 30 others injured, nine critically.
Opposition BJP today demanded a vigilance probe into the alleged irregularities in the payment of Rs nine crore to a company which it said failed to prepare the 'Bihar Vision document 2025' even after the lapse of seven months.

Prior to the announcement of Bihar assembly polls, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had launched 'Badh Chala Bihar' campaign last year according to which 'Bihar@2025 vision document' was to be prepared on the basis of feedback received from the people of the state.

"We want a vigilance probe into the payment of Rs nine crore to the company which failed to prepare the 'Bihar Vision document 2025' even after the lapse of seven months. The government should also make public the places (villages) where interactive meetings were held for receiving feedback for preparing the vision document," former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi told reporters on the sidelines of his weekly 'Janata Darbar' here.

For preparation of the document, inputs were to be taken from the people of 40,000 villages of the state, Modi claimed, adding, "Out of that, meetings could not be held even in 5,000 villages or places."



But the government made the payment of Rs nine crore at the rate of Rs 2,833 per meeting for the purpose, said Modi, the BJP leader in the upper House of Bihar Legislature.

"Fake meetings were held, fake bills were passed by putting pressure on Information and Public Relations Department (IPR&D) officials," he said, adding all payments were made to the company by August 31, 2015 without getting the Vision document prepared.

Modi, who also held finance portfolio for eight years during NDA regime, questioned the government's decision to award the contract (of collecting inputs for vision document) to the company which was not only registered barely two months ago under Society Registration Act with a capital of Rs one lakh but is also run by persons associated with Prashant Kishore, the poll strategist of the CM during the last Bihar assembly elections.
In light of the killing of an NIA officer in Bijnor and inmates setting afire a prison barrack in Varanasi, BJP today hit out at Uttar Pradesh Police and accused it of working as a cadre of the ruling Samajwadi Party.

"When will the police administration, which is working as cadre of ruling SP, wake up and realise its responsibilities," BJP spokesman Vijay Bahadur Pathak said.

He claimed that police came into action in the killing of National Intelligence Agency (NIA) officer Tanzil Ahmad only after Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav intervened in the matter.

"Incidents took place in Varanasi jail, but the top officers did not bother to act. When will the state's administrative apparatus become sensitive on these incidents," Pathak asked in a statement.

He alleged that police officers get postings on senior designations because of political connections but fail to execute their responsibilities.

He said Akhilesh had appealed to officers during IAS and IPS weeks to work so that his party could remain in power.
Hitting back at Congress over its digs at the government over black money and Panama Papers leak issues, BJP today said it should ask its chief Sonia Gandhi about illicit money as she find "all the money inside" the almirah when she "opens" it.

"Congress leaders keep asking us every evening where is our Rs 15 lakh? Let me answer them. This is like the story of kidnappers who after abduction come back to see what police is doing so that they can change their tactic.

"Congress is the kidnapper who has abducted India's future, money, development and prosperity. And every evening it asks us where is our money, development and prosperity... Don't ask us, ask respected Sonia ji. If the almirah is opened, then all the money is inside," party spokesperson Sambit Patra said.

BJP MPs made statements saying they have no black money but Congress members, including Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, did not, he told a press conference.

BJP congratulates the Modi government for ordering a multi-agency probe into Panama Paper leaks, Patra said.

He, however, declined to respond to Congress' criticism of the government over Pakistani media reports quoting JIT sources that the Pathankot terror attack was a drama staged by India.

"A government spokesperson can answer it as I was not privy to details," he said.

The BJP leader, however, quoted Indian media reports which had said that NIA's probe details had rendered visiting JIT officials speechless as a counter-point.

He also hailed the 'Stand Up India' project launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi today and used it to take a dig at the UPA government.

"There used to be a government which would give to those who did not deserve it. It would give bad loans causing NPA. 'Stand Up India' opens the coffers for the SC, ST and women. These are the people who will take the country forward," he said.

Patra made a sharp retort over Congress attack on Modi over a CAG report which said Gujarat PSUs incurred losses of hundreds of crores.

The opposition party should come out of Gujarat as its repeated questions on Gujarat drove it to such a state while people reposed their trust in Modi again and again.

The CAG report covers the time when Modi was the state chief minister.
Brazil's attorney general has blasted impeachment proceedings against President Dilma Rousseff as illegal, calling them no more than an attempted coup motivated by a thirst for vengeance by foes of the unpopular leader.

In an impassioned defense before the lower house of Congress' impeachment committee yesterday, Jose Eduardo Cardozo said Brazilian law allows impeachment only under very limited circumstances when a chief of state commits a serious crime. That, he said, is not the case for Rousseff, who is facing impeachment proceedings for violating fiscal laws to mask a budget gap.

The impeachment drama comes as Brazil's is struggling with the worst recession in decades, a sprawling corruption investigation centered around the state-run Petrobras oil company, an outbreak of the Zika virus and preparations to host the Aug. 5-21 Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro.

Cardozo alleged the proceedings against Rousseff were akin to "tearing up the constitution." The whole process is "absolutely unfounded," he said.

He suggested the push to oust Rousseff, who was narrowly re-elected to a second term in late 2014, was retaliation by the president's foes, particularly lower house Speaker Eduardo Cunha. The main force behind impeachment, Cunha is facing money-laundering charges in connection with the Petrobras probe and could be stripped of his seat over allegations he lied to a congressional committee.

"His excellency, Speaker Eduardo Cunha, used his power to launch his vengeance and retaliation" against Rousseff because she refused to pledge the support her left-leaning Workers' Party in the ethics' committee proceedings against him, Cardozo said. "In opening the impeachment, Speaker Eduardo Cunha wasn't aiming to carry out the constitution." The lower house is to vote on the matter by the middle of the month.

Rousseff needs to secure 172 out of 513 votes to halt the proceedings. If she fails a possibility looking increasingly likely after Brazil's largest party pulled out of her governing coalition last week the impeachment process will move forward in the Senate.
British Prime Minister David Cameron came under intense pressure today over the Panama Papers leak that said his late father ran an offshore fund which avoided paying tax in Britain for 30 years, but kept mum if some ofhis family's money is still held offshore.

A major leak of tax documents - come to be known as the Panama Papers - have claimed that Cameron's late father Ian ran an offshore fund which avoided paying tax in Britain by hiring Bahamanian residents.

Ian Cameron's name is allegedly in the over 11 million leaked documents from the Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca that were passed to German newspaper 'Suddeutsche Zeitung' and shared by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists with 107 media organisations.

According to the Consortium, Ian Cameron used Mossack Fonseca's services to shield profits from his investment fund, Blairmore Holdings Inc, with a series of expensive and complicated arrangements.

Ian Cameron, who died in 2010, was a director of Blairmore, an investment fund run from the Bahamas but named after the family's ancestral home in Aberdeenshire.

The fund reportedly managed tens of millions of pounds for the wealthy.

The fund, which was established in the 1980s, continues today and "has never paid a penny of tax in the UK on its profits" in 30 years, according to 'The Guardian.'



Blairmore Holdings was incorporated in Panama but based in the Bahamas, where the fund retained up to 50 Caribbean officers each year.

"Their job was to sign paperwork and fill roles such as treasurer and secretary. They included the late Solomon Humes, a lay bishop with the non-denominational Church of God of Prophecy. He acted in various roles including vice-president over a number of years from the mid-1990s," the newspaper said.

The Prime Minister's official spokesman declined to comment on whether any of Cameron's family money was still invested in the offshore fund, saying: "That is a private matter."



Meanwhile, UK Opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn has called on Cameron to take tougher action against tax havens, imposing "direct rule" on its overseas territories and dependencies if they do not comply with UK tax law.

(Reopens FGN 20)



"If the local government is simply going to condone this level of... Tax avoidance and tax evasion of money that has been made in Britain... Then that's (direct rule) something that has to be considered. There has to be an observance of UK tax law in those places," he told the BBC.

"If they've become a place for systemic evasion and short-changing of the public in this country then something has to be done about it. Either those governments comply or a next step has to be taken," he added.

The broad qualification for being a tax haven is to have a low or zero rate of income tax, which offers the rich to escape paying tax owed in their own countries.

It is estimated that UK tax authorities could be losing up to 7.2 billion pounds a year from avoidance and evasion with the use of these so-called tax havens.
Betting big on India, Global hospitality major Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group is planning to set up 16 more hotels across the country by the end of next year.

At present, Carlson Rezidor has 76 operational hotels in the country spanning from the midscale to upper upscale segments.

"We expect to open 16 hotels at a minimum by end of 2017 as part of our expansion plans in India," Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group President Asia Pacific Thorsten Kirschke told PTI.

India is most the important market and by far the biggest market for us in the Asia Pacific, he added.

"Going forward the company will see increased development pace in India for the Park Inn by Radisson and Country Inn and Suites brands," Kirschke said.

This would be mainly because the company sees stronger increase for these two brands in the secondary and tertiary markets across India, which are the next target markets. The company is already present in almost all state capitals in the country, he said.

The price point of "our midscale brands is probably the best match for investors, developers alike and on the other hand disposable income of emerging and growing middle class", Kirschke said.

Though the company will further cement its leadership position in the state capitals the focus will clearly be on the tier-II and tier-III cities as engines of growth, he added.

The upcoming 16 hotels will be in locations such as Mumbai, Bengaluru, Srinagar, Coimbatore, Pune, Kota, Delhi NCR, Chandigarh and Jammu among others.

The company will also be launching its Radisson Red hotel next year in Mohali, Kirschke said.

"India is primarily a domestic travel market, increase in household income and emerging middle class will naturally lead to increase in domestic travel and rise in demand for affordable accommodation as entire economy of India is becoming stronger", he added.

When asked the business model the company will follow in India, Kirschke said: "It will be mainly the management contract model. We follow the asset light model."



Carlson Rezidor's current portfolio includes more than 1,400 hotels in operation and under development with a footprint spanning over 115 countries and territories.

It owns global brands such as Quorvus Collection, Radisson Blu, Radisson, Radisson Red, Park Plaza, Park Inn by Radisson and Country Inns & Suites by Carlson.
The Centre today came out with new solid waste management rules which make it mandatory for manufacturers of sanitary napkins and diapers to provide separate pouches along with the product for its proper disposal.

The Environment Ministry's Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, has an expanded ambit and extends beyond municipal corporations and includes railway stations, industrial townships, airports, ports, defence establishments, places of pilgrimage.

Under the new rules, local bodies can charge a certain fee from generators for proper management of such waste while provisions have been included for spot fine for littering at public places.

This is the sixth category of waste management rules brought out by the ministry, as it has earlier notified plastic, e-waste, biomedical, hazardous and construction and demolition waste management rules.

"The last such rules were framed in 2000 and for 16 years there was no review. At present, 620 lakh tonnes of solid waste is generated every year. Out of that, only 70 per cent or 430 lakh tonnes is collected of which only 30 per cent, or 120 lakh tonnes, gets treated. The rest of it goes into the dumps.

"This is dangerous and also gives rise to health hazards. The way the population is increasing, it is projected that by 2030, the solid waste generated will be 165 million tonnes and by 2050, it is expected to increase to 437 million tonnes. So, this is the time to ensure proper management of solid waste," Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar told reporters here.

Terming it a "serious" problem, Javadekar said there are at present only 553 compost plants, 56 bio-methanisation plants, 22 plants which generate fuel from such wastes and 13 plants which produce electricity through it.

Citing a complaint of ragpickers that they face health hazards while picking diapers and sanitary napkins, the minister said, "Manufacturers or brand owners or marketing companies of sanitary napkins and diapers should explore the possibility of using all recyclable materials in their products or provide a pouch or wrapper for disposal of each napkin or diaper along with the packet of their sanitary products.

"All such manufacturers, brand owners or marketing companies should educate the masses about wrapping and disposing of their products.

"Burning of solid wastes and biomass is a crime now and



will be dealt with severely under the Environment Protection Act," Javadekar said.

All residents' welfare and market associations and gated communities with an area of above 5,000sq.M will have to segregate waste at source into material like plastic, tin, glass, paper and others and hand over recyclable material either to authorised waste-pickers and recyclers or to the urban local body.

The rules also have provisions for the integration of ragpickers and waste dealers (kabadiwalas) into the formal system through facilitation by state governments.

"The rules will have provisions for bringing them into the formal sector and they will be provided with registration, health facilities and education," the minister said.

The new rules will cover outgrowths of urban agglomerations, census towns, notified industrial townships, areas under the control of the railways, airports, airbases, ports and harbours, defence establishments, special economic zones, state and central government organisations, places of pilgrimage or religious and historical importance.

"Earlier, its jurisdiction was over 4,041 such areas. Now, it will also include 981 villages under various gram panchayats, apart from railways, ports etc.

"In these rules, we have identified these areas as separate solid waste management entities. We have increased the ambit. Earlier, only 15 crore people were under the ambit of these rules. Now, 45 crore will come under it," Javadekar said.

All waste generators will have to segregate and store the waste generated by them under three separate categories -- bio-degradable, non bio-degradable and domestic hazardous waste -- in suitable bins before handing it over to authorised ragpickers or waste collectors.

Municipal authorities will levy user fees for collection, disposal and processing from bulk generators. The amount will be decided by the local civic bodies.

"No person should throw, burn or bury solid waste generated by him on streets, open public spaces, outside his premises or in drains or water bodies. The generator would have to pay 'User Fee' to waste collectors and 'Spot Fine' for littering and non-segregation," the new rules state.
With Beijing scuttling India's latest bid to have JeM chief Masood Azhar designated as a terrorist by the UN, Union minister V K Singh has warned that the day is not far when China would have to pay a heavy price once it gets hit by Pakistan-backed terrorism.

"The friendship between China and Pakistan appears to be very strong but the day is not far when China too gets affected by Pakistan-backed terrorism," Singh, who is here to take part in a function at the Gorakhnath temple, told reporters last night.

"When such a situation arises, China will have to pay a heavy price," the Minister of State for External Affairs said, adding, "Pakistan has an important place in Chinese diplomacy...China's intervention in that case must be seen in this context."



After the attack on the IAF base at Pathankot on January 2, India in February had written to the United Nations calling for immediate action to list Azhar under the Al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee.

India's submission was considered by the Counter- Terrorism Executive Directorate (CTED) for technical aspects of the evidence provided. The technical team then with the support of the US, the UK and France had sent it to all the members. However, hours before the deadline, China requested the Committee to put a hold on the issue of banning the Jaish-e-Mohammed chief.

Chinese Permanent Representative to the UN Liu Jieyi said Azhar does not qualify to be nailed as a "terrorist" to face UN sanctions as his case "did not meet" the Security Council's requirements.

China, one of the five permanent members of the UN with veto powers, has claimed that its decision is based on facts and rules.

To a question on BJP-PDP alliance in Jammu and Kashmir being termed as opportunistic, Singh asked whether it was right when PDP had entered into an alliance with Congress in the past.

"The senior leaders of both the parties have taken this decision after a lot of deliberation...Such things are important in democracy," Singh said.
Actress Charlize Theron is in early talks to collaborate with her "Young Adult" team, director Jason Reitman and writer Diablo Cody for a film on motherhood.

Cody has written a new script and Reitman wants to direct it, said The Hollywood Reporter.

The project has no title and has no financing at this stage. That would quickly change if commitments firm up from all three sides.

Prior to "Young Adult" (2011), the screenwriter and the director had worked together on the 2007 Ellen Page-starrer "Juno".
China today imposed restrictions on imports of North Korean coal and iron, Beijing's commerce ministry said, in line with United Nations sanctions on the country following its nuclear and missile tests.

The coal trade between the neighbours was worth USD 1 billion last year, Chinese Customs figures show, but the announcement allowed for trade to continue if the proceeds were for livelihood purposes.

The move also put in place bans on the import of gold, titanium and rare earth metals from the North, as well as some sales of aviation fuel to it, in line with the UN Security Council measures.

The council approved the measures in March, in the wake of a fourth atomic test by Pyongyang, and Beijing pledged strictly to implement them.

But the resolution's language -- concluded after seven weeks of hard negotiations between Washington and Beijing -- left significant loopholes for Pyongyang's key economic supporter to continue business as usual.

China is the North's main provider of trade and aid and the text allowed for commerce in certain goods, including coal and iron, to carry on as long as the proceeds did not support Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions.

The UN did not set criteria for making that determination, leaving each country to make its own decision.

The exceptions were mirrored in the text of the statement by China's commerce ministry, which also provided a letter for companies to sign "solemnly" pledging that their imports of the products were "not related to North Korea's nuclear programme or ballistic missile programme".

Aviation fuel sales could also be permitted for humanitarian and some civil aviation purposes.

Trade with China is crucial for the isolated and impoverished North, which has suffered regular food shortages and an outright famine in the mid-1990s.

In 2014 China accounted for more than 90 percent of North Korea's USD 7.61 billion in total trade, according to the latest available figures from South Korea's state-run Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency.

Washington has long held that changing North Korea's behaviour depends on China's willingness to use its economic leverage.

But Beijing has resisted targeting Pyongyang's fragile economy for fear of provoking the regime's collapse, potentially leading to a flood of cross-border refugees and ultimately the prospect of US troops stationed on its border in a reunified Korea.

That stance has become harder and harder to maintain, as Pyongyang has continued to defy both the international community and Beijing's efforts to restrain it.
China's former military chief Gen Guo Boxiong, who has been charged with taking USD 2.3 million worth of bribes, has confessed accepting the inducements, military prosecutors said today.

Guo, 74, was for a decade one of the two vice chairmen of Central Military Commission (CMC), the highest commanding authority of2.3-million strong People's Liberation Army, and second only to the Chinese president in the top body.

He retired in 2012 and was expelled from the ruling Communist Party last year.

He is the second highest ranking military official to face trial.

Earlier, Gen Xu Caihou, the former Vice Chairman of CMC, was stripped of all ranks and faced trial. But he died of cancer last year.

A statement from the military procuratorate said prosecutors have finished the investigation into Guo's alleged graft case and started the procedure to prosecute him, state-run Xinhua agency reported.

Guo was found to have taken the advantage of his position to assist the promotion and relocation of other people, accepting an extremely huge amount of bribe personally and through his family, the statement said.

He has been charged with taking bribes to the tune of 80 million yuan (about USD 2.3 million), the South China Morning Post reported yesterday.

Guo "confessed to his suspected crime of bribery", Xinhua quoted an official of the military procuratorate as saying.

He read and signed each interrogation transcript, the official said, adding his legal rights had been "earnestly guaranteed".

Guo had earlier been put under corruption investigation and was in July expelled from the CPC.

More than 40 top Generals are facing anti-corruption probes in the unprecedented anti-graft campaign launched by President Xi Jinping, who headed the CMC.

Thousands of officials including high ranking leaders were indicted in Xi's anti-corruption campaign which also drew criticism that it enabled him to consolidate his hold on the power.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi today air dashed to Myanmar, becoming the first foreign dignitary to meet Aung San Suu Kyi as she assumed greater role in the new pro-democracy government by becoming the foreign minister.

Wang said his government was eager to "build more confidence" between the nations and vowed that China would support Myanmar's process of national reconciliation.

"China is a good neighbour to Myanmar. We want to improve the relationship between the two countries," he said.

Wang is the first foreign country's minister to go to Myanmar after the new government took over power, state-run Xinhua agency reported as Beijingsought to move closer to the new government in a bid to shed its past proximity to the erstwhile military junta which ruled the country for several decades.

China warmed up to Suu Kyi last year when she visited Beijing and met top Chinese leaders including President Xi Jinping who expressed strong wish to strengthen ties with her.

China has become a major investor in Myanmar and a strategic partner of Myanmar during Junta's rule while the US and western powers boycotted the military regime in support of pro-democracy movement headed by Suu Kyi who was kept under prolonged detention.

With Wang's visit China expects to strengthen economic and trade cooperation with Myanmar, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Hong Lei told media briefing here today.

Suu Kyi was was appointed as Myanmar's foreign minister on March 30.
The controversy-hit USD 1.5 billion Colombo Port City Project funded by China will be accorded special status of a "financial and business district" with laws of its own, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe has said ahead of his fence-mending visit here.

"The Port City will become a special financial and business district of Sri Lanka which will have its own laws. Of course the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka must have the final say," Wickramasinghe told China's state-run Xinhua agency ahead of his four-day visit from tomorrow.

He said a separate financial and legal system will operate in the Port City "where people can come and transact business internationally."



The ambitious project to be built on 583 acres of reclaimed land has raised concerns in India over its proximity to the Indian coast. It is Sri Lanka's biggest foreign investment project.

The project, suspended by President Maithripala Sirisena in March last year over allegations of corruption and concerns over its impact on the environment, was recently cleared after amending the agreement reached during the tenure of Mahinda Rajapaksa, specially the clause relating to the ownership of the land by Chinese firms.

Wickramasinghe said that with China's 21st Century Maritime Silk Road initiative, Sri Lanka hopes to regain its status as the economic hub of the Indian Ocean region.

India has not yet endorsed the Maritime Silk Road proposal because of its strategic concerns over the Chinese domination in the Indian Ocean -- often regarded as India's backyard.

While Wickramasinghe during his election campaign had threatened to scrap the project over environmental threat to the coastal belt from Negombo to Beruwala in the island, his government later put it on hold to probe its controversial clauses including the ownership of the land by Chinese firm.

The proposed city is to be built between the Colombo South Port and the Galle Face Green -- an ocean-side urban park.

According to the project agreement, 20 hectares of land will be given to China Communication Construction Company (CCCC), which is building the project on outright basis.

Concerns have been raised over the deal since the company gets the land on a freehold basis in a high security zone.

Sirisena government had earlier said that land in a high security zone cannot be given to another country and the project needed to be completely reviewed.

(Reopens FGN 16)



Wickramasinghe said Sri Lanka is seeking to expand economic and trade ties with China and has invited more Chinese companies to invest in the island-nation.

He said he would be looking to set up a long-term economic and investment relationship with China.

"Today, China has become one of the leading economic powers of the world. China has made many investments in Sri Lanka and it has also given loans and grants," he said.

China-Lanka ties were on an upswing during Rajapaksa regime when Beijing committed about USD 7 billion for a host of projects, including the Hambantota port and the Colombo Port City projects. But the ties hit a low when Sirisena took over power in January last year.

Wickramasinghe said that the purpose of his visit is also to discuss a bilateral Free Trade Agreement.

"We like to have more emphasis on Chinese private investments into Sri Lanka and there are some other economic issues such as future loans that I hope to discuss," he said.

This is Wickramasinghe's first visit to China since coming to office in August last year. In 2015, President Sirisena visited Beijing, after visiting India.

Wickramasinghe's United National Party (UNP), defeated the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) led by Rajapaksa. The new government led by Sirisena has set a goal to turn Sri Lanka into South Asia's international economic hub.

Sri Lanka is discussing with China to set up a special economic zone in Hambantota with Chinese investments.

With Mattala Airport and Hambantota port in the area, Sri Lanka hopes to attract Chinese companies that have experience in operating airports and harbors, Wickramasinghe said.

"Once it is set, it will become a major economic zone as we plan to transform Hambantota into the second-largest economic area in Sri Lanka," he said.

In addition, China has also extended its cooperation with Sri Lanka in the government's western megapolis development plan and the integrated development plan in Pollonnaruwa in the North Central Province, he added.
Government sees a "possibility" of conclusion of free trade pacts with EU as well as EFTA, the four-member grouping that includes Switzerland, this year, Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said today.

"Yes, there is a possibility (of conclusion of FTAs with EU and EFTA this year) because in several issues they are guided by each other," Sitharaman told reporters here.

"If there is political will ... And there is a lot of give and take from both the sides the agreement can be reached. And therefore I am optimistic," said the minister.

Negotiations for the free trade agreement between India and EFTA, four-member grouping that includes Switzerland, is stuck on the issue of intellectual property regime (IPR). The European Free Trade Association is a grouping of Switzerland, Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein.

Data exclusivity provides protection to the technical data generated by innovator companies to prove the usefulness of their products.

In pharmaceutical sector, drug companies generate the data through expensive global clinical trials to prove the efficacy and safety of their new medicine. Switzerland has huge interest in this sector.

By gaining exclusive rights over this data, innovator companies can prevent their competitors from obtaining marketing licence for low-cost versions during the tenure of this exclusivity.

"On data security it was mentioned that whatever position Europe takes EFTA will also follow that .. They (EFTA) cannot take a different position from the EU. So if we are reaching an agreement stage with the European Union, largely the terms and conditions of those will be similar and compatible with the EFTA," Sitharaman said.

India and the four-nation bloc started negotiations for the free trade agreement (FTA) in 2007.

Last month, India and EU failed to made the much-awaited announcement on resumption of long stalled negotiations for a free trade agreement as many bottlenecks still remain.

During the 13th India-EU Summit, held after a gap of four years and attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and EU leaders, both the sides, however, welcomed the re-engagement of discussions for furthering the proposed pact.

It was widely expected that India and the 28-nation European Union (EU) would announce resumption of the talks, which have been held up since May 2013 as both the sides are yet to bridge substantial gaps on crucial issues, including data security status for the IT sector.

"These negotiations are an ongoing process. We have never given up on them," Sitharaman said.

Launched in June 2007, the negotiations for the proposed BTIA have witnessed many hurdles with both sides having major differences on crucial issues like intellectual property rights, duty cut in automobile and spirits, and liberal visa regime.

On the FTA with Australia, Sitharaman said the negotiations are moving "very close to a conclusion".
A policeman and a hardcore ULFA(I) militant were killed today in an encounter in Assam's Goalpara district, hours after a powerful blast at Dudhnoi, suspected to have been triggered by the outfit, claimed three lives.

Superintendent of Police Nitul Gogoi said in the wake of the blast at Dudhnoi, police stepped up vigil and received a tip-off about a group of ULFA (Independent) militants moving in Krishnai area of Goalpara district.

Officer in charge of Krishnai police station, along with commandos, surrounded a house at Jira where the ultras were holed up and cordoned off the area, Gogoi said.

One of the police commandos died when the insurgents opened fire and in the ensuing gunbattle, one of the militants was also killed, he said.

The remote control, which was suspected to have been used in Dudhnoi blast, was recovered from the slain ultra.

Three pistols, an AK rifle magazine, a grenade and several extortion notices were also recovered from the slain rebel.

The SP said last night's bomb blast that killed three persons and injured 20 others was not connected with the ongoing Assam Assembly elections as the militants took advantage of the forces moving out for deployment from the areas where first phase poll was held yesterday.

Director General of Police Mukesh Sahay told reporters in Goalpara, "There may be possiblility of violent incidents during the second phase of elections but we are prepared to tackle such attempts".
Special CBI court, which awarded life sentence to 47 Uttar Pradesh policemen in the 25-year-old fake encounter case in Pilibhit, has ordered payment of Rs 14 lakh to the family of each victim from the fines imposed on the convicts, according to a CBI release.

CBI Special Judge Lallu Singh, while pronouncing the quantum of punishment, imposed a fine of Rs 11 lakh to then SHO/SO, Rs 8 lakh to then SI and Rs.2.75 lakh to the constables who were sentenced in the case relating to fake encounter of 10 Sikhs during July, 1991, the release said.

From the fines collected from the convicts, the families of each victim will be paid the compensation.

CBI had registered three cases on Supreme Court orders after it was alleged that 10 suspected Punjab militants were shot dead by police in Pilibhit.

They were pilgrims and were intercepted by a police party led by Additional SP, Pilibhit near Kacchla Ghat on July 12, 1991 when they were travelling in a bus and were killed in the early morning in July 13, 1991 in three fake encounters, the CBI said.

The apex court had entrusted the investigation of these cases relating to the encounters to the Central Bureau of Investigation.

CBI took over the investigation of three cases which were earlier registered by local police at police stations Neoria, Bilsamla and Puranpur, all in Pilibhit district.

After thorough investigation, a charge sheet in all the three cases was filed against 57 accused persons under various sections of the IPC in the designated court. Ten accused had expired during trial and remaining 47 accused persons were facing trial.

The trial court yesterday held all the 47 accused persons guilty and convicted them. The court took custody of 20 accused persons and sent them to judicial custody and issued non-bailable warrants (NBWs) against 27 remaining accused persons who were absent in the court on April 1.
Food company Danone India will invest Rs 150 crore to expand its manufacturing facility at Lalru towm, about 35 km from here, in Punjab.

Elaborating on the plan, the company will set up a spray dryer unit at Lalru to manufacture global range of infant nutrition products, MD of Danone India Laurent Marcel in a statement today.

"India is a strategic market for us with immense potential in value added dairy, infant nutrition as well as medical nutrition. Over the last five years, Danone has made significant investments in India to develop an innovative and quality driven product portfolio," he said.

For Danone, 'Make in India' does not means to only manufacture in India, but to also innovate in India to develop best in class nutrition products tailored for the Indian market, the MD said.

In last 3 years, Danone has initiated a programme called 'Academilk' under which more than 5,000 farmers have been trained on milk quality, he said.

"New bulk milk coolers have been introduced to improve direct linkage with farmers in Punjab for procuring high quality milk.

"Apart from infrastructure support, continuous farmer education programmes are also carried out to ensure superior milk with better microbiological standards and control on antibiotics," the company said.

In India, Danone operates in dairy and Life nutrition segments. Danone Dairy has UHT and fresh dairy products such as mishtidoi, chaas, lassi, dahi, flavoured yoghurts and smoothies.

Danone's life nutrition business (Nutricia), offers products for pregnant mothers, infants, young children as well as adults, under brands like Farex, Protinex, Dexolac and Nusobee, company release said.
Fighting raged between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces in Nagorny Karabakh overnight ahead of talks yesterday aimed at quelling the disputed territory's worst violence in decades.

Azerbaijan's defence ministry said 16 its soldiers had been killed over the last two days.

The death toll from both sides since the clashes in the Caucasus erupted on Friday is at least 64, according to an AFP estimate based on official reports.

"Armenia continued firing at Azerbaijani army positions and civilian targets using large-calibre machineguns and 120-millimetre mortars," the ministry said in a statement as clashes entered a fourth day.

The rebel defence ministry in Karabakh said that "Azerbaijan continued its aggression throughout the night."



"It used (Russian-made) 'Smerch' heavy multiple rocket launcher system at the southern sector of the front," the ministry added.

Russia and the West have hurriedly called for an end to the fighting.

Mediators from Russia, the United States and France were to meet in Vienna on Tuesday under the auspices of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

Separatists backed by Yerevan seized control of mountainous Nagorny Karabakh, a majority ethnic Armenian region lying inside Azerbaijan, in an early 1990s war that claimed some 30,000 lives.

The sides have never signed a peace deal despite the 1994 ceasefire and sporadic violence on the line of contact regularly claims lives of soldiers on both sides, though the latest outbreak represents a serious escalation.

Energy-rich Azerbaijan, whose military spending exceeds Armenia's entire state budget, has repeatedly threatened to take back the breakaway region by force.
A day after taking over, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today said "decisive measures" would be required to end the scenario of "despair and trust-deficit" in the state and informed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had committed full support from the Centre.

"The Prime Minister called me this morning, immediately on his return from Saudi Arabia, reassuring me of full support from the Government of India in mitigating the sufferings of the people of Jammu and Kashmir," she told a gathering of people who had come to felicitate her.

Mehbooba said addressing the genuine political, economic and security concerns of the people of Jammu and Kashmir is an issue which goes beyond power politics and requires a decisive political will at various levels.

"We shall have to take decisive measures to end the scenario of despair and trust deficit," she said.

She said the PDP-BJP 'Agenda of Alliance' is not a pact between two political parties but an agenda of more than one billion people of the country to usher Jammu and Kashmir into an era of peace, stability and prosperity.

"Productive development and inclusive prosperity is possible only in an environment of peace and stability which necessitates that not only the people of Jammu and Kashmir but that of the whole country join this new enterprise of hope to pull the state out of the morass and resolutely address the challenges confronting it," she said.

She said her late father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and Modi had a shared vision for peace and prosperity of the state and the present government would work with fresh resolve towards implementing that vision so that the people of Jammu and Kashmir could reap the fruits of globalization and economic liberalization like their counterparts in other states of the country.

"When I met the Prime Minister in New Delhi recently, he told me that Mufti Sahab's vision is the only way to end the problems in and around Jammu and Kashmir," she said. She said the state government has the full support of the Prime Minister and his team.

She also asked the people of the state to see the



situation in Muslim countries around the world which have been affected by violence, and compared them with India where different people live together in peace.

"See the whole world, especially the Muslim countries, Iraq, Syria, Libya or Egypt or even our neighbour Pakistan where only the people of one religion live, but where have they reached. Today, you see that the maximum destruction caused by the gun is in Muslim countries," she said.

"India is such a big country where democracy thrives, where different people live together. This extraordinary Ganga-Jamuni civilization was what (her father and former chief minister) Mufti (Mohammad Sayeed) saw in Aligarh during his student days. And when he returned, he held only one flag in his hand and did not change his stance because he was satisfied. Today, you have got the evidence of his satisfaction," she said.

Later, Mehbooba travelled on the inaugural service of the new DEMU train from Anantnag to Baramulla and took the return service from Baramulla to Srinagar.

She said the service would benefit the people, especially government employees and students, and also demanded that special trains be started during peak tourist season.

"We will now try to increase the frequency of the train services, so that the traffic pressure on the roads is lessened," she said.
Upma Narang, wife of dentist Pankaj Narang who was brutally killed by a group of people, has requested Delhi government to get her 7-year-old son admitted to a private school as her family has decided to shift from Vikaspuri to Kirti Nagar.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has asked the Education Department to look into the request for admission in Sprindales Schools (Kirti Nagar) or any other good school in the vicinity for continuation of education Narang's son.

In a letter to Sisodia, who also holds education portfolio, Narang's wife has requested him to help in getting her son Aadit Narang admitted to Springdales School in Kirti Nagar and his help would go a long way in rehabilitating her family and allow continued education for her son.

"As you would know, my husband Dr Pankaj Narang was brutally murdered by a mob on the night of March 23, leaving behind me, my mother-in-law (72-year-old) and my 7-year-old son, Aadit Narang.

"The fateful incident has distressed us to the core. We are feeling very unsafe in our current home and have decided to move to Kirti Nagar inhabited by some our relatives. Henceforth, I need to get my child admitted to a school in Kirti Nagar," she said in the letter.

"After trauma, it is very difficult for my child also to trust unknown people. I will, therefore, need him to go to a nearby school where I can take the responsibility of dropping and picking him"



Sisodia said "it is the responsibility of the government to help her to get out of this fateful trauma and live her life in a peaceful manner, therefore, it is desired Education Department may look into the request for admission of her son either in Springdales School, Kirti Nagar or any other good school in the vicinity for continuation of his education."



Last month, 40-year-old Pankaj Narang was beaten to death by a group of around 12 persons following a dispute in west Delhi's Vikaspuri area. Police have apprehended 10 people including four juveniles in connection with the murder.
DJB, which is running a rebate scheme, has empanelled four water meter brands in the price range of Rs 1,300 to Rs 2,000 that need to be installed by the consumers for availing the discount.

The Delhi Jal Board's scheme on late payment surcharge and arrears of water charges after installation of prescribed brands of water meters will be operative upto July 31, a senior DJB official said.

Any defective or lost AMR (Automatic Meter Reader) would be replaced with AMR by the department only, the official said.
A team of Egyptian prosecutors and policemen is to fly to Rome tomorrow to submit their findings in the brutal murder of Italian student Giulio Regeni, the prosecution service said.

On March 25, Cairo announced police had killed four members of a criminal gang specialising in abducting foreigners, and that they had found Regeni's passport in the apartment of a sister of one of the slain suspects.

Rome has cast doubt so far on Cairo's explanation for Regeni's murder, with Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni tweeting "Italy insists: we want the truth."



The Italian media and Western diplomatic sources in Cairo suspect that elements from the Egyptian security services were behind the 28-year-old PhD student's murder.

Cairo has steadfastly denied its security forces were responsible for his death.

"A delegation of members from the general prosecution office and policemen involved in the investigation of the killing of Italian citizen Giulio Regeni will leave Cairo tomorrow, April 6," the Egyptian prosecution's office said.

The team led by deputy general prosecutor Mostafa Suleiman "will present the results of the investigation conducted by the Egyptian general prosecution in the case so far", it said in a statement.

The delegation was initially scheduled to head to Rome day, but the trip was delayed for undisclosed reasons.

Regeni disappeared in central Cairo on January 25, and his body was found nine days later on the side of a motorway, badly mutilated and showing signs of torture.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan today suggested that supporters of Kurdish rebels locked in conflict with government troops should be stripped of their Turkish citizenship.

"To prevent them from doing harm we must take all measures, including stripping supporters of the terrorist organisation of their citizenship," Erdogan said in a speech in Ankara, referring to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

"These people don't deserve to be our citizens. We are not obliged to carry anyone engaged in the betrayal of their state and their people."



Erdogan has refused to give any quarter to the PKK which has been blamed for a string of attacks in Turkey in recent weeks after the collapse last year of a truce in its decades-long fight for greater autonomy and rights for Kurds.

In March, Erdogan came under fire for calling for the definition of terrorism to be expanded to include journalists, activists and others who "exploit their positions, pens and titles and put them at terrorists' disposal."



But this was the first time he has proposed that supporters of the PKK be stripped of their nationality.

"Supporters (of terror) who pose as academics, spies who identify themselves as journalists, an activist disguised as a politician ... Are no different from the terrorists who throw bombs," Erdogan added today.

"But like a wolf in sheep's clothing, they serve the same purpose as the members of the terror organisation.

As a nation we need to be careful. No-one must commit treachery against the state and the nation behind our backs."



Erdogan has also pushed for lawmakers from a pro-Kurdish party to be stripped of their parliamentary immunity so they can be prosecuted for "terrorist propaganda".

As part of a growing crackdown on free speech, several Turkish lawyers, journalists and academics have been arrested for criticising the military's heavy-handed tactics in Kurdish-dominated towns and cities in the southeast.
The state broadcaster in Ethiopia says 28 people have been killed in severe flooding in two remote regions.

The Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation reported yesterday that 23 people were killed and 84 more people were injured when a river that crosses Jigjiga, the regional capital of the Somali region, burst its banks on Sunday.

It said intense rains in another drought-stricken region, Afar, led to floods in which five people were killed.

Ethiopian meteorology officials said thick clouds around the Indian Ocean could lead to more flooding in the coming days and the government is taking precautionary measures to assist people in the two affected regions.
Everstone Group today announced the appointment of Kuldip Kaura as Chairman and ex-Cargill Foods executive Aseem Soni as the new CEO of Modern Foods, which it had acquired from Hindustan Unilever.

The bread and bakery firm is aiming to quadruple its turnover to Rs 1,000 crore in the coming years under the new owners by foraying into new categories, providing more food options and extending its geographic coverage.

In other senior-level changes, Everest Group has also appointed ex-DGP of Maharashtra, P S Pasricha, as an independent director on board of Modern Foods.

Besides, two Everstone Managing Directors Rajev Shukla and Deep Mishra will also serve on Modern's board.

Announcing the strengthening of top management of Modern Foods, Everest Group said the appointments of Kaura and Soni are with immediate effect.

Everstone Co-Founder and Managing Partner Sameer Sain said Modern Foods will leverage on its brand equity, reach across India and history of over 50 years for future growth.

"The Everstone group will work with its management and board to make significant investments and deploy the group's operational expertise to unlock the brand's full potential as well as expand its portfolio and reach," he said.

On the future prospects, Soni said: "There are major opportunities to strengthen our geographic coverage, expand the portfolio and extend our iconic brand to adjacent and newer categories, both organically and via acquisitions."



He further said the aim is "to quadruple the turnover to Rs 1,000 crore in the coming years by providing high-quality, affordable, tasty, and healthy food options in bread, baked goods and possibly in new categories".

Established in 1965 by the government, Modern was the first branded bread in India. Its bread and bakery products are marketed through a network of nearly 50 manufacturing plants and over 75,000 outlets.

HUL, which had acquired Modern in 2000, had yesterday informed it has completed sale of its bread and bakery business under 'Modern' brand to Everstone group's Nimman Foods Pvt Ltd for an undisclosed sum.

Headquartered in Singapore, Everstone Group is a private equity and real estate investment firm with assets under management of USD 3.3 billion.
A gas explosion ripped through an apartment complex north of Rio de Janeiro early today, killing five people and injuring 13, firefighters said.

Civil defense officials said the explosion occurred at 5:00 am local time and may have resulted from a leak in a gas line.

Residents reportedly complained of a gas smell for more than a year.

Images on Globo television showed a blown manhole cover in the sidewalk outside the building, and shattered glass.

The injured were rushed to area hospitals.

The building where the explosion occurred is in Fazenda Botafogo, a complex of 86 apartment buildings housing some 17,000 people near a main access road leading to the center of Rio.

The state gas company CEG said it was too soon to say what caused the explosion.

"We are going to look into the complaints of residents, who said there have been odors of gas for more than a year," said Cristiane Delart, a CEG spokeswoman, told the G1 website.

Delart said company technicians had carried out inspections in response to the complaints but had found no problems.
Some foreigners were attacked and looted in Pushkar, prompting External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today to seek a detailed report in the case even as Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje assured her that strict action against the accused was being taken.

"Swaraj spoke to the Chief Minister of Rajasthan who has said that strict action is being taken against the accused. The bags of Spanish tourists have already been located," the MEA Spokesperson said.

According to SP Ajmer Nitin Deep Blaggan, two men who are from the US and the UK, and the women from Spain and Turkey had gone to Ajaypal Dham from Pushkar on two motorcycles yesterday when five-six unidentified men attacked them.

"Initially they followed and tried to tease them. When one the tourists objected, the accused hit him with a stone. They dragged one of the women and tore her clothes. The tourists managed to escape from the place and informed people who were known to them," he said.

They were rushed to a local hospital where the injured tourist was given treatment. He is under observation at a private hospital on Pushkar road, the SP said.

The MEA has also asked the Rajasthan government to provide all assistance to the foreign tourists.

A case against the unidentified assailants was registered late last night with Ganj police station under IPC sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (unlawful assembly guilty of offence), 307 (attempt to murder) 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 395 (dacoity).

Local taxi drivers and certain other people are being questioned, another police officer said.
Four foreigners were attacked and looted here by a group of six miscreants, five of whom were arrested and a minor accused was detained.

Two men, each from the US and the UK, and two women, each from Spain and Turkey, had gone to Ajaypal Dham from Pushkar on two motorcycles yesterday when six miscreants, including a minor, attacked them, Ajmer Superintendent of Police (SP) Nitindeep Blaggan said today.

The accused were traced and five of them were arrested today while the minor was detained, he said.

The belongings of the foreigners, which included two mobile phones, credit cards, a bag, were recovered from the possession of the accused, Blaggan said.

The accused -- Shahrukh, Narendra, Vikas, Karan alias Babu and Karan alias Kallu and one minor -- were drunk and attacked the tourists with an intention to rob them.

"Initially they followed and tried to tease them. When one the tourists objected, the accused hit him with a stone. They dragged one of the women and tore her clothes. The tourists managed to escape from the place and informed people who were known to them," the SP said.

They were rushed to a local hospital where the injured tourist was given treatment. He is under observation at a private hospital on Pushkar road, Blaggan said.

The assailants were arrested under IPC sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (unlawful assembly guilty of offence), 307 (attempt to murder) 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 395 (dacoity).
France will put Panama back on its list of countries that do not cooperate in efforts to track down tax dodgers, Finance Minister Michel Sapin said today in the wake of the Panama Papers revelations.

"France has decided to put Panama back on the list of uncooperative countries, with all the consequences that will have for those who have transactions" with the central American state, Sapin told parliament.

Panama "wanted to have us believe that it could respect major international principles," Sapin said. "That's how it managed to avoid being on the blacklist of tax havens."



France removed Panama from the list of Uncooperative States and Territories (ETNC) in 2012 after the two countries reached a bilateral accord on fighting tax evasion.

In December the finance ministry warned that it was "very attentive" to changes in France's relations with Panama, faulting a poor response to requests for information.

The so-called Panama Papers, a massive leak of secret offshore financial dealings implicating world leaders and celebrities, has prompted several countries to open investigations.

Panama figured on a list of 30 tax havens last June when the European Commission unveiled its plan to combat tax evasion by multi-nationals.
Union Minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar today inaugurated three mega textile projects in Nagaland.

These three projects included Apparel and Garment Making Centre in Dimapur, Muga P3 Basic Seed Station Kobulong in Mokokchung district and newly approved Integrated Eri Silk Development Project under North East Textile Promotion Scheme (NERTPS).

The Union Minister of State for Textiles formally launched the three mega projects at District Industries Centre Complex in Dimapur district in the presence of Nagaland Chief Minister T R Zeliang.

The Apparel and Garment Making Centre for Nagaland was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 1, 2014 during his maiden visit to the state for inauguration of Hornbill Festival.

Informing that the Apparel Centre will be functional in a record one-year time, Gangwar dedicated the centre to the people of Nagaland.

Describing handloom as a deep rooted tradition in Nagaland, he said the unique designs and motifs are expressions of the rich cultural heritage of the Naga people.

The Minister asserted that the Centre would support sericulture projects in Nagaland covering eri, muga and mulberry seri projects.

He said the newly approved Integrated Eri Silk Development Project under NERTPS will aid in women empowerment and sustainable livelihood for Kohima district.

Gangwar said the project will benefit more than 5,000 cultivators engaged in plantation of these three varieties of silk.

Nagaland Chief Minister T R Zeliang in his address said



the inauguration of the 3 units would help in imparting skilling the Naga youths to become professional entrepreneurs.

Informing that the Apparel and Garment Making Centre Dimapur was the first such centre in the entire North East region, Zeliang expressed confidence that it would go a long way in exploiting the talents of North East people thereby converting them into economic assets.

He further hoped that these centres would help in launching the ground for many successful entrepreneurs who would help in uplifting the economy of the region.

Zeliang thanked the Ministry for sanctioning the project for establishment of Muga P3 basic seed station and Integrated Eri Silk Development project besides the Apparel and Garment Making Centre, stating that it has taken Nagaland on the front page of the region.
Though the common man expressed happiness as the country's first semi-high speed train Gatiman Express reached here from New Delhi in record time, a section of the local tourism industry, some hoteliers and travel agents, demonstrated lack of enthusiasm.

"We really see no gain from yet another premier train as it will leave Agra in the evening. The tourists won't prefer to spend the night in Agra but return the same evening," said Rajiv Tiwari, president of Federation of Travel Associations of India.

Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu flagged off the train from Hazarat Nizammuddin railway station in Delhi.

The train will ply six days a week. According to the schedule, it will start its journey from Nizamuddin at 8.10 AM to reach Agra at 9.50 AM. In the return, it will depart from Agra at 5.50 PM to reach Nizamuddin at 7.30 PM.

"All three trains the Taj Express, the Shatabdi, and now the Gatiman arrive in the morning and leave in the evening. So why would any tourist stay back?" Tiwari asked.

He wondered if the government does not want tourists to visit other monuments likeFatehpur Sikri or the Etmauddaula.

"Most tourists are now focused on the Taj Mahal and the Fort," he said.

Rakesh Chauhan, president of the Agra Hotels and Restaurants Association, alleged it's another "conspiracy" of the Delhi-lobby of the hoteliers and travel agents.

"They don't want an international airport in Agra, they don't want tourists to stay overnight here. The trains' timings are scheduled in such a manner the tourists prefer to return the same day. With so many attractions in Agra, how can a tourist see them all in a single day? The railways should review the schedule," he said.

Hoteliers told PTI that an afternoon train would be the best option as many tourists want to return after the noon check out time in the hotels. "At least one train should come in the evening from Delhi," Chauhan demanded.

Hoteliers point out to other options before tourists.

"Many options are now available. Once the inner city ring road opens a journey via the Yamuna Expressway to the tourist complex would be glitch-free. Work on six-laning of the national highway via Mathura is fast progressing and will save lots of time for the tourists," said Raj Kumar of Alleviate hotel.
Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar has said that the state will not bow to any political pressure over the diversion of Mhadei river water by neighbouring Karnataka.

"Let Karnataka do whatever it wants. We are not bothered. Goa will not fall for any political pressure," Parsekar said, reacting to the statement by his counterpart in Karnataka government that they will seek intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Mhadei river diversion issue.

Karnataka has began work on dams on Mhadei river on its borders which has been opposed by Goa, located downstream.

"Political parties in Goa are united on the issue. Time and again we have made our stand clear that we will not allow diversion of the water," Parsekar said.

When asked whether Goa government will also meet PM on the issue, Parsekar said, "We will not follow what Karnataka is doing."



"Let them do whatever they want to," he said.

Goa government has been objecting to Karnataka's plans to divert the water from Mhadei basin to Malprabha by constructing dams.

During the recently-held Assembly session, the Goa Chief Minister had also expressed resentment over the Centre's move to transfer the dispute over Mhadei river to Inter-State River Water Dispute Tribunal from the existing Mhadei Water Dispute Tribunal.
One of the injured in the powerful bomb blast near BJP office at Dudhnoi in lower Assam's Goalpara district succumbed to his wounds at a Guwahati Hospital, raising the death toll to three.

The man who was shifted to the Gauhati Medical College Hospital after suffering wounds in the explosion, died today, a senior police officer said.

Two persons, including All Assam Bengali Yubo Chatra Federation's Goalpara district President Bapan Saha, were killed and 21 others, including four police men, were injured in the blast triggered by suspected ULFA(I) activists near a temporary BJP election office.

The bomb was suspected to have been kept in a bag on the footpath near the BJP office, adjacent to Dudhnoi traffic police point.

Meanwhile, ULFA (Independent) has denied its involvement in the blast claiming "it was trigerred by those political parties who apprehended the large voter turnout would go against their pre-poll calculations".

The segment would go to the hustings in the second phase of assembly polling on April 11.

The polling time was incident-free in the state yesterday with a record of over 80 per cent voter turnout in the first phase of polling in 65 of the 126 Assembly segments.

Goalpara Election district is among the 61 constituencies going to the hustings in the second phase on April 11.
Internet giant Google has removed a propaganda app created by Taliban militants over hate speech concerns.

The App called "Pashto Afghan - Alemara," that was initially accepted on the Play store, reportedly featured videos and statements from the group's main website.

The app, which allowed users to access the group's Pashto website, is part of a growing digital campaign by the Taliban to grow its audience.

"We don't allow apps that advocate against groups of people based on their race or ethnic origin, religion, disability, gender, age, nationality, veteran status, sexual orientation, or gender identity," a Google spokesperson said.

The company removed an app created by the Taliban from its Play Store on Saturday. The app was reportedly published to Google Play on April 1, 2016, a spokesperson said.

A spokesperson for Google confirmed the app had been removed but, in a statement provided media, declined to comment further on the app in question.

While we don't comment on specific apps, we can confirm that our policies are designed to provide a great experience for users and developers. That's why we remove apps from Google Play that violate those policies, it said.

Google's developer policy for the Play Store prohibits apps that promote hate speech, violence and illegal activities.

The app's existence was first reported by SITE, an organisation that tracks the online activity of terrorist organisations.

A Taliban spokesperson confirmed that the app, written in the Pashto language, was created by the organisation. It reportedly contained videos and other messages from group.

Google implemented a review process for Android developers last year, requiring that apps go through an approval process prior to making their way to the Play Store.

Though the review process relies on a team of human editors, not just algorithms, apps are typically approved within a few hours (compared with Apple's App Store, which can take several days or weeks), so it is possible that some apps may still slip through the cracks.

This is far from the first time Google has removed an app for violating its policies. The company removed two apps that simulated bombing Gaza in 2014. And last year the company removed several apps with Confederate flag imagery.
Taking forward Prime Minister Narendra Modi's suggestion, the government is moving towards evolving a broad consensus on the proposal of holding simultaneous elections to Parliament and Assemblies.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said if the proposal is implemented, it will help reduce expenditure and diversion of energies.

The public is in favour of this and so are political leaders but it can done only by broad consensus among political parties, he contended.

Naidu also said that 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' slogan is not compulsory and has not been imposed on anyone through any government order, but it is an emotive issue and sensibilities of all should be taken care.

"People want and I also personally strongly feel that Parliament and Assembly elections should be held on the same day. Within that one week, local body elections including cooperative elections should be held. All elections should be completed within a fortnight so that there is time and focus and attention on developmental issues...

"Let the debate go on. The Standing Committee on Law and Justice also made a strong recommendation in favour of the simultaneous elections. I am for simultaneous elections. The government also is in favour of simultaneous election. But at the same time, you cannot force it without evolving a broad consensus," Naidu said at an interaction with journalists at Indian Women's Press Corps.

Asked if the government was taking this suggestion forward by convening an all-party meeting soon, he said, "Let us see. It is there on the agenda of the government."



Naidu stated that the Prime Minister has also said that this has to be taken forward by talking to political parties and "we are trying to evolve a broad consensus. It cannot be done by a simple legislation".

He said it is a suggestion for action and government is not merely completing a formality but will do complete work by doing proper homework on the issue.

Asked about his views on Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on the 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' slogan, Naidu said, "It is his opinion and I am not in agreement with him."



"Has the government issued any circular saying that those who don't say 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' should leave the country?," he asked.

On RSS general secretary Bhayyaji Joshi's remarks on the slogan, he said, "people have strong views. It is positive. I also feel that there is nothing wrong. Bhagat Singh had also said in jail 'Bharat Mataj ki Jai' and 'Vande Mataram'. That's inspiration. People may have some views...It is their choice. In a democracy, people say so many things...My line is very clear these are views not authorised by the government.

(REOPENS DEL16)



Congress leader P Chidmabaram had also reportedly said it was up to the government to give proof of the surgical strikes in which seven terror launch pads in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir were destroyed by the Army.

Also, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had on Monday released a video message "saluting" Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the surgical strikes across the LoC and urging him to "unmask" Pakistan's propaganda.

Pakistan has denied that the Indian Army conducted surgical strikes against terrorist units on its side of the border on the intervening night of September 28 and 29.
The government is mulling to introduce a bill to effect 50 per cent reservation for women in the panchayati raj institutions, Union minister Chaudhary Birender Singh said.

Speaking at a gathering in Baroda village here yesterday, the Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister said if the bill is passed, 50 per cent of the seats in PRIs across the country would be reserved for women.

He said the central government has devised a plan as per which funds would be released to panchayats depending on the population of village under them.

Each village would be released Rs 465 per person, he said.

Singh also sought sensitising the people towards judicious use of water saying if Third World War ever happens it could be because of lack of water.
To improve air connectivity, Union Minister Arun Jaitley today said the government plans to develop 25 regional airports.

"This year I have set a target of having 25 more regional airports," Jaitley said.

Speaking at a conference here, the finance minister also emphasised the need for having long-term funding for infrastructure.

He said the government is looking to develop 15 airstrips owned by the state governments and 10 that are with the Airports Authority of India (AAI).

There are around 160 airstrips that are lying unused, he said while talking about the steps taken by the government for infrastructure development in the country.

According to the minister, AAI would be able to fund itself from the money coming from Delhi and Mumbai airports.

The international airports in the national capital and Mumbai are run through public private partnerships, where AAI is a stakeholder.

Further, Jaitley said the operation and management of some developed airports could be given to private players.

The government has been working on ways to bolster aviation sector, especially increasing regional connectivity amid rising number of air passengers.

In the draft civil aviation policy, which is in the advanced stages of finalisation, various measures have been mooted for boosting regional air connectivity.

The conference on 'Fulfilling India's Potential: How Capital Markets Can Meet Financing Needs' is organised by IFC along with NSE, IIF and Exim Bank.
Aiming to increase polling percentage in the May 16 assembly polls in Kerala, Suchitwa Mission in collaboration with Pathnamthitta district Administration today launched 'green election message stickers'.

This is part of the Systematic Voters' Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) programme of District Collector, Harikishore.

Green election sticker bearing messages like 'Avoid plastics and disposables in this election, Save the nature! Change for Tomorrow, Be a part of Green Election,'Vote is your right, Please use it, Come vote and get prizes, will go on all the gas cylinders for the next one-and-a-half month in the district, a press release said.

The district Suchitwa Mission will be printing at least one lakh such stickers to reach out to a larger voter database.

Dr Biju, ace film director, inaugurated the official launch of the stickers today at a gas agency at nearby Adoor. The administration has several activities as part of the SVEEP program to enhance public engagement in this polling season.

It has launched green messages with slogans -' Vote is your right, make use of it', 'Come vote and get prizes' in Kerala State Electricity Bills (KSEB), Kerala Water Authority (KWA), and in Hotel bills also.

Suchitwa Mission is the state nodal agency for sanitation, constituted under local self government with the vision of creating - a waste-free Kerala with unpolluted environment public hygiene and cleanliness.
Kerala High Court today permitted demolition of portion of a building in Thiruvananthapuram, owned by Biju Ramesh, Kerala Bar Hotel Owners Working President in Thiruvananthapuram, which is standing on the superjacent area of a public canal.

Allowing the appeal filed by the state, a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Ashok Bhushan and Justice A M Shaffique said the action taken by the Thiruvananthapuram district administration to demolish parts of the structure, standing on the superjacent area of a public canal, was in accordance with law.

The Court set aside the judgement of single judge directing to take recourse to Land Acquisition Act and Land Conservation Act.

Earlier, the District Managament Authority, exercising the powers under Disaster Management Act, directed partial demolition of the construction to carry out renovation and repair work of the canal.

The High Court said the Authority is not asking the petitioner to demolish the entire building or they intend to take possession of the structure.

The court has directed to demolish parts of the building while ensuring that there was only minimum damage to the building standing.
The Madras High Court today suspended the life sentence awarded to six men by a lower court in a case related to the murder of a PMK worker during clashes in Marakkanam town in Villupuram district in 2013.

A bench comprising justices M Jaichandren and S Nagamuthu suspended the sentence when appeals filed by the six challenging the order of a court in Tindivanam came up for hearing.

Additional District and Sessions Judge P Selva Muthukumari had on February 3 held the six guilty and convicted them for offences including murder, possession of deadly weapons and rioting and awarded life imprisonment.

The matter relates to clashes that broke out in the coastal town of Marakkanam in Villupuram district between PMK cadres on their way to attend an annual festival organised by the youth wing of Vanniyar Sangam, the parent body of PMK, and members of another community on June 24, 2013.

Several buses and other vehicles were damaged and set afire in the clashes during which one Selvaraj of PMK was found murdered at Kazhikuppam bus stand.

Police had arrested the six persons in connection with the murder.
Israeli tax authorities said today they were searching the mass of leaked documents known as the Panama Papers, after media reports said 600 Israeli companies and two major banks were included.

A spokeswoman from the tax authorities said the information from the leak "strengthens our campaign, launched last year, aimed at convincing Israelis who have not declared their fortune abroad to do so without facing penalties."



She stressed that new legislation which seeks to reduce tax evasion had also been passed, with those found guilty facing up to 10 years in prison.

The Israeli Ministry of Finance did not comment on the Panama Papers revelations.

According to Israeli media, the names of 600 Israeli companies, including two of the three major Israeli banks -- Bank Leumi and Bank Hapoalim -- were contained in the documents.

Some 850 shareholders were also named as holders of accounts in the tax haven.

Among those said to be named in the documents were Israeli businessman Idan Ofer and a former aide to ex-prime minister Ariel Sharon, Dov Weisglass, Israeli media reported without further details.

Israeli newspaper Haaretz noted that "as long as holdings in the companies and their revenues -- if any -- are reported as required to Israeli tax authorities, owning the company is not against the law."



The trove of 11 million Panama Papers documents was anonymously leaked to German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung and shared with more than 100 media groups by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).

The documents have shone light on financial and tax practices of customers across the globe, with more revelations expected over the coming weeks.
Having established itself among the leaders in the volume segment, Motor India is eyeing the top position in the premium vertical with plans to launch two models this year to achieve the target.

The company, which posted its best ever sales of 4.84 lakh units in the domestic market in 2015-16, aims to be the leading player in the Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh price bracket.

"Creta has become the highest selling product in the above Rs 10 lakh category in India. We have been well accepted and now we would like to have a leading position in the Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh price point," Motor India Ltd (HMIL) Senior Vice-President, Sales and Marketing, Rakesh Srivastava told PTI.

Read more from our special coverage on "HYUNDAI"

The company plans to introduce two new vehicles this fiscal in the segment to achieve the target.

"Besides Creta, which is there, we plan to launch Tuscon and one another model this year to have a leading position in the Rs 10-20 lakh segment," Srivastava said.

When asked by when the company would be able to topple the current leaders like Toyota Kirloskar Motor, that sells popular models like Innova and Fortuner in the segment, Srivastava said: "During this financial year itself."

For the financial year 2015-16, HMIL posted its highest ever sales of 4,84,324 units compared with 4,20,668 units in 2014-15, a rise of 15.1%.

Its market share is also at an all-time high of over 17% in the domestic passenger vehicle segment.

When asked about the sales outlook for the current fiscal, Srivastava said: "Indian auto industry is witnessing challenging times in terms of growth. I expect the industry to grow in the range of 5-7%. We would like to sell 5 lakh units in the domestic market during the fiscal."

The company would not be launching any "volume model" this year, he added.

"We would like to retain leadership position through sustained growth. Our performance during the year would be stronger than 2015-16," he added.

On sales network, Srivastava said the company was looking at a profitable growth for itself as well as its channel partners and is also laying a lot of effort in enhancing its reach in the rural areas.

The company has 445 dealerships and around 1,100 workshops across the country.

"We aim to close the current fiscal with 470 dealerships and 1,170 workshops. We don't want to go too fast as we want to grow profitably along with our channel partners," Srivastava said.

When asked about the capacity expansion at its Chennai facility, Srivastava said the company produced a total of 6.45 lakh units during the last fiscal and can manufacture up to 7.2 lakh units in the plant with the current set up.

On the company's exports during the fiscal, he added the fall could be attributed to challenging conditions in various markets like China, CIS region, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

The company on released a music video 'Drive mein Junoon', which features Arijit Singh, Clinton Cerejo and the Elite i20, as part of brand building exercise. The video would be available on Hyundai's YouTune channel.

Since its launch in July 2014, the company has sold close to two lakh units of Elite i20 in India.
Samajwadi Party supremo today charged CBI with bothering him a lot but said he came out clean and now he was a "CBI-certified honest" person.

"The person who progresses from poor section of the society has to face such (CBI probe) problems. All persons should keep their papers and accounts updated otherwise CBI will frighten them," he said.

Read more from our special coverage on "MULAYAM SINGH YADAV" SC asks Mulayam, Shivpal to file replies in relation to release of funds to college

Yadav was addressing a gathering at party office in Lucknow on occasion of Maharshri Kashyap Nishadraj Guha anniversary.

"CBI bothered me a lot. It searched my house and also of my relatives for disproportionate assets. Fields and cattle were also counted but they got nothing. In such scenario I can say that now I am CBI-certified honest," he said.

CBI had in 2013 cleared Yadav of charges that he misused his office as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh to accumulate vast amounts of wealth.

It had closed the case that began in 2007, ceding that there is "grossly insufficient evidence" against the chief of the Samajwadi Party.

Attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said his promise of giving Rs 15 lakh to every person after getting back black money stashed away in foreign banks and jobs to unemployed remained unfulfilled.

"Those who used to talk about chasing away Pakistanis are now shaking hands with them and Modi had invited their PM Nawaz Sharif for his oath taking ceremony," he said.

He claimed that when Modi was shaking hands with his Chinese counterpart, his army was sneaking into Indian territory and when he raised the matter in Lok Sabha a hue and cry was raised and they (Chinese) had to back track.

The SP supremo said that for including 17 backward castes in SC category, there was a need to hold a big conference in Delhi.
Iceland's prime minister today asked the president for permission to dissolve parliament as his government reeled from a political crisis over the so-called Panama Papers, but the president refused.

President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, who cut short a visit to the US to return to Reykjavik earlier today to deal with the crisis, told a televised press conference he wanted to consult the government's junior coalition member before making a decision.
Pakistan's National Security Adviser Lt Gen (retd) Nasir Khan Janjua today said India's increased military spending and growing arsenal of strategic weapons is a threat to his country as well as regional peace.

"Pakistan is a peace-loving country but its efforts to promote regional peace are hindered by Indian desire to acquire military and strategic weapons," he said addressing a conference here titled 'Pakistan's role in promoting global peace and security'.

Janjua claimed that India was adding to its tally of weapons, threatening regional stability which was vital for peace and security.

He was of the view that the two neighbouring countries are nuclear armed and cannot live in an environment of hostility towards each other, especially when both are fighting terror on their soil.

The NSA said his country would continue to make efforts for regional peace and urged India to join Pakistan for "investing" in peace.

He said both India and Pakistan were fighting terrorism and they need cooperation and not hostility. He said being nuclear state, both countries need cooperative relationship.

The NSA also lashed at what he termed India sharing the "anti-China policy" by the Western countries.

"Western powers desire better relations with India due to a shared anti-China policy despite the fact that a peaceful region and world is in Chinese interest and China has no ill will towards any of these countries," he said.

He also said Muslim countries like Afghanistan need to come out of wars.
With 50 per cent of its work force already based in India, French software major Capgemini today said it plans to make the country the epicentre of its execution and will focus on building capabilities around innovation, client experience and leadership.

"For me, India is the backbone of our group, it is what holds everything together. We are very close to having 50 per cent headcount from India. We have 90,000 employees here and the group employs 1,80,000. A few more days and then we will have 1,00,000," Capgemini chairman and chief executive Paul Hermelin told reporters here.

He attributed the iGate acquisition as the real reason behind the increased role India plays in the group.

"The iGate acquisition forced us to think of the role of India in the group. The group had 60,000 employees in India then, with iGate it became 85,000 and now we have added 5,000 organically," he said.

At a gross level, the company plans to hire around 35,000 people here this year, while the attrition rate at present is 15 per cent.

Capgemini launched a new campus at Airoli, Navi Mumbai which can seat 30,000. Built at an investment cost of Rs 1,800 crore, the campus is spread across 50 acres with a built-up area of 3 million sqft.

The first phase of the campus with a built-up area of 1 million sqft and a seating capacity of about 13,000 is operational, while the second phase is expected to be completed by early 2018, Hermelin said.

"We will leave Vikhroli campus, and will regroup people here. We will progress rapidly and will have 26,000 people (on the Airoli campus) and we aim to have 30,000 people which will make us the biggest in single location," he said.

He said Capgemini will create an innovation centre at Airoli which will form part of the network of applied innovation and exchange, launched at the end of last year.

The Capgemini group has 40 innovation centres, out of which nine are group innovation centres, and one of such centres will come up in Airoli," the chairman said.

On the integration of iGate, which Capgemini bought



last year for USD 4 billion, he said, "The financial markets want to see the integration by the end of the first half...I am sure to complete integration by the end of the year."



Explaining the delays facing the integration, Hermelin said the market wants the iGate clientele fully protected, which we have been able to do so far. The second issue is retention of key people. So far we haven't lost anybody and the third point would be demonstrating that we deliver the synergies.

"My view is the market will expect a clear demonstration at the end of July with the first half results and at the end of the year," he said.

The US-based iGate was an applications network and business process outsourcing specialist and drew almost 35 per cent of its income from the US and Canada, while Capgemini offers software services to infrastructure companies, healthcare providers, retailer and manufacturers.

Hermelin said iGate brought in volume in workforce and 277 new clients, which did not lead to overlapping of clients.

"iGate had focus on 280 clients, out of them Capgemini had only three. So there were 277 additional clients. The common client was GE and this is a big account for us. Together we are probably the largest provider to GE. They spend a total of USD 5 billion on IT and we sell USD 250 billion...So we haven't seen any danger in overlap," said Hermelin.
India has voiced disappointment over the UN's failure to adopt consensus guidelines on disarmament issues, saying this reflects the lack of political will among member states to invest in multilateral outcomes.

Permanent Representative of India to the Conference on Disarmament Geneva Ambassador D B Venkatesh Varma said India shares the "widespread" disappointment that the UN Disarmament Commission (UNDC) has not been able to adopt consensus guidelines since 1999.

"The current difficulties relate less to any inherent deficiencies in the machinery and more to the lack of political will of member states to invest in multilateral outcomes," Varma said here yesterday addressing a session on UN Disarmament Commission.

The Commission can play an important role in reducing tensions and building confidence provided member states start investing in the forum, he said adding that the Commission can do more to improve its functioning by undertaking focused and result oriented discussions on items on its agenda.

Varmaalso underscored the need to uphold "genuine" multilateralism to increase trust among nations to achieve complete elimination of nuclear weapons, calling for confidence building measures to be a step-by-step process that should evolve at a pace comfortable to all participating states.

"India attaches priority to global, non-discriminatory, verifiable nuclear disarmament and the complete elimination of nuclear weapons in a time bound manner," he said.

Varma said India believes there is a need to "uphold genuine multilateralism to increase trust and confidence among all States, both nuclear and non-nuclear, and to strengthen dialogue so as to close the gaps both on the constitution and expression of international will regarding the pursuit of negotiations leading to nuclear disarmament."



On the issue of practical Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) in the field of conventional weapons, Varma said confidence-building must be a "step-by-step process and should evolve at a pace comfortable to all participating states".

"CBMs should be adopted on the initiation and with the agreement of the States concerned," he added.

He quoted Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington last week in which the Indian leader had underlined that India remains committed to global nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.

Varma said India supports the "peaceful" uses of nuclear



energy, a part of its commitment to combat climate change, adding that nuclear security will be a continuing priority for India.

He outlined that India has supported the proposal put forward by Non Aligned Movement (NAM) for the Conference on Disarmament to commence negotiations on a Comprehensive Nuclear Weapons Convention.

"We have also called for a reaffirmation of the unequivocal commitment by all nuclear weapon States to the goal of complete elimination of nuclear weapons and an agreement on a step by step process underwritten by a universal commitment for the global elimination of nuclear weapons.

"India has also called for meaningful dialogue amongst all states possessing nuclear weapons to build trust and confidence and for reducing the salience of nuclear weapons in international affairs and security doctrines," he said.

Pakistan's envoy Maleeha Lodhi, without naming India or any other country the region, said in South Asia, real progress towards peace and prosperity was being impeded by "hegemonic efforts" that were often fanned and encouraged by powerful States to advance their own geopolitical objectives.

She added that there were continuing differences in approaches to pursuing an agreed disarmament agenda and new dangers on the global security horizon in areas including the hostile use of outer space, offensive cybercapabilities and the development and use of lethal autonomous weapon systems and armed drones.

She said Pakistan's nuclear policy was shaped by the evolving regional security dynamics.

Even though Pakistan neither wanted to engage in an arms race, it could not remain oblivious to the evolving regional security dynamics and arms build-up, which had obliged her country to take essential steps to maintain its security, she said.
A 45-year-old Indian-origin man, who worked as a talent agent, has been sentenced to up to six years in prison here for stealing more than USD 2 million from clients by falsely promising to book famous recording artists for events.

Yugeshwar Rajkumar of New Jersey, who had pleaded guilty last month in New York State Supreme Court to grand larceny and fraud charges, was also ordered to pay USD 1.7 million in restitution.

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said Rajkumar was a booking agent and stole more than USD 2 million from clients by falsely promising to book famous recording artists for events.

"The defendant took advantage of his reputation in the music industry to convince his victims to pay him tens of thousands of dollars to secure supposed performances by world-famous recording artists," Vance said.

Around 2008, Rajkumar falsely promised clients and event promoters that he would book popular recording artists for overseas concerts, including Akon and Chris Brown.

In exchange for the supposed booking, Rajkumar charged his clients between USD 45,000 and USD 300,000, and directed them to wire payments to bank accounts held by entities based in New York and controlled by him.

However, instead of using the money to book the promised artists, he made cash withdrawals and spent the money on rent, car payments, legal fees, and personal debts, Vance said.

In many cases, victims were forced to pay additional fees to secure performances by desired artists who were never booked by Rajkumar.
Indonesian authorities have blown up 23 foreign vessels that were captured for fishing illegally in the country's waters.

The boats, 13 from Vietnam and 10 from Malaysia, were blown up simultaneously today in seven ports from Tarakan in northern Kalimantan to Ranai in Aceh province.

Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Susi Pudjiastuti witnessed the destruction via live-streamed Internet video at her office in downtown Jakarta.

Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago nation, has taken a tough stance against illegal fishing since President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo took office in 2014.

Pudjiastuti has overseen the capture of about 200 illegal fishing boats from several countries after declaring a fishing moratorium for foreign vessels.

A total of 174 illegal fishing boats have been blown up since then.
A court in Coimbatore today sentenced an insurance agent of a public sector firm to two years rigorous imprisonment in a cheating case.

CBI's anti-corruption wing registered the case against New India Assurance Company's agent K Srinivasan on allegations that between January and March 2006, he misappropriated funds collected from various customers and issued fake and forged policy certificates, a CBI release said.

Coimbatore Chief Judicial Magistrate R Madhura Sekharan also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on Srinivasan under relevant sections of IPC, the release said.
Heavy resistance has slowed Iraqi forces today as they pushed toward the center of a town held by Islamic State militants in western Anbar province, commanders at the scene said.

Hundreds of roadside bombs, car bombs and heavy mortar fire slowed advancing Iraqi troops to a near halt today after entering the small town of Hit the previous day.

Hit - which lies along the Euphrates River in a valley in Anbar's sprawling desert - is strategically important as it sits along an IS supply line that links territory controlled by the extremist Sunni group in Iraq and in Syria.

Through the line, IS ferries fighters and supplies from Syria into Iraq.

Iraqi troops entered Hit yesterday, under cover of heavy airstrikes and a week after launching the operation to retake the town.

Their advance has been stalled as tens of thousands of civilians become trapped by the fighting.

A political crisis in Baghdad as well as poor weather conditions further slowed the push.

Iraqi commanders overseeing the operation said today that counterattacks and a shortage of engineering teams to clear roadside bombs slowed their advance.

"If we had more specialized engineers we wouldn't be in this situation," said the head of Iraq's counterterrorism forces, Gen. Abdel Ghani al-Asadi.

Gen. Husham al-Jabri said Iraqi counterterrorism forces were hit with a barrage of mortars and a string of suicide car bombings today morning as they pushed into Hit from the north.

He didn't give casualty figures.

"Our speed depends on the resistance we're facing," said al-Jabri, adding that they want to "keep our casualties in the lowest level."



At a makeshift base on Hit's southern edge, Iraqi troops at the front line could be heard saying over a handheld radio to commanders that the "mortars are coming down like rain."



While Iraq's elite counterterrorism forces are some of the country's most capable ground forces, they still depend heavily on US-led coalition air strikes to clear territory.

The head of Iraq's counterterrorism forces, Gen. Abdel Ghani al-Asadi, said he was not surprised by the tough resistance and slow progress.

"Every main road is rigged with explosives," al-Asadi said, explaining that the three small teams of engineers his troops have to clear the area just aren't enough to deal with the density of the bombs.
The Islamic State has claimed to have opened a 'police forensics department' with a pictorial report issued by the terror group showing equipment and its "detectives" solving a "burglary" at a pharmacy in Iraq.

The extremist group announced it had acquired microscopes and magnifying glasses and was in the process of recruiting forensics-minded foreign fighters, according to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), which monitors jihadi communications.

The terror group through a picture essay showed it has opened an "Islamic State Police Forensics Department" in al Furat Province, Iraq.

The photo gallery showed crime scene investigators collecting and analysing fingerprints. Also shown are various Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) gear such as a microscope and special lighted fingerprint analysis table.

Another shot is of a magnifying glass highlighting a dusted fingerprint at a burgled pharmacy and a technician comparing collected prints to a suspect's, the Washington Times reported.

Finally, in a bit of more propaganda, there is a picture of an agent handing reimbursement money to the pharmacy owner.

Steve Stalinsky, MEMRI's executive director, said the Islamic State is trying to show the world that towns in its so-called Muslim caliphate in Syria-Iraq function like modern municipalities.

"Previously ISIS has displayed its police vehicles, uniforms, stations, and more," Stalinsky was quoted as saying.

"The launch of its 'Islamic police forensics department' is only one part of the group's efforts to show the world that, like any other state, it has a modern and advanced police department, while at the same sending a direct message to its opponents, who it labels as 'spies', on the ground that it has the capability to come after anyone who goes against it," he said.

"ISIS has always called on and recruited experts with scientific backgrounds for various purposes and the 'Islamic police forensics department' is no exception," Stalinsky said.
A suspected ISIS recruit was detained at the Pune airport today as he was leaving the country and flying to Dubai for onward journey to Syria.

Officials identified the youth as Raoof Ahmed, a resident of Bhatkal in north Karnataka.

Security agencies have been keeping a strict vigil after his name cropped up during internet chats with members of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), which is being monitored by sleuths to look for possible followers of the terror group, active in parts of Syria and Iraq.

They said Ahmed was detained as the Union Home Ministry had issued a Look Out Circular against him sometime back.

At least 14 youths have been arrested early this year by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) as part of its probe on indoctrination of youths by the banned terror group.
Israel is protesting the UN's decision to ban panels on Jerusalem and Arab Israelis from an exhibition at the United Nations on various aspects of the country and the heritage of the Jewish people.

Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon initially protested that three panels with photos and text had been barred from the exhibition which opened yesterday on a first floor corridor at UN headquarters.

But the U.N. Decided at the last minute to allow a panel on Zionism to be included, which Danon welcomed as "a step in the right direction."



The ambassador demanded that the UN allow the panels on Jerusalem and Arab Israelis to be shown as well.

The exhibition is sponsored by the Israeli ambassador and the non-profit organization StandWithUs dedicated to informing the public about Israel.
Italy warned today it was prepared to take "immediate and proportional measures" against Egypt if it fails to come clean with all it knows about the torture and death of an Italian graduate student in Cairo.

Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni told the Senate the meetings this week in Rome between Italian and Egyptian prosecutors could be "decisive" to filling in gaps in the investigation of the death of Giulio Regeni.

The 28-year-old researcher was abducted on a Cairo street on January 25, when police were out in force as Egyptians marked the fifth anniversary of the uprising that ousted autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

Speculation mounted that Egypt's security forces were involved after Regeni's brutally tortured body was found nine days later.

Gentiloni repeated Italian criticism that Egyptian authorities hadn't provided full information to date, saying Italian prosecutors in particular wanted missing documentation concerning Regeni's cellphone use and the closed-circuit video footage of the Cairo area from where he was believed snatched. "If there isn't a change, the government is ready to react by adopting immediate and proportional measures," Gentiloni warned.

He said Italy wanted the truth, not convenient excuses.

In Cairo, Prosecutor General Nabil Sadek said the Egyptian delegation would depart for Italy tomorrow, led by his assistant, Judge Mustafa Suleiman.

The delegation is expected to also include another prosecutor and three security officers, the Italian agency ANSA said.

An Egyptian security official said there was a conflict between the security and judicial agencies on who would lead the team and what to present to the Italians.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the case, told The Associated Press that prosecutors were concerned that the security agencies had attempted to "keep information" and not present it to the Italian side.

Weeks after Regeni's body was found, Egyptian authorities linked the killing to a criminal gang, saying they found the Italian student's personal belongings in a suspect's home after a shootout that killed all the gang's members.

But Italian media immediately dismissed the claim. Regeni's parents said the Egyptian explanation rang hollow and even Egypt's top state newspaper criticized the "naive stories" being offered about the death and urged Egyptian authorities to deal seriously with the case.
Retired IPS officer Prakash Singh, heading a committee set up by Haryana government to inquire into the acts of "omission and commission" on the part of civil and police officers during the Jat quota agitation, today said lapses have been there which resulted in "large -scale violence".

"Violence took place on large scale, so naturally lapses have been there. We are trying to pin-point to what extent the officials were negligent," Singh told reporters here.

"We will soon complete the report," Singh said, adding after the report is fine-tuned, it will be submitted to the government.

It was up to the government to take action against those officials who were found erring in performing their duties, he said.

Replying to a question, Singh, who undertook a visit to the eight districts including the worst-hit areas of Rohtak, Jhajjar and Sonipat, said the committee received complaints like delay in arrival of fire brigades or the Deputy Commissioner of the district concerned not helping out the locals.

"The committee has eyewitness accounts, affidavits from many locals. We are going through district-wise details and trying to make the report accordingly," he said.

Meanwhile, Haryana's Agriculture Minister O P Dhankar said "definitely whosoever is found guilty when the report is out, government will take action against him/her".

Haryana government set up the Prakash Singh committee over a month ago.
Maulana Masood Azhar was allowed to preach extremist ideology at several British mosques during a month-long visit to UK in 1993 on the invitation of Islamist scholars when young Muslims were asked to seek weapons training at terrorist camps in Pakistan, it emerged today.

Senior representatives of the Deobandi sect, which controls nearly half of Britain's 1,600 mosques, hosted Azhar during the visit in which hundreds of young Muslims were urged to seek weapons training at terrorist camps in Pakistan, according to a BBC investigation.

One of India's most-wanted terrorists in relation to the attack on the Pathankot Air Force base, which claimed the lives of seven Indian soldiers in January this year, Azhar was chief organiser of the Pakistani jihadist group Harkat-ul Mujahideen in early 90s.

According to the report, during his UK tour - until now kept under wraps - Azhar delivered "sermons on jihad" to large audiences in London, Birmingham, Yorkshire and Lancashire and the message was of hatred for Christians, Jews and Hindus.

Witnesses said that large sums of money were donated after each talk.

Azhar, then 25, was the product of a radical Karachi seminary and shortly before his arrival in Britain in August 1993 he had helped supply Osama bin Laden, then based in Sudan, with 400 jihadist fighters to wage attacks in Somalia.

The investigation, shared with 'The Times', has uncovered the details of his tour in an archive of militant group magazines published in Urdu.

The contents provide an astounding insight into the way in which hardcore jihadist ideology was promoted in some mainstream UK mosques in the early 1990s - and involved some of Britain's most senior Islamic scholars.

Azhar's tour lasted a month and consisted of over 40 speeches.

Azhar, captured in India shortly after his British trip, was released from prison in 1999 in exchange for 155 passengers of a hijacked plane in Kandahar. After his release, he formed the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorist group which is blamed for several attacks in India.

The radical cleric is currently in "protective custody" in Pakistan after the Pathankot terror attack.

The Deobandis trace their roots back to a Sunni Islamic seminary founded in Deoband in 19th century India.

The original seminary in India has issued a fatwa against terrorism but some Deobandi madrassas in Pakistan reportedly propagate extremist jihadist ideology.

The investigation will be broadcast as a two-part documentary titled 'The Deobandis' by BBC Radio later today and April 12.
A collection of jewels belonging to an anonymous Indian royal family will go under the hammer later this month at international auction house Bonhams' Indian and Islamic art sale.

The family, who are based in the UK and wish to remain anonymous, will be parting with a number of treasures on April 19 that have been in their possession for generations, including a South Indian marriage necklace or 'manga malai', a jewel encrusted dagger, and extravagant princely jewels such as an emerald and diamond-set belt buckle.

"This is a treasure trove. They are magnificent examples of 18th and 19thcentury craftsmanship and provide a wonderful opportunity to purchase an heirloom once owned by Indian royalty," said Rukmani Kumari Rathore, specialist in Islamic and Indian art at Bonhams.

The 'manga malai'-- one of the highlights of the collection -- is composed of linked mango-shaped elements, lavishly set with rubies and diamonds, and estimated at 50,000-70,000 pounds. The "mango garland" design is unique to southern India, where the mango is regarded as a symbol of love and fertility, Bonhams said in a statement.

The 'manga malai' was worn by women at special occasions such as weddings and also by traditional temple dancers (known as 'devadasi' or servants of the god or goddess), who would dedicate their lives to the worship of temple deities in a manner akin to marriage.

Similar necklaces can be found in the David Collection in Copenhagen and the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha.

The dagger is an impressive gem-set enamelled piece decorated with gold, rubies and diamonds. The hilt is of a type rarely produced in Mughal India and finds comparison with 18thcentury Persian daggers of similar form.

It was probably made in Rajasthan, known for its royal workshops and enamelling centres carrying on the Mughal tradition of superlative quality enamelling.

There is a similarly decorated hilt in the Nasser D Khalili Collection in London. Set with a formidable 17thcentury Ottoman double-edged watered steel blade, it is estimated at 30,000-50,000 pounds.

Also among the princely family's treasures is a rare belt buckle set with emeralds and diamonds and estimated at 18,000-25,000 pounds. The front is set with precious stones and the reverse exquisitely enamelled in green and green colours with elegant floral motifs.

A delicate yet magnificent armband will also feature in the sale. A central octagonal diamond is flanked by diamond- set motifs, with the reverse side decorated as attentively as the front with fine enamelling comprising gold scrolling floral motifs on a dark green background. This delicate and quietly beautiful piece is estimated at 8,000-12,000 pounds.
Supporting colleagues at troubled British unit of Tata Steel Europe, workers at JLR today warned Tata Group Chairman against a 'fire sale' of its UK steel business, saying "it wasn't the responsible thing to do".

Representatives for thousands of car workers at Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) wrote to Mistry, demanding the conglomerate acts responsibly by selling Tata Steel UK as a whole entity and allowing time for a credible buyer to be found, Unite, Britain and Ireland's largest trade union which claims to have over 1.4 million members, said in a statement.

"Expressing alarm over reports that the Tata Group is 'going through the motions' and was looking to 'dispose' of its UK steel operations in a matter of weeks, the Unite representatives warned Mistry against a 'fire sale' of its UK steel business, saying it wasn't the responsible thing to do," it added.

The union further said the letter comes as leaders of Unite, Community and GMB met with business secretary Sajid Javid in the afternoon to demand government action to "save our steel ahead of Javid's meeting with Mr Mistry in Mumbai tomorrow", it added.

In their letter to Mistry, Bob Nason Unite chair of JLR and Ken Smith convenor at JLR Halewood, wrote that as union representing members in Jaguar Land Rover, "we are extremely concerned for our brothers and sisters working in the UK steel industry."



"We are alarmed to read comments in the press that the company is looking to dispose of its UK steel operations within a short period of time. This is not something that a responsible employer would seek to do, given any sale and the necessary arrangements and due diligence will take some considerable time," the letter added.

Reminding assurances that Mistry gave to the UK steel unions, the Union said it expected "the company would behave in a responsible manner and would sell to a responsible buyer if it had to".

"Therefore we would ask you to confirm that Tata will act in a responsible manner in the UK, will allow sufficient time and resources to secure the business through a new buyer, that the whole of the Tata business in the UK is sold 'as a whole' and that you make it clear this is the course of action you will follow," the letter said.

Tata Steel, one of the flagships of over USD 100-billion Tata Group, last week said it is exploring all options for portfolio restructuring, including potential divestment of Tata Steel UK, in whole or in parts, amid a deteriorating financial performance of the arm in the last 12 months.

The move by one of the world's largest steel makers to sell its business has threatened over 17,000 jobs in the UK amid a deepening crisis in the sector that the Indian conglomerate entered with much fanfare nearly a decade ago with USD 14-billion takeover of the Anglo-Dutch Corus.

Unite said it is calling on the UK government to



intervene to stabilise and secure the UK steel industry through a series of measures.

These include ministers throwing UK steel a financial lifeline and backing investment to get it through these tough times and creating an even playing field by dropping opposition to European Commission proposals to slap higher tariffs on cheap Chinese steel.

It further said it wants ministers to taking swift action on sky high energy costs so that UK steelworkers can compete on a level playing field with their European counterparts as well as compelling British steel to be used in British infrastructure and defence projects.
Senior Republican lawmaker John McCain warned today the US-led coalition is headed for "slow, grinding failure" unless it scales up the fight against the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq.

"I bore witness to the failed policy of gradual escalation that ultimately led to our nation's defeat in the Vietnam War," Senator McCain, a Navy veteran who heads the Senate Armed Services Committee and ran against Barack Obama in 2008, wrote in a letter to Defense Secretary Ashton Carter.

"This administration's grudging incrementalism in the war against the Islamic State risks another slow, grinding failure for our nation."McCain said military commanders had told him they have been hamstrung in their pursuit of the group.

"They have been reduced from considering what it will take to win to what they will be allowed to do by this administration.... This is unacceptable," McCain said.

Following the drawn-out US-led war in Iraq, President Obama has been reluctant to commit large numbers of ground troops to anti-IS efforts in Syria and Iraq, preferring to partner with local forces he argues should lead the fight for their homelands.

The US military also has procedures to minimize civilian deaths, prompting critics to say restrictions are too tight.

McCain called on Carter to provide detailed information on US troop numbers in Iraq and Syria, and whether the Pentagon envisions sending more troops to Africa to deal with the IS group as it "metastasizes" across the continent.

The defense secretary was to meet with Obama in the White House later today along with a slew of the Pentagon's top brass to discuss defense strategies and priorities.

Speaking at the Center for Strategic and Studies, a Washington think tank, Carter said the Pentagon is doing all it can to quicken the anti-IS fight, which began in August 2014.

The campaign has dealt some important defeats to the group, but the jihadists still control huge areas, including the key Syrian city of Raqa and Mosul in Iraq.

"We've got to get these guys beaten, and as soon as possible," Carter said.

"We are looking for every opportunity we can take to do that.... We are doing more every day and we are looking for opportunities to do yet more because we need to get this over with. I am confident we will defeat ISIL, I have no question in my mind about it," he added.
BJP today termed as "shameful" Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his government allowing Pakistan's JIT to India on a day his cabinet colleague Kapil Mishra wondered "do we have an ISI agent as PM now?".

Party spokesperson Sambit Patra said the 125 crore people of India will never forgive anyone calling the Prime Minister an ISI agent.

"When Modi is spreading his message against terrorism in the world, we saw that recently in Saudi Arabia, then for an elected representative to say so is shameful and unfortunate," he told reporters.

Such use of words for a Prime Minister for "cheap politics and lust of power" amounted to insult of Indian people, he said.

"What message are you sending to the international community? Whose hands are you strengthening by uttering such kind of words?" Patra asked.

At a press conference, Kejriwal had said Modi's "invitation" to Pakistani JIT, which included an ISI official, amounted to giving a "clean chit" to the spy agency for the Pathankot attack and demanded that he tender an "apology" for the "monumental" foreign policy failure.
Shares of basmati rice exporter KRBL today fell by nearly 3 per cent amid concerns over Income Tax Department search operations at the company's premises.

The stock fell by 2.80 per cent to settle at Rs 199.50 on BSE. During the day, it lost 4.99 per cent to Rs 195.

At NSE, shares of the company slipped 2.89 per cent to Rs 198.25.

"This is to put on record that as far as KRBL Ltd and the promoter directors of KRBL Ltd are concerned, no incriminating documents and/or undisclosed income was found," the company had said in a regulatory filing yesterday.

The Income Tax Department conducted the search on March 30 to April 1 on the company and its promoter directors.

"This is to further inform you that the company is in the process of collating and responding to all the queries raised by the I-T authorities and is lending its fullest cooperation to the department in completing the enquiry," KRBL said in the filing.

The company sells basmati rice under the brand name India Gate and has a strong presence both in India and abroad.
Vladimir Putin's spokesman says the Russian president has no connection to offshore accounts allegedly operated by his close friend, a musician.

Dmitry Peskov argues that the leaked documents from a Panama-based firm have been wilfully interpreted by an international consortium of investigative journalists to make what he called an unfounded claim that cellist Sergei Roldugin's offshore assets were linked to Putin.

Speaking in an interview today with The Associated Press, Peskov emphasized that "there is not a word about President Putin in those papers," and dismissed the alleged link between Russian owners of offshore assets and Putin as a "product of imagination."



Peskov said the media reports reflected what he described as "Putinophobia," Western media bias against Putin.

The Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists said the documents it obtained indicated that Roldugin acted as a front man for a network of Putin loyalists, and, perhaps, the president himself.

The ICIJ said the documents show how complex offshore financial deals channeled as much as USD 2 billion to a network of people linked to the Russian president.

The 64-year-old Sergei Roldugin stands out in the leaked list of statesmen, magnates and international celebrities.

While he never made a secret of his friendship with Putin, Roldugin has refrained from comment about his alleged offshore assets, only telling a Russian newspaper involved in the investigation that the matter is "delicate."



"If Mr. Roldugin indeed had or is continuing to have some business companies, some business affairs, it's his private business, and he's got the right to do that," Peskov said.

Peskov emphasized that the scandal around the so-called Panama Papers proves that Putin was right when he urged Russian businesses to pull out their assets from offshore accounts a few years ago.

"Maybe the fact that these documents can be stolen shows that this offshore practice isn't reliable anymore, so it's one of the evidence that President Putin was right in making this call," he said.

Peskov rejected the claim that his wife, Olympic champion ice dancer Tatiana Navka, had an offshore business.

"She is doing some business, she is earning money, but she never had an offshore company," he said.

The Russian prosecutor-general's office said today it will look into the leaked documents to check for possible violations of Russian law, which bans officials and lawmakers from having foreign bank accounts.
Four local fishermen were arrested and fishing nets of about 20 boats damaged allegedly by Sri Lankan navy personnel in separate incidents near Neduntheevu and Katchatheevu, according to a Fishermen's organisation.

Rameswaram fishermen organisation president S.Emerite said fishermen of this area had ventured into the sea in 396 mechanized boats yesterday.

Most of them were fishing near Katchatheevu when Sri Lankan navy personnel arrived and allegedly damaged fishing nets of about 20 boats, asking them not to fish there, he said, adding, they returned to the shore.

Meanwhile, four fishermen were arrested for allegedly fishing in Sri Lankan waters last night.

He said the fishermen were fishing near Neduntheevu in Sri Lanka.

The arrested fishermen have been taken to Kangesanthurai, he added.

(Reopens MDS1)



The fishermen were remanded to judicial court by a Sri Lankan court today till April 19.

They were produced before Oorkavalthurai Judicial Magitate M M Riyas, who remanded them to judicial custody.

The fishermen have been lodged in Jaffna prison, Emerite said.

(Reopens MES1)



Meanwhile, the 15 fishermen from Rameswaram were produced before the Mannar court Judicial Magistrate Sarojini who remanded them to judicial custody till March 17.

They have been lodged in Vavunia Prison, police said.

Nine others, hailing from Jagadapattinam, were remanded to judicial custody by Oorkavalthurai Judicial Magistrate till March 15.

They have been lodged in Jaffna prison, police said, quoting information received from Sri Lankan officials.
A British World War II hero who split up from his fiancee after suffering post-traumatic stress is finally getting married to her - more than 70 years later.

Roy Vickerman has proposed to 89-year-old Nora Jackson on his 90th birthday.

The couple, from Stoke-on-Trent, met at school in 1940 and got in engaged in 1946, but plans were halted when D-Day veteran Roy suffered post-traumatic stress from his wartime efforts.

For 70 years, Vickerman bitterly regretted losing his wartime sweetheart so set about trying to track her down to apologise.

He sought help of his local radio station to trace Nora and found out that she lived just two miles apart.

They also discovered their partners had since died and were now single so they picked up where they left off in the 1940s.

Romance blossomed again when Roy went to visit his former fiancee and hand her flowers, but as soon as Nora saw him on the door she threw her arms around him.

He proposed with exactly the same ring from their original engagement and said he could not be happier.

"I always thought a lot about Nora," he said.

"I still love her just the same as I did before," Roy was quoted as saying by the BBC.

Nora, who has been widowed, said she never expected to see Roy again, and was looking forward to their wedding.

"It's so wonderful, because I've been on my own here [for] 14 years," she said.

"Everything has been so happy for me to see him and be with him.
City-based cardiac clinic Madhavbaug has launched four new therapies in the alternative medical treatment using established Ayurvedic knowledge in diabetes, hypertension, obesity and heart ailments.

"We have launched four new therapies in the alternative medical treatment using established ayurvedic knowledge in diabetes, hypertension, obesity and heart ailments. These therapies are a combination of modern diagnostic research based on ayurveda and scientific life-style modification," Madhavbaug Director Rohit Sane said in a statement here.

All components of these therapies are scientifically approved to address diabetes complication management, hypertension complication management, obesity management and coronary artery diseases (plaque stabilisation)," Sane said.

Each of these therapies carries a treatment cost between Rs 12,000-14,000 spread over a 12 month period and has been customised to the specific disease to bring down the overall costs for the patients.

While diabetes, hypertension & obesity are risk factors for heart diseases, these innovative therapies are design to reduce their complications so that the future crisis of heart ailment of such patients' have lower intensity.

As part of the launch of new therapies, Madhavbaug has also roped in veteran actor Dilip Prabhavalkar as its brand ambassador in its mission to propagate and create awareness about heart ailments.

"With lifestyle diseases threatening to disturb India's eco-system, there is a need for every individual to get acquainted with the regular diagnostic tests to be undertaken. Madhavbaug has embarked upon undertaking one lakh free diagnostic tests including stress test and ECG for senior citizens through its 120-odd clinics across Maharashtra of which 30,000 senior citizens have already availed this benefit," Prabhavalkar said.

Established in 2004, Madhavbaug has a network of 130 centres and two hospitals largely in Maharashtra and also few in border districts of Karnataka and Goa. It has developed its own copyright therapies including Heart Failure Reversal Therapy (HFRT), Ischemia Reversal program, Endoprotector therapy, diabetes management program - Lipid Management program using a mix of ayurveda aided with modern tools.
The Raman Singh government has dismissed Sukma district's Chief Judicial Magistrate Prabhakar Gwal from service in "public interest", following the recommendation of the Chhattisgarh High Court.

"The HC, on the basis of material available on record, has resolved that it does not appear reasonable... To hold a departmental inquiry against Prabhakar Gwal.

"Therefore, the departmental enquiry was dispensed with and Gwal was recommended to be dismissed," an officer of law and legislative affairs department told PTI.

He did not reveal the reasons for the decision.

The order of dismissal, which was issued on April 1, came to light when Gwal himself wrote about it on his Facebook wall yesterday.

While serving asBilaspur additional chief judicial magistrate last year, Gwal had sentenced five persons to six years' imprisonment in a case related to leakage of question papers of Pre-Medical Test conducted by Chhattisgarh Professional Examination Board in 2011.

Later, he had accused a ruling BJP MLA of threatening him over the judgement.
Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation is eyeing 6 per cent growth in footfalls this fiscal as it has set up a directorate for publicity and promotion of tourism in the state.

"We have set up a directorate that will look into promotions, publicity and skill development in the tourism sector in the state. We are also working at re-branding Maharashtra as a tourism destination.

"And on the back of this we are expecting 6 per cent increase visitor footfalls this financial year," Principal Secretary Tourism and Culture Valsa Nair told PTI here.

The state government had recently come up with tourism policy, which envisages over Rs 30,000 crore investment and generate 10 lakh employment in Maharashtra, she said.

"We signed agreements worth over Rs 15,000 crore during the 'Make in India' week and we expect it to cross over Rs 30,000 crore. In the tourism policy, we have tried to incorporate the best practises of top states and countries who are doing very well in the tourism sector.

"We have adapted these best practises to suit to our local conditions. The policy has also tried to create niche sectors, like monsoon tourism and film tourism, and how to develop them," she added.

According to Nair, MTDC is mainly focusing on promote and practise sustainable tourism.

Maharashtra saw 20 crore travellers visiting the state in 2015-16, of which 80-82 per cent were domestic tourists.

Nair said, 14 sectors have been identified as focus areas and MTDC will bring out policies soon in each of them that will have guidelines to develop them further.

"In the policy we have identified 14 focus areas, including film, medical, adventure, caravan and rural among others. We will also come out with policies for each of these sectors individually in 6 months. We will now create database to make guidelines for these sectors," she said.

Nair further said that MTDC is planning a single window clearance for investment in the hospitality sector.

"We are now identifying the licences required for setting up a property and to make it operational. Once all the licences are identified we will bring it all under one window and the process will be done online. It will take about 3 months," she added.
The trio of British banking giant HSBC and Swiss institutions UBS and Credit Suisse set up more than 4,500 offshore companies through Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca, Le Monde newspaper reported today.

HSBC created 2,300 offshore companies, Credit Suisse has 1,105 and UBS, has 1,100, while France's Societe Generale has 979, according to the latest revelations from the vast leak of documents dubbed the Panama Papers.

Le Monde reported that 365 banks across the world had used the services of Mossack Fonseca, the firm at the centre of the allegations.

Other major banks mentioned in the report include Germany's Deutsche Bank and Nordea, which does business in Nordic and Baltic countries.

Offshore companies can be used for legitimate purposes, but they have in the past been used to launder money and evade taxes.

The banks cited by Le Monde rejected any wrongdoing.

The CEO of Credit Suisse, Tidjane Thiam, said Tuesday his bank would endorse only "legitimate" offshore arrangements.

"We only accept offshore structures, vehicles, if they serve legitimate purposes," Thiam said, speaking in Hong Kong.

"Clearly, tax avoidance is not one of those," he added.

"We insist on knowing who is the beneficial owner. If it's not revealed, we will not engage in business with that entity," he added.

HSBC meanwhile said: "We work closely with the authorities to fight financial crime and implement sanctions."



The bank said it had a clear policy that offshore account holders had to be "thoroughly vetted", where national authorities requested that the bank keep the account open "for the purpose of monitoring activity" or where an account had been frozen because of international sanctions.

A UBS spokesman told AFP that the bank "conducts its business in full accordance with the applicable regulations".

"The bank has no interest in funds which are not in line with fiscal rules or which come from illegal activity," he added.

The trove of Panama Papers documents was anonymously leaked to German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung and shared with more than 100 media groups by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). More revelations are expected over the coming weeks.
Singapore's highest court today quashed a final appeal by a Malaysian murder convict, setting the stage for his hanging despite calls for mercy from rights groups.

Kho Jabing, 31, was sentenced to death in 2010 for killing a Chinese construction worker in a robbery gone wrong and spent the next six years on a legal roller-coaster trying to avoid the gallows.

A High Court judge in 2013 commuted his sentence to life imprisonment and caning following changes to the penal code that ended the mandatory execution of murder convicts.

But state prosecutors fought the decision and the Court of Appeal, Singapore's highest court, reinstated his death sentence in January 2015.

Kho's scheduled execution last November was stayed at the eleventh hour when his lawyer filed another motion, which was denied today.

Judge Chao Tick Hin, who delivered the final decision of the five-judge court, said the motion did not introduce any new material compelling enough for the court to reconsider the death sentence.

"It is the applicant's core case that our decision in the re-sentencing appeal is wrong," the judge said, adding that material presented fell short of showing that the court made a mistake.

He said a new execution date would be set by the Singapore president, who has already rejected clemency.

After the hearing, Kho was calm as he spoke with his weeping mother and sister who had flown in from Malaysia's Sarawak state.

"We are... Concerned that (Kho) has been forced to endure years of immense suffering as his sentence has been changed on a number of occasions," said Laurent Meillan, the UN Human Rights Office's regional representative, in a statement.

Human Rights Watch also expressed its opposition.

"For Singapore to defend the death penalty on international forums is a further indication of complete disregard for international human rights standards," Phil Robertson, deputy director of its Asia division, told AFP.

Local anti-death penalty group We Believe In Second Chances noted that two of five appeal judges had voted against capital punishment and warned against the risk of wrongful execution.

Singapore executed four people in 2015 -- one for murder and three for drug offences.

Malaysia also executes murderers and drug traffickers by hanging, a punishment which dates back to British colonial rule in both countries. But it does not publicly announce them.

Human rights groups have called on Singapore to abolish capital punishment but the government has rejected such calls, arguing death sentences must remain as a deterrent.
British liquor giant Diageo and two of its subsidiaries today filed their objections in the Debt Recovery Tribunal here against its last month order barring liquor baron Vijay Mallya from withdrawing USD 75 million exit payout by it under a sweetheart deal till the disposal of SBI's case against him over loan default.

After submission of the objection copies by Diageo PLC, Diageo Netherlands and United Spirits Ltd (USL), owned by the UK-based firm, which are among the defendants, DRT Judge Benakanahalli posted the matter for next hearing on April 13.

Other defendants, including Kingfisher Airlines Limited gave an undertaking that they would file objections to the DRT's March 7 order later.

DRT had barred Mallya from withdrawing USD 75 million exit payment from Diageo till the disposal of the case over the loan default by Kingfisher Airlines.

It had also restrained Diageo and United Spirits Ltd, owned by the UK-based firm, from temporarily disbursing the amount to Mallya, who worked out the deal under a severance package.

DRT had asked Diageo PLC, Diageo Netherlands and USL to furnish details of the termination agreement between them. The tribunal had also ordered that the amount be attached till the disposal of the original application filed by State Bank of India in 2013.

SBI, which leads the consortium of 17 banks that lent money to the grounded Kingfisher Airlines, had moved DRT here against the airline's chairman Mallya in its bid to recover over Rs 7,000 crore of dues from him.

The state-owned top lender had filed three other applications, including one seeking Mallya's arrest and impounding of his passport, which the judge had said on March 4 would be heard later.

Mallya had to quit as chairman of United Spirits - a company founded by his family in which he sold majority stake to Diageo. Under the deal, that also ended a year-long boardroom battle at United Spirits, Diageo has agreed to pay Mallya USD 75 million (Rs 515 crore).

Other lenders include Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, Bank of India, Central Bank of India, Federal Bank, Uco Bank and Dena Bank.

As part of the deal, Diageo said it would pay USD 40 million immediately to Mallya with the balance being payable in equal installments over the next five years. It will also absolve Mallya of all liabilities over alleged financial lapses at the company founded by his family. Mallya, accused of fleeing to London, had toldthe Supreme Court that he would repay over 40 per cent of his debts by September.

He has failed to appear for questioning by Enforcement Directorate, which has been investigating hismassive debt liability since he left for London earlier thismonth.

Other defendants before the DRT are United Breweries (Holdings) Limited, Vijay Mallya, Kingfisher Finvest (India) Ltd, SBICAP Trustee Company Ltd,the Commissioner of Service Tax, Unit Trust of IndiaInvestment Advisory Services Limited and Standard Chartered Bank.
The CPI-M today said Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was attacking the Left-Congress combine because she was "scared" of the "people's alliance".

"She is scared. She realised that people are deserting her. That is why she is attacking our alliance, which is a people's alliance," CPI-M state secretary Surjya Kanta Mishra told an election meeting here.

On Banerjee's comment that the Congress and the Left have formed an "unprincipled" alliance, he said, "Do we have to learn ideology and principle from her? What principle she has? She had switched alliance with the BJP and the Congress again and again".

He also alleged that now she had "backroom understanding" with the BJP.

Claiming that democracy in the state had been "throttled", the CPI-M politburo member said she had asked us to keep our mouth shut for 10 years, but "we will raise our voice. She can't stop it".

On her statement that Congress-Left have formed a "rainbow alliance", he said such an alliance had been formed by her in the 2011 Assembly election, but none of those parties was with the TMC this time.
A 35-year-old man was killed after being attacked by a herd of elephants in Katarniyaghat forest range here, forest department spokesman said.

Rudal was on his way to the market through the forest route along with other villagers when the elephants from the Nepal side attacked them, he said.

The herd was chased away after long efforts by the locals who rushed to the aid of the victim, the spokesman said.

An immediate financial assistance of Rs 20,000 has been provided to the bereaved family by WWF and an assurance of Rs 5 lakh from the government has also been given after completion of formalities, he added.
A Shiv Sena leader was today arrested in connection with disruption of a BJP rally last month where Maharashtra Women Commission Chief Vijaya Rahatkar had allegedly expressed her support for separate Marathwada and Vidarbha states.

Sudhakar Badgujar, a Nashik Municipal Corporation corporator, was brought to Mumbai Naka police station this afternoon and placed under arrest, a police official said.

The incident took place on March 22 when Sena activists allegedly ransacked the pandal of the event and damaged chairs, in Bodhale Nagar locality.

Following the incident, both sides had lodged cross complaints in the police station.

Rahatkar had allegedly expressed support for separate Marathwada and Vidarbha states, within days after then Advocate General Shreehari Aney triggered a row by voicing support for separate Marathwada state in Jalna.

Police had earlier arrested at least two local Sena leaders who were subsequently released on bail.
India has told the UN that Jaish-e- Mohammed chief Masood Azhar was one of the handlers of the terrorists who attacked the Pathankot airbase and his outfit received arms training from Taliban.

In its failed bid to have Masood designated as terrorist by the UN, India has conveyed to the world body that he and his terrorist group JeM have continuously engineered terror attacks against India, the latest instance being the strike on Pathankot airbase on January 2.

The attack was engineered by terrorists belonging to JeM and credible evidence has emerged that the handlers of the terrorists were senior leaders of JeM, including Masood Azhar, according to the Draft List Entry submitted in the UN.

Further, incriminating material has also been recovered from the dead terrorists disclosing their links to the terrorist organisation, it said.

Masood had a meeting with Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed and Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin and decided to "avenge" the hanging of Afzal Guru, who was convicted for the 2001 attack on Parliament.

"A decision was taken in the meeting for possible cooperation with the Taliban to train terrorists for this purpose. There are credible intelligence reports that elements of JeM have actually received training in tactics, use of weapons and psychological warfare from the Taliban," the draft said.

At the behest of Pakistan, China had blocked India's bid to have Azhar designated as terrorist by the UN in the aftermath of the Pathankot strike.

Pushing its case for incorporating Masood's name in the al Qaeda Sanctions List, India has told the UN that Masood is a Pakistan-based international terrorist and a leader of JeM and its chief financier, recruiter and motivator.

The JeM chief has been "participating in the financing, planning, facilitating, preparing or perpetrating of acts or activities by, in conjunction with, under the name of, on behalf of, or in support of supplying, selling or transferring arms and related material to recruiting for and otherwise supporting acts or activities of al Qaeda, Harkat-ul-Mujahidin and JeM", the draft said.

In 1993, Masood first came to the notice of the Indian authorities when he came into contact with leaders of Al-Itihaad Al-Islamiya, an al Qaeda-aligned Somali terror group which had requested money and recruits from Harkat-ul- Mujahidin, a terrorist group based in Pakistan with which Masood was closely associated.

Masood had visited Somalia during that time and facilitated recruitment of Yemeni mercenaries to Somalia.

In 1994, Masood surfaced in Jammu and Kashmir to mediate between various feuding factions of terrorist groups active in the state. He was arrested in February 1994.

However, in 1999, Masood had to be released after his brother Abdul Rauf along with a few others hijacked an Indian Airlines plane and taken to Kandahar in Afghanistan, which was then under the control of Taliban.
The Gujarat High Court today granted bail to former IAS officer Sanjay Gupta in the Rs 113 crore Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar Metro rail scam case.

Gupta was granted bail by Justice A J Desai on the condition that he deposits security money of Rs 1 crore in two instalments of Rs 50 lakh each in one month.

He was also asked to report to the police station every Monday and cooperate with the investigation.

The bail was granted after Gupta's lawyer told the court that police had wrapped up the investigation in the case and trial being conducted in a local court in Gandhinagar will take time to complete.

Gupta, who served as the executive chairman of the state-owned Metro-Link Express for Ahemdabad and Gandhinagar (MEGA), was arrested by CID (Crime) last year on allegations that financial irregularities to the tune of Rs 113 crore took place during his tenure in MEGA in 2012.

CID had booked Gupta and seven others for allegedly syphoning off around Rs 113 crore by presenting "forged" bills and "bogus" documents related to ground-filling work carried out near Bhat village for Metro project in 2012.

Gupta is also a co-accused in another scam related to MEGA, in which the company's former manager Radhesh Bhatt was accused of syphoning off Rs 2.62 crore through forged invoices from 2012 to 2013. Gupta was made a co-accused after his involvement was determined by the police.

His bail plea in this second case will be heard tomorrow at a Gandhinagar court. He cannot come out of the jail till he gets bail in the second case.

Gupta had quit IAS in 2003 to start his own business. He was appointed in MEGA by the Gujarat government after he quit IAS.
Government has set up a high-level committee to suggest ways to strengthen the security along the border with Pakistan and address the issue of gaps and vulnerability in border fencing.

The committee, headed by former Union Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta, will suggest how to strengthen border protection and address the issue of gaps and vulnerability in border fencing along the India-Pakistan border, a Home Ministry spokesperson said.

It has been mandated to study all types of gaps in the fencing and all other vulnerabilities along the border and suggest a comprehensive approach to fix them on interim and permanent basis. It will submit its report in three months.

The government's move comes three months after terrorists belonging to Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed had breached the Indo-Pak border in Punjab and attacked the Pathankot airbase killing seven security personnel.

On July 27 last year, three terrorists in army fatigue had attacked Dinanagar police station in Punjab's Gurdaspur district and killed three civilians and four policemen, including a Superintendent of Police.

In this case too, it is widely suspected that the terrorists had entered India through a riverine stretch of the Indo-Pak border in Punjab.

On March 20 last year, two heavily armed terrorists in army uniform had stormed a police station on Jammu-Pathankote highway in Kathua, near the Indo-Pak border, killing five people.

A day later, two terrorists had attacked an army camp in Samba in Jammu and Kashmir.
A Mumbai-based NGO signed an agreement with the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) for implementing a medicare programme in India.

According to a statement, Rashtriya Institute of Skill and Education (RISE) is currently doing seminal work in the area of medicare, education and rural uplift.

The IDB is based in Jeddah.

The programme will be rolled out first in Maharashtra where RISE has already implemented Mobile Medical Units (MMU) in the rural (tribal) areas of the state.

"The details of the collaboration with IDB and the rollout plan for the MMU project with them, and the areas where this program will be implemented will be announced shortly after finalisation," said RISE.

It claims to be involved in several projects across India, from the tribal districts of Rajasthan to the landmark Taleem ki Taquat, an outreach programme to create awareness among the underprivileged section of society on the importance of education in order to upgrade their status in life and being gainfully employed, the statement said.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu today called up his Jammu and Kashmir counterpart Mehbooba Mufti over telephone and congratulated her on assuming office as the first woman CM of the state.

"Walk in the footsteps of your late father Mufti Mohammed Sayeed and earn a good name for yourself," Chandrababu told Mehbooba who in turn thanked him.

PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, who has stepped into the shoes of her late father Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, was yesterday sworn-in as the first woman chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir heading the coalition government with BJP.
Slamming the states which did not send their ministers for a conference to discuss issues involving minorities, Minority Affairs Minister Najma Heptulla today said it showed they were not "interested" in welfare of the communities.

"If they (ministers) come, they will benefit. I am not disappointed, but sad. I am sad they are not realising that if they cooperate with us, it is they who will benefit. People of these states will benefit.

"Our government wants to do something in your states. This will not mean that the Centre is not focused on implementing schemes in states. But it shows that those who have not turned up are not interested in the welfare of the minorities. This is the message that is going out," she said.

She made these remarks while speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the day-long meeting held here in this regard.

Uttar Pradesh and Delhi governments in particular came under fire from the minister.

During the conference, Heptulla also asked an official from UP to convey her message to the state government that the Centre is expecting cooperation from the Akhilesh Yadav dispensation.

"We are extending a helping hand to you and you are not even holding it," she told the officer.

According to a statement issued later, Heptulla expressed concern over "consistent absence" of ministers from certain states and said such platform sought cooperation from one and all.

She also invoked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to stress that the fight of Hindus or Muslims was not against each other, but against poverty.

The National Conference of Ministers and Secretaries of Minority Affairs in States and Union Territories, first such meeting convened by the BJP-led NDA government, was attended by ministers of nine states; Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Bihar, Nagaland, Sikkim, Telangana, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh



In addition to these states, officials from Odisha, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Meghalaya, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh among others were present for the conference.

"I can understand that there are five states going to elections while assemblies in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra are in session. So, their leaders could not turn up," she said.

(Reopens Del 71)



Heptulla said imparting education to students from minority communities remains high on government's agenda.

She also said that Centre wanted to develop waqf properties in states for empowerment of Muslim community by bridging its economic deficit.

"If there is a doubt that we will take away these properties, then it is incorrect. We want to develop these for empowerment of people. We don't want to take away properties," she said.

Heptulla said the website of her ministry will soon provide a window for suggestions from states and UTs on solving problems facing the minority communities.

She urged the participants to monitor implementation of centrally-sponsored schemes at ground-level and furnish completion and utilisation certificates in time to enable the Centre to release funds.
US President Barack Obama has said is "critical" to the security of America and its allies in Europe, a virtual rejection of Republican front-runner Donald Trump's views that the inter-governmental military alliance has outlived its utility.

" continues to be the linchpin, the cornerstone of our collective defense and US security policy," Obama said yesterday along with Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in the White House.

The Obama-Stoltenberg meeting came in the wake of Trump's remarks.

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest has termed such remarks as "ill-advised". Obama, however, did not make any direct comment on Trump's comments.

Obama said he had an excellent discussion that started with marking the tragedy that had taken place in Brussels, and reinforcing the importance of us staying focused on ISIL and countering the terrorism that has seeped up into Europe and around the world.

"We agreed that one of the most important functions that NATO is performing and can continue to perform is to help in the training and assisting process for troops in Iraq, in Jordan, in many of the areas in the region. And we are continuing to cooperate on an ongoing basis about operations potentially in areas like Libya, where you have the beginnings of a government and we can I think provide enormous help in helping to stabilize those countries," Obama said.

Obama and Stoltenberg also discussed situation in Afghanistan, Russia and Ukraine.

"We continue to be united in supporting Ukraine in the wake of Russian incursions into Ukrainian territory. We continue to work in a train-and-assist fashion in helping support Ukraine develop its military capabilities defensively," he said.

Stoltenberg said NATO is as "important as ever".

"Because NATO has been able to adapt to a more dangerous world. We stand together in the fight against terrorism. Terrorism affects us all, from Brussels to San Bernardino, and all NATO allies contribute to the US-led efforts to degrade and destroy ISIL. And just last week, we started training Iraqi officers, and we will continue to support the efforts of the United States and other countries to fight ISIL," he said.

The US value the contributions it received from the large number of NATO members who are a part of counter-ISIL coalition, Earnest said.
Nepal risks a fresh bout of "unmanageable" unrest if it fails to address demands of the Madhesi community over the new Constitution, a report has warned.

According to the International Crisis Group report, there is "clear risk of escalating violence" as the depth of Madhesi community's anger and its lack of fruitful negotiations with the government are creating room more turmoil.

"There is clear risk of escalating violence in the Tarai. The depth of social discontent, lack of fruitful negotiations and disillusion with Madhesi parties is creating room for radical positions," the report released yesterday said.

"The protests had deep support in ethnic Madhesi Tarai communities, reflecting a profound, increasing sense of alienation from the state," it added.

Madhesis are Indian-origin inhabitants of the Terai plains bordering India who are opposed to splitting Nepal into seven provinces.

Nearly 60 people died in clashes between police and Madhesis over the Constitution which was adopted in September, sparking a crippling months-long border blockade, preventing the flow of goods from India to the land-locked Nepal.

The parliament amended the Constitution in January to increase Madhesis' presence in government bodies. But the community Nepal's southern plains said the amendments did not address their main demand on internal borders.

"Forcing acceptance of a flawed Constitution could end the political transition and trigger unmanageable new conflict," the report prepared by the Brussels-based NGO warned.

"If implementation begins before these issues are addressed, the mainstream parties risk wholesale rejection of the Constitution by a large section of the population," it added.

The report also recommended the government to "refrain from ultimatums and provocative comments".

It also called on India to "maintain an open approach to all sides".

The report said the government must restore trust with Madhesi and Tharu populations by forming an independent mechanism to investigate the protest-related deaths and avoid a heavy-handed security response during protests.

"To stop violent polarisation and a breakdown of social relations, national parties and protesting groups must urgently agree on how to manage contentious issues, with timelines, guarantees, and a role for civic participation," the report said.

"Positions are not irreconcilable, but the prerequisites for any solution - respect, trust, political will, a degree of selflessness - are in short supply," it said, adding that a "sustainable, equitable social contract" is necessary for lasting peace and reconciliation.
Nepal today summoned EU's envoy here over the reference to Nepal's Constitution in the India-EU joint statement last week and asserted that "external meddling" was unacceptable.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Kamal Thapa, in his meeting with Ambassador or Head of European Union Delegation to Nepal Rensje Teerink, questioned the envoy on how the Nepal's Constitutional issue found mention in the joint statement, sources said.

Thapa told the envoy that the Constitution falls under Nepal's internal affairs.

"It's our internal issue and we are capable of seeking its solution ourselves. We would not accept any external meddling over the issue of the Constitution," Thapa said.

Teerink reiterated that European Union is not for offending Nepal when asked whether EU's view on Nepal's Constitution has changed.

The India-EU joint statement, issued after the 13th India-EU Summit in Brussels, had said that the two sides had "agreed on the need for a lasting and inclusive Constitutional settlement in Nepal that will address the remaining Constitutional issues in a time bound manner, and promote political stability and economic growth."



Nepal had hit out at the statement saying it was "uncalled for" and hurt people's sentiments.

Following the promulgation of the new Constitution, the EU had described it as a historic event marking the culmination of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.

The India-EU statement came as the Madhesis, mostly of Indian origin, have been demanding the new Constitution be amended to include their concerns about adequate political representation and redrawing of federal boundaries.

They had enforced months-long blockade of Nepal's all trading points with India, creating huge shortage of essential commodities in the country and souring Indo-Nepal ties.

Nepal had accused India of imposing the "economic blockade", which India strongly denied.
The Delhi High Court today raised questions over the jurisdiction of a special court conducting trial in connection with the death of Arunachal Pradesh student Nido Tania, asking how it could hear the case when the charges under the SC/ST Act against the accused were dropped.

"Whether a designated court, set up to hear matters under special acts, could hear the case once the charges under the SC/ST Act were dropped against the accused persons," Justice P S Teji asked the CBI and the counsel for the accused persons.

When the designated court itself has discharged the accused, how can it conduct the proceedings, the judge added.

It orally observed that the designated judge for trying the cases under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, should not have kept the matter before it unless and until there was a specific order.

"The case should have been ordinarily transferred before an Additional Sessions Judge," the judge said.

The agency and the counsel for the accused persons told the court that the issue raised by it has not been challenged before any court.

The court then listed the matter for further hearing on August 24.

The court's query came during the hearing of a plea filed by the father of 19-year-old Tania, who was killed in January 2014 after he was allegedly beaten up by some persons at Lajpat Nagar in South Delhi.

Tania's father Nido Pavitra and CBI had moved the high court seeking quashing of the September 25, 2014, order of the sessions court which had held that no charge could be framed against the accused under the provisions of the SC/ST Act.

Initially, police had booked the four accused -- Farman, Pawan, Sunder Singh and Sunny Uppal, under section 302 (murder) of IPC after the postmortem report showed Tania died due to injuries on his head and face caused by a blunt object. The agency had also invoked charges under the SC/ST Act.

Presently Farman is in judicial custody, while the others are out on bail.

During the filing of the charge sheet, the CBI had



dropped murder charges against the accused, saying Tania's killing was not premeditated but a result of an altercation over breaking of a glass counter of a shop in the market.

The four are now facing trial under various sections of IPC, including 304 (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence).

Two minors, who had also allegedly assaulted Tania, are facing an inquiry before the Juvenile Justice Board here.

Tania, a BA first year student in a private university here, allegedly had an altercation with some shopkeepers at Lajpat Nagar market here on January 29, 2014, after they made fun of his hair style.

Following the altercation, the shopkeepers had allegedly thrashed him. Doctors at AIIMS declared him 'brought dead' the next day.

The death of Tania had evoked outrage among the people of the Northeast living in the national capital who had alleged that police had failed to protect him.
NIIT, which has trained thousands of Chinese students in the last two decades, today opened its new training institute in the country to train manpower for the Communist nation's biggest cloud based data centre.

The institute was formally inaugurated by India's Deputy Ambassador to China Dr. Bala Bhaskar in Guizhou province along with NIIT global CEO Rahul Patwardhan and top local officials.

The MOU for cooperation between National Institute of Information Technology (NIIT) and Guizhou was signed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to China last year.

The training institute will help provide manpower for the big could data centre being set up by China in the province which will store vast amount of data from China and the world, Patwardhan told PTI here from Guizhou over the phone.

Setting up of a big data centre in a backward province like Guizhou posed a number of challenges specially manpower training and the institute will enable the province to address the problem, he said.

The building and funding for the institute has been provided by the Guizhou government which embarked on modernisation of the province focussing on software and digital technology.

Established in 1995 in China, the NIIT has emerged as leading software training centre for Chinese students across the country. Its China head, Prakash Menon, said NIIT has so far trained over three lakh students in China.

Guizhou province is where India's top five IT majors, TCS, Infosys, Wipro, Tech Mahindra and NIIT formed the consortium under the initiative of NIIT to develop software industry in the province.

India has been asking China to open its IT and Pharmaceuticals sectors, two of India's most successful export ventures, as a measure to address the growing trade deficit which touched USD 45 billion in over USD 77.64billion bilateral trade.
Director Nikhil Advani is all set to remake popular political-thriller "Homeland" for Indian TV.

The "Katti Batti" director said he will be adapting the original Israeli series "Hatufilm" on which "Homeland" is based.

"It's not specifically a remake of 'Homeland' but the Israeli series 'Hatufim' on which 'Homeland' is based. So yes, I am doing the show for Star (network) and they will do an announcement soon. But I can't reveal other details," Nikhil told PTI.

The series follows the story of CIA operative Carrie Mathison on the lookout for an American prisoner who may have joined forces with Al-Qaeda. Released from hostage after eight years, Marine Nicholas Brody becomes her suspect.

The director is also working on his next feature film "Baazaar", set to go on floors this year. There were reports that he was in talks with Akshay Kumar to play the lead role but Nikhil did not divulge any details.

Meanwhile, the "Hero" director has made a short film for the "Zeal for Unity" initiative titled "Guddu Engineer".

Nikhil says he intentionally kept the spelling of engineer wrong as the film is about a mischievous character.

"The boy is studying in BHU (Banaras Hindu University) and he is quite mischievous, he is not able to spell the word properly but he is doing engineering. Also, it made sense for numerological reason. It is a love story but is also about college students, the politics and the choices they have to make."



The 44-year-old "Kal Ho Na Ho" helmer shot the 35-minutes film in five days in Varanasi, after almost six months of prior planning.

The initiative features short films by 12 filmmakers, six Indian and as many Pakistani, to make 12 different movies, as an effort to ease the tension between India and Pakistan.

Nikhil says an initiative like this acts as a "catalyst" to start good things between the two countries.

"An initiative like this is at least a start, a beginning. It acts as a catalyst to trigger good things for both the countries. People on both sides of the border want nothing but peace and happiness.
The strike against 1% excise duty on non-silver jewellery continued for another day despite huge losses to the industry traders.

Jewellers and bullion traders in several parts of the country, including in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata kept shutters down for the 35th day today.

Read more from our special coverage on "JEWELLERS STRIKE" Jewellers withdraw nationwide strike

Vice-President of the All India Sarafa Association, Surinder Kumar Jain said the industry has been losing business due to ongoing indefinite strike, and workers including artisans involved in the trade have the "crisis of bread and butter now.""Manufacturers and dealers of gold jewellery are agitated against the government's move," Jain added.

Tamil Nadu, however, struck a contrarian note, where most jewellery showrooms were open for regular trading.

Meanwhile, jewellery manufacturers are likely to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to demand rollback of the budgetary proposal.

"We have a meeting with the Prime Minister on Wednesday. The time is yet to be finalised," said Rahul Gupta, CEO of PP Jewellers.

Gupta is also the Vice-Chairman of Export Promotion Council for EoUs and SEZs.

The Centre has already constituted a panel under former chief economic advisor Ashok Lahiri to look into the demands of jewellers.

The sub-committee, which has been asked to submit its report in 60 days, will look into issues related to the compliance procedure for the excise duty, including records to be maintained, forms to be filled, operating procedures and other relevant aspects.

The government, in the Budget for 2016-17, had proposed 1% excise duty on jewellery without input credit or 12.5% with input tax credit on jewellery excluding silver other than those studded with diamonds and precious stones.
tumbled further in Asia today on dwindling hopes that key producers will reach an agreement to freeze output when they meet this month to discuss a global supply glut.

After breaking above $40 in March on expectations for the Russia-Saudi Arabia-led talks, the commodity has tumbled in recent weeks.

The April 17 Doha meeting aims to agree to cap output at January 2016 levels, with analysts also saying only a production cut can lead to a sustained recovery in prices.

The losses were fanned on Friday when Saudi deputy crown prince Mohammed bin Salman said his country would only agree to limits at the gathering if it move was matched by Iran and other major producers.

His comments sent diving 4% Friday, and extending the falls this week.

At around 0330 GMT Tuesday, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for delivery in May was down 15 cents, or 0.42%, at $35.55 and Brent crude for June was nine cents, or 0.24%, lower at $37.60.

"Crude oil is facing headwinds as Saudi Arabia hesitated to commit to freeze production unless Iran agrees to join the output freeze camp," said Margaret Yang, market analyst at CMC Singapore.

"This has brought down the market's expectation of what will be achieved in the long-awaited production freeze talk," she said in a market commentary.

Research house Capital Economics said however that it was "too soon to give up on a Doha deal", adding that a "compromise agreement" was still likely even without Iran's full participation.

Iran oil production has surged since the West lifted nuclear-linked sanctions in January, with the country's oil minister saying Sunday that exports of the commodity had now passed two million barrels per day.

World oil have slumped from levels above 100 a barrel in mid-2014 owing to overproduction, a supply glut, weak demand and a slowdown in the global economy.

The losses have only been stalled by hopes over the possible output freeze. But Capital Economics said in a note: "A sustained recovery in would probably require outright cuts in global supply and increases in demand" rather than just a freeze."
Transportation app Ola today launched e-rickshaw category on its platform that will enable the users to book rides on the electric vehicle in Delhi-NCR region.

The service will be launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi later in the day as part of 'Stand-Up India' initiative, which aimed at promoting entrepreneurship.

"A total of 5,100 Ola e-rickshaws will be launched in partnership with Bhartiya Micro Credit (BMC) at the event and will be deployed across Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, Faridabad and Ghaziabad. This will be further scaled up in the coming months to more small towns and Tier III cities," Ola Chief Operating Officer Pranay Jivrajka told reporters here.

The company will charge a 10 per cent commission from the rickshaw pedallers. It will, however, not charge any convenience fee from users as is the case with auto-rickshaws.

While the fare will differ city to city, users will have to pay Rs 25 for two km and Rs 8 per km for the following distance. They can pay cash or using Ola Money, the company's wallet service.

"We will soon launch ride sharing options, which will bring down the cost," he said without disclosing a timeline.

Estimates suggest there are five million rickshaw pedallers in the country.

With over 60 per cent of the India's population residing in small towns, Ola aims to strengthen mobility in these towns with the e-rickshaw initiative, he added.

"Citizens in these cities and towns currently suffer from lack of convenient and reliable mobility options, especially for short distances. E-rickshaws are an affordable and greener alternative in these cities that can serve mobility needs unique to these small towns and cities in India," he said.

Apart from financial support for procuring e-rickshaws, Ola and BMC will also set up and run skill development centres in these towns to enable continuous skilling and training for thousands of rickshaw driver-entrepreneurs.

Ola already has about 80,000 auto-rickshaws and 3.5 lakh cabs on its platform.

Besides, digital payments company FreeCharge has also come on board as a partner. It will enable customers to connect and pay via chat with e-Rickshaw drivers as part of its chat-n-pay service.

"The drivers can register as a merchant at zero investment, on the Chat-n-Pay platform by simply adding their banking details. For consumers and drivers, Chat-n-Pay will help eliminate the hassle of managing and arranging change and will further offer convenience to pay on-the-go in a seamless and secure manner," Govind Rajan, Chief Operating Officer, FreeCharge said.

Speaking on the initiative, Kiran Brahma, Regional



Business Head at Ola , said, " Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is essential to our driver-partners' overall well-being and performance. In addition to increasing their productivity and efficiency, it reduces their risk of exposure to health hazards and substantially improves their quality of life. Through the 'We Care, We Share' campaign, we want to stress on the importance of health and personal well-being to our driver-partners and their families." He further added, "Education and awareness around periodic health check-ups is essential for our driver-partners to stay fit and grow professionally on the platform as entrepreneurs. As India's leading mobility platform, it is our endeavour to promote healthy living and safe driving, as we advance on our mission of building mobility for a billion Indians."



"We are happy to associate with Ola in this wonderful initiative to promote healthy living for driver-partners, who are constantly on the move and need to monitor their health at regular intervals. Ola's 'We Care, We Share' campaign is laudable, as it emphasises health as a key priority for their partner's well-being. We are proud to partner with Ola, in this initiative of driving 'healthy living' amongst their partners, by organizing periodic check-ups, medical kits and custom information material, through our team of well qualified doctors," said Dr. Ketan Apte, Unit Head, Sahyadri Hospital Nagar Road.

Since inception, Ola has focused on building a holistic ecosystem for its driver partners, professionally as well as personally, allowing them to grow as entrepreneurs. In the past, Ola has partnered with Lenskart for free eye-checkup camps for its driver-partners, and Neev Finance to provide easy school education for their children.

Ola has also tied-up with Mahindra First Choice Services



(MFCS) to offer discounted car maintenance services at over 79 workshops pan India.

About Ola:



Founded in Jan 2011 by IIT Bombay alumni Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati, Ola (formerly Olacabs), is India's most popular mobile app for personal transportation. Ola integrates city transportation for customers and driver-partners onto a mobile technology platform ensuring convenient, transparent and quick service fulfillment. Ola is committed to its mission of building mobility for a billion people. Using the Ola mobile app, users across 102 cities can book from over 450,000 cabs and 120,000 auto-rickshaws and taxis. Ola has also introduced a range of shared mobility services on its platform like Ola Shuttle and Ola Share for commute and ride-sharing respectively. The app is available on Windows, Android and iOS platforms. In early 2015, Ola acquired TaxiForSure, India's second largest cab aggregator, which continues to operate as an independent brand. Please visit http://www.Olacabs.Com for more information.

Media contact:



Surabhi Patodia



Surabhi.Patodia@olacabs.Com



+91-9741277703



ANI Technologies



Photo: http://photos.Prnewswire.Com/prnh/20160805/395932 Source: Ola.
P Sunil Kumar, YSR Congress MLA from Guduru (SC) constituency in SPS Nellore district, crossed over to the ruling Telugu Desam Party here today.

Sunil was formally admitted into the TDP by the party national president and Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.

With this, the total number of legislators who switched sides from YSRC to TDP increased to nine.

Two YSRC MLAs from East Godavari district have already quit the party and announced their decision to join the TDP. Jyothula Nehru and V Subba Rao will complete the formality in the next couple of days.

With the defection of these many MLAs, the strength of the lone Opposition in the 176-member Legislative Assembly fell to 56.

The TDP is hopeful that more legislators from the YSRC would jump over in the coming days.

The TDP successfully thwarted YSRC president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy's attempts to get the defected MLAs disqualified by issuing a whip in the Budget session of the Assembly last month.
Opposition parties today targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over Pakistan media reports that Pathankot attack was "stage-managed" by India and that its JIT was not provided with evidence of involvement of Pak-based terrorists, drawing a sharp response from the BJP.

Attacking the prime minister, the Congress tweeted, "Did Modiji invite the Pakistani JIT so that they could insult the memory of our brave martyrs?" while Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the "invitation" amounted to giving a "clean chit" to ISI for the terror attack in January.

Kejriwal also demanded that Modi tender an "apology" for the "monumental" foreign policy failure. An ISI official was part of the five-member JIT that was in India last week.

JD-U said the claim by an unnamed JIT member quoted in the media reports was a "slap" on the face the country for which the Modi government is responsible.

BJP termed as "shameful" Kejriwal's attack on Modi for "inviting" JIT to India and his cabinet colleague Kapil Mishra asking "do we have a ISI agent as PM now?".

Congress demanded an apology from BJP chief Amit Shah for "having distributed certificates of sincerity to Pakistan" in the light of the Pakistani media reports.

Congress' communication department chief Randeep Surjewala said, "it is now clear that neither has Modiji's rhetoric of 56 inches chest or showing red eyes to Pakistan and China paid off nor has his sudden visit to Pakistan and attending feasts and marriage parties with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had any effect."



Surjewala said the prime minister should "rise over theatrics" and take diplomacy seriously, which the country expects as 125 crore people of India are feeling "betrayed" by Modi.

He, however, said the reports once again exposed the "doubled-faced" policy of Pakistan in dealing with terrorism.

Alleging that the development has caused "national embarrassment", senior party spokesperson Anand Sharma said Congress had "cautioned" the Prime Minister and the government about the JIT which also had a representative from ISI.

"A diplomatic crime has been committed. This has caused national embarrassment. BJP chief Amit Shah, who lacks any comprehension of the complex issue and gravitas of foreign policy, was distributing certificates of sincerity to Pakistan in the Pathankot matter. He should apologise to the people," Sharma said.

The Centre's decision to invite a Pakistani JIT to probe the Pathankot airbase attack was a "monumental failure" and a "stab" in the back of "Bharat Mata", Kejriwal told reporters.

He alleged that Modi had entered into a deal with his Pakistan counterpart Nawaz Sharif during his Lahore visit in December last year, and sought to know its details "in the country's interest".

"The Prime Minister called over ISI officials despite being aware that it was behind the Pathankot terror attack which amounted to a clean chit. Now the JIT has reportedly claimed that India had itself staged the attack. No prime minister has capitulated before Pakistan the way Modi ji has."



BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said the 125 crore people of India will never forgive Kapil Mishra for calling the Prime Minister an "ISI agent".

Such use of words for a Prime Minister for "cheap politics and lust of power" amounted to insult of Indian people, he said, asking, "What message are you sending to the international community? Whose hands are you strengthening by uttering such kind of words?".

(REOPENS DEL65)



Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu termed the "stage managed" theory propagated by Pakistan as its "regular drama" as done by it in the past, but called for dialogue as the way forward.

"Pakistan should once and for all decide on whether to have a policy of aiding, abetting, funding and training terrorism. This is a fact.

"India and Pakistan are neighbours. We want to have friendly relations with all our neighbours, including Pakistan. Earlier we were together. Keeping that in mind, the responsibility lies with Pakistan to create a conducive atmosphere to move forward," he said, adding, dialogue is the way forward and the process must be exhausted to see what can happen.

Naidu also claimed Pakistan is "under pressure" from some "extremist groups" in their country and that is why they are taking this particular line.

"I hope it will rethink," he said, adding, nobody including Pakistanis would believe on Pak's claim that Pathankot was 'stage managed' by India".

He, however, said there is an "overwhelming" public opinion to have good relations between both the countries.

"It is a very delicate and sensitive matter and we have to tread our path in such a manner to see how to address this. People want dialogue. But at the same time dialogue and terror cannot go together," he said, adding that government is trying to address the issues.
Congress today targetted Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah after Pakistani media reported that the JIT, which came to India to probe the Pathankot terror attack, dubbed it as a "drama staged by India to malign Pakistan".

While it demanded an apology from Shah for "having distributed certificates of sincerity to Pakistan", it took a swipe at Modi saying he was "nose led" repeatedly by the Pakistani establishment into situations which led to national embarrassment.

"From day one, we had asked what convinced the Prime Minister or assured him that the understanding reached between his NSA Ajit Doval and the Pakistani NSA former ISI General Naseer Janjua convinced him that the entire establishment of Pakistan endorsed the talks and the peace process. He and his government have been silent.

"First it happened post-Ufa when there was an attack in Udhampur, then Gurdaspur, then after his dramatic visit to Lahore and Raiwind to Nawaz Sharif's residence, in five days, we had the attack in Pathankot. What Prime Minister has claimed and his government as diplomatic triumph has turned out to be a diplomatic disaster," senior Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma Sharma told reporters.

Congress' communication department chief Randeep Surjewala said "reports in Pakistani media quoting leaked contents of Pakistani Joint Investigation Team report on Pathankot terror attack have once again exposed the doubled-faced policy of Pakistan in dealing with terrorism."



He said "it is now clear that neither has Modiji's rhetoric of 56 inches chest or showing red eyes to Pakistan and China paid off nor has his sudden visit to Pakistan and attending feasts and marriage parties with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had any effect."



The Congress leader said the Prime Minister should "rise over theatrics" and take diplomacy seriously, which the country expects as 125 crore people of India are feeling "betrayed" by Modi.

Surjewala said the "reposition of confidence" in the Pakistani JIT by Shah appears to have "backfired".

Taking the attack on Shah further, Sharma said, "BJP President Amit Shah had given a certificate of sincerity to Pakistan. He is the head of the ruling party lacking of any elementary comprehension of the strategic issues involved and the complexity of the relationship between Pakistan and India."



Alleging that the NSA and Modi government have let India and its people down, he said, "Our national security has been repeatedly compromised. Modi's office, his Secretary, his NSA and the BJP President Amit Shah are actually operating the dirty tricks Department of this government which is using the resources and technology of the State to target its political opponents through tapping of phones, surveillance and toppling Congress governments."



"That is what they are busy with, instead of ensuring India's security and allowing Pakistan multiple opportunities to embarrass India," he said.
Panama's government said today it could retaliate if France makes good on its decision to put the Central American nation back on a "tax haven" list following the "Panama Papers" revelations.

"In Panama, there is a law that sets out retaliation measures against countries that include Panama in 'gray lists'," Alvaro Aleman, the minister for the presidency, equivalent to the post of prime minister, said.

Aleman said that, as a result, "the government is going to have to analyze the situation and is inclined to take a series of steps that naturally could go towards adopting means of retaliation."



The government of Panama and the country's vital financial services sector are panicking in the wake of the massive data leak from one of the country's law firms, Mossack Fonseca. The revelations show how some of the world's wealthy set up offshore companies for their assets to hide them from scrutiny.

They fear the revelations being published in media around the world could scupper years of work to shed Panama's past reputation as a haven for money-launderers and tax cheats.

In February this year, the country managed to get off an "gray list" of tax havens by passing some reforms curbing somewhat the anonymity of offshore companies.

But after the so-called revelations, France's finance minister, Michel Sapin, told the French parliament that "France has decided to put Panama back on the list of uncooperative countries."



France removed Panama from the list of Uncooperative States and Territories (ETNC) in 2012 after the two countries reached a bilateral accord on fighting tax evasion.
China today dismissed as "groundless" allegations that eight of its ruling Communist Party officials including President Xi Jinping's brother-in-law used off-shore tax heavens while the official media here alleged that "powerful" western forces were behind the 'Panama Papers'.

"For such groundless allegations I have no comments" to make, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a media briefing when asked about the 'Panama Papers'.

He declined to answer another question about whether China, which embarked on new tax reforms, will investigate the offshore accounts.

"As for the Panama papers, I have no comment," Hong said.

A massive leak of 11.5 million tax documents has reportedly exposed the secret offshore dealings of around 140 political figures globally.

The vast stash of records, covering around 40 years, was obtained from an anonymous source by German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung and shared with media worldwide by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).

Eight of the top former and current officials of the Communist Party of China (CPC) were among the 140 political figures around the world alleged to have links to offshore accounts.

The officials include Xi's brother-in-law Deng Jiagui, who reportedly set up two British Virgin Islands companies in 2009 when Xi was member of the powerful Standing Committee of the CPC.

The official media blacked out the leaked documents.

However, state-run Global Times, while skirting references to CPC officials, hit out at the western countries, saying that they are using such disclosures to target other political leaders.

In an editorial titled 'Powerful force is behind Panama Papers', the CPC-run Global Times said, "In the Internet era, disinformation poses no major risks to Western influential elites or the West".

"In the long-run, it will become a new means for the ideology-allied Western nations to strike a blow to non- Western political elites and key organisations," it said.

While the editorial referred to Russian President Vladimir Putin, it avoided any mention of the eight former and current CPC officials including Xi's brother-in-law Deng.

In 2014, both New York Times and Bloomberg carried reports of the family members former Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Xi had large assets base.

Chinese foreign ministry at thattime had termed the allegations as smear campaigns.

(Reopens FGN 23)



"Most media led with the allegations that a close friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin had laundered USD one billion. The Western media has opaquely described it as 'Putin's money laundering'," the Global Times editorial said.

Referring to Wikileaks disclosures by Edward Snowdon, it said, "the Western media has taken control of the interpretation each time there has been such a document dump, and Washington has demonstrated particular influence in it".

"Information that is negative to the US can always be minimised, while exposure of non-Western leaders, such as Putin, can get extra spin," it said.

"The online disinformation makes public opinion precise strikes possible for the West, which always 'digs out' materials from the so-called confidential information. Despite different interests, Western countries are close allies in ideology," it said.

This is perhaps the basis for the concept of the "West", the daily said.

"It is risky to claim the leaked information is fabricated. It can be predicted that such disclosure will not survive if it embarrasses the West. But the West will be happy to see such leaks happen if their opponents are attacked," the editorial said.

"Some are wondering why so many public figures handed over their secrets to the same law firm. But it is only a minor question. For ordinary people, it is useless to wrestle with the power behind the leak, which can wield such a huge amount of documents," it said.
A North Korean front company used to help fund the country's nuclear weapons programme was among the clients of the Panamanian law firm at the centre of a massive data leak, reports said today.

With a Pyongyang-based address, DCB Finance Ltd. was registered in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) in 2006, and leaked papers show that the Panama firm, Mossack Fonseca, legally incorporated the company, the Guardian newspaper and BBC reported.

The same year saw North Korea conduct its first nuclear test, triggering the first of numerous US Security Council resolutions imposing sanctions on Pyongyang.

DCB Finance Ltd was registered by North Korean official Kim Chol-Sam and Nigel Cowie, a British banker who had moved to North Korea in 1995 and went on to head its first foreign bank, Daedong Credit Bank -- of which DCB Finance was an offshoot.

Leaked papers suggest that, despite the Pyongyang address, Mossack Fonseca failed to notice DCB's link with North Korea until the BVI's Financial Investigation Agency sent it a letter in 2010 asking for details of the company.

It was only then that the law firm resigned as DCB's agent.

The following year Cowie, who says he was unaware of any unlawful transactions, sold the share he had brought in Daedong Credit Bank to a Chinese consortium.

Both the bank and DCB -- as well as official Kim Chol-Sam -- were targeted by US sanctions in June, 2013 on the grounds that they had, since 2006, provided financial services to two North Korean entities with a "central role" in developing the North's nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.

The US Treasury said DCB Finance had been used to "carry out financial transactions as a means to avoid scrutiny by financial institutions avoiding business with North Korea."



A leaked e-mail from Mossack Fonseca's compliance department in August 2013 appeared to acknowledge a lack of due diligence on the part of the law firm.

"We have not yet addressed the reason we maintained a relationship with DCB Finance when we knew or ought to have known from incorporation in 2006, that the country, North Korea was on the black list," the e-mail said.

"We should have identified from the onset that this was a high risk company," it added.
Embattled Nigerian Senate president Bukola Saraki today brushed off allegations of wrongdoing concerning his wife's offshore assets revealed in the Panama Papers as he defended himself in court against fraud charges.

The latest graft claim to hit the senate president emerged from the "Panama Papers" investigation into a trove of 11.5 million tax documents leaked from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, which specialises in creating offshore shell companies.

Saraki is alleged to have failed to declare at least four offshore assets listed under his wife Toyin's name that appear in the leaked documents, according to investigation media partner Nigerian newspaper Premium Times.

Under Nigerian law, it is mandatory for the president, the vice-president, state governors and their deputies to declare their assets along with those of their wife and children under 18 when they take office and before stepping down.

But Saraki said he did not do anything illegal and argued that the assets are listed as part of his wife's "family estate."



"I've fully complied with law on asset declaration," Saraki said in a statement issued yesterday posted on his website.

"The law does not require a public officer to declare assets held by the spouse's family," Saraki's spokesman Yusuph Olaniyonu said.

"It is public knowledge that Mrs Saraki comes from a family of independent means and wealth with numerous and varied assets acquired over decades in family estates and investments."



Saraki is standing trial in Abuja, Nigeria's capital, before the Code of Conduct Tribunal facing charges including false declaration of assets while he was governor of the western state of Kwara from 2003 to 2011. He has denied all charges.

A trained physician and former banker, the senate president is considered Nigeria's third most senior politician behind President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo.

Yet anti-corruption campaigners fear that the powerful politician will, like others before him, outmanoeuvre the law.

"The latest revelation about Saraki's family should not surprise anybody," Debo Adeniran, chairman of the Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders lobby group, told AFP.

"We suggest that the Nigerian anti-graft agencies should collaborate with their foreign partners to move against Saraki and make him accountable," Adeniran said.

"If Saraki escapes the Nigerian laws because of the loopholes and leniency in our laws, the international community should not allow him to escape.

"He should get the Ibori's treatment," Adeniran said, referring to the case of former Delta state governor James Ibori who was acquited in Nigeria on corruption charges but jailed in London for a similar offence.

Several high-profile politicians are currently standing trial as part of Buhari's drive to tackle endemic corruption in Nigeria, Africa's largest crude producer and biggest economy.
World leaders and celebrities exposed in a massive leak of their secret offshore financial dealings are hitting back, saying they have done nothing wrong despite a growing international furore.

Some of the biggest names in the scandal said they were being unfairly targeted even as the scandal mushroomed and a series of countries vowed to open tax evasion investigations following the leak of 11.5 million confidential documents -- the so-called Panama Papers.

The vast stash of records from Panamanian legal firm Mossack Fonseca was obtained from an anonymous source by German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung and shared with more than 100 media groups by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which published their first findings Sunday after a year-long probe.

Among those named by the ICIJ and fellow media groups for their offshore dealings are relatives of Chinese leader Xi Jinping, close associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Iceland's Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, and Barcelona striker Lionel Messi.

Offshore financial dealings are not illegal in themselves but may be used to hide assets from tax authorities, launder the proceeds of criminal activities or conceal misappropriated or politically inconvenient wealth.

In Beijing, there was no official reaction to ICIJ allegations that eight current or former members of the ruling party's most powerful body concealed their fortunes through offshore havens, as well as relatives of Xi Jinping, who has overseen a much-publicised anti-corruption drive.

Asked whether China would investigate those named in the reports, however, foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said: "For such groundless accusations, I have no comment."



The Kremlin suggested a US plot after the leaks put a close friend of Putin's at the top of an offshore empire worth more than USD 2 billion.

"Putin, Russia, our country, our stability and the upcoming elections are the main target, specifically to destabilise the situation," said a Kremlin spokesman, claiming many of the journalists were former officers from the US state department, the CIA and special services.

Iceland's prime minister, former journalist Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, resisted mounting pressure to step down after the leaked documents purportedly showed that he and his wife bought a company in the British Virgin Islands in 2007.

Huge crowds gathered outside parliament late yesterday demanding he quit and the opposition is set to table a motion of no-confidence over the allegations. But the prime minister insisted he had never hidden money abroad.
The state prosecutor's office in Panama has said it will launch an investigation into revelations contained in a massive data leak of a law firm that created offshore companies for the world's rich and powerful.

"The facts described in national and communication media publications under the term 'Panama Papers' will be the subject of criminal investigation," the office said in a statement yesterday.

The probe will aim to establish what crimes might have taken place and who committed them, as well as identifying possible financial damages, it said.

The law firm involved, Mossack Fonseca, says the leak of 11.5 million documents from its servers was the result of a "limited hack," suggesting it believed an outside party was responsible.

One of its founders, Ramon Fonseca, said the leak was an attack on Panama itself, which is dependent on its financial services sector.

Panama's president, Juan Carlos Varela, said his country would cooperate with "whatever government and whatever investigation" resulted from the scandal.

But he also vowed to "defend the image of our country," which had been making progress in trying to lose a reputation as a hub for money laundering and other shady transactions.

Offshore entities, of themselves, are not illegal. But they can be used to launder money or hide assets from tax authorities in other countries.
Dominica's Patricia Scotland has taken over as the first woman Secretary-General of the 53-member Commonwealth, succeeding India's Kamalesh Sharma.

The 60-year-old was welcomed yesterday at Commonwealth headquarters in Marlborough House, London.

"I am determined that we are going to work together on tackling violence against women and girls, deal with the existential threat of climate change, promote trade and good governance, champion the health, well-being and human rights of our citizens, and ensure young people have the opportunities they need for the future," Patricia said in her firstofficial address in London.

Arriving straight from avisitto the Caribbean, she was escorted into Commonwealth Headquarters by the Caribbean High Commissioners and introduced by Dominica's acting High Commissioner to the UK, Janet Charles.

The new Secretary-General shared her vision for the Commonwealth, stating "Working and acting as one people - one family - we can make a different future".

In her speech, she described herself as "a classic child of the Commonwealth" - born in the Caribbean and brought up in London.

She highlighted her journey of "firsts" - from the first black woman to join the Queen's Counsel in the UK, the first woman to hold the position of UK Attorney General and the first woman Commonwealth Secretary-General.

She has succeeded Sharma who was appointed Secretary- General in 2007 and 2011.

She said she had been "rather sad" at being first and looked forward to supporting new generations of female leaders.

She highlighted tackling domestic violence as one of her top priorities, a problem, she said, that is "literally stealing our futures".

Born in the small village of St Joseph in Dominica, she said she knew only too well about thethreat of climate change. She urged the organisation to work together and make good on commitments agreed at the global Paris Climate Conference last December.

Boosting Commonwealth trade and creating better opportunities for young people, who make up 60 per cent of the Commonwealth population, she commented, would also be at the top of her agenda.

"I am confident that we can change things for the better. I want the Commonwealth to be a voice for everyone who shares our common values and hopes," she concluded.

Judge Firdous Azim said the stories from the Asia region



were really remarkable, representing a wide array of themes and styles.

"Humour, which is always a difficult mood to convey in a short span of time, was also one of the hallmarks of the stories from the Asian region," Azim said.

She said 'Cow and Company' embodies all the best qualities in the stories. "It is politically grounded, funny and keeps the reader engrossed as the story twists and turns and shows the connections between culture and commercial interests."



South African novelist and chair of the judges Gillian Slovo, called Kulkarni's story "a witty satire that engagingly immerses the reader in its world."



"As a novelist accustomed to the luxury of the long form it has been a treat to discover writers who manage to crystallise such different experiences into so few words. The stories we have chosen for the shortlist are in turn comic, touching, poetic, mysterious but always fresh and unexpected," she said.

Meanwhile Kulkarni who has won the British Academy Brian Barry Prize in Political Science (2015) for his research on religion, property rights and violence against women in colonial India says the short story is part of a larger project.

"It is a result of taking an advisor's words to heart - 'what you cannot do in history, you push to literature'" Kulkarni said.
Pakistani films producers and distributors today filed a petition in the Lahore High Court seeking a ban on exhibition of Indian movies in the country, claiming they are having a "bad impact" on youths.

"The exhibition of Indian films in Pakistan is in violation of Motion Pictures Ordinance 1979 and the Import Policy 20130," said advocate Qasim Khan, representing The Pakistan films producers and distributors.

The petition said Indian movies, which are very popular in the country, are having a "bad impact" on Pakistani youth besides depriving level playing field for Pakistani films.

The court office will fix the date of hearing later.

Almost a year ago, the Lahore High Court had dismissed a similar petition seeking a permanent ban on exhibition of Indian films in Pakistan.

Justice Ejazul Hasan had asked petitioner comedian Iftikhar Ahmad Thakur to take up the matter with the ministry of culture, terming it a relevant forum.

The petitioner had said the exhibition/promotion of Indian films in Pakistan is in conflict with articles 2, 28, 31 and 37 of the Constitution. Therefore, the court should put a permanent ban on their exhibition in Pakistan.
A petition filed in the Pune civil court today sought to restrain JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar from visiting Pune on the occasion of Babasaheb Ambedkar's birth anniversary on April 14.

Judge S R Yadav posted the petition for hearing tomorrow, said lawyer Wajid Khan, who appeared for Hemant Patil, the petitioner.

The petition contends that Kumar's visit may create law and order problem as he may give inflammatory speeches.

A Delhi court has already restrained the JNU student leader, arrested on sedition charge before being released on bail last month, from delivering speeches for six months and on this ground alone he should be restrained from visiting Pune, it said.

Kumar has accepted an invitation by a joint group of students from the city-based Ranande Institute of Journalism, Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) and Fergusson College to visit and speak in Pune.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "invitation" to Pakistani JIT, which included an ISI official, amounted to giving a "clean chit" to the spy agency for the Pathankot attack and demanded that he tender an "apology" for the "monumental" foreign policy failure.

The Centre's decision to invite a Pakistani Joint Investigation Team to probe the Pathankot airbase attack was a "monumental failure" and a "stab" in the back of "Bharat Mata", Kejriwal told a press conference here.

He alleged that Modi had entered into a deal with his Pakistan counterpart Nawaz Sharif during his Lahore visit in December last year, and sought to know its details "in the country's interest".

"The Prime Minister called over ISI officials despite being aware that it was behind the Pathankot terror attack which amounted to a clean chit. Now the JIT has reportedly claimed that India had itself staged the attack. No prime minister has capitulated before Pakistan the way Modi ji has," Kejriwal said.

After such an "abject surrender", who will believe India's long-held position that the Pakistani spy agency is behind terror strikes in India. "It's a monumental foreign policy failure," the AAP chief said.

"But what is the reason behind this failure? The country wants to know about the deal struck between Modi ji and Sharif. The country is being sold. The Prime Minister should apologise to the people of the country," Kejriwal said.

The Delhi CM also took on BJP and RSS through a series of tweets and pilloried Modi for "shaming" India in front of Pakistan.

"BJP/RSS people chant Bharat Mata ki Jai but stab Bharat Mata in the back by calling ISI to India (sic)," he tweeted.

The Pakistani media had earlier reported that after returning from India, the JIT claimed that Indian authorities "failed" to provide evidence to prove that Pakistan-based terrorists had stormed the IAF base.

The attack took place on the intervening night of January 1 and 2. An ensuing gunbattle had lasted 80 hours leaving seven security personnel and four terrorists dead.
Having spent four decades as a scholar of Hindu philosophical thought, politician-scholar Karan Singh's first and only work of fiction 'The Mountain of Shiva', a lyrical portrayal of the picturesque Kashmir Valley before the onset of militancy, is an occasion to reinvent himself.

A revised edition of the original book, first published some 40 years ago, that was brought out and launched at a function here recently gives the modern generation a glimpse into the fine literary sensibilities of Singh.

The present edition of the novel has been revised by the author with the addition of an epilogue.

"I wrote this novel some 40 years ago when Kashmir was peaceful and charming having overcome the turbulence of the 1949 invasion," he told the audience at the launch.

Terming the book as a "spiritual journey," he said his attempt was to capture a man's effort to seek release from the narrow material world into the divine path. He described Ashok, the main character in the novel, as his "alter ego".

Looking back on his eventful life as a public figure , Singh, the the 85-year-old Congressman and Rajya Sabha MP said that it was not possible for him to become a full-time writer since he "was born into politics".

Releasing the book, former diplomat-writer Pavan K Varma, said 'The Mountain of Shiva' was competently written as the novel "grasped the essence of everything that the Shankaracharya Temple in Srinagar stood for."



Varma suggested Singh write more such literary works but the latter ruled out saying "any fictional work on Kashmir written now has to revolve around militancy and destruction. That is not my cup of tea."



Turning down a request to read out excerpts from his book, Singh instead delighted the audience by reciting some of the poems included in it.

Bhaskar Roy, CEO of Palimpsest, which published the revised edition of the book, said that the novel was "so gripping that one can finish it in a single sitting".

The book, he said, discovered Singh in a new role.

"Every reader of the book will feel like asking: What if Dr Singh became a full-time writer say 50-60 years ago," Roy said.

He said the book gave Singh an opportunity to "reinvent" himself and brought to light a facet of his personality not familiar to many.

Palimpsest chairman Yogesh Malik said the publishing house was a meeting place for both well-established writers and also the new voices in contemporary writing.
After a prolonged legal battle, Pondicherry University Vice-Chancellor Chandra Krishnamurthy has replied to a show cause notice issued to her by the HRD Ministry asking why she should not be dismissed over charges of plagiarism, irregularities and misrepresentation.

"The Pondicherry University VC has submitted an elaborate reply on the charges against her. It is being examined in detail by the ministry after which further action will be taken," a senior HRD Ministry official told PTI.

Last month, the Supreme Court in its order, had declined to interfere with the show cause notice issued by the HRD Ministry, asking Krishnamurthy, as to why should she not be dismissed from the post for alleged plagiarism, administrative irregularities and misrepresentation made to the government.

A three-judge bench had dismissed the vice-chancellor's appeal against a judgment by the Madras High Court which had refused to grant any relief to her.

The high court had also upheld another order of the HRD Ministry placing Krishnamurthy under 'compulsory' wait. The apex court had granted three weeks to her for replying to the notice.

Earlier, following complaints, the UGC had constituted a fact-finding committee consisting of academicians and retired officials, who in its report claimed she was "guilty" of plagiarism and misrepresentation made to the Union ministry.
Pope Francis will travel to the Greek island of Lesbos on the frontline of Europe's refugee crisis next week, Greece announced today as a controversial EU accord to send migrants back to Turkey stalled.

The papal trip to Lesbos, accompanied by the head of the Eastern Orthodox Church, is likely to pile pressure on European leaders already criticised for the deal with Turkey, which aims to defuse Europe's worst migration crisis since World War II by curbing the influx of people.

"The Greek government will welcome Pope Francis and the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew as valuable defenders of support to refugees, and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will go with (them) to the island of Lesbos," a government source in Athens said.

of the papal visit came as a last-minute rush of asylum applications stalled operations to return migrants from Greece to Turkey under a deal signed in March.

The holiday island of Lesbos has served as a major gateway for refugees and other migrants hoping to start new lives in Europe, with hundreds of thousands of people sailing there in flimsy boats from the nearby Turkish coast over the past year.

The government source declined to give a precise date for the visit by Francis and Bartholomew, but indicated it could take place on April 14 or 15.

The Greek Orthodox Church earlier said it had approved plans for a papal visit to Lesbos island after Francis expressed a desire to "shed light on the major humanitarian problem" of the migrant influx.

The pope has previously spoken out on the migrant crisis, using his recent Easter address to criticise the "rejection" of refugees.

The process of returning migrants, mainly Syrians, to Turkey has been slowed "by an increase in asylum requests" in the last few days by migrants on Chios and Lesbos, the Greek Aegean islands in the front line of the migratory wave, said Greek official Yiorgos Kyritsis.

Kyritsis, the spokesman for the Greek government panel coordinating the migration crisis, said no operations were planned for today.

A Turkish official said the next transfer of migrants "has been postponed to Friday" at Greece's request



"Greece could not send the people. Everything is ready here but we received a message from the Greek side," added the official, after others had spoken of a possible resumption of the transfers on Wednesday.

All "irregular migrants" arriving in Greece since March 20 face being sent back, although the EU deal calls for each case to be examined individually.
Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu today outlined the need for gearing up the railway infrastructure, saying it would amount to "huge gains" to the 'Make in India' programme.

"If railway infrastructure is geared up to meet the requirement of tomorrow, it will reduce cost and increase speed of transportation which will be huge gain for the Make in India as well as the Indian economy," he said at an event here.

Prabhu said in the development of transportation infrastructure, growth will be led by railways.

Investment in railways will also push demand-driven growth in the manufacturing sector, such as steel and cement, thereby driving the 'Make in India' programme.

"Steel makers, cement manufacturers tell me that the early signs of recovery of economy is thanks to investment in railways. There will demand driven growth in manufacturing because their products will be manufactured," he said.

On the Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC), he said it will also boost manufacturing because steel and cement would be needed.

The DFC on its completion by 2019, is expected to double the average speed of freight movement, which is currently around 25 kmph, he said.

Referring to the "complementary" relationship between India and Japan in different areas, he said, railways is collaborating with Japan in a significant way.

"Sixteen billion dollars with 50 year tenure, non-servicing period of 15 years and rate of interest just 0.1 per cent. If anyone offers anything better than this we will accept it," the railway minister said.

The Japanese also "realise" that development of railways is key to the development of Indian economy, he said.
President Pranab Mukherjee will will address chief executives of public sector enterprises next week.

On a function to mark the Public Sector week on April 11, Mukherjee will also give away the SCOPE Excellence Awards to public sector enterprises (PSEs).

Every year, the Public Sector Day is jointly organised by Standing Conference of Public Enterprises (SCOPE) and Department of Public Enterprises (DPE).

The function is part of week-long Public Sector Day celebrations beginning from April 10-16 wherein entire public sector fraternity throughout the country and abroad will hold seminars, conferences, quiz competitions, talk by eminent persons, and cultural programmes.
Russian President Vladimir Putin today urged the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to ensure a halt to deadly clashes over the disputed Nagorny Karabakh region after a truce was agreed.

"Putin called on both sides to urgently ensure a complete cessation of military hostilities and respect for the ceasefire," the Kremlin said in a statement after Putin spoke to the two presidents separately by telephone.

Putin voiced "serious concern" after four days of fighting killed at least 64 people in the the worst outbreak of violence over the territory since since an inconclusive truce in 1994.

Putin also underlined the need to restart internationally moderated peace negotiations that have failed to definitively end the bitter feud over the past two decades.

Azerbaijan and Armenian separatists in Nagorny Karabakh today said were ending their fighting after four days of bloodshed, as international powers scrambled to resolve the worst violence in decades over the disputed region.

Armenian and Azeri forces said they had agreed a ceasefire to halt the fighting from 0800 GMT.

The truce came after Azerbaijan's army claimed to have snatched control of several strategic locations inside Armenian-controlled territory, effectively changing the frontline for the first time since the 1994 truce.

Separatists backed by Yerevan seized control of mountainous Nagorny Karabakh, a majority ethnic Armenian region lying inside Azerbaijan, in an early 1990s war after the Soviet Union crumbled that claimed some 30,000 lives.

The sides have never signed a peace deal despite the 1994 ceasefire and sporadic violence regularly claims lives of soldiers on both sides, though the latest outbreak represented a serious escalation.

While ex-Soviet master Moscow has sold arms to both sides and treads a careful line between the two, it has a military alliance with, and base in, Armenia and far closer ties to Yerevan.
The Reserve Bank of India is holding discussions with Tehran on modalities of payment of reported dues of USD 6.5 billion for oil imports, Governor Raghuram Rajan today said.

"We are discussing with them (Iran) the way they want to be paid and certainly, we will work with them on when and how we pay them. I don't think it will happen as a lumpsum. It is going to be staggered," Rajan said during the customary post-policy call with analysts.

He, however, did not disclose the quantum of payments to be made to the Middle East country, which is getting ready for a life post sanctions.

Indicating that the commitments will be honoured, Rajan said meeting the payment should not be a concern as the country has over USD 350 billion in its forex kitty at present.

In August 2015, a central government official had said RBI will be assisting Indian refiners to clear over USD 6.5 billion of past dues they owe to Iran for crude oil purchases.

The central bank, which previously facilitated payment of oil import bill to Iran, had agreed to help in creating the payment channels to clear the past dues.

The then finance secretary Rajiv Mehrishi had led a four member delegation to Tehran in July 2015 to discuss modalities of clearing the dues.

After the US and western powers in 2011 blocked payment channels in a bid to bring Iran to the negotiating table over its controversial nuclear programme, RBI had facilitated oil payments to Iran via Turkey.

Iran and six world powers last year sealed an accord to curb the Islamic Republic's nuclear programme in return for ending sanctions. The lifting of sanctions is expected to open up banking channels for Tehran.

India is keen that repayment of dues since February 2013 should be done in a staggered manner so as to avoid a run on the rupee.

Since February 2013, Indian refiners like Essar Oil and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals (MRPL) have been paying 45 per cent of payment dues on purchase of crude oil from Iran in rupees through Uco Bank, Kolkata. The remaining has been accumulating, pending finalisation of a payment mechanism.

They had last year paid nearly $3 billion in six instalments through a limited payment channel following start of nuclear talks between the West and Iran. The outstanding has since climbed to over USD 6.5 billion.

Essar Oil owes USD 3.34 billion to Iran, MRPL USD 2.49



billion and IOC USD 581 million. HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd (HMEL) needs to pay back USD 97 million and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) another USD 29 million.

Besides, about Rs 17,000 crore was lying in Iranian account with Uco Bank.

On the state government's budgets, Deputy Governor Urijit Patel acknowledged that there is seriousness on fiscal discipline.

"From the budgets that we have received, which are for a fair number of states, the consolidated revenue account of the state governments is actually projected to be in surplus, which is indicative of their intent to adhere to fiscal consolidation," he said.

The deputy governor added that the gross fiscal deficit ratio is expected to fall by 0.5 per cent to 2.4 per cent in 2016-17.
The woman from Kyrgyzstan, who was rescued from an alleged flesh trade racket in the state capital here last month, was today handed over to an embassy representative of her country.

The woman, in her early 30s, was rescued from an apartment at Chandrasekharpur area here on March 23 by the Commissionerate police.

A female official of Kyrgyzstan Embassy arrived here this morning and met officials of the Chandrasekharpur police station before visiting the rescued woman at Ruchika Helpline where she was sheltered.

The official spoke to members of Child Welfare Committee and enquired about the rescued woman's health before taking her to Delhi.

The Commissionerate Police had contacted the Kyrgyzstan Embassy after the woman's rescue. "We handed the rescued woman over to the embassy official in order to prevent her from again falling in a sex racket." Benudhar Senapati, an official of the shelter home said.

Even though her tourist visa is valid till April 23, she may be deported tomorrow, a top Odisha police official said.

The embassy official refused to comments on the issue.

Before leaving the shelter home, the rescued woman in a 'letter' said, "First of all I want to apologise for my disastrous behaviour. Thank you so much for your love, care. I will remember this time, this place always. Thank you."



The woman had visited Goa and Bengaluru in February before she was was brought here by an agent from Kolkata. She was rescued during a raid on March 23 in which one person identified as Somesh Panda was arrested.

Panda was an associate of suspected sex racket kingpin Sunil Meher, who managed to escape during the raid. The racket used to lure rich people with foreigner women.
Navanetham Pillay, South Africa's first non-white woman judge who is of Indian origin, has been conferred with the highest French civilian honour.

Pillay, 74, was the first non-white woman judge of the High Court of South Africa and has also served as President of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda which tried leaders of a genocide that left nearly a million people dead.

Pillay, the daughter of a bus driver who qualified against great odds through community support, said she considered it a great honour to have received the Commandeur de la Legion d'Honneur (the Legion of Honour).

A former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Pillay became the first non-white woman to open her own law practice in Natal Province - where she was born.

French Ambassador to South Africa Elisabeth Barbier said the award was a recognition of Pillay's work for international justice system, human rights and women's rights.

During her 28 years as a lawyer, Pillay defended anti-Apartheid activists and helped expose the use of torture and poor conditions of political detainees.

In 1973, she won the right for political prisoners on Robben Island, including anti-Apartheid champion and South Africa's first black president Nelson Mandela, to have legal representation.

Other renowned South Africans who have received the award include Mandela, his fellow prisoner Ahmed Kathrada, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, writer Andre Brink and unionist-turned-politician Jay Naidoo.

Pillay is currently the 16th Commissioner of the Madrid-basedInternational Commission against the Death Penalty, which works with the United Nations and other bodies in promoting the abolition of capital punishment.

She co-founded Equality Now, an international women's rights organisation, in South Africa and has been involved with other organisations working on issues relating to children, detainees, victims of torture and of domestic violence, and a range of economic, social and cultural rights.

She holds a Master of Law and a Doctorate of Juridical Science from Harvard University.
South African President Jacob Zuma faces an impeachment attempt in parliament today after the country's top court ruled that he had violated the constitution over spending on his private residence.

Zuma will almost certainly survive the impeachment vote, which requires a two-thirds majority, as his ruling African National Congress holds an overwhelming number of seats.

Despite rumblings of discontent within the party over a series of scandals involving the president, there is unlikely to be a revolt among ANC lawmakers, particularly as it will not be a secret ballot.

The Supreme Court of Appeal ruled last Thursday that Zuma had flouted the constitution by failing to repay some of the money spent on "security upgrades" at his rural home at Nkandla in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal province.

The project, which cost taxpayers $24 million, included a swimming pool, chicken run, cattle enclosure and an amphitheatre.

A 2014 report by the government-appointed Public Protector, Thuli Madonsela, found that Zuma and his family had "unduly benefited" from the upgrades and ordered him to pay back some of the money.

Zuma apologised in a national television address on Friday for the "frustration and confusion" caused by the affair, but made it clear that he had no intention of responding to calls to resign.

He however said he would pay back some of the money as ordered.

The impeachment motion was lodged by the main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, which drew unflattering comparisons between Zuma and iconic former ANC leader and president, Nelson Mandela.

"Jacob Zuma is the cancer at the heart of South African politics; he is not capable of honourable conduct, and cannot continue to be president of our country," the party said in response to his televised address.

It is unlikely that Zuma will be in parliament for the debate, which means that it might escape the chaotic scenes which have regularly erupted when he is present.

Previous disruptions have been sparked by the radical Economic Freedom Fighters, led by firebrand Julius Malema, who vowed after the appeal court judgement that they will no longer allow Zuma to address the assembly.

"In between now and the impeachment, the president will not speak in parliament and we will stop him physically.

"We will push him because President Zuma is no longer the president of the Republic of South Africa," Malema told a conference.

Zuma has been urged to resign by a number of senior ANC veterans of the struggle against apartheid, which brought Mandela to power in 1994, but analysts say that too many current office-holders fear that if the president falls they will fall with him.

Zuma, 73, will complete his second term in office in 2019, and is barred by the constitution from running again.
South African President Jacob Zuma easily survived an impeachment vote today after a stormy session of parliament over a court ruling that he had violated the country's post-apartheid constitution.

Lawmakers from Zuma's African National Congress (ANC) rallied to his defence, defeating the motion by 233 votes to 143 despite growing pressure for him to resign over the scandal.

During the debate, Zuma was likened by the leader of the main opposition party to a "large and malignant tumour" on the ANC, which came to power in 1994 with the election of Nelson Mandela and the end of white-minority rule.

"When the highest court in the land ruled that the man occupying the highest office violated the constitution, it should have been the end of President Zuma," Mmusi Maimane, leader of the Democratic Alliance, told the assembly.

"Corruption has infected the entire party like a cancer."



Acknowledging that the ANC would use its overwhelming majority to defeat the impeachment motion, Maimane said that "when ANC MPs defend President Zuma and his corrupt acts, they will show that they are complicit in the spread of the disease".

He vowed the ANC, which convincingly won the 2014 general elections, would pay the price when voters return to the polls.

The Constitutional Court last week issued a damaging ruling against Zuma over spending of public funds on his private residence.

As lawmakers on both sides shouted insults at each other, the firebrand leader of the radical Economic Freedom Fighters, Julius Malema, said that "Zuma and the ANC want to convert South Africa into a banana republic".

Speaking on behalf of the ANC, deputy justice minister John Jeffery said that any impeachment bid required a "serious violation" of the constitution.

While "the Constitutional Court judgement stated that the president failed to uphold, defend and respect the Constitution", it did not find a "serious" contravention, he said.

The opening of the debate was suspended for more than an hour after opposition parties called on Speaker Baleke Mbete -- who is chairwoman of the ruling party -- to recuse herself. She refused.

Zuma was not seriously threatened by the vote, which requires a two-thirds majority to succeed.

But he has been wounded by a series of scandals and has endured a torrent of criticism that could see him fail to serve out the last three years of his final term.
Having evinced interest in acquiring certain assets of Tata Steel UK, Indian-origin businessman Sanjeev Gupta today met UK's Business Secretary Sajid Javid and said he is waiting for Tatas to start the "sales process".

The development comes amidst Javid's scheduled meeting with Tata Group Chairman Cyrus Mistry tomorrow for an update on the sales process of Tata Steel's UK operations.

"I am pleased to report that we had a positive meeting today. UK government appears highly supportive and is proactively engaged in finding a long-term solution. We have also actively engaged with Welsh Government and again we are encouraged by their approach," Gupta said in a statement.

He further said: "The next step is for TATA to define the formal sales process and request indications of interest from potential buyers. We await further details on this and then will assess our own next step."



Liberty House has already proven its ability to build value from UK steel assets with its acquisition of the Newport Steel plant, Midlands engineering operations and most recently in Scotland where it acquired mills from Tata, he added.

"Everyone is very motivated to find a solution," Gupta said.

Meanwhile, the UK government in a statement said: "The meeting with Tata in Mumbai follows constructive meetings in London with trade unions, the EEF and UK Steel this week."



Earlier today Prime Minister David Cameron, Javid and Minister for the Cabinet Office Oliver Letwin met with Welsh Government First Minister Carwyn Jones to discuss the situation at the Port Talbot plant, it added.

The Liberty House Group, founded by Gupta, has interests in a wide range of strategic assets in Asia, Africa and the United Kingdom.

The Group on its website claims an annual turnover of close to USD 5 billion, covering steel, raw materials and non-ferrous metals. It employs over 2000 people globally.

Its total production capacity in steel exceeds 3 million tonnes per annum (MTPA).
Saudi Arabia's aviation authority has said it had banned Iran's Mahan Air from using its airports and air space over safety concerns.

The General Authority for Civil Aviation said yesterday it decided to "stop completely permits granted to Iran's Mahan Air, ban it from landing in the kingdom's airports or passing through its air space," according to a statement carried by SPA state agency.

The authority cited "violations of national regulations related to safety of international carriers".

Saudi Arabia severed all air links with Iran in January after the two countries cut diplomatic ties following Riyadh's execution of prominent Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr.

It is not clear when the violations refered to by the Saudi aviation authority were committed.

Mahan Air's website does not show any scheduled flights to Saudi Arabia.
Supreme Court today constituted a three-member committee headed by a former Kerala High Court judge to look into the complaints of dog bite victims in the state and availability of necessary medical treatment to the injured.

A bench of Justices Dipak Misra and Shiva Kirti Singh constituted the panel, consisting of Justice Siri Jaga, a former judge of the Kerala High Court, Secretary of the state's Law Department and its Director of Health Services.

The court said the committee shall identify the hospitals where the anti-rabies vaccines are available free of charge.

"The committee shall entertain the complaints with regard to the injuries sustained by the persons in the dog bite, the nature and gravity of the injury, availability of medicines and the treatment administered to them, the failure of treatment and its cure and in case of unfortunate death, the particulars of the deceased and the reasons behind the same.

"The committee shall also identify the centres/hospitals where the anti-rabies vaccines are available free of charge," the bench said.

It further said after receiving the findings of the committee, the court will decide the issue of granting of compensation or making certain arrangements for the victims.

"We are absolutely certain that without the fact finding enquiry, this court will not be in a position to deal with the compensation facet," the bench said, adding that the first report be submitted to it within 12 weeks.

The order came on a plea filed by one Jos Sebastian whose wife, a MNREGA worker, was killed after she was bit by a stray dog.

Advocate V K Biju, appearing for the petitioner, had sought a direction to the concerned authorities for grant of appropriate compensation to the victim.

He has also sought an interim direction by appointing a commission to go through the issues and the recent attacks of stray dogs and what medical facilities and protection were provided by the Government and also submission of a report to the court.
Markets regulator Sebi has disposed of complaints against seven companies related to non-compliance with its online complaint redressal system, SCORES.

These firms are SB&T International, S Kumars Infrastructure, Compact Disc India, Sambhav Textiles, Trillenium Technologies, Shore Software and Malvika Steel.

It was alleged that SB&T International failed to redress pending investor complaints against it, while others did not obtain SCORES authentication within the mandated timeframe.

However, in the matter of SB&T International Sebi found that it had taken proactive steps to redress the complaints.

While in other six cases, the regulator's Adjudicating Officer Vijayant Kumar Verma said since the requirement under Section 15C of the Sebi Act remains unfulfilled, the allegations that the firms have violated the provisions of this section "is not tenable".

Section 15C pertains to allegations that if any listed company registered as an intermediary, after having been called upon by Sebi, to redress the grievances of investors fails to redress such grievances within the time specified, such company or intermediary shall be liable to a penalty.

However, Verma said these companies are "not liable for any monetary penalty."



Launched in June 2011, SCORES provides a centralised database of all investor complaints. Online movement of complaints to the listed companies concerned and upload of their Action Taken Reports are done through this system.

It also helps investors view, track and follow up the action taken on their grievances. The online redressal system has significantly helped in reducing the processing time of complaints.
Shiv Sena today won chairmanship of the crucial Standing Committee and the Education Committee of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in an election it fought with its ruling partner BJP despite bickering between the two saffron allies.

Both the committees are considered most powerful and coveted in the richest civic body which is going to polls next year.

While Yashodhar Phanse was re-elected as chairman of Standing Committee for 2016-17, Hemangi Worlikar was elected as chairperson of Education Committee.

Phanse and Worlikar, who fought as Shiv Sena-BJP-RPI nominees, defeated Congress-NCP's candidates Sunil More and Priyatama Kumar, respectively, a BMC release stated.

BMC has 10 committees and their chairmen and chairpersons are elected through direct election.

The thaw between the warring allies was ensured after city unit BJP chief Ashish Shelar called on senior Sena leaders at the party chief Uddhav Thackeray's residence 'Matoshree', a senior BJP corporator said.

The winners were felicitated by Mayor Snehal Ambekar.
Senegal has agreed to take in two former detainees from the Guantanamo Bay detention facility for humanitarian reasons, the West African nation's justice minister has said, reassuring residents that the two Libyan men are not a threat.

"These are simply men who we must help because they are African sons who have been tested for years," Minister of Justice Sidiki Kaba said yesterday.

"It is important, under the conditions of American law, that these detainees be able to have access to humanitarian asylum."



Kaba said the two were not known to be jihadis.

Salem Abdu Salam Ghereby, 55, and Omar Khalif Mohammed Abu Baker Mahjour, 44, spent nearly 14 years in custody at the US base in Cuba without charge. They were members of the Libya Islamic Fighting Group, which sought the ouster of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and had been designated a terrorist organisation by the US since 2004.

President Barack Obama is making efforts to release Guantanamo prisoners who are no longer deemed a threat and to eventually close the detention centre.

More than two dozen countries have now taken nearly 100 former Guantanamo prisoners since 2009. Ghana also has accepted two former detainees.

"President Sall accepted them for humanitarian reasons," Kaba said. "The importance is to ensure that Guantanamo can be closed. There have been serious human rights violations in this prison."



The men's arrival comes amid growing concern about Islamic extremism in Senegal- a moderate, predominantly Muslim country on West Africa's coastline now widely considered a possible next target after attacks in Mali, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast.

Senegal resident Abdoulaye Mbaye was worried.

"Our world is marked by the development of terrorism. We must be careful," he said.

However, another resident, Cheikh Ndong, said: "If the government has agreed to accept these two detainees, it is because the American government has given guarantees.
IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla today ruled out shifting the matches out of Maharashtra on account of the drought and water scarcity.

Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur in the state would be hosting IPL matches this season.

"As far as the question of drought, water is concerned, we are with the farmers of Maharashtra, we are ready to help in all possible ways, if the Maharashtra Government brings a proposal, then BCCI President, all of us will think in what way we can help the farmers, and I, through my MPLAD fund, am going to personally adopt some villeges...There is a water crisis in Marathwada, that will be solved," he told reporters here at an event organised by Vivo.

There is a demand from some quarters that IPL matches should not be played in the state as the preparation of grounds requires huge amounts of water.

"If the water needed to irrigate two-three grounds were to solve the problem of Maharashtra's farmers, that would be another thing. I don't think this (saving water by shifting matches) would serve any purpose....Sport is a different thing, it needs little water. Farmers need huge amount of water, all political parties should come together to deal with this crisis of water shortage," he said.

There was no proposal to shift the matches or change the schedule, he said to a specific question.

A PIL filed in the Bombay High Court today sought a direction to the IPL Commissioner to pay tax on usage of water, claiming that about 60,000 litres of water would be needed every day to maintain the pitches.

Mumbai BJP secretary Vivekananda Gupta too had demanded that IPL matches be shifted out of the state.

The annual T20 extravaganza would kick off on April 9 in Mumbai.
A six-year old girl who was allegedly abducted by her neighbour in Delhi was rescued from Agra, police said today.

The accused, identified as Jhallu (32), a resident of village Vanpura, in Tikam Garh district of Madhya Pradesh, has been arrested.

According to a senior police official, a labourer in Friends Colony (West) with his family members approched police on March 30 and reported that his minor daughter had gone missing since March 29 from outside his jhuggi, following which a case was registered.

"The photograph of the missing girl was not available with the family as they had recently come to Delhi to earn livelihood. However, the photograph was arranged from the list of minor children under the 'Pehchan' scheme launched recently," the official said.

An intense interrogation, in and around the jhuggi where her family resided, was carried out by police which found out that another person, Jhablu, who used to look after the girl in her parents' absence, had also gone missing the same day.

His photograph was also arranged from the mobile phone of other residents of the jhuggi and it was further learnt that Jhablu was seen with the victim girl on the day she went missing.

Police then sent a team to Tikam Garh in Madhya Pradesh which found that Jhablu was seen at the village after the incident but reportedly left on April 2.

"Also it was found that the accused has three aliases and was ivolved in a case of robbery in which he was convicted for five years of imprisonment and released from jail in December 2015," the official said.

The cops finally got the lead when the accused telephoned his brother. His call was traced to Tehsil Baha, a village in Agra district, where he was apprehended yesterday and the minor girl was rescued.

During interrogation it was came out that the accused wanted to sell the girl to earn a hefty amount but couldn't do so. It came to light that Jhablu was a suspect in a murder case in Tikamgarh area and police was after him.
Riding on upbeat market sentiment, as many as 44 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) got listed on capital markets with initial public offerings worth Rs 290 crore in the past fiscal.

This was higher than 37 SMEs raising a total of Rs 271 crore in 2014-15.

"The number of firms that filed their draft prospectus as also those getting listed on SME bourses is increasing every year and that trend is expected to continue in 2016-17 as well," Pantomath Group Managing Director Mahavir Lunawat said.

A total of 44 firms made debut on the SME platform in 2015-16 while a total of 66 companies filed their draft prospectus in the past fiscal to raise funds through an initial public offering (IPO).

Out of 44 companies listed, Maharashtra and Gujarat both contributed 15 companies each.

The funds raised through the issue were used for business expansion plans, working capital requirements and other general corporate purposes.

According to market experts, an increasing number of firms logging into SME exchanges sends positive signals and lends a lot of confidence to SME capital markets.

"The financial year 2015-16 witnessed a very encouraging participation from SMEs. The number of companies getting listed on SME platforms increased despite tightening of norms," Lunawat said.

However, the number of companies engaged in financial services declined due to tightening of eligibility norms by BSE, he added.

The companies which got listed in the past fiscal are from sectors such as agriculture, realty, NBFC (non-banking finance company), manufacturing and services, among others.

BSE and NSE had launched SME platforms in March 2012, becoming the only two bourses to offer such a segment in the country. Since then, several companies have got listed on them and some have even shifted to the mainboard.

The platform provides opportunity to SME entrepreneurs to raise equity capital for growth and expansion. It also provides immense opportunity for investors to identify and invest in good SMEs at an early stage.
A social media campaign may attract attention worldwide without prompting a commensurate spike in fundraising or any significant action to further the cause, a new study has found.

"It is true that once you rely on social media, your message can easily reach people by the millions," said Nicola Lacetera, professor at University of Toronto Mississauga.

"But then the question becomes 'What do people do with these messages?'" Lacetera said.

Lacetera and colleagues from Johns Hopkins University in US reviewed longitudinal data about and conducted research into the success of Twitter and Facebook fundraising campaigns to determine whether they effectively lead to donations.

Researchers first examined the success of an application created to allow Facebook and Twitter users to donate to charities each time they posted or tweeted, with an upper limit for the total donation specified in advance.

Potential donors had the option to broadcast their initial pledges and subsequent donations to their networks. About 16 per cent of the pledges were deleted before payment was actually required.

About five per cent of the original pledges led to additional pledges from contacts, but the researchers were unable to trace the motivation specifically to the influence of online connections.

Lacetera and his colleagues used a series of Facebook ads and sponsored stories to encourage users to install an application and donate to a charity.

One group of recipients had the ability to automatically broadcast their donations; the broadcast feature was disabled for the control group.

The campaign reached about 6.4 million Facebook users and had a click-through rate comparable to that of most non-profit campaigns. However, although the campaign received many "likes" and "shares," it resulted in only 30 donations.

"Although there is plenty of visibility on social media, these platforms also provide cheap, alternative ways to express support," Lacetera said.

"However, clicking the 'like' icon doesn't save lives. Social contagion tends to work when the activity you want people to do is free of charge, such as voting for their favourite movies. As soon as you add a cost, fewer people participate," Lacetera added.

The study was published in the journal Sociological Science.
Eulogising the benefits of Uday scheme for distribution firms, Power and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal today said states have floated bonds worth Rs 1 lakh crore under the scheme in just two-and-a-half months.

Uday is the most comprehensive assessment for the power sector, he said adding it is a bottoms-up approach, which is why every state has almost accepted it and the rest will come in line after elections.

The concept has also found resonance across political parties despite being voluntary, Goyal said at industry body CII's annual session here.

"It will result in Rs 1.80 lakh crore in saving every year and you will be delighted to know that we have been able to place Rs 1 lakh crore of Uday bonds by March 31 within a short span of two-and-a-half months," the minister noted.

This will bring down the interest costs of the discoms by a significant level and therefore keep power tariffs at least at the level they are now rather then going up, he said.

Under Uday, 10 states have signed MoUs till date. The combined discom debt that would be restructured in respect of these states is around Rs 1.96 lakh crore, which is about 45 per cent of the total outstanding discom debt of Rs 4.3 lakh crore as on September 30, 2015.

On solar projects, he said tenders for 21 GW are out and by April or May this year they will be awarded with a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA).

On power transmission, the minister said tenders worth Rs 40-45 thousand crore are out for developers and another Rs 50 thousand crore through TGCIL, Power Grid for contracting. So, overall about Rs 1 lakh crore of power transmission projects came out into the market in the last fiscal.

On wind power generation, Goyal said the country added 3,200 MW of wind power, the highest ever added in many years, particularly in the last 5-6 years.

Power Grid commissioned projects with a 39 per cent growth last fiscal, so almost Rs 30,000 crore projects got commissioned over 24,000 circuit kms.

On Coal India, the minister said India made an addition of 42 million tonnes in a fiscal, the highest ever addition to coal production.

"From 494 million tonnes production we moved up to 536 million tonnes by Coal India Ltd (CIL) alone. And in the two years since the present government came in, we added about 74 million tonnes," he noted.

The minister said coal is now in excess and the government is looking at avenues to sell it.

He added that Coal Ministry is talking to Railways to work out a strategy to move excess coal to places where it is required and try to cut down on imports.

Speaking on the International Solar Alliance (ISA), Goyal said the concept was articulated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and was launched on the sidelines of the COP 21 in Paris.

"ISA is a platform where we are trying to get developed



and the under-developed world or the developing or emerging economies together to work in a state of partnership," Goyal added.

The minister said ISA also seeks to provide avenues of exchanging and supporting each others' efforts to take renewable energy into countries where it does not have traction and ability to expand.

"We are going to sign final framework agreement, which was decided as the Paris Declaration, on April 22 in New York. We will also be having a final signing ceremony of the ISA on the sidelines of this ceremony. I believe business and government can work together to take power to these areas," he added.

He expressed confidence that India would meet the target of 20,000 MW of solar power by 2017 and 100 gigawatts target of renewable energy by 2022.

On purchasing equipment for rural electrification, he said many states are unable to find good equipment at the district level and it is costly too.

"So states have started a transparent e-bidding system to check such things. This will enhance quality and bring down prices of power equipment," Goyal added.

The government is focusing on a multipronged strategy to ensure increased electricity access and demand, he said.

The overall strategy includes focus on enhancing energy efficiency, thrust on renewable energy and ensuring sustainable growth, the minister added.

"Our first priority is taking power to the poorest of the poor in the country and I am fairly confident of bringing electricity to all villages by next year. We intend to reach every home in the country by 2019," he stressed.

On lowering industrial tariffs, Goyal said the effort is to address inefficiencies.
Army chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag emphasised the Indian Army's "total adherence" to zero tolerance towards sexual exploitation and abuse in UN peacekeeping operations during his meeting here with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who voiced admiration for the commitment and discipline of the country's peacekeepers.

Suhag is currently on a four-day visit to the US and met the UN Chief yesterday along with India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin.

The Indian Army Chief "emphasised the Indian Army's total adherence to the Secretary General's zero tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse", according to a brief statement issued by the Indian mission on the meeting between the Army Chief and the UN head.

Suhag assured the Secretary General of the continued commitment of Indian peacekeepers to global peace, "with the highest standards of training, discipline and dedication", the statement added.

The UN Chief "admired" the commitment, discipline and quality of Indian peacekeepers serving in the UN missions and appreciated India's strong support to UN peacekeeping.

The meeting comes against the backdrop of new reports of alleged sexual exploitation and abuse in the Central African Republic by UN and French troops, as well as local armed groups.

The Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General has said that the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) announced on March 25 that it had received new allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse.

Most of the allegations relate to Burundian and Gabonese contingents present in the Kemo region between 2013 and 2015, as well as to the separate French Sangaris force stationed in the same region in the same period. Allegations of abuse in other parts of the country are also continuing to be investigated.

No Indian peacekeeper was found guilty of any wrongdoing in a new report that was launched last month that for the first time identified nationalities of UN peacekeeping personnel involved in sexual abuse against citizens. As many as 69 allegations of sexual exploitation were received by the UN against its peacekeepers last year, according to the report.

At 7,695 troops, India is currently the second largest contributor among all UN troop contributors. Traditionally, India has been among the largest contributor of troops to UN peacekeeping operations, with nearly 180,000 troops having served in over 44 of the 69 peacekeeping operations so far.
The Crime Investigation Department of Telangana police today said its probe has revealed over Rs 73 lakh were illegally claimed from Chief Minister's Relief Fund (CMRF) in the name of fake patients.

The sleuths scrutinised 11,600 applications to the CMRF, and found that 20 brokers (middlemen) created 112 fake bills from Telangana and other states in the name of non-existing patients, the police said.

The CID arrested five "brokers" in the case three days ago, a police release said. Earlier they had arrested 10 "brokers".

They had created fake letter-heads of hospitals, collected case sheets of genuine patients with the help of some hospital staff members, and submitted fraudulent applications to CMRF in the name of fake patients seeking help for treatment, they said,



In this manner, Rs 73,68,572 were claimed in the name of 112 non-existing patients.
Officials in Thailand say they seized 315 kilograms (695 pounds) of African elephant tusks worth an estimated USD 800,000 at Bangkok's international airport.

Kulit Sombatsiri, director-general of the Thai Customs Department, said today that the haul of 87 ivory tusks was found March 27 in a dozen barrels sent from Mozambique on a Kenya Airways flight.

A routine X-ray at Suvarnabhumi International Airport detected the contraband.

Kulit said a Kenyan man was due to pick up the parcels, but is believed to have fled the country after learning they were seized.

Kulit told reporters that Thai authorities alerted Kenyan officials, who discovered 561 kilograms (1,237 pounds) of ivory tusks waiting to be shipped to the same man.

He said it was the fifth seizure of elephant tusks this year in Thailand, which a number of United Nations reports have identified as one of the prime end user countries for ivory.

The global regulator in international trade in endangered species, CITES, put Thailand on a watch list of eight countries a few years ago. This required it to formulate an action plan to fight against the illegal ivory trade through legislation and enforcement or face the possibility of trade sanctions.
Iceland's prime minister is in the hot seat after the leaked "Panama Papers" sparked allegations that he and his wife used an offshore firm to hide million-dollar investments, with thousands taking to the streets demanding he quit.

Huge crowds poured into the square outside parliament in Reykjavik yesterday calling for Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson to step down over financial records showing that he and his wife bought a company in the British Virgin Islands in 2007.

He sold his 50-percent share to his wife Anna Sigurlaug Palsdottir for a symbolic sum of one dollar at the end of 2009.

But when he was elected to parliament for the first time in April 2009, as a member of the centre-right Progressive Party, he neglected to mention his stake in his declaration of shareholdings.

As the crowds gathered outside parliament, he told public broadcaster RUV he regretted not revealing this sooner.

The issue is particularly sensitive in Iceland, a country marked by the excesses of the 2000s when senior bankers used shell companies in tax havens to conceal their dealings in risky financial products.

Police said the crowds that turned out in Reykjavik on last night outnumbered the thousands who in 2009 brought down the right-wing government over its responsibility in Iceland's 2008 banking collapse.

Iceland's big banks collapsed in October 2008 after borrowing beyond their means to fund ambitious investments abroad. Before their collapse, their liabilities were worth more than ten times Iceland's total GDP.

The crash led to an unprecedented financial crisis, a deep recession and a bailout from the International Monetary Fund.

Gunnlaugsson, a former journalist, insists that despite the financial turbulence he was never tempted to move his money offshore and that his wife paid all her taxes in Iceland.

"She has neither utilised tax havens nor can you say that her company is an offshore company," Gunnlaugsson said on his website.

In an interview with Swedish public television SVT recorded last month, excerpts of which were aired in Iceland on Sunday, he became visibly upset after being repeatedly asked about his wife's company, eventually storming out of the room.
Three pilgrims including two women were killed and 22 others injured when a tourist bus carrying them overturned on G T road in Giridih district in the early hours today, police said.

The pilgrims were returning to their native village of Nirsa in Dhanbad district when the heavy vehicle turned turtle, Deputy Superintendent of Police (Bagodar), Deepak Sharma said.

While two women and a man were killed on the spot, the 22 injured people, two of them seriously, were rushed to nearby hospital in Dumri, Sharma said.

Two of the injured were in critical condition.

Sharma said the helper was driving the bus and probably dozed off.

Altogether, 55 passengers were on board the bus, he added.
Stating that the law and order in West Bengal has "completely broken down", former Union Minister of State for Home and AICC spokesperson RPN Singh today said Congress and CPI(M) have joined hands to "protect the secular fabric" of the state.

"Law and order in West Bengal has completely broken down. There is no security for women either in Kolkata or in any part of the state... Secular ideas also not being protected," Singh told newspersons at the Congress office here.

Alleging that the ruling Trinamool Congress in the state and the BJP at the Centre were "working in tandem", he said, "TMC is working as a B team of BJP. It supports BJP on some Bills and here in the state acts like it's against them... But they are working in tandem.

"And that shows in the BJP's action too. It's almost five years and the Saradha probe is yet to be completed. It's clear that they (BJP) are going slow in the Saradha scam probe and they are also not asking for any probe into the Narada sting operation case... BJP and TMC are working hand-in-glove," the Congress leader said.

Singh asserted Congress has fought for secularism and its top priority, if it wins the Assembly elections, would be "industrialisation and employment".

"In 2011 TMC came to power with many promises and people had high expectations from it. But it has failed to restore law and order and undertake any form of development. Not a single industry has been set up in these past five-year time while the existing ones are leaving," he said.

"We (Congress) will continue to fight for democracy in the state and with the alliance (with CPIM) try to protect the secular fabric of West Bengal," Singh said.
Donald Trump would force Mexico to pay for a border wall by threatening to cut off billions of dollars in remittances sent by immigrants living in the US, according to a memo released by his campaign today.

The memo outlines how Trump would try to compel Mexico to pay for a 1,000-mile wall if he becomes president.

In his proposal, Trump threatened to change a rule under the USA Patriot Act, an anti-terrorism law, to cut off funds sent to Mexico through money transfers known as remittances.

Trump said he would withdraw the threat if Mexico makes "a one-time payment of USD 5-10 billion" to finance the wall."



The US is home to about 12 million Mexicans, some living here illegally, according to various research organisations that monitor trends in immigration. They and other migrants use money transfer agents or banks to send money home, often with the objective of supporting their families.

The Mexican central bank reported that money sent home by Mexicans overseas hit nearly USD 24.8 billion last year, overtaking oil revenues for the first time as a source of foreign income. Cutting off those transfers would therefore represent a significant blow to the Mexican economy. Trump's campaign says that money "provides substantial leverage for the United States to obtain from Mexico the funds necessary to pay for a border wall."



"We have the moral high ground here, and all the leverage," the memo reads. "It is time we use it in order to Make America Great Again."



The release of the memo was first reported by the Washington Post early today.

This is not the first time that Trump has spelled out options for pressuring Mexico into paying for his signature policy proposal.

In an immigration overhaul plan released in August, Trump's campaign suggested a number of options for compelling Mexico to pay for the wall. Those included impounding "all remittance payments derived from illegal wages," increasing fees on temporary visas issued to Mexican CEOs and diplomats -- "and if necessary cancel them" -- increasing fees on border crossing cards, increasing fees on NAFTA worker visas from Mexico, and increasing fees at ports of entry between the two countries.

"Tariffs and foreign aid cuts are also options," the immigration paper stated.

The billionaire businessman has estimated his proposed wall would cost between USD 10 billion and USD 12 billion, and has argued that it would protect the country from illegal border crossings as well as halting drug shipments.
Authorities in southern Turkey have arrested two men suspected of preparing to carry out suicide bombings for the Islamic State (IS) group, which has staged two attacks in Istanbul this year, reports said today.

The men were arrested in the southern province of Gaziantep, which borders Syria, the local governor's office said in a statement carried by the Dogan agency.

One of them was named as Mehmet Mustafa Cevik, described as a member of IS and one of its Turkish affiliates, the Dokumacilar Group.

The Dokumacilar Group, named after its wanted founder Mustafa Dokumaci, is the suicide bomber unit suspected of being behind the October 2015 attack that killed 103 people at an Ankara peace rally in Turkey's bloodiest-ever attack.

The cell has also been linked to the killing of 34 people in the town of Suruc on the Syrian border in July 2015.

The other jihadist arrested was Ercan Capkin, the brother of Erkan Capkin, one of the suspected suicide bombers behind the March 19 attack on a famous Istanbul shopping thoroughfare that left four people dead.

A dozen German tourists were also killed in January when a suicide bomber linked to IS detonated his charge in the heart of Istanbul's historic centre.

Both suspects were ordered by a court in Gaziantep to be held in jail ahead of trial, the report said.

The Turkish interior ministry now has 23 suspected IS militants on its most wanted list with a total bounty of 42 million lira (USD 15 million) on their heads, the Hurriyet daily reported today.

Three suspected IS militants are on its urgently-wanted red list including Mustafa Dokumaci, the alleged leader of IS in Gaziantep, Ilhami Bali and Yunus Durmaz who is said to have planned the March 19 attack.

Turkey has been for several months on a state of high alert due to a series of attacks blamed both on IS and Kurdish militants amid the resumption of a conflict with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

The attack in Istanbul came less than a week after a car bomb exploded in central Ankara killing 35 people which was claimed by a radical Kurdish faction that split from the PKK.
The ruling coalition in the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) has collapsed, paving the way for its resignation at a time when talks over the island's reunification have been making progress.

Prime Minister Omer Kalyoncu is set to officially hand in his government's resignation to President Mustafa Akinci on today morning, said Mehmet Ali Talat, head of the ruling Republican Turkish Party (CTP).

The government, which is recognised only by Turkey, collapsed yesterday after ministers from the CTP's coalition partner the National Unity Party (UBP) withdrew in protest at the cash-strapped statelet's economic policy.

UBP chairman Huseyin Ozgurgun complained that his party did not accept a decision to pay civil servants salaries in installments and was also unhappy with the water distribution on the parched territory.

"Having come to a point where there is no longer a possibility and capacity to serve our people, it is not our goal to form a government or share the office," Ozgurgun said.

Still largely cut off from the global economy, the TRNC is beset by economic problems and largely kept afloat by assistance from Turkey. It was unable to pay public sector staff their wages in March.

The alliance between the left-wing CTP and the conservative UBP, formed in July last year, was the first such grand coalition ever between the two main parties.

The CTP is the biggest party in the 50-member Turkish Cypriot government with 20 seats but is well short of a majority with the UBP holding 18 seats.

Talat indicated late Monday that the CTP was in discussions with all parties in a bid to form a new administration.

It is possible that the UBP could form a government along with independents and the Democratic Party of Serdar Denktash, the son of the TRNC's hardline former leader Rauf Denktash who died in 2012.

In 1974, Turkish troops invaded northern Cyprus in response to an Athens-engineered coup, and later occupied the territory.

The TRNC was declared in 1982, recognised only by Ankara, and decades of UN-brokered peace talks have failed to reach a peaceful conclusion.
A two-day international convention to mark World Homeopathy Day will begin on April 9 and focus on health as well as cost benefits of integrating Homeopathy in healthcare.

The convention will be inaugurated by President Pranab Mukherjee. It is being organised by Central Council for Research in Homeopathy (CCRH), an autonomous research organisation of Ministry of AYUSH, and an international organisation Liga Medicorum Homoeopathica Internationalis (LMHI), an official ministry release said.

Scientists from all across the world will participate in the event to deliberate upon the various issues related to Homeopathy including challenges faced in spreading awareness about it globally, the release said.

"The theme of the convention is 'Integrating Homeopathy in healthcare', as the event would aim at highlighting the health and cost benefits of integrating Homeopathy in healthcare among the health professionals and policymakers, by way of scientific evidence and rich clinical experiences," it said.

The event is being organised to commemorate the 261st birth anniversary of the founder of Homeopathy, Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann, a German physician.

Sixteen international speakers will present their work in the field of Homeopathy.

"Several countries are participating in the convention. Confirmations have been received from Brazil, Russia, South Africa, Italy, Netherlands, the UK, Austria, Armenia, Canada, Israel, Australia, Bangladesh, Japan, France, UAE, Cuba, Nepal, Turkey, Argentina, Slovenia, Pakistan, Ghana and Kenya.

"Health Ministers of Bangladesh and Nepal have also sent in their confirmations," the release said.
Technical analysis of more than 2,000 phone numbers led the investigators to a juvenile who allegedly hatched the plan of abduction, and later murder, of his 17-year-old friend, police said today.

Around two months after Ankit Gupta was allegedly abducted from outside his house in northeast Delhi's Babarpur area and later murdered, police had yesterday apprehended two persons, including a juvenile, in connection with the case.

During interrogation, the juvenile, who had studied with Gupta upto Class 7, had allegedly hatched the conspiracy to earn quick money and roped in the other accused, Zeeshan (19), a driver by profession to execute the plan, an official privy to the investigation said.

Investigators analysed more than 2,000 calls made and received by Gupta from around a week before he was abducted and they found 83 numbers which were not in his contact list but communication with them was frequent.

Further investigation into the shortlisted 83 numbers and their data analysis led police to a bunch of suspects, the official said.

Digging deeper into the matter, the police zeroed in on the accused juvenile. They claimed that he initially tried to mislead investigators but later broke down. At one point, the police also went on to assume that Gupta himself could be involved in his own abduction, the official said.

Ankit was kidnapped on February 11 from outside his house in Babarpura area of northeast Delhi and within 24 hours his family received a phone call from the abductors demanding a ransom of Rs 1 crore for his safe release.

The family informed the matter to the police and negotiated the ransom at Rs 20 lakh, keeping police in loop.

The abductors kept misleading the family and the police for days and later stopped calling.

On March 20, the police concluded that Ankit was killed after some of the details about the boy matched with that of a body found at a village under UP's Gautam Budh Nagar district more than one month ago.

It later emerged that Ankit was murdered by the abductors on February 13, the official said.
The Pentagon has announced transfer of two Libyan nationals from the controversial Guantanamo Bay detention center to Senegal.

"The United States appreciates the generous assistance of the government of Senegal as the United States continues its efforts to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters yesterday.

Earlier in the day, Department of Defense announced the transfer of Salem Abdu Salam Ghereby and Omar Khalif Mohammed Abu Baker Mahjour Umar from the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay to Senegal.

The announcement, which came in the backdrop of US President Barack Obama's announcement that he was submitting a four-point plan to the Congress to permanently close the terrorist detention facility, reduced the total number of detainees to 89.

"The US is very grateful to our partner, the Republic of Senegal, for offering humanitarian resettlement to two individuals formerly in Department of Defense custody at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba detention facility," Secretary of State John Kerry said.

"As the President has repeatedly made clear, the Administration is determined to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility," he said.

The continued operation of the detention facility weakens our national security by draining resources, damaging our relationships with key allies and partners, and serving as a propaganda tool for violent extremists, he said.

"We are taking all possible steps to reduce the detainee population at Guantanamo and to close the detention facility in a responsible manner that protects our national security," Kerry said.

The White House alleged that the Republican-majority Congress is preventing the Administration from preventing the closer of Gitmo.

"Congress is focused on preventing the transfer of those detainees to any state in the United States. Now of course, Congress' position is rather ironic, because there are already dozens of convicted terrorists that are currently serving prison time in the United States, on US soil, in US prisons," Earnest said.

"The administration has forcefully made the case that the ability of our criminal justice system to prosecute those individuals and hold them accountable for their crimes in a way that is consistent with our values, actually does enhance our national security," he said.

"What also enhances our national security is detaining those individuals in prisons where they cannot pose a future threat to the US national security. So, we found a mechanism for handling these kinds of cases responsibly. That's why the case that is made by members of Congress, is frankly inconsistent with available evidence," he added.

"When we know that continuing to detain these individuals at the prison at Guantanamo Bay, that is inconsistent with our values and does give extremist organizations the kind of propaganda victory and recruiting tool that they've already used effectively. And why would we continue to provide that to them, makes no sense to me," he said.
Two top militants of United Karbi Peoples Liberation Army were apprehended by police and arms along with ammunition were recovered from them today in Assam's Karbi Anglong district.

District superintendent of police Debojit Deuri said police launched an operation last night at Reshakhidi area and arrested the two ultras.

The ultras were identified as UKPLA 'finance secretary' Bikash Timung alias Chinthur Dera and 'general secretary' Ranjit Hanse alias Sar Chingri, Deuri said.

One .22 pistol with 20 rounds live ammunition and one .32 pistol with 15 rounds live ammunition were recovered from their possession, he added.
The first batch of Kailash-Mansarovar pilgrims will arrive in Pithoragarh in Uttarakhand on June 12 even as Chief Secretary Shatrughna Singh reviewed preparations for the annual yatra.

Singh held a review meeting with officials of Kumaun Mandal Vikas Nigam (KMVN), the nodal agency which conducts the yatra, via video-conferencing yesterday evening, a release here said.

The first batch of pilgrims will arrive at Lipulekh Pass via Almora, Dharchula, Sirkha, Gala, Boodi and Gunji through which it will enter Tibet.

The pilgrims will be accompanied up to Lipulekh Pass on India-Tibet border by police and SDRF personnel, besides a team of doctors.

All communication facilities will be provided to devotees through the high-altitude journey, it said, adding a proposal to provide satellite phones to the pilgrims is also under consideration.

Helicopters will also be kept ready to evacuate people to safety in case of an emergency.
UK business secretary Sajid Javid is set to meet Tata Steel's chairman Cyrus Mistry in relation to the group's plans to exit the UK steel industry.

Javid will hold talks with Mistry to discuss details of the sales process for the firm's UK steel operations as British government seeks to find a solution to the steel crisis.

The came as steel unions in the country called on Prime Minister David Cameron to personally intervene in the ongoing emergency talks in London to save Britain's steel industry from collapse.

Tata Steel announced last week it was selling its loss-making UK businesses and would close its plant at Port Talbot unless a buyer is found.

The company directly employs 15,000 workers in the UK and supports thousands of others, across plants in Port Talbot, Rotherham, Corby and Shotton.

Britain's steel industry has been thrown into crisis by a combination of cheap imports from China, falling global demand, high energy prices and a tougher tax regime than many rival nations.

(Reopebns FGN 35)



Codenamed "Project Greensteel Pluto", the takeover is aimed at ultimately powering steel-making through renewable energy sources.

Liberty had recently completed its acquisition of two Scottish plants earlier owned by Tata Steel and the firm's Long Products division based in Scunthorpe had been sold to Greybull Capital for a token 1 pound last month.

Central to the Indian steel giant's assets in the UK is the Port Talbot steelworks in south Wales, which is the UK's largest and employs around 4,000 workers.

Tata's remaining assets include sites at Newport, where more than 1,300 people are employed, and Rotherham, which employs 1,200.

Tata also has operations at Corby, Shotton and Teesside.
After dithering for months on the issue of recommending a CBI probe into the Dadri lynching case, the Uttar Pradesh government said if the Allahabad High Court found an inquiry by the investigation agency relevant, it would honour and implement the order.

"If the court finds anything incomplete in the investigation, then the government will take immediate cognizance and an impartial inquiry will be conducted," an official spokesman said in a statement here.

"Even after that, if the court finds CBI investigation relevant, then the government will completely honour and implement it," he said.

The Allahabad High Court had in February sought a reply from the Centre and the Uttar Pradesh government on a petition filed by a BJP worker from Noida who alleged that he was being "falsely implicated" in the case relating to the Dadri lynching over rumour of beef consumption and demanded that the probe in the matter be handed over to CBI.

A division bench, comprising Justice Bala Krishna Narayana and Justice Naheed Ara Moonis, asked the Centre and the state to file their counter affidavits within four weeks and granted two weeks time thereafter to the petitioner for filing a rejoinder. It fixed April 6 as the next date of hearing in the matter.

The order was passed on the petition of BJP worker Sanjay Singh who has alleged that the state police was not investigating the matter in a fair manner and falsely implicated him in the case at the behest of ruling Samajwadi Party.
The White House has insisted that it is "attuned" to the security concerns of India even as it reiterated US President Barack Obama's views on nuclear and missile developments in South Asia.

"The President's comments were motivated by the concern that we have about nuclear and missile developments in South Asia. In particular, we're concerned by the increased security challenges that accompany growing stockpiles, particularly tactical nuclear weapons that are designed for use on the battlefield," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters yesterday.

"These systems are a source of concern because they're susceptible to theft due to their size and load of employment. Essentially, by having these smaller weapons, the threshold for their use is lowered and the risk that a conventional conflict between India and Pakistan, could escalate to include the use of nuclear weapons," he said.

Earnest said the goal of the recently concluded Nuclear Security Summit was to eventually create a world without nuclear weapons.

"That is a longer-term goal. And one that the President has long prioritized. The President does believe that that is something that can be pursued, consistent with the relevant national security interests of countries around the world," he said.

"We are certainly going to be particularly concerned about and attuned to the national security concerns that are expressed by close partners of the US like India. And that said, we do believe that evolving in this direction is something that won't just enhance the national security United States, it will also enhance the national security of India," Earnest said.

The Obama Administration, he said, has regularly expressed concern about any sort of tactical nuclear weapon. "Our hope is that improvements in bilateral relations between India and Pakistan could greatly enhance prospects for lasting peace, stability and prosperity in the region. It is important and the US has made this case to both countries, that there be a sustained and resilient dialogue between the two neighbours," he said.

The US has been encouraging all parties in the region to act with maximum restraint and work collaboratively toward reducing tensions in the region, he said.

"Obviously, the US benefits from the partnership that we



have with both countries. We value it, and that's why we continue to make the case to our partners, both in India and Pakistan, that de-escalating the tension between these two countries is a priority," Earnest said.

"We certainly made clear the concerns that we have about the development of tactical nuclear weapons or so-called battlefield nuclear weapons," he said.

"I can tell you that these are issues that we have raised with both countries directly. I don't have a lot of information about individual conversations with countries to discuss from here. But I can tell you that this is a view that we have raised directly with both India and Pakistan," Earnest said.

On Friday, Obama had identified South Asia in particular India and Pakistan as one area where there is need to be progress in the area of nuclear security and reduction of nuclear arsenal.

The White House said it is aware about India's security concerns and its unique location in this part of the world.

"The US is committed to developing the US-India relationship and to the one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century. And that includes of pursuing the strategic security dialogue that provides a dedicated venue to exchange ideas on India's intentions and defense needs and to discuss issues that they may have related to strategic stability," Earnest said.

"These are the kinds of conversations that we have with our Indian counterparts, and we are certainly aware of the unique region of the world in which India is located. We certainly appreciate the need that India has to take the necessary steps to defend themselves," he said.
In the largest environmental settlement in US history, oil and gas firm will pay over $20 billion to the American government as damages over the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

A US judge yesterday approved the settlement deal, resolving years of litigation over the worst offshore spill in the nation's history.

Read more from our special coverage on "BP" BP to end sponsorship of Tate museums

The settlement, first announced in July, includes $5.5 billion in civil Clean Water Act penalties and billions more to cover environmental damage and other claims by the five Gulf states and local governments.

The money is to be paid out over roughly 16 years.

The US Justice Department has estimated that the settlement will cost the oil giant as much as $20.8 billion, the largest environmental settlement in US history as well as the largest-ever civil settlement with a single entity.

US District Judge Carl Barbier, who approved the settlement, had set the stage with an earlier ruling that had been "grossly negligent" in the offshore rig explosion that killed 11 workers and caused a 134-million-gallon spill.

In 2012, reached a similar settlement agreement with private attorneys for businesses and residents who claim the spill cost them money.

That deal, which didn't have a cap, led to a protracted court battle over subsequent payouts to businesses.

A court-supervised claims administrator is still processing many of these claims.

BP has estimated its costs related to the spill, including its initial cleanup work and the various settlements and criminal and civil penalties, will exceed $53 billion.

US Attorney General Loretta Lynch praised the settlement.

"Today's action holds BP accountable with the largest environmental penalty of all time while launching one of the most extensive environmental restoration efforts ever undertaken," Lynch said in a statement.
The United States has handed back to Mongolia fossil remains of six species of dinosaur smuggled out of the country and impounded by agents in New York and Utah.

The largest item was the skull of an Alioramus, an exceptionally rare dinosaur believed to have roamed the Gobi Desert 66 to 70 million years ago.

A relative of the more widely known Tyrannosaurus, only two specimens are reported in scientific literature, both of them from Mongolia. US authorities described the fossil as the most complete Alioramus skull yet discovered.

The skull was confiscated by customs after being shipped from France with false papers claiming it was a cheap replica, US authorities said yesterday. The shipper later submitted forged Mongolian export documents, officials added.

Mongolia determined that fossils are national property in 1924, and their export is strictly forbidden.

Yesterday's ceremony, hosted by the US attorney for Brooklyn, is the latest in a series of returns of fossils to Mongolia in recent years, including a Tarbosaurus bataar dating back 70 million years.

"We are proud of our role in restoring this rich paleontological heritage to the Mongolian people and taking these cultural treasures from the hands of looters and smugglers," said Robert Capers, US attorney for Brooklyn.

Before yesterday, 23 dinosaur fossils had been repatriated to Mongolia from the United States in the last three years, said Mongolia's ambassador to the United States, Altangerel Bulgaa.

Mongolia paleontologist Bolortsetseg Minjin described the Alioramus as an extremely rare dinosaur and said only two specimens reported in the scientific literature, and both from Mongolia.
US naval forces in the Arabian Sea seized a shipment of weapons that the United States believes was sent from Iran and was bound for Huthi rebels in Yemen, the Navy said.

The patrol ship USS Sirocco intercepted and seized the shipment hidden aboard a small dhow on March 28.

The illicit cargo included 1,500 AK-47s, 200 RPG launchers and 21.50 caliber machine guns, the Navy said in a statement.

The dhow and its crew were allowed to sail on after the weapons were seized.

The Navy said it was the latest in a series of illicit weapons shipments which the United States believes originated in Iran.

Pro-government Yemeni forces, backed by a Saudi-led coalition, have been battling the Iran-backed Shiite Huthi rebels for more than a year.

The warring parties are preparing for a UN-brokered ceasefire due to take effect on April 10 and intended to pave the way for peace talks in Kuwait a week later.
The US was reviewing the leaked 'Panama papers', which lifted the lid on the murky offshore financial dealings of a slew of politicians and celebrities across the world, including 500 from India, and will follow up on corruption linked to it, the Justice Department has said.

"We are aware of the reports and are reviewing them," US Justice Department spokesman Peter Carr said yesterday.

"While we cannot comment on the specifics of these alleged documents, the US Department of Justice takes very seriously all credible allegations of high level, foreign corruption that might have a link to the United States or the US financial system," Carr said.

exposes the offshore links of some of the world's most prominent people, including 12 current and former world leaders, and reveals how associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin secretly shuffled as much as $2 billion through banks and shadow companies.

The White House did not had any specific comments in the leaked documents, but said the US has been a leading advocate of for increased transparency in the financial system.

"We've seen the extensive reporting that's been done on these leaked documents. I don't have a comment on the specific allegations that are included in those documents, but I can tell you that the US continues to be a leading advocate for increased transparency in the financial system, and in working against illicit financial transactions and in fighting corruption," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said.

"There's been a lot of talk over the course of the last year or so about how effective US sanctions that are imposed by the Treasury Department can be effective in advancing the national security interest of the United States," he said.

"That's true if we are isolating the Russians because of their violation of the territorial integrity of the sovereign nation of Ukraine, or increasing isolating and pressuring the North Korean regime to give up their pursuit of nuclear weapons, or in targeting ISIL's financial operations," he said in response to a question on the leaked .

That's why the US is a leading advocate of greater transparency in financial transactions.

Greater transparency allows to root out corruption and to fight efforts to get around US sanctions that have been put in place, he argued.
The US is poised to sell nine AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters worth USD 170 million to Pakistan, weeks after Obama administration decided to provide eight F-16 fighter jets to the country despite strong opposition from some Congressmen and India.

The Pentagon has awarded Bell Helicopter a contract to manufacture and deliver the choppers to Pakistan under its foreign military sales funds.

In a statement, the Defence Department yesterday said the work will be performed in Fort Worth and Amarillo (both in Texas) and is expected to be completed in September 2018.

"Foreign military sales funds in the amount of USD 170,173,188 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year," the statement said.

The contract, which also includes nine auxiliary fuel kits for Pakistan, is part of the USD 952 million military hardware sale by US which was notified to the Congress last April.

On April 6 last year the State Department had notified to the Congress its decision to sale military hardware worth of USD 950 million to Pakistan.

As per the State Department notification to the Congress, Pakistan has requested a possible sale of 15 AH-1Z Viper Attack Helicopters, 32 T-700 GE 401C Engines (30 installed and 2 spares), and 1000 AGM-114 R Hellfire II Missiles in containers.

It also included 36 H-1 Technical Refresh Mission computers, 17 AN/AAQ-30 Target Sight Systems, 30 629F-23 Ultra High Frequency/Very High Frequency Communication Systems, and 19 H-764 Embedded Global Positioning System/Inertial Navigation Systems.

Other military hardware were 32 Helmet Mounted Display/Optimised Top Owl, 17 APX-117A Identification Friend or Foe, 17 AN/AAR-47 Missile Warning Systems, 17 AN/ALE-47 Countermeasure Dispenser Sets, 18 AN/APR-39C(V)2 Radar Warning Receivers, 15 Joint Mission Planning Systems and 17 M197 20mm Gun Systems.

The total estimated cost is USD 952 million.

"This proposed sale of helicopters and weapon systems will provide Pakistan with military capabilities in support of its counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency operations in South Asia," the Defence Security Cooperation Agency had said last year.

Bell AH-1Z Viper is a twin-engine attack helicopter based on the AH-1W SuperCobra, that was developed for the US Marine Corps.

The Obama administration earlier this year approved a USD 700 million sale of eight F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan despite strong opposition from some American lawmakers and India.
Sending a stern message to the party rank and file, DMDK chief Vijayakanth today sacked 10 senior functionaries, including the propaganda secretary, from the party, hours after they questioned his decision to align with PWF for the May 16 Tamil Nadu Assembly polls.

"Since they violated party discipline, besmirched and brought disrepute to the reputation of the party, they are expelled from their respective posts and primary membership of the party," Vijayakanth said in a statement.

By immediately sacking them, party sources said, Captain, as Vijayakanth is called by his supporters, has sent a stern message that party's official line should be toed and there was no room for dissent.

Of the expelled functionaries, propaganda secretary V C Chandrakumar, also the DMDK whip in the Assembly, is the most prominent face of the party.

The crackdown came hours after Chandrakumar led other party functionaries, including two other MLAs, in demanding Vijayakanth to go with DMK and questioned his decision to align with the People's Welfare Front (PWF).

Claiming that the decision to align with PWF was against the wishes of 95 per cent of party workers and functionaries, they also virtually gave an ultimatum to Vijayakanth to go back on his decision by noon tomorrow and align with DMK.

Under the DMDK-PWF poll pact reached last month, Vijayakanth was declared the chief ministerial candidate and his party allotted a lion's share of 124 of the 234 Assembly seats with the PWF getting 110.

DMK had actively wooed Vijayakanth but the latter in a surprise decision chose to go with the four-party PWF comprising MDMK led by Vaiko, CPI(M), CPI and Thol Thirumavalavan-headed VCK.

Chandrakumar along with his colleague S Mohanraj - who did not side with the dissenters - had stood up for DMDK in the Assembly taking on the numerically stronger treasury benches.

C H Sekar and S R Parthiban are the other MLAs expelled. While Sekar is also the party's Tiruvallur East District Secretary, Parthiban is Salem West District secretary.

Other sacked functionaries include party deputy secretary P Murugesan, and high level panel member K R Veerappan.

Vijayakanth also immediately replaced the sacked functionaries by naming new party workers to the posts.
A US military dog who lost her leg when sniffing out a roadside bomb in strife-torn Afghanistan today received a British veterinary charity's medal honouring the work of animals in war.

Lucca, a 12-year-old German Shepherd, suffered injuries including the loss of a leg during a search for improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in 2012.

She received the medal at a ceremony at Wellington Barracks in central London.

The Dickin medal, founded in 1943, is awarded by the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA) charity.

Lucca was trained by US Marine Corps as a search dog to sniff out munitions and explosives, and according to the Marines, protected the lives of thousands of allied troops.

On her final patrol Lucca discovered a 13.6kg IED and, as she searched for additional explosives, a second device detonated.

She instantly lost her front left leg and suffered severe burns to her chest.

Her previous handler Corporal Juan Rodriguez recalled the moment she was injured: "The explosion was huge and I immediately feared the worst for Lucca.

"I stayed with her constantly throughout her operation and her recovery. She had saved my life on so many occasions - I had to make sure that I was there for her when she needed me," Rodriguez was quoted as saying by the BBC.

Lucca, who is now retired, completed over 400 missions in war-torn Iraq and Afghanistan during six years of active service.

She lives in California with her handler, Gunnery Sergeant Chris Willingham, but has been flown to London for the medal ceremony.
A senior official dismissed reports today that Washington plans to allow Iran access to the US financial system or to buy the latest Russian warplanes.

Responding to skeptical US lawmakers, Undersecretary of State Thomas Shannon insisted that the United States would maintain sanctions pressure on the Islamic republic.

But he confirmed that the State Department is attempting to "clarify" the terms of its financial sanctions to foreign banks now looking to do business with Iran.

"The rumours and that has appeared in the press that the US is preparing to reinstate Iranian access to the US financial system are not true," he said.

In January, the United States and the European Union implemented their side of last year's Iran nuclear deal, lifting a raft of sanctions.

Under the accord, Iran had divested itself of its nuclear fuel stockpile, dismantled much of its enrichment capacity and put a bomb beyond its immediate reach.

In return, the West dropped many sanctions, giving Iran access to tens of millions of dollars in frozen assets and allowing it to double its oil exports.

But Washington maintains other sanctions designed to punish Tehran for maintaining a banned ballistic missile program and for arming Middle East militant groups.

Now Tehran is chafing under these ongoing sanctions, with hardliners accusing President Hassan Rouhani of having sold his country out for little reward.

And European and other international banks are returning only gingerly to the Iranian market, fearing their American operations will fall afoul of US prosecutors.

Secretary of State John Kerry and to a lesser degree President Barack Obama have hinted at sympathy for the complaints, insisting the United States will keep its side of the deal.

But this has led to concerns in Congress -- and conflicting reports in Washington -- that the administration is preparing new concessions to Iran.

As the Senate Foreign Relations Committee convened today, Senator Bob Corker asked Shannon to explain these "rumours out of the administration."



Shannon insisted that -- "as far as I know" -- there are no plans to allow Iran to use the US financial sector for transactions in dollars.

But he confirmed that the administration planned to reassure foreign banks seeking to do business with Iran about where they stand relative to US law.
Highlighting the importance of water conservation, Maharashtra minister Vijay Shivtare today suggested chapters must be included in the school syllabus in order to address the problem of water shortage on long-term basis.

"School syllabus needs to have a chapter on how to use water effectively. The schools in Mumbai metropolitan region already have a chapter on water usage on management. This will help in better management of water," he said.

With the uncertainty of rains, limited reservoirs and increasing demand of water, the Minister of State for Water Resources said the state government is preparing a policy on water conservation.

He said deterioration of water quality of river and the groundtable water were serious issues. He also said that the likely impact of climate change on water resources is adding to the existing woes.

"We have to address these issues on priority. Efforts are required at all levels to ensure that all sections of the society get water. Therefore conservation of water is absolutely necessary," Shivtare said.

Referring to inter-linking of rivers, he said the State government are fully committed for water security through implementation of interlinking of rivers projects and dam projects.
Telecom gear supplier XIUS has partnered with UK-based Hebitel to tap the mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) space in India.

"Having built our own successful business in India gives us the local knowledge to provide MVNO entrants a real advantage in this complex market," XIUS CEO GV Kumar said in a statement today.

If successful, the market could easily reach USD 4 billion opportunity "very quickly", the statement added.

Under the partnership, XIUS will provide the important technology and integration expertise and Hebitel will offer experienced personnel and services like licence application, market identification and business planning.

An inter-ministerial panel, the Telecom Commission, earlier this week had paved the way for virtual network operators which will be providing telecom services in partnership with a local operator.

VNOs will lease bandwidth from operators to sell voice and data services to customers like a retailer under its own brand name.

These will have their own billing plans and are expected to trigger a tariff war in the market.

"Across the world, we see very successful MVNOs targeting youth, roaming markets, international calling and others. With the immense scale of the Indian market, we know that many niche services will spell huge success for our MVNO clients," Hebitel MD Paul Nicholas said.

Some 10-15 percent of all mobile subscribers in Europe are subscribers of MVNOs.

According to IDC forecast, total mobile services revenue in India will hit USD 37 billion in 2017.
The yield of rare variety of mango called Noor Jahan, cultivated only in Alirajpur district in Madhya Pradesh, is likely to remain low this season due to unfavourable weather conditions.

The variety, originally belonging to Afghanistan, is now cultivated in Katthiwada region in Alirajpur district, around 250 kms from here.

"In view of the extreme cold weather that prevailed in the winter season in November-December and the severe heat this summer, only 10 per cent of the Noor Jahan trees have flowered," Shivraj Singh Jadhav, an orchid owner, told PTI today.

The Noor Jahan variety produces fruits towards the end of May. On an average, one mango weighs over four kg and is nearly one-foot long.

This variety of mango has won many acclaims, including the national award at Indore Mango Festival in 1999.

The Katthiwada region reprotedly has two mango farms with three trees and nearly 70 mangoes grows on a single tree. Each mango fetches around Rs 300.

The tree of this particular variety measuring 10 to 12 feet grows in sandy soil and requires cool climate, the report added.

Jadhav said his father Thakur P Singh had brought a sapling of Noor Jahan variety from Valsad in Gujarat to Katthiwada in 1968.
Pathankot: Playing to the Pied Pipers of Pakistan

What was Modi government doing giving the Pakistan JIT a grand tour of Pathankot airbase?

What was Modi government doing giving the Pakistan JIT a grand tour of Pathankot airbase?

They came, they saw, they prevaricated. After months of media speculation and behind-the-scenes negotiations, a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) from Pakistan comprising officials from Punjab police, Intelligence Bureau and the Directorate of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) visited India to carry out its own investigation of the attack on Pathankot Air Force Station in January this year. The air force station was attacked allegedly by members of the terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), resulting in the deaths of seven security personnel, including a commando from the Indian Air ...

Rohan Joshi
By Kate Holton and Susanna Twidale

LONDON (Reuters) - The British government opened talks on Tuesday with potential buyers for Tata Steel's UK operations, including Sanjeev Gupta's commodities company Liberty Group, as it stepped up its battle to find a buyer for the loss-making business.

Accused by opposition lawmakers of being "asleep at the wheel" when Tata Steel put its entire British operations up for sale last week, Prime Minister David Cameron also met ministers to discuss the options for a business which employs 15,000 people.

Britain's business minister Sajid Javid met with Gupta in London to establish how firm his interest was in the business. He was later due to fly to Mumbai to meet Tata Chairman Cyrus Mistry to agree the process for a sale.

Gupta, who has bought other distressed steel assets in Britain, said the meeting was "positive" and the government was "highly supportive" and "actively engaged" in finding a long-term solution.

"The next step is for Tata to define the formal sales process and request indications of interest from potential buyers," he said in a statement after the meeting.

The government has not said which other potential buyers it has met but Javid told Sky "where the buyers are coming forward, we're ready to work with them."

Gupta's Liberty Group is a metals company with assets in Asia, Africa and Britain, and production capacity in steel exceeding 3 million MT a year.

He has not yet carried out due diligence on the business which includes the huge Port Talbot plant in south Wales but said that site could be saved if the giant blast furnaces were replaced with facilities to process imported slab steel into higher grade product or make steel from scrap metal rather than iron ore.

Carwyn Jones, the first minister of Wales, said the government appeared willing to discuss solutions for the firm's pension deficit, structural challenges and high energy costs that prompted Tata to walk away.

Britain, the birthplace of the modern steel industry, has shed thousands of jobs from the sector in recent years due to high costs and historically low steel prices which have been dragged down by cheap Chinese imports.

But the announcement from Tata, Britain's biggest steel producer, has exposed the government to accusations that it has failed the country's industrial sector.

Steelmakers in Britain pay some of the highest energy costs and green taxes in the world as a result of policies that were designed to promote investment in low-carbon electricity generation such as wind farms or nuclear plants.

With the costs passed on to consumers, those firms which use the most power, such as steelmakers, say they are struggling to cope. A domestic carbon tax for example is paid on top of a European carbon price.

Documents released last month show British businesses would pay 340 million pounds ($483 million) more in carbon costs than their European counterparts in 2016-17, with the gap rising to 1.2 billion pounds by 2020-21.

But the government said it has compensated industry for some of these costs and plans to do more in the future. It maintains the fundamental problem facing the industry is the collapse in the price of steel, caused by over capacity in China.

Gupta said the industry's problems were down to a lack of investment and forward thinking, but he added that more could have been done to reduce the costs of energy and business taxes.

"Energy prices have been improved but not enough; more should have been done and faster," he said in an interview with ITN.

POLITICAL HEAT

Jones said he had been heartened by the government's approach after he met with Cameron and Javid at Downing Street.

"There was an acceptance that the issue of pensions will need to be looked at in order for a sale to take place, the issue of energy prices will have to be looked at, and the issue of tariffs to protect UK steel in the future," he told Sky .

"Discussions have taken place with buyers. They're early days yet but we do have something to build on."

Gupta said the assets could be modernised with electric arc furnaces instead of the giant blast furnaces. About 70 percent of steel in the world is produced using blast furnaces which use raw material, mainly iron ore, while the rest is produced via electric arc furnace which uses recycled steel or scrap.

Industry analysts have said the use of scrap will increase in coming years.

Gupta said staff working on the blast furnaces could be retrained.

"We have an alternative suggestion which is to still make hot metal but to make it from local raw material rather than imported raw material, so it's a change of technology rather than ending liquid steel making," he said.

"If we get involved in Port Talbot we will only do so on the basis that we are confident there will not be any mass redundancies."

One industry analyst who asked not to be named due to company policy said one option for steel companies in developed economies was buying cheap slab steel and re-rolling it to produce a higher quality product.

However he noted that Britain's high energy costs and need to invest in the plant to catch up with rivals already pursuing this strategy meant the country was at a disadvantage.

($1 = 0.7039 pounds)

(Additional reporting by Paul Sandle and William James in London and Manolo Serapio in Manila; editing by Michael Holden and Anna Willard)
(Corrects headline and paragraphs 1 and 4 to show Volkswagen and the government must reach a deal, not a formal settlement)

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top U.S. environmental official expressed uncertainty on Tuesday about whether the Obama administration and Volkswagen AG (VW) will meet an April 21 court deadline to come up with a plan to address excess emissions from 580,000 diesel vehicles sold in the country.

EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy told reporters that the two sides were in "really robust" ongoing talks but said she did not know if they would agree to a deal by April 21.

She declined to say if the administration would accept a partial fix of the polluting vehicles or if it would insist that Volkswagen offer to buy them all back.

VW, Europe's biggest automaker, faces its biggest crisis in recent memory after it acknowledged in September that it had rigged exhaust emission tests for up to 11 million vehicles worldwide. The company's chief executive officer abruptly left after the scandal was announced, and the company set aside up to 6.5 billion euros to address the problem but has warned the amount could go higher as investigations continue around the world.

Last month, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer gave VW and U.S. regulators until April 21 to offer a "concrete proposal" for addressing the polluting cars. Both sides must "resolve" what is to happen to the cars by that date, Breyer said.

If no deal is reached by then, Breyer said he would consider holding a trial this summer.

Also in March, a California official said the state might allow partially repaired VW diesel cars to continue operating on its roads because a full fix might be impossible. That fix would not completely address excess on-road emissions, but VW could be required to do so as part of a compensation fund.

"I wouldn't take any single signal as the direction of those negotiations or where any final agreement - if we reach one - will end up," McCarthy said at a breakfast sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor.

Volkswagen spokeswoman Jeannine Ginivan said the automaker was continuing to work with the EPA and California, declining to offer an opinion on whether they will reach a deal by April 21.

Breyer had earlier set a March 24 deadline for VW to explain where it stood on remediation efforts, after months of talks with the U.S. Justice Department, EPA and California Air Resources Board.

The remedy could involve fixing the roughly 580,000 U.S. vehicles, or buybacks and other options, Breyer said.

The cars are equipped with "defeat devices" that allow them to pass laboratory emissions tests despite exceeding federal standards by up to 40 times when they are driven on roads.

The U.S. Justice Department in February sued VW for up to $46 billion for violating federal environmental laws. The company and its Audi and Porsche brands remain barred from selling any new 2016 diesel models in the United States.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Lisa Von Ahn)
HONG KONG/SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Credit Suisse and HSBC, two of the world's largest wealth managers, dismissed on Tuesday suggestions they were actively using offshore structures to help clients cheat on their taxes.

Their comments came a day after a leak of four decades of documents from a Panamanian law firm that specialises in setting up offshore companies showed widespread use of those instruments by global banks on behalf of their clients and triggered a raft of government investigations across the world.

The so-called "Panama Papers", revealed through an investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), exposed financial arrangements of politicians and public figures including friends of Russian President Vladimir Putin, relatives of the prime ministers of Britain, Iceland and Pakistan, and the president of Ukraine.

Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam, who is aggressively targeting Asia's wealthiest for growth, said his bank was only after lawful assets.

"We as a company, as a bank only encourage the use of structures when there is a legitimate economic purpose," Thiam, who took the helm at Switzerland's second-largest bank last year, told a media briefing.

Separately, HSBC said the documents pre-dated a thorough reform of its business model.

"The allegations are historical, in some cases dating back 20 years, predating our significant, well-publicized reforms implemented over the last few years," said Gareth Hewett, a Hong Kong-based spokesman for HSBC.

HSBC and Credit Suisse were named among the banks that helped set up complex structures that make it hard for tax collectors and investigators to track the flow of money from one place to another, according to ICIJ, which based its reports on the leaked documents from the Panamanian law firm, Mossack Fonseca.

More than 500 banks, their subsidiaries and branches registered nearly 15,600 shell companies with Mossack Fonseca, according to ICIJ's analysis of the records. The vast majority of them were created since the 1990s, ICIJ said on its website.

Thiam, in Hong Kong to attend Credit Suisse's annual Asian Investment Conference, acknowledged the Swiss wealth manager does use offshore financial structures, but only for very wealthy customers with assets in multiple jurisdictions, and it did not support their use for tax avoidance or allow them without knowing the identities of all those concerned.

"We do not condone structures for tax avoidance," he said. "Whenever there is a structure with a third party beneficiary we insist to know the identity of that beneficiary."

Credit Suisse agreed in May 2014 to pay a $2.5 billion fine in the United States for helping rich Americans evade taxes. Several Swiss-based wealth managers, including cross town rival UBS Group AG, also had to pay large fines in the United States for the same reason.

HSBC, which also had wealth management operations in Switzerland, agreed in 2012 to pay $1.92 billion in U.S. fines, mainly for allowing itself to be used to launder drug money flowing out of Mexico.

The tax spat with the United States critically undermined traditional Swiss banking privacy laws and resulted in a radical overhaul of Swiss private banking, a tightening of global tax compliance standards as well as massive outflows from Swiss bank accounts.

(Reporting by Lisa Jucca, Denny Thomas and Saeed Azhar; Editing by Martin Howell)
PARIS (Reuters) - France will put Panama back on its blacklist of uncooperative tax jurisdictions, its finance minister said on Tuesday after media revelations about a Panamanian law firm specialised in setting up offshore firms.

"Panama is a country that wanted us to believe that it could respect the main international tax principles and thus it was taken off the tax haven blacklist," Michel Sapin told lawmakers during question time in parliament.

"France has decided to add Panama back on the list of uncooperative countries with all of the consequences that that will have for those who have dealings with Panama," he added.

Panama is a far bigger financial centre than the other jurisdictions on France's tax haven list, which currently includes Botswana, Brunei, Guatemala, Nauru, Niue and the Marshall Islands.

Panama has come under fire from the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development for back-tracking on a commitment to automatically share tax information with other countries.

The country increasingly stands out for its failure to push ahead with automatic tax information exchange since all other major offshore financial centres having committed to it in the coming two years.

Of the 7,800 tax regularisation cases French authorities dealt with last year, 515 involved a shell company registered in Panama, the Finance Ministry said on Monday.

Following a massive leak about clients of Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca, France's financial prosecutors opened a preliminary investigation into aggravated tax fraud to establish whether French taxpayers are concerned.

The leak could prove to be a boon for the Socialist government in the midst of a tax evasion clampdown that netted over 12 billion euros ($13.6 billion) last year.

($1 = 0.8807 euros)

(Reporting by Leigh Thomas; Editing by Michel Rose and Tom Heneghan)
By Devidutta Tripathy

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Global distressed asset buyers such as J.C. Flowers & Co and Apollo Global are flocking to India, where banks have been ordered to clean up an estimated $120 billion of bad and troubled loans.

Bad loans at Indian banks jumped by nearly a third to around 4 trillion rupees ($60.3 billion) late last year as the central bank drives a national clean-up of banks' balance sheets. That figure doubles to a record amount when restructured, or rolled over, loans are included - amounting to 11.3 percent of all loans, the government says.

Foreign firms have been similarly attracted to China, which has also seen an explosion in bank bad loans, though, unlike India, China is not pushing banks to carry out a thorough asset quality review that would increase the number of bad loans.

Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan wants lenders to fully disclose and provide for all problem loans by next March, an exercise that could force banks to consider selling off chunks of bad loans to specialists to free up capital.

As more bad loans are likely to be revealed as part of that broad asset quality review, distressed-debt buyers sense an opportunity.

J.C. Flowers, which has invested over $14 billion across several countries and recently announced a joint venture with financial services group Ambit Holdings, plans to set up a so-called Asset Reconstruction Company (ARC) as well as a distress-debt fund in India, Asia's third-largest economy.

It will focus on small-and-mid-cap companies, aiming to build $1 billion in assets under management in India, said Rahul Gupta, joint group CEO at Ambit.

Apollo Global Management, which has set up an $825 million fund in India in a partnership with top private sector lender ICICI Bank's private equity arm, is "refining the details" of its investment plans in Indian distressed assets.

"We believe (the government and the central bank) are doing a good job of bringing greater attention and transparency to the issue," said Mintoo Bhandari, a senior partner at Apollo, adding the focus on resolution of bad loans and the easing of some rules was "increasing interest" for global investors like Apollo.

BUDGET BOOST

For now, Indian banks can only sell their bad loans to ARCs, entities that were set up as early as a decade ago to help purge the banking sector of bad loans. However, a lack of capital and opaque rules meant they have so far played just a minor role.

To bring in more foreign capital, the government's budget in February announced a range of measures including allowing both sponsors and foreign investors to fully own ARCs without having to seek prior regulatory approval.

"These are positive changes inviting foreign capital," said S. Sriniwasan, CEO of a $525 million fund announced recently by Canada Pension Plan in a partnership with India's Kotak Group. He said he expected more foreign investors to buy Indian distressed assets.

Siby Antony, managing director of Edelweiss ARC, the country's biggest bad loan buyer, said his firm aimed to buy 160 billion rupees worth of bad loans this fiscal year and would need as much as 20 billion rupees in new capital.

"I think many are looking at India," he said of foreign investors new to this market.

ONLY FOR THE PATIENT

Recovery of bad debts in India remains low due to a very slow legal process and the multiplicity of tribunals. Also, there is no secondary market for trading bad debt, making it tougher to exit.

The government is drawing up new bankruptcy laws that aim to make the process faster and smoother, but full implementation of those laws and the creation of the necessary infrastructure is still 2-3 years away, experts say.

"I'm optimistic regarding the introduction of the new bankruptcy code," said Bhandari at Apollo, adding a warning that "only investors with a genuine appetite for tackling complexity and with a fair degree of patience will be effective in this arena."

Other foreign investors with tie-ups to India's distressed asset sector include KKR & Co , which recently won approval to buy a stake in International Asset Reconstruction Co. KKR has also announced a distressed debt joint venture in China.

Billionaire Ajay Piramal's Piramal Group has also said it intends to set up a $1 billion fund to invest in distressed assets.

The rise in troubled assets also means more business for turnaround specialists such as Alvarez & Marsal, which has stepped up hiring for its Indian operations, and is looking to add new capabilities such as insolvency practitioners, said Nikhil Shah, a managing director.

(Reporting by Devidutta Tripathy, with additional reporting by Sumeet Chatterjee; Editing by Lisa Jucca and Ian Geoghegan)
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde on Tuesday turned up the volume on her calls for stronger action by the world's economies to boost growth, warning that downside risks were increasing without decisive action.

In a speech at Frankfurt's Goethe University, Lagarde prescribed specific moves, including for the United States to raise its minimum wage, for Europe to improve job training and for emerging economies to cut fuel subsidies and boost social spending.

She said recovery from the 2007-2009 global financial crisis "remains too slow, too fragile and risks to its durability are increasing."

"Let me be clear: we are on alert, not alarm. There has been a loss of growth momentum," Lagarde said in her prepared remarks.

"However, if policymakers can confront the challenges and act together, the positive effects on global confidence - and the global economy - will be substantial."

Her remarks come less than two weeks before senior ministers, central bankers and other policymakers from the Fund's 188 member countries gather in Washington for the IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings to assess the health of the world economy.

While the U.S. recovery has been gaining momentum and some emerging markets such as Mexico have performed well, the IMF has warned that growth in Europe and Japan has been a major disappointment, while China's slowing growth has hurt oil and commodity exporting countries, including Brazil and Russia.

To counteract those headwinds, Lagarde called for accelerating structural economic reforms, increased fiscal support and continued accomodative monetary policy.

For the first time, she prescribed some specific policy actions in these areas.

A higher minimum wage, expanded tax credits for the working poor and improved family leave benefits - changes championed by President Barack Obama and Democratic Party presidential candidates - could help increase the U.S. labor force, she said.

Republican lawmakers who control the U.S. Congress, however, have blocked these proposals from advancing.

Lagarde said Euro area countries should implement better training and employment-matching policies to help reduce unemployment for young people.

She also called for better tax incentives to encourage research and development investments and more public spending in this area, citing IMF research showing that a 40 percent increase in R&D spending in advanced economies could yield a 5 percent increase in GDP over 20 years.

With current spending low, this would entail a small fiscal cost of about 0.4 percent of GDP per year, she added.

Countries with high and growing debts and elevated borrowing costs should pursue further fiscal consolidation, Lagarde said. But her remarks did not mention negotiations between the IMF, European lenders and Greece for a new bailout program for the heavily indebted country.

Over the weekend, after Internet whistle-blowing site Wikileaks published an apparent transcript of a controversial IMF conference call, Lagarde denied that IMF staff might threaten to pull out of the Greek bailout as a negotiating tactic to force more European debt relief for Greece.

(Reporting by David Lawder in Washington; Editing by Kim Coghill)
The global economys already modest prospects will decline further unless authorities take stronger action to boost growth, the head of the IMF warned on Tuesday, saying the Fund would cut its headline forecasts next week.

Christine Lagarde said Chinas shift to an economic model based more on domestic demand, stubbornly low commodity prices and tighter funding conditions in some countries had all clouded the outlook. Let me be clear: we are on alert, not alarm. There has been a loss of growth momentum, the Monetary Funds managing director said in a speech at Frankfurts Goethe University.

The recovery from the 2007-2009 global financial crisis remains too slow, too fragile and risks to its durability are increasing. But if policymakers confronted the challenges and acted together, the positive effects on global confidence  and the global  will be substantial.



Lagarde advised the United States to raise its minimum wage, Europe to improve job training and emerging economies to cut fuel subsidies and boost social spending. She gave her strongest hint yet that the IMF will cut its global economic forecasts next week.

The global outlook has weakened further over the last six months so you can (deduce) from that there will be a slight revision (in the IMF estimates), Lagarde said.

Lagardes remarks come less than two weeks before ministers, central bankers and other policymakers from the Funds 188 member countries gather in Washington to assess the health of the world at the IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings.

While the US recovery has been gaining momentum and some emerging markets including as Mexico have performed well, the IMF views Europe and Japan as major disappointments, while Chinas slowing growth has hurt oil and commodity exporting countries, including Brazil and Russia.

To counteract the headwinds, Lagarde called for accelerated structural reforms, increased fiscal support and continued accommodative monetary policy.

She urged improved tax incentives for research and development investments, citing IMF data showing that a 40 percent increase in R&D spending in advanced economies could yield a 5 percent increase in GDP over 20 years.

Asked about negotiations between the IMF, European lenders and Greece for a new bailout program for the heavily indebted country, Lagarde told Bloomberg TV the Fund continued to negotiate in good faith.

After Internet site Wikileaks published an apparent transcript of an IMF conference call, Lagarde denied that IMF staff might threaten to pull out of the bailout as a negotiating tactic to force more European debt relief for Greece.

Introducing Lagardes speech, Jens Weidmann, who sits on the European Central Banks decision-making body and heads Germanys Bundesbank, said the IMF was an essential component in any euro zone rescue program.

Among other sources of uncertainty facing the global economy, Lagarde listed Britains debate over remaining in the European Union.
LONDON (Reuters) - International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde said on Tuesday that her team was continuing to negotiate with Greece "in good faith" over its debt issues.

She told Bloomberg TV the aim was to restore Greek competitiveness within a framework of debt sustainability.

"The objectives have not changed," Lagarde said. Asked if the IMF was willing to agree to a more lenient fiscal surplus target for Greece, she said: "Everything has to add up."

Lagarde also said that Britain's debate over remaining in the European Union was one of the uncertainties currently facing the global economy.

(Reporting by John Stonestreet; Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)
By Aditya Kalra

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India is firing dozens of foreign-funded health experts working inside the government, seen as part of a broader clampdown to reduce the influence of non-government organisations (NGOs) on policy.

The loss of these professionals, most of whom are Indian nationals, has raised concerns that signature programmes to combat HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis may suffer just as they face funding shortages due to slow bureaucracy.

A shortage of technical experts has for years forced India to turn to the World Health Organization (WHO) and aid groups like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to manage large-scale public health schemes.

Of the nearly 140 people who run India's HIV/AIDS programme, 112 are consultants seconded from foreign organisations. Some are engaged in planning and monitoring of prevention activities in high-risk Indian states.

Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government ordered 45 of them to be removed from service by June as they had served more than three years, according to health ministry officials and a document seen by .

By December, 70 of these experts will leave, while others, who have worked for less than three years, face a government screening committee to decide whether they are needed.

"It's like questioning our integrity just because we are foreign funded," said an HIV/AIDS consultant who worked in the health department for three years and is now looking for a job.

The programme has won global acclaim for sharply reducing annual new HIV infections, but the rate of decline has slowed in recent years. India recorded 86,000 new infections last year.

S. Selvakumar, a joint secretary in the finance ministry who signed off on clarifications to the new policy rules in January, said he did not know why consultants working in the government were being removed. He said the finance ministry received a request from the cabinet secretariat to compile a list of government consultants last May.

Two other finance ministry officials said the move was driven by fears that foreign agencies could use their consultants to influence policy in New Delhi. "Their loyalties would be divided," said one.

The security of information was also a concern, the other officer said.

More than 500 consultants work across the Indian government, about half in the health sector alone. Some are from Britain's Department for International Development (DFID) and the United Nations' UNICEF.

A spokeswoman for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation did not comment on the government's decision, but said it would adhere to the directive. A DFID spokesman said the department had "not received any complaints from the government of India about data theft or undue influence on policies."

The WHO and UNICEF did not respond to requests for comment.

FIXING THE SYSTEM

The move on consultants employed by government departments but who get their salaries from the parent organisations comes at a time when the government has tightened controls on foreign NGOs operating in India.

Last year it froze funding and cancelled licences of thousands of non-profit organisations for not declaring international donations. The government said it was seeking to bring transparency to the functioning of these entities.

The new rules apply only to government workers funded by global aid agencies, and not to all those associated with international groups.

A senior government source said the new policy on consultants working in the government will help streamline the older, loosely regulated system and ensure they have proper approvals.

Nearly 70 experienced consultants in the tuberculosis programme risk losing their jobs following the government order. India accounts for almost a quarter of global TB cases and the most deaths - 220,000 in 2014.

Keshav Desiraju, a former health secretary, said consultants play a vital role in running public health schemes but are not involved in policy formulation.

"Consultants do a lot of data work, and it will be immature to suggest they can influence government policy," he told .

(Reporting by Aditya Kalra, with additional reporting by Douglas Busvine; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani and Ian Geoghegan)
By Sankalp Phartiyal

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - A government body has issued notices to China, Japan and South Korea proposing to initiate a probe on the 'dumping' of some steel products into India, a source said.

The notices have been issued for hot-rolled coils of alloy and non-alloy steel, a source at the Directorate General of Anti-Dumping & Allied Duties (DGAD) told .

Indian steelmakers Steel Authority of India Ltd, JSW Steel Ltd and Essar Steel had approached the DGAD seeking anti-dumping duties on cheap imports flooding local markets and pressuring margins.

Imports of steel into India rose 20.5 percent in the 11 months to February compared with the same period last year, government data showed.

New Delhi last week extended safeguard import taxes on some steel products until March 2018, and in February imposed a floor price to curb overseas purchases of cheap steel and shield domestic mills.

(Reporting by Sankalp Phartiyal; Editing by Greg Mahlich)
India's health ministry has ordered government agencies to enforce a new rule for bigger health warnings on tobacco packets, stepping up a fight against the $10 billion that has shut down its factories in protest.

The government wants manufacturers to cover 85% of a cigarette pack's surface in health warnings, up from 20% now.

But ITC Ltd, part-owned by British American Tobacco, and Godfrey Phillips, partner of US based Philip Morris International, have opposed the measure, saying a parliament panel had suggested the health warning to be half the cigarette pack's size.

KC Samria, a joint secretary in the health ministry, on Monday sought support of several other ministries, including foreign affairs and revenue department, to ensure strict implementation of the new rules, letters seen by Reuters showed.
LONDON (Reuters) - The executive chairman of commodities company Liberty House has had a "positive" meeting with the UK government regarding the future of Tata Steel's UK operations, he said in a statement on Tuesday.

Liberty House has been touted as a potential 'white-knight' investor for Tata's troubled UK business, which has been hit hard by falling steel prices and dwindling export demand in key markets.

"The UK Government appears highly supportive and is proactively engaged in finding a long-term solution. We have also actively engaged with Welsh Government and again we are encouraged by their approach," Sanjeev Gupta said, after meeting British business minister Sajid Javid.

He added that all parties were "very motivated" to find a solution for the loss-making business, and that the next stage would be for Tata to open a formal sales process before Liberty House assessed its next step.

Liberty is a key investor in Britain's steel industry with holdings in Newport, the Midlands and Scotland.

(Reporting By Freya Berry, editing by Sinead Cruise)
LONDON (Reuters) - Liberty House Group boss Sanjeev Gupta said on Tuesday a deal could be done to buy Tata Steel's British operations without mass redundancies but that he had not yet opened talks with the sellers.

Prime Minister David Cameron's government has said it is working to broker a deal with potential buyers after India's Tata Steel put its loss-making British plant up for sale last week, threatening thousands of jobs.

Gupta is due to meet Britain's business secretary later on Tuesday to discuss the sale. He said Tata's Port Talbot plant could be restructured to make it more profitable and said staff could be retrained rather than fired.

(Reporting by Kate Holton; editing by Michael Holden)
By Barani Krishnan

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices edged higher on Tuesday after Kuwait's insistence that major producers will agree to freeze output this month even as Iran balks at the plan.

Gains in crude prices were limited as traders awaited U.S. industry data later in the afternoon that was likely to show another record high in crude inventories in the United States.

A meeting of oil-producing countries in Doha on April 17 will deliver an agreement to hold output at January highs, Kuwait's OPEC governor said, after Tehran again poured cold water on the plan.

Crude futures, down earlier in the session, steadied on the Kuwaiti assurance, before a burst of short-covering before the close took the market higher.

"There was no news, other than the noise over the April 17 meeting, so I presume it was some technical buying that came in," a trader said.

Brent crude settled up 18 cents at $37.87 a barrel, after hitting a one-month low at $37.27 earlier in the day.

U.S. crude finished the session 19 cents higher at $35.89, rising to $36.15 just before the close. Earlier, it sunk to $35.24, its lowest level since March 4.

The American Petroleum Institute (API), an industry group, will release at 4:30 p.m. (2030 GMT) preliminary data on U.S. oil inventories for last week.

Analysts polled by expect U.S. crude stockpiles to have risen 3.2 million barrels to an eighth straight week of record highs. The government will release official inventory data on Wednesday. [EIA/S]

Crude prices remain nearly 40 percent above 12-year lows struck in mid-February, although their recovery has fizzled lately on scepticism over the output freeze.

Last week, a Saudi prince was reported saying the kingdom will not participate in the production freeze without Tehran's involvement.

Iran's Deputy Oil Minister Marzieh Shahdaei said on Tuesday Tehran will focus instead of raising its crude exports to pre-sanction levels. The country is the second largest exporter in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and fourth largest oil producer in the world.

Oil prices were also weighed down earlier in the session by government data from Monday showing the first monthly drop in U.S. gasoline demand in 14 months. Gasoline demand has been one of the strongest pillars of U.S. crude for months now.

Still, a analysis showed nothing surprising about the January reading for gasoline, which was in line with the low weekly consumption numbers for the month that have since rebounded.

(Additional reporting by Karolin Schaps in LONDON; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
By Karolin Schaps

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil traded near one-month lows on Tuesday after a surprise fall in gasoline demand in the United States, the world's largest oil consumer, and on doubts whether oil producers can agree an output freeze to dampen a global supply glut.

U.S. gasoline demand, one of the strongest pillars supporting oil consumption, fell in January for the first time in 14 months, U.S. Energy Information Administration data showed.

The world's largest oil producers are due to meet in Doha on April 17 to negotiate an output freeze, but a jump in Russian oil production to a 30-year high in March has cast doubt over the chances of an output cap being agreed.

Iran, meanwhile, continues to ramp up oil exports and has said it will not join fellow OPEC and non-OPEC members in a production freeze. Those sentiments were reinforced on Tuesday when Deputy Oil Minister Marzieh Shahdaei said that she had no plans to attend the Doha meeting.

Brent crude, the global oil price benchmark, was down 27 cents at $37.42 a barrel at 1238 GMT, close to a one-month low. U.S. futures fell by 28 cents to $35.42.

"The market was surprised by two figures: Russian production at a 30-year high and U.S. gasoline demand dropping for the first time in 14 months," said Frank Klumpp, oil analyst at Stuttgart-based Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg.

"As long as most speculative money is long-positioned, there is more room for closing positions and falling prices."

Analysts at BNP Paribas agreed that oil prices could slide further, saying an emerging gasoline glut could add to a global overhang in crude output that exceeds demand by more than 1 million barrels of oil a day.

"Global oil balances will witness sizeable implied inventory builds in the first half of 2016, suggesting that the price of oil can easily revisit the lows seen earlier this year," they wrote in a report.

Bjarne Schieldrop, chief commodities analyst at SEB, said that Brent futures could drop to $35 a barrel in the sell-off.

"We view this as a good opportunity to go long into Q2/Q3 ... Brent crude oil is likely to move until proven wrong," he wrote in a report to clients.

Though the stance of Iran and Russia has dented hopes of any meaningful agreement in Doha, the OPEC governor of Kuwait said on Tuesday that a deal at the meeting could freeze production at February levels or an average of January and February.

Nawal Al-Fuzaia also said that she expects Brent crude to average between $45 and $60 a barrel in the second half of this year and for supply and demand to balance by year-end.

(Additional reporting by Henning Gloystein in Singapore; Editing by David Goodman)
By Henning Gloystein

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices dropped for a third session in a row on Tuesday, as weakening demand for gasoline and persistent doubts on whether crude producers will be able to reach an agreement to rein in a worldwide supply glut dragged on the market.

Growth in gasoline use has been one of the strongest pillars supporting demand across the fuel complex in both North America and Asia and has been largely credited for providing a floor under crude prices that have slumped as much as 70 percent since mid-2014 due surplus supply.

The decline on Tuesday follows data showing U.S. gasoline demand during January fell for the first time in 14 months, while overall U.S. oil demand fell 1 percent that month from a year ago.

Front month U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was trading at $35.51 per barrel at 0652 GMT, down 19 cents from their last settlement. International Brent futures were down 9 cents at $37.60 per barrel.

"Crude prices and timespreads have weakened in recent days in line with softer fundamentals," consultancy Energy Aspects said. "Although Q2 is always a slow period for crude demand amidst peak refinery works, it seems like Asia may have somewhat overdone the crude buying and is therefore pausing for breath."

In Asia, traders have stored excess gasoline on tankers as onshore storage facilities in Singapore and Malaysia are filled to the rims.

Analysts said crude prices could soon fall again as an emerging gasoline glut potentially adds to a global overhang in crude output that sees more than 1 million barrels of oil produced in excess of demand every day.

"Global oil balances will witness sizeable implied inventory builds in H1'16, suggesting that the price of oil can easily revisit the lows seen earlier this year," French bank BNP Paribas said.

To address the crude overhang, major producers like Saudi Arabia and Russia have proposed a freeze in output at January levels, when both pumped at or near record levels.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other big producers are set to meet in Doha, Qatar in two weeks to discuss the plan.

But prospects for a deal look dim, with the Saudis declining to participate without Iran, and Russia reporting its highest output in 30 years just weeks before the meeting.

"Only a feeble mind sees a freeze in production as good . It is the worst as it guarantees over-production and rising inventories," consultancy FGE said.

Crude prices could see a downward correction to between $25 and $35 per barrel in the second quarter, it added.

(Reporting by Henning Gloystein; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Savio D'Souza)
By Barani Krishnan

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices steadied on Tuesday after Kuwait said an output freeze by major oil producers would proceed without Iran, shoring up sentiment ahead of weekly data likely to show another record high in U.S. crude inventories.

A meeting of oil-producing countries in Doha on April 17 will deliver an agreement to freeze output, Kuwait's OPEC governor and two sources said.

Iran's Deputy Oil Minister Marzieh Shahdaei had said earlier Tehran will opt out of the plan to raise crude exports to pre-sanction levels. Iran is the second largest exporter in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and fourth largest oil producer in the world.

Last week, a Saudi prince was reported saying the kingdom will not participate in the production without Iran's involvement.

Brent crude was up 10 cents at $37.79 a barrel by 11:52 a.m. EDT (1552 GMT), after hitting a one-month low at $37.27.

U.S. crude was up 12 cents at $35.82 a barrel. It earlier sunk to $35.24, its lowest since March 4, amid worries preliminary data from the American Petroleum Institute at 4:30 p.m. (2030 GMT) will show U.S. crude stockpiles at an eighth straight week of record highs.

Crude oil prices remain nearly 40 percent above 12-year lows struck in mid-February, although their recovery has fizzled since last week on skepticism over the output freeze plan.

Kuwait "seems to think that a production freeze deal is possible even without Iran," said Tim Evans, energy futures specialist at Citi Futures. "While that's technically true, we also think it would be ineffective in bending the path of future production, leaving the expected global surplus in place."

U.S. crude was weighed down earlier in the session by government data on Monday showing the first monthly drop in U.S. gasoline demand in 14 months. Gasoline demand has been one of the strongest pillars of U.S. crude for months now.

But on closer inspection there is nothing surprising about the monthly reading for January, which is in line with the low weekly consumption numbers reported during that month, market analyst John Kemp said.

U.S. gasoline demand is still strong despite poor weather in January. It only began to ramp up from the middle of February and has remained strong since then according to the weekly data.

(Additional reporting by Karolin Schaps in LONDON; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
By Barani Krishnan

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Tuesday after Kuwait insisted major producers will agree to freeze output later this month even as key player Iran continued to balk at the plan.

The market extended gains in post-settlement trade after preliminary data on U.S. crude supply-demand for last week from industry group American Petroleum Institute (API) showed a surprise draw of 4.3 million barrels.

Analysts polled by had expected U.S. crude stockpiles to have risen by 3.2 million barrels to an eighth straight week of record highs. The U.S. government's Energy Information Administration (EIA) will release official inventory data on Wednesday.

"This is totally unexpected," John Kilduff, partner at New York energy hedge fund Again Capital, said on the API data.

"It could open a new run higher in crude prices, though I'd say for the rally to last, we have to see higher refinery runs in tomorrow's EIA report, or other indications of demand, like big gasoline draws. Just lower imports won't do."

Crude prices remain nearly 40 percent above 12-year lows struck in mid-February, although their recovery has fizzled lately on scepticism over the output freeze idea floated by producers.

U.S. crude finished the session up 19 cents at $35.89, hitting a one-month low of $35.24 during the session. It rose to $36.58, gaining 88 cents, after the API data.

Brent crude settled up 18 cents at $37.87 a barrel, after sinking to a March 4 low of $37.27 earlier. It got to a post-settlement high of $38.44.

Oil finished the session higher on remarks from Kuwait's OPEC governor that a meeting of oil-producing countries in Doha on April 17 will deliver an agreement to hold output at January highs despite Tehran pouring cold water on the plan.

Iran's Deputy Oil Minister Marzieh Shahdaei reiterated on Tuesday Tehran's wish to focus on raising its crude exports to pre-sanction levels. The country is the second largest exporter in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and fourth largest oil producer in the world.

Last week, a Saudi prince was reported saying the kingdom will not participate in the production freeze without Tehran's involvement.

Oil prices were weighed down earlier on Tuesday by government data from Monday showing U.S. gasoline demand fell in January for the first time in 14 months. Gasoline demand has been one of the strongest pillars of U.S. crude for months.

A analysis, however, showed the January data in line with low weekly consumption numbers that have since rebounded.

(Additional reporting by Karolin Schaps in LONDON; Editing by Marguerita Choy and Chris Reese)
By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top U.S. environmental official expressed uncertainty on Tuesday about whether the Obama administration would reach a settlement with Volkswagen AG (VW) by an April 21 court deadline to address excess emissions from 580,000 diesel vehicles sold in the country.

EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy told reporters that the two sides were in "really robust" ongoing talks but said she did not know if they would agree to a deal by April 21.

She declined to say if the administration would accept a partial fix of the polluting vehicles or if it would insist that Volkswagen offer to buy them all back.

VW, Europe's biggest automaker, faces its biggest crisis in recent memory after it acknowledged in September that it had rigged exhaust emission tests for up to 11 million vehicles worldwide. The company's chief executive officer abruptly left after the scandal was announced, and the company set aside up to 6.5 billion euros to address the problem but has warned the amount could go higher as investigations continue around the world.

Last month, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer gave VW and U.S. regulators until April 21 to agree on a fix. If no deal is reached by then, Breyer said he would consider holding a trial this summer.

Also in March, a California official said the state might allow partially repaired VW diesel cars to continue operating on its roads because a full fix might be impossible. That fix would not completely address excess on-road emissions, but VW could be required to do so as part of a compensation fund.

"I wouldn't take any single signal as the direction of those negotiations or where any final agreement - if we reach one - will end up," McCarthy said at a breakfast sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor.

Volkswagen spokeswoman Jeannine Ginivan said the automaker was continuing to work with the EPA and California, declining to offer an opinion on whether they will reach a deal by April 21.

Breyer had earlier set a March 24 deadline for VW to explain where it stood on remediation efforts, after months of talks with the U.S. Justice Department, EPA and California Air Resources Board.

The remedy could involve fixing the roughly 580,000 U.S. vehicles, or buybacks and other options, Breyer said.

The cars are equipped with "defeat devices" that allow them to pass laboratory emissions tests despite exceeding federal standards by up to 40 times when they are driven on roads.

The U.S. Justice Department in February sued VW for up to $46 billion for violating federal environmental laws. The company and its Audi and Porsche brands remain barred from selling any new 2016 diesel models in the United States.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Lisa Von Ahn)
Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) has launched a range of agri-tractors, under the brand Yuvo, in the 30-45 HP category from its newly built plant located at Zaherabad in Telangana. Designed for over 30 different farming applications (from land preparation to harvesting as well as post-harvesting operations), the new range will be added to the companys existing range of highly successful 15-57 HP tractors.



Launched in five models  265 DI (32HP), 275 DI (35HP), 415 DI (40HP), 475 DI (42HP) and 575 DI (45HP), Yuvo will be available in 15 states and the prices will start at Rs 4.99 lakhs for 265 DI (32 HP) ex-showroom Hyderabad.



Built on a new platform, for which M&M has invested over Rs 300 crores, with a unique and industry first 12F+3R full constant-mesh gearbox in the category, Mahindra Yuvo is extremely versatile and can be used across more than 30 different farming applications. The advanced technology of the Yuvo range helps serve the diverse needs of farmers - from land preparation to harvesting as well as post-harvesting requirements, helps them do more, faster and better.



ALSO READ: Mahindra buys 35% stake in Finnish farm equipment maker Sampo Rosenlew



Dr Pawan Goenka, executive director, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, said, The Yuvo will cater to the evolving needs of the progressive farmer. The Yuvo range of tractors is developed at our state of the art R&D facility, Mahindra Research Valley at Chennai and has set a new benchmark in pioneering new technology and providing huge value to customers.



Mahindra Yuvo offers many new technology features to Indian farmers looking for tractors in 30-45 HP range. It is designed to deliver superior performance in farming operations in any soil condition & offers versatility to carry out over 30 applications, thus making it ideal for using in any part of India, said M&M in a press release.
Shares in Allergan Plc opened down more than 15% today, a day after the U.S. Treasury Department proposed new tax regulations that analysts said could kill its $160 billion agreement to be bought by Pfizer Inc.

Pfizer's deal to buy Dublin-based Allergan was conceived under rules that would have allowed the company to move its headquarters to Ireland and lower its tax rate. The US government has been trying to stop that type of deal, called a tax inversion.

Late on Monday, the Treasury Department introduced a regulation that would negate the tax benefits of Pfizer's acquisition of Allergan.

Allergan shares were trading down 15.3% at $235 on the New York Stock Exchange. Pfizer shares rose 1.6% to $31.20.

"By how the stocks are trading, the market thinks the deal is almost dead," said Les Funtleyder, healthcare portfolio manager at E Squared Asset Management in New York, whose firm holds Pfizer shares.

On Monday night, Pfizer said that it was reviewing the notice and declined to speculate on whether the deal would go forward.

"To us, whether Pfizer and Allergan stay committed will be known shortly - more important for many is if the deal breaks, where should Allergan trade?" Wells Fargo analyst David Maris wrote in a research note on Tuesday morning.

Maris lowered his valuation range for the stock to a range of $265 to $270 from a range of $345 to $350. (Reuters)

Source: www.businessworld.ie

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It was announced today that Eli Lilly and Company is set to invest 35 million in delivering a new high-tech manufacturing facility at its Kinsale campus, using pioneering technology that has the potential to transform how medicines are made in the future.

The investment is supported by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation through IDA Ireland.



The new project will apply Continuous Manufacturing Technology to carry out the development and commercialisation of a number of Lillys small molecule pipeline products that are currently undergoing late-stage clinical trials.

It is hoped a fully operational facility will be established by early 2017. This development will see the Kinsale site becoming the centre of excellence for continuous manufacturing for Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) for Lilly worldwide.



Lilly has been in Ireland for over 35 years and now employs around 1,000 people in three operations in Kinsale, Cork City and Dublin.

Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton today commented, "Winning investments from major world-leading companies like Lilly brings enormous benefits to Ireland. Not only are the direct jobs of huge importance to a town like Kinsale, but the heavy investments made by major pharma companies like this create massive knock-on impact on the local economy, in the form of extra employment in supply and service companies."



Welcoming the announcement, CEO of IDA Ireland, Martin Shanahan added, "Pharmaceutical companies such as Lilly continue to choose Ireland for a number of reasons. One of the main reasons is the world-class pharma infrastructure and skilled workforce in Ireland. This investment demonstrates Lillys enduring commitment to Ireland. It also further illustrates Irelands position as a leading location for the development and manufacture of pharmaceutical and biopharmaceuticals medicines."

Source: www.businessworld.ie

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It was announced today that eleven start-ups on the 2016 DCU Female High Fliers programme will present their story to key stakeholders at the Meet the Founders event this evening at the DCU Ryan Academy, Citywest.



The Female High Fliers Programme is a 12-week accelerator programme which aims to address challenges facing female entrepreneurs across all industries and support Irelands top early stage start-ups in fast tracking their business to achieve scale and create employment.

A number of start-ups with products and services in the food, fashion, digital, science, security systems and beauty sectors will today present their story to date as part of a meet and greet with key stakeholders including investors, media and members of Dublins entrepreneur community.



Each selected company works with the DCU Ryan Academy and panels of experienced mentors through a series of practical workshops and tailored training sessions. On completion of the programme, participants will take part in a showcase event day at which they will pitch to a network of investors, mentors and corporate organisations.



Chief Operating Officer at DCU Ryan Academy, Niamh Collins says, "DCU Ryan Academy has a great track record of promoting and accelerating Irish entrepreneurship and start-ups and we are delighted that this first cycle of Female High Fliers in 2016 continues to demonstrate a wide range of exciting new Irish start-ups scaling in many different industry areas."

He added, "Through our Female High Fliers programme, we expect that these ambitious female founders will go on to achieve great success."

Source: www.businessworld.ie

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It was announced today that seven ambitious and growing digital businesses have now joined the technology cluster of 94 companies based at The Digital Hub since the start of 2016.



There are now over 700 people working in companies based at The Digital Hub making it the largest cluster of digital media, technology and Internet businesses in Ireland.



The new companies include four international and three indigenous Irish companies, collectively employing 23 people at present but with plans for further expansion and employment growth over the coming months.



The companies are Bizimply, Adaptive International, Site Analytics, CoinaPhoto, Zoozh, ChildDiary and Pentagon 2000 Software.



Chief Executive Officer at the Digital Hub, Gerry Macken said, "We are delighted to welcome seven new and ambitious companies in the first quarter of this year. Each of the companies have an exciting business proposition and business plan for further growth."

He added, "At The Digital Hub, we are looking forward to playing our part to support their growth stories by providing a vibrant, collaborative and flexible working environment that will enhance their productivity."



Source: www.businessworld.ie

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Credit Suisse and HSBC, two of the world's largest wealth managers, dismissed on Tuesday suggestions they were actively using offshore structures to help clients cheat on their taxes.

Their comments came a day after a leak of four decades of documents from a Panamanian law firm that specialises in setting up offshore companies showed widespread use of those instruments by global banks on behalf of their clients and triggered a raft of government investigations across the world.

The so-called "Panama Papers", revealed through an investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), exposed financial arrangements of politicians and public figures including friends of Russian President Vladimir Putin, relatives of the prime ministers of Britain, Iceland and Pakistan, and the president of Ukraine.

Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam, who is aggressively targeting Asia's wealthiest for growth, said his bank was only after lawful assets.

"We as a company, as a bank only encourage the use of structures when there is a legitimate economic purpose," Thiam, who took the helm at Switzerland's second-largest bank last year, told a media briefing.

Separately, HSBC said the documents pre-dated a thorough reform of its business model.

"The allegations are historical, in some cases dating back 20 years, predating our significant, well-publicized reforms implemented over the last few years," said Gareth Hewett, a Hong Kong-based spokesman for HSBC.

Thiam, in Hong Kong to attend Credit Suisse's annual Asian Investment Conference, acknowledged the Swiss wealth manager does use offshore financial structures, but only for very wealthy customers with assets in multiple jurisdictions, and it did not support their use for tax avoidance or allow them without knowing the identities of all those concerned.

"We do not condone structures for tax avoidance," he said. "Whenever there is a structure with a third party beneficiary we insist to know the identity of that beneficiary."

Credit Suisse agreed in May 2014 to pay a $2.5 billion fine in the United States for helping rich Americans evade taxes. Several Swiss-based wealth managers, including cross town rival UBS Group AG, also had to pay large fines in the United States for the same reason.

HSBC, which also had wealth management operations in Switzerland, agreed in 2012 to pay $1.92 billion in U.S. fines, mainly for allowing itself to be used to launder drug money flowing out of Mexico.

The tax spat with the United States critically undermined traditional Swiss banking privacy laws and resulted in a radical overhaul of Swiss private banking, a tightening of global tax compliance standards as well as massive outflows from Swiss bank accounts. (Reuters)

Source; www.businessworld.ie

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International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde on Tuesday turned up the volume on her calls for stronger action by the world's economies to boost growth, warning that downside risks were increasing without decisive action.

In a speech at Frankfurt's Goethe University, Lagarde prescribed specific moves, including for the United States to raise its minimum wage, for Europe to improve job training and for emerging economies to cut fuel subsidies and boost social spending.

She said recovery from the 2007-2009 global financial crisis "remains too slow, too fragile and risks to its durability are increasing."

"Let me be clear: we are on alert, not alarm. There has been a loss of growth momentum," Lagarde said in her prepared remarks.

"However, if policymakers can confront the challenges and act together, the positive effects on global confidence - and the global economy - will be substantial."

Her remarks come less than two weeks before senior ministers, central bankers and other policymakers from the Fund's 188 member countries gather in Washington for the IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings to assess the health of the world economy.

While the U.S. recovery has been gaining momentum and some emerging markets such as Mexico have performed well, the IMF has warned that growth in Europe and Japan has been a major disappointment, while China's slowing growth has hurt oil and commodity exporting countries, including Brazil and Russia.

To counteract those headwinds, Lagarde called for accelerating structural economic reforms, increased fiscal support and continued accomodative monetary policy.

For the first time, she prescribed some specific policy actions in these areas.

A higher minimum wage, expanded tax credits for the working poor and improved family leave benefits - changes championed by President Barack Obama and Democratic Party presidential candidates - could help increase the U.S. labor force, she said.

Republican lawmakers who control the U.S. Congress, however, have blocked these proposals from advancing.

Lagarde said Euro area countries should implement better training and employment-matching policies to help reduce unemployment for young people.

She also called for better tax incentives to encourage research and development investments and more public spending in this area, citing IMF research showing that a 40 percent increase in R&D spending in advanced economies could yield a 5 percent increase in GDP over 20 years.

With current spending low, this would entail a small fiscal cost of about 0.4 percent of GDP per year, she added.

Countries with high and growing debts and elevated borrowing costs should pursue further fiscal consolidation, Lagarde said.

But her remarks did not mention negotiations between the IMF, European lenders and Greece for a new bailout program for the heavily indebted country.

Over the weekend, after Internet whistle-blowing site Wikileaks published an apparent transcript of a controversial IMF conference call, Lagarde denied that IMF staff might threaten to pull out of the Greek bailout as a negotiating tactic to force more European debt relief for Greece. (Reuters)

Source: www.businessworld.ie

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Oil slipped to a one-month low on Tuesday after a surprise fall in gasoline demand in the United States, the world's largest oil consumer, and on doubts whether oil producers can agree an output freeze to dampen a global supply glut.

U.S. gasoline demand, one of the strongest pillars supporting oil consumption, fell in January for the first time in 14 months, U.S. Energy Information Administration data showed.

The world's largest oil producers are due to meet in Doha on April 17 to negotiate an output freeze, but a jump in Russian oil production to a 30-year high in March has cast doubt over the chances of an output cap being agreed.

Brent crude, the global oil price benchmark, was down 26 cents at $37.43 a barrel at 1000 GMT, its lowest since March 4.

U.S. futures fell by 21 cents to $35.49, also a one-month low.

"The market was surprised by two figures: Russian production at a 30-year high and U.S. gasoline demand dropping for the first time in 14 months," said Frank Klumpp, oil analyst at Stuttgart-based Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg.

"As long as most speculative money is long-positioned, there is more room for closing positions and falling prices."

Analysts at BNP Paribas agreed that oil prices could slide further, saying an emerging gasoline glut could add to a global overhang in crude output that exceeds demand by more than 1 million barrels of oil a day.

"Global oil balances will witness sizeable implied inventory builds in the first half of 2016, suggesting that the price of oil can easily revisit the lows seen earlier this year," they wrote in a report.

The OPEC governor of Kuwait said on Tuesday that an agreement at the Doha meeting could freeze production at February levels or an average of January and February.

Nawal Al-Fuzaia also said that she expects Brent crude to average between $45 and $60 a barrel in the second half of this year and for supply and demand to balance by year-end. (Reuters)

Source: www.businessworld.ie
SALT LAKE CITY (AP)  The Utah Supreme Court is weighing the state Republican partys lawsuit over a law that allows candidates to get their names on a primary ballot if they gather enough signatures.

The justices heard arguments Monday on whether the 2014 law goes too far in telling political parties how they select candidates.

Republicans say parties should decide how they choose candidates, not the state. They want to disqualify candidates who bypass the partys caucus and convention system and instead try to compete in a primary election.

State attorneys argue the law, which becomes fully effective this year, simply gives candidates another option.

Critics say the convention system leads to more extreme candidates, but Republican party officials say it keeps politicians more accountable to voters.

Its unclear when the justices will rule but another hearing is scheduled April 15.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP)  Health officials announced Monday that 15 patients at two Utah hospitals have tested positive for hepatitis C after coming in contact with an infected nurse.

There is no way to know for sure that the nurse infected the patients, said Angela Dunn, an epidemiologist for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who is stationed at Utahs health department.

About half of the 7,200 patients exposed to the infection at hospitals in Ogden and Layton have been tested.

Health officials launched an investigation last summer after officials discovered a patient may have contracted the infection after being treated by a nurse at McKay-Dee Hospital in Ogden with the same rare strain of hepatitis. Only about 8-10 percent of those people with hepatitis C have that strain, said Dunn.

She said it is possible the original patient could have infected the nurse. Dunn said she knows of no investigation into whether the nurse may have infected the patients on purpose.

The 49-year-old nurse had been fired in 2014 for stealing drugs, Dunn said.

Health officials expanded their investigation beyond the hospital in Ogden after determining that the nurse had also worked for Davis Hospital in Layton, and had stolen drugs from that facility as well.

There has only been one case of hepatitis C discovered at Davis Hospital, but less than half of the thousands of patients exposed there have been tested.

Most people with hepatitis C infection dont know it, said Dunn. A lot of that is because people dont show symptoms for up to 20 years.

The most common way to get hepatitis C is through injecting drugs or sharing needles, she said.

Both hospitals had repeatedly sent letters and made phone calls to the thousands of patients who were exposed to the infection, urging them to come in for free blood tests, said Dunn.

Hepatitis C is spread through blood to blood exposure. It can eventually result in death if an individual infected is not treated.
High school students from refugee backgrounds learn about STEM career opportunities at the annual Refugee Youth Conference, held at Salt Lake Community College last fall.

In order to increase community support for refugees, Utah State University Extension faculty and students conducted a research project last year that examined the needs of the refugee population in Utah.

A team of researchers led by Steve Daniels, USU Extension community development specialist, and Lorien Belton, Utahs Community-Based Conservation Program coordinator, interviewed refugees as well as employers and service providers who worked closely with refugees.

Refugees are people who have been forced to flee their home country because of violence or fear of persecution. One of the main findings of the needs assessment report was that refugees find it difficult to meet their basic needs and wants due to a lack of understanding of systems such as transportation, health care and education.

We have complicated systems in the United States, and being a fully functional adult means you have to know how to navigate those systems, Belton said.

The report then went on to provide numerous recommendations to improve the Utah experience for refugees, such as increasing access to translators and providing financial literacy education.

Belton said this information could be useful to a variety of professionals, such as lawyers or medical personnel, interested in knowing how to connect with and assist the refugees in Utah.

One section of the report provided insight into the opportunities for employers interested in hiring refugees. Belton said many people are unaware that refugees are completely legal to work in the United States.

The report concluded with quotes from refugees about their dreams for their families 10 years into the future.

Their hopes for education, someday buying a home and supporting their families highlights how similar their desires are to the wishes of all Utahns, Belton said.

The research was funded by the Utah Department of Workforce Services. The report can be found at the website of Logans recently formed refugee support organization, Cache Refugee and Immigrant Connection, at http://www.cacherefugees.org/refugee-needs.html.
Panama Papers: Investigative journalism or Infowar?

Published on April 5, 2016

Story by euro topics Translation by: euro topics

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It is the biggest amount of data that journalists have ever had at their disposal: the Panama Papers on letterbox companies in which celebrities and VIPs from all over the world have parked their money comprise around 2.6 terabytes of data. While some companies see the revelations as a jewel in the crown of investigative journalism, others question the documents' authenticity.

Rise of fourth power in the global community - Die Tageszeitung taz, Germany

The revelations of the international journalist network could lay the cornerstone for a new global public, the left-wing daily taz comments: "The current revelations are not the first scandal exposed by the network, but probably the most complex ever uncovered by investigative journalism. Individual editing teams would never have the resources to decode such a vast amount of data in its global context. Fortunately, for some years now journalists have been finding answers as to how to develop into the fourth power in a global community, particularly given that the first three powers barely exist. There is no international state, and the institutions that simulate such a state at the UN or G20 level are unable to bring global tax evasion under control.  At least for a few days the problem of tax havens will be on the agenda throughout the world - a brief moment of emancipation in which an all too often simulated global public can denounce problems and demand consequences." (05/04/2016)

Newspapers as a guarantor for investigative journalism - Novi list, Hungary

Print journalism is under major pressure economically but without it society would be far worse off, the centre-left daily Novi list writes with conviction: "The subjects of these investigations are politicians in top positions who have grandiloquently pledged to fight corruption. So it's clear that this story would never have made the news without independent media. And although the print media are in a major crisis it was mainly print media journalists who worked on this investigative scoop of the century. Print journalism has thus regained its vitality and proven its relevance. And this at a time when it is fighting for survival faced with a digital world focussed solely on stars and glitter. This affair is an important message to us all: our politicians would probably survive in a state without free media and free journalists, but such a country would not be a good place for its citizens." (05/04/2016)

Leaks are also one-sided - La Stampa, Italy

Information leaks seldom serve to uncover the whole truth, the liberal daily La Stampa points out: "Welcome to a new type of war, the infowar, which is fought with leaks. The Panama Papers are the perfect offensive in this war, unprecedented in dimensions, with more than 1,500 times as much data as the Wikileaks documents of six years ago. But why is this gigantic leak going down so well with the public?  Not least because people believe that because the data was made public without intermediaries it possesses a higher degree of purity, that there is no hidden agenda behind the leak.  But that's not true.  Whistleblowers may frequently be acting in good faith and deserve protection because they can be of great use. But their revelations must be taken with a pinch of salt. Because although the veracity of the information they leak has been checked it shines a spotlight only on one side of the big picture. Perhaps precisely the side someone wanted us to see." (05/04/2016)

The data could be faked - Duma, Bulgaria

There is every chance that the leaked documents are faked, the left-leaning daily Duma believes: "How can we know that these millions of documents are authentic? It's a question of trust, they can't be checked. ... As a rule, however, every good lie contains a large chunk of truth. It is not possible to fake such a huge amount of documents completely. But it's entirely possible for people with the right know-how and skills to add hundreds of emails, contracts, bills and whatnot to a huge mass of authentic, harmless documents. In any event, it's possible in theory. Whether or not that's what actually happened is anyone's guess." (05/04/2016)

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30 Countries, 300 Media Outlets, 1 Press Review. The euro|topics press review presents the issues affecting Europe and reflects the continent's diverse opinions, ideas and moods.

Story by euro topics

Translated from Panama Papers: Zwischen Infowar und Investigation
Polish abortion law protests: Coat hangers and cassocks

Published on April 5, 2016

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On Sunday the 3rd of April, the streets of Polish cities were flooded with demonstrating Poles  both men and women  outraged by a new civic bill proposing a total ban on abortion. Protesters not only armed themselves with placards, but also with coathangers  the simplest and most terrible tool, which in the past was used by desperate women to terminate their pregnancy.

The protests were a reaction to the announcement  made by the Polish episcopate and the ruling party Law and Justice (Prawo i Sprawiedliwosc)  to introduce a total ban on abortion in Poland.

Currently, abortion is permitted in three cases: where the pregnancy poses a threat to a woman's life, where there is a likelihood of a serious and irreversible impairment of the fetus, or where there is reasonable suspicion that the pregnancy is the result of a crime e.g. rape. If the new bill sees the light of day, these three exceptions will cease to exist.

How did we get to this point? It began with appeals from bishops to introduce a total ban on abortion on the anniversary of the "Baptism of Poland"  the arrival of Christianity in the country in the year 966. Then, representatives of pro-life organisations drafted amendments to the anti-abortion law  developed by staff of the Institute Ordo Iuris which was then submitted to the Speaker of Polish Parliament. If, within three months, 100,000 people have supported the project then it will enter the deliberation stages by autumn at the latest.

Both, the chairman of the ruling Law and Justice party Jarosaw Kaczynski, and the current Prime Minister Beata Szydo have expressed their support for the new law.

Alongside street demonstrations, Internet users are also loudly protesting against the introduction of a total ban on abortion. A Facebook group called Dziewuchy Dziewuchom (Girls for Girls) launched an initiative to protest in front of Parliament. The group also enables an exchange of ideas for other future actions.

The creator of a different social media project  the event "DIFFICULT PERIOD for the government" (officially created by a dog named Grazyna)  writes: "The Polish goverment want to control our uterus, ovaries and pregancies. Isnt it nice that they care so much? [...] lets besiege our Prime Minister with information, questions or doubts regarding our monthly cycle, periods, ovulations, vaginal secretions. Lets give her full insight in whats going on with us, lets make her focus on us. Maybe she will remind herself that she is a woman too."

The message is followed by the e-mail addresses of the episcopate, Jarosawa Kaczynski and Beata Szydo. It didn't take long to elicit a response  it's enough to glance at Szydos Facebook profile and read the comments underneath her latest posts.

"The manifestation brought together a few thousand people," says Dominika, who took part in yesterday's event in Warsaw, "It was a peaceful protest in which a police presence was hardly noticeable. The atmosphere was friendly, you could hear people cracking jokes about the current government. People were also explaining to each other, with a little disbelief, what it would actually mean if the bill were to be introduced.

"As for the speeches, the crowd's reactions were mixed. One of the speakers lumped everyone together  the episcopate, Law and Justice and Catholics  into the same category of supporters of the new abortion law. Even as a non-believer, I still think that's an unjust attitude. The motto 'besides your vaginas you also have brains' was just embarrassing.

"Most of the speeches, however, were met with loud applause  many of the speakers have experienced 'firsthand' the value of the current law. After overhearing a few conversations it seems that participants in this demonstration are also keen to appear at others, if such a need arises."

Dominika was present to photgraph the Warsaw protest that took place last Sunday:

Translated from Polskie prawo aborcyjne: wieszakiem w sutanne
Q: I read a Wall Street Journal article about some businesses that encourage workers to be very candid about the behavior and performance of co-workers and managers. Would that be good for my business?

A: Some businesses do encourage what they call radical candor or "front stabbing." In my business experience, I found it better not to adopt every new business fad. Some fads cause a lot of disruption and damage, fail to work well and are soon abandoned. Better to wait to see which fads survive the test of time and become regular business practices. That's especially true with employee behavior with each other and with their managers.

The theory is that radical candor between co-workers and between managers and subordinates produces productive change in the criticized employee that benefits the business and the employee working relationships. However, it also has the potential to create enemies and broken relationships. A business adopting such a program should have a good consultant to set the ground rules and train the employees. Otherwise, the criticized employee will likely take the criticism as a personal attack.

Traditionally, managers are expected to criticize the behavior and performance of subordinates when it's necessary for the welfare of the business. That's generally recognized as being fair and necessary. However, when co-workers criticize each other or their manager, the motivation is suspect whether it's for the good of the business or for personal reasons unrelated to business. Traditionally, if a worker thinks a co-worker's behavior or performance is damaging the business, the worker makes that complaint to the manager who determines whether it is valid and, if valid, counsels the co-worker.

Most workers are very reluctant to criticize the behavior and performance of co-workers or their managers. They fear being branded as disgruntled and uncooperative employees.

It seems most businesses that have adopted such policies are professional practices like engineering, consulting, advertising, accounting and attorney practices. In such businesses the success of the business depends on the performance of each employee since they work independently with customers and co-workers may be in a better position to see the co-worker behavior and performance than the manager. Still it would seem that the traditional way of reporting behavior and performance issues to the manager to handle would be better to keep harmony in the workplace. In most businesses the worker doesn't work independently with the customer. Instead they work as teams and it's the team's performance that counts not the individual performance. However, it is important that workers feel free to speak up when they see things that are not good for the business without fear of reprisal.

Ralph Coker, a retired refinery manager, volunteers with the local chapter of SCORE, counselors to small businesses.
Caller-Times file Councilwoman Betty Turner (left) and Mayor Luther Jones look through a scope in the USS City of Corpus Christi in 1983.

SHARE Caller-Times file USS City of Corpus Christi crew greets the crowd while the vessel traveled under the Harbor Bridge in 1983. Caller-Times file A long line of residents waiting to tour the USS City of Corpus Christi stretches across the dock in 1983. Caller-Times file Lisa Linan climbs up the submarine after touring the USS City of Corpus Christi in 1983. Contributed photo The Los Angeles-class fast-attack submarine USS City of Corpus Christi transits Tokyo Bay before arriving at Fleet Activities Yokosuka.

By Fares Sabawi of the Caller-Times

Even though forecasters predicted a strong chance of thunderstorms on March 16, 1983, people showed up in droves to Corpus Christi's ship channel hoping to see the submarine named after their city. Some brought cameras. Others brought binoculars. Some even hiked up the Harbor Bridge to see the vessel surface from a bird's-eye view. All of them, it seemed, felt proud.

After 33 years of serving the nation, the USS City of Corpus Christi is set to be decommissioned May 30 in Pearl Harbor. But long before the submarine was ever commissioned, it made headlines around the country.

In the late 1970s, the Navy began constructing 44 Los Angeles-class fast attack nuclear submarines. At the request of Texas Sen. John Tower, Navy officials named one of the submarines "USS Corpus Christi" to honor the city's relationship with the military branch.

While the move was supported by a number of Corpus Christi residents, it also faced opposition locally and nationally, according to Caller-Times articles in 1981. Catholics led the charge to change the name, claiming that naming a warship a Latin phrase that means "body of Christ" was blasphemous.

A man who lived in Washington, D.C., even fasted as a form of protest, according to a 1982 Caller-Times article. Mitch Snyder lived off only water for 63 days until the name changed.

"Everybody went berserk," said Ram Chavez, director of the Veterans Band of Corpus Christi.

Later that year, President Ronald Reagan issued a decree changing the name of the sub to "USS City of Corpus Christi," putting the issue to rest.

"I loved the compromise," said Dan Carranza, who worked at the Corpus Christi Army Depot at the time. "It actually embellishes the name to talk about our city."

The submarine's first visit lasted four days. In a show of Texas hospitality, the vessel's commander was gifted with cowboy boots while the crew received cowboy hats during a welcome ceremony. Residents treated the crew to dinners and parties throughout their stay.

Because the sub's visit was so popular, the chamber of commerce issued 4,000 tickets to residents interested in touring the vessel in a lottery.

"The lines were unbelievable," Chavez said.

The submarine visited the city three more times, according to Caller-Times archives  in 1986, 1989 and most recently in 1999. Nueces County Judge Loyd Neal was mayor during the submarine's last visit and remembered taking a tour.

"I was honored ... to meet the captain and crew and spend some time on it," Neal said.

Now, the veterans band plans to travel to Pearl Harbor to perform at the decommissioning ceremony.

"The band being there is going to be another way to tell the story of the city of Corpus Christi to everyone," Neal said.

The veterans band, first established in 1986, has played in ceremonies around the country, including at the inauguration of President George H.W. Bush.

"This invitation is right up there with Washington," Carranza said.

Chavez said the band has already raised more than $20,000 since they announced plans to attend the ceremony. Regardless of the event, band members said they're always ready to put on a show.

"Whether it's three people, or 100,000 people, we preform with the same enthusiasm," Chavez said.

Twitter: @Caller_Fares

HOW TO HELP

The Veterans Band of Corpus Christi is accepting donations to fund a trip to perform at a ceremony to decommission the USS City of Corpus Christi on May 30 in Pearl Harbor.

Donations can be sent to P.O. Box 8606, Corpus Christi; 78468 or made online to the band's Pay Pal account.

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=NW7UM76RERDFN
COURTNEY SACCO/CALLER-TIMES A Corpus Christi firefighter holds up a puppy he rescued from a fire Monday in the 2900 block of Hilldale Drive.

SHARE COURTNEY SACCO/CALLER-TIMES Corpus Christi fire crew battles a fire in the 2900 block of Hilldale Drive. COURTNEY SACCO/CALLER-TIMES A Corpus Christi firefighter holds up a puppy he rescued from a fire Monday in the 2900 block of Hilldale Drive. COURTNEY SACCO/CALLER-TIMES Corpus Christi fire crew battles a fire in the 2900 block of Hilldale Drive. COURTNEY SACCO/CALLER-TIMES Corpus Christi fire crew battles a fire in the 2900 block of Hilldale Drive.

By Fares Sabawi of the Caller-Times

It took firefighters about a half hour to put out flames that ravaged a home and killed four puppies in the 2600 block of Hilldale Drive Monday night.

Crews received a call reporting the fire around 6:45 p.m., Corpus Christi Fire Captain James Brown said.

When they arrived, the discovered flames in the back of the home and on the roof.

The homeowners evacuated the house, but firefighters found a litter of puppies inside. Four puppies died and two others were revived, Brown said.

American Red Cross volunteers assisted the homeowners, while investigators worked to assess the damage, Brown said.

Brown said Monday night it was unclear what caused the blaze.

Twitter: @Caller_Fares
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Up is up, down is down and Texas Senate districts are apportioned by population, period, not population of registered voters. The unanimous U.S. Supreme Court decision Monday affirming the one-person, one-vote standard should have been that much of a given.

Unfortunately, it wasn't. Justice Clarence Thomas, while agreeing in the narrowest pragmatic sense that Texas doesn't need to redraw its Senate districts, wrote a concurring opinion that dismissed the idea of one person, one vote. Thomas' view just goes to show that one of the most enduring principles of our form of government can't be taken for granted. Thomas wrote that the states should have "significant leeway" in deciding how to draw district lines. That's a scary thought here in Texas, where the political ruling class has been trying to limit rather than increase access to voting via impediments such as the state's overly restrictive voter identification law. That law is under judicial review but remains in effect.

The plaintiffs in the one-person, one-vote case, Sue Evenwel, of Mount Pleasant, and Edward Pfenninger, of Montgomery County, asserted that their votes are diluted by residents in their district who are not registered to vote, either by choice or ineligibility.

Think about what this would mean  that their state senators would represent only constituents who voted for or against them, or who could have voted but didn't. That leaves out the entire under-18 population. It also dismisses anyone else not registered, whether because they choose not to register or aren't eligible for reasons including not being citizens. (Legal noncitizen permanent residents outnumber those here illegally, according to government estimates. It's unfortunate that we feel compelled to point that out.)

The plaintiffs sought to establish a special class  a privileged one  by robbing others of representation afforded them since the infancy of this nation. It was fitting that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, writing for the majority, quoted someone who has been dead since 1804, Founding Father Alexander Hamilton: "There can be no truer principle than this  that every individual of the community at large has an equal right to the protection of government."

In Ginsburg's own words: "As the Framers of the Constitution and the Fourteenth Amendment comprehended, representatives serve all residents, not just those eligible or registered to vote. Nonvoters have an important stake in many policy debates  children, their parents, even their grandparents, for example, have a stake in a strong public education ..."

It takes a special kind of cheekiness to argue that one's voting strength is diluted by the presence of a nonvoting population in one's district. To the contrary, low turnout, an unfortunate affliction in Texas, increases the power of those who vote over those who don't or can't. A voting minority has been calling the shots for the majority. It's evident in Nueces County, where Republicans swept all countywide offices in 2014 in a historically low-turnout election. To wield this power and complain of disenfranchisement, as did the plaintiffs, is self-contradicting, to say the least.

The 8-0 Supreme Court vote should have been 9-0. But that's another constitutional battle to be fought.
Very few people in Yaounde can boast of a terrestrial antenna and decoder, months after the much announced switchover from analogue to digital.

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Its Tuesday, January 12, 2015. At about midday in Yaounde, Cameroon Tribune (CT) reporters make a tour of some electronic appliances shops around the Yaounde Central Market in a bid to verify the availability of digital terrestrial receivers and terrestrial antennae. After several stops, CT reporters could not find what they were looking for. However, in one of the electronic shops, the salesperson advised that the items will be difficult to find because they were not common item on sale. However we have digital terrestrial television (DTT) on sale. With such a TV, you do not need a digital terrestrial receiver and terrestrial antenna because it is a second generation TV, he said.



Indeed, getting a digital terrestrial receiver and a terrestrial antenna is not common in Yaounde. After several attempts, a terrestrial antenna was seen in an electronic shop down town Yaounde. The shop dealer said he was encouraged to retail terrestrial antenna by his supplier, Henri Desire Kamdem, an international dealer in electronics. The shop dealer said because he was selling flat screen TV sets that have digital converters, he was encouraged to sell terrestrial antennae because those who buy such TV sets will need just a terrestrial antenna to have digital images for all free channels.



From all indications, Henri Desire Kamdem, so far is the lone producer and supplier of digital terrestrial receiver and terrestrial antenna in town. Most electronic shop owners and even inhabitants in Yaounde are not aware of the existence of DT receivers. Henri Desire Kamdem said after government launched the operation at the Mbankolo Transmission Centre terrestrial transmission aimed at transmitting digital images, he engaged with his foreign partners for the production of digital terrestrial receiver and terrestrial antennae.



While on sale, Mr Kamdem says the market for DT tools has a slow turnover as many people do not know about them nor do they have the required TV to use them. While he is hoping for an improved market strategy, Henri Desire Kamdem says he is counting on the government for better diffusion on DTT and all that is necessary to make it effective in Cameroon.



It should be recalled that Digital Terrestrial Television DTTV, sometimes also abbreviated (DTT) is digital television broadcast entirely over earthbound circuits. A satellite is not used for any part of the link between the broadcaster and the end user. It is a technological evolution of broadcast television, advancement over analogue television.

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Objectives

The organizations core objectives were to increase pledges and donations by 67 percent and increase its learning hubs from one to three.

The main challenge to overcome was compassion fatigue. The Philippines is home to 60,000 registered NGOs serving many causes, the list is long and so are the requests. Annual natural disasters, like the strongest typhoons ever recorded in Southeast Asia, add to the donors fatigue.

Execution

The campaign tapped into the concept and popularity of TEDTalks  how it makes expert knowledge interesting and available to anyone who wants to learn, through conferences and videos of the talks shared on social.

Y&R Philippines introduced the concept of TURDTalks, a speaker series featuring those that society perceive as tae (translation dirt/turd) low-performing, low-income students who ended up changing not only their report card grades for the better, but their lives and society as well.

The audience, comprising potential donors and education practitioners, saw first-hand just how they turned their lives around. Not because of an exceptional ability, but because someone invested in them.

Beyond the event, the media strategy moved with the assets in hand such as videos of the conference. The rest  tweets, shares, blog entries, and media features  happened organically, further spreading the thought that turds too have ideas worth sharing.

Results

Donations of almost Php $9 million (USD185,916.80), exceeded the Php $2 million target by 340 percent. Donation fatigue was also overcome with influencers advocating Silid Aralan as a worthy and important cause.

During the first TURDTalks event in April 2015, the organization received an on-the-spot public donation of corporate office space worth Php $6 million (USD126,761) which allowed Silid Aralan to grow its number of learning hubs from 1 to 4.

Additionally, the organization received Php $2 million (USD42,253.8) in support from a Singaporean donor who heard of Silid Aralan via an article shared online. Apart from corporate sponsorships, it also received Php 800,000 (USD16,901.5 USD) in pledges from individuals.

Other results included an increase in volunteerism by 300 percent from 7 to 20 and the increased legitimisation of Silid Aralan, which in May 2015 received an endorsement from the Department of Education.

TURDTalks garnered free media coverage worth Php 10,787,220 (USD228,267.10 USD) across leading local channels, radio, in digital and print.

With a minimal campaign spend of just Php 28,000 (591.55 USD), TURDTalks gained the support of stakeholders, covering operational costs in the long term and in less than six months, Silid Aralan is already halfway towards its five year-goal.
According to industry sources, it is understood that the pitch process included incumbent agency Cheil Worldwide, with GroupM and Starcom also in the mix.

R3 managed the pitch, but was unavailable for comment. Campaign Asia-Pacific contacted both Omnicom and Cheil for comment but did not receive a response at time of writing.

It has been reported that in Australia, Pfizer recently awarded its media business to Ikon Group Sydney after a closed pitch. The agency takes over from incumbent Match Media.

Earlier this year in February, the pharmaceutical giant moved a portion of its media buying business to IPG Mediabrands in Hong Kong, including some pharmaceutical brands previously held by Mindshare. Brands in the shift included Viagra and Metamucil.
"This is a frightening prospect when we think about the many ACT women yet to reach out for help for the first time, and raises doubts about the ethical integrity of continuing to raise awareness about domestic violence in our community knowing that the services most needed will struggle to respond."
"Since then the [Majura Park] store opened in 2012 increasing Woolworths' dominance in the region. Woolworths [Majura Park] is a destination site, no one lives nearby and the intention was to draw people from the other markets into it. That to me is a huge increase of dominance in that market," Mr Heathcote said.
The jet's irrigation system is contained in the same area as the pump's main system, housed in a chamber big enough to fit three people. Last year authority crews used dehumidifiers to remove as much moisture as possible from inside the pump room, before conducting tests and safety checks of electrical switchboards and circuits.
Director of Public Prosecutions Jon White, SC, said the magistrate had failed to properly interpret the principle of parental responsibility, should not have found that the use of force was lawful, and was wrong to find a parent had a right to possess their children.
With the symptoms Mr Kahsai was experiencing, "a strong argument can be made that he posed a danger to himself and the question then that needs to be asked is why a restraint order was not obtained by the hospital," his family said.
People are instinctive risk managers. When you choose to walk, cycle, bus or drive to work, you take account not only of the time and cost of each option, but how much risk it involves. If you wanted to avoid any risk of accident or injury you would stay home instead  but of course you don't. While any transport mode involves risk, it is small and manageable. When we consider a holiday, among the many factors influencing our decision is the destination's riskiness; extreme risk takers will consider that highly discounted, white-water rafting trip to Afghanistan while most of us choose safer places to visit. If we take a dip in the ocean we instinctively balance risk against enjoyment; only incredibly risk-averse people  or foreign tourists  decide not to swim because of sharks. We know that whatever the headlines might say, the shark-attack risk is tiny. Almost all aspects of life involve elements of risk management.
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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.
Only days after a story of a Florida cop, who asked a young mother to shake her bra during a routine traffic stop, surfaced in the news, another similar incident came to light today. This time, two women in bikinis were subjected to fullbody cavity searches on the side of Highway 288 in Texas.

In the dash-cam footage from the patrol car, we see State Trooper Nathaniel Turner pulling over Brandy Hamilton and Alexandria Randle for speeding.

Can I put my dress on, Hamilton asked the officer. Dont worry about it, Turner told her. Come out here. The trooper then asked her if theres anything illegal in the car as he said he smelled marijuana, to which Hamilton replied no. Turner then asked Randle to step out of the car and called for a female trooper.

One of them has got her zipper open on her pants of her daisy dukes shorts  whatever they are, he said.

Female State trooper Jennie Bui then told the women that she would perform a body cavity search.

Are you serious, Hamilton asked the trooper. If you hid something in there, were going to find it, replied Bui. Youre going to go up my private parts? Hamilton asked. Yes maam, answered the trooper

While the male trooper reportedly claimed to have found a small quantity of marijuana in the vehicle, Bui came out empty handed (or so to speak) in the body cavity search.

KHOU Texas , which obtained a video of the incident, reported that the two women sued the officers involved and as a result, Jennie Bui was fired, while the male trooper, Nathaniel Turner, was eventually suspended during an internal investigation.

According to the news station, one of the two women is still dealing with a marijuana charge.

Well remind you again that last year, another Texas State trooper, performed a roadside body cavity search on two women.

VIDEO
A very disturbing case of South Carolina police officers conducting a full cavity roadside search on a young African American man during what is reported to be an unjustified traffic stop has led to a federal lawsuit.



The incident happened at around 12pm on October 2014, but the story gained momentum in the media after dashboard camera footage from the patrol car was released by the Washington Post on Friday.

Lakeya Hicks was driving her newly purchased mid-1990s Honda Accord together with partner, Elijah Pontoon, near downtown Aiken, South Carolina, when Officer Chris Medlin pulled her over for having paper tags on her car. From the get-go, the officers actions seem unjustified, as its reportedly not illegal to use temporary tags in South Carolina, so long as they are not expired.

The Washington daily found a South Carolina case from 2000, where the presiding judge noted: We cannot sanction the random stop of any and every car bearing a temporary tag, leaving in the hands of law enforcement officers the freedom to detain whomever they desire without having to justify why they chose to stop one motorist over another.

Medlin didnt stop there, as besides requesting the drivers license, he also asked Pontoon, who was riding in the passenger seat, for identification  something he shouldnt have been required to do even if the stop was legitimate, yet he complied. The officer does a background check, and tells Hicks that her license and tags check out. At this point, he should have left the couple leave, but instead, he first orders Hicks to get out of the car. Pontoon asks whats going on, to which Medlin replies, Ill explain it all in a minute.

Several minutes later, a female cop joins the scene with Medlin telling Pontoon Because of your history, Ive got a dog coming in here. Gonna walk a dog around the car. Afterwards, he turns to Pontoon and says You gonna pay for this one, boy.

Apparently, Pontoon had a lengthy criminal history that involved drug charges, though his record seems to be clean since 2006, the Washington Post reports.

In the video, several more police officers arrive at the scene, including one with a dog, conducting a thorough search of the car, but they come empty handed, as no contraband was found.

Still, that wasnt enough, as Medlin told a female officer to search her real good, referring to Hicks. While the body search was conducted off camera, the lawsuit from the couple states that the officer pulled up her shirt and exposed Lakeyas breasts in broad daylight and in the center of town with Defendant Medlin, Defendant Clark and Defendant John Doe standing mere inches away and watching every aspect of the search.

Again, no contraband was found, so Medlin turns his attention to Pontoon, who in the meantime, had been cuffed. Officers performed a body search of Pontoon too, but for a second time, they didnt find anything. Medlin, however, had no intention of giving up.

Youve got something here right between your legs, says one of the officers in the video  with the lawsuit stating it was Medlin. Theres something hard right there between your legs.

The officer then proceeds to conduct an anal probe on Pontoon. While it was performed off camera, the audio captured leaves no doubt about what was going on.

Pontoon is heard saying one of the officers grabbed his hemorrhoids to which Medlin appears to say, Ive had hemorrhoids, and they aint that hard.

According to the Post, at about 13 minutes into the video, the audio actually suggests that two officers may have inserted fingers into Pontoons rectum, as one asks, What are you talking about, right here? The other replies, Right straight up in there.

Pontoon insists that its hemorrhoids. If thats a hemorrhoid, thats a hemorrhoid, all right? But that dont feel like no hemorrhoid to me, one officer is heard saying. Its a rock. Its a rock in the crack. Its gotta be rock. Hes got it up in the butt, the officer asserts.

Having pretty much exhausted their searching options bar fromperforming an autopsy on Pontoon and his partner, and without having found any contraband whatsoever, Medlin then reportedly turns around to Pontoon to tell him that he suspected him because he had recognized him while working for narcotics. Now I know you from before, from when I worked dope. I seen you. Thats why I put a dog on the car.

With the couple coming out clean and not having violated any traffic laws, Medlin completed the stop by giving Hicks an unidentified in the complaint, courtesy warning. Well leave it your imagination as to what this warning said

Pontoons lawyer Robert Phillips filed a federal lawsuit in September 2015 against the officers involved, the Director of the Aiken Department of Public Safety, and the City of Aiken. Officer Medlin, who is named in the law suit as a defendant, is still working for the police department, with the city denying any wrongdoing, in statement emailed to the Washington Post.

The City of Aiken denies the Plaintiffs allegations and is vigorously defending this lawsuit. We will have no further comment about the facts of this case during the pendency of this litigation.

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The Blue Oval will expand its business in South Africa by adding the Everest to the Silverton Assembly Plant, in Pretoria.



Production of the 7-seater SUV will commence in the third quarter of this year and the first units are expected to arrive by the end of 2016. The Everest made in Pretoria will be offered locally and in markets across Sub-Saharan Africa and will join the Ranger at the Silverton assembly line.

This decision follows a $170 million investment in the expansion of the facility, which has created 1,200 new jobs at Ford South Africa and within its supplier network; part of the investment was directed towards manufacturing the Ranger. The pickup truck has performed well in South Africa, as 33,920 units were sold in 2015 alone from the total of 78,471 passenger cars and light commercial vehicles Ford delivered in 2015.

The Silverton facility will join the AutoAlliance Thailand, Chennai India and Nanchang China plants, where the Everest/Endeavor is already being produced. The automaker currently imports the SUV from Thailand and offers it in two editions, XLT and Limited, both with a 3.2-liter 5-pot Duratorq TDCi connected to an automatic transmission. Once production commences in Pretoria, the 2.2-liter Duratorq four-cylinder will join the range, along with more trim levels.

PHOTO GALLERY
Ex-Top Gear host has shared a photograph with his six million Twitter followers, having his face covered in soot and blood.



Without providing any details on what exactly happened, Jeremy Clarkson wrote: I survived the day. Just, after tweeting Tomorrow morning, Im doing the most dangerous stunt Ive ever attempted. This may well be a goodbye.

Following Jezzas timeline appears to place the stunt in Jordan, as he previously joked: My first time in A man. It hurt, but I liked it, before clarifying the whole situation: Small typo last night. When I said Id been in a man, I meant Amman. Apologies.

Clarksons newest tweet follows the one from one month ago, when he posted an image with a severely beaten vehicle, saying he was involved in an accident.

Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond have signed Amazon for a new car show, after the famous fracas incident, which left Jezza unemployed. Filming is already underway and everything seems to be going fairly smooth, unlike the revamped Top Gear, which has encountered numerous problems. Amazon is expected to start airing the first episodes of the new car show this fall.

I survived the day. Just. pic.twitter.com/I9IB9OGwv1 Jeremy Clarkson (@JeremyClarkson) April 1, 2016

PHOTO GALLERY
Teslas massively hyped Model 3 will get its big information display from LG, which grabbed the contract from a unspecified rival supplier.



By the end of Saturday, Tesla received 276,000 reservation orders for the Model 3, making it a huge success for the electric car company and thats even more impressive if you think that the $35,000 EV is still far from getting into regular production.

A person with direct knowledge of the matter spoke to Reuters confirming that LG will be supplying the 15-plus inch center display for the Model 3s cabin. LG is currently seeking to further expand into automotive electronics as demand grows and the return is much more stable than that of consumer electronics.

The cabin of the Model 3 prototype we saw last week is dominated by the landscape-oriented screen in an otherwise minimal dashboard; Elon Musk said earlier on Twitter that the final production version will feel more like a spaceship inside.

PHOTO GALLERY
PSA Peugeot Citroen announced the Push to Pass growth strategy plan which includes the launch of seven PHEVs and four purely electric models by 2021.



The French company aims to launch one new car, per region, per brand, per year through Peugeot, Citroen and DS brands.

These are 26 passenger and 8 light commercial vehicles, including a 1 ton pickup truck. PSA wants to a 10 per cent revenue growth by 2018 and an additional 15 per cent by 2021 by adapting their business model, creating more value and expanding their customer base through digitalisation among other measures.

Based on our financial reconstruction, we will launch a global product and technology offensive, said Carlos Tavares, PSA Boss. Now more agile, we are ready to shift paradigms by anticipating changes in car usage patterns. Our digital transformation will make the PSA Group a company connected to its customers. With Push to Pass, we will ensure PSA profitable organic growth.

The company also announced their renaming from PSA to Groupe PSA, symbolizing this way the dawn of a new era.

PHOTO GALLERY
Photo: Jon Manchester

Several construction workers were praised by Kelowna city council Monday for their part in putting a stop to a one-man crime spree on Friday.

David Sharpe and several of his coworkers rushed into action after seeing a vehicle slam into a police cruiser on Ellis Street, near the Queensway bus loop.

The driver reportedly attempted to drag the RCMP officer out of the cruiser, when Sharpe and his coworkers ran over, subdued the suspect and held him down while backup arrived.

One of the construction workers by the name of David Sharpe stepped up and basically did an amazing act of bravery to run over, assist the police officer, call other construction workers over to assist and contain this individual until the police were able to then bring him into custody, said deputy mayor Luke Stack, during Monday's council meeting.

On behalf of the City of Kelowna, as the deputy mayor and council, we want to thank them for their quick thinking, for their act of bravery and doing the kind of thing that makes us proud when we think of the citizens of our great city.

Police also thanked the group for their efforts in containing the man.

"The Kelowna RCMP wish to extend their gratitude to all those who immediately jumped into action, who stepped up and put themselves at risk to help the RCMP officer, Const. Jesse O'Donaghey said Friday.

Coun. Mohini Singh asked Stack if there was some type of citizen bravery award that could be given to the men. Stack said staff would look to see if "theres an appropriate way to recognize their commitment to the community.

The suspect in the incident, a 42-year-old Chase man, is in custody facing several possible charges including assault, robbery, aggravated assault, assault of a police officer and resisting arrest.
Photo: US Army

Global military spending rose in 2015 to nearly $1.7 trillion, the first increase in several years, driven by conflicts including the battle against the Islamic State group, the Saudi-led war in Yemen and fears about Iran, a report released Tuesday shows.

The study by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute also noted that the Chinese expansion in the South China Sea and Russia's annexation of Crimea and support of Ukrainian separatists also accounted for nudging spending up 1 per cent in real terms, compared to 2014.

For weapons manufacturers, the nonstop pace of airstrikes targeting Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria, as well as Saudi-led bombing of Yemen's Shiite rebels and their allies, means billions of dollars more in sales.

But activists question continued U.S. arms deals to Saudi Arabia as its Yemen campaign has killed civilians, while American fighter jet sales to both emerging military buyer Qatar and longtime ally Kuwait appear stalled.

The United States, with $596 billion in defence spending, and China, with an estimated $215 billion, led all countries in 2015, the annual report by SIPRI said. Saudi Arabia, however, came in third with spending of $87.2 billion  double what it spent in 2006, according to the report. That fueled the first worldwide increase in military spending since 2011.

Iraq spent $13.1 billion on its military in 2015, up well over 500 per cent from 2006 as it has rebuilt its armed forces following the U.S. withdrawal and rise of the Islamic State group, SIPRI said.

While part of the U.S. coalition fighting the extremists, Saudi Arabia also launched a war in Yemen in March 2015 to support the country's internationally recognized government after Shiite rebels known as Houthis earlier overran the country's capital, Sanaa. The Sunni kingdom views the Houthis as a proxy of Shiite power Iran, long its regional rival.

The United Arab Emirates also is taking part in both conflicts and likely has spent billions of dollars to support its military in 2015 as well, though the Stockholm-based institute said it couldn't offer precise figures this year, senior research Pieter Wezeman said. Both the UAE and Saudi Arabia also sent troops into Bahrain to put down its 2011 Arab Spring-inspired protests.

"This clearly is a reason for these countries to improve their so-called security forces, both to be able to fight against internal uprisings, whether a more-peaceful nature or more violent, but also of course to intervene in neighbouring countries," Wezeman, who took part in the report, told The Associated Press.

But the air campaign waged by the Saudi-led, U.S.-backed coalition in Yemen has been increasingly criticized by human rights activists over civilian deaths. Airstrikes account for 60 per cent of the 3,200 civilians killed in the conflict, according to the United Nations, which has criticized coalition strikes that have hit markets, clinics and hospitals.

Yet arms deals continue, especially from the U.S. Asked about the civilian casualties, State Department spokesman David McKeeby said the United States remained "deeply concerned by the devastating toll of the crisis in Yemen."

"We have remained in regular contact with the Saudi-led coalition and have reinforced to them the need to avoid civilian casualties and the importance of precise targeting," McKeeby said in a statement. "We have encouraged them to investigate all credible accounts of civilian casualties as a result of coalition strikes  and to report publicly the results of these investigations."

But both the Yemen war and the fight against the Islamic State group likely will keep arms manufacturers busy into 2016. Companies that may see increased sales include Boeing. Co., General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin Corp. and Raytheon Co., aerospace and defence analyst Roman Schweizer at Guggenheim Securities wrote March 28.

"We have been bullish for the better part of a year that the Pentagon and its European and (Gulf) allies will have to refill their stocks of missiles and munitions due to the current campaign against ISIS in Iraq, Syria, Yemen and even Libya," Schweizer wrote, using an alternate acronym for the extremist group.

Meanwhile, President Barack Obama promised America's "ironclad commitment" to back its Gulf allies during a summit last May. In the time since, the U.S. has made $33 billion in arms sales to its Gulf allies, including an $11.25-billion deal with Saudi Arabia that includes four armed warships to modernize its navy, McKeeby said.

But the Obama administration has been criticized by U.S. Sen. John McCain, an Arizona Republican, for "failing to live to up the promises" made at the summit by allegedly stalling fighter jet sales to both Kuwait and Qatar.

"They are languishing on the shelf gathering dust," McCain said at a hearing on March 8. Tiny Qatar in the meantime has signed a deal for 6.7 billion euros ($7.6 billion) to buy 24 Dassault Rafal fighter jets from France.

Obama will visit Saudi Arabia on April 21 for a meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council, which includes Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the UAE. The jet sales likely will be a topic of discussion, as will Iran after its recently implemented nuclear deal with world powers.

Wezeman said international sanctions against Iran had seen its weapons technology lag behind its neighbours as its military spending dropped by 30 per cent between 2006 and 2015. However, he acknowledged regional suspicions likely would keep Gulf military spending strong.

"Iran is, of course, perceived as an adversary and also wants to be the main player in the region, a country which will potentially use its influence over different proxy groups in the region to destabilize countries," Wezeman said. "Both the expenditure and the armament procurement by states in the Gulf are clearly aimed at kind of keeping Iran in check."
Photo: Contributed

UPDATE: 9:45 a.m.

Organizers of a pro-marijuana event in Kelowna were forced to change the venue last minute due to pressure by an anti-marijuana group.

Cindy Heemeryck, one of the organizers behind pot activist Dana Larsen's event Tuesday night, said the group Smart Approaches to Marijuana pressured the Holiday Inn to renege. The group has since been able to secure space at the Prestige Inn.

She said the Smart Approaches to Marijuana has been opposing Larsen for a long time and has been very clear they don't support legalization of the drug.

Asked if there may be a counter-protest, she said: "I hope not. We're not expecting one."

So far Larsen has shipped 10,000 orders of marijuana seeds to people who have requested them in his bid to "overgrow the government" by encouraging people to grow pot in public spaces across Canada.

ORIGINAL

Pot activist Dana Larsen is in Kelowna  but at a different venue than originally planned.

Larsen will be at Prestige Inn from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. to plant his "overgrow the government" message and distribute marijuana seeds to the masses.

The event is open to the public.

The venue was initially planned for the Holiday Inn, but was changed at the last minute.

Larsen plans to hit 14 cities across Canada, including Kelowna, where he will speak about the history of Cannabis in Canada and explain how people can go about opening their own pot dispensary.

"Canada's cannabis revolution is the largest single act of civil disobedience in our nation's history," said Larsen. "From bong shops to seed banks, from vapour lounges to dispensaries, all the progress we've made against cannabis prohibition in Canada has come from civil disobedience."

Larsens only condition on the free seeds is that people plant them in an open, noticeable area, in an act of civil disobedience.
I've read the Grandma Michelsen story, and most of the comments to it, and can only say ditto" regarding the substandard medical care provided by Interior Health in ER and inpatient departments. I've had identical experiences at Vernon Jubilee Hospital - no water offered (and a sign on the water dispenser "Staff use only. Ask for assistance"), patient's bathroom needs ignored, callous nurses, arrogant doctors, poor attitude, idle chatter on the job, lack of care, telling the family to provide care to the patient in the hospital, slacking discipline, lack of professional skills, administering wrong medications, negligence, death...

On the evening of Jan. 29, an acutely ill patient was left in the Vernon Jubilee Hospital ER without being seen by a single doctor for 17 hours and 40 minutes (according to medical records).

In the entire hospital, let alone the ER, where the patient was physically present, there was no physician willing to attend to the patient, who was in need of urgent medical care. Were they extremely busy? No. The ER was quiet that night. There were four vacant rooms on the floor. The nurses were chatting the night away sitting in a circle at the nurses station.

The patient's family members, also present in the ER at the time, repeatedly requested the presence of a physician. Their request was denied by the nurses citing hospital protocol. The only doctor the patient was allowed to deal with that night was at home. The nurse was on the phone reporting to the doctor while the patient was struggling to stay alive.

The patient eventually died. He was my father. He was unlucky to be in ER room 16.

The nurses later explained to me that hospital protocol prescribed that the patients in ER rooms one to 14 were to be attended to by a hospital physician, while those in ER rooms 15 to 22 were not. Had I known that fact, I would have dialled 911 from ER room 16 and asked the paramedics to move my father from room 16 to any of the four vacant ER rooms one to 14 in order to save his life. A doctor never came to my father's bedside until the irreversible damage had occurred, and when the doctor did come in to see my father almost 18 hours later, it was too late. From that point on, it was just a matter of time before my father took his last breath.

My father continued to live and to breathe for 42 hours. Nothing could be done any longer to save his life. Our family, that included my disabled and partially paralyzed mother, spent the entire time with my father, first in the ER and then in the intensive care unit. My brother, who had spent 10.5 hours on the plane rushing to his dying father's side, missed saying good-bye to dad by 30 minutes. Our dad's heart stopped beating the very minute the plane landed at the Kelowna airport. Our father passed away as they were moving the patients from his unit in the ER overflow to the brand new sixth floor that opened at VJH that day. My father was supposed to be one of the patients to occupy a private room in Acute Care. Instead, he was moved to the hospital morgue in the basement.

Shame on the IH and hospital administrators who write and enforce senseless protocols that trump the needs of patients. Shame on the doctors and nurses who forget the medical code of ethics and neglect their patients or write them off too soon.

After I said goodbye to my deceased father in the hospital, I came home and found a letter in the mail. It was from the Vernon Jubilee Hospital Foundation thanking me for the donation I had made a month earlier in my father's honour.

I wrote a letter to the Morning Star that was published and an email to BC Health Minister Terry Lake. No response came from Mr. Lake. Our grievances to VJH were addressed by the hospital administration in the form of a generic letter saying how sorry they were my father is dead and providing contact information to the IH patient care quality office to file a complaint if we were "not satisfied with the results of the hospital review". We did contact the PCQO and are now awaiting the results of their review. What will their reply be?

Irena Niebuhr
Photo: USGS

An earthquake east of Victoria this morning was felt on Vancouver Island and the mainland.

The quake had a magnitude of 3.1, according to Earthquakes Canada.

It struck just after 11 a.m., about 36 kilometres east of Victoria, in the area of the San Juan Islands, at a depth of roughly 55 kilometres.

There have been no reports of damage.

The quake followed about 24 hours after another of the same magnitude that hit the mainland Monday morning.

It was also felt in Squamish and Sechelt as well as in northern Washington state.

 with files from CTV Vancouver
Spain: LafargeHolcim to seek different quarry area for Sagunto

ICR Newsroom By 05 April 2016

Teresa Garcia, environment councillor for the town of Sagunto, Spain, is advising LafargeHolcim to consider other options for a new quarry as the coveted area in Pinyal is an important forest area and head of basin that must be protected. She also referred to the Valencia Territorial Strategy to support her decision.



The original decision, signed in 2009, gave the company the option to open a new quarry in the area to guarantee its future extraction of raw materials and operation of its Sagunto cement works. A new agreement is now up for negotiation.

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President Barack Obama praised new steps taken by the U.S. Treasury Department to limit corporate inversions, the practice of some U.S. corporations of re-locating their headquarters off-shore on paper to avoid paying taxes. April 5, 2016. (AP)

President Barack Obama praised new steps taken by the U.S. Treasury Department to limit corporate inversions, the practice of some U.S. corporations of re-locating their headquarters off-shore on paper to avoid paying taxes. April 5, 2016. (AP) (Associated Press)

The Treasury Department on Monday took aim at U.S. companies moving their headquarters overseas to lower their tax bills, issuing aggressive new rules intended to make such moves less profitable and throwing a potential wrench into Pfizer's recent $160 billion proposed deal to combine with Allergen and become an Irish company.

This is the third round of rules the Obama administration has issued over the last two years to stop the flow so-called inversions, in which U.S. companies are technically bought by foreign firms to reduce U.S. taxes.

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The department's latest batch of rules would make more difficult a practice known as "earnings stripping" that enables companies to lower their taxable U.S. profits. Using this strategy, the U.S. subsidiary of the inverted company can take on a loan from its foreign parent company. The interest payments on that debt can then be deducted from the U.S. company's taxable income and is taxable at a low rate in the country in which the inverted firm is based.

Earnings stripping is typically one of the most attractive parts of an inversion and the Treasury Department wants to make the process more onerous.

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"Today, we are announcing additional actions to further rein in inversions and reduce the ability of companies to avoid taxes through earnings stripping," said Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew.

So far, the agency's efforts have had limited effect and it is unclear whether the latest rules will be much more successful.

Pressure on the Obama administration began to build last year when pharmaceutical giant Pfizer announced its deal with Botox maker Allergan that would move its headquarters to Ireland. The Pfizer-Allergan deal is the largest inversion ever and is expected to save the firm up to $35 billion in taxes.

It is unclear whether the new rules will affect that deal, but they could, said Laurence M. Bambino, a tax attorney at New York-based law firm Shearman & Sterling. "These rules are expansive and will take some time to digest, but they appear intended to make recently announced inversions awaiting completion such as Pfizer more challenging from a U.S. tax standpoint," Bambino said.

Currently, in order to escape some of the restrictions that Congress and Treasury have put in place to stop inversions, the shareholders of the U.S. company must own less than 60 percent of the combined company. Pfizer's shareholders would own 56 percent of the combined company, for example. But that is in part because Allergen has completed previous acquisitions of U.S. companies that have increased its size. The biggest was when the former Actavis bought Allergan.

Under the new rules, stock that Allergan has issued within the past three years to acquire U.S. companies wouldn't be included in the calculations.

Pfizer is reviewing the Treasury Department's announcement, Joan Campion, a company spokeswoman, told Bloomberg. "We won't speculate on any potential impact until the review is completed," she said.

Business leaders have said that companies have few choices as long as the U.S. corporate tax rate remains the highest in the developed world, 35 percent.

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Lawmakers and the Obama administration have struggled to come up with a solution for inversion. In his latest budget proposal, President Barack Obama calls for imposing an 19 percent tax on foreign profits  significantly lower than the current rate. But there is little political momentum to address the issue during the 2016 presidential election cycle and Republicans and Democrats remain split on an approach.

Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas , who along with other lawmakers have been pressing the Treasury Department to act on the issue, said he was pleased the department had issued new regulations. "While this tax guidance is not as thorough as it should be, I hope that it will discourage serial inverters like Allergan and thereby the Pfizer merger," he said in a statement.
Salted fish eggs, classically presented in a glass bowl on ice with a mother-of-pearl spoon to ladle them onto toast points, water crackers, spears of Belgian endive or whatever. Roes like this are obvious symbols of fecundity, financial and otherwise. But do take care; caviar can be so pricey that the more assertive Lothario will serve it with the expectation that more than a thank-you note will be forthcoming. Accept only if youre in the mood  and the boundaries are clear. (Nuccio DiNuzzo / Chicago Tribune)

Spring is here, and the fancy of many a young man (and woman) lightly turns to thoughts of  oysters, avocados, chilies, lobster, chocolate and, maybe, just one too many glasses of a well-regarded grower Champagne? Egads, what would Alfred, Lord Tennyson have said?

Well, if the English poet, who famously included the line, "In the Spring a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love," in his poem "Locksley Hall," was smart, he would have put down the pen and said simply, "I'll have what they're having."

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For foods and drinks have long been thought to spark and inflame love. There's a lot of talk, online and off, about certain foods that contain certain ingredients that will give certain parts of your body a boost or maybe a tingle. These foods get their reputations from a variety of factors, including flavor, price, appearance, status, cultural lore and, let's face it, lots of wishful thinking.

"There's little evidence to support the effectiveness of most substances thought of as natural aphrodisiacs," the Mayo Clinic declares in a kill-joy online report, which reported that research found foods had little impact on the male libido and "slightly more encouraging" evidence for women, and noted that more research is needed.

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One interesting resource might be Amy Reilly's Eat Something Sexy, a website by the author of 2010's "Fork Me, Spoon Me: The Sensual Cookbook" and its 2012 sequel, "Romancing the Stove: The Unabridged Guide to Aphrodisiac Foods." Look for recipes, drink suggestions and more.

As a 57-year-old soon-to-be-grandfather, I can attest that the hunger for love, affection and whoopee doesn't diminish with time. So, here's my totally idiosyncratic and opinionated list of food and drinks for romance. If I could find some scientific data or cultural tidbit, I added it. If not, I winged it  which is sort of what that dance of romance is really all about, isn't it?

But remember, it's not so much what you eat but how you present it that counts. Even ravioli from a can will be sexy with the right mood, the right lighting, the right wardrobe and the right "other."

Cheeseburger: Hot meat, gooey cheese, good-for-you lettuce, tomato and onion, maybe a spike of mustard  what's not to love? And you get to release your inner caveman and cavewoman by eating with your hands. Here's hoping some grease dribbles down your lover's chin, so you can reach over and dab it off.

Asparagus: This vegetable has more going for it than its phallic shape. According to Muscle & Fitness' "11 Foods to Spice Up Your Sex Life," asparagus "is a famous aphrodisiac for having high levels of vitamin B6 and folate, which gets converted to histamine. Higher levels of histamine mean more orgasms." Histamine is also blamed for the headache some get from drinking red wine, which may be one reason asparagus and wine don't go well together. Nonetheless, asparagus is a harbinger of spring, of new life, offering a green color, herbaceous taste and freshness so vivid and welcome after a long winter.

Martini: Oh, Dorothy Parker got it so right. "I like to have a martini," she wrote, "Two at the very most. After three I'm under the table, after four I'm under my host." But I'm sure the famous American writer had her standards, and so should you in ordering a martini. Make it clean, classic  gin, please  and by all means feel free to add an olive or two. Just avoid those blue-cheese-stuffed ones; they muddy the drink and are, well, cheesy.

Caviar: Salted fish eggs, classically presented in a glass bowl on ice with a mother-of-pearl spoon to ladle them onto toast points, water crackers, spears of Belgian endive or whatever. Roes like this are obvious symbols of fecundity, financial and otherwise. But do take care; caviar can be so pricey that the more assertive Lothario will serve it with the expectation that more than a thank-you note will be forthcoming. Accept only if you're in the mood  and the boundaries are clear.

Oysters: Like caviar, best served cold and in profusion. Oysters with their lively, briny flavor snap the taste buds to attention like little else  and they manage to satisfy without filling you up too much. I prefer my oysters raw on the half shell and accompanied only, perhaps, by a spritz of lemon. Why? Oysters, like wine and coffee, taste of where they've been raised, and I want to savor those regional variations without any cocktail sauce getting in the way. I also believe oysters are best raised high and slurped directly from the shell  so dramatic  but do give the oyster a discrete nudge first to make sure it's not still anchored to the bottom shell. Failing that, a tablespoon please. I want every drop of juice that oyster can yield.

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PBR: Alcohol is infamous for releasing people from all sorts of inhibitions; beer lets it happen more slowly than some other quaffs but still gets the job done. So, order a Pabst Blue Ribbon, and wait for the magic. Grabbing a PBR not only signals you're cool in a post-ironic way but that you likely have more money in your pocket to burn on your intended rather than on all those fancy, high-priced brews out there.

Celery root: Also known as celeriac, this root vegetable tastes like the more familiar celery stalks. We've reported that it has a long tradition of being "both an aphrodisiac and a winter staple." One of the recipes accompanying our report featured celery root with two other ingredients often linked to love: vanilla and pomegranate (as a molasses). Me? I like my celery root thinly shaved and tossed in a very mustardy mayo dressing.

Greens: Remember your mother nagging you to "eat those greens"? Maybe if she'd told you greens are sexy, you would have listened. According to "You Are What You Eat! 6 Libido Boosting Foods To Fuel Your Sexy," greens like spinach, kale, collards, arugula and mustard "contain high amounts of chlorophyll, which is purifying to the blood and helps to increase blood flow." Greens also improve energy levels.

Mannish water: Even the name sounds sexy, right? Mannish water is described as a thick, traditional Jamaican soup made with a goat's head, goat scrotum, goat feet and vegetables. In our 2008 story "Love eats to heat things up," Monica Eng wrote, "Among Jamaicans, this combination is purported to give a man extra strength and vitality."

Truffles: Pungently perfumed, truffles are very, very pricey and flavorful. "Its musky scent is said to stimulate and sensitize the skin to touch," Eng reported in the same story. If truffles are too dear for your love budget, offer a chocolate "truffle" instead. Far more affordable, and chocolate is also considered an aphrodisiac.

wdaley@tribpub.com

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Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 6 Plank (Washington Post illustration by Amanda Soto)

Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 5 Whether you choose your name or some motivational verbiage, we love the idea of personalizing your sneakers with words emblazoned across them. Not to mention, NikeiD kicks let you play around with colors too, so pick a shoe style and get artsy. Prices vary. Nike Free TR 5 iD, pictured, available for $145 at store.nike.com. (Nike)
A preliminary report about to be released shows mismanagement continued in former Gov. Pat Quinn's anti-violence program despite assurances it was being fixed. (Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune)

In his unsuccessful 2014 bid for re-election, then-Gov. Pat Quinn vowed that sweeping changes had cleaned up an unwieldy anti-violence program, but new findings show that widespread problems persisted for two years longer than previously known.

The findings emerged in a "confidential draft" the Tribune obtained of a new, highly critical audit  nearing release  that focuses on a high-profile issue in the last gubernatorial election.

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According to the draft, the state auditor general's office found that bread-and-butter grant protocol was abandoned, leading to sketchy oversight riddled with missing documentation, questionable spending, unclear results and unspent money yet to be returned to state coffers. In one case, auditors discovered, a private agency filed for bankruptcy less than four months after getting more than $583,000 in state money.

The draft also said a top Quinn aide directed which community groups would get taxpayer money rather than putting contracts up for bids. That was independently confirmed by the man who headed the agency that administered the grants, the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority. Neither auditors nor the agency was given any evidence to explain why those groups were the best ones to choose.

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"We were absolutely directed where that money went," former Executive Director Jack Cutrone told the Tribune on Monday. "There was a degree of frustration because we weren't able to use our normal processes."

Originally launched in late 2010, Quinn's grant program, formally known as the Neighborhood Recovery Initiative, was billed as an attempt to provide jobs, mentoring and other services to stem violence.

But the program eventually came under state and federal scrutiny. Those probes followed a previous 2014 audit that described the more than $54 million grant program as hastily thrown together, grossly mismanaged and replete with financial irregularities and poor bookkeeping.

Tribune investigations at the time also documented how money was given to financially strapped entities that failed to do what they promised while keeping state money, and rampant questionable spending in the south suburbs after the administration failed to probe red flags.

The 2014 audit covered the program's first two years, when it was overseen by an agency that was widely seen as not up to the job. Facing heavy criticism over the program's implementation, Quinn in 2014 argued that similar grants in the third and fourth years of a refashioned program were far better managed because grant oversight was moved to the better-regarded Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority.

But the latest draft audit pointed out widespread problems in the third and fourth years in which nearly $40 million in grants focused on stemming the violence in the Chicago area.

The new audit is likely to reignite Republican charges that Quinn distributed the grants to Chicago neighborhoods and suburbs to drive up political support.

Quinn has vehemently denied political motivations, saying he started the program in response to requests from elected officials who sought help in stopping gun violence in their communities.

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Quinn spokesman Billy Morgan said Monday that it's impossible to react to a draft they haven't seen but noted that Quinn in 2014 signed "landmark legislation that provides the strongest grant oversight in the nation." Morgan said that before that, the grants were moved to the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority based in part on its "more stringent processes and law enforcement expertise" and that the agency was "required to uphold those standards always."

Republican Bruce Rauner went on to beat Democrat Quinn in 2014 after relentlessly charging that Quinn used the grants as a political slush fund to help win votes in Democratic strongholds. Rauner's administration declined to comment on the draft audit, citing the confidentiality of the process before an audit is released. But in the administration's response to auditors, also obtained by the Tribune, the agency's new leaders blame the Quinn administration for the debacle.

Auditors noted that Cutrone  a Quinn appointee  had sought in 2012 for the authority to follow its normal rules to use competitive applications for doling out the grants it oversaw, according to emails cited in the draft audit. Those rules had been in place to mirror the strict requirements for how federal grants are handed out and overseen, rules that Cutrone told the Tribune were useful to ensure that political influence didn't creep into the process.

But instead of letting Cutrone's agency follow its own rules on picking recipients, the governor's office told Cutrone to wait for instructions on how to dole out the cash, and in the coming months it gave the director a spreadsheet of whom to fund and how much money to give them, according to the draft audit and Cutrone.

Cutrone had testified to an audit committee in 2014 that Quinn's then-deputy chief of staff, Toni Irving, had directed where the money would be spent. In an interview Monday with the Tribune, Cutrone elaborated on the decision by confirming that both Irving and Quinn's then-chief of staff, Jack Lavin, told him the governor's office would direct where the money went. Cutrone said Irving, his direct contact in the governor's office, provided the list and kept tabs on the program.

It did not violate the statutes or administrative code, Cutrone said, so his agency did as told.

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But in doing so, the agency still violated its own rules, auditors wrote in their draft. The agency then failed to enforce rules on inking deals on time, documenting them and getting timely progress reports to track spending. It also failed to make required site visits or otherwise adequately monitor how money was spent.

Cutrone said he hadn't seen the draft audit but acknowledged problems in how the anti-violence grants were administered. He said his agency had lost its veteran head grant overseer and was forced to handle a bigger workload that included training the nonprofits on how best to report results while trying to design the programs to be more effective. At the same time, his agency had to ramp up efforts to collect money owed by nonprofits that didn't adequately perform in the first two years of the program.

"We were trying to build a ship as we were sailing it," he said.

Among the results, according to auditors, was that the Quinn administration:

Did little to vet the financial viability of nonprofits getting money. That included giving nearly $600,000 to a nonprofit just after it told another arm of the state it was swimming in debt. Less than four months after getting the state money, the nonprofit filed for bankruptcy.

Stopped tracking the names of people paid by grants and didn't check salary figures on public records to ensure that those getting grants weren't seeking inflated reimbursements for their salaries. The grants reimbursed nonprofits for portions of salaries of employees working on the grants, but auditors found two dozen cases in which those getting grants may have overstated salaries in ways that pushed more grant money to those nonprofits.

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Failed to spot-check expenses at entities getting the cash, or even visit places as typical protocol required. Auditors, in their own spot-checks of a sample of nonprofits, questioned the validity of nearly $200,000 in expenses tied to anti-violence grants. Beyond that, auditors found more than $2.6 million in payments given to providers that weren't spent or were spent over the budgeted amounts allowed  both scenarios in which money should be returned.

It's unclear how much still may be owed. The auditor general's office declined to comment, citing the confidentiality of the process until a final audit is released. In the Rauner administration's response, it said it would work to determine who owed what.

Auditors also included background information on the program in their draft. Tucked in the back of the audit, a list of "participating organizations for youth employment program" included "Friends of Luis Arroyo." That matches the name of the campaign fund of a House leader who helped push money for the grant program.

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Arroyo told the Tribune that his campaign fund had no involvement with the program and has no idea why it would have been listed. As chairman of the House committee for public safety appropriations, he said he was focused on pushing for better oversight of the program.

"There was no accountability," he said.

Chicago Tribune's Matthew Walberg contributed.

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Twitter @joemahr1

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Twitter @RayLong
Rogers Park neighborhood community members participate in a peace walk led by the Benedictine sisters of St. Scholastica Monastery following the recent shooting death of Antonio Johnson on Ridge Ave. (Chris Sweda, Chicago Tribune/Chicago Tribune)

Neighbors of St. Scholastica Monastery in the Rogers Park neighborhood occasionally see the Roman Catholic sisters who live there, either gardening or leaving to run errands or go to work. They wave and take comfort knowing the religious women have them in their prayers.

Then last weekend, one of the nuns showed up on their doorsteps. Shaken by news that an 18-year-old man had been fatally shot steps from the sisters' home, she put fliers on doorknobs and fence posts and chatted up passers-by, urging neighbors to help the sisters reclaim the crime scene as a place of peace.

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On Wednesday, the nuns and their neighbors will gather at the corner of Seeley and Birchwood avenues to walk silently toward the scene of the crime and pray for Antonio Robert Johnson, the man who died there.

"It's important to have our neighbors know we're an oasis for peace in the area," said Sister Benita Coffey, the sister in charge of promoting social justice for the Benedictine Sisters of Chicago. "We've been on this property since 1906 and we are not getting up and leaving the neighborhood. We're going to support our neighbors in whatever ways we can."

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Taking a stand on social issues is nothing new for the Benedictine sisters. The Chicago women have been outspoken against excessive military spending, capital punishment, human trafficking and torture. Though they haven't taken a particular stand on gun control or violence, it's implied, Coffey said.

"Gun violence comes under torture and all the rest of these things," Coffey said.

The sisters organized a similar vigil in September 2014 when a 29-year-old man was killed in the gangway of a building across the street from the monastery.

"The people in the area were grateful for knowing that they were not alone in their fears and that we were wanting there to be peace in the neighborhood," Coffey said.

Neighbors support the idea of Wednesday's peace walk. April Gutierrez, 35, who is training to be a Methodist minister, said she was relieved to hear the sisters were organizing a way for the community to grieve and stand in solidarity against the violence.

"I definitely want to be in a neighborhood where we are a community that has conversations with one another," Gutierrez said. "I think it's really important for us to be engaged with each other so we can be supportive because this is really scary.

"We hear of neighborhoods that are safe and not safe," Gutierrez said. "The reality of living in the city is we all need to be cautious and be aware that we share our neighborhoods, and the best way to do that is to know one another."

While going outside now makes Gutierrez nervous, she said it's absolutely necessary to make her two children safe. She purposely has arranged chairs in her front yard as an invitation for neighbors and children to gather there.

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Chicago police Sgt. Shawn Sisk, the community policing sergeant who covers Rogers Park, said the peace walk will have a police escort.

Sisk said he provided the route, based on what police investigators have determined happened on the afternoon of March 23, when police said Johnson fled from his attackers from the corner of Seeley and Birchwood avenues to the 7400 block of Ridge Avenue.

"We tried to retrace the steps and walk the last path that he took," he said. Police did not share Johnson's background with the sisters. Police also said the investigation is ongoing, and no arrests have been made as of Tuesday evening.

All Coffey knows is that her sisters heard gunshots that afternoon and saw Johnson's body lying in the street right before they entered the chapel for evening prayers.

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"I don't know what his affiliations were or whether he was a totally innocent bystander. It's not important to me," Coffey said. "That's not why I'm doing it  because he was a good boy or a bad boy. A young man was killed."

When the procession reaches that location Wednesday night, the sisters will pour holy water near where his body fell and pray for peace.

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Johnson's mother told Coffey that someone from the family will try to attend. Johnson's funeral is scheduled for Thursday.

Sisk said he expects the sisters' procession to resonate differently, compared to a similar event carried out by a politician or other community group. He said it sends a strong signal that the community won't tolerate violence.

"What's the alternative?" he said. "Not doing anything or pretending like it didn't happen? When things happen in a particular neighborhood, the whole community is hurting. It's important to have events like this prayer vigil to let everybody know we are connected."

mbrachear@tribpub.com

Twitter @TribSeeker
Disciplinary proceedings began Tuesday for a veteran Chicago police officer fighting his firing over allegations he lied to investigators about shooting 16 times at the wrong car during an off-duty incident, wounding its driver.

The officer, Francisco Perez, testified Tuesday at the Chicago Police Board hearing that he stood by what he told investigators for the police oversight agency  that he was aiming at a red car carrying a gunman seconds after a drive-by shooting.

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The 16-year department veteran spoke so softly at times that his lawyer gestured for him to speak up.

Perez did not dispute that he mistakenly shot a man who was sitting in a blue Chrysler 300M that was double-parked outside a Mexican restaurant in the East Ukrainian Village neighborhood early that morning in November 2011.

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Perez was working as a security guard at La Pasadita restaurant at 1132 N. Ashland Ave. when the drive-by shooting took place shortly before 3:50 a.m. According to authorities, an occupant in a red car Mitsubishi Galant had opened fire after pulling up beside the Chrysler. Three people standing outside the restaurant were shot, one fatally.

The case against Perez largely hinges on video footage obtained from a surveillance camera at the restaurant that the Independent Police Review Authority said clearly showed the red Mitsubishi involved in the drive-by shooting had sped away by the time the officer opened fire at the blue Chrysler.

Yet even after viewing the video last year, Perez stuck with an earlier statement he had made to an IPRA investigator that he had fired at the red car. IPRA contended that showed Perez had lied to the investigator.

In opening statements at Tuesday's hearing, Megan Zmick, a special assistant corporation counsel representing interim police Superintendent Eddie Johnson, said Perez should be fired not only for those lies but also for shooting an "innocent bystander."

But Perez's lawyer, Daniel Herbert, called the allegations preposterous and contended that Perez had fired at the right car. .

"The hero is on trial today, and we're going to ask for a finding of not guilty," Herbert told hearing officer Jacqueline Walker.

Carlos Rodriguez, the man who was mistakenly shot by Perez, testified through an interpreter at Tuesday's hearing that he ducked after hearing shots as he sat in the Chrysler. He wasn't sure how many shots were fired.

"The truth is, I didn't count them in the beginning," said Rodriguez, a cook at La Pasadita who knew Perez from the restaurant. "I got nervous. I got scared."

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Rodriguez testified that he then heard a second series of shots  an apparent reference to when Perez opened fire. He said he realized he had been shot after "I felt something warm" and saw blood. He drove off a few blocks and called 911, he said.

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Four of the 16 shots fired by Perez with his 9 mm service weapon hit the Chrysler, wounding Rodriguez in the back.

Perez, who has been suspended without pay since November, was first stripped of his police powers in April when IPRA recommended his firing for being "inattentive to duty." That marked the first time in its then-nearly eight-year history that the police oversight agency had recommended an officer be fired for shooting someone. Then-Superintendent Garry McCarthy also signed off on Perez's firing in July.

When approached by a Tribune reporter after the hearing, Perez declined to comment, but Herbert, his lawyer, said that he found the charges perplexing.

"It's unclear what the city is saying," he said. "One, they're saying that he was lying when he said he shot at the offending vehicle. And then in the second breath, they're saying that he somehow was inappropriate when he hit the other vehicle."

Testimony is expected to resume at the Police Board hearing April 20, but a decision on the case from the nine-member, mayor-appointed board probably won't come for weeks. If the board decides to fire Perez, he can appeal the decision to Cook County Circuit Court.

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jgorner@tribpub.com

Twitter @JeremyGorner
A body was recovered from Lake Michigan near Fullerton Avenue. April 4, 2016. (WGN-TV) (Chicago Tribune)

An Aurora family is grieving after getting news that the body of an East Aurora High School student swept into Lake Michigan in late February has been found.

The body of Ivan Echevarria, 18, was found Monday morning within blocks of where he went into Lake Michigan near Diversey Harbor in Chicago on Feb. 25, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

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Echevarria was a senior at East Aurora and previously attended Simmons Middle School, where he made the honor roll. He was the youngest of four siblings.

On Tuesday, Echevarria's cousin, Adriana Echevarria, said through a translator that he was a hard worker and supported his family financially.

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His father, Angel Echevarria, has told the Beacon-News that Echevarria loved cars and wanted to become a mechanic. He had finished paying off his first car with money he saved from a part-time job, his father said.

His parents were on vacation in Mexico when they got the call about Echevarria's disappearance into Lake Michigan.

Ivan Echevarria (East Aurora School District 131)

Echevarria's friends told the family they had planned a trip to Chicago the day Echevarria was swept into the lake, Adriana Echevarria said.

She said the family is relieved that authorities have found his body.

"Although he is no longer with us, we will never forget him," she said. "We're just glad we can bury him and have that peace."

The family will hold a funeral in Aurora on Sunday and plans to bury Echevarria on Monday, Adriana Echevarria said.

Members of the Chicago Police Marine Unit recovered Echevarria's body from Lake Michigan about 7:45 a.m. Monday, according to Chicago police.

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Echevarria died of drowning, the medical examiner's office determined following an autopsy Tuesday.

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Marine unit recovers body (Sarah Jindra / WGN-TV)

Echevarria and a friend were walking near Lake Michigan the afternoon of Feb. 25 when Echevarria was swept into the lake, according to the Chicago Fire Department.

Divers searched the lake the day he disappeared, but extreme turbulence postponed the search until the next morning.

A Chicago Police Department spokesman said marine unit officers searched the lake the next day.

sfreishtat@tribpub.com

Twitter @srfreish

Chicago Tribune reporter Liam Ford contributed to this report
SPRINGFIELD  Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn spent nearly $5 million on special job training grants as part of a sweeping anti-violence program he quickly launched during his 2010 campaign, but about a third of the community groups that received money had to give some of it back.

A Humboldt Park group returned nearly $115,000 earmarked for computer training, a Near West Side group owes nearly $50,000 designated for teaching ex-offenders culinary and maintenance skills, and another group refunded more than $20,000 set aside to prepare Chicago's disabled population for food service and hospitality jobs.

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In all, eight of 25 community groups getting Quinn's Training for Tomorrow grants fell short of the program's goals and have returned money or plan to reimburse the state about $220,000. Most of the repayments came in after the Tribune inquired about the grants in early August.

In addition, some of the groups inappropriately tapped grant money for rent and utilities or didn't properly keep records, according to a University of Illinois review of the program.

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The shortcomings in the job training program come as Quinn and Republican challenger Bruce Rauner fight over the value of the Neighborhood Recovery Initiative, which the Democratic governor started in the weeks before the November 2010 election. Rauner labels it a "slush fund" Quinn used to try to drive up Democratic votes, but Quinn defends it as a response to crime in Chicago and nearby suburbs.

There were three buckets of money in the Neighborhood Recovery Initiative. The job training portion, dubbed Training for Tomorrow, is the one that until now has gotten the least scrutiny. In August, the Tribune looked at another bucket of money, a $3.7 million microloan program, and found that a private lender the state used to help distribute federal disaster money got to keep $150,000 without issuing a single loan.

Previously, the Tribune reported on problems with the largest part of the initiative, $54.5 million in anti-violence grants that have drawn scrutiny from federal and Cook County prosecutors. Stories showed how little the Quinn administration monitored $1.2 million in grant money overseen by a Thornton Township nonprofit and how taxpayer cash went to a politically powerful yet financially shaky Woodlawn nonprofit that a hearing officer had found owed the state $238,000.

Adam Pollet, Quinn's director of the state's economic development agency, hailed the Training for Tomorrow program, saying recently that it addressed the "most underserved communities" where opportunities are fewer, resources are thinner and unemployment is higher.

"When you do train in these communities, the results are tangible," Pollet said. "People get placed in real jobs and have real opportunities going forward."

Program fast-tracked

Four years ago, the Neighborhood Recovery Initiative was on a fast track from the start. Not only was Quinn in the middle of a tough campaign, but he wanted to address the rising pressure on him to help fight crime in impoverished neighborhoods that also encompass some of the richest veins of Democratic votes in the state.

Surrounded by many of the ministers and politicians who had pressed him to act, Quinn announced the program on Oct. 6, 2010. A day later, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity sent out requests to 44 groups asking them to apply for Training for Tomorrow grants.

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Less than four weeks later, Quinn won the election by less than 1 percentage point. Shortly after Thanksgiving, the administration named the grant recipients, which represented a cross section of Chicago's diverse population, including groups serving Asians, Ethiopians, Muslims, African-Americans and Latinos.

Of the $5 million, the 25 grant recipients divided $4.67 million, and the University of Illinois' Business Innovation Services got $138,135 for monitoring the grants. Another $188,000 went to a group that folded before the money was sent out and the Quinn administration said the funds were channeled into another job training program.

Unlike the quick, pre-election push to apply, the state didn't send out the grant cash until late spring and early summer of 2011  timing that posed problems. The contracts called for the groups to complete work in two years ending December 2012. So the state extended each contract by six months to mid-2013. The groups that struggled to hit the program's benchmarks ended up getting 18 extra months ending June 30.

Groups that got the grants were required to get people to sign up to learn job skills in fields like horticulture, cooking and cable TV repair. The groups worked out partnerships with businesses to help tailor the training toward real-world jobs.

Some groups had better success than others, and the program ended up with 1,650 people enrolled, more than the 1,462 the state anticipated. The number of people who finished the program, got work and met the benchmark of holding a job for at least 90 days was 798  only one less than projected, according to state officials.

The Tribune filed an open records request with the state economic development agency Aug. 6 asking for documentation on the status of the grants and efforts to recover funds. The agency waited until Sept. 5 to provide one page of information. During that month, the state was able to greatly increase how much grant money the groups had returned.

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Money returned

The U. of I.'s monitoring of the grant program, akin to performing mini audits, outlined more than 110 problems based on reviews in late 2011 and early 2012. At issue were questions about grant money being used to pay for rent, electricity, gas, maintenance, legal fees, interest on a remodeling loan, staff training and background checks for employees. A $14,000 lathe was purchased without approval, records showed.

"In multiple instances," the Quinn administration's Pollet said, "we understood the challenges that organizations were going through, or maybe they didn't understand exactly where they were allowed to spend money, and we addressed that (quickly). In some cases  those things didn't come to light until other auditing or other reporting events occurred."

The Tribune asked the state agency for more extensive paperwork on seven groups and found several examples that indicated community groups took steps to address items the U. of I. monitor had cited as an inappropriate expense.

Less clear was how the state addressed questions about how some of the groups used the grants to pay rent and other routine costs. The Quinn administration said the issues were resolved but did not provide documents to back that up. Despite questions by the monitor as to whether it should be allowed, one group was allowed to spend $10,466 on rent, according to the organization's president.

The U. of I. review in some cases kept the grant spending on track. That contrasts with the much looser oversight in the biggest portion of Quinn's Neighborhood Recovery Initiative, the $54.5 million in anti-violence grants. Illinois Auditor General William Holland said the first time state officials visited 21 community agencies that received anti-violence grants was when his auditors showed up. Holland told lawmakers in May that it took longer than normal to review that portion of the Quinn program due to the "significant amount of time spent simply attempting to determine if documentation in fact existed, which we now know in many cases did not."

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Bookkeeping issues cited in the university's review included groups failing to document whether enrollees met low-income eligibility guidelines. In some cases, groups were criticized for enrolling people from outside the neighborhoods the groups were designed to serve, including Aurora. In contrast, one person listed as a success story was a 2010 political refugee from the Republic of the Congo and another had freshly migrated from Sierra Leone in West Africa, records showed.

One group, the Ethiopian Community Association of Chicago, focused on training legal immigrants and political refugees, mostly from African and Asian nations. About 90 percent of the enrollees in the grant program had been in the United States for less than six months, said Yohannes Tegegne, the employment manager and an instructor.

With the goal of "economic self-sufficiency," more than three-quarters of the 40 enrollees held onto jobs following training in things like workplace safety, basic electricity and how to operate drills and other hand tools, Tegegne said.

Sixteen of the most successful community groups managed to finish their work by the end of 2013. Among them was the Cara Program on the Near West Side, which got the largest grant of $400,000 to teach computer, health care, hospitality and property management skills. Its results were better than the state expected, keeping 121 people in jobs when it had projected 102.

Casa Central Social Services sent the state back $34,809, much of it because it was determined training costs were less than anticipated. Only $1,800 of the group's refund was tied to a relatively minor failure to hit training goals, the state agency said.

Other groups were asked to send money back to the state for failing to reach benchmarks. The group that returned the most money was Humboldt Park's Association House of Chicago, which gave back $114,949 of its $230,000 computer training grant, according to interviews and state records. The group had planned to place 56 people in jobs but only placed 14, and had hoped to keep at least 41 people in jobs beyond 90 days but only had nine reach that goal, state officials said.

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"With such a high unemployment rate, it was a little bit unrealistic," said Association House President Harriet Sadauskas, who noted college grads were having trouble getting work. "I think it was an attempt to try for training and employment, but I don't think it was well thought out."

Labor law expert Ross Eisenbrey, who served in President Clinton's administration and worked on federal job training partnerships put on the books in the 1980s and 1990s, questioned whether the Quinn program's impact would last. The vice president of the Washington-based Economic Policy Institute said Illinois tried to get by on the "very, very cheap."

The state's Pollet said the "forest shouldn't be lost for the trees" because the objective was to train "as many people as possible with the resources that we had."

The difficulty of finding a fair measuring stick may be illustrated by the group Chicago House and Social Service Agency, which is headquartered in Lincoln Park and serves vulnerable disabled people in the city. It gave back $20,894.

Michael Herman, Chicago House's chief development officer, said the group met the goal of enrolling 70 people, but only 37 completed training. While 31 got jobs, several didn't keep them longer than 90 days  the state's benchmark for forecasting longer employment.

"We helped people with disabilities to not depend exclusively on disability benefits, which in turn saves the system significant dollars," Herman said.

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Also returning money is St. Leonard's Ministries, a Near West Side nonprofit that works with ex-offenders. The group owes the state $49,680 of a $207,000 grant and has asked the state to set up a repayment plan, said David Roeder, a spokesman for the state's economic development agency, the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.

"We accomplished 75 percent of our goals," said Lynne Cunningham, director of St. Leonard's Michael Barlow Center, who called it a decent performance for hard-to-place people who have been incarcerated. "It's an incredibly challenging community that we work with."

"We were working with the premise that we truly believe  people are less prone to be violent if they are gainfully employed," Cunningham said. "It's a way of reducing the amount of violence in our" streets.

rlong@tribune.com
It would be impossible to implement. It's unconstitutional. It's an insult to voters' intelligence. These objections apply to most of Donald Trump's ideas, including his latest scheme. The Washington Post reports:

"Donald Trump says he will force Mexico to pay for a border wall as president by threatening to cut off the flow of billions of dollars in payments that immigrants send home to the country, an idea that could decimate the Mexican economy and set up an unprecedented showdown between the United States and a key diplomatic ally ...

"But the feasibility of Trump's plan is unclear both legally and politically, and also would test the bounds of a president's executive powers in seeking to pressure another country."

As with his plans to round up and deport 11 million to 12 million people, the cost of enforcement would be huge. More important, it would require a massive distortion of the Patriot Act. ("Trump said he would threaten to change a rule under the USA Patriot Act antiterrorism law to cut off a portion of the funds sent to Mexico through money transfers, commonly known as remittances. The threat would be withdrawn if Mexico made 'a one-time payment of $5-10 billion' to pay for the border wall, he wrote.") Like any two-bit extortionist, Trump in essence is saying, "Hey, nice country you've got there, Mexico. It would be a shame if anything happened to it."

Ironically, Trump's plan has many of the same tactics President Barack Obama has used in his delayed deportation gambit and his efforts to expand the reach of the Environmental Protection Agency, extend the power of recess appointments and enlarge the realm of executive privilege. Both Trump and Obama favor unprecedented unilateral action and a willful misreading of applicable law (statutory or constitutional). Perhaps now liberals will reconsider the merits of Obama's inclination to act unilaterally when Congress will not do its business.

Figuring out who is illegal and what accounts belong to which people would, of course, involve enormous expansion of government power and widespread snooping into ordinary Americans' financial affairs.

The plan tells us several things about Trump.

First, if he wants to do all these things, presumably he will want to appoint justices to the Supreme Court that allow him to act in these plainly unconstitutional ways. These would not be justices in the mode of Antonin Scalia. Those arguing that Trump would be better than Hillary Clinton because he would appoint conservative justices need a new excuse for supporting Trump.

Second, his lack of conception of how our Constitution works and how to accomplish policy aims reinforces the growing perception that he is uniquely unfit for the presidency. His contempt for anyone who disagrees with him suggests that in a Trump administration he would have to select equally unprincipled, ignorant advisers who would gladly carry out his edicts.

Third, Trump would not succeed, of course. Just as Obama was halted in his tracts by the courts, Trump also would find himself stymied by the judicial branch, not to mention Congress (which could choose to legislatively bar his actions). What then? Would he defy the courts or just whine that he cannot attain his goals because of nefarious forces (e.g. federal courts, popular opinion)? It is a recipe for constitutional crisis and manufactured anger as voters discover they have been sold a bill of goods. (If Trump did somehow manage to stop remittances, of course, a massive recession would trigger new waves of illegal immigrants who'd overwhelm whatever wall or other measures he would dream up to control the border.)

Fourth, Trump's strongest fan base  anti-immigrant extremists, low-information voters, alienated working-class whites, other aggrieved Americans and media opportunists carrying his water (e.g. Breitbart, Sean Hannity)  will not object. They will characterize opposition to Trump's nonsense as efforts by "the establishment" to persecute their hero. Here, however, is where his mob enticement conflicts with his strategic interests.

With each gaffe and nutty idea, Trump is systematically narrowing his base of support, losing women, those making over $50,000, better-educated voters and evangelicals, to name a few. His chances of getting to 1,237 delegates before the Republican national convention are diminishing. Once his fate is in the hands of convention delegates  many of whom are party regulars, ideologically serious conservatives and elected officials  his harebrained ideas become reasons to abandon him after the first round of voting.

Trump's flurry of gaffes, enlistment of his wife, Melania Trump, on the campaign trail and his latest inane idea suggest that desperation, if not hysteria, has overtaken his campaign. He's losing his grip on the race, and whatever he does seems to make things worse. If this is any indication of his executive skills, one must conclude that he is erratic, irrational and inept. Not the sort of man to make America great.
A group of Emory University students recently made news by demanding protection from being "in pain," as one student protest chant put it, by slogans such as "Accept the Inevitable: Trump 2016" chalked overnight on campus walkways.

In pain? They could just wait for rain to wash their troubles away.

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That's what Salman Rushdie, a writer who knows a thing or three about being threatened for his ideas, said when I asked him about the Emory uprising.

Yes, that Salman Rushdie. The Booker Prize-winning, Muslim-raised British Indian novelist and essayist has been living under threats to his life since Iran's late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa in 1989 calling for his assassination.

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Khomeini did not like the way the Prophet Muhammad is depicted in "The Satanic Verses," Rushdie's 1988 novel. After the Ayatollah's death, the fatwa was continued and a bounty for Rushdie's death raised by other Muslim fanatics.

Yet, after years of living in a cocoon of government security in Great Britain, he left government bodyguards behind and moved in 2000 to what may be the best place on Earth to hide in plain sight: Manhattan.

Coincidentally, he also taught for several years at Emory, which he likes well enough that he placed his archives in the university's library.

Yet when I caught up with him in Washington, he expressed dismay and disappointment with the "silly" dust-up over the chalked Trump slogans. There are no "safe spaces" against offensive ideas, he said, nor should we want there to be  especially in places that are intended to expose us to the world, not to hide from it.

"I assure you," he said, "most Emory students are actually quite intelligent."

Appropriately, Rushdie was in town to talk at New York University's Washington, D.C., center (full disclosure: My wife, Lisa Page, director of creative writing at George Washington University, led the onstage discussion) about "whether art should or must be politically correct." He cheerfully dismissed that question with a "no" and asked for the next question.

"When people say, 'I believe in free speech, but ' then they don't believe in free speech," he said. "The whole point about free speech is that it upsets people.

"It's very easy to defend the right of people whom you agree with  or that you are indifferent to," Rushdie said. "The defense (of free speech) begins when someone says something that you don't like."

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That happy ideal is under assault on campus not only by dueling ideas but also by dueling grievances, some of them brought out by newly minted conservatives such as Donald Trump.

New York University engineering major Dylan Perera, for example, recently described the horrors on "Fox & Friends" of having a female student "screaming at me, calling me a 'racist' and a 'fascist,'" after he said he supports Trump.

"That's not what America is about," Jake Lopez, a Westmont College student and California director of Students for Trump, told a Los Angeles Times reporter. "Mr. Trump, he's single-handedly bringing back freedom of speech. He's enabled students to voice whatever we believe in a thoughtful way."

And sometimes unthoughtful ways, such as when he called for a temporary halt on the admission of Muslims to this country or when he declared that "I think Islam hates us."

"Donald Trump is what happens when you forget what America is," Rushdie said. Yet as much as he disagrees with what Trump says, he argues that it would be more dangerous to block him from saying it. Indeed, in a regime of free speech, bad ideas should be confronted with better ideas.

Admirably Rushdie has consistently defended freedom of expression even when his own life would appear to be at stake. For example, he campaigned successfully to prevent the British government from banning a libelous Pakistani film about him because a ban would have made it "the hottest video in town." Instead, the film went virtually unnoticed outside of Pakistan.

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That's a good model for those who would like to silence Trump. It's much more satisfying to see the New York billionaire and reality-TV star hang himself on his own half-baked and still-evolving version of conservatism. To do otherwise would grant his views the false attractiveness of forbidden fruit.

Clarence Page, a member of the Tribune Editorial Board, blogs at www.chicagotribune.com/pagespage.

cpage@tribpub.com

Twitter @cptime
But never say so, just as you should never acknowledge that the strict regulations on clinics that perform abortions that we've been championing are medically unnecessary backdoor ways of simply making it more difficult for women to obtain abortions. Even certain Supreme Court justices don't seem to be able to see through that one, so the less said about our real agenda the better. Ix-nay on the ogic-lay.
Paul Diaz, an inspector for the Chicago Department of Public Health, explores as he tests for levels of lead at an Auburn Gresham rental home in 2015. A blood test showed that a child living there had a high lead level. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)

With public officials across the nation under fire for downplaying the health risks posed by lead water pipes, Mayor Rahm Emanuel's administration is moving to start testing tap water in the homes of children poisoned by the brain-damaging metal.

A top official at the Chicago Department of Public Health revealed the new program Monday during a presentation to lawyers, physicians, researchers and advocates debating how to address the city's lingering problems with lead poisoning, which continues to ravage children in poor, predominantly African-American neighborhoods on the South and West sides at rates significantly higher than the national average.

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Details of the water testing program are still being worked out. But in both tone and substance, the policy change marks an abrupt shift by city officials who for years have insisted Chicagoans face little, if any, risk from drinking water distributed to thousands of homes through lead pipes.

"We recognize the water in Chicago is generally safe, but to reassure people I think drawing more samples would be very helpful," Dr. Cort Lohff, the health department's director of environmental health, said in a brief interview after the meeting organized by the Loyola University Center for the Human Rights of Children. "If we find elevated levels, we can work with the water department to mitigate the problem."

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Exposure to even small amounts of lead causes subtle brain damage that can trigger learning disabilities and violent behavior later in life. The need for new solutions is particularly acute in Chicago, where a Tribune investigation found hot spots of lead poisoning in some of the city's poorest, most crime-ridden neighborhoods.

I had several conversations with them about the fact that numerous outside entities were finding high lead in Chicago water ... They then stopped returning my phone calls...  Marc Edwards, a Virginia Tech researcher and MacArthur Foundation "genius grant" recipient

The Tribune reported in February that health department inspectors do not test tap water for lead when investigating the homes of poisoned children, even though the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says water can contribute up to 60 percent of an infant's exposure during a critical period of brain development.

Unlike most other major U.S. cities, Chicago required the use of lead pipes until the federal government banned them nationwide in the mid-1980s. Lead service lines connect nearly 80 percent of the city's properties to street mains, according to the Chicago Department of Water Management.

Most of the lead that harms children today comes from flaking paint in homes built before 1978  a major problem in cities with older housing in various states of disrepair. But water could be a factor in cases where there are no signs of lead-based paint in the home  about 20 percent of the lead poisoning cases in Chicago each year, Lohff said.

The health department's plan drew praise from Marc Edwards, a Virginia Tech researcher and MacArthur Foundation "genius grant" recipient who has been sharply critical of the way Chicago has managed and monitored its public water supply.

Edwards, who last year played a major role in exposing lead hazards in the Flint, Mich., water system, said Chicago officials in 2009 rejected his offer to conduct the same type of testing that the Emanuel administration is moving to begin now.

"I had several conversations with them about the fact that numerous outside entities were finding high lead in Chicago water ... and that those lead levels could clearly elevate the blood lead of children," Edwards said in an email. "They then stopped returning my phone calls and emails."

In 2013, two years before the Flint crisis drew national attention to the hazards of lead water pipes, EPA research in Chicago found high levels of the toxic metal in homes where street mains had been replaced or new water meters installed. The study also found the city's official testing protocols  based on federal rules  can miss high concentrations of lead in drinking water.

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Utilities are required to check only the first liter drawn in the morning after the water hasn't been used for several hours. The EPA study found that although the first liter often is lead-free, high levels can flow through taps for several minutes afterward.

Because official testing generally hasn't detected hazards, the city must test only 50 homes every three years. Most of the homes tested since 2003 are on the city's Far Northwest and Southwest sides  areas where cases of lead poisoning are rare.

When the health department visits the homes of poisoned children, inspectors will sample the first and sixth liters of water drawn from kitchen taps. Edwards called that approach "very good."

mhawthorne@tribpub.com

Twitter @scribeguy
Potential bone marrow donors swab their cheeks at a drive for Be The Match. (Be The Match)

Conly Davidson doesn't know who received the donation of bone marrow he gave in February.

The only information he has about the patient is the person was battling leukemia and is 25 years old.

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Donations through Be the Match operate anonymously, so the donors and recipients never find out about each other. Donors are found after they sign up at drives, such as the one scheduled for Friday at Brother Rice High School in Chicago.

Davidson, a 34-year-old information technology professional from Evanston, has been aware of that for the last six years he's signed up for National Marrow Donor Program organization. His first bone marrow drive was 10 years ago, when a close family friend was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

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"There were about 20 of us that did it," Davidson said. "None of us were the match. He actually got his donor through Be the Match."

Illinois State Police, working with Be The Match, is behind several bone marrow drives this month.

The state police agency supports family members fighting various forms of leukemia within Illinois communities, officials said.

"The more people you have who can see if they are a match the better chance you have of finding a match," said state police Sgt. Mike Link.

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State police have hosted various kinds of medically-related drives in the past, Link said.

The first bone marrow drive in this effort was Monday. More drives are scheduled for April 12 in downstate Collinsville, April 21 in Joliet and April 26 in Mt. Vernon.

Friday's drive is 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Brother Rice High School's gymnasium, 10001 South Pulaski Road, Chicago.

"This is a statewide initiative by all members of the ISP to make a difference in not only an individual's life, but in the lives of all of their loved ones," said ISP First Deputy Director Chad Peterson in a news release.

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The bone marrow registry relies on anonymous donors. Potential donations begin with a cheek swab collected at the drives. No appointments are needed. Anyone interested can drop in at a drive.

"Inconvenience is a small word but to be put out such a small amount to give someone a second opportunity in life is a no brainer," Davidson said.

Nick Swedberg is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
Ken Creed talks about getting approval to start Angel Flights in Cuba on March 29, 2016 in Orland Park. (Jim Boyce / Daily Southtown)

Sitting in the kitchen of his Orland Park home, Ken Creed explains "the hundred dollar hamburger."

"You've got a plane, you love to fly, but you've got nowhere to go, so you fire it up and head out to a restaurant a few hours away, eat a hamburger and come home," he said.

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Eventually, Creed decided he wanted to set his sights on a more meaningful destination, which is how he found his way into humanitarian work.

The 65-year-old father of two and grandfather of five smiles a devilish grin and admits he's no Mother Teresa, even if he is devoted to an organization called Angel Flights.

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"I graduated from Brother Rice 417 out of 421," he says, chuckling. "I'm no angel. What I am is a pilot that needs a purpose."

He's also a boogie boarder, body surfer, businessman, humanitarian and adventurer who's been all over the world, including all around the Caribbean island of Cuba.

More than taking a liking to the climate, the beaches, the art and the timeless nature of the long-forbidden country that is slowly opening itself up to the outside world, Creed says he loves the people.

"They're great," he said. "They're so humble, so genuine."

And they are desperately in need of transportation.

So Creed, a longtime volunteer pilot for Angel Flights Central and West, regional organizations made up of volunteer pilots who fly sick people to treatment centers, and special needs children to camps, as well as provide relief during natural disasters, decided to head south to Cuba.

"I'll be taking them from small remote villages to treatment centers in the cities," he said.

Ken Creed shows photos from previous outings with American Soldiers on March 29, 2016 in Orland Park. (Jim Boyce / Daily Southtown)

Just 90 miles south of Key West, Fla., Cuba is about the size of California, and is divided into 14 provinces, each with its own general surgical and pediatric hospital.

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Some of the hospitals, Creed said, have specialties and Cubans are allowed to go to whichever center they want  provided they can get there.

"They can't, though," he added. "Once you get out of Havana, it's mostly horse and buggy."

With the help of a local Cuban coordinator, Creed plans to fly into the remote areas, landing if necessary on roadways, pick up patients and take them to the health center that best fits their needs.

"I want to help people in Trinidad, Santa Fuegas and other remote areas," he said. "Not so much Havana, because in Havana they can get on a bus."

Creed is a graduate of St. Barnabas grammar school, and, after two attempts, Western Illinois University.

"The only reason I didn't flunk out the first time was cause it took four quarters to flunk out and I got drafted after three," he said.

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Following a stint in the Army from 1972 -73, he went to Daley College and then back to WIU, where he earned an undergraduate degree in law enforcement and marketing. After that came law school for a year. He didn't like it and took a job with Wells Fargo Alarm Services.

He started his own business in 1978, sold it in 1984 to the guy he worked for at Wells Fargo.

Ken Creed talks about his recent approval to start Angel Flights in Cuba on March 29, 2016 in Orland Park. (Jim Boyce / Daily Southtown)

While he waited for his non-compete clause to expire, he bought a house in La Jolla, north of San Diego. In 1988, he started a fire and security business in Chicago and San Diego and would spend the next few decades commuting back and forth.

His company installed voice evacuations systems for the Department of Defense in California and in various buildings around Chicago, including Lake Point Tower, Field Museum and Northwestern University.

After he and his wife split in 2000, he bought his current house, just a few blocks from his ex. "We raised our kids together," he said.

Creed, who loves martial arts, scuba diving and collecting art, says, "I love Chicago. This is where I want to live. But Chicago is not my life."

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Creed says he's tired of his 40-50 annual trips to the West Coast and now plans to divide his time between Orland Park and Cuba.

Creed keeps his plane, which he recently renovated for $75,000, making it gurney accessible and installing a custom-made instrument panel that he designed himself, in Clearwater, Fla.

He plans to fly Southwest Airlines to Tampa, Uber over to the hangar, get in his Piper aircraft and head to Havana, where he'll rent a room for five days at a time and airlift needy people, most of whom, he expects, have never been in a plane.

"We hope to help over a 1,000 patients our first year," he said. That goal will cost him around $20,000.

"But look at all the good it will do," he said. "It's incredible the connection that you make because the impact you have on their lives is so severe."

Ken Creed talks about his recent approval to start Angel Flights in Cuba on March 29, 2016 in Orland Park. (Jim Boyce / Daily Southtown)

Don Sumple is executive director of Angel Flights Central. Though he doesn't know Creed personally, Sumple said the Cuba plan is indicative of the kind of work people who volunteer for Angel Flights do all of the time.

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"They're incredible people," he said. "They are pilots who love to fly, who love aviation and who love to help people in need. This is a way for them to do both."

The pilots, he said, volunteer their time, the use of their plane and the fuel necessary to get the jobs done.

"They care about people," he added. "And there are a lot of people in need, here in the States and around the world."

It took Creed two years of filling out paperwork for the U.S. Treasury Department and knocking on government officials' doors in Havana to finally get clearance to land at 28 of Cuba's 32 airstrips.

Creed, who learned how to fly at Howe Airport and who keeps a hangar in Gary, Ind., said he has been transporting patients in the United States for more than a decade. He first ventured into Cuba out of curiosity.

"I didn't know any better. Somebody passed out one of these little fliers for Cuba in 1998," he said. Over the years, he's visited many times with friends.

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"We'd go scuba diving," he said. "It was fun."

Today, when he visits, he has a driver, Nelson Eddy, who takes him around the island.

"I've had MDs give me tours," he said. Because the government sets each worker's salary, there is little difference between what a surgeon and a hotel worker earns, he said.

"I give them a $20 or $30 tip and that's about what they make in a month," he said.

He also buys art from Cuban painters, brings it home and has the staff at Art & Company in Orland Park frame it.

On his last trip to Havana, he met two guys who are bartenders at El Floridita, the restaurant where Hemingway drank daiquiris.

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"You can't have too many of those," Creed said, laughing.

Several years ago, Creed used his plane to start a program called Wing It with a Warrior, which gave airplane rides to wounded and disabled soldiers, along with their families. Once, after he received an invitation to the annual Marine Corps Ball in San Diego, Creed said he and some friends rented a yacht and gave wounded warriors in attendance a midnight cruise on the bay.

His need to give back, he says, developed organically.

Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

"I just want a purpose," he said. "Wing It with a Warrior and Angel Flights let me fly for a reason."

And, he said, Cuba is calling his name.

Though he gets requests all the time to bring back cigars, Creed said, if there's one thing he's learned in life, it's that if something is important to you, you should do it by the book.

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"It's too risky and I'm too old to go through the back door, not that I haven't in the past," he said. "Like I said, 'I'm no angel.'"

But now, he added, being able to help people who truly need help is such a privilege that it's important for him to fly the straight and narrow.

dvickroy@tribpub.com

@dvickroy
An evidence marker is placed next to a gun at a shooting in East Garfield Park on March 16, 2016. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)

This is shaping up to be a dangerous summer in Chicago and the south suburbs. Young men are without jobs, and that's likely to lead to increased street violence.

The way I see it, a perfect storm of bad policy decisions, political greed and government corruption are colliding in our messed up state. Individual stories are like pieces of a puzzle. Put the pieces together and a scary picture emerges.

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Here's what I consider a few important pieces and why I think the picture looks particularly bad.

For starters, shootings and murders in Chicago are up this year compared to last. Way up. Through March, murders are up 72 percent and shootings have increased 88 percent. Gun violence is linked to gang activity, which is linked to the lack of job prospects.

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Cook County Commissioner Richard Boykin thinks he knows the answer. On Monday, he unveiled a plan to hike county gas taxes 4 cents a gallon to raise $50 million to curb violence in Chicago and hard-hit suburbs. Sheriff Tom Dart stood with Boykin, but no other commissioners did. Boykin's plan seems doomed without the support of County Board President Toni Preckwinkle.

Boykin's solution to reduce gun violence is to put young people to work rehabbing abandoned properties, removing graffiti and doing other jobs in blighted communities.

"They'll tell me over and over again, 'Well, I can always make money selling dope.' Well we've got to give them better options than that," the Sun-Times quoted Dart as saying.

Andrew Wells, director of workforce development for the Urban League, said it even better.

"Nothing stops a bullet like a job," he said.

However, Illinois lost 125,000 manufacturing jobs between 2008 and 2014, according to the Illinois Policy Institute. While other Great Lakes states have regained manufacturing jobs after the Great Recession, Illinois has not.

"Two business policy issues relate directly to a state's ability to attract good manufacturing jobs: Right-to-Work policy and workers' compensation policy," Illinois Policy's Michael Lucci wrote in September 2014, two months before Bruce Rauner was elected governor.

Last week, Southtown sister publication the Post-Tribune covered the opening of Hoist Liftruck Manufacturing Inc. in East Chicago. The company operated for many years in south suburban Bedford Park, but CEO Martin Flaska said he'd had enough with Illinois' high taxes, lack of affordable housing and worker's compensation practices.

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"We were having a difficult time recruiting people once the high schools (near Bedford Park) started eliminating technical programs, and we need to have welders," Flaska said.

Businesses are leaving Illinois for Indiana and other places, or closing for good. Job opportunities are dwindling, especially in the Southland. "Youth unemployment stings south suburbs far worse than north," a recent Tribune headline said.

The story said nearly 40 percent of black 20- to 24-year-olds were both out of school and out of work in Cook County in 2014, according to the Great Cities Institute at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

"This has been a very difficult year for us in Chicago, and as we approach the summer, are we adequately prepared to provide jobs for young people?" asked Cook County Commissioner Bridget Gainer.

Karin Norington-Reaves, CEO of the Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership, said her organization's $60 million budget barely makes a dent in the need to find work for young people. She said there are about 200,000 disconnected youth in Chicago and it costs about $4,500 to serve each young person. Do the math and that equals $900 million.

A cluster of south suburbs has the greatest concentration of out-of-work youth, with Harvey, Markham, Hazel Crest, Sauk Village and Ford Heights showing joblessness rates of more than 60 percent for 20- to 24-year-olds.

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Joblessness is concentrated in "economically abandoned sectors of Cook County resulting from deindustrialization," report authors said.

"The strategy of bringing back jobs is also bringing back these areas that have really suffered as manufacturing left," study co-author Teresa Cordova said.

Connect the dots, and the picture comes into focus. Manufacturing jobs are lost. Young people without job prospects turn to gangs, drugs and violence. What happens to the residents who remain? Their taxes go up.

Austin Berg of the Illinois Policy Institute wrote in a recent Southtown opinion piece about Bonita Hatchett, an attorney planning to move to Indiana because she paid more than $18,000 in property taxes last year on her devalued Flossmoor home.

The news gets worse. The Chicago area saw the greatest population loss of any major U.S. city in 2015. African-Americans in particular are leaving the city and state for places like Atlanta and Houston. Chicago lost 181,000 black residents between 2000 and 2010, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Tribune (and former Southtown) reporter William Lee wrote about his personal experience watching friends, family and neighbors leave Chicago and Illinois.

Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

"I fear that this reverse migration is setting into motion a chain reaction as it robs Chicago of homegrown talent that could have helped revitalize ailing neighborhoods like South Shore," Lee wrote. "The loss of the black middle class deprives their communities of their skills, tax revenue and political clout while also robbing a younger generation of desperately needed role models."

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If you think the answer to reducing violence is to spend tax money on programs to create jobs for young people, think again. Former Gov. Pat Quinn did just that. But the Tribune obtained a draft audit of Quinn's $54 million Neighborhood Recovery Initiative, and the report paints a picture of corruption.

"The state auditor general's office found that bread-and-butter grant protocol was abandoned, leading to sketchy oversight riddled with missing documentation, questionable spending, unclear results and unspent money yet to be returned to state coffers," the Tribune reported. "The draft also said a top Quinn aide directed which community groups would get taxpayer money rather than putting contracts up for bids."

I don't like the picture I see. Chicago and the Southland are likely to become more violent because of the lack of job opportunities for young people. The private sector is losing jobs because of the state's anti-business policies, and public-sector job programs are prone to corruption and result in higher taxes.

Get the picture?

tslowik@tribpub.com

Twitter @tedslowik
Hanover Township Director of Community Relations Thomas Kuttenberg said that the township's mental health board doled out more than $186,000 in grants to human services during its recently ended fiscal year. (Mike Danahey / The Courier-News)

With the state's budget still unresolved, the Hanover Township Mental Health Board during its recently concluded fiscal year granted more than $186,000 in emergency funding to human service agencies that assist people who live within its boundaries.

"We've stepped up funding to counteract what's happened with the state budget," Hanover Township supervisor Brian McGuire said. "No one could have predicted not having a state budget would go on this long."

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Hanover Township director of community relations Thomas Kuttenberg explained that the money was given out during the course of the township's fiscal year, which ran from April 1, 2015, until March 31. The Mental Health Board is its own taxing body, overseen by seven volunteer members. It was formed in 1977.

Kuttenberg said that the Mental Health Board has been granting emergency funding since September 2010, as the state had become consistently late in getting money to agencies it had promised through contracts and grants.

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For the recently started fiscal year, $150,000 has been set aside in the board's budget to allocate as emergency funds, Kuttenberg said. The grant application guidelines state the grants are for up to $25,000 and that an agency can apply for the money once during the fiscal year.

Centro de Informacion Executive Director Jaime Garcia said the organization received $12,000 from the Hanover Township Mental Health Board which was used to keep a sattelite office in Hanover Park fully open. (Mike Danahey / The Courier-News)

Agencies receiving the emergency funding the 2015-16 fiscal year included Elgin-based Centro de Informacion ($12,000); the Children's Advocacy Center ($25,000); Countryside Association for Individuals with Disabilities ($5,106); Shelter, Inc. ($25,000); JOURNEYS The Road Home ($9,000); Northwest CASA ($25,000); Leyden Family Services ($25,000); PADS of Elgin ($25,000); Elgin-based Ecker Center for Mental Health ($10,000) and Bridge Youth & Family Services ($25,000).

Kuttenberg said the agencies which received the emergency funds served 1,863 township residents between April 1, 2015, and Jan. 31.

"The money was used for services we provide to Hanover Township residents," Ecker Center Executive Director Karen Beyer said.

"Without that money there was no way we would have been able to keep our Hanover site (a satellite office in Hanover Park) open on a full-time basis," Centro's Executive Director Jaime Garcia said.

Garcia said Centro was to get 26 percent of its budget, or about $100,000, from state sources for the 2015-16 fiscal year. At this point, he doesn't see that money coming to the organization, which has looked for other sources.

Centro received the money from Hanover Township late last summer, Garcia said, and is not sure yet if it will be seeking the emergency funding again.

"We may have to," Garcia said.

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Elgin Mayor Dave Kaptain was among 10 local elected officials who singed a letter supporting the role Hanover Township plays in providing services to its residents. (Mike Danahey / The Courier-News)

Of the township's emergency funding of agencies, McGuire said, "This can't go on indefinitely. You can't go to the well forever."

Northwest Compass received $20,000 in annual funding to continue to provide the Legacy Corps program to veterans in Hanover Township. Services include respite care, information dissemination on veterans' medical conditions, child care respite services, and transportation services.

Northwest Compass became the new sponsoring agency for the Legacy Corps program in March after Lutheran Social Services of Illinois cut the program in January due to the state budget crisis.

McGuire said the state is shucking its responsibilities by not adhering to the deal made with agencies to provide services. He found it ironic that the state is looking at cutting layers of government, while the township is helping keep human services afloat during the budget standstill.

To that point, in March, on behalf of Hanover Township, 10 local elected officials signed a letter in response to the Governor's Task Force on Local Government Consolidation and Unfunded Mandates report and its 27 recommendations on how to lower property taxes through consolidating layers of government and reducing the number of financially burdensome unfunded mandates.

"While many of these proposals are well intended and appear clear cut, we believe that the elimination of Townships would only lead to potentially higher taxes and stretch the already strained resources of municipalities," the letter states.

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Hanover Township Supervisor Brian McGuire (James Jordan / handout)

The letter states, "The years of mismanagement from our leaders in Springfield have left too many of our residents out in the cold when it comes to taking care of their needs. Local government, like Hanover Township, is reliable and efficient in ensuring there are no gaps and that no one falls through the cracks in service delivery. We have worked hard to create cooperative programs, increase efficiencies and in the past, reduced redundancies. We will continue to work with our local governments to serve our residents in the most cooperative way possible."

Those signing the letter were Elgin Mayor David Kaptain, Elgin City Council members Terry Gavin and Rose Martinez, Bartlett Trustee Raymond H. Deyne, Streamwood Trustee Michael Baumer, Hanover Park Mayor Rodney Craig, Hoffman Estates Trustee Michael Gaeta, Streamwood Park District President Rich Janiec, and Streamwood Park District Commissioners Rick Brogan and Bill Wright.

Gavin said that, in general, he has mixed feelings about township government. From doing volunteer work with the township's senior services and from having served on the Hanover Township Mental Health Board, though, Gavin said he does see value in having Hanover Township.

"I could see some absorption of services they provide, such as roads, that Elgin or other municipalities may be able to handle," Gavin said. "But in other instances, such as the work the township does for seniors and for mental health, that's something I don't see the city being able to provide as they do."

mdanahey@tribpub.com
One person was killed and six people were injured when a limousine crashed on the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway near Illinois Route 25 in Elgin on March 25, 2016. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)

The limousine company whose driver was involved in a fatal crash on the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway last month was ordered to cease all intrastate and interstate operations because the company poses an "imminent hazard to public safety," according to federal authorities.

"Lyons Limousine's use of unqualified and underaged drivers with poor driving records, lack of inspection, repair and maintenance records, and complete disregard of the hours-of-service regulations substantially increases the likelihood of death or serious harm to drivers, passengers, and the motoring public if not discontinued immediately," according to an order the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration released Tuesday.

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The safety administration served the order to Mary and Patrick Lyons, owners of the Wisconsin company, following an investigation into a crash that killed Teri L. Schmidt, 53, of Wisconsin, and injured six others, including her husband, on March 25. The 20-year-old driver told Illinois State Police investigators he was blinded by sunlight just before the crash.

"The immediate aspect is the company is not allowed to operate," said Duane DeBruyne, a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration spokesman, Tuesday. "The shutdown order is based upon the company's lack of compliance with the Federal Motor Safety Act."

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Lyons Limousine has an opportunity to appear or contest the order, DeBruyne said. The company would have to take remedial actions outline in the order, he said.

Lyons Limousine officials could not be reached for comment. The company's phone was disconnected.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's investigation revealed the company is in violation of multiple federal safety regulations including repeatedly using an under-aged driver to operate a commercial motor vehicle, failing to conduct required pre-employment background checks on its drivers, failing to maintain any records of maintenance, and failing to monitor its driver's hours of service to prevent fatigued driving, according to a release from the administration. Additionally, the company did not possess safety and operating authority registration or maintain the required levels of public liability insurance, the release stated.

The company did not conduct background checks on two drivers, owner Mary Lyons and the 20-year-old driver, the release stated. Neither had a valid medical examiner's certificate and both had poor driving records, factors that would have been discovered through the background check, it stated.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration found the 20-year-old driver's Wisconsin driver's license had been suspended in September 2015 for failure to pay a fine. He had been dispatched as a limo driver at least two times prior to the crash, the release stated. He had been convicted five times between April 2012 and June 2015 for speeding, obstruction of traffic in a property damage crash, following too closely in a property damage crash, failing to obey a traffic sign or signal, and failing to fasten a seat belt, according to the release.

According to the release, all interstate for-hire passenger carriers are required to register with the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. As a condition of federal operating authority registration, a passenger carrier is also required to file proof of and maintain $1.5 million in liability insurance, it stated. Lyons Limousine had been operating in violation of the federal operating authority registration requirements for more than three years, its safety registration had been inactivated for failure to file a required report, and the company did not have any public liability insurance on file with FMCSA, the release stated.

Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter.
Among the collectible merchandise sold at COD CON, the annual gaming convention at College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, are unique collectible rolling dice which include the events one-eyed cod fish mascot. (College of DuPage Sci-Fi/Fantasy and / Handout)

James Allen, faculty adviser for the College of DuPage Sci-Fi/Fantasy and Gaming Club, is always impressed with the clever and inventive ideas his students dream up each year as the theme for the group's popular annual gaming convention.

The 2016 theme for COD CON XXI, Friday, Saturday and Sunday on campus at College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, is "Down the Rabbit Hole," offering a nod to the strange adventures described in "Alice in Wonderland" and highlighted with an expansive "Alice"-themed scavenger hunt as one of the events.

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"Even the one-eyed cod fish mascot for the event usually gets changed up every year," Allen said.

"One year, for example, he was transformed into a zombie fish to go with the annual theme."

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Allen, who lives in Naperville and has served as the gaming group's faculty adviser since the convention launched 21 years ago, has watched the weekend gaming gathering's attendance grow steadily each year.

"That very first year, I remember we have seven people attend the event," he said.

"Today, we easily get more than 350 people who come out to have fun, and that includes many returning students and alumni."

While the earlier years of COD CON included author panels and special guests of honor as potential draws, in recent years the schedule and activities now focus on video game tournaments and card and board games, Allen said.

"While we've seen trends come and go, some popular programming has remained consistent since the beginning, like role playing games such as Dungeons and Dragons, and now also Pathfinder," he said.

"And each year, we try some new things. One year, we set up Battle Bot stations, which are these huge booths for players to get inside with pads for challenge matches."

Allen said usually about 20 percent of the attendees come to the event wearing costumes, including a dedicated core team from the student organization who deem their donning of a character costume as the Cosplay Masquerade.

"The Cosplay Masquerade crew annually have a fundraiser bake sale during this weekend, in addition to the other food vendors we have onsite," he said.

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"We also sell merchandise, including a new design each year of our popular COD CON keepsake dice. All of the money raised goes right back into the group to help support the events we offer throughout the year."

Allen said video game companies annually attend the conference to launch and test new products. This year, both Nintendo and Sony will introduce new PlayStation4 games, new releases for Wii and the latest in 3D gaming.

"When the club members plan the schedule, much of it is driven each year by the interests of the members, which has changed over the years with the trends," he said.

"Currently, we have a consistent club membership of 40 people who take on the responsibilities for the planning and staffing for this event."

In addition to the gaming showcase, there is also an area called Artist Alley dedicated to the exhibition of artwork from local artists.

"Each year, we get new people who attend COD CON and also good response from guests who return year after year," Allen said.

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"For many, it's a homecoming with something for everyone."

Philip M. Potempa is a freelance writer.

COD CON XXI: Down the Rabbit Hole

When: 6 to 11 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday

Where: Room SRC 2000, College of DuPage, 425 Fawell Blvd, Glen Ellyn

Tickets: $5 per day or $7 for two days or $10 for all weekend with kids under 12 admitted for half price

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Information: 630-942-3421 or codcon.com
Chief Academic Officer Kathy Pease, far left, waits to respond to a question from Indian Prairie District 204 School Board member Maria Curry, second from right, as fellow board members Cathy Piehl and Michael Raczak listen during discussions of the new middle school science curriculum and accompanying materials on Monday. (Suzanne Baker / Naperville Sun)

Indian Prairie School District 204 is changing the way middle school students learn science.

After a month of debate, the school board Monday approved a new middle school curriculum and accompanying materials aimed at fulfilling the Next Generation Science Standards. Instead of regurgitating information from a teacher's lecture or textbook, students will be given an inquiry concept to explore through activities.

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The district will spend $835,381 over the next six years to buy middle school materials from Activate Learning. The package proposed for purchase  Investigating & Questioning our World Through Science & Technology, or IQWST  includes digital editions for 96 teachers, interactive digital editions for 6,560 students, grade-level equipment and consumable kits.

The change faced scrutiny over the rigor of the materials and whether the board could approve classroom materials without adopting the new curriculum first.

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Before the vote, Crone Middle School seventh-grade science teacher Anna Zuccarini said she was concerned with the direction the science curriculum is headed.

"The proposed curriculum and in particular the set of proposed textbooks represent a profound diminishment of the rigor we maintain in District 204," she said.

Zuccarini said she also is disappointed the science research project would be eliminated from the curriculum, and that the textbooks lack basic scientific terminology and age-appropriate illustrations.

But two other teachers defended the curriculum and IQWST materials. Seventh-grade teacher Kristin Shaw and eighth-grade teacher Brian Klaft served on the curriculum committee that spent the last several years researching the proposal recommended to the board.

Science fair projects would not go away completely, they said, but rather would expand to include more students as an extracurricular program.

Klaft also said the committee knew fellow teachers would have concerns.

"We present to you, the board, and to our peers the best curricular model we can," Klaft said. "We feel the middle school science teachers will teach better, all of science students will have enhanced learning, and the district reputation for being on the forefront of education will be solidified."

School board member Maria Curry, who cast the only vote against the science plan, said she preferred to see a more extensive pilot of the materials and curriculum. She said her fear was the district would spend close to $1 million and in several years find out the science curriculum is lacking.

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Chief Academic Officer Kathy Pease said she is confident district students will perform well on assessment tests because the curriculum and materials are all based on Next Generation Science Standards.

Board President Lori Price said students' love of learning should be more of a priority, not just assessment performance.

"We shouldn't be teaching to the test," she said.

Board member Mark Rising urged a vote on the matter.

"I'm personally a little disappointed in us. We should be way further ahead on this because we've been working three years on it," Rising said, adding he doesn't blame administrators or teachers. "Right now, it's the board that's holding them back."

The science standards were adopted by the Illinois State Board of Education in January 2014 with full implementation set for the 2016-17 school year. School districts will begin testing on the standards this spring.

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Similar to the Common Core State Standards for English/language arts and mathematics, NGSS is a list of what students should know and be able to do by the end of each grade level to be successful in college and careers.

subaker@tribpub.com

Twitter @SBakerSun1
Aulanah Bigham, center, poses with her parents Louise Patrick and L. C. Hunter after receiving her award at the 30th Annual Mayor's Commission on Disabilities Awards Breakfast. (Sue Ellen Ross / Post-Tribune)

When Aulanah Bigham was three years old, her mother felt she wasn't developing as usual for her age.

After testing, the toddler was diagnosed with a learning disability.

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"This was going to be a challenge for my daughter, but we were determined to work with this," said mom Louise Patrick, of Hammond, at the recent city of Hammond Mayor's Commission on Disabilities 30th Annual Awards Breakfast. "Aulanah always had to attend special classes, but as she approached her teen years, she also was able to attend regular classes."

The 19-year-old Gavit High School senior will graduate with honors in May and will head to Indiana State University in the fall.

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"I feel accomplished," Aulanah said at the event as she received the Charles Nagy, Jr. award from Mayor Tom McDermott Jr. "I was able to achieve these things because of the support of my family and my teachers."

The Nagy award is given to someone who demonstrates spirit and determination in overcoming obstacles to lead a productive life in service to the community.

The mayor and his Commission on Disabilities offered this year's theme, "Inclusion is within Everyone's Ability" to acknowledge March as Disabilities Awareness Month.

Phil Taillon, director of Hammond's Planning and Development Department, served as master of ceremonies for the morning event, and keynote speaker Martina Tovar addressed the 400 plus attendees. Tovar is an area supervisor for Vocational Rehabilitation Services and also works with Indiana Family and Social Services.

"The VRS is here to serve you, but many people think we are the answer to all their questions. We may want to be, but we are not," she said of her organization. "The individual consumer has to be the driving force behind their program for it to be successful."

The VRS programs and counselors are there for the asking, but, "The consumer still has to work with us," she added. Examples of local providers working with VRA are Tradewinds, ARC and Opportunity Enterprises.

The City of Hammond Mayor's Commission on Disabilities Awards Breakfast became a reality a year before former President Ronald Reagan named March as

Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month in 1987.

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"This (awards breakfast) started when my father, Tom McDermott Sr., was mayor in 1986 and has continued since," McDermott Jr. said. "He saw the need to recognize the inspiration and determination of the disabled community."

Those at the event also had the opportunity to visit the 15 vendors set up in the lobby.

State Health Insurance Assistance Program representative Crystal Davis discussed specifics of Medicare for retirees or those contemplating retirement.

"This (event) is a great opportunity to let people know who we are," she said. " Many people are confused about Medicare and we're here to help."

In addition to Aulanah, other 2016 Award Winners recognized at the Mayor's Commission on Disabilities 30th Annual Awards Breakfast were: volunteer Carlanie Richardson, Randy Pribble, volunteer Karen Edge, caregiver Alexandra Short as well as Griffith-Merrillville Airport.

Sue Ellen Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
A proposal for a rail line that would run from Wisconsin to LaPorte and cut through Porter County brought a swift and unanimous vote against the plan Tuesday in Porter County.

Noting that the proposed rail line that would cut through South Porter County has no economic benefit for the county and its residents, the Board of Commissioners passed a resolution 3-0 against the freight line proposed by Great Lakes Basin Transportation.

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Commissioners also blasted the Surface Transportation Board for not holding public meetings on the project in Porter County next week, part of the process in putting together an Environmental Impact Statement, or EIS.

"My problem is we're the only county in Indiana where the train is going to pass completely through and we don't get a hearing. It doesn't make any sense," Board of Commissioners President John Evans, R-North, said before he suggested re-activating former rail lines instead.

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The 278-mile rail line would start in southern Wisconsin and end in LaPorte County, cutting through both Lake and Porter counties on the way to its destination in a move to alleviate rail congestion in Chicago, at a cost of $8 billion. A website dedicated to the project, www.greatlakesbasin.net, notes the rail line could see up to 110 trains a day.

County commissioners added the line could be up to six tracks, which could mean even more trains.

Commissioner Laura Blaney, D-South, whose property will be bisected by the rail line in Porter Township, listed myriad concerns about the route, including drainage problems, the destruction of family farms and longer wait times for volunteer fire departments.

"There's several issues here and no benefit," she said.

But Frank Patton, the man behind the railroad, has said the route is being laid out to avoid densely populated areas, will be an economic boon for the region, and those impacted by the project will be fairly compensated.

"This will be the largest U.S. rail project in the last 125 years and a big chunk of that money is going to be spent in Northwest Indiana, a very large portion of it," Patton, founder and managing partner in GLBT, has said about the privately funded project.

He has called opposition to the project "a knee-jerk reaction," particularly from groups that fought the Illiana toll road.

Patton did not respond to a request for comment late Tuesday afternoon.

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Commissioner Jeff Good, R-Center, who previously served on the Regional Development Authority, said 11 years ago, that agency worked to receive state and federal dollars to restore rail lines in the northern part of the county.

The proposed rail line runs counter to what that agency did, he said, adding the project will have the greatest economic impact in LaPorte County, which is putting together an intermodal facility in Kingsbury.

"I grew up 2 miles from this so you know where I'm at," Good said. "This creates a lot of problems, it creates a lot of cost to the county I don't think we're ever going to be reimbursed for." He added that arguments about rail spurs and economic development are "going to fall on deaf ears. We don't even have the infrastructure to do it."

County attorney Scott McClure outlined the process going forward, and said comments collected by the Surface Transportation Board at the three public meetings next week for the EIS will be critical as the proposal moves forward.

"It's very important, probably the most important part of this process, for Great Lakes Basin Transportation to get approval for this proposal," he said, adding the only communication between the Surface Transportation Board and the county has been a March 21 letter to the planning department.

A draft of the EIS will be released for additional public comment before the proposal moves toward final approval.

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"That process would allow them to avail themselves of our state's eminent domain statutes, which is very serious," he said, adding citizens and county officials must make their voices heard in the EIS, which "also deals with possible route alternatives, so time is of the essence."

More than a dozen South County residents attended the meeting and after commissioners passed the resolution, several conferred over drainage problems and the loss of quality of life.

Morgan Township farmer Dale Schultz said the route goes through his family's farm, and the support from the commissioners was "really important."

"From the get go, there are no meetings in Porter County and we have the most to lose," he said. "People don't realize how bad this is going to be."

Amy Lavalley is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.

Meetings set

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Scoping meetings for the Environmental Impact Statement, held by the Surface Transportation Board, will take place at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Veterans of Foreign Wars post, 17401 Morse St., Lowell; 5:30 p.m. April 13 at the American Legion post, 203 S. Washington St., Wanatah; and 5:30 p.m. April 14 in the Civic Auditorium, 1001 Ridge St., LaPorte.

An opposition group, RAILED, or Residents Against Invasion of Land by Eminent Domain, is meeting at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Morgan Township schools, 299 S. Indiana 49, Valparaiso.
Good government is not inevitably cheap government, but a dozen years of cheap governors in Indiana have accommodated the state to skinflintiness.

We secretly love cheap because it theoretically reflects thoughtful austerity with our money.

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This is a trick Hoosiers play on themselves because we've all experienced cheap people. They think they are frugal. We know they are cold-hearted penny chokers who use the ruse of budgets to mask indifference.

When Indiana's public purse is opened, bats fly out, which is also the proper metaphor for the people governing the state. It's never been clear if the cliche cartoon bats were meant to show the empty desolation of a haunted house or the wackiness of bats in the belfry.

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In Indiana government, it's a distinction without a difference.

But it's never been real in the sense that hard budget choices have been forced on Indiana against its will.

The fiscal gene splicers at wallethub.com have parsed this mystery. They reveal a clearer contour of American community by dissecting every state with a Popeil Fiscal Vegematic. People living in a state hardly ever know precisely how their state spends money in comparison to other states.

No point asking officials. They don't know, either.

Empirically, one of the nation's states is statistically the absolutely worst run in the country, but officials there would never tell you.

For example, Indiana has the 45th highest income tax rate in the country (3.71 percent). By comparison, the income tax burden to live in Hawaii is just $76 more a year.

In total, Indiana has the 38th heaviest combined local and state burden in the country at $6,390. You didn't know that?

If it makes you feel any better, Illinois taxpayers have it the worst in the country with a combined sales/property/income 14.53 percent rate or $7,836 each per year. This difference with Indiana is partially attributable to the giant sinkhole of government pension badness into which Illinois has fallen, but it's more complicated.

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Illinois spends more on state government in general because it is a net exporter of federal tax dollars. It you choose to compare states with their neighbors, that fact if significant.

The federal tax burden in Illinois goes to subsidize all the states that get back more from Washington than they send. The profit/loss pipeline contains pensions, federal salaries, contracts and federal subsidies.

One of those net winners is Indiana.

Illinois residents contribute 19 percent proportionally more in federal income and FICA taxes but receive 32 percent less in federal funds for state government operations. If Illinois received its proportional share of federal cash, the state government would have $8 billion more every year. Thus, the deficit would become a $1.8 billion budget surplus. The state's nearly legendary budget disaster would be solved.

But Hoosiers don't care about that. You should be happy that some of those repatriated federal dollars from Illinois wind up in Indiana through a pipeline that contains social benefits and federal subsidies.

Blue States always subsidize Red States.

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By comparison, Indiana is the 18th most dependent state on federal tax dollars flowing downriver. Residents  in distinction to government  ranked 15th highest in returned tax dollars.

In spreadsheet terms, Indiana is rated a "highly federally dependent and low Gross Domestic Product state." That means that Indiana's we-want-small-government rhetoric balances Hoosier poverty with federal dollars.

Yes, the same hated federal government we've come to loathe and distrust is also the same entity that keeps Indiana from becoming a financial Botswana. Because the Illinois constitution does not allow for a graduated income tax, Indiana comparatively has a much easier time raising money if it wished to raise money.

If you've always thought the single flat tax idea was attractive, look at Illinois and its predicament.

If Indiana actually were well run from the Indianapolis center, the difference in federal dollars would help drive state and local tax burdens down to the basement. But it hasn't.

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Indiana government has used the federal revenue dependency to mask choosing tax breaks for business.

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The analysis proves something else.

Some states can afford not to tax residents at high rates because they receive disproportionately more funding from the federal government than states with apparently oppressive tax codes.

But Indiana government has spent both sides of the same coin by getting more federal cash but still keeping state taxes relatively high.

This is not efficiency. It's Red State hypocrisy.

Indiana might be cheap, but it's not very frugal.

David.Rutter@live.com
What's Quickly? It's where readers sound off on the issues of the day. Have a quote, question or quip? Call Quickly at 312-222-2426 or email quickly@post-trib.com.

I, too, am a big fan of Indiana, having lived here all my life. I can say this, though. For me, I can see a brighter future, one that isn't bigoted, right-to-work and narrow-minded like we are now. I think more and more Hoosiers are feeling the same way. God bless America and God bless the great state of Indiana.

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When you're doing some construction work on a house in a neighborhood like Valparaiso, it's not a real good idea just to go between two garages to go to the bathroom. You could leave the job site and go use an actual public rest room. People are seeing you although they really don't want to. I will not recommend your company. In fact, I'll go out of my way to say, "Don't hire them."

I just wonder. We had to vote for that referendum for taxes in River Forest Community School Corp.'s area. Their trucks including that red truck with the cap on it licensed to River Forest were out driving around again on a Saturday afternoon at 1 o'clock or 1:30.

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I couldn't care less if Porter County wants to be part of the region. That term has only got a negative connotation to the right-wingers who constantly profit off of our huge tax base. Porter County can stick to itself and stay to itself, and we'll continue being the heart and soul of the United States.

It's not a sport unless there's a chance of being carried off the playing field on a stretcher.

Lake County is the highest-taxed county in the state of Indiana. Yet, to fix roads, for example, a couple of shovelfuls of asphalt are thrown in the potholes. Where is the money going to? Who's in charge of the checks and balances? I don't trust any of those politicians. Do you? Republican or Democrat, it doesn't matter. A thief is a thief, and they should pay for their crime.

I am so sick of all of this political talk, and I was just thinking, "What can I do about it?" I came up with an answer. I am going to blow it out of my nose.

I just saw in the news where it's $1,000 to have a lunch with Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton or $2,700 to take a picture with her. What are they thinking? My God, this is outrageous.

Post Tribune Twice-weekly News updates from Northwest Indiana delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

On nice days I like going outside in my backyard, and all I do is smell reefer. The people are always smoking hash and reefer, marijuana, whatever you want to call it in their backyard. They're out there all the time. I try to go sit in my backyard. They're laughing and giggling, going on. They're so messed up out there.

Do you folks understand the problem of having superdelegates, which the Democratic Party has? That almost ensures that the Democratic establishment, the machine, will be able to decide who runs for president as a Democrat. So, you folks who are voting for Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders, I wish you all the luck but Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton will probably be your nominee because of the superdelegates, which no one votes for and the Democratic machine, the establishment, picks. How sad that the people cannot vote for who they want to run for president. Isn't that the case?

I don't want one of those fictional union jobs where three are watching one work because I know that they don't exist. I want to have the lifestyle of a person who can sit around all day and watch other people work and judge them. These people must have a ton of money sitting somewhere.

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I see old Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was trying to appeal his conviction on federal corruption charges. They ought to spring him and let him go. What's he guilty of  trying to sell Barack Obama's U.S. Senate seat? With all due respect to that office he holds, President Obama's an empty suit. Even actor Clint Eastwood said that so how could Blago get thrown in jail for selling a chair that was empty and had an empty suit sitting there?

After all these years my wife still says I'm long-winded especially in Quickly. She has no idea. I'm just getting warmed up, baby.

I'm so sick of hearing about how great former President Reagan was. Ronald Reagan stopped the students when they were 18 years old from receiving their Social Security after a dead parent died so I don't think he was so great. He might be so great to all these other people that think he is, but not to me and not to my generation.

Read more at www.post-trib.com/quickly
Skokie resident Elline Eliasoff is coordinating a blue and red ribbon tying campaign to honor Skokie's police and fire first responders. Residents, businesses and others are being asked to tie ribbons on trees and lampposts from May 15 to May 31 throughout the village. (Mike Isaacs / Pioneer Press)

In another month, Elline Eliasoff wants to see blue and red ribbons tied to trees everywhere in Skokie  from north to south, east to west.

Eliasoff says she will help deliver a community thank you to the men and women of Skokie's Police and Fire Departments who face the thankless job of keeping her and her neighbors safe.

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That thank you, she hopes, will come in the form of waves of ribbons tied to trees and lampposts between May 15 and May 31 all throughout Skokie. The kickoff to the event begins more than a month earlier  April 11  at downtown Skokie's Village Inn.

Those interested can "grab a meal, pick up a ribbon and mention that Skokie honors its finest," according to the "Honoring Skokie's Finest and Bravest" Website.

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In 2014, Eliasoff and a couple friends participated in Skokie's annual Citizens Police Academy, gaining a better understanding of what the men and women of blue do.

"It was just a girls' night out to do something that did not pertain to our lives," she said. A clinical exercise physiologist, Eliasoff said she works with people dealing with end-of-life issues and wanted a break.

During a dozen weekly classes, Eliasoff and her friends learned about the Skokie Police Department and went on a ride-along with officers.

"It was pleasantly surprising," she said of the Academy. "The police who taught it were smart and funny and clever. They're just like regular people trying to put their kids through college."

But what she realized, she said, is that their job has some differences compared to most. "When you think of what they do every day  they're giving people tickets and they're dealing with drugs and criminals, and it's pretty thankless in a lot of ways."

In the wake of controversial national cases involving police, Eliasoff said she wanted to express a different message. It had nothing to do with commenting on these incendiary excessive force cases but simply with appreciating the tough work local responders do, she said.

"The public is giving police a very hard time nationally right now, and I understand there has been a lot of police over-reach," Eliasoff said. "That's not OK. But supporting them and holding them to a higher standard can co-exist."

Patterning her idea of a ribbon-tying campaign after a similar project elsewhere, Eliasoff gained support in little time at all. The village worked with her, and one of the first to offer support was the Skokie Chamber of Commerce, she said.

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"I think it's really important that we honor the public servants that we have in our community," said Chamber Executive Director Howard Meyer. "There's so much in the press these days that's negative. When Elline came to us with the idea, we knew right away we wanted to get involved."

Sponsors include Chicago Jewish Funerals, CPR Cell Phone Repair, Crafty Beaver, Evanston Subaru, Kabul House, North Shore Community Bank, Pita Inn, Progress219, Very Smart People, Village Inn and Village Market Place; most of them have ribbons available for people to pick up after April 11.

Eliasoff said the project has already been positive in unforeseen ways. Fundraising efforts have generated about $3,000 that pay for the ribbons and other resources. Her family has helped out  especially her daughter, Tera, a student at District 219. Niles North students made posters for the event. Those at Clearbrook, which creates opportunities for people with disabilities, took on the work of cutting the ribbons at little charge.

Eliasoff said she always wanted this project to be about uniting people.

"I love Skokie," she said. "I love living here. I think this is a gem. I want Skokie to be a place where people want to come. And if you have the entire community doing something like this, it can be a unifier and create one giant watch block."

misaacs@pioneerlocal.com

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Twitter: @SKReview_Mike
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The 18th annual international theater festival, "Meetings in Russia", will be held in St. Petersburg from 4th to 8th of April.

The event will include performances from several countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and Baltic states.

The festival will be held in the Baltic House, founded in 1936 and located in the historical center of St. Petersburg, and will bring together all of the Russian-speaking theaters from the ex-Soviet republics.

This April marks the 55th anniversary of the USSR's first manned mission to space, which will be the central theme of this year's festival.

The opening ceremony of festival will feature the Estonian Russian Theatre group's play "Five Evenings", by Alexander Volodin.

There will be additional drama theater performances by Kyrgyz, Kazahk, Uzbek, Georgian, Azeri and Lithuanian groups throughout the week.

The festival will hold roundtables, workshops, and a photo exhibition "Lithuania. Step on a meeting" by prominent St. Petersburg journalists Vladimir and Vyacheslav Zheltov.

The festival is held in April each year since 1998, with the purpose of strengthening the cultural ties of Russian speaking communities abroad.
An oil painting created by Chinese master artist Wu Guanzhong (1919-2010) was sold on Monday night and has set a new high among contemporary Chinese oil paintings.

"Zhouzhuang," by Wu Guanzhong [Photo provided to China Daily]

Wu's masterpiece "Zhouzhuang" was sold for HK$236 million (US$30.4 million) at Poly Auction's spring sale, according to Beijing Times. It has also updated the auction record of Wu's artworks.

The painting was created in 1997 then Wu was 78 years old, 12 years after the artist visited China's water town Zhouzhuang in 1985. The painting is nearly three meters long, the largest-sized oil painting on the market so far.

The painting represents Wu's mastery in portraying picturesque Jiangnan or the southern area in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

A total of 146 items were on sale at the section "Fine Modern Chinese Paintings and Calligraphy" on Monday night, with "Orchid and Bamboo" by Zheng Banqiao and "Roosters and Bamboos" by Xu Beihong sold for HK$21.24 million (US$2.7 million) and HK$17.7 million (US$2.3 million) respectively.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (2nd R) visits the State Administration of Taxation in Beijing, capital of China, April 1, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua/Li Tao]

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has urged solid efforts from the country's financial and taxation authorities to deliver the value-added tax (VAT) reform as part of efforts to invigorate the real economy during a visit to the State Administration of Taxation and the Ministry of Finance on Friday.

The premier hailed the expansion of the VAT scheme, which began in 2012 to replace business tax with VAT in certain industries, as a major step in China's structural reform.

Starting from May 1, the replacement will be extended to construction, real estate, finance and consumer services to avoid double taxation.

VAT refers to a tax levied on the difference between a commodity's price before taxes and its production cost. Business tax refers to a levy on a business's gross revenues.

To ensure that the tax burdens on all industries be reduced, Li called for the central and local authorities to coordinate planning despite possible challenges.

The expansion of the tax reform, which will ease taxes by more than 500 billion yuan (76.9 billion U.S. dollars) this year, will help counter downward pressures on growth, Li noted.

Meanwhile, easing burdens on the service industry will facilitate industrial restructuring, he said, adding a unified taxation system will help fostering a fairer environment for businesses.

The premier is also looking to the expanding reform to stimulate mass innovation and create an amicable climate for private enterprises, which played a central role in job creation.

In the face of continued economic headwinds, China has made supply-side reform an economic priority, and tax cuts to lower the cost of business is a major policy option.

To cover the tax reductions for enterprises, the government has decided to increase its deficit-to-GDP ratio to 3 percent this year from 2.3 percent last year.

The government deficit for 2016 is projected at 2.18 trillion yuan, an increase of 560 billion yuan over last year.

Follow China.org.cn on Twitter and Facebook to join the conversation.
Some 150 official delegates and entrepreneurs are expected to attend a business forum between China and the Community of Portuguese Language Nations (CPLP), scheduled to take place from April 9 to11 in Guinea Bissau capital, Bissau.

The coordinator of the meeting Bruno Jawad who addressed the press in Bissau Monday, said the forum will be held under the theme "Platform for Business in West Africa."

According to him, the objective of the meeting is to reunite Chinese businessmen with those from CPLP countries such as Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal and Timor East to discuss issues related to economic and commercial cooperation.

While commenting on preparations for the forum, Chinese ambassador to Guinea Bissau Wang Hua affirmed that the "forum symbolizes reinforcement of cooperation between his country and the Portuguese speaking nations."

"I believe this forum will be decisive in the fight against poverty in some CPLP countries, particularly in Guinea Bissau," said the envoy.
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Land sales slowed sharply in China last year, as the property market cooled and the country faced economic headwinds, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) said on Tuesday.

Land sales by local governments amounted to 3.37 trillion yuan (517.8 billion U.S. dollars), plunging 21.6 percent year on year, according to a statement posted on the MOF website.

Sales fell year on year by 23.6 percent in east China, by 17.3 percent in central China, and by 21.2 percent in the west.

Only a handful of cities and provinces saw sales growth, with Shenzhen rising the most -- by 36.9 percent year on year.

"Shenzhen's robust land sales were mainly due to its red-hot property market and the booming economy, which pushed land prices higher," the statement said.

The northern port city of Dalian saw land sales dive the most, with a fall of 56.4 percent. Ningbo city in east China's Zhejiang Province, and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region were both down by more than half, according to the statement.
"For farmers in Vietnam's Mekong Delta region, being given one cubic meter of water now is much more precious than two tons of gold," a local Vietnamese news story writes.

JINGHONG, March 20, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Photo taken on March 20, 2016 shows the lower reaches of Jinghong Hydropower Station in Dai Autonomous Prefecture of Xishuangbanna of southwest China's Yunnan Province. In order to help alleviate drought in Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, China releases emergency water supply from Jinghong Hydropower Station to downstream Mekong River from March 15 to April 10. Mekong River originates in China and runs through the above five countries. It is known as Lancang in the Chinese stretch. (Xinhua/Hu Chao)

The information that water discharged from the upper Mekong River has arrived in Vietnam to help alleviate both drought and saline intrusion in has drawn great attention both domestically and globally.

"The best news of the day is that fresh water has arrived." "I am so happy." "I am a farmer in Soc Trang province (a locality in Vietnam's Mekong River Delta region) and I couldn't be more delighted," read some of the comments in the local VNExpress online newspaper, after the news broke that the water level in the Mekong River in Vietnam had risen.

Since late 2015, countries along the Lancang-Mekong River, including Vietnam, have suffered from drought to varying extents due to the impact of the El Nino phenomenon.

China released an emergency water supply from its Jinghong Hydropower Station in the southwest Yunnan province to feed the downstream Mekong River between March 15 and April 10, helped to greatly alleviate the devastating situation.

"It's such good news. I cried when I heard the news. I have been waiting for this information everyday even though I live in northern Vietnam," Luong Huy, a reader, was quoted as saying on VNExpress.

Dat Nguyen, another reader, wrote, "I am so happy for our people. I hope that it will help reduce the crop losses for all the farmers."

Nguyen Van Tinh, deputy director of the Water Resource Directorate, under Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, told local media on Monday that since April 3, water discharged from the upper Mekong River has arrived in Vietnam.

According to initial calculations, water from the upper Mekong is expected to help drive saltwater back towards the sea by around 10 to 20 km, Bao Tin Tuc, an online edition of Vietnam's state-run news agency, quoted Tinh as saying.

The directorate has requested localities to focus resources on receiving and storing the water effectively and to actively maintain water sources in canals and reservoirs, Tinh said.

At first, the water will be prioritized for local residents' daily life, such as drinking water for livestock, as well as for farms with trees and fruit trees of high economic value.

Thereafter, the water will be distributed responsibly for other crops, Tinh said.

Earlier, Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh hailed China's move on discharging water from the Jinghong Hydropower Station, saying it was a positive move.

Minh said after China's altruistic move, Laos followed by example and also released water from its dams, helping to increase the water level in the Mekong River.
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Chinese President Xi Jinping urged development of the country's forestry while attending a voluntary tree planting in Beijing on Tuesday.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, visited an afforestation site in Beijing's Daxing District and planted six saplings of different varieties at the site.

Other top leaders, including Premier Li Keqiang as well as Zhang Dejiang, Yu Zhengsheng, Liu Yunshan, Wang Qishan and Zhang Gaoli, also attended the event.

Noting that the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020) marks an important stage in the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects and in China's ecological protection drive, the president stressed forestry development as a significant measure to fulfill these goals.

He called on cadres and officials at all levels to take the lead in voluntary tree planting campaigns to promote the new development concepts with their own practices.

Also, he called for proper management of planted trees to make people's living environment greener and more beautiful.

The president called for an altruistic and down-to-earth spirit for such activities, citing the Chinese proverb "people plant trees so their offspring can enjoy the shade."
Customs officers in the eastern Chinese city of Jinan confiscated 1,180 endangered butterfly specimens, the General Administration of Customs (GAC) announced Tuesday.

The specimens, among about 2,800 confiscated over the duration of the investigation, are under the protection of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

This is the largest confiscation of smuggled endangered butterflies since China joined CITES, according to GAC.

In early February, customs officers in Jinan, which is the capital of Shandong Province, found a suspicious parcel, which according to its declaration contained "skirts" from Malaysia. Upon inspection, 261 butterfly specimens were concealed inside.

Customs questioned a suspect, identified as Xu, and intercepted four more parcels addressed to Xu by March 7. The five parcels contained 829 butterfly specimens. More were found at the suspect's home and workplace.

The preliminary investigation indicates that since the beginning of 2015, the suspect had sourced the butterfly specimens online, with the intention to resell them at a profit. Customs had detained four suspects as of Tuesday.

CITES was launched in 1975 as an international agreement to address the global trade in specimens of wild animals and plants. China joined CITES in 1981.
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Israel will soon issue 10-year multiple-entry visas to Chinese nationals for business or tourism purposes, making it the fourth country, after the U.S., Canada and South Korea, to have such an arrangement with Beijing, according to The Times of Israel.

According to official Weibo account of the Israeli Embassy in China, China and Israel will sign the agreement within the week. Hainan Airlines will offer direct flights between Beijing and Tel Aviv starting in April.

"The unprecedented bilateral visa agreement will be signed on March 29," Efrat Perri, spokesperson of the Israeli Embassy in China, told the Global Times.

According to statistics released by the Israel Ministry of Tourism, the number of Chinese tourists to Israel has been increasing over the last three years, with an over 30 percent increase from each year to the next. The statistics shows that Chinese nationals made 47,400 trips to Israel in 2015, 43 percent more than in 2014.

The direct flights between Beijing and Tel Aviv will be the first direct flights between China and Israel operated by a Chinese airline. According to official website of Hainan Airlines, the airline already operates flights between the two cities, but those flights are not direct.
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Jordanian Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour on Monday stressed on the strategic ties with Iraq, saying there is a large room for increased collaboration in various areas.

At a meeting with a delegation of Iraqi officials and businessmen, the Jordanian prime minister said Jordan's ties with Iraq are solid and built on respect.

"Jordan has been always keen to strengthen its ties with Iraq. We support Iraq and its people in their choices," said Ensour.

The prime minister said Jordan does not interfere in the affairs of its neighboring countries, calling for increased cooperation between the two sides.

He said the Jordanian government is willing to increase incentives for Iraqi businessmen to help boost trade between the two countries.

Iraqi lawmakers and officials during the meeting hailed ties with Jordan in various areas, stressing on the importance of following up on recommendations resulting from the meetings of the Jordanian-Iraqi business council that was held in Amman on Sunday.

They also said the reopening of Iraq's crossing border with Jordan will help boost trade between the two countries.

Jordan's exports to Iraq in 2015 dropped by 46 percent to 690 million dinars (about one billion U.S. dollars), compared to 1.1 billion dinars in 2014.
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Russian sappers have defused more than 120 bombs and cleared 1.1 km of roads in the outskirts of the Syrian historic city of Palmyra, the Russian Defense Ministry said Monday.

With the help of minesweeping equipment and mine detection dogs, Russian sappers have discovered and extracted improvised explosive devices installed on roads, intersections, roadside buildings and critical infrastructure, the ministry said in a statement.

Two groups of sappers have been deployed in the weekend to the outskirts of Palmyra, recently liberated by the Syrian army.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu ordered the deployment following the pullout of most Russian troops and specialists from Syria.
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Under a migration deal between the European Union (EU) and Turkey, a total of 32 Syrian refugees arrived on two separate airlines on Monday at Hanover Airport, Germany.

The six Syrian families, who had been selected by UN refugee agency UNHCR as particularly needy, were allowed to travel legally on a direct route from Istanbul to Germany.

The first 16 refugees arrived at noon at the Friedland shelter near the German city of Goettingen, and then they will be resettled in cities and towns in the German state of Lower Saxony.

The asylum-seekers were received by police as well as staff of German Federal Agency for Technical Relief and the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF).

The migration deal between EU and Turkey stipulates all refugees and migrants who reach Greece from Turkey illegally March 20 onwards can be returned forcibly to Turkey. Meanwhile, EU will resettle one Syrian refugee from Turkey for every Syrian that Turkey takes back from the Greek islands.

This regulation applies initially to 72,000 Syrian refugees who have sought asylum in Turkey. A total of 15,000 of them can come to Germany.
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Iran has deployed army ground force commandos in Syria for an advisory mission, an army commander told Tasnim news agency on Monday.

Commandos from army's special forces, known as the 65th Brigade, are now stationed in Syria, Lieutenant Commander of the Iranian Army Ground Force for Coordination Brig. Gen. Ali Arasteh said.

Other units of the Iranian army ground forces have also dispatched advisors to Syria, he said.

Iran says its military advisors provide assistance to Syria in its fight against terrorism.
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At least eight suspects of the militant group Al-Shabaab suspects were arrested over the weekend in the Somali capital Mogadishu.

The National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) spokesman Abdikamil Mo'allim Shukri said security forces conducted target operations at special areas including garages in Hodan, Kahda, Wadajir and Yakshid districts in Benadir region after recent terrorist attacks and arrested the suspects.

"We recovered weapons and vehicles from garages, we arrested 8 terrorist suspects in connection with the latest terrorist incidents and they are being questioned at moment," Shukri said.

He added that the Somali security forces and the African peacekeeping troops conducted such operations in Warta-Nabbada and Hamar-Jadid districts on Saturday and Sunday nights.

The latest operations by NISA came hours after deadly assassinations and mortar attacks occurred in Mogadishu in which five government security personnel were among the dead.
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Heavy gunshots were heard early Monday in the Republic of Congo capital, Brazzaville, particularly near Bigouity police post in the capital's first district, witnesses said.

According to residents of Brazzaville's southern suburbs, the firing with heavy and automatic weapons started at around 2:00 a.m. local time.

So far, there has been no official explanation for the firing nor the death toll.

A police station was set on fire following fighting between members of the Congolese police force and unidentified assailants in southern Brazzaville between Sunday night and Monday morning.

The situation remained difficult to assess, but calm seems to have been restored at around 9:00 a.m..

Several witnesses told Xinhua heavy gunshots were first heard in Mayanga and Makelekele districts at around 2:00 a.m. and continued until 6:00 a.m..

Witnesses living in Kinsuka suburb said some explosions could be heard in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo that is located on the other side of River Congo.

Witnesses said the main police station was burned in Makelekele.

Sources that did not wish to be named said the assailants could be "ninja" militias belonging to former rebel leader, Pastor Ntoumi.
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The implementation of a swap deal on refugees between Turkey and the European Union kicked off on Monday, with dozens of Syrian resettling in Europe in exchange for repatriating some others to Turkey.

Protesters display a banner "No Deportation, Open Borders" in Dikili port, Turkey, on April 4, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

The deal was agreed on March 18 in a summit between Turkish and European leaders to regulate migration flow from conflict and poverty areas to Europe via Turkey. The goal is to stop or at least reduce irregular migrants who arrived by illegal means, and to encourage legal settlements.

Over 200 migrants, mostly Pakistani and Bangladeshi nationals, were transferred on three boats from Greek islands in the Aegean to Turkey's western province Izmir early on Monday. From there, they will be transported on buses to the refugee camp in northwestern province Kirklareli.

When migrants disembarked from ferryboats at the port facility in the town of Dikili in Izmir, they were screened for their health in a temporary shelter before being shuttled to the camps.

Izmir Governor Mustafa Toprak told reporters on Monday that ID check and fingerprinting were rigorously done for safety before allowing the migrants to leave the ships.

He emphasized that the readmission deal is being implemented with a great success.

Turkish Minister for EU Affairs Volkan Bozkir also said on Monday that the country has set up readmission centers with a capacity of 11,000 people for returning migrants. He said the Turkish government would increase the capacity to 17,000.

"We may host them for a while but will soon start sending them gradually to their home countries," he said in an interview with private broadcaster HaberTurk TV.

The European Commission said in a statement that 44 Syrian refugees were resettled to Germany and Finland. More are expected to arrive in Europe on Tuesday.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and German Chancellor Angela Merkel also talked over the phone on late Sunday, discussing the implementation of the refugee deal.

The refugee agreement requires Turkey to take back all irregular migrants who transited to Greece through Turkey. In return, the EU has agreed to resettle Syrians to its member states although the cap was set at 72,000.

Brussels has also pledged to provide six billion euros in total to help offset some of the cost Turkey shouldered in taking care of refugees.

Turkey is home to some three million refugees, and has spent 10 billion U.S. dollars in taking care of them. The Turkish opposition has criticized the government for agreeing on an unfair deal with the EU.

Murat Emir, a member of the Parliament from the main opposition Republican Peoples' Party, said on Monday that Turkey has unfortunately transformed into a major refugee camp.

"The EU has done everything to make sure refugees stay in Turkey," he lamented.

Turkish analysts also slammed the deal, saying that it is a flawed agreement.

Yavuz Baydar, a columnist with Ozgur Dusunce daily, said the agreement was done in rush and prepared quite poorly.

"The poor refugees will have to bear consequences of this stupid deal," he noted.

Describing the deal as "terrible," Sezin Oney, a political scientist at Bilkent University, noted that the EU is accepting "desired" refugees while deporting "unwanted" to Turkey.

The problem of sending refugees back to their home countries also presents a challenging task for the Turkish government.

Turkish Foreign Ministry's Deputy Undersecretary Ayse Sinirlioglu has recently told lawmakers in Parliament that Turkey has readmission agreements with 14 countries so far and submitted a draft deal to 14 new countries with a hope of signing the deal soon.

Many of the refugees that were shipped back to Turkey include nationals of Iran, Iraq, Bangladesh and Myanmar, countries that Ankara has not finalized readmission agreements yet.

Izmir Governor Toprak said migrants from countries with which Turkey already has readmission agreement will be sent back within that framework, while others will be transferred through travel documents.

However, he did not say how the Turkish government plans to procure travel documents for migrants from countries that have not agreed to any readmission deal with Ankara yet.
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Deadly clashes between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces in the Nagorno-Karabakh region on Monday entered into a third day with no signs of abating despite international calls for a halt in the fighting over the disputed territory.

Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry said in a statement released on Monday that its army may carry out strikes on Khankendi, capital city of the disputed Nagorno Karabakh region.

"Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry has tasked all types of the armed forces, including the rocket and artillery troops, to be ready to carry out crushing strikes from all heavy combat weapons on Khankendi city and other occupied settlements, if Armenians do not stop shelling Azerbaijani settlements in a short time," said the statement.

Hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan on the contact line of the Nagorno-Karabakh region flared up overnight Saturday with the two countries blaming each other for triggering the escalation.

Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hikmat Hajiyev earlier told local media that Azerbaijan is ready for a ceasefire, but puts forward a condition that the Armenian armed forces must withdraw from all the occupied territories of Azerbaijan in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions.

The remarks came after Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said that Armenia is ready for compromises in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Earlier the Azerbaijani media reported that Armenian armed forces on Monday shelled and destroyed the mosque in Agdam, killing one older civilian.

Azerbaijan said it has neutralized 170 Armenian troops and destroyed 12 Armenian armored vehicles in Monday's counter-attack while three Azerbaijani troops were killed in the fight.

Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said 12 Azerbaijani soldiers have been killed in the fighting while the Armenian side confirmed that 18 soldiers died in the conflict.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked in a bitter dispute over the mountainous region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh first broke out in 1988, when the region claimed independence from Azerbaijan to join Armenia.

Peace talks have been held since 1994 when a ceasefire was reached, but there have been occasional minor clashes in the past along the borders and across the volatile frontline of the Karabakh area. The clashes turned deadly last month.
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The Africa Union peacekeeping forces in Somalia, or AMISOM, supported by Somali troops, on Monday recaptured the southern town of Janale from Al-Shabaab militants.

Abdi Ibrahim Shamow, police commander for Lower Shabelle region where the town is located, said the joint forces took the town in the morning without resistance from the militants.

"Al-Shabab militants attempted to make resistance, but failed and ran away from the town. They knew we were stronger than them, no casualties at all," Shamow said.

The joint forces have recently stepped up security operations in the region, according to the official.

Al-Shabaab attacked the AMISOM base in Janale in September last year and took the town, claiming it killed 70 soldiers.

The Islamist group has been fighting to topple the Somali government and often stages deadly attacks across the country.
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Israeli security forces arrested 13 Palestinians Monday in addition to demolishing eight homes during a raid on cities in the West Bank and Jerusalem, a Palestinian source said.

The Palestinian Prisoners Club (PPC) emailed a press statement saying that the Israeli forces arrested Palestinians from different cities, including Nablus, Hebron, Bethlehem and Ramallah.

The PCC also added that among those arrested is the brother of a mother killed in the settlers' arson attack against the town of Duma in the West Bank last July.

Israeli public radio reported that Israeli forces arrested 13 Palestinians wanted for "domestic terrorism and public disorder."

Israeli forces carry out arrest campaigns on a daily basis in the West Bank, mostly searching for 'wanted' civilians.

Sources also said that Israeli forces demolished three homes in the northern West Bank town of Qabatiya which belonged to Palestinian families killed during the recent wave of tensions.

They added that substantial forces were deployed throughout the town, who used rooftops of houses as military spots and then began demolishing three 150 square-meter houses.

Consequently, clashes erupted between Palestinians and Israeli forces, and two Palestinians were injured after being shot in the legs, whereas dozens suffocated from the tear gas the forces used.

The houses belong to families of Ahmad Abu Al-Rob, Ahmad Zakarna and Mohamad Kamil, killed two months ago during a stabbing and shooting attack in East Jerusalem.

Jibreen Bakri, Governor of Jenin, condemned the home demolitions, and told Xinhua that "these are settlers' methods, which are both rejected and denounced."

Israeli Public radio said that the three home demolitions are in retaliation to the attack carried out two months ago, killing border police officer Hadar Cohen and injuring another police woman.

Furthermore, Israeli forces demolished four other homes in Hebron and Nablus and a fifth in Jerusalem, claiming their construction was unlicensed.

Ghassan Daghlas, the Palestinian official in charge of the settlers file in northern West Bank, elaborated by saying that three homes were demolished in a small village near Nablus, as Israeli authorities claimed they were built without permits.

The fourth house was demolished in the village of Sourif, close to the West Bank city of Hebron.

In Jerusalem, sources said another house in the neighborhood of Jabal Al-Mukabber was demolished by Israeli authorities who claimed it was also built without permits.

The Head of the Sourif Village Council, Mohamad Lafi, denounced the demolitions, accusing Israel of "targeting and uprooting Palestinians from their lands, to take control of them and annex them to the settlement blocs erected in the area."

The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) condemned Monday via its Secretary General, Saeb Erekat, the demolition of eight Palestinian homes in 24 hours by Israeli forces in the West Bank and Jerusalem.

"This method needs immediate international intervention," said Erekat, adding that Palestinian leadership records and documents "all the crimes Israel commits against Palestinians."

He added that the Palestinian leadership will present evidence gathered of those crimes to international agencies, specifically the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.

In addition, he clarified that Israeli authorities' continued use of collective punishment of Palestinians "violates international law."

Erekat demanded that the international community applies "a stronger response towards Israeli violations," calling on countries including Britain, India and Holland "to vote against these violations at international agencies."

According to United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Israeli authorities only approved 1.5 percent of the building permits applied for by Palestinians.

Official figures state that Israeli authorities demolished 157 Palestinian homes in Palestinian territories since September 2015.

The recent wave of violence between Palestinians and Israelis broke out last October killing over 200 Palestinians and 30 Israelis.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday he is willing to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, responding to a television statement the latter made last week.

"A few days ago, on Israeli television, I heard President Abbas say that if I invite him to meet, he'll come," Netanyahu told the Czech Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek in a meeting in Jerusalem.

"I'm inviting him again. I've cleared my schedule this week," Netanyahu said, according to a statement released by his office. "Any day he can come, I'll be here," he said.

Netanyahu stressed that the first item on the agenda would be the ending of the "Palestinian campaign of incitement to murder Israelis."

He was referring to a six-month-long Palestinian unrest, including frequent stabbing, shooting, and car-ramming attacks, which claimed the lives of 28 Israelis.

At the same time, at least 190 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire, mostly amidst attacks and attempted attacks, according to Israel.

Netanyahu's remarks followed an interview by the Palestinian leader in the Israeli Channel 2 TV, in which he said he was willing to meet Netanyahu to forge a peace deal.

"I still extend a hand to Mr. Netanyahu because I believe in peace. I believe that the people of Israel want peace and that the Palestinian people want peace," Abbas said.

Israel occupied the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Mideast War and has been holding it ever since, in an act condemned by the international community.

Several rounds of peace talks to end the occupation have failed, with the last one reaching an impasse in April 2014 over the expansion of the Jewish settlements in the West Bank and the unity agreement between Fatah and Hamas.
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Malaysian experts are expected in Mauritius this week to examine debris suspected to have come from a Boeing 777 of Malaysia Airlines which disappeared on March 8, 2014, Mauritius authorities have said.

Photo taken on Jul. 29, 2015, shows a piece of debris on Reunion Island. [Photo/Xinhua]

The debris was found on March 31 along the beach at Var-Brule between Mourouk and Graviers by a French tourist couple living in Mourouk Ebony hotel in Rodrigues, a Mauritian territory situated some 600 km from Port Louis.

According to Mauritius Aviation Bureau, the Malaysian Department of Civil Aviation had been alerted by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau and it was in contact with Mauritius.

The director of Malaysian Department of Civil Avition Datuk Seri Azharuddin Abdul Rahman confirmed in the Malaysian press on Monday that he was in contact with his Mauritius counterpart.

"The Malaysian government is working with Mauritius officials to carefully guard the debris so that it can be examined later," said on his part Dareen Chester, Australia's Transport Minister, whose country is supervising the search operations.

Don Thompson, an Australian independent expert who is working on the issue, said he saw a photo of the debris that looked like a wallpaper "design" from the inside of a plane.

A Mauritius security source told Xinhua the debris is currently in possession of police in Rodrigues island.

Jean Dominique Vitry, a former police officer, and his wife, Suzy, were taking a walk along the beach between Graviers and Mourouk when they discovered the debris, said Josie Milazar, the director of Mourouk Ebony hotel where the couple was staying.

The new discovery in Mauritius comes just two weeks after the announcement by Australian and Malaysian authorities that two pieces of debris found on the coast of Mozambique "most likely" came from MH370.

Flight MH370 disappeared on March 8, 2014 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board, most of them being Chinese nationals. A joint search in southern Indian Ocean, where the flight presumably had ended its journey, has yet to find wreckage.
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A memorial has been held in Luanda to mourn the death of 4 Chinese nationals murdered in the town back in January over a failed land deal with the locals.

Chinese Ambassador Cui Aimin (L) negotiates with Angolan Foreign Minister Georges Chikoti on March 31, 2016, on the murder of 4 Chinese nationals in Luanda, Angola's capital, in January. [Photo/chinaqw.com]

Over 1000 Chinese expatriates attended the event in Angola's capital on Monday.

Addressing the event, Chinese Ambassador to Angola Cui Aimin said the barbarous killings of the 4 Chinese citizens aroused wide-spread indignation and condemnation.

The embassy had demanded prompt police investigations into the case and the suspects be brought to justice as soon as possible.

The 4 Chinese nationals lost contact with their family and were reported missing on January 17, after they were invited to attend a meeting with a local land owner in southern Luanda.

Their bodies were found 2 months later in a deserted water tank.

Police investigations showed that the victims were killed while trying to get back a down payment of around 210 thousand U.S. dollars over a failed land deal.
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Islamic State (IS) militants on Tuesday fired several shells containing mustard gas against Syrian military positions in the eastern province of Deir al-Zour, state news agency SANA reported.

The poisonous gas shells slammed military positions in the vicinity of the Deir al-Zour air base, said SANA.

Meanwhile, pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV said several soldiers have suffered suffocation as a result of the gas attack.

The assault came as part of the terror group's repetitive attempts to storm the Deir al-Zour air base, one of the last few military positions left under the Syrian government control in that oil-rich province near Iraq.

SANA said Monday that Syrian forces foiled a large-scale IS offensive on the base.
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China pledged to perform its role well in holding the rotating presidency of the United Nations Security Council for April, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei said on Tuesday.

"As a permanent member of the Security Council, China supports the Council, as an international collective security mechanism, to play its key role in ending war and keeping peace," Hong said at a regular news briefing.

China will stay in close communication and coordination with Security Council members for a more efficient, transparent and open process, Hong said.

The Security Council will hold about 30 meetings on hotspot issues related to Syria, Yemen, Israel and Palestine, South Sudan and Somalia. It will have three open debates on the Palestine-Israel issue,counter-terrorism and piracy in the Gulf of Guinea.

"The debates aim to concentrate international consensus, advance the Middle East peace process, curb terrorist threats and tackle challenges from pirates," Hong said.

Under the UN Charter, the 15-member Security Council has the primary responsibility in maintaining world peace and security.

The presidency of the UN Security Council rotates among its 15 member states on a monthly basis based on country names in alphabetical order.
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Russia on Tuesday criticized the United States for blocking the process of nuclear disarmament and accelerating its military buildup near Russia.

"We note with regret that the lack of progress on nuclear disarmament is the result of a destructive and even openly hostile line of the Obama administration with regard to Russia," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

Promoting the disarmament process has been hindered by reinforced U.S. military buildup near Russian borders, including the deployment of a missile defense system in Eastern Europe, she added.

The current U.S. administration has launched the most ambitious modernization of the country's nuclear arsenal since the end of the Cold War with estimated costs of around 350 billion U.S. dollars over the next 10 years, said the spokeswoman.

This indicates that Washington is "obsessed with military planning and construction directed against Russia," she said.

The spokeswoman cited various examples of Washington's attempts to impede nuclear disarmament, such as delaying the ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1996, and carrying out joint nuclear missions with non-nuclear NATO countries in violation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Despite the unfavorable atmosphere, Zakharova said, Russia is still willing to continue substantive discussions on strategic matters with the United States if Washington is "guided by the fundamental principles of equality, mutual respect of interests and undiminished security of other states."
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The Iraqi security forces on Tuesday freed the government compound of town Heet in Iraq's western province of Anbar from the Islamic State (IS) militants, a provincial security source told Xinhua.

The troops and allied paramilitary Sunni tribal units seized the compound after the extremist militants withdrew from the central part of the town, which located some 160 km west of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, the source said on condition of anonymity.

The troops raised the Iraqi flag on the main government building in the compound, which also includes buildings of town's police headquarters, court and education directorate, the source said.

However, sporadic clashes continued during the day to clear remaining small pockets of IS militants in the northern and western parts of the town, the source added.

Meanwhile, teams of explosive experts were defusing dozens of roadside bombs and booby-trapped vehicles and buildings set earlier by IS militants aimed at slowing the advance of the troops, the source said.

During the past few days, more than 1,000 families left their homes in Heet and were evacuated to refugee camps in safe areas, the source said.

Last December, the troops recovered Ramadi, the provincial capital of the country's largest province of Anbar .

Iraqi security forces and allied Sunni paramilitary tribal units have been battling IS militants to repossess control of large territories in northern and western Iraq, seized by the IS since June 2014.
Photo: Church gatherings, like this one

in Henan province, are often raided. (China Aid Stock Photo)

China Aid

Reported and written in Chinese by Qiao Nong. Translated by Brynne Lawrence. Written in English by Rachel Ritchie.





(Wujiaqu, XinjiangSept. 18, 2015) Members of a house church in Chinas far western Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region recently submitted a request for administrative reconsideration to local authorities after officials raided a church gathering and detained Christians in March. Additionally, China Aid learned of another house church in the area that was raided earlier this year.

Trouble began in early March when Tao Wenju and Dai Wanying organized a church gathering for March 2-4 at Dais home in Wujiaqu, Xinjiang. By the last day, approximately 90 Christians were gathered at Dais home when Wujiaqu police raided the meeting. Several church members were administratively detained for 12 days.

A lawyer representing the church members said that four Christians had served administrative detentions: Tao Wenju, Dai Wanying and Ren Yuxing and his wife.

The local ethnic and religious affairs bureau later called the gathering an illegal underground religious activity. [Editors Note: Wujiaqu is under the administration of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC), and local officials and organizations fall under the administration of the XPCC rather than that of the regional government.]

Following their release, the Christians filed an administrative reconsideration with the local police, asking the police to repeal their decision to punish the church.

According to a church member, the punishment was repealed because part of the initial decision contained a procedural mistake. After the punishment was repealed, the police once again issued a decision notice with administrative punishment, the Christian said. The punishment in the second statement was basically the same as the first punishment. At first, they made an illegal mistake in their procedure, but now theyve corrected the procedural mistake.

After the punishment was reissued, church members said they would file an administrative lawsuit.

China Aid also learned of another case that occurred in May 2015. When more than 20 members of another church in Wujiaqu gathered for a meeting, police raided the meeting, took the Christians back to the police station and strip-searched them.

It is a rural church and has around 20 members, a lawyer said. While they were meeting, they were all brought [to the police station, where] their bodies were searched. They planned to sue the police, but it [never] amounted to anything.

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
Christian Today

By Harry Farley

23 March 2016

 A prominent Christian human rights lawyer in China has been released after being detained by authorities for nearly seven months.

Zhang Kai posted on social media on Wednesday to announce he had been freed and was at his home in Inner Mongolia. It is unclear whether there are any conditions to his release or whether Zhangs health is affected.

China Aid, a human rights and religious freedom charity which has worked alongside Zhang in the past, said relatives have confirmed the post which said: I am thankful for all friends who were concerned about me during this time and who looked after and comforted my family members.

The Christian lawyer had represented over 100 churches that faced forced removal of their crosses in Zhejiang province on the east coast of China. He also gave advice on how churches could defend themselves and spoke up for pastors who faced charges over their right to free speech.

Beijing human rights lawyer Zhang Kai

disappeared from a church last August

Andrew Boyd/Release International

On 25 August 2015, shortly before he was due to meet the US ambassador for religious freedom, Zhang was arrested. He was sentenced to six months to black jail, which means he was under constant surveillance at an unknown location.

After six months of his detention, Zhang was shown on state television appearing to give a confession. This prompted anger among activists as many suggested the confession was coerced.

Zhang was subsequently charged with endangering state secrets and disturbing the public order.

Bob Fu, founder and president of China Aid and a friend of Zhang, described him as a bold human rights lawyer.

I am very pleased to hear this good news, although further details about the conditions of his release are still unknown, said Fu.

I appeal to Chinese authorities to release other arbitrarily imprisoned religious leaders, human rights lawyers and defenders, such as those arrested in July of 2015, including, attorneys Li Heping and Wang Yu, church leader Hu Shigen, and pastors Li Guozhi (Yang Hua), Bao Guohua and Gu Yuese.

Mervyn Thomas, chief executive of religious freedom charity Christian Solidarity Worldwide, also cautiously welcomed the news of Zhangs release, and called on authorities to allow his freedom without condition.

Thomas continued: We further express our concern that several of Zhang Kais fellow lawyers, as well as a number of Zhejiang pastors, remain in detention. We urge the Chinese government to protect the rights and safety of those who defend freedom of religion of belief and other human rights in China.

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
An A320 flight of China Southern Airlines arrives at Shenyang, capital of Liaoning province. China Southern saw its ASM climb year-on-year by 30 percent in 2015.[Provided to China Daily]

China's three main airline groups saw declining yields on international routes last year, despite rosy annual performance reports amid record-low oil prices.

The aggressive expansion of capacity on overseas markets and rising competition on routes to regions such as Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asia have resulted in sharp decline in their yields.

The airlines kept setting up new international routes in 2015 and they had been laying out their latest aircraft on those routes. All three carriers have witnessed a jump on their available seat miles (ASM) on international routes, which measures a flight's passenger-carrying capacity.

Last year, China Southern Airlines saw its ASM climb by 30 percent over the previous year. China Eastern Airlines and Air China each had its ASM grow by nearly 25 percent and 20 percent year-on-year, according to their latest earnings reports.

But they saw declining yields, or passenger revenue per available seat mile, on the international routes. Air China, China Eastern and China Southern, each had its yields declined by 19 percent, 4.7 percent and 10.3 percent year-on-year, respectively.

Li Xiaojin, a professor at Civil Aviation University, said: "Currently, the supply of domestic air routes exceeded the demand, due to the growth of high-speed trains. Airlines can only expand their international air routes, as a result of the growing demand for overseas traveling and the frequent flow of domestic and foreign personnel."

Xiong Xing, director of airline ticket business at Ctrip.com International Inc, the largest online travel agency in China, said: "Compared with some well-known foreign airlines, domestic airlines have a weak branding impact on the international market. The competition on international air routes is intense.

"Most State-owned and private domestic airlines added passenger capacities on international air routes. They also introduced low air ticket prices, especially for those long routes from China to the United States and Europe, to attract more customers," Xiong said.

The three airlines reported their best performance in three years thanks to record-low oil prices. China Southern's profit more than doubled to reach 3.85 billion yuan ($595 million) last year, while China Eastern's profit grew 33 percent to 4.54 billion yuan and Air China's profit surged 77 percent to 6.77 billion yuan.

The growth in carrying capacity has prompted a revenue increase for the major airlines. Last year, the three airlines saw their revenues from international air routes added by more than 10 percent year-on-year.

The three State-owned airlines also face growing competition from smaller rivals as they rush to launch more international routes to meet growing travel demand. The number of China's outbound travelers surged 12 percent last year and the World Travel Organization expects that China will continue to be the world's largest source of outbound travel in 2016.

Hainan Airlines launched 12 new international routes last year, with eight being intercontinental routes. Smaller companies, including Sichuan Airlines and Xiamen Airlines, have also started intercontinental routes.

"Chinese consumers have started to care more about services, branding and comfort of airlines, in addition to air ticket prices. Domestic airlines need to consider about their marketing strategies and international branding to meet the new demand," Xiong said.
CTG says only a few hydropower projects remain untapped

China Three Gorges Corp is exploring wind, solar, nuclear and other forms of new energy beyond its core business, as potential new hydropower opportunities at home decline.

Bi Yaxiong, vice general manager of the company behind the world's largest hydropower plant on the Yangtze River, said it plans to build itself into a clean-energy conglomerate, with total installed capacity of 100 gigawatts by 2020.

Talking at the Clean Energy Expo China on Friday, he said the State-owned company will develop more huge dams and pumped-storage facilities for the next five years such as Wudongde and Baihetan, both downstream of Yangtze tributary, the Jinsha River, and will hold onto its position as the world's largest hydropower company for the next five years.

But once its ongoing construction is complete, it will spread its wings at home and abroad in search of new types of energy projects.

"We will keep our advantage in hydropower, but we are also looking into domestic offshore wind power, aiming to build an 'offshore Three Gorges Dam'," he said.

Experts said CTG is keen on diversifying its business with new hydropower projects in decline.

"Only some small and medium-sized hydropower projects remain untapped in the southwestern part of China, leaving less room for growth, while other new-energy sectors like wind, solar and nuclear are expanding at a fast pace," said Lin Boqiang, director of the China Center for Energy Economic Research at Xiamen University. "So it is clear that hydropower companies will shift to other businesses."

At the same time, the State-company plans to leverage domestic experience to grow the overseas share of business to 20 percent by 2020.

The energy giant is also building and operating hydropower projects in Pakistan, Brazil, Myanmar, Laos and Russia.

Lin contended that CTG's overseas projects have been launched out of strategic consideration, aiming for long-term profitability, instead of instant money and payback.

Three Gorges signed an agreement in March with China Nuclear Engineering Group Corp, the country's major nuclear power station builder, to work together on various new-energy projects.

CNEC is currently developing a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor, an indigenous nuclear technology, together with Tsinghua University.

Its flagship nuclear technology project at Shidao Bay in Shandong province is expected to start construction later this year.

The world's largest energy consumer, China has been slowing its approval rate of new hydropower projects after failing to meet its targets for new construction over the past five years.

The government plans to add another 60 gW of new hydropower capacity in the next five years, just half the previous goal of 120 gW, according to a draft of the country's 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20). Just 58 gW of capacity was completed during the 12th Five-Year Plan (2010-15).
SEOUL - China, South Korea and Japan will hold working-level talks on the trilateral free trade agreement (FTA) in Seoul this week, South Korea's trade ministry said on Monday.

The 10th round of working-level negotiations for the free trade deal among the three Asian powerhouses will be held from Tuesday to Friday in Seoul, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

During the meeting, negotiators will focus on core issues such as modality, or basic guidelines, on how to liberalize goods trade and service industry.

Also on the agenda will be 20 issues, including country of origin, customs, trade remedy, sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures and technical barriers to trade (TBT).

Under the principle of a comprehensive, high-level, mutually beneficial FTA, the three countries have held nine rounds of negotiations since the talks began in November 2012.

During the trilateral summit in November in Seoul, leaders of the three Asian countries agreed to speed up negotiations on the three-way FTA.

Combined gross domestic product of China, Japan and South Korea accounts for about 20 percent of the world and some 70 percent of Asia's total.
VIENTIANE - A Chinese finance official will be the next director of the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO), sources said Monday.

The AMRO Executive Committee has decided to appoint Chang Junhong, an official with China's Ministry of Finance, as the next AMRO director, according to the Chinese delegation attending the ASEAN+3 Finance and Central Bank Deputies Meeting here.

Chang is currently serving as the deputy director general of the international economic relations department of the finance ministry.

Her term as AMOR head will be for three years, starting on May 27, 2016.

The appointment was made based on the recommendation by an interview panel comprising of 6 deputies members from ASEAN+3 countries, in line with the competitive international recruitment practice.

Established in April 2011 by ASEAN+3 countries (ASEAN, China, Japan and Korea), AMRO is a Singapore-based independent regional surveillance unit to monitor and analyze regional economies and support the implementation of Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralization.
Dancers perform under a logo of Tencent Holdings Ltd at the Global Mobile Internet Conference in Beijing, June 27, 2014. [Photo/Agencies]

BEIJING - The value of China's top 100 brands rose by 13 percent in 2015 to $525.6 billion, new research found.

Internet giant Tencent remained China's most valuable brand, according to the ranking by British advertising giant WPP and its market research unit Millward Brown. Their annual BrandZ report showed Tencent's value grew by nearly a quarter year on year to $82.1 billion, equivalent to Norway's annual GDP.

Tencent was followed by China Mobile and Alibaba. Telecoms brand Huawei and online retailer JD.com were the highest newcomers.

Huawei has a strong worldwide presence, and its smartphone business has been a powerful growth engine. JD.com, a challenger to Alibaba, has benefited from the expansion of its mobile offering, the extension of its e-commerce platform and partnerships with international brands.

For the first time, brands owned by private companies contributed more than half (51 percent) of the value of the top 100, evidence of China's continuing transition to a market economy.

The report said brands had taken advantage of the government encouraging innovation and development of new technology, and also of the growing wealth of Chinese consumers.

The figures demonstrate how resilient strong brands are in times of economic turbulence -- China's GDP growth was 6.9 percent in 2015, down from 7.3 percent the previous year.

Chinese brands are now as competitive as multinationals, according to the report. They score more highly on two of the key factors that create competitive advantage -- building brand awareness, and connecting with consumers on both a functional and emotional level -- but lag behind on differentiation.

The increasing power of home-grown brands may help stem the current outflow of capital from China that is concerning economists, it added.
A man passed a stand of Transfar Group at the World Internet Conference held in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province on Nov 18, 2014. [Photo/VCG]

Chinese private conglomerate Transfar Group will invest 100 billion yuan ($15.44 billion) to set up a national road network by 2022 to improve the country's logistics efficiency, its chairman told China Daily.

"In five to six years, we will build a national road network covering 170 cities to serve corporate clients and ensure that goods and materials are transported more smoothly," said Xu Guanjun, chairman of Transfar.

Established in 1986, Transfar is a Hangzhou-based company with diversified businesses covering chemicals, logistics, agriculture, technology and investment, and is ranked as a Top 500 Chinese Enterprise.

"We have signed contracts with more than 80 domestic cities to build road ports, and at least 30 cities' road ports will be put into operation in the end of 2016," said Xu.

Xu said besides infrastructure construction, it will build a smart logistics information system within the next five years.

Transfar is also setting up a logistics e-commerce platform, which will help corporate clients with freight demand to find logistics companies and vice versa.

Transfar has so far cultivated more than 10,000 logistics companies through its e-commerce platform.

Zhou Shengxue, vice-president of Transfar, said road logistics play an important role in Chinese logistics industry and the government has made efforts to build roads, but the efficiency of road logistics remains low.

The logistics costs of Chinese companies can be 30 percent to 40 percent of their production costs, while the proportion in developed countries can be only 10 percent to 15 percent, said Zhou.

According to the Ministry of Transport, China's road freight volume in 2015 was 35 billion metric tons, accounting for more than 75 percent of the total freight volume last year.

China is attaching great importance to road construction, with the total length of roads reaching 4.5 million kilometers at the end of 2015, according to a plan released by the Ministry of Transport.

"If we regard roads as hardware, Transfar's road network can serve as software to improve China's road logistics efficiency," said Zhou.

Transfar started its road network construction in 2003 in Hangzhou, and it now has six road ports in operation in six cities including Hangzhou, Suzhou and Chengdu. Its annual logistics fee has totaled more than 200 billion yuan and the value of goods and materials transported annually has reached about 5 trillion yuan.
CANBERRA - Representatives from more than 1,000 Australian businesses will be part of Australia's "largest ever trade mission" to China this month, following the signing of the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA).

Australia's Trade Minister Steven Ciobo said the trade mission - Australia Week in China (AWIC) - will "underscore the powerful effect of the ChAFTA" which was agreed upon in late 2015.

To be held on April 11-15, the delegation of Australian business leaders will travel to Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Xiamen, Shenyang and Hangzhou.

Ciobo said it would be a fantastic opportunity for Australia to showcase the best of Australia's industries to China.

"Australia Week in China (AWIC) will explore new opportunities for business arising from improved access and the tariff reductions negotiated through the ChAFTA," he said on Monday.

"Activity is scheduled across eight business streams: agribusiness, financial services, health and aged care, innovation, education, urban sustainability and water management, premium food and beverage and tourism," said the minister.

"An exciting element of AWIC will be our first ever innovation-focused program, which will bring together Australia's and China's fast-developing innovation ecosystems for the first time."

The minister said the mission would bring unprecedented benefits for Australia, with the government set to launch a tourism campaign based around Australia's coastal areas and aquatic flora and fauna.

The tour will also show off Australia as a "premium" destination for investment, education and tourism, and is expected to deliver impressive return for the Australian economy, he said.

"The first trade mission (in 2014) translated into significant trade and investment outcomes for Australia - around $760 million in export sales were generated and more than $2.4 billion in investment followed the event," Ciobo said.

"We anticipate that the breadth and scale of AWIC 2016 will generate similar outcomes and be the catalyst for significant export sales and investments into Australia, further driving jobs and growth."

He said the ChAFTA, which was signed late last year, would only continue to deliver more investment and trade opportunities between China and Australia.
Wines displayed in la Bordeauxtheque at its grand opening party, in the newly-launched French department store Galeries Lafayette, in Beijing on Feb 27, 2014. [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

Australian wines are becoming increasingly popular overseas, with the Chinese market growing considerably in recent years.

Statistics from Wine Australia show exports to China increased by 66 percent in 2015, to 370 million Australian dollars ($281 million), with red wine by far the drink of choice.

Mitchell Taylor, managing director and third-generation winemaker from Taylors Wines, said his company had been exporting its wines to China for more than 30 years.

"The beauty of dealing in the Chinese market is that they understand quality," Taylor said.

"Chinese consumers really understand the flavor profile that comes from a country like Australia."

Taylor said the growing trend in pairing wines with Chinese cuisine, noting that the influx of Chinese and European immigrants had triggered a shift in the "beer drinking culture".

"Cantonese food goes exceptionally well with our very good Clare Valley Rieslings that have lovely lime citrus flavors," he said.

Taylor's grandfather was labeled as "crazy" for attempting to plant 178 hectares of Cabernet Sauvignon in 1969, as during that time most of the wines were either fortified or like ports.

In 1973, when the first vintage of Cabernet Sauvignon came through, the wine won numerous medals.

"It actually won a gold medal in every single wine show that it was put in around the country, and then in the Adelaide wine show, it won the trophy for the best red wine that was awarded for the lovely style of the wine, so it was a great way to enter the wine industry," Taylor noted.

The company's logo of three seahorses, which surrounds all of its bottles, was born when his grandfather began to dig a dam to irrigate its first vintage of Cabernet Sauvignon.

"As we got into that limestone, there was actually lots of fossilized seahorses so they were like a good luck charm of the business and the prosperity of a fertile land that was there, so of course we made the symbol and it sits proudly on every bottle of Taylors Wines today," Taylor said.

He added that families suit the wine industry well.

"It doesn't happen overnight, and quite often corporations get very frustrated because their share price cannot be made overnight and you've got to make a lot of decisions that have long-term implications," Taylor said.

"When we plant a variety in the vineyard, it almost takes 10 years from that planting to come through to be a successful wine to be sold in the market, so you've got to make these very strategic family decisions, that are almost generational, so a lot of the hardwork we're doing today, is really for the benefit of the future generations."

Taylor said he has seen a sharp increase in Chinese consumers' wine knowledge over the years.
British Petroleum Group (BP) and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) signed a production sharing contract (PSC) for shale gas exploration, development and production in China last week.

The contract is BP's first shale gas PSC in China. It covers an area of about 1,500 square kilometers in the Neijiang-Dazu block in Sichuan Basin in the central western region of China. CNPC will be the operator for this project.

"We are looking forward to working together with CNPC on technology, operational and subsurface techniques in unconventional resources," said Bob Dudley, chief executive of BP.

Dudley said that BP will bring its worldwide experience to its first unconventional gas project in onshore China with CNPC as China continues to be an important part of the company's portfolio.

This PSC is the first achievement from BP and CNPC's framework agreement on strategic cooperation signed last October during President Xi Jinping's visit to the UK.

In addition to unconventional resources, the framework agreement covers possible future fuel retailing ventures in China, exploration of oil and LNG trading opportunities globally, and carbon emissions trading as well as sharing of knowledge around low carbon energy and management practices.

"As a new strategic industry for China, the exploration, development and production of shale gas will significantly benefit China's energy mix in a long run," said Edward Yang, BP China President. "Through this PSC, BP once again clearly reaffirms our commitment to being one of China's preferred energy partners to support the country in developing cleaner energy for a greener future."
KINSHASA - The Congolese National Electricity Company (SNEL) and China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG) over the weekend signed in Kinshasa an agreement to improve electricity distribution in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo).

According to DR Congo authorities, the partnership between SNEL and CTG aims to exploit the Congolese energy potential that is estimated at 100,000 megawatts, to effectively respond to the increasing needs of power in the country.

Through the agreement, CTG agreed to support SNEL in accomplishment of the Grand Inga project as well as construction of several other hydroelectric power stations across the country.

SNEL Director General Eric Mbala said "having a big partner like Three Gorges was an enormous opportunity for his organization and for DR Congo."

Grand Inga project, revived in 2013 by the DR Congo government, envisions several phases of extension of electric production capacities along Inga Falls, in Kongo-Central province.

Two hydroelectric dams, constructed along the falls in 1970 and 1980, function today at below their capacity.

According to experts, only three percent of DR Congo's energy potential is exploited.
HEFEI - Chinese Vice-Premier Ma Kai has urged more efforts to stabilize growth in industrial production and improve quality and profitability in the sector.

The industrial sector is the main force of the Chinese economy and its healthy development is of great significance, said Ma during a recent trip to East China's Anhui province.

The vice-premier asked enterprises to increase "effective supply" by upgrading technology and diversifying their products with better quality.

Overcapacity should be reduced and outdated capacity be phased out, said Ma, calling for vigorous promotion of mergers and acquisitions as well as bankruptcy and reorganizations during this process.

He vowed to streamline administration, deepen reforms of State-owned enterprises and work to boost their vitality. Enterprises are encouraged to innovate in technology, governance and commercial modes.

The vice-premier also promised to reduce financial burden for enterprises and create a level playing field for all market entities.
Potential customers look at a model of a real estate development in Yichang, Hubei province.[Photo/China Daily]

BEIJING - Land sales slowed sharply in China last year, as the property market cooled and the country faced economic headwinds, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) said on Tuesday.

Land sales by local governments amounted to 3.37 trillion yuan ($517.8 billion), plunging 21.6 percent year on year, according to a statement posted on the MOF website.

Sales fell year on year by 23.6 percent in East China, by 17.3 percent in Central China, and by 21.2 percent in the west.

Only a handful of cities and provinces saw sales growth, with Shenzhen rising the most -- by 36.9 percent year on year.

"Shenzhen's robust land sales were mainly due to its red-hot property market and the booming economy, which pushed land prices higher," the statement said.

The northern port city of Dalian saw land sales dive the most, with a fall of 56.4 percent. Ningbo city in East China's Zhejiang province, and Inner Mongolia autonomous region were both down by more than half, according to the statement.
Zong Qinghou, chairman of Hangzhou Wahaha Group Co Ltd.

China's largest beverage producer Hangzhou Wahaha Group Co Ltd is planning to set up a new factory to expand the production of industrial robots as part of a business transformation.

The value of the investment was not revealed, but Chairman Zong Qinghou told China Daily the figure could be significant.

"Besides sticking to our main business of beverages, we will largely develop intelligent manufacturing to promote our company's business transformation and upgrading," said Zong, who ranked fourth in the mainland on the 2015 Hurun Rich List, with a personal wealth of 120 billion yuan ($18.57 billion).

Zong said the company is seeking robot technologies from Israel for its new factory to be built in Lin'an in East China's Zhejiang province.

"We are also talking with Israel's Tel Aviv University and Peking University to set up a technology transfer center in Hangzhou, which will help Israel's intelligent technologies find a Chinese market," said Zong.

Wahaha has been involved in robotic research and development since 2011. It has developed industrial robots, which are used for packaging, palletizing and production material delivery.

At the end of 2015, Wahaha had 30 industrial robots in its own factories. In 2016, another 100 will be put into operation.

Zong added that the competition in the Chinese robot market is fierce and the company is also developing key parts of robots, such as servo motors and servo drives.

"We look favorably on the prospects for the industry," said Zong.

The world's second-largest economy is already the leading market for industrial robots, accounting for a quarter of global sales, according to the International Federation of Robotics. Between 2010 and 2014, the total supply of industrial robots in China increased by about 40 percent per year on average.

But still, for every 10,000 employees, there were only 36 robots in China, compared with 478 in South Korea, 292 in Germany and 164 in the United States in 2014.

Ma Si contributed to this story.
People try out products displayed at the Apple Store in Fuzhou, capital of East China's Fujian province, April 2, 2016. [Photo/IC]

FUZHOU - Apple has opened a new store in Fuzhou, capital of East China's Fujian province, bringing the brand's total number of stores to 36 in China.

Todd McKean, Apple's regional retail director, said the store will help customers experience the latest products, including the iPhone SE and iPad Pro (9.7 inch).

The store has hired 97 employees who speak Mandarin, Cantonese and English.

The Fuzhou store is the second in Fujian province. Another store was opened in Xiamen city earlier this year.

Apple has 36 stores in China, four of which are in Hong Kong and 32 on the mainland.

Apple has continued its rapid expansion in China, its second largest market after the United States. The company plans to open four more stores on the Chinese mainland by mid-2016.
Chinese actor Liu Ye and his wife. [File photo] The French Riviera has named Chinese actor Liu Ye as its ambassador, aiming to encourage more Chinese holidaymakers to tour the South of France.

Appearing along with Meryl Streep, Bruce Willis and Jackie Chan at the event, Liu first shot to fame for his performance in the low-budget film Postmen in the Mountains.

France received more than 2 million Chinese visitors last year, with around 90,000 travelling to the Riviera, a 50 percent increase.

The Telegraph reports local officials hope the figure can be boosted to 200,000 a year by 2020 through this kind of campaign.

The 38-year-old actor married a Frenchwoman from Nice in 2009, which makes him a living embodiment of China's good relationship with France.

Liu was honored with "Chevalier" medals in the Order of Arts and Letters, an honor handed out by the French government, in 2013.

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A bird's-eye view of courtyards built in Loess land pits in Sanmenxia city of Central China's Henan province, March 30, 2016. The traditional "pit courtyards" are under conservation by local government with nearly 10,000 yards remaining. The oldest yard has a history of more than 200 years with six generations living under the roof. The cave houses were strengthened at each side of the pit walls with a depth of 6-7 meters and length of 10-12 meters. The yards are being transformed into tourist attractions and are expected to be open to visitors later this year. [Photo/IC]
An expressionless dog sits in a cage with other dogs that will be killed in Yulin. Many dogs are killed in front of other dogs. Peter Li, China policy specialist for the Humane Society International who paid a visit to Yulin from March 29 to April 2, says many dogs die many times, both physically and psychologically. [Photo provided to China Daily by the Humane Society International]

After being rescued from a truck carrying dogs illegally in July, a three-year-old greyhound received a new name, new owner and new family.

When the dog was found by volunteers from the Vshine Animal Protection Association in Dalian, Liaoning province, it had back injuries and was covered in blood.

It and many other dogs were trucked hundreds of kilometerssix or seven of them stuffed into a crate or small metal cage without food or water and bound for the dinner table.

To prevent further cases, animal rights activists are calling for an end to an annual dog meat festival in South China that has been blamed for tarnishing the country's reputation overseas.

The festival in Yulin, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, is held in June, but has met increased opposition in recent years amid concerns over canine cruelty and unhygienic food handling practices.

Activists say they will continue to press for the festival to be banned and for legislation to be introduced outlawing the slaughter of dogs and cats for meat.

Qin Xiaona, founder and director of the Capital Animal Welfare Association, said, "The Yulin authorities need to adopt more proactive and decisive steps to crack down on an industry that kills dogs acquired illegally and sells their meat in breach of food safety regulations."

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A cat looks out from a wooden crate in Yulin. Despite being the Dog Meat Festival, many cats will not escape the fate of being served on a dinner table. Photo taken between March 29 and April 2, about 11 weeks ahead of Yulin's annual Dog Meat Festival in 2016.[Photo provided to China Daily by the Humane Society International]

According to Humane Society International, between 10 and 20 million dogs are killed annually in China for human consumption, predominantly in the south and northeast.

Qin claims that more than 80 percent of these are stolen pets, according to research by her association.

Zhang Ying, a civil servant in Jiangsu province, said Tiantian, her 4-year-old Chihuahua, is more like a family member than a pet.

"I am worried that dog-eaters will force thieves to steal or poison our pets," she said, adding that eating dogs has no place in tradition.

Peter Li, China policy specialist at Humane Society International, said the Yulin festival has been scaled back in recent years amid pressure from the authorities and from domestic and international protesters.
China's top food safety regulator demanded on Monday a thorough investigation into the whereabouts of 17,000 cans of fake-brand baby formulawhich have been sold nationwideto eliminate risks.

According to the China Food and Drug Administration, quality inspections by police in Shanghai showed that the formula met national standards and posed no safety threat.

The Supreme People's Procuratorate said on its website in March that six people were arrested in Shanghai in January for producing and selling the fake-brand formula, from which they profited by nearly 2 million yuan ($310,000).

The procuratorate said the suspects were accused of buying cheap baby formula, or milk powder, for "non-baby use" and packaging it in cans bearing the labels of top brands.

They then sold the products to salespeople in places including Zhengzhou in Henan province and Xuzhou in Jiangsu province. The salespeople sold them in a number of places across China, the procuratorate said.

The suspects include two alleged organizers, surnamed Chen and Tang, two others thought to have produced baby formula cans with top-brand labels, and two who allegedly supplied low-end milk powder, the procuratorate said. It also said prosecuting agencies in Shanghai are tracing those still at large.

Shanghai People's Procuratorate said on Monday that the case is still being investigated. It declined to give details, such as the brands that were pirated.

Song Liang, an independent dairy analyst, said that due to weaker supervision, sales of fake top-brand baby formula are more widespread in small and medium-sized cities and on private online shops.

"In many cases, milk powder that is almost past its expiration date is repackaged and sold online as imported baby formula," he said.

Such products can evade supervision by authorities as they may have no quality problems and do not cause serious harm to babies, Song said.

The China Food and Drug Administration said on Monday that consumers should be cautious when buying baby formula online.

It said both sellers of the formula and online sales platforms must follow food safety laws, adding that online sales platforms will be held accountable if found to have been involved in food safety crimes.

Zhou Wenting contributed to this story.
A gavel in a court. [Photo/IC]

2015 change resulted in heavier loads for judges; mediation seen as one solution

Suing government agencies will become easier, as further streamlining of the system is being explored to polish procedural rough edges and to find innovative solutions for settling disputes, according to court officials.

A guideline handed down by central authorities last May made things easier by requiring courts to cut unnecessary barriers and accept a dispute at the time a suit is registered, rather than after a preliminary review of its merits. But the rule contributed to a sharp increase in the filing of disputesespecially in cases involving complaints against government departmentsaccording to Li Shaoping, vice-president of the Supreme People's Court.

In 2015, courts nationwide heard 241,000 administrative cases, up almost 60 percent year-on-year, according to a work report of the top court during the annual session of China's legislature in March.

"The things residents appealed about most often in the pasthouse demolition and administrative information disclosurehave been made easier," Li said.

But the boom in administrative disputes has also brought other difficulties. For example, the huge increase in cases can impose unworkable strains on the limited number of judges available to hear cases in some courts.

"This makes us to think about new ways to further smooth the difficulty of case filing," Li said.

Beijing No 4 Intermediate People's Court, is a pilot site for reform and a test bed for exploring ideas that promote efficiency and professionalism. When a government body is named as defendant in a lawsuit in one of the capital's 16 districts, the No 4 Court takes the case.

A report issued by the court on March 31 said that district governments in the capital were named as defendants in 1,397 administrative cases accepted in 2015seven times the number the city's courts tackled in 2014.

The cases covered many sections of the governments' work, including the disclosure of administrative information and compensation for house removals, according to Wu Zaicun, the court's president. Of those cases, 611 named the government in Haidian district as defendant, followed by Chaoyang district.

"They are in the middle of reforms in urban management, so it's easier to produce disputes," Wu said, adding that more than 25 percent of the cases were decided against the government.

"Some governments lost the lawsuits because of illegal procedures in handling administrative affairs, while some failed because their actions were not on line with the law," he said. "The hearings are a good place to examine the governments' behavior."

Methods for handling administrative disputes will be further explored this year, he said. One solution may be more mediation to arrive at settlements between parties outside of court, he said.
BEIJING - Millions of Chinese people went out for tomb-sweeping following an age-old tradition to mourn their deceased relatives on the Qingming Festival, which falls on Monday this year.

On Qingming, or Tomb-sweeping Day, over 5.4 million people paid visits to the 150 burial sites nationwide monitored by the Ministry of Civil Affairs (MCA), according to the ministry figures.

During the three-day Tomb-sweeping holiday, which ended on Monday, more than 13 million people visited the cemeteries.

The ministry added that the total number of people visiting the burial sites this year increased by 3.7 percent compared to the same period of last year.

Meanwhile, activities to honor war victims and martyrs were also held across the country on Monday.

In Nanjing's Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders, about 50 massacre survivors and relatives of the deceased mourned in front of the wailing wall, a monument engraved with 10,505 names of the victims.

"Memories of the deceased loved ones are easily back on the special day and I pray for no more wars in the future," Xiang Yuansong, an 88-year-old Nanjing Massacre survivor said in front of the wailing wall, on which his brother and uncle's names were engraved.

The wailing wall was the only place where the massacre victims could be mourned since most of them did not have tombs or remains, said Zhang Jianjun, curator of the memorial hall.

"We are mourning them to remind people to never let the tragedy happen again," he added.

Qingming falls around April 5 each year. The Chinese traditionally honor their ancestors by sweeping their tombs on the day, and the government made the day a public holiday in 2008 to preserve the tradition.

Some modern and more eco-friendly ways for honoring the deceased and burial have emerged in recent year, such as "sweeping tombs" on the Internet and sea-burial, according to the MCA.

Apart from tomb-sweeping, many Chinese also take advantage of the holiday to make sightseeing travels as warm spring encourages outdoor activities.

More than 11.6 million trips were made on the first day of the three-day holiday, according to the China Railway Corporation. The railway authorities expected train trips in the country to hit 41.08 million during the holiday travel rush.
Photo taken on Sept. 29, 2012 shows the comprehensive research vessel, the Kexue (Science), in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province.Kexue is designed to conduct a wide range of tasks, such as water body detection, atmospheric exploration, deep-sea environment exploration and remote sensing information verification. [Photo/Xinhua]

China plans to build its own ocean-drilling research vessel to enhance the country's exploration of deep-sea resources, according to an expert.

The vessel, dubbed Dream, would be the third in the world if completed, following the United States' JOIDES Resolution and Japan's Chikyu.

A feasibility study into the vessel's construction has already begun, according to Wu Lixin, head of the Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, which is spearheading the project.

Wu, who is also an academic at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, believes building Dream would boost the development of deep-sea related technology in China and enhance the country's reputation for making such equipment.

The ultimate aim is drilling into the earth's mantle, he said, a feat that has yet to be achieved.

A series of projects in deep-sea research and exploration was included in China's 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) as the country looks to build itself into a maritime power.

The Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology was officially put into operation last October.

Scientists from 11 marine-related organizations, including the Ocean University of China and the Institute of Oceanology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, will be involved in the laboratory's research.

With a total investment of 1.3 billion yuan ($200 million), the laboratory covers an area of 150,000 square meters and has eight main labs focusing on research areas such as marine and climate change, evolution and protection of marine environments, and sustainable use of marine biological resources.

The laboratory is expected to become one of the world's top five oceanographic research institutions within the next three years, competing with the likes of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in the United States, and the National Oceanographic Center of Britain, Wu said.




The Chinese government's supply-side reforms urge the modernization of agriculture and call for innovative, sustainable farming models. But it's hard to imagine a farm as innovative as Zhou Jing's, where 2 million chickens roost in the pine trees of East China's Jiangxi province.

"Compared with fast-growing chickens that are ready for slaughter within 20 days, our chickens live cage-free for at least 150 days in the woods," said Zhou, who is a graduate of Canada's University of Windsor.

The twenty-something entrepreneur gave up a white-collar job in Canada in 2013 to return to her hometown in Fuzhou, so she could raise the free-range chickens in the forest where her parents had farmed 1,000 hectares for more than a decade.

Zhou is expanding and evolving an idea of her father's, who first released chickens into the woods about seven years ago.

He did so because he had no time to attend to them in captivity. The birds soon adapted.

"Only those birds that are strong and good at flying can live for a long time in the woods," said Zhou Jing. "It's survival of the fittest."

And she believes such naturally raised birds are exactly what China's increasingly discerning consumers now demand as they seek quality food.

"More and more Chinese people are buying overseas products, due to food safety concerns back home," she said. "They are no longer satisfied with fast food, like fried chicken and hamburgers."

But she said it is hard to make a good living on a small-scale farm by selling a bit of everything, so the family decided to find a niche by going green.

After expanding her parents' chicken-raising operation, she dug a ditch through the forest to channel waste water into a pond, where she released snails and mudfish. They not only helped purify the water but provided a food source for the soft-shell turtles she started raising.

The pond water where the turtles lived was pumped into a paddy field where she grew rice.

Zhou has even innovated when it comes to collecting the eggs, getting tourists to do the job while having a back-to-nature experience.

Zhou's chickens, which are sold under the brand Flying Phoenix, sell for three or four times as much as typical factory-farm birds.

Last year, her farm generated revenue of 100 million yuan ($15.4 million).

Now, the local authorities are planning to invite high-profile chefs to make dishes using Zhou's chickens in the hope that the publicity will encourage other farmers to go green.

Zhou said her style of farming is not only the sort of innovation and modernization the government is looking for; it's what she was looking for in life as well.
People in Beijing burn symbolic paper money outside a cemetery park as offerings to their deceased relatives on April 2, 2016 during the Tomb Sweeping Day holiday. [Photo/China News Service]

Visitors to China might be surprised to learn that pictures of George Washington can be seen on some locally printed currency - not the official paper money, of course, but on some bills burned for the dead during the Qingming Festival, or Tomb Sweeping Day, which fell this year on Monday.

The paper "money" featuring the former US president sometimes appears among the reams of bills traditionally burned as offerings to deceased family members. Portraits of Mao Zedong are the most popular on the imitation currency, but Washington is also in demand, as are such modern images as South Korean pop star Song Joong-ki, who recently won fame in China with a performance in the TV series Descendants of the Sun.

However, the paper offerings, some of which bear a phrase meaning "Bank notes for the afterlife", might be seen less in the years to come, especially in the capital, because of local regulations and national laws.

The national law that might impact the offerings prohibits the printing of anything resembling the Chinese renminbi. Fines can be levied as high as 50,000 yuan ($7,700).

A local regulation in Beijing bans the printing and selling of all such offering notes, regardless of design.

While the local regulation was introduced in 2001, it was only implemented in recent years.

According to Beijing Youth Daily, law enforcement agencies in the capital confiscated more than 200 kilograms of the notes in the leadup to the Tomb Sweeping Festival.

"We understand it takes a while for the citizens to change their habits, but this has to disappear eventually," said Li Hui, an urban patrol officer in Beijing's Xicheng district. "Burning these papers is really bad for the air and could lead to a large and destructive fire."

Sun Hanyu, a 26-year-old Beijing resident, said his family has not burned the paper offerings for years on Tomb Sweeping Day, but he still likes to put them in front of the tomb as a way to show respect for the deceased.

"I was not aware that these papers were illegal at all," he said. "I think it will not be a big issue for us to abandon these money-like papers, but I would still like to have a tangible way to show my love."

While the capital has been clamping down on burning paper offerings because of safety fears, it has also been urging different kinds of burials in an attempt to save precious space. Sea burials have been gaining in popularity amid official encouragement of eco-friendly alternatives to conventional internment. Beijing's funeral service center scattered the ashes of more than 2,000 deceased people into the sea in 2015, double the number in 2012, according to People's Daily.

Xinhua contributed to this story.


Graduates from Shanghai Jiao Tong University are known for their spirit of innovation. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Internationalization of advanced education is not only a necessary process for global economic integration, but also a requirement for China to cultivate talent for future development.

Zhang Jie, president of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, says SJTU was one of the earliest Chinese universities to develop an internationalization strategy, and it has completed a series of bold moves over the past few years to create a multicultural campus atmosphere and develop talents with a global outlook.

"Shanghai Jiao Tong University is committed to cultivating top-level competitive professionals who have a global perspective and deep understanding of the multicultural workplace. In this regard, we have long been working to promote our international development," says Zhang Weimin, director of its international cooperation and exchange department.

The university has established several joint institutes through cooperation with top international higher education institutions over the past decades.

The China Europe International Business School, co-founded with the European Foundation for Management Development in 1994, has become China's leading business school.

The University of Michigan UM-SJTU Joint Institute has also been widely acclaimed for its success over the past 10 years, and in 2014 received an Andrew Heiskell Award for Innovation in International Education, the first time an award of this caliber had been given to a Chinese university.

Other successful joint institutes include the SJTU-ParisTech Elite Institute of Technology, established in 2012, and the University of Southern California USC-SJTU Institute of Cultural and Creative Industry, established in 2014.

Meanwhile, to develop international practices and establish benchmarks, almost every school or department at SJTU has developed long-term partnerships with overseas institutes that are leaders in their fields.

"But we don't simply reproduce or copy overseas education methods and experiences," Zhang Weimin says. "What we do is absorb international advanced teaching methods and concepts, while paying close attention to the appropriate features of China's higher education and its national conditions."

"We've created an education model that has absorbed the essence of East and West, which helps cultivate the talent needed to meet the needs of China's economic development," Zhang Wei-min says.

Meanwhile, the university has a multicultural environment thanks to the large number of international students and foreign faculty members. The university receives more than 5,000 international students every year, and it has also attracted about 200 full-time foreign faculty. In recent years, SJTU has offered many courses in English that have proved popular.

Since 2007, 450 world-class professors and top-tier faculty of international standing have joined the university, and more than 250 existing faculty have transferred to its tenure-track system.

As an important move in its development, SJTU implemented a university-wide incentive system to motivate faculty and students in 2007, aiming to develop a high-quality faculty comparable to that of the best Western universities by 2020.

"Establishing a high-quality faculty has been the key to building a world-class research institution," says Zhang Jie. "Over the past decade, we have created a culture of innovation and boosted research capacity through reforms to the career paths for existing and new faculty members."

Zhang points out that reforms at SJTU have promoted a shift in educational emphasis. "We are moving away from knowledge transfer to knowledge creation," he says.

Gao Weiqiang, dean of the School of Biomedical Engineering, says, "Shanghai Jiao Tong University has made a lot of innovative efforts to promote scientific research, such as innovative academic development paths, cross-disciplinary studies, a green channel for the recruitment of talent and various support policies."

Countries such as the United States have a long tradition of encouraging innovation with a series of favorable measures, says Anders Lindquist, chair professor of automation at SJTU and a new foreign member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

However, China has developed fast over the years, and higher education institutes such as Shanghai Jiao Tong University have been catching up with world leading universities, he said.

As the first Chinese college to join the Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE) project in Singapore, SJTU has actively engaged in international research collaboration. Its teachers and students are also working with counterparts at the National University of Singapore on a flagship program of CREATE, Energy and Environmental Sustainability Solutions for Megacities, which is exploring the feasibility and implementation of initiatives for the sustainable development of the cities.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is also funding a project led by teachers at SJTU that is conducting clinical trials for a combination drug for tuberculosis and HIV. It has made an important step toward a substantially faster and more effective treatment for tuberculosis.

Through such projects and partnerships with other universities and research institutes around the world, SJTU is positioning itself to become a cradle of innovation and hopes to play a key role in transforming China into an innovation power.
Students from Nankai University examine the quality of jujubes in Shanxi province in March, helping local farmers to sell their products online. [Photo/Xinhua]

In all his decades of experience on campus, Nankai University President Gong Ke has never been so impressed as he is lately by students' passion to learn and practice.

"Nobody ordered them to do so, but the students are very active in starting their businesses. They fully use the knowledge they have mastered and are eager to learn what they don't know. They try their best to cooperate and coordinate with others," Gong, 60, told China Daily. "It's a rare phenomenon in China's traditional education."

The business boom among college students started to build steam in September 2014, after Premier Li Keqiang called for mass entrepreneurship and innovation. In June last year, the State Council announced a string of policies, including financial assistance, to encourage business startups, ushering in a sweeping boom nationwide.

"We should conduct a national survey on the boom to learn about the status quo - such as whether money provided by the government is appropriately used, whether the boom has helped the economy and what problems business starters met, including students' psychological burdens in the process," Gong said.

"It's time to do a comprehensive survey because it's of strategic importance."

Gong said if the current trend continues in China through several five-year plans, "it will change the country's culture and change a generation of young people".

"We'll boast youngsters who dare to think innovatively, to speak out and to carry out, and to take risks," he said. "We'll no longer lag behind the United States in that regard."

Gong said Nankai has established several spaces to encourage the trend. The largest one, which covers more than 5,000 square meters, serves more than 1,000 students in about 70 teams.

In one success story, a group of Nankai students set up an online company to sell jujube stocked in remote mountainous areas of Shanxi province. After solving various difficulties, they sold 1.25 million kilograms between November and early January, with sales revenues of 15 million yuan ($2.3 million). They helped improve the lives of more than 100,000 poor people.

"The team members may not sell jujube for their whole lives. But the experience will make them different," Gong said.

He said encouraging students to start businesses is not about lifting employment numbers: Nankai's employment rate holds steady at around 97 percent each year. It's about something bigger.

"Maybe more than 90 percent of the businesses will fail. But that will be fortunate as a learning experience in the lives of the students," Gong said.

Although many Chinese parents hope their children will get a stable job - in the civil service, for example - upon graduation, Gong said stability should not be the primary value of the new generation in China.

"Following that route, China will not become an innovation-driven country," he said.

Still, he stressed that students' business startups should be based on rigorous study on campus.

The phenomenon at Nankai is only one corner of an entrepreneurial boom across China.

Minister of Science and Technology Wan Gang said in January that there are more than 2,300 maker spaces and about 2,500 technology business incubators nationwide, offering more than 1.8 million jobs.

Two-thirds of the new organizations are said to have emerged in 2015, while there are only 5,300 such organizations abroad.


Zhu Baoting (left), a leading professor in biology from Southern University of Science and Technology, guides a student in a lab last year. [Photo provided to China Daily]

As a pilot for China's higher education reform, Southern University of Science and Technology is aiming for the top, according to its president.

The public university has positioned itself as a nurturer of innovation and talent since winning approval from the Ministry of Education in April 2012 to be established in Shenzhen, a rising hub of high-technology and innovation in South China's Guangdong province.

Chen Shiyi, its president, said the university aimed to attract both excellent teachers and brilliant students, "and we have been in a leading position in both aspects".

"In 2016, we plan to take on students both from home and abroad to make the university a global one," Chen said, adding that a preliminary plan is to recruit a maximum of 1,000 domestic students and 200 international ones.

According to Chen, among the 200 teachers now working at this young university, five are academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering and about 30 are scholars from overseas who came under the "1,000 Talents Plan", or the Recruitment Program of Global Experts, which was initiated by the Chinese government to attract scientists and innovators worldwide.

'China's Stanford'

In Chen's eyes, Shenzhen, thought of by many people across the world as China's Silicon Valley, is among the best cities for innovation and entrepreneurship in China.

"We want to support and contribute to the development of the city by building our university into China's Stanford University," he said.

"We want to develop more leading technologies and help Shenzhen create more high-tech enterprises, just like what is happening at Silicon Valley in the United States: professors as well as students at Stanford start their own businesses, among which some have become tycoons like Yahoo! and HP."

To help reach that goal, the university stipulated in its charter that professors should spend at least one day a week consulting or helping the entrepreneurial efforts of companies in Shenzhen.

"We encourage professors to start their own businesses. We also respect their intellectual property rights by allocating 70 percent of the profits to the professors. Our professors are becoming more passionate about entrepreneurship because they are getting rich," Chen said.

According to Chen, a college for innovation and entrepreneurship will be set up this year at the university. This will feature professors lecturing on entrepreneurial theories, successful entrepreneurs sharing experiences and centers for students' entrepreneurial practices.

"You can't imagine how excited our students are about entrepreneurship and about the coming college."

Reformed recruitment

In contrast to most other Chinese universities that evaluate potential students only on the basis of gaokao, or the national entrance exams, Chen said his university adopts a "6 plus 3 plus 1" model.

This means that undergraduates will be recruited based on 60 percent of their gaokao results, 30 percent of the results students get in exams organized by the university itself and 10 percent on their performances in interviews and other aspects.

"We believe this is an all-around and more reasonable way of evaluating students," he said. "Through this model, we have successfully selected students who are hardworking and have strong virtues and personalities."

After the students are enrolled, they can choose to study following a "2 plus 2" model, which allows them to study beyond the restriction of disciplines for the first two years of college life to locate their interest. Then, they can study under a chosen major for the final two years.

In 2011, the university welcomed its first batch of 45 students. The number enrolled increased greatly in the following four years. Last year, the university welcomed the arrival of a total of 935 freshmen.

"We will not expand the number to a very large scale in order to maintain the quality of education," he said.

Last year, the university's first batch of students graduated with bachelor's degrees and 23 of them went to prestigious universities overseas to continue study.
Nearly 18,000 unlicensed or illegal electric bikes and freight tricycles were confiscated in Shenzhen during a crackdown on the vehicles that ended on Tuesday. Only 60 belonged to delivery workers, police said at a news conference.

The vehicles impounded in the two-week operation were either breaking transportation laws or had been illegally modified, police said.

The action mainly targeted illegal electric bikes that ferried passengers, rather than the courier industry, and was needed to address the growing problem of illegal electronic trunks, said Liu Xiaoding, head of transport police command center.

The campaign identified registration problems for the courier industry. Shenzhen police said they will add 5,000 vehicles to the existing quota of 13,000 registered electric bikes and freight tricycles for courier industry.

The next step is to crack down on manufacturers, retailers and maintenance stores that deal in substandard electric bikes and freight tricycles, Shenzhen police said.

Authorities are also planning to promote new-energy freight vehicles for package delivery.
Ouyang Feng poses for a photo in the rape-seed fields in Cixi village, Jiangxi province. [Photo/Chinanews.com]

NANCHANG -- A Chinese official has received a flurry of compliments from the online community after she starred in a series of photographs promoting the picturesque village where she lives and works.

The photos, which feature Ouyang Feng, 27, in traditional Chinese dress, were all taken in rape-seed fields, as its yellow flowers begin to bloom this time of year. The photos quickly became one of the most shared posts on Chinese social media over the weekend.

Ouyang can be seen dreamily wandering through the sea of flowers, resplendent in her flowing, white dress, floral hairpins and parasol. Her similarity to characters out of Chinese costume dramas was not lost on netizens.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (C) walks with pupils after a tree-planting event in Xihongmen Township of Daxing District in Beijing, April 5, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

BEIJING -- Chinese President Xi Jinping urged development of the country's forestry while attending a voluntary tree planting in Beijing on Tuesday.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, visited an afforestation site in Beijing's Daxing District and planted six saplings of different varieties at the site.

Other top leaders, including Premier Li Keqiang as well as Zhang Dejiang, Yu Zhengsheng, Liu Yunshan, Wang Qishan and Zhang Gaoli, also attended the event.

Noting that the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020) marks an important stage in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and in China's ecological protection drive, the president stressed forestry development as a significant measure to fulfill these goals.

He called on officials at all levels to take the lead in voluntary tree planting campaigns to promote new development concepts with their own practices.

Also, he called for proper management of planted trees to make people's living environment greener and more beautiful.

The president called for an altruistic and down-to-earth spirit for such activities, citing the Chinese proverb "people plant trees so their offspring can enjoy the shade."

Situated in Xihongmen township in Beijing's southern Daxing District, the greens where the top leaders planted trees used to be a venue for logistic inventory and other low-end industries.

Thanks to the strategy of coordinated development of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei which requires the capital city to eschew its non-capital functions, the place has been reshaped into a park following economic restructuring.

Xi told officials, volunteers and school children present that Mao Zedong issued the call of "greening the country" 60 years ago, and the National People's Congress began the tree planting campaign 35 years ago at the behest of Deng Xiaoping.

Over the years, China's forests have continued to grow at the fastest pace in the world this century, Xi noted.

The president also stressed the environmental protection drive. He added, all tasks under the ecological protection drive, not limited to tree planting, need to be carried out well with widespread public participation.

China will also promote afforestation via multi-lateral cooperation mechanism, such as the Belt and Road Initiative, so as to cope with global challenges, such as climate change, and to contribute its due share to global ecological security, Xi said.
BEIJING -- Guo Boxiong, former vice chairman of China's Central Military Commission (CMC), has confessed to taking bribes, military prosecutors said Tuesday.

Military prosecutors have finished investigating Guo's alleged graft case and started the procedure to prosecute him, said a statement from the military procuratorate.

Guo was found to have taken advantage of his position to assist in promotion and reassignment of others, accepting huge amounts in bribes both personally and through his family, the statement said.

Guo served as vice chairman of the CMC from 2002 to 2012.

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) decided to investigate him on April 9 last year according to the Party's disciplinary rules. He was expelled from the CPC in July.

The military procuratorate, which launched a graft investigation in July, said prosecutors gathered a large amount of proof.

The prosecutors also questioned Guo during the probe, according to the statement.

The statement said the probe found Guo's case was clear and the evidence sufficient.

The military procuratorate informed Guo of his rights in litigation, including the right to get a lawyer and the right to defend himself.

The questioning was carried out in strict accordance with the law and all the transcripts of his questioning were read carefully and signed by Guo to ensure his rights, the statement added.

Based on the evidence gathered in the investigation, Guo's family members and others involved in his case will also be dealt with according to the law, the statement said.
Guo Boxiong, a former senior military leader, will be charged with corruption, China announced on Tuesday while pressing ahead with its anti-graft campaign.

Investigations by military prosecutors found that Guo, who was vice-chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission before retiring in 2012, collected bribes for arranging promotions for others, Xinhua News Agency said.

Guo's case is being handed over for prosecution now that the investigation is completed, Xinhua said.

The military procuratorate said that the amount of bribes Guo is charged with taking was "huge", although it didn't release the amount, and it said the 74-year-old had confessed during the investigation.

A commentary on the Chinese Ministry of Defense website said on Tuesday that the military must take the necessary steps to build discipline and remove internal malaise. The practice of military law and discipline should be "merciless", it said.

Guo was expelled from the Communist Party of China in July.

Under the Chinese Criminal Procedure Law, military prosecutors will hand over the case to the country's military court. Authorities will deal with Guo's family members and others implicated in the case without tolerance, said a statement from the military procuratorate.

Guo's son, Guo Zhenggang, who was a major general, was put under investigation for corruption in February last year.

Since March last year, dozens of military officials have been exposed for allegedly violating discipline and laws, as part of the country's drive in recent years to root out corruption in the military.

Xu Caihou, another senior military official who served with Guo as vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission, was probed in March 2014 for allegedly taking "massive" bribes. Xu died of bladder cancer in March last year.

President Xi Jinping has made it a key goal to weed out corruption in the military. A number of high-level corruption cases have since been exposed.

In August, after Guo was put under investigation, Defense Minister Chang Wanquan pledged intensified efforts to run the army with "strict discipline and in line with the law".

caoyin@chinadaily.com.cn
Beijing has banned imports of iron ore from Pyongyang as well as exports of jet fuel and other oil products used to make rocket fuel, outlining China's restriction on trade with the country on Tuesday.

The Ministry of Commerce published a list on its website, saying it also would ban imports of gold and rare-earth elements from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in line with new UN sanctions.

The majority of the DPRK's exports to China are minerals, and its exports to China account for about 90 percent of the country's total export volume, according to Lyu Chao, a researcher at the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences.

However, China exempted imports of coal intended for "the people's well-being" and not connected to nuclear or missile programs.

Export bans on jet and rocket fuel included exceptions for "basic humanitarian needs", including civilian passenger planes flying outside the DPRK.

Other restricted minerals include vanadium and titanium, both used in steel alloys.

A new type of anti-air guided weapon system is fired in this undated photo released by DPRK's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on April 2, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

The UN Security Council unanimously passed a resolution in early March expanding UN sanctions following the DPRK's nuclear test on Jan 6 and subsequent rocket launch.

China's embargo statement, an implementation of the harshest sanction the international community has adopted against the DPRK, shows that Beijing is strictly honoring the resolution of the UN Security Council, said Shi Yongming, a researcher of the China Institute of International Studies.

However, the international community must seek a way for peaceful resolution of the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, Shi said.

The way to truly resolve the issue is through political dialogue, he said.

"The sanctions are intended to urge the DPRK to come back to the negotiating table. The sanctions themselves cannot be deemed as a purpose," he said, adding that without political dialogue, the sanctions "will surely fail".

Wang Junsheng, a researcher of the National Institute of International Strategy of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said it is not the first time China has issued such a statement in implementing UN sanctions against Pyongyang.

In 2013, several governmental departments, including the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Transport, issued notices to implement a UN Security Council resolution in response to a DPRK nuclear test in February that year.

Wang said this year's embargo list, in which the exceptions are listed, shows that China is fully implementing UN Security Council Resolution 2270 while considering the DPRK's humanitarian concerns.

Liu Ce in Shenyang and Reuters contributed to this story.

Contact the writer at wangqingyun@chinadaily.com.cn
File photo of two giant pandas. [Photo/iPanda.com]

Some netizens checking the 24/7 live video feed at a research center for giant pandas in Sichuan province are hoping to catch a glimpse of the bears in action. (Click here to check the live video feed)

Since spring is mating season at the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in Ya'an, Sichuan province, 20 video cameras have been installed at the center by iPanda.com to offer a continuous view of the pandas' lives.

Those disappointed by the live feed can turn to panda-mating video clips on the site. One clip shows an encounter between a 16-year-old panda, Wu Gang, and 9-year-old Cui Cui, who were introduced by keepers of the center's Bifengxia base in Ya'an on Sunday.

Watch the video clip below about an encounter between Wu Gang and Cui Cui.

A screen capture of a video shows an encounter between Wu Gang and Cui Cui. [Photo/iPanda.com]

Mating in captivity had long been a challenge for the pandas, followed by equally difficult pregnancies and challenges in the care of newborn cubs, researchers said. That has changed over the past 20 years, as researchers have learned more about the bears.

In the early years, "only 20 percent of the pandas could have sex naturally. To motivate male pandas' sex drive, researchers let them watch videos of other pandas mating" and fed them an aphrodisiac, said Zhang Heming, the panda center's chief.

Now, between 70 and 80 percent of the pandas can have sex naturally, he said.

A 2015 panda census by the State Forestry Administration tallied 422 captive pandas worldwide. Most are in the Ya'an research center and the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding.

Launched by China Network Television in 2013, iPanda.com aired a live broadcast of two pairs of mating pandas for the first time in April last year.

During a live broadcast earlier this month, Luo Bo, deputy chief of the animal management department of the Ya'an base, said Cui Cui was most likely pregnant.

Nearly all pandas mate only in spring, so zoos around the world are eagerly looking for assistance and preparing for the birth of cubs.

"Many zoos outside the Chinese mainland lack experience in the field and ask Chinese researchers to help them. This year, researchers from the (Ya'an research center) have visited Belgium and Taipei. Next they will go to Singapore, Thailand, Britain and Australia," said Tang Chunxiang, a senior researcher.

Even before iPanda.com was launched, the center was posting video clips. It started on June 24, 2013, as a test and attracted nearly 15,000 viewers in one month.

"Now each year, tens of millions of people visit the website, where they can have a 24-hour view of pandas' lives," Zhang said.

Next: Interesting tidbits about giant panda breeding
China plans to build its own ocean-drilling research vessel to enhance the country's exploration of deep-sea resources, according to an expert.

The vessel, dubbed Dream, would be the third in the world if completed, following the United States' JOIDES Resolution and Japan's Chikyu.

A feasibility study into the vessel's construction has already begun, according to Wu Lixin, head of the Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, which is spearheading the project.
China's three main airline groups saw declining yields on international routes last year, despite rosy annual performance reports amid record-low oil prices.

The aggressive expansion of capacity on overseas markets and rising competition on routes to regions such as Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asia have resulted in sharp decline in their yields.

The airlines kept setting up new international routes in 2015 and they had been laying out their latest aircraft on those routes. All three carriers have witnessed a jump on their available seat miles (ASM) on international routes, which measures a flight's passenger-carrying capacity.
Actresses perform at a ceremony at the mausoleum to Huangdi (the Yellow Emperor) in Huangling, Shaanxi province, to pay their respects to the legendary figure regarded as the initiator of Chinese civilization, April 4, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

More than 10,000 people gathered in front of the mausoleum to Huangdi, the Yellow Emperor, on Monday morning to pay their respects to the legendary figure regarded as the initiator of Chinese civilization.

At 9:50 am, the rituals got underway, with yellow flags and a 56-meter-long dragon fluttering in the breeze outside the stately tomb on Qianshan Mountain in Huangling, Shaanxi province.

Drums were pounded and bells rang out in the light morning drizzle as the ceremony was broadcast live. It was sponsored by the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, the State Council's Overseas Chinese Affairs Office and the Shaanxi provincial government.
Zhouzhuang, by Wu Guanzhong. The piece was sold for HK$236 million ($30.4 million) at Poly Auction's spring sale on Monday night. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Zhouzhuang, an oil painting by master artist Wu Guanzhong sold for HK$236 million ($30.4 million) on Monday night at Poly Auction's spring sale, according to Beijing Times. The piece has updated the auction record of his artwork, and sets a new high among contemporary Chinese oil paintings.

The painting, with bids starting at HK$138 million ($17.8 million), is nearly 3 meters long, the largest-sized oil painting on the market so far. The painting was created by Wu in 1997 when he was 78 years old. Wu Guanhzong and his wife Zhu Biqin went to the water town Zhouzhuang in 1985 for the first time, and Wu detailed his artistic process in his book Draw the Eye.

Wu's landscape on oil canvas, Zhouzhuang, represents his mastery in portraying picturesque Jiangnan or the southern area in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

During the section "Fine Modern Chinese Paintings and Calligraphy" on Monday night, a total of 146 items were on sale, with Orchid and Bamboo by Zheng Banqiao and Roosters and Bamboos by Xu Beihong sold for HK$21.24 million ($2.7 million) and HK$17.7 million ($2.3 million) respectively.
Yanxi Restaurant in Huairou offers diners a variety of delicacies with local ingredients, such as rainbow trout, foie gras, and Huairou tofu. Photos by Jiang Dong/China Daily

Beijing's suburban Huairou district produces some of China's tastiest rainbow trout, and now is a good time to enjoy this tasty delicacy, along with other local specialties, Liu Zhihua discovers.

As the weather warms up, Beijingers begin to swarm to the city's outskirts in search of early spring's greens, blooms and delicacies.

In Huairou district, north of downtown, as gentle breezes flow over the area near Yanqi Lake, Yanxi Restaurant is hosting a spring food festival through April 8.

Opened late last year near the famous lake where the APEC summit was held in October 2014, the restaurant can serve about 1,000 diners and now offers urban visitors a refreshing spring culinary experience.

The new menu features fusion-style delicacies based on Cantonese, Sichuan and Beijing fare, using signature local ingredients, such as chestnut mushrooms and rainbow trout.

Long Shisheng, head chef with the restaurant and a famous Cantonese chef, says the restaurant hopes to offer good value and innovation in crowd-pleasing dishes.

One example is the way the kitchen handles rainbow trout. Huairou is famous for this fish, which is called "ginseng from water" due to its high nutritional value.

Unlike the common barbecued rainbow trout in Huairou's restaurants and diners, Long cooks the fish with a Cantonese twist.
Helene Ponty promotes wine culture in China. Liu Zhe / China Daily

Wineries in Bordeaux, France, have always been about preserving the history and traditions of winemaking. Now, however, they must also embrace the ever-changing wine industry in China, says Helene Ponty, who represents her family's winery in the Middle Kingdom.

The Ponty family has been making wine in Bordeaux since 1905, but China is newer turf. Specializing in Merlot, Le Ponty wines came to the mainland in 2012. The brand now exports six handcrafted wines from a small village in Fronsac to provinces all over China.

Ponty, the 29-year-old daughter of current owner Michel Ponty, spearheads those efforts. She initially had little to no interest in joining the family business, and even her family wasn't clinking glasses in celebration right away.

"My parents didn't think it would be successful," she remembers. "They thought I could do something better. You know, why would I not work with a big company?"

Also, history suggests that, for family-owned wineries, a family member inheriting responsibilities will typically find they are better at making wine than selling it, Ponty says.

The winemaking techniques come from the family's century-old heritage. The Pontys harvest their grapes by hand, which is something less than 15 percent of wineries in the world still do. Helene Ponty took great delight, during a recent visit home last fall, in creating a video on the process that she posted on social media in China.

When she moved to China, selling wine was not the plan. But soon she found she wanted to connect the dots for less-educated wine drinkers, who felt intimidated by something that was old hat for the Ponty family.
Dozens of government officials and members of academic from different Chinese cities recently gathered at Beijing Normal University to discuss ways to improve the youth's financial literacy through education.

Several attendees at the forum talked about pilot projects in primary and middle schools in some cities, where the students are being taught money management.

The university's China Education Innovation Institute and Shanghai BeBetter Philanthropy Group, an education consultant company, launched the Research Center of Financial Literacy Education for Youth during the forum.

Some experts also told the forum that China should follow in the footsteps of developed countries, attaching more importance to financial literacy and making it a part of the education system.

BNU vice-president Chen Li said that education reform in the country encourages students to develop wide-ranging interests and explore personal traits. To foster young people's financial literacy would mean making them more competitive for the future, she said.

Wang Sheng, director of the new research center, said that the body will offer academic support and organize educational events to improve financial skills of Chinese students.

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Website unveils contest to identify 'future stars'
People visit the tombstones of deceased relatives during Qingming Festival, or Tomb Sweeping Day, at Songhe cemetery on the outskirts of Shanghai April 5, 2014. [Photo/Agencies]

A woman, who works in Beijing, couldn't return to Kunming, capital of Yunnan province in Southwest China, to sweep her parents' tombs. She hoped to find a tomb-sweeping service to do it for her but failed. Public cemeteries in the city have stopped the service for some time because there was little demand. Beijing Youth Daily commented on Monday:

When companies offering tomb-sweeping services first emerged, they initially drew attention because of their novelty. However, there was more criticism than praise for them, and most of them soon went out of business as few people wanted to use such services.

This is a good thing in terms of preserving the tradition of tomb-sweeping, as commercializing the tending of graves and hiring strangers to show respect to the deceased do not honor their memory.

If the woman from Kunming couldn't make it home to sweep her parents' tomb herself because of her business commitments, she could hold a memorial ceremony at home to express her love and gratitude. She does not have to travel to her parents' graves to remember them.

The rituals of tomb-sweeping, whether simple or sophisticated, are intended to be a way to remember our ancestors.

But all in all, the traditional rituals of tomb-sweeping are merely a formality, many young people memorialize the deceased online nowadays and people can honor the spirits in the way that suits them best.
Japanese policemen contain protesters as they demonstrate against Japan's controversial national security bills in front of Japan's parliament building in Tokyo, Japan, Sept 14, 2015. [Photo/IC]

Days before the country's new security laws came into effect on March 29, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe asked National Defense Academy graduates to prepare to implement them.

But, embarrassingly, an increasing number of cadets are not interested in careers in the country's Self-Defense Forces.

Cadets at the academy pay no tuition fees and receive free room and board along with monthly stipends. The academy's graduates usually end up becoming SDF officers. However, 47 out of 419 graduates this year preferred the private sector rather than joining the SDF, double the number last year.

It is the largest number since 1991 when a record 94 graduates declined to join the SDF. That year, Japan was deliberating on whether SDF personnel should be sent to the Gulf War.

Japanese defense ministry officials have tried to play down the choice of the cadets, claiming that private businesses offer more openings for university graduates.

But the truth is that those graduates are appalled by the just-executed security laws, which greatly expand the SDF's duties overseas and allow Japan to come to the aid of allies around the globe in contingencies that "gravely affect" Japan's security.

Many people in Japan call the new laws "war legislation," fearing the nation will either enter, or be dragged into, military conflicts that are not of its making.

Some 600 lawyers are scheduled to file a lawsuit with the Tokyo District Court challenging the constitutionality of the laws this month.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (1st R) meets with his US counterpart Barack Obama (1st L) on the sidelines of the fourth Nuclear Security Summit in Washington DC, the United States, March 31, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

Despite the weakening of its leadership, the United States is still trying to capitalize on its remaining advantages and the political clout it enjoys in the world to maintain its dominant status in a fast-developing multi-polar era.

In fact, maintaining Washington's dominant status is a central diplomatic plank of US President Barack Obama. His diplomatic policies have been wise in that they are meant to change the way American diplomacy is practiced, the essence of which is safeguarding the US' dominance on three fronts: as a power, world leader and key balancing factor in a new world order.

But there are considerable disagreements within the US establishment over how to achieve a Washington-dominated equilibrium in strategic principles while handling relations with rising powers. The business community, led by major multinational corporations, and financial movers and shakers on Wall Street, wants to continue with the policy of pragmatic cooperation with China as a main stakeholder. Special interest groups, comprising mainly military-industrial complexes, however, on the pretext of guaranteeing US leadership and national security, advocate tougher policies against any practical or potential source of threat, and view Russia and China as the foremost strategic rivals.

The fact is, in the year of presidential election, the US is seriously restrained by economic difficulties and extreme socio-political polarization at home. Ignoring this reality, however, the US is stubbornly trying to maintain its hegemony in the world order. It is thus unrealistic to expect the US to play a constructive leadership role in helping build a multi-polar world.

A peacefully rising China has become a major variable in the development of a new Asia-Pacific order. Sino-US competition has been on the rise in recent years, essentially because of Washington's worries that Beijing might challenge its dominant position.

While the US suffered serious blows in Iraq and Afghanistan and was dealt a big blow by the global financial crisis, China's peaceful rise continued almost unabated. This resulted in unprecedented changes in the two sides' comparative strengths. A major cause of the change in Sino-US relations is that Washington has come to view Beijing as a major strategic rival.

In order to maintain its international dominance, the US has pumped in more funds to strengthen its presence in the East Asia region, especially to bolster its military alliances with some Asian countries to counterbalance China's rise. This change has made the existing structural contradiction in US-China ties more prominent, and points to a serious imbalance between high-level economic ties and low-level political and security relations.

The essence of Sino-US diplomatic and military standoff over the South China Sea issue is the conflict between the goals of a rising China committed to protecting its sovereign rights to security and development and the US efforts to maintain its dominance in the region. Strategically speaking, mutual distrust between Washington and Beijing has deepened and mutual vigilance and counterbalancing are escalating. But as the biggest stakeholder for each other, China and the US agree they should avoid confrontation, and prevent their disagreements from harming their overall relationship.

The two sides have continued to advance broad cooperative projects. They have strengthened coordination and cooperation in coping with such significant global challenges as climate change and control of epidemics, and made other achievements. Given all these facts, one can safely say that such co-existence and interweaving of competition and cooperation will become the "new normal" in China-US ties.

The author is former president of China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.

Courtesy: chinausfocus.com
A still of Korean drama "Descendants of the Sun". [Photo/IC]

While Chinese people have started recognizing the value of soft power in expanding national interests, our neighbor to east, South Korea, has been using its TV plays to further its image for quite some time now.

With the Descendants of the Sun, a new South Korean series on KBS2, being a big hit with TV viewers on the Chinese mainland, people cannot but ask: Why cannot China, a country with a much larger audience, make such popular TV dramas? What's wrong with China's film and television plays and directors?

Some people attribute the popularity of South Korean TV series to their love-oriented stories, overflowing aestheticism, and romantic, sympathetic and suspenseful scenarios that seem to fit in with young women's fantasies. The pleasing personalities of the male and female protagonists, their vivaciousness, as well as the zigzagging plots and marvelous music, which meet young viewers' psychological demands, are also believed to be strong points of South Korean TV dramas.

But all these seem superficial factors if we believe some scholars who say the success of South Korean plays essentially stems from the success of the country's cultural policy and its cultural business model which consider the success of the performing arts sector only as a subordinate factor.

In my view, South Korean TV dramas have been successful because they benefit from the positive image of the country and its eagerness to integrate itself with the outside world. After all, a country's film and TV productions should be analyzed in the context of its broader national image.

According to Simon Anholt, a national brand expert, a country's reputation can be neither forged nor changed through communication. He says the national image can be lifted 80 percent by creative work, 15 percent with systematic coordination, and only 5 percent through communication.
Zhou Hailun, 17-year-old studying in California

Growing up on the Chinese mainland, Zhou Hailun always knew that she would finish her high school education in the United States, whatever the cost.

"That's what everybody does," said the 17-year-old from Sichuan province, who has spent the past two years studying in California and will graduate this spring. "My father's friends all sent their kids abroad, so that was the trend."

Zhou is among a growing number of Chinese teens who are flocking to US high schools, looking for a Western education and a competitive edge in gaining admission to US universities and then finding a job back home.

But the pursuit of the American dream can quickly turn into a nightmare, experts warn, as many of these so-called parachute kid live in the US with little parental supervision and can end up in trouble  and even in prison.

"It's a huge industry," said Joaquin Lim, who runs a company that helps place Chinese students in US schools. "The last figure I read put it at $25 billion."

Of nearly 1 million international students enrolled in public and private institutions in the United States in 2014 and 2015, about 304,000  or 31.2 percent  were from China, according to the Washington-based Institute of International Education.

About 30,000 of those students attended secondary schools, compared with fewer than 1,000 a decade ago.

The majority of these "parachute kids" ages 14 to 19 end up in Southern California. For the most part, they attend Catholic or Christian schools because of restrictions by the US government on the number of foreign-exchange students enrolled in public schools.

Chinese students Tony Lu (L), from Anhui and Henry Li (R) from Wuhan, spend their free time connected to China on their internet devices at their host family's home in Murrieta, California on March 23, 2016. Known as 'Parachute Kids', the two boys attending high school and living with Joseph and Josephine Allen in their suburban California lifestyle are part of the increasing wave of Chinese students attending US schools and colleges. [Photo/VCG]

In cities such as Murrieta, a rural community about 130 kilometers southeast of Los Angeles, the number of Chinese students has ballooned in recent years, bringing welcome cash to the school district as well as the host families who care for the teens.

"It costs about $50,000 a year for the parents, who are mostly middle class, to send their kids here, but they consider it an investment," Lim said.

"Three years ago, we had about 40 Chinese students enrolled in high schools in Murrieta and today we have more than 300, and the number keeps growing."

The town of about 105,000 residents is a far cry from China's polluted mega-cities, but most of the teens adjust well to US life, said Renate Jefferson, who oversees the exchange program for the public school district.

"What they notice first is the blue sky," she said. "They just walk around in awe at the blue sky. They think it's beautiful."

The students are also baffled by the freedom they enjoy academically  a welcome change from the rigorous, rote-learning system in China.

"You have a lot of choices and much more freedom to study what you're interested in," said Li Junheng, 19, who is graduating this year from a Catholic school in Murrieta.

But many of the "parachute kids", whose parents rely on intermediaries to help them through the bewildering application process, are in for a hard landing in the United States, ill-equipped to navigate the cultural transition and their newfound independence.

Last month, three Chinese teens enrolled at a private school in Rowland Heights, a neighborhood east of Los Angeles, were given prison sentences ranging from six to 13 years for attacking a classmate.

The incident attracted widespread attention in China and prompted soul-searching on the wisdom of sending teenagers to a foreign country with no close parental supervision.

"You don't send your child 6,000 miles before verifying the school and who they are staying with," Lim said. "Too often, these kids are thrown into a completely foreign environment and are not prepared to fend for themselves."
Westerners are often daunted by the thought of learning Chinese, mainly because of the perceived complexity of Chinese characters. In fact, if they knew that they'd be able to get by if they had to learn only pinyin (the Romanization system for Mandarin), they might not be as tentative.

But how do Chinese feel about using English?

Hezi Jiang, a Beijing native and China Daily USA reporter in New York, said: "There is a popular joke in China: A Chinese man flies to America. On the plane, the flight attendant approaches him and asks, 'Coffee or tea, sir?'

"The man thought, 'I've had coffee and tea. I'll have an "or". Thank you'," he said.

"To me, a lot of the embarrassing things happen with food-ordering," Hezi said. "For more than a year, I never ordered salmon no matter how much I wanted to have grilled salmon, because the word is hard to pronounce. I used to pronounce the 'l' in salmon, and the waiter/waitress would correct me by asking "sam-mon"?

"I found that really embarrassing, so I stopped ordering. I had mahi mahi instead. I love the name, so easy. Also, I didn't like when restaurants offer special menus. The waiter would say a list of things that I have no idea of, and I would look into his/her eyes, nodding.

"But it feels great when I can understand an item or two," she said. "Most times, I would order that thing just to prove that I could understand. (Very stupid, I know.)

"I found that we say 'yes' a lot when we don't understand. I remember once at a brunch place, a waiter asked my friend, 'White or wheat'?"

"He said 'yes'."

"We laughed, and he blushed. Ordering food is hard."

"I remember when I was preparing for IELTS (International English Language Testing System, a British version of the US' TOFEL) three years ago," recalled Long Yifan, an intern at China Daily USA in New York, who is from Shaoyang in Hunan province. "I tended to use the newly grasped academic words for oral English practice.

"I had some friends from Scotland, and one day when we ate out, I was in a hurry to find a restroom. I wanted to express my situation in an academic and formal way, so I said I wanted to 'discharge' myself. They were all surprised and amused.

"I felt something was wrong and wanted to make a clarification, so I said I wanted to urinate. They all burst into laughter."

"Just like how learning Chinese is hard for English speakers, the reverse is also true, for many of the same reasons," writes Andy Luan on Quora.com, a Q&A website. "Pronunciation is probably the hardest part of learning English at first.

"Grammar is next. English grammar is ridiculous. There are a few so-called 'rules', but just about everything seems to be an exception to these rules. For basic grammar, Chinese has some things in common with English (subject-verb-object word order), but a lot of grammar is totally different.

"Articles ('a' and 'the') are very confusing to Chinese speakers. Vocabulary and spelling is very hard, but this is actually the part Chinese people are best at. Chinese and English have almost no words in common, as Chinese borrows very few English words. And when Chinese does borrow words from English, they change very considerably, so you wouldn't even recognize it.

"So why are Chinese people 'best' at memorizing English vocabulary? Well, they often learn all of it by rote memorization for their English classes. My mother memorized an English dictionary in China before coming to the US. As a result, she can recognize many rare vocabulary words when reading literature.

"But the harder part of vocabulary is how words have different endings to turn them into nouns, adjectives, adverbs or verbs. Because Chinese is an extremely analytic language, many words in Chinese can be used as different parts of speech without changing the endings. So this is one of the confusing parts of English for Chinese speakers.

"Generally, European students of English can speak English much better than Chinese students, because the pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary are all much more similar," Luan writes.

One of my observations is that Chinese speakers tend to have difficulty with third-person pronouns (he and she aren't interchangeable in English) and collective plurals.

Many English words are the same in the singular as in the plural, which can cause confusion. So you may hear someone talk about the "researches" done for a story, which is actually quite endearing.

Contact the writer at williamhennelly@chinadailyusa.com
It is not unusual for senior US officials to throw jabs at China in their public speeches while traveling abroad.

President Barack Obama and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton did that when they visited Africa years ago. It happened at a time when a rising China was quickly becoming Africa's largest trade partner and investor, especially in infrastructure, an area increasingly ignored by Western nations.

When Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Russel visited Germany and spoke at the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin on March 22, he followed the same pattern - criticizing China without any self-criticism.

He pointed finger at China's human rights, laws and regulations on cyberspace, banking, counterterrorism and NGO management.

It is true that as a developing nation, China has a lot of room for improvement. But the world's only superpower has a lot of soul searching to do too, and it does not seem proper for senior US officials to use megaphone diplomacy against China. Chinese officials have refrained from that while traveling abroad, although they have plenty of ammunition.

For example, the rampant US drone strikes in some Mideast, South Asia and North Africa nations have not only constituted violations of sovereignty, they have killed many civilians, including women and children.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights reported last September that US drone strikes may have killed as many as 40 Yemeni civilians from July 1, 2014, to June 30, 2015. The number is much higher if counted from 2002, when the US started drone strikes in Yemen.

While US news media continued to cover the San Bernardino, California shootings in December 2015, when 14 people were killed in a terrorist attack, few mainstream networks have devoted time to the civilian deaths caused by US drone strikes, let alone the stories of the Yemeni civilians.

The same is true for cybersecurity. The students at the Hertie School of Governance, who are from various countries, may well remember how the National Security Agency (NSA) has operated above the law to conduct surveillance and spying activities against other nations, corporations and government leaders.

On March 25, Democracy Now talked about how the Pentagon funded and used a Colorado-based Christian NGO as a front to spy in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Russel criticized China's actions in the South China Sea. He talked lightly, however, when mentioning the land reclamations, military facilities and airstrips built by other nations before China's.

"This was not a good thing," Russel said, without explaining why the US remained dead quiet over the years and decades when other nations, some of which are US treaty allies, took those actions. It's just like when he was not bothered to mention publicly the gross human rights violations by some close US allies.

Russel repeated the US stance of not taking sides in the South China Sea sovereignty issues. But anyone who listened to or read his speech wouldn't be fooled. He sounded like a judge when arguing for the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, a treaty the US has not even ratified.

He did not say that China made the Article 298 declaration 10 years ago not to accept mandatory arbitration.

Wang Yingfan, former permanent representative to the UN, in a speech last week called on the US to exercise restraint, saying, "If you do too much, China has to react."

Russel accused China of coercion and disrespecting international laws, saying "the United States accepts limits".

If the rampant drone strikes, the frequent military surveillance along the Chinese coast, the regime change in Libya and the NSA activities as revealed by Snowden are examples of accepting limits, then Russel has to define what not accepting limits is.

Contact the writer at chenweihua@chinadailyusa.com
Vice-Premier Liu Yandong lays a brick at the foundation-laying ceremony for the Confucius Institute at Cairo University in Egypt on March 6, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

Outstanding Egyptian youths wishing to study in China will soon be able to take advantage of 500 freshman scholarships provided by the government, Vice-Premier Liu Yandong said on Saturday.

Liu made the announcement while addressing a forum of Chinese and Egyptian university chiefs in Cairo.

There are more than 800 Egyptian students studying in China, and more than 2,300 Chinese students studying in Egypt, Liu said, adding that the two countries should make bilateral people-to-people exchanges a "locomotive" driving China-Arab and China-African relations.

Among other proposals, Liu called for universities to strengthen cooperation in the field of scientific research, to play the role of think tanks to develop the two countries' relationship, and to create more opportunities for young teachers and students to get to know their counterparts abroad.

She also attended other activities since her arrival in Egypt on Friday, including the cornerstone-laying ceremony of a building at Cairo University's Confucius Institute.

Egypt is the first stop of Liu's visit to the Middle East this month, to be followed by Israel and Palestine.

In January, during President Xi Jinping's visit, the launch of a year of bilateral cultural exchanges between Egypt and China was announced to mark the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the countries.

Yang Guang, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said Liu's visit helps consolidate bilateral cultural and people-to-people exchanges.

China "attaches great importance" to Egypt, a country that has "a wide influence" in the Middle East, the Arab world and Africa, he said.

Li Guofu, an expert on the Middle East studies at the China Institute of International Studies, said one purpose of Liu's visit was to implement a five-year plan to strengthen the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.

Liu met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Sunday morning, followed by Secretary-General Nabil El Araby of the League of Arab States and Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail in the afternoon.

Vice-Premier Liu Yandong lays a brick at the foundation-laying ceremony for the Confucius Institute at Cairo University in Egypt on Saturday.
American airports and the growth of their international traffic made headlines last week. A new report from the International Trade Administration (ITA) indicated that last year San Francisco International Airport (SFO) had the highest rate of international visitors of any American gateway.

ITA data showed that approximately 209 million passengers traveled to and from the US in 2015. Among them, traffic between the US and China increased by 25 percent.

SFO witnessed a 9 percent increase in international travelers, overshadowing other major gateway airports such as New York's JFK, Chicago's O'Hare, and Miami and Los Angeles international.

SFO director John Martin said that the international traffic growth "highlights the success of our efforts, which include improved facilities, a keen eye on cost control, and an unwavering commitment to the guest experience."

The airport has a 10-year capital facelift plan that includes terminal renovations, new amenities and a new hotel. Some high-end restaurants recently signed lease agreements to start operations in SFO international terminals.

Last year, SFO added several new airlines and launched new international flights, including daily direct flights to Guangzhou, capital city of Guangdong province, in June by China Southern Airlines, the third-largest airline in the world by passenger volume.

In 2014, SFO became the first American airport with a Chinese-language website featuring real-time tracking of arrivals and departures, information about shopping, restaurants, services and public transportation around the Bay Area.

International visits to the Bay Area have increased by 21 percent in the past four years, and the number of visitors is expected to grow another 19 percent in the next two years. The influx of international visitors has bolstered the local economy, especially the tourism and service industries.

The largest industry category in San Francisco, tourism creates and retains 87,000 jobs, according to the San Francisco Travel Association. Chinese visitors are leading the market by spending roughly $813 million in 2015, dwarfing their counterparts from any other foreign countries in San Francisco.

Chinese tourism in America seems to be booming. "I think that tourism from China is increasing at tremendous rates," said San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee. "It's keeping our Chinese Consulate very busy, our US Embassy very busy in processing visas. Chinese visitors are not coming in by the ones and twos; they're coming in groups of 20, 50, and 100 at a time."

California tourism agencies are making continuous and consistent efforts to help industry practitioners and businesses better serve Chinese visitors to the Golden State. Visit California, the state's tourism association, and SFTravel have sponsored a series of seminars called "China Ready" to help business understand the Chinese culture and consumption habits of Chinese visitors.

To recruit Mandarin-speaking staff and offer Chinese cuisine and amenities (such as hot water for tea) that Chinese visitors are accustomed to, tourism industry workers in San Francisco need to keep learning, said Antonette Eckert, director of international tourism for the Asia-Pacific market at the San Francisco Travel Association, which recently launched websites in traditional and simplified Chinese in partnership with Brand USA.

Helen Han, who owns a travel agency in San Francisco, said she always asks her employees to show respect to the elderly and take good care of the minors in a tourist groups, "as this is part of the Chinese culture, and it can quickly help build a rapport with the group."

Contact the writer at junechang@chinadailyusa.com
Vice-Premier Liu Yandong arrived in Tel Aviv on Monday at the start of her visit to both Israel and Palestine, a trip that experts said will boost cooperation and help attract more global attention to the conflict and tension there.

Liu arrived in Israel as part of a three-stop visit that began on Friday and ends on Thursday. Her first stop was Egypt.

High-level exchanges have been frequent between China and the two Middle East countries in recent years.

In November, Vice-Premier Wang Yang visited both Palestine and Israel, and in May 2014, Liu also made a five-day official visit to Israel.

Li Shaoxian, a senior expert in Middle East studies at Ningxia University in Yinchuan, the capital of the Ningxia Hui autonomous region, said that Chinese leaders often visit both Israel and Palestine during a single trip, which helps China strike a balance between the two countries.

The situation there has drastically worsened since the second half of last year, with conflict increasing amid frequent suicide attacks.

The visits by the vice-premier also will show that China pays close attention to the plight of the people living in the shadow of conflict and "its unchanged commitment and efforts in pushing forward the peace process", Li said.

Yin Gang, a senior research fellow on Middle East affairs at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the Israel-Palestine issue is being marginalized.

"Tension between Palestine and Israel continues, but the peace process has been forgotten by an increasing number of people. The media headlines regarding the Middle East are now mostly about the Syrian refugee crisis," Yin said.

Bilateral cooperation

Innovation will be a highlight of the visit to Israel. The vice-premier will co-chair the second meeting of the China-Israel Joint Committee on Innovation Cooperation, according to a Foreign Ministry announcement on Friday.

On Jan 29 last year, Liu and then-Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman co-chaired the first meeting in Beijing, and they signed a three-year action plan to cooperate on innovation.

In a show of top-level support for bilateral cooperation on innovation, Premier Li Keqiang and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu both sent congratulatory messages to the first meeting.

Wu Bingbing, a professor of Middle East studies at Peking University, said that although the size of the Israeli economy is not huge, it "enjoys a great reserve of brainpower and is an innovation-oriented economy and society".

As China is prioritizing innovation and restructuring its economy, "such cooperation on innovation and entrepreneurship may be the biggest common ground for the two countries at this time", Wu said.

Meanwhile, in Egypt earlier on Monday, Vice-Premier Liu called for strengthened cooperation in science and technology while visiting the country's National Research Center.

Liu also urged the establishment of more platforms and additional opportunities for the cooperation of young scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs of the two countries. Additionally, she said the two countries should share more ideas and experiences regarding science and technology innovation policies, development of industrial technology and commercialization of research findings.

She also encouraged scientific research institutions, universities and enterprises of the two sides to establish joint laboratories to promote high-level scientific research.

China will provide 50 more opportunities for young Egyptian scientists to work in China, she said.

Up to now, 17 Egyptian scientists have been offered the opportunity.

Contact the writer at zhangyunbi@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 03/29/2016 page3)
China and Israel agreed to start the long-awaited negotiation on the bilateral Free Trade Agreement during talks today between visiting Vice-Premier Liu Yandong and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem.

Liu said the two-way innovation cooperation "will develop rapidly" in various fields, such as economy and trade.

When addressing the second meeting of China-Israel Joint Committee on Innovation Cooperation after the two-way talks, Netanyahu said, "This (the consensus on start of FTA talks) is a momentous development and we are ready to do so right away".

Netanyahu noted that China is now Israel's third largest trade partner, with annual trade of over $10 billion. "We have, I believe, the potential for a lot more," he said.

Bilateral trade has increased notably since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1992.

Ministry of Commerce spokesman Shen Danyang confirmed in March last year that the two sides completed a feasibility study of the FTA.

Last year, the two way trade volume reached $11.4 billion, a year-on-year growth of 5 percent. Chinas total investment in Israel is $6 billion.

"In light of the global economy situation in 2015, these achievements are hard-won," said Chinese Ambassador to Israel Zhan Yongxin at a seminar earlier this month.

Liu is on a three-stop visit to Egypt, Israel and Palestine that began Friday and ends Thursday.
Jerusalem - China and Israel signed an agreement today to issue each other's applicants multiple-entry visas valid for 10 years.

The agreement was signed at the venue of the second meeting of the China-Israel Joint Committee on Innovation Cooperation, co-chaired by Vice-Premier Liu Yandong and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Liu has suggested China and Israel "reinforce the effective dovetailing of innovation strategies".

Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Zhang Ming and his Israeli counterpart, Tzipi Hotovely, signed a multiple-entry visa agreement for holders of Israeli national passports and Chinese ordinary passports.

The good news about the visa facilitation was unveiled with a rising number of visits exchanged between the two countries. In January, visa exemption was achieved for holders of diplomatic passports and service passports.

When meeting with Liu earlier today, Netanyahu said Israel welcomes more Chinese tourists to his country.

Last year, 47,000 Chinese visited Israel, and according to Zhan, the ambassador, China's Hainan Airlines will open a direct flight between Beijing and Tel Aviv next month.

Wu Bingbing, a professor of Middle East studies at Peking University, said one of the largest comparative advantages of the Israeli economy is brainpower, and China could benefit more from expanded cultural exchanges.

Eyes on innovation

Diplomats and experts said the Committee meeting will refuel China's ongoing shift toward an innovation-oriented economy as there is a lot than could be learned from Israel, a leading economy with cutting-edge technologies and entrepreneurship.

The two leaders witnessed 13 documents signed, covering fields such as science, education, health, culture and locality-level cooperation.

Also today, Liu and Netanyahu jointly attended the opening ceremony of the official website of the China-Israel innovation cooperation center.

Liu and Netanyahu also unveiled the Israel-Changzhou Initiative. Changzhou of Eastern China's Jiangsu province is home to the China-Israel Innovation Park.

Chinese Ambassador to Israel Zhan Yongxin has said, "the two economies are highly complementary".

"Israel has advanced technology, strong innovation, and numerous start-ups, while China is famous for its strong manufacturing capacity and broad market," Zhan told a seminar earlier this month.
"The focus of my work is the profound consideration and the emotion of the ink," says Lan Zhenghui, one of China's leading contemporary artists.

His towering new installation Ink Monument has been on view at Art Central Hong Kong at the iconic Central Harbourfront. Commissioned by Art Central's selection committee, Lan Zhenghui's installation Ink Monument stands more than five meters high, with a colossal four-sided column of large-scale ink paintings on rice paper.

Lan said he created his new master-work to express the power of sadness and an epic awareness of tragedy.

Celebrated Chinese artist Lan Zhenghui is known for his large-scale use of ink, blending traditional Chinese technique with Western expressionism. Provided to China Daily

Lan, whose work is regularly exhibited at Ethan Cohen New York Gallery, is set to embark on a US tour later this year that includes a residency at Mana Contemporary in Jersey City, New Jersey, and university lectures in multiple US cities.

This is the second year that the Art Central selection committee has invited Lan Zhenghui for a major installation. At 2015's Hong Kong Art Week, Lan's installation titled Re-Think was a highlight of the Art Central fair and the entire installation was purchased.

Critics have applauded Lan for taking the freehand strokes of traditional Chinese painting to new, monumental levels by infusing them with the abstractions and expressiveness found in modern painting.

"What makes this new installation completely different for me is that I have been challenged by dimensions required by the selection committee and translating this into the necessary sense of space - to then construct a dignified phenomenon of transcending tragedy, representing the mortality we all face. I would have liked to reach higher to even greater heights," he said in a statement.

Lan says he draws his inspiration from the ink itself. By inhabiting the aesthetic confluence between traditional Chinese Ink painting and Western abstract expressionism, Lan tries to find ways of reinventing both.

As he puts it, he lets the ink flow and discover its own momentum through his bold, kinetic, strokes, liberating it from being defined by its form.

"But the spirits of Chinese landscapes still linger like ghosts in the canvas," he said. "They haunt both the process - the brushstrokes, the vectoring - and the resulting shapes. Mountains, rivers, storms, even figures, surge and evaporate subliminally."

Born in Sichuan province in 1959, Lan graduated in 1987 from one of China's most prestigious art academies - the Sichuan Academy of Art, whose celebrated alumni include Zhang Xiaogang and Zhou Chunya.

Lan has focused his career working in contemporary ink painting and calligraphy, with a vision to find new ways of creating art via ink traditions.

Known for monumental, large-scale abstract ink paintings, Lan's work, as critics have noted, departs from Chinese ink traditions through his raw individualism, emotional expressiveness, and physicality. The result is bold, varying densities of ink application and the artist splashing ink directly onto the paper.

Most recently, Lan's work has been featured in the US in a traveling exhibition titled 28 Chinese, an exhibition of Chinese artists gathered by American collectors Don and Mera Rubell after 10 years of visiting artists' studios in China. The show was launched during Art Basel Miami Beach and has traveled to the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco and the San Antonio Museum of Art.

Lan's work has been shown at the China National Art Museum in Beijing; at China's Guangdong Museum of Art; the Gallerie du Monde Hong Kong; The Third Biennial China-Italia in Turin, Italy; the Flemish Museum of Art Museum in Brussels; the Art Institute of Chicago; the International Art Expo in Taibei; the Duolun Museum of Modern Art in Shanghai; at Art Dubai; SDMOMA, Shanghai; and the Baden-Wurttemberg in Germany.

His work appears in the public collections of the China National Art Museum in Beijing; the British Consulate at Guangzhou; the Chinese Cultural Centre of Toronto; and the Artron Group of China, among others. He is represented by Ethan Cohen New York and Canadian Fine Arts in Toronto.

The artist has been selected by some of the world's leading luxury brands for special projects, including Mercedes-Maybach and Volkswagen Phaeton.

Contact the writer at chrisdavis@chinadailyusa.com
China and Israel agreed on Tuesday to start long-awaited negotiations on a free trade agreement.

The consensus came during talks in Jerusalem between Vice-Premier Liu Yandong and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

While addressing the second meeting of the China-Israel Joint Committee on Innovation Cooperation after the talks, Netanyahu said, "This (the consensus on starting FTA talks) is a momentous development and we are ready to do so right away."

Vice-Premier Liu Yandong talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the second meeting of the China-Israel Joint Committee on Innovation Cooperation in Jerusalem on Tuesday. Zhang Yunbi / China Daily

Netanyahu noted that China is now Israel's third-largest trading partner, with annual trade of over $10 billion. "We have ... the potential for a lot more," he said.

Liu said cooperation on innovation is developing rapidly in various fields such as the economy and trade, and she suggested "reinforcing the effective dovetailing of innovation strategies" on both sides.

Bilateral trade has increased notably since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1992. Ministry of Commerce spokesman Shen Danyang confirmed in March last year that the two countries had completed a feasibility study for a free trade agreement.

Last year, bilateral trade volume reached $11.4 billion, a year-on-year increase of 5 percent. China's total investment in Israel has reached $6 billion.

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin told Liu during a meeting on Tuesday that his country hopes to further strengthen cooperation in fields such as science, technology, innovation, agriculture and culture, which would serve the two countries' common interests.

Liu Baolai, former Chinese ambassador to the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, said, "There is still great potential for economic, trade and culture cooperation," since China's 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) is unfolding and there is a great need to boost growth through innovation.

The vice-premier and Netanyahu witnessed the signing by Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Zhang Ming and his Israeli counterpart, Tzipi Hotovely, of an agreement to issue 10-year, multiple-entry visas to applicants from each country.

The visa agreement comes as the number of exchanges between the two countries is increasing. In January, a visa exemption was granted for holders of diplomatic and service passports.

When meeting with Liu, Netanyahu said Israel welcomes more Chinese tourists.

Wu Bingbing, a professor of Middle East studies at Peking University, said one of the biggest advantages of the Israeli economy is brainpower, from which China could benefit more through expanded cultural exchanges.

On Tuesday, Liu and Netanyahu jointly attended the opening ceremony for the website of the China-Israel Innovation Cooperation Center.

zhangyunbi@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily USA 03/30/2016 page3)
Vice-Premier Liu Yandong has voiced hopes that universities in China and Israel will nurture high-end talents and boost business startups and entrepreneurship.

She made the calls in Jerusalem on Tuesday when addressing the first China-Israel forum that gathered presidents of universities.

Both nations have profound traditions in stressing culture and education, they have their own characteristics when it comes to their own higher dedication, and it is feasible to be complementary to each other and join hands to move forward, Liu said.

Universities from both sides are hoped to learn from each other to play a leading role in serving the two-way relationship and boosting people-to-people friendship, she said.

The universities are expected to be incubators of high-end talent and a locomotive of innovation and entrepreneurship, she said.

Universities are hoped to project vision and become think tanks that map out blueprint for future, she added.

Liu is in a three-stop visit to Egypt, Israel and Palestine from Friday to Thursday.
There is "great potential" for China-Israel trade, said Vice-Premier Liu Yandong while meeting with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin in Jerusalem on Tuesday.

Last year, the two-way trade volume was $11.4 billion, with a year-on-year growth rate of 5 percent. China's total investment in Israel reached $6 billion.

Liu said the two nations helped each other through the wartime and nurtured deep friendship, which "made a sound basis" for the two-way relationship.

Beijing hopes to maintain high-level exchanges, strengthen political mutual trust, expand economic and trade cooperation and advance cultural exchanges, Liu said.

Rivlin said his country hopes to further strengthen cooperation in fields such as science, technology, innovation, agriculture and culture, which serves common interests of both sides.

Liu is in a three-stop visit to Egypt, Israel and Palestine from Friday to Thursday.

High-level exchanges between China and the two Middle East countries have maintained a high frequency.

In November last year, Vice-Premier Wang Yang paid a visit to both Palestine and Israel. In May, 2014, Liu paid a five-day official visit to Israel also.
When meeting with former Israeli prime minister Shimon Peres on Wednesday, Vice-Premier Liu Yandong said "there is huge potential and great prospect for two-way cooperation in various fields, particularly in innovation cooperation".

At their meeting in Tel Aviv, Peres said both two countries value innovation, and he is delighted to see the outcomes in science and innovation domains.

Liu conveyed greetings by Chinese leaders to Peres. She said Peres is "an outstanding strategist and statesman" and "an old friend of Chinese people".

During Peres' visit to China in 2014, a slew of important consensus was reached between him and President Xi Jinping upon strengthening two-way cooperation in fields such as science and technology, education, health and medical care, agriculture and utilization of water resources.

"Today, with the joint efforts of both sides, these consensuses have yielded fruitful outcomes," Liu told Peres.

Next year marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relationship between China and Israel.

Liu said the two sides are hoped to take this as an opportunity to bring the ties to a new height, and Peres is expected to further play an important role in boosting the friendly cooperation.

Liu is in a three-stop visit to Egypt, Israel and Palestine till Thursday.

zhangyunbi@chinadaily.com.cn
Vice-Premier Liu Yandong has said China and Israel are expected to "increase dynamism for the two-way cooperation in healthcare industries".

Liu made the calls when addressing a China-Israel healthcare cooperation seminar in Tel Aviv on Wednesday.

Israel enjoys "a well-developed healthcare system, it runs effectively and it's a pioneer in technology", she noted.

Cooperation should be deepened in regards to the industry new frontiers and cutting-edge technologies - such as stem cells and regenerative medicine - to "make the biological and pharmaceutical sectors a new driving force for the economic development of the two countries".

"China is endeavoring to build a 'healthy China', and is consistently advancing its reform in the medical, pharmaceutical and hygiene system," she said.

Also the two countries hope to boost sharing of experiences and strengthen in-depth cooperation in between, and joint research and training are hoped for health emergency management and disease prevention and control, she said.

Liu is in a three-stop visit to Egypt, Israel and Palestine till Thursday.

zhangyunbi@chinadaily.com.cn
Liu calls for increased dynamism in healthcare, entrepreneurship, education

Chinese Vice-Premier Liu Yandong highlighted China's innovations when she addressed a series of bilateral events that spotlighted healthcare, entrepreneurship and education during her visit to Israel.

At a China-Israel healthcare cooperation seminar in Tel Aviv on Wednesday, Liu said the two countries are expected to "increase dynamism for the two-way cooperation in healthcare industries".

Vice-Premier Liu Yandong said China and Israel are expected to"increase dynamism for the two-way cooperation in healthcare industries", as she addressed a healthcare cooperation seminar in Tel Aviv on Wednesday morning during her visit to Israel. Zhang Yunbi / China Daily

Israel enjoys "a well-developed healthcare system, it runs effectively and its technologies pioneer", she said.

China and Israel should deepen cooperation in the healthcare industry's new frontiers and cutting-edge technologies, such as stem cells and regenerative medicine, to "make the biological and pharmaceutical sectors a new driving force for the economic development of the two countries", Liu said.

"China is endeavoring to build a 'healthy China', and is consistently advancing its reform in the medical, pharmaceutical and hygiene system," she said.

Li Shaoxian, a senior expert in Middle East studies at Ningxia University in Yinchuan, in the Ningxia Hui autonomous region, said China is prioritizing innovation and entrepreneurship when boosting its economy, and such efforts should be catalyzed by China-Israel cooperation.

"Also, in recent years, China's private-owned companies have been increasingly proactive in contacting and working with Israeli high-technology companies," Li said.

Avi Hasson, chief scientist of Israel's economy ministry, suggested people who are in the innovation business should have a strategy for cooperating with China.

China is "increasingly a source of innovation, it's a partner for cooperation, it's a place where you can find the resources of any kind actually needed", he said.

Hasson spoke highly of the inauguration on Tuesday of the online platform of the China-Israeli Innovation Center, which was hosted by Liu and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem.

He said it is for "all the people in the echo system - investors, enterprises, researchers, government officials - who want to collaborate, who want to find more about existing services."

When meeting with former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres on Wednesday, Liu said "there is huge potential and great prospect for two-way cooperation in various fields, particularly innovation cooperation".

Peres said the two countries both value innovation, and he is delighted to see the outcomes in science and innovation domains.

In Jerusalem on Tuesday, Liu attended the first China-Israel forum of presidents of universities, and expressed hope that the universities will nurture high-end talent and boost business startups and entrepreneurship.

Universities from both sides are expected to "be incubators of high-end talent and a locomotive of innovation and entrepreneurship", and project vision and become think tanks that map out blueprint for future, she said.

Liu is on a three-stop visit to Egypt, Israel and Palestine from until Thursday.

zhangyunbi@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily USA 03/31/2016 page5)
Vice-Premier Liu Yandong voiced China's firm support for the Palestinian people on Thursday.

China "will support without hesitation" any solution that is conducive to resuming peace talks and achieving peaceful co-existence between Palestine and Israel, Liu said as she met with Palestinian leaders in the West Bank city of Ramallah. She was on the final stop of a trip to Egypt, Israel and Palestine from March 25 to Thursday.

While meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Liu said her visit was meant to further implement the measures proposed by President Xi Jinping in a Middle East policy speech on Jan 21.

In the speech at the Cairo headquarters of the League of Arab States, Xi said that "it is the common responsibility of the international community to safeguard the legitimate national rights and interests of the people of Palestine", adding that "the Palestinian issue should not be marginalized".

Xi urged the world to not only push for resumption of talks and implementation of agreements, but also to adhere to principles and uphold justice.

Abbas said he was honored and delighted by Liu's visit, adding that Palestine appreciates Xi's stance on the Palestine issue and supports achieving peace through talks.

As Liu and Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah watched, representatives of the two governments signed an agreement to help build solar power plants in Palestine.

Wu Bingbing, a professor of Middle East studies at Peking University, said the Thursday meetings and the documents that were signed "display Beijing's renewed attention to the Palestine issue".

Strengthening cooperation is a "pragmatic choice" for improving people's livelihoods in Palestine and "will facilitate the ultimate political settlement of the issue", Wu said.

Liu visited Faisal al-Husseine Basic School for Girls in Ramallah and presented a certificate stating China's plans to donate teaching facilities and supplies to the school.

Liu observed a lesson about China in a ninth-grade classroom.

School Principal Samar Samara said she hoped Liu's visit will boost efforts to build friendly ties between schools in both countries.

zhangyunbi@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 04/01/2016 page3)
Vice-Premier Liu Yandong visited Faisal Al-Husseine Basic School for Girls in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Thursday of local time.

When she arrived, the students said hello to her in Chinese. Liu observed a lesson about China in a ninth-grade classroom.

"This is the first time for me to enter a campus in Palestine, and I'm very delighted to see the clean campus and the students who are full of vigor and vitality," Liu said.

The Vice-premier said the Palestinian children, like children around the world and those in China, "deserve school desks surrounded by tranquility and they should receive a good education".

"In the upcoming three years, China will enable more Palestinian students to study in China, and China is ready to offer help for unfolding Chinese language teaching in Palestine," Liu said.

"I believe that there will be successors and messengers among you to hand down the friendship between China and Palestine from generation to generation," Liu added.

School Principal Samar Samara said she hoped that Liu's visit will boost bilateral efforts to build friendly ties between schools in both countries.

"Joint efforts are expected to boost the digitalization of teaching and studying in Palestine," Samar said.

Liu was on the final stop of a trip to Egypt, Israel and Palestine from March 25 to March 31.
Vice-Premier Liu Yandong said "China will support without reluctance any solution that is conducive to resuming peace talks and achieving peaceful co-existence between Palestine and Israel."

Liu made the remarks when meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Thursday.

Liu was on the final stop of a trip to Egypt, Israel, and Palestine from March 25 to March 31.

Abbas said, "I'm honored and delighted by Liu's visit, and Palestine appreciates China's long-term precious support and help politically and economically."

Liu voiced China's firm support for the Palestinian people on Thursday and called for enhanced efforts to settle the Palestine issue.

Liu said "this visit was meant to further implement the commitment made by President Xi Jinping in a Middle East policy."

At the speech in the Cairo headquarters of the League of Arab States, Xi said, "it is the common responsibility of the international community to safeguard the legitimate national rights and interests of the people of Palestine. The Palestinian issue should not be marginalized."

Xi urged the world to not only push for resumption of talks and implementation of agreements, but also to obey principles and uphold justice.

"Palestine upholds achieving peace through peace talks", Abbas said.
China is willing to encourage enterprises with due capacity to invest in Palestine, Vice-Premier Liu Yandong said in a meeting with Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah.

Also, China is ready to share its "successful experience in building special economic zones and various development zones", Liu said in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Thursday.

Hamdallah said: "We hope China plays a key role in promoting peace between Palestine and Israel", and provide further support to Palestine.

Liu was on the final stop of a trip to Egypt, Israel and Palestine from March 25 to Thursday.

As Liu and Hamdallah watched, representatives of the two governments signed an agreement to help build solar power plants in Palestine.

Wu Bingbing, a professor of Middle East studies at Peking University, said the Thursday meetings and the documents that were signed "display Beijing's renewed attention to the Palestine issue".

Strengthening cooperation is a "pragmatic choice" for improving people's livelihoods in Palestine and "will facilitate the ultimate political settlement of the issue", Wu said.
RAMALLAH - China will implement the relevant initiatives raised by the Chinese president and continue to deepen mutual trust and enrich cooperation with Palestine, visiting Chinese Vice-Premier Liu Yandong said Thursday.

China will implement the relevant initiatives of Chinese President Xi Jinping raised early this year and to further promote the traditional friendship between China and Palestine, Liu said during a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

During the meeting, Liu said that in January, Chinese President Xi Jinping made it clear in a speech at the Arab League headquarters that the Palestinian question should not be marginalized or forgotten, and he also made a strong appeal on activating the peace process and promoting reconstruction.

China actively supports the Palestinian side to strengthen capacity building, and is ready to work with Palestine to implement the initiatives announced by President Xi, Liu stressed.

According to Liu, peace, development and cooperation have become irresistible trends of the times. Therefore, resolving the Palestinian question has become more prominent than ever before.

China supports the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with full sovereignty on the basis of the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, Liu said.

Liu also reiterated China's strong and committed support for Palestine as always, adding that China backs any plan to restore peace talks and achieve peaceful coexistence of Palestine and Israel.

Talking about the recent deteriorating situation on the ground, Liu stressed that peace talk is the only way to resolve the conflict. She called on Israelis and Palestinians to rebuild trust and strive for an early resumption of peace talks.

Extending heartfelt thanks, Abbas said that for 50 years, China has always respected and supported the position of the Palestinians, providing valuable political and economic support to the people. He believed that with such support and help, the two nations will further deepen the bilateral relations.

Abbas said violence, use of force and terrorism can only bring destruction, not peace, and Palestinians insisted that through peace talks, the Palestinian and Israeli youth will see the hope of peaceful coexistence between them.

During a meeting with Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, Liu said that traditional friendship between China and Palestine is deeply rooted and China is ready to push bilateral relations forward.

China and Palestine should continue mutual support and cooperation in both bilateral and multilateral levels, she suggested.

China has always firmly supported the Palestinian people to restore their legitimate national rights, and will continue to offer support in the political, economic and other aspects, Liu reiterated.

China appreciates Palestinian's enthusiasm towards the One Belt One Road initiative, and would like to encourage competent Chinese enterprises to invest in Palestine, Liu said.

China is willing to share the successful experience of economic zones in China, and deepen exchanges in the areas of education, culture, science and technology with Palestine, Liu added.

For his part, Hamdallah said China is one of the earliest countries to recognize Palestine Liberation Organization and Palestinian state, and China has also played an important role to promote the Middle East peace process.

He hoped to continue receiving precious support from China and to strengthen bilateral cooperation in economy, trade, education, culture, scientific research, tourism and so on, Hamdallah said.
RAMALLAH - China will provide Palestinian students with more government scholarships to study in China, Chinese Vice-Premier Liu Yandong said on Thursday.

Liu made the announcement during her visit to the Faisal Al-Husseine Basic School for girls in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

China attaches great importance to cultural and educational cooperation with Palestine, and the Chinese government provides 100 scholarships each year for Palestinians to study in China based on the signed agreement, Liu said.

Together with the promise of increasing the number of scholarships, Liu invited 15 Palestinian young researchers to China to carry out joint research projects.

Moreover, she also invited 60 Palestinian primary school and middle school students to join a Chinese language and culture camp in China this year, adding China is willing to provide help to Chinese language teaching in Palestine.

During her visit to a Palestinian school, Liu said with passion that Palestinian children deserve a quiet study desk as well as good education, just like other children around the world.

China has always supported the Palestinian people for the restoration of their legitimate national rights, and the Palestinian people should establish an independent state of their own and live happily with dignity, she continued.

Liu expressed her belief that the traditional friendship between China and Palestine will carry forward with the help of youths.
A migrant sits in a tent as other migrants and refugees block the highway near the Greek-Macedonian border near the village of Evzoni, Greece, April 4, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

LESVOS, Greece - Less than two weeks after crossing the Aegean Sea from Turkey to Greece with the hope of starting a new life in Europe, 202 refugees and migrants were returned to Turkey from the Greek islands on Monday.



This marked a new chapter of the European refugee crisis which has seen more than a million refugees land in Europe since 2015.



As the first rays of the sun were coming up on Monday, six buses with 136 refugees and migrants arrived at the port of Mytilene, the capital of Lesvos island, where more than half of the refugee arrivals in Greece took place.



Some 350 Frontex officers assisted scores of local police, the Greek Coast Guard and security forces personnel.



Arriving at the port in the same buses, the escorting Frontex officers had their faces covered with surgical masks. The two chartered Turkish vessels "Nazli Jale" and "Lesvos" left Mytilene for Turkey shortly before 9:00 a.m. local time.

A further 66 refugees and migrants were on board another vessel which departed from Chios island.



According to a press release from the Ministry of Citizen Protection, 135 men and a woman were transferred from Lesvos to Turkey (124 from Pakistan, three from Bangladesh, one from Iraq, two from India, four from Sri Lanka and two from Syria).



Of the 66 persons returned from Chios, 56 were men and 10 were women (42 individuals from Afghanistan, 10 from Iran, six from Pakistan, one from India, one from Somalia, one from Cote d'Ivoire, and five from the Democratic Republic of Congo).



All ships were chartered by the European border control agency Frontex and each migrant and refugee was escorted by a Frontex officer to ensure their safe transfer.



The two Syrians were returned after voluntarily agreeing to the readmission, according to Yorgos Kyritsis, spokesman of the Refugees Crisis Management Mechanism which coordinates Greece's response to the refugee crisis.



Monday's process was carried out under stringent security measures, as refugees and humanitarian organizations were protesting the implementation of the EU-Turkey agreement, voicing strong doubts as to whether the refugees would receive sufficient protection.



"Turkey is not a safe country" read a banner raised by protesters who chanted slogans such as "Open the borders. Give freedom to refugees."



Under the controversial EU-Turkey deal reached in March, all migrants and refugees who reached Greece's shores illegally by sea after March 20 will be gradually deported to Turkey if it is determined they are not eligible for asylum.



Monday's first deportations were carried without major incidents, despite a few dozen activists shouting at the port of Mytilene on Lesvos island. The number of protesters, about 30, was far less than initially expected during the operation. But this could be owing to the Sunday night announcement the ships would leave around 10:00 a.m. local time.



Police sources said there had been concerns some of the people to be deported may have attempted to dive in the water.

On Chios island, dozens of the refugees and migrants who had broken out of a detention camp on Friday were hiding to avoid their readmission, while others, as on Lesvos, were protesting inside the hot spots carrying placards with slogans reading: "We do not want to go to Turkey. Set us free."



Until recently, about one million refugees and migrants who had landed on Greece's shores since early 2015 had continued their journey to central and northern Europe.
An air war for Beijing has begun, with Los Angeles as the staging ground.

American Airlines announced on March 28 that it had submitted an application to the US Department of Transportation (DOT) for daily service between Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK).

The bid came about two weeks after rival Delta Air Lines applied to the DOT for the same route. It will now be up to the US government to decide who gets the coveted slots to Chinas capital, as there are only seven available.

"Because this is a contested matter pending before the department, we cannot comment substantively," said Caitlin Harvey, DOT public affairs specialist.

Air China, based in Beijing, currently has the only direct flights from Los Angeles to Beijing.

And why do the airlines want the LAX slots?

Los Angeles is the largest market for flights to Asia, responsible for 21 percent of all US-Asia demand, according to Delta. American reported a profit of $7.6 billion in 2015, up from $2.9 billion in 2014. The increase was attributed to growing demand in the Asia-Pacific region, Robert Isom, Americans chief operating officer, said in March, adding that the airline is concentrating on the region, particularly China.

"This new route would solidify Los Angeles as Americans West Coast gateway to Asia and it would be our only Beijing access from the western United States, creating new connections to one of Asias major business and leisure destinations," said Andrew Nocella, chief marketing officer for American Airlines, in a statement.

"Beijing is one of the worlds great cities, and nonstop service from LAX would be a great complement to our existing China service," he said.

Speaking for Delta, Ranjan Goswami, a vice-president of sales, said: "Deltas new nonstop service to Beijing continues our expansion in China, providing our business customers with access to Beijing and beyond through our partnerships with the markets leading carriers, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines."

If approved, Fort Worth, Texas-based American would begin LAX-PEK service on Dec 16 - and so would Delta.

The route-jockeying is the latest salvo in the ongoing competition between the two major US carriers.

"They are the two largest airlines in the world and - in terms of total dollars - the two most profitable too," wrote Airline Weekly in February. "And they are at each others throats. American and Delta are at war.

"This escalating war, however, is about much more than just talk. Its also about philosophy. Each carrier, for example, adopted diametrically opposed approaches to managing fuel risk. American abstained from hedging completely. Delta? Forget mere hedging. Sure, it did that. But it also bought itself an oil refinery!" Airline Weekly wrote.

American also has formally opposed Deltas application.

In a March 28 filing to the DOT titled "Answer of American Airlines, Inc and Motion to Institute a Carrier Selection Proceeding", Howard Kass, American Airlines vice-president of regulatory affairs, wrote: "Wherefore, American objects to Deltas application and respectfully urges that the Department institute a carrier selection proceeding to allocate the remaining China frequencies, consider Deltas application contemporaneously with Americans application, and grant such further relief as the Department deems warranted."

Ted Reed, a veteran airline industry reporter with TheStreet.com, assessed the situation for China Daily.

"Not to try to guess what the DOT will do, but American could really use this route," Reed said. "American badly trails rivals United and Delta in Asia, particularly in West Coast-to-Asia flying.

"United has the best West Coast hub in San Francisco, where it serves about a dozen Asia destinations," Reed said. "Over the past few years, Delta has built a hub in Seattle, and it is increasing Asia flights from there."

Reed said "Delta would say it should not be penalized for taking the risk of trying to build a hub in Seattle, defying the wishes of Wall Street, which favors stringent capacity discipline for airlines, not aggressive expansion," he said.

Delta, based in Atlanta, offers nonstops to Beijing from Seattle and Detroit.

American operates nonstop service to Beijing from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and Chicago OHare International Airport. It also offers flights from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport through its code-sharing with Chinas Hainan Airlines.

In February, American began running direct flights from LAX to Tokyos Haneda Airport, taking slots previously used by Delta for service from Seattle. The two are expected to compete for new daytime slots at Haneda.

"Sadly for American, LAX is a tough place to operate," Reed said. "Although all three US global carriers operate hubs there, LAX is too congested for any of them to accumulate sufficient gates to build a major hub.

"Also, LAX is extremely competitive because so many foreign carriers fly there, so it is impossible for US hub carriers to control pricing," he added. "Nevertheless, American has said repeatedly that it plans to grow at LAX and to build a trans-Pacific hub there."

williamhennelly@chinadailyusa.com
Deadly clashes between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces over the Nagorny Karabakh region continued for a third day on Monday despite international pressure to halt the worst fighting in decades over the disputed territory.

Azerbaijan said three of its troops were killed overnight when Armenian forces shelled its positions using mortars and grenade launchers, taking the overall death toll in the latest surge of violence to at least 36.

"In the event of continued Armenian provocations, we will launch a full-scale operation along the entire front line, using all kinds of weapons," Azerbaijan's defense ministry spokesman Vagif Dargahly told journalists.

The separatist authorities in Karabakh said that Azeri troops "intensified shelling of the Karabakh army positions on Monday morning, using 152-millimeter mortars, rocket-propelled artillery and tanks".

The fresh outbreak of fighting over the region - which was seized by Armenian rebels from Azerbaijan in a war that ended with an inconclusive truce in 1994 - erupted on Friday night with the two sides accusing each other of attacking with heavy weaponry.

Azerbaijan claimed to have snatched several strategic positions inside the Armenian-controlled territory in what would be the first change in the front line since the cease-fire 22 years ago.

In the Armenian capital of Yerevan, defense ministry spokesman Artsrun Hovhannisyan said on Monday that Karabakh forces had "seriously advanced at certain sectors of the front line and took up new positions".

The report was dismissed as "untrue" by Azerbaijan.

Russia and the West have called for a cease-fire, with Russian President Vladimir Putin pushing for an immediate end to the fighting, and Moscow's diplomats and military pressuring both sides.

At least 18 Armenians, 15 Azeri troops and three civilians were reported killed, and one of Azerbaijan's attack helicopters was shot down.

On Sunday, Azerbaijan said it had decided to "unilaterally cease hostilities" and pledged to "reinforce" the positions it claimed to have captured.

The authorities in Karabakh which claims independence, said they were willing to discuss a cease-fire but only if it would help them regain their territory.
Brussels Airport partially reopened on Sunday, 12 days after it was hit by Islamic State attacks, with tearful staff applauding the first departure and an initial trickle of passengers undergoing strict new security checks.

The key travel hub has been closed since two men blew themselves up in the departure hall on March 22 in coordinated blasts that also struck a metro station in the Belgian capital, killing a total of 32 people.

A Brussels Airlines plane bound for the Portuguese city of Faro became the first plane to take off around 11:40 am.

"We're back," Brussels Airport chief executive Arnaud Feist said after watching the plane, decked out with Belgian artist Rene Magritte's trademark birds and clouds, take to the skies.

The restart of the airport has been hailed as the beginning of a return to normal for a traumatized country, but the shadow of the attacks loomed large.

Two big white tents were serving as temporary check-in facilities to replace the blast-hit departure hall, and passengers were asked to come three hours before departure to allow time for tight new security checks.

The first several dozen travelers to arrive on Sunday were met by heavily armed police and soldiers on the access roads to the airport.

There was also a strong security presence inside the tents where passengers walked through metal detectors and had their bags screened before checking in and being allowed to enter the main building.

A father dropping off his son and a group of friends for the Faro flight was positive about the changes. "This is the safest airport in the world right now, isn't it?" he said.

'We can overcome this'

Loukas Bassoukos, a 20-year-old IT student waiting for his flight to Athens, said it felt "a bit weird" to be among the first to return to the bomb-hit airport.

"So many people died here," he said. "But I think we can overcome this. I think we slowly have to start trusting the security controls."

Psychologists were on hand to assist any passengers overcome with emotion.

The number of flights will be stepped up quickly in coming days.

Feist said he expected the airport to start running normally again from late June or early July.

AFP - Reuters
A migrant is escorted by a Turkish police officer upon his arrival in the Turkish coastal town of Dikili on Monday. Murad Sezer / Reuters

EU keeps its side of the pact, with a group of 16 Syrian asylum seekers flying into Germany

Three boats shipped scores of migrants from the Greek islands to Turkey on Monday, the first wave of deportations under a hotly-contested pact to ease Europe's worst migration crisis since World War II.

As the sun rose over the Greek islands of Lesbos and Chios, some 200 migrants, mainly from Pakistan and Bangladesh, were ferried back across the Aegean Sea, retracing the perilous journey they took on rickety boats in their desperation to reach Europe.

European Union officials are hoping the deal with Ankara will discourage migrants from making a trek that has claimed hundreds of lives, and curb a human influx which has put immense pressure on the 28-nation bloc.

Yorgos Kyritsis, the Greek government's migration spokesman, said 136 migrants had left from Lesbos, and 66 from Chios.

"These are migrants who did not request asylum in Greece. The majority were Pakistani. There were two Syrians who did not request asylum for personal reasons," he said.

Police and riot officers were present, but "the procedure was very calm, everything was orderly", EU border agency Frontex spokeswoman Ewa Moncure said.

A few dozen activists on Chios protested against the deportations, chanting "Freedom", a witness said.

"Stop the dirty deal", "stop deportations" and "wake up Europe" were among the banners brandished in Lesbos against the disputed EU-Turkey agreement.

A couple of hours later, the first ferry docked in the Turkish coastal town of Dikili.

Red tents have been set up along the town's harbourside to receive the arrivals.

Mustafa Toprak, governor of Turkey's Izmir region, said the migrants would only be staying briefly in Dikili and the resort of Cesme - a second reception point - before being moved on.

But the deal did not seem to completely deter those hoping to reach Europe, for the Turkish coast guard blocked a boatload of about 60 migrants, mostly Afghans, on Monday morning.

Syrians arrive in Germany

The EU kept its side of the pact, with a group of 16 asylum seekers from Syria flying into Germany, which last year let in a record 1.1 million migrants.

A representative from the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, who did not give her name, asked reporters to respect the privacy of the asylum seekers, who were members of three families.

"This is all very new, very difficult," she said. "They have been traveling for a very long time."

Several dozen other refugees are expected to arrive in France, Finland and Portugal, according to German government sources.

The huge influx of migrants into the EU is tugging at the bloc by the seams.

The deal clinched in March, driven by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, is seen as a last-ditch effort to overcome the crisis.

Under the terms of the deal, all "irregular migrants" arriving since March 20 face being sent back, although the accord calls for each case to be examined individually.

For every Syrian refugee returned, another will be resettled from Turkey to the EU, with numbers capped at 72,000.

AFP - Reuters
Mission to Philippines comes day before Manila and Washington begin joint military exercise

A Japanese submarine visited a former US navy base at Subic Bay in the Philippines on Sunday - the first such visit in 15 years - in a sign of deeper international involvement in territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

The base is just 200 kilometers from China's Huangyan Island, the scene of confrontations between Chinese and Filipino ships in 2012.

With Monday being a national holiday in China, Beijing has yet to respond to the visit.

The submarine's arrival came one day before the Philippines and United States started a massive military drill. The drill scenarios include retaking an island seized by an enemy in the South China Sea, which Reuters reported was "likely to rile China".

Xinhua News Agency said in a commentary on Monday that the exercise "caps Manila's recent attempts to involve outsiders in a regional row".

The 12-day annual Balikatan (shoulder-to-shoulder) exercise will be joined by US allies Australia and Japan for the first time.

The Xinhua commentary said that the exercise, held near disputed waters of the South China Sea, is viewed widely as the latest attempt by the Philippines to demonstrate its military alliance with the US.

The Japanese submarine, one of the newest and largest in the country's navy, was reportedly escorted by two Japanese destroyers on a tour of Southeast Asia.

Captain Hiraoki Yoshino of Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force told reporters, "We don't have any message to any country", but he described the Philippines as "a very important ally".

Japan's Minister of Defense Gen Nakatani said on Sunday that Tokyo would seek further cooperation with other Asian countries to "ensure stability in the South China Sea".

Nakatani is scheduled to visit the Philippines this month to discuss defense cooperation.

Japan, which has territorial disputes with China in the East China Sea, has been increasing its presence in the South China Sea. This has included sending more ships and planes to countries such as Vietnam and the Philippines, which also have overlapping claims with China.

Japan has offered to lease three TC-90 surveillance planes to the Philippines to help enhance its capability in monitoring the South China Sea. The deal is expected to be sealed this month.

Japan has also agreed to supply radar technology to the Philippines.

Yin Zhuo, director of the People's Liberation Army Navy's Expert Consultation Committee, said Japan's actions in the South China Sea are aimed at partially supporting the US pivot-to-Asia strategy and using that to contain China.

"In addition, it is using the excuse of stability in the South China Sea to legalize its future involvement in the region."

lixiaokun@chinadaily.com.cn
A ministerial conference marked the peak of the African Development Week, drawing high-level government officials from several African countries to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The conference, jointly hosted by the African Union (AU) and the United Nations Economic Commission of Africa (UNECA) was officially opened by Prime Minister of Ethiopia Hailemariam Desalegn.

Running under the theme Towards an Integrated and Coherent Approach to Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation of Agenda 2063 and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the annual forum drew ministers of finance, planning and economic development and policy experts to discuss how Africa can domesticate international and continental agreements and bring the continent closer to achieving global goals.

In his address, the prime minister said industrialization is Africa's insulation against shocks that are threatening to derail progress towards economic transformation.

"The high dependency on commodity exports exposes many of our economies to vulnerabilities extending from prices and demand volatilities. In this context, pursuing industrialization and transformative structural agenda is imperative to strengthening the fundamental of our respective economies," he said.

China has invested heavily in Ethiopia with estimated figures from Ethiopia Investment Agency showing 415 Chinese companies may have taken licenses between August 1998 and October 2012. China is the leading trading partner of Ethiopia with direct investments estimated to have reached $58.5 million in 2010. A World Bank survey shows most Chinese factories are from three provinces, Zhejiang, Liaoning and Fujian.

The African country is the fastest growing nation in the continent with IMF projecting growth levels at 8.7 percent and 8 percent in 2015 and 2016 respectively. The World Bank estimate puts the growth rate at 9.5 percent and 10.5 percent over the same period.

The government said it has managed to achieve most of the Millennium Development Goals at a time majority of Sub-Saharan countries fell short of their targets.

Desalegn said that the only way the continent can realize Agenda 2063, the outcome of the 3rd International Conference for Financing Development, the 2030 Agenda for SDGs and the outcomes of the 21st Conference of the Parties agreement in Paris is by collectively fulfilling their commitments.

The United Nations Under Secretary-General of the ECA Carlos Lopes addressed the growing apprehension that African countries may default on their expanding sovereign debts calling it unfounded. Lopes instead called for flexibility in placing debt ceilings and assessing debt to ensure African countries are not over-constrained or unduly deprived.

"The issue of debt sustainability will essentially depend on a comprehensive treatment of all components of debt in a debt restructuring, and the provision of clear mechanism to engage all stakeholders to build up consensus on how to close the gaps in financial architecture."

He said Africa has positive narratives that place it in a strong path of growth despite the global recession.

"The volatility of most commodities excluding oil has been high in 2015, but, contrary to general belief, not far above historical trends. Uranium, gold, coffee, cocoa or orange juice exported from Africa are experiencing record prices," said Lopes.

Also in attendance was the AU chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo Augustin Matata Ponyo Mapon and Vice-President of Namibia Nickey Iyambo among other dignitaries.

The forum is expected to conclude on Tuesday with the adoption of the draft ministerial statement.
China has become the first country to cross the 300 billion Kenya Shillings $2.96 billionmark in exports to Kenya, overtaking India as Kenya's largest source of imports, reports Kenyan newspaper Daily Nation.

According to data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, China's exports to Kenya jumped 29 percent to 320 billion Kenya Shillings last year, compared to 248 billion Kenya Shillings a year earlier.

China has a 67 billion Kenya Shillings lead in sales over India, said the report. The newspaper said the change is largely on account of imports for the Nairobi-Mombasa Standard Gauge Railway.

The imports, except for steel materials for the ongoing construction of the project, also include mobile phones and household goods, said the report.

The 472-kilometer railway is being constructed by China Road and Bridge Co and is expected to be completed in 2017.

The project will cost up to $3.8 billion, and the Import-Export Bank of China is offering 90 percent of the funding. The ambitious project is expected to boost economic growth in Kenya by 1.5 percent.
NAYPYIDAW -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi Tuesday met with his Myanmar counterpart Aung San Suu Kyi here to discuss the development of bilateral relations shortly after the installation of Myanmar's new government.

During their meeting, Wang said that his official visit to Myanmar at the invitation of Suu Kyi immediately after the Southeast Asian country's new government took office is a clear demonstration of the "paukphaw friendship" -- "brotherly friendship" in Burmese -- between the two countries.

"Myanmar is standing at a new starting point in history. China hopes and believes that the new Myanmar government will unite all parties across its country and lead its people to create a new era of development and progress," Wang told Suu Kyi.

The relationship between China and Myanmar is also "standing at a new starting point," the Chinese foreign minister said, adding that China stands ready to join hands with the new Myanmar government to carry forward the traditional China-Myanmar friendship, deepen political mutual trust and expand the mutually beneficial cooperation so as to "open up a new chapter" for bilateral relations.

"The China-Myanmar 'paukphaw friendship' goes beyond differences in social institutions. And the changes in Myanmar's inner affairs will not alter China's Myanmar policy," Wang said.

Wang said he hoped that the two sides could strengthen their high-level engagements as soon as possible in order to jointly map out the next step for the two countries' comprehensive cooperation.

He also hoped that the two countries' ruling parties could strengthen their inter-party communication, exchange experience on managing state affairs, deepen reciprocal cooperation in various areas and properly handle the problems emerging from collaboration.

"On the basis of respecting Myanmar's sovereignty and territorial integrity, China stands ready to play a conducive role in Myanmar's national reconciliation in accordance with Myanmar's needs and willingness," the Chinese diplomat said.

Noting that Myanmar and China are neighbors with their interests closely connected, Suu Kyi said that she personally felt the profound friendship between the two peoples when she visited China in 2015, adding that "Myanmar won't forget China's support and help," especially the help that came at critical moments.

"As the new Myanmar government aspires to promote national reconciliation and achieve stability and development, the substantial assistance from China in various aspects means a great deal for our country," Suu Kyi said.

The new Myanmar government is ready to work with China to strengthen accomplishments in China-Myanmar relations and expand high-level exchanges and economic cooperation so as to lift bilateral ties to a new height.

"I believe that China will continue to be Myanmar's good friend," she said.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi greets Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmars new foreign minister and leader of the National League for Democracy party, in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, on Tuesday. AUNG SHINE OO / AP

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, on Tuesday that the two nations should "reinforce high-level exchanges as soon as possible" and "properly tackle issues facing their cooperation".

While meeting with his Myanmar counterpart Aung San Suu Kyi, Wang said his visit to Myanmar days after the new government took office highlighted the friendship between the two neighbors.

"China-Myanmar relations are now at a new historical starting point," he said.

Wang, who arrived in Myanmar on Tuesday for a two-day visit, is the first top foreign diplomat to call upon Suu Kyi since the new government took office on March 30.

Suu Kyi led a landslide victory for the National League for Democracy, which before the election victory was an influential opposition party.

At a news conference after the meeting with Wang, she described relations as "very important politically as well as socially and economically", Agence France-Presse reported.

Wang said China was eager to "build more confidence" between the nations and vowed that Beijing would support Myanmar's process of national reconciliation.

"China is a good neighbor to Myanmar. We want to improve the relationship between the two countries," he said.

China is Myanmar's largest trade partner and investment source.

Observers said Myanmar's new administration will pursue greater economic growth and address the dire need for industries.

Nyunt Maung Shein, chairman of the Myanmar Institute of Strategic and International Studies, told China Daily that the two-way relations "have been tested over time", and the new administration "will pursue traditional, friendly relations" with China.

China is "an important neighbor of Myanmar", and "it is quite natural" that Myanmar has accepted Wang as the first visiting foreign minister after Suu Kyi became foreign minister, he said.

Chinese investment that will benefit Myanmar's development, create job opportunities for its people and promote corporate social responsibility and preservation of the environment "will always be welcome in Myanmar", he added.

The talks on Tuesday were expected to cover a number of pragmatic cooperation programs of common concern.

Xu Liping, a senior research fellow of Southeast Asia studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said Myanmar has sent a clear signal to China that "it is in Myanmar's best interests to reinforce cooperation and ties with China".

The Myanmar government is now engaged in boosting national reconciliation and improving people's livelihoods, while China has played a constructive role in these regards, Xu said.

"Myanmar wants to update its water projects and infrastructure and develop its industrial parks, while China happens to have vast experience" in these matters, he said.

Wang will also meet with Myanmar's leadership, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a news conference on Tuesday in Beijing.

Two-way pragmatic cooperation in recent years "has promoted Myanmar's economic and social development and benefited the local people", Hong said.

On March 15, President Xi Jinping sent a message to U Htin Kyaw to congratulate him on his election as Myanmar's new president.

Xi said China is "willing to work with Myanmar to promote the durable and stable development of the China-Myanmar comprehensive strategic partnership of cooperation and bring more benefits to both peoples".

Contact the reporter at zhangyunbi@chinadaily.com.cn
(Photo : Getty Images) India is likely to raise the issue of JeM Chief Masood Azhar with China at a RIC (Russia, India and China) Ministerial meeting in Moscow later this week.

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India is likely to raise the issue of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar with China after Beijing blocked New Delhi's bid to bring the alleged terrorist chief under a United Nations (UN) blacklist last week.



India has been "disappointed" by the Chinese action at the UN and is expected to take up the issue at the "political-level" at the "first given opportunity", sources in New Delhi said.



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New Delhi is likely to rake up the issue at the RIC (Russia, India and China) Ministerial meeting in Moscow, where India's External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is scheduled to meet Chinese counterpart Wang Yi later this week.



India's demand to bring Pakistani militant Masood Azhar under the UN blacklist came in the aftermath of the Pathankot attack. New Delhi claims that the JeM chief was the mastermind behind deadly terrorist attack on Pathankot air base, which left around seven Indian soldiers dead. The attack took place on January 2, 2016.



However, China blocked india's move in the UN, claiming that Azhar cannot be blacklisted due to technical issues.



China has frequently blocked India's move to punish Pakistani militants with UN measures, pushing New Delhi to accuse Beijing of shielding its close friend Pakistan.



China and Pakistan share bitter relations with India due to complex geo-political factors and prolonged border disputes. China and India have been at loggerheads over the Himalayan region of Tibet. Pakistan, on other hand, is locked in border dispute over the region of Kashmir.



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(Photo : Photo by ChinaFotoPress/ChinaFotoPress via Getty Images))

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Flood control authorities in China have asked government agencies to come up with a more detailed plan following the possibility of a big flood happening in Yangtze River's middle and lower reaches this summer.



The plan is expected to provide specific measures and interventions to implement relative to prevention and relief operations.



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As shared by China Daily, the Meteorological Center for the Yangtze River predicted that with the strong El Nino, rainfall would increase by 10 to 50 in May in the middle and lower reaches of China's longest river.



Meanwhile, it is expected that from June until August, water level in certain portions of the Yangtze River's middle reaches would be higher. Considering that such months belong to the major flood season, it was projected that the rise would be between 50 and 80 percent.



Another factor that has reinforced the authorities' prediction about the possibility of a big flood happening again was the fact that water level along Xiangjiang and Ganjiang branches reached beyond the warning line in March.



During a meeting on Thursday, vice-minister of water resources Liu Ning revealed that a flood in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River is not far from happening considering the on-going El Nino which started in September 2014.



"It is very similar to the one that caused big floods in 1998," Liu said.



It can be recalled that in 1998, massive floods affected the Yangtze River and its basin areas which took the lives of at least 3,000 people throughout the country.







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(Photo : Reuters) Google said that the propaganda app from the Taliban group promotes hate speech, violence and illegal activities.

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Google has removed Alemarah, an app for Android phones created by Islamist fundamentalist group of the Afghan Taliban, from its Play Store.



The Taliban app was described by Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed as part of their advanced technological efforts to reach out people from all over the world. It was filled with stories and statements written in the Pashto language and contained videos created by the extremist Islamic group.



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A United States organization Site Intel Group, which monitors jihadist activity online, first spotted Alemarah in April 1. The group said that the app provided access to the Talibans website and content in an app format. Sitel also added that Alemarah was removed from Play Store after two because it violates Google's app policy prohibiting hate speech.



Mujahed claimed it was due to technical issues needed to be fixed. However, Google pulled the app itself because it violates Googles terms. To be more specific, Specifically, Google pulled the app because it was in violation of its policy that bans apps promoting hate speech, violence and illegal activities. In addition, Google suspended the developer account associated with the app as part of the ban.



Mujahed claimed it was due to technical issues needed to be fixed. However, Google pulled the app itself because it violates Googles terms. To be more specific, Specifically, Google said that the likes of Alemarah promote hate speech, violence and illegal activities, violating the policies of the company. In addition, Google suspended the developer account associated with the app as part of the ban.



"Our policies are designed to provide a great experience for users and developers. That's why we remove apps from Google Play that violate those policies," said Google in a statement.



Social media has become an important tool for ISIS and other jihadist groups seeking to recruit people to their cause. To spread its message of jihad, or holy war, the Taliban group used the Internet and social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.



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TagsGoogle, Taliban, Taliban app Play Store, Google app, Propaganda app
(Photo : (Photo by Ron Sachs-Pool/Getty Images))

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China-US relations received a shot in the arm during a recent meeting between President Barack Obama and President Xi Jinping at the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington.



According to Foreign Minister Wang Yi, the meeting between the two world leaders will help alleviate tensions brought about by the thorny South China issue, China Daily reported.



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Wang noted that Obama and Xi's meeting has been closely followed by international observers who feel that current Sino-US ties leave much to be desired.



"The Americans have said that they will not take sides (in the South China Sea issue), so it should not be a problem for the China-US relationship," Wang explained.



The foreign minister noted that the dialogue between Xi and Obama should re-assure the international diplomatic community of the two nation's desire to maintain peace and stability in the region.



He added that historical issues involving China and the US' allies should not in any way affect China-US relations.



The two heads of state likewise agreed to increase cooperation between their countries, and effectively manage differences of opinion to expand common interests.



The 90-minute meeting provided Xi and Obama an opportunity to discuss a range of pressing issues, which included economic policies, cooperation on nuclear security, maritime concerns and the stability of the Korean Peninsula.



Xi and Obama's tete-a-tete was the only bilateral meeting arranged by the US president's team during the summit, which observers view as a way of deepening China-US relations.



The Chinese president underscored the meeting's importance, saying that despite their countries' differing views on certain issues, there should be respect for each other's opinions and things should be settled through dialogue.



For instance, climate change has been a thorn on the side of Sino-US ties, but the two nations are now working hand in hand to address this critical issue.



And as a testament to stronger China-US relations, two of the world's leading nuclear powers issued a joint statement declaring their cooperation on nuclear security.







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Tagschina, US, US-China relations, Xi Jinping, Barack Obama
(Photo : (Photo by Guang Niu/Getty Images))

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McDonald's China is planning to open 1,000 more outlets in the mainland by 2020, as the company moves to attract more investors that would help realize its business expansion plans.



"We truly believe we can create strong and sustainable growth in the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and South Korea, with a mindful introduction of strategic partners who can offer local expertise and competency, blended with the unrivaled global strength of the group, to allow accelerated, long-term growth," McDonald's President and CEO Steve Easterbrook told China Daily during an interview in Beijing.



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Morgan Stanley, a multinational financial services company, has been tapped to identify potential investors who may hold "majority shares" in the soon to be established McDonald's China outlets.



Currently, McDonald's mainland subsidiary operates 2,200 restaurants in the country, in which 35 percent are franchise outlets.



The US-based food fast food giant is also eyeing strategic investors from Hong Kong and Korea.



Easterbrook pointed out that the mainland is the company's third-largest market after the United States and Japan.



However, the CEO expects China to jump to second place by 2020, as he remains bullish on the huge potential of the Chinese market, and at the same time, excited with the prospect of luring more investors.



Meanwhile, Phyllis Cheung, CEO of McDonald's China, expressed optimism that the company's strategy of bringing in more investors into its fold will augur well for the company.



"With the introduction of strategic partners, we will be able to tap into the country's rich local resources, allowing investment capital to unlock our growth potential," Cheung said.



"We will also be able to make faster local decisions by being China-centric to achieve our goal of being the second-largest market for McDonald's," she pointed out.



Cheung added that McDonald's China's move to establish more outlets is in line with the company's goal of increasing the ratio of franchised businesses globally from its current target of 80 to 93 percent by 2018 to 95 percent in the long-term.







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(Photo : Getty Images) China and Japan nuclear envoys will hold a four-day discussion on ways and strategies to curb Pyongyang's nuclear and missile program.

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Representatives of Japan and China are set to meet on Tuesday in Tokyo to discuss ways to stop North Korea's development of missile systems and its nuclear programme, according to Japan's foreign ministry.



China's top nuclear envoy for Korean affairs Wu Dawei will hold talks with Kimihiro Ishikane, the chief of Japan's foreign ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, on strategies to denuclearize Pyongyang.



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Wu is the head of the long-stalled six-party negotiations, which is aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear programme. The talks have been inactive since 2008.



Six-party talks



The six-party talks, which include the two Koreas, China, US, Russia and Japan hit a brick wall in the late 2008. Since then, Pyongyang has fired multiple missile tests and rockets prompting China to call for the resumption of the talks.



The meeting between envoys from China and Japan is expected to end on Friday.



The meeting comes on the heels of North Korea's fourth nuclear test in January and a rocket launch in February. The rocket launch led to new and stricter sanctions being imposed against Pyongyang by the United Nations Security Council.



Revenge



Pyongyang continues to defy UN sanctions and has repeatedly fired ballistic missiles into the sea in response to the harsh punishment the UN has imposed against it.



President Xi Jinping, in his talks with Seoul President Park Geun-hye last week, underscored dialogues and consultations as the ideal ways to curb Pyongyang's nuclear programme.



He said that all parties involved should strictly implement the UN sanctions against North Korea and fully carry out the UN resolution to the letter.



President Xi and US President Barack Obama have vowed to work together to halt Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions by implementing the resolution "strictly."



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Tagssix-party talks, Japan, china, China-Japan talks, denuclearization of North Korea, missile tests, UN sanctions, UN Resolution, President Xi Jinping, President Barack Obama
(Photo : Getty Images) Chinese authorities have nabbed six people for allegedly creating and selling counterfeited infant formula.

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Chinese authorities have nabbed six people for producing and selling counterfeited infant formula in seven Chinese provinces using the famous US brand Similac, according to a Shanghai government body.



Similac maker Abbott revealed via Weibo on Tuesday, April 5 that the case was uncovered in December and the fake products have all been tracked and seized.



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The statement further revealed that the company is also tracing sales made over the Internet, according to Shanghai Municipal Food and Drug Administration.



Chinese state media discovered that the group has already sold over 17,000 cans of milk, costing around 2 million yuan ($309,000). China Food and Drug Administration, on the other hand, said that as per quality inspections by Shanghai authorities, the formula met the national standards and posed no safety threat to infants.



Meanwhile, the Supreme People's Procuratorate revealed that the suspects have been charged with repacking cheap baby formula (or milk powder) for "non-baby use" and putting top brands as labels.



These products were sold to salesmen in Henan's Zhengzhou and Jiangsu's Xuzhou, who in turn distributed the counterfeited milk to a number of places across China.



The group behind the fake infant formula scam is reportedly run by two organizers, surnamed Chen and Tang, who are suspected to have supplied the formula cans bearing the top brand labels. Two unidentified suspects are reported to have supplied the group with the cheap milk powder.



Shanghai People's Procuratorate said an investigation is ongoing into the case and refused to comment or provide specific details.



The China Food and Drug Administration released a statement on Monday warning consumers to be careful when purchasing baby formula online. It also reminded infant formula sellers and online sale platforms to abide by the country's food safety law, stressing that they will be held liable if found guilty of being involved in food safety crimes.



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Tagsinfant formula, fake milk, counterfeited products, Shanghai, China Food and Drug Administration, food safety
(Photo : Getty Images.) New Delhi is reportedly reviewing its liberalized investment policy for Chinese companies, after China China snubbed India last week in UN on "Masood Azhar issue.

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New Delhi is resorting to tit-for-tat policy after China snubbed India last week by blocking India's move to bring Pakistani militant "Maulana Masood Azhar" under the United Nation's black list.



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According to sources, security establishments in New Delhi want to review India's recent liberalized investment policy for Chinese companies. Bringing China back in the list of "country of concern" is one of the many moves that officials in New Delhi are seriously mulling over.



"It cannot be a one-way affair. If Beijing is blocking our efforts on the international forum aimed at addressing our security concerns, maybe we should review the security clearances to Chinese investment proposals by citing "national security" clause, or at least rethink on future cases put up for security clearance," a top security officer told a local Indian newspaper.



India has taken a number of initiatives to promote Chinese investment in India after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's successful visit to China last year. One such initiative was to remove China from the list of "country of concern," which in the past had led to many Chinese investment proposals being rejected on pretext of security concerns.



New Delhi's positive overture towards Chinese Companies led to a sharp rise in Chinese investment over the years. According to the Department Of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Chinese companies invested Rs 3,066.24 Crore in 2014-15 and Rs 2,196.11 crore in 2015-16.



China's major telecom company Huawei Telecommunications was also one of the major beneficiaries of the government's liberalized investment policy. In mid 2015, India's Home Ministry approved Huawei's proposal to set up a manufacturing plant in Tamil Naidu.



China's Difficult Relationship with India



China shares a difficult relationship with India because of unresolved border disputes. The Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh is also an area of contention between the two countries, with China claiming Arunachal Pradesh as its own. Both countries have also fought war in 1962 to settle border dispute.



China's economic and military assistance to India's arch rival "Pakistan" over the last two decades has further complicated relationship between two countries.



The general feeling among Indian foreign policy expert is that close diplomatic ties between Beijing and Islamabad is purely based on both countries mutual mistrust towards India.



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TagsIndia, china, Pakistan, Maulana Masood Azhar
(Photo : ChinaFotoPress | Getty Images) Caption:WEIFANG, CHINA - MARCH 01: (CHINA OUT) Workers assemble electric automobiles at a workshop in Qingzhou City on March 1, 2016 in Weifang, Shandong Province of China. The manufacturing sector in China continued to contract in February, and at a faster pace, with a PMI score of 49.0, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday.



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China is on the fast lane when it comes to developing self-driving cars in the industry with the help of a veteran engineer.



While the United States is being cautious on allowing these driverless vehicles on the streets, engineer Gansha Wu who worked with Intel Labs China for 16 years wants to establish a start-up in China. He organized a group of technology experts from Google to make his project possible.



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"His team is an unusual collection of supertalent," said former head of Google in China Kai-Fu Lee.



"They combine a mechanical expert from a university, a top computer vision expert and machine learning from Google as well as Gansha and his team of semiconductor experts. Gansha is an excellent leader that binds these people together."



Experts say that there's a big chance that self-driving cars in China will be a success because of the government's support. Two car manufacturers have already started testing self-driving cars in public.



Uisee Technology, Wu's company, plans to introduce their car invention at the Consumer Electronics Show next year.



Tech company Baidu started developing driverless vehicles about two years ago. They have already customized a BMW 3 Series and results showed that it had "successfully completed rigorous, fully autonomous tests under a variety of environmental conditions," according to Yibada.



During the study, the vehicle showed basic and important functions such as slowing down if a car is detected ahead, changing lanes, and making right, left and U-turns if needed.



Aside from Baidu, a company called Leshi Internet Information & Technology and Great Wall Motors have also contributed the same effort in the industry.



With the fast paced-development in China, Xavier Mosquet, managing director at Boston Consulting Group, said that the country will be recognized as one of the biggest market when it comes to self-driving cars in just 15 years.



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TagsSelf-Driving Car, Google, Intel Labs China, Google China, china, Gansha Wu, Baidu, Leshi Internet Information & Technology, Great Wall Motors
(Photo : Getty Images.) Abiding by Security Councils latest sanctions against North Korea, China on Tuesday announced a slew of trade restrictions against its ally North Korea.

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Abiding by the Security Council's latest sanctions against Pyongyang, China on Tuesday said that it is banning import of gold and rare earthen material from North Korea.



Beijing simultaneously announced that it will stop exporting jet fuel and other oil products and also ban coal shipments from North korea.



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In March, the United Nations passed a wide range of sanctions against North Korea, with the primary aim of squeezing funds to prevent the country from financing its controversial nuclear and ballistic missile programs.



The sanctions were passed after Pyongyang executed its fourth nuclear test in January, which was followed with a rocket launch just a week later.



Experts believe that the latest ban imposed by the Chinese government will certainly have an impact on North Korea. Ban on import of gold and rare earthen materials may curtail North Korea's military expenditure as Pyongyang uses revenue from the mining sector to underwrite its military expenses.



However, China has added that the latest bans are inclusive of exemptions, which will be applicable during "humanitarian crisis" or on any activities not connected to Pyongyang's controversial nuclear and missile program.



China is North Korea's closest ally and also its largest trading partner. The international community has often accused China of not abiding by the Security Council's sanctions in true spirit.



However, after imposition of latest sanctions on North Korea in March, China said it will enforce the sanctions "conscientiously."



Several foreign experts claim that this time China may impose sanctions with more seriousness, as relationship between Beijing and Pyongyang have been strained over the years.



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(Photo : Ben Pruchnie/Getty Images) China wants the British royal family to play a proactive role in improving relations between the two countries.

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China and the U.K. continue to engage with each other as they seek closer ties. Beijing believes that the British royal family can play a pivotal role in bringing the people of both the countries closer.



President Xi Jinping of China met the visiting Duke of York Prince Andrew in Beijing on Tuesday. Xi said that he wishes to see a "more solid foundation of public support for China-UK relations," according to Xinhua. He also highlighted the British royal family's role in deepening the friendship between both the countries.



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Xi recalled his first state visit to the U.K. last year where he met Queen Elizabeth II and other members of the royal family. The Chinese leader's told Prince Andrew that he was impressed with the interactions he had with the Queen and the other royal family members.



President Xi's visit to the U.K. in October 2015 was hailed as the beginning of a "golden era" of relations. The U.K. wants to become the Western country that is most open to China, and wants to become the second largest trading partner of the Asian nation within 10 years.



According to Xinhua, Prince Andrew is willing to work with the Chinese officials to improve people-people contact and "make the 'golden era' truly shine." China, on the other hand, is willing to join efforts to increase the friendly exchanges at all levels. President Xi said that the country is seeking to enrich cooperation as "this year marks the first year of the 'golden era' of China-UK relations."



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China Vitae FAQ

What is China Vitae?

China Vitae's purpose is to advance the understanding of Chinese politics worldwide among academic institutions, governments, media organizations, businesses, and others interested in China's development. The site provides vast amounts of information with over 5000 biographies of China's current political elite and research tools designed to comb the site's information for points of commonality and points of difference between Chinese leaders as well as between coalitions, groups, and factions.

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On the home page of the site you will see recent updates to the three primary sections of China Vitae: Biographies, VIP Appearances, and New Appointments.

You can click links from the home page that interest you or use the global search function found on the upper right corner of the web site.

For more focused research, navigate to the Search section of the site where you can search China Vitae's content by name, by institution, by location, or by role.

The most important of the search engines finds biographies by name, either through a direct search for specific names or by browsing an alphabetical list of all names on the site. The institution search engine performs a similar function for institutions, either searching directly by name of the institution or indirectly by category, such as financial institutions. The location search engine finds provinces, counties, and cities in a database containing many thousands of place names. The role search engine organizes information in the database by role (title) as in governor, mayor, president, secretary. There are many thousand such entries. The power search engine permits date limited, Boolean searches of combinations of the information described in 1-4 above. Finally, a comparison search engine permits searches in 1-5 above to be compared for commonality. Thus, the comparison engine, among other capabilities, can determine whether a group of officials went to school together, studied together, or worked together.

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Pastor says campaigning for SBC presidency is legit Editorial Staff | 05 April, 2016 by Joni B. Hannigan

ST. LOUIS (Christian Examiner)  Some would say there hasn't been a full out campaign for president of the Southern Baptist Convention since 1989 in Las Vegas, but one pastor says it's time to throw in the wild card, admit it's a political process, and allow the nominees to press forward.

Passions ran high in 1989 during what is commonly referred to as the Conservative Resurgence in the Southern Baptist Convention. Conservatives had elected Jerry Vines in 1988 in San Antonio and were set to elect him for a second straight year.

Moderates couldn't win against Vines in 1998 even with Texan native Richard Jackson, the mega pastor who led North Phoenix Baptist Church in explosive growth; and so in 1989 moderate supporters launched an unprecedented campaign for Daniel Vestal, who later became the executive coordinator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.

Claiming he would not have the same platform as Vines, Vestal purchased 30 minutes of time on local television KRLR-TV to broadcast his views.

Veteran observers, according to a 1989 story in Baptist Press, said the purchase of commercial television time marked "a new escalation of decade-log political/theological struggle in the 14.8-million-member denomination."

Ironically, Vestal had said earlier in 1989, he aimed to "depoliticize" the SBC meetings.

Dave Miller, an Iowa pastor and a contributor to SBC Voices, says, "It's time to break with tradition," in a blog entry with that title, admitting electing officers to the SBC is a political process, and encouraging electioneering.

"It has been a long-standing tradition in the SBC that candidates for president of the SBC do not campaign for office," Miller writes. "Could we dispense with something at the starting line? The Southern Baptist Convention is a political body."

Miller said he also hopes "our politics are biblically-based, gospel-derived, Christ-honoring, and ethically-transparent."

Noting three points, Miller there may have been an unwritten rule, but what worked in the SBC of 1874 is "not effective in 2016":

CELEBRITY

First, Miller said, "We need to move past the celebrity and personality decision toward an agenda and platform decision." Defining the role of an SBC president, he said the president makes appointments to the Committee on Committees, presides over the annual meeting, represents the SBC, and has other duties.

LEGAL

Second, Miller asserts campaigning is "already legal," and there are no changes in bylaws or policies required in order for this to occur.

Using as an example a rap video promoting the candidacy of J.D. Greear made by the wife of a staff pastor, Miller said it is "pretty funny" and referred to it as a "joke."

"How was the SBC harmed by this?" he asked.

The rap video Miller referenced features Ashley Unzicker, wife of Todd Unzicker, a staff member at Summit Church in Durham, North Carolina where J.D. Greear is senior pastor  and cites information about the church's attendance and Great Commission Giving.

The promotional video, which began circulating March 14 features a number of Southern Baptist personalities, including three SBC entity heads: David Platt, president of the International Mission Board; Russ Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission; and, Danny Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Platt recently denied he knowingly endorsed Greear for the position, state he was not aware Greear's request for a video clip was for the purpose of creating a campaign ad.

SUNSHINE

Miller's third point is that at its roots, "politicking" has always been a part of the SBC.

"[B]logging and social media has given the grassroots of the SBC more of a voice than we've ever had before," Miller said that is the reason there is complaining.

"We bring into the sunshine what used to be kept in the dark," Miller said. "My point is that we need to bring what has always been going on behind the scenes into the light."
COMMENTARY: Remembering the admonition and hope of theologian Carl F.H. Henry 05 April, 2016 by Ron F. Hale , |

JACKSON, Tenn. (Christian Examiner)  Carl F. H. Henry left us in 2003 at the age of 90; nevertheless, his enduring legacy thrives through numerous written works, lectures, and Christianity Today magazine.

I was fortunate enough to hear him speak on one occasion and having re-read his 1986 book Christian Countermoves In A Decadent Culture many times over the last two decades, I wish to share several of his observations which reveal his remarkable cultural insights.

Henry made an unforgettable assertion  one that grows more ominous with each passing year. He said:

No culture can survive in the absence of shared beliefs and values. Past civilizations have crumbled when social cohesion has vanished, and the modern nations are currently in deep trouble. Ours is the first generation in history to attempt to build a culture on naturalistic relativism.

Prior to this statement, Henry reminds us of Toynbee's sentiment that every great civilization has ended in rubble and ruin and history validates the point that every great world power sooner or later becomes second-rate.

As a 1953 product of the baby-boom, my childhood was blessed with the peace and prosperity paid for in blood, bullets, and bombs by the WWII generation.

In six years, they cut the heads off two totalitarian serpents  a Japanese emperor that was worshipped as a living god and a Nazi monster who spouted a glorious vision of making Germany great again. Our G.I.'s returned, went to work, and didn't talk much about saving the entire world.

My father's generation helped rebuild both Japan and Germany and did so without planting the seeds of hate in the hearts of their children. They rebuilt America by crisscrossing our land with expansive interstate highways, new schools, bridges, businesses, and pioneered growing fields of science, medicine, and technology. America made many great decisions based on a collective moral consciousness steeped in the Judeo-Christian ethic. Dark clouds appeared in the late 60's.

I would venture to say that Dr. Henry considered "the outrageous evil of abortion" a major moral turning point in America. He notes how liberal clergymen played a key role in promoting the elimination of all legal restrictions for the passing of abortion laws and accommodated the leaders and lobbyists of this death industry. This national sin of infanticide proves our newfound affection for "naturalistic relativism" and our downgrade of a Judeo-Christian worldview.

The last five decades of deconstruction show an erosion of shared values, beliefs, and optimism concerning the American future.

Carl F. H. Henry was a man of hope! His hope was in Christ and his words and works sought to call the Church to loving evangelistic action. Ancient Christianity snatched scores of abandoned babies (mostly little girls) from the hungry jaws of garbage hounds and flesh-eating rats as pagans left their babies on trash heaps to die. Saving and raising pagan babies in loving Christian homes turned the tide by pulling pagans from the darkness to the light of the Gospel.

As Henry approached 90, he said, "The loss of biblical virtues and vitalities is the occasion of the moral confusion of our age, besieged as it now is by sensate, scientific, and sexual priorities."

He saw that the liberal intellectual elites were self-assured in the fact that whatever future religion we may have in America; it will not be in the form of biblical theism.

He saw that ecumenical pluralism of recent church history failed to build a one world church; it actually lost more believers than it enlisted pagans.

Dr. Henry bids us back to biblical authority and living above the sludge of our society by putting God first and foremost. He assures us that we can be vanguards of peace and good news in a land of dispirited people. He reminds us we must clothe ourselves in the armor of God as we look evil squarely in the face.

As a warm-hearted theologian, Henry was a friend to evangelists and endeavored to fan the flame of evangelistic zeal among the brethren.

Lastly, the aging Henry reminds us that we can confidently live in these turning and churning days because for the believer the worst that can happen is already past.

God has already judged our sin and Christ has borne it. For the believer, however dark it may be, the present always has a brighter side because God is working all things for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. Even in persecution and threatening days, the best that will happen lies in the believer's future.

Even sudden death is sudden glory!

Ron F. Hale is the associate pastor of West Jackson Baptist Church in Jackson, Tenn. This article published in SBCToday.com and used with permisson.
Israel, Palestinians extend olive branch (with conditions) 05 April, 2016 by Gregory Tomlin , |

JERUSALEM (Christian Examiner)  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday his government is ready to sit down with the Palestinian Authority (PA) to seek peace, provided that the first subject addressed is the incitement of Palestinians to murder Israelis.

Netanyahu's comments come as PA President Mahmoud Abbas claimed in a television interview that he was still willing to sit down with "the partner" (Netanyahu) to discuss peace with Israel  if Israel agrees to stop policing certain areas and withdraw from areas he regards as Palestinian territory.

"I still extend a hand to Mr. Netanyahu because I believe in peace. I believe that the people of Israel want peace and that the Palestinian people want peace," Abbas said.

One of the things that concerns us is our desire to advance peace. A few days ago, on Israeli television, I heard President Abbas say that if I invite him to meet, he'll come. So as I said this morning to an American Congressional delegation, I'm inviting him again. I've cleared my schedule this week. Any day he can come, I'll be here. Now, we have a lot of things to discuss, but the first item is ending the Palestinian campaign of incitement to murder Israelis. My door is always open to those who want to pursue peace with Israel.

Prior to a meeting with Czech Republic Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek, Netanyahu told reporters in Jerusalem he is still concerned about peace and has a desire to advance it.

"A few days ago, on Israeli television, I heard President Abbas say that if I invite him to meet, he'll come. So as I said this morning to an American Congressional delegation, I'm inviting him again. I've cleared my schedule this week. Any day he can come, I'll be here," Netanyahu said.

The open-door invitation, however, is not without preconditions. Netanyahu said the first thing that has to be discussed is "ending the Palestinian campaign of incitement to murder Israelis"

Israeli authorities insist that Abbas could have, by his public opposition to terrorism, been instrumental in slowing or ending the attacks carried out by Palestinians on Israelis since September. Twenty-nine Israelis and four non-Israelis have been killed in knife attacks or with cars driven by Palestinian attackers.

One of those killed was an American combat veteran and student at Vanderbilt University.

Nearly 200 Palestinians have died since September.

Abbas denied in the television interview that he had incited any violence in Israel and claimed that his security forces had actually acted to restrain the Palestinian populace. In fact, he said, his efforts may have actually lessened the impact of violence on Israel. He claimed the Israelis were simply not aware of all he had done.

Abbas is feeling pressure both externally and internally. He said during the television interview that if the current situation continues, the PA may collapse. That would leave a vacuum for much more radical elements  such as the Islamic State  to seize control. ISIS has already made inroads among the Hamas held territory in Gaza.

If, however, Netanyahu will halt Israeli Defense Force (IDF) activities in the West Bank, peace can still be had, Abbas said.

"Try me for a week  if I don't meet my responsibilities, then come back," Abbas said in the interview.

Netanyhau's comments come at nearly the same time as those of Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, who said Monday he was willing to meet with Abbas to "find a way to build trust between us."

"I am ready to meet with him with whatever coordination with the Israeli government, of course," Rivilin said.

"He said he believed that it was necessary to stop all types of terror and find a way back to negotiations. But as long as Abu Mazen [Abbas] believes in fundamentalism and doesn't abandon the aim to destroy Israel or the Hamas ideology that there is no way to accept Israel, or that only a ceasefire is possible with Israel, then we will get nowhere."
Prisoner released from double life sentence to start churches in prisons throughout the U.S. 05 April, 2016 by Tobin Perry , |

LAKE FOREST, Calif. (Christian Examiner)At worship services last weekend Saddleback Church commissioned Danny Duchene who had spent 33 years in a California prisonas a pastor. Duchene will lead the church's efforts to put a church in every prison in the United States.

"As I stand here today, I'm aware I'm only here by God's mercy," Duchene told the assembled crowd during one of Saddleback's worship services. "I am very grateful to the pastors, friends and family that God has shown his mercy through. The Bible says in James 2:13 that 'mercy triumphs over judgment.' My life is an example of that truth."

Duchene's testimony came as part of Rick Warren's sermon called "God Can Use Anybody," during a message series on "The Miracle of Mercy."

"I now know that God has brought me from the inside out to proclaim that God's mercy is the key to inner freedomwhether your prison is physical, emotional, spiritual or relational."

A California court sentenced Duchene to a double life sentence for his part in a robbery that left two men dead in 1982. He says he never imagined that he'd ever be let out of prison. Yet more than three decades later he calls his arrest and imprisonment, his "rescue" from a life of drug and alcohol addiction.

"Sitting in a county jail before my trial, it took about three weeks to withdraw from the drugs and alcohol," Duchene said. "But once I became sober, the full weight of my crimes and what I had done came crashing down on my conscience. I was overwhelmed with depression and remorse as I realized how many people I had hurt. I believed I was lost and going to Hell, and I was truly, truly afraid."

The California native came to faith in Christ shortly after his arrest and before his 1983 sentencing. He appeared on Saddleback's radar in 2003 when a small group of 20 at Sierra Conservation Center in Jamestown, Calif., he was a part of wrote to the church because they wanted to participate in 40 Days of Purpose, a spiritual growth campaign built around Warren's bestselling book, The Purpose Driven Life. Duchene and the others hoped to involve 50 of their fellow inmates in the study. More than 200 would eventually sign up. According to Duchene, violence often controlled the prison before the campaign, but during 40 Days of Purpose, there were no riots nor fights in the prison.

Later that year Warren came to the prison to preach and to help launch a 'purpose-driven church' within Sierra Conservation Center.

"That night more than 100 men gathered on the prison yard to claim the Sierra Prison as God's holy ground," Duchene said. "As an act of humble reverence, this group of men stood in a circle in the prison yard, and we all removed our shoes as we prayed for the men in each of the cell block buildings."

In keeping with the principles of Warren's bestselling book, The Purpose Driven Church, the new congregation named "directors" for each of the five biblical purposesworship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry and evangelism. They began going through Saddleback's Celebrate Recovery program, which is designed to help people overcome hurts, habits and hang-ups that hold people back spiritually. In 2004, Saddleback awarded the church, with Duchene as its leader, the Healthy Church Award.

The prison provided an entire 200-capacity building to house any prisoner who was willing to be a part of Celebrate Recovery, commit to being in a small group, have an accountability sponsor and complete a Rick Warren study on biblical fellowship. The success of the programand the churchmade national news as the New York Times and others highlighted it.

Duchene says Warren first mentioned that he'd like to hire him as a pastor at Saddleback back in 2003. Flattered, Duchene figured there was no chance with a double life sentence hanging over his head.

"But, as Pastor Rick preached last week in his Easter message, God specializes in making the impossible possible," Duchene said.

In 2014 Warren wrote an impassioned letter to the parole board and the California governor asking for Duchene's parole. On Christmas Even 2014, the state released him. He spent the next year fulfilling parole requirements in San Francisco and serving as a drug and alcohol counselor. He was also married a year after his release.

"I now know that God has brought me from the inside out to proclaim that God's mercy is the key to inner freedomwhether your prison is physical, emotional, spiritual or relational. By God's mercy and grace, I will serve you for Jesus' sake as best as I am able," Duchene told the congregation.
Syrian Christian town of al-Qaryatain has been taken back from Islamic State, following a few days of intense battle between the militant nation and the Syrian troops aided by Russian airstrikes, according to reports.

The town was surrounded by the Syrian allied forces, which drove ISIS out of the town on Sunday, according to media reports.

Over 40 air strikes by Russian and Syrian air force had targeted key areas near the al-Qaryatain, a Britain-based Observatory said.

A vast majority of the town is under government control, but the IS militants were still fighting in the western outskirts of the town, according to RIA Novosti.

The Syrian army said that government is using heavy artillery to obliterate IS from the town, and that militants were taking cars to flee to the north.

The Syrian national television said that the anti-Daesh (anti-ISIS) forces had "fully restored security and stability to the town after killing the last remaining groups of Daesh terrorists."

Syria had been trying to reclaim control over al-Qaryatain to prevent ISIS' further advance towards the capital Damascus and other major cities.

al-Qaryatain is about 60 miles west of city of Palmyra which was recaptured by the Syrian allied forces from Islamic State about a week ago.

The loss of al-Qaryatain is a major strategic setback to the IS, as the town was close to Damascus-Homs highway.

ISIS had seized al-Qaryatain in August last year, and took 200 Christians as captives. They were given an option to convert to Islam or pay a non-Muslim tax of "jizya."

A Syrian priest Fr Jack Murad and his volunteer were held by IS militants for about 84 days in the mountains around al-Qaryatain and at many different places.

Fr Jack told the BBC that the ISIS militants were curious about his Christian faith.

"They would ask about my theology - God, the Holy Trinity, Christ, and the Crucifixion," he said.

He thought there was no need to answer them.

"What's the point of debating with someone who's put you in prison and pointing their rifle at you?" said Fr Jack. "When I was forced to respond, I'd say 'I'm not prepared to change my religion'."

They were threatened with execution, but were later released.

The militants had razed Mar Elian Christian monastery, from where the priest was abducted, to the ground with bulldozers.
Over 11 million documents were leaked from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca disclosing hidden financial dealings of over 214,000 entities in about 200 countries and territories.

The papers cover 40 years, from 1977 to December 2015, and exposed 140 politicians and public officials from around the globe, including 12 current and former world leaders, apart from celebrities, sport stars, billionaires, drug lords, and fraudsters.

At least 33 companies (or countries) and people blacklisted by the US government including Iran, North Korea, terrorist groups such as Hezbollah, and Mexican drug barons were also listed among those who had done illegal transactions.

Many of the companies who used the off-shore tax havens were secretive and avoided taxes through Mossack Fonseca, while rogue nations dodged sanctions and fraudsters laundered money with the help of the law firm.

"I think the leak will prove to be probably the biggest blow the offshore world has ever taken because of the extent of the documents," said Gerard Ryle, director of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

The 'Panama papers' were uncovered by International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, and over 100 other news organizations.

According to the papers, Hong Kong is the top location where banks and law firms have hosted corrupt and criminal businesses. UK's Virgin Islands are the next favorite haven for malpractices, according to Christian Aid.

"This leak exposes the extent to which UK tax havens and UK-based intermediaries are at the very heart of this rotten system," Toby Quantrill, Principal Economic Justice Adviser at Christian Aid, said in its press release.

Christian Aid investigated shadowy deals in the Swiss branch of HSBC, and found that poorer countries suffer most from tax evasion. Their research showed that the proportion of money siphoned off from the developing countries to tax evasion is much higher than developed countries in terms of the volume of illicit flow relative to the size of their respective economies.

The study concluded that the impact of tax dodging and illegal off-shore transactions was worst on poor people of the developing countries.

Quantrill continued: "In the longer term we need a new system of global cooperation to tackle this deeply rooted and highly corrosive problem of financial secrecy - one which we can all trust."
Continuing from the previous article, here is the question that arises: If that is true what is the free will for man? What on earth is the free will to choose whatever I do and wherever I go?

Luther says that if we are to use the term free will at all, we should limit it to our everyday freedom in those things that are below us but not attempt to extend it to those things that are above us (LW 33,70). What does that mean? It is simply, once again, an attempt to give account of the way things are. In our daily life and affairs we do relatively what we please and God does not noticeably interfere, whatever we may believe about him. We come and go as we will; we decide what to wear, what to eat, what to do or not do, and so on. We may even decide to be moral or religious. We may even decide that Jesus is a wonderful person and stirring example, and so forth.

In dealing with the problem of the free will of man, there is one fact that we have to remember. The issue of the free will or the responsibility has always reared its ugly head in every time whenever the church was corrupted and Christians receive ethical and moral criticism in society.

Pelagius arrived in Rome about AD 410 to find a morally lax clergy and church members who used the fact of human weakness as license for immorality. The rich people fell into overeating, over drinking, adultery, and magic, as well as the common people falling into sexual corruption. The church could not be the light and the salt in the midst of this societal situation, and the Roman church was corrupted. He began to preach and teach a very strict, rigid moralism, emphasizing the natural, innate human ability and autonomy to attain salvation.

Erasmus was a man who experienced the corruption of the church in the Middle Ages. Examining the Roman Catholic Church, Erasmus was infuriated with the abuses in the Roman Catholic Church, especially those of the clergy. He called for reform in the Roman Catholic Church. He simply wanted moral reform in the Roman Catholic Church. For this reason, he began to preach and teach man can attain salvation with the free will to keep the law.

Pelagius and Erasmus wanted ethical and moral reform in the Roman Catholic Church through their emphasis on human responsibility based on the free will of man. In regards to this, Augustine and Luthers response was not one of criticizing the reform of Pelagius or Erasmus itself, but that they were instead, pointing out the problem in the theological basis for the reform.

At the time of the Reformation, Martin Luther and Erasmus were like this. Erasmus was a Renaissance rationalist who asserted moral reform on the basis of reason. On the other hand, Luther loved the truth of God's Word as that was revealed to him through his own struggles with the assurance of salvation. Therefore Luther wanted true reformation in the church, which would be a reformation in doctrine and practice.

Although this controversy happened almost five hundred years ago, it is significant for the church today. Many people point out the abuses of church practices by corrupt clergy and the moral depravity of the Christians in Korea.

In response to this, some theologians stress on A church of responsibility for society and, Christian responsibility in Church and Theology. They blamed the moral laxity of Christians on the doctrine of divine grace alone. On the other hand, the other theologians criticized that the grace of God is also weakened by the emphasis on the responsibility.

However, we need to listen to the cry for reform instead of passing theological judgement on the responsibility of man. However, this reform is not only limited to moral and ethical levels, but also would require a reformation in doctrine and practice on the basis the Word of God. This is because salvation is not a problem of ethics, but that of eternal life, the Kingdom of God.

Until now, we examined the question of free will. Now, we will examine how Luther talks about the free will of man in theses 13~18.

Reverend and Doctor Jin O. Jeong is an assistant pastor for Korean congregation at Zion Lutheran Church, Belleville, IL. He graduated from Luther University and received a Ph.D from Yonsei University. He was also a Research Fellow at Hebrew University and Visiting Scholar at Yale Divinity School. Tel: 618-920-9311 Email: jjeong@zionbelleville.org
Alveda King: How Can MLK's Dream Survive if the Unborn are not Protected?

Contact: Leslie Palma, 347-286-7277

ATLANTA, April 4, 2016 /Christian Newswire/ -- Today is the 48th anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The civil rights leader was in Memphis to support a sanitation workers' strike when he was shot in the neck by a sniper as he stood on the second floor balcony of the Lorraine Motel. He was 39 years old.

Evangelist Alveda King is Martin Luther King's niece and has devoted her life to an often overlooked aspect of the civil rights movement. As director of Civil Rights for the Unborn, the African-American outreach of Priests for Life, she advocates for the lives of the most defenseless victims, children in the womb.

"Today I feel very close to my uncle's dream and vision for the 21st century," she said. "However, in order to give genuine honor to the dream we must recognize an underrepresented group: The unborn. A woman has a right to choose what she does with her body. The baby is not her body. Where is the lawyer for the baby? How can the dream of Martin Luther King survive if we murder our children and desecrate the wombs of their mothers?"

Father Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, said that just as Martin Luther King gave his life for the civil rights movement, pro-lifers have to be willing to do the same for the one million babies lost every year to abortion in the U.S.

"As I wrote in my book Abolishing Abortion, we have to be ready to lay down our lives to end the violent segregation and prejudice of abortion," Father Pavone said. "Martin Luther King and his brother, Rev. AD King, stopped at nothing to build the Beloved Community, and so must we. Let's do what needs to be done."
Americans Ready to Answer the President's Call to Pray for Our Nation on the 65th Annual National Day of Prayer, Thursday, May 5th



WASHINGTON, April 5, 2016 /



As our nation struggles with foreign and domestic threats, economic insecurity, cultural tensions, and continual challenges to basic constitutional rights, citizens of the United States are preparing to heed the call by our elected leaders to exercise one of their most precious freedoms  the right to gather, turn to God, and pray. In response, millions will assemble at thousands of local events across the nation, where they will take time out of their daily schedules to intercede on behalf of their communities, their nation, and their leaders.



The theme for the 2016 National Day of Prayer observation is Wake Up America, emphasizing the need for every citizen to wake up to the reality of the challenges that our nation faces and to call upon the unfailing character of God, who is sovereign over all governments, authorities, and men. Isaiah 58:1a further highlights this need by exhorting us to "Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet."



Dr. Tony Evans will serve as the 2016 Honorary Chairman for the NDP Task Force and will give the keynote address at the National Observance in Washington, D.C., to be held at the Cannon House Office Building. Dr. Evans has served as the senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship for close to four decades, has authored over 100 books, is the founder and president of The Urban Alternative, and his daily radio broadcast can be heard on more than 1,000 radio outlets.



To learn more, or to find a National Day of Prayer event in your community, visit



About the National Day of Prayer

The National Day of Prayer tradition predates the founding of the United States of America, evidenced by the Continental Congress proclamation in 1775 setting aside a day of prayer. In 1952, Congress established an annual day of prayer and, in 1988, that law was amended, designating the National Day of Prayer as the first Thursday in May.

Share Tweet Contact: Dion Elmore, 719-338-2293WASHINGTON, April 5, 2016 / Christian Newswire / -- The National Day of Prayer is not just a vital part of America's heritage, but is as relevant and critical today as it was at the first call by our Continental Congress in 1775. Established in public law by a joint resolution of Congress signed by President Truman in 1952, then amended to designate the day under the 100th Congress and President Reagan in 1988, it states that "The President shall issue each year a proclamation designating the first Thursday in May as a National Day of Prayer on which the people of the United States may turn to God in prayer and meditation at churches, in groups and as individuals."As our nation struggles with foreign and domestic threats, economic insecurity, cultural tensions, and continual challenges to basic constitutional rights, citizens of the United States are preparing to heed the call by our elected leaders to exercise one of their most precious freedoms  the right to gather, turn to God, and pray. In response, millions will assemble at thousands of local events across the nation, where they will take time out of their daily schedules to intercede on behalf of their communities, their nation, and their leaders.The theme for the 2016 National Day of Prayer observation is Wake Up America, emphasizing the need for every citizen to wake up to the reality of the challenges that our nation faces and to call upon the unfailing character of God, who is sovereign over all governments, authorities, and men. Isaiah 58:1a further highlights this need by exhorting us to "Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet."Dr. Tony Evans will serve as the 2016 Honorary Chairman for the NDP Task Force and will give the keynote address at the National Observance in Washington, D.C., to be held at the Cannon House Office Building. Dr. Evans has served as the senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship for close to four decades, has authored over 100 books, is the founder and president of The Urban Alternative, and his daily radio broadcast can be heard on more than 1,000 radio outlets.To learn more, or to find a National Day of Prayer event in your community, visit www.NationalDayofPrayer.org . To schedule a media interview, send your request to media@nationaldayofprayer.org About the National Day of PrayerThe National Day of Prayer tradition predates the founding of the United States of America, evidenced by the Continental Congress proclamation in 1775 setting aside a day of prayer. In 1952, Congress established an annual day of prayer and, in 1988, that law was amended, designating the National Day of Prayer as the first Thursday in May.
Azusafest and Azusanow Senior Leaders will Meet at 312 Azusa Street Contact: Fred Berry,



LOS ANGELES, April 5, 2016 /



On April 7 & 8 the Azusafest celebration will be in a tent on the footprint of the old 312 Azusa Street Mission which was lead by Pastor William J. Seymour. The evening services will feature Brazilian leaders and Christian International Apostolic leaders. A celebration luncheon of leaders on Friday April 8 will honor Bill Hamon for over 60 years of ministry and over 80 years of a faithful life. The luncheon and night services will be held at 401 East Third Street at Union Church. The nightly services will feature speakers and prophetic ministers that will lay hands on all attendees.



Dr. Bill Hamon is the founder of Christian International Ministries, a premier prophetic ministry for over 45 years. A prophet for 60 years, he has prophesied to more than 50,000 people and provided training for over 250,000 in prophetic ministry. He has authored seven major books, specializing in the restoration of the Church and what to expect next on God's agenda. Dr. Bill Hamon is respected by church leaders around the world as a senior leader of the prophetic/apostolic company God is raising up in these last days.



Lou Engle of theCall and the Azusanow senior leaders will meet to plant a unity tree on the Azusa Street property on Sunday, April 10. African American leaders will attend and be lead by Senior Evangelist Mamie Leonard. Evangelist Mamie Sconiers Leonard is well acquainted with the manifested power of God. In more than 50 years as an evangelist, she has seen thousands of lives changed through salvation, deliverance, healing, and the infilling of the Holy Ghost. Since the founding of the shut-in ministry in August 1983, Evangelist Leonard and her ministry team have conducted shut-in revivals at hundreds of churches within and beyond the United States.



Fred and Wilma Berry (pictured) carry on the history of Azusa Street as international representatives through the Azusa Street Mission. The organizations mission is to carry the flame of Azusa Street to the next generation throughout the nations of the world. "There is an expectation of the fulfillment of William J. Seymour's prophesy of a greater revival spreading all over the world like unto the Azusa Street Revival," said Apostle Berry, "It's America's time again"  God has chosen this nation for this hourand we're praying for leaders to come together in unity at Azusafest to unlock a catalyst to a great wave of God's spirit for the Last Days harvest and revival."



The Azusa Street Mission and Historical Society was founded by Fred & Wilma Berry during the 2006 centennial celebration. This will be the 10th annual Azusafest celebration since it inception. Further info can be obtained at the

Share Tweet Contact: Fred Berry, Azusa Street Mission , 323-692-7268LOS ANGELES, April 5, 2016 / Christian Newswire / -- The partnership of Azusafest and Azusanow will culminate on Sunday, April 10th at the closing ceremony on the property where it all began. The Azusafest celebration is a pre and post event to the Azusanow 2016 celebration in the Los Angeles coliseum on April 9th!On April 7 & 8 the Azusafest celebration will be in a tent on the footprint of the old 312 Azusa Street Mission which was lead by Pastor William J. Seymour. The evening services will feature Brazilian leaders and Christian International Apostolic leaders. A celebration luncheon of leaders on Friday April 8 will honor Bill Hamon for over 60 years of ministry and over 80 years of a faithful life. The luncheon and night services will be held at 401 East Third Street at Union Church. The nightly services will feature speakers and prophetic ministers that will lay hands on all attendees.Dr. Bill Hamon is the founder of Christian International Ministries, a premier prophetic ministry for over 45 years. A prophet for 60 years, he has prophesied to more than 50,000 people and provided training for over 250,000 in prophetic ministry. He has authored seven major books, specializing in the restoration of the Church and what to expect next on God's agenda. Dr. Bill Hamon is respected by church leaders around the world as a senior leader of the prophetic/apostolic company God is raising up in these last days.Lou Engle of theCall and the Azusanow senior leaders will meet to plant a unity tree on the Azusa Street property on Sunday, April 10. African American leaders will attend and be lead by Senior Evangelist Mamie Leonard. Evangelist Mamie Sconiers Leonard is well acquainted with the manifested power of God. In more than 50 years as an evangelist, she has seen thousands of lives changed through salvation, deliverance, healing, and the infilling of the Holy Ghost. Since the founding of the shut-in ministry in August 1983, Evangelist Leonard and her ministry team have conducted shut-in revivals at hundreds of churches within and beyond the United States.Fred and Wilma Berry (pictured) carry on the history of Azusa Street as international representatives through the Azusa Street Mission. The organizations mission is to carry the flame of Azusa Street to the next generation throughout the nations of the world. "There is an expectation of the fulfillment of William J. Seymour's prophesy of a greater revival spreading all over the world like unto the Azusa Street Revival," said Apostle Berry, "It's America's time again"  God has chosen this nation for this hourand we're praying for leaders to come together in unity at Azusafest to unlock a catalyst to a great wave of God's spirit for the Last Days harvest and revival."The Azusa Street Mission and Historical Society was founded by Fred & Wilma Berry during the 2006 centennial celebration. This will be the 10th annual Azusafest celebration since it inception. Further info can be obtained at the www.Azusafest.com or www.azusastreetmission.org
home World Bibles, Christian books to be distributed free in Hong Kong

The residents of Hong Kong will once again be treated to free Bibles and Christian books worth millions of dollars, courtesy of Christian Resources International.

"This next two weeks, we're sending five sea containers a that's approximately $3 million used-book value of Bibles and Christian books," said Jason Woolford of CRI, as reported by Mission Network News. "[They're] going to Ghana, Kenya, but most importantly a the one that we're talking about right now a is Hong Kong."

This will be the fourth shipment to the autonomous Chinese territory and, according to Woolford, missionaries there have noticed that literature in English is preferred by many, even deeming English-language Bibles "more priceless."

The books are offered along streets, free for anyone who wishes to take them. The approach seems to be creating an impact because apparently, non-Christian religions are following their example.

According to the report, there are roughtly 840,000 Christians in Hong Kong, with majority of the religious population practicing Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism and other traditional Chinese religions. The CIA World Factbook states that Christians comprise only 10 percent of the population.

As what they do in other regions, CRI is providing these Christians in HK with written materials that would help them grow in the faith as well as share it.

CRI accepts gently-used Bibles and Christian books from those who wish to donate them. They then ship these to different countries, 170 thus far, equipping missionaries, pastors, and evangelists to help them in their services, as well as setting up lending libraries and distribution centers, among others.

Woolford said, "There are 122,000 people who are getting saved or giving their lives to the Lord everyday, but the majority of those people are attending a church where the pastor does not even own a Bible."
home World Christian refugees in Czech Republic to be deported back to Iraq

A group of Christian refugees staying in the Czech Republic will be deported back to Iraq because they "abused the good will" of the country. They were given asylum, but they rejected it and attempted to cross the border to Germany, apparently unsatisfied with whatever future they imagine to have in the host country.

"By rejecting asylum and leaving the accommodation facility we offered to them, they started acting on their own account," Martin Frydl said, as quoted by RT. "However, we are in touch with the Interior Ministry, and we will be jointly seeking the best possible solution."

Frydl is a spokesman for the Generation 21 Endowment, the group that runs the resettlement project. They arranged for 153 Iraqi Christians to be accommodated in the Czech Republic, 89 of which already arrived from January to April. However, according to CTK Ceske Noviny, the program was halted by the government when 25 of the refugees asked for their travel documents to be returned to them. The refugees apparently wanted to go to another country like Sweden and Germany.

According to reports, the group of Christians who tried to flee were staying in Okrouhlik near Jihlava. They rode a bus to Essen on Saturday but were stopped and detained by authorities at the Czech-German border. The two countries then agreed to let the refugees return to Prague, but they are to leave the Czech Republic by April 7.

Interior Minister Milan Chovanec posted a series of tweets regarding the matter. He said, in a translated version on RT, "The seven-day deadline, which the Iraqi Christians got along with their passports, is meant for them to be able to arrange the return home. This time cannot be used to break laws or to move to another Schengen country. I asked the Czech police to use all legal means so that these people, who abused the good will of the Czech Republic and her citizens, are returned to Iraq."

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. (John 3:3 ESV)  Steed Lobotzke (@CoachLobotzke) December 9, 2016

Even though the program was suspended, it will continue for those are already in and wish to remain in the Czech Republic.

Reuters reported in February that roughly two-thirds or 65 percent of the people in the country are against taking in refugees.
home US Senate committee refuses to scrub law on equal treatment of evolution and creation in Louisiana schools

A senate committee in Louisiana has refused to repeal the Balanced Treatment for Creation Science and Evolution Science Act of 1981. This was brought up for discussion last month by Sen. Dan Claitor, but his effort to scrub the law from the books was outvoted 4-2 on Tuesday.

The act allows teachers in public schools to "provide information and instruction in both creation and evolution models" as "necessary and appropriate," giving both a balanced treatment.

"Are you aware that there is an abundance of recent science that actually confirms the Genesis account of creation?" said Sen. John Milkovich, who is against repealing the law, as reported by Christian News Network. "[S]cientific research and developments and advances in the last 100 years, particularly in the last 50, 20, 10 years have validated the biblical story of creation by archaeological discoveries of civilizations in the mid-east that secularists said did not exist and further archaeological research determines are true."

Claitor reportedly replied, "I'm not asking you to give up your belief in God. I'm not asking you to get in bed with the devil. I'm asking you to follow your oath to follow the Constitution."

The act was already challenged in 1987. In the Edwards vs. Aguillard case, the Supreme Court found it unconstitutional since it upholds the teaching of a particular religion, thereby violating the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution that specifically says, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof... " However, it still remains as law.

In 2013, then-representative Claitor sponsored a proposal to repeal the law, but it was denied by the House Education Committee of Louisiana.

There are similar efforts to repeal the Louisiana Science Education Act, which also reportedly welcomes discussions of creation in schools, but these efforts have so far been unsuccessful.
home World ISIS prevents remaining Christians, Armenians in Syrian city from leaving

The Islamic State terror group has issued a decree preventing the remaining Christians and Armenians in Raqqa, Syria from leaving the city.

Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently, a campaign by a non-violent group of activists in the Syrian city, has posted a series of tweets that give information on what's going on in the area. The group aims at exposing the cruelty of ISIS and the regime of president Bashar Al-Assad.

On March 29, it tweeted, "#ISIS Issued a new decision to Prevent any Christians or Armenians people who Remain in #Raqqa to leave the city under any condition #Syria."

Welcome Kuma and Panda plus a new game mode, Online Tournament! Get ready to fight against friends and foes worldwide! pic.twitter.com/rXQR38VPT2  TEKKEN 7 (@TEKKEN) December 10, 2016

According to the activist group, a thousand Christians used to live there prior to the arrival of ISIS. The terror group gave them a choice: either pay extra taxes called "jizea" or die. Many of them left the city, but those remaining, mostly fathers or brothers who need to support their families, work mainly in their shops or in the industrial area. Now, the group counted only 43 Christian families remaining, with 2 to 3 members each. They surmise that these people might be used either as hostages or human shields.

Moreover, the militants issued a new decision that forces everyone in Raqqa to take "Religious courses in ISIS ideology and Jihad." Those who do not attend these lessons will be imprisoned for three months.

The campaign's Twitter account also gives updates about airstrikes as well as other forms of atrocity. These include raising taxes on trucks that cross ISIS territory, raising taxes for homes that use more electricity, and replacing female receptionists in clinics and hospitals with male ones.

The theft rate in the city has also increased due to the price hike on goods, primarily food.

According to the activist group, eight men accused of burglary were executed and crucified. A man accused of being a spy suffered the same fate.

In an interview with Fox News, David Curry, president and CEO of Christian advocacy organization Open Doors USA, said, "Any Christian living within Syria or Iraq is in a very dangerous and precarious position. We want to see the Christian church survive in the Middle East, especially in the areas occupied by the Islamic State."

Raqqa, located east of Aleppo, fell under the control of the Islamic State in 2013 during the Syrian Civil War.
home World Kenyan government gives Muslim teacher posthumous honor for saving Christians

The Kenyan government is honoring a Muslim man who, in December, stood in the way of militants to save the Christians on board the bus he was riding. He subsequently died due to a gunshot wound he sustained during the attack.

President Uhuru Kenyatta, during his State of the Union address on Thursday, said he was posthumously awarding Muslim teacher Salah Farah the Order of the Grand Warrior of Kenya. This is one of the highest honors in the country and is given by the president to those who give exemplary service.

"He died defending people who he did not know. This is because he believed in their right to freedom of worship and he knew that every single life - irrespective of faith - is sacred," the Independent quotes the president as saying.

The ambush happened on Dec. 21 when Islamist militants targeted the bus that Farah was riding. The bus, en route from Nairobi to Mandera, was shot at and was forced to stop. The militants, reportedly connected to Somalia's al-Shabaab, ordered the approximately 60 passengers to divide themselves between Muslims and Christians. The group is known for sparing the former and killing the latter. However, Farah and the other Muslim passengers refused, and challenged the attackers to either leave them alone or kill them all.

Farah suffered from a gunshot wound to the hip and he sustained injuries on his arm due to shrapnel.

"People should live peacefully together," Farah said during an interview with Voice of America while in the hospital. "We are brothers. It's only the religion that is the difference, so I ask my brother Muslims to take care of the Christians so that the Christians also take care of us. ... and let us help one another and let us live together peacefully."

He passed away in January while in surgery.

BBC notes the president saying that Farah is someone "who refused to be divided by terrorism."
home US Louisiana governor to rescind former gov's executive order on religious liberty

Governor John Bel Edwards of Louisiana will repeal an executive order issued by former governor Bobby Jindal that gives religious liberties to those who go against same-sex unions.

"Governor Edwards will issue the executive order, but it is in the drafting stage," said press secretary Shauna Sanford to Deadline. "As far as Jindal's religious liberty order, the governor intends to rescind it in the near future."

Executive Order BJ 15-8, titled Marriage and Conscience Order, says in part that no adverse action should be taken by the government against those who, on the basis of their religion, believe that marriage is a union between a man and a woman and "that this principle not be construed to authorize any act of discrimination."

The order, which was signed in May, in essence allows people and businesses to refuse services to members of the LGBT community if it goes against their religion. It also protects those who object to same-sex marriage from being denied tax exemption, employment, loan, among other things, because of their religious stance.

It was issued after the House decided against a religious freedom bill, the Marriage and Conscience Act.

Edwards, however, will repeal this and create a new one in its place that will require contractors to put non-discrimination clauses.

According to Sanford, as quoted by the Christian News Network, "He is going to issue an executive order that state contractors have a non-discrimination clause because he does not believe that it is right for anyone to be discriminated against because of their race, their gender, their sexual orientation."

"In terms of what he will instruct the Attorney General's office to do is follow the law," said Sanford. "The governor does not want anyone to be forced to do anything they don't want to do, within the confines of the law."
home Entertainment New Vatican Museums exhibit centers on Pontifical Swiss Guards

A new exhibit that centers on the Swiss Guards was opened Friday at The Vatican Museums.

Titled "The Life of a Swiss Guard: A private view," it features 86 images by photographer Fabio Mantegna. The photos, in color and black and white, feature shots that tell the history of the Pontifical Swiss Guard Corps in the service of the Pope.

"The artistic shots of Fabio Mantegna tell a noble and ancient history, but also the beautiful youth of a group of boys at the Rome service of the Pope, proud and honored the role they represent and the service to which they are called," said Prof. Antonio Paolucci, Director of the Vatican Museums, in a statement roughly translated using Google Translate.

The exhibit, which will be open until June 12, focuses on the responsibility and commitment of the guards to ensure that the Pope and his residence are safe. According to the press release, it shows their life at work and behind the scenes during less formal occasions. The photos also have accompanying text -- comments made by the photo subjects about their own experiences at work.

"Being Swiss Guard is a vocation," said Col. Christoph Graf, Commander of the Swiss Guard Pontifical. "We need faith and deep conviction to carry out this extraordinary commitment and noble. Day and night we are close the Holy Father and we try, through our service, to grant him the peace and security they need to perform his ministry as Successor of Peter."

The history of the Pontifical Swiss Guards goes back to 1506 when it was first founded. In 2015, Pope Francis visited them and their families, and said it was an opportunity to "strengthen a [significant] friendship."

"In the history of the Church, many men and women have embraced the call of this great love," the Pope said, as quoted by Radio Vaticana. "The Swiss Guards who fought during the sack of Rome [on May 6, 1527] and who gave their lives in the defense of the Pope followed this call. And responding with devotion to this call means to follow Christ."

He exhorted them to attend mass, go to confession, read the Gospel daily, and pray for it will help them in their vocations. With this, they will be able to convey the message of love that comes from Christ to those who come to the Vatican.

The Pope said, "In effect, Swiss Guards are a 'billboard' of the Holy See!"
7 things that Christians can learn from atheists

We might disagree with atheists' beliefs and reasoning about the Christian faith, but there is a lot to learn from friendships with our unbelieving friends, even the ones who aren't very friendly.

1. What seems obvious to us, does not seem obvious to others

We have to do more than just tell other people what we believe and expect them to believe it too.

If you do not come from a Christian background, adopting the faith involves a huge change of worldview. Without the Holy Spirit it is impossible. But there needs to be a huge change in thinking, too. It can take years to open up minds and hearts to a different way of viewing the world.

On the other hand, atheists who had a Christian upbringing show how important the Holy Spirit is. You may have been taught Christian doctrine from an early age, and even have a Christian worldview, but if you do not know God, then it won't stick. Having a deep and abiding relationship with God is what matters.

2. Church is about God

When the atheist 'church' was set up, its founder said that he got the idea because he went to Hillsong and liked what they did  except the God stuff. So he set up a place to sing songs, meet together with other people and have a talk. When I went to visit this community, though, it seemed dull and empty: the whole point of church was missing. But perhaps some come to Christian churches more to meet friends and have a sing, than to worship God, at least at the beginning. If Jesus left your church, would you notice he had gone?

3. Not everyone wants to know God

I've often asked atheists something along the lines of: if you knew that it is true that God really and truly loves you, that Jesus is real and died for you, would you give your life to God? The answer to this is usually yes, though often with some hesitation. But sometimes they say no. That seems incomprehensible to a Christian, but for some it is their choice at that moment in time.

For those who say yes, we can then wonder, so why don't they believe? There are lots of possible stumbling blocks. Atheists often present rational objections to belief in God. Sometimes they are real and valid, and worth listening to. But often even if they are dealt with, there are other issues underlying these objections, such as lifestyle issues that they feel would be impossible to give up, or pain from suffering that hasn't been healed. But as much as we long that they'd know God's love, it is their choice, and it's important to respect that.

4. Radical love makes the difference

It's fair to say that many atheists live similar lives to many Christians. OK so there's some evidence that on average, Christians are a bit more likely to volunteer their time, donate to charity and suchlike  but you will find plenty of atheists "doing good things" too.

Obviously being a Christian isn't about just doing good works, though they should be a sign of genuine faith. So what's the difference? Atheists often cite this as a reason not to believe.

I think what is rarer outside the church is really radical and extraordinary love that raises eyebrows. For example, missionaries selling their possessions and going out to live among street children in Mozambique; a priest deliberately going to the gas chambers in the place of a man whose name had been called out by the Nazi guards; families who take in hundreds of orphaned children without any pay. There are so many extraordinary stories of great faith and love.

Unusual love can be shown at a more everyday level too. Dan Mohler, a pastor in the US, tells a story about how a car ran into him, but the love he showed to the driver overwhelmed her, because she had expected him to be angry. Can we act in unusual ways too  unusually loving?

To be giving radical love, we need to be in a radical place with God  truly knowing how much he loves us, how much he loves those around us, how trustworthy he is for all the problems of life, and so full of love that when bad things happen, our first reaction is of the Spirit and not of the flesh. This kind of deep faith can and does make a real difference to our lives  we just need to get there!

5. It's annoying to be misunderstood and harangued

If you've had a bad encounter with atheists who seem determined to misrepresent Christianity, twist everything you say, mock you and otherwise be very difficult  it's worth remembering that Christians can be like this too.

Each negative encounter can be lesson on what is annoying, so we can learn to do the opposite and "do unto others as you would have them do to you".

6. How we treat people is important

If you've ever met anyone who cites bad treatment from a Christian as the reason they don't believe, it's a good incentive to pray for more love and kindness, and that we don't inflict our bad moods on others. (Gulp.)

7. Jesus loves everyone

OK so you meet the occasional obnoxious atheist, and sometimes the famous ones can really get under your skin. But does Jesus still love them? Yes. And when Jesus said we should love our enemies and bless those who persecute us  I'm pretty that included a bit of mocking, prejudice, misunderstanding and social ostracising.

Therefore the biggest gift an atheist can give us is to test us on how much we love people who are different to us and who have different beliefs  whether they are being friendly or hostile.
Armenia's Sarksyan wins presidential vote

Armenian Prime Minister Serzh Sarksyan won a presidential election, results showed on Wednesday, but opposition parties prepared protests in the capital after complaining that the contest was rigged.



Sarksyan, who has vowed to continue the policies of incumbent Robert Kocharyan, had an unassailable lead with 782,233 votes - or 56 percent - of the 1,408,712 ballots counted, a spokeswoman for the Central Election Committee said.



The result looked set to give Sarksyan outright victory and let him avoid a runoff with his closest rival, opposition leader and former President Levon Ter-Petrosyan, who had 310,792, or 22 percent, of votes counted, as calculated by Reuters.



The results were from 85 percent of the ballots counted. The commission's spokeswoman did not give percentages for candidates and said the body would wait until all ballots had been counted before doing so.



High in the Caucasus mountains, land-locked Armenia lies between Turkey and Azerbaijan in an important transit region for oil exports from the Caspian Sea to world markets.



It relies heavily on an alliance with Moscow and, despite a recent spurt in economic growth, remains poor.



Analysts warn a still-unresolved conflict with neighbouring Azerbaijan over the separatist territory of Nagorno-Karabakh could flare up again into violence.



Stalled efforts to reach a peace deal are likely to be the biggest challenge facing the new president.



Sarksyan's campaign team said late on Tuesday it was waiting for definitive official results before making a statement and that the priority was for a free and fair election.



But an opposition aide said Ter-Petrosyan, Armenia's first president after it won independence from the Soviet Union, was the real winner, and complained of violations including ballot-stuffing, kidnapping and the beating supporters.



Ter-Petrosyan's camp announced a protest rally in the capital Yerevan on Wednesday.



Election observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe will give their verdict on the vote on Wednesday. Their assessment is likely to be a key factor in whether the opposition protests build momentum.



Previous elections in Armenia have been followed by days of opposition protests alleging ballot fraud. A new round of protests will be a test for stability in a country which, in the 1990s, was rocked by political convulsions.
Azerbaijan: Baptist pastor faces new prison sentence

Baptist former prisoner of conscience Zaur Balaev, who was freed on 19 March after being held for nearly a year for leading his congregation, was summoned and threatened with a new prison term in early May, he told Forum 18 News Service on 12 June from his home village of Aliabad in the north-western region of Zakatala in Azerbaijan.



"Haven't you learnt from your imprisonment?" Balaev quoted police officers as telling him. "Wasn't one prison term enough for you?" And, in what Balaev says was a clear threat, one officer added: "You may not be afraid, but you've forgotten you've got a wife, daughter and a son."



Balaev said the threats came from Kamandar Hasanov, the deputy regional police chief, and two of his colleagues in Hasanov's office in Zakatala.



"They didn't hit me but they were very crude."



Balaev said the police banned his church from meeting, a ban the congregation has defied. Police have continued to visit his church during worship services. "They realise they can't drive us out," he told Forum 18, referring to the fact that all the church members are local people. "But they observe us closely."



Hasanov denied to Forum 18 that he had threatened Balaev. "There were no threats," he told Forum 18 from Zakatala on 12 June. "Who said there were any threats and raids?"



He declined to say why the Baptist congregations in Aliabad cannot meet for worship without harassment.



"Call me back later," Hasanov said and put down the phone. He was not in the office later in the day.



Strongly backing Balaev and his congregation is Ilya Zenchenko, head of Azerbaijan's Baptist Union. "They used very bad threats against him," he told Forum 18 in the capital Baku in late May. "This must be reported. They definitely want to threaten him, telling him 'this is an Islamic country and Christians shouldn't be here'."



Balaev was arrested in May 2007 on charges of attacking five police officers and damaging a police car that he and his church insist were trumped up. He was sentenced to two years' imprisonment, but was freed under amnesty in March, perhaps as a result of international attention to his case.



The 44-year-old Balaev told Forum 18 his health suffered during his imprisonment. He said he was held for four months in an investigation cell together with some twenty other prisoners who smoked constantly and some of whom suffered from tuberculosis.



Like the overwhelming majority of Aliabad's inhabitants, Balaev is from the Georgian-speaking Ingilo minority, which was converted to Islam several centuries ago. The congregation he leads has existed for more than fifteen years and has repeatedly been barred from gaining state registration. Forum 18 believes it to be Azerbaijan's religious community that holds the record for the longest denial of registration.



Although police have not punished church members for continuing to meet, Balaev told Forum 18 that they have continued to visit services both of his congregation and of another Baptist congregation in the village led by Hamid Shabanov.



"They visited us three times and other congregations twice," Balaev complained. "Pastor Hamid was also summoned by the police and threatened." He said police scrutiny had been particularly intense during a visit some two weeks earlier by fellow church members from Baku. "Police asked them why they had come and what they were doing. They demanded to see their identity documents and wrote down their details."



Balaev reported that Christian literature confiscated from Pastor Shabanov a year ago has still not been returned.



After Balaev's release, church members accompanied by Zenchenko tried once more to have their signatures on the congregation's registration application officially notarised by Zakatala's notary. "But they absolutely refused to do this," Zenchenko told Forum 18. "This is how they have behaved for years."



Jeyhun Mamedov of the State Committee for Work with Religious Organisations in Baku refused adamantly to discuss the threats to Balaev and harassment of his congregation and other religious communities in Zakatala Region with Forum 18 in his office in Baku on 21 May. However, he pledged to investigate the refusal of the notary to notarise the signatures on the registration application. Mamedov's telephone has gone unanswered every time Forum 18 has called since then.



Najiba Mamedova, Zakatala's notary, screamed down the phone at Forum 18 when it tried to find out why the notary's office is refusing to notarise the signatures on the registration application.



"You've been going on about this for years," she told Forum 18 on 12 June. "You're a provocateur. It's none of your business. Armenians have occupied Nagorno-Karabakh for more than 15 years and we've spent blood over it. One Karabakh is enough." When Forum 18 pointed out that the Aliabad Baptist church has no connection with Armenians and that its members are Azerbaijani citizens she angrily put the phone down.



In November 2004 Mamedova angrily threw Forum 18 out of her office during

a visit to try to find out why she was then refusing to notarise the signatures.



Numerous religious communities of a variety of faiths have been denied registration over recent years and children given Christian first names by their parents in Aliabad have been denied birth certificates by officials angry at their choice of name.
Bones of a Christian saint uncovered in rubble of ISIS-destroyed monastery

The bones of a saint have been discovered among the ruins of an ancient monastery in the Christian town of al-Qaryatain, liberated from ISIS control on Sunday.

Photographs taken of the ruins of the Mar Elian (Saint Julian) monastry in al-Qaryatain appear to show a destroyed sarcophagus containing a skull and bones.

The bones of Christian saints in the rubble of St Eliane monastery in #Qaryatayn. #ISIS blew it up last August. pic.twitter.com/Htyipk1k6I  Lindsey Hilsum (@lindseyhilsum) April 4, 2016

The town was liberated from Islamic State on Sunday, having been captured by the jihadist group in August last year.

The photographs, tweeted by Channel 4 News reporter Lindsey Hilsum, show bones laying on the ground amid rubble. There were also other bones stored in cardboard and plastic boxes.

The remains are thought to be of the namesake of the monastery, Saint Julian, who was martyred in 284 AD for refusing to deny his faith. The saint, who had healed the sick, was killed by his own father, a Roman officer.

He was buried in the sarcophagus, which had laid uncovered for centuries until ISIS used bulldozers to raze the Mar Elian monastery, which is more than 1,500 years old.

Syrian and allied forces backed by Russian air strikes forced Islamic State militants out of the Christian town on Sunday after encircling it over the past few days, Syria's military command said.

According to Russia Today, whose reporters have since visted the site, every Christian symbol within the monastery and church has been destroyed, and all the crosses removed. There is evidence that attempts to burn the building down were made, and Assyrian Christian holy books were also burnt.

Surrounded by hills, al-Qaryatain is 100 km (60 miles) west of the ancient city of Palmyra, which government forces recaptured from Islamic State on 27 March.
Christians, Muslim group hail landmark court ruling in Malaysia on freedom of religion

Christians and even a Muslim group welcomed a recent landmark ruling by a High Court in Malaysia that recognised that freedom of religion is a fundamental human right. The court struck down a decades-long government policy that had made it tough for Christian converts to renounce their former Islamic faith without the consent of an Islamic court.

The Association of Churches in Sarawak praised the decision "as a ratification of the fundamental right to freedom of religion in Malaysia," Herald Malaysia reported.

"We are thankful to the Kuching High Court for coming to a fair and just decision in accordance with the law. We call upon the federal government to honour and give effect to the guarantee of religious freedom as provided in the Malaysia Agreement and uphold the constitutional rights and fundamental liberties accorded by the federal constitution to all citizens of Malaysia," the association said.

The Muslim group Sisters in Islam said the decision was in line with the principles of Islam as the religion that "promotes compassion and tolerance."

"This judgment reaffirms the supremacy of the Federal Constitution, which under Article 11 defends every Malaysian citizen's right to freedom of religion," the group said.

High Court judge Yew Jen Kie of the Kuching High Court, Sarawak state granted the petition of Rooney Rebit asking judicial authorities to declare that his belief in Jesus Christ was a fundamental human right.

Rebit, 41, from a village in Sarawak, was born a Christian but was converted to Islam by his parents when he was about 10 years old and renamed Azmi Mohamad Azam.

Judge Yew ruled that Rebit is "free to exercise his right to freedom of religion and he chose Christianity.''

"Rebit could not be considered to have officially professed Islam because it was not his choice to embrace the religion. But when he became a Christian at the age of 24, he was mature enough to make a conscious decision,'' the ruling said, according to Worldmonitor.com.

The verdict is considered a milestone as conversion and apostasy in the predominantly Muslim country is viewed as sensitive.
Colorado man wants to build a full-size replica of ancient Jerusalem

An American entrepreneur and visionary is planning a huge  and very expensive  religious theme park that will take years to complete and cost tens of millions of dollars.

The development will be a full-scale replica of ancient Jerusalem on a 700-acre site near Colorado Springs. The plan is to build Herod's Temple, the Antonia Fortress and Herod's Palace, with Jesus' crucifixion site, the High Priest's palace and other smaller buildings.

Michael Kinlaw writes of the project: "This isn't being built for profit. This isn't being built for anything other than the developer wants to build something for the people of America and the people of the world that is built so well that it will require little maintenance and still stand 2,000 years from now."

The Herod's Temple website says: "We believe it is time for the Jewish, Christian and Muslim faiths to have a place to visit in America where they can experience what it was like back in the days of ancient Jerusalem around the time of Jesus."

The project will take 15 years to complete and cost around $100 million. Kinlaw believes it will attract large numbers of visitors and produce vast revenues for the Colorado Springs area.

Among its features will be an underground parking area under Herod's Temple. The Antonia Fortress will eventually be turned into a shelter for homeless and poor people.

The developer says on his website: "I am not a religious person, or at least I wasn't until a few weeks ago. While sleeping a vision came to me and told me that I was going the wrong direction with my life. This higher power told me that I needed to spend the rest of my life serving a bigger cause and that I needed to build something larger than life. I was told exactly what to do, where to do it and how to do it. This project comes down to the old saying 'If we build it, they will come'."

He is raising funds to purchase the land and begin construction.
Detained Chinese pastor released but placed under surveillance

A Chinese pastor who was detained after he opposed the removal of crosses from churches in Zhejiang province has been released.

Pastor Gu Yuese has now been placed under "residential surveillance".

He was senior pastor of the state-sanctioned Chongyi Church, one of the biggest in China, in Zhejiang but was fired after his detention. He was also chair of the Zhejiang branch of the China Christian Council, which helps oversee registered churches.

He was first detained in January and then arrested in February on charges of embezzling funds.

According to China Aid, both Pastor Gu and Christian human rights lawyer Zhang Kai were released in advance of President Xi's visit to the US for the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington DC.

Also in China, Christian human rights lawyer Ni Yulan has been prevented from travelling to the US to receive an International Women of Courage Award. Ni, who has previously been imprisoned and tortured, was refused a new passport, apparently because of her connection with lawyers detained in a "crackdown" on July 9, in which more than 300 lawyers, activists, family members and associates were interrogated, detained, imprisoned and disappeared.

Ni and her husband have also been forced to leave their home after pressure was applied to their property agent by police. Her husband Dong Jiqin was physically assaulted as they were dragged out.

Mervyn Thomas, Chief Executive of Christian Solidarity Worldwide, said: "We welcome news of Pastor Gu's release but note with concern that he is not actually free as he is under residential surveillance. We are also deeply concerned about reports that lawyer Ni Yulan has been prevented from travelling to the US and has been forcibly evicted from her home.

"We congratulate Ms Ni on receiving this award, in recognition of her tireless and courageous efforts to defend the rights of petitioners and other citizens in China. CSW calls on the Chinese authorities to grant Ni Yulan a passport, to cease all harassment and intimidation of Ni and her husband, and to uphold the right of lawyers in China to practice their profession without interference.

"We also urge China to remove restrictions on Pastor Gu and to guarantee the right to freedom of religion or belief for Christians and other religious communities in China."

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Even an atheist agrees: ISIS terrorist attacks on Christians are all about religion

Even though he does not personally believe in the existence of God, prominent atheist Richard Dawkins says he believes the attacks being made by the terrorist Islamic State (ISIS) on Christians are all about religion.

Following the attack in Pakistan that killed 70 Christians, Dawkins took to Twitter to criticise how the media is turning a blind eye on how differences in faith are central to these terrorist activities.

"Pakistan bomb kills 72," he wrote on his Twitter page, then proceeded to quote the perpetrators of the attack as stating, "We have carried out this attack to target Christians who were celebrating Easter."

"Ah, nothing to do with religion, then," the well-known atheist quipped, as quoted by The Gospel Herald.

The Islamic extremist group Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, which cut ties with the Taliban and then pledged allegiance to the ISIS, has already claimed responsibility for the bombing in Pakistan, which killed mostly innocent women and children.

The ISIS affiliate's spokesperson, Ehsanullah Ehsan, said a suicide bomber particularly targeted a Christian community. He further warned that more attacks will be launched by his group throughout the year.

"We claim responsibility for the attack on Christians as they were celebrating Easter. It was part of our annual martyrdom attacks we have started this year," Ehsan said.

"We had been waiting for this occasion ... We want to convey to the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the prime minister that we have arrived in Punjab and we will reach you," he added.

This is not the first time that Dawkins defended Christians for being victims of terrorist attacks by Muslim extremist groups. In December, he also called out the media for ignoring shocking human rights abuses being committed by Muslim extremists in different parts of the world.

"Regressive left turns treacherous, blind eye on misogyny and homophobia because they absurdly think Islam must be 'respected' as a 'race,'" he wrote.

During his guesting on HBO's "Real Time," the popular atheist meanwhile said that it is "ridiculous" how some Muslim groups are being treated by society as "protected species."
From Rastafarian to Christian preacher: one man's story of cutting off his dreadlocks and opening his heart to Jesus

Making the decision to become a Christian can present many obstacles, not least if your family all share a different belief.

Overcoming such challenges was something that McKenhum Prendegast had to do when he chose to abandon the teachings of his Rastafarian upbringing for a Christian faith.

Prendegast, who was born and raised in Jamaica, told the Jamaica Gleaner: "I decided one day to tell my father I no longer wanted that [Rastafarian] life. Looking back into my past I realised going to church had already cemented my belief in Jesus and that it was just a matter of time for the decision to walk away."

The former Rastafarian had been to church during his younger years and it was there that he initially gained an understanding of Christianity.

His trust in Jesus surpassed that of his belief in the Rastafarian traditions and eventually he made the decision to cut off his dreadlocks - a spiritual custom in Rastafarianism.

"When I shared with him [my father] my decision to cut my hair there wasn't much words, but the ones that were spoken made it very clear how he felt about the decision.

"Inwardly I always trusted more in Jesus than I did in [Haile] Selassie and since Rastas used the Bible I was even more convinced it was OK to leave."

The 26-year-old has come a long way since he got baptised in June 2007 and is now studying at the Bethel Bible College.

Prendegast has travelled around the parishes in Jamaica to share the news of Jesus, and he hopes to one day travel the world to share with others that "Jesus saves, He keeps and He satisfies". However, even with his conversion to Christianity, Prendegast didn't initially think that he would become a preacher.

"It never dawned on me that God would use me to speak into people's lives. I believe He has called me at a time like this to share with people His love and miracles. It is my aim to preach to everyone I encounter using my life and the anointing God gives and to cause them to see him as Isaiah saw him 'high and lifted up'.
Louisiana Senate panel rejects proposed repeal of law requiring equal lessons on Creation, evolution

Students in Louisiana will still continue to be taught how God created Earth and mankind as told in the Holy Bible's Book of Genesis, thanks to the effort of some state senators who rejected the proposed repeal of an existing law that requires equal lessons on Creation and evolution.

Democratic Senator John Milkovich was among the senators who stood up that Louisiana students should continue to learn about Creation, saying more and more pieces of scientific evidence are emerging that show how the Earth indeed came from a Divine Being.

"Are you aware that there is an abundance of recent science that actually confirms the Genesis account of creation?" Milkovich told the Senate committee deliberating on whether or not the "Balanced Treatment for Creation Science and Evolution Science Act" should already be scrapped.

"[S]cientific research and developments and advances in the last 100 years, particularly in the last 50, 20, 10 years have validated the biblical story of creation by archaeological discoveries of civilisations in the Mideast that secularists said did not exist and further archaeological research determines are true," he added, as quoted by Christian News.

Milkovich and three other Republican senatorsBeth Mizell, Mike Walsworth, and Mack Whiteactually defied a Supreme Court ruling in 1987 when they voted to retain the law on equal lessons on Creation and evolution.

The top court already ruled over two decades ago that this legislation is unenforceable. The law was also deemed as unconstitutional because it was supposedly designed "to advance the religious viewpoint that a supernatural being created humankind."

Republican Senator Dan Claitor subscribed to this view, prompting him to initiate the repeal of the law. He was, however, outnumbered by his colleagues who wanted it retained.

"I'm not asking you to give up your belief in God," Claitor said during the Senate Education Committee hearing on the controversial law. "I'm not asking you to get in bed with the devil. I'm asking you to follow your oath to follow the Constitution."
Nigeria: One Christian pastor killed and two released after kidnapping at church camp

Two of the three pastors captured in Kaduna state during a church camp prayer meeting have been released, while the third died after being abandoned in the wild, according to Morning Star News.

Rev Iliya Anto was found dead in the bush 10 days after the March 21 abduction, according to Rev Jibrailu Wobiya, general secretary of United Church of Christ in Nigeria. Earlier reports had claimed that Anto had been released by kidnappers due to ill health.

The details of his death are unconfirmed, but it has been claimed he died after the kidnappers left him in the wild.

Anto was a pastor and vice president of the HEKAN church in Kaduna city, and was abducted alongside Rev Dr Emmanuel Dziggau, president of the church, and Rev Yakubu Dzarma, a retired church leader.

The other two pastors were released on March 30.

"I can now confirm the release of the two," Wobiya told Morning Star News.

"Unfortunately, the third pastor, the Rev Iliya Anto, died during the incident."

All three men belong to the United Church of Christ in Nigeria (TUCCN) and were preparing for an Easter retreat when they were kidnapped by armed men, who attacked the camp site in Kaduna. The assailants attacked the camp at 10am. Armed with AK-47s and with covered faces, they captured the three pastors and put them in the back of a van.

The assailants had demanded a ransom of 100 million naira (US$500,000). Wobiya did not say whether the church paid the sum, declining to discuss the issue.

"We are saddened by this incident, and we are traumatised by it," he said. "We are at the moment mourning the death of the Rev Anto and are preparing for his funeral. I do not have much to say on this at the moment, because I am not in the right frame of mind to discuss this issue."
Pakistani priest urges Christians to pray for terrorists after Lahore massacre

Rev Fayaz Adman lost 27 family members in a suicide attack in Peshawar in September 2013. Speaking to Christian Today following Easter Sunday's attack in Lahore, he stressed the importance of praying for the terrorists targetting believers in Pakistan.

Adman, who is priest-in-charge of West Bolton, UK, was born in Peshawar and was baptised, confirmed and ordained in All Saints Church, where a double suicide attack killed more than 120 people in 2013. He lost 27 members of his family in the incident and was inspired, with his wife, to start Project Umeed (Project Hope) in response. The initiative set out to bring restoration to those suffering physically, spiritually and emotionally as a result of the attack.

Set up in November 2013, the project was located just 18 yards away from All Saints Church, Adman told Christian Today.

"When we went back in June, to see the impact of the work, most of the victims were walking on their own feet which gave me comfort and peace", he added.

"Most of the children who were injured were healed and most were back in school. Women had been trained to start up small businesses at home and those who were the heads of the family were back in work."

Almost two and a half years after what Adman described as "the first attack in history on Christians in Pakistan with such a massive loss", however, the country faced yet another devastating massacre. On March 27, Easter Sunday, Lahore was attacked by suicide bombers claiming 73 lives, many of them women and children. A spokesman for the group that claimed responsibility for the blasts, the Taliban-affiliated Jamaat-ur-Ahrar, said: "The target was Christians."

"These are my Christian brothers and sisters," Adman said of the victims. "This is just another episode of the persecution, after Peshawar. They [the terrorists] can't stop, and they will continue."

Because Christianity is seen as the enemy by hardline Islamists, Adnam said, believers will continue to be targetted. However, he is passionate about encouraging Pakistani Christians to remain hopeful in the face of persecution and tragedy.

His strategy against the growing persecution of Christians in Pakistan and other parts of the Islamic world is simple  prayer.

"We need to pray for those who control these innocent people" who are manipulated into committing suicide attacks, he said.

"Each and every Muslim is not a terrorist, but could easily be manipulated into being one."

This is due to a number of reasons, he continued.

"There is poverty in Pakistan and because of low levels of education, those in positions of power pick out innocent people to use and abuse, turning them into suicide bombers. When these controlling hands use these innocents, they pay a good amount to their family members. That is the key."

Vulnerable individuals are coerced into performing suicide attacks with promises that "their family would support their decision, they would know their family would have a happy, wealthy life, and the individual would be rewarded in paradise," Adnam said.

He said it is vital that the Qur'an is "translated into modern times, otherwise people will still face these problems and these terrorist attacks, as currently they are using the Holy Qur'an for jihad."

Alongside prayer for those controlling the "innocent" people manipulated into becoming terrorists, Adman said he hoped that Christians in Pakistan could have "proper training on how to handle these kinds of incidents and how to help traumatised people".

"The basic, or prime responsibility, for the Christian leadership in Pakistan is to stand up and demand in a decent way to change the discriminatory laws and the translation of the Holy Scriptures in the modern time, or they will continue to face these problems and discrimination," he said.
Ted Cruz hosts screening of 'God's Not Dead 2' in Wisconsin

Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz said he is through caring about what opponent Donald Trump does during his campaign stop in Wisconsin, and wants to instead focus on the things that Wisconsin voters truly want.

"What the people of Wisconsin care about is jobs, bringing jobs back to America, seeing wages rise," Cruz said, according to Religion News Service. "What the people of Wisconsin care about is our freedom, protecting the Bill of Rights. What the people of Wisconsin care about is safety and security, protecting this country from radical Islamic terrorism."

After answering questions for around 15 minutes, Cruz then hosted a screening of the new faith-based film "God's Not Dead 2," which stars Melissa Joan Hart as persecuted Christian teacher Grace Wesley. The film is the sequel to the 2014 film "God's Not Dead," which was a hit among the faith community.

Cruz sat down in a jam-packed theatre carrying popcorn and two hotdogs. "One simple reality, if I want to see a movie, it's got to be a campaign stop," he jokingly said.

Cruz added that the film's focus on religious liberty is an important issue that has placed the "radicalised" Democratic Party in conflict.

"It is unfortunate to see the modern Democratic Party has gotten so extreme, so radicalised that religious liberty is now viewed in conflict with the partisan political agenda of the Democratic Party," he said. "Every one of us has the right to live according to our faith. And this should be a shared value that brings us together."

Meanwhile, "Duck Dynasty" star Sadie Robertson, who made her debut in "God's Not Dead 2," told Town Hall that she was impressed by the character Grace's religious conviction. Even though it can get difficult defending the Christian faith nowadays, Robertson noted how important it is for Christians to stand true to their beliefs.

"If [Grace] would have wavered in her faith, then it wouldn't have worked out for her," she said. "Because she stayed true the whole time, and never doubted it, she was very successful. People wanted to root for her. If you question yourself, people are going to question you, but if you go 100 percent then people are going to vote for you."
Tips on saving money from the Bible: three verses to guide your spending habits

We might be familiar with the phrase, "saving money for a rainy day" but it turns out very few of us are doing this. In fact, not only are we failing to save, we're dipping into our cash reserves to fund our lifestyles. With reports that the saving ratio in UK households has dropped to a record low, it's probably time that we all reconsidered how we look after our finances.

We can struggle to save money for a number of reasons, like modest salaries coupled with multiple outgoings, price rises and unexpected expenses, but our inability to save can also be down to a lack of knowledge in understanding how to budget and manage money well. We can turn to the bank, accountants, professional investors and a range of other sources for practical advice on how to save, invest and take care of our income, but what guidance can Christians find on the practice in the Bible?

The Bible is full of direct and indirect guidance on money management, and saving in particular. These verses are just three that we can look to to inspire our approach to saving money.

1 Corinthians 16:2 - On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.

This practical advice which Paul gave to the people of Corinth can be adapted to inform how we tackle saving today. Depending on when we get paid, and how often, choosing a regular interval to put aside a certain amount of money is one of the most fundamental and effective habits when it comes to saving.

Proverbs 21:20 - The wise store up choice food and olive oil, but fools gulp theirs down.

This verse refers explicitly to food produce, but we can readily apply it to money matters too. Because we never know what unexpected expenses are around the corner, for us or our friends and family, it's smart but very simple advice to stagger our spending in between paycheques.

Matthew 25:23 - His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!

When we're struggling to make ends meet, we can think that more money is the only solution to our financial issues but this isn't always the case. In some instances, the key to finding ourselves in a position which enables us to save doesn't require more money but for us to first cope with managing the initial modest income. Essentially, "if you look after the pennies, the pounds will look after themselves". Looking at Matthew 25:14-29 in a literal sense, saving doesn't necessarily mean storing our money without allowing it to grow interest, but identifying how best it can be utilised.
Mark Rothkos seminal No.17 to star in New York

Painted at the pinnacle of the artists career, the rare blue canvas is set to be a highlight of Christies Post War & Contemporary Art sales on 10 May in New York

Painted in 1957, Mark Rothkos No. 17 is one of the artists rare blue canvases, produced at the dawn of his mature period  just a short time before he embarked on the Seagram Murals , now at Londons Tate Gallery, widely regarded as the pinnacle of his career. Estimated at $30-40 million, No. 17 is to lead Christies Evening Sale of Post-War and Contemporary Art in New York on 10 May .

With its vibrant, verdant hues, No. 17 is emblematic of the experiential nature of Rothkos art  embodying what one critic called the immediate radiance of paintings made during this period. The work featured in the artists vital retrospective of 1961-63, which travelled Europe, championing Abstract Expressionism and confirming Rothkos status as one its vanguards.

Visitors to Mark Rothko s retrospective, which opened at Londons Whitechapel Art Gallery, described their responses as shocked, spellbound and transformed. Current Whitechapel curator Nayai Yiakoumaki describes the exhibition as very important, adding that, from that moment on the art world was captivated by Rothko and subsequently, [Tate Director] Norman Reid, approached the artist to discuss a purchase of works culminating with the substantial donation of eight of the Seagram Murals to the Tate in 1970

Following the retrospective, No. 17 was acquired by an important private Italian collection, where it remained unseen for several decades  re-emerging in 2001, as a central work in a major exhibition mounted by the Fondaton Beyeler. At the close of this exhibition, the work was acquired by a private collection, where it has remained until today.

Mark Rothko (1903-1970), No. 17, 1957. Oil on canvas. 91 1/2 x 69 1/2 in. (232.5 x 176.5 cm.). Estimate: $30,000,000-40,000,000. This work is offered in our Post War & Contemporary Art Evening Sale on 10 May at Christies in New York  1998 Kate Rothko Prizel & Christopher Rothko / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Brett Gorvy, Christies International Head of Post-War and Contemporary Art comments: No. 17 is a strikingly beautiful canvas that comes with an exhibition history that places it within the canon of Rothkos most important paintings of the late 1950s. We are particularly pleased to be presenting this work to the marketplace at a time when there is such tremendous demand for examples by Rothko of this remarkable quality. With its vibrant, enveloping surface, and its freshness to the auction market, we are confident that No.17 will appeal to a broad global audience.

The sale of No. 17 follows the tremendously successful result for Rothkos 1958 painting No. 10 , which realised $81,925,000, exceeding its high estimate of $60 million, at Christies New York, in May 2015. No.10s strength at auction demonstrated the tremendous demand for works of this quality by Rothko in the global marketplace  a demand still in full force today.

At the works centre, a thin strip of high-keyed azure blue bleeds into neighbouring areas with intoxicating results; Rothko insisted that it was here, where the edges of his painterly passages meet, that the true essence of his paintings were witnessed. It is a work that captures Rothkos singular painterly powers, capturing the drama and psychological intensity of an artist who became among the most celebrated and influential of the twentieth century.
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Just as Mayor Ed Lee was about to donate eight iPads to San Franciscos Make-A-Wish Foundation on Tuesday morning to replace those stolen in a weekend burglary, his assistants phone buzzed with a message from Police Chief Greg Suhr.

Two suspects were arrested in connection with the burglary, the message said. And the most treasured item swiped in the break-in  a motorized scooter given to the foundation by Giants outfielder Hunter Pence  was recovered.

Thus, the organization that fulfills wishes for children with life-threatening conditions or illnesses had its own wish granted.

Arrested were 37-year-old Judd Janke, a transient, and 26-year-old Nicholas Tiller of San Francisco, police said. Janke was booked on suspicion of burglary, conspiracy and false imprisonment, all felonies, and two misdemeanor counts of narcotics and burglary tool possession. Tillers booking charges were two felony narcotics counts, misdemeanor possession of stolen property and violation of his probation.

Beat officers on the 400 block of Market Street, near the Embarcadero BART Station, recognized one of the suspects from surveillance footage Monday evening. Police later executed a search warrant at an undisclosed location on Fourth Street in the South of Market area, where they recovered the scooter.

It was not immediately clear whether the eight iPads and other stolen office items were also recovered during the arrest. Police are still searching for a third suspect.

The Saturday night burglary occurred as the city faces a 64 percent increase in property crime in the past five years, driven primarily by car break-ins.

There are big flashlights out there that are being used, and they penetrate even the best screen windows in order to see something that might be of interest, said Lee, referring to the increase in auto burglaries.

The looting at the Hawthorne Street offices of Make-a-Wish Greater Bay Area was particularly significant for Pence, whose electric scooter had been stolen once before, in 2014. It was being kept in the office for a foundation board member who won it at an auction.

The thieves came through a back door of the office and grabbed some of the foundations backpacks, which they used to carry a haul that included gift cards, the iPads and miscellaneous supplies. The burglars also broke into and ransacked the CEOs office.

The foundation is the group that turned the city into Gotham in November 2013 for 5-year-old Miles Scott, better known as Batkid, who was battling acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Anyone with information on the case or the third suspect can call (415) 575-6043.

Kimberly Veklerov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kveklerov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kveklerov
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One of the most popular characters in the Looney Tunes canon, Speedy Gonzales, could be returning to the pop culture landscape soon.

A whole new generation of kids will learn about The Fastest Mouse in all of Mexico" and his Robin Hood-like adventures.

The speedy, wise-cracking Mexican mouse will star in an upcoming Warner Bros. movie. It's likely that the movie will have two cuts, one for English-speaking audiences and one for Spanish speakers.

According to Deadline earlier this week the animated flick(s) will come from filmmaker and actor Eugenio Derbez, who will also voice the running rodent in the gestating films.

RELATED: RodeoHouston takes action against offensive animated movie

Derbez told the film industry blog that the character has a special place in the hearts of Mexican children, young and old.

In Mexico we grew up watching Speedy Gonzales, Derbez told Deadline. He was like a superhero to us, or maybe more like a revolutionario like Simon Bolivar or Pancho Villa. He watched out for the little people but with a lot of bravado and a weakness for the ladies.

In the right hands the character will likely be a big hit with kids again. Maybe he can even get a shoe deal. After all, he is promoting exercise in his own way.

RELATED: Innocent things from our childhoods that could be seen as offensive and even banned today

Producer Dylan Sellers has a more nuanced view of Speedy, who can be seen as a tireless fighter for the little guy.

In a time when Donald Trump is gaining momentum, the world needs Speedy more than ever, he told an outlet.

Speedy's new movie is still in the scripting stages.

Debuting on his own in 1955, Mel Blanc first voiced the mouse, along with a multitude of other iconic Looney Tunes characters. The mouse appeared previously as a bit player before getting his own spotlight.

RELATED: 18 things hipsters have claimed from Mexican culture

By the 90s Speedy was largely a ghost, a victim of political correctness, banished to the memories of older animation fans. There were small appearances here and there, including one in the 2003 film "Looney Tunes: Back in Action," in which Speedy even poked fun at his non-PC image.

Of course it remains to be seen how the mouse will be received in 2017 with a population of itchy trigger fingers attached to people who are easily outraged by something as harmless as a wise-cracking rodent.

IGN also reported that Scooby-Doo is returning to screens in two years, when people will complain that a dog speaking with a perceived speech impediment hanging out with white crime-fighting kids is problematic.

Weve yet to hear if sexual predator Pepe Le Pew is due to return to the fold. The blood-thirsty Wile E. Coyote and the amphetamine-addicted Road Runner are also due to be rediscovered.
Chef Michael Pellegrino, known to Houston diners for his work at the Tasting Room, Max's Wine Dive and Anjeo, is leaving his longtime home with Lasco Enterprises restaurants.

The popular chef has taken a new position as executive director of culinary relations with Slow Dough Bread Co.
First there was the movie, "Deli Man," the life, times and matzoh ball soup of Ziggy Gruber, owner of Kenny & Ziggy's authentic New York deli in Houston.



Now comes the series  "Counter Intelligence" - a 6-part, weekly podcast about the bustling, hustling deli on Post Oak Boulevard, where sandwiches are piled to the ceiling, waitresses are sassy and customers are, let's say, opinionated.



"Counter Intelligence" will debut April 12 on iTunes. There will be a new episode the next five Tuesdays. You can download the series at ingradient.com, too.

It's an oral history about a busy deli that's hanging on to the traditions of classic Eastern European cooking.
Some Lone Star State homes come with Texas-sized rental rates. See what $10,000 rents per month in this state's luxury housing market.

26 South Badger Lodge in The Woodlands, Texas:

This Houston-area estate has five bedrooms and four full baths. Sitting on more than an acre, the 5,558-square-foot Mediterranean house is an architecturally intriguing structure, with a backyard arcade that opens onto a hacienda-style courtyard. The tastefully decorated interior is outfitted with luxury accents, including marble and limestone counters and name-brand fixtures. Luis Tamborrel at Tamborrel Properties has the listing. Price: $10,000 per month

READ MORE: Texas-based organization builds unique homes for low-income families using trash

Undisclosed address in Austin:

A rustic, contemporary interior makes this home a warm, elegant place to call home. The 4,930-square-foot house has four bedrooms and four baths. It was built in 1939 but has been well maintained, with custom upgrades and stylish furnishings. Texas Chic Executive Lease has the listing. Price: $10,000 per month

4524 Westway in Highland Park, Texas:

Built in 1940, this Dallas-area house was renovated in 2008. The 5,295-square-foot home occupying a quarter-acre has four bedrooms and four baths. One of the property's most notable features is the partially covered backyard lounge, which is set up for elegant al fresco entertaining. It also has a large bar area, five living spaces and four fireplaces. Landscape maintenance is included in the rental rate. Douglas Ratliffe at Lively Realty, Inc. has the listing. Price: $10,500 per month (Story continues below.)

SEE ALSO: River Oaks English countryside-style home's price slashed

1306 Noble Way in Flower Mound, Texas:

Enclosed within a private, gated lakeside community is this sprawling 6,171-square-foot mansion. Built in 1997, the four-bedroom, four-bath house sits on an acre of land in Denton County. The interior is a blend of European flair in the kitchen and luxurious countrified style in other living spaces. Outside, a resort-style swimming pool decorates a heavily wooded yard. Robin Massey at JP & Associates Realtors Frisco has the listing. Price: $10,500 per month
A Friendswood woman has given up her test tubes and microscopes to open a new carpet and floor cleaning franchise, Sparkling Chem-Dry.

Dary VanWoerkom owns the cleaning business and runs it from her home with her son, Alex VanWoerkom. The two opened the business in January. Sparkling Chem-Dry's territories include Galveston and Houston area communities.

The company offers carpet, area rug, upholstery, drapery, tile, stone and grout cleaning services. Sparkling Chem-Dry also specializes in removing pet urine from carpet.

"It dries between one to two hours after cleaning," Dary VanWoerkom said in an email. "It removes 89 percent of bacteria and 98 percent of allergens."

She is a registered clinical laboratory scientist and has worked in clinics and hospitals, including Texas Children's Hospital, Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center and Clear Lake Regional Medical Center. She lived in the Houston area for nearly 30 years before meeting her husband. The couple have lived in Friendswood since 2009.

Dary VanWoerkom is originally from Phnom Penh, Cambodia. She immigrated to the United States as a young girl with her mother. Her father was executed by the Khmer Rouge during the Communist takeover shortly before and after the fall of Vietnam.

"I spent two years as a young girl in a refugee camp in Thailand prior to immigrating," she said. "I am a naturalized citizen."

To learn more about Sparkling Chem-Dry, visit www.sparklingchemdry.com or call 832-727-2029.

Water bottling manufacturer builds facility in Pasadena

A California-based owner and manufacturer of bottled Crystal Geyser Alpine Spring Water is constructing a 260,000-square-foot bottling facility at the intersection of Leesa Lane and Genoa Red Bluff Road in Pasadena.

The water bottling company, CG Roxane LLC, is spending $60 million to develop a 20-acre site. The project is expected to generate nearly $42 million annually, according to a study conducted by Houston-based CenterPoint Energy.

CG Roxane purchased the land from the city of Pasadena in January 2015. The purchase price was undisclosed. The company broke ground on the plant last summer. The construction is to take place in two phases over a five- to seven-year period. The first phase, consisting of 130,000 square feet, is to be complete in May.

According to reports posted to the city of Pasadena's website, the bottling plant is expected to create approximately 36 jobs. CG Roxane operates eight Crystal Geyser plants in the United States, according to a company news release. Visit http://www.crystalgeyserasw.com/ for details.
The Houston Northwest Chamber of Commerce has raised more than $350,000 in its campaign to better brand the community and expand economic development.

As part of the effort, new signs to identify Cypress Creek neighborhoods will be installed before year's end.

The chamber will start with two signs at each end of the Cypress Creek Cultural District.

Other signs will be installed as additional funds are raised. The signs will say "Cypress Creek Community" and include identifying labels such as Gleannloch Farms, Champions or Klein.

It is part of the chamber's "Grow Northwest" capital campaign launched a year ago with the goal of raising $3.2 million to address issues such as community branding, safety and security and economic development.

"We're moving as fast as we can with the funding levels we have," chamber president Barbara Thomason said. "As we see funds come in, we'll be able to deliver more and more of these projects."

To help raise money, the chamber is adding a fundraising component to utility bills in the region, asking area businesses and residents to contribute $2 for the branding campaign.

"We just got our first check from Ponderosa Utility District, and it is over $3,000 for two months," Thomson said. "That's just one district. We have seven districts committed. We were able to succeed in getting more sustainable funding without a tax."

The sign campaign will help bring the community together and give it an identity, said Clara Lewis, vice president and director of the cultural district.

The signs will start with the district because it is the center of the community, Lewis said.

The district includes the Pearl Fincher Museum of Fine Art, the Centrum, Barbara Bush Library, Cypress Creek Community Center and the Harris County Precinct 4 Courthouse.

The chamber received a grant a year ago from the Houston-Galveston Area Council to conduct a study on revitalizing the region, said Thomason.

The stakeholders group, which consists of the chamber and the Cypress Creek Parkway Property and Business Owners Association, was awarded a $125,000 grant from the regional council to conduct the study.

One of the ideas out of the study was to install the unifying signs.

The Cypress Creek Livable Centers study focused on the area of Cypress Creek Parkway, also known as FM 1960 West, and the intersections of Kuykendahl Road and Ella Boulevard. It encompasses 1,600 acres and includes neighborhoods of single-family homes with around 6,100 residents.

The plan calls for transforming abandoned shopping centers and underused parking lots into green space and economic centers, adding trees and sidewalks along the corridor and helping to create building and design standards.

For more information about Grow Northwest Houston, visit http://growhoustonnw.com.
A staff member at Austin High School in the Fort Bend Independent School District has resigned following allegations of inappropriate communication with a student.

School officials said they learned of the allegations Monday, removed the staffer immediately from the classroom and launched an investigation. The staff member resigned later that day.

Fort Bend ISD police have been notified about the case.

SCANDAL: Alabama husband, wife arrested in separate student sex cases

With the case under investigation, district official said they could not release any other details.

In a letter to parents Monday, Austin High Principal Mary Ellen Eidson stated student safety and well-being were the top priority at the campus. The letter also urged anyone who had information about the case to contact FBISD Crime Stoppers at 281-491-8477. Tips can also be sent by text message. Text tips followed by GETPAID to 274637.

LAWSUIT: Parents' suit claims Wharton ISD had 'avalanche' of tips about teacher-student sex

Here is the letter that was sent to parents:

April 4, 2016

Dear Austin High School Parents and Guardians,

The safety and well-being of our students is the top priority at Austin High School. With that in mind, I want to make you aware of an investigation that is underway involving a former Austin High School staff member.

This morning, Austin High School administrators learned of possible inappropriate communication between a staff member and a student. Immediately upon learning of this allegation, the staff member was removed from the classroom so an administrative investigation could begin. As of this afternoon, the staff member has resigned.

The Fort Bend ISD Police Department has also been notified. If you or your student has any information that may be related to the investigation, please contact FBISD Crime Stoppers at (281)491-8477. Parents and students may also send an anonymous tip through text messaging by typing GETPAID, following their message, and sending the text to 274637 (CRIMES).

Because this is an active investigation, I am limited in what I am able to share at this time. Still, I want you to know that Austin High School and Fort Bend ISD take all allegations involving possible inappropriate conduct very seriously.

I appreciate your continued support to ensure a safe learning environment at Austin High School.

Sincerely,

Mary Ellen Eidson

Principal
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Southeast Texas cops made fewer traffic stops and searched fewer vehicles last year than they did in 2014, with departments in the three-county area totaling about 150 stops per day.

Of the 12 Southeast Texas agencies that made at least 1,000 traffic stops last year, just four police departments stopped more vehicles than the previous year: Groves, Kountze, Lumberton and Nederland.

Texas law enforcement agencies are required to document how many traffic stops result in citations, arrests and vehicle searches as part of annual racial-profiling reports on file with the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement.

Regionally, the 20 Southeast Texas departments that filed those reports in each of the past two years reported a 5 percent decline in the number of stops and a 39 percent drop in the number of vehicles searched.

Beaumont police, who made the most stops, posted a nearly 12 percent year-to-year decline, according to the reports.

In Kountze, officers made nearly 1,400 stops last year, an 83 percent jump from two years ago.

"We had a discussion during my takeover that we wanted to be more proactive," said Brent Slaughter, who was named police chief in September 2014. "'If you're not doing an actual report (at the station), don't be sitting around. Work a little traffic and patrol the subdivision.'"

Lamar University Police in 2014 searched a greater share of the vehicles they pulled over than any of the other 12 regional agencies that made at least 1,000 traffic stops, according to previous Enterprise reporting.

Last year, the campus department made about half as many traffic stops and cut the number of vehicle searches by nearly two-thirds, according to the new reports.

Assistant Chief Gary Rash said that's because Chief Hector Flores, who took over in November 2014, has prioritized on-campus policing.

"(Flores) redid the patrol zones," Rash said. "He wanted more people on campus and closer to campus. He wanted them to utilize their bike patrol more."

Department officers are licensed to make traffic stops or arrests anywhere in Jefferson County.

The Port Neches and Silsbee police departments, which each made about 1,110 stops last year, searched vehicles at a 15.1 percent rate, tops in the area among agencies with at least 1,000 stops.

The regional average was 4.7 percent.

EBesson@BeaumontEnterprise.com Twitter.com/EricBesson_news
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Shane Kizer, a spokesman for the Denton police department, confirmed early this afternoon that human remains had been found in a Brazoria County field.

Authorities have been looking for the remains of a University of North Texas woman who went missing nearly two decades ago. The search for Kelli Cox is taking place in a pasture by Texas 288 and County Road 51 near Rosharon.

William Reece, a convicted kidnapper, has been identified as a "person of interest" in her disappearance.

EXPLAINED: What you need to know about William Lewis Reece

Kizer said Reece brought authorities to this location and had been there, off and on, while the digging continued.

They started digging Monday, March 28, and had found some remains by the end of the week, Kizer said. Yesterday, they found more.

He said they won't know whether they have found Cox until DNA testing is completed.



LOOKING BACK: Friends remember Laura Smither on 19th anniversary of her abduction

They are continuing to dig, he said.

Kizer said authorities had been in touch with Cox's family.

"It's a bittersweet situation," he said. "If the body is Kelli, then they have closure, but they also have the realization that their child is dead."

RELATED: Man convicted in Texas City girl's 1996 slaying

Cox, an honor student, vanished on July 15, 1997, after a tour of the Denton jail with her criminology class.

The search comes after other remains were pulled recently from a scrubby horse pasture near Hobby Airport, which authorities say could be those of 17-year-old Jessica Cain from Galveston County. Cain also vanished in 1997.

Read more about Reese and the other disappearances that he is connected to in Cindy Horswell's report on HoustonChronicle.com.
A high-quality security camera was apparently a good investment after robbers struck a northwest Houston car dealership.

Houston police said three men, identified as Terry Washington, 30, Edward Ray Lavergne, 32, and Kevin Gray, 31, on March 3 held up ANF Auto Finance, 6004 North Shepherd.

The armed robbery was captured by surveillance video.

"As a result of the clarity of the pictures, numerous calls were received indicating Kevin Gray was the male in the video with the gun," according to a criminal complaint filed against him.

The men posed as customers before one of them, allegedly Gray, pulled out a pistol. One of the other men gathered up the belongings from the victims while the third acted as a lookout, police said.

On Monday, Houston police announced their capture. Each was charged with aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon.

Police accused them of stealing wallets, purses and telephones at gunpoint from workers and customers. They later fled in a Dodge Avenger, officers said.

Police said Crime Stoppers tips and further investigations resulted in the arrests. The suspected robbers are being held without bail at the Harris County Jail.
An inmate at the Harris County Jail has been charged with aggravated assault after allegedly throwing scalding water in the face of another inmate.

Christian Taylor, 28, was in custody on an unrelated family violence case on March 29 when Harris County sheriff's deputies said he attacked Alex Milton, 20, while both were being held at the Harris County Jail.
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More than 1.3 million people turned out April 5, 1986, on an overcast Saturday night to see French composer Jean-Michel Jarre's "Rendez-vous Houston: A City in Concert."

The show landed the city in the Guinness Book of World records and made enduring memories for Houstonians who were there.

WHEN OIL FELL: How Houston dealt with the oil bust in the '80s

The music, fireworks, laser beams and the bigger-than-life projections on the sides of Houstons tallest skyscrapers were a feast for the eyes and ears.

Rendez-vous was a component of the Houston Festival, which would later be called the Houston International Festival, celebrating the 150th anniversary of Texas and Houston that year.

The event also paid tribute to the men and women who died in the Space Shuttle Challenger accident, just months before.

According to Houston Chronicle web producer and history blogger J.R. Gonzales, the concert also included a piece of music that Challenger astronaut Ron McNair had planned to perform in space during the concert itself.

THE BIG BASH: Looking back at Rendez-Vous Houston decades later

The event was in the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest crowd ever to witness a sound-and-light display.

CNNs Jonathan Hawkins turned in a bittersweet chronicle of the event, with details on McNair and Jarres touching friendship.

It's not uncommon to see a yellowed poster featuring the night's lights and fire in the back of a local eatery or antique store, all these years later. However, that skyline appears sparse compared to what Houston has now.

SCRAPING THE SKY: Houston's favorite skyscrapers as they looked while under construction

Talk of Rendez-vous usually sparks discussions about having something similar here in Houston again. Lord knows, technology has progressed enough over the years that a modern light spectacle would make what we saw in 1986 look like an Etch-A-Sketch in comparison.

Back in 2011, Jarre told the Houston Chronicle hed love to come back to the Bayou City for another round. Maybe next time we can find a way to avoid the hellish traffic jam that came after it. We have more bicycles now.

Jarre himself will be in Houston again on April 10 for a concert at the Smart Financial Centre in the Sugar Land.

Craig Hlavaty is a reporter for Chron.com and HoustonChronicle.com.
Newly elected League City Mayor Pat Hallisey says he's focused on mobility, access to clean water for residents and transparency.

Hallisey, 66, who served in the office in 1994-95 after being elected to fill a vacancy, defeated Jean Marie Kranz March 19 in a special election to replace former Mayor Tim Paulissen.

Paulissen is in a runoff with Darrell Apffel to be the Republican nominee for the Galveston County Precinct 1 commissioner post.

Hallisey said his primary goal is to tackle transportation issues in League City, citing residents' complaints that they are spending more time snared in traffic.

He said continuing growth means the city is "shooting itself in the foot" if it waits much longer to address mobility concerns.

"We used to joke that it feels like it takes just as long to drive from east to west of the city as it did to get to Houston," he said.

League City's population almost doubled between 2000 and 2010, jumping from 45,444 to 83,560. Today, officials said 100,053 residents live in the city, and that number is expected to climb to 114,000 by 2020 and 132,000 by 2025.

"We're catching some of Houston's explosion right now; so we want to be in position to provide for that growth so people can enjoy our city when they get here," he said.

Hallisey said some growth relates to development of the Grand Parkway and noted that room for development exists on the city's southwest side.

Deputy city manager John Baumgartner said the city is working on a number of projects to provide traffic relief.

The city is working with the Texas Department of Transportation during the widening of Interstate 45 to address issues at interchanges with Main Street, League City Parkway and FM 646, Baumgartner said in an email.

"As we continue to grow, we will have to look at additional improvements along FM 270 from Five Corners to our southern city limits," he said, "and most importantly, how we can work with our partners to advance the Grand Parkway from a line on a map to new roadway providing additional roadway capacity for all our residents?"

As mayor, Hallisey conducts city meetings and has a vote on the council. He also is the city's spokesman.

Hallisey said water availability is another top priority.

The city obtains water from the city of Houston's Southeast Water Purification Plant and Gulf Coast Water Authority's Texas City water plant. City officials say it's important to avoid being too reliant on one source.

Hallisey said he supports a cost-sharing solution like the one the city is negotiating with the city of Houston.

Baumgartner said that the city is working with Houston and other partners to replace a 40-year-old 42-inch water line off Texas 3 that provides League City with nearly 80 percent of its surface water supply.

"There's no growth without infrastructure," Hallisey said, "I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel. I want to help council push through to get these projects done and re-focus on what residents' priorities are."

Council Member Geri Bentley said it's important for League City to continue an approach in which it has options for the city's water supply.

"Our goal is to try to diversify sources of water," Bentley said.

Bentley said City Council is looking forward to having the mayor contribute to those talks.

Hallisey, a League City resident for more than 40 years, said he's aimed at improving transparency among city officials and government.

"We need an environment where we're all heard. One where citizens can be comfortable enough to reach out to government," he said, "Let's open the city up to the citizens who pay the bills."
Mayor Sylvester Turner named Ronald Lewis as his new city attorney Tuesday morning, one of the mayor's first moves to begin installing his own picks as senior advisers.

Lewis has practiced with Diana Marshall at the firm of Marshall & Lewis since 2006, having spent 23 years at Baker Botts before that. Lewis joined that firm in 1983, after graduating from Harvard Law School and Princeton University before that.
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.
Thunder Bay Mayor Keith Hobbs, far right, is helped in raising the Autism Ontario flag at city hall on Monday. It was in recognition of World Autism Day, while also raising awareness about the mental development disorder. According to Autism Ontario, theres an estimated 100,000 people with autism spectrum disorder in the province. Theres not enough support both in Thunder Bay and across the province for those with autism, says a mother of a son who has it. She explained theres still long wait lists to receive a diagnosis, which makes it more difficult to get access to support services as a medical diagnosis is usually required. See the story on page A2.
Peste 300 de liceene s-au inscris in Startup School si sunt gata sa invete bazele antreprenoriatului tehnologic. Vezi cum a fost la evenimentul de lansare a programului national de educatie antreprenoriala
In early 2015, an anonymous source began forwarding German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung encrypted files from a Panamanian law firm specializing in offshore companies. The trove of documents kept growing, and eventually numbered in the millions. Seeking help to break down all the data, the Munich-based daily contacted a small investigative outfit in Washington that specializes in global analyses. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists quickly organized nearly 400 journalists across 80 countries to jump on the story.

The fruits of ICIJs labor since then became clear on Sunday, when it orchestrated the mass publication of a global leak investigation through more than 100 partners. The Panama Papers collectively reveal how that Panamanian firm aided global elites in sheltering wealth through offshore tax havens. Stories kept pouring out on Monday as governments began to respond. Spanish prosecutors have reportedly launched a money laundering probe, the Icelandic prime minister is fending off calls for his resignation, and China appears to be censoring coverage of those implicated.

The project is a testament to ICIJs partnership model, which aims to maximize impact through inclusive global collaboration. Media partners around the world localized the Panama Papers for their respective audiences, while near-simultaneous publication of that work created a critical mass of coverage needed to drive discussion worldwide. Such joint efforts are also more resilient to government or corporate pushback in any particular country.

Global networks of any kindand financial networks in particularare inherently difficult for individual news organizations to cover. ICIJ responds with a global network of its own, a much-needed answer for stories that transcend borders and languages. Cash is universal, so its fitting that ICIJ attempted to match that ubiquity in order to broaden and deepen the Panama Papers impact.

How to maximize impact is the ultimate question for nonprofit investigative outfits. They take the time to dig deep into difficult stories, but a slower publishing schedule typically prevents them from building a large audience on their own. Partners oftentimes want exclusive work, meanwhile, limiting the net benefits of distributing the journalism elsewhere.

Nonprofit newsrooms have devised various models in recent years to address such questions, but few have managed to connect as consistently as ICIJ. A project of The Center for Public Integrity, the organization has become a go-to facilitator for such massive international leaks. Just last year, it organized the team that exposed how Swiss bank HSBC held money for arms dealers, tax dodgers, and other international criminals.

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The organization claims the Panama Papers is likely the biggest leak of inside information in history11.5 million files mentioning 214,000 companies in more than 200 countries. (Edward Snowden chimed in to agree.) ICIJ acted as a sort of central communications hub as it proceeded to share the information with outside partners, as Wired reports:

ICIJs developers then built a two-factor-authentication-protected search engine for the leaked documents, the URL for which they shared via encrypted email with scores of news outlets including the BBC, The Guardian, Fusion, and dozens of foreign-language media outlets. The site even featured a real-time chat system, so that reporters could exchange tips and find translation for documents in languages they couldnt read. If you wanted to look into the Brazilian documents, you could find a Brazilian reporter, says [ICIJ Director Gerard] Ryle. You could see who was awake and working and communicate openly. We encouraged everyone to tell everyone what they were doing. The different media outlets eventually held their own in-person meetings, too, in Washington, Munich, London, Johannesburg and Lillehammer, Ryle says.

ICIJ journalists have produced big-picture text and multimedia pieces from the information. National and international media have further upped the pressure, spotlighting offshore connections from powerbrokers in Russia, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, Pakistan, Argentina, Brazil, and elsewhere.

This model of promiscuous collaboration and concurrent publication isnt unique in the nonprofit world. California Watch, a project launched by The Center for Investigative Reporting in 2009, periodically blanketed the state with investigations in newspapers, radio stations, TV channels, and digital outlets. More recently, CIR received funding to essentially turn that model on its head, creating a self-contained platform for both its own reporting and partners work. Many other nonprofits, such as ProPublica, typically share work exclusively with partners.

In an interview with CJR last year, former CPI head Bill Buzenberg highlighted both the promise and difficulty of bringing an ICIJ-type model to the United States:

So many stories arent just state stories or local stories. Theyre national and international stories. And if you can create a coalition, or a consortium, to tackle it using the same data, you can have a much bigger impact and do a better job. Is it doable? Yes, I believe its doable. Is it a lot of work? Yes, it is, and it means giving up some central control in a way, too. I dont know that American journalists want to work that way.

Only a handful of American-based organizations partnered with ICIJ on the Panama Papers, including McClatchy, Univision, and The Miami Herald. National outlets such as The New York Times and Washington Postnot part of ICIJs networkhave begun publishing follow-ups.

Despite the lack of initial involvement with American media, the ICIJ-organized wave of stories made it stateside thanks to their collective digital reach. The organizations model fills a pressing need on the international stage. With the Panama Papers, it should also be commended for the logistical feat of keeping more than 100 newsrooms organizedone is overwhelming enough.

*Clarification: Unclear wording in an earlier version of this article implied that The Center for Investigative Reporting no longer partners with outside news organizations.

Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today

David Uberti is a writer in New York. He was previously a media reporter for Gizmodo Media Group and a staff writer for CJR. Follow him on Twitter @DavidUberti.
In Michigan, transparency comes at a costand a seemingly arbitrary one at that.

The Society of Professional Journalists chapter at Central Michigan University recently conducted a FOIA audit of the states 15 public universities. It asked for a years worth of information on expenses from the university presidents and governing boards, and also police reports on campus sexual assaults. The goal: to compare how universities respond to requests for public information, and how much they charge.

No university denied the requests. But the price to fulfill all of them totaled more than $20,000. That ranged from Eastern Michigan University and two other schools that offered records for free, to the University of Michigan, where it would cost $2,774 just for presidential spending records. UM attributed that cost to its estimate that it would take 46.5 staff hours to search for records, and many more to review and duplicate documents.

In total, presidential expenses were the most costly records; it would take $10,750.93 to fulfill them all. Arielle Hines, president of CMU-SPJ and a senior journalism major, questioned the hours it would take to fulfill the requests. What archaic system are you using? she said. You have to think theyd have some kind of auditing process for the president, and if not, thats a bigger story. (Incidentally, this isnt the first time that Hines, the editor of CMU Insider, has pushed for more and better transparency at public universities.)

The universities also collectively charged $5,104.51 for sexual assault police reports and $4,759.54 for governing board expenses. Eight universities indicated that the requests would take more than a thousand hours to fulfill at up to $78 per hour. These are requests that Hines described, in a Bridge column, as crafted specifically to make retrieval easy and to minimize review. The audit, she wrote, demonstrated that at too many public universities, members of the public are priced out of public records, and revealed a system largely hostile to any sort of reasonable openness.

Student journalists on other campuses have conducted similar experiments that illustrate not only the costs of public information, but also the unpredictable rates. In 2011, The Michigan Daily, the campus paper at the University of Michigan (which I once wrote for), FOIAd a years worth of information on parking tickets issued by campus police, and information about employee use of purchasing cards (PCards) from all the Big 10 universities. It found that most schools provided the information for free. Michigan State charged a total of $450. UM, on the other hand, charged $1240 for the ticket information, and unspecified thousands of dollars for PCard information.

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Similarly, The Post at Ohio University led a statewide FOIA audit in January in which students from eight different campus papers requested, in person, identical information from 12 public universities. They did not identify themselves, and state law doesnt require them to do so. Nearly half the requests were denied or obstructed.

David Jesse, higher education reporter at the Detroit Free Press, said that the CMU-SPJ experiment reflects his own experiences. His paper built a major investigation on charter schools (which often receive their charters from a public university) on FOIA requests, and its ongoing examination into campus sexual assaults relies on the same. The Freep also used FOIA to expose the Eastern Michigan University boards reprimand of the then-president for a drinking incident.

Its often cost prohibitive for most organizations to pay for the material, Jesse wrote in an email. I happen to work for a media organization that has resources to pay, but even we get stretched when we get bills for thousands of dollars.

That ultimately limits, or denies, public information to the reporters. Jesse said that he recently sent FOIA requests for emails and memos to one of the states large universities. He was warned of a big bill. Either the paper could pay it, or Jesse could truncate his request to cut the cost. He did the latter. The problem is, what information am I missing because I limited the scope of what I was seeking in order to keep costs down?

Sam Gringlas, a UM senior and former managing news editor at The Michigan Daily, said his paper ran into a similar wall when it FOIAd information about the Department of Educations Title IX investigation into UMs handling of sexual misconduct cases. The Daily was told that it would cost thousands of dollars to fulfill their request. That seemed like pretty much a huge fee that would eat into our budget significantly, so we went back through all the things on our list  and basically went shopping for documents. We cant afford to get all we wanted.

As it turned out, after paying one of two $445 fees for their pared down list, UM delayed the documents, and then ultimately rejected the FOIA request. (It refunded the money.) The papers appeal to the presidents office was also denied. The Daily ultimately ran a special report on sexual misconduct investigations at the university that relied on a narrative of a particular case, rather than on public documents.

In the wake of the Flint water crisis, there has been a renewed push for open records reform in Michigan, a state with a notoriously poor reputation for transparency. The CMU-SPJ report raises a new point of needed change. Not only is the plain cost of information eyebrow-raising, but so are the scattershot rates and response timeseven for identical information requests.

Most of the decisions made by Michigans universities are made behind closed doors, Jesse said. FOIA allows the public to see the information the decision makers are seeing.

To make that happen, Jesse said, we need more than a legal change. It will take a university willing to be a leader and adapt the spirit of the law, and not just the letter of the law.

Gringlas echoed this idea. In my ideal world, journalists would not have to pay money for FOIA costs; it would just be the university doing its duty as a public institution.

Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today

Anna Clark is a journalist in Detroit. Her writing has appeared in ELLE Magazine, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Next City, and other publications. Anna edited A Detroit Anthology, a Michigan Notable Book, and she was a 2017 Knight-Wallace journalism fellow at the University of Michigan. She is the author of The Poisoned City: Flints Water and the American Urban Tragedy, published by Metropolitan Books, an imprint of Henry Holt. She is online at www.annaclark.net and on Twitter @annaleighclark.
New Yorks highest court on Thursday reinstated a widows lawsuit over a television documentary featuring her husbands treatment and death at a New York hospital.

The Court of Appeals ruled the suit alleging breach of doctor-patient confidentiality can continue against New York-Presbyterian Hospital and Dr. Sebastian Schubl, the treating physician.

We reject the assertion of the hospital and Schubl that, in order to support such a cause of action, the disclosed medical information must be embarrassing or something that patients would naturally wish to keep secret, Judge Leslie Stein wrote.

The top court, however, agreed with a lower court in dismissing the suits complaint against them and ABC alleging intentional infliction of emotional distress. That requires a finding of extreme and outrageous conduct, either intended or in disregard of the high probability that it would cause extreme distress.

The conduct at issue here for purposes of the fifth cause of action  the broadcasting of a recording of a patients last moments of life without consent  would likely be considered reprehensible by most people, and we do not condone it, Stein wrote. Nevertheless, it was not so extreme and outrageous as to satisfy our exceedingly high legal standard.

Stein noted that the broadcasters edited the footage, didnt include Mark Chankos name and blurred his image, reducing 50 minutes of raw footage to three minutes that aired. The camera crew filmed Schubl declaring Chanko dead and informing his family, who didnt know they were being recorded, Stein wrote.

The NY Med show depicted Chanko, who was brought into the emergency room in April 2011 after he was hit by a truck while crossing a street near his home on the Upper East Side in Manhattan. He could be seen lying on a stretcher and heard moaning and saying, Did you speak to my wife?

Anita Chanko learned of the filming when she saw the broadcast in 2012. The case now goes back to the trial court.

Its a clear message that there shouldnt be recording or broadcasting without consent, said attorney Normal Olch, who represents Anita Chanko and other family members. Its a great victory for patient rights.

Calls to attorneys for the hospital, doctor and ABC were not immediately returned.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
U.S. hospitals should brace for a surge in ransomware attacks by cyber criminals who infect and shut down computer networks, then demand payment in return for unlocking them, a non-profit healthcare group warned on Friday.

The Health Information Trust Alliance conducted a study of some 30 mid-sized U.S. hospitals late last year and found that 52 percent of them were infected with malicious software, HITRUST Chief Executive Daniel Nutkis told Reuters.

The most common type of malware was ransomware, Nutkis said, which was present in 35 percent of the hospitals included in the study of network traffic conducted by security software maker Trend Micro Inc.

Ransomware is malicious software that locks up data in computers and leaves messages demanding payment to recover the data. Last month, Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital in Los Angeles paid a ransom of $17,000 to regain access to its systems.

This week, an attack on MedStar Health forced the largest healthcare provider in Washington, D.C., to shut down much of its computer network. The Baltimore Sun reported a ransom of $18,500 was sought. MedStar declined to comment.

HITRUST said it expects such attacks to become more frequent because ransomware has turned into a profitable business for cyber criminals.

The results of the study, which HITRUST has yet to share with the public, demonstrate that hackers have moved away from focusing on stealing patient data, Nutkis said.

If stuff isnt working, they move on. If stuff is working, they keep doing it, said Nutkis. Organizations that are paying have considered their options, and unfortunately they dont have a lot of options.

Extortion has become more popular with cyber criminals because it is seen as a way to generate fast money, said Larry Whiteside, a healthcare expert with cyber security firm Optiv.

Stealing healthcare data is far more labor intensive, requiring attackers to keep their presence in a victims network undetected for months as they steal data, then they need to find buyers, he added.

With ransomware Im going to get paid immediately, Whiteside said.

Frisco, Texas-based HITRUSTs board includes executives from Anthem, Health Care Services, Humana, UnitedHealth and Walgreens.

(Reporting by Jim Finkle; By Tiffany Wu)
With nearly 18 million students enrolled in colleges or campuses throughout the U.S., and an estimated 12 million living off campus, safety is a concern for parents. The desire to save money and live on ones own could put students living off campus in harms way since an estimated 94 percent of all college-related fires occur in off campus housing, according to a new report released by the U.S. Fire Administration.

The report, Campus Fire Fatalities in Residential Buildings, reviewed data between 2000 and 2015 related to campus fires and fatalities, starting with the Seton Hall University dorm fire that occurred in New Jersey in 2000. According to the agency, the fire caused three deaths and injured 67 others.

Data revealed 85 fatal fires in dormitories, fraternities, sororities and off-campus housing, resulting in 118 fatalities  an average of approximately seven per school year.

The report revealed sobering statistics:

94 percent of fatal campus fires examined took place in off-campus housing.

Smoke alarms were either missing or had been tampered with (disconnected or battery removed) in 58 percent of fatal campus fires.

Fire sprinklers were not present in any of the 85 fatal campus fires.

70 percent of fatal campus fires occurred on the weekend  Friday through Sunday.

Males were more likely than females to die in campus fires, accounting for 67 percent of all victims.

Alcohol was a factor in 76 percent of all fatal campus fires.

73 percent of fatal campus fires occurred between midnight and 6 a.m.

According to the report, 29 percent of fatal campus fires were caused by smoking, followed by intentional actions (16 percent), electrical (11 percent) and cooking (9 percent). Nearly 18 percent of fires were classified as cause undetermined.

The report noted that April was the peak month (13 percent) for fatal fires in campus housing, with January, May and October at 12 percent each. The summer months reflected the lowest number of fires.

The reason most fires occur in off campus housing is due to a lack of control, according to the USFA. Control of student behavior, belongings and strict rules on building fire safety typically make on campus housing safer when it comes to fire risk.

In conjunction with the release of the USFA report, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), Campus Firewatch and the Consumer Product Safety Commission have teamed up to promote the See It Before You Sign It fire safety campaign to reduce off-campus fire deaths at colleges across the nation.

The campaign focuses on off campus housing and is aimed at educating both parents and students on potential fire hazards.

The spring is when students are looking for off-campus housing for the upcoming fall semester, said Ed Comeau, publisher, Campus Firewatch. They talk to friends and scour online resources to find that perfect place to live. The only problem is, that perfect place may not be the safest place.

Having important fire safety features in the home is often overlooked by students who are more interested in finding housing that is inexpensive, close to campus or provides them with their own bedroom. Parents are encouraged to visit potential housing locations before a lease is signed. If parents arent able to be physically present for a housing visit, a virtual tour of the apartment or house is recommended.

The University of Texas-Austin recommends asking a prospective landlord the following questions:

When was the last fire marshal inspection?

Are sprinklers and fire alarms regularly tested and maintained?

What type of fire alarms does the housing have?

How many smoke alarms are there?

Are portable fire extinguishers provided and maintained?

Are there escape routes from each room?

In an effort to keep students safe when living off campus, the city of Cincinnati created the safe student housing program. It offers a database of rental properties that have passed the citys fire inspection. Participation by landlords is voluntary. If a landlord agrees to participate, the fire inspection is free and if the property passes it is listed on the database for two years.
AKRON, Ohio -- An Akron man found shot to death at his home on Saturday had his hands and feet bound with electrical wires, according to Summit County Medical Examiner records.

Phillip Goins, 49, died as a result of a homicide, the medical examiner ruled. He was shot twice in the head.

Goins spoke with a next-door neighbor and his landlord on Friday. The neighbor told police nothing seemed out of the ordinary, records say.

Goins paid rent to his landlord Friday and complained that a hose on his shower head was broken. The landlord about 11:30 a.m. went to Goins' home in the 200 block of Uhler Avenue to repair the broken hose, the man told a 911 dispatcher.

911 call

He said he knocked on the door, didn't hear anything and went inside.

The man walked into the home and found Goins facedown on the floor.

"I found my tenant laying on the ground," the man said. "He's hog-tied and there's blood around him. I'm not sure what's going on."

The landlord also told dispatchers Goins lived alone for the most part.

A girlfriend sometimes stayed at the home, the man said on the 911 call.

No arrests have been made in the case. Akron police asked the medical examiner to preserve the electrical wires so they could swab them for DNA.
AKRON, Ohio -- An Akron woman admitted Monday that she used the promise of a kiss to set up a man who was later robbed by three masked men.

Katie Cozart, 20, pleaded guilty to burglary and robbery. Summit County Common Pleas Judge Amy Corrigall Jones will sentence her April 18.

Cozart was drinking with two men Aug. 24 at a 47-year-old man's apartment in the 1300 block of Goodyear Boulevard. A 65-year-old man left the two alone to go buy cigarettes.

Cozart, who had been texting someone throughout the night, walked outside and asked the 47-year-old man to give her a kiss.

The man went in for a kiss and the three robbers surrounded him. They demanded to know where he kept his money, according to police reports.

The gunmen forced the man and Cozart back into the apartment and ordered them to the ground. The trio stole the man's PlayStation, a cellphone and $100. They ransacked the apartment before driving off in a BMW, according to police reports.

The victim and his friend chased the robbers.

The 65-year-old man drove on South Goodkirk Street about 80 miles per hour in a 35 mph zone. He side-swiped two cars at the intersection of East Buchtel Avenue and hit a curb, launching the car into the air.

The car hit a tree in mid-air and flipped upside down, according to police reports. Both men were taken to Akron City Hospital.

Cozart left the apartment when the two men gave chase.

Authorities later charged three men in connection with the robbery: Bryan Brandt, 23, Christopher Owens-Johnson, 23, and Camron Johnson, 27. All three have pleaded not guilty to charges of aggravated robbery and aggravated burglary with a gun.
Akron Municipal Court (blank)

Two men are charged in connection with a home invasion in Akron.

(File photo)

AKRON, Ohio -- Two men face aggravated robbery and burglary charges in connection with an armed March 6 home invasion.

A judge issued warrants Sunday for the arrest of Christian White, 20, and John Haynes, 21. Both men remain at large.

The men wore masks and waited outside an apartment in the 300 block of Newton Circle, where a 27-year-old man lived with his 21-year-old girlfriend.

The man opened the door to leave the apartment and White and Haynes shoved their way inside, according to court records.

White had a handgun and Haynes a stun gun. Haynes wrestled the man to the ground while White held the handgun to the 21-year-old woman's head, court records say.

Haynes used the stun gun on the man's hand. White ransacked their home looking for money and other things to steal, according to court records. White threatened to shoot the couple if they didn't stop screaming.

The man punched both White and Haynes, who then ran from the home.

A neighbor reported hearing the man yelling: "My girlfriend has asthma" and yelling for help. The man looked out his door and saw two masked men as they ran from the apartment to a silver Mercedes-Benz, according to police reports.

They didn't steal anything.

Joseph Brown, 19, arrived at the apartment while police were there. He told officers that he wanted to make a statement about the robbery.

Officers first found 20 Xanax pills in Brown's pocket. Brown said he had no prescription for them, according to police reports. He told officers that he had a safe in the apartment with money inside.

Detectives found the safe containing $767 in small bills. Officers noted that the drugs along with the large amount of money in small bills appeared to indicate drug trafficking, according to court records.

Brown was charged with drug trafficking and drug possession.
Opportunity Corridor

A map of Opportunity Corridor highlights land within a half mile of the three-mile, 35 mph boulevard, intended to connect I-490 at East 55th Street to East 105th Street in University Circle.

(Opportunity Corridor Steering Committee)

CLEVELAND, Ohio - The city is withholding $3.1 million from the final two construction phases of Opportunity Corridor to protest what it calls the state's dilution of minority hiring goals and its refusal to provide $10 million to clean contaminated soil in the project area.

Ed Rybka, the city's chief of regional development, said Mayor Frank Jackson "is getting a little suspicious we're not going to get closure on these issues [with the state] and the real plan was to build a freeway from highway system to University Circle."

Funded largely with bonds backed by Ohio Turnpike tolls, the three-mile, $331 million road project is designed to link the stub end of I-490 at East 55th Street to University Circle, one of the fastest growing job centers in Ohio.

Rybka said the mayor had obtained an agreement from Ohio Gov. John Kasich that the project would meet 20 percent hiring goals for minorities and city residents.

The state largely met the goals on Phase I of the project, but dialed back to five percent on Phases II and III, Rybka said.

It was unclear Tuesday whether the city's financial boycott would delay the $35.2 million Phase II of the project, for which the Ohio Department of Transportation awarded a design-build contract in March.

The first phase, which involves rebuilding East 105th Street from Chester Avenue south to Quincy Avenue, is scheduled for completion in late 2017 according to ODOT. The third section, estimated to cost $200 million, would extend from East 93rd Street West to East 55th Street and is scheduled for completion in late 2019.

A spokesman for Jobs Ohio, the private, non-profit economic development agency affiliated with the state, declined to comment.

ODOT said Tuesday that "with an investment of more than $1 billion over the last five years, ODOT and the Kasich administration's commitment to the City of Cleveland is historic. ODOT has led the way in diversity on this critical project that will create opportunity for one Cleveland's most at-risk neighborhoods. We will construct this project, create economic opportunities for residents in the area and contract with diverse, local contractors. It will be a success with or without the city's promised resources."

The 35 mph boulevard is intended to improve land values and spur development in the "Forgotten Triangle," a section of the city that includes portions of Wards 4, 5 and 6.

The area was once packed with blue-collar neighborhoods and once hummed with factories that were served by railroads, but has suffered from disinvestment and population loss for decades.

Opportunity Corridor has been discussed for more than a decade, but the project gained sudden momentum in 2013 when Gov. John Kasich urged that money from new bonds issued against I-80 turnpike revenues should be used to fund most of the project.

Proponents say the project will lift blighted neighborhoods and provide new addresses for businesses that could create hundreds or thousands of jobs.

Critics say the project is nothing more than a vehicular shortcut from University Circle institutions such as the Cleveland Clinic to the interstate system.

Rybka said the city agreed to pay $3.1 million of the cost of adding utilities and WiFi to Phases II and III of the project to match $6 million offered by the state. He said the agreement was a sign of progress in negotiations over the upcoming construction.

But he said the city feels "there's been a relaxation" on percentages for hiring goals on the project.

"We feel it's a real back step on the part of the state," he said.

He also said the $10 million for environmental remediation would be essential to the success of the city's effort to bring new companies and jobs to the Opportunity Corridor zone.

Rybka stated the city's position on the project after a query about why city officials skipped Tuesday morning's quarterly meeting of the Opportunity Corridor Steering Committee, a group of civic, foundation and non-profit leaders whose goal is to aid the city.

Rybka said that until the city's issues with the state are resolved, "there's not a whole lot of sense in the city participating in these external discussions."
MACEDONIA, Ohio - Who's afraid of deep dish pizza?

One reporter at cleveland.com, Ida Lieszkovszky, admitted the concoction scares her because of its messiness. That same reporter was tasked with getting up close with the subject as cleveland.com's "Best of" team conducted a contest last week to determine the best deep dish pizza in Greater Cleveland in advance of National Deep Dish Pizza Day, which is today.

Watch the video of her first bites above.

Lieszkovszky and the team traveled to Antonio's Pizza in Macedonia, which was voted by readers as the best deep dish in the region.

Lieszkovszky came prepared, wearing a bright red shirt to disguise dollops of pizza sauce that were sure to drip off the slice. To her surprise, she discovered deep dish is quite edible and delicious. And her shirt remained spotless.
Nancy Moore learned in 2003 that she had multiple sclerosis.

Shed been a longtime hairdresser, and at one point she started to feel some numbness in her hands while working. She thought it might be carpal tunnel syndrome. Her doctor suggested she see a neurologist, and the diagnosis came.

What hasnt it affected? said Moore, 56. Its affected everything about my life.

She soon hung up a 23-year career. The symptoms worsened, followed by more prescription medicines and nauseating procedures.

There were up to five disease-modifying drugs, pain medications, five-day courses of steroid IVs and some chemotherapy. It wiped her out financially  as much as $6,000 per month, she said. Early on, when she was still working, shed start her weekend with a disease modifier shot on Friday. That would give her flu-like symptoms through the weekend. That was her weekly routine for a year.

Other meds would make the next 24 hours difficult.

If I took them at night, I would just be wiped out the next day, she said.

Today, shes been off disease-modifying medications for three years. And though its been a tricky subject with some of her friends and family, Moore said that shes coming out in support of a medication she believes in  medical marijuana.

Moore said she decided to go public with her story after the recent rollback of the state medical marijuana program, which reduced the number of patients a provider is allowed to have. So far, shes been able to stay away from the prescription drugs that would make her sick, interrupt her sleep or drain her energy for a full day.

And 13 years since her diagnosis, Moore gets around without the help of a cane most of the time. She said it helps her control tremors and fight off pain.

Its not going to cure me, she said. But it makes the quality of life much more bearable.

Legislative action

Moore is a native of Big Timber. She's a cheerful woman who volunteers as an animal rescue caregiver. Moore grew up in a conservative family and tried marijuana in high school but found that it wasnt for her.

Medical marijuana is a medication that has worked for her, she said. She isnt a recreational user gaming a lightly regulated medical program, which was the characterization of the system's abuse.

Thats what motivated legislators to clamp down with its 2011 law, which was upheld by the state supreme court earlier this year. The ruling came after a lengthy legal battle between the Montana Department of Justice and the Montana Cannabis Industry Association over the law's main provisions.

And it's not over. After the court decision, the MCIA asked that implementation of the law be held off until 2017. The DOJ said that the transition period could be as short as 49 days from the ruling.

The 49-day period ends April 14. Medical marijuana businesses that planned to shut down after the ruling remain open, waiting for a decision. The state health department has voiced concern about patients caught in the legal crossfire, and some like Moore say they'll continue to get marijuana through other means.

Doomed from the start?

People on both sides of the debate will say that, prior to the bill, there was a "Wild West" environment in the Montana medical marijuana industry.

Through traveling registration booths and doctor consultations by phone, it was relatively easy to obtain a medical marijuana card, and there was little oversight by medical professionals afterward.

In its brief to the Montana Supreme Court, Attorney General Tim Fox and assistant attorneys described the climate as a "regulatory free-for-all that was disconcerting to the public and the Legislature, and beyond the control of state agencies or law enforcement."

Representing the state in the lawsuit, Fox noted that the typical medical marijuana cardholder wasn't a severely ill person but rather a younger person with more "amorphous symptoms." By 2011, nearly a third of cardholders were younger than 30 and about 86 percent received medical marijuana for chronic or severe pain, or muscle spasms, according to court documents.

Jeff Essmann, the Republican state lawmaker who sponsored the bill that spawned the lawsuit, declined to comment on the legislation when contacted in March.

The number of cardholders ballooned until 2011, when federal agents raided grow houses and marijuana storefronts across the state. The current backlash includes tighter restrictions and a citizen effort to repeal the program altogether.

Dr. Michael Uphues, a Billings osteopathic physician, said that the lax regulatory structure that followed the 2004 voter approval of medical marijuana set up the program for pushback.

It didnt have the safeguard, he said. It didnt have any requirement for physicians.

Uphues worked for the Indian Health Service on the Fort Peck Reservation for nearly 20 years. Today he practices independently in Billings and Florida and is a proponent of marijuana as a medicine.

In Uphues' view, the medical community hasnt kept up with the people who currently use marijuana as medicine. There are more than 13,000 registered cardholders in the state. He said people are taking marijuana to help with medical conditions, but they're doing it without a medical approach. Patients are left to navigate it themselves.

And while there have been no deaths directly linked to marijuana overdose, there are negative side effects associated with large dosages.

I think that it ought to be a mandatory training course (for doctors), he said. Were not just messing around with it. It is real, and its not completely innocuous.

Alternative medicine

Four years ago, Moore was going through an especially bad bout with symptoms. She researched marijuana and finally decided to try it. The experience made her nervous  marijuana is an illegal drug in most jurisdictions. But she said it helped.

I got a hold of some and tried it, and it really took the edge off the pain, she said.

She used marijuana to supplement her traditional meds for a little more than two years, until she quit the old medications nearly altogether. Today, she still takes an anti-depressant and gets MRIs periodically.

Moore said the marijuana helps with muscle spasms, pain relief and bladder control. It allows her to sleep when she feels tremors coming on.

There's still a stigma, she said. Moore tiptoes into conversations about her condition just as slowly as she does about her medication. She joked, a bit nervously, about what some of her friends might think of her.

It was difficult for Moore, who wasnt a recreational user, to determine how she should take it. She remembered one time when she ate an especially strong marijuana cookie and felt sick all night.

Other reactions from unfamiliar consumers have been more severe. In March 2014, a teenager from Powell, Wyo., jumped to his death from a four-story window after eating potent, marijuana-infused cookies. The incident happened in Colorado, where recreational marijuana is legal, and the death was linked to the psychological effects of the drug.

Any medical marijuana program needs to have consistent testing to avoid excessive dosages, Uphues said. Some providers do this independently, but such a requirement is absent from the Montana program. He has come to believe that there is enough known about marijuana to administer it safely.

The ideal program treats marijuana providers like pharmacists, he said.

As long as the products are tested and we know what the patients are getting in a consistent way, then I dont have a problem with it, he said.

Eventually Moore found her regimen. She takes some marijuana in the evening, sometimes smoking but other times with edibles or oil.

Uphues said that with greater participation from the medical community and labeling requirements for marijuana products, people like Moore wouldnt have to test the limits on their own.

These studies have been done, and we do know, he said. Whats really needed here is laboratory testing of products so that we know what the patients are needing.

Doctors and pot

Marijuana presents an interesting issue for hospitals. In a 2013 article for the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Journal, two doctors and a pharmacy professor remarked on the ambiguity between federal and state laws that present potential legal problems.

As marijuana remains illegal, hospitals advocacy of the drug could lead to trouble with the federal government and put funding at risk.

When asked about medical marijuana, Billings Clinic spokeswoman Julie Burton said that the hospital has a policy that sets guidelines for doctors. Its meant as a set of best practices when a patient asks about the treatment, Burton said.

She declined to share the full policy, but doctors are urged to assess the patients medical history, current condition and the definition and expectation of the physician/patient relationship, according to a statement.

Open for now

The Montana medical marijuana program is still in limbo. Earlier this year, the Montana Supreme Court upheld the 2011 rollback bill, but the court is still considering requests to slow the implementation of the new law.

Meanwhile, providers are still operating. When the new law takes effect, it will limit them to three patients apiece, when some previously served marijuana to hundreds.

Moores provider is Montana Advanced Caregivers, and the owners of the business said that they would have to shut down when the new regulations take hold. As of Friday, they were still open.

Moore said that 15 years ago, she never would have thought of using marijuana, much less buying a drug through less-than-legal means. But she said that no current prescription drug for multiple sclerosis would draw her back into that world, and shes made her own decision for treatment.

To even try it, you have to break the law, she said. And that goes against my grain, but its what you have to do to find what works for you.
Terrorism-related deaths are up 800 percent in the past five years. Thats nearly 30,000 people per year. While terrorists have been killing civilians around the globe almost constantly, it was last weeks attacks in Brussels that shook the world awake. I believe in the power of prayer for the victims and their families, but I also believe in the power of U.S. leadership against this evil. Its time for the U.S. to get serious about defeating ISIS.

ISIS is not the JV team. They have attacked our allies, they have driven millions of people from their homelands, and they have attacked us on our own shores. Being the president is not an episode of Dancing with the Stars; the presidency is about being, above all, commander in chief. Rather than dance the Argentine tango in South America, President Obama must come up with a detailed plan to defeat and destroy ISIS.

I recently introduced legislation with Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, who is a veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Our bill, Comprehensive Strategy to Destroy ISIL Act of 2016 will require the president  regardless of whom that may be  to submit a biennial report to Congress that details a strategy to destroy ISIS and its affiliates around the world. This will put pressure on the president to develop and maintain a long-term strategy.

I have long been a critic of the current strategy to combat ISIS, and even more so, Ive been a vocal opponent of the overly-restrictive rules of engagement. The president believes the United States role is to provide a small sprinkling of Special Operations to advise and train local militaries, and conduct some airstrikes. As General Dempsey said, theres not a snowballs chance that airstrikes alone will work. It will take a force package great enough to win decisively and that means providing the right funding, tools and munitions, providing troop levels adequate for a quick reaction force to come in if our troops get in trouble, and it means ensuring the right rules of engagement necessary to win and win decisively on the field of battle.

We also need to do more to develop intelligence and target combatants before they strike like in Paris, Brussels and Pakistan. When creating an anti-terrorism plan, its important to target more than just those who pull the trigger. Those who offer shelter, weapons, and ammunition, as well as those who turn a blind eye to terrorism are all guilty and bear the same level of responsibility. The network is as dangerous as the bomber.

President Obamas policy in Iraq created power vacuums and is responsible for the rise and spread of ISIS and the refugee crisis. The continual terrorist attacks around the globe will not stop until the United States gets serious about defeating and destroying ISIS, and that requires a detailed strategy. If we dont get serious about the threats we face, its only a matter of time before they attack America again.
CHEYENNE  Wyoming coal, although experiencing challenges, has an important role to play in the countrys energy mix, former President Bill Clinton said Monday morning in Cheyenne.

The challenge is natural gas competitive pricing, Clinton said.

In the end, were going to be phasing into a new energy future, Clinton said. Its going to be a long time, and Wyoming has the most efficient and lowest sulfur (coal) in the world.

Over 500 people packed the Kiwanis Community House to hear Clinton stump for his wife, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. The former president spoke for about an hour.

Jane Sanders, wife of Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders, was scheduled to speak Monday night in Casper and Tuesday afternoon in Cheyenne. Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont, is speaking at the University of Wyoming Tuesday night.

Clinton highlighted his successes as president in the 1990s and said his wife is even better at effecting change than he. He described domestic and international successes that Hillary Clinton guided.

Everything shes done all her life, shes gotten people to help her who otherwise didnt agree with her, he said.

He encouraged supporters to call their friends and neighbors to stir up interest in Hillary Clinton ahead of Saturdays Democratic county caucuses.

The caucuses are the first step in Wyoming Democrats process of nominating a presidential candidate. Wyoming will send 18 delegates to the July Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, with four superdelegates already committed to Clinton. The proportion of delegates each Democratic candidate receives Saturday will be the proportion the state sends to the national convention.

Shes the only person left in the race in either party who can be commander-in-chief and can be chief executive on Day 1, Bill Clinton said.

Clinton said the 2016 presidential election is important because the country is on the cusp of a great economic uptick and shared prosperity.

We are just this close to being able to rise again, he said. I know the headlines in Wyoming are not good today because of the coal layoffs.

Last week, almost 500 people lost their jobs at Gillette-area coal mines.

Wyoming has abundant wind and sunshine, he added, and the state can be a leader in renewable energy. A California law requires that by 2030 half the states energy come from renewables. Wyoming can provide it, Clinton said.

Every Native American tribe, for example, west of the Mississippi could be doing the same thing, he said. And think about the jobs that could be created in Wyoming if we decided to maximize your capacity to export wind as you export coal.

The Northern Arapaho Business Council and leaders of the Eastern Shoshone tribe announced Sunday they were supporting Hillary Clinton. Leadership for both tribes were seated near Bill Clintons podium.

The former president said about 90 percent of Americans now have health coverage, since the passage of the Affordable Care Act.

You need to pass this Medicaid expansion, Clinton said, referring to the Wyoming Legislatures rejection of the Obamacare provision. He applauded Democrats in the Republican-controlled Legislature and Gov. Matt Mead for pushing the program to extend coverage to low-income people. He said Wyomings rural hospitals are vulnerable and expansion would help them.

Sanders wants to make college free for all, but Bill Clinton said its not that simple.

If you read the fine print, the free tuition comes two-thirds from the federal government and one-third comes from the state, Clinton said.

If the Wyoming Legislature refuses to accept up to 90 percent of the costs of Medicaid to be covered by the feds, theres no way lawmakers will find tuition money, he said.

Hillary Clintons plan to make college more affordable is to expand the federal Pell Grant program and opportunities for work study. That will keep down the cost of higher education, he said.

Hillary Clinton thinks people should be able to refinance their student loans to tap into better interest rates, as they can with mortgages and other loans, he said.

For K-12 education, Hillary Clinton wants to cut some of the mandatory standardized testing and use the money instead on improving teaching.

The things that sound good cant always be done. But we can do a lot to truly revolutionize the future for these kids, he said, pointing at a class of elementary students from Cheyenne in the audience.

Charles Schmechel of Cheyenne plans to support the former secretary of state Saturday at the Laramie County Democratic Party caucus.

I think Secretary Clinton is the only one with the appropriate experience and confidence to do the job well, he said.

Patrick Kelley and Corey Tarwater of Laramie also will support her. Tarwater said Clinton appeals to her because of her stances on education and womens rights.

We support most of her policies, she said. We think she has a realistic path.

Ray Macchia of Cheyenne took time off work to see Bill Clinton, as its not every day that he travels to the Cowboy State. He doesnt know yet who he will support on Saturday but said he likes Bill Clinton.

Four protesters who work as contractors traveled here from Gillette and Wheatland, holding pro-coal and anti-Hillary signs. Clinton made a comment that her energy plan would put coal miners out of business. Clinton has a $30 billion plan to help ailing coal communities, from the Powder River Basin to Appalachia. But Yvette Land of Gillette said she doesnt want a handout or new job training.

Anybody who says they want to put people out of work has no business in the White House, said Land, who left Gillette at 2:30 a.m. to protest in Cheyenne.
watch now

Despite recent limits on property financing in China, real estate is still the favorite asset class of the Chinese, said CLSA's regional property research head, Nicole Wong. "Stocks--they own it but they (can't) control it. Property--they own it and they control it, so it's actually the better asset class," Wong told CNBC's Squawk Box. The average home price in China tripled between 2003 and mid-2008, but cooled in the second half of 2008 due to economic uncertainties brought by the global financial crisis. Then in November 2008, China announced a 4 trillion yuan ($586 billion) stimulus package, which stirred another housing boom and accompanying surge in debt that peaked in 2013, before the government initiated a series of measures to cool the property market.

While policymakers have recently taken some steps to ease home buying in lower-tier cities, tier one cities including Shanghai and Shenzhen have in the last few days , such higher down payment requirements for second-home purchases. "These tightening measures were very well-anticipated. If you look at the first tier cities, there has been very limited (housing) supply over the last three to four years, and suddenly all the demand comes in, so there is no other way but just to keep (buyers) away," Wong said. The surge in investment buying interest was actually been delayed by the Chinese stock market rally in the first quarter of last year, she added. But the market's sharp sell off since the middle of last year has rekindled interest. Even though property prices in first tier cities like Beijing and Shanghai are surging, smaller cities may also hold potential.




Prosecutors around the world launched investigations in response to a massive data leak that tied some of the world's most powerful people to possible financial crimes, shining the spotlight on the shortfalls of current regulation.



A U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) spokesman told Reuters that it would determine whether there was evidence of unscrupulous activities at the offshore companies set up by Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, echoing similar statements from authorities in France, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, Brazil and the Netherlands.

The political leaders implicated in Sunday's release of the so-called Panama Papersmore than 11.5 million encrypted internal documents from Mossack Fonseca that reveal the extent of wealth stashed in "shell" companies based in offshore tax havensare already facing backlash.

In Argentina, President Mauricio Macri was asked for an explanation of his time spent as a director of a now-dissolved offshore company, Fleg Trading, which was managed by Mossack Fonseca in the Bahamas. According to Reuters, Macri said in a televised interview that his fatherFranco Macri, one of Argentina's richest menhad founded an "offshore company to invest in Brazil, an investment that ultimately wasn't completed."

Iceland's Prime Minister was slapped with a no-confidence motion by opposition parties amid major protests after the Panama Papers revealed he was the owner of an offshore firm. In an interview with Reuters TV, Gunnaughsson said he would not resign, insisting that his wife had paid all relevant taxes.

Pakistan denied any wrongdoing after the daughter and son of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif were linked to offshore companies, according to Reuters. And Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko defended his commitment to transparency after lawmakers called for an investigation into reports that he had allegedly moved his confectionery business, Roshen, to the British Virgin Islands in 2014 to avoid tax. Poroshenko tweeted that on becoming president, he turned over management of his assets to "consulting and law firms."

Meanwhile, the involvement of British Prime Minister David Cameron's late father, Ian Cameron, in one of the shell companies named in the documents was "a private matter," according to a spokeswoman for Cameron.
Billionaire John Paul DeJoria believes it is his duty to give back  big time. As a member of "The Giving Pledge," a charitable campaign led by Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates, he plans to offer more than half of his wealth to philanthropy during his lifetime or later. "The more I make, the more I get to give back," he tells me in his corner office in Los Angeles. "Success unshared is failure." I recently had the unique opportunity to spend several days with the co-founder of Paul Mitchell Systems and Patron Tequila to understand the secrets to his success and how he's managed to build not one, but two billion-dollar businesses. DeJoria allowed me to shadow him, as the first of many entrepreneurs in my new CNBC show, "Follow the Leader."

John Paul Dejoria. Qin Chen | CNBC

I learned that sharing his success  or wealth  is just one top habit this 71-year-old billionaire practices.

Here are five more I found to be very intriguing:

Use technology sparingly

While the world impatiently awaits Apple's next iPhone announcement, DeJoria's more than happy with his basic flip phone (the kind you had in 2001). That's right. His phone doesn't even categorize as "smart." But he doesn't care. DeJoria lives a very tech-minimal lifestyle. While he drives a Tesla, you won't ever find a computer, laptop or tablet in his possession. And it's all for a valid reason: "I'd be inundated if I did email," he says. "I do phone calls, a little bit of texting. I like the personal touch." (Ahh, to be rich and powerful.)

Waste no time on wardrobe

DeJoria has a very consistent wardrobe and can often be found wearing an all-black outfit: black pants, black shirt, black blazer. He rarely delineates. In the beginning of his career, wearing black offered a financial benefit. Stains hid well, minimizing his dry cleaning bill. The habit stuck and today, he tells me, wearing repeat outfits means he can spend less time and thought worrying about what to wear.

Instead, he can apply those resources to more important things like family and business. Having a uniform of sorts is a habit that's not uncommon among the uber-successful. Steve Jobs would often be found wearing his classic black turtleneck and jeans. And do you think Mark Zuckerberg spends much time in the morning wondering which hoodie he's going to wear? He has better things to do.



Lean on your kids for advice

During our time together DeJoria needed to make a very important business decision that had huge implications for his personal brand and image. He consulted with just one other person before making up his mind  his daughter Alexis. In a world where he's surrounded by many "yes people," he values the opinions of close family. "[Alexis] has no problem speaking up, whatsoever," he told me in the car on the way to her house in Austin, Texas. "When I make a major business decision and I want input, I rely on the people closest to me."



Splurge for convenience

John Paul owns not one, but three private jets. For him, time is a precious commodity and he'll do what he must to preserve it, even if it means spending millions of dollars on his own airplanes. His jets allow him to conduct meetings on the go and around the country without wasting hours at the airport.

He also has a personal chef, which helps DeJoria to not only eat healthy; it allows him the opportunity to invite key people over for dinner at the drop of a hat and conduct business meetings in the privacy and convenience of his home. No need to find a special restaurant that can accommodate. He's got his own at home.



Stay positive

Maybe it's because I live in New York and the winter won't seem to go away, but I just didn't believe DeJoria's constant positive take on life. He doesn't really get upset, even when he has a legitimate reason (and believe me, there were times I thought he would want to flip out). I was convinced his smiles were for the cameras. But by the end, I started to realize that his optimism and happiness are some of his superpowers. (And no, it's not because he's rich.)
U.K. Home Secretary, Sajid Javid. Getty Images

Business secretary Sajid Javid is to head to India on Tuesday to meet Tata chairman Cyrus Mistry in Mumbai over the disposal of its threatened UK steel operations. And has become personally involved in the battle to save Tata Steel's UK business, after little progress in the week since the Indian company put the plants up for sale The prime minister will meet the Welsh first minister Carwyn Jones on Tuesday to discuss how to attract potential buyers for sites such as Port Talbot without breaching EU rules on state aid. On Monday, Mr Jones, a Labour politician, launched a stinging attack on the UK government's response, saying it had been "slow and inadequate".



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He singled out Britain's opposition of higher EU taxes on Chinese steel, saying: "We need the UK to back higher tariffs." Tata Steel said last week it was conducting a strategic review for its UK operations, which were acquired for 6.2bn in 2007 but which are now lossmaking amid a global steel glut. Port Talbot in south Wales, which employs about 4,000 workers, is the most problematic site. Mr Jones labelled Tata Steel's decision "deeply disappointing", and said the company should now allow "months, not weeks" for a buyer to come forward. In an attempt to grasp the situation, Mr Cameron dispatched his policy chief Oliver Letwin to join Mr Javid at a meeting with Tata Steel's finance director Koushik Chatterjee in London. More from the Financial Times :



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Saudi Arabia acts to slow Iran's oil exports A spokesperson for the prime minister said that, under state aid rules, the UK could still "provide financial support" for the steelmaking sites. That could include reducing pensions and energy costs. But asked for details, the prime minister's spokesperson said the focus was currently "on how we get a genuine sales process off the ground".

The government remains opposed to allowing higher tariffs on Chinese steel. "We don't want to have decisions in one area which have an adverse impact in other areas," Mr Cameron's spokesperson said.

Mr Jones said he had "a simple message for the people of Wales and the UK government: these plants cannot close." "We are not arguing to prop up a dying industry," he told the Welsh assembly. "We cannot contemplate a future without a domestic steel production capacity." The Welsh government has put together a package of support worth 60m  made up of a 30m commercial loan to convert one of Tata Steel's lines to a galvanizing line, a further 30m for environmental improvements, and up to 2m for skills and training. "That remains on the table," Mr Jones said. Trade unions said that further government support was needed to bridge the two to three years it would take for Tata Steel's UK operations to get back to "self-sustainability". One way of circumventing EU rules was to invest in an emissions-reducing power plant at Port Talbot, they said.



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For wealthy women, luxury lingerie brands including Agent Provocateur and Bordelle have become bedroom staples. But for the super rich, lingerie doesn't come from a store or website. Instead, the company comes to you. Luna Mae London has become one of the top-secret brands known only to the super rich. The hand-crafted undergarments are sought after by socialites, celebrities and aristocrats from the Middle East, Europe and New York. But the pieces don't come cheap  and just to try on a Luna Mae bra, you have to be referred by another VIP. Accepted clients usually have to wait until the lingerie maker is visiting their city.



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"All our fittings are very limited," Claudia Lambeth, Luna Mae's CEO and founder, told CNBC's "Secret Lives of the Super Rich." "What I wanted to do is to invite a women to [a] beautiful experience of luxury."

That experience starts with an appointment at a client's home or hotel room, where Lambeth pops open a bottle of champagne and suggests styles and products best suited to her. Lambeth said when they fit women in their homes, "they tend to go for something more risque." The bras start at $700, compared with roughly $100 at Agent Provocateur or Bordelle. And 18-karat gold slides and rings boost a Luna Mae bra's price to $2,300.

Source: Richard Bernadin

A Luna Mae robe that features embroidered sleeves and took more than 20 hours to sew sells for $2,800. One of Lambeths's masterpieces, a lace knicker, has 18-carat yellow gold and retails for $9,000.

Luna Mae only makes 50 of each piece, and it takes six to eight weeks to create a couture item. All of Lambeth's creations are handmade in an English atelier using Chantilly lace and French silk.
Alipay, the payment app run by Alibaba's affiliate Ant Financial, is launching in Europe to allow Chinese tourists to pay for things abroad, in its biggest push out of Asia yet. The app will recognize where the Chinese Alipay user is in Europe and send notifications about where to eat, shopping offers and places to see. There are also user reviews on the app. When a user attempts to pay, a barcode will be shown on a person's device which the merchant can scan. Alipay is one of China's biggest payment services and competes with Tencent's WeChat Payment. Alipay is deeply ingrained in the lives of Chinese consumers and is used to pay for items in-store and online for goods and services ranging from taxis to restaurants and clothing. Alibaba is hoping that its active Alipay users, which now total 450 million, according to the company, will continue to use the app abroad allowing the company to take advantage of the increasing number of Chinese tourists who are spending more. "The vision is targeting two billion people within next five to ten years, not only in China but other countries too," Sabrina Peng, president of Alipay International, told CNBC at the Money 2020 fintech conference in Copenhagen on Tuesday.

Partnerships key

Chinese tourists spent $215 billion abroad last year, a 53 percent rise from 2014, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council. Alipay is hoping that much of this spending will be through its app.

Ant Financial said that Alipay was used by 120 million users abroad last year and told CNBC that globally, it now processes 170 million transactions per day.

Zhang Peng | LightRocket | Getty Images
CASPER, Wyo.  The president of Wyoming Catholic College will step down in May, after a three-year tenure that involved a lawsuit against the state over the Affordable Care Act.

Kevin Roberts announced his decision Friday, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family.

Roberts was a vocal opponent of big government and argued that the First Amendment was intended to protect the church from the state.

During Roberts time at the head of Wyomings only private, four-year college, the school became known for its fierce protection of religious freedoms, refusing government financial aid for its students and opposing the Affordable Health Care Acts mandate to provide contraceptive coverage to employees.

Wyoming Catholic College was one of many Catholic organizations in the state that sued the Wyoming Department of Health and Human Services over the Affordable Care Act's order.

The school was founded in 2003 by a Catholic priest. Roberts was the second president in the school's history. When hired in 2013, the native Louisianan said that he hoped Wyoming would be his familys home for decades.

He has accepted a position on the colleges board of directors but will be moving to Texas to serve as the executive vice president at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, which promotes individual liberties, according to its website.

Roberts said in his speech Friday that he hoped his work at the foundation would help the country, the church and Wyoming Catholic College.

The colleges board selected Glenn Arbery, the school's academic dean, as interim president.

Arbery said he would focus on growing the colleges presence as a unique Catholic institution.

Nowhere else does a Great Books curriculum build upon the experience of wonder in the outdoors and incorporate training in leadership, he said in a statement. I look forward to leading this excellent institution that my wife and I have come to love so deeply.
Amazon 's payments business is beginning to look for acquisitions as the value of financial technology - or fintech - start-ups "comes back to earth", a top executive at the e-commerce giant told CNBC on Tuesday.

Global investment in fintech firms hit $20 billion in 2015, a 66 percent increase on 2014, according to KPMG. The interest in the sector has seen a number of start-ups snag high valuations. But amid concerns of an overheated market, recent valuations have been more conservative, something Gauthier is hoping to take advantage of.

Amazon Payments was relaunched in 2013 and the company has a product called 'Pay with Amazon' which allows the company's customers to pay for anything using their account on other websites.

Now the business has racked up 23 million active users, Amazon is ready to start extending its platform through acquisitions.

"We created this business unit a year ago, now I'm starting to look at opportunities outside," Patrick Gauthier, vice president of Amazon Payments, told CNBC in an interview at the Money 2020 conference in Copenhagen.

"After a number of years where fintech has been a little bit ahead of itself in terms of valuations things have come back to earth."
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Biometric technology has swiftly emerged as a go-to solution for improving digital security and while fingerprints and facial recognition are being used more and more to stop online theft, how fast you type could soon be stopping hackers. Mobile identification company TeleSign launched Behavior ID on Tuesday, an online application that tracks a user's behavior to prevent cybertheft.

The application records behavior such as how a user moves their mouse, presses a touch screen, or the way they type. This increases the level of identity assurance for every user account a company has, according to Steve Jillings, CEO of TeleSign.

"The power of Behavior ID is its ability to adapt to the user, transparently producing a digital fingerprint from a user's behavior to confirm their identity and develop an ongoing authentication without requiring the consumer to do anything," he said in a press release.

"Best of all, these unique biometric patterns are extremely accurate, from the way we move our hand on a mobile device screen or with a mouse, it is virtually impossible to precisely imitate another person's behavior."

Andrew Brookes | Getty Images

Depending on how much a user does while logged into their account, Behavior ID will build a profile of the user which it can check to confirm their identity, claims Sergi Isasi, director of product management at TeleSign.

"Typically, it's going to be anywhere between five and 10 sessions before we are confident enough in a user's behaviour that we are able to tell them, with greater than 95 percent confidence, that they are different than another user," he told CNBC during a phone interview.

Biometrics are swiftly becoming part of online banking. Last month, Bank of Montreal announced it was incorporating MasterCard's Identity Check mobile app into its corporate credit card program to verify online purchases using fingerprint scans or facial recognition. However, TeleSign's solution differs from other types of biometrics, according to Isasi in that it doesn't require the user to have a specific device and is much harder to steal.

"If there's any sort of privacy issue, the user's behavior is still capable of being used to track that user," he said. "It can't be stolen, duplicated or used like a fingerprint or a retinal scan can be.

Other companies are also offering behavioral biometrics. BehavioSec has developed its own solution that identifies a user based on how they type their username and password.

"Even if a fraudster can get their hands on [a user's] credentials, they still can't mimic that behaviour," explained BehavioSec founder Olov Renberg to CNBC.

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However, Cramer didn't think the government would deliver risk on a platter, like it did on Monday night when the Treasury Department declared new rules on tax inversion, which suddenly put the $150 billion deal between Allergan and Pfizer into question. Allergan fell almost 15 percent on Tuesday.

"I am focusing on these incalculable hazards because I don't want you  ever  to think that investing is too easy," Cramer said. (Tweet This)

Tuesday displayed another kind of risk, government risk, which Cramer said is the most painful of all because it can completely obliterate ones capital like no other kind of risk.

"It is the risk that something might change, something fundamental that upsets the apple cart of investing," the " Mad Money " host said.

Investing is difficult; everyone can't just make money easily owning stocks. Why? Jim Cramer points to risk.

I am focusing on these incalculable hazards because I don't' want you EVER to think that investing is too easy.

The deal between Pfizer and Allergan was originally supposed to allow them to come together in a legal way to take advantage of the lower tax rate Allergan has being domiciled in Ireland.

Cramer pointed out that there is no law that says Allergan and Pfizer cannot do this. In fact, it was the lack of laws that allowed them to do it.

Read more from Mad Money with Jim Cramer

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The "Mad Money" host interviewed Treasury Secretary Jack Lew in 2014 at the Delivering Alpha conference. Cramer pressed him on why the IRS couldn't use rulemaking, given that the inverted companies were still U.S. based, not based overseas. It seemed silly to Cramer that Lew could just change regulations to make these inversions more difficult to do.

"We do not believe we have the authority to address this inversion question through administrative action. If we did, we would be doing more," Lew said.

When Cramer spoke with Allergan CEO Brent Saunders back in February, he assured Cramer that the deal was constructed in a highly legal way.

"I don't want to oversimplify, but by instituting what is known as a three-year look back clause into the inversion debate, Lew effectively made a regulation that selectively applied only to Allergan. Let's call it the anti-Pfizer-Allergan regulation," Cramer said.

Read MoreAllergan CEO on the world's largest pharma merger

The destruction of capital in Allergan should serve as a warning that the government can be a powerful opponent to wealth creation, Cramer added. If the Treasury can change rules after assuring him that it couldn't, that makes all stocks worth a little less.



If investors own the stock of a company that is doing everything right and by the book, then it makes sense to have certain investible expectations  such that Allergan could close the deal with Pfizer.

"Government risk means you always need to worry that might not be the case. Maybe Brent Saunders read the country wrong when he said this deal would go through, because he sure reached the wrong conclusion along with his investors who were along for this broken ride," Cramer said.

Disclaimer: Cramer's charitable trust had a position in Allergan at the time this article was published
Credit Suisse and HSBC, two of the world's largest wealth managers, dismissed on Tuesday suggestions they were actively using offshore structures to help clients cheat on their taxes.



Their comments came a day after a leak of four decades of documents from a Panamanian law firm that specializes in setting up offshore companies showed widespread use of those instruments by global banks on behalf of their clients and triggered a raft of government investigations across the world.

The so-called "Panama Papers", revealed through an investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), exposed financial arrangements of politicians and public figures including friends of Russian President Vladimir Putin, relatives of the prime ministers of Britain, Iceland and Pakistan, and the president of Ukraine.

Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam, who is aggressively targeting Asia's wealthiest for growth, said his bank was only after lawful assets.

"We as a company, as a bank only encourage the use of structures when there is a legitimate economic purpose," Thiam, who took the helm at Switzerland's second-largest bank last year, told a media briefing.

Separately, HSBC said the documents pre-dated a thorough reform of its business model.

"The allegations are historical, in some cases dating back 20 years, predating our significant, well-publicized reforms implemented over the last few years," said Gareth Hewett, a Hong Kong-based spokesman for HSBC.
If you believe the Republican presidential candidates, the Affordable Care Act is a cancer and they're the chemotherapy America needs.



"Our health care is a horror show," Donald Trump said at a debate in January. "Obamacare, we're going to repeal it and replace it."

In Iowa, Ted Cruz told voters ACA is "the biggest job-killer in this country." (That claim was later rated "pants on fire" by Politifact.)

Republicans all have promised to "repeal and replace" or at least significantly revise the ACA.

But how does that investor anxiety hold up in the real world? It depends on the vantage point. Health care has held up well since the unveiling of Obamacare, but has done poorly since the election season kicked off.

Investors are not dumping stocks in pharmaceuticals, medical equipment and biotech.



There's also doubt whether a Republican will be able to repeal the law. So in the long run, that might not be such a healthy investment strategy.
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European equities finished sharply lower on Tuesday, as volatility in commodity markets weighed on sentiment and investors digested the latest raft of data from the euro zone.

Weak German data

European markets



The pan-European STOXX 600 closed 1.8 percent lower provisionally, with all sectors deep in negative territory. Germany's DAX finished down 2.5 percent on the back of disappointing data. The new figures showed industrial orders in the euro zone's largest economy fell in February as foreign demand weakened, Reuters reported. Meanwhile, final PMI figures for the euro zone came in below flash estimates. In the U.K., services PMI data came in at 53.7 for March, up from 52.7 in February, in line with Reuters forecasts. The bad mood spread to the U.S. which opened sharply lower and then begun to recover lost ground. At Europe's close, the major U.S. benchmarks were still in negative territory.

Commodities weigh

Peugeot slips; banks eyed
Post-financial crisis changes have made the financial system more stable, but policymakers need to acknowledge that large banks still pose systemic risk, Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari contended Tuesday.

Kashkari, 42, started at the bank earlier this year and quickly made further regulation a top priority. On Monday, he hosted a symposium in Minneapolis called "Ending Too Big to Fail," where experts floated ideas about how best to make the financial system safer.



"I just don't want the American people to have a false sense of security that we've addressed 'too big to fail,' that this can't happen again," Kashkari told CNBC's "Closing Bell." "I think some of those risks remain. And we need to consider more transformational solutions to deal with this problem once and for all."

Kashkari, who previously worked at the Treasury Department and Goldman Sachs, has jumped into a debate that rages even after the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act. Policymakers continue to question whether the measures went far enough to reduce financial system risk, and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont has made reining in Wall Street a cornerstone of his Democratic presidential campaign.
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In a move that Donald Trump called an "absolute disgrace," Ford on Tuesday announced that it will be adding a new assembly plant in Mexico.

The Detroit automaker said it will invest $1.6 billion into the facility and create 2,800 jobs by 2020, with construction expected to begin this summer. Ford's expansion in Mexico has been expected for months, causing Republican presidential nominee Trump to repeatedly hammer the automaker.

"This transaction is an absolute disgrace. Our dishonest politicians and the special interests that control them are laughing in the face of all American citizens," Trump said in a statement.

A file photo showing the assembly line at the Ford Motor Co. plant in Cuautitlan Izcalli, Mexico. Susana Gonzalez | Bloomberg | Getty Images

"When I am president, we will strongly enforce trade rules against unfair foreign subsidies, and impose countervailing duties to prevent egregious instances of outsourcing."

Trump went on to call for renegotiating NAFTA "to create a fair deal for American workers." Joe Hinrichs, president of Ford of the Americas, told CNBC that the new plant does not mean Ford is moving jobs out of the U.S.

"We're proud to be an American company," he told CNBC. "We've invested $10.2 billion here in the U.S. over the last five years and that commitment won't change even as we expand around the world." The Mexican plant, in San Luis Potosi state, will build small cars that will be exported for sale in the U.S. and other countries, though the automaker has not decided which vehicles will be built there.

The company already has two final assembly plants and one engine plant in Mexico. It has a total of 8,800 employees there, compared with 85,000 in the U.S.
The Wisconsin primary could very well undo Trump's lock on the Republican nomination. Senator Ted Cruz defeated Trump in the Badger State, which will make it nearly impossible for the New York billionaire to enter the GOP convention in Cleveland with the 1,237 delegates he needs for the nomination  or even get within 100 delegates to the magic number.

But here's the catch: That doesn't mean Cruz will be the nominee.

In fact, the closer Cruz comes to catching up with Trump without actually overtaking him in the delegate count, the more likely Cruz will be denied the nomination, too, in a truly brokered convention.

Here's why:

First, a truly brokered  or open  convention is not really what's happening when you have one candidate very close to the needed delegate count with several others very much behind. That's simply a situation where a few deals need to be made to bring about an inevitable coronation. The best example of a convention like that was the 1976 Republican confab, where President Ford was able to use an appeal for party unity to win Ronald Reagan's support and secure the nomination. It helped that Ford had a clear lead and there was never enough rancor between the two candidates to make joining forces impossible.
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Imagine driving cross country in a car with such good Wi-Fi, you'd be able to binge on your favorite Netflix shows along the way  assuming, of course, that you are in the passenger seat. Kymeta, based in Redmond, Washington, is proving the concept doesn't have to be a pipe dream. The company has created a flat electronically steered satellite antenna that's out to revolutionize the world of mobile communications. The company was launched out of Intellectual Ventures  the venture capital firm of former Microsoft chief technology officer Nathan Myhrvold  in 2012. Kymeta replaces dish technology with a flat antenna that can be steered electronically and, as a result, track a moving satellite. It aims to eventually replace the spotty Wi-Fi available today in, for example, the air, on cruise ships and more  places where it is clunky and more expensive.

The start-up's goal is to "solve the global mobile communications problem," said CEO Nathan Kundtz, adding, "Most of the world doesn't have global mobile connectivity." In January, Toyota announced their decision to partner with Kymeta to use its satellite technology for its next-generation connected vehicles.



The Toyota 4Runner recently took a 20,000-mile cross-country road trip, stopping along the way to demonstrate its technology to partners, potential partners and universities. Ross LeClair | CNBC

"We were very excited to learn about Kymeta, because their flat antennae technology could solve the challenge of vehicle-based satellite communications," said Toyota's senior managing officer, Shigeki Tomoyama, in a statement.

To test-drive the technology, Kymeta's mTenna was embedded into the roof of a Toyota 4Runner, which zigzagged 20,000 miles throughout the country to show the antenna's connectivity capabilities. The SUV is now covered in stickers and signatures from potential partners and fans of the tech. "We're doing a few firsts with this trip," Kundtz said. "We are combining transmit-and-receive into one panel. That has never been done before in an electronically scanned antenna."

Kymeta claims it has raised more than $120 million in funding, including $62 million in January. Investors include Bill Gates and Lux Capital.



The company continues to work with Toyota to experiment with different antenna sizes that may eventually fit into their vehicles and bring data into the car, according to Kymeta's chief commercial officer, Bill Marks. Kymeta is manufacturing its products today in partnership with Sharp Electronics in Japan, and prototypes can be assembled in as little as a day in Washington. "Satellite connectivity historically has been difficult to manage and is kind of mysterious to people," Marks said. "It's expensive, and acquiring the capacity is difficult. We are trying to make this a relevant product to the masses."
Sreedhar Yedlapati | Getty Images

Market choppiness can be scary, and might tempt you to sell losing investments. But for retirement savers, the wisdom of doing the opposite has been proven time and again. Now yet another study has found that regularly rebalancing a portfolio  selling winners and buying losers  can help preserve your money long term, with less volatility. T. Rowe Price financial planners modeled the performance of two hypothetical portfolios over the last 20 years: Both held 60 percent in stocks and 40 percent in bonds, but only one was rebalanced annually. Though the portfolios produced nearly identical returns, the one that was regularly rebalanced experienced only three-fourths the volatility of the one left untouched.

"Rebalancing helps take the emotion out of investing," said New York City-based financial planner Hans-Christian Winkler. "During volatile markets everyone has an opinion, but it's your portfolio that should tell you what to do." Deciding what asset allocation is right for you typically depends on your age and risk tolerance. The conventional wisdom goes that younger investors have more time to make up for losses, and therefore can take on more risk with larger equities exposure. But plenty of older investors may also have a hard time accepting the current lower yields on fixed income  and many folks nearing retirement still insist on holding more stocks than bonds, Winkler said. One traditional rule of thumb from Vanguard founder Jack Bogle is to "hold your age" in bonds. Most target-date funds rely on some version of this to automatically adjust your holdings as your retirement date nears. But beware of buying without looking under the hood: The average target-date fund didn't do so well in 2015. As long as you make a thoughtful plan, sticking to it by rebalancing can do more than simply smooth your ride. The T. Rowe study found that during sudden down markets  like the bursting of the tech bubble a decade and a half ago  a rebalanced portfolio may actually return thousands of dollars more.
Hurry up and wait is too often the prescription you're getting when you arrive at the doctor's office  and it could be making you feel much worse than before you went there. A new survey finds that the vast majority of patients  85 percent  say they have to wait anywhere from 10 minutes to 30 minutes past their scheduled appointment time to actually see their doctor.

Joos Mind | Getty Images

And that waiting period is often the worst part of the doctor's visit, according to patients. A total of 63 percent of patients said that the most stressful thing about going to their MD was waiting to get looked at. And even after they see the doctor, less than half of patients say they have a clear understanding of what they'll have to pay before they walk out the door. The survey, conducted for the design and development firm Sequence, suggests there is a big technological gap between how patients interact with their doctor's offices, and how they manage the rest of their lives.

Jojo Roy, CEO of Sequence, said many people "have such high expectations" about efficiency and speed of service when they use digital devices to book taxis, vacations, restaurant reservations and order products online, but that in the realm of health care, the experience "still lags."

Roy said that among the 2,000 adults who participated in the survey, "the expectation is, sadly, pretty low" that they will get seen by a doctor at the time of their appointment, and with a minimum of paperwork. "As patients and consumers, we somehow are willing to accept it's not as seamless, not as efficient ... as all of those other things are," Roy said. Sequence presented the survey's results Tuesday at the HxR:Health Experience Refactored Conference in Boston.

Possibly the biggest difference between how people deal with doctors compared to other aspects of their lives is the way in which they book appointments. Currently, about 80 percent of travelers, for example, use an online site to book and pay for a trip. In contrast, 88 percent of doctors' appointments are scheduled by phone. Roy said that getting health-care providers to have most of their scheduling done online could help reduce both wait times and the stress many patients associate with office visits. More than 60 percent of the people surveyed for Sequence said they would prefer getting a text alert before they left home notifying them that they won't be seen on time. And more than half of the respondents said they wished there were screens in the doctors' waiting room offices showing estimated wait times.
PSA Peugeot Citroen outlined plans on Tuesday to return to consistent sales growth as the French carmaker seeks to build on its recovery from near-bankruptcy to healthy profit.

In what Chief Executive Carlos Tavares described as a "global product and technology offensive", Peugeot aims to step up model launches to introduce a new vehicle each year for each of its three brands - Peugeot, Citroen and DS - including a pickup, and 11 hybrids or all-electric cars.

Peugeot also plans production in Southeast Asia and is seeking a manufacturing partner in India, the company said.
Elderly, isolated patients can be hard to reach, especially if they're suffering from dementia.

One study shows that a seal-shaped robot could help.

Researchers discovered that interacting with a therapy robot called Paro had a calming effect on 60 percent of residents who typically displayed anxious behaviors, according to a study released by Front Porch, a nonprofit specializing in retirement communities.

Paro is equipped with several sensors  tactile, light, audition, temperature and posture  that can respond to the user's voice and movement.



The robotic seal increased social behavior in 97 percent of isolated adult residents. It also helped 79 percent of residents who displayed lethargic behavior to remain alert, which positively improved their mood, socialization and appetite.

"Front Porch is exploring creative solutions to address needs for which we currently don't have an easy solution: agitation in the middle of the night, sundowning, engaging withdrawn or isolated residents," said Kari Olson, chief innovation and technology officer of Front Porch, in a statement.



The study utilized Paro, a therapy robot shaped like a harp seal, to survey how interactions with the robot affected patients at seven retirement communities in California over the course of six months. Paro is designed to look like a seal because "people are generally interested in interacting with robots modeled after nonfamiliar animals," according to Front Porch.


The school in Therwil, a canton of the city of Basel, agreed to the request by stating that the students would not shake hands with either their male or female teachers, Le News reported.

The male students, aged 14 and 15, according to Le News, a local Swiss news website, requested the exemption on religious grounds because their teacher is a woman. In strict Islamic law, men and women should not shake hands.

In Switzerland, where it is customary for students to shake their teachers' hands before and after class, two Muslim students have been exempt from doing just so due to their religious beliefs.

However, this decision in turn has caused a polemic in Switzerland.

The Federation of Islamic Organisations in Switzerland (FIOS) said that a handshake between a man and woman "is permissible theologically". It added that politeness is important in Islamic tradition and that a handshake between teachers and students is "not problematic," reported Swissinfo.ch.



Christoph Eymann, president of the Swiss Conference of Cantonal Ministers of Education, said: "We cannot tolerate different behavior towards women. We can't allow exceptions for religious reasons. It doesn't help the Muslim community," according to Le News.



However, the Islamic Central Council of Switzerland said in a statement on their website, "One would think that the continued existence of Switzerland's core values was at stake, when this particular case in fact involves just two high school students who have said they wish to greet their teacher in a different way than with a handshake."



In a similar case based on religious beliefs, media reports said an 81-year-old Jewish lawyer is suing the Israeli airline El Al after being asked to move on a New York- Tel Aviv flight in December when an ultra-orthodox Jewish man objected to sitting next to her.
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Does the U.S. government want to help American business or not? Does the administration want to help middle income wage earners or not? Does team Obama want to grow the American economy at its historic 3.5 percent long-term trend or not? Apparently, President Obama's answer to all three questions is "no."



Those are the real issues behind the Treasury's latest militant attack on so-called tax inversions, where a U.S. company merges with a foreign firm in order to take advantage of the foreign firm's lower corporate tax rate. In this case, the attack was aimed at Pfizer proposed takeover of Allergan, which is based in Ireland and has a 12.5 percent corporate tax rate. Pfizer is based in New York. So, the new combined entity would have paid the Irish corporate rate, which is nearly three times less than the 35 percent U.S. federal corporate rate. However, the deal was called off early Wednesday, with executives citing the changes to U.S. tax regulations. The answer here is simple: Slash the U.S. corporate tax rate and then the problem goes away. It's by far the highest of the major countries worldwide. We are not competitive. Canada is 15 percent, China is 25 percent and Europe averages 25 percent. These companies owe it to their shareholders and their work forces to act in a fiduciarily responsible manner. But no, Team Obama wants to wage war against them.



So here's a question: Why does Obama want to punish business, rather than reward it? Why doesn't this administration want America to be the top global destination for investment? Why not have the U.S. win the global race for capital instead of losing? President Obama always gives lip service to lowering the corporate tax rate, but he never specifies a particular rate or an overall plan. What's more, he is trying to force U.S. multinational cash abroad to pay taxes as high as 19 percent even if they don't bring the money home. And then, they'd still be taxed at 35 percent for the repatriation of their foreign profits. This is insane. Many liberals argue that big U.S. companies don't really pay the top corporate rate. While that is sometimes true, it's mainly because, during recessions, companies lose money and get a tax loss carry forward that temporarily reduces their effective rate. But during economic expansions, when profits rise, companies then do pay the top rate. So, it's a bogus argument. General Electric , for example, may not have paid taxes for a couple of years following the Great Recession. But during the recovery, their effective rate was near 35 percent.



Then, progressives argue that corporate tax cutting is a rich person's tax cut. Utterly untrue. Numerous studies have shown that the biggest beneficiary of corporate tax cuts is the middle income wage earners. By the same token, companies don't just pay corporate taxes out of their own pockets. They pass it along in the form of lower wages and benefits to the work force, higher prices for consumers and lower stock valuations for investors. Again, the data show that wage earners get the biggest benefits, consumers second and shareholders third. One key reason why average wage earners have had virtually no pay increases in the past 15 years is the high corporate tax rate. That is why so many Americans are so angry at Washington  They want BIG change. Corporate-tax reform should include not just large C-corps, but also smaller business S-corps and LLC pass-throughs. And, nearly as important as cutting business tax rates is the need to simplify the inexplicably opaque and complex system. Big firms can afford tax accountants to avoid all the K-street cronyism and corporate welfare. Smaller firms cannot; they get the short end of the stick.







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Hedge fund manager Martin Sass doubled down on Allergan on Tuesday, adding to shares of the specialty-pharmaceutical company for his CNBC Pro model portfolio after the stock plunged. In early trading, shares of Allergan lost nearly a fifth of their value at one point as the Treasury Department took steps to curb so-called tax inversions . Pfizer plans to buy Ireland-based Allergan to reduce its tax bill, and that deal is now in question. Sass, who oversees $7 billion in assets at M.D. Sass, a New York-based firm he founded in 1972, used the remaining amount of cash in his CNBC contest portfolio to buy more Allergan stock. Why did he do it and what advice does he have for regular investors faced with a similar situation? Here's what Sass said after he bought Allergan's stock at the open: "Allergan's stock was unduly pressured by arbitrage and other hedge funds selling (more than 4 million shares traded pre-market this morning) in an overreaction to last night's surprise U.S. Treasury aggressive new anti-inversion regulations which raised serious risks that the pending deal with Pfizer would break. Sellers in yesterday's after-market and this morning's pre-market trading failed to give appropriate recognition to the compelling standalone value of 'AGN' which we believe should trade well over $300 in the next year using relevant P/E and Free Cash Flow measures relative to peers." Sass on Allergan as a stand-alone company: "Allergan offers some of the best, long duration specialty pharma products, has an outstanding management and a very strong balance sheet. AGN will have zero net debt after getting $40.5 bln from the sale of its generic division to Teva by June. It has an extensive pipeline that should drive mid-teens organic EPS growth for the next several years. AGN's strong cash position after the Teva sale and substantial free cash flow places it in an advantageous position to purchase other pharmaceutical and biotech asset, which have declined sharply in value due to the recent very sharp selloff in the sector. Allergan is also well positioned to massively buy back stock." Sass's takeaway for regular investors: "When special investment opportunities like this arise, investors who understand intrinsic fundamental values should be poised to move very aggressively to capitalize on them." Watch an in-depth discussion with Sass about his investment philosophy here: Beat the market with Martin Sass Disclosures: Martin Sass is long shares of Allergan.

Allergan Scott Eisen | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Trump lays out plan to make Mexico pay for border wall 9:57 AM ET Tue, 5 April 2016 | 00:39

The centerpiece of Donald Trump's immigration policy  construction of a huge wall along the southern U.S. border  has been hugely popular with his supporters.



But how does he plan to pay the estimated multi-billion-dollar cost to complete it?

When he initially proposed the idea, Trump insisted he would simply send the bill to the Mexican government.

"We're gonna get the wall built," Trump has told reporters. "And Mexico's gonna pay for the wall  And they're gonna be happy about it."

Mexican officials have dismissed that idea

"We are not going to pay any single cent for such a stupid wall," former Mexican president Felipe Calderon told reporters at business conference in February.

So Trump has come up with another plan, by seizing a piece of the $25 billion in remittances that flow to Mexico every year.

"Mexico must pay for the wall," according to the billionaire Republican candidate's website. "We will not be taken advantage of anymore."

In addition to seizing money transferred back home by Mexicans living in the U.S., Trump has proposed tapping other sources of revenue. (Those include raising fees on everything from visas issued to Mexican CEOs and diplomats to shipments of goods coming into the U.S. from Mexico.
PHOTO CREDIT: Upstate Medical University website

SYRACUSE, N.Y.  The Upstate Foundation and Upstate Medical University have established the Dr. Gregory L. and Lynn M. Eastwood endowment for ethics.

The endowment will support bioethics education at Upstate Medical, such as a lectureship, special training, or visits by expert guest speakers, the medical school said in a news release. The release did not disclose the initial amount of the endowment.

Along with the entire Upstate community, the Upstate Foundation is deeply grateful to Dr. and Mrs. Eastwood for their commitment and devotion to the Upstate mission, Eileen Pezzi, Upstates VP for development, said. As a member of the Foundation board of directors, Dr. Eastwood has been a trusted leader, valuable adviser and dedicated supporter. The Foundation is delighted he will remain in this role. He also continues on the faculty of Upstates Center for Bioethics and Humanities.

Eastwood was Upstates fifth president, having served from 1993 to 2006, making him the universitys longest-serving chief executive, the school said.

He currently serves as a University Professor, one of the highest honors SUNY can bestow, according to Upstate Medical.

Eastwood and his wife, Lynn, have been actively involved in area causes and initiatives outside of the regions health-care sector.

As president of Upstate Medical University, Eastwood secured resources to renovate and improve the universitys declining facilities and infrastructure and to expand with new construction.

During his tenure, Upstate Medical more than doubled its operating budget from $325 million to $725 million and employment had increased from 4,700 to 6,300, making Upstate the largest employer in the area.

More recently, Eastwood also served as the schools interim president when the State University of New York appointed him to the role after the November 2013 resignation of former president Dr. David Smith.

Eastwood had been serving as officer-in-charge after SUNY placed Smith on leave Nov. 5, 2013 amid an ongoing review of compensation issues, according to a letter that SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher wrote to Smith.

Eastwood continued to serve in the interim role until SUNY appointed Upstates new president, Dr. Danielle Laraque-Arena, who began her duties in January of this year.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com
Portugal will celebrate the 50th anniversary of its 25th of April Bridge in 2016 with a circulating commemorative 2 coin.

Portugals newest circulating commemorative 2 coin celebrates a famous bridge in the nations capital city.

The 25 de Abril Bridge (25th of April Bridge) is a suspension bridge connecting the city of Lisbon, capital of Portugal, to the municipality of Almada on the left (south) bank of the Tejo River. It was inaugurated Aug. 6, 1966, and a train platform was added in 1999.

Because it is a suspension bridge and has similar coloring, it is often compared to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

Connect with Coin World:

Until the April 25, 1974, Carnation Revolution, the bridge was known as the Salazar Bridge, for Antonio de Oliveira Salazar, a leader in the Second Republic that was overthrown.

The obverse of the coin shows the bridge, with inscriptions listing the nations name and the newer name of the bridge, as well as dual dates 1966 and 2016. The designers name, JOSE AURELIO, appears with the Mint mark or symbol of the INCM, the Imprensa Nacional Casa de Moeda.

The coins outer ring depicts the 12 stars of the European flag. The common reverse shows a map of the European Union.

In total, 500,000 coins are due for release in July.

The ringed-bimetallic coin has a copper-nickel core and copper-aluminum-nickel ring.

The 2 coin weighs 8.5 grams and measures 25.75 millimeters in diameter.

Each nation is allowed to issue up to two different circulating commemorative designs annually, with designs of their choosing, though few nations issue the maximum number of designs.

Joint euro programs like the 2015 coins honoring the 30th anniversary of flag of the European Union do not count toward this limit.
A lack of reason may lead to violence and an inability to respond to crises, but that didnt stop the West from abandoning it. In a new article for the Catholic World Report, Actons Samuel Gregg reflects on Pope Benedict XVI and his 2006 address near Regensburg, Germany. Ten years later, Gregg laments, the West is still in denial.

On September 12, 2006 Benedict made global news with his lecturehis words enraged, gained support, and were analyzed countless times. The speech was concerned with the deep problems of faith and reason that characterize the West and Christianity today, particularly in relation to Islam. Despite causing great controversy, this speech is considered to be one of the most important papal addresses on world affairs. Benedict argued that our understanding of the divine ultimately creates the foundation for how we view and can judge particular human choices and actions to be unreasonable. Gregg continues:

Most commentators on the Regensburg Address did not, however, observe that the Pope declined to proceed to engage in a detailed analysis of why and how such a conception of God may have affected Islamic theology and Islamic practice. Nor did he explore the mindset of those Muslims who invoke Allah to justify jihadist violence. Instead, Benedict immediately pivoted to discussing the place of reason in Christianity and Western culture more generally. In fact, in the speechs very last paragraph, Benedict called upon his audience to rediscover the great logos: this breadth of reason which, he maintained, orthodox Christianity has always regarded as a prominent feature of Gods nature. The popes use of the word rediscover indicated that something had been lost and that much of the West and the Christian world had themselves fallen into the grip of other forms of un-reason. Irrationality can, after all, manifest itself in expressions other than mindless violence. That irrationality is loose and ravaging much of the Westespecially in those institutions which are supposed to be temples of reason, i.e., universitiesis hard to deny. Take, for instance, those presently trying to turn Western educational institutions into one gigantic safe space. In this cocoon, those who maintain, for instance, that gender theory fails basic tests of logic, or that the welfare state has negative cultural effects, or that not all forms of inequality are in fact unjust (to name just some propositions which many today consider offensive), are regularly designated as haters or some word to which the suffix phobe is attached.

Continue reading Regensburg Revisted: Ten Years Later, A West Still in Denial.
Ellen is an assistant city editor for spring 2017. She has reported on the Missouri General Assembly and Columbia city government for the Missourian. Reach her at: eccg25@mail.missouri.edu or in the newsroom at (573) 882-5720

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Three takeways from Missouri's game against Vanderbilt

Missouri football took on Vanderbilt for its homecoming game on Saturday. Here's what to know from the game.
To dig deeper, more background is necessary.

Lapido Media changed the headline and added the note after Snapshots published a blog entry detailing information that William,? a prominent peace activist in the West Bank and student at Bethlehem Bible College, provided to Van Zile at the recent Christ at the Checkpoint conference in early March.

As reported in the previous blog post on Snapshots, William? stated that he had been given a work visa by the Palestinian Authority and that the paper work had been sent to Israeli authorities (who have final say) for approval.

When asked if he thought the Israelis would approve the visa, William? stated that it was likely that they would because they do not want to make the Palestinian Authority unhappy. This clearly undercuts the Israel is the villain? message of the original Lapido Media article. It also contradicts Lapido Medias updated version of the article, which states he is applying for a student visa.? As stated previously, he has already applied for a work visa, which according to his testimony, is likely to be approved by the Israelis.

The upshot is that one way or another, William? has been able to attend classes at Bethlehem Bible College just as foreign students have been able to attend classes at Bethlehem University for quite some time, despite reports from former Bethlehem Mayor Vera Baboun to the contrary.

In working on the entry regarding Very Babouns testimony about this issue, Snapshots spoke with officials at Bethlehem University and learned that sometimes students attend classes at this school with a three-month tourist visa  like the one William? uses to attend classes at Bethlehem Bible College.

This imposes some difficulty on students who attend Bethlehem University, but allowances are made so that they can complete their coursework with the school, Snapshots has learned.

Bethlehem Universitys website indicates, however, that some students are able to attend classes at the school for the full length of their coursework, suggesting that they are given a visa for longer than three months.

If this is the case, it raises the question as to why this cannot happen for William? at Bethlehem Bible College.

A couple of explanations present themselves.

First, the peace studies program where William? is attending classes is not yet accredited by any certifying body. Thats what Bethlehem Bible College says on its website.

Student visas, when they are given, are usually restricted to students who are attending accredited programs. Thats what the website for Israels Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicates.

In light of this, it seems pretty unreasonable to expect Israel to give William? a student visa because the program he is attending is not yet accredited.

Second, as stated in the Times of Israel article, Bethlehem Bible College has engaged in a significant amount of anti-Israel agitation over the years, which may make Israeli officials reluctant to allow overseas students to attend the school.

Williams? so-called peace? activism, which is really anti-Israel agitation, and which has been publicized in other venues (which use his real name), is a case in point. People who are responsible for the safety and security of Israeli civilians might look askance at letting an outside agitator from overseas access to the West Bank.

The area, is after all, controlled by the Palestinian Authority, an entity that has lauded Palestinian young people who have murdered people  including a pregnant woman and mother  on a regular basis over the past few months. Now if William were to agitate against Palestinian hostility and incitement, an admittedly risky thing to do in the West Bank, he might be able to call himself a peace? activist. However, the vast majority of his activism is dedicated to highlighting Israeli misdeeds.

To be sure, when it comes to anti-Zionist activism, Bethlehem University is not completely innocent. At one point in Bethlehem Universitys history, Hamas-supported candidates were elected to the schools student council. Apparently Hamas supporters have not been elected to the student council for sometime, which is a good thing. (Its kind of a scandal to have supporters of an organization whose leaders have called for the imposition of a poll tax on Christians to have positions of authority at a Catholic university. It just doesnt seem right.)

And while there were some violent confrontations between students and IDF soldiers in years past at Bethlehem University, the school does not engage in the same level of anti-Zionist agitation that Bethlehem Bible College has done in recent years. This might help explain why foreign students have an easier time attending classes at Bethlehem University than they do Bethlehem Bible College.

In any event, attending either one of these schools on a three-month visa is doable, despite the difficulties, a fact that is attested to on Williams? Instagram feed.

Sometime in December, William? posted a picture of the tourist visa given to him upon his most recent entry into Israel  an entry that allowed him to continue his studies at Bethlehem Bible College. In the caption to the photo, he reports he was let into Israel without being questioned by passport control at Ben Gurion Airport.

This raises another question. In the first article published by Lapido Media in late October, reporter Jayson Kasper says that William? was using a pseudonym and shielding his identity online because he was afraid of being deported.

Just how serious was William? about shielding his identity online if a few weeks later he posted a picture of his tourist visa  which includes his name and passport number  on Instagram?

Was William? really operating incognito, or was this bit about shielding his identity to avoid deportation included in the Lapido Media story just to gin up some drama to make Israel look like the oppressor?

In any event, it is good to see Lapido Media is open to doing follow up on this story because there are still some more questions that need to be answered. One question Lapido Media should ask is this: Are the so-called peace? activists who travel to the Holy Land really promoting peace or are they making things worse?

Another question is whether how journalists should cover these so-called peace activists. Should what they say be subjected to the same level of scrutiny as other actors in the Israel-Palestinian conflict, or not?
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By Ted Evanoff of The Commercial Appeal

Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc. said $1 million was placed in United Housing Inc.s loan pool for mortgages, home improvement loans and renovating houses for sale to low-income individuals.

United, founded in 1994 in Memphis, is part of the United Way of the Mid-South. Pinnacle, a Nashville-based bank, last year acquired Magna Bank of Memphis.

Separately, the Nashville bank recently donated $800,000 earmarked for Luther Terrace crime prevention to the Senior Housing Crime Prevention Foundation in Memphis.


Wednesday, April 3, 1968 - Martin Luther King, seated with aide Jesse Jackson, arrived at the Mason Temple where Ralph Abernathy made a lengthy introduction for the civil rights leader. (Ken Ross, courtesy Special Collections/University of Memphis Libraries)

David Waters Columnist SHARE April 3, 2016 - A shaft of colorful light pours through a stained class window onto Carol Jackson during the Tribute to a Witness program that honored the legacy of Rev. Samuel Billy Kyles. (Mike Brown/The Commercial Appeal)

As the calendar turned from April 3 to April 4, the top three stories on our mobile app, inadvertently but fittingly, were these:

Church honors civil rights leader Kyles.

Memphis homicide rate nearly doubles that of Chicago.

Mentors making a difference for Bellevue Middle boys.

If he had lived, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would have been happy with the first, horrified by the second, and hopeful but honest about the third.

No doubt King would have attended Sunday's tribute to Rev. Samuel 'Billy' Kyles, a man, minister and movement leader he so respected and admired.

Kyles, now 81 and ailing, was six years younger than King. They were more than clergy colleagues. They were close friends.

They knew each long before King came to Memphis to help striking sanitation workers in 1968. They even knew each other before Kyles became Monumental Baptist Church's monumental founding pastor in 1959.

"Billy was the interpreter of our struggle," Jesse Jackson said at Sunday afternoon's tribute. "Doc's trust in him was undisputed."

Kyles was standing near King on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel when the fateful shot rang out on April 4, 1968. They were on their way to the Kyles' home for dinner.

"It is no longer a choice between violence and nonviolence in this world," King said the evening of April 3, in the "Mountaintop" speech at Mason Temple.

"It's nonviolence or nonexistence. That is where we are today."

That is still where we are today.

In the first three months of this year, Memphis has recorded 60 homicides. That's more than double the rate of this year's surge of homicides in Chicago, which has shocked the nation.

Memphis and Chicago have two of the highest urban black poverty rates  about 35 percent  in the nation.

As in Chicago, a majority of the killers and the victims in Memphis are young African-American men from impoverished homes and neighborhoods.

"There is no plan to deal with this," Jackson told the newspaper's editorial board Monday. "We're handling it funeral by funeral."

King saw the roots of violence as both personal and systemic, as much a product of poverty, racism and ideology as rage, retaliation and sin.

He would have said there are too many young men with guns instead of fathers.

He also would have said there are too many young men facing impossible odds instead of even playing fields.

He would have said "violence begets violence" and preached against personal iniquity.

He also would have lamented "the violence of poverty" and marched against police brutality, mass incarceration and economic inequity.

He would have noted that a third of black children live in two-parent households today as compared to 80 percent in 1960.

He also would have noted that a third of black households have zero or negative net worth, and minimum wage is three-fourths what it was 50 years ago.

He would have identified the urgent need for more mentoring programs like The Gentlemen's League at Bellevue Middle School, and male role models like principal-in-training Archie Moss.

He also would have warned that one-on-one mentoring won't matter much without more economic mobility.

"Do you know that most of the poor people in our country are working every day?" he asked sanitation workers in Memphis.

"And they are making wages so low that they cannot begin to function in the mainstream of the economic life of our nation. These are facts which must be seen, and it is criminal to have people working on a full-time basis and a full-time job getting part-time income ..."

"Now our struggle is for genuine equality, which means economic equality."

That struggle against didnt end April 4, 1968. Not coincidentally, neither did the violence of poverty.
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By Richard Locker of The Commercial Appeal

NASHVILLE  The state Senate gave final legislative approval Monday to the so-called "Slow Poke" bill, prohibiting driving  except for passing  in the left lane of highways with at least three lanes in each direction, with certain exceptions.

The bill won Senate approval 21-7, despite arguments that drivers can already be charged with impeding traffic in such situations. It won House approval 69-13 on March 7 and now goes to the governor, who's likely to sign it into law.

Issuing tickets will be up to the discretion of state troopers and police officers. A violation will be a Class C misdemeanor punishable by a fine of $50.

"This is to cut down on road rage," said Sen. Frank Nicely, R-Strawberry Plains, the bill's Senate sponsor. "A lot of people pull in the left-hand lane and just stay there. People pull up behind them and it causes traffic to line up."

The law won't apply in these circumstances: when the volume of traffic doesn't permit safe merging into a non-passing lane; when inclement weather or a traffic control device makes it necessary to drive in the passing lane; when obstructions or hazards exist in a non-passing lane; when avoiding traffic moving onto the highway from a merging lane; when highway design makes it necessary to drive in the passing lane to exit or turn left; to emergency vehicles engaged in official duties, or to vehicles engaged in highway maintenance and construction.

The bill authorizes the Tennessee Department of Transportation to put messages informing drivers of the law on electronic highway message boards.
SHARE Rudolph Vetter/The Commercial Appeal FILES Hawaii has its hula honeys, but no Howdy Doody. So when Ralph Honda (left) and Cy Gillette arrived in Memphis on April 4, 1951, from Honolulu for the meeting of the Airport Operators Council, they ordered a television set for their room at The Peabody. The first show the pair watched was Howdy Doody.

April 5

25 years ago: 1991

Former Washington Mayor Marion Barry Thursday threw his weight behind efforts to elect a black mayor in Memphis. Barry, who grew up in Memphis, said he won't play the role of kingmaker, but will be active in campaigning. Barry, 55, was in town to commemorate the 23rd anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination. The visit was Barry's first to his old hometown since he was convicted last fall of cocaine possession and subsequently gave up the mayor's office in Washington.

50 years ago: 1966

"I've watched all the shots on television and I've wished it could be me, but I never thought I was that close to getting in." Lt. John Sumter Bull, 31-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles M. Bull of 1778 York, came down to Earth just long enough to express his feelings at being selected one of America's 19 new astronauts. Their selection was announced yesterday by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Lieutenant Bull, a Navy test pilot stationed at Patuxent River, Md., applied for the space program last fall. "I certainly would like to be the first man on the moon. That's the big one," he said.

75 years ago: 1941

Shep Fields and his orchestra, nationally famous dance band, will play for the Cotton Carnival Grand Ball to be held this year at Ellis Auditorium on the last night of the Carnival, May 17.

100 years ago: 1916

Dabney H. Crump, commissioner of accounts, finance and revenue, yesterday tendered his resignation to the board of city commissioners. Mayor Ashcroft said that Mr. Crump's resignation meant a big loss to the city.

125 years ago: 1891

An interesting meeting of teachers was held in the office of Miss Nellie O'Donnell, county superintendent, yesterday. Papers were read by Miss Richardson on "Geography" and Prof. Jones on "Arithmetic."
April 4, 2016- Rev. Jesse Jackson spoke to The Commercial Appeal's editorial board Monday. (Mark Russell/The Commercial Appeal)

SHARE April 3, 2016 - Rev. Jesse Jackson speaks about Rev. Samuel Billy Kyles during a program that honored the legacy of the former Monumental Baptist Church pastor and civil rights leader. (Mike Brown/The Commercial Appeal)

By Tom Charlier of The Commercial Appeal

In remarks Monday to The Commercial Appeals editorial board, the Rev. Jesse Jackson said the social and economic progress ushered in by the nameless, faceless marchers of the Memphis sanitation workers strike in 1968 is under assault across the South by opponents of health care reform and similar programs for the poor.

King is in town for activities surrounding April 4, the date that King was killed at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis in 1968.

The irony is there is an undercurrent of backlash, inexplicably, against the New South progress, Jackson said.

The marchers and other activists, he said, pulled the walls down, bringing an end to legal segregation and unfair practices and making possible the industrial shift to the South and the economic expansion of the region in recent decades.

You couldnt have FedEx in Memphis, CNN in Atlanta without that social progress, Jackson said.

There was a low cloud over the South because of these historic relationships.

But today, he said, Southern governors and legislators are following a Confederate ideology in rejecting billions of dollars from Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

Jackson also criticized campaign remarks by Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump, who has called for both the curtailing of the immigration of Muslims into the U.S. and the construction of a massive wall along the Mexican border.

Jesus was a refugee, Jackson said. The apparent preference of many Christians, he added, is to worship a refugee on Sunday and shut em out on Monday.
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Don Meyers

Cordova

The writer of the April 4 letter Pocket protector seems to assume that everyone who carries a gun will be able to take on a bad guy who is there to shoot to kill. All of us liberals do not want everyone to be disarmed, as he mistakenly writes.

What most of us liberals want is to make sure that if there is a licensed and trained shooter in a church, school or theater, he or she knows how to handle that weapon and protect folks who are endangered.

There are many so-called carry experts who do not know how to handle a weapon regardless of their eight-hour class and license. As a former military cop and one who does carry, Im amazed at the number of folks who do not practice gun safety.

We liberals strive for more gun safety in the home and on the range as well, and we want stronger background checks and more control in who actually owns a gun and how that weapon is obtained.

I read recently that there is now an advancing bill that will let churches in Mississippi form a protection committee of armed individuals who do not even need a permit to carry; this is pure insanity.
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By Francis Wilkinson

For Republicans to break the Democrats' hold on the White House, hard-line conservatives may have to loosen their grip on red states. That's a corollary to an argument put forth by political scientist Thomas Schaller in his 2015 book, "The Stronghold."

Schaller's thesis is that Republican success in deeply conservative, overwhelmingly white congressional districts is preventing the party from altering its ideological and demographic course to make it possible to win presidential campaigns. Instead of remaking itself to appeal to a more diverse and moderate national majority, the GOP's "rising congressional fortunes have led the party quite rationally down a path that has made retrenchment more attractive and recovery less so," Schaller wrote.

In effect, it's hard to convince hard-core conservatives who keep winning elections that their party is a mess. And through a sustained campaign of massive resistance to President Barack Obama and the federal government, conservatives keep on winning at the state and local level.

Depending on how you measure it, Democrats in Congress, governors' offices and state legislatures have lost either a lot of seats or a ton of seats to Republicans since Obama moved into the White House. In the House of Representatives, Republicans have a commanding lead of 246 seats to 188 for Democrats (with one vacancy). Republican governors preside over 31 states, while Democrats run only 18. Just seven states are under unified Democratic control of the governor's office and legislature. For Republicans, the corresponding number is 22.

Republican success in red states, however, carries a price not unlike the party's success in conservative House districts. Republican governors, such as South Carolina's Nikki Haley and Nevada's Brian Sandoval, are more diverse than their comrades in Washington. But many governors and state legislators continue to appeal to an increasingly narrow slice of the electorate. Republicans' older white core voters dominate in both red districts and states. But nationally, they're declining as a percentage of the electorate.

The Democrats' base of racial minorities, immigrants, young people and unmarried women is growing. There is no long-term scenario in which Republicans can compete nationally without improving their vote share among the growing parts of the electorate.

So let's see how Republicans in red states are addressing these deficits.

Texas Republicans have spearheaded the legal challenge to Obama's executive actions that would ease the threat of deportation and increase work opportunities for millions of undocumented immigrants. The lawsuit is joined by two dozen other red states.

The lawsuit echoes and reinforces the position of House Republicans, who voted to make even Dreamers, undocumented immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as children, ineligible for any path to legalization or citizenship. When the GOP fiasco of 2016 is over, Republicans will no doubt seek to explain that the hostility to immigrants voiced by Donald Trump and Ted Cruz doesn't reflect the party as a whole. Their argument is unlikely to be persuasive, especially among immigrants, young people and millions of Asians and Hispanics.

Fresh off their unsuccessful efforts to deny gays and lesbians the right to marry, conservative states are now engaged in symbolic attacks on transgender rights. North Carolina just passed a law prohibiting transgender people from using public bathrooms that do not match the sexes on their birth certificates. (An interesting enforcement quandary, wouldn't you say?) The law, which was passed with minimal debate, may inadvertently invalidate civil rights protections for other groups, as well.

North Carolina's Republican governor, Pat McCrory, complained that the law had provoked a "vicious, nationwide smear campaign" against his state, which tells you what a resounding political success it has been. But McCrory and his Republican colleagues have one thing going for them: Americans over 65 are solidly opposed to letting transgender people use the bathroom of their choice. Perhaps Republicans can enlist those grandparents to persuade their grandchildren, who will be voting for decades to come, to change their majority support for the opposite position.

While public support for LGBT rights is sharply on the rise, the issue of abortion is never clear cut. The American electorate has maintained a muddled approach for years, mostly supporting abortion rights but with restrictions. However, the efforts by Republican states, including Mississippi and Texas, to regulate abortion out of existence, may not be a boon to Republican efforts to recruit more unmarried women  or any others  into their party.

The Guttmacher Institute reports that more than one quarter of state abortion restrictions enacted since Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973 have taken effect in the past five years. Perhaps not coincidentally, the number of Americans who self-identify as "pro-choice" has risen over the same period.

Of course, if you're losing traction with just about every growing part of the electorate, you might conclude that making it harder to vote is a really good idea. But Republican states have already done that, further alienating minority voters while doing nothing to change the party's strategic dilemma.

In fact, Republican options are roughly the same today as they were when Obama was first elected in 2008: They can change or retreat. Time and again, they've chosen the latter. "There is little centrist Republican apparatus to counterbalance the party's powerful conservative infrastructure," Schaller wrote. Paradoxically, Republican victories in red states, like their victories in conservative congressional districts, only encourage the adoption of policies that make them less able to compete for the White House.

Francis Wilkinson writes on politics and domestic policy for Bloomberg View.
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By Leonid Bershidsky

Recent reports by two consortia of investigative journalists purport to have exposed the dealings and offshore accounts of some of Russian President Vladimir Putin's closest associates. They don't name him as a beneficiary of any account, suggesting Putin is as poor as a church mouse  or would be if he ever lost power.

The investigations were published by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, respectively. The first names St. Petersburg businessman Grigory Bayevskiy as someone who provided valuable real estate to, among others, Katerina Tikhonova, reportedly Putin's daughter. The Kremlin has neither confirmed nor denied that connection when asked about the reports.

The second, potentially more damaging investigation is based on the Panama Papers, a gigantic leak of data belonging to Mossack Fonseca, a Panama law firm that assists clients in setting up offshore companies  all legally, according to a statement by the law firm. The report names Sergei Roldugin, a St. Petersburg musician and godfather of one of Putin's daughters, as the beneficiary of shell companies that were involved in complex transactions with entities the journalists linked to a number of businessmen also associated with Putin.

The ICIJ report talks of a "Putin network" of companies set up by the managers of Bank Rossiya, a financial institution owned by several long-time Putin associates. The U.S. placed the bank under sanctions following the Russian aggression against Ukraine. Putin responded by opening a personal account with the bank. Transactions carried out by the shell companies Bank Rossiya allegedly created feature easy-term loans from the Cyprus subsidiary of the Russian government-owned bank, VTB. Hundreds of millions of dollars were then allegedly re-loaned to other companies in the "Putin network." According to the ICIJ investigation, the loans were typically unsecured and the paperwork indicated that repayment might not be expected. All of this activity may well have been legal, too.

VTB Chief Executive Andrey Kostin denied his bank had made unsecured loans in a Bloomberg Television interview Monday.

Perhaps the most striking fact about these revelations, though, is that there is no sign of Putin or his family members among the beneficiaries of the businesses involved. Indeed, Kostin dismissed any suggestion of a connection to Putin as "bulls**t." The ICIJ report said:

"Audio recordings and witness accounts show that even when Putin's closest confidants privately discuss his financial dealings, they use pseudonyms for him or simply gesture to the heavens rather than utter his name."

I am not aware of any recordings or credible witness accounts of Putin confidants discussing his personal financial dealings. Even if such testimony existed, no man can be indicted on the basis of his friends' gestures or use of affectionate nicknames.

Having access to an offshore incorporator's internal files and emails allows journalists the rarest of opportunities  to track the entire beneficiary chain of some of the most secretive firms in the world, often set up for the very purpose of concealing the beneficiaries' identities. The Panama document dump also purports to show that in 2014, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko set up a British Virgin Islands company to hold his confectionery assets in his own name. It suggests Icelandic Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson and his family had a direct interest in the winding down of the big Icelandic banks that went bust during the global financial crisis.

There is nothing comparable to say about Putin the individual. Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, born in Leningrad on Oct. 7, 1952, doesn't appear on any incorporation papers. He doesn't own or control any of the assets involved.

Putin the institution, however, is a tangible presence. Bank Rossiya shareholders, big government contract winners such as Putin's former judo sparring partner Arkady Rotenberg, lesser-known St. Petersburg businessmen who knew Putin when he was a city official in the 1990s or a KGB officer in earlier decades  all of these people made their fortunes under the Putin regime. There's nothing surprising about their access to cheap state bank funds, or about the "consulting" and "lobbying" contracts they received from less connected businesses. In a dictatorial regime, the dictator's cronies make money; their network is the fabric of power.

Is this an arrangement that should anger Russian citizens? Of course it is. That Putin's cronies are a predatory, parasitical, privileged class of businessmen was known long before the Panama dump. The Kremlin refused to respond to the investigative groups' questions on the grounds that these questions have been asked "more than once in different variations," and that's true. What has always been missing is the final link to Putin the man. And, given the nature of the data used in the ICIJ investigation, perhaps it's time to admit that no such link exists. Putin doesn't own yachts or palaces; he has no $200 billion fortune, as sometimes speculated. He is not "secretly the world's richest man." However, as the former KGB case officer that he is, Putin does surround himself with a network of people who have indeed become rich.

Because he is the president, these people count on their association with Putin to help them make money. Because they count on their association with him, he  as someone who can take away both the opportunities and the assets  has the ability to call on the proceeds should he need them. The OCCRP investigation into Bayevskiy's real estate deals shows how that may work.

This approach is different from, but reminiscent of the scheme once run by Boris Berezovsky, the billionaire who claimed to have helped make Putin president in 2000. Berezovsky, who apparently killed himself in the U.K. in 2013, pioneered a business scheme under which an asset remains under government control, but its managers are "privatized"  corrupted, in more conventional terms. They then milk the state company in the interests of their "buyer."

Putin is not stealing Russia's vast wealth; he's handing some of it over to trusted individuals to manage. In the process, they are very likely to profit from that wealth. He maintains good relationships with these people. He also controls the business environment so tightly that they can't risk betraying him. He can also have his network do whatever he might require extra-budgetary funds to do (the $50 billion Sochi Winter Olympics springs to mind).

If Putin is ever overthrown, he will be as difficult to convict on charges of corruption as former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and his associates have been. After all, they had only imitated what Putin was doing in Russia. Putin, however, has no obvious contingency plan in case he's overthrown. The financial arrangements described by the ICIJ on the basis of the Panama files would leave him with nothing if he ceased to be Putin the institution, as well as the man.

This system, which rests on Putin's ability to control a network of friends and associates, does not allow for any upheavals. He is gambling his future wellbeing on his ability to maintain a firm grip on power. If that seems foolhardy for one of the world's shrewdest politicians, it may not be. Yanukovych fled to Russia after Ukrainians ousted him in 2014. Putin would have nowhere to go if removed, even if he had amassed wealth in his own name. Too many in the West would gleefully hunt him down. He has no option but to remain at the center of the web he has created, its hostage as much as its controller.

Leonid Bershidsky, a Bloomberg View contributor, is a Berlin-based writer.
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By Noah Feldman

In a victory for both noncitizens and common sense alike, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected the argument that state election districts must be drawn equally based on eligible voters rather than population. The court's decision staves off a xenophobic push to discount noncitizens, which is a good thing. But almost equally noteworthy was an opinion by Justice Samuel Alito, who was joined by Justice Clarence Thomas in saying that states could use eligible voters to redraw their districts if they wish.

Begin with the background: All states currently use population, not eligible voters, when drawing their legislative districts. When it comes to congressional districts, the Constitution expressly requires the use of consensus population, not voters. And the Senate has no districts at all, a reflection of the famous compromise at the Constitutional Convention held in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787.

The Constitution is silent on how states should do their districting. But in 1964, in the landmark case of Reynolds v. Sims, the court adopted the "one person, one vote" principle and applied it to state legislative districts. Henceforth, all state legislative districts had to be made equal. A state, therefore, cannot design its own Senate in the way that the U.S. Senate is designed, ignoring population. Put another way, if it weren't for the framers' compromise being written in stone, the design of the Senate would be unconstitutional under the logic of one person, one vote.

Somehow, the court has never managed to say with total clarity that the "person" in the "one person, one vote" formula was anyone living in a district, not just its eligible voters. Monday's case arose from a clever effort by two Texans, supported by advocacy groups, to exploit that failure. They maintained, based on scattered phrases in a number of court opinions, that what's required is actually equalization using eligible voters. The result they desired would have reduced representation in districts that have lots of recent immigrants in them. The political cast of this effort is hard to miss given our current anti-immigrant political atmosphere.

In an opinion for six justices, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg denied the plaintiffs' claim. Technically, the court only needed to say that states aren't under any obligation to use voter numbers rather than population to set districts. It didn't need to say that the current norm of using population is the only permissible constitutional formula under the Reynolds precedent.

Yet Ginsburg, at the prompting of the solicitor general in the government's brief, did what she could to suggest that using population wasn't just permissible, but required. Section 2 of the 14th Amendment says that "Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State." Ginsburg quoted Sen. Jacob Howard of Michigan, an important radical Republican during Reconstruction, explaining the meaning of this provision from the floor of the Senate: "Numbers, not voters; numbers, not property; this is the theory of the Constitution."

She then said that the plaintiffs were seeking "a rule inconsistent with this 'theory of the Constitution.'" That's about as close as the court could come to saying that total population, not voters, is the only legitimate constitutional rule.

Alito wasn't having it. He wrote a separate concurrence saying that although states should be permitted to use population to draw districts, they should also be allowed to use the total number of eligible voters.

Alito pointed out, correctly, that the two options rest on different conceptions of political representation. If total population is used, then elected representatives stand for the entire people, not just those citizens who are entitled to vote for them. If voters are used, then the idea is that representatives only stand in for potential voters  not even citizens who are ineligible to vote simply because they're still too young.

Alito concluded that the Constitution doesn't require choosing between these two theories of representation. In essence, he disputed Ginsburg's adoption of Howard's statement as constitutional doctrine.

Alito only garnered Thomas' vote and his own for this opinion. But it's significant nonetheless, because it remains technically possible that a state might actually rely on it to change its apportionment rules, claiming in a process that the majority opinion doesn't exclude the possibility.

Thomas, for his part, went even further. In a separate concurrence entirely his own, he wrote that the Reynolds principle of "one person, one vote" isn't required by the Constitution at all. Thomas spent a good deal of time analyzing statements made by James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, emphasizing that the original framers favored both majoritarianism as well as some counter-majoritarian features, such as the Senate.

The trouble with emphasizing 1787 is that the "one person, one vote" principle comes from the 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868  not from the original Constitution. Thomas insisted that the Reconstruction amendments didn't change "the original understanding of republican government." That is arguable as a historical matter. But it's definitely wrong if you consider the way those amendments have subsequently been interpreted.

The useful feature of Thomas's opinion is that it demonstrates how indefensible originalism can be in practice. "One person, one vote" has become a fundamental constitutional principle, one of our most important. Even if it somehow wasn't required by the 14th Amendment in 1868, it is now. The Constitution has grown to incorporate it. Unintentionally, Thomas is reminding us that the only alternative to a living Constitution is a dead one.

Noah Feldman, a Bloomberg View columnist, is a professor of constitutional and international law at Harvard.
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News this morning that Persado has closed a $30 million Series C funding round. Usually I'm not overly interested in funding news, but when the communication that announces the round is so jam-packed with buzzwords, and the very raison d'etre of the business is to bring an end to something that separates us from the apes, my interest gets piqued and I have to comment.

So what is Persado? The company offers a "cognitive content platform." If that wasn't heady enough, apparently Persado "generates language that inspires action." I think it's safe to say that self-confidence is something that this business, or at least its marketing department, doesn't have any real problem with.

Apparently Persado is resolving a very real problem, the "random process behind traditional message creation." Apparently all of these organizations are just dying for some Persado-generated smart content to really "maximize the efficacy of communication with any audience at scale." And if that wasn't enough -- the promise of being able to deliver prose that is laser-guided to appeal to the intended audience -- Persado also promises to deliver unique insight into the specific triggers that drive action.

One paragraph in and already I'm weeping at what humanity has come to. It's like Shakespeare, Byron and Wordsworth never existed or, if they did, they would have been far better off just investing in a monthly license to Persado's platform and kicking back with their buddies while the platform delivered far better results than they ever could.

It also humored me that the first "leading brand" that Persado gives as an example of seeing success with its platform is American Express. I recently took up an offer from AmEx of a platinum card and I have frequently bemoaned, both publicly and to AmEx directly, just how bad the company's communications are -- contrasting AmEx's comms with that of its competitors feels like the difference between Morse code and live-streaming video.

But I digress. Despite the apparent utter failure of AmEx to use Persado to deliver content that is actually in any way readable, the financial services company, along with other Persado customers such as Citi, MetLife, Microsoft, Neiman Marcus, Staples and Verizon Wireless, have apparently realized $1 billion in incremental revenue and an average uplift of 49.5% in conversions across marketing campaigns through using the product.

So what does Persado do that is so incredibly valuable? In some more marketing department-generated hyperbole, Persado says that it "fuses language with data to transform people into the most effective communicators." In other words, Persado analyzes the effect of written content to deliver the words most likely to "motivate" an audience. Or in other words, the best way to ensure the punters will buy Persado's customers' products.

The company, which has reportedly delivered over 4,000 marketing campaigns for its customers to date, has picked up $30 million in funding led by Goldman Sachs, with contributions from previous investors Bain Capital Ventures, StarVest Partners, American Express Ventures and Citi Ventures.

Persado, which employs 200 across seven global offices, hasn't got this commentator convinced, but seems to have some serious investor buy-in:

"Persado has developed cognitive content generation technology that optimizes the way organizations use language to motivate action. As a result, Persado's customers have considerably more engaged relationships with their audiences across marketing channels, resulting in significantly greater revenue-generating activity," said Mark Midle of Goldman Sachs' Merchant Banking Division, who has joined Persado's board of directors. "We are excited to partner with [CEO and co-founder] Alex [Vratskides] and the entire team as we work together to capitalize on this global opportunity."

Color me skeptical, and color me sad. Persado is a sad indictment of where the world has moved. Shakespeare is certainly spinning in his grave.
Nobody likes to be embarrassed. That goes for company executives. This fact of human nature helps explain why the breach-disclosure laws that have been adopted by many states can be leveraged by data thieves for even more profit than they could realize before.

Companies have always been reluctant to admit to data breaches. A lot of that reluctance can be attributed to simple embarrassment: Weve been telling our customers that our security would keep their sensitive data safe, even when we knew that no security system is perfect.

This is true even for companies that you wouldnt think were capable of being embarrassed. After all, companies whose business has been facilitating extramarital affairs and offering porn on demand have been breached. They undoubtedly would have welcomed the resulting publicity, except that the circumstances made it clear to their customers that their names were in danger of being made public.

That reluctance to go public has led many jurisdictions to require companies to report data breaches. One problem with such laws is that they do not overcome the embarrassment that goes with public acknowledgment of a security failing. And so companies split hairs and come up with ways to rationalize not reporting breaches..

That, in turn, is giving the bad guys a new opening.

When a companys executives decide to hide a breach, their action can morph from unsavory to illegal. But that decision can leave them vulnerable to the attackers behind the breach in the first place, who know that the company has not done what the law requires and can now threaten it with disclosure.

That is also a two-stage threat. An attacker breaking into your network and then bragging ab out it is embarrassing. But if the attacker breaks in and waits to see if you report itand if you run out the clock and opt to not report it, the attackers disclosure could expose you and your colleagues to civil penalties. In short, it makes a bad situation far worse.

Who in the world would take such a risk? Quite a few people. When your job is to prevent break-ins and one happens anyway, its pretty easy to rationalize a cover-up.

The risks that such decisions give rise to were made dramatically clear on Thursday (March 31) when Reuters noted a new global crime trend of cyberthieves partnering with traditional organized crime syndicates to attack banks across the world. If the banks are hesitant to reveal that they were successfully attacked. Without disclosure, law enforcement is not informed.

, its a win-win-win for the bad guys: They get to keep the money and sell the data, and they dont have to worry about evading law enforcement. And if theyre especially greedy, they can also extort more money from the bank in exchange for a promise to keep quiet. Put another way, the bank can get victimized in four ways via one breach. Even worse, unlike the typical cyberthief, these gangsters dont mind getting physical in their threats. Cyberthieves are bad, but they rarely get into the kneecap-smashing end of things. With this arrangement, they now have partners who will.

Hundreds of millions of dollars, and perhaps much more, have been stolen from banks and financial services companies in recent years because of this alliance of traditional and digital criminals, with many victims not reporting the thefts for fear of reputational damage, the Reuters story said. Typically, security and cyber-crime experts say, hackers break into the computer systems of financial institutions and make, or incite others to make, fraudulent transactions to pliant accounts. Organised crime then uses techniques developed over decades to launder the money, giving the alliance much higher rewards than a hold-up or bank vault robbery, with much less risk.

But lets ponder a bit more about why companies would allow themselves to be placed in such a situation. One factor is that, even in the U.S. states that mandate disclosure, the laws offer a healthy amount of wiggle room. First, companies can be exempted from the requirement if law enforcement is willing to sign off on the need for secrecy during a post-breach probe. All too often, law enforcement is happy to do that. Moreover, the laws often are applicable only if the breach is a direct threat to consumer privacy. That becomes a judgment call  one that is made by people who have a very strong incentive to conclude that the breach is not a direct threat to privacy.

Because the decision to report a breach is not black and white, its easy to see why companies can end up saying, All right, lets not embarrass ourselves needlessly. Think about it. Most Fortune 100 companies see a huge number of penetration attempts every day, and some of those attempts will get further than others. At what point do they cross the line into a breach? Lacking evidence that any data was accessed, most companies are going to decide that no breach that has to be reported occurred. But does lack of evidence of success equal evidence of an attacks failure? Of course not.

Consider a company thats been subjected to a distributed denial-of-service attack. Theoretically, a DDoS attack does not translate into data being stolen, so its easy for the fear of embarrassment to lead to a (highly justified) decision not to disclose. Besides, the parties rationalize, theres probably not a lot that law enforcement can do that our own people cant, so lets just hire a confidential forensic security team and call it a day.

Ah, but what if the DDoS attack is only a diversion so that your security people will be intently focused on fighting to keep the site up, leaving no one to notice that files are being accessed at the same time? By the time the DDoS is halted, all logs and evidence of the real attack will have been deleted or altered. No beach detected, no breach reported. End of story? Yes  until the attackers contact the company with a blackmail demand.

My point is that data breaches and breach-disclosure laws are realities that affect each other and that companies need to think about carefully. They must work out precise and explicit guidelines long before they are in the thick of a real incident. To decide things on the fly, based on the particulars of each situation, is a recipe for inconsistency. You are letting the people who are in charge of preventing attacks decide when they have to tell the world about an attack  and the potential for embarrassment will influence their decisions, because they will be sure that the world is going to decide that they failed to do their job.

Look, keeping quiet out of a sense of shame can cost you a lot more than you realize  and everything will probably be disclosed in the end anyway.

This story, "Dont let embarrassment about a data breach cost you even more" was originally published by Computerworld .
Underwriters Laboratories (UL) today announced a new Cybersecurity Assurance Program (CAP) that uses a new set of standards to test network-connected products for software vulnerabilities.

The new UL certification will be for both vendors of Internet of Things (IoT) products and for buyers of products who want to mitigate risks.

The testing standards were developed as part of a voluntary program involving industry officials as well as academics and the U.S. government.

President Obama's broad Cybersecurity National Action Plan, released in February, details a long-term strategy to improve cybersecurity awareness and protections. Obama's plan specifically notes that UL worked with the Department of Homeland Security to develop CAP to test and certify networked devices "whether they be refrigerators or medical infusion pumps, so that when you buy a new product, you can be sure it has been certified to meet security standards."

UL also noted that CAP will also be used to test and certify IoT devices within critical infrastructures such as energy and utilities, as well as healthcare.

UL CAP will evaluate both the security of network-connectable product and sytems as well as the processes used by vendors for developing and maintaining the security of products and systems.

Ken Modeste, leader of cybersecurity technical services at UL, said in an interview that the CAP standards have been tested in pilot programs with several vendors since last September to "make sure we have repeatable, reproducible criteria" for quality assurance.

"The challenge of solving cybersecurity is a long game and there's no silver bullet for it," Modeste said.

He said part of the value of CAP will be to help software and equipment makers include all the many patches and updates from third parties and open-source providers that are used in an application or software product used with a device.

One cause of security breaches is that patches don't always migrate to finished products, he added. The list of software elements used in finished products "hasn't advanced as much as it has with hardware, where you know where it is sourced and comes from and you can identify when a source has a flaw in it."

UL's CAP will rely on a publicly-available government vulnerability database kept by the National Institutes of Standards and Technology that tracks and enumerates product vulnerability worldwide and is updated daily. It has a multitude of product lists, including desktop and mobile platforms. It also lists flaws and patches and identifies which version of software has a patch to address a specific security flaw.

Using the NIST database will make the UL CAP program economically feasible to run, Modeste said.

Pricing for the UL testing is still being developed, but will vary depending on whether a product is a thermostat or an MRI machine, he added.

"It will be economically reasonable," he said. "The point is for the software vendor to go to the purchaser and say, 'I've done this due diligence from this trusted party.'"

UL, an independent company, has been providing safety-focused advice, including testing and certifications, in the sciences for more than 120 years; it has 67,000 clients.
Wilcox Industries of Portsmouth was awarded a $151.8 million federal contract set aside for small business by the U.S. Army Contracting Command, Picatinny Arsenal, N.J., for a grenadier sighting system for the M320/M320A1 grenade launcher.

Irving Oil Terminals Inc. of Portsmouth was awarded a $22,687,064 federal contract by the Defense Logistics Agency for various types of fuel. The place of performance will be in Alabama, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wyoming.





Daves Septic Service Inc. of Manchester won a $97,904 federal contract set aside for small business from the U.S. Army Contracting Command for portable toilet services at the firing ranges at the U.S. Army Garrison-Fort Devens, Mass.

Kollsman Inc. of Merrimack won a $90,362.40 federal contract from the Defense Logistics Agency, Columbus, Ohio, for telescope sub-assemblies.

IJC Corp. of Windham won a $78,990 federal contract set aside for service-disabled veteran-owned small business from the U.S. Department of the Interiors National Park Service for the removal, disposal, supply and installation of heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems at the Old Federal Building in Seattle.

Transupport Inc. of Merrimack won a $66,363 federal contract from the Defense Logistics Agency, Richmond, Va., for sleeve and plug assemblies.

Transupport Inc. of Merrimack won a $37,810 federal contract from the Defense Logistics Agency, Richmond, Va., for drive spindles.

L-3 Communications Corp. of Londonderry won a $34,430 federal contract from the Defense Logistics Agency, Richmond, Va., for optical element retaining rings.

Targeted News Service
Injustice prevails where hopelessness lives

Just Mercy author Bryan Stevenson inspires activism with One Book One Region lecture

Bryan Stevenson chats with students as he signs copies of his book, "Just Mercy."

You are never too young, too old or too poor to change the world.

That was the message author Bryan Stevenson had for hundreds of students, staff, faculty and members of the greater New London community who gathered on the Connecticut College campus to hear him speak April 4.

Stevenson is an award-winning attorney and the founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, which provides legal representation to condemned prisoners, juvenile defenders, the wrongly convicted and others who have been denied fair and just treatment by the legal system. Together with his staff, he has won cases, including some argued before the Supreme Court, for 115 wrongly condemned prisoners on death row.

We have a criminal justice system in this country that treats you better if you are rich and guilty than if you are poor and innocent, said Stevenson, who takes readers with him into violent prisons and corrupt courtrooms in his The New York Times bestselling memoir, Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption.

Yet Im persuaded that when good people come together and do some very basicyet very criticalthings, we can change the world.

The first step to creating meaningful change, Stevenson said, is to get up close and personal with the problems in our society. He told the audience that instead of avoiding the bad parts of town, they should get closer to the parts of the community where there is suffering and abuse.

Solutions are rooted in understanding, he said. When you get proximate, you find power.

Thousands of people in the greater New London region read Just Mercy as part of the One Book One Region of Eastern Connecticut initiative. Stevensons talk was the culminating event for the program, which included dozens of book discussions, lectures and exhibits all across eastern Connecticut. It was also the inaugural lecture in President Katherine Bergerons Distinguished Lecture Series.

First-year student Anne Lamarre, a native of Canada, read Just Mercy as part of her Foundations of Education class. She said Stevensons remarkable storytelling made the realities of inequality and social injustice accessible to her in a way they never were before.

Stevensons first-person account of being targeted by police for listening to music in a parked car was particularly eye opening.

I never really understood racial difference before I read that, she said.

Sandy Grande, a professor of education and director of the Colleges Center for the Comparative Study of Race and Ethnicity, taught Just Mercy in three of her classes. She said students were riveted by Stevensons work and that most of them simply had no idea about the vast disparities in the legal and justice system.

They learn about justice and democracy, and I think they only hear part of the story. They get really incensed when they find out about the inequities in our system, she said.

Prior to his talk, Stevenson met with several dozen students, faculty and staff. Jermaine Doris 19 was almost giddy with excitement as he waited to shake Stevensons hand.

Hes an intellectual, but he puts what we are theorizing about in classes into effective practice, Doris said. Im only a freshman, and yet Im getting this amazing opportunity to meet the author of this book Ive been discussing in my classes.

President Bergeron praised Stevensons astounding legal record and unwavering commitment to the poor, the incarcerated and the condemned. During the event, she presented him with what she deemed one of the most honorable honorary degrees Connecticut College has ever awarded, a Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa.

Throughout the evening, Stevenson advocated for activism with gripping personal stories. He shared sobering statistics and shocking anecdotes, yet implored audience members to remain hopeful in spite of the daunting challenges.

Injustice prevails where hopelessness lives, he said. Hopethat is what will get you to stand up when other people say sit down.

April 5, 2016
Chris Grayling is Leader of the House of Commons, and MP for Epsom and Ewell.

Imagine that a new political party has emerged in the UK. Its activists are accused of anti-Semitic behaviour. On the doorsteps, it is said to have launched anti-Semitic attacks against Jewish candidates from other parties. The Party holds meetings at which men and women are segregated. It sets up a compliance unit to vet new applicants for membership, and then admits people who have urged ISIS to attack Israel, who say that the 9/11 suicide bombers should never be condemned, and who say that Remembrance events are like murderers holding special funerals for their victims. How should we describe such a Party?

Easy. The Labour Party.

The rapid march of the Labour Party towards the kind of extremism that should have no place in a modern society is alarming. Hardly a day seems to go by without another story emerging of extremist views being allowed in Labour, or of an individual with no place in a modern political party being granted membership nonetheless.

In recent days, a Labour Party member has accused Israel of being behind the Brussels bombing. An aide to Sadiq Khan, the Labour mayoral candidate in London, was revealed to have glorified rape and homophobia on social media. Another was exposed as having defended the 2011 student riots and attacks on shops and public buildings.

The apparent rise of anti-Semitism in the Labour Party is striking and alarming. Senior figures have spoken out in alarm about what is going on. Lord Levy, Tony Blairs former fundraiser, has threatened to quit the Party unless it is stamped out. Chris Bryant, the Shadow Leader of the House, took to the newspapers to warn that there is no room for anti-Semitic views in the Labour Party. Even John McDonnell, the Shadow Chancellor, has called for people who express such views to be expelled from the Party.

That in particular is ironic, since it is McDonnell as much as anyone who has fostered the revolution that is taking place in Labour, with the creation of the Militant Tendency-style Momentum movement, and the bringing together in Labour of many of the most extreme groups in British left-wing politics.

Its clear that the problem is now a serious one for our politics generally. These are not fringe figures. Last week the Labour former Lord Mayor of Bradford was found to have shared anti-Semitic tweets and the Labour Party in Kensington was embroiled in a row over whether it had readmitted a Labour Councillor who had suggested that Israel might be behind 9/11. A member of Labours National Executive suggested that Jeremy Corbyn should sit down and have a cup of tea with ISIS terrorists.

Furthermore, the Momentum movement in Labour, which is the focal point for the new revolutionary fervour sweeping the Party, has clear ambitions to purge Labour and install its own people instead of moderate MPs. Amongst many others, in Streatham Chuka Umunna is facing deselection from militant activists, one of whom accused him of not being politically black.

Weve seen some of this before in Britain. Back in the 1980s, when the Militant Tendency was trying to take over Labour, the left-wing newspaper Labour Herald, co-edited by Ken Livingstone, ran an article praising the achievements of North Korea  at a time when vast numbers of people were being killed in purges.

But Militant never succeeded in taking over Labour. Neil Kinnock saw it off.

Today, things look very different. The so-called kinder, gentler politics that the new Labour leadership claim to espouse masks an undercurrent of racism and bigotry  and a new movement which supports political progress through civil disorder and has no place in 21st Century Britain. And they are determined to succeed where Militant failed before. Labour MPs mostly know this is all wrong.

But their inaction makes them accessories to the crime. These people must never be allowed anywhere near Government.
Nick Timothy is Director of the New Schools Network and a former Chief of Staff to Theresa May.

It is a bad habit of mine to shout at politicians being interviewed on the radio in the mornings, but last Tuesday  the day Tata Steel was due to decide the future of the Port Talbot steel plant  I read a column that enraged me. In his Financial Times column, Janan Ganesh argued that the people who lose out from globalisation, those who are forced out of work or find their wages undercut, should simply be ignored by the Government. Rich democracies may have to live with a caucus of permanently aggrieved voters amounting to a quarter or a third of the whole, he argued. A seething minority is still a minority.

Writing off a third of our entire population might seem extreme, but it is typical of the political and media classes who know little of life beyond the Circle Line, the Underground route that marks the boundaries of Londons wealthy centre. These elitists propound a philosophy of international liberalism that benefits the wealthy but often undermines the prosperity of many of their fellow citizens. They can be found in each of the major political parties, the top ranks of the civil service and, of course, in the comment pages of the Financial Times. Their agenda is often unpopular with the public, who feel increasingly insecure and resent the loss of control over their lives. But they do not care very much about popular support for their policies: the thing that distinguishes Ganesh from his fellow elitists is his honesty that the working classes  for that is what he means  should be ignored.

Their argument is simple: the world is getting smaller, people and capital are becoming more mobile, and trade is increasingly international. We can either throw ourselves head-first into this naturally-occurring process of globalisation, or we can wither and die. And put like that, their case sounds convincing. But the thing about unchallenged false dichotomies is while they might sound plausible, they are in the end still false. There are many ways for governments to encourage greater international trade and investment, but they do not have to be in the manner that the likes of Ganesh propose. We can, for example, have international trade without unsustainable levels of immigration, we can do business around the world without putting ourselves at the mercy of the Chinese state, and there is nothing stopping us taking a more long-term and strategic approach to economic and industrial policy. In other words, globalisation is a good thing, but we still have the freedom to pursue policies that give us more control and more security: it is just that the liberal political and media classes oppose them.

Immigration is a prime example. As the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee concluded, there is no evidence for the argument, made by the [then Labour] Government, business and many others, that net immigration generates significant economic benefits for the existing UK population. The OECD says the [fiscal] impact of the cumulative waves of migration that arrived over the past fifty years in OECD countries is on average close to zero. The Bank of England found that immigration can reduce average British wages. And the independent Migration Advisory Committee says that high immigration can force British workers out of the labour market.

These facts are well known. Yet, against the wishes of the public, those who govern us continue to champion high immigration to Britain. A good example of their approach is an article in The Times written by Lord ODonnell, the former Cabinet Secretary, and Jonathan Portes, the former chief economist at the Cabinet Office, after they left government. Immigration does not have much negative impact on jobs or wages they argued, and it is good because it forces natives to acquire new skills. The alternative for the natives  being forced into lower-paid jobs or thrown prematurely onto the scrapheap  was clear enough, but left unsaid. Titled Immigration is like trade: it makes us rich, the articles headline was true in a sense other than ODonnell and Portes probably intended: immigration might make people like them richer, but it does so at the expense of people in working-class jobs.

High immigration is not an inevitable consequence of globalisation, it is the consequence of policy decisions taken by government. And so too is the way in which international trade is governed. We do not have to accept dumping by the Chinese steel industry, in which state subsidies finance over-capacity and lead to prices lower than the real cost of production. And we do not have to accept the new 46 per cent Chinese tariffs on high-tech steel imports. The EU could impose retaliatory tariffs on Chinese steel products, as the United States has done and other member states would like to do, but it is the policy of the British Government to oppose these measures. This might be because of the Governments determination to create a golden decade in Sino-British relations  which is not exactly working out well for the people of Port Talbot  or it might be because of the purity of the British belief in free trade.

Either way, our passivity in response to Chinas trade policy is not the inevitable result of globalisation but a deliberate decision taken by the Government. And the same can be said about Britains lack of a long-term industrial strategy. Given that ministers say that steel is a strategically important sector, it is striking that there is no strategy in place to promote and protect it. Thanks to Government policy, big infrastructure projects use not British steel, but foreign imports. Thanks to the Climate Change Act  legislation not imposed on Britain by uncontrollable forces but introduced by Labour and supported by all political parties  wholesale electricity prices for British industry are twice those paid by their EU competitors.

One might argue that steel is not a strategically-important industry for Britain and it does not merit special support. But that is not what ministers say. And it does not explain the unilateral and monstrous act of self-harm  or rather, the act of harm inflicted upon industrial Britain by Parliament  that was the Climate Change Act. Neither does it explain why Britain has no industrial strategy other than on paper even for sectors as important to our economy as life sciences. It was only two years ago, remember, that the Government came close to allowing the sale of Britains second-biggest pharmaceutical company, AstraZeneca, to Pfizer, the US asset-stripping company that wanted the British firm mainly for tax avoidance purposes.

None of this is to pretend that there are simple solutions to the insecurity of the millions of people who are turning their backs on mainstream politicians. And as Ganesh wrote in his article, most people still seek moderate, sensible, pragmatic government of the kind offered by Cameron, not Corbyn, and Clinton, not Trump. But to write off a third of the population because of the complexity of the problems that cause their anxiety is as intellectually lazy and as fatuous as the populists Ganesh so despises. It is also callous in the extreme.

But worse than that, pretending that nothing can be done is dishonest. The forces of globalisation do not render governments powerless, and when it comes to many of the problems that are fuelling this popular insecurity  like immigration, international trade rules and the lack of industrial strategy  government inaction is the result of decisions taken consciously by policy makers. Our governing classes may not like it, but it is time they reacquainted themselves with the people they serve  and questioned the unthinking liberalism of the policies they support.
There are some problems that are easy to fix, and then theres international finance, as we discovered in the Google row earlier in the year.

The mass document leak from a Panamanian law firm is, if anything, more complex even than the question of how and where to tax the business of online multinationals. There are layers upon layers of complexity  while some of those named are accused of crimes such as doing business with terrorists or tax evasion; others are accused of activities which are legal but morally questionable (such as the practice the Government terms aggressive tax avoidance); others may have good reasons to use such companies (to avoid price gouging, for example) and still others named in the coverage say that the claims are untrue (as Lord Ashcrofts spokesman has reportedly said to the New Statesman, for example).

Disputes about accuracy aside, the first issue here is that shell companies are legal  using them to commit crimes obviously isnt, but there are a variety of legal purposes to which they can be put.

If we dont like those activities which are currently lawful  such as tax avoidance  then Parliament could vote to ban them. Rather like the question of how to squeeze more money out of Google, though, that could have consequences for the UK if it were to provoke similar action by other nations who feel their citizens domiciled in this country are unfairly depriving their home treasuries of income. And of course tax avoidance is also a motivation which governments of all colours have actively sought to harness for their own ends  putting tax breaks on investing in green energy is a measure specifically intended to use peoples instinct for reducing their tax bill for a government-approved end, as is the Chancellors new Lifetime ISA, in which citizens under 40 are told that if they save for retirement or a first home then they will be rewarded by being able to avoid tax on their savings income. Ban tax avoidance is an attention-grabbing placard, but a nonsensical policy proposal.

The Government has of course muddied the water somewhat by coming up with the new category of aggressive tax avoidance to refer to that which it disapproves of but has not banned. Its certainly true that there are some who expend a large amount of money and effort in the hope of paying less tax than their office cleaner  and the fact that these opportunities are not open to that cleaner is manifestly unfair. How, then, could we rebalance the system to end that injustice? Given that those involved are people or companies of means, we should address the question of motive and opportunity. What is the motive for seeking lower taxes elsewhere? Well, its that taxes here are evidently sufficiently high as to justify paying clever lawyers and accountants quite a lot of money to work out tricksy ways not to pay them. Cut taxes in the UK and those costly contortions become less attractive to pursue. As for the opportunity, politicians may fulminate against complex schemes to take advantage of loopholes, but only they created our complex tax system and only they have the power to fix it. A simpler tax system, enforcing lower tax rates, would be fairer for all involved, would drastically reduce both evasion and aggressive avoidance and would arguably raise more money for the Exchequer as a result.

Of course, under either scenario  a clunky attempt to ban tax avoidance or a more subtle process of simplifying and lowering taxes  the issue of the secrecy of shell companies would still be there. As I wrote above, this secrecy may serve legitimate purposes for some of their users, but for some it evidently offers an opportunity to conceal crime. In business law, as in the wider criminal law, we should be wary of arguments based on the nothing to hide, nothing to fear fallacy  any of our homes could conceal a crime on any given day, and yet we rightly do not think that there should be CCTV cameras in every room offering a live feed to the local police station.

But there is clearly a balance to strike on the secrecy of shell companies. To continue the analogy, hiding precisely what you do in your house is your right  even hiding that you live there in publicly accessible records is legitimate for those with sensitive jobs or concerns about a stalker  but hiding where you live from the tax man and the police would be deemed unreasonably secretive. The British authorities do have at least a qualified right to know about the assets of British citizens. The Prime Ministers push for greater international transparency seems the right way to go  particularly when allied with leaks like this which pile the pressure of public opinion onto those involved.

Beyond that, the problem is that British law has limited reach. Its telling that Jeremy Corbyns comments today focused on British territories  suggesting that even he knows he would struggle to construct a proposal which could extend to every nation on earth. But even his limited demand, that we enforce direct rule over British dependencies and overseas territories, is itself a deeply flawed idea. How exactly does he suggest we do so; with gunboat imperialism of the type he has spent his whole life denouncing? The outcome would, rather obviously, be that the places in question would declare their independence  some because the shady world of offshore finances props up their whole economy, some because they would understandably have little faith in a Corbyn government to uphold their interests (lets not forget that the Falklands is one such territory) and others because they might believe in that quaint concept of self-determining democracy. The result would be no change in the shell company industry whatsoever.

When faced with difficult problems and unsavoury activities, we like to see a swift and certain solution. The aggravating news on this front is that there doesnt seem to be one  if there were a quick and easy way for Exchequers the world over to get their hands on more money, you can be sure theyd have tried it by now. Transparency, co-operation and whistleblowing can make headway given time (as it has in the cases of Luxembourg and Switzerland, for example) and the only serious way we can hasten the process on at home is by changing our own tax system to make the whole wheeze less tempting in the first place.
Tolerating The Intolerance

By Gazi Hassana

05 April, 2016

Countercurrents.org

Since the day one of BJP coming to power, apprehensions which initially had turned into expectations have taken a back seat. People were optimistic about Indias future and its endeavors under new govt. Elected on the motto of much hyped Make in India campaign with developmental agenda on the forefront has somehow lost its charm. Country is becoming intolerant of the free speeches and routine demonstration. There has been increase in the communal tensions across the country. Issues like Ghar Wapsi, Ram Janum Bhumi, Gaw Mata politics, beef ban, vandalism of minority religious institutions, attacks on Dalits and so on. It was as if the parent organization of the BJP the RSS and its wings viz. Bajrang Dal, Vishu Hindu Parishad were given free hand of taking law into hands. None of the issues mentioned above was condemned by the BJPs top leadership whole heartedly. Issues and attacks kept on coming up to this very day. People are tolerating the intolerant behavior of RSS and its youth wings.

Let alone BJP, opposition has also failed to put pressure on the BJPs agendas. Not to forget the lynching of youth in Udhampur district of Jammu and Kashmir over allegedly transporting beef. Much famous Dadri Lynching where a man was brutally lynched to death by a mob on the suspicion of keeping beef in refrigerator. This suspicion was later on proven wrong in the investigation. Most recently hanging of two youth in MP for allegedlytrafficking cattle should not be forgotten. There is flaw in everything if it does not adhere with the principles of the RSS.

Recent case of JNU where it was alleged by the youth wing of BJP the ABVP, that the students belonging to the Left wing and some unidentified students chanted anti-India slogans and pro Afzal Guru Slogans. (Afzal Guru is supposedly a surrendered militant suspected of being a conspirator of attack on Indian Parliament. He was hanged on 9th of Feb 2013.). It is ironic that BJP which considers pro-Afzal Slogans as anti-national is forming govt. in coalition with a regional party (PDP in J&K) that considers Afzal Guru as martyr. It was alleged that students were commemorating his third death anniversary and chanting slogans viewed as anti-national. JNU is considered as an elitist institution in whole of India in terms of the academicians it has produced during the course of its existence. It has also produce large number of countrys bureaucrats and civil servants. It was founded by Mrs. Indira Gandhi on pretext of producing bureaucrats who will help run country better. JNU has become a victim of the blame game, prestigious institution has been dragged into dirty political ambitions. Politicizing the death of Rohit Vemula of UoH and imposition of unconstitutional provision in governing the academic institutions are becoming norms of the daily life.Being a research scholar of International Studies I am a bit scared of studying Pakistan and praising its military, constitutional set up, its robust feminist and civil society as compared to India openly. The fear is of being labelled as anti-national or traitor. Students should be given that space where they can praise or critique any country be it arch rivals or natural allies.

National and anti-national debate has just started, it will haunt us till the time BJP led NDA govt. is in power. Minorities when demand special status are considered anti-national and if you happened to be a Muslim then GOD save you, you have to prove your loyalty, patriotism and nationalism for the country. I think Jinnah was to some extent right when he said that minorities in South Asia and in particular of India will be oppressed by the majority community. I am not generalizing but only those who on pretext of defending their religion and (pseudo-national pride) hurt sentiments of the other communities.This is the country where people demand reservation to remain backward. The way in which current regime is dealing with the issues I must say we heading towards dark ages.

Also case in point is the recent passage of Aadhar Bill in the parliament in the Budget Session. Controversy raveled because Bill was introduced as the Money Bill in the lower house of the parliament Lok Sabha. If a bill is introduced as money bill Rajya Sabha cannot amend it nor can recommend any amendments to the proposed bill. Constitution, the Fundamental Law of the Land should not be abrogated to achieve unethical ends.

If the current NDA regime foresees itself ruling 10-15 years down the line, the leadership should take note and deal with the grave issues comprehensively. Government should be tolerant of the views of its citizens be it criticizing its policies or initiatives. It should not be infringing on fundamental rights of its citizens.

Authored by Gazi Hassana Research Scholar of International Studies in JMI. Can be reached at gazi.ktr@gmail.com










Six Year Anniversary Of WikiLeaks Collateral Murder; A Celebration Of Free Speech

By Nozomi Hayase

05 April, 2016

CommonDreams.org

On April 5, 2010, WikiLeaks published classified military footage of a July 2007 attack by a US Army helicopter gunship in the Iraqi suburb of New Baghdad. The video titled Collateral Murder depicted the killing of more than a dozen men, including two Reuters staffers. At the time of release, the WikiLeaks website temporarily crashed with a massive influx of visitors, while versions popped up on YouTube, reaching millions.

The importance of The Collateral Murder video has often been talked about from the perspective that it provided visual evidence of unaccounted US military power and brutality. Now, on the 6th anniversary of its publication, we will revisit the emergence of WikiLeaks in the public consciousness and explore the significance of this video release for the advocacy of free speech.

In reflecting on this groundbreaking public debut, journalist Greg Mitchell noted, now WikiLeaks had fully arrived  as a concept, as an organization, as a media fixture in America. Along with the apparent war crime, the uncensored images of modern war alerted people to the lack of government transparency and stifling of free speech in the very country that claims to hold a torch for such things.

Former US Foreign Service employee, Peter Van Buren pointed to several fronts where the government has assaulted the First Amendment. Examples include the weakening of The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) that was originally created in 1966, the gutting of whistleblower protection, along with the recent unprecedented crackdown on truthtellers. In fact, this WikiLeaks publication revealed this trend. By using the Freedom of Information Act, Reuters attempted to obtain the footage of these airstrikes from the US Army with no success and it wasnt until WikiLeaks released Collateral Murder that they were able to access this information regarding the killing of their journalists.

Censoring of Images

The smothering of free speech has cost the public access to the real images of war. Back in the 1960s, during the Vietnam War, pictures of wounded soldiers and dead civilians flooded through televisions into American homes. Unlike the current situation, the government had not yet learned to keep the press out of war zones, where all could see the horrific images of what in many cases amounted to war crimes.

Brazilian educator Paulo Freire (1970) described two types of words as two opposing forces. Human existence cannot be silent, he wrote. Nor can it be nourished by false words, but only by true words, with which men transform the world (p.76). These honest images of war were true words that have immense power to alter reality. Indeed, a sensational AP photograph of a naked Vietnamese girl running with her body burnt by a US napalm attack that got on the front page of every newspaper outraged the American people, contributing to ending that war.

Now, these real images are crucified on the cross-hairs of the corporate media lens and government control. They are being blocked or turned into snapshots that conveniently carry one-sided official narratives, with crimes covered up by euphemisms. The WikiLeaks publication of this 2007 aerial footage lifted the gate of public perception that had been tightly guarded through secrecy and media manipulation.

The video opened with a quote from George Orwell; Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give the appearance of solidity to pure wind. Transcripts within the footage presented facts about the incident; On the morning of July 12th 2007, two Apache helicopters using 30mm cannon fire killed about a dozen people in the Iraqi suburb of New Baghdad. Two children were also wounded. Although some of the men appear to have been armed, the behavior of nearly everyone was relaxed. Then a narrative followed that quoted the US Armys response to the attack, stating all the dead were anti-Iraq forces or insurgents.

What was brought to life in this grotesque image of horrific death was the voice of dissent, which until that time was suppressed by institutional hierarchies. This was the voice of whistleblower Chelsea Manning, who was sentenced to 35 years in prison for releasing the largest trove of secret documents in US history. At her pretrial hearing in 2013, Manning spoke about the facts regarding the incident in New Baghdad in her own words. After identifying the second engagement in the video of the unarmed bongo truck taking the kids to school and the attitudes of the soldiers in the helicopter as the most alarming aspect of the video, she described it as seemingly delightful bloodlust and noted how it appeared to be similar to a child torturing ants with a magnifying glass.

Blips and whirs of radio distortion slowly occupied silence. Images that were freed began to move, momentarily intercepted by a still slide of official lines, so viewers could engage critically with the plain colorless scenery shot from an Apache helicopter gun-sight.

Permission to Engage

This previously unreleased video footage called all to witness the everyday life of the brutal military occupation of Iraq. In the 17 minute film, we were all given an opportunity to see with our own eyes who those labeled as enemies in the War on Terror really were a group of adults and children trying to defend themselves from being shot and journalists risking their lives to do their job. At the same time, it invited Americans to see themselves and their roles in this scenery unfolding in a distant land.

In an interview with Raffi Khatchadourian of The New Yorker, WikiLeaks editor in chief Julian Assange described how before deciding on the title Collateral Murder, he had considered naming the short commentary film Permission to Engage. This video with transcripts and a package of supporting documents released on April 5, 2010 provided the claim by US military authorities that the actions of the soldiers and pilots involved were in accordance with the law of armed conflict and its own Rules of Engagement.

The radio transmission audio catches the line of ruthless weaponry when voices of the copter crew came through; Yeah Bushmaster, we have a van thats approaching and picking up the bodies . Let me engage. Can I shoot?,Roger. Break. Uh Crazyhorse One-Eight request permission to engage,Picking up the wounded?,Yeah, were trying to get permission to engage,Come on, let us shoot!

The carnage enacted in this raw footage calls us to question these rules of engagement, and most importantly who gives these soldiers permission to engage in such airstrikes killing civilians in countries that are clearly no threat to the US.

Militaries that operate under the nation-state premise are said to act on behalf of the interests of their people. In the case of the US military, the President acts as commander in chief for the entire army. So, ultimately he granted the aerial weapons team permission to engage the van in the square with open fire  to murder in the name of God and country. A government based on the idea of consent of the governed requires informed citizens and for this, unfiltered information is critical for people to make informed decisions. Those who govern, with over-classification of information and dismantling of basic free press have been keeping citizenry in the dark and preventing them from participating in these vital decisions.

WikiLeaks as a creative application on the Internet has enabled the right of people to freely speak; speech that challenges authority, speech that questions its legitimacy, especially when such an act has become so dangerous. Through Mannings brave act of conscience, a lost image was resurrected  true words through which ordinary men and women everywhere can transform the world. This made it possible for people to engage in determining the legitimacy of authority and begin withdrawing consent whenever necessary.

Soon after the video release, Ethan McCord, one of the soldiers on the ground at the scene of the shooting came forward to write an apology letter to the Iraqi people. With heavy hearts, two former soldiers from the Army unit expressed their deep sorrow and wish to repair the damage their country had caused. Icelandic collaborators on the video release traveled to Baghdad to meet the family of the victims of this attack to seek for justice. Debate and discussion that was sparked began to dissolve apathy and callous disregard, replacing it with genuine interest and concern for others. In the eyes of many, this video came to be seen as having turned the tide of the war in Iraq.

Now, on this six year anniversary, let us celebrate the publication of Collateral Murder as a historical renewal of free speech. In 2010, on the day after Easter Sunday, the act of posting such a video online instigated a free flow of information on the ether, giving an everlasting effect of letting people see the other side of the story that had been buried by the official narrative.

This iconic film continues to remind us of all those who risked their lives for free press and also of the power of free speech; that our collective engagement with the truth can set frozen images into motion. By seizing the present, we can intervene in the course of that one fatal day and alter the running footage of the past, bringing each person one step closer to self-determination of their own future

Nozomi Hayase, Ph.D., is a former WikiLeaks Central contributing writer who has been covering issues of freedom of speech, transparency and decentralized movement. Her work is featured in many publications. Follow on Twitter: @nozomimagine

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License








Printer Friendly Version Open Letter To 'Head Chopping' Billionaire Baba Ramdev By Shamsul Islam 05 April, 2016

Countercurrents.org Baba, At the outset I must congratulate you for making big strides so far as your personality is concerned. You have really become a MARD; MAN in capital, now. On June 6, 2011 afraid of Delhi police you ran away in female attire from Ram Lila ground, leaving hundreds of your followers at the mercy of Delhi Police. But now as press reports from Rohtak, Haryana disclose you are courageous enough to chop heads of millions for not chanting 'Bharat Mata ki Jai'. (1) It really shows the farsightedness of your wisdom that in a meeting which was held to create 'sadbhav' or fraternity among different Castes/sections of Hindus which was shattered in last February you did not budge from the main agenda of Hindutva; teaching Indian Muslims a lesson. As a master performer of the Hindutva bandwagon you focussed on Muslims despite the fact that latter had no hand in the February blood bath in Haryana. Baba! you and your friends were perfectly right in asking Anuradha Beniwal, the UK based chess trainer-cum-writer originally from Haryana to stop when she said, "We [Hindus] have burnt the establishments of our neighbours, our friends, our brothers. To get the bottom of the matter, and to resolve it, we have to ask certain questions to ourselves, to our society and our government", as she was deviating from your anti-Muslim agenda. (2) Baba! You are a true Hindutva rising star! Baba!Allow me to touch few petty issues. Just enlighten ignorant persons like me on these few minor things which I will summarize in the following: (1) Where were you and your RSS bandwagon when Haryana burnt for more than 10 days in February 2016 in which countless women were violated, more than 30 killed and property worth, 30 thousand crores was looted/burnt? I hope you remember that Haryana during this critical period was abandoned by the BJP/RSS political leadership and Indian Army whose job is to secure Indian territory against enemies was called to control this civil anarchy. Indian Army had to shoot Indians killing more than 20. You and RSS were seen nowhere chanting 'Bharat Mata ki Jai'. (2) Moreover, since you declared your intention of chopping heads (to quote your words'behead lakhs of those'), who refuse to chant 'Bharat Mata ki Jai', in a RSS organized meeting, it can be assumed that RSS is too committed to this chant. It is a blatantly lie baba! Forget about this chant, RSS never participated in the Indian Freedom Struggle. Let me quote directly from the contemporary RSS documents to prove this fact. Guru Golwalkar, the most prominent ideologue of the RSS and Supremo of the RSS 1940 onward admitted the fact that RSS kept aloof from the Freedom Struggle in the following words: "There is another reason for the need of always remaining involved in routine work. There is some unrest in the mind due to the situation developing in the country from time to time. There was such unrest in 1942 [Quit India Movement]. Before that there was the movement in 1930-31 [Salt Satyagrah]. At that time many other people had gone to Doctorji (By Doctorji is meant Dr. Hedgewar, the founder of the RSS). This delegation requested Doctorji that this movement will give independence and Sangh should not lag behind. At that time, when a gentleman told Doctorji that he was ready to go to jail, Doctorji said: Definitely go. But who will take care of your family then? That gentleman replied, I have sufficiently arranged resources not only to run the family expenses for two years but also to pay fines according to the requirements, then Doctorji told him: If you have fully arranged for the resources then come out to work for the Sangh for two years. After returning home that gentleman neither went to jail nor came out to work for the Sangh. (3) Non-cooperation and Quit India Movements were two great milestones in the history of the Indian Freedom Movement and here was the great thesis of great Golwalkar on these two great happenings of the Freedom Movement. According to him: "Definitely there are bound to be bad results of struggle. The boys became unruly after the 1920-21 [Non-cooperation Movement] movement. It is not an attempt to throw mud at the leaders. But these are inevitable products after the struggle. The matter is that we could not properly control these results. After 1942, people often started thinking that there was no need to think of the law. (4) Thus Golwalkar wanted the Indians to respect the draconian and repressive laws of the inhuman British rulers! While narrating the RSS attitude towards Quit India Movement (1942) he admitted:"In 1942 also there was a strong sentiment in the hearts of many. At that time too the routine work of Sangh continued. Sangh vowed not to do anything directly. However, upheaval (uthal-puthal) in the minds of Sangh volunteers continued. Sangh is an organization of inactive persons, their talks are useless, not only outsiders but also many of our volunteers did talk like this. They were greatly disgusted too. (5) Baba, please secure a single publication or document of the RSS which, could throw some light on the great work the RSS did 'indirectly' for the Quit India movement.In all fairness to Guru Golwalkar, he did not claim that the RSS had been opposed to the British. He admitted it long after Independence also while delivering a speech before leading cadres of the RSS at Indore in 1960. Referring to the British rule he admitted: "We should remember that in our pledge we have talked of the freedom of the country through defending religion and culture. There is no mention of departure of the British in that. (6) Golwalkar was not alone in denigrating the Freedom Struggle and glorifying the British rulers. His Guru and founder of the RSS, Hedgewar, had similar views. The official biography of Hedgewar has the following self-explanatory statement: After establishing Sangh Doctor Saheb in his speeches used to talk only of Hindu organization. Direct comment on Government used to be nil. (7) Billionaire Baba! You are very fond of referring to the great martyr of the anti-British Freedom Struggle, Bhagat Singh. But your Hindutva co-traveller, RSS decried the whole tradition of martyrdom followed by these martyrs. Here is a passage from the chapter, Martyr, Great But Not Ideal of Bunch Of Thoughts, the collectionof writings of MS Golwalkar decrying the whole tradition of martyrs. After declaring that his objects of worship have always been successful lives and that 'Bhartiya culture' [which surely means RSS culture] does not adore and idealize martyrdom and do not treat 'such martyrs as their heroes', he went on to philosophize that: "There is no doubt that such man who embrace martyrdom are great heroes and their philosophy too is pre-eminently manly. They are far above the average men who meekly submit to fate and remain in fear and inaction. All the same, such persons are not held up as ideals in our society. We have not looked upon their martyrdom as the highest point of greatness to which men should aspire. For, after all, they failed in achieving their ideal, and failure implies some fatal flaw in them." (8) Baba! Could there be a statement more insulting and denigrating to the martyrs than this? (3) Ramdev baba! India is lucky that you were not there when Gandhiji, Jawahar Lal Nehru and Sardar Patel were alive. They never chanted 'Bharat Mata ki Jai'. On the contrary, they used the term 'Jai Hind' (victory to India) in official correspondence and communications. With 'Jai Hind' they ended their public addresses. If you were their contemporary they too should have been at risk of losing their heads for not chanting 'Bharat Mata ki Jai'. Since Independence all presidents and prime ministers (including PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee) of the Indian Republic chanted 'Jai Hind'and not 'Bharat Mata ki Jai', they were lucky not have their heads chopped off as you were not around baba! I know you are very busy in marketing Hindutva and Patanjali products; I will not take more of your time. Just last query, please share with the nation where and when during the Freedom Struggle the Hindutva bandwagon which included your RSS, Hindu Mahasabha, chanted 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' against the British. And how many times Hedgewar and Golwalkar, the two Supremo of the RSS during the British rule, or any other leader/cadre of the RSS, were jailed for freedom of India, chanting this or any other slogan against the British. Eagerly looking forward for your kind response, Shamsul Islam

5-4-2016 Shamsul Islam is a retired Professor of University of Delhi.Email: notoinjustice@gmail.com

1. http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/if-no-law-would-have-cut-the-heads-of-those-who-dont-say-bharat-mata-ki-jai-ramdev 2. http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/nation/chess-champ-steals-sadbhavna-show/217543.html 3. MS Golwalkar, Shri Guruji Samagar Darshan, (hereafter referred as SGSD) volume IV, Bhartiya Vichar Sadhna, pp. 39-40. 4. Ibid, p. 41. 5. Ibid, p. 40. 6. SGSD, volume IV, p. 2. 7. CP Bhishikar, Sanghavariksh Ke Beej: Dr. Keshavrao Hedgewar, Suruchi, 1994 p. 24. 8. MS Golwalkar, Bunch of Thoughts, Sahitya Sindhu, Bangalore, 1996, p. 283.









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By Raising "Bharat Mata Ki Jai" Slogan Controversy RSS Lays A Trap For Muslims And Leftists

By Dr. Shaik Ubaid

05 April, 2016

Countercurrents.org

When I first read the news about Owaisi's speech at a public rally where he defiantly proclaimed that he would never raise the slogan Bharat Mata Ki Jai (Glory Be to Mother India) I winced. I knew that the speech would be covered extensively and would lead to enormous controversy. I winced also because the situation was very similar to one American Muslims had been through.



When an elite Imam with no grass roots presence declared in early December 2009 his grandiose plans to build a community center near the World Trade Tower site, he had no idea he would be offering Islamophobes like Pamela Geller a rallying cry. Exactly 10 months later on October 8, 2010, the New York Times published a piece describing how Imam Feisal Rauf's plan had given Geller an issue to help coalesce different Islamophobic groups.



Geller's hate mongering has helped usher in a climate of fear that Donald Trump and Ted Cruz are exploiting today. Two weeks before Geller's piece, I told David Caruso of Associated Press and Anne Barnard of New York Times that had Imam Rauf consulted the Muslim community, he would have been advised the political climate in the country was not conducive to such an initiative; but now that the extremists are challenging the fundamental rights of Americans to build their place of worship, both the Muslim community and human rights groups are compelled to support the project.



I therefore winced and said out loudly Oh no, not again, as I read the news about Owaisi's speech. Imam Rauf had no mass appeal, nor was Geller's unholy alliance very organized, yet the Islamophobes were hugely successful on the issue of what they cunningly called 'Ground Zero Mosque' (it is more of a community center than a mosque and it was certainly not at ground zero). In comparison, The RSS with 6 million members is the largest and the most organized supremacist group in the world and Owaisi's profile as a mass leader is well established. This controversy therefore has the potential to harm the Muslims and the pluralistic ethos of India much more than the harm done to US pluralism by the issue manufactured by Geller



In the US, the progressives always take the side of the discriminated against minorities even when the bogey of national security is used by the right wing. The civil rights groups are more organized than in India and the liberal media far more powerful. This is the reason that we have a Bernie Sanders here leading a different type of insurrection than the Trump/Cruz one. In India, many in the secular camp have already sadly put their bleeding foot in their mouth after having first shot it. By agreeing to the demands of the Hindutva lobby to raise specific Hindu centric slogans and sing special Hindu centric anthems as requirements of patriotism, they undermine the constitution. The founding fathers were wise and well informed people who deliberated for years before drafting a great constitution. The constitution maintains and protects the pluralist ethos and the secular fabric of the nation. Many Indian secularists are anti-religion and those who have roots in the Muslim community are more so. The Muslim secularists are also under pressure to show that they are more anti-religion, for it was the Muslim community that had demanded the creation of Pakistan in the name of religion. What the secularists fail to realize is that by getting on the slippery slope of creating new requirements for patriotism and citizenship, they strengthen the Hindu supremacists who wish to change India from a secular country to a Hindu nation. The secularists make such demands politically acceptable and this in turn leads to the expansion of the base of the BJP. The alienated and fearful Muslims turn in greater numbers to the Muslim Centric parties such as the Majlis e Ittehadul Muslimeen. The end result of getting on this slippery slope is the leftists end up in a heap at the bottom of the slope after suffering electoral defeats. They start with the aim of combating what they think is Muslim obscurantism and end up strengthening Hindu supremacist and Muslim centric political parties.



There would have been no controversy had Owaisi not raised the issue unnecessarily. The RSS Supremo Mohan Bhagwat had not demanded that Owaisi or the Muslims should raise this slogan. He had initially planned to use this slogan to quash the nascent movement of the leftist students who were trying to organize against an increasingly authoritarian right-wing government. Asaduddin Owaisi is an astute politician as well as a lawyer. He ought to have known better.



He takes pride in his scholarship of the Constitution and the constitutional processes. His declaration, that he would not utter the slogan Bharat Mata ki Jai even under threat of life, appears to have generated exactly THE controversy the proponents of the slogan wanted. They wanted to polarize the nation and rally the Hindu community around their saffron flag as well as create a schism among the Muslims, hoping that a significant portion of the Barelvi leadership will support the slogan. The RSS has also succeeded in putting the Congress and the Left on the defensive.



Fanning the slogan controversy is clearly a Machiavellian move by the RSS, the fountainhead of the Hindutva supremacist ideology. Bharat Mata does not refer just to the motherland but is generally understood to mean the embodiment of the motherland in the form of a Hindu goddess. By raising this issue just before crucial elections in Indias most populous state, the RSS is clearly laying a trap for the Muslim leadership. Owaisi has helped them lay it. While some Muslims say that he did so because he has a symbiotic relationship with the BJP, many think it was due to a lapse of judgment during a political speech. Still others blame his arrogance and lack of an inner circle of independent intellectuals and experts.

Irrespective of its etiology and motives, Owaisi's stand will be supported by the organized Muslim religious leadership. This is not surprising as they are justifiably suspicious of the RSS attempting to impose Hindu hegemony over the country They are also painfully aware that the "soft Hindutva" fronts have the same objective of weakening the constitutional guarantees of freedom of religion, the only difference being that they pursue their goal through the back door. The Muslim leadership is cognizant that their stand will help BJP in the elections but they feel that they have no choice but to resist this precedence setting move of the RSS to impose Hindu culture on the Indian polity. They are angry at Owaisi for dragging their community and the nation into this trap but feel helpless.



Owaisi must be criticized for raising the issue of "Bharat Mata ki jai" unnecessarily and handing to BJP a potent issue to further polarize India. Owaisi leads a party whose support base is fanatically loyal to him. There was therefore no political need to activate or mobilize this base. He appears to have gotten carried away in the heat of a political speech. Its also possible that like many autocrats he does not think much about the consequences of his statements. However, to say that Owaisi is in cahoots with the BJP to explain his immature statements is not borne out by his track record.



What is disappointing in this whole controversy is the pathetic and suicidal stand by the cultural Muslims who claim to be progressives. In their enmity for the traditional and conservative Muslim mainstream and in their tireless attempts to look and sound secular they have attacked Owaisis stand. They seem to have grabbed the opportunity to score some brownie points over the mainstream Muslim religious and political leadership (To be fair, the Muslim leadership rarely disappoints them and provides regular opportunities for progressives to mock and attack them). Most of these progressives have a regressive mindset when it comes to nationalism. Unlike the progressives in the West, human rights issues are always secondary to national security issues for the progressives of the East. This stand is both unethical as well as stupid. The progressives cannot compete on nationalism with the ultranationalists and supremacists. In their competition to sound more patriotic than the ultranationalists, they push the country more to the Right. This movement to the Right has led to the undermining of the support for human rights and religious freedom in India.



In Islam the intention matters. If Muslims say Bharat Mata Ki Jai with the intention of saying Long live the motherland (motherland zindabad) and not with the intention of glorifying goddess India then it should be Halal' (permissible). What is not kosher is that RSS undermining the Constitution and demanding this be a litmus test for Indianness. From this perspective, Owaisi the barrister is right. However, Owaisi the politician ought to have exercised some prudence before making his proclamation in a public rally.



Under the circumstances, the self-declared progressives such as Shabana Azmi and Javed Akhtar ought to have reacted differently to the controversy generated by Owaisis needless stirring of the hornets nest. They could have used this opportunity to educate the country about the rising threat to its pluralist ethos from the Hindutva radicalism fostered by the Sangh Parivar. The Sangh has been using the cudgel of patriotism to crush dissent everywhere- from the universities to the media. The idealistic progressive students in various universities, especially in the bastion of the left, such as the Jawaharlal Nehru University, have risen up to resist the onslaught of Hindutva, and authoritarianism and intolerance it has engendered.



There is a lesson in this controversy for the "secular" and "progressive" elites. They should follow the lead of the JNU students instead of scoring petty points over Owaisi. On his part, Owaisi the politician and Owaisi the barrister should also become Owaisi the statesman. The progressive Muslims and the mainstream Muslim leaders need to sit down with leaders of the JNU student movement and strategize on how to turn this controversy into an opportunity to unmask Hindutva designs. Before that the Indian progressives should visit their brethren in Europe and the US to learn how they are struggling against the rising tide of intolerance in the West. They should study the relationship of the Bill of Rights to the US constitution as the framer-in-chief of the Indian constitution, Dr. Ambedkar had. Hindutva henchmen regularly coordinate and cooperate with the Western bigots; it is about time the Indian progressives start interacting with their Western counterparts.



The pluralist nature of Indian society is facing its gravest threat in history. The time is now for people of conscience, whether progressive or religious, to find common ground in safeguarding the freedom of millions of Indians and of their future generations. This is the true litmus test of patriotism.



Dr. Shaik Ubaid is a political commentator, community organizer and a practicing neurologist. He is active in the inter-faith arena and recently presented a panel discussion at the Parliament of World Religions in Salt Lake City on "Sharing the lessons from the intrAfaith struggles against extremism", where leaders of major religions shared their communities' struggle against extremism. He had also spoken at The Left Forum, the premier yearly gathering of progressive intellectuals and activists in the US

An Abridged version of this article first appeared in The Wire on March 30, 2016






Will Lebanon Be 'Handed Over' To The ISIS?

By Andre Vltchek

05 April, 2016

Countercurrents.org

Now that the Syrian armed forces have liberated Palmyra, President al Assad has thanked Vladimir Putin and the Russian people for the substantial support they provided to his country. Side by side, Syria and Russia have been fighting against the ISIS and other terrorist groups operating in the region - mainly the implants from the staunch allies of the West: Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey.

After recent victories in Syria, the myth of invincibility of the terrorism has collapsed, smashed to pieces. It has become clear that if fought honestly and with full determination, even the most fanatical ones can be defeated.

It has also become obvious that the West has very little interest in defeating these groups. First: they were invented in the Western capitals, at least conceptually. Second: they serve numerous purposes and in many different parts of the world; they brutalize rebellious countries in the Middle East, and they are spreading fear and frustration amongst the European citizens thus justifying increasing defense and intelligence budgets, as well as grotesque surveillance measures.

It is so obvious that the West is unhappy about the marvelous success of both the Syrian and Russian forces in the Middle East. And it still does all it can to undermine it, and it is belittling and even smearing it using its propaganda apparatus.

*

Now that the ISIS has been pushed away, further and further from all key strategic locations inside Syria, the question comes to mind:if finally defeated, where is it going to go next?

Its fighters are, of course, in neighboring Iraq, but Baghdad has also been forging a closer and closer alliance with Russia, and the terrorist groups may soon not be safe there, either.

By all accounts, the easiest place for the ISIS to expand is Lebanon.

Because the ISIS is already there! Its dormant cells are spread across the entire country, from Bekaa Valley, and even to some of the posh (and not necessarily Muslim) neighborhoods of Beirut.

Historically, Syria and Lebanon are asingle entity. The movement of people between these two countries is substantial and constant. After the war in Syria began, hundreds of thousands of refugees, poor and rich, entered tiny Lebanon, some settling in the makeshift camps in Bekaa Valley, others renting lavish apartments on the Cornichein Beirut.

Officially, Lebanon (a country with only 4.5 million inhabitants) is hosting around 1.5 million refugees, mostly Syrians, but also those from Iraq and elsewhere. That is in addition to approximately 450,000 permanent Palestinian refugees who are living in severallarge camps administered by UNRWA.

On some occasions, when the fighting got too vicious, the number of Syrian refugees in Lebanon spiked (unofficially) to over 2 million.

For many years, the border between Lebanon and Syria has been porous, and even checks at the border crossings wererelatively lax. It began to change, but only recently.

With the refugees (mostlyfamilies escaping from battles and from the extreme hardship caused by the conflict), came a substantial number of jihadi cadres - fighters from the ISIS, Al Nusrah and other pro-Saudi and pro-Turkish terrorist groups. They took full advantage of the situation, infiltrating the flow of legitimate emigres.

Their goal has been clear and simple: to regroup in Lebanon, to create strong and effective cells, and then to strike when the time is ripe. The dream of the ISIS is a mighty Caliphate in the north of Lebanon, preferably with full access to the Mediterranean Sea.

In recent history, Lebanon has becomean extremely weak state, divided along the sectarian lines. For almost two years it has beenunable to elect a President. To date, the government has been dysfunctional, almost paralyzed. The country is suffering from countless lethal ailments: from never-ending garbage crises to constant electricity shortages, and problems with water supply. There is no public transportation, and public education is underfunded, inadequate and serves only the poorest part of the population. Corruption is endemic.

From time to time, Israel threatens to invade. It has attacked Lebanon on at least 5 separate occasions;the last time was as recent asin 2006.

In the northeast of the country, on the Syrian border, both Lebanese military and Hezbollah are engagedin fighting the ISIS.

But the Lebanese military is under-staffed, badly armed and terribly trained. In the end it is Hezbollah, the most prominent military, social and ideological force in Lebanon, which is holding the line. It is fighting a tremendous, epic battle, in which ithas already lost more men than it did when combating the most recent Israeli invasion in 2006.

So far, Hezbollahs combatagainst the terrorist groups is successful. But in addition to providing defense, it is nowthe only political force in Lebanon that is willing to reach across the sectarian divides. It is also offeringmuch needed social support to hundreds of thousands of poor Lebanese citizens.

In Lebanon and in fact all over the Middle East, Hezbollah is deeply respected. But it is Shia;it has been closely linked with Iran and Syria, and it is known to be fiercely critical of the West and its murderous actions in the Middle East and the Gulf. It is fighting precisely those terrorist groups that arearmed and supported by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey.

Therefore, it is antagonized.

The Lebanese government persistently refuses to place Hezbollah on the terrorist list, something that has already been done by many Western countries and by most of the pro-Westernmembers of the Arab League.

To the dismay of Saudi Arabia, both Iraq and Lebanon refused to vote in favor of declaring Hezbollah a terrorist organization. Syria would also refuse, but predictablyit was not invited to vote.

Lebanon is increasingly critical of the West, of the international organizations and of the Arab League countries. It is outraged over the double standards related to the so-called refugee crisis. It is also unusually outspoken.

One of Lebanons major newspapers, the Daily Star, reported on March 26th, 2016:

Foreign Minister GebranBassil Saturday accused the international community of approaching the Syrian refugee crisis with a double standard; hours after U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon departed Beirut following a two-day visit.

Bassil pointed to the inconsistency of countries that back Syria's armed insurrection to call on Lebanon to put human rights first, noting that many of those states were removing refugees by force - a move Beirut has not taken.

They create war, and then call on others to host refugees in line with human rights treaties, he said in a televised news conference from his residence in Batroun.

The Foreign Minister GebranBassil and his party are in fact in a coalition with Hezbollah. Hewas extremely critical of thetop ranking visitors who are lately overwhelmingLebanon: U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon, World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim and EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini.

Mr. Bassil even refused to meet Ban Ki-moon in person.

One of my sources that attended the closed-door meeting of Ban Ki-moon, Jim Yong Kim and the heads of the U.N. agencies in Beirut, commented: almost nothing new, concrete or inspiring was discussed there.

In Beirut, it is often mentioned that while Turkey and Jordanare able to negotiate billions of dollars for hosting the refugees on their soil, Lebanon is only given empty promises from the EU and the rest of international community. It is also being threatened with legal consequences, in case it were to decide to remove the refugees by force (the Wests allies like Thailand regularly remove refugees by force, often even killing them, but there are never any substantial threats delivered. Several European countries are also forcing refugees to leave).

How a country of 4.5 million will manage to cope with 1.5 million immigrants is uncertain. What is clear is that Lebanons infrastructure is collapsing or, as some say, is already gone.

*

It appears that there is a plan, a reason for choking Lebanon.

Several Beirut-based experts are claiming that the country will soon become indefensible.

The Saudis cancelled more than U$4 billion in the aid earlier promised to the Lebanese military forces.

Robert Fisk wrote for the Independent on March 2nd, 2016:

Now Saudi Arabia, blundering into the civil war in Yemen and threatening to send its overpaid but poorly trained soldiers into Syria, has turned with a vengeance on Lebanon for its unfaithfulness and lack of gratitude after decades of Saudi largesse.

After repeatedly promising to spend 3.2bn on new French weapons for the well-trained but hopelessly under-armed Lebanese army, Saudi Arabia has suddenly declined to fund the project  which was eagerly supported by the US and, for greedier reasons, by Paris. Along with other Gulf states, Riyadh has told its citizens not to visit Lebanon or  if they are already there  to leave. Saudi Airlines is supposedly going to halt all flights to Beirut. Lebanon, according to the Saudis, is a centre of terror.

The fact that last year Lebanon dared to arrest a Saudi Prince at Rafik Hariri International Airport, as he was trying to smuggle two tonnes of Captagon amphetamine pills bound for Saudi Arabia on a private jet, did not help. The Prince was also smuggling cocaine, but that was, most likely, for his personal consumption. Captagon amphetamine is also called the combat drug, and was, most likely, destined for pro-Saudi fighters in Yemen.

So what will happen if the Lebanese military gets no new weapons? Maybe Iran could help, but if not?

Then Hezbollah would be the only force facingthe ISIS that will soon be pouring out of the liberated cities in Syria in all directions, particularly towards the coast of Lebanon.

But Hezbollah is ostracized, choked and demonized by the West and the Gulf.

One tiny new Israeli invasion and almost all Hezbollah forces would be tiedup in the south, the ISIS would attack from the north, the dormant cells would be activated in Beirut, Tripoli and other cities, and Lebanon would collapse within few days.Is this a plan? After all, Israel and Saudi Arabia are two close allies, when it comes to their Shia enemies.

Then this tiny, proud and creative country would basically cease to exist.

The Gulf States (their rulers, not the people) would rejoice: another bastion of tolerance gone. And one more Shia stronghold  Hezbollah areas inside Lebanon  would be plundered and destroyed.

The West mightbe officially expressing its concern, but such a scenario would fit into its master plan: one more rebellious country would be finished, and Syria would for yearsbe threatened fromthe western direction. After all, Damascus is only 30 minutes drive from the Lebanese border.

The Paris of the Middle East as Beirut used to be called, would thenbe decorated with those frightening black flags of the ISIS. Lebanon as a whole would experience total collapse, year zero, the end.

This is not some phantasmagoric scenario. All this could happen within one year, even within a few months.

Right now, Lebanon has only two places where to ask for help, for protection: Teheran and Moscow. It should approach both of them, without any delay!

*

Andre Vltchek is a philosopher, novelist, filmmaker and investigative journalist. He covered wars and conflicts in dozens of countries. His latest books are: Exposing Lies Of The Empire and Fighting Against Western Imperialism.Discussion with Noam Chomsky:On Western Terrorism. Point of No Return is his critically acclaimed political novel. Oceania - a book on Western imperialism in the South Pacific. His provocative book about Indonesia: Indonesia  The Archipelago of Fear. Andre is making films for teleSUR and Press TV. After living for many years in Latin America and Oceania, Vltchek presently resides and works in East Asia and the Middle East. He can be reached through his website or hisTwitter.

This article was First published by NEO




Phil Bryant,

Republican Gov. Phil Bryant, right, walks past reporters on his way to a meeting of a youth jobs program board, at the Capitol in Jackson, Miss., Friday, April 1, 2016. Tuesday, Bryant signed into law a bill that will let government employees and private businesses cite religious beliefs to deny services to same-sex couples who want to marry.

(Rogelio V. Solis/The Associated Press)

JACKSON, Mississippi -- Mississippi's governor signed a law on Tuesday that allows public and private businesses to refuse service to gay couples based on the employers' religious beliefs.

Gov. Phil Bryant signed House Bill 1523, despite opposition from gay-rights groups and some businesses who say it enables discrimination. Some conservative and religious groups support the bill.

The measure's stated intention is to protect those who believe that marriage should be between one man and one woman, that sexual relations should only take place inside such marriages, and that male and female genders are unchangeable.

"This bill merely reinforces the rights which currently exist to the exercise of religious freedom as stated in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution," the Republican governor wrote in a statement posted to his Twitter account.

The measure allows churches, religious charities and privately held businesses to decline services to people whose lifestyles violate their religious beliefs. Individual government employees may also opt out, although the measure says governments must still provide services.

"This bill does not limit any constitutionally protected rights or actions of any citizen of this state under federal or state laws," Bryant said. "It does not attempt to challenge federal laws, even those which are in conflict with the Mississippi Constitution, as the Legislature recognizes the prominence of federal law in such limited circumstances."

Other states have considered similar legislation. North Carolina enacted a law, while governors in Georgia and South Dakota vetoed proposals.

Bryant acted within hours of receiving the bill after it cleared its final legislative obstacle Monday, even as opponents tried to marshal pressure to persuade Bryant to reject it.

Some of the state's largest employers including Nissan Group of North America, Tyson Food Inc, MGM Resorts International, and Toyota issued statements voicing their opposition to the legislation, joining national corporations such as AT&T, IBM, Levi Strauss & Co, MassMutual, General Electric, and Hyatt Hotel Corporations.

The Mississippi Manufacturer's Association (MMA) also called for Bryant to veto the bill.

"It is clear that many of our members find that HB 1523 would violate their corporate policies expressly providing for an inclusive workplace environment that supports diversity," said MMA president Jay Moon. "This is not a bill that the MMA supports and we hope that it will not find its way into law."

The Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi released a statement last week condemning the bill as well. Tuesday, reaction from various human and civil rights groups was swift after Bryant signed the bill.

"Governor Phil Bryant adds his name to a list of disgraced Southern governors by signing this hateful and discriminatory bill into law," said Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization.

"Governor Bryant refused to meet with LGBT people and even turned us away at the door of his office. He refused to listen to business leaders. He refused to listen to Mississippians. And now his state will suffer because of his ignorance and failure of leadership. Just as we're doing elsewhere, we will continue to rally fair-minded voters, businesses, and civil rights advocates to repeal."

"This bill flies in the face of the basic American principles of fairness, justice and equality and will not protect anyone's religious liberty," said Jennifer Riley-Collins, Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi. "Far from protecting anyone from 'government discrimination' as the bill claims, it is an attack on the citizens of our state, and it will serve as the Magnolia State's badge of shame."

Spokesperson Ouida Meruvia also issued a statement on behalf of the Mississippi Democratic Party.

"It is incredibly disappointing that Governor Bryant and Republican leaders of our state, despite our history, have decided to pass a law that licenses discrimination against our own citizens," Meruvia said. "Instead of tearing down walls that divide, the Republican Party has spent this session building new barriers of bigotry. We must do better."

Jody E. Owens, managing attorney in Mississippi at the Southern Poverty Law Center, also condemned HB 1523.

"Governor Phil Bryant's decision to sign HB 1523 into law is unconscionable," Owens said. "This newly enacted law - like the draconian anti-LGBT laws in other states - uses the guise of 'religious freedom' to justify discrimination, mistreatment and bigotry.

"It's the same sort of rationale used by white supremacists in earlier eras to justify slavery and Jim Crow. The estimated 60,000 LGBT people in Mississippi deserve better. We need to stand up for the rights of all people."

Mississippi Press staff writer Warren Kulo contributed to this report.
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By Len Wells of the Courier and Press

Fairfield, Illinois, teen dies from crash injuries

A Fairfield, Illinois, teen has died from injuries sustained in a Monday night traffic accident. Kole B. Kline, 16, died Monday afternoon at Cardinal Glennon Hospital in St. Louis.

Kline was a passenger in a 2004 Honda van that ran off Wayne County Highway 7 east of Geff, Illinois, shortly after 9 p.m. Monday night and overturned. The driver, William L. Starks, 16, of Fairfield as well as Kline and another passenger, Ethan Medler, 14, were ejected from the vehicle as it rolled.

Medler and Starks were found in a field about 50 feet off the roadway. Kline was found in the roadway. Starks and Kline were flown to Cardinal Glennon Hospital. Medler was taken to Fairfield Memorial Hospital.

Wayne County Sheriff's Police suspect alcohol was involved in the crash. Police reports show that Starks told a first responder that he had been drinking whiskey prior to the accident. Police also recovered two prescription bottles containing suspected marijuana from the vehicle.

Toxicology tests were ordered for all three victims, police said, with the results to be forwarded to the Wayne County State's Attorney for review.
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Presidential race could overshadow local primaries

By Thomas B. Langhorne of the Courier and Press

If the first Vanderburgh County polling place voter of 2016 is any indication, it will be about presidential choices for many who vote in party nominating contests on May 3.

Fairley Pinson, a 69-year-old retired autoworker, showed up at the county election office bright and early Tuesday morning to be the first to do his early voting in an actual voting booth. The county has already received about 120 mailed absentee ballots.

Declaring he would vote in the Republican Partys primary, Pinson admitted he didnt know much about GOP candidates for local office. He was there to vote against presidential candidate Donald Trumps big mouth and big attitude.

Hes done some serious things I dont agree with, Pinson said, adding that he doesnt care for remarks Trump has made about women.

Tuesdays 8 a.m. debut of early voting at polling places heralds the unofficial start of primary election season, and theres no shortage of local intrigue. Three Republicans and three Democrats are vying for the legislative seat being vacated by Rep. Gail Riecken, D-Evansville. On the Republican side, former County Commissioner Cheryl Musgraves bid for her old seat is opposed by Alex Schmitt, a 32-year-old political newcomer backed by Mayor Lloyd Winnecke, as well as by conservative activist Brenda Bergwitz.

Democrats will choose between Zach Heronemus, top aide to 2011 mayoral candidate Rick Davis, and Elliot Howard, a board member for Tri-State Alliance, for county clerk.

But on the Republican side at least, local races could be overshadowed  and affected  by the volatile, high-decibel presidential race.

The 2014 primaries, in which there was no presidential nominating contest, saw 6,352 GOP ballots cast in Vanderburgh County. But this year, local elections officials expect something more like the 13,784 Republican primary votes that were cast in presidential election year 2012.

Chances are youll see a much higher level of activity at the top of the ticket for Republicans than weve seen in quite some time, said Ed Feigenbaum, an Indianapolis-based political analyst.

Feigenbaum said it is not far-fetched that large numbers of Indiana Democrats attracted by the hoopla surrounding Trump could vote in GOP primaries this year. He compared it to 2008, when many Republicans cast ballots in Democratic primaries to affect the presidential race between then-Sen. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. The Vanderburgh County Voter Registration Office reports having already received a spate of calls from self-identified Democrats asking whether they can vote in the GOPs primary.

Feigenbaum said presidential candidates on both sides are actively organizing in the state, but he cautioned that earlier primaries in other states likely will dictate how important Indiana will be.

The organizing work may include the opening of a Trump campaign office in Evansville.

Rex Early, a former Indiana GOP chairman and state legislator who chairs Trumps campaign in the Hoosier State, said Tuesday he will recommend to the national campaign that it open an office here soon.

Im going to advise them that they get an office down in Evansville  maybe Fort Wayne and Evansville, Early said by telephone from Indianapolis. Weve got one in Carmel that Im going to recommend to (national Trump campaign officials) when they come to Indianapolis probably Saturday or Monday.

I think they do want an office in Evansville. They want a minimum of three offices in the state  up north, down south and in the Indianapolis area.

Things are happening fast for other presidential candidates in Evansville too.

Supporters of Democratic Sen. Bernie Sanders opened a local campaign headquarters last week at 312 N.W. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

While Clinton opened an Indianapolis office Tuesday, her campaign hasnt announced any specific plans for an office in Evansville. But Tony Goben, a local Clinton organizer, said it seems likely.

I just spoke briefly by email with (an official of the national campaign) and he just said, Stay tuned, Goben said. So, hopefully, itll be very, very soon. We were always kind of under the assumption that there would be (a local Clinton office), and I havent heard otherwise.

Indianas Democratic and Republican presidential primaries will stand alone on the primary calendar, ensuring that if Aprils contests enhance the Hoosier States importance, the world will be watching.

Feigenbaum said its too early to tell whether either partys Indiana primary will recreate the do-or-die intensity that characterized the 2008 Clinton-Obama contest.

But then, early voters such as Pinson arent thinking about events between now and May 3.

Those peoples votes wont be swayed by something that happens two or three weeks from now. They cant be swayed: Theyve already voted, Feigenbaum said. You want to watch for an early infusion of Democrats who vote in the Republican primary as an indication that people think (the GOP contest) is particularly salient.
Donald Trump

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump reacts to a compliment made about his kids by a questioner in the audience during a CNN town hall with Anderson Cooper in the historic Riverside Theatre, Tuesday, March 29, 2016, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Good Tuesday Morning, Fellow Seekers.

If Republican presidential frontrunner

Donald Trump

is credited with anything besides bringing the word "

Yoooge"

into the vernacular, it's his skill at tapping into a deep well of dissatisfaction in the Republican electorate.

And as the Manhattan billionaire heads into a potentially game-changing primary in Wisconsin* this Tuesday, a new Quinnipiac University poll provides some actual statistical insight into the unhappiness firing the average Trump supporter. And, more broadly, the American electorate, in general.

"Many American voters, especially Republicans, are dissatisfied with their own status and the status of the country, but by far the most dissatisfied are Donald Trump's supporters, who strongly feel that they themselves and the country are under attack," Quinnipiac pollster Douglas Schwartz said. "Trump supporters are true stand-outs. They want a leader who is very different from the leader sought by other voters, explaining the mystery many see behind Trump's support."

Fifty-seven percent of respondents of the new Quinnipiac poll either "strongly agreed" or "somewhat agreed" with the statement that "America has lost its identity."

Forty-three percent of respondents to the survey of 1,451 voters nationwide "somewhat" or "strongly" disagreed with the poll's tentpole question. The survey, conducted from March 16-21, had a margin of error of 2.6 percentage points.

Unsurprisingly, in the midst of a divisive election season, nearly 8 in 10 Republicans (79 percent) agreed with the question, compared to about a third of all Democratic respondents (36 percent).

Supporters of Trump, who has painted a gloomy picture of a nation in decline, and positioned himself as the man to save it, voiced the strongest agreement. Nearly nine in 10 Trump supporters (85 percent) voiced strong agreement, the poll found.

A similar number of all voters (57 percent) said they were falling behind financially, with more than two-thirds of Republicans (67 percent) and nearly half of Democrats (48 percent) voicing strong agreement.

Nearly 8 in 10 supporters (78 percent) of the Manhattan mogul strongly agreed they were falling behind financially.

The pattern continued, with 62 percent of all voters, including 85 percent of all Republicans and 40 percent of Democrats agree that their "beliefs and values are under attack."

Once again, Trump voters voiced the highest agreement at 91 percent, the poll found.

Among the poll's other findings:
Letters of Hope By Shelley McEwan (ZT)



"Love is patient, love is kind.... It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." Our Gran Lindsay, who lives in Burlington, Ontario, has this scripture printed on a magnet on her fridge. To visitors it is only a magnet; to our family it is a gentle reminder of a cherished family story.



It all began with a message in the town newspaper: "For Lindsay  Darling, I am well. Hope you and the children are fine." The year was 1943. A ham radio operator had picked up the fragmented message and directed it to the small-town newspaper.



Martha Lindsay had waited thirteen long months for word from the Red Cross that her husband, William Lindsay, had survived the sinking of the HMS Exeter on March 1, 1942. She did her best to stay busy with the children, always keeping William in her prayers. One afternoon, the Red Cross finally contacted her with the news that she had been praying for  a William Lindsay had been located and was currently a prisoner of war.

Martha's heart soared: William was alive. She had never given up hope. The Red Cross told Martha to begin writing messages to William  short messages, no more than twenty-five words, on a plain, white postcard  and forwarding them to Geneva. From there, the Red Cross would try to get the postcards to William.

Only one postcard a month was permitted. Martha began by telling William about the antics of their children, Billy and Catherine, who had been babies the last time he saw them. She also did her best to express her love and devotion to her husband on the small, white postcards. In just twenty-five words, she kept reminding him that he was loved. Two and a half agonizing years came and went without receiving an answer from William, but Martha's faith and hope never faltered.

One September morning in 1945, as Martha was getting ready to take the children to school, the mail carrier delivered a small scrap of paper through the mail slot. It had no envelope and no stamp. As she turned the paper over her heart began to pound. Soon her eyes filled with tears as she recognized William's handwriting: "Martha, I've been released. I'm coming home."

On a beautiful day in October 1945, William Lindsay returned home to his family. After their tears and joy had subsided, Martha asked William if he had received her cards. Sadly, she learned that not one card had found its way to him in the prisoner-of-war camp. Shortly after William's return home, there was a knock at the door one day. Martha answered and found a young sailor standing in the doorway.

"Excuse me, are you Martha Lindsay?" he asked.

"Yes I am," she replied.

"Was your husband a prisoner of war?"

"Yes," she whispered.

With tears in his eyes, he introduced himself. "My name is William Lindsay. I was a prisoner of war, too." He reached into his pocket and, very gently, handed her thirty tiny white postcards tied in a ribbon.

"I received one of these every month," the sailor told her. "They gave me the hope that helped me to survive. From the bottom of my heart I thank you."

Martha just as gently placed the cards back in his hands, and he held them to his heart.

"Love is patient, love is kind.... It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres" .



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Geoff Wright has headed up Dells Australia & New Zealand channel for the past year after a career heavily invested in partner strategy.

Journey

Im a New Zealander, but I spent quite a lot of time at Microsoft at the start of my career, in Europe where I worked in the channels team. I transferred to Australia about 1997, still working for Microsoft and running channels, SMB and anti-piracy.

I took some time off then started a consultancy, which grew into a company called Channel Enablers. Over 11 years, two partners and I grew that to an international business. Most of our business came from tier one vendors in Europe, Asia and the US. We sold very successfully in 2011.

I stayed on working with the organisation and Dell was my client. One day I went from being the consultant to the employee. It was a very easy transition.

Dells channel growth

What excited me about Dell at the time was that there was a fantastic opportunity. Dell in Australia had said, Channel will be the route to market for us that delivers growth.

It was recognised, but it wasnt implemented. You dont get those chances very often. When I was at Microsoft it was already a [channel] business. Its a big team and youre working on bits that add up to the whole picture. With Dells channel, we had an opportunity to build and grow. Wed been doing that, with double-digit growth every quarter.

Internationally, half Dells revenues come from the channel  that probably surprises people. We do have a history of being the direct organisation, but thats long gone.

Partner community

Currently we have 31 premier partners. In our preferred base were close to 100, in the registered base were just shy of 2,000. There are unregistered partners who buy through distribution as well. Now were working out how can we grow their businesses to be more successful, then checking if there are there more partners we need to engage with.

One thing that has been really important for us is not to look at the channel as one big thing, but to say we need to form true partnerships with a small number of partners.

We work with several distributors  Ingram, Avnet, Hills and Dicker Data. There are some differences in the product lines and were looking to really build that part of business. Dell has not only had a history of being direct to users, but also direct to partners.

Events

Its our plan this year to have a partner event. Weve actually had a history of doing technical partner events. Its absolutely critical for us to make sure our partners have the technical ability and the services ability to deliver solutions based on our technology.

On the other side of things, weve been very good at doing small-format executive sessions, where we have Peter Marrs, the leader of our enterprise group for APJ. Hes here this week and we ran a very intimate lunch with some of our key partners, talking about whats coming. You can imagine, there were lots of questions about things that may happen during the year with EMC.

Lessons

Channel partners do things for their reasons, not yours. Its not the vendors job to push the partners and to force them to do  or even ask them to do  things that are unnatural for them. What we have to do is make sure our programs, and the way we work with channel partners, grow their business. If you can grow your channel partners business, your piece of the pie grows too.

The ultimate goal working with channel partners is for your importance to the partner to be more than just about revenue that you create on your products. You want it to be the revenue and profit that they make on the solutions around your products and the influence you have on the [client] business.

I often see vendors who have a very transactional model and they look at every deal as being here or there. You cant do it.

RESUME
A Hong Kong man has built from scratch his own female robot modelled after a Hollywood actress.

According to a Reuters report, product and graphic designer Ricky Ma spent more than AU$65,000 and 18 months building the life-sized android on the balcony of his home.

"I figured I should just do it when the timing is right and realise my dream," Ma told Reuters. "If I realise my dream, I will have no regrets in life."

The amateur, with no prior engineering knowledge, had to study complex new concepts such as electromechanics and programming to build the robot, which is meant to resemble a Hollywood star that he declines to name.

Mark 1 [photo courtesy: Reuters]

Named Mark 1, the humanoid has long dark blonde hair and wears a grey skirt and a white crop top. The machine is capable of "simple movements" of its limbs and head, as well as smiling and responding to voice commands.

In response to the comment "Mark 1, you are so beautiful", the robot takes on a "natural-seeming smile" and responds with "Hehe, thank you."

Reuters reported that more than 70 percent of Mark 1's body was created using 3D printing technology. A three-dimensional skeleton holds up the humanoid under its silicone skin.

During construction, Ma told Reuters he struggled to find like-minded people in Hong Kong that were as interested as he was in humanoid building: "A lot of people would say things like, 'Are you stupid? This takes a lot of money. Do you even know how to do it? It's really hard.'"

Ma hopes the prototype will catch the attention of an investor, which will lead to further building.
Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca has suffered a serious server hack leading to the leaking of 2.6TB of data relating to some of the most powerful people in the world.

The cache of 11.5 million leaked files is being referred to as "the Panama Papers" and was obtained from an anonymous source by German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung. It was then shared by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists with the Guardian, BBC and other media outlets around the world.

Mossack Fonseca, the company the data originated from, is the fourth largest offshore law firm, according to The Guardian, and both it and the BBC claim the documents show the firm has "helped clients launder money, dodge sanctions and evade tax".

For its part, Mossack Fonseca says it has operated beyond reproach for the past 40 years and has never been charged with any criminal wrongdoing.

At 2.6TB, this is the largest data leak of the past several years - bigger than either WikiLeaks in 2010 or the NSA files in 2013.

It also seems that the method of extracting data, and potentially therefore the person who leaked it, is different too.

While the 2010 and 2013 US military and intelligence leaks were carried out by insiders (Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden respectively), Mossack Fonseca is blaming this leak on an attack on its email servers, according to Spanish news site El Espanol.

The website quoted a statement from the company saying it had opened an investigation after discovering that "unfortunately" it had suffered "an attack on its email server" and that it is taking "all necessary measures to prevent this from happening again".

These include reinforcing its security systems and bringing in specialist consultants to determine exactly what information the "unauthorised persons" have accessed.

More information on the content of the Panama Papers and their potential implications can be found at The Guardian and the BBC.
After 20 years of relative calm regarding the handling of personal data of EU citizens by U.S. companies, events over the past six months have instigated widespread reform. While the resolution is yet to be confirmed, the building blocks for a modern, cross-border data privacy agreement have begun to take shape.

The before

In 1995, the European Commission issued the EU Data Protection Directive, which at the time revolutionized the concept of personal information data protection. While components of the directive have demonstrated strong foresight, the need to update several of the directives provisions has grown glaringly apparent.

Perhaps the greatest deficiency of the directive is that it is only advisory legislation and does not require adoption by all EU member states. As a result, the application of privacy rules varies widely from one EU country to the next.

The possibility of having 28 separate versions of privacy law within the EU chilled the prospect of many U.S. companies conducting commercial transactions with EU citizens. This motivated the Safe Harbor provision, which permitted U.S. companies to, in effect, conduct one-stop shopping in guaranteeing the safe handling of personal information of EU citizens. This review process was done through self-certification.

This lack of oversight became widely exposed when Max Schrems won his case on Oct. 6, 2015 in the Court of Justice, which held that no EU provision had the outright authority to divest a member states Data Protection Commissioner of the ability to investigate a citizens complaint. The court took the matter one step further by ruling that the Safe Harbor agreement be permanently invalidated.

[ ALSO: Doom or delight? Court ruling on Safe Harbor brings uncertainty to privacy dealings ]

The Schrems ruling elicited great concern for those U.S. companies. The directive does provide alternative means of complying with protecting data, but none of them are universally practical for all businesses.

The now

On Feb. 2, 2016, a few days past the deadline set by the Article 29 Working Party, it was announced that the U.S. Department of Commerce and the EU Commission had reached agreement to a version of Safe Harbor 2.0 called the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield. On Feb. 29, 2016, the initial draft of the proposed Privacy Shield was publicly released.

It might be premature to dissect the minutia of the proposal, as it still must undergo several levels of review before it actually goes into effect. Nevertheless, the current draft provides insight into what the Department of Commerce and the EU Commission have already determined to be an acceptable compromise.

Many elements of the Privacy Shield were included to counter deficiencies the EU Court of Justice mentioned in Schrems. For example, the Shield requires each U.S. company possessing data of an EU citizen to establish an internal and readily-available method to receive and process complaints free of charge to EU citizens. There is also a precise timeline for complaint response. To counter one of the greatest concerns raised in Schrems, U.S. law enforcement seeking access to such data must give EU citizens a method of legal redress, as is presently underway with amendments to the Judiciary Redress Act proposed by the Obama Administration on Feb. 24, 2016, and forwarded to Congress.

The self-certification process appears likely to continue after approval of the Shield, but under much stricter oversight. The U.S. Department of Commerce will be required to conduct yearly review of the efficiency of the Shields operation and verify the applications of U.S. companies claiming compliance. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission will also participate in this overview process. EU citizens cannot complain directly to these agencies, but can file a complaint with their local Data Protection Authority who can then approach the U.S. agencies on the citizens behalf.

New processes will be created to further ensure EU citizen protection. The U.S. State Department must create an Ombudsperson mechanism, independent of any U.S. federal agency, to also handle complaints from EU citizens, to advise such citizens as to their legal remedies, and to publicly publish the results of its investigations in the Federal Register. Complaints incapable of being resolved by any of the aforementioned methods will be forwarded to binding arbitration, paid from a fund to be established intended to minimize or eliminate any cost to complaining citizens.

Until the formal adoption of the Privacy Shield, however, U.S. companies continue to be at increased risk of privacy violations while handling and/or processing EU citizens personal data during the period between the abolition of Safe Harbor and the passage of the Shield and should, therefore, tread carefully. Adding to the uncertainty is the current consideration of the proposed General Data Protection Regulation, intended to supersede the directive, now pending before the EU Parliament. And how privacy versus security concerns over such terrorist incidents as the one that occurred in Brussels might influence the pending decisions of EU government officials is impossible to accurately factor into this mix.
Steve Santorelli became a police officer in 1994, working in London, UK. He worked his way up through various detective grades and branches until he joined Scotland Yards Computer Crime Unit in 2000.

Steve Santorelli, former Scotland Yard Detective Sergeant

During the following five years he specialized in malware and botnet cases and reached the rank of Detective Sergeant. Santorelli received several awards and commendations from various international law enforcement agencies and judges. He was also an associate instructor for the CISSP certification.

He then left law enforcement to join the Microsoft Internet Crimes Investigation Team, based in Redmond, Wash. He spent the next two years investigating botnet cases which were then referred out to law enforcement officers around the world for further work and arrests.

[ MORE ON CSO: Accenture managing director talks IoT risks and cyber insurance ]

During this time he also developed the International Botnet Task Force, a unique group of industry and law enforcement from 35 countries, dedicated to working together to combat botnets and ruin the lives of botherders. He was also the lead investigator on the Zotob case.

He left Microsoft in 2007 to join Team Cymru, a small group of researchers who work to discover who is behind Internet crime and why they carry out their activities. Still actively involved in investigations, he is the director of analysis and outreach, enabling him to use Team Cymrus unique position and insight to improve lives around the world. He runs a series of conferences around the world each year where infosec and law enforcement specialists share case studies they have work recently.

You were a detective sergeant with the Scotland Yard Computer Crime Unit when cybercrime was just starting to make its way into the minds of the public, legislators and industry, what was it like being on the bleeding edge of a new law enforcement challenge?

Hot and frustrating. Hot because we were working under the auspices of the Fraud Squad in standard police offices, with HVAC systems that simply could not cope with all the computers we had running in our labs. I think we would have had to arrest ourselves under health and safety legislation if we tried to do that today. Frustrating because hardly anyone wanted to report any cybercrime and, when they did and we managed to make an arrest, the far harder part of the case was to persuade the authorities to take the case to a jury.

Until we catch up, we're always going to be one massive step behind them, and I don't relish that job security.

Law enforcement worldwide are still, to this day, working a 19th century process that simply doesn't map to a 21st century criminal evolution. Things have improved, especially when it comes to having geeky cops who have grown up with this technology and care passionately about the Internet, but we still have a long way to go, overall, in how we disrupt and deter criminals.

Having worked in the private, government and not-for-profit sectors, from a cybersecurity perspective what are the advantages and challenges for each organization structure?

It is pretty simple, and the key reason why so many of us spend so much time trying to bridge the gaps and bring both sides to the table: the cops are the only group that can make arrests, industry is (still, to a large extent) the only group that has the expertise to track down the miscreants and the NFP sector has the remit to build capacity in places that lack the expertise around the world. Separately, we're screwed. But combined, with a little luck, a lot of trust and sometimes a little beer, we can really make inroads in this fight.

You are the director of analysis and outreach for Team Cymru, a not-for-profit cybersecurity research firm, could you tell us a bit about how your firm came to be and what it does?

We were founded over a decade ago by four geeks who became obsessed with understanding the motivations behind the early denial of service and malware attacks. What makes us unique is that, from the very early days, we have been entirely mission focused as opposed to profit centered. Our motive has always been to 'save and improve human lives' and we really cleave to that in everything we do. We have the support we need to do (somewhat) crazy things that don't generate any profit, but benefit the infosec community and frankly, need to be done by someone to prevent the criminals from utterly ruining the Internet for the next generation. That's why we get to attract so many talented people: you bring your 'A-game' every day and you get to really see the difference you make to the Internet, not just a spreadsheets bottom line.

[ ANOTHER Q&A: Aetna CISO talks about threat intelligence and enterprise risk management ]

4) What are your thoughts about the recent cyberattacks on the Ukrainian power grid and Kiev Airport? Are we seeing the start of cyberterrorism or is this nation state posturing using vulnerable technology as a diplomatic weapon? Perhaps a bit of both?

It's an inevitable evolution in motivation but one that is actually a natural progression of the second oldest profession in the world. We've been seeing this kind of attack since the Georgian and Balkan conflicts, the attack surface is now much broader and the skillset needed by the attacks is commensurately lower in that they can outsource a lot of the tools needed, buy them in or simply deploy automated tools to look for that single mistake that gives them the foothold they need. I often reflect back on this quote from the IRA after the Brighton Bombing: Today we were unlucky. But remember, we only have to be lucky once  you will have to be lucky always....its as relevant today in the cybercrime fight as it was back then, all it takes is one error on our part, one missed anomaly and we might miss our chance to prevent something horrific.

A question you yourself would like to be asked Is there any hope for the future of the Internet?

Not really. We have been talking about this for years and the fundamental dichotomy relates to funding and collaboration. The miscreants are light years ahead of the Internet security community in terms of their R&D budgets and the maturity of their marketing and sales operations. They don't need the MLAT procedure and a book worth of paperwork for the simplest of tasks.

According to the U.S. State Department, a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties (MLATs) allow generally for the exchange of evidence and information in criminal and related matters.



We're struggling every day just to get people to talk to each other and share the lessons they have learned, whereas our targets have entire forums devoted to sharing best practice in how to maximize their profits and minimize their exposure to the risks we bring to their business models. Until we catch up, we're always going to be one massive step behind them, and I don't relish that job security. The only saving grace comes back to the same IRA quote as I mentioned above: good cybercrime investigation is about turning over 10,000 little rocks looking for the one mistake that the miscreant made; so really they have to be lucky always, we only have to get lucky once.
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In the shadow of Stamford Hospitals new patient tower nearing completion, a onetime GE Capital employee has opened a new holistic health clinic based on Ayurveda, an ancient discipline from India that combines massage, herbal treatments, nutrition, yoga and other techniques to promote health.

Under founder Moumita Roy, Kairali World of Ayurveda is holding a grand opening on April 11 at 56 West Broad St. in Stamford, with Mayor David Martin expected among those in attendance. It is the first U.S. location for the company, which is based in India where Roy grew up and was trained in information technology. After she and her spouse moved to New Canaan, Roy held IT roles at Aetna and Affinion Group, a Stamford company that runs programs designed to boost customer loyalty for corporations, before joining GE Capital for three years.
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BRIDGEPORT  Mayor Joe Ganim on Monday proposed a $560 million city budget for next year that closes deficits, calls for union concessions and freezes wages.

What Ganim didnt say is how much the 2017 spending plan  representing a roughly $20 million increase in spending  would cost residents in taxes.

This budget is balanced and balances the hangover from the last budget, Ganim told the City Council during a short presentation at the close of the council meeting.

This minimizes spending in a year the city is faced with revaluation, Ganim said. The only increase is in public safety, where we are adding classes to add 100 officers this fiscal year. We are also relying on the state to follow the commitments made.

Under a recently completed, long-delayed revaluation of city property, Bridgeports Grand List dropped by $1 billion. City officials, while not ready to reveal a new mill rate based on Ganims proposed budget, conceded the current rate of 42.2 mills would would rise by 15 percent if proposed savings and union concessions are not adopted.

Council members were mostly left scratching their heads over the $560.3 million combined city and education budget offered by Ganim. The mayor proposed $227 million in education spending, essentially the same amount as this year, which is $15 million less than the Board of Education requested.

Council members were scheduled to receive a copy of the budget on Tuesday.

I dont know whats in it, said council member John Olson, D-132, noting he has not seen the document. But I dont see how the mill rate can be maintained even with what hes talking about. I just hope the rise will not be that bad.

Council member Anthony Paoletto, D-138, said, Im worried about an increase. Im looking for any way to make sure that does not go up. I cant afford it.

Big gap to close

Although Ganim didnt promise there will not be a tax increase  especially given the revenue loss caused by revaluation and a current $20 million operating deficit  he said hes is doing all he can to find savings.

Theres such a big gap because we did not get realistic numbers from the previous administration, Ganim told Hearst Connecticut Media before addressing the council. They overestimated revenues and failed to budget for required pension payments.

As a result, Ganim said, he has put in cost-saving measures which include layoffs, reduced overtime and a lid on discretionary spending. He is also seeking union givebacks and offering early retirement packages he said would reduce the deficit to about $10 million before the City Council approves a final budget in June.

This is our first budget, Ganim said. A lot of tough decisions and hard work went into it.

Asked about the mill rate, Ganim said it would depend on variables such as state aid, incoming revenues and cost-savings.

David Walker, a local resident and former U.S. comptroller general, told the council he forsaw a 17.64 percent increase in the 42.2 tax rate, which translates to about seven mills.

The only way to keep the mill rate down is by cutting spending, Walker said. He said prior administrations have failed to do that.

Silver lining of car savings

Ganim noted that residents would get a break on car taxes beginning July 1 because of state law passed last year that caps car taxes at 32 mills in the coming years and 29 mills the following year. For Bridgeport, thats a 10 mill reduction from the current mill rate of 42.

The state is making up losses suffered by towns and cities due to lower car tax rates.

There is a silver lining, the mayor said. Because of our state Legislature there will be a 10-mill rate reduction in auto taxes for the first time I can remember.

The city projects the reduction would save residents $80, on average, on their annual car taxes.

So far, the deficit the Ganim administration attributes to former Mayor Bill Finch has resulted in 80 layoffs, and the mayor has warned of more possibly coming.

To avoid that, Ganim said, he met with the the leaders of 12 city unions Monday afternoon and urged them to take a zero percent salary increase this year and 10 unpaid furlough days. Five days could be taken this fiscal year, ending June 30, and the other five next year, he said

The mayor is also offering early retirement to any city employee with 25 years of service or who is 55 years old with 15 years of service. The package provides a $15,000 cash payment and as a year of paid health insurance.

At least 150 of the citys 1,300 employees qualify, city officials said. All of them would receive an offer letter by weeks end, Ganim said. If 30 people accept the package, its estimated the city would save $2.5 million over the next two fiscal years.

The furloughs and zero percent salary increase could save another $2.5 million.

Ken Flatto, Fairfields former first selectman and Ganims finance director, said the mayor has asked the state legislative delegation for more aid as well as a reduction or modification of the annual required pension payments the city must make.

Were trying everything we can to keep taxes in line, Flatto said.
TRUMBULL  The Town Council on Monday night approved a wastewater agreement between Trumbull and city of Bridgeport.

Before casting a final vote, the council amended the agreement so Trumbulls approval would be contingent on the Bridgeport City Council also accepting the deal. The vote to approve passed with no opposition and three abstentions.

Trumbull Town Attorney Dennis Kokenos said details of the agreement would not be released until the Bridgeport City Council approves it.

The agreement is kept confidential by the wishes of the city of Bridgeport, Kokenos said.

The Trumbull Board of Finance, which attended the meeting because the agreement involves a transfer of funds, voted to transfer $852,921 from the Water Pollution Control Authoritys general fund to an expense account.

Before the Town Council voted on Monday, two Trumbull residents spoke at the meeting.

I urge you not to go forward with a vote tonight, but to give our citizens the time to study the proposal and to comment, said Vicki Tesoro, a former candidate for first selectman.

Both municipalities have been mandated to report to the judge on the status of their contract approvals at a court hearing on April 18.

Bridgeport has processed Trumbulls sewage since the 1960s, through various agreements. The neighbors have been fighting since 2009, when Bridgeports WPCA terminated a 12-year-old contract that gave Trumbull residents a rate discounted by 13.5 percent.

Trumbull First Selectman Tim Herbst had argued that since his constituents toilets, sinks and showers only drain into one of Bridgeports two wastewater treatment plants, Trumbulls 9,300 customer households should not pay the same fees charged to the citys 30,000 households.

But Bridgeport and Trumbull need each other, at least when it comes to sewage. The city cannot afford to lose the revenue from Trumbull, and the towns other options  building its own wastewater treatment plant or partnering with other municipalities  are too expensive or too complicated.

Staff writer Brian Lockhart contributed to this story.
WASHINGTON  U.S. Rep. Jim Himes has returned from an intelligence-related trip to the Middle East with a vivid picture of an Islamic State that is down, but by no means out.

Its hard to predict, said Himes, D-Conn., who spent four days on the ground in Saudi Arabia and Lebanon. Theyre losing on the battlefield but opening up new fronts through sheer, out-and-out terror, principally in Europe.

For the Islamic State, Europe is a more inviting target than the U.S. because theres a larger, more-disaffected population of Middle Eastern immigrants, and intelligence services dont hold a candle to ours, Himes said.

Himes is a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. He was there to assess conditions on the ground in two particularly distinct locales.

Saudi Arabia is more and more embroiled in fighting radical Islam in Yemen, and is feeling the heat through once-unthinkable acts of terror on its own soil. But the Saudis are committed to proselytizing Wahhabism, a conservative strain of Islam that Himes described as xenophobic and medieval.

Lebanon is more up-to-date, but is consumed by conflict in neighboring states, particularly Syria. In addition, Lebanon hosts 1.6 million refugees in a nation about the same size as Connecticut.

Can you imagine that in Connecticut? Himes said.

Notwithstanding the public focus on terror attacks in Brussels and Paris, the U.S. is not immune from the fallout. But there is a major difference between terrorism thats part of a network and terrorism inspired by internet postings.

If you do have a big network, were probably going to find you, Himes said. We do it every day.

But it becomes more difficult when confronting Islamic State-inspired mass-shooters, such as those who killed 14 in San Bernardino, Calif., last December.

If youre an angry individual with easy access to firearms, the chances are you can do a lot of damage, Himes said.
Ned Gerard / Hearst Connecticut Media

STAMFORD  Gov. Dannel P. Malloy will be the keynote speaker for the 150th anniversary commencement at King Low Heywood Thomas School this June.

As a Stamford native, I witnessed the incredible growth Malloy brought to this city as a four-term mayor, Tom Main, head of school at King, said in a statement. There is no better historian and friend to address our community. We think its particularly meaningful for Gov. Malloy to be here on our 150th commencement for a number of reasons, but most specifically, his stature in the state of Connecticut, and his deep roots here in Stamford. Gov. Malloy's presence will add to the excitement and meaning of a ceremony that is already extremely significant.
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With tax refunds heading into bank accounts of millions of Connecticut residents, it's a shame those funds won't go as far as one would hope.

This according to a recent study from financial website WalletHub that found Connecticut taxpayers don't get a lot of bang for their buck. Connecticut fell among the bottom 10 states when it came to return on investment.

The study covered two main categories: Total taxes per capita and overall government services. Unfortunately for Connecticut, it wasn't the overall government services that brought the state down. It was it's rank on taxes per capita. Among the 50 states, Connecticut ranked 47 in taxes.

The site recently ranked Connecticut as having one of the highest state property and vehicle tax rates.

There were some highlights for the Nutmeg State though. Connecticut was ranked first in water quality and fourth in lowest percent of residents in poverty, behind Alaska, Maryland, and New Hampshire.

Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy announced in February 2016 that the state had effectively eliminated homelessness among the states veteran population through it's availability of services for veterans.

Richard Gershon, professor of law at the University of Mississippi School of Law, told the WalletHub that taxpayers can still be happy and healthy even if facing a higher tax burden.

"The data definitely indicates that higher tax states...provide a greater level of services and have healthier and better educated populations," Gershon said. "There have been studies showing the happiest and healthiest people live in higher tax nations, as well, provided that the citizens believe that they are getting a good [return on investment]."

The worst states from WalletHub's study were North Dakota, Alaska, and Hawaii, rankings among the worst taxes per capita and available government services. The top states New Hampshire, South Dakota, and Colorado, who each scored well in the two categories.

Another notable top state in the study was Florida. Florida Gov. Rick Scott has led efforts recently to woe businesses away from Connecticut, including Yale University, General Electric, and other high profile businesses.

To compile the rankings, WalletHub looked at all 50 states in the areas of education, health, safety, economy and infrastructure and pollution. An overall average score was given to each state and ranked accordingly.

Click here to check out WalletHub's full report. To see how Connecticut compared to other states' return on investment, check out the sideshow above.
Every entrepreneurs dream is to build a business and scale it to ridiculous heights. Google now sees more than 3.5 billion searches every day, but the company started with almost zero. Yet, while the idea of having billions of customers is appealing, most of us also realize its unrealistic.

Related: Customer Retention Is No Accident -- How Small Business Can Get It Right

With luck, you can reasonably aim for hundreds, thousands or -- if you're especially lucky and smart -- millions of customers, depending on what it is youre selling. And it's those thousands or millions of customers that businesses have in mind when they think about customer service and retention.

However, theres a flaw in this approach; and it leads many startups down a dangerous path. In reality, those thousands or millions of customers arent nearly as important as the handful you start out with. Though that handful pales in comparison to your eventual sheer numbers, they are your "first generation of customers" and by far the most important.

You need to treat them right if you want to succeed.

Proof of the model

Despite all the great resources available for writing an effective business plan, everything youve researched, brainstormed and hashed out is still just on paper. Your market research might suggest that youll kick up sufficient demand and that users will have a use for your product or service for years, but what real evidence do you have?

Your first generation of customers will be the ones putting your model to the test, while you still have the flexibility to make changes, as necessary. If you find it nearly impossible to bring on or retain customers with your current plan, you'll know you need to go back to the drawing board.

Working out the kinks

Lets assume your model is solid and you manage to attract a small group of clients to serve as your first generation. Again, no matter how extensively youve planned all this, you are going to see flaws in your products and services.

These early customers will be pivotal in helping you uncover and address those flaws. So, observe them closely; see how they use your products and services, and gather as much feedback as possible. This beta test of your business will help you learn which processes need further development or refinement, and allow you to build a more stable enterprise.

Customer loyalty

Your first generation of customers may also have a stronger inherent sense of loyalty to your brand. Consider a scenario in which clients join up with you during your early stages, then stay with you as you scale on multiple orders of magnitude.

Youll probably lock them in at lower pricing and do them favors, and theyll be so used to doing business with you that theyll never want to leave. Essentially, if you can keep your early clients through the rough initial stages, youll have a good shot at keeping them for life.

Related: Why the First Call From a Customer Is the Most Important

Testimonials and brand evangelism

One of the biggest influencers in consumer decision making is social proof. Basically, if people see that others have used and enjoy a particular product or service, theyll be more likely to buy it. Yet, when you start out, youll probably have a zero amount of this "social proof," and that will weigh heavily on your ability to attract new customers.

Once you have thousands, this won't be an issue. The pivotal stage, then, is scoring those first few dozen testimonials and brand evangelists. And the only ones capable of stepping into these roles will be members of your first generation of customers.

Decreasing volatility

We may live in a golden age of entrepreneurship, but that doesnt mean business ownership is any less volatile. During the first few months (and, sometimes, years) of your business, youll be in a state of heavy flux -- your products, team members, organizational structure and brand will all likely change. As a result, you cant depend on these constructs to keep your customers around for you; you have to prioritize these people to a position that's above these items, and connect with them on a human level.

A more positive customer experience

It doesnt take much to give your first generation of customers a better overall experience, or to use them as guinea pigs for your business model. In fact, you can accomplish most of these goals by simply paying attention.

Listen to them when they have feedback. Call them up to make sure things are going well. If something isnt going well, fix it. Go above and beyond the call of duty to make sure theyre satisfied. These are basic principles that can help you impress and retain that all-too important first generation.

Related: How I Won My First Big Customer

From there, scaling won't always be easy, but it will be relatively straightforward. With your first generation taken care of, youll have a suitable blueprint to use on your subsequent generations of customers. Theyll likely respond the same way your first generation did, and if youre successful, you can repeat these processes for bigger and bigger circles, until your startup is no longer a startup.

Related:

Video Marketing: How to Stretch Your Dollars

3 Ways to Make Captivating Videos

You Can Run a Great TV Campaign Without TV



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Cuba and Belgium to strengthen commercial bonds

Submitted by: Juana

Europe

Business and Economy

04 / 05 / 2016



Entrepreneurs from Cuba and Belgium will meet on Tuesday in this capital to find new business opportunities, on the occasion of the visit to the island of Geert Bourgeois, Minister-President of the Government of Flanders.

According to the Chamber of Commerce of the Republic of Cuba, the two parties will hold a bilateral forum on Tuesday at the Melia Habana Hotel, where they will update their commercial interests towards promoting bilateral ties.

Executives of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Investment will present visitors the Cuban business portfolio, which combines 326 projects estimated at eight billion dollars.

The delegation headed by Bourgeois is composed of by representatives of 26 companies in Flanders and Brussels-Capital, two of the three regions that make up the Belgian territory, announced to the press Patrick Van Gheel, ambassador of that European country to Havana.

According to the official, the visit of this delegation will be a favorable occasion to identify opportunities for cooperation and investment in areas such as construction, chemical industry and port dredging.

Belgium is the fifth largest European customer of Cuba, which imports mainly oil derivatives and tobacco and exports food, machinery and chemicals and other items, according to data provided by the Belgian diplomatic mission in Havana.

Standing out among the 13 companies currently approved in the Special Development Area of Mariel are of two Belgian nationality: BDC-Log and BDC-Tec, the first focused on the logistics sector and the second in high technology.
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.
Leesburg Electric: With prices soaring, late fees are being waived

Prices are up, so Leesburg Electric has decided that, as of Oct. 1, late fees will be waived.
University of Memphis student Amy Halper, at home in Illinois during Spring Break with her family dog, Boone, hopes to soon be able to afford a service dog to help her cope with epileptic seizures.

Brittany Wolfe University of Memphis student Amy Halper, at home in Illinois during Spring Break with her family dog, Boone, hopes to soon be able to afford a service dog to help her cope with epileptic seizures.

A bed rail with mesh netting is firmly placed on the side of sophomore Amy Halperas bed so she wonat roll off during one of her seizures and injure herself.

Halper, a University of Memphis student, has been suffering from epileptic seizures since June 2015.

A former cheerleader, she has always been the picture of health, but now she takes up to 34 pills a day and pricks her finger 10-25 times a day to make sure her blood sugar doesnat get too low.

She is unable to shower without letting someone know for fear of having a seizure and drowning, and her sense of independence has diminished quickly in the past nine months, which is why Halper is petitioning for a service dog.

In January, Halper published her link for donations for a service dog on Facebook and has received $1,084 from her Alpha Delta Pi sorority sisters, family and friends.

However, obtaining a fully trained epilepsy service dog will cost $25,000.

aIam from Algonquin, Illinois,a Halper said. aMy family is literally nine hours away, so it can get really lonely. It can also get really scary, and a service dog would help. This would be the beginning for me to regain my independence and become comfortable with being alone again.a

Getting a service dog wouldnat just affect Halper but also her housemates, senior psychology major Stephanie Clein said.

aA seizure dog would be able to detect if Amyas about to seize or if sheas over stimulated by her triggers, which are really loud things or being really cold, and it would alert the dog that sheas in trouble,a Clein said.

Clein describes how it would help everyone within the house and take a lot of pressure off of the other girls because they wouldnat always have to be on guard for when she is about to have a seizure.

aOnce, Amy was seizing so hard that the rest of the housemates and I had to form a human barricade so that she wouldnat bang her head into the wall,a Clein said. aIt gets rough sometimes, but everyone has her job. We have a general plan of what to do.a

A service dog would also benefit Halper in her academic life.

It would provide her professors with a better sense of the severity of Halperas condition and to expect that she will sometimes miss class because of her late trips to the emergency room.

The service dog would be allowed to accompany her to the emergency room, as well as doctor appointments, which would give her peace of mind and a sense of companionship.

Despite the struggles of living with epilepsy, Halper remains encouraged and hopeful saying, aIam moving out of the sorority house next year, and my biggest hope is to have a service dog to provide me with dependability, comfort and protection."
Twenty-two-year-old Jonathan Timberlake wants to make his own name in the music industry but isnt bothered by comparisons to his brother, Justin. He and Liv Miraldi met at Belmont University and released their first single Poison in the Blood last summer.

Jonathan Timberlake Twenty-two-year-old Jonathan Timberlake wants to make his own name in the music industry but isnt bothered by comparisons to his brother, Justin. He and Liv Miraldi met at Belmont University and released their first single Poison in the Blood last summer.

Jonathan Timberlake, 22-year-old younger brother of superstar Justin Timberlake, could sit around worrying that people think he is getting his music career handed to him on a silver platter.

But Timberlake is too busy doing what he loves a writing and playing music.

aFirst of all, I think the music industry is one of the hardest industries to break into no matter who you are,a the native Memphian, who graduated from Evangelical Christian School in 2012 said. aYou can be the most well-connected person and never make it. You can also be the person that doesnat know a soul in the industry, and you can end up with a huge career.a

Timberlake said there are advantages and disadvantages to having a famous brother.

He said he could spend hours naming ways that his situation is harder and easier than the average young musician.

aHowever, at the end of the day, rather than driving myself crazy by micro-analyzing my situation, I just want to make music. And thatas precisely what I do,a Timberlake said.

After high school, he attended Belmont University in Nashville for two years, majoring in music business.

Then he took a break from school for a couple of years so he could focus on making music.

Timberlake made his debut as a producer with a new Nashvillebased artist Liv Miraldi (LIV). The duoas single, aPoison in the Blood,a came out last summer.

aIn a music history class my sophomore year at Belmont University, I met Liv Miraldi,a Timberlake said. aAfter a couple conversations, we thought it might be worth a shot to try and write together. That first cowrite went really well, and we eventually decided to work as partners, which led to the creation of the artist known as LIV. Since that time, weave continued working together, developing our sound, figuring out the business and working on branding. Itas been an incredible learning experience, and Iam sure itall continue for quite some time.a

Timberlake doesnat waste time worrying about whether his work will be compared to his brother Justinas.

aWe live in a world of comparison,a he said. aEven if we donat intend to, we constantly compare people to other people. Now, in my personal experience, Iave found that I canat let myself be bothered by the thought of being compared to Justin. Itas happened my whole life. Itas probably happening right now, as people read this. Itas out of my control, though, and I canat expect people to do otherwise.a

Music has been a part of Timberlakeas life since he was born.

When he was only 5 years old, he received his first drum set.

He began learning guitar, piano and bass when he was 12.

aItas something thatas been a part of my nature,a Timberlake said. aIave never known it to be otherwise.a

He constantly found himself being influenced by a vast array of sounds.

He was extremely close with his grandfather on his motheras side, who loved music.

aWhenever I rode in the car with him anywhere, he always had either the oldies station or a gospel cassette tape on,a Timberlake said. aI canat say I was the most die-hard fan of either at the time, but it undoubtedly shaped my mind for music.a

Having grown up in Memphis, Timberlake has also been inspired by the blues factor.

His uncle is a professional bassist in the Memphis area and Timberlake has watched him play blues gigs his whole life.

His father, his older brother Justin and his own personal discoveries are where he has found the most influence, Timberlake said.

aMy father gave me a pretty extensive introduction into the world of classic rock and all the music from the 60s, 70s and 80s,a Timberlake said. aJustin, other than having influenced me with his own music, taught me a greater appreciation for the production aspect of music. He introduced me to artists anywhere from DaAngelo to Radiohead.a

In his own search for music, Jonathan has been infatuated with and inspired by every genre under the sun.

aWhether itas pop, hip hop, metal, jazz or Gregorian chants, thereas always something that can be taken away and appreciated,a Timberlake said.

He will be going back to school to finish his degree through the prestigious Berklee School of Musicas online music business program.

aMy dream job is to do precisely what Iam doing now, producing music and playing shows, but on a bigger scale,a Timberlake said. aI want to continue making music. I want to work with more people and play more shows. I want to learn from everyone I can and hopefully, I can make some money to buy my groceries in the process.a
State boards of education can play a number of significant roles in protecting student data privacy, from direct oversight to public communications to federal advocacy, according to a new report from their national membership group.

In fact, state boards are already major players on the issue: In three-dozen states, the state board has at least some authority over education data privacy, according to the report, titled Policymaking on Education Data Privacy: Lessons Learned.

Issued by the National Association of State Boards of Education, the document is based on the groups work providing technical assistance, convening meetings, and publishing analyses on what has become a hot-button issue in K-12 education over the past three years. Since 2013, 34 states have passed new student-data-privacy-related laws, and a number of federal bills have been introduced in Congress.

Among the major lessons learned identified by NASBE:

State boards of education have a responsibility to ensure the security of state and local student data collection. That can include ensuring compliance with existing laws, policies, and regulations; reshaping policy; raising public awareness; and, in five states, superseding some aspects of state student privacy laws on a case-by-case basis. (One example of that latter role is Oklahoma, where the state board of education intervened when a newly enacted law was interpreted in a way that would have prevented more than half the states districts from releasing graduation rates.)

Public communication is key. Here, NASBE echoes an argument long made by proponents of educational data use, that parents just need to know why schools want to collect and share data about their children. (Its an argument that many of the more vocal parent activists on the issue angrily reject as patronizing, by the way.) The NASBE report cites the example of Delaware, where an analysis of statewide data found that many college-ready students were not applying to and enrolling in college, prompting the state to work with the College Board on what ended up being a successful effort to increase college enrollment among these students.

On a related note, transparency is also key. State boards of education can take a leading role in advocating for easy-to-understand information that helps parents and others learn how data are being used and protected, according to the report.

Student-data privacy laws should be updated regularly. According to NASBE, nine states have adopted laws based on Oklahomas Student DATA Act (which itself was based on model legislation advanced by the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council), and 10 states have adopted laws based on Californias Student Online Personal Information Protection Act (developed with heavy input from advocacy groups such as Common Sense Media.) But both lawsas well as other locally developed state statuteshave some gray areas. One example: What, exactly, counts as targeted advertising? Because the issues are tricky and constantly evolving, state boards of education would be wise to use their influence and ability to make new rules to ensure that student privacy laws and regulations are updated so they adequately balance privacy and the use of data in education, NASBE concludes.

Watch out for unintended consequences. The report includes a laundry list of examples of problems caused by imprecise legislative language and lack of attention to implementation issues, both with state laws (in Florida and Louisiana, for example) and federal proposals. One way to avoid such problems in the future, NASBE concludes? Give district stakeholders, including classroom teachers, chief technology officers, and superintendents, ample opportunity to weigh in on how bills would affect educational work"before the bills are passed.

Dont forget training. Most data breaches are the result of human error, NASBE contends, but few bills and laws mention (let alone provide funds for) training for the K-12 staffers who will be handling student data.

NASBEs director of data and technology Amelia Vance, who authored the report, will be unveiling it at the groups annual legislative conference in Washington, D.C. Tuesday. Afterwards, Ill be moderating a panel discussion on the issues with Vance, Paige Kowalski of the Data Quality Campaign, and Elana Zeide, a privacy research fellow at New York Universitys Information Law Institute.

See also:
A federal Preschool Development Grant allowed Nevada to enroll 782 4-year-olds in full-day preschool last year, according to an April 1 announcement by the Nevada Department of Education.

Nevada Ready! as the states preschool program is known, was meant to enroll 900 students in full-day preschool, but that goal wasnt quite met. The schedule outlined in the Nevada Ready! State Preschool Grant Overview, calls for 660 existing half-day preschool seats to be converted to full-day seats and 240 new seats to be added.

Im optimistic that the next three years of funding will continue to provide meaningful support in areas such as literacy to children and their families, said state Superintendent, Steve Canavero said in a statement . The state plan is to have added 1,560 students by then and to convert 1,430 slots to full-day from half-day.

Nevada received $43 million over three years from the U.S. government in December 2014. Nevadas state legislature agreed, in mid-2015, to a match of $23 million in state funding over that same time period to expand its program for 4-year-olds from low-income families. The federal grant and state funding will be used over a three year period ending in fiscal year 2018-19.

Nevada Department of Education officials estimate that total enrollment will grow to 2,990 over the next three years.
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Domestic abuse campaigner, Erin Pizzey

As someone who has spent more than 40 years helping victims of domestic violence, I found Sundays dramatic climax in The Archers deeply upsetting  and a travesty of real-life abuse stories.

Helen Titchener finally cracked after all her torment. Her husband, Rob, had been wickedly controlling, ordering her what to wear, tracking her whereabouts and, apparently, sexually abusing her.

On Sunday, we heard Rob handing Helen a kitchen knife, saying it was her only way out . . . before she stabbed him.

Its a story that has gripped the nation, brought in thousands of new listeners and sent Twitter into overdrive as arguments rage over whether Helen was right to attack her abusive husband.

The storyline has been divisive. But it has also, to my mind, been irresponsible, sensationalist and completely unlike genuine domestic violence episodes.

Yes, I know this is only a soap opera, and the Helen/Rob affair greatly added to its dramatic tension. But given my experience in this field, I believe it could also encourage other people to take a knife to their partner.

Helen fans have bombarded Twitter, saying Rob deserved his fate. But does anyone actually deserve to be stabbed, however badly theyve behaved?

It was in 1971 that I set up what has been called the first womens refuge in the world, Chiswick Womens Aid, now known as Refuge. Since then, I have come across thousands of victims of domestic violence (I still help them) and many cases where an abuser has himself  or herself  been attacked in return.

On Sunday, listeners heard Rob handing Helen a kitchen knife, saying it was her only way out . . . before she stabbed him

In very few of those cases would I justify such vengeful violence. Only if the victim is on the verge of being killed can it be right to stab, or kill, the attacker.

Very often, all is not what it seems. I remember one instance where a woman had stabbed a man in an artery, claiming it was self-defence. Only later did it emerge that shed stabbed him because he was leaving her for another woman.

If people start following the example in The Archers, we could have more deaths on our hands. Imagine an impressionable listener who is being abused by her partner. She now might think its OK to attack him with the breadknife  when what she should do is leave him.

In fact, that is precisely what most victims of domestic violence do  they leave. Male victims are less likely to leave  because there are no refuges for men  but female victims of violence almost always do.

True, they may put up with a spell of bullying behaviour or a single attack, but they tend to leave soon afterwards. Normal women dont hang on in there like Helen Titchener has.

She is a strong-minded young woman with more escape mechanisms that most: she has family and friends she can find refuge with; she is intelligent; and, in real life, she would have left Rob ages ago.

But then, in real life, victims of domestic abuse arent chasing listener figures. The makers of The Archers have strung out the Rob and Helen story not to help real victims, but to boost the popularity of the programme.

They have tried to justify the storyline by tweeting the details of a domestic violence action line. And thousands of listeners have donated more than 96,000 to a JustGiving page, The Helen Titchener Rescue Fund, which will hand the money to Refuge  none of which will go to male victims of domestic abuse.

Its a story that has gripped the nation, brought in thousands of new listeners and sent Twitter into overdrive as arguments rage over whether Helen was right to attack her abusive husband

That action line, and that money, wont stop The Archers perpetuating the wicked old myth of always seeing domestic violence through a feminist lens: the myth that all men are bastards, that they deserve whats coming to them.

Real domestic violence has nothing to do with the feminist cliche. As I have argued repeatedly  becoming hated by feminists as a result  in most cases, both partners are violent to each other.

I come from a family where my parents, grandparents and great-grandparents were emotionally abusive or physically abusive. I was a victim of my mothers violence.

People in violent relationships usually only stay together if theyre meeting each others warped needs  as in my parents case.

Domestic abuse is a highly complicated issue. The Archers sends out a simplistic, untruthful version: a black-and-white picture of one goodie (female) and one baddie (male).

No one has ever asked in The Archers why Rob is doing what he does, apart from suggesting his manipulative mother is a factor. If the programmes writers had seriously studied the issue, they would have explained that Robs terrible desperation to control Helen came from his own neediness; that this sort of man is totally dependent on his victim.

But that wouldnt have been sensationalist enough. Instead, they came up with a fantasy storyline that will have one big, unexpected, unwelcome result: the continued demonisation of men and another supposed victory for the feminist movement!

The pendulum has swung way too far against men. The storyline in The Archers sustains the old lie that it is only men who commit domestic violence, and we must always look at women as victims.

There is barely any provision for male victims, while the law is almost entirely rigged in favour of female victims.

Since 1974, the feminist movement has hijacked the issue of domestic violence and turned it into this simplistic world, a patriarchy run by villainous men; a world where nasty men rape and attack women, and no complications are allowed to enter this ludicrous, simplistic picture.
Top Marijuana Law Questions

More and more states are legalizing marijuana. But some allow marijuana only for medicinal purposes, while others are legalizing it for recreational use. And a few jurisdictions have decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana, regardless of the use. At the same time, federal law still prohibits the manufacture, sale, or possession of any amount of marijuana.

This patchwork of laws can lead to a lot of questions regarding where, how, and why you can possess or use pot, and in some cases, what kind of pot you can use. Here's what you need to know:

If you're in a medical marijuana state and have a prescription, you may need to obtain a state ID card. So how much will the government know, and which agencies will find out about your marijuana card? And how do medical privacy laws protect your personal information?

Can you bring pot home from your Seattle vacation? Can you fly from Boulder to Portland with a little dope in your carry-on? What about crossing the border in or out of Canada?

Historically, Indian land fell under federal jurisdiction, but the Justice Department has said it would take a hands-off approach when it came to marijuana on reservations. So why are some marijuana operations on reservations getting raided by law enforcement?

Search and seizure is one of the most complicated areas of criminal law. So make sure you know your rights (and responsibilities) before you carry, drive with, or grow pot.

If you're an entrepreneur, you may be wondering how you can get in on this billion-dollar industry -- legally, of course. And even where recreational marijuana is legalized, the manufacture and sale of weed remains highly regulated.

Given the variety and variance of local, state, and federal marijuana laws, the best source of information regarding pot laws where you live may be an experienced drug crime attorney near you.

Related Resources:
It was a grubby day for the hundreds of rich and powerful despots, world leaders and businessmen who were exposed as having their fortunes hidden away in tax havens.

But yesterdays revelations were also bad news for the Prime Minister.

It was troubling enough to discover just how wide the gap is between his rhetoric on clamping down on tax avoidance  which he described as not fair and not right  and the shocking reality exposed by the Panama Papers.

Cameron, pictured with his parents Ian and Mary Cameron, has been dragged into the Panama Papers scandal after it emerged that his father Ian's (right) firm was based offshore and involved in tax avoidance

Repeatedly, we were promised a systematic global crackdown.

Yet, as with last years HSBC scandal, it has been left to the Press  not Her Majestys Revenue and Customs  to expose this wholesale tax avoidance, much of which has been taking place in the UKs Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories.

What a contrast there is between this pitiful lethargy and the HMRCs merciless pursuit of ordinary taxpayers, who are hammered for sending in their returns a single day late.

Just as damaging, however, is the fact that it is the Tories who once again find themselves central to a tax scandal  with the Panama Papers featuring a number of donors, MPs and financiers who have supported the PMs rise to power, along with three ex-Conservative MPs and six members of the House of Lords.

Mr Camerons own father, Ian, is also named as a client of the law firm Mossack Fonseca, which reportedly helped him to run an offshore fund that avoided ever having to pay tax in Britain by funnelling all its paperwork through the Bahamas.

There is no suggestion the Cameron family has done anything illegal. Nor can the PM be held accountable for the decisions of his father.

But Mr Cameron must view this latest toxic controversy as a wake-up call to finally bang heads together at HMRC  and ensure everyone pays their fair share.

EU fuelling GP crisis

Yesterday, the Project Fear Remain campaign claimed that leaving the EU would risk frightening consequences for NHS waiting times.

Really? As we reveal today, up to four million patients are having to queue just to see a GP the same day, while up to two million now wait three weeks or more for an appointment.

Shockingly, a third of the unwell cannot see a GP the same week. If this isnt a frightening consequence of the mass immigration which comes from being inside the EU and unable to control our borders, it is hard to know what is.

Yesterday, the Project Fear Remain campaign claimed that leaving the EU would risk frightening consequences for NHS waiting times. File image

Meanwhile it emerges that, under EU rules, the UK has paid out 5.8billion more to other member states for the treatment of British citizens abroad than has been recouped for the cost of treating their citizens here  enough money to have trained almost 15,000 extra GPs.

The sick might wish to reflect on this devastating fact the next time they are made to beg to visit the doctor.

Cleggs useless legacy

ONE year after it was introduced by Nick Clegg, only one per cent of eligible men have taken advantage of his posturing policy to allow them to share their partners parental leave.

But, while this flop is unsurprising, it is no laughing matter for hard-pressed employers who have had to spend huge amounts preparing for a change nobody wanted.
Many listeners to The Archers  and Ive been one on and off for 40 years  will have raised a cheer when Helen finally plunged a knife into her husband. This is not only because he is creepy and a very nasty piece of work.

No, if we felt stirrings of hope and joy, it was mainly because a curtain appeared to have been drawn over an implausible and tiresome storyline that has dragged on for two years.

Last night, however, listeners learnt the awful news that Rob is still alive. It seems probable that the rotter will recover so he can testify mendaciously against Helen during a drawn-out trial. The tedium will go on.

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Many listeners to The Archers will have raised a cheer when Helen (pictured) finally plunged a knife into her husband

I do accept that soaps can fulfil a function by highlighting social ills  in this case, marital abuse. But in recent years The Archers has turned a story of fairly sane, even happy, country folk into a dark tale of a dysfunctional community that would appear far-fetched if set in the Bronx.

The man behind this transformation is the editor, Sean OConnor, who cut his teeth on EastEnders, to which he is about to return as executive producer  to the relief of many Archers fans. Even the BBCs director-general, Tony Hall, was moved last year to agree that The Archers had become EastEnders in a field.

I am not an aficionado of the television soap, but I do know it features a number of unpleasant and thuggish characters, that murder is not unknown and that bed-hopping and marital infidelity are regarded as about as normal as washing the car.

To be fair to Mr OConnor, The Archers has never held up a completely faithful mirror to country life. It has always magnified, as soaps inevitably do. An early sensation was the death of Grace Archer in a fire. There have been many other accidental deaths, some serious crime and even, as time went on, a few instances of adultery.

Vanessa Whitburn, the editor for 22 years before handing over to Mr OConnor, turned up the sensationalism dial, particularly in her latter years. We had steamy sex scenes and larger helpings of extra-marital sex. In 2011, Nigel Pargetter slipped off the roof of Lower Loxley Hall, emitting an astonishingly prolonged scream as he plummeted to his death

Standards dipped when the BBC invited listeners in 2012 to vote on whether or not Vicky Tucker should abort her unborn baby, which had Downs syndrome. The outcome of the poll was not made public, but Vicky decided to have her child.

But whatever excesses Ms Whitburn committed  and she would doubtless argue she was merely reflecting the changing mores of society  paled into insignificance once Mr OConnor got his hands on the train set.

He promptly threw the previously virtuous Elizabeth Pargetter (widow of the aforementioned Nigel) into an affair with her humble employee and local lad, Roy, whose marriage was duly wrecked. Then Tom Archer jilted his girlfriend Kirsty at the altar for no clear reason, and was packed off to Canada.

Last night, listeners learnt the awful news that Rob is still alive

Last year, with a reverential nod to the climate change lobby, Mr OConnor arranged for a local river to overflow its banks with the force of Niagara Falls, so that it laid waste to large swathes of Ambridge, doing away with the elderly Freda Fry in the process.

These incidents might just about have been credible over a period of time. Following hard one upon the other, they served to create an unbelievable impression of a dangerous, unhappy and rather amoral place  much closer to Albert Square than Ambridge.

In short, our credulity was stretched and our patience abused as Mr OConnors right-on agenda took liberties with the characters and the village they inhabit. And, of course, the pantomime villain Rob Titchener had slunk in.

Now implausibility ascended new heights  or sank to new depths. For while it was blindingly obvious to listeners that Rob was a liar, a bully and a cad, this was lost on the denizens of Ambridge, not least poor Helen.

Sundays episode piled a last dollop on all the improbabilities that had gone before. The idea that we might have been rid of this ghastly man, and the interminable and incredible plot, was, alas, too good to be true.
It was met with backlash as people labelled it 'sexist' and '

A Queensland burger chain has sparked an online debate over their latest advertisement campaign that depicts a woman giving birth to a burger alongside the slogan, 'we deliver'.

Burger Urge, which has 15 stores in Queensland, published the advertisement both online and in a print campaign.

The ad - which says 'We deliver burgers to your door' - has opinions divided, with some people labelling it as 'sexist' and 'exploitative to women', while others simply saw it as 'clever advertising'.

Causing controversy: Queensland burger chain Burger Urge has caused an online debate with their latest advert (pictured)

Burger Urge shared the advertisement to their Facebook page on March 30 where it was met with a barrage of comments.

Many people appeared to take offence to the ad, labelling it as 'sexist' and going as far as to call a 'boycott' on the store.

'You can be funny without exploiting women, get a better ad agency,' one person wrote.

'I would be demanding a refund from your ad agency if I were you this is one of the most offensive ad's I have seen. No burgers for me or my family thanks,' wrote another.

#NotBuyingIt: The ad has been labelled as 'sexist' by some social media users

However, the ad was also met with a large amount of support.

'Can somebody actually tell me why this is offensive. Very funny play on the word "Deliver" as far as I am concerned. Well done lads,' one person wrote.

Burger Urge managing director Sean Carthew told Daily Mail Australia it was 'never their intent to offend or objectify women'.

'For people we have offended well then all we can do is apologise, but we dont feel we need to withdraw the campaign,' Mr Carthew said.

'Boycott Curger Urge': Some people went as far as to call a boycott on the burger chain

'Great advertising': Others defended the ad, and said it was not sexist but simply clever advertising

'We have always tried to be creative and a bit outside the box with the way we approach things, and thats exactly what we've done here.

'We think most intelligent people can see the fun in the advertisement itself but personally, and for that matter none of my team ... see the advertisement as sexist or objectifying women.

'I can see how some people might see it as slightly controversial, but once again, we are always thinking differently in the way we approach our marketing.'
A woman has revealed how she was gang raped by five 'foreign' men when she left home to pick up a takeaway.

Michelle Pavey, 30, from Radstock, near Bath, was heckled and propositioned for sex by the group who were parked in a silver Mondeo as she went to her local KFC at 4pm.

Ms Pavey, who was wearing tracksuit bottoms and a jacket over her pyjamas, said the car pulled alongside her and she was grabbed - before the assailants ripped off her clothes, held her down and attacked her.

A woman has revealed how she was gang raped by five men when she left home to pick up a takeaway. Michelle Pavey, above, 30, from Radstock, near Bath, was heckled and propositioned for sex by the group who were parked in a silver Mondeo as she went to her local KFC at 4pm. She was then attacked by the five men

Speaking for the first time about the ordeal, which has so far only seen one man - Afghan asylum seeker Ahadullah Khughiani, 19 - jailed, Ms Pavey, who had gone to pick up dinner for her boyfriend Gareth, a scaffolder, said: '[The car], full of men, slowed down alongside me and [they] started shouting at me in a language I didn't understand.

'I didn't have a clue what they were saying but then one phrase came very clear through the cacophony of voices.

'10 for all of us?' he yelled in English. '10 for sex?'

Ms Pavey said she told the men to leave her alone - but they continued to shout at her.

Scared, she said she put her head down and walked faster, trying to ignore them.

She explained: 'But the car veered into the kerb, stopping alongside me.

Ms Pavey, had gone to pick up dinner for her boyfriend Gareth, a scaffolder, left. She told the five 'foreign' men to leave her alone - but they continued to shout at her. Scared, she said she put her head down and walked faster, trying to ignore them. Ms Pavey begged the men to leave her alone, but they forced her into the car

In 2010, Ms Pavey was forced to face one of her attackers - Afghan asylum seeker Ahadullah Khughiani, 19, who was claiming benefits - at Bristol Crown Court

'I heard the car doors swing open and before I knew it, three of the men had jumped out of the back seat and dragged me inside.'

Ms Pavey begged the men to leave her alone, but they forced her into the foot well of the car and sped away.

Ms Pavey, who was attacked on November 26, 2009 but has now waived her right to anonymity to encourage other sexual assault victims to report the crimes, said she thought she was going to be killed. About 10 minutes later the car came to a halt and she was dragged outside.

She tried to fight them, but it was no use.

The men dragged her by her ankles. They had driven her to a park - and Ms Pavey could feel grass between her hands.

She said: 'The scene was like something from a horror movie.'

The gang tore at Ms Pavey's clothes, pulling off her jacket and ripping off her trousers and pyjama bottoms.

She was kicked to the floor and held down by two men by her arms.

Ms Pavey said: 'Pain tore through me as the first man climbed on top of me and brutally raped me.

'I shouted and screamed but nobody heard me.

'The gang were like a pack of wolves, egging each other on as the second man unzipped his trousers and forced himself on me.'

By the time the third man climbed on top of her Ms Pavey said she had given up fighting.

She instead focused on the lights of a church on the horizon in a bid to shut out the horror that happened as each of the men took their turn to rape her.

Finally, when the fifth man was done, they sped away in their car.

Ms Pavey said: 'Adrenaline had been coursing through my veins but now, as I lay motionless, I realised how cold it was.

The gang tore at Ms Pavey's clothes, pulling off her jacket and ripping off her trousers and pyjama bottoms. She was kicked to the floor and held down by two men by her arms. After the assault she staggered home

'But I couldn't move. I was badly bruised and sore and emotionally, I just couldn't think. I couldn't get my head around what had just happened.

'For half an hour, I lay on the cold grass before I pulled myself up. The monsters had taken my phone, jacket and trousers - but they'd left my pyjama bottoms, so I pulled them back on.'

Ms Pavey staggered to her feet and made her way back home.

When Gareth opened door she struggled to tell him the truth - when she did, he blamed himself for not being there to protect her.

'Of course it wasn't his fault,' Ms Pavey said. 'It was 4pm and I was making a 10-minute walk from my own home for some food.

I felt their grasping hands all over me and for months and months afterwards, despite countless baths and showers, I felt dirty

Gareth called the police and Ms Pavey was taken for tests. She said: 'The sick gang hadn't used condoms and their DNA was all over me.

'In the early hours I was sent home and I sunk into a hot bath. But no matter how hard I scrubbed, I couldn't wash myself clean.

'I felt their grasping hands all over me and for months and months afterwards, despite countless baths and showers, I felt dirty.'

A couple of weeks later, an officer from the CID called Ms Pavey and told her they had caught one of her attackers, but that the rest were believed to have fled the country.

In 2010, Ms Pavey was forced to face one of her attackers - Afghan asylum seeker Ahadullah Khughiani, 19, who was claiming benefits - at Bristol Crown Court.

After contacting the police that night and taking DNA tests Ms Pavey was told a couple of weeks later that the police had caught one of her attackers but that the rest were believed to have fled the country. In January 2010 she faced Afghan asylum seeker Ahadullah Khughiani, 19, at Bristol Crown Court. He was jailed for eight years

'I wasn't going to let him scare me anymore but when it came to it, he didn't show a shred of remorse,' Ms Pavey said.

'He was laughing and even making jokes in court. I was furious. I couldn't even have Gareth there with me as he was giving evidence and there was my attacker, laughing in the dock.'

Khughiani was jailed for eight years and was recently deported.

Ms Pavey said: 'What happened that night has left me with a life sentence. Even now, I find it hard to be intimate with Gareth.

'I still can't believe a trip to the takeaway ended in such terror.
She recently appeared on the cover of Marie Claire Spain

Andreja was the first transgender model to be profiled by Vogue

The Australian beauty attended a fashion fundraiser in New York

There's a reason why Andreja Pejic has taken the fashion industry by storm.

The sultry supermodel, who underwent gender reassignment surgery in 2014, donned a plunging gown at a recent fashion fundraiser - placing all eyes firmly on her.

Andreja's career has seen her both challenge and break down gender barriers, and in May last year she became the first transgender model to be profiled by Vogue.

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Taking the plunge! Transgender supermodel Andreja Pejic stunned in a low-cut, figure-hugging gown

Andreja attended the Jeffrey Fashion Cares 13th Annual Fashion Fundraiser on April 4.

The event was held at New York's Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum, and Andreja wore a figure-hugging gown for the occasion.

The plunging neckline was cut close to her navel and she drew attention to her cleavage with a delicate silver necklace.

Monochrome hues: Andreja wore a delicate necklace to draw attention to her cleavage (left) and paired her ensemble with pointed toe stilettos

Sultry look: The supermodel, who has featured in Vogue, rocked a deep red lip

Andreja paired the black-and-white ensemble with a deep red lip and a smokey eye.

The 24-year-old beauty is not one to shy away from the cameras, with her Instagram littered with bikini and lingerie clad photos.

In one photo she sported matching beige-coloured lingerie, which were in a similar shade to her nude-toned lipstick and gold mobile phone cover.

Beige is the new black! The svelte model showed off her slender figure in a racy mirror selfie

Making a name for herself: As a child, Andreja settled as a refugee in Serbia before moving to Australia at eight years old

As a child, Andreja fled a war-torn Bosnia with her family to Serbia where they settled in a refugee camp near Belgrade, the country's capital.

When she was eight years old, she immigrated to Melbourne with her mother as a political refuge.

Andreja is well known in the modelling industry as the first transgender women to be named as the face of a major cosmetics brand  Make Up For Ever.

The blonde beauty also became the first openly transgender model to be profiled by Vogue in May 2015.

Cover girl: The star recently landing the cover of Marie Claire Spain - with the publication even going as far as to name her 'model of the year'

Star on the rise: Other modelling coups have seen her walk the runway for H&M and front a campaign for major cosmetics brand  Make Up For Ever

The star recently landing the cover of Marie Claire Spain - with the publication even going as far as to name her 'model of the year.'

She also walked the runway for H&M, who recently booked transgender reality TV star Caitlyn Jenner to front their H&M Sport line.

Speaking to Vogue about her decision to transition, the model revealed that she had previously been advised not to undergo the surgery because it would transform her from an interesting enigma into just another pretty girl.

There was definitely a lot of, "Oh, youre going to lose whats special about you. Youre not going to be interesting anymore. There are loads of pretty girls out there",' she said.
A transgender former banker claims to be the first and only person to have both ears cosmetically removed as part of her ongoing quest to become a 'dragon'.

Born Richard Hernandez in Maricopa County, Arizona, the 55-year-old has undergone a number of painful procedures over the past few years including nose modification, tooth extraction and eye colouring.

She also has a forked tongue and a full-face tattoo as part of her transformation into a 'mythical beast'.

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Dragon lady: Tiamat is November 2012, before undergoing nose and ear surgery. She has had extensive cosmetic treatments and body modification, including facial tattooing and 'horns' on her forehead (pictured)

Dramatic transofrmation: Tiamat before (left) and after (right) her reptilian nose procedure with scarring

Richard Hernandez and his son Marcos Hernandez in April 1997, virtually unrecognisable before the surgery

Now going by the full name Eva Tiamat Baphomet Medusa - or Tiamat for short, the name of a dragon video game character - she has taken on several personas over the years and undergone multiple stages of transformations before finally settling on becoming a dragon.

She has also had horns implanted onto her forehead, and tattoos and scarification on her face and chest that resemble reptilian scales.

The whites of Tiamat's eyes are stained green, giving her what she calls her 'Medusa green eyes of death'.

She now likes to be known as the Dragon Lady and describes herself as a mythical beast.

Tiamat in 2015, with his modified nose and ears. Also visible are her forehead horns and facial tattoos

As he was: Richard Hernandez and his son, Marcos Hernandez in April 1997, before transitioning into a woman

Richard Hernandez before his transition, pictured with his 'Mama' Amalia C. Valdez in Texas (left) and in fancy dress in 1998 (right). Now living as a woman, she has not undergone full gender reassignment surgery

Before and after pictures of Tiamat's 'double Van Gogh' ear removals, which left her with prominent stitches

On her website, Tiamat explains: 'I am the Dragon Lady, A pre-op M2F (male to female) transgender in the process of morphing into a human dragon, becoming a reptoid as I shed my human skin and my physical appearance and my life as a whole leaving my humanness behind.

She adds that she wants to embrace her 'most natural self awareness as a mythical beast.'

Tiamat has a large Facebook following, has given interviews on YouTube to outlets specialising in body modification and regularly posts inspirational quotes.

On a recent photo of herself, she wrote: 'I don't care what people say about me or my views, and if I have to I will defy and stand alone against the world, but never will I make any compromise to my integrity.'

Painful: Tiamat before (left) and after (right) her reptilian nose modification, with visible stitching. The procedure was carried out by professional body modification artist Emilio Gonzales in April 2015

Human reptile: Tiamat shows off her snake tattoo on her arm, part of her dramatic'dragon' transformation

Tiamat in February 2016: In recent years she had her ears removed as part of her quest to become a 'dragon'

Tiamat with her 'Metamorphosis Team' tattoo artists, Rick Moreno (right) and Drew De la Fuente (left) at the New York Tattoo Convention. Her 'horns' are visible on her forehead but her ears and nose are still intact

Dragon lady: Tiamat (right and centre) with friends at the New York Tattoo Convention in June 2013

Tiamat shows off her horns, tattoos and newly-modified ears in a recent photo taken in February 2016

On another, she wrote: 'I am what I am. I am my own special creation.'

Despite not having undergone gender reassignment surgery, she says she is dealing with some 'serious gender dysphoria' and 'loves' her 36B chest.
Doting mother Princess Victoria of Sweden has posed for her first official photo with her new bundle of joy Prince Oscar.

The Crown Princess, 38, who welcomed her second child at the beginning of March, and her husband Prince Daniel released the portrait on the Swedish Royal Court's website with a message of thanks for the public.

'We would like to convey our sincere gratitude for all the kind greetings and congratulations we have received in connection with Princess Estelle's birthday and the birth of Prince Oscar,' their statement read.

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Doting mother Princess Victoria of Sweden has posed for her first official photo with her new bundle of joy Prince Oscar, who was born in early March

'We genuinely appreciate your kindness and that so many of you share our happiness.'

The royal opted for a matching shade of baby blue as she cradled her newborn for the photo taken at the Haga Palace in Stockholm.

She accessorised her blue floral dress with a pair of blue drop earrings, matching a sleeping Oscar's cardigan perfectly.

Last week, big sister Estelle, who recently celebrated her fourth birthday, had her chance to shine in a photo released on Facebook by the royal family.

Last week, big sister Estelle, four, had her chance to shine in a photo showing her cradling her baby brother released on Facebook by the royal family. She wore a blue dress to match her little brother's cardigan

The first official portrait of Oscar was released by Crown Princess Victoria and husband Prince Daniel just five days after his birth

The relaxed image was snapped by Estelle's father Prince Daniel, following in the footsteps of the Duchess of Cambridge who has on occasion opted to take her own photos of Prince George and Princess Charlotte, rather than commission a professional.

It looked to have been taken on the same occasion as the official photo of mother and son, as Oscar was wearing the same blue cardigan and white romper suit.

And Estelle too was perfectly matching with her little brother in a blue dress with a white collar.

The image was accompanied by another message of thanks from the royal couple, saying: 'Thank you very much for all the greetings, good wishes and congratulations we received in connection with the princess's fourth birthday and Prince Oscar's birth.

Crown Princess Victoria appeared to almost fall asleep during Ban Ki-Moon's speech in Stockholm last week

The mother of two was seen attending an official engagement after just 27 days of maternity leave, despite the fact Sweden allows a total of 476

'We appreciate all the concern and that so many share our joy.'

The release of the photos comes coincides with the announcement that Prince Oscar's christening will be held on May 27th at the Royal Chapel in Stockholm.

King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia will be in attendance, as well as Princess Victoria's sister Princess Madeleine and her husband Christopher O'Neill, as well as Prince Carl Philip and his wife Princes Sofia.

There may well be a new Prince of Princess in attendance too, as Princess Sofia is due to give birth to her first child this month.

Prince Oscar was born in March at the Karolinska hospital in Stockholm, weighing 3.655 kilos (8.05 pounds). He was given the title Duke of Skane, Sweden's southernmost region.

It seems he may have been causing his mother a few sleepless nights, as she appeared to nod off while attending a lecture given by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in Stockholm last week.
One in ten will spend more than 100 a month on clothing for their children

Over a quarter of parents admitted to buying item seen on celebrity child

Harper Beckham, four, has beaten Prince George, two, to be crowned most influential child celebrity when it comes to fashion.

Beckham children Romeo, 13, and Cruz, 11, also made the top five at third and fifth place respectively in the survey of young style icons, while 11-month-old Princess Charlotte came fourth on the list.

In fact, celebrity children are increasingly having an impact on what parents buy - with over a quarter of parents in the UK admitting to buying an item because they have seen it on a famous youngster.

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Harper Beckham, pictured with her father David going into the New York restaurant Balthazar in February, was found to be the most influential child celebrity when it comes to fashion

Prince George came second on the style influencer list as his clothes fly off the shelves after he is pictured wearing them

The study, which looked at 2,000 parents with children under 12, found that mums and dads spend an average of 567 a year on their children's clothes, compared to 490 on themselves.

One in ten will spend more than 100 a month on clothing for their children, proving just how much they are willing to spend on making sure their offspring are keeping up with the latest trends.

Clothes worn by Prince George and sister Charlotte are known to sell out as soon as they are pictured wearing them.

The 65 smocked top and red shorts that George wore to Charlotte's christening sold out in just hours last year, while an 'almost identical' pair of pink boots to those worn by Charlotte on a recent ski trip flew off the shelves.

Romeo Beckham, who appeared in Burberry's Christmas campaign, came third on the list

The trendsetting Beckham children dominated the top five, with Cruz - pictured out with his family in New York in February, coming in at fifth place

Meanwhile, big brands have long been teaming up with child celebrities, with Romeo Beckham appearing in Burberry's Christmas campaign alongside the likes of Naomi Campbell last year.

The research found that bloggers, vloggers and Instagrammers such as Smudgetikka, Circle of Moms, and Kid Style Junkie are also increasingly influencing what clothes parents buy.

Almost a third of parents said they would be willing to spend more on an item of clothing for their child if it has been endorsed by an online influencer.

The research found that Facebook is the most common place for parents to go to seek inspiration, followed by Instagram and YouTube.

Over a quarter of parents admitted to buying an item seen on a celebrity child like Princess Charlotte

An 'almost identical' pair of pink boots to those worn by Charlotte on a recent ski trip flew off the shelves

MOST INFLUENTIAL CELEBRITY KIDS 1. Harper Beckham 2. Prince George 3. Romeo Beckham 4. Princess Charlotte 5. Cruz Beckham Advertisement

Nick Fletcher, director of multichannel at Rakuten Marketing, the company behind the survey, said: ''Our research shows that parents are willing to spend more in order to emulate the styles of these trusted voices.

'For brands looking to target this audience, harnessing the influence of social media stars and endorsements by the children of celebrities cannot be underrated.
Marla also revealed that although Tiffany stopped by her rehearsals, she was in New York the day of her

Tiffany Trump showed her support for her mother Marla Maples by sharing a heartwarming collage of photos of them together throughout her childhood after proudly visiting the 52-year-old on set during her Dancing With the Stars rehearsal.

On Monday night, Marla paid homage to her only child with her ex-husband Donald Trump by dedicating her performance to Tiffany and choosing 1993 as the year she will never forget on the ABC show's 'Most Memorable Year' night.

However, the 22-year-old wasn't able to be in the audience that night. While backstage, Marla revealed to FOX411 that Tiffany 'had her first job interview' in New York that morning.

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Sweet snapshots: Tiffany Trump took to Instagram before her mother Marla Maples' Dancing With the Stars performance on Monday night to share throwback photos from her childhood

Helping hand: Marla, who is pictured with Tiffany as a toddler, dedicated her performance to her only child with Donald Trump on the ABC show's 'Most Memorable Year' night

Memories: The DWTS contestant said 1993 was her most memorable year because it was the year she became a mom. Tiffany is pictured at her ballet recital as a child

'My first instinct was [to tell her], "I feel so bad I can't be there with you,"' she said before adding: 'I don't think I would be able to be there with her anyway.

'She's probably glad I'm not there, [because I would say], "Can I just walk you there? Did you eat before? We've gotta make sure you get food first!"'

Although Marla wouldn't reveal the job her daughter is pursing, Tiffany is double majoring in sociology and urban studies at the University of Pennsylvania.

'My mom and I have the most amazing relationship,' Tiffany told the cameras during her visit to her mother's rehearsal. 'We have always had the strongest bond. She is just truly the most amazing mother.

Lookalikes: Marla (left) received a visit from Tiffany (right) on Monday's episode of the competition series

Support system: The 22-year-old smiled as she watched her mom practice with her partner Tony Dovolani

Big moment: Tiffany gave her mother a big hug during her rehearsals. However, Marla revealed backstage on Monday that her daughter was in New York for her first job interview that morning

Feeling good: Marla and Tony earned 21 out of 30 points from the judges after dancing a jive to Pharrell's hit Happy

'I am so proud of her, and I am so excited for tonight, and I can not wait to see her perform.'

Earlier in the evening, Tiffany took to Instagram to post photos of her glamorous mother with her when she was a child while hinting at the reason why Marla chose 1993 as her most memorable year.

'My mom @itsmarlamapleschose #1993 for her#mostmemorableyear. Watch #DWTS now to find out why! (Hint hint I'll be on the show tonight!) [sic],' she captioned the series of images that see her at her ballet recital, wearing a cowboy hat, and learning how to walk with her mother Marla's help.

Marla also shared the photo collage on Instagram, writing: 'Here we go... This one's for you @TiffanyATrump #DWTS #MostMemorableYear #1993 [sic].'

Throwback: Marla explained that she was 20 years old - two years younger than Tiffany is now - when she met Donald. The two are pictured in 1984. Donald was married to his first wife Ivana from 1977 to 1992

Proud mother: Marla gave birth to Tiffany on October 13, 1993. The new mom can be seen giving her infant a bath in the sink

Blonde beauties: Marla and Tiffany are pictured posing with cake in their mouths

Mother-daughter duo: Marla and Tiffany can be seen in front of their Christmas tree in the '90s. Marla and Donald divorced in 2000

The Dancing With the Stars contestant, who gave birth to Tiffany on October 13, 1993, was famously married to The Donald for six years after his divorce from his first wife Ivana in 1992, however their relationship reportedly began years before.

'I met Tiffany's dad when I was 20 years old. That is two years younger than my daughter is now, and it is kind of frightening now that I think about it,' Marla admitted on the competition series.

'That time he wasn't a world known name. I met him through a friend and thought: "Wow, what an interesting person."'

'I didn't feel at any quite prepared to be a mom at that point in my life but in October 1993 there we were bringing little Tiffany Ariana into the world. It was just amazing.'

In 2000, Donald and Marla divorced, and she became a single mother.

Family photo: Marla and Donald were famously married for six years. Tiffany was their only child together

Trump dynasty: Tiffany is pictured with her half-siblings Donald Jr. (far left), Ivanka (center), and Eric (second from left), her father's children with Ivana Trump, during their interview with Barbara Walters in November

'It had it's challenges, but in a way I got to raise her doing our own thing There was never a man there pushing the buttons saying what we could and couldn't do,' Marla said with a laugh.

'I think when you are a single mom you realize that there are things you can do that you never imagined you can do.

'Just having her there believing in me makes me all the stronger.'

Tiffany was undoubtedly proud of her mom when Marla and her partner Tony Dovolani performed a jive to Pharrell's hit Happy in honor of her birth, earning them 21 out of 30 points from the judges.

The mother-daughter duo certainly have an unbreakable bond, and they often share snapshots of themselves together, as well as throwback photos from Tiffany's childhood, on their social media pages.

Blonde beauties: Marla shared this photo of herself posed with Tiffany at the Freedom Tower in New York City in January

Bonding time: The mother-daughter duo spent Christmas skiing together in Utah

Stunning couple: Tiffany is pictured with her boyfriend Ross Mechanic at her father's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, where she frequently vacations

Although Tiffany is Donald's only child with Marla, he has three children, Donald Jr., Eric, and Ivanka with Ivana, and a 10-year-old son Barron with his third wife Melania Trump, giving his youngest daughter four half-siblings.

However, Tiffany spent the majority of her childhood growing up in Los Angeles while her brothers and sister were raised in New York City, but it appears she may be looking to join the rest of the Trumps in the Big Apple.

The college student stepped into the spotlight in 2015 after Donald announced last June that he was running for president.

When she isn't at school or on the campaign trail with her family, Tiffany typically heads to the Trump family Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, for some rest and relaxation.
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Prince Harry has completed a back-breaking charity project to help rebuild a school in a remote Nepalese village devastated by last year's earthquake.

Trekking deep into the Himalayas, the royal, 31, joined a disaster relief charity for six days to help the stricken community construct classrooms so that children no longer had to take lessons in makeshift structures made from tarpaulin and tin.

He had initially gone on a five-day tour of the country nearly a year after the huge earthquake claimed 9,000 lives, largely in rural areas, and left many tens of thousands of people displaced.

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Prince Harry trekked deep into the Himalayas to help rebuild a school destroyed by the 2015 earthquake. He worked with Team Rubicon UK, a charity which uses the skills and experience of military veterans alongside first responders to deploy emergency response teams

It was a back-breaking task as there was no machinery available, so the team had to work with local tools and smash up rocks by hand

He decided to join the charity project after being moved by 'the people and country' during a five-day official tour last month

But on his final day of the trip, it was revealed that he was so moved that he decided to stay on in the country to help rebuild a school destroyed.

He worked with Team Rubicon UK, a charity which uses the skills and experience of military veterans alongside first responders to deploy emergency response teams.

The group helped with the reconstruction of a school destroyed by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake in the village of Lapubesi in the Gorkha region of the country, which was extremely close to the epicentre of the 2015 disaster.

The village has a population of 3,000 people and 95 per cent of homes were destroyed, while there were 16 fatalities and a further 150 injured.

As well as helping to construct the school, the team also worked to create a new solar farm and repair a hydro-electric turbine destroyed in the disaster

The village of Lapubesi in the Gorkha region, where the work was carried out, has a population of 3,000 people and 95 per cent of homes were destroyed, while there were 16 fatalities and a further 150 injured

Since then, the 250 students of the local school have been taking their classes in shanty classrooms - which were to provide little defense against the storms of the impending monsoon season.

The task involved laying a concrete base for one of the larger school classrooms. But with no machinery available and using only local tools, rocks had to be broken down to size by hand and cement - carried from the nearest town 2.5 hours away - mixed and applied manually.

Not only did Prince Harry help to construct the school, he also helped to build a new solar farm and repaired a hydro-electric turbine that once provided energy to around 300 homes in the village before it was destroyed.

Working on steep terrain on the edge of a waterfall, the team cleared piles of rocks and boulders from water channels and repaired the pump house containing the control systems.

The royal (pictured here outside Kanti Children's hospital) concluded a hugely successful five-day tour of the country and then announced he would spend a further six days helping to rebuild a school

Over the coming month, the villagers hope to clear the final landslide which will enable the turbine to function again.

Prince Harry was pictured carrying corrugated iron roofing sheets over his head for the school, filling sacks with gravel for the building's foundations and pouring cement, and was photographed with another volunteer clearing wood for the solar panel site.

There were also lighter moments with images showing the royal interacting with the local children who seemed curious about their foreign visitors.

Harry's six-days of volunteering in Nepal came at the end of his official tour of the country and the work ended last week.

Prince Harry announced in late March that he would stay a further six days in Nepal to work on a charity project with Team Rubicon UK

Of Prince Harry's time on the project, Becky Maynard, Team Rubicon UK's director of development, said: 'It was very much hands on manual labour - sleeping, eating and working out there with the other vets. Getting very much stuck-in as one of the team.'

During his initial tour of the country, Harry saw numerous initiatives that have supported the people of Nepal in returning to normality following the huge destruction almost a year ago.

Commenting on his decision to stay on and help build the school, Harry said: 'The people I have met and the beauty of this country make it very hard to leave.

'Thankfully however, Im not leaving just yet. I will be spending the next six days in a remote village with a charity called Team Rubicon.

'The team Im joining will be working with a community to rebuild a school damaged in the earthquake.

'I'm so grateful to have this opportunity at the end of my official tour to do my small bit to help this beautiful country.'

Many of the youngsters Harry visited that being treated at the hospital attained their injuries following the earthquake which caused devastation in Nepal in 2015. Pictured: Harry with a mother and baby in the hospital

Team Rubicon UK was formed in response to the Nepal earthquake almost a year ago. General Sir Nick Parker, former Commander in Chief of the UK Land Forces and now Chairman of Team Rubicon UK, put out a call to action asking UK veterans to volunteer their time and skills to provide aid in the immediate aftermath of the natural disaster.

It is now a registered charity in its own right and has already responded to calls for assistance following the Cumbrian floods in December at home in UK as well as the Philippines.

Following an assessment visit to the school in January, Simon Clarke, Director of Field Operations for Team Rubicon UK, said: 'It is heartrending to see how much work still needs to be done nearly a year after the earthquake.

'By providing a proper school for the children of this remote village, and repairing basic services such as a hydroelectric turbine we will be able to make a real difference. We can restore these essential resources from a practical perspective, but perhaps also provide hope for this resilient community.'

The Queen's grandson (pictured with patients in a hospital) was embedded with a group of Team Rubicon volunteers to help with the reconstruction of a new school destroyed by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake in 2015

In a speech on March 23 at the British Embassy in Kathmandu, Harry made clear how much his first tour of Nepal had meant to him.

He said: 'At the start of this visit I said that I hoped to shine a spotlight on the resilience and resolve of the people of Nepal.

'Nearly a year on from the earthquakes that took so many lives, I wanted to pay my respects; but also I wanted to show that this country was open for business and has so much to offer.

'The people I have met on this journey have made this goal so easy. '

His spoke of how moved he was to meet families displaced by the earthquake at a Red Cross camp and their 'inspiring energy and optimism'.

And he made clear he would never forget his visit to Gauda School, which has been completely destroyed by the disaster, saying; 'Yesterday morning I visited the site of a school that was destroyed in Gauda and is now being rebuilt.

Commenting on his decision to stay, the Prince said: 'The people I have met and the beauty of this country make it very hard to leave'

During his tour the prince slept in a modest home-stay with a Nepalese family for two nights up on the mountain, an experience he described as 'amazing'

'The community was one of the most vibrant and joyous I have ever had the privilege to meet; there was no sense of defeatism.

'I saw a lesson in a makeshift classroom and even played a game of volleyball against the backdrop of the Himalayas before being covered in red paint to mark Holi - clearly not your standard day!'

He added: 'What happened in this country a year ago was a tragic disaster. But the people I met showed me that everyone is focused on the work ahead.

'I am tremendously proud that my country - through the Department for International Development and the generosity of so many people and organisations in the UK - are doing so much to support the Government and people of Nepal in your recovery.
Craziest Employee Scams

Normally in this space we're warning small business owners to avoid vendor scams and online hackers. But when Vice published a short compendium of workplace scams, we knew we should warn you about your own employees as well.

Here are a few of our favorites to help you make sure you're on the lookout for employee scams at your small business.

Embezzlement and Horseplay

Mere embezzlement? Not that crazy. What about the biggest case of municipal fraud in U.S. history? Rita A. Crundwell, former comptroller of Dixon, Illinois, siphoned off over $53 million from the city over ten years. With that money she funded her lavish stables, including a $225,000 quarter horse named Pizzazzy. She's currently serving a 20-year stretch in prison and had all of her ill-gotten belongings auctioned off.

Reptile Racket

Unfortunately, employee theft may just be a fact of store ownership. But stolen snakes, grabbed geckos, and looted lizards? That's apparently a fact of pet store ownership. Vice relayed the story of one Petco employee's "insane terrarium setup he was building with lights and cages and filters he stole from the store." A scam that, apparently, may be more common than we thought.

Anonymous Alcoholics

Some employees drink on the job. Heck, some employers encourage it. But creating new cocktails after hours with a little booze and a lot of Starbucks ingredients? Well that sounds delicious:

"We had lemonade, iced tea, and a bunch of fruit and flavors at our disposal, so we could make really fancy concoctions if it was quiet enough and the chill night manager was on duty. To this day, I think Starbucks could make another billion if they started serving the sort of blended alcoholic drinks we came up with."

Now that we think of it, this hardly seems like a scam at all, and more a straight shooter with upper management written all over him.

Of course, you'd like your employees to come to you with "innovative" ideas like this. But if you're having trouble with employee scams, you may want to see if a good employment law attorney can help.

Follow FindLaw for Consumers on Google+.

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Failing to get a good nights sleep damages the wiring of the brain, research suggests.

Doctors have long known that people who suffer from insomnia are at risk of depression, anxiety and mood problems.

But now they think they have found the reason why - a lack of sleep warps the parts of the brain linked to emotion.

Scientists used high-tech brain scanners to examine the brains of 23 people with primary or severe insomnia, who each reported trouble sleeping for at least a month.

The images, which showed the strength of the electrical currents throughout the brain, were compared with those of 30 healthy people.

The team found significant differences in white matter - the wiring that connects the different parts of the brain.

Scientists believe they have discovered why a lack sleep triggers depression, anxiety and mood problems - because insomnia warps the parts of the brain linked to emotion (file picture)

Patients who were suffering from lack of sleep showed signs of damage to white matter throughout the brain, but most severely on the right-hand side, which tends to control emotion.

The corpus callosum - the section which connects the right-hand section of the brain to the left - was not working as effectively, they found.

The Chinese scientists, from Guangdong No.2 Provincial Peoples Hospital, also found significantly reduced white matter integrity in the thalamus, which regulates consciousness, sleep and alertness.

Writing in the Radiology medical journal, they said: The reduced [activity] in the body of the corpus callosum, as observed in our study, may be related to emotional and sleep perturbations in primary insomnia patients.

Impaired integrity in the body of the corpus callosum might be related to depressed mood in primary insomnia.

Primary insomnia is associated with daytime fatigue, mood disruption and cognitive impairment, and often leads to depression and anxiety disorders.

Nearly all living things have an internal mechanism - known as the circadian rhythm or body clock - which synchronises bodily functions to the 24-hour pattern of the Earths rotation.

In humans, the clock is regulated by the bodily senses, most importantly the way the eye perceives light and dark and the way skin feels temperature changes.

There is growing evidence that altering this rhythm - for example by working antisocial hours or regularly travelling between different time zones - places a strain on the body clock and creates long term health problems.

Nearly all living things have an internal mechanism - known as the circadian rhythm or body clock - which synchronises bodily functions to the 24-hour pattern of the Earths rotation

The new study suggests this may be because changing the body clock impacts on the brain.

Study leader Shumei Li said: Insomnia is a remarkably prevalent disorder.

However, its causes and consequences remain elusive.

White matter tracts are bundles of axons - or long fibres of nerve cells - that connect one part of the brain to another.

If white matter tracts are impaired, communication between brain regions is disrupted.

The study also found a loss of myelin, the protective coating around nerve fibres, in patients with insomnia.

The researchers said more work is needed - because although they found strong links between insomnia and white matter degradation, they could not be sure whether the sleep problems had caused the brain problems, or whether the brain problems had caused the insomnia.

A large British project in 2014 suggested people in the UK get two hours less sleep a night than they did 60 years ago.
A liquid made from a patient's blood and injected into a sample of their semen could treat male infertility.

Researchers in Spain are testing the idea that 'spinning' blood to extract platelet-rich plasma (PRP) - a concentrated mix of substances in the blood that help cells grow - could make sperm swim faster and increase pregnancy rates in couples seeking fertility treatment.

Up to a third of infertile couples could benefit from the technology, according to the researchers, who are led by top fertility specialist Dr Marcos Ferrando.

The theory is that the sperm will absorb growth factors, making them healthier and potentially more fertile

Around one in seven couples will have difficulty conceiving, according to the NHS. In a quarter of these cases, the cause is unknown.

Male infertility is thought to be the reason behind half of the remainder and is most commonly due to problems with the sperm's motility (ability to swim). Other causes include issues with the ejaculation mechanism, low levels of testosterone or as a side-effect of certain medications.

Male fertility requires the production of an adequate number of normal sperm with good quality tails to help them swim effectively and quickly enough into the female reproductive tract.

Yet there are no fertility treatments available to speed up sperm movement to enhance the chance of fertilisation. Now researchers are exploring the value of platelets, a component of blood, for infertility.

Blood is mainly made up of a clear, yellow-ish liquid called plasma, along with red cells, white cells and platelets.

In a new trial starting this month, researchers at the IVI Bilbao and BTI Vitoria clinics in Spain will test the theory that adding PRP rich in growth factors to a sample of semen will improve the quality of sperm

Platelets are best known for their importance in clotting blood, but they also contain hundreds of proteins called growth factors, which are important in the healing of injuries.

Blood can be 'spun' to extract the plasma, platelets and growth factors so the latter are present in higher concentration - up to ten times greater than usual.

The technique has been used to treat tendon injuries and baldness, but recently studies have found that one growth factor in particular - platelet activating factor - naturally influences sperm. The more there is of it in a man's sperm, the better the sperm's motility.

In a new trial starting this month, researchers at the IVI Bilbao and BTI Vitoria clinics in Spain will test the theory that adding PRP rich in growth factors to a sample of semen will improve the quality of sperm.

In the treatment, around 9 ml of blood is taken from a patient's arm and put into a mixer that spins so fast the blood separates into its individual constituents.

Even sperm with good motility have problems fertilising an egg because there are very many chemical processes that need to be undertaken

Scientists will then extract the PRP containing growth factors and mix it with donated semen samples.

The theory is that the sperm will absorb a higher concentration of growth factors, making them healthier and potentially more fertile. Animal studies have suggested that PRP can boost sperm health.

In one trial on mice by Odessa National Medical University in Ukraine, injections of PRP restored the health of sperm-producing tissue that had been damaged.

For the Spanish trial, 58 sperm donors will also give blood samples. Researchers will spin half of the blood samples to create PRP for each donor and the solutions will be mixed in half of the semen samples, while others will be left alone.

Over three months, fertility specialists will compare the quality of the sperm samples using a seminogram test, which also assesses sperm motility.

Concentrated PRP may have clinical use if studies can demonstrate sustained improvements that will allow conception to occur, says Dr Simon Fishel, president of Care Fertility clinics.
How's your head for heights - not what it used to be? In an interview with Good Health, Sky News presenter Dermot Murnaghan recently admitted: 'As I've got older, I'm less keen on heights.' And he's not alone.

Singer Nik Kershaw and football pundits Alan Hansen and Michael Owen have also confessed they have a problem with heights.

Studies have revealed that a fear of heights often starts, or worsens, later in life.

Acrophobia - a fear of heights - often develops in later life, says Kevin Gournay, emeritus professor at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, and author of The Sheldon Short Guide To Phobias And Panic

Around one in ten adults is thought to have some kind of phobia - a disproportionate fear of an object, situation or feeling.

They typically develop between the ages of 15 and 25, says Paul Blenkiron, a consultant in psychiatry at Bootham Park Hospital in York and spokesperson for the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

'Lots of children have fears, but grow out of them, and we don't label it a phobia at this stage. If the fear sticks with them in adulthood, it's a phobia and this can continue throughout life.'

However, acrophobia - a fear of heights - often develops in later life, says Kevin Gournay, emeritus professor at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, and author of The Sheldon Short Guide To Phobias And Panic.

He says this is largely due to our sense of balance. 'As you get older, your organ of balance tends to deteriorate and you're likely to feel more physically vulnerable.'

Older adults also tend to have people who depend on them, and this can make them more troubled by the possibility of falling.

The key to overcoming a phobia is confronting it - unless you do, it will get worse with time (file photo)

Worries such as these can intensify a phobia.

'As an adult, you're more aware of what you and your loved ones have to lose, and that's all part and parcel of vulnerability.'

However, Professor Gournay adds that while acrophobia gets worse, other phobias tend to be less problematic with age.

'As you get older, you produce much less adrenaline - the fight or flight hormone - so a lot of phobias diminish.' It's adrenaline that causes the racing heart and dizziness we experience when we're encountering something we're scared of, he explains.

'You might still have the fear, but you won't get the intense feelings you got when you were younger.

'Generally, phobias will probably improve with age, but if your phobia has anything to do with being vulnerable, such as heights or big crowds, it will probably get worse.'

Older adults also tend to have people who depend on them, and this can make them more troubled by the possibility of falling (file photo)

His theory is supported by a YouGov survey in 2014, which found 49 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds were afraid of heights, compared with 61 per cent of 40 to 59-year-olds, and 64 per cent of over-60s.

Conversely, the younger adults were nearly twice as likely to be afraid of spiders (59 per cent) as the over-60s (32 per cent).

Phobias come in different forms: specific phobias related to things such as spiders, heights, blood or the dentist; or social phobias, where social situations such as speaking in public make you anxious.

Professor Gournay has noticed that health phobias - excessive worrying about becoming ill - are much more common in younger people. 'Health phobias are very common indeed and, ironically, many of the people who present with them are young, fit and healthy. Perhaps as one gets older, one becomes more resigned to suffering illnesses, and eventually, to mortality.'

The key to overcoming a phobia is confronting it - unless you do, it will get worse with time, not better, says Dr Blenkiron.

'Avoiding the situation obviously does help with the anxiety for a short term but, in the long term, it's a reinforcing behaviour and makes the whole thing worse.'

The best treatment is exposure therapy. Here, the patient confronts the source of their phobia for increasing amounts of time.

'Instead of running away, you stick with it, so you suffer the anxiety in the short term, but in the long term, the phobia goes away,' he says.

So there is good reason to try to overcome a phobia - some research even suggests the stress of living with one may shorten your life.

A 2012 study by Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, in the U.S., found that women with phobic anxiety - fears of crowds, heights or the outside - had shorter telomeres. These cells are like caps that protect our DNA; shorter telomeres suggest premature ageing.

The good news is that the treatment is straightforward and inexpensive. 'You don't need therapy or medication,' says Professor Gournay. 'Phobias can be very effectively treated with self-help.

'If you have a fear of heights and escalators, go to a John Lewis store and start with the first floor, then once that feels OK, try going to the second, until you can get to the fifth.
Two women in Vietnam have been infected with the Zika virus, health ministers have announced.

The younger of the patients is eight weeks pregnant, they added.

The Zika virus, which is carried by mosquitoes and transmitted to humans, is thought to cause microcephaly.

Characterised by unusually small heads, microcephaly can result in developmental problems in babies.

It is not clear if either of the women have recently travelled abroad, or whether they were infected with Zika in Vietnam.

A 64-year-old from the popular beach resort of Nha Trang became the country's first confirmed case after being admitted to hospital complaining of fever, headache and a rash on her legs,

One case of Zika has been diagnosed in an elderly woman in Nha Trang, a popular beach resort, the other in Ho Chi Minh City. It is not yet clear if either of the women have travelled abroad

'She tested positive to Zika virus on 31 March 2016 at Nha Trang's Pasteur Institute,' and the results have been confirmed by further testing, Vietnam's health ministry said in a statement.

The second confirmed case was a 33-year-old woman who lived in Vietnam's southern business hub Ho Chi Minh City.

'She had symptoms including a rash, conjunctivitis, and fatigue,' the statement said, adding that she tested positive for Zika last Thursday.

Some 1,215 samples have been sent for testing for suspected Zika in 32 provinces throughout the country, according to the online Vnexpress newspaper.

The sufferers are in stable condition and no further infections have been found among their relatives and neighbours, it was confirmed today.

'After investigations, we consider the source of infection could be mosquito,' Deputy Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long said.

'She is eight weeks pregnant,' he added in a Vietnam Television broadcast, but gave no details of the first woman.

The Zika virus is thought to cause microcephaly, a disease characterised by unusually small heads that can result in developmental problems in babies. Pictured is a baby in Brazil with microcephaly

Health officials have quarantined the living areas of the patient's families and taken samples from others living nearby for further tests.

Vietnam had already raised its alert level against the virus after an Australian tourist tested positive after leaving the country on March 6, the state-run Thanh Nien newspaper said.

Zika is transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which also spreads dengue fever, and was first discovered in Uganda in 1947.

It is not usually life-threatening but has been linked to a rise in birth defects, with hundreds of babies born with unusually small heads in countries where the virus is prevalent.

It has also been linked with the neurological condition Guillain-Barre syndrome, which can cause weakness, paralysis and breathing difficulties.

Since it was first discovered in Uganda in 1947, the Zika virus has now spread to around 60 countries. Pictured is a health worker fumigating a property in Lima, Peru, to stop the spread of the mosquito

Brazil has been hardest hit by Zika, with some 1.5 million people infected and 745 confirmed cases of the brain-deforming syndrome microcephaly in children born to women infected with the virus while pregnant.

It has also spread quickly to more than 30 places in Latin America and the Caribbean since last year.

There have been a smaller number of cases in countries closer to Vietnam such as Thailand, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and South Korea.

Thailand has recorded around five cases a year since 2012, according to health officials who earlier this year stressed that the virus currently posed no widespread threat.
They are the little blue fruits which put the 'super' in superfoods.

Blueberries are jam-packed with health-boosting compounds which have been linked to seemingly endless health benefits.

From the Holy Grail of slowing the ageing process to fighting devastating ailments like heart disease and Alzheimer's, blueberries have been hailed in numerous studies.

A recent study placed them top of the list when it comes to antioxidant activity - compared to 40 other fresh fruits and vegetables.

Blueberries have been linked to a number of health benefits including staving off Alzheimer's and lowering cholesterol, experts say

Scientists at the US Department of Agriculture Human Nutrition Center put them top of the crops for mopping up harmful by-products of metabolism in the blood, known as free radicals.

They have been poked, prodded and ripped apart in a series of tests which have also detected other chemicals in the berries which reduce harmful cholesterol levels and even prevent bladder infections.

But while scientists continue to seek out the health boosting qualities, blueberries have even been used to treat the likes of cystitis since medieval times.

Now it seems the old wives knew what they were doing.

Here, writing for The Hippocratic Post, Megan Campbell explains while blueberries may not be a cure all, they do have definite health benefits....

REDUCE SIGNS OF AGEING

Blueberries, along with other colourful fruits and vegetables, contain high levels of antioxidants.

These compounds help to mop up damaging oxygen free radicals in the blood, which can damage cell membranes and DNA through a process known as oxidative stress.

Free radicals cause many of the physical signs of ageing.

Bliueberries contain high levels of antioxidants which mop up the cell-damaging free radicals in the blood

ANTI-CANCER

Recent work indicates that blueberries contain compounds with anti-cancer properties.

They act to induce enzymes that protect against cancer and reduce rapid tumour growth.

Antioxidants also help to prevent or delay the onset of certain diseases, such as cancer.

The superfruit has been linked to aiding memory by protecting neurons in the brain

CAN EASE SYMPTOMS OF DIARRHOEA

In Sweden, dried blueberries are used to treat childhood diarrhoea.

Anthocyanoside compounds are believed to kill the E. Coli bacteria, which is sometimes linked to the infection.

BOOST CONCENTRATION AND MEMORY

Researchers at Tufts University in Boston found that ageing mice who were given blueberry extract improved their balance, coordination and short term memory.

Anthocyanin, which gives the blueberries their strong purple colour, appears to protect the neurons in the brain.

PREVENT BLADDER INFECTIONS

Researchers at Rutgers University in New Jersey have identified a compound in blueberries that promotes urinary tract health and reduces the risk of infection.

It appears to work by preventing bacteria from adhering to the cells that line the walls of the urinary tract.

REDUCES THE RISK OF HEART DISEASE

Blueberries may reduce the build up of so called 'bad' cholesterol, or LDL, that contributes to cardiovascular disease and stroke, according to scientists at the University of California at Davis.

Dr Agnes Rimando, of the US department of Agriculture team said: 'We are excited to learn that blueberries, which are already known to be rich in healthy compounds, may also be a potent weapon in the battle against obesity and heart disease.'

The active compounds in blueberries act in two ways

They reduce the oxidation of LDLs, which can result in lowering of arterial plaque build-up

They reduce the stickiness of blood platelets, which can lower the tendency to form blood clots.

SEEING IN THE DARK

Berries have been linked to better night vision by enhancing capillary elasticity and permeability of the eye

Blueberries seem to be able to boost night vision.

One study showed that when Israeli fighter pilots were given regular doses of blueberry, their night vision significantly improved.

Scientists believe that this happens because compounds in the berries enhance capillary elasticity and permeability of the eye.

Fibre in blueberries can stop constipation, a common condition during pregnanct

PREGNANCY

Blueberries are a rich source of folic acid, which may benefit the foetus during pregnancy.

The tiny fruit are also rich in potassium, which is essential for blood pressure control.

High blood pressure during pregnancy can contribute to the pregnancy complication preeclampsia so keeping good blood pressure control is important.

The berries also contain vitamin C, calcium, and other nutrients.

The fibre in blueberries can also stop common conditions in pregnancy including haemorrhoids and constipation

DIGESTIVE SYSTEM

The more fibre in your diet, the better your digestive health. Blueberries are an excellent source of dietary fibre.

A handful of the berries contain around one tenth of the daily recommended intake of dietary fibre.
Doreen Clark's husband Michael died in January last year aged 71, from a tumour behind his prostate. She believes delays in diagnosis cost him his life

A devastated widow claims her husband may still be alive today if medics hadn't taken six months to diagnose his aggressive cancer.

Doreen Clark's beloved partner Michael died in January last year aged 71, from a tumour behind his prostate.

Mrs Clark, of West Mersea, Essex, claims it took six months for the hospital trust to even to do an MRI scan of the cancer.

By the time it was detected, at 9.5cm long, it was too late - and Mr Clark, a retired civil engineer, died just two days after he'd been told he had about three months left.

Before his death, Mrs Clark, 75, kept a painstakingly detailed diary of delays in her husband's treatment.

After a complaint from Mrs Clark, the hospital trust carried out an investigation and concluded its care of her husband was 'entirely appropriate'.

But Mrs Clarke believes she is entitled to a further investigation.

She wants the trust to answer why, on so many occasions, he was either sent home or told he could go home - despite nothing being done to relieve his pain or fully understand what was wrong with him.

She also claims his patient records for were lost and his body was taken away before she had chance to say goodbye.

The former secondary school teacher said: 'Michael didn't speak ill of anyone. The gap in my life is just awful.

'I was beside myself and angry and I have come through that.

'But it doesn't take away the fact that lovely person isn't in my life.'

Mrs Clark says she was promised answers over her husband's treatment three months ago, during a meeting with the chief executive of Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust.

But she claims she has heard nothing since.

The hospital trust was placed into special measures in November 2013 and was rated 'inadequate' in the latest report by the health watchdog, the Care Quality Commission, published in January this year.

A spokeswoman for the CQC told MailOnline today the organisation was aware of Mrs Clarke's case and had followed up with the trust to check the matter is being appropriately dealt with through the trusts complaints procedure.

Mr Clark's problems began in April 2014 when his urine showed traces of blood and he was referred by his GP to the hospital trust.

But it was only in late October - by which time the blood in his urine had increased substantially - that an MRI scan was requested.

By the time it was performed two days later, his catheter become blocked with blood clots - and the scan revealed a 'large bloody mass' mass behind the prostate.

They said he was peaceful and he wanted to tell me he loved me desperately. At 6am on the Sunday morning, they phoned and said he had passed away Doreen Clark, 75

The tumour was confirmed as cancer after a five-hour operation, during which the couple assumed it had all been removed.

Mrs Clark said: 'On Christmas Eve we were told this growth had grown from 2.5cm to 9.5cm. To me that was an indication that it was growing rapidly.'

And by January 23 - two days before Mr Clark's death, they were given a devastating blow.

'The doctor said chemo was no longer possible because the cancer was growing too quickly,' Mrs Clark recalled.

'Michael said "what does that mean?" and they said he could have palliative care at home.

'He said to the doctor "am I dying?" and he said "yes".'

Mr Clark was told he had three months to live.

'The tears were rolling down his face and rolling down my face,' said Mrs Clark.

Mrs Clarke, 75, believes she is entitled to an investigation as to why, on so many occasions, her husband was either sent home or told he could go home - despite nothing being done to relieve his pain or fully understand what was wrong with him

Mrs Clark said the night before her husband died she called the hospital at 10pm, because she was worried about him.

'They said he was peaceful and he wanted to tell me he loved me desperately.

'At 6am on the Sunday morning, they phoned and said he had passed away.'

I have come through the anger. But it doesn't take away the fact that lovely person isn't in my life Doreen Clark, 75

Mrs Clarke said she arrived at the hospital with two friends at 9am.

'I was told he had been removed from the ward, but he had been in a side room - and I couldn't have his belongings. I didn't see him until he came to the funeral parlour.'

The Patient Advice and Liaison Service team referred Mrs Clark's grievance onto the trust's complaints department, which initially couldn't find both sets of his records at first.

Mrs Clark added: 'I hope this can make them go back and look at what happened and how they handled his case - there has been delay after delay after delay.

'The delays started in April.He should have had an MRI immediately.'

A spokesman for Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust said: 'We would, again, like to pass on our condolences and sympathy to the family of Michael Clark following his death in January 2015.

Colchester General Hospital carried out an investigation into Mr Clark's death and concluded the care he received was 'entirely appropriate'. But Mrs Clark says she wants another investigation

'As a result of a complaint made by Mrs Clark, an independent investigation was carried out which was led by a senior surgeon who was not involved in her husband's care.

'This surgeon, along with our Director of Nursing and Patient Experience and Head of Patient Experience, shared the results of this investigation in a meeting with Mrs Clark at her home.

'In summary, Mr Clark had an extremely aggressive, unusual, complicated and rapidly progressive form of cancer. The clinical care we provided was entirely appropriate.

'Mrs Clark has now met the Director of Nursing and Patient Experience twice, the Chief Executive once and has met and spoken with the Head of Patient Experience on several occasions.

'We are pleased and grateful that she accepted an invitation to speak about her husband's case at a meeting, held in public, of the Trust's board of directors.
Helen Webster, 49, fears she may have unwittingly passed on her disease to a vulnerable stranger after it went undetected before she donated her kidney

A breast cancer patient fears she may have unwittingly passed on her disease to a vulnerable stranger after it went undetected before she donated a kidney.

Helen Webster, 49, wanted to help someone desperately in need of a transplant and so decided to become a donor.

But three months after the operation the mother-of-four was given the devastating news that she has breast cancer.

While it is thought to be confined to her breasts, she is undergoing tests to check it has not spread to other parts of her body.

Mrs Webster, of Saltash, Cornwall, claims consultants failed to pick it up during two previous mammograms which meant her tumour was growing long before she underwent her transplant.

It was also not spotted during a whole year of testing to determine whether she would be a suitable donor.

Commenting on the case, leading oncologist Professor Karol Sikora, of Cancer Partners UK, today told MailOnline the chances of the cancer being passed on are almost zero.

However, he added there have been cases of patients receiving diseased organs - normally when received from a deceased donor who was not aware they had cancer.

Another independent transplant specialist, who wished to remain anonymous, confirmed the transplant operation would not have taken place had Mrs Webster's cancer been diagnosed earlier.

Mrs Webster has now undergone a mastectomy to remove her left breast.

But she believes her recovery has been hampered by being having to undergo two major operations in such quick succession.

She said: 'Whether it is rational or not, the fear I have given my cancer to a stranger is there.

'If I had received my kidney from a cancer patient I would want to know.

'What I hoped would be a selfless act has ended up being a bit of a nightmare.

'I just felt it was something I could do to benefit someone and have an immediate impact on their life.

'There are so many people waiting for a kidney and I wanted to help them continue living their life without spending all their time on dialysis or in hospital.

'But it has just been a very traumatic experience and a real roller-coaster.'

Mrs Webster believes the female recipient of her kidney has a right to know the organ came from a cancer patient, as this could have possible health implications.

She said: 'I seriously think this is something the recipient should know about.

HOW ARE ORGAN DONORS ASSESSED FOR SUITABILITY? The Human Tissue Authority requires hospitals to carry out tests to ensure organ donors are healthy and suitable. This includes test for HIV and history of other transmissible disease, including cancer. The British Transplantation Society has detailed guidelines of the tests hospital trusts could carry out in order to meet this legal regulation. These include checking for high blood pressure, gout, diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease, tuberculosis, malaria, hepatitis, hormonal conditions and genetic conditions - among others. The guidelines recommend hospitals also take a medical history and carry out tests to check for previous malignancy ie cancer. This includes asking about weight change, change in bowel habits, and examining the breasts or testes. Blood and urine tests could also indicate diseases such as cancer. Source: Human Tissue Authority and the British Transplantation Society Advertisement

'Not so they can feel sorry for me because I have cancer, but from a totally medical point of view so her team of doctors can keep a close eye out for her.

'I don't know the likelihood of my cancer being transplanted but it is a fear I have.'

She continued: 'I know they wouldn't have done the transplant had the cancer been picked up.

'I know it is supposed to be anonymous but at what point does the recipient have the right to know their donor has cancer?'

But Professor Sikora was keen to stress the chance of the disease being passed on is almost zero.

However, he said it was Mrs Webster's concern was understandable.

He told MailOnline: Its not a stupid question. It does happen, but its very rare. Such cases are usually not seen in in living donors.

It tends to happen when organs are taken from deceased donors, for example people who die in a car accident.

'The person in the accident is not known to have cancer that has spread to an organ such as the kidney.

'But in a living donor, if the cancer has not spread from the lymph nodes, the chance of it reaching an organ such as the kidney is almost zero.

'Also, breast cancer does not like living in kidneys.'

He added: There's also no way a surgeon receiving an organ can test for cancer that has spread on a kidney.

Three months after Mrs Webster donated her kidney she was diagnosed with breast cancer, which went undetected despite two mammograms and a year of testing to ensure she was suitable to become a donor

Mrs Webster lives with husband Nigel, 60, and has two children Millie, 18, Sam, 23, and two step-children Jess, 24, and Sony, 22.

COULD CANCER BE PASSED ON VIA A KIDNEY TRANSPLANT? Leading oncologist Professor Karol Sikora, of Cancer Partners UK, told MailOnline the chances of cancer being passed on from a donated kidney are almost zero. However, he said Mrs Webster was right to be concerned. He said: Its not a stupid question. It does happen, but its very rare. Such cases are usually not seen in in living donors. It tends to happen when organs are taken from deceased donors, for example people who die in a car accident. 'The person in the accident is not known to have cancer that has spread to an organ such as the kidney. He continued: 'The chances of someone alive passing on their cancer is minimal. If the cancer has not spread from the lymph nodes, the chance of it reaching an organ such as the kidney is almost zero. Breast cancer does not like living in kidneys. However, you cant do a cancer scan on a kidney  there is no way a surgeon receiving an organ can test for cancer that has spread on a kidney. Advertisement

Her donation journey began two years ago when she was inspired to volunteer after listening to a Radio 2 phone-in with Jeremy Vine about altruistic donation.

After several tests she underwent a seemingly successful operation towards the end of last year.

At the time, she had no idea she was also suffering from breast cancer after several chances to detect her tumour were missed.

She said: 'I had loads of testing and screening done, everything seemed fine and I was given the go-ahead for the transplant.'

But while recovering from the op, she attended a routine mammogram - which revealed an abnormal growth.

To Mrs Webster's horror, further tests revealed she had stage 2 breast cancer.

And while it was still confined to her breasts, scans showed doctors had missed the cancer when she had mammograms in 2012 and in 2014.

The tests carried out to ensure she was a good donor had also failed to pick up on the tumour.

'It was a lot smaller in 2012 and was an easy mistake to make, but in 2014 it was clearly there,' Mrs Webster said.

She now claims her recovery has been adversely affected as a result of having the transplant operation at a time when her body was battling a potentially-deadly disease.

She said: 'From my body's point of view I have gone through two major operations within three months.

'My body was still recovering from having a kidney taken out when one of my breasts were removed.

'I probably would have recovered from cancer a lot quicker had I not had the transplant.'

Mrs Webster believes the recipient of her kidney deserves to know it comes from a cancer patient. Pictured is a letter from NHS Blood and Transplant - who oversee organ donation- thanking her for becoming a donor

Mrs Webster is now awaiting tests to see if the cancer has spread to her lymph nodes - and whether she will need further treatment such as radiotherapy.

'I try to feel positive but when you are diagnosed [with something like this] you are living life week to week,' she said.

The chances of cancer being passed on during a kidney transplant are almost zero. But it's not a stupid question because it does happen,very rarely Leading oncologist Professor Karol Sikora, of Cancer Partners UK

A spokesperson for NHS Blood and Transplant, the body that oversees organ donation, said: 'While we cannot comment on individual cases, when someone volunteers to be a living donor they first go through a series of tests to establish whether it is safe for them to do so.

'These tests involve both medical and psychological screening.

'NHS Blood and Transplant is not involved in the evaluation of potential living donors.'

Instead, transplant teams in individual hospital trusts evaluate patients, and the Human Tissue Authority (HTA) is responsible for regulating organ donation, it said.

The statement continued: 'The HTA must assess all cases of living donation to ensure the donor understands the risks involved and that the donation is free from duress, coercion and reward.

'Patient safety and high standards of care are paramount - which is the core value of organ donation and transplantation.

'But all clinical interventions carry some risk.

'In a situation like this it is the role of the donor hospital to respond to a donor's concerns, investigate and report as appropriate and liaise with the recipient hospital where there are any implications for the recipient of the transplant.'

MailOnline has contacted the HTA for comment.
Mohammad Nawaz Sharif, third-time Prime Minister of Pakistan, found himself facing a furore on Monday after 11.5 million leaked documents exposed the offshore assets of 40 political figures across the world, including him.

The leaks from one of the worlds most secretive companies, Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca (MF), show that Sharifs sons and daughter, Hussain Nawaz, Hasan Nawaz Sharif and Mariam Safdar, set up at least four offshore companies in the British Virgin Islands (BVI).

These companies owned at least six upmarket properties overlooking Londons Hyde Park.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Mohammad Nawaz Sharif is one of 40 political figures whose offshore assets were revealed in the massive data leak

Thousands of MF documents reviewed by Mail Today and subsequent enquiries revealed that the Sharif family mortgaged four of these properties to the Deutsche Bank (Suisse) SA for a loan of GBP 7 million, and the Bank of Scotland part-financed the purchase of two other apartments.

'Not false'

Hussain Nawaz told Mail Today on Monday afternoon by telephone that these arent false claims, but insisted he and his family had done nothing wrong.

Its true that we own those apartments in question. In addition, we own offshore companies, he said, adding that he and his family had worked hard over the years to generate funds to own the properties.

Hours later, Hussain Nawaz repeated the same to leading Pakistani private news channel ARY News.

There is nothing wrong. I have never concealed these facts, nor do I need to do so. I live in the UK. It is a legal way to avoid unnecessary tax via offshore companies, Hussain Nawaz told the private broadcaster during a special transmission on Monday.

Sharif's family, including his daughter Maryam Nawaz (right), allegedly set up offshore firms in the British Virgin Islands

Sharif's family is not the only one from Pakistan that is facing the revelations. According to the leaks, more than 200 Pakistanis have been identified. The list includes lawyers, lawmakers and some names from the judiciary. It is interesting to note that Arshad Sharif, a veteran Pakistani investigative journalist and anchorperson, had broken the news of Sharif's offshore companies almost two months before the Panama Leaks.

Arshad Sharif told Mail Today that he studied the documents which were accessible through various websites in the United Kingdom, including Companies House and HM Land Registry.

Call for action

I followed the trail through those documents. Multiple companies of Hasan Nawaz were set up since 2001. Their audit reports reveal the financial trail, Arshad said.

When asked what was likely to happen in Pakistan following the leaks, Arshad was of the opinion that the leaks have dented the credibility of the ruling family.

Its up to the government to investigate Sharif and his family which is highly unlikely as long as he is calling the shots, he said.

Following the leaks, Imran Khan, chairman of Pakistans Tehreek-e-Insaf, issued a swift call for action against Sharif and his family.

Khan told Mail Today Panama Leaks have endorsed his stand that Sharif and his family have wealth abroad.

Our stance is vindicated again as Sharifs wealth that is stashed abroad has been exposed, Khan said over telephone.

Khan urged Pakistans accountability watchdog, tax authorities and election commission to take action following the leaks.

It is not the first time that Sharif has found himself in trouble since his party came to power with a landmark victory in the May 2013 elections. In December 2015, Sharif came under sharp criticism from Pakistans mainstream media after he reportedly advised his key ministers to be careful while giving statements regarding Pakistan-India bilateral ties.

Meanwhile, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Pervaiz Rashid denied any wrongdoing on Sharifs part.

Every man has the right to do what he wants with his assets, to throw them in the sea, to sell them, or to establish a trust. There is no crime in this under Pakistani law or international law, Rashid, a key minister in Sharif's federal cabinet, told Mail Today.

Pakistan's two-time Prime Minister, the late Benazir Bhutto, and former Interior Minister Rehman Malik also figure in the leaks.

When contacted, Rehman Malik said this was nothing but a conspiracy by Indian Intelligence agency the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) against him and Bhutto.

500 Indians on the list, Centre gets cracking

By Mail Today Bureau in New Delhi

The government on Monday formed a multi-agency group to investigate the 500 Indians who were named for allegedly holding unlawful overseas bank accounts in the leaked Panama Papers by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told reporters that Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed the issue with him this morning and on his advice a group has been set up comprising agencies like the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU).

Arun Jaitley said a multi-agency group has been set up to investigate Indians embroiled in the leak

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) on black money also said it will investigate the reported secret list thoroughly.

The multi-agency group will comprise various governments. They will continuously monitor these (accounts) and if accounts are found to be unlawful, strict action will be taken as per existing laws, Jaitley said.

The list includes the names of a well-known actor and his daughter-in-law, a leading real estate tycoon, and a number of other industrialists and their family members, most of whom have denied any wrongdoing.

According to the leaked information, Onkar Kanwar, Chairman of the Apollo Group, and his family members floated an offshore entity in the British Virgin Islands in 2010 and two trusts in 2014.

However, the Apollo Group spokesperson said India lawfully permits foreign investments in accordance with certain regulations. Any investment abroad that the Kanwar family may have is in due compliance with the Indian laws, where applicable, including making disclosures, wherever required.

Most of the family members mentioned are NRIs. They are covered by other nations' permissible laws for their foreign investments and are not covered by Indian laws and restrictions on residents in matters like income tax and the RBI.

The ICIJ, however, added a disclaimer that there are also legitimate uses for offshore companies.

The vast stash of records, covering around 40 years, was obtained from an anonymous source by German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung and shared with media worldwide by the ICIJ.

Jaitley said: After today's revelations, more names may come out in the next few days. I welcome this investigation. I think it is a healthy step that these exposes are being made.
Those struggling to get admission in Delhi University can take heart. The varsity has decided to introduce as many as 25 new courses in various colleges this academic session.

For the first time, the University has introduced Forensic Science (H) for students. The course will be offered in SGTB Khalsa College.

This is the first time we are including the subject in the course. Other than that, 25 new courses have also been introduced in various colleges, Nachiketa Singh, member of the admission committee, DU, told Mail Today.

The university will introduce 25 new courses this year, giving wannabe students more choice and a better chance of getting a place

The new courses will allow roughly 2,000 students to apply via the varsity's admissions process.

According to officials, more than 30 colleges gave the final nod in February to start these courses from the new academic session.

For instance, St Stephens will introduce Political Science (H) this year, while Gargi College will be taking in students for Maths (H).

Colleges like Bhagini Nivedita, Shaheed Bhagat Singh and Aryabhatta College will offer History (H) from this year.

This is great news. There has always been crunch of seats in DU. Now, we have a better chance at securing seats, said Jyoti Sehgal, one of the aspirants.

The admission season will start from May 25 and the first cut-off list will be out on June 22.

The academic session will start from August 16.

This year, the University is considering making the entire admissions process online. The University had constituted a 24-member committee, comprising deans from the faculties of science, commerce and arts, nine college principals, and members of the executive and academic councils to formulate an admissions policy, which will be out by next month.

The panel will submit its final recommendations to the vice-chancellor, who will then take the call on the admission policy for the session.
The Narendra Modi governments liberal policy of allowing Chinese entrepreneurs to do business in India is under review.

This comes after China refused to back New Delhi in its bid to get the United Nations (UN) to ban Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Maulana Masood Azhar.

The Chinese stand on terrorist Maulana Masood Azad has irked the security establishment in New Delhi as a UN ban on the JeM chief would have ensured the freezing of his assets and imposed travel restrictions. It would also have given credence to New Delhis claim that Masood Azhar has been carrying out terror activities against India.

China had opposed Indias move to impose sanctions on Maulana Masood Azhar in 2008, even though his organisation JeM was banned by the UN in 2001

Sources said there is a strong view within the Government that there should be a re-think on the policy of allowing Chinese investors in India.

The move (having a liberal visa policy) was aimed at getting support from China in dealing with Pakistan. Now that it has not yielded the desired results, we need to have a re-look at the policy, said a key official in the security establishment.

Indias fresh bid to have Azhar designated as a terrorist was made after investigating agencies gathered evidence of his involvement in the attack on the Patankot Air Force base earlier this year.

China, one of the five permanent members of the UN group with veto powers, ensured that New Delhis bid failed.

For the first time, the Modi Government had allowed Chinese investors to come to India by relaxing stringent security clearance norms overruling the objections raised by the intelligence agencies.

Since the Government came to power in 2014, 26 Chinese investors got security clearance to do business in India and set up industrial projects - mostly in the power, telecom, railways and infrastructure sectors. The Government also decided to remove China from the list of countries of concern for doing business in India.

The decision is in line with Modis Make in India campaign, and New Delhi had hoped that in return China would be an important ally in combating Pakistan-based terror.

Now, there is also a view that the security clearances given over the last two years should be reviewed in wake of recent developments.

Chinese investments in India were viewed with suspicion by intelligence agencies. But a major shift in policy came when Chinese telecom equipment major Huawei was given security clearance by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to set up a manufacturing unit in Tamil Nadu last year.

Other than industrial and infrastructural projects that are referred to the MHA by various departments for security clearance, sectors like aviation, telecom, broadcasting and all foreign investments can only function after authorisation from MHA.

Azhar was released by India after the hijack of Indian Airlines flight IC 814 from Kathmandu in 1999.

This is not the first time that Indias efforts to get Azhar in the UN sanctions list have failed, as China also opposed the move in 2008 even though his organisation JeM was banned by UN in 2001.

Following Beijings objection to ban Azhar on April 2, India registered a strong protest against the decision, calling it incomprehensible.

The recent terror attack in Pathankot on January 2nd has shown that India continues to bear the dangerous consequences of not listing Masood Azhar, read a statement released by the external affairs ministry in Washington.

China defended its decision saying that it has always dealt with this issue based on facts and acting in an objective manner.
What Is a Tax Haven?

Edward Snowden called it the "biggest leak in the history of data journalism" -- over 11 million documents, collectively called "The Panama Papers," detailing how companies, government officials and their families, and even some heads of state hide money in tax havens and offshore accounts to avoid detection and taxation.

So what is a tax haven, and how does it actually work?

Haven on Earth

The phrase "tax haven" can refer to either or both aspects of a country's financial system, whereby the county (a) imposes little or no tax on financial holdings in the country, or (b) provides financial secrecy to foreign individuals. A non-resident can set up offshore accounts in dozens of countries to hide assets from their nation's tax laws or to conceal the source of ill-gotten gains.

For instance, evidence revealed in the Panama Papers suggests that Russian president Vladimir Putin used the world's fourth biggest offshore law firm, Mossack Fonseca, to hide some $2 billion dollars in tax havens, some of that from Russian state-run banks.

Offshore, out of Mind

But Putin isn't the only world leader implicated in the scandal, and Mossack Fonseca is far from the only firm aiding in this kind of tax evasion. Back in 2012, the Tax Justice Network estimated that the amount of financial assets hidden in tax havens was $21 to $32 trillion, which could generate hundreds of billions of dollars in tax revenue for an individual's home country, or the tax haven hosting the funds. By moving funds from more highly regulated tax and financial systems in one's own country, one not only avoids the tax man, but law enforcement as well.

The complete fallout from the Panama Papers leak remains to be seen, but it's unlikely tax havens for the world's financially elite are going anywhere anytime soon. As for the rest of us, we'd be wise to remember that tax evasion is a crime, and not one taken lightly.

Related Resources:
Delhi will soon have a memorial for the late former president APJ Abdul Kalam, even though the original plan to convert his residence in the Lutyens zone had to be amended.

The proposal was altered as the bungalow was allotted to Union Tourism and Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma, forcing the AAP government to find an alternate location for the knowledge centre in memory of Kalam.

The centre will showcase his simple lifestyle, and his contribution in the field of science before becoming the first citizen of the country.

Much-loved: The late APJ Abdul Kalam stayed in his 10, Rajaji Marg residence after his term as President ended in 2007

The memorial will come up at Delhi Haat - a popular cultural and commercial centre frequented by tourists.

Delhi Tourism and Culture minister Kapil Mishra is scheduled to travel to Rameshwaram, Kalams native place, on Tuesday to get his belongings, which will be part of the memorial.

Till the time a permanent structure is built, his possessions will be housed at the Delhi Assembly.

The AAP criticised the central governments move to allot Kalams bungalow to Sharma, and said Kalam had been insulted as the late Presidents residence was not converted into a knowledge centre.

Kalam stayed at his 10, Rajaji Marg residence after his term as President ended in 2007.

The proposal to erect his memorial was raised in the Assembly and was passed. Everyone wanted his official residence to be converted into a knowledge centre but it was allotted to a Union minister. Limiting Dr Kalams work to Rameswaram and shifting all his documents, books and Veena to Rameswaram is his insult. I am visiting Rameswaram tomorrow to bring back APJ Kalams belongings to Delhi, Mishra said.

He added that several things related to the former President, including books, veena and spectacles are at his native place.

Mishra highlighted that Kalams possessions from his residence at 10, Rajaji Marg were sent to Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu by the Centre after his death.
Gaelyn Mendonca is the new face of MTV Roadies - and she can't get enough of it.

Roadies is my biggest show yet. It is also my first reality show as a host, says Gaelyn, who replaces Rannvijay Singh to co-present season X4 with popular veejay Bani.

Gaelyn perhaps represents a new era for the popular show, which had acquired an aggressive image through the Rannvijay years.

Gaelyn Mendonca is the new face of MTV Roadies, and will co-present season X4 with popular veejay Bani

Gaelyn earlier appeared in the movie Nautanki Saala opposite Ayushmann Khurrana

I plan to bring in my style. I will bring in spontaneity, energy and enthusiasm. I want to be a friend of the contestants, a host they need not be afraid of, says Gaelyn.

Veejaying happened by chance, just like her film debut, Nautanki Saala. The 2013 release cast as one of three heroines opposite Ayushmann Khurrana.

I wanted to be a dancer. Bollywood happened by chance, so did veejaying, says Gaelyn.

She comes across as an exception when she tells you she is not crazy about having a film career.

I am not obsessed about Bollywood. If ever there is a choice between a film offer, an anchoring option and a modelling assignment, I will let the quality of work decide which one to take up.

Trained in Latin American ballroom dancing, Gaelyn tells you she was offered ace choreographer Terence Lewis full scholarship programme.

At the same time, though, I got a modelling offer from Elite. I figured the latter was a more lucrative deal, she admits.

The restless energy you spot in her voice perhaps defines her slant at juggling so many hats. You realise Gaelyn would rather not be defined by just one of her career options.

I sing, I dance, I act and I model. I do pretty much anything that can be passed off as a performance. I have to keep pushing myself to do better than the last time, she reveals, stating the motto of her life.

Rannvijay Singh (centre), the judge-host of MTV Roadies for the last many seasons, finally makes an exit

Right now, though, she is focused on hosting Roadies, a task for which she will draw inspiration from her numerous jobs with the mic including hosting the IIFA green carpet a couple of times as well as presenting a few GIMA gigs.

She laughs when you tell her life has come a full circle - she shot to the limelight winning MTV VJ Hunt, after all, and is now veejaying for Roadies, one of the most popular shows on TV.

VJ Hunt was entirely about talent. Roadies has certain physical and emotional aspects. As a Roadies host, one has to master the art of staying unbiased, says the Mumbai girl.
Nitish Kumar is looking to expand his reach beyond Bihar

The Janata Dal (United) is set to elect a new chief next week, bringing an end to the 10-year-plus tenure of Sharad Yadav, who has decided not to seek a fourth term.

Insiders claimed that Nitish Kumar may become the party chief as he seeks to expand his footprints beyond Bihar via a merger with the Ajit Singh-led Rashtriya Lok Dal, and former Jharkhand chief minister Babulal Marandi's Jharkhand Vikas Morcha.

Sources close to Yadav said he had conveyed to Kumar that he was not keen on continuing after leading the party for 10 years.

AAP protests against new J&K government

Senior functionaries of the Aam Admi Party (AAP) government in Delhi reported for work on Monday wearing black badges.

They were protesting against the formation of Mehbooba Mufti government in Jammu and Kashmir.

AAP has been critical of the BJP-PDP alliance in the state.

The party had previously asked the allies to clarify their positions on separatists and other issues.

Congress snubs Mehbooba Mufti on D-day

Even as the Congress boycotted the swearing-in of Mehbooba Mufti to protest against the dismissal of the partys governments in Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand by the Centre, Ghulam Nabi Azad said that he had been personally invited by Mehbooba, but could not attend the ceremony due to pre-scheduled meetings in Chennai and Assam.

Three Union Ministers who were special invitees from the Centre  Venkaiah Naidu, Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Jitendra Singh  arrived only after Mehbooba Mufti and Nirmal Singh had taken the oath.

Drug control body meet scrapped

A shortage of domain experts forced the cancellation of a meeting of the Central Drug Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) on cardiovascular and renal problems.

The meeting was scheduled to be held on March 30, but absence of relevant experts led to the cancellation.

This is not the first time such a development has taken place.

A similar meeting on neurology was called off last year because no experts in the field were available.

CJI fumes over frivolous PILs

An angry Chief Justice TS Thakur fumed at frivolous public interest litigations (PIL) being filed in the Supreme Court.

Throwing out one such plea that wanted Hindi as the official language in the apex courts and 24 High Courts across the country, the CJI said: Every morning somebody will get a brilliant idea and file a petition to amend the Constitution. They think its so simple.
PDP President Mehbooba Mufti has become the first woman chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir - but it could well be the start of a troubled journey.

Simmering dissent within her own party is coming to the boil, while her unyielding coalition partner the BJP tacitly acknowledges that she has got a crown of thorns.

A BJP insider admitted that ensuring the smooth functioning of the government will be one of the main challenges of the coalition.

Mehbooba Mufti hugs her mother Gulshan Ara Nazir after being sworn in as the first woman CM of J&K

To begin with, the BJPs boisterous campaign in favour of pro-nationalism slogans could push Mehbooba Muftis PDP on the back-foot.

Differences over the status of separatists will be another issue as the BJP has toughened its position on them.

Mehbooba is already facing a fresh challenge, as senior leader and MP Tariq Hamid Karra raised the banner of revolt soon after her oath-taking ceremony on Monday.

What has the party achieved after staying away from alliance for nearly three months? Those people, who have failed her father have been again inducted into the Cabinet, Karra told Mail Today.

J&K Governor NN Vohra administering the oath of office to Mehbooba Mufti (far right) at Raj Bhawan in Jammu

He alleged that PDP leaders Haseeb Drabu, Naeem Akhtar and Altaf Bukhari worked against the interests of both the parties in the last three months.

He added that these leaders had earlier protested against the party president.

Karra called them hate icons and political parachuters, adding how Mehbooba had assured him she would seek his advice on these three leaders.

Though Mehbooba has dropped Bukhari, she has retained Drabu and Naeem. This has not gone down well with Karra - and thus he avoided the ceremony.

Karra is a founder member of the PDP, and defeated Farooq Abdullah in the 2014 elections.

In the new Cabinet, Mehbooba has retained almost all previous ministers except Bukhari, who was earlier praised lavishly by the CM and other party leaders for his work.

The BJP has retained separatist-turned-mainstream leader Sajad Gani Lone in its quota.

The oath-taking ceremony of the state's first female Chief Minister was a low-key affair, with Union ministers M Venkaiah Naidu, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, and Dr Jitendra Singh the only dignitaries representing the Centre at the ceremony.
Supermarkets enjoyed their fastest growth for a year over the past three months, thanks in part to the popularity of traditional Easter treats.

Sales were up 1.1 per cent compared with the previous year, with The Co-operative in particular enjoying a surprise success with a 3.9 per cent sales boost and increase in market share.

An early Easter gave the supermarkets a 152million boost, with 63 per cent of Brits snapping up at least one Easter egg, half the population buying hot cross buns and 15 per cent picking up a leg of lamb.

Out of the 'Big Four', Sainsbury's came out on top posting a 1.2 per cent rise in sales, while the growing popularity of in-store 'premium' products helped discounters Aldi and Lidl to grow sales by 14.4 per cent and 17.7 per cent respectively.

Sales boost: Across the sector, sales rose 1.1 per cent compared to a year earlier, with The Co-operative emerging as a surprise success, with a 3.9 per cent boost to sales and an increased market share

The Co-op's performance helped it boost its market share by 0.1 percentage points to 6.1 per cent, meaning it remains a whisker ahead of rapidly-expanding discount rival Aldi.

With Aldi and Lidl continuing to make their presence felt, the supermarket price war shows no sign of slowing down. Shoppers now pay 1.5 per cent less for the same basket of groceries than a year ago. Butter, fresh sausages and crisps in particular have dropped in price.

Premium own-label sales grew across the board as shoppers opted for a bit of affordable luxury.

Fraser McKevitt, Head of Retail and Consumer Insight at Kantar, said: 'While saving money on the basics, consumers are not averse to treating themselves.

'Premium own label sales grew by 6.6 per cent in the past 12 weeks, well ahead of the overall grocery market.

'Aldi and Lidl are leading the way, growing their premium lines more than twice as quickly as the rest of their ranges, but weve seen this across the retail spectrum  from Morrisons and The Co-operative to the likes of Waitrose, whose forthcoming launch of Waitrose 1 is the latest attempt by a traditional grocer to reclaim sales from the discounters.'

Going 'premium': 'Premium own label sales grew by 6.6% in the past 12 weeks, well ahead of the overall grocery market', Fraser McKevitt, Head of Retail and Consumer Insight at Kantar, said

Posh: Aldi and Lidl have been growing their premium lines more than twice as quickly as the rest of their ranges. Pictured is Lidl's Lemon & Raspberry Semifreddo

The sales decline at Tesco has slowed for the fourth month in a row, adding to evidence Britain's biggest supermarket group is slowly recovering.

NEW STAFF TRANING MANAGEMENT ROLE AT SAINSBURY'S COULD LEAD TO HUNDREDS OF JOB LOSSES, SAYS UNITE UNION Sainsbury's is creating a new management role for training staff which union leaders say could lead to the loss of hundreds of jobs at the supermarket giant. Unite said it will campaign to reduce compulsory redundancies and redeploy staff. Sainsbury's said in a statement: 'We've introduced new learning and development programmes to ensure our colleagues can continue to deliver the very best service to our customers. 'Following this we're now creating a new management role that will provide enhanced training support across a number of stores. This position will replace the existing store trainer role. 'We're conducting a consultation process with all affected colleagues, who will have the opportunity to apply for the new, senior roles. 'We currently employ 870 store trainers. We're now creating around 280 new learning and development manager positions and all affected colleagues will have the opportunity to apply for these more senior roles. We will also look to redeploy affected colleagues where possible.' Unite national officer Julia Long said: 'This is very bad news for those dedicated workers affected by the planned job losses and Unite will be giving our members maximum support at this difficult time. 'We are severely disappointed as Sainsbury's seems to have deep pockets when it wants as it has just forked out 1.4billion to purchase the Home Retail Group.'

Tesco's sales fell 0.2 per cent in the 12 weeks to 27 March, Kantar said.

Asda and Morrisons saw sales declines of 3.9 per cent and 2.4 per cent respectively, the latter reflecting Morrisons' latest store closures.

Going strong: Out of the 'Big Four', Sainsbury's came out on top posting a 1.2 per cent rise in sales, Kantar said

Slice of the market: Percentage market share data across Britain's supermarkets, according to Kantar

Since the start of this month, employers, including Britain's supermarkets, have been forced to pay staff the minimum National Living Wage of 7.20 an hour.

From March, Morrisons has been paying its floor staff a minimum of 8.20 an hour, 1 more than the Government demands.

German discounter Lidl also agreed to pay 9,000 of its staff at least 8.20 an hour.

Earlier this year, Tesco confirmed it was cutting pay for certain staff working Sundays, bank holidays, late nights and overtime, but claimed most staff will enjoy a pay rise of up to 3.1 per cent.

Share prices for the three FTSE 100-listed supermarket chains were weak today, despite the Easter sales boost.

Tesco was the worst off, down 1.9 per cent or 3.7p to 187.2p, also impacted by a downgrade in rating from broker Deutsche Bank to hold from buy.

Sainsbury's shares fell 1 per cent, or 2.9p to 273.9p, and William Morrison - recently promoted back in to the FTSE 100 index after a quarter out of the topflight - was down 2.6p at 198.5p.

Easter treats: Half the UK population purchased hot cross buns in the run up to Easter, Kantar said
An Indian priest feared crucified in Yemen is safe and efforts are being made for him to released as soon as possible, a minister has conformed.

Father Tom Uzhunnalil was captured from the southern Yemeni city of Aden by gunmen who killed at least 15 people at an old people's home in an attack that was condemned by Pope Francis.

The Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI) said a delegation met Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj who said the government was working to secure the priest's safe return.

Father Tom Uzhunnalil was captured from the southern Yemeni city of Aden by gunmen who killed at least 15 people at an old people's home in an attack that was condemned by Pope Francis

'She has assured us Father Tom is safe and negotiations are on for his release which could happen very soon,' said Father Joseph Chinnaiyan, deputy secretary of the CBCI.

Media reports last week said the 56-year-old priest was killed by ISIS militants on Good Friday.

But no one has claimed responsibility for last month's attack in which gunmen killed four Indian nuns, two Yemeni female staff members, eight elderly residents and a guard.

Yemeni pro-government fighters gather outside an elderly care home in the southern city of Aden after it was attacked by ISIS-linked gunmen on March 4

Father Chinnaiyan said the reports were inaccurate.

Aden has been racked by lawlessness since Hadi supporters, backed by Gulf Arab military forces, drove fighters of the Iran-allied Houthi group from the city in July last year.
Poland is considering a total ban on abortion that would make it illegal even for rape victims or where the baby would be severely deformed.

Thousands protested in the capital Warsaw after the leader of the country's ruling party backed calls by Polish Catholic bishops for a full ban on pregnancy terminations.

Poland already has one of the strictest abortion laws in the European Union. Official statistics show only several hundred procedures are performed every year - but pro-choice campaigners say underground abortions are very common.

Thousands protested in Poland's capital Warsaw after the leader of the country's ruling party backed calls by Polish Catholic bishops for a full ban on pregnancy terminations

The debate around reproductive rights has been building up for months. The conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, which came to power in October, plans to tighten regulations to bring them into line with the Catholic Church's teachings, infuriating liberals and women's rights activists.

Chanting 'keep your hands off the uterus' and 'my body, my business,' the protesters gathered on Sunday and waved wire coat hangers, a crude pregnancy termination tool widely seen as a grim symbol of the abortion underground.

'Even Iran's abortion laws are more liberal than this proposal, that's why we must protest,' said Marta Nowak, one the protesters at the rally, which was organised via social media by the left-wing Together party.

Poland currently allows terminating pregnancy only at an early stage and when it threatens the life or health of the mother, when the baby is likely to be permanently handicapped or when pregnancy originates from a crime, for example rape or incest.

Poland is considering a total ban on abortion that would make it illegal even for rape victims or where the baby would be severely deformed. Protesters covered a tree in coat hangers, symbolising the grim illegal abortion trade

In a letter read out in churches across the country on Sunday, but made public earlier this week, Polish bishops called for legislative action to tighten the 1993 regulation.

'.. Catholics' position on this is clear, and unchangeable: one needs to protect every person's life from conception to natural death,' they said. 'We ask the lawmakers and the government to initiate the legislation.'

Kaczynski told reporters earlier this week that as a Catholic, he had to follow the bishops' call.

While he would not force his party to vote for a ban in parliament, he was 'convinced that a vast majority of the caucus, or perhaps all of it, will back the proposal.'

PiS plans to end state funding for in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and reinstate a prescription requirement for 'morning after' emergency contraceptive pills.
Female employees of Air France will be allowed to opt out of working on the resumed flights to Iran so that they can avoid having to wear a headscarf, a company official said Monday.

Airline staff were outraged following a memo regarding the flights to Tehran, saying that female cabin crew would be required to wear cover their hair with a scarf when they leave the plane.

However, the airline has since backed down, announcing that they will will appoint a 'special unit' to replace those who do not want to fly to Tehran, he said.

Air France asks all staff to follow Iranian law, requiring its female staff to cover their hair when they leave the plane on its resumed Paris-Tehran service

'Any woman assigned to the Paris-Tehran flight who for reasons of personal choice would refuse to wear the headscarf upon leaving the plane will be reassigned to another destination, and thus will not be obliged to do this flight,' human resources official Gilles Gateau told Europe 1 radio.

Unions, who held talks with the human resources chief on Monday, argue that an escape clause was already in place for flights to Conakry in Guinea during the Ebola crisis last year and for services to Tokyo following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.

Company chiefs had sent staff a memo informing that female staff would be required 'to wear trousers during the flight with a loose fitting jacket and a scarf covering their hair on leaving he plane'.

According to a union representative, management also raised the possibility of 'penalties' against anyone not observing the dress code.

Air France added that the headscarf rule when flying to certain destinations was 'not new' since it had applied before flights to Tehran were stopped and also to crew flying to Saudi Arabia

Following complaints, Air France has now announced that staff will be allowed to opt out of flying to Tehran

Air France told AFP that all air crew were 'obliged like other foreign visitors to respect the laws of the countries to which they travelled'.

'Iranian law requires that a veil covering the hair be worn in public places by all women on its territory.

'This obligation, which does not apply during the flight, is respected by all international airlines which fly to Iran,' the airline said.

Air France added that the headscarf rule when flying to certain destinations was 'not new' since it had applied before flights to Tehran were stopped and also to crew flying to Saudi Arabia.

Air France announced in December the resumption of Paris-Tehran flights after they were suspended in 2008 when Iran was hit with international sanctions over its nuclear ambitions.
It was the moment Grace Anzoa feared she would never see  and so when she was finally reunited her daughters after nearly two years of anguished separation, the tears flowed.

Clutching six-year-old Rebecca and Abi, five, to her, she whispered her love for them  and relief that finally they were together again.

Promising to never leave them again, she squeezed each in turn as tears rolled too down their young dust-stained cheeks.

Grace Anzoa believed she would never see her children Rebecca, six, and Abi, five, after they were separated for nearly two years during fighting in South Sudan

Tears flowed during the joyful reunion between mother Grace and her two daughters, as neighbours and friends gathered round to show their delight

Around her friends shouted their delight and excitement at the reunion that had lifted Grace and her family from what she called a nightmare of uncertainty and fear that her girls were dead or had been injured, the victims of marauding militiamen.

It is a nightmare experienced by tens of thousands of families torn apart by the brutal civil war in South Sudan that has seen more than 2.3 million people driven from their homes.

The extraordinary, emotional reunion in a suburb swelled by refugees of South Sudans capital Juba was the result of painstaking work by the British-based charity Save the Children  and was made possible with the help of a sophisticated database of the missing and separated.

Known as CPIMS (Child Protection Information Management System), it allows aid workers to digitally share information, intelligence, photographs and family details of separated children in reception centres and settlements in South Sudan and, especially neighbouring countries, to improve the likelihood of tracing families and reunifying them.

Nearly 4,000 children have been reunited with their families in the past two years by Save the Children, UNICEF and partners but in South Sudan alone there are an estimated 8,500 children separated from parents  and many more in neighbouring Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia and Sudan.

The extraordinary reunion, in a suburb of the South Sudan capital Juba, was thanks to British-based charity Save the Children

Tens of thousands of families are living through a similar nightmare, separated from their families by fighting in the country's brutal civil war

The reunion that had lifted Grace and her family from what she called a 'nightmare of uncertainty and fear

Grace had managed to escape the gunfire with her children, but had returned home when she realised her 13-year-old brother wasn't with them - and became separated from her daughters

As thousands continue to flee the turmoil, MailOnline travelled to South Sudans borders and the vast frontline settlements of fleeing families to hear the stories of those separated and witness the painstaking  sometimes heartbreaking  work to reunite children torn apart from their parents.

Like so many separated when civil war imploded in 2013 in the worlds youngest nation, Grace and her daughters had lost one another when they fled nearly two years ago after their village in the countrys north east was stormed by gunmen torching houses and shooting terrified villagers.

I did not know if they were dead or alive. If you dont have your children with you, you are not a whole person. I was so worried. Grace

Amid the chaos and gunfire, Grace, who was in her mid-twenties, had escaped with her children but gone back to their home when she realised her 13-year-old brother was not with them.

She arranged a rendezvous point on a river bank with her mother, Mary, who was with Rebecca and Abi. But as the fighting intensified, Grace became cut-off from her mother and daughters.

They waited two days for her but with fighting closing in on their hiding place, they had to flee again.

Eventually, the girls and Mary reached the safety of the north eastern village Waat where their Nuer tribe was safe.

Grace still had to endure more fighting, fleeing a town where massacres were taking place and more than 200 civilians died in a mosque before reaching the safety of Juba.

There were reports of women being raped and burnt alive.

Neither knew if the other was dead or alive but Mary registered Rebecca and Abi with Save the Children at one of their 60 centres in the hope that Grace, if still alive, could be traced.

Grace recalled: I did not know if the children were OK. I had bad dreams about it, sometimes nightmares. I was only praying to God to bless them until we met again.

We had never been separated before, the children do not have a father and I am their mother and father.

When Grace returned to the spot she had planned to meet her children, they had already been forced to flee the violence accompanied by her mother

She didn't see them again for nearly two years. But then, late last year, the news came that Save The Children had managed to locate her daughters

She said she was like a mad person her mind drifting as she thought  and worried  about Rebecca and Abi.

I did not know if they were dead or alive, Grace said, If you dont have your children with you, you are not a whole person. I was so worried.

Grace said she searched and searched, asking for information from other displaced families as they passed through Juba.

I heard about my children and was so happy I didnt sleep because of my happiness. Grace

Each time, the answer was the same, sorry, we had no information.

Then, late last year, came the news that she had longed-for and she was instructed to go the Save the Childrens office in Juba.

There, she was put on the telephone to her own mother Mary  and daughters Rebecca and Abi.

I heard about my children and was so happy I didnt sleep because of my happiness, she added.

The disbelieving youngsters were shown a photograph of the mother they had not seen for two years.

Their faces broke into huge smiles of delight. Chronicling the build-up to the wonderful moment of reunion was Save the Children photographer and cameraman Jonathan Hyams, who filmed as Rebecca and Abi  the familys names have been changed  flew by helicopter to Juba and then by four-wheel drive to meet their mother.

It was the climax of months of hard work by the charitys team in helping to trace the families of thousands of separated children from parents since civil war broke out in South Sudan when President Salva Kiir, accused his one-time vice-president, Riek Machar, of plotting a coup.

The disbelieving youngsters were shown a photograph of the mother they had not seen for two years. Their faces broke into huge smiles of delight

Save The Children child protection officer, Bol Nyuol, visits Rebecca and Abi at their grandmother's house in Waat, Jonglei state, South Sudan, where they were living after being separated from their mother

Approximately 65 per cent of refugees and internally displaced people are children, while 12 per cent are separated from or unaccompanied by their parents and carers

What started as a power struggle emanating from the capital, Juba, spread alarmingly with the countrys 64 tribes taking sides.

The latest peace deal was signed in August but fighting has continued with more than 10,000 people killed.

The sheer scale of the challenge faced by aid agencies is illustrated in South Sudans neighbours such as Uganda where Mail Online watched as hundreds of people  many of them children  arrived across the border at the sprawling settlements that house tens of thousands.

Tracing families might sound simple but when millions of people are displaced its a huge task. Save The Children's Gemma Parkin

Approximately 65% of refugees and internally displaced people are children while 12% are separated from or unaccompanied by their parents and carers.

South Sudan is officially the worst place in the world to be a child and talking to the children, their mothers and aid workers on the frontlines of the refugee influx in northern Uganda  up to 500 are arriving a day  it is easy to understand why.

Two children told us how eight grandmothers, all over 65 years old, had been too weak and slow to escape to the bush when gunmen arrived in their village. All were raped.

Boys spoke of how they are being kidnapped and forced to become child soldiers  only a ransom paid in cows can save them.

Others told of homes being set ablaze with families inside. Gunmen wait outside and open fire as women and children try to escape.

In the reception centre of 4,000 refugees at Nyumanzi, 350 miles north of Ugandas capital Kampala but just 12 miles from the South Sudan border, we watched nearly 200 new arrivals from the border as they clambered out of crowded trucks clutching their tragic few belongings and gulping down water to provide some comfort from temperatures topping 35 degrees.

Rebecca, six, peers out the window of a helicopter as she travel's with her sister Abi, five, and Save the Children to Juba to be reunified with her mother Grace

Save the Children's Family Tracing and Reunification case worker accompanies Rebecca, six and Abi, five, in a helicopter as they travel to Juba

Children are placed with carefully chosen and vetted foster parents from their own tribe, each supported and monitored by the charity

South Sudan is officially the worst place in the world to be a child and talking to the children, their mothers and aid workers on the frontlines of the refugee influx in northern Uganda it is easy to understand why

For the children separated from their loved ones, attempts to trace the family begin as soon as they reach the reception centre where Save the Children screens each unaccompanied child.

Of 8,700 unaccompanied or separated children to have reach Uganda, the charity has reunited over 4,000 with their families in South Sudan.

This is partly due to a management database developed for aid agencies that uses bigger clearer photos than the type of photo enabled by phones and isn't as reliant on regular internet.

'Even if the parents are alive the children may have no idea where they are, because they are too young to remember names of roads or towns or are too traumatised to speak and too frightened to remember. Save The Children's Gemma Parkin

A tent at the entrance of the giant Nyumanzi centre is often the first port of call for a child. Here, their photograph and known personal details such as a parents name are registered and sent to a central data base.

Children are placed with carefully chosen and vetted foster parents from their own tribe, each supported and monitored by the charity.

Save the Childrens Gemma Parkin said: Tracing families might sound simple but when millions of people are displaced its a huge task.

'Its an investigation, into what happened to the parents, and tragically because were working in war zones, often the parents may be dead.

'Even if the parents are alive, the children may have no idea where they are, because they are too young to remember names of roads or towns or are too traumatised to speak and too frightened to remember.

If the relatives have been found, judgements have to be made about whether to return children to unsafe areas or villages where there is little or no food.

'Judgements also have to be made about whether children can safely be allowed to choose where they live and what to do if their choice is not the same as that of their relatives.

'Its extremely complicated, painstaking, involving a lot of checking and double checking, in countries where theres hardly ever access to the internet.

Rebecca, six, sits with her sister Abi, five, at their grandmother's home in Waat, Jonglei state, South Sudan

What started as a power struggle emanating from the capital, Juba, spread alarmingly with the countrys 64 tribes taking sides - creating the current violent civil war

After walking for days in the heat, the children arrive in settlements around Adjumani, in northern Uganda where British charity Save the Children works to help provide emergency support

These children were forced to walk to the border of South Sudan and Uganda, with their disabled mother, to escape the horror of the South Sudan civil war

Food is prepared for refugees in the Nyumanzi reception centre in Uganda, in giant vats but they are grateful for any basic provisions

Girls in South Sudan are more likely to die in childbirth than finish school because such a large percentage are forced to marry at such a young age

Save the Children is working to teach how to make traditional mud bricks and helping families build houses in their new settlements

Tracing, or searching for a family, often means setting off into the unknown, in Land Rovers, trekking across mountains on mules, walking for days and coming back with no news or bad news.

'The frontline teams deal with anguish and uncertainty every day, often in very dangerous places. The pay-off is the joyous satisfaction of bringing families safely back together.'

She added: It used to be much harder to trace families, in the days when youd stick a poster up on a notice board of a town hall or hospital, with a picture of a missing child, hoping that someone locally would recognise them.

'Now all we need is a mobile phone to photograph and register a missing child or parent on a central database.

When families are reunited its one of the most amazing things in the world. But even recalling the time spent apart, the children can cry just thinking about it.

'These are the lucky families, the survivors, making up for lost time, doing what they can to rebuild their lives.'

'I was sure my children would be dead': Mother-of-six reveals the horror of being separated from her children by gun-wielding militia... and the joy of being reunited

Yar was at the market when the gunmen brought chaos and carnage to her home city of Bor in the heart of south Sudan.

The 30-year-old mother of six had said goodbye to the children, leaving them with a neighbour before beginning the 15 minute walk to the marketplace to buy food.

That was December 2013 and she was not to see them again for two desperate years during which she feared they had been killed  and they, in turn, thought she was dead, another of the hundreds who died in the fighting that raged in and around Bor.

Yar, a mother of six, left her children in the care of a neighbour before walking the 15 minutes to market. But she didn't see her children against for two desperate years

Yar's children were separated from their mother when they were forced to flee gunmen who had entered their village. Pictured, Yar's eight-year-old son Gai

When the shooting began, Yar tried to return home to her children - but she was stopped by officials. Pictured, Yar and her six children with some of their neighbours in the Awerial IDP camp

With civil war still gripping the country, both the children and Yar registered with Save the Children in an attempt to trace what had happened to the family

After two years, Yar received the joyful news that her children had been found alive and well, and they would soon be reunited

Yars eight-year-old son Gai recalled : I remember when we were separated from our mother. We were with a neighbour when we heard the shooting. The neighbour took our hand and we ran, ran, ran to the river.

We heard gunshotssaw people being shot and killed around us. I saw many dead people, there were dead in the river.

We heard gunshotssaw people being shot and killed around us. I saw many dead people, there were dead in the river. Gai, eight

We were with many people crowded on a boat. I was sure my mother had been killed as well.

To this day, I remember the shooting. I have nightmares. People died, I thought our mother had died and we were going to die too.

Yars feelings were equally anguished. She said that when the shooting began she tried to return home to her children  their father is dead  but was stopped by officials.

I was attacked and began to walk towards Juba, the capital. It was the only chance to survive. I walked for seven days, she said.

On the way I saw many people being murdered and I was sure my children would be dead, just like their father.

I was terribly frightened they were dead. I felt I had nothing more to live for and did not know how to go on.

It is a story that mirrors so many in South Sudan and in the bleak months that followed, with civil war still gripping the country, both the children and Yar had been registered with Save the Children in an attempt  they believed would be futile  to trace what had happened to the family.

Despite the horror stories there is genuine laughter and happiness in Nyumanzi, northern Uganda, where Save the Children run both a safe play area and basic schools

Playing games and having some semblance of a childhood is a crucial part of the process of overcoming their terrifying experiences. The staff notice a difference even within a week, where children start to trust again

Boys and girls who should be learning their alphabet are caring for younger siblings as they wait in hope to be reunited with their parents. Mobile technology is improving the way the authorities can trace missing family members

Children who have been parted from their parents are damaged for the long term. When families are reunited its one of the most amazing things in the world, says Save the Children. But even recalling the time spent apart, the children cry just thinking about it

Gunmen have kidnapped boys and forced them to fight in South Sudan's brutal civil war

Children describe how they were woken up by gunfire and ran to hide in the bush, often separated from their families in South Sudan, the world's youngest nation which is now riven with conflict

For nearly two years there was nothing but then thanks to the UK-based charitys meticulous work, a match was found and the news they had prayed for delivered.

I remember the day I got the call telling me the children were alive, Yar said.

My heart almost stopped and I felt like I was flying. My heart beat so fast. Save the Children then organised for the reunification.'

She continued: The children came towards me and we hugged and hugged and hugged.

Now I am reunited I am happy and a whole person again.
Its owner has already been contacted by more than 2,500 interested buyers

The gun is expected to go on sale in mid-2016 and will cost $395

He says it violates two federal laws and wants authorities to investigate

A new gun that folds down to look exactly like a smartphone 'is just a disaster waiting to happen,' Senator Charles Schumer said Monday, when he called for a federal investigation into the potentially illegal weapon.

The Ideal Conceal, which is expected to go on sale in mid-2016 for $395, is the same size and shape as a smartphone when folded down, 'yet with one click of the safety it opens and is ready to fire,' according to its official website.

Schumer (D-New York) believes that a gun that looks like an everyday item could violate federal law, and wants the Justice Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) to investigate.

'Disaster': Senator Charles Schumer slammed the Ideal Conceal, a .380 caliber handgun that looks like a cellphone, at a news conference in New York Monday. The gun is expected to be released mi-2016

The .380-caliber pistol holds just two bullets, but fires with 'high velocity' and 'increased accuracy,' the site says. It also has a built-in laser sight for more precise aiming.

'Smartphones are EVERYWHERE, so your new pistol will easily blend in with today's environment,' the site promises.

The Hudson Valley News Network quotes Schumer as saying, 'This iPhone-lookalike handgun poses a serious threat to law enforcement, kids and more.

'Imagine a scenario in which a police officer is not able to tell whether a violent criminal is pulling out a gun or an iPhone.

'The bottom line is: the feds must investigate this before sales take off and this weapon winds up in the wrong hands. Thats why I am urging the ATF and the Department of Justice to step in and investigate these handguns now - before they hit store shelves.'

Schumer said that the gun could violate federal law in two different ways, the News Network said.

The first is that for a gun to be legal under the National Firearms Act, it must be registered with the ATF. Since guns that look like wallets, pens and knives are illegal under the law, a handgun that looks exactly like a smartphone could also be illegal.

He is asking the ATF to make a swift decision on the matter.

The second violation, he said, involves the federal Title 18 law about making guns 'undetectable'.

In US code 922, the law states that it is 'unlawful' to manufacture, sell or receive a firearm 'any major component of which, when subjected to inspection by the types of x-ray machines commonly used at airports, does not generate an image that accurately depicts the shape of the component.'

If the Ideal Conceal does not have the right metal parts to clearly be flagged by security as a gun, it would be illegal.

'Serious threat': The Senator worries that police will not be able to tell if a person is pulling out a phone or a gun, and that it may be illegal under laws controlling undetectable firearms and disguised guns

The gun is a derringer, the name for the smallest possible handgun in a given caliber, and a type of gun designed to be concealed on the body.

In an email to The Associated Press the gun's creator, Kirk Kjellberg, said that there were already weapons in the conceal-carry market that can easily be hidden and carry more firepower.

He also said that there are holsters that allow people to carry weapons almost anywhere on their body, and that his gun is just a defensive weapon.

He also told CNN Money in March that he had already received 2,500 emails from interested buyers.

Talking to CNN Money. NRA Museum director Jim Supica said that the Ideal Conceal was indeed not the first handgun to have a folding function or be roughly box-shaped.

He pointed to North American Arms, which makes a series of small revolvers with optional folding grips, and Taurus's box-like Curve handgun.

But Supica pointed out that they 'still look like guns,' while the Ideal Conceal 'is arguably designed not to look like a gun when folded.'

Kjellberg told CNN that he may release a semi-automatic version in 2018.

Schumer was one of the authors of the now-expired 1994 Assault Weapons Ban, and in 1993 introduced a bill that mandated federal background checks on firearm purchasers, among other things.

However, he has also been supportive of hunting with guns, and has sponsored legislation that gives millions in grants to landowners who allow hunting and fishing on their private property.

These recent objections about disguised firearms are not new ground for Schumer - last year he spoke out against a cell phone case that made a phone look like a gun.

On Monday, he said, 'Just like toys that too much look like handguns should not be sold, handguns that look too much like toys should not be sold.'

The ATF had no comment when the Associated Press made inquiries, and the Department of Justice did not respond to an email seeking comment.
Unanimous Court Rules for Sex Offender Who Fled to the Philippines

A convicted sex offender who fled the country without notifying authorities did not violate the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, a unanimous Supreme Court ruled yesterday. Lester Ray Nichols had been on the sex offender registry in Kansas for a year when he up and moved to the Philippines. And that was just fine, the Supreme Court found, as SORNA did not require offenders to notify authorities when they left U.S. jurisdiction.

But don't worry; the ruling does not create an international "get off the registry for free" card for sex offenders. Here's why.

From Leavenworth to Manila

Nichols was convicted in 2003 of crossing state lines in order to have sex with a minor. After eight years in federal prison, he was released and settled in Leavenworth, Kansas. As required by SORNA, he registered as a convicted sex offender, and he kept that registry active for about a year. Then, one day, Nichols disconnected his phone lines, dropped his keys off with his landlord, and hopped a plane to Manila, without ever informing authorities or updating his registration.

Authorities only knew that Nichols was gone when he didn't show up for sex-offender treatment. After an international search, he was found in the Philippines and arrested just before engaging in sexual activity -- ante flagrante delicto, if you will -- though the record doesn't state the circumstances of that encounter. Nichols was charged with violating SORNA by "knowingly failing to register or update a registration," as required by the act.

What is SORNA's Reach?

The problem was, SORNA only requires sex offenders to "register, and keep the registration current, in each jurisdiction where the offender resides." And SORNA is not international in scope, meaning that the Philippines were not a "jurisdiction" under the act.

The government argued, and the Tenth Circuit agreed, that when a sex offender "leaves a residence in a state, and then leaves the state entirely, that state remains a jurisdiction involved" under the law. The Supreme Court flatly rejected that interpretation.

As Justice Alito explained for the unanimous Court, SORNA speaks only of where an offender resides, not where he will reside. If an offender leaves SORNA's jurisdiction, he has no further obligation to update his registration. "A person who moves from Leavenworth to Manila no longer 'resides' (present tense) in Kansas," Alito explained.

A Sex Offender Free for All?

So, does this mean that sex offenders looking to get off the registry can simply renew their passports and be done? Not exactly.

As the Court notes, the decision has limited reach. After Nichols was arrested, Congress enacted the International Megan's Law to Prevent Child Exploitation and Other Sexual Crimes Through Advanced Notification of Traveling Sex Offenders. That act does criminalize failing to provide SORNA-mandated information when traveling internationally; it simply wasn't in effect at the time Nichols fled.

That fact allowed the Court to hew to the strict language of SORNA, while remaining "reassured that our holding today is not likely to create 'loopholes and deficiencies' in SORNA's nationwide sex-offender registration scheme."

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When Steve Jobs passed away in October 2011, most of his assets passed on to his wife, making her one of the 50 richest people in the world.

Laurene Powell Jobs, 52, married the tech mogul in 1991 - ten years before the release of the first iPod - and now manages a $16.7bn fortune according to Forbes.

She owns, among other things, two private jets, four real estate properties and shares of the Walt Disney Company and Apple, Business Insider reported.

Powell Jobs is now the sixth richest woman in the world based on Forbes' ranking, behind French L'Oreal shareholder Liliane Bettencourt, Wal-Mart heiress Alice Walton, Mars heiress Jacqueline Mars, Italian Michele Ferrero's widow Maria Franca Fissolo and German BMW heiress Susanne Klatten.

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Laurene Powell Jobs (pictured with Steve Jobs in 2010) married the tech mogul in 1991 - ten years before the release of the first iPod - and now manages a $16.7bn fortune

Her fortune comes mainly from the Walt Disney Company shares she inherited from her husband, according to Business Insider.

Those shares were worth $7.4 billion when he sold Pixar, his animation studio, to Disney in 2006. It has now increased to $12.7 billion, Business Insider reported.

The Laurene Powell Jobs Trust, which Jobs has managed since the death of her husband, is the largest individual shareholder at the Walt Disney Company, with a 7.8 per cent stake according to Forbes.

Powell Jobs' share of Apple, on the other hand, is tiny compared to what it could have been: according to Business Insider, her stake at the company comes to $560 million.

That's not even one per cent of the $65 billion his original 11 per cent stake at the company would represent today, the website wrote.

But he sold it when Apple ousted him in 1985.

Steve Jobs never got to see the 260-foot, $138 million yacht (pictured) that he imagined with French designer Philippe Starck. He died before the finished yacht, named Venus, was unveiled in October 2012

Among four real estate properties in total, Powell Jobs owns the Palo Alto house (pictured) where she lived with her husband and their children, worth $8 million

Her assets also include four real estate properties, Business Insider reported. One of them is the house where she lived with her husband and their children, located in Palo Alto and worth $8 million.

She owns two additional properties in Woodside, each worth $7.5 and $10 million, the website wrote.

Powell-Jobs purchased the last one, a three-acre property in Malibu, in March last year for $44 million according to Wealth-X.

Powell Jobs pledged $50 million to a national high school reform project in September last year

She has also inherited the 260-foot, $138 million yacht her husband imagined with French designer Philippe Starck.

He died before he could see the finished yacht, named Venus, which was unveiled in October 2012.

His family gave iPod shuffles with the name of the ship written on the back as a thank-you to everyone involved in the construction, Wealth-X wrote.

Powell-Jobs also owns two private jets - a 2013 Gulfstream G650, currently priced at $58,8 million, and a 1999 Gulfstream G-V, now worth $9.95 million.

The rest of her fortune is divided between cash and liquid assets according to Business Insider, and comes from stock transactions, dividends and investments, as well as previous salaries and bonuses.

Powell-Jobs, who met her husband in 1989 when he came to give a lecture at Stanford Business School, where she was a student, had three children with him.

She has co-founded several programs to assist disadvantaged students.

The latest, XQ: The Super School Project, is a national campaign to reform high schools.

She pledged $50 million to the project in September last year.

Powell Jobs is one of the top donors to the Ready for Hillary Super PAC according to Forbes and supports the DREAM Act, a bill that would establish a path to US citizenship for children of undocumented immigrants.

She also owns two private jets, one of which is a 1999 Gulfstream G-V (file picture), now worth $9.95 million. Powell Jobs also has shares at The Walt Disney Company and Apple

The other private jet, a 2013 Gulfstream G650 (file picture), is currently priced at $58,8 million. The rest of her wealth is divided between cash and liquid assets
This bodes well for a politician like Donald Trump who uses lose language, but it's Bernie Sanders' supporters who do the most swearing

The 'acceptability' of it has 'skyrocketed' said one pollster, who noticed the trend

occasionally heard swearing in public - that number now stands at 78

Just a decade ago 43 percent of Americans said they frequently or

Donald Trump's embrace of the four-letter word early on in the primary election cycle was expected to be yet another thing to derail his campaign.

But new numbers from Ipsos Public Affairs show that Americans increasingly don't care if people swear in public, a notion that applies to political types too.

'The acceptability of it in the American public has just kind of skyrocketed,' Kaitlyn McAuliffe, a senior research manager at Ipsos, explained to DailyMail.com.

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Swear away, Donald! There has been a lot of movement in just 10 years on Americans' views on swearing, a tactic The Donald often deploys on the campaign trail

Sen. Bernie Sanders' supporters are the most mouthy - the largest chunk of respondents who said they say the F-word more than once a day are supporting the Vermont senator

McAuliffe looked at data from 2006 and found that 43 percent of Americans said that they frequently or occasionally encountered people using profanity or swear words in public.

Today that number has jumped to 78 percent, with 25 percent admitting to personally using the F-word in conversation once a day or more.

There's still a quarter of Americans who say they are bothered by profanity and swear words, but it marks a rather large shift.

'For example the word "suck" has become more accepted in the American vernacular, we just kind of assumed people kind of gave more of a s*** about people, especially presidential candidates, using these things kind of freely at rallies and debates,' McAuliffe said.

But the numbers suggest that Americans don't.

'I think a lot of these populist candidates, they really grabbed people's attention because they're relatable,' she continued.

Beyond swearing, the firm looked at lying and found that Americans are more permissive on this front too.

Of those survey respondents who said they used the F-word one or more times a day, Bernie Sanders was their top presidential candidate

Of those respondents who say they 'never' use the F-word, Hillary Clinton is the most supported candidate, followed by Donald Trump

In 2006, only 42 percent of Americans said it was sometimes justified to lie, but today 64 percent said yes when asked the same question.

'And with the number of Americans thinking that lying and swearing kind of off-the-cuff in public is acceptable, they're kind of OK with it now and it just marks a huge shift on how we previously viewed politicians and how we view them now and what can work in a presidential campaign,' McAuliffe explained.

Trump's most eyebrow-raising moment came when he was speaking to supporters in an auditorium in Portsmouth, New Hampshire before that state's primary and mouthed the word 'f***ing' to the crowd.

Several days later, New Hampshire gave Trump his first big win.

Today in Wisconsin, Trump promised that he would eventually become more presidential and rein in some of his rhetoric, but wished to knock off his competitors Ted Cruz and John Kasich first.

'I can be presidential, but if I was presidential I'd only have about 20 percent of you here with me because it would be boring as hell,' Trump said, again letting loose a four-letter word.

'I think at this rate the 2020 cycle will most likely sound more like a Chris Rock routine than the debates of Lincoln or Douglas,' McAuliffe noted.

As for who's driving this trend, it's mostly millennials who are more tolerant of crass language and to lying.

When people were asked about the F-word, the group that used it several times a day included millennials at 31 percent, generation X respondents at 12 percent and baby boomers at just 5 percent.

When looking at how that breaks down politically, it's Sanders' supporters who are the most mouthy.

Of those who use the F-bomb once or more a day 32 percent support Sanders, with 28 percent supporting Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Trump gets the biggest bulk for Republicans with 13.5 percent. Ted Cruz's supporters make up 10 percent. Ohio Gov. John Kasich wasn't included in the poll, which did include drop-out Marco Rubio, who received just 4 percent.

On the flipside, out of respondents who said they never say the F-word, 21 percent of those people support Trump.

Twenty-five percent support Clinton, with 15 percent supporting Cruz and 11 percent supporting Sanders.




The founder of the Australian Arabic Council and the former Multicultural Affairs Commissioner has pleaded guilty to sexually penetrating a young boy.

Joseph Wakim, a regular social commentator on human rights affairs and a widowed father of three girls, appeared before the Melbourne Magistrates Court charged with three serious child sex offences on Friday.

The 53-year-old committed the offence in December last year in Bundoora, north of Melbourne, but was only charged in January.

Two of those charges - including grooming - were withdrawn on Friday but he pleaded guilty to sexually penetrating the boy, the Herald Sun reported.

Joseph Wakim, 52, pleaded guilty to sexually penetrating a young boy in December 2015

Mr Wakim was the founder of the Australian Arabic Council and was appointed Victoria's youngest Multicultural Affairs Commissioner in 1991

The widowed father-of-three was charged with three offences in January, but two of those were dropped

Mr Wakim, who now lives in NSW, has written over 600 opinion pieces in national newspapers on a number of human rights issues.

He graduated from the University of Melbourne with a Bachelor of Social Work and went on to establish a street project for disadvantaged and homeless youth in Adelaide in 1986.

Wakim made news headlines for exposing child prostitution in the city at the time.

In 1991 he was appointed Victoria's youngest Multicultural Affairs Commissioner, and was granted the Order of Australia Medal in 1995 for public campaigns aimed at redressing the roots of racism.

In 1992 he established the Australian Arabic Council - an organisation aimed at improving relations between the Arabic and wider Australian community and often used as a voice to speak to local and federal government.

Further anti-racism campaign initiatives resulted in Mr Waking earning the the Commonwealth Heads of Government Violence Prevention Award in 1996.

Roland Jabbour, current chairman of the Australian Arabic Council, said the news about Mr Wakim's (pictured) child sex offences came as 'a great surprise and a shock'

Roland Jabbour, current chairman of the Australian Arabic Council, said the news about Mr Wakim's child sex offences came as 'a great surprise and a shock.'

'It's come completely out of the blue. It's completely out of character, and for anyone that has known Joe  he has always come across as of excellent character,' Mr Jabbour told Daily Mail Australia.

'Anyone that would know Joe would be taken aback ... he did outstanding work for the community and the council and contributed to a number of areas in social work and multiculturalism.'

Mr Jabbour said Mr Wakim had not been involved with the AAR for over ten years.

'As an organisation it goes without saying this is something that is unquestionable ... Joe has not been involved with the council for more than ten years,' he said.

Just last year, Daily Mail Australia interviewed Mr Wakim following the release of his second book; a memoir about life as a single parent after his wife passed away with cancer in 2003 (pictured on wedding day)

Just last year, Daily Mail Australia interviewed Mr Wakim following the release of his second book, a memoir about life as a single parent after his wife passed away with cancer in 2003.

'People were suggesting to get help to cook, do the laundry, clean. I wanted to give it a go on my own. I was reluctant to have my children surrounded by strangers,' he said at the time.

Mr Wakim's social media accounts have been inactive since December last year.

A spokeswoman for the Magistrates' court of Victoria confirmed that Mr Wakim had entered a guilty plea at the committal hearing.

He will appear at the Victorian County Court in June for his sentencing.
Britain has paid out more than 6billion to EU countries to fund medical costs abroad while receiving just 400million in return, it emerged last night.

Under EU rules, countries are entitled to reclaim the costs of treating citizens from other member states.

But new figures reveal Britain suffers a yawning financial deficit in the system, paying out an average of 723million a year more than it gets back.

Britain has paid out more than 6billion to EU countries to fund medical costs abroad while receiving just 400million in return (file photo)

Official statistics show Britain has paid almost 6.2billion to cover the cost of treating UK nationals in the EU since records began in 2007.

But over the same period, the country has received just 405million in return to cover the costs of treating EU nationals living here.

The figures mean Britain receives just 1 back for every 15 it pays out.

Brexit campaigners last night said the cash lost was equivalent to the cost of abolishing prescription charges or dental fees, or doubling the money available for the Cancer Drugs Fund.

Former Labour health minister Gisela Stuart said the scale of EU health tourism strengthened the case for leaving the EU.

Mrs Stuart, chairman of the cross-party Vote Leave campaign, said: The UK has been getting short-changed by the EU for years. We hand over 350million to Brussels every week but get less than half of that back  with strings attached.

On top of that, health tourism from the EU has cost us billions. This money could have been much better spent  it could have been invested to improve care for NHS patients.

She added: If we vote to leave we will be able to stop handing over so much money to the EU and we would be able to spend our money on priorities here in the UK like abolishing prescription charges and investing in the NHS.

But pro-Brussels campaigners warned that ending the current reciprocal arrangement could leave UK tourists facing charges if they need treatment while on the continent.

A spokesman for Britain Stronger In Europe said cutting off funding for UK nationals who need medical treatment abroad could leave thousands of holidaymakers and expats facing a massive bill on their sickbed miles away from home.

But Vote Leave said Brexit would enable the UK to extract a better deal for British taxpayers without threatening the healthcare of people travelling abroad.

The new figures came amid a growing row about the impact of leaving the EU on the Health Service.

Former Labour health secretaries and nearly 200 medical professionals yesterday warned that the NHS would be put at risk if the UK left the EU. The letters argue that the economic impact of Brexit would hit the institution hard and that immigration benefits the NHS.

In a letter to the Guardian yesterday, Labours Alan Milburn, Patricia Hewitt, Andy Burnham and Alan Johnson labelled claims that leaving Europe would help the NHS as a dangerous lie.

Meanwhile 188 current and former clinicians, academics and public health leaders have written to the Times warning that Brexit should carry a health warning.

The UK is being short-changed

The letter attempted to calm fears that staying in the EU leaves the UK open to greater privatisation, insisting that the UK Government alone is in control of privatisation decisions.

It also argued the economic consequences of leaving would outstrip any savings, damaging an already cash-strapped NHS.

In a separate development yesterday, aerospace giant Airbus Group wrote to its 15,000 UK employees warning of the risks of a Brexit vote.

The aircraft manufacturer employs 136,000 people globally.

While it said it remains committed to its UK operations whatever the outcome of the referendum, it acknowledged its success is based on a highly competitive, integrated European business model.
An influential Muslim group is selling sex-segregated seating for a major conference next month, with male and female tickets being sold separately for the event.

Channel 7 reports that the United Muslims of Australia (UMA) has organised the Quest for Success conference in Sydney and they confirmed that those attending it will be separated by their gender.

This comes after radical Muslim political party, Hizb ut-Tahrir, were found guilty of discriminating against women last month after making them sit at the back of public meetings.

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United Muslims of Australia are selling male and female tickets separately for their Quest for Success event in Sydney next month

The issue came to a head during a public meeting in Western Sydney, where men were seated at the front, but women were made to sit at the back of the room.

Anti-discrimination campaigner Alison Bevege believed that the decision to separate men and women in this way at the Sydney conference next month was offensive.

Its just as offensive to split women from men side to side as it is to split black people from white people from side to side, Ms Beverage said.

It's appalling, it's a step back for women's inalienable right to equality.

Ms Bevege was also the person who won the gender discrimination case last month against Hizb ut-Tahrir.

The Sydney journalist, attended a lecture hosted by Hizb ut-Tahrir on October 10, 2014, but was forced to sit in women-specific seating at the back of the venue in Lakemba, in Sydney's south-west - so she sued the group and five of its members for sexual discrimination.

The price range for tickets next month's conference makes no attempt to hide the segregation with an early bird male ticket costing $50, non-discount male ticket $70, and male student $35. Separate female tickets are available in the same price range.

The price range for tickets makes no attempt to hide the segregation between the two sexes

Anti-discrimination campaigner Alison Bevege believed that the decision to separate men and women in this way at the Sydney conference next month was offensive

Women's tickets for the conference will go on sale at the same price as men's

On the Quest For Success website it states that the UMA is one of the largest Islamic youth and community based organisations in Australia, which has been running for more than 15 years.

It said the foundation was founded on traditional Islamic principles and focused on providing quality spiritual, social, educational and recreational programs and activities for the continued development of the Muslim Community within Australia.

We are excited to announce that the 2016 UMA Conference - Quest for Success - will focus on the journey of seeking success in this life and the hereafter, the website said.

The event will feature inspirational international and local guest speakers to share their vast range of insights, experiences and advice on how this goal can be attained by developing a blueprint for Muslims individually, within the family environment and the wider community.

On the Quest For Success website it states that the UMA is one of the largest Islamic youth and community based organisations in Australia
In a list of tax haven-exploiting presidents, prime ministers, billionaires, sheikhs and celebrities, there is an odd man out: A Russian cellist.

Up until now, 64-year-old Sergei Roldugin was known only in the Russian music community, as a People's Artist of Russia and the artistic director of the House of Music in St Petersburg.

But one thing makes him stand out from other musicians - he appears to be heading up a huge financial empire. That and he's one of Russian president Vladimir Putin's oldest friends.

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In a list of tax haven-exploiting presidents, prime ministers, billionaires, sheikhs and celebrities, there is an odd man out: A Russian cellist. Up until now, Sergei Roldugin (pictured) was known only in the music community

The leaked 'Panama Papers' link Roldugin to a number of suspicious deals being carried out in his name, including offshore companies having debts worth hundreds of millions written off for just $1.

He is also said to have accumulated a fortune by being put in control of a series of assets worth at least $100million.

It begs the question: Who would want to give a musician who claims not to be a businessman so much money?

One expert, quizzed on BBC's Panorama on Monday night, said the information in leaked files from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca pointed towards money laundering.

Tom Keatinge from the Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies described Roldugin as 'an instrument'.

He added: 'Who is playing him as an instrument is unclear.'

Roldugin did not answer questions posed to him by Panorama but his friend Vladimir Putin is one of a number of political leaders named in the leaked documents. They reveal that the Russian presidents closest associates made secret offshore deals worth $2billion (1.4billion).

But yesterday the presidents spokesman dismissed the allegations as Putinophobia aimed at smearing Russia.

Putin's name is not included in the leaked documents but his friend Sergei Roldugin (right) appears to have earned millions of pounds from deals that would have been difficult to secure without his patronage

The so-called Panama Papers implicate those in Russian president Vladimir Putin's inner circle. This graphic shows how Putin's best friend Sergei Roldugin, who owns 3.2 per cent of Bank Rossiya, and the man who heads the bank up, Yuri Kovalchuk, are linked to a trail which has seen money moved offshore via Swiss lawyers, Mossack Fonseca, and a subsidiary of Russia's state-owned VTB bank in Cyprus to a firm set up in the British Virgin Islands called Sandalwood Continental Ltd. Money was then lent to Ozon, which owns the private Igora ski resort outside St Petersburg, the place where Putin's daughter Katya got married

Dmitry Peskov  whose glamorous wife was named in the Panama Papers  claimed Putin was the main target of the leaks.

The firms linked to Roldugin, who is godfather to the Russian presidents oldest daughter, invested in yachts and Russian resorts. These include a ski resort where Putins youngest daughter, Yekaterina, had her wedding.

Mr Peskovs wife, former Olympic skater Tatiana Navka, is accused of owning a secret offshore firm.

A number of suspicious deals were managed by Bank Rossiya, which is subject to US and EU sanctions following Russias annexation of Crimea.

Dismissing the claims against Russian officials, Mr Peskov said that the massive data leak contained nothing new and was aimed at smearing President Putin and his country in a parliamentary election year.

This Putinophobia abroad has reached such a point that it is in fact taboo to say something good about Russia, or about any actions by Russia or any Russian achievements, he said.

This Putinophobia abroad has reached such a point that it is in fact taboo to say something good about Russia Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov

But its a must to say bad things, a lot of bad things, and when theres nothing to say, it must be concocted. This is evident to us.

Responding of the allegations against his wife, Mr Peskov insisted: My wife does not and has never owned any offshore companies. Based on this I am inclined to doubt the authenticity of other claims.

However, the documents allegedly show that Miss Navka set up the company Carina Global Assets Ltd intended for investments in 2014 using agents in the Isle of Man.

Last week she denied any knowledge of such a company, but the leaked files include a copy of her Russian passport.

Documents were leaked from one of the world's most secretive companies, Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, and show how the company has allegedly helped clients launder money, dodge sanctions and evade tax.

Megastars Jackie Chan and Lionel Messi are among the big names accused of using Mossack Fonseca to invest their millions offshore. And the Panama Papers also reveal that the 26million stolen during the Brink's Mat robbery in 1983 may have been channelled into an offshore company set up by the controversial law firm.

Meanwhile, Egypt's former president Hosni Mubarak, Libya's former leader Colonel Gaddafi, Syria's president Bashar al-Assad and Chinese president Xi Jinping are among those alleged to have links to tax havens through families and associates.
Nicholas Byram, 32, allegedly hid a handcuff key inside his rectum before leading cops on a high-speed chase in Baker County, Florida

A Florida man was tasered and bitten by a K-9 after allegedly leading deputies on a high-speed chase on Saturday - all with a handcuff key hidden in his rectum, police said.

Nicholas Byram, 32, of Baker County fled after police arrived at the scene of a reported disturbance at a residence, said a report from the local sheriff's office, according to Action News Jax.

During the wild ride, Byram repeatedly tried to strike a squad car, threw a beer can out the window, and at one point drove through a 45mph zone at 110 mph, police said.

The chase ended when Byram's Jeep lost its left-rear tire, sending the vehicle skidding through a ditch and causing it to strike a tree, police said.

Even then, the suspect refused to surrender, and cops deployed a K-9 which bit Byram in the right shoulder and arm.

Police said Byram then punched the dog in the head and tried to grab its muzzle with his hands.

He was ultimately arrested after officers struck him with an electroshock gun.

Upon searching Byram's car, police said they found an unspecified amount of cannabis, according to Action News.

When Byram was searched in hospital, a handcuff key was found stashed away inside his rectum, police said.

The suspect was charged with reckless driving, battery of a police officer, resisting arrest, drug possession and concealment of a handcuff key, according to the report.
Tory donors, peers and former MPs are among those linked to the tax haven row, it was revealed last night.

The list of Conservative grandees and supporters threatened to heap fresh embarrassment on the PM following his calls for an overhaul of the secretive offshore industry.

Six peers, three ex-MPs and a string of businessmen were named as having connections to firms used by Panamanian lawyers Mossack Fonseca. A crossbench peer and a Ukip donor were also named in the documents.

Former tax exile David Rowland (left) is shareholder in dozens of offshore firms and he and his family held shares and properties in British Virgin Islands screen entities. JCB heir Anthony Bamford (right with his daughter Alice) was given a peerage months after closing a firm registered in the BVI

There is no evidence of wrongdoing by the politicians and donors and it is legal to manage money offshore, but the Tories have already faced criticism after it emerged many of their election candidates last year had received donations from offshore tax havens. Political figures linked to revelations included:

David Rowland

Former tax exile David Rowland, who was based in Guernsey for 40 years, has donated almost 3million to the Tories and was appointed party treasurer in June 2010.

He stood down two months later  before even starting the job  after the Mail exposed damaging revelations about his career.

He was once branded a shady financier in Parliament, and sources claimed Mr Cameron ignored warnings he was unsuitable for the post. He stood down citing the expansion of his global business interests.

Mr Rowland is shareholder in dozens of offshore firms and he and his family held shares and properties in British Virgin Islands (BVI) screen entities, The Guardian reported. He declined to comment.

Lord Bamford

JCB heir Anthony Bamford was given a peerage months after closing a firm registered in the BVI, according to the leaked documents.

He has donated more than 4million to the Tories through personal gifts and JCB companies, and was first recommended for a peerage by Mr Cameron in 2010. He withdrew his name from consideration but was granted a peerage in 2013.

Documents show he was the sole shareholder of BVI company Casper Ltd from 1994 until it was dissolved in 2012. A spokesman said Casper Ltd never owned any assets or engaged in any activity.

Tony Buckingham

Energy firm Heritage Oil, founded by Tory donor Tony Buckingham, urgently moved its registration from one tax haven to another, the leaks reveal. The move could have permitted it to avoid hundreds of millions of pounds in tax.

Mossack Fonseca was allegedly ordered to transfer the company registration from the Bahamas to Mauritius after Heritage Oil was handed a large tax bill in Uganda.

The Guardian said the leaked emails appeared to show an attempt to use a tax loophole to avoid a capital gains tax bill in Uganda by paying a much smaller sum in Mauritius.

Heritage Oil said: The process of re-domiciling was commenced for a variety of reasons.

Michael Mates

Michael Mates stood down as Tory MP for East Hampshire in 2010. He is a shareholder in Haylandale, which leased land in Barbuda to develop as a beach resort.

He said he was invited to become the companys chairman after it was set up in 2003 to help deal with the Caribbean islands government and his shareholding was small and uninfluential. The hotel venture failed so he did not receive any remuneration, he added.

Michael Mates (left) stood down as Tory MP for East Hampshire in 2010. He is a shareholder in Haylandale, which leased land in Barbuda to develop as a beach resort. Crossbench peer Karan Bilimoria (right) is listed as one of more than 100 shareholders in BVI company Mulberry Holdings Asset Limited

Lord Bilimoria

Best known for founding Cobra Beer, crossbench peer Karan Bilimoria is listed as one of more than 100 shareholders in BVI company Mulberry Holdings Asset Limited.

Lord Bilimoria told The Guardian that Mulberry was a dormant company and had been formed for Cobras ex-shareholders, many of whom are not resident in the UK.

Arron Banks

Arron Banks is Ukips largest donor, giving more than 1million, and leads Leave.EU, one of the groups seeking to run the Out referendum campaign. The ex-Tory donor is head of Southern Rock Insurance Company, which underwrites insurance policies for the website GoSkippy.com, which he founded.

He is listed as the shareholder of a company registered in the BVI called PRI Holdings Limited.

Arron Banks (left) is listed as the shareholder of a company registered in the BVI called PRI Holdings Limited. Sir Tony Baldry (right) chaired BVI company Westminster Oil Ltd, which owns shares in a second BVI firm called Westminster Caspian, which operated in Kazakhstan

Shares from PRI were also transferred to Elizabeth Bilney, the chief executive of Leave.EU. PRI Holdings is sole shareholder of African Strategic Resources Limited, which is a BVI firm managed in Gibraltar. Banks declined to comment.

Sir Tony Baldry

Sir Tony Baldry was Tory MP for Banbury from 1983 until last year, and was briefly an agriculture minister under John Major, when he had to deal with the fallout from the BSE epidemic.

He chaired BVI company Westminster Oil Ltd, which owns shares in a second BVI firm called Westminster Caspian, which operated in Kazakhstan.

Sir Tony said Westminster Oil had been registered as an interest with the House of Commons, and all directors fees had been registered with HMRC.

Howard Flight (pictured) is a former deputy chairman of the Tory Party who was effectively deselected as an MP by Michael Howard in 2005

He said the jurisdiction was chosen as shareholders and directors came from a number of countries.

Lord Flight

Howard Flight is a former deputy chairman of the Tory Party who was effectively deselected as an MP by Michael Howard in 2005 after he was recorded saying the party would make much deeper cuts than in its manifesto.

Five years later he courted controversy for suggesting welfare changes would encourage breeding among the poor.

He was made a peer by Mr Cameron and is regulator of financial services on Guernsey.

His Guinness Flight asset management business included a trust company in Guernsey that used Mossack Fonseca firms to manage investments.
Embattled Business Secretary Sajid Javid last night insisted he remains in full control of the Governments response to the steel crisis

Embattled Business Secretary Sajid Javid last night insisted he remains in full control of the Governments response to the steel crisis, amid signs he is being sidelined by Downing Street.

Mr Javid faced fierce criticism last week for continuing with a trip to Australia while the crisis engulfing the industry was unfolding.

Yesterday, there were signs that No 10 was taking an increasing grip of business policy following criticism of the Governments sluggish response.

David Camerons chief fixer Oliver Letwin accompanied Mr Javid to talks with Tata Steel yesterday evening as union leaders called on Mr Cameron to take personal charge. They accused Mr Javid of taking his eye off the ball.

Mr Javid controversially failed to visit Mumbai last week when a scheduled meeting of the companys board decided to dispose of its UK operations.

Government sources last night said Mr Javid would finally travel to Mumbai today for talks with Tatas chairman Cyrus Mistry.

Meanwhile the Prime Minister will host Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones for a crisis meeting at Downing Street.

Speaking ahead of the talks Mr Cameron said: We remain fully focused on finding a buyer to run the steelworks and this meeting is an opportunity to discuss what needs to be done to make this prospect as attractive as possible to investors. However, sources close to the Business Secretary insisted he remained in charge of the Governments response.

A source said Mr Javid had put his department in full crisis mode in an effort to find a buyer to save the British steel industry. Sajid Javid is the man in the hot seat at the moment, the source said. He is in full control.

Mr Javids fightback came as unions warned that Tatas Port Talbot plant in South Wales may have to be propped up for three years at a cost of hundreds of millions of pounds, before any deal to save it can be finalised. Carwyn Jones said EU state aid rules also meant it was impossible to meet the demand from Tata Steel to cut the crippling 15million-a-year business rates bill at the plant.

Mr Jones said Brussels diktats meant the firm could be offered relief worth just 50,000 a year.

Business rates targeted at particular sectors are considered to be selective state aid.

The Prime Minister (left) will host Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones (right) for crisis talks at Downing Street

That means the amount of relief that can be averted is just 200,000 euros over a three-year period. Some pensions experts also warned that EU rules could torpedo hopes that the Government might be able to take on Tatas 2billion pension liabilities to sweeten any deal.

But in an emergency statement to the Welsh Assembly yesterday, Mr Jones insisted the EU was not to blame for the woes of the industry.

He said it was the British government that blocked efforts to increase EU tariffs on cheap Chinese steel.

However, Tory MP David Davies, chairman of the Commons Welsh affairs committee, said: Even Carwyn Jones has now had to admit that EU rules are preventing us from helping the steel industry. We cant cut their business rates, it has taken years to get them compensation from climate change taxes and nothing has been done about tariffs for Chinese steel.
The former prime minister of New Zealand has announced she will join the race for the top position at the United Nations.

If triumphant in succeeding Ban Ki-moon, Helen Clark will become the first woman to hold the post of secretary-general and said she would 'like to see women have a fair chance at every leadership position'.

Ms Clark was nominated for the position by New Zealand's current prime minister John Key and announced her candidacy during an interview in New York on Monday, The Guardian reported.

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Helen Clark, the former prime minister of New Zealand, has announced she will join the race for the top position at the United Nations

Ms Clark announced her candidacy for the United Nations secretary-general during an interview in New York on Monday

'The position of secretary general is about giving a voice to 7 billion people who look to the UN for hope and support,' she said.

'We, New Zealanders, have developed our own way of getting along with one another and getting things done.

'The tradition of being tolerant, pragmatic, and fair is a central part of who we are, and I believe I would bring these attributes to the position of secretary-general.'

Prime Minister John Key said the New Zealand government would nominate Ms Clark for the job and believes her vast amount of experience will be 'hard for other candidates to match,' according to The Australian.

Former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott also reportedly promised to endorse Ms Clark if she decided to run.

'The position of secretary general is about giving a voice to 7 billion people who look to the UN for hope and support,' she said

If triumphant in succeeding Ban Ki-moon (pictured), Helen Clark will become the first woman to hold the post

Mr Rudd wished Ms Clark well in her bid to head up the United Nations in a tweet alongside a picture of the pair shaking hands

Prime Minister John Key (pcitured) said the New Zealand government would nominate Ms Clark for the job and believes her vast amount of experience will be 'hard for other candidates to match,'

This comes after foreign Minister Julie Bishop poured cold water on the chances of Kevin Rudd getting the position.

Ms Bishop says she's spoken with several leaders at the global nuclear summit in Washington and while it appeared Mr Rudd had approached some people to express interest, none had indicated support for him.

However, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Mr Rudd had not yet nominated for the position.

Mr Rudd wished Ms Clark well in her bid to head up the United Nations in a tweet alongside a picture of the pair shaking hands.

'I've worked closely with Helen as PM & at UN. Helen will be a strong UN (secretary general) candidate and I wish her well,' he wrote.

If successful in becoming the secretary general, Ms Clark will essentially become the spokesperson for the United Nations for a five-year term

This comes after foreign Minister Julie Bishop (right) poured cold water on the chances of Kevin Rudd (left) getting the position

Ms Clark was nominated for the position by New Zealand's current prime minister John Key and announced her candidacy during an interview in New York on Monday

Ms Clark was New Zealand's fifth longest serving prime minister with her reign lasting from 1999 to 2008.

In 2015, she was ranked as the 23rd most powerful woman in the world by Forbes.

If successful in becoming the secretary general, Ms Clark will essentially become the spokesperson for the United Nations for a five-year term.

She is running against Macedonian foreign minister Srghan Kerim, Former Croation vice-president Vesna Pusic, former Slovenian president Danuilo Turk, former Bulgarian deputy PM Irina Bokova, former Moldovan foreign minister Natalia Gherman and former Portuguese prime minister Antonio Guterres.

The new secretary-general will take office on January 1, 2017.
David Cameron's late father Ian (pictured) used one of the most secretive tools in the tax avoidance trade to ensure his firm never paid any dues in Britain, according to the so-called Panama Papers

David Cameron's late father used one of the most secretive tools in the tax avoidance trade to ensure his firm never paid any dues in Britain, according to the so-called Panama Papers.

The leaked documents show that Ian Cameron was a client of Mossack Fonseca, a law firm which helped him set up an offshore investment fund that apparently paid no tax in this country.

Even though he lived in London, the Prime Minister's father would leave the country and fly to Switzerland or the Bahamas for board meetings of Blairmore Holdings  to ensure it would not have to pay UK income tax or corporation tax.

He hired a small army of Bahamas residents, including a part-time bishop, to sign its paperwork  as part of another bid to show his firm was not British-based.

And he made use of 'bearer shares', which were widely used in the offshore trade to ensure maximum secrecy and hide the true identity of Blairmore's owners.

It emerged in 2012 that the Prime Minister's father ran a network of offshore investment funds to help build the family fortune.

Though entirely legal, the funds, which were set up in tax havens such as Panama City and Geneva, were said to have explicitly boasted of their ability to stay outside UK tax jurisdiction.

At the time of his death in late 2010, Ian Cameron left 2.74million in his will, from which his son received 300,000.

The leaks from Mossack Fonseca show Mr Cameron Sr was a client of the law firm  and used bearer shares.

They have now been banned by many countries  including the UK  because they have been used to facilitate money laundering and tax evasion.

The shares can allow investors to hide ownership and transfer assets without a paper trail  whoever has the bearer share in their possession becomes the legal owner.

The certificates do not carry the name of their owner. There is no suggestion Blairmore was using them for any illegal purpose, and they were common among offshore funds at the time.

But company documents, released in the leak, record how two employees of a bank in the Bahamas were holders of '2,347,280 shares in bearer form' in 2005.

This made them the official owners of all Blairmore's investments.

Using the bearer shares in this way ensured that the true owners  the wealthy investors in Blairmore Holdings  were kept hidden from view.

Richard Brooks, a former tax inspector who writes for Private Eye magazine, told the BBC Panorama programme last night that some people use the anonymity provided by bearer shares to evade tax.

The leaked documents show Ian Cameron (pictured with son David and wife Mary) was a client of Mossack Fonseca, a law firm which helped him set up an offshore investment fund that apparently paid no tax in Britain

'A bearer share is a piece of paper saying you own a share of a company,' he said.

'There doesn't have to be any other record other than that piece of paper, which means you can hide your ownership of bearer shares.

'And when it comes to declaring what assets, what wealth you have, what income you have, it really leaves it just to you and your conscience.'

Blairmore stopped using bearer shares in 2006. David Cameron's government banned them in 2015.

SHARES WITH NO NAME Bearer shares are so called because no name is attached to them. Whoever has the physical share certificate is its owner  the same way that whoever has possession of a 10 note owns it and is free to spend it. Information about who actually owns the share is concealed. Certificates can be passed or sold by one person or company to another and the firm that issued it does not have to be informed. UK companies were banned from issuing them last May under the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act. By next month, British firms that previously issued bearer shares must have converted them into a normal 'registered' share. But they are still allowed in a number of countries. And they remain a means of money laundering and tax evasion as they leave no trace of who owns or controls the finances of the company that issued the shares. Advertisement

The Panama Papers also show Blairmore would hold board meetings outside the UK  forcing Mr Cameron Sr and four other UK directors to fly hundreds or thousands of miles to Switzerland or the Bahamas.

It held its meetings offshore to ensure the fund would not have to pay tax in Britain.

Had the meetings been held in London, it might have been considered resident in the UK and taxed as a UK company.

There were also three directors in Switzerland and three in the Bahamas.

There is little evidence the Caribbean directors attended many of the board meetings in Switzerland  raising questions over their real level of involvement.

Big investment decisions appear to have been made in London.

Mr Brooks said: 'The clear intention for Blairmore was to avoid becoming UK tax resident and the test for this, even in 2006, is the location of the central management and control.

'This means where the key business decisions are taken. The evidence here suggests in this period they weren't taken outside the UK, in which case it is hard to see how the company was not managed and controlled, and therefore tax resident, in the UK at the time.'

The papers also reveal that Blairmore retained up to 50 Caribbean officers each year. Their job was to sign paperwork and fill roles such as treasurer and secretary.

They included the late Solomon Hughes, a lay bishop with the non-denominational Church of God of Prophecy.

He acted in various roles including vice-president over a number of years from the mid-1990s.

These officers were authorised to perform complex financial tasks, such as 'sell or buy any stocks, shares, annuities' and 'precious metals'.

But, in reality, such big decisions appear to have been made in London. It indicates that the Caribbean officers were taken on to prove that the company was offshore.
Shocking footage has emerged of a female reporter and a cameraman being harassed live on air by a young man in the troubled Molenbeek region of Belgium.

Journalist Giovanna Pancheri, working for Italian news company Sky TG24, was in the Belgian district to report on recent protests.

The video shows the camera being knocked out of focus and a young man wearing a grey hoodie and a black hat appearing in view.

He speaks to the reporter and the cameraman who try to continue with the broadcast.

The man refuses to leave and continues to stare at the camera.

Tensions in the Belgian capital have remained high in recent days with police out in force to ward off trouble after local authorities banned a planned anti-Islam rally and any counter-protests.

Several hundred people tried to gather in defiance of the ban in the troubled neighbourhood while smaller far-left groups were dispersed from a central Brussels square that has become a memorial to the March 22 victims.

Journalist Giovanna Pancheri, working for Italian news company Sky TG24, was harassed as she tried to complete a live broadcast

The young man speaks to the reporter and the cameraman who try to continue with the broadcast

Police said they briefly detained over 100 people but only two were kept in custody.

One of them was a driver who ploughed through a police line in Molenbeek, running over and injuring a female passer-by.

The authorities were determined to prevent a repeat of last weekend, when riot police fired water cannon to disperse far-right football hooligans who disrupted mourners at the makeshift shrine to the attack victims.

The video shows the camera being knocked out of focus and a young man wearing a grey hoodie and a black hat appearing in view

The man refuses to leave and continues to stare at the camera. Tensions in the Belgian capital have remained high in recent days with police out in force to ward off trouble after local authorities banned a planned anti-Islam rally and any counter-protests

Brussels has been on edge since the November 13 Paris gun and suicide bomb attacks which killed 130 people after it emerged several of the jihadists came from Brussels.

The sole surviving Paris suspect, Salah Abdeslam, was arrested in Molenbeek on March 18, after four months on the run as Europe's most wanted man.

He denies having any prior knowledge of the Brussels attacks.

Devastating suicide bombings in the Belgian airport's main terminal and a Brussels subway train killed 32 people and wounded 270.
He is the ultimate British anti-hero, a cynical schemer who never stopped plotting ways to enhance his standing  not to mention his bank balance.

Edmund Blackadder, the eponymous star of the hit BBC comedy, is a much-loved character who spawned a series of witty catchphrases that still raise a chuckle to this day.

But for the real Blackadder, the shows fame proved to be a curse, resulting in drunken hoax phone calls from pranksters and shop workers laughing at the name on his credit card.

Edmund Blackadder (left), is a much-loved character who spawned a series of witty catchphrases that still raise a chuckle to this day. But for Dr Eric Blackadder (right), the shows fame proved to be a curse

Dr Eric Blackadder, from Pittenweem, Fife, complained his life was made a misery after he unwittingly provided the name for Rowan Atkinsons scheming character.

He was the BBCs chief medical officer in 1982 when Atkinson, Richard Curtis and John Lloyd were working on the first series of the hit show.

The makers of the programme tried to get him on side but he later sought legal advice in a bid to have the sitcom renamed.

Dr Blackadder died in March last year, aged 87. His recently published will revealed he had a fortune valued at 1,436,798 at the time of his death.

The estate included a stocks and shares portfolio, jewellery and an art collection.

After leaving gifts totalling 285,000 to his children and grandchildren, Dr Blackadder instructed that the remainder of his estate should be left to his wife, Jean.

Born in Falkirk, Dr Blackadder spent his early career in general practice and as a surgeon lieutenant in the Royal Navy before joining the BBC.

He recalled how he first caught wind that his name was being sent up in the comedy series when BBC colleagues started teasing him in the management dining rooms.

He said: The banter went on for months and I remember asking my secretary to see if she could find out if my name was being used in television.

Blackadder (pictured here in the Tudor period) ran for four series on the BBC between 1983 and 1989 and was watched by more than ten million viewers at its height

In 1983, the doctor and his wife went to a preview screening of the first two episodes.

He said: We were invited to the Greenwood Theatre and wined and dined with the cast.

Then they sat us down in front of a large television screen and ran through the first two episodes and watched my reaction very closely.

Apparently neither Dr Black-adder or his wife were impressed.

He tried to persuade Alasdair Milne, then the BBC director general, to rename the show.

I spoke to the BBC solicitors but was told that I had no copyright in my name, he said.

He later left the BBC to become the chief medical adviser at BUPA.

After Blackadder became a major success, the doctor and his wife suffered the indignity of taxi drivers not turning up because they thought it was a hoax, shop assistants sniggering over their credit cards, and late-night drunken calls demanding to speak to Baldrick, Blackadders hapless assistant.

Restaurants declined to accept their bookings and a Post Office clerk refused to approve a telegram Dr Blackadders son was trying to dictate in order to mark his parents wedding anniversary.

While the series was running, they would regularly receive three or four calls on a Friday night and took to keeping a referees whistle by the phone.

After Blackadder became a major success, the doctor and his wife suffered the indignity of taxi drivers not turning up because they thought it was a hoax, shop assistants sniggering over their credit cards, and late-night drunken calls demanding to speak to Baldrick, Blackadders hapless assistant (right)

In an interview, Mrs Blackadder said: I can say from the bottom of my heart that the side-effects have all been adverse. We started off with a respectable name but all of this has changed our lives.

Always serious-minded, Eric wasnt terribly impressed with the Blackadder series, which he found adolescent in humour. The fact it came to occupy so much of our time was a complete bore.

Blackadder ran for four series on the BBC between 1983 and 1989 and was watched by more than ten million viewers at its height.

The final series of the comedy was set in the trenches of the First World War.

Like the fictional character of the same name, Dr Blackadders father, John, served in that conflict.

A lawyer by profession, he was a staff officer for three years, rising to lieutenant  junior to Edmund Blackadders rank of captain in the series. His son does not know if he saw active service.

The programme portrays Blackadders attempt to avoid combat by getting sent to hospital.

The plan is thwarted, leading to the tragi-comedy of the final episode, when the men obey the fatal order to go over the top.

In 2001, John Lloyd, who produced the comedy, denied there was any intent to embarrass Dr Blackadder. Lloyd, also speaking on behalf of Atkinson, the shows star, insisted that the name was entirely fictional.
A proposal for women-only 'pink carriages' on Sydney trains after 8pm by the Rail, Tram and Bus Union has drawn criticism from a variety of people, including commuters and feminists.

The proposal, initially put forward three years ago by the union, advocates for a 'Safe Carriages' trial for women and children in the evenings.

A report by The Daily Telegraph said NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics show six women and six men were sexually assaulted on railway premises in the year to last September.

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Commuters waiting for a train in western Sydney. The Rail, Tram and Bus Union is calling for a trial of 'safe carriages' in Sydney after 8pm at night for women and children

The reports of indecent assaults on females were higher - 142 against women compared with 24 against men.

Bob Nanva, the National Secretary of the Rail, Tram and Bus Union, said they were calling for a trial of Safe Carriages in NSW, with carriages fitted with extra distress buttons and on-board CCTV and subject to more regular checks by staff.

Mr Nanva said women and children who travel on public transport after dark should have the option of safe haven where they can feel safe without having to worry if the bloke leering at the from across the aisle is a potential predator.

NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics show six women and six men were sexually assaulted on railway premises in the year to last September, but indecent assaults on females were 142 compared with 24 against men

'We're calling for public transport authorities around the country to do more to protect commuters from thugs, d***heads and perverts on public transport.'

Feminist Eva Cox told The Daily Telegraph there should be special carriages for men.

'I suspect if men are being drunk and obnoxious they ought to be stuck away in a separate carriage rather than limit women to the special carriage,' she said.

Female passengers walking out of a 'Women Only' carriage at a metro station in Tokyo in Japan

'I think we should lock up the potential perpetrators. Or keep them away from the women rather than the other way around.'

Segregated areas on public transport are used in several countries around the world including Iran, Japan, India, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Indonesia and Brazil, reported The Guardian.

Mexico City has women-only areas of platforms and carriages for rush hour, Malaysia introduced women-only pink buses and trains in 2010 and in Kathmandu in Nepal, they are trialing women only minibuses.

In March, The Telegraph reported German train operator Mitteldeutsche Regiobahn would be introducing women-only carriages on its trains following several violent sex attacks.

A female railway guard inside the entrance to a women-only carriage in Depok, Indonesia in 2010. The country introduced the women-only carriages to counter sexual harassment on public trasport

Women waiting for a bus in central Tehran, Iran in August 2015. Iran is one of many countries that has segregated areas for women on public transport

Egyptian women pictured inside a special compartment for females in Cair's underground metro

Female commuters in the women's compartment of a suburban train heading towards Mumbai in 2012. In India some train compartments, or sometimes whole trains, are reserved specifically for female passengers

A woman near the doorway of a Ladies' Special train while travelling in Mumbai in 2012. In Mumbai there are two trains every day except Sunday reserved especially for women




Donald Trump unveiled a secret weapon Monday night in his battle to peel away the stubborn impression that growing numbers of female voters don't like him: his wife Melania.

Mrs. Trump appeared on stage in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, hours before a Republican primary election that will either slow down the billionaire's political juggernaut or put him on a glide path to a presidential nomination.

She said her husband is 'fair' and 'no matter who you are  a man or a woman  he treats everyone equal.'

Later on during a town hall-style interview with Sean Hannity, Trump was asked if he had a nickname for Hillary - after successfully labeling his opponents Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, 'Lyin Ted and 'Little Marco', respectively.

Trump replied that he does, but that he 'wants to knock-off the next two people, (Cruz and Kasich' before he 'focuses' on Clinton.

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SECRET WEAPON: Melania Trump, wife of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump addresses the crowd during a rally at the Milwaukee Theatre on Monday

MELANIA SIGHTING: Donald Trump's wife appeared on stage with him Monday night in Milwaukee

TOUGH TALK: Melania said that 'as you may know by now, when you attack him, he will punch back ten times harder. No matter who you are  a man or a woman  he treats everyone equal'

EXIT STAGE LEFT: Mrs. Trump walked off just moments before a protester erupted

But in Wisconsin, Melania revved up a mid-sized crowd inside the Milwaukee Theater with an observation about her hard-charging husband.

'As you may know by now,' she said, 'when you attack him, he will punch back ten times harder!'

'He's a fighter, and if you elect him to be your president, he will fight for you and for our country,' she said. 'He will work for you and lead you.

A beaming Mr. Trump stepped aside and listened to her speak, saying after Melania left the stage that he had no idea what she was going to say.

He introduced her as 'an incredible woman. She's an incredible mother ... She will make an unbelievable first lady.'

MELANIA'S BIG NIGHT Mrs. Trump's remarks in Milwaukee: 'It is wonderful to be here today with you and with my husband. I'm very proud of him. He's a hard worker, he's kind, he has a great heart. He's tough. He's smart. 'He's a great communicator. He's a great negotiator. He's studied the truth. He's a great leader. He's fair. 'As you may know by now, when you attack him, he will punch back ten times harder. No matter who you are  a man or a woman  he treats everyone equal. 'He's a fighter, and if you elect him to be your president, he will fight for you and for our country. He will work for you and lead you. 'And together we will make America strong and great again. Thank you.' Advertisement

But Melania's remarks didn't please everyone in the ornate theater.

A protester  the only one of the night, despite a Bernie Sanders rally taking place just a block away  hurled an unknown object and an insult toward the podium as she walked off, drawing Secret Service agents on stage from the wings on both sides.

With his wife present, Trump took a softer line on the agitator, resisting the urge to yell 'Get him out of here!'  a line that has become the 'You're Fired' moment in dozens of contentious campaign stops.

Instead he just thanked police for clearing the activist out.

Trump has faced a growing chorus of jeers from feminists and some female TV commentators since making comments about abortion last week that alienated pro-life and pro-choice partisans at the same time.

In a politically suffocating week that wouldn't seem to end, he also caught flak for defending his campaign manager against a battery charge lodged by a female reporter, and retweeted an unflattering photo of Heidi Cruz  the wife of his main GOP rival, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas.

The political novice later described that move as 'a mistake.

'HE'S FAIR': Donald Trump said his wife hadn't told him what she was about to say before she spoke

Cruz piled on, saying Monday during a broadcast with Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly that the billionaire 'seems to have a problem with strong women. I dont why that is. But it seems to really bother him.'

Kelly herself has crossed swords with Trump ever since an August 2015 GOP debate that she began by needling him over past comments he had made about women with whom he was publicly feuding.

The result was a series of polls that showed as many as seven in 10 American women hold unfavorable views about him.

But among female Republican voters who help decide the primary contest to pick a presidential nominee, he has maintained the support of a scant majority.

That may be enough to get him past the biggest hurdle of his short political life: collecting the support of 1,237 delegates to July's Republican National Convention and claiming the GOP's top spot for the November election.

ROUGH PATCH COMING? Trump faces the possibility of a tough Tuesday as Wisconsin Republicans go to the polls

Celinda Lake, a Democratic pollster, told National Public Radio on Friday that Trump's defiant gaffes on women's issues have created an image of insensitivity that would hurt him incalculably in a general election.

'He has been his own worst enemy with women. He's like your worst date ever  it just keeps getting worse and worse and worse as the evening goes on,' Lake said.

'I think if he's the nominee, you are going to see record numbers of women turning out and you're going to see record of numbers of women voting against him.'

Monday night's rally, including that rare Melania sighting involving more than just a wave or a few words, comes with Trump trailing Cruz in most Wisconsin polls.

He promised a 'very, very big victory,' though, when he spoke in the western Wisconsin town of La Crosse on Monday morning.

At night in Milwaukee, he acknowledged the intra-party feud that threatens to derail his presidential ambitions.

'What do they call it? They call it like, "No Trump".'

Then he remembered. 'They call it "Never Trump!"'

'Oh, you need Trump so badly, though!'
A grandmother, 57, who was killed in a 'prank' gone wrong would have forgiven the three young men who caused her death when they were teenagers.

Samuel Hawkins, 19, Daniel Gavin, 21, and Jason Campbell, 18, were sentenced for manslaughter to home detention and community service on Monday at the High Court at New Plymouth in the Taranaki Region of New Zealand's North Island.

Christine Fairweather was struck by a utility truck and killed in August 2014 after she got out of her car to move metal barriers the three then-teenagers had put across the road, Stuff.co.nz reported.

(L-R) Daniel Gavin, 21, Samuel Hawkins, 19, and Jason Campbell, 18, were sentenced for manslaughter on Monday for the death of grandmother Christine Fairweather, 57

All now adults, the three men plead guilty to the manslaughter of the 57-year-old in February.

The trio had stopped near the intersection at Atkinson Street and Waihi Road in Normanby at about 10.30pm on the night of the grandmother's death.

Gavin stayed in the car while Hawkins and Campbell dragged four barriers across the road and blocked off both lanes. The barriers had been placed by contractors to protect holes in the road.

About an hour after the group drove off, Mrs Fairweather struck one of the gates on her way home from babysitting her grandchildren.

She stopped her car, with high beams and hazard lights on, and went to move one of the gates when she was struck by a utility truck and died at the scene.

57-year-old Christine Fairweather (pictured) was struck by a utility truck and killed in August 2014 after she got out of her car to move metal barriers the three then-teenagers had put across the road

Mrs Fairweather's sister Dianne Coleman said the grandmother would have been the first to forgive the trio for their actions, while the grandmother's husband said she was selfless and generous.

Thats why she was killed, she was thinking of others before herself, John Fairweather said, according to Stuff.nz.

Geoff Hart, who was driving the vehicle, plead guilty to careless driving causing death and was sentenced in January last year to 100 hours of community work.

Mrs Fairweathers family said they had no animosity for the driver. In a statement released through NZ Police in November 2014, they said he was as much a victim of the incident as they were.

Justice Matthew Muir rejected the incident was a prank gone wrong or the result of simple tomfoolery.

She ran headlong into the trap you had set, he said.

Thats why she was killed, she was thinking of others before herself, her husband John Fairweather said (Mr and Mrs Fairweather pictured)

All three offenders were given credit for their age and early guilty pleas, while Gavin was given additional credit for the remorse he showed.

Gavin, Campbell and Hawkins are no longer friends.

Gavin will serve seven months of home detention, while Hawkins will serve nine months and Campbell was sentenced to 12 months in home detention.

Campbells sentence was increased due to a recent domestic violence conviction.

All three were also sentenced to 100 hours of community work.

Justice Muir told the trio Mrs Fairweather would want them to get their lives in order.
Local community has honoured Ms Scott in the year since

Ms Scott was last seen alive on April 5, 2015 at Leeton High School

One year after the killing that shocked Australia, the father of murdered bride-to-be Stephanie Scott has opened up about his family's profound sense of grief.

In an interview with local newspaper The Area News, Robert Scott described his slain daughter as an 'absolute joy... a happy girl'.

He said as time goes by he has begun to realise what a 'deep loss' he and his family have experienced.

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Murdered bride-to-be Stephanie Scott is pictured with her mother, Merrilyn, just prior to her death

Ms Scott was to marry her beloved fiance Aaron Leeson-Woolley the day after her body was found

Stephanie's father Robert has remembered his daughter as an 'absolute joy' in a local newspaper interview

'When it all happened in a bit of a hurry it was very sad and very distressing,' Mr Scott was quoted telling the Area News.

'But as time progresses you realise just how deep the loss is because of the way she's impacted on your life'.

'[The pain] is not just going to disappear, grieving is an ongoing process and when you've got someone who was such a delight to have in your life there's a lot to miss.'

Ms Scott was last seen alive on April 5, 2015 at Leeton High School where she worked as an English and drama teacher. Police allege she was murdered between 1.40 and 2pm.

Her remains found were found five days later in nearby Cocoparra National Park - the day before her wedding.

School cleaner Vincent Stanford has been charged with her murder.

Leeton Shire Council mayor Paul Maytom told Daily Mail Australia the local community is determined to Ms Scott for who she is - rather than the tragic circumstances of her death.

Stephanie Scott was the angel atop the family's Christmas tree in 2015, the end of a challenging year

Robert, Merrilyn and Mr Leeson-Wolley (right) presented the inaugural 'Stephanie Scott Cup' this weekend

Very appropriately, the Stephanie Scott Cup was won by the local Leeton Galloping Greens league-tag team

'While this is the anniversary it's... a reminder of what Stephanie meant for us in our community,' Cr Maytom said in an interview.

'We don't want it to be a reminder of of the unfortunate tragic event that happened.'

The town has rallied around the Scott family over the past year.

Leeton High is constructing an amphitheatre in her honour which is nearing completion.

And at the weekend, Ms Scott's mother Merilyn, Robert Scott and Mr Leeson-Woolley presented the inaugural 'Stephanie Scott Memorial Cup' to the winners of a 'league-tag' competition.

The winners, the Leeton Galloping Greens, said online: 'Couldn't have been more proud winning this & especially as our thoughts are with Steph even more at this time with her 12 month anniversary tomorrow.'

Vincent Stanford will face court in May.

Robert Scott (left) told the Area News, 'As time progresses you realise just how deep the loss is'
A Latino construction worker posted a picture to Facebook of him flying the Mexican Flag on Trump Tower in Vancouver.

Diego Saul Reyna posted the image on Saturday, which has since received nearly 7,000 shares and 9,400 reactions.

Reyna's post was a retaliation to the unfavorable comments Trump has made about Mexican immigrants during his bid for the Republican party's nomination for president.

Diego Saul Reyna (pictured), a Latino construction worker in British Columbia, flew the Mexican flag on Trump Tower in Vancouver on Saturday

The British Columbia man, who worked on Trump Tower, said he flew the Mexican flag 'because from the concrete pouring, finishing, drywall, taping, wood forming and general labor, Mexicans were there, building (Trump Tower), doing good work.

'The comments Trump has made about us, did not stop us from doing the high quality work we have always done, in our home country or when we migrate to the US/Canada.

'MR Trump, we did our best work, your tower here in Vancouver is premium quality, and we were a crucial part of it, not just Mexicans but immigrants as a whole, like your ancestors were.

'You are not Native American. The insults you have said about us, have not changed our work ethics.

'While working on your tower Mexicans didn't steal anything nor raped anyone.

'We just did the best work we could possibly do.

'For my ourselves, our families and the future tenants in your building.'

Reyna, who worked on Trump Tower (pictured), posted the picture saying that the Mexicans who worked on the tower were good, honest people

On June 15 Trump made comments calling Mexicans 'rapists' and 'criminals' in a speech announcing his bid for the White House

He then asked his friends to share the image so the post made it on to Trump's news feed.

When Trump announced he was running for president on June 16 last year, he infuriated many people with his comments about Mexico.

'When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best.

'They're not sending you. They're not sending you.

'They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems with us.

'They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people,' he said.

He has also been adamant about building a wall along the Mexico-U.S. border if he's elected.

The flag was removed from the tower yesterday.
Killed himself and 149 people on board flight from Barcelona to Dusseldorf

Gunter and Ursula Lubitz took out an advertisement in a local newspaper in Montabaur, Germany, to pay tribute to their 27-year-old son Andreas (pictured) who killed himself and 149 passengers last year

Relatives of Germanwings' victims are outraged after the parents of suicidal pilot Andreas Lubitz described him as a 'lovely and valuable person' in a newspaper tribute.

Gunter and Ursula Lubitz took out an advertisement in the Westerwald newspaper in their home town of Montabaur, Germany, to pay tribute to the 27-year-old who killed himself and 149 innocent passengers last year.

The advert is the first public expression of grief from the mother and father of the man who has become reviled for the mass murder-suicide.

Lubitz managed to evade health and safety checks while fighting his severe depression, which allowed him to remain flying until he decided to end his life on March 24 last year while at the controls of Flight 4U9525 en route from Barcelona to Dusseldorf.

In the newspaper announcement his parents thanked friends and relatives who had stood by them.

The tribute, which features a photo of Lubitz, said: 'Thanks to everyone in the town of Montabaur for cohesion and the protected space that you created for us.'

'Thank you for every written line, every flower placed on his grave, every comforting word, every visit, every loving or silent embrace,'

The parents went on to describe a 'year of horror and fear, without rest, of speechlessness and despair and unexpressed mourning. We have lost a lovely and valuable person.'

At the end of March families of the dead made a pilgrimage to the lonely spot in the French Alps where co-pilot Lubitz - having locked the captain of the aircraft out of the cockpit - deliberately steered the plane into the mountainside.

At the strictly shielded ceremony, Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr said: 'This tragic crash did incredible harm to many, many people. We cannot relieve this unhappiness, but we can assist at least the family members.'

Flowers left in front of the monument in tribute to the victims of Germanwings crash in Le Vernet, France

The parents of one victim, Sebastian S., 24, were among those who reacted angrily to the tribute to their son's murderer.

They said: 'We can visit our assassinated child only at this spot. The parents of Lubitz describe him as a valuable human being. You cannot describe our anger in words.'

Jurgen Fareed from Wesseling, who lost his son, said: 'I can understand the grief of the parents, they have lost their son.
This enshrines the right of the accused to avoid self incrimination

The judge said this would allow him to invoke his Fifth Amendment right

Cosby's legal team have been partially granted a stay in his defamation suit

Bill Cosby's effort to put a Massachusetts defamation lawsuit against him on hold until his Pennsylvania criminal case is resolved has been only partially granted.

In the ruling issued Monday, a judge blocked any discovery - the method by which opposing legal teams gather evidence through requesting documents and requests for depositions - addressed to Cosby.

He said any requests for evidence from his legal team in the defamation case - which could theoretically be used against him in his criminal case in Pennsylvania - have been put on hold.

The judge said any requests for evidence from Cosby's team in the defamation case - which could theoretically be used against him in his criminal case in Pennsylvania - have been put on hold

However, the judge said the case isn't halted in any other respect, therefore Cosby's motion was allowed in part and denied in part.

This was, he said, to avoid the 'precarious dilemma' of Cosby having to choose whether to assert his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination and put himself at a disadvantage in the Massachusetts case or waive that privilege and possibly incriminate himself in the Pennsylvania case.

Both cases involve women who've accused Cosby of sexual misconduct. Cosby denies their allegations.

It comes just days after it emerged student leaders at the University of Notre Dame want the administration to revoke an honorary degree awarded to the comedian in 1990.

Dozens have accused Cosby of sexual abuse over the past several years

The student senate passed a resolution calling on the university to take back Cosby's honorary degree and to clarify the process by which individuals are selected to receive honorary degrees, the South Bend Tribune reported.

Dozens of women have accused Cosby of sexual abuse over the past several years.

As a result, at least 26 colleges and universities have revoked honorary degrees awarded to Cosby.

Last fall, university spokesman Paul Browne said Notre Dame has never revoked an honorary degree and doesn't plan to do so for Cosby alone. He said Thursday that the university's position on the issue hasn't changed.

'Notre Dame weighed carefully the information in the public record on Bill Cosby before he was accorded the honor years ago.

'Had the allegations surfaced then that have been made since, Notre Dame wouldn't have considered awarding the degree,' Browne said in a written statement.

If the university decided to revoke the honorary degree, it would send a message of support to sexual assault victims, as well as reaffirm Notre Dame's morals and identity as a Catholic university, the resolution states.

'Mr Cosby's association with these behaviors is in direct conflict with the University's stance, as stated in du Lac [the student handbook], that "sexual assault is inconsistent with the University's values and incompatible with the safe, healthy environment that the Notre Dame community expects",' the resolution reads.
Former Shan State Chief Minister and current State Hluttaw Deputy Speaker U Sao Aung Myat told the parliament that State Hluttaw MPs should have been informed one day ahead, adding that the majority of the MPs on leave during the parliamentary session were from an ethnic Shan party. Citing the importance of such matters, all the MPs need to be present when the proposal is being discussed, said Myat.

As no announcement has been made (in advance) concerning the proposed eight ministers, transparency is needed between our State Hluttaw MPs over this issue. Whether this (proposal) came as a top secret from our President, or from a restricted level, the State Hluttaw is the highest session for our Shan State. It should be a program where the state chief minister submits the (proposed) name list for the ministers only after these ministries have been clarified (in the parliament).

U Aung Than Htut from Laukkai Constituency  1 told parliament that he only learned about the program after arriving for the recent session. He called this kind of approach undemocratic and for proceedings to be conducted fairly by giving all MPs sufficient notice.

We only knew about it today (April 4) and most of the MPs on leave are from the SNLD (Shan Nationalities League for Democracy). Thats why we submitted to the parliament because we want everyone to be present when making important decisions. We submitted what should be practical for the ethnic Shan people, he told the Shan Herald.

Of the one-hundred and thirty-seven MPs in the Shan State Hluttaw, twenty-seven were absent; mainly from SNLD.

The deputy speaker suggested that parliament give at least three days to the MPs to decide whether or not they would approve the ministers but first after being informed of the nomination list. Despite these complaints parliament resumed today (April 5).

Edited by BNI Staff
The son of murdered NSW Police employee Curtis Cheng has spoken to former prime minister John Howard about gun control in Australia.

Curtis Cheng, who worked at Parramatta police station in Sydney's west was shot in the back of the head by 15-year-old terrorist Farhad Khalil Mohammad Jabar in October 2015.

On the eve of the 20th anniversary of the Port Arthur massacre Alpha Cheng has questioned whether the laws introduced in 1996 were enough, and whether tougher controls would have saved his father's life.

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Alpha Cheng (centre) has questioned whether tougher gun laws would have saved his father Curtis Cheng's life (pictured is his funeral in October 2015)

Appearing on SBS's Insight on Tuesday night Mr Cheng asks former prime minister John Howard about gun control

'There is widespread belief that the gun control measures introduced post-Port Arthur largely eradicated illegal guns in Australia,' he wrote in a first-person piece published in the Sydney Morning Herald.

'I certainly believed that our gun policies would have prevented a 15-year-old from illegally accessing a .38 Smith & Wesson revolver. This was clearly not the case,' Mr Cheng said.

His piece comes ahead of his appearance on Insight on SBS on Tuesday night, which focuses on gun control in Australia.

'Are our gun laws adequate in protecting us? Are we as safe as we think we are?' Alpha Cheng asked Mr Howard in this week's episode.

Alpha said he believes his that Australian laws should not have meant a 15-year-old should have been able to get a gun and shoot his father in the back of the head in October 2015

Mr Howard's most controversial policy while prime minister was the introduction of the National Firearms Agreement following the Port Arthur Massacre in 1996

From this the gun buy-back scheme was launched and the federal government seized and destroyed nearly one million firearms

Mr Howard's most controversial policy while prime minister was the introduction of the National Firearms Agreement following the Port Arthur Massacre in 1996.

From this the gun buy-back scheme was launched and the federal government seized and destroyed nearly one million firearms.

The former prime minister said that the current laws were not adequate and he was support a 'sensible strengthening' of the measures.

'I am wholly against any water down of the existing laws, and I would encourage sensible strengthening of the existing laws.'

Mr Howard said that the current laws were not adequate and he was support a 'strengthening' of them

'I would have thought that everyone would agree that if 15-year-olds can get hold of weapons like that there is something wrong with the laws,' Mr Howard said, referring to Curtis Cheng's death.

When asked by Alpha Cheng whether Australia needed another amnesty Mr Howard said he would be in full support of the idea.

'I don't object to that at all.'

He said he has not spoken to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull about his view nor has he been asked, but would say the same thing if Mr Turnbull approached him about it.

Port Arthur survivor Carolyn Loughton (left) went head-to-head with another guest Robert Wood (right)

Port Arthur survivor Carolyn Loughton, who lost her 15-year-old daughter Sarah in the massacre, was also interviewed for the program.

She went head-to-head with another guest Robert Wood, who was lamenting over how difficult it was to get his hands on a gun in Australia.

'So it should be!', Ms Loughton said, before detailing the list of excruciating surgeries and procedures she had undergone since being shot in the massacre 20 years ago.
He's served half of his sentence and is expected to be released this month

Samantha Harris was jailed for four years after fatal crash

Luke Hunt, 30, was released from jail on weekend release on Saturday

The family of an elderly man killed in a car crash by the fiance of model Samantha Harris say he has not served enough time in jail after he was let out over the weekend.

Luke Hunt, 30, was released from jail on weekend release on Saturday after being handed a four-year sentence in 2014 for dangerous driving in Sydney, which resulted in the death of 78-year-old Kenneth Lay.

He has served half of his sentence but his final release from jail is expected at the end of the month.

Model Samantha Harris posted this selfie to Instagram on Saturday with her fiance Luke Hunt after he was released from jail on weekend release following a 2012 car crash in Sydney that killed 78-year-old Kenneth Lay

Hunt and his model fiance Samantha Harris shared a photo on social media at the weekend following his release.

It was captioned: 'Weekends are my favourite'.

Mr Lay's daughter, Christine Scott, has since said Hunt hasn't served enough jail time but admitted he did deserve a second chance, the Manly Daily reports.

'He will have to live with this for the rest of his life, knowing he killed someone. It will be a question of how he lives his life from here on that will show whether he has learnt anything,' Ms Scott said.

Her father was killed in 2012 when the car Hunt and Ms Harris were travelling in collided with his vehicle, causing him to slam into a tree in Narraweena in Sydney's north.

Luke Hunt, pictured with his fiance Samantha Harris, was released from jail on weekend release on Saturday after being handed a four-year sentence for dangerous driving in Sydney in 2014

The 30-year-old has served half of his four year sentence and his final release from jail is expected at the end of the month

Hunt and Samantha Harris were travelling in their car together when it collided with 78-year-old Kennth Lay's vehicle in Narraweena in Sydney's north in 2012

Samantha Harris, who models regularly on Australia catwalks, said previously she was beyond devastated about the accident and for the Lay family

Ms Harris has previously said the past two years had been 'incredibly traumatic', the Daily Telegraph reported.

'I am beyond devastated with what has happened and for the Lay family. It is still so raw, having lost my partner. I need time to process and get used to not having him in my life for now,' she earlier said.

At the time of Hunt's sentencing, Judge Colin Charteris said the grandfather of 16 and father of seven had been obeying the road rules.

He said if Hunt not been speeding Mr Lay would still be with his family.

However, the judge accepted Hunt's remorse and acknowledged the tradesman now suffers from depression.

'He wishes he had passed away in the accident... but his regret cannot remedy what has occurred,' the judge said.

Hunt was also disqualified from driving for six-and-a-half years.

When Hunt was sentenced, the judge acknowledged he suffered from depression as a result of the crash, but no amount of regret could remedy the death of Mr Lay

Samantha Harris has previously said the past two years had been 'incredibly traumatic'. She has her partner's name tattooed on her rib cage (pictured)
Five were killed Monday afternoon when a tour helicopter crashed in woods near Sevierville, north of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, causing at least two explosions and starting a forest fire that swept across a mountain.

Details, including the names of the victims, have not yet emerged, but Pigeon Forge Police Chief Jack Baldwin told Associated Press, 'There's not a lot of the helicopter left. It's just basically a burnt mess.'

And strong winds had caused fire to spread 'all the way across the top of a nearby mountain,' Baldwin told WVLT. 'The winds are not helping at all - they get the fire down and it seems to pop up somewhere else.'

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Crash: The helicopter came down near Sevierville, Tennessee, at around 3.30pm on Monday, killing all five people on board. Winds then caused fires to spread into Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Forest fire: The blaze, described by local police chief Jack Baldwin as 'a major forest fire' was proving difficult to control Monday evening, as wind caused it to spread quickly

The crash was reported to have caused at least two explosions.

'I came out and that's when I saw the second explosion and I go "What was that?"' witness Shawn Matern told WBIR.com. ''That's when I came over closer and saw the guy rolling out of the helicopter screaming "Help me! Help me!"'

He continued: 'A couple of our neighbors went over the river to see how he was doing. The guy asked him "Are you still with me?" And the guy just shook his head, he raised his hand and the next few minutes he passed away.'

The dead man was identified by Associated Press as the pilot.

Baldwin said this was the fourth crash he could remember, and was the 'worst I've ever seen.'

Police told The Daily Mail that the victims will not be named until they have been identified and family members informed. There was no time frame for when this might occur.

The helicopter was a Bell 206 sightseeing craft and crashed around 3.30pm, the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) said. WVLT reported that it was owned by Smoky Mountain Helicopters.

FAA investigators were set to look at the crash Monday evening or Sunday morning, Baldwin told CNN. NBC reported that the state Forestry Division was sending its own investigators, as the fire had affected protected woodland.

By 8.45pm, the blaze had been mostly contained,WBIR.com reported, saying that despite what others had claimed, the fire had only burned two-to-three acres.

Work was underway through the night to create fire dams to contain the remaining fires.

The crash location is around less than a mile from a large outlet mall in Sevierville, adjacent to a neighborhood off the main tourist drag.

Tennessee Emergency Management Association spokesman Dean Flener told the Associated Press that no homes were damaged and no-one on the ground was harmed when the helicopter came down.

The crash site is also about three miles from Dolly Parton's Dollywood theme park.

Smoky Mountains Helicopters' website offers tours of 'the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Cherokee, Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, Sevierville and surrounding areas'. It says it has been in operation since 1964.
A 42-year-old detainee at a Sydney immigration detention centre has died after he was involved in a fight.

NSW Police told AAP the man was found unconscious and paramedics were unable to revive him at the Villawood detention centre, west of Sydney, about 9.45pm AEST on Monday.

The man from New Zealand has been named Rob Peihopa who died after a fight.

A 42-year-old detainee at a Sydney immigration detention centre has died after he was reportedly involved in a fight. The man from New Zealand has been named Rob Peihopa who died after a fight

But a fellow detainee said he had died from a heart attack but it had come as a shock.

'He was fit, healthy, so it came as a surprise that he had a heart attack,' Vaelua Lagaaia told Te Kaea.

'We went up to the compound where his body was. His body was covered with a blanket. They had NSW Police here and [detention centre contractor] Serco, and border force.

'They gave us an opportunity to say goodbye to the bro, which we did.'

Mr Lagaaia told AAP Mr Peihopa was involved in a disagreement with other detainees at the centre, and then collapsed and could not be saved by paramedics.

'With the stress of this place the brother has had a heart attack,' he said.

Peihopa had been in Villawood for about 10 months and was fighting the efforts of Australian authorities to have him deported, Lagaaia said.

The Department of Immigration confirmed a man had died at the centre on Monday night.

But a fellow detainee said he was told Mr Peihopa had died from a heart attack by Villawood staff but it had come as a shock. Above is a picture of the detention centre

'The man is suspected to have suffered a heart attack,' it said in a statement.

'Villawood Immigration Detention Centre remains calm and support services are available to all detainees and staff.

'The department expresses its sympathy to the family of the deceased man and will cooperate fully with the NSW Coroner who will prepare a report on the death.'

Mr Peihopa, who moved to Australia in 1989, served two years in prison for his involvement in a police chase but on the day of his release he was picked up by immigration officers after his visa was cancelled.

In an interview last year with Te Kaea, he said he was scared for his future and his children.

'I've paid my debt back, I went to prison, I've done the time,' Mr Peihopa said.

'Why do I have to pay for it for the rest of my life? Why should my family pay for it? It's a human rights issue.'

At the time, Mr Peihopa had feared he would be deported back to New Zealand, leaving behind his three sons.

Staff at the Villawood detention centre let Mr Peihopa's fellow countrymen perform the haka as his body was removed from the area.
The family of an Iowa girl who was born with a small head has spoken out about her condition in light of the Zika virus outbreak.

Keera Galindo, 15, of Bloomfield, has microcephaly, a condition that causes babies to be born with an unusually small head.

The World Health Organization confirmed last month that the Zika virus can cause microcephaly - but Keera's family told the Des Moines Register that many children in the US have it due to other reasons.

Keera's mother, Lori Folsom, worried people would misunderstand her daughter's case when reports of the Zika epidemic emerged last winter.

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Keera Galindo (pictured), 15, of Bloomfield, has microcephaly, a condition that causes babies to be born with an unusually small head

Keera Galindo, 15, goofs off with her lab partner during science class at Davis County Community High School last month. She attends both regular classes and some for students with learning difficulties

'They were saying microcephaly was caused by the Zika virus, not that Zika was one possible cause,' she told the Des Moines register.

Specialists believe a genetic mutation caused Keera's microcephaly and some insist the condition is more common than autism.

Folsom worried people might see her daughter without understanding the truth about microcephaly.

She thought some might suppose Keera could pass on the condition if a mosquito bit her, then bit them.

But Keera, who is healthy even though the condition has slowed her development, has plenty of friends at school, where she manages the cross country and track teams.

Some girls have teased her in the past because they thought Keera was different, but it didn't affect her as school officials dealt with the situation, Folsom told the newspaper.

Now, Folsom wants to raise awareness about microcephaly in the US, hoping to prompt more people to support research into the condition.

The World Health Organization confirmed last month that the Zika virus can cause microcephaly. Pictured, Juan Pedro, a baby who has microcephaly, in Recife, Brazil

Out of 10,000 babies born in the country, between two and 12 are born with the condition according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But Jenniffer Lewis, a mother from Arizona who founded the Foundation For Children With Microcephaly, told the Des Moines register she believes the government's estimates are low.

They do not take into accounts children with other conditions, such as Down syndrome, which can cause microcephaly, Lewis said.

Forty to 50 new cases of microcephaly are reported every year in Iowa, making it as common as Down syndrome, the Des Moines Register wrote.

Professor William Dobyns, of the University of Washington, who diagnosed Keera when she was two, said microcephaly is more common than autism if mild cases are included.

Since her diagnosis, Keera has grown up with some disabilities, including slow physical growth and delayed speech.

Other people with microcephaly can become deaf, blind, unable to eat, speak and walk, or have seizures.

Keera goes to Davis County Community High School, where she attends both regular classes and some for students with learning difficulties.

Keera (pictured), who is healthy even though the condition has slowed her development, has plenty of friends at school, where she manages the cross country and track teams

Keera is an energetic teenager who dreams of getting her driver's license and going to college one day. She is pictured above in a Facebook photo

She played in a production of Charlotte's Web and plans to perform Amazing Grace at a contest, the Des Moines Register wrote.

Her physical growth has been slow as Keera struggled to put on weight growing up.

'It's as if her body is trying to camouflage how small her head is,' Folsom told the newspaper. 'As a toddler, she'd struggle to gain more than a pound a year. Her body burned away whatever she consumed.

'She ate whatever she wanted. I tried to lace it with butter and cheese  trying to stuff calories into her.'

Now, Keera is an energetic teenager who dreams of getting her driver's license and going to college one day.

'I'm not going to be the one to squash that, because she's proven me wrong so many times,' Folsom told the Des Moines Register.

'I've learned a lot more from her than I could ever teach her. I've become a lot more compassionate. I have so much more empathy for people. There's absolutely nothing wrong with her. She's one of the happiest people I know. She always wants to please everyone.'
The grandmother of a nine-year-old girl who was allegedly gang raped by four men as her mother smoked methamphetamine in another room has called for severe punishment for the perpetrators.

'I want hardcore punishment for what they have done to this child, because that shouldn't happen to anybody' said the grandmother of the victim, identified only as Elizabeth.

The assault is alleged to have happened on Easter Sunday at a house in Vernal, Utah.

Four men, Randall and Jerry Flatlip, 29 and 26, and Josiah and Larson RonDeau, 20 and 36, have been arrested, the Uintah County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.

'My granddaughter doesn't deserve to go through this,' Elizabeth told Fox 13 on Sunday.

'I'm very, very disgusted with people like that. They need to understand: You do not let people like that get away with anything,' she said.

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The grandmother of a nine-year-old rape victim said the perpetrators should be severely punished

'Very heinous alleged crime that took place,' said Corporal Brian Fletcher of the Uintah County sheriff's office

Jerry Flatip, left, and Josiah RonDeau, right, who are alleged to have raped a nine-year-old girl at a house in Vernal, Utah

Randall Flatlip, left, and Larson RonDeau, right, have also been arrested and charged over the incident

Corporal Brian Fletcher of the Uintah County sheriff's office told the news channel that the girl is in state custody.

'Very heinous alleged crime that took place,' he said. 'Our investigators have worked very hard in order to make sure that the victim is taken care of.'

'The victim's rights are paramount here, especially when we're dealing with children,' he said. 'It affects all of us when these crimes occur.'

The men were charged with first-degree felony rape of a child and first-degree sodomy and were being held in the Uintah County Jail.

According to Fox13, the nine-year-old girl had been at the house with her mother and was sleeping on the sofa.

At that point the mother and a friend went into the garage to smoke drugs.

When the mother returned, she found her daughter upset, with her clothes in disarray, saying she wanted to go home.

The next day the girl told her mother that she had been taken into a bedroom and raped by the men in turn, with one saying he would kill her if she told anybody about it.

The assault is alleged to have happened on Easter Sunday at a house (pictured) in Vernal, Utah

The nine-year-old girl had been at the house with her mother and was sleeping on the sofa. At that point the mother and a friend went into the garage (pictured) to smoke drugs

Police say she identified suspect Larson RonDeau and he was taken into custody.

According to a statement, he agreed to answer questions without an attorney present but denied any involvement.

Later police detained the three other suspects who each face one count of rape of a child and sodomy of a child as first-degree felonies.

During a search of home, officers found evidence relating to the alleged sexual assault, such as bloodstained bedding, as well as marijuana and drug paraphernalia at the home, reports Fox6Now.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull cheerfully posed for selfies on the street on Tuesday - despite his government falling behind in the polls for the first time since he took over from Tony Abbott last year.

Mr Turnbull and Senator Michaelia Cash enjoyed coffee at a trendy cafe near Sydney's Barangaroo before fronting media to talk about the Australian Building and Construction Commission.

Smiles aside, Mr Turnbull was hesitant to field questions from media quizzing the latest disastrous Newspoll results - showing Labor leading the Coalition by 51-49 per cent.

'I will leave the commentary on matters like that to the commentators,' he told reporters.

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Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull cheerfully stopped to pose for smiling selfies in Sydney on Tuesday

Mr Turnbull put on a brave face, despite his government falling behind in the polls for the first time since he took over from Tony Abbott last year

Why so serious? Mr Turnbull and Senator Michaelia Cash enjoyed coffee at a trendy cafe near Sydney's Barangaroo before fronting media

Mr Turnbull cited the the loss of 30 Newspolls in a row as a reason for seeking the Liberal leadership back in September.

But these days he's not really into offering an opinion.

'(Commentary) is a line of work I used to do in my youth but am not doing it any longer.'

The commentary was left to his cabinet ministers who blamed last week's debate about income tax sharing with the states for the loss of voter support.

Employment Minister Michaelia Cash insisted the government was dealing with difficult issues and sometimes things get 'a little bit messy'.

Innovation Minister Christopher Pyne said the poll was a reflection of the government's 'messy week', but stressed Mr Turnbull remained preferred prime minister, leading Labor leader Bill Shorten 48-27 per cent.

Mr Turnbull remains the preferred prime minister, leading Labor Leader Bill Shorten 48-27 per cent

'(Commentary) is a line of work I used to do in my youth but am not doing it any longer': Mr Turnbull was hesitant to field questions about the latest polls

Mr Turnbull and Employment Minister Michaelia Cash were at Barangaroo to talk about the Australian Building and Construction Commission

The opposition jumped on the poll saying it had a chance at winning an election that could be held as early as July 2.

'The honeymoon that Malcolm Turnbull first enjoyed when he became leader was never going to last,' Labor senator Sam Dastyari told ABC TV.

While Mr Turnbull may be a more articulate and charismatic person than Mr Abbott, voters would make decisions on policies, he said.

A separate Roy Morgan poll has the coalition increasing its support and now leading Labor on a two-party preferred basis by three points to 52.5 per cent.

Mr Turnbull has seen his preferred prime minister lead over Mr Shorten fall by 10 points, at the same time as his disapproval rate increased to 48 per cent

Labor and Bill Shorten (pictured) has pulled ahead of the Coalition, leading 51 per cent to 49 per cent in two-party preferred figures

Mr Shorten's (pictured) approval rate increased four points to 32, a new poll has found

The Coalition's primary vote also took a hit in the latest poll, falling to 41 per cent. Labor's count jumped two points to 36 per cent, while the Greens fell one point to 11 per cent.

The poll was taken from Thursday to Sunday after Mr Turnbull floated the idea of giving states some income tax-raising powers, and amid perceived tensions between him and Treasurer Scott Morrison.

The poll capped off a potentially troubling day for Mr Turnbull, after Kevin Andrews - a known supporter of Mr Abbott - said he was 'prepared' to challenge for the party leadership if the right set of circumstances presented themselves.

However, it wasn't all bad news for the Prime Minister, with the latest Roy Morgan poll - also released on Monday - offering a more positive outlook.

It shows the Coalition had regained the two-party preferred lead over Labor after gaining three points to sit at 52.5 per cent.

Malcolm Turnbull's Government fell behind Labor in the polls for the first time since Tony Abbott (left) was ousted, and just hours after Kevin Andrews (right) said he was 'prepared' to challenge for the leadership
A Muslim hate preacher who was allowed to tour 42 British mosques spreading the message of Jihad may have sowed the seeds of the July 7 London bombings, it has emerged.

As Pakistani cleric Masood Azhar delivered extreme messages across the country, he wooed the two Britons who went on to plan the tube and bus bombings in 2005, and the beheading of US journalist David Pearl.

Omar Sheikh was convicted of orchestrating the 2002 killing of Mr Pearl and is now on death row in Pakistan, while Rashid Rauf went on to co-ordinate the London bombings in 2005 with Al-Qaeda and the 2006 liquid bomb plot to blow up trans-Atlantic airliners.

As Pakistani cleric Masood Azhar (pictured) delivered extreme messages across the UK, he wooed the two Britons who went on to plan the tube and bus bombings in 2005, and the beheading of David Pearl

Azhar, a jihadist active in northern Pakistan, met both Sheikh and Shah during his 1993 tour of Britain, when he was allowed to spout a gospel of violent jihad, documents uncovered by The Times said today.

Over thirty days, he had the opportunity to speak to hundreds of young Britons, with deadly consequences.

And his work was sanctioned by the leaders of Islamic movement Deobandi, whose voice is heard in 40 per cent of UK mosques.

Azhar arrived in the UK having gained influence in what one French academic called the headquarters for al-Qaeda in the heart of Karachi, Pakistans largest city.

Despite being in close contact with Osama bin Laden, Azhar was allowed into the UK.

At the time of the tour in 1993 he was chief organiser of the Pakistani jihadist group Harkat ul Mujahideen.

Among those inspired by Azhar's speeches were Rashid Rauf (left), who directed the 7/7 London bombings which killed 52 and Omar Sheikh, who kidnapped and beheaded US journalist David Pearl in Pakistan

The link between Azhar and Rauf suggests the visit was at the roots of the deadly attack in London in 2005

After touring east London mosques, starting at the Madina Mosque in Clapton, Azhar continued north, speaking at the Zakariya Mosque in Dewsbury and Madina Masjid in Batley in West Yorkshire and the Jamia Masjid in Blackburn and Jamia Masjid in Burnley, Lancashire.

A report of the mosque tour, written in Urdu by a London-based Deobandi scholar and recently uncovered by a BBC investigation, states that Azhar delivered 42 sermons on jihad in huge gatherings in cities of the UK.

During these talks, young Britons were told that it was their duty to seek weapons-training in Pakistan.

Another promised virgins in heaven for martyrs who sought the elimination of the oppressive and infidel system by the blessing of jihad.

Azhars message did not fall on deaf ears.

Among the 40 mosques visited by Azhar was the Zakariya Mosque in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire

Rauf, from Birmingham, was a murder suspect when he fled to Pakistan in 2002 to marry into Azhars family and become an Al-Qaeda co-ordinator for the July 7 bombings in London, in which 52 people were killed.

Rauf is said to have been killed in an American drone strike two years later.

Sheikh, 19, went from being a student at the London School of Economics to a Pakistani terrorist within a year.
The remain campaign has opened up a seven-point gap in the latest poll ahead of the EU referendum - indicating Project Fear is having an impact on voters.

A poll by ORB showed 51 per cent of Britons planned to vote to remain within the Brussels club, unchanged from the organisation's last poll in March.

But Leave's support has decreased five points to 44 per cent.

Another poll on Sunday - conducted online rather than by telephone - indicated a four point lead for the Brexit camp, suggesting the country remains firmly undecided.

The remain campaign has opened up a seven point lead in the referendum battle according to a new poll today as support for Brexit falls away - which could suggest the so-called 'Project Fear' is working

Today's ORB poll for the Daily Telegraph suggests only five per cent of people said they did not know how they were going to vote on July 23.

When certainty to vote is taken into account the campaigns are almost neck and neck with Remain on 49 per cent and Leave on 48 per cent.

David Cameron's campaign to stay in the EU has been branded Project Fear for its unnecessary scare tactics.

But in the Telegraph today, the Prime Minister warned that Brexit would be 'an act of economic and political self-harm'.

The Prime Minister said leaving the single market would be 'needless and reckless' and insisted that Brexit would not help the beleaguered British steel industry.

Mr Cameron said cutting ties with Brussels would 'hit our service industries hard' as he dismissed the idea of a Canadian-style trade deal with the EU as an alternative to remaining in the 28-member bloc.

The Prime Minister dismissed the suggestion - previously made by Leave campaigners including Boris Johnson - that the UK could strike a deal like Canada's.

Once voters certainty to turn out is taken into account the ORB poll shows a much closer race with Remain still holding the advantage - but only by the slenderest of margins

And he also rejected claims made by Mr Johnson that leaving the EU would give 'more freedom to rescue the British steel industry'.

The Prime Minister said: 'If we take the Canada free trade deal as a guide, we know it would be damaging for agriculture and manufacturing.

'Our beef and pork exports would face tariffs, and our car manufacturers forced to comply with rules imposing additional costs based on where they buy their components.

'And of course, there is British steel. We are doing everything we can to help British steel in these difficult times, but the idea that leaving Europe is the answer is a dangerous fallacy: more than half of our steel exports go to Europe.'

The remain campaign has opened up a seven-point gap in the latest poll ahead of the EU referendum - indicating David Cameron's Project Fear is having an impact on voters

Phone4U founder John Caudwell today backed Brexit.

He told the BBC: 'There is a lot of hysteria about why Britain should stay in. There is a lot of subjectivity.'

Mr Caudwell said there was nothing stopping Britain setting up trading links with other countries around the world.

He continued: 'You hear three million jobs will be threatened as a result of leaving Europe. That is complete rubbish.

'Being a free country to trade with every country in the world and not to be seen to be a partisan part of Europe that is a good thing.'

Election guru Sir Lynton Crosby, who masterminded Mr Cameron's return to No 10, said ensuring their voters turn out will be crucial to either camp's chance of success.

Some 70 per cent of Leave voters said they were certain to vote, while 61 per cent of Remain backers will definitely cast their ballot.

Writing in the Telegraph, Sir Lynton said: 'The fact that the Remain campaign are turning out a smaller proportion of the voters that support their cause, while current voting intention remains neck and neck, shows that the Remain campaign holds greater potential for success if it can effectively identify and motivate its supporters.'

According to Sir Lynton, the poll suggests that Mr Cameron's Remain campaign has had 'greater message discipline and focus' in the last month.
A dog was found wandering the streets of Darlington, South Carolina, with duct tape wrapped tightly around its head and mouth.

The county sheriff's office is issuing an appeal to track down the cruel owner after an anonymous source spotted the dog and reported the incident on Monday.

The tape was safely removed from the dog, which has been named Aurora under the Darlington County Animal Shelter's care.

A dog, which has since been named Aurora by a local animal shelter, was found in Darlington, South Carolina with its head and muzzle cruelly covered in duct tape

Someone spotted the black Great Dane mix wandering on Rogers Road on the outskirts of the city and reported it to authorities.

Deputies managed to find the animal, catch it, and safely remove the tape, while the animal shelter is still assessing Aurora's health.

In a Facebook post by the sheriff's office that has been shared more than 1,800 times, two photographs show the helpless dog peering out from a sliver left for her eyes, with her nose protruding out from the tightly wound tape.

The animal shelter is now raising money for the dog, writing: 'Aurora was found wandering with her mouth taped SHUT! With tape around her head and mouth, someone let her loose to fend for herself! We are horrified!

Please help us help her by giving now! We do not yet know what all of her medical needs will be but she will have needs.

'Aurora is a sweet, gentle Dane mix and she deserves better. She needs your help. Please give and share her story. Thank you.

'We are high intake, very rural shelter located in Darlington County SC with a budget of $0 to care for a pet with medical emergencies.'

So far, about people have chipped in to raise $860.

In November 2015, Katharine Lemanksy prompted a flood of messages from thousands of people who reported her to local authorites after she posted the picture of her dog with its muzzle duct taped shut

Earlier last summer, another 15-month-old dog named Caitlyn that was found with her snout taped shut so tightly she needed surgery. She has since recovered and does not require additional procedures

Last year, Katharine Lemansky, 45, of South Daytona, Florida, duct taped her chocolate lab mix's mouth in November and posted a photograph of the animal on Facebook with the caption: 'This is what happens when you don't shut up!!!'

She was arrested and charged with one misdemeanor count of animal cruelty, but the dog Brown was left in her custody.

Another dog named Caitlyn suffered severe injuries from electrical tape that was wrapped so tightly she was found with her snout swollen and her tongue was swollen, bruised, discolored and oozing blood.

Caitlyn needed surgery to remove the tape, but has since recovered from her ordeal.

William Leonard Dodson, 41, was charged with ill treatment of animals and forced to surrender a second dog he owned.
Residents already rejected previous attempts when a company tried to start evacuations in the past. Over 400 farmers signed a petition in 2014 stating they didnt want evacuations from the site located near a tributary of Namhaung Creek in Namhu Lwelkar village tract, around three miles away from Tanyang town.

The villages objected saying that rivers and creeks and farmlands would be destroyed. So the company backed off, said anonymous resident that attended the meeting.

The militia sent their men hoping to restart the project, the resident explained. They wanted signatures to start in 45 days, but no one signed.

A young man that didnt want his name used said: Manpang Peoples Militia sent a letter to come and meet them. It was not an official letter. It was written on a normal paper. The villagers were afraid because there was the word kan sit which means military. They have the guns.

A representative of the Manpang Peoples Militia told those in attendance their group contributes to the region so rather than bring in an outside company they should be the ones to do the coal excavation.

The militia has been long accused of being heavily involved in the opium trade and profiled in several Shan Drug Watch reports.

According the UK-based non-profit Global Witness report: Guns: Cronies and Crops they were a beneficiary of extensive land confiscations by the Burma Army. By 2013, over five million acres of land were leased out for commercial agriculture; over a quarter was used for rubber plantations said the report. Some of this land was given to Manpang Peoples Militia.

Unconfirmed news reports suggest that the Manpang Peoples Militia may be working for outside companies that are using them to pressure villagers into allowing coal excavations to take place.

Translated by Thida Linn

Copyedited by BNI Staff
Leading rental car company Hertz Australia will have to repay hundreds of customers after falsely accusing them of damaging their vehicles.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission says that over a two-year period, from 2013 to August 2015, Hertz incorrectly charged some customers for damage to hired vehicles when the damage was actually pre-existing.

Investigators also revealed the company did not pass on discounts it had received on the repairs.

According to Fairfax Media, Hertz will have to repay up to $395,000 with many customers still unaware they had been wrongly charged.

The Hertz rental car company has been ordered to repay hundreds of customers after the competition watchdog fund it had incorrectly charged them for damage

Investigations also revealed that the company had failed to pass on repair discounts

'Hertz represented to some of its customers that the vehicle that they had hired was damaged during their rental period, when in fact the damage was pre-existing,' the ACCC said.

'Hertz incorrectly invoiced and charged these customers for the vehicle damage.

'Hertz also represented to some customers that the amount that they were charged to repair certain vehicle damage was Hertzs actual repair cost, when in fact Hertz received repair discounts that it did not pass on to customers.'

The company has reportedly acknowledged that its conduct was likely to have contravened Australian Consumer Law on misleading or deceptive conduct and false or misleading representations.

Hertz has provided a court enforceable undertaking to refund the affected consumers.

Hertz has acknowledged that its conduct was likely to have contravened Australian Consumer Law prohibitions on misleading or deceptive conduct and false or misleading representations

'This case serves as a message to vehicle rental companies that they must have robust compliance procedures in place to ensure they do not contravene the Australian Consumer Law by incorrectly charging customers for damage they are not responsible for,' ACCC Deputy Chair Dr Michael Schaper said.

'Vehicle rental companies must also ensure that they are transparent and accurate in communicating with their customers about the charges they are applying for vehicle rentals and repairs.'

In response to the ACCC investigation, Hertz has taken voluntary steps to improve its damage charging and assessment practices.

This outcome is part of a wider ACCC review of the vehicle rental industry in Australia.

It also follows recent ACCC court action against another vehicle rental company, Europcar Australia, in respect of alleged unfair contract terms and misleading advertising of its 'extra cover' products.
Anna Trzebinski (pictured) has told an inquest in Nairobi, Kenya, that she was not involved in the 2001 murder of her husband Tonio, but admitted their last meeting had not been a happy one

The widow of a British artist who was shot dead in Kenya 15 years ago has told an inquest the last time she saw him she slashed his paintings with a knife after discovering he was having an affair.

On October 16, 2001, Tonio Trzebinski, 41, was driving towards the gates of the villa owned by his mistress, professional game-hunter Natasha Illum-Berg, in the affluent neighbourhood of Karen, when he was killed by a single shot fired at point-blank range into his chest.

Now, his widow Anna Trzebinski has denied she was involved in his murder but admitted their last meeting had not been a happy one.

German-born Mrs Trzebinski, a fashion designer, told the inquest in Nairobi she discovered the affair after pressing redial on her husband's phone and recognising Ms Illum-Berg's voice.

She told the court she immediately confronted him in his studio and said: 'I shouted, "I want you to feel the pain that you made us feel!" and I held the knife up to him and cut his painting,' reports The Times.

She added: 'I just knew that it would be so hurtful and devastating for him, for me to damage his paintings.'

The Telegraph reports when asked if she had anything to do with the murder, she replied: 'Absolutely not. I can tell you its deeply offensive to me and my children that that should even be thought.'

Her children with Mr Trzebinski, Stas, 24, and Lana, 23, were in court for the inquest.

Mrs Trzebinski was at a a rehabilitation centre in America when her husband was shot. She has since remarried and still lives in Kenya.

The inquest comes after years of dogged detective work by Mr Trzebinski's mother, who has never believed the original police theory that Mr Trzebinski's death was the result of a simple carjacking that went wrong.

On October 16, 2001, Tonio Trzebinski, 41, was driving towards the gates of the villa owned by his mistress, professional game-hunter Natasha Illum-Berg, when he was killed by a single shot fired at point-blank range

Neither his car, nor his expensive watch or a wad of cash in his wallet was stolen.

Rumours soon surfaced that the killing was an act of revenge, and police questioned Anna and other family members and friends. It has since emerged that the murder may have links to organised crime.

Last year Mrs Trzebinski, 79, told The Mail on Sunday: 'I lost my beloved son and while mourning him I came to realise that there may be extremely sinister undertones to his murder.

'The police wanted it to be wrapped up as just another opportunist crime. But I talked to everyone and anyone involved in his life, and I persuaded a team of undercover detectives to listen to me and to interrogate many witnesses.'

Mrs Trzebinski, who was born in Britain before moving to Kenya and marrying a Polish architect, is the first to admit that her son, who was a widely exhibited artist who trained at the Slade School of Fine Art in London, ran with a fast-living crowd who openly used cocaine and held wild parties.

Artist Tonio Trzebinski next to one of his paintings. His widow Anna Trzebinski has denied she was involved in his murder but admitted at his inquest that their last meeting had not been a happy one

Having returned to Kenya from London in his 20s, he fell in with a group dubbed 'The Fun Squad', a hard-drinking crowd who loved to party. Trzebinski even had a vodka-tonic cocktail named after him  the Tonio.

His mother said: 'He was probably the wildest of them all, doing everything to the maximum.' She said on the day of his murder, his wife Anna was in America on a therapy course called Women Who Love Too Much, while he had been taking care of their two children.

Once the children were in bed, he drove off to see Ms IllumBerg.

In a bizarre coincidence, almost exactly 60 years earlier, British peer and roguish philanderer Lord Erroll was shot dead in his car less than a mile from the spot where Mr Trzebinski was killed. He too was on his way to visit his mistress.
Sydney siege hostage Marcia Mikhael thought the Lindt Cafe siege was a TV prank during the initial moments of what was to become a 17-hour ordeal that would end in tragedy.

Ms Mikhael and two colleagues didn't have time to drink their morning coffees before Man Haron Monis pulled a sawn-off shotgun from a blue bag and ordered staff to lock the cafe's doors on December 15, 2014.

After pulling the gun from the bag, Monis said no one was to leave, Ms Mikhael told the inquest into the siege.

Sydney siege survivor Marcia Mikhael, (left), leaves the Lindt Cafe siege inquest after giving evidence in Sydney

Sydney siege survivor Marcia Mikhael departs the Lindt Cafe siege inquest in Sydney on Monday

'I thought Channel Seven was going to come out of the kitchen and say 'prank',' she said Tuesday.

But it was not a joke and while brandishing a shotgun Monis ordered people to leave their mobile phones on a table and arranged the hostages to stand at windows around the cafe.

Ms Mikhael said she thought Monis had done this to give himself protection and prove the siege was serious.

Ms Mikhael was moved near the front doors where she stood looking out of the cafe, terrified of the scene unfolding behind her.

'I was frozen in fear,' she said.

As the siege continued Ms Mikhael spoke to police negotiators and was asked by Monis to get then Prime Minister Tony Abbott on the phone.

She also recounted the final moments of the siege, and how she had to step over Monis' 'blown apart' head on the way out of the cafe.

Ms Mikhael first thought the siege was a joke, but when the doors were locked she realised it was real

Police pictured in Martin Place during the siege which ended after 17 hours

Ms Mikhael said she was angry and worried when told the Prime Minister was too busy to speak.

'You don't tell someone who had a gun pointed at their head that,' she said.

Ms Mikhael also told the inquest she couldn't understand why it was so difficult to get Monis a flag.

During the inquest Ms Mikhael thanked Senior Constable Paul Withers, the first officer to arrive, who managed to communicate with her without alerting Monis.

He gestured to Ms Mikhael and encouraged her to calm her breathing, which she said helped her cope.

During the inquest Ms Mikhael thanked Senior Constable Paul Withers, the first officer to arrive, who managed to communicate with her without alerting Monis

Lindt Cafe siege survivor Marcia Mikhael (centre) is embraced during a ceremony to commemorate the first anniversary of the Lindt Cafe siege at Martin Place in Sydney

The siege lasted until officers stormed the building early the next morning, with two hostages - Mr Johnson and Katrina Dawson - and the gunmen dead

Ms Mikhael said she spent about seven minutes under the tables and described the final minutes of the siege as a 'blur'.

Monis, who had shot at the fleeing captives, reloaded his gun and ordered cafe manager Tori Johnson to 'come over here right now', Ms Mikhael told the coronial inquest on Tuesday.

She was lying on her stomach and couldn't see what happened next - as Monis executed Mr Johnson at point-blank range.

She said police stormed the building soon after.

'There were shots being fired from inside and outside, the sound of little grenades,' she said.

'It was like being inside a firework.'

Marcia Mikhael was injured during the dramatic end of the Sydney siege, and says thos final moments were like 'being inside a firework'

Officers and Monis were shooting at each other and Ms Mikhael was trying to block out the noise by placing her hands over her ears.

She said it was 'the most horrible thing'.

While lying under the tables, Ms Mikhael felt a pain in both legs and realised she had been shot.

She tried to move closer to cover and curled into the fetal position, trying to avoid becoming a target again.

After police had stormed the building and killed Monis, two officers carried Ms Mikhael out of the cafe with bullet wounds in both her legs.

The survivor has also spoken about her anger toward Tony Abbott when he couldn't get on the phone as Monis requested

'They had to step over Monis and half his head was blown out,' she said.

Ms Mikhael said her hopes of leaving alive faded as the siege continued.

She criticised the police response, saying there was no negotiations with Monis.

'It was just me on the phone,' she said.

'Monis wasn't on the phone with (the police negotiator). There was no negotiation.'

By the end of the night, she had 'lost faith that it was going to be a good ending'.

'It wasn't going to end with negotiations,' she said.

'It was going to end some other way.'

Hostage Joel Herat later said he decided there was such a high risk involved with stabbing the gunman that he decided against it

Ms Mikhael, was one of 18 people held hostage by Monis for 17 hours with the siege ending in the deaths of cafe manager Tori Johnson, barrister Katrina Dawson and Monis.

The mother of three was wounded in both legs by shrapnel when tactical officers entered the premises in the early hours of December 16.

At the end of the siege ordeal, dramatic footage showed Ms Mikhael being carried by two officers from the cafe.

On Monday, hostage Elly Chen described how fellow captive and Lindt employee April Bae had secretly opened a locked door so the pair could run to safety.

The inquest is expected to continue for another six weeks.
The nanny state debate has reignited after a man filming police and a sniffer dog wasting resources was then 'hassled' by an officer.

A man was changing trains at Sydney's Central Railway Station when he came across 10 police officers with a sniffer dog and began filming what he believed to be the use of excessive resources.

Video then shows a Senior Constable approach the man and ask to see his ticket, before questioning the man's movements, suggesting he was 'suspicious' in light of the 'current terrorism climate', and even asking whether he had a mental health issue.

According to the man filming, the exchange was evidence of a real police state.

NSW Police confirmed to Daily Mail Australia it was a 'drug detection operation'.

Scroll down for video

A man was changing trains at Sydney's Central Railway Station when he came across 10 police officers with a sniffer dog and began filming what he believed to be excessive resources used to 'sniff out drugs'

Video of the exchange about two weeks ago has been viewed more than 420,000 times since it was posted to the Save New South Wales Facebook page on Sunday.

The man said hed arrived at the train station from Gosford and was carrying luggage to head to Circular Quay for a cruise.

He decided to film the police and dog, before an officer photographed him and another came over to check his ticket and generally throw his weight around, according to the man filming.

Is there any reason why youre filming us, sir? the Senior Constable said.

Given the current terrorism climate and stuff sir, Im just saying.

The officer then asked for the mans name, where and why he was travelling.

Video then shows a Senior Constable approach the man and ask to see his ticket, before questioning the man's movements, suggesting he was 'suspicious' in light of the 'current terrorism climate', and even asking whether he had a mental health issue

According to the man filming, the exchange was evidence of a real police state

Is there any reason why youre filming us, sir? the Senior Constable said. Given the current terrorism climate and stuff sir, Im just saying. The Snr Const then abruptly walked off (pictured) after asking the man whether he had any mental health concerns

I respectfully decline to answer that question, the man said  pointing out he was not reasonably suspected to have committed a crime, witnessed a crime, nor had he been given an order to move on.

The Snr Const then asked whether the man had any mental health concerns, before abruptly walking away with another uniformed officer.

Welcome to the fascist police state that we have in NSW. Well done Mike Baird,' the man wrote alongside the video.

In his Facebook post, the man said hed been made to feel as though he was doing something wrong.

I dont for one minute believe this has anything to do with terrorism. The dogs there to sniff out drugs, and if I had any, do they really think Id stop and film the operation, thus opening myself up to this humiliation and scrutiny?

However, not all viewers agreed with him.

So despite the recent terrorists acts across the world your [sic] complaining about police showing a presence in a major train station, one person wrote in the comment section.

According to figures provided by NSW Police last year, drug dogs falsely indicate the presence of drugs 64-72 per cent of the time

I dont for one minute believe this has anything to do with terrorism. The dogs there to sniff out drugs, and if I had any, do they really think Id stop and film the operation, thus opening myself up to this humiliation and scrutiny? the man wrote alongside the Facebook video

Of course they are going to ask a guy with baggage standing in the middle of the station filming them for no reason a few general questions.

Another mentioned it was not illegal to film in public, and said the Snr Const appeared to view the man as being guilty until proven innocent.

Another commented the man was being treated with suspicion for exercising his rights, also known as our rights.

A further commenter wrote she accepted police need to be policed but couldnt see any value in this particular video.

She agreed the man filming had done nothing wrong, but that the video showed nothing more than that the Snr Const needs more training.

NSW Greens MP David Shoebridge told Daily Mail Australia it was 'grossly inappropriate' for police to question a person's mental health 'simply because they are filming with a mobile phone in public'.

'It is perfectly lawful and reasonable to film police in a public place, especially in circumstances that demonstrate the waste of police resources in drug dog operations.

One commenter said she accepted police need to be policed but that she couldnt see any value in this particular video

Video of the exchange about two weeks ago has been viewed more than 420,000 times since it was posted to the Save New South Wales Facebook page on Sunday

'Most people would want these police officers out there tracking down serious crime and apprehending violent offenders, not all standing around the one dog,' Mr Shoebridge said.

'To have 10 police officers and a drug detection dog on duty all to identify small scale drug possession offences is by no means an effective use of resources.'

He called the incident 'aggressive policing'.

In a statement from June 2015, Mr Shoebridge said the dogs were an ineffective and resource-intensive police power.

The inaccuracy of the drug dog program, the violations of civil liberties, and the inappropriate targeting of vulnerable people mean it should be stopped, the statement said.

According to figures provided by NSW Police last year, drug dogs falsely indicate the presence of drugs 64-72 per cent of the time, according to the Greens MP.

NSW Police told Daily Mail Australia the officer's questions 'were appropriate and all above board'.

'The officer's comments regarding terrorism were based on the current heightened alert level,' police said.

NSW Police replaced RailCorp transit officers to provide security on public transport in May 2012.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Premier Mike Baird for comment.
11million financial documents have been leaked from Panamanian law firm

An accountant who used Mossack Fonseca also helped con men who sold fake insurance policy to company behind 2005 New York ferry sinking

Notorious Mexican drug lord, Rafael Caro Quintero, was arrested in Costa Rica at an estate owned by shell company set up by law firm

Money made from Brink's Mat bank heist in London in 1983 may have been channeled into an offshore company set up by Mossack Fonseca

American expat Gilbert RJ Straub, who had ties to the law firm, bragged that he paid burglars $50,000 to break into Watergate Complex

From Putin's inner circle to Iceland's prime minster, FIFA players to Bollywood stars, the Panama Papers reveal a single law firm has orchestrated an elaborate web of offshore tax havens and shell companies for the world's one percent.

But a further look at the biggest-ever financial data leak shows Mossack Fonseca has lurked in the background of some of the most significant historical events in the last 50 years, with ties to the Watergate scandal and a bank heist dubbed the 'Crime of the Century'.

Mossack Fonseca, which boasts a global network of 600 people in 42 countries, has been the law firm of choice for some of history's most notorious politicians, bank robbers and drug lords.

An expatriate Gilbert RJ Straub, who was enlisted by Mossack Fonseca after the Brink's Mat robbery, allegedly bragged about paying $50,000 to the burglars who broke into Watergate Complex (file picture, 1969), which eventually set off the chain of events leading to Richard Nixon's resignation, the ICIJ reported

Revealed: Cash from the notorious Brink's Mat heist at Heathrow in 1983 may have been moved offshore by the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca. Pictured, a police officer standing outside the warehouse targeted in the Brink's Mat heist

Sentenced: Robbers Brian Robinson, left, and Michael McAvoy, right, were jailed for 25 years for the raid

In 1983, a group of men donned balaclavas and strolled into a vault containing more than three tons of gold near Heathrow Airport in London after a bribed guard let them in.

ABOUT MOSSACK FONSECA One of the world's most secretive companies, Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca boasts of a global network with 600 people working in 42 countries. The services it offers include incorporating companies in offshore jurisdictions such as the British Virgin Islands, as well as wealth management and administering offshore firms for a yearly fee. The company operates in tax havens such as Switzerland, Cyprus and the British Virgin Islands, as well as British crown dependencies Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man. Advertisement

Dubbed the 'Crime of the Century', the men looted the vault owned by security company Brink's Mat and made off with 26million in gold, diamonds and cash valued at a total of more than $100million today.

The leaked documents now show the money from the robbery may have been channeled into an offshore company set up by Mossack Fonseca.

Sixteen months after the grand heist, Mossack Fonseca set up a Panama shell company called Feberion Inc.

The leaked documents now show that the man behind Feberion Inc. was Gordon Parry, who laundered money for the Brink's-Mat plotters.

An internal memo written in 1986 by Jurgen Mossack, one the co-founders of Mossack Fonseca, showed that the firm knew it was 'apparently involved in the management of money from the famous theft from Brink's-Mat in London', according to the ICIJ.

The Panamanian law firm said in a statement: 'Our firm has never been accused or charged in connection with criminal wrongdoing.'

The memo stated: 'The company itself has not been used illegally, but it could be that the company invested money through bank accounts and properties that was illegitimately sourced'.

Mossack Fonseca has also been tied to one of Mexico's most notorious drug lords, Rafael Caro Quintero (pictured). He was traced to a Costa Rican estate, which was owned by a shell company established by the Panamanian law firm

Mossack stepped down from the Panamanian law firm to protect Parry's shell company, enlisting the help of another Panama-based firm, Chartered Management Company, run by American expat Gilbert RJ Straub, to name his replacement.

Former undercover agent Robert Mazur later busted Straub in an unrelated money laundering case.

According to Mazur, the expatriate bragged that he contributed $50,000 to pay off the burglars who broke into Watergate, which eventually set off the chain of events leading to Richard Nixon's resignation, the ICIJ reported.

Mossack Fonseca has also been tied to one of Mexico's most notorious drug lords, Rafael Caro Quintero, who formed the Guadalajara Cartel in the 1970s.

The drug lord was reportedly angry about a raid on a 220-acre marijuana plantation that was seized by Mexican authorities at Camarenas insistence, and was found guilty of kidnapping, torturing and murdering DEA agent Enrique Camarena in 1985.

When authorities tracked Caro Quintero down in Costa Rica, they tried to seize an estate, which was owned by an shell company established by Mossack Fonseca, ICIJ reported.

The leaked email in the Panama Papers shows a lawyer for the law firm naming Caro Quintero as the presumed owner, even though Mossack Fonseca told Costa Rican authorities at the time that it couldn't help.

When 20 people died in 2005 after a ferry sank in Lake George, New York, it was revealed an accountant, Malchus Irvin Boncamper, helped con men launder money they made from selling phony insurance policies to the ferry company. He was the director of several shell companies established by Mossack Fonseca

Paulo Octavio Alves Pereira - a Brazilian politician under indictment for corruption - created shell companies in order to purchase Miami properties (file picture)

Mossack Fonseca was also embroiled in a 2005 incident involving a ferry sinking in Lake George, New York, NBC reported.

Twenty people died, and the survivors sued the ferry company, whose insurance policy was purchased from a group of con men, who then enlisted accountant Malchus Irvin Boncamper to launder their profits.

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According to the ICIJ, Boncamper was the director of dozens of shell companies that had been created by Mossack Fonseca.

Boncamper was eventually sentenced to eight years in federal prison.

The Panama Papers also revealed links between suspected foreign criminals, off shore companies established by Mossack Fonseca and Miami housing projects.

The Miami Herald reported the leaked documents showed 8 foreign nationals linked to crimes in their home countries, as well as Paulo Octavio Alves Pereira - a Brazilian politician under indictment for corruption - had created shell companies in order to purchase Miami properties.

German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung obtained the 11.5million leaked files, dating from 1977 to the end of 2015, and shared them with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

The identity of the source who leaked them and how it was done is unknown.

While using offshore companies is not illegal, the practice has long been morally dubious and is under the spotlight amid a wider examination of tax avoidance by large companies such as Google.

The documents list nearly 15,600 paper companies set up for clients who wanted to keep their financial affairs secret.

Thousands were created by UBS and HSBC, the latter of which was fined by the US government for laundering money from Iran.
Accused murderess Harriet Wran and her brother Hugo have settled out of court their lawsuit with half sister Kim Wran Sheftell over their father, former NSW Premier Neville Wran's $40m will.

Harriet Wran, 27, is due to stand trial in June for alleged murder, robbery and wounding with intent over an ice deal at a squalid housing in August 2014.

Incarcerated in Silverwater Women's Correctional Centre Ms Wran and her younger brother Hugo took court action against their half-sister, Kim Wran Sheftell over their slice of the fortune left by their father.

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Hugo and Harriet Wran (pictured at their father Neville Wran's 2014 funera lfour months before Harriet's arrest for an alleged ice deal murder, have settled out of court over a suit regarding their father's $40m estate

Accused murderess Harriet Wran (pictured) and her brother Hugo have settled out of court their lawsuit with half sister Kim Wran Sheftell over their father, former NSW Premier Neville Wran's $40m will

Labor Party legend and former premier Neville Wran, pictured with wife Jill and children Harrier and Hugo, died in April 2014 leaving the siblings a share portfolio and property in trust until they turn 30

Hugo and Harriet Wran and their half sister Kim Wran Sheftell (pictured at her father, Neville Wran's funeral) have advised the NSW Supreme Court Court that a suit over the late Mr Wran's $40m has been 'resolved in principle'

Former Ascham and SCEGGS Darlinghurst schoolgirl Harriet Wran (pictured left and right at court following her 2014 arrest) enjoyed a privileged upbringing but fell into ice addiction and was charged with alleged murder during a botched ice deal

Neville Wran, a Labor Party legend and enigmatic NSW premier from 1976 to 1986, mixed with international leaders and brushed shoulders with royalty.

Wran famously danced with a visiting Princess Diana in 1996 and Princess Mary of Denmark in 2005 at the Victor Chang Cardiac Institute charity ball in his role as the Institute's chairman.

Mr Wran, who , died in April 2014 from dementia, divided his $40m estate among his children and his wife, Jill Wran.

Less than four months after his death, on the night of August 10, his younger daughter Harriet Wran allegedly entered a public housing flat in the notorious Mc Kell building in the inner city Sydney suburb of Redfern.

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Wran dynasty: Harriet Wran, right front, next to her mother Jill Wran and brother Hugo Wran, led by former prime minister Paul Keating, and leading, centre, Neville Wran's daughter by his first marriage, Kim Wran Sheftell leave Sydney Town Hall following the former NSW premier's state funeral in May 2014

Harriet Wranallegedly went with two others to a flat occupied by a known ice dealer, Daniel McNulty (pictured) and a fight ensued in which Mr McNulty was stabbed to death and another man grievously wounded

Neville Wran (pictured) , a Labor Party legend and enigmatic NSW premier from 1976 to 1986, mixed with international leaders and brushed shoulders with royalty and died in 2014 leaving a $40m estate

Hugo and Harriet Wran, pictured at their father's funeral in May 2014, have settled out of court with their half sister Jill Wran Sheftell over the $40m estate left by Neville Wran, the enigmatic former NSW Premier

Harriet Wran in custody arrives at Liverpool Court in August 2014 to face her first appearance on an alleged murder charge

Wran, who was believed to be suffering from an ice addiction, allegedly went to a flat occupied by a known ice dealer, Daniel McNulty, in the company of her then boyfriend, Michael Lee, 35, and another man, Lloyd Edward Haines.

In what is alleged to be a drug deal gone wrong inside the Redfern ice den, Daniel McNulty was stabbed to death.

Another man in the apartment, Brett Fitzgerald, was stabbed in the neck and hit on the head with a hammer, but survived.

Harriet Wran (pictured) is awaiting trial this June for murder and robbery in company to which the 27-year-old has pleaded not guilty

Arrested two days later, the former Ascham and SCEGGS Darlinghurst student has been on remand in custody ever since. Last November she entered a plea of not guilty to murder, wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and robbery in company.

While she has been in prison, Ms Wran and her brother Hugo's lawyers launched their challenge to the will.

The siblings had inherited equal halves of their father's share portfolio and their parents' $10 million property portfolio.

But the value of the properties has been placed in a trust fund and is inaccessible until they turn 30, and they will only inherit the properties after the death of their mother Jill, 67.

If Harriet remains in prison, her father's will executors will manager her trust. The will's three executors include Neville Wran's daughter from his first marriage, Kim Wran Sheftell.

Listed for a directions hearing in the NSW Supreme Court on Thursday, the case is believed to have been settled, a Supreme Court spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.

The parties have advised the Court that the matter has been 'resolved in principle'.The terms of the settlement are expected to remain confidential.

Harriet Wran's June trial along with her co-accused Lloyd Haines, 29 and Michael Lee is expected to last six weeks.
A flight attendant inexplicably deployed the emergency slide of an airplane and left on foot after landing at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston on Monday morning.

The woman's employer United Airlines said her decision flew in the face of the company's code of conduct.

'We hold all of our employees to the highest standard,' the airline said, and added that the flight attendant was removed 'from her flying duties,' according to Mashable.

I got video of the flight attendant sliding down the emergency slide at Bush airport. We'll have a story at 10. pic.twitter.com/3MHq35L7Y9  Jace Larson, KPRC (@jacelarson) April 5, 2016

The United Airlines flight attendant deployed the emergency slide and used it to exit the plane Monday

In surveillance video, the woman can be seen sliding down and taking off on foot at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston

'The unsafe behavior is unacceptable and does not represent the more than 20,000 flight attendants who ensure the safety of our customers.'

The Boeing 737 departed from Sacramento, California and landed in Houston, Texas at 11:26am. Five minutes later, after the plane had taxied, the flight attendant made her surprising escape.

'When we landed ... we were told to stay in our seats as de-planing would take a bit longer,' passenger Jonah Vella told local news station Click 2 Houston.

'Everything seemed to be pretty standard.'

United Airlines flight attendant opens emergency slide, exits plane and walks away. https://t.co/xxTFfNgpVJ pic.twitter.com/eaWyC3TkKw  Jim Roberts (@nycjim) April 4, 2016

The flight attendant was one of six crew members on board the plane, which carried 159 passengers.

Click 2 Houston reported there was an ongoing medical emergency involving a passenger at the back of the plane at the same time as the stewardess skedaddled.
Two British brothers are believed to have been killed fighting for ISIS in Syria.

Khalif Shariff, 21, and 18-year-old Abdulrahman are understood to have left their home in Manchester and travelled to the war-torn country in November 2014.

Their parents Abdullahi, 50, and Fatuma, 48, were informed of the news by ISIS militants.

Mohammed Shafiq, chairman of the Greater Manchester-based Ramadhan Foundation, said the terror group had confirmed Abdulrahman had been killed and that his elder brother is missing 'presumed dead'.

Khalif Shariff (pictured) and his brother Abdulrahman are believed to have been killed fighting for ISIS in Syria

A neighbour of the family, who have roots in Somalia, said their parents had been told they were dead in the last few days.

It is understood the family, who alerted police when the brothers fled, moved to the UK from Kenya two decades ago.

It is believed Abdulrahman attended the University of Central Lancashire before going to Syria.

He attended Loreto Sixth Form College and Stretford High School.

Younger brother Khalif is understood to have attended Stretford Grammar and South Trafford College.

It is believed he abandoned his first year in his law degree at Lancaster University to travel to Syria with his older brother.

Their parents are believed to have been told by ISIS militants that Abdulrahman (pictured) has been killed

A friend of the brothers, who asked not to be named, told the Manchester Evening News: 'I found out about two or three weeks after they went to Syria that they were going to fight with ISIS.

'I used to get on with them pretty well, they always let on to me when I saw them in the street. I was close to the older brother, Khalif. He used to work for Apple, so we talked about that.

'He went to university for about five or six months before he went to Syria.

'They never showed any signs of being extremists. To look at them, or talk to them, you'd never have known.

'I was very shocked when I heard they had gone to fight  and very shocked when I found out what had happened to them there.

'We've heard Abdulrahman has died and that Khalif is missing and is thought to be dead too.'

A police source said counter-terrorism detectives were now looking into the brother's disappearance.

It is understood the brothers were friends with Man United star Sadiq El Fitouri, who lives on the same street as their parents.

The Foreign Office refused to confirm whether the brothers were dead. A spokeswoman said: 'We are aware of these reports but cannot confirm them.'

Manchester's links with the war in Syria traces back to the autumn of 2013 when at least three British nationals from the city travelled out to join ISIS.

Anil Raoufi, Mohammed Javeed and Raphael Hostey were the first known British jihadis from Manchester.

Raphael Hostey (left) and Anil Raoufi (right) were two of the first known British ISIS jihadis from Manchester

All three were recruited by the notorious British ISIS recruiter Iftekhar Jaman, from Portsmouth, who used social media to radicalise dozens of wannabe jihadis.

The Manchester trio travelled via Turkey in autumn 2013, where they met up with a group of five other men from Portsmouth, all associates of Jaman.

Mamunur Roshid, Hamidur Rahman, Mehdi Hassan, Assad Uzzaman and Mashudur Choudhury all knew Jaman from his days in the local dawah group.

Four of the Portsmouth group are now dead while the fifth member Mashudur Choudhury, returned to the UK after just a few weeks in Syria.

Choudhury became the first person to be convicted of terror offences in Syria.

Manchester was also the home of the Halane twins, Salma and Zahra, who became known as the 'Terror Twins' after they were lured out to Syria.

The siblings both married ISIS jihadis and quickly became widowed, announcing the death of their husbands on social media.

Their cousin Ahmed Ibrahim Halane is suspected of fighting with al-Shabaab in Somalia and ISIS in Syria. Despite his radical links, the 23-year-old now lives freely in Denmark.

Manchester was also the home of the Halane twins, Salma (left ) and Zahra, (right) who became known as the 'Terror Twins' after they were lured out to Syria.
Suge Knight's lawyer has claimed that a 'massive cover-up' involving a hit man and Dr Dre explains his harsh restrictions imposed to his client in jail.

Knight, 50, has been charged with murder and attempted murder after running over two men in Compton January 2015.

He was previously shot six times at the 1Oak nightclub in Los Angeles in August 2014, during a pre-VMA party hosted by Chris Brown.

His lawyer Thaddeus Culpepper has now filed a legal motion saying his client was prohibited from communicating with anyone but his legal team to keep him from connecting the two cases, the New York Daily News reported.

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Suge Knight (pictured in court in February) faces murder and attempted murder charges after running over two men in Compton in January 2015

Secret orders currently prevent Knight from communicating with anyone except his lawyers by phone, mail and during visits.

Culpepper filed the lengthy motion on Friday in a bid to unseal these orders.

In it, he claims that the main detective working on Knight's murder case also investigated his 2014 shooting.

The motion, which has been reviewed by the New York Daily News, states that the detective previously told Knight that a man identified as Tee-Money had come forward as one of the gunmen.

Culpepper's motion claims that the same detective told Knight that the shooter said Dr Dre had paid him and a friend $50,000 to kill Knight, the New York Daily News wrote.

Lawyer Thaddeus Culpepper claims in a motion filed Friday that a detective told Knight that a gunman had said rapper Dr Dre (pictured) had paid him and a friend $50,000 to kill Knight

Knight surrendered to the authorities after the January 2015 hit and run, which killed Terry Carter (left) and seriously injured Cle 'Bone' Sloan (right)

Dr Dre, now 51, released his 1992 album The Chronic with Death Row Records, Knight's label at the time.

The filing also says that an off-duty sheriff's deputy let the gunmen inside 1Oak on the night of Knight's shooting and later helped them flee the country at LAX airport, while authorities 'inexplicably released Tee-Money'.

Culpepper says authorities stopped giving Knight any information regarding the shooting after the hit and run in January 2015.

Knight turned himself in following the crash that killed Terry Carter and seriously injuring Cle 'Bone' Sloan in Compton.

He has since pleaded not guilty to murder and attempted murder.

His lawyer also claims in the motion that investigators tried to use an informant named Danny Timms to lie by saying Knight had admitted to intentionally running over Carter.

Culpepper says it would be 'impossible at this juncture to assess the veracity' of the statements made in his filings, but claims Knight's constitutional rights have been violated as he awaits trial, the New York Daily News reported.

'The supervising judge and two superior court judges worked in concert to violate these rules and several others to defraud defendant Marion (Suge) Knight of his United States and California constitutional rights,' Culpepper's motion states.

The filing will be reviewed on April 21 during a hearing.
A mother is warning parents to secure their televisions after her two-year-old daughter died when their family television set fell and crushed her chest.

Jasmine Lilian Cammillieri was watching her favourite show, SpongeBob, at their Perth home on February 11, 2013, when the unsecured flat-screen television landed on her, according to The West Australian.

Jasmine's mother, Megan Cammillieri, described the moment she found her daughter during an inquest into the toddler's death on Tuesday.

Megan Cammillieri is warning parents to secure their televisions after her two-year-old daughter, Jasmine Lilian Cammillieri, (pictured) died at their Perth home in 2013 when a TV crushed her chest

Ms Cammillieri said she had left her 'full of life' daughter alone for five to 10 minutes in the room as she watched TV and didn't think it would be a problem, according to The West Australian.

Jasmine, a 'tom-boyish' young girl, had recently picked up the habit of climbing the television cabinet but was frequently told off for it and the TV had been pushed to the back of the cabinet in case, Ms Cammillieri said.

'She always had bruises down her shins because if the way she threw herself around,' Mrs Cammilleri said.

Jasmine (pictured) had recently picked up the habit of climbing the television cabinet but was frequently told off for it and the TV had been pushed to the back of the cabinet in case, Ms Cammillieri said

The inquest is trying to raise awareness about the dangers of unsecured televisions in the vicinity of kids, The West Australian said.

The manual that came with the television warned that it should be attached to a wall but Ms Cammilleri said she nor her husband read it, believing that securing it was purely for aesthetic purposes.
O'Sullivan did not apply for bail on Tuesday and will reappear May 4

The mother of six was described as someone who was 'always happy'

O'Sullivan was allegedly found shortly after 7am in Ipswich, 20 km away

Police were called to a Rosewood home, 60km west of Brisbane on Monday

Her partner, Wayne Ashley O'Sullivan, 47, has been charged with murder

A mother of six had been allegedly stabbed to death by her partner before her body was found in her bedroom, according to police.

Detectives charged Wayne Ashley O'Sullivan, 47, with murder after the body of Michelle Reynolds, 46, was found just before 7am on Monday with multiple stab wounds in her Rosewood home, about 60km west of Brisbane.

O'Sullivan briefly appeared in Ipswich Magistrates Court on Tuesday morning and did not apply for bail, according to Queensland Times.

Police arrived at the scene after receiving a Triple-0 call from a person 'unrelated to the address' and it is understood none of Ms Reynold's children were home at the time of the incident, according to The Courier-Mail.

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Michelle Reynolds (pictured), a mother of six, had been allegedly stabbed to death by her partner before her body was found in her bedroom

O'Sullivan briefly appeared in Ipswich Magistrates Court on Tuesday morning and did not apply for bail

A friend and neighbour of Ms Reynolds said she was a 'really nice lady who was always happy'

Detectives have charged Wayne Ashley O'Sullivan (pictured right), 47, with murder after the body of Michelle Reynolds, 46, was found on Monday with multiple stab wounds

Detective Inspector Lew Strohfeldt said the woman had suffered several stab wounds and was found in her bedroom.

'We believed the incident happened in the early hours of this morning,' he told ABC on Monday.

Nearby residents reportedly described hearing screams from her home in the early hours of Monday morning.

Nearby residents reportedly described hearing screams from Ms Reynolds home in the early hours of Monday morning

Mr O'Sullivan, who lived at a separate address to Ms Reynold's in Leichhardt, was found by police a short time after 7am in Ipswich after he is believed to have allegedly fled the scene in his car

Ms Reynolds is believed to have only moved into her home recently. O'Sullivan lived at a separate address in Leichhardt, a suburb of Ipswich, Queensland

Detective Inspector Lew Strohfeldt (pictured) said the woman had suffered several stab wounds and was found in her bedroom

Police arrived at the scene after receiving a Triple-0 call from a person 'unrelated to the address' and it is understood none of Ms Reynold's children were home at the time of the incident

A friend and neighbour of Ms Reynolds said she was a 'really nice lady who was always happy'.

'She helps other people who are in need,' she told The Courier-Mail. 'She was helping another woman in the community who was having some trouble.

'She was a really good mum. She just really loved her kids so much. It's hard to believe this has happened.'

A bloody knife has since been located and is undergoing forensic testing as police were seen interviewing neighbours on Sunday

Nearby residents reportedly described hearing screams from her home in the early hours of Monday morning

Mr O'Sullivan, who lived at a separate address to Ms Reynold's in Leichhardt, was found by police a short time after 7am in Ipswich after he police believe he allegedly fled the scene in his car, according to The Courier-Mail.

A bloody knife has since been located and is undergoing forensic testing as police were seen interviewing neighbours on Sunday.

Ms Reynolds had reportedly moved into the house recently.

O'Sullivan is expected to reappear in court on May 4, according to The Brisbane Times.

Detectives urged anyone with information about the incident to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

'We believed the incident happened in the early hours of this morning' - Detective Inspector Lew Strohfeldt
An unlicensed builder has been jailed for 12 months after scamming multiple people out of thousands of dollars - including a pregnant woman who paid almost $15,000 for work that was never completed.

Michael Issa, from Greystanes, was described by the Fair Trading Commissioner as 'a menace best avoided' after luring customers into building contracts before disconnecting his phone and 'vanishing'.

Anila, from Baulkham Hills, hoped to have her laundry converted into a functioning bathroom before giving birth to her third child, but said Mr Issa continued to 'delay' the work with 'excuse after excuse,' The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Unlicensed builder Michael Issa has been jailed for 12 months after scamming multiple people out of thousands of dollars - including a pregnant woman who paid almost $15,000 for work that was never completed

Anila, from Baulkham Hills, hoped to have her laundry converted into a functioning bathroom before giving birth to her third child, but said Mr Issa continued to 'delay' the work

'When he started the laundry he took a deposit of $6000, then we discussed a second payment of $5000 upon half the work completed and then another $4350 when all work was completed,' Anila said.

The mother-of-three later discovered she should only have been charged 10 per cent of the total of the work as a deposit.

'He just kept delaying everything. We had a demolished laundry, then the plumber laid down the plumbing work and the concrete base and then there was there was no progress at all,' she said.

Anila contacted Fair Trading and after being asked to check Mr Issa's license number, found it was expired.

Anila contacted Fair Trading and after being asked to check Mr Issa's license number, found it was expired

'He just kept delaying everything. We had a demolished laundry, then the plumber laid down the plumbing work and the concrete base and then there was there was no progress at all,' Anila said

Mr Issa traded under company names Instyle Developments and First Class Group NSW.

Fair Trading Commissioner Rod Stowe told The Sydney Morning Herald Mr Issa had 'deceived' his victims.

'He has so far refused to give victims their money back and he is a menace best avoided,' he said.
A blind busker claims he has been repeatedly targeted by a thief who butters him up with food and drinks before stealing coins from his banjo case in front of his guide dog named Steve.

Anthony Clarke, 54, has been busking with his banjo and mouth organ at James Place near Rundle Mall in Adelaide every day between noon and 2pm for 15 years, ABC reported.

But a woman began helping herself to the blind busker's gold coins about four months ago, Mr Clarke, a former world judo champion and gold medallist, has claimed.

Anthony Clarke (pictured), 54, has been busking at James Place near Rundle Mall in Adelaide every day between noon and 2pm for 15 years - but has become the target of a thief

'For a while there she was gaining my confidence by buying me food and giving me drinks, waiting for me to put them in my bag, and then taking money out of my banjo case,' Mr Clarke said

'For a while there she was gaining my confidence by buying me food and giving me drinks, waiting for me to put them in my bag, and then taking money out of my banjo case,' he told ABC.

'She'd go through her lines of: "I'm just putting money in", and all of these fantastic excuses she had.'

More genuine Good Samaritans have been able to describe the thief to him, as a poorly dressed woman in her 50s with dark hair and Mediterranean appearance.

'On one level I feel sad and sorry for her,' he said. 'But what really annoys me is she actually targets me.'

Mr Clarke busks with a banjo and mouth organ, with his guide dog named Steven (pictured) by his side

Mr Clarke was a Paralympian and won multiple gold medals. He was also a World and National Champion, according to his website. He began taking on weightlifting (pictured) in 2010

He said she stole from him twice in January and three days straight in March, and that all incidents were reported to police.

Mr Clarke said he would 'not let her ruin my trust in good people' as it's just one of the many people who've walked past him in the last 15 years.

'It's a fantastic experience busking,' he added.

Mr Clarke was a Paralympian and won multiple gold medals. He was also a World and National Champion, according to his website.

He began taking on weightlifting in 2010, according to ABC.

He was completely blinded at age 17 in a car accident in 1978.
The Prime Minister was speaking in Birmingham

David Cameron has denied European Union rules are hampering efforts to rescue the British steel industry as he warned Tata they must be 'serious' about finding a buyer for stricken production plants.

The Prime Minister said there was a 'very difficult situation' due to the dumping of cheap Chinese steel - but insisted membership of the EU meant there was 'strength in numbers'.

The comments, at an event in Birmingham, came as Mr Cameron moved to take charge of the government's response to the steel crisis.

Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones said the premier had assured him 'nothing was off the table' after they held talks about the future of the Port Talbot site in in Downing Street this morning.

In a boost for Mr Cameron, steel tycoon Sanjeev Gupta has said his plan to produce recycled rather than new steel at the plant would not require any redundancies.

However, there have been warnings that UK steel operations will be 'impossible' to sell unless the government takes on multi-billion pound pension liabilities - an option that may breach EU rules on state aid.

Asked whether the union's rules had hampered the government's response, Mr Cameron replied: 'I don't believe they have ...

'We have got a very difficult situation with the steel industry in our country, just as other countries do.

'We have got a government that is determined to help in every way we can.'

Mr Cameron insisted that half of the UK's steel exports went to Europe, and they would be facing punitive tariffs if we were outside the group.

He added: 'We want to make sure that Tata are looking at looking seriously at a potential buyer for the business - and all the business.'

David Cameron with Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones, Business Secretary Sajid Javid and Chancellor George Osborne in Downing Street

Earlier, Mr Jones told reporters he had been assured 'nothing is off the table' - including temporarily taking the plant into public ownership while a sale is finalised.

'We agreed pensions, tariffs and energy costs all need to be dealt with for a buyer to come forward,'the Labour politician said.

Embattled Business Secretary Sajid Javid - who along with Chancellor George Osborne also attended the meeting - is finally heading to Mumbai for face-to-face discussions with Tata Steel bosses.

Aides have been forced to deny that he is being sidelined by Downing Street over botched handling of the crisis so far.

Mr Javid came under fierce fire last week for continuing with a trip to Australia while the crisis engulfing the industry was unfolding.

He controversially failed to visit India previously when a scheduled meeting of the company's board decided to dispose of its UK operations.

Former Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has warned that the estimated 2 billion black hole in the pension scheme for steel workers was a 'ball and chain around the company's ankles'.

The Liberal Democrat MP admitted EU state aid rules limited the government's room for manoeuvre, but suggested the company could be treated the same as Royal Mail - which had its pension liabilities nationalised.

'There are lots of different ways you can do it but there has be some Government intervention, directly or indirectly, to lighten the burden of the pension liabilities on any new buyer,' he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. 'I think if that does not happen, it is going to be very difficult ... it's going to be nigh impossible to find a new buyer.'

The developments came after unions warned that Tata's Port Talbot plant in South Wales may have to be propped up for three years at a cost of hundreds of millions of pounds, before any deal to save it can be finalised. Carwyn Jones has said EU state aid rules mean it is impossible to meet the demand from Tata Steel to cut the crippling 15million-a-year business rates bill at the plant.

Mr Jones said Brussels diktats meant the firm could be offered relief worth just 50,000 a year.

Business rates targeted at particular sectors are considered to be selective state aid.

That means the amount of relief that can be averted is just 200,000 euros over a three-year period. Some pensions experts also warned that EU rules could torpedo hopes that the Government might be able to take on Tata's 2billion pension liabilities to sweeten any deal.

But in an emergency statement to the Welsh Assembly yesterday, Mr Jones insisted the EU was not to blame for the woes of the industry.

He said it was the British government that blocked efforts to increase EU tariffs on cheap Chinese steel.

However, Tory MP David Davies, chairman of the Commons Welsh affairs committee, said: 'Even Carwyn Jones has now had to admit that EU rules are preventing us from helping the steel industry. We can't cut their business rates, it has taken years to get them compensation from climate change taxes and nothing has been done about tariffs for Chinese steel.'

London Mayor Boris Johnson also said leaving the EU would mean 'we would have more money and more freedom to rescue the British steel industry'.

Mr Jones (left) speaks to reporters after the meeting, and Mr Javid (right) arrives in Downing Street

Mr Gupta, founder and chief executive of the Liberty House firm, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the blast furnaces at Port Talbot were the 'biggest problem we see'.

Speaking ahead of a meeting with Mr Javid, Mr Gupta said the company wanted to convert the furnaces to recycle steel at lower cost, instead of importing raw materials.

Pressed on whether he could guarantee there would be no redundancies if he took charge of the plant, hesaid: 'Yes, absolutely. That is my intention...

'That would definitely be my objective.'
See the latest news from Germany at www.dailymail.co.uk/germany

They cornered the 14-year-old and 'forced him to perform

Two Afghan asylum seekers have been arrested for allegedly sexually abusing a 14-year-old boy at a public swimming pool in Germany.

The incident reportedly took place at an indoor pool in Delbruck, North Rhine-Westphalia, on Friday afternoon.

The Afghan men, aged 20 and 25, are said to have cornered the 14-year-old in the showers, where they forced him to perform sexual acts on both of them.

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Allegations: The two Afghan asylum seekers are said to have cornered the 14-year-old at an indoor pool in Delbruck, North Rhine-Westphalia (stock image)

The alleged victim had been swimming in the public pool with an 11-year-old friend when they were approached by the two Afghan migrants.

At around 4.45pm, the two boys left the pool area and were followed by the men to the showers, Westfalen-Blatt reports.

According to a police report, the 11-year-old was able to hide, but the 14-year-old was grabbed by the two men in the changing room.

After this, the 20-year-old and the 25-year-old 'forced him against his will to perform sexual acts on both men'.

Lifeguards were notified immediately, and the Afghan men could be arrested at the indoor pool.

The pair were brought before a judge in Paderborn on Saturday, and have been detained.

There have been several attacks reported in Germany at public pools, and in neighbouring Austria an Iraqi asylum seeker is awaiting trial for the brutal rape of a young boy in a pool changing room.

Germany has spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on the distribution of posters in numerous languages aimed at asylum seekers, informing them of correct behaviour towards women.
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A crowd of 3,500 honored Virginia State Trooper Chad Dermyer on Tuesday at the fallen officer's funeral in Liberty Baptist Church in Hampton. He was shot and killed by a lone gunman during a counterterrorism training exercise at a Greyhound bus station in Richmond on Thursday.

State Police Superintendent Col. Steven Flaherty described Dermyer as a man with 'integrity, fortitude, character, and lord knows, he had compassion for other people.'

'He had a megawatt, true genuine smile that illuminated any room he was in. When you were the recipient of that smile it was like food for your soul. A bad day vanished, just like that,' said Dermyer's former shift partner with the Newport News Police, Cyndi Grace, according to WVTR.

Dermyer was shot after approaching James Brown III, an ex-convict from Aurora, Illinois, authorities said.

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State Police Superintendent Col. Steven Flaherty pauses after speaking during a memorial service for Virginia State Trooper Chad P. Dermyer at the Liberty Baptist Church on Tuesday, April 5, 2016, in Hampton, Virginia. Dermyer was killed at the Richmond Greyhound bus station last week

Local law enforcement and officers from across the country attend a memorial service for Virginia State Trooper Chad Dermyer at Liberty Baptist Church Tuesday

The family of Virginia State Police police office Chad P. Dermyer were overcome with emotion at his funeral Tuesday

The family of Virginia State Trooper Chad P. Dermyer watch as his casket is taken out of the Liberty Baptist Church following a memorial service on Tuesday

State trooper Chad Dermyer, 37, was shot dead by a gunman at a Greyhound station in Richmond, Virginia, on Thursday

The first shot fired was directly at the trooper, Virginia State Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said. The Virginia State Police were on a training exercise at the bus station when the gunman opened fire

In this November 2014 photo provided by the Virginia State Police, trooper Chad P. Dermyer (right) poses for a photo as he receives his graduation diploma from Superintendent Col. W. Steven Flaherty. 'Unfortunately, Dermyer paid the ultimate price for his skill' as an officer Flaherty said Tuesday

Police have not said what they believe motivated the shooting, which also left two women injured. Authorities say Brown was approached by Dermyer and within moments began shooting, hitting him multiple times. Brown, 34, was killed by two other state troopers after he opened fire.

Brown's ex-girlfriend told The Associated Press on Friday that he previously said he would rather die fighting police than return to prison. She spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity, saying she fears for her safety.

Another relative described the shooter as an ex-con who 'always liked the criminal side.'

'He had a lot of anger about the police in the past,' said the gunman's aunt, Edith Brown, in an interview with CBS 6 Friday.

'He pretty much thought he wanted to be infamous... in terms of having a showdown. He always praised those people who got into shootouts with police,' the aunt said.

Dermyer, 37, was a husband and father of two children. He served on police forces in Jackson, Michigan, and Newport News, Virginia, before becoming a state trooper in 2014. The Michigan native also spent four years in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe and police officers from 20 states, including those from as far as California, were among the thousands of mourners at Liberty Baptist Church in Hampton.

After the ceremony, bagpipers played as Dermyer's coffin was taken out of the church. The trooper's patrol car was parked outside, covered in flowers. Mourners lined the streets waving American flags while dozens of state police motorcyclists led his body to a private burial ceremony, which was to follow in Gloucester County.

Cyndi Grace, who was Dermyer's partner at the Newport News Police Department for four years, said that while he was passionate about his job, he put his family above all else. She fought back tears up as she told Dermyer's wife, son and daughter how much joy they brought to his life.

'Chad Dermyer was an exceptional man and I am a better person for having known him,' she said.

A procession of motorcycles lead a procession for Virginia Trooper Chad P. Dermyer before his funeral Tuesday

People pay their respects as the funeral procession for slain Virginia State Trooper Chad Dermyer drives along U.S. 17 North at the base of the Coleman Memorial Bridge in York County, Virginia

Law enforcement honor guards from across the country join the Marine Corps to honor Virginia State Trooper Chad Dermyer outside of Liberty Baptist Church

A Virginia State Police honor guard carries the casket of trooper Chad Dermyer out of Liberty Baptist Church following a memorial service

Dermyer, 37, was a husband and father of two children. He served on police forces in Jackson, Michigan, and Newport News, Virginia, before becoming a state trooper in 2014. The Michigan native also spent four years in the U.S. Marine Corps

An officer stands watch over the casket of Virginia State Trooper Chad P. Dermyer, who was shot and killed by a lone gunman during a counterterrorism training exercise at a Greyhound bus station in Richmond on Thursday

Chad P. Dermyer is taken out of the Liberty Baptist Church following a memorial service, Tuesday

A Georgia state trooper stands watch as an honor guard over the casket of Virginia trooper Chad Dermyer before his funeral Tuesday
Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman oversees the Public Investment Fund (PIF)

Saudi Arabia has unveiled its austerity plans as the nation prepares to cope with tumbling oil prices - but insists it will not start taxing people's incomes.

Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said his proposals would raise $100billion a year by 2020 as part of moves to balance the books.

The amount of non-oil related income would triple through subsidy cuts and new levies, he revealed.

It comes days after it emerged that the kingdom was preparing for the end of the oil age be creating a $2trillion investment fund which is set to be 'the largest on earth'.

In an interview with Bloomberg, the prince said there were no plans to tax incomes but that proposals were in the pipeline to impose a value-added tax and levies on luxury items, sugary drinks and energy.

It may also target expats by introducing a system similar to the US Green Card.

Bloomberg reports that non-oil income went up more than a third to $44billion last year.

He said: 'Its a large package of programs that aims to restructure some revenue-generating sectors.'

Last week he said a Public Investment Fund (PIF) will eventually be large enough to buy Google, Apple and Microsoft with money to spare.

The prince, who oversees the fund, claims that the initial public offering could happen as soon as next year.

It came as the worlds biggest crude exporter insisted it will only freeze its oil output if other key producers, including Iran, take a similar measure.

What is left now is to diversify investments, the 30-year-old prince told Bloomberg, during an interview from the royal compound in the kingdoms capital, Riyadh.

So within 20 years, we will be an economy or state that doesnt depend mainly on oil.

It is nearly 80 years since the first oil was discovered in Saudi Arabia but, with crude prices plummeting worldwide, the nation plans to shake its dependence on the market.

Oil prices are being hit in part owing to the return of Iranian crude to markets after crippling economic sanctions on Tehran were lifted following last years nuclear deal between Iran and world powers

One of the first steps will be for Saudi Arabia to sell shares in Aramcos parent company, which will transform the oil giant into an 'industrial conglomerate'.

According to the prince, the son of King Salman, the sale of Aramco could come as early as 2017.

But if all goes to plan, the fund will eventually be large enough to buy all four of the worlds largest publicly traded companies  Apple Inc., Google parent company Alphabet Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

Although the proportion of foreign investments is currently at just five per cent of the fund, PIF plans to increase it to 50 per cent by 2020.

But Prince Mohammed said he doesnt believe the kingdom has a real problem when it comes to low oil prices, despite the fact the price of a barrel of crude oil has more than halved.

Undoubtedly, it will be the largest fund on Earth, added the prince. This will happen as soon as Aramco goes public.

The prince went on to confirm that Saudi Arabia will only freeze its oil output if other key producers, including Iran, take a similar measure.

If all countries agree to freeze production, were ready, he said.

It is nearly 80 years since the first oil was discovered in Saudi Arabia but, with crude prices plummeting worldwide, the nation plans to shake its dependence on the market

If there is anyone that decides to raise their production, then we will not reject any opportunity that knocks on our door.

His remarks come ahead of a meeting of major oil producers led by Russia and Saudi Arabia set to take place in Doha on April 17, to discuss measures to stabilise prices, including a proposal not to pump out oil above a certain level.

Undoubtedly, it will be the largest fund on Earth. Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman

Iran indicated it was ready to participate in the meeting and demanded an exemption from the freeze in order to boost its exports, according to Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak.

Oil prices are being hit in part owing to the return of Iranian crude to markets after crippling economic sanctions on Tehran were lifted following last years nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.

The upcoming meeting in Doha is a follow-up to talks in February between Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, in which they first mooted the output freeze.
Residents of the German city of Hanover have been told to keep away from windows and avoid waving at President Obama when he visits later this month - incase they are shot by trigger-happy American secret service agents.

Police have issued flyers to nearly 2,000 people living near the Congress Centre due to be visited by Obama on April 24.

He will meet there with Chancellor Angela Merkel for the Hanover Messe, an industrial technology fair.

President Barack Obama (right) will meet with Chancellor Angela Merkel (left) for the Hanover Messe on April 24 amid high security

Police have issued flyers to nearly 2,000 people living near the Congress Centre due to be visited by Obama on April 24

As well as keeping away from windows and waving, residents expecting visitors that weekend will have to register them with police a week beforehand.

People working in shops lying within the security area will also have to register.

'The elegant zoo district is being turned into a fortress!' said the Bild newspaper about the security operation, which also includes removing bicycles from streets the presidential motorcade will pass along and turning off mobile phone transmitters at unspecified times.

Trains and bus lines will be halted all around the security zone, manhole covers welded shut and police snipers placed on rooftops.

All overseas visits by American heads of state are traditionally surrounded with extra security, but the terror attacks in Paris last year and Brussels last month have made this excursion even more fraught with danger for the authorities.

American secret service agents are already in Hanover (pictured) plotting the security arrangements for the visit. Just where he will be staying remains top secret

It added: 'The residents living in the Zoo quarter will be closer to the U.S. President than anyone in Hanover.

'But nevertheless, it will be virtually impossible to get even a glimpse of the most powerful man in the world.'

Although the police letter does not specifically say residents risk taking a bullet if they wave from a window at the president, no-one is left in any doubt that that is the message authorities are sending.

'Please understand that security forces operate under special alert during the visit of the US president,' police added in their security note.
A woman who killed a well-known midwife in a hit-and run accident was high on methamphetamine when she struck the mother of three, a court heard.

Samantha Magdaleine Farrer, former girlfriend of infamous siege gunman Rodney Clavell, collided with Kathleen Heraghty, 48, on Fleurieu Peninsula's Inman Valley road in South Australia on December 27, 2013.

The 39-year-old had not slept for 24 hours and tested positive for the deadly drug after she hit Ms Heraghty, who died at the scene despite the efforts of emergency staff, reports Adelaide Now.

A court has heard Samantha Magdaleine Farrer (pictured) was high on methamphetamine when she fatally hit a mother-of-three

Well-known midwife Kathleen Heraghty (pictured) was training for a triathlon when she was hit by Ms Farrer

Ms Farrer is the former girlfriend of Rodney Clavell, who shot himself during a dramatic siege inside an Adelaide CBD brothel in June 2014.

She was driving to meet her father in a friend's Holden Commodore sedan when she fatally struck Ms Heraghty, who was training for a local triathlon at the time of the accident.

Prosecutors allege she fled them before she was arrested an hour later. Her vehicle had suffered substantial damage, including a dented roof and a shattered front windscreen.

Prosecutor Amelia Cairney accused Ms Farrer of gross negligence resulting from the fact she was driving high on the deadly drug.

'The prosecution case is that the accused's activity of driving... in her failing to see the cyclist and manoeuvre around her, was down to the gross defective outlook on her part, which is explained by her methamphetamine intoxication,' she said.

Prosecutor Amelia Cairney accused Ms Farrer (pictured in 2014) of gross negligence for driving high on methamphetamine

Ms Farrer is the former girlfriend of Rodney Clavell (pictured), who shot himself during a dramatic siege inside an in June 2014

South Australian police escort a woman believed to be a hostage during the siege involving fugitive Rodney Clavell in June 2014

'She was driving in a manner that was dangerous to the public  and causing the death of Ms Heraghty.'

The court heard Ms Farrer had recorded a drug blood level of 0.43 when she was arrested, which experts say would have seriously affected her driving.

Ms Farrer denies one count each of aggravated causing death by dangerous driving and leaving the scene of an accident after causing death.
This is the Portuguese man who admitted to stabbing a 58-year-old British man to death with a spear after being invited back to the man's Algarve home for sex.

Eugenio Filipe Reicha, 20, told police he killed Simon Carley-Pocock, from Hertfordshire, after which he had a bath and a meal, before leaving the scene in the victim's Audi.

The body of Mr Carley-Pocock was discovered early this morning after Portuguese police stopped Reicha driving the Audi without a licence, after which the young man confessed to the murder.

Confession: Eugenio Filipe Reicha, 20, told police he killed Simon Carley-Pocock, from Hertfordshire, with a spear after going back to the British man's house after a night out

Victim: The body of Mr Carley-Pocock is removed from his home in an Algarve village in Portugal on Tuesday

Reicha told officers he had gone home with Mr Carley-Pocock, originally from Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire, after a night out in the Algarve city of Faro.

The body of Mr Carley-Pocock, an accountant, is believed to have laid undiscovered at his hilltop home near the pretty tourist village of Alcoutim for around three days.

Detectives are expected to formally arrest Reicha for murder later today after his initial detention for driving without a licence.

Officers said Tuesday afternoon that they are trying to establish if the self-confessed killer was working as a rent boy amid speculation he slept with older men for money.

Police said Reicha had told them he stabbed his victim in a drug-fuelled rage with a spear, which has yet to be found, before throwing the weapon out of his car as he drove away from the scene.

Reicha told officers he had gone home with Mr Carley-Pocock after a night out in the Algarve city of Faro

Reicha confessed to the murder and told police he killed the 58-year-old Brit - and then took time to have a bath and something to eat and drink, before leaving the scene in the victim's Audi

A Portuguese man 'aged around 20' has been arrested, with police saying there is a 'possibility' that the victim had met the young man 'for casual sex' and invited him into his home

Portuguese police say the self-confessed killer admitted to stabbing the Briton after meeting him on Friday night in Faro and going back to his home near Alcoutim, Algarve

The self-confessed killer said he murdered the British man 'during a row after some drinks'

Local authorities said Mr Carley-Pocock, who is thought to have given up his accountancy job and moved to Portugal to rest after being diagnosed with a serious illness, had been living in Portugal for several years.

A British ex-partner who said he was too upset to speak, spent most of the day with police at the crime scene as they tried to piece together the dead mans last hours and collect forensic evidence after his body was removed from the house.

They are understood to have split up around three years ago after a relationship of nearly three decades.

A spokesman for Portugal's PSP police, which arrested the alleged killer after pulling him over in a random stop in the Brit's Audi A4, said: 'The man being held in custody is suspected of killing a British man at his home near Alcoutim.

'He was initially held around 2am this morning in Faro because he was found to be driving without a licence.

'The car he was stopped in, an Audi A4, didn't belong to him and because we had the suspicion it might be stolen a police patrol was sent to the owner's home address near Alcoutim but got no answer.

A British ex-boyfriend of the dead man is at the murder scene and being spoken to by detectives

Portuguese police have arrested a man 'aged around 20', saying there is a 'possibility' that the victim had met the young man 'for casual sex' and brought him back to his home near Alcoutim

'A small knife was discovered on the Portuguese man when he was searched and he ended up confessing to killing the British man who owned the car although with a different weapon which he said he had thrown out of the car window.

'He said he had used a spear which is yet to be confirmed because my understanding is it has yet to be found.

'We don't know for sure when the killing happened but we think it may have been Saturday.

'The Portuguese man says they had known each other for a while and met on Friday and went back to the Brit's house together.

'He says he killed him during a row after some drinks.

'Although we were the arresting police force, the case is now being handed over to the Policia Judiciaria who will no doubt interview the suspect again before he goes before a judge for further questioning.
On Sunday, 100 news outlets published the first tranche of articles based on the largest leak in history, 2.6TB worth of records from Mossack Fonseca, the third-largest lawfirm specializing in confidential offshore shell-companies.

The Panama Papers implicated world leaders from every region, and the revelations are still playing out  in Iceland, the government may fall and be replaced with the world's first Pirate Party government; in the UK, the revelations about Prime Minister David Cameron's father's tax-avoidance racket have made a mockery of the PM's promise to crack down on corruption.

The Chinese politburo are especially implicated in the leaks, with 8 current and former members of the country's all-powerful star chamber named in the early coverage. Corruption is a hot-button issue in China, where the state's legitimacy springs not from democratic elections, but from the idea that the government is technocratically competent and honest, able to steer the country out of agrarian poverty and into industrialized, urbanized plenty. China's censors are particularly hard on people who discuss official corruption, and corruption stories, from hit-and-runs by the sports-car-driving rich children of political elites to the substandard construction of earthquake-hit schools, set off mass unrest.

So it's not surprising that the official censorship regime in China has banned all mention of the Panama Papers.

State media appeared to black out the news. But many on microblogging network Sina Weibo and mobile chat network Wechat were discussing the topic on Monday morning, sharing Chinese translations of details of the story, including information on Mr Deng. A hashtag created on the topic quickly trended. Checks by the BBC found that by the end of the day many of those posts had disappeared, with at least 481 discussions deleted from the hashtag's Weibo topic page, and other posts shared on Wechat also deleted. The website Freeweibo.com, which actively tracks censorship on Weibo, listed "Panama" as the second-most censored term on the network. The top censored term was controversial Hong Kong movie "Ten Years".

Panama papers: China censors online discussion

[BBC]
This is the moment former work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith broke down and wept in a TV interview about why he was pursuing aggressive welfare reform.

Mr Duncan Smith recounted a visit to a housing estate but his voice started to waver when he turned to an anecdote about a young woman he said reminded him of his daughter.

He then broke down as he talked about how the 'system' had failed the 19-year-old single mum, leaving her with no aspiration or ability to get a better life.

Just months after recording the interview Mr Duncan Smith sensationally resigned in the wake of George Osborne's latest Budget, claiming planned cuts to disability benefits alongside tax cuts for the middle classes undermined the social justice mission of the Government.

Iain Duncan Smith, the former work and pensions secretary, broke down and wept, pictured, while talking about the plight of a teenage single mother in a BBC documentary

The former Tory leader was being interviewed about his policies for the BBC documentary 'Workers or Shirkers' by Private Eye editor Iain Hislop.

In the interview, due to be broadcast on Thursday, Mr Duncan Smith said: 'When I sat and talked to her I sensed that she wanted to do something, she wanted to be better than her circumstances - but she had no skills, she had no school, she didn't know where to go.

'I remember leaving there thinking very simply: this is my daughter.'

As he started to weep, Mr Duncan Smith continued 'Im sorry, Im quite emotional about this... 19-years-old' before pausing to compose himself.

He continued: 'My aspiration for my daughter was boundless.

'And here Im sitting with a 19-year-old girl who had written off her life and had no aspiration and no self-worth.

'She was a product of a system.

'My point was what could I have done, what could I do, to change her life.'

Sources close to Mr Duncan Smith said it had been a 'really powerful interview' which they hoped would be 'treated sensitively'.

Asked if he had tried to comfort Mr Duncan Smith, Mr Hislop told the Radio Times: 'No, I just watched him cry.

'Were sitting in the Department for Work and Pensions talking about his desire to increase the lot of those without any privileges or start in life and he starts welling up.'

Mr Duncan Smith was interviewed by Private Eye editor Ian Hislop, right, for the BBC documentary Workers or Shirkers? Ian Hislop's Victorian Benefits

Mr Duncan Smith explained his bombshell resignation in a further TV interview where he launched a strident attack on the Government for undermining social justice

The extraordinary exchange was revealed in a trailed for the BBC documentary about the Government's welfare cuts.

During his six years as work and pensions secretary, Mr Duncan Smith faced repeated and severe criticism from opponents of the Government for repeatedly pushing through cuts to working age benefits.

In the wake of his bombshell resignation, Mr Duncan Smith insisted the Government had been right to pursue its reforms to welfare to encourage more people back into work.

But he blasted David Cameron's administration for cutting too deeply on workers while leaving pensioner benefits untouched.

In the stinging conclusion to his letter, Mr Duncan Smith said: 'I hope as the government goes forward you can look again, however, at the balance of the cuts you have insisted upon and wonder if enough has been done to ensure ''we are all in this together''.'

Chancellor George Osborne, pictured presenting his Budget last month, was told by Mr Duncan Smith when he resigned that he had cut too deeply in working age benefits

Social media users appeared unconvinced by Mr Duncan Smith's performance.

Tina Savage questioned 'does anyone really believe this?' as she shared the story.

And James Gill said: 'Can't decide whether Iain Duncan Smith actually has a heart in his body or is more conniving than first appeared.'

The user Invisible Britain suggested Mr Duncan Smith should 'get a Bafta' for his appearance in the documentary.

Workers or Shirkers? Ian Hislops Victorian Benefits on Thursday 7th April at 8PM on BBC Two.
A US military dog who lost her leg while on duty in Afghanistan has become the first to be awarded the animal equivalent of a British Victoria Cross.

German Shepherd Lucca, aged 12, completed over 400 separate missions during six years of active service with the U.S. military, where she would sniff out explosives.

It is believed she protected the lives of thousands of allied troops during her career, with there being no human casualties during any of her patrols.

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US Marine Corp dog Lucca with her owner Gunnery Sergeant Chris Willingham at the Wellington Barracks in London after receiving the Dickin Medal

German Shepherd Lucca, aged 12, completed over 400 separate missions during six years of active service with the U.S. military, where she would sniff out explosives

However, her final patrol came in March 2012, when she alongside her then handler Corporal Juan Rodriguez, discovered a 30lb improvised explosive device in Afghanistan.

As Lucca searched for the device, a second bomb exploded and she instantly lost her front leg and suffered severe burns to her chest - but miraculously no soldiers were injured in the blast.

Corporal Rodriguez administered first aid to his dog before she was airlifted to Germany to recover, and within ten days she was up and walking again.

Today, Lucca travelled to London from southern California with her former handler and owner Gunnery Sergeant Christopher Willingham to be awarded the PDSA Dickin medal.

Lucca travelled to London from southern California with her former handler and owner Gunnery Sergeant Christopher Willingham to be awarded the PDSA Dickin medal

During a tour of duty in Afghanistan, Lucca stepped on an explosive and she immediately lost her front left leg

Lucca, pictured recovering from her injuries after losing her leg with her then handler Corporal Juan Rodriguez

She was presented with the award during a ceremony at the Wellington Barracks, with the medal the highest award any animal in the world can achieve while serving in military conflict.

Lucca is now the first Marine Corps dog to receive the esteemed honor.

Gunnery Sergeant Willingham, said: 'Lucca is very intelligent, loyal and had an amazing drive for work as a search dog.

'In addition to her incredible detection capabilities, Lucca was instrumental in increasing moral for the troops we supported. In between missions, I took the searching harness off and let her play and interact with the troops.

It only took Lucca 10 days to recover from the blast and now lives with her former trainer Sergeant Willingham in California

'Due to her personality, demeanor and proficiency as a search dog, Lucca made friends wherever she went. Today, I do my best to keep her spoiled in her well-deserved retirement.'

Before serving in Afghanistan, Lucca completed two tours of duty in Iraq with Sergeant Willingham.

She made a number of finds including IEDs and bombs and was also directly responsible for apprehending four insurgents.

Jan McLoughlin, director general of the PDSA added: 'Luccas conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty makes her a hugely deserving recipient of the PDSA Dickin Medal.

'Her ability and determination to seek out arms and explosives preserved human life amid some of the worlds fiercest military conflicts.

'I am thrilled that both Lucca and Gunnery Sergeant Willingham have made the journey to London to receive this very special award.'

Lucca is the 67th animal to be honoured with the Dickin medal, which is awarded to those who show exceptional service in military conflict.

It was named after the founder of the PDSA Maria Dickin, and it acknowledges outstanding acts of bravery or devotion to duty displayed by animals serving with the Armed Forces or Civil Defence units in any theatre of war throughout the world.
The victim is then strangled from behind as he crawls on all fours

him in a headlock and punches him

A shocking video from a secondary school shows a schoolboy being encouraged to 'stamp on his head' during a brutal fight between classmates.

The 15 year-old boy grabs the other youngster from behind and delivers a series of blows to the side of his head.

It is thought the fight broke out after the victim accidentally threw a dodgeball at the other pupil's face in what appears to be a changing room.

Aggressive: The 15 year-old boy grabs the other youngster from behind and delivers a series of blows to the side of his head

His attacker can be heard asking him if he 'thought it would be funny to hit a ball off my face' and another youth, from behind the camera, can be heard shouting 'stamp on his head'.

The attacker repeatedly tells the boy to 'f*** off' as he forces the boy to the ground and punches him in the back of the head while a several other boys laugh.

The video was taken at Fraserburgh Academy, Aberdeenshire.

Last week, a 16-year-old youth was detained for nine years for the killing of Aberdeen schoolboy Bailey Gwynne, who was stabbed to death in a fight which started after a row about a biscuit.

Mary Melville, vice chairwoman of the Fraserburgh and District Community Safety Group, likened the fight caught on video to the stabbing of Bailey at Cults Academy in Aberdeen last October.

She said: 'It happens in a flash and you can't help but think of Bailey Gwynne. It only took seconds for him to get killed.

Revenge: His attacker can be heard asking him if he 'thought it would be funny to hit a ball off my face' and another youth, from behind the camera, can be heard shouting 'stamp on his head'

Cruel: The attacker repeatedly tells the boy to 'f*** off' as he forces the boy to the ground and punches him in the back of the head while a several other boys laugh

'I don't blame the teachers, although I would hope they would be able to spot any resentment between pupils in their classes.'

Vincent Docherty, Aberdeenshire Council's head of secondary education, said: 'The video shows completely unacceptable behaviour and this incident was appropriately dealt with at the time.

'Any form of violence within school grounds is treated very seriously and we will not tolerate this sort of behaviour.

'As the recent inspection report highlighted, learning at the school has been transformed in recent years, including a 6% increase in S4 National 5 passes.

'It would be a shame if a minority of individuals were allowed to tarnish the image of the school.'

A Police spokeswoman said: 'Police Scotland can confirm that a 15-year-old boy has been charged in relation to an assault at Fraserburgh Academy on March 30.
Alastair Arnott, 32, (pictured) is accused of using the university's IT system to send inappropriate messages

A university lecturer has been suspended after allegedly sending a string of inappropriate messages to students.

Alastair Arnott, 32, is accused of using the university's IT system to send 'sex-related' messages to students and non-students.

The lecturer in Childhood and Family Studies at the university of Wolverhampton is also being investigated over allegations he made requests for money.

Mr Arnott, author of 'Positive Failure: Understand how embracing failure is the key to success', has been told he cannot contact colleagues or students without permission after being suspended in February.

A source told the Sun: 'The investigation is into whether he has been using his position to try and chat people up. Alastair is a very good talker and can be very charming.'

A university spokesman confirmed he had suspended but told MailOnline: 'We don't comment on personal issues involving staff.'

The university confirmed he is receiving full pay pending the investigation.

Mr Arnott said: 'The allegations are totally false and the suspension is routine whilst they prove my innocence.'

The lecturer, who describes himself as being 'passionate about working with children from deprived backgrounds and integrating positive psychology into education', has since deleted his Twitter account.
Danish police has not confiscated any valuables or cash from migrants and refugees since the controversial 'jewellery law' came into effect two months ago.

The law states that Danish authorities have the right to search asylum seekers' luggage and seize valuables worth more than 10,000 Danish kroner (976).

However, despite the 'jewellery law' coming into force on February 5, the Danish National Police revealed it has yet to be put into practice.

Controversial: The Danish 'jewellery law' states that police have the right to search asylum seekers' luggage and seize valuables worth more than 976, however, it has yet to be put into practice.

The chairman of the Danish Police Union said it did not come as a surprise to him that Danish officers choose not to search the luggage of refugees and migrants.

'I have always expected that this could only become an issue for the police on a very small scale, Claus Oxfeldt told The Local.

The 'jewellery law' was part of a series of immigration policies voted through in Danish parliament on January 26 this year.

Valuables worth more than 10,000 Danish kroner can be seized upon applying for asylum, and then used to pay for lodging, language classes, health care and job training courses.

Items of personal significance, such as wedding rings, as well as mobile phones, are exempt.

It brings refugees in line with unemployed Danes, who can only get social benefits if they sell any valuables and assets above 10,000 kroner.

Measures: The 'jewellery law' came into force after the Swedish government announced tougher immigration policies, including border controls and ID checks (pictured) to stem the migrant influx

The law has been widely criticized, both by international media and human right organisations, drew comparisons to 1940s Germany, where the Nazis seized gold and valuables from Jews and others.

But Danish politicians have defended the policy - saying the same rules apply to Danish people, and that those who can pay their way, should.

'I can see that some foreign media are pouring scorn over (the fact) that we in the future may withdraw asylum seekers' valuables and demand that they should pay for their stay in asylum centres themselves,' Integration Minister Inger Stojberg wrote on Facebook ahead of the vote.

'There is no reason to criticise, since it is already the case that if you as a Dane have valuables for more than 10,000 kroner ($1,450, 1,340 euros) it may be required that this is sold before you can receive unemployment benefits,' she added.

Stojberg, an immigration hardliner of the ruling right-wing Venstre party, added that 'in Denmark you have to try for yourself if you can.'

The news that the 'jewellery law' has not been implicated appears to confirm that it's primary purpose is to deter people from applying for asylum in Denmark.

Compared to neighbouring Sweden, Denmark saw relatively modest influx of migrants last year.

While hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants entered the country in 2015, a majority only passed through on their way to Sweden.
Naudiah Byers,who told police that she was leaving the Pure Ultra Club in Myrtle Beach in the early hours of Saturday when she was struck in the face

A college student claims she was assaulted outside a South Carolina nightclub when a man hit her in the face with a stack of cash.

Naudiah Byers told police that she was leaving the Pure Ultra Club in Myrtle Beach in the early hours of Saturday when she was struck in the face.

However, the 18-year-old, a student at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, did not suffer any injuries.

According to the Smoking Gun, the male suspect had bumped into Byers as they were leaving the club and when she asked him to apologise, he said 'I don't need to say nothing'.

An argument then ensued, with a police report saying the man warned the student 'B****, I'll slap you with a stack' - referring to his wad of cash.

And when Byers said 'Do it' the man then hit her across the face with the stack of notes.

In the meantime, another club goer had called 911 for the police after fearing the altercation could get physical.

But by the time officers arrived at the club, the suspect had disappeared down a nearby back alley.

A police report noted that when officers arrived at the nightspot, Byers was yelling at her friends for not getting involved.

It also adds that the suspect was a black man, aged 20 to 25 and around six feet tall.

He was also wearing a gray jacket zipped all the way to the top.

A police report said the man warned the student 'B****, I'll slap you with a stack' - referring to his wad of cash
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was able to dodge international sanctions and help fund his war by setting up shadow companies in the Seychelles, it was reported today.

Three Syrian firms were hit with punitive measures by the U.S. for allegedly supplying fuel to the regime.

But they used Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca to create shadow firms as 'a way for the Syrian regime to circumvent international sanctions', according to French newspaper paper Le Monde.

The claims are the latest to emerge in the Panama Papers which named the firms as Pangates International, Maxima Middle East Trading and Morgan Additives Manufacturing.

Syrians carry a wounded man following reported air strikes by Syrian government forces on the rebel-held town of Douma, near Damascus in October last year. Leaked files revealed that President Bashar al-Assad was able to dodge international sanctions and help fund his war by setting up offshore shadow companies

Funding his war machine: The three firms are under US sanctions for allegedly providing petroleum supplies to President Bashar al-Assad's regime that were likely to be used by his military, including aviation fuel

The three firms are under US sanctions for allegedly providing petroleum supplies to Assad's regime likely to be used by his military, including aviation fuel.

Since the start of Syria's war in 2011, tens of thousands of people have been killed and thousands of homes destroyed in air raids and barrel bomb strikes.

Le Monde said the leaked files show Mossack Fonseca continued to work with at least one of the companies, Pangates, until at least nine months after the sanctions were announced in July 2014.

Pangates belongs to the Damascus-based Abdulkarim group, which is close to the Syrian government, Le Monde said.

The probe, coordinated by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, has exposed a tangle of financial dealings by global elites.

Assad's billionaire cousin Rami Makhlouf, who is facing sanctions, was also shown by the leaks as long having registered companies in tax havens.

Syria's most notorious and powerful tycoon, Makhlouf founded shadow companies such as Drex Technologies SA, which was registered in the British Virgin Islands in 2000 and which it took Mossack Fonseca a decade to grow concerned about, Le Monde reported.

Documents show Mossack Fonseca worked with Assad's cousin, Makhlouf, who has been described in U.S. diplomatic cables as Syria's 'poster boy for corruption'.

In February 2008, U.S. Treasury officials flagged Makhlouf as a 'regime insider' who 'improperly benefits from and aids the public corruption of Syrian regime officials.'

They froze his U.S. assets and banned American firms or people working with him then blacklisted some of his companies later that year.

However, the leaked files reveal that Mossack Fonseca continued to work with Rami Makhlouf and his brother, Hafez, who had also been blacklisted by the U.S. in 2007.

Documents show Mossack Fonseca worked with Assad's cousin, Rami Makhlouf (pictured), who has been described in U.S. diplomatic cables as Syria's 'poster boy for corruption'

The firm's e-mails at the time did not mention the sanctions and in January 2011 it dismissed the advice of its own compliance team which said it should sever ties with the family.

According to The Guardian, the compliance officer wrote: 'I believe if an individual is found on a sanction list then this is a serious red flag and we should make every effort to disassociate ourselves from them.'

But one of Mossack Fonseca's partners, Chris Zollinger, reportedly resisted over concerns the company would lose business.

They wrote that 'there are allegations (rumours), but not any facts or pending investigations or indictments.'

He made reference to a colleague's previous notes from a conversation between Mossack Fonseca and British bank HSBC that served as Makhlouf's financial manager.

In the notes, HSBC assured the law firm that the bank's London and Geneva offices 'know about Mr Makhlouf and that they are comfortable with him.'

According to ICIJ, Mr Zollinger said that if HSBC didn't have an issue with him 'then I think we can also accept him.'

However, he ultimately agreed with dropping the firm after further discussions with colleagues and growing investigations into Makhlouf's business empire.

Zollinger recently told Suddeutsche Zeitung: 'In retrospect, my comment in the e-mail was wrong, which I regret.'

He added that Mossack Fonseca had 'no influence on the transactions or the business of the company' linked to Makhlouf.

Mossack Fonseca was not legally obliged to comply with US sanctions.

It did, however, have an obligation to respond to EU measures imposed in May 2011 that were extended to the British Virgin Islands (BVI) in the June of that year.

But it took until September 2011 before Mossack agreed to resign from Makhlouf's companies.

It meant Makhlouf was able to keep his Swiss bank accounts open throughout the start of the Syrian war.

HSBC said: 'The allegations are historical, in some cases dating back 20 years, predating our significant, well-publicised reforms implemented over the last few years.

'We work closely with the authorities to fight financial crime and implement sanctions.'

Mossack Fonseca denies any wrongdoing.

A spokesman told ICIJ that the firm relies on intermediaries such as banks and other law firms to review the backgrounds of the customers that are referred to them.

He added: 'Likewise, we have our own procedures in place to identify such individuals, to the extent it is reasonably possible.'

The time it takes to resign varies by jurisdiction, the spokesman said, and some authorities require the agent to remain in place to prevent interference with an investigation.

President Assad's UK fixer bought 6million of luxury flats in London with cash siphoned through offshore firms

President Assad's UK fixer used offshore companies to buy at least six flats in London worth nearly 6million, it has emerged.

Businessman Soulieman Marouf bought a portfolio of homes across the capital through companies in the tax haven of the British Virgin Islands (BVI), according to the leaked Panama Papers.

They included a 1m riverfront flat in St George Wharf in Vauxhall, a 1.2m apartment at the Norman Foster-designed Albion Riverside building in Battersea and a 1.3m home in St John's Wood.

Marouf made headlines in 2012 when it emerged he carried out shopping errands for Assad's wife, Asma, buying goods worth thousands of pounds from Armani and Harrods as the civil war ripped Syria apart.

Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and his wife Asma walk through Paris on a visit in December 2010

In October of that year, his assets were frozen in Europe, with the sanctions notice describing him as as a supporter of the Syrian regime and 'close to President al-Assad's family'.

The order meant he could not deal with his London flats without a licence, but his lawyer said the permits were 'obtained when required' from the Treasury.

His name was removed from the EU blacklist in 2014 after getting backing from then foreign secretary William Hague.

Restrictions have now been lifted and he continues to invest in UK property.

He has since registered two new companies in the British Virgin Islands, named after London addresses.

Properties bought by Soulieman Marouf included a 1m flat in St George Wharf in Vauxhall (pictured)

Assad's fixer also bought a 1.2m apartment at the Norman Foster-designed Albion Riverside in Battersea

In November 2014, Marouf's offshore firm acquired a flat at Regent Court in St John's Wood for 500,000

In November 2014, his offshire company acquired a 500,000 flat at 59 Regent Court in St John's Wood.

A lawyer for Marouf told The Guardian: 'There are a number of reasons for utilising offshore companies, including the desire for privacy.

'Full disclosure has been given to [the] Treasury and/or HMRC [Revenue & Customs] and the UK tax authorities have acknowledge that these companies are compliant with UK tax laws.
A 'treasure map' drawn by rock legend Jimi Hendrix to guide a beautiful woman fan through 'crosstown traffic' to his holiday home has emerged for sale.

The smitten guitar hero quickly sketched the map for the anonymous blonde with arrows directing her through the tropical island of Maui, Hawaii, where he stayed in July 1970.

The black pen line snakes through the countryside and an 'X' marks the spot for the address, the oddly-named Gingerbread House, on the outskirts of the small town of Makawao.

The tiny house in Maui, Hawaii where Hendrix stayed (left) was illustrated by the guitarist himself in this map (right), which he drew and gave to a female fan who he hoped would come and visit him

Like a pirate's treasure map, an 'X' marked the spot for the oddly-named Gingerbread House, which is located on the outskirts of the small town of Makawao

Hendrix (pictured at the Isle of Wight music festival in June 1970) stayed on the island while filming a movie and playing two shows which would turn out to be his last U.S. concerts

Hendrix even playfully drew crude pirate-like skulls and boats on the 6in x 4.5in piece of white paper.

It is not known if the mystery blonde used the map to meet up with Hendrix for a romantic rendezvous.

Hendrix was on the Pacific paradise isle in July 1970 to shoot the movie Rainbow Bridge and played two concerts which would be his last U.S. shows before his death aged 27 two months later.

It is not known exactly when he sketched out the map but he arrived in Hawaii after a Seattle gig on July 26, played in Maui on July 30 and then performed 104 miles away on the northern island of Honolulu on August 1.

The map is being sold for 5,000 by Bristol-based dealers JustCollecting.com on behalf of a friend of the woman, who is American.

She gave it to the vendor after he helped her through financial problems about a decade ago and it comes with a letter of a provenance.

On the back of the note was his signature, along with his New York address and phone number. The note is now up for auction with a 5,000 starting price

Adrian Roose, of JustCollecting, said: 'This map is basically a guide for a booty call.

'It was the era of sex, drugs and rock'n'roll and Jimi Hendrix really embodied the counter culture ethos of that time.

'Rock stars of all ages have done similar, but you have to remember in that period there were no mobile phones and there certainly wasn't Tinder.

'But in all seriousness, this is an important document from the end of Jimi's life. When he was in Hawaii he played one of his final concerts and this was the last one that was filmed.

'A single Jimi Hendrix autograph on a plain piece of card can now sell for as much as 5,950, given the additional hand drawn map and address details on this item we don't expect it to hang around long at 5,000.

'The guy was a superstar and is as popular now as he was in the 1960's.'

Hendrix recorded the concerts for the 1971 film Rainbow Bridge. The loosely documentary-style film followed a New York model's travels from California to an occult centre on Hawaii. It starred amateur actors who improvised their lines and was roundly savaged by critics.

The property where he was staying is now known as the 'Jimi Hendrix House' and can be rented out on Airbnb for 127 a night.

It also acts as a yoga retreat and owner Eve Hogan, 54, is fascinated by the building's part in rock lore.

She said: 'The legend is that he stayed here, but the fact of the matter is he probably passed out here. The people who owned it back then were big wave surfers and were absolute party animals.
A Kansas City police captain wants to personally thank a 15-year-old girl after she left him a kind note in a restaurant and her family paid for his meal.

Captain Rance Quinn of the Kansas City Police Department was dining at a local Chili's restaurant with Captain George Sims when the teenager approached.

She briefly stopped at their table and left them a napkin before swiftly continuing out the door with the rest of her family.

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Kind: The teenager left a note on the table reading: 'Thank you for keeping us safe', before leaving the restaurant

Captain Rance Quinn, pictured, of the Kansas City Police Department was dining at a local Chili's restaurant with Captain George Sims when the teenager approached

Writing on Facebook in a post thanking the gesture, the police officer revealed that the note read: 'Thank you for keeping us safe'.

He added that he and his co-worker, who would have liked to have had the opportunity to thank the teenager at the time, were touched by the sentiment and talked about it together.

But the entirety of the kind gesture had not yet been revealed to its full extent as moments later a waitress told the officers the family had also paid for their meal.

The Chillis restaurant in Kansas City where the act of kindness from the mystery teen and her family happened

Writing online, the officer said: I'm normally not a big ask you to share person but in this case please share in hopes that these gestures make it back to the people who did them so they will know just how appreciated and POWERFUL their actions were.'

A photograph of the napkin showing the heartfelt message was also posted to Facebook.

The post of the image and story behind it has now been 'liked' more than three thousand times and many people have also commented their gratitude to the police officers.

Writing in the post, the officer suggested the gesture is proof of the connection between the public and law enforcement in the area.

The police officers from the Kansas City Police Department were touched by the family's gesture (file photo)

He wrote: 'As many of you are aware there has been a significant anti-police movement over the last few years.

'It can cause those of us in law enforcement to want to give up. It seems though that the normally silent supporters are speaking out to support the profession.'

Talking to ABC News, Quinn said that he would like to thank the girl personally but has no plans to track her down.
World War Two Spitfire pilot John Hamilton Nicholls (pictured) has revealed how his life was spared by German Messerschmitt crew because they admired his bravery

A World War Two Spitfire pilot has revealed how his life was spared by German Messerschmitt crew because they admired his bravery.

John Hamilton Nicholls destroyed and damaged a number of enemy aircraft during the war and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his work.

Now, as he celebrates his 100th birthday, he has confessed that he owes his life to two pilots who allowed him to escape after shooting down his Spitfire just off the coast of North Africa.

Mr Nicholls, from Ammanford, South Wales, revealed he lost consciousness at 36,000ft following the attack but was allowed to continue flying by the German crew after regaining control of his aircraft when he came round at around 2,000ft.

He said: 'I was caught across one wing and the fuselage and one cannon shell exploded in the back of my seat.

'Fortunately I had a radio back pack on which cushioned the explosion but I momentarily lost consciousness and the spiralled out of control from 36,000ft.

'The Messerschmitts followed me down. I regained consciousness and recovered control of a badly damaged aircraft at about 2,000ft.

'The enemy aircraft flew alongside me, saluted and peeled away to leave me to my fate.

'I managed to limp home. But that experience taught me something about the honour of battle I have never forgotten.'

Mr Nicholls' Aces High record shows he flew with 601 Squadron. He destroyed an Italian fighter aircraft in October 1942 followed by a German fighter just ten days later.

As he celebrates his 100th birthday, Mr Nicholls, pictured (centre) with two friends during his flying days, has confessed that he owes his life to two pilots (nnot pictured) who allowed him to escape after shooting down his Spitfire just off the coast of North Africa

The 100-year-old revealed he lost consciousness at 36,000ft following the attack but was allowed to continue flying by the fighter jets after regaining control of his Spitfire (pictured) when he came round at around 2,000ft

In the next two months he damaged up to four more planes before becoming a Flight Commander in March 1943.

While in Italy later that year, he helped destroy a Dornier 217, which was shot down into the sea off Termoli, and claimed a Junkers 190.

Mr Nicholls, whose father was an English teacher at Swansea Grammar School, where he attended, said it was 'as much luck as skill' as he spoke about his memories.

Shamila Yoganathan, the manager at the care home which Mr Nicholls stays at, added: 'Jack is a popular resident and we are honoured to have him in their care.'
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Deadly mounds of congealed palm oil are being washed up on British beaches, posing a serious threat to children and animals over the summer months.

Known as fatbergs, the rock-sized white blobs smell like diesel and are covered in killer germs.

They have invaded Britain's coastline having been carried thousands of miles across the Atlantic following storms in Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad.

Deadly mounds of congealed palm oil (pictured) are being washed up on British beaches, posing a serious threat to children and animals over the summer months

Large quantities of it have been washing up on the beaches of Sussex this morning. The substance has the consistency of candle wax and smells incredibly bad

So far the yellow-white boulders have come ashore on beaches in Sussex and Kent, but have been found as far spread as the likes of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, the Isle of Wight and Hampshire.

Television vet Marc Abraham is now warning animal owners to take wide berth with their pets when on a beach the fatbergs have invaded.

He said: 'Dogs will pick up anything on the beach, from pebbles, to food to palm oil.

'These things can cause two-fold problems, the first is gastro, the second is foreign body obstructions.

'As the palm oil is so gelatinous it can get lodged in the oesophagus and require emergency surgery.

'If you think your dog has swallowed something it shouldn't, contact your vet immediately.'

Several coastal councils are now warning beach-goers and dog-walkers to avoid the sizeable lumps

So far the yellow-white boulders have come ashore on beaches in Sussex and Kent, but have been found as far spread as the likes of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, the Isle of Wight and Hampshire

Penmellyn Vets surgery in Newquay, Cornwall, issued a warning earlier this year after staff had to give life-saving treatment to five dogs.

The pets collapsed in agony after scoffing the waxy blobs scattered on beaches at Constantine Bay and Treyarnon.

Dogs love the smell of the palm oil but, laced with poisonous bacteria, even a small taste can kill them.

When similar palm oil boulders were washed up in 2014, dozens of dogs needed treatment and several died.

Dogs love the smell of the palm oil but, laced with poisonous bacteria, even a small taste can kill them

In June of that year, Freddie, a three-year-old Labradoodle, was rushed to a canine hospital for a series of life-saving operations after he gulped down lumps of the tropical import on a walk along Kingsand beach near Saltash, Cornwall.

His owner Karen de Fraine, 52, said at the time: 'My husband was walking him along the rocks in Kingsand when Freddie ran off and started to eat this large lump of palm oil.

'It was the size of a boulder. When John realised what was happening he shouted at Freddie, who ran away.

'We were absolutely panic-stricken when we realised what it was that he had eaten.

We looked online and were worried that we could lose him after seeing what had happened to other dogs, so my husband rushed him to the vets straight away. Dog owner Karen de Fraine

'We looked online and were worried that we could lose him after seeing what had happened to other dogs, so my husband rushed him to the vets straight away.'

He underwent 88 worth of vomit-inducing medicine, injections and a large dose of antibiotics before being sent home to rest, and is now in a stable condition.

Karen said 'We were lucky. We are keeping him away from the beach for now, and I would warn other people to be very, very careful if they do go to the beach.

'A dog died at Portwrinkle recently from the same thing, so it's not uncommon.'

A Cornwall Council spokesman said they have already received 'blob' reports from beach walkers and pet owners at Porthcothan, Treyarnon Bay, Constantine Bay, Harlyn Bay and Trevone this year.

A spokesman said: 'We are putting up signs on these beaches as a precaution, to inform beach users of the situation.

'The deposits are believed to be the same substance which was described as being a non-toxic, degraded, edible oil or fat following laboratory tests when a similar situation occurred two years ago.

The blobs have been carried thousands of miles across the Atlantic following storms in Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad

They offer a real danger to dogs, who are known to be interested in anything that washes in from the sea

'Cornwall Council has advised that if, as appears to be the case, this is the same substance that has washed up in the past, people should keep away from it.

'If you do come into contact with it, please wash it off using normal soap or shower gel and water and wash your clothes.'

Jon James, natural environment manager for the council, said: 'We are especially advising dog owners to be vigilant.

'Please keep your dog on a lead as there have been reports in the past that the substance could be dangerous for dogs if they eat a large amount of it.'

Brighton and Hove City Council today warned beach-goers and dog-walkers to avoid the lumps, which look like candle wax and can smell truly foul.
Members of the anti-immigrant group Soldiers of Odin were left hospitalised after they became embroiled a mass brawl in a Swedish city.

The vigilante group was involved in a fight in Gothenburg on the west coast of Sweden and members complained that they had been punched and kicked on the streets.

One member of the far-right organisation reported being taken to hospital after a substance was splashed into their eye during the fracas on Saturday night.

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Members of the anti-immigrant group Soldiers of Odin were left hospitalised after they became embroiled a mass brawl in a Swedish city (file picture)

According to The Local, a police spokesman told TT newswire: 'We really do not know the origin of the quarrel, but those who have been victims of punches and kicks and have filed these reports all say that they belong to the Soldiers of Odin organisation.'

Last month it was reported how authorities were becoming increasingly concerned over the growing influence of the Soldiers of Odin group after its patrols started operating in the Baltics.

The self-proclaimed patriots started patrolling the streets of some cities in neighbouring Finland saying they want to protect locals from immigrants.

Officials said the soldiers were now expanding outside the country with groups seen appearing in other Nordic and Baltic countries.

Named after the king of the gods in Norse mythology, the group's members say they want to be the eyes and ears for the police who they say are struggling to fulfil their duties.

The vigilante group was involved in a fight in Gothenburg (file picture) on the west coast of Sweden and members complained that they had been punched and kicked on the streets

In Norway, police have expressed concern about how the arrival of some 31,000 asylum seekers in the country of 5.2 million last year will affect far-right groups (file picture)

With some 250,000 asylum seekers moving into the region as a whole over the last year, the group has triggered fears of a rise in vigilantism.

Groups have now been seen outside Finland wearing similar black jackets adorned on the back with a Viking, his mouth covered with the relevant country's national flag, and the name of the group written in English.

In Estonia, the group held their first meeting in mid-February, with local media reporting that 60 people attended.

In Norway, police have expressed concern about how the arrival of some 31,000 asylum seekers in the country of 5.2 million last year will affect far-right groups.




They will also hold a fundraiser at her school, Omokoroa No.1 this weekend

have helped her raise $20,000 towards the

Leanne Thompson, 35, will travel to Melbourne this

A New Zealand teacher battling cancer for the fourth time has had some help from her students.

Leanne Thompson from Bay of Plenty, on New Zealands North Island will fly to Melbourne next week where she will receive Blincyto, an expensive new immunotherapy drug, the New Zealand Herald reported.

She has been offered the treatment under compassionate consideration.

Hospital and medical costs will cost her and her husband Gavin about $145,000, but her students from Room 14 of Omokoroa No.1 School have helped her raise $20,00 towards the treatment.

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Leanne Thompson (pictured) from Bay of Plenty, on New Zealands North Island will fly to Melbourne next week where she will receive Blincyto, an expensive new immunotherapy drug

This weekend her students are also going to hold a fundraiser at the school.

Ms Thompson, 35, was battling acute lymphoblastic leukemia for the third time in 10 years, after first being diagnosed when she was 26.

I had random bruises everywhere, I was exhausted, she said.

Hospital and medical costs will cost her and her husband Gavin (left) about $145,000, but her students from Room 14 of Omokoroa No.1 School have helped her raise $20,00 towards the treatment

I had a blood test one afternoon just to check things out and that night I was in Waikato Hospital having chemo the next day.

She underwent two years of treatment and went into remission, but devastatingly in July 2014 she relapsed.

Ms Thompson went through four more months of chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant and went back into remission, however a routine blood check in March this year revealed that the cancer had returned.

This weekend Ms Thompson's students (pictured) will hold a fundraiser at their school

Ms Thompson had nearly run out of options.

'I've lost count of how many times I've been bald,' she said.

Ms Thompson will fly to Australia on Saturday, while her school holds their fundraiser.

A colleague of Ms Thompson, Meg Ryan said her students were upset when they heard she was diagnosed.

'They said "we have to make sure she can live".'
David Cameron was last night forced to deny that either he, his wife or their three children benefit from offshore funds.

The Prime Minister insisted his family had nothing to hide despite revelations in the so-called Panama Papers about his late fathers investments.

But he continued to sidestep key questions over whether other members of his family still gained from offshore assets linked to Ian Cameron, whose company Blairmore Holdings avoided UK tax for decades.

He also failed to address questions over whether he had benefited indirectly from money gained through tax avoidance, when he was younger or through his inheritance.

David Cameron, pictured an at EU referendum campaign event today, said he received no income from any offshore trusts after Jeremy Corbyn called for an inquiry into the Cameron family finances

Cameron, pictured with his parents Ian and Mary Cameron, has been dragged into the Panama Papers scandal after it emerged that his father Ian's (left) firm was based offshore and involved in tax avoidance

The Prime Minister issued his extraordinary public defence  just a day after saying his familys tax affairs were a private matter.

During a visit to Birmingham, the Prime Minister said he owned no shares, no offshore trusts, no offshore funds, nothing like that. He said had only some savings and a house that he let out.

A short time later, Downing Street released a further statement, saying that while Mr Camerons wife Samantha owned some shares, neither she nor their children benefited from any offshore trusts. In a further statement they said Mr Cameron did not have a blind trust either.

It came as Jeremy Corbyn demanded an independent inquiry into the family finances.

Meanwhile, in another day of global drama:

Icelands prime minister resigned after the Panama Papers revealed he had an undeclared interest in his nations bailed-out banks;

It emerged that five former Tory donors linked to tax havens in the data leak had given the party at least 16.4million;

Mr Cameron was urged to impose direct rule on British-owned tax havens;

HSBC was accused of lobbying to keep Swiss bank accounts open for a cousin of Syrian dictator Bashar Al-Assad;

Barack Obama gave his first response to the leaks, saying wealthy individuals and corporations were gaming the system.



Labour leader Mr Corbyn had earlier demanded transparency from the Prime Minister after his late father Ian and his company Blairmore Holdings was named among millions of leaked files from the Panama tax haven.

No 10 had insisted the Cameron family's finances were a 'private matter' but Mr Corbyn said yesterday a failure to pay tax was 'not a private matter'.

Speaking at a referendum campaign stop in Birmingham, Mr Cameron said: 'There are two things I am responsible for - my own financial affairs and the tax system of the United Kingdom.

'And in terms of my own financial affairs, I own no shares, I have a salary as Prime Minister, I have some savings which I get some interest from, and I have a house which we used to live in which we now let out while we are living in Downing Street.

'That's all I have - I have no shares, no offshore trusts, no offshore funds - nothing like that.'

A No 10 spokesman later added: 'To be clear, the Prime Minister, his wife and their children do not benefit from any offshore funds.

'The Prime Minister owns no shares.

'As has been previously reported, Mrs Cameron owns a small number of shares connected to her father's land, which she declares on her tax return.'

The Prime Minister's official spokeswoman insisted the Cameron family's financial affairs were a 'private matter'.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, pictured today at the launch of his local election campaign, has called for an independent investigation into David Cameron's family tax affairs

But Mr Corbyn said today: 'It's a private matter in so far as it's a privately held interest, but it's not a private matter if tax has not been paid.

'Investigations must take place, independent investigations, unprejudiced, to decide whether taxes have been paid or not

'I think the Prime Minister in his interests ought to tell us exactly what has been going on.'

HM Revenue and Customs said yesterday it would study the data in the leaked files, adding the information was already subject to 'intensive investigation'.

Mr Corbyn said he wanted an investigation conducted by HM Revenue and Customs 'about the amount of money of all people that have invested in these shell companies or put money into tax havens and to calculate what tax they should have paid over the years'.

Asked whether the PM should resign if he is found to have benefited, Mr Corbyn said: 'Let's take one thing at a time.

'We need openness, we need an examination, we need a decision after that.'

Pressed on whether he would publish his own tax return, Mr Corbyn said: 'There is no problem with my tax affairs, they are very, very limited indeed.

'I have got an income as an MP, sadly I have got no family trusts of any sort.'

The details about the Prime Minister's father's affairs emerged following the leak of 11.5million secret documents from the offices of Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca. As more world leaders, celebrities and business figures were compromised:

Three former Tory MPs, six Lords and a number of Conservative donors were linked to tax havens, including financiers who supported Mr Cameron's rise to power;

HSBC and the Queen's bank Coutts were revealed to have been among the biggest facilitators of offshore tax deals;

The files revealed that gold from the Brink's-Mat heist may have been laundered with the help of Mossack Fonseca, which denies wrongdoing;

Iceland's prime minister was left facing a no-confidence vote after it emerged he had an undeclared interest in his nation's bailed-out banks;

A suspected 1.4billion money-laundering ring was said to involve close associates of Vladimir Putin;

HMRC was branded 'hapless and pathetic' after being wrong-footed by the Panama Papers.

Mr Corbyn earlier told the BBC that in the wake of the Panama Papers leak he wanted direct rule of British territories that refused to follow tax law.

He said: 'The point is that they are not independent territories. They are self-governing, yes, but they are British crown dependent territories.

'Therefore, surely, there has to be an observance of UK tax law in those places.

'If they have become a place for systematic evasion and short-changing the public in this country, then something has to be done about it.

'Either those governments comply or a next step has to be taken.'

Former Attorney General Dominic Grieve warned against closing down tax havens.

He told the BBC: 'I must say that I think the present government has done more to close tax loopholes than was ever done by Labour.

Prime Minister David Cameron, pictured with his late father Ian, refused to say if his family still benefits from offshore funds after the revelations yesterday

'There has in fact been a tremendous amount of work done by the treasury. But ultimately I think you have to strike a balance.

'If we are going to destroy the economy of the British Virgin Islands then we are going to destroy the livelihoods of those inhabitants.'

Experts today said the way Ian Cameron's firm held meetings in the Caribbean and Switzerland appeared little more than a 'conjuring trick' to make it seem the firm was based outside the UK when key decisions were actually taken in Britain.

The leak shows his firm used a secretive type of share certificate now banned in the UK. The 'Panama Papers' also reveal his company Blairmore Holdings avoided UK tax by hiring Bahamas residents  including a bishop  to sign paperwork.

Senior government officials said Mr Cameron does not personally own shares in any company and no shareholdings are registered in the list of MPs' interests.

As Prime Minister he has spearheaded efforts to make global finance more transparent.

He has spoken out repeatedly against tax avoidance and is hosting a major summit on the issue next month.

Senior government officials said David Cameron (left), who is not involved in his father's (right) business, does not personally own shares in any company and no shareholdings are registered in the list of MPs' interests

It emerged in 2012 that Ian Cameron had run a network of offshore investment funds to help build the family fortune.

But the Panama Papers included significant new details yesterday.

Though entirely legal, the funds were set up in tax havens such as Panama City and Geneva, and were said to have explicitly boasted of their ability to remain outside the UK tax jurisdiction.

Ian Cameron, who died in 2010, was said to have been instrumental in setting up Blairmore, which was run from the Bahamas but named after the family's ancestral home in Aberdeenshire.

It managed tens of millions of pounds on behalf of wealthy families.

Ian Cameron's firm Blairmore Holdings allegedly paid people in the Bahamas to sign paperwork so they could enjoy offshore tax status

Clients included Isidore Kerman, an adviser to Robert Maxwell, and Leopold Joseph, the private bank used by the Rolling Stones.

John Mann, a Labour member of the Treasury select committee, demanded that No 10 publish full details about the links between the Cameron family and Blairmore.

'Parliament and every taxpayer have a right to know whether any of this money is still hidden offshore,' he said.

And Jeremy Corbyn demanded that the Prime Minister 'stop pussyfooting around' and take action to tackle tax dodgers.

The Labour leader will insist today there cannot be 'one set of rules for the wealthy elite and another for the rest of us'.

He will argue avoidance of tax by wealthy firms and individuals is starving public services of vital funding.

Mossack Fonseca said it had operated 'beyond reproach' for 40 years, simply set up firms and had never been charged with criminal wrongdoing.

Government sources insisted they had taken tough action on tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance, ending the situation under Labour when some City bosses were paying less tax than cleaners.

They pointed to the 2billion raised following a crackdown on offshore holdings, and billions more raised following a crackdown on aggressive tax avoidance.

But Richard Pyle of Oxfam said the UK was in a unique position 'to help clean up the murky world of tax havens' and should ensure the real beneficiaries of offshore companies were revealed.

SHARES WITH NO NAME Bearer shares are so called because no name is attached to them. Whoever has the physical share certificate is its owner  the same way that whoever has possession of a 10 note owns it and is free to spend it. Information about who actually owns the share is concealed. Certificates can be passed or sold by one person or company to another and the firm that issued it does not have to be informed. UK companies were banned from issuing them last May under the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act. By next month, British firms that previously issued bearer shares must have converted them into a normal 'registered' share. But they are still allowed in a number of countries. And they remain a means of money laundering and tax evasion as they leave no trace of who owns or controls the finances of the company that issued the shares. Advertisement

David Cameron faces embarrassment as the leak threatens to overshadow international summit on tax avoidance next month

TIM SCULTHORPE, MAILONLINE DEPUTY POLITICAL EDITOR

David Cameron will meet world leaders next month to work on new tax avoidance measures but the massive leak of the Panama papers could overshadow the London summit.

No 10 yesterday insisted the Prime Minister and Britain had been global leaders on cracking down on tax evasion and aggressive avoidance.

But after the leak of millions of papers - suggesting, among others, Mr Cameron's father and a string of Tory donors sheltered money off shore - threatens to undermine the talks.

David Cameron, right at a summit in Washington with Barack Obama last week, struck a deal on international tax avoidance with the US President and other G8 leaders in 2013. He is hosting a follow up meeting in London next month

Campaigners have demanded British legislation to end UK tax havens - including in the crown dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man.

The Prime Minister placed tackling global tax avoidance at the heart of his G8 presidency in 2013 and is working to follow up on the agreements made.

Mr Cameron has been a vocal advocate of reform and legislation forcing British companies to disclose who owns and benefits from their activities which comes into force in June.

Despite several years of pressure however, few UK Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories - which are said to make up a large part of the tax havens referred to in the papers - have taken concrete action to open up the books.

WHAT ARE OFFSHORE ACCOUNTS AND HOW ARE THEY USED? WHAT ARE OFFSHORE OR SHELL ACCOUNTS? Offshore bank accounts and other financial dealings in another country can be used to evade regulatory oversight or tax obligations. Often, companies or individuals use shell companies, initially incorporated without significant assets or operations, to disguise ownership or other information about the funds involved. WHERE ARE MOST OFFSHORE ACCOUNTS? Panama, the Cayman Islands and Bermuda are among more than a dozen small, low-tax locations that specialize in handling business services and investments of non-resident companies. LEGITIMATE USES FOR OFFSHORE ACCOUNTS: Companies or trusts can be set up in offshore locations for legitimate uses such as business finance, mergers and acquisitions and estate or tax planning, according to the global money laundering watchdog, the Financial Action Task Force. ILLICIT USES OF OFFSHORE ACCOUNTS: Shell companies and other entities can be misused by terrorists and others involved in international and financial crimes to conceal sources of funds and ownership. The ICIJ says the files from Mossack Fonseca include information on 214,488 offshore entities linked to 14,153 clients in 200 countries and territories. EFFORTS TO CRACK DOWN ON FINANCIAL HAVENS: Financial and legal professionals get training on how to spot potential violations, since in some cases lawyers and bankers are unaware they are handling illicit transactions. The EU has stepped up efforts to crack down on tax avoidance by multinational corporations. Advertisement

He faces pressure to secure progress at an international summit on tackling corruption which he will chair in London in May and where the use of offshore tax havens to escape scrutiny will be high on the agenda.

Mr Cameron's official spokeswoman insisted good progress had been made since 2013.

She said: 'We want to see the overseas territories and crown dependencies play their part and that is why we will continue to push them to do so and as I have said the Prime Minister has made clear that should they fail to do so, he rules absolutely nothing out.'

Asked if any cash should be repaid she added: 'That is a matter for HMRC.'

Mr Cameron's spokeswoman said Britain was 'leading the pack internationally' on the issue and said 90 countries were now signed up to policies agreed at the G8 in 2013.

Turning to next month's summit, she added: 'We will be looking at a range of areas - this was something the Prime Minister decided last summer ahead of the G7 meeting in Germany that we should try focus on this issue as a country that is meeting its commitment to 0.7 per cent aid spending.

'We want to look now at how we move forward to make sure in different walks of life money is being spent in the right way and people know where taxpayers money is being spent.

'May's summit will be an opportunity to bring together leaders, international organisations, NGOs, to look at is there more we can do in this area to do with tax and transparency or, indeed, in other areas such as sport.'

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said not enough had been achieved.

'Cameron promised and has failed to end tax secrecy and crack down on 'morally unacceptable' offshore schemes,' he said.

'Real action is now needed.'

SNP Treasury spokesman Stewart Hosie said the Government had to go further on British Overseas Territories.

He said: 'Currently, true ownership of companies registered in British Overseas Territories is shrouded in secrecy due to the use of nominated directors and shareholders making it impossible for tax authorities to find out who really owns and benefits from the company.

'This has to stop and the Tories are running out of excuses as to why they have not done more to stop this dubious practice.'

Ahead of the 2013 summit, Mr Cameron insisted tax havens had a right to be low tax jurisdictions but said rules had to be transparent and enforced fairly.
A married father-of-two who was flushed out by paedophile-hunting vigilantes posing as a 14-year-old girl he agreed to meet for sex has avoided jail.

Daniel Mullarkey, 31, of New Addington, South London, was caught on camera by members of the Internet Interceptors group who posed online as a teenager called Hayley.

He sent two weeks worth of explicit online messages to the fake profile, describing sex acts he wanted to perform on her without realising he was chatting with a male vigilante.

'Flushed out': Daniel Mullarkey is pictured (left) in a profile image used in the messages he was sending to what he believed to be a girl, and (right) in a video when he was confronted by paedophile-hunting vigilantes

Mullarkey admitted grooming an underage girl for sex and remained in custody until yesterdays sentencing. He was given a 16-month jail term suspended for two years at Croydon Crown Court.

In January he had arranged to meet the girl outside a tram stop but found himself confronted by the group, who say they are parents hunting paedophiles and sexual predators in Britain.

Mullarkey fled the scene but police were alerted and he was arrested shortly afterwards. Video posted online after his arrest shows Mullarkey being confronted by the Internet Interceptors.

Police found he had an HTC phone with a number that matched his online profiles. Asked to explain the messages, Mullarkey told officers: Why would I? I have a wife and kids.

Sickening: Mullarkey sent two weeks worth of explicit online messages to the fake profile, describing sex acts he wanted to perform on her without realising he was chatting with a male vigilante

Sentencing yesterday, the Recorder of Croydon, Judge Warwick McKinnon, told him: You went to meet this 14-year-old for the purpose of sexual activity, and indeed penetrative sexual activity.

PERVERT CAUGHT BY VIGILANTES A pervert collapsed on camera when he turned up to meet a 14-year-old girl he had been grooming online - but was instead confronted by a vigilante group. David Hanson, 45, from Benwell, Newcastle, passed out when he realised that the girl he believed he had been communicating with was in fact online paedophile hunters Dark Justice. Hanson - who has since lost his job and his home - had been exchanging explicit messages in the days before the meeting, which he attended with a rucksack containing a toothbrush, toothpaste and condoms. Hanson pleaded guilty to attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming. He received a three-year community order and was also given a ten-year sexual harm prevention order. Advertisement

Its all the more extraordinary that you are married with two children of your own, and one of the results of this outrageous and disgusting activity, though perhaps unsurprising, [is that] there has been a breakdown in your marriage.

James Hasslacher, defending, said: Mr Mullarkey is extremely ashamed. He cant understand how he got himself down this slippery slope.

He cant say it was a moment of madness, because it went on for weeks. Hes not going to go near the internet ever again.

Judge McKinnon added: You werent to know there wasnt actually a 14-year-old girl to meet because this whole thing was set-up by a group of individuals setting out to flush out individuals with your mindset.

'In that case, this flushing out has been entirely successful.

Outside court the vigilante who sent Mullarkey the fake messages criticised the sentencing as not good enough.

Mullarkey was also put on the sex offenders register for ten years and ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work, as well as pay a 100 victim surcharge.
Donald Trump would try to force Mexico to pay for a border wall by targeting billions of dollars in remittances sent by immigrants living in the U.S., according to a memo released by his campaign Tuesday.

The memo outlines in new detail how Trump would try to compel Mexico to pay for the 1,000-mile wall he's promised to build along America's southern border if he becomes president.

In his proposal, Trump threatened to change a rule under the USA Patriot Act, an anti-terrorism law, to cut off a portion of the funds sent to Mexico through money transfers known as remittances.

His plan would also bar non-Americans from wiring money outside of the U.S. unless they can provide documentation establishing their legal status in the country.

Trump said he would withdraw the threat if Mexico makes 'a one-time payment of $5-10 billion' to finance the wall.

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IMMIGRATION BY EXTORTION: Donald Trump wants to strong-arm the Mexican government into building his border wall by threatening to cut off money transfers from inside the U.S. to Mexican citizens

'GOOD LUCK WITH THAT': President Barack Obama immediately slammed the idea, telling reporters it's 'half-baked'

'It's an easy decision for Mexico: make a one-time payment of $5-10 billion to ensure that $24 billion continues to flow into their country year after year,' the memo reads.

'Good luck with that,' President Barack Obama said Tuesday in response to questions about Trump's proposal. He warned of the ramifications such a plan would have on the Mexican economy which, in turn, would drive more immigrants to cross the border in search of jobs.

PRESIDENT OBAMA RESPONDS TO TRUMP'S PROPOSAL ON PAYING FOR THE BORDER WALL 'The implications with respect to ending remittances -- many of which, by the way, are from legal immigrants and from individuals who are sending money back to their families -- are enormous. First of all, they're impractical. We just talked about the difficulties of trying to enforce huge outflows of capital. The notion that we're going to track every Western Union bit of money that's being sent to Mexico, good luck with that. 'Then weve got the issue of the implications for the Mexican economy, which in turn, if its collapsing, actually sends more immigrants north because they can't find jobs back in Mexico. But this is just one more example of something that is not thought through and is primarily put forward for political consumption. 'And as Ive tried to emphasize throughout, weve got serious problems here. We've got big issues around the world. People expect the President of the United States and the elected officials in this country to treat these problems seriously, to put forward policies that have been examined, analyzed, are effective, where unintended consequences are taken into account. They don't expect half-baked notions coming out of the White House. We can't afford that.' Advertisement

'People expect the president of the United States and the elected officials in this country to treat these problems seriously, to put forward policies that have been examined, analyzed are effective, where unintended consequences are taken into account,' Obama said.

'They don't expect half-baked notions coming out of the White House. We can't afford that.'

But when he was asked Tuesday whether his proposal was a serious one, Trump said in a diner near Milwaukee, Wisconsin: '100 per cent.'

He declined to explain the proposal further, calling it 'self-explanatory.'

The U.S. is home to about 12 million Mexicans, some living here illegally, according to various research organizations that monitor trends in immigration. They and other migrants use money transfer agents or banks to send money home, often with the objective of supporting their families.

The Mexican central bank reported that money sent home by Mexicans overseas hit nearly $24.8 billion last year, overtaking oil revenues for the first time as a source of foreign income.

Cutting off those transfers would therefore represent a significant blow to the Mexican economy. Trump's campaign says that money 'provides substantial leverage for the United States to obtain from Mexico the funds necessary to pay for a border wall.'

The memo also lists other potential areas for leverage, including threats of trade tariffs, cancelling visas  including targeting 'business and tourist visas for important people in the Mexican economy'  and increasing visa fees, including includes fees on border crossing cards.

The release of the memo was first reported by the Washington Post early Tuesday.

This is not the first time that Trump has spelled out options for pressuring Mexico into paying for his signature policy proposal.

In an immigration overhaul plan released in August, Trump's campaign suggested a number of options for compelling Mexico to pay for the wall.

Those included impounding 'all remittance payments derived from illegal wages,' increasing fees on temporary visas issued to Mexican CEOs and diplomats  'and if necessary cancel them' -- increasing fees on border crossing cards, increasing fees on NAFTA worker visas from Mexico, and increasing fees at ports of entry between the two countries.

'Tariffs and foreign aid cuts are also options,' the immigration paper stated.

MILWAUKEE'S FINEST? Trump and his wife Melania stumped on Monday night in the Brew City

ELECTION DAY: Trump sat for an interview with 'Fox & Friends' in a diner near Milwaukee on Monday, telling reporters afterward that he's '100 per cent' serious

Trump's campaign did not immediately respond to questions, including whether he still envisions impounding any money. It is also unclear whether Trump would seek any input from Congress. He and other Republicans have long criticized President Barack Obama for relying too heavily on executive orders to ram through his agenda.

Trump's wall is his signature policy proposal  and mere mention of the word elicits booming cheers and applause at his rallies, where supporters sometimes dress in wall shirts and costumes. Trump often leads call-and-response sessions where he asks his audience who will pay for the wall.

'Mexico!' they thunder in response.

The billionaire businessman has estimated his proposed wall would cost between $10 billion and $12 billion, and has argued that it would protect the country from illegal border crossings as well as halting drug shipment.

The memo's release comes the day of the Wisconsin primary, where Trump has been trailing rival Ted Cruz is some recent opinion surveys.

Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto has said his country will not pay for any such wall. In an interview with the Excelsior newspaper last month, Pena Nieto compared Trump's rhetoric to that of dictators Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, saying that language like his has led to 'very fateful scenes in the history of humanity.'

In Mexico City, Ramiro Altamirano Macedo de la Concha, a 76-year-old taxi driver, panned the idea.

'Wow, I think what that guy is doing is wrong, because the Americans don't do the jobs that Mexicans do,' said Altamirano, expressing concern about the impact on Mexican families.
The rebels were fighting alongside the al-Qaeda linked Jabhat al-Nusra

Al-Qaeda militants have shot down a warplane with a surface-to-air missile and captured the pilot alive near the Syrian city of Aleppo.

The London-based monitoring group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a plume of smoke was seen as the plane caught fire before it fell in the Talat al-Iss highland.

Al-Qaeda-affiliated rebels of Jabhat al-Nusra have reportedly carried the pilot back to their headquarters. He has reportedly been named as Colonel Khaled Saeed.

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The captured pilot was taken by Jabhat al-Nusra fighters back to their base in Idlib

The pilot has reportedly been named as Colonel Khaled Saeed, from Latakia, according to some sources

The news comes as rebels have come under heavy bombardment by Syrian and Russian planes since they captured the area near Aleppo this week.

The fate of the pilot was not known nor the type of aircraft and whether it was Russian or Syrian, the British-based monitor said.

Videos downloaded on social media also showed footage of the plane and pictures of the wreckage of a burnt plane surrounded by rebels.

Aerial supremacy has been a major advantage for the Syrian army that has been battling insurgents seeking to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad.

ALEPPO, SYRIA - APRIL 5: Smoke billows into the sky after a plane belonging to Assad regime was shot down by the Syrian opponent

The plane burst into flames after it was hit by a surface-to-air missile while flying near Aleppo

The smoking wreckage of the plane was quickly surrounded by the jubilant fighters

The pilot is thought to have survived the crash after ejecting himself out of the plane

Dozens of suspected al-Qaeda linked rebels came to the crash site to capture the pilot

One fighter gives the pilot a kick as he lies on the ground, surrounded by rebels

Videos downloaded on social media also showed footage of the plane and pictures of the wreckage of a burnt plane surrounded by rebels

Al-Qaeda-affiliated rebels of Jabhat al-Nusra have reportedly carried the pilot back to their headquarters. He has reportedly been named as First Lt. Musab al-Hourani Zayed

Foreign-backed rebels have long demanded anti-aircraft weapons to offset the impact of devastating aerial raids by Syrian forces and since September Russian planes, but their backers have been wary of delivering weapons that could fall into the hands of hardline groups.

A fragile 'cessation of hostilities' truce has held in Syria for over a month as the various parties try to negotiate an end to the five-year-old civil war.
Donald Trump has been hilariously lampooned on the Late Show With Stephen Colbert for an inability to count ahead of the Wisconsin primaries.

The talk show host interviewed his 'Cartoon Donald Trump' for the second time on his show last night, reminding him he was trailing Cruz in polls for the Wisconsin ballot.

The mockery of Trump centered around the candidate's decision to tweet polling figures on April 1 showing he had 37 percent support in the state.

But in small print below the figure, the data clearly showed - by Trump's own admission - rival Ted Cruz was ahead of him on 38 percent.

Stephen Colbert interviews - for the second time - 'Cartoon Donald Trump' on last night's late show

During the segment, he mocked the Republican nominee frontrunner for poor math during the primaries

The Trump caricature responding with bluffs before giving Colbert a rude gesture during the show

Colbert's mockery was based on this tweet by Trump which thanked Wisconsin for his 37 percent rating, while also noting Cruz was beating him on 38 percent (circled by dailymail.com)

'That's what they say about Trump,' Colbert said. 'Love him or hate him, statistically you probably hate him.'

He then quipped: 'If Trump makes it to the general election, he will have the highest unfavorables of any major party nominee since the 1836 Whig candidate, Senator Gonorrhea T. Rickets.'

Introducing Cartoon Trump, he then asked him about the Wisconsin polling numbers which showed Cruz had higher support.

In a satire of Donald Trump's policy flip-flops and mistruths, Cartoon Trump then replied: 'I disagree, look at the numbers Stephen, mine are clearly bigger, they're huge.

'My numbers could crush Ted Cruz's numbers in a pay-per-view night at my Las Vegas hotel. 'The best buffet, so much shrimp you'd think you'd died and they'd dumped your body in the ocean.'

Upon further questioning about his ability to understand how numbers work, Cartoon Trump then warned that Wisconsinites could be punished for not voting for him.

'I'm going to get the biggest votes. I mean check marks! So huge you're going to need two ballots just to fit it on there. Tremendous. Huge check marks.'

The gag came as Cruz presented himself as a uniter for Republican voters despite a Senate tenure marked by bitter feuds and uncompromising stances.

Cruz, a first-term U.S. senator from Texas, is trying to make the case he is the last remaining Republican candidate not named Trump with a pathway to the party's presidential nomination.

He has also moved to position himself as the best choice left for Republicans who cannot bring themselves to vote for the New York billionaire.

Recent opinion polls show he has opened up a lead on front-runner Trump, with a third candidate, Ohio Governor John Kasich, running third.

'The entire country is looking to Wisconsin,' Cruz said yesterday. 'What we are seeing in Wisconsin is the unity of the Republican Party manifested.'
A smuggler was caught trying to enter Spain after a suspiciously large bulge in his pants turned out to be a stash of drugs

A smuggler was caught trying to enter Spain after a suspiciously large bulge in his pants turned out to be a stash of drugs.

The 43-year-old had attached a plastic container to his privates with more than a pound of cocaine inside - but was searched as he flew into Madrid Airport from Costa Rica.

Officers examined his hand luggage and found nothing before turning their attention to his trousers and the large object between his legs.

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The bulge was still noticeable - as a photo issued by police revealed - despite the fact he was wearing a pair of black boxer shorts over pants with a floral design on them.

Spanish police couldn't resist the obvious pun as they tweeted a picture of the trafficker alongside the message: 'A suspicious package between his legs.'

But the unnamed detainee wasn't laughing last night after going before a judge and being told he faced a prison sentence of up to three years if found guilty of drugs smuggling.

A judicial probe is ongoing.

Police at Madrid airport are used to catching traffickers who resort to novel ways of trying to smuggle their drugs into Spain.

They once arrested a 92-year-old woman in a wheelchair who had four kilos of the drug hidden under her clothes.

She was caught after a female companion pretending to be her granddaughter took fright and fled when customs officers stopped them soon after their arrival.

Police arrested the second woman, a 44-year-old, after a chase through the airport.

In January 2014 airport police arrested a Portuguese pair who hit 1.2 kilos of the class A drug under their wigs.

Weeks earlier a man was arrested was arrested after trying to smuggle a stash of cocaine through Barajas Airport stuffed inside his artificial leg.

The unnamed Peruvian was pulled aside by authorities after he got off a flight from Panama.

Spain's close ties with its former colonies in Latin America, a major cocaine-producing region, have made it a key entry point for the drug in Europe.
The deportation of migrants from Lesbos was halted after just one day this morning because thousands of those in detention have now claimed asylum to avoid being sent to Turkey.

A last-minute rush of asylum applications have been submitted and a Greek government spokesman said no operations were planned for the rest of the day.

Yiorgos Kyritsis, the spokesman for the Greek government panel coordinating the migration crisis, said operations will only resume 'when there is a sufficient number' of migrants.

The deportation of migrants from Lesbos was halted after just one day this morning because thousands of those in detention have now claimed asylum. Refugees are pictured at Moria camp in Lesbos

A last-minute rush of asylum applications have been submitted and a Greek government spokesman said no operations were planned for the rest of the day. A protest has taken place at the camp in Lesbos

The procedure has been slowed 'by an increase in asylum requests' in the last few days by migrants on Chios and Lesbos, the Greek Aegean islands in the front line of the migratory wave, Kyritsis said.

Out of around 6,000 migrants who arrived on the islands after a deadline of March 20, more than 2,300 had applied for asylum, he said.

The European Union (EU) signed the controversial deal with Turkey in March, desperate to defuse the continent's worst migration crisis since World War II.

More than a million people arrived in 2015, many of them from war-ravaged Syria.

The accord aims at curbing the main influx which comes from Turkey, especially those smuggled by illegal gangs on the short but perilous crossing over the Aegean.

The procedure has been slowed 'by an increase in asylum requests' in the last few days by migrants on Chios and Lesbos, the Greek Aegean islands in the front line of the migratory wave

Out of around 6,000 migrants who arrived on the islands after a deadline of March 20, more than 2,300 had applied for asylum

All 'irregular migrants' arriving since March 20 face being sent back, although the deal calls for each case to be examined individually.

On Monday, a first batch of 202 migrants, most of them Afghans and Pakistanis, were sent back from Chios and Lesbos in what the EU's border agency Frontex said was a 'very calm... orderly' operation.

But on Tuesday, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR) raised fears for some of those deported.

'We are concerned that 13 people, most of them Afghans, who expressed the wish to request asylum were unable to be registered in time,' the UNHCR's representative in Greece, Philippe Leclerc, told AFP.

The UNHCR is checking with the Turkish authorities to see if the 13 request asylum protection, Leclerc said.

Refugee children are seen onboard a Greek Coast Guard vessel, carrying other refugees and migrants, as it arrives at the port of Mytilene on the Greek island of Lesbos, following a rescue operation at sea

The 13 people, part of a group of 66 sent back from Chios, may have been victims of the 'confusion' that reigned in the migrant camp of Vial on Friday after several hundred people bolted following a brawl between rival groups, Leclerc said.

Under the controversial EU plan, for every Syrian refugee returned, another Syrian refugee will be resettled from Turkey to the EU, with numbers capped at 72,000.

The idea is to encourage Syrians seeking to flee to Europe to stay safely in Turkey, with the prospect of asylum, rather than try to make the dangerous sea crossing in the hands of ruthless smugglers.

Under the one-for-one part of the deal, Germany on Monday accepted 32 asylum-seekers from Turkish soil.
Two gentlemen sneaked into the backroom of the Monarch bar in San Francisco, CA and helped themselves to a bartender's wallet containing $500 and a bottle of liquor. A security camera captured the action.

This occurred Sunday night April 4th at WERD/Sunset After-Party. Somehow these guys gained entry into our employee area. You can watch them steal a wallet from a bag, which belonged to one of our bartender's and contained $500 cash (all her tip money from the week) + a bottle of liquor. These guys are truly disgusting and we're looking for any information to identify them. Please post and share. Thank you for your help!
Liliana Vanegas, who has been accused of another theft after a couple allege she stole $14,000 worth of valuables from their home in Miami

A Colombian beauty queen who was arrested for stealing a tourist's Rolex after seducing him in a Miami bar has now been accused of using the same scam to steal another $25,000 watch and valuables from a couple's home.

Last month, it was reported that Liliana Vanegas stole Alvin Malhi's luxury watch after approaching him at the swanky Nikki Beach nightclub.

The pair went back to his hotel room where Vanegas swiped the watch before attempting to flee.

Now it has emerged that the 25-year-old has been arrested again for a similar crime after a couple who took her back to their house accused her of taking $14,000 worth of valuables.

According to the Miami Herald, the couple had met Vanegas at a nightclub called Rockwell Miami and she ended up going home with the pair.

The couple then claim they fell asleep and when they woke up found $13,700 worth of valuables had been stolen.

Later, when they reported the theft to police, they were shown a mugshot of Vanegas face.

And that's when they said, they believed she was the girl that had stolen from them.

Miami Beach spokesman Ernesto Rodriguez told the paper: 'Shes been linked to several thefts. Were still looking for others.'

Meanwhile it has also been reported she has been linked to the theft of another $25,000 Rolex and a $1,000 gold chain from another man who claims he met her at another nightclub in Miami.

Vanegas was first arrested last week after meeting Malhi, a married transportation company executive from Toronto, was celebrating his brother-in-law's bachelor party in Miami.

Vanegas, 25, approached him and said: 'I dont like young boys. I like men.'

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Malhi told the Miami Herald he thought he was in luck, but it was actually the start of an alleged scam which ended in him following the Colombian in a taxi to get the $28,000 timepiece back.

Vanegas was charged with grand theft and cocaine possession.

'She fooled me pretty good', Malhi said.

Initially friends went up to Vanegas when they saw her standing around 20ft away from them inside the venue.

Malhi downed shots with Vanegas at Loews Hotel until the early hours of Monday morning. He ended up getting the watch back

However she initially rebuffed them. But she returned when Malhi was getting into a cab at 4am on Monday morning.

According to the Herald she asked him whether he had any alcohol in his hotel room at Loews Hotel.

Malhi said: 'Of course I wanted to take her to bed. But she wouldnt let me touch her.'

The two downed shots of whiskey, then passed out in the same bed.

Malhi then noticed Vanegas get dressed quickly, put on her shoes and race out the hotel rooms door.

A short time later he also noticed his watch was missing.

So Malhi threw on some pants and chased Vanegas, first down the elevator, then into the lobby.

Vanegas, 25, approached Malhi at the swanky Nikki Beach nightclub (pictured) on Sunday night and said: 'I dont like young boys. I like men.' He was celebrating his brother-in-laws bachelor party at the time

By then, she was waiting for a cab on Collins Avenue and 16th Street. He said he confronted her - but she denied stealing anything from him.

Malhi then stopped her from getting into two cabs by yelling at the drivers that they were being ripped off.
Workers were cutting the beam in half when the strap on one side of the beam failed and it came crashing down on top of them

Police say a construction worker was killed and three others were injured when a 45-ton beam fell on them as they worked on a bridge in a Chicago suburb.

Des Plaines Fire Department Chief Alan Wax tells the Chicago Tribune that one worker, who was identified as Vicente Santoyo, 47, was taken to a hospital in critical condition early on Tuesday and later pronounced dead. Santoyo would have turned 48 next week.

Three other workers suffered minor injuries.

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Tragedy: Police say a construction worker was killed and three others injured when a 45-ton beam (pictured) fell on the crew of workers

The construction (pictured is the aftermath of the accient) is part of a $2.5 billion I-90 Rebuilding and Widening Project. A part of I-90 is being rebuilt to allow four lanes in each direction between Randall Road and I-294

The workers were in lifts trying to remove the 180-foot-long beam under Interstate 90 when it collapsed on them around 3 a.m.

According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, workers were cutting the beam in half and while removing the other half, the other side of the beam should have been held in place by a strap or chain. That strap failed and the beam came crashing down, according to ABC.

'They were moving some steel across the roadway. Apparently the load shifted, the girder came down. It's 187 feet long, 45 tons of steel that came down. Three workers were injured. One was just confirmed as a fatality,' said Bill Kushner, Des Plaines police to ABC.

Closures on I-90 related to the shocking crash have slowed traffic, according to Illinois State Police

The construction is part of a $2.5 billion I-90 Rebuilding and Widening Project. A part of I-90 is being rebuilt to allow four lanes in each direction between Randall Road and I-294, according to a statement from the Illinois Tollway

Touhy between Wolf and Lee Street was expected to remain closed to traffic for several hours after the incident, Wax said.

The left two inbound lanes of I-90 were already closed to traffic for the construction work.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration opened an investigation Tuesday of Omega Demolition Corporation. Omega has had seven inspections since 2006, according to ABC.

The workers were in lifts trying to remove the 180-foot-long beam under Interstate 90 when it collapsed on them around 3 a.m. Wax says the cause wasn't immediately known
Three people were rushed to the hospital with 'traumatic injuries' early Tuesday morning after a boat owned by a Florida state senator's company crashed into a dock.

Sen David Simmons was not on the boat at the time, but he confirmed to Florida Politics that a family member was among the injured in the crash on Lake Maitland.

The Republican from Altamonte Springs, said the boat was not registered in his name, but was registered to a company he owns.

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Three people were rushed to the hospital with 'traumatic injuries' early Tuesday morning after a sport boat (pictured) crashed into a dock on Lake Maitland in Florida. The boat is owned by a Florida state senator's company

Maitland firefighters told WKMG-TV News 6 that one adult and seven children, including several teens, were on the 22-foot SeaDoo sport boat when it crashed.

Simmons said he was at home and did not know the other people on the boat other than a family member.

Sen David Simmons (pictured) was not on the boat, but he said a family member was among the injured

He wouldn't identify his family member but he said his relative suffered a broken leg and was being treated at a nearby hospital.

A homeowner said he heard the crash in his back yard just after midnight and found the wreckage.

Officials said it's likely the boat was traveling at a high rate of speed when the crash occurred.

Maitland police Lt Louis Grindle told the Orlando Sentinel that the youngest was a 17-year-old, but they weren't 'all teenagers'.

Grindle said officers investigating the incident told him the boat is registered to an address on the lake belonging to Simmons.

The boat took off from that address across the lake and at an unknown time later crashed into the dock causing extensive property damage, Grindle said.

A fire official told New 6 that the boat 'crashed into the dock, so it's mostly out of the water, and it's pretty much stuck on the back dock right now'.

Authorities are looking into what caused the crash and Grindle said 'alcohol may have been a factor'.

Firefighters said three others refused treatment at the scene and some of the victims had to be extricated from the boat following the impact with the dock.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is investigating, according to WESH.

Simmons represents the 10th District, which covers Seminole County and parts of Volusia County.

Lake Maitland is a popular Central Florida boating spot, which is surrounded by luxury homes, most of which have their own private docks.

Authorities are looking into what caused the crash and Maitland police Lt Louis Grindle said 'alcohol may have been a factor'. Pictured are paramedics loading one of the victims into a rescue unit after the crash
Georgina Drinkwater, 30, was five months pregnant with her third child when she plummeted 33ft from an apartment block in Queens Park, northwest London

A mother-of-two texted a friend to say her partner was 'on his drunk aggressive thing again' three minutes before she plunged to her death from a third floor balcony, an inquest heard.

Georgina Drinkwater, 30, was five months pregnant with her third child when she plummeted 33ft from her apartment block in Queens Park, northwest London.

She had left her children with a friend before heading to a party at the Mason's Arms pub hours before the tragedy, which happened in February 2014.

Her partner, Robert Weldon, 26, was arrested outside her Orpheus House home after he was heard screaming 'somebody help me, somebody help me'.

He has not been charged in connection with Ms Drinkwater's death, Westminster Coroner's Court heard.

The couple were involved in a 'turbulent relationship' and Assistant Coroner Russell Caller reminded those in attendance at the inquest that the objective was not to determine blame.

Coroner's Officer Martin Urquhart confirmed Ms Drinkwater fell to her death from the third floor balcony.

DCI Andrew Chalmers, from the Homicide and Serious Crime Command, whose team took charge of the subsequent investigation, went through CCTV footage showing the couple's journey from the pub to Ms Drinkwater's flat.

They left the Mason's Arms at 1.53am on February 23, 2014, then made their way to The Booze Spot on Harrow Road at 2.02am where Ms Drinkwater bought crisps and Mr Weldon purchased two bottles of beer.

Observing the footage, DCI Chalmers said: 'He [Weldon] appears to be drunk and it appears that Georgina Drinkwater is nudging Mr Weldon away because he is resting his hand on her.

'She appears to be frustrated with Mr Weldon's behaviour.'

CCTV from Harrow Road then captures the pair walking past the Central Pharmacy.

They then enter the flats at Orpheus House at 2.18am. However, the quality of footage of the third floor from outside is then hampered by bright street lights.

DCI Chalmers explained: 'That street light illumination obstructs the picture being recorded but you can see the ground below.

'You can see some movement from the position where the fall is and then what we know now is Ms Drinkwater seen falling and this is around the second-floor balcony area - but this may be because that is the first part of the building shown in the footage.

'At 2.52am you see the body falling and hitting the ground.

'We then move to the internal camera in Orpheus House and at 2.53.07 we can see Mr Weldon running out.'

There was also a suggestion that the footage showed some movement in the area of the balcony before the fall.

'It would be impossible to say whether it is part of the falling process or whether it is something more prolonged,' said DCI Chalmers.

The officer then showed a message Ms Drinkwater sent to her friend Claire Wilson just three minutes before she fell to her death.

He said: 'At 2.49am, Ms Drinkwater sent a text to Claire Wilson. This text said: 'Claire, call as soon as possible. He's on his drunk aggressive thing'.'

Ms Drinkwater had left her children with a friend before heading to a party at the Mason's Arms pub the night before the tragedy, which happened in February 2014. Her partner, Robert Weldon, 26, was arrested outside her apartment block after he was heard screaming 'somebody help me, somebody help me'

Asked if the couple were involved in a 'loving and also turbulent' relationship, the officer replied: 'They argued a great deal.'

The argument appeared to centre on Mr Weldon's employment status, his drinking and his ex-partners, the court heard.

The rows led to police being called out from the beginning of their relationship in 2012 and Ms Drinkwater's death.

Listing the police's previous dealings with the couple, DCI Chalmers said: 'On August 19, 2012, Mr Weldon called the police and accused Ms Drinkwater of criminally damaging a car belonging to a female friend of Mr Weldon with a hammer.

'On May 19, 2013, she called the police and asked them to take the babies away from the flat. The police didn't do so, as they didn't consider Mr Weldon a risk.

'Then on July 23, 2013, Ms Drinkwater alleged that Mr Weldon struck her across the face after she threatened to throw his rucksack from the balcony.

'On Christmas Day 2013, Ms Drinkwater called the police and reported that she had refused Mr Weldon access to the flat and said that he had fallen asleep outside the door.'

The court also heard how Mr Weldon had a string of convictions dating back to 2001, including drink-driving, burglary and posession of a class-B drug.

When interviewed following the accident, Mr Weldon told detectives his girlfriend slipped while trying to climb down to the second-floor balcony below.

Coroner's Officer Martin Urquhart confirmed Ms Drinkwater fell to her death from the third floor balcony of Orpheus House (pictured), Queens Park, London

Referring to his police interview, DCI Chalmers said: 'Ms Drinkwater had tried to leave the flat and he [Mr Weldon] prevented her from doing so by standing in front of the door.'

Mr Weldon said in his interview the mother-of-two walked out onto the balcony after an argument raged for up to 40 minutes and said: 'Don't tempt me.'

'He went over in time to see her fall to the street,' the Chief Inspector added.

Mr Weldon told police: 'I walked over and told her 'what the f*** are you doing?'

He said he then asked Ms Drinkwater: 'Are you crazy?'

Mr Weldon added: 'She went to climb down to the second floor and that is when she lost her grip.'

In addition to the desperate text message sent to Ms Wilson, Ms Drinkwater made seven further calls to friends in the ten minutes before her fall.

Friend Lee Byers claimed in a statement that Ms Drinkwater had 'told him that Mr Weldon was violent towards her' while Amy Ahmad she had 'never seen her go onto the balcony except to throw Mr Weldon's stuff over the side.'

Following her daughter's death, Ms Drinkwater's mother Pauline Tio told police: 'I knew this would happen. I knew he would murder her. She wouldn't jump.'

When Mr Weldon was arrested on suspicion of murder, he responded: 'She's the love of my life. What am I supposed to tell the children?

'This doesn't make any sense. I watched my girlfriend die.'

DCI Chalmers confirmed the CPS reviewed the evidence and eventually decided there was 'insufficient evidence' to charge Mr Weldon in connection with his partner's death.

The court heard finger marks were spotted on the railings outside the balcony facing inwards but they could not be tested and could even have been scuff marks.

Ms Drinkwater had previously worked as a manager at Carphone Warehouse in Hampstead before becoming a full-time mother to her two daughters, aged eight and 11 months when she died.
Man, 38, killed donkey by sitting on it 'as a joke' during

A Spanish judge has thrown out a case against a 23-stone man accused of killing a donkey by sitting on it in southern Spain.

The five-month-old donkey was being held in a pen which was not meant to be accessed by the public for a Christmas fair in the town of Lucena in Cordoba, Andalusia, last year.

But one 38-year-old man climbed over the fence and sat on the animal's back to have his picture taken, while grinning and posing for the camera.

Crushed: The 23-stone Spanish man jumped into a nativity display and sat on top of five-month-old donkey Platero, causing such severe internal injuries the animal had to be put down

Two days later, residents noticed that the donkey, named Platero, was barely able to stand, and he was taken to a local vet.

The animal was then urgently transferred to a specialist clinic, but due to the severity of his internal injuries, likened to 'exploding', he had to be put down.

The picture of the grinning Spaniard caused widespread upset among anti-cruelty campaigners when it came to light in December 2014.

The photograph of the portly man grinning as he poses on the donkey has since been widely shared on social media, where animal lovers have reacted with outrage and called for the town hall to take action.

No prosecution went ahead so the Refugio del Burrito, based in Malaga, filed a private action.

A donkey sanctuary based in Malaga, filed a private case against the 38-year-old Spaniard following the incident, which took place in Lucena (pictured) in December 2014, which has now been thrown out

'The donkey was literally squashed by a man. The man tried to pose "galloping", with his almost 150kg of weight on the fragile body of the animal, squashing it to death,' the original complaint read.

However, the local judge has now thrown out the case, ruling that there is no evidence of criminal offence.

In a full statement published by Refugio del Burrito today, they say: 'The judge does not see any evidence of criminal offence in the case of the donkey that died in Lucena's Bethlehem display.'

'El Refugio del Burrito filed a complaint against the man that allegedly caused the death of young Platero and another complaint against the City Council for alleged omission of care, as the donkey was not assisted by vet until two days later. The first complaint was initially filed, but we managed to re-open it in March 2015. This is the second time that a Judge files the case.

'The Judge dismisses the proceedings  for the second time - as she considers that the actual complaints are not a criminal offence and that there is not enough evidence to justify an in-depth investigation. El Refugio del Burrito has appealed the decision today.'
PC John Wigglesworth, 46, (pictured) was sacked by Scotland Yard after having sex with a 14-year-old schoolgirl he groomed online in his Essex home

A disgraced police officer who was jailed for four years for having sex with a 14-year-old schoolgirl he groomed online has been sacked.

PC John Wigglesworth, 46, was dismissed without notice today after a Scotland Yard disciplinary hearing found the crime amounted to gross misconduct.

He was jailed for four years in February and put on the Sex Offenders Register for life after admitting sexual activity with a child.

The officer had befriended the teenager on the social network site Netlog after getting her to confide in him about the death of a close relative in 2007.

He then picked the girl up from school and took her back to his home in Essex on two occasions - first for 'kissing and cuddling' and then for sex.

Detective Chief Superintendent Matthew Gardner said: 'PC Wigglesworth has completely breached the trust the public placed in him as a police officer by taking advantage of a vulnerable child.

'She was exactly the kind of person he had sworn to protect.

'The court has rightly sentenced him to a considerable period in prison and he has now been dismissed from the service.'

Wigglesworth was suspended when he was arrested in August 2015, and his salary was stopped when he was sentenced, Scotland Yard said.

He had previously pleaded guilty to one count of sexual activity with a child after he accepted they had consensual sex and that he was a 'weirdo'.

The girl had told police that Wigglesworth repeatedly raped her at his home after picking her up from school between May 2007 and May 2009.

She claimed he forced her upstairs and ripped off her clothes during the attacks.

'If I was consenting I would not have been in pain, crying and telling him to get off,' she said.

'It would not have happened that way.'

He was cleared of three counts of rape and two counts of sexual activity with a child by a jury at Snaresbrook Crown Court after three hours deliberation.

The prosecution also claimed Wigglesworth told the girl he was a police officer to 'exert authority' to stop her telling anyone about the attacks.

The police officer had befriended the teenager on the social network site Netlog after getting her to confide in him about the death of a close relative

But Wigglesworth insisted he only took the girl back to his house twice and that the sexual contact was consensual.

He had told the court: 'I was wrong, it was wrong, I should never have spoken to her but I did and I made a stupid, stupid error and I did.

'But I categorically swear on everything that is holy in this world, I will swear on everything there is no f****** way, excuse my language, that I raped that girl.'

Wigglesworth also told officers that despite being a bit of a 'weirdo' he 'thoroughly regrets' getting involved with the girl and 'any upset or pain or trauma' he caused her.

'I believe that what happened was consensual, I've got no doubt in my mind that it was consensual,' Wigglesworth said.

'She never cried, she never said no, she never told me to get off. I never hurt her, I never forced her.'

He pleaded guilty to one count of sexual activity with a child after he accepted they had consensual sex and that he was a 'weirdo' - and was jailed for four years in February




Restraining order: Anuradha Megpara, 53, pictured outside court, pleaded guilty to harassment

A foot doctor who sent a married former colleague hundreds of letters and cards before accusing him of harassment has been handed a restraining order.

Anuradha Megpara, 53, spent four years hand-delivering messages to the home of Dr Darryll Baker, sharing her fantastical ideas about her wedding dress, their marriage and their future home.

Dr Baker, a surgeon at the private Wellington Hospital in St John's Wood, north-west London, at first ignored her communications but informed police after Megpara tried to take out a non-molestation order against him early last year.

Megpara was given a six-week suspended sentence and handed a restraining order barring her from contact with Dr Baker at City of London Magistrates' Court today.

Dr Baker first met Megpara when they both worked at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, northwest London, and occasionally referred patients to her, the court heard.

Megpara then took it upon herself to correspond with Dr Baker through cards, becoming increasingly more intense during her campaign of harassment.

Describing the content of the notes, prosecutor Felicity Lineham said: 'She discussed her daily activities, she often referred to the victim, Mr Baker, as being Jewish which puzzled him somewhat as he is not Jewish.

'One of the letters which caused the most concern was one which made negative reference to his mother. Miss Megpara blamed his mother for her "dominance" of him, calling her a "Jewish mother".'

In a victim impact statement, vascular expert Dr Baker said that some of the cards referred to their supposed relationship and her wedding dress.

He said: 'I started to get more concerned when I started getting household records sent through because we were apparently moving in together. She sent her passport and I forwarded it to the passport office.'

He finally went to the police after Megpara bizarrely tried to take out a non-molestation order against him in early 2015, fearing the impact it might have on his career.

Megpara temporarily stopped sending messages after she was given an official harassment warning in June last year but restarted after just four weeks.

Bombarded: Dr Darryll Baker, pictured outside court, reported Megpara to the police after she bizarrely tried to take out a non-molestation order against him in early 2015, fearing the impact it might have on his career

She sent another 30 cards and letters before she was charged with harassment in September last year.

She pleaded guilty as her trial was due to begin on 15 March after Dr Baker and his secretary arrived in court to give evidence.

Chris Stevens, mitigating, said Megpara was depressed following the death of her father and claimed she built an 'alternate reality' as a coping mechanism.

He said: 'She accepts that she developed a fixation that developed to love with Mr Baker to fill a void within her life that escalated, and effectively she has created for herself an alternative reality.'

Magistrate Greg Thomson said: 'She did two things that were odd to put it mildly: one was she went off and instructed solicitors in relation to a restraining order, which for a surgeon must have been extremely distressing and put him in a situation where he had to go and seek legal advice.'

Former colleagues: Dr Baker first met Megpara when they both worked at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, north-west London, pictured, and occasionally referred patients to her, the court heard

He continued: 'This is a serious matter where your harassment has caused a great deal of distress and concern to the victim in this case.

'We have got guidelines regarding sentencing and looking at our guidelines it is clear to us that your activities in harassing Mr Baker are so serious that they cross the custodial threshold.

'The fact that it has been suspended reflects the fact that you have pleaded guilty.'
He did not apply for bail but his new lawyer has vowed to

A top criminal lawyer has vowed to get murder accused Ben Batterham released from prison, as it is revealed he was covered in bite marks after he 'detained' an alleged thief found inside his home.

Mr Batterham, from Newcastle, north of Sydney, has been imprisoned at Cessnock Correctional Centre since being charged with the murder of Richard James Slater on March 27.

The father-of-one made no application for bail when he case was mentioned in court last week, but high-profile criminal lawyer Winston Terracini SC, who visited the prison on Tuesday with barrister Brian Murray, has taken over and vowed to make an application for bail 'as urgently as possible', the Newcastle Herald reported.

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Mr Batterham, from Newcastle, north of Sydney, has been imprisoned at Cessnock Correctional Centre since being charged with the murder of Richard James Slater

Batterham made no application for bail when he case was mentioned in court last week, but high-profile lawyer Winston Terracini SC has taken over and vowed to make an application for 'as urgently as possible'

Mr Terracini SC, who has also represented high-profile clients like Harriet Wran, said Mr Batterham's family are organising a surety, while he has applied for a forensic pathologist to review the post mortem examination on Slater.

The 33-year-old was reportedly heard on a Triple zero call threatening to kill Slater, known to his family as Ricky, after he found the convicted criminal standing near his young daughter's bedroom at about 3.30am on March 26.

His arrest has caused significant outrage in the community, with thousands of people signing a petition demanding his immediate release.

Many have claimed that the father-of-one was simply defending his home and family after the convicted sex offender allegedly broke in.

The 33-year-old was reportedly heard on a Triple zero call threatening to kill Richard James Slater(pictured) after he found the convicted criminal standing near his young daughter's bedroom at about 3.30am on March 26

Mr Batterham was meant to reamin in Cessnock Correctional Centre until his next court appearance but his lawyer has vowed to have his release 'expedited'

It was initially reported that a fight broke out between Mr Batterham and Slater - who was understood to have been put in a choke hold on the street until police arrived.

However, a tripe zero recording that was obtained by the Daily Telegraph indicates that Mr Batterham could be heard threatening the intruder before a drawn out fight ensued.

According to the Newcastle Herald, Mr Batterham sustained a number of injuries in the altercation, including several bite marks to his body.

It was initially reported that a fight broke out between Mr Batterham and Slater - who was understood to have been put in a choke hold on the street until police arrived

Slater lost consciousness in front of Mr Batterham's home following the brawl and was rushed to John Hunter Hospital where doctors found that his brain had been deprived of oxygen for too long

Slater lost consciousness in front of Mr Batterham's home following the brawl and was rushed to John Hunter Hospital where doctors found that his brain had been deprived of oxygen for too long.

His family turned off his life support and Mr Batterham's grievous bodily harm charge was upgraded to murder.

The father-of-one's was expected to remain behind bars until his case is heard again in court on May 25, but Mr Terracini SC has vowed to have his release 'expedited'.
Supervisor Peter Adamovich ran onto the tracks to try and warn backhoe operator Joseph Carter, Jr., 61, when they were hit by the train

A heroic Amtrak engineer who ran onto the tracks to warn his colleague about an approaching train was killed when the locomotive crashed into a backhoe.

Supervisor Peter John Adamovich of Lincoln University, Pennsylvania and Joseph Carter, Jr., 61, of Wilmington, Delaware died in the crash on Sunday.

Adamovich had tried to warn backhoe operator Carter, who was working on the tracks, of the oncoming danger when the train hit.

At least 35 passengers on the Palmetto train 89 from New York City to Savannah, Georgia were injured in the smash at 7.49am on Sunday.

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Backhoe operator Joseph Carter, Jr., 61, (pictured) of Wilmington, Delaware had been carrying out maintenance on the tracks when he was hit by a train

Wreckage: The two construction workers died after an Amtrak train collided with a backhoe on the tracks near Philadelphia on Sunday

Lead investigator Ryan Frigo said the train driver had slammed on the emergency breaks five seconds before it hit the engineers.

National Transportation Safety Board are investigating whether Carter had been approved to work in the area at the time of the crash.

'We're still gathering facts on that information as to who had the authority to be on that track,' Frigo said.

Witnesses said the train driver blew the horn moments before the crash but the construction equipment could not be moved in time.

'The supervisor went running over to the location to get the guy out of there,' a source familiar with the crash and both men told the Wall Street Journal.

Debris: The front carriage of the train from New York to Savannah, Georgia, derailed after crashing into the crane early this morning

Investigation: A federal probe is expect after the Amtrak train collided with a crane near Philadelphia

Scattered debris is shown inside an Amtrak train following the deadly crash

It is not clear why the backhoe was on the tracks, but the two killed workers are thought to have been near it at the time of the crash. Pictured, emergency workers at the scene

Amtrak investigators survey the scene following this morning's crash, which killed two and left around 30 hurt

'That's when the train came and killed the both of them. He was trying to get Joe the hell out of there, and he was killed in the process.'

They added that miscommunication may have been responsible for the crash which occurred less than an hour after a new foreman took charge of the maintenance work in the track area. A new dispatcher, responsible for directing trains in the area, had also just started.

'There was some type of communication breakdown in there,' they said.

National Transportation Safety Board said the train was going 106mph within the speed limit of 110 mph at the time of the crash.

Video from the train showed the backhoe crane had been on the same track.

There were 341 passengers and seven crew members on board as the train approached Chester, Delaware County, at 7.53am.

One of those was Mariam Akhtar, from Washington, DC, who told ABC 6 of the panic on board the train in the moments after the collision.

'It felt like the train hit something and there were like three or four really big bangs and it kind of threw us off the seats we were sitting in,' she said.

Supervisor Peter John Adamovich of Lincoln University, Pennsylvania had ran into the tracks to warn backhoe operator Joseph Carter, Jr., 61, of Wilmington, Delaware of the approaching train when they were killed

National Transportation Safety Board are investigating whether Carter had been approved to work in the area at the time of the crash

'There was a lot of smoke and everybody was yelling.

'The train kind of stopped and later on, everybody was running to the front. Then the people were in the front started walking toward the back.'

Linton Holmes, from Wilson, North Carolina, said he heard an 'explosion' as the train derailed.

'The train was rumbling. We got off track, I guess. It was just a bunch of dust. There was dust everywhere,' he said.

'Then the train conductor came up and told us there was a fatality and wanted to see if anyone else was injured.

'It was an explosion. We got off track and then there was like a big explosion. Then there was a fire and windows burst out. Some people were cut up, but it was just minor injuries.'

Passengers carrying their belongings leave the Amtrak train following the accident

Witnesses said the train driver blew the horn seconds before the crash but the construction equipment could not be moved in time. Pictured, Valerie Green (right) hugs her friend after the crash

A father picks up his daughter from a church near the crash site on Sunday morning, which left hundreds stranded miles from their destinations

Another passenger, Stephanie Burroughs, told Fox News that a conductor said one of the deaths involved someone who was 'on the tracks'.

She added that passengers had 'some injuries', but the worst she had heard about was a broken arm.

Train services between New York and Philadelphia were suspended after the crash but normal service had resumed by yesterday.

Safety procedures require that a track is 'fouled' whenever maintenance work is carried out.

This means that a foreman directs dispatch to activate a digital blocking device which prevents a train from traveling down the track.

As a back-up safety measure, a 'supplemental shunting device' should also be put on the tracks where the work is being carried out which shows a red signal light to the driver alerting them to stop the train.

It is not yet clear whether a shunting device was being used at the time of the crash.
A high school student bullied by classmates reportedly committed suicide during her school's lunch hour by stepping into the path of a subway train in New York City.

Aileen Jiminian left the Manhattan Village Academy campus in the Flatiron area of the city on Thursday and was fatally struck by a 1 train around 12.30pm when she climbed onto the tracks at the 23rd Street Station on Seventh Avenue, the New York Post reported.

The 17-year-old girl was a 2016 semifinalist for the New York Times College Scholarship program and also had a twin sister who attends the school.

A student told the Post on Monday that Jiminian, who was a senior, would get picked on by other kids at the school.

Tragic: Aileen Jiminian left the Manhattan Village Academy campus (file photo) on Thursday and committed suicide during her school's lunch hour by stepping into the path of a subway train in New York City

The 17-year-old girl was fatally struck by a 1 train around 12.30pm when she climbed onto the tracks at the 23rd Street Station on Seventh Avenue (file photo)

'It's really sad. She would get called stupid or ugly or awkward. Some kids are just really mean,' the student said.

School staff reportedly told students not to discuss Jiminian and only described what happened to her as an 'accident.'

'We were told not to talk about her or what happened,' a student told the Post.

'Our teacher told us last week that she got into a bad accident.'

A Manhattan Village Academy source told the Post that a number of students went to the school's grief counselor and said they were upset with themselves over 'how they treated her.'

On Monday a letter was sent to students' families by the school telling them that she has 'passed away.'

A Manhattan Village Academy source told the Post that a number of students went to the school's grief counselor and said they were upset with themselves over 'how they treated her' (file photo)

'This loss of Aileen is sure to raise many emotions, concerns, and questions for our entire school, especially our students,' the letter, which was signed by the school's principal, Hector Geager, reads, according to the Post.

'Please, at the request of Aileen's family, impress upon your child not to post any information regarding this tragedy on social media.'

In a statement, Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina said: 'I am deeply saddened by the tragic loss of one of our students and my heart breaks for her family and the entire school community at Manhattan Village Academy.
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.
A 13-year-old boy was arrested after he threatened a girl with a loaded gun at a New York City school.

Authorities say the boy is in custody after he pulled out the 22 mm gun on the 12-year-old student.

It's not clear whether the boy actually brought the gun to school, as he was one of three teenagers arrested Monday, according to NBC.

The 13-year-old was charged with criminal possession of a weapon.

A 13-year-old boy was arrested after he threatened a girl with a gun at a New York City school. Authorities say the boy is in custody after he pulled out the 22 mm gun on the 12-year-old student

The boy was additionally charged with menacing the girl at Public School 169 located in the Upper East Side.

Investigators said the gun was later found in the jacket of a 15-year-old boy. Police say a box of ammunition was also found in a 14-year-old boy's jacket.

Department of Education spokeswoman Toya Holness told WNBC-TV that the incident is deeply alarming.

'Nothing is more important than the safety of all students and staff and there is zero tolerance for weapons of any kind,' Holness said in an email.

She says no students were injured.

Last month, three students were caught with guns on city school campuses in the span of a week.

Three incidents were reported in March alone when a 14-year-old boy brought a gun into MS 61 in Crown Heights; an 11-year-old boy was caught with a loaded 9 mm handgun at a Queens school; and a student was found with a loaded .38-caliber revolver at York Early College Academy, also in Queens, according to NBC.

Gregory Floyd, president of Local 237, said that school safety agents want more metal detectors in schools because guns are being found in 'non-scanning' schools like PS 169 (pictured)

Gregory Floyd, president of Local 237, told NBC that school safety agents want more metal detectors in schools.

He said there are 'non-scanning schools that these guns are being found in, so that negates the argument that we need to get rid of metal detectors'.

Floyd said there needs to be an 'increase in metal detectors'.

But some parent groups and advocates have called for getting rid of the detectors saying they're unneeded because of low crime rates.
Argued that they encouraged Benson to resolve the situation with the words 'stab 'em, stab 'em'

A teenager was knifed in the heart by a woman who was egged on with chants of 'stab 'em, stab 'em' during a petty row over stolen pasta, a court has heard.

Alfie Stone, 18, was allegedly murdered by 33-year-old Maxine Benson outside a Tesco Express in High Road, Ickenham, west London, on November 9 last year.

Benson was captured on CCTV wielding the knife and was also witnessed by members of the public who rushed to give Alfie first aid after the attack, jurors were told.

Moments earlier, Benson also allegedly lashed out at Alfie's brother, Jake, who escaped with a minor chest injury, the trial heard.

She is on trial at the Old Bailey along with Steven Hawgood and his girlfriend, Corinne Cripps, who all lived in bedsits near the scene of the murder.

Dead: Alfie Stone, 18, was allegedly murdered by Maxine Benson, 33, in Ickenham, London, on November 9

Prosecutor Tony Badenoch QC said Hawgood, 29, and Cripps, 28, both played a part in a 'petty argument' shortly before the killing over the 'theft' of some pasta two days earlier at Cripps' bedsit.

He said the pair had encouraged Benson to resolve the situation with the words 'stab 'em, stab 'em'.

He told the court Alfie and Jake knew the area well because their sister Shannon was a tenant in one of the bedsits.

He said: 'Shannon Stone knew the defendants reasonably well and knew both Cripps and Hawgood used drugs regularly, a matter she had taken issue with.

'I mention the drug use in particular and the fact that Shannon both knew and had taken issue about it, as it is relevant to the hostility shown to her brothers on the night in question and the way in which the argument later developed.'

Two days before the murder, Jake had stayed with his sister, something Cripps had taken objection to.

Mr Badenoch told the court: 'Jake had stayed at the address and ate food, something she [Cripps] was not happy about since it was in defiance of her.'

Two days later, Jake and Alfie returned with some friends to collect some of their sister's possessions, which led to the argument that cost Alfie his life.

When they arrived, Benson and Cripps tried to stop them entering, with Cripps telling them 'this isn't a doss house'.

Cripps was then heard shouting: 'Your sister has been evicted...get your sister here and I'll knock her out'.

She went to fetch her partner Hawgood who punched Alfie and was later heard shouting 'stab 'em, stab 'em,' the Old Bailey heard.

Scene of attack: The 18-year-old was knifed outside this Tesco Express on the High Road in Ickenham, west London

Mr Badenoch said: 'The argument continued with Maxine Benson remaining at the top of the stairs and shouting about the pasta.'

As the argument escalated, Jake shouted 'you lot are crack heads', with Alfie joining in and saying 'go and do some more crack'.

Mr Badenoch said: 'The suggestion that they either do, or should go and use some "crack" was a trigger to an escalation of this pointless argument.

'Crips and Hawgood shouted "stab 'em, stab 'em". It would seem that fists were no longer enough.'

The court heard how Benson then chased and stabbed both siblings in the chest as they tried to run away down an alleyway, killing Alfie and seriously wounding Jake.

All three defendants fled the scene using a rear exit as police and paramedics arrived at the front of the small parade of shops.

Before fleeing, Benson handed the murder weapon to another man, Mr Badenoch said.

When he asked her what had happened, she replied: 'Don't worry, I think I may have hurt someone'.

The neighbour later handed the weapon over to police.

Benson is said to have confessed to a friend over the phone, saying: 'My life's finished. I didn't mean to stab him. It happened in the scuffle in the alleyway. He was wearing a big puffa jacket. I didn't think it had gone in.'

She handed herself into Wandsworth Police Station the next day.

Hawgood and Cripps allegedly checked into a Travelodge hotel in Heathrow to avoid getting caught.

Alfie died within hours of the stabbing.

Members of the public gave him first aid at the scene, but he died later the same day in hospital.

A post-mortem examination gave the cause of death as blood loss and a stab wound to the heart. There were no signs on his body of defensive wounds.
Iceland's prime minister has sensationally resigned two days after he was caught up in the offshore tax scandal.

Sigmunder David Gunlaugsson is the first victim from the leaked Panama Papers which revealed the tax-avoidance arrangements of the rich and famous around the world.

The documents claimed he and his wife set up a company in the British Virgin Islands to hide millions of pounds with the help of Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca.

The revelations sparked fury across Iceland, with thousands gathering outside parliament to demand he stand down and opposition leaders presenting a motion of no-confidence against him.

Gunlaugsson, who denies wrongdoing, initially refused to quit and asked President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson to dissolve government and call a snap election instead.

But just hours later, he left it to his deputy to announce his dramatic U-turn.

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Under fire: Iceland's Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson speaks at the Icelandic Parliament in Reykjavik today. Gunnlaugsson made a request to dissolve government and call a snap election amid a dispute over his family's offshore tax affairs, but president Olafur Ragnar Grimsson has refused for now

Iceland's Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson arrives at his residence in Reykjavik today

The Progressive party's deputy leader and Agriculture Minister Sigurdur Ingi Johannsson told Icelandic broadcaster RUV: 'The prime minister told (his party's) parliamentary group meeting that he would step down as prime minister and I will take over.'

Leaked financial documents allege that he and his wife set up a company in the British Virgin Islands with the help of a Panamanian law firm.

He is accused of a conflict of interest for failing to disclose his involvement in the company, which held interests in failed Icelandic banks that his government was responsible for overseeing.

Gunlaugsson has said earlier today that he may dissolve parliament and call new elections if he were to lose the support of his junior coalition partner following an uproar over his offshore holdings revealed in the Panama Papers.

'I told the leader of the Independence Party that if the party's parliamentarians think they cannot support the government in completing joint tasks, I would dissolve parliament and call a general election,' Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson wrote on his Facebook page.

Gunnlaugsson, 41, has been under pressure to resign since leaked financial documents showed that he and his wife Anna Sigurlaug Palsdottir owned an offshore company in the British Virgin Islands.

The leftwing opposition yesterday presented a motion of no-confidence against Gunnlaugsson, which could be voted on as early as this week.

Thousands gathered in the centre of Reykjavik to call for the Prime Minister's resignation after the leaked Panama Papers revealing his controversial tax arrangements sparked fury in Iceland

Independence Party leader Bjarni Benediktsson, who is finance minister, was also named in the leaked 'Panama Papers'

Icelandic Minister of Finance and leader of the Icelandic Independence Party Bjarni Benediktsson (right) speaks to journalists

This protester held out a fitting sign, saying 'How to hide a billion dollar' in the wake of the shocking revelations in the Panama Papers

Independence Party leader Bjarni Benediktsson, who is finance minister, was also named in the leaked 'Panama Papers', and his party has not yet said whether it will support Gunnlaugsson.

Thousands of demonstrators protested outside parliament in Reykjavik on Monday, throwing eggs and yoghurt at the building and calling for Gunnlaugsson to step down.

Another protest was scheduled for this evening.

Gunnlaugsson's company, named Wintris Inc and acquired in 2007, was intended to manage his wife's inheritance from her wealthy businessman father, according to the Panama Papers.

The prime minister sold his 50-per cent share to his wife for a symbolic sum of $1 at the end of 2009.

But when he was elected to parliament for the first time in April 2009, as a member of the centre-right Progressive Party, he neglected to mention his stake in his declaration of shareholdings.

Yesterday, he stormed out of an interview when confronted about the issue.

When asked about Wintris by a journalist from the Swedish SVT channel, he appeared flustered before appearing to point the finger at his wife.

Icelandic prime minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson storms out of an interview when asked about claims he used a secret offshore firm to hide millions of dollars while his country's banking system collapsed

Documents claim Gunnlaugsson and his wife used offshore company, Wintris Inc., to hide millions in bank bonds when Iceland's banking system crashed and its lenders had to be bailed out

He said: 'My wife sold a part in the family company. It was put in the care of a bank and the bank made some arrangement and this company was the result.

'I don't know how these things work. But everything is declared on the tax report from the beginning. And I mean what...'

Visibly irritated, he gets up and tries to leave the room, saying: 'I have never hidden assets. It's a bit like you're accusing me of something.'

He walks out but not before being pressed further on the claims as he tried to remove his microphone.

The journalist tells him: 'We know that Wintris held and holds claims in the collapsed banks. You sold your share of the company for $1 in 2009.'

He replies: 'No, no, no. You're asking me nonsense'.

His spokesman later insisted he and his wife have scrupulously followed the law.

Iceland Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson with his wife Anna Sigurlaug Palsdottir. Gunnlaugsson owned a 50 per cent stake in offshore firm Wintris for more than two years, then transferred it to Palsdottir, who held the other 50 per cent, for one dollar

Leaked documents show that he and his wife, Anna Sigurlaug Palsdottir, bought offshore company Wintris in 2007, but he did not declare an interest in the company when entering parliament two years later.

After the banking meltdown, he is said to have resisted pressure from foreign creditors - including UK customers - to repay their deposits in full because it may have affected both the Icelandic banks and the value of the bonds - which Wintris held.

The couple, who were living in the UK at the time, had been advised to set up a company in order to hold and invest substantial proceeds from the sale of Palsdottir's share in her family's business back in Iceland, it was reported by The Guardian.

Gunnlaugsson owned a 50 per cent stake in Wintris for more than two years, then transferred it to Palsdottir, who held the other 50 per cent, for one dollar.

He says no rules were broken and his wife did not benefit financially.

The prime minister's office later said his shareholding was an error and it had 'always been clear to both of them that the prime minister's wife owned the assets'.
Two other polls show The Donald maintaining a comfortable lead against Cruz, who could rout Trump tonight in Wisconsin

Donald Trump had a bad week last week with his campaign manager charged for battery and the candidate

Donald Trump's bad week looks to have caught up with him  boosting Sen. Ted Cruz into a statistical dead heat with the frontrunner  according to the first poll out today that shows The Donald could be losing steam.

A new Reuters/Ipsos poll shows Trump with 39.5 percent support and Cruz with 35.2 percent support, which is in the survey's 4.8 percent margin of error.

The same poll had the two in a dead heat nationally in late March, but a month ago Cruz was down by almost 20 points. Ohio Gov. John Kasich today receives 18.7 percent support nationally from Republicans.

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Donald Trump's bad week of coverage affected his support in one poll, but two others suggest it didn't make a dent

The new Reuters/Ipsos poll shows Donald Trump and Ted Cruz in a statistical dead heat coming off of a not-so-great news week for the billionaire frontrunner

His backers weren't phased, NBC News' latest poll indicates, however a Reuters survey has him neck-and-neck statistically with Sen. Ted Cruz

Last week, the media feasted on a reporter's assault allegation against the Republican's campaign manager and Trump's mishandling of a hypothetical question on abortion.

In another poll that came out today, his backers didn't seem to be phased.

In an NBC survey Trump dropped three points from 48 percent to 45 percent, but still maintained a large lead over Cruz.

Cruz gained a single point, ending the week with 28 percent.

Dark horse candidate John Kasich stayed steady at 18 percent.

Hillary Clinton meanwhile went up two points and is back over 50 percent after a dip last week that brought Bernie Sanders within six points of her. She's now at 51 percent and he's at 42, down from 41 last week.

The poll measured sentiment from Monday, March 28 to Sunday, April 3.

A Morning Consult survey taken from April 1 -3 came up with roughly the same findings.

In that poll Trump dropped from 49 to 45 percent from the week before. Cruz went up one from 27 to 28 percent. Kasich seemingly accumulated the four points Trump shed, going from 10 percent to 14 percent in the new survey.

Trump's campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, was charged with a misdemeanor a week ago on Tuesday for grabbing former Breitbart News reporter Michelle Fields at one of the candidate's events earlier in the month.

The Republican front-runner says Fields made physical contact with him first, prompting Lewandowski, his former body man, to step in. Fields, who resigned from Breitbart after the incident, says that's a 'lie' and last night called Trump out on Twitter.

'Insane. @realDonaldTrump knows I didn't do this. Continues to lie and lie and lie,' Fields said after Trump repeated the claim during a town hall with Sean Hannity on Fox News.

Trump again said last night, 'She grabbed me!...Maybe I should file charges against her for grabbing me.'

Lewandowski's court date for the battery charge is still a month away on May 4, leaving open the possibility of more bad headlines related to the dispute for the Trump campaign.

Another pothole last week on Trump's road to the GOP nomination was hit by the candidate himself as he said in an interview that he believed women who have illegal abortions should be punished.

Abortion is legal in the United States but if it weren't, as the conservative base Trump is trying to win over would prefer, he told MSNBC's Chris Matthews there should be repercussions.

The media feasted on a reporter's assault allegation against the Republican's campaign manager and Trump's mishandling of a hypothetical question on abortion but his support barely took a hit in a different poll that came out today

He said in a statement after the fact that he believes the doctor performing the abortion should be held accountable if that were to happen, not the woman undergoing the procedure.

And he said Sunday that he believes abortion is murder but it should not be a federal issue and states should be free to make their own laws.

At last night's forum he again defended himself and said of his original response, 'That was a hypothetical question. That was not a wrong answer.'

'There were other people that wrote me letters by the hundreds saying that was a great answer to that question the way it was raised,' he said.

The NBC poll shows that most of Trump's supporters were not dissuaded by the hiccups.

The businessman's popularity with women fell just three points last week, as did his national average.

He also lost four percent of his conservative voters, dropping him below 50 percent to 46 percent with the critical demographic that Cruz is also targeting.

His favorability in the Morning Consult poll stayed the same, though, at 60 percent.

Cruz did not hugely benefit from Trump's stumbles. He added one point to his tally nationally in the NBC poll and two points with conservatives but still trails Trump significantly in both categories.

The Texas senator is 17 points behind the New York billionaire overall and faces an 18-point deficit with conservatives.
A British woman who spent 7,000 trying to bring an abandoned puppy to the UK now fears she has been conned after the Thai rescuer refused to hand it over.

Oxford-based artist Jirral Darmoise, 45, flew to Bangkok on Sunday after a year-long battle to adopt a St Bernard called Balloon after seeing heart-breaking pictures of it on Facebook.

She then wired thousands of pounds to a woman who promised to look after Balloon until she could collect her - but when she arrived in Bangkok, she claims the woman refused to hand him over.

Conned? Oxford-based artist Jirral Darmoise (left), 45, flew to Bangkok on Sunday after a year-long battle to adopt a St Bernard called Balloon (right) after seeing heart-breaking pictures of it on Facebook

Abandoned: She wired cash to a woman who promised to look after Balloon (pictured when first found) until she could collect her - but when she arrived in Bangkok, she claims the woman refused to hand him over

Speaking from Bangkok, Ms Darmoise said: Im at my wits end. I have spent thousands on trying to bring Balloon home and I love him so much.

I have a flight booked for him on Friday and I have sold everything to bring him home with me. For her to refuse to hand Balloon over to me is disgusting. Im terrified she will keep him.

Ms Darmoise said she does not want to rescue Balloon by force as she fears Thai authorities will throw her in jail - and now she fears she has been scammed.

She added: I think Ive been taken advantage of as a dog-lover. Ive been conned into paying thousands.

I handed over huge amounts of money believing it was helping Balloon get a new, happy home after everything he went through on the street, but I think this woman has pocketed the lot.

Some of that money was generously donated by friends and family to a GoFundMe page to bring Balloon home. Now they are out of pocket as well.

Happy dog: Ms Darmoise said she does not want to rescue Balloon by force as she fears Thai authorities will throw her in jail - and now she fears she has been scammed

Ms Darmoise first saw Balloon when the rescuer shared a Facebook post with international rescue charity Saving Saints in September.

Much-loved: Ms Darmoise sold her motorbike the following week to pay back the money she had borrowed for the visit to collect Balloon

It said the dog had been abandoned and was living wild on the streets of Bangkok where it had contracted a number of infections and desperately needed a new home.

Ms Darmoise said: I have always been a dog-lover and when I saw the post of Balloon I was so shocked I burst into tears. His legs and fur were mangled and he looked like he was on deaths door - it was heart-breaking.

The woman said she had found the dog on the streets and was caring for him temporarily, but wanted him to be re-homed in the UK. She seemed like a genuine dog-lover, so I trusted her.

Ms Darmoise contacted Saving Saints founder Anne-Marie Luckhurst and offered herself as a potential owner for Balloon.

After a rigorous vetting process, her request was approved that month and Ms Darmoise and Ms Luckhurst contacted the woman to make arrangements to transfer the pup.

The pair also created an online fundraising page to raise money for extra medical bills and flights.

Ms Darmoise said: First we had to wire over money to get Balloon back to health, because he had a number of infections and wasnt fit to fly.

I personally sent over a few grand on the understanding that I was paying for vets bills and for Balloons food and upkeep.

I set up a few raffles to raise the cash, and sold some of my home-made ornaments to boost the funds.

Troubled: Ms Darmoise said she received a call from the woman in January claiming Balloon had contracted meningitis and was close to death

We also set up a GoFundMe page to bring Balloon home, which raised approximately 4,000.

Injured: A charity said the dog had been abandoned and was living wild on the streets of Bangkok where it had contracted a number of infections

Ms Darmoise said she received a call from the woman in January claiming Balloon had contracted meningitis and was close to death.

She added: I was so terrified I would lose him before even meeting him that I borrowed 1,400 and flew out to Bangkok that night.

I met him and the rescuer for the first time - and she seemed nice enough. She kept promising that she would make arrangements to fly Balloon over once he was fully recovered.

I spent five days by Balloons side until he was through the worst, then I returned to the UK.

Ms Darmoise sold her motorbike the following week to pay back the money she had borrowed for the visit. Over the next few months, she made arrangements to fly Balloon back to the UK.

She also paid 1,000 from the GoFundMe donations and another 1,000 of her own money to pay for Balloons upkeep.

Last weekend she travelled via Eurostar to France and drove to Amsterdam where she took a ten-hour flight to Bangkok, costing 2,000 in total.

She said: It worked out the easiest way to bring Balloon back to the UK. I was sure it would be worth it to bring my beloved St Bernard home.

However, when she arrived, she claims the woman refused to hand over the pup - and threatened to report her Thai police if she attempted to take her.

Ms Darmoise said: She refused to hand over the dog. She said Youre not having him and thats that. I cried and begged her to hand him over as arranged, but she threatened to call the cops.

She has since been staying at a 25-a-night hotel resort in Bangkok, and has a flight booked for her and Balloon to return to Amsterdam on Friday.

Facebook post: When Ms Darmoise arrived in Bangkok, she claims the woman refused to hand over the pup - and threatened to report her Thai police if she attempted to take her

Now, Ms Darmoise says she has been scammed - because the woman has removed all references to Balloon from her social media site.

Im at my wits end. I have spent thousands on trying to bring Balloon home and I love him so much Jirral Darmoise

She added: I want to warn other people not to wire money through to strangers, no matter what the circumstances.

I assumed she was a dog-lover like me - but in reality she was just a crook who wanted to exploit my good nature.

Ms Luckhurst said Saving Saints was horrified after believing the rescuer was genuine.

She said: We all believed this woman was genuine when she got in touch, because she seemed to be desperate for Balloon to be re-homed overseas.
Sperrys mother is now taking care of the toddler and insists her daughter is a good parent

Trisha Sperry (pictured), 23, faces charges of drug possession and endangering the welfare of a chid

A Pennsylvania woman found a toddler crying outside in the snow at night while his mother lay curled up on the floor with various drugs in the house, police said.

Trisha Sperry, 23, the little boy's mother, has been charged with endangering the welfare of a child and drug possession.

Elizabeth Scherff said she was visiting one of Sperry's neighbors when she saw the 22-month-old knocking on the door of a home in Jeannette at 1:30am on Sunday.

Sperry was 'groggy' when authorities arrived and had several drugs in her possession, including crack cocaine, police said.

Scherff told officers she was about to leave when she heard a child crying, WTAE reported.

She said she spotted Sperry's son two houses down, knocking on the door of a home.

The temperature was around 34 degrees at the time according to authorities, CBS Pittsburgh reported.

Another neighbor, Edward Czerbak, told WTAE it was windy and cold that night and that the toddler was shivering.

Scherff said she picked up the boy and knocked at the door, which Sperry opened.

The mother appeared 'groggy' and unable to take care of a child according to Scherff's account.

Scherff took the boy to another woman's house nearby, WTAE wrote.

The woman, who asked the network not to identify her, said she went to Sperry's house and asked her if she knew what was happening.

Sperry had 'no clue' according to the friend.

The woman then returned to her own house to change the little boy out of his wet clothes and put a blanket around him.

Ten minutes later, she and her fiance called 911.

Elizabeth Scherff told police she was visiting one of Sperry's neighbors when she saw the 22-month-old boy knocking on the door of a house (pictured)

Officer James Philips found Sperry on the ground with her knees to her face, according to the affidavit.

Philips said Sperry seemed confused, had glassy eyes and could have been under the influence as she told him her son was in a house up the street.

The mother told Philips she didn't know her son had gotten out of the house because she was cleaning up a yogurt spill in the kitchen, authorities said.

There was a spill on the floor but it seemed to have been there for a while according to Philips.

Police found various drugs inside the house and suspect they include crack cocaine, marijuana and heroin.

Sperry faces a preliminary hearing on April 14.

Her mother is now taking care of the little boy, who was taken to the hospital with a fever but is doing all right, Kiro 7 reported.

Sperry's mother told WTAE her daughter was a single mother and worked full-time as a caregiver.

She said she didn't know Sperry used drugs and would seek help for her.
Police in Miami are trying to track down a suspect wanted over a gay hate crime, after a man was beaten up in a Burger King restaurant for kissing his boyfriend.

Jordan Schaeffer, 25, from Los Angeles, was visiting Miami Beach with his partner when the incident happened on March 14.

The two were at the Burger King at 1101 Washington Avenue around 3am and had just shared a kiss when he was approached by a man in the line.

'It was just a simple kiss with my boyfriend,' Schaeffer told NBC Miami.

Hate crime: Jordan Schaeffer, 25, from Los Angeles, was visiting Miami Beach with his partner when he was attacked at the Burger King after sharing a kiss on March 14. The incident was caught on CCTV

Attacked: Jordan Schaeffer is seen here in a photo taken right after the attack on March 14. He is still recovering from his injuries

Schaeffer has since returned to LA and is recovering from his injuries. Along with cuts to his face, Schaeffer also injured his back and wrist

Schaeffer (left) and his boyfriend (right) were at the Burger King at 1101 Washington Avenue around 3am and had just shared a kiss when they were approached by a man

Schaeffer continued: 'Then right after that kiss, I started walking over and that's when I was approached by this gentleman.'

Schaeffer said he was attacked by the man, who said to him: 'Why don't you show if you're tough or not you little f----.'

The tourist said he believes his attacker had some kind of martial arts training because of the way he was picked up and slammed to the ground.

'It all happened so fast once I got slammed to the ground. It's just kind of a blur,' Schaeffer said.

'We're in 2016 and especially in a city like Miami Beach, where I thought being homosexual would be pretty accepted, it's just not right that anyone should suffer.'

Wanted: Police in Miami are trying to track down a suspect wanted over a gay hate crime, after a man was beaten up in a Burger King restaurant for kissing his boyfriend

Scene: The incident occurred at the Burger King at 1101 Washington Avenue around 3am

Schaeffer has since returned to LA and is recovering from his injuries.

Along with cuts to his face, Schaeffer also injured his back and wrist.

However, he said that it's the psychological injuries that are hurting him most.

'The biggest injury has been all the emotional trauma. We were going to Miami for a relaxing weekend and it was traumatizing, to be honest,' Schaeffer told NBC.

Police have confirmed the incident is being investigated as a hate crime.

'We believe this was a hate crime against Jordan because of his sexual orientation,' Attorney Douglas Ede said.

Anyone with any information about the incident or the men involved is urged to call Crime Stoppers at (305) 471-TIPS.
School was told by lawyers the incident did not warrant a police complaint

A school accused of keeping quiet after sacking a caretaker for allegedly touching a child inappropriately was told by lawyers the incident did not warrant a police complaint.

Robert Selwyn Burrett worked as a caretaker and bus driver for disabled children for another month until he was arrested over the offence after a parent notified authorities, Stuff NZ reported.

Lawyer David Beck said the school sought legal advice after Burrett - who is known as one of New Zealand's worst child sex offenders - admitted to acting inappropriately when he gave the girl a hug.

Child sex offender Robert Selwyn Burrett was sacked after he admitted to touching a child inappropriately

The 64-year-old had subjected his victims, aged between five and 12, to rape, sodomy and forced oral sex

The school terminated his caretaker contract on February 25 last year but was told by lawyers the incident did not warranted a criminal complaint or required to notify the Ministry of Education, Mr Beck said.

The incident came to light on March 24 after police contacted the school over an unrelated complaint that was lodged against Burrett.

In February, the 64-year-old child sex offender pleaded guilty to 21 charges of child sex abuse against girls aged between five and 12. He will be sentenced on April 12.

He subjected his victims to rape, sodomy, forced oral sex and watching pornography in an underground shed that he had installed with curtains and locks between 2013 and 2015.

Burrett had worked in the countrys education system for more than 30 years before he was arrested and charged with sexually violating 12 young girls last year.

Burrett (at back) worked in New Zealand's education system for more than 30 years before he was arrested

Even before his Christchurch offending, there were red flags. In the 1990s while principal at Lake Rotama School it is alleged he masturbated in class and took girls out of school without parent permission

He would often film the abuse and three of his victims had intellectual or physical disabilities.

Burrett started work as a caretaker at the Christchurch school in 2013. He held another job as a bus driver transporting children with intellectual and physical disabilities.

The details of Burretts offending were outlined in his court hearing last month.

One victim, aged between 10 and 12, said she was raped most days, at morning tea and lunch time during school, stuff.co.nz reported.

The court also heard that he would take two nine and 10-year-old girls into his shed and abuse them, stuff.co.nz reported.

He repeatedly warned his victims not to say anything about the harassment.

Burrett worked as school caretaker and would abuse his victims in a blacked-out shed, often filming the abuse

Burrett pleaded guilty to 21 charges of child sex abuse in the Christchurch High Court in February this year

Burrett also had another job as a bus driver transporting disabled children to and from school

He was struck off the teachers register after he plead guilty in 2016, but some parents, former students and school administrators are dismayed he was allowed to work in the education system for so long.

Burrett worked in various roles at schools across New Zealand despite red flags early in his career, a New Zealand Herald investigation has found.

In the 1990s while principal at Lake Rotama School in the central North Island it is alleged he taught drunk, masturbated in class and took girls out of school without parent permission.

A decade later he was pushed out of another school he was working as deputy principal at for incompetence, The New Zealand Herald reported.
Gloria Vanderbilt talked about her great loves and her children during an appearance of Live With Kelly and Michael on Tuesday, where she was interviewed by Kelly Ripa and a very special guest host - her son Anderson Cooper.

The heiress and Cooper also showed a new clip from their HBO documentary Nothing Left Unsaid where Vanderbilt speaks to her son about how much she wanted a daughter.

'When you were born I was sure it was going to be a girl,' Vanderbilt tells Cooper, her fourth son.

'I was meant to have daughters.'

Cooper then jokes with his mother; 'I wont take it personally.'

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Mother's hopes: Gloria Vanderbilt (above on Tuesday) tells her son Anderson Cooper in their new documentary that she was 'sure' he was going to be a girl when she was pregnant

Insight: During the clip a list of possible names for her fourth child can be seen on the screen from one of her old notepads (above)

Back in the day: Vanderbilt poses for a portrait session with her sons Anderson Cooper (right) and Carter Vanderbilt Cooper (left)

During the clip from the documentary, which will air Saturday on HBO, a list of possible names can also been seen for the unborn child.

For a boy there is 'Vanderbilt,' 'Anderson,' and 'Hays' and for a girl the options include 'Courtney,' 'Kendall,' Morgan,' and 'Jennifer.'

In thew end Vanderbilt had four sons.

Vanderbilt also spoke at some of her famous loves, and how important it was for her to remain lifelong friends with them all after they parted.

Her first boyfriend when she arrived in Hollywood at the age of 17 was one if the biggest stars of all time Errol Flynn.

'That was very brief,' said Vanderbilt of their relationship.

'But I was so goggle-eyed at 17, I was so moviestruck, that these were like gods to me because all my life I had grown up as a child watching them on the movies and suddenly here they were looking at me and they were asking me out.'

Cooper then brought up the fact that Vanderbilt almost married Howard Hughes.

'Well he was the best,' said Vanderbilt. 'The most of the ones that meant the most to me.'

Her son then asked her about her relationship with Frank Sinatra.

'Frank Sinatra's the greatest friend,' said Vanderbilt.

'Great to be with. I mean, he was just kind of the most amazing person in my life because he came along at a time when I thought I was trapped in a marriage I didn't want to be in.

'I thought the man I was married to was god and he would never let me go, and then Frank Sinatra came along.'

No such luck: 'I was meant to have daughters,' says Vanderbilt, who ended up having four sons

Past loves: Vanderbilt also talked about some of her famous loves, including Frank Sinatra (above in 1955)

After Sinatra asked her out on a date Vanderbilt ended that marriage, her second, to composer Leopold Stokowski.

Stokowski was the father of her first two sons Leopold and Christopher.

Vanderbilt and her son Leopold, who goes by Stan, remain close but she has been estranged from her other son, Christopher, since 1978 after he accused her therapist of meddling in his love life.

Stan has three children, Vanderbilt's only grandchildren, daughters Aurora and Aubra and son Myles.

Vanderbilt and her second husband were married for 10 years before she had the courage to leave, because of Sinatra,
He pleaded guilty and was jailed for between 14 months and five years

The 32-year-old was found sitting in the snow a block away from the crash

A man with 'Psycho X Pathic' tattooed across forehead has been jailed after crashing into another car while four times over the limit.

Timothy Wachowski was found to have an 'ultra high' blood alcohol level when he was arrested on December 29 after the smash in South Monroe Street in Bay City, Michigan.

Police had responded to reports of a hit-and-run after a blue 2003 Dodge Neon had struck a 2005 Chevrolet from behind, Michigan Live reports.

Timothy Wachowski was found to have an 'ultra high' blood alcohol level when he was arrested on December 29

Wachowski tried to flee the scene but was found by officers sitting in snow on the sidewalk in the next block. A police report states that the 32-year-old appeared intoxicated and smelled of alcohol.

A blood test revealed a blood-alcohol level of 0.316 percent compared to the legal limit in Michigan of 0.08 percent.

'He's lucky to be alive at this point,' said Bay County Assistant Prosecutor Michael Huber who described the result as 'alarmingly high.'

'Honestly, I'm not sure how he was able to get behind the wheel of the car.'

Wachowski pleaded guilty to operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated in February - his third DUI offense.

He told the court that he had drunk a pint of vodka after work before getting behind the wheel.

But he claimed that was not enough to create such a high reading and said he hoped to get checked for a disorder which can account for the result.

Bay County Circuit Judge Joseph K. Sheeran disagreed telling the suspect that he would have needed to have been drinking heavily for some time to get such a high reading

Wachowski, pictured on his arrest in 2010 for armed robbery (left) and in his 2013 mugshot for theft (right) told the judge he had been working hard to get his life back on track

Wachowski crashed his blue 2003 Dodge Neon into the back of a 2005 Chevrolet in South Monroe Street (pictured) in Bay City, Michigan

Wachowski, who has a lengthy criminal record which includes charges of armed robbery and theft, told the judge he had been working hard to get his life back on track.

'I really want to be able to go back to work and get my life in the right direction,' he said.

'I'm 32 years old and I'm tired of dealing with this.'

He also apologized to the victim of the crash and explained that he had been back in the area to try and re-establish relationships with his children and care for his mom.

His attorney, Bruce K. Mannikko, appealed to the judge not to send his client to jail but to a rehab facility instead.

He said Wachowski, who has been in custody since his arrest, had his job waiting for him at Acme Septic Tank if he were to be released.

'Look at this history, of course it's not a good history, at least in the criminal aspects of it,' Mannikko said. 'It's been about eight years since his last drinking and driving offense. We ask the court take that into consideration.'

But on Monday, Judge Sheeran sentenced Wachowski to between 14 months and five years in prison, with credit for the 97 days already served.
Bizarre rumours claiming North Korea tyrant Kim Jong-Un has suddenly died swept across Twitter today.

The tweets appeared to have been sparked by a fake account under the name of South Korea's defence minister Han Min-goo.

While many believed the post, others were more skeptical, noting the account which made the claim has since been suspended.

The bizarre rumours began circulating online after a fake Twitter account - which has since been suspended - claimed Kim Jong-Un was dead or seriously injured

The rumour spread across Twitter, though many took the news with a heavy dose of skepticism

At least one website ran a report speculating on the rumours that he may have been killed in a 'military intervention'.

It comes as an official North Korean website today released a new propaganda video portraying a multiple rocket attack on South Korea's presidential Blue House and other government buildings in Seoul.

It was uploaded Monday to the DPRK Today website, which had released another video 10 days before depicting a nuclear attack on Washington.

Tensions have been rising on the Korean peninsula ever since the North conducted its fourth nuclear test on January 6.

Over the past month, Pyongyang has issued repeated threats of strikes against Seoul and Washington, largely in response to annual South Korea-US war games that kicked off in early March.

The ongoing joint exercises have been larger than usual and included a special operation to 'decapitate' the North Korean leadership in the event of a full-scale conflict.

Pyongyang took that as a direct threat to leader Kim Jong-Un, and the Korean People's Army (KPA) recently issued an 'ultimatum' demanding South Korean President Park Geun-Hye apologise and punish those who formulated the strategy.

The new 88-second video - entitled 'If the ultimatum goes unanswered' - showed rockets fired from mobile launchers in the North slamming into the Blue House and destroying the buildings in a ball of fire.
Has uncovered two new witnesses but now he is dead will face no charges

He passed away in January this year as fresh probe was being conducted

There has never been sufficient evidence to charge the serial child killer

Schoolgirl believed to have been murdered by Black in Devon in 1978

Genette Tate's body has not been found since she vanished while delivering evening newspapers in Aylesbeare, near Exeter, in 1978

Britain's longest missing person investigation has finally been closed after police found two new witnesses after almost 40 years.

Robert Black - who died in prison in January - was believed to have murdered 13-year-old Genette Tate in Devon in 1978.

Police submitted a file of evidence against him to the Crown Prosecution Service after they found new witnesses.

Devon and Cornwall Police said the file runs to 'scores of pages'.

Genette's body has not been found since she vanished while delivering evening newspapers in Aylesbeare, near Exeter.

Her case is believed to be the longest running missing person inquiry in Britain.

And the end has come as the Crown Prosecution Service has told detectives it will not act because key suspect Black is dead

A senior police source said: 'We would like a clear statement that it [Crown Prosecution Service] would have charged Black with Genette's murder.

'It's the closest we can now get to justice and might offer some comfort to her family and the community.'

The new file is the result of two years of work by a dedicated group of eight detectives - including some who worked on the original inquiry - from the force's Major Crime Team.

But John Tate, Genette's father, was updet that Black's death meant he did not face justice.

Mr Tate said: 'It's a shame this file was not submitted earlier to the CPS.

'There was some talk of it being submitted last autumn, then the CPS would have had several months to decide whether to prosecute Black.

'That would have meant that Black would have died in January knowing that he was going to put on trial for Genette's murder.'

He added that he awaited the 'result of the CPS decision with interest'.

Detectives found two new witnesses following a re-investigation of the case, including an examination of the thousands of files from the original investigation.

They have been re-interviewed at length, senior police sources said, and have 'strengthened the circumstantial case against Black'.

The witnesses' evidence 'concerns Black's behaviour' at the time she disappeared, the sources added.

Black, who was serving a life sentence for the murders of four children, was arrested and questioned in 2005 over the Genette Tate case, but not charged.

The force sent a file to the CPS, but three years later it decided there was insufficient evidence to charge Black.

Robert Black - who died in prison in January - was believed to have murdered 13-year-old Genette Tate in Devon in 1978. A file of evidence against him has been submitted to prosecutors after police found new witnesses

A police photograph taken at the time which shows the 13-year-old's abandoned bicycle lying on a Devon lane

He denied any involvement in Genette's disappearance.

A Devon and Cornwall Police spokesman said today: 'A file concerning this matter was sent to the CPS for a charging decision.

'This has been a long and complex enquiry and we have kept the family of Genette Tate informed throughout.

'We have now been advised by the CPS that they will not make a charging decision in respect of this case because of the suspect being deceased.

'This is in line with national policy on the matter from the CPS.'

Asked why had the police worked on this file for so long, the spokesman said: 'This is a new policy initiated by the CPS. Until very recently this policy was not in place.'

Both the CPS and DPP declined to comment.
An African-born mother beat her naked 14-year-old son with a studded leather belt as punishment for doing a school project about the Ku Klux Klan, a court heard.

The mother is accused of beating her son regularly over a two-year period with belts, an electric cable, a wooden spoon and a broom handle.

A jury at Exeter Crown Court heard she beat him as hard as she could which left bloody marks on his body that were found by doctors weeks later.

On one occasion, the boy was given a beating when he asked if he could make a Ku Klux Klan hat for a school project, the court heard

The boy alleges she made him strip naked for his beatings.

He had to either lie on the floor while she lashed him with a belt or bend over a sofa as she hit him with the broomstick until it broke, the court was told.

After one beating the boy told a teacher, who sent an email to his school's safeguarding team but it was forgotten or overlooked, which meant the alleged abuse continued for another year.

It went on until the boy revealed to another teacher how he was too frightened to take home a bad report card.

He then gave a video taped interview to police in which he sobbed as he recounted his punishments.

The mother, from sub-Saharan Africa, denies six counts of child cruelty between 2012 and 2014, when the boy was aged 12 to 14.

Brian Fitzherbert, prosecuting, said the mother moved to Britain in 2002 but her son only joined her a decade later.

He lived with his mother and older sister at two houses in Exeter, where he attended one of the local schools.

Mr Fitzherbert said: 'This defendant was systematically cruel to her son over a period of time. It involved beating him with a series of weapons including her hand, belts, an electric cable, a broom handle and a wooden spoon.

'She did it under the name of punishment or correction for his bad behaviour. We say each beating was an assault and each was an incident of child cruelty.

'In July 2013 the boy told a teacher his mother had hit him. The teacher sent an e-mail to the safeguarding team but sadly it was forgotten or overlooked and nothing was done.

'More than a year later in September 2014 he approached another teacher. He could not bring himself to speak, so he wrote it down. He wrote "when I do something wrong, my mother beats me."

'He said he had not given her his last report because it was bad and he was scared. This time the police were called in and he was video interviewed.

'He spoke about a number of times he had been beaten by his mother. On one occasion he asked if he could make a Ku Klux Klan hat for a school project.

An African-born mother beat her naked 14-year-old son with a studded leather belt as punishment for doing a school project about the Ku Klux Klan, a court heard

'She made him take off all his clothes and lie face down on the floor of her bedroom while she beat his bottom and lower back with a belt with rings or studs. It left him with bloody cuts which he washed off in the shower.

'It was not the first time she had beaten him with a belt. He also told how he was beaten with a broom handle from which the brush had been removed.

'He said this happened when he was 13. He could not remember what he had done wrong or made his mother angry but he had to take his clothes off and lean over the sofa in the living room.

'She beat him with the broom until it broke. He was not cut but was left with marks. On another occasion he was beaten with an electrical cable.

'He said she regularly slapped him for relatively minor pieces of bad behaviour.

'On one occasion she hit him with a wooden spoon around the shoulders when he failed to clear up some sugar he had spilt.'

Mr Fitzherbert said doctors found half centimetre circular scars on his back and thigh which were consistent with his account.

The mother, from Exeter, Devon, who cannot be named for legal reasons because it would identify her son, denied beating him and said he had made up the allegations.
Sydney siege hostage Marcia Mikhael has spoken out about her anger against police negotiators who failed to get the Prime Minister on the phone and an Islamic State flag as requested by the gunman.

The mother of three was one of 18 people held hostage by gunman Man Haron Monis during the 17-hour ordeal at the Lindt cafe in Martin Place on December 15 2014.

Speaking at the inquest on Tuesday, Ms Mikhael believed police negotiators had 'done nothing' and 'left us here to die' after failing to meet the demands of Monis.

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Sydney siege hostage Marcia Mikhael has spoken out about her anger against police negotiators who failed to meet the gunman's demands during the deadly ordeal

During the deadly siege, Ms Mikhael spoke to police negotiators and was asked by Monis to get the Prime Minister on the phone.

'I didn't understand why it was so difficult for the prime minister to get on the phone,' she said.

She described her anger and concern when she was told that Tony Abbott was too busy to speak.

'You don't tell someone who had a gun pointed at their head that,' she said.

She criticised the police response, saying there was no negotiations with Monis.

'It was just me on the phone,' she said.

'Monis wasn't on the phone with (the police negotiator). There was no negotiation.'

Sydney siege survivor Marcia Mikhael pictured leaving the inquest after giving evidence on Tuesday

Ms Mikhael also told counsel assisting the inquest Jeremy Gormly SC that she couldn't understand why it was so difficult to get a flag.

She also recounted the final moments of the siege, and how she had to step over Monis' 'blown apart' head on the way out of the cafe.

'They had to step over Monis and half his head was blown out,' she said.

This comes after Ms Mikhael thought the siege was a television prank during the initial moments of what was to become a 17-hour ordeal that would end in tragedy.

Ms Mikhael and two colleagues were among the hostage when Monis pulled a sawn-off shotgun from a blue bag and ordered staff to lock the cafe's doors.

After pulling the gun from the bag, Monis said no one was to leave, Ms Mikhael told the inquest into the siege.

'I thought Channel Seven was going to come out of the kitchen and say 'prank',' she said.

But it was not a joke and while brandishing a shotgun Monis ordered people to leave their mobile phones on a table and arranged the hostages to stand at windows around the cafe.

Ms Mikhael first thought the siege was a joke, but when the doors were locked she realised it was real

Police pictured in Martin Place during the siege which ended after 17 hours in the early hours of December 15

Ms Mikhael said she thought Monis had done this to give himself protection and prove the siege was serious.

Ms Mikhael was moved near the front doors where she stood looking out of the cafe, terrified of the scene unfolding behind her.

'I was frozen in fear,' she said.

Ms Mikhael said she was angry and worried when told the Prime Minister was too busy to speak.

'You don't tell someone who had a gun pointed at their head that,' she said.

Ms Mikhael also told the inquest she couldn't understand why it was so difficult to get Monis a flag.

During the inquest Ms Mikhael thanked Senior Constable Paul Withers, the first officer to arrive, who managed to communicate with her without alerting Monis

Lindt Cafe siege survivor Marcia Mikhael (centre) is embraced during a ceremony to commemorate the first anniversary of the Lindt Cafe siege at Martin Place in Sydney

The siege lasted until officers stormed the building early the next morning, with two hostages - Mr Johnson and Katrina Dawson - and the gunmen dead

During the inquest Ms Mikhael thanked Senior Constable Paul Withers, the first officer to arrive, who managed to communicate with her without alerting Monis.

He gestured to Ms Mikhael and encouraged her to calm her breathing, which she said helped her cope.

Ms Mikhael said she spent about seven minutes under the tables and described the final minutes of the siege as a 'blur'.

Monis, who had shot at the fleeing captives, reloaded his gun and ordered cafe manager Tori Johnson to 'come over here right now', Ms Mikhael told the coronial inquest on Tuesday.

She was lying on her stomach and couldn't see what happened next - as Monis executed Mr Johnson at point-blank range.

She said police stormed the building shortly after.

'There were shots being fired from inside and outside, the sound of little grenades,' she said.

'It was like being inside a firework.'

Marcia Mikhael was injured during the dramatic end of the Sydney siege, and says thos final moments were like 'being inside a firework'

The survivor spoke about her anger toward Tony Abbott when he couldn't get on the phone as requested

Officers and Monis were shooting at each other and Ms Mikhael was trying to block out the noise by placing her hands over her ears.

She said it was 'the most horrible thing'.

While lying under the tables, Ms Mikhael felt a pain in both legs and realised she had been shot.

She tried to move closer to cover and curled into the fetal position, trying to avoid becoming a target again.

After police had stormed the building and killed Monis, two officers carried Ms Mikhael out of the cafe with bullet wounds in both her legs.

Ms Mikhael said her hopes of leaving alive faded as the siege continued.

By the end of the night, she had 'lost faith that it was going to be a good ending'.

'It wasn't going to end with negotiations,' she said.

'It was going to end some other way.'

Joel Herat said he decided there was a high risk involved with stabbing the gunman that he decided against it

Monis (pictured) died at the end of the siege when police stormed the cafe after 17 hours

At the end of the siege ordeal, dramatic footage showed Ms Mikhael, who suffered wounds in both legs by shrapnel, being carried by two officers from the cafe.

Cafe manager Tori Johnson, barrister Katrina Dawson and Monis were killed during the siege.

On Monday, hostage Elly Chen described how fellow captive and Lindt employee April Bae had secretly opened a locked door so the pair could run to safety.
Australians across the nation have weighed in on Nine's reality match-making television program Married At First Sight.

While many drew comparisons between the show's new villain Jono, who cheekily referred to his bride as 'woman', and radio host Ryan 'Fitzy' Fitzgerald - others poked fun at the program's 'scientific' approach to love.

'I think Jono May of been set up!! I could find a better match walking into my local,' one man wrote on Twitter, adding that the show needed 'tension to get ratings'.

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Australians across the nation have weighed in on Nine's reality match-making television program Married At First Sight

Another woman laid into Jono, making light of the name he chose to use during the couple's romantic nuptials.

'Rule no.1: Never marry anyone who wants to be called Jono in their wedding ceremony,' she posted on Twitter.

While Jono was feeling the heat on social media, many others were quick to comment on how attractive they thought Tuesday's second groom Xavier was.

One woman tweeted an exchange between her and a friend after her pal admitted the 26-year-old's good looks caused her 'stress'.

One woman tweeted an exchange between her and a friend after her pal admitted the 26-year-old's good looks caused her 'stress'

One man said the program gave them as 'much joy as fingernails scratching on a blackboard', while another questioned why he was still tuned into the romantic reality show when his wife was not present.

'What's wrong with me... Wifey is out and I'm still watching married at first sight.... Crikey,' he wrote.

Many others thought the show's producers could learn a thing or two from the popular dating app Tinder after watching tradesman Jono announce that his bride to be was 'not what I ordered'.

Would be so much better if they could just swipe them left or right at the altar. Less awkies.'

Just married! Simone and Xavier played the part of newly-weds perfectly as they celebrated their marriage

One man said the program gave them as 'much joy as fingernails scratching on a blackboard', while another questioned why he was still tuned into the romantic reality show when his wife was not present

Another cynic questioned the level of commitment that went into marrying a complete stranger.

'Im currently in the works of developing a follow up show for married at first sight. Its called cheated at first chance,' a Twitter user wrote on Tuesday night.

But the commentary was not all laughs, a number of people supporting marriage equality didn't appear to appreciate that two people who did not have the chance to establish genuine romantic feelings for one another could wed.

'So complete strangers can marry In this country but gay couples who've been together for years can't? Total sense there.'

Another cynic questioned the level of commitment that went into marrying a complete stranger
Christopher McNerlin came to her aid but was

Footage has emerged of a man being escorted by police off a British Airways plane after a passenger was allegedly bitten on board.

A 30-second clip recorded by a fellow passenger shows officers heading towards the back of the plane to apprehend the man, who can be heard shouting and swearing, shortly after he bit fellow traveller Christopher McNerlin.

They handcuffed the passenger, who allegedly became aggressive and violent, before leading him off the plane which had just landed at Heathrow Airport on Friday after flying from Dubai.

Arrested: A video recorded by a fellow passenger shows officers heading towards the back of the plane to apprehend the man, who can be heard shouting and swearing, shortly after he bit Christopher McNerlin

McNerlin became involved after going to the aid of a stewardess dealing with the aggressive traveller.

He was bitten on the arm during the incident and had to go to hospital for a check-up - but was allowed to sit in the cockpit by the pilot as thanks for his efforts.

The filmer later wrote online: 'There was a big disruption towards the end of the flight.

'I was sitting in the rear of Premium Economy, near the back curtain, and could hear a lot of shouting and what seemed like a struggle in the economy cabin.'

'I peered through the curtain to see a man standing up on the seats and cursing and pushing other passengers.

'The crew were very quick to react and restrain the guy, as did other male passengers who pulled him to the ground before the disruptive passenger could be restrained properly.

Got you: They handcuffed the passenger, who allegedly became aggressive and violent, before leading him off the plane which had just landed at Heathrow Airport on Friday after flying from Dubai

Violent: 'The crew were very quick to react and restrain the guy, as did other male passengers who pulled him to the ground before the disruptive passenger could be restrained properly

'A large amount of police came on board to take the man off the plane.'

The man can be heard protesting, 'I ain't resisting mate,' as the officers hold on to him while escorting him out.

Mr McNerlin, who works for 'trend forecasting' company WGSN, posted pictures to social media of the bite mark, along with one of himself giving the 'thumbs up' as he sat in the cockpit once the plane had landed safely and was in a hangar.

He wrote: 'That time when you help restrain and handcuff a nutter at 40,000ft. He bites you, but it's all OK because Captain Kendal lets you sit in the cockpit.'

And he added: 'At A&E after helping the British Airways stewardesses restrain a violent passenger on board yesterday's BA0104.

McNerlin wrote on social media: 'That time when you help restrain and handcuff a nutter at 40,000ft. He bites you, but it's all OK because Captain Kendal lets you sit in the cockpit'

Mr McNerlin posted pictures to social media of a mark beneath a tattoo of a triangle on his arm

'Incredible team on the flight, especially Hayley, who put herself in harm's way to protect passengers. Thanks to British Airways Captain Kendal for showing me the cockpit. The bite and A&E were almost worth it.'

British Airways thanked Mr McNerlin, from Stratford-upon-Avon, saying: 'We hope you are all right. I'm sure Hayley would've appreciated your assistance on board. Thanks.'

The airline said the matter was now being dealt with by police, who said officers were called to the airport shortly before 6pm.

A spokesperson for British Airways said: 'Our customers and crews deserve to enjoy their flights, and not to suffer any form of abuse. Appropriate action will always be taken.'

Speaking to MailOnline Travel, a Metropolitan Police spokeswoman said: 'Officers attended and found a 21-year-old man who had assaulted a passenger. The man was arrested on suspicion of actual bodily harm and being drunk on board an aircraft.

'He was taken to a west London police station and has been bailed to a date in late May. The injured passenger received medical assistance for a minor injury at the scene.'
Passenger: Juan Carlos, 20, was charged with fleeing police and driving without a license

An Uber passenger allegedly took the wheel while his driver slept and later crashed the car while trying to elude police in a speeding chase.

Police say 20-year-old New York City resident Juan Carlos hired the Uber driver Corey Robinson, 43, in Philadelphia to take him over 200 miles to central New York to a college in Herkimer, according to the Press and Sun Bulletin. The trip usually takes just under five hours.

Police say the sleepy driver asked Carlos to take over the wheel on Saturday while he napped, and a trooper later clocked Carlos going 86 mph in a 65 mph zone on Interstate 81 near Binghamton.

Troopers tried to stop Carlos for speeding, but he refused to halt the car and instead went faster as he headed north, police said.

When Robinson woke up and asked Carlos why he was driving so fast, Carlos told him it was because police were chasing them. Robinson allegedly pleaded with Carlos to stop the car but the determined passenger refused.

Carlos later crashed into a guard rail on Sanitaria Springs Road in the Town of Colesville, New York. Both Carlos and Robinson suffered minor injuries.

Carlos was charged with fleeing police and driving without a license. It wasn't clear if he has a lawyer.

'Both the driver-partner and rider have been suspended from the platform while we look into the matter,' Uber spokeswoman Alix Anfang told the New York Daily News. 'We are reaching out to the authorities to assist in their investigation.'
Two other claims will be lodged and eight others are being investigated

Ten claims for damages have been filed in the NSW Supreme Court

The students have claimed they were sexually assaulted by school staff

Four elite Sydney schools are being sued by former students who claim they suffered sexual abuse at the hands of teachers and staff during their time at the colleges.

The former students' lawyer Ross Koffel has filed ten claims for damages in the New South Wales Supreme Court against four Sydney schools - Knox Grammar, Waverley College, De La Salle College Revesby Heights and The Scots College.

Mr Koffel said the students involved were allegedly sexually abused by teachers on school grounds or during a school activity, and the schools are accused of failing in their duty of care to look after the students.

Ten damages claims have been filed in the NSW Supreme Court(pictured) against four Sydney schools - Knox Grammar, Waverley College, De La Salle College Revesby Heights and The Scots College

He said he surprised by the number of men who have approached him with harrowing tales of abuse.

'It just seemed to me to be the same problem in school after school after school and it surprised us how many schools, how many students are affected,' Mr Koffel told the ABC

'It is a systemic problem in the institutions, in the schools. We're alleging sexual abuse of the students during school hours in most cases and on the school premises, and it just really couldn't be worse.'

The amounts claimed range from the hundreds of thousands of dollars to millions, with the average age of the plaintiffs around 40.

Mr Koffel said it was extremely difficult for his clients to come forward with their claims given that sexual abuse allegations are often swept under the rug.

'It takes a very long time, particularly a male who was assaulted, to actually talk about it and come forward,' he told AAP.

Three men who were abused as boys during their time at Scots College, in Sydney's east, were among the claimants.

Tom Jackson told the ABC he complained to the school about 'notorious pedophile John Joseph Beckett who preyed on him and his two classmates in 1989 but they encouraged him not to approach police.

Three men who were abused as boys during their time at Scots College, in Sydney's east, are among the claimants

Tom Jackson said he complained to the school about 'notorious pedophile John Joseph Beckett who preyed on him and his two classmates in 1989 but they encouraged him not to approach police.

'The response at the end was: 'Don't talk to the police, we'll deal with it. He won't take the tour again',' Mr Jackson said.

He told a court that the school and its senior staff had failed to protect the young students he sexually abused during his time as a teacher considering he remained at the school after the complaint was made and was not arrested until two witnesses came forward to police.

Adrian Coorie, a former student at De La Salle College in Revesby Heights, in Sydney's south-west, has also joined the damages claim, alleging he was sexually abused by his religion teacher Errol Swayne, the ABC reported.

Adrian Coorie, a former student at De La Salle College in Revesby Heights, in Sydney's south-west, has also joined the damages claim, alleging he was sexually abused by his religion teacher Errol Swayne

He allegedly showed the 10-year-old pornographic films and sexually assaulted him as a form of 'punishment' on school grounds .

The religion teacher took his own life before facing trail, with Mr Coorie, who suffered with depression in the years after the alleged abuse, only finding out he had indecently assaulted other students when he gave evidence at the royal commission into institutionalised child sex abuse.

'Even though it was quite naive sometimes you can think you're the only person something has happened to but that's not the case and that's where that was confirmed.'

A man making a claim against Waverley Boys College, in Sydney's east, alleged he was sexually abused by a cadet officer when he was 16-years-old at a school camp, according to the ABC.

A man making a claim against Waverley Boys College, in Sydney's east, alleged he was sexually abused by a cadet officer when he was 16-years-old at a school camp

He came forward but the school rejected the young boy's claim, which silenced him until his wife tried to enrol his son at the prestigious school.

'He broke down at that point, he was unable to sign them. He had gone to the school, his father had gone to the school, his ex wife's father had gone to the school, he couldn't bring himself to sign the papers and at that point, he rang me,' Mr Koffel said.

The lawyer, who represented a number of students at the royal commission who alleged they were abused while studying at Knox Grammar, said he is preparing two further claims and is investigating another eight potential cases that involve other schools.

Comment has been sought from the schools.
Residents of Cagliari have reacted with fury to a protest held by migrants that blocked traffic and left the city in a standstill.

The Eritrean and Somali migrants, who are living on the island after having been rescued off the Libyan coast last month, want to be allowed to leave to travel further into Europe.

According to Breitbart, the protesters marched through the streets before occupying the city centre for seven hours.

The group of migrants arrived in Sardinia late last month after their boat (not pictured) ran into trouble after setting off from Libya. The migrants are demanding they are allowed to continue further north into Europe

Daniele Caruso, a local politician, told the website: 'Cagliari is hostage to illegal immigrants. Yet another street protest forces us to confront a public policy problem that can no longer be underrated.'

The protest last night eventually ended when they were talked down and sent back to their shelter outside the city.

The anti-immigration Northern League's Matteo Salvini said: 'I am sick and tired of these immigrants. They want to leave, so lets weigh them and ship them back home.'

The boats on which the migrants arrived had left Libya late last month but ran into trouble while crossing the Mediterranean.

At the time, the Italian coastguard said it had rescued more than 1,500 migrants in 11 separate operations in the Strait of Sicily in the space of a few days.

It comes as several dozen migrants being detained at a holding camp on the Greek island of Lesbos today also protested, shouting: 'We want freedom!'

They were among thousands of refugees and migrants who have arrived on Lesbos on or since March 20 from Turkey and who are being held under a new EU agreement with Ankara until their asylum requests are processed and they are accepted or sent back.

The first group of 202 migrants, most from Pakistan, were returned to Turkey on Monday from Lesbos and the Aegean island of Chios.

Through barbed wire at the Moria camp on Lesbos, one man held up a piece of cardboard, which read: 'Kill us if you want.'

Their protest came as a similar demonstration was held on the Greek island of Lesbos today (pictured), where migrants protested about the new deal which could see them sent back to Turkey
A statue of railway engineer Sir Nigel Gresley has ruffled a few feathers - because it did not include a duck at the designer's feet.

A mallard was originally included as Sir Nigel enjoyed breeding water fowl and trains he designed - including 'Mallard' - were named after birds.

But the bird was missing when the statue was unveiled at London King's Cross station today because his family, and others, were not keen on its inclusion.

A mallard was originally included (in plan, left) as Sir Nigel enjoyed breeding water fowl and trains he designed - included Mallard - were named after birds - but it was missing when the statue was unveiled today (right)

The row prompted several people to bring rubber ducks to the unveiling in protest at the decision not to include the bird with the statue

Sculptor Hazel Reeves stands next to her statue of the railway engineer, Sir Nigel Gresley, with his grandson Tim Godfrey, who thought having a duck with the statue was 'demeaning'

The Greasley Society Trust, which commissioned the statue, changed the original design because two of his grandsons thought the duck was 'demeaning'.

The decision to remove the duck divided the Trust, and the previous vice-chairman, Andrew Dow, resigned in protest.

Nigel Dant, who had the idea of putting the statue at King's Cross, also resigned.

The society's former publicity officer Dennis Butler, who resigned too, claimed removing the duck was 'madness'.

A wooden duck was placed next to the statue of Sir Nigel after it was unveiled at London King's Cross today

More than 3,200 people signed a petition calling for the duck to be reinstated and said it would increase interest surrounding the engineer's achievements.

His Flying Scotsman was the first steam locomotive to exceed 100mph in service, while the Mallard achieved a then world-record speed of 126mph in 1938.

Sir Nigel was knighted for his career achievements in 1936.

The row prompted several people to bring rubber ducks to the unveiling in protest at the decision not to include the bird with the statue.

Speaking to a crowd of around 200 people today John Cameron, president of the Gresley Society, said: 'There has been what I might call a lively debate about the statue design and the proposal to include a mallard duck to emphasise Sir Nigel's link with the locomotive of that name.

'However the Gresley Society trustees decided not to include such a feature.

'I do realise there may be some who still have different views on the matter.

'But today is all about honouring the memory of Sir Nigel Gresley and his various achievements.'

Philip Benham, vice-chairman of the Gresley Society Trust, added: 'We acknowledge that the duck was quite a clever idea but on reflection we didn't feel it was appropriate.

'If you look at how it would appear your immediate reaction would be one of amusement.

'We felt that it didn't properly portray what this is about, which is a great locomotive and railway engineer.'

Protesters gather at King's Cross station holding plastic ducks to show their displeasure at the statue

More than 3,200 people signed a petition calling for the duck to be reinstated and said it would increase interest surrounding the engineer's achievements

The sculptor, Hazel Reeves (pictured), said her work shows Sir Nigel 'in a moment of quizzical reflection'

Network Rail chairman Sir Peter Hendy unveiled the 95,000 7ft 4in bronze statue with members of Sir Nigel's family.

It was unveiled on the 75th anniversary of Sir Nigel's death, a few yards from where he had his office.

The sculptor, Hazel Reeves, said her work shows Sir Nigel 'in a moment of quizzical reflection'.

She added: 'He's looking out towards the future.'

Born in 1876, Sir Nigel became chief mechanical engineer of the London and North Eastern Railway.

He died at home unexpectedly on April 5, 1941 at the age of 64.

The statue shows him holding a copy of The Locomotive magazine, which carries a description of Mallard.

In a speech to mark its unveiling, Sir Peter said: 'This marvellous sculpture commemorates a man who looked relentlessly forward in his day to more powerful locomotives, faster locomotives and the world steam speed record with Mallard.

'We're proud to have Sir Nigel on our station as a commemoration to a great railway mechanical engineer who pushed the technical boundaries of the steam locomotive further than anyone else.'
Hillary Clinton doesn't want to give off the impression that she's measuring those White House drapes telling the women on 'The View' today that she still hasn't a clue what to call Bill Clinton if she becomes president.

'Well, I mean we really should run kind of a contest,' the former secretary of state suggested, noting that 'first gentleman,' 'first mate' and 'first dude' have all been put forward.

'I hope he'll have a lot of involvement in starting the economy to really take off,' she said of her husband former President Bill Clinton's role in a possible Clinton II Administration.

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Hillary Clinton returned to New York today to appear on a long segment on 'The View,' where she discussed what the American public would call her husband if she's elected president

Hillary Clinton (left) spoke with Joy Behar (right) and the ladies of 'The View' today and discussed a number of topics including her Hollywood celebrity crush

Clinton popped home to her native New York today, where she was twice elected by the state's voters to represent them in the U.S. Senate, as voters head to the polls in Wisconsin, a state that rival Bernie Sanders could very well win.

Clinton spent more than 30 minutes talking to the women of 'The View,' saying 'call me Hillary' and explaining what it's been like becoming a grandma and listing off some of her pop cultures favorites.

'It is like falling in love all over again, it is the best experience,' Clinton said of welcoming baby Charlotte, her only daughter Chelsea's first child, into the world.

'And, you know, all my friends who got there before me told me you're not going to believe what it's like, and I said "oh, that's nice,"' Clinton said of becoming a grandmother. 'I was happy for them and then it happens to you.'

She said her friends were right.

The former secretary of state revealed that baby Charlotte calls her 'grandma' and Bill Clinton 'pop pop,' the same nickname Chelsea had used for Hillary Clinton's dad, Hugh Rodham.

The baby always expects to see her grandparents together so when they're not  as they often travel separately on the campaign trail  she asks for the other one, Clinton said.

'The View' co-host Candace Cameron Bure presented Hillary Clinton with not one but two pantsuits for baby for granddaughter Charlotte and her second grandkid on the way

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (right) was tickled at the gift handed to her by panelist Candace Cameron Bure, an evangelical voter who asked Clinton to make her best pitch

The two pantsuits gifted to Hillary Clinton by the women of 'The View' included Hillary for president buttons and were meant for grandbaby Charlotte and Chelsea Clinton's child on the way

'She sees us coming as a matched set,' Clinton explained.

Clinton also excitedly talked about baby No. 2, as daughter Chelsea is again pregnant.

At that, host Candace Cameron Bure, who described herself as an evangelical voter and asked Clinton to make a pitch for her support, presented the politician with two matching blue pantsuits, sized for both grandkids  a present that Clinton adored.

The women were also curious about the Democratic frontrunner's pop culture taste and the candidate provided them with a very carefully curated list.

'I love 'Madame Secretary,' I love 'The Good Wife,' I like NCIS, all varieties, I like 'Castle,' and I have not yet seen the last season for 'Downton Abbey,'" she said of her favorite TV programs.

'Madame Secretary' is, of course, about a female secretary of state.

Clinton also noted she watched 'Grey's Anatomy' and 'Scandal,' the latter of which is about a Washington, D.C. fixer played by Kerry Washington who has a longtime affair with the president of the United States.

Last month, the lead actresses of those shows, Washington and 'Grey's Anatomy's' Ellen Pompeo, along with creator Shonda Rhimes and Viola Davis, star of the sister show 'How to Get Away With Murder,' endorsed Clinton in a video directed by Tony Goldwyn, who plays the president on 'Scandal' and has gone on the campaign trail for the Democrat.

'I love Katy Perry, nearly everything, I love Demi Lovato, nearly everything. I think she's an amazing talent and I love Adele, absolutely everything,' Clinton continued.

Both Perry and Lovato have performed at rallies in support of Clinton.

Adele's music is played at the rallies of Republican Donald Trump, but her spokesman has pushed back saying she gave no such permission to The Donald for this to go on.

Trump continued to play her music anyways.

Finally, Clinton was asked about celebrity crushes.

'Do I have a celebrity crush?' she said grinning and repeating the query. 'Well, I do have a number of them.'

She then only gave one  who happens to be throwing a high-dollar fundraiser for her, a point that rival Sanders has blasted.

'Who doesn't like George Clooney in whatever he does?' she said. 'He and his amazing wife Amal are doing an event for me. I am so excited.'

'This is the best thing ever, to have George Clooney do this event for me,' she continued.
An investment fell through, prompting the opening of a fraud case

Jona Rechnitz and Jeremy Reichberg tried to buy discounted liquor then sell it on at a profit

Suspected operation was uncovered when a business deal went wrong

Two senior cops allegedly had trips to the

The FBI is investigating an alleged cash-for-favors scandal in the NYPD involving businessmen connected to Bill De Blasio and a number of senior police officers, reports suggest. One of those reportedly involved is former -NYPD Chief of Department Philip Banks (pictured above)

The FBI is investigating an alleged cash-for-favors scandal in the NYPD involving businessmen connected to Bill De Blasio and a number of senior police officers, reports suggest.

According to the New York Post, officials are looking into 20 cops, three deputy chiefs and a precinct head who allegedly accepted cash, and in some cases went on exotic foreign trips, in exchange for influence.

There are also reports that cops carried out police escorts at two Jewish funerals in a bid to strike a deal with community leaders.

Businessmen Jona Rechnitz and Jeremy Reichberg are believed to have given money to a third party as part of a deal to buy cheap booze, but investors lost their money.

Rechnitz and Reichberg both served on de Blasio's 'inauguration team'. They planned his party when he took office in 2014. Rechnitz is also believed to be a De Blasio donor.

It prompted the feds to open a fraud prob and a grand jury is now being convened, the Post reported.

Wiretaps on the two businessmen's phones reportedly revealed relationships with several NYPD cops.

The newspaper reported that the probe soon led to then-NYPD Chief of Department Philip Banks and corrections union president Norman Seabrook.

They became close friends with the businessmen and reportedly traveled to the Caribbean and to Israel in 2014, a trip which is now under investigation.

Rechnitz paid for both of the men to go on their Caribbean jaunt, sources told the Post.

He also paid Seabrook's airfare and hotel bills in Israel.

Banks allegedly paid for the flight but left the accommodation up to his businessman friend. It was claimed the trip was personal, but he reportedly wore his NYPD uniform during a visit to the Wailing Wall.

Norman insists he did nothing wrong while Banks has not commented on the allegations.

Rechnitz also paid for at least part of other cops' trips to places such as London, Rome, Las Vegas and the Caribbean, sources said.

Sources told the newspaper that those being questioned as part of the probe include Deputy Inspector James Grant, head of the Upper East Side's 19th Precinct; Brooklyn South Deputy Chief Eric Rodriguez; and Deputy Housing Chief Michael Harrington.

Harrington worked for Banks before the chief of department retired.

Although he was on his personal time, Banks wore his NYPD uniform during a visit to the Western Wall in Jerusalem, and when he returned to New York, shared what he had learned with authorities here, sources said.

Corrections union president Norman Seabrook (pictured in 2009) allegedly went on all-expenses paid trips to the Caribbean and Israel, paid for by two businessmen looking for influence

A spokesman for the FBI told Daily Mail Online they would not be commenting on the case.

One of the officers who has already testified before the grand jury is veteran NYPD Community Affairs Officer Michael Milici.

According to the New York Daily News he has been placed on modified duty.

Rechnitz and Reichberg both served on de Blasio's 'inauguration team'. They planned his party when he took office in 2014. Rechnitz is also believed to be a De Blasio donor.
Suspected criminals should not be deported from Britain to other European countries if they might suffer poor treatment in prison, the EU's top court ruled today.

In two cases relating to Hungarian and Romanian national, the European Court of Justice said European Arrest Warrants did not mean suspects should be automatically surrendered.

The EAW is designed to speed up the extradition process for European Union citizens who have fled one country and are wanted for criminal proceedings in another.

Home Secretary Theresa May has cited the European Arrest Warrant as a key reason to stay in the EU

Home Secretary Theresa May cited the EAW as a key reason for Britain to stay a member of the European Union in June's referendum.

But a risk of inhuman or degrading treatment in jail for the suspect is enough to halt extradition, ECJ judges ruled today.

The ECJ was asked about the legal position following cases in which warrants were issued in Hungary and Romania.

A Hungarian investigating magistrate issued two EAWs with respect to Pal Aranyosi, a Hungarian national, so that a criminal prosecution could be brought for alleged offences of forced entry and theft.

The other case involved an EAW issued by a Romanian court in relation to Robert Caldararu to secure the enforcement of a prison sentence of one year and eight months imposed for driving without a driving licence.

Both men were located in Germany, where Mr Caldararu is currently detained. Mr Aranyosi is not in custody.

A German regional court found that the detention conditions to which Mr Aranyosi and Mr Caldararu might be subject in the Hungarian and Romanian prisons respectively were contrary to fundamental rights.

The ruling highlighted provisions which prohibit inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Previously the European Court of Human Rights held that Romania and Hungary had infringed rights due to prison overcrowding.

The German court sought to clarify with the ECJ whether this meant the execution of arrest warrants can or must be refused, or made subject to the condition that information sufficient to establish that detention conditions are compatible with fundamental rights is obtained.

Where the risk derives from 'general detention conditions', this cannot in itself lead to the execution of the warrant being refused.

There must be substantial grounds for believing the individual concerned will be exposed to such a risk because of the conditions in which it is envisaged that he or she will be detained, the court found.
Melissa Boarts, 36, was shot to death by police who were meant to take her to a mental hospital

The parents of an Alabama woman have been left devastated after the very police they called to help get their suicidal daughter to a mental hospital ended up shooting her dead instead.

Melissa Boarts, 36, was killed by an Auburn officer on Sunday after driving on Interstate 85 and threatening to kill herself. She had been diagnosed as bipolar.

She had first disappeared after her mother Terry arrived to pick up her two-year-old daughter.

'We were able to find out she was headed on the interstate going to Auburn,' Terry told the Montgomery Advertiser.

'She was threatening to slit her wrists with a knife.'

Terry and husband Michael Boarts put Melissa's daughter in the car and set off to find her.

Melinda Boarts, Melissa's twin sister, began tracking her movements on a computer thanks to a GPS they had put on her car and began relaying her movements to their parents.

But Michael and Terry were stuck in traffic, and Melinda had told them their daughter had pulled over at a rest stop.

'We were afraid she was going to hurt herself,' Terry said. 'We figured she was going to bleed out right there.'

That's when they decided they had to call 911.

Terry said she told police that Melissa was bipolar and depressed and that she had threatened to cut her wrists. She also told them Melissa had a knife.

Melinda continued to track her sister's movements, which her parents relayed to the police.

They were then told by a 911 dispatcher that Melissa's vehicle has stopped. They thought she was hit by a tree.

It would be hours before the Boarts found out what really happened to Melissa.

When they arrived at the scene they saw 14 police cars, a helicopter and two emergency vehicles. A sergeant told Michael that there had been one female fatality.

It wasn't until police called the Boarts back to the scene later that day that they found out their daughter had been shot to death.

Auburn police said Melissa exited the highway and pulled over on a road in Macon County.

Melissa's parents called 911 and asked for help after she took off in her car and said she was going to slit her wrists and kill herself. Police shot Melissa on this road in Macon County in Alabama

They claim she then got out of her car 'armed with a weapon and charged the officers in a threatening manner'. She died from a single gunshot wound.

Julian McPhillips, the family's attorney, said Melissa was carrying a pocket knife.

'We just think it was so unnecessary,' he said.

'She had a pocket knife on her, and she's only 5ft 4in, maybe 130lb against these big old husky law enforcement officers.'

'They could have Tased her or used a stick or something. They didn't need to shoot her.'

The shooting is being investigated by the Alabama State Bureau of Investigation and the Macon County Sheriff's Department.

Auburn Police Chief Paul Register said the shooter's identity has not been released but he has been placed on administrative leave.

Video from the officers' dash and body cameras has also been turned over to the Alabama State Bureau of Investigation.

Register said he believes it will show that the shooting was justified.

'This was obviously a tragic situation for the family, as well as the officers and their families,' he said.

'We're confident that once the facts are presented to a grand jury, the community will understand the actions of the officers.'

Melissa's parents Terry and Michael (pictured with their lawyer Julian McPhillips) plan to pursue legal action against the Auburn Police Department

Register said his officers had undergone training in the last month on dealing with people experiencing mental issues, and called the situation an outlier.

'Officers of the Auburn Police Division have encountered thousands of situations involving those with a weapon or intending to hurt themselves,' he said.

'In my entire 28 years with the police division, this is the first time that we've had an encounter that resulted in deadly force being used.'

The Boarts said they don't doubt Melissa may have threatened the officer, but said the shooting never should have happened because authorities knew 'exactly what was going on'.

'That's why we can'd understand why they had to shoot her,' said Michael, who worked as an officer of the Alabama Department of Corrections for 25 years.

'Any kind of decent police training would teach you how to deal with people with mental health issues,' said McPhillips.

'If you go around shooting them all just because they have a knife in their hand, that's terribly wrong.'
For the second time in as many years, a student at suburban New York's Elmont Memorial High School has been accepted at all eight Ivy League universities.

Augusta Uwamanzu-Nna has until May 1 to decide whether she'll attend one of the prestigious northeastern universities. The daughter of Nigerian immigrants also can choose from Johns Hopkins University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, New York University and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

'My recent accomplishments reflect the hardworking ideals of the town of Elmont, my supportive parents and my dedicated teachers. I am elated but most importantly I am thankful,' said the 17-year-old valedictorian with a 101.64 weighted grade-point average.

Elmont Memorial High School valedictorian Augusta Uwamanzu-Nna poses for a photo in an empty classroom on Monday, August 4, 2016

Augusta has until May 1 to decide which of the eight Ivy League schools she will attend. She also has the choice of NYU, MIT, Johns Hopkins University and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to choose from. Above, Elmont Memorial High School

Courtesy of Fios 1 News

Augusta is the daughter of Nigerian immigrants, who are obviously thrilled with her application success.

'My family is so excited,' Augusta told News 12 Long Island. 'Sometimes I feel like they get so much more excited than me. They literally scream. When I called my mom and told her, she was screaming on the phone.'

'Though I was born here in America, I visited Nigeria many times,' she told WABC. 'And I've seen that my cousins don't have the same opportunities that I have. So definitely, whatever I do, I want to make sure that it has an impact on Nigeria.'

The 17-year-old has a 101.6 weight GPA and says her favorite subject is science. On Monday, she also received an invitation to attend the White House Science Fair. The stand-out student pictured above with her parents

Augusta credits her success to her teachers, perseverance and her parents who taught her the importance of education.

'I've struggled with numerous classes in the past,' she said. 'But I guess what allowed me to be successful, ultimately, in those classes, at the end, is my persistence and my tenacity.'

Im still quite unsure what school Im going to attend, but I know attending any of them will be such a great honor. But for now, its just so amazing. I really cant believe it, still.

The subject that most interests Augusta is science, and she was a finalist in an Intel competition for her research project on a cement that could prevent underwater oil rigs from rupturing.

She even received an invitation on Monday to attend the White House Science Fair.

'She knows that you have to work,' Augusta's research adviser Michelle Flannory said. 'Is she naturally talented? Yes, but she definitely pursues excellence.'

With just under a month until she has to make her final decision, Augusta says she's still not sure which school she will attend.

'Im still quite unsure what school Im going to attend, but I know attending any of them will be such a great honor,' Augusta said. 'But for now, its just so amazing. I really cant believe it, still.'

Last year, Elmont's Harold Ekeh (also the son of Nigerian immigrants) chose Yale from among the 13 universities where he was accepted.

'We have been flying under the radar for years but there are some really great things happening here,' Caron Cox, chairwoman of pupil personnel services at Elmont Memorial High School, told Newsday.

This is the second time in two years that a student at Elmont Memorial High School has been accepted to all eight Ivy league schools. Last year, Elmont's Harld Ekeh (pictured) decided on Yale

Although still a rarity, acceptance at every Ivy League school appears to be a growing phenomenon.

Because the universities all operate independently on their admissions, there are no reliable statistics on how many students are accepted at all eight.

Fernando Rojas of Fullerton, California; Victor Agbafe, a student at Cape Fear Academy in Wilmington, North Carolina; and Ronald Nelson of Germantown, Tennessee, were among those accepted at all eight Ivy League schools in 2015.

Rojas chose Yale, Agbafe picked Harvard and Nelson opted against an Ivy school: the University of Alabama.
David Cameron today claimed Brexit could wreck budget airlines which flying millions of British tourists around Europe

David Cameron today claimed Brexit could cut Britain off from cheap flights to European holiday hotspots - days after he flew Ryanair to Lanzarote.

The Prime Minister insisted full membership of the EU single market was crucial for firms like easyJet to operate routes across Europe.

He said Canada - which has recently struck a deal with the EU praised by Brexit-backing Boris Johnson - could trade in the single market but could not run cheap flights between EU states.

Mr Cameron's latest intervention on the referendum echoes claims of his Education Secretary Nicky Morgan that Brexit would mean young people no longer being able to safely inter-rail across Europe.

Mr Cameron also argued there would be struggles for television companies, financial services firms and other businesses in being able to easily access markets in EU countries.

Despite pleas from some pro-EU campaigners to offer a positive outlook on Britain's future, Mr Cameron used an appearance in Birmingham to frequently emphasise the dangers and uncertainty of an exit.

His comments came as a poll indicated Downing Street's tactics, labelled Project Fear by critics, were working, with the Remain camp on 51 per cent and Leave trailing on 44 per cent.

The ORB poll for the Daily Telegraph found that only 5 per cent said they are undecided, with those who currently say they do not know how they will vote more likely to back the Remain campaign on June 23.

When certainty to vote is taken into account, the campaigns are virtually tied, with Remain on 49 per cent and Leave on 48 per cent.

Speaking to PwC workers in Birmingham, Mr Cameron said: 'Now, Canada has - or is about to have - the biggest free trade agreement there is with the European Union and some of the principal proponents of Britain leaving the EU have said we should have a Canada-style deal.

'But here's the rub - the Canada-style deal does not have really any good provisions about services.

'Let me just give you a couple of examples - a Canadian airline can fly between Canada and a European city but it can't fly within Europe.

'What does that mean for easyJet or for Ryanair, for companies like that that are so vital in terms of the cheap air flights that we all enjoy?

'Let me give you another example - if you're a television station, if you're located in Britain you can broadcast all the way through the European Union, not if you're a Canadian television station under the deal.'

Mr Cameron's remarks come just days after his latest holiday to Europe. The Prime Minister, pictured with wife Samantha on last month's trip, spent seven days in Lanzarote

Mr Cameron continued: 'Think of financial services, and you help so many financial services companies, with our arrangements inside the single market if you're located in Britain you can trade in any European country.

'If you're Canada, your financial services companies won't be able to do that - they have to set up in each and every European country.'

The PM added: 'If we leave the European Union, and if we have a deal like a Canada free trade deal, it will be very bad for our economy.

'It will be bad for jobs, it will be bad for investment and it will be particularly bad for services industries that need those markets.'

Earlier, Mr Cameron also warned leaving the EU would be an 'act of economic and political self-harm' and would not help the beleaguered British steel industry.

In reply to the comments made in the Telegraph, Vote Leave's chief executive Matthew Elliott said: 'The greatest act of economic self-harm is that we send Brussels 350 million every week in return for handing control of our economy and democracy to EU judges.

'It is deeply regrettable that the PM is basing his campaign on doing down Britain and ignoring the free trade zone from Iceland to Turkey that we will be part of when we vote Leave.'
The 'cannibalistic' Syrian rebel who was filmed eating a regime soldier's heart and liver has been killed in an ambush along the coast.

Graphic photos posted online show the body of Abu Sakkar, who fought for the al-Qaeda affiliated al Nusra Front, lying inside a body bag.

There are conflicting reports as to how he died in the north-western Latakia province, where there have been reports of deadly clashes between militia groups and government troops.

Abu Sakkar (pictured), the 'cannibalistic' Syrian rebel who was pictured eating a regime soldier's heart and liver, has been killed

In 2013, gruesome propaganda footage showed Sakkar (pictured) cutting out and eating a Syrian soldier's organs

Some experts and activist groups have claimed he was killed by the Syrian government while others say his convoy was attacked by another anti-Nusra rebel group.

Known as the 'Cannibal Rebel', Sakkar is said to have founded the Free Syrian Army's 'moderate' Farouq Brigade before joining al-Nusra front.

In 2013, a gruesome propaganda video which appeared to show him cutting out a government soldier's heart and eating it was posted online.

The clip, posted by a pro-government campaign group, claimed to show Sakkar standing over the uniformed corpse while ranting against Syrian President Bashar al Assad.

Using a knife, he hacked open the torso and removed the heart and liver, before holding them up to the camera and declaring: ' I swear to God we will eat your hearts and your livers, you soldiers of Bashar the dog.'

There are conflicting reports as to how the Sakkar (pictured) died in the north-western Latakia province

Other photos posted online after his death showed Sakkar in his military fatigues (left) and wrapped up in a white cloth after his death (right)

He then raised one to his mouth and took a bite.

The Nusra front tightened its grip on the village of Tel al-Ais which overlooks the Damascus-Aleppo highway, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights

Meanwhile other rebel groups, led by the militant Ahrar al Sham group, seized government positions in Latakia, where Sakkar was killed.

Heavy clashes led to casualties on both sides, opposition activists said today.

The coordinated rebel and Nusra Front offensive followed weeks of sporadic government air raids on opposition-held areas, despite the cease-fire.

The government has accused the insurgents of violating the truce by firing mortar shells on government-controlled areas.

Footage from 2013 claimed to show Sakkar (pictured) standing over the uniformed corpse while ranting against Syrian President Bashar al Assad

Syria's partial cease-fire appeared to be unraveling on Saturday amid fierce fighting between government forces and opposition fighters, including members of the al-Qaeda affiliated Nusra Front.

Clashes erupted outside the country's second largest city of Aleppo and other parts in the country's north.
A fugitive wanted in a fatal stabbing three weeks ago told a police officer to kill him at least 40 times in an intense confrontation on Interstate 75 just north of Cincinnati, Ohio last week.

Javier Aleman was captured by Glendale police officer Joshua Hilling's body cam, and the unsettling footage shows the 46-year-old suspect drawing a large knife, refusing orders to stay down, and repeatedly yelling: 'Kill me! Kill me now!'

Aleman, who is suspected of killing his roommate Victor Adolfo Serrano, 51, with the same knife he pulled on Hilling, was shot once in the abdomen by the officer and later stopped with a stun gun.

He is recovering in hospital and charged with attempted murder in the March 29 incident.

Javier Aleman was stopped by police officer Joshua Hilling on Interstate 75 in Cincinnati, whose body cam showed the 46-year-old fugitive suddenly drawing a large knife and repeatedly yelling: 'Kill me! Kill me now!'

Aleman was stopped by Hilling while he was walking along Interstate 75 around 5.30pm, and gave a fake name when the officer questioned what he was doing.

When Hilling told the man to stand with his hands on the trunk of his police cruiser so he could perform a routine pat down, the situation grew tense as Aleman suddenly turned and pulled out a large knife.

He repeatedly yelled for the officer to kill him, alternating between 'Kill me' and 'I'm going to kill you'.

Hilling (pictured) was commended for his 'remarkable restraint' in the situation

In the chilling scene, Aleman can be heard saying at one point: 'Please, I'm begging you. Do it.'

Hilling screamed at the man to stay down, maintaining his distance as Aleman staggered towards him with the knife, falling to the ground several times before getting back up.

The officer called for backup, eventually yelling: 'Sir, please just get down. Let us help you. Drop the knife.'

About 8 officers arrived on the scene, and Aleman was stopped with a stun gun and arrested, ending the stand-off that lasted about five minutes.

Glendale Police Chief Dave Warman told WLWT Aleman posed real threat, saying: 'If you noticed the way he takes the knife and he brings it to a striking stance.

'He's holding it down, he flips it over. So, he's well-skilled with a knife. You could tell.'

Hamilton County Sheriff Jim Neil said in a news conference: 'Distance is an asset for a police officer. What you [saw] here was an officer trying to deescalate an offender who was bringing deadly force forward. Its just excellent police work.'

Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters also commended Hilling and said he deserved a medal for showing 'remarkable restraint' in the situation, Cincinnati.com reported.

Police said there was an arrest warrant out for Aleman for the fatal stabbing of Victor Adolfo Serrano, who was found dead on March 17 with multiple stab wounds in Baltimore, Maryland.

Deters also said the knife Aleman was carrying in Ohio was likely to be the same murder weapon used to kill Serrano, although DNA results are still pending.

Aleman was stopped by Hilling while he was walking along Interstate 75 around 5.30pm, and gave a fake name when the officer questioned what he was doing

Aleman was wanted by Baltimore County Police after his roommate Victor Adolfo Serrano, 51, was found dead on March 17 with multiple stab wounds. Hilling shot Aleman (L and R) once, but it didn't stop the 46-year-old

The officer called for backup, eventually yelling: 'Sir, please just get down. Let us help you. Drop the knife.' Aleman was subdued by a stun gun and arrested.' Aleman was eventually subdued with a stun gun and arrested

Hilling, who was not injured in the incident, is reported to have been 'emotional' over the incident, but is due to return to work in a few days. He will not face charges for shooting Aleman.

If Aleman, who is still recovering in hospital, is indicted and convicted for the attempted murder charge, he could face 11 years in prison.
A man accused of sexually exploiting a 15-year-old girl bought Fifty Shades of Grey-style bondage gear to dress her up in after watching the movie, a court heard.

Joseph Spencer, 35, made the teenager dress in a basque, handcuffs, leash, gang and rope, before filming and photographing her, the court was told.

Spencer bought the items online before later telling police he had got her a blindfold and a pair of fluffy handcuff and she liked being spanked by him.

Joseph Spencer dressed his alleged victim up in 50 Shades of Grey-style bondage gear, including a basque, handcuffs, and leash before filming and photographing her after he watched the 2015 movie

Bradford Crown Court, pictured, heard the alleged victim had learning difficulties and low self esteem

David McGonigal, prosecuting, told Bradford Crown Court, West Yorkshire that videos of the youngster, taken by Spencer, show her crying out in pain and discomfort.

He told the court the girl had learning difficulties as well as suffering from low self-esteem.

Mr McGonigal said: 'He [Spencer] befriended a young and vulnerable girl and exploited her for his own sexual pleasure.'

The jury heard Spencer, who had come to the UK from Nigeria in 1998, had allegedly began having sex with the girl when she was 15.

He is also accused of taking pictures on his phone of himself engaging in sexual activity with the girl.

When police searched his home computer they found pictures downloaded from his mobile phone of the girl dressed in a red and black basque, while handcuffed, with a leash around her neck, wearing a gag and having a rope tied round her arms, the jury was told.

Spencer was arrested after being spotted by one of the girl's teachers walking hand-in-hand with the teenager.

He told police the girl insisted she wanted to be with him and she knew more about sex than he did.

He also told them that the girl didn't have a learning disability.

Mr McGonigal said: 'He said he was being led along [by the girl] but the prosecution says it was quite the other way round.'

Spencer, whose address was given as HMP Leeds, West Yorkshire but previously lived in Bradford, denies 13 offences - including three counts of sexual activity with a child, one count of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and nine charges of making indecent photos and videos of the girl.
Norwegian Minister of Migration and Integration Sylvi Listhaug, who presented a bill to the Norwegian parliament today on asylum seekers

Migrants in Norway with 'obviously groundless' asylum claims could be jailed for up to 72 hours to stop them escaping into the criminal underworld while their cases are processed.

The plan is part of a bill proposed today by Integration Minister Sylvi Listhaug and aims to stop claimants evading the authorities if they know they will be rejected.

Since 2004 Norway has used a so-called 48-hour procedure where asylum claims of migrants from safe countries are processed within that time.

But this new plan empowers police to arrest and detain migrants with unfounded claims, reports The Local.

Speaking to state broadcaster NRK, Listhaug said: 'We can see that unfounded asylum seekers disappear while the police are processing their applications.

'This will prohibit them from running off and eventually getting involved in criminal activity.

'Now we will know where we have them, get their applications processed and then return them.'

The Minster added that 90 of the 537 asylum seekers whose cases were processed under the 48-hour procedure in 2015 disappeared, and that the locations of 90 per cent of those are still unknown to the authorities.

It is thought that Listhaug's plan is supported by the Liberal Party and the Christian Democrats which would give the government - a coalition between the Conservative Party and Listhaug's anti-immigration Progress Party - a parliamentary majority.

Also included in the asylum bill is a proposal to give unaccompanied minors only temporary residence until they are 18 and can become permanent residents.

The bill also increases the number of years that an asylum seeker must stay in Norway before becoming a permanent resident from three to five.

But the controversial plan to deny asylum seekers family reunification until after they had been employed or in education for four years was scaled back to three years.

Minister of Integration Sylvi Listhaug (L) next to Justice Minister Anders Anundsen. It is thought that Listhaug's plan is supported by the Liberal Party and the Christian Democrats to give a majority

The United Nations Refugee Agency expressed concern when in November Norway began sending migrants back to Russia until Moscow requested Norway stop due to security reasons.

But Prime Minister Erna Solberg insisted that none of the plans in the bill would break international conventions. 'We are on solid ground,' she told news agency NTB.

In 2015 Norway saw 35,358 people claim asylum compared with just 11,480 in 2014.

But official figures show that only 942 have sought asylum so far this year, down from 1,670 in the first three months of 2015.
A health worker who exposed Rochdale's grooming scandal has slammed a town centre sex shop for displaying a skimpy schoolgirl outfit in the window

A health worker who helped expose the Rochdale child sex abuse scandal has slammed a town centre sex shop for displaying a skimpy schoolgirl outfit in the window of its store.

The garment is being advertised for sale in one of the town's busiest streets. But a whistleblower who blew the lid on the grooming of teenage girls in the area has criticised the store display.

A gang of nine men were convicted in 2012 of the sickening sexual abuse of more than 40 girls in Rochdale and Heywood. And the town has also been rocked by revelations about its former MP Cyril Smith, said to have abused children over a period of three decades from the 1960s.

Criticism has now been levelled at an outfit on display in the shop window of Simply Pleasure in Rochdale. It includes a short tartan skirt, a tie and a white blouse cut away from the midriff.

It is on open display in one of the town's main shopping streets, with the label 'Cottelli Collection School Uniform 35'.

The outlet is part of a national chain which bills itself as 'a leading UK sex toy distributor with many adult and sex shops nationwide'.

Sara Rowbotham, who led the boroughs crisis intervention team into the grooming scandal and is now an elected councillor in the town, said: 'What I find really concerning and disappointing is the lack of consideration shown by the shopkeeper.

'Wouldn't it be refreshing if adults made an informed decision not to perpetuate the sexualised imagery of children?'

Val Careswell, who works close to the shop, said: 'It's completely inappropriate given Rochdale's history of sex abuse scandals, Cyril Smith and the on-going Goddard Inquiry. I just think it's disgusting.'

Greater Manchester Police found 47 girls were victims of child sexual exploitation at the hands of a gang between 2008 and 2010. The abuse centred on two takeaways in Heywood.

A series of subsequent inquiries found authorities had been told as early as 2004 that youngsters were being groomed and sexually exploited by gangs of older men.

The garment is being advertised for sale at Simply Pleasure in one of the town's busiest streets. But a whistleblower who blew the lid on the grooming of teenage girls in the town has criticised the store display

On display: Criticism has now been levelled at an outfit on display in the shop window of Simply Pleasure on Drake Street. It includes a short tartan skirt, a tie and a white blouse cut away from the midriff

Sara Rowbotham, who helped expose the Rochdale grooming scandal and is now an elected councillor, said: 'What I find really concerning and disappointing is the lack of consideration shown by the shopkeeper'

But they dismissed victims who they believed were old enough to make their own choices, even though they were under the legal age of consent.

Since then Rochdale Council has overhauled its children's social services team while police have said tackling child sexual exploitation is a top priority.
Came as the terror group suffered heavy losses in the north of the city

Bloodthirsty jiahdis have released a series of gruesome photographs showing the crucifixion and execution of four men in Raqqa.

The vile images show the men being tied to poles by Islamic State fighters in the middle of the day in the terror group's Syrian capital.

Two of the photographs then show the balaclava-clad jihadis aiming a gun at the heads of their blindfolded prisoners in the middle of the busy street.

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Executed: The vile images show the men being tied to poles by ISIS fighters in the middle of the day in Raqqa

Crucified: The prisoners were tied to poles in a busy street in the middle of the day in Raqqa in Syria

The executions took place in Raqqa three days April 2, according to the activist group Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently.

The killings were held as ISIS suffered heavy losses in the north of the city, with the largely Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces backed by US-led air strikes gaining significant ground.

Last week, it was claimed ISIS killed 15 of its own members in the largest execution of the militant group's security services so far in Syria.

The killings follow the arrest of 35 members in Raqqa at the weekend, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the Syrian conflict through a network of sources on the ground.

The members were killed in connection with the assassination of senior Islamic State figure Abu Hija al-Tunisi, who died on Wednesday in an air strike.

Meanwhile, government forces and their allies entered a second central town that was held by ISIS.

The executions took place in Raqqa three days April 2, according to Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently

The killings were held as the terror group suffered heavy losses in the north of Raqqa, ISIS' capital

State TV said Syrian troops and pro-government fighters pushed into Qaryatain near Homs at the weekend, after days of intense clashes with ISIS extremists outside the town.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that troops entered the town from the south and north under the cover of Russian and Syrian airstrikes.

The advance comes a week after Syrian forces recaptured the historic central town of Palmyra from ISIS.

ISIS has suffered major defeats in Syria over the past months amid intense airstrikes by Russian warplanes.
Sir Salman Rushdie had added another girlfriend to his long list of lovers after starting a relationship with a former model.

The 68-year-old Satanic Verses author is said to be seeing Laura Gomez Eastwood, who was married to Clint Eastwoods son Kyle for 11 years.

The couple have been quietly seeing each other for about a month, the New York Post reported.

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Sir Salman Rushdie is reportedly dating Laura Gomez Eastwood, who was married to Clint Eastwood's son Kyle for 14 years

Eastwood was married to Kyle (pictured together) from 1995 to 2006. They have one daughter together

Unusually for Sir Salman, who has dated women much younger than him the past, Miss Eastwood is 57.

The couple were seen at Omars, a private dining club in New York, on Friday night enjoying a romantic meal together.

Miss Eastwood is a former model and mother-of-one who was once a favorite of photographer Helmut Newton.

She and Eastwood divorced in 2006.

Sir Salman has two children and been married four times, most recently to Padma Lakshmi who has claimed that he treated her roughly during their time together.

In her memoir the 45-year-old alleged that he called her a bad investment because she would not have sex with him due to a painful medical condition

Sir Salman had a high sex drive and when she tried to put him off he once he told her: How convenient', she claims in the book.

Sir Salman has two children and been married four times, most recently to Padma Lakshmi who has claimed that he treated her roughly during their time together

Lakshmi was 28, single and a struggling model-actress when she met Rushdie in 1999 at a party, who at the time was 51 and married to his third wife, Elizabeth West.

Rushdie initially pursued her by phone since she lived in Los Angeles, and on their first date they ended up in bed together.

'At 3am, I woke with a start. I'm naked in a married man's bed,' Lakshmi thought at the time before sneaking out of the hotel room.

Rushdie eventually left West and the couple married in 2004 before divorcing three years later.

Lakshmi said he needed constant care, praise, feeding and frequent sex. She spent every year consoling him when he did not with the Nobel Prize for Literature yet again.

She said Rushdie became increasingly jealous as her television career took off and she could no longer take care of his every need.

Sir Salman has been linked to Bollywood actress Riya Sen (left) and most recently stepped out with a mysterious brunette at the Vanity Fair party after the Academy Awards in February

When she told him delightedly that Newsweek magazine was putting her on the front cover for an issue about the New India, he churlishly responded that the only time the magazine had afforded him the same honor was when somebody was trying to put a bullet in my head.

Sir Salman, who spent years in hiding after the fatwa issued by the Iranian government over The Satanic Verses, has dated other beautiful women like Riya Sen, a Bollywood actress and model.

Stunning American socialite Devorah Rose, in her 20s, tweeted a picture of herself and Sir Salman at dinner in New York last year asking him to come and see her again.
A rampaging elephant has killed five members of a family, including a nine-day-old baby girl, in a remote village in India's northeastern frontier.

The elephant trampled the family to death while they were asleep in their thatched hut in the early hours of Tuesday, a local official said.

Both parents, their infant daughter and two other children died during the incident in Behali forest, 160 miles from Assam state's capital Guwahati.

Killed: A rampaging elephant has killed five members of a family in Behali forest, 160 miles from Assam state's capital Guwahati (file photo of elephant in Kaziranga national park)

The couple's three-year-old daughter survived the attack and was being treated at a hospital for minor injuries.

'The family was asleep when the elephant attacked their hut,' Rajiv Chaudhary, a divisional forestry officer, told AFP.

He said the elephant had apparently strayed from its herd when it charged the home. The animal reportedly left the area soon after the attack, according to the official.

Wildlife experts say encounters between humans and elephants are increasing in India's rural areas due to the destruction of the animals' habitat.

Last month a herd of wild elephants went on an hours-long rampage in neighbouring West Bengal, killing five people and damaging vehicles and homes before being subdued with tranquilliser darts.
Samuel told police his father used painkillers and would often beat him and he blamed his brother for his father's addiction

He shot his father four times using a pistol and shotgun

The teen used a machete and knife to stab his younger autistic brother

Eldon Gale Samuel III was sentenced to 20 years in prison for murdering his father and younger brother

A 16-year-old boy was sentenced to 20 years in an adult prison after he murdered his zombie-obsessed father and younger autistic brother two years ago in Idaho.

Eldon Gale Samuel III was sentenced Friday by a judge after a jury found him guilty of first-degree and second-degree murder charges in January.

The teen, who was 14 years old at the time of the murders, shot his father, Eldon Samuel Jr., four times with a pistol before using a shotgun to shoot his younger brother, Jonathan Samuel, once. He then attacked him with a knife and machete on March 24, 2014, in the family's Coeur d'Alene home.

Police say at the time, the scared 13-year-old autistic boy was hiding underneath his bed when he was horrifically attacked by his brother.

During his sentencing hearing Friday afternoon, he acknowledged killing his little brother to Judge Benjamin Simpson.

'I'm not the same person I was two years ago,' he told Simpson in court according to KXLY-TV. 'I feel like a whole new person, but that doesn't excuse what I did.

'I lost my dad and my brother, Johnny, my own little brother.'

According to the Coeur d'Alene Press, Kootenai County Prosecutor Barry McHugh argued for an indeterminate life sentence with 30 years fixed for the first degree murder of his brother and 15 years fixed for the murder of his father.

During his trial, his mother, who left the family, said that the boy's father planned to take them into the mountains to train against a zombie apocalypse.

The teen told authorities that his 46-year-old father developed an addiction to painkillers because of his younger brother's autism.

During his sentencing hearing Friday afternoon, he acknowledged killing his little brother to Judge Benjamin Simpson. He said: 'I lost my dad and my brother, Johnny, my own little brother.' Above he is pictured in court on Friday

'Eldon, when asked why he did what he did, said 'If [his brother] wasn't there  we'd be a happy family,' Magistrate Judge Barry Watson told reporters two years ago.

Previously, Eldon told investigators that he thought it was cool how the character in the violent video game Grand Theft Auto relieves his stress by shooting people.

Eldon described 'hating Jonathan for about five years,' the Spokesman-Review reported. He told authorities that he loved his father, but that he acted crazy when he was under the influence of drugs.

'He just beat me. I loved him, but the next time he came after me ,' Samuel told police officers in a report quoted by Watson. 'That's self-defense, right?'

Eldon said that his father had been taking unspecified medication and talking about zombies the night of the murder, and that he he went outside and fired a .45 caliber pistol into the air.

When the boys' father went back in the house, he got into an argument with Eldon and the boy said that his dad shoved him twice in the chest, which prompted him to shoot him.
A longtime political ally of Donald Trump whom Ted Cruz calls his 'hatchet man' is calling for an unconventional way to stop Republican party elites from 'stealing' the presidential nomination from the billionaire front-runner during the July convention: sending peasants with pitchforks to their hotel rooms.

Appearing on a niche podcast, Roger Stone said Monday that he planned to 'disclose the hotels and the room numbers of those delegates who are directly involved in the steal' so Trump loyalists can hassle them in Cleveland  if Trump doesn't claim the nomination on the first vote and the convention descends into chaos, producing a non-Trump presidential nominee.

'If you're from Pennsylvania, we'll tell you who the culprits are. We urge you to visit their hotel and find them,' he said on Freedomain Radio.

'You have a right to discuss this if you voted in the Pennsylvania primary, for example, and your votes are being disallowed.'

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A MODEST PROPOSAL: Roger Stone (left) said Monday that he plans to name and shame Republican convention delegates who plot to 'steal' the presidential nomination from Donald Trump, including handing out their hotel room numbers to loyalists

CONTEST: Trump could face a debacle in Cleveland if he fails to win the nomination on the first vote in July and his 'bound' delegates become free to choose other candidates

Stone told DailyMail.com in an email on Tuesday that collecting information on where the delegates will stay in Cleveland would be 'easy,' suggesting that there will be 'Trump people inside every delegation.'

And 'state delegates all stay in one hotel,' he added.

Stone also insisted that he is 'not advocating violence.'

'We want to ensure a dialog between Trump supporters and delegates over why the votes of the people in primaries and caucuses don't matter,' he added.

Stone, a longtime aide to the late U.S. president Richard Nixon, was a Trump insider until early August when he left the real estate tycoon's campaign, but has been an outspoken supporter ever since.

His books include a lengthy expose of 'The Clintons' War on Women' and a nonfiction title that explores whether President Lyndon Johnson had John F. Kennedy killed.

He was also the only person quoted last month in a National Enquirer story that linked Trump rival Sen. Ted Cruz with allegations of five extramarital affairs.

'EASY': Stone told DailyMail.com that with Trump supporters embedded in every state delegation, it won't be tough to find out where everyone is staying in Cleveland

Cruz vehemently denied the charges, and openly questioned whether Stone and Trump ever really parted ways.

'Roger Stone remains the henchman, the hatchet man, the enforcer for Donald Trump,' the second-place White House hopeful said March 27 on 'Fox News Sunday.'

'Hes pushing these attacks. And by the way, hes been pushing them for many months.'

A Trump spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Stone sketched out a scenario in Monday's interview that would see Trump falling short of the 1,237 delegates he needs in order to clinch the presidential nomination before the Cleveland, Ohio convention.

'If Trump does not run the table on the rest of the primaries and the caucuses, we're looking at a very, very narrow path in which the kingmakers go all out to cheat, to steal, and to snatch this nomination from the candidate who is overwhelmingly selected by the voters,' he told host Stefan Molyneux.

'I have urged Trump supporters: come to Cleveland. March on Cleveland. Join us in the Forest City,' Stone continued. 'We're going to have protests, demonstrations.'

'FOREST CITY': Cleveland, Ohio will host the Republican National Convention in July, where delegates from 50 states and six US territories will choose the party's White House nominee

PEASANTS WITH PITCHFORKS: Stone says he's 'not advocating violence' but has no qualms about telling Trump supporters exactly where to find The Donald's political enemies

Media Matters for America, an aggressive liberal message group that tracks news reports and interviews which are favorable to Republicans, first surfaced the interview on Tuesday.

The Republican National Committee has said no plot exists to sideline Trump, pointing instead to an established procedure that could throw open a 'contested' convention to a floor fight for delegates if the billionaire fails to cinch the prize on the first vote.

As Cruz makes headway, winning state-level elections and deploying a strong ground game to collect delegates in states without traditional popular voting, Trump's window for an early victory has become progressively more narrow.

Should the Texas senator claim a majority of delegates in Wisconsin on Tuesday, for instance, Trump would need to win more than 56 per cent of the remaining delegates that are up-for-grabs in order to reach his goal before the July convention.
Palin also said that she plans to sue Banks over her comments

work together on something like 'condoning racism,' before editing it to say '

She then said the two

She deleted the tweets soon after, but Palin saw them and responded on Tuesday saying Banks, 24, was 'not exercising enough intelligence'

'Lets find the biggest burliest blackest n****** and let them run a train on her. Film it and put it on worldstar,' wrote Banks

The story claimed Palin said; 'Slavery wasnt forced onto African-Americans, they accepted it willingly

Palin on Twitter Sunday after reading a satirical story that falsely quoted the former governor

Azealia Banks attacked Sarah Palin on Twitter on Sunday in a shocking series of since deleted tweets.

'Honestly Lets find the biggest burliest blackest n****** and let them run a train on her. Film it and put it on worldstar,' wrote Banks in one of the tweets.

In another she wrote; 'Hideous. At least suk a n**** d*** or summ before you start talking s*** about "black people willingly accepting slavery." Least she can do.'

The rapper lashed out at the former Alaska governor after reading a satirical article in which Palin was falsely quoted as saying; 'Im telling you, Ive been saying it for years, but nobodys listening  slavery wasnt forced onto African-Americans, they accepted it willingly.'

Palin responded to Banks on Tuesday, saying she was 'not exercising enough intelligence' and later added; 'Why don't we strengthen both our platforms and work together on something worthwhile.'

She then wrote that 'condoning racism' was one of the things that the women could work on before editing it to 'condemning racism' in the post.

Palin also announced that she plans on suing Banks over the comments she made on Twitter.

Tweet too soon: Azealia Banks (left in November 2014) attacked Sarah Palin (right in December) on Twitter Sunday after reading a satirical story that falsely quoted the former governor

Palin started off her response post on Facebook by saying; 'Hey Female Rapper - listen up, little darling. No one has any idea what you're wigging out about in these bizarre, violent rants against me, but you're obviously not exercising enough intelligence to acknowledge you've been sucked into believing some fake interview in which I supposedly offered comments representing the antithesis of my truth.'

She closed her post by writing; 'And now I'll go through my young daughter's playlist to make sure there hasn't been any inadvertent addition of any anti-woman, pro-rape garbage that you seem to endorse, which perpetuates the cultural challenges we face in America.

'I encourage other parents to do the same.

'God bless you Ms. Banks, as you consider a change of heart.'

Palin's first Facebook note was posted on Twitter by Vanity Fair writer Kia Makarechi before she had a chance to edit 'condoning racism.'

A few hours after she posted that message on Facebook, Palin told People; 'I've had enough of the unanswered threats and attacks against my family and me.

'So, for the first time I'm going to enjoy the only retribution some protected "celebrities" seem to understand  I'm suing Azealia Banks and can't wait to share my winnings with others who have gone defenseless against lies and dangerous attacks far too long.'

Palin added; 'Azealia engages in a form of racism and hate that is celebrated by some in the perverted arm of pop culture, but is condemned by those who know it's tearing our country apart.

'Others may keep turning a blind eye to problems like Azealia's mouth; I choose to take a stand against it and the double standards that result in her actually being rewarded for her divisive tactics and aggressively inciting violence.'

Media Research Center managed to grab Banks' tweets before they were taken down, the most vulgar of which said; 'Sarah Palin needs to have her head shaved off to a buzzcut, get headf***** by a big veiny, ashy black c*** then be locked in a cupboard.'

Banks has continued to attack Palin on Twitter even after realizing the article in question was fake, writing Tuesday; 'Like honestly, when has she ever said anything even remotely coherent or cohesive?'

She also wrote an open letter to Palin on Tuesday, saying; 'Now since learning that the article was not published officially, I sincerely apologize for any emotional distress or reputational scarring i may have caused you.

'In my honest defense, i was completely kidding. I happen to have a really crass, New-York-City sense of humor, and regularly make silly jokes in attempts make light of situations which make me uncomfortable.

'As the fabric of the American Nation is EMBEDDED with racism, I merely made a raCIALly driven joke to counter what i believed to be real, raCIST rhetoric.'

She said later in her letter; 'I cherish my ability to express myself freely, yet remain totally aware that for every action, there will be a reaction.

'All in All, Woman to Woman, I hope you will accept my sincerest apology.'

Banks then included multiple PS additions to the letter, writing in one; 'Hey Female Rapper, was your way to euphemize what you REALLY wanted to say. What you wanted to say was, Hey little Stereotypical Black, Thing!'

In another she said; 'Twitter is not real, neither is your opinion of me!'

And in her final line, she quoted the Peaches song 'F*** the Pain Away,' writing; 'If Bristol Palin listened to my music she probably wouldnt have all those cotdamn kids!!!! ;-P #sis #iud #stayinschool #causeitsthebest'

Mad: The 24-year-old rapper is frequently in the news for her erratic behavior, and just two weeks ago was seen charging at photographers who were taking her picture outside Manhattan Criminal Court

Attack: Banks was appearing in court following an incident that happened in December where she is alleged to have punched and then bitten a female bouncer at a Manhattan club

Hitting back: Palin responded by saying the two should work together on something like 'condoning racism,' (above highlighted in blue) before editing it to ' condemning '

The 24-year-old rapper is frequently in the news for her erratic behavior, and just two weeks ago was seen charging at photographers who were taking her picture outside Manhattan Criminal Court.

Banks was appearing in court following an incident that happened in December where she is alleged to have punched and then bitten a female bouncer at a Manhattan club.

She was also accused of assaulting a bouncer at the Break Room 86 club in Los Angeles in October.

Banks has also engaged in numerous Twitter fights, most notably with fellow rappers including Iggy Azalea, Eminem and Nicki Minaj.

She tweeted about Azalea just last month, writing; 'Mentioning me is the only thing that will get you attention. Because ur music and nose job are trash.'

Banks then posted a second tweet that said; 'Matter of fact. . Let me just kill this b****.'
The Eurovision Song Contest will highlight the plight of refugees during this year's competition, the show's organisers have confirmed.

The Europe-wide contest will take place next month in Stockholm after last year's show was won by Mans Zelmerlow.

Zelmerlow has been confirmed as host of this year's competition alongside Petra Mede.

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Hosts Mans Zelmerlow, left, and Petra Mede, right, said next month's show will highlight the refugee crisis

Zelmerlow criticised Sweden's handling of the refugee crisis claiming there's 'not much to be proud about'

Zelmerlow, pictured, won last year's competition which was held in the Austrian capital Vienna

Speaking to Swedish broadcaster SVT, Zelmerlow said the theme for this year's contest was 'Come Together' and would feature the refugee crisis.

He said: 'It is more necessary than ever before that we unite and join together, and that is literally what we do in Eurovision, where most of the countries in Europe meet together. We obviously want to touch upon it: anything else would be to bury your head in the sand.

'We have shut the borders now, so I dont know if theres that much to be proud about.'

According to the Independent, Sweden is planning to deport 80,000 asylum seekers.

Sven Stojanovic, who is the show's producer, said the refugee crisis would be highlighted by a dance routine.

He said: 'We want to make people think, and be left with something to reflect upon after seeing the performance. We are paying attention to the situation and thats something we are proud of.'

Zelmerlow's fellow host Petra Mede added: 'Everyone knows that it is a very tough situation in Europe right now. We already know now that theres going to be a dance number where this will be expressed with dancers. We want to give a picture of whats going on, but there will also be a feeling of hope.'

Joe and Jack are representing the UK in the competition which will take place on May 14.
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There was chaos in Paris today as thousands rampaged through the streets hurling bricks and paint bombs to protest new employment laws.

Riot police made 130 arrests for violent disorder as they fought running battles with students, trade unionists and other workers.

The scenes were a repeat of those last Thursday when mass protests against the same reforms took place across France.

There was chaos in Paris today as thousands rampaged through the streets hurling bricks and paint bombs to protest new employment laws

Police arrested 130 people for violent disorder as they fought running battles with students and trade unionists in the French capital

As part of a new day of mobilisation against the reform of the labour code, the Leonardo da Vinci school in Levallois, in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, had to be evacuated after pupils attempted to set it on fire

Police put the numbers at around 3,500 today, while organisers said it was more like 5,000.

We are furious with the way the government is running the country, and this is our legitimate protest, said Carole Blanc, a 24-year-old student leader.

Thousands of us are here today, but the police are doing everything they can to prevent us marching. This is what is causing the trouble.

President Francois Hollandes Socialist government has pledged to reform a rigid jobs market with the unemployment rate spiraling above the 10 per cent mark. His plans include lengthening France's 35-hour working week.

But opponents say the new, liberal measures will allow bosses to hire staff for next to nothing, and then to get rid of them when they want.

Police, pictured here clashing with youths during protests in Paris, put the numbers at around 3,500, while organisers said it was more like 5,000

President Francois Hollandes Socialist government has pledged to reform France's rigid jobs market. But protesters marching in Paris say the new, liberal measures will allow bosses to hire staff for next to nothing, and then to get rid of them when they want

For the fourth time in less than a month, demonstrators shouted Police Everywhere, Justice Nowhere as they fought police on the streets of the French capital

Protesters, some with their faces covered, held banners and pelted Parisian police with paint bombs

For the fourth time in less than a month, demonstrators shouted Police Everywhere, Justice Nowhere on the streets of the French capital.

Shops and other business pulled down their shutters as rioters smashed up property and tried to set cars alight.

Earlier in the day, a school in Levallois, to the west of Paris, was set on fire by pupils.

Todays march started at Place de la Bastille, and by late afternoon had crossed over to the Left Bank of the River Seine  the traditional scene of mass confrontations with the police. It came as a parliamentary committee began debating the employment bill, with more protests set for Saturday.

There were similar protests against the proposals in other French cities including Marseille, Lille, Nantes, Strasbourg and Rennes.

There were similar protests against the proposals in other French cities. In Rennes protesters invaded railways tracks and set up a barricade to prevent riot police from removing them

During ugly scenes in Nantes, masked and hooded protesters threw Molotov cocktails at police

The riot police in Nantes responded with a barrage of tear gas, which protesters tried to kick away from their lines
Its owner has already been contacted by more than 2,500 interested buyers

The gun is expected to go on sale in mid-2016 and will cost $395

He said it helps gun owners carry weapons to work more freely

Designer Kirk Kjellberg insists it falls within guidelines and is legal

Schumer says it violates federal laws and wants authorities to investigate

He warned that the gun could pose a danger to police and the public

The designer of an iPhone-shaped gun branded a 'disaster waiting to happen' by Senator Schumer has defended his disguised weapon.

At first glance the Ideal Conceal, which is expected to go on sale in mid-2016 for $395, looks just like a smartphone. But with one click, the device unfolds to become a deadly weapon.

The gun has already gained its fair share of critics including U.S. Sen Charles Schumer who has called on the Justice Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) to investigate.

But creator Kirk Kjellberg insists that his product is simply aimed at helping responsible gun owners to carry their weapons more freely.

Kirk Kjellberg (right) the designer of an iPhone-shaped gun branded a 'disaster waiting to happen' by Senator Schumer (left) has defended his disguised weapon

At first glance the Ideal Conceal, which is expected to go on sale in mid-2016 for $395, looks just like a smartphone. But with one click, the device unfolds to become a deadly weapon

'There are some people that would take serious issue in the workplace or somewhere else to see a gun on you, and I think it gives people the opportunity to avoid that conversation,' Kjellberg told CBS This Morning.

He added that he 'encouraged' Sen Schumer's investigation as he claimed it would show 'Ideal Conceal will fall firmly in line with ATF guidelines and is therefore legal.'

The .380-caliber pistol holds just two bullets, but fires with 'high velocity' and 'increased accuracy,' the site says. It also has a built-in laser sight for more precise aiming.

Kjellberg says he has already been contacted by more than 2,500 interested buyers

Ideal Conceal's website states: 'In todays day and age, carrying a concealed pistol has become a necessity. But what if you didnt have to conceal?

'Thats where Ideal Conceal comes in. Smartphones are EVERYWHERE, so your new pistol will easily blend in with todays environment.

Underneath is a warning to customers to 'always check your State and local concealment laws.'

But Schumer insists the disguises weapon poses a 'serious threat', both to police officers, possible suspects and even kids.

'Imagine a scenario in which a police officer is not able to tell whether a violent criminal is pulling out a gun or an iPhone,' he told The Hudson Valley News Network.

The .380-caliber pistol (left), which holds just two bullets, but fires with 'high velocity' and 'increased accuracy', could easily be mistaken for a smartphone in a case (right)

'The bottom line is: the feds must investigate this before sales take off and this weapon winds up in the wrong hands. That's why I am urging the ATF and the Department of Justice to step in and investigate these handguns now - before they hit store shelves.'

Former ATF special agent Matthew Horace agreed saying that police mistaking someone pulling out a phone for the gun could have tragic consequences.

Schumer said that the gun could violate federal law in two different ways, the News Network said.

The first is that for a gun to be legal under the National Firearms Act, it must be registered with the ATF. Since guns that look like wallets, pens and knives are illegal under the law, a handgun that looks exactly like a smartphone could also be illegal.

He is asking the ATF to make a swift decision on the matter.

The second violation, he said, involves the federal Title 18 law about making guns 'undetectable'.

In US code 922, the law states that it is 'unlawful' to manufacture, sell or receive a firearm 'any major component of which, when subjected to inspection by the types of x-ray machines commonly used at airports, does not generate an image that accurately depicts the shape of the component.'

If the Ideal Conceal does not have the right metal parts to clearly be flagged by security as a gun, it would be illegal.

The gun is a derringer, the name for the smallest possible handgun in a given caliber, and a type of gun designed to be concealed on the body.

In an email to The Associated Press the gun's creator, Kirk Kjellberg, said that there were already weapons in the conceal-carry market that can easily be hidden and carry more firepower.

Schumer insists the disguised weapon poses a 'serious threat', both to police officers, possible suspects and even kids

Derringers: Folding or box-shaped guns such as these already exist, but are clearly still gun-shaped, unlike the Ideal Conceal, which is designed to be indistinguishable from a smartphone in its folded state

He also said that there are holsters that allow people to carry weapons almost anywhere on their body, and that his gun is just a defensive weapon.

He also told CNN Money in March that he had already received 2,500 emails from interested buyers.

Talking to CNN Money. NRA Museum director Jim Supica said that the Ideal Conceal was indeed not the first handgun to have a folding function or be roughly box-shaped.

He pointed to North American Arms, which makes a series of small revolvers with optional folding grips, and Taurus's box-like Curve handgun.

But Supica pointed out that they 'still look like guns,' while the Ideal Conceal 'is arguably designed not to look like a gun when folded.'

Kjellberg told CNN that he may release a semi-automatic version in 2018.

Schumer was one of the authors of the now-expired 1994 Assault Weapons Ban, and in 1993 introduced a bill that mandated federal background checks on firearm purchasers, among other things.

However, he has also been supportive of hunting with guns, and has sponsored legislation that gives millions in grants to landowners who allow hunting and fishing on their private property.

These recent objections about disguised firearms are not new ground for Schumer - last year he spoke out against a cell phone case that made a phone look like a gun.

On Monday, he said, 'Just like toys that too much look like handguns should not be sold, handguns that look too much like toys should not be sold.'
President Barack Obama wagged his finger at the foreign policy proposals of Republican frontrunner Donald Trump  and Sen. Ted Cruz  when speaking to reporters at the White House today.

'I think that Ive been very clear earlier that I am getting questions constantly from foreign leaders about some of the wackier suggestions that are being made,' Obama said.

The president said he wanted to emphasize that both the top Republicans have bad ideas.

'It's not just Mr. Trump's proposals,' he stated. 'You're also hearing concerns about Mr. Cruz's proposals, which in some ways are just as draconian when it comes to immigration, for example.'

President Obama said world leaders were already voicing concerns about the 'wackier' proposals of both Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, the two top Republicans running for president

GOP frontrunner Donald Trump released his plan today to get Mexico to pay for the border wall. He would use the Patriot Act to kill off remittances coming from illegal Mexicans living in the United States

ABC's Mary Bruce asked a two-part question, bringing to the president's attention Trump's proposal on how he'll get Mexico to pay for his oft-talked-about border wall.

She also asked if Trump's 'foreign policy proposals [are] already doing damage to U.S. relations abroad?'

'The answer to the latter question is yes,' Obama replied.

Trump today put out a memo articulating how he'd go about 'compelling Mexico to pay for the wall.'

The frontrunner's plan is to use a part of the Patriot Act, the 'know your customer' provision, and apply it to financial institutions like Western Union, which undocumented Mexicans might use to send home money made in the United States.

'Also include in the proposed rule a requirement that no alien may wire money outside of the United States unless the alien first provides a document establishing his lawful presence in the United States,' the memo articulates.

According to Trump, these remittances sent from the United States to Mexico account for $24 billion each year.

The Trump Administration will then suggest that the Mexican government pay $5 to $10 billion for the border wall instead and the new regulation won't go into effect.

Just as bad: President Obama took a shot at Sen. Ted Cruz too - saying that the Texan's proposals are 'just as draconian,' especially when it comes to immigration

Obama shook his head at this plan.

'The implications for ending remittances, many of which, by the way, are from legal immigrants and from individuals who are sending money back to their families are enormous,' the president said.

Obama called the plan 'impractical' pointing to the ongoing fallout from the Panama Papers, which revealed a number of shell companies and offshore accounts tied to world leaders.

'We just talked about the difficulties of trying to enforce huge outflows of capital,' the president said.

'The notion that we're going to track every Western Union bit of money that's being sent to Mexico,' he continued.

'Good luck with that,' he added.

Obama explained that the effect of sucking all this money out of the Mexican economy could backfire and actually cause more illegal immigration into the United States.

'But this is just one more example of something that is not thought through and is primarily put forward for political consumption,' Obama said.

Burning Trump, and also Cruz, one more time, the president talked of the 'serious problems' going on in the world and the expectations placed on the president of the United States and the country's other elected officials.

They are expected 'to put forward policies that have been examined, analyzed, are effective, where unintended consequences are taken into account.'

'They don't expect half-baked notions coming out of the White House,' Obama warned.
First made headlines when ShopRite refused to write Adolf Hitler on a cake

A father who named his son Adolf Hitler and daughter Eva Braun before they were taken away by social services says he is sick of people treating him like garbage.

Isidore Heath Campbell, 42, from New Jersey claims he is just misunderstood, despite his obsession with the evil Nazi dictator, and believes his children were removed from his home because of their names.

He made the comments in a documentary called Meet The Hitlers, which follows the lives of everyday people who share the name of the leader of the Third Reich.

'A person makes a person, a name doesnt,' Campell says in the documentary which was released on iTunes on Tuesday.

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White supremacist Isidore Heath Campbell, 42, who named his son Adolf Hitler and daughter Eva Braun before they were taken away from him says he is sick of people treating him like garbage

Campbell, who claims he is simply misunderstood, believes New Jersey child services took away his children simply because he named them after the evil dictator

'I have different beliefs. I believe in whites (living) with whites, blacks with blacks, Spanish with Spanish. I dont see anything wrong with that.'

Campbell has a tattoo of a Swastika on his neck and arm and the names of his three other children on other parts of his body.

Their names are: JoyceLynn Aryan Nation, Honzlynn Jeannie and Heinrich Hons - named after Hitlers right-hand man, Heinrich Himmler.

The white supremacist lost custody of his youngest daughter, who he called Eva Braun, just days after she was born in November 2013.

Campbell first made headlines in 2008 for complaining that a ShopRite supermarket refused to write his then-seven-year-old sons name on a birthday cake.

Just days after the news broke, social services came around and took his children away.

'(Child protective services) stripped my kids down in my house, checked my kids all out. They found no child abuse, no nothing.

Campbell first made headlines in 2008 for complaining that a ShopRite supermarket refused to write his then-seven-year-old sons name on a birthday cake. He recreated it for the documentary, Meet the Hitlers

Campbell has a tattoo of a Swastika on his neck and arm and the names of his three other children on other parts of his body

'My son's name is Adolf Hitler Campbell. Does that make it OK for them to come and steal your children,' he says.

'They got a court order and they removed my kids. That was it. I didnt even get to say goodbye.'

New Jersey authorities have insisted they did not take the child from Campbell and his ex-girlfriend Bethanie Zito because of her name - the same as Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler's wife - but because of concerns for their safety.

In October 2015, he was wanted for assault.

When Daily Mail Online tried to contact Campbell, only his voicemail could be reached.

Then he called it 'the Fuhrer's line' and he signed off with: 'Have a nice day, heil Hitler.'

At the time, Campbell told the Daily News: 'I'm not allowed to have children because Im a Nazi. That's what they're saying. Well, I'll stop making them when they stop taking them.

Campbell and his wife Deborah hold up pictures of a baby that was taken away from them just a few days after she was born

'They kidnapped her. Because I'm not going to mix with the opposite races and I'm not going to let my children mix, that gives them the right to steal my child.'

Campbell has swastika tattoos on his neck and has turned up at custody hearings for his children in full Nazi regalia.

In 2013 his ex-wife Cathy Bowlby said Campbell believed he was the devil and wanted to call another of his children Lucifer.

Ms Bowlby, who was married to the Nazi-lover for three years, said he liked to take her on trips to their local cemetery so he could 'show me where he was going to bury me when he killed me'.

Previous court documents show that the oldest child, Adolf, frequently threatened to kill people.
She then 'pushed Bethannie's head into a wall' during a tantrum

Shanna Gossett, 29, was charged with the murder of her niece after she allegedly locked her in a closet for two weeks and then beat her to death

A Denver woman has been arrested after she allegedly beat her three-year-old niece to death and then hid her under a bed after locking the toddler in a closet for two weeks.

Shanna Gossett, 29, has been charged with first-degree murder, child abuse resulting in death, second-degree kidnapping and false imprisonment.

Bethannie Johnson was found unresponsive in the middle of a living room floor at a home in Grand Junction on March 17. She had been severely bruised on her head and stomach, and bruises were also found on her legs.

Paramedics also found dried blood in her airway, which indicates possible older injuries.

An autopsy determined Bethannie had died of blunt force trauma, suffering multiple internal and external injuries in the head.

Gossett, who is Bethannie's legal guardian, told police the toddler had been throwing herself down to the ground and hurting herself.

To help control her, Gossett said she strapped Bethannie to a high chair and confined her in a closet for two weeks according to The Daily Sentinel.

Gossett was temporarily staying at the home where Bethannie was found because she provides childcare for the resident.

She told police that she fed and bathed Bethannie during the two week she was in the closet, but had told the resident that the girl had been picked up by her mother, the affidavit states.

Police said they believe Bethannie was confined 'pretty consistently' in the closet for those two weeks.

Gossett told police she let Bethannie out of the closet on March 15 and the girl threw a tantrum.

Gossett is currently being held at Mesa County Jail (pictured) without bond

That's when Gossett pushed her down, causing the girl to fall and hit her head on the vacuum cleaner. When Bethannie got up, Gossett pushed her head into a wall, she told police.

Bethannie did not get up this time. She stopped breathing.

Gossett said she performed CPR on Bethannie and the girl momentarily started breathing on her own again.

But Bethannie continued to remain unresponsive, and so Gossett decided to hide her niece under the bed until the next night when she put the toddler in her crib.

An unidentified person called 911 the next day and a reported a child who wasn't breathing. Police said Gossett was home when the place was made but that she was not the caller.

Gossett said the resident at the home did not know about Bethannie's injuries or that she had been hidden in the closet or under a bed.

Paramedics could not revive Bethannie at the home and she was pronounced dead at St Marys Hospital just after 8am.

Gossett first told police a completely different story.

She has been charged with first-degree murder, child abuse resulting in death, second-degree kidnapping and false imprisonment (file above)

She said she dropped off Bethannie with her mother at a gas station two weeks earlier because she needed a break from her child.

Gossett claimed her sister then showed up to the home on March 16 with Bethannie and walked away, the affidavit states.

She then said she wiped clean a bloody nose for Bethannie and then put her to bed, claiming when she woke up the next morning Bethannie was unresponsive.

The aunt had also blamed Bethannie for her bruises, saying the child threw herself into things because she had reactive attachment disorder.

But Gossett's story changed when her sister revealed she had been in Texas for the two weeks before her daughter's death.

Police are still investigating how nobody else in the house knew Bethannie was in closet for two weeks.
Two gloating teenage girls posed for a selfie as during their torment of a vulnerable woman who they battered to death in a bloody orgy of violence that shocked Britain.

The girls were just 13 and 14 when they spent nine hours battering frail Angela Wrightson with her few meagre possessions, including a television set, a shovel and a coffee table.

Despite the 39-year-old begging for her life, the pair stopped the assault only to pose for pictures which the younger girl - said to be obsessed with her phone - sent to friends on social network Snapchat with a caption 'Nah xx'.

They were later caught on CCTV after leaving Miss Wrightson's home at around 11pm and returning following a 'break' at 2am to finish the bloody job, and even called police to give them a lift home when again they took a picture and shared it on Snapchat.

This grim selfie was taken during the assault and showed the two girls smiling in the foreground and a blurred Ms Wrightson sitting on a sofa in the background (above). It was shared by the younger girl on Snapchat

CCTV also showed the two girls - who used Snapchat to document the murder - laughing and giggling as they returned to the house following a 'break' around 2am

Brutal death: Angela Wrightson, who suffered more than 100 injuries in the attack in her own home

The appalling murder sent shockwaves across the nation and raised urgent questions about how we care for our most troubled children as it emerged the pair had absconded from care homes 18 times in the 30 nights before they battered Miss Wrightson to death.

Last night the authorities were accused of being failures and the detective who led the inquiry described the murder as the most brutal of his career.

As disturbing details emerged of the killers feral lifestyles roaming the streets of Hartlepool, it was revealed that:

The girls absconded from care homes 18 times in the 30 nights before the cold-blooded murder but were still free to kill;

Police officers drove them home without question at 4am after they left Miss Wrightson dying from her injuries;

Faced with a dangerous and uncontrollable teenager, social workers simply told one of the girls to draw pictures to calm down;

The girls, many of whose relatives were either in prison or addicted to drugs, happily described themselves as partners in crime;

On the day of the attack, the elder girl went to her family home, but her mother told her: F*** off and kill yourself.

Prosecutors said it was hard to imagine that two girls of such a young age could be capable of such violence in our society;

An independent review is investigating why agencies charged with caring for the girls failed to spot the danger they posed.

Meanwhile, social workers described Girl A - the older of the pair - as the most volatile young person they had come across.

At the age of 11, she began taking drugs and got drunk on a regular basis. And on the day of the murder, she was high on strong painkillers given to her by her mother.

The girl survived a childhood devoid of stability or structure. By the time she reached the care system, she had been exposed to savage domestic violence at home.

She watched boyfriends beat her mother. And the 15-year-old would often fly into fits of rage of her own, trashing her care home bedroom and lashing out at family members.

The girl has three siblings but shares a father with just one of them. Asked whether she knew the fathers of her siblings, she replied: They are in jail now, all of them.

Pictures of a bloody television set (above) and a wooden stick that were used by two teenage girls as they murdered a 39-year-old woman have been released for the first time

The teenage girls - aged 13 and 14 - used a host of weapons including a wooden stick laced with screws, a printer, coffee table and a shovel (above) to carry out the five-hour attack

CHILLING SKETCH ONE OF THE GIRLS DREW A WEEK BEFORE THE KILLING This is the chilling image drawn by one of the schoolgirls in the week before she committed murder. It shows a smiling girl plunging a knife into a mans chest. Tears run down the victims face, and blood pours from the wound. The two primitive forms  not much more sophisticated than stick figures  look like they were drawn by a young child. The older girl was also said to have drawn a disturbing image of a person being stabbed in the chest (above) a short time before she carried out the attack But the sketch is the fantasy of a violent 14-year-old who went on to batter Angela Wrightson to death in a ferocious assault. The court heard the teenager  referred to as Girl A  had been advised to draw pictures by her carers to help her calm her temper and express her feelings. She told police: I just got angry and went to my room. I started drawing pictures because I was really angry. I just drew something. The drawing  a terrible premonition of what was to come  was found in the girls care home bedroom after she was arrested. They asked her if the red was blood and what she holds in the picture. She replied: I dont know. Advertisement

Her violent tempers became so serious that she was given a strategy to cope by her local Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service.

Mental health experts said she had a personality disorder and had little understanding of the consequences of her actions. They told her to draw pictures as a way of expressing her anger and calming herself down.

On the day of the attack, Girl A went to her family home, hoping to spend time with her mother. But her mother told her: F*** off and kill yourself.

Two teenage girls have been found guilty of murdering 39-year-old Angela Wrightson (pictured) at her house in Hartlepool, County Durham

Girl B was considered the less aggressive of the pair by a social worker who worked with them, but she is the one who used her smartphone to take chilling pictures of their dying victim.

Girl B, now 15 but who was 13 at the time of the killing, was from a more stable family background than Girl A.

Her father is in full-time work and her parents attended court to support her.

But she ran away from home several times. A photo issued by police when she ran away three years ago shows Girl B looking like an ordinary schoolgirl but she was prone to losing her temper. Her parents could not cope and she was taken into care. Although she is a year younger than her accomplice, many said she was the dominant one. Girl As sibling said their relationship was a worry because Girl B had the potential to be a bad influence.

The sibling said: I told Girl B to stop coming to my house as I didnt think that her and my sister were good together. I was aware they were going missing together and this worried me as I thought my sister was too young to be out at night.

The girls absconded from their care homes 18 times in the month leading up to the murder, and attempts to keep the girls apart were met with disdain by Girl B, who was determined to stay close to her best friend.

She texted Girl A: Were not allowed no contact with each other? Whos not allowed no contact with each other? LMFAOOO [Laugh my f*****g a*** off, off, off]. We will be with each other through thick and thin. F*****g crank man, just cos you are my little partner in crime. Putting me out of town, thinking that we still wont get in touch with each other and s***. Hahaha. Well, I cant wait to see you when Im down. Get f*****g mortal!! Love you, Gorgeous Girl!!!!

Girl B was fixated on her smartphone. In the days before the murder she begged her foster carers for a new phone and was given one.

She used the phone throughout the attack on Angela Wrightson to take pictures, send messages to friends and play pop music on YouTube.

A social worker said Girl Bs mother was proactive in trying to discipline and control her, but she had problems with authority figures and became angry when discussing her care arrangements.

This is thought to be one of the last images of Ms Wrightson arrive. It was taken just after 7.30pm on the night of her death and showed her buying a bottle of unknown liquid in a shop

MOCKING 999 CALL BY TWO TEENAGERS MOMENTS AFTER THEIR MURDER The two girls made a spur-of-the-moment 999 call after killing Angela Wrightson to ask for a lift home. In a recording of the chilling early morning call, the killers show no signs of remorse as they swear at the operator: Operator: Hello, Cleveland Police. Girl 1: Er, hiya, weve just rang. Whens it gonna come, Im freezing. (laughter) Operator: Sorry, what? (laughter) Hello? Girl 2: Ive just reported myself missing, me and my friend (laughter). Ive just... Operator: Reported yourself missing? (laughter) Operator: Shouting in my ear. Can you just, er... what? Girl 2: Right, I just rang to let the police know where me and my friend are at, will you tell me how long theyre going to be. Im f*****g freezing and theres loads of divvies walking past. Operator: I beg your pardon. Theres no need to be swearing, ringing up and swearing and going on like that. Whats your name? (laughter) Girl 2: Well, Im cold. Operator: Whats your name? Girl 2 responds with her name. Operator: Right, and where are you? Suggitt Street? Girl 2: Yeah, Stephen Street. Operator: Youre in Stephen Street. Girl 2: Yeah (laughter) Operator: Whats so funny? Girl 2: Nowt, youre just a bit funny. Operator: Im not being funny. Right, so listen, right, youre in Stephen Street. Well get someone along there as soon as we can, all right? Girl 2: Yeah, will you tell them to hurry up because Im a bit cold. Operator: Right, OK, bye. Advertisement

Miss Wrightson, who was 5ft 4ins and weighed six-and-a-half stone, was found dead in the blood-spattered front room of her terraced home just 17 days before Christmas.

The two teenagers  who cannot be named because of their age  befriended the frail alcoholic because she would buy them cider. But on December 8, 2014, they turned on the defenceless woman, torturing her for hours in a bloody and horrific ordeal.

Using multiple weapons for the ferocious beating, they heaped indignities on their victim by stripping her half-naked and defiling her body.

While at the house, the younger girl made a phone call over Facebook to a friend who heard her say: Go on. Smash her head in. Bray her. F****** kill her, as the other girl laughed. Police found Miss Wrightson suffered 100 injuries inflicted by weapons including a coffee table, television set, computer printer, wooden stick laced with screws, shovel and a kettle.

An 18-inch wooden stick, which had two metal screws poking out the ends, was also used in the attack

Flowers were left outside of Ms Wrightson's house following the murder, which happened on the night of December 8 last year

The attack began in the early evening. At 9pm, the girls stopped to take a selfie. In the photo, the two girls can be seen smiling, while Angela is cowering in the background with bruises on her face.

The girls left the house for a timeout at 11pm, to visit a friend. When he asked about blood on their clothes, they told him they had both fallen over. They returned to Miss Wrightsons house at 2am, before calling the police at 4am to take them back to their separate care homes. The officers said they were in high spirits.

The younger girl even took a photo of her friend in the back of the police van, posting it online with the caption: Me and (name) in the back on the bizzie van again.

During the trial, the jury were shown a variety of evidence including a picture taken by one of the girls in the back of a police van (pictured), which was again shared by the younger of the two on snapchat

Both girls denied murder. The older girl admitted manslaughter on the grounds on diminished responsibility, but the younger girl denied contributing to Miss Wrightsons injuries, or encouraging her friend. Her defence counsel said she was preoccupied with her mobile phone at the time.

During an eight-week trial at Leeds Crown Court, shocking details emerged of how the girls lives spiralled into alcohol and violence. They began taking a cocktail of drink and drugs aged 11, frequently ran away from their care homes together and absconded from school. A former neighbour said: Separately they were all right, they could be quite sweet girls, but together they were devils.

The older girl, now aged 15 and referred to as Girl A, was described by her social services tutor as the most volatile young person she had come across.

The younger killer, also now aged 15 and referred to as Girl B, used her smartphone to document the attack and gloat to friends.

Both girls sobbed uncontrollably as they were convicted of murder yesterday and warned they face life in prison. They will be sentenced tomorrow.

Mr Justice Globe said: There is only one sentence for a crime of murder and as far as these girls are concerned it is detention for life.

Det Chief Supt Peter McPhillips, of Cleveland Police, said: This was a highly unusual and shocking incident. Throughout almost 25 years of service I have never come across such a brutal murder committed by such young girls.

Gerry Wareham, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said the killers showed no remorse but instead laughed and smiled. He added: In our society it is hard to imagine that two girls of such a young age could be capable of such violence.

The attack that the girls committed against Angela Wrightson was brutal and sustained. One can only imagine the fear and distress that she must have felt in the final hours of her life.

THE CHAOTIC LIFE OF TRUSTING MURDER VICTIM WHO OPENED UP HER HOME TO TEENAGERS WHO PREYED ON HER FOR DRINK Murder victim Angela Wrightson (pictured) was a kind and trusting woman who was lovely when she was sober, neighbours said after the murder Murder victim Angela Wrightson was a kind and trusting woman who was lovely when she was sober, neighbours said after the murder. Gangs of underage youths would come round to her terraced home and use it as a drinking den, with one neighbour claiming he had to clear her house with his dog on the occasions she became overwhelmed by teenagers. The 39-year-old was also once banned from buying alcohol anywhere in the country having been involved in a number of drink-related incidents. One of nine children, Miss Wrightson grew up in care. She was known in her area for calling 999 as a cry for help. Neighbour Alan Dixon told how he had cleared her home with the help of his dog DJ. He said: 'She was a kind, trusting, decent woman who was lovely when she was sober, but she was vulnerable in drink and she was taken advantage of by groups of kids.' Speaking after her brutal killing, he added: 'They preyed on her because she was too kind-hearted to turn them away. 'They wanted her for drink, which they would steal from her and if she refused them they would turn nasty.' Others in the street spoke of Ms Wrightson's kindness and her willingness to cook for others, with one claiming she brought pizzas round to one neighbour. She also gave chocolates to young children and fed the local dogs. Despite her battle with drink, she was known for keeping a clean and tidy house, which she rented, and was always buying cleaning materials. Advertisement

Former Cleveland officer Steve Matthews, who is now standing to run the force on a Ukip ticket, said there were real failures from all concerned.

I am not sure it is a police or a social service problem  it is a combination of all that which has completely failed her, he said. They have failed that poor woman for her to die in such a horrific way.

And as for the girls, why have people given up on them? When you go into care you assume they will be cared for.

Miss Wrightsons mother Maureen said the harrowing final moments of her daughters life would haunt her for the rest of her life. She said: No sentence, regardless of its severity, will ever bring Angie back.

'IT WILL CONTINUE TO HAUNT US EACH AND EVERY DAY': ANGELA WRIGHTSON'S FAMILY RELEASE STATEMENT FOLLOWING 'BRUTAL' MURDER CASE Angela Wrightson's family today released a statement where they condemned the two teenage girls and said the trial will haunt them 'each and every day'. Their full statement is: 'It's true that Angela (or Angie as she was known to us all) led a troubled and at times chaotic lifestyle. 'And as a family we were not as close as we ought to have been. The chance to put that right has been taken away from us. 'Angie was attacked and brutally murdered in her own home, a place where we all have the right to feel safe. Listening to the details of her injuries and of her final moments has been a harrowing experience and something which will continue to haunt us each and every day. 'No sentence, regardless of its severity, will ever bring Angie back. The two girls responsible will one day be women themselves, free to live their lives and perhaps have children of their own. A right which was taken from Angie. 'We would like to thank the police and the prosecution team for their compassion and continued support throughout this difficult time. We'd also like to thank those people who gave evidence and spoke on Angie's behalf in court. 'And if any positive can be taken from this experience it is the kindness displayed by those who knew Angie best. 'Angie's infectious personality touched the hearts of so many people and it is those fond memories which we continue to cherish as we attempt to move forward.' Advertisement

TEENAGE 'PARTNERS IN CRIME' WHO WOULD BEG 'ALCO ANGE' FOR BOOZE, BEFORE BRUTALLY ATTACKING THEIR 'FRIEND' AS THEY TOOK SELFIES

By STEPHANIE LINNING FOR MAILONLINE

Like many teenagers their age, the two girls at the centre of this murder trial were obsessed with social media. They delighted in documenting their every move in selfies, many posted to photo sharing app Snapchat within minutes.

It is no surprise, then, that on the night of December 8 2014, the girls had their mobile phones in hand as they went to visit their 'friend' Angela Wrightson at her home in Hartlepool, County Durham - and used them to record the horror that followed.

They snapped a series of chilling photos as their 39-year-old victim lay fatally injured on the her living room floor.

The girls continued their relentless social media drive with selfies in the back of a police van, putting the flash on so as to capture the best possible shot.

The girls were said to have spent the journey in the back of the police van laughing and joking and 'seemed to be in high spirits', according to an officer who was present.

It was not the first time the girls had been picked up by the police - at night they would often run off together and officers would be called to make them return home.

Perhaps fuelled by a lack of support and structure at home, the girls developed an 'intense' friendship that saw them refer to each other as 'partners in crime'.

But why the two typical teenagers - obsessed with clothes, hair, make-up and mobile phones, - would end up committing such a violent murder is still unknown.

Both girls came from troubled backgrounds and both were in the care of the local authority.

The girls - who had been in local authority care - were regularly picked up by police, including on the night of the murder when they called officers to try and get a lift home around 4am

The older of the two girls had lived with her mother, father and foster carers after her parents split up when she was young and when asked in court to give her date of birth, she said she did not know it. Her mental health issues were discussed during the trial.

She had a history of self-harming and attempted suicide a number of times while giving evidence during the course of the seven-week trial, including one incident within the court building.

She told police that a drawing found in her bedroom showing a woman stabbing a man with a knife was an anger management technique.

Her anger issues led to her harming herself, damaging property and attacking others.

We're not allowed no contact with each other... Just because you're my little partner in crime Younger girl's text to the older defendant two months before the murder

She still saw family members regularly but had a difficult relationship with her mother who, during an argument on the day of the murder, told her to 'f*** off' and to 'go kill yourself'.

But family was important to her. She told the court she was angry with Miss Wrightson after she chased one of her sisters down the street with a metal bar. She was also said to be upset about another comment made regarding two other sisters,

The two girls also had a close relationship - described as 'intense'.

They had known each other from being babies but, as they grew up, each was warned to keep away from the other.

In October 2014, the younger girl sent her older friend a text, which read: 'We're not allowed no contact with each other. Who's not allowed no contact with each other? LMFAOOO!! We will be with each other through thick and thin!! Hahaha. F****** crank, man. Just because you're my little partner in crime.'

They were known to go missing together - sometimes for days - and enjoyed drinking alcohol, mainly cheap cider, together during these times.

Both girls began drinking from the ages of about 11 or 12.

The older girl also took drugs, such as amphetamines, tramadol and codeine, from the same age and later began taking 'blues', which she said made her 'feel out of it, really bad'.
When a public holiday comes along, the first instinct is to get outside and travel around.

Unfortunately in China, that's exactly what everyone was thinking, resulting in overcrowded tourist sites where people spend most of their time queuing.

Footage has emerged on Chinese media of packed tourist sites such as the Great Wall and Mount Tai over the last weekend, which happened to be the annual Tomb Sweeping Day holiday.

Packed out: Thousands were seen queueing on the Great Wall of China during the recent three-day weekend

In the first half of the footage above, visitors could be seen swarming to Mount Tai, a renowned scenic spot in Shandong Province, east China.

While in the second half, the massive queues on the Great Wall of China spread as far as the eye can see as people slowly moved along the country's tourist landmark.

Tomb Sweeping Day, also referred to as Qingming Festival, is the annual occasion when people in China go to cemeteries to honour their ancestors. It's also a national holiday.

This year, the national festival fell on Monday, April 4, which allowed residents in China to have a three-day weekend.

Many people in the country used this time to take a trip to a tourist site such as the Great Wall however when they arrived, they were greeted by long waits and giant queues.

During the last weekend, visitors were struggling for space on the Great Wall of China.

On Facebook a user named 'Nathan Bolos' wrote: 'Two friends of mine went there yesterday, they were turned away at the great wall. They told them there were no tickets left.'

While another called 'Austin Baldwin' said: 'I'm honestly wondering if there isn't a safety issue with having so many people on such an old structure!

Endless queues: Many in the country used the national holiday to visit tourist sites, such as Mount Tai in Shandong Province (pictured)

Out and about: Crowds were also spotted at Beijing's Yuyuantan park as people enjoyed the Qingming Festival

Other tourist sites such as Mount Tai which is also in the video were just as busy.

Located in Tai'an Shandong province, Mount Tai is one of China's five sacred mountains.

In the video, people can be seen wearing their heavy winter coats, slowly climbing the mountain's staircase.

Travel websites have advised visitors to China to avoid travelling during the national holidays.

During the holidays, the waits for tables in restaurants and entry to tourist sites increase.

Ticket prices for trains and planes also increase with many people reserving their train tickets weeks in advance leaving trains completely sold out days before their departure.

According to People's Daily Online, Shandong Province, where the Mount Tai is, received more than 27 million visitors over the three days; while nearly five million keen travellers visited Beijing, the country's capital city.
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Tourists visiting beaches in south China have been enjoying a spectacular natural display as luminescent organisms line the shoreline at night.

The breaking waves glow bright blue with miniature neon lights as the sun goes down around Dapeng Bay and Daya Bay in Shenzhen city, Guangdong province, giving the appearance of stars according to a report from People's Daily Online.

The remarkable phenomenon is created by the growth of a unique variety of algal bloom called Noctiluca scintillans, commonly known as 'sea sparkle'.

Spectacle: The waves glow blue with neon lights as the sun goes down around Dapeng Bay and Daya Bay, Shenzhen city, south China

Unusual: The glow lasted from March 30 until April 3, and the algae returns most years in the winter or spring to create similar vistas

It spread over a coastal area of approximately three square miles, brought in by an unfortunately harmful 'red tide' which can inhibit the sea ecosystem and lead to the deaths of many fish species.

According to eyewitnesses, the glow on the sands lasted from March 30 until April 3, and the algae population returns most years in the winter or spring to create similar vistas.

The blooms are unfortunately far less attractive during the day, when dark red belts give the sea's surface a sticky or muddy texture.

Locals had become concerned about the extent to which the algae had inhabited the coastline, particularly as it was during peak tourist holiday time.

Peter Peng, owner of the Phoenix Tree Inn near Xichong Beach, said: 'At first, I couldn't believe my eyes. The whole coastline was glowing neon blue.

'I felt like hundreds of stars have fallen to the earth. I tried to step on the shining blue spots, it was so surreal.'

Peng spent two days taking pictures on the beach at night. After he posted the pictures onto WeChat, a Chinese social media app, these pictures were quickly shared by his friends and Chinese media.

The Shenzhen Marine Environmental Monitoring Center confirmed they had tested the algae and were monitoring its spread through the waters.

Danger? Locals were concerned about the extent to which the red tide had hit the coastline, as it was during peak tourist holiday time

Steady: There has been a yearly average of seven to ten red tides reported from Shenzhen's coastal area and three this year already

A spokesman for the centre said: 'Red tides occur due to pollution of the sea, although not necessarily.The western part of Shenzhen should see a higher level of pollution than the eastern part, given its proximity to the Pearl River mouth.'

'However, it is obvious that red tides have been happening more frequently in eastern Shenzhen in recent years.'

Recently, there has been a yearly average of seven to ten red tides reported from Shenzhen's coastal area. Only two cases were reported last year; but this year, three red tides have been reported so far already.

The abnormally warm sea temperatures in recent times are thought to be a major contributing factor in the increased algae population.

The bright bioluminescence effect is created when the water in which the micro organisms are inhabiting is disturbed, and can unfortunately be devastating to marine life and local fisheries if left to spread out of control.

Scientists believe Noctiluca's role as both prey and predator can eventually magnify the accumulation of algae toxins in the food chain.
The remarkable site is under conservation but is to be opened up to the public to visit around May Day next month

These particular homes have had six generations living under their roofs but the tradition dates back 4,000 years

Nearly 10,000 homesteads carved into loess silt land pits as part of ancient living tradition in Henan province, China

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A centuries-old tradition in central China has seen indigenous people living underground in ancient 'pit yards' which will soon be open to the public.

The series of subterranean dwellings amount to nearly 10,000 homes in Sanmenxia city, Henan, according to a report by People's Daily Online.

The courtyard homes, called Yaodongs, have had six generations living under their roofs for over 200 years and are currently under conservation.

Carved from the rocks: The series of amazing subterranean dwellings amount to nearly 10,000 homes in Sanmenxia, Henan, central China

Protected: The homesteads have had six generations of residents living under their roofs for over 200 years and are under conservation.

Amazing: The tradition in China is thought to date back over 4,000 years and have housed thousands of residents in the huge loess hills.

Open: The government of Henan has announced that it is protecting the sites and plans to turn them into attractions for curious visitors.

However the tradition itself in China is thought to date back over 4,000 years and have housed thousands of residents in the hills.

The origins of Yaodongs can be traced back to Bronze Age, when people lived in dwellings within deep pits and they became widely popular during the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Today, the homesteads are much more modernised and many of them are equipped with electricity and other utilities.

The local government of Henan has announced that it is protecting the sites and plans to turn them into tourist attractions for curious visitors.

Amazing birds-eye view images of the site have been published online, showing the remarkable prism-like homesteads in all their glory, carved out of the sediment of huge loess land pits.

The specific size and shape of the Yaodong varies depending on its location and over 30 million Chinese people live in such dwellings to this day.

The structures also boast the features including earthquake-resistance, sound-proofing and are even energy-efficient.

More importantly, there are wide wells that prevent floods and storms to ensure safety.

Fortified: The immaculately designed houses are strengthened with natural materials on their walls, to keep them from collapsing in.

Natural marvel: The loess hills in which they were built were created over thousands of years by winds depositing silt earth in mounds.

A true sight to behold: The amazing homes create a strange and beautiful mosaic on the ground when viewed from the skies above

Remarkable: An average pit yard home in the complex has a depth of 20-23 ft and a length of 33-39ft and is supported on all four sides

Stunning: The attraction will open to the public around May Day next month, and has already been visited by a handful of lucky tourists

Yaodongs also have other functions. The arched roof of the caves could hold plants; the surrounding land could be used for farming if the house were built in the slopes.

According to previous reports, a basic one-bedroom cave without plumbing is available to rent for about 21 per month, while a full house with three bedrooms plus a bathroom might sell for around 32,000.

The immaculately designed cave houses are strengthened with natural materials on the pit walls, with a depth of 20-23 ft and length of 33-39ft.

The loess hills in which they were built were created over thousands of years by strong winds depositing silt earth in huge mounds.
A bulldozer operator has stumbled upon a partial skull and two tusks of a prehistoric beast in northwest Oklahoma.

The unnamed Woods County employee reported the find to local archaeologist Lee Bement who has now confirmed it belongs to a Columbian mammoth.

Bement said the elephant-like animal with long, curved tusks was common in the Plains region during the Pleistocene era before becoming extinct about 11,000 years ago.

A bulldozer operator has stumbled upon a partial skull and two tusks of a prehistoric beast in northwest Oklahoma. The unnamed employee reported the find to local archaeologist Lee Bement who has now confirmed it belongs to a Columbian mammoth. Pictured is the skull and two tusk fragments in the sand pit

The find was revealed on the Oklahoma Archaeological Survey's Facebook page, which wrote: 'We received a call this week about a mammoth skull that was unearthed in a sand pit north of Alva in the northwestern part of Oklahoma.

'There is no sign of cultural association; nor is there any other skeletal elements. The exact age of the deposit has not yet been determined.'

Archaeologists from the group have also released two images of the remains.

The first image shows the skull and two tusk fragments in the sand pit, while the second image is a close-up of the skull showing a tooth in place.

There is no sign that the creature was murdered or hunted, nor are there any other skeletal elements. The exact age of the deposit has not yet been determined. This image shows a close-up of the skull with a tooth in place. A second tooth had already been removed from the skull during initial clearing of the sand

The Columbian mammoth lived in North America during the Pleistocene epoch. It measured 13ft (4 metres) and weighed up to 10 tonnes. Its natural habitat included grassy landscapes (illustrated), compared to the woolly mammoth which preferred to live in the Arctic regions

The remains were found in Woods County, in Oklahoma (marked). Mammoth discoveries in the region are relatively frequent. Earlier this year, a mammoth femur was found on Oregon State Universitys football field, and last year, farmers from Michigan found mammoth remains in a soybean field

A second tooth had already been removed from the skull during initial clearing of the sand.

However, mammoth discoveries in the region are relatively frequent.

Earlier this year, a mammoth femur was found on Oregon State Universitys football field, and last year, farmers from Michigan found mammoth remains in a soybean field.

THE COLUMBIAN MAMMOTH The Columbian mammoth lived in North America during the Pleistocene epoch. It was one of the last in a line of mammoth species, beginning with M. subplanifrons in the early Pliocene. It measured 13ft (4 metres) and weighed up to 10 tonnes. Its natural habitat included grassy landscapes, compared to the woolly mammoth which preferred to live in the Arctic regions. However, the two species may have overlapped, and genetic evidence suggests they interbred. Advertisement

In fact, Bement said remains of 'two or three mammoths are found each year in Oklahoma.'

But he added that the find is still exciting because it is thought the earliest humans in Oklahoma existed at the same time and could have hunted mammoths.

The remains have been sent to Oklahoma State University for analysis by a doctoral student in geology and will be returned to the landowner.

Remains such as these are being increasingly used in an attempt to learn more about the ancient beasts, as well as bring them back from the dead.

Scientists in South Korea are trying to clone extinct cave lions after the 12-000-year old, perfectly preserved remains of two cubs was discovered in Siberia.

Cave lions lived during Middle and Late Pleistocene times on the Eurasian continent, from Britain to the extreme east of Russia.

Last month, controversial cloning expert Hwang Woo-Suk visited Yakutsk in Siberea where the lions named Uyan and Dina are being kept, to to watch over scientists as they removed samples of skin and muscle tissue from a young cave lion.

By comparison, woolly mammoths (illustrated) survived for nearly 350,000 years before dying out. The two species may have overlapped, and genetic evidence suggests they interbred

A 39,000-year-old female baby mammoth nicknamed Yuka (pictured) is one of the best preserved woolly mammoths to have been found in the Siberian permafrost. A new laboratory based in the Siberian city of Yakutsk aims to use finds like this in an attempt to clone the extinct ice age giants

The Korean experts will use it in an effort to clone the ancient creatures, much as they are trying to do with the woolly mammoth.

The controversial procedure could see scientists at the Sooam Biotech Research Foundation in Seoul, cloning a mammoth - as living eggs do not exist in the species - and instead insert the genetic material into the egg cells of Asian elephant.

To clone a mammoth, the scientists said they will need the 'perfect carcass'  a mammoth that has fallen into thawed permafrost and then been preserved there.

Last year, a huge step towards recreating the woolly mammoth has been taken by scientists who inserted more than a dozen of its genes into the live DNA of an elephant.
If you look up at the sky night over the next few nights, you could be in with a chance of seeing the International Space Station (ISS).

The space station will be visible to the naked eye with clear skies, letting anyone sneak a peek at ISS which orbits the Earth at an altitude of roughly 255 miles (410km).

Nasa's 'Spot the Station' website tells people when the ISS will be able to be seen from their own city, how long it should be visible and at what point in the sky.

Use the module below or visit the website to see when the ISS will be visible from your city

Nasa's 'Spot the Station' website (module above) tells people when the ISS will be able to be seen from their own city, how long it should be visible and at what point in the sky

The space station (pictured) will be visible to the naked eye with clear skies, letting anyone sneak a peek at ISS which orbits the Earth at an altitude of roughly 200 miles (322 km)

Tonight the ISS can be spotted from the UK at 8.55PM and 10.31PM, then on Wednesday at 9:38 PM for 4 minutes and at 11:15 PM for less than a minute.

The space station is only visible for a few minutes at a time as it speeds past, travelling at 17,100 miles (27,600km) per hour.

WHEN TO SPOT THE STATION IN UK From the UK the ISS will be visible at the following times this week and next week: Tuesday 5 April, at 8:55 PM for 5 minutes and 10:31 PM for 2 minutes. Wednesday 6 April at 9:38 PM for 4 minutes and at 11:15 PM for less than a minute. Thursday 7 April at 8:46 PM for 6 minutes and 10:23 PM for 2 minutes. Friday 8 April at 9:30 PM for 5 minutes and at 11:07 PM for less than a minute. Saturday 9 April from 8:42 PM for 1 minute and 10:14 PM for 3 minutes. Sunday 10 April at 9:22 PM for 5 minutes and 10:58 PM for less than a minute. Monday 11 April at 10:05 PM for 3 minutes. Tuesday 12 April at 9:13 PM for 5 minutes. Wednesday 13 April at 9:58 PM for 2 minutes. Thursday 14 April at 9:05 PM for 4 minutes. Saturday 16 April at 8:58 PM for less than a minute. Advertisement

Nasa's 'Spot the Station' website tells people when the ISS will be able to be seen from their own city, how long it should be visible and at what point in the sky.

'It is the third brightest object in the sky and easy to spot if you know when to look up,' the Nasa website explained.

'Visible to the naked eye, it looks like a fast-moving plane only much higher and traveling thousands of miles an hour faster!'

'My advice would be to visit Heavens Above, or better yet get their app for your phone, and look at the star charts there,' Sam Spencer, amateur astronomer and president of Durham University's Astronomical Society told MailOnline.

'It'll plot out the trajectory the space station will take at a particular time and date.

'It moves very quickly, it'll probably be visible for less than a minute, so I'd advise you either use the naked eye to see it, or a DSLRcamera on a tripod with a wide angle lens (18mm) set to take ten second exposures continuously at high ISO.'

Construction of the ISS began on 20 November 1998. It supports a crew of up to six, with crews split into groups of three.

The station orbits at a height of about 255 miles (410km) and has a total mass of about 990,000 pounds (450,000kg) and has living space roughly equivalent to a five-bedroom house.

It completes an orbit of Earth every 92.91 minutes.

It has now been in space for more than 5,900 days, during which time it has completed more than 92,000 orbits of Earth, and has been continuously occupied for more than 13 years.

The ISS is the third brightest object in the sky and easy to spot if you know when to look. The chart above shows when it will be visible in London over the next two weeks

Aboard the International Space Station, astronauts have photographed the Earth from a unique perspective, sending back countless photos that show the worlds cities illuminated at night.

A project called Cities at Night is tapping into citizen science to identify the thousands of pictures astronauts have taken over the years.

While the project has revealed some remarkable views of Earths cities, the researchers also caution that these images show the growing problem of light pollution as cities grow continuously brighter.
A male sperm whale's forehead is designed for ramming love rivals and even ships, just like in the novel Moby Dick, according to new research.

Scientists used structural engineering principles to test how the head of the sperm whale might be able to resist strong ramming impacts.

The theory was instrumental in inspiring Herman Melville to write the classic novel Moby Dick, but its mechanical feasibility had never been addressed.

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Researchers used structural engineering principles to test how the head of the sperm whale might be able to resist strong ramming impacts. Simulations revealed that the connective tissue partitions inside the forehead (stock image pictured) absorb impact stresses and protect the skull from fracturing

The theory was originally proposed by 19th Century whaler Owen Chase.

Chase, whose ship the Essex was sunk by a sperm whale, suggested the forehead of male sperm whales evolved partly to be used as a battering ram weapon when fighting for access to reproductively active females.

The sperm whale forehead is one of the strangest structures in the animal kingdom.

Internally the forehead is composed of two large oil-filled sacs, stacked one on top of the other, known as the spermaceti organ and the junk sacs - and it is much larger in males than females.

The theory inspired Herman Melville to write the classic novel Moby Dick (illustrated), but its mechanical feasibility had never been addressed

It is the oil within the upper spermaceti organ that was the main target of the whaling industry in the early 19th Century.

Study co-author Professor David Carrier, of the University of Utah, said: 'We know that the sperm whale head is important in transmitting sonar clicks and there are many other hypotheses about its role in communication and buoyancy.

'But none of these hypotheses could explain how the sperm whale head could function as a weapon capable of sinking ships that are four to five times the mass of the whale.'

The ramming hypothesis was initially dismissed by many because the sperm whale head houses sensitive structures.

If it was used for battering ships and rival males out of the way, these anatomical structures could be damaged.

Plus, few people had observed sperm whales ramming.

The team decided to put this theory to the test after it received a report from a pilot and conservation researcher, who documented sperm whales ramming while flying over the Gulf of California.

A consulting engineer then created a computer model to simulate ramming in sperm whales.

The ramming hypothesis was initially dismissed by many because the sperm whale head (stock image) houses sensitive structures. If it was used for battering ships and rival males out of the way, these anatomical structures could be damaged

Although male sperm whales may not fight frequently, the researchers said they know that aggressive ramming behaviour is a common characteristic in the group of mammals from which whales are derived

The theory for the uses of the whale's large forehead (stock image) was originally proposed by 19th Century whaler Owen Chase

Senior author Associate Professor Todd Pataky, of Shinshu University in Japan, said: 'We used probabilistic simulation to study the mechanical effects of impact variation.

'After creating a series of modified versions of the type and direction of impact force on the sperm whale head, we concluded that the connective tissue partitions embedded within the junk absorb impact stresses and protect the skull from fracturing.'

Study lead author Dr Olga Panagiotopoulou from the University of Queensland in Australia added: 'Increased skull stresses at a ramming event can be detrimental for the animal since they can cause fatal fractures.

'Our findings show that the mechanical advantage of the structure of the junk may be the result of acquired traits related to selection on male to male aggressive behaviour.

'Although male sperm whales may not fight frequently, we know that aggressive ramming behaviour is a common characteristic in the group of mammals from which whales are derived - the even-toed ungulates, the artiodactyls.
It was the route along which fine cloths, spices and riches flowed between Europe and East Asia for hundreds of years.

But new analysis of textiles and dyes found in a tomb complex in Nepal suggests the Silk Road may have extended further south than previously believed.

Archaeologists found a gold, silver and cloth funerary mask discovered in the Samdzong tomb complex in Nepal had been made with materials from north-east Asia between 400AD and 650AD.

Analysis of cloth found alongside a gold and silver funerary mask (pictured left) found in the cliff-top tombs close to the village of Samdzong in Upper Mustang, Nepal, showed that it had contained materials from China and India. The cloth (pictured right) suggests the trade route extended south into Nepal in 400 to 650AD

Dr Margarita Gleba, from the University of Cambridge's McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, found the cloth contained degummed silk fibres and Indian dyes.

Dr Gleba said: 'There is no evidence for local silk production suggesting that Samdzong was inserted into the long-distance trade network of the Silk Road.'

TEA LEAVES GIVE EARLIEST EVIDENCE OF THE SILK ROAD The world's oldest tea leaves have been discovered buried with royal treasures in the tomb of an ancient Chinese emperor who ruled more than 2,150 years ago. Unearthed in the tomb of Jing Emperor Liu Qi, the tea provides some of the earliest evidence for the ancient Silk Road trade route that grew to stretch across Asia from China to Europe. It appears Emperor Jing, who was the fourth emperor of the Western Han Dynasty, enjoyed the drink so much he wanted to be buried with a large supply of tea leaves so he could drink it in the afterlife. Archaeologists discovered the huge stash of tea buds  or tips - in one of the burial pits that surrounded the mausoleum built for the emperor and his wife in Xi'an, Sha'anxi Province, China. Writing in the journal Scientific Reports, Dr Houyuan Lu, an archaeologist with the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, and his colleagues described also finding similar tea remains in a tomb in Tibet. They said this also dates to around 200AD, which is the earliest indication tea was being transported along, and traded on, what later became known as the Silk Road. Advertisement

'The data reinforce the notion that instead of being isolated and remote, Upper Mustang was once a small, but important node of a much larger network of people and places.

'These textiles can further our understanding of the local textile materials and techniques, as well as the mechanisms through which various communities developed and adapted new textile technologies to fit local cultural and economical needs.'

The cloth used in the funerary mask was found to contain silk but also Indian dyes such as munjeet and lac, which suggests the materials had been imported from China and India.

The Silk Road was an ancient network of trade route that ran through central Asia connecting China to the Mediterranean Sea.

It was initially named after the lucrative trade in Chinese silk but other precious items such as jade, gold, silver, bronze and spice were also transported initially between China and Egypt, then later to ancient Greece and Rome and eventually to Medieval Europe.

While many sea route were opened up by sailors to transport goods, merchants crossing overland were thought to have travelled by northern and southern routes that bypassed the Takliamakan Desert in north west China.

The northern route took several paths through Kazakhstan, Afghanistan and Uzbekistan.

The southern route ran through the Karakoram mountains that sit on the border of Pakistan, India and China.

They merged again near Merv in Turkmenistan before continuing west to the south of the Caspian Sea.

The researchers say their discovery suggests merchants travelling the Silk Road (shown in red) had plied their wares far further south than had been initially thought

Alongside the funerary mask was some wool that included copper, glass and cloth beads (pictured). Analysis of this showed traces of dyes including Indian lac and munjeet alongside silk from China

But the cloth discovered in the tombs near the village of Samdzong in the Mustang region of Nepal suggest merchants may have also extended their route further south still.

At a height of 13,100ft (4,000 metres), the cloth was exceptionally well preserved alongside the remains of the ancient people who were buried in tombs cut into the mountainside in Samdzong.

The man-made remains were only exposed to view in 2009 when an earthquake caused the facade of the cliff to calve off.

One segment of cloth found in the tombs was made of wool with copper, glass and cloth beads attached to it.

The tombs were cut into the cliff face in Upper Mustang (similar caves above a monastery in Lo Manthang, Nepal pictured) more than 13,100ft up, where the dry cold air helped to preserve the cloth

It was found near a coffin of an adult alongside the spectacular gold and silver funerary mask.

The mask has small pinholes around its edges, suggesting it had been sewn to a fabric and was perhaps part of a piece of decorative headwear.

Writing in the journal Science and Technology of Archaeological Research, Dr Gleba and her colleagues explain how analysis found a range of organic dyes on the cloth.

They said turmeric, knotweed indigo, Indian lac and munjeet were all found on the cloth along with cinnabar.

They said: 'The results indicate that locally produced materials were used in combination with those likely imported from afar, including China and India.'
The world's most powerful X-ray laser is set to get a $1 billion upgrade.

Scientists in California are improving the power of the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) by adding another laser beam that is 10,000 times brighter, and fires 8,000 times faster.

The beam, dubbed LCLS-II, will help scientists better see how atoms move in living systems.

Pictured is an artist's impression of an electron beam traveling through a niobium cavity - a key component of SLAC's future LCLS-II X-ray laser. These cavities will power a highly energetic electron beam that will create up to 1 million X-ray flashes per second - more than any other current or planned X-ray laser

HOW WILL IT WORK? LCLS-II will use electrons accelerated to close to the speed of light to create beams of X-rays. The electrons fly through a series of magnets, called an undulator, that forces them to travel a zigzag path. At the moment, electrons are accelerated down a copper pipe that operates at room temperature and allows the generation of 120 X-ray laser pulses per second. For LCLS-II, crews will install a superconducting accelerator. It's called 'superconducting' because its niobium metal cavities conduct electricity with nearly no loss when working at -456 degrees Fahrenheit. Accelerating electrons through a series of these cavities allows the generation of an almost continuous X-ray laser beam with pulses that are 10,000 times brighter, Advertisement

Researchers say the extra power could lead to discoveries in fields ranging from electronics to energy and medicine.

'LCLS-II will take X-ray science to the next level, opening the door to a whole new range of studies of the ultrafast and ultrasmall,' said LCLS Director Mike Dunne.

'This will tremendously advance our ability to develop transformative technologies of the future, including novel electronics, life-saving drugs and innovative energy solutions.'

It will take until 2020 to complete, and the LCLS will be shut down for a year in 2018.

Hundreds of scientists use LCLS each year to catch a glimpse of nature's fundamental processes in unprecedented detail.

They can view molecular movies which reveal how chemical bonds form and break and ultrafast snapshots that capture electric charges as they rapidly rearrange in materials.

To get 100,000 times brighter, the beam will need to produce up to a million X-ray pulses a second.

The new X-ray laser beam will work alongside with the existing one, with each occupying one-third of Stanford Linear Accelerator Center's (SLAC's) 2-mile-long linear accelerator tunnel.

The future LCLS-II X-ray laser (blue) is shown alongside the existing LCLS (red). LCLS uses the last third of SLAC's 2-mile-long linear accelerator. For LCLS-II, the first third of the copper accelerator will be replaced with a superconducting one, capable of creating up to 1 million X-ray flashes per second

WHAT WILL IT BE USED FOR? The new device, dubbed LCLS-II, will help scientists better see how atoms move in living systems. Researchers will be able to view molecular movies which reveal how chemical bonds form and break and ultrafast snapshots that capture electric charges as they rapidly rearrange in materials. LCLS-II will take X-ray science to the next level, opening the door to a whole new range of studies of the ultrafast and ultrasmall,' said LCLS Director Mike Dunne. Scientists hope it could lead to discoveries in fields ranging from electronics to energy and medicine. Advertisement

Like the current facility, LCLS-II will use electrons accelerated to close to the speed of light to generate beams of extremely bright X-ray laser light.

The electrons fly through a series of magnets, called an undulator, that forces them to travel on a zigzag path and give off energy in the form of X-rays.

But the way those electrons are accelerated will be quite different, and give LCLS-II improved capabilities.

At the moment, electrons are accelerated down a copper pipe that operates at room temperature and allows the generation of 120 X-ray laser pulses per second.

For LCLS-II, crews will install a superconducting accelerator.

It's called 'superconducting' because its niobium metal cavities conduct electricity with nearly zero loss when chilled to minus 456 degrees Fahrenheit.

Accelerating electrons through a series of these cavities allows the generation of an almost continuous X-ray laser beam with pulses that are 10,000 times brighter, on average, than those of LCLS and arrive up to a million times per second.

To make this major upgrade a reality, SLAC has teamed up with four other national labs - Argonne, Berkeley Lab, Fermilab and Jefferson Lab - and Cornell University, with each partner making key contributions to project planning as well as to component design, acquisition and construction.
WhatsApp has announced a major plan to keep your conversations protected.

The global messaging service is now equipped with end-to-end encryption for every user with the latest version of the app.

The update arrives amid a heightened international debate over how much access law enforcement should have to digital communications and follows a high-profile showdown between Apple and the FBI over an encrypted iPhone linked to one of the San Bernardino shooters.

WhatsApp has announced a major plan to keep your conversations protected. The global messaging service is now equipped with end-to-end encryption for every user with the latest version of the app. This means all phone calls, texts, and even media files are visible only to people included in the thread

WHAT IS END-TO-END ENCRYPTION? With 'end-to-end' encryption, messages are visible only to the person who has sent them and the individuals that were meant to receive. The system works by using a lock to secure messages between individuals or in a group chat. This lock is paired with a distinct key, which only the sender and the recipients will have. This will will lock out cybercriminals, hackers, oppressive regimes, and even WhatsApp officials to keep your data private, the blog says. Advertisement

It means all phone calls, texts, and even media files are visible only to people included in the thread.

According to a recent WhatsApp Blog post, end-to-end encryption will lock out cybercriminals, hackers, oppressive regimes, and even WhatsApp officials to keep your data private.

Messages on the Facebook-owned service will only be visible to the person who has sent them, and the individuals on the receiving end.

The system works by using a lock to secure messages between individuals or in a group chat.

This lock is paired with a distinct key, which only the sender and the recipients will have.

Each message in the conversation will have its own unique lock and key, the website explains and the exchanges will occur automatically.

Users wont have to turn on a particular setting to secure their messages  with the latest version of the app, end-to-end encryption will be an automatic feature.

We live in a world where more of our data is digitized than ever before, the blog post explains.

Every day we see stories about sensitive records being improperly accessed or stolen. And if nothing is done, more of peoples digital information and communication will be vulnerable to attack in the years to come.

HOW TO USE IT To make this transition as clear as possible, WhatsApp clients notify users when their chats become end to end encrypted. Starting today, users will see a notice in their conversation screen as their individual and group chats become end to end encrypted. Additionally, the encryption status of any chat is visible under that chat's preferences screen. Advertisement

Fortunately, end-to-end encryption protects us from these vulnerabilities.

The move follows the recent battle between Apple CEO Tim Cook and the FBI over the encrypted iPhone belonging to one of the San Bernardino terrorists.

Tensions began on December 2 last year when ISIS-inspired terrorist Syed Farook massacred 14 people in San Bernardino, California, and left behind an iPhone 5s which the FBI tried to access.

Apple refused a court order by the FBI to assist its investigation because it claims the Bureau wants it to build a backdoor that could be used to unlock thousands of other devices.

The tech giant says that the row has grave implications in the wider debate about privacy and government surveillance.

Starting today, users will see a notice in their conversation screen as their individual and group chats become end to end encrypted.

As of last week, the FBI was able to hack into the iPhone with help from an Israeli firm.

Despite the recent developments on the topic, WhatsApps latest move toward firmer encryption aims to ensure free and secure communications.

In the post, the author recounts growing up under communist rule in the USSR, where free speech was barred.

The move follows the recent battle between Apple CEO Tim Cook and the FBI over the encrypted iPhone belonging to one of the San Bernardino terrorists. The phone belonged to Syed Farook, pictured with his wife Tashfeen, who shot dead 14 people at a Christmas party in December in the Californian city

Speaking out: Tim Cook has used an interview with Time magazine to make a trenchant defense of his company's controversial position on unlocking the secrets of Farook's phone.

WhatsApp is one of the few services to offer this type of encryption, the post says, and it will be available to upwards of a billion people who use the app.
The final interior of the Tesla Model 3 is set to look like a 'spaceship'.

That's according to Tesla founder, Elon Musk, who made the comment during an impromptu Q&A session on Twitter yesterday.

It follows another tweet by the billionaire claiming that the launch event last week was only the first part of what Tesla had to reveal about the car.

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The final interior of the Tesla Model 3 is set to look like a 'spaceship'. That's according to Tesla founder, Elon Musk, who made the comment during an impromptu Q&A session on Twitter yesterday

During the launch event on Thursday, the Model 3 was shown with a traditional steering wheel setup with a tablet control centre.

'Wait until you see the real steering controls and system for the 3. It feels like a spaceship,' Musk said.

Another response by Musk said how the lack of an instrument cluster 'will make sense after part 2 of the Model 3 unveil.'

Musk said that the design of the front of the car is still being tweaked and added that 'contour refinement' is also underway.

During the launch event on Thursday, the Model 3 was shown with a traditional steering wheel setup. 'Wait until you see the real steering controls and system for the 3. It feels like a spaceship,' Elon Musk said.

The billionaire founder revealed the car will able to go 215 miles per charge, at a minimum, at the unveiling

Another response by Musk said how the lack of an instrument cluster 'will make sense after part 2 of the Model 3 unveil'

He confirmed that the rear seat will fold down so you can sleep on it, and that a bicycle could fit in the back.

Musk added that the Model 3 will have a 'vegan' interior option with synthetic leather.

The Model 3 is a cheaper version of Tesla's electric car aimed at the mass market.

Orders for it surged to 276,000 in just three days, Musk said at the weekend.

HOW DOES TESLA'S NEW AFFORDABLE CAR COMPARE TO THE MODEL S? MODEL S Price: From 47,600 ($68,350) Safety features: Autopilot 060mph: 2.8 seconds Power source: 70kWh / 90kWh battery Range: 340 miles (547km) Capacity: 5 adults (2 additional children's seats) Charge time: 56 hours (full charge) / 20 mins (half charge on supercharger) Source: Tesla MODEL 3 Price: From $35,000 (24,375) Safety features: Autopilot 060mph: Less than 6 seconds Power source: To be confirmed Range: 215 miles (346km) Capacity: 5 adults Charge time:To be confirmed Source: Tesla Advertisement

Amid reports of queues to snap up the vehicle, Musk tweeted: '276k Model 3 orders by end of Sat.'

Following the launch on Thursday, Musk said orders had passed 115,000 and he hinted demand was outstripping expectation with the tweet: 'Definitely going to need to rethink production planning.'

In a later tweet, he added: 'A Model 3 order gives you priority in your geography, so, even tho total count is high, ordering early will make a big difference locally.'

With the Model 3, Tesla is aiming to show it can appeal to the general public and produce cars en masse.

The base price is half that of Tesla's luxury Model S and the Model X, which start at $70,000, for example.

In a later tweet, Elon Musk said: 'A Model 3 order gives you priority in your geography, so, even tho total count is high, ordering early will make a big difference locally'

He confirmed that the rear seat will fold down so you can sleep on it, and that a bicycle could fit in the back. Musk added that the Model 3 will have a 'vegan' interior option with synthetic leather. During a series of tweets, he added 'it will have more cowbells'

LG COULD SUPPLY CAR DISPLAYS FOR TESLA MODEL 3 LG Display will supply information displays for Tesla Motors' new Model 3 sedans, a person with direct knowledge of the matter told reuters. The Model 3 prototype features a huge, tablet-like information screen on the center console, reflecting the trend towards bigger in-car displays that offer more features. 'LG Display is a sole supplier for the 15-plus inch centre display of Model 3,' said the source, declining to be identified as he was not authorised to speak on the matter. Another company currently provides centre information displays for Tesla's Model S and Model X, he added. Advertisement

Tesla unveiled the highly anticipated Model 3 on Thursday, hours after fans around the globe already began lining up at its stores to order the luxury brand's new affordable vehicle.

Musk dramatically revealed a red, silver and matte black model of the electric car after a lengthy talk that covered the company's dedication to the environment and journey to affordability.

He also revealed the Model 3 will be able to go zero to 60mph in less than six seconds, saying: 'At Tesla, we don't make slow cars'.

The billionaire founder noted the car will be able to travel a distance of 215 miles (346km) per charge, at minimum, and will fit five adults comfortably.

The slick design features a roof made of one continuous pane of glass, which Musk said will give passengers amazing headroom and a 'feeling of openness'.

It is also 20 per cent smaller in stature than the Model S and will be fitted with autopilot features.

Like the Model S that came before it, Model 3 will feature front and rear trunks and boasts more cargo capacity than any gasoline car of the same external dimensions.

And Musk promises a 7ft (2 metres) surfboard will be able to fit inside.

'It's going to be an incredibly safe car,' Musk said when he first presented the Model 3 at the company's design studio in Hawthorne California on Thursday night.

The Model 3 - the company's first mass market car - is a pitch to middle class drivers and a key component in Musk's vision to mainstream the electric car

Tesla's new model 3 is the firm's affordable car, but has many features of the Tesla Model S (2013 model pictured)

'We really believe with Tesla that safety has to come first, it's paramount. It will be 5-star in every category'.

Musk said deliveries for the car will begin at the end of next year.

'I do feel fairly confident it will be next year,' Musk joked to the amped up crowd, before repeating the car's widely-publicised $35,000 price tag.

'I want to emphasise that even if you buy no options at all, this will still be an amazing car,' he said.

At the end of his speech Musk revealed that the Model 3, the fourth by the brand, was already a success - with the total number of orders surpassing 115,000 in 24 hours.

'You did it!' members of the audience screamed in support of Musk.

In a Twitter message last week, Musk announced: 'Tomorrow is Part 1 of the Model 3 unveil. Part 2, which takes things to another level, will be closer to production.'

He also posted a CNBC poll that showed 55 per cent of people would put a $1,000 deposit on Tesla Model 3, and go through with buying it.

'Looks like we may need to increase production plans for the Model 3,' he wrote.

Before revealing the Model 3, Musk explained the company's 'secret master plan' that led them to be capable of making a mass market car

The Model 3 is a pitch to middle class drivers and a key component in Musk's vision to mainstream the electric car.

'Why are we doing this? Why does it matter?' Musk rhetorically asked the audience as he began his speech at the unveiling.

'It's because it's very important to accelerate the transition to sustainable transport,' he said. 'This is really important for the future of the world.'

Musk went on to note that the world has record carbon dioxide levels that continue to climb.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT TESLA'S MODEL 3 When will it go on sale? Tesla has said it expects to start Model 3 production at its Fremont, California, factory at the end of 2017. But the company has a history of delays. The Model X, which went on sale last fall, was initially due to go on sale in early 2014. Musk said last month that the Model 3, unlike the Model X, is designed for 'ease of manufacturing.' Still, some analysts are doubtful. Morgan Stanley auto analyst Adam Jonas thinks Tesla won't start building the Model 3 until the end of 2018. At the end of his speech Musk revealed that the Model 3, the fourth by the brand, was an instant success - with a total number of orders surpassing 115,000 in 24 hours Who are its competitors? General Motors is set to start selling the Chevrolet Bolt electric car at the end of this year, a full year before the Model 3. The Bolt will have a similar price tag and a 200-mile range. Hyundai's Ioniq, which has a 110-mile electric range and could match Tesla on price, goes on sale this fall. Audi will follow with an electric SUV in 2018. Musk said last month he's not worried. He thinks the Model 3 will compete most directly with small luxury cars like the Audi A4 and the BMW 3 Series. How did Tesla make the Model 3 less expensive? Cheaper batteries. Tesla previously assembled its battery packs with battery cells made in Japan by Panasonic Corp. But Tesla and Panasonic are building a massive, $5 billion factory in Nevada which will supply batteries for the Model 3. Tesla says the scale of the factory will lower the cost of its battery packs by 30 per cent. Advertisement

'The last time there was this level of carbon concentration was 11 million years ago, that's when primates started walking upright,' he said to audience laughter.

'We do not want to return to that situation.'

Musk explained that the rising levels was causing temperatures to spike as well, citing that it has already increased by two degrees and 'is going to keep going for some time in the future'.

'And beyond global warming,' he continued. 'There's just the fact that combustion cars emit toxic gases. What we came up with the Tesla is the secret master plan.'

Musk called that plan a 'four-part trilogy' that began with the 'tiny' company trying to figure out how it could make a difference 'with very few resources'.

The Tesla Roadster - with a base price at $100,000 - was born in 2008. The company could only produce 500 units a year, but their message was clear.

'What really made a difference is it showed the world you could make a compelling electric car,' Musk said.

Many people camped out overnight in Pasadena, California. Some experts have likened this launch to the early days of Apple product annoucements

'What was unique was that it was the first really great electric car. Before, people thought the electric car would be slow and ugly.'

'We wanted to show that wasn't true. The roadster is fast and beautiful and has great performance.'

The Model S and Model X, the brand's respective sedan and SUV models for the market, would follow - with $80,000 price tags.

It was the revenue from those luxury vehicles, Musk said, that paved the way for the development of Model 3.

That was the final step in the master plan: an affordable car for the mass market.

'It was only possible to do that after going through the prior steps,' Musk said. 'But we're here and we're to show that to you tonight.'

The Model 3 is able to boast a lower price tag thanks to cheaper battery packs.

Tesla previously assembled its battery packs with cells made in Japan by Panasonic Corp. But now the companies are joining forces to build a massive $5billion factory in Nevada.

Musk said the Gigafactory, as it has been dubbed, will produce more lithium batteries than all other factories of its kind in the world - combined.

The slick design features one continuous pane of glass in the rear roof area, which Musk said will give passengers amazing headroom and a 'feeling of openness'
When they first appeared, 'Triton' artificial gills were described as the ultimate James Bond gadget that could give anyone fish-like abilities.

But now the creators of the much-hyped device have refunded nearly $900,000 to Indiegogo funders amid criticism that their technology is 'impossible'.

The Stockholm-based company, however, isn't content with letting the project die.

Triton has now launched a new funding campaign, which has already raised $240,000 in backing - well over its goal of $50,000.

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When it was first unveiled in 2013, designer Jeabyun Yeon said that the Triton underwater mask acts like a fish gill to extract oxygen from water. At the time, he insisted it was a concept. But, despite this, the project went on to launch an Indiegogo campaign to put the product on the shelves for $300

When it was first unveiled in 2013, designer Jeabyun Yeon said that the Triton underwater mask acts like a fish gill to extract oxygen from water.

At the time, he insisted it was a concept. But, despite this, the project went on to launch an Indiegogo campaign to put the product on the shelves for $300.

The original Indigogo campaign showcased what the company described as the 'world's first artificial gills re-breather.'

It said its Triton device could allow anyone to stay under water for up to 45 minutes at a maximum depth of 15 feet.

The design claimed that the two arms, which branch out to the sides of the scuba mask, use microporous hollow fiber able to extract oxygen out of the water.

The company said its Triton device could allow anyone to stay under water for up to 45 minutes at a maximum depth of 15 feet. The design claimed that the two arms, which branch out to the sides of the scuba mask, use microporous hollow fiber able to extract oxygen out of the water. But scientists doubted these claims

A micro compressor then takes in and stores the oxygen, allowing wearers to breathe naturally while swimming underwater.

It sounded too good to be true - and it turns it out, it may be.

Dr Neal Pollock, a hyperbaric medicine and environmental physiology research associate at Duke University, told GearJunkie that there are a number of significant barriers to the artificial 'gills' concept.

'You have to both run a lot of water through your product, and have a means to separate it,' Pollock said.

WHAT TRITON HAD TO SAY ON INDIEGOGO ABOUT THE LATEST CHANGES A statement on the Triton campaign page read: 'Over the past week, we have received several requests for more video footage and evidence that demonstrates Triton's technology. 'Since launching we have been protecting our proprietary technology because it's so important to our success, but after careful consideration we think it's important to share these details and clarify how the device works. 'Inside of each Triton, the artificial gills utilize 'liquid oxygen', which combined with the other components allow users to breathe underwater, which you can see in the video above. 'We will release more information about the 'liquid oxygen' cylinders and safety strap. 'Note that the 'liquid oxygen' cylinders won't last forever so we plan to make it possible for backers to purchase and exchange cylinders through our website. 'They will come in packs of 1, 3 and 5, and we'll list prices as soon as they are finalized. We're also working on a solution to make them refillable. 'We wanted to share it at the beginning of the campaign but were hesitant because we also wanted to protect our intellectual property.' Advertisement

'They have some kind of filter system they say works with a membrane. But what entices the oxygen to go through that membrane? The explanation is not compelling.'

He told GearJunkie that storage was also an issue.

At the surface, the volume of a breath is about about two litres while exercising.

The system claims it has a small reservoir to hold the compressed air. But Dr Pollock doesn't think this reservoir is large enough.

One estimate found that the Triton mask would need to filter about 90 litres per minute (about 24 gallons) to keep someone alive under water.

This would require a large pump that's too big to fit inside such a compact mask.

Stockholm-based Triton has launched a new funding campaign, which has already raised $240,000 in backing - well over its goal of $50,000. Experts say the technology is impossible

Dr Pollock also said it is extremely dangerous for anyone who ventures deeper than 15ft as, at these depths, pure oxygen becomes toxic.

A video titled 'Triton artificial gill: BUSTED' has gone viral this week, and echoes Dr Pollock's scepticism.

Despite refunding early backers, Triton has launched a new campaign, which has already raised $240,000.

In a recent update on Indiegogo, the team behind the controversial product said they did want to reveal too many details about the device in order to protect their intellectual property.

They did, however, say that the device utilizes uses 'liquid oxygen' cylinders which, combined with the other components, lets a user breathe under water.

The statement was accompanied by a video on YouTube claiming to show someone using the device under water for more than 12 minutes.

Co-founder Saeed Khademi told DailyMail.com: 'What makes Triton work with the artificial gills is liquid oxygen.

'The article Gearjunkie is only based of the artificial gills, for us the difficulty to make Triton work was how to connect these two technology in Triton.

'This the way Triton can produce enough oxygen for a human to breathe from.'

There remains doubt, however.

Geek.com notes that keeping oxygen liquid would be extremely difficult and power-intensive at room temperature and 'impossible on this scale with current technology.'

It added that if this is just compressed gas, it would only work for a few dozen breaths.

'We don't use compressed gas, we do use liquid oxygen and it is a difficulty to maintain the temperature of liquid oxygen but it is not impossible if anyone is mentioning that,' said Khademi.

'It would not work without the artificial gills and the artificial gills would not work without the liquid oxygen, it is the connection between these to technology that makes Triton work.

'It took us three years to be here, that means we did many tests and with different components to make it functional.'
Labs has already begun replacing payphones in New York with wifi kiosks

Project would 'think about a city from the Internet up'

Alphabet, Google's parent company, is considering building an entire city from scratch.

The boss of Sidewalk Labs, the firm's New York City firm described as an 'urban innovation' company mentioned the idea at a summit hosted by The Information.

'Thinking about a city from the Internet up is really compelling,' Sidewalk CEO Dan Doctoroff said at the event.

The boss of Sidewalk Labs, Alphabet's 'urban innovation' company mentioned the idea at a summit hosted by tech website The Information.

SIDEWALK PROJECTS So far the firm has worked on two projects: LinkNYC, which replaces public pay phones with a network of 7,500 data and communication hubs throughout New York City. The kiosks are being provided by a franchise agreement between NYC and CityBridge, a consortium of companies that includes Qualcomm, CIVIQ Smartscapes, and Intersection which is owned by a group of investors led by Sidewalk Labs. The kiosks will deliver to residents and visitors free gigabit Wi-Fi, video and voice calling, and access to emergency and other city services. Flow, a project to improve traffic in cities, is being built with the U.S. Department of Transportation as part of its Smart City Challenge. It will be a transportation coordination platform that uses analytics and messaging to help cities work with citizens to increase the efficiency of road, parking, and transit use, improving access to mobility for all. Advertisement

Later he added that building a new city could help test solutions to cybersecurity and privacy issues: 'If you could create a place, it'd be a laboratory to experiment with these problems.'

Developing a city 'would be a great idea,' he said, before quickly adding 'I can't tell you anything' in a conversation with the site's Jessica Lessin.

'Cities are hard,' he said.

'You have people with vested interest, politics, physical space...But the technology ultimately cannot be stopped.'

'A lot of people have tried it and haven't succeeded.

'Right now we're just building products and services but there are lots of lessons that can be learned from the past and we'll see what happens over time,'

The subsidiary was launched last year with a mission to develop technology that makes living and running big cities better.

'Sidewalk will focus on improving city life for everyone by developing and incubating urban technologies to address issues like cost of living, efficient transportation and energy usage,' chief executive Larry Page said in a post at the Internet titan's Google+ social network.

It is headed by Dan Doctoroff, a former chief executive of Bloomberg LP and New York city deputy mayor of economic development under then Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

'We are at the beginning of a historic transformation in cities,' Doctoroff said in a release when the organisation first formed.

'We hope that Sidewalk will play a major role in developing technology products, platforms and advanced infrastructure that can be implemented at scale in cities around the world.'

Free Wi-Fi kiosks with New York City's LinkNYC program were launched Thursday. Mayor Bill de Blasio is seen Thursday at the launch event

While financial details were not disclosed, Page described Sidewalk as a 'relatively modest investment' in building a business that is not only different from Google's core Internet operations but which could improve people's lives.

He put Sidewalk on par with Google (x) lab headed by Google co-founder Sergey Brin, and known for 'moonshots' like self-driving cars.

'Making long-term, 10X bets like this is hard for most companies to do, but Sergey and I have always believed that it's important,' Page said in his Google+ post.

'And as more and more people around the world live, work and settle in cities, the opportunities for improving urban environments are endless.'

So far the firm has worked on NYCLink, and Flow, a project to improve traffic in cities.

Mayor Bill de Blasio was filmed telling reporters at a news conference: 'LinkNYC will be the Wi-Fi network New York City deserves.

'It will be the biggest and fastest network in the world - and completely free of charge.

'And one thing I know about my fellow New Yorkers: they like things that are completely free of charge, so this is going to be very popular.'

The mayor's office said in a news release: 'These kiosks, called 'Links,' will provide New Yorkers with an incredibly fast, secure and private Wi-Fi network with a 150-foot radius, free domestic calling, two USB charging ports, a tablet for accessing the internet, and a red 911 button to contact emergency services.
A plane with 179 passengers on board was forced to make an emergency landing after the pilots heard a hissing noise in the cockpit that they could not identify.

They both put on their oxygen masks and diverted their Air Berlin Airbus A320 - en route to Leipzig in Germany from Las Palmas, Spain - to Nantes in France.

The plane was eventually taken out of service for 18 hours.

Air Berlin told MailOnline Travel: 'Due to a hissing noise in the cockpit that could not be identified, both pilots decided to apply their oxygen masks for safety reasons immediately'

The incident happened on Saturday after the flight left Spain at 4.52pm, around two hours 50 minutes into the flight. It arrived at Nantes at 7.42pm.

The plane was then flown to Munich, Germany, and was subsequently used for a return flight to Dusseldorf.

Both The German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation and France's aviation accident investigation bureau (BEA) are looking into the incident.

The incident was first reported in The Aviation Herald, which said that 'fumes had been noticed on the flight deck prompting both flight crew to don their oxygen masks'.

It added that one pilot was taken to hospital.

However, the Herald's version of events was not confirmed by the airline.

Air Berlin told MailOnline Travel: 'Air Berlin confirms that flight AB2191 from Las Palmas to Leipzig on 2nd April 2016 had to make an unscheduled landing in Nantes, France, with 179 passengers and six crew members on board.

'Due to a hissing noise in the cockpit that could not be identified, both pilots decided to apply their oxygen masks for safety reasons immediately. They landed the aircraft safely in Nantes. Both pilots were fully functional. The passengers were accommodated in hotel rooms and were then transported to Leipzig on a replacement aircraft.

'Air Berlin regrets the inconvenience caused to the passengers. The aircraft was examined in accordance with the manufacturer's specifications and has since been deployed for use in flight operations once again. The pilots are doing fine and are back in their regular service operations.'
The title of the film may be Fifty Shades Darker but Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan looked to be sharing a light moment in Vancouver on Monday.

The co-stars were seen sharing a laugh in between shooting scenes for the second installment of the Fifty Shades franchise.

The 26-year-old actress, who plays Anastasia Steele, bundled up in jeans and a navy trench coat while Jamie - Mr. Christian Grey himself - wore a blue top, black jeans and a suede coat while on set.

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Ready: Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan were spotted filming 50 Shades Darker in Vancouver on Monday

The actors, who have been busy filming the sequel for over month, starred in the first installment - Fifty Shades Of Grey - in 2015.

The twosome filmed a scene where they held hands while crossing the street.

Dakota wore a navy jacket with skinny medium wash jeans and a blue T-shirt, rounding out the look with black Chelsea boots.

The beauty added a small black structured handbag, which she slung over her shoulder.

Focused: The co-stars were seen taking a break in between shooting scenes for the second installment of the Fifty Shades franchise

Ready, set, action: The 26-year-old actress, who plays Anastasia Steele, bundled up in jeans and a navy trench coat while Jamie - Mr. Christian Grey himself - wore a blue top, black jeans and a suede coat while on set

Walking in step: The stars, who have been busy filming the sequel for over a month, starred in the first installment - Fifty Shades Of Grey - in 2015

Dakota styled her long medium hued brunette locks loose and with a slight curl, with her fringe on full display.

She kept her makeup minimal, opting for pink lipstick, kohl lined lids and a touch of blush on her cheeks.

Jamie, 33, sported black jeans with a blue collared shirt and a brown suede jacket he layered on top.

Flawless look: Dakota styled her long medium hued brunette locks loose and with a slight curl, with her fringe on full display

Having a blast: She kept her makeup minimal, opting for pink lipstick, kohl lined lids and a touch of blush

The handsome star, who sported a scruffy face, wore brown dress shoes while leaning casually on his umbrella during a break in filming.

Their film, based on the second book by author E.L. James, is set to hit theaters on February 10, 2017.

The movie also stars Kim Basinger, Bella Heathcote, Tyler Hoechlin, Marcia Gay Harden and Rita Ora.

Hard at work: Jamie, 33, sported black jeans with a blue collared shirt and a suede jacket he layered on top

In the moment: Dakota wore a navy jacket with skinny medium wash jeans and a blue T-shirt, rounding out the look with black Chelsea boots
Charlize Theron has slammed the movie industry, saying it's hard for pretty women to get good roles.

In an interview with British GQ, the 40-year-old said: 'Jobs with real gravitas go to people that are physically right for them and that's the end of the story.'

Adding: 'How many roles are out there for the gorgeous, f**king, gown-wearing eight-foot model? When meaty roles come through, I've been in the room and pretty people get turned away first.'

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Tough life: Charlize Theron has slammed the movie industry, saying it's hard for pretty women to get good roles, as she poses in a very racy plunging outfit for a British GQ photoshoot

She added: 'We live in a society where women wilt and men age like fine wine. And, for a long time, women accepted it.

'We were waiting for society to change, but now we're taking leadership. It would be a lie to say there is less worry for women as they get older than there is for men...It feels there's this unrealistic standard of what a woman is supposed to look like when she's over 40.'

Posing for a series of very sexy snaps for the magazine, Charlize looked incredible in a plunging black mini before changing into a racy long dress with a thigh-split.

She said: 'How many roles are out there for the gorgeous, f**king, gown-wearing eight-foot model? When meaty roles come through, I've been in the room and pretty people get turned away first'

She spent most of her life in the United States after leaving her home country of South Africa as a teen model.

However, she admits that some of her fellow country people have made the wrong assumption she's not proud of her homeland.

She lamented: 'I love my country. And its very hard for South Africans to believe that, because I left and speak in an American accent. I have a very, very strong connection to my country and to its people.

'Its the mother that might have abandoned me, in a weird way, but not all the way. Im not having a pity party, but Im constantly trying to win its love back.'

See the full shoot in the May issue of GQ, on sale Thursday.
Heath Ledger's untimely death aged just 28-year-old shocked Hollywood.

But eight years on from the 2008 tragedy and on what would have been the Australian actor's 37th birthday friends paid tribute to the Dark Knight star.

Model Jessica Gomes took to Instagram on Tuesday to honour the memory of the actor, with whom she grew up with in the Western Australian city of Perth.

On Tuesday the 30-year-old David Jones ambassador shared a black and white snap of the actor posing with a statue, saying his spirit can still be felt in their hometown.

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'Reminds us that life is too short': Model Jessica Gomes paid tribute to Australian actor Heath Ledger on what have been his 37th birthday

'Feel your spirit here 4eva. Perth legend. The best,' she wrote.

'Kind of reminds us that life is to short (sic). Just be you and do what you love and be happy,' she added.

The raven-haired beauty was introduced to Heath through her model friend Gemma Ward as they all grew up around the corner from each other.

Jessica had lunch in New York with the Knight's Tale star just a day before he passed away in January 2008 following an accidental overdose on prescription medication.

Childhood friends: The model and the actor grew up around the corner from each other in Perth, Western Australia

Taken too young: Heath passed away in 2008 following an accidental overdose of prescription medication just as his career in Hollywood was really beginning to blossom (pictured in The Dark Knight, 2008)

'I dont think any of us could do it': Heath's father Kim said the family weren't ready for the rumoured biopic of their son

'It's actually still really hard for me to even talk about it,' she told Daily Mail in 2014.

'We spent time together in Perth with Gemma and everyone, and he was definitely someone I looked up to professionally as well,' she said, saying that he inspired her to pursue acting.

The family of Heath recently opened up to the Western Australian about a rumoured biopic about their son, with father Kim saying it's still too soon.

'I dont think any of us could do it,' he said.

'I have no doubt somebody will do something one day but when the timing for that is right. He still has a little daughter out there so we are pretty sensitive to all of that.'
Elizabeth Moss may have found herself hiding behind an umbrella, thanks to wet weather in Sydney but the gloomy day didn't certainly didn't seem to put a dampener on her day.

The 33-year-old American actress was seen laughed with the crew as she filmed scenes for the action-packed BBC mystery drama series Top Of The Lake on Monday.

Dressed in a loose fitted navy blue blouse she was surrounded by crew members who were bundled up in jackets to beat the cool autumn weather.

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Happy to be here: Despite the gloomy weather Elizabeth Moss laughed with the crew as she filmed scenes for the action-packed BBC mystery drama series Top Of The Lake on Monday

Elizabeth was seen with a bright smile across her face as a crew member appeared to put a microphone on her, prior to the cameras rolling.

Elizabeth plays Detective Robin Griffin and she appeared to be wearing very little makeup for the day of filming.

Her cropped brunette tresses looked windswept and messily styled as she braved the elements and hid behind an umbrella.

Simple style: The 33-year-old American actress was dressed in a loose fitted blue blouse and wore minimal makeup for filming

Star studded: She was joined for the day of filming by Gwendoline Christie who was dressed head to toe in a police officers uniform

She was joined for the day of filming by Gwendoline Christie who was dressed head to toe in a police officers uniform.

The 37-year-old actress, known for her role as chain mail-wearing warrior Brienne of Tarth in HBO's Game Of Thrones, has been a regular on set since filming started in Bondi.

Filming on Monday appeared to be more casual than previous scenes which have seen the pair causing a commotion on the busy beach waving their badges and guns.

Low-key: Filming on Monday appeared to be more casual than previous scenes which have seen the pair causing a commotion on the busy beach waving their badges and guns

As the crew set up the equipment and prepared the set, Elizabeth dropped her stern police detective character and appeared to have a lively chat with the crew members.

Season two of Top Of The Lake will pick up four years after where season one ended.

The plot revolves around a case involving an unidentified body of an Asian girl which washes up on Sydney's Bondi Beach.

Speaking to News Corp last month Elizabeth said: 'I'm so excited to be back in Australia. I can't wait for audiences to see where we take Robin's journey.'
Home and Away actress Ada Nicodemou cut a stylish figure in a vibrant red frock as she attended the National Prevention Week breakfast on Tuesday.

The 38-year-old star was once again spotted without her wedding ring on during the event, held at the lavish Catalina Rose Bay.

The move comes after rumours emerged that she and husband of nine years, Chrys Xipolitas, had separated.

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Bright and bold: Home and Away actress Ada Nicodemou cut a stylish figure in a vibrant frock as she attended the National Prevention Week Breakfast on Tuesday in Sydney

The Greek beauty flashed a perfect smile at the photo wall, posing with her hand on her hip to highlight her slender waist.

Long sleeves on the frock covered her slim arms and the dress featured a plunging neckline that highlighted her decolletage.

Ada finished her look with a pair of sky high patent YSL heels and wore he balayage dyed locks loose around her face.

No ring? Once again the 38-year-old went without her wedding ring following reports she and her husband of nine years, Chrys Xipolitas, have separated

With a black Givenchy Antigona handbag slung over her left arm she flashed her pretty pink manicure and other jewels on her hand while her wedding finger remained bare.

For makeup, the actress went with a simple bronzed cheek teamed with a shiny nude lip, and highlighted her eyes with lashings of mascara.

Ada appeared to be in a hurry as she arrived at the breakfast in Rose Bay, quickly making her way to the entrance with her eyes shielded behind dark sunglasses.

Earlier this year, Woman's Day claimed Ada and Chrys had been separated since November of last year after the immense grief they faced after their second son was stillborn in 2014.

Daily Mail Australia has reached out to representatives for Ada.

Stylish: Ada finished her look with a pair of sky high patent YSL heels and wore he balayage dyed locks loose around her face

Flawless: For makeup, the actress went with a simple bronzed cheek teamed with a shiny nude lip, and highlighted her eyes with lashings of mascara

Adorable:Television presenter Sally Obermeder and her young daughter Annabelle also attended the event and looked adorable as they both posed against the media wall

Ada was among a host of well-known Australian stars who also attended the event on Tuesday, which was held to raise awareness in preventative health.

Television presenter Sally Obermeder and her young daughter Annabelle looked adorable as they both posed against the media wall.

Meanwhile, Sophie Faulkner and Elka Whalan (nee Graham) showed their flair for fashion, opting to slip into chic cream and white ensembles.

Feminine floral was also a hit at the breakfast event, with Tara Moss, Helen Kapalos and Helen Dally all cutting demure figures in the classic print.

Dr Libby Weaver, Adene Cassidy, Krystal Barter, Melinda Gainsford-Taylor also attended the lavish event.

White hot: Meanwhile, Sophie Faulkner and Elka Whalan (nee Graham) showed their flair for fashion opting to slip into chic white and cream ensembles

Ladylike: Feminine floral was also a hit at the breakfast event, with Tara Moss, Helen Kapalos and Helen Dally all cutting demure figures in the classic print

Stylish: Australian athlete Melinda Gainsford-Taylor and Adene Cassidy also attended the lavish event in Rose Bay
Just a few days ago she was sitting on the beach, now it is back to the daily grind of an actor.

Halle Berry was spotted out and about in West Hollywood, California, on Monday popping into a costume design showroom.

The 49-year-old star made getting back to work look easy, despite a rather enviable vacation just a few days earlier.

Back to work: Halle Berry was spotted out and about in West Hollywood, California, on Monday popping into a costume design showroom

Halle looked effortlessly stylish as she left Bill Hargate Costumes - who are responsible for creating some of Hollywood's best superhero outfits.

The Mobster's Ball star wore a loose-fit tie-dye T-shirt with a pair of distressed jeans and slip-on sandals.

Obviously there for a fitting for a mystery upcoming project, the star kept her head down as she left the studio and made a phone call on her way to her car.

The Oscar winner was solo and without her children, Maceo, two, and daughter Nahla, eight, for a change.

Casually cool: Halle looked effortlessly stylish wearing Samantha Wills sunglasses as she left Bill Hargate Costumes - who are responsible for creating some of Hollywood's best superhero outfits

The family, along with Halle's ex Oliver Martinez, were just in Mexico on holiday last week where Halle and Oliver looked more than just friendly exes.

Halle was seen lounging next to the actor with her hand on his bare chest and right over his heart while he gazed back at her adoringly.

While neither have commented on whether their relationship status has changed since when they announced they were getting a divorce late last year, People have revealed that the French star is not ready to give up on their marriage.

A source told the magazine: 'If Halle wants to call [the divorce] off, Olivier would be fine with it because he never wanted the divorce in the first place.'

Is the divorce still on? Last week Halle was seen looking very close to ex Olivier Martinez during a getaway to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico with their children

A second source reiterated that point with People: 'When they first filed for divorce [last October], things were not good. However, the anger went away and Olivier is just very upset about the divorce. He never wanted the divorce and still doesn't.'

But before fans get too excited about a reconciliation, yet another source told the magazine nothing has changed and 'as always they are friends'.

On Monday, the actress declared the couple's son Maceo as her Monday Man Crush and not her estranged husband.

Posting a picture of her son's tiny shoes on her new Instagram account, Halle said: '[Love] my little #MCM.'
She regularly has to fly internationally for her job, and Claire Danes isn't sugarcoating what it's like to do that with a young child.

The 36-year-old appeared on Late Night With Seth Meyers on Monday, where she warned the new father about travelling with a toddler.

'The worst point is when they're starting to walk, but they don't have the attention span to watch a show, so they just want to wander the isles and you just want to rip every hair out of every follicle,' she joked.

Truth be told: Claire Danes, 36, appeared on Late Night With Seth Meyers on Monday, where she discussed her humorous experiences when travelling with son Cyrus Christopher Michael Dancy, three

As he became a father to son Ashe Olsen on March 27, Seth nervously replied that it's 'something to look forward to'.

But Claire - who is mother to son Cyrus, three, with husband Hugh Dancy - reassured him that it does get better, saying: 'But you get past that point!'

The actress, who's currently starring in an off Broadway production of Dry Powder, is the star of Homeland on Showtime.

The show follows bipolar CIA agent Carrie Mathison (Claire) who believes a former POW is connected to terrorism.

Structured look: The beautiful blonde was styled in a black, sheath dress, and stunned in her classic look

Because of its plot, the thriller requires the cast to travel all across the world, such as to Israel and Germany.

Claire looked stunning for her talk show appearance as she picked a classic look in a black sheath dress.

The 36-year-old star was styled in a black, sheath dress, and stunned in her classic look.

Fun additions: To offset her monochromatic ensemble, the fit star added a pair of multi-coloured pumps

Claire's sleeveless frock featured a collection of cutouts on its back.

To offset her monochromatic ensemble, the fit blonde added a pair of multi-coloured pumps.

The actress, who's currently starring in an off Broadway production of Dry Powder, is the star of Homeland on Showtime.

Her show: The actress, who's currently starring in an off Broadway production of Dry Powder, is the star of Homeland on Showtime

Jet-setter: Because of its plot, the thriller requires the cast to travel all across the world, such as to Israel and Germany

The show follows bipolar CIA agent Carrie Mathison (Claire) who believes a former POW is connected to terrorism.

Because of its plot, the thriller requires the cast to travel all across the world, such as to Israel and Germany.

Claire, who has son Cyrus with husband Hugh Dancy, described what it was like to travel with her young toddler.
She was there to promote her upcoming comedy The Boss.

But Melissa McCarthy ended up taking things to the next level as she visited The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on Monday.

The 45-year-old actress smashed her competition in a game of Lip Sync Battle as she performed Colors of the Wind from Disney's Pocahontas.

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Slayed it! Melissa McCarthy smashed her competition against Jimmy Fallon in a game of Lip Sync Battle on Monday

The comedienne had the live audience in hysterics during her show-stopping rendition of the 1995 hit soundtrack song.

'I don't get nervous a lot, I'm pretty freaked out about crushing you,' the Bridesmaid actress began before she even made her way to the stage.

But Melissa and the late night host took center stage as Fallon, 41, kicked things off with his presentation of Brand New Key by Melanie.

Lip Sync Battle: The comedienne performed Colors of the Wind from Disney's Pocahontas

The Oscar-nominated actress topped his act off with DMX's X Gon' Give It To Ya which even had Fallon's house band, The Roots in stitches.

As the twosome prepared for round two, the SNL alum got down on the ground as he performed Zayn Malik's Pillowtalk, actually lying on a fluffy white pillow.

But the Fever Pitch actor's display was no match for McCarthy's as she began by placing a pair of goggles over her eyes in preparation of things to come.

Melissa opted for a monochrome ensemble during her performance in a chic embellished blouse with PVC trousers and Mi Basket Sneakers from Diadora.

Epic: Jimmy Fallon performed Zayn Malik's Pillowtalk as he laid on the ground on a soft fluffy pillow

As heavy gusts of wind blew glitter, coloured paper, and even stuffed wild animal dolls at the star, she belted out the song about all of Earth's creatures.

Melissa - who was named the third-highest paid actress in 2015 by Forbes - was on a promotional tour for her film which hits cinemas on April 8.

The Boss sees her play wealthy mogul Michelle Darnell, who must rely on her former assistant when she is left broke after a stint in federal prison for insider trading.

Michelle decides to launch a Girl Scout Cookie empire in the comedy, which is directed by Melissa's husband, Ben Falcone.

Rapper: The Bridesmaids actress had the live audience in hysterics as she performed DMX's X Gon' Give It To Ya during the first round

Promote: Melissa visited The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon to talk about her upcoming comedy The Boss

The 42-year-old serves as the director and writer of the comedy and has been known to be a huge supporter of his wife.

The star told Refinery29 she never tires of working with her spouse.

'I don't know if that makes us crazy. Its fun to work together. We spend a lot of time making sure our sets are fun,' she explained.

'We met doing this, and thats how we became such good friends. When [we had to] pick somebody to write with, we always picked each other.'

Smitten: 'I don't get nervous a lot, I'm pretty freaked out about crushing you,' Melissa admitted before she even made her way to the stage
She's been keeping her Instagram followers up-to-date on her Maldives getaway with countless scenic shots.

But Jacqui Ritchie's latest post was bound to send her social media fans green with envy as she shared a snap of her incredibly toned physique.

The 34-year-old has already enjoyed a week in the sun-soaked location and seems to have already acquired quite the tan during her idyllic break.

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Beach babe! Jacqui Ritchie's latest post was bound to send her social media fans green with envy as she shared a snap of her incredibly toned physique in a tiny two-piece as she continues to enjoy her Maldives getaway

And the wife of movie director Guy Ritchie made sure to offset her tan in a vibrant two-piece, which boasted a neon bikini top and contrasting yellow briefs by upscale swimwear brand Triangl.

The bikini top was particularly intricate in nature with a slightly distressed finish across the cups and a crochet fabric below the bust.

Opting for a mismatched style, the yellow bottoms were emblazoned with an array of leaves and flowers.

Dedication: The British pin-up proved her toned body certainly doesn't come without its fair share of hard work earlier this week, when she shared a snap of herself working out poolside

Jacqui put her own glamorous twist on the look by teaming the design with a dainty body chain that draped between the bust before conceding at her rib-cage, drawing attention to her incredibly toned torso.

'Loving my @triangl bikini - neoprene great for free diving by @guyritchie,' she captioned the shot.

The mother-of-three chose not to show her face in the envy-inducing snap and instead directed her head away from the camera, seemingly shaking out her wet locks.

Loved-up: The stunner has also shared images of her film director beau, 47, posting a sweet black-and-white selfie of the two ahead of a free diving session

The British pin-up proved her toned body certainly doesn't come without its fair share of hard work earlier this week, when she shared a snap of herself working out poolside.

Demonstrating how she keeps her fit body in tact, Jacqui posted a shot of herself skipping by the pool while wearing a neon orange bikini.

She captioned the image with the words: '#bikini and #trainers - always a good combo #skipping.

The stunner has also shared images of her film director beau, 47, posting a sweet black-and-white selfie of the two ahead of a free diving session.

'Ditched the tank. Free diving day! #freediving,' she wrote alongside the romantic shot.

Doting mum: Gushing over her little ones on Saturday, Jacqui uploaded a gorgeous image of the trio standing in the shade of a tree-lined beach, the blue skies and azure sea highlighting their tiny bodies

The Man From U.N.C.L.E director also enjoyed a snorkel in the stunning ocean, while wearing a pair of flippers earlier this week.

She wrote: 'Such a perfect place to reconnect, especially as the Maldives won't be there for ever!'

But the family orientated duo aren't alone on their holiday and are also joined by their beautiful brood, who include Rafael, four, Rivka, three, and 20-month-old Levi.

Gushing over her little ones on Saturday, Jacqui uploaded a gorgeous image of the trio standing in the shade of a tree-lined beach, the blue skies and azure sea highlighting their tiny bodies.

'Afternoon adventure silhouettes,' she captioned the cherubic snap.
She's been at the forefront of headlines for much of this year, for her tempestuous on-off romance with Jeremy McConnell.

But Stephanie Davis has now attracted attention once again, and this time it's in relation to her appearance, which has changed almost as often as her relationship status.

The former Hollyoaks actress revealed at the weekend that she underwent a light touch of surgery, and has had lip fillers to plump her pout as well as brightening her bottle blonde locks even more.

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Shock! Fans have aired their concerns over Stephanie Davis' new appearance - complete with plumped-up pout and brightened bottle blonde locks - following the posting of his snap with boyfriend Jeremy McConnell (left) and David Gest

However, as Jeremy shared a new photo of them on Instagram, the 23-year-old has faced a slew of negative comments about her new aesthetic, with many fans sharing their concerns over her altered face.

One follower on the social media site even compared the young Celebrity Big Brother star to actress Leslie Ash, who famously sported a trout pout after botched surgery left her with inflated lips.

Instagram user jadelouiseb commented underneath the image, which showed Steph and Jeremy posing with their former CBB co-star David Gest: 'Steph looks like Lesley ash here, maybe she should go back dark and stop getting her lips done!'

New look: Until early February, Steph sported naturally dark brunette locks and her lips were notably smaller pre-cosmetic enhancement

Likened to Leslie: Writing under Jeremy's Instagram picture, some pointed out that the 23-year-old bore a likeness to Leslie Ash, who suffered from botched lip surgery

Uncanny? With her brightened blonde locks and larger pout, the former Hollyoaks star looked similar to the Men Behaving Badly actress (pictured in 2006)

And, although former brunette Steph has been a blonde since mid-February, she has gone one further and also took her mane a few shades lighter earlier this week, another factor in her striking new appearance.

With her skin tanned and her lips and smile notably larger, the Stephanie who became a household name at the start of the year on the Channel 5 reality show was almost unrecognisable.

Other comments shared under 25-year-old Irish hunk Jeremy's photo ranged from the shocked to the derogatory, most of them simply questioning what she has done to herself.

Concern: Plenty of fans left concerned and shocked messages under the image on Instagram

Instagram user kimberley95x wrote: '@sivealive look at her,' while her pal replied: '@kimberley95x omg naaaaa.'

Another Jeremy fan, kirstencx, commented: 'Wtf!! Is with that face!!!'

'Whys her face swollen up? :( (sic),' added taraskelton, and kristina.lauren opined: 'Looks like she's had lips and cheek filler done too. She's so young such a shame she doesn't need that.'

As well as comparisons to former Men Behaving Badly star Leslie's surgery-enhanced appearance, Stephanie was also likened to others, including designer Donatella Versace and former glamour model Jodie Marsh.

xkt.noahx scoffed: 'Omg shes starting to look like donna tella vers (sic).'

And oliviathatcher questioned: 'I don't know why she looks like Jodie marsh.'

There were plenty of other comments on the social networking site to reflect the shock of Stephanie's new look.

User n_aomix simply wrote 'look the state', and cynchiangel remarked that Steph 'looks older now'.lucindajohnstone@ohrach wait ...wtf happened to her face

Plenty of those leaving comments added that Steph needed no work done, with turkstagram__ adding: 'She turned into a chipmunk.'

murielbrookes727 wrote: 'No need for all that done to ur face.'

One of the most pleading comments, from debbietaylor85, read: 'Wow !! @jeremymcconnellcooke what has she done to her face !!! She was GORGEOUS before she started having work done!! Stop her from ruining her looks !!'

Leslie has previously been very candid about her lips, and several years ago admitted that she wanted fillers to make herself look more beautiful.

More comparisons: Steph was also compared to fashion designer Donatella Versace

Speaking to FEMAIL, she explained: 'The lips had everything to do with vanity. Id had it done before by a friend's mum, a plastic surgeon from Venezuela, and it was really lovely. So, I hit 40, and thought, "I'm going to have that done again." I just wanted to look like Liz Hurley or Meg Ryan. I used to look at magazines and think, "What's she had done?" She looks amazing.

'But this time, my friend's mum used a completely different product. I should have known something was up because she put in so many more injections.'

After her face plumped up to a startling degree - and did not subside - it was later discovered following an MRI scan that the surgeon in question had injected her lips with liquid silicone rather than collagen.

Leslie was horrified when she saw herself in the mirror, particularly when the swelling failed to subside. She confronted the plastic surgeon, who refused to say what she had injected her with.

In the following months Leslie underwent an MRI scan, after which it was discovered she had been injected with liquid silicone, rather than a more commonly used filler such as collagen.

Before and after: Stephanie treated herself a spot of pampering as she had her lips cosmetically enhanced with fillers on Saturday and shared the results on Instagram

Pout it out: Stephanie - who also lightened her blonde hair - made the most of her new lips as she posed pouting up a storm

Blonde beauty: Stephanie found time to revisit the salon on Friday as she showed off her new more even locks after being mocked for her original dyed tresses

Another sweet photograph shared on Jeremy's page showed them locking lips in a sweet smooch, just days after she got her fillers.

Earlier this week, Steph shared a before and after photo of her pout, writing along with the snap: 'Wooo @aestheticallyyou for my lush lips forever the best! #natural #bow #kiss #readyformykisses.'

The treatment involves injecting the lips with a gel-like product that helps fill out their appearance and define the cupids bow and was made famous by the likes of Kylie Jenner and Geordie Shore's Charlotte Crosby.

Meanwhile, Stephanie and Jeremy appear to be back on the track with their romance, having recently reunited for the fourth time.

Their latest break-up came earlier this month when the Irish model was accused on cheating with Stephanie with five women.

As she was: Stephanie has had a whirlwind three months so far this year, going through three break-ups and four reunions with Jeremy while altering her image

But the blonde beauty - who hooked up with Jeremy during their CBB stint in January - later took to Twitter to clear up the confusion as she 'I can confirm the messages supposedly sent from Jeremy aren't true.

'Everyone can hate and say what they like, but at the end of the day I met a boy who I fell in love with.

'It's been hard with all the press and tweets, have all you not experienced heartache. It's been so hard for us. And if you could all see the pain I've been in and him you would understand.

'Yes you're right and I won't be posting my life on social media. But when you meet someone you love and can't live without, you know its real.

'This week has been the worst week of my life and I just want to be happy. Against me or not I'll do what I have to do and follow my heart. Where sets what will be will be.

She finished: 'There's a lot u don't know only by what papers say. It's my life and my choice, I might be wrong I might be right... I can only follow my heart & I hope.'
While Charlize Theron has been making headlines for her comments about former co-star Tom Hardy, Chris Hemsworth has revealed how he felt about working with the Oscar winner.

Speaking to KIIS FM's The Kyle & Jackie O Show on Tuesday, the 32-year-old told Kyle Sandilands and Jackie 'O' Henderson he's never had any issues working with the star.

'No, I've been lucky, she's been incredible,' he said, adding: 'She's got more force than anyone I've ever worked with on and off the screen, in the best way.'

'She's been incredible': Chris Hemsworth said in a radio interview on Tuesday he's enjoyed working with Charlize Theron after she didn't get along with former co-star Tom Hardy on set of Mad Max: Fury Road

Second movie together: The Huntsman: Winter's War marks the duo's second collaboration together after working on Snow White and The Huntsman, which was released in 2012

'She's one of the boys and can swear like any trucker I've ever met or worse,' he laughed.

'She's one of my favourites, honestly,' the 32-year-old added.

Chris and Charlize have worked together for the second time, with The Huntsman: Winter's War the prequel to 2012's Snow White and The Huntsman.

According to Hello! magazine, at the London press conference for the new release, Chris also said working with three strong actresses on the movie was 'fascinating'.

'It was fascinating to watch the girls and their different styles. All of them are an absolute force to be reckoned with so it was good fun,' he said.

'She's one of the boys': Chris joked that his co-star could swear like a trucker and was one of the boys on-set

'She's one of my favourites, honestly': The 32-year-old couldn't praise his co-star enough as he spoke of her

'It was fascinating': At a press conference for the film, Chris said it was fascinating working with the three women and seeing what they brought to their very different characters

Meanwhile, things weren't so great for Charlize on the set of Mad Max: Fury Road.

The 40-year-old confirmed that things were not easy between her and British actor Tom Hardy during filming of the action film.

The South African beauty spent nine months making the hit film and the relationship with her co-star was clearly difficult.

'From what I hear, hes not like that on every movie,' she told the Wall Street Journal Magazine in an interview published last month, adding: 'I hear hes had good experiences.'

Tensions: Charlize and Tom Hardy appeared cool with each other while promoting Mad Max: Fury Road last year but the actress admitted the two didn't get along on set. Pictured in Cannes in May

Not a happy experience: The South African star clashed with the British actor during the nine-month shoot in Australia and Namibia

The actress went on: 'Maybe the movie is what it is because we struggled so much with each other, and those characters had to struggle so much with each other.

'If we were chum-chum, maybe the movie would have been 10 times worse.'

Theron has spoken previously about the on set clashes with Hardy, who remained in character between takes.

She told Esquire magazine back in April 2015 that they 'drove each other crazy.'

Method in the madness: Charlize, pictured on Italian TV this week, has acknowledged that if she and Hardy had been friends, the movie might not have been as good or as big a hit

And when filming finally ended, her co-star presented her with a self-portrait and the note: 'You are an absolute nightmare, BUT you are also f***ing awesome. I'll kind of miss you. Love, Tommy.'

Mad Max director George Miller described how the relationship between his two lead actors mimicked their on-screen characters.

'Im not saying that they were seething right through, but the trajectory of the characters cant help but seep into the work,' he told WSJ.

'When they first meet each other, theyre trying to kill each other.

'As the two characters come together out of necessity and rather reluctantly, they have to find a degree of trust. And to some extent that was the trajectory of their relationship as well,' he explained.

The apocalyptic action-packed adventure pulled in a global take of more than 377 million when it was released last year.

It was also nominated for 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and won six.
The creme de la creme of Australian songwriters were out in droves as they attended the APRA Awards 2016 in Sydney on Tuesday.

Among the stars in attendance was actress, singer and songwriter Danielle Spencer, 44, who stepped onto the red carpet in a plunging lace-trim top matched with a pair of snakeskin-printed trousers.

Pulling a sultry expression, the blonde flaunted her slender frame and glowing bronzed complexion as she posed with one hand firmly on her hip, drawing attention to her sparkly bolero.

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Making a sassy statement! Danielle Spencer, 44, strutted down the APRA Awards red carpet on Tuesday wearing a plunging black lace trim cami with sparkly bolero and snakeskin-print trousers

Joining the estranged wife of actor Russell Crowe on the red carpet was previous APRA Award winner Guy Sebastian, 34, and his stylist wife, Jules Sebastian.

Guy was clad in a stylish ensemble of a grey suit jacket layered over a casual white collarless top and a pair of tan-colored chino trousers.

Jules looked ethereal in a pastel pink midi-length dress by Australian designer Alice McCall.

Bronzed beauty: Pulling a sultry expression, the blonde flaunted her slender frame and glowing bronzed complexion as she posed with one hand firmly on her hip

Stylish couple! Previous APRA Award winner Guy Sebastian, 34, also stepped out on the red carpet with wife Jules Sebastian, for the evening celebrating Australian songwriters

Also gracing the red carpet was rock royalty Jimmy Barnes with his wife Jane Mahoney.

During the awards ceremony, Jimmy and his fellow Cold Chisel band-mates were awarded the Ted Albert Award for Outstanding Services to Australian Music.

Courtney Barnett, 28, also made her way down the crimson carpet before later taking home the coveted songwriter of the year APRA award.

Red carpet rocker! Also gracing the red carpet was rock royalty Jimmy Barnes, 59, who stepped out with his wife Jane Mahoney

Golden girl! Grammy nominated Courtney Barnett won the coveted songwriter of the year APRA award

The Melbourne singer/songwriter, who was nominated for a number of Grammy Awards earlier this year, appeared laid back in a pair of black jeans paired with a polka-dot blouse and thick leather belt.

Country music star Catherine Britt, 31, also made an appearance on the red carpet, draped in bohemian-inspired dress with a plunging neckline.

The Country Music Award-winner completed her outfit with a simple pair of stud earrings and her sizable engagement ring which she recieved from her husband James Beverley.

Taking the plunge! Country music star Catherine Britt, 31, also made an appearance on the red carpet, draped in bohemian-inspired dress with a plunging neckline

The finer details: The Country Music Award-winner completed her outfit with a simple pair of stud earrings and her sizable engagement ring which she recieved from her husband James Beverley

In good company: Indie rock group Gang of Youths were on-hand to support band member David Le'aupepe having been nominated for an APRA award in the category of breakthrough songwriter of the year

Indie rock group Gang of Youths were on-hand to support band member David Le'aupepe having been nominated for an APRA award in the category of breakthrough songwriter of the year.

Lee Kernaghan, 51, also attended the event, having been nominated twice in the category of country work of the year.

His wife Robyn McKelvie joined him on the red carpet in a daring sheer dress embellished with rhinestones and beads.

A sheer statement! Lee Kernaghan, 51, also attended the event alongside his wife Robyn McKelvie, who made a daring fashion statement with her rhinestone-embellished sheer dress

Talented trio! Electro-dance band Art vs Science attended the event, having been nominated in the dance work of the year category

Musos: Suze DeMarchi from Baby Animals and Ian Moss from Cold Chisel

Electro-dance band Art vs Science attended the event, having been nominated in the dance work of the year category.

Songwriter and bass guitar player for Cold Chisel Phil Small, 51, also stepped out with his wife Christine.

Like mother, like daughter: Jenny Morris and her daughter Bella Clarke

Flash dance: Georgie Gay and Joseph Tawadros put on colourful displays on the red carpet
Australian TV veteran Bert Newton has become a grandfather for the fourth time after his daughter Lauren gave birth to son Monty in February.

Bert, 77, and 36-year-old Lauren told New Idea magazine that Lauren revealing she had a health scare while pregnant, as did her little boy just few weeks ago.

Baby Monty had to be resuscitated at hospital after a urinary tract infection but is now well, with Bert proudly declaring: 'It's fun to have another one.'

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Family man: Bert Newton has become a grandfather for the fourth time after daughter Lauren gave birth in February. Seen here with wife Patti and their grandchildren Sam, eight and Eva, six, in March

'I think it's very clever of Lauren to have two boys and two girls, with the boys as bookends,' he told the publication.

Monty was born on February 18 and is the fourth child of Lauren and her former Olympic swimmer husband, Matt Welsh, 39.

The pair also share older children son Sam, eight, daughter Eva, six and Lola, three.

Proud parents! Monty was born on February 18 and is the fourth child of Lauren and her former Olympic swimmer husband, Matt Welsh, 39 (seen here at an event in 2009)

Proud family man: Bert said he was thrilled that his daughter had two girls and two boys

According to the publication, Lauren was 15 weeks pregnant when she suffered excessive bleeding and her placenta tore.

She was diagnosed with gestational diabetes and placenta previa, which can cause premature births.

More recently, Monty was rushed to hospital by his parents when he slept for long periods of time and didn't feed.

He was resuscitated and was given medicine for a UTI, before making a swift recovery.

A doting mother! Lauren is seen here with daughter Eva at the CATS opening night in Melbourne in December last year, where she was pregnant with Monty

The new arrival comes after the Newton family was rocked by health scares and the mental health of Bert's estranged son Matthew in recent years.

Both Bert and his wife Pattie have undergone medical treatment in the past five years, with the presenter requiring life-saving heart surgery in 2012.

Back in September, a family spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia about Lauren's fourth pregnancy, saying: 'Lauren and Matt are of course thrilled to be having their fourth child as are Bert and Patti with the news.'

It was previously reported that the couple planned the pregnancy to bring some long-awaited happiness to Lauren's parents after 'years of heartbreak'.

New addition: The new arrival comes after the Newton family was rocked by health scares and the mental health of Bert's estranged son Matthew in recent years (The clan are seen here in 2008)

Woman's Day reported that the pregnancy was planned with Bert and Patti in mind, quoting a family friend as saying: 'Lauren feels so badly for them and giving them another grandchild is the greatest thing she can do for her family.'

Dispelling the claims, a representative for the family said: 'Lauren and Matthew actually always wanted four children.

'It's ludicrous to think that a couple would have a child to cheer family members up.'

The couple told this week's New Idea that the pregnancy was a 'surprise.'



News of Lauren's pregnancy in September last year, came as Bert's troubled son Matthew claimed he is in good health and 'enjoying life' in New York.

The actor, who starred as Terry Clarke in The Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities, at the time dispelled rumours he had been seeking treatment at a psychiatric hospital.

In 2006 Matthew admitted a charge of common assault following an altercation with his former girlfriend Brooke Satchwell.

He was also accused of threatening to harm her mother in court documents recorded at the time.
She's been living it up in Paris while promoting her new film Sky.

And Diane Kruger looked impossibly chic as ever when she ventured out in the French capital on Tuesday, sporting an effortlessly stylish ensemble.

The 39-year-old actress was rocking a smart tweed blazer paired with a floral T-shirt in muted autumnal shades.

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Chic style: Diane Kruger looked fashionable as ever when she ventured out in Paris on Tuesday while promoting her new film Sky

Diane dressed up the look with a pair of tailored black flares, set off with chunky heeled ankle boots.

The German born beauty styled her blonde locks in bouncy curls and set off her model features with natural make-up.

Diane appears alongside The Walking Dead's Norman Reedus and Girls star Lena Dunham in upcoming movie Sky.

Effortless: The 39-year-old actress dressed up the look with a pair of tailored black flares, set off with chunky heeled ankle boots

The storyline features the actress playing a French woman named Romy, who kills her abusive husband and then goes on the run across the American West.

On her journey, she meets a range of small town characters, before finding love with Norman's gruff cowboy Diego - until her dark past comes back to haunt her new life.

Diane, who lived in Paris at the beginning of her career, recently made a huge adjustment as she moved to the Big Apple to be closer with her partner of ten years - actor Joshua Jackson.

All-star cast: Diane appears alongside The Walking Dead's Norman Reedus and Girls star Lena Dunham in upcoming movie Sky

Speaking last month about her decision to move to the East Coast, she told The Edit: 'I just moved [to New York] this week.

'I need to unpack and buy some house stuff, like candles and books [Moving here] was a major commitment.'

'Thats a big step into adulthood for me, to allow that time for someone else out of my time.'

The Inglorious Bastards star - who was previously married to French director Guillaume Canet from 2001-2005 - admitted that the next step in her life might be the possibility of marriage, although she has previously mentioned that she's not keen on the union.
After spending the past couple of months Stateside, Darren McMullen is back in Australia enjoying the sunshine.

The actor and TV host, who has been back Down Under for almost a week, was spotted out in Sydney with his girlfriend Crystal Reed on Monday.

The 34-year-old walked around Bondi showing off a shorter new hair-do, while the 31-year-old American actress also opted for a relaxed look in black skinny jeans with black ankle boots.

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New look: Darren McMullen was spotted walking around Sydney with his girlfriend, American actress Crystal Reed, on Monday as the TV host showed off a shorter new hair-do

Back Down Under: The 34-year-old was spotted out in Bondi after returning back home from Los Angeles almost a week ago, to begin work on his new music quiz show

Despite the warmer weather, Darren was seen wearing a baggy black jumper, skinny jeans and khaki sneakers.

Sporting a very different look to his full-haired House Husband character, the star appears to be trying to shed the persona with the edgier new look as he gears up to host a new music quiz show.

It's believed he's returned home to start filming Big Music Quiz, which will air on the Seven Network later this year.

New network: The 34-year-old cut ties with rival network Nine late last year ending his time on The Voice Australia as a co-host with Sonia Kruger. Pictured with much longer hair

The switch to the network has meant the end of his commitments with Channel Nine, including the drama and singing competition The Voice Australia.

Speaking to The Daily Telegraph last month of the move, he said it was the logical next step in his career.

'Its like the next step up from The Voice and towards a talk show; it has that feel about it and Id love to do that.'

Another departure: The former House Husbands star has also opted to not continue on with his role in the hit television series after he decided that he wanted to do more with his career

The Scottish-born presenter added that he wanted more from his career: 'I wanted to play something else, other than a gay librarian,' in reference to his House Husbands role.

He was also cryptic about his departure from his co-hosting role on The Voice Australia, saying: 'Theres no friends in television,' before adding swiftly 'but from my point of view it ended amicably.'

He played down his departure, concluding: 'I could have done it with my eyes shut and Ive never had a job in my life for four years ... it was just time to move on.'

New gig: Big Music Quiz is set to start production in Melbourne shortly under Endemol Shine and set to debut on screens in the back end of the year

His burgeoning career has been on the rise and he was recently signed to a high profile global U.S based agency, Creative Arts Agency (CAA)

Darren left Australia in pursuit of bigger things and told the publication: 'they were very, very keen to have me here [in LA] for pilot season. It all seemed to line up and was a good time to leave.'

Big Music Quiz is set to start production in Melbourne shortly under Endemol Shine and set to debut on screens in the back end of the year.

The shows format, originally from France, will see celebrity contestant teams battle it out with their music trivia knowledge while a huge crowd sings and dances behind them.

In a twist, which will be new to the Australian series, viewers will be able to play along at home and test their own knowledge through a mobile application.
Her lithe legs and generous bust once saw her named Playboy's Playmate of the Year.

And while 20 years may have passed since she earned the 1997 title which rocketed her to fame, Victoria Silvstedt proved little has changed physically as she sizzled during a photocall for a Swedish reality series.

Posing at the Manor at Grand Hotel in Stockholm, Sweden, on Tuesday, the 41-year-old put on a particularly racy display in a tight red frock.

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Sizzling! Posing at the Manor at Grand Hotel in Stockholm, Sweden, on Tuesday, Victoria Silvstedt put on a particularly racy display in a tight red frock

The TV personality was dressed to impress in a scarlet bodycon dress which flashed her decolletage, as well as a glimpse of her sizable bust.

The garment conceded demurely at the knee, allowing for onlookers to gaze at her enviably long calves which were unsurprisingly bronzed given Victoria's jet-setter lifestyle.

The Boat Trip actress paired the look with nude stilettos which were emblazoned with an array of straps which featured metallic embellishments.

Red hot! The TV personality was dressed to impress in a scarlet bodycon dress which flashed her decolletage, as well as a glimpse of her sizable bust

So glamorous! The garment conceded demurely at the knee, allowing for onlookers to gaze at her enviably long calves which were unsurprisingly bronzed given Victoria's jet-setter lifestyle

Victoria's styled her platinum blonde locks into glamorous curls which boasted masses of volume at the crown, framing her sculpted face which modelled an equally alluring make-up look.

The blonde bombshell showcased her modelling credentials as she pulled an array of poses for the camera, two of which see her body held in a seductive stance against a sofa.

Victoria is part of Swedish reality series Stjarnorna pa Godset which gathers eight of the country's most popular reality stars discuss their lives.

Victoria speaks about her lengthy career in the series, which began in 1993 when she was chosen to represent Sweden in the 1993 Miss World pageant.

Finishing touches: The Boat Trip actress paired the look with nude stilettos which were emblazoned with an array of straps which featured metallic embellishments

The beauty was then signed up to a modelling agency in Paris, where she shot campaigns for some of the world's biggest fashion houses, including Chanel, Christian Dior and Giorgio Armani.

Silvstedt was soon noticed by Playboy founder Hugh Hefner who invited her to do a photo shoot for the magazine before making her Playmate of the Month in December 1996, a position which culminated in her becoming Playmate of the Year.

The leggy blonde has also enjoyed a stint in acting, having starred in American TV series Malibu, CA and Melrose Place. She has also had roles in a number of Hollywood comedy films including BASEketball, The Independent and Out Cold.
Vicki Gunvalson was in an ATV accident with Real Housewives Of Orange County co-star Tamra Judge on Sunday.

The reality stars were treated at the scene after complaining of severe pain.

And 54-year-old Gunvalson is still not doing well, according to a Tuesday report from PageSix. 'She does not feel good,' said the source. 'If Vicki doesnt start to feel better soon, shell be brought back to the hospital.'

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Aftermath: Vicki Gunvalson laid on the ground wearing a neck brace directly following a rollover accident on Saturday in Glamis, California

Still suffering: On Tuesday PageSix reported the reality star is still suffering; here she is seen in 2014

On Monday the Bravo standout reached out to her Instagram followers.

'Recovering at home but so thankful my guardian angel was watching over us (thank you Mom),' she shared. 'To all of you that have sent tweets, emails and have called, thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers.'

Vicki was seen with a neck brace as multiple individuals surround her in obvious concern for their well-being. The accident occurred about 12:50pm on Saturday in Glamis, California when a four-wheeler they were riding in rolled over multiple times, according to an article on Sunday by TMZ.

Help is here: Gunvalson appeared weakened as one man carefully inspected her face

Tamra, 48, was behind the wheel of the Polaris RZR and a camera crew for The Real Housewives Of Orange County was taping at the time.

Cameras still appeared to be rolling following the accident as the women were treated on the sand, as indicated by a microphone that was also pictured in the air.

Tamra was also pictured in a neck brace as she laid on the sand, grabbing a drink of water.

She too was surrounded by multiple individuals as they inspected her condition.

Vicki, 54, was airlifted to a nearby hospital for treatment and was released early on Sunday with no major injuries, according to the website.

Tamra also was hospitalised but was released on Saturday with no major injuries.

They were taken to hospital out of an abundance of caution, but neither were in grave danger, adds the website.

Rollover accident: Gunvalson and Judge, both shown last fall in New York City, were hospitalised on Saturday following an off-road vehicle accident in Glamis, CA

On Monday TMZ also reported that Vicki was vomiting and was unable to feel her fingers following the incident.

Vicki and Tamra also said they had neck and back pain, the website adds.

Tamra took to social media on Sunday and shared a photo on Facebook of her scuffed up black and pink safety helmet.

'It's not a good Glamis trip until you break in your new. helmet. I've never been so scared in my life,' she wrote along with the photo.

Four wheeler: The reality stars were riding in a Polaris RZR, shown in an undated stock photo, at the time of the accident

She also posted a photo of her son Ryan Vieth and granddaughter Ava at the Glamis Dunes.

Ryan wore a red, white and blue racing suit while Ava wore a pink T-shirt and camouflage pants while sitting atop a red toy four-wheeler.

'Glamis baby,' Tamra wrote along with the picture.

On Monday Tamra took to Facebook to clarify several details about the incident, writing that there was no alcohol involved and that the accident actually occurred at 11 in the morning.

'No one was training me or telling me to slow down. I have been riding since I was young. It was an unfortunate accident coming off a top of a dune and landing wrong.'

Tamra also expressed feelings of guilt for being the driver.

Reality stars: Tamra and Vicki are shown in a still from season 10 of The Real Housewives Of Orange County

'Thank you everyone': Vicki expressed her gratitude on Instagram for the thoughts and prayers fans have sent her way in light of the accident, sharing a snap of the helicopter which appeared to be the one to airlift her, with the hashtag 'It wasn't our time'

'We are both beat up but very lucky to be alive. I've never been so scared in my life. As the driver I have an overwhelming amount of guilt and just happy that the 4 of us are alive,' she wrote on Instagram.

The trip to Glamis Dunes in Imperial County in the southeastern tip of California was to celebrate Tamra's husband Eddie turning age 43.

Tamra joined The Real Housewives Of Orange County during its third season, while Vicki is an original cast member of the Bravo reality series that is going into its 11th season.
Two young stars have been selected to play the Boston Marathon bombers in Mark Wahlberg's controversial movie about the terror attacks.

Alex Wolff will play Dzhokhar Tsarnaev with newcomer Themo Melikidze as his brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, in the movie called Patriots Day, according to The Wrap.

Alex, 18, is best known for HBO's In Treatment and Nickelodeon's The Naked Brothers Band TV series and movie. He also appears in My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2.

Tough role: Alex Wolff will play Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, one of the Boston Bombers, in Mark Wahlberg's Patriots Day, it was revealed on Tuesday

Real life: Dzhokhar, now 22 and a former University of Massachusetts Dartmouth student, was sentenced to death by lethal injection. He is at a federal prison in Florence, Colorado, as the appeal process continues

Themo has appeared in three shorts and 2015's Beautiful Something.

The casting has come late in the process as filming has already started in Boston on the film directed by Peter Berg, and produced by and starring Wahlberg.

He plays Boston Police Sergeant Tommy Saunders, a composite character based on several real-life officers present on the day.

Co-stars include Michelle Monaghan, John Goodman, J.K. Simmons and Kevin Bacon.

Break out role: Newcomer Themo Melikidze has been cast as Dzhokhar's brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who masterminded the bombings that happened just before the finish line at the Boston Marathon in 2013

The CBS Films and Lionsgate production will center on the terrible events of April 20, 2013, when the terrorist brothers detonated two bombs during the Boston Marathon, killing three people and injuring 264 others.

Last May, Dzhokhar, now 22 and a former University of Massachusetts Dartmouth student, was sentenced to death by lethal injection.

He is currently at a federal prison in Florence, Colorado.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed by the police in a shootout a few days after the attacks. He was 26; here he is pictured in 2009

His lawyers appealed in January, urging the court to reverse the conviction.

Tamerlan was killed by police officers in a shootout a few days after the attacks.

The drama will premiere in Boston, New York and Los Angeles on December 21.

The movie has had a mixed response among people in Boston and survivors of the attacks.

Some support Hollywood's attempt to record the heroics of the police officers who tracked the Tsarnaev brothers in the wake of an unprecedented security situation for Boston.

But others felt it was too soon to fictionalize something so traumatic.

'For me: There's no way they can do this,' resident Maria Van Ryn told NPR. 'Because I'm thinking to myself: That's going to stir things up all over again.'

Survivor Lynn Julian told the network: 'For me, it's going to trigger a lot of PTSD but we don't ever want people to forget that we were Boston strong and that we took care of each other. How it's not how you fall down, it's how you get back up.'

Wahlberg has himself acknowledged the controversy but believes the end result will be welcomed in the city.

'We are committed to [getting it right]', he told Boston magazine. 'We wont accept anything less.'
US tightens rules to block mergers aimed at tax avoidance

The US Treasury announced new rules Monday aimed at stemming the tide of mergers between US and foreign businesses designed to sharply lower the US company's tax bill.

Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said the toughened regulations target companies moving their headquarters, but not their US operations, to low-tax domiciles abroad via so-called inversion deals.

The new rules make it tougher for companies involved in stock-based merger deals to achieve the minimum foreign ownership required to avoid US corporate tax liability.

U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Jacob Lew testifies during a hearing before the Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee March 8, 2016 Alex Wong (Getty/AFP/File)

They also make it harder for companies to "strip" earnings from their US units by loading them with debt from an offshore parent.

"For years, companies have been taking advantage of a system that allows them to move their tax residences overseas to avoid US taxes without making significant changes in their business operations," Lew said.

"Many of these companies continue to take advantage of the benefits of being based in the United States -- including our rule of law, skilled workforce, infrastructure, and research, and development capabilities -- all while shifting a greater tax burden to other businesses and American families."

The new rules add to a group of regulatory updates announced last November which were meant to stall the surge in inversions worth hundreds of billions of dollars especially in the pharmaceuticals industry.

That includes the Pfizer's record $160 billion proposed purchase of Allergan, which one anti-inversion group said could save it $35 billion in US taxes.

Lew said the Treasury's actions, which came in lieu of action by Congress to reform tax laws, had helped slow the pace of inversion deals.

They will apply to any deal not yet consummated, which potentially includes the Pfizer-Allergan deal.

He added that Treasury would explore other ways to stall the deals, but called on Congress to enact more substantial business tax reforms that would include specific anti-inversion laws.
Algerian army kills 4 Islamists near Tunisia border: govt

Algeria's army on Monday killed four armed Islamists in El-Oued, the defence ministry said, meaning almost a dozen have been killed in the lawless desert region in the past two weeks.

Four Kalashnikov automatic weapons, grenades and ammunition were also seized during the military-led operation in the Bir El Kasira area, near the Tunisian border, the ministry said on its website.

The deaths bring the number of "terrorists" -- what the government calls Islamists who launched an insurgency in the early 1990s -- killed in the Algerian Sahara region over the past two weeks to 11.

An army helicopter flies over an area where the military is fighting armed Islamists, east of Algiers

Last year the Algerian army killed or arrested 157 "terrorists," according to figures from the ministry of defence.

A brutal civil war in the 1990s between the government and Islamists claimed the lives of some 200,000 people.
White House race offers rare cable news ratings surge

The 2016 White House race is generating record audiences for cable news networks -- thanks in large part to controversial Republican frontrunner Donald Trump, who has dominated the media's election coverage.

But will the increased viewership, which comes after several tough years for CNN and its competitors, last beyond election day in November?

"I think they really have Donald Trump to thank. He's been a gift from the heavens to these people," said Gabriel Kahn, a professor at the University of Southern California's Annenberg school of journalism.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during the CNN, Salem Media Group, The Washington Times Republican Presidential Primary Debate on March 10, 2016 in Coral Gables, Florida Joe Raedle (Getty/AFP/File)

The 2016 campaign is "bringing back cable news from near-irrelevancy," he said.

During the first quarter of 2016, for the first time in the history of US cable TV, a news channel -- Fox News -- garnered more viewers than any other basic cable station, excluding optional cable networks such as HBO.

The same general trend holds true for news veteran CNN, which witnessed its highest viewership in seven years in the first quarter. And third-largest news channel MSNBC had higher viewership figures than at any other point in the past three years, according to figures provided by ratings firm Nielsen.

The increases go well beyond what is traditionally seen every four years during presidential campaigns.

Meanwhile, the price to air a commercial during a Republican debate on CNN in September was 40 times higher than the usual rate, according to US News & World Report.

"On the Republican side, you have candidates that are engaging in the sort of personal attacks and wild references and statements that make for excellent television," said Dannagal Young, an associate professor in the University of Delaware's communications department.

At the center of the personal attacks is none other than Trump himself, who has offended everyone from Muslims to women to Mexicans to Heidi Cruz, the wife of his main rival Texas Senator Ted Cruz.

Fanning the flames, news programs have "oriented their entire program into making it into a 24-hour Trump reality show" Kahn said.

For Young, it's no longer a campaign focused "on where the candidates stand on issues, but a focus on who's saying what, who's attacking who, who's ahead in the poll, how are they going to deal with this new scandal."

President Barack Obama indirectly warned against the trend last week when he accused some in the media of letting the candidates dictate campaign coverage.

"A job well done is about more than just handing someone a microphone," Obama said.

- 'Flash in the pan' -

The spike in ratings for cable news networks is only expected to last the duration of the campaign, until November 8 -- or perhaps just until July, when Republicans and Democrats will choose their candidates.

"I think it will decrease with the election, substantially. I think when we move out of campaign mode and into governance mode, the tone changes," said Frank Sesno, a professor of media, public and international affairs at George Washington University.

The campaigns have halted a definitive downward spiral for the cable news channels, which saw viewership drop nearly 19 percent between 2009 and 2014.

But experts warn the audience spike could be short-lived.

"This is a flash in the pan. This is not a long-term strategy to help cable news rebound from what has been a circular downward trend," Kahn said.

Cable TV, a universe where three major news channels vie for viewers, "is a shrinking market," he said.

Those stations -- Fox News, CNN and MSNBC -- are losing audience as viewers turn to other forms of media, especially the Internet and social media.

During the campaign, the challenge for these networks is to make themselves legitimate and sought out by young voters.

"For millennials and younger people who are politically interested, Twitter and social media is where they go for breaking information," Young said.

"But MSNBC, Fox and CNN all have very active contributions to Twitter. So in many ways, they're still at the center."

Kahn warned that cultural change for the networks "is very, very difficult to pull off."

Beyond a pivot to the Internet and social media, the channels do have one hope left: a Trump presidency.

But the likelihood of such an event is yet to be determined.

"If it's Trump, shareholders of the cable news networks are just going to thank the gods above," Young said.

Republican presidential candidates take part in a debate sponsored by Fox News on March 3, 2016 in Detroit, Michigan Chip Somodevilla (Getty/AFP/File)
First UN soldiers on trial in C. Africa sex abuse scandal

The first soldiers to face justice in a huge sex abuse scandal that has rocked the UN and France went on trial in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday.

The three Congolese men from the UN's MINUSCA peacekeeping mission in Central African Republic wore blue prison gear as they appeared before the tribunal in Ndolo, a military prison north of the capital Kinshasa.

They are the first troops to be prosecuted in the scandal, which has seen more than 100 victims come forward with horrifying accounts of sexual abuse by UN peacekeepers and French forces.

Musenu Tshilayi, a Congolese Sergeant Major accused of rape stands at the Military Tribunal of Kinshasa during the trial of Congolese UN MINUSCA soldiers on April 4, 2016 Eduardo Stoeras (cds/AFP)

Another 18 soldiers from DR Congo accused of rape -- or attempted rape -- of the civilians they were meant to be protecting during a peacekeeping mission in CAR were also present in the court.

"Sergeant Jackson Kikola is being prosecuted for raping a (young girl) of 17 and for not following orders," said public prosecutor Lieutenant Mposhi Ngoy, reading the indictments.

Sergeant major Kibeka Mulamba Djuma faces similar charges, while sergeant major Nsasi Ndazu was charged with disobeying orders and attempted rape. All three pleaded not guilty.

"We want absolute transparency in this trial," the justice minister, Alexis Thambwe Mwamba, told AFP, adding that "a few individuals cannot discredit our army".

Three hearings are scheduled each week, meaning the entire process could take months to complete.

Ida Sawyer, an advocate for Human Rights Watch in the Democratic Republic of Congo, told AFP the trial at Ndolo was "a first, and good, step to end impunity" and called on all countries involved to ensure "real justice".

But Venance Kalenga, who attended the hearing as an observer for Congolese human rights charity ACAJ, said "the absence of victims constitutes a major obstacle in the demonstration of truth".

- 'Shocked to the core' -

The UN said last week its investigators have identified 108 alleged new victims, "the vast majority" of them under-age girls who were raped, sexually abused or exploited by foreign troops.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he was "shocked to the core" by the allegations made to UN investigators by victims in south-central Kemo prefecture in CAR.

Witness statements gathered by AFP at a camp in Bangui said young girls would have sex with men -- some of them soldiers -- in exchange for bread, or cash worth the equivalent of less than $1.

AIDS-Free World, a civil society group that tracks peacekeeper sex abuse cases, said three girls told a UN rights officer they were tied up and undressed by a French commander and forced to have sex with a dog.

The girls were then allegedly given about $9 in payment.

The UN's MINUSCA operation, which counts 12,600 foreign police and soldiers, took over from an African Union force in CAR in September 2014 in a bid to end a year of brutal sectarian violence.

Former colonial power France had sent its own intervention force, dubbed "Sangaris", nine months earlier.

Paris has said any French troops convicted would face military discipline and possible criminal penalties.

"We cannot -- and I cannot -- accept the slightest stain on the reputation of our armed forces or of France," French President Francois Hollande said on Friday.

Under UN rules, the responsibility for investigating and prosecuting peacekeeper sexual abuse lies with the countries that contribute the troops and police to the peace missions.

Accused Congolese sit at the Military Tribunal of Kinshasa during the trial for rape of UN MINUSCA soldiers on April 4, 2016 Eduardo Stoeras (cds/AFP)

MINUSCA, the United Nations mission in Central African Republic, soldiers take cover under heavy gunfire on December 13, 2015, in Bangui Marco Longari (AFP/File)
Report notes lapses between UN, groups linked to bribery scandal

A UN report obtained by AFP highlighted regulatory lapses between the United Nations and outside groups linked to a Chinese real estate mogul who is accused of bribing former General Assembly president John Ashe.

Ashe, who was General Assembly president for a year from September 2013, was arrested in October by US authorities for allegedly accepting $1.3 million in bribes from a billionaire developer Ng Lap Seng.

Ng, from China's semi-autonomous city of Macau, is accused of using a foundation and non-governmental organisations to funnel bribes to UN diplomats in exchange for help promoting the construction of a proposed UN conference center in Macau.

Preet Bharara, US Attorney of the Southern District of New York, announces that John Ashe, a former president of the United Nations General Assembly, has been arrested and charged with accepting over $1 million in bribes, on October 6, 2015 Spencer Platt (Getty/AFP/File)

The confidential report by the Office of Internal Oversight Services obtained by AFP found that several groups linked to Ng's Sun Kian Ip group "had partnered with departments/offices of the secretariat in various ways."

The review gave the UN secretariat a rating of "partially satisfactory" for its compliance with UN rules and procedures regarding such partnerships.

"A rating of 'partially satisfactory' means that important (but not critical or pervasive) deficiencies exist in governance, risk management or control processes," the report said.

Among those lapses, OIOS investigators found that an official UN document had been modified without clearance from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's office. And a UN employee and his wife went on a trip paid by a non-governmental organisation accused of being a front for the bribery scheme.

A exhibition at the United Nations sponsored by one of the NGOs "could lead to the perception that the NGO was given preferential treatment of favor," the report added.

Some UN staff members who received free iPads at an event co-sponsored by one of the NGOs finally gave them back after the audit was ordered, the report noted.

This indicates "the need for dissemination of additional guidance to enhance staff members' awareness of their obligations in regard to gifts," it added.

Ashe was arrested along with Francis Lorenzo, the UN deputy ambassador from the Dominican Republic, who heads South-South News, a UN-accredited media outfit that reports on development issues.

The arrest of Ashe was a major blow to the United Nations, which is seeking to promote corruption-free good governance worldwide.
Malaysian murderer loses appeal against hanging in Singapore

Singapore's highest court on Tuesday quashed a final appeal by a Malaysian murder convict, setting the stage for his hanging despite calls for mercy from rights groups.

Kho Jabing, 31, was sentenced to death in 2010 for killing a Chinese construction worker in a robbery gone wrong and spent the next six years on a legal roller-coaster trying to avoid the gallows.

A High Court judge in 2013 commuted his sentence to life imprisonment and caning following changes to the penal code that ended the mandatory execution of murder convicts.

Human rights groups have called on Singapore to abolish capital punishment but the government has rejected such calls Roslan Rahman (AFP/File)

But state prosecutors fought the decision and the Court of Appeal, Singapore's highest court, reinstated his death sentence in January 2015.

Kho's scheduled execution last November was stayed at the eleventh hour when his lawyer filed another motion, which was denied on Tuesday.

Judge Chao Tick Hin, who delivered the final decision of the five-judge court, said the motion did not introduce any new material compelling enough for the court to reconsider the death sentence.

"It is the applicant's core case that our decision in the re-sentencing appeal is wrong," the judge said, adding that material presented fell short of showing that the court made a mistake.

He said a new execution date would be set by the Singapore president, who has already rejected clemency.

After the hearing, Kho was calm as he spoke with his weeping mother and sister who had flown in from Malaysia's Sarawak state.

"We are... concerned that (Kho) has been forced to endure years of immense suffering as his sentence has been changed on a number of occasions," said Laurent Meillan, the UN Human Rights Office's regional representative, in a statement.

Human Rights Watch also expressed its opposition.

"For Singapore to defend the death penalty on international forums is a further indication of complete disregard for international human rights standards," Phil Robertson, deputy director of its Asia division, told AFP.

Local anti-death penalty group We Believe In Second Chances noted that two of five appeal judges had voted against capital punishment and warned against the risk of wrongful execution.

Singapore executed four people in 2015 -- one for murder and three for drug offences.

Malaysia also executes murderers and drug traffickers by hanging, a punishment which dates back to British colonial rule in both countries. But it does not publicly announce them.

Human rights groups have called on Singapore to abolish capital punishment but the government has rejected such calls, arguing death sentences must remain as a deterrent.
China arrests six over fake infant formula: government

Chinese authorities have arrested six people for making and selling fake infant formula as the popular US brand "Similac", marketing the counterfeit product across seven provinces, a Shanghai government body said.

Abbott, maker of Similac, said separately on Tuesday that the case came to light in December and the fake goods had been traced and seized by the end of last year, according to a statement on its verified Chinese microblog.

The case is the latest scandal involving food safety in China. In 2008, several infants died and thousands fell ill because of baby milk powder tainted by a chemical additive, driving parents to seek out foreign brands of infant formula.

Chinese authorities have arrested six people for making and selling fake infant formula as the popular US brand 'Similac' - (AFP/File)

The Shanghai Municipal Food and Drug Administration said it was also tracking Internet sales of the fake milk powder, according to its statement released Monday.

State media reports have previously said the gang sold more than 17,000 cans, earning nearly 2.0 million yuan ($309,000).

National authorities said the fake powder posed no safety risk.

In a separate case, a Chinese court last month sentenced 10 people to jail for as long as 15 years for selling fake beef jerky, state media reported.

That gang, in the eastern province of Zhejiang, used pork but added flavouring and pigment to make the product appear like beef, the official Xinhua news agency said.
Bangladesh police charge thousands over coal plant protests

Bangladesh police on Tuesday charged thousands of villagers with vandalism and assault after demonstrations against a Chinese-backed power plant in which four protesters were shot and killed by police.

Dozens more protesters were wounded when police opened fire on Monday in the village of Gandamara on the southeastern coast where twin power plants are to be built in a $2.4 billion project backed by two Chinese companies.

The villagers say their protests were peaceful but police say 11 officers were hurt, including one who was shot in the head. They have arrested at least three villagers over the violence.

An injured Bangladeshi man is carried on a stretcher at Chittagong hospital on April 4, 2016, after police opened fire on villagers at a remote coastal town in south-east during protests over a joint venture Chinese coal-fired power plant - (AFP)

"We've filed cases against around 3,200 people for the violence. We've identified 57 of them but the rest are unnamed," local police chief Swapan Kumar told AFP.

Kumar said local people oppose the power plants because they fear the resulting pollution would damage the environment and force them from their homes.

The villagers had been holding peaceful protests for days after S. Alam Group, the Bangladeshi conglomerate behind the project, began levelling farmland in preparation for building the plants.

They fear the case registered by police could give authorities extra powers to harass or detain anyone protesting against the project.

"Police will now use their power indiscriminately against any villager who speaks against the plants," a schoolteacher who lives in the village told AFP by phone on condition of anonymity.

Hundreds of villagers staged further protests against the plant on Tuesday, demanding justice for the four victims.

Local media reports say the group plans to build two coal-fired power plants on the site on the edge of the Bay of Bengal, with the capacity to produce 1,224 megawatts.

The two Chinese firms -- SEPCOIII Electric Power and HTG -- are financing $1.75 billion of the plants' estimated $2.4 billion cost, the Daily Star newspaper said.

Authorities in Chittagong district, where the site is located, have ordered an investigation into the clashes.

They come after thousands of people demonstrated last month against plans to build massive coal-fired power plants on the edge of the Sundarbans, the world's largest mangrove forest.

Experts say the plants would cause major damage to the delicate ecosystem of the area, home to endangered Bengal tigers and Ganges dolphins.
The death toll after heavy rains in Pakistan has risen to 71 as rescuers try to evacuate dozens of people trapped by landslides.

Flooding has badly affected the north of the country and Pakistani-held Kashmir, a region which has been disputed with neighbouring India.

Ten more people were found dead in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after the weekend downpour destroyed dozens of houses and triggered landslides.

The weekend's heavy rains turned the streets on the outskirts of Peshawar in northern Pakistan (pictured) into rivers

'The number known to have died in rains so far in the northwest has now risen to 61 with over 350 houses damaged all over Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,' a spokesman for the local disaster management authority said.

He said 30 people were still stranded after a landslide in the area of Khoistan.

Dozens of Pakistani tourists remained marooned in the picturesque Neelum Valley in Pakistani-held Kashmir as authorities attempted to evacuate them.

Traders try to prevent their vehicles being washed away by floodwaters near the city of Peshawar (pictured)

At least 10 people have been confirmed killed there since the rain began on Saturday.

'My children are sitting under the open sky. My cattle and belongings were trapped under the debris,' said local resident Nasim Atakhar after her house collapsed.

Poorly built homes across Pakistan, particularly in the countryside, are susceptible to collapse during the spring rains, which are often heavy.

Seasonal rains are a big problem in Pakistan every year and these people on the outskirts of Peshawar (pictured) have been left wading in water

Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif expressed 'deep grief and sorrow over the loss of precious human lives due to floods.'

His office said: 'The prime minister has directed the National Disaster Management Authority and other concerned authorities to ensure timely relief activities for the victims, including provision of proper medical care, food and shelter for the affected.'

With floodwater washing around their ankles these people in Pakistan simply got on with life as best they could

Severe weather in recent years has killed hundreds and destroyed huge tracts of prime farmland.

During last year's rainy season torrential downpours and flooding killed 81 people and affected almost 300,000 people across the country.
Indian villagers strip, beat low-caste teens over bike 'theft'

Three low-caste teenagers were stripped, beaten and forced to march naked in public after they were accused of stealing a motorcycle in western India, video footage showed on Tuesday.

Angry villagers reportedly tied the children, aged between 13 and 15, to a tree, thrashed and stripped them naked in Rajasthan state's Chittorgarh area after they were accused of stealing an upper-caste man's motorcycle.

The footage on the NDTV news channel showed a group of men hitting the naked teenagers, from India's lowest Dalit caste, as they appeared to crouch down to save themselves from the blows.

Caste discrimination is officially illegal in India but it still pervades many aspects of daily life, especially in the underdeveloped rural areas where more than half the population lives Tauseef Mustafa (AFP/File)

Police said they had registered cases against both the boys and their attackers after the assault, which occurred on Saturday.

"It isn't an upper caste versus lower caste case. This is a case of theft and mob fury -- both are wrong. We arrested six from the mob today," Gaj Singh, a senior police officer of Chittorgarh, told AFP by telephone.

Singh said the villagers involved in the assault were also from the same Kanjar tribe as the victims.

Kanjars are a socially stigmatised nomadic community found across northern and central India whose members often face such discrimination that they are forced to live outside villages and towns.

Manan Chaturvedi, the head of Rajasthan's child rights commission, promised to investigate.

"We are forming a committee that will investigate this matter and then appropriate action will be taken after proper evidence is found," she said.

"Not only the police, but those bystanders watching and taking videos should have been active. Had they stepped in, I don't think any of this would have happened."

Kailash Satyarthi, the Indian child rights activist and Nobel peace laureate, called on his Twitter followers to demand "immediate action" over what he called a "barbaric attack".
Italy ups pressure over student murder as Egypt sends probe team to Rome

Italy has upped its pressure on Egypt over slain student Giulio Regeni, warning it would not accept a "fabricated" account of the Italian's torture and murder from Egyptian prosecutors and police due in Rome on Wednesday.

As Cairo confirmed the investigative team would fly to the Italian capital, Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni warned of unspecified "proportionate" consequences if Rome's demands for greater transparency on Regeni's fate were not met.

Regeni, 28, and a PhD candidate at Cambridge University, was found dead outside Cairo on February 3, his body bearing the signs of torture which an autopsy concluded had been inflicted over several days.

Protesters hold an Italian flag with photos of Giulio Regeni, during a demonstration in front of the Egypt's embassy in Rome, on February 25, 2016 Filippo Monteforte (AFP/File)

On March 25, Cairo announced police had killed four members of a criminal gang specialising in abducting foreigners, and that they had found Regeni's passport in the apartment of a sister of one of the slain suspects.

That version of what happened to Regeni has been greeted with outraged scepticism in Italy, where there is a widespread suspicion that the murder was the work of elements in the security services. Cairo has rejected that theory as baseless.

Gentiloni reiterated that Italy regarded the kidnapping gang story as a "new attempt to give credence to a convenient truth" and said he would reject any attempt to have it accepted as "a conclusion to the investigation".

Egypt responded tersely to those remarks. "We refrain from commenting on these statements which complicate the situation, particularly as they come one day prior to the arrival of the Egyptian investigators' team," the foreign ministry in Cairo said in a statement.

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said Italy would not stop until it got "the truth, full stop. The real truth.

"We owe that to Giulio, his friends, his mother, father, his little sister and we owe it to all of us. We hope and we think Egypt can cooperate with our magistrates ... we want, we want, we want the truth to the see the light of day."

- Close ties at risk -

Gentiloni told Italian lawmakers that Rome was still waiting to receive Regeni's mobile phone records and CCTV images from the neighbourhood in which he was abducted. The minister also said Italy was seeking information on Regeni having "probably been placed under surveillance prior to his abduction."

If these elements are not forthcoming, Gentiloni warned of damage to the usually close relations between the two countries.

"The government is ready to react by adopting immediate and proportionate measures," he said, rejecting suggestions Italy could not afford a bust-up with a major trade and security partner.

"In the name of reasons of state, we will not accept a fabricated truth... and we will not allow the dignity of our country to be walked all over."

Egypt's public prosecutor's office said the team headed for Rome would be led by deputy general prosecutor Mostafa Suleiman and would "present the results of the investigation conducted by the Egyptian general prosecution in the case so far".

The delegation was initially due in Rome on Tuesday, but the trip was delayed for undisclosed reasons.

- Barely recognisable -

Regeni disappeared in central Cairo on January 25, and his body was found nine days later on the side of a motorway. His mother later said his body had been so badly mutilated she could only recognise him by the tip of his nose.

Regeni had been researching labour movements in Egypt, a sensitive topic, and had written articles critical of the government under a pen name.

He disappeared on a day when Cairo was almost deserted and security tight as the country marked the fifth anniversary of the uprising that ousted longtime leader Hosni Mubarak.

Since the 2013 ouster of Islamist leader Mohamed Morsi, rights groups have accused Egypt's security services of carrying out illegal detentions, forced disappearances of activists and the torture of detainees.

Since Morsi's removal by then army chief and now President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, a police crackdown targeting Morsi's supporters has left hundreds dead and tens of thousands jailed.

Hundreds more have been sentenced to death, including Morsi himself.

Italy's Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni speaks in Moscow, on March 25, 2016 Yuri Kadobnov (AFP/File)

The parents of Italian student Giulio Regeni, Paola Regeni (L) and Claudio Regeni (R), hold a banner reading ''Truth for Giulio Regeni'' during a press conference with Senator Luigi Manconi (C), on March 29, 2016 in Rome Andreas Solaro (AFP/File)
Myanmar's Suu Kyi meets China counterpart in FM debut

Myanmar's foreign minister Aung San Suu Kyi met her Chinese counterpart Tuesday in the first diplomatic foray of her new pro-democracy government, underscoring the importance of relations with Beijing.

The nation sees its giant neighbour -- and largest trading partner -- as its biggest foreign policy preoccupation, with border wars and controversial China-backed mega-projects topping the agenda.

The new civilian administration, sworn in on March 30, faces a host of economic challenges as it inherits the government of the impoverished nation from the military.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (left) shakes hands with his Myanmar counterpart Aung San Suu Kyi after talks in Naypyidaw, on April 5, 2016

It also faces tensions with the military which ruled for almost half a century.

Suu Kyi, for decades the standard-bearer of the democracy movement and now foreign minister, invited China's Wang Yi for talks in the capital Naypyidaw.

At a press conference afterwards she described relations as "very important politically as well as socially and economically".

Wang said his government was eager to "build more confidence" between the nations and vowed that China would support Myanmar's process of national reconciliation.

"China is a good neighbour to Myanmar. We want to improve the relationship between the two countries," he said through an interpreter.

Beijing was once instrumental in shielding Myanmar's former junta from the full force of international opprobrium while Suu Kyi languished for years under house arrest.

Chinese firms enjoyed a host of juicy business deals with Myanmar's generals and their cronies that were often seen as exploiting the nation's rich natural resources.

But the comfortable relationship was thrown into upheaval under the last quasi-civilian government of Thein Sein.

In 2011 he shocked the international community by suspending the multi-billion dollar China-backed Myitsone hydropower project in war-torn Kachin state.

Fighting in the border region of Kokang last year between the Myanmar army and local rebels with links to China also strained relations.

Analysts say both nations want to rebalance the relationship after Myanmar's historic November elections that saw millions of voters take to the polls to end the military's domination.

"The new government recognises China's importance but will also be keen to recalibrate aspects of the two countries' relations," said Nyantha Maw Lin, of advisory firm Vriens and Partners.

- Huge investor -

With a cumulative total of $15.4 billion of approved investments in Myanmar, China is by far its largest foreign investor, despite reforms in recent years that have seen Western firms surge back.

Its interests range from a huge oil and gas pipeline and special economic zone, to dams and mining. Chinese firms have continued to win major contracts in recent months.

The two countries share a long border, along parts of which ethnic minority rebel groups are fighting Myanmar's government. The frontier also sees huge flows of illicit timber, drugs and jade flood north from Myanmar.

Yun Sun from the Stimson Center's East Asia Program said discussions were likely to focus on China's role in Myanmar's peace process as well as in its economic development.

Suu Kyi, who met President Xi Jinping during a visit to Beijing last June, has shown a pragmatic streak in dealing with Chinese interests.

But in a rare sign of pushback, a top party economic adviser in March said the incoming government could rethink the Myitsone project despite China's eagerness to see it restarted.

The meeting between Suu Kyi and her Chinese counterpart comes amid growing tension between her party and the military.

Suu Kyi is barred from the presidency by the junta-era constitution. But her National League for Democracy party wants to push a bill through parliament that would give her the vaguely defined new role of state special adviser.

Army MPs, who make up a quarter of the legislature, slammed the bill at a dramatic lower house hearing Tuesday that saw the uniformed soldiers refuse to vote. They stood in protest when their attempts at amendments were swatted away by the NLD, which holds a majority.

"It is difficult for the military representatives to continue participating if (the bill) is voted through without review," military MP Brigadier General Maung Maung told the chamber.
UN Libya envoy in Tripoli as unity govt asserts authority

The UN Libya envoy travelled to Tripoli and met the new prime minister designate Tuesday, in the latest sign an internationally backed unity government is asserting its authority over the capital.

Martin Kobler flew into Tripoli for his first visit since Fayez al-Sarraj arrived with members of his cabinet in the capital last week.

The UN envoy had been prevented from travelling to the capital last month by authorities in charge of the city, who have so far refused to cede power.

The UN envoy for Libya, Martin Kobler (C) meets Libyans during a tour in the Tripoli's old city on April 5, 2016 Taha Jawashi (AFP)

The new government's arrival has raised hopes it will be able to restore some stability in Libya, which has been plagued by chaos since Moamer Kadhafi's 2011 overthrow.

Kobler said on Twitter he had a "great meeting" with Sarraj and members of the unity government and that he was "moved by their courage and determination" in trying to set up in Tripoli.

He later told AFP that he also met municipal officials, adding: "We want to show that the UN and the international community support Prime Minister Sarraj and members of the presidency council."

Kobler said the UN was ready to provide "all the support needed" towards an "immediate and peaceful handover of power", and urged Libya's internationally recognised parliament to endorse the unity government.

The German diplomat, appointed last year to spearhead international efforts to resolve the Libya conflict, posted photographs of himself descending from a UN turboprop plane and then meeting with officials including Sarraj.

He was later seen walking in the streets of Tripoli's Old City, chatting with patrons in cafes and stopping for people to take selfies with him, an AFP photographer said.

- Visit shows 'degree of control' -

Libya has had rival administrations since the Libya Dawn militia-backed alliance seized control of Tripoli in mid-2014, forcing the internationally recognised government to flee to the country's far east.

The unity government has been formed under a power-sharing deal agreed by some lawmakers in December.

Sarraj arrived by sea last Wednesday after the Tripoli authorities closed airspace to keep him out, and has since been operating out of a naval base.

The new administration has been broadening its support, winning the backing of the Libyan Investment Authority, the National Oil Corporation and the Central Bank.

Ten coastal cities that were under the control of the Tripoli authorities have also backed the new government.

Mattia Toaldo, a policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said Kobler's visit was a clear signal that the Government of National Accord (GNA) was putting down roots in the capital.

"Kobler's visit to Tripoli, after the many times he was refused landing and access... shows the degree of control of Tripoli by the GNA," Toaldo said.

An adviser to Kobler said the UN envoy discussed with Sarraj "ways to support the action" of the unity government.

Western governments are deeply concerned that Libya's disarray has allowed the jihadist Islamic State group to gain an important foothold in the country, but have said a foreign intervention can only take place at the request of a unity government.

Most foreign representations have long since left the capital but Tunisia on Monday said it was reopening diplomatic missions in Tripoli following the new government's arrival.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault praised Tunisia's decision on Tuesday and expressed hope for an eventual return of other embassies.

"The question of the return of our embassies is obviously a relevant one," he told reporters in Paris after talks with German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

"We hope that this situation consolidates itself. If the Libyan government asks us to help it ensure its security, we are available."

Kobler said the people he met on the streets of the Old City "specifically demanded the return of the embassies and the United Nations to Tripoli".
Saudi police colonel shot dead in IS-claimed attack

A Saudi police colonel was shot dead in the Riyadh region on Tuesday, the interior ministry said, in an attack claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group.

Colonel Kattab Majid al-Hammadi was killed by gunfire "from an unknown source" in the town of Duwadimi, the ministry said in a statement, adding that an investigation has been launched.

Najd Province, the IS affiliate in Saudi Arabia, said in a statement on Twitter that its jihadists had "assassinated" the officer.

The IS group frequently claims attacks on Saudi security forces as well as deadly bombings and shootings that target the kingdom's Shiite minority Rabih Moghrabi (AFP/File)

It threatened further attacks against security forces in the Sunni-ruled kingdom.

The attack is the second claimed by the Sunni extremist group against Saudi police in the past four days.

The interior ministry announced that a foreign resident was killed in a bomb blast targeting a police patrol vehicle late on Saturday, also in the Riyadh region.

Authorities did not specify the nationality of the victim in that incident but said two security patrol vehicles parked in the area were damaged in the bombing claimed by Najd Province.

IS frequently claims attacks on Saudi security forces as well as deadly bombings and shootings that target the kingdom's Shiite minority.

In August, an IS suicide bomber struck a mosque inside a Saudi special forces headquarters, killing 15 people.

IS, which controls swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq, has claimed responsibility for a wave of attacks in the region and elsewhere, including deadly bombings in Brussels last month.

In December, Saudi Arabia announced the creation of an "anti-terrorism" coalition whose members it said would share intelligence, counter violent ideology and deploy troops if necessary to combat extremists.
Wild elephant kills five in India's northeast

A rampaging elephant killed five members of a family including a nine-day old infant in a remote village in India's northeastern frontier, a local official said Tuesday.

The elephant trampled the family to death while they were asleep in their thatched hut in the early hours of Tuesday in Behali forest, some 256 kilometres (160 miles) from Assam state's capital Guwahati.

Both parents, their infant daughter and two other children died during the incident, while their three-year-old daughter survived the attack and was being treated at a hospital for minor injuries.

Human-elephant conflicts are on the rise in India as villagers and farmers encroach on the elephants' natural habitat Diptendu Dutta (AFP/File)

"The family was asleep when the elephant attacked their hut," Rajiv Chaudhary, a divisional forestry officer, told AFP.

He said the elephant had apparently strayed from its herd when it charged the home. The animal reportedly left the area soon after the attack, according to the official.

Wildlife experts say encounters between humans and elephants are increasing in India's rural areas due to the destruction of the animals' habitat.
Britain seeks steel sales deal with Tata at meeting in India

British Business Secretary Sajid Javid on Tuesday said he wanted to secure an agreement on the future of Tata Steel's British assets at a meeting in Mumbai.

Speaking as he prepared to fly to India for Wednesday's meeting, Javid said the British government was ready to work with any potential buyers of the assets, a week after Tata Steel said it planned to sell them, putting thousands of jobs at risk.

"This meeting I'm having tomorrow will be with Cyrus Mistry, the chairman of the whole Tata group, and what I want to achieve mostly out of that is to have a final agreement on the sales process."

Prime Minister David Cameron's government has been racing to find a buyer for the Tata Steel assets and save 15,000 jobs amid growing pressure from the opposition, trade unions and the press Lindsey Parnaby (AFP)

An Indian tycoon who could step in to buy some of Tata Steel's assets in Britain said Monday he hoped to avoid mass redundancies if the deal went through, as the government scrambled to find a new owner.

Sanjeev Gupta, the boss of steel and metals company Liberty House who has arrived in Britain for talks, told the BBC that he had held "very encouraging" discussions with the government.

He added that he would want to change the kind of furnaces used at the main asset, the Port Talbot steel works in south Wales, and retrain some 700 workers.

Javid said he had held a "very constructive" meeting Tuesday with the First Minister of Wales Carwyn Jones, adding: "What it shows is that you've got the UK government and the Welsh government working together on this really important issue and that's the way to continue."

Prime Minister David Cameron's government has been racing to find a buyer for the Tata Steel assets and save 15,000 jobs amid growing pressure from the opposition, trade unions and the press to safeguard the iconic British steel industry which dates back to the 19th century.

India's Tata Steel announced last week it would sell off its British assets due to a global oversupply of steel, cheap imports into Europe from countries including China, high costs and currency volatility.

Britain's government is meanwhile working on a plan to take on some pension liabilities and reduce energy costs to make a deal more attractive to a potential buyer.
War crimes judges drop charges in Kenya Ruto case

War crimes judges on Tuesday threw out charges of crimes against humanity against Kenya's Deputy President William Ruto over his alleged role in post-election bloodshed in 2007-2008, but left the door open to a possible new trial.

In a fresh blow to the prosecution, the judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) ruled the charges against Ruto and his co-accused Joshua arap Sang "are vacated".

Ruto, 49, and Sang, 40, had both denied three counts of crimes against humanity -- namely murder, forcible deportation and persecution.

Kenya's Deputy President William Ruto using his phone shortly after charges of crimes against humanity against him were dropped, at his office in Karen district in Nairobi on April 5, 2016 Charles Kimani (Deputy President Press Office/AFP)

The two men were however "discharged without prejudice to their prosecution afresh in the future," the judges said, as the presiding judge slammed a "troubling" pattern of "witness interference".

Chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said her case had been "eroded by a perfect storm of witness interference and politicisation" adding the intimidation of witnesses had been "methodical, far-reaching and exceptionally well-resourced."

The decision was also met with dismay by rights groups and the victims of the violence unleashed by the disputed December 2007 elections, which left hundreds dead.

"There is no doubt that this will come as a disappointment for victims," Wilfred Nderitu, the lawyer representing the victims, told reporters in Nairobi, urging Bensouda to appeal.

Human Rights Watch senior legal adviser Elizabeth Evenson said: "The end of this case leaves victims bereft of justice and the help they need."

- 'Political meddling' -

The chamber concluded "the prosecution did not present sufficient evidence on which a reasonable trial chamber could convict the accused," the ICC said in a statement.

The majority decision to drop the charges by two out of the three judges came in a complex 253-page ruling.

Presiding judge Chile Eboe-Osuji said he had wanted to declare "a mistrial due to the troubling incidence of witness interference and intolerable political meddling".

But his colleague argued separately the two men should have been acquitted, while the third judge opposed the move to throw out the charges concluding the "prosecution case had not 'broken down' and ... there is sufficient evidence" to convict the two men.

Prosecutors, who allege more than 1,300 people died and some 600,000 others were left homeless in Kenya's worst wave of violence since independence from Britain in 1963, could still appeal Tuesday's ruling.

The case has been keenly watched in Kenya, which has led a high-profile campaign against the ICC among African nations, accusing the tribunal of bias against the continent.

President Uhuru Kenyatta, whose parallel ICC case was dropped in December 2014, welcomed the ruling saying he and Ruto had "endured a painful journey with the ICC" and had cooperated fully with the tribunal based in The Hague.

"This decision brings to a close what has been a nightmare for my nation," Kenyatta added in a statement.

- 'Free at last' -

On Ruto's home turf in Kenya's Rift Valley -- the site of some of the worst of the election violence -- there were celebrations as residents took to the streets of Eldoret in joy waving placards reading "Free At Last", "No Case To Answer" and "The Power of Prayer".

"This is a big day for us, Ruto is finally free," said Margaret Rotich.

But the victims had little to celebrate. "What the ICC should now tell us is who was behind the post-election violence," said Rogers Mwai, who was forced from his home by the fighting and now lives in an informal settlement outside Nakuru town.

"If it wasn't Ruto and it wasn't Uhuru (Kenyatta), then who was it?"

In an early victory for Ruto and Sang, judges barred the prosecution in February from applying amended ICC rules and using recanted testimonies in their case. The prosecution had said the recanted testimonies were key to their case.

Sixteen out of the 42 witnesses had changed their stories or refused point blank to testify, which the prosecutors alleged was due to intimidation, bribery or fear of reprisals.bur-jkb/jhe/kjl

Wilfred Nderitu (C), lawyer for Kenya's post-election violence victims, flanked by ICC Outreach Coordinator Maria Kamara (L) and ICC Chief of Registry Jelena Vukasinovic (R), answers journalists' questions during a press conference April 5, 2016 Tony Karumba (AFP)
Erdogan proposes stripping Kurdish rebel backers of Turkish citizenship

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday proposed stripping Turkish citizenship from supporters of Kurdish rebels waging a deadly insurgency against the security forces.

The comments by Erdogan marked the latest escalation in his drive to crack down on dissent against the government's relentless operation to wipe out the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

"To prevent them from doing harm we must take all measures, including stripping supporters of the terrorist organisation of their citizenship," Erdogan said in a speech to lawyers in Ankara.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech to lawyers at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, Turkey on April 5, 2016 Kayhan Ozer (Turkish Presidential Press Office/AFP)

"These people don't deserve to be our citizens. We are not obliged to carry anyone engaged in the betrayal of their state and their people."

But Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the government was not planning "for the moment" to strip PKK supporters of their nationality.

"This idea is not ready," Davutoglu told reporters during a visit to Finland.

The PKK has been blamed for a string of attacks in Turkey in recent weeks following the collapse last year of a truce in its decades-long fight for greater autonomy and rights for Kurds, which has left 40,000 dead.

In March, Erdogan came under fire for calling for the definition of terrorism to be expanded to include journalists, activists and others who "exploit their positions, pens and titles and put them at terrorists' disposal."

But this was the first time he has proposed that supporters of the PKK be stripped of their nationality.

"Supporters (of terror) who pose as academics, spies who identify themselves as journalists, an activist disguised as a politician ... are no different from the terrorists who throw bombs," Erdogan said Tuesday.

"But like a wolf in sheep's clothing, they serve the same purpose as the members of the terror organisation. As a nation we need to be careful. No one must commit treachery against the state and the nation behind our backs."

Erdogan has also pushed for lawmakers from a pro-Kurdish party to be stripped of their parliamentary immunity so they can be prosecuted for "terrorist propaganda".

- ' A pit of treachery' -

The PKK launched a bloody insurgency against the Turkish government in 1984 seeking independence, but in the nineties watered down its demands to seek instead more autonomy with cultural and language rights.

Jailed PKK founder Abdullah Ocalan called a truce in March 2013, but tensions over the Syrian conflict kickstarted the violence last year.

Turkish forces launched an all-out offensive to eradicate the rebels from urban centres with a blistering military campaign in the southeast.

Erdogan said last week that 355 members of the security forces had been killed in fighting as well as over 5,000 PKK members -- although this could not be independently verified.

The conflict has also struck the heart of the country, with two attacks that killed dozens in the capital Ankara claimed by Kurdish rebels, at a time when citizens are already on high alert over bombings by the Islamic State group.

It has also strained diplomatic ties between Turkey and the US, which supports Kurdish militia in Syria that Ankara see as a branch of the PKK.

As part of a wider crackdown on free speech, Erdogan has particularly homed in on those seen as supportive of the PKK.

Prosecutors in January launched a major investigation against more than 1,200 academics who signed a petition denouncing the military operations against Kurdish rebels in the southeast that enraged Erdogan.

Days later, he personally warned the academics they would "pay a price" after falling into a "pit of treachery".

In mid-March three prominent Istanbul academics were arrested on charges of publishing "terrorist propaganda".

A fourth, Mercal Camci, is facing up to seven-and-a-half years in jail after being arrested on his return to Turkey from abroad on March 31.

Accused of increasing authoritarianism, Erdogan's government has also targeted journalists, with the president himself brushing off all criticism and declaring he doesn't need "lessons in democracy" from the West.

Two journalists from the leading opposition daily Cumhuriyet are currently facing life in prison after being charged with revealing state secrets over a story that accused the government of seeking to illicitly deliver arms to rebels in Syria.

Kurdish people hold a huge picture of jailed leader of Turkey's Kurd rebels, Abdullah Ocalan, in Strasbourg, eastern France, on February 13, 2016, during the annual rally of Kurds from all over Europe to denounce the detention of Abdullah Ocalan Patrick Hertzog (AFP/File)
Washington insists Iran gets no access to US finance

A senior official dismissed reports Tuesday that Washington plans to allow Iran access to the US financial system or to buy the latest Russian warplanes.

Responding to skeptical US lawmakers, Undersecretary of State Thomas Shannon insisted that the United States would maintain sanctions pressure on the Islamic republic.

But he confirmed that the State Department is attempting to "clarify" the terms of its financial sanctions to foreign banks now looking to do business with Iran.

Responding to skeptical US lawmakers, Undersecretary of State Thomas Shannon, pictured on July 23, 2014, insisted that the United States would maintain sanctions pressure on Iran

"The rumors and news that has appeared in the press that the US is preparing to reinstate Iranian access to the US financial system are not true," he said.

In January, the United States and the European Union implemented their side of last year's Iran nuclear deal, lifting a raft of sanctions.

Under the accord, Iran had divested itself of its nuclear fuel stockpile, dismantled much of its enrichment capacity and put a bomb beyond its immediate reach.

In return, the West dropped many sanctions, giving Iran access to tens of millions of dollars in frozen assets and allowing it to double its oil exports.

But Washington maintains other sanctions designed to punish Tehran for maintaining a banned ballistic missile program and for arming Middle East militant groups.

Now Tehran is chafing under these ongoing sanctions, with hardliners accusing President Hassan Rouhani of having sold his country out for little reward.

- Fall afoul of US law -

And European and other international banks are returning only gingerly to the Iranian market, fearing their American operations will fall afoul of US prosecutors.

Secretary of State John Kerry and to a lesser degree President Barack Obama have hinted at sympathy for the complaints, insisting the United States will keep its side of the deal.

But this has led to concerns in Congress -- and conflicting reports in Washington -- that the administration is preparing new concessions to Iran.

As the Senate Foreign Relations Committee convened on Tuesday, Senator Bob Corker asked Shannon to explain these "rumors out of the administration."

Shannon insisted that -- "as far as I know" -- there are no plans to allow Iran to use the US financial sector for transactions in dollars.

But he confirmed that the administration planned to reassure foreign banks seeking to do business with Iran about where they stand relative to US law.

"As Iran attempts to access money being made available to it through the lifting of sanctions, there will be instances in which we have had to help Iran access that money by clarifying regulations under which money can be transferred to them," he said.

"We have found that as Iran seeks those funds, there are banks unclear of the nature of the regulatory structures."

Separately, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, an official said Washington is trying to reassure foreign banks about doing business with Iran.

Washington, he said, has had "requests and inquiries both from foreign governments and companies, European and Asian mostly."

These requests concerned the "transactions needed to repatriate Iran's own funds that have been locked up for some time, and for any transactions regarding future deals."

"In terms of specifics, we're just not there yet," he said.

"It's really a matter of continuing to talk to the foreign governments and companies, figure out exactly where the problem or reluctance is."

- Dollar transactions -

Earlier this year, as the deal was being implemented, a senior European official told AFP banks are afraid New York prosecutors would target them if they traded with Iran.

Corker told Shannon "there was some concern there was a little bit of a wink and nod going on where we were saying to institutions that we are not coming after you."

And he warned that he suspected some US officials "have developed relationships and are trying to bend this in a way that will benefit Iran."

This was a dig at Kerry, who has a channel to his Iranian opposition number Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, part of Rouhani's "moderate" camp.

Shannon insisted Washington will continue to impose tough sanctions on Iran's ballistic missile program and interference in its region.

But he added that both Kerry and Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew have "been clear about the importance of ensuring Iran has access to the assets now open to them."

He also warned that Washington would veto any Russia plan -- as reported in Iranian media -- to sell Tehran advanced Sukhoi Su-30 jet fighters.
Ancient church unearthed on Gaza building site

Archaeologists have called for the preservation of an ancient church unearthed on a Gaza construction site, with different ministries in the Hamas-run Palestinian enclave seemingly at loggerheads over its fate.

The site is believed to be a church or cathedral dating back to at least the 7th century.

The Gaza ministry of antiquities and a number of prominent archaeologists called for all building to be suspended until the relics can be protected and preserved.

Palestinian archaeologist Hyam al-Betar looks at a foundation stone bearing a Greek Christian symbol excavated during the construction of a commercial building in Gaza City, on April 4, 2016 which is believed to be the site of an ancient church Mohammed Abed (AFP/File)

The ministry of endowments and Islamic affairs, however, owns the land and wants the commercial development to continue, with bulldozers working on Tuesday despite protests.

Hyam al-Betar, an archaeologist who works with the antiquities ministry, screamed at bulldozers to stop on Tuesday as they roughly moved marble columns from under the sand, breaking one.

Technicians from the ministries of antiquities were hurriedly taking columns, as well as ornate marble bases, to the Qasr al-Basha -- the only museum in Gaza -- to be cleaned and restored before being presented.

Mohammed Al-Zarad, a researcher in archaeology at Gaza's Islamic University, said it was a "very important site which must be protected."

"We found many of the rock layers had fossils in them dating back to the bronze age," he added, with other discoveries including plates and pottery  some of which were perhaps smashed by bulldozers.

Zarad said there were not enough resources to search for relics within Gaza and called on the world heritage body UNESCO to step in and "save the monuments of Gaza from loss."

Jamal Abu Raida, from the ministry of antiquities, said the pieces found include a marble column engraved with leaves, pillars and a foundation stone bearing a Greek Christian symbol.

Gaza, like much of the Palestinian territories and Israel, is filled with antiquities.

The territory has at various times come under the rule of Romans, Byzantines, Crusaders, Mamluks and Ottomans.

Betar said it was important to try to find a solution.

"We extend our hand to all to cooperate in research into Gaza and its history because Gaza is one of the oldest cities in the world."

"There are treasures beneath our feet," she added.
Among the negative stories of rare rhinos dying and world heritage sites at risk, conservationists in America have something to celebrate.

Green sea turtles found on the beaches of Florida and the Pacific coast of Mexico are no longer considered 'endangered.'

Decades of conservation work has seen numbers rise from a handful in 1978 to 2,250 nesting females in Florida alone.

However, the status of the species is still 'threatened', suggesting that while they don't face imminent extinction, the creatures are still at risk.

Green sea turtles (pictured) found on the beaches of Florida and the Pacific coast of Mexico are no longer considered 'endangered.' Decades of conservation work has seen numbers rise from a handful in 1978 to 2,250 nesting females in Florida alone

The official figures were announced by US Fish and Wildlife Service.

As part of the status change, the US FWS and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries divided green sea turtles globally into 11 distinct population segments.

This allowed 'for tailored conservation approaches for each population,' the agencies said in a statement.

That leaves three populations of green sea turtles worldwide that are considered endangered and at the highest risk of disappearing from the planet - those that live in the Mediterranean Sea as well as the Central South Pacific and Central West Pacific Ocean.

THE PLIGHT OF THE SEA TURTLE Sea turtles have long faced a host of threats, from beach development that destroyed their nesting habitat, to pollution, to fishing nets that entangled them. Successful measures have included protection of nesting beaches, reduction of bycatch in fisheries and prohibitions on the direct harvest of sea turtles, NOAA said. Officials at NOAA estimate that there are currently 571,220 nesting female green sea turtles around the world. The largest population, including more than 167,000 females, lives in the North Atlantic. By contrast, among the endangered populations, between 404 and 992 are believed to live in the Mediterranean, and just over 9,000 in the Central West and Central South Pacific. Advertisement

Most of the world's populations of green sea turtles are listed as 'threatened.'

The changes were initially proposed last year and made final on Tuesday after officials reviewed the scientific data and an outpouring of more than 900 public comments.

'Successful conservation and management efforts developed in Florida and along the Pacific coast of Mexico are a roadmap for further recovery strategies of green turtle populations around the world,' said Eileen Sobeck, assistant NOAA administrator for fisheries.

Challenges remain, including climate change and sea level rise that may erode beach nesting habitat and raise the temperature of sand, which can 'result in skewed sex ratios and lethal incubation conditions,' the agencies noted in a 134-page document in the federal register.

Some commenters raised concern about a herpes-related virus called fibropapillomatosis, or FP, which is common among young green sea turtles in warmer waters, and can cause fatal tumors.

'We acknowledge the increasing distribution and incidence of FP, particularly in Florida,' the agencies said.

Sea turtles have long faced a host of threats, from beach development that destroyed their nesting habitat, to pollution, to fishing nets (stock image) that entangled them. Successful measures have included protection of nesting beaches, reduction of bycatch in fisheries and prohibitions on the direct harvest of sea turtles

The largest population, including more than 167,000 females, lives in the North Atlantic. By contrast, among the endangered populations, between 404 and 992 are believed to live in the Mediterranean, and just over 9,000 in the Central West and Central South Pacific (stock image)

'The threat is likely to increase' along with human-driven pollution of the shores.'

Dangerous fishing gear and boat strikes also kill significant numbers of turtles each year.

'Sea turtles face a lot of threats, from plastic trash they swallow to sea-level rise to getting caught in fishing gear - even poaching, in some parts of the world,' said Catherine Kilduff of the Center for Biological Diversity.
Libya unity govt cements control after rival cedes power

Libya's UN-backed unity government moved to cement control over the country's finances and institutions Wednesday after the rival administration in Tripoli ceded power in a boost to efforts to end years of chaos.

The concession late Tuesday by the militia-backed administration that had controlled Tripoli since 2014 was a major about-turn for a body that had made every effort to block the arrival of prime minister-designate Fayez al-Sarraj.

It came after UN envoy Martin Kobler held talks with Sarraj at the naval base where he has established his headquarters since his arrival under escort by sea last Wednesday.

Pro-UN-backed government supporters rally in the Libyan capital Tripoli on April 1, 2016 Mahmud Turkia (AFP/File)

The international community has pleaded with Libya's warring sides to stand behind the unity government, which it sees as vital to tackling a jihadist expansion and rampant people smuggling in the North African state.

The Government of National Accord has yet to secure a similar concession from another rival administration based in the far eastern town of Tobruk, which has long claimed international legitimacy because it was appointed by the parliament elected in the last polls in 2014.

- Italy hails 'encouraging' moves -

In a directive published on its official Facebook page on Wednesday, the GNA ordered all government "ministries and institutions and committees" to respect its authority and use its logo.

It also ordered the Central Bank and the Audit Bureau to freeze all state accounts immediately, except for salary payments to government employees.

The Tripoli-based administration had said it was stepping aside in the national interest.

"We inform you that we are ceasing the activities entrusted to us as an executive power," it said in a statement.

The statement, bearing the logo of the so-called National Salvation Government headed by Khalifa Ghweil, said the unrecognised Tripoli prime minister, his deputy premiers and cabinet ministers were all stepping aside.

It said the Tripoli authorities took the decision to quit because they were determined to "preserve the higher interests of the country and prevent bloodshed and divisions."

Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said recent developments were "encouraging" in moving towards a "united, stable and secure Libya".

"I hope that the spirit of compromise prevails on all parties involved," he said in a statement, offering the full support of Italy, the former colonial power in Libya, to the new government.

The UN Libya envoy, in Tripoli on his first visit since Sarraj's arrival, hailed the announcement as "good news" but added that "deeds must follow words".

Kobler praised the "courage and determination" of the unity government, whose growing authority has raised hopes it will be able to restore some stability in Libya, which has been plagued by chaos since Moamer Kadhafi's 2011 overthrow.

"We want to show that the UN and the international community support Prime Minister Sarraj and members of the presidency council," Kobler told AFP.

- UN offers 'all support needed' -

He said the UN was ready to provide "all the support needed" towards an "immediate and peaceful handover of power".

The unity government was formed under a power-sharing deal agreed by some lawmakers in December.

The new administration had in recent days been broadening its support, winning the backing of the Libyan Investment Authority, the National Oil Corporation and the Central Bank.

Mattia Toaldo, a policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said Kobler's visit was a clear signal that the GNA was putting down roots in the capital.

"Kobler's visit to Tripoli, after the many times he was refused landing and access... shows the degree of control of Tripoli by the GNA," Toaldo said.

An adviser to Kobler said the UN envoy discussed with Sarraj "ways to support the action" of the unity government.

Western governments are deeply concerned that Libya's disarray has allowed the jihadist Islamic State group to gain an important foothold in the country, but have said a foreign intervention can only take place at the request of a unity government.

Libyan towns that have pledged allegiance to the national unity government Kun Tian (AFP)

Libya's UN-backed Prime Minister-designate, Fayez al-Sarraj, and his new government is seeking to cement control over the country's finances and institutions after the rival administration in Tripoli ceded power
Records reveal scope of wait times in Arizona primary

PHOENIX (AP)  Five polling places in metro Phoenix still had voters in line after midnight during Arizona's botched presidential primary two weeks ago, including one location where the final ballot was cast at nearly 1 a.m., according to county records.

The Associated Press obtained a document from the Maricopa County Recorder's Office that shows the time when each of the 60 polling sites closed in the March 22 primary, providing a more complete picture of the abysmal wait voters experienced.

Votes were still being cast past 10 p.m. in 20 of the 60 locations, meaning residents had to wait at least three hours to choose a candidate in the White House race. The polls closed at 7 p.m., but anyone who was in line at that point could vote.

People wait in line to vote in the primary Tuesday, March 22, 2016, in Chandler, Ariz. A document obtained from the Maricopa County Recorder's Office shows that five polling places in metro Phoenix still had voters in line after midnight during Arizona's botched presidential primary two weeks ago, including one location where the final ballot was cast at nearly 1 a.m., according to county records. (David Kadlubowski/The Arizona Republic via AP) MARICOPA COUNTY OUT; MAGS OUT; NO SALES; MANDATORY CREDIT

One location in Phoenix saw its last voter just two minutes before 1 a.m. Fourteen of the 20 sites that had people voting past 10 p.m. were in Phoenix or its western suburbs, while six were in the eastern part of the Phoenix metro area.

The Department of Justice has launched an inquiry into the wait times and whether they violated voting rights laws.

A letter from Justice Department Voting Section Chief Chris Herron released Monday by the Maricopa County Recorder's Office asked for information on 10 specific items, including a description of how county election officials determined how many polling places were needed on March 22 and whether potential impacts on minority voters were examined. The department declined further comment on its inquiry.

Citing budget issues, Maricopa County cut the number of polling places from 200 in 2012 to just 60 this year.

The Justice Department request was disclosed as Arizona Secretary of State Michele Reagan certified results of the presidential primary.

As the state's top election official, Reagan didn't have the ability to reject the official canvass from the 15 counties, despite her own acknowledgment of problems that saw some voters incorrectly left off rolls. The certification does, however, clear the way for any possible court challenges.

Reagan said her office and the Legislature may consider reviewing proposed changes in the way counties run future elections.

Proposed changes to the way the state ran its elections previously required federal approval, but a 2013 U.S. Supreme Court decision threw out that portion of the Voting Rights Act. The provision required Arizona and all or part of 14 other states to get Justice Department approval, or "pre-clearance."

Reagan has sidestepped questions about why she didn't review the changes in the presidential primary herself in the absence of federal oversight since the other parts of the law remain in force.

Monday's official canvass opens a five-day window for a challenge, something an attorney for Democratic Sen. Bernie Sanders is considering. Attorney Chris Sautter said last week that there was evidence that an unknown number of voters had their ballots thrown out because of problems with voter rolls.

"What's at stake are delegates," Sautter said. "Obviously the outcome of the election for the primary is not going to be changed, but delegate counts could be changed."

Sanders lost to Hillary Clinton in the primary, but because Democrats allow delegates to their national convention proportionally, challenging the results could conceivably add to the number won by Sanders. The state has 10 superdelegates and 75 at-large allocated in the primary.

Maricopa County threw out more than 20,000 provisional ballots, and Sautter said he's collected complaints from some voters who believe they should have been on the Democratic voter rolls. Independents weren't allowed to participate.

Republican Donald Trump won his party's election and the 58 delegates are committed to vote for him on the first convention ballot.

Arizona Secretary of State Michele Reagan speaks during a news conference after she certified the official canvass results of the March 22 presidential primary, Monday, April 4, 2016, in Phoenix. Despite ongoing concerns of long lines and other problems, Reagan certified the official canvass Monday and said she had no authority to do anything except sign off on the election. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Tribe on front lines of fight over nuclear lab contamination

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP)  The tribal community of San Ildefonso Pueblo sits in the shadow of Los Alamos National Laboratory, one of the nation's premier laboratories and the birthplace of the atomic bomb.

The tribe is on the front lines of a battle to rein in contamination left behind by decades of bomb-making and nuclear research.

Pueblo Gov. James Mountain says he's encouraged that New Mexico regulators, under a revamped cleanup proposal, have identified as a priority a plume of chromium contamination at the tribe's border with the lab.

This March 2016 photo provided by Los Alamos National Laboratory shows an angled injection well CrIN-4 being drilled on lab property near Los Alamos, N.M., as part of a project to address a plume of chromium contamination. The chromium project is among the priorities of a revamped proposal that governs the environmental cleanup of Cold War-era waste at the lab. (Los Alamos National Laboratory via AP)

San Ildefonso Pueblo, in northern New Mexico's high desert, has a tribal enrollment of about 750. Its members are known for their artistry, creating jewelry, paintings, traditional black-on-black pottery and other works.

Groundwater sampling shows increasing chromium concentrations at the edges of the plume, indicating it's migrating through an area considered sacred by the tribe and closer to the Rio Grande, which provides drinking water to communities throughout the region.

The plume has stretched about 1 mile into the upper part of the regional aquifer, and is about a half-mile wide and 100 feet thick.

It's about a half-mile from the closest drinking water well.

"Without a doubt, it definitely raises concerns," Mountain said.

The contamination was first detected more than a decade ago, and officials traced it to potassium dichromate used to prevent corrosion inside cooling towers at Los Alamos lab's power plant. As part of regular maintenance from 1956 to 1972, the chemicals were discharged into canyons below.

The lab has spent years trying to better understand the plume to ensure actions taken to address the contamination don't make matters worse.

Federal officials last fall proposed using a combination of extraction and injection wells to keep the plume from making it to tribal land. The first of the injection wells were drilled in March.

Under the draft cleanup proposal unveiled by the state, a series of reports would be required, and initial pumping and treatment could begin next fiscal year.

Officials would then have to develop a final corrective action plan. Implementation could take four to five years.

The U.S. Energy Department's Office of Environmental Management is asking for $189 million for work at the lab next fiscal year. That would pay for handling radioactive waste stored at the lab, as well as completing the chromium investigation.

Ryan Flynn, head of the New Mexico Environment Department, has said the amount the federal government needs to funnel to contamination at Los Alamos should be closer to $255 million a year. He said the potential effect of chromium on the groundwater supply is just one reason the project is a priority.

"The essence is groundwater is precious in New Mexico so we take threats to groundwater very seriously," he said. "We certainly think there's an elevated risk associated with any contamination to groundwater."

The current plan calls for extracting up to 230 million gallons a year over several years, treating that water so it meets health standards and injecting it back into the aquifer or spreading it in select areas using water trucks or irrigation systems.

All the work would be done on lab property, which boasts dozens of archaeological sites  from dwellings carved into the canyon walls to a large pueblo that once had 100-plus rooms, a plaza and kiva.

The area also is home to flaked stone tools, ceramic shards and even a wagon road that dates back to the homestead period of the 1800s.

"It's a very important area to the pueblo," Mountain said. "And it's not just on the parameters of physical inhabitation. There's an effect on the pueblo's health and welfare, on our mental well-being, our spiritual well-being."
Treasury Department sets its sights against inversions

WASHINGTON (AP)  The Treasury Department announced a new package of rules Monday aimed at making "tax inversions"  when U.S. companies move abroad for lower tax rates  less financially appealing.

The new regulations, the third round that Treasury has put forward on inversions, seek to limit internal corporate borrowing that shifts profits out of the United States.

Tax inversions have sparked a political outcry. Last November, drug companies Pfizer and Allergan announced a $160 billion deal that could save New York-based Pfizer hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. taxes annually by moving its headquarters for tax purposes to Ireland, where Allergan is based.

FILE - In this March 1, 2016, file photo, U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew speaks with journalists in Hong Kong. The Treasury Department announced a new package of rules Monday, April 4, aimed at making "tax inversions"  when U.S. companies move abroad for lower tax rates  less financially appealing. Lew said Treasury's new rules are designed to make inversions less economically beneficial for companies. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)

Late Monday, Pfizer and Allergan issued a joint statement saying that they are reviewing the new Treasury rules and would not speculate on their potential impact. Investors, however, appeared to think the rules could undermine the two companies' deal, and sent Allergan's shares down nearly 22 percent in after-hours trading. Pfizer's shares rose about 2 percent.

Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said Treasury's new rules are designed to make inversions less economically beneficial for companies. But he again called on Congress to act to halt the practice.

"Only new anti-inversion legislation can stop these transactions," Lew said on a conference call with reporters. "Until that time, creative accountants and lawyers will continue to seek new ways for companies to move their tax residences overseas and avoid paying taxes here at home."

Several Democrats have announced bills to make it harder for U.S. corporations to invert and President Barack Obama has included proposals in a package of measures to reform corporate taxes. But prospects for passing such legislation in an election year are not deemed high, given the wide differences between Democrats and Republicans on taxes.

In a statement, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York, praised Treasury's new set of proposals. But he said "the only way to slam the door on inversions for good is to pass tough, strong legislation and reform our tax laws."
Senate: Few answers on US theft that risked data of millions

WASHINGTON (AP)  Senate investigators indicated Monday they've received few answers from the Obama administration after a laptop and portable hard drives  likely containing names and Social Security numbers of millions  were stolen from a federal building in Washington state.

Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, the Republican chair of the Senate government affairs panel, asked Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell on Monday if the drives stolen from the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement in Olympia, Washington, were ever recovered.

"It is unclear from the information HHS provided how many of those children's records were compromised, and the potential risk to those children, despite a statutory requirement that you provide that information to Congress," Johnson said in a letter obtained by The Associated Press.

FILE - In this Feb. 2, 2016, file photo, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis. on Capitol Hill in Washington. Senate investigators indicated April 4, 2016, theyve received few answers from the Obama administration after a laptop and portable hard drives, likely containing names and Social Security numbers of millions, were stolen from a federal building in Washington state. Johnson, the Republican chair of the Senate government affairs panel, asked Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell on April 4 if the drives stolen from the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement in Olympia, Washington, were ever recovered. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, file)

The data breach would mark the latest case of personal information swiped from the federal government. Last year, the Office of Personnel Management said hackers stole data in an unprecedented breach of private data for millions of federal workers.

Court documents stated the stolen drives had between 2 million and 5 million individual profiles containing names, Social Security numbers, birthdates, addresses and phone numbers. Police said the intruders used a copy of a building key kept by a former building employee, who was ultimately fired for stealing.

The Office of Child Support Enforcement oversees child-support programs across the nation. One suspect told police he was inside the building for two hours during the burglary, when $600 in cash and a government credit card were also taken.

Johnson asked Burwell what specific information was on the hard drives, when officials first became aware of the burglaries and if they'll notify those whose data were stolen. He also said the Obama administration hasn't provided enough answers on whether other data were stolen from HHS, which keeps national databases on child abuse and neglect.

An HHS spokeswoman acknowledged Monday that the stolen equipment may have contained personally identifiable information, adding the incident was a property theft and not an intrusion of federal networks.

"If the hard drives are accessed, there would be a large data breach," Thurston County, Washington, prosecutors said in court filings last week. It was unclear if the drives were encrypted, which would make it harder for thieves to copy data.

Olympia police said they've arrested two in connection with the thefts, including 28-year-old Nicholas Perring, who was charged with second-degree burglary and had bail set at $10,000. The other, Demario Heard, was also arrested on suspicion of meth possession.

Perring told investigators he and Heard split the $600, found in a bag, to go gambling. Police later reported camera equipment missing from a separate Federal Highway Administration office in the building, as well as Nintendo video games from a nearby business.

The Federal Protective Service declined to comment on the case, citing an ongoing investigation.

In the federal OPM hack last year, more than 21 million Social Security numbers and other sensitive information were compromised, believed to be the biggest in U.S. history. OPM later offered credit-monitoring services and identity-theft insurance to those affected.

___

Associated Press writer Rachel La Corte in Olympia, Washington, contributed to this report.

___
Tuesday, April 12

Today is Tuesday, April 12, the 103rd day of 2016. There are 263 days left in the year.

Highlights in history on this date:

1545 - France's King Francis I orders massacre of Vaudois Protestants.

1606 - Great Britain adopts the Union Jack.

1815 - Austria declares war on Joachim Murat, King of Naples, for occupying Rome.

1850 - French troops restore Pope Pius IX and occupy Rome.

1861 - U.S. Civil War starts as Confederates take Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina.

1945 - U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt dies at age 63 of a cerebral hemorrhage, and Harry S. Truman is sworn in as his successor.

1955 - The Salk vaccine for polio is declared safe and effective.

1957 - West German nuclear physicists refuse to cooperate in producing or testing of atomic weapons.

1961 - Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first man to fly in space, orbit the Earth and make a safe landing.

1966 - U.S. bombers carry out their first strikes against North Vietnam.

1981 - The space shuttle Columbia blasts off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on its first test flight.

1983 - Harold Washington is elected Chicago's first black mayor.

1985 - Sen. Jake Garn of Utah becomes the first senator to fly in space as the shuttle Discovery lifts off from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

1988 - Harvard University is granted the first animal life-form patent, allowing researchers to build a genetically-engineered mouse.

1989 - Relentless artillery battles rage between Christians and Muslims as Lebanon's civil war enters its 15th year.

1990 - East German parliament names Lothar de Maiziere as prime minister, supports swift reunification, apologizes for Holocaust and recognizes Polish border.

1991 - Iraqi forces attack Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq, as hundreds of thousands of refugees suffer from starvation and exposure.

1992 - The United Nations announces a plan to send 100 military observers to Bosnia, where fighting was flaring between Serbs on one side and Muslims and Croats on the other; Euro Disneyland, a $4 billion theme park, opens in Marne-La-Vallee, France.

1993 - NATO planes begin patrolling no-fly zone over Bosnia.

1994 - French and Belgian paratroopers evacuate the last group of foreigners from Rwanda as a major rebel force begins pushing into Kigali from the north.

1995 - Palestine Liberation Organization chief Yasser Arafat widens his crackdown on Islamic militants in the Gaza Strip by ordering them to register guns or face confiscation of the firearms.

1996 - Israeli helicopters fire missiles on Beirut's slums in an effort to wreck the nerve center of Lebanese guerrillas, hitting a Syrian army position and wounding at least 12 Syrian soldiers.

1997 - Pope John Paul II visits Sarajevo on a long-delayed mission of peace to Bosnia. Freshly planted mines are found along his motorcade route.

1998 - Mexico deports 12 foreigners arrested in Chiapas state, where they were visiting rebels.

1999 - Colombian rebels hijack a domestic flight and force the plane to land at a remote airstrip, where they kidnap the 46 passengers and crew.

2000 - An overloaded wooden Philippine ferry boat headed for Malaysia capsizes off the southern Philippines, killing more than 130 people.

2001 - After urging from U.S. President George W. Bush, China agrees to release 24 crew members of a U.S. spy plane held by Beijing for 11 days.

2002 - An alliance of Venezuelan military, business and labor leaders oust President Hugo Chavez and install Pedro Carmona Estanga, the head of Venezuela's largest business association, as interim president. Chavez returns to power in 48 hours.

2003 - Philippine troops free the last four Indonesian hostages held on the southern island of Jolo since June 2002 by Abu Sayyaf, a Muslim separatist group.

2005 - Officials recruit tribal elders and musicians to help educate villagers in an area of northern Angola where the Marburg virus, a hemorrhagic virus, has killed more than people.

2006 - Police arrest three people suspected of aiding Italy's No. 1 fugitive and reputed Mafia boss Bernardo Provenzano, who is captured a day earlier after more than four decades on the run.

2007 - A suicide attacker blows himself up in the lunchroom at Iraq's Parliament, killing eight people, including at least three lawmakers, in a stunning breach of security in the heart of the U.S.-protected Green Zone.

2008 - Prachanda, the former leader of Nepal's decade-long Maoist insurgency, wins a seat in the country's constitution-writing assembly.

2009 - U.S. Navy snipers open fire and kill three Somali pirates holding an American captain at gunpoint, delivering the skipper unharmed and ending a five-day, high seas hostage drama.

2010 - The Vatican makes clear for the first time that bishops and other church officials should report clerical sex abuse to police if required by law. But the policy fails to satisfy victims who charge that the church deliberately hid abuse for decades.

2011 - Japan ranks it nuclear crisis at the highest possible severity on an international scale  the same level as the 1986 Chernobyl disaster  even as it insists that radiation leaks are declining at its tsunami-crippled nuclear plant.

2012 - With less than six months left until Election Day, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has hardly hit the campaign trail. Instead, he has been consumed with his fight against cancer, repeatedly traveling to Cuba for treatment and publicly vowing to defeat his illness.

2013 - Opponents of the late Margaret Thatcher take a kind of musical revenge on the former prime minister, pushing the song "Ding Dong! The Witch is Dead" up the British charts in a posthumous protest over her polarizing policies.

2014 - 1545 - France's King Francis I orders massacre of Vaudois Protestants.

1606 - Great Britain adopts the Union Jack.

1815 - Austria declares war on Joachim Murat, King of Naples, for occupying Rome.

1850 - French troops restore Pope Pius IX and occupy Rome.

1861 - U.S. Civil War starts as Confederates take Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina.

1945 - U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt dies at age 63 of a cerebral hemorrhage, and Harry S. Truman is sworn in as his successor.

1955 - The Salk vaccine for polio is declared safe and effective.

1957 - West German nuclear physicists refuse to cooperate in producing or testing of atomic weapons.

1961 - Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first man to fly in space, orbit the Earth and make a safe landing.

1966 - U.S. bombers carry out their first strikes against North Vietnam.

1981 - The space shuttle Columbia blasts off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on its first test flight.

1983 - Harold Washington is elected Chicago's first black mayor.

1985 - Sen. Jake Garn of Utah becomes the first senator to fly in space as the shuttle Discovery lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

1988 - Harvard University is granted the first animal life-form patent, allowing researchers to build a genetically-engineered mouse.

1989 - Relentless artillery battles rage between Christians and Muslims as Lebanon's civil war enters its 15th year.

1990 - East German parliament names Lothar de Maiziere as prime minister, supports swift reunification, apologizes for Holocaust and recognizes Polish border.

1991 - Iraqi forces attack Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq, as hundreds of thousands of refugees suffer from starvation and exposure.

1992 - The United Nations announces a plan to send 100 military observers to Bosnia, where fighting was flaring between Serbs on one side and Muslims and Croats on the other; Euro Disneyland, a $4 billion theme park, opens in Marne-La-Vallee, France.

1993 - NATO planes begin patrolling no-fly zone over Bosnia.

1994 - French and Belgian paratroopers evacuate the last group of foreigners from Rwanda as a major rebel force begins pushing into Kigali from the north.

1995 - PLO chief Yasser Arafat widens his crackdown on Islamic militants in the Gaza Strip by ordering them to register guns or face confiscation of the firearms.

1996 - Israeli helicopters fire missiles on Beirut's slums in an effort to wreck the nerve center of Lebanese guerrillas, hitting a Syrian army position and wounding at least 12 Syrian soldiers.

1997 - Pope John Paul II visits Sarajevo on a long-delayed mission of peace to Bosnia. Freshly planted mines are found along his motorcade route.

1998 - Mexico deports 12 foreigners arrested in Chiapas state, where they were visiting rebels.

1999 - Colombian rebels hijack a domestic flight and force the plane to land at a remote airstrip, where they kidnap the 46 passengers and crew.

2000 - An overloaded wooden Philippine ferry boat headed for Malaysia capsizes off the southern Philippines, killing more than 130 people.

2001 - After urging from U.S. President George W. Bush, China agrees to release 24 crew members of a U.S. spy plane held by Beijing for 11 days.

2002 - An alliance of Venezuelan military, business and labor leaders oust President Hugo Chavez and install Pedro Carmona Estanga, the head of Venezuela's largest business association, as interim president. Chavez returns to power in 48 hours.

2003 - Philippine troops free the last four Indonesian hostages held on the southern island of Jolo since June 2002 by Abu Sayyaf, a Muslim separatist group.

2005 - Officials recruit tribal elders and musicians to help educate villagers in an area of northern Angola where the Marburg virus, a hemorrhagic virus, has killed more than people.

2006 - Police arrest three people suspected of aiding Italy's No. 1 fugitive and reputed Mafia boss Bernardo Provenzano, who is captured a day earlier after more than four decades on the run.

2007 - A suicide attacker blows himself up in the lunchroom at Iraq's Parliament, killing eight people, including at least three lawmakers, in a stunning breach of security in the heart of the U.S.-protected Green Zone.

2008 - Prachanda, the former leader of Nepal's decade-long Maoist insurgency, wins a seat in the country's constitution-writing assembly.

2009 - U.S. Navy snipers open fire and kill three pirates holding an American captain at gunpoint, delivering the skipper unharmed and ending a five-day, high seas hostage drama.

2010 - The Vatican makes clear for the first time that bishops and other church officials should report clerical sex abuse to police if required by law. But the policy fails to satisfy victims who charge that the church deliberately hid abuse for decades.

2011 - Japan ranks it nuclear crisis at the highest possible severity on an international scale  the same level as the 1986 Chernobyl disaster  even as it insists that radiation leaks are declining at its tsunami-crippled nuclear plant.

2012 - With less than six months left until Election Day, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has hardly hit the campaign trail. Instead, he has been consumed with his fight against cancer, repeatedly traveling to Cuba for treatment and publicly vowing to defeat his illness.

2013 - Opponents of the late Margaret Thatcher take a kind of musical revenge on the former prime minister, pushing the song "Ding Dong! The Witch is Dead" up the British charts in a posthumous protest over her polarizing policies.

2014 - Both sides in Syria's civil war say the rebel-held village of Kfar Zeita in Hama province fell victim to a poison gas attack that reportedly injured scores of people amid an ongoing international effort to rid the country of chemical weapons.

2015 - Six Greenpeace activists opposed to offshore drilling in the Arctic are forced by rough seas to abandon a Seattle-bound drill rig they boarded in the Pacific Ocean six days earlier.

Today's Birthdays:

Christopher Smart, English poet (1722-1771); Vajirananavarorasa, prince-patriarch of Buddhism in Siam, institutionalized Thai Buddhism (1860-1912); Montserrat Caballe, Spanish operatic soprano (1933--); Alan Ayckbourn, English playwright (1939--); Herbie Hancock, U.S. jazz musician (1940--); David Letterman, U.S. television personality (1947--); Andy Garcia, U.S. actor (1956--); Claire Danes, U.S. actress (1979--); Shannen Doherty, U.S. actress (1971--).
US judge OKs $20B settlement from 2010 BP oil spill

NEW ORLEANS (AP)  A federal judge in New Orleans granted final approval Monday to an estimated $20 billion settlement over the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, resolving years of litigation over the worst offshore spill in the nation's history.

The settlement, first announced in July, includes $5.5 billion in civil Clean Water Act penalties and billions more to cover environmental damage and other claims by the five Gulf states and local governments. The money is to be paid out over roughly 16 years. The U.S. Justice Department has estimated that the settlement will cost the oil giant as much as $20.8 billion, the largest environmental settlement in U.S. history as well as the largest-ever civil settlement with a single entity.

U.S District Judge Carl Barbier, who approved the settlement, had set the stage with an earlier ruling that BP had been "grossly negligent" in the offshore rig explosion that killed 11 workers and caused a 134-million-gallon spill.

FILE - In this April 21, 2010, file photo, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig burns in the Gulf of Mexico following an explosion that killed 11 workers and caused the worst offshore oil spill in the nation's history. A federal judge in New Orleans granted final approval on Monday, April 4, 2016, to an estimated $20 billion settlement, resolving years of litigation over the spill. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

In 2012, BP reached a similar settlement agreement with private attorneys for businesses and residents who claim the spill cost them money. That deal, which didn't have a cap, led to a protracted court battle over subsequent payouts to businesses. A court-supervised claims administrator is still processing many of these claims.

BP has estimated its costs related to the spill, including its initial cleanup work and the various settlements and criminal and civil penalties, will exceed $53 billion.

"We are pleased that the Court has entered the Consent Decree, finalizing the historic settlement announced last July," BP spokesman Geoff Morrell said in an email.

U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch praised the settlement.

"Today's action holds BP accountable with the largest environmental penalty of all time while launching one of the most extensive environmental restoration efforts ever undertaken," Lynch said in a statement.

In Louisiana, where delicate coastal marshes were damaged by the oil, Gov. John Bel Edwards said the decision clears the way for the state to receive critical coastal restoration funding. Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange, who acted as a coordinating lawyer for the five Gulf states, also was among those touting the settlement.

David Uhlmann, a University of Michigan law professor and former chief of the Justice Department's environmental crimes section, said Barbier's ruling "ends a long sad chapter in American environmental history."

"The question that remains is whether we have learned enough from this tragedy to prevent similar environmental disasters in the future," he said.

While overall reaction to the settlement has been positive, there were lingering complaints that some of the BP payments may be tax-deductible for the oil giant. Court documents state that the civil penalties will not be tax deductible, although other settlement costs could be.

"We are saddened to learn that the gross negligence of BP continues to enjoy taxpayer subsidies," Lukas Ross of Friends of the Earth said in an emailed news release.

___

Associated Press Writer Michael Kunzelman in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, contributed to this report.
States, federal agencies will seek removal of Klamath dams

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP)  Oregon, California, the federal government and others have agreed to go forward with a plan to remove four hydroelectric dams in the Pacific Northwest without approval from a reluctant Congress, a spokesman for dam owner PacifiCorp said Monday.

The dam removal is part of an announcement planned Wednesday in Klamath, California, by the governors of both states and U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell.

Tearing down the dams would be a major victory for tribes that have fought for years to restore the river for salmon they rely on for subsistence and ceremony.

FILE - This Aug. 21, 2009 file photo shows Iron Gate Dam spanning the Klamath River near Hornbrook, Calif. Oregon, California, the federal government and others have agreed to go forward with a plan to remove four hydroelectric dams along the Klamath River without approval from Congress. The U. S. Department of the Interior said Monday, April 4, 2016, that the deal will be announced Wednesday.(AP Photo/Jeff Barnard, file)

The move also could breathe new life into a struggling effort to allocate more water for farmers and ranchers in the drought-stricken Klamath basin.

Under the deal, a nonprofit corporation recently formed in California would take ownership of the hydroelectric dams and assume liability for any damage that stems from their removal, said Bob Gravely, a spokesman for Portland-based PacifiCorp.

The plan, which aims to remove the dams in 2020, still needs approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Going through FERC avoids the need for congressional approval for dam removal, which was required in earlier Klamath plans but met opposition from Republican lawmakers concerned about setting a precedent.

A water settlement agreement expired at the end of 2015 when Congress failed to approve the dam removal. Going around Congress on dams could make it more politically palatable for lawmakers to back other elements of the water agreements.

Dams thwart salmon migration, degrade water quality, alter water flows, and contribute to fish diseases and algae bloom problems. Three tribes depend on the fish for subsistence and ceremonial needs, and a fourth hopes fish will return once the dams are removed.

One of the tribes already has obtained water rights through the courts, limiting water available for farmers and ranchers, and the others could pursue that process. Klamath Basin agriculture is valued at about $670 million annually.

Thomas O'Rourke Sr., chairman of the Yurok Tribe in Northern California, said the Klamath River can begin to heal if the dams come down.

"That's our livelihood," O'Rourke said. "If the river's sick, our fish are sick, the animals that live around it become sick, and the people become sick."

PacifiCorp has supported a dam-removal agreement because it offers the utility liability protections and caps the costs to its customers. Several studies have shown that dam upgrades likely to be required would significantly reduce electricity generation and would cost millions more than dam removal and replacement of hydropower with other sources.
Vietnam confirms first 2 Zika virus cases

HANOI, Vietnam (AP)  Vietnam has confirmed the country's first two cases of Zika virus.

The online Vnexpress newspaper quoted Vice Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long as saying two women, aged 64 and 33, tested positive for the virus.

The two suffer from fevers, rashes and red eyes, it said, adding the younger woman is eight weeks pregnant.

The newspaper said the two were among 1,215 samples taken for testing from suspected cases in 32 provinces throughout the country.

The World Health Organization has said the virus has been reported in 61 countries and territories, mostly in Latin America and Western Pacific region.

Most people who get the virus have no symptoms. Others may suffer from a mild and brief illness, but infections in pregnant women have been strongly linked to fetal deaths and to potentially devastating birth defects such as babies born with abnormally small heads. That has been common in Brazil.
The outcome of Tuesday's presidential primaries in Wisconsin will be pivotal for Republican Ted Cruz and Democrat Bernie Sanders as they fight to overcome the front-runners for their parties' nominations for the White House.

Cruz, the ultraconservative first-term Texas senator who holds a polling lead in the Midwestern state, is battling to deny Donald Trump a victory on the first ballot at the Republican convention this summer.

That scenario looks increasingly likely in the tumultuous Republican race that has produced a near civil war in the party.

Sanders, a Democratic socialist senator from Vermont, has taken his dark-horse candidacy from a mere annoyance to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to a serious challenge for the former first lady, who had largely been expected to take the Democrat nomination in a walk when the contest began last year.

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Donald Trump is trying to defend his delegate count from an encroaching Sen. Ted Cruz, who's trying to deprive The Donald from the delegates he needs

Sen. Bernie Sanders has a good shot of winning Wisconsin tonight - though has a steep hill to climb if he plans to win the nomination over frontrunner Hillary Clinton

While Sanders remains a force in the Democratic primary, a victory over Clinton would not significantly cut into her delegate lead at the party's nominating convention.

The stakes are even higher for Cruz.

'We are seeing victory after victory after victory in the grassroots,' Cruz said during a campaign stop Monday. 'What we are seeing in Wisconsin is the unity of the Republican Party manifesting.'

Trump has won some of his strength among Americans who believe Hispanic immigrants are taking away their jobs. He has vowed to build a way along the border with Mexico and bragged he would make the Mexican government pay for it.

In a published report, Trump is now saying he would cut off billions of dollars in remittances by immigrants living in the U.S. and use that to pay for construction of the 1,000-mile (1,600 kilometer) wall.

The report, in Tuesday's Washington Post, cites a two-page memo sent by the Republican presidential front-runner threatening to change a rule under the Patriot Act anti-terrorism law to cut off money transfers sent to Mexico.

Sen. Ted Cruz needs a win tonight in Wisconsin to slow down the Donald Trump train. Cruz hopes to prevent Trump from getting the needed 1,237 delegates to clinch the nomination before the nominating convention

While voters are heading to the polls in Wisconsin today, Hillary Clinton has taken her campaign to New York to fend off her home turf against the Bernie Sanders' threat

Trump added that he would withdraw the threat if Mexico makes 'a one-time payment of $5 to $10 billion' to finance the wall.

With the White House and control of Congress at stake in November, leaders of both parties are eager to turn their attention toward the general election.

Clinton would enter the general election campaign saddled with persistent questions about her honesty and trustworthiness, but also with a significant demographic advantage. It's an edge Democrats believe would be magnified in a race against Trump, who has made controversial comments about Hispanic immigrants, Muslims and women.

While Trump is the only Republican with a realistic path to clinching the party nomination before the convention, a big loss in Wisconsin would greatly reduce his chances of reaching the 1,237-delegate mark. Heading into Wisconsin, Trump has 737 delegates to Cruz's 475, with Ohio Gov. John Kasich trailing with 143.

Among Democrats, Clinton has 1,243 delegates to Sanders' 980 based on primaries and caucuses. When including superdelegates, or party officials who can back any candidate, Clinton holds an even wider lead  1,712 to Sanders' 1,011. It takes 2,383 delegates to win the Democratic nomination.
In Australia, surfing soothes asylum-seekers' fears of sea

SYDNEY (AP)  They gather under the blazing sun and blue skies of an Australian beach, looking out at the water that once symbolized so much misery: Terrifying boat trips marked by sickness and death and the constant dread that their own lives might be nearing the end. But today, the sea will become their unlikely savior.

For these five asylum-seekers, a novel program introducing them to the iconic Aussie sport of surfing is helping to transform both their feelings toward the ocean and their lives and allowing them, at least for a brief time, to forget the pains of the past.

"We know that getting into the ocean and surfing makes everybody feel good," says Brenda Miley, surf school director at Let's Go Surfing, which is providing the lessons. "... I just think it's a win-win because it helps build confidence, they learn some skills, they learn about being a local Aussie."

In this Wednesday, March 23, 2016, photo, five asylum seekers sit on their surfboards at the beginning of a surfing class on Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia. A novel program by the not-for-profit organization Settlement Services International is introducing the asylum seekers to the iconic Aussie sport of surfing in a bid to transform their feelings toward the ocean and their lives. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith)

There is a rush of nervous laughter and chitchat as the men file into the Let's Go shop at Sydney's famed surf haven, Bondi Beach. Inside, instructors Conrad Pattinson and Will Bigelow demonstrate how to put on wetsuits.

Amin, an asylum-seeker from Iran, flexes his muscles under the neoprene and chuckles. He has been urging his fellow Surfing Without Borders buddies along all morning, eager to get on a surfboard for the first time. But he admits his excitement is tinged with anxiety.

Like the tens of thousands of asylum-seekers who have fled to Australia in recent years, Amin's trip involved a harrowing ocean crossing that began in Indonesia, where smugglers pack migrants into rickety boats that frequently break down or capsize. Those who survive the journey are often scarred by it.

Amin's memories of that trip and the relentless seasickness that came with it are dark. Today, though, he hopes to forget all that.

Down on the beach, Pattinson and Bigelow give the men a pep talk. They explain how the current works and the different parts of the surfboard.

"We're going to make a plan to keep it safe and get heaps and heaps of waves," Bigelow says.

Amin eyes the turquoise water, where the swells are gaining strength. He asks how far out they will go. "Not deep," Bigelow assures him.

The students practice standing on the boards from the safety of the sand. Pattinson warns them that if they don't use proper form, they'll lose their balance and "do a helicopter." At this, he circles his arms wildly. The men crack up.

Finally, it is time to hit the water. The men slide onto their boards and paddle toward a sandbar where the waves are breaking. There, the instructors help maneuver the students' boards into the proper position. And when Amin is ready, Pattinson pushes him forward onto his first wave.

Amin presses himself up with his hands, pops into a brief, unsteady crouch and...

Splash!

"Fell down, no good!" he says. Undeterred, he wipes his face, grabs his board and paddles back out.

One by one, the men make their first shaky attempts as Pattinson and Bigelow whistle and cheer. Flanked by other student surfers, they are largely indistinguishable from the rest of the rookies: Their hips wobble, their arms "do the helicopter," they occasionally collide, and they belly flop more than they stand. But more than anyone else in the water, they laugh.

This kind of joy is exactly what the staff at Settlement Services International hoped to achieve when they launched the surf program last year. They knew their clients were grappling not only with the trauma associated with their boat journeys and the wars and persecution they had fled, but also with the anxiety of settling into a new country.

Sandra Oehman, a case manager at the not-for-profit organization and a surfer herself, researched the concept of ocean therapy, which has been used to help everyone from sexual assault survivors to war veterans. Many find that being in the water and focusing their energy on riding the waves produces a calming sensation that helps clear the mind. Maybe, Oehman thought, it could do the same for her clients.

Her manager, Robert Shipton, thought it was a brilliant idea. After all, their organization's goal is to help asylum-seekers adapt to their new culture  and what could be more Australian than surfing?

Conscious that students might harbor fears of the ocean, instructors took a gradual approach, says Miley, the surf school director. First, they encouraged the men to go in the water just up to their hips, then helped push their boards onto the waves, and calmed any jitters along the way.

The technique worked wonders for the dozen or so participants, who quickly gained confidence and became so enamored with the sport that many of them now surf on their own, using boards donated by locals and the surf school.

"We just found that once we just encouraged people and got them in and gave them that safe space to be in the water, that very quickly those worries about anything that had to do with the water  that just disappeared," Shipton says. "And it's now to the stage where they're like, 'Let's go to the beach, we want to go surfing, let's do it more!'"

Danny, an asylum seeker from Iran who was part of the pilot group, says surfing helped clear his head of the horrors he left behind.

"It was very different from my (boat) journey," says Danny, who like the other students spoke on condition that their last names be withheld to protect themselves and loved ones in their home countries. "My worries when I was in the ocean were gone and I had the feeling of freedom. And I was happy."

Back at the beach, Kumar, an asylum-seeker from Sri Lanka, hops off his board after riding a wave into shore. He can't stop grinning. In his former life as a fisherman, he spent a lot of time on the water. But it was nothing like Bondi.

"I will never forget this," he says. "Ever."

The waves are growing along with the students' fatigue. Amin's muscles are tired, but he isn't ready to quit. Bigelow pushes his board onto a wave. Amin stands up for a brief moment  then pitches face-first into the water. He emerges from the whitewash, claps victoriously at his progress and paddles back out for more.

Another wave is coming. Bigelow counts it down: "3-2-1... Go!"

And this time, Amin has it. He stands up, steady on his feet, coasting atop the water and whooping in glee. "AHHH!" he screams. "It feels good!"

In the shallows, he pauses to catch his breath, face lit by a smile and the warm Australian sun. Today, that miserable boat trip  and the fear that went with it  feel a world away.

"I took a chance in my life," he says of his journey to Australia. "I have to win or lose my life. I didn't lose, I win  because I was stronger than the ocean."

Then, surfboard slung under his arm, he turns and trudges jubilantly back into the sea.

In this Wednesday, March 23, 2016, photo, five asylum seekers listen to a safety briefing at the beginning of a surfing class on Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia. A novel program by the not-for-profit organization Settlement Services International is introducing asylum seekers to the iconic Aussie sport of surfing in a bid to transform their feelings toward the ocean and their lives. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith)

In this Wednesday, March 23, 2016, photo, five asylum from left, Roohollah, Amin, surf instructor Conrad Pattinson, Uthayakumar, Mahdi, Kumar and surf instructor Will Bigelow practice standing on their surfboards while still on the sand during a surfing class on Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia. A novel program by the not-for-profit organization Settlement Services International is introducing asylum seekers to the iconic Aussie sport of surfing in a bid to transform their feelings toward the ocean and their lives. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith)

In this Wednesday, March 23, 2016, photo, asylum seeker Amin, left, is helped onto a wave by surf instructor Will Bigelow during a surfing class on Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia. A novel program by the not-for-profit organization Settlement Services International is introducing asylum seekers to the iconic Aussie sport of surfing in a bid to transform their feelings toward the ocean and their lives. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith)

In this Wednesday, March 23, 2016, photo, asylum seekers, Uthayakumara, left, and Kumar prepare to enter the water during a surfing class on Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia. A novel program by the not-for-profit organization Settlement Services International is introducing asylum seekers to the iconic Aussie sport of surfing in a bid to transform their feelings toward the ocean and their lives. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith)

In this Wednesday, March 23, 2016, photo, asylum seeker Amin, left, is helped onto a wave by surf instructor Conrad Pattinson during a surfing class on Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia. A novel program by the not-for-profit organization Settlement Services International is introducing asylum seekers to the iconic Aussie sport of surfing in a bid to transform their feelings toward the ocean and their lives. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith)

In this Wednesday, March 23, 2016, photo, surf instructors Conrad Pattinson, top, and and Will Bigelow right, demonstrate pore board positioning to five asylum during a surfing class on Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia. A novel program by the not-for-profit organization Settlement Services International is introducing asylum seekers to the iconic Aussie sport of surfing in a bid to transform their feelings toward the ocean and their lives. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith)

In this Wednesday, March 23, 2016, photo, asylum seeker Mahdi, right, dives off his surfboard as he collides with fellow class mate Kumar during a surfing class on Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia. A novel program by the not-for-profit organization Settlement Services International is introducing asylum seekers to the iconic Aussie sport of surfing in a bid to transform their feelings toward the ocean and their lives. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith)

In this Wednesday, March 23, 2016, photo, asylum seeker Amin, high fives surf instructor Will Bigelow after a surfing class on Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia. A novel program by the not-for-profit organization Settlement Services International is introducing asylum seekers to the iconic Aussie sport of surfing in a bid to transform their feelings toward the ocean and their lives. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith)

In this Wednesday, March 23, 2016, photo, asylum seeker Uthayakumar rides his first wave during a surfing class on Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia. A novel program by the not-for-profit organization Settlement Services International is introducing asylum seekers to the iconic Aussie sport of surfing in a bid to transform their feelings toward the ocean and their lives. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith)

In this Wednesday, March 23, 2016, photo, asylum seeker Amin, center, and fellow class mate Kumar catch a wave during a surfing class on Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia. A novel program by the not-for-profit organization Settlement Services International is introducing asylum seekers to the iconic Aussie sport of surfing in a bid to transform their feelings toward the ocean and their lives. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith)
Officials: Amtrak engineer hit brakes seconds before crash

CHESTER, Pa. (AP)  The engineer of an Amtrak passenger train applied the emergency brakes five seconds before it struck a backhoe sitting on the same track, killing the backhoe operator and a track supervisor, federal officials said.

The train was going 106 miles per hour in a 110 mph zone, the National Transportation Safety Board said on Monday. No one on board was killed, but more than 30 passengers were injured. The injuries were not considered life-threatening.

NTSB investigator Ryan Frigo said videos showed construction equipment on the track and a contractor's equipment on an adjacent track before Sunday morning's crash.

Emergency personnel stand by debris from a deadly train crash in Chester, Pa., Sunday, April 3 2016. The Amtrak train struck a piece of construction equipment just south of Philadelphia causing a derailment. (Michael Bryant/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP) PHIX OUT; TV OUT; MAGS OUT; NEWARK OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT

He could not comment on who was authorized to be there, but said work crews were scheduled to be interviewed on Tuesday

"There is a large amount of data to be looked at," Frigo added.

The event data recorder and forward-facing and inward-facing video from the locomotive were recovered, officials said.

Amtrak issued a statement Monday night saying it was "deeply saddened" by the deaths of the two workers and the injuries suffered by passengers. "We are working with the NTSB to identify the issues that led to this incident and will make any needed changes immediately," Amtrak said.

Trains on the Northeast Corridor resumed regular service on Monday.

The train was heading from New York to Savannah, Georgia, at about 8 a.m. Sunday when it hit a piece of equipment in Chester, about 15 miles outside of Philadelphia. The impact derailed the lead engine of the train, which was carrying more than 300 passengers and seven crew members.

The Delaware County Medical Examiner's Office identified the victims as backhoe operator Joseph Carter Jr., 61, of Wilmington, Delaware, and Peter Adamovich, 59, of Lincoln University, Pennsylvania. They died of blunt force trauma.

The union representing Carter said a total of three workers have now been killed on the job on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor since March 1. That raises questions about worker safety, the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees said.

Amtrak introduced a set of new safety protocols effective March 15. It says violations are handled with zero tolerance, and some cases lead to immediate dismissal.

Rail safety workers said track workers are supposed to double-check their assignments with dispatchers to be sure they are not working on or around an active track.

"Typically, the dispatcher has to give very specific permission for maintenance ... equipment, like a backhoe, to be on the track. They have to take the track out of service for a defined distance and a defined time period," said professor Allan Zarembski, who teaches railroad engineering at the University of Delaware. "And then, they have to confirm that they understand it, repeat back the instructions, and only then can they get on the tracks."

A Minnesota company called Loram Maintenance of Way had several employees working in the area. Loram official Tom DeJoseph said the company was doing maintenance on the ballast between the railway ties. He estimated the company had three or four people working there at a time and more at shift changes. He declined to say if any of them witnessed the crash.

The derailment comes almost a year after a speeding Amtrak train from Washington, D.C., to New York City went off the tracks in Philadelphia. Eight people were killed and more than 200 were injured. The exact cause of that derailment is still under investigation, but authorities have said the train had been traveling twice the speed limit.

Nearly three decades ago, an Amtrak train struck maintenance equipment on tracks in Chester, near the site of Sunday's derailment. More than 20 people were injured in that January 1988 crash. The NTSB determined that an Amtrak tower operator had failed to switch the train to an unoccupied track.

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Associated Press writer Maryclaire Dale in Philadelphia contributed to this report.

People leave an Amtrak train following a deadly crash Sunday, April 3, 2016 in Chester, Pa. The Amtrak train struck a piece of construction equipment just south of Philadelphia causing a derailment. (Maggie Holtgreive via AP)

National Transportation Safety Board staffers inspect the engine of Amtrak Train 89 which hit a construction vehicle on the tracks and derailed in Chester, Pa., Sunday, April 3, 2016. The train was heading from New York to Savannah, Ga. (Clem Murray/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP)

Police and investigators cover the body of one of the individuals killed in an Amtrak train crash in Chester, Pa., Sunday, April 3, 2016. The Amtrak train struck a piece of construction equipment just south of Philadelphia causing a derailment. (Michael Bryant/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP) PHIX OUT; TV OUT; MAGS OUT; NEWARK OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT

National Transportation Safety Board crash investigator Ryan Frigo speaks to reporters in Chester, Pa., Sunday, April 3, 2016, after Amtrak Train 89 hit a construction vehicle on the tracks and derailed. The train was heading from New York to Savannah, Ga. (Clem Murray/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP)

Scattered debris is shown inside an Amtrak train following a deadly crash Sunday, April 3, 2016 in Chester, Pa. The Amtrak train struck a piece of construction equipment just south of Philadelphia causing a derailment. (Maggie Holtgreive via AP)

Amtrak train passengers Christian Nwachukwu, from left, Allison Aborio and Ilan Davidson leave an Amtrak train crash in Chester, Pa., Sunday, April 3, 2016. The Amtrak train struck a piece of construction equipment just south of Philadelphia causing a derailment. (Clem Murray/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP) PHIX OUT; TV OUT; MAGS OUT; NEWARK OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT

Amtrak train passenger Sadarein Walker is escorted to a waiting ambulance after an Amtrak train crash in Chester, Pa., Sunday, April 3, 2016. The Amtrak train struck a piece of construction equipment just south of Philadelphia causing a derailment. (Clem Murray/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP) PHIX OUT; TV OUT; MAGS OUT; NEWARK OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT

Amtrak investigators survey the scene after a deadly train crash in Chester, Pa., Sunday, April 3 2016. The Amtrak train struck a piece of construction equipment just south of Philadelphia causing a derailment. (Michael Bryant/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP) PHIX OUT; TV OUT; MAGS OUT; NEWARK OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT

Amtrak investigators inspect the deadly train crash in Chester, Pa., Sunday, April 3 2016. The Amtrak train struck a piece of construction equipment just south of Philadelphia causing a derailment. (Michael Bryant/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP) PHIX OUT; TV OUT; MAGS OUT; NEWARK OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT

Amtrak investigators inspect the deadly train crash in Chester, Pa., Sunday, April 3 2016. The Amtrak train struck a piece of construction equipment just south of Philadelphia causing a derailment. (Michael Bryant/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP) PHIX OUT; TV OUT; MAGS OUT; NEWARK OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT

This photo shows an Amtrak train following a crash Sunday, April 3, 2016, in Chester, Pa. Amtrak said the train was heading from New York to Savannah, Ga., when it struck a backhoe outside of Philadelphia. (Glenn R. Hills Jr via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT
Global military spending nearly $1.7T amid Mideast conflicts

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)  Global military spending rose in 2015 to nearly $1.7 trillion, the first increase in several years, driven by conflicts including the battle against the Islamic State group, the Saudi-led war in Yemen and fears about Iran, a report released Tuesday shows.

The study by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute also noted that the Chinese expansion in the South China Sea and Russia's annexation of Crimea and support of Ukrainian separatists also accounted for nudging spending up 1 percent in real terms, compared to 2014.

For weapons manufacturers, the nonstop pace of airstrikes targeting Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria, as well as Saudi-led bombing of Yemen's Shiite rebels and their allies, means billions of dollars more in sales.

FILE - In this Sept. 17, 2015 file photo, Saudi security forces take part in a military parade in preparation for the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Global military spending rose in 2015 to nearly $1.7 trillion, the first increase in several years, driven by conflicts including the battle against the Islamic State group, the Saudi-led war in Yemen and fears about Iran, a report released Tuesday, April 5, 2016 shows. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy, File)

But activists question continued U.S. arms deals to Saudi Arabia as its Yemen campaign has killed civilians, while American fighter jet sales to both emerging military buyer Qatar and longtime ally Kuwait appear stalled.

The United States, with $596 billion in defense spending, and China, with an estimated $215 billion, led all countries in 2015, the annual report by SIPRI said. Saudi Arabia, however, came in third with spending of $87.2 billion  double what it spent in 2006, according to the report. That fueled the first worldwide increase in military spending since 2011.

Iraq spent $13.1 billion on its military in 2015, up well over 500 percent from 2006 as it has rebuilt its armed forces following the U.S. withdrawal and rise of the Islamic State group, SIPRI said.

While part of the U.S. coalition fighting the extremists, Saudi Arabia also launched a war in Yemen in March 2015 to support the country's internationally recognized government after Shiite rebels known as Houthis earlier overran the country's capital, Sanaa. The Sunni kingdom views the Houthis as a proxy of Shiite power Iran, long its regional rival.

The United Arab Emirates also is taking part in both conflicts and likely has spent billions of dollars to support its military in 2015 as well, though the Stockholm-based institute said it couldn't offer precise figures this year, senior research Pieter Wezeman said. Both the UAE and Saudi Arabia also sent troops into Bahrain to put down its 2011 Arab Spring-inspired protests.

"This clearly is a reason for these countries to improve their so-called security forces, both to be able to fight against internal uprisings, whether a more-peaceful nature or more violent, but also of course to intervene in neighboring countries," Wezeman, who took part in the report, told The Associated Press.

But the air campaign waged by the Saudi-led, U.S.-backed coalition in Yemen has been increasingly criticized by human rights activists over civilian deaths. Airstrikes account for 60 percent of the 3,200 civilians killed in the conflict, according to the United Nations, which has criticized coalition strikes that have hit markets, clinics and hospitals.

Yet arms deals continue, especially from the U.S. Asked about the civilian casualties, State Department spokesman David McKeeby said the United States remained "deeply concerned by the devastating toll of the crisis in Yemen."

"We have remained in regular contact with the Saudi-led coalition and have reinforced to them the need to avoid civilian casualties and the importance of precise targeting," McKeeby said in a statement. "We have encouraged them to investigate all credible accounts of civilian casualties as a result of coalition strikes  and to report publicly the results of these investigations."

But both the Yemen war and the fight against the Islamic State group likely will keep arms manufacturers busy into 2016. Companies that may see increased sales include Boeing. Co., General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin Corp. and Raytheon Co., aerospace and defense analyst Roman Schweizer at Guggenheim Securities wrote March 28.

"We have been bullish for the better part of a year that the Pentagon and its European and (Gulf) allies will have to refill their stocks of missiles and munitions due to the current campaign against ISIS in Iraq, Syria, Yemen and even Libya," Schweizer wrote, using an alternate acronym for the extremist group.

Meanwhile, President Barack Obama promised America's "ironclad commitment" to back its Gulf allies during a summit last May. In the time since, the U.S. has made $33 billion in arms sales to its Gulf allies, including an $11.25-billion deal with Saudi Arabia that includes four armed warships to modernize its navy, McKeeby said.

But the Obama administration has been criticized by U.S. Sen. John McCain, an Arizona Republican, for "failing to live to up the promises" made at the summit by allegedly stalling fighter jet sales to both Kuwait and Qatar.

"They are languishing on the shelf gathering dust," McCain said at a hearing on March 8. Tiny Qatar in the meantime has signed a deal for 6.7 billion euros ($7.6 billion) to buy 24 Dassault Rafal fighter jets from France. Kuwait on Tuesday finalized a deal to purchase 28 Eurofighter Typhoons, a deal estimated to be worth around $8 billion.

Obama will visit Saudi Arabia on April 21 for a meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council, which includes Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the UAE. The jet sales likely will be a topic of discussion, as will Iran after its recently implemented nuclear deal with world powers.

Wezeman said international sanctions against Iran had seen its weapons technology lag behind its neighbors as its military spending dropped by 30 percent between 2006 and 2015. However, he acknowledged regional suspicions likely would keep Gulf military spending strong.

"Iran is, of course, perceived as an adversary and also wants to be the main player in the region, a country which will potentially use its influence over different proxy groups in the region to destabilize countries," Wezeman said. "Both the expenditure and the armament procurement by states in the Gulf are clearly aimed at kind of keeping Iran in check."

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Online:

Stockholm International Peace Research Institute: www.sipri.org

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Follow Jon Gambrell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jongambrellap . His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/jon-gambrell .

FILE - In this Oct. 20, 2014 file photo, thick smoke and flames erupt from an airstrike by the U.S.-led coalition in Kobani, Syria, as seen from a hilltop on the outskirts of Suruc, at the Turkey-Syria border. For weapons manufacturers, the nonstop pace of airstrikes targeting Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria, as well as Saudi-led bombing of Yemens Shiite rebels and their allies, means billions of dollars in more sales according to a report released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute on Tuesday, April 5, 2016.(AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis, File)

FILE - In this March 21, 2016, file photo, a Chinese People's Liberation Army soldier checks a line of an honor guard as they prepare for a welcome ceremony for visiting German President Joachim Gauck outside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. The United States, with $596 billion in defense spending, and China, with an estimated $215 billion, led all countries in 2015, the annual report released Tuesday, April 5, 2016, by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said. Saudi Arabia, however, came in third with spending of $87.2 billion _ double what it spent in 2006, according to the report. That fueled the first worldwide increase in military spending since 2011. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)

FILE - In this March 30, 2015, file photo, Iraqi security forces launch a rocket against Islamic State extremist positions during clashes in Tikrit, 130 kilometers (80 miles) north of Baghdad, Iraq. According to a new report released Tuesday, April 5, 2016, Iraq spent $13.1 billion on its military in 2015, up well over 500 percent from 2006 as it has rebuilt its armed forces following the U.S. withdrawal and rise of the Islamic State group, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed, File)

FILE - In this Sept. 17, 2015 photo, an Emirati gunner watches for enemy fire from the rear gate of a United Arab Emirates Chinook military helicopter flying over Yemen. The United Arab Emirates is taking part in regional conflicts and likely has spent into the billions of dollars to support its military in 2015 as well, a new report revealed. Both the UAE and Saudi Arabia also sent troops into Bahrain to put down its 2011 Arab Spring-inspired protests. (AP Photo/Adam Schreck, File)

FILE - In this Aug. 10, 2014, file photo, an aircraft lands after missions targeting the Islamic State group in Iraq from the deck of the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush in the Persian Gulf. For weapons manufacturers, the nonstop pace of airstrikes targeting Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria, as well as Saudi-led bombing of Yemens Shiite rebels and their allies, means billions of dollars more in sales. (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali, File)

FILE - In this Feb. 11, 2015, file photo, Navy cadets march during a rehearsal for the Victory Day military parade at the Neva River embankment in St. Petersburg, Russia. The study by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute also noted that the Chinese expansion in the South China Sea and Russias annexation of Crimea and support of Ukrainian separatists also accounted for nudging spending up 1 percent in real terms, compared to 2014. (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky, File)

FILE - In this March 4, 2016, file photo, delegates from the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) leave the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. A report by The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute revealed that the U.S. with $596 billion in defense spending and China with an estimated $215 billion led all countries in military spending in 2015. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

FILE - In this Monday, March 30, 2015 photo, an Iraqi soldier searches a for fighters of Islamic State group in Tikrit, 80 miles (130 kilometers) north of Baghdad, Iraq. Iraq spent $13.1 billion on its military in 2015, up well over 500 percent from 2006 as it has rebuilt its armed forces following the U.S. withdrawal and rise of the Islamic State group, SIPRI said. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed, File)

FILE - In this Sept. 11, 2015 photo, U.S. Navy sailors wear full dress white uniforms before a Sept. 11 remembrance ceremony on board the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier deployed in the Persian Gulf in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, the military operation against Islamic State extremists in Syria and Iraq. Global military spending rose in 2015 to nearly $1.7 trillion, the first increase in several years, driven by conflicts including the battle against the Islamic State group, the Saudi-led war in Yemen and fears about Iran, a report released Tuesday, April 5, 2016, shows. (AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic, File)

FILE - In this undated file photo released online in the summer of 2014 on a militant social media account, which has been verified and is consistent with other AP reporting, militants of the Islamic State group hold up their weapons and wave its flags on their vehicles in a convoy on a road leading to Iraq, in Raqqa, Syria. Both the Yemen war and the fight against the Islamic State group likely will keep arms manufacturers busy into 2016. Companies that may see increased sales include Boeing. Co., General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin Corp. and Raytheon Co., aerospace and defense analyst Roman Schweizer at Guggenheim Securities wrote March 28, 2016. (Militant photo via AP, File)

FILE - In this Jan. 24, 2016, photo, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says goodbye to Saudi Arabian military personnel as he leaves Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, en route to Vientiane, Laos. President Barack Obama promised Americas "ironclad commitment" to back its Gulf allies during a summit last May. In the time since, the U.S. has made $33 billion in arms sales to its Gulf allies, including an $11.25-billion deal with Saudi Arabia that includes four armed warships to modernize its navy, State Department spokesman David McKeeby said. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool, File)

FILE - In this May 21, 2015, photo, smoke rises from al-Qahira castle, an ancient fortress that was recently taken over by Shiite rebels, as another building on the Saber mountain, in the background, explodes after Saudi-led air strikes in Taiz city, Yemen. The the air campaign waged by the Saudi-led, U.S.-backed coalition in Yemen has been increasingly criticized by human rights activists over civilian deaths. Yet arms deals continue, especially from the U.S. (AP Photo/Abdulnasser Alseddik, File)

FILE- In this Feb. 22, 2015, file photo, United Arab Emirates armed forces demonstrate during a military show at the opening ceremony of the International Defence Exhibition and Conference, IDEX, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Global military spending rose in 2015 to nearly $1.7 trillion, the first increase in several years, driven by conflicts including the battle against the Islamic State group, the Saudi-led war in Yemen and fears about Iran, a report released Tuesday, April 5, 2016, shows. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili, File)

FILE - In this June 12, 2015 photo, people uncover the body of a man from under the rubble of houses destroyed by Saudi airstrikes in the old city of Sanaa, Yemen. The air campaign waged by the Saudi-led, U.S.-backed coalition in Yemen has been increasingly criticized by human rights activists over civilian deaths. Airstrikes account for 60 percent of the 3,200 civilians killed in the conflict, according to the United Nations, which has criticized coalition strikes that hit markets, clinics and hospitals. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed, File)
Myanmar's former president leaves office, joins monkhood

YANGON, Myanmar (AP)  Myanmar's former president Thein Sein has shed his formal attire and his hair to join the Buddhist monkhood.

Thein Sein's ordination as a monk took place Monday, officials said, four days after he presided over a historic transition of power to the former opposition party headed by Aung San Suu Kyi.

Photographs circulating on social media show the former president, with his head shaved and dressed in a saffron robe, beside a fellow monk.

FILE - In this Jan. 12, 2016 file photo, Myanmar President Thein Sein arrives at a peace conference in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. Myanmar's former president Thein Sein has shed his formal attire and his hair to join the Buddhist monkhood.Thein Sein's ordination as a monk took place Monday, April 4, 2016 officials said, four days after he presided over a historic transition of power to Aung San Suu Kyi's former opposition party. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo,File)

The Ministry of Information released a statement on its Facebook page Monday saying Thein Sein will spend five days at the Dhamma Dipati Monastery outside Pyin Oo Lwin, a scenic hill town near Mandalay in central Myanmar.

A temporary stint at a monastery is common in the predominantly Buddhist country, where boys are expected to ordain as novice monks at some point in their childhood and then return later in adulthood.

Thein Sein himself has not spoken publicly about his choice to temporarily become a monk but the official statement indicated he has been considering it at least since January when he attended a Buddhist conference in Myanmar.

"Recently, the country's most respected monk, Sitagu, urged ex-President Thein Sein to enter into the Buddhist monkhood when he attended the World Buddhist Conference," the statement from the Ministry of Information said. "Thein Sein told Sitagu that he was busy with the duties of a president and promised that he would be ordained as soon as he finished his term as president."

Thein Sein, a former general, was installed as president for a five-year term in 2011 to head a nominally civilian government after the military ended a half century of military rule.

In November, the country held its first free election in decades which Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party won by a landslide.

Thein Sein presided over the transfer of power to new President Htin Kyaw, who was handpicked by Suu Kyi, in a ceremony last Thursday.
Saudi Arabia bans Iran's Mahan Air from flying into kingdom

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP)  Saudi Arabia has banned Iran's Mahan Air from flying into the kingdom as tensions between the two Mideast powers remain high.

The kingdom's General Authority of Civil Aviation issued the order Monday night, saying in a statement it banned the airline over "systematic violations" of the country's safety regulations and laws.

Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency quoted civil aviation official Ebrahim Moradi on Tuesday as saying Iranian airlines currently have no flights to Saudi Arabia and would use different routes to fly to Africa.

FILE -- In this March 1, 2015 file photo, Yemeni airport, security and transportation officials greet a plane from the Iranian private airline, Mahan Air after it lands in Sanaa, Yemen. Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation issued an order in a statement Monday, April 4, 2016, that banned Mahan Air from flying into the kingdom over "systematic violations" of the country's safety regulations and laws as tensions between the two Mideast powers remain high. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed, File)

The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Mahan Air in 2011 after alleging it aided Iran's Revolutionary Guard and Hezbollah.
Mobile chat apps Line, Kakao flourishing among young Asians

SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  Forget Facebook and Twitter.

Two of Asia's biggest social media players, Kakao Talk and Line, are growing by making mobile messaging apps an integral part of the lives of young Asians who prefer to communicate more privately instead of shouting out in virtual arenas and risking troubles with trolls  or disclosing aspects of their lives to their parents they'd rather not share.

Kakao Talk is the top messenger app in South Korea, with more users than Facebook or Twitter. People use it to hail cabs and transfer money, advancing toward a cashless society. Even South Korean government officials prefer Kakao chat rooms for communicating with colleagues as opposed to email.

In this Thursday, March 24, 2016 photo, visitors pose a photo in front of a Line Corp. logo at a press conference venue of Line Conference Tokyo 2016 in Urayasu, near Tokyo. Line and Kakao Talk are two Asian mobile messengers that outgrew Facebook and Twitter in Japan and in South Korea in terms of user number. But as growth pace of users and revenues slowed, they have come under pressure to monetize new services.(AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)

In Japan, where Line users outnumber those on Facebook or Twitter, people buy cute digital stickers to link to messages and use the app to search for music and jobs.

In doing so, the apps are serving as test beds for digital services, demonstrating ways the latest trends in technology and communication can be integrated with daily life in the 21st century.

Above all, they are making money, although some of their products, such as digital stickers, would be a hard sell in other markets. Silicon Valley investors and tech startups everywhere are watching closely.

Here's a look at Kakao Talk and Line, Asia's top messenger app companies.

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KAKAO TALK: Headquartered on the southern island of Jeju, South Korea. The app was released in 2010.

OWNED BY: Kakao, South Korea's No. 2 Internet search engine, which counts former Naver CEO Kim Beom-su as the largest shareholder.

NUMBERS: 48 million active users globally, including 40 million in South Korea. Sales at the owner of Kakao Talk reached 932.2 billion won ($808.5 million) last year.

HITS: Kakao Talk itself and its cute emoticon characters. The company was able to build on the success of Kakao Talk when it launched Kakao Story, an Instagram-like service which was at one point more popular than Facebook among South Koreans. But its user growth has been slowing. The latest big hit is Kakao Taxi, an Uber-like taxi hailing service.

MAKING MONEY: The 2012 launch of Kakao Game proved its first big jackpot. Many mobile games adopted a business model where users would have to either invite Kakao Talk friends or pay to play more rounds or buy virtual items. This fueled huge growth in the mobile game market in South Korea, helping some game developers go public and amass cash. It also allowed advertisers like Uniqlo and mom-and-pop stores to interact with users one-on-one.

CHALLENGES: Game revenue has declined since peaking in 2014 as game developers began to distance themselves to save commission fees. Following a controversy in 2014 over South Korean authorities' seizure of Kakao Talk user data, many customers have migrated to Berlin-based competitor Telegram. Since then, South Koreans have become wary of what they say on the app, which has not severely dented its traffic but has hurt its reputation.

EXPANSION: Kakao Talk has unsuccessfully tried to expand in Japan and Indonesia, both countries where Line is strong. Instead, the company has largely focused on developing new services for its huge Korean customer base.

ANALYST TAKE: "They have to get a momentum in the mobile advertisement market, but no messenger companies have established themselves as strong an advertisement platform as Facebook," said Justin Lee, an analyst at BNP Paribas in Seoul. Earlier expectations for monetizing messenger apps may have been overly optimistic, he said. "Because of the limitations of one-on-one services, its appeal as an ad platform is not as big as Facebook."

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LINE: Headquartered in Tokyo. Founded in 2011.

OWNED BY: South Korea's No. 1 Internet search engine company Naver Corp.

NUMBERS: 215 million active users globally, 68 million in Japan. Recorded 120.7 billion yen ($1.1 billion) in sales last year.

HITS: Line has leveraged businesses such as merchandising of dolls and other goods featuring mascot-like characters such as Brown the bear. It also rakes in revenue from the sale of emoticon stickers, called "stamps" in Japan, to use with Line messages. Many stamps are free or cost very little, and Line has opened stamp designing to the public, enhancing their appeal. Cab drivers, for instance, use special stamps with their industry jargon handy for quick communication with other drivers in their team. Some 2.4 billion such stickers are sent each day, with sales reaching 25.3 billion yen ($224 million) last year. Free voice calls among Line users, including international calls, are another reason for its popularity.

MAKING MONEY: Line has signed up major companies for advertising such as Toyota and online retailer Rakuten. It plans to expand its clientele, using its knowledge of users' interests in targeting advertising. Such contracts now cost about 50 million yen ($500,000), but will be offered to small and medium-size businesses at lower rates. Line mainly appeals to young people, many of whom don't have access to credit cards. To get around that problem, Line has come up with its own prepaid cards that can be charged at convenience-store chains.

CHALLENGES: Line is entering the mobile operator service in Japan, to be launched in a few months, starting at an affordable 500 yen ($4.40) a month, using the telecommunications infrastructure of major Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo. Nearly half of mobile phone users in Japan haven't yet switched to smartphones, and Line hopes to attract those users when they finally make the switch.

EXPANSION: Line has also been focusing on expanding to Thailand, Taiwan and Indonesia. To appeal to such markets, it has created locally oriented serial dramas to watch. It also offers music and job-search services and is branching into online news.

ANALYST TAKE: "It is important for Line to continue focusing on its localization strategy," said Jun Wen Woo, an analyst at IHS. "Users from Japan and Taiwan may have similar interests in Japanese comics, but users from Thailand and Indonesia might be more interested in other content such as games." Line users have been dropping outside the four main countries, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand and Indonesia, she said.

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FACEBOOK AND TWITTER:

Facebook, which boasts 1.6 billion users globally, has about 16 million monthly active users in South Korea and 25 million in Japan. Instagram, the photo-sharing mobile app owned by Facebook, has 6 million users in South Korea and 8.1 million in Japan. Globally, Instagram has 400 million users. Facebook has been gaining traction along with Instagram in South Korea. Facebook's users there jumped nearly 50 percent from 2013 to 2015.

Twitter, meanwhile, has 320 million users around the world and 35 million in Japan, one of its largest markets. It is popular in Japan for to its quick, newsy feel and the option for anonymity that Japanese tend to favor.

Koreans tend to view Twitter as a niche, alternative platform for people seeking to voice opinion anonymously. Twitter does not disclose a country-specific user number for South Korea. Seoul-based market research firm Rankey.com estimates that there are 1.2 million Twitter users in the country, but its estimate is based on a survey of 60,000 Android phone owners and does not include iPhone users.

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Follow Youkyung Lee on Twitter at www.twitter.com/YKLeeAP

Her work can be found on: http://bigstory.ap.org/content/youkyung-lee

Yuri Kageyama reported from Tokyo.

Follow her on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/yurikageyama

Her work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/yuri-kageyama

In the April 4, 2016, photo, a popular character of Kakao Talk is displayed at Kakao Friends Shop in Seoul, South Korea. Kakao Talk and Line are two Asian mobile messengers that outgrew Facebook and Twitter in Japan and in South Korea in terms of user number. But as growth pace of users and revenues slowed, they have come under pressure to monetize new services. Kakato Talks has 48 million active users in about 230 nations, including 40 million in South Korea. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

In the April 5, 2016, photo, a man, right, uses his smartphone to send messages via Kakao Talks, a South Korean mobile messaging app, in Seoul, South Korea. Kakao Talk and Line are two Asian mobile messengers that outgrew Facebook and Twitter in Japan and in South Korea in terms of user number. But as growth pace of users and revenues slowed, they have come under pressure to monetize new services. Kakao Talks has 48 million active users in about 230 nations, including 40 million in South Korea. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

In the April 5, 2016, photo, passengers use their smartphones on a subway train in Seoul, South Korea. The big social-media players in Asia are growing by making mobile messaging applications an integral part of the personal and professional lives of young Asians who prefer to communicate within their own private groups instead of shouting out their presence in virtual arenas and risking troubles with trolls, or disclosing aspects of their lives to their parents theyd rather not share.(AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

In the April 4, 2016, photo, Kim Do-hee, an employee of Kakao Friends Shop, uses a smartphone beside its goods in Seoul, South Korea. Kakao Talk and Line are two Asian mobile messengers that outgrew Facebook and Twitter in Japan and in South Korea in terms of user number. But as growth pace of users and revenues slowed, they have come under pressure to monetize new services. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

In this Thursday, March 24, 2016 photo, Line Corp. President and CEO Takeshi Idezawa speaks in front of a "stamp" displayed on screen, during a press conference of Line Conference Tokyo 2016 in Urayasu, near Tokyo. Line and Kakao Talk are two Asian mobile messengers that outgrew Facebook and Twitter in Japan and in South Korea in terms of user number. But as growth pace of users and revenues slowed, they have come under pressure to monetize new services. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)

In this Thursday, March 24, 2016 photo, Line Corp. President and CEO Takeshi Idezawa speaks during a press conference of Line Conference Tokyo 2016 in Urayasu, near Tokyo. Line and Kakao Talk are two Asian mobile messengers that outgrew Facebook and Twitter in Japan and in South Korea in terms of user number. But as growth pace of users and revenues slowed, they have come under pressure to monetize new services. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)
Grouse suit seeks to block new fences on BLM land in Nevada

RENO, Nev. (AP)  Conservationists are suing the Bureau of Land Management to block the construction of fences in northern Nevada they say are intended to appease livestock ranchers at the risk of harming sage grouse and the drought-stricken federal rangeland.

The Western Watersheds Project filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Reno last week on the heels of a broader one it filed last month challenging the Obama administration's overall protection plan for the greater sage grouse across 10 western states.

Leaders of the Idaho-based group say the 3 miles of new fence planned near key grouse habitat flies in the face of BLM's own research showing the low-flying, hen-sized birds often die when they strike fences. Fence posts also provide perches for ravens that prey on grouse nests.

FILE - In this July 25, 2005, file photo, a sage grouse stands in a meadow at the Smith Creek Ranch, east of Fallon, Nev. Conservationists are suing the Bureau of Land Management to block construction of fences in northern Nevada that they say are intended to appease livestock ranchers at the risk of harming sage grouse and the drought-stricken federal rangeland. (AP Photo/Cathleen Allison, File)

The suit says BLM rejected a similar proposal to build fences along the grazing allotment near Battle Mountain 200 miles northeast of Reno in 2014.

Pitched as an alternative to orders to remove cattle from the range, the ranchers said the fencing would keep the animals out of streams and key riparian areas. But BLM said at the time it was too costly and counterproductive to range health because fences promote growth of invasive weeds.

Ken Cole, the group's Idaho director, says BLM's reversal shows the sage-grouse planning process "is just a pile of paper written to avoid an Endangered Species Act listing."

"Nothing has changed on the ground, and most of the new protections from grazing won't be implemented for years to come," he said.

The BLM approved the fencing under a settlement agreement with ranchers last June to govern the land until the agency completes a formal assessment of range conditions next year.

The six permittees include Henry Filippini Jr., whose family has ranched in Nevada since the 1870s. Several ranchers rode across the country by horseback in 2014 to deliver a petition to the Obama administration in a protest they called the "Grass March."

The ranchers have paid their grazing fees for years so their situation differs from that of Cliven Bundy, a southern Nevada rancher who owes the government as much as a $1 million for trespassing, staged an armed standoff at his ranch two years ago and now faces federal charges.

But in both cases, BLM has been criticized for backing down and at least initially declining to enforce laws to avoid confrontation.

Paul Ruprecht, an Oregon-based lawyer for Western Watersheds, said the ranchers "have resisted the BLM's drought closures and instead bullied the BLM into considering a slew of proposals for new livestock infrastructure to justify more grazing on the badly degraded public lands."

"Rather than insist upon needed rest periods, the BLM has caved to rancher demands to allow their herds back onto the parched landscapes and enabled that use by approving the contested fencing," he said.

Nevada Cattlemen's Association President David Stix Jr. and Nevada Association of Counties Director Jeff Fontaine praised BLM for working cooperatively with the ranchers.

"Once again, Western Watersheds has proven through their obstructionist tactics that their only goal is to kill an industry at any cost," Stix said.

Interior Department spokeswoman Jessica Kershaw defended the administration policy that allows for continued land use and development "where it makes sense and doesn't conflict with high priority areas of the bird's habitat. "
Italy warns Egypt it expects truth about death of student

ROME (AP)  Italy warned Tuesday that it is prepared to take "immediate and proportional measures" against Egypt if it fails to come clean with all it knows about the torture and death of an Italian graduate student in Cairo.

Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni told the Senate that meetings this week in Rome between Italian and Egyptian prosecutors could be "decisive" to filling in gaps in the investigation of the death of Giulio Regeni.

The 28-year-old researcher was abducted on a Cairo street Jan. 25, when police were out in force as Egyptians marked the fifth anniversary of the uprising that ousted autocrat Hosni Mubarak. Speculation mounted that Egypt's security forces were involved after Regeni's brutally tortured body was found nine days later.

FILE -- In this Tuesday, March 29, 2016 file photo, Paola, the mother of Giulio Regeni, center, flanked by lawyer Alessandra Ballerini, left, and by senator Luigi Manconi attend a press conference at the Italian Senate, in Rome. The editor of Egypt's top state newspaper called on Egyptian authorities Sunday, April 3, 2016, to seriously deal with the case of an Italian student tortured and killed in Cairo, saying officials who didn't realize the gravity of the case are risking Egyptian-Italian relations. Italian Premier Matteo Renzi has insisted Italy will settle for nothing less than the truth. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File)

Gentiloni repeated Italian criticism that Egyptian authorities hadn't provided full information to date, saying Italian prosecutors in particular wanted missing documentation concerning Regeni's cellphone use and closed-circuit video footage of the Cairo area from where he was believed snatched.

"If there isn't a change, the government is ready to react by adopting immediate and proportional measures," Gentiloni warned.

He didn't specify possible measures, but Regeni's parents have urged Italy to declare Egypt an "unsafe" country for Italian tourists.

In Cairo, Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said Gentiloni's comments "complicate matters further," given that they were made one day before the Egyptian team of prosecutors and police arrives in Italy to share the results of the Egyptian investigation with Rome investigators.

Also in Cairo on Tuesday, President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said his country deeply regretted Regini's death and intended to "transparently" continue its "full cooperation" with Italy to resolve the case and bring the culprits to justice.

El-Sissi and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi have forged close ties since the Egyptian leader came to office in June 2014. Italy is Egypt's biggest EU trading partner and the two countries have been coordinating policies on Libya, Egypt's neighbor and Italy's former colony where the extremist Islamic State group has a local affiliate.

"Close Italian-Egyptian relations, which stretch across history, are able to wisely deal with and get through such isolated incidents without creating negative consequences ...," presidential spokesman Alaa Youssef quoted el-Sissi as telling a visiting delegation from NATO's parliamentary assembly.

An Egyptian security official said there was a conflict between the security and judicial agencies on who would lead the team and what to present to the Italians. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the case, told The Associated Press that prosecutors were concerned that the security agencies had attempted to "keep information" and not present it to the Italian side.

Weeks after Regeni's body was found, Egyptian authorities linked the killing to a criminal gang, saying they found the Italian student's personal belongings in a suspect's home after a shootout that killed all the gang's members.

But Italian media immediately dismissed the claim and even Egypt's top state newspaper criticized the "naive stories" being offered about the death and urged Egyptian authorities to deal seriously with the case.

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AP reporters Hamza Hendawi, Maggie Michael and Sam Magdy contributed from Cairo.

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This story has been corrected to show el-Sissi said "wisely," not "widely" in quote about relations between Italy and Egypt.
Pope may visit Greek island to highlight refugees' plight

VATICAN CITY (AP)  Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians, will visit the Greek island of Lesbos next week to highlight the plight of refugees, the Greek government said, as refugees and other migrants are being deported back to Turkey under the European Union's controversial program to ease Europe's migrant problem.

Under the EU's deal with Turkey reached last month, those arriving on Greek islands from March 20 onwards who do not apply for asylum in Greece or whose application is rejected or deemed inadmissible will be deported back to Turkey. For every Syrian returned to Turkey, another Syrian there will be relocated to a European country.

But after the initial return of 202 people Monday from the islands of Lesbos and Chios, most of the roughly 4,000 people earmarked for deportation were submitting asylum applications, leading to delays in the system.

Migrant girl sits on a doorstep with text on wall is written with slogan " Borders kill" at the border crossing at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, Greece, Tuesday, April 5, 2016. A plan to send back migrants from Greece to Turkey sparked demonstrations by local residents in both countries days before the deal brokered by the European Union is set to be implemented. (AP Photo/Amel Emric)

No deportations were carried out Tuesday, and a Turkish interior ministry official said no further returns were expected until Friday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the record.

Francis, the son of Italian immigrants to Argentina, has been outspoken about Europe's moral obligation to welcome refugees and his visit to Greece will likely embarrass EU leaders already under fire from human rights groups over the deportations.

The Holy Synod of the Church of Greece, the decision-making body of the Greek church, said Francis had asked to come to highlight the plight of refugees. It said the request had been accepted and the island of Lesbos suggested, adding it had also extended an invitation to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians, to visit the island on the same day.

The Istanbul-based Ecumenical Patriarchate confirmed Bartholomew would visit the island.

Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said Tuesday that no decision had been made but in an email to The Associated Press he said "I don't deny that there are contacts about a possible trip."

The Greek government issued a note saying the pope and patriarch would be visiting Lesbos on April 14-15 along with Athens Archbishop Ieronymos, and that Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras would join them.

Francis has made the plight of migrants a priority of his three-year pontificate, insisting in particular that Europe and other countries open their doors and hearts to people fleeing persecution and poverty.

He told the Vatican's diplomatic corps in January that Europe had the means to welcome refugees without compromising its security or culture and that the continent bore the "moral responsibility" to care for others who have fled their homes to seek a better life.

Europe's deal with Turkey has come under fierce criticism from human rights groups and aid organizations, who accuse European countries of ignoring their commitments to protect vulnerable refugees.

Judith Sunderland, acting deputy Europe director at Human Rights Watch, said Monday that trying to close the Aegean migration route by shipping people "back to uncertain fates in Turkey" would just make them seek potentially more dangerous and expensive ways to reach the EU.

"This whole deal involves throwing human beings down legal loopholes," she said. "Turkey is not a safe country, and rights on paper are not the same as rights in practice."

The deal and its accompanied closing of land borders to migrants have also led to more than 52,000 people being stranded in Greece.

European officials have billed the deal as the only way to deter people from risking the dangerous if brief sea journey from the Turkish coast to Greek islands.

Maria Stavropoulou, director of Greece's Asylum Service, told state TV that some 3,000 people held in deportation camps on the islands are seeking asylum, with the application process to formally start by the end of the week.

Asylum applications typically take about three months to process, she said, but would be "considerably faster" for those held in detention.

"There will be a difficult few months ahead," Stavropoulou said. "We are dealing with people who speak 70 different languages and many have traveled to Greece without papers because they are escaping war."

Only 30 of 400 migration officers from other EU countries have arrived in Greece so far, Stavropoulou said, while additional locally hired staff would take "several months" to train and integrate into the Asylum Service.

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Becatoros reported from Athens. Ayse Wieting in Istanbul contributed.

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Online:

Greek Asylum Service: http://asylo.gov.gr/

Migrants, most of them from Pakistan, protest against the EU- Turkey deal about migration inside the entrance of Moria camp in the Greek island of Lesbos on Tuesday, April 5, 2016. Authorities in Greece have paused deportations to Turkey and acknowledged that most migrants and refugees detained on the islands have applied for asylum. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

Migrants most of them from Pakistan protest against the EU- Turkey deal about migration, inside the entrance of Moria camp in the Greek island of Lesbos on Tuesday, April 5, 2016. Authorities in Greece have paused deportations to Turkey and acknowledged that most migrants and refugees detained on the islands have applied for asylum. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

A migrant woman with a child walks over the railway tracks at the border crossing at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, Greece, Tuesday, April 5, 2016. A plan to send back migrants from Greece to Turkey sparked demonstrations by local residents in both countries days before the deal brokered by the European Union is set to be implemented. (AP Photo/Amel Emric)

Refugees and migrants most of them from Pakistan protest against EU- Turkey deal about migration inside the entrance of Moria camp in the Greek island of Lesbos on Tuesday, April 5, 2016, Authorities in Greece have paused deportations to Turkey and acknowledged that most migrants and refugees detained on the islands have applied for asylum. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

Refugees and migrants most of them from Pakistan protest against EU- Turkey deal about migration inside the entrance of Moria camp in the Greek island of Lesbos on Tuesday, April 5, 2016, Authorities in Greece have paused deportations to Turkey and acknowledged that most migrants and refugees detained on the islands have applied for asylum. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

A migrant child washes her face at a camp on the border crossing at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, Greece, Tuesday, April 5, 2016. A plan to send back migrants from Greece to Turkey sparked demonstrations by local residents in both countries days before the deal brokered by the European Union is set to be implemented. (AP Photo/Amel Emric)

A migrant woman hangs the laundry on barbed wire set along the border crossing at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, Greece, Tuesday, April 5, 2016. A plan to send back migrants from Greece to Turkey sparked demonstrations by local residents in both countries days before the deal brokered by the European Union is set to be implemented. (AP Photo/Amel Emric)
Iceland's leader is first victim of offshore holdings leak

LONDON (AP)  The leak of millions of records on offshore accounts claimed its first high-profile political casualty Tuesday as Iceland's prime minister stepped aside amid outrage over revelations he had used such a shell company to shelter large sums while Iceland's economy was in crisis.

Icelandic leader Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson is the first major figure brought down by the publication of the names of rich and powerful people linked to the leaks, dubbed the Panama Papers.

China and Russia, meanwhile, took the opposite approach, suppressing the news and rejecting any allegations of impropriety by government officials named in the leak of more than 11 million financial documents from a Panamanian law firm.

In this grab taken from video Iceland's Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson leaves after holding a meeting at Iceland's Parliament in Reykjavik, Tuesday April 5, 2016. Iceland's embattled prime minister has resigned amid a controversy over his offshore holdings, a Cabinet minister said Tuesday as outrage over the accounts roiled the North Atlantic island nation. (APTN via AP)

Officials in Ukraine, Argentina and other countries are also facing questions about possibly dubious offshore tax-avoidance schemes.

The reports are from a global group of news organizations working with the Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. They have been processing records from the Mossack Fonseca law firm that were first leaked to Germany's Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.

One of the firm's co-founders, Ramon Fonseca, said late Tuesday it had filed a complaint with Panamanian prosecutors, alleging that the data was stolen by a hacking attack from somewhere in Europe, but he declined to give any details.

The announcement that Gunnlaugsson was stepping down as leader of Iceland's coalition government came from his deputy, Sigurdur Ingi Johannsson, who is also the country's agriculture minister. It followed the refusal by Iceland's president to dissolve parliament and call a new election, and after thousands of Icelanders protested outside the parliament building in Reykjavik.

No replacement has yet been named, and President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson did not immediately confirm that he had accepted the resignation. Late Tuesday, a government statement said Gunnlaugsson had suggested Johannsson take over as prime minister for "an unspecified amount of time," while Gunnlauggson would stay on as leader of his center-right Progressive Party.

Gunnlaugson has denied any wrongdoing and said he and his wife have paid all their taxes. He also said his financial holdings didn't affect his negotiations with Iceland's creditors during the country's acute financial crisis.

The leaked documents allege that Gunnlaugsson and his wife set up a company called Wintris in the British Virgin Islands with the help of the Panamanian law firm. Gunnlaugsson is accused of a conflict of interest for failing to disclose his involvement in the company, which held interests in failed Icelandic banks that his government was responsible for overseeing.

Iceland, a volcanic North Atlantic island nation with a population of 330,000, was rocked by a prolonged financial crisis when its main commercial banks collapsed within a week of one another in 2008.

Since then Icelanders have weathered a deep recession and been subjected to tough capital controls  another reason the prime minister's offshore holdings rankle many.

China, on the other hand, dismissed as "groundless" reports that the Panamanian law firm had arranged offshore companies for relatives of at least eight present or past members of the Communist Party's Politburo Standing Committee, the apex of power in China.

Among those named in the leaked documents was the brother-in-law of President Xi Jinping. State media have ignored the reports and searches of websites and social media for the words "Panama documents" were blocked.

China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said he would not discuss the reports further and declined to say whether the individuals named would be investigated.

"For these groundless accusations, I have no comment," Hong told reporters at a regularly scheduled news conference.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's president was accused of abusing his office and of tax evasion by moving his candy business offshore, possibly depriving the country of millions of dollars in taxes.

Shell companies aren't in themselves illegal. People or companies might use them to reduce their tax bill legally, by benefiting from low tax rates in countries like Panama, the Cayman Islands and Bermuda. But the practice is frowned upon, particularly when used by politicians, who then face criticism for not contributing to their own countries' economies.

Because offshore accounts and companies also hide the names of the ultimate owners of investments, they can be used to illegally evade taxes or launder money.

Mossack Fonseca says it obeys all laws relating to company registrations and does not advise people how to evade taxes.

The firm said in a statement that "our industry is not particularly well understood by the public, and unfortunately this series of articles will only serve to deepen that confusion.

"The facts are these: While we may have been the victim of a data breach, nothing in this illegally obtained cache of documents suggests we've done anything wrong or illegal, and that's very much in keeping with the global reputation we've worked hard to build over the past 40 years of doing business the right way."

Members of the Group of 20  which includes China  have agreed on paper to tighten laws relating to shell companies and make sure authorities can find out who the real owners are. Actual legislation at the national level has lagged behind the promises, however.

The appearance of offshore accounts in political scandals is far from new. Shell companies played a role in the corruption scandal involving the Petrobras oil company in Brazil. The U.S. Justice Department said in an indictment last year that offshore accounts were used to mask the transfer of bribes to officials at FIFA, the global soccer federation.

Sueddeutsche Zeitung, working with Germany's NDR and WDR public television stations, reported Monday that 14 German banks had used Mossack Fonseca's services to set up 1,200 letterbox companies for clients.

The report said use of offshore company registrations had spiked after the European Union introduced regulations in 2005 requiring countries to exchange tax information on individual people, but not for companies. Many of the accounts, however, have since been closed.

The EU has since tightened its rules on offshore companies under its Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive, which is being phased in as national governments pass local laws to comply by June 26, 2017. The new rules tighten requirements for companies to keep accurate information on their real owners and to make that available to authorities.

People gather to demonstrate against Iceland's prime minister, in Reykjavik on Monday April 4, 2016. Iceland's prime minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson insisted Monday he would not resign after documents leaked in a media investigation allegedly link him to an offshore company that could represent a serious conflict of interest, according to information leaked from a Panamanian law firm at the center of an international tax evasion scheme. (AP Photo/Brynjar Gunnarsson)

In this grab taken from video Iceland's Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson leaves after holding a meeting at Iceland's Parliament in Reykjavik, Tuesday April 5, 2016. Iceland's embattled prime minister has resigned amid a controversy over his offshore holdings, a Cabinet minister said Tuesday as outrage over the accounts roiled the North Atlantic island nation. (APTN via AP)

Panama City skyline is seen at sunset in Panama, Monday, April 4, 2016. Panama's president says his government will cooperate "vigorously" with any judicial investigation arising from the leak of a vast trove of information on the offshore financial dealings of the world's rich and famous. An international coalition of media outlets Sunday published investigations it said stemmed from the leak of 115 million records kept by the Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca on behalf of clients. (AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco)

A man looks at a newsstand with a copy of the day's Global Times displayed on a basket in Beijing, China, Tuesday, April 5, 2016. The nationalistic tabloid Global Times published an editorial saying an unidentified "powerful force" was behind the documents leaked from a Panama-based law firm that name relatives of current and retired Chinese politicians, including President Xi Jinping, as owning offshore companies. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
The Latest: Turkey: Migrant deal proceeding 'successfully'

ATHENS, Greece (AP)  The Latest on European efforts to cope with an influx of refugees and migrants (all times local):

7:55 p.m.

Turkey's deputy prime minister says a deal with the European Union on the return of migrants from Greece is proceeding "successfully."

Refugees and migrants most of them from Pakistan protest against EU- Turkey deal about migration inside the entrance of Moria camp in the Greek island of Lesbos on Tuesday, April 5, 2016, Authorities in Greece have paused deportations to Turkey and acknowledged that most migrants and refugees detained on the islands have applied for asylum. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

Numan Kurtulmus said Tuesday "there is no question of it being stopped. This is a process that is continuing successfully."

The European Union began sending back migrants Monday under an agreement with Turkey, but Greek authorities said thousands of people being held in migrant detention camps have applied for asylum  which could slow the rate of returns.

On Monday some 202 migrants from 11 countries were sent back to Turkey on boats from the Greek islands of Lesbos and Chios. In return as part of the agreement, dozens of Syrians were flown to Germany, Finland and the Netherlands on Monday and Tuesday.

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3:30 p.m.

Danish police say a law passed two months ago that requires refugees and migrants to hand over valuables worth more than 10,000 kroner ($1,500) has not resulted to a single seizure.

The law was intended to help cover migrants' housing and food costs for migrants while their cases are being processed.

National Police spokesman Thomas Kristensen told the AP Tuesday that none of the migrants valuables above the specified limit.

Human rights activists and artists had denounced the legislation as degrading and inhumane.

Last year, Denmark received about 20,000 asylum-seekers, one of the highest rates per capita in the EU.

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2 p.m.

Turkey's prime minister says the country has sent 78 Syrian refugees to Europe on the first working day of a European Union plan to curb migration.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said of the 202 migrants returned Monday from Greece to Turkey, 199 non-Syrians were taken to a deportation center in northwest Turkey. He says an unaccompanied minor was put into the care of the Family Affairs Ministry and two Syrians were sent to an admissions center in Izmir.

Under the deal, migrants who reach Greece from March 20 on will be sent back to Turkey unless they qualify for asylum. For every Syrian returned, Europe will take a Syrian refugee from Turkey to be resettled in an EU country.

Davutoglu said the new policy should deter illegal migration and "the Aegean Sea will cease to be a graveyard for migrants." Hundreds of migrants have drowned this year trying to cross from Turkey to Greece in smuggling boats.

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1:45 p.m.

Thirty-one Syrian refugees have been flown from Turkey to the Netherlands as part of the European Union's deal with Ankara aimed at breaking Turkey's smuggling rings and easing Europe's migration crisis.

Dutch Justice Ministry spokeswoman Janet Takens says the group arrived Tuesday morning and were sent to an asylum-seekers' center. She declined to give further details, citing privacy considerations.

The government says the Syrians already have been interviewed by Dutch immigration authorities in Turkey who established that they are eligible to asylum.

The deal involves the EU sending back to Turkey migrants deemed ineligible for asylum in Europe while at the same time accepting Syrian migrants currently in Turkey who do have legitimate asylum claims.

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1:10 p.m.

Austria's defense minister says he expects to start implementing tougher controls on the country's border with Italy within the next few weeks to meet an increase in attempted migrant crossings.

Hans Peter Doskozil says about 5,000 people fleeing war and other threats or looking for better lives have tried to cross over his country's border with Italy over the past few weeks.

He told reporters Tuesday that "we expect that Austria will likely implement "restrictive controls over the next few weeks."

He says the army is ready to increase its presence at the border by hundreds of soldiers, if needed.

Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner says she plans to meet with her Italian counterpart on Friday before the start of any new border restrictions.

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12:55 p.m.

Serbian police say they have arrested six suspected people-smugglers after finding 34 migrants  including 15 minors  hidden in a truck which allegedly had illegally crossed the border from Bulgaria.

The six detained suspects are facing charges of smuggling people and illegal crossing of the state border. Police say they have confiscated three vehicles, six mobile phones and 65,000 euros ($73,000.)

Migrants fleeing war and poverty and hoping to reach Western Europe have been turning to people-smugglers to take them over the borders after countries along the former Balkan migrant corridor closed the borders few months ago.

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12:25 p.m.

A Turkish coast guard official says 55 migrants hoping to reach Europe were apprehended the first day the agreement between Turkey and the European Union went into effect.

The official, who said the migrants of "various nationalities" were intercepted off Turkey's western coast, spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

As part of the EU-Turkey agreement, 202 migrants and refugees who had not applied for asylum in Greece were returned to Turkey Monday from Greek islands. No transfers were planned Tuesday.

Meanwhile, a German-flagged NATO ship patrolled the Aegean Sea between Turkey and Greece as part of the alliance's mission to help end the deadly smuggling of asylum-seekers.

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12:05 p.m.

Authorities in Greece have suspended deportations to Turkey and acknowledged that most migrants and refugees detained on Greek islands have applied for asylum.

The European Union began sending back migrants Monday under an agreement with Turkey, but no transfers were planned Tuesday.

Maria Stavropoulou, director of Greece's Asylum Service, told state TV that some 3,000 people held in deportation camps on the islands are seeking asylum, with the application process to formally start by the end of the week.

She says asylum applications typically take about three months to process, but would be "considerably faster" for those held in detention.

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11:55 a.m.

Austrian police say they have detained a man on suspicion of smuggling migrants after 14 Iranian, Pakistani and Uzbek nationals were seen leaving a van he was driving.

They said Tuesday that the suspect was taken into custody Monday evening near Austria's border with Hungary.

The van had Bulgarian license plates. Police say the suspect denies wrongdoing. He was not identified in line with Austrian privacy laws.

Refugees and migrants most of them from Pakistan protest against EU- Turkey deal about migration inside the entrance of Moria camp in the Greek island of Lesbos on Tuesday, April 5, 2016, Authorities in Greece have paused deportations to Turkey and acknowledged that most migrants and refugees detained on the islands have applied for asylum. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

Refugees and migrants most of them from Pakistan protest against EU- Turkey deal about migration inside the entrance of Moria camp in the Greek island of Lesbos on Tuesday, April 5, 2016, Authorities in Greece have paused deportations to Turkey and acknowledged that most migrants and refugees detained on the islands have applied for asylum. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

Migrant girl sits on a doorstep with text on wall is written with slogan " Borders kill" at the border crossing at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, Greece, Tuesday, April 5, 2016. A plan to send back migrants from Greece to Turkey sparked demonstrations by local residents in both countries days before the deal brokered by the European Union is set to be implemented. (AP Photo/Amel Emric)

A migrant woman with a child walks over the railway tracks at the border crossing at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, Greece, Tuesday, April 5, 2016. A plan to send back migrants from Greece to Turkey sparked demonstrations by local residents in both countries days before the deal brokered by the European Union is set to be implemented. (AP Photo/Amel Emric)

Refugees and migrants most of them from Pakistan protest against EU- Turkey deal about migration inside the entrance of Moria camp in the Greek island of Lesbos on Tuesday, April 5, 2016, Authorities in Greece have paused deportations to Turkey and acknowledged that most migrants and refugees detained on the islands have applied for asylum. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

A migrant boy plays with stones at the border crossing at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, Greece, Tuesday, April 5, 2016. A plan to send back migrants from Greece to Turkey sparked demonstrations by local residents in both countries days before the deal brokered by the European Union is set to be implemented. (AP Photo/Amel Emric)

A migrant child washes her face at a camp on the border crossing at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, Greece, Tuesday, April 5, 2016. A plan to send back migrants from Greece to Turkey sparked demonstrations by local residents in both countries days before the deal brokered by the European Union is set to be implemented. (AP Photo/Amel Emric)

Migrants walk through the grass on the border crossing at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, Greece, Tuesday, April 5, 2016. A plan to send back migrants from Greece to Turkey sparked demonstrations by local residents in both countries days before the deal brokered by the European Union is set to be implemented. (AP Photo/Amel Emric)

A migrant woman hangs the laundry on barbed wire set along the border crossing at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, Greece, Tuesday, April 5, 2016. A plan to send back migrants from Greece to Turkey sparked demonstrations by local residents in both countries days before the deal brokered by the European Union is set to be implemented. (AP Photo/Amel Emric)

A migrant woman poses for photo at a makeshift camp at a border crossing at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, Greece, Tuesday, April 5, 2016. A plan to send back migrants from Greece to Turkey sparked demonstrations by local residents in both countries days before the deal brokered by the European Union is set to be implemented. (AP Photo/Amel Emric)

A migrant woman hangs the laundry on barbed wire set along the border crossing at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, Greece, Tuesday, April 5, 2016. A plan to send back migrants from Greece to Turkey sparked demonstrations by local residents in both countries days before the deal brokered by the European Union is set to be implemented. (AP Photo/Amel Emric)

A migrant woman hangs the laundry on barbed wire set along the border crossing at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, Greece, Tuesday, April 5, 2016. A plan to send back migrants from Greece to Turkey sparked demonstrations by local residents in both countries days before the deal brokered by the European Union is set to be implemented. (AP Photo/Amel Emric)
The Latest: Panama law firm files hacking complaint

BERLIN (AP)  The Latest on the publication by a coalition of media outlets of an investigation into offshore financial dealings by the rich and famous (all times local):

3:50 a.m.

One of the co-founders of the Panama-based law firm at the heart of the "Panama Papers" uproar says the company has filed a complaint with Panamanian prosecutors alleging that the data was stolen by a hacking attack from abroad.

FILE - In this Thursday, March 31, 2016 file photo, FIFA President Gianni Infantino attends a press conference at the Soccer Federation headquarters in Bogota, Colombia. FIFA President Gianni Infantino on Tuesday April 5, 2016 has defended his reputation after a Champions League broadcasting contract he signed was leaked from a Panama-based law firms database. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara, File)

Ramon Fonseca said Tuesday that the firm, Mossack Fonseca, has evidence the hacking was done from Europe, but he declined to give any details. "I can't say more because the case is already under investigation," he told The Associated Press.

Mossack Fonseca is one of the leaders in setting up offshore bank accounts for the rich and powerful. Some 11.5 million of its documents were leaked to the German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung revealing details of the secretive shell companies and the people using them. A global group of news organizations working with the Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists is now processing the records.

Fonseca said his firm had committed no crimes and "at the end of this dust storm you will see this more clearly."

He said the leak was a violation of privacy.

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10:20 p.m.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino has defended his reputation after a Champions League broadcasting contract he signed was leaked from a Panama-based law firm's database.

Infantino says in a statement published by FIFA he is "dismayed and will not accept that my integrity is being doubted."

As UEFA's legal director in 2006, Infantino co-signed a deal to sell TV rights for Ecuador to a marketing agency linked to the ongoing FIFA bribery scandal, British daily The Guardian reported.

The agency, Cross Trading, was owned by Argentine marketing executives Hugo and Mariano Jinkis who were indicted last year by American federal prosecutors investigating a bribery conspiracy in international soccer.

Infantino says he "never personally dealt with Cross Trading nor their owners" in a tender process conducted by an agency retained by UEFA.

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10:00 p.m.

An Argentine businessman who was extradited to the U.S. for his involvement in the FIFA corruption scandal is linked to offshore companies, documents leaked from a Panamanian law firm show.

Alejandro Burzaco transferred $370 million to secret companies in tax havens. The money was used to pay the South American soccer confederation for broadcasting rights to the region's top club tournament over a 14-year period.

The information was reported Tuesday by Argentina's La Nacion. The newspaper is part of a global group of news organizations working with the Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

Burzaco was previously the chief executive of sports marketing company Torneos y Competencias. He was one of 14 people indicted by U.S. authorities last year on bribery, vote-rigging and other corruption charges.

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9:00 p.m.

The finance minister for the tiny country of Andorra wedged between France and Spain has told reporters that he once was in charge of an offshore company and is making the announcement in the interest of openness.

Jordi Cinca Mateos said in a statement Tuesday that he was the company's agent from 1999-2000, long before he entered government.

The offshore company dissolved in 2002 had been set up to deal with possible business interests in Central and South America for an Andorran company that Cinca Mateos used to work for.

Cinca Mateos says he doesn't know whether his involvement with the company would have emerged from a huge dump of leaked documents from a Panamanian law firm that set up companies in tax havens.

He says he made the announcement pre-emptively because he has nothing to hide but doesn't want his effort to serve as an example that others should imitate him.

Andorra is in the Pyrenees mountains and has about 85,000 residents. It is a destination for banking, skiing and duty free shopping.

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8:35 p.m.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and top economic officials are calling for greater transparency in the wake of the publication of thousands of names of people who conducted offshore financial activity through a Panamanian law firm.

Merkel spoke after a previously-scheduled Tuesday meeting with the heads of the World Bank, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the International Monetary Fund, the International Labor Organization and the World Trade Organization.

She said the new corruption allegations show "the theme of transparency is of the greatest importance."

OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria said it was an "exceptional situation which we should profit from" by pressuring Panama to join international financial disclosure agreements.

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim called it "an opportunity to continue and aggressively move forward to find how these illicit financial flows are moving."

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8:20 p.m.

One of the world's largest anti-corruption watchdogs is expressing regret that the head of its office in Chile is linked to several offshore companies, according to documents leaked from a Panamanian law firm.

Transparency International said in a statement Tuesday that Gonzalo Delaveau's resignation Monday shouldn't take away from the group's important work in Chile.

Jose Ugaz, chair of the Berlin-based group, said he was deeply troubled by revelations that Delaveau, a lawyer, was linked to five companies domiciled in the Bahamas.

Delaveau is not accused of any wrongdoing but Ugaz said his continued affiliation with Transparency International is incompatible with the group's aims to register the beneficial owners of all shell companies to make it harder for the corrupt to hide illicit wealth.

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7:10 p.m.

British Prime Minister David Cameron says he and his family do not benefit from offshore funds, after the leader of the opposition called for an independent investigation into everyone holding money in tax havens.

A leak of millions of documents from a Panamanian law firm has disclosed details of the asset-hiding arrangements of wealthy people  including Cameron's late father.

Ian Cameron, who died in 2010, used other offshore investments to help shield his money from U.K. tax. There is no suggestion the arrangement was illegal.

Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said Tuesday he wanted tax authorities should investigate "all people that have invested in these shell companies or put money into tax havens."

Cameron's office said "the prime minister, his wife and their children do not benefit from any offshore funds."

Cameron said Tuesday: "I own no shares, no offshore trusts, no offshore funds, nothing like that. And so that, I think, is a very clear description." Downing St. said Cameron's wife, Samantha "owns a small number of shares connected to her father's land, which she declares on her tax return."

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6:50 p.m.

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif says he will set up an independent judicial commission to probe whether his family is involved in illegal overseas investments after reports based on documents leaked from a Panama-based law firm indicated his sons owned offshore companies.

In a televised address to the nation Tuesday, Sharif said a retired judge from the Supreme Court of Pakistan will head the commission.

He asked those levelling corruption charges against his family to cooperate with the commission and prove any allegations.

Sharif's comments came a day after his son Hussain Nawaz admitted he owned offshore companies and property abroad which has been disclosed in the so-called Panama Papers leaks.

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6:40 p.m.

President Barack Obama says the massive leak of documents on offshore accounts is evidence that world leaders should do more to crack down on individuals and corporations that try to dodge taxes.

Obama remarks were his first on the so-called Panama Papers. He says the leaders have made some progress in shutting down international tax avoidance schemes, but not enough.

Obama says the problem is that too often the tax dodging in enabled by "poorly designed" laws that are easy to exploit. He says: "A lot of it's legal, but that's exactly the problem."

The Justice Department has said it is reviewing the documents for evidence of corruption or violations of U.S. law.

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5:40 p.m.

French Finance Minister Michel Sapin says his country will put Panama back on its list of tax havens.

France had withdrawn Panama from its list of "uncooperative countries" in 2012 following the signature of a convention on the fight against tax evasion between the two countries.

Sapin, speaking to lawmakers at France's lower house of parliament, says Panama tried "to make us believe it was able to respect the key international principles."

France's list of tax havens currently includes six states: Brunei, Guatemala, Marshall islands, Nauru, Niue and Botswana. It allows tax administration to apply specific stringent measures on financial transactions with these countries.

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5:35 p.m.

The chairman of Hungary's opposition Socialist Party says a former lawmaker and party treasurer has admitted that reports about an offshore company owned by his wife are "completely true."

Jozsef Tobias says that Laszlo Boldvai, who was a parliamentary deputy from 1994 to 2014, told him Tuesday that he is willing to face any inquiry and has suspended his party membership. Boldvai was also party treasurer for the Socialists in 1994-1998.

According to information published by Hungary's Direkt36.hu investigative journalism center, Boldvai's wife, a high school teacher, has owned a company registered in Samoa since 2012.

Years ago, Boldvai's personal finances were the subject of articles in several newspapers as he and his family seemed to be living beyond their means. Still, in 2009, a parliamentary commission chaired by another Socialist Party deputy decided not to investigate the allegations.

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5:05 p.m.

Romania's national tax authority has set up a working group to examine the data published by investigative journalists on offshore accounts and firms held by Romanians.

The National Agency of Fiscal Management said Tuesday anti-fraud inspectors, tax inspectors and inspectors specialized in checking people's assets and financial information would be part of the interdepartmental group.

Funds have been made available for the group to probe information about companies, business people and correlate it with existing data about foreign and domestic bank accounts, shares and transactions.

Paul Radu, who heads the RISE Project, a group of investigative journalists publishing details about Romanians who have offshore companies, says there are 100 Romanians in the so-called Panama Papers.

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3:30 p.m.

Spain's acting deputy prime minister says her country's investigation into offshore companies created for luminaries like soccer great Lionel Messi and movie director Pedro Almodovar will focus on whether the companies held money and if it was declared in Spain.

Soraya Saenz de Santamaria told the Telecinco broadcaster in an interview Tuesday that Panama's government appears inclined to cooperate with Spanish authorities probing the companies in various tax havens created by Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca.

Spain since 2012 has required taxpayers to declare their holdings abroad. She says Spain will "trace the money and relationships with third parties."

Messi has denied wrongdoing and Almodovar's brother says the company for them was dissolved a few years after it opened in the 1990s.

Other Spaniards named in the massive document leak from the law firm include a sister of former King Juan Carlos and a son of a former longtime Catalonia regional leader.

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2:45 p.m.

A digital forensics expert who helped journalists parse the massive trove of offshore finance documents from a Panamanian law firm says it took weeks to process the leaked information.

Carl Barron, a consultant with Australian data investigation firm Nuix, says his company has been collaborating with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists since September on the so-called Panama Papers investigation.

He told The Associated Press in a telephone interview: "We worked with them as a partner but we didn't actually see the documents."

Barron said it took roughly two weeks for the company's software to make the 2.6 terabyte stash of information searchable and several additional weeks to process hard-to-parse documents such as photos and faxes.

Deduplication  the process of removing redundant data such as copies of the same email chain  slimmed the final cache by 30 percent.

He said that "if they had done it by hand it would have been impossible."

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2:35 p.m.

Slovenia's finance ministry has called for greater international sharing of data to tackle the kind of tax fraud allegedly revealed by the data leaked by a Panama-based law firm.

The ministry said Slovenia was active in tackling tax havens by investigating hundreds of suspected cases of tax evasion. It says an additional 24 million of euros was collected between 2011 and 2015 as a result of probes into suspected transactions.

Slovenia's Delo newspaper says that according to leaked documents it analyzed, at least 78 Slovenian companies and 74 Slovenian individuals are reportedly associated with offshore companies set up through the Panama-based Mossack Fonseca law firm.

The newspaper says that Slovenia's most prominent boxer Dejan Zavec is among those named in the leaked documents. He has said he has done nothing wrong.

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2:30 p.m.

President Vladimir Putin's spokesman says the Russian leader has no connection whatsoever to offshore accounts allegedly owned by his close friend, a Russian musician.

Dmitry Peskov says the leaked documents from a Panama-based firm have been wilfully interpreted by an international consortium of investigative journalists to make what he called an unfounded claim that cellist Sergei Roldugin's offshore assets were linked to the Russian president.

Peskov, speaking to The Associated Press Tuesday, emphasized that "there is not a word about President Putin in those papers," and dismissed the alleged link between Russian owners of offshore assets and Putin as a "product of imagination."

He said the scandal around the so-called Panama Papers has proven that Putin was right when he urged Russian businesses to pull out their assets from offshores.

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2:20 p.m.

British opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn has called for an independent investigation into the tax affairs of people and companies accused of wrongdoing in the leak of the Panama Papers.

Labour leader Corbyn said Tuesday the investigation should include a look at the finances of Prime Minister David Cameron and his family.

Corbyn spoke after the British press published extensive stories about Cameron's late father setting up an offshore account at a tax haven.

He told reporters: "I think the prime minister, in his own interest, should tell us exactly what's been going on."

The information about Cameron's father was first published several years ago.

Corbyn said the government should stop "pussyfooting" around and deal aggressively with tax havens.

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1:45 p.m.

A known soccer player, a fashion designer whose dresses are worn by first lady Michelle Obama and 16 other mostly business figures are on a list of prominent Serbs who used the services of law firm Mossack Fonseca to create offshore companies in various tax havens.

The Belgrade-based KRIK network investigating crime and corruption, which issued the list on Tuesday after going through documents leaked from the Panama-based law firm, says Darko Kovacevic had officially earned about $2,000 a month while playing for Spanish club Real Sociedad during the 2006-2007 season.

The leaked documents, however, show the club had paid Kovacevic $1.4 million that season to his offshore account. That means that both the club and Kovacevic had avoided paying full taxes in Spain, KRIK says.

Fashion designer Roksanda Ilincic had a firm in British Virgin Islands, KRIK says, adding that the ownership of a shell company is not a crime, but that it can be used for money laundering or evading taxes.

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1:15 p.m.

Iceland Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson is defying calls for his resignation as opponents plan a second day of mass protests outside the island nation's parliament building.

The prime minister and his wife have been linked to an offshore company that may represent a severe conflict of interest with his official role.

A wide array of opposition groups are planning protests Tuesday evening seeking new elections.

Parliament was not in session but deliberations on the crisis are expected to resume later this week.

News reports have alleged that Gunnlaugsson and his wife set up a company in the British Virgin Islands with the help of a Panamanian law firm at the center of a massive tax evasion leak. He denies doing anything illegal and says all taxes were paid.

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11:50 a.m.

Germany's justice minister is proposing setting up a national "transparency register" that would list the real beneficiaries of letter-box companies  but only those set up in the country itself.

Heiko Maas' proposal Tuesday to expand national money-laundering legislation followed a massive leak of documents from a Panama-based law firm. German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported Tuesday that 28 German banks used the company's services to set up or administer over 1,200 shell companies.

Maas conceded that German legislation could only apply to companies set up in Germany, which has pushed for tax havens to open up. He said: "Those who are pushing for this at the international level have to have corresponding national rules themselves."

Maas added: "I can imagine many countries considering this."

A potted plant is placed at the entrance of the regional head office of Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca, one of the world's biggest creators of shell companies, in Hong Kong, Tuesday, April 5, 2016. China's Internet censors and state media outlets squelched reports Tuesday on hidden wealth drawn from documents leaked from a Panama-based law firm that name relatives of current and retired Chinese politicians, including President Xi Jinping. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)

A building window cleaner works on a building in Panama City's Banking area, Monday, April 4, 2016. Panama's president says his government will cooperate "vigorously" with any judicial investigation arising from the leak of a vast trove of information on the offshore financial dealings of the world's rich and famous. An international coalition of media outlets Sunday published investigations it said stemmed from the leak of 115 million records kept by the Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca on behalf of clients. (AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco)
Hungary talent show for young classical artists going global

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP)  The latest hot new television creation: A Hungarian talent show for young classical musicians that is on the verge of being replicated around the world.

The creators of "Virtuosos" have signed a deal with Dick Clark Productions, the company behind the American Music Awards, to license the format of the successful Hungarian program internationally.

Dick Clark Productions said there's interest in the show from China and Japan and the company is working on a deal with U.S. networks.

Young classical musician and competitor of the 'Virtuosos' talent show, Lajos Tamas Petres plays for the jury on a piano during the recording of the show in the studio of the Hungarian State Television in Budapest, Hungary on Saturday April 2, 2016. The creators of 'Virtuosos' have signed a deal with Dick Clark Productions, producers of the American Music Awards and many other shows, to license the format of the successful program internationally. (AP Photo/Bela Szandelszky)

"We believe we may have a U.S. launch simultaneously with one of the other territories," DCP executive Mark Rafalowski told The Associated Press. "There are very few things outside of sports that can attract a multi-generational audience. Youth competitions done right, especially music, are one of those things."

Mariann Peller, creator and producer of "Virtuosos" and an experienced concert promoter, said she was motivated after noticing that few young people were listening to or performing classical music.

"I saw only gray hairs in the orchestra and the auditorium," Peller said. "One of the aims of the program is to make classical music trendy."

On a recent visit to Hungary, Placido Domingo praised "Virtuosos" for allowing young classical musicians the chance to compete in a type of program usually reserved for pop music.

In Hungary, the first season of "Virtuosos" was a huge hit for state television in 2014. Recording is underway for its second season  nine episodes lasting an average of 90 minutes, including a gala event. The 81 participants in the initial rounds came from over 2,200 musicians in three age groups.

In the first round, instrumentalists and singers perform solo or with minimal accompaniment. Semifinalists are backed by a chamber ensemble and this season's finalists in each age group  those attending elementary school, high school or music universities  will have access to Hungary's National Philharmonic Orchestra.

Peller said Hungary's deep musical traditions  Budapest's international airport is named after famed composer and piano virtuoso Ferenc (Franz) Liszt  offered a wide talent pool for the program. She said applications to music schools in Hungary increased 14 percent last year, attributing it to the show's popularity.

"Virtuosos" has also set up a foundation to assist the careers of the participants, not just the finalists, helping the musicians buy instruments and organizing some 300 concerts for them from New York to Tokyo.

"'Virtuosos' is different from other talent shows in that we have a mission," Peller said. "We made it an objective not to let go of the children's hands but to continue and build their careers."

Future editions of the program aim to discover talents in jazz, world music, conducting and film score composition, among other categories.

The program has already expanded its scope, including performers with Hungarian roots from outside the country in the second season. Musicians from neighboring countries like Romania and Slovakia, which have large ethnic Hungarian communities, and even from farther locations like Belgium and China, appeared in the initial rounds.

With Hungarian television now dominated by game shows, reality shows and talent contests licensed from foreign productions, Peller was proud that "Virtuosos" was going global.

"It is a great joy for us that a Hungarian format can finally set foot abroad," Peller said. "I am very happy to put this talent show format in the hands of professionals who will make a worldwide show out of it."
Subway posting calories nationally as regulation lags

NEW YORK (AP)  Subway is moving ahead and posting calorie counts on menu boards nationally despite another delay in a federal rule requiring the information.

The sandwich chain says its new menu boards with calorie counts are already rolling out around the country and should be up in all 27,000 of its U.S. stores by April 11. The decision to forge ahead comes as restaurant chains have awaited the Food and Drug Administration's final guidance and enforcement of a rule requiring food sellers with 20 or more locations to post the information.

"I think consumers are looking for this, and with all the delays, they're confused as to why it's not out there," said Lanette Kovachi, who leads Subway's global nutrition efforts.

As part of the federal health care overhaul, a rule was passed in 2010 requiring major chains to post calorie counts on menus with the goal of helping Americans make better food choices. After weighing retailers' concerns, the FDA came out with its final rules in 2014 and gave establishments until the end of 2015 to comply.

Last summer, the agency pushed back the deadline to the end of 2016.

Then last month, it delayed enforcement again to a year after it publishes its final guidance for companies. That guidance has been delayed as companies have lobbied for exemption. Domino's, for instance, says it doesn't make sense for chains that get so many of their orders online or over the phone.

Still, Subway isn't alone in deciding not to wait for the federal rule to go into effect. Panera Bread began posting the information in 2010, and McDonald's Corp. followed suit in 2012. The National Restaurant Association said that most companies are waiting for the final guidance from the FDA before posting the information.

Subway says it had already posted calories in about 4,000 stores in localities such as New York City that already require the information, as well as in California. And since January, it says it has been testing the new menu boards with calorie counts in another 7,000 restaurants.

The remainder of its stores should have the new menu boards by next week, the company said.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest in Washington, D.C., has advocated for calorie counts on menus, saying it helps customers make more informed choices and encourages food sellers to rethink their recipes if they don't want to scare off people with huge calorie disclosures.

Exactly how the calorie counts change people's behavior is not yet entirely clear, however.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Nutrition Evidence Library reviewed 10 studies that tested how calories on menus influenced food choices, and said it found "limited and inconsistent evidence" to support an association between the disclosure and food choices or intake. But most the studies were done in labs, rather than in restaurants, and measured behavior at just one point in time.

Since calorie counts for Subway sandwiches vary depending on the toppings people request, the chain says its menu boards will list information for basic sandwiches.

Within the year, Subway said it is also working on displaying on sneeze guards calorie counts for toppings like olives and cheese.

_________
Roof collapse at Pakistan religious school kills 5 students

MULTAN, Pakistan (AP)  A Pakistani official says a roof that was under construction at a religious school collapsed, killing five students.

Local rescue official Natiq Hayyat says nine students were also injured in the incident in the central district of Dera Ghazi Khan on Tuesday.

Hayyat says all the victims have been taken to hospital. The cause of the collapse was not clear.
Philippine militants kidnap 6 workers in volatile south

CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines (AP)  Suspected Muslim militants have abducted six sawmill workers in a southern Philippine region where a recent military offensive killed at least 24 of the rebels, military officials said Tuesday.

Gunmen seized the workers Monday in a far-flung village in Butig town in the predominantly Muslim province of Lanao del Sur and government forces were taking steps to secure their freedom, army Col. Nilo Samarita said.

It was not immediately clear what the motive was for the abduction of the Christian workers.

The largely unknown Maute group of militants staged a brazen attack on an army outpost in Butig town in February, sparking a major military offensive and days of fighting that killed 24 militants and six soldiers, one of whom was beheaded.

Army troops captured an encampment of the militants where armbands bearing the symbol of the Islamic State group were found, military officials said.
Napoli striker Gonzalo Higuain banned 4 matches for protests

MILAN (AP)  Napoli's title hopes have taken another hit with the suspension of Serie A's top scorer Gonzalo Higuain for four matches for severe protests with the referee.

Higuain, who has scored 30 goals in 31 matches, lost control and placed his hands on the referee's chest when he was sent off following two bookings in a 3-1 loss at Udinese on Sunday.

The defeat left Napoli six points behind league leader Juventus and only four ahead of third-place Roma with seven matches remaining.

Napoli's Gonzalo Higuain argues with referee Massimiliano Irrati during a Serie A soccer match between Udinese and Napoli at the Friuli stadium, in Udine, Italy, Sunday, 3 April 2016. (Lancia/ANSA via AP)

Higuain, who had to be removed from the pitch by fellow players, will miss matches against Hellas Verona, Inter Milan, Bologna and  perhaps most importantly  Roma.

Napoli coach Maurizio Sarri was also suspended for one game after he too was sent off for protests.
Germany: 3 charged over valve deliveries to Iran

BERLIN (AP)  German prosecutors say they've indicted three men for allegedly delivering valves to Iran for a company that was once responsible for building the country's Arak heavy-water reactor.

Federal prosecutors said Tuesday that the three German citizens  identified only as Bernd L, Rene L. and Ralf C. in line with German privacy rules  were charged with violating export laws and attempting to violate weapons-control laws.

They said the men delivered 51 valves to Iran in two batches, in 2010 and 2011, part of a larger order worth some 1 million euros ($1.14 million). Two of them are accused of giving the wrong customer name to get around export controls.
Loss to Urawa has Guangzhou on brink of ACL exit

SAITAMA, Japan (AP)  Defending champion Guangzhou Evergrande is on the brink of a group-stage exit in the Asian Champions League after a 1-0 loss to Urawa Reds on Tuesday left the big-spending Chinese club winless in four games.

Yuki Muto's header in the 52nd-minute secured Urawa's victory at home and moved the 2007 champions into second place in Group H with seven points, two behind Sydney FC.

Evergrande, coached by Luiz Felipe Scolari, has two points and needs wins its last two games to have any chance of progressing in its bid for third Asian Champions League title in four seasons.

Carlos Adriano of South Korea's FC Seoul, front, fights for the ball against Jucilei of China's Shandong Luneng FC during their Group F soccer match in the AFC Champions League at Seoul World Cup Stadium in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, April 5, 2016. The match ended in a 0-0 draw. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Brazilian midfielder Paulinho hit the post from eight yards, missing a chance to put Guangzhou in front early in the second half, minutes before Muto's close-range header gave Urawa the lead.

Paulinho shot over the crossbar from Jackson Martinez's cross in the 56th, failing to equalize in a contest Guangzhou needed to win.

In Sydney, forward Milos Ninkovic scored with his second touch from close range in 51st minute to give the hosts a 1-0 home win over the three-time champion Pohang Steelers, maintaining first place and needing only one point to ensure a spot in the knockout stage for the first time in three attempts.

"Good discipline, good effort and they played to the game plan," Sydney FC coach Graham Arnold said of his team, which is languishing in seventh place in the Australian A-League. "I'm very happy for once in 10 weeks.

"We're not there yet, I want us to finish on top of the group."

In Group F, 2013 finalist FC Seoul was held to a 0-0 draw at home by Shandong Luneng, moving to 10 points and remaining three clear of the Chinese club.

Seoul defender Osmar Barba hit the post with a volley after 16 minutes and Shandong missed a chance when Gil headed pasted the post.

Seoul squandered late chances when Ju Se-jong's shot from the edge of the area flew over the Shandong crossbar and Yun Ju-tae's shot was deflected just wide.

Sanfrecce Hiroshima remained in contention with a 2-0 win at Buriram United, moving to six points as it extended the Thai club's run to four straight losses.

In Group D at Jeddah, Brazilian striker Douglas scored twice as Al Ain moved into contention for a place in the knockout phase with a 2-1 away win over Saudi Arabia's Al Ahli.

The win  Al Ain's second in a row over the Saudi side  moved the inaugural ACL champions into second place on seven points, three behind leader El Jaish from Qatar, which played to a scoreless away draw with Uzbekistan's Nasaf Qarshi.

Iranian side Zob Ahan is on top of Group B after a 5-2 home win over Uzbekistan's Bunyodkor. Danial Esmaeilifar and Vahid Mohammadzadeh scored first-half goals for the winners before Mahdi Rajabzadeh and Kaveh Rezaei ensured the win in the second.

Qatar side Lekhwiya beat Saudi Arabia's Al-Nassr 4-0 at Doha after second-half goals from Nam Tae-hee, Alain Dioko, Chico Flores and Mohammed Muntari.

The result left Lekhwiya and Al-Nassr level on five points, three behind Zob Ahan, but Lekhwiya in second place holding a superior goal difference.
As Afghan war escalates, schools forced to close

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP)  One of Afghanistan's proudest achievements has been getting millions of children, especially girls, back into school since the toppling of the Taliban. But that success is crumbling across the south and in other battleground areas of the country, where hundreds of schools have been forced to shut down.

Sometimes the cause is fighting, sometimes it's intimidation from the Taliban.

Sometimes it's both, as in the case of the Loy Manda high school in southern Helmand province, part of the Taliban heartland. When the Taliban waged an offensive last winter, the school in the Nad Ali district was caught in the fighting between the militants and Afghan government forces.

FILE -- In this Jan. 13, 2016 file photo, an Afghan teacher, in brown, helps school children run from the site of clashes near the Pakistan consulate in Jalalabad, capital of Nangarhar province, Afghanistan. One of Afghanistans proudest achievements has been getting millions of children, especially girls, back into school since the toppling of the Taliban, but that gain is crumbling across the south and in other war-torn parts of the country. Hundreds of schools have been forced to shut down because of fighting or Taliban intimidation. (AP Photos/Mohammad Anwar Danishyar, File)

"We had six rooms, books, chairs, but now everything is destroyed," said Hekmatallah, the headmaster, who like some Afghans goes by one name.

He's working toward reopening, but he had to get permission from the Taliban or else face their retaliation. They said they would allow it, if only boys attend  no girls  and if they are only taught a curriculum meeting the Taliban's hard-line version of Islam. Taliban mines from the time of the fighting still surround the school, and government forces are stationed just 40 yards (meters) from the school  a potential target for extremist attack.

Between the damage and the danger, none of the school's 650 students can attend.

That's the fate for an increasing number of children in the battlezone regions of Afghanistan. In 2015, 615 schools in the country's 11 most volatile provinces had to close because of violence, according to the Education Ministry. That was on top of the around 600 schools that remained shut down from the year before in those areas.

Almost half the 2015's school closures were in the final months of the year as the Taliban did not take their customary winter break. Violence escalated across the warmer southern provinces, which were the hardest hit by closures, ministry's spokesman Mujib Mehrdad said. Last year, 105 of Helmand's 545 schools shut down, and in neighboring Kandahar, the figure was 150 of 545 schools The heaviest closures were in nearby Zabul, where more half the province's schools  140 out of 242 schools  shut their doors.

The United Nations counted 25 students, teachers and other school staff killed in Taliban attacks or crossfire in 2015. In eastern Nangarhar province, the Islamic State group seized control of several districts near the border with Pakistan and terrorized women and girls, banning them from school and work, and in some case forcing them into marriage, according to residents who fled the area.

But extremists' ideological hatred of the schools and girls' education is not the only cause of school shutdowns. Human Rights Watch, the New York-based monitoring group, says the Afghan military continues to deploy weaponry in or around schools in battleground areas and uses them as fixed firing positions, even after President Ashraf Ghani banned the use of schools as military bases last year.

That puts children at "grave risk of attack by insurgents who then see schools as military targets," HRW's Afghanistan researcher Ahmad Shuja said.

During their time ruling Afghanistan in the 1990s until their overthrow in the 2011 U.S.-led invasion, the Taliban banned girls from school and mandated that boys learn the Quran by rote. Once they fell from power, schools and universities welcomed women back as teachers and students. With funding from the international community the number of children in school grew from 900,000 in 2001 to 8.3 million in 2011, according to figures from the U.N. assistance mission to Afghanistan. UNAMA says girls account for 39 percent of the total  up from near zero under the Taliban.

But in districts where the Taliban have regained control or have enough power to intimidate residents, they have returned to barring girls from the classroom and dictating curriculum for the boys.

In Helmand, where the Taliban control smuggling routes for drugs and other contraband, heavy fighting in recent months has put a number of schools like Loy Manda on the front line of the war, said the head of the provincial education department, Abdul Matin Jafar. In Gereshk district, he said, the education department building was attacked by insurgents, "was completely destroyed and now we have no office there to operate from."

Mohammad Mosa took his children out of their school in Nad Ali soon after the fighting started, and sent them to the provincial capital Lashkar Gah, not just for their safety but to ensure a well-rounded education. The Taliban had told parents in the district that they could re-open the school on condition they hire one of the militants to ensure that only Islamic subjects were taught, he said.

"Our kids were terrified of going to school as both sides are firing rockets, destroying our neighborhood," Mosa said.

Even temporary school closures result in lower attendances, particularly by girls, once classes resume. In the northern city of Kunduz, which was besieged by the Taliban in October, at least three schools were commandeered by the armed forces for use as bases. False reports were carried by the local Tolo television station that Taliban had entered a Kunduz University women's dormitory and raped residents during their assault on the city in September. As a result, fewer women returned to their studies once the city was cleared of insurgents, the school's dean Abdul Qudus Zarifi said.

The HRW report said that girls "often bear the brunt of these disruptions because parents are wary of sending daughters to schools occupied by armed men."

FILE -- In this Jan. 13, 2016 file photo, An Afghan couple, take their daughter away from the site of clashes near the Pakistan consulate in Jalalabad, capital of Nangarhar province, Afghanistan. One of Afghanistans proudest achievements has been getting millions of children, especially girls, back into school since the toppling of the Taliban, but that gain is crumbling across the south and in other war-torn parts of the country. Hundreds of schools have been forced to shut down because of fighting or Taliban intimidation. (AP Photos/Mohammad Anwar Danishyar, File)

FILE -- In this Jan. 13, 2016 file photo, an Afghan member of the security forces stands guard as a man helps school children run from the site of clashes near Pakistan's consulate in Jalalabad, capital of Nangarhar province, Afghanistan. One of Afghanistans proudest achievements has been getting millions of children, especially girls, back into school since the toppling of the Taliban, but that gain is crumbling across the south and in other war-torn parts of the country. Hundreds of schools have been forced to shut down because of fighting or Taliban intimidation. (AP Photos/Mohammad Anwar Danishyar, File)

FILE -- In this Jan. 13, 2016 file photo, an Afghan man carries two schoolgirls away from a clash site, in Jalalabad, capital of Nangarhar province, Afghanistan. One of Afghanistans proudest achievements has been getting millions of children, especially girls, back into school since the toppling of the Taliban, but that gain is crumbling across the south and in other war-torn parts of the country. Hundreds of schools have been forced to shut down because of fighting or Taliban intimidation. (AP Photos/Mohammad Anwar Danishyar, File)

FILE -- In this Dec. 16, 2015 file photo, Afghan students attend an under tent class in Jalalabad, capital of Nangarhar province, Afghanistan. One of Afghanistans proudest achievements has been getting millions of children, especially girls, back into school since the toppling of the Taliban, but that gain is crumbling across the south and in other war-torn parts of the country. Hundreds of schools have been forced to shut down because of fighting or Taliban intimidation. (AP Photos/Mohammad Anwar Danishyar, File)
Myanmar lawmakers OK new executive post for Suu Kyi

NAYPYITAW, Myanmar (AP)  Myanmar's parliament on Tuesday approved the creation of a new post for Aung San Suu Kyi, head of the country's newly installed ruling party, that is similar to prime minister. Suu Kyi is banned by the constitution from becoming president because her children hold foreign citizenship.

The bill establishing the position of state counsellor was opposed by the military's representatives in parliament, but passed easily because of the strong majority that Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won in last November's election. The bill must be signed by President Htin Kyaw, Suu Kyi's close ally, before taking effect.

The military representatives, who under the constitution drafted under the former military regime hold 25 percent of parliament's seats, boycotted Tuesday's vote, standing in protest.

Myanmar's new Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the National League for Democracy party (NLD), smiles during a press conference after meeting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Tuesday, April 5, 2016. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)

Suu Kyi, who is already foreign minister, met Tuesday with visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. China is Myanmar's biggest neighbor and most important economic partner, and was the main ally of the former military government. It has come under criticism for allegedly exploitative and environmentally unsound projects in Myanmar.

The projects include a mega-dam and mines in the country's northern Kachin state, a gas pipeline in western Rakhine state, a large copper mine in central Myanmar and several special economic zones.

At a news conference after their meeting, neither minister indicated whether those sensitive issues had been discussed.

Wang congratulated Myanmar on installing its first civilian government in decades and declared that China would work only on projects that were beneficial to both countries.

The move to make Suu Kyi the country's de facto top leader, initiated last week, was the new government's first legislative act.

Suu Kyi, 70, originally took on four Cabinet posts  foreign affairs, education, energy and the president's office  but dropped the education and energy portfolios as the move to give her the influential new position was launched.

Leader of the National League for Democracy party (NLD) and Myanmar's new Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi, right, shakes hands with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, left in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Tuesday, April 5, 2016. Myanmar's parliament on Tuesday approved the creation of a new post for Suu Kyi, head of the country's newly installed ruling party, that is similar to a prime minister. Suu Kyi is banned by the constitution from becoming president because her children hold foreign citizenship. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)

Leader of the National League for Democracy party (NLD) and Myanmar's new Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi, right, and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi reach a podium for their joint press conference in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Tuesday, April 5, 2016. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)

Myanmar's new Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the National League for Democracy party (NLD), smiles during a press conference after meeting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Tuesday, April 5, 2016. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi gestures during a press conference after meeting Myanmar's new Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the National League for Democracy party (NLD), in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Tuesday, April 5, 2016. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)
The Latest: Slain trooper remembered as devoted family man

HAMPTON, Va. (AP)  The Latest on the funeral for a Virginia state trooper who was killed by a gunman at a Richmond bus station (all times local):

11:40 a.m.

A slain Virginia state trooper is being remembered as an exceptional officer and a devoted family man.

A Georgia state trooper stands watch as an honor guard over the casket of Virginia trooper Chad Dermyer before his funeral Tuesday, April 5, 2016, at Liberty Baptist Church in Hampton, Va. Authorities say Dermyer was fatally shot by James Brown III at the busy bus terminal, where police were holding a counterterrorism training exercise. (Rob Ostermaier/The Daily Press via AP, Pool)

Thousands of mourners gathered at the Liberty Baptist Church in Hampton Tuesday to celebrate the life of Trooper Chad P. Dermyer.

Cyndi Grace was Dermyer's partner at the Newport News Police Department. She called him an "exceptional man" with a "megawatt" smile that illuminated every room he was in.

State Police Superintendent Col. Steven Flaherty said Derymyer left a lasting impression on everyone who met him.

Authorities say Dermyer was fatally shot by James Brown III at the Greyhound bus terminal in Richmond on Thursday. He is survived by his wife and two children.

_____

10:30 a.m.

Hundreds of police officers are gathering to mourn the death of a Virginia state trooper who was killed by a gunman at a bus station.

Virginia State Police say about 20 state police agencies from across the country will be represented at the funeral for Trooper Chad P. Derymyer on Tuesday. More than 3,000 people are anticipated at the ceremony at the Liberty Baptist Church in Hampton.

Alabama State Trooper Jason Fox called Dermyer a "true American hero." He said he came to the ceremony to show Virginia State Police and Dermyer's family that they have support throughout the country.

Authorities say Dermyer was fatally shot by James Brown III at the Greyhound bus terminal in Richmond on Thursday.

A private burial in Gloucester County will follow the funeral.

____

4:15 a.m.

Mourners will gather to remember a Virginia state trooper who was killed by a gunman at a Richmond Greyhound bus station.

A funeral for Trooper Chad P. Dermyer will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Liberty Baptist Church in Hampton. A private burial will follow in Gloucester County.

Authorities say Dermyer was fatally shot by James Brown III at the busy bus terminal, where police were holding a counterterrorism training exercise. Brown, of Aurora, Illinois, was killed by two other state troopers after he opened fire.

Police haven't said what they believe motivated the shooting.

The slain trooper is survived by his wife and two children. He was a former Marine who previously served on police forces in Jackson, Michigan, and Newport News, Virginia.

Virginia State Police honor guards stand watch over the coffin of Virginia State Police police officer Chad P. Dermyer prior to the funeral service at the Liberty Baptist Church on Tuesday, April 5, 2016 in Hampton, Va. Dermyer was killed in the line of duty at the Richmond Greyhound bus station last week. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, Pool)

Virginia State Police honor guards stand watch over the coffin of Virginia State Police police officer Chad P. Dermyer prior to the funeral service at the Liberty Baptist Church, Tuesday, April 5, 2016, in Hampton, Va. Dermyer was killed at the Richmond Greyhound bus station last week. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, Pool)
Kremlin says Panama Papers have no relation to Putin

MOSCOW (AP)  Vladimir Putin's spokesman says the Russian president has no connection to offshore accounts allegedly operated by his close friend, a musician.

Dmitry Peskov argues that the leaked documents from a Panama-based firm have been wilfully interpreted by an international consortium of investigative journalists to make what he called an unfounded claim that cellist Sergei Roldugin's offshore assets were linked to Putin.

Speaking in an interview Tuesday with The Associated Press, Peskov emphasized that "there is not a word about President Putin in those papers," and dismissed the alleged link between Russian owners of offshore assets and Putin as a "product of imagination."

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a meeting of a committee on preparations for Victory Day in WWII, which Russia celebrates on May 9, in Moscow's Kremlin, Russia, on Tuesday, April 5, 2016. Russia celebrates Victory Day on May 9. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, pool)

Peskov said the media reports reflected what he described as "Putinophobia," Western media bias against Putin.

The Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists said the documents it obtained indicated that Roldugin acted as a front man for a network of Putin loyalists, and, perhaps, the president himself. The ICIJ said the documents show how complex offshore financial deals channeled as much as $2 billion to a network of people linked to the Russian president.

The 64-year-old Sergei Roldugin stands out in the leaked list of statesmen, magnates and international celebrities. While he never made a secret of his friendship with Putin, Roldugin has refrained from comment about his alleged offshore assets, only telling a Russian newspaper involved in the investigation that the matter is "delicate."

"If Mr. Roldugin indeed had or is continuing to have some business companies, some business affairs, it's his private business, and he's got the right to do that," Peskov said.

Peskov emphasized that the scandal around the so-called Panama Papers proves that Putin was right when he urged Russian businesses to pull out their assets from offshore accounts a few years ago.

"Maybe the fact that these documents can be stolen shows that this offshore practice isn't reliable anymore, so it's one of the evidence that President Putin was right in making this call," he said.

Peskov rejected the claim that his wife, Olympic champion ice dancer Tatiana Navka, had an offshore business. "She is doing some business, she is earning money, but she never had an offshore company," he said.

The Russian prosecutor-general's office said Tuesday it will look into the leaked documents to check for possible violations of Russian law, which bans officials and lawmakers from having foreign bank accounts.

The global uproar caused by the Panama Papers has been barely noticed in Russia. State television stations and other state-controlled media have largely ignored the revelations, briefly mentioning the Kremlin denials and focusing on the dealings allegedly involving the Ukrainian president.

Asked if the controversy could undermine the robust public support for Putin, Peskov said "definitely not.

"We can't speak about any uproar here in Russia," he said. "Frankly speaking, we have got accustomed to all those attacks."

President Vladimir Putins spokesman Dmitry Peskov speaks to The Associated Press in Moscow on Tuesday, April 5, 2016. Peskov says the Russian leader has no connection whatsoever to offshore accounts allegedly owned by his close friend, a Russian musician. Dmitry Peskov says the leaked documents from a Panama-based firm have been wilfully interpreted by an international consortium of investigative journalists to make what he called an unfounded claim that cellist Sergei Roldugins offshore assets were linked to the Russian president. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)

President Vladimir Putins spokesman Dmitry Peskov speaks to the Associated Press in Moscow on Tuesday, April 5, 2016. Peskov says the Russian leader has no connection whatsoever to offshore accounts allegedly owned by his close friend, a Russian musician. Dmitry Peskov says the leaked documents from a Panama-based firm have been wilfully interpreted by an international consortium of investigative journalists to make what he called an unfounded claim that cellist Sergei Roldugins offshore assets were linked to the Russian president. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, arrives to hold a meeting of a committee on preparations for upcoming Victory Day in WWII, in Moscow's Kremlin, Russia, on Tuesday, April 5, 2016. Russia celebrates Victory Day on May 9. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, pool)

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives to cheir a meeting of a committee on preparations for upcoming Victory Day in WWII, in Moscow's Kremlin, Russia, on Tuesday, April 5, 2016. Russia celebrates Victory Day on May 9. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, pool)
Worker dies at Disneyland Paris haunted house

PARIS (AP)  A worker has died at a haunted house attraction at Disneyland Paris, according to a park official.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because she wasn't authorized to be publicly named, said the Phantom Manor ride is closed and a police investigation is underway.

The park said in a statement to The Associated Press on Tuesday that "We at Disneyland Paris are truly saddened to learn of the passing .... Our hearts go out to family and friends at this difficult time."

Disneyland Paris wouldn't provide further details.

Le Parisien newspaper reported that the 45-year-old worker died while conducting maintenance early Saturday before the park was open in an apparent electrical accident.
The government hack of an iPhone used by a San Bernardino killer serves as a reminder that phones and other electronic devices aren't impenetrable vaults.

While most people aren't targets of the NSA, FBI or a foreign government, hackers are looking to steal the financial and personal information of ordinary people.

Your phone stores more than just selfies. Your email account on the phone, for instance, is a gateway to resetting banking and other sensitive passwords.

Like washing your hands and brushing your teeth, a little 'cyber hygiene' can go a long way toward preventing disaster.

Your phone stores more than just selfies. Your email account on the phone, for instance, is a gateway to resetting banking and other sensitive passwords. Like washing your hands and brushing your teeth, a little 'cyber hygiene' can go a long way toward preventing disaster

LOCK YOUR PHONE WITH A PASSCODE

Failing to do so is like leaving your front door unlocked.

A four-digit passcode - and an accompanying self-destruct feature that might wipe a phone's data after too many wrong guesses - stumped the FBI for weeks and forced them to bring in outside help.

Using six digits makes a passcode 100 times harder to guess.

And if you want to make it even harder, you can add letters and other characters to further increase the number of possible combinations.

These are options on both iPhones and Android.

The iPhone's self-destruct feature is something you must turn on in the settings, under Touch ID & Passcode.

Do so, and the phone wipes itself clean after 10 failed attempts. But the 10 attempts apply to your guesses, too, if you forget your passcode, or if your kids start randomly punching in numbers. Android has a similar feature.

The government hack of an iPhone used by a San Bernardino killer serves as a reminder that phones and other electronic devices aren't impenetrable vaults. The phone belonged to Syed Farook, pictured with his wife Tashfeen, who shot dead 14 people at a Christmas party in December in the Californian city

WhatsApp recently announced a major plan to keep conversations protected. The app is now equipped with 'end-to-end' encryption for every user. With 'end-to-end' encryption, messages are visible only to the person who has sent them and the individuals that were meant to receive. The message that now appears is shown

Both systems will also introduce waiting periods after several wrong guesses to make it tough to try all combos.

Biometrics, such as fingerprint scanners, can act as a shortcut and make complex passcodes less of a pain.

WHATSAPP ADDS ENCRYPTION WhatsApp recently announced a major plan to keep conversations protected. The global messaging service is now equipped with 'end-to-end' encryption for every user with the latest version of the app. With 'end-to-end' encryption, messages are visible only to the person who has sent them and the individuals that were meant to receive. The system works by using a lock to secure messages between individuals or in a group chat. This lock is paired with a distinct key, which only the sender and the recipients will have. This will will lock out cybercriminals, hackers, oppressive regimes, and even WhatsApp officials to keep your data private, the blog says. Advertisement

USE ENCRYPTION

Much to the FBI's displeasure, iPhones running at least iOS 8 offer full-disk encryption by default.

That means that the information stored on the phone can't be extracted - by authorities or by hackers - and read on another computer.

If the phone isn't unlocked first, any information obtained would be scrambled and unreadable.

With Android, however, you typically have to turn that on in the settings.

Google's policy requires many phones with the latest version of Android, including its own Nexus phones, to offer encryption by default.

But, according to Google, only 2.3 per cent of active Android devices currently are running that version.

SET UP DEVICE FINDERS

Find My iPhone isn't just for finding your phone in the couch cushions.

If your device disappears, you can put it in Lost Mode. That locks your screen with a passcode, if it isn't already, and lets you display a custom message with a phone number to help you get it back.

The app comes with iPhones, but you need to set it up before you lose your phone. Look for the Find iPhone app in the Extras folder.

Meanwhile, Activation Lock makes it harder for thieves to sell your device.

Software updates often contain fixes to known flaws that might give hackers a way into your device. On iPhones, Apple prompts you to get the update. Alternatively, you can go to Settings, General and Software Update to check which version you are running (steps pictured left and right)

The phone becomes unusable - it can't be reactivated - without knowing its Apple ID. The feature kicks in automatically on phones running at least iOS 7.

If all else fails, you can remotely wipe the phone's data.

While your information will be lost, at least it won't end up in the hands of a nefarious person.

There isn't anything comparable built into Android phones, but Google's Android Device Manager app, along with a handful of others made by third parties, can be downloaded for free from the Google Play app store.

BACK UP YOUR PHONE

If you do have to remotely wipe the phone's data, it's comforting to know that you won't lose all your photos and other important data.

It's helpful, too, if your toddler dunks your phone in a glass of water.

As mentioned before, apps such as Find My iPhone and Android Device Manager will allow you to do this, provided you set them up ahead of time.

KEEP YOUR SOFTWARE UP TO DATE

Software updates often contain fixes to known flaws that might give hackers a way into your device.

On iPhones, Apple prompts you to get the update. Alternatively, you can go to Settings, General and Software Update to check which version you are running.

It's more complicated with Android because updates need to go through various phone manufacturers and wireless carriers first. But do install updates when asked.
US puts Paris attacks suspect on terrorist sanctions list

PARIS (AP)  The U.S. government has put Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam on its formal terrorist list, imposing sanctions and barring Americans from transactions with him.

The announcement Tuesday comes as Abdeslam is awaiting extradition from Belgium to France, expected within days.

Abdeslam fled to Belgium after the Nov. 13 attacks on Paris and was arrested last month after four months on the run. He is under preliminary terrorism charges in France for the attacks, which killed 130 people, including an American student.

The State Department identifies him as an Islamic State operative.
US Marine Corps dog named Lucca who saved lives wins prize

LONDON (AP)  A U.S. Marine Corps dog that sniffed out explosives and protected thousands of troops has been honored with a prize for animals serving bravely in military conflict.

Lucca, a 12-year-old German Shepherd, won the Dickin Medal, the animal equivalent of the Victoria Cross, a decoration for bravery. She is the first U.S. Marine Corps dog to receive the honor.

Lucca is credited with saving thousands of allied troops and never had a human casualty on one of her patrols. On her final patrol in Afghanistan, she discovered a 30-pound (13.6-kilogram) improvised explosive device and was searching for more when a second device detonated. Lucca lost her left leg, but survived.

Gunnery sergeant Christopher Willingham, of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA, poses with US Marine dog Lucca, after receiving the PDSA Dickin Medal, awarded for animal bravery, equivalent of the Victoria Cross, at Wellington Barracks in London, Tuesday, April 5, 2016. The 12-year-old German Shepherd lost her leg on 23 March 2012, in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, when Lucca discovered a 30lb improvised explosive device (IED) and as she searched for additional IEDs, a second device detonated, instantly loosing her front left leg. Lucca completed over 400 separate missions in Iraq and Afghanistan during six years of active service protected the lives of thousands of troops, with her heroic actions recognised by the UK's leading veterinary charity, PDSA, with the highest award any animal in the world can achieve while serving in military conflict. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

Her owner, Gunnery Sergeant Christopher Willingham of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, was by her side Tuesday in London as she received the medal.

Gunnery sergeant Christopher Willingham, of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA, poses with US Marine dog Lucca, after receiving the PDSA Dickin Medal, awarded for animal bravery, equivalent of the Victoria Cross, at Wellington Barracks in London, Tuesday, April 5, 2016. The 12-year-old German Shepherd lost her leg on 23 March 2012, in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, when Lucca discovered a 30lb improvised explosive device (IED) and as she searched for additional IEDs, a second device detonated, instantly loosing her front left leg. Lucca completed over 400 separate missions in Iraq and Afghanistan during six years of active service protected the lives of thousands of troops, with her heroic actions recognised by the UK's leading veterinary charity, PDSA, with the highest award any animal in the world can achieve while serving in military conflict. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

Heroic US Marine dog Lucca after receiving the PDSA Dickin Medal, awarded for animal bravery, equivalent of the Victoria Cross, at Wellington Barracks in London, Tuesday, April 5, 2016. The 12-year-old German Shepherd lost her leg on 23 March 2012, in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, when Lucca discovered a 30lb improvised explosive device (IED) and as she searched for additional IEDs, a second device detonated, instantly loosing her front left leg. Lucca completed over 400 separate missions in Iraq and Afghanistan during six years of active service protected the lives of thousands of troops, with her heroic actions recognised by the UK's leading veterinary charity, PDSA, with the highest award any animal in the world can achieve while serving in military conflict. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

Heroic US Marine dog Lucca after receiving the PDSA Dickin Medal, awarded for animal bravery, equivalent of the Victoria Cross, at Wellington Barracks in London, Tuesday, April 5, 2016. The 12-year-old German Shepherd lost her leg on 23 March 2012, in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, when Lucca discovered a 30lb improvised explosive device (IED) and as she searched for additional IEDs, a second device detonated, instantly loosing her front left leg. Lucca completed over 400 separate missions in Iraq and Afghanistan during six years of active service protected the lives of thousands of troops, with her heroic actions recognised by the UK's leading veterinary charity, PDSA, with the highest award any animal in the world can achieve while serving in military conflict. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

Heroic US Marine dog Lucca rests for photographers after receiving the PDSA Dickin Medal, awarded for animal bravery, equivalent of the Victoria Cross, at Wellington Barracks in London, Tuesday, April 5, 2016. The 12-year-old German Shepherd lost her leg on 23 March 2012, in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, when Lucca discovered a 30lb improvised explosive device (IED) and as she searched for additional IEDs, a second device detonated, instantly loosing her front left leg. Lucca completed over 400 separate missions in Iraq and Afghanistan during six years of active service protected the lives of thousands of troops, with her heroic actions recognised by the UK's leading veterinary charity, PDSA, with the highest award any animal in the world can achieve while serving in military conflict. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)
The Latest: Court hears appeal from convicted serial killer

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP)  The Latest on the appeal to the Ohio Supreme Court of a man's conviction and death sentence (all times local):

11:40 a.m.

The Ohio Supreme Court has heard the appeal of a Cleveland man who was convicted of killing 11 women and sentenced to death.

FILE - In this Tuesday, May 10, 2011 file photo, Anthony Sowell appears in court in Cleveland. The Ohio Supreme Court is hearing the appeal of Sowell, a Cleveland man who killed 11 women and hid the remains in and around his home. Attorneys for Sowell say he deserves a new trial because a judge wrongly closed a portion of jury selection and a hearing where attorneys argued about his police interrogation. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta, File)

Attorneys for Anthony Sowell (SOH'-wehl) say he deserves a new trial because a judge wrongly closed a portion of jury selection and a hearing where attorneys argued about his police interrogation.

They also say Sowell deserves a new trial or new sentencing hearing because his original lawyers wrongly wasted time by arguing there was reasonable doubt about Sowell's guilt in the face of overwhelming evidence against him.

The court heard from both sides Tuesday, with a decision expected in several months.

Prosecutors say Sowell received a fair trial and his conviction and death sentence should stand.

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8 a.m.

The Ohio Supreme Court is hearing the appeal of a Cleveland man who was convicted of killing 11 women and sentenced to death.

Attorneys for Anthony Sowell (SOH'-wehl) say he deserves a new trial because a judge wrongly closed a portion of jury selection and a hearing where attorneys argued about his police interrogation.

They also say he deserves a new trial or new sentencing hearing because Sowell's original lawyers wrongly wasted time by arguing there was reasonable doubt about Sowell's guilt in the face of overwhelming evidence against him.

The court plans to hear from both sides Tuesday with a decision expected in several months.
How a spy probe wound up as a child pornography prosecution.

WASHINGTON (AP)  A Boeing company manager convicted of child pornography charges in December says he has a right to know what arguments the government used to obtain the warrant from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

FBI agents investigating a potential data leak at Boeing obtained a secret search warrant two years ago to search the home computers of Keith Gartenlaub, for evidence they hoped would connect him to Chinese economic espionage.

Now, the Los Angeles case is testing a defendant's ability to access information about himself presented to the country's secretive foreign intelligence court, which issued the warrant that let agents scour his hard drives.

In this photo taken March 24, 2016, Keith Gartenlaub is seen at his home in Lake Elsinore, Calif. FBI agents investigating a potential data leak at Boeing obtained a secret warrant to search the home computers of Gartenlaub, a company manager in California, for evidence they hoped would connect him to Chinese economic espionage. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)

At issue is how the government used evidence derived through the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court and under what circumstances that information should be made available to defendants, particularly when it winds up repurposed for a routine criminal prosecution that has nothing to do with national security.

Gartenlaub says he has a right to know the government's arguments that were used to obtain the warrant, and fight them. "You can't base a search on lies," the 48-year-old said in an interview with The Associated Press.

He's seeking a new trial as he awaits his April 18 sentencing. He says there's no evidence he was aware of the child pornography or had ever accessed the images. If that's denied, he's likely to appeal on grounds that the warrant to inspect his computers was based on mistaken assumptions and allegations of a crime, espionage, for which he's never been charged.

The Justice Department noted that the judge, Christina Snyder, already ruled that the warrant was lawfully issued and that the evidence was gathered properly.

"When law enforcement lawfully obtains evidence of a serious crime, in this case a crime against children, we will pursue further investigation of that crime," the department said in a statement.

The FBI interviewed Gartenlaub in 2013 after a Wired.com article revealed a resemblance between a new Chinese aircraft, the Xian Y-20, and the Boeing C-17, a military cargo plane, and suggested someone within Boeing may be responsible.

An FBI affidavit that sought permission to search his Yahoo email account outlines the basis for suspicion, describing Gartenlaub as the "one engineer" who had access to C-17 data, intimate knowledge of Boeing's computer systems and family ties to China. He is married to a Chinese national whose family he described as "well connected," traveled regularly to the country and expressed frustration that Boeing sought to limit his excursions there over security concerns, the affidavit says. The FBI also focused on dozens of deposits to the couple's bank account that it deemed suspicious.

The FBI accessed his computer servers in 2014 after obtaining a warrant. Though Gartenlaub acknowledges the information presented to the court likely mirrors the FBI affidavit, he says there's no way to know for sure without seeing the warrant application.

In this photo taken March 24, 2016, Keith Gartenlaub is seen at his home in Lake Elsinore, Calif. FBI agents investigating a potential data leak at Boeing obtained a secret warrant to search the home computers of Gartenlaub, a company manager in California, for evidence they hoped would connect him to Chinese economic espionage. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)
Despite global outcry, tackling tax havens is a tough task

LONDON (AP)  There's one part of the British Empire on which the sun still does not set: its tax havens.

Britain's former world dominance has left it with a string of tiny territories scattered around the globe, and many of them have become hubs for hiding money. Despite growing political pressure, shutting down these and other tax havens may be easier said than done.

The leak of 11.5 million documents from a Panamanian law firm that specializes in discreet financial services for the wealthy has brought renewed calls for a global clampdown on shadowy financial activity. Many feel Britain bears an especially large duty to act. More than half the 200,000 companies set up for clients by Panamanian firm Mossack Fonseca in the leaked files are registered in the British Virgin Islands, a British overseas territory in the Caribbean.

FILE - This is a March 18, 2010 file photo of Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron, left, as he greets his father Ian Cameron, in Swindon England. British Prime Minister David Cameron was under pressure Tuesday April 4, 2016 to crack down on offshore tax havens, after a leak of millions of documents disclosed details of the asset-hiding arrangements of wealthy people including his late father. The Guardian newspaper revealed in 2012 that Ian Cameron, who died in 2010, used a Panamanian fund and other offshore investments to help shield investments from U.K. tax. (Johnny Green/PA, File via AP) UNITED KINGDOM OUT

"Britain has a huge responsibility," Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the main opposition Labour Party, said Tuesday. "The government needs to stop pussyfooting around on tax dodging."

As Britain's colonies gained independence after World War II, London encouraged several small Caribbean islands to become tax havens as a means to self-sufficiency. As a result, many of the world's tax havens have British links, including overseas territories such as the British Virgin Islands, Bermuda and the Cayman Islands.

The Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey off the French coast, which are possessions of the British Crown, have been havens for the wealthy and their money for almost a century.

The calls for change echoing around the world in the wake of the Panama revelations are not entirely new. When the global financial crisis erupted in 2008, cash-strapped governments looked for ways to claw back some of the billions hidden from tax authorities in overseas havens.

Since then, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Group of 20 nations have persuaded more than 90 countries to share financial data in a bid to crack down on secret dealings.

Fiona Fernie, head of tax investigations at the law firm Pinsent Masons, said the resolve among governments was having a real effect.

"The big difference  the sea change  was that world leaders have decided to come together on this matter, to shut down the loopholes," she said.

"People can run, but eventually they will not be able to hide."

Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron has been among the loudest champions of greater transparency and is due to host an international anti-corruption summit in London next month. Legislation forcing British companies to disclose who really benefits from their ownership comes into force in June, and the government says it is "determined" to get the Cayman Islands and British Virgin Islands to adopt stronger transparency rules.

But the Panama papers contain embarrassing details of how the prime minister's late father, Ian Cameron, used an offshore shelter to keep his fortune safe from British tax.

Corbyn and other opposition figures say British authorities must go further and take offshore tax havens back under direct U.K. control  an extreme but not impossible move. Britain imposed direct rule on the Turks and Caicos islands in the Caribbean for three years from 2009 amid a corruption scandal.

Conservative lawmaker Dominic Grieve, a former attorney general, said eliminating the islands' tax-haven status could devastate local economies and would not stop abuse of the tax system.

"What will in fact happen is that people will go to other havens which may in fact have far less good regulation, so what we would in fact be encouraging is the very money laundering and criminality that we want to suppress," he told the BBC.

Crawford Spence, associate dean of Warwick Business School, said the Panama revelations would put pressure on world leaders to do more, but he did not expect big change.

Tax authorities in Britain have promised to investigate the leak, but Spence said "chronically understaffed" government bodies were no match for the tax evaders.

"Those who run tax havens and advise their clients to go through tax havens are so far ahead of the regulators, it's unbelievable," he said. "All the brightest people are working on that side, because that's where all the cash is."

Richard Murphy, an accountant and tax-reform activist, is more optimistic. He said the Panama papers show "a very significant decline in the number of new incorporations of offshore companies since 2008."

He believes negative publicity, rather than legal reforms, is making the wealthy mend their ways.

"I think the campaign against tax havens is working  but not at a legal level," he said. "People have realized there is a massive reputational risk to being caught in these places."

Justin Urquhart Stewart of Seven Investment Management said controversy over the huge leak could have the same effect on nations like Panama that have benefited from attracting offshore money.

"Panama will be embarrassed into taking action to try to make sure this does not happen again," he said. "But be wary  once you've shut down one tax haven, lo and behold, you'll find there'll be another one along soon."

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Associated Press writers Danica Kirka and Martin Benedyk contributed to this report.

___

Follow Jill Lawless on Twitter at http://Twitter.com/JIllLawless

Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron holds a Q&A with employees at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Birmingham, central England Tuesday April 5, 2016 ahead of the EU referendum, British Prime Minister David Cameron was under pressure Tuesday April 5, 2016 to crack down on offshore tax havens, after a leak of millions of documents disclosed details of the asset-hiding arrangements of wealthy people including his late father. (Christopher Furlong/PA via AP) UNITED KINGDOM OUT
Vasquez, now 38, is set to be executed by lethal injection Wednesday

Police believe the killing may have been linked to a Satanic cult

He claimed he was hearing voiced in his head telling him to kill the boy

Vasquez then lifted up the still conscious victim and drank is blood

He lured his victim to a shed, hit his head with a pipe and slit his throat

A Texas man who brutally murdered a 12-year-old boy and drank his blood is due to be executed tomorrow.

Pablo Lucio Vasquez told police he had heard voices in his head telling him to kill David Cardenas on April 19, 1998 in Donna, South Texas.

The convicted killer, then 21, lured his victim to a shed where he bashed his head with a metal pipe. He then slit the boy's throat and lifted the still-conscious seventh grader so the blood would drip onto his Vasquez's face.

'Something just told me to drink,' Vasquez said in a videotaped statement to police in Donna, a small town in Texas' Rio Grande Valley.

Pablo Lucio Vasquez told police he had heard voices in his head telling him to kill David Cardenas on April 19, 1998 in Donna, South Texas

'You drink what?' a detective asked. 'His blood,' Vasquez replied.

Police believe the horrific killing may be linked with a satanic cult.

Vasquez, now 38, is set for lethal injection Wednesday. His execution would be the 11th this year nationally, and the sixth in Texas.

His lawyer, James Keegan, had asked the U.S. Supreme Court to spare his client the death penalty arguing that several potential jurors at his trial were excluded improperly because they opposed the death penalty.

Keegan argued that it was unfair to reject jury members 'simply because they voiced general objections to the death penalty or expressed conscientious or religious scruples against its infliction.'

The court have not yet ruled on the appeal.

Eighteen years ago this month, Cardenas, who lived with his sister about five miles from Donna, was spending the weekend with Vasquez's cousin, 15-year-old Andres Rafael Chapa.

Both went to a party on April 18, and were seen rolling marijuana cigarettes.

Vasquez, who also attended, said the last thing he remembered was getting drunk and high before leaving the party with Chapa and Cardenas.

Police received an anonymous tip about the slaying that led them to Chapa and eventually to Vasquez, who was arrested in Conroe, a Houston suburb more than 325 miles north of Donna.

Authorities discovered the horribly mutilated body under some scraps of aluminium five days later.

Cardenas had been scalped, both his arms were missing and his foot had been cut off. He was also missing several teeth while the killers had made an attempt to remove his head.

A blood trail showed the body had been dragged to the site, including crossing a four-lane main street in Donna.

Vasquez, now 38, is set for lethal injection Wednesday. His execution would be the 11th this year nationally, and the sixth in Texas (file picture)

'They decided they were going to try to take his head off with a shovel and didn't realize that it was a lot more difficult to cut someone's head off,' Joseph Orendain, the lead trial prosecutor, recalled last week. 'It was a mutilated body left behind. ... It was really horrendous.'

Vasquez, who said he took a gold ring and necklace from Cardenas, told police that Chapa helped in trying to decapitate the boy.

'The devil was telling me to take (the head) away from him,' Vasquez said, adding that 'it couldn't come off.'

Chapa pleaded guilty to a murder charge for his involvement and is serving a 35-year prison term. Three other relatives of Chapa and Vasquez received probation and a small fine for helping cover up the slaying. One of them was deported to Guatemala.

'(Vasquez) deserves to die for killing my 12-year-old son,' said Oralia Palacios, the mother of Cardenas said after the trial in 1998. 'He acted like a coward. Why couldn't he find someone his own size?'

His statement to police fueled speculation about satanism, but Orendain said he had no idea if that connection could be made.
Cruz, Sanders get boost by winning Wisconsin

MILWAUKEE (AP)  Republican Ted Cruz captured a crucial victory Tuesday in the Wisconsin primary, a significant step in his efforts to block front-runner Donald Trump's path to the presidential nomination and push the Republican contest toward a rare convention fight. In the Democratic race, Bernie Sanders defeated front-runner Hillary Clinton, giving him a burst of momentum but barely denting his rival's delegate lead.

Trump's defeat came amid one of his worst periods of his campaign, a brutal stretch that highlighted his weaknesses with women and raised questions about his policy depth. While the billionaire businessman still leads the Republican field, Cruz and other anti-Trump forces hope Wisconsin marks a turning point in the chaotic Republican nominating contest.

Exit polls in the state underscored the concerns about Trump that are surging through some corners of the Republican Party. Nearly 4 in 10 Republican voters in Wisconsin said they were scared about what Trump would do as president.

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., sings during a campaign event, Monday, April 4, 2016, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

For Sanders, Wisconsin was favorable territory, with an overwhelming white electorate and liberal pockets of voters.

Even with his Wisconsin victory, Sanders is unlikely to gain much ground. Because Democrats award delegates proportionally, a narrow victory by either candidate on Tuesday would mean that both Sanders and Clinton would get a similar number of delegates. The primary contests are choosing delegates to the parties' national conventions that will chose the presidential nominees.

Heading into Tuesday's voting, Clinton had 1,243 delegates to Sanders' 980 based on primaries and caucuses. When including superdelegates, the party officials who can back any candidate, Clinton holds a much wider lead  1,712 to Sanders' 1,011. It takes 2,383 delegates to win the Democratic nomination.

Clinton's campaign has cast her lead as nearly insurmountable. Yet Sanders' continued presence in the race has become an irritant for the former secretary of state, keeping her from turning her attention to the general election.

According to exit polls, Sanders has excited voters in Wisconsin, with more than half of Democratic primary-goers saying the senator inspires them more about the future of the country. But three-quarters of Democratic voters say Clinton has realistic policies.

The exit polls were conducted by Edison Research for The Associated Press and television networks.

Trump has battled a series of campaign controversies in the lead-up to Wisconsin, including his campaign manager's legal problems following an altercation with a female reporter and his own awkward stumbles in clarifying his views on abortion. Wisconsin's Republican establishment, including Gov. Scott Walker, has also campaigned aggressively against the businessman.

Still, Trump made a spirited final push in the state and predicted a "really, really big victory."

Complicating the primary landscape for both Cruz and Trump is the continuing candidacy of John Kasich. The Ohio governor's only victory has come in his home state, but he's still picking up delegates that would otherwise help Trump inch closer to the nomination or help Cruz catch up.

If Cruz wins all of Wisconsin's 42 delegates, Trump would need to win 57 percent of those remaining to clinch the Republican nomination before the July convention. So far, Trump has won 48 percent of the delegates awarded.

Heading into Wisconsin, Trump had 737 delegates to Cruz's 475, with Kasich trailing with 143.

To win a prolonged convention fight, a candidate would need support from the individuals selected as delegates. The process of selecting those delegates is tedious, and will test the mettle of Trump's slim campaign operation.

Cruz prevailed in an early organizational test in North Dakota, scooping up endorsements from delegates who were selected at the party's state convention over the weekend. While all 28 of the state's delegates go to the national convention as free agents, 10 said in interviews that they were committed to Cruz. None has so far endorsed Trump.

Despite the concern among some Wisconsin Republicans about Trump becoming president, nearly 6 in 10 Republican voters there said the party should nominate the candidate with the most support in the primaries, which so far would be Trump. Even among voters who favored Cruz, 4 in 10 said the candidate with the most support going into the convention should be the party's nominee.

Among Democrats, Sanders, a self-declared democratic socialist, has taken his dark-horse candidacy from a mere annoyance to Clinton to a serious challenge for the former secretary of state, who had largely been expected to take the Democrat nomination in a walk when the contest began last year.

Sanders would need to win 67 percent of the remaining delegates and uncommitted superdelegates to catch up to Clinton. So far, he's winning 37 percent.

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Associated Press writers Steven R. Hurst, Julie Pace and Scott Bauer contributed to this report.

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., right, talks with Barbara Lawton, former Lt. Gov. of Wisconsin, as he visits Blue's diner during a campaign stop, Tuesday, April 5, 2016, in Milwaukee. (Mike De Sisti/Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT

Republican presidential candidate, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, points as he speaks at a campaign stop at Waukesha County Exposition Center, Monday, April 4, 2016, in Waukesha, Wis. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks during a rally at Cohoes High School on Monday, April 4, 2016, in Cohoes, N.Y. (AP Photo/Mike Groll)

Melania Trump, wife of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump addresses the crowd during a rally at the Milwaukee Theatre Monday, April 4, 2016, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
GOP senator meets with Garland, says hearings should be held

WASHINGTON (AP)  A Republican senator said Tuesday she is "more convinced than ever" that there should be hearings on President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee after meeting with Judge Merrick Garland.

But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., made clear he is not budging, telling reporters, "I think it's safe to say there will not be hearings or votes."

Maine Sen. Susan Collins sat down with Garland on Capitol Hill for more than an hour. She is one of two GOP senators who called for hearings on Garland's nomination.

Judge Merrick Garland, President Barack Obamas choice to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court, meets with Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, April 5, 2016. Republican senators, at the insistence of Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., remain steadfast in refusing to hold hearings or a confirmation vote on the nomination during the waning months of Obamas presidency. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

"He has a humility about him," Collins said immediately after the meeting. "He has clearly thought very deeply about the issues confronting the courts, there was not any question he could not handle and he has a long record of accomplishment."

Collins acknowledged that she is unlikely to change anyone's mind on the issue. McConnell and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley of Iowa have held firm that they will block Garland and let the next president decide, a move that conservative activists have cheered. Those two GOP leaders have the backing of 50 other GOP senators this election year.

Not long after Collins made her comments, McConnell said that Democrats' attempts to pressure Republicans on the issue during the Senate's just-completed spring recess had failed.

"The situation when we broke for the recess two weeks ago was that there were 52 Republican senators who didn't think we needed either a hearing or a vote in committee. And today two weeks later we have 52 Republicans who think we don't need either a hearing or a vote in committee," McConnell said.

Conservative activists immediately targeted Collins. One group, FreedomWorks, said Collins was caving to the White House and wasn't to be trusted. The group said its grassroots supporters sent 1.44 million messages to Senate Republicans Tuesday, including almost 50,000 to Collins.

Democratic senators took turns Tuesday railing against the GOP stance, accusing Republicans of failing to complete their constitutional duties because of pressure from conservative groups and the billionaire donor Koch brothers. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid suggested Democrats might attempt procedural maneuvers to try to force a vote on the nominee, a strategy that would be unlikely to succeed.

"Certainly we've got that in our arrow quiver to do that and other things if we choose," Reid said.

Another member of the Senate Democratic leadership, Patty Murray of Washington, acknowledged the success of the conservative activists: "Sadly so far it seems to be working. Republicans who started to listen to their constituents are backing away and other Republicans are seeing what happens to anyone who even talks about doing their job."

Another Republican who met with Garland Tuesday, Arkansas Sen. John Boozman, said he used the meeting to reiterate McConnell's position.

"I really wanted to convey in person my position that the next president should be the person that fills the vacancy," Boozman said in an interview with The Associated Press after the meeting. "That's what we talked about and the fact that my position is firm, I'm not supporting going forward with hearings or a vote or anything of that nature."

Garland later met with West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, a moderate Democrat. Talking to reporters while Garland sat next to him in his office, Manchin said he didn't understand why Republicans wouldn't at least want to meet with the nominee.

"I appreciate that," Garland said, making a rare comment.

Garland has several more meetings this week, all with Democrats. But the White House said he'd meet with more Republicans next week, including Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio, Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona.

In all, close to 20 GOP senators have said they are willing to meet Garland, though most, like Boozman, oppose letting the confirmation process progress. Collins and Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois are the only two who have called for hearings. Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran had also said he thought there should be hearings, but reversed that position after conservative backlash.

Grassley's office said Monday that he invited the judge to breakfast, but also reiterated that the senator would not change his mind on the issue. Collins noted that the Iowa senator had at least extended that courtesy.

"Let's see if after that meeting Sen. Grassley still holds to the position that there should not be hearings," she said.

Collins said Garland is well-informed and thoughtful and that her colleagues would be impressed with him. She has spoken out at caucus meetings to try to convince others to have meetings and support hearings.

"It would be ironic if the next president happens to be a Democrat, and chooses someone who is far to Judge Garland's left," she said.

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Associated Press writers Erica Werner in Washington and Andrew DeMillo in Little Rock, Arkansas contributed to this report.

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Follow Mary Clare Jalonick on Twitter at http://twitter.com/mcjalonick
Clashes at Bahraini teenager's funeral after protests erupt

MANAMA, Bahrain (AP)  Security forces in Bahrain have fired tear gas and clashed with protesters who were taking part in the funeral of a 17-year-old who died while fleeing police a few days earlier.

The death of Ali Abdulghani has touched a nerve among Bahrain's majority Shiites, who since 2011 have been protesting for greater rights from the Sunni-ruled monarchy. The funeral took place Tuesday in the area of Shahrakan, located southwest of the capital Manama.

The Interior Ministry says Abdulghani sustained a head injury when he fell from a building while trying to flee police on Thursday. Abdulgahni had been wanted by police to serve a five-year prison sentence for taking part in unauthorized protests.

A Bahraini woman photographs riot police approaching as anti-government protesters clash with riot police firing tear gas after the funeral of an 18-year-old wanted youth in the western village of Shahrakan, Bahrain, Tuesday, April 5, 2016. Thousands of Bahrainis marched in the politically charged funeral procession for Ali Abdulghani, who died of severe injuries sustained while fleeing arrest. (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali)

The main al-Wefaq opposition group is demanding an investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death.

Riot policemen watch clashes between police and Bahraini anti-government protesters after the funeral of an 18-year-old youth in the western village of Shahrakan, Bahrain, Tuesday, April 5, 2016. Thousands of Bahrainis marched in the politically charged funeral procession for Ali Abdulghani, who died of severe injuries sustained while fleeing arrest. (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali)

A Bahraini woman cries during the funeral of an 18-year-old youth in the western village of Shahrakan, Bahrain, Tuesday, April 5, 2016. Thousands of Bahrainis marched in the politically charged funeral procession for Ali Abdulghani, who died of severe injuries sustained while fleeing arrest, and clashes between police and protesters erupted afterward. (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali)

Bahraini anti-government protesters clash with riot police firing tear gas after the funeral of an 18-year-old wanted youth in the western village of Shahrakan, Bahrain, Tuesday, April 5, 2016. Thousands of Bahrainis marched in the politically charged funeral procession for Ali Abdulghani, who died of severe injuries sustained while fleeing arrest. (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali)

Bahraini anti-government protesters clash with riot police firing tear gas after the funeral of an 18-year-old youth in the western village of Shahrakan, Bahrain, Tuesday, April 5, 2016. Thousands of Bahrainis marched in the politically charged funeral procession for Ali Abdulghani, who died of severe injuries sustained while fleeing arrest. (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali)

A Bahraini man cries during the funeral of an 18-year-old youth in the western village of Shahrakan, Bahrain, Tuesday, April 5, 2016. Thousands of Bahrainis marched in the politically charged funeral procession for Ali Abdulghani, who died of severe injuries sustained while fleeing arrest, and clashes between police and protesters erupted afterward. (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali)

Mourners hold up national flags and posters of Ali Abdulghani, an 18-year-old wanted youth in the western village of Shahrakan, Bahrain, Tuesday, April 5, 2016. Thousands of Bahrainis marched in the politically charged funeral procession for Ali Abdulghani, who died of severe injuries sustained while fleeing arrest, and clashes between police and protesters erupted afterward. The posters read, "The everlasting blood," and give his name. (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali)

Mourners hold up national flags and posters of Ali Abdulghani, an 18-year-old wanted youth in the western village of Shahrakan, Bahrain, Tuesday, April 5, 2016. Thousands of Bahrainis marched in the politically charged funeral procession for Ali Abdulghani, who died of severe injuries sustained while fleeing arrest, and clashes between police and protesters erupted afterward. The posters read, "The everlasting blood," and give his name. (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali)
The Latest: Some lawmakers express doubt on impeachment

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP)  The Latest on the effort to impeach Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley (all times local):

2:15 p.m.

Some Alabama lawmakers, including the leader of the Senate, are expressing doubts about an effort to impeach Gov. Robert Bentley.

Gov. Robert Bentley speaks during Alabama Community College Day on the Alabama Capitol lawn on Tuesday, April 5, 2016, in Montgomery, Ala. Republican Rep. Ed Henry says he is filing an impeachment resolution against Gov. Bentley in the wake of a scandal involving one of the governors top aides, who has since resigned. The resolution will likely be sent to the House Rules Committee for consideration. (Albert Cesare/Montgomery Advertiser via AP)

Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh said Tuesday that he did not favor impeaching someone over "personal issues." He says there needs to be evidence of misuse of office or state funds.

A House Republican introduced an impeachment resolution in the wake of Bentley's admission of inappropriate conversations with a former top aide.

Rep. Mac McCutcheon, chairman of the House Rules Committee that will decide whether to bring the impeachment effort to a House floor vote, says he doubts the issue will be voted on this legislative session.

He said the committee will first explore whether there are grounds for impeachment.

Bentley on Tuesday lashed back at the impeachment effort and called it "political grandstanding."

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1:20 p.m.

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley says an effort to impeach him is "political grandstanding intended to grab headlines."

Bentley, in a statement issued Tuesday, said he will vigorously defend himself against what he described as a political attack. Bentley said there are no grounds for the articles of impeachment being introduced in the House.

Republican Rep. Ed Henry is introducing the impeachment resolution, saying lawmakers and voters have lost confidence in Bentley.

The resolution was spurred by allegations made by Bentley's former law enforcement secretary that Bentley had an affair with a former top staffer and interfered with law enforcement business.

Bentley has admitted that he made inappropriate remarks to the former aide, Rebekah Caldwell Mason. However, Bentley denied suggestions that the two had an affair. He has also denied the other accusations.

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12:30 p.m.

An Alabama lawmaker says he is filing an impeachment resolution against Gov. Robert Bentley in the wake of a scandal involving one of the governor's top aides, who has since resigned.

Republican Rep. Ed Henry plans to introduce the resolution Tuesday. The resolution was spurred by Bentley's admission that he made inappropriate remarks to the former aide, Rebekah Caldwell Mason. However, Bentley denied suggestions that the two had an affair.

The resolution will likely be sent to the House Rules Committee for consideration, and it's not clear if it will have enough support to move forward.

Henry says Bentley betrayed the trust of the people of Alabama.

The Alabama Constitution lays out a loose procedure for impeachment for offenses including moral turpitude, willful neglect of duty and corruption, among other things.

Gov. Robert Bentley speaks during Alabama Community College Day on the Alabama Capitol lawn on Tuesday, April 5, 2016, in Montgomery, Ala. Republican Rep. Ed Henry says he is filing an impeachment resolution against Gov. Bentley in the wake of a scandal involving one of the governors top aides, who has since resigned. The resolution will likely be sent to the House Rules Committee for consideration. (Albert Cesare/Montgomery Advertiser via AP)
Kerry to visit atomic memorial in Hiroshima next week

WASHINGTON (AP)  Secretary of State John Kerry will visit a memorial to victims of the U.S. bombing of Hiroshima when he travels to Japan next week. He'll be the most senior U.S. official ever to do so.

State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Tuesday that Kerry will be in Hiroshima for a meeting of foreign ministers from the Group of Seven leading world economies.

Toner said the visit to a peace park with other foreign ministers would honor the memory of those who died during World War II and underscore President Barack Obama's vision of a nuclear-weapon-free world.

The attack on Aug. 6, 1945, killed an estimated 140,000 people.
UN: 6 of 11 alleged abuse victims were minors

UNITED NATIONS (AP)  Six of 11 females in Congo allegedly impregnated by Tanzanian peacekeepers accused of sexual abuse are minors and seven of them have already given birth, the U.N. said Tuesday.

Eleven Tanzanian troops stationed in Congo have been accused of sexual abuse and face paternity claims from the alleged victims. Four of the 11 soldiers are from the mission's current deployment to the central African country and seven are from a previous contingent.

Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, told reporters that Tanzania has appointed an investigative team that will travel to Congo and the U.N. has recommended the team conduct a joint investigation with the U.N.'s internal oversight body.

The soldiers are part of the mission's Force Intervention Brigade in the eastern village of Mavivi. U

nlike other international peacekeeping troops, the brigade has an unprecedented mandate to launch offensive military operations against rebel groups to help end Congo's long-running conflict by neutralizing and disarming the fighters.

However, since the allegations surfaced, the unit has been confined to its base camp by its commander, unable to perform its mission.

"We hope that we will be able to resolve this matter in a timely fashion so that we can ensure the safety and security of the civilian population," Haq said.

The United Nations has been in the spotlight for months over allegations of sexual abuse by its peacekeepers, especially those based in Congo and Central African Republic. Last week, the U.N. said more than 100 girls and women had come forward with new sex abuse accusations against peacekeepers in CAR.

Haq said four of the Congo women are still pregnant and UNICEF, the U.N.'s children's rights and relief organization, has deployed a team to the area to provide services.

The U.N.'s Congo mission first announced on Friday that it had received allegations of sex with minors and sex for pay against Tanzanian peacekeeping troops.
Increase in threats reported at US abortion clinics

NEW YORK (AP)  Threats and violence directed at U.S. abortion clinics increased sharply in 2015, according to the National Abortion Federation, which attributed the surge to the release of undercover videos intended to discredit Planned Parenthood.

"In my more than 20 years with NAF, I have not seen such an escalation of hate speech, threats and calls to action against abortion providers," said Vicki Saporta, the federation's CEO.

According to the federation, death threats targeting abortion providers increased from one in 2014 to 94 in 2015, while incidents of vandalism at clinics rose from 12 to 67.

FILE - In this Nov. 27, 2015 file photo, emergency personnel transport an officer to an ambulance after reports of a shooting at the Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, Colo. Threats and violence directed at U.S. abortion clinics increased sharply in 2015, according to the National Abortion Federation, which attributed the surge to the release of undercover videos intended to discredit Planned Parenthood. (Daniel Owen/The Gazette via AP, File) MAGS OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT

The most violent occurred in November, when a gunman opened fire at a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic in Colorado Springs, Colorado, killing three people and wounding nine. The man accused in the attack, Robert Dear, has described himself as a "warrior for the babies."

Saporta said the level of threats and violence rose sharply after an anti-abortion group called the Center for Medical Progress began releasing secretly recorded videos in July alleging that Planned Parenthood sold fetal tissue to researchers for a profit in violation of federal law. Planned Parenthood denied any wrongdoing, and investigations by several congressional panels and states have produced no evidence that it acted illegally.

The increase in threats "correlates to the release of inflammatory videos aimed at demonizing providers," Saporta said.

David Daleiden, the anti-abortion activist who headed the undercover video operation, responded by accusing the federation of "an attempt to shut down a debate they are losing."

The videos "have a powerful message of nonviolence," Daleiden said in a statement. "We will continue to work for public officials to hold Planned Parenthood and NAF accountable under the law for their illicit baby-parts-for-profit scheme."

The abortion federation  alarmed by the heightened hostility  has for the first time hired an outside security firm to track online threats. Saporta said the firm began its work in mid-November and in a six-week span identified more than 25,000 incidents of hate speech and threats.

The federation report also cited an online post by a man urging abortion opponents to set fire to abortion clinics. Within three months of the post, clinics and health centers in Washington state, Louisiana, California, Illinois and New Hampshire were targeted by arson or vandalism, the report said.

Saporta said the federation has stepped up its efforts to help clinics tighten their security  sending out experts who conduct security assessments and train clinic staff on how to deal with threats.

"How you hire employees, how you admit patients into waiting rooms  there is so much involved in making sure clinics have the best protocols," Saporta said.

For some clinics, she said, security upgrades have been a financial burden.

"When you get into sophisticated security cameras and bullet-proof glass, the costs can be quite high," she said. "They're not the kind of security precautions that other similar health care facilities would need."

According to the federation report, incidents of picketing and blockades at abortion clinics increased from 2014 to 2015, as did cases where hoax devices or suspicious packages were found in or around clinics.

___

Online:

NAF report: http://tinyurl.com/zm799fd

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Group: Threats, violence at US abortion clinics up in 2015

NEW YORK (AP)  Threats and violence directed at U.S. abortion clinics increased sharply in 2015, according to the National Abortion Federation, which attributed the surge to the release of undercover videos intended to discredit health care provider Planned Parenthood.

According to the federation, death threats targeting abortion providers increased from one in 2014 to 94 in 2015, while incidents of vandalism at clinics rose from 12 to 67.

"In my more than 20 years with NAF, I have not seen such an escalation of hate speech, threats and calls to action against abortion providers," said Vicki Saporta, the federation's CEO.

FILE - In this Nov. 27, 2015 file photo, emergency personnel transport an officer to an ambulance after reports of a shooting at the Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, Colo. Threats and violence directed at U.S. abortion clinics increased sharply in 2015, according to the National Abortion Federation, which attributed the surge to the release of undercover videos intended to discredit Planned Parenthood. (Daniel Owen/The Gazette via AP, File) MAGS OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT

The most violent incident occurred in November, when a gunman opened fire at a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic in Colorado, killing three people and wounding nine. The man accused in the attack, Robert Dear, has described himself as a "warrior for the babies."

Saporta said the level of threats and violence rose sharply after an anti-abortion group called the Center for Medical Progress began releasing secretly recorded videos in July alleging that Planned Parenthood sold fetal tissue to researchers for a profit in violation of federal law. Planned Parenthood denied any wrongdoing, and investigations by several congressional panels and states have produced no evidence that it acted illegally.

David Daleiden, the anti-abortion activist who headed the undercover video operation, responded by accusing the federation of "an attempt to shut down a debate they are losing."

"We will continue to work for public officials to hold Planned Parenthood and NAF accountable under the law for their illicit baby-parts-for-profit scheme," Daleiden said in a statement.

The abortion federation has for the first time hired an outside security firm to track online threats. Saporta said the firm began its work in mid-November and in a six-week span identified more than 25,000 incidents of hate speech and threats.

The federation report also cited an online post by a man urging abortion opponents to set fire to abortion clinics. Within three months of the post, clinics and health centers in Washington state, Louisiana, California, Illinois and New Hampshire were targeted by arson or vandalism, the report said.

Saporta said the federation has increased its efforts to help clinics tighten their security, sending out experts who conduct security assessments and train clinic staff on how to deal with threats.

"When you get into sophisticated security cameras and bullet-proof glass, the costs can be quite high," she said.

According to the federation report, incidents of picketing and blockades at abortion clinics increased from 2014 to 2015, as did cases where hoax devices or suspicious packages were found in or around clinics.

___

Online:

NAF report: http://tinyurl.com/zm799fd

___
Congressman presses agency for hearing on nuke waste storage

LOS ANGELES (AP)  A congressman Tuesday asked the U.S. Energy Department to hold a forum in California to discuss how the nation should manage its nuclear waste, citing public concern with long-term storage of spent nuclear fuel at the shuttered San Onofre nuclear power plant.

In a letter to the department, Republican Rep. Darrell Issa said his district should be added to a list of communities where the agency is holding hearings this year to discuss the storage of spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste.

Issa said in a statement that residents want the waste removed from San Onofre, which is located near an active earthquake fault line and borders densely populated Orange and San Diego counties.

"The storage of more than 3.6 million pounds of high-level nuclear waste at the (San Onofre) site is of great concern to the over 8 million people of this region," Issa wrote to Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz. "Adding a public meeting in our region will allow DOE to hear directly from those interested in a safe and secure solution to our site's issues."

Environmentalists have depicted San Onofre as a nuclear waste dump that could leak or be damaged by flooding or an earthquake. However, federal regulators say the storage is safe.

The nation has no long-term storage site for radioactive fuel from commercial nuclear plants. A proposed national repository in the Nevada desert, known as Yucca Mountain, was derailed in Washington.

Last year, the California Coastal Commission endorsed a plan to allow operator Southern California Edison to move tons of highly radioactive fuel at San Onofre from storage pools into steel canisters sheathed by concrete.

About a third of the fuel on the site was moved earlier from storage pools into canisters.

Edison has said the site could operate until 2049, by which time the company assumes the federal government will have provided a location for used nuclear fuel. The site would then be dismantled.

However, a coastal commission staff report warned that the future was uncertain and the San Onofre storage complex might be needed longer, "possibly for many decades."

San Onofre was shut down in January 2012 after a small radiation leak led to the discovery of extensive damage to hundreds of tubes inside virtually new steam generators.
Man kicked by police officer pleads guilty to gun charges

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP)  A Delaware man who was seen on police dashboard camera video being kicked in the head by a Dover police officer in a racially-charged case from 2013 has pleaded guilty to unrelated gun charges.

Lateef Dickerson pleaded guilty Tuesday in New Castle County Superior Court to possession of a firearm by a person prohibited, receiving a stolen firearm, and conspiracy. He is scheduled to be sentenced next month. The judge ordered Dickerson's bail be revoked and that he be held in prison pending sentencing.

Prosecutors dropped two other firearms charges stemming from Dickerson's 2014 arrest. Authorities have said guns were stolen during a burglary on Maryland's Eastern Shore and later stored in a shed in Middletown.

FILE - In this Aug. 24, 2013, file photo made from a police dash camera video and released by the Dover Police Department, Dover Police Cpl. Thomas Webster, center, kicks Lateef Dickerson in the face as Dickerson is following orders to get on the ground during an arrest in Dover, Delaware. Dickerson pleaded guilty Tuesday, April 5, 2016, in Wilmington, Delaware, to unrelated gun charges. He is scheduled to be sentenced next month. (Dover Police Department via AP, File)

Prosecutors also agreed to drop several charges in two other cases in which Dickerson was accused of assaulting and choking his former girlfriend and assaulting another woman at a Middletown apartment complex in September 2015.

Dickerson, who has a long criminal history, still faces charges of carrying a concealed deadly weapon and possession of a firearm by a person prohibited stemming from his arrest by Delaware State Police in January following a traffic stop in Newark.

In December, a Kent County jury acquitted Dover police Cpl. Thomas Webster IV, who is white, of assaulting Dickerson, who is black, during an arrest in August 2013. Dickerson suffered a broken jaw.

Webster testified that he didn't intend to kick Dickerson in the head and was instead aiming for his upper body. Webster also said he feared for the safety of himself and others because officers responding to reports of a large fight were told Dickerson was armed with a gun, and that Dickerson was slow to comply with repeated commands to get on the ground.

Dashcam video from another officer's vehicle shows Dickerson had placed his hands on the ground but wasn't fully prone when Webster kicked him.

Prosecutors first took the case to a grand jury in 2014 but failed to get an indictment against Webster, and the U.S. attorney's office later concluded there was no civil rights violation. Webster was indicted last year, however, after Democratic Attorney General Matt Denn took office and decided to take the case to a second grand jury.

Following Webster's acquittal, Dover officials agreed to pay him $230,000 in a settlement agreement that included his immediate resignation.
Dominican charged in '12 rape, killing of Taiwanese diplomat

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP)  Authorities in the Dominican Republic say they have charged a man with raping, stabbing and strangling a Taiwanese diplomat four years ago.

Police said Tuesday that 52-year-old handyman Julio Cesar Arias was arrested in the case following a DNA match. Authorities said more than 80 people underwent DNA testing as part of the investigation.

Julia Ou was found dead in her apartment in April 2012 in the capital of Santo Domingo. Police said Arias occasionally worked as a house painter in the building where the 55-year-old diplomat lived by herself.

Ou was director of the Overseas Chinese Affairs office for the Taiwanese embassy. She had arrived in the Dominican Republic in January 2011 for a two-year assignment.
Huerta: No ill feelings with Rosario Dawson over Sanders

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP)  Mexican-American civil rights activist Dolores Huerta said she holds no ill feelings toward actress Rosario Dawson over her "open letter" criticizing Huerta for supporting Hillary Clinton for president.

In an interview with The Associated Press late Monday, the co-founder of the United Farm Workers said she respects Dawson and still considers her a friend. However, Huerta said she thinks Clinton will be more productive in protecting Latinos as president.

Dawson, who portrayed Huerta in the movie "Cesar Chavez," is supporting Bernie Sanders for president. In a letter last month, she called out Huerta for not helping elect the Vermont senator.

FILE - This April 10, 2014 file photo Dolores Huerta, co-founder of United Farms Workers, shows her Presidential Medal of Freedom Award at La Plaza de la Cultura y Artes museum in Los Angeles. Civil rights icon Huerta says she holds no ill feelings toward actress Rosario Dawson over her "open letter" criticizing Huerta for supporting Hillary Clinton. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)

The United Farm Workers was founded in 1962 by Cesar Chavez and Huerta and works to increase wages and improve working conditions for members.

Huerta said Dawson's letter divided Latino voters  a situation she blamed on the Sanders campaign.

"I think that our campaign for Hillary Clinton in the Latino community is being effective and that's why (the Sanders campaign) is asking people like Rosario Dawson to come out and attack me," Huerta said. "I guess they think they can silence my voice by doing that."

Erika Andiola, national press secretary for Latino outreach for the Sanders campaign, said Dawson is a leader and activist in the Latino community for many years who speaks for herself.

"Rosario's piece talks about the issues that she cares about the most and sets the record straight on some of the misleading comments that have come from the Clinton campaign," Andiola said. "Anyone who reads her piece can see that this is not about dividing the Latino community, but rather to have a serious and necessary discussion about (these) issues that our community cares about and who will be the best candidate for us in 2016."

Huerta said she still admires Dawson, despite this difference of opinion about politics. "I don't hold anything against Rosario Dawson," said Huerta. She said Dawson has been supportive of her foundation and appreciates Dawson's activism.

Dawson, an actress of Puerto Rican and Cuban ancestry, wrote in a March 24 letter that the Mexican-American leader is hurting her legacy by supporting Clinton, who Dawson said is facing an FBI investigation over her email.

"Dolores, I am surprised, dismayed, and concerned that you would do your legacy such a disservice by becoming an instrument of the establishment, rather than joining this movement to create a better America like you once inspired us to do," Dawson wrote.

Dawson said Clinton's record on various issues conflicted with causes Huerta has long supported, from immigration reform to halting off-shore drilling.

Her letter drew criticism and support on social media from some Latino activists.

A publicist for Dawson did not immediately return emails and phone messages.

Huerta said she understood why some activists might be disappointed in her for not supporting Sanders since they agree on many issues. But Huerta said she feels Clinton will get more things done as president.

"When the dust settles...we are going to be together," Huerta said. "And we need to be together to defeat Donald Trump or Ted Cruz."

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The video showed the first time Lisa and Terry met face-to-face and the firs time the mother has heard her son's heart beating since his death

Terry had cardiomyopathy, which makes the heart lose its ability to pump blood

Just three days later, Levi's heart was was

A touching video shows the moment a North Dakota mother heard her late son's heart beating inside a Nebraska transplant recipient's chest.

In the clip posted to YouTube on Tuesday, Lisa Swanson cries as she hears the ultrasound of her son Levi Schulz's heart beating in Terry Hooper's chest at Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.

The video begins with Terry coming out to hug Lisa at the medical center as they meet for the very first time.

'It's so nice to meet you,' Lisa says as she as they embrace.

She warns him, 'You can't cry though or otherwise we won't get through this.'

A new video shows the moment a North Dakota mother, Lisa Swanson, (pictured, right) hears her son Levi Schulz's heart beating in a transplant recipient's chest

Terry Hooper (left) received the Levi's (right) heart after the 18-year-old was killed in a car accident in 2012

Terry immediately burst into tears, wiping them away with a tissue.

Gesturing to his shirt with a picture of Lisa's son Levi on it, Terry says: 'He's my hero. There's not a day I don't think of him.'

They then go into a room where Terry's lies on a bed with his shirt pulled up as an ultrasound technician places the probe on his chest.

The noise of his heartbeat fills the room.

For a moment Lisa says nothing as she is overcome with the emotion of hearing her son's heart again.

Terry suffered from cardiomyopathy, which makes the heart lose its ability to pump blood effectively, before getting Levi's heart

On Friday, Lisa got to hear Levi's heart for the first time during an ultrasound performed at Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha

The technician asks her how it sounds and she replies 'really good'.

'It definitely sounds like it belongs there,' she says.

Terry received the heart on December 10, 2012, three days after 18-year-old Levi Schulz of Horace, North Dakota, died in a car crash.

Terry had cardiomyopathy, which makes the heart lose its ability to pump blood effectively, and had been placed on the transplant list.

Lisa, who was joined by Levi's twin brother Shelby, wept as she listened to her son's heartbeat fill the room

Terry and Lisa have corresponded through letters since 2013, but Friday was their first face-to-face meeting.

Levi's twin brother, Shelby, also attended and listened to the ultrasound.

'I get happiness and sadness all at the same time. Sad that my son's not here but happy that he was able to help Terry,' Lisa said.

Before the video ends, Terry gives Lisa a stuffed bear with guardian angel wings. When she presses on the bears stomach, the sound of Levi's heart plays.
Judge considers unsealing court file in CIA sex scandal case

WASHINGTON (AP)  The U.S. judge who oversaw the now-abandoned lawsuit against the federal government over leaks in the investigation that led to the resignation of former CIA director David Petraeus is giving the Justice Department until Friday to ask her to keep secret any court documents that were part of the case.

The files include transcripts of sworn interviews with senior Obama administration officials about the sex scandal and its fallout.

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson noted a 2001 appeals court decision citing "a strong presumption in favor of public access to judicial proceedings" when she asked for objections to unsealing the records, including pleadings or exhibits. She did not indicate when she might rule on any objections or order material to be publicly released.

FILE - In this March 17, 2016 file photo, former CIA Director, retired Gen. David Petraeus speaks in New York. The U.S. judge who oversaw the now-abandoned lawsuit against the federal government over leaks in the investigation that led to the resignation Petraeus is giving the Justice Department until Friday, April 8, 2016, to ask her to keep secret any court documents that were part of the case. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

The case included FBI files and deposition testimony from or about such senior U.S. government officials as Petraeus; Defense Secretary Ashton Carter; former Defense Secretary and CIA Director Leon Panetta; Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson; Marine Gen. John R. Allen, then-commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan; former Pentagon chief of staff Jeremy Bash; former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton aide Phillipe Reines; former Pentagon and CIA press secretary George Little and others, including some journalists who were formally questioned as part of the lawsuit.

Jill Kelley of Tampa, Florida, along with her husband, Scott, had sued the government in June 2013 in Washington, alleging that officials violated the U.S. Privacy Act by disclosing information about them during the FBI's investigation of Petraeus. The former CIA director pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor charge of mishandling classified information relating to documents he had provided to his married biographer, Paula Broadwell, with whom he was having an affair. Kelley had complained to the FBI in 2012 about harassing emails from an unknown person who turned out to be Broadwell.

The Kelleys' civil lawsuit collapsed last month after her lawyers asked the judge to let them withdraw from the case. The lawyers cited irreconcilable differences, just weeks after the Justice Department declined a secret $4.35 million settlement proposal.

Kelley filed court papers Tuesday telling the judge she objected to the release of files that include copies of emails she sent to some of her lawyers or advisers, which she said should remain privileged, and a copy of a manuscript for her book about the case, which she has already published.
White House to transfer Ebola funds to combat Zika virus

WASHINGTON (AP)  Congressional officials say the Obama administration has decided to transfer leftover money from the largely successful fight against Ebola to combat the growing threat of the Zika virus.

Most of the $600 million or so would be devoted to the Centers for Disease Control, which is focused on research and development of anti-Zika vaccines, treating those infected with the virus and combating the mosquitoes that spread it.

The officials spoke Tuesday on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the matter before an official announcement expected from the White House on Wednesday.

FILE - In this April 1, 2016, file photo, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Thomas Frieden speaks during a news conference at a Zika summit in Atlanta. Congressional officials say April 5, the Obama administration has decided to transfer leftover money from the largely successful fight against Ebola to combat the growing threat of the Zika virus in Puerto Rico, the Southeast U.S., and Central and South America. Most of the $600 million or so would be devoted to the Centers for Disease Control, which is focused on research and development of anti-Zika vaccines, treating those infected with the virus and combating the mosquitoes that spread it. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)

Researchers fear Zika causes microcephaly, a serious birth defect in which a baby's head is too small, as well as other threats to the children of pregnant women infected with it.

President Barack Obama has asked for about $1.9 billion in emergency money to fight Zika but the request has stalled in the GOP-controlled Congress. While the administration has acknowledged that substantial Ebola funding is left over, it has already committed much of it to helping at least 30 other countries prevent, detect and respond to future outbreaks and epidemics.

The upcoming move comes as there's greater urgency to battling the virus as summer weather leads to mosquito season and a broader spread of the virus.

Republicans on Capitol Hill had suggested the administration consider reshuffling existing funds and have said they are open to paying the money back in future legislation if it's needed for Ebola or some other purposes.

Wednesday's announcement would come as it's become plain that action on a stand-alone emergency spending bill is virtually impossible in the bitterly partisan atmosphere in Washington, though such funding could be attached to larger legislation later in the year.

"I told the White House I'd be supportive of a supplemental if they could show me where the money goes and what it could do," said Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., chairman of the Senate subcommittee responsible for foreign aid.

John Cornyn, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, said he fears a Zika outbreak in his home state of Texas, but said he hopes "reason would prevail and we'd use the money that's already been appropriated and then we'd talk about what additional money would be needed, perhaps for either Ebola or Zika."
Senator: Islamic State fight could become 'grinding failure'

WASHINGTON (AP)  The Obama administration's fight against the Islamic State is at risk of becoming a "grinding failure for our nation," an influential Republican senator said Tuesday, illustrating the mounting frustrations in Congress with the U.S. strategy to defeat the extremist group.

In a letter to Defense Secretary Ash Carter, Sen. John McCain, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, said U.S. military commanders are being hampered by an overly cautious Obama administration.

McCain drew a parallel between the campaign against the Islamic State and the war in Vietnam, a conflict he served in as a Navy pilot. He was a prisoner of war in North Vietnam for more than five years.

"As a young military officer, I bore witness to the failed policy of gradual escalation that ultimately led to our nation's defeat in the Vietnam War," he wrote. "I fear this administration's grudging incrementalism in the war against the Islamic State risks another slow, grinding failure for our nation."

Carter has described the U.S. as making considerable strides against the Islamic State. He told reporters at the Pentagon last month that the U.S. progress in eliminating members of the group's "cabinet" was hampering its ability to conduct and inspire attacks against the West.

But McCain wrote he has talked to military commanders both on the ground and at the Pentagon, and those conversations "have led me to the disturbing, yet unavoidable conclusion that they have been reduced from considering what it will take to win to what they will be allowed to do by this administration."

In the letter to Carter, McCain said his committee needs a full accounting of the current scale and scope of U.S. military operations against the Islamic State. Among the figures he wants are the numbers of U.S. military and civilian personnel in Iraq and Syria and the length of time needed to retake Islamic State strongholds in both countries.
Wal-Mart pledges commitment to cage free eggs by 2025

NEW YORK (AP)  Wal-Mart Stores Inc., nation's largest food retailer, is pledging to sell only cage-free eggs by 2025, joining a growing list of retailers and food makers making the switch.

The pace picked up when McDonald's announced in September that it will phase out the use of eggs laid by caged hens over the next 10 years. Since then, Target and Costco have been among major retailers to offer specific pledges.

But with Wal-Mart garnering 25 percent of total grocery sales in the U.S., it will have outsized influence on suppliers' practices.

Wal-Mart said Tuesday it will require egg suppliers to be certified and fully compliant with the United Egg Producers Animal Husbandry Guidelines or an equivalent standard. It will monitor their compliance through a third party. The cage-free standard will apply to eggs sold at more than 5,000 stores including Sam's Club locations.

The move comes as the food industry has been pressed by animal rights groups to eliminate using confined egg-laying hens, as well as other practices.

Last year, Wal-Mart urged thousands of U.S. suppliers to curb the use of antibiotics in farm animals as part of a set of principles it laid out to improve animal welfare. It has offered customers the option of cage-free eggs in its U.S. stores since 2001.

"The era of confining hens in cages in America's food system is officially sunsetting," wrote Wayne Pacelle, CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, in a blog published after Wal-Mart's announcement.

Pacelle said that his group has been working with Wal-Mart for the past decade and has traveled frequently to Wal-Mart's headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, to "make our case" to key Wal-Mart personnel.

Given that Wal-Mart likely buys more eggs than any other food retailer and that cage-free egg production in the U.S. is limited, it wasn't a decision that it could make "precipitously," Pacelle wrote in his blog.

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Eliaquim Mangala 'not scared' of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and PSG

Manchester City defender Eliaquim Mangala claims Zlatan Ibrahimovic does not scare him as he prepares to face up to the formidable Paris St Germain frontman.

Pressure will be on Mangala, who has endured a troubled season, as City tackle the French champions in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday.

With captain Vincent Kompany still out injured, France centre-back Mangala and partner Nicolas Otamendi will need to deal with the threat of the prolific Ibrahimovic.

Eliaquim Mangala feels ready for the challenge of facing Paris St Germain

The Sweden striker has scored 30 goals in 26 appearances in Ligue 1 this season, including a hat-trick against Nice last weekend, and a further four in the Champions League.

But Mangala said: "I respect PSG, I respect Zlatan, (Edinson) Cavani and (Angel) Di Maria, but I am not scared of them.

"Everyone knows Zlatan and the magnificent career and season he has had. Even though he is 34 he is in top condition at the moment.

"He has been criticised a lot because he has not been decisive in the Champions League in the past, but he has been in the last few games. He is reaching the peak of his career now.

"But we are not just focusing on him."

Parallels have been drawn between City and PSG with both clubs having been propelled towards the European elite by the extraordinary expenditure of investors from Gulf states.

The progress both clubs have made in recent years has been huge although so far PSG, who have established almost total domestic dominance in France and reached four successive Champions League quarter-finals, have the edge.

City, who have won two Premier League titles but are playing in the last eight for the first time, are determined to keep pace and see themselves as equals of the French champions.

Mangala said: "They (the City hierarchy) consider Paris as a very impressive team with a good project, one that is progressing, so this is why this is a very important match tomorrow against a big team.

"They have the experience of being in a quarter-final before and we need to respect their experience but they are not a threat to us. It will be a close game."

City have faltered in the Barclays Premier League this season and are facing a battle to hold onto a top-four place, rather than fighting for the title as they had hoped.

Mangala is well aware of the pressure now on the team heading into the PSG clash, as well as that on himself after an indifferent - albeit injury-hit - campaign.

The 25-year-old, a 42million signing in 2014, said: "I have been out four and a half months and the injury was difficult for me but I am playing now and it's up to me to perform.

"Tomorrow as a game is very important for me, and the team."

City are boosted by the return of goalkeeper Joe Hart, who has made a quicker than expected recovery from the calf injury suffered in the derby loss to Manchester United on March 20.

Manager Manuel Pellegrini said: "Joe has worked without any problems in the last days.
Voice of Star Wars' Admiral Ackbar, Erik Bauersfeld, dies at 93

Voice actor Erik Bauersfeld, who delivered Star Wars character Admiral Ackbar's famous line "It's a trap!", has died aged 93.

The performer died at his home in Berkeley, California, on Sunday.

Bauersfeld voiced two minor roles in 1983's Return Of The Jedi, providing the voice of military leader Admiral Ackbar, as well as Jabba the Hutt's henchman, Bib Fortuna.

Erik Bauersfeld reprised his role as Admiral Ackbar in Star Wars: The Force Awakens

He was not given a screen credit in the movie, which was the third in the franchise.

But the Rebellion's Admiral Ackbar, with his distinctive large domed head and fish-like eyes, soon became a fan favourite as he led major combat operations against the Galactic Empire.

His key line, "It's a trap!", became a well-known Star Wars quotation, and he was later transformed into an internet meme.

Bauersfeld returned to Star Wars for 2015's The Force Awakens, reprising the role of Admiral Ackbar alongside original puppeteer Tim Rose.

The voice actor and radio producer, who spent much of his career focusing on his radio work, was bemused by the fame he gained for his minor role - which took him just an hour to film.

He told the San Francisco Chronicle in 2011 that he had not watched Return Of The Jedi since it came out in 1983, and still had not seen the first Star Wars movie.

He said: "The fans who write say they'll never forget 'It's a trap!' I don't even remember how I said it ... It's not that I don't like it or don't respect it - I just don't have time to be a fan and see it 10 times or 20 times."

Bauersfeld said he stumbled into the part when he was at Lucasfilm, working on a radio project with Oscar-winning sound designer Randy Thom, a lifelong friend.

He was asked to read for Admiral Ackbar by the film's sound designer, Ben Burtt.

"I went over, he showed me the picture of Admiral Ackbar, and I did it," Bauersfeld said.

"I saw the face, and I knew what he must sound like."

After recording the part, he spent another half-hour on the part of Bib Fortuna, who speaks the fictional language of Hutt.

Apart from his work on Star Wars, Bauersfeld served as the director of talk radio and music radio station KPFA's drama and literature department for more than three decades.

He oversaw the arts and humanities programming of the California-based station, which broadcasts in the San Francisco Bay Area.

He then left in the mid-1990s to pursue theatre projects with West German Radio, and to launch his Bay Area Radio Drama project.

Susan Stone, of KPFA, wrote on the radio station's website that Bauersfeld died with Thom holding his hand and his long-time friend, poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti, reading to him over the phone.

Shortly after the release of The Force Awakens, Bauersfeld revealed how he returned to the role of Admiral Ackbar - at the request of director JJ Abrams.

He told BBC radio show 5 Live: "T hey called me up one morning, and it was JJ. He said he wanted to do an audition, come on over.

"They had a big shiny black car in front of my door, and I was on the plane, and there was the screen, and there was Ackbar.

"Right up on the screen: 'It's a trap!' I don't know if I said that, there were a lot of other lines."
Workers in Tata's carmaking arm warn firm against 'fire sale' of steel business

Workers in the carmaking arm of Indian conglomerate Tata have urged the company to allow enough time to sell its UK steel business as efforts to save thousands of jobs were stepped up.

Members of the Unite union at Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) wrote to Cyrus Mistry, chairman of the Tata Group, warning against a "fire sale" of the loss-making UK assets.

Business Secretary Sajid Javid was tonight flying to Mumbai to meet Mr Mistry to discuss the sales process, exactly a week after the firm took the shock decision to sell up.

Members of the Unite union at Jaguar Land Rover wrote to Tata chairman Cyrus Mistry warning against a "fire sale" of the loss-making UK assets

The minister held a flurry of talks today with union and steel industry leaders and other ministers, including Carwyn Jones, First Minister of Wales.

The head of a group which could rescue steel plants and save thousands of jobs said he is aiming to avoid any redundancies if a deal is agreed.

Sanjeev Gupta, the head of the Liberty Group, made it clear it was "early days" in the sale process but raised hopes that jobs could be saved, especially at the huge plant in Port Talbot, South Wales.

He told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme that the business could be turned around.

Asked if redundancies could be avoided, he said: "That would definitely be my objective."

Mr Gupta said production could be expanded but with different methods.

Liberty has not even started due diligence as it was not expecting Tata to make its announcement so quickly, he said.

"This is my first day back in the UK. I am still to engage fully. We will see how the week unfolds."

He added it would take years to make the transition on production changes.

Mr Gupta said pension liabilities were an issue but the most pressing need was to ensure the viability of plants.

Mr Javid was in Australia on a business trip when the announcement was made, leading to union claims that he had "taken his eye off the ball".

Mr Jones said: " If a buyer comes forward then the time scale of negotiations will be extended.

"Tata have a good reputation worldwide, they will not want to lose that, and they will ensure that as a responsible seller.

"We don't have all the time in the world, that's true, but we will now work quickly to ensure that any potential deal is done.

"My message to the Prime Minister was simple: These plants cannot close."

Mr Javid said the meeting with the First Minister of Wales was "very constructive", adding: "What it shows is that you've got the UK government and the Welsh government working together on this really important issue and that's the way to continue.

"I think that it gives confidence to any potential buyers out there.

"It's great that Liberty, and there are others that have shown interest, it's great that this interest is out there.

"I've met Liberty before and I'm very happy to meet them again today. But it's right that there is a role here for the UK government and I've set out how we can help. There's a lot of detail there to work out and of course it depends on who the buyer is.

"But the important thing is where the buyers are coming forward we're ready to work with them."

In their letter to Mr Mistry, Unite officials at JLR said: "We are mindful of the assurances that you gave to the UK steel unions that the company would behave in a responsible manner and would sell to a responsible buyer if it had to.

"We are alarmed to read comments in the press that the company is looking to dispose of its UK steel operations within a short period of time.

"This is not something that a responsible employer would seek to do, given any sale and the necessary arrangements and due diligence will take some considerable time.

"Therefore we would ask you to confirm that Tata will act in a responsible manner in the UK, will allow sufficient time and resources to secure the business through a new buyer, that the whole of the Tata business in the UK is sold as a whole and that you make it clear this is the course of action you will follow."

The Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) called on the Government and Network Rail (NR) to bring forward rail renewals work to help ease the pressure on the UK steel industry.

Research for the union showed that the spend by NR with Tata was in decline.

In the financial year 2014-15, Tata Steel UK Ltd supplied NR with 98,022,077 worth of goods, accounting for 1.3% of NR's spend.

This has fallen by 14.6%, from 114,865,267 or 2.1% of spend, in the previous year, it was claimed.

RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: "Britain's rail infrastructure is under massive pressure and is creaking under passenger demand and it would be a win-double for the British taxpayer to see the bringing forward of rail renewals work benefiting UK steel at this pivotal time for the industry.

"There is no excuse for the Government dragging its heels as they control the publicly-owned Network Rail and could intervene right now to make a decisive move that would have huge long-term benefits for the twin industries of rail and steel."

Mr Gupta said he had a "positive" meeting with Mr Javid.

He said: "UK Government appears highly supportive and is proactively engaged in finding a long-term solution. We have also actively engaged with Welsh Government and again we are encouraged by their approach.

"The next step is for Tata to define the formal sales process and request indications of interest from potential buyers. We await further details on this and then will assess our own next step.

"Liberty has already proven its ability to build value from UK steel assets with our acquisition of our Newport Steel plant, Midlands engineering operations and most recently in Scotland where we acquired mills from Tata. Everyone is very motivated to find a solution."

Leaders of Community, Unite and the GMB spent an hour with Mr Javid before he left for Mumbai, stressing they wanted the Tata business sold together rather than firms "cherry-picking" different parts.

Unite leader Len McCluskey said it was a "good first step", adding that unions would work with the Government and any prospective buyers.

"At the moment we are on the same page. The Government needs to put a protective arm around the industry to show they are serious. Talk is cheap - we now need to see a practical application."

Community's General Secretary Roy Rickhuss said unions wanted Mr Javid to stress the need for Tata to act responsibly as a search for a buyer continues.

Shadow business secretary Angela Eagle said: "Labour has warned for months of the escalating crisis facing steel. Yet Sajid Javid ignored the warnings of the collapse of the industry - and the 40,000 jobs on the line - until he realised his own job was at risk too.
Moderate teaching union rejects Government's education reforms

The prospect of industrial action over the Government's education reforms has edged a stage closer after one of the country's more moderate teaching unions overwhelmingly rejected proposals to privatise schools.

Members of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) condemned the education white paper, and its proposals to strip state primaries in England from local authority control, as "an attack on democracy".

The ATL joins both the NUT and NASUWT unions in using their spring conference to oppose academisation, raising the prospect of possible strike action.

The Department for Education's reforms have been condemned by a moderate teaching union

ATL members in Liverpool voted unanimously to consider what forms of action, including potential industrial action, may be needed if the Government "fails to listen to education professionals and continues to impose academisation on England's schools".

Proposing the motion, former ATL president Mark Baker, said the Government failed to provide evidence supporting academisation, and added "flawed policies" were generating "embarrassment and ridicule worthy of General Melchett of Blackadder fame".

He said: "We are a profession of lions led by donkeys."

In a passionate address to conference delegates, Mr Baker identified what he considered to be the failures of the Government.

He said: "Education does not thrive without resources. Education does not thrive when schools are bullied, threatened and now compelled into becoming academies.

"Education does not thrive when its workforce are denigrated, criticised and scapegoated, paid for on the cheap. And education does not thrive when our children and young people are being tested to destruction.

"The Government's policies have failed and with this White Paper they seek to cover their own tracks."

Fellow speaker Greg Foster said the ATL ought to be prepared to "stand with" colleagues in the NUT, who last month agreed a ballot for strike action over academisation.

He said: "I hope when you come to vote, you'll notice there hasn't been a single speaker against.

"As you know, in Brighton (last month) the NUT voted to take action over this exact same issue. And now we're discussing it as well. I believe the Government hoped to drive a wedge between the NUT and ATL with this.

"They (the Government) think we'll say no. They think we'll let them do this. Let's prove them wrong. If we pass this motion then ATL will be sat at the table with a full hand of cards.

"When the NUT goes out to defend our schools, we will stand with them."

There was a round of applause and cheers as the motion was carried.

During her keynote speech on Tuesday, ATL general secretary Dr Mary Bousted said academisation - which will force 17,000 state schools in England to become privately run academies within six years - was more to do with "breaking the public service ethos of the profession" than raising educational standards.

Despite the vitriol, the union's collective defiance over the white paper may yet fall on deaf ears in Whitehall, after ministers ruled out the prospect of a Government u-turn over the controversial plans.

On Monday, schools minister Nick Gibb told the ATL academisation was being forced on schools to combat the difficulty in managing both state-run and privatised systems.

And last month, Education Secretary Nicky Morgan told the NASUWT conference in Birmingham there would be "no pulling back" and "no reverse gear" on the Government's education reforms.

Public support for academisation has been hard to find from teaching staff, who staged marches around the country last month in defiance over the plans, announced in the Budget.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn also condemned the "costly and unwanted" academisation at a time of "grotesque poverty" when he appeared at the NUT conference in Brighton.

A Department for Education statement after the motion read: "It's disappointing that the ATL would rather play politics with our children's future than work constructively with us to deliver our vision for educational excellence everywhere.

"Industrial action holds back children's education, disrupts parents' lives and ultimately damages the reputation of the profession.

"We make no apology for our reforms, which have resulted in a record number of children now being taught in good or outstanding schools - 1.4 million more than in 2010.
UK offers more help to Greece as it struggles to return migrants to Turkey

The Prime Minister has offered to provide more help to Greece as it struggles to return migrants to Turkey.

David Cameron told Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras that additional support will be available in the coming weeks, after the EU-Turkey agreement to tackle the migrant crisis took effect on Monday.

Greek authorities have warned the operation is threatened by a shortage of personnel.

Greek authorities have warned the operation is threatened by a shortage of personnel

A Downing Street spokesman said Mr Cameron spoke to Mr Tsipras on the phone on Tuesday afternoon.

He said: "The Prime Minister welcomed the start the Greek authorities had made to returning migrants to Turkey under the agreement, and reiterated the importance of breaking the link between people making the dangerous crossing of the Mediterranean and securing settlement in Europe.

"Prime minister Tsipras said that the flow of migrants had reduced substantially, and expressed gratitude for the UK contribution of personnel and expertise to help implement the agreement.

"The Prime Minister confirmed that additional UK personnel would be offered to Greece over the coming weeks to provide additional support."

Under the EU-Turkey agreement, those arriving on Greek islands from the nearby Turkish coast on or after March 20 are eligible for deportation if they do not apply for asylum or their application is rejected or inadmissible.

Greece began on Monday to deport migrants but Greek authorities told state TV that no transfers were planned on Tuesday after thousands of people held in migrant detention camps applied for asylum.

Maria Stavropoulou, director of Greece's Asylum Service, said it could result in a slow-down in the rate of returns under the deal.

She said o nly 30 of 400 migration officers from other EU countries have arrived in Greece so far to help with processing.

Giorgos Kyritsis, a spokesman for the Greek government's refugee crisis committee, told The Associated Press on Monday that Frontex, the EU's border management agency which is responsible for implementing the deal, only has 200 officers in place to accompany the deported migrants, but almost none of the other personnel that would facilitate screening those who apply for asylum.

More than 52,000 people have been trapped in Greece after Balkan and European countries shut their land borders to refugees and other migrants, and the EU forged the deal with Turkey.
Sale of Tata Steel's UK plants to start next week

The process for selling Tata Steel's UK plants will start by Monday but there is no set timeframe for it to be completed.

Business Secretary Sajid Javid revealed the details after a two-hour meeting with Tata officials in Mumbai, just over a week after the Indian conglomerate took the shock decision to sell its loss-making UK assets.

Mr Javid said Tata will allow a "reasonable amount of time" for the process to be completed.

The Tata Steel plant in Scunthorpe

The minister stressed that the Government wanted to work with any prospective buyer, saying "a number" of people had already started coming forward.

"I would like to see many more come forward when the formal process begins," he said.

Mr Javid met Cyrus Mistry, chairman of the Indian conglomerate, and other company officials to discuss the planned sale.

He said afterwards that he understood there would be some "issues" to deal with, such as power, which the Government "might be able to help further with".

The minister had been urged by unions to stress the need for Tata to act responsibly as a search for a buyer continues, and to allow enough time for the process to be completed.

Sanjeev Gupta, the head of the Liberty Group, held talks with Mr Javid on Tuesday and has raised hopes that jobs could be saved, especially at the huge plant in Port Talbot, South Wales.

Mr Gupta said: "UK Government appears highly supportive and is proactively engaged in finding a long-term solution. We have also actively engaged with Welsh Government and again we are encouraged by their approach.

"The next step is for Tata to define the formal sales process and request indications of interest from potential buyers. We await further details on this and then will assess our own next step.

"Liberty has already proven its ability to build value from UK steel assets with our acquisition of our Newport Steel plant, Midlands engineering operations and most recently in Scotland where we acquired mills from Tata. Everyone is very motivated to find a solution."

Meanwhile, workers are voting on temporary changes to terms and conditions as part of an impending sale of Tata's giant steel plant in Scunthorpe.

Union members are being balloted on a 3% cut in pay and a reduction in pensions, part of a "transformation plan" ahead of the expected sale to investment firm Greybull Capital.

Negotiations over the sale of the plant, which employs around 4,000 workers, have been taking place for several months, well before Tata's announcement last week.

Steve McCool, national officer of the Community union, said terms and conditions at Scunthorpe would be restored after a year.

"We are hopeful that the deal between Tata Steel and Greybull can be completed soon. Our own independent experts, Syndex, have found the transformation plan to be robust with a high probability of success. Our experts have also advised us that Greybull has the necessary capabilities to deliver the plan and secure a sustainable future for the business.

"Having given all the proposals and the context full consideration, myself and the national officers from the other unions are recommending that our members vote for the temporary changes to terms and conditions on the basis that this will give the transformation plan with Greybull a greater chance of success," he said.

Members of Unite and the GMB are also being balloted, with the result due on April 19.

Community said negotiations with managers at Tata's Long Products division over the transformation plan had been difficult.

Labour said its MPs have raised the issues facing the steel industry 203 times in Parliament since the general election and secured eight debates.

Shadow business secretary Angela Eagle said: "The perfect storm threatening the future of the steel industry in the UK didn't appear out of nowhere, it's been brewing for many months.

"Labour has raised the serious issues facing the steel industry time and again, yet the Tory Government have failed to take the necessary action to avert the crisis.

"As the crisis escalated, trade union representatives and the local Labour member of Parliament were in Mumbai fighting for the future of the industry, but the Government was missing in action. The Prime Minister was on holiday, the Chancellor was keeping his head down after his disastrous budget, and the Business Secretary was at a black tie dinner in Australia extolling the virtues of the free market.

"The steel industry is hanging by the thinnest of threads, the time for action from the Government to save our steel is now."

Mr Gupta said buying Tata's UK steel business was a "daunting" prospect, especially as the sale announcement was so unexpected.

He told the Press Association he expected other companies to show an interest now that the sale process was about to formally start.

"We have had very good interaction with the government and unions but we now need a proper analysis, and work out many details."

Mr Gupta said any buyer would have to "turn around" Tata's loss-making business and would not want to take on the huge pension liabilities.

Tata would probably want to make progress on any sale within weeks, but Mr Gupta said he believed the process would take months.

"We are interested and we now need to work out a business plan."

Mr Gupta said Tata workers would have to be retrained and he still believed jobs could be saved, although he added it was time to "take a breather" to consider details of the sale.

Speaking after a conversation this evening with Sajid Javid, Roy Rickhuss, general secretary of the Community union said: " I welcome the fact that the secretary of state informed me of the constructive conversation he had with Tata. I am pleased that he raised those issues I had raised with him before he flew to India.

"I am encouraged to learn that Tata have committed to be a responsible seller and to allow the time we need to secure a new commercial operator.

"This is a credit to the campaign our members have run over the past week. Now is the time to get to work. Community has already begun working with independent experts to map out a plan for our steel industry. We look forward to continuing to work with government to build a sustainable future for steelmaking in the UK."

Harish Patel, Unite national officer for manufacturing, said: "This is an agonising time for these workers and their communities so we look forward to a fuller debrief on the next stages from the minister on his return. Our members are sure to have questions on the details and the next steps.

"Tata has made it clear that they want to make this process as swift as possible, and while we welcome their commitment to be a responsible seller, we now need to focus on how this industry is safeguarded for the future.

"We are extremely concerned that this uncertainty will have wider ramifications. We also want to discuss the supply chain implications, where Unite has thousands of members who also face an uncertain future, so we will be seeking further urgent discussions with the minister on his return."
Britain asks for leaked Panama Papers, says will act swiftly

LONDON, April 4 (Reuters) - The British government asked on Monday for a copy of leaked data on the clients of a Panama-based law firm so it can examine the information and act on any possible tax evasion.

The leak, which reveals the details of hundreds of thousands of clients in multiple jurisdictions of law company Mossack Fonseca, could be embarrassing for Prime Minister David Cameron, who has spoken out against tax evasion and tax avoidance.

His late father, Ian Cameron, is mentioned in the more than 11.5 million documents from the files, alongside some members of his Conservative Party in the upper house of parliament, former Conservative lawmakers and party donors, British media said.

Cameron's office declined to comment.
Tension endures a year after black man shot by South Carolina officer

By Harriet McLeod

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C., April 4 (Reuters) - The South Carolina city where a white police officer shot dead an unarmed black man one year ago still simmers with racial tension as black residents say they continue to be harassed and humiliated by law enforcement.

Patrolman Michael Slager killed motorist Walter Scott on April 4, 2015, firing eight times at his back as he fled a traffic stop for a broken tail light. A bystander captured the shooting on cell phone video. Scott, 50, was a father of four.

Slager's arrest on a murder charge may have helped spare North Charleston the rioting that took place in other U.S. cities after police killings of black men. He is awaiting trial, his lawyers saying he acted in self-defense.

African Americans say their demands for more transparency in police practices, such as the creation of a citizen review board, have gone unheeded. Some complain of being subjected to overly aggressive policing and racial profiling.

"People are still being picked out and picked on," Walter Scott's brother, Anthony Scott, said on Monday after family and friends prayed and placed white roses on the slain man's grave.

"I don't want to see another mother, another family, have to go through what we've gone through," added Judy Scott, the men's mother. "There needs to be a change."

Civil rights organizations are urging the U.S. Justice Department to investigate the police department. The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Inc (LDF) has collected testimonials they hope will bolster the request for a federal probe, said Monique Dixon, LDF's deputy director of policy and senior counsel.

"We want to make sure it doesn't happen again," said Edward Bryant III, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's North Charleston chapter. No one should "act as judge, jury and prosecutor on the streets in a police car."

Mayor Keith Summey, who declined an interview request, said in a statement that steps had been taken to rebuild trust in the city where 47 percent of the 106,000 residents are black and about 78 percent of the city's police force is white, as are Summey and Police Chief Eddie Driggers.

The entire police force is now equipped with body cameras and the department launched two new community outreach programs, including "front porch visits" aimed at forging relationships between people and law enforcement.

Driggers "has built a more responsive, yet gentler department than what we had at the beginning of 2015," Summey said. Driggers did not respond to an interview request.

RACIAL PROFILING

The Charleston Area Justice Ministry, an interfaith group that works for social change, will ask the police department to allow an external audit of its records for evidence of racial bias after the group said it collected anecdotes of unwarranted searches and questioning.

The group plans to present its findings to the city this month, member Bill Thomas said.

State records show black drivers continue to be stopped by North Charleston police at a higher rate than white drivers.

In both the nine months before Scott's death and the nine months after, black drivers were stopped at almost twice the rate of white drivers. Total traffic stops dropped by more than half in the nine months following the shooting, according to the state Department of Public Safety.

"I think they're laying low," James Johnson, president of the South Carolina chapter of the National Action Network and a North Charleston resident, said of police. "They've been under scrutiny."

Slager, 34, was released on bail in January and is scheduled to be tried in October. He has said he feared for his life after being attacked by Scott following the stop.
Nepal risks fresh turmoil over flawed constitution - ICG

By Gopal Sharma

KATHMANDU, April 5 (Reuters) - Nepal risks more turmoil if it fails to address the demands for greater representation of minority ethnic Madhesis in the new constitution, the International Crisis Group (ICG) said on Tuesday in a report that drew criticism from the government.

More than 50 people have died in protests since September in the Tarai, or Madhes, a region in Nepal's southern plains bordering India, overshadowing the first post-monarchy constitution.

The charter was the final condition of a peace deal between the government and Maoist rebels, which ended a decade-long rebellion in the Himalayan nation in 2006.

But many Madhesis want the region, which is home to half of the country's 28 million people, to become an autonomous state within Nepal and not be broken up into parts of six of the seven federal provinces as envisaged in the new constitution.

The ICG said in its report (www.crisisgroup.org) the depth of social discontent, lack of fruitful negotiations and disillusion among the Madhesis with the parties that represent them was creating room for radical positions.

"Forcing acceptance of a flawed constitution could end the political transition and trigger unmanageable new conflict," the ICG, an independent non-governmental organisation, said.

Information and Communication Minister Sherdhan Rai was critical of the report, which he said contained "unnecessary" comments. "We are ready to negotiate and address genuine demands of the Madhesis," he told Reuters.

But Upendra Yadav, from Madhesi Front which organised protests, said the government was unlikely to convene early talks. "Lasting peace and stability are impossible without addressing our demands," he said.

Several small Madhesi groups have given the government until April 12 to address their demands, warning of fresh action after a five-month border blockade caused severe fuel shortages.
Hungary, Factors to watch, April 5

BUDAPEST, April 5 (Reuters) - Following is a list of events in Hungary and the region, as well as news stories and press reports which may influence financial markets.

(For any queries: Budapest editorial +36 1 327 4745)

WHAT IS HAPPENING IN HUNGARY (ALL TIMES GMT)

BUDAPEST - Retail sales Feb (0700)

BUDAPEST - 3-month Treasury bill auction (0930)

IN THE REGION

SLOVAKIA - ARDAL to release bonds calendar for 04/16

POLAND - Council of Europe's Jagland, EC's Timmermans visit

CZECH - Passenger car registration Q1/16 (1400)

IN THE NEWS REUTERS

Currencies firm on local data, Moody's drags on zloty, Polish bonds

Solid economic data released last week continued to support Central European currencies, although the zloty gave up some gains after Moody's warned that a constitutional crisis could affect Poland's credit rating.

Poor weather may cut east European wheat harvest
Romania - Factors to watch on April 5

BUCHAREST, April 5 (Reuters) - Here are news stories, press reports and events to watch which may affect Romanian financial markets on Tuesday.

PPI DATA

Romanian industrial producer prices fell 3.3 percent on the year and 1.0 percent on the month in February, data from the National Statistics Board showed on Monday.

DEBT TENDER

Romania sold a planned 1 billion lei ($254.67 million) worth of one-year treasury bills on Monday, with the average accepted yield at 0.66 percent, central bank data showed.

CEE MARKETS

Solid economic data released last week continued to support Central European currencies on Monday, although the zloty gave up some gains after Moody's warned that a constitutional crisis could affect Poland's credit rating.

HIDROELECTRICA

Romanian state-owned power producer Hidroelectrica aims to sell its last remaining 20 micro hydro power stations with a total installed capacity of 16.5 MW and worth an overall 49 million lei ($12.49 million), it said on Monday. Investors have until May 16 to express interest.

For the long-term Romanian diary, click on

For emerging markets economic events, click on

For an index of all diaries, click on
Poland - Factors to Watch April 5

Following are news stories, press reports and events to watch that may affect Poland's financial markets on Tuesday. ALL TIMES GMT (Poland: GMT + 2 hours):

BONDS

Poland's finance ministry will publish bond supply for Thursday auction at around 1300 GMT.

CONSTITUTIONAL COURT

The paralysis in Poland's constitutional court puts Warsaw at risk of a lawsuit in the European Court of Human Rights, the head of the rights body the Council of Europe said on Monday.

CCC, LPP

March was a relatively bad month in terms of sales for the leading Polish retailers LPP and CCC, and the whole first quarter may show weak results, Parkiet daily said, citing analysts and companies monthly reports.

GE

The medium-sized mutual fund Altus may be again interested in buying its rival BPH TFI, which still owned by General Electric after it sold its Polish unit Bank BPH, excluding the fund and mortgage portfolio, Parkiet daily said.

AMAZON

Amazon plans to hire 1,000 people in Poland in 2016 on top of 4,500 workers it already employs, its operational director for Europe Steven Harman told Rzeczpospolita daily.

****Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.****
British FGM survivor hopes her memoir will help end "this barbaric abuse"

By Emma Batha

LONDON, April 5 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Hibo Wardere's childhood ended abruptly at six years old when she was led to a hut outside her Mogadishu home, pinned to the floor and subjected to the most brutal form of female genital mutilation (FGM).

As a wizened old woman hacked between her legs with a rusty blade, the little girl screamed out repeatedly for her "mummy" - the person she loved and trusted most in the world.

But her mother turned away. From that day on she never called her "mummy" again.

Like all girls in Somalia who undergo FGM, Wardere was told never to speak about what had happened. But 40 years on, she is determined to break the secrecy that she said perpetuates this "barbaric and medieval abuse".

This week sees the publication of her memoir "Cut", the first book about FGM in Britain where Wardere has lived since fleeing civil war in Somalia as a teenager.

"I felt as if someone had dropped me into bright orange molten lava," she wrote, recalling the day she was cut. "From head to toe the pain burned ... exploding in my brain ... every nerve ending screaming in agony."

But worse was the complete sense of betrayal by her mother. "My life changed forever," Wardere told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "It severed the closeness, the bond, the trust - everything was gone."

Wardere, a mother of seven from northeast London, is part of a growing anti-FGM campaign in Britain, where an estimated 137,000 women and girls are believed to have been cut and 60,000 girls are thought to be at risk.

She works for a new government-led FGM prevention programme, talking to teachers, school children, medical staff and the police. Her message is simple: FGM is child abuse and everyone has a duty to end it.

PURITY RITE

FGM nearly cost Wardere her life and she remembers many girls who never reappeared from their huts.

Yet the practice remains almost universal in Somalia where parents see it as an important purification rite designed to protect a girl's virginity.

Many also believe the ritual, called gudnin in Somalia, is a religious duty even though it predates Islam and is not mentioned in the Koran.

In most cases the cutter removes the girls' external genitalia and then sews up the opening, sometimes with a thorn.

"What remains ... can only be described as looking like what's between the legs of a Barbie doll. It is ... a complete denial of womanhood," she wrote.

FGM often causes a lifetime of physical, psychological and sexual problems. Urination can take 15 minutes, menstruation is agonising, chronic infections are common. Later in life, FGM can lead to serious and even fatal childbirth injuries.

The book relates how Wardere's cousin was cut open on her wedding night to consummate the marriage. Many young women begin married life in hospital, she said.

FLASHBACKS

Wardere has suffered nightmares and flashbacks throughout her life.

As she gave birth to her first son, the images in her mind were not of her baby about to be born, but of the cutter and her bag of rusty razors.

"I was an absolute emotional wreck. I was crying non-stop. My husband kept saying: 'Look at the baby, hug the baby'. But every part of me was in pain and remembering my mutilation," she said.

"You feel like you are being ripped apart again. You don't associate anything good with that part of your body. It was horrific."

Wardere met her husband soon after arriving in London and she said they have a strong and devoted marriage, but intimacy has been fraught with difficulties.

She said it is not uncommon for men to cheat on or divorce their wives because they do not have a fulfilling sex life.

It is a cruel irony, she said, that girls are cut to "preserve" them for their husbands yet the damage done may cause their husbands to abandon them.

Shortly before her death, Wardere's mother asked her daughter to forgive her. But her belief in FGM was so entrenched that she still did not understand why Wardere would never cut her own daughters.

GIRLS CUT IN UK

In Britain, FGM is practised by communities originating from countries including Somalia, Nigeria, Eritrea, Sudan and Sierra Leone.

Among Somalis, Wardere believes 60 percent of women of her generation are still cutting their daughters because of pressure from their families and wider community.

Wardere said FGM often happens during the summer holidays - "the cutting season" - so that girls have time to recover before school starts again.

Many are taken abroad to their parents' home countries, but it is widely believed that cutters are also flown into Britain.

FGM has been illegal in Britain since 1985 but for decades the authorities turned a blind eye. However, Wardere said there has been a massive change in attitude.

In the last few years the government has introduced initiatives to identify and protect girls at risk, help women already living with FGM and improve specialist maternity care. It is also funding programmes to eradicate FGM in Africa.
Czech Republic - Factors To Watch on April 5

PRAGUE, April 5 (Reuters) - Here are news stories, press reports and events to watch which may affect Czech financial markets on Tuesday. ALL TIMES GMT (Czech Republic: GMT + 2 hours) ===========================ECONOMIC DATA======================== Real-time economic data releases................... Previous stories on Czech data............ Overview of economic data and forecasts......... Updates on CEE currencies........................... ] ==========================EVENTS================================ PRAGUE - Car Importers' Association (SDA) holds a news conference, presents Q1 passenger car registrations (1200 GMT). Related news ===========================NEWS================================= BONDS: The Czech Finance Ministry will offer up to 24 billion crowns ($1.01 billion) worth of domestic government bonds in six primary auctions taking place in April, the ministry said on Monday. Story: Related news: CEE MARKETS: Solid economic data released last week continued to support Central European currencies on Monday, although the zloty gave up some gains after Moody's warned that a constitutional crisis could affect Poland's credit rating. Story: Related news: CEE POWER: Solid economic data released last week continued to support Central European currencies on Monday although the zloty gave up some gains after Moody's warned that a constitutional crisis could affect Poland's credit rating. Story: Related news: ---------------------- MARKET SNAPSHOT ------------------------ Index/Crown Currency Latest Prev Pct change Pct change close on day in 2016 vs Euro 27.022 27.053 0.11 -0.09 vs Dollar 23.754 24.537 3.19 4.45 Czech Equities 896.85 896.85 0.44 -6.22 U.S. Equities 17,737 17,792.75 -0.31 1.79 Pvs close or current levels vs prior domestic close at 1500 GMT For Instant Views of key economic data click on For summary of economic data and forecasts For diary of forthcoming Czech events For calendar of east European economic indicators TOP NEWS -- Emerging markets TOP NEWS -- Convergence watch For an economic indicator diary for the euro zone, the United States and other Group of Seven countries see For real-time stock market index quotes click in brackets: Warsaw WIG20 Budapest BUX Prague PX Prague Newsroom: +420 224 190 477 E-mail: prague.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com ($1 = 23.7400 Czech crowns) (Reporting by Prague Newsroom)
PRESS DIGEST - RUSSIA - April 5

MOSCOW, April 5 (Reuters) - The following are some stories in Russia's newspapers on Tuesday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

VEDOMOSTI

www.vedomosti.ru

- President Vladimir Putin has taken under personal control Russia's Archives Agency, which was earlier supervised by the culture ministry. The Kremlin wants to monitor studies of Russia's history in accordance with the official line, the daily commented.

- The construction of a new reactor at Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant has been frozen for "technical reasons", the daily reports adding that Russian officials promised last month to start work in Iran in one or two months.

- The Central Bank of Russia withdraw licences from 19 private pension funds last year which had accumulated almost 63 billion roubles ($914 million) of the savings of 1.6 million people. It is unclear how much of this sum will be compensated, the daily says.

KOMMERSANT

www.kommersant.ru

- Russian businessmen do not share the optimism of Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukayev about the country's economic development, the daily says commenting on a meeting between the government official and the leaders of business lobby group Delovaya Rossiya on Monday.

- The son of Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, Alexei, was introduced on Monday as deputy head of the Defence Ministry's property department in charge of reforming the former Oboronservice holding. The holding was involved in a corruption scandal under former defence minister Anatoly Serdyukov.

- Police have launched a criminal investigation into illegal bankruptcy of Tonneldorstroi, a construction company involved in in building roads to Olympic venues in Sochi in 2014.

RBC

www.rbc.ru

- Russia's state-controlled mass media have commented cautiously on the "Panama papers" leak, especially on the facts concerning Russian officials and businessmen, the daily says adding that Russian newspapers paid little or no heed to allegations of offshore deals of President Vladimir Putin and his surrounding.

- The government is considering ways to cut the number of issues to be discussed in open meetings and to have the right to pass certain decisions within its narrow circle. This could simplify ways to classify information on the most topical issues, the daily says.

IZVESTIA

www.izvestia.ru

- Chinese company Sinohydro Corporation is working on an investment project aiming to build a bridge across the Siberian river Lena in Yakutia and is expected to present the guidelines by the end of the year. Russia will then decide on how much it will be able to invest in the construction, the daily says citing experts who estimate the cost of the project at up to 100 billion roubles ($1.45 billion) in current prices.

NEZAVISIMAYA GAZETA

www.ng.ru

- The publication of material compromising "Putin's friends" has excited the West more than Russia. Russia's authorities have no trust in the journalistic investigation, the daily says.

- A group of Russian nationalists will hold a rally on Tuesday in Kazan, the capital of the mostly Muslim republic of Tatarstan, to protest against the discrimination of local ethnic Russians in the region.
Syrian rebels advance against Islamic State near Turkish border

By Suleiman Al-Khalidi

AMMAN, April 5 (Reuters) - Syrian rebel forces closed in on a town near the Turkish border held by Islamic State militants on Tuesday after seizing numerous villages from the group in the area, rebels and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The rebels involved in the offensive include factions fighting under the banner of the Free Syrian Army that have been supplied with weapons via Turkey. They are advancing towards the IS-held town of al-Rai.

A sustained rebel advance near the Turkish border would erode Islamic State's last foothold in an area identified by the United States as a priority in the fight against IS.

Rebels who have previously struggled to make sustained gains against IS in the area have mobilised several thousand fighters for the attack, rebel sources said. An alliance of rebel groups formed for the offensive includes the Turkish-backed Sultan Murad and Failaq al Sham groups.

"The battles are continuing ... we have been able to liberate several villages very quickly from the Daesh (IS) gangs and God willing will cleanse northern Aleppo," Abu Yasser, a commander with Failaq al Sham group, speaking to Reuters.

The Observatory said the rebel groups had seized at least 16 villages in an area held by IS for nearly two years.

Islamic State's foothold at the Turkish border was significantly loosened last year by U.S.-allied Kurdish fighters of the YPG, which gained territory from the group further east.

The YPG and rebels are however locked in their own conflict, notably near the city of Aleppo. Turkey, a major sponsor of groups fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad, has been alarmed by YPG gains near the frontier with Syria.

Clashes that broke out at dawn on Tuesday when Islamist rebels launched attacks on the Kurdish-held Sheikh Maqsoud neighbourhood in northern Aleppo city still raged later in the day, the Observatory said.

Dozens of mortars fired by the rebels killed 10 people and injured some 30 more. Four YPG fighters and a number of rebels were killed in the clashes, according to the Observatory.
Opposition calls on Cameron to tackle British tax havens

By Elizabeth Piper

LONDON, April 5 (Reuters) - The leader of Britain's main opposition party will call on government on Tuesday to do more to tackle tax havens, saying it was time British Prime Minister David Cameron stopped "pussyfooting around on tax dodging".

After leaked documents from a Panamanian law company how the world's rich and powerful used secretive offshore company structures to stash their wealth, Cameron has come under pressure to clamp down on tax evasion in British-linked territories.

Cameron has so far been silent on the release of the so-called Panama Papers, declining to comment on the naming of his late father and members of the ruling Conservative Party among the list of clients who used the law firm, Mossack Fonseca.

On Monday, his spokeswoman declined to comment on whether the leader's family had money invested in offshore funds set up by his father, saying it was a "private matter".

Leader of the opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, will say in a speech later on Tuesday that Cameron needs to do more.

"The government needs to stop pussyfooting around on tax dodging. There cannot be one set of tax rules for the wealthy elite and another for the rest of us," Corbyn will say, according to excerpts of his speech to launch Labour's campaign for local elections next month.

"This unfairness and abuse must stop. No more lip service. The richest must pay their way."

Corbyn will say that Britain has a "huge responsibility" as many tax havens are British overseas territories, like the British Virgin Islands and Cayman Islands, or Crown Dependencies, such as Jersey or the Isle of Man.

In 2013, Cameron put tackling tax avoidance at the heart of his agenda when hosting a G8 summit, especially in some of Britain's former colonies, which increasingly rely on a combination of tourism and revenues from shell companies and trusts which often hide wealth.

Three years later, some opposition lawmakers say the release of the Panama Papers show that the battle is far from won and are demanding that the British leader stamp British control over its overseas territories, most of which are self-governing.

According to media which have seen Mossack Fonseca's files, more than half of the 200,000 companies set up by the firm were registered in the British Virgin Islands, where details of ownership do not have to be filed with the authorities.

The Financial Secrecy Index puts the British Virgin Islands 21st out of 92 countries ranked according to their secrecy and scale of their offshore financial activities.

But Dominic Grieve, a former attorney general and Conservative chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee, said that preventing overseas territories from running their own financial services would push criminality elsewhere.

"I think the government has a responsibility towards encouraging overseas territories to find legitimate ways of economic development and the financial sector is undoubtedly such a legitimate method," he told BBC radio, adding that people only use tax havens if their own systems were "onerous".
Turkey conducts airstrikes against PKK rebels in northern Iraq - military

ISTANBUL, April 5 (Reuters) - The Turkish military said on Tuesday it had carried out airstrikes on Monday in northern Iraq against targets belonging to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

The Turkish Armed Forces said it hit weapon stores, shelters and other PKK sites in the Qandil area of northern Iraq, in a statement posted on its website. Iraqi Kurdistan's mountainous, remote Qandil region is the main base for the PKK.

Turkish jets have carried out intermittent strikes against the PKK in north Iraq since July 2015 after the militants' abandoned their ceasefire. Security operations inside Turkey have resulted in the deaths of thousands of civilians, soldiers, police and PKK militants.
Low Dutch tax rates helped firms trim 30 bln euros in taxes

AMSTERDAM, April 5 (Reuters) - Big companies saved at least 30 billion euros ($34 billion) on their corporate tax bills between 2005 and 2014 by using favourable Dutch tax structures, the largest trade union in the Netherlands said on Tuesday.

The FNV trade union said the figure was calculated by the Amsterdam-based Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations (SOMO) which it asked to looked into 151 large businesses.

The Dutch figures were made public as tax authorities around the globe announced probes into possible tax evasion in the wake of leaked documents from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, including the Netherlands.

SOMO researchers, who examined records on 58 Dutch family companies and 93 listed firms, said that without the benefit of low Dutch corporate tax rates, they would have paid 40 percent more taxes.

"This research was only into a portion of the companies, so the actual figure is far greater," said union leader Leo Hartveld. "Every cent in extra profit companies make in this fashion is in fact theft from the people."

The Netherlands has dual taxation treaties with nearly 100 countries that lower tax rates on profit, royalties and withholding tax. In some cases companies pay almost no taxation by funnelling earnings to offshore tax havens.

Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem has promised to use the Dutch presidency of the European Union, which runs through July, to tackle tax avoidance.
How Ted Cruz win in Supreme Court hurt U.S.-Mexico relations

By Emily Stephenson

WASHINGTON, April 5 (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz often tells supporters about his U.S. Supreme Court win against the federal government in 2008, defending Texas' right to execute a Mexican man for murder, as evidence of his conservative and anti-establishment credentials.

But there is one part of the story that goes untold. The Medellin v. Texas case, decided when Cruz was the state's solicitor general, set the stage for years of diplomatic tension between the United States and its southern neighbor.

Mexico has publicly protested U.S. executions of its citizens over the years, but interviews with diplomats and reviews of official Mexican government communiques reveal that the turmoil caused by the Medellin case ran deeper, coming up at nearly every meeting between the United States and Mexico and leading to an official protest to the United Nations Security Council in 2014.

Given the level of frustration, Cruz's role in the court battle raises questions about U.S.-Mexico relations if he were to beat billionaire Donald Trump to the Republican nomination and win the U.S. presidential election in November.

"I think relations would be complicated with a President Cruz," said Sergio Alcocer, who was Mexico's deputy foreign minister responsible for North America between 2012-2015.

Alcocer praised Cruz as intelligent and pragmatic but said the senator was too inflexible on issues like immigration and the death penalty. "Cruz takes certain positions that are very clearly defined. And he's much more conservative, much more dogmatic than Trump," Alcocer said.

A Cruz campaign official did not respond to requests for comment. In Mexico City, a foreign ministry spokesman said Mexico had no preference among the U.S. presidential candidates and would not comment on the election.

In the Medellin case, Cruz defended the death sentence a Texas court imposed on Mexican citizen Jose Ernesto Medellin after he was convicted in 1994 for his role in the gang rape and strangling of two teenage girls in a Houston park.

In 2004, the International Court of Justice of the United Nations ruled that Texas and other states had violated the Vienna Convention by failing to notify Medellin and 50 other Mexicans on death row of their right to contact the Mexican consulate after arrest. President George W. Bush ordered Texas and other states to review the sentences.

Cruz argued that, while the United States had submitted to the international court's decisions, the White House could not implement an international agreement that required states to change their court procedures without action by Congress. The Supreme Court agreed in a 6-3 decision.

Winning the case raised Cruz's profile in conservative circles. He has recently said he would appoint justices who would narrowly interpret the Constitution - as he did in the Medellin case - a crucial talking point in the election following the death of Supreme Court conservative icon Antonin Scalia.

"It was an unusual thing at the time for the state of Texas to be standing up against the president of the United States in front of the Supreme Court, particularly when that president was a Texan and a Republican and the former governor of this state," Cruz told cheering supporters at a Houston rally in February, one of the many times he has brought up the case.

MEXICO PROTESTS

The Supreme Court ruling removed a potential legal barrier to three more executions of Mexican nationals in Texas who had been part of the same international court case as Medellin, even as U.S. allies such as the European Union and Switzerland criticized what they saw as ongoing treaty violations.

Mexico pressed U.S. officials and Congress to follow the international court's directive and require states to review death sentences where people had been denied consular access.

"The issue came up as one of the top few issues (Mexico) raised in almost every bilateral meeting we had," said Harold Hongju Koh, who was legal adviser to the U.S. State Department from 2009-2013.

Alcocer, the former Mexican deputy foreign minister, confirmed the issue of consular access was raised during negotiations on other cross-border issues like the extradition of criminals.

"It's not resolved, and it's something that Mexico needs to keep insisting on," he said in an interview.

Mexican officials said both the Bush and Obama administrations had been open to working on the issue. U.S. State Department officials supported consular-access legislation introduced in the Senate, but that was not enough to spur Congress to resolve the issue.

Texas executed Medellin in August 2008, five months after the Supreme Court decision, drawing swift criticism from the United Nations court.

Three years later, as Texas prepared to execute another Mexican national who had not received consular access, Mexico's then-ambassador to the United States, Arturo Sarukhan, wrote to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton saying the action would "seriously jeopardize" cooperation on a range of issues.

"It serves neither the United States nor the Mexico-U.S. relationship if the U.S. cannot live up to its treaty obligations," said the letter, which was reviewed by Reuters.

In 2013, Mexico warned Washington in another letter that the executions of Mexican nationals who had been denied consular access would mean "our whole forward-looking bilateral engagement could be questioned."

A year later the government wrote to the president of the United Nations' Security Council expressing indignation over the executions of Mexican citizens in violation of the international court directive.

Sarukhan, the former Mexican ambassador, said Mexico had few options to put pressure on the United States without harming cooperation in other areas.

"March 31st marks now 12 years since the decision was rendered and the United States is yet to comply with its international obligations," the government said in a statement, responding to Reuters questions about the Medellin case and Cruz's involvement in it.

Critics of the Medellin ruling, and Cruz's boasts about it, say Texas could have simply reviewed the sentences as the international court had asked.

"Texas could have provided that remedy 20 times over in the time that it took to litigate that case up and down through the Texas courts and the Supreme Court," said Sandra Babcock, a law professor at Cornell University who was one of Medellin's attorneys. "The long-term damage, the reputational damage to the United States is still ongoing."

But Cruz's supporters dismiss such criticism. His job as solicitor general was to defend Texas, not to worry about the international implications, they say.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a former attorney general who was Cruz's boss at the time of the Medellin case, introduced the presidential hopeful at the February rally in Houston.
Nepal, India alarmed by report of children trafficked as slaves to Britain

By Nita Bhalla and Gopal Sharma

NEW DELHI/KATHMANDU, April 5 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - N epal and India expressed alarm on Tuesday over a report that children as young as 10 from both countries are being sold as domestic slaves to rich families in the UK for 500,000 rupees ($7,525) each.

An investigation by The Sun newspaper suggested that gangs operating in the north Indian state of Punjab are preying on destitute Indian children, as well as Nepali children who migrated to India after earthquakes hit their country last year.

The article published on Monday prompted British Home Secretary Theresa May to call for a police investigation into the allegations of child trafficking - "a truly abhorrent crime" - and action against perpetrators.

Government officials in Nepal and India said they are aware human trafficking is common, especially after natural disasters, but were surprised victims are being sent as far away as the UK.

"We have already instructed police to investigate this. This is very serious," Yadav Koirala, spokesman for Nepal's Home Ministry, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

"We have no proof now. If any proof is found out during investigation, we will bring those involved it the crime to justice. There is no question of leaving them without punishment."

An official from India's home ministry said the government was trying to tackle the "menace" of human trafficking "with all seriousness".

"It is a known fact that children from poor families are trafficked from states such as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh bordering Nepal. The last devastating earthquake in Nepal has added to this problem," said the official, who did not want to be named.

He said cases of human trafficking were possible in Punjab where drug trafficking is a problem, and that the same gangs could be involved in buying and selling children as well.

"TAKE A NEPALESE TO ENGLAND"

The Sun's investigation was carried out by an undercover reporter posing as a wealthy British-Indian visiting the city of Jalandhar, looking for a child worker to take back to the UK.

It quotes a trader called Makkhan Singh, who had lined up three children for the reporter to choose from, claiming he had supplied mostly Nepali boys to rich families in England.

"Take a Nepalese to England. They are good people. They are good at doing all the housework and they're very good cooks. No one is going to come after you," he was quoted as saying.

"India is flooded with boys. Nepal has been destroyed and all the Nepalese are here. We go to the poor parents, we talk to them, we do a deal," he added.

South Asia is the fastest-growing and second-largest region for human trafficking in the world, after East Asia, according to the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

India, alone, is home to almost half the world's 36 million slaves, according to the 2015 Global Slavery Index, produced by the Australia-based Walk Free Foundation.

Thousands of children, mostly from poor rural areas, are taken to cities every year by gangs who sell them into bonded labour or hire them out to unscrupulous employers.

Many end up as domestic workers or labourers in brick kilns, roadside restaurants or small textile and embroidery workshops. Many women and girls are sold into brothels.

Experts say the risks of being exploited are even greater after disasters when homes, jobs and livelihoods are lost.

40,000 CHILDREN HIT AFTER QUAKES

Earthquakes that struck Nepal in April and May 2015, killed some 8,800 people, left hundreds of thousands of families homeless and raised concerns among rights groups that trafficking rings would take advantage of the vulnerable.

Nepali officials say more than 40,000 children either lost their parents, were injured, or were placed in a precarious situation following the disaster.

Authorities launched anti-trafficking awareness campaign in 22 districts bordering India and alerted police and child rights activists to remain vigilant against child exploitation.

Over the last year, Nepali officials say they had intercepted 400 children moving in groups without their parents.

In India, officials in Uttar Pradesh state say they have rescued more than 160 Nepalis, mainly women and children, from human trafficking after the twin quakes.

Back in Britain, Home Secretary May called on The Sun to help with the police investigation in the UK.
Pope Francis to visit Greece to highlight refugee crisis-govt

By Lefteris Papadimas and Philip Pullella

ATHENS/VATICAN CITY, April 5 (Reuters) - Pope Francis is to visit Greece on April 14-15, a Greek government official said on Tuesday, getting a first-hand look at the front line of Europe's migrant crisis and thousands of refugees fleeing conflict.

The Holy Synod, the ruling body of the Greek Orthodox Church, said in a statement it wanted the pontiff to visit Lesbos, the Aegean island where hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants have arrived in the past year.

Confirming the visit, a Greek government official said Francis would be accompanied to Lesbos by Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians.

"The Greek government will welcome Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew as valuable supporters and friends in the struggle to offer refugees some relief," the government official said.

The Greek Church said the pope had expressed a wish to make a visit to draw attention to conflict in the wider Mediterranean area "which has a detrimental effect on Christian communities, but also to highlight the humanitarian problem caused by desperate refugees who are seeking a better future in Europe."

The Vatican's chief spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, said in a statement that there were contacts between religious and civil authorities but that no definitive decision had been made about the timing or venue of the trip.

Hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing conflict have crossed into Greece by sea from Turkey in the past year, triggering the biggest humanitarian crisis in generations.

Alarmed at the influx, the European Union and Turkey jointly agreed to seal off the route last month, after Balkan states closed their borders to migrants trying to make their way to wealthy western Europe, stranding thousands in Greece.

A first group of 202 migrants, mostly Pakistani and Afghan, were shipped back to Turkey on Monday under an agreement which will see Ankara take back all migrants and refugees who cross the Aegean to enter Greece illegally.

In return, the EU will take in thousands of Syrian refugees directly from Turkey and reward it with money, visa-free travel for Turks and progress in its EU membership negotiations.

The statement by the Greek Orthodox Church said a visit by the pope would be "of a few hours duration, purely humanitarian and symbolic".

Theological differences and historical circumstances triggered a schism in Christianity in 1054, splitting it into Western and Eastern wings.

Francis has made repeated appeals in defence of refugees, asking Europe to accept them.
France wants to reopen embassy in Libya to help unity government

PARIS, April 5 (Reuters) - France hopes to reopen its embassy in Tripoli as a sign of support for Libya's new unity government, Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said on Tuesday, in what would be the first reopening of a Western diplomatic mission there.

Western governments are growing increasingly concerned about Islamic State's success in establishing a firm foothold in Libya while two rival factions operating two governments fought for power.

The West is now backing a U.N.-brokered national unity government, which arrived in Tripoli from Tunisia last week and has been operating from a naval base as it seeks to establish its authority.

"Tunisia has reopened its embassy ... We are working on it if the security conditions are guaranteed ... It would be an extremely strong signal to show that we don't give in to terrorists," Ayrault told reporters after a meeting with his German counterpart, Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Ayrault, who described the arrival of the government as an important milestone, said Paris hoped to open its embassy "as soon as possible".

Western diplomatic staff were evacuated from Tripoli in 2014 amid heavy fighting between rival factions.

European Union sanctions, pushed by Paris, went into effect last week to pressure hardliners to accept the U.N. efforts to unite factions and militias that have competed for power since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

Paris took a leading role in the NATO air campaign that helped rebels overthrow Gaddafi, and French aircraft are now conducting reconnaissance flights over Libya while French military advisers operate on the ground in conjunction with Britain and the United States.
EU top official says Poland must respect top court's ruling on reforms

By Wiktor Szary

WARSAW, April 5 (Reuters) - Poland's constitutional crisis which has set it at odds with its Western allies could still be solved through dialogue, but the Warsaw government must first bow to a key court ruling which it has so far rejected, a top EU official said on Tuesday.

The eurosceptic Law and Justice (PiS) party has faced growing pressure from the European Union, the United States and other bodies since it swept to power in Poland last October and tiughtened control on media and other institutions.

The conservative party is now under threat of action by the European Commission for reshuffling the judges in the constitutional tribunal and changing the court's decision-making powers - moves which critics say paralyses the top body and threatens the rule of law in the country.

A rule of law procedure instituted by the European Commission could end up with Poland, the EU's largest eastern member state, being suspended fromn voting in the Commission.

Frans Timmermans, the Commission's first vice president and one of several European officials in Warsaw who are trying to save the situation, struck an optimistic tone on Tuesday.

"I don't want to prejudge, or pre-empt any next steps," Timmermans told a news conference after meeting Polish officials.

"Why? Because I did get the feeling today that there is room for dialogue and room for finding a solution (to the crisis) without the European Commission having to take any next steps."

But he insisted that the Warsaw government would first have to recognise the constitutional tribunal's ruling that its legislation was unconstitutional - something which the government has refused to do so far.

"The starting point of the dialogue should be full respect for the rulings of the constitutional tribunal - rulings that in my view should be published and implemented," Timmermans said.
Gunmen kidnap Lebanese, kill soldier in Nigeria's Delta -police

YENAGOA, Nigeria, April 5 (Reuters) - Gunmen killed a Nigerian soldier and kidnapped a Lebanese construction worker on Tuesday in a shootout in the southern oil-producing Niger Delta, police said.

Pipeline attacks and violence have been on the rise in the swampland since authorities issued an arrest warrant in January for a former militant leader on corruption charges.

"One Lebanese, Ramzi Bau Hadir, aged 53 years, was kidnapped by the armed bandits," said Butswat Asinim, a police spokesman in Bayselsa state. A resident said a second foreigner had been kidnapped but Asinim did not confirm this.

"It was a movie scene. The soldiers were shooting and the armed men were shooting," a driver who gave his name as Monday told local newspaper Leadership. "We later saw signs of blood everywhere."

Attacks have been on the rise for weeks in the Delta, which provides most of Nigeria's oil and gas wealth. Militant groups have long demanded a greater share of the mineral wealth and an end to oil pollution in the region.

Last month gunmen blew up an oil pipeline belonging to Italy's ENI, killing three workers who had been repairing the pipe, according to officials.

In February militants staged a sophisticated underwater attack, probably using divers, on a Shell pipeline, shutting down the 250,000 barrel-a-day Forcados export terminal.
Ugandan opposition leader arrested as post-election tensions linger

By Elias Biryabarema

KAMPALA, April 5 (Reuters) - Ugandan police arrested opposition leader Kizza Besigye on Tuesday amid clashes with his supporters, highlighting lingering tensions after a disputed presidential election.

Veteran President Yoweri Museveni was declared winner of the Feb. 18 election with 60 percent of the vote, although Besigye and other candidates rejected the results as fraudulent.

Besigye, who came second with 35 percent, said widespread rigging, intimidation by security personnel, ballot stuffing and other irregularities had made the vote invalid.

That criticism was echoed by independent monitors from the European Union and the Commonwealth who said Uganda's electoral body lacked independence and transparency and that the poll had been conducted in an intimidating atmosphere.

Police spokesman Patrick Onyango said Besigye had been arrested as he left his home after defying orders to use a designated route.

"He insisted on driving through the city centre with his supporters ... he would not listen to orders to use a different route," Onyango said.

Besigye was being held at a police station in Mukono, about 24 km east of the capital Kampala. Onyango said he had been charged with participating in an unlawful assembly. He did not say whether Besigye might be released on bond.

Footage on local television showed a heavy contingent of police trucks, armoured vehicles and personnel intercepting Besigye as he was driving into the city centre with a procession of supporters.

Officials say they suspect Besigye wants to topple the government through street protests, and he has been kept under virtual house arrest since polling day.

On Friday, however, police said they would withdraw a contingent stationed outside his house, where he had been receiving visits from supporters, religious leaders and human rights organisations.

Some analysts said the government might be becoming uncomfortable with the attention Besigye was getting.

But Ingrid Turinawe, a senior official in Besigye's Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), said she believed the withdrawal of the police guard had been a ruse.
Kerry: Syria talks to test if Assad can negotiate in good faith

WASHINGTON, April 5 (Reuters) - Upcoming peace talks on a political transition in Syria will test whether Syrian President Bashar al-Assad can negotiate in good faith, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Tuesday before a fresh round of negotiations in Geneva.

"The key right now is whether Assad is capable of negotiating in good faith, and we have to put that to the test," Kerry told Bloomberg Television in New York.

Assad has said he thinks the Geneva talks, which are meant to resume around April 9, can produce a new Syrian government that includes opposition, independents and loyalists, but has rejected the idea of a transition authority.

But Syria's opposition has consistently said it wants a halt in attacks on civilians and for the Geneva talks to result in a transitional governing body for Syria that does not include Assad.

Kerry, who is working with Russia to persuade Assad to step down, repeated that there was no way to end the Syrian war with Assad still at the helm.

"I don't see any way possible for Assad to remain because there is no way to end the war while he is there, there is no way to end the violence, there is no way for him to unify the country," Kerry said, "so Iran and Russia, and others need to recognize if you want peace, Assad has to transition."
Panama says could retaliate against France over blacklisting

PANAMA CITY, April 5 (Reuters) - Panama could retaliate after France announced it would put the Central American nation back on its blacklist of uncooperative tax jurisdictions, a top Panamanian official said on Tuesday, amid a major leaks scandal.

Alvaro Aleman, Panama's presidential chief of staff, told a news conference the government could respond with similar measures against France, or any other country that follows France's lead.

He added the country was ready to cooperate in any investigations stemming from the leaks, but stressed no Panamanian company has yet been found to have committed a crime.
Head of Nigeria's upper house goes on trial for false asset declaration

By Camillus Eboh

ABUJA, April 5 (Reuters) - Nigeria's third most powerful politician went on trial on Tuesday accused of falsely declaring assets when he was a state governor.

Senate President Bukola Saraki, a member of the ruling party who heads the upper house of parliament, has pleaded not guilty to the charges relating to when he was governor of the central Nigerian state of Kwara from 2003 to 2011.

Since being elected last year, President Muhammadu Buhari has launched a crackdown on graft which has held most Nigerians in poverty despite the country's energy wealth.

Saraki's lawyers had sought to stop the trial by arguing that the attorney general had no power to mount a case against him. He said on Tuesday he was confident he would be exonerated if the trial was conducted fairly.

The 13 charges he faces at the national Code of Conduct Tribunal, a special court that deals with asset declaration misdemeanours, mostly relate to the ownership of land held by his company Carlisle Properties Ltd during that period.

Other allegations include transferring $3.4 million to an account outside Nigeria while he was governor, and sending 1.5 million pounds to a European account to cover a mortgage for a London property.

"In the course of our investigation, we discovered that there were several companies which were linked to the defendant," said the first court witness, Michael Wetkas, an official at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

The trial was adjourned. If found guilty, Saraki would be removed as Senate president, barred from holding any public office for up to 10 years and could be jailed.

The start of trial coincides with Saraki being cited in the huge Panama Papers data leak about the tax affairs of public figures around the world.

Nigerian newspaper Premium Times, which was among more than 100 news organisations involved in the leak with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, said Saraki's family held at least four undeclared overseas offshore assets, among them one London property.
Most of Niger affected by power cuts caused by Nigeria fuel shortage

NIAMEY, April 5 (Reuters) - Nigeria's fuel shortages have caused power cuts across the border in Niger, according to a statement released by the state electric company, NIGELEC, affecting seven of Niger's eight regions for the past 72 hours.

Landlocked Niger became an oil producer in 2011 but still imports about 70 percent of its power needs from larger neighbour Nigeria.

But a slump in oil prices has made it impossible for Nigeria to purchase items like fuel, which it must purchase despite pumping 1.8 million barrels per day because its outdated refineries are often out of order.

"This situation has caused (NIGELEC's) principal provider to limit to a third its normal imports, which is at the base of the current disturbances observed on networks lately," the statement read.

"NIGELEC has found itself therefore with the obligation to proceed with rolling blackouts."

Less than 15 percent of the population of Niger, considered to be one of the world's least developed countries, has access to electricity, according to the World Bank.
Parents of missing Nigeria schoolgirls hope 2 year event reminds world of their fate

By Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani

ABUJA, Nigeria, April 5 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - N igerian officials gave permission on Tuesday for a memorial event at a school in northeast Nigeria from where Islamist rebels abducted 276 girls two years ago with parents hoping this would remind the world their daughters are still missing.

The event, a prayer session integrating both Muslim and Christian faiths, will mark the second anniversary of the girls' abduction by Boko Haram militants from Chibok that provoked an international outcry and a viral campaign #bringbackourgirls.

It will be held on April 14 - exactly two years since Boko Haram fighters stormed the Government Secondary School in Chibok in the middle of the night and kidnapped 276 girls. In total 57 managed to escape but 219 remain missing.

Lawan Zanna, secretary of the Parents of the Abducted Girls from Chibok association, said the government had agreed to give the parents access to the school that is heavily guarded and all the parents of the missing girls are expected to attend.

The parents were hoping the event would again garner attention for the girls who have not been seen since the night of their abduction despite calls to find them from celebrities and politicians including U.S. first lady Michelle Obama.

"We have also invited all the government officials from Chibok .. and they also promised to allow any person from the media to join us," Zanna, whose 18-year-old daughter is among the missing girls, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Boko Haram has kidnapped thousands of boys and girls in northeast Nigeria over the past seven years, turning them into cooks, sex slaves, fighters, and even suicide bombers to attack their own villages, according to Amnesty International.

But the Chibok abduction remains the most high-profile.

On the first anniversary of the abduction the parents held a memorial event at the school but then a military checkpoint was then set up outside the school and the area ruled out of bounds.

Visitors are required to seek official permission from the government or the military to get access to the school and also to Chibok town.

The parents received permission to use the venue for this year's event on Tuesday after three representatives of the parents' association met with government officials.

In March last year, the previous Nigerian government of President Goodluck Jonathan began work on rebuilding the school that was razed by the militants on the night of the abduction.

But weeks later Jonathan was forced from power by Muhammadu Buhari in a national election and no buildings have yet been erected on the school site.
Latin American oil producers to meet Friday in Quito - Ecuador president

QUITO, April 5 (Reuters) - Latin American oil producers Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico and Venezuela are to meet on Friday to discuss an output freeze or other methods to bolster crude prices, Ecuador's President Rafael Correa told journalists on Tuesday.

The gathering was originally expected at the start of March, but was delayed due to scheduling difficulties.

Correa said Mexico was the toughest to co-ordinate with.

"The meeting will take place on April 8," said Correa, who has been pushing for the meeting. "It's been most difficult to co-ordinate with Mexico."

He added that they hoped to have a declaration of support for a forthcoming OPEC, non-OPEC meeting in Doha on April 17.

This regional meeting is the first significant sign that non-OPEC producers Colombia and Mexico are involved in an effort to bolster prices, in a deep slump due to worries about global oversupply.

Ecuador and Venezuela have pushed hard for the OPEC, non-OPEC meeting because they have suffered more during the recent price plunge than most producers because their economies rely heavily on oil.

Oil prices rose on Tuesday after Kuwait insisted major producers will agree to freeze output later this month even as key player Iran continued to balk at the plan.
The "biggest leak" in the history of data journalism, Panama Papers, has a damning verdict on Mossack Fonseca, and other such offshore finance companies for not only aiding brazen tax avoidance by the world's super-rich, but also sponsoring international war crimes and manmade disasters in the most conflict-ridden parts of the world.

In the above explainer video, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) underlines how law firms such as the Panamanian Mossack Fonseca enable shady deals between blacklisted companies and authoritarian state leaders such as Bashar al Assad of Syria. In 2014, monetary transactions facilitated by Mossack Fonseca fuelled the airplanes that carried out the worst attack on Syrian civilians by Assad's men.

"Mossack Fonseca is a key player in a sprawling, secretive industry of offshore that the world's rich and powerful use to hide assets and skirt rules by setting up front companies in far-flung jurisdictions."

Its "alarming list of clients [are] involved in bribery, arms deals, tax evasions, financial frauds, and drug trafficking". ICIJ adds, "behind the emails, paper trails, are REAL VICTIMS".
As a community, we work hard to make sure that underserved students are able to access a college education. Charlottesville schools, non-profits and educational foundations each do their part to provide students with the needed skills and opportunities to attend colleges and universities in order to further their education, and to realize their ambitions and potential.

I have come to realize that some colleges are not being good stewards to our young people. Multiple students have sought my help in resolving outstanding, confusing bills generated by public Virginia universities. In each case, the young students were charged fees for services that they did not use, because they were not enrolled  charges such as housing fees for rooms they did not live in and meal plans for food they did not eat. These charges are compounded by penalties and late charges  often because the students do not receive the electronic notifications because they are not enrolled in the school.

I do not think its coincidental that the students who are being preyed upon are first-generation students who are not familiar with these bureaucracies.

There are many ways to improve our system, but two are to improve students financial literacy and to work to hold universities and lenders more accountable for their pricing and lending policies. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is working on both of these goals. It is so very important to have sensible regulatory agencies in place to protect ourselves and hardworking young adults.

Dolly Joseph

Albemarle County
Bike Miami Valley is seeking designs for Culture Bikes, a new program that celebrates the diverse cultures of Dayton through specially designed Link Bikes.

Bike Miami Valley is calling on Dayton residents 18 years and older to submit design patterns that represent their cultural heritage. Five finalists will be selected to have their designs printed on a Link Bike and will be recognized at the launch event on the June 3rd First Friday in downtown Dayton.

We were inspired by other successful bike share design contests around the country, says Bike Miami Valleys Executive Director Laura Estandia. To make the contest Dayton specific, we are asking for designs that capture Daytons cultural stories and the people that make this community a diverse place to live.

All skill levels are encouraged to apply. Information on the application and submission guidelines can be found on the Culture Bikes page at linkdayton.org. The deadline to make submissions is Monday, April 25, 2016.

Link is a popular program run by Bike Miami Valley and Greater Dayton RTA. Since its launch on May 5, 2015, Link riders have totaled over 30,000 trips and have attracted over 4,300 unique users to the system.

Were excited to see all of the submissions, and the finished products rolling around the city, says Estandia.
The 17-year-old died on Tuesday at theNehru Zoological Park while trying to take a selfie.

Hyderabad: A teenager died after falling from a rock inside the Nehru Zoological Park on Tuesday morning while trying to click a selfie.

Manjeet Choudhary, 17, fell into the water fountain at the Prehistoric Animals Park area in front of his family members after falling from the slippery rock in the restricted area.

Bahadurpura police said that Manjeet hit his head on the edge of the fountains wall or on the rock during the fall. He was declared brought dead at Osmania General Hospital by the doctors.

Read: Manjeet hurt on head; lost consciousness after the fall, say cops

His family members meanwhile alleged that no guard was present to rescue the boy and that it took more than half an hour for a vehicle to come and take him to hospital.

My brother would have been alive if an ambulance had reached there on time. It took more than half an hour for zoo officials to send somebody to the accident spot, said his sister Ninji Chowdari.

She also alleged that Manjeet was electrocuted before falling in the water. Zoo officials said that they had sent their battery vehicle to get Manjeet immediately and had treated him at the zoo clinic.

Youths death raises concern

No guards were present when 17-year-old Manjeet fell to his death at the waterfall at the zoos Butterfly Park on Tuesday. When asked, a senior zoo official said, The guard was not present when the incident occurred because he was having lunch somewhere else.

Zoo security officials rushed to the spot to help the boy after he fell and lost consciousness. To prevent such accidents in future the management has decided to raise a fencing all along the waterfall so that no one can enter; the number of rounds for the security will also be increased.

Last year in August a tiger had managed to get out of its cage, putting the lives of many at risk. In June, a man had managed to enter the jaguar enclosure.

In 2011, a man had died after being hit by the zoos toy train.
Berlin, Germany: German police have arrested two Afghan migrants for sexually abusing a 14-year-old boy at a public swimming pool in west Germany, according to a report in the Daily Mail.

The incident took place in Delbruck, North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany.

The victim was swimming in the pool with his friend when two migrants approached them. As the men advanced towards the boys, both of them fled from the swimming pool.

Read: Austria: Migrant rapes 10-year-old boy, claims it was 'sexual emergency'

Although one of them escaped from the attackers, the 14-year-old was caught by the accused. They then cornered the victim and forced him to perform sexual acts on them.

Both the accused, aged 20 and 25, attacked the minor boy in one of the changing rooms.

Lifeguards were immediately informed and the authorities managed to arrest the migrants. They were produced before a court in Paderborn and have been detained.

This is not the first time such an incident has happened. Recently, a 20-year-old migrant accused of raping a boy in Austria has reportedly told investigators that though he knew it was a mistake, he committed the act as it was a case of sexual emergency.

The 10-year-old was brutally raped by the migrant in a swimming pool cubicle at The Resienbad, and was found crying by the lifeguard. He was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital, while the police found the migrant on the spot, amusing himself by diving into the pool over and over again.
The ambitious project to be built on 583 acres of reclaimed land has raised concerns in India over its proximity to the Indian coast. (Photo: AFP)

Beijing: The controversy-hit USD 1.5 billion Colombo Port City Project funded by China will be accorded special status of a "financial and business district" with laws of its own, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe has said ahead of his fence-mending visit here.

"The Port City will become a special financial and business district of Sri Lanka which will have its own laws. Of course the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka must have the final say," Wickramasinghe told China's state-run Xinhua news agency ahead of his four-day visit from tomorrow.

He said a separate financial and legal system will operate in the Port City "where people can come and transact business internationally."

The ambitious project to be built on 583 acres of reclaimed land has raised concerns in India over its proximity to the Indian coast. It is Sri Lanka's biggest foreign investment project.

The project, suspended by President Maithripala Sirisena in March last year over allegations of corruption and concerns over its impact on the environment, was recently cleared after amending the agreement reached during the tenure of Mahinda Rajapaksa, specially the clause relating to the ownership of the land by Chinese firms.

Wickramasinghe said that with China's 21st Century Maritime Silk Road initiative, Sri Lanka hopes to regain its status as the economic hub of the Indian Ocean region.

India has not yet endorsed the Maritime Silk Road proposal because of its strategic concerns over the Chinese domination in the Indian Ocean often regarded as India's backyard.

While Wickramasinghe during his election campaign had threatened to scrap the project over environmental threat to the coastal belt from Negombo to Beruwala in the island, his government later put it on hold to probe its controversial clauses including the ownership of the land by Chinese firm.

The proposed city is to be built between the Colombo South Port and the Galle Face Green, an ocean-side urban park.

According to the project agreement, 20 hectares of land will be given to China Communication Construction Company (CCCC), which is building the project on outright basis.

Concerns have been raised over the deal since the company gets the land on a freehold basis in a high security zone. Sirisena government had earlier said that land in a high security zone cannot be given to another country and the project needed to be completely reviewed.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on Monday arrested three people, including the Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to Medical Education Minister Dr Sharan Prakash R Patil, in connection with the II year Pre-University Chemistry examination question paper leak.





The exam was held on March 21. The arrested are Oblaraju (51), the ministers OSD, Manjunath (47), a physical education teacher at Cambridge College in Vijayanagar, and Rudrappa (50), office superintendent at PWD office at K R Circle.



Oblaraju is from the Pensions and Small Savings Department of the State government. He was appointed OSD to Dr Patil two years ago. He is a relative of suspect Rudrappa. Children of Rudrappa and Oblaraju had appeared for the II PU examination this year, DIG (CID) Sonia Narang told reporters on Monday.Asked if Minister Patil would be roped in for investigation, the CID said the minister cannot be held responsible for Oblarajus wrongs. If needed, the CID may question him.



Suspect Manjunath, who had got the question paper from a source, had sold it to many people at different prices and netted Rs 10 lakh. He deposited the money in his bank account. The CID would write to the bank branch concerned to freeze his account, Narang said.



Manjunath and Oblaraju were acquaintances. Knowing that the latter and Rudrappas children were in II PU, Manjunath sold them the leaked question paper. We are yet to ascertain how much they paid Manjunath, Narang said. Manjunath is also an LIC agent and his wife a government PU College lecturer in the City. The CID is ascertaining from whom Manjunath got the question paper. They suspect some PU Board staff may have helped Manjunath lay hands on the question paper.

The question paper is believed to have been obtained by a select few students before it reached the children of Manjunath and Oblaraju and some others. Some of these students photographed the hand written question paper and posted it to their friends on WhatsApp. Some even posted it on WhatsApp groups. The question paper, thus, circulated across the State, Narang said.



There are no criminal cases against the suspects in any of the police stations. It is not known if they had any role in the second leak of the Chemistry question paper prior to the re-exam fixed for March 31, which has been put off to April 12. The suspects have been booked under IPC sections 418, 420 and 381, besides provisions of the Karnataka Education Act.
A group of Congress legislators, who are aspiring to be ministers, on Monday urged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to revamp his council of ministers at the earliest and give an opportunity to the loyal party legislators.



About 10 legislators met the chief minister and briefed him about their plan to mount pressure on the party high command to give an opportunity to loyal MLAs. S T Somashekar, R V Devaraj, M Krishnappa, Munirathna and K N Rajanna are among the MLAs who met the chief minister.



Sources in the party said the legislators are demanding that the chief minister drop a minimum of 25 non-performing ministers and induct them in the council of ministers.



They believe that the partys image is getting dented due to inefficiency of certain ministers. The legislators are, however, not naming the non-performing ministers. A section of leaders in the party are of the view that the legislators are raising the demand at Siddaramaiahs behest. The chief minister is anticipating trouble when he takes up the revamping exercise, which he is likely to do by this month end. So he has begun the groundwork by making the legislators raise the demand for dropping the non-performing ministers.



When contacted, Rajanna said the chief minister had given an appointment at 5 pm on April 9 for like-minded legislators to meet him. About 35 MLAs will meet the chief minister and urge him to revamp the council of ministers. A memorandum will be submitted to him on the steps to be taken to bring the Congress back to power in the 2018 Assembly polls, he added.



Somashekar said the legislators are seeking an appointment with party president Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi. We want to explain our demand to our leaders. Our demand is just and in the interests of the party. We want the party to come back to power in the 2018 Assembly elections, he added.



At present, the chief minister is busy in the process of appointing members to various boards and corporations. He will be appointing at least 800 members. The selection exercise is going on at an undisclosed destination. Soon after meeting the MLAs, he left for the undisclosed destination to complete the exercise.


The Supreme Court has declined to interfere with a Karnataka High Court decision that elevated 16 lawyers in Bengaluru to senior advocates.





A bench of Chief Justice T S Thakur and Justice U U Lalit on Monday asked advocates T N Raghupathy and M Veerabhadraiah, who challenged the decision, to show confidence in the system evolved by the High Court.



You must concede to the collective wisdom of the institution... we brought in voting system (among judges on making advocates senior) here and everybody (judge) expresses his opinion. We are not saying that the system we are following is perfect. What we will tell the HC when our system is not satisfying everyone, the bench told senior advocate N Devdas, who appeared for the petitioners.



The petitioners claimed that the High Court had elevated 16 lawyers to senior advocates without any deliberation on their profile, competence and background. There is no rule and it is being done through majority votes, they contended.



Depends on judges votes



Yes, there is no statutory norm, it all depends on judges votes. But why should you pull down your own colleagues? If (the) majority of judges say something, you should respect, the bench told the petitioners.



The court instructed them to intervene in a pending petition filed by senior advocate Indira Jaising about reforming the prevailing practice.



The petitioners had challenged the notifications issued by the High Court registrar general on June 30 and July 14, 2014. The Advocates Act, 1961, empowers the court to elevate lawyers to senior advocates.


Chief Minister Siddaramaiahs reply to Governor Vajubhai Vala on not tabling the controversial report on Wakf property encroachment in the Legislative Council has not satisfied Raj Bhavan, say sources.





Vala had, on Monday, sought more clarifications and also advised the government that not tabling the report could lead to a constitutional crisis, the sources said.



In a 12-page letter to the governor, the chief minister strongly defended his governments stand not to table the report on wakf property prepared by the Karnataka State Minority Commission in 2012, stating that the report had no legal sanctity. Besides, the Karnataka State Minority Commission Act only says that the recommendations of the panel be placed before the House, which the government had done, Siddaramaiah said.



The Upper House witnessed a logjam for nearly four days in the recently concluded budget session over the issue of submitting the full report. Opposition parties, the BJP and the JD(S), which stalled the proceedings of the House demanding that the report be submitted in the House, accused the government of protecting Congress leaders whose names are mentioned as being involved in the wakf property encroachment.



But the government refused to budge from its stand despite the Council Chairman's ruling to submit the report in the House. Shankaramurthy later met the Governor and complained against the government in this regard. He had also sought his advice on the issue.


The security establishment is considering a review of the liberalised investment regime being offered to Chinese investors after Beijing snubbed India by blocking its latest bid to have JeM chief Masood Azhar designated terrorist by the United Nations.





Official sources said the view in the security establishment is that security clearances given to Chinese companies should be reviewed after China's action in the UN on India's bid in the wake of terror strike at the Pathankot airbase.



Investments from China, which was once considered "a country of concern", has been offered red carpet welcome by the government with the aim of boosting bilateral relations, especially after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh had visited the country.



However, Beijing's latest action in the UN led to security establishment's re-thinking of the China policy, especially while granting security clearance to investments from China.

"The country of concern tag was removed from China. But the liberalised policy is not getting the desired results. There may be a re-thinking of the policy to grant security clearance to Chinese companies," a source said.



Now the security establishment feels that China has shown insensitivity as far as core security national issues relating to India are concerned.



Around 25 Chinese companies were given security clearance by the government in the past two years for setting up industrial projects mostly in power, telecom, railways and infrastructure.



According to Department Of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), India had received Rs 3,066.24 crore investment from China in 2014-15 and Rs 2,196.11 crore in 2015-16 (up to September 2015).



As per DIPP records, the Chinese companies which have invested in India in last 15 years were Saic General Motors Investment Ltd, Beiqi Foton Motors Co Ltd, Tbea Sheyang Transformer Group Ltd, Cina Steel Corporation, Boasteel Resources Co Ltd, Gaungxi Liugong Machinery Co Ltd, Shanghai Hitachi Electrical Appliances C, Xiangfen County Hongda Group Cement & BL, Dongfang Electric Corporation Ltd and ZTE Corporation.



To give impetus to Make In India initiative, Home Ministry gave security clearance to more than twice the number of fresh investment proposals coming from across the globe in 2015 compared to previous year after conducting national risk assessment.



As many as 1,744 industrial projects were given security clearance to companies belonging to different countries in 2015. In comparison, 815 investment proposals were cleared in 2014 and 712 proposals in 2013.



The huge jump in investment proposals getting the nod came after the Home Ministry issued policy guidelines for assessment of proposals for national security clearance on July 1, 2015.


Rikki, Mannat, Ori and Blade, along with 26 of their partners joined the Delhi Police dog squad on Monday in a colourful ceremony at India Gate.





Obeying their handlers instructions to the T, the canines displayed immaculate sense of rhythm and agility while performing different tasks ranging from jumping from a ring to standing on hind legs when signalled to do so.



Trained to sniff explosives, narcotics and human bodies from deep under the debris, the 30 Labradors arrived ten days back from Meruts Remount Veterinary Corps and now their overall strength has risen to 60.



We now have 60 dogs at our disposal  a mix of German Shepherds, Cocker Spaniels and Labradors at the dog squad. Out of them 45 handle explosives, while 15 track other things like narcotics, said a police officer attached with the dog squad.



Previously, Delhi Police had preferred German Shepherds as they are considered to be the best in detecting explosives. But after consulting with some dog specialists, it was found that Labradors are better than the Shepherds in overall performance, especially in Indian conditions.



Labradors are all-rounder whereas German Shepherds are specialists. Labradors are also comparatively low maintenance dogs which are better suited to Delhis hot climate. They get trained fast, the dog handler explained.



Habits and peculiarities

Each dog is provided with one handler, who not only trains them every day but is also involved in the animals day to day upkeep.



Purchased from the Armys Remount Veterinary Corps, Delhi Police dog squads handlers spent five days with the old handlers of the canines to know more about their habits and peculiarities.



Instructing his dog Blade to lie on the ground, Vidya Sagar from Haryanas Sonepat district is one of the handlers who now have developed a personal rapport with their new friends in just 10 days.



You can see in whichever direction I move, his head will move in that direction. He identifies me even in a crowd of thousands. We now share a personal bond with each other, Sagar said.



The average age of the dogs is one and half years, and they each cost Delhi Police Rs 1.60 lakh. The need to induct more dogs in the squad was particularly felt with the increasing threat of terrorism in the city. With bomb calls being received on a weekly basis from different public places of the city, the induction of these dogs will provide an extra layer of security.


Students groups said on Monday that they fear that the Delhi government will misuse information it sought from 21 Delhi University colleges on the students who enrolled with them.





Earlier in an email, the Delhi governments Directorate of Higher Education controversially asked DU colleges to send across Aadhar card number, parents occupation and their annual incomes relating to students on their rolls.



Opposing the governments move, the ABVP launched a protest outside the DUs Arts Faculty on Monday.



The Delhi government has issued an order to the 21 colleges of Delhi University to submit data relating to personal details of all the students of these colleges to it, and the official reason for the move hasnt been declared by the Delhi government, ABVPs national spokesperson Saket Bahuguna said.



According to him, only colleges fully or partially funded by the Delhi government have received the request.



This demand of the Delhi government is completely absurd, and moreover it poses a danger of this confidential information of students being used by some associations of their vested interests, Bahuguna said.



He also criticised the recent call of the varsity for not accepting offline admission applications.



This will affect students who belong to the rural and technically-poor backgrounds, and will prejudice thes students. The ABVP condemns this decision of DU administration outright, and demands that the DU administration to roll back this decision, he said.



Delhi governments letter has sought the information by April 21. It said: Please find attached herewith two performa regarding information in r/o students and in r/o courses/level with intake capacity of your college/university and the institutions affiliated to your university. I am directed to request you to please send the requisite information in the performa attached by 11:00 am 21-03-16 positively.
Amidst the row over the issue of chanting 'Bharat mata ki jai', noted Islamic scholar Khalid Rasheed Farangimahal today said institutions like Darul Uloom should desist from issuing fatwas on sensitive issues which could have a negative impact on the country and the community.





The issue of slogan chanting has political interests involved in it, Farangimahal, who is also a member of All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), told PTI here.



"Communal forces in both the communities have raised this issue with an eye on the coming Assembly elections and if any seminary issues fatwa on such a sensitive and political issue it will only help the communal forces achieve their goal... why are we ready to become a tool in the hands of such vested interests," he asked.



He said it was not binding on any seminary to give fatwas on every matter raised before it.



Farangimahl said that in the first place as per the Constitution there is no need to raise or not raise slogans of any kind to prove love for the nation.



Muslims had raised the slogan of 'inkalab zindabad" during freedom struggle and also chanted "Jai Hind", he noted, adding that if translated "Bharat mata ji jai" has a similar meaning.



When one raises this slogan it is not any idol but the map of the country which comes to ones mind, he said.



"We should rather go by historical facts and background before arriving at any conclusion on any issue," he said.



The issue had taken centre stage last month with AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi insisting he will not chant 'Bharat Mata ki Jai even if a knife is put to his neck.



Last week India's largest Islamic seminary, Darul Uloom Deoband, issued a fatwa stating Muslims should refrain from chanting the slogan 'Bharat mata ki jai' as it was against the basic tenets of their religion.



The fatwa stated that chanting the slogan was against "tauheed", or the "oneness of Allah", which forms the core of Islam.



The seminary has also argued that the Constitution provides the right to all citizens to practice their own faiths in their daily life.


A minor Dalit girl was tortured and raped by at least 12 men during the last two months at Attingal bordering Thiruvananthapuram district, police said today.





Seven persons, aged between 19 and 32 years, have been arrested in this connection and a search is on for the main accused and some others, who are absconding, they said.



Police said despite the torture she underwent, the 15-year-old girl had appeared for the just concluded Class X examinations this year as she was keen to write it.



The girl, who stays with her mentally challenged mother and a cousin brother, works as a cinematic dancer for a living.



The two main accused, her cousin's friends, took the girl from nearby Attingal in their autorickshaw on February 2 stating that her cousin brother had fallen unconscious in an inebriated state. She was taken to a deserted spot and raped by the two-- Amir and Anup Shah, police said.



While the latter is among those who have been arrested, the former is at large, police said.



The accused also recorded the heinous act on their mobile phone cameras and began threatening the girl that they would release it if she did not give in to their demands for sexual favours.



They also forcibly took her to various places and presented her to many persons for money through intimidation from February 2-March 30, police said.



Police said the girl had on several occasions been tortured when she tried to resist her tormentors. There were several injury marks of cigarette butts on her body. She was also forced to consume liquor and smoke ganja, they said.



The plight of the victim came to light on March 30, when she was physically attacked by the gang at Paripally on the outskirts after she refused to heed to the demands of her tormentors.



When local people gathered and questioned the men, they fled from the spot. Police took the girl to the police station where she narrated her torture.



The girl in her statement to police also narrated that the accused used to tie her up and beat her, forcibly make her consume liquor and take drugs.




Animal rights activists are seeking to shut down an annual summer dog meat festival in southern China blamed for blackening the country's international reputation as well as fueling extreme cruelty to canines and unhygienic food handling practices.





Activists from a coalition of groups said today that they will continue press for the festival to be banned as well as legislation outlawing the slaughtering of dogs and cats and the consumption of their meat.



While an estimated 10-20 million dogs are killed for their meat each year in China, the June 20 event in the city of Yulin has come to symbolise the cruelty and lack of hygiene associated with the largely unregulated industry.



Yu Hongmei, director of the VShine Animal Protection Association, said China needs to follow the example of the vast majority of developed nations that have banned eating dog and cat.



"China needs to progress with the times," Yu said. "Preventing cruelty to animals is the sign of a mature, civilised society."



Restaurant owners say eating dog meat is traditional during the summer, while opponents say the festival that began in 2010 has no cultural value and was merely invented to drum up business.



Since 2014, the local government has sought to disassociate itself from the event, forbidding its employees from attending and limiting its size by shutting down some dog markets and slaughter houses.



Still, as many as 10,000 dogs, many of them stolen pets still wearing their collars, are slaughtered for the festival held deep inside the poor, largely rural Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.



Some are trucked in hundreds of kilometers (miles) stuffed six or seven to a crate or small metal cage without food or water. Slaughtering takes place in front of the animals, usually with a club to induce the pain and fear that restaurant owners claim makes their adrenaline-rich meat tastier.



"Psychologically and mentally, they have already died many times," said Peter J Li, Humane Society International's China policy specialist.



Dog meat also poses a risk to human health by spreading diseases such as trichinellosis, rabies and cholera, the Humane Society says. Guangxi is already one of China's five worst areas affected by human rabies, and Yulin ranks as one of the top 10 Chinese cities in terms of cases, the organisation says.


Four days after promulgation of partial prohibition in Bihar on April one, the Nitish Kumar government today decided to impose a total ban on alcohol in towns and cities.



The decision to ban sale and consumption of India Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) in municipal and town council areas with immediate effect was taken at a cabinet meeting, the chief minister told reporters here.



The Nitish Kumar government had banned sale and consumption of country and spiced liquor in rural areas from April 1 this year, but had allowed sale of foreign liquor in towns and cities.



"But, the tremendous response of people particularly women and children against liquor in Patna and other towns in a short period of four days only convinced us that a conducive environment against alcohol has been created in the state and that's why we decided to go for total ban on liquor after four days only," he said.



On 'toddy' which has created controversy in recent days following intervention of RJD President Lalu Prasad against its stoppage in view of interest of people associated with the trade, Kumar said the state cabinet decided to strictly impose the 1991 guidelines which allows consumption of "Neera" (drink from palm trees before sunrise) but disallows consumption of 'toddy' (after sunrise when the palm tree liquid gets fermented and gains alcoholic properties).



The 1991 guidelines prohibits sale and consumption of 'Neera' within 50 metre of places like hospital, education institutions, religious places among others in towns and 100 metres radius in rural areas, he added. The chief minister said "Neera" would be allowed, while 'toddy' drink would be barred.



The chief minister said that no license would be granted for sale and consumption of alcohol in places like hotels, club and bars in towns and cities too with immediate effect.



He, however, said Army cantonment areas would be out of it as they regulate sale and consumption of alochol in their own way.



Asked about fate of liquor manufacturing companies and factories existing in the state after total ban order today, the CM said they could continue manufacture but can not trade in it within the state.



"Besides, they have to abide by rules like having digital lock system and GPS monitoring equipment in vehicles transporting the liquor manufactured in outlets in Bihar to places outside the state for sale," Kumar said.



In reply to a question as to what would be done with nearly 36,000 litres of foreign liquor lying with Bihar State Beverages Corporation Limited (BSBCL) which they had to supply to limited outlets in towns and cities under its strict supervision, the CM said the Excise department would prepare an action plan for disposal of residual IMFL.



"It (residual IMFL) should be destroyed as its not a good thing to keep in archive," Kumar said speaking his mind on the stock of foreign brands lying with the corporation.



The CM said a high level committee headed by Development Commissioner and which would have Principal Secretaries of departments like Industries, Forest and Environment, Excise, Cooperative and COMFED would dwell on the issue how to make trade out of toddy trees more beneficial to people associated with it as was done in Tamil Nadu, which has maximum number of palm trees.



The committee would work in close association with Agriculture University of Tamil Nadu and ICAR (Indian Council of Agriculture Research) to prepare a scheme for toddy trees products which would be put into action from next year, he said.



The CM said many beneficial products like preparing mat and tokri (basket) out of toddy tree products could be developed to help people associated with the trade to continue their livelihood with even better profits.



"Survey has brought to light that more than Rs 6,000 annually could be generated from a toddy tree by this means which is far more than earned through sale of fermented toddy drink," Kumar said.



He said that the state government would provide technical and financial assistance in making the trade out of toddy trees more beneficial to those linked with it.



"Like collection and marketing of milk through COMFED (Bihar State Milk Co-Operative Federation Ltd.), Neera (toddy liquid before fermentation) trade would also be developed in an institutionalised manner," Kumar said.



Asked about sale and consumption of liquor gaining in border areas with neighbouring states, the CM without naming any state said they would soon face similar protests from their people against liquor.



"Those states thinking of gaining revenue from liqour sale due to prohibition in Bihar are in delusion as very soon they would face a strong protest against alcohol there from people like in Bihar," Kumar said.



Media reports have highlighted mushrooming of liquor outlets in areas of Jharkhand bordering with Bihar. The reports have claimed that liquor trade was up in bordering areas in Uttar Pradesh and Nepal after prohibition in Bihar.



"Bihar government had written several letters to Chief Ministers of neighbouring states to cooperate with us in implementation of prohibition. State police chief as well as senior officials of Excise department had also made a strong plea to them for assistance," Kumar said.



The CM expressed happiness over tremendous response from people to the decision.

Around 4,933 people including those associated with illegal manufacture of liquor and also consumers, have been put behind bars so far in the intense campaign after promulgation of ban on liquor, he said.



About 1.17 crore promise papers have been submitted by students of schools in Bihar taking oath from their parents against alcohol, he added.



More than 8,400 nukkad nataks and 7 lakh slogans have been written in different parts of Bihar as campaign in favour of prohibitioon, he added.



"A foundation of social change has been laid in Bihar through ban on liquor," Kumar said.


The Islamic State has claimed to have opened a 'police forensics department' with a pictorial report issued by the terror group showing equipment and its "detectives" solving a "burglary" at a pharmacy in Iraq.





The extremist group announced it had acquired microscopes and magnifying glasses and was in the process of recruiting forensics-minded foreign fighters, according to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), which monitors jihadi communications.



The terror group through a picture essay showed it has opened an "Islamic State Police Forensics Department" in al Furat Province, Iraq.



The photo gallery showed crime scene investigators collecting and analysing fingerprints. Also shown are various Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) gear such as a microscope and special lighted fingerprint analysis table.



Another shot is of a magnifying glass highlighting a dusted fingerprint at a burgled pharmacy and a technician comparing collected prints to a suspect's, the Washington Times reported.



Finally, in a bit of more propaganda, there is a picture of an agent handing reimbursement money to the pharmacy owner.



Steve Stalinsky, MEMRI's executive director, said the Islamic State is trying to show the world that towns in its so-called Muslim caliphate in Syria-Iraq function like modern municipalities.



"Previously ISIS has displayed its police vehicles, uniforms, stations, and more," Stalinsky was quoted as saying.



"The launch of its 'Islamic police forensics department' is only one part of the group's efforts to show the world that, like any other state, it has a modern and advanced police department, while at the same sending a direct message to its opponents, who it labels as 'spies', on the ground that it has the capability to come after anyone who goes against it," he said.



"ISIS has always called on and recruited experts with scientific backgrounds for various purposes and the 'Islamic police forensics department' is no exception," Stalinsky said.


Accusing Hrithik Roshan of resorting to deviations and media trial as a face-saving tactic, a combative Kangana Ranaut today asked the actor to withdraw his legal notice to her or face action.





However, the actress is willing to end the matter, if Hrithik withdraws the notice asking her to publicly apologise for referring to him as 'silly ex', Kangana's lawyer Rizwan Siddiquee said in a statement here.



"Withdrawal of notice is the best and only option. Deviations and an attempted trial by media as a face-saving tactic, may even worsen the case as it would eventually create interference in the process of delivery of justice and constrain my client to retaliate unnecessarily," Siddiquee said.



Hrithik, 42, had in February sent a notice to Kangana asking her to hold a press conference and tender an apology.Kangana, in turn, had responded with a 21-page notice, charging Hrithik with intimidation and threat. Siddiquee said Hrithik is yet to respond to the counter legal notice that they sent to him on March 1.



"His reply cum counter notice received by Hrithik Roshan on the 1st of March 2016 has not been acted upon by him within 7 days, and Hrithik Roshan has still not withdrawn his allegations and claims, despite the same having been sufficiently proved to be either lies or absolutely baseless and untenable," the lawyer said.



Kangana, 29, has not initiated any action against the actor considering his responsibility as a father of two young children, he said.



"...she has therefore not initiated any action against him despite her emails being hacked and regardless of the fact that he has criminally intimidated my client and has also made imputation against her chastity, besides issuing unwarranted threats to her," Siddiquee said.



"Now such selective response to media reports or deviations by Hrithik Roshan are further worsening the matter, as each time I am unnecessarily constrained to defend my client's interests as well as her name, image and reputation because of some new deviation.



"This can never be a solution. The only solution is that Hrithik Roshan withdraws his notice and my client shall accordingly then withdraw her reply cum counter notice," he added.



The legal fight between the two stars, who worked together in "Kites" and "Krrish 3", has been grabbing headlines for some time now.



Hrithik's side claims that he never had a relationship with the actress.

The actor had accused the "Queen" actress of sending up to 50 e-mails a day, some of them explicit in nature, whereas Kangana has alleged that he had hacked into her email account to delete mails that could have complicated his divorce proceedings with his then wife Suzanne Khan.



In her response Kangana charged him of a clumsy attempt to cover up their relationship.

The actress said she was not "some dim-witted teenager who has been smitten and that whatever happened between the two of them was with full consent of both parties."
Pakistan's National Security Adviser Lt Gen (retd) Nasir Khan Janjua today said India's increased military spending and growing arsenal of strategic weapons is a threat to his country as well as regional peace.





"Pakistan is a peace-loving country but its efforts to promote regional peace are hindered by Indian desire to acquire military and strategic weapons," he said addressing a conference here titled 'Pakistan's role in promoting global peace and security'.



Janjua claimed that India was adding to its tally of weapons, threatening regional stability which was vital for peace and security.



He was of the view that the two neighbouring countries are nuclear armed and cannot live in an environment of hostility towards each other, especially when both are fighting terror on their soil.

The NSA said his country would continue to make efforts for regional peace and urged India to join Pakistan for "investing" in peace.



He said both India and Pakistan were fighting terrorism and they need cooperation and not hostility. He said being nuclear state, both countries need cooperative relationship.



The NSA also lashed at what he termed India sharing the "anti-China policy" by the Western countries.



"Western powers desire better relations with India due to a shared anti-China policy despite the fact that a peaceful region and world is in Chinese interest and China has no ill will towards any of these countries," he said.



He also said Muslim countries like Afghanistan need to come out of wars.
Giving a push to government's financial inclusion programme, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today launched the Stand-up India scheme under which 1.25 lakh bank branches will provide loans up to Rs 1 crore to SC/ST and women entrepreneurs.





At a function, which was organised to mark birth anniversary of dalit leader and former Deputy Prime Minister Babu Jagjivan Ram, Modi flagged off 5,100 e-rickshaws.



Explaining the contours of Stand-up India programme, Modi said this will help in creating 2.5 lakh entrepreneurs throughout the country as every bank branch will be required to provide two such loans ranging from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 1 crore without collateral for setting up a new enterprise.



Stressing that it is not possible for the government to provide jobs to everyone, the Prime Minister said the scheme will convert "job-seekers into job-creators...This scheme is going to transform the lives of people from dalit and tribal communities."

Stand up India, he said, aims to empower every Indian and enable them to stand on their own feet.



The scheme was announced by Modi in his Independence Day address.

Modi also took a dig at the Congress by pointing out that no previous government had organised any function on the birth anniversary of Jagjivan Ram, who as agriculture minister did a lot to usher the green revolution and was defence minister at the time of 1971 war.



"It is unfortunate that contribution of such people is being ignored," he said.

Speaking at the function, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said his ministry, which is usually associated with big business houses, in the last two years has tried to work for the betterment of the poor people.



He recalled various schemes of the government like Jan Dhan Yojana, insurance and pension and MUDRA Yojana to promote financial inclusion with the view to empower the poor.



Jaitley further said that banks have given loans to 3.26 crore beneficiaries totalling Rs 1.35 lakh crore under Prime Minister MUDRA Yojana in 2015-16, which is more than the target of Rs 1.22 lakh crore fixed by the Prime Minister.



Modi, who entered the launch venue on a decorated e-rickshaw, distributed keys to some beneficiaries and flagged of 5,100 e-rickshaws.



The Prime Minister appealed to e-rickshaw owners to educate their children especially the girl child saying that the country cannot progress unless poor and dalit get an opportunity to come up in life.



He said the e-rickshaw scheme is environment friendly as there will be a provision for recharging the battery from solar-powered battery station. "E-richshaw will help in fighting global warming," he said.



Although UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav was absent, the function among others was attended by state Governor Ram Naik, Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha and MPs. The state government was represented by Food and Civil Supplies Minister Kamal Akhtar.



Under the scheme, SC/ST and women entrepreneurs who will avail loan would be given a RuPay Debit Card for withdrawal, besides comprehensive support like pre-loan training, facilitating loan, factoring and marketing.



There would be a Rs 10,000 crore refinance window through Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) and the National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company Ltd (NCGTC) will create a corpus of Rs 5,000 crore.



SIDBI would engage with the Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and various institutions. The offices of SIDBI and National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) shall be designated Stand Up Connect Centres.
India has told the UN that Jaish-e- Mohammed chief Masood Azhar was one of the handlers of the terrorists who attacked the Pathankot airbase and his outfit received arms training from Taliban.





In its failed bid to have Masood designated as terrorist by the UN, India has conveyed to the world body that he and his terrorist group JeM have continuously engineered terror attacks against India, the latest instance being the strike on Pathankot airbase on January 2.



The attack was engineered by terrorists belonging to JeM and credible evidence has emerged that the handlers of the terrorists were senior leaders of JeM, including Masood Azhar, according to the Draft List Entry submitted in the UN.Further, incriminating material has also been recovered from the dead terrorists disclosing their links to the terrorist organisation, it said.



Masood had a meeting with Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed and Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin and decided to "avenge" the hanging of Afzal Guru, who was convicted for the 2001 attack on Parliament.



"A decision was taken in the meeting for possible cooperation with the Taliban to train terrorists for this purpose. There are credible intelligence reports that elements of JeM have actually received training in tactics, use of weapons and psychological warfare from the Taliban," the draft said.



At the behest of Pakistan, China had blocked India's bid to have Azhar designated as terrorist by the UN in the aftermath of the Pathankot strike.



Pushing its case for incorporating Masood's name in the al Qaeda Sanctions List, India has told the UN that Masood is a Pakistan-based international terrorist and a leader of JeM and its chief financier, recruiter and motivator.



The JeM chief has been "participating in the financing, planning, facilitating, preparing or perpetrating of acts or activities by, in conjunction with, under the name of, on behalf of, or in support of supplying, selling or transferring arms and related material to recruiting for and otherwise supporting acts or activities of al Qaeda, Harkat-ul-Mujahidin and JeM", the draft said.



In 1993, Masood first came to the notice of the Indian authorities when he came into contact with leaders of Al-Itihaad Al-Islamiya, an al Qaeda-aligned Somali terror group which had requested money and recruits from Harkat-ul- Mujahidin, a terrorist group based in Pakistan with which Masood was closely associated.



Masood had visited Somalia during that time and facilitated recruitment of Yemeni mercenaries to Somalia.



In 1994, Masood surfaced in Jammu and Kashmir to mediate between various feuding factions of terrorist groups active in the state. He was arrested in February 1994.



However, in 1999, Masood had to be released after his brother Abdul Rauf along with a few others hijacked an Indian Airlines plane and taken to Kandahar in Afghanistan, which was then under the control of Taliban.
Maulana Masood Azhar was allowed to preach extremist ideology at several British mosques during a month-long visit to UK in 1993 on the invitation of Islamist scholars when young Muslims were asked to seek weapons training at terrorist camps in Pakistan, it emerged today.





Senior representatives of the Deobandi sect, which controls nearly half of Britain's 1,600 mosques, hosted Azhar during the visit in which hundreds of young Muslims were urged to seek weapons training at terrorist camps in Pakistan, according to a BBC investigation.



One of India's most-wanted terrorists in relation to the attack on the Pathankot Air Force base, which claimed the lives of seven Indian soldiers in January this year, Azhar was chief organiser of the Pakistani jihadist group Harkat-ul Mujahideen in early 90s.



According to the report, during his UK tour  until now kept under wraps  Azhar delivered "sermons on jihad" to large audiences in London, Birmingham, Yorkshire and Lancashire and the message was of hatred for Christians, Jews and Hindus.



Witnesses said that large sums of money were donated after each talk.

Azhar, then 25, was the product of a radical Karachi seminary and shortly before his arrival in Britain in August 1993 he had helped supply Osama bin Laden, then based in Sudan, with 400 jihadist fighters to wage attacks in Somalia.



The investigation, shared with 'The Times', has uncovered the details of his tour in an archive of militant group magazines published in Urdu.



The contents provide an astounding insight into the way in which hardcore jihadist ideology was promoted in some mainstream UK mosques in the early 1990s  and involved some of Britain's most senior Islamic scholars.



Azhar's tour lasted a month and consisted of over 40 speeches.

Azhar, captured in India shortly after his British trip, was released from prison in 1999 in exchange for 155 passengers of a hijacked plane in Kandahar. After his release, he formed the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorist group which is blamed for several attacks in India.



The radical cleric is currently in "protective custody" in Pakistan after the Pathankot terror attack.



The Deobandis trace their roots back to a Sunni Islamic seminary founded in Deoband in 19th century India.



The original seminary in India has issued a fatwa against terrorism but some Deobandi madrassas in Pakistan reportedly propagate extremist jihadist ideology.



The investigation will be broadcast as a two-part documentary titled 'The Deobandis' by BBC Radio later today and April 12.


Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh declined to confirm whether he is doing a film with superstar Shah Rukh Khan.





There are rumours that Ranveer will share the screen space with Shah Rukh in a movie to be produced by Aditya Chopra and directed by Shimit Amin.



When asked about this, Ranveer said, "Adi (Aditya Chopra) called you up and said that our next film is with Shah Rukh Khan and Ranveer. Nothing is finalised or formalised yet on whatever projects I am in discussions with".



Ranveer is currently busy working on Chopra's directorial venture "Befikre", co-starring Vaani Kapoor.

"As of now, I am doing 'Befikre' and I am very excited about it," the "Ram Leela" actor said.



Ranveer was talking at the launch of Vivo, the premium global smartphone brand for which he has been roped in as its brand ambassador.



"I do take a lot of selfies. I guess I take 50 on an average. I think I am a selfie expert," he said.

On working with Dibakar Banerjee, who directed the advertisement of the mobile phone, the actor said, "It was wonderful working with Dibakar sir. He is a great director. We shot some funky ads. He has made wonderful films like 'LSD', 'Khosla Ka Ghosla', 'Oye Lucky..."
Ace choreographer Farah Khan, who was roped in to choreograph an extravagant song for Jackie Chan's Indo-Chinese film "Kung Fu Yoga", was amazed with dancing skills of the actor.





Farah recently shot the big, happy, Bollywood style-Chinese song in Jodhpur. "It's a Chinese song with Jackie (Chan), Sonu (Sood), Amyra (Dastur) and Disha (Patani) shaking a leg to the catchy beats," the 51-year-old choreographer said in a statement.



"Jackie has been wanting to do a Bollywood song for a while now and has promised to show off all these moves when he's in India next to promote the film. In fact, he is doing it so well that we now call him Jackie Jackson on the sets," she added.



The one-and-a-half day schedule in the country wrapped up yesterday, and Farah now flies to Beijing to film the rest of the song.



The "Om Shanti Om" helmer was floored by the international megastar's humility and professionalism.

"Apart from shooting in the scorching heat, minus complains, Jackie Chan also reported to the sets 15 minutes before call time," she said.



"Kung Fu Yoga" is a part of the three-film agreement signed between India and China during Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to India last year.



The action-adventure film is set to release this October.
They had braved risks and hardships to get to Greece, having crossed the narrow strait from Turkey in flimsy rafts like nearly a million others last year  with hundreds dying along the way.



But on Monday, Greek and European Union officials sent them back  202 migrants  beginning a central part of a deal worked out with Turkey last month to stem the flow of people making the perilous journey to European shores.



In this port on the island of Lesbos, as the sun rose over the Aegean Sea, more than 100 officers from the European border agency, Frontex, marched 136 migrants onto 2 ferries bound for the Turkish town of Dikili. Once there, the migrants were taken into tents for processing and then loaded onto buses  to where, Turkish officials would not say.



An additional 66 migrants were deported from the island of Chios, where riots broke out last week among asylum seekers fearing deportation. In all, Greek officials said those deported were mostly Pakistanis and Afghans, though they also included 2 Syrians, who had not asked for asylum.



The deportations were a significant step for the European Union in its effort to curb the migrant crisis. The deal with Turkey means that those landing here illegally will now be returned to Turkey.



Since the deal with Turkey was struck, the number of people attempting the crossing has slowed to a relative trickle  though it has not ended.



Even as the 202 migrants were landing in Turkey on Monday, others were taking off, despite the fact that the Turks had pledged to cut off the route in exchange for 6 billion euros (about $6.8 billion) and other inducements.



In Greece, the deportations have perils of their own, enough to make it unclear whether they can be scaled up quickly and sharply.



Though the deportations on Monday did not meet any resistance, they sent new waves of anxiety through the overcrowded military-style camp where migrants are detained in Moria, on Lesbos.



Migrants in the camp shouted to journalists, complaining about their detention and the camps conditions from behind a chain-link fence topped with three rows of razor wire. Some yelled that they were being treated inhumanely and as criminals. Others defiantly said that they would not go home. Police officers then moved in and forced journalists to leave and broke up the crowd gathered at the fence.



In the past week, riots have broken out in several places, especially between Afghans and Syrians, many of whom have little idea of how the asylum process works and have grown increasingly fearful that, having made it this far, they will be sent home.



More than 800 migrants broke out of a camp in Chios Friday to protest what humanitarian groups said were prisonlike conditions.



Greece is still waiting for thousands of police officers and specialists on asylum from other EU countries to arrive to help with the process of sifting who will stay and who will go from among those who had already arrived in Greece before March 20, when the deal with Turkey went into effect.



Those who have arrived since March 20 have been put in holding centres, and will be deported. Turkey and the European Union agreed that the Syrians and Iraqis among them who are judged to be refugees fleeing war can then apply from Turkey for asylum in Europe.



For each new person Turkey takes in, one Syrian refugee already in Turkey will be sent to Europe. Those returned to Turkey and judged by the authorities there to be non-refugees will be sent back to their home countries, Turkish officials have said.



The main objective is to stick a blow to the business model of human trafficking from the Turkish coasts to the Greek islands, said Giorgos Kyritsis, the Greek governments spokesman on migration.



The deal aims to convince people that until now were victims of the smugglers, that it is against their interests to risk their lives and pay all this money in order to make it to the Greek islands, he said, and that the shortest and the only legal way to get to Europe is to be included in the resettlement programme underway in Turkey.



Yet even as the Turkish officials carried out a series of raids to crack down on smugglers in recent days, some migrants have been undeterred by  or unaware of  the new regulations.



Rude shock

On Monday, dozens of migrants set off for Greece in rubber dinghies and were intercepted by the Greek and Turkish coast guards.



Less than two hours after the ferries took the 202 migrants back from the Greek islands to Turkey, an additional 59 migrants from Syria were picked up by the Greek coast guard in a Zodiac rubber raft.



The Greeks brought them to port in Lesbos, and later the police ushered the group to the migrant camp in Moria, where nearly 3,600 migrants who arrived after March 20 are detained.

Inshallah, I will get to Germany, said one migrant, Mohamed Zaki, 22, after he was brought ashore. Were lucky  we are in Europe, he said, adding that the smugglers did not inform them that deportations were now taking place.



The processing of asylum applications on the Greek islands is expected to start on Thursday and could take weeks if not months, if migrants appeal a rejection.



Kyritsis, the Greek migration official, said no one who applies for asylum would be sent back to Turkey before receiving a definite answer from the authorities.



As the expulsions got underway on Monday, several European countries said they were working to fulfill their end of the bargain with Turkey.



Germany announced that it was accepting 32 Syrians from Turkey in the state of Lower Saxony, and Finland said it would take in 11 Syrians. The numbers were still far shy of commitments to distribute about 160,000 asylum seekers among EU countries.



In Lesbos, two German tourists shouted messages of support to the migrants from outside the fence at the holding camp in Moria.



We dont agree with these deportations, said Adrian Ils, a retiree from Cologne. I can assure you there are many people in Germany who dont agree with the policy of closed borders.



Its a shame the EU cannot find a common policy to share the problem, he added. We need to show our solidarity with desperate people  isnt that what Europe is about?


The High Court has declined to continue hearing a batch of PILs against the Akrama Sakrama rules, stating the matter required detailed consideration. It would hear the matter at the end of summer vacation and adjourned the hearing until June 27, 2016.





On Monday, a division bench of Chief Justice S K Mukherjee and Justice Ravi Malimath observed that it needed to hear out the counsel for each petitioner.



In the previous hearing, petitioners counsel Jayna Kothari argued against extending the cut-off date for regularisation of unauthorised buildings. Giving more time to building owners will lead to more violation as they can apply for regularisation, start the construction and then regularise it as per the cut-off date, she said.



Kothari cited a judgment passed by Justice R Raveendran in February 1995, The several orders issued by the state government from time to time providing for regularisation and extending the cut-off date for regularisation of constructions have come in handy for unscrupulous dealers to persuade the purchasers that they will also get regularisation and title.



Acting on the dealers misrepresentations, anxious, gullible and ignorant members of the public, mostly from the lower middle-class or weaker sections, part with their hard-earned money, in the hope of owning a piece of land and having a shelter, in an undeveloped or non-developed layout without amenities or facilities. The layout itself is imaginary and illegal and mostly exists only on paper. The result is (the) mushrooming of small temporary sheds, thousands in number, erected without licences or sanctioned plans, all round Bengaluru, in a haphazard manner, leading to a planners nightmare.



Additional Advocate General A S Ponnanna said the new rule allowed property owners to regularise only 50% of the bye-law violation. The bench asked what was the urgency to hear the matter. He said the government wanted to implement the scheme as soon as possible.



Citizens Forum for Mangalore Development, Citizens Action Forum and others have sought quashing of the Karnataka Town and Country Planning (Regularisation of Unauthorised Development or Constructions) Rules, 2014, or Akrama-Sakrama rules. They said the rules contained several flaws that would only help shady developers.
Women employees choosing for surrogacy could avail maternity leave for six months, according to a proposal under government consideration.





In a first, male employees could also be allowed to avail paternity leave in case of his partner opting for surrogacy.



These are part of the draft rules circulated by the Department of Personnel and Training for comments from ministries on childcare leave.



At present, there is no provision of any kind of leave for surrogate and commissioning mothers. Existing norms allow grant of maternity leave to a female government employee for a period of 135 days.



It is proposed that 180 days maternity leave may be granted to the surrogate as well as commissioning mothers, in case either/both of them are government servants. The commissioning mother also requires time for bonding with her child and to take care of him/her and hence would also become eligible for Child Care Leave (CCL), the proposal said.



The government also plans to do away with the age limit for CCL in case of disabled children since the requirement of parental care may be more when such a child grows older.



It may therefore be allowed to provide for CCL in the case of disabled childrenthe disability being clearly defined by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowermentwithout any age limit provided the maximum CCL that can be availed remains within the ceiling of 730 days, it said.



Another suggestion is allowing employees to avail LTC while they are on CCL, provided clearances from appropriate competent authorities are taken while proceeding on foreign travel.



The underlying intent of CCL is to allow care of up to two children whether for rearing or to look after any of their needs like examination, sickness etc. Thus, it is not restricted to exam and sickness alone. Taking care may also include ensuring their rest and recreation and towards that objective leaving headquarters or availing LTC can be allowed, it said.




A report in a Pakistani newspaper on Tuesday indicated that Islamabad might end up accusing New Delhi of stage-managing the terrorist attack on the Pathankot airbase.





Sources in New Delhi dubbed as total concoction a report on Pakistan Today newspaper, which signalled that Islamabad might return to its usual state of denial on the terror-strike on the Indian Air Force base in Pathankot in Punjab.



The report claimed that the neighbouring countrys investigators, who visited Delhi and Pathankot from March 27 to April 1 to probe the attack, had concluded that India had prior information about the attackers and had used the attack as a tool to expand its vicious propaganda against Pakistan, without having any solid evidence to back the claim.



New Delhi made it clear that no substantive progress towards proposed resumption of the stalled bilateral dialogue could be expected unless and until Islamabad took credible steps to bring to justice for Pakistan-based terror-plotters responsible for the latest attack in India.



The Pakistan Today quoted from what it claimed to be the report the investigators from Pakistan prepared after visiting India. The report claimed that India failed to establish that the attackers entered from Pakistan. The report, according to the newspaper, would be submitted to Pakistan Prime Minister M Nawaz Sharif soon.



India refrained from officially reacting to the report appeared in the newspaper in Pakistan. But sources in New Delhi contradicted the purported report and said that Pakistani investigators had taken onboard the detailed evidence shared with them by the officials of the National Investigation Agency. Since the Pakistani investigators collected evidences in India in accordance with a Pakistani law applicable on Pakistani citizens committing an offence in a foreign country, the involvement of Pakistanis in the attack in Pathankot is self-evident, a source in New Delhi said. Pakistani investigators had informed the NIA officials in New Delhi that they had collected admissible evidence in India under the provision of Section 188 of Pakistans Code of Criminal Procedure.




Terrorists of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) received training in tactics and psychological warfare from Taliban to carry out strikes in India to avenge the hanging of Afzal Guru, India told the United Nations seeking sanctions on Masood Azhar.





New Delhi also cited credible evidence for Azhars involvement in Pathankot airbase attack before the UN, saying he and the JeM have continuously engineered terrorist attacks against India.



Indias efforts to get UN sanctions on Azhar drew a blank last week after China blocked the latest bid following which New Delhi conveyed to Beijing its disappointment as the Communist countrys move made a chink in international communitys determination to fight terrorism.



In its Draft List Entry submitted in the UN for imposing sanctions, India cited a meeting held in JeM headquarters on February 14, 2013, in which Azhar, Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Sayeed and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen chief Syed Salauddin attended.



A decision was taken to avenge the hanging of Afzal Guru...A decision was also taken in the meeting for possible cooperation with the Taliban to train terrorists for this purpose. There are credible intelligence reports that elements of the JeM have actually received training in tactics, use of weapons and psychological warfare from the Taliban, it said.



It said the latest attack against India was the Pathankot airbase strike. The attack was engineered by terrorists belonging to the JeM and credible evidence has emerged that the handlers of the terrorists were senior leaders of the JeM, including Masood Azhar based in Pakistan. Further incriminating material has also been recovered from the dead terrorists disclosing their links to this terrorist organisation, the draft said.



Seeking inclusion of Azhars name in the al Qaeda Sanctions List, India said he is a Pakistan-based international terrorist and chief financier, recruiter and motivator of the JeM.




The government on Tuesday set up a committee under former home secretary Madhukar Gupta to address gaps and vulnerability on border fencing on Indo-Pak border.





The setting up of the panel comes as terrorists sneaking into India through unfenced or unguarded patches on the border and carrying out attacks on Pathankot air base and Dinanagar in the past one year.



The mandate of the committee will be to study all types of gaps in fencing and all other vulnerabilities in the International Border on Indo-Pakistan border and to suggest comprehensive approach to fix these gaps in fencing and other vulnerabilities on interim and permanent basis, an official statement said.
The Union health ministry on Tuesday announced introduction of injectable contraceptives in the family planning programme, overcoming objections by activists, who had also approached court against these contraceptives.





As a part of our continued efforts to offer Indian women a broader basket of choice, a mix of contraceptives - injectable, centchroman and Progestogen-Only Pill (POPs) - have now been introduced in the public health system under the national family planning programme, union health minister J P Nadda said.



The ministry decided to go ahead with injectable contraceptives after securing approval from the Drugs Technical Advisory Board, which in August 2015 recommended using DMPA in the family planning programmes.



DMPA is the acronym for an injectable contraceptive called Depot-medroxyprogesterone acetate, which is registered in India for use by the private sector since 1993  a year after it was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. It is sold under the brand name Depo-Provera.



So far every government plan to use injectable contraceptives in the family welfare programme met with stiff resistance from women activists and some non-government outfits.



More than a decade ago, the health ministry told the Supreme Court that the government would not use the injectable in the family planning plan. Towards the end of the last decade, the utility of injectable contraceptives was reviewed once again and last year, a national consultative meeting on expanding the basket of choice in family planning reached a consensus that injectable are now suitable for introduction in the government programme.



The use of injectable have to be associated with counselling as the women need to be told about the changes in the menstrual cycle. They need to be reassured that the side effects are not harmful and it is reversible. If they stop taking the injection, they can get pregnant, Ravi Anand from Abt Associates, an outfit that promotes injectable contraceptives, told Deccan Herald.



While the health ministry officials are tight-lipped about the roll out plan and the cost involved, in the private sector, the injectable costs between Rs 90-250 and one shot can protect a woman for three months.




At least 75 people were sentenced to death in India last year with some imposed by special courts, whose proceedings did not meet international fair trial standards, a report has claimed.





The report Death sentences and Executions in 2015 released by Amnesty International on Tuesday also said there were at least 1,634 executions in 25 countries in 2015, which included one in India where Mumbai serial blast convict Yakub Memon was hanged.



The number of executions could rise as Amnesty said it could not access data from China, which is a state secret.



The executions for 2015 were the highest in last 25 years, it said adding it was more than 50% compared to 2014 figure of 1,061 in 22 countries. Iran follows China with 977 executions, Pakistan 326 and Saudi Arabia 158.



While India had around 75 death sentences last year, Egypt was on the top of the list after China with 538, Bangladesh 197, Nigeria 171 and Pakistan 121.



In India, almost all death sentences were for murder while at least four people were sentenced to gallows for aggravated circumstances of rape following amendments to the Criminal Code in 2013. At least 320 people remained under sentence of death at the end of 2015.



The Amnesty report also claimed that special courts whose proceedings did not meet international fair trial standards imposed death sentences in Bangladesh and India.



On Memons execution, the report said: he had been convicted under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act 1987, a law that contains provisions incompatible with international fair trial standards.



The number of death sentences could rise as the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) has not provided this years official figures. In 2014, Amnesty had reported at least 64 death sentences while later NCRB reported that there were 95 such sentences in 2014.



The report also noted that courts and authorities had commuted a number of death sentences during the year. Three prisoners whose mercy petitions the president had rejected in 2014 had their death sentences commuted to life imprisonment by courts.



The Amnesty also found fault with the law commission for falling short of recommending abolition of death penalty for all crimes.



The commission had suggested retention of death penalty for terrorism-related offences.
Apparently eyeing the Dalit vote bank ahead of the next Assembly elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday invoked Dalit leader Jagjivan Ram.





He asked the Dalits and tribals to become job-givers instead of job-seekers as he launched the Stand Up India Scheme, at Noida in the state.



Modi paid rich tribute to Jagjivan Ram, a senior Congress leader, on the latters birth anniversary on Tuesday and lauded his contribution to the country in the field of agriculture.



How long will the Dalits wait for jobs...and how many Dalits can be provided jobs by the government, the prime minister said in the presence of his Cabinet colleagues and several Dalit MPs from UP.



You (Dalits and tribals) are just like us....the only difference is that we got opportunities while you did not....I want the Dalits to be job-givers instead of being job-seekers, Modi said.



The prime minister also explained the scheme, which is aimed at generating Dalit entrepreneurs and providing bank loans to them up to Rs 1 crore.



Modi also distributed 5,100 e-rickshaws to the people on this occasion and held chai par charcha (discussion over tea) with the people. He was accompanied by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and others. As many as 17 Dalit BJP MPs from UP were also present on this occasion.



Modis invocation of the veteran Dalit leader Jagjivan Ram and the decision to launch the scheme on the latters birth anniversary clearly indicate the saffron partys all-out efforts to woo the Dalits ahead of the next Assembly polls, in the politically crucial state of Uttar Pradesh.



The BJP has always fought for the interests of the Dalits...other parties only pay lip service to the community, said UP BJP leader Vijay Bahadur Pathak.



BSP supremo Mayawati, however, said that the BJP suffers from anti-Dalit mindset and cited the recent outbursts of the saffron partys sacked womens wing president Madhu Mishra.




Samsul Islam, 55, lives in Jurai, a small village near the West Bengal and Assam border.





On Tuesday, he walked about 10 km to reach Srirampur border check gate in Kokrajhar district of lower Assam and then hitched a ride to Telipara in Gossaigaon subdivision of Kokrajhar to listen and see a very renowned Muslim cleric. The venue was, however, no religious gathering but a political rally.



I have my vote in west Bengal but I am here to see Maulana Badaruddin Ajmal. I need his blessings for my ailing daughter. At least hundred Muslim from Bengal have come here to seek his blessings, said Islam.



But for over 10,000 people who had gathered since morning, the wait was to see their Huzoor (a Persian word used in Muslim society), as he is fondly called by his followers. In the second phase on Assam polls due on April 11, where remaining 61 seats of the 126 total constituencies will go for polls, the perfume baron who also is a Muslim-cleric-turned politician, Ajmal, and his party  the All India United democratic Front (AIUDF) would play a major role.



The Bengali Muslim dominated lower Assam  often referred as illegal migrants from Bangladesh form the support base for the party.



The party emerged in ahead of 2006 Assembly polls and in 2011 Assembly polls, the party became the main opposition party in state Assembly winning 18 seats.

For us candidate does not matter. It is Ajmal who matters. In Bodoland after 2012 riots, he has been nothing short of a god man for us. He has helped the people who were displaced in the riots. He has helped rebuild schools and colleges. He fights for us in Parliament said Imdadul Haq who came from Kachugaon in Kokrajhar.



In spite of thunder showers, people kept waiting for him, as his chopper arrived ,everyone ran to catch a glimpse. In fact he performs sorcery for the well being of his followers, said Rafikul Rehman, a farmer from Tamarhat area of neighbouring Dhubri district.



The BJP and its allies are trying to destroy us but we will remain intact. We will fight together and make sure the BJP is kept out of power. Remember that we would be kingmaker, no one can form government without us, Ajmal, who is an MP from Dhubri in lower Assam, is also contesting the Assembly polls from Salmara (South) seat giving clear indications that he is eyeing power this time around.



Over 34% voters in Assam are Muslims, the lion share among them are the Bengali speaking Muslims.



The BJP has tried to put up an alliance for the indigenous people of Assam to stop the shifting of power in the hand of alleged illegal migrants.



In the 2014 lok sabha polls AIUDF has won three seats out of 14 in Assam , and BJPs anti-migrant discourse will help Ajmals political fortunes.




Paschimanchal, literally the western region, consists of several crucial districts that are likely to yield Mamata Banerjees Trinamool Congress a clincher this polling season.





But the man who stands between Mamata and the desired winning curve is CPM state secretary, Surjyakanta Mishra. Contesting from Narayangarh in West Midnapore, Mishra could bring to a halt the juggernaut that Mamata has set rolling with a campaign blitzkrieg. Unlike those parts of the district that come under tribal majority Jungle Mahal, Mishras home seat will probably reinstate him, going by people on the streets. What could work in Mishras favour is the pride most of his voters are taking in the belief that the five-time MLA will go on to become chief minister, if the Left-Congress combine snatches victory.



Going by cold statistics, things are hardly easy for Mishra. Even though he managed to retain his seat in 2011 in the face of a Trinamool clean sweep, in successive polls since then that the Left has failed to leave any mark. In the 2013 Panchayat elections, Trinamool wiped out CPM from the region, a feat the ruling party repeated during the 2014 general elections. Keeping in mind the numbers and making the necessary calculations, Mamata has decided to wrest the seat from the Left.



Mishra, however, will not be an easy man to beat at one of the largest Assembly seats in Bengal even though he has hardly found time to campaign in his constituency. Democracy will prevail and people will resist all forces trying to stop them from casting their votes. If the polls are free and fair, things will change in Bengal, Mishra said in one of the few public rallies he addressed at Narayangarh.



His campaign agents state that even though Mishra has not been able to spend much time in the area, owing to his organisational responsibilities, voters will understand.



Narayangarh, with around 2.4 lakh voters, sent Mishra back to the state Assembly with a margin of slightly over 7,800 in 2011. What followed was a reign of terror and rigging Trinamool unleashed in the subsequent elections in 2013 and 2014, claim local CPM leaders. In 2013, Trinamool won 15 of the 16 Gram Panchayats, captured the Panchayat Samity and Zilla Parishad and in 2014, CPM lost the Assembly segment under Midnapore Lok Sabha seat by around 24,000 votes.



Initial reports suggested that Mishra was not keen on contesting this time due to his responsibilities as the state secretary, also may be because of the electoral situation. His agents and campaign managers, however, believe Mishra will be smiling all the way to victory. He is the first CPM state secretary to be contesting elections since party patriarch Jyoti Basu. Basu contested the polls in 1952 when he held the same office of an undivided Communist party. CPMs convention has always been to keep the top office-bearer away from poll posters, and confined behind closed doors to make strategies on all the moves. CPM zonal committee secretary Madan Bose admitted that Mishra did not want to be fielded.



He agreed to contest only because the request came from the polit bureau. His only condition was to contest from Narayangarh and nowhere else, Bose said. Bose, who said that Mishras campaign machinery is being run by the zonal committee, claimed that the situation in Narayangarh started undergoing a change since mid-2015. People started complaining about the misrule of Trinamool leaders in every level of the Panchayat, he said. After almost four years, people started joining our meetings and rallies. Even though Mishra will spend only five days to campaign in the area, a huge crowd will wait for him.



Trinamool is already worried over our coalition with Congress. They have realised that people are tired of them and want this rule of anarchy to end, Bose said. The prevalent belief among most voters is that daktaar-babu (Mr Doctor), as Mishra is known locally due to his formal medical training, will have a cure for the ruling partys wrongs.
The BJP is upbeat about its chances of coming to power in Assam with the help of its alliance partners.





Optimism in the saffron camp has doubled after the first phase of polling held on April 4. Deccan Heralds Ratnadip Choudhury caught up with the BJPs chief ministerial candidate in Assam Sarbananda Sonowal, who revealed how its call for identity politics has been a master stroke.



DH: The voters in Majuli have already locked your fate in the EVMs. By fielding you from Majuli, the BJP has tried to associate itself with Assams culture, history and religious belief. Thus, the emotive politics of the BJP in Assam has been able to set a wave of sorts. What has really changed politically since the 2014 polls where the BJP won seven of the 14 Lok Sabha seats in Assam?

Sarbananda Sonowal: People have got a feeling that unless the BJP comes to power, growth of Assam is impossible. They have lost trust in the Congress. They are very much upset. They dont find any reason why the Congress should retain power because it has misused public money and has involved in rampant corruption. There is no optimism left with the Congress in Assam. As for Majuli, it is the most backward area of the state, an example of the Congress neglect. We want it to take the lead in formation of a developed Assam.



DH: You have been pushing the developmental agenda in Assam right from the campaigning of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, but as the 2016 Assembly polls approached, the BJP has set the identity politics as your main agenda. Why is this shift?

SS: This is peoples democracy and people will have to decide what to do and what not to do. In last 15 years of the Congress rule, people have seen that the Congress has had no vision and no connection with the son of the soil. Now it is the age of new technology and young generation wants visible change. There are 26 lakh unemployed youths in Assam and not all can migrate for job. Job generation is the need of the hour. Thus, we are pushing developmental politics but that cannot happen unless the core issue of identity of the son of the soil is resolved.



DH: Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi claims it to be an election between him and PM Modi. How far is the Modi factor working in favour of the BJP?

SS: PM Modi is the heartthrob of younger generation. When he landed on campaign trails, a pro-BJP wave generated and it has changed the scenario in our favour. There is no dark spot in his governance; last 20 months of Modi at the Centre have been a model of good governance.



DH: What is BJPs main agenda for Assam  illegal migrant, development or Modi wave?

SS: We cannot sideline the core issues of the state, there are several of them. People of Assam on one hand want development and good governance. At the same time, they want their identity and dignity to be protected. Illegal migrants are a threat to the identity of Assam. We will have to address the issues at one go. We will not shy away and thus we have made the identity issue as our main poll plank.



DH: Is polarisation of Non-Muslim votes the only ploy for the BJP in Assam to come to power?

SS: In this political battle, our primary injective along with our allies is to uproot the unholy nexus of the Congress and the AIUDF. They are creating problem with indigenous people. We have to politically establish the right over the land for the indigenous people. Thus, it is not a question of Hindus and Muslims; it is the question of protection of our motherland. The Congress has patronised illegal migrant and it is the Congress that allowed Badruddin Ajmal and his party to grow in state politics. This combined force has already created a crisis in the state that the identity of indigenous people is at stake. It is the popular demand of the people of Assam to finish the Congress and AIUDF politically.




Karnataka State Government Employees Association President B P Manjegowda said a final decision on staging an indefinite stir by the government employees demanding a pay scale equivalent to that of the Union government will be taken soon.





Addressing mediapersons here on Tuesday, he said the salary of the Union government employees is being revised as per the recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission. But, the State government has not taken any initiative towards the revision of the pay scale of its employees. Hence, the district units of the association have proposed to stage an indefinite stir, he said.



He said there was a difference of 20.51 per cent to 87.78 per cent between the pay scales of the Central and the State government employees during the implementation of the recommendations of Sixth Pay Commission. If the recommendations of Seventh Pay Commission are implemented, the difference will increase to 44.06 per cent to 111.33 per cent. In this case,the fight will be inevitable to urge the government to eliminate the difference, he noted.



Manjegowda said the chief minister had assured of taking steps in the budget in this regard. But, no measures have been taken and it is being assured that the initiatives will be taken in the next budget. But, the government employees are not in a situation to believe in these assurances and hence, the presidents of the district units of the association have placed a demand at the executive committee meeting that the stir should be staged, he added.



The discussion on the topic will be carried out in the State council meeting of the association and at the Mysuru zonal-level meeting to be held in Kundapur. The final decision will be taken after staging the meeting of the presidents of all district units in Bengaluru, he said.



Manjegowda said that the new pension policy of the Union government is causing injustice to the government employees. A delegation will meet the prime minister and submit a memorandum to him requesting the withdrawal of the policy. The State government should also stand by its employees and should implement the older pension system, he said.



Association Honorary President H K Ramu, General Secretary B M Patel Pandu and Treasurer Yogananda were present.




The state government has given the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) permission to raise a loan to buy 1,000 new buses.





The loan to be raised is expected to be around Rs 390 crore. While the principal amount will be repaid by BMTC, the interest on the loan will be borne by the state government.



Hundreds of BMTC buses were getting old, well past their mileage and difficult to operate. Maintaining them was not only getting expensive but was not possible beyond a point.



After a delay of three to four months, the government finally okayed the loan to the BMTC to buy 1,000 of the 3,500 new buses it had proposed to induct. BMTC now operates 6,418 buses transporting 51 lakh people across the city everyday.



The new buses, which are likely to be inducted in three to four months, will ply in the south, east and northern parts of Bengaluru as demand is not high in the western regions of the city, according to chief traffic manager (operations) of BMTC, B C Renukeshwar.



Typically, there has been high demand for buses in the north, east and south of the city. There has been no demand from people in the western regions since economic and industrial activities in the region are not as high. In case demand picks up, we will certainly deploy services to the western parts of the city, said Renukeshwar.



The south and east include Jayanagar, JP Nagar, BTM Layout, Central Silk Board, Sarjapur, Whitefield, Mahadevpura and parts of KR Puram. Senior BMTC officials say the slew of new offices on the ring road and the increase in and spread of technology hubs fuelled a demand for BMTC services in the south and south east.



Many people travel from Jayanagar and JP Nagar to Sarjapur, Whitefield and to Electronics City too. The BMTC has also tied up with many companies in ITPB and Infosys in Electronics City and Manyata Tech Park to ferry employees. The western region hasnt seen development of IT hubs, parks and companies in the last two decades like the southern, eastern and northern regions have.



The northern region has seen rise in demand for bus services mainly from Manyata Tech Park, which is close to the proposed industrial hub coming up near Devanahalli and the proposed Information Technology Investment Region. The airport is also expanding and a large, state-of-the-art business convention hall is also expected in the region.


The Central Crime Branch (CCB) has arrested a 25-year-old woman for selling fake degree certificates and marks cards of well known universities in the country and also a foreign university.





The CCB sleuths said that the accused Safia Banu, a resident of Bannerghatta Main Road was arrested while the kingpin of the racket Ravikumar alias Ravi Raj, a native of Secunderabad is absconding. They have seized fake marks cards, degree certificates, question papers and answer sheets, fake seals of various universities, computers and mobile phones.



Based on the information, the CCB carried out a raid on Vijetha College Admission cum Information centre at Sai Plaza complex in Jayanagar, 4th T Block, and arrested Banu.



During the interrogation, she revealed that the centre was being run by Ravikumar. They used to offer fake marks cards and degree certificates of different courses from well known universities including Madhurai Kamaraj University, (Tamil Nadu); Dravidian University, Kuppam (Andhra Pradesh); Rashtriya Vishwa Vidya Peetha, Mumbai; CV Raman University, Chattisgarh; Board of Open Distance Learning, West Bengal; Global Open University, Nagaland; RKDF University, Kerala; and Northwest Accreditation Commission (USA). They used to offer fake certificates for 38 courses including PhD and MPhil, BA, BCom, BSc, MA, MCom, MSc, MBA, MCA, LLM and many other courses said the CCB officials. The centre was being operated for the past one year in the city while the main centre is situated in Secunderabad. They used to offer the fake certificates for Rs 30,000 to 50,000. They even used to make the students write the exam by giving them fake question papers just to make sure that the students do not doubt the centre.



Also, they used to even hand over the marks card and degree certificate within 30 days from the date of completion of exams. If anyone asked for modification of the dates on the marks card issued and make it look like that it was issued around seven to eight years ago, then they would charge extra amount, said a senior police officer.



One of the student, who received marks card and certificates by the centre, crosschecked it with the university. But he did not find his name. When he approached the centre, he was told to wait for a while saying that the university is yet to update the same. The student waited but only to realise that it was a fake centre. He approached the police and registered a complaint based on which the centre was raided. The main accused Ravikumar is absconding and will be arrested at the earliest, added the officer.



A case has been registered in Tilak Nagar police station and investigation is being carried out.
Two 108 ambulance staff members, Krishnappa and Shambulingiah, who were on an indefinite hunger strike at Freedom Park here, fell unconscious on Tuesday and were rushed to KC General Hospital in the city.





Hundreds of ambulance staffers have been protesting since January against several disagreeable conditions put forth by the management.



108 Ambulance Drivers Association State president Shrishail Hallur said about 500 workers were continuing their protest.



Alternative options

Some of them are sitting there at Freedom Park. A few others are looking at alternative options of employment. We have not been getting our salaries, he said.Hallur said the staff would again meet Health Minister U T Khader to find a solution to their problems.
More than three years after the abrupt suspension of the project work, the state government has now realised that the design of the jinxed Kalaburagi greenfield airport is faulty and that the night landing of jumbo aircraft like Airbus is not feasible.



RITES, an engineering consultant company of the government of India, recently conducted an inspection of the project site and opined that night landing of jumbo aircraft was not feasible, given the existing airport design. For, the distance between the runway and the boundary wall is not as per the norm: A minimum of 200 metres distance on both sides is necessary for night landing of big aircraft, experts say.



RITES has recommended some minor changes in the airport design in order to ensure night landing of jumbo aircraft. The distance between the runway and the boundary wall will have to be further extended by 30 metres on both sides. For this, an additional 48 acres of land (close to Kalaburagi-Sedam road) has to be acquired, Kalaburagi district Deputy Commissioner Vipul Bansal said.



Gulbarga Airport Development Limited, a joint venture (JV) between Rahi Aviation Holdings Pvt Ltd and IL&FS Transportation Networks Ltd, was awarded the contract of the Rs 186-crore project under public-private- partnership basis to construct and operate the airport in 2007. The company began the work in April 2011 and airport was scheduled to be completed in 2012.



Abrupt halt

But the construction came to an abrupt halt in 2012 as the companies in the JV locked themselves in a legal tussle. The government terminated the contract in 2014. The responsibility of completing the work has been entrusted to the State Public Works Department.



Additional Chief Secretary to the Infrastructure Development Department, Vandita Sharma, was not available for comment.


A local BJP worker was killed when a tipper lorry collided head-on with two motorcycles near Magadi town on the western outskirts of Bengaluru on Tuesday, the police said.





Mallikarjunaiah, 45, a BJP worker from Banawadi village, Magadi taluk, and two others were going to the Magadi tahsildar office when the accident occurred around 10.45 am. The driver of the tipper lorry was reckless and struck the two motorcycles head-on near an under-construction bridge at Anehalla on Magadi-Gudemaranahalli road. Mallikarjunaiah was killed on the spot as he came under the lorry wheels.



The injured were identified as Mohan Kumar Vishwakarma, 25, and Renuka Prasad, 30, both residents of Banawadi. Local residents called the 108 ambulance and helped take the trio to hospital, but Mallikarjunaiah was dead by then, the police said.



The lorry driver fled soon after the accident but the police detained the cleaner, Kiran, and seized the heavy vehicle.



Broke man tries to rob ATM

The Kamakshipalya police arrested a 26-year-old man for attempting to rob an ATM kiosk in Basaweshwaranagar after assaulting the security guard.



The police said that the accused V Santosh Kumar Naik, a native of Anantapur, was working as a data entry operator in a super market in Hyderabad. On March 31, around 4.30 am, he went to a Union Bank ATM in Basaweshwaranagar and, in a bid to loot the ATM, assaulted the guard Nagaraj, who tried to fight back. Naik fearing that he would be overpowered, fled the spot.



Meanwhile, Vijaykumar, who was witness to the event, alerted the night beat police. Guard Nagaraj, along with the police, chased down the suspect.



During the interrogation, Naik revealed that he had borrowed Rs six lakh from a few moneylenders and was unable to repay the amount.



Naik regularly visited Bengaluru since his sister stays in Basaweshwaranagar. He attempted to loot the ATM, thinking he could clear his debts, added the police.A case has been registered and investigation on.
The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is building a concrete bridge in the downstream of Bellandur lake wasteweir to connect Bellandur and Yemalur localities in eastern Bengaluru.





The Rs 1.2-crore project is expected to ease congestion on the narrow bridge which is used by thousands of IT professionals working in two Special Economic Zones (SEZs) located nearby. The new bridge will be twice as big as the old one.



The bridge  12 metres wide, 20 metres long and 1.5 metres high  is being built under the Nagarothana scheme. It is coming up next to a similar bridge that was also constructed at Rs 1.2 crore. We have blocked the outflow of water near the old ramp with loads of debris. Ones the area dries up, we will begin the civic work. The contractors have promised to complete the work in 45 days, a BBMP official told Deccan Herald.



According to the official, the existing bridge will be retained.



The project is expected to solve traffic jams which have become a regular affair. The situation was worse when the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) fixed a net around the bridge, blocking the sight of vehicles. The place was exactly where spewing foam and dramatic fire caught everyones attention, bringing the lakes unbearable filth to international headlines.



Congestion in the area gets particularly annoying for motorists who have to bear the stinking smell of the dirty foam in the lake.



Concrete ramp

The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) also has prepared a detailed project report to construct a ramp around the 800-acre lake at an estimated cost of Rs two crore. The ramp is designed to temporarily control the flow of contaminated water, not treat it. The state government is yet to approve the project, a BWSSB official told this newspaper.



The concrete ramp will be built at the wasteweir in Bellandur lake where there has been an increased outflow of foam that has been affecting the movement of motorists and pedestrians. It is a short-term measure to contain the outpour of froth and not a permanent solution, he said.
Despite the Supreme Court rejecting the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) in 2013, the Medical Council of India (MCI) is making a renewed effort to bring back the plan for a common national medical entrance test.



The MCI has asked the Central government to review the matter. To enforce uniformity in admissions and prevent malpractices, a common entrance examination (NEET) has been suggested. The MCI has passed it and sent it to the Government of India. The final decision of the government is awaited. The system will ensure reservation of seats as per norms and the syllabus will be common throughout the country, said MCI president Dr Jayashree P Mehta.



The Council has also filed a review petition on the matter. Mehta was addressing the 18th annual convocation of Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) here on Tuesday.



Speaking with Deccan Herald, RGUHS vice chancellor Dr K S Ravindranath said the MCI would amend its rules to be able to conduct the NEET.



Revise, revamp, upgrade

Mehta said the MCI was making efforts to revise, revamp and upgrade the existing 1997 regulations in Graduate Medical Education by incorporating many changes.



These include a two-month foundation course during which students would be oriented to the national health scenario, medical ethics and professional development and communication skills. The MCI also wants early clinical exposure of students from the first year onwards which would be integrated with basic laboratory sciences.



People losing trust

Mehta warned doctors that society was fast losing its confidence in medical professionals due to the unethical actions of a few. A large number of doctors today prescribe medicines just after the discourse given to them by representatives of drug companies. Kickbacks for referring patients for investigations and treatments are being talked about in the City. This has seriously affected the reputation of the profession, she said.




The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), through its first FIR, on Monday arrested three public servants in Bengaluru in connection with demand and acceptance of bribe.



The officials arrested are: Taluk development officer Rajashekhar, office accountant Srinivas and a typist Shanthamma. The arrested members work at the Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Tribes Development Corporation Limited.



The complaint filed by P H Ramu stated that he had sought for a subsidy loan of Rs one lakh from the corporation. But, the accused government officials demanded a bribe of Rs 7,000 to release the subsidy amount of Rs 35,000.



The trap was laid by the ACB officials and the three were arrested at the corporations office at Sampangiram Nagar.



The arrested were produced before the Lokayukta special court. They now remain in the judicial custody.




Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said he will soon fly to Delhi to discuss with the party high command about reshuffling the cabinet.



Speaking to reporters after garlanding the statue of Babu Jagjivan Ram at the Vidhana Soudha, he said that the party MLAs were mounting pressure on him with regard to the reshuffle. Home Minister and the KPCC (Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee) president G Parameshwara said there was nothing wrong in a group of party MLAs demanding cabinet reshuffle. They have not spoken anything against the party. They have only given a few suggestions in the partys interest.



The suggestions will be looked into at the KPCC executive committee meeting on April 16, he added.




To ensure animals do not escape from their cages, the Bannerghatta Biological Park (BBP) is replacing old-style pulley and weight enclosures with new-age lock crates.





The decision comes weeks after a four-year-old male leopard escaped from the BBPs rescue centre in the early hours of February 15, 2016. The leopard, which was nicknamed Rishi, had strayed into Vibgyor High school in Marathahalli, southeast Bengaluru, on February 7, 2016, and injured several people, including wildlife conservationists. But it was caught and sent to the BBP later.



The leopard, however, sneaked out of the rescue centre holding area, squeeze cage and kraal area. It then leapt from a 25-foot-high fence and made its way to the abutting Bannerghatta National Park. The animals escapade embarrassed the BBP administration and even led to a criminal case being filed against it.



Ravi Ralph, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife), and the Zoo Authority of Karnataka formed a five-member committee to investigate the case. The probe report blamed among other things improper cages for the animals escape. Based on this, the BBP chalked out a plan to replace the old cages.



In the old system, the pulley and weight through which enclosure gates open and close were attached to the corridor boundary wall of the housing area. In the new system, they will be attached to the enclosure gate. The gatekeeper has to lift the weight to open the gate and drop it to close the gate. The gates have to be locked when opened and closed.



In the old system, the front gate of the enclosure had only one lock. In the new system, it has a three-tier locking system: front and two sides. The sliding gates between two enclosures also have locking devices.



BBP Executive Director Santosh Kumar said the new tiger enclosure had been fitted with new locking gates and housed five cages.



The rescue centre has five tiger and 12 lion houses with each house having six rooms. There are also four enclosures in the zoo. Leak points in the kraal area are also being fixed, and bolts and joints being replaced.



The locking system will be replicated in all animal houses. Replicating it in each house will cost Rs 80,000-90,000. The locking system was to be installed by March, but administrative and financial procedures delayed it.



The full-fledged work will start on April 1 and will be completed in a month, Kumar said, adding that there will be no room for errors.
Motorists were inconvenienced with the two-day strike by drivers of fuel tankers in the City on Tuesday.





The strike led to fuel shortage in most of the bunks with a large number of motorists standing in long queues, struggling to buy petrol and diesel.



The 36-hour strike ended on Tuesday evening, after the oil companies held talks with the agitating drivers. Every day, at least 1,000 tankers arrive in the City, each carrying 20,000 litres of petrol and 5,000 litres of diesel. However, not a single tanker arrived during the strike period, forcing the bunks to display No Stock boards.



As soon as the strike was withdrawn at 4.15 pm on Tuesday, as many as 500 trucks immediately left the Devangonthi Terminal. Thus, the petrol and diesel supply was restored by 8 pm, but citizens had a tough time till then.



Most of the petrol bunks witnessed serpentine queues as motorists stood for hours awaiting their turn. The fuel stations had also restricted the filling to Rs 200 for two-wheelers and Rs 500 for four-wheelers to meet the rush. Fuel was not supplied in bottles to any stranded customer.



I had to wait for more than an hour in the sun afternoon to fill petrol for my two-wheeler at the Shell petrol bunk. Boards around the bunk displayed that regular petrol was not available. I paid Rs 75.15 for a litre of special petrol. The government should ensure that essentials are not affected, said Jyotsna R, a homemaker.



The officials of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, Indian Oil Corporation, and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited have assured the protesters that their demands would be met. For the last six months, the truckers have been demanding a good road from the Devangonthi Terminal. The kuchcha road was dangerous leading to accidents, they added.



The oil companies have agreed that henceforth trucks will travel via Hoskote to Bengaluru, which would mean a travel of extra 20 km. Until the road is asphalted, the oil companies would bear the extra travel charge. And this would burden the customer further as the fuel price would be hiked in the forthcoming days. The oil companies will now include transport charges while calculating costs. The existing petrol and diesel price in Bengaluru is Rs 66.53 and Rs 52.29, respectively, sources told Deccan Herald.



The agitators have sought uniformity in wages. They have also demanded uniformity in the transport allowance, since different companies were offered different amount ranging from Rs 36 to Rs 45. They also demanded insurance cover, hygienic facilities and fixed working hours. The companies have assured the protesters that their problems would addressed within a months time, said Petroleum Dealers Association chairman Bhushan Narang. Despite repeated attempts, officials of the oil companies did not respond.




The Education department has decided to invoke criminal procedure to penalise those indulging in acts like paper leaks, which will henceforth be considered a criminal offence. This decision follows the leakage of II PU Chemistry question paper twice.



Primary and Secondary Education Minister Kimmane Ratnakar said on Tuesday that a decision has been taken to amend the Karnataka Education Act to introduce the punishment clause. Supporting, copying or leak of question papers by officials, teachers, parents or students will be considered a criminal and non-bailable offence. The department will frame these new rules and send it for suitable amendments. We have to send out a tough message. This is the reason that I have asked the CID to probe the issue from 2012 onwards, he said, while interacting with reporters in Bengaluru.



The minister said that the CID will be probing everybody concerned - from those who have set the papers to the printer.



Seperate DPUE

There is also a proposal to separate the PU examination board from the administrative wing of the department.



The two are now merged and they need to be separated to curtail malpractices and irregularities, he added.



The 3-member committee constituted to supervise the Chemistry re-exam, will compile recommendations for revamping the PU Board. The committee comprises PU Education Director Ramegowda, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan project Director P C Jaffer and Principal Secretary, Primary and Secondary Education, Ajay Seth.



The committee has not been given a time frame to submit its recommendations. Asked if the department would invoke Essential Service Maintenance Act (ESMA) against lecturers who are boycotting evaluation of PU papers, Ratnakar said, I am sure I will win the hearts of the lecturers. If they fail to pay heed, then we will put alternative measures in place.



He also said that there would be no delay in announcement of PU results. The results might be out before the CET examinations, in the first week of May. On rumours that WhatsApp services will be discontinued on the day before and on the day of Chemistry re-exam on April 12, Ratnakar said that he was not aware of the matter. I have no information on this. I would not like to comment on the same, he added.


Alaska resident waterfowl hunters will have the opportunity to harvest emperor geese this fall for the first time in 30 years.

Federal regulations for the 2017-2018 waterfowl hunting season allow a statewide harvest of 1,000 emperor geese. Registration permits are available now for seven hunt areas; the bag limit is one emperor goose per hunter per season.

A maritime species featuring distinctive white heads and necks and pale-gray wing and body plumage, emperor geese are exclusive to Alaska and the Russian Far East. Conservation efforts over recent decades helped the geese recover from a low population size to a harvestable level.

Hunt areas include coastal Game Management Units 23, 22, 18, 9 and 17 combined, 10, 8, and the Izembek State Game Refuge. Each hunt area is assigned an individual quota and requires a registration permit unique to the area. Hunters are asked to read the hunt conditions on registration permits carefully; hunt areas may have different season dates, quotas, reporting requirements, or restrictions.

Successful hunters must report their harvest of an emperor goose by phone or online at www.hunt.alaska.gov within 24 hours or 72 hours, depending upon the hunt area. All hunts will be subject to closure by emergency order to avoid exceeding area harvest quotas.

For more information, see the 2017-2018 Emperor Goose Hunt Details sheet below; contact state Waterfowl Coordinator Jason Schamber at (907) 267-2206; or visit www.adfg.waterfowl.alaska.gov.

2017-2018 Emperor Goose Hunt Details

Hunting will be open by registration permit to ALASKA RESIDENTS who possess a current hunting license (see migratory game bird regulations for license exemptions).

Registration permits are free and will be available in unlimited number online at www.hunt.alaska.gov, at Alaska Department of Fish and Game offices, and at many license vendors in rural coastal villages where emperor geese are hunted.

A permit allows the harvest and possession of one emperor goose per hunter per season.

Hunters must purchase a federal and state waterfowl stamp to hunt emperor geese (see the migratory game bird regulations for duck stamp exemptions).

There are seven established hunt areas across the range of emperor geese, each with a registration permit unique to the area and an individual quota.

A hunter may register for one permit in a single hunt area or one permit in each of multiple hunt areas; however, the harvest and possession of only one emperor goose per hunter per season is allowed regardless of the number of permits held.

Season dates vary by hunt area. Hunters are encouraged to check the migratory bird hunting regulations booklet or online at www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=hunting.huntingregulations for detailed information about specific season dates.

Successful hunters must report their harvest by phone 1-800-478-7468 or online at www.hunt.alaska.gov within 24 hours or 72 hours, depending on the hunt area.

Hunt areas will be closed by emergency order to avoid exceeding area harvest quotas; call 1-800-478-7468 for updated hunt area closure information.

Please read the hunt conditions on registration permits carefully; hunt areas may have different season dates, reporting requirements, or restrictions.

More information about the 2017-2018 fall-winter emperor goose hunt is available at www.waterfowl.adfg.alaska.gov or contact Jason Schamber at (907) 267-2206

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by Kendra Kloster

Dear Governor Dunleavy,

Improving the safety of all Alaskans is an issue that we can all get behind. Everyone has the right to feel safe in their home and their community, no matter where in Alaska they live. The creators of our constitution felt so strongly about this and agreed that it needed to be explicitly stated in the constitution. However, despite these founding statements upon which our State of Alaska government is built, and all the discussion focused on public safety last year, funding was still cut from the Village Public Safety Officer program, and we are not seeing improvements in public safety for ALL Alaskans.

Only one in three villages have a public safety officer. Alaska continues to shamefully rank highest for rates of domestic violence, assault and missing and murdered Indigenous women in the Nation. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has reported that murder is the third-leading cause of death among American Indian and Alaska Native women and that rates of violence on reservations and rural areas can be up to ten times higher than the national average.

As we talk with people in communities across Alaska, we are overwhelmed by the expressed concerns for life and safety, and the testimonies of rural residents who had to wait hours (and in some cases up to days) for troopers to respond to distress calls. It has been up to community members without any formal safety and mediation training to police others and respond to calls of distress of their family and friends putting themselves at great risk as well  this is not a system that serves us well and we demand better.

A better system includes working more closely with our tribal governments, building up and truly supporting our Village Public Safety Officers by providing adequate funding and removing barriers that exist to hinder this program from protecting Alaskans.

We know there are recruitment and retention problems for public safety officers across Alaska, as acknowledged in recent years by Commissioner Walt Monegan. He listed multiple reasons preventing successful officer recruitment and retention, including but not limited to salary and benefit packages.

While we understand the challenge of balancing a budget and eliminating the deficit, we also know that the solution is not to cut funding for public safety. There are times when investments need to be made for the greater good, and this is one of those times. All options and out of the box solutions should be on the table.

We cannot continue to fail to protect Alaskans. One of our main goals is to advocate for the wellness and protection of Alaska Native peoples. We need partners across the state from the Governors office to troopers and police, to non-profits, tribal governments and communities to come together to find the solutions to make Alaska a safer place.

We are reaching out to seek your assistance and leadership in helping us to address these issues. We need to end the high rates of violence and lack of public safety and protections for Alaskans across the state, and to stand up for Alaska Native women and children who are going missing and being murdered. Collectively we need to send a clear message that this norm will no longer be tolerated and we will do everything we can do end it.

We urge you to include funding in the state operating budget to support the needs of Village Public Safety Officers and review the statutes that govern them to ensure any existing barriers to their success are removed.

We appreciate your consideration and hope that we can work together to solve this crisis. Please do not hesitate to contact us, we stand ready and able to help in any way possible.

Gunalcheesh/Hawaa/Quyana/Mahsi/Baassee/Maasee/Dogedinh/Thank you.

Kendra Kloster is the Executive Director for Native Peoples Action.

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AHFC funds four projects for safety, health and education professionals.

The Village of Tununak is the recipient of a grant that will be used to build a three-bedroom house. Tununak has been recruiting for a Village Public Safety Officer (VPSO) for nearly two years without success. The village will receive $381,000 to build a three bedroom home. The Villages approach to the project development combines several funding sources to modernize infrastructure, including water, sewer and roads.

Alaska Housing Finance Corporation (AHFC), in partnership with the Rasmuson Foundation, announces $2 million in Teacher Health Professional and Public Safety Officer Housing (THHP) grants to support housing construction in four rural Alaska communities.

Access to safe, quality and affordable housing is vital to the well-being of any community, says Bryan Butcher CEO/executive director of AHFC. Along with Rasmuson Foundation contributions, these funds meaningfully impact housing shortages.

Projects selected for funding are energy efficient, provide job training and employment to a local labor force, and address a specific goal or need for safe, quality, affordable housing:

Other organizations receiving grants are:

 Hoonah Indian Association will receive $550,000 to support seven units (14 bedrooms), along with office space for rotating behavioral health services.

 Village of Kasaan will receive $373,000 to replace a damaged trailer with a duplex intended to house teachers and provide low-income housing for a tribal member.

 Huslia Village Council is receiving its third THHP grant in 12 years, $550,000, to build a duplex for law enforcement and health professionals. The community has experienced a shortage of VPSOs, and a health aide position has been vacant since 2016.

THHP funds are competitively awarded and do not fund any project in its entirety. Twelve communities applied for the gap funding this year. Awards for funding are made based on published criteria (ahfc.us).

The Alaska legislature authorized spending of AHFCs corporate dividend for this purpose in 2017, along with a match from the Rasmuson Foundation.

The THHP program has funded 120 projects since it was launched in 2004. An interactive map and list of prior awards is available at ahfc.us.

Alaska Housing Finance Corporation (AHFC) is a public corporation with a long history of providing Alaskans access to safe, quality and affordable housing through home financing programs, energy efficiency and weatherization programs, public housing and more. Since 1986, AHFC has contributed $1.9 billion to the State of Alaskas General Fund.

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WRIGHT, Wyo.  The day the layoffs came, a cigarette and a cold beer could do only so much.

Thursday could have been a normal day at Hanks Roadside Bar and Grill in Wright, Wyo. ESPN and Fox News were on the TV screens, a midday crowd sipped Coors Light. But the folks inside who still had jobs didnt want to talk about friends who were now out of work  or the mine theyd soon have to go back to.

Instead, they talked about how working in a coal mine was like working with family, and that times had been tough before, and that if they were down now, they could come back again.

They were the lucky ones, that they knew.

Both Peabody Energy and Arch Coal announced Thursday they were cutting more than 460 jobs, or about 15 percent of the workforce at the North Antelope Rochelle and Black Thunder Mines in northeast Wyoming.

Its just devastating for a community, Wright Economic Development coordinator Brandi Harlow said. Were such a small, tight-knit community. Everybody in Wright is touched by coal mine jobs.

Wright was started as a coal mining town, and continues to be a place in the heart of the Powder River Basin that depends on the minerals industry, Harlow said.

But life in a coal town doesnt stop at the mines. There are the schools, the bars, the hotels, the mom and pop shops whose livelihood comes from the mines success or failure.

The mood was dark the day before the pink slips came out at the mining facility where Jason Johnson works as a janitor.

Everybodys families are going to be impacted dramatically, Johnson said. People are going to have to buck up, get any job they can take.

Shelby Vinot spent most of his life in the town and now works as a field technician at a mining machine repair company. Theyd seen the cuts coming and have work lined up through the summer, but after that the unknown returns.

Are we still going to be here or not? he wondered, Or do we have to move and find some other work?

Big D gas station assistant manager Sandy Willison said people have already been leaving town. Her husband works in a mine. They havent been through layoffs like this before.

She tried sounding upbeat Thursday, but she said most of the customers were depressed. They asked one another if they knew anyone out of a job.

This town, if it keeps going, is going to end up being a ghost town, Willison said. If the mines are gone, the towns gone.

In Gillette, about 40 miles up Wyoming 59, mayor Louise Carter-King also tried to sound positive. The layoffs leave the town with a pool of skilled laborers to go with its good schools and advantageous location along a major interstate.

Maybe we were all complacent a little bit. Maybe this can wake us up, Carter-King said. Wyoming has heard all along, diversify, diversify. But when you dont have much of a labor force its hard to start a whole new ballgame.

Coal will remain vital to the regions future, the mayor said. She pointed to the Integrated Test Center at the Dry Fork Station in Gillette, where teams of scientists will compete to find economic uses for the carbon in the power plants emission stream.

Thursdays announcement nevertheless represents a grave blow to the community, she said. Carter-Kings husband works at Peabodys Caballo mine, where 20 people were recently laid of.

It is difficult and heartbreaking to hear about these layoffs, she said. Then she added a defiant note: Gillette is a city that rallies around our neighbors. Well make it.

And at the Fireside Lounge in Gillette, the layoffs meant a second pint of beer from Black Tooth Brewing was on the house. Its always been a family owned bar frequented by employees in the energy industry, said Scott Edwards, the restaurants manager.

One of the men having a drink at the bar knew he had an uncertain fate.

Clint Hoffman had to be up early Friday to head to Wright. He said he had worked at Black Thunder for about 10 years. Hed had friends laid off already. In the morning he would find out if hed join them.

I dont know what Im going to do if I get laid off tomorrow, he said. I dont know.
Last year Colorado became ground zero in the national debate over how the law should handle teen sexting. After a sexting scandal broke out at Canon City High School, it became clear that current law was so harsh that it wasnt even a legitimate option for prosecutors.

Not only is possession of explicit photos of minors a felony, but it carries the requirement of having to register as a sex offender. Thats an absurd punishment for such behavior among teens.

Fortunately, a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers is tackling the issue with House Bill 1058, which would make it a Class 2 misdemeanor offense for a juvenile to distribute, display, publish or possess any sexually explicit image of a minor  with an affirmative defense if the juvenile didnt request the image and took steps to get rid of it. Its a good proposal, and is scheduled to be taken up in a House committee Tuesday.

However, critics of the bill have stepped forward to insist that it doesnt go far enough. They fear victims whose nude photos are distributed could be treated no different from the offender, or they object to potentially punishing the consensual exchange of photos.

Some argue that teens will exchange such photos no matter what the law says.

Amy Adele Hasinoff, a professor of communication at the University of Colorado Denver, is one such critic. In an op-ed Monday in The New York Times, Hasinoff wrote, These new laws may seem like a measured solution to the problem of charging teenage sexters with child pornography felonies. However, once they have the option of lesser penalties, prosecutors are more likely to press charges  not only against teenagers who distribute private images without permission, but also against those who sext consensually.

We very much doubt her forecast. In our crystal ball, prosecutors are likely to press charges when there have been complaints, and complaints will generally occur when someones nude photo is shared without permission or when someone receives a photo they did not request.

And while its all well and good to talk about the consensual exchange of nude photos between, say, two 15-year-olds, the fact is they lose control over those images forever. Are they really mature enough to understand the implications  how theyll feel, for example, if their partner sends out those pictures six months or six years later to dozens of friends?

As Arapahoe County District Attorney George Brauchler reminded us, kids have committed suicide over far less humiliation. What we are trying to do, in my opinion, he told The Denver Post last month, is to discourage juveniles from making decisions that could harm them.

One of the bills sponsors, Sen. Linda Newell, D-Littleton, told us there may be an amendment to further reduce the charge for consensual sexting for the first offense to meet critics halfway. And that may be appropriate. But decriminalizing possession altogether, as some advocates seek, would be a mistake, in part because it would jeopardize the ability of prosecutors to seize images and give a youth a fresh start without the prospect of future embarrassment.

It is true, of course, that some juveniles will engage in sexting whether its illegal or not. But why is that considered a compelling argument? Some will drink alcohol, too, but that doesnt mean we should repeal laws against youth drinking.

HB 1058 is an appropriate response to a phenomenon of the digital age that current law simply never foresaw.

To send a letter to the editor about this article, submit online or check out our guidelines for how to submit by e-mail or mail.
A woman charged with killing her 3-year-old niece kept the girl in a closet for two weeks just before her death, according to police records released over the weekend.

Grand Junction Police responded to the girls home just before 8 a.m. March 17 on a report of a child not breathing.

Bethannie Johnson was unresponsive and covered in bruises, according to police. Paramedics told officers that when they tried to clear the girls airway, they found dried blood and estimated she had likely died earlier that morning or the night before.

The autopsy concluded the girl died of blunt force trauma.

The Colorado Department of Human Services reports that the agency had prior contact with the family. A decision to launch a child fatality review about that previous history is pending and no other information has been released.

Shanna Gossett, the girls 29-year-old aunt who told police she is the girls legal guardian, was arrested later in the day and has been charged with first-degree murder of a child, child abuse, kidnapping and false imprisonment  all felonies.

When police first responded to the home, Gossett told police the girl had been with her sister, the childs biological mother, for the past two weeks. Gossett claimed that the night before calling the police, the girls mother had shown up and returned the child.

Gossett said when she took the girl, she noticed a bloody nose and wiped it clean before placing the girl in her crib. In the morning, Gossett told police, she realized the child was unresponsive.

But when police contacted the girls biological mother and discovered the woman had been in Texas, Gossetts story changed.

In a second interview with police, Gossett said she was having trouble controlling the girl who was throwing herself and hurting herself, so she decided to strap the girl to a high chair and put her in a bedroom closet.

The girl was kept in the closet for two weeks while Gossett says she continued to feed her and wash her periodically. Gossett also described hiding the child from another person who was living in the home.

Two days before paramedics found the girl, Gossett said she took Bethannie out of the closet but the girl had a temper tantrum. Gossett described pushing the girl down, causing her to hit her head on a vacuum cleaner. When the girl got up again, Gossett pushed her head into a wall and the girl stopped breathing.

Gossett told police she gave the girl CPR until she started breathing on her own, though she stayed unresponsive. Gossett then placed the girl under her bed and moved her to the crib the next day.

Gossetts next court appearance is scheduled for May 31. She is being held without bond.

Yesenia Robles: 303-954-1372, yrobles@denverpost.com or @yeseniarobles
ATHENS, Greece, 4 April 2016 (Associated Press)  Under heavy security, authorities on the Greek islands of Lesbos and Chios deported 202 migrants and refugees on boats bound for Turkey  the first to be sent back as part of a controversial European Union plan to limit the amount of migration to Europe. The operation that started at dawn, as migrants were escorted onto small ferries by officers from the EU border protection agency, Frontex, to nearby ports on the Turkish coast, under the program which has been strongly criticized by human rights groups. All of the migrants returned are from Pakistan except for two migrants from Syria who returned voluntarily, Giorgos Kyritsis, a spokesman for a government refugee crisis committee, told state TV. There is no timetable for returns. Examining (asylum) applications will take some time.
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India is the third country, after the United States and Brazil, to get Google's Health Search feature.

Googles health search feature is now live in India. The feature brings relevant search results, along with verified medical details and cards on its Google Search page. So, when users search for health-related topics, Google will now return these relevant results as well. The move makes India the third country, after United States and Brazil, to get the new feature.

According to Google, one in 20 searches made on the Internet is health related. The company said that the doctor patient ratio in India is concerning, at roughly one doctor per 11,500 patients. The Search giant has also made the feature available in Hindi.

Further, the feature will be live on the Google app on both Android and iOS, along with desktop search as well. It tells users about known symptoms and other relevant information about diseases. The picture below shows what you get when you search for Malaria.
Potential exposure to identity theft of more than half the population of Turkey

The database of ID numbers of 50 million Turkish citizens was posted online to a server hosted in Romania. This is a massive privacy violation and makes people vulnerable to identity thefts.

The information in the database has not been verified as authentic and it was posted on Monday, with an introduction which read Who would have imagined that backward ideologies, cryonism and rising religious extremism in Turkey would lead to a crumbling and vulnerable technical infrastructure?

As shocking as it is, the database not only included national ID numbers but also other personal information namely full name, parents names, full address and date of birth. The list also included the current president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the current prime minister, Ahmet Davutoglu.

As if the introduction was not enough to show their massive hacking ability, they had also decided to leave Lessons to learn as free advice. The lessons: Bit shifting isnt encryption, Index your database. We had to fix your sloppy DB work, and Putting a hardcoded password on the UI hardly does anything for security.

There was the final warning which read, Do something about Erdogan! He is destroying the country beyond recognition. One hint which suggests that the hackers are not Turks, but Americans, is maybe the fact that they posted this: We really shouldnt elect Trump, that guy sounds like he knoes even less about running a country than Erdogan does. But that is unsure because according to Turkish media reports in 2013, their national database of 54 million citizens was stolen by Russians in two hours, and so the Russians are under doubt as well.
Markits final Eurozone composite output index came in at 53.1 in March, below the flash estimate and consensus of 53.7, but a touch higher than Februarys reading of 53.

The downward revision of the index between the flash estimate and final reading was mainly driven by France and Italy, which combined explained 0.5 points out of the 0.6 point downshift.

Meanwhile, the final Eurozone services business activity index printed at 53.1, down from the flash estimate of 54 and below Februarys 53.3 reading.

Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit, said: The eurozone economy failed to show any significant gain in momentum in March. With the PMI barely rising from Februarys 13-month low, the region looks to have grown by just 0.3% again in the first quarter.

Sluggish growth is the result of lacklustre demand, accompanied by falling prices as firms compete at the expense of profit margins. Not surprisingly, hiring is coming under increased pressure as firms struggle to contain costs.

Pantheon Macroeconomics said: Economic activity in the private sector was overall resilient last month, but weakness in services amid persistently sluggish manufacturing is a worry.
European stocks fell sharply on Tuesday, with cyclicals under pressure as soft data releases prompted growth concerns and International Monetary Fund boss Christine Lagarde called on global policymakers to pass a range of economic reforms.

The benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 index finished 1.90% lower, Frances CAC 40 was 2.18% weaker and Germanys DAX lost 2.63%.

With worries about growth on investors minds, cyclical stocks  whose performance is closely tied to the overall economy  took the brunt of the selling, with the Stoxx 600 basic resources index down 3.59% and the corresponding sub-index for banks off 3.23%.

Lagarde said the global economic expansion remains too slow, too fragile and risks to its durability are increasing.

According to some market chatter the Washington-based lender was likely take an axe to its global GDP forecasts for 2016.

Negative surprise from the services sector

Tuesday's macroeconomic news weighed heavily on sentiment.

Services data for the Eurozone was particularly discouraging.

Markits final Eurozone composite output index came in at 53.1 in March, a touch higher than Februarys reading of 53 but below the flash estimate and consensus of 53.7.

The downward revision of the index between the 'flash' estimate and final reading was mainly driven by France and Italy, which combined explained 0.5 points out of the 0.6 point downshift.

The final Eurozone services business activity index printed at 53.1, down from the flash estimate of 54 and below Februarys 53.3 reading.

In parallel, figures from Germany's Federal Office of Statistics showed factory orders unexpectedly dropped in February.

Factory orders fell 1.2% on the month, marking their lowest reading in six months and missing economists expectations for a 0.3% increase.

Still, the January reading was revised up to show a 0.5% rise from a 0.1% fall.

On the year, factory orders were up 0.5%, falling short of expectations of a 2.2% increase.

It wasnt all bad news on the macro front, however, with retail sales in the Eurozone rising 0.2% on the month in February versus expectations of a flat reading.

On the year, sales in the 19 countries that share the euro rose 2.4%, beating economists expectations of a 1.9% increase.

Crude futures stabilise

Oil prices recovered despite ongoing concerns about a supply glut, even as hopes of a coordinated freeze agreement at the upcoming meeting in Doha continued to fade. West Texas Intermediate was up 0.17% to $35.76 a barrel and Brent crude was edging higher by 0.11% at $37.73.

Nonetheless, the Stoxx 600 oil and gas index slipped 2.13%.

In corporate news, Peugeot Citroen skidded after its chief executive officer outlined plans to return to consistent sales growth.

French hotels group Accor was also on the back foot after announcing the acquisition of UK home rental company Onefinestay for 148m (118m).

Tesco was weaker after Deutsche Bank downgraded the stock to hold from buy.
A boardroom shake-up at Stock Spirits has been demanded by Portuguese cash-and-carry tycoon Luis Amaral, who owns 10% of the vodka maker.

Amaral's Western Gate vehicle said on Tuesday that it had requisitioned the removal of the company's chief executive, Chris Heath, and has nominated two new independent non-executive directors to join the board that it said had "run out of ideas".

The proposals will both be put to a shareholder vote at next month's annual general meeting.



Western Gate, which pointed out that it was the largest individual shareholder in Stock Spirits and was investing on long-term basis, said it had met with both executive and non-executive members of the board after it felt the 'root and branch' review of Polish operations after November's profit warning "contain nothing new to adequately address the most serious problem in its business - the dramatic loss of market share in the core Polish market and resulting decline in revenue".

Amaral said the discussions with directors have even raised further concerns regarding the company's proposed new acquisitive strategy.

"Financial performance has been poor, market share has been lost in its core Polish market, salaries and costs are too high and remote control management of the business from the UK, where the Company has no major revenue generating operations, is clearly not working," he said.

"The executive team consistently blames others instead of being on the ground in Poland addressing the local market dynamics and managing the business. A fresh perspective on the board will benefit all stakeholders."

Backing up their argument, Western Gate noted that along with a share price that has halved since 2014, it claimed corporate costs have soared 111% since 2011, with corporate costs of 16.7m in the UK last year, whilst revenues have declined 11% over the same period.

It added: "We believe the executive management team have run out of ideas about how to stem the ongoing market share losses affecting the Polish business and the board would benefit from added relevant experience, a fresh perspective and renewed energy."

The two proposed new board members are ex Heineken and Scottish & Newcastle man Alberto Da Ponte and ex PepsiCo veteran Randy Pankevicz.
No power, no hot water, bedbugs at apartment towers near Downtown

Residents at the Latitude Five25 apartment towers on the Near East Side said they've had no hot water, no power at times. The city is going to court.
Air France to allow female cabin crew and pilots to opt out of flying routes to Tehran requirement for covering hair

Air France said it would allow female cabin crew and pilots to opt out of flying routes to Tehran after staff protested against being told to compulsorily have to cover their hair when in Iran.

Air France, part of the Franco-Dutch group Air France-KLM, would resume flights to Tehran from 17 April following an eight-year hiatus due to sanctions.

After a meeting between Air France management and unions yesterday, the French carrier said it would offer female staff the choice to opt out of the flights.

The law in Iran requires women to cover their hair in public places. Unions had raised concerns over an Air France ruling which would require female crew to wear a headscarf on leaving a plane.

The wearing of headscarves and other religious symbols had sparked a heated debate in France, which attaches importance to the separation of state and religious institutions.

"This obligation does not apply during the flight and is respected by all international airlines serving the Republic of Iran," Air France said in a statement yesterday.

A spokeswoman for British Airways, part of International Consolidated Airlines Group, which planned to restart flights to Iran from Heathrow on 14 July said it would make recommendations to its crew around that time.

Air France would appoint a ''special unit'' to replace those who did not want to fly to Tehran, a company official said, AFP reported.
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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.
This is the first glimpse at what Skoda's crucial new Yeti is set to like to look like when it arrives in Australia in 2018.

This illustration, generated by Automedia, shows how the Czech brand's latest design language will translate to the next-generation compact SUV.

Already used on the new Octavia and Superb, the latest Skoda styling is more modern and shares a lot in common with the Vision S concept unveiled at the 2016 Geneva motor show.

While that concept was designed to preview a new seven-seat SUV that will debut for the brand in 2017, there will be some obvious similarities between it and its smaller sibling.

The new Yeti is expected to ditch the unorthodox looks of the current model - including its upright rear - in favour of the sleeker appearance illustrated here in order to appeal to a wider audience.

The addition of the seven-seater - which is tipped to be named Snowman in final production form - and the overhauled Yeti are part of a concerted push by the Volkswagen-owned brand into the booming SUV segments.

"Skoda has decided to make SUV a priority and prioritise it heavily," Michael Irmer, Skoda Australia director, told Drive recently.

The arrival of new models into two of the biggest new car markets is key to the brand's growth in Australia according to Irmer.

"What it means is basically we get access to a whole new slice of the market where we currently don't have access to," he said. "Anyone would anticipate that that would grown the Skoda sales beyond what they can be without an SUV. Exactly how much that is, I don't want to make a statement."

The 2018 Yeti will be based on the all-new Volkswagen Tiguan, which is built on VW Group's modular 'MQB' underpinnings. That means the next Yeti is likely to grow in size to create more space for passengers and luggage. The Tiguan, for example, is 60mm longer overall and the wheelbase is 77mm longer.

Skoda will also utilise the same powertain options as the Volkswagen. That means the choice of four petrol and four diesel engines with power varying from 85kW all the way up to 176kW.

The technology sharing will also provide Skoda the option to offer a hybrid powertrain - a petrol-electric plug-in that has been previewed in Volkswagen's GTE Concept.
DUNDALK stunner Dana McNally did the town proud in the semi-final of the Miss Universe Ireland competition on Friday last.

DUNDALK stunner Dana McNally did the town proud in the semi-final of the Miss Universe Ireland competition on Friday last.

The 24-year-old from Muirhevnamor, who is studying for an MA in Accountancy at DkIT, impressed the judges but unfortunately, didnt make it into the top ten.

Nonetheless, Dana really enjoyed the star-studded Burlington Hotel event and would consider entering the competition some other time.

It was absolutely brilliant. The judges included Georgia Salpa, Rosanna Davidson and Pippa OConnor, said Dana.

There were 26 contestants, and everyone was so nice. We had a lot of fun rehearsing for the event, and I will try to keep in touch with a lot of the girls.

Dana was encouraged to enter the competition by her boss, Neola Killeen, owner of Neola boutique on Riverlane, and had to wear four outfits including an evening dress, a day dress, jeans and a white tank top and a bikini.

Two of her outfits were from Neola including an Oscar-style, full length purple dress by Mimi Froufro; a pink Lana dress, Seven For All Mankind jeans, and Mimi Froufro shoes covered in Swarovski crystals.

She also wore a white French Connection halter-style dress day dress. Dana already models for the Neola website so she had some experience that stood to her on the night.

Prior to the competition, Dana had been a little nervous about taking part in the bikini section, but overcame her nerves when it was time to step out on stage in her bikini.

We had rehearsed for it all day and Sarah McGovern had shown us what to do so we were very confident when we went on stage, she said.

Danas mum and dad, Mary and David McNally were among a group of ten who went to the Burlington to support her. Neola boutique owner, Ms Killeen said: We were very happy to be able to use a local girl to represent us in the competition.

For more details visit www.neola.ie.
County Museum Dundalk is inviting students and anyone with an interest in Irish history to take a different look at the Easter Rising, through its interactive countdown resource, now available on www.1916countdown.ie. The website features numbered flaps, which, when clicked, reveal an image and story of significance to the evolution of Irish nationhood.

The items featured in the pictures can be viewed in the museums award-winning Birth of a Nation exhibition, which covers the time period 1641 to 1916. Items include handwritten documents by 1916 leaders James Connolly, Patrick Pearse and Roger Casement, and prison letters sent by some of those incarcerated after the 1916 Rising to their mothers. Robert Emmets death mask and even Oliver Cromwells shaving mirror are also included in the countdown, which is timed to coincide with the actual anniversary of the Easter Rising  24th April. The images will be revealed day by day, and only the numbers corresponding to the days that have already passed in April can be opened, building a sense of anticipation.

Commenting, County Museum Dundalk curator, Brian Walsh said: We are very excited to launch our 1916 countdown as its a different way to remember these momentous historical events. It also gives us a great opportunity to mark the actual centenary of the 1916 Rising, which started on 24th April 1916, and to bring the Birth of a Nation exhibition to a wider audience. This was made possible thanks to the financial support we received from the Louth Centenary Committee.

The site is an excellent teaching resource, as its a novel and engaging way of bringing the Rising, and events leading up to it, to life for students and history buffs alike. We would encourage teachers, especially those teaching Junior Certificate students, to bring this website into the classroom as a fun way of learning about Irelands past. We also welcome all students, teachers and anyone with an interest in Irish history to visit the Birth of a Nation exhibition at the County Museum Dundalk to see the physical items featured.

The website has been developed in conjunction with Drogheda-based company, MOR Solutions. Creative Director, Jonathan Callan said: Its been fantastic for us to work on the project in partnership with County Museum Dundalk, and we are excited to encourage younger generations to learn and to engage with their national history. We are delighted to have played a part in commemorating the 1916 Rising.

Visit www.1916countdown.ie for further details.

The museum was recently awarded an Excellence in Business Award from The Public Sector Magazine for its Birth of a Nation exhibition. It runs at County Museum Dundalk until the end of 2016. Admission to the exhibition is free.
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For transfer instructions to GoDaddy, please click here.
The IRS will never call you

Don't wire any money

Just hang up and don't call back

Never give out your personal information or banking information

Dont reply to the message

Dont give out your personal or financial information

Forward the email to phishing@irs.gov, then delete it

Dont open any attachments or click on any links

Report the email to BBBs Scam Tracker

For a list of the latest IRS scam warnings, click here. For real-time scam information, visit BBBs Scam Tracker. Visit our blog at bbbupstateny.org for more information.



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BUFFALO -- As we get closer to the April 18 tax filing deadline, Better Business Bureau of Upstate New York wants everyone to know that tax and IRS scammers are still busy making calls, trying to trick people into paying taxes they dont owe.Did you get a call from Steve Martin, Ron Schneider, Kevin Mason, Vicki Thompson or Dennis Gray? Or a message that says "you will be arrested if you do not make restitution immediately. This is your last chance before going to jail?" Or "Hello, official final notice from IRS. The IRS is ready to bring a lawsuit against you. To find out more about this case please call our department number?Several people reported receiving calls from these names and messages like these to Better Business Bureaus Scam Tracker. The good news is: None of them got scammed out of any money. They all recognized the scam and reported it so that others will know, too.A BBB team member recently received a call from a Rochester-area woman who said the IRS scammers told her they came to her house several times to see her but she wasnt home. Locally, a Niagara County woman told police the IRS scammers asked her for iTunes gift cards as payment.The IRS is warning people of a new twist on the scam: The imposters are calling people saying they have their tax returns, but they need to verify information (like a Social Security number or bank account number) before sending it out.If you receive a call, remember:If you get an email, BBB offers this advice:
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Completely gluten-free spaghetti & meatball or alfredo dinner options

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GASPORT -- Boy Scouts of America Troop 18 will host an Italian Dinner Night from 4 to 7 p.m. April 16 at Covenant United Church, 4449 Main St.Organizers stress that the "high quality" meal is "not your typical spaghetti dinner." Instead, it consists of:The meals will all served tableside by cheerful boy scouts for a cost of $8 pre-sale or $9 at the door.Tickets are $9 at the door or $8 pre-sale, available from Dan MacNeal at 940-1958 or Chris Jones at 622-7834.All proceeds directly benefit the Troop and its boys.


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When Niagara County Clerk Joseph A. Jastrzemski adds his name to New York states organ donor list this afternoon, he will be just the first of many Niagara County leaders doing so today.Thats because Jastrzemski has spent the past weekend reaching out to local elected and appointed officials, making sure they lead by example and help reverse New York States second-worst-in-the-nation organ donor status. Jastrzemski, who heads up the countys motor vehicle departments, said information provided to him by Upstate New York Transplant Services and the New York State Association of Counties convinced him that leadership is needed on the issue.I, myself, am not a donor, although I will fix that at 3 oclock this afternoon, Jastrzemski said this morning, before attending a UNYTS press conference in Buffalo urging greater donor registry participation. I challenged many of my fellow elected and appointed leaders in county government and local municipalities to do the same, and they are leading from the front on this issue.New County Manager Richard E. Updegrove is among those supporting Jastrzemskis efforts.The group will join together at the Lockport DMV, 111 Main St., for a mass donor registry sign-up today at 3 p.m.We hope members of our community will understand how important this is, and join us in giving the gift of life, Jastrzemski said.
If you are not filled with projections of how things should or could be, thoughts of the past or the...
Todays guest post is by Laura Packard, a partner at PowerThru Consulting, a growing national progressive digital consulting shop.

Enjoy.

Now that Snyder has effectively ruined our state brand, we should be thinking about what it is we DO want to be known for. Well have the chance to replace him in 2018 (or maybe even sooner, if he steps down or is forced to resign), but Michigan needs a lot more than a better leader at the top.

If you think back to the heyday of the auto industry, Michigan was a booming state. My grandparents moved here because there were good-paying jobs to be had in Michigan. Detroit was a prosperous city, as was Flint and Pontiac and many more. Our state government was relatively well run during the boom times, or so they say. But then some key things happened.

The Detroit riot in 1967 led many people with money to leave the big cities over the next few years, leaving people with fewer resources behind. This made municipal budgets harder and harder to balance for cities like Detroit. Public services suffered, crime increased, more people fled  a vicious cycle. The waves of drug epidemics of the 70s, 80s, and 90s hit Michigan cities hard, too. The blocks in Detroit and Pontiac where my parents grew up are utterly devastated now.

It was boomtime in the suburbs though in the 70s because Michigan was still a great source of well-paying blue-collar factory jobs and national policy favored the suburbs in some key ways.

However, the auto industry was not competitive against the Japanese during the oil crisis of the 70s when fuel efficiency became a big deal. This started the series of job cuts from GM, Ford, and Chrysler, which hit cities especially hard. The Japanese companies opened their plants mostly in Southern right-to-work states where they could get away with cheaper wages and less benefits.

In the mid-80s, thanks to dropping oil prices, the auto industry had a revival which carried on into the 90s. But the auto industry in Michigan has never recovered to its mid-20th century highs and Michigan hasnt come up with an industry or industries to replace it. There hasnt historically been an emphasis here on higher education because it wasnt needed to get a good factory job. But those jobs went away years ago and we have a workforce without the training for white-collar jobs.

The Great Recession of the 00s hurt Michigan hard because we had never fully recovered from the shocks of the 70s and beyond. People have been pitted against each other, suburbs versus city, because of the way that schools and local governments are funded (or not) with an ever-shrinking pot. The fact that the metro Detroit area is one of the most segregated in the country has made the divisions especially likely to cut against people of color, which you can see clearly in the 8 Mile dividing line between the city of Detroit and the wealthy (and white) northern suburbs.

For a variety of reasons we havent had a forward-thinking leader to see this coming and plan for a different future. (Or else they were able to see it but werent able to deliver on it.)

There are pockets of Michigan doing well, like the high tech scene in Ann Arbor, the upscale tourist area of Traverse City, or the reviving downtown of Detroit. The wealthy suburbs of metro Detroit are holding their own, for the most part.

But where is our vision? If autos are not the future for Michigan (and given that millennials are the largest generation now and they are averse to cars) then what is?

What will Michigan be known for in the next 50 years besides ruin porn, failed public schools, and poisoned cities? Are our leaders even thinking about the big picture? Or are our leaders-to-be?
Last summer, I asked a very simple question: Why is Virgil Smith still in the state Senate? Is it because hes the Republicans useful Democratic idiot? Democratic state Senator Virgil Smith was convicted of shooting up his wifes car in a domestic dispute and is now behind bars. Until he resigned this past week, he continued to receive his state salary.

The state Senate, as everyone knows, is controlled by Republicans who have a super-majority. They could have tossed him out of office at any time, just like their colleagues in the House did with philandering hypocrites Todd Courser and Cindy Gamrat. However, they declined to do that because hes been such a loyal lapdog of theirs for so long and because having a criminal Democrat in office was their disgusting way of attempting to give Michigan Democrats a black eye. But the black eye is solely theirs since they held a 27-11 majority over Democrats the entire time Smith was in jail.

Now Michigan Republican Party Chair Ronna Romney McDaniel (they actually refer to her as the Chairman) is bizarrely calling for the Michigan Democratic Party reimburse the state for Smiths wages:

Michigan Republican Party Chairman Ronna Romney McDaniel on Thursday called on Michigan Democratic Party and the Senate Democratic Fund to reimburse Michigan taxpayers for the money paid to state Senator Virgil Smith since he started serving a 10-month prison sentence. The fact that Michigan taxpayers are still on the hook for another paycheck for Senator Smith while he sits in prison is outrageous, McDaniel said. This whole episode has been a disgrace, and we need to put it behind us. No more taxpayer resources should be spent paying the salary of a Senator who isnt doing his job.

The chutzpah is strong with this one.

The best response came from Michigan Democratic Party Press Secretary Paul Kanan:

Democrats will gladly consider the Chairwomans proposal as soon as Republicans reimburse Michigan taxpayers for the $134 million Senate Republicans wasted on their corrupt deal with GOP mega-donor Ron Boji for new luxury offices. Or wed even settle for the $1.2 million Governor Snyder is billing the taxpayers for his criminal defense

Oof.

And that is your Laugh of the Day for Tuesday, April 5, 2016.
Amazon on Monday launched its Payments Partner Program  a global effort widely seen as a rival to PayPal  in the United States, the UK, Germany and Japan.

Currently available by invitation only, the program provides for three levels of partners: premier partners, certified partners and certified developers. The first two are for e-commerce platform providers, and the third is for developers and agencies.

A separate agreement is required for all three types of partnerships. Participation is free.

Shopify, Future Shop and PrestaShop are among the companies that have signed up for the program. Other integrations include AmericanEagle.com, Chargebee, Magento, Rand Marketing, UltraCart, Volusion, WooCommerce and Zoey.

Spreading Benefits All Around

One of the draws of the program for merchants is that so many shoppers already have payment information registered with Amazon, noted Tom Caporaso, CEO ofClarus Commerce. Adding an Amazon payment button should offer millions of consumers a quick, seamless transaction process.

The program will be particularly valuable to small and midsize merchants that dont have much brand recognition, he told the E-Commerce Times.

Theyll get a reflected glow of trust as well as, possibly, joint marketing opportunities, an easy checkout process, and Amazons behind-the-screen expertise and constant improvement process will help ensure that the system flows smoothly, Caporaso said.

Customers will benefit from the ease and convenience of the checkout process and will likely feel a bit more confident with making purchases at Amazon-certified merchants, he suggested, as Amazon is one of, if not the, most trusted retailers in the U.S.

Payment volume from Pay with Amazon grew more than 150 percent year over year in 2015, Amazon said in its Q4 2015 financial report.

Partner Perks

Partners at all three levels will get integration support and certification review. They also will be allowed to use the logo Amazon provides to designate their status in the partner program on their websites. The logo can be used in promotions and on third-party websites with Amazons approval.

Premier partners will get instructor-led tech training on the features and functioning of Amazon products at the companys discretion; certified partners and certified developers will get only written and video materials.

Premier partners will be given early access to any new features adopted; the others will get access as available. Premier partners also will be given preferred placement on Amazons Partner webpage.

Too Much Information?

Obviously, Amazons going after PayPal, observed Andreas Scherer, managing partner at Salto Partners. By providing convenience and, perhaps, aggressive terms on its payment service, [it] would be well positioned to grow.

However, retailers have to think long and hard before they reveal their client data to another retailer, let alone the worlds largest retail e-commerce site, told the E-Commerce Times. Via this service, Amazon learns what people buy, who they are, and what they paid for a particular item. Information of that type is very valuable to have in a hypercompetitive industry.

Retailers who go with PayPal wont have to fear any conflict of interest now and in the foreseeable future, Scherer said. Thats the biggest hurdle for Amazon to clear.

Amazons huge subscriber base is one of the biggest selling points of the program for merchants, Clarus Commerces Caporaso noted. If Amazon certifies a merchant, shoppers will be more likely to make payments with Payments Partner Program participants than they might be with nonparticipating stores.

That gives Amazons program a running start, he pointed out. If youre an Amazon customer and you can see an Amazon payment button at every retailer you visit, youre less likely to want or need to sign up with PayPal.

The Everything Business

Payment processing is a huge potential growth area, Caporaso said. Amazon is trying to become the everything business, and this will go a long way toward helping it reach that goal if it does it right.

Amazon already serves more than 200,000 businesses, the companys Q4 financial report stated, ranging from Fortune 500 corporations to SMBs with Amazon Business.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and members of his leadership team, speaking to developers Wednesday at the Build 2016 conference, introduced their vision to infuse human speech and machine learning into the companys consumer and enterprise businesses, positioning Microsoft as a major player in the cloud services and artificial intelligence space.

Nadella and Terry Myerson, executive vice president of the Windows and Devices Group, introduced a series of upgrades to Windows 10 and Cortana as well as technology called Conversations as a Platform, which will provide new levels of collaboration and productivity never seen before in a Microsoft suite of products, the company said.

Its about taking the power of human language and applying it more pervasively to all of our computing, Nadella said.

Among the innovations Microsoft announced is a new level of capabilities added to its Cortana Intelligence Suite, previously known as Cortana Analytics Suite. The first addition, called Microsoft Cognitive Services, is a collection of intelligence APIs that allow systems to hear, speak and interpret interaction with humans and communicate that using natural speech patterns.

Microsoft is in a race with Apples Siri, Amazons Alexa and Googles Google Now to provide virtual personal assistants, said Kevin Krewell, principal analyst at Tirias Research.

Embracing 3rd-Party Developers

Microsoft is opening up the development cycle to outside developers in order to help make its embrace of AI and bots more appealing to the enterprise customer, which is a core strength the company has over many of its competitors, he told TechNewsWorld.

The company showcased its three-dimensional HoloLens, which allowed a Case Western professor to transport his head and hand onto the stage and students to visually examine a three-dimensional scan of the human body, giving them a unique view of various organs.

In terms of artificial intelligence, this is what many of us think is the future of computing, and Microsofts focus on the category seemed light, said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group.

With these announcements, Microsoft is showcasing they dont just want to play, but they want to lead with increasingly intelligent cloud services and tools, he told TechNewsWorld.

Applying the Science

Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center is using Microsofts technology to provide personalized healthcare monitoring to patients through a system called ImagineCare. Patients wearing Microsoft Band activity trackers and using smartphones are monitored from home, instead of having to run to a doctors office.

A patient with unusually high blood pressure, for example, would have that information uploaded into a cloud-based system that could alert a nurse, who could then remotely examine various symptoms and activities and contact the patient for further evaluation.

The companys Seeing AI app uses AI to help give the visually impaired more information about the world around them. For example, a blind person sitting in a diner with a paper menu could shoot a photo of the menu with a smartphone, and the app would read the menu out loud.

In another example, a blind person sitting in a meeting could use smart glasses to scan the other attendees. The app would describe their approximate age, gender and emotions, giving the visually impaired person a better read on how well the communication is going.

Microsoft also introduced a series of upgrades to the Windows 10 platform, which it said is the most successful upgrade of an operating system in its history. It has 270 million active users, which is 145 percent ahead of Windows 7, Executive VP Myerson told developers at the conference.

Among the upgrades available under the Windows 10 anniversary edition, Cortana will offer a more sophisticated array of capabilities, including the ability to talk with users when the computer is locked and logged out. Windows Ink will let users draw on their computers as if they were sheets of paper, marking up whiteboards and sticky notes. Windows Hello will expand the security protection of Windows to the Edge browser and to other devices.

Partners such as Bank of America, Facebook, Starbucks, Square Enix and Wargaming are developing apps for Windows 10.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear an appeal from Samsung regarding its patent dispute with Apple.

The case stems from a 2011 lawsuit by Apple that alleged Samsung copied certain design elements and features from the iPhone and iPad and used them in Samsung Galaxy phones and tablet computers.

A jury in 2012 awarded US$1 billion to Apple, finding that Samsung had used some of Apples tap-to-zoom technology. The award was later reduced.

The companies reached a partial agreement in December under whichSamsung agreed to pay Apple $548 million. Samsung insisted at the time that it reserved the right to seek a partial refund, called the award to Apple excessive, and denied that it actually infringed the patents.

Arguments Limited to Scope

The high court will listen only to arguments over the scope of the award, not to arguments Samsung made about some of the larger questions concerning patent law.

We welcome the courts decision to hear our case. We thank the many large technology companies, 37 intellectual property professors and several groups representing small businesses, which have supported our position, said Samsung spokesperson Danielle Meister Cohen.

The courts review of this case can lead to a fair interpretation of patent law that will support creativity and reward innovation, she told E-Commerce Times.

Stifling Innovation

We hope the Supreme Courts agreement to hear this important case will result in design patent law finally getting some much needed oversight and an infusion of common sense, said Ed Black, CEO of theComputer & Communications Industry Association, which in January filed an amicus brief urging the high court to take up the issue.

These laws were written to protect the central design of products like carpets  not the outer case of tech gadgets. Misinterpretation and overreach in patent law could have a chilling effect on innovation  the opposite intention of the patent system when it was created, he said.

The lower court misinterpreted a statute by expanding a patent on ornamental features of a smartphone to include all the innovations that make up a complicated device like a smartphone, according to the amicus brief. For example, Apple has 199 active patent designs called electronic device, and if Samsung were held liable for all of those, it could face the loss of billions of dollars.

The potential cost of infringing a single patent design in a case like this would make other smartphone manufacturers decide to stay out of the market to avoid liability, according to the filing.

Important Ruling

The ruling in this case, while limited to the question of damages, is critically important to the future of design patents in general, said Alexander Poltorak, CEO ofGeneral Patent.

The last design patent case that the Supreme Court took up was in 1877, Poltorak told the E-Commerce Times. The Supreme Court has been very interested and active in looking at utility patent cases.

The scope of design patent damages law has been criticized as too broad, according to Christopher Rourk, a partner atJackson Walker.

Theyve indicated theyre going to give us some guidance on that. Presumably that would be a relief granted on the relief granted to Apple. But in any event, its anyones guess how they will actually rule, he told the E-Commerce Times.

Generally the U.S. Supreme Court does not understand patent technology, so rulings are not very predictable, said Peter S. Vogel, a partner atGardere.

Most complex technology disputes are confusing to the Supreme Court, and this will be no exception, he told the E-Commerce Times. The main reason is that justices on the Supreme Court are not trained in computer and patent technology, and freely admit they dont understanding texting and emails, so can one expect any more?

Virtually every award is being reduced on appeal, General Patents Poltorak said. The case that may provide guidance on the outcome of this is Georgia Pacific v. United States Plywood, which set the modern standard over patent disputes.
Weeks after backing down from its litigation demanding Apples help to access encrypted data on the San Bernardino terrorists iPhone, the FBI appears to be taking full advantage of its newly discovered forensic prowess by offering assistance to law enforcement agencies across the country.

The agency has sent out letters letting local officials know that it has gained access to the encrypted data on the iPhone used by the San Bernardino shooter, and it has offered to help officials use the technique, which it did not disclose, to assist their investigations.

FBI Assistant Director Kerry Sleeper on Friday reminded local law enforcement operations that the agency was available for assistance, according to Buzzfeed, which obtained a copy of the memo.

The Going Dark problem, which allows criminals to operate in an environment where evidence is largely untraceable, is a substantial challenge for federal and local agencies, Sleeper noted. The memo gave no indication that the agency was willing to share the actual technique used, which the FBI acquired through consultation with a third-party entity.

iPhone Deconstruction Method

One technique that may have been employed is a simple deconstruction of the iPhone, which involves physically copying the memory content and then restoring it when the phone tries to erase, suggested Joseph Bonneau, a technology fellow at the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

That technique came to light as the case was about to go to a court hearing last month, when ACLU Technology Fellow Daniel Kahn Gillmour referenced it in a blog post. It involves desoldering the phones NAND flash, reading out the flash, and then doing in-loop passcode testing of the device.

To be clear, the FBI has not disclosed how it accessed the data  nor has it disclosed the name of the third party that brought the technique to its attention.

Assuming some version of this method was used, this is not fixable by Apple, the EFFs Bonneau told the E-Commerce Times.

More recent versions of the iPhone, including the iPhone 6, may be more secure against this type of breach, he said, as they contain tamper-resistant memory to store the number after too any unsuccessful PIN breaches.

If the FBI should manage to help other law enforcement agencies hack into encrypted devices, the technique used will not stay secret for too much longer, said Alan Butler, senior counsel at the Electronic Privacy Information Center.

Defense attorneys eventually get access to any method used to generate evidence against their clients in a criminal case, and this should be no different in phone decryption methods, he told the E-Commerce Times. The reason for this is that every evidence-gathering technique needs to meet baseline standards for reliability and accuracy.

EPIC filed an amicus brief in a case that tested the ability to cross examine enhanced techniques used to gather forensic evidence, according to Butler. The case, Florida v. Harris, involves the use of drug-detection dogs to conduct a search without a warrant.

In that particular case, a dog was used to detect pseudoephedrine, which allegedly was being used to create meth, in a search of a suspects truck. The dog was not trained to detect pseudoephedrine, however, and EPIC filed a brief arguing that investigative techniques must be based on research, testing and reliability.

No End in Sight

Its likely that the FBI will be forced to employ different strategies in future encryption cases, according to Butler.

The Apple case made it clear that device manufacturers, public interest groups and former security advisors all support the rights of Apple and their users to have strong encryption, he said.

Apple is more likely to be able to create an update for the iPhone hack, and install a more secure patch or updated operating system that the FBI or any other outside entity would not be able to penetrate, suggested Eli Dourado, the director of the Technology Policy Project at George Mason Universitys Mercatus Center.

Apple will almost certainly be able to figure out what vulnerability the FBI is using and be able to fix it, he told the E-Commerce Times. The challenge will be in ensuring that new vulnerabilities do not arise in the future.

However, given the ubiquity of software bugs in all projects, Dourado added, it is more likely than not that in the future, law enforcement will hack into smartphones as a rule rather than an exception.

An Apple spokesperson was not immediately available to comment for this story.
Apple has shifted a portion of its cloud services business from Amazon Web Services to the Google Cloud Platform, according to reports published this week.

The company reportedly maintained a smaller presence with AWS, as well as its existing relationship with Microsoft Azure.

It is spending between US$400 million and $600 million under the cloud services agreement, which was signed late last year, CRN reported, citing conversations that Google executives have held with others.

Amazon threw a splash of cold water on the report, raising questions about why Apple would engage in possible violations of its contractual relationship.

Its kind of a puzzler to us, because vendors who understand doing business with enterprises respect NDAs and their customers and dont imply competitive defection where it doesnt exist, Amazon said in a statement provided to the E-Commerce Times by spokesperson Kerri Catallozzi.

Apple Shift Predicted

Morgan Stanley analyst Brian Nowak warned in a research note last month that Apple might reduce its reliance on AWS for cloud services.

CEO Tim Cook in a January conference call with analysts cited Apples plans for additional data centers as a driver of 2016 capex growth, Nowak said. Apple announced plans to build data centers in Ireland and Denmark in 2017 and in Mesa, Arizona, later this year, for a total of more than 2.5 million square feet of space, in a bid to power various services, including iCloud, iTunes and the App Store.

The company spent about $1 billion on data centers in 2015, including money spent on AWS, Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty said, noting that it could take one to two years to shift that business away from AWS.

It has a team working on those plans, under the code-name McQueen, as in The Great Escape star Steve McQueen, according to a report inRe/code.

More the Merrier?

Apple is not abandoning Amazon and Azure as providers of cloud services, but adding Google to its stable of providers, according to Jeff Kaplan, managing director ofThinkStrategies. There also is speculation about whether Apple is using its experiences with those companies to shape plans for its own cloud services.

Apples tactic of using multiple cloud providers is comparable to what other enterprises are doing today  experimenting to determine which cloud services are the best fit for their specific needs, he told the E-Commerce Times. In many cases, they are selecting multiple providers so they arent dependent on a single source.

Apple likely is working with multiple vendors to take advantage of the fierce competition in the cloud services space and leverage costs, said Kevin Krewell, principal analyst atTirias Research.

AWS is the big dog in cloud services, he told the E-Commerce Times. Google is likely more aggressive on cost, trying to gain share. For Apple, this could save money and show Amazon its willing to shift vendors and keep its suppliers nervous.

Another Google Gain

The move marks another victory for Google, which last year hired VMware cofounderDiane Greene to help ramp up its corporate cloud services business.

Just last month, streaming music provider Spotify announced that it had moved its business over to Google as part of a decision to move away from buying data centers.
Much of the analysis that Ive seen regarding the U.S. presidential election season concludes that it is progressing like the Goldwater vs. Johnson election in the 1960s, when the Republican Party torpedoed its own candidate, ensuring a Democratic Party win.

This is happening despite statistics that suggest Hillary Clinton is an extremely weak candidate. At least, that was the case until Anonymous decided to jump into the fight to take Trump out. I think that development actually could push this divisive candidate over the top, if it goes beyond a threat and actually results in a substantive attack.

Ill explain how and close with my product of the week: the Sulon Q, a fascinating virtual reality product coming to market in a few months, which will compete with Microsofts Hololens.

Cybersecurity Platform

One of the most interesting things about this years campaign is that while cybersecurity  or actually the lack of it  coupled with nation-level cyberattacks has been highlighted as one of the biggest threats the nation will have to face this decade, it isnt included in anyones campaign talking points.

Everyone is ignoring it  likely because they dont understand the threat, and most voters dont get it either. Given what is going on and the number of breaches credited to foreign governments, this is kind of like no one talking about the threat Japan represented to the U.S. right before Pearl Harbor.

The threat is likely worse than what Japan represented, because back then it was believed that Japan couldnt threaten the American coast  only Hawaii and a few military bases. Even so, taking out the largest U.S. base in the Pacific and attacking a U.S. state certainly got the countrys attention, and the result certainly impacted U.S. politics.

U.S. and European politicians actually were blamed for conspiring to cause it. Imagine what is likely to happen if the U.S. is targeted by a massive cyberattack, given the government clearly is underprepared for one.

The Anonymous Factor

Anonymous is an amorphous group of people who present themselves as an organization, even though there is little evidence they actually are organized.

Historically, they have been more of an annoyance than anything else, but they have the potential to do a significant amount of damage. Donald Trump, who fights largely over Twitter, would appear to be uniquely vulnerable, because of his reliance on social media to get his message out.

He would seem to be outmatched, because he appears as an individual with an apparent lack of knowledge of cyberthreats. In short, it seems Anonymous could at the very least embarrass Trump, and at the most shut him down entirely.

Donald Trumps Cards

Like no other candidate running, Donald Trump runs a host of casinos, hotels, and other businesses  many of which not only have huge security organizations, but also, particularly in the case of his casinos, unique capabilities to identify, track, and arrest those who attempt to do them damage, electronically or otherwise.

So, through what would be a very high visibility attack, Anonymous at the same time could remind people of the threat, and showcase Trump as the only politician who can address it. Potentially, with his resources, he could catch more of the folks attacking him than he FBI could.

That would be a layer on top of the Secret Service response, and because Trump is a national candidate, the end result would be a very public validation of two things: that cyberterrorism is a threat; and that only Trump knows how to deal with it.

Depending on the news cycle and how many people realize just how big a national threat cyberterrorism is, the end result could allow Trump to overcome the seemingly unbeatable Clinton.

Wrapping Up

We clearly are not talking enough about cyberterrorism in general, and it is really one of the biggest threats  if not the biggest  the U.S. faces near term. It has the potential to severely damage the nation, from shutting down or compromising financial markets to shutting down or compromising utilities like water, power and telephony. Voters should be more aggressive in finding out which presidential candidate can best address the exposure.

In addition, while Trump appears to be no more or less prepared to address this exposure with personal knowledge, he is the only candidate who actually has any defense against it  and given his casino properties, his defense is likely one of the strongest private capabilities in the U.S.

Attacking him outright wouldnt highlight his lack of knowledge but his defense capability, and likely make voters believe that he is uniquely capable of addressing the growing fear of cyberterrorism.

Rather than hurting him  and much like most every other attack on Trump  this is likely to strengthen him, with the possibility of making it appear he is the only candidate who can keep the U.S. safe. If this scenario plays out, it could result in Trump winning  the exact opposite of what Anonymous intends.

Ironically, this might make more people mad at Anonymous than if they actually were successful. Thatll give you something to think about this week.

Im a big fan of the Microsoft Hololens. It represents a fundamental change in how we look at augmented reality and virtual reality. It is also incredibly well funded, and it is being actively used to actually explore Mars, even in its Alpha phase.

However, it has some limitations. The display doesnt cover the entire field of view, and it is transparent, which means virtual objects often dont look solid  they look somewhat transparent and unsubstantial. That is actually OK for most initial business uses, but it sucks for gaming, where you want a lot more reality.

Well the Sulon Q  largely based on AMD technology and Windows 10 (like the Hololens)  directly addresses this shortcoming. It blocks the view of the user and uses cameras to capture the surroundings, so the graphics system can recreate it.

This results in virtual objects looking as solid as real objects, with the same capability of being able to play and move untethered in real environments without breaking a leg.

Sulon Q Headset

Now there is a clear offsetting shortcoming, and that is that because the Sulon Q doesnt just track but renders the entire room, the performance requirement is higher. Rather than make the virtual objects look real, it tends to make the real objects look virtual. It feels like you are in a game. Thats OK initially, for gaming, but it likely will fall short of professional needs.

Both products will evolve differently, but given that my initial use likely will be gaming, the Sulon Q suddenly became my favorite  and my product of the week.
Amazon has carved another notch in its belt, adding one more customer to what it has called a tiny fraction of cases of people guilty of making too many returns.

The company banned Greg Nelson, a computer programmer, from shopping at the site because he returned 37 of 343 items purchased, The Guardian reported last week.

The returned products were damaged, faulty or not as described, Nelson asserted, but Amazon demanded a more detailed justification for the returns before it would consider lifting the ban.

On top of having his account closed, Nelson lost access to unspent funds trapped on gift cards, he said, which struck him as questionable from a legal perspective.

The computer programmer had been a fervently loyal fan of Amazon since 2002, he told the paper.

Although he acknowledged that Amazon must protect its business, he found the companys actions in banning him to be totally egregious.

A Matter of Policy

From fine art and collectibles to game downloads and gift cards, Amazon offers specific return policies depending on the category. However, nowhere in its return policies does the company mention limits.

This isnt the first time Amazon has closed an account on the grounds that an unspecified limit on returns had been reached. Katy Kilmarton lost unused balances on her gift cards and had her Amazon Prime membership canceled early this year after she returned 30 items out of 112, The Guardian pointed out.

While these cases appear to be rare, they might do more harm to Amazon than good, sugested Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT.

By almost any measure, the cost of absorbing returned items is minimal compared to the Internets ability to transform bad publicity into brand damage, especially if a mere tiny fraction of Amazon customers is involved, King told the E-Commerce Times.

Head On

More brand damage may be one of the last things Amazon needs right now.

The company already has been running on a brand deficit as a result of the 2015 New York Times piece that told of long hours and a brutally competitive work environment for Amazon employees, noted Trish McDermott, cofounder of Panic Media Training.

Customers, like employees, are Amazon stakeholders, and their perception of the Amazon brand is important to the companys overall success, she told the E-Commerce Times. Care must be taken to weigh any forward-facing practices against the potential brand buzz, positive or negative, they may generate.

Regardless of how much truth there is to the claims of Amazon banning customers over excessive returns, such reports could cause high-volume consumers to loose faith in the company, noted McDermott  and that is where messaging becomes critical.

Amazons reluctance to speak to the press can contribute to the negative buzz a policy like this generates, she said. What is the definition of excess? Is the company more or less favorable to certain types of returns? Will I be banned if my daughters bathing suit doesnt fit correctly?

If there truly are legitimate reasons and hard metrics on discerning bad luck from abuse, then Amazon needs to offer customers transparency.

Address the reasonableness of your customer base. Be frank and unapologetic, said McDermott.

If there is a problem with the return policy, its best to address it as soon as possible, she said, and Amazon has to remember that no comment is indeed a comment.

I would like to see the company getting in front of communications like this, McDermott added. I think Amazons customers would too.

Rate Your Experience

Many consumers already feel that theyve been wronged by a retailer at sometime or another, observed Pund-ITs King. Those feelings arise from cases ranging from the receipt of poorly crafted products to policies that marginalize customers.

The move to e-commerce has exacerbated that situation, with some online retailers making it difficult or impossible for clients to engage directly with a company representative to clarify or settle disagreements, he pointed out. In short, I expect most consumers would side with the customer in this case, rather than Amazon.
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(Photo:  Peter Kenny / Ecumenical News)Switzerland's federal Justice Minister, Simonetta Sommaruga, addresses journalists in Geneva on Oct. 12, 2015.

Switzerland's government and its main teacher's union has criticized a decision by a school in the north of the country to exempt male Muslim students from shaking hands with their female teachers.

In Swiss schools, teachers often greet students with a handshake before and after a class.

But two male students at a school in Therwil in the canton of Basel, argued that Islam did not permit physical contact with a person of the opposite sex.

The school exempted the two students from the ritual, triggering a nationwide debate among non-Muslims and followers of Islam over whether the exception should have been made.

The school principal, Jurg Lauener, defended his school's decision saying a compromise had been reached with the students involved, in that they also do not shake the hands of male teachers, Swissinfo reported.

"They are no longer allowed to shake the hand of any teacher, male or female. For us, that addresses the question of discrimination," Lauener told Swiss public television, SRF.

Switzerland's federal Justice Minister, Simonetta Sommaruga, however criticized the move, saying handshakes are part of Swiss culture.

TEACHERS' UNION

The Swiss teachers' union also disagreed with the Therwil school district's decision.

"The same rules should apply to all students," argued union president Beat Zemp.

He noted that the wrong signal is being sent to the students involved since they will need to shake hands with many peers and colleagues in their future lives, both male and female.

The Federation of Islamic Organizations in Switzerland said that a handshake between a man and woman "is permissible theologically."

It observed that politeness is important in Islamic tradition and that a handshake between teachers and students is "not problematic" and that handshakes between men and women are theologically permissible and common in some Muslim countries.

Some conservative Muslims argue that refusing to touch a woman is a sign of respect.

Muslims account for some five percent of Swizterland's eight million population, with Christians making up 71 percent and those with no belief 21 percent.
(Photo:WCC)Some of the Church leaders from the Middle East, Europe, Russia and North America who met for a three days meeting (from January 5-17 at the Ecumenical Center in Geneva, hosted by the World Council of Churches and who issued a call for common action prior to achieve peace, to be presented to the UN Geneva 2 conference on Syria.

GENEVA - When the Geneva 2 talks on Syria begin Wednesday the joint United Nations representative will deliver an urgent peace call from churches all around the world.

A week before the talks scheduled for January 22 in Montreux, Switzerland, some 30 church leaders from Syria and around the world gathered at the headquarters of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Geneva.

"There is no time to waste; enough people have died or had to leave their homes," Rev. Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the WCC, said following the meeting. "As churches we speak with one voice."

The Geneva 2 Middle East peace conference (or Geneva 2) is a United Nations-backed peace conference that will take place in Montreux on Wednesday and continue in Geneva on January 24.

The Church representatives called for substantial action to be taken at the talks to end the armed conflict and achieve peace.

"To achieve this peace, we are committed to working hand-in-hand with Muslim sisters and brothers, with whom we share a common history along with spiritual and social values," said the message to be delivered to Geneva 2 by Lakhdar Brahimi, the United Nations-Arab League joint representative for Syria.

"We are representing the silent majority, the voice of the voiceless," said Catholicos Aram I, head of the Holy See of Cilicia of the Armenian Apostolic Church at the January 16 session of the meeting.

After the meeting the general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation, Rev. Martin Junge, said the global church family has an urgent ecumenical and humanitarian responsibility to civilians who continue to suffer the greatest impact of the ongoing conflict in Syria.

"The number of displaced people is staggering: from 500,000 Syrian refugees in January 2013 to the 2.3 million currently in the region, and another 9.3 million displaced inside the country. This suffering has to come to an end, it cannot continue," said Junge.

When describing the plans for the Geneva 2 talks, Brahimi said, "Hopefully we will begin talking about peace and not war anymore."

"Our aspiration is that Syrians put an end to their war and start rebuilding their country," he said at the meeting of Christian leaders.

Brahimi spoke of the ongoing work of the churches when distributing humanitarian aid in the region, saying, "We are grateful that the actual material aid that you are providing, you are providing it without asking whether it is for a man, woman, child, believers, unbelievers or Muslims."

The meeting, called the Ecumenical Consultation on Syria and sponsored by the WCC, was held 15 to 17 January.

It followed up to a similar meeting in September 2013 sponsored by the WCC which also included Brahimi and former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.
The European Investment Bank Group hosted an interactive seminar to present the extensive range of support available to innovative and growing businesses in Armenia.

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.
Brasilia, Apr 4 (EFE).- The push to impeach President Dilma Rousseff is purely an act of "vengeance," Brazil's solicitor general said here Monday before the congressional panel that will decide whether the impeachment goes forward.

Jose Eduardo Cardozo blamed the speaker of the lower house, Eduardo Cunha, a declared political foe of Rousseff.

The speaker gave his approval to opening impeachment proceedings against Rousseff the day after the president's Workers Party supported a motion to haul Cunha before Congress' ethics committee in connection with his alleged involvement in the $2 billion corruption scandal centered on state oil company Petrobras.

Cunha, according to Cardozo, pressed the Workers Party and its coalition allies to block the ethics probe.

"A government that bends before that kind of situation would have no legitimacy," the attorney told the 65-member panel that is weighing a proposal to impeach Rousseff for ostensibly manipulating budget numbers to disguise the size of the deficit.

Cardozo insisted Monday that the actions imputed to the president were "within the legal framework," blasting the current impeachment process as "anti-constitutional and illegal."

The ouster of Rousseff under these circumstances "will never be forgiven," the solicitor general said.

More than half of the members of the impeachment commission are under investigation for corruption or other serious crimes.

A two-thirds majority is needed in the lower house to move the proceedings to the Senate, where the vote of a simple majority would be sufficient to launch an impeachment trial, during which time Rousseff would have to leave office for six months and be replaced by her vice president, Michel Temer, whose name has also been linked to the Petrobras case.

Temer's party, the PMDB, announced last week that it was formally breaking with the Rousseff administration, a move seen as signaling the party's intention to support the impeachment of the president, who won a second four-year term in October 2014.
Buenos Aires, Apr 4 (EFE).- Argentina and Spain have sealed an agreement to act together in the multilateral environment, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo said here Monday.

"It's obvious that Argentina ... has played and will play an even greater (role) ... Argentina is coming back in the region and we will listen to Argentina with enormous attention. We've made a pact of blood and of mutual understanding to inform ourselves, to try and act together in the countries where we both have interests," he said during a press conference with Argentine counterpart Susana Malcorra.

The Spanish minister said that he and Malcorra discussed, besides the issues on the bilateral agenda, the situation in Brazil, Venezuela, Cuba, Peru and Colombia and the negotiations for a free trade pact between the European Union and Mercosur, the trade bloc comprising Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Garcia-Margallo later joined Argentine Finance Minister Alfonso Prat-Gay for the inauguration of the Argentina-Spain Business Forum.

The Spaniard said that he views with "hope and enthusiasm" the road taken by the team of new Argentine President Mauricio Macri, who took office in December, and he urged the EU to send "an unequivocal and urgent signal" to Latin America so that "it doesn't get displaced by other (international) actors."

"The Spanish businessman knows Argentina better than any other foreign businessman," Prat-Gay said. "If they see the Spaniards mobilizing themselves, the doubts about Argentina will dissipate."

Despite the fact that Spanish investment in Argentina has dropped off significantly, from $23 billion some years back to $6 billion in 2015, the country remains the second largest investor in Argentina and both nations make up "an unbreakable marriage," Malcorra said at the business event.

The more than 200 Spanish companies doing business in Argentina, according to the vice president of Spain's CEOE business confederation, Antonio Garamendi, a sign of the "confidence" Spanish businessmen have in the South American country, which - in turn - needs to recover "the importance it deserves" in Latin America.
Ely, Cambridgeshire is best known for its majestic cathedral dubbed the 'Ship of the Fens' because it dominates the flat landscape. The city, which is the second smallest in England, is about 14 miles north-northeast of Cambridge and about 80 miles by road from London.

08:11, 22 OCT 2022
Sacked Post Office boss says corporatisation plans aren't popular

Plans to corporatise the Isle of Man Post Office will be met with opposition from politicians - according to the sacked chairman.

Graham Cregeen was removed from his position last week after being accused of being in "fundamental conflict" with the policy of the board.



He says he's not the only one who thinks there will be a problem.

It's expected Peel MHK Ray Harmer will succeed him when the matter goes before Tynwald in two weeks - Treasury Minister Eddie Teare explains what will happen:

Media

Minister Eddie Teare
Re: Swiss handshake?? Quote: JakubB Yes, I was surprised as well when I first come here (about kissing) and I'm surprised now about the "Swiss handshake"



It all began in 55 BC on the Ides of April when Emperor Tacticus Vespsasian the Incontinent crossed the Alps with 33 elephants to find a suitable place to hide the gold he had pillaged from his recent campiagn against the Polyglutate tribes of Inner Silesia.



Upon entering the land of the Helvetii he discovered a small village called Turicum Seldwynensis where he met one Helvetite called Ubsus Paradeplatzensis who proposed to hide the gold in a vault that had been carved out of a disused volcano populated entirely by gnomes (who he had put to death by suffocation in molten cheese). Legend has it that the decsendants of Ubsus still pursue this trade today (but apparently using bread due to the high costs of gnomes) but I was unable to verify this. Ubsus proposed to Vespasian to call this cache a bank account (Bancus Cuntus) and that it would be kept secret from the Roman tax authorities and could only be accessed by a secret number which was tatooed on Vespasian's ear. However, as it was considered rude to inspect the ear of a customer by the ancient Helevetites, a second secret code was required.



They thus designed a special secret handshake. As the freemason handshake was already in use (by freemasons apparently) and the boy scout handshake was also in use (not sure by whom) they settled on a handshake using the right hands in the normal position, as they beleived nobody would discover this by accident.



So that the practice was not forgotten, the Hevetites pass this secret on from father to son under the strictes shrouds of secrecy. This is why as a foreigner, you have probably never heard of it, and can find nothing on the Internet. You can expect this thread to be closed down too pretty soon and you'll know why. Time for a little Swiss history.It all began in 55 BC on the Ides of April when Emperor Tacticus Vespsasian the Incontinent crossed the Alps with 33 elephants to find a suitable place to hide the gold he had pillaged from his recent campiagn against the Polyglutate tribes of Inner Silesia.Upon entering the land of the Helvetii he discovered a small village called Turicum Seldwynensis where he met one Helvetite called Ubsus Paradeplatzensis who proposed to hide the gold in a vault that had been carved out of a disused volcano populated entirely by gnomes (who he had put to death by suffocation in molten cheese). Legend has it that the decsendants of Ubsus still pursue this trade today (but apparently using bread due to the high costs of gnomes) but I was unable to verify this. Ubsus proposed to Vespasian to call this cache a bank account (Bancus Cuntus) and that it would be kept secret from the Roman tax authorities and could only be accessed by a secret number which was tatooed on Vespasian's ear. However, as it was considered rude to inspect the ear of a customer by the ancient Helevetites, a second secret code was required.They thus designed a special secret handshake. As the freemason handshake was already in use (by freemasons apparently) and the boy scout handshake was also in use (not sure by whom) they settled on a handshake using the right hands in the normal position, as they beleived nobody would discover this by accident.So that the practice was not forgotten, the Hevetites pass this secret on from father to son under the strictes shrouds of secrecy. This is why as a foreigner, you have probably never heard of it, and can find nothing on the Internet. You can expect this thread to be closed down too pretty soon and you'll know why.
Relocation agents - any recommendations/tips?



Hence, I have concluded, I will need the help of an agent.



Here is a list of agencies listed on what looks like an official website:



http://www.awa.zh.ch/internet/volksw...s_dez_2015.pdf



At the risk of stating the obvious, I am looking for a reliable but not overly pricey agency. Looking to see if anyone on EF has any recommendations and/or related tips.



Thank you in advance. Non-EU, non-German speaker, arriving in Zurich later next month with no familiarity with the city and wanting to finalise an apartment in good time.Hence, I have concluded, I will need the help of an agent.Here is a list of agencies listed on what looks like an official website:At the risk of stating the obvious, I am looking for a reliable but not overly pricey agency. Looking to see if anyone on EF has any recommendations and/or related tips.Thank you in advance.
Re: Mossack Fonseca leak reveals elite's tax havens Quote: Will this effect Swiss companies?



I mean the info is all still very fresh and the case is only a few hours old, but what is coming out is huge. And Swiss banks are very well represented in those filing for off-shore companies in this case.



https://panamapapers.icij.org/graphs/



I think every paper with some kind of freedom in what it writes in the world will adjust tomorrow's headlines according to more info coming out over night. And even state owned papers or censured ones might open with this. (Don;t bite the hand that feeds you, but what if the hand turns out to be a great main course) I mean the info is all still very fresh and the case is only a few hours old, but what is coming out is huge. And Swiss banks are very well represented in those filing for off-shore companies in this case.I think every paper with some kind of freedom in what it writes in the world will adjust tomorrow's headlines according to more info coming out over night. And even state owned papers or censured ones might open with this. (Don;t bite the hand that feeds you, but what if the hand turns out to be a great main course)

The article is in German; any errors in my translation of these quotes were made in good faith and not to distort the Tagesanzeiger statements.



Quote "On Monday, the Zurich law firm Dietrich, Baumgartner & Partner became international in the headlines. They helped a family friend of Vladimir Putin, who wanted to open a bank account in Switzerland and thereby made false statements. [und dabei falsche Angaben machte.]"



Also "If Swiss lawyers not only help businesses, but as directors in the company of their clients have decision power, they are regarded as financial intermediaries and subject to the Money Laundering Act.

They must comply with stringent due diligence.

The Geneva star lawyer Marc Bonnant is employed as Director of Offshore Companies, for example, for Khlubuse Clive Zuma, nephew of reigning South African President Jacob Zuma."



and "A Swiss Govt. report of June 2015, states the risk of money laundering by lawyers and trustees is particularly high, higher even than in casinos, precious metal dealers or money changers.

For example, lawyers and notaries submitted only one percent of reported suspected money laundering cases."



There is a lot of smoke but are there real fires? We need to wait (probably a long time) before we will know the facts! As already mentioned here there are Swiss lawyers involve but now a Tagesanzeiger article here goes a bit further than I have read before.The article is in German; any errors in my translation of these quotes were made in good faith and not to distort the Tagesanzeiger statements.Quote "On Monday, the Zurich law firm Dietrich, Baumgartner & Partner became international in the headlines. They helped a family friend of Vladimir Putin, who wanted to open a bank account in Switzerland and thereby[und dabei falsche Angaben machte.]"Also "If Swiss lawyers not only help businesses, but as directors in the company of their clients have decision power, they are regarded as financial intermediaries and subject to the Money Laundering Act.They must comply with stringent due diligence.The Geneva star lawyer Marc Bonnant is employed as Director of Offshore Companies, for example, for Khlubuse Clive Zuma, nephew of reigning South African President Jacob Zuma."and "A Swiss Govt. report of June 2015, states the risk of money laundering by lawyers and trustees is particularly high, higher even than in casinos, precious metal dealers or money changers.For example, lawyers and notaries submitted only one percent of reported suspected money laundering cases."There is a lot of smoke but are there real fires? We need to wait (probably a long time) before we will know the facts!
Younited Italia, Nicola Manzari e il nuovo Coo, Luca Faccini e Head of Growth e Domenico Petraroli e General Counsel
Despite the urban myth reinforced by many a daytime talk show, researchers writing in Trends in Ecology & Evolution on April 5 say the emerging evidence consistently indicates that very few fathers have unknowingly raised children who were not biologically their own. The collective evidence for low rates of extra-pair paternity (EPP) challenges the notion that it pays, evolutionarily speaking, to sleep around, the researchers say.

"Media and popular scientific literature often claim that many alleged fathers are being cuckolded into raising children that biologically are not their own," said Maarten Larmuseau of KU Leuven in Belgium. "Surprisingly, the estimated rates within human populations are quite low--around 1 or 2 percent."

Those rates apparently haven't changed much either, despite the fact that people in the past didn't have access to modern contraceptives.

When Larmuseau and his colleagues first got started exploring questions of EPP, they were surprised to discover how little hard evidence there was. Despite that, the scientific literature frequently suggested that about 10 percent of all children would have a biological father different from the alleged one.

But reliable data on contemporary populations that have become available over the last decade, mainly as supplementary results of medical studies, don't support the notion that one in 10 people don't know who their "real" fathers are. By combining genetics and in-depth genealogies, he added, it's now even possible to look back at the EPP rates in the historical past. Those data suggest that the rates of EPP haven't changed much over time.

In 2013, Larmuseau and his colleagues published a report showing low EPP rates within people living in Belgium. However, it wasn't clear whether those rates were specific to people in that particular part of the world.

"For us, it came as a surprise that several recent studies also estimated historical rates of cuckoldry in other human populations, and came up with equally low estimates in South Africa, Italy, Spain, and Mali," he says.

The findings suggest that any potential advantage of cheating in order to have children that are perhaps better endowed is offset for the majority of women by the potential costs, the researchers say. Those costs likely include spousal aggression, divorce, or reduced paternal investment by the social partner or his relatives.

"The observed low cuckoldry rates in contemporary and past human populations challenge clearly the well-known idea that women routinely 'shop around' for good genes by engaging in extra-pair copulations to obtain genetic benefits for their children," Larmuseau said.

The researchers say that there is likely to be variation in the EPP rate among different groups of people based on various social factors. They plan to conduct future studies to estimate historical EPP rates in human populations with an eye toward factors that shape this limited variation.

###

Funding was provided by KU Leuven.

Trends in Ecology & Evolution, Larmuseau et al.: "Cuckolded fathers rare in human populations" http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2016.03.004

Trends in Ecology & Evolution (@Trends_Ecol_Evo), published by Cell Press, is a monthly journal that contains polished, concise and readable reviews, opinions and letters in all areas of ecology and evolutionary science. It aims to keep scientists informed of new developments and ideas across the full range of ecology and evolutionary biology--from the pure to the applied, and from molecular to global. Learn more: http://www.cell.com/trends/ecology-evolution. To receive Cell Press media alerts, please contact press@cell.com.
Two unrelated studies on the Zika virus--one ruling out a theory for how Zika may be passing through the human placenta and another on using mouse models to trace Zika pathogenesis--appear April 5 in Cell Host & Microbe.

Trophoblasts Unlikely Placental Entry Point for Zika

One theory for how the Zika virus gets to the developing fetus is that it passes through the trophoblasts, a layer of placental cells that surround and nurture the fetus. But a collaborative team of virologists and reproductive scientists looking at cells isolated from full-term human placentas have found that Zika does not infect trophoblasts. How the virus is getting through the placenta is still unknown, but their work helps rule out an obvious pathway.

"The trophoblasts are the baby's first line of defense against anything that comes from the maternal blood, so you may expect these cells to have some way to resist viral infections," says Yoel Sadovsky, director of the Magee-Womens Research Institute at the University of Pittsburgh. "Based on our model, it seems that trophoblasts have an inherent capacity to resist Zika virus proliferation, although we have not ruled out other ways the virus can get into the fetal cavity."

Sadovsky, an expert in maternal-fetal medicine, has been working on the Zika-placenta connection with long-time collaborator Carolyn Coyne, at the University of Pittsburgh's Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, an expert in RNA viruses, including flaviviruses--the family of viruses to which Zika belongs. Their examination of trophoblasts also revealed that human trophoblasts release a potent antiviral molecule called type III interferon, which stops the replication of Zika virus. (The researchers used two Zika strains in their study--one isolated from the Zika Forest in Uganda and another from Cambodia.)

"We really know shockingly little about how viruses cross the placenta--not just Zika but rubella, herpes, and other viruses that cause birth defects," Coyne says. "What makes our finding interesting is that these trophoblasts are potentially communicating with maternal cells to protect them against viral infections as well."

The strength of Coyne and Sadovsky's study is that the human trophoblasts cultured in the lab functioned nearly identically to those found in a developing placenta. One potential weakness of the study is that their trophoblasts were taken from third-trimester pregnancies, which means that trophoblasts could still be vulnerable to Zika virus during the first trimester. However, the researchers don't believe that it reduces the significance of their findings, as the virus seems to be transmitted throughout pregnancy.

With primary trophoblast infection ruled out, Coyne and Sadovsky will next use their placental cultures to explore other ways that viruses can reach a developing fetus.

Cell Host & Microbe, Bayer and Lennemann et al.: "Human Placental Trophoblasts Produce Type III Interferons that Confer Protection against Zika Virus Infection" http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chom.2016.03.008. This project was supported by the National Institutes of Health and Burroughs Wellcome Investigators in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease Awards.

Mouse Model of Zika Echoes Infection in Humans

Until recent weeks, only three papers using mice to study Zika infection had been published in the last 60 years. In some of these studies, viral particles were injected directly into the brain (which is not so clinically relevant), and so with the ongoing epidemic, Washington University School of Medicine researchers returned to the mouse model to find out which tissues are most vulnerable to Zika infection, this time after infection in the skin, which mimics inoculation by mosquito. There results show high numbers of virus in the rodent brain, spinal cord, and testes.

Early evidence suggests that Zika has trouble crossing into rodents. Zika doesn't seem to replicate in adult wild-type mice, so the investigators used animals genetically engineered without part of their antiviral immune systems (type I interferon) to generate a lethal infection.

"If you take away interferon, then the virus replicates quite well in the mouse and goes to the places that we see it causing disease in humans," says senior author Michael Diamond, who studies mosquito-borne viruses at the Washington University School of Medicine.

Diamond was inspired to pursue Zika after a meeting last June when Brazilian researchers described anecdotal evidence of a rise in infant birth defects and a local Zika outbreak. His laboratory, led by first author Helen Lazear, created the Zika mouse models and then looked for viral particles in tissues that related viruses (e.g., Dengue, West Nile) tend to infect. The biggest surprise came after they looked at the testes after mounting reports that Zika could be sexually transmitted.

"Viral levels were the highest that we saw in any tissues that we measured," Diamond says. "We are now doing subsequent tests to determine how long that may last."

Five strains of the virus were examined: the original strain from the Zika Forest in Ethiopia, three 1980s strains from Senegal, and a 2013 contemporary strain from French Polynesia. All yielded similar results, hinting that there may not be much difference in pathogenicity between individual strains, at least in this model.

Diamond is now using his models to explore how Zika responds to the mouse adaptive immune response--the cells that generate antibodies that tag and remove viruses.

Cell Host & Microbe, Lazear et al.: "A Mouse Model of Zika Virus Pathogenesis" http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chom.2016.03.010. This work was supported by start-up funds from the University of North Carolina Department of Microbiology and Immunology and the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, as well as grants from the National Institutes of Health.

###

Cell Press Statement on Data Sharing in Public Health Emergencies

The Cell Press family of journals is committed to ensuring that the global response to public health emergencies is informed by the best available research evidence and data, and as such, we will make all content concerning the Zika virus free to access. We will work in partnership with reviewers to fast-track review all submissions concerning Zika. We will adapt the editorial criteria that we apply to Zika submissions by asking reviewers to evaluate only if the research methods are sound and support the conclusions and if the work will contribute in some way toward resolving the immediate challenges. We will expedite publication of papers that meet these two criteria.

Cell Host & Microbe (@cellhostmicrobe), published by Cell Press, is a monthly journal that publishes novel findings and translational studies related to microbes (which include bacteria, fungi, parasites, and viruses). The unifying theme is the integrated study of microbes in conjunction and communication with each other, their host, and the cellular environment they inhabit. Learn more: http://www.cell.com/cell-host-microbe. To receive Cell Press media alerts, contact press@cell.com.
It's no surprise that most conservation efforts in the United States focus on animals that are hunted. But a new study from Colorado State University researchers found that improving habitats for game animals has mixed consequences for other animals in the same setting.

The study calls for more scrutiny of and a more holistic approach to current management efforts.

Hunting provides substantial economic benefits for states. Deer and elk hunters in Colorado, for example, must apply for permits annually. A deer license for non-residents runs $432; a permit for in-state residents is $43. A license to hunt elk is nearly $500 for non-residents; the in-state charge is $48. Nearly $2 million from these fees support wildlife management and public land conservation in the state each year.

"There's this notion that habitat management that's good for game species is good for all wildlife," said Travis Gallo, Ph.D. student in the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Biology, and lead author of the study. "There's a lot of money that goes into habitat management for game species, and we wanted to see if there were any synergies between game management and conservation of species that were not the target of management actions."

While conducting a review of published papers, Gallo said that he and Associate Professor Liba Pejchar, also in the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Biology, switched gears once they saw the lack of scientific research on the topic. The duo ended up writing an opinion piece or perspectives essay on the issue.

"We found only 26 studies that measured the direct and indirect effects of game management efforts on non-game animals," said Gallo.

Among the studies that did measure the effects of game management on non-game species, they found both positive and negative effects: a study of sage grouse management in the Western U.S. found that conservation efforts would likely protect 13 songbird species, while a study in Spain found that an increased abundance in wild boar, red deer and aoudad sheep decreased resources for native species.

The team also found instances where there were no effects. For example, a study that looked at prescribed fire on lizard abundance in central Texas found no short-term effect on other species.

Gallo said that one way to even the management playing field is to create new funding sources for wildlife conservation. The federal Pittman-Robertson excise tax -- which was implemented in 1937 -- has successfully raised more than $10.1 billion from sales on sporting goods that involve hunting, like ammunition and guns, fishing rods and reels. In 2009, following a similar model, a group of more than 6,300 state fish and wildlife agencies, biologists, hunters, birdwatchers and others proposed the Teaming with Wildlife Act, which would have provided additional funding for wildlife preservation through a small tax on all outdoor gear, including camping gear, binoculars and outdoor apparel. This bill, however, failed to pass through Congress.

Gallo said that there's talk in the conservation community about reviving this sort of proposal. "A tax like this would not only increase funding for conservation, but it may create a sense of investment by those people that are now helping pay for conservation," he said.

Gallo -- who will graduate in May -- said his research provides a good example, and hope, for the type of holistic approach that is needed.

"My research is piggy-backed on a mule deer experiment in northwestern Colorado," he said. "Colorado Parks and Wildlife was removing pinyon-juniper trees to increase the shrubs and grasses that mule deer like to eat. We collaborated with them and added another layer of research to assess the effects that this management may have on all the other birds and mammals in the area."

"The hunting and fishing communities contribute a lot of money and effort to wildlife management," he added. "If you can find synergies between management for hunted species and conservation for biodiversity, we would be more effectively and holistically managing the land."

The article, "Improving habitat for game animals has mixed consequences for biodiversity conservation," was published in advance online in Biological Conservation. The study will appear in the May print issue of the journal.

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Two new studies published in Diabetologia (the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes) show there has been no decrease in the gap in life expectancy between people living with type 1 diabetes (T1D) and the general population over the past few decades.

In the first study, Associate Professor Dianna Magliano and Dr Lili Huo (Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, Australia) and colleagues examined the life expectancy of type 1 diabetic patients in Australia from 1997 to 2010. A total of 5,981 deaths were identified during the 902,136 person-years of follow-up. During these years patients with T1D had an estimated life expectancy at birth of 68.6 years, which was 12.2 years less than the general population (11.6 years less for men and 12.5 years less for women).

Although life expectancy in 2004-2010 improved for patients with T1D compared with 1997-2003, very similar improvements were also seen in the general population, thus showing the gap between patients with T1D and the general population was not closing during this period. Deaths at age under 60 years accounted for 60% of the years of life lost from T1D for men and 45% for women. The major contribution to years of life lost (YLL) was mortality from endocrine and metabolic disease at age 10-39 years (men, 39-59%; women, 35-50%) and from circulatory disease at age 40 years and over (men, 43-75%; women, 34-75%).

The authors say: "As this is a contemporary nationwide registry-based cohort study of type 1 diabetes, the results are likely to be applicable to other similar Western countries."

They add: "Early onset of diabetes tended to be a predictor of premature mortality. Deaths from circulatory disease and endocrine and metabolic disease contributed most to early mortality in type 1 diabetes. For improvements in life expectancy, greater attention must therefore be paid to both the acute metabolic and chronic cardiovascular complications of type 1 diabetes. A failure to address either one will continue to leave type 1 diabetic patients at risk of premature mortality."

In the second study, Dr Dennis Petrie, University of Melbourne, Carlton, Melbourne, Australia, and Professor Bjorn Eliasson, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, and colleagues used health records from the Swedish National Diabetes Register (NDR) linked with death records to explore the life expectancy of Swedes with T1D. There were 27,841 persons aged 20 years and older identified in the NDR as living with type 1 diabetes between 2002 and 2011, contributing 194,685 person-years of follow-up and 2,018 deaths. For men with type 1 diabetes, the remaining LE at age 20 increased significantly by about 2 years (from 47.7 in 2002-06 to 49.7 years in 2007-11). For women with type 1 diabetes there was no significant change, with an LE at age 20 of 51.7 years in 2002-06 and 51.9 years in 2007-11. Cardiovascular mortality did significantly reduce for both men and women over the period. For men a similar increase in life expectancy was also seen in the general population, showing that, as in Australia, the life expectancy gap between patients with T1D and the general population has not changed over this time frame, remaining at approximately 11 years for men and 12 years for women.

The authors conclude: "There is still some way to go in terms of improvement in care for those with type 1 diabetes in order to close the gap with the general population. A significant proportion have elevated HbA1c levels and a recent paper based on the Swedish NDR highlighted the stark differences in mortality for those with well-controlled vs poorly controlled HbA1c. In addition,

with 10% of men and 13% of women with T1D still current smokers in 2011, additional smoking cessation programmes could generate further improvements. While there have been large increases in the use of lipid-lowering medication, further expansion could generate additional gains given this population's high underlying cardiovascular disease risk. Future research needs to quantify these likely benefits against the costs of policies which might achieve them. In addition, further research might also usefully provide individual specific life expectancy estimates based on an individual's characteristics in terms of their age at diagnosis, and risk factor and comorbidity profiles. This would provide useful information for an individual and allow them to better grasp the likely benefits of improving their overall risk."

In a linked Comment covering both studies, Dr Lars Stene, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway, says: "It seems that the gap in life expectancy has remained largely unchanged since the turn of the millennium... There have been remarkable increases in life expectancy in the general population of Sweden, Australia and other countries, in part because of a reduction in cardiovascular mortality. Cardiovascular risk management is an integral part of diabetes care, and it is likely that patients with type 1 diabetes have enjoyed some of the beneficial developments that do not involve blood sugar control alone."

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Two hundred and fifty-two million years ago, a series of Siberian volcanoes erupted and sent the Earth into the greatest mass extinction of all time. Billions of tons of carbon were propelled into the atmosphere, radically altering the Earth's climate. Yet, some animals thrived in the aftermath and scientists now know why. In a new study published in Scientific Reports, paleontologists from The Field Museum and their collaborators demonstrate that some ancient mammal relatives, known as therapsids, were suited to the drastic climate change by having shorter life expectancies. When combined with results from survivorship models, this observation leads the team to suggest that these animals bred at younger ages than their predecessors.

"Before the Permo-Triassic extinction, the therapsid Lystrosaurus had a life span of about 13 or 14 years based on the record of growth preserved in their bones," said Field Museum paleontologist Ken Angielczyk, one of the paper's authors. "Yet, nearly all of the Lystrosaurus specimens we find from after the extinction are only 2-3 years old. This implies that they must have been breeding when they were still juveniles themselves."

This adjustment in life history also meant a physical change for Lystrosaurus. Before the mass extinction, this creature would have been a couple meters long and have weighed hundreds of pounds--About the size of a pygmy hippo. Post-extinction, its size dropped to that of a large dog, in large part due to its altered lifespan. Yet, these adaptations seemed to pay off for Lystrosaurus. Ecological simulations show that by breeding younger, Lystrosaurus could have increased its chance of survival by 40% in the unpredictable environments that existed in the aftermath of the extinction.

This change in breeding behavior is not isolated to ancient animals either. In the past century, the Atlantic cod has undergone a similar effect due to human interference. Industrial fishing has removed most large individuals from the population, shifting the average size of cod significantly downward. Likewise, the remaining individuals are forced to breed as early in their lives as possible. Similar shifts have also been demonstrated in African monitor lizards.

"With the world currently facing its sixth mass extinction, paleontological research helps us understand the world around us today," said Angielczyk. "By studying how animals like Lystrosaurus adapted in the face of disaster, we can better predict how looming environmental changes may affect modern species."

###

Summary of Major Findings

1. Study of bone microstructure and body size distributions in the forerunners of mammals (therapsids) reveals distinct life history changes during the Permo-Triassic Mass Extinction (252 Mya).

2. Our results show that post-extinction species took less time to reach adult size, had shortened life expectancies, high mortality rates, and were at great risk of extinction.

3. Simulations using ecological modelling show that breeding earlier, which would have led to shortened generation times, could have helped therapsids survive in the unpredictable, resource-limited post-extinction environment, and explains body size distributions observed in earliest Triassic species like Lystrosaurus.

4. The results help explain how the "disaster taxon" Lystrosaurus, not only survived, but spread to all areas of the globe and became the most abundant vertebrate after the Permo-Triassic Mass Extinction.

Background Facts

There have been five major mass extinctions in Earth's history.

The Permo-Triassic Mass Extinction (252 Mya) was the most catastrophic extinction in Phanerozoic history.

It killed 80-96% of all marine species and 70% of all terrestrial species.

Post-extinction ecosystems did not fully recover until some 5 million years after the event.

Therapsids include animals like Lystrosaurus, and another group called the cynodonts, which includes mammals and their immediate ancestors. Their body sizes ranged from a tiny mouse to a massive rhino. South Africa contains the best fossil record of early therapsids in the world.

Our paper does NOT say

We do not demonstrate behavioral or physical evidence of early reproduction. Rather, our main empirical dataset comes from body size distributions and bone histology, which show direct evidence of shorter life expectancies in Triassic therapsids. Our inference of earlier breeding is then based on size distributions and expectations of survivorship models that we pursued based on our histologic findings.

Funding

To Dr. Jennifer Botha-Brink: National Research Foundation (South Africa): Early Triassic Recovery Project NRF-65244

To Dr. Adam Huttenlocker: National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant 1209018; National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology NSF DBI-1309040
Plant gasses possibly dampen the temperature rise in Greenland. Plants emit compounds to deter pests or attract pollinators, and as a side effect particles are formed when the compounds interact in the air. These particles can contribute to the formation of clouds, which reflect incoming solar radiation, and thus prevent solar heat from reaching the ground and warming it additionally. Researchers from the University of Copenhagen have studied the effect of the imminent climate changes on the release of so-called "biogenic volatiles" to the atmosphere above Greenland. The sensational results are now being published in the prestigious scientific journal Nature Geoscience.

The study of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) is in itself interesting. They include fragrances, which are released by all organisms, and they are important to the communication between plants and animals, e.g. as a defense mechanism through the repelling of pests. This is well-known in the scientific community, but the possible role of these gasses is less well-known in connection with the arctic climate changes, which are predicted to be more pronounced than elsewhere on the planet.

Now, researchers from the Department of Biology and Center for Permafrost (CENPERM) at the University of Copenhagen have studied the biogenic volatiles in Greenland in a climate change context, and the results are sensational. The release of volatiles is known to be sensitive to temperature and light availability. Now the researchers show, that the biogenic volatiles of the arctic areas are much more sensitive to climate changes than previously expected.

A devil in paradise

It all began in 2007. Field experiments were set up in Kobbefjorden near Nuuk - the capital of Greenland - with the purpose of monitoring changes in ecosystems caused by climate changes. In one experiment small open top greenhouses were used to simulate warming of the vegetation. A less debated, nevertheless important, consequence of climate changes is the possible increase in the cloud cover. To mimic the response of the biogenic volatiles to an increased cloud cover, the researchers also put up hessian tents shading the vegetation. And this experiment payed off.

The project leader, associate professor Riikka Rinnan from the Department of Biology at UCPH, says:

"It seems that 3-4 times more biogenic volatiles are released from the tundra upon a two degree temperature rise, when the sun has a free rein. However, when the tundra is in the shade, the release of volatiles is decreased by 70%. Our results show that the release of volatile compounds is extremely sensitive to climate changes. In comparison to other biological processes, such as CO2 release through plant respiration, we discovered that the release of volatile compounds in the Arctic is almost 20 times as sensitive to temperature rise. And that is surprising".

It is the first time researchers have separately measured all ecosystem components. To locate the origin of the effect, the researchers measured on each of the dominant plants, while also surveying the effect on the bare soil.

"We show that the warming increases the release from plants, but not from the soil. We also show that the warming has actually reduced plant growth in the area, most likely through drought due to higher evapotranspiration caused by the warming. None the less, the impact on the release of biogenic volatiles was so substantial, that despite the reduction in biomass, we still see a rise for the ecosystem as a whole".

The positive side of things

Even though the "shady side" of the story is positive, the "sunny side of the tundra" is negative. "When volatile compounds react in the atmosphere, they impact two different directions. Firstly, they prolong the lifespan of methane, which is an extremely powerful greenhouse gas - 25 times as bad as CO2. Secondly, they stimulate formation and growth of particles in the air, and this cools down the climate. Thanks to the purity of the arctic air, the release of the particle-forming volatiles from the tundra is of particular importance. Cloud formation depends on the presence of particles, on which water condenses, and an increased release of volatile compounds from the tundra leads to the formation of more particles in the atmosphere and perhaps clouds. This can have a large impact on the arctic climate", Riikka Rinnan points out.

Due to the large amounts of ice, the Arctic can influence global climate changes. And if the melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet can be slowed down, it will have a large effect on the climate in the rest of the world.

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Maternal smoking during pregnancy is harmful to the unborn child as well as the mother. This is a known fact. "For the first time, we can now demonstrate that exposure to tobacco smoke also causes epigenetic changes in enhancers of gene expression," said Irina Lehmann, Environmental Immunologist at the UFZ. These deregulated enhancers are distributed throughout the child's entire genome.

Epigenetic changes form part of countless processes that occur during human development. The genetic material functions as a blueprint for all cells. In order for different cell types, e.g. liver or muscle cells, to develop, certain genes must be activated or deactivated at certain times. One of the ways this happens is through epigenetic changes which can be disrupted by various environmental factors. In their latest study, the group of researchers from Leipzig and Heidelberg revealed that epigenetic changes related to tobacco smoke increase the risk of children developing lung diseases.

The underlying data comes from the epidemiological study entitled LiNA (Lifestyle and environmental factors and their Influence on Newborns Allergy risk). In this study, researchers asked which environmental factors could have a negative influence on children's health during pregnancy. In collaboration with the Municipal Hospital "St. Georg" in Leipzig, UFZ researchers have been monitoring 622 mothers and their children since 2006. The mothers underwent in-depth examinations for possible exposure to environmental factors during their pregnancy.

For their current work, two groups of mother-child pairs were examined: mothers who smoked during pregnancy and mothers who were not exposed to tobacco smoke. Together with the genome researchers working with Roland Eils at the DKFZ and the Heidelberg University, the researchers examined the epigenome of the mothers and the children. They wanted to find out whether there was evidence of epigenetic changes in the smoker families that did not occur in the non-smoker families - and which consequences this may have for the children's health. "We were able to find evidence of epigenetic changes in smoking mothers as well as in the umbilical cord blood of the newborn babies," said Lehmann. The changes thus occur in the womb and affect the unborn child's gene regulation.

The researchers determined that smoking particularly affects enhancer regions in the genome. Enhancers are DNA regions that regulate the expression of one or more genes. Lehmann explained that: "If an enhancer region is affected by the effects of smoking, this may lead to deregulation of several genes at the same time." The researchers give an example of the consequences of a deregulated enhancer in their work: the enzyme JNK2 (c-Jun N-terminal protein kinase 2) plays a role in inflammatory responses. If the enhancer that activates JNK2 is now affected, this may increase the risk of lung diseases in the children's later life.

The researchers also determined that the epigenetic effects observed in the umbilical cord blood at birth can still be seen several years after the child is born. However, it could not be ascertained beyond doubt whether these effects are long-term impacts of exposure to smoke prior to birth. "Children who are exposed to tobacco smoke even before being born usually continue to be exposed to this after their birth," said Lehmann. She added that the prolonged exposure to cigarette smoke after birth may contribute to the observed stability of epigenetic changes.

In their analysis, the researchers identified more than 400 enhancers affected by tobacco smoke. They regulate genes that play a role in a variety of diseases such as diabetes, adiposity or even cancer. "This discovery will allow us to start understanding the mechanisms that make smoking the cause of such a wide range of diseases," said Roland Eils.

The insights from this research are intended to provide starting points for new options for treating environmental diseases. "The better our understanding of deregulation caused by environmental factors, the better we will be able to respond to this. Nevertheless in the case of tobacco smoke, avoiding exposure is still the best alternative," said Lehmann in summary.

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Further information:

Dr. Irina Lehmann

UFZ Department of Environmental Immunology

+49 (0)341 235 1216

Irina.lehmann@ufz.de

and

Prof. Dr. Roland Eils

German Cancer Research Center and the Heidelberg University

+49 (0)6221 42 3601

r.eils@dkfz-heidelberg.de

or via

Susanne Hufe (UFZ Press Office)

Telephone: +49 (0)341-235-1635

E-mail: susanne.hufe@ufz.de

Dr. Stefanie Seltmann (DKFZ Press Office)

Tel.: +49 (0)6221-42-2854

E-mail: s.seltmann@Dkfz-Heidelberg.de

Marietta Fuhrmann-Koch (Heidelberg University Press Office)

Tel.: +49 (0)6221 54-19012

E-mail: kum@uni-heidelberg.de
In an article published in Nature Communications, scientists at IRB Barcelona reveal that breast cancer cells require fatty acids from the extracellular environment in order to continue proliferating

In an article published in Nature Communications, the researchers report that breast cancer cells need to take up lipids from the extracellular environment in order to continue proliferating. The main protein involved in this process is LIPG, an enzyme found in the cell membrane (the layer that surrounds a cell) and without which tumour cell growth is arrested. Analyses of more than 500 clinical samples from patients with various kinds of breast tumour reveal that 85% have high levels of LIPG expression.

In Spain, breast cancer is the most common tumour in women and the fourth most common type in both sexes (data from the SEOM, 2012), registering more than 25,000 new diagnoses each year. According to figures from the World Health Organization, every year 1.38 million new cases of breast cancer are diagnosed and 458,000 people die from this disease (IARC Globocan, 2008).

Achilles Heel

It was already known that cancer cells require extracellular glucose to grow and that they reprogram their internal machinery to produce greater amounts of lipids (fats). The relevance of this study is that it reveals for the first time that tumour cells must import extracellular lipids to grow.

"This new knowledge related to metabolism could be the Achilles heel of breast cancer," explains ICREA researcher and IRB Barcelona group leader Roger Gomis, co-leader of the study together with Joan J. Guinovart, director of IRB Barcelona and professor at the University of Barcelona. Using animal models and cancer cell cultures, the scientists have demonstrated that blocking of LIPG activity arrests tumour growth.

"What is promising about this new therapeutic target is that LIPG function does not appear to be indispensable for life, so its inhibition may have fewer side effects than other treatments," explains the first author of the study, Felipe Slebe, who was funded by a "la Caixa" International PhD fellowship. Guinovart comments that, "because LIPG is a membrane protein, it is potentially easier to design a pharmacological agent to block its activity."

LIPG has "many virtues" as a target. "If a drug were found to block its activity, it could be used to develop more efficient chemotherapy treatments that are less toxic than those currently available," says Gomis.

The scientists are now looking into international collaborations in order to develop LIPG inhibitors.

The study has involved the participation of the teams headed by Joan Albanell at the Hospital del Mar, Ana Lluch at the Hospital Clinico de Valencia, Federico Rojo at the IIS-Fundacion Jimenez Diaz and Oscar Yanes at the Center for Omic Sciences of the Universidad Rovira i Virgili in Tarragona.

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The research has been funded by the BBVA Foundation, the Spanish Ministry of the Economy and Competitiveness and the Diabetes and Associated Metabolic Diseases Networking Biomedical Research Centre "CIBERDEM", and ERDFs.

Reference article:

FoxA and LIPG endothelial lipase control the uptake of extracellular lipids for breast cancer growth

Felipe Slebe, Federico Rojo, Maria Vinaixa, Mar Garcia-Rocha, Giorgia Testoni, Marc Guiu, Evarist Planet, Sara Samino, Enrique J. Arenas, Antoni Beltran, Ana Rovira, Ana Lluch, Xavier Salvatella, Oscar Yanes, Joan Albanell, Joan J. Guinovart & Roger R. Gomis

Nature Comms (2016, April 5) Doi: 10.1038/NCOMMS11199
The scientists from the Faculty of Physics of the Lomonosov Moscow State University conducted a study evaluating the appearance of the superconducting state in the iron-based superconductors with two energetic gaps. The report on the study was published in the latest issue of the Journal of Superconductivity and Novel Magnetism. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10948-016-3386-5

A team of Russian scientists lead by the Lomonosov Moscow State University physicists for the first time in history managed to measure, reliably and directly, the energetic gaps of a number of superconductors (first of all -- iron-containing). According to Svetoslav Kuzmichev who leads the research project the results of the work would allow to solve some questions concerning the appearance of the superconductivity in the iron-containing materials.

The main thing interesting for the physicists in this experiment was a chance to measure the temperature dependences of the two energetic gaps. The term "superconducting gap" refers to denoting a range of energies that is forbidden for the conducting electrons.

Since 1957, when American physicists John Bardeen, Leon N. Cooper and John Robert Schrieffer developed a theory explaining the superconductivity phenomena (the BCS theory, awarded with the Nobel Prize in 1972), there was only one such band: from the temperature of the transition to the superconductivity state to zero. But in 1959 a probable existence of the two-gap superconductors was assumed by a Soviet physicist V.A. Moskalenko and his US colleague G. Suhl. The two scientists independently deriveded sets of equations, describing mechanisms of such superconductivity, however experimentally the first two-band superconductor was found only at the beginning of the present century, in 2001. It was quite a simple in composition magnesium diboride.

By that time physicists doubted the possibility of the two-gap superconductivity. Something new, standing out of the common frameworks, always appears as a heavy psychological burden for researchers of any scientific fields. To lighten this 'burden', the scientific community preoccupied with superconductivity problems treated magnesium diboride as in exception, confirming the rule.

Though only seven years later, in 2008, the phenomenon of two-gap superconductivity was found and experimentally confirmed in the iron-containing materials. Many laboratories all over the world started to use the superconductive 'ferrum', the score of the two-gap materials went to dozens, and the exception became a rule. Such a surprise made by iron-based superconductors turned out to be not the only one: eight years ago, by the moment of the discovery, it was considered that they could not exist at all, as a magnetic field kills the superconductivity. Since the appearance of the BCS theory the absence of the magnetic atoms in a superconductor seemed to be an indisputable condition.

According to this theory, the superconductivity appears because of the interaction of electrons and the crystal lattice vibrations, which results in building the so-called Cooper pairs of two electrons with opposite spins (the resulting spin is hence absent), so the electrons have a chance to move without colliding with the lattice.

As a spin is a magnetic moment of a particle, in a presence of magnetic interactions it seems impossible to preserve the zero resulting spin. According to Svetoslav Kuzmichev, the first author of the article and the senior research fellow of the physical faculty, MSU, this fact was multiply confirmed in experiments with the common superconductors. Addition of a tiny magnetic admixture or replacing any of the atoms with a ferromagnetic one in a superconductor lead to drastic decrease in superconductivity, up to its total disappearance.

After the discovery of the iron-based conductors the new class of materials came into spotlight among all physicists dealing with the superconductivity. Previously they used to show higher interest to high-temperature cuprates (cuprum-containing superconductors) and two-gap magnesium diboride. During the next eight years the amount of the superconductors based on ferrum compounds with arsenic or selenium, as well as the amount of the possible explanations of the 'iron-superconductivity', outnumbered all the superconductive cuprates, though a certain understanding of the phenomenon nature did not come.

'It was found that the ferrum-arsenic or ferrum-selenium blocks are responsible for the appearance of the superconductivity,' Svetoslav Kuzmichev comments. 'Almost all the scientists agree that though the outer magnetic field is suppressed, inside the blocks its fluctuations may exist in a form of magnon quasiparticles and with a high probability they take part in the developing of the superconductive state. However the matter is so novel and our knowledge is so limited, that almost none of the suggested mechanisms of reaching superconductivity was neither confirmed, nor refuted yet.'

The complexity is increased by the fact that the iron-based superconductors are multi-band. This circumstance significantly complicates the understanding of the already intricate processes accompanying the superconductivity phenomenon, regardless the existence of the above mentioned Moskalenko and Suhl's equations.

Basing on this equations scientists calculated the tendency of the temperature behavior of the two superconductive gaps for a number of the iron-based superconductors and the 'non-iron' magnesium diboride (with a partial replacement of magnesium with aluminium), then, for the first time in history, researchers conducted the direct experimental measurements of those dependences and as the result detected a convincing correlation of the calculations and the experimentally gained data. Moreover, they managed to evaluate what contributes more to the superconductive state -- an interband or an intraband pairing. In other words, they established how strong is the connection within a Cooper pair, which is formed by coupling electrons from the same or two different bands. According to Kuzmichev, that is particularly important for the understanding of the mechanisms of the 'iron' superconductivity.

'Up to now such estimations of the gaps' characteristics were based on the indirect measurements, the scientist says. For example, the correlation with the temperature and other parameters of the superconductive state was measured, with the further extrapolation of the results for distinguishing the energetic gaps. Those were quite approximate measurements, and in case of two gaps their certainty appears to be, so to say, by eye. The MSU Physical faculty professor Yaroslav Ponomarev (1938-2015) developed a "break-junction" technique that helped us for the first time to measure directly the energetic gaps of the high-temperature superconductors under the temperatures up to the critical temperature of the superconductive transition, avoiding the procedure of the indirect measurement. That is our key 'know-how', which let us estimate the magnitude of the interband and the intraband electron pairing. As the result we have shown that the crucial role in the mechanism of the magnesium diboride superconductivity is played by the intraband pairing. The condensates interact weakly, and in the magnesium diboride interband interaction is far weaker, than in the iron-based superconductors.'

Kuzmichev hopes that this work would clarify the situation with the developing of the 'iron' superconductivity. Though nowadays in terms of critical temperatures such superconductors give way to cuprates (while the maximal temperature of the superconductive transition, observed in ferrum-selenium films, was about 85 K, for cuprate superconductors it reaches up to 135 K), as the main advantage of the 'iron' superconductors Kuzmichev pronounces an unprecedented current density that they are able to carry.

'They can conduct the current from ten to a hundred times greater than cuprates and even niobium with its alloys, that are applied today in the superconductive magnets for generating extremely high fields for the powerful accelerators and tokamaks. No other superconductor can be compared to them today, except high purity magnesium diboride, which is able to carry currents with the density up to a million ampere per square centimeter. In laboratory conditions those numbers are impossible to prove directly, of course, though according to the existing estimations such densities are absolutely attainable with the 'iron' species. Well, I suppose, soon we will have no alternative to them,' the scientist concludes.

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RUSTON, La - Darrian Mills, a freshman student in physics and computer science at Louisiana Tech University, has earned a prestigious Minority Research Scholars fellowship with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Mills, who is from Greenwood, Louisiana, earned the fellowship through the Louisiana Space Consortium for his research with Dr. Chester Wilson, associate professor of electrical engineering and nanosystems engineering at Louisiana Tech, and Dr. William Clower, post doctoral researcher at Louisiana Tech. The NASA fellowship offers an opportunity for Mills to continue his work with Wilson and Clower to develop an inexpensive new nanostructured material that is made from carbon and metal and can be used for radar imagery to monitor spaceships.

Wilson says Mills is working to characterize graphene flakes made by a proprietary process developed at Louisiana Tech. "Graphene is as conductive as copper, but is only one fifth the weight," says Wilson. "Regular graphene is about $2,000 a gram, but ours can be made for hundreds of dollars a pound. We are developing this material that can be used as an additive in plastics to make it conductive.

"NASA and the U.S. Air Force want composite conductive plastics, for small lightweight spacecraft, to make communication systems that survive in solar flares and electromagnetic pulses made from space detonated nuclear weapons."

Mills credits the collaborative environment available to him through Wilson's research group with providing him with the support and resources to perform top-notch research and the opportunity to obtain the fellowship.

"Dr. Wilson has been helpful and supportive ever since I connected with his group," Mills said. "He presented me with this opportunity, and I took it. His experience and understanding of these awards greatly facilitated the process for me."

Wilson says that the collaborative environment at Louisiana Tech helps students earn such coveted awards.

"This award is representative of what youth from north Louisiana are able to achieve with a good education and mentoring systems like we have at Louisiana Tech, which provides them opportunities to better themselves," Wilson said.

The NASA fellowship, which began April 1 and lasts for one year, is generally awarded to seniors. Mills, however, was able to distinguish himself as a freshman with a 3.9 grade point average in the double major of physics and computer science, and his strong work ethic as well as his research in developing the new nanostructured material.

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Joseph F. Rizzo III, M.D., has been awarded grant funding as part of the Vision Prosthesis Pilot Study, a Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program of the United States Department of Defense. Director of Neuro-Ophthalmology at Massachusetts Eye and Ear and the David Glendenning Cogan Professor of Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School, Dr. Rizzo is one of three investigators to receive funding as part of the Vision Prosthesis Pilot Study Awards. His research team will use the support to develop and test a visual prosthesis to restore vision to those with severe visual impairment.

"The goal . . . is to fund projects exploring novel technologies that will contribute to a working visual prosthesis prototype for individuals who have sustained severe macular degeneration and/or traumatic eye injury," said Dr. Kenneth Bertram, Principal Assistant for Acquisition of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command. "When the eye and optic nerve are severely damaged, the hope of a cortical visual prosthetic is that by directly stimulating the brain's visual cortex, it can restore sight. We are very pleased that our initial funding brings us three different approaches to the development of visual prostheses."

Dr. Rizzo's research team has paved the way for a visual prosthetic through collaboration between Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers on the Boston Retinal Implant Project (BRIP). For those with severe injury in both eyes, as sometimes occurs with blast injuries, both the eyes and the optic nerves may have damage, and therefore, the connection of the image from the prosthetic eye on to the brain is the challenge.

The BRIP group has already developed a wireless and implantable neural prosthesis for use in the retina -- but that relies on a functional optic nerve. With this award, they will develop and test a prosthesis to electrically stimulate the lateral geniculate nucleus -- a key relay center in the brain's visual processing pathway -- that will allow signals to skip over the damaged optic nerve and reach visual centers in the brain.

"This grant from the Department of Defense will allow us to pursue a very promising strategy to restore some vision to patients with a wide variety of blinding conditions, including glaucoma and traumatic injury to the optic nerves and eyes," said Dr. Rizzo.

"This is only the beginning," said Dr. Bertram. "Some obstacles and direction will be found through the studies of these prototypes. Our initiative is to restore vision and improve the quality of life for our wounded Warriors and other Americans who have become blind."

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Information for this release was provided by the Department of Defense Congressional Directed Medical Research Programs.

About Massachusetts Eye and Ear

Mass. Eye and Ear clinicians and scientists are driven by a mission to find cures for blindness, deafness and diseases of the head and neck. Now united with Schepens Eye Research Institute, Mass. Eye and Ear is the world's largest vision and hearing research center, developing new treatments and cures through discovery and innovation. Mass. Eye and Ear is a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital and trains future medical leaders in ophthalmology and otolaryngology, through residency as well as clinical and research fellowships. Internationally acclaimed since its founding in 1824, Mass. Eye and Ear employs full-time, board-certified physicians who offer high-quality and affordable specialty care that ranges from the routine to the very complex. U.S. News & World Report's "Best Hospitals Survey" has consistently ranked the Mass. Eye and Ear Departments of Otolaryngology and Ophthalmology as top in the nation. For more information about life-changing care and research, or to learn how you can help, please visit MassEyeAndEar.org.
Stanley Baum Professor of Radiology and professor of Surgery at University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine discusses how competition improves Interventional Radiology

VANCOUVER, British Columbia--Interventional radiologists should embrace competition as a catalyst for innovation, said Scott O. Trerotola, M.D., FSIR, who delivered the Society of Interventional Radiology's (SIR's) 2016 Dr. Charles T. Dotter Lecture on April 5 during SIR's Annual Scientific Meeting in Vancouver.

Trerotola, who is the Stanley Baum Professor of Radiology and professor of surgery at University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia, told his colleagues that competition spurs interventional radiologists to innovate and achieve better outcomes for their patients.

"If it weren't for competition we would still be doing things the old way and would not have evolved into IR clinicians," Trerotola said.

The Dotter Lecture, supported by SIR Foundation, is an annual event named in honor of one of the founding fathers of interventional radiology.

"Every year, the Dr. Charles T. Dotter Lecture highlights an outstanding interventional radiologist who has who has greatly contributed to the development of the field and provided dedicated service to SIR," said SIR President Alan H. Matsumoto, M.D., FSIR, professor and chair of the Department of Radiology and Medical Imaging at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville. "There is no question that Scott Trerotola embodies these attributes."

A 2011 recipient of the SIR Foundation Leaders in Innovation award, Trerotola has pursued research in hemodialysis and venous access, inferior vena cava filters and embolotherapy of pulmonary arteriovenous malformations, among other areas of interest. He holds eight device patents, has developed multiple procedural techniques that are in widespread use, and has advanced IR research, having published more than 250 research and educational articles.

SIR 2016 runs from April 2-April 7 in Vancouver. More information about the Society of Interventional Radiology, finding an interventional radiologist in your area and minimally invasive, image-guided treatments can be found online at sirweb.org.

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About the Society of Interventional Radiology Foundation

SIR Foundation is a scientific foundation dedicated to fostering research and education in interventional radiology for the purposes of advancing scientific knowledge, increasing the number of skilled investigators in interventional radiology and developing innovative therapies that lead to improved patient care and quality of life. Visit sirfoundation.org.

About the Society of Interventional Radiology

The Society of Interventional Radiology is a nonprofit, professional medical society representing more than 6,100 practicing interventional radiology physicians, scientists and clinical associates, dedicated to improving patient care through the limitless potential of image-guided therapies. SIR's members work in a variety of settings and at different professional levels--from medical students and residents to university faculty and private practice physicians. Visit sirweb.org. The Society of Interventional Radiology is holding its Annual Scientific Meeting April 2-7 at the Vancouver Convention Centre, British Columbia, Canada. Visit sirmeeting.org.

Interviews are available by contacting Elise Castelli, SIR senior manager, PR and communication, ecastelli@sirweb.org, (703) 460-5572. From April 2-6 they can be reached in the Vancouver Newsroom at (778) 331-7650 or (778) 331-7651.
BOSTON (April 5, 2016)-- Children are far from meeting national guidelines for physical activity, and girls are at greatest risk of falling short of recommendations according to a study measuring the physical activity of 453 schoolchildren in Massachusetts during a one-week period. Led by researchers at Tufts University School of Medicine and the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, the study examined children's activity patterns during school-time and out-of-school, compared to national recommendations.

The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommend that school-age children get at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) every day and the Health and Medicine Division of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (formerly the Institute of Medicine) recommends that 30 minutes of this activity occur during the school day. The researchers studied physical activity among children in grades three through five, not only during the school day, but also after school and on weekends to determine when children were more or less active. Measurements of the children's physical activity were taken from accelerometers worn for seven consecutive days during all waking hours. Notably, the study included a representative sample of children across several school districts in Massachusetts with 30 percent of the study participants being overweight or obese.

Researchers found that across the entire sample of 453 children, only 15 percent achieved 60 minutes of daily MVPA and even fewer, 8 percent, met the HMD recommendation of 30 minutes of MVPA during school. The greatest disparity was between boys and girls, with girls being far less likely than boys to meet both of these guidelines, with only 8 percent and 2 percent meeting total daily- and school-time recommendations respectively. As compared to normal or underweight children, overweight and obese children were also less active overall and achieved fewer minutes of MVPA during school, out-of-school, and on weekends.

"We thought that the school day would offer a protective effect where there would be few differences in activity levels between boys and girls and children in different weight categories during the school day as compared to weekends and out-of-school time. Instead, we found that girls and overweight children were less active for all measured segments, including during the school day," Kristie Hubbard, Ph.D., M.P.H, R.D., first and corresponding author on the study and an adjunct instructor in the department of public health and community medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine, said,

Understanding children's patterns of physical activity throughout the week can assist researchers to recommend policies and programs that increase activity levels in the settings where children live, learn, and play. The authors note that schools are uniquely positioned to encourage millions of children to increase physical activity and reduce the prevalence of obesity.

"We have to find ways to increase activity levels, especially given that few states mandate and provide opportunities for children to achieve the HMD's recommendation of 30 minutes of school-time moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. In fact, many schools are cutting back on and even eliminating physical education and recess time," said Jennifer Sacheck, Ph.D., the study's senior author and an associate professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University,

The majority of a child's day is spent in sedentary and light physical activities (LPA) with LPA contributing the greatest amount to total activity levels. Importantly, the researchers found that LPA decreased with increasing grade level and girls were similar to boys on weekends and during out-of-school hours, but were significantly lower than boys during the school-day. This school-time disparity in LPA was not seen between normal weight and overweight/obese children.

Sacheck continued, "We need to also continue to create opportunities for LPA during school-time and recognize that a distinct disparity exists for girls for not only MVPA, but also LPA during the school-day which is not apparent during out-of-school time. Clearly, schools need to be aware of this disparity and should focus on increasing all intensities of physical activity equally for all children across the school-day."

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Additional authors are Christina D. Economos, Ph.D., associate professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University and vice chair of ChildhoodObesity180; Peter Bakun, B.S., senior statistical programmer at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University; Rebecca Boulos, Ph.D., M.P.H., assistant clinical professor in the School of Community and Population Health at the University of New England; Kenneth Chui, Ph.D., M.P.H., assistant professor in Public Health and Community Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine; Megan P. Mueller, M.P.H., New Balance doctoral fellow at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University; and Katie Smith, M.P.H., formerly a program administrator at ChildObesity180 at Tufts University.

Hubbard, K.; Economos, C.D.; Bakun, P.; Boulos, R.; Chui, K.; Mueller, M.P.; Smith, K.; and Sacheck, J. (2015). Disparities in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity among girls and overweight and obese schoolchildren during school- and out-of-school time. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity. DOI: 10.1186/s12966-016-0358-x

About Tufts University School of Medicine and the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences

Tufts University School of Medicine and the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences at Tufts University are international leaders in medical and population health education and advanced research. Tufts University School of Medicine emphasizes rigorous fundamentals in a dynamic learning environment to educate physicians, scientists, and public health professionals to become leaders in their fields. The School of Medicine and the Sackler School are renowned for excellence in education in general medicine, the biomedical sciences, and public health, as well as for innovative research at the cellular, molecular, and population health level. The School of Medicine is affiliated with six major teaching hospitals and more than 30 health care facilities. Tufts University School of Medicine and the Sackler School undertake research that is consistently rated among the highest in the nation for its effect on the advancement of medical and prevention science.

About the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy

The Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University is the only independent school of nutrition in the United States. The school's eight degree programs - which focus on questions relating to nutrition and chronic diseases, molecular nutrition, agriculture and sustainability, food security, humanitarian assistance, public health nutrition, and food policy and economics - are renowned for the application of scientific research to national and international policy.
A radical approach to managing natural resources could target the problem of their over-exploitation, such as in forests or fisheries, according to a new study.

Researchers say policies that decide how society uses natural resources could be inspired by nature, which creates sustainable ecosystems amid intense competition between species for limited resources.

Human competition for resources can encourage a race for new technologies to be developed and lead to environmental degradation and loss or decline of species.

However, the new research suggests that man's impact on the environment could be tempered by policies that encourage commercial use of selected parts of the limited resource. Such an approach would mimic the way that wild species develop narrow ecological niches, for instance when songbirds share forests by feeding and nesting at distinctive heights in the trees.

The findings support policies that would partition ecosystems according to different harvesting niches. For example, individual fishing fleets could specialise in efficiently catching either plaice and sole, cod and whiting, or prawns. This would enable technology to advance for each specialism, leading eventually to harvesting of single fish species with little or no by-catch.

Enabling operators to take a specialised catch with greater efficiency would avoid competition, overharvesting, or domination of a single user, researchers say. Such a system could enable higher sustainable quotas to be set than is possible currently, leading to productive, sustainable industrial systems.

Martyn Murray, of the University of Edinburgh's School of Biological Sciences, who led the study, said: "History is littered with examples where local resources and entire ecosystems have failed from overuse, from the collapse of North Sea herring fishing in the 1970s to over-exploited wildlife populations today.

"Better management of resources could help protect against many environmental problems, such as shrinking forests, disappearing lakes and rivers, empty seas, and overgrazed pastures, together with their aftermath of poverty, conflict and hostilities."

The study was published in the journal Ecological Applications.

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The results of an early-stage (phase 1b) clinical trial for pancreatic cancer show that an experimental therapy can control tumors well enough to make some patients eligible for surgery, according to data published in The Lancet Oncology by a Wilmot Cancer Institute investigator.

Since surgery currently provides the best chance for survival of pancreatic cancer, any research that helps to move more patients toward that goal is exciting, said lead author David C. Linehan, director of clinical operations at Wilmot and Chair of Surgery at the University of Rochester Medical Center.

This study is also significant, Linehan said, because there is no consensus on the best way to treat locally advanced pancreatic cancer that cannot immediately be removed. The median five-year survival rate is less than 5 percent. Doctors typically use chemotherapy and combinations of other therapies to try to control the disease.

Linehan's small, phase 1b study enrolled 47 patients with locally advanced pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, the most common type. Most patients received an experimental immune-stimulating drug (a pill) developed by Pfizer Inc. known as PF-04136309, plus a standard four-drug chemotherapy regimen. A few received chemotherapy alone. The majority of the patients who received the new drug saw their tumors stop growing and some patients experienced a partial response, which means their tumors shrank by more than 30 percent. One patient's tumors completely disappeared, Linehan said.

Investigators had predicted that only 25 percent of the pancreatic cancer patients taking PF-04136309 would respond--but the trial's response rate was nearly double the rate for people treated with chemotherapy alone. The trial results also concluded that the targeted, experimental drug in combination with chemotherapy was safe and tolerable.

Linehan has agreed to partner with Pfizer to lead a larger, phase 2, randomized trial to further test the drug in patients with metastatic disease, whose prognosis is to survive six to 12 months.

Some patients at the Wilmot Cancer Institute will likely be eligible to participate in the new clinical trial, Linehan said.

Most side effects from PF-04136309 were no worse than with standard chemotherapy, although three patients withdrew from the study due to treatment toxicity, the study authors reported.

Pancreatic cancer has a unique characteristic that's the focus of Linehan's research: Approximately 80 percent of a pancreatic tumor is comprised of cells that are not cancer cells. Many of these non-tumor cells, called tumor-assisted macrophages (or TAMs) play a vital role in promoting cancer and preventing the immune system from attacking cancer cells.

Linehan primarily investigates the TAMs in the dense tissues and cells surrounding pancreatic tumors, often referred to as the "microenvironment." He discovered that patients with pancreatic cancer who also have high levels of TAMs in their tumors are more likely to have a recurrence of cancer after surgery. In earlier mouse studies he found that PF-04136309 blocked the mobilization of these cells. The phase 1b trial confirmed those results.

In the clinical study, researchers also wanted to know if PF-04136309 was hitting the intended molecular target, a receptor known as CCR2 on inflammatory monocytes (the precursors of TAMS). Scientists described in Lancet Oncology the mechanisms by which PF-04136309 inhibits CCR2 and also reduces the number of cells critical for sculpting the harmful microenvironment. When used in combination with chemotherapy, the drug also appeared to galvanize a proper immune response in the patients.

The clinical trial results were initially presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2015 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium. ASCO experts not associated with the study were enthusiastic about PF-04136309's potential as a promising new therapy for pancreatic cancer, Linehan said.

Linehan began working with Pfizer at Washington University in St. Louis before joining the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry in 2014. Study funding was provided by the Washington University/Pfizer Biomedical Collaborative, as well as Linehan's awards from the National Institutes of Health and the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. Pfizer is also supporting the phase 2 study.

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New research on coral reefs led by the University of Southampton suggests that existing biodiversity will be essential for the successful adaptation of ecosystems to climate change.

About 25% of all marine biodiversity depends on coral reefs, the three-dimensional calcareous framework laid down by the coral animals together with their algal symbionts. Climate change, in particular increasing seawater temperatures, threatens to disrupt the functionality of this productive association with potentially devastating knock-on effects to ecosystem services that are provided by coral reefs including food supply, coastal protection, attraction of tourists and access to biopharmaceuticals.

Investigations of the symbiotic partnership between the coral host and their algal symbiont in the world's hottest coral reef environments - the Persian/Arabian Gulf (PAG) and nearby seas - lead an international consortium of scientists to conclude that natural selection of existing biodiversity is key to facilitating rapid adaptation of coral reef ecosystems to climate change.

The novel findings by the University of Southampton (UK), KAUST (Saudi Arabia), NYUAD (UAE) and Tel Aviv University /IUI (Israel) are published this week in the world-leading journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS) from where the paper "Ancestral genetic diversity associated with the rapid spread of stress-tolerant coral symbionts in response to Holocene climate change" can be freely accessed under http://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1601910113

Professor Jorg Wiedenmann, head of the University of Southampton's Coral Reef Laboratory and principal investigator of the project explains: "Corals of the PAG can survive exceptionally high salinity levels and temperatures of up to 35 degrees Celsius - conditions that would kill corals elsewhere. However, the historic climate change that created this extreme environment, left coral communities in the Middle Eastern region only less than 6000 years to adjust to the drastic changes. Therefore, these coral ecosystems are ideal model systems to understand how reefs may respond to present-day climate change."

Dr Benjamin Hume, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Southampton and lead author of the paper, elaborates: "Using advanced molecular biological approaches, we recently discovered that corals of the Southern PAG host almost exclusively a species of symbiotic algae, Symbiodinium thermophilum, that was new to science. This finding suggested that this algal species was essential for the survival of the PAG corals and the question arose whether Symbiodinium thermophilum was the product of rapid evolution catalysed by the challenging conditions of the PAG, or whether this symbiont originated elsewhere."

To answer this question, the scientific team analysed close to a thousand corals along 5000 km of coastline in the PAG and adjacent seas.

Professor Voolstra from the Red Sea Research Center at KAUST adds: "Next-generation sequencing technologies allowed us to analyse the DNA of the coral symbionts in unprecedented depth, a prerequisite to screen large numbers of samples for the genetic signature of Symbiodinium thermophilum."

While the unusual symbiont was prevalent within the PAG, it was also found in the Gulf of Oman and Red Sea, however, only at barely detectable levels. Analysing a suite of molecular markers, the researchers discovered a surprising genetic diversity among S. thermophilum from outside the PAG.

Dr Hume explains: "Our data suggest that this diversity resulted from a genetic radiation aged at approximately 13 million years ago. This is far earlier than the formation of the PAG that only occurred about 15 k years ago as a result of rising sea levels after the last ice age."

He adds: "Out of this diverse group only one genetic type dominates the PAG, suggesting that selection by the extreme conditions has favoured an existing variant that was best suited to promote coral growth in this environment."

Professor Wiedenmann continues: "Our example of the heat tolerant coral symbiont suggests that the genetic diversity that exists among populations can be key to survival if species are facing a rapid change in environmental conditions. These pre-adapted forms might exist only in low numbers among abundant, but more vulnerable individuals. Any loss of genetic material from coral reefs caused by habitat destruction, overfishing, nutrient enrichment and pollution could therefore reduce the capacity of species to adjust to a changing environment."

He concludes: "To save coral reefs for the future, we need to fight the rising levels of greenhouse gases which cause climate change. At the same time, we need to protect present-day biodiversity to facilitate adaptation to changing environmental conditions. This applies not only to coral reefs but to ecosystems in general."

###

References:

Benjamin C.C. Hume, Christian R. Voolstra, Chatchanit Arif, Cecilia D'Angelo, John A. Burt, Gal Eyal, Yossi Loya, Jorg Wiedenmanna (2016). Ancestral genetic diversity associated with the rapid spread of stress-tolerant coral symbionts in response to Holocene climate change. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Early Edition, DOI 10.1073/pnas.1601910113

Free download: http://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1601910113

Cecilia D'Angelo, Benjamin C.C. Hume, John Burt, Edward G. Smith, Eric P. Achterberg and Jorg Wiedenmann (2015). Local adaptation constrains the distribution potential of heat-tolerant Symbiodinium from the Persian/Arabian Gulf. The ISME Journal, DOI 10.1038/ismej.2015.80

Free download: http://www.nature.com/ismej/journal/v9/n12/pdf/ismej201580a.pdf

Dawood Shuail, Jorg Wiedenmann, Cecilia D'Angelo, Andrew H. Baird, Morgan S. Pratchett, Bernhard Riegl, John A. Burt, Peter Petrov and Carl Amos (2016). Local bleaching thresholds established by remote sensing techniques vary among reefs with deviating bleaching patterns during the 2012 event in the Arabian/Persian Gulf. Marine Pollution Bulletin. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2016.03.001

Free download: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X1630131X

D'Angelo, C. and Wiedenmann, J. (2014). Impacts of Nutrient Enrichment on Coral Reefs: New Perspectives and Implications for Coastal Management and Reef Survival." Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 7, 82-93.

Free download: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877343513001917
Two hundred and fifty-two million years ago, a series of Siberian volcanoes erupted and sent the Earth into the greatest mass extinction of all time. As a result of this mass extinction, known as the Permo-Triassic Mass Extinction, billions of tons of carbon were propelled into the atmosphere, radically altering the Earth's climate. Yet, some animals thrived in the aftermath and scientists now know why.

In a new study published in Scientific Reports, a team of international paleontologists, including postdoctoral scholar Adam Huttenlocker of the Natural History Museum of Utah at the University of Utah, demonstrate that ancient mammal relatives known as therapsids were suited to the drastic climate change by having shorter life expectancies and would have had a better chance of success by breeding at younger ages than their predecessors.

The research team studied growth patterns in therapsids from the South African Karoo Basin, a paleontologically significant area which preserves a wide range of fossils from the Permian to the Early Jurassic, or 300-180 million years ago.

By examining their bone microstructure before and after the extinction boundary, Huttenlocker and his colleagues were able to study how growth patterns in therapsids were affected by the extinction. By studying body size distributions in particularly abundant species from the Permian and Triassic, the team was able to interpret shifts in size class structure and in rates of survivorship.

In this study, special attention was paid to the genus Lystrosaurus because of its success in surviving the Permo-Triassic extinction; it dominated ecosystems across the globe for millions of years during the post-extinction recovery period, and makes up some 70-90% of the vertebrate fossils found in Early Triassic rocks in the Karoo.

"Therapsid fossils like Lystrosaurus are important because they teach us about the resilience of our own extinct relatives in the face of extinction, and provide clues to which traits confered success on lineages during this tubulent time. Lystrosaurus was particularly prolific, making it possible to build a large dataset and to sacrifice some specimens for histology to study the growth patterns recorded in its bones," said Huttenlocker, one of the paper's authors.

"Before the Permo-Triassic extinction, the famous therapsid Lystrosaurus had a life span of about 13 or 14 years based on the record of growth preserved in their bones," said Field Museum paleontologist Ken Angielczyk, another one of the paper's authors. "Yet, nearly all of the Lystrosaurus specimens we find from after the extinction are only 2-3 years old. This implies that they must have been breeding when they were still [relatively young] themselves."

This adjustment in life history also meant a physical change for Lystrosaurus. Before the mass extinction, this creature would have been a couple meters long and weighed hundreds of pounds--about the size of a pygmy hippo. Post-extinction, its size dropped to that of a large dog, in large part due to its altered lifespan. Yet, these adaptations seemed to pay off for Lystrosaurus. Ecological simulations show that by breeding younger, Lystrosaurus could have increased its chance of survival by 40% in the unpredictable environments that existed in the aftermath of the extinction.

This change in breeding behavior is not isolated to ancient animals either. In the past century, the Atlantic cod has undergone a similar effect due to human interference. Industrial fishing has removed most large individuals from the population, shifting the average size of cod significantly downward. Likewise, the remaining individuals are forced to breed as early in their lives as possible. Similar shifts have also been demonstrated in African monitor lizards exploited by humans.

"Although it's hard to see the effects in our daily lives, there is substantial evidence that we are in the middle of a sixth mass extinction right now. It has been predicted that half of mammal species could become extinct by the end of the next century if present patterns continue; that's more than 1,000 times greater than previous estimates of natural extinctions, a trend not seen since the End-Permian or End-Cretaceous extinctions," said Huttenlocker.

"With the world currently facing its sixth mass extinction, paleontological research helps us understand the world around us today," said Angielczyk. "By studying how animals like Lystrosaurus adapted in the face of disaster, we can better predict how looming environmental changes may affect modern species."

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Citation: Botha-Brink, J. D. Codron. A. K. Huttenlocker, K. D. Angielczyk, and M. Ruta. 2016. Breeding young as a survival strategy during Earth's greatest mass extinction. Scientific Reports 6. doi:10.1038/srep24053.
So enthralled have the worlds wholesale banks become with the potential of transacting in multiple markets on blockchain applications provided by Ethereum, Ripple and others that its easy to forget about bitcoin where the concept of the distributed ledger originated.

The digital currency that pioneered the shared and immutable ledger of record has been beset by disagreements among its founding technologists over how to improve scalability amid evidence of slowing processing times and debate over the need for higher transaction fees.

Yet bitcoin has shown less volatility in the past 12 months and has grown to a market capitalization of over $6 billion, with an estimated 10 million wallets, maybe 4 million active users worldwide and growing daily transaction volumes.



Frank Schuil

Frank Schuil, a serial tech entrepreneur set up Safello in July 2013 to be a secure bridge between cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and the traditional financial world of fiat currencies.

Based in Stockholm, registered with Swedens Financial Supervisory Authority and banked by one of the top-four Swedish banks, Safello allows for quick and secure transfer between crypto- and fiat currencies, including Swedish krona, sterling and euros, using Single Euro Payments Area (Sepa) and other established payment mechanisms.

Schuil says: Our aim has been to connect the pipelines of the fiat and cryptocurrency worlds, which will be an important piece of infrastructure as banks and central banks increasingly come round to a more positive view of the potential for digital cash.

But that is just the first phase in his vision for a secure connection  the companys name pronounces it the safe fellow in the market place  between crypto- and fiat currencies.

Schuil says: The bitcoin market may not have hit the exponential rate of adoption enthusiasts had hoped for back in 2013, partly because of various hacks of exchanges, as well as the fact that regulators are still playing catch up and the banking sector remains hostile. But these are the inevitable obstacles in building a whole new infrastructure.

"If bitcoin is the internet of money, we are still at the dial-up modem phase. Theres a lot of work still to be done on the infrastructure. There are only a few countries where it is easy to transact between bitcoin and national currencies. The real breakthrough will come from leveraging the infrastructure and protocol advancements to the user-experience level. Safello envisions this can be accomplished by creating a transaction browser.

The vision is to give users links or icons for counterparts with whom they exchange payments, ranging from friends and family to corporations and even governments, with a quick and easy capacity to initiate transfers and check transaction records. It remains to be seen if this can be integrated with existing platforms.

Schuil says: We hope that it will become easier for users to have fiat currency wallets next to cryptocurrency wallets on the same interface. We will get to providing views of a transaction stream where the user making a payment sees it in his home currency of sterling, the recipient sees it in euros, but the underlying transaction goes through bitcoin.

Does that make Safello a bank, a payment system or an exchange?

Its home page shows an interesting spread to potential users, inviting them to sell one bitcoin for 278 in mid March, or buy one for 305.

Schuil says: We are not a bank as we are not a custodian of bitcoins or fiat currency. We are really providing a transaction browser that functions as an interface and user-experience layer to third-party applications.

Growth rate

For the moment, Schuil will say that Safellos customers number in the tens of thousands, conducting millions of dollars equivalent of cryptocurrency related transactions.

He admits: Our rate of growth has been somewhat constrained so far by our determination to comply with bank-like regulations and in particular to follow all the anti-money laundering requirements. We hope in the second quarter to launch private testing of the second phase of Safello with a transaction stream. That is not attached to a custodian and so that may open up to a wider audience and bring revenues from connections to payment services.

The company was initially funded by two groups of angel investors, one with backgrounds in the bitcoin world, another that made careers at the leading Swedish banks. It has also done a round of convertible funding with one of the larger bitcoin-focused venture-capital investors. It recently raised money through crowdfunding.

We like the idea of customers and potential users owning part of the company, and were able to raise substantial funds in just one month while also establishing a nice valuation for Safello, says Schuil.

Schuil points out that the low barrier to entry in the pure technology sector means start-ups and their backers dont mind seeing mainstream tech ventures fail, as long as they fail fast and without eating too much money. Fintech is a slower and more expensive build because of the higher cost of compliance for any new business hoping to operate at the junction with the conventional banking world.

Connecting to the core financial system is essential to our business, says Schuil.

He sees mixed messages. It is interesting that we were able to enter a commercial relationship on a project with Barclays to build a proof of concept bitcoin payments service, having come through their accelerator, yet Barclays could not open company bank accounts for us.

Schuil says: Banks and regulators have to ask themselves how cryptocurrency might impact the established financial system and each banks business if it really takes off. While adopting blockchain in house might make banks more efficient, it is still cryptocurrency that has the potential to be profoundly disruptive. If it should achieve global scale, can it be interoperable with the established financial system? The only way to find out is to engage and build bridges to it.
As for central banks, he has met and advised many. I know them all, Njoroge says, his eyes brightening. I can tell you every single governor in the world, just about; Ive pretty much met them all.



Patrick Njoroge, CBK

He says the CBK is a good central bank relative to our peers in East Africa. But that is not enough for Njoroge. We are thinking [we should be] world-class.

My legacy plan is very simple. What I want is a strong, world-class central bank in a vibrant financial sector, thats my vision for the my-work-is-done moment. Then I can fade into the sunset, he says.

But its more than just practices, its bank supervision, robust systems, internal procedures, the way we relate, the way we communicate, all those things should be world-class, our people too, transparency is essential.

We are a frontier economy, an economy very much in transition, the challenges are many. I have no problem with the challenge, thats why I took the job.

What are the comparisons? He cites Singapore, only in a technocratic and competence sense. He admires the Swedish model, Australia to a point, New Zealand. Brazil? No way.

We discuss central bank governors: Romanias Mugur Isarescu, the worlds longest serving central bank governor and the towering economic figure in Bucharest; and the doughty Zeti Akhtar Aziz, soon to retire after 16 years in charge at Malaysias Bank Negara.

I know Zeti, she is a great woman, Njoroge says, and talks about the challenges facing Zeti, defending a constitutionally independent central bank and limiting the damage to the economy of a rapacious political class. He could be talking about Kenya.

Visibility

Six months on, and with the shilling stabilised, Njoroge is raising the CBKs visibility among Kenyans tired and cynical of their grasping leaders, explaining clearly what it is doing on their behalf. The strategy is working and cynical Kenyans accustomed to corrupt officials are gradually having their trust restored in the CBK, largely due to Njoroges evident integrity.

As for the CBKs independence, he seems intent to chart a diplomatic course through the debate about how separate it is from the presidency and the cabinet. I dont like the word independence, he says, adding that hes not leading the Republic of the Central Bank of Kenya.

I think the word you should use is autonomy. You always need to be accountable, to the population, to parliament, to the president, but with a clear structure about that accountability.

But in terms of policies, the instruments that we use, we can conduct monetary policy without being told by anybody else what their views are.

I have no illusions that this is a bed of roses. Its not. I was surprised by how much, lets say, political pressures come to bear on this. On a scale of one to 10, maybe I expected it at six, and its at eight.

Maybe theyre surprised that Im so open about it, Im just calling it as I see it.


Spring in its step: The ECB's headquarters in Frankfurt

Dealers that were concerned about their viability as counterparties, such as Deutsche Bank, saw their credit spreads tighten along with those of other borrowers. The market for investment-grade euro bonds enjoyed a surge in issuance that provided a welcome revival in fees for banks after a disastrous start to the year in both debt and equity underwriting. The pixie-dust effect of the ECBs statement of intent on March 10 (it wont actually define terms for its corporate bond buying until late in the second quarter) did not extend to the market for secondary credit trading, however.

The recent struggles by Credit Suisse to first understand and then reduce its holdings of distressed credit underscored the problems that banks have with secondary trading of corporate bonds and loans.

It could be argued that Credit Suisse should have retained its problematic credit positions in late 2015 and the first quarter of 2016 and worked down its holdings after the ECB contributed to a reversal of global spread widening.

Instead the bank realized close to $1 billion of losses that a bold trading manager might have avoided. Gutsy trading heads of the type that used to walk the dealing floors at Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs are out of fashion now, however.

Liquidity in secondary credit trading has diminished; the ECBs arrival as a buyer of corporate bonds is likely to exacerbate this trend. Euromoney warned last year about potential conflicts of interest in ECB purchases of bonds from corporates such as Volkswagen that suffer reputational damage and could try to exploit any implicit central bank endorsement. We also cautioned about the distorting effects of the emergence of a so-called Draghi put for corporate bonds.

Benign impact

The short-term impact of the March announcement that the ECB will make direct bond purchases was benign. European corporate bond spreads for non-bank borrowers that may be eligible for ECB buying fell sharply, and related financial spreads enjoyed similar and at times faster tightening.

Banks such as Barclays, Commerzbank and Santander were able to issue debt as the market for euro-denominated bond issuance revived, and US borrowers including Fedex were also beneficiaries  with US issuers able to maintain their 2015 share of roughly 25% of euro bond issuance.

One deal that seemed to demonstrate the benefits of the ECBs move also highlights another potential pitfall, however. A week after the ECB announced its plans, AB InBev sold the largest euro-denominated bond yet seen. The 13.25 billion multi-tranche bond helped the Belgium-based brewer to fund its planned acquisition of SABMiller and generated over 30 billion of demand from investors keen to join the party in debt that may have the ECB as a backstop buyer. It also attracted investors who anticipate at least a degree of secondary liquidity, given the size of the bond.

The appeal of jumbo bonds from big issuers is causing growing bifurcation in the debt markets, which the ECB may exacerbate. Frequent borrowers with the promise of a debt issuance schedule are able to sell bonds much more easily than smaller corporates with uncertain future debt needs. This trend will not help the goal of both policymakers and investment banks in Europe of speeding up the regions shift from corporate lending to development of broad capital market issuance comparable with that in the US.

It will also do little to boost credit trading revenues for banks, as debt investors effectively adopt a buy-and-hold policy, where the nearest thing to secondary liquidity is the prospect of further issuance by the very biggest borrowers.
It is puzzling to observe from Moscow the ongoing Brexit debate in Britain. The UK press, some experts and even politicians seem to propel Russia and Vladimir Putin personally to be among the most interested parties in the issue. Both critics and proponents start their analysis of a Brexits international implications with the notion that Putin will be rubbing his hands.

The argument behind this logic is very vague, simplistic and often ridiculous. For Russia, the possibility of a Brexit has the same basic implication as for everybody else in Europe and the world uncertainty. Both the economic and global political consequences of Britain leaving the EU are difficult to predict both for Russia and the EU. And Russians  historical pessimists  assess that negative consequences will be more widespread if the European status quo shatters. That is why Russian leaders have so far refrained from commenting on Brexit.

What the rubbing-hands Putin logic omits?

First and foremost it is the economic interdependency that connects Russia with both the EU, and the UK. In Russian foreign trade, finance and investment links with the EU continues to be number one priority.

For several decades, the EU has been the leading trade partner for Russia, with 46% of its foreign trade share in 2015  a total of 249 billion USD. Granted, Britain has a marginal role in Russias trade with the EU, and there are little to no joint production chains. However, Brexit will no doubt impact the whole of European trade and inflict the most significant harm to Russias top economic partners in Europe  the Netherlands and Cyprus. London-based Global Counsels report indicates these countries as the most highly exposed to Brexit consequences. Russian dependency on Cyprus off shore financial services forced Moscow to assist Nicosia in financial turmoil of 2008-2011, providing it with a 2.5 billion euro preferential credit.

There are doubts that Brexit will diminish Londons position as the top European financial center, however nobody knows exactly what will happen. For Russia, it is a matter of significant economic importance. Moscows foreign direct investments in the UK in 2014 amounted to 9.1 billion USD (with another 60.9 billion USD in British Virgin Islands). According to Russian data two other important destinations of Russian FDIs are Cyprus (19.7 billion USD) and Netherlands (19.1 billion USD).

Russian foreign currency reserves, the third largest globally, are largely invested in foreign government securities, with Britains share 9.4% and the EU share around 62%. More importantly 41.5% of Russian reserves are nominated in Euros. Russian foreign reserves  currently at 360 billion USD  are expected to depreciate if Brexit hurts economically Britain, the EU or both.

Lastly, leading Russian companies use London as the prime European financial center. Most of Russian majors came to the London Stock Exchange (LSE) in late 1990s. Currently companies from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) constitute up to 17% of total trade in London, featuring Russian majors Gazprom, Rosneft, Lukoil, Sberbank, Tatneft, Megafon and Rusagro. Five Russian companies are in the LSEs top 20, with Gazprom in the lead for several years. If Britain becomes a less important financial center in the event of a Brexit, Russian companies will have to change their public offering priorities. It is indicative that in recent years Russians have more eagerly entered the Shanghai and Hong Kong Stock Exchanges, and some have delisted their shares from LSE.

If economic repercussions of a Brexit for Russia can be somehow calculated, it is much harder to estimate its international political implications.

The current fragmentation of the EU is an ongoing slow surprise for Moscow that it was not prepared for and that was in no way a result of Russias doings. Actually, Russia was expecting the EU to eventually consolidate and become an independent global player free of US patronage. Besides, it is easier to trade and relate with the single body in Europe, not facing the perspective of having 28 representatives at the table discussing minor trade or visa issues. This was the basis of the idea to build a common space from Vancouver to Vladivostok, which Moscow still nourishes. By creating the Eurasian Economic Union, Russia intended to gain leverage over the EU and at some point in the distant future integrate integrations, merging the EEU with the EU. What will happen with this perspective after Brexit is unclear. The big challenge for Moscow is to think this through.

It is clear that Brexit will bring a new balance of power in the European Council. How would German-French competition look like without Britain covering up disagreements? Will Paris and Berlin merge closer?

Alternatively, Europe will face a stronger Germany that will turn EU into its own project, introducing fiscal union, facilitating Grexit and a few other exits from the Eurozone. In this perspective the EU will not be a union of 27 nations anymore, but a Germany plus. Is this good or bad news for Russia? That is an open question, but if history is a reference  there are reasons to avoid this eventuality.

The most important unknown is what role Britain would choose after Brexit? Not many people in Russia believe it will aspire to be an independent global player. To stay relevant and avoid territorial integrity problems London can opt to build a stronger alliance with the US. A few pro-American states in Eastern Europe can join such a new political bloc. No doubts, sanctions-related activity would drive the Russians away from cooperation with a Anglo-Saxon alliance that would build a Polish-Baltic wall on the border with Russia. On the other side of Europe the core EU countries  Germany, France, Italy, etc.  can consolidate a block that will tend to normalize ties with Russia. In a generation, we can face two different Europes that will compete with and challenge each other  hardly a future any of us want.

No doubt, Brexit will inflict economic harm on both the UK and the EU. Eventually it will affect Russia, forcing its companies and government economists to change financial priorities and seek for a different safe haven. Incidentally, it can result in diminishing Russian presence on European financial markets and its reorientation toward Asian ones, thus strengthening Russias turn to the East.

An English proverb states measure twice, cut once. Its Russian equivalent is as old as the British one. It says, Measure seven times, cut once. Brexit is a highly uncertain enterprise with long-term widespread repercussions. If I were British, I would follow the Russian proverb on this occasion.

The opinions articulated above represent the views of the author(s), and do not necessarily reflect the position of the European Leadership Network or any of its members. The ELNs aim is to encourage debates that will help develop Europes capacity to address the pressing foreign, defence, and security policy challenges of our time.
Someone in the media or science worlds correctly characterizing ID is such a rare occurrence that when it happens, I get a surreal feeling, as if it were all just a sweet dream that will soon dissipate with the crowing of the alarm clock. That was my response on reading Tom Gilsons post at The Stream, commenting on the recent debate at the University of Toronto between Stephen Meyer and Lawrence Krauss. Check this out:

In his opening statement Meyer defined ID as the idea that certain features of the natural world are better explained as the product of a guiding transcendent intelligence than as the result of unguided natural processes. By way of example he showed that new functional protein configurations, which Darwinian evolution must discover by chance, actually cannot be discovered that way. Not only that, but these proteins possess new and functional information  the sort of thing that in other contexts we always ascribe to intelligent causes. Therefore its reasonable to conclude that this biological information (and other information-rich features of life) also was the result of an intelligent design. Thats ID in the briefest possible nutshell.

Gilson must be a genius. That is exactly accurate!

Seriously, being able to describe a deep idea like intelligent design in a paragraph is no mean feat. And the fact that ID critics habitually mischaracterize what we say is Gilsons point. As he observes, Krauss spoke first in the debate. Before the audience heard a single word from Stephen Meyer, Krauss had already misled them by presenting a straw man version of what he expected Meyer to say. Gilson:

In effect, Krausss message to Meyer was, What I say youre saying is pretty stupid.

Or better yet, as the headline for the piece says: Intelligent Design Critics: Never Mind What Youre Saying. What I Say Youre Saying Is Stupid.'

This prompts, as it always does, the obvious question: Why do critics interact, so often, with what we dont say rather than with what we do say? Gilsons answer: The real deal is much harder to dismiss. Maybe thats why people like Krauss appear intent on avoiding it at all cost. That too sounds right.
The GBP to CAD exchange rate has seen a decline today after the rising oil price boosts the Canadian dollar on the foreign exchange markets. Where next for sterling in today's forecasts?

Confidence in the Canadian Dollar (CAD) was shored up as the Ivey Purchasing Managers Index strongly bettered expectations, climbing from 53.4 to 57.9 in March.

Although Brent crude has been struggling to climb back above the $40 per barrel mark on Thursday the more positive mood of markets has kept the CAD exchange rate on an uptrend.

Owing to an unpredicted dive in the recent US crude oil inventories figure, the Canadian Dollar exchange rate complex has shot up in appeal.

This comes alongside a small but significant rise in the price of crude oil on the WTI index.

Oil prices have been staging something of a recovery on the back of a stronger Chinese Composite PMI, with market confidence buoyed by as the Chinese economy returned to expansion territory in March.

This has naturally helped to shore up the Canadian Dollar (CAD), with investors still hoping to see some possibility of a production deal between producers later in the month.

Latest Pound/Canadian Dollar Exchange Rates

On Sunday the Pound to British Pound exchange rate (GBP/GBP) converts at 1

FX markets see the pound vs pound exchange rate converting at 1.

FX markets see the pound vs us dollar exchange rate converting at 1.13.

The live inter-bank GBP-CNY spot rate is quoted as 8.189 today.

NB: the forex rates mentioned above, revised as of 23rd Oct 2022, are inter-bank prices that will require a margin from your bank. Foreign exchange brokers can save up to 5% on international payments in comparison to the banks.

The British Pound (GBP) has remained down against the Canadian Dollar (CAD), Owing to Tax-Related Controversies

For the Pound, the Panama Papers have proved injurious, as many have now been calling for the removal of the British Virgin Islands tax haven status. These suggestions have been courting controversy, as the issue of the BVIs sovereignty has been called into question.

The Pound has been able to advance on the flagging Canadian Dollar lately, although in other pairings a less certain level of movement has been seen.

One potential source of support has been the Markit/CIPS services PMI outcome for March, which rose from 52.7 to 53.7 as predicted. While a positive development, this nonetheless represented the worst services quarter for the UK in three years.

In other news, a potential buyer for the beleaguered Port Talbot steelworks has been found in the form of Indian businessman Sanjeev Gupta, although the selling process is still very much in the preliminary stages at present.

Gaps between UK Data will leave Domestic Developments as Main Sources of Sterling Movement Today

The week is partly over for the Pound in terms of economic information, as the only releases due tomorrow are the BRC shop price index and new car registration results on the year in March, both of which are considered low-impact.

Friday will likely bring the next major shifts for Sterling, when the February industrial and manufacturing results are announced alongside the mixed-forecast trade balance stats.

Outside of these scant data releases, any additional movement for GBP could be triggered by positive or negative developments stemming from the recent Panama Papers leak or regarding Port Talbot and the wider UK steelmaking industry.

Lack of Canadian Economic Data so Far Leaves Oil Price as Limiting Factor

The Loonie has failed to put on a good show during the present week, having been softened recently by disadvantageous developments regarding the price of oil; this was previously positive.

The WTI index cost has fallen to $35.39 today, while the Brent index has similarly plummeted to $37.46 so far.

Predictions are not bright for the future of the oil industrys overproduction issues, as sentiment has been gathering that a meeting of oil producers in Doha this month may not bear any fruit.

BOC Speech, PMI and Unemployment Stats due This Week

The remainder of the week for the Canadian Dollar will see a roughly even spread of data, with tonight seeing the announcement of a speech from Bank of Canada (BOC) official Carolyn Wilkins.

Tomorrow afternoon will bring the positively forecast Ivey purchasing managers indices for March, while Thursday will bring the optimistically-expected February building permits outcome on the month.

Closing off the weeks Loonie movement will be the March unemployment rate results, which are expected to show a rise of 10k employed persons but no change at 7.3% for the rate itself.

UK Services Stats Could Reveal Future Uncertainty for UK Economy

Regarding the earlier services data for the UK, a rise has not necessarily spelt optimism for UK investors.

Markit Chief Economist Chris Williamson stated that:

An upturn in the pace of service sector growth in March was insufficient to prevent the PMI surveys from collectively indicating a slowdown in economic growth in the first quarter.

It is worth noting, however, that the services figure is comprised of tourism-related activities, which would have been notably limited in the first quarter owing to the extended winter conditions that the UK went through at the start of the year.


The Canadian government has launched a new app that is says will help people arriving and visiting the country get real time information and reduce stress at international airports.According to Ministers the Travel Smart app gives people easy access to information on entry and exit requirements, border waiting times, passport validity and more. They hope it will reduce the strain of air travel.The launch coincides with new entry requirements which means that people from countries not usually needing a visa to travel to Canada who are travelling by air now need an Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA).From now until the autumn of 2016 a leniency period is in place to allow travellers without an eTA to board their flights as long as they have appropriate travel documents. Canadian citizens, including dual citizens, and Canadian permanent residents do not need an eTA."The Government of Canada is committed to providing the right tools and technologies to help Canadians be prepared for today's evolving travel environment. The Travel Smart app is one more useful tool that provides timely information to Canadians at the touch of a screen and on the go, whether they are travelling to a sunny destination or working or studying overseas. Travel Smart will also help them stay connected in case of an emergency abroad," said Omar Alghabra, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Consular Affairs).Meanwhile, Arif Virani, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, said the changes represent an improvement for everyone."Canada is working to enhance border security while continuing to welcome people to our country. Canada's new entry requirement does just that. Electronic Travel Authorization allows us to check that visa free travellers are admissible before they board their flight. At the same time, the fast, easy online process ensures travelling to Canada remains easy and stress free," he added.Howard Eng, president and chief executive officer of Greater Toronto Airports Authority, said the moves will east the challenges that people face when they make the choice to travel."By working closely with the Government of Canada and with airline carriers, we are seeking to improve and facilitate the passenger experience in the context of an increasingly complex and ever changing international travel environment," he explained.Travellers on transit through Canada will also need an eTA. There are exceptions, including US citizens and those with a valid Canadian visa. Entry requirements for other methods of travel by land and sea have not changed.
Is PNP an option to explore ?

Unless you've already got a CRS score >455 or a valid, qualifying job offer, why wouldn't PNP be an option for you?



how do we go abt it ?

Pick a province, read the guidance for application as put out by the provincial government, the apply.



BTW, please don't use text speak when you post... thanks.





Guess I will have to first check which province is more suitable for our field and then look at their website. But what is the first step if I have try for it ? IELTS ? job offer ? Registration form ?

As stated above, pick a province in which you'd be interested in living, see if they are offering PNP for your chosen field of work and then check to see if you qualify to apply.



When choosing a province in which to live, please remember that Canada is a huge country (about 3 times bigger than India), so British Columbia (in the west of the country) will be very different than Ontario (in the centre of the the country) and both of those provinces will be completely different from Prince Edward Island (a small island in the east of the country) and it can be very very COLD in the winter, so be sure that you take into consideration how cold the city and province you will be moving to will get during the winter months.



Also consider that in the province of Quebec, you should expect to either know some basic French or be willing to learn to speak/read basic French in order to survive. This is not to say that you cannot get service in English in that province - you can, from most government institutions - but French is more widely spoken than English.
MASSILLON, Ohio  Women are not holding back, they are speaking out. They are an important part of agriculture and want to know all they can about the business.

Women from across northeast Ohio and beyond gathered for the East Ohio Women in Agriculture Conference held in Massillon April 1.

Close to 150 women gathered for the third annual conference, which offered a chance for networking and farm business education.

The theme throughout the day was growing confidence and communication.

Persevere

The day started with Kim Davis of Carroll County talking to the group about overcoming adversity and having the confidence to keep moving.

She is now a Nationwide Insurance agency owner, but she has also beat ovarian cancer while raising her three children.

Davis urged the women not to listen to critics.

Just get on with the job that needs to be done, Davis said.

Davis also encouraged the women to work together. She said that women are all in the same boat and by working together, everyone can get farther.

Life will have its ups and downs, she admitted, but by getting through the down times, there will be more good times.

No matter the storm, when you are with God, theres always a rainbow waiting, Davis said.

Speak up

Dr. Roger Rennekamp, associate dean and new director of Ohio State University Extension, addressed the women in the afternoon with a clear message: Communicate about agriculture.

Dont be bashful. Talk about the work you do, said Rennekamp.

Everyone has the responsibility to talk about the role of agriculture in our world, he added.

Talk about the healthy foods you create, he said.

The Extension service is unique, he added, because it touches the food system from one end to another and its purpose is to grow and support Ohios food system.

The generations

Sereana Howard Dresbach and her daughter, Megan Dresbach, served as keynote speakers, discussing how to grow confidence, connections and the next generation in agriculture.

The Dresbach family owns WD Farms Inc., a nutrient management firm operating in three states.

Confidence

Megan talked about how her dad let her start driving a tractor at age 12, and she developed self-confidence through that task and other farm responsibilities.

Eventually, she was able to develop her own role in the farm business by her late teens.

She urged the group to develop their confidence level and be strong.

Lets use our backbone to protect agriculture.

Communications

Sereana Dresbach talked about how important communication is in a farming operation, not just for business but between generations.

She said each generation communicates differently, but its necessary to find a way to communicate that everyone understands.

Sereana said every generation has its challenges when it comes to farming and trying to do it together. However, everyone can learn from each other.

Have the facts, be courteous, dont be stubborn and dont be arrogant, Sereana said.

Networking

Sereana and Megan both discussed networking and how important it is to make connections, even though it can be stressful to take the time to attend farm meetings.

Sereana said she has often heard the phrase, when the tractor isnt running, money isnt being made. But more can be lost than just money if meetings arent attended, she added.

Megan agreed, adding the connection made at the meeting might be why the business is able to keep running in the future. Getting off the farm gives farmers the chance to talk about farming, dispel rumors and to correct the facts that might be construed as true, if a farmer isnt there to make their voice heard.

If ag isnt on the table, then its on the menu, said Sereana.

She said that even if agriculture isnt supposed to be discussed at a meeting, its a good idea to go.

Pay it forward

Sereana said she urges all women to invest time in building communication lines  it will help agriculture grow in the end.

She added that it takes confidence to follow dreams and that is something everyone needs to do.

Communication is so important. Have confidence in whatever you do. Have the facts and pay it forward when you can, said Sereana as she talked about the lessons she has tried to instill in her three children.

Finances and livestock

The conference also offered lessons on finance, livestock and lessons for dealing with family issues and time management.

One session called, An Unhappy Couple: Why Business and Personal Finances Should Never Be Together, provided some strategies for effective record keeping.

Women attending the session learned how keeping the finances separate could lessen liability in the event of a lawsuit and can help keep the Internal Revenue Service happy.

The attendees learned that separating the two can promote a professional image, lessen stress during tax season, establish a credit profile for the business and help when transferring or attempting to sell the business.

Income streams

Abbe Turner, of Lucky Penny Creamery, presented the session called, Many Eggs, Many Baskets, and talked about starting her farming enterprise with very little money and suffering through the economic collapse in 2008.

She has built a creamery where she makes goat, sheep and cow cheese with no bank loans. She has used investors and grants to develop her business over the years. She has also used private fundraising internet sites.

Turner explained that she couldnt purchase the brand new equipment she wanted many times but she found a way to purchase equipment such as her vat where she makes her cheese.

Sometimes the joy and gifts are in the journey, said Turner.

There was no doubt, the conference was deemed a success. Emily Adams, Ohio State University Extension educator and one of the conference organizers, said they are already working on next years event.
Shropshire

A Full-Time position is available for an assistant herdsperson on a family dairy farm in mid Shropshire. We have a 250 dairy herd rearing own replacements together with a b...
January exports of U.S. beef and pork were modestly higher than a year ago, but export value slipped for both products, according to data released by USDA and compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF).

Beef exports increased 3 percent from a year ago to 82,301 metric tons (mt), but value was down 13 percent to $438.1 million. Exports to most Asian markets, which were impacted early last year by the West Coast port labor impasse, increased in January, but these gains were largely offset by lower volumes shipped to Western Hemisphere markets and the Middle East. January exports accounted for 12 percent of total beef production and 9 percent for muscle cuts only (steady with January 2015). Export value per head of fed slaughter was $239.88, down 11 percent from a year ago.

Pork exports increased 4 percent from a year ago to 167,010 mt, but value fell 11 percent to $404.7 million. Exports to China were up significantly from last years low volumes, reflecting recent reinstatement of several U.S. plants and continued strong demand for imported pork in China. Volumes also increased for Central and South America, the Caribbean and Oceania. January exports accounted for 22 percent of total pork production and 19 percent for muscle cuts only (up from 21 and 17 percent respectively last year). Export value per head slaughtered was $41.53, down 11 percent from a year ago.

Beef exports shows signs of rebound in Japan; Korea, Taiwan remain strong

Beef exports to Japan were the largest in six months at 16,762 mt, up 21 percent from a year ago, while export value edged 2 percent higher to $93.2 million. Exports to South Korea and Taiwan, which were bright spots for U.S. beef in 2015, were also above year-ago levels. Korea took 11,263 mt (+59 percent) valued at $67.2 million (+17 percent). Export volume to Taiwan was 2,890 mt (+35 percent) valued at $24.1 million (+3 percent). Led by a strong month in the Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia, exports to the ASEAN region increased 71 percent in volume (1,638 mt) and 9 percent in value ($9.7 million). Exports to Hong Kong were up 19 percent (10,254 mt), although value declined by 16 percent ($58.4 million).

Although it is encouraging to see beef exports to the Asian markets performing above year-ago levels, these results are a reminder of how disruptive the West Coast situation was for our industry, said USMEF President and CEO Philip Seng. While we still face a tariff gap in Japan compared to Australian beef, Australias recent slowdown in production presents an opportunity to reclaim market share  an opportunity the U.S. industry is pursuing very aggressively. U.S. beef is also capitalizing on the tight domestic supplies in Korea, making strides in both the retail and foodservice sectors.

Beef exports to Mexico were severely challenged in recent months by the weakening peso, and January exports were the lowest since May 2013 at 15,247 mt (-25 percent). Export value dropped 35 percent to $68.8 million. Exports were also significantly lower to Canada (9,144 mt, -11 percent, valued at $54.8 million, -26 percent) and Egypt (volume down 11 percent to 7,367 mt, value down 23 percent to $9.9 million). Central and South America were the bright spots in the Western Hemisphere, driven by growth to Chile (913 mt, +30 percent) and Guatemala (404 mt, +13 percent).

Pork highlights include China, Honduras, Dominican Republic

U.S. pork exports to China/Hong Kong maintained the stronger pace established in October, with January volume up 84 percent from a year ago to 32,609 mt and value increasing 50 percent to $64.2 million. Import data for China and Hong Kong show January was another record-breaking month, with combined volume from all suppliers reaching 224,077 mt, up 29 percent from last year.

Having more pork plants and more product eligible for China is absolutely critical, Seng explained. Last year China, Korea and Mexico were the major destinations with an increased need for imported pork. The U.S. industry capitalized on two of those situations, but the EU reaped most of the benefits in China. Its important that U.S. pork competes more vigorously in China in 2016.

Led by strong exports to Honduras and Guatemala, January pork exports to Central and South America increased 6 percent from a year ago in volume (8,970 mt) but fell 13 percent in value ($20.9 million). Exports to Honduras performed especially well, reaching 1,966 mt (+73 percent) valued at $3.5 million (+35 percent). This helped offset lower exports to Colombia.

Following a record year in 2015, pork exports to the Dominican Republic continued to shine in January, increasing 51 percent in volume (2,210 mt) and 26 percent in value ($4.5 million).

The recent rebound continued for pork exports to Oceania, with volumes to both Australia and New Zealand up sharply from the low totals posted in January 2015. Exports to the region more than doubled in volume (5,764 mt, +105 percent) and increased 36 percent in value to $15.2 million.

January exports slowed to leading markets Mexico and Japan. Following a record month in December and the fourth consecutive record year for Mexico, January volume was down 7 percent to 55,042 mt, while value fell 24 percent to $85.8 million. In leading value destination Japan, volume was down 14 percent to 29,835 mt and value declined 13 percent to $113.5 million.

Pork exports to Korea performed very well in 2015, but slowed in the second half. That trend continued in January, as exports fell 20 percent in volume (12,192 mt) and 41 percent in value ($30.5 million).

Source: USMEF
"We're less than one per cent (in the international grains market) so why would they bring a chemical into here when they're not going to make any money," he said.
Image courtesy of the ICIJIts not illegal for most people to own anonymous companies. Walt Disney used them to buy land near Orlando for Disney World. He didnt want prices to go crazy with news Mickey Mouse was coming to town.

But using shell companies to steal national assets, hide money and property from creditors and spouses, avoid paying taxes, and launder money is a crime. And it can be a conflict of interest and breach of their oath of office for national leaders and politicians to use anonymous offshore companies to keep business deals secret.

Sunday night, the Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists started publishing the Panama Papers  more than 10 million records from the Mossack Fonseca law firm, naming more than 200,000 anonymous offshore companies the firm formed for clients around the globe.

The alleged leaker, reports said, didnt ask for compensation, only security measures to protect his or her identity.

Who benefits from publication of the Panama Papers? Lets take a look.

Opposition politicians When Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko took office in 2014, he promised to sell his huge candy business to avoid any conflicts of interest. The Panama Papers appear to show that Poroshenko instead set up an anonymous BVI company to hold the business. The move could have saved him millions of dollars in Ukraine taxes. Prosecutors are investigating the arrangement and opposition politicians are calling for Poroshenkos removal from office.

In Iceland, the prime minister had to resign. Sigmundur Davi Gunnlaugsson was facing a no confidence vote in parliament from opposition parties. The Panama Papers appear to show that he and his wife held millions of dollars in debts in collapsed Icelandic banks through an anonymous offshore company. As prime minister, Gunnlaugsson also had a hand in helping the banks settle their debts. No imagination is needed to see the conflict of interest.

People Power Protesters Outside parliament in Icelands capital, Reykjavik, up to 10,000 protesters demanded Gunnlaugssons removal. It worked. Will protests break out in China, Russia, Argentina, and other countries whose leaders are implicated by the Panama Papers?

Creditors who believe they were cheated When individuals and companies  and even countries  have too much debt, they declare bankruptcy or try to renegotiate with creditors. Part of the process is disclosing all of their assets. Did some clients of Mossack Fonseca use anonymous offshore companies to hide assets from courts and creditors?

A Greek politician, Stavros Papastavrou, who also served as an aide to the countrys former prime minister Antonis Samaras, is named in the Panama Papers. Papastavrou became Greeces chief negotiator with the European Union, the International Monetary Fund, and the European Central Bank for the Greek bailout. The Panama Papers show he sat on the boards of two Panama foundations and served as deputy chairman of another. He said he wasnt compensated for his roles in the foundations and didnt hold any ownership interest in them.

Tax collectors Authorities in Australia are investigating 800 citizens named in the Panama Papers who may have used anonymous offshore companies to evade Aussie taxes.

In Canada, Revenue Minister Diane Lebouthillier told the Canada Revenue Agency to scour the Panama Papers and use the information there to chase tax cheats.

Other countries that have started tax investigations based on the Panama Papers include France, New Zealand, Austria, Sweden, and the Netherlands.

Former business partners and divorced spouses The Panama Papers are massive  2.6 terabytes of documents covering nearly 40 years of records, with information about more than 210,000 companies in 21 offshore jurisdictions. Will some of the people named in the documents have been involved in contentious business splits or marital divorces (or both)? Probably. Might some of them have used an anonymous offshore company to hide assets from a former business partner or spouse? It happens.

Anti-Bribery Prosecutors Overseas graft of the type outlawed by the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the UK Bribery Act, and similar laws always happens in secret. Its tough for police and prosecutors to find and gather evidence of wrongdoing. The paper and money trails wind through multiple jurisdictions, some of which have nearly impenetrable secrecy laws and practices. The Panama Papers are sure to contain leads that will help those fighting graft overseas and in their own countries.

Will some former FCPA defendants be caught up in new troubles?

Last year, Australia-based BHP Billiton paid the U.S. SEC $25 million to settle charges it violated the FCPA when it sponsored foreign government officials as guests at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. The Panama Papers reportedly showed links from BHP Billiton to at least 19 companies registered in BVI. Mossack Fonseca flagged two of the companies as high risk because of big money transfers. Did the SEC know about those companies and transfers when it reached the FCPA settlement with BHP Billiton?

Transparency advocates In mid 2015, 107 groups urged the World Bank to end corporate anonymity in public procurement. Among the groups were Transparency International-USA, Transparency International, Global Witness, the Open Contracting Partnership, Oxfam, and Save the Children.

The Panama Papers show that the groups were right  not all anonymous offshore companies are used for innocent reasons.

Shruti Shah of TI-USA said Monday it shouldnt be so easy for money launderers, drug traffickers and other criminals from around the world including corrupt public officials, to be able to access the global financial system with such ease using anonymous companies and hide their true identities. This veil has to be lifted.

_____

Richard L. Cassin is the publisher and editor of the FCPA Blog. He can be contacted here.
It's not often we get a chance to have our time over, but I got exactly that with the re-release of my first trilogy, The Dark Side. Re-vamping the series was an opportunity to sharpen up the characters, add a few more scenes - spicy ones, naturally - and to round out the whole thing with a brand new epilogue. There are no fundamental plot twists or alterations, I loved the story as it was and didn't want to make major changes. But I seized the chance to turn up the heat more and allow the personalities of both Nathan and Eva to bloom.

Darkening

The Dark Side has always been one of my favourite stories, and one of the most popular with readers. Eva Byrne is a sassy, bright heroine, who has no idea what she wants out of life but recognises it when she sees it. In contrast, Nathan Darke is a brooding alpha hero with a seriously soft centre. He's quite certain of what he wants - out of life and out of his latest submissive - and he sees the potential in Eva, though not without a bit of moulding to shape, naturally. The two find themselves on a sensuous journey of discovery. What's not to love?

Nathan Darke was the first Dom I created and he embodies all my fondest imaginings and more besides. He's clever, successful, wealthy but not in the millionaire bracket, and a doting father to his small daughter. I never wanted him to have everything his own way though, so he meets his match in Eva Byrne, the socially inept violinist with an off-the-scale IQ. At first these two seem like a miss-matched pair and Eva might just be out of her depth, drawn to Nathan like a moth to a flame. As the story unfolds though her hidden depths start to emerge, and Nathan has his hands full trying to keep up with her. Eva is both fascinated and appalled by Nathan's kinky repertoire in the bedroom - and in some other interesting locations too - but it never occurs to her to say no when he invites her into his world. Her artistic soul soars, the scientist in her is intrigued. Nathan makes her feel things even her fertile imagination could not conjure up, and she's hooked.

The Dark Side is an erotic romance - gritty, realistic, set in the UK. But I like to think it's more than that. Each of the main characters is flawed, they have their demons to contend with and their own battles to fight. But against all the odds they are drawn to each other. There are plenty of twists and turns and surprises on the way as they struggle to find their HEA, but it is out there somewhere. The new epilogue offers a peep in to that, so even for readers who read and enjoyed Nathan and Eva's story the first time around there's something in the re-vamped version to help put the icing on the cake.

Author Bio

USA Today best-selling author Ashe Barker has been an avid reader of fiction for many years, erotic and other genres. She still loves reading, the hotter the better. But now she has a good excuse for her guilty pleasure - research.

Ashe tends to draw on her own experience to lend colour, detail and realism to her plots and characters. An incident here, a chance remark there, a bizarre event or quirky character, any of these can spark a story idea.

Ashe lives in the North of England, on the edge of the Bronte moors. When not writing - which is not very often these days - her time is divided between her role as resident taxi driver for her teenage daughter, and caring for a menagerie of dogs, tortoises. And a very grumpy cockatiel.

At the last count Ashe had over thirty titles on general release with publishers on both sides of the Atlantic, and several more in the pipeline. She writes M/f, M/M, and occasionally rings the changes with a little M/M/f. All Ashe's books feature BDSM. She writes explicit stories, always hot, but offering far more than just sizzling sex. Ashe likes to read about complex characters, and to lose herself in compelling plots, so that's what she writes too.

Ashe has a pile of story ideas still to work through, and keeps thinking of new ones at the most unlikely moments, so you can expect to see a lot more from her.

Ashe loves to hear from readers. You can find her on her blog, and on the Totally Bound site. She's on Facebook, and twitter and now on Tsu as well. She's on Pinterest too, and Goodreads
Stephanie Seymour has been ordered to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings twice a week.

Stephanie Seymour

The 47-year-old supermodel was arrested by police in Greenwich, Connecticut, for driving under the influence when she was seen at a stop sign at an off-ramp on the Interstate 95 highway putting her Range Rover into reverse and struck a Mercedes behind her, she then drove the wrong way up the road.

Seymour appeared at Connecticut Superior Court on Monday (04.04.16) to face charges of driving under the influence, unsafe backing and leaving the scene of an accident.

After offering a sincere apology for her actions, Judge Auden Grogins told her he would drop the charges but that he was ordering her to complete a state alcohol program and attend AA meetings twice a week.

Speaking in front of the judge, Seymour said: "I am incredibly ashamed that I did something that could have come out much worse."

Judge Grogins told her: "This could have turned out a lot worse. Someone could have been seriously hurt or killed, including yourself."

Prosecutor Steve Weiss said the mother-of-four was "severely intoxicated" and "didn't perform well on any of the roadside sobriety tests" when police stopped her.

A date has not yet been set as to when Seymour must begin her state alcohol program and AA meetings.
Alexandra Roach is best-known for her roles in One Chance, The Iron Lady, and TV series No Offence and Hunderby but this week she steps into the big budget blockbuster for the first time with The Huntsman: Winter's War.

Alexandra Roach

Roach takes on the role of dwarf Doreena as she stars alongside Chris Hemsworth, Charlize Theron, Jessica Chastain, Emily Blunt, and works with director Cedric Nicolas-Troyan for the first time.

We caught up with the actress to chat about her role, tackling the blockbuster and CGI elements for the first time, and what lies ahead.

- You are about to return to the big screen with The Huntsman: Winter's War, so can you tell me a bit about the new film?

I play Doreena, one of the female dwarves in The Huntsman: Winter's War and you meet my character when we capture the Huntsman in one of our traps. He tells us that he is looking for this magical mirror and we know where it is. So we take him on this adventure to find the mirror.

- You take on the role of Doreena in the film, so what was it about this character and the script that was the initial appeal?

She is such a lovely character to play. She is a sweet and kind dwarf and that really appealed to me because there is not a bad bone in her body. Also, the scale of the film was a huge drawn for me because I had not been involved with a film project that was as big as this before.

I was interested to see how that world works. The script is also full of powerful and strong female characters; as soon as I read it, I knew that it just felt different and I wanted to be part of it.

- You have slightly touched on my next question. While you are no stranger to the big screen, this is the biggest film of your career and the first time that we have seen you in a blockbuster. How have you found the whole experience?

Yeah. It has been a whirlwind from the first day of shooting. The Huntsman: Winter's War is completely different to anything that I have done from the rehearsals, how things are on set, even the catering (laughs), and the makeup and the prosthetics. Everything is just so detailed that it really makes you up your game as an actor because everything is so thought about and detailed that you can't just wing it (laughs).

- Doreena is a dwarf in the film so what was it like adjusting to the physicality of the role. I believe that you worked with Peter Elliott before you started filming?

Yes, we worked with Peter quite intensely actually for about four weeks before we started shooting. It was really full on. We had to change out physicality completely to look smaller on screen and to create this character - Peter really helped us all find this character.

We had weeks and weeks of rehearsals and we worked on how they would walk, how they would pick up things, how they would jump over things. By the time that we got on set, we had done that much work that the physicality was something that we just didn't think about.

- What about the 4am make-up call?

Yes, every day was 4am. Gosh, that was hard sometimes I have got to be honest. Because the make-up was so... when I watch it, it doesn't look like me at all and it is so different to any look that I have done before (laughs). That took about three hours and then an hour in hair to achieve. It was different and I listened to a lot of podcasts and classical music in order to relax.

- How did you find the CGI side of working on this movie? How much CGI work had you done in the past?

I hadn't done any work with CGI before. When the green screen was wheeled on set, they just expected me to know what I was doing and I had to pull the director aside and say, 'can you give me a hand because I have never done this before.' It was a learning on the job sort of process. Nick had done it all before - all of my scenes were with him - so he showed me how to do everything.

- Your character has a very lovely relationship with Nick's character in this middle of this huge film.

The story itself is quite dark and action-packed and then that is contrasted with my journey throughout the film, which is a very sweet and touching story of falling in love with Nick's character. They have a very lovely, cute and rather naive relationship that does really contrast with what is going on in the other aspect of the film.

- Nick Frost, Sheridan Smith, and Rob Brydon play dwarves alongside you and you are very much the comic relief in the film. How did you find working with them - there looks like there is a real camaraderie between you all?

There really was. From the first day that we were all at this dwarf school together, we really hit it off. They are so funny and that didn't stop throughout the whole of the filming. We would arrive in make-up at 4am and Rob would be doing his impressions, cracking jokes, and taking the mickey out of Sheridan and myself; he would take the mick out anyone. That was the dynamic that we had as a group really and that really does come across on screen.

- Cedric Nicolas-Troyan is in the director's chair for the film - in which he makes his feature film directorial debut. How did you find working with him? And what kind of director was he?

He is a very visual, calm and freeing director. He is French. He just lives in the moment and if we were not feeling something... he was very approachable and lovely to work with. He was very visual and the first time that I went to the studio, he took me into his room, which was filled with pictures that he had imagined and drawn out. He had every detail in his mind. It really did up my game being directed by him. It was a huge learning curve.

- As I mentioned earlier, yourself, Nick, Sheridan, and Rob provide much of the comedy, so how much did the director allow improv during the shoot?

He was really into that, which was great. You can't veer away from the main story too much. So we would shoot the first take as was written in the script and as we had learnt it, and then the second take would be more improvised and ad-lib. He would take some bits from that and some moments have made the final cut. He really did give us the freedom to do that in, which is great.

- How much do you like improvising as an actor?

Yeah, I love it. It scares some people but I really do like being that scared sometimes. I like the idea of not really knowing what is going to happen. I love it but I know that some actors are not that keen (laughs).

- This is your first blockbuster and the first time you have tackled CGI, so what did you think of the film when you saw it for the first time?

I watched it a few weeks back and I was so impressed. I felt quite removed from watching it because I don't look at all like me in the film. The first time I didn't mind watching it. I just got lost in the story because there is so much going on and I think it is a really exciting film. I am just really proud to have been a part of it.

- Finally, what's next for you going through the rest of this year?

I am going up to Manchester now to shoot the second series of No Offence for Channel 4. So that is the project that I am concentrating on at the minute.

The Huntsman: Winter's War is out now.

by Helen Earnshaw for www.femalefirst.co.uk

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Sally Phillips hosted the Towergate Care Awards last month, an awards ceremony that recognises the work that all of the carers in our community do.

Sally Phillips

This is a subject that is close to Sally's heart and we caught up with her to chat about the awards and the movies that she has on the horizon this year.

- You hosted the Towergate Care Awards 10th March, so can you tell me a bit about them and how you got involved?

It was the first year of the Awards - and the first awards in the care industry to have such a broad spread of categories, from home care workers, to educationalists, from GP practice managers to volunteers. I think we forget that without carers many of us would not be able to work, or go on holiday, or even go out at night. We'd be at home looking after children, or parents and other relatives and friends.

As a society and particularly as women, we've never been more reliant for our freedoms on the care industry and yet we reward them so badly financially. We expect so much for so little most of the time from these wonderful people that it was really great to be able to celebrate them and what they do. The thing about really brilliant care workers is that they don't expect praise for it. This was the literal opposite of the Oscars - the unflashy people with big hearts doing the really important stuff behind the scenes.

I have a child with additional needs so, I stay quite alert to the position of disabled and vulnerable people in the UK. At times, I wish I didn't as although our language about disabled people has improved our treatment of them is far from ok. Living conditions are fantastically tough at the moment and getting worse, disability hate crime is on the rise and cuts have hit the disabled community six times harder than any other group. In the UK, we compare badly with other European nations in our treatment of the disabled and are currently under investigation by the U.N. for human rights abuses towards them.

Of course, it's not just the disabled who need care - all of us do at different points in our lives and we all know what it's like to be ill and treated as a 'problem' rather than a person. so for all kinds of reasons, I think these awards were a thoroughly good thing and I was proud to be involved.

- How does good care impact on the quality of someone's life?

Your home care worker might be the only person you see all day - if they do their job well they will remain with you for fifteen minutes. The difference between a good care worker and an uncommitted care worker in that kind of time slot is immense - our winners in these categories were astounding - for example a young woman who had bothered to learn multiple languages so she could communicate with the people in her care.

Your carer might be the practice manager at your GP's surgery who spots an oversight in the paperwork and makes sure you are referred for tests you need, who knows your name or family history - it might be the nursery nurse at your child's pre-school, they might be like our Unsung Hero, the person who, on his Wedding Anniversary skipped dinner with his wife to visit a dying man in a Care Home he didn't work in because that man had once told him he was afraid of dying alone.

I don't think it's possible to overstate the difference good carers make to individual lives every day or how important they may be to you personally.

- Away from the awards, you returned to the big screen in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies as Mrs. Bennet earlier this year. So how did you get involved with the film? What was it about the character and the script that was the major appeal?

I was sold on the title, to be honest. Call me shallow. It made me hoot. Imagine my delight when I discovered that there's also an Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Slayer and Jane Eyre and the Sea Monster. And of course, everyone loves Mrs. Bennet. I had five of the most beautiful and adorable actresses as children.

You'll know Lily James and Bella Heathcote already and Suki Waterhouse too but watch out for the hilarious Millie Brady (how many hilarious comic actresses also model for Miuccia Prada?) and starlet Ellie Bamber currently filming with Amy Adams and Isla Fisher in Jake Gyllenhaal's new film.

- Mrs. Bennet is one of Jane Austen's most famous characters how exciting was it to get to play her in a film that is not your average period drama? It feels like you did have more freedom with her?

I don't think I'd have been allowed near Mrs. Bennet if there hadn't been zombies involved so I was grateful to them for the break. Though of course there's less room for Mrs. Bennet when you're clearing out half the plot and replacing it with zombie war. So, you know, you win you lose.

- The movie was written and directed by Burr Steers, so how did you find working with him for the first time?

I was initially slightly over-awed as I was a big fan of 'Igby Goes Down' and also, slightly more tragically ' Weeds', which Burr directed a lot of - but I got over it (no offence, Burr). We had a real laugh together. He's very laconic and understated which I love.

- Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is a movie that is a lot of fun but how was it to shoot? The cast do seem to have had a blast?

We did. Impossible not to love being around those girls. I'm crazy for my own children, obviously but if I could choose daughters I'd choose those five, no question. It feels like the Bennets became a real family and the girls all still call me Mum which I love.

- We are also going to be seeing you return to the role of Shazza in Bridget Jones's Baby, so what was it like reprising that role once again? Can you give us any hints about your character in the film?

Well, it's fifteen years since the first film so it was great to catch up with that world again and find out what has happened to everyone. I have over the years wondered what might've happened to Shaz and hoped it was something happy - you'll have to wait and see. The only thing I can reveal is that Shaz has perhaps aged slightly worse than the other friends, dammit.

- Bridget Jones's Baby was a movie that has been in the pipeline for quite some time. Was there a point when you thought it wouldn't get made? How thrilled were you to get the chance to go back?

We were all booked in 2011 and then it went silent. I was actually relieved as I was pregnant and we were due to start filming on my due date. I had got to the point where I thought it would never happen, especially after Helen's third book came out.

In the event, I only had about three weeks' notice. I was beyond thrilled because it meant that I no longer had to justify to agent or children my decision not to go into the wild with Bear Grylls and drink my own urine.

- During your career, we have seen you juggle writing with acting but do the director's chair hold any interest for you?

Not really! I have a great visual sense but terrible spatial awareness and I hate responsibility. Occasionally I wonder if I'm being pointlessly chicken and should just get over it. When it's the choice between plastic surgery and directing, directing is probably the more appealing option. Let's see.

- Over the last twelve months or so we have seen a whole host of actresses really voice their opinion on the lack of good movie roles for women. While 2015 has been a great year for female-driven movies, where do you stand on this argument?

It's still very hard to get a film financed with a female lead or female director. If you have a female lead in your script and cast that role first it's very hard to attach an A or even B list, male co-star. And you've heard about the pay. I think we've got a long way to go convincing the financiers, who are essentially gamblers, that women can lead movies and direct them.

A long way to go with anyone who is a non-white male in any position of influence. I'd like to see more parts for disabled actors. I hope that 'spazzing up' in a movie will be as offensive to our children as 'blacking up' is to us.

- Finally, what's next for you?

I'm working on a documentary about Down Syndrome screening and writing a sitcom for C4 starring disabled actors and a film about smuggling that doesn't.

I've got a few dates at the Edinburgh Festival with a brilliant playwright and comedienne called Lily Bevan so am looking forward to that. Everything else - who knows? An actor's life!

Sally Phillips hosted the 2016 Towergate Care Awards, which recognised and rewarded those people who go above and beyond in the care industry. For more info see towergateinsurance/care-awards

by Helen Earnshaw for www.femalefirst.co.uk

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Global e-commerce major Amazon has been testing the water for some time now to position itself as a big player in the ready-to-wear fashion world.

Its recent steps signal that Amazon is speeding up its foray into fashion, according to an AFP report.

Amazon launched a daily, free half-hour online show on fashion in early March, its first-ever live-streaming programme.

Global e-commerce major Amazon has been testing the water for some time now to position itself as a big player in the ready-to-wear fashion world.Its #

It also became the main partner of the fledgling New York Men's Fashion Week, which held its second season of shows in January.

Amazon has also begun airing "The Fashion Fund," a reality show during which young designers face off against each other in a competition sponsored by the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) that organizes New York Fashion Week.

As for its more muted moves -- these are visible on Amazon.com where new fashion labels have popped up that have been trademarked by the tech giant.

The labels Lark & Ro, North Eleven and Franklin Tailored have been registered by Amazon over the past few months.

After focusing on clothes designed, made and sold by others, Amazon is developing its own clothing lines.

But Amazon has declined to comment on its fashion foray.

"I'm happy to reach out once we are ready to share news and overall strategy regarding our business," said a spokeswoman for Amazon Fashion.

"Amazon has made apparel a priority," analysts with KeyBanc Capital Markets wrote in a February research note after attending the MAGIC apparel trade show in Las Vegas.

"Amazon is being viewed as a strategic opportunity and partner" in the vendor community they wrote, with some believing that "it can be a top three customer for them in the medium-term."

Customers appear to like what's in the works.

"There's... the ability to have the world at your fingertips in one place," said Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst at the NPD Group.

"Brand sites or traditional retail sites have limited offerings. Whereas when you look at Amazon, the offer of products is mind boggling," he added.

"The ability to reach across so many brands, so many styles, so many sizes, so many options, it gives a feeling of much greater opportunity to secure the product that you want."

According to Cohen, Amazon has the potential to make a significant mark on the fashion world.

"There's plenty of opportunity to better what has been done by the fashion industry, from a basic, and also midlevel and even from a designer perspective," he said.

Analysts at the Cowen Group said in July that they expected Amazon to become the leading US apparel retailer by 2017, ahead of Wal-Mart and Macy's.

They forecast $27.7 billion in revenue next year and $52 billion in 2020 -- and that in the US alone. (SH)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
The closure of 145 cotton textile and garment (CTG) units over the past two decades has shaken up the Nigerian government which now wants to stem the rot to save the remaining 30 companies now in operation, the country s newspapers have reported.Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Hajia Aisha Abubakar, has said that her ministry has received a directive from President Muhammadu Buhari to revive the CTG sector.

The closure of 145 cotton, textile and garment (CTG) units over the past two decades has shaken up the Nigerian government which now wants to stem the#

The CTG sector, which used to be highest employer of labour next to government, with over 175 mills at its peak in the 1980s, is now a shadow with barely 30 companies operating presently, Mrs. Abubakar said at a meeting with members of the National Committee for the Implementation of the Cotton, Textile and Garment Policy in her office in Abuja.She said there is a need to identify short, medium and long term programmes to arrest the slide and spur the growth of the CTG sector.She said President Muhammadu Buhari was passionate about the revival of the cotton, textile and garment sector following its huge potential for job creation across its value chain.The main thrust of the policy is to reposition the CTG sector as the second largest employer of labour and a revenue earner for the government.According to the policy document, the economy will witness savings of $2 billion in foreign exchange now being spent on textiles and garments imports.It also aims to double direct employment in the sector 50,000 people in 2015 to 100,000 by 2017. (SH)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
Sanjay Leela Bhansali recently hosted a grand party for his friends to celebrate his National Aawrd win but Deepika Padukone did not attend the party despite being in Mumbai. Now, it has been revealed that the two are not upset with each other, infact Deepika met Sanjay before the party.

Talking about Deepika Padukona and Sanjay Leela Bhansali, a source told HT, ''Deepika was one of the first people to congratulate Bhansali for the National Award. She is really happy for him.''



He added, ''She had returned from Sri Lanka on the same day, and was in India only for a few hours before she flew off to Toronto, Canada, where she is shooting for her maiden Hollywood film. However, she still found the time to meet the filmmaker. They spent over an hour together."

Sridevi's Daughter Jhanvi Kapoor To Debut With Karan Johar's SOTY 2, Also See Her Gorgeous Pictures

The source said, ''"After working together on two successful films - Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela (2013) and Bajirao Mastani - they have developed a good bond. Bhansali has always been fond of Deepika and has also been appreciative of her work. Whether there will be an announcement from them sometime soon, only time will tell.''

Many stories came out, when deepika Padukone missed Sanjay Leela Bhansali's bash. One of the reports said that she was upset because she did not win the National Award and her rival Kangana Ranaut won it.

But now we know that Deepika could not attend the party because of her busy schedule and all is fine between Deepika and the Bajirao Mastani director.
Pratyusha Banerjee's suicide case has become a debate in the showbiz. While many television as well as Bollywood actors are shocked over the talented actress' death, here is an actress who calls suicide 'Senseless' and media 'hungry'.

Bollywood actress took to Twitter, "All these senseless suicides which achieve nothg! Life is God's gift for us to live not for us to take at will. We have no right to do that."

Click On 'View Photos' To Check Out Bollywood & TV Actors Tweets On Pratyusha's Death



The actress further tweeted, "One must learn to overcome all odds & emerge successful,not succumb under pressure & give up easily.The world admires a fighter not a loser.

Well, looks like Hema Malini is annoyed with the television actress' suicide and the controversies involving it, that is being widely discussed in the media. The Dream Girl's another tweet said, "Just becomes food for the hungry media who chew on news like celebrity suicides until the next sensational news happens.Thn it is forgotten."

Although in a way, we agree with her tweets, it is not right to call the suicide senseless as it is a 'sensitive issue' among the youngsters. Well, does anyone know what the person, who committed suicide, has been going through?

Although the post-mortem report says it is a clear case of suicide, there has been lot more to the story. Her friends have been narrating a different story, a few of them even believe that Pratyusha was a strong girl, and a foul play is involved in it. What if her friends were right?

Also, Pratyusha's boyfriend Rahul Raj Singh's suspicious behaviour in the hospital, on his girlfriend's death day and his relationships with ex-girlfriend Saloni Sharma has created a lot of speculations. Moreover, it is also said that Rahul had hidden his previous marriage from Pratyusha.

Also Watch: Hema Malini calls Pratyusha Banerjee's death a senseless suicide

Of course, we are not saying Pratyusha did a right thing by committing suicide. Suicide is not a solution for any problem in the world, but now that she is gone, tells us, if Rahul or Saloni is guilty (they were the reason for Pratyusha's death), how can Pratyusha's close friends or family let them free?

Hit the comment box and share your views 'Do you agree with Hema Malini'?
Lots have been said and reported about Balika Vadhu and ex-Bigg Boss contestant Pratyusha Banerjee's death. The actress committed suicide on April 1st, by hanging herself to a ceiling fan in her residence.

The prayer meet was held today (5th April) at a Gurudwara in Mumbai, which was attended by her mother father, Vikas Gupta, Deepshikha, Kamya Punjabi, Aly Goni, Priya Malik, Anuj Sachdeva, Sangram Singh, Rohit Verma and many others.

Click On 'View Photos' To Check Out Pictures Of TV Celebs At Pratyusha's Prayer Meet



Pratyusha's parents were inconsolable. Vikas was seen consoling Pratyusha's mother, who said said that Rahul Raj Singh should be punished.

Pratyusha's boyfriend Rahul Raj Singh, had admitted her to the Kokilaben hospital, where she was announced dead. He was absconding from the scene initially, but later had to report to the police, who questioned him about his girlfriend's death.

Rahul was also admitted to the hospital after he complained of chest pain. He was kept in ICU. He has been shifter to general ward but is still under mental pressure. The actor-producer's father also had said that Rahul kept saying, 'Pratyusha is calling him'!

Since a few of celebrities are taking undue advantage of the situation, claiming they are the actress' friends, the close friends of hers, who are ready to give statements to the police, pledge to remain silent after the prayer meet.

We just hope Pratyusha gets justice!
Hong Kong-based AMTD Group, which is backed by China Minsheng Investment, LR Capital, and Morgan Stanley, is planning to list its corporate insurance brokerage arm next year to help fund acquisitions and pave the way for a possible group listing.

The insurance unit provides advice on property damage insurance, motor vehicle insurance, and employee insurance to large corporations, including Li Ka-shings CK Hutchison, which accounted for half of its revenue last year.

According to a document obtained by FinanceAsia, the gross earnings of the insurance unit were about HK$38 million ($4.9 million) in 2015, when revenue totaled HK$47 million.

For 13-year-old AMTD, which started out as an independent financial advisor, the planned stock market flotation of its insurance arm next year could bolster its war chest for acquisitions elsewhere in the region and in developed markets too. In addition to its insurance and retail-focused IFA businesses, the group has asset management and investment banking operations, its largest by revenue.

In an interview with FinanceAsia, AMTD chairman Calvin Choi, who took the helm in February, said a public offering would help him try to consolidate the insurance broking industry in Hong Kong, where there is a mix of international players and local ones backed by the citys property firms.

If successful, a listing of AMTD's insurance broking unit could be the first of its kind in Hong Kong.

Debt funding

To help raise the firm's profile among investors, Choi led AMTD's first dollar-denominated bond offering just a month after he joined, raising $110 million through the sale of three-year unrated paper.

But brand-building aside, the company is likely to have to raise more funds in the future anyway, given its lack of deposit funding and bank loans.

AMTD will increasingly need to tap the [US dollar] wholesale funding market for future growth, William Mak, a credit analyst at Nomura, said in a March 18 note.

It would have been helpful if CK Hutchison (or Mr Li Ka Shing) still owned a majority stake, but that has been reduced to only 4.4% now and it looks likely that Mr Li will further reduce his stake in AMTD over time, Mak said.

Choi did not reveal his valuation of the group's insurance business nor the amount he planned to raise, citing legal concerns, but he said he will officially mandate investment banks to work on the initial public offering in the next two to three months.

The net profit at the insurance unit could exceed HK$100 million ($13 million) at the time when conducting an IPO next year, Choi, a former UBS banker, said.

Greater ambition

In an effort to ramp up its insurance business, AMTD said in January that it had entered into strategic co-operation agreements with KEB Hana of Korea and Yango Holdings, a Fujian-based financial services-to-education conglomerate, to work on the restructuring of Sirius, a re-insurer bought last year by China Minsheng Investment for $2.24 billion.

AMTD has teamed up with China Minsheng Investment, a private equity firm backed by some of the countrys most well-known private enterprises, to tempt investors with what it argues will provide a springboard for the overseas expansion of Chinas private sector.

Our aim is to provide a one-stop solution to our clients, Choi said, adding that we provide insurance broking services, fundraising, and M&A advisory expertise

Choi spent more than six and a half years as a managing director at UBSs investment banking and wealth management unit. According to Choi, he secured $1 billion-worth of orders for China Everbright Banks $3 billion 2013 listing in Hong Kong, making him one of the top bankers at the Swiss bank. Before that he was an executive director at Citis investment banking division.

To beef up its deal-sourcing capacity, AMTD hired Cliff Ip from JP Morgan and Emily Shi from UBS to help run its investment banking business. Ip and Shi joined the company in April and February, according to their Linkedin profiles. The duo are both managing directors and co-heads of investment banking at the firm.

Some of that effort already appears to be paying off. AMTD was the joint global coordinator on Bank of Tianjin's March 2016 IPO, raising $949 million for the Chinese lender. It was also a joint global coordinator in Bank of Qingdao's $604 million IPO in November last year.

AMTD also wooed William Fung, a former UBS debt syndicate banker, and Mark Lo, a former fund manager at PineBridge Investment, to help run its investment arm.

To compete more effectively with the bulge-bracket banks, AMTD is working closely with its two new shareholders, China Minsheng Investment and LR Capital, to improve its network of connections with Chinas burgeoning private sector and to eke out new business opportunities.

If all goes according to plan, AMTD's insurance business IPO could just be a forerunner for the wider group.

The growth of China's private sector is impressive, even though the overall economy slows," Choi said. "The strong momentum in the private sector could lead AMTD group to decide [on] a listing [too] after the IPO of our insurance unit."

Canada-based private equity firm LR Capital and China Minsheng Investment collectively acquired a 70% stake of AMTD in September last year, while Morgan Stanley and Li Ka-shings CK Hutchison own 10% and 4.4% respectively.

LR Capital is a low-key family office, but it has invested in extensively in China and Hong Kong stock markets. The firm invested $250 million as a cornerstone investor in GF Securities $3.6 billion Hong Kong IPO in March last year.

Founded in May 2014, China Minsheng Investment is headquartered in Shanghai and was formed by 59 private enterprises, according to its website. The private equity firm has Rmb$50 billion in registered capital and was founded by a former president of China Minsheng Bank, the countrys first non-state-owned lender. Hong Kong-listed property developer Yida and Shi Yuzhu, billionaire founder of online gaming company Giant Interactive, are among its investors.

China Minsheng Investments stake in AMTD gives the Hong Kong company greater access to the countrys growing number of Chinese billionaires. According to a Hurun "China Rich List" report, there were 354 billionaires in China in 2014, compared from only three a decade ago.
Credit Suisse does not help its wealthy clients to dodge paying taxes, chief executive officer Tidjane Thiam said on Tuesday, in the wake of suggestions made in leaked Panamanian documents that the Swiss bank has participated in widespread evasion.

Speaking to journalists in Hong Kong on the sidelines of a conference, Thiam also said that there would be no let-up in Credit Suisse's aggressive pursuit of Asias bulging billionaire ranks, whom he likened to present-day Rockefellers and Carnegies.

Documents held by Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca were passed to German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung and then shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. Dubbed the Panama Papers, the ICIJ said the documents show how banks including Credit Suisse used the services of Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca to help billionaires and the poltically connected to hide money offshore from the tax authorities.

Although the 11 million documents are still being analysed, they have already revealed the existence of offshore companies linked to the families of many global leaders, including current Chinese President Xi Jinping.

We do not condone structures for tax avoidance or any type of non-transparent activity, Thiam said in response to a question about the documents. Mossack Fonseca has also denied any wrongdoing.

Since the global financial crisis Credit Suisse has redefined itself primarily as a private bank with investment banking capabilities focused on Switzerland and emerging markets.

It has rapidly grown its assets under management in Asia Pacific. In 2015 Credit Suisse saw record inflows of core net new assets in the region of CHF17.8 billion (US$18.56 billion).

Compliance

Thiam insisted that that growth has been lawful. We are very insistent on tax compliance  every customer has to certify to us that they are tax compliant, Thiam said, speaking at a small media briefing on the sidelines of the annual Credit Suisse Asian Investment Conference.

When there is a structure involving a third-party beneficiary, we insist upon knowing the identity of the third party, he said.

He said that the bank only wants to manage tax-compliant assets and has stepped up compliance after paying out fines for breaches and as a result has turned away any money that does not meet its standards.

"Since 2014 we have had a regularisation process underway," he said, "We've taken that pain quarter-after-quarter."

Credit Suisse agreed to pay a fine of $2.5 billion in May 2014 for helping Americans evade taxes.

We only encourage the use of structures when they have a legitimate economic purpose, said Thiam, who last year took the helm of Switzerlands second-largest bank.

Thiam likened the wealth creation happening across emerging markets to the US in the late 1800s when people such as John. D Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, and Cornelius Vanderbilt  so called Captains of Industry or Robber Barons, depending on your view  amassed huge fortunes.

At the early stages in developing economies what is produced is very wealthy entrepreneurs, he said. We want to be the entrepreneurs' bank  they benefit disproportionally.

After the conference Thiam said he would spend five days in China meeting entrepreneurs.

Hong Kong is one of the top-10 most popular tax havens and the top place for intermediaries  banks, law firms etc  to operate, according to the Panama Papers. ICIJ used the country categorisation contained in the leaked internal client database to describe how many intermediaries were in each country.

If you are a wealth manager you want to be where the wealth is being created and wealth is being created on a huge scale in emerging markets, Thiam said.

Top 10 countries where intermediaries operate Source: ICIJ

Hiring plans

Credit Suisse is building business with the regions billionaires by hiring more relationship managers. At the end of 2014, Credit Suisse had about 520 relationship managers and finished 2015 at around 590. Now it is 615 with a few offers in the pipeline, Thiam said.

The firm is targeting 800 relationship managers by 2018.

Credit Suisse is hiring as many other banks are retrenching from the region. Clearly there is a big opportunity in China he said. Weve been underweight in China.

Thiam said that the bank was taking a counter-cyclical approach and taking a long-term view on Chinas economic slowdown.

Its a great time to grow  We want to pick up growth when it is at its cheapest, when everyone is retrenching we have our pick of resources, Thiam said.
FINRA expelled a former Wells Fargo registered rep from the industry on March 30 for allegedly stealing funds from a bank customer account.

Jorge Jose Gonzalez, a branch manager for Wells Fargo in Hackensack, N.J., directed a subordinate to open a bank account for a purported customer who was not physically present at the time, an act that violated bank policy, FINRA claims. He supposedly instructed the employee to record in the bank's computer system that she had met the customer, when in fact she had neither met the customer nor observed Gonzalez meeting him.

Gonzalez then allegedly provided the employee with a $5,668 check to fund the bank account. The check, which was issued by the IRS, was later connected to a fraudulent tax-return filing.

Once the account was established, Gonzalez allegedly withdrew $5,000 without the customer being present at the time of the withdrawal, again breaking bank policy. He personally withdrew the remaining funds from the account about two weeks later, FINRA said.

The chicanery was uncovered when the check that funded the account was returned to the bank unpaid, resulting in a loss to Well Fargo of $5,668. Gonzalez was able to evade scrutiny initially because he approved the new account in his capacity as branch manager, FINRA said.

Gonzalez could not be reached for comment. In his settlement with FINRA, Gonzalez neither admitted nor denied the charges but consented to an entry of the regulator's findings.

During the bank's investigation, Gonzalez claimed that the customer had been present at the bank at the times of the withdrawals. But no one else recalled seeing the customer and the bank's video surveillance tapes did not corroborate Gonzalez's claim, according to FINRA.

Gonzalez worked for Wells Fargo from May 2009 to July 2014, when he was terminated, according to his BrokerCheck report. He had previously been with Wachovia Bank for four years, which was acquired by Wells in the middle of the financial crisis.

Anthony Mattera, a spokesman for Wells Fargo, declined to comment on the matter.

Read More:
Call it a case of broker neglect.

Three former Merrill Lynch advisors have filed a class action lawsuit against their ex-employer, accusing Merrill of having neglected its international advisory business, detrimentally harming advisors' business and clients.

The allegations stem from Merrill's sale of its overseas advisory business to Julius Baer and policy changes the firm made in recent years, according to the lawsuit which was filed in U.S. district court on Friday.

Merrill's moves were effectively a breach of contract and covenant, spurring some advisors to seek employment elsewhere  which in turn forced those departing advisors to repay promissory notes early, and from which Merrill profited unfairly, the plaintiffs allege.

The Miami-based advisors who brought the suit were longtime veterans of the wirehouse. Miguel Sosa started his career at Merrill Lynch in 1982, leaving the firm in January for Global Investor Services, according to FINRA BrokerCheck records. Sosa was also a member of Merrill's Advisory Council to Management from 2002 to 2005, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Graciela Perez began her career at the firm in 1996 while her son, Jorge Perez, had been with the firm since 2003, according to BrokerCheck records and her LinkedIn profile. They parted ways with Merrill last November, leaving to join Boston Global Capital, an independent broker-dealer.

'NOT A PROPER REPLACEMENT'

In 2012, Merrill entered a deal to sell its international advisory business, which included approximately 700 advisors, to Julius Baer. The sale, which closed the following year, included advisors based overseas plus additional staff, but not the roughly 300 based in the U.S., according to court documents.

Although Merrill  not wanting to lose billions in client assets in the U.S.  assured the remaining advisors that they would continue to receive sufficient support and resources, the firm failed to deliver on these promises, according to the plaintiffs.

"After the Julius Baer sale, considerable international expertise left the Merrill Lynch 'back office' and the domestic 'back office' was not a proper replacement," the advisors allege in court documents.

Further policy changes, including some made last summer and Merrill's alleged bid to sell the remaining international unit, adversely affected advisors' businesses and hampered their earnings at the firm as a result, the advisors allege.

"Based upon the various policy changes, many financial advisors were forced to leave Merrill Lynch in order to preserve and service their international business and clientele. Such departing financial advisors were damaged through the loss of business, loss of opportunity, loss of unvested deferred compensation, paying back promissory notes prior to expiration of the term, emotional distress and other harms," the advisors allege in court documents.

The advisors are asking for class action status, saying their suit represents more than 100 affected advisors. Furthermore, they are asking for unspecified damages for breach of contract, unjust enrichment and other misconduct, according to court documents. They're also asking for trial by jury in U.S. district court.

Neither the advisors nor their attorney returned calls seeking comment. A spokeswoman for Merrill declined to comment.

Read more:




Public Relations Department, Eisai Co., Ltd. +81-3-3817-5120

TOKYO, Apr 5, 2016 - (JCN Newswire) - Eisai Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Tokyo, CEO: Haruo Naito, "Eisai") announced today that its European regional headquarters Eisai Europe Ltd. (Location: U.K.) has received a positive opinion from the European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) on anticancer agent Halaven (eribulin mesylate) for treatment of adult patients with unresectable liposarcomas who have received prior anthracycline containing therapy (unless unsuitable) for advanced or metastatic disease. Halaven is the first and only single agent to demonstrate an overall survival (OS) benefit in a Phase III trial in patients with advanced, recurrent or metastatic soft tissue sarcoma (liposarcoma or leiomyosarcoma). Following approval for use in the treatment of metastatic breast cancer in the EU, this marks the second indication for which Halaven has received a positive CHMP opinion based on a statistically significant extension of OS.The CHMP's positive opinion is based on the results from Phase III study (Study 309)(1)comparing the efficacy and safety of Halaven versus dacarbazine in 452 patients (aged 18 or over) with locally advanced or recurrent and metastatic soft tissue sarcoma (liposarcoma or leiomyosarcoma) who had disease progression following standard therapies which must have included an anthracycline and at least one other additional regimen. Halaven demonstrated a statistically significant extension in the study's primary endpoint of OS over the comparator treatment dacarbazin (Halaven median OS: 13.5 months vs dacarbazine median OS: 11.5 months; Hazard Ratio (HR) 0.77 [95% CI=0.62-0.95], p=0.0169). For patients with liposarcoma, Halaven demonstrated a significant improvement in OS over dacarbazine (Halaven, median OS: 15.6 months vs dacarbazine, median OS: 8.4 months; HR 0.51 [95% CI=0.35-0.75]).In this study, the most common treatment-emergent adverse events (incidence greater than or equal to 25%) in patients treated with Halaven were fatigue, neutropenia, nausea, alopecia, constipation, peripheral neuropathy, abdominal pain, and pyrexia, which was consistent with the known side-effect profile of Halaven.Halaven is a halichondrin class microtubule dynamics inhibitor with a distinct binding profile. Recent non-clinical studies showed that Halaven is associated with increased vascular perfusion and permeability in tumor cores.(2)Halaven promotes the epithelial state and decreases the capacity of breast cancer cells to migrate.(3)Halaven is currently approved for use in the treatment of breast cancer in approximately 60 countries including Japan and countries in Europe and the Americas. Halaven was approved in the United States for the treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic liposarcoma who have received a prior anthracycline-containing regimen in January 2016, and was approved in Japan for the treatment of soft tissue sarcoma in February 2016. Halaven has been designated as an orphan drug for soft-tissue sarcoma in the United States and Japan.Soft tissue sarcoma is a collective term for a diverse group of malignant tumors that occur throughout the soft tissue (fat, muscle, nerves, fibrous tissues and blood vessels). Approximately 29,000 patients in Europe are diagnosed with soft tissue sarcoma each year or about 1% of all cancers diagnosed in Europe. Liposarcoma is one of the most common forms of soft tissue sarcoma. As outcomes are poor for patients with advanced disease, it remains a disease with significant unmet medical need.Through obtaining this additional approval, Eisai aims to enhance the clinical value of Halaven to contribute further toward addressing the diverse needs of, and increasing the benefits provided to, patients with cancer, their families, and healthcare providers.Notes to editors(1) About HalavenHalaven is the first in the halichondrin class of microtubule dynamics inhibitors with a novel mechanism of action. Structurally Halaven is a simplified and synthetically produced version of halichondrin B, a natural product isolated from the marine sponge Halichondria okadai. Halaven is believed to work by inhibiting the growth phase of microtubule dynamics which prevents cell division. In addition, recent non-clinical studies showed that Halaven is associated with increased vascular perfusion and permeability in tumor cores.(2)Halaven promotes the epithelial state and decreases the capacity of breast cancer cells to migrate.(3)Halaven was first approved in November 2010 in the United States as a treatment for patients with metastatic breast cancer who have received at least two chemotherapeutic regimens for the treatment of metastatic disease. Prior therapy should have included an anthracycline and a taxane in either the adjuvant or metastatic setting.Halaven is currently approved for use in the treatment of breast cancer in approximately 60 countries worldwide, including Japan and countries in the Europe, Americas and Asia. In Japan, Halaven has been approved to treat inoperable or recurrent breast cancer and was launched in the country in July 2011. Halaven has also been approved in countries in Europe and Asia indicated as a treatment for patients with locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer who have progressed after at least one chemotherapeutic regimen for advanced disease. Prior therapy should have included an anthracycline and a taxane in either the adjuvant or metastatic setting, unless patients were not suitable for these treatments. Regarding soft tissue sarcoma, Halaven was approved in the United States for the treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic liposarcoma who have received a prior anthracycline-containing regimen in January 2016, and was approved in Japan for the treatment of soft tissue sarcoma in February 2016. Applications seeking approval for use in the treatment of soft tissue sarcoma are currently under review in Switzerland, Russia, Australia, Brazil, and Malaysia. Furthermore, Halaven has been designated as an orphan drug for soft-tissue sarcoma in the United States and Japan.(2) About Study 3091Conducted primarily in Europe and the United States, Study 309 was a multicenter, open-label, randomized Phase III study comparing the efficacy and safety of Halaven versus dacarbazine in 452 patients (aged 18 or over) with locally advanced, recurrent or metastatic soft tissue sarcoma (liposarcoma or leiomyosarcoma) who had disease progression following standard therapies which must have included an anthracycline and at least one other additional regimen. Patients received either Halaven (1.4 mg/m2 administered intravenously on Day 1 and Day 8) or dacarbazine (850-1200 mg/m2 administered intravenously on Day 1) every 21 days until disease progression. From the results for the study, Halaven demonstrated a statistically significant extension in the study's primary endpoint of overall survival (OS) over the comparator treatment dacarbazine (Halaven median OS: 13.5 months vs dacarbazine median OS: 11.5 months; Hazard Ratio (HR) 0.77 [95% CI=0.62-0.95], p=0.0169). Furthermore, in the study's secondary endpoints, there was no statistically significant difference found between Halaven and dacarbazine in either progression-free survival (PFS) (median PFS: 2.6 months in both arms) or progression-free rate at 12 weeks (PFR12wks) (Halaven PFR12wks: 33% vs dacarbazine PFR12wks: 29%). For patients with liposarcoma, Halaven demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in OS over dacarbazine (Halaven, median OS: 15.6 months vs dacarbazine, median OS: 8.4 months; HR 0.51 [95% CI=0.35-0.75]). In this study, the most common treatment-emergent adverse events (incidence greater than or equal to 25%) in patients treated with Halaven were fatigue, neutropenia, nausea, alopecia, constipation, peripheral neuropathy, abdominal pain, and pyrexia, which was consistent with the known side-effect profile of Halaven.(3) About Soft Tissue SarcomaSoft tissue sarcoma is a collective term for a diverse group of malignant tumors that occur throughout the soft tissue (including fat, muscle, nerves, fibrous tissues and blood vessels). Approximately 12,000 patients in the United States and 29,000 patients in Europe are diagnosed with soft tissue sarcoma each year. According to a patient survey conducted by Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, there are approximately 4,000 patients with soft tissue sarcoma in Japan. As the structures where the tumors originate are diverse, there are various types of soft tissue sarcoma, and the most common types include leiomyosarcoma, liposarcoma and malignant fibrous histiocytoma. While treatment of soft tissue sarcoma is focused on curative surgery, if the stage of the disease is advanced, treatment then becomes a combination of chemotherapy and radiation therapy. As outcomes are poor for patients with advanced disease, it remains a disease with significant unmet medical need.(1) Eribulin versus dacarbazine in previously treated patients with advanced liposarcoma or leiomyosarcoma: a randomised, open-label, multicentre, phase 3 trial. The Lancet. 2016.(2) Funahashi Y et al. Eribulin mesylate reduces tumor microenvironment abnormality by vascular remodeling in preclinical human breast cancer models. Cancer Sci., 2014; 105, 1334-1342(3) Yoshida T et al. Eribulin mesilate suppresses experimental metastasis of breast cancer cells by reversing phenotype from epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) to mesenchymal-epithelial transition (MET) states. Br J Cancer, 2014; 110, 1497-1505.About EisaiEisai Co., Ltd. (TSE:4523; ADR:ESALY) is a research-based human health care (hhc) company that discovers, develops and markets products throughout the world. Eisai focuses its efforts in three therapeutic areas: integrative neuroscience, including neurology and psychiatric medicines; integrative oncology, which encompasses oncotherapy and supportive-care treatments; and vascular/immunological reaction. Through a global network of research facilities, manufacturing sites and marketing subsidiaries, Eisai actively participates in all aspects of the worldwide healthcare system. For more information about Eisai Co., Ltd., please visit www.eisai.com.Source: EisaiContact:Copyright 2016 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/04/16 -- Symax Lift (Holding) Co. Ltd. (the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: SYL) is pleased to announce that it completed an amalgamation (the "Amalgamation") on April 1, 2016 pursuant to an Amalgamation Agreement dated February 22, 2016 with 1060719 B.C. Ltd., a corporation owned by Xiaoyan (Sabrina) Zhang, Han Min (Eric) Hsu and Shan Lin, under the provisions of the British Columbia Business Corporations Act to form an amalgamated company called Symax Lift (Holding) Inc. (the "Amalco").

The Amalgamation is described in further detail in the management information circular of the Company dated February 23, 2016, which is available under the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.

The board of directors of Amalco is comprised of Ms. Xiaoyan (Sabrina) Zhang, Mr. Hanmin (Eric) Hsu, and Ms. Xiaoqin (Mary) Ma. The board of directors of Amalco wishes to thank Mr. Ian M. Mallmann and Mr. Kieran F. Mulroy for their pre-Amalgamation contributions to the Company. It is expected that Amalco will be de-listed from TSX Venture Exchange from the close of the markets on or about April 5, 2016. Once de-listed, Amalco will take the necessary steps to cease to be a reporting issuer in each applicable province.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulations Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENTS REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

Forward-looking statements or information are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements or information, including, without limitation, risks and uncertainties relating to the negotiation and consummation of the definitive agreements with respect to the Amalgamation, the completion of the Amalgamation or related transactions, receipt of requisite legal and financial opinions with respect to the Amalgamation and applicable regulatory approvals required with respect to the Amalgamation. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements or information. Accordingly, readers are advised not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information. The Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update forward-looking statements or information except as required by law, and the reader is referred to the full discussion of the Company's business contained in the Company's reports filed with the securities regulatory authorities in Canada at www.sedar.com.

Contacts:

Symax Lift (Holding) Co. Ltd.

Xiao Qin (Mary) Ma

Chief Financial Officer

(604) 277.6678




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.
Autism Rocks and Solo Capital Founder Sanjay Shah discusses entrepreneurial success on Entrepreneur Podcast Network

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Autism Rocks and Solo Capital founder Sanjay Shah recently interviewed with host Eric Dye for Entrepreneurial Podcast Network's Enterprise Radio. The show serves as a platform for entrepreneurs to obtain business advice, information, motivation, inspiration & major live event coverage from entrepreneurs all around the globe. The recent interview gave insight on several topics including Sanjay Shah's creation of Solo Capital, advice on becoming a successful business owner, the motivation behind Autism Rocks, and what listeners can expect at the 2016 Autism Rocks charity concert.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160404/351319LOGO

Sanjay Shah is a preeminent philanthropist who is known as a respectable businessman. Shah is most known for the creation of Autism Rocks, a charity organization dedicated to funding autism research. Shah founded Autism Rocks after his son Nikhil was diagnosed with autism, a neurological disorder. Prior to Autism Rocks, Shah founded Solo Capital, a brokerage firm located in London. In the interview Sanjay gives personal advice on how to own and run a successful business.

"I think this applies to anyone who is thinking of starting a new business. I would say that the most important thing is don't underestimate the amount of money you need to start," said Shah. "The other thing is don't assume that you can actually do all of the work yourself."

Since becoming involved with Autism Rocks, Sanjay Shah has combined his love for family and passion for music with his entrepreneurial spirit in order to fund autism research and develop awareness for the neurological disorder. This April, Autism Rocks will host its 2016 Autism Rocks fest filled with festivities for the entire family. The festival will also include performances from well-known artists Flo Rida and Tyga.

Listeners are encouraged to get more information on Autism Rocks' website. With autism being a life-changing disorder, funding research is a critical step in order to develop a greater understanding of the disorder. Sanjay Shah is taking a step toward action, and is helping researchers open more doors to understanding the disorder than ever before.

Listen to the entire Enterprise Radio interview on the Entrepreneur Podcast Network.

About Sanjay Shah

Sanjay Shah is a philanthropist who founded Autism Rocks in 2014, soon after his youngest son Nikhil was diagnosed with autism. Shah discovered he could combine his love for his family with his passion for music in order to fuel autism awareness and research on a large scale. By partnering with the music industry, Shah has personally raised awareness of the neurological disorder, and has built an outlet to help fund autism research. Prior to starting Autism Rocks, Shah pursued opportunities in the field of accounting, entrepreneurship and philanthropy. To learn more about Autism Rocks visit www.autism.rocks.

About Autism Rocks

Based in London, Autism Rocks is an invitation only live concert and charity event that raises awareness and donations for autism research. Founded in 2014, Autism Rocks was born of the vision of philanthropist, Sanjay Shah, whose youngest son was diagnosed with autism in 2011. Autism Rocks music festivals have featured popular past performances by Prince, Lenny Kravitz, Michael Buble and Drake. Autism is a lifelong developmental disability characterized by difficulties in the development of social relationships and communication skills. Affecting one in 68 children every year, children diagnosed with the disease have increased 30% since 2012. To learn more about Autism Rocks visit www.autism.rocks.

To learn more about autism or Autism Rocks, please visit Autism.Rocks.com.

Follow Autism Rocks on Twitter and Instagram.

Sanjay Shah

www.autism.rocks

Twitter

Media Contact

Lacy Rushin

Status Labs

512-576-9825

lacy@statuslabs.com
BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - The New Zealand dollar weakened against most major currencies in the Asian session on Tuesday. The NZ dollar fell to nearly a 3-week low of 1.6770 against the euro and nearly a 2-week low of 75.43 against the yen, from yesterday's closing quotes of 1.6655 and 76.04, respectively. Against the U.S. dollar, the kiwi dropped to a 1-week low of 0.6790 from yesterday's closing value of 0.6830. If the kiwi extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 1.69 against the euro, 74.00 against the yen and 0.66 against the greenback. 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.
DRESDEN, Germany, April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

A delegation from the metropolitan city of Daejeon, South Korea, led by Mayor Kwon Sun-Taik, is visiting the city of Dresden for an official visit; and in a solemn ceremony, Mayor Kwon Sun-Taik of Daejeon and Dresden's Deputy Mayor Dirk Hilbert will sign a cooperation agreement. For the next two years, the agreement will function as the foundation for a collaboration between the two municipalities that establishes them as "twin" cities in 2018.

The Agreement includes mutual support for delegation visits and participation in trade fairs and conferences in both cities. In addition, Daejeon and Dresden aim to strengthen cooperation between small-and-medium-sized businesses by providing contacts. Dresden has a strong interest in collaborating with Daejeon's research institutes.

Dresden is not only Europe's most important microelectronics location, the city is home to many innovative small-and-medium-sized enterprises active in the high-tech sector including information technology, software development, machine-and-systems engineering, and biotechnology for the pharmaceutical industry. Dresden University of Technology (TU Dresden) is one of Germany's elite universities. In addition, eleven institutes and research facilities as well as the Fraunhofer Society enhance Dresden's research landscape.

A particular goal of Daejeon is to learn more about Dresden's tram and urban rail system. For this reason, organizers have planned a workshop with urban transport planners and Dresden Verkehrsbetriebe (DVB) that will focus on the planning and operation praxis of the Dresden public transportation network.

Full press release (English): http://datas.weichertmehner.com/releasesk.pdf

Images for download (free of charge)

http://datas.weichertmehner.com/suedkorea.zip



Contact

State Capital Dresden, Kai Schulz, spokesman, phone: +49-(0)-3-51-4-88-23-90,

Email: presse@dresden.de

WeichertMehner (PR Agency), Robert Weichert, phone: +49-(0)-3-51-50-14-02-00,

Email: dmg@weichertmehner.com


Vilnius, Lithuania, 2016-04-05 08:19 CEST (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Draft agenda and draft resolutions for the Annual General Meeting of APB APRANGA (hereinafter "Company") shareholders to be held on April 28th, 2016 proposed by the Board of the Company:1. Consolidated annual report on the activities of the Company in 2015.Draft resolution:Taken for the information consolidated annual report of the Company for the year 2015, prepared by the Company, assessed by the auditors and approved by the Board.2. Auditor's report on the Company's financial statements and annual report.Draft resolution:Taken for the information.3. Approval of the Consolidated and Company's financial statements for the year 2015.Draft resolution:Approve the annual Consolidated and Company's financial statements for the year 2015.4. Company's profit (loss) allocation for the year 2015.Draft resolution:Allocate the Company's profit (loss) for the year 2015 according to the draft of profit (loss) allocation presented for the Annual General Meeting of shareholders (Annex 3).5. Election of firm of auditors and establishment of the terms of remuneration for audit services.Draft resolution:Elect UAB "PricewaterhouseCoopers" as APB APRANGA firm of auditors for the year 2016. Set the amount of the fee payable for audit services for the year 2016 - not more than EUR 20 000 plus VAT. Authorize the Company's CEO to sign the audit services agreement with firm of auditors.ENCLOSED:Annex No.1. Consolidated and Company's annual report, annual financial statements of the year 2015 and the Auditor's conclusion on the financial statements;Annex No.2. Confirmation of persons responsible for the financial statements;Annex No.3. Draft of profit (loss) allocation for the year 2015;Annex No.4. General ballot paper.Rimantas Perveneckas Apranga Group Director General +370 5 2390801Attachment:https://cns.omxgroup.com/cds/DisclosureAttachmentServlet?messageAttachmentId=554798
NIEUWEGEIN, Nederland, April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

The Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of Ballast Nedam will be held on Tuesday 17 May 2016 at the head office of Ballast Nedam, Ringwade 71 in Nieuwegein. The meeting will commence at 10.00 a.m.

Prior to the meeting, the Ballast Nedam Administration Office will hold a meeting of holders of depositary receipts for shares, starting at 09.00 a.m..

The convocation notices, agendas and related documents for both these meetings, as well as the 2015 annual report can be downloaded from the Ballast Nedam website. All relevant documents are only available in English, as the AGM will be conducted in this language.

Ballast Nedam targets its strategic focus at successfully acquiring and carrying out integrated projects in the working areas of housing and mobility in the Netherlands and internationally. We also work on projects where we can make a difference for the client with our expert knowledge and skills. Ballast Nedam applies a differentiated market approach for its three divisions.

With further industrialization of the building process through the use of innovative modular concepts and standardization Ballast Nedam creates enduring quality at the lowest possible life cycle costs for its clients and society. Ballast Nedam is part of the Renaissance Group.

http://www.ballast-nedam.com
GUANGZHOU, China, April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The China Import and Export Fair (the Canton Fair) has announced a new partnership with Qatar Airways to bring special airfare offers to all buyers from the Middle East and Africa flying to Guangzhou for the 119th and 120th Canton Fair. The promotion features discounts for both business and economy class travelers booking one-way or round-trip tickets.

"Qatar Airways is one of the most renowned airlines in the world and operates flights to more than 150 destinations on six continents," said Mr. Liu Quandong, Deputy Director General of Foreign Affairs Office of the Canton Fair. "This special airfare offer is part of our support service package that aims to lower the cost of attending the Canton Fair and will make the experience more enjoyable, convenient and cost-effective for buyers from the Middle East and Africa."

As the Fair's designated official airline partner, the Qatar Airways special airfare offer will feature flights that cover 13 countries in the Middle East and 12 countries in Africa, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Egypt, Kenya and South Africa. The airline will provide buyers from these 25 countries with up to 20 percent discounts on their tickets in accordance with the cabin class.

The special airfare offer will also include a lucky draw of four round-trip economy class tickets for participants.

To register for the offer, log in to the "BEST" (Buyer E-Service Tool) platform on the official Canton Fair website at http://invitation.cantonfair.org.cn/en(new buyers please register first),go to the Qatar Airways special offer promotion page and fill in the contact information as required. Once submitted, you will receive a promotion code for the special offer which can be used on the official Qatar Airways website athttp://www.qatarairways.com/cn/cn/cugs/cantonfair-2016.page.

Tickets are on a first come, first served basis. Registration and booking deadlines are as follows:

For 119th Canton Fair: March 1 to May 15, 2016

For 120th Canton Fair: March 1 to November 14, 2016

Departure timesare as follows:

For 119th Canton Fair: April 5 to May 15, 2016

For 120th Canton Fair: October 5 to November 14, 2016

About Canton Fair

China Import and Export Fair, also known as the Canton Fair, is held biannually in Guangzhou during spring and autumn. Established in 1957, the Fair is a comprehensive exhibition with the longest history, highest level, largest scale and largest number of products as well as the broadest distribution of global buyers and the highest business turnover in China.

The 119th Canton Fair has launched a series of special offers and services to best accommodate global buyers. In addition to the Qatar Airways partnership, the fair also features exclusive sourcing services, Advertisement Reward for New Buyers (ARNB), VIP lounge and self-service online platform Buyer E-Service Tool (BEST) to create the most comprehensive and convenient experience.
LONDON (dpa-AFX) - BTG plc (BTG.L), the specialist healthcare company, reported that it expects reported Group revenue for 2015/16 to be around the upper end of its guidance range of 410 million pounds to 440 million pounds, boosted by currency tailwinds. Louise Makin, CEO of BTG, said, I am pleased with our performance during the year and the significant milestones we have achieved. We are successfully implementing our growth strategy by reinvesting the cash generated from our Specialty Pharmaceuticals and Licensing businesses into our Interventional Medicine portfolio, where we are building momentum and establishing BTG as a world leader.' Revenue growth at constant currency in Interventional Oncology has been in line with annual average mid-teens guidance. This reflects increased sales in the US of TheraSphere and the initial impact of selling both products through our direct sales force in Europe. It continues to anticipate an increase in physician reordering leading to sales growth sometime during our 2016/17 financial year. 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.
BreezoMeter technology enables dynamic analysis of air quality data provided by sensors in Parkeon smart meters

SAN FRANCISCO, April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- BreezoMeter, a big data analytics company that provides dynamic air quality data in real-time, today announced that they will attend with Parkeon, a key player in the sector of urban mobility, at the 2016 Intertraffic Conference, taking place on April 5-8 in Amsterdam at the RAI Amsterdam. BerezoMeter's real-time, dynamic air quality analysis will be on full display alongside Parkeon's new Park & Breathe smart meters, which incorporate air quality sensors, as an example of how powerful a smart city's insights can be.

The air quality sensors in Parkeon's smart meters will help smart cities easily and economically scale their sensor numbers, increasing the number of data points, and therefore, accuracy of air quality readings. In a city with these parking meters, BreezoMeter's technology would be able to help gauge optimal placement of these sensors. The BreezoMeter software platform, BreezoTool, would then be able to aggregate the air quality data from the sensors in parking meters along with data from existing sensors and use its powerful data analysis to create a comprehensive, intuitive, dynamic and actionable portrait of air quality data in a city.

"As a company, we are focused on helping cities face and meet the challenge of managing travel in urban areas, and fostering the culture of continuous innovation that is necessary for a thriving smart city," said Bertrand Barthelemy, CEO of Parkeon.

One key aspect of BreezoMeter's software platform is that it provides smart cities with the actionable information they need to make informed decisions to mitigate air pollution and increase the level of wellbeing for their citizens. The software would, for example, be able to identify areas where air pollution is likely to move over the course of a few hours, therefore enabling city officials to strategically limit or reroute traffic in those areas.

"We're thrilled to demonstrate the range of what's possible in fighting the invisible enemy of air pollution. Currently part of the problem for cities in putting together an accurate picture of their air quality data, in real-time, partly because of sensor placement," said Ziv Lautman, co-founder and chief marketing officer of BreezoMeter. "The location, type and the number of sensors is critical in getting the full picture of air quality. Our system accounts for these variables, and, using our cutting edge dispersion analysis we are able to provide actionable and real-time information."

BreezoMeter will be displaying their software interface and the real-time Amsterdam air quality as part of the Park & Breathe exhibit at Parkeon's booth, 02.202 throughout the show.

About BreezoMeter

BreezoMeter delivers dynamic, real-time air quality data to help municipalities, smart cities and businesses make informed decisions on our wellbeing. Using advanced algorithms and big data infrastructure, BreezoMeter brings air quality data out of the clouds and into the hands of users in a format that is as simple to access and understand as weather reports. The company's mission is to improve the wellbeing of billions of people worldwide by changing the way cities and businesses think about the air we breathe. For more information visit: www.breezometer.com.

About Parkeon

Parkeon is a key player in the sector of urban mobility. By providing a single offer encompassing parking management solutions and ticketing solutions for public transport, Parkeon is now present in 60 countries and is accelerating its growth in emerging markets such as Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America. Parkeon's capacity for continuous innovation is demonstrated every day. Systems and equipment provided by Parkeon facilitate management and mobility in more than 4000 cities. Parkeon employs over 1,000 employees worldwide and achieved revenues of 195.5 million euros in 2014.

Contact:

Brigit Carlson

+1-201-465-8031

brigit@antennagroup.com
KELOWNA, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/05/16 -- FISSION 3.0 CORP. (TSX VENTURE: FUU) ("Fission 3" or "the Company") and its Joint Venture (JV) partner, Canex Energy Corp., (TSX VENTURE: CSC) have revised the terms of the option agreement on their Clearwater West property which is adjacent to Fission Uranium's PLS property in Saskatchewan's Athabasca Basin. Canex may now earn into the property in three stages by completing: the first stage program of $1,700,000 by April 30, 2016 to earn an initial 15% interest; the second stage program of $1,300,000 by April 30, 2017 to earn an additional 15% and the third stage program of $2,000,000 by April 30, 2018 to hold a 50% interest in the property. The expenditures required for Canex to obtain a 50% interest remains the same however the staging has been adjusted to reflect market conditions.

Summary of the Clearwater West Project

Fission 3's experienced and successful management and technical team, with a track record of two major high-grade uranium discoveries in the Athabasca Basin region (Waterbury Lake project and the PLS project), operates and manages Clearwater West. Fission 3 currently holds a 100% interest in Clearwater West.

The Athabasca Basin region hosts the world's richest uranium deposits, with a well-established and politically stable, uranium exploration and mining sector. Fission 3 and Canex consider the recent discovery of high-grade uranium in the southwestern region of the Athabasca Basin to demonstrate the prospective merit of this under-explored area.

Clearwater West lies adjacent to the south of Fission Uranium's Patterson Lake South (PLS) property, host to a high-grade, shallow depth uranium discovery along a 2.58km mineralized trend. PLS includes the award-winning, high-grade Triple R deposit, in which a 2015 Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) study showed a large resource estimate and compelling preliminary economics. Fission Uranium has just ended its winter drill program at PLS and recently completed an $82 million subscription agreement, as well as an off take agreement, with China's CGN Mining, which now owns 19.99% of the company.

Clearwater West is an early stage exploration project prospective for hosting high-grade uranium mineralization. Such mineralization is structurally controlled and typically associated with basement graphitic shear zones within clay altered metasedimentary basement lithologies. These features have unique characteristics that can be identified by various geophysical surveys. The property covers historic airborne EM anomalies, which could be the extensions of the EM conductors identified on the PLS property immediately to the north.

The technical information in this news release has been prepared in accordance with the Canadian regulatory requirements set out in National Instrument 43-101 and reviewed on behalf of the company by Ross McElroy, P.Geol., Chief Geologist and COO for Fission 3.0 Corp., a qualified person.

About Fission 3.0 Corp.

Fission 3.0 Corp. is a Canadian based resource company specializing in the strategic acquisition, exploration and development of uranium properties and is headquartered in Kelowna, British Columbia. Common Shares are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "FUU."

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

Ross McElroy, COO

Cautionary Statement: Certain information contained in this press release constitutes "forward-looking information", within the meaning of Canadian legislation. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur", "be achieved" or "has the potential to". Forward-looking statements contained in this press release may include statements regarding the future operating or financial performance of Fission 3.0 Corp. which involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties which may not prove to be accurate. Actual results and outcomes may differ materially from what is expressed or forecasted in these forward-looking statements. Such statements are qualified in their entirety by the inherent risks and uncertainties surrounding future expectations. Among those factors which could cause actual results to differ materially are the following: market conditions and other risk factors listed from time to time in our reports filed with Canadian securities regulators on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The forward-looking statements included in this press release are made as of the date of this press release and Fission 3 Corp. disclaim any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable securities legislation.

Contacts:

Fission 3.0 Corp.

Rich Matthews

Investor Relations

778-484-8030 / TF: 844-484-8030

rich@fission3corp.com

www.fission3corp.com




SHENZHEN, China, April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Recently, China's City Planning Meeting closed successfully in Beijing after a 37 year hiatus. The meeting's aim was to accelerate Chinese urban development and at the same time bring significant changes to the urban development as well as the coming of the era of Smart City 2.0.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160331/350307

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160331/349880LOGO

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160331/349881LOGO

Smart City China 2016 (SMCC 2016), under the themes of "Smart, Green and Humanity", will be heldfrom September 6to 9 at Shenzhen Convention & Exhibition Center. The event aims to provide a high-level, professional and international exchange platform to promote the construction of smart city, to solve smart city operational problems and seek scientific methods to enable smart city projects to land successfully.

The event will focus on current hot spots and the latest industry trends in smart technology and services with three featured exhibition zones:

Smart Community Experience Zone: displaying multimedia intelligent terminal equipment to provide intelligent services such as data broadcast, smart home and community logistics, smart healthcare, smart pension, smart parking, smart security, etc. The exhibition zone is to promote the applications of smart community solutions, showcasing the wholly new smart community life, as well as providing a comprehensive, multilevel and multi-fields interactive platform for smart community industry.

displaying multimedia intelligent terminal equipment to provide intelligent services such as data broadcast, smart home and community logistics, smart healthcare, smart pension, smart parking, smart security, etc. The exhibition zone is to promote the applications of smart community solutions, showcasing the wholly new smart community life, as well as providing a comprehensive, multilevel and multi-fields interactive platform for smart community industry. Smart Hardware Exhibition Zone: presenting the latest smart hardware products for the home and abroad, and showcasing the coolest play of smart hardware.

presenting the latest smart hardware products for the home and abroad, and showcasing the coolest play of smart hardware. Intelligent Robot Exhibition Zone: displaying all kind of intelligent robots, visitors can interact with robots onsite and experience the changes they will bring to daily life.

Moreover, the concurrent 2016 Chinese and Foreign Smart City Exchange Forum, Smart Hardware Maker Contest, 2016 APCA Internet+ Application Forum and Internet of Things Intelligent Technology Application Forum will display frontier products and discuss the latest applications in the smart city industry.

SMCC 2016 will attract more than 250 exhibitors and nearly 30,000 professional visitors during thefour day event. As a concurrent exhibition with the China International Optoelectronic Exhibition (CIOE), SMCC will benefit from the global networking of UBM Asia, CIOE's strategic partner, to bring more international professional visitors and exhibitors to SMCC. We sincerely invite you to attend SMCC 2016. For more information, please visit http://www.smartcityexpo.net.

About Smart City China (SMCC)

Established in 2014, Smart City China (SMCC) is a well-known and high-level exhibition in the field of smart city.Theexpo aims to provide a high-level, professional and international exchange platform to promote the construction of smart city, to solve smart city operation problems and seek a scientific method of making smart city project to landing successfully. SMCC 2016 is involved in exhibition, conference, investment and financing. The exhibits cover the whole application ofindustries including smart home, smart community, smart traffic, smart healthcare, smart lighting, smart hotel, intelligent manufacturing, smart building, smart security, smart endowment, smart education and smart wearable device. Smart City China Innovation Industry Conference will be held concurrently. More information about SMCC, please visit http://www.smartcityexpo.net.

About UBM Herong

CIOE is organsied by Shenzhen UBM Herong Exhibition Co Ltd, a joint venture company of UBM Asia, a wholly owned company of UBM plc. listed on the London Stock Exchange. CIOE taps on UBM's extensive global reach and show management expertise to service exhibitors and visitors even better. With the strong bond built over the years with companies and professionals in the field of optoelectronics, CIOE is committed to supporting the industry's continuous growth and technological development.

Media Relations:

Shirly Yi

Tel: +86-755-8629-0891

Email:Shirly.Yi@cioe.cn
Siauliai, Lietuva, 2016-04-05 10:13 CEST (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In the year 2015 the income of Gubernija AB, code 144715765, made EUR 8.537 million, reduced 25.15 percent in comparison with the income of 2014 - 11.405 million. The EBITDA index of the year 2015 made EUR 0.436 million and reduced 22.14 percent in comparison with EBITDA index of the year 2014 - EUR 0.560 million. In the year 2015 the loss without tax deduction made EUR 0.240 million, in the year 2014 the loss made EUR 0.363 million. Reason of the loss is a decline in beer consumption due to the increased excise duty on beer and due to population migration. We hereby present the year 2015 audited financial statements of Gubernija AB prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the European Union, together with the annual report and the independent auditor's report. This information is also available at: www.gubernija.lt/investuotojams. AB "Gubernija" General Manager Vijoleta Dunauskiene +370-41-591900 Attachment: https://cns.omxgroup.com/cds/DisclosureAttachmentServlet?messageAttachmentId=554852

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.
Snom, the leading global brand for professional business VoIP phones, is unveiling its new developer platform Snom.io. This platform allows thousands of developers to develop and release completely integrated, innovative applications for Snom.io-compatible desk telephones. These new applications will give users access to a variety of functions which will make day-to-day tasks at the office easier, to design phones around the user's work functions, as well as IoT, 'Smart Office Automation' and video surveillance.

In the first two weeks alone, over 1000 developers were already registered on the platform and the number is increasing daily.

Snom customers can choose from six app categories:

1. Personal

2. IoT, Devices, Sensors and Control Applications

3. Video Source Applications

4. Business Productivity Applications

5. Vertical and Industry Specific Applications

6. PBX specific Applications

"The io platform allows developers to program, integrate, and distribute innovative applications for Snom telephones worldwide. This is a 'world first' for the business telecommunications industry. It allows companies to provide their employees with sophisticated and specific functions so that they can individually configure and adjust their desk phones depending on their work requirements. This increases efficiency, reduces costs, and boosts employees' performance", said Nadahl Shocair, Group CEO of Snom.

To see what is possible with Snom.io, take a look at the showcase video and you will be amazed at what this new technology can do.

About Snom:

Founded in 1997 and headquartered in Berlin Germany, Snom is a German multinational corporation and the world's first and leading brand of professional and enterprise VoIP telephones. Snom operates wholly owned subsidiaries in the United States, UK, France, Italy, and Taiwan.

Snom's German engineering is globally renowned for robust, high quality and feature-rich business telephones that are designed exclusively for the trained and certified professional IT and PBX installer. All of Snom's products are universally compatible with leading PBX platforms operating under the SIP standard with over 4 million end-point installations globally. Snom products are sold through distributors to over 25,000 Snom Value Added Resellers across the world.

For more information, please visit www.snom.com

The original source-language text of this announcement is the official, authoritative version. Translations are provided as an accommodation only, and should be cross-referenced with the source-language text, which is the only version of the text intended to have legal effect.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160405005171/en/

Contacts:

Snom

Niclas Kakomanolis

E-mail: press@snom.com

Tel: 030 2576 205 14
COPENHAGEN, Denmark, April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --Modo chose the inaugural Money20/20 Europe event to announce their strategic partnership with Klarna, under which Modo will provide its digital payments hub to accelerate implementation of the Klarna checkout solution for e-retailers worldwide.

Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBJPhM3zMjo

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160404/351203LOGO

Modo is a digital payments hub that takes monetary value from just about any source, and can deliver it to just about any destination without changing existing infrastructure. Modo's patented COIN transaction manages the complexities of integrating existing payments systems by seamlessly connecting them and mediating the differences between processes. Klarna has discovered how to leverage Modo's COIN to rapidly on-board e-retailers around the world, and to advance their goal of becoming "the world's favourite way to buy."

"Just like the latest electric cars rely on legacy coal-fired power plants for energy, digital payment experiences require connections to existing payment systems to move value. Modo is thrilled to provide Klarna with the ability to instantly integrate e-retailers all around the world. Modo's digital payments hub connects the payments systems at e-retailers to Klarna's powerful checkout solution without requiring either one to make changes to their systems," said Bruce Parker, CEO of Modo.

According to Thad Peterson of AITE Group, digital payments will exceed a trillion dollars a year globally by 2019 and will continue to transform commerce as both online and mobile transactions grow rapidly. However, existing payments volumes are growing right alongside the new digital experiences. Modo's digital payments hub uses Connectors to natively interface with payments systems and deliver that value to new digital experiences. The COIN provides transaction services, including accounting, settlement, compliance, transaction management, and risk management to enable existing payments processes to work the way they always have.

"Modo is providing Klarna with a smooth new way to deliver our simplified way to buy to e-retailers. Through this partnership we are able to more quickly implement merchant partners and also deliver innovative new ways for Klarna to simplify buying for our over 45 million customers," says Sebastian Siemiatkowski, CEO of Klarna.

For more information about Modo, please contact:

Clara, amazeballs@modopayments.com , Communications

Media: press@modopayments.com

For more information about Klarna, please contact:

Erik Engellau-Nilsson, erik.engellau-nilsson@klarna.com , Head of Communication

Media: press@klarna.com

Modo was founded in Dallas in 2010 and provides a digital payments hub that connects new digital experiences to payments systems worldwide. Modo takes monetary value from just about any source, and can deliver it to just about any destination, without requiring partners to modify their systems. Truly a 'shipping container for global payments', the Modo platform simplifies the complex world of payments in the digital era.

Klarna was founded in Stockholm in 2005 with the idea of simplifying buying. Klarna Group has more than 1,500 employees and is active on 18 markets. Klarna serves 45 million consumers and works with more than 60,000 retailers. Their investors include Sequoia Capital, General Atlantic, DST and Atomico. Klarna's goal is to become the world's favourite way to buy.

Modo

Richardson, Texas, USA

https://modopayments.com

info@modopayments.com

Twitter: @modopayments

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/klarna-connects-e-retailers-to-their-leading-online-checkout-using-modos-coin-operated-digital-payments-hub-300245792.html
AMSTERDAM, April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Fontem Ventures, owner of market leading e-cigarette brand blu, and VMR Products, LLC, a U.S. based distributor and retailer of vaporizers and e-liquids, today announced they have reached a settlement agreement that resolves ongoing litigation in the USA.

The settlement ends the last of eight patent infringement cases originally brought by Fontem Ventures and Fontem Holdings 1 in March 2014 in the United States District Court for the Central District of California in relation to e-vapour technology.

Under the terms of the settlement, Fontem Ventures has granted VMR Products, LLC a non-exclusive royalty-bearing licence under the patents asserted in the litigation and certain other e-vapour technology related patents. The remaining settlement terms are confidential.

About Fontem Ventures*

Fontem Ventures is the owner of blu, a leading e-cigarette brand in the United States and the United Kingdom. Headquartered in the Netherlands, and present on two continents, Fontem Ventures is an innovative consumer goods company, founded in 2012, committed to developing a portfolio of products that meet consumer needs, including the highest quality electronic vaping products.

About VMR*

Founded in 2009, VMR Products is a global force in the vapor products industry. The company's flagship brands; V2, V2 Pro, Vapour2', and Vapor Couture', are sold in many countries. VMR designs, produces, distributes and supports an expanding catalog of quality products, and is an OEM manufacturer for a long list of private-label brands, including Zig-Zag, OCB, ECG, and QuickDraw. VMR is the only electronic cigarette company to employ a vertically integrated business model, managing its entire product life cycle to ensure the highest commitment to quality control and customer service.

V2.com, is the world's highest volume online retailer of electronic cigarettes and personal vaporizers, and has maintained this position since 2011. The company has distinguished itself as an industry leader with its ever-expanding product lines, powerful vapor production and great taste.

*The information provided in "About Fontem Ventures" and "About VMR" is made solely by each respective party without review or confirmation as to accuracy by the other party.
PERTH, AUSTRALIA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/05/16 -- Centamin PLC (LSE: CEY) (TSX: CEE)

(LSE: CEY; TSX: CEE)

For immediate release

5 April 2016

Centamin plc ("Centamin" or "the Company")

(LSE:CEY, TSX:CEE)

2015 Annual Report and Accounts and Notice of AGM

Centamin announces the publication of its Notice of Annual General Meeting, including a management information circular, and the publication of its 2015 Annual Report and Accounts. Centamin advises that the Notice of Annual General Meeting has been mailed to the registered shareholders of the Company.

The Annual General Meeting will be held at 10:00 a.m. (UK time) on Wednesday 11 May 2016 at the Royal Yacht, Weighbridge, St Helier, Jersey, Channel Islands, JE2 3NF.

Registered shareholders have also been sent a Form of Proxy for the Annual General Meeting.

Copies of the Notice of Annual General Meeting and the 2015 Annual Report and Accounts have been submitted to the National Storage Mechanism and will be available for viewing shortly at http://www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/NSM.

The Notice of Annual General Meeting and the 2015 Annual Report and Accounts are also available on the Company's website at www.centamin.com.

For more information please contact:

Centamin plc Buchanan Josef El-Raghy, Chairman Bobby Morse, Robbie Ceirog-Hughes Andrew Pardey, CEO + 44 (0) 20 7466 5000 Andy Davidson, Head of Investor Relations (andy.davidson@centamin.je) +44 (0) 1534 828708

Contacts:

RNS

Customer

Services

0044-207797-4400

rns@londonstockexchange.com

http://www.rns.com




Mondi Limited

(Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa)

(Registration number: 1967/013038/06)

JSE share code: MND ISIN: ZAE000156550

Mondi plc

(Incorporated in England and Wales)

(Registered number: 6209386)

JSE share code: MNP ISIN: GB00B1CRLC47

LSE share code: MNDI

As part of the dual listed company structure, Mondi Limited and Mondi plc (together 'Mondi Group') notify both the JSE Limited and the London Stock Exchange of matters required to be disclosed under the Listings Requirements of the JSE Limited and/or the Disclosure and Transparency and Listing Rules of the United Kingdom Listing Authority.

5 April 2016

POSTING OF INTEGRATED REPORT AND NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETINGS OF MONDI LIMITED AND MONDI plc

The Annual General Meeting of Mondi Limited will be held at 11:30 (SA time) on Thursday 12 May 2016 at the Hyatt Regency, 191 Oxford Road, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2132, South Africa. Pursuant to the dual listed company structure, the parallel Annual General Meeting of Mondi plc will be held at 10:30 (UK time) on Thursday 12 May 2016 at Haberdashers' Hall, 18 West Smithfield, London EC1A 9HQ, United Kingdom.

The Mondi Group Integrated report and financial statements 2015 and the Notices of the Annual General Meetings of Mondi Limited and Mondi plc have been issued and posted to Mondi Group shareholders today, 5 April 2016. The audited combined and consolidated financial statements reported in the Integrated report and financial statements 2015 do not contain any material changes from the results published in the Mondi Group's preliminary statement (which were audited by Deloitte & Touche and Deloitte LLP) issued on 25 February 2016.

The combined and consolidated financial statements reported in the Mondi Group Integrated report and financial statements 2015 for the year ended 31 December 2015 were audited by Deloitte & Touche and Deloitte LLP. Their unqualified audit reports are included in the Integrated report and financial statements 2015 and are available for inspection at the registered offices of Mondi Limited and Mondi plc.

The following documents have been submitted to the National Storage Mechanism and will shortly be available for inspection at: www.Hemscott.com/nsm.do

Mondi Group Integrated report and financial statements 2015

Mondi plc Notice of Annual General Meeting 2016

Mondi plc Form of Proxy for 2016 Annual General Meeting The Mondi Group Integrated report and financial statements 2015 and the Notices of the Annual General Meetings of Mondi Limited and Mondi plc are also available on the Mondi Group web site at: www.mondigroup.com

We are Mondi: In touch every day

At Mondi, our products protect and preserve the things that matter.

Mondi is an international packaging and paper Group, employing around 25,000 people across more than 30 countries. Our key operations are located in central Europe, Russia, North America and South Africa. We offer over 100 packaging and paper products, customised into more than 100,000 different solutions for customers, end consumers and industrial end uses - touching the lives of millions of people every day. In 2015, Mondi had revenues of 6.8 billion and a return on capital employed of 20.5%.

The Mondi Group is fully integrated across the packaging and paper value chain - from managing forests and producing pulp, paper and compound plastics, to developing effective and innovative industrial and consumer packaging solutions. Our innovative technologies and products can be found in a variety of applications including hygiene components, stand-up pouches, super-strong cement bags, clever retail boxes and office paper. Our key customers are in industries such as automotive; building and construction; chemicals; food and beverage; home and personal care; medical and pharmaceutical; packaging and paper converting; pet care; and office and professional printing.

Mondi has a dual listed company structure, with a primary listing on the JSE Limited for Mondi Limited under the ticker code MND and a premium listing on the London Stock Exchange for Mondi plc, under the ticker code MNDI.

For us, acting sustainably makes good business sense and is part of the way we work every day. We have been included in the FTSE4Good Index Series since 2008 and the JSE's Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) Index since 2007.

Sponsor in South Africa: UBS South Africa (Pty) Ltd
VIENNA (dpa-AFX) - German stocks fell sharply on Tuesday, with sentiment dampened by falling oil prices as well as downbeat economic data. While German factory orders fell 1.2 percent month-over-month to hit a six-month low in February, confounding economists' expectations for a 0.4 percent climb, Germany's composite PMI came in at an eight-month low of 54.0 in March, down from 54.1 in February amid a further slowdown in service sector activity growth. The benchmark DAX was down 232 points or 2.35 percent at 9,590 in early trade after rising 0.3 percent in the previous session. Automakers fell broadly, with BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen plunging 3-4 percent. Siemens shares dropped 2.5 percent. Media reports suggest that the German conglomerate is among companies that have expressed preliminary interest in Emerson Electric Co.'s network power division. ThyssenKrupp shares slumped over 5 percent. Brazilian metals and mining company Vale S.A. said that it would sell its total stake of 26.87 percent in Companhia Siderurgica do Atlantico to ThyssenKrupp as part of its initiatives to streamline its asset portfolio. 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.
The world's largest online auction website for natural Opals is scheduled to hold a rarities auction, set for May 4th at 6:30pm PDT, with live broadcast on YouTube and Periscope.

GOLD COAST, Australia, April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- For over 10 years, Opal Auctions has been making a name for itself as the largest online auction website for selling natural Opals. The family-owned business is bolstered by over 35 years' experience in the Opal industry; their longevity and familiarity within the industry makes the company unlike other auction houses around the world. The site has recently announced 'The Rarities Auction', which is scheduled to be on May 4th. This live auction is designed to give everyone in the world an opportunity to purchase precious natural Opals via the online auction.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160405/351479

The Rarities Auction will feature five hand-selected natural Opals sourced directly from miners. The online auction will begin at 6:30pm PST with live broadcasting on YouTube and Periscope. All five auctions will end within a one hour window.

Opal Auctions Director, Wayne Sedawie comments on this exclusive event stating, "The Rarities Auction is going to be monumental. Typically precious Opal auctions are exclusive due to their prestigious nature and geographical location. The online auction is going to give everyone around the world the opportunity to own a precious natural Opal from the comfort of their own home."

The appraised value of the Opals that will be up for auction range from USD$1,000 to nearly USD$20,000. Prospective bidders can also preview the Opals online that will be featured in the auction prior to bidding. The auction will include a rare Black Opal from Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, Australia, a harlequin pattern Opal and a pair of inlay Opal earrings from renowned Opal designer, David Freeland Jr.

With over 80,000 natural Opals listed for sale and over 270,000 Opals sold online to date, OpalAuctions.com and its founders are hoping that many will take part in the first ever online auction of rare Opals. Those that wish to be a part of 'The Rarities Auction' are directed to register their interest on the company's website by May 2nd.

About Opal Auctions:

Founded in 2004, Opal Auctions serves as a direct Opal platform with field prices. The site has become an industry leader, selling over 270,000 Opals to over 68 countries by Verified Sellers. From the mining site to the cutting table, Director Wayne Sedawie has specialized in the sale of natural Opals with over 20 years of experience in the Opal and Gemstone industry. Today Opal Auctions is the world leader in online Opal auctions, generating over USD$15 million in sales of natural Opals from vetted and reputable sellers.

For media inquiries regarding Opal Auctions, please contact Ross Sedawie directly at +61-404-086-068 or via email at info@opalauctions.com.

Wayne Sedawie

Director

Opal Auctions

25 Surfers Avenue

Mermaid Waters

QLD Australia 4218

+61-418-151-227

www.opalauctions.com
VIENNA (dpa-AFX) - Ku6 Media Co., Ltd. (KUTV) announced it had entered into a definitive Agreement and Plan of Merger with Shanda Investment Holdings Limited and Ku6 Acquisition Company Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Shanda Investment Holdings. Shanda will acquire Ku6 Media Co. for cash consideration equal to $0.0108 per ordinary share of the company or $1.08 per American Depositary Share of the company, each representing 100 Shares. Ku6 Media said its Board, acting upon the unanimous recommendation of the special committee, unanimously approved the Agreement, and the plan of merger. The Merger is currently expected to close in the second half of 2016. 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.
TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 04/05/16 -- Today the Canadian Medical Cannabis Council (CMCC) announced that RedeCan Pharm has signed CMCC's Code of Ethics and joined CMCC as the association's newest member.

"RedeCan Pharm is very excited to join CMCC and work with other licensed producers committed to the highest standards of safety, quality, and patient access within Canada's medical cannabis industry," said Amy Thrower, Chief Operations Officer (COO) and ARPIC of RedeCan Pharm.

"We are thrilled to welcome RedeCan Pharm to CMCC," said CMCC Chair Mark Gobuty. "Every new member further galvanizes our ability to advocate for federal policies and industry business practices that are in the best interest of Canadian patients."

CMCC is a medical cannabis industry association representing licensed producers and other stakeholders who are committed to building long-term trust with patients by ensuring the highest standards of ethical behaviour across the entire medical cannabis supply chain, including the interactions between licensed producers and physicians. CMCC is pleased to welcome RedeCan Pharm to CMCC, and every new member further strengthens the association's voice as an ethical group of Licensed Producers.

About RedeCan Pharm

RedeCan Pharm is a family-owned and operated licensed commercial producer of medical cannabis located in the heart of the Niagara Peninsula. Owned by a small family team with more than 30 years of experience in agriculture, RedeCan Pharm aims to enrich the lives of customers with the best quality product alongside friendly support to assist in patients' medical needs. Customer service and satisfaction is a number one priority and RedeCan Pharm works relentlessly to ensure that all patients have a positive experience.

About the Canadian Medical Cannabis Council (CMCC)

The Canadian Medical Cannabis Council (CMCC) is an industry group representing stakeholders who are committed to advancing the highest standards of integrity, safety, quality, access, security and research within Canada's medical cannabis industry. All CMCC members are required to adhere to a Code of Ethics designed to serve patients' best interests.

Contacts:

or to speak with a representative

of the Canadian Medical Cannabis Council,

Marlo Taylor

(416) 425-9143 ext. 11

marlo.taylor@energipr.com




Event-planning collaboration between Baroque Access and Remy-Martin Louis XIII offers elegance to outlast the night

NEW YORK, April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Baroque Access, the elite concierge service division of luxury lifestyle management firm the Baroque Group, has partnered with Remy-Martin's exclusive Louis XIII cognac brand for the second year in a row to host the Louis XIII Legacy Experience on Friday, April 1, 2016. The evening was once again a resounding success for both the companies and their guests.

Hosted in a beautiful triplex mansion on Duane Street in Tribeca, NY, the evening began with a cocktail reception during which the guests of the evening, including ambassador Paolo Zampolli and his wife Amanda Ungaro, founding designer of L'Observatoire Herve Descottes, fashion photographer Antoine Verglas, independent luxury retail specialist June Haynes, managing partner Shad Azimi of Vanterra Capital, Alby Tubilla, Kiera Chaplin, Alessia Sushko, Dr. Harrison Chen, Andrea Fiocchi, Sarah Tallent, and some twenty further luminaries mingled, sipped, and enjoyed canapes beneath the soaring thirty-foot roof with an open view of the Manhattan skyline at their backs.

Before the guests sat down to dinner, managing director of the Baroque Group Hicham Enhaili gave a speech in which he spoke in praise of the companies' partnerships and of Baroque's own growth over the year. The Baroque Group encompasses six divisions dedicated to all aspects of travel and leisure: Baroque Access, Baroque Travel, Baroque Villas, Baroque Aviation, Baroque Yachts, and Baroque Ground, as well as their trendspotting magazine Baroque Lifestyle. Each of the divisions possesses a singular focus that allows them both to operate independently and to work together to create exceptional journeys that are-in keeping with the spirit of the night-truly experiences rather than simple trips. Addressed to a roomful of high-profile clients and friends to both the Baroque Group and Louis XIII, Mr. Enhaili's speech acted as a promise of further exceptional standard-setting in the year to come, which will find the New York-based company opening offices in London and Dubai.

A sit-down three-course tasting menu dinner followed downstairs, prepared by Chef Jonathan Weitzmann. At last, the guests were ushered into a private back room, where the true Legacy Experience was held. Beginning with a keynote speech by Louis XIII Ambassador Philippe Vasilescu and concluding with the display of a four-hundred-year-old barrel cask used to age the cognac, the presentation offered a comprehensive overview of Louis XIII's history and methodology. Then at last the crown jewel of the evening: the tasting of the cognac itself in its trademark Baccarat bottle. Credited as the finest spirit in the world, Louis XIII is Remy-Martin's most exclusive product, a blend of over a thousand eaux-de-vie aged for up to a century through generation after generation of Cellar Masters.

The event was presented with the collaboration of several other notable Baroque Group partners, including the Rosewood Group, the Edition, and the Monaco Government Tourism Office.

Louis XIII and Baroque Access share a core belief in the cultivation of luxury as an experience, not merely a collection of things to buy. Their annual Legacy Experience celebrates that common ground. Two companies that already set the bar high for performance and excellence made it clear to their guests that they will continue to aim above and beyond expectations in the year to come.

See more from the night here.

For more information, please write to Baroque Access at info@baroqueaccess.com or call +1-212-726-0712, or visitwww.baroqueaccess.com.
Microsoft Inc. has partnered with R3, a consortium consisting of 43 financial institutions, to create a strategy to speed up use of blockchain technologies. The partnership is believed to be an attempt by Microsoft to best Amazon, Google and IBM, all of whom are offering their technological expertise to banks and other financial institutions looking to utilize blockchain technologies in their everyday operations. Blockchains, online ledgers used for recording digital transactions, first came to prominence with the emergence of the digital currency bitcoin. Financial Technologies including blockchains are disruptive to the incumbent financial system, as noted in a recent report available from Research and Markets, due to such technologies ability to erase the need for intermediary trust agents for payment processing, hence why many banks are now looking to explore the possibilities offered by such technology.

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.
COVINGTON, OH -- (Marketwired) -- 04/05/16 -- Marias Technology, a provider of software testing, system implementations and integrations, hosting services and more, to insurance and other industries, has launched a new website as part of re-staging and re-positioning its brand, communicating the expansion of its service portfolio and stepping up its marketing efforts to promote its recent successes. The new site is just one element in a comprehensive program of marketing communications being created for a variety of media.

"Since our founding in 2008, our customers have been inviting us to expand our services and extend our engagements with them because they've appreciated our ability to contribute more value to their organizations," said R. Christopher Haines, EVP and COO at Marias. "Given the successes we've been able to help our customers achieve, we decided it was time to formally offer the services we've been providing and expand the audiences to which we offer them. We're proud to offer those services through our new website."

Marias Technology is a people-driven company; that is, it takes care of its employees, knowing that happy employees will create happy customers. Marias builds relationships by putting people before processes or products. It takes accountability for its work and does what it says it will do. It doesn't keep a deep bench of personnel, waiting to bill by the hour and translating into overhead, the cost of which has to be passed on to the customer. Rather, it succeeds by fulfilling its customers' objectives -- technological, chronological, operational and budgetary. Marias offers services that enable it to be a customer's de facto IT department -- or to test a single software application. And because Marias maintains high levels of expertise to meet the changing needs of its customers, it earns the trust of its customers, as well as their repeat business.

About Marias Technology

Marias Technology, headquartered in Covington, Ohio, offers insurance technology services to small to mid-sized insurance companies. Services range from system testing and implementation, to system hosting and management services, as well as IT management on-demand. Marias also specializes in availability services such as cloud-based backup. For more information, please visit www.mariastechnology.com, email info@mariastechnology.com, or call 866-611-2212.

Media contact:

JoAnna Bennett

860-333-5009

Email Contact




PUNE, India, April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

The report"Lighting Market for Automotiveby Technology (Halogen, LED, Xenon), Position (Front, Side, Rear, Interior), Adaptive Front (Front (Auto On-Off, Bending, Cornering, High Beam Assist, Headlamp Levelling), Rear, Interior), Two-Wheeler, Vehicle Type, & by Region - Forecast to 2021", The Automotive Lighting Market is projected to grow to USD 29.53 Billion by 2021 at a CAGR of 7.22%, for the period under study.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160303/792302 )

Browse 102 market data Tables and 72 Figures spread through 135 Pages and in-depth TOC on"Lighting Market"

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/automotive-lighting-market-1133.html

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The market defines and segments the automotive lighting market with an analysis and forecast of the global market size, by volume and value.

The market is driven by increasing vehicle production, technological advancements in the field of automotive lighting and increasing concern over safety while driving at night.

Front automotive lighting to be the largest segment

The study has considered four lighting positions in a vehicle for the estimation of market sizing, namely front, rear side and interior. Front lighting, by value will constitute the largest automotive lighting segment by 2021. As a result increasing vehicle production across segments and regions will directly impact the demand for front automotive lighting systems. Owing to increased preference towards luxury and comfort, the interior segment lighting is also gaining focus.

Make an Inquiry: http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_Buying.asp?id=1133

LED would be the future of automotive lighting

The report classifies automotive lighting by three major technologies, Halogen, Xenon and LED. Laser and OLED technologies have been introduced; however, they are still in the development stage. Xenon has shown exponential growth in the recent years but the ultra-bright light dazzles oncoming traffic. LED lights are energy efficient, lightweight and occupy less space than conventional lighting systems. Given the advantages of LED, they are being increasingly adopted in vehicles across the globe.

Growing markets like China and India to drive the Automotive Lighting Market

Asia-Oceania is one of the largest markets for automobiles. High growth in developing economies like China and India can be credited for the growth of the Automotive Lighting Market in the region. China and India have seen growth in vehicle production and sales. This trend is expected to remain unchanged for the period under study.

The major market players covered in the report are Hella (Germany), Magneti Marreli (Italy), Koito Manufacturing (Japan), Stanley Electric (Japan) and Valeo SA (France). Other market players include General Electric (USA), Osram (Germany), Ichikoh Industries (Japan), Hyundai Mobis (South Korea), Philips (Netherlands) and ZKW Lighting Systems (Austria).

The report covers the global Automotive Lighting Market in terms of volume (million units) and value (USD Million). It explains the qualitative and quantitative aspects of the Automotive Lighting Market based on region, technology, vehicle type, position, two wheeler and adaptive lighting from 2016 to 2021. It also provides an overview of technical factors and other important aspects of the Automotive Lighting Market.

Browse related reports:

North American Automotive Production Outlook to 2018 by Vehicle Type (Passenger Cars, LCV, and HCV), Fuel Type (Gasoline, Diesel, and Others) and Key Country Level Markets (U.S., Canada, and Mexico)

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/north-american-automotive-production-market-266497462.html

South American Automotive Production Outlook to 2018 by Vehicle Type (Passenger Cars, LCV, and HCV), Fuel Type (Gasoline, Diesel, and Others) and Key Country Level Markets (Brazil and Argentina)

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/south-american-automotive-production-market-88475013.html

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MANCHESTER, England, April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Survey reveals only a minority of British homes are protected by a burglar alarm,and uncovers irregular use by those that do have an alarm

Research conducted by YouGov for security provider RISCO shows that householders are leaving themselves open to theft. The survey of 4,237 British adults found that less than a third (32%) have a burglar alarm in their home and, of these, less than half (49%) actually set it when they go on holiday.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160405/351498-INFO )



Of those Britons that rarely or never set their burglar alarm, 1 in 5 admit to forgetting to switch it on, while for 13% of householders it's because they fear getting false alarms. The same amount (13%) rarely or never set their alarm because they find it too complicated.

The 2015 Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) estimated there were 800,000 domestic burglaries in 2014/2015, resulting in an average loss per incident of 2,267 and damage costing 892.

"The cost of not having an alarm - or not using the one you have - can be considerable," said Anna Royds, Head of Marketing at RISCO Group UK.

"And it's not just the financial impact of domestic burglary that matters. Some 80% of those who experience a domestic burglary say they are emotionally affected by the incident, with around one in four having difficulty sleeping after a burglary."[1]

Householders should also be aware that not switching their burglar alarm on can affect their home insurance, potentially leaving them without cover in the event of a burglary.

One simple solution to forgetting to turn on an alarm is to choose one of the smartphone-operated burglar alarms now available. Indeed, the survey uncovered great interest in an alarm controlled by a smartphone or tablet, with 70% of those with a burglar alarm aged 25-34 expressing an interest. Interest is not restricted to the young and tech-savvy, either:

an alarm linked to their smartphone appeals to more than 1 in 4 (28%) of those with a burglar alarm and aged 65 and over.

An alarm system like RISCO's SmartAlarm can be operated from a smartphone app, which allows householders to set and unset their alarm remotely. Forgetting to set an alarm is easily remedied with a few swipes on a smartphone screen.

Alerts are automatically sent to a householder's phone if the alarm is triggered, while users can even watch live images of their home on their smartphone if CCTV cameras are attached to their alarm system.

This provides an additional level of reassurance at a time when Police forces are reviewing their policies on attending home alarm activations due to constraints on budget and resources.

Further information on the survey is available at: http://www.causeforalarm.co.uk/

Editors notes:

All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 4,237 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 4th - 6th January 2016. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+). *Householders include both adults who rent or own their home.

About RISCO Group

RISCO Group creates integrated security solutions for global security markets. From software solutions to high-performance wired and wireless integrated systems, the company develops products matching customers' requirements and industry standards. RISCO Group's solutions for buildings and control rooms, sophisticated detector technology, intrusion, video and access control systems are found in commercial, industrial, institutional and residential applications around the world. For more information please visit http://www.riscogroup.com/uk

1. 2015 Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW)

http://www.henley.co.uk/
PHILADELPHIA, PA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/05/16 -- Lombard International, a global leader in wealth structuring solutions for high-net-worth individuals, today announced that it has opened an office in New York City. The new office will be used by Lombard International's sales team as the firm looks to expand its offerings of high-net-worth solutions. The office will be located at 400 Park Avenue.

"New York City is a financial center for the U.S. and is home to one of the largest concentrations of advisors to high-net-worth individuals, families and institutions in the country," says John Hillman, Executive Chairman of Lombard International. "The opening of this new office was a strategic initiative to cement our stake in the market, as we seek to increase our proximity to both new and existing clients and their advisors."

Since Luxembourg-based Lombard International Assurance's successful integration with Philadelphia Financial in September 2015, the firm has taken numerous steps to expand its presence including several key senior appointments to its U.S. team. The company also recently announced the firm's 2015 financial results, which were recorded as the highest premium income figures in the company's history.

"As we continue to expand our offerings and build out our executive team, it is important that we place Lombard International into key financial markets, positioning the firm as a leader in wealth structuring solutions with a global footprint," said Hillman.

About Lombard International

Lombard International is a leading global life insurance-based wealth solutions provider, combining the strength and expertise of two specialist life insurance companies with over 20 years' experience and market leadership in their respective fields. Lombard International provides wealth structuring solutions using private placement life insurance and annuity products to high net worth individuals, their families and institutions around the globe.

The global group, branded as Lombard International, launched to market in September 2015. With head offices located in Luxembourg and Philadelphia, a combined global presence enables Lombard International to serve clients' complex needs on a global basis while being sensitive to local cultures and attitudes. The firm is an industry leader in providing multi-jurisdictional wealth planning solutions through its partner networks across the United States, Europe and Latin America.

Global assets under administration are in excess of USD 75 billion with a global staff number of over 500, including more than 60 technical experts specializing in 20+ jurisdictions.

Funds managed by Blackstone own Lombard International. Blackstone is one of the world's leading investment firms with assets under management of over USD 330 billion.

For further information about Lombard International visit: www.lombardinternational.com

Media Enquiries:



USA

Gabrielle Simon

Prosek Partners

Email Contact

+1 212 279 3115 ext. 108



UK/EU

Georgia Brown

Prosek Partners

Email Contact

+44 (0)20 3440 5809




NEW YORK, NY -- (Marketwired) -- 04/05/16 -- DRB (Darien Rowayton Bank), a leading bank and the fastest marketplace lender to reach $1 billion in student loan refinancing originations, today announced their office expansion in Manhattan for an additional 20 employees.

As DRB continues to grow, the company has signed a lease to move into 4,550 square feet of new office space at 1995 Broadway in Manhattan. Over the next year, DRB will continue to expand its New York presence and has plans to hire and fill the new space. This strategic business unit located in Manhattan is focused on expanding DRB's technology and marketing capabilities. In addition to the Manhattan expansion, the new lease in Bridgeport, CT includes 11,900 square feet, room for 120 employees, and will house the core units of operations, underwriting, and customer support.

"DRB has seen an overwhelmingly positive response from our borrower community as we solve a very real challenge for them in managing their student loans," said Aryea Aranoff, Chief Strategy Officer of DRB. "Our build out in both New York and Connecticut is a testament to the rapid growth we have experienced, and the growth we expect to continue to experience as we innovate and seek out news ways to serve our borrowers."

Already an established leader in student loan refinancing, DRB recently announced it will begin offering home mortgages later this year and is also exploring other product lines to address unmet needs in the life journey of a customer.

About DRB

DRB (Darien Rowayton Bank) is a leading national marketplace lender and the fastest lender in industry history to reach $1 billion in student loan refinancings. FDIC insured and established in 2006, DRB has helped thousands of professionals with graduate and undergraduate degrees across the country to refinance and consolidate federal and private student loans, saving these borrowers thousands of dollars each.

For more information, visit https://student.drbank.com/.

DRB (Darien Rowayton Bank)

Jenny Chou

212.712.2100

partners@drbank.com



Highwire PR for DRB

Jennifer Harlan

646.838.1190 ext. 63

jennifer@highwirepr.com




TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 04/05/16 -- Supreme Pharmaceuticals Inc. (the "Company" or "Supreme") (CSE: SL) (OTC PINK: SPRWF) is pleased to announce it has established a strategic alliance (the "Strategic Alliance") with top international cannabis seed developer Dinafem Seeds ("Dinafem") based in San Sebastian, Spain. Since 2002, Dinafem has been a global leader in the innovation and standardization of cannabis genetics including pioneering many feminized and auto-flowering varieties.

Dinafem has won numerous awards at cannabis competitions including: Treating Yourself, (Canada); the Highlife Cup (Holland); and Spannabis (Spain). Dinafem has also made considerable strides in the development of CBD rich cannabis varieties, offering THC:CBD ratios of 1:1, 1:2 and 1:3 as well as low THC high CBD varieties. As a result of the Strategic Alliance, Supreme will benefit from Dinafem's decades of research, development and product expertise.

"We are excited Supreme will be utilizing our genetics in their hybrid greenhouse," stated Mr. Gorospe, CEO of Dinafem. "Supreme's commitment to producing high quality, sun grown cannabis is aligned with our own commitment to producing the best genetics. Dinafem is focused on market leading innovation in cannabis genetics, striving to maximize the potential of each variety. With each innovation we create seeds optimized for output, potency and consumer appeal. Supreme understands the importance of starting from seed and the value of future genetic stock. We look forward to working with Supreme to introduce our genetics to the Canadian market."

Pursuant to the Strategic Alliance, Dinafem will supply Supreme's wholly owned subsidiary AMMCan, with high quality cannabis seeds to be utilized in Supreme's 7 acre (342,000 sq. ft.) facility in Kincardine, Ontario. Dinafem will also supply Supreme with exclusive ongoing consulting services.

"I have always admired Dinafem as a leader in the international cannabis market," stated John Fowler, CEO of Supreme. "Dinafem's commitment to quality and innovation is a perfect match for Supreme. It is critical to start from seed to ensure our plants are ideally suited to our hybrid greenhouse and our business objectives. This creates long-term proprietary value, as genetics selected this year can be produced for decades. Working with Dinafem we ensure we start with the best seeds. In addition, the consulting services will drastically shorten our learning curve. I'm eager to see what Dinafem and Supreme will produce together."

About Dinafem

Dinafem is a Spanish seed bank founded in 2002. Since its origin, Dinafem has worked with global partners to develop an extensive library of sativa, indica, hybrid and CBD-based genetics and has pioneered the research and development of feminized and auto-flowering cannabis seeds.

About Supreme

Supreme is a Canadian publically traded company committed to becoming a leading supplier of affordable medical cannabis through its wholly-owned subsidiary AMMCan. AMMCan is a federally licensed producer of medical marijuana pursuant to the MMPR operating a 7 Acre hybrid greenhouse facility. The Hybrid Greenhouse combines the best technology of indoor production with the efficiencies and sustainability of a greenhouse, in a single large-format production footprint. Please visit www.supreme.ca and www.ammcan.com for more information.

FORWARD LOOKING INFORMATION

This news release contains forward-looking statements. The use of any of the words "anticipate", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "may", "will", "project", "should", "believe" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which the forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the Company's ability to satisfy the conditions associated with its cultivation license, the Company's ability to obtain a sales license and the related timing considerations, the availability of further financing, consumer interest in its products, competition, regulation, operational and technological risks, and anticipated and unanticipated costs and delays. These statements speak only as of the date of this news release. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks including various risk factors discussed in the Company's disclosure documents which can be found under the Company's profile on www.sedar.com. This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended and such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbour provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

Contacts:

Investor Relations

202 - 20 De Boers Dr, Toronto ON

M3J 0H1

(416) 630-7272

info@supreme.ca

www.supreme.ca




VANCOUVER, BC--(Marketwired - April 05, 2016) - Klondex Mines Ltd. (TSX: KDX) (NYSE MKT: KLDX) ("Klondex" or the "Company") is pleased to provide an update on surface drilling at its Fire Creek and Midas Mines, both located in northern Nevada, USA. The following drill results are in addition to those included within the mineral resources released on September 16, 2015 and mineral reserves released on December 3, 2015.

Fire Creek Project Drilling Highlights: (FIGURE 1)

FCC-0014: 0.40 opt Au over 3.2 ft, or 13.90 g/t over 1.0 m (East Zone)

FCC-0014: 0.31 opt Au over 1.7 ft, or 10.79 g/t over 0.5 m (East Zone)

FCC-0035: 3.11 opt Au over 1.0 ft, or 106.49 g/t over 0.3 m (Up-Dip)

FCC-0030: 0.10 opt Au over 35.6 ft, or 3.34 g/t over 10.6 (South Zone)

Including 0.32 opt Au over 1.2 ft, or 10.94 g/t over 0.4 m



Including 0.21 opt Au over 2.2 ft, or 7.10 g/t over 0.7 m

Midas Mine - Trinity Zone Drilling Highlights: (FIGURE 2)

DMC-300: 0.27 opt AuEq over 10.0 ft, or 9.08 g/t over 3.05 m (Trinity)

DMC-301: 2.47 opt AuEq over 2.5 ft, or 84.67 g/t over 0.8 m (Trinity)

DMC-302: 9.37 opt AuEq over 5.0 ft, or 321.28 g/t over 1.5 m (Trinity)

Fire Creek Mine:

A total of 13 surface holes totaling 20,386 ft (6,214 m) was drilled during the second half of 2015. These holes were targeting the Eastern Expansion, Northwest Expansion, South Expansion and up-dip of the vein system in the current mine area. (TABLE 1)

Eastern Expansion - (FIGURE 3)

Three exploration holes were drilled approximately 2,000 ft (609.6 m) east of the current workings Fire Creek. These holes tested a geophysical anomaly that extends approximately 19,000 ft. (4,267.2 m) in length. Two of these holes successfully intercepted the target suggesting a major mineralized structure could exist. A follow-up drill program is scheduled for later in the year.

Northwest Expansion - (FIGURE 4)

Five holes were drilled in the Northwest Expansion area. These holes were designed to extend the vein system along strike, upgrade the resource within the current model and test for paralleling vein structures west of the modeled resource. Drill hole FCC-0041A intersected a new structure to the west containing anomalous gold mineralization values up to 0.18 opt. The area remains open in all directions.

Southern Expansion - (FIGURE 5)

An additional offset hole, FCC-0030, was drilled for a total of four holes to build and support the southern extension target. These holes suggest that mineralization continues for at least another ~330 ft. (100.6 m) south of the current resource. These drill results suggest that this wide zone of mineralization continues to the south, and potentially presents bulk mining scenarios at Fire Creek.

Up-Dip Expansion - (FIGURE 6, FIGURE 7, FIGURE 8)

Four holes were drilled up-dip of the modeled vein system at Fire Creek. These holes intersected mineralization outside the existing resource and extend known veins up-dip more than 250 ft. (76.2 m). These holes were drilled from surface between 0 and -6 and suggest the vein system likely extends within 250 feet from surface.

Midas Mine: (FIGURE 9) (FIGURE 10)

At Midas, five holes were drilled targeting the Trinity zone for a total footage of 5,641 ft (1,719.4 m). This drilling was designed to extend the mineralized footprint to the south and to better define the controls to the higher grade mineralization in the system. (TABLE 2)

Brian Morris, Vice President Exploration stated, "The results from our December 2015 surface drilling program are very encouraging. We have gained an increased understanding of the vein system at Fire Creek based on the positive results from this phase of surface drilling." Mr. Morris continued, "At Midas, not only do we continue to extend the mineralized footprint in the Trinity zone but the data suggests that the contact between the breccia and the overlying Esmeralda sediments is an important control for the high-grade mineralization within the Trinity gold system."

Assays were performed by American Assay Laboratories of Sparks, Nevada and ALS Chemex of Reno, Nevada, as directed under the supervision of Klondex staff. Both organizations are ISO 17025 accredited independent laboratories.

A description of the data verification methods, quality assurance program and quality control measures applied can be found in the technical reports titled "Preliminary Feasibility Study for the Midas Mine, Elko County, Nevada," amended on April 2, 2015 with an effective date of August 31, 2014, and "Technical Report for the Fire Creek Project, Lander County, Nevada", dated March 28, 2016 and with an effective date of June 30, 2015 which are available under the Company's issuer profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

About Klondex Mines Ltd. (www.klondexmines.com)

Klondex is a well-capitalized, junior-tier gold and silver mining company focused on exploration, development, and production in a safe, environmentally responsible, and cost-effective manner. The Company has 100% interests in two producing mineral properties: the Fire Creek Mine and the Midas Mine and ore milling facility, both of which are located in the state of Nevada, USA, as well as the recently acquired Rice Lake mine and mill in Manitoba, Canada.

Qualified Person

Scientific and technical information in this press release has been reviewed and approved by Brian Morris (AIPG CPG-11786), a "qualified person" within the meaning of NI 43-101.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Information

This news release contains certain information that may constitute forward-looking information or forward-looking statements under applicable Canadian and United States securities legislation (collectively, "forward-looking information"), including but not limited to information about the magnitude and the quality of the Midas and Fire Creek mines and the Company's other mineral projects, statements regarding the estimation of mineral resources and mineral reserves and the potential delineation of additional mineral resources and/or mineral reserves through further exploration at the Company's mineral projects, the accuracy of current interpretation of drill and other exploration results, the Company's intention and ability to monetize mineralized material, project development and related permitting, cash flows and the financial condition of the Company. This forward-looking information entails various risks and uncertainties that are based on current expectations, and actual results may differ materially from those contained in such information. These uncertainties and risks include, but are not limited to, the strength of the global economy; the price of gold; operational, funding and liquidity risks; the degree to which mineral resource estimates are reflective of actual mineral resources; the degree to which factors which would make a mineral deposit commercially viable are present; the risks and hazards associated with underground operations; and the ability of Klondex to fund its substantial capital requirements and operations. Risks and uncertainties about the Company's business are more fully discussed in the Company's disclosure materials filed with the securities regulatory authorities in Canada and United States available at www.sedar.com and www.sec.gov, respectively. Readers are urged to read these materials. Klondex assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking information or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from such information unless required by law.

Cautionary Note to U.S. Investors Regarding the Use of Mining Terms

This news release has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the securities laws in effect in Canada, which differ from the requirements of U.S. securities laws. All resource and reserve estimates included or referred to in this news release have been prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"). NI 43-101 is a rule developed by the Canadian Securities Administrators that establishes standards for all public disclosure an issuer makes of scientific and technical information concerning mineral projects. These standards differ significantly from the mineral reserve disclosure requirements of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC") set out in Industry Guide 7. Consequently, reserve and resource information contained in this news release is not comparable to similar information that would generally be disclosed by U.S. companies in accordance with the rules of the SEC.

In particular, the SEC's Industry Guide 7 applies different standards in order to classify mineralization as a reserve. As a result, the definitions of proven and probable reserves used in NI 43-101 differ from the definitions in SEC Industry Guide 7. Under SEC standards, mineralization may not be classified as a "reserve" unless the determination has been made that the mineralization could be economically and legally produced or extracted at the time the reserve determination is made. Under SEC Industry Guide 7 standards, a "final" or "bankable" feasibility study is required to report reserves, the three-year historical average price is used in any reserve or cash flow analysis to designate reserves and all necessary permits and government approvals must be filed with the appropriate governmental authority. Accordingly, mineral reserve estimates contained in this news release may not qualify as "reserves" under SEC standards.

For More Information

John Seaberg

Senior Vice President, Investor Relations

O: 775-284-5757

M: 303-668-7991

jseaberg@klondexmines.com
HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/05/16 -- Ucore Rare Metals, Inc. (TSX VENTURE: UCU)(OTCQX: UURAF) ("Ucore" or the "Company") is pleased to update on the commissioning of the SuperLig-One rare earth element ("REE") separation pilot plant (the "Plant" or "SuperLig-One"). The first tranche of pregnant leach solution ("PLS") derived from the Company's Bokan - Dotson Ridge ("Bokan") project in Alaska has been produced by SGS Lakefield Research Ltd of Lakefield, Ontario ("SGS") and delivered to IBC Advanced Technologies, Inc. of American Fork, Utah ("IBC"). The PLS has undergone confirmatory analysis and will be submitted to the Molecular Recognition Technology ("MRT") circuit.

Since the announcement of the completion of construction of SuperLig-One (see Ucore Press Release dated March 7, 2016), a number of pre-PLS commissioning steps have been accomplished, as detailed below:

-- SuperLig Certifications - The binding capacities, selectivities, particle size distribution and morphological characteristics of the SuperLig resins to be used in the Plant have been certified as meeting IBC's quality assurance standards. -- PLS Analysis - The PLS grade and composition have been confirmed at IBC using inductively coupled plasma spectroscopy ("ICP"). -- Automation & Water Testing - The Plant has undergone a battery of pre- PLS water testing and automation control verification procedures and protocols to ensure proper functioning of the valving, fluid conveyance, and liquid handling systems. -- Process Flow Testing - The Plant's unit operations and process flow have been submitted to extensive trial testing.

"The successful completion of initial stress testing and pre-PLS certifications for SuperLig-One is exciting to say the least," said Jim McKenzie, President and CEO of Ucore. "Our objective now is the processing of the PLS at pilot scale, to be followed by early stage blueprinting of our progress from pilot to production scale without delay. Ucore has compressed the turnaround time for lab-scale to full-scale proof of concept to a fraction the time usually required of disruptive technology. A great deal of the credit for this goes to the fact that SuperLig technology has been scaled many times before, separating multiple metals at major refineries the world over that process primary (mine) as well as secondary (recycled) materials. Our thanks to IBC for continuing the rapid pace of pre-production development."

The PLS phase of Plant commissioning, scheduled to commence this week, will consist of running the PLS sequentially through each unit operation to confirm the following functions:

-- Rare Earth Class Separation, in which all rare earths, as a group, are isolated from the waste, or "gangue" materials in the PLS. Gangue materials are lesser value metals which are removed from the process stream early on. -- Removal of Scandium (Sc), a highly valuable rare earth element used in advanced aluminum alloys for the aerospace sector. -- Class Separation of the Light REE (lanthanum to neodymium plus yttrium) and the Heavy REE (samarium to lutetium). This class separation is an important juncture, since the heavy REE are more valuable as a group, scarcer on world markets, and contain more of the Critical Rare Earth Oxides ("CREOs"). -- Separation of Individual REE. The first phase of the SuperLig-One pilot program will also demonstrate the separation of the Heavy CREOs, as defined by the US Department of Energy. These consist of terbium and europium at over 99% purity, plus dysprosium at 99.99% purity. The remaining heavy REE solution, consisting of holmium to lutetium; gadolinium and samarium; as well as the light REE solution, consisting of lanthanum to neodymium and yttrium, will be retained for future work.

Following confirmatory testing of each unit operation, the Plant will undergo a continuous run of PLS.

For further information on the SuperLig-One Pilot Plant Mission Summary, please see the following link: http://ucore.com/SuperLig-One

For background on the traditional approaches to the separation of REE and the historical advance offered by MRT, please refer to the recently published White Paper on Separation of Rare Earth Elements, entitled "Molecular Recognition Technology: a Green Chemistry Process for Separation of Individual Rare Earth Metals", at the following link: http://ucore.com/documents/WhitePaper_REE_Separations.pdf

Steven R. Izatt, President and CEO of IBC, has approved the scientific and technical content of this news release and is the Qualified Person responsible for its accuracy. Mr. Izatt, Registered Member SME, holds a B.A. degree in Chemistry from Brigham Young University (BYU), as well as an M.S. in Chemical Engineering Practice and an M.S. in Technology and Policy, both from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Background

Ucore Rare Metals is a development-phase company focused on rare metals resources, extraction and beneficiation technologies with near term potential for production, growth and scalability. On March 3, 2015, Ucore announced the right to acquire a controlling ownership interest in the exclusive rights to IBC SuperLig technology for rare earths and multi-metallic tailings processing applications in North America and associated world markets. The Company has a 100% ownership stake in the Bokan project. On March 31, 2014, Ucore announced the unanimous support of the Alaska State Legislature for the investment of up to USD $145 Million in the Bokan project at the discretion of the Alaska Import Development and Export Agency ("AIDEA").

Contacts:

Ucore Rare Metals Inc.

Mr. Jim McKenzie

President and Chief Executive Officer

+1 (902) 482-5214

www.ucore.com






BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - Germany's factory orders decreased unexpectedly in February on falling foreign demand, especially from the euro area, reflecting that sluggish global trade weighed on industrial activity.



Data from Destatis showed that new orders in manufacturing fell a seasonally adjusted 1.2 percent month-over-month in February, confounding economists' expectations for a 0.4 percent climb. This was the biggest fall in six months.



In January, orders rose 0.5 percent after the initially reported 0.1 percent fall was revised.



Domestic demand rose by 0.9 percent, while foreign orders dipped 2.7 percent in March. Within foreign orders, demand from the euro area slid 3.7 percent and that from other countries fell 2.1 percent.



Ralph Solveen, an analyst at Commerzbank, said this decline is owed only to a smaller number of big-ticket orders. If these are factored out, orders came in slightly higher on the month, continuing their recent, very flat uptrend, Solveen noted.



Today's figures therefore suggest that the manufacturing sector and the German economy will continue growing moderately, he said.



Orders in the manufacturing sector developed slowly at the beginning of the year, reflecting the sluggish development of the global economy, the Economy Ministry said.



Data also revealed that orders for intermediate goods grew 1.7 percent over the month, while the demand for capital goods logged a decrease of 2.1 percent. Consumer goods orders registered a 7.3 percent fall.



On a yearly basis, factory orders grew for the second consecutive month in February. Orders rose 0.5 percent in February and 0.4 percent in January. Bookings were expected to grow 2.2 percent.



Elsewhere, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development today said the largest euro area economy is in a solid economic position.



The latest OECD Economic Survey highlighted Germany's robust recovery and high levels of competitiveness since the global economic crisis.



Nonetheless, OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria said Germany requires new investment to ensure a stronger and more inclusive society.



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CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/05/16 -- Renoworks Software Inc. (TSX VENTURE: RW) ("Renoworks" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the launch of its visualization tool-kit - Renoworks SDK. Renoworks SDK is a Software-Development-Kit (SDK) allowing digital marketing agencies and technology companies servicing the home remodeling and builder markets to create rich, interactive applications using Renoworks visualization platform.

"Renoworks SDK is an integral part of our Company's growth strategy," said Doug Vickerson, CEO of Renoworks. "Development partners consider product visualization a critical item to their customer sales and marketing success and now, for the first time, with the launch of our SDK they can deliver cutting-edge visualization technology to showcase their products in their best light."

The Renoworks SDK provides a number of tools that lets developers build on a specific platform or integrate existing functionality into their own apps. The following major functions are included:

-- UI Dashboard: The User Interface Dashboard gives Renoworks Partners the ability to tailor solutions to their clients quickly and easily. Customization ranges from powerful branding ability including logos and artwork to key call to action messaging. Partners can also indicate which exterior and interior room scenes will be active and organize them accordingly as per their client's requirements. -- Scene Publisher API: The Scene publisher API allows a development partner to publish their own building and room scenes using a variety of file types ranging from actual photos, artist's photo-realistic renderings and architectural blueprints. Using a unique format developed by Renoworks, it is also now possible to produce scenes automatically without the need to manually mask around areas of the image to define regions, scale and add perspective, which results in thousands of hours in time savings. -- Library publisher: The Library Publisher allows a development partner to create, organize and update specific Client libraries at will. Partners can now manage their own data, and even control the appearance and material properties of content. You can now fine-tune your solutions in order to deliver truly unique and customized sales and marketing environments with real world manufacturer's data. -- Product Configurator API. The product Configurator API allows clients to publish endless configurations of complex objects such as doors and windows and uses these visuals within their own user interface design. Using a combination of simple API calls, you can design a complete custom user experience around these dynamic graphical objects published on your web site.

More than eight partners are already using the Renoworks SDK as an engagement tool for their customers.

Renoworks is also pleased to announce it has engaged Contact Financial Corp. ("Contact") to assist the Company with the development and execution of a comprehensive strategic communications program.

Contact is a broad-based strategic marketing and communications firm with experience in creating exposure for small- to mid-cap companies. Contact Financial, headed by Kirk Gamley, is based in Vancouver, British Columbia with offices in Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, and affiliate offices in the United States and Europe. Contact's services will include providing advice to the Company with respect to corporate development, production and distribution of investor-focused communication tools, and increasing awareness of the Company within the financial community.

Contact has been retained for an initial term of six (6) months, with service to be provided on a month-to-month basis thereafter. Contact will be paid a monthly fee of CDN $4,000.00 (plus GST) and has been granted options to purchase up to 50,000 common shares of the Company with an exercise price of CDN $0.31 per share and 50,000 common shares of the Company with an exercise price of CDN $0.50 per share that shall have a life of 3 years from the date of issue, with vesting restrictions in accordance with TSX Venture Exchange policies.

Other than 100,000 common shares held directly and indirectly by Kirk Gamley and Contact Financial, none of Contact Financial group has any interest, directly or indirectly, in Renoworks or its securities, or any right or intent to acquire such an interest, other than the above-referenced proposed stock options.

About Renoworks

Renoworks Software Inc. develops and sells unique digital visualization software for the remodelling and new home construction industry, primarily in the United States and Canada. Delivered online, as a custom developed app or desktop software, Renoworks provides its technology to manufacturers, contractors, builders and retailers offering the solution to one of the home remodelling industry's greatest challenges: enabling customers to see how their product choices will look in a realistic, virtual environment - even in their own home - before they make a purchase decision. Renoworks markets its software as a cost-effective lead generation tool and generates revenues from three main business lines: enterprise, Renoworks PRO, and its Software Development Kit (SDK). For more information, visit www.renoworks.com.

The TSX Venture Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Certain statements in this news release, other than statements of historical fact, are forward looking information that involves various risks and uncertainties. Such statements relating to, among other things, the prospects for the company to enhance operating results, are necessarily subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which are significant in scope and nature. These uncertainties may cause actual results to differ from information contained herein. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate. Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. These and all subsequent written and oral forward looking statements are based on the estimates and opinions of the management on the dates they are made and expressly qualified in their entirety by this notice. The Company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements should circumstances or management's estimates or opinions change.

Contacts:

Renoworks Software Inc.

Doug Vickerson

CEO

403-296-3880

doug.vickerson@renoworks.com



Investor Information:

Contact Financial Corp.

Rob Gamley

604-689-7422

rob@contactfinancial.com




HOUSTON, TX--(Marketwired - April 05, 2016) - Christian Brothers Automotive franchise has launched a management training program that aims to help the top managers employed by the franchisees become General Managers and potentially owners of their own auto repair franchises.

The company launched the Future Franchise Academy this year. Modeled off of a 2-year MBA program, it teaches select Christian Brothers employees the skills to become general managers and owners. Graduates of the program may have the opportunity of becoming franchisees. Participants are nominated for the program by the franchisees who employ them.

In addition to helping great individuals bolster their careers in the automotive industry, the program also creates a powerful recruiting incentive. Attracting top talent is one of the biggest challenges in the auto repair industry, and Christian Brothers hopes to help franchisees attract more great employees by providing a clear path for career advancement.

Christian Brothers Automotive started in Houston in 1982 and began franchising in 1996. The company now has more than 150 locations in 24 states. The company has never closed a location.

"We're very excited about this program," says Josh Wall, Vice President for Franchise Development. "Christian Brothers is always looking for great locations and great franchisees, and this will help us support our franchisees at a greater level by identifying people who have demonstrated excellence and helping them grow as leaders while creating new career opportunities for them."

Startup costs for a Christian Brothers franchise are already modest -- candidates need just $75,000 in liquid assets and a net worth of $200,000 to start the business. That's because Christian Brothers invests in the land and building, which lowers the startup expenses for new franchisees.

"Our business model is designed to help great, service-minded people become leaders in their communities," Wall says. "You don't need to have a lot of money, or a background in auto repair. You just need to have a heart for service, a mind for business, and a willingness to learn. We've enjoyed a lot of success by helping good people do great things, and this is another way we're ready to help."

Christian Brothers is a highly rated, faith-based, auto repair franchise with a unique financial model. In addition to investing in the land and building, Christian Brothers does not charge franchisees royalties based on top-line revenues like most franchisors. Instead, Christian Brothers and franchisees share in the profit, which is calculated after expenses. Christian Brothers does not make money until franchisees are profitable.

To learn more about Christian Brothers, including a list of cities where the company plans to grow, visit www.christianbrothersfranchise.com

Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2016/4/1/11G091468/Images/image02-6cf8af1c86dca931bd61ec900444c108.jpg

Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2016/4/1/11G091468/Images/image03-91c30a3ddd42a7e78b02522ca5ad169e.jpg

CONTACT INFORMATION

Kendall Troncoso

Christian Brothers Automotive

kendall.troncoso@cbac.com

(855)-866-9222
Eagle Genomics announces the results of a novel insight on the International Cancer Genome Consortium (https://icgc.org/) data, with over 17,000 patient donors, resulting in a ranking of the most valuable constituent projects according to their scientific value.

The analysis was performed using eaglediscover, a smart data platform which Eagle is releasing today. The eaglediscover platform objectively measures the value of data assets as defined by their usefulness and relevance. The approach uses robust quantitative and probabilistic techniques and methods from conversational theory Smart Data Science. Theunique question-driven approach of eaglediscover allows scientists to explore scientific value across diverse data sets as never previously possible.

Projects studying large numbers of patients with common cancers generally scored highly with "The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) Breast Cancer" taking top spot. But study size was not the only factor, with the smaller "Spanish Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia" project coming in the top five. For patient selection, picking across multiple projects yielded significantly more valuable cohorts than limiting to a single project, with an even more pronounced advantage when restricting to specific cancer types and using Eagle Genomics proprietary valuation models calibrated for specific scientific questions.

Mathew Woodwark, Director of R&D Bioinformatics, MedImmune, has been seeking an effective "smart data" platform that enables MedImmune and AstraZeneca scientists to explore and value biological and clinical data sets. "We are actively working with Eagle Genomics on the use of eaglediscover with eaglecore to enable us to build a world-class R&D process for data prioritization and reuse. Eagle is leading the way in maximizing the value of data, one of the biggest data challenges facing pharma and biotech R&D today."

Abel Ureta-Vidal, Eagle Genomics CEO, comments "A major challenge today is that too much time is spent on data wrangling and not enough on scientific interpretation. With eaglediscover, we are breaking the loop of 'data analysis paralysis'."

Access to the eaglediscover ICGC analysis is available through the Eagle Genomics Early Adopter Program. For details of this, please visit: http://eaglegenomics.com

About Eagle Genomics

Eagle Genomics is a software company helping life sciences companies conducting genomics research to bring new candidate medicines, therapies and products to patients and customers more quickly. Its software solutions exploit smart data science and deep statistics to radically reduce time to complete and cost of research, thus enabling customers to achieve drastic productivity improvements and enable true data driven discovery.

For more information on Eagle Genomics, please visit the company's website at https://www.eaglegenomics.com/, follow Eagle Genomics on Twitter (@Eaglegen) or call Eagle Genomics at +44 (0)1223 654481

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160405005816/en/

Contacts:

Eagle Genomics

Raminderpal Singh

raminderpal.singh@eaglegenomics.com

+1 9142154345 or +44 7719 622 303
Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "How to Avoid Common Pitfalls in Combined EU/US Patent Applications (London, UK December 8-9, 2016)" conference to their offering.

This seminar addressed the parallel, but substantially different, rules for drafting and prosecuting patents required by the Examiners and Appeal Board of the EPO and USPTO. You will study the contrasting approaches of the EPO and USPTO and learn the experts' techniques for drafting an applications for, and responding to, rejections issued by the two offices.

This Seminar Will Include:

The often unseen traps posed by differing EU and US requirements

Best practices for reconciling the EU and US requirements and drafting an application to:

- Maximise scope of protection

- Reduce objections

- Minimise costs and maximise flexibility

Prosecution procedures

- EPO and USPTO approaches to rejections

- Responding to EPO and USPTO rejections, based on an optimised specification

- Limiting US prosecution history estoppel

Worked examples

Practical Applications:

You and the other delegates will be invited to correct and modify a sample application to be field with both the EPO and the USPTO.

You will be asked to develop effective arguments, for the EPO and USPTO, with respect to hypothetical patent office rejections

This course qualifies for the following CPD programmes:

Solicitors Regulation Authority

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/zcdcps/how_to_avoid

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160405006118/en/

Contacts:

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

Sector: Patents
Regulatory News:

At today's Annual General Shareholders' Meeting (AGM) of Sartorius Stedim Biotech S.A. in Aubagne, France, shareholders approved the Board of Directors' proposals by a large majority.

The AGM thus passed the resolution to pay dividends of 2.00 net per share for fiscal 2015, up from 1.30 a year earlier. The total profit distributed will therefore rise by 53.9% from 20.0 million to 30.7 million.

Moreover, the AGM approved the proposal of the Board of Directors to split by 6 the par value of each of the Company's shares (stock split). As a result, shareholders will receive 6 new shares in exchange for each share currently held in Sartorius Stedim Biotech. This share split operation will be executed by early May without any additional costs or formalities for the shareholders and will have no impact on their rights. The stock split follows the significant increase in the share price over the past two years.

This press release contains statements about the future development of the Sartorius Stedim Biotech Group. We cannot guarantee that the content of these statements will actually apply because these statements are based upon assumptions and estimates that harbor certain risks and uncertainties.

A profile of Sartorius Stedim Biotech

Sartorius Stedim Biotech is a leading international supplier of products and services that enable the biopharmaceutical industry to develop and manufacture drugs safely and efficiently. As a total solutions provider, Sartorius Stedim Biotech offers a portfolio covering nearly all steps of biopharmaceutical manufacture. The company focuses on single-use technologies and value-added services to meet the rapidly changing technology requirements of the industry it serves. Headquartered in Aubagne, France, Sartorius Stedim Biotech is quoted on the Eurolist of Euronext Paris. With its own manufacturing and R&D sites in Europe, North America and Asia and a global network of sales companies, Sartorius Stedim Biotech has a global reach. The company employs approx. 4,200 people, and in 2015 earned sales revenue of 884.3 million euros.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160405006105/en/

Contacts:

Sartorius Stedim Biotech

Petra Kirchhoff; Vice President of Corporate Communications

+49(0)551.308.1686

petra.kirchhoff@sartorius.com
CINCINNATI, OH--(Marketwired - April 05, 2016) - At what rate is "manual drift" occurring in the American auto industry, and is there a difference between the rate of manual transmission use between men and women? Swapalease.com, the nation's largest car lease marketplace, recently analyzed over 50,000 driver records from its marketplace dating back to 2012 to uncover some interesting trends.

"Manual drift" is a phrase coined by Swapalease.com executives that addresses the slow sunset of interest in manual transmissions found in today's cars. According to analysis conducted recently by the company, the number of manual transmission vehicles driven by Americans has dropped roughly 22% since 2012.

Equally as interesting, the rate of drift isn't occurring at the same pace for men and women. In its analysis of over 50,000 vehicle records dating back to 2012, Swapalease.com has found that the rate of use is declining for both genders, but it is happening at a faster pace for men compared to women. In fact, the percentage of men driving manual transmission vehicles has dropped from 85.4% in 2012 to 81.2% in 2015. As a result, the percentage for women has responded by adjusting from 14.6% in 2012 to 19.8% in 2015.

Both genders overall are driving fewer manual transmissions during that time, but since the numbers for men are dropping faster, it has caused the percentage to actually increase for women.

"It's not surprising to see the sunset of manual transmission vehicles, particularly when you consider all the conversation around autonomous driving," said Scot Hall, Executive Vice President of Swapalease.com. "It's difficult to explain why men are drifting away from manual faster than women, but perhaps fathers teaching their daughters to drive still see a premium in teaching both driving methods today."

About Swapalease.com:

Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, Swapalease.com is the world's largest automotive lease marketplace and the pioneer in facilitating lease transfers online. More specifically Swapalease.com matches individuals who want to get out of their lease with people who are looking for short-term lease agreements. Prospective buyers can search the listings for the exact vehicle they want, and then register for a nominal fee, allowing them to use Swapalease.com's safe online system to contact the prospective seller and close the deal. For more information about Swapalease.com or how to exit your lease early, call 866-SWAPNOW or visit www.swapalease.com.

Press Contact:

John Sternal

Merit Mile

jsternal@meritmile.com

O - 561-362-8888

C - 954-592-1201
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/05/16 -- Southern Silver Exploration Corp. (TSX VENTURE: SSV)(FRANKFURT: SEG1)(SSE: SSVCL) ("Southern") reported that at its annual general meeting held on March 30, 2016 the following directors were re-elected: Lawrence Page, Q.C., D. Roger Scammell, Eugene Spiering, Nigel Bunting, Larry Buchanan and Peter Cheesbrough. The following officers were re-appointed subsequent to the annual general meeting: Lawrence Page, Q.C. as President, Graham Thatcher as Chief Financial Officer and Arie Page as Corporate Secretary.

In addition the shareholders re-appointed Smythe Ratcliffe, Chartered Accountants, as auditor of Southern and approved Southern's rolling incentive stock option plan pursuant to which a maximum of 10% of the issued shares will be reserve for issuance under the plan.

About Southern Silver Exploration Corp.

Southern Silver Exploration Corp. is a precious metal exploration and development company with a focus on the discovery of world class mineral deposits in north-central Mexico and the southern USA with specific emphasis on the Cerro Las Minitas silver-lead-zinc project located in the heart of Mexico's Faja de Plata which hosts multiple world class mineral deposits such as Penasquito, San Martin, Naica and Pitarilla. We have assembled a team of highly experienced technical, operational and transactional professionals to support our exploration efforts in developing the Cerro Las Minitas project into a premier, high-grade, silver-lead-zinc mine. The Company engages in the acquisition, exploration and development either directly or through joint venture relationships, in mineral properties in major jurisdictions. Our property portfolio also includes the Oro porphyry copper-gold project located in southern New Mexico, USA.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

Lawrence Page, Q.C., President & Director, Southern Silver Exploration Corp.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward looking statements include the timing and receipt of government and regulatory approvals, and continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions. Southern Silver Exploration Corp. does not assume any obligation to update or revise its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except to the extent required by applicable law.

Contacts:

Southern Silver Exploration Corp.

604.641.2759

ir@mnxltd.com

www.southernsilverexploration.com




LAS VEGAS, NV -- (Marketwired) -- 04/05/16 -- Pure Hospitality Solutions, Inc. (OTC PINK: PNOW), parent Company of the Central American-Caribbean online travel Agency (OTA) Oveedia (www.Oveedia.com), announced today, that Pure files 2015 year end disclosures this past Thursday, March 31st 2016, with the OTC Markets, to maintain its "Current Filer" status -- see link: (http://www.otcmarkets.com/financialReportViewer'symbol=PNOW&id=152384).

Pure files 2015 year end disclosures on the heels of receiving an exclusive invitation to meet with SITCA (The Secretary of Central American Tourism Integration). Representatives from Canatur were also present, which was an opportunity for the Company to further Oveedia's value proposition within the Latin American (LATAM) online travel industry.

The 2015 year end disclosures also reveal the success of several initiatives introduced throughout the year. The most notable initiative -- the release of Pure's flagship product Oveedia -- beta launched on October 9th, 2015. After a very successful launch of the search engine, the Company was able to secure additional long-term financing, which supported the successful release of the second part of the OTA -- Oveedia's booking engine. This, on the heels of Oveedia booking its first reservation, along with many subsequent reservations to date, the Company has successfully generated its first revenues from online travel. Management, having now set the course for Pure to prove out its business model as a premier online travel agency for the Central American-Caribbean region of LATAM, has well positioned the Company for growth and investment opportunity.

As Pure files 2015 year end disclosures, another notable point was the reduction of over $5 Million in debt and interest in 2015.

This subsequently set the stage for the Company's 2016 transition into the next phase of an already accelerated Debt Reduction Program. Securing additional long-term capital to forward this initiative, the Company launched the Debt Repurchase Program -- targeting the removal of toxic legacy debt. To date, the company has successfully extinguished over 50% of its targeted legacy debt. The remaining debt is anticipated to be eliminated within the next five weeks.

In the midst of all this, Pure also retained the services of Ronald N. Vance & Associates, to begin upgrading the Company to the OTCQB exchange.

Mr. Melvin Pereira, President and CEO of Pure Hospitality Solutions, commented, "I am very certain that our shareholders will be quite pleased with these filings. Not only have we secured our first revenues from online travel operations, we have taken dramatic steps to reduce past and future liabilities and better positioned the Company for significant investment opportunities. Not to mention, all of the progress we are making within the Central America and Caribbean markets.

"We are signing up new hotels and receiving new inquires almost on a daily basis. I am exceptionally pleased with all the progress we have been making, and firmly believe we are on the right path!"

About Pure Hospitality Solutions, Inc.

PURE provides proprietary technology, marketing solutions and branding services to hotel operators and condominium owners. The Company's vision is to build competitive operations in the areas of (i) online marketing and hotel internet booking engine services, (ii) hotel branding and, (iii) own, operate and in some instances develop, boutique hotels under the new "by PURE" brand. PURE is the creator of Oveedia (www.Oveedia.com), the Central American-Caribbean online travel hub.

Related Links:

Pure Hospitality Solutions Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/purehss/

Pure Hospitality Solutions Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PUREnow

Pure Hospitality Solutions Twitter: https://twitter.com/purehss

Pure Hospitality Solutions Google: https://plus.google.com/+PurenowSolutionsplus/

Pure Hospitality Solutions LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pure-hospitality-solution

Safe Harbor Statements in this news release that are not historical facts, including statements about plans and expectations regarding products and opportunities, demand and acceptance of new or existing products, capital resources and future financial results are forward-looking. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties which may cause the Company's actual results in future periods to differ materially from those expressed. These uncertainties and risks include changing consumer preferences, lack of success of new products, loss of the Company's customers, competition and other factors discussed from time to time in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Contact:

Team PURE

IR Div.

(800) 889-9509






WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. Defense Department says a U.S. military airstrike targeting an operational meeting of senior al-Qaeda leaders in northwestern Syria resulted in 'several enemy killed,' possibly including the terrorist organization's leader.



'We assess that al-Qaida's senior leader, Abu Firas al-Suri, was in that meeting, and we are working to confirm his death,' Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook told reporters Monday.



Suri, a Syrian national, worked with Osama bin Laden and other founding al-Qaida members to train terrorists and conduct attacks on a global scale, Cook said, adding that he was a 'legacy' al-Qaida member who fought in Afghanistan in the 1980s and 1990s.



In addition, the Defense Department has confirmed that al-Shabab senior leader Hassan Ali Dhoore was killed in a March 31 U.S. military airstrike in Somalia, Cook said. As one of the top leaders of al-Qaida's Somalian affiliate, Dhoore was a member of al-Shabaab's security and intelligence wing and was heavily involved in high-profile attack planning in Mogadishu, Cook said.



'He has planned and overseen attacks resulting in the death of at least three U.S. citizens,' the press secretary said, adding that the United States continues to work with the international community to mitigate conflict in Somalia and to provide a safe and secure environment for the people of Somalia.



Cook also confirmed the death of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant battlefield commander thought to be responsible for the March 19 death of Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Louis F. Cardin of Temecula, California.



The ISIL fighter has been identified as Jasim Khadijah, who was directly connected to the enemy rocket attack on Cardin's base, he said.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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NAIROBI, Kenya, April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

The Kenya Red Cross advances their Always There connectivity with a unique, holistic, world's first humanitarian smartphone app that allows Kenya Red Cross to deliver on its mandate - alleviate human suffering.

Kenya Red Cross Society has over the years, garnered accolades from external actors in recognition of the Society's outstanding commitment to humanitarian issues, and demonstration of excellence in the ICT industry.

We havedeveloped a mobile application on both Android and iOS platforms. An initiative that demonstrates our positioning and diligence as one of the leading National Societies in Africa using innovation and technology to address humanitarian needs and mobilise humanity into the 21st century.

A smartphone app built for the people of Kenya, a first of its kind, enables the user to access:

Emergency Services at the touch of a button - using the app, members can call an ambulance quickly, allowing KRCS to reach more Kenyans in the hour of need. Emergency News and Alerts - the app allows users to receive verified, timely and life saving information during an emergency or crisis Blood - the app will help Kenya Red Cross mobilise donors to donate blood and address the current shortage in Kenya . Membership - become a member of Kenya Red Cross Society and make a difference to the lives of Kenyans.

This is the most advanced humanitarian aid app available in the world today. The majority of humanitarian apps that are available to download can only do a specific function. The KRCS App has twelve functions that include vital features such as Emergency Alerts, Ambulance Services and Blood Donations.

The development of this application is an important milestone for the Kenya Red Cross Society who will lead the global Red Cross and Red Crescent fraternity as the first National Society to launch this application.

Arnolda Shiundu

Communications Manager

Kenya Red Cross Society

Tel: +254-20-600-3593/395000

Mobile: +254-718-000825

Email: shiundu.arnolda@redcross.or.ke


CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/05/16 -- Good Earth Coffeehouse (Good Earth) burst onto the Canadian coffee scene 25 years ago and continues an impressive expansion plan across the country. The coffeehouse has stayed true to the concept that has made it a favourite among customers: exceptional coffee and wholesome, fresh food in a welcoming and community-oriented environment.

This year, Good Earth, which has opened coffeehouses in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario, celebrates the opening of its first location back in 1991. Good Earth has since seen substantial growth and has expanded to new markets with more than 45 locations in major centres across Canada. The expansion continues with new stores opening in Vancouver, Ottawa and Toronto in 2016.

New Good Earth Coffeehouse locations include an open kitchen that allows guests to see their food being prepared on the spot. Newly hired Corporate Chef Kari Ginakos has also reinvigorated the food menu by merging customer favourites with delicious, new items customers can feel good about. The open kitchen concept is a nod to Good Earth's early coffeehouses.

"We founded our company on strong, ethical values with a vision to remain authentic. Good Earth's atmosphere and fresh, wholesome food resonates with customers and separates us from typical coffee shops," said Michael Going, Founder and CEO, Good Earth Coffeehouse. "We've remained true to our core values with every new store we've opened and are proud of the growth we've achieved over the past 25 years. We're excited to bring the Good Earth experience to coffee lovers in other Canadian markets."

The company has fostered a social environment where community always comes first. More than a grab-and-go stop, Good Earth has successfully created a social gathering place that provides top-quality espresso drinks. "Coffeehouses are a social medium," says Nan Eskenazi, Founder, Good Earth Coffeehouse. "Communal tables and a warm, open design have been part of the success and have made our customers happy. We've grown one community and one location at a time starting with one coffeehouse in a small Calgary neighbourhood. We've seen tremendous growth and success by striving to incorporate every Good Earth Coffeehouse into the fabric of the community it's located in."

Good Earth was one of the first to offer the Canadian customer a true 'coffeehouse experience.' Furthermore, Good Earth continues to uphold its commitment to environmental sustainability by advocating ethically-sourced coffee, responsible farming, compostable packaging, and green energy. By partnering with farmers who promote environmental sustainability, Good Earth establishes direct trade practices that help improve communities where coffee is grown. Through numerous conservation initiatives, the company continues to plant a sustainable future for generations to come.

For more information about Good Earth, please visit www.goodearthcoffeehouse.com.

About Good Earth Coffeehouse:

Good Earth is a network of authentic coffeehouses with over 45 locations throughout Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Ontario. The first Good Earth Coffeehouse opened in Calgary in 1991. Founders Nan Eskenazi and Michael Going, began with a desire to serve exceptional coffee and wholesome food, with a down-to-earth attitude. Good Earth has focused on creating a unique experience for customers through the combination of a distinctive coffeehouse environment with social and environmental responsibility. The company has grown through franchising, and remains true to the original mission... to be a coffeehouse with good food.

Contacts:

Brookline Public Relations, Inc.

Madison Olyniuk

403-660-6747

molyniuk@brooklinepr.com






WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - PulteGroup Inc. (PHM) said that it believe its Founder Bill Pulte's campaign is misguided and is not in the best interests of shareholders.



In a letter to shareholders from James J. Postl, the Lead Independent Director for the Board of Directors, said that the shareholders may have seen the letter to Board of Directors that was recently made public by Bill Pulte, who founded PulteGroup in 1950, stepped down as Chairman in August 2009, and currently owns 8.87% of PulteGroup stock. Mr Pulte's made various allegations and attacks against the Company, its management and its strategy.



The company wanted to provide its shareholders with the facts relating to recent actions by Mr. Pulte, his grandson and one of directors, Jim Grosfeld, in their attempt to influence considered succession planning process and change the strategic direction of PulteGroup.



In addition, the company wants to reassure its shareholders that the Board stands firmly behind the Company's Value Creation strategy, which has produced significantly higher profitability and shareholder returns since Richard Dugas, its CEO, and his team began implementing it in 2011. The company also is strongly supportive of its CEO as he continues to execute that plan over the coming year, and as he assists us in the process of identifying the next generation of leadership to continue the Value Creation plan.



The company said it added Mr. Grosfeld as a director effective December 2015, at the suggestion of Mr. Pulte. The Board's decision not to nominate him as a Director at the May 2016 annual meeting reflects his participation in a number of actions over the past several weeks that the company believes is inconsistent with acceptable norms of corporate governance and without due regard for the interests of ALL shareholders.



In connection with certain events, Mr. Dugas attempted to defuse the situation by offering to accelerate and make public his retirement plans. Before the demands and threats by Mr. Pulte (supported by Mr. Grosfeld), Mr. Dugas had shared with the Board his preliminary thinking about retiring sometime in the next couple of years and had begun to set the stage for an orderly succession with some well-considered promotions of individuals who would have the potential to follow him.



James J. Postl noted that the recent Pulte/Grosfeld attacks have been targeted at Mr. Dugas, and in particular seem to revolve around their unhappiness that the headquarters was moved from Detroit, Michigan to Atlanta, Georgia while Mr. Dugas was CEO - a decision spearheaded by the Board. The Board not only thanks Mr. Dugas for his outstanding leadership, but the magnanimity he has displayed in offering to accelerate and make public his decision to retire, in the spirit of avoiding a costly, contested public battle with the Pultes that would risk destroying value for shareholders.



On Monday, PulteGroup announced Richard Dugas, Jr. intends to retire as Chairman and CEO at the May 2017 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. PulteGroup said Dugas' decision to retire is due in part to the actions of Bill Pulte, who founded the company in 1950, Pulte's grandson, and Jim Grosfeld, who was appointed to the Board in December at the behest of Pulte. These individuals recently demanded an immediate CEO change and a different direction for the company.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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NEW YORK, NY -- (Marketwired) -- 04/05/16 -- Norm Champ, a partner in the Funds Group of Kirkland & Ellis LLP and former Director of the Division of Investment Management at the SEC, will be participating in three events during the month of April.

April 6th, New York, NY, at the Spring 2016 Exchange-Traded-Products (ETP) Forum, hosted by Expert Series, an organization dedicated to providing educational events to the investment community.

Champ will moderate the panel "The Evolution of ETP Structures."

April 12th, New York, NY, at the April Breakfast Briefing, hosted by Compliance Reporter, a publication providing practical and actionable information for investment, securities and bank compliance officers and their advisers.

Champ will speak on the topic "Fair Valuation and Mutual Fund Use of Pricing Services."

April 18th, Bermuda, at the Regulation, Operations and Compliance Symposium, hosted by the Regulatory Compliance Association, which provides continuing education and events for compliance officers.

Champ will speak on a panel discussing the latest compliance tactics, developments and priorities for the alternative investment community.

"Increasing financial regulation and enforcement means investment firms and advisors must dedicate ever more time to their compliance operations," said Champ. "I look forward to discussing the latest developments and offering insights that can help advisors navigate the current regulatory landscape."

About Norm Champ:

Norm Champ (http://normchamp.com/ @NormBChamp) is a partner in the Funds Group of Kirkland & Ellis LLP and the former Director of the Division of Investment Management at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). He is also a lecturer on Investment Management Law at Harvard Law School. Mr. Champ has written a book called Going Pubic about his experience at the SEC and is negotiating a contract with a major publisher. Before joining the SEC in 2010, Mr. Champ was Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Chilton Investment Company, an investment adviser to long/short equity hedge funds and managed accounts. Mr. Champ has an A.B., summa cum laude, in History from Princeton University and a J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School. He was a Fulbright Scholar at King's College London where he received his M.A. in War Studies. Prior to joining Chilton in 1999, Mr. Champ was with the law firm of Davis Polk & Wardwell and clerked for the Honorable Charles S. Haight, Jr. of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Taryn Burks

917-675-6244

Email Contact






ATLANTA (dpa-AFX) - Virgin America Inc. (VA) has retained its top ranking in airline quality among the thirteen biggest U.S. airlines in 2015 for the fourth year in a row. The ranking came on Monday, the same day that Alaska Air Group Inc. (ALK) said it has agreed to acquire Virgin America for $2.6 billion.



Despite a slightly lower score than in 2014, Virgin America retained its top position. JetBlue Airways Corp. (JBLU) rose two spots from the prior year to finish second, while Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL) maintained its third position.



The rankings are part of the 26th annual Airline Quality Rating or AQR report, co-authored by Dean Headley, a researcher at Wichita State University's business school, and Brent Bowen, dean of the College of Aviation at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.



The rankings rate the thirteen largest U.S. airlines in four categories over the 2015 calendar year.



The report showed that the airline industry improved slightly in overall performance quality over the previous year. Taking all the thirteen rated airlines together, the Airline Quality Rating or AQR score for the industry improved from a level of -1.24 in 2014 to -1.21 in 2015.



The study found that improved performance was seen in three of the four areas tracked, compared to the prior year. The airline industry improved its on-time arrival performance, rate of involuntary denied boardings and the rate of mishandled baggages.



However, the rate of customer complaints rose 37 percent from the prior year and to its highest level in 15 years, even with improved performance in important areas.



'Bigger has produced some operating gains for the airlines, but customer perceptions of poor outcomes are still reflected in a higher number of customer complaints for the year,' said Dean Headley.



Six airlines - Delta, ExpressJet, JetBlue, SkyWest, Southwest, and United - showed improvement in AQR scores in 2015. Of these, ExpressJet and SkyWest had the largest improvements in their AQR scores for 2015.



Six other airlines - Alaska, American, Envoy Air, Frontier, Hawaiian and Virgin America - all had a decline in their 2015 AQR score. Frontier had the largest decline in AQR score for 2015.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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5 April 2016

Capita plc

Notice of Annual General Meeting

Capita plc will hold its Annual General Meeting at 11.00am on Tuesday 10 May 2016 at Deutsche Bank, 1 Great Winchester Street, London EC2N 2DB.

Pursuant to Listing Rule 9.6.1, copies of the following documents have been submitted to the National Storage Mechanism and will shortly be available for inspection at http://www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/NSM :

* Notice of Meeting for the 2016 Annual General Meeting

* Form of Proxy

These documents are also available on the Company's website: www.capita.com/shareholders

Contact: Francesca Todd, Group Company Secretary, 020 7202 0641
The Board of Panevezio statybos trestas AB proposes the following draft resolutions to be adopted at the Annual General Shareholders' Meeting to be held at 10:00 on Thursday, 28 April 2016, at Puzino Str. 1, Panevezys:1. The conclusions of the audit regarding the Financial Statement and Annual Report of the Company for the year 2015.Information heard.1. The Annual Report of the Company for the year 2015.Information heard.1. Approval of the set of Financial Statements of the Company for the year 2015.To approve the sets of Consolidated and Individual Financial Statements of Panevezio statybos trestas AB for the year 2015.1. Appropriation of profit (loss) of the Company for the year 2015.To approve the following appropriation of profit (loss) of Panevezio statybos trestas AB for the year 2015:Unappropriated profit (loss) of the previous financial year at the end of the accounting financial year - 32,206,158 EUR;Dividends paid - - 1,079,100 EUR;Net profit (loss) of the accounting financial year - 328,238 EUR;Profit (loss) of the accounting financial year unrecognized in profit (loss) statement - 154,352 EUR;Transfers from reserves - 0 EUR;Contributions of shareholders to cover the loss of the Company (in case of the shareholders' decision to cover all or a part of loss) - 0 EUR;Total profit (loss) available for appropriation - 31,609,648 EUR;a part of profit to the legal reserve - 613 EUR;a part of profit to the reserve for the acquisition of own shares - 0 EUR;a part of profit to other reserves - 0 EUR;a part of profit for dividend paying - 261,977 EUR;a part of profit for bonuses (tantiemes) for the members of the Board and Supervisory Board, premium pays for employees and other purposes - 65,647 EUR;Unappropriated profit (loss) at the end of the accounting financial year transferred to the next financial year - 31,281,411 EUR.To allocate dividends in the amount of 0.016023 EUR for each ordinary share of Panevezio statybos trestas AB of the nominal value of 0.29 EUR. The total amount to be allocated for dividends is 261,977 EUR.1. Election of the members for the audit committee.To elect the following members to the audit committee:-- Drasutis Liatukas (as an independent member) -- Lina Rageliene -- Regina Sukareviciene6. Conversion of the authorized capital and nominal value of the shares of Panevezio statybos trestas AB from expression in Litas to expression in Euros.Following the provisions of the Law on Introduction of the Euro in the Republic of Lithuania and the Law on Redenomination to the Euro of the Capital and Nominal Value of Securities of Public Limited Liability Companies and Private Limited Liability Companies and Amendment of the Articles of Association of These Companies of the Republic of Lithuania, to convert the nominal value of one share of Panevezio statybos trestas AB from 1 (one) Litas to 0.29 Euro (twenty nine hundredth Euro) and determine accordingly the expression of the authorised capital of the Company in Euros to be 4,741,500 (four million seven hundred forty one thousand five hundred) Euros divided into 16,350,000 (sixteen million three hundred fifty thousand) ordinary registered shares.7. Approval of the new revision of the Articles of Association of Panevezio statybos trestas AB.7.1. Considering the decision taken on conversion of the authorized capital and nominal value of the shares of Panevezio statybos trestas AB from expression in Litas to expression in Euros and amendments to be made covering only conversion of the authorized capital and nominal value of the shares of the Company from expression in Litas to expression in Euros, to approve the new revision of the Articles of Association of the Company.7.2. To authorise Dalius Gesevicius, the Managing Director of Panevezio statybos trestas AB to sign the new revision of the Articles of Association of Panevezio statybos trestas AB (Appendix) and perform all necessary actions related to implementation of the decision taken.Dalius GeseviciusManaging DirectorPanevezio statybos trestas ABInformationPhone: (+370 45) 505 503Attachment:https://cns.omxgroup.com/cds/DisclosureAttachmentServlet?messageAttachmentId=554943
SAN JOSE, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/05/16 --



WHO:

Kilopass Technology, Inc., the leading provider of semiconductor embedded non-volatile memory (eNVM) intellectual property (IP)

WHAT:

Will be an exhibitor sponsor of the UMC Technology Forum, highlighting its X2Bit bitcell technology with 10X power reduction. Kilopass' representatives will be available to discuss the antifuse eNVM IP's ultra-low power and high-performance features, fast access speed, megabits of capacity, more than 10 years of data retention and flexible programming options.

WHERE:

Evergreen Laurel Hotel, Pudong Shanghai, China

WHEN:

Thursday, April 14, from 9 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.

For more information about Kilopass' portfolio of eNVM IP, visit: www.kilopass.com

About Kilopass

Kilopass Technology, Inc., is the leader in embedded non-volatile memory (NVM) intellectual property (IP). Its patented technologies of one-time programmable (OTP) NVM solutions have boundless capacity to scale to advanced CMOS process geometries. They are portable to every major foundry and integrated device manufacturer (IDM), and meet market demands for increased integration, higher densities, lower cost, low-power management, better reliability and improved security. Trusted by today's best-known brands, Kilopass' technology has been integrated by more than 170 customers, with 10-billion units shipped in over 400 industrial, automotive, consumer electronics, mobile, analog and mixed-signal, and internet of things (IoT) chip designs. For more information, visit www.kilopass.com or email info@kilopass.com

Follow Kilopass on Twitter at @kilopass

For more information, contact:

Nanette Collins

Public Relations for Kilopass Technology, Inc.

(617) 437-1822

nanette@nvc.com



Mary Svoboda

Kilopass Technology, Inc.

(408) 709-2861

m.svoboda@kilopass.com




Information concerning the availability of preparatory documentation

Regulatory News:

The shareholders of the SOCIETE FONCIERE LYONNAISE (Paris:FLY) are invited to participate in the Annual General Meeting that will take place on Tuesday April 26, 2016, at 11am in the Business Center cloud.paris, at 10 bis rue du 4 septembre, in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris.

Notice of the meeting was published in the Bulletin des Annonces Legales et Obligatoires (Bulletin of Mandatory Legal Notices or BALO) on 21 March, 2016 (Bulletin n 35 publication n 1600869).

This notice contains the agenda and draft resolutions as well as the conditions for participating in and voting at this meeting. This notice can also be consulted on the Company's website: http://www.fonciere-lyonnaise.com/en/publications/general-meetings

In accordance with the provisions of article R.225-88 of the French Commercial Code, any shareholder in possession of registered shares may ask to receive a copy of the documents and information covered by articles R225-81 and R225-83 of the French Commercial Code.

For holders of bearer shares, the exercise of this right is subject to the presentation of a certificate of registration on the register of bearer shares held by the authorised intermediary.

Shareholders can also consult these documents at the headquarters of the SOCIETE FONCIERE LYONNAISE (42 rue Washington, 75008 PARIS).

About SFL

Leader on the prime segment of the Parisian tertiary real estate market, the Societe Fonciere Lyonnaise stands out for the quality of its property portfolio, which is valued at 5.2 billion and is concentrated on the Central Business District of Paris (Louvre Saint-Honore, Edouard VII, Washington Plaza, etc.), and for the quality of its client portfolio, which is composed of prestigious companies in the consulting, media, digital, luxury, finance and insurance sectors.

Stock market: Euronext Paris Compartment A Euronext Paris ISIN FR0000033409 Bloomberg: FLY FP Reuters: FLYP PA

S&P rating: BBB stable outlook

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160405006348/en/

Contacts:

SFL

Thomas Fareng, Phone +33 (0)1 42 97 01 51

t.fareng@fonciere-lyonnaise.com

www.fonciere-lyonnaise.com
VIENNA (dpa-AFX) - The application of a new metric of seasonal onset over Europe to existing observational datasets indicates that the start of summer has advanced significantly over recent decades, a trend expected to continue under global warming. New research shows that summer conditions are now arriving 10 days earlier in Europe than four decades ago, and could be up to 20 days early by century's end if the current pace of carbon emissions continues, according to a new study by French scientists published Monday. Because of climate change, summer conditions are now arriving in late March across Europe, which disrupts everything from blooming flowers to migrating birds. The study finds evidence of climate change altering seasonal weather conditions across the Northern Hemisphere. 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) - New York Senator Charles Schumer has called for a federal investigation into a smartphone-shaped gun that can slip into pocket, before it hits the market.



A US company that specializes in concealed weaponry had designed a two-shot pistol resembling a smartphone that will be virtually undetectable in its locked position, and can safely slip into one's pocket or purse. .



The ground breaking double-barreled .380 caliber folding pistol was designed by the Minnesota-based Ideal Conceal.



The company says it aims to deliver a high quality handgun that can be deployed very quickly for personal defense or for one's family. The idea for Ideal Conceal follows the present-day demand for handguns that people can carry on a day to day basis, in a manner that makes carrying a gun easy to do.



In its locked position it will be virtually undetectable because it hides in plain sight.



But, according to Senator Schumer, it is 'just a disaster waiting to happen,' because it is a potentially illegal weapon.



At a news conference in New York on Monday, Schumer urged the federal Department of Justice and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to investigate before giving permission for its sale, saying it posed a threat to law enforcement authorities as well as the public, who wouldn't know if a suspect was pulling out a phone or a gun.



The Senator says the design of the gun violates federal law, Since guns that look like wallets, pens and knives are illegal under the law, a handgun that looks exactly like a smartphone could also be illegal, he told reporters.



Ideal Conceal Pistol is priced at $395, and will be available for purchase mid-2016, the company says.



Kirk Kjellberg, CEO Ideal Conceal, said marketing for the gun has begun and it has generated great interest with thousands of requests, including from law enforcement.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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NEW ORLEANS, LA--(Marketwired - April 05, 2016) -marcus evans will host the 15 th Outage Management for Power Plants (OMPP) Conference on July 26-28, 2016 at the Astor Crowne Plaza in New Orleans. As it has for more than over a decade, this annual meeting provides power generation professionals with proven case studies on how to run outages efficiently without sacrificing operational excellence.

Heads of outage management, plant management and maintenance from power plants will reveal and uncover recent techniques to meet and surpass challenges associated with planning and scheduling, outage readiness programs, budget tracking, preventative and predictive maintenance programs, availability of quality craftsmen, scope development and control, regulatory / technical requirements, safety awareness, and risk management.

Hear What Our Attendees Think! Click Here for Video Testimonials

Attending this advanced conference will enable you to:

Optimize cost control practices and implement fleet-wide overhaul standardization with Pacificorp

Manage scope growth within your plant and ensure timeliness to guarantee a successful outage via FPL, Westar, and Idaho Power

Navigate outage capital and O&M expenses in real time with Dynegy

Analyze unit overhauls with 4D scheduling with Consumers Energy

Past Attendees Include:

TVA, AEP, Southern Company, Duke Energy, Cleco Corporation, Consumers Energy, Alliant Energy, Sempra Generation, Constellation Energy, Puget Sound Energy, PPL Corporation, OGE Energy, PNM Resources, Xcel Energy, Salt River Project, Entergy, FirstEnergy Corporation, We Energies, Georgia Power, DTE Energy, Ameren, Dominion Resources, NV Energy, Indianapolis Power & Light, and Ontario Power Generation

For more information, please take a look at the conference agenda or contact Tyler Kelch, Digital Marketing Manager at tylerke@marcusevansch.com

The 15 th OMPP meeting is co-located with the 8 th Chem/Petrochem and Refinery Shutdowns and Turnarounds Conference, which is the leading event for Shutdowns/Turnarounds, Maintenance and Reliability professionals from the chemical, petrochemical and refining industries.

Featuring Case Studies from Leading Outage & Power Plant Maintenance Experts, including:

Ken Sturtecky

Executive Director,

Fleet Outages

First Energy

Thomas Rich

Senior Outage

Scheduler

Consumers Energy

Chad Minor

Plant Leader, Outage

Management

Indianapolis Power

& Light Company

Jim Reilly

Plant Manager

Arizona Public

Service

Paul Von

Herstenberg

Outage Manager -

Lawrence Energy

Center

Westar Energy

Wes Havard

Regional Manager,

Operational

Excellence & Human

Performance

Luminant

William Francis

Outage Manager

Florida Power and Light

marcus evansannually produces 2,000 high quality conferences designed to provide strategic business information and networking opportunities for industry leaders

For more information:

Tyler Kelch

Digital Marketing Manager

tylerke@marcusevansch.com
CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/05/16 -- THIS NEWS RELEASE IS NOT FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES OR TO ANY UNITED STATES NEWS SERVICES.

3MV Energy Corp. ("3MV" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: TMV) updates previously disclosed receipt of notice from Invico Diversified Income Limited Partnership ("Invico") of default by 3MV under terms of a loan agreement dated October 31, 2014, demanding repayment of $6,000,000 principal outstanding together with accrued unpaid interest and notice of Invico's intention to enforce security.

Invico has realized on its security over all of 3MV's property and assets, in particular a share pledge of 100% of 3MV Operations which held substantially all of 3MV's petroleum assets, including its Fiske area leases in S.W. Saskatchewan.

3MV's board of directors remains in place, intends to seek stabilizing financial support, complete 3MV's December 31, 2015 audit and otherwise meet continuous disclosure obligations and seek a suitable acquisition.

TSX Venture Exchange has advised the Company will be transferred to NEX and will remain halted at this time. The Company is working with the Exchange towards getting the shares of the Company back to trading.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this news release constitute forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this document are based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by 3MV. Although 3MV believes that the expectations and assumptions on which the forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements because 3MV can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct.

Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks. These include, but are not limited to, the failure to obtain necessary regulatory approvals, failure to obtaining financing or inadequate levels of financing, credit risk, including failure to address trade creditors, secured lenders and other creditors, risks associated with the oil and gas industry in general and uncertainties resulting from potential delays or changes in plans with respect to financing, acquisitions, exploration or development projects or capital expenditures. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. Additional information on these and other factors that could affect 3MV's operations and financial results are included in reports on file with Canadian securities regulatory authorities and may be accessed through the SEDAR website (www.sedar.com).

The forward-looking statements contained in this document are made as of the date hereof and 3MV undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Contacts:

Dallas Duce

Interim CEO

(306) 637-4422



Jim Boyle

Chairman

(416) 867-8800 x1




CANTON, OH --(Marketwired - April 05, 2016) - Chairman of The Granted Wish Foundation, Rodney Napier, has been the driving force in assisting the reunion of a now 14-year-old Haitian child with his adoptive U.S. family. In an adoption case that lasted six years, Wisbens recently landed on U.S. Soil and became a permanent member of the Hazel Family.

The Granted Wish Foundation set out on its mission to coordinate the adoption for Wisbens after meeting him at New Life Children's Home in Haiti. After the devastating earthquake of 2010, Rodney Napier traveled to the country to help children and families in need of financial and emotional support. Wisbens, then age 10, had been trapped under a wall resulting in the amputation of his right leg. While at New Life, Rodney Napier and his team worked tirelessly to assist the children who had been affected by the disaster. Around the same time, they met Todd Hazel, a man from Bowling Green, Kentucky who was doing missionary work in Haiti. After witnessing the unique bond that Todd and Wisbens shared with each other, Napier's organization began the rigorous adoption process with Hazel. Finally, on January 20, 2016, Wisbens joined his new adoptive father Todd, his wife Jennifer, and their young son Maddox to start their life together.

"It has been a long journey, but we are so happy and proud for everything that The Granted Wish Foundation has achieved," says Rodney Napier. "It's rewarding to see Wisbens and the Hazels bond so naturally with each other. Wisbens life will now become a fairytale."

The Granted Wish Foundation, located in Canton, Ohio is a non-profit organization that provides wishes to enrich the lives of physically challenged children and young adults. By offering various programs and events, Rodney Napier through the Granted Wish has helped hundreds of children and young adults by assisting them through the very challenging times of their lives. Established by Napier in 2005, The Granted Wish Foundation is a Better Business Bureau-accredited charity that focusses on wish fulfillment, Rosalie's House -- an opportunity to provide local low-income families to live comfortably and their annual local Adopt A Family program providing household items, clothing, groceries and toys to those families in need. More than 550 wishes have been granted to date.

Rodney Napier is Chairman of Arthur Middleton Capital Holdings, a diverse family of ventures. Created from a single product idea, the company now has annual sales of more than $50 million and has expanded to more than 100 employees. Napier is also the head of Universal Physicians LLC, Lincoln Treasury, and NOD Real Estate LLC/Napier Florida Development, LLC. Among the most prominent subsidiaries subsidiary, Heat Surge LLC, is a leading distributor of electric fireplaces providing cost-effective and safe fireplaces nationwide. Businesses can learn more about getting involved with The Granted Wish Foundation by visiting GrantedWish.org or emailing scoletti@grantedwish.org.

Rodney Napier -- Business Leader and Philanthropist: http://rodneynapiernews.com

Rodney Napier -- Announces Granted Wish Surpasses 500 Wishes: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/rodney-napier-announces-granted-wish-223950142.html

Rodney Napier -- and AMCH Proudly Support The Granted Wish Foundation: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/rodney-napier-amch-proudly-support-205109091.html

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Copenhagen, 2016-04-05 18:21 CEST (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- No. 14/2016At the Annual General Meeting of ISS A/S (the "Company") held today, the annual report for 2015 was adopted. In addition, the Annual General Meeting decided:-- to distribute a dividend of DKK 7.40 per share of nominally DKK 1, and to allocate the remaining net profit for the year to retained earnings; -- to grant discharge of liability to members of the Board of Directors and the Executive Group Management Board; -- to authorise the Board of Directors in the period until 30 April 2017 to approve the Company's acquisition of treasury shares, on one or more occasions, with a total nominal value of up to 10% of the share capital of the Company, subject to the Company's holding of treasury shares after such acquisition not exceeding 10% of the Company's share capital; -- to approve the remuneration to the Board of Directors for 2016 based on the same remuneration level as for 2015; -- to re-elect Lord Allen of Kensington Kt CBE, Thomas Berglund, Claire Chiang, Henrik Poulsen and Cynthia Mary Trudell as members of the Board of Directors, and to elect Ben Stevens as new member of the Board of Directors; -- to re-elect Ernst & Young P/S as the Company's auditor; -- to approve the changes to the Company's Articles of Association proposed by the Board of Directors in respect of (a) English company announcements, (b) deletion of age limit for board members and (c) required number of members of the Executive Group Management Board; and -- to approve the amendments to the Remuneration Policy and the Overall Guidelines on Incentive Pay as proposed by the Board of Directors. .After the Annual General Meeting was held, the Board of Directors constituted itself by electing Lord Allen of Kensington Kt CBE as Chairman and Thomas Berglund as Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors.ISS A/SLord Allen of Kensington Kt CBEChairmanFor investor enquiries Nicholas Ward, Head of Group Investor Relations, +45 3817 6251 Martin Kjr Hansen, Investor Relations Manager, +45 3817 6431For media enquiries Manuel Vigilius, Global Media Relations Manager, +45 3817 6404About ISS The ISS Group was founded in Copenhagen in 1901 and has grown to become one of the world's leading Facility Services companies. ISS offers a wide range of services such as: Cleaning, Catering, Security, property and Support Services as well as Facility Management. Global revenue amounted to DKK 79.6 billion in 2015 and ISS has approximately 505,000 employees and activities in more than 75 countries across Europe, Asia, North America, Latin America and Pacific, serving thousands of both public and private sector customers. For more information on the ISS Group, visit www.issworld.com.ISS A/S, ISIN DK0060542181, ISIN US4651472056 ISS Global A/S, ISIN XS1145526585, ISIN XS1330300341, ISIN XS1145526825Attachment:https://cns.omxgroup.com/cds/DisclosureAttachmentServlet?messageAttachmentId=554859


The Weir Group PLC



2015 Annual Report and 2016 Annual General Meeting



The following documents have today been posted or otherwise made available to shareholders:



1. Annual Report and Financial Statements for the 52 weeks ended 1 January 2016 (the '2015 Annual Report'); 2. Notice of 2016 Annual General Meeting; 3. Form of Proxy for the 2016 Annual General Meeting; 4. Scrip Dividend Scheme Circular; and 5. Scrip Dividend Scheme Mandate.



In accordance with Listing Rule 9.6.1, a copy of each of these documents has been uploaded to the National Storage Mechanism and will be available for viewing shortly at http://www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/NSM.



The documents are also available on the Company's website at www.global.weir and in hard copy to shareholders upon request to Investor Relations, The Weir Group PLC, 1 West Regent Street, Glasgow, G2 1RW.



The Company's 2016 Annual General Meeting will be held at the Company's Head Office, 1 West Regent Street, Glasgow, G2 1RW, on Thursday 28 April 2016 at 2.30pm.



The Company's full year results announcement of 24 February 2016 contained a management report as well as the audited financial statements which were prepared in accordance with the applicable accounting standards. The 2015 Annual Report submitted to the National Storage Mechanism today also contains information regarding the Company's principal risks and uncertainties, related party transactions and a responsibility statement relating to the content of the 2015 Annual Report; an extract of this information is provided below as required under paragraph 6.3.5 of the DTR, however this material should be read in conjunction with and is not a substitute for reading the full 2015 Annual Report. Page numbers and cross-references in the following appendices refer to page numbers and cross-references in the 2015 Annual Report.



APPENDICES



Appendix A: Principal risks and uncertainties A description of the principal risks and uncertainties that the Company faces is extracted in full and unedited form from pages 24 to 29 of the 2015 Annual Report.



As in any business, there are risks and uncertainties which could impact the Group's ability to achieve its objectives in the future. However, we believe the Group's risk management and assurance framework makes this less likely. The Board has conducted a robust assessment of the principal risks, alongside the risk appetite statement set out on page 21, meeting the Board's responsibilities in connection with Risk Management and Internal Control detailed in the 2014 UK Corporate Governance Code. Each of the principal risks is assigned an owner from amongst the Board or Group senior management team and is either a standing agenda item at each Board meeting or subject to formal periodic review by the Board. A summary of principal risks and the Group's mitigating controls is presented at every Board meeting.



The Directors reviewed the Group's risk register, reassessed the validity of the principal risks identified in the prior year and considered whether any new principal risks have emerged or a risk is no longer considered a principal risk. The identified principal risks were subjected to a detailed assessment based on the following considerations: * severity of each risk; * existence and effectiveness of actions and internal controls which serve to mitigate the risk; * the overall effectiveness of the Group's control environment, including assurance and any identified control weaknesses or failings; and * the extent to which each of the principal risks could impact upon the Group's viability, in financial or operational terms, due to their potential effects on the business plan, solvency or liquidity.



The principal risks set out below are those which we believe to have the greatest potential to impact our ability to achieve the Group's strategic objectives or which have the greatest potential impact on the Group's solvency or liquidity.



+-----------------+--------------------+---------------------+-----------------+ | |Why we think this is|How we are mitigating|Changes during | |Risk |important |the risk |2015 | +-----------------+--------------------+---------------------+-----------------+ |Global economic conditions | |(Risk increasing; Considered as part of Viability Statement assessment) | +-----------------+--------------------+---------------------+-----------------+ |Changes in key |We need to remain | * We maintain |Market conditions| |markets, |sufficiently | regular |have remained | |including |flexible to allow us| engagement with |challenging | |commodity prices |to anticipate | our customers to |during 2015, with| |affecting mining |downturns, to allow | understand their |commodity prices | |and oil and |us to adjust our | needs and |in oil and gas | |gas, have an |operations | challenges, and |joining those in | |adverse impact on|accordingly, and | ensure our |minerals markets | |customers' |equally to meet | business is |at recent | |expenditure |growth in demand | appropriately |historical lows. | |plans. This may |when our customers' | aligned. |Necessary | |include delaying |markets are buoyant | * Our strategic |adjustments have | |existing |and therefore | planning utilises|been made to our | |expenditure |capital investment | extensive market |operations to | |commitments. |is high. Otherwise, | intelligence to |accommodate our | | |we are at risk of | assist in |customers' | | |incurring | forecasting |responses to | | |unnecessary costs | opportunities and|these market | | |during downturns, | dips in markets. |conditions. | | |and not maximising | * We maintain | | | |our potential for | contingency plans| | | |growth in buoyant | for downturns. | | | |markets. | | | | | | | | | |In challenging | | | | |market conditions, | | | | |our supply chain | | | | |risks are increased.| | | | |These are described | | | | |in more detail on | | | | |page 26. | | | +-----------------+--------------------+---------------------+-----------------+ |Technology and innovation | |(Risk increasing; Considered as part of Viability Statement assessment) | +-----------------+--------------------+---------------------+-----------------+ |We fail to drive |The strength of our | * Continual |The pace of | |innovation or to |business is built | investment in |technological | |react to emerging|upon a history of | research and |innovation | |technology |delivering | development, |continues to | |developments, and|innovative and | including the |increase as we | |therefore fail to|sustainable | Weir Advanced |and our | |ensure that the |solutions for our | Research Centre |competitors seek | |business |customers. | (WARC) in |to provide | |continues to |If we fail to keep | conjunction with |customers with | |deliver |abreast of market | the University of|solutions that | |sustainable and |needs or to innovate| Strathclyde. |improve the | |attractive |solutions, we are at| * We have a |efficiency of | |solutions for our|risk of losing | dedicated |their operations.| |customers. |market share to our | governance team |To ensure we | | |competitors and | (Engineering |continue to | | |lowering margins as | Excellence |retain | | |demand will reduce. | Committee) |competitive | | | | focused on the |advantage in this| | | | delivery of our |area, our | | | | strategic |existing research| | | | objectives for |and development | | | | technological |initiatives | | | | advances and |within the | | | | innovation to |business, at | | | | meet the needs of|WARC, and at | | | | our customers. |certain | | | | * Weir Technology |universities | | | | Advisory Board |around the world,| | | | established |have been | | | | comprising highly|enhanced through | | | | regarded experts |our partnership | | | | to ensure Weir |with Imperial | | | | continues to be |College London. | | | | at the leading |This partnership | | | | edge of |will help the | | | | technology |Group develop | | | | development in |game-changing | | | | our chosen |solutions to our | | | | industries. |customers' | | | | |challenges. We | | | | |are also devoting| | | | |additional | | | | |resources to | | | | |reviewing and | | | | |responding to | | | | |developing | | | | |technologies and | | | | |have signed an | | | | |agreement with | | | | |Microsoft | | | | |Corporation to | | | | |develop Internet | | | | |of Things (IoT) | | | | |technology. | | | | |Further | | | | |information on | | | | |progress made in | | | | |this area is set | | | | |out in the | | | | |Products and | | | | |Technology | | | | |section of the | | | | |Sustainability | | | | |Review on pages | | | | |58 and 59. | +-----------------+--------------------+---------------------+-----------------+ |Political and social risk | |(Risk unchanged; Considered as part of Viability Statement assessment) | +-----------------+--------------------+---------------------+-----------------+ |Adverse political|We operate across | * Regular review of|In response to | |action, or |the globe and | market |increased | |political and |therefore have to | attractiveness. |security risks, | |social |work within a wide | * Monitoring travel|arising from | |instability, in |range of political | by Weir employees|changes in the | |territories in |and social | to higher risk |political | |which we operate |conditions. Adverse | locations. |environment in | |may result in |events may occur in | * External expert |certain countries| |strategic, |the territories in | risk assessments |where the Group | |financial or |which we operate | and regular |has operations, | |personnel loss to|that may require us | monitoring in |enhancements have| |the Group. |to act swiftly to | higher risk |been made to the | | |protect our people, | locations. |Group's access to| | |our property and to | * Contingency plans|expert risk | | |maintain our | and exit strategy|assessments and | | |competitiveness, and| planning. |plans to respond | | |we need to be | * Our strategic |to adverse events| | |flexible and able to| planning assists |in higher risk | | |anticipate such | in forecasting |locations. During| | |issues. Expansions | potential |the course of | | |into new territories| political and |2015, the | | |are only undertaken | social |environment in | | |after rigorous | instability in |which a number of| | |assessment of the | regions. |the Group's | | |risks, including the| |businesses | | |social and political| |operate continued| | |situation within the| |to be challenging| | |territory. | |and uncertain, | | | | |especially from a| | | | |security | | | | |perspective. | | | | |During the year | | | | |we appointed a | | | | |Group Head of | | | | |Security to a | | | | |newly created | | | | |role designed to | | | | |improve the ways | | | | |in which these | | | | |concerns are | | | | |addressed and | | | | |mitigated. | +-----------------+--------------------+---------------------+-----------------+ |Supply chain management | |(Risk unchanged) | +-----------------+--------------------+---------------------+-----------------+ |Failure to |If we fail to | * Regular KPI |Supply chain | |achieve supply |improve our supply | monitoring of the|remains an area | |chain management |chain management, we| supply chain |of strategic | |improvements and |risk: | throughout the |focus for the | |the associated | * losing the | organisation. |Group. Supply | |reduction in | opportunity to | * The Group's |chain | |costs and | invest capital | operations are |improvements | |enhanced | into alternative| currently |continue to be | |flexibility. | value creating | implementing |recognised year | | | opportunities; | Value Chain |on year as the | | | * damaging our | Excellence |Group realises | | | reputation and | initiatives |benefits from its| | | as a consequence| amongst other |focused approach | | | losing customers| business |to these matters.| | | and market | improvement |In 2015, we have | | | share; | objectives. |seen underlying | | | * incurring | * Established |improvements in | | | penalties as a | Centres of |working capital, | | | result of late | Excellence drive |including circa | | | delivery | cost savings, |65m in our Oil &| | | contractual | efficiencies and |Gas division, and| | | clauses; | enhance delivery |substantial | | | * reducing margins| standards whilst |progress in | | | by incurring | maintaining |improving on- | | | unnecessary | quality. |time-delivery for| | | additional costs| * The Group's |all divisions | | | associated with | forward purchase |with a 21% and | | | late remedial | commitments are |20% improvement | | | actions taken to| being closely |in Oil & Gas and | | | avoid missing | monitored to |Power & | | | delivery | manage |Industrial | | | targets; and | inventories at |respectively. A | | | * holding excess | levels |programme of | | | inventory in the| appropriate to |Value Chain | | | event of a | market |Excellence | | | market downturn.| conditions. |initiatives has | | | | * Our credit risk |been launched | | | | management |throughout the | | | | procedures are |Group to drive | | | | under continuous |supply chain | | | | appraisal and |improvements. | | | | their application| | | | | is subject to | | | | | specific internal| | | | | audit review. | | +-----------------+--------------------+---------------------+-----------------+ |Environment, health and safety (EHS) | |(Risk unchanged; Considered as part of Viability Statement assessment) | +-----------------+--------------------+---------------------+-----------------+ |Failure to |We operate in |The Weir Behavioural |The Group is | |adequately |hazardous |Safety system is in |never complacent | |protect our |environments, and |place to reduce the |in relation to | |people and other |therefore have a |risk of safety |EHS matters. | |stakeholders from|fundamental duty to |incidents. In |Committed to | |harm associated |protect our people |addition, there are |achieving the | |with a breach in |and other |initiatives to |highest of | |EHS standards. |stakeholders from |prevent the most |standards, the | | |harm whilst |common accident |Group continues | | |conducting our |types. The Weir |to set higher | | |business. As well as|global EHS standards |benchmarks for | | |the personal impact |are continually |EHS compliance | | |on our people |reviewed. |and roll out | | |resulting from a | * The EHS |cohesive | | |failure to meet this| Excellence |programmes to | | |obligation, we would| Committee is |address EHS risks| | |also be at risk of: | responsible for |and drive safe | | | * reputational | monitoring |and sustainable | | | damage leading | performance and |working | | | to a loss of | compliance with |practices. | | | customers; | Group objectives,|Improvements have| | | * legal action | policies and |been made | | | from regulators,| standards |throughout the | | | including fines | relating to EHS. |year to our EHS | | | and penalties; | * There is a formal|Board reporting | | | and | EHS assurance |and assurance | | | * exclusion from | programme with |activities and | | | markets | issues escalated |our key | | | important for | as required |performance | | | our future | through the |indicators in | | | growth. | reporting |place to measure | | | | structures. |our success in | | | | |mitigating EHS | | | | |risks continue to| | | | |show improvement.| +-----------------+--------------------+---------------------+-----------------+ |Contract risk | |(Risk decreasing; Considered as part of Viability Statement assessment) | +-----------------+--------------------+---------------------+-----------------+ |We fail to |We operate in an | * The Group has |Contract | |adequately manage|increasingly complex| policies and |management has | |contract risk and|and competitive | procedures for |become an area of| |as a result |environment where | contract |increased focus | |commit to |customers are not | acceptance and |for the Group, | |obligations which|only highly focused | approval. |given the | |the Group is |on price and service| * These are under |competitive | |unable to meet |but are also more | continuous review|environment. | |without incurring|challenging in | and improvement |Amongst other | |significant |contract | to ensure they |initiatives, | |unplanned costs. |negotiations. | are adequate for |certain of the | | | | current and |Group's policies | |In addition, |As we offer a | future |and procedures | |failure to follow|broader range of | circumstances. |have been | |Group policies |products and | * The tools and |reviewed and | |and procedures |services to our | training |refreshed to | |may lead to |customers, including| available to |provide employees| |commitments |those that are more | employees |with improved | |without the |technologically | responsible for |tools to assist | |desired level of |advanced, we risk | contract |them in their | |contractual |exposing the Group | management are |contract | |protections. |to reputational and | similarly under |management | | |financial loss | continuous |activities. | | |should our contract | review. | | | |acceptance, | | | | |negotiation and | | | | |approval processes | | | | |fail to protect the | | | | |Group accordingly. | | | +-----------------+--------------------+---------------------+-----------------+ |IT security and continuity | |(Risk unchanged) | +-----------------+--------------------+---------------------+-----------------+ |Failure to |Up-to-date data | * We continually |IT security and | |maintain business|allows us to make | review the |continuity | |systems or |informed decisions | effectiveness of |continues to be a| |technical |about our business. | our key IT |matter of | |infrastructure |Therefore, we | security controls|strategic | |that serves the |require reliable and| in consultation |priority for the | |business needs. |efficient IT systems| with external |Group. Progress | | |and infrastructure | experts. |to strengthen the| |Failure to |to provide our data | * There is regular |Group's defences | |successfully |requirements. | reporting of |in this respect | |execute changes |Breaches of our IT | unplanned outages|is being made, | |to these business|security could have | and potential |including | |systems or |serious consequences| security |developing the | |technical |for our business, | breaches, with |Weir Cloud | |infrastructure; |including: | lessons learned |programme which | |together with | * interruption to | across the Group.|aims to | |failure to | business | * We have an IT |rationalise our | |minimise | operations; and | Governance |IT infrastructure| |disruption and | * loss of | Framework with a |and service. | |maintain business| intellectual | focus on | | |as usual activity| property and | structured change| | |during technical | other sensitive | management | | |infrastructure or| data. | techniques, | | |business system | | including setting| | |changes. |The Group is | project | | | |investing in a | governance levels| | |Failure to |significant IT | in line with | | |adequately |transformation | risk. | | |protect the |programme. If this | * External | | |business |is not managed | assurance being | | |operations from |effectively, the | obtained on the | | |cybercrime. |consequences could | Tier 1 IT | | | |include interruption| transformation | | | |to business | projects. | | | |operations if data | * The security | | | |is unavailable due | arrangements | | | |to unsuccessful | around all of the| | | |execution of change,| Group's | | | |impacting our | information | | | |ability to compete | assets will be | | | |and our reputation | revised following| | | |in the market. | the transition to| | | | | the Weir Cloud | | | |At present, the | infrastructure. | | | |Group's principal | * Policies, | | | |exposures to | procedures and | | | |cybercrime relate to| baseline | | | |the misappropriation| standards in | | | |of cash and data. | relation to cyber| | | |Our revenue streams | risk and IT | | | |are largely | security more | | | |protected as our | generally are | | | |products are not | continuously | | | |currently electronic| updated and | | | |in nature and we do | rolled out to | | | |not, as a rule, | operations. A | | | |transact over the | programme of user| | | |internet. | training in | | | | | relation to cyber| | | | | risk is being | | | | | rolled out. | | +-----------------+--------------------+---------------------+-----------------+ |Cost competitiveness | |(Risk unchanged) | +-----------------+--------------------+---------------------+-----------------+ |Failure to |Customers are | * There is |Cost | |deliver cost |increasingly focused| continual focus |competitiveness | |competitive |on the price | on maximising the|remains a | |products and |competitiveness of | efficiency of our|strategic | |services, or |products and | products to |priority for the | |failure to |services as they | ensure the |Group. | |deliver |seek to lower | solutions |Initiatives to | |sufficiently |operating costs. If | provided to |expand production| |differentiated |the Group fails to | customers deliver|in best-cost | |products and |demonstrate the | the best overall |locations are | |services which |value of our | value, allowing |developing in | |justify a price |products and | our customers to |South Africa and | |premium through |services, it risks | meet their cost |Malaysia and the | |lowest total cost|losing market | reduction |procurement | |of ownership |position. | strategies |function | |value | | through lower |continues to | |propositions. | | energy costs and |drive cost and | | | | improved |quality | | | | productivity. |improvements | | | | * The key component|through the | | | | Centres of |Group's supply | | | | Excellence are |chain. | | | | driving cost | | | | | efficiencies, | | | | | whilst | | | | | maintaining | | | | | quality. | | | | | * Expansion of | | | | | production in | | | | | best-cost | | | | | locations, | | | | | including foundry| | | | | expansions in | | | | | Malaysia and | | | | | South Africa. | | | | | * We regularly | | | | | monitor market | | | | | activity to | | | | | ensure we remain | | | | | competitive. | | +-----------------+--------------------+---------------------+-----------------+ |Ethics and governance | |(Risk unchanged) | +-----------------+--------------------+---------------------+-----------------+ |Interactions with|We are unwilling to | * The Code of |The governance | |our people, |accept dishonest or | Conduct, |and legislative | |customers, |corrupt behaviour | supplemented with|environment in | |suppliers and |from our people, or | Group policies on|which the Group | |other |external parties | related topics, |operates | |stakeholders are |acting on our | provides a clear |continues to | |not conducted |behalf, whilst | benchmark for how|evolve and become| |with the highest |conducting our | we expect our |more complex. The| |standards of |business. If we fail| business will be |Group has further| |integrity which |to act with | conducted. |developed and | |devalues our |integrity, we are at| * Regular training |grown its | |reputation. |risk of: | is provided using|operations in | | | * reputational | a range of |geographies where| | | damage leading | mechanisms |ethical standards| | | to a loss of | including Town |may not be as | | | customers; | Hall style |well established | | | * increased | sessions, online |as in other | | | scrutiny from | and induction |countries. The | | | regulators; | training. |Group has | | | * legal action | * The financial |reinforced its | | | from regulators | control framework|commitment to | | | including fines,| is continually |high standards of| | | penalties and | monitored for |ethics and | | | imprisonment; | effectiveness. |governance | | | and | * Internal Audit's |through the Code | | | * exclusion from | remit includes |of Conduct and | | | markets | regular review of|completed a | | | important for | the anti-bribery |programme of | | | our future | and corruption |training for key | | | growth. | and financial |individuals. In | | | | controls across |addition, the | | | | the Group. The |Group has | | | | Group Legal team |developed and | | | | is responsible |issued a Group | | | | for monitoring |Competition Law | | | | compliance with |Manual, which | | | | the Code of |again is being | | | | Conduct. |accompanied by | | | | |related training | | | | |for those in | | | | |relevant roles. | +-----------------+--------------------+---------------------+-----------------+ |Staff recruitment, development and retention | |(Risk increased (new)) | +-----------------+--------------------+---------------------+-----------------+ |Failure to |Our people represent| * Promotion of the |Recognising the | |recruit, develop |our biggest asset | Weir Group Values|ever increasing | |or retain key |and failure to | & Behaviours, |need to recruit, | |management and |attract, develop and| Code of Conduct |develop and | |staff may lead to|retain key | and HR Policies |retain the very | |disruption to the|management and staff| sets the |best staff, this | |Group's |would have a | standards and |was included | |operations, |detrimental impact | expectations for |within our | |functions and |on the Group's | all our staff, |Principal Risk | |processes. |ability to deliver | reinforcing our |assessment during| | |our key strategic | stated commitment|the year. We | | |objectives. | to attracting and|continue to focus| | | | retaining the |on these key | | | | very best people.|areas including | | | | * High performer |obtaining | | | | assessments are |feedback through | | | | undertaken to |staff surveys and| | | | identify and |measuring the | | | | develop our very |success of our | | | | best talent. |Leadership and | | | | Succession plans |Development | | | | are in place and |Programmes. | | | | periodically |Recognising the | | | | reviewed for all |importance of | | | | of our key |effective ongoing| | | | management. |staff | | | | * Personal |communication we | | | | Development Plans|continue to | | | | are set and |provide | | | | reviewed for the |information and | | | | effective |updates through | | | | development of |our Global | | | | all of our staff.|Intranet, Town | | | | * Continue to offer|Hall meetings and| | | | competitive |team briefings. | | | | compensation and | | | | | benefits | | | | | packages. | | | | | * Personal | | | | | development | | | | | programmes | | | | | including Weir | | | | | University and | | | | | the Weir | | | | | Leadership | | | | | Programme are | | | | | open to | | | | | participation by | | | | | high potential | | | | | staff members and| | | | | these continue to| | | | | attract high | | | | | calibre | | | | | individuals. | | +-----------------+--------------------+---------------------+-----------------+



Appendix B: Directors' statement of responsibilities The following statement is repeated here solely for the purpose of complying with DTR 6.3.5. This statement relates to and is extracted from page 121 of the 2015 Annual Report and is signed on behalf of the Board of Directors by Charles Berry, Chairman and Keith Cochrane, Chief Executive. Responsibility is for the full 2015 Annual Report and not the extracted information presented in this announcement or the full year results announcement.



The Directors are responsible for preparing the Annual Report and the Financial Statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations.



Company law requires the Directors to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under that law, the Directors have prepared the Group financial statements in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as adopted by the European Union and the Company financial statements in accordance with UK Accounting Standards and applicable law.



In preparing those financial statements, the Directors are required to: * Select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently. * Make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent. * State that the Group financial statements have complied with IFRS as adopted by the European Union, subject to any material departures being disclosed and explained. * State for the Company financial statements whether the applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures being disclosed and explained.



The Directors are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Group and enable them to ensure that the Group financial statements comply with the 2006 Act and Article 4 of the IAS Regulation. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Group and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.



The Directors are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the Company's website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of accounts may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.



The Directors confirm that they have complied with the above requirements in preparing the financial statements.



The Directors consider that the Annual Report and Financial Statements, taken as a whole, are fair, balanced and understandable and provide the information necessary for shareholders to assess the Group's performance, business model and strategy.



Each of the Directors, as at the date of this report, confirms to the best of their knowledge that: * The financial statements, prepared in accordance with the applicable set of accounting standards, give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and profit of the Group. * The Strategic Report and the Directors' Report include a fair review of the development and performance of the business and the position of the Group, together with a description of the principal risks and uncertainties that it faces.



Appendix C: Related Party Transactions The following statements regarding related party transactions are set out on page 173 of the 2015 Annual Report. The following is extracted in full and unedited form from the 2015 Annual Report.



The following table provides the total amount of significant transactions which have been entered into with related parties for the relevant financial year and outstanding balances at the period end.



Sales to Sales to Purchases Purchases Amounts related related from related from related owed to parties - parties - parties - parties - related goods services goods services parties



Related party m m m m m ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Joint ventures 2015 18.4 0.4 1.4 0.8 -



2014 26.7 0.5 8.2 0.5 -



Group pension plans 2015 - - - - 2.1



2014 - - - - 1.8 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Contributions to the Group pension plans are disclosed in note 24.



Terms & conditions of transactions with related parties Sales to and from related parties are made at normal market prices. Outstanding balances at the period end are unsecured and settlement occurs in cash. There have been no guarantees provided or received for any related party balances. For 2015, the Group has not raised any provision for doubtful debts relating to amounts owed by related parties as the payment history has been excellent (2014: nil). This assessment is undertaken each financial year through examining the financial position of the related party and the market in which the related party operates.



Compensation of key management personnel 2015 2014



m m --------------------------------------------------------- Short-term employee benefits 4.9 6.3



Share-based payments 0.5 4.0



Post-employment benefits 0.3 0.2 --------------------------------------------------------- 5.7 10.5 ---------------------------------------------------------



Emoluments paid to the Directors of The Weir Group PLC 2015 2014



m m ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Remuneration 2.4 2.9



Gains made on the exercise of Long Term Incentive Plan awards 0.4 1.9 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2.8 4.8 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Key management comprises the Board and the Group Executive. Further details of the Directors' remuneration are disclosed in the Directors' Remuneration Report on pages 95 to 117.



This information includes 'forward-looking statements'. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this presentation, including, without limitation, those regarding The Weir Group's ('the Company') financial position, business strategy, plans (including development plans and objectives relating to the Company's products and services) and objectives of management for future operations, are forward-looking statements. These statements contain the words 'anticipate', 'believe', 'intend', 'estimate', 'expect' and words of similar meaning. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that could cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on numerous assumptions regarding the Company's present and future business strategies and the environment in which the Company will operate in the future. These forward-looking statements speak only as at the date of this document. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to disseminate any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in the Company's expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based. Past business and financial performance cannot be relied on as an indication of future performance.



This announcement is distributed by GlobeNewswire on behalf of GlobeNewswire clients. The owner of this announcement warrants that: (i) the releases contained herein are protected by copyright and other applicable laws; and (ii) they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.



Source: The Weir Group PLC via GlobeNewswire [HUG#2000859]



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NEW YORK, NY -- (Marketwired) -- 04/05/16 -- Mondo (www.mondo.com) today reported that CIOs/CTOs garnered the top salaries for 2016, ranging from $182-268,000, according to the findings of its annual Tech Salary Guide. Mondo is a leading technology and digital resourcing provider.

In addition to the CIO/CTO positions, the technology jobs with the highest salaries in 2016, include:

Chief Security Officer ($154-226,000)

Chief Data Officer ($150-210,000)

Director PMO ($129-186,000

UX/UI Designer ($119-184,000)

VP, Information Engineering ($141-184,000)

VP, Information Technology ($141-183,000)

Android Developer ($138-182,000)

IOS Developer ($139-182,000)

(Note: The salary ranges reflect regional differences in salaries, based on the average of Mondo's 3,000 placements during the year, with New York City and San Francisco on the high end.)

"With Cloud computing now becoming the technological cornerstone for businesses across the globe, employer demand for Cloud professionals has exploded and lack of Cloud resources/expertise is the number one challenge for businesses," said Laura McGarrity, VP of Digital Marketing Strategy for Mondo. "Those tech professionals with Cloud skills are in huge demand and are commanding top salaries."

The top five Cloud positions/skills in highest demand, include:

Microsoft 365 Engineer ($110-123,000)

Amazon Web Services Developer ($123-161,000)

Cloud Engineer ($113-149,000)

Network Security Engineers ($115-151,000)

Data Scientist ($88-130,000)

She added, "The explosion of connected devices has also caused a surge of demand for technology professionals with mobile development skills. In addition, we have seen growing demand for diversity among new tech hires, and are placing more women with the right education and the right skills to fill these in-demand tech jobs."

The four mobile positions/skills in top demand, include:

iOS Developer ($139-182,000)

Android Developer ($138-182,000)

Application Architect ($136-181,000)

QA Mobile Engineer ($91-126,000)

In addition, those technology professionals with security skills will be in high demand. By 2020, 60% of all enterprises' information security budgets will be allocated for rapid detection and response approaches (Gartner). According to the Mondo Tech Salary Report, these are the top four security positions:

Network Security Engineer ($115-151,000)

IS Security Manager ($134-173,000)

Network Security Administrator ($96-143,000)

IS Audit Analyst ($59-84,000)

The Mondo IT salary data is based Mondo placements over the past year, in New York City, San Francisco, Washington DC, Philadelphia, Denver, Boston, Chicago and Dallas.

About Mondo

MONDO is a leading professional services organization that delivers technology and digital marketing support through two key solutions -- providing professional resources on a contract, contract-to-hire and permanent basis, along with project or ongoing digital marketing solutions through its in-house digital marketing agency, MondoLabs. For 15 years, Mondo has been delivering solutions that bridge the talent gap and accelerate technology and digital marketing innovation for global brands including, Deutsche Bank, Facebook, NBC Universal, ZipCar, eBay, Random House and many more. Headquartered in New York City, Mondo has offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington DC, Philadelphia, Denver, Boston, Chicago, Ft. Lauderdale, Dallas and Atlanta. To learn more visit, www.mondo.com or call 212-257-5111, and connect with us: @mondo_agents (twitter), Facebook and LinkedIn.

For more media information, contact:



Lisa Hendrickson

LCH Communications for Mondo

516-767-8390

516-643-1642 (cell)

Email Contact




VANCOUVER, BC--(Marketwired - April 05, 2016) - Jericho Oil Corporation ("Jericho") (TSX VENTURE: JCO) (OTC PINK: JROOF) is proceeding with a non-brokered private placement (the "Offering") of approximately 1,625,000 units at a price of C$0.40 per unit to raise total gross proceeds of approximately $650,000. Each unit will be comprised of one common share (a "Share") and one half warrant (a "Warrant") with each full Warrant being exercisable into one additional Share at a price of $0.60 per Share for a period of two years from closing.

All securities issued pursuant to this Private Placement will be subject to a four month and one day hold period in accordance with applicable securities laws.

The Private Placement will be non-brokered; however, the Company may pay finder's fees in accordance in the rules and policies of the TSX-V. Closing of the Offering is subject to final TSX Venture Exchange approval. Proceeds of the Offering will be used for general corporate purposes.

Jericho also announces that it will grant up to an aggregate of up to 1,750,000 incentive stock options to certain directors, officers, employees and consultants of the Company. All of the stock options will be exercisable at a price of $0.45 per share for a period of 5 years and will be granted under and are governed by the terms of the Company's incentive stock option plan.

About Jericho Oil Corporation

Jericho is a growth-oriented oil and gas company engaged in the acquisition, exploration, development and production of overlooked and undervalued oil properties in the Mid-Continent. For more information, please visit www.jerichooil.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and Canadian securities laws. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual events and results to differ materially from Jericho's expectations include risks related to the exploration stage of Jericho's project; market fluctuations in prices for securities of exploration stage companies; and uncertainties about the availability of additional financing.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

CONTACTS:



Tony Blancato

Director, Investor Relations

P: 604.343.2725



or



Adam Rabiner

Director, Corporate Communications

P: 604.343.4534

investorrelations@jerichooil.com
SPRINGFIELD, MO--(Marketwired - April 05, 2016) - Terry Pitchford, ChFC, CLU, CLF, a multiple line assistant general agent with American National, was recently recognized for his 2015 sales achievements.

Pitchford received the 2015 President's Trophy Gold Assistant General Agent of the Year award, which is presented to the highest performing American National multiple line assistant general agent.

In addition, he was also awarded the 2015 President's Trophy Gold Award as a Multiple Line AGA Top Life Insurance Producer of the Year. Pitchford had previously earned the President's Trophy Gold AGA of the Year award in 2014 and 2012. In 2014 he earned the President's Trophy Silver Award as the AGA Top Life Insurance Producer of the year and in 2011 he earned the President's Trophy Gold Award as an AGA Top Life Insurance Producer of the Year. In 1990 he was the company Leading Multiple Line AGA. He has qualified for the company's Chieftain Club seven times, President's Club in 1990 and achieved Summit Club recognition in 2000, 2014 and 2015. Pitchford, of Austin, Texas, joined American National in 1981. He was named a multiple line assistant general agent in 1987.

Pitchford was named to the prestigious Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT), an association of financial professionals, in 2000. Less than one percent of all producers worldwide qualify for membership in MDRT. He is also a member of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors, GAMA International and Financial Services Professionals.

Pitchford volunteers with HelpOurWounded.org and the Commemorative Air Force in San Marcos, Texas. He is also a 1987 graduate of Texas State University.

Pitchford's office is located at 2501 Ranch Road 620 South, Suite 230 in Austin, Texas. He can be reached at (512) 328-6151 or www.pitchfordinsurance.com.

About American National

American National Insurance Company (American National), headquartered in Galveston, Texas, was founded in 1905 and is licensed in all states except New York. American National and its subsidiaries offer a broad line of products and services, which include life insurance, annuities, health insurance, credit insurance, pension products, and property and casualty insurance for personal lines, agribusiness and certain commercial exposures. American National companies operate in all 50 states.

American National established a dedicated property and casualty division in 1973 with American National Property And Casualty Company, Springfield, MO. This company serves 38 states not including New York. To better serve the unique insurance needs of the agricultural market, American National acquired the Farm Family group of insurance companies based in New York in 2001. For corporate and investor relations information, please visit American National's website at www.AmericanNational.com.

The following files are available for download:

American National names Terry Pitchford multiple line Assistant General Agent of the Year

Contact:

Gary Lukovich

417-887-4990, ext. 4438

American National Center

1949 East Sunshine Street

Springfield, MO 65899
WASHINGTON, DC--(Marketwired - April 05, 2016) -

"The Local Budget Act is a naked and unabashed effort to strip Congress of powers vested in it by Article I of the Constitution, and to circumvent... the one constitutionally-appropriate way to proceed."

- House of Representatives' amicus curiae

Judicial Watch announced today that on March 31, 2016, the U.S. House of Representatives filed an amicus curiae brief urging a U.S. District Court to deny the D.C. government's efforts to dismiss a Judicial Watch lawsuit, which seeks to prevent D.C. from illegally expending tax dollars. The House amicus brief was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (Clarice Feldman v. Muriel Bowser and Jeffrey S. DeWitt (No. 1:15-cv-01967)).

The House filing comes in support of a November 2015 lawsuit filed by Judicial Watch on behalf of Clarice Feldman, a longtime taxpayer and resident of the District of Columbia. The Feldman action seeks to ensure that no taxpayer money is spent by local D.C. politicians under the District's Local Budget Autonomy Act. In February 2016, the D.C. government filed a Motion to Dismiss the Judicial Watch November lawsuit.

In its amicus in support of the Opposition to the Motion to Dismiss filed by Judicial Watch, the House declared:

The Local Budget Act is a naked and unabashed effort to strip Congress of powers vested in it by Article I of the Constitution, and to circumvent the constitutionally-prescribed legislative process that the District and its supporters previously and repeatedly have acknowledged is the one constitutionally-appropriate way to proceed.

In other words, the Local Budget Act turns the Appropriations Clause upside down, and is inconsistent with Congress's plenary authority over all District appropriations. The only constitutionally permissible manner by which the District may achieve budget autonomy with respect to locally-derived funds is for Congress to convey that authority to the District by way of the normal legislative process -- and Congress has not yet done that.

In Feldman's Opposition to the Motion to Dismiss, Judicial Watch takes strong issue with the District of Columbia's continued attempts to circumvent federal law, arguing:

Regardless of whether it is sound policy for the District of Columbia to have budget autonomy, [the defendants] cannot ignore the law. Yet, they do. Since October 1, 2015, Defendants have been illegally incurring obligations and expending local taxpayer funds pursuant to the Fiscal Year 2016 Budget Request Act of 2015 ("FY16 Budget Request") that have not been appropriated by Congress and presented to the President for signing. As a District taxpayer since 1979, Plaintiff challenges Defendants' lawlessness.

The District of Columbia City Council passed the Local Budget Autonomy Act of 2012 in an effort to spend tax dollars without an appropriation from Congress, as required by the Home Rule Act. The Act was signed by then-Mayor Vincent Gray and ratified by D.C. voters in April 2013. Upon the advice of the then-D.C. attorney general, Gray and then-Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey DeWitt subsequently withdrew their support of the law and notified the City Council that they would not enforce it. The D.C. Council filed suit to compel Gray to enforce the law. In 2014, U.S. District Court Judge Emmett Sullivan found the Budget Autonomy Act to be unlawful and permanently enjoined all parties from enforcing the law:

The grant of legislative authority to the District in the Home Rule Act is broad ..., but Congress included several restrictions to that authority in Sections 601, 602, and 603. These included congressional authority to veto District legislation and the authority to legislate for the District on any matter.

***

As a native Washingtonian, the Court is deeply moved by Plaintiff's argument that the people of the District are entitled to the right to spend their own, local funds. Nevertheless, the Court is powerless to provide a legal remedy and cannot implement budget autonomy for the District.

The City Council subsequently appealed the District Court's ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. But, prior to an opinion being issued by the Circuit Court, Muriel E. Bowser was elected Mayor of the District. On March 24, 2015, Bowser filed a motion to dismiss the appeal for mootness and requested that the appellate court vacate the District Court's ruling. On May 27, 2015, the Circuit Court ruled in Bower's favor. The Judicial Watch action on behalf of Clarice Feldman was filed in the U.S. District Court on November 6, 2015, followed by the DC Motion to Dismiss.

"We welcome the action of the House of Representatives in standing up for District taxpayers, the rule of law and constitutional mandates," said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. "Mayor Bowser and the rest of the D.C. government continue to think they can violate federal law with impunity. It bears repeating that it is a federal crime to spend federal dollars without congressional authorization."
DRESDEN and MUNICH, Germany, April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Organic Electronics Saxony (OES), Europe's leading cluster for organic and flexible electronics, presents the promising projects at the international exhibition for printed electronics, LOPEC in Munich. Supported by the Saxony Economic Development Corporation (WFS), eight Saxon companies are at the OES joined pavilion. "Again we have gathered well-known experts at our pavilion to represent the Saxon competence in this exciting and growing high-tech sector," emphasises Dr. Dominik Gronarz, managing director of OES. "In organic and printed electronics we see a clear and constantly evolving business ahead and the cluster in Saxony continuously leads in world class research and development. For example, the Technical University of Dresden most recently received a Starting Grant of the European Research Council in research of bi-luminescent molecules." states Mr. Nothnagel, managing director of the WFS, adding "The transfer of this energy-efficient, evolving technology from research to product is best done in the high-tech cluster Saxony with its long-term experience in microelectronics, biotechnology, material and analytics". The TU Dresden occupies top ranking among the top five "World's Most Influential Scientific Minds". One of them is highly cited and therefore most influential Prof. Karl Leo in the field of Material Science, at the Institute of Applied Photo Physics (IAPP). Currently an over 3.000 square meter lab and office space is under construction at the TU Dresden site. It will host a modern IAPP research facility as well as research of the Center for Advancing Electronics Dresden (cfaed), which is funded within the "Excellence Initiative" of the Federal Government.

We invite you to join our guided tour on the OES booth.

Booth B0/320

Organic Electronics Saxony

Jitka Barm

barm@oes-net.de

Tel.: +49-351-46677180



Full press release: http://datas.weichertmehner.com/oes.pdf
SAN DIEGO, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/05/16 -- The Barona Cultural Center & Museum is set to launch Keyip! Kechuw! (Listen! Make!), a free monthly story time and craft program designed to inspire young children to be excited about reading.

The events are open to the public and will be held on the last Saturday of each month in the Barona Community Center meeting room at the museum from 11 a.m. to noon starting April 30 through October 29, 2016. Each free event, geared towards grades K-2, will feature a cultural story reading and a hands-on art activity as well as raffle prizes, snacks, and drinks. A perfect attendance prize will be given to children who participate in the entire Keyip! Kechuw! series.

"Everyone at the Barona Museum is excited to share Native American-themed stories and traditions with local children through this fun new program," said Laurie Egan-Hedley, director and curator of the Barona Cultural Center & Museum. "We are thrilled to offer the events to attract kids from all over San Diego. It is designed to be a fun and creative way for local youth to learn about Native American culture and also to gain an appreciation for the joy of reading at a young age."

The program will launch on Saturday, April 30 with the story Baby Rattlesnake by Te Ata, an internationally acclaimed Chickasaw Indian storyteller. This story explores why baby rattlesnakes do not have rattles and what happens if they get them too early. It is a teaching tale about the consequences of getting something before you are ready for it. Kids will have an opportunity to make their own rattle to shake along with the story and paint their own wooden snake to take home.

To reserve a spot for the following Keyip! Kechuw! classes, call 619-443-7003, ext. 219 or visit www.baronamuseum.org: April 30 - Baby Rattlesnake; May 28 - When Clay Sings; June 25 - Rainbow Bridge; July 30 - Ishi's Tale of Lizard; August 27 - Jingle Dancer; September 24 - Cowboy Small; and October 29 - Raven. A parent/adult chaperone is required for all child attendees.

About The Barona Cultural Center & Museum

The Barona Cultural Center & Museum is located on the Barona Indian Reservation at 1095 Barona Road in Lakeside just one mile north of the Barona Resort & Casino. It is open Tuesday through Friday, from noon to 5 p.m., and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free. For more information or to schedule a group tour, call 619-443-1003 ext. 2 or visit the website at www.baronamuseum.org.

CONTACT:

Audrey Doherty

619-236-8397



Kelly Jacobs Speer

619-933-5013




MEMPHIS, TN--(Marketwired - April 05, 2016) - Terminix, the largest termite and pest control company in the United States, announced it will hold more than 40 simultaneous job fairs on Saturday, April 9, in an effort to fill newly-opened positions across California.

The open houses will be hosted at local branches where prospective candidates can meet and interview with local managers, see the facilities and learn about the industry-leading pest control company. Terminix currently employs more than 1,400 Californians to service more than 320,000 customers. Last year, employees responded to nearly 1.2 million service calls.

"California is one of our most important states," said Chris Algiene, California division vice president for Terminix, a ServiceMaster company (NYSE: SERV). "In order to keep up with the growing demand for residential services from consumers, we want to grow our footprint at all levels. This is a great opportunity for career-minded individuals who want to join a winning team."

Interested candidates can find branch locations, directions and more information at www.TerminixHiringEvent.com. Candidates must bring a resume and wear professional attire (no jeans). The company intends to hire and fill these positions over the next four weeks with new hire training starting immediately. All positions include competitive pay and benefits:

Management:Positions in service, sales or branch management, depending on experience. Offers salary plus bonus potential, as well as paid time off.

Sales:Positions in outside residential and commercial sales have an hourly pay rate plus uncapped earning potential.

Service:Positions have an hourly pay plus commissions (where applicable).

With more than 87 years of experience in residential and commercial services, and as a business unit of ServiceMaster, Terminix offers a variety of growth and development opportunities, a positive work environment, and a competitive compensation package. Other benefits include:

401(k) with match

Medical plans

Paid training

Normal work week (overtime possibilities; no required night, holidays or Sundays)

Weekly pay (for hourly employees)

Company car and gas card for certain roles

Employee discount offers

Individuals who cannot attend the Terminix job fairs in California can also learn more about the available positions and apply at careers.terminix.com.

About Terminix

Terminix is the leading provider of termite and pest control services in the United States. Headquartered in Memphis, Tenn., Terminix services approximately 2.8 million residential and commercial customers in 47 states and 22 countries. Terminix provides pest control services and protection against termites, rodents and other pests threatening human health and/or safety. Terminix is a business unit of ServiceMaster Global Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: SERV), a leading provider of essential residential and commercial services. To learn more about Terminix, visit www.terminix.com.

About ServiceMaster

ServiceMaster (NYSE: SERV) solves the homeowner's dilemma. Every day, we visit more than 75,000 homes and businesses through our extensive service network of expert professionals. Technology powers our trusted experts to engage with customers so they can order, buy and receive services when, where and how they want them. Our well-recognized brands include American Home Shield (home warranties), AmeriSpec (home inspections), Furniture Medic (furniture repair), Merry Maids (residential cleaning), ServiceMaster Clean (janitorial), ServiceMaster Restore (disaster restoration) and Terminix (termite and pest control). Like, follow or visit us at facebook.com/ServiceMaster, linkedin.com/ServiceMaster, twitter.com/ServiceMaster or servicemaster.com.

Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2016/4/5/11G091869/Images/015_osp_outdoors_inspecting_yard_with_homeowners_2-4e81a88c016b845bad864147914c4328.jpg

Embedded Video Available: https://youtu.be/h6EIJFyObds

Contact:

James Robinson

901.597.7521

Email contact





Michael Wassmer

901.597.1706

Email contact


HAMILTON, Bermuda, 2016-04-05 22:02 CEST (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Some of the recent reporting on the "Panama Papers" perpetuates the myth that all offshore financial centres are the same.The fact is: Bermuda is different. While there may be businesses, service providers and lax regulatory environments around the world that enable illegal tax evasion, Bermuda is not one of them. Bermuda is different. Bermuda has an extremely positive global reputation built on transparency, compliance and cooperation-these attributes have been differentiating hallmarks of the jurisdiction for decades.The EU provided a strong endorsement of Bermuda's robust, mature, and proficient regulatory environment by awarding equivalency with its own EU Solvency II regime. Bermuda is one of just two non-EU countries to be awarded that distinction.In the United States, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) designated Bermuda a 'qualified' jurisdiction. This is yet another vote of confidence in the way Bermuda handles its business. Bermuda was also the first offshore financial centre to qualify for the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) 'white list' of jurisdictions that have implemented internationally agreed tax standards-jurisdictions not considered to be tax havens by the OECD.A further differentiator for Bermuda is the fact that Bermuda gives, rather than takes. Bermuda's contribution to global economies, particularly from its insurance industry, is considerable.-- Companies based in Bermuda contributed $35 billion over a dozen years to cover US catastrophe losses. -- Bermuda companies paid 9% of 9/11 claims. -- Bermuda companies paid 20% of last winter's UK flood losses, and provide more than a quarter of capacity for Lloyd's of London. -- Bermuda paid 62% of claims for the UK's largest peacetime fire and explosion-the Buncefield oil terminal fires of 2005.Thanks to Bermuda, cities, coastlines, homes and businesses are rebuilt after major disasters. Bermuda's positive contribution should not be underestimated or overlooked. Overall, Bermuda's economic model supports close to a half-million jobs globally through trade and investment, including some 350,000 jobs in the US and more than 100,000 jobs in the UK.Bermuda understands and embraces the worldwide movement towards greater financial transparency and regulatory cooperation. Bermuda does not have laws that promote and protect banking secrecy. Bermuda complies with global anti-money-laundering directives and anti-terrorist financing standards. And Bermuda has had a beneficial ownership register in place for 60 years. Bermuda's 90-plus tax-transparency treaties with countries around the globe underscore Bermuda's commitment to cooperation and compliance. Bermuda's track record shows that when asked to assist international authorities, Bermuda has cooperated.Homogenising "offshore" and dumping all international financial centres into one bucket synonymous with immoral, illegal and nefarious activity is inaccurate and ill-informed. Bermuda is different.CONNECTING BUSINESS The BDA encourages direct investment and helps companies start up, re-locate or expand their operations in our premier jurisdiction. An independent, public-private partnership, we connect you to industry professionals, regulatory officials, and key contacts in the Bermuda government to assist domicile decisions. Our goal? To make doing business here smooth and beneficial.MEDIA CONTACT: Rosemary Jones Communications Manager rosemary@bda.bm 441-278-6558 441-337-4696
CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/05/16 -- Gibson Energy Inc. ("Gibsons" or the "Company") (TSX: GEI) announced today that it expects to release its first quarter results for the period ending March 31, 2016 on Tuesday, May 3, following market close. A conference call has also been scheduled for 9:00 a.m. MT (11:00 a.m. ET) on Wednesday, May 4, 2016 for interested analysts, investors, and media representatives. The conference call dial-in numbers are:

-- 416-340-2217 / 866-696-5910 -- Participant Pass Code: 9070183

Shortly after the call, an audio archive will be posted on the Investors/News section at www.gibsons.com. The call will also be recorded and available for playback 60 minutes after the meeting end time, until August 3, 2016, using the following dial-in numbers:

-- 905-694-9451 / 800-408-3053 -- Participant Pass Code: 3887683

The Company also wishes to announce that its Annual General Meeting (the "AGM") will be held on Wednesday, May 4, 2016 at 11:00 a.m. MT (1:00 p.m. ET) at the Metropolitan Conference Centre 333 - 4th Ave. S.W. Calgary, Alberta. The AGM will be broadcast live via webcast. The webcast link will be available on Gibsons' website at gibsons.com under Investor Relations/Presentations, Webcasts and Events. Additionally, shortly after the AGM, an audio archive of the webcast will be made accessible on Gibsons' website for 90 days.

About Gibsons

Gibsons is a Canadian-based midstream energy company with operations in most of the key hydrocarbon-rich basins in North America. For over 60 years, Gibsons has delivered integrated midstream solutions to customers in the oil and gas industry. With headquarters in Calgary, Alberta, the company's North American operations include the transportation, storage, blending, processing, marketing and distribution of crude oil, liquids and refined products. The company also provides oilfield waste and water management services. Gibsons is the second largest industrial propane distribution company in Canada under the Canwest Propane and Stittco Energy brands.

Gibson Energy Inc. shares trade under the symbol GEI and are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. For more information, visit www.gibsons.com.

Contacts:

Gibson Energy Inc.

Tammi Price

Vice President Investor Relations & Corporate Development

(403) 206-4212

tprice@gibsons.com



Gibson Energy Inc.

Cam Deller

Manager, Investor Relations

(403) 776-3041

cam.deller@gibsons.com

www.gibsons.com




FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For more information, contact:

Sasha Sekpeh

O-I Investor Relations

(567) 336-5128

alexandra.sekpeh@o-i.com (mailto:alexandra.sekpeh@o-i.com)

O-I Announces First Quarter 2016 Earnings Conference Call and Webcast

PERRYSBURG, Ohio (April 5, 2016) - Owens-Illinois, Inc. (NYSE: OI) has scheduled its first quarter 2016 conference call and webcast for Tuesday, May 3, 2016, at 8 a.m. EDT. The company's news release for the first quarter 2016 earnings will be issued after the market closes on Monday, May 2.

What: O-I Conference Call and Webcast

A review of first quarter sales, segment operating profit and earnings per share, including comparisons to prior year, will also be posted on the O-I website, www.o-i.com/investors (http://www.o-i.com/investors) , when the earnings news release is issued.

When: Tuesday, May 3, 2016, at 8 a.m. EDT

Where: http://investors.o-i.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=88324&p=irol-calendar (http://investors.o-i.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=88324&p=irol-calendar)

The webcast will be archived at http://www.o-i.com/investors/ (http://www.o-i.com/investors/) until May 2017.

To participate in the event via conference call, dial 1-888-733-1701 (U.S. and Canada) or 706-634-4943 (International) by 7:50 a.m. EDT, on May 3. Ask for the O-I conference call.





About O-I

Owens-Illinois, Inc. (NYSE: OI) is the world's largest glass container manufacturer and preferred partner for many of the world's leading food and beverage brands. The Company had revenues of $6.2 billion in 2015 and employs 27,000 people at 80 plants in 23 countries. With global headquarters in Perrysburg, Ohio, O-I delivers safe, sustainable, pure, iconic, brand-building glass packaging to a growing global marketplace. For more information, visit o-i.com (http://www.o-i.com/).





O-I Logo (http://hugin.info/150659/R/2000803/738125.jpg)

O-I 1Q16 Earnings Call & Webcast (http://hugin.info/150659/R/2000803/738124.pdf)



This announcement is distributed by NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions on behalf of NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions clients.

The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.

Source: Owens-Illinois, Inc. via Globenewswire



HUG#2000803


BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - China will on Wednesday see March results for the services and composite PMIs from Caixin, highlighting a modest day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. In February, the services PMI had a score of 51.2, while the composite was at 49.4. Japan will see preliminary February figures for its leading and coincident indexes. The leading index is expected to show a score of 99.8, down from 101.8, while the coincident is called at 110.3 - down from 113.5. Malaysia will release February data for imports, exports and trade balance. Imports are expected to slip 1.5 percent on year after rising 3.3 percent in January. Exports are called higher by 2.9 percent after slipping 2.8 percent in the previous month. The trade surplus is pegged at 6.88 billion ringgit, up from 5.39 billion a month earlier. Hong Kong will see March results for the manufacturing PMI from Nikkei; in February, the index score was 46.4. Finally, the markets in Thailand are closed on Wednesday for Chakri Day, and will re-open on Thursday. 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.
LONDON, April 6, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Companies Across Europe Invited to Enter Prestigious Awards in its 10th Year

http://www.businessawardseurope.com

The European Business Awards and lead sponsor RSM have today announced the opening of the 10th European Business Awards; Europe's largest business competition, showcasing Europe's best.

The competition was set up to recognise and reward excellence, best practice and innovation across the European business community. Last year it attracted interest from over 32,000 organisations from 33 countries, generated over 170,000 votes from the public, and the chosen companies had a combined revenue of over 1.2 trillion.

Adrian Tripp, CEO of The European Business Awards, said: "For all of us as citizens of Europe the success of our business community is critical. We are pleased to play our part by showcasing and promoting the best companies, sharing knowledge, and stimulating the debate about the future shape, form and substance of Europe. We look forward to doing this again this year because we believe in the future of Europe."

He continued: "We wouldn't be able to do this without the support of our sponsors and we are pleased once again to announce RSM as our lead sponsor this year, supported by UK Trade and Investment, ELITE and PR Newswire."

Jean Stephens, CEO of RSM, the sixth largest network of audit, tax and consulting firms and the lead sponsor of the European Business Awards, said: "It has been a pleasure to be involved with the European Business Awards since its inception and we are proud to remain lead sponsor as the programme moves into its tenth year. The longevity and rising popularity of the Awards is testament to the benefits it brings to businesses across the continent and beyond. We look forward to supporting another hard-fought competition between the best companies in Europe."

The competition is free to enter, and includes three phases of judging, two phases of public voting and involves over 130 high calibre judges to decide the final winners of the 11 categories.

To enter this year's European Business Awards or for more information about the competition please go to http://www.businessawardseurope.com or call +44(0)207-234-3535.

About the European Business Awards:

The European Business Awards' primary purpose is to support the development of a stronger and more successful business community throughout Europe.

For all citizens of Europe, prosperity, social and healthcare systems are reliant on businesses creating an even stronger, more innovative, successful, international and ethical business community - one that forms the beating heart of an increasingly globalised economy.

The European Business Awards programme serves the European business community in three ways:

 It celebrates and endorses individuals' and organisations' success

 It provides and promotes examples of excellence for the business community to aspire to

 It engages with the European business community to create debate on key issues

The European Business Awards is now in its 10th year. It attracted over 32,000 businesses to the competition last year and in the public vote generated over 170,000 votes from across Europe.

http://www.businessawardseurope.com.

About RSM

RSM is the sixth largest network of independent audit, tax and consulting firms, encompassing over 120 countries, 760 offices and more than 38,000 people internationally. The network's total fee income is US$4.64 billion.

RSM is the lead sponsor and corporate champion of the European Business Awards promoting commercial excellence and recognition of entrepreneurial brilliance.

RSM is a member of the Forum of Firms, with the shared objective to promote consistent and high quality standards of financial and auditing practices worldwide.

RSM is the brand used by a network of independent accounting and advisory firms each of which practices in its own right. RSM International Limited does not itself provide any accounting and advisory services. Member firms are driven by a common vision of providing high quality professional services, both in their domestic markets and in serving the international professional service needs of their client base. http://www.rsm.global

About UK Trade & Investment:

UKTI works with UK based businesses to export to international markets and supports overseas companies to look at the UK as the best place to set up or expand their business. If you are a company interested in expanding in to the UK, please contact Lisa.Greig@mobile.ukti.gov.uk or visit http://www.gov.uk/ukti

About ELITE:

ELITE is an integrated service designed to help SMEs prepare and structure for the next stage of growth through access to long term financing opportunities.

ELITE targets SMEs with a sound business model, clear growth strategy and a desire to obtain funding in the near future.

ELITE offers an innovative approach, including a training programme, a working zone supported by a tutorship model and direct access to the financial community through dedicated digital community facilities. It is "capital neutral" to any financing opportunity, providing access to Private Equity and Venture Capital Funds, debt products, etc.

ELITE was successfully launched in Italy in 2012 and in the UK in 2014. It now accounts for more than 200 companies of different sizes and sectors, more than 150 partners and more than 70 long term investors. It is a European platform deeply rooted in each domestic market, through partnership with local institutions combined with the opportunity to access international support and advice.

It will be a community of excellence: companies, advisors, investors and stakeholders with an interest in supporting SMEs. The larger the community, the wider the range of business and growth opportunities offered to ELITE members.

About PR Newswire

PR Newswire is the leading global provider of PR and corporate communications tools that enable clients to distribute news and rich content. We distribute our client's content across traditional, digital and social media channels in real time with fully actionable reporting and monitoring.

Combining the world's largest multi-channel, multi-cultural content distribution and optimisation network with comprehensive workflow tools and platforms, PR Newswire enables the world's enterprises to engage opportunity everywhere it exists. PR Newswire serves tens of thousands of clients from offices in Europe, Middle East, Africa, the Americas and the Asia-Pacific region.

For more information on PR Newswire please visit http://www.prnewswire.co.uk
Feelunique.com, a UK-based online retailer of premium beauty products, completed a 20m funding round.

Backers included Palamon Capital Partners (which committed 5m) and other two co-investors.

The company intends to use the funds to drive growth in the UK market and finance expansion in Continental Europe by establishing a local presence in France, Europes largest beauty retail market.

Founded in 2005 and led by Joel Palix, CEO, and Jim Buckle, COO, Feelunique is an online retailer of premium products in haircare, skincare, cosmetics and fragrances, selling full-permissioned stock from all of the major brands including Chanel, Dior, Lancome and Estee Lauder.

The company, which recently acquired Parfumeries Rive Droite, a French perfumery chain with four boutiques across France, including a flagship store in Paris, has offices in London, Paris and Jersey and a major distribution centre in Northampton.

It employs 200 people.

FinSMEs

05/04/2016
TA Associates, a global growth private equity firm, hired Diana Martz in the newly created role of Vice President, Human Capital.

Ms. Martz, who serves in TAs Boston office, is a member of TAs Strategic Resource Group, which leverages diverse consulting and operating experience to support the scaling of growth and value creation in TAs portfolio companies.

Ms. Martz partners with deal sponsors in the firms five industry groups and portfolio company management teams to assist in the identification of executive talent, industry advisors and board members.

One of the largest and most experienced global growth private equity firms, TA Associates has invested in more than 460 companies around the world and has raised $24 billion in capital.

With offices in Boston, Menlo Park, London, Mumbai and Hong Kong, the firm leads buyouts and minority recapitalizations of profitable growth companies in the consumer, business services, financial services, healthcare and technology industries.

Prior to joining TA Associates, Ms. Martz was Director of Talent for OpenView Venture Partners, where she built and managed the venture capital firms talent acquisition function and led the hiring of more than 450 employees for key positions in the portfolio.

Previously, she served as Director of Recruiting at Matchbox, a SaaS startup, and as a consultant at recruitment firm Michael Page International.

FinSMEs

05/04/2016
Even as one was shocked on hearing about the untimely death of 24-year-old popular television actress Pratyusha Banerjee, who allegedly committed suicide on April 1, the fallout of the tragic incident, besides the media circus that followed, is not known to many.

The leaked video of the deceaseds corpse left many of us disturbed. Within few hours of Pratyusha's death there were visuals and video of the corpse on the internet which would pop out with one click within a story on Pratyusha.

Seema Hingorrany, clinical psychologist and trauma expert, says, The psychological impact on those who are sensitive or are already undergoing treatment for depression was terrible. My 11-year-old female patient, who saw the video on her mobile began asking me questions like, Is it easy to die? What happens when one hangs oneself? I always tell these children's parents to keep them away from such things as it gives them ideas, its a fool-proof method of dying. Children, who are in a depressed state, on seeing such images and video wonder if people will start talking about them, too, as they dont understand that Pratyusha or Jiah Khan were public figures.

Further, talking about the incident, the psychologist says, Why kill for a guy? If a girl hypothetically is in an abusive relationship it is her responsibility to take help and not continue in that relationship. She has the choice to walk out or take help of relationship experts. Nobody can be blamed for that. Many people come to me and we give help by providing NGOs contacts."

"If she was beaten up she should have taken help of the police, therapists. Nobody can push anybody to the point of suicide. Maybe her depression remained undiagnosed but choice can definitely be made.

A day after Pratyusha allegedly committed suicide, the Mumbai Police took her boyfriend Rahul Raj Singh in custody for questioning. He was, however, let off later in the day with investigators almost ruling out foul play at that point of time. Rahul, who had been living with Pratyusha, had rushed her to Kokilaben Ambani Hospital after allegedly finding her hanging from a ceiling fan in their Goregaon home.

However, Rahul, who is currently recuperating in a Mumbai hospital after he complained of chest pain and breathlessness, has not been given a clean chit as per the investigating officers at Bangur Nagar police station.

And even as the investigations are on, many of Pratyushas friends from the television industry have come together with their own version of the tragedy. While Pratyushas accomplice in the Bigg Boss house, Ajaz Khan, cried foul saying it is a murder and that police should investigate, friends Kamya Punjabi and Vikas Gupta came out in public with their own theory.

"There were injury marks on her nose, under her eyes. We have taken pictures (as a proof)....police are probing domestic violence angle. We will give our statement to the police," Pratyusha's actress friend Kamya told reporters.

"She was having trouble in her personal life. She had distanced us from her so we don't know exactly what happened. She was away from her family. As friends we know she was having problem," Vikas said. Pratyusha's other close friend, Sara Khan was quoted saying that Rahul was the culprit as he had disappeared from the scene after bringing her to the hospital.

Further, Vikas had called for a press conference on Sunday, April 3, where he addressed the media about the issue. Vikas told reporters that along with him, there are other friends of the actress who can come out and openly talk about the issues in Pratyusha-Rahul's relationship. He also said that Rahul has physically assaulted Pratyusha in public many times in the past. Vikas feels it isn't a simple 'suicide case' and there's 'more depth in it'. He has also requested the police to record their statements but also revealed that no one had come to meet him yet. With this statement, the entire suicide row might have taken another turn. However, the investigating agency is not commenting upon this.

These friends of Pratyusha might be trying to help her departed friend and her parents get justice but one wonders if this is hampering or helping the police in its investigations.

A senior scribe, who has been following the case, adds, Who are these people (meaning friends of Pratyusha), what are their credentials? Vikas Gupta himself has a shady past. It is all sham, why didnt they help their friend Pratyusha when she was being abused by her boyfriend? Where were they then? Why didnt they tell her to lodge a police complaint then? By giving such statements to the media, they are trying to sabotage the case. Who knows, some of her so called friends might be having some enmity with Rahul Raj.

Many media-persons, after attending the press conference on Sunday, felt it was all sham and a publicity stunt to get some mileage and attention.

KMM Prasanna, Additional Commissioner of Police, Crime, says Everybody has got the right to voice their opinion within reasonable restrictions otherwise we will be called intolerant. If somebody is privy to any information regarding the case can either call the police directly or the investigating agency will connect if required. If these friends of Pratyusha actually want to help in investigations and are not after some publicity then they can approach their local police station. Nobody is stopping them to do so. It all depends upon their intentions.

Senior Inspector and Investigating officer, Santosh Bhandare, Bangur Nagar police station, adds, We are all free citizens of India. People can hold press conferences. My area of investigation is only related to the accidental death of Pratyusha. I am only concerned with that. If the allegations made by her friends help me, I will approach them. Inquiry is still not over, we have not come to any conclusion.

Meanwhile, Rizwan Siddiquee, lawyer, says, Police doesnt go by what people are saying on the media platform. It draws its own opinion through their findings after proper investigations. They dont draw conclusions from opinions. They dont even read what appears in the press. But yes, public image of the person they are accusing gets affected."

However, Vishal Manghnani, a senior advocate and spokesperson for a legal firm strongly feels that police should use Pratyushas friends as witnesses. Police should use them as independent witnesses, it is always good for investigations. Even if these witnesses are alcoholics or drug addicts, cops should talk to them. Police often wait for some hard proof like letter or photographic evidence to surface in such matters which is often not possible to get.

Seema Sinha is a Mumbai-based journalist.
The list of red carpet events that Priyanka Chopra has been wowing the West with, just got bigger.

After her much-talked-about turn at the Academy Awards in February, and before that at the Peoples Choice Awards, Priyanka has now been invited to an equally glamorous shindig  the White House Correspondents Dinner.

The invitation to Priyanka has been extended by US President Barack Obama and the First Lady, Michelle Obama. However, it is not clear at this time if Priyanka has accepted the invitation.

According to a Times of India report, the actress is in the midst of her shoot schedule for Quantico and she also needs to start work on her next project, the Baywatch film, in which she features alongside Dwyane The Rock Johnson.

However, if she does manage to work the dinner in around her filming commitments, Priyanka will have company in the form of actors like Bradley Cooper, Jane Fonda, Gladys Knight and Lucy Liu at the black tie event.

The White House Correspondents Dinner is a party hosted by the President and the First Lady for the journalists who report on the White House. This will be the last Correspondents Dinner hosted by Barack and Michelle Obama.

Larry Wilmore, the host of The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore on Comedy Central, will be the entertainer for this edition of the annual dinner, which has been scheduled for 30 April this year.
New Delhi - Prime Minister Narendra Modi is very keen to do reforms though it may take a little longer due to democratic processes, NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Arvind Panagariya said on Monday.

He also said that not a single step that the present government has taken so far will have to be undone tomorrow unlike in the case of previous governments.

"The Prime Minister, you can be best assured is very keen to do reforms, it may take a little longer for reforms," Panagariya said at the annual session of CII here.

"We are a democratic country today, if we are enjoying the fruits of democracy today, we should also recognise that change is little hard to bring about within a democratic system," he added.

The government is very much keen on making India a place having ease of business quotient, Panagariya said adding more is yet needed to be done.

"Whatever the things this government has done is not to do anything which, so far at least, will have to be undone tomorrow," he said.

"I can give umpteen examples of which the previous governments did and which had to be undone, just as Mrs Gandhi (Indira) did so many things from 1969 to 1976, which had to be undone first by Prime Minister (P V Narasimha) Rao, then Manmohan Singh and then later by Mr (Atal Bihari)

Vajpayee and Mr (Yashwant) Sinha."

Speaking about bad loans of state-run lenders, he said it is a "big challenge", but the process has begun to mitigate NPAs by recapitalisation and several measures by RBI.

"This is really the biggest challenge the government faces, if you ask me, NPAs in the bank. The government has to recapitalise the banks as fast as possible and also has to manage the fiscal, as you really can't violate the FRBM (Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management) by wide margins.

Asked if the recapitalisation of banks was akin to good money being wasted in trying to save the bad money and some bold measures are needed, he said the government is taking a host of measures and discussions are also underway with regard to consolidation in the banking sector among others.

On the role of NITI Aayog and its engagement with states, he said the think-thank will in a day or two will put out a report on land leasing.

"We took four to five months of consultation with the states, several states have expressed interest that they will like to bring in new land leasing law. There will be a model act based on their local needs, like-wise we are working on digitization of land records," Panagariya said.

He also informed that NITI Aayog by the end of this month of early next month will invite state representatives wherein they will showcase about the best things they have done.

Further on unemployment and job creation, Panagariya said a lot of jobs can now shift to India due to Chinese slowdown and there is a need to attract large firms in light manufacturing sector.

"There is considerable scope for large firms in the light manufacturing sector to move out of China due to rising wages and relocate in India", he said.

A similar process happened in the 1980s when firms moved out of Taiwan and Hong Kong into China and began selling to the world market. This process will create an eco-system in which SMEs can become more productive, he said.

The NITI Aayog Vice Chairman said that significant underemployment exists in the agricultural sector as well as in the industry.

On the other challenges faced by India, he said a good progress has been made in the infrastructure and a good progress had been made in the last two years in addressing the infrastructure deficit.

"Highway construction has been stepped up from 3,500 km in 2013-14 to 8,000 km in 2014-15 and to 10,000 km in 2015-16. The railways have also been able to step up track laying and modernisation of railway stations. In the power sector, electrification of villages has progressed according to plan and is expected to be completed by May 2018," he added.

PTI
New Delhi - Promoters of corporate houses, DLF, Apollo Tyres and IndiaBulls on Monday denied violating laws after being named among 500 Indians in leaked 'Panama Papers' for alleged offshore holdings.

"This (report) is aimed at distorting public perception which is extremely dear and important to all corporates and promoter families, especially when they have followed all applicable rules and regulations of government of India, RBI, FEMA and IT Department to the last detail," DLF CEO Rajeev Talwar told PTI.

The report published by The Indian Express had said that DLF Promoter Family owns firms BVI and the family's three offshore entities together held almost USD 10 million.

He further said: "We vehemently and strongly emphasise that all remittances were made after the government introduced the LRS Scheme in 2004. Each year the remittances were below the limit prescribed by RBI."

Stressing that all the remittances were made to the banks which were the authorised dealers, Talwar said: "therefore there is no question of wrongdoing. No companies were set up by the promoter groups in BVI. All these were existing companies to which shares were subscribed to as permitted by

government of India."

Each year, this was reported to IT Department, it was also mentioned in DLF's annual report, he added.

The report also said Onkar Kanwar, Chairman of Apollo Group, and his family members floated an offshore entity in British Virgin Islands in 2010 and two trusts in 2014.

Reacting to it, an authorised spokesperson said, "India lawfully permits foreign investments in accordance with certain regulations. Any investment abroad, that the Kanwar family may have, is in due compliance with the Indian laws, where applicable, including making disclosures wherever required.

"Much of the family members mentioned are NRIs. They are covered by other nation's permissible laws for their foreign investments and are not covered by Indian laws and restrictions on residents in matters such as Income Tax and RBI.

Mumbai-based Indiabulls' Sameer Gehlaut, who was also named among those with links to entities in offshore tax havens, later said all his overseas investments were made after "paying full taxes in India, each and every overseas remittance is disclosed to RBI as and when it has been made".

"All disclosures related to these investments are also made with Income Tax authorities in yearly returns as well as with RBI in Annual Performance Reports. All my overseas investments are done strictly in accordance with RBI framework of Overseas Direct Investments," he said in a statement.

A spokesperson of Indiabulls further said that Gehlaut receives dividends of Rs 350-450 crore every year and he has been investing his monies in his Indian family trust, SG Family Trust (stands for Sameer Gehlaut Family Trust) for further investments in its wholly owned subsidiary in India, Callies Infrastructure Pvt Ltd (India).

"Further Callies Infrastructure Pvt Ltd has capitalised its wholly owned subsidiary in Bahamas, Clivedale Overseas Ltd (Bahamas) that is engaged in property development business in London through its subsidiaries under the brand Clivedale," the spokesperson said, while giving details of Indiabulls Real Estate Ltd's property development business in London and also of SG Family Trust.

He further said these businesses were "strictly as per the RBI policy framework for Overseas Direct Investments" and all disclosures pertaining to business of SG Family Trust and Indiabulls Real Estate have been made to RBI and Income Tax departments for every financial year since inception and also

as and when each of the overseas remittances have been made.

PTI
The familiar taunt Narendra Modi faces from his critics is about the non-arrival of achche din. He still has two more years (the last year being too close to the elections) to deliver on that promise, but one thing he can certainly lay claim to is the arrival of bure din (bad days) for crooks, crony capitalists and black money holders.

At the very least, he can claim he acted when the UPA didnt, having constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) as soon as he took over in May 2014. Yesterday (4 April) he set up a multi-agency probe team within hours of The Indian Express investigative report on the Panama Papers, which disclosed that over 500 Indians had unexplained accounts in Panama.

These accounts, including some involving offshore companies, foundations and trusts, were unveiled when 11 million documents were recovered from Mossack Fonseca, a law firm that helps companies to be set up in that tax haven. (Read here and here.)

The names that fell out of Fonsecas closet include Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Gautam Adanis elder brother Vinod, DLFs KP Singh, and Sameer Gehlaut of IndiaBulls, among others. It is still to be proven that these names had done anything illegal, but the mere fact that Modi has acted fast shows good faith at least. These names came to light after an eight-month investigation by Indian Express journalists in collaboration with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).

Unusually for a supposedly business-friendly politician, Modi has gone out of his way to distance himself and his government from cronies, a fact acknowledged not only by his non-political critics, but also by businessmen who are otherwise hot on Modi. Writing about a year ago, columnist Swaminathan Anklesaria Aiyar noted that Modis biggest achievement in his first year in office is, arguably, a huge reduction in big corruption (involving top politicians and industrialists). He quoted an earlier Economic Times report that quoted anonymous businessmen expressing disappointment over their neglect and lack of access.

In the first full budget of the NDA in 2015, Arun Jaitley brought in a draconian anti-black money law with a 60 percent upfront penal tax, which went up to 90 percent after the window for compliance closed last September. If anything comes of the Panama Papers and the new multi-agency team, it will be covered by the more stringent and confiscatory regime of the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015. The compliance window didn't get much by way of revenue, but it sent the right message on the seriousness with with which the Modi government views the issue.

With a double-pronged attack  one by the SIT that is being supervised by the Supreme Court, and the other by a multi-agency probe that is directly being monitored by the PMO  there is little doubt that bure din have started descending on crony capitalists.

Not only that, with nationalised banks being asked by the Reserve Bank to go after defaulters, and Modi backing this pursuit politically, there is a double-pincer attack on crony capitalists and black money holders  with government and SIT on one side, and with RBI and government on the other.

If Modi persists with this double-pincer attack, his lasting legacy will be the clean-up of Indias crooked system of crony capitalism or socialism  at least at the central level. The licence-permit-crony raj started by the Congress party in the 1960s and 1970s and which peaked in the UPA years of 2004-14, is coming crashing down.

Yesterday (4 April), the finance ministry was quick off the block to explain what it was doing to go after the cronies already exposed.

This is what the ministry said: Based on the investigative journalism of ICIJ in 2013 in which the links of 700 Indian persons were shown to have business connection with offshore entities, the Revenue Department, Ministry of Finance, government of India has been able to identify 434 persons out of them as Indian residents. 184 persons out of these have also admitted their relationship with such offshore entities/transactions. Although, in the previous report of ICIJ, information relating to the financial transactions/bank accounts was not available, the government authorities have detected credit in the undisclosed foreign accounts of such Indian persons in excess of Rs 2,000 crore. 52 prosecution complaints under the provision of Income-Tax Act have been filed against offenders so far.

On the HSBC accounts list, the ministry said the following: In response to the information received in 2011 from government of France, relating to the bank accounts of 628 Indian persons in HSBC, Switzerland, a lot of progress has been made in the investigation by the Department. Out of the list, 569 persons have been traced. However, in the information received, details of HSBC amounts were shown against 339 persons only. Out of 628, 214 were found not actionable on account of no balance or being non-residents or being non-traceable. Out of the remaining cases, assessments have been completed in 390 cases in which undisclosed income of Rs 5,018 crore and tax demand of Rs 4,584 crore has been raised. Also the concealment penalty of Rs 1,213 crore has been levied in 157 cases. Also 154 prosecution complaints have been filed in HSBC cases. Based on the prosecution complaints of predicate offences, ED has also initiated investigation in 23 cases of HSBC and 20 cases of ICIJ expose of 2013.

Clearly, some of the money held in tax havens is being traced and brought back, even though the sums involved are not earth-shattering.

The fight against black money hoards abroad is a long term one, needing evidence and consistent efforts to nail the guilty in foreign jurisdictions and bring the money home.

The problem for the Modi government is that this money will take years to identify and bring back, and the government has only three years left to show results. It is ensuring bure din for at least some of the crooks, but this may not be enough to ensure achche din for the rest of India. Reason: chasing black money has a downside: when the rich and powerful are on the run, how likely is it that they will eagerly invest in India in the short run?

Bure din for crooks implies that achche din for the rest will be delayed.

It would have been easier for Modi to turn a blind eye to corruption and focus on reviving business sentiment and growth; that he has chosen the harder option of going after crooks does him credit. He may yet end up paying for it with lower growth, especially at a time when the rest of the world is in decline and fall mode.
MUMBAI Blackstone Group is buying a majority stake in Indian IT outsourcing services provider Mphasis Ltd from Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co in an up to $1.1 billion deal, in the U.S. asset manager's single-biggest investment in India.

The all-cash deal reinforces Blackstone's bullish outlook on the outsourcing business, where western clients send IT jobs to countries such as India to cut costs. In December, Blackstone announced the purchase of a minority stake in India's IBS Software for $170 million.

Blackstone is betting that India's IT industry will continue to grow in double-digits as companies move to high-margin digital services to offset a cut-back in routine IT spending by clients, a senior executive at the firm said.

"The reason we have made a strong commitment to the Indian IT sector is because this is a sector which has delivered very strong returns to Blackstone and other PE investors in India," said Amit Dixit, Blackstone's senior managing director in India.

"This sector is also poised for good growth ... and especially digital services, an area in which Mphasis is strong in," he said on a conference call after the deal was announced.

India's IT and software services export revenue is likely to grow by 10-12 percent in the fiscal year beginning on April 1 to as much as $121 billion, according to trade body National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom).

In what is one of the biggest M&A transactions in the country's outsourcing sector, Blackstone will pay 430 rupees ($6.49) per share for at least 84 percent of HP Enterprise Co's 60.5 percent stake in Mphasis.

It also made an open offer to buy a 26 percent stake in Mphasis from public shareholders for 457.54 rupees a share to comply with Indian laws.

Depending on the response to the open offer, HPE could get as much as $825 million for its complete stake, while the final cost to Blackstone of the transaction could be as much as 70.71 billion rupees ($1.1 billion). The deal is expected to close in the coming months, Blackstone said.

Shares of Mphasis, which have gained more than 11 percent from the beginning of March till end of last week in anticipation of a deal, fell 2.9 percent on Monday to close slightly below the open offer price at 454.90 rupees on the Mumbai markets.

'LAST BIG ASSET'

"This is a consolidating industry and Mphasis was the last big asset, you could see some more PE deals for smaller software companies in the sector going forward," said Ravi Menon, an IT sector analyst at Elara Capital.

Sources had told Reuters Blackstone was the frontrunner in an auction run by HPE for its Mphasis stake. HPE had been looking to exit from the Indian venture to shore up its capital, the sources had said.

Analysts have said that Mphasis' move away from HPE, which accounts for about a quarter of the Indian company's revenue, could hurt its sales.

But Blackstone has ensured that HPE maintains its commercial partnership with Mphasis. The Indian company has signed a five-year revenue guarantee of at least $990 million through sales to HPE, the companies said.

The U.S. asset manager is not alone in initiating outsourcing sector deals in India.

In February, Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC Pte and private equity investors Advent International and Bain Capital jointly bought a minority stake in outsourcing firm QuEST Global Services for $350 million.

($1 = 66.2200 rupees)

(Reporting by Himank Sharma and Devidutta Tripathy; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
New Delhi: Greenpeace India on Tuesday said "flaws still remain" in the National Air Quality Index (NAQI), launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi a year back, while accessibility of data on air pollution continues to be "skewed".

The NGO said "sadly" NAQI continues to be plagued by several discrepancies in the investment in infrastructure and the existing system is far from being reliable both in collection and dissemination of data.

"One year ago, when the Prime Minister launched the NAQI platform to monitor the air quality in major urban centres across the country on a real-time basis, Greenpeace had welcomed the initiative with caution and flagged a few limitations...

"...its limited scope, lack of transparency, and above all, lack of vision to make air quality data widely available and useful to citizens. On the first anniversary of the launch, a Greenpeace analysis of the current status of the Index reveals that several systemic flaws till remain," the NGO said in a statement.

It said that the accessibility of data on air pollution continues to be "skewed".

NAQI was launched to monitor air quality in 10 cities and there were plans to expand it to 46 cities. However, as on April 2 this year, NAQI monitors only in 23 cities.

Overall, there are only 39 monitoring stations in 46 cities limiting the scope of the Index drastically, it said.

"This number appears woefully inadequate in the context of the air pollution crisis India is facing. China, in response to a similar crisis, has as many as 1,500 monitoring stations. NAQI can be a powerful tool if implemented in its true spirit.

"It continues to be plagued by several discrepancies in the investment in infrastructure. The existing system is far from reliable in both, collection and dissemination of data, with no agreed steps for how the data will be utilised," said Sunil Dahiya, Campaigner, Greenpeace India.

He said real time publication of data needs to be coupled with an effective health advisory mechanism, one which can hold institutions accountable for and responsive to bad quality air days.

"The Index data also needs to be used more proactively, with adequate information shared about precautionary measures that the public can take, while the authorities take action to address the root causes of air pollution," he said.

"Greenpeace continues to demand a systematic clean air action plan with defined timelines and accountability towards public health. Public data sharing along with expanding the network to new places with right mix of policies can help India take a major stride towards resolving air pollution.
The shocking case of a young woman pledging herself to hospital authorities to seek the release of her sisters body from a private hospital in Bilaspur in Chattisgarh has once again raised a highly debated issue: How sensitive are Indian hospitals?

The incident, which took on 27 March, 2016 has  expectedly  triggered outrage in Chattisgarh CM Raman Singh forced to seek details of the case and whether there were any issues of medical negligence as alleged by the family of the dead.

A veritable tug of war ensued for her body after Shanti Dhandhi, 19, was pronounced dead by Dr Devendra Singh, gadgets from her body removed around midnight by a few nurses. The rest were - claim eyewitnesses at the hospital  busy watching replays of Indias win over Australia in faraway Mohali.

For Shakuntala, her sisters death was doubly shocking. Her elder sister  in a family of eight sisters  had died in the same hospital in 2010 and Dandhi, the youngest, was dead in 15 days flat.

Hospital authorities demanded upfront payment of Rs 2, 00,000 ignoring pleas from members of her distraught family. A distressed Shakuntala, seeing no option, pledged herself till the time payment was sorted out. Her offer shocked everyone, papers started moving from the files in the hospitals administrative department to the morgue for clearance of the body.

There was no other way I could have released the body, I offered myself. I stayed with the hospital authorities and left only after cash was organised, Shakuntala said in a telephonic interview.

Hospital authorities denied any fracas over the body, saying there was no pressure on the family. They got delayed because of certain formalities, Devesh Gopal, head of administration of the hospital, said.

Gopal said the hospital authorities extended all help possible. There were merely procedural delays, its routine in all hospitals, he said.

Dhandhi was no legend in making, youngest of eight sisters, she was an aspiring athlete who had won the top archery honours in an inter-state tournament in Punjab this February.

A resident of Korba, an industrial town three hours away from Bilaspur, Dhandhi was admitted to the hospital on March 12, she had appeared for Hindi examinations in her college.We knew she had jaundice but we did not expect her to collapse, every day medicines were changed. We could not argue because we are not doctors, rued Shakuntala.

Eventually, a social media intervention saved the day.

Cash was organised through a number of whats up groups which sent out messages, the body eventually released around early morning hours. Even some senior cops chipped in because the messages had gone viral, garnering reactions from all across Korba and Bilaspur. We were able to pay the hospital and informed the CM about our fear of medical negligence, says Ravindra Singh Khatri of Jivandeep, a NGO in Korba. Khatri said Bilaspur, for the records, is not free from cases of medical negligence. In November, 2014, 12 women died after botched surgeries at a mass sterilisation camp.

Interestingly, a Facebook lament by one Pallavi Panda who lost her husband last year due to alleged negligence by doctors garnered over 3,00,000 shares.

Indias medical laws are tough, actually tougher because family members of the deceased must have enough evidence to prove that the physician didnt have the professional skill of a physician or that he did not follow standard practice acceptable to the medical profession.

There have been countless occasions where the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has rejected several hundred claims on such grounds. There have been cases where doctors escaped punishment because they hadnt charged any fees. Under rules in India, free medical treatment does not bind a doctor in case of negligence.

But there are others who have argued against it, prominent among them being the Delhi-based Indian Medical Association (IMA) which says whether the patient has paid or not has nothing to do with the doctor being negligent but argues for solid, independent investigation.

The IMA has even favoured a policy of compensation without negligence as followed in the West, where compensations are paid for damage caused even if there is no case of negligence.

But it is tough belling the cat.

Worse, there are no collated data on cases of medical negligence, most cases of medical negligence lumped with police complaints under Section 304A of IPC, which deals with death by negligence. In 2015, there were a little over 200,000 such deaths in India, where over 9,000 contracted HIV through contaminated blood transfusion between 2010-15.

Like millions in India, Shakuntala says there is no one to argue on behalf of her family, her hopes lies with the office of the Chattisgarh CM. In a country where medical negligence has long blighted the poor, the chances of any redressal are almost negligible.

I have been told I will get my sisters medical file after a month, I cannot event argue her case because I still do not know what happened to her, she says.

She has only one question: What was the cost of my sisters body, why hold it back?
Ghaziabad: Elaborate security arrangements have been made by the police ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to neighbouring Noida on Tuesday to distribute e-rickshaw and inaugurate a micro credit programme, a senior police official said in Ghaziabad on Monday.

Apart from keeping an extra vigil in the bordering area and entry points, Ghaziabad police has enforced Operation Green under which no vehicle will be permitted to ply in the area, he said.

District borders touching Delhi and Noida will be sealed completely till the PM's programme concludes, said Superintendent of Police (City) Salman Taj Patil.

Apart from it, police personnel will be deployed on PCR vans and 'Leopard' motorcycle to keep a vigil in the area.

Four Deputy Superintendents of Police, seven inspectors, 30 sub-inspectors, 40 HCP (head constable promoted) and 300 constables have been sent to Noida from Ghaziabad for PM Visit duty, he added.

He said Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik, who will also attend the function, will arrive in Ghaziabad by helicopter which will land at CISF ground in Indira Puram.

Following which, he will travel by car to Noida, the officer added.
On the first day of the phase-I of West Bengal Assembly polls, residents of Chiruvita and Pialsol villages in Purulia district refused to cast their votes citing the government's inefficiency in fixing water scarcity and road problems in the village.

Mostly women, the protesters were seen shouting slogans and demanding their needs be met immediately. One of the women expressed how the roads are in poor condition, plagued with potholes and their difficulty in reaching the market area and even mentioned how its a lot harder for children to commute to school.

The first phase of the West Bengal elections saw people in 18 constituencies, out of 294, cast their votes.
There are several complex questions involved in the controversy over the 'minority' status to Aligarh Muslim University. Most of these are legal and some, given the context of the current political climate in the country, political. That the latter has already taken precedence over the former in public forums comes as no surprise.

The opposition would like to see the decision of the BJP-led central government not to press ahead with the 'minority' status to the varsity and abide by the 1967 ruling of the Supreme Court, a communally motivated one. This is one more example of the government trying to attack minority institutions, which is part of their larger agenda to divide the country along communal lines, trust this to be their line of argument in the coming days.

But heres a brief look at the legal aspect of the matter. In whats known as the Azeez Basha vs Union of India case, the constitution bench of the Apex Court ruled that AMU was not established by Muslims, but by an Act of Parliament and hence did not merit to be seen in the ambit of Article 30 of the Constitution which gives right to minority communities to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice. The university, which has always been identified with the Muslim community, lost its minority status.

Those arguing against the courts verdict  they include Dr Faizan Mustafa, former registrar of AMU and currently vice chancellor of NALSAR University, Hyderabad  contend that the university was not even party to the case in Supreme Court, which was over internal reservations in the institution. They also maintain that the fact that the university grew out of Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College, an institution set up by Muslims, was not seen in the correct perspective by the court.

In 1981, Parliament had amended the relevant Act to upturn the courts verdict but the Allahabad High Court rejected it in 2006. The UPA went in appeal against it. The BJP government has now decided not to contest it. For an institution that has managed without the minority status for over half a century, it would not make much existential difference, but it is signal for politics to kick in.

The decision comes at a juncture when the intolerance debate still rages in the country. Seen in the long chain of issues that have dominated the political discourse over the last few years, beginning with love jihad through ghar wapasi to attack in beef-eaters to the anti-national debate to the current controversy over bharat mata ki jai, it is easy for the opposition to fit the latest move into a pattern which they believe is dictated by the Hindutva agenda of the wider Sangh Parivar.

Coming as it does months after the government took a similar position on Jamia Millia Islamia, the political opposition is keen on driving home the message that the BJP is anti-minority and it reflects the way it is targeting minority institutions.

They will do everything, which can create insecurity and division and divert attention of people from the miserable performance of the Narendra Modi government and its failure on all fronts...They are basically divisive in their approach, in their ideology and their mind," said Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma. Former Law Minister Salman Khurshid blamed it on the narrow political view of the government. The BJP maybe on firm ground legally but it will take some effort from it to establish that its intent was not malicious.

Whether this has the potential to become a hot political topic, capable of influencing electoral politics or even the community as a whole, is another matter though.
Mumbai: Hitting out at Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, on Tuesday, ally Shiv Sena said he has "no moral right" to chant 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' so long has he failed to put AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi behind the bars for refusing to do so.

The Sena also took potshots at Fadnavis for "going soft" on the slogan issue after taking an aggressive stand at a public meeting at Nashik recently.

"After getting aggressive, the CM has now gone soft. There was no need for him to go back on his statement. He needs to make it clear why did he do so and put all the blame on media," the Sena said in an editorial in its mouthpiece 'Saamana'.

Fadnavis, while speaking in the Assembly on Monday, had said that whether or not he remains the CM, he will keep chanting 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' and blamed the media for only focusing on a part of his speech made at Nashik where he had said that those who refuse to chant the slogan have no right to stay in this country.

Referring to Owaisi who had said that he would not chant the slogan even if his throat was slit, the Sena sought to know from the Chief Minister as to where his "guts" have vanished and why he did not book the AIMIM leader for sedition.

"If you weren't able to do this, you have no right to chant a pro-India slogan and you are at fault as much as Owaisi," it said.
Mehbooba Mufti has written a fresh chapter in the history of Jammu & Kashmir, and the rest of India. She finally took oath as chief minister of the state on Monday, and in doing so became the first woman to hold the position in the trouble-torn Muslim-dominated border state.

She joins a list of powerful women chief ministers in India - Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal, J Jayalalitha in Tamil Nadu, Vasundhara Raje in Rajasthan, and Anandiben Patel in Gujarat. Incidentally, all of them are from non-Congress parties.

Her appointment also marked a generational shift in the state. Leaders of both the frontline regional parties  Omar Abdullah (46) of National Conference and Mehbooba Mufti (56) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) represent what in politics is termed as the 'younger' generation.

The fact that an elected government has finally assumed office, after a two-month-long political hiatus and a brief spell of Governor's Rule following the death of Mufti Mohammad Syed, is a welcome development.

The formation of an elected government also offers relief from sustained central rule in the state or the prospect of fresh elections, both of which would have been difficult to afford for the nation just over a year after the last assembly elections.

But the challenges Mehbooba faces are daunting. The kind of brinkmanship that she engaged with her ally in the government, the BJP, after the death of her father, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, has not made her task any easier.

More so, as she couldn't really gain much beyond just a reassurance that whatever was inked as agenda for the "governance alliance" between her father and the BJP leadership on 1 March, 2015 , would stand firm for the times to come.

She did have a "satisfactory" meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi recently, something that propelled her to convene a meeting of her PDP legislature party to endorse the formation of government and approve the continuance of the power sharing agreement with the BJP.

Unlike Mufti Mohammad Sayeed's swearing-in ceremony held on 1 March, 2015, which was attended by PM Modi, BJP President Amit Shah and other high and mighty of the party including LK Advani and MM Joshi, Mehbooba's swearing-in ceremony was a relatively low key affair.

The BJP or the Centre was represented by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu and Minister of State in the PMO Jitendra Singh. The protocol was obviously downgraded. But then, the two ceremonies were held in very different situations.

Over the years, Mufti had acquired the status of an iconic figure in J&K politics. He was also a practitioner of pragmatic politics. It was for the first time that the BJP was coming to power in the state, albeit after deviating a bit from its stated policies on J&K.

Back then, both the BJP and PDP had made several compromises to join hands to come to power. From the BJP's perspective, the presence of Modi and other BJP heavyweights at the Mufti government's swearing-in ceremony was to convince its own cadre of the merits of the alliance as much as it was for the people of J&K, to reflect the seriousness of the new ideologically contradictory alliance.

This time around, however, Mehbooba's swearing-in comes following the untimely death of her father and thus, the mood was of sobriety rather than of enthusiasm.

A year ago, it was a big bold experiment. This time around, it was a cautiously optimistic moment. The BJP had made its exasperation known to Mehbooba when she actually began engaging with them to resolve issues relating to government formation. The presence of Naidu and Singh was meant to convey that she will get all the required assistance from the Centre provided that due protocol is followed.

Her immediate political challenge will be two fold  first, give a sense to her social constituency that she could provide the much discussed "healing touch" yet maintain the balance with the ally in government, the BJP. Second, ensure her party wins the Anantnag parliamentary constituency, which she will have to vacate now as she will become the chief minister.

Her younger brother, Tassaduq Hussain Mufti, a new entrant to politics may fight from that seat. On the other hand, she will have to contest an assembly election, to win the seat vacated due to the death of her father. Elections to these two seats would be her first big test of popularity.

So far she was the power behind the throne, now she occupies it. The dynamics have changed.
New Delhi: Congress on Monday accused Narendra Modi government of "putting the clock back" and creating "insecurity and division" in the mind of people as the Centre made it clear to the Supreme Court that it was not going to support Aligarh Muslim University on granting minority status.

The NDA government on Monday told the Supreme Court that it would withdraw the appeal filed by the erstwhile UPA government challenging the Allahabad High Court verdict holding the AMU as non-minority institution.

"Why are we creating these situations? This once again reveals the mindset and agenda of this government. They will do everything, which can create insecurity and division and divert attention of people from the miserable performance of Narendra Modi government and its failure on all fronts.

"They are basically divisive in their approach, in their ideology and their mind," Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma said.

Terming it "deeply disappointing", former Law Minister and senior advocate Salman Khurshid said, "they seem to be taking very narrrow political view of this. They are not the first to do this. There were narrow political views taken in past as well."

He said that in 1981, Indira Gandhi had finally, after "deep reflection", came to the conclusion that this is something that the government of the day must do and this is part of the larger Constitutional commitment to minorites and that is what was done.

"For 20 years, nothing happened. But 20 years later, the same regulation, amendments of 1981 went to the Allahabad High Court. The High Court said we cannot accept this. We are bound by what the Supreme Court had already done very early after independence.

"And the Supreme Court judgement of five judges had said that any institution that was established through an Act of Parliament or an Act of legislature, cannot be seen as being established by a group of people or minority and that is why AMU has not been given a minority status," Khurshid said.

The senior Congress leader said that this is like "putting the clock back when the government today says that the AMU does not have minority status."

"It's really putting the clock back and it is very disappointing, very sad and I hope the court will be able to review the earlier decision of Aziz Basha," he said.

AMU was set up by the Central Act and in 1967, a five-judge Constitution bench of the apex court had in Aziz Basha judgement held it as a "central university" and not a minority institution.

AICC spokesperson Randeep Surjewala found nothing wrong when told that Khurshid talked of challenging the order of the Allahabad High Court in regard to AMU University being a minority University.

"An individual in this country whether he or she belongs to a political party, anybody interested in the welfare of Aligarh Muslim University including its faculty and teachers, have full right to avail of the constitutional remedies available to them and I don't think so - either the Congress Party or BJP will stand or can stand as an obstacle thereto.

"So, by all means, if a judgment of a Court is wrong or incorrect, they have every right to seek a review or go in appeal against it. We will be making a detailed statement on the issue perhaps tomorrow," Surjewala said.

The Allahabad High Court had in January 2006 struck down the provision of the AMU (Amendment) Act, 1981 by which the University was accorded a minority status.

The division bench of the High Court had upheld the decision of its single judge passed in 2005 by which it termed as "unconstitutional" the granting of minority status to AMU and 50 per cent reservation to Muslims in 2004.
The scenic seaside Union Territory of Puducherry is gearing up for polls in May, and it seems like government servants are retiring in droves, hoping to contest the polls.

On Monday, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) announced that they would stand alone in Puducherry, making it a three-cornered contest. Amongst the 30 candidates that the party announced, around 10 of them have never seen an election before, and of the 10, one is a retired government servant and another, a police officer.

G Panneerselvam who is contesting from the Nedungadu constituency in Karaikal was secretary to the chief minister, while AK Selvaraj, the partys Oussudu seat candidate, retired as a sub inspector a few months ago.

Other parties, too, are fielding similar candidates. T Bairavasamy, formerly Superintendent of Police (Rural), who recently applied for VRS (Voluntary Retirement Scheme), plans to contest in Yanam, an enclave of the Union Territory in Andhra Pradesh, against the standing MLA Malladi Krishna Rao. Bairavasamy is hopeful of getting a ticket with the ruling NR Congress. It was Mr Malladi who got me interested in politics, and he asked me to contest in Yanam two elections ago. However, since he was the Congress choice, I had to wait till this election. Now that I have applied for VRS, I will definitely contest, even if I have to stand as an independent, he told Firstpost.

According to sources, there are a number of other candidates who were working in the police or the government who are waiting in the wings and had requested for tickets to contest in the 2016 Assembly Polls. K Theepanjan, who was earlier a junior engineer with the Public Works Department, for example, has approached both the Congress and the NR Congress for a seat. We received an application from Mr Theepanjan for a seat in the Oussudu constituency, but on the day of the interview, he met with Chief Minister N Rangasamy to ask for a seat, sources in the Congress said.

Also in the Oussudu (reserved) constituency, another retired police officer JE Saravana Kumar is said to have approached multiple parties for a seat.

Sources say that former managing director of PAPSCO (Puducherry Agro Products, Food and Civil Supplies Corporation) G Anbalagan had also approached the NR Congress for a seat. The ruling party though is yet to take a decision.

This election, voters expect to see several new faces. Since 1996, many parties have started introducing businessmen and real estate brokers into politics. This year, it seems to have reached its peak, with every party introducing at least a few people who have no history in politics, V Perumal, former CPM unit secretary said.

According to sources, since there are four major parties/alliances involved in the contest  NR Congress, Congress-DMK, AIADMK and Peoples Welfare Front  who are planning to field candidates in the 30 constituencies, there is a rush for new faces, as they all need candidates.

Confusion prevails though, over which candidate will represent which party, with the alliances not yet being fixed in the union territory. The territory has 30 seats, including five in Karaikal (an enclave near Nagapattinam), and one each in Mahe (in Kerala) and Yanam (in Andhra Pradesh).

With only the AIADMK announcing its candidates in the UT, many candidates remain hopeful of a seat in either the NR Congress, or the Congress-DMK alliance, or possibly in the People Welfare Front. So far, the BJP has not announced their intentions, but it is expected that they will stand alone and field candidates in all 30 constituencies.

Several candidates have already jumped parties, and it is expected that the shuffling will continue until 22 April, when the lists of candidates are finalised. Puducherry has had a history of candidates jumping parties, and most voters identify with the candidates more than with the party. Since there are only a limited number of seats, this is to be expected, D Ramachandran, former chief minister and now a political analyst, said. Ramachandran added that it was possible that many strong candidates would be forced to stand as independent candidates, since the seats in many parties were being filled fast.

Sources say that in many of the constituencies, candidates who are not given tickets by any party plan to stand as independent candidates. In the Lawspet constituency, for example, there are two candidates vying for a seat with the NR Congress: M Vaithianathan, the current MLA, and Nandha T Saravanan, the Muthialpet MLA. Although Saravanan is from another constituency, he has been working in the Lawspet area for the past four years, and he is trying for a seat in that constituency, sources said, adding that if either of them is not given a ticket, both of them will have to contest as independent candidates.

Another area of contention is in Karaikal South. Karaikal is one of the enclaves of the UT located near Nagapattinam. Here, the former Puducherry Pradesh Congress Committee president AV Subramanian has approached the Congress for a ticket. The current MLA, AMH Nazeem, has also asked for a seat from the same constituency. We are still in talks with DMK to decide the seat allotment, and will take a decision after that, Puducherry Pradesh Congress Committee president A Namassivayam said.
The cadre of the ruling All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), rival parties as well as journalists in Tamil Nadu were glued to Jaya TV, the party mouthpiece on Monday at 12.15 pm. The channel had been flashing tickers for an hour stating that a special announcement would be made at that time.

Jayalalithaa unveiled her list of candidates in this manner. The AIADMK will contest 227 out of 234 seats in the state in May, the first time the party is contesting such a large number of seats. Allies have been allotted seven seats in all. These allies too will contest under the AIADMKs two-leaves symbol.

As the candidates list was read out, consternation set in.

Did O Panneerselvam get a ticket? was the first question on every journalists lips. What about Natham Viswanathan? was the next. Senthil Balaji? asked one journalist incredulously. These questions have a stormy background.

The AIADMKs candidate list is surprising, said R Mani, senior journalist in Chennai. This move (to include ministers with allegations of corruption against them) shows the extreme confidence of the party leadership. Even when MGR (MG Ramachandran) was heading the party, such drastic action was not taken by him, he said.

The Ivar Ani

State finance minister and proxy chief minister in Jayalalithaas absence while she was jailed in 2014, Panneerselvam is the consummate Amma (Jayalalithaas moniker) loyalist. He is one of 17 ministers to be given tickets again. Ten other ministers have been denied a ticket this year. Panneerselvam though retains his Bodinayakanur seat.

Natham Viswanathan, electricity minister who also holds the Prohibition and Excise portfolio was a powerful leader in the party by all accounts. A sitting MLA from the Natham constituency, Viswanathan has now been handed the Athur seat.

These two ministers were said to be heading the Ivar Ani  meaning the Team of Five. The other three Ministers said to be in the team are Edappadi Palanichamy, Palaniappan and Vaithilingam. Reports did the rounds that the aides of these ministers were collecting money from hapless candidates wanting a ticket in the upcoming polls. Jayalalithaa took swift action, removing partymen who were known loyalists of these ministers, sending across the message that indiscipline would not be brooked.

As a result of these rumblings, speculation was rife that the Ivar Ani would not feature in the candidate list. That was not to be. Only Minister Palaniappan did not manage to land a seat while the other four have got tickets.

Whoever was expected to be denied a seat, has got one, said senior journalist Mani. For instance, former transport minister Senthil Balaji (who has corruption allegations against him) was not expected to get a seat. He has got it. A lot of names on this list are quite surprising, he added.

The Senthil Balaji referred to by Mani was a star minister in Jayas team since 2011, holding the Transport portfolio. When Jaya was jailed in the disproportionate assets case, one of the names for the proxy chief minister doing the rounds at the time, was that of Balaji. One of the few ministers to hold the same portfolio for four years in the AIADMK regime, he was suddenly and ignominiously stripped not just of the ministry but also of his party post in July 2015. The reason, as explained by AIADMK sources, was that Balajis name figured in allegations of demands for bribes for jobs in the Transport Department.

By giving ministers like Senthil Balaji, who have corruption allegations against them, seats, Jayalalithaa is signaling that she simply does not care, said political critic Gnani Sankaran. Jayalalithaa has always wanted to project her party as the largest party in the state. That is why, this time she has announced that the party would contest in 227 constituencies. These tactics are not new to her, he added.

In 2014, Jayalalithaa pulled off a risky stunt by contesting all 37 Lok Sabha seats alone, with almost every candidate being a political greenhorn. Her party won 37 out of 39 seats in the state. Our Ammas signature is that she is revolutionary and fresh in her outlook, said AIADMK spokesperson K Samarasam. Even though seven seats are for allies, they too will contest under the AIADMK symbol. This means that in all 234 constituencies, the two-leaves symbol will contest, he added.

Samarasam furthers explained the strategy. Apart from giving youngsters a chance, she has also given senior politicians like Ponnaiyan and Panrutti Ramachandran tickets, he said. Those ministers who did not work as well as they should have for the people, have not been given a chance again. As far as Amma is concerned, only service to the people counts.

Jaya has thrown the ball squarely in rival Dravida Munnetra Kazhagams (DMK) court. On the day when the DMKs seat allocation talks with Congress was finalised, Jaya went ahead, full steam, to announce candidates as well as her campaign tour plan which kicks off on 9 April. DMK leaders though feel that her strategy is not without mistakes.

On one hand, the AIADMK continues to hold alliance talks and on the other, the candidates list is announced, said V Kannadasan, DMK advocate. It is all eyewash. Kannadasan also terms the AIADMKs move of contesting in so many seats as a sign of overconfidence.

What Jaya has accomplished to perfection, is to force the Opposition to scramble and get their act together in what is expected to be a hotly-contested election.

The author tweets @anandkso
Tamil Nadu's ruling AIADMK will field a record highest 227 candidates in the assembly elections, with Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa contesting from flood-battered Chennai. Even the allies in the remaining seven seats will seek votes on the AIADMK symbol.

Jayalalithaa, 68, announced the candidates' list, saying she will seek re-election from Radhakrishnan Nagar constituency in north Chennai, an area that was badly affected in the unprecedented December floods.

The decision is significant as Opposition parties were hoping to make the government's handling of the floods in the city a major election plank.

The AIADMK general secretary also said that her party will contest all 30 seats in Puducherry and put up seven candidates in Tamil areas of Kerala.

However, the most significant part of the announcement of the candidates was the fact that AIADMK has not given tickets to more than 100 sitting MLAS, including ministers. The New Indian Express reported that ministers who have been dropped include P Mohan, P Palaniappan, S Sundararaj, SP Shanmuganathan, N Subramanian, KA Jayapal, N Subramanian, MSM Anandan, TP Poonachi and S Abdul Rahim.

Jayalalithaa rewarded those who switched loyalties to her party from the DMDK, DMK and PMK.

The notable new entrant is Panruti S Ramachandran, who had quit the DMDK. He was one of the leading lights of the AIADMK when its founder, the late MG Ramachandran or MGR, presided over the state.

Another old timer who has been fielded is C Ponnaiyan, a former minister.

Though eight DMDK legislators turned rebel and supported the AIADMK during the most part of the outgoing assembly and later joined the ruling party, only K Pandiarajan out of them has been given a ticket.

Jayalalithaa has also fielded M Kalaiarasu and PT Elangovan, who had quit PMK, and Parithi Ilamvazhuthi, who had quit DMK and joined AIADMK.

The New Indian Express also reported that former minister Parithi Ellamvazhuthi will contest from Egmore, the same constituency from where his son Parithi Ellamsuruthi is likely to contest for the DMK.

Former DGP R Nataraj is one of the new faces in the party list. He will contest from Mylapore in the heart of Chennai.

The AIADMK candidates' list is a mix of graduates, post-graduates and those with professional qualifications. Over 10 percent of the candidates are women.

Actors-turned-politicians R. Sarathkumar and Karunas will contest from Thiruchendur and Thiruvadanai constituencies respectively. They are among the seven candidates from smaller parties allied with the AIADMK.

AIADMK spokesperson Avadi Kumar told IANS that it was the first time that the party was contesting in more than 200 seats.

Though the allies have been given seven seats, they will contest under AIADMK's "two leaves" symbol. Thus, for the first time, the AIADMK symbol will be seen in all the 234 constituencies.

Jayalalithaa first became chief minister in June 1991 and was voted out in 1996. She again became chief minister in May 2001 but stepped down in September that year due to legal hassles.

She was allowed to return to her post in March 2002 and retained it till May 2006. After the May 2011 elections, she took charge of Tamil Nadu again till September 2014 when she resigned due to a legal row.

She returned to the chief minister's post in May 2015.

In Puducherry, the AIADMK will contest all the 30 seats. In 2011, it had tied up with All India NR Congress there. After the elections which the alliance won, the relationship between the two soured.

In neighbouring Kerala, the AIADMK has fielded seven candidates as against six in 2011. The AIADMK tasted success in six wards in last year's Kerala civic polls.

For the 2016 assembly elections, Jayalalithaa has fielded three candidates each in Palakkad and Idukki districts and one candidate in Thiruvananthapuram. All the areas have sizeable Tamil population.

With inputs from IANS
When two days back Rahul Gandhi was on his first round of electioneering in West Bengal in the once Left stronghold, in Burdwan district, he was endorsing and cementing the tactical arrangement of Left Congress combine against the might of the Trinamool Congress in the state. The over enthusiast Left supporters carrying the red flags, went overboard shouting Rahul Gandhi Lal Salaam in the rally in Kulti, a sign of Left approval for the alliance, that was earlier being widely contested by political leaders skeptical of the Left Congress alignment at the ground level in West Bengal.

But it seems perfect timed at the ground level. In Rahul's jansabha (public meeting), more than the Congress supporters, it was the enthusiasm of the Left noticeable by their red flags with their separate symbols of their individual parties, the CPIM, CPI, FB, RSP that they use to keep their own party identity intact. For almost every four Left flag there appeared to be just a single tricolor with the hand imprint, denoting the presence of Congress supporters.

This is understandable particularly in the once Left bastion where Rahul Gandhi campaigned for the Congress candidate Baiswanath Pariyal, the three time councilor of the Trinamool Congress who has switched sides to the congress just a few days before candidates lists were announced to take on the Trinamool MLA and present mayor of Durgapur, Apoorva Mukherjee. Later the Congress vice president also campaigned at Kulti, for the Left candidate from Jamuria, Jehanara Khan, who also happens to be the Left sitting MLA from the constituency. The Congress vice president shared the dais with the local Left leader Bansagopal Chowdhury, one time minister in Buddhadeb Bhattacharya government. Senior leaders of the Left from the state or centre were conspicuous by their absence, but not that they were missed at all. Karyakartas chanted 'lal salaam' and 'Inquilaab zindabad', for Rahul Gandhi in the rally for the Left candidate.

Rahul took the opportunity to test the waters. He went on explaining as to why the Left and the Congress should be together. The justification for the historical baggage of the severe rivalry that existed between the Left and Congress till about five years ago and has been put aside for this elections. In fact the explanations should have strongly come from the Left leadership because just five years ago the Congress was the partner of the Trinamool Congress and had demolished the thirty five year old Left citadel. Even now they are on opposite camps in Kerela and the seniors still seem to be in doubts whether to bluntly endorse the coalition and face adverse results.

Rahul took it strongly because he knew he was speaking more to the Left supporters. He said, I asked Congress karyakarta on the ground, not the leaders, on how they want to fight here. And all of them said they want to align with the Left and fight Trinamool Congress. And they want to fight Mamataji because she betrayed us.

I have made possible what you asked for. So the Congress workers, you happen to be our backbone. Go to the field together holding hands of the Left Karyakartas and fight the Trinamool Congress to form the Coalition government here, he said this to huge applause, an endorsement to the coalition that both the Left leadership and the Congress were waiting to hear.

Both of Rahuls rallies saw the Left supporters in big numbers waving their flags, queuing up organized in trademark style, sloganeering unabashedly for the coalition. They say they have to, even if their leaders still remain elusive. There is no option if we want to just survive in the state. We are taking on the might of the Trinamool. Even if the leaders are uncomfortable we do not have an option here. The opposition has to stand together, says Md Imtayaz a local left supporter who doubled as polling agent for the Left in the last elections. He had been living in Kolkata since the Trinamool was voted to power five years back and has returned only now to campaign for his party.

Yes, we support Rahul Gandhi if he speaks for us. The Congress will speak for us in the Centre and here the Left will lead the coalition, so why not jointly contest. Since the JOTH (alliance) has come into being, the scenario has changed, speaks another self proclaimed Left supporter Bikash Kumar holding the Congress flag in Kulti. This is for the congress candidate here, in Durgapur.

Congress party has clarified that for now there is no joint campaigning of senior leaders from the Centre and the stage will not be shared in the already planned Sonia Gandhi rallies in the coming days but the writing on the wall is clear. The fear of the leaders about their grassroots workers has not come true. This election it is not coming from the leadership anymore. The grassroots workers have already decided. If they were to give a fight in West Bengal they have to join hands even with the ones they were opposed to always.
LASHKAR GAH/SORAB, Afghanistan The surprise withdrawal of Afghan forces from parts of Helmand province may leave large areas under Taliban control, but it should bolster the defences of the volatile southern region, the country's top defence official said.

Acting Defence Minister Masoom Stanekzai said it made little sense to spread forces across sparsely populated districts like Musa Qala and Naw Zad, where government troops pulled out in February.

"We needed reorganisation. There was a lot of pressure in different parts of Helmand," he told Reuters in Helmand, where he met local tribal elders and commanders of the Afghan army's 215th Corps last week.

"It was exhausting forces in desert areas where they have less influence on the security of the civilians," he said.

"More importantly, when you look at the strategy the terrorist groups are adopting, they are moving, they're in small groups, they move from one place to another place."

The decision to relocate forces corresponded with the views of NATO commanders, who say Afghan troops have been spread too thinly in static checkpoints, handing the initiative to the Taliban.

Hundreds of U.S. troops have been deployed to Helmand since February to support local soldiers in advising roles, while U.S. warplanes have stepped up air strikes there this year.

Helmand, a mainly desert region bordering Pakistan, is of strategic and symbolic importance as a heartland of the Taliban.

More American and British troops died there than in any other province of Afghanistan since arriving after the fall of the Islamist government in late 2001.

The province also sits along major smuggling routes for drugs and weapons and is the region that accounts for the biggest share of opium cultivation, a key source of revenue to the Taliban.

The Islamist militants' gains in the province underline the danger they pose to Afghan security, now NATO has withdrawn most combat troops, leaving a smaller training and advisory mission.

The guerrilla movement is opposed to any foreign troops on Afghan soil, and wants to return to power in Kabul and reimpose its strict interpretation of Islamic law.

CONTROLLING MOVEMENT

Government forces are now grouped closer to the provincial capital Lashkar Gah and nearby towns including Marjah and Gereshk, straddling the main Highway One that links the major cities of Kandahar in the south and Herat in the west.

To the north of the highway, they are also holding on in Sangin and in Kajaki, where they are protecting a vital dam and power station that supplies electricity to Kandahar.

Adding to the challenge of outwitting a nimble enemy, the Western-backed government in Kabul must overcome public distrust of the local armed forces.

"They are busy filling their own pockets rather than taking care of security," said Mohammad Akhondzada, one of hundreds of tribal elders and scholars who met in the provincial capital to express their concern about worsening security.

"The Taliban are now at the doorstep of Lashkar Gah and threatening the city."

The complex and shifting tribal politics of the province have defied central government control for decades.

But the loss of the province would severely undermine the credibility of President Ashraf Ghani's government and leave the strategic city of Kandahar, birthplace of the Taliban, exposed.

Stanekzai acknowledged that the situation was "not rosy", but said that by positioning troops in strategic zones where they could block the flow of fighters in and out of the province, security forces could regain the initiative.

"We have to get the fighting out of the villages, we have to close the border, we have to reach the areas where the movement of fighters is taking place," he said.

As well as the Taliban, government forces in Helmand have been fighting foreign groups including Al Qaeda and Islamic State sympathisers, and Stanekzai said their presence underlined the need for continued international support.

But troops are weary after months of continuous fighting, their morale sapped by corruption, poor equipment and lack of supplies.

The 215th corps is undergoing retraining and refitting and dozens of senior officers, including the corps commander, have been replaced.

The corps recently retook the isolated southern district of Khanishin close to the border with Pakistan after persuading local people to abandon support for the Taliban, and Stanekzai said winning over the population would be vital.

But after months of steady reverses, patience with the administration in Kabul is wearing thin.

"People are fed up with injustice of government officials," said Hafizullah Khan, another elder at the Lashkar Gah meeting. "Therefore they're much closer to the Taliban and welcome them."

(Additional reporting by Hamid Shalizi in Kabul; Editing by Mike Collett-White)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
LONDON Prime Minister David Cameron and his family do not benefit from any offshore funds, his spokesman said on Tuesday, after the British leader came under pressure over his late father's inclusion in the "Panama Papers" revelations over tax havens.

During a visit to a business in central England on Tuesday, Cameron said he did not own any shares or have any offshore funds but did not answer a question on whether he or his family had benefited from offshore investment funds set up by his father. On Monday, his spokeswoman had said it was a "private matter"..

In a statement on Tuesday, a spokesman for Cameron said: "To be clear, the prime minister, his wife and their children do not benefit from any offshore funds." He did not say whether they had benefited in the past.

"The prime minister owns no shares ... Mrs Cameron owns a small number of shares connected to her fathers land, which she declares on her tax return."

The leader of Britain's main opposition party urged the government to tackle tax havens, accusing Cameron of allowing "the super rich elite" to dodge taxes.

Leaked documents from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca have provided evidence of how the world's rich and powerful used secretive offshore company structures to stash their wealth.

The documents named Cameron's late father Ian and members of his Conservative Party among the list of the firm's clients.

The government has promised to investigate the leaked data but opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn called for more to be done, including setting up an independent investigation.

"There cannot be one set of tax rules for the wealthy elite and another for the rest of us," Corbyn said at the launch of Labour's campaign for local elections next month.

"The unfairness and abuse must stop ... no more lip service, the richest must pay their way."

Corbyn said Britain had a "huge responsibility" as many tax havens are British overseas territories, such as the British Virgin Islands and Cayman Islands, or crown dependencies, such as Jersey or the Isle of Man.

TAX HAVENS

When Britain hosted a G8 summit in 2013, Cameron put tackling tax avoidance at the heart of the agenda. Some of Britain's former colonies increasingly rely on revenues from shell companies and trusts that often hide wealth.

Three years later, some opposition lawmakers say the release of the "Panama Papers" shows the battle is far from won and are demanding that Cameron exert more control over Britain's overseas territories, most of which are self-governing.

According to media that have seen Mossack Fonseca's files, more than half of the 200,000 companies set up by the firm were registered in the British Virgin Islands, where details of ownership do not have to be filed with the authorities.

The head of the secretariat of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes, Monica Bhatia, said the British Virgin Islands had improved transparency over the last five years, in contrast to Panama.

Dominic Grieve, a former attorney general and Conservative chair of parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee, said preventing overseas territories from running their own financial services would push crime elsewhere.

"The government has a responsibility towards encouraging overseas territories to find legitimate ways of economic development, and the financial sector is undoubtedly such a legitimate method," he told BBC radio, adding that people only used tax havens if their own systems were "onerous".

"The best way of ensuring that ... people do not want to go to the BVI is to provide the right environment domestically."

($1 = 0.7032 pounds)

(Additional reporting by William James and Leigh Thomas; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
New Delhi: India is likely to raise with China the issue of Beijing blocking its latest bid to have JeM chief Masood Azhar designated terrorist by the UN in the aftermath of terror strike at the Pathankot air force base.

India has been "disappointed" by the Chinese action at the UN and is expected to take up the issue at the "political-level" at the "first given opportunity", sources said.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is travelling to Moscow later this week to attend RIC (Russia-India-China) ministerial meeting. On the sidelines, a bilateral meeting between Ms Swaraj and her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi is expected during which the issue of China blocking the designation as terrorist of Jaish-e-Mohammad chief and Mumbai terror attack mastermind at the UN is likely to figure.

Last week, China stopped UN sanctions committee from designating Azhar as terrorist, maintaining that the case "did not meet the requirements" of the Security Council.

This is not the first time China has blocked India's bid to get Pakistan-based militant groups and leaders proscribed by the UN.

The UN had banned the JeM in 2001 but India's efforts for slapping sanctions on Azhar after the 2008 Mumbai terror attack also did not fructify as China, that has veto powers, did not allow it apparently at the behest of Pakistan again.

Last July, China had similarly halted India's move in the UN to take action against Pakistan for its release of Mumbai terror attack mastermind Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, saying that its stand was "based on facts and in the spirit of objectiveness and fairness" with Beijing again claiming at the time that it was in touch with New Delhi.

Expressing its strong "disappointment" over the development, India said it finds it "incomprehensible" that while the Pakistan-based JeM was listed by the UN Committee for its well-known terror activities and links to the Al-Qaeda, the designation of the group's "main leader, financier and motivator" has been put on a "technical hold".
Much is made of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's personal rapport with US President Barack Obama. One remembers the PM referring to the US President as 'Barack' during his visit to India last January.

Thankfully, Prime Minister Modi quickly realized that this kind of familiarity was not part of diplomatic protocol and wisely stopped addressing him by his first name.

But despite the growing warmth in ties between India and the US, reinforced now by Modi's personal equation with President Obama, Washington continues to bracket India and Pakistan together when referring to risks of nuclear confrontation in the sub-continent.

Former US president Bill Clinton, had once famously called South Asia the most dangerous place on earth as chances of a nuclear flashpoint between India and Pakistan were very real. India does not like to be bracketed with Pakistan on nuclear issues, as it is well known that A Q Khan, the father of Pakistan's nuclear program was a known proliferator. He passed on nuclear technology to North Korea and Libya. New Delhi's record in non-proliferation is exemplary.

MEA spokesman Vikas Swarup reacted sharply on Monday to President Obama's advise to India and Pakistan at the end of the recent Nuclear Security Summit. Obama wanted to "see progress in Pakistan and India, that subcontinent, making sure that as they develop military doctrines, that they are not continually moving in the wrong direction."

"Yes, we have seen those remarks, Swarup said. "There seems to be a lack of understanding of India's defence posture. Conventionally, India has never initiated military action against any neighbour. We also have a no-first use nuclear weapons policy," he added.

New Delhi, which has been on the receiving end of terror strikes from Pakistan, including the latest at the Pathankot air base in January, is angry and hurt that the Americans often misunderstand India's concerns. In fact in the past, the US and its allies had turned a deaf ear to India's claims that Pakistan's state agencies nurtured, armed and funded terror groups to bleed India. It is only in recent years, when the Afghan Taliban targeted NATO and American troops in Afghanistan, that Washington got the measure of Pakistan's military's tactics.

India is taking consolation from the fact that President Obama, without naming Pakistan spoke about countries expanding their "nuclear arsenals especially those with small tactical nuclear weapons that could be at greater risk of theft."

Since the context was the Nuclear Security Summit, the President's own remark that expanding nuclear arsenals in some countries, with more small tactical nuclear weapons which could be at greater risk of theft sums up the focus of global concern.

Islamabad has admitted that it is making tactical nuclear weapons which can be used on the battle front.

This has naturally rung alarm bells world wide, more so in India as the possibility of them being used in a war with India is very high.

President Obama's concern is that these small tactical weapons could be stolen and used by Islamic State to devastating effect. The fact that Belgium investigators during a raid in the homes of Islamists, in February, discovered a video tracking the movements of a man working in Belgiums nuclear industry. This has opened the frightening possibility of the ISIS wanting to get hold of nuclear material.

Eleven Belgian nuclear workers have had their work authorization taken away because of fears of insider assistance to extremists according to a report in a British daily. This issue was discussed in the recently held Nuclear Security Summit in Washington.

Obama's reference to military doctrine also mentions India. In New Delhi, there is often talk of the Indian military's Cold Start Doctrine. Simply put, this means an immediate reaction to terrorist attack from Pakistan, by a counter punitive attack deep inside Pakistan territory. Though India has acted with restraint, the doctrine of punitive strikes is something that hard-liners in India have long favoured. BJP patriarch, L K Advani, as home minister in the first NDA government, often spoke of hot pursuit. This line is in tune with those who want India to have a muscular foreign policy.

Last June, when special forces of the Indian army, raided an NSCN(K) camp, by crossing the border into Myanmar, in coordination with the Air Force, to punish insurgents for a deadly ambush earlier of an Indian army convoy, there was much chest thumping in some circles.

Dark hints were given that Pakistan could face similar fate in case of future terror strikes inside India. Though this has nothing to do with nuclear security, the kind of aggressive talk that emanated from India after the Myanmar operations, worried the rest of the world.

With a history of animosity between the two nuclear-armed neighbours, President Barack Obama's concern is understandable.
United Nations: India has voiced disappointment over the UN's failure to adopt consensus guidelines on disarmament issues, saying this reflects the lack of political will among member states to invest in multilateral outcomes.

Permanent Representative of India to the Conference on Disarmament Geneva Ambassador DB Venkatesh Varma said India shares the "widespread" disappointment that the UN Disarmament Commission (UNDC) has not been able to adopt consensus guidelines since 1999.

"The current difficulties relate less to any inherent deficiencies in the machinery and more to the lack of political will of member states to invest in multilateral outcomes," Varma said at the United Nations on Monday, addressing a session on UN Disarmament Commission.

The Commission can play an important role in reducing tensions and building confidence provided member states start investing in the forum, he said adding that the Commission can do more to improve its functioning by undertaking focused and result oriented discussions on items on its agenda.

Varma also underscored the need to uphold "genuine" multilateralism to increase trust among nations to achieve complete elimination of nuclear weapons, calling for confidence building measures to be a step-by-step process that should evolve at a pace comfortable to all participating states.

"India attaches priority to global, non-discriminatory, verifiable nuclear disarmament and the complete elimination of nuclear weapons in a time bound manner," he said.

Varma said India believes there is a need to "uphold genuine multilateralism to increase trust and confidence among all States, both nuclear and non-nuclear, and to strengthen dialogue so as to close the gaps both on the constitution and expression of international will regarding the pursuit of negotiations leading to nuclear disarmament."

On the issue of practical Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) in the field of conventional weapons, Varma said confidence-building must be a "step-by-step process and should evolve at a pace comfortable to all participating states".

"CBMs should be adopted on the initiation and with the agreement of the States concerned," he added.

He quoted Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington last week in which the Indian leader had underlined that India remains committed to global nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.

Varma said India supports the "peaceful" uses of nuclear energy, a part of its commitment to combat climate change, adding that nuclear security will be a continuing priority for India.

He outlined that India has supported the proposal put forward by Non Aligned Movement (NAM) for the Conference on Disarmament to commence negotiations on a Comprehensive Nuclear Weapons Convention.

"We have also called for a reaffirmation of the unequivocal commitment by all nuclear weapon States to the goal of complete elimination of nuclear weapons and an agreement on a step by step process underwritten by a universal commitment for the global elimination of nuclear weapons.

"India has also called for meaningful dialogue amongst all states possessing nuclear weapons to build trust and confidence and for reducing the salience of nuclear weapons in international affairs and security doctrines," he said.

Pakistan's envoy Maleeha Lodhi, without naming India or any other country the region, said in South Asia, real progress towards peace and prosperity was being impeded by "hegemonic efforts" that were often fanned and encouraged by powerful States to advance their own geopolitical objectives.

She added that there were continuing differences in approaches to pursuing an agreed disarmament agenda and new dangers on the global security horizon in areas including the hostile use of outer space, offensive cyber capabilities and the development and use of lethal autonomous weapon systems and armed drones.

She said Pakistan's nuclear policy was shaped by the evolving regional security dynamics.

Even though Pakistan neither wanted to engage in an arms race, it could not remain oblivious to the evolving regional security dynamics and arms build-up, which had obliged her country to take essential steps to maintain its security, she said.
WASHINGTON Upcoming peace talks on a political transition in Syria will test whether Syrian President Bashar al-Assad can negotiate in good faith, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Tuesday before a new round of negotiations in Geneva.

Assad has said he thinks the Geneva talks can produce a new Syrian government that includes opposition, independents and loyalists, but has rejected the idea of a transition authority.

But Syria's opposition has consistently said it wants a halt in attacks on civilians and for the Geneva talks to result in a transitional governing body for Syria that does not include Assad.

"The key right now is whether Assad is capable of negotiating in good faith, and we have to put that to the test," Kerry told Bloomberg Television in New York.

In Geneva, U.N. spokesman Ahmad Fawzi told reporters the second round of peace talks was expected to resume on Monday in Geneva. U.N. mediator Staffan de Mistura was in Moscow on Tuesday to prepare for the talks.

State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the expectation was that the next round would tackle "the core" issue of a political transition in Syria, including Assad's future.

Kerry, who is working with Russia to persuade Assad to step down, said there was no way to end the Syrian war with Assad still at the helm.

"I don't see any way possible for Assad to remain because there is no way to end the war while he is there, there is no way to end the violence, there is no way for him to unify the country," Kerry said, "so Iran and Russia, and others need to recognize if you want peace, Assad has to transition."

Exactly how the transition happens is up to the talks, Kerry said.

(Reporting by Lesley Wroughton; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Peter Cooney)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Washington: US President Barack Obama has said Nato is "critical" to the security of America and its allies in Europe, a virtual rejection of Republican front-runner Donald Trump's views that the intergovernmental military alliance has outlived its utility.

"Nato continues to be the linchpin, the cornerstone of our collective defense and US security policy," Obama told reporters on Monday along with Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in the White House.

The Obama-Stoltenberg meeting came in the wake of Trump's remarks.

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest has termed such remarks as "ill-advised". Obama, however, did not make any direct comment on Trump's comments.

Obama said he had an excellent discussion that started with marking the tragedy that had taken place in Brussels, and reinforcing the importance of us staying focused on ISIL and countering the terrorism that has seeped up into Europe and around the world.

"We agreed that one of the most important functions that Nato is performing and can continue to perform is to help in the training and assisting process for troops in Iraq, in Jordan, in many of the areas in the region.

"And we are continuing to cooperate on an ongoing basis about operations potentially in areas like Libya, where you have the beginnings of a government and we can I think provide enormous help in helping to stabilize those countries," Obama said.

Obama and Stoltenberg also discussed situation in Afghanistan, Russia and Ukraine.

"We continue to be united in supporting Ukraine in the wake of Russian incursions into Ukrainian territory. We continue to work in a train-and-assist fashion in helping support Ukraine develop its military capabilities defensively," he said.

Stoltenberg said Nato is as "important as ever".

"Because Nato has been able to adapt to a more dangerous world. We stand together in the fight against terrorism. Terrorism affects us all, from Brussels to San Bernardino, and all Nato allies contribute to the US-led efforts to degrade and destroy ISIL.

"And just last week, we started training Iraqi officers, and we will continue to support the efforts of the United States and other countries to fight ISIL," he said.

The US value the contributions it received from the large number of Nato members who are a part of counter-ISIL coalition, Earnest said.
Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday formed a high-level judicial commission to probe any financial wrongdoing, a day after three of his children were named in the Panama Papers for owning offshore companies prompting demands for an enquiry by the opposition.

Addressing the nation, Sharif announced formation of the commission to probe allegations against him and his family.

"I hereby announce to form a judicial commission which will be led by a former judge of the Supreme Court. This commission will weigh the allegations being levelled and will give its verdict after due investigation," he said.

The judicial commission will be led by a retired Supreme Court judge, said the premier.

The premier gave a detailed background of the businesses controlled by his family that he said were established many years before Pakistan was founded adding despite repeated efforts to ruin his business in the past, he and his family had paid outstanding amount of nearly Rs six billion.

"My family has faced a barrage of accusations. My family was not involved in politics till much later, as such, even before I got into politics, we were an established industrial family," the prime minister said.

"I want the nation to decide for themselves the reality behind these allegations which are being levelled for the last 25 years," he said.

He said his sons Hassan and Hussain were living in the UK and Saudi Arabia since 1994 and 2000 respectively and working under the legal ambit and rules.

Sharif also challenged all those hurling allegations against him and his family to present evidence of any financial wrongdoing before the commission.

A massive leak of 11.5 million secret tax documents from a Panamanian law firm that specialises in offshore tax havens has exposed the covert offshore dealings of around 140 political figures globally including the Sharif family.

The vast stash of records, covering around 40 years, was obtained from an anonymous source by German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung and shared with media worldwide by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).

Documents on the ICIJ website said Sharif's children  Mariam, Hasan and Hussain  "were owners or had the right to authorise transactions for several companies".
London: Prime Minister David Cameron said Tuesday that he had no personal offshore funds and defended his record on tackling tax avoidance, after the so-called Panama Papers raised questions about his family's financial affairs.

A massive leak of documents from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca revealed how an investment fund co-founded by Cameron's late father, Ian Cameron, avoided paying taxes in Britain for 30 years by basing itself in the Bahamas.

Faced with calls by the opposition Labour party for an investigation into all those implicated in the leak, including his family, Cameron said that his wealth consisted of his salary, some savings and a house.

"I own no shares, no offshore trusts, no offshore funds, nothing like that," Cameron said.

The Conservative leader said nothing about his family's potential offshore holdings, an issue that his office had previously said was a "private matter".

The revelations about his father are embarrassing for Cameron, who has sought to lead international efforts to improve financial transparency and whose government hosts an anti-corruption summit next month.

He insisted that "no prime minister has done more" to tackle tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance, and said British authorities would look into the Panama leaks.

However, campaigners called for more action to tackle secretive company ownership in British overseas territories such as the Cayman Islands and British Virgin Islands.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn raised the prospect of taking control of the territories if they did not act.

Pursuing tax evaders

Ian Cameron helped found Blairmore Holdings Inc in the Bahamas in the early 1980s and was reportedly one of five UK-based directors until shortly before his death in 2010.

His offshore details were public knowledge but the leaked documents revealed that the investment fund hired local residents to sign its paperwork to avoid paying tax in Britain.

"In 30 years, Blairmore has never paid a penny of tax in the UK on its profits," said The Guardian newspaper, which has seen the leaked documents along with the BBC.

There is no suggestion that the fund acted illegally or that the family did not pay tax on any repatriated assets.

But Corbyn called for an independent investigation and said: "I think the prime minister, in his own interest, ought to tell us exactly what's been going on."

He demanded the government "stop pussyfooting around on tax dodging", saying: "There cannot be one set of tax rules for the wealthy elite and another for the rest of us."

Cameron's government has recovered 2 billion (2.49 billion euros, $2.83 billion) from offshore tax evaders since 2010 and introduced a range of measures to clamp down on evasion, officials said.

The prime minister also said Britain had "led the world" by introducing legislation forcing its companies to disclose who owns and benefits from their activities, which comes into effect in June.

Direct rule option

The leak of 11.5 million confidential documents from Mossack Fonseca, which specialises in creating offshore shell companies, shone the spotlight on tax havens as well as wealthy individuals.

Among them is the British Virgin Islands, a tiny British overseas territory in the Caribbean which is among the top five investors in Russia and China, according to a 2014 report by the OECD.

Cameron said Britain had made "huge progress" in pressing its overseas territories and crown dependencies to share tax information and make it harder for companies and individuals to hide their financial affairs.

But it has yet to persuade them to sign up to the company ownership law, and Corbyn said the government should consider imposing direct rule to resolve the issue.

"If they've become a place for systemic evasion and short-changing of the public in this country, then something has to be done about it," he told the BBC.

Robert Palmer, campaigner at advocacy group Global Witness, echoed Corbyn's call, saying: "We have to clean up our own back yard first."
Rameswaram: Four local fishermen were arrested and fishing nets of about 20 boats damaged allegedly by Sri Lankan navy personnel in separate incidents near Neduntheevu and Katchatheevu, according to a fishermen's organisation.

Rameswaram fishermen organisation president S Emerite said fishermen of this area had ventured into the sea in 396 mechanized boats on Monday.

Most of them were fishing near Katchatheevu when Sri Lankan navy personnel arrived and allegedly damaged fishing nets of about 20 boats, asking them not to fish there, he said, adding, they returned to the shore.

Meanwhile, four fishermen were arrested for allegedly fishing in Sri Lankan waters on Monday night.

He said the fishermen were fishing near Neduntheevu in Sri Lanka.

The arrested fishermen have been taken to Kangesanthurai, he added.
Kabul: A suicide bomber on a motorcycle killed at least six civilians and wounded 22 Tuesday when he detonated near a clinic and a school during a police chase in eastern Afghanistan, officials said.

The incident occurred in Parwan province, northwest of capital Kabul, provincial police chief for Parwan Mohammad Zaman Mamozai told AFP.

"We had been tipped off he was coming, he intended to target a police base, but when he found himself being chased by police, he detonated himself in an area close to a school and clinic," Mamozai said.

"Six civilians have been killed and another 22 injured. There is only one policeman among the wounded."

Waheed Sediqqi, a spokesman for the provincial governor, said the death toll could rise, with some of the injured in serious condition.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the Taliban are firmly entrenched in the remote mountainous area.

The insurgents have intensified their violent campaign to topple the Western-backed government since the end of Nato's combat mission in late 2014, multiplying bombings and attacks across Afghanistan.

In February another bombing claimed by the Taliban killed nine civilians and four police in Siagerd district.

The Afghan government has stepped up efforts to revive peace negotiations with the Taliban after an aborted bid last summer.

But they have persistently refused to sit at the negotiating table as long as their preconditions are not met, notably the withdrawal of all foreign troops from Afghanistan.
STOCKHOLM (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The threat of terrorism and global migration will grow worse in both rich and poor nations without greater worldwide cooperation to tackle the root causes of poverty and extremism, leaders of an international forum on peace building said on Tuesday.

The Swedish co-chair of the International Dialogue on Peacebuilding and Statebuilding (IDPS) said recent violent extremism - such as the attacks in Paris and Brussels - coupled with mass migration present major challenges to all nations.

Sweden's Minister for International Development Cooperation Isabella Lovin called for all nations to speed up and scale up efforts to tackle the causes of conflict and achieve a global goal to end extreme poverty by 2030.

Studies show the number of conflicts globally has been stable for the last decade at between 31 and 37 but 2014 was the most lethal year since the end of the Cold War, according to the Sweden's Uppsala Conflict Data Program.

That spike was largely due to Syria and Iraq, it said.

Conflict, poverty and climate change have forced 60 million people from their homes - the highest level since World War II - with up to 1.5 billion people living in fragile states, defined as poor nations with weak state structure.

Lovin said failing to tackle causes of conflict or extreme poverty would exacerbate world volatility and called for a renewed commitment to support fragile and conflict-hit states.

"Increasing refugee flows, violent extremism, a rise in wars and conflicts as well as climate-related disasters have changed the global landscape," she said in a statement at the fifth global meeting of the IDPS.

A spokesman for the IDPS said: "Crucially, it could further precipitate the global humanitarian and refugee crises and heightened threats of terrorism with increasing repercussions on a global scale."

The meeting comes in the shadow of the attacks in France and Belgium by Islamic State that killed 130 and 35 people respectively.

Lovin said the changes in the global landscape highlighted the need for a stronger role by the IDPS. Launched in 2008, its mission is to find ways through political dialogue to support countries to move away from conflict and fragility to become peaceful and resilient.

The IDPS includes more than 40 countries, nine multilateral organisations including the World Bank and the United Nations and a rising number of civil society groups.

Studies show that by 2030, without coordinated international action, two-thirds of the world's poor will be living in countries and regions plagued by endemic violence and fragility, the IDPS said.

Lovin called on IDPS nations to recommit to the so-called New Deal agreed in 2011 that proposed five peace and statebuilding goals - legitimate politics, security, justice, economic foundations, revenues and services.

"It is now more important than ever to tackle the root causes of conflict, to fight against extreme poverty and to work on resilience," said Lovin.

(Reporting by Belinda Goldsmith, Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, property rights and climate change. Visit news.trust.org)

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WASHINGTON U.S. Navy ships in the Arabian Sea intercepted and seized an arms shipment from Iran likely bound for Houthi fighters in Yemen, the military said in a statement on Monday.

The weapons seized last week by the warships Sirocco and Gravely were hidden on a small dhow and included 1,500 AK-47 rifles, 200 rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) launchers, and 21 .50-caliber machine guns, according to the Navy statement.

The weapons were seized on March 28 and are now in U.S. custody. The boat, which the Navy described as stateless, and its crew were allowed to leave once the weapons were taken.

"This seizure is the latest in a string of illicit weapons shipments assessed by the U.S. to have originated in Iran that were seized in the region by naval forces," the military said in the statement.

It cited a Feb. 27 incident in which the Australian Navy intercepted a dhow in late February and confiscated nearly 2,000 AK-47s, 100 RPG launchers, and other weapons. On March 20, a French destroyer seized almost 2,000 AK-47s, dozens of Dragunov sniper rifles, nine antitank missiles, and other equipment.

Houthi forces seized Yemen's capital Sanaa in 2014, stoking concern in Saudi Arabia that Iran was exploiting turmoil in the region and extending its influence to the Saudi border. The Houthis, whose home territory is in northern Yemen, practice Shi'ite Islam, the majority faith in Iran.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said on Monday that Iran's support for the Houthis is an example of its "destabilizing activities" in the region, and that the weapons shipment could be raised at the United Nations Security Council.

"We obviously are concerned about this development, because offering up support to the rebels in Yemen is something that is not at all consistent with U.N. Security Council resolutions," Earnest said.

U.S. officials have said in the past that Iran's direct involvement with the Houthis is limited, but that Iranian military personnel were training and equipping Houthi units.

A Saudi-led Arab coalition has been fighting to restore Yemen's President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to power since last year, including via air strikes on Sanaa.

U.N.-sponsored peace talks are scheduled to start in Kuwait on April 18.

The two sides have confirmed a truce starting at midnight on April 10 ahead of the peace talks, scheduled to follow a week later.

(Reporting by Yeganeh Torbati; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)

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WASHINGTON Two Libyans held for more than a decade without trial at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have been transferred to Senegal, the Pentagon said on Monday, as President Barack Obama pushes to close the facility before leaving office in January.

The two men were the first of a group of about a dozen who are expected to be transferred in coming weeks to countries that have agreed to take them, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

With the latest departures, there are now 89 prisoners at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo. Most have been held for years without charge or trial, drawing international condemnation.

Obama, who in February gave Congress a plan for shuttering the prison, is seeking to make good on his long-time pledge. But he faces stiff opposition from many Republican lawmakers, as well as some fellow Democrats.

"We are taking all possible steps to reduce the detainee population at Guantanamo and to close the detention facility in a responsible manner that protects our national security," U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement.

The Pentagon identified the two Libyans as Salem Abdu Salam Ghereby, 55, and Omar Khalif Mohammed Abu Baker Mahjour Umar, believed to be 43 or 44.

They were among a group of prisoners, now numbering 35 following their departure, who have been cleared for transfer by U.S. government review panels. U.S. officials have said they expect to move out all members of that group by this summer, sending them to their homelands or other countries.

Kerry thanked the government of Senegal, a Muslim-majority West African country, for accepting the two Libyans for humanitarian resettlement. The United States has ruled out repatriating detainees to countries like Libya, which is locked in civil conflict and where militant Islamist groups are active.

Both had been accused of links to al Qaeda and were suspected members of a Libyan Islamist faction, according to leaked U.S. military documents. They were captured separately in Pakistan and held at Guantanamo since 2002.

Obamas blueprint for closing Guantanamo prison calls for speeding up such transfers and bringing several dozen remaining prisoners to maximum-security prisons in the United States. U.S. law bars such transfers to the mainland, and Obama has not ruled out doing so by use of executive action.

The most prominent of those to be resettled over the next several weeks is Tariq Bah Odah, a 37-year-old Yemeni on a long-term hunger strike. He has been force-fed by nasal tube since he stopped eating solid food in 2007.

The latest transfers were the first to Senegal, a U.S. ally. Two Yemeni detainees were sent to Ghana in January. Others were sent recently to Oman.

Guantanamo prisoners were rounded up overseas when the United States became embroiled in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington. The facility, opened by Obamas predecessor George W. Bush, came to symbolize aggressive detention practices that opened the United States to accusations of torture.

(Reporting By Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Bill Trott and Howard Goller)

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BAKU/YEREVAN Azerbaijan and its breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh said they had halted hostilities on Tuesday after four days of intense fighting that had prompted fears of all-out war.

Officials in Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian region that rejects Azerbaijan's rule, said there was still some sporadic shooting but that the intensity of the fighting had dropped off significantly.

Several European countries had urged an end to the fighting, worried in part that it could cause instability in a region that serves as a corridor for pipelines taking oil and gas to world markets.

The ex-Soviet states of Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a war over the mountainous territory in the early 1990s in which thousands were killed on both sides and hundreds of thousands displaced.

The war ended with a truce in 1994, although there have been sporadic flare-ups since. The ceasefire was shattered over the weekend, with Azerbaijan's army and the Armenian-backed separatists of Nagorno-Karabakh exchanging heavy fire using artillery, tanks, rocket systems and helicopters.

On Tuesday afternoon, military officials in Azerbaijan, and in the breakaway region, announced they had agreed to a ceasefire with immediate effect.

Colonel Vitaly Arastamyan, a deputy chief of military headquarters for the breakway administration, said that after the ceasefire came into force his forces were fired at periodically, but not as intensively as in previous days.

"This situation had been brewing since 2014, but what had happened during the last three days was a peak. It was the most serious aggravation of the situation since the 1994 ceasefire, Arastamyan told Reuters in Nagorno-Karabakh's capital, Stepanakert.

Azerbaijan's Defence Ministry said it was observing the ceasefire. Reuters was not able independently to verify if either side had violated the truce.

Washington welcomed the truce. "It's a very nascent ceasefire but we are encouraged that it does seem to have taken hold," State Department spokesman Mark Toner said. "We're actively engaging with both sides to urge them to strictly adhere to the ceasefire."

Before the hostilities were halted, Azerbaijan said 16 of its servicemen had been killed in the previous 48 hours. Officials in the breakaway region said 29 of their soldiers had been killed since the fighting started, and another 101 wounded.

RISK OF ESCALATION

An all-out war over Nagorno-Karabakh could drag in the big regional powers, Russia and Turkey. Moscow has a defence alliance with Armenia, while Ankara backs its ethnic Turkic kin in Azerbaijan.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Tuesday condemned what he said were Armenian attacks, and said Turkey would stand by Azerbaijan. Earlier, Russia's foreign minister had said Ankara's support for Baku was one-sided.

Nagorno-Karabakh is an enclave with a large ethnic Armenian population that lies inside the territory of Azerbaijan. The violence was a re-awakening of a long-festering ethnic conflict between the mainly Muslim Azeris and their Christian Armenian neighbours.

Envoys from Russia, France and the United States - who make up a body called the Minsk Group that mediates in the conflict - are planning to head to the region, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said in Paris.

"We can see that military conflict cannot be the solution," Ayrault told reporters after talks with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had spoken by phone to the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan and urged them to end the fighting, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Even if the ceasefire holds in the short-term, there is still potential for the fighting to flare again.

Anger and frustration are building in Azerbaijan that years of talks have failed to bring Nagorno-Karabakh under its control. The country has used revenues from exports of crude oil to build up its military, leading some Azeris to believe that if there was another war, they could win it.

Azerbaijan said its troops had seized small pockets of territory in the latest fighting, and were fortifying those locations to make sure that it held on to its gains.

(Writing by Christian Lowe; Additional reporting by Margarita Antidze in Stepanakert, John Irish in Paris, Dmitry Solovyov in Moscow, Ercan Gurses in Ankara, and Lesley Wroughton and David Alexander in Washington; Editing by Alison Williams)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
With an aim to offer health and health care related information quickly in search, Google has improved the Knowledge Graph for Search in India.

The improved Google Search will now offer information cards with typical symptoms, as well as details on whether certain condition is critical or contagious, what ages it affects, and more. The new cards cover over 400 health conditions and have been designed with the Indian context in mind. Available in Hindi and English, the cards cover common tropical conditions like malaria and dengue fever. These cards include images and can be downloaded as PDFs and shared easily. A number cards also come with rich illustrations.

You will see these cards when you search for a disease or a symptom with the Google apps. In case of poor internet connection, users can even load lighter version of cards. The addition of health information in the Knowledge Graph was first rolled out in the US last year followed by Brazil.

The feature is live on Google app and search on Android, iOS, and desktop.

source
The United States Department of Agriculture (or USDA) launched a new program, called GroupGAP, which targets small to mid-sized growers and cooperatives. It is basically a certification program done by the USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), which is a way to help the targets meet retailers' on-farm food safety requirements.

"We know that GAP certification can sometimes be cost-prohibitive for smaller farmers," said AMS Administrator Elanor Starmer in a press release by the USDA. "GroupGAP allows these farmers to demonstrate compliance with strong food safety standards and share the cost of certification across a group of growers. That means greater market access for farmers, more options for consumers, and strong verification of food safety practices. It is a true win-win. We're proud to have developed this innovative solution in partnership with our stakeholders."

The program will help farmers meet strong food safety standards and share the cost of certification, thus helping individual growers save money. Furthermore, it will improve market access for farmers by utilizing the economies of scale and increasing efficiencies to improve market access to farmers , and benefit consumers in the long-term. The AMS is now accepting enrollment for the program, which ensures groups are following food safety practices.

The responsibility of overseeing if farmers are meeting food safety practices belong to the AMS Specialty Crops Inspection Division or SCI. They will hold audits to verify if farms are following industry-recognized food safety recommendations from the FDA, or Food and Drug Administration. Take note that produce buyers of all sizes are now requiring most produce suppliers to be GAP-certified. The GroupGAP program allows farmers, food hubs, and cooperatives to work together to achieve certification, thus making it a lot easier for them in the long run. It will also help them meet the demand of the community and broaden their supplier base.

Apart from GroupGAP, there are also a number of programs run by the AMS which helps the same group of people.
Americans are getting more aware of environmental issues and polluted drinking water is their biggest concern.

After the lead-contaminated water in Flint, Americans become more skeptical towards the safety of U.S drinking water. Stories of the water crisis have been headlining the news for a couple of months and the widespread has created a 'trend' of water pollution concern including polluted rivers and lake.

Gallup conducted an annual survey, calling respondents via telephone and taking answers from 1,019 adults aged 18 and above who have been living in the United States. Despite other ecological issues that have headlined American stories, water pollution concern increased significantly from 55% (last year) to 61% (2016). More than half of Americans find that water pollution is a great deal. The rising trend was believed to be the result of Michigan's water crisis that has become a public affair.

Although Flint has taken the spotlight for more than 2 years after the crisis was discovered, overall Americans were worried that their water might be contaminated as well. New Yorker living in Brooklyn, Joseph Johnson is 46 years old and he admitted to only consume water in bottles. Each month, he would buy water from the shelf instead of obtaining it from his own tap. According to his opinion, he has always doubted about tap water and Flint's case simply reassured him that the U.S drinking water is not 100 percent clean.

Americans who've come up with the assumption believed that the government needs to do something so to ensure the people that it's safe to drink their own water. Forty percent of them, however, felt confident about how the authorities are working on it.

Gallup database collected for more than 20 years appeared to fluctuate but the result is consistent when measuring environmental issues. Drinking water pollution is always on top of the list whilst air pollution is in the second, and climate change is at the bottom.
Frozen food producer, Alimentos Congelados, S.A. recalled packages of broccoli cuts sold in 11 states after Ohio lab found one of the goods was contaminated with Listeria. The decision to recall the Wylwood-labeled frozen greens was being voluntarily made after the cuts were proven to carry the harmful bacteria.

So far, there has been no sickness reported after the incident. The company suggests consumers to throw away the item in case they have purchased it. Alimentos Congelados, S.A has recalled more than a thousand cases of the vegetable cuts after the Listeria outbreak occurred. The FDA published Guidance for Industry and recommends food processing methods that will prevent the growth of Listeria monocytogens. It is stated that it should be the manufacturer's responsibility to ensure that there is no food-borne illness upon the distribution of their goods. Manufacturers, here, refer to all of the retailers and food services in the industry.

The company spokesperson said that there is no illness or complaint being reported up to this day regarding the infected Wylwood frozen packs. More than 1.500 cases have been recalled by Alimentos Congelados - where packages were previously distributed in Indiana, Virginia, Kentucky, North and South Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, and Alabama.

According to the FDA website recalls section, the label of the infected broccoli cuts is Wylwood Fresh Frozen Broccoli Cuts, NET WT. 16 OZ (1 LB), UPC 5193300110. The poly bag carries code: A25335P and A15335P. The company is reportedly being cooperative with the investigation and encouraging consumers to contact official support at 1-800-888-4646 should there be any question or request for a refund.

Before Wylwood case, Listeria was found in Blue Bell's ice cream packs causing the company being suspended to identify the root cause. Listeria infection can result mild to the severe condition including symptoms such as fever, nausea, and diarrhea. Fatal infections include miscarriages and the weakened immune system.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently issued warning letters to a diverse group of food manufacturers for reported violations of and diversions from the existing food safety rules. As many as seven food manufacturers have received such letters from the federal regulatory body.

FDA inspected the facilities of Saputo Dairy Foods USA, LLC, which manufactures low-acid canned foods at a Frederick, MD, facility between Aug. 31 and Sept. 22 last year. During the inspection, the FDA found "significant deviations" from the Low Acid Canned Food (LACF) regulations as well as the existing Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMPs).

In the warning letter, the FDA stated that Saputo products, non-dairy creamer in cups, were being made ignoring several regulations, including errors in sterilizing machines.

Another company that received the FDA warning letter is the seafood processing facility in Hayward, CA, owned by MGH Gourmet Inc. During the inspection of this facility "serious violations" of seafood Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP), regulations were detected. According to the FDA warning letter, the crab cakes smoked salmon, lobster, shrimp, salmon, smoked trout and ahi tuna canapes products of MGH are all considered to be adulterated as the company did not follow the seafood HACCP regulations. It was apparent that the fish and fishery products are all prepared, packed or held under unsanitary conditions, Food Safety News reported.

Even Lupe Gourmet Inc. in Hunts Point, NY, received a similar warning letter from the FDA, which said that the manufacturer's ready-to-eat, refrigerated, vacuum-packaged whole mullet roe , as well as its ready to eat refrigerated, anchovy fillets marinated in oil, are both contaminated as they were made without following seafood HACCPs. FDA officials inspected the Lupe Gourmet Inc facility between Dec. 16 and 23, 2015.

Moreover, during an inspection in November 2015, FDA authorities found Casey's Bakery Inc. in Sioux Center, IA, did not comply with current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) regulation. The FDA issued a warning letter stating Casey's failed to respond to its inspection observations.

Other manufacturers that also received warning letters from the FDA include Pressed Juicery in Fresno, CA, Holmes Made Salsa, an acidified foods manufacturer in Wichita, KS, and Burnham Orchards Inc., an apple cider processing facility, in Berlin Heights, OH.
Following positive news from trials that could significantly expand demand for its heart valves, Edwards Lifesciences (EW 1.35%) shares sky-rocketed. The trials show that the company's transcatheter heart valves work as well (and sometimes better) than traditional open heart surgery in patients at intermediate risk. The study could lead to Edwards Lifesciences heart valves becoming more widely used, giving it a valuable edge in its battle for market share with medtech Goliath Medtronic (MDT 0.98%).

First, a bit of background

1.5 million American patients suffer from aortic stenosis, or the narrowing of their aortic valve, a life-threatening condition that can lead to heart failure. In order to prevent heart failure, patients undergo surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR), a procedure in which the narrowed aortic valve is removed and replaced with a mechanical valve or a tissue valve.

However, SAVR may not be the best option for elderly, or otherwise frail and high-risk patients. In these cases, a less invasive replacement procedure called transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is done that inserts a valve within the existing, narrowed aortic valve.

Because baby boomers are living increasingly longer lives and valves can fail over time, the number of TAVR procedures will likely grow over the coming decade. TAVR procedure growth will come from both newly diagnosed patients and the need to replace failing valves in patients who have previously received a replacement valve in a SAVR procedure.

If that's true, then Edwards Lifesciences and Medtronic could benefit most because both of these companies make replacement valves that are used in TAVR procedures. Edwards Lifesciences makes the Sapien XT and Sapien 3 and Medtronic makes the CoreValve.

Fast-growing

TAVR procedures are already driving significant sales growth at Edwards Lifesciences, where they account for more than half of trailing 12-month revenue.

Last quarter, revenue from valves used in transcatheter heart valve procedures (THV) grew 25% year-over-year to $334.4 million. After adjusting for currency conversion, underlying sales growth for Edwards Lifesciences' THV devices was 32.4%.

Momentum for THV sales is expected to continue for Edwards Lifesciences this year. Edwards Lifesciences forecasts that THV procedures will grow by an additional 15% to 25% this year, fueling total top-line sales of between $2.6 billion and $2.85 billion and bottom-line EPS of between $2.57 and $2.67, up from $2.29 in 2015.

Expanding use

Currently, TAVR procedures are only done in patients deemed too high-risk for open heart surgery, a patient population that, by number, is the smallest patient population in this indication.

Roughly half of all patients diagnosed with narrowing aortic valves are deemed to be at low risk for open heart surgery and between 30% and 40% of patients are categorized as intermediate risk. The remainder are categorized as too high risk for the open heart procedure and thus, are candidates for TAVR.

However, results from key studies by Edwards Lifesciences suggest that TAVR may be appropriate in some non high risk patients.

Earlier this week, Edwards Lifesciences reported results from a head-to-head study of TAVR procedures versus open heart procedures in intermediate risk patients. In this study, patients receiving Edwards Lifesciences valves through TAVR did as well, and sometimes better, than patients who underwent open heart surgery.

Specifically, the rate of all cause mortality or stroke in Sapien XT TAVR patients was 19.3% versus 21.1% for open-heart surgery patients at the two-year mark. Patients receiving the Sapien XT transfemorally did even better, with an event rate of 16.3%.

Edwards Lifesciences also reported that transcatheter aortic valve replacement, or TAVR, with its Sapien 3 valve was superior to open-heart surgery in intermediate-risk patients.

The results could lead to more intermediate risk patients being treated via TAVR, rather than SAVR, significantly expanding Edwards Lifesciences target market. According to Medtronic, the TAVR market will reach $4 billion by 2020, and based on Edwards Lifesciences success, Edwards Lifesciences appears well positioned to capture a big share of that market opportunity.

Looking ahead

Edwards Lifesciences study results may give it an edge against Medtronic's CoreValve, however, Medtronic is also conducting studies evaluating CoreValve in the intermediate risk population. Results from Medtronic's intermediate study should be available later this year and if results are similar to Edwards Lifesciences' trials, then the battle will shift to proving TAVR's non-inferiority in low-risk patients.

Edwards Lifesciences plans include enrolling patients in its head-to-head study of TAVR versus open heart surgery in low risk patients soon, and Medtronic launched its low risk patient study in February. Given that both companies could have results available from these studies in 2018, it would seem that this battle is far from over.
In this Salute to American Success, were taking a look at Toppers Pizza. The eatery, primarily a carry out and delivery concept chain based in Wisconsin, features common pizza toppings as well as ones ranging from macaroni and cheese to tater tots, as well as the customer favorite Topperstixtheir version of cheese bread. In the early 1990s, founder Scott Gittrich, who was working at Dominos Pizza at the time, decided he wanted to open up his own pizza shop. That idea eventually became Toppers Pizza.

We made our name through this little guy image, said Gittrich. We compete with some of worlds biggest restaurant chains and we are kind of a quirky little company that cares and is passionate about what we do. The little guy attitude carries the brand today.

With the help of his experiences working for a franchisee early in his pre-Toppers career, Gittrich decided to begin franchising his pizza business. The first few franchisees were people who were already team members, according to Gittrich. Today, he says the company has changed the way it selects new franchisees.

Were selling franchises to only restaurant-proven people who have wherewithal to open three to four restaurants in a short amount of time, Gittrich said. Our franchise program of 10 years ago has morphed quite a bit into more restaurant-experienced folks.

When the Great Recession occurred in the mid-2000s, the impact on Toppers was mixed, according to Gittrich.

We had a number of projects when everything hit the fan when banks backed off and deals didnt happen, he said. From a franchise standpoint, we had major slowdown for a couple of years where we couldnt do deals with people we were working with.

The Toppers Pizza founder and president explained the benefits the company experienced during the same period.

Real estate was easier, labor was easier to come by, he said. There was lots of fallout among competitors. We were in a really strong position. In 2009 we had our most profitable year we had a number of franchisees who put up record profits in 09. It wasnt a great revenue-growth year, but the changes we made on how to run the business through the recession really paid off.

We were never in danger during that time, we never just hung it out there, he added.

Today, Toppers Pizza has 2,000 team members, 22 franchisees operating 73 stores in 12 states, according to Gittrich, who said the company expects to open 12-14 new restaurants this year and anticipates system-wide revenue to be in the low $70 million range. The companys long-term growth plan sees the business opening 600-700 stores open by 2025.

This year, Gittrich says the presidential race could benefit Toppers, which has seen a bump in sales on past election days.

From a business standpoint we like election years, he said. Our all-time record day was the day Obama was elected; its like a Super Bowl for us. Well see some increased business on the day of the Wisconsin primary, since many people will be watching TV.
Source: Arcos Dorados

What:Shares ofLatin American McDonald'sfranchisee Arcos Dorados Holdings were ripping higher last month thanks to a better-than-expected earnings report. According to S&P Global Market Intelligence, the stock finished the month up 43%.

So what:The troubled restaurant chain began looking a little less troubled last month after reporting fourth-quarter earnings. Arcos posted a per-share profit of $0.03 in the quarter, in line with estimates, while revenue fell 16% to $765 million, ahead of the consensus at $759 million. The decline was due to currency depreciation in many of its markets, especially Brazil. CEO Sergio Alonso touted recent arrangements to shore up the company's balance sheet, such as selling off hundreds of restaurants and cutting SG&A expenses. Margins also improved in all segments in the quarter.

Arcos Dorados debuted on the market to much fanfare in 2011, but shares have plummeted since then as key markets like Brazil and Venezuela have imploded thanks to political unrest and the commodity bust. Even with last month's gains, shares are still down more than 80% since the company first began trading.

Now what:Arcos Dorados shares seem to have fallen so much that there is nowhere for them to go but up. Management has reduced the company's net financial debt by nearly 20% over the past year, and key ratios have improved as its EBITDA has increased, all signs that the company is on the path to recovery.

Despite posting a net loss for the past two years, Arcos Dorados is still sitting on a valuable asset: over 2,000 McDonald's restaurants, at a time when McDonald's seems to be in resurgence around the world. Assuming the recession in Brazil eventually breaks, over the long term the stock should recover at least some of its losses over the last five years.

The article Here's Why Shares of Arcos Dorados Holdings, Inc. Soared 43% in March originally appeared on Fool.com.

Jeremy Bowman has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of Arcos Dorados. 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.
Most people need to make an effort to save for retirement if they want to retire in financial security. Some workers have access to various types of deferred compensation plans during their careers, and most workers can also use a Roth IRA to save for retirement on their own. Your choice of retirement saving plan can seriously affect your post-work finances, and some workers should consider a combination of both deferred compensation and Roth IRA savings to meet their goals.

The idea behind deferred compensationDeferred compensation plans are designed to allow workers to shelter income from tax. By agreeing not to receive compensation directly in the form of a salary, workers can avoid having to pay tax on that money until the IRS deems them to have taken possession of it.

Technically, employer-sponsored retirement plans like 401(k) accounts, which are also known as qualified plans, are a form of deferred compensation. However, when most people talk about deferred compensation, they're referring instead to what are known as "nonqualified deferred-compensation plans." These nonqualified plans have different attributes, some of which are advantageous and some of which can be detrimental.

The main advantage of nonqualified deferred compensation is that you're not subject to the contribution limitations of 401(k) plans and similar accounts. Employers typically tailor the provisions of a deferred-compensation plan specifically for key employees. By doing so, they can reward employees for achieving certain business milestones and encourage them to continue working toward reaching long-term strategic goals.

The main problem with nonqualified deferred compensation is that there must be a substantial risk of forfeiture of the money in the plan, because where there is no risk of losing that money, the employee is deemed to have received it, and is therefore taxed on it. Nonqualified deferred-compensation plans often have requirements like minimum tenure in a job, and if the company goes bankrupt, the assets of the nonqualified plan are subject to creditors' claims just like other assets. By contrast, qualified money in a 401(k) plan is held in a separate account and gets protection from the company's creditors.

How Roth IRAs fit in With both nonqualified deferred compensation and traditional 401(k) plans, contributions are excluded from taxable income at the time of the initial contribution. However, they're included in taxable income later on, typically when the worker withdraws them. That can create high tax liability in retirement.

Roth IRAs, however, don't work that way. They provide no up-front tax deduction, but distributions in retirement are typically treated as tax-free, having no impact on taxable income.

By having a combination of Roth IRAs and deferred compensation, you can manage your tax situation more effectively. If you want less taxable income in a given year, you can withdraw more from a Roth IRA and less from deferred-compensation arrangements. If accelerating your taxable income makes sense, you can do the opposite. Either way, having both types of retirement savings available gives you options that you won't get with one or the other by itself.

This article is part of The Motley Fool's Knowledge Center, which was created based on the collected wisdom of a fantastic community of investors. We'd love to hear your questions, thoughts, and opinions on the Knowledge Center in general or this page in particular. Your input will help us help the world invest, better! Email us atknowledgecenter@fool.com. Thanks -- and Fool on!

The article Roth IRA vs. Deferred Compensation originally appeared on Fool.com.

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Stocks only briefly touched positive territory on Monday and ended near their lows for the session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 56 points, or 0.4%, and the S&P 500 lost 7 points, or 0.3%.

^DJI data by YCharts

In economic news, consumer discretionary spending rose last month to an $89 daily pace, according to the latest Gallup poll. Meanwhile, the manufacturing sector shrank in February, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce, falling 1.7% to mark the third monthly decline in the last four readings.

Individual stocks making notable moves included electric car specialist Tesla and heart-valve designer Edwards Lifesciences .

Tesla creates a market Tesla shares rose 4% to touch a six-month high as reservations for its newly unveiled Model 3 surged past 250,000, or more than twice the number of Tesla automobiles sold to date. The reservation total also far exceeds the current existing plug-in car market, which stood at 116,000 vehicles last year.

Source: Tesla.

Thursday's announcement by CEO Elon Musk confirmed that the car will start at $35,000 and come with plenty of high-end technology like standard autopilot hardware. The vehicle will also boast a range of 215 miles on a single charge and an acceleration pace of 0 mph to 60 mph in under 6 seconds. But those figures could even be surpassed, depending on Tesla's engineering innovations over the next year. "These are minimum numbers," Musk said, "we hope to exceed them." The Model 3 is slated for production beginning late next year.

Tesla doesn't expect anything close to 100% of those reservations to become actual orders, despite the $1,000 deposit. In fact, the conversion rate could be as low as 25%. Still, the current reservation mark is far higher than executives expected."No one at Tesla thought it would be this high,"Musk saidonTwitter. That surprising demand is requiring management to rethink its production planning, and forcing industry watchers to toss out their past estimates of the likely market size for electric vehicles.

Edwards Lifesciences saves lives Edwards Lifesciences was the highest-gaining stock on the S&P 500, jumping 17% to hit a new all-time after the cardiac device specialist announced positive clinical trial news.

Source: Edwards Lifesciences

Its heart valve replacement product was found to significantly reduce the risk of stroke or death as compared to open-heart surgery in a study that followed 3,000 patients over a year. "Results from the [trial] should establish the Sapien 3 valve as the new benchmark for the treatment of intermediate-risk patients with severe, symptomatic aortic stenosis," executive Vinod Thourani said in a press release.

The Sapien 3 valve won clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last July with regard to high-risk patients, and this latest study paves the way for a significantly larger market for this product.

Surging demand for its valve replacement therapies helped push sales up 15% last quarter, which exceeded the expectations of CEO Michael Mussallem and his executive team. Management raised their 2016 sales guidance in February, citing "strong performance of all product lines." Monday's news adds to that positive momentum, and points to continued sales and profit growth for Edwards Lifesciences.

The article Tesla Motors Inc. and Edwards Lifesciences Corp Soar as Stocks Drop originally appeared on Fool.com.

Demitrios Kalogeropoulos owns shares of Tesla Motors. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Tesla Motors and Twitter. 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.
The TSMC-built Apple A9. Image credit: Chipworks.

Last fall, teardowns conclusively revealed that the A9 processor inside of Apple's iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus phones were dual sourced from Samsung and TSMC -- a first for the iDevice maker.

Interestingly, two tear-down reports -- one from Chipworks and one from iFixit show the use of an applications processor with part number "APL1022." This part number represents the A9 chip manufactured by TSMC.

A question that some might have, then, is the following: "Are the A9 chips inside of the iPhone SE exclusively built by TSMC, or is Samsung in the mix, too?"

Answer? It's bothWithout actually tearing down the chips themselves, there was a very simple way to identify -- using the popular performance benchmark, Geekbench 3 -- which version of the A9 chip you got in your iPhone 6s/6s Plus.

Image credit: Author.

Take a look at the screen-shot that I took with my iPhone 6s. You'll notice that the name of the motherboard in this case is "N71mAP." This particular string refers to the TSMC-built A9, while iPhone 6s phones with motherboards that are identified as simply "N71AP" have Samsung-built A9 chips.

To try to figure out if the iPhone SE uses applications processors sourced from both chipmakers (something that is very likely to be the case), I looked at the different iPhone SE models that have been popping up in the database.

Sure enough, it turns out that there are two distinct motherboards for the iPhone SE as well. One identifies as "N69AP" while the other shows up as "N69uAP." It's not clear at this time which one refers to the TSMC chip and which to the Samsung chip, but it seems clear to me that both are used.

Why did Apple pick the A9 for the SE?A question that springs to mind is: "Why did Apple use the more powerful A9 for the iPhone SE?"

A number of really good reasons come to mind.

First, the A8 chip inside of the iPhone 6/6 Plus is built on TSMC's 20-nanometer process. The Taiwan-based foundry has been quite clear that it wants to reuse factory space and equipment from 20-nanometer for production of 16-nanometer manufacturing, especially since the processes are in key ways quite similar.

Next, Apple is seemingly trying to gain share at the $399-$499 price points and one relatively inexpensive way to differentiate in this market is to use a class-leading applications processor. Indeed, the older A8 offered a respectable amount of performance, but the A9 offers arguably the best CPU performance available in a mobile device today and extremely high graphics performance.

Finally, the A9 integrates the M9 motion co-processor onto the same die, which likely allowed Apple to save some space on the logic board. A smaller logic board means that more room in the already small and slim chassis can be dedicated to the battery.

Indeed, teardowns show that the iPhone SE packs a battery with larger capacity than the one in the 5s and nearly as large as the one in the iPhone 6s.

The article Who's Building the A9 Chips Inside of the Apple Inc. iPhone SE? originally appeared on Fool.com.

Ashraf Eassa has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Apple. 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.
Groupon sells deal prepaid vouchers, but sometimes it's the dot-com laggard that becomes the deal itself. Groupon stock soared 9% yesterday after a private equity firm with ties to Comcast made a $250 million investment in the daily deals provider.

A move that tacks on nearly $200 million in market cap based on yesterday's 9% gain just because Groupon lined up a buyer for $250 million in convertible senior notes may not make a lot of sense, but the market isn't applauding Groupon's ability to raise money. As out-of-favor as the stock may be, it doesn't really need the money. Groupon's balance sheet is backed by $853.4 million in greenery, offset by a mere $57.7 million in total debt.

This is more about who is buying into Groupon than the actual money being raised. Atairos was formed last year by former Comcast CFO Michael Angelakis, and most of the $4 billion in initial funding was provided by the cable giant. The press release bills Atairos as an independent private company, but it's essentially a way for Comcast to form strategic alliances and investments with its savvy former executive surveying the market. Comcast is paying $40 million in annual management fees to Atairos, including compensation for Angelakis of $8 million a year.

This doesn't mean that Comcast wants to swallow Groupon whole. The two entities can benefit just by partnering with one another, and yesterday's press release does point out that Comcast and Groupon will work together to work on strategic partnership opportunities. This makes plenty of sense. Both companies have thick Rolodexes. Groupon's growing base of local merchants paired up with Comcast's vast network of advertisers through NBCUniversal and other properties is a no-brainer. Each company also watches over tens of millions of active customers. There's a goldmine in logical synergies here.

Image source: Groupon.

Groupon is showing signs of life this year. The stock is trading 40% higher so far in 2016, but that comes after shedding more than half of its value last year.

The deal won't be entirely painless for Groupon. The $250 million of 3.25% senior notes due 2022 has an initial conversion price of roughly $5.40 per share. It will make the deal dilutive as the stock heads higher, but investors aren't likely to do a lot of complaining if that's the case.

Groupon plans to use $200 million of the money for its expanded buyback plan, so in theory it should more than offset the eventual dilution. It makes this, again, a transaction that's more about the partnership than the implications of the money being raised.

It's been showing growth in its North American billings lately, and while it finally broke into the black with its first full year of profitability as a public company last year it's expected to return to a small deficit for 2016. That's fine. Groupon had enough money to see itself through years of slinging local experiences on the cheap before this deal, and now it has even more time to get it right.

The article 250 Million Reasons to Warm Up to Groupon originally appeared on Fool.com.

Rick Munarriz has no position in any stocks 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.
IMAGE SOURCE: FLICKR USER STOCKMONKEYS.COM.

News that the Treasury Department is proposing rules to prevent tax inversion deals like the one between Pfizer and Allergan plc has sent shares of Allergan tumbling today. Pfizer hasn't officially abandoned the deal, but rumors are swirling that it's contemplating walking away. If it does, then Allergan investors may be left owning a company that's far too much like Valeant Pharmaceuticals for their liking.

Too close for comfortI recently speculated that absent its deal with Pfizer, Allergan is as risky -- if not more so -- than Valeant. Now that this monkey wrench has been thrown at the merger by the Treasury Department, we may find out very soon if that's true.

As a reminder, Valeant shares are down more than 80% from their peak last year because of payer pushback stemming from its buy-reprice-relaunch strategy and the discovery of accounting mishaps.

Allergan isn't facing the same level of price or accounting scrutiny as Valeant, but its M&A appetite has been as voracious as Valeant's, and it's deal-making has saddled its balance sheet with a scary amount of debt. Specifically, Valeant's got $1.4 billion in cash and $30.9 billion in debt, a 21.46 ratio, but Allergan only has $1.1 billion in cash and $42.7 billion in debt, a ratio of 38.5.

Potentially more worrisome is that Allergan's current ratio, a measure of the company's ability to make good on short-term obligations if debtors come knocking, is worse than Valeant's. Allergan's current ratio is1.03, while Valeant's is 1.5.

Additionally, while Allergan's price increases aren't nearly as bald-faced as Valeant's, the company is still under the microscope for its pricing plans. Last summer, the Department of Justice requested insight into the company's generic drug pricing policies, including communications with competitors, and according to research from Deutsche Bank analysts, Allergan hiked prices on 40 drugs by an average 9.1% this year.

Treasury fights backAllergan's debt burden is big but not enough to frighten away Pfizer, a Goliath boasting a balance sheet that's more than able to handle Allergan's obligations.

Pfizer's interest in Allergan, however, rests heavily in Allergan's international address.

By acquiring Allergan in a stock-swap deal, Pfizer planned to invert itself from a U.S. company to an Irish one, reducing its tax rate from the mid-20% range to the mid-teens and saving the company billions of dollars every year in the process.

These tax inversion deals, however, are increasingly being viewed by the administration as anti-American and therefore, efforts have picked up to prohibit them.

With that backdrop, the Treasury Department's proposed rule to stop tax inversions isn't surprising. Specifically, the Treasury Department plans to keep an acquiring company that ends up owning 80% or more of the target company from shifting its address outside the United States. Importantly to the Pfizer and Allergan deal, the Treasury is requiring that the percentage of ownership calculation excludes stock acquired within three years of the deal being signed. Since Allergan's recent deal-making includes Actavis' buying Allergan, which led to its name change, and the purchase of Forest Labs, there's a chance that Pfizer won't clear this hurdle.

Looking aheadIf Pfizer walks away because of a change in tax inversion rules, the break-up fee it will pay to Allergan drops from $3.5 billion to $400 million. That's disappointing to investors who might have taken solace in knowing that Allergan's balance sheet would get a nice cash infusion that it could use to pay down debt.

Exclusing potential break-up fee monies, investors have to hope that Allergan's planned sale of its generic business to Teva Pharmaceuticals goes off without a hitch. If it does, then Teva Pharmaceuticals will hand over $33.75 billion in cash, plus another 6.75 billion in its stock to Allergan. That cash could reduce Allergan's debt below $9 billion, giving it a 8.95 debt-to-cash ratio, and selling its Teva Pharmaceuticals shares could reduce that ratio by even more, but it's not clear that Allergan wants to do that given its previously said it likes the chance to continue benefiting from growing generics demand.

Investors may not, however, want to put too much faith in Allergan getting the cash from this deal. Yes, closing the deal gives it financial flexibility that could sidestep a Valeant-like run on the bank, but Teva Pharmaceuticals recently delayed the closing date for the deal in order to firm up support for it among regulators.

Overall, there's a lot of risk and moving pieces that investors will need to digest with this unfolding story and for that reason, investors contemplating buying Allergan shares on the drop might want to think twice. It may be better to focus on other ideas, at least until there's certainty on the generic business divestment.

The article Are Allergan Investors In For a Valeant-Like Collapse? originally appeared on Fool.com.

Todd Campbellhas 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 owns shares of and recommends Valeant Pharmaceuticals. The Motley Fool recommends Teva Pharmaceutical Industries. 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.
This past April, I went out on a limb to explore which "Internet of Things" company was the better buy from an investment standpoint:Cisco Systems(NASDAQ: CSCO)orSierra Wireless(NASDAQ: SWIR)?

At the time -- and with the caveat that it was certainly the higher-risk option -- I chose Sierra Wireless as a smaller, nimbler pure play on the trend of adding internet connectivity to otherwise ordinary devices.So how has that pick turned out so far? And which stock is the better buy today?

IMAGE SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES.

The case for Sierra Wireless

For perspective, Sierra Wireless quickly appeared to validate my initial choice, as shares skyrocketed more than 20%after the company released better-than-expected first-quarter results in early May, and further suggested that the business should gain strength as the year continued. For the latter, Sierra Wireless credited an impending combination of new Internet of Things product introductions and contributions from newer customer programs.

After that initial pop, however, Sierra Wireless stock took an equally stunning tumble in early August, plunging more than 18% in a single day, as it followed a strong second-quarter report with seemingly conservative guidance. As it stands, both stocks have risen since my initial article, though Cisco's 10% return -- including dividends since then -- has modestly outpaced Sierra Wireless's 8% gain:

SWIR Total Return Price data by YCharts.

The market frowned as Sierra Wireless management warned in August that, despite continued strong contributions from new OEM programs, as expected, signs had surfaced indicating softer demand and tight inventory management from existing OEM customer and programs in the near term.

Early last month, however, Sierra Wireless stock came roaring back, skyrocketing more than 14% in a single day after the company not only delivered as promised for its most recent quarter -- revenue fell slightly on a year-over-year basis, to $153.6 million, driven by a decline in its OEM solutions segment -- but also indicated that the worst of that short-term demand lull appeared to have passed. As such, Sierra Wireless expects to return to sequential and year-over-year growth in the fourth quarter.

On top of that, Sierra Wireless also struck several intriguing partnerships with telecoms, including AT&T and Verizon, as well as leading OEMs, to pilot its new Cat-M1 and NB1 devices for next-gen LTE-M cellular network technologies. Finally, the small company continued to expand its short-range wireless portfolio and improve its positioning with OEMS through its $6.5 million strategic acquisition of Bluetooth innovator Blue Creation.

The case for Cisco Systems

That's not to say Cisco hasn't been busy improving its own market positioning in the meantime.Keeping in mind that Cisco is more than 300 times Sierra Wireless' size in terms of market capitalization -- at nearly $148 billion compared to Sierra Wireless' $477 million as of this writing -- the networking juggernaut tackled no less than three software and cloud-computing acquisitions over the past few months in its ongoing transition away from networking hardware and toward more recurring revenue sources.Among its most recent acquisitions are cloud access security broker CloudLock for $293 million in June,enterprise container specialist ContainerX for an undisclosed amount in August, and collaboration software company Heroik Labs (also known as Worklife) for an undisclosed amount in October.

For investors hoping for a better entry point as Cisco stock has steadily climbed this year, Cisco may have provided just the opportunity last month, as shares declined 5% following its most recent earnings report. In it, Cisco management warned of an expected decline of 2% to 4% in revenue for the current quarter, blaming macroeconomic uncertainty for softer-than-expected orders from service providers, which represent around 25% of its business, and to a lesser extent, declines from customers in emerging markets.

To be fair, that doesn't change the fact that Cisco remains solidly profitable. And the company's longer-term expectations for solid 3% to 6% annual revenue growth remain intact. In the meantime, we can safely expect Cisco will maintain its relentless focus on operational efficiency while returning healthy amounts of cash to investors through both its share repurchases -- $1 billion last quarter alone -- and its healthy dividend, yielding 3.5% at today's prices.

The verdict

So which is the better buy? That depends on your tolerance for volatility and risk. But personally, my threshold for both is relatively high, so I've hardly blinked as Sierra Wireless took investors on roller coaster rides for much of this year en route to its modest gains. And considering Sierra Wireless is operating from a position of relative strength today, thanks to its strong quarterly report last month, I'm still more than comfortable betting on Sierra Wireless' superior potential for achieving outsized gains from its significantly smaller base over the long term.

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Steve Symington has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Sierra Wireless. The Motley Fool recommends Cisco Systems. 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.
Where's the best investment in social media? We'll look at two options. Image source: Yoel Ben-Avraham, via Flickr.

Social media has exploded over the past 10 years. In fact, it's tough to believe that giants like Twitter and LinkedIn haven't even been around for 20 years -- and have been well-known to average Americans for an even shorter amount of time.

Both companies are now well-established players in their respective domains. But when it comes to their stocks, which is the better buy today? That's a tough question, and there's really no definitive answer on the issue. But below, I'll walk you through three criteria I look for when evaluating such stocks and look to find out which appears to be a better bet.

Financial fortitudeIt's easy to get caught up in rosy predictions for the direction that any company could head. But at the end of the day, that's all they are: predictions. What a company has in the bank -- and what it owes its debtors -- are equally important.

During tough financial times, those with little cash on hand and lots of debt are forced to cut back on operations -- or even declare bankruptcy. Those sitting on a nice cushion, however, can take advantage by acquiring competitors, gaining market share, and even purchasing back lots of its own stock.

That's why I consider all four of these metrics to be important in measuring a company's financial fortitude.

Cash Debt Net Income Free Cash Flow Twitter $3.5 B $1.6 B ($521 M) $36 M LinkedIn $3.1 B $1.1 B ($166 M) $300 M

Net income and free cash flow are on a trailing-12-month basis. Data source: Yahoo! Finance, E*Trade.

Both companies really come out at about the same point. They don't have enormous cash reserves, but more than enough -- relative to their debt -- to keep them afloat if tough times hit. While both are technically losing money as well, this is largely because of stock options that are granted to employees.

As things currently sit, LinkedIn has stronger financial fortitude, as the company is solidly free cash flow (FCF) positive, whereas Twitter only achieved this status in 2015 for the first time as a public company.

Winner = LinkedIn

ValuationValuing companies that are technically still net income negative can be a tough thing to do. That's why I like to use non-GAAP results -- as they back out employee stock options -- and include four very broad measures of value when comparing these two companies.

Here's how they stack up.

P/E P/FCF P/S PEG Ratio Twitter 39 294 5 0.6 LinkedIn 38 48 5 1.3

Data source: Yahoo! Finance, E*Trade.

Both of these stocks are still relatively expensive on a price-to-earnings basis, especially considering that both have lost over half of their market cap since 2015 highs. If we take a closer look, a clearer picture emerges. While Twitter looks ridiculously expensive on a P/FCF basis, that's because the company just became FCF positive, and isn't really a fair indicator.

With each company having the same price-to-sales ratio, the PEG -- or price-to-earnings growth -- ratio is the determining factor.

While LinkedIn has three revenue streams, it's most important one is Talent Solutions -- which helps companies find the right potential hires. Recently, there's been significant worry about slowed growth within the division, and that's likely why analysts still think the company is expensive -- as it has a PEG of over 1 -- with 1 being "fairly valued."

Twitter, on the other hand, relies almost entirely on advertising for revenue. Though there are bigger fish in that pond, the migration of ad dollars from print media to mobile is huge and undeniable, and that's likely why the stock is considered undervalued -- and why I'll give it the nod here.

Winner = Twitter

Sustainable competitive advantagesThere's no variable I've found that plays a bigger role in the success of an investment than sustainable competitive advantages (SCA). Both of these companies have -- in my humble opinion -- the most important SCA working for them: the network effect.

With each person that signs up for Twitter, there is more incentive for others to join the network, which provides more incentive for advertisers to use the platform. The same can be said for LinkedIn: When a new individual or companies starts participating, there's more incentive for others to participate.

This is the epitome of a virtuous economic cycle.

But we also have to consider competitors and business momentum here as well. Twitter has had a very difficult time growing its user base recently, and without more users, the network effect is starting to stall. LinkedIn, on the other hand, is having no problem adding both more individual users and more businesses to its roll call. Therefore, I'm giving the nod here to LinkedIn.

Winner = LinkedIn

So there you have it. Although this is far from an exhaustive analysis of these two companies, LinkedIn appears to be a much better buy today for your money.

The article Better Buy: Twitter Inc. vs. LinkedIn Corp. originally appeared on Fool.com.

Brian Stoffel owns shares of LinkedIn and Twitter. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends LinkedIn and Twitter. 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.
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With fears about the U.S. economy looming, The New Case for Gold Author James Rickards weighed in on Donald Trumps comments about a potential recession.

There is a lot of social science research that says monkeys do better than economists at predicting because monkeys dont know what theyre doing; They are 50% right, economists herd and are wrong most of the time. The Fed has never predicted a recession, weve had many. So dont listen to economists, listen to executives. Trump may or may not be right but Id rather listen to an executive than an economist, Rickards told the FOX Business Networks Maria Bartiromo.

With these concerns about the economic outlook, Rickards explains why gold is particularly important to include in investors portfolios.

I recommend 10% of your investable assets. If I am wrong and gold does nothing you wont get hurt with 10%, but if Im right, if everything else crashes, or if Trump is right, gold will go up by multiples. So, thats your insurance for the rest of your portfolio, said Rickards.

Rickards also talks about the additional benefits of gold as cyber security becomes a growing risk to personal wealth.

There are new reasons to have gold, which I talk about in the book, 21st century reasons. [Russian President] Vladimir Putin has a 6,000-member cyber brigade working night and day to erase digital wealth. So how many billionaires do you say, what do you have, stocks, bonds? No you dont, you have electrons. Putin can wipe those out. The thing about gold, you cant hack it, you cant erase it, you cant delete it. Its tangible, Rickards said.

With many strategies for investing, from ETFs to stocks to physical gold, Rickards discusses the options investors should avoid.

You dont want paper gold, you dont want ETFs, COMEX futures or London Bullion Market Association unallocated gold. The reason is they are all paper contracts. When you most want the gold, theyll terminate early, close the exchange, the Comdex will say trade for liquidation only, you wont be able to get the physical. They sell 100 times more gold than they have and thats okay because futures exchanges always have large open interest,  said Rickards.

On the other hand, Rickards explains why physical gold is the best option for investors.

One-hundred people show up and there is one bar of gold, one guy is getting the gold, everyone else is shut out. So have physical gold, bullion, coins, American gold eagles, again for a slice, 10%, put it in a safe place, not in the banks, put it in private storage, Rickards said.

More on this... Do investors want to own stocks in this market environment?

Rickards then weighed in on how gold has done over recent years.

Gold is the best performing asset in 2016, best performing asset class in the 21st century. Now from August, 2011 to November, 2015, it went down 45%; Thats a typical retracement in commodities markets. Rickards continued, But I dont day trade gold, I have it for a slice of my portfolio to preserve wealth. Its a difference between making money and preserving wealth.
Major drug companies took hefty price increases in the U.S., in some cases more than doubling listed charges, for widely used medications over the past five years, a Reuters analysis of proprietary data found.

Prices for four of the nation's top 10 drugs increased more than 100 percent since 2011, Reuters found. Six others went up more than 50 percent. Together, the price increases on drugs for arthritis, high cholesterol, asthma and other common problems added billions in costs for consumers, employers and government health programs.

Extraordinary price hikes by two small companies, Turing Pharmaceuticals and Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc (VRX.TO), drew new attention to drug costs. Turing expected to book $200 million by raising the price of Daraprim, an antiparasitic used for a rare infection, by 5,000 percent, according to company documents released by Congressional investigators.

Routine price increases by bigger players may draw less attention, but they add up. Sales for the top 10 drugs went up 44 percent to $54 million in 2014, from 2011, even though prescriptions for the medications dropped 22 percent, according to IMS Health data.

At the top of the list was AbbVie Inc (ABBV.N), which raised the price of arthritis drug Humira more than 126 percent, Reuters found. Next were Amgen Inc (AMGN.O) and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (TEVA.TA), which raised prices for arthritis treatment Enbrel and multiple sclerosis drug Copaxone by 118 percent.

The increases help explain federal data showing overall spending on drugs rose faster than doctor visits and hospitalization over the past five years.

Reuters based its analysis on the top 10 drugs, according to 2014 sales figures from IMS, and on proprietary pricing data provided by Truven Health Analytics. Reuters used commonly prescribed approved indications. Reuters shared its method and findings with the eight companies that sell the top 10 drugs; none disputed the findings.

In general, drug companies said they set prices to recoup investments in failed drugs, support new research and development efforts, and pay for clinical trials to broaden the use of approved drugs. Also, they said, medications prevent costly hospitalizations.

Some of the companies noted that Reuters' analysis of list prices failed to capture negotiated discounts and rebates  information they closely guard. In a few cases, companies offered a limited view into proprietary prices.

Amgen, for instance, told Reuters that, after most discounts, the average sales price for a dose of Enbrel is at least $200 less than list.

And, while Reuters found arthritis drug Remicade went up almost 63 percent, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) spokeswoman Caroline Pavis said average selling price increases were closer to 5.4 percent per year.

For GlaxoSmithKline Plc's (GSK.L) Advair asthma drug, Reuters found a 67 percent increase. But spokeswoman Jenni Ligday said that, with discounts and rebates, prices actually fell during the period.

Even after discounts, pharmacy benefit managers told Reuters they pay annual price increases on top medications of up to 10 percent. By comparison, the U.S. consumer price index rose an average of 2 percent annually over the last five years.

Dr. Steve Miller, chief medical officer of top U.S. pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts Holding Corp (ESRX.O), said the current level of drug price increases was "not sustainable."

NEW FOCUS

Drug prices have been a hot topic on the presidential campaign trail and in Congress since Turing hiked Daraprim and Valeant imposed triple-digit price increases on two heart drugs. Adding to the political pressure is the practice among employers and insurers of passing increases onto consumers.

Patricia Calopietro, 70, said she once paid $20 for a three-month supply of Nexium. AstraZeneca Plc (AZN.L) raised the list price of the acid reflux drug nearly 50 percent over the past five years, and Calopietro's insurer pushed her out-of-pocket share up to $250. She switched to a cheaper medicine but doesnt like how it works.

"How can I pay something like that? I'm 70 years old, and I'm on a fixed income," said Calopietro, a retired sales manager for the U.S. Army & Air Force Exchange stores from Lorton, Virginia.

Leading drugmakers say price hikes by Turing and Valeant are outliers. "Our industry invests on average 20 percent of our revenues into research and development. It's a fundamentally different business model," said Robert Zirkelbach, a spokesman for industry lobby Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, or PhRMA.

Sanofi SA (SASY.PA), Teva, Amgen, J&J and AstraZeneca, which all have top 10 drugs, said they offer assistance to low income consumers. AstraZeneca spokeswoman Abigail Bozarth said the company sets prices based on market conditions, "a common practice across the industry."

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center oncologist Peter Bach said patients would be better served if drug prices reflected value, instead of bargaining power. Pharmaceutical "companies have complete control over pricing in the U.S.," he said.

By Bach's estimate, increases last year on just one drug, Amgen's Enbrel, added up to $1 billion to care costs. In a statement, Amgen spokeswoman Kristen Davis questioned Bach's estimate, saying it is impossible to infer revenue growth from list price increases because of other factors, including rebates and discounts.

Davis said Amgen prices reflect research and development costs of $33 billion over a decade. Rebates and discounts bring the average sales price for a weekly dose of Enbrel to $704.23, down from its list price of $932.16, she said.
High school students in Palm Coast, Florida, have been working on designing a prosthetic leg for dogs since August. Now, they have finally put their work to the test with a three-legged German Shepherd mix, Champ.

Yaso Sandoval and David Zolondek adopted Champ, who lost a leg in a car accident, from an animal shelter, Fox 35 reported. Having only three legs causes excess wear and tear on his other paws, wearing out the tendons and muscles, and the padding on his paws, Sandoval said.

The shelter connected them with Flagler Palm Coast High School students in the schools Anatomy of Design program, who then set off to design a prosthetic for Champ using 3-D printing.

Recently, the students fitted Champ with their designs, including one teams tank model.

Ive never had any projects relating to dogs, building a prosthetic leg, even 3-D printing so it was a unique and a huge learning experience, Rafael Santiago, a student at Flagler Palm Coast High, told the news station. Santiagos teams tank model was inspired by the movie Fury.

As the students continue to perfect their designs, Zolondek said he hopes one of the prosthetics makes a good match for Champ.

Its pretty cool, Zolondek told Fox 35. I hope he can get something where his other leg doesnt get too much wear and tear.
In most cases, poverty is the main reason children and teens worldwide end up homeless or living on the streets, according to a new review of past research.

About 40 percent of youths reported poverty as the main reason they were homeless, according to the report in JAMA Pediatrics. Family conflict and abuse were also among the most commonly reported reasons for living on the streets.

The findings should make policymakers "think hard about what they can do about these issues," said senior author Paula Braitstein, who is affiliated with the University of Toronto and based in Kenya.

The researchers say societies often classify homeless youths as juvenile delinquents, which results in exclusion, criminalization and oppression.

Until now there had been no large reviews of data on why youths end up on the streets, they write.

Braitstein and her colleagues used data collected from 49 studies with a total of 13,559 participants from 24 countries, including 21 developing countries. No one was older than 24.

Thirty-nine percent of participants cited poverty as their reason for homelessness. About 32 percent reported family conflict as their reason for being on the streets, and about 26 percent cited abuse.

When the researchers examined countries by economic status, poverty was the main reason for youth homelessness in developing countries and family conflict was the main reason in developed countries.

While delinquency is often blamed for youth homelessness, only 10 percent of participants said that was what caused them to be homeless. It was the least-cited reason.

And even that 10 percent figure might be an overestimate, because youth are more inclined to report behavioral problems than abuse as a reason for living on the streets, said Dr. Colette Auerswald, of University of California Berkeley-University of California San Francisco Joint Medical Program.

"We need to focus on having an appropriate safety net for kids who do fall through the cracks because of poverty or abuse," said Auerswald, who co-wrote an editorial accompanying the new study.

"The kinds of solutions that these children, adolescents and young adults need are not adult solutions," she said. "Tailoring them for a mini-me or smaller size . . . doesn't work."

Instead, she would like to see homeless youth served in programs offering university-style housing, where they would be looked after, fed and not threatened with eviction.

Braitstein told Reuters Health that governments need to take responsibility for the care of their children.

A lot of children "end up turning to the streets because they have nowhere else to go," she said.
Mosquitoes have infected two women with the Zika virus in Vietnam, health authorities said on Tuesday, in the country's first cases of a disease linked in Brazil to thousands of suspected cases of microcephaly, a rare birth defect.

A 64-year-old woman in the beach city of Nha Trang and a pregnant 33-year-old in Ho Chi Minh City fell sick in late March, and three rounds of tests have confirmed they are Zika-positive, health officials said.

The sufferers are in stable condition and no further infections have been found among their relatives and neighbors, the health ministry said in a statement.

"After epidemic investigations, we consider the source of infection could be mosquito," Deputy Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long said of the patient in Ho Chi Minh City.

She is eight weeks pregnant, Long said in a Vietnam Television broadcast, but gave no details of the first woman.

Health officials have quarantined the living areas of the patient's families and taken samples from others living nearby for further tests, said Nguyen Chi Dung, head of Ho Chi Minh City's department of preventive medicine.

The World Health Organization is working closely with Vietnam, a WHO official told a health ministry meeting to announce the infections.

Zika is carried by mosquitoes, which transmit the virus to humans.

The WHO says there is a strong scientific consensus that Zika can cause microcephaly as well as Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare neurological disorder that can result in paralysis, though conclusive proof may take months or years.

Microcephaly is characterized by unusually small heads that can result in developmental problems.

Zika has been endemic in Asia, with infection cases confirmed in Bangladesh, South Korea, Thailand and China.

Brazil said it had confirmed more than 860 cases of microcephaly, most of which it considers to be related to Zika infections in the mothers. It is investigating more than 4,200 additional suspected cases of microcephaly.
Tomorrow Wisconsin folks will vote in the primary there. Maybe you didn't know the long history of what makes the badger state a pretty good predictor of who the republican nominee will eventually be. I know I didnt'. Every GOP nominee for the past 52 years has won Wisconsin. So, if the recent polls are correct, that's good news for Ted Cruz, who in the most recent polls has been up on Donald Trump by as much as 10 points. The big question is whether the change we've seen in the Wisconsin polls is indicative of what's happening across the rest of the country as well.

Check out the IBD/TIPP poll, the only national poll done after Trump's campaign manager was charged with simple battery and after his comments about abortion. Among registered Republicans, and Republican leaning independents, Trump's lead over Cruz shrank from 11 points last month to 7 points now with Cruz and Kasich both gaining 11 and 12 points respectively.

They say politics is often about momentum, who knew the great state of Wisconsin would prove to be so pivotal in this presidential race.
U.S. Secretary of Education John King Jr. has just shy of 10 months in his post before the next administration takes over. But that doesnt mean hes a caretakerfar from it. Indeed, Secretary King has many opportunities to have a real and lasting influence on the trajectory of education in the country. An ideal opportunity to create an outsized impact is by leveraging his position to advance higher education equity.

By equity, I mean this. Huge disparities remain in the number of Americans with an education beyond high school based on race and class. To address this, our nations postsecondary system must better serve students who traditionally have been left behind: first-generation students, adult learners who are working and parenting, and students of color  all of whom are quickly becoming the new college majority. King can move the needle in achieving this, both by raising awareness about the problem and emphasizing policies that put students, not institutions, at the center of higher education.

King should use his bully pulpit to make clear the mismatch between the needs of todays college students and the realities of todays system. While nearly half of higher-education students support themselves financially and a quarter raise children, Americas postsecondary system still operates as if full-time, financially dependent students were the majority.

This disconnect contributes to abysmal outcomes: nearly 38 percent of students with additional work and family obligations leave school within their first year, and only 11 percent of low-income students graduate within six years. King is well positioned to highlight the problem, based on his own story of overcoming adversity as an orphan who was buoyed by the support of teachers to later succeed at Harvard and Columbia universities.

King also can use his Education Secretary post to promote policy changes that would reshape the system in favor of better outcomes for all students, particularly those neglected under the current paradigm. Among these changes is supporting pathways to delivering postsecondary education, outside of traditional colleges and universities, that meet a diverse range of student needs.

Competency-based education, for instance, moves away from the credit hour to track advancement based on students ability to demonstrate mastery of skills and knowledge. This allows for a more flexible means of delivering education that enables student-parents, working students and others to progress at their own pace and learn at a time and place most convenient for them. It also ensures that students emerge from college with the critical competencies they need to thrive in the workplace. King should continue championing competency-based approaches so that more students have a chance to benefit from them.

An equally important priority is ensuring students can receive financial aid for high-quality programs beyond four-year degrees  such as apprenticeships, corporate training, and programs provided through cultural institutions. Efforts to achieve this  outside of the Congressional process  are underway at the Department of Education, setting a strong precedent for the next administration to follow.

The education department under Kings leadership also can play a key role in making sure that data about programs and institutions is transparent so that students can access it and make informed decisions about their postsecondary options. A lack of clarity about key issues such as programs cost and quality, graduates salaries and employment rates, and more, has a particularly significant impact on first-generation students, who often are navigating the system with less support.

The U.S. Department of Education made an important first step toward changing this through its College Scorecard, which provides students with a range of information about postsecondary programs. It will be important to build on this and other frameworks so that all data relevant to students and the public is included and the information they provide reflects the outcomes of all students  not just those who are enrolled for the first-time and taking classes full-time. And, to more explicitly protect the most vulnerable students against bad actors, King and the education department also should champion appropriate rules and regulations.

Theres much work to be done to close looming attainment gaps: 23 percent of blacks and 15 percent of Hispanics have at least an associate degree, while 40 percent of whites do. We must change this if we are to meet Americas growing need for talent and ensure every individual has an opportunity to achieve success and prosperity.

John King is an excellent choice to be the nations public voice for increasing educational excellence and access. Through strategic moves to advance equity, King could set the stage for a much broader shift in higher education in coming years  and thereby, in a short tenure, build a meaningful legacy.
As Wisconsin casts its vote on Tuesday, it appears Ted Cruz can rest easy: The Texas senator is projected to take home most of the states delegates.



And despite trailing Donald Trump for the time being, Cruzs diatribe against the special interests and lobbyists in Washington has certainly hit home in Wisconsin and around the country. It speaks not only to the anti-establishment fervor stoking the flames, but also Cruzs ability to capitalize on the anger and frustration of the American electorate.



Its no coincidence the Cruz crescendo is resonating in Wisconsin of all places. The state has waged a long war against the special interests of politically inclined union bosses and their crony relations with Washington power brokers.



Under Governor Scott Walkerwho endorsed the Texas senator prior to primary daythe state has reigned in the power of Big Labor by establishing right-to-work and democratizing the union voting process.

Beginning in 2011, the Wisconsin governor used labor reformfrom prohibiting mandatory dues to guaranteeing recertification electionsto hold the union political machine accountable to the rank-and-file. In Walkers words, We took the power away from the big-government special interests and put it firmly in the hands of the hard-working taxpayers.



That message is right up Cruzs alley: What you all have done in the state of Wisconsin is exactly what we need to do in Washington, he recently told radio host Charlie Sykes. When [Governor Walker] and millions of men and women across Wisconsin stood up and took on the union bosses, it was powerful, it inspired people across the country.



The inspiration says something about Big Labors political clout. Union bosses have long been the Democratic Partys personal ATM, even though about 40 percent of union members vote Republican in any given election cycle.



New research from the Center for Union Facts shows Americas major labor unions donated more than $418 million to the Democratic Party and left-wing special interest groups from 2012 to 2014. Almost $150 million wound up with think tanks supportive of a job-killing $15 minimum wagenow adopted in Californiaand other liberal initiatives. NextGen Climate and other radical environmental groups received millions in funding, as did left-wing media outlets including The Nation and In These Times.



Among the ten major recipients of union money were the Democratic Governors Association ($7.8 million) and Catalist ($5.1 million). The latter is a leading Democratic data firm and has been described as [President] Obamas database for transforming America.



They werent the only winners. Democracy AllianceGeorge Soros secretive network of liberal donorsreceived more than $2 million in union money from 2012 to 2014, while the Clinton Foundation made off with over $1.3 million. (Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton has received her fair share of union endorsements.)



Much to the chagrin of the roughly 40 percent of union members voting Republican, Big Labor is effectively one large Democratic Super PACa fact that even Howard Dean recently acknowledged.



Its why Cruz has made it his mission to confront the union political machine and take Governor Walkers reforms national. He is a vocal supporter of the Employee Rights Act (ERA), national legislation which would update American labor law to protect union employees. (Walker also supported the bill as a presidential candidate.) Now co-sponsored by more than 120 members of Congress, the ERA would require union bosses to obtain opt-in permission from their members before spending their dues money supporting political interest groups.



If the 2016 election has made one thing clear, its that taking on special interests will win votesin Wisconsin and beyond. And theres no bigger special interest than Big Labor.




Connecticuts chronic budget problems and notorious tax increases have made the state a prime target for Florida GOP Gov. Rick Scott and others trying to lure away corporations and other job-creators.

Scott recently offered Yale University a chance to relocate after Connecticuts Democrat-controlled General Assembly proposed taxing the schools $25.6 billion endowment to cut a budget deficit.

And last summer, he traveled to Connecticut to try to lure businesses -- after Aetna, General Electric and Travelers publicly griped about millions in proposed taxes increases that Gov. Dan Malloy and fellow Democrats in the state legislature wanted in an upcoming budget.

Not surprisingly, considering Yale's 300-year history with the city of New Haven, the Ivy League bastion last week politely declined Scott's offer.

Still, General Electric earlier this year took a better offer from Boston to move its headquarters and its 800 jobs to the citys revived Seaport District -- a devastating economic hit to its current home in affluent Fairfield County -- even after Malloy hastily signed a revised budget proposal that cut roughly $179 million from $1.5 billion in proposed tax increases in the original two-year budget.

But Connecticuts persistent budget problems continue to make it a target for pro-business governors like Scott.

The state Assembly last week had to close a projected $220 million budget shortfall with a host of one-time, stop-gap measures. And similar budget deficits are projected for the new budget that begins in July.

Scott said Monday he intends to continue going to states whose policies have an adverse impact on businesses, with an eye now on Pennsylvania.

You have to go talk to people, Scott, a former businessman, told FoxNews.com. This is no different than when I ran a big company. ... The answer was always no before I called.

Scott, who was raised in poverty, said hes trying to attract new businesses with lower taxes and fewer regulations. And his 2010 campaign was based on a promise to provide residents with better jobs and educational opportunities as well as a safer way of life.

The governor since taking office in 2011 has made pitches in Connecticut, California and Kentucky, according to his office.

He has successfully brought several businesses into the state over roughly the past five and half years, including a new United Technology facility that created 380 jobs in the Palm Beach area. And on Monday, Scott announced that stone and granite manufacturer Granex has opened a new, $9 million processing facility in Tampa.

His willingness to make sales calls in Connecticut and elsewhere appears to have raised Malloys ire.

Has Gov. Scott sent out a press release claiming to recruit companies from North Carolina after its Republican governor just signed a discriminatory, anti-gay law? the governors office recently told the Orlando Sentinel. Or is this more about partisan politics than anything else?

Malloys office did not respond to a request for comment from FoxNews.com, but his administration has launched a radio campaign in the Connecticut, New York and New Jersey region promoting the benefits of doing business in the state.

This is not the first time a Republican governor has tried to lure businesses away from a state with budget problems and high taxes.

Then-Texas Gov. Rick Perry tried in 2013 to entice California entrepreneurs and other business owners by promising better economic opportunities -- and with a campaign like Scotts in Connecticut that included radio ads.

Perrys foray followed residents approving Proposition 30, which increased Californias sales and income taxes for the state's highest earners.

And then-Maryland Democratic Gov. Martin OMalley and then-Virginia GOP Gov. Bob McDonnell competed against each other several years ago to bring new businesses into their respective states.

Both made trips in 2012 to India to seek new business opportunities, and McDonnell managed to lure from Maryland construction and engineering giant Bechtel.


Sen. Ted Cruz on Monday reached out to female voters, claiming Donald Trump seems to have "a problem with strong women" as the two prepared for Tuesday's Wisconsin primary.

The Texas senator appeared to try to capitalize on Trumps recent campaign missteps that seem to be alienating women voters, a crucial voting bloc to win a general election.

He seems to have a problem with strong women, Cruz said on a special Town Hall edition of Fox News Channels Kelly File.

Its going to be up to the men and women in Wisconsin to decide who wins. I could not be more encouraged by the enthusiasm.

Trump in recent weeks retweeted an unflattering picture of Cruzs wife, Heidi, and suggested some form of punishment for women who got an abortion if they were illegal - then issued two statements to clarify his position.

Now a recent WSJ/NBC poll shows 70 percent of women have an unfavorable view of Trump.

Cruz, who has a slight lead in Wisconsin, also referred to his wife as a strong woman and said he had never missed either of his two young daughters' birthdays, while also touting his jobs plan and promising to protect Americans.

Its time for a leader to say Im going to bring jobs back to America and we're going to keep America safe, he told Kelly.

He also responded to a question asked by Kelly over a report in the National Enquirer that he allegedly had several extra-marital affairs, which he referred to as "complete and utter garbage."

I have always been faithful to my wife, I love my wife, he said. She is my best friend in the whole world.

There are 42 delegates available in the Wisconsin Republican primary.

Trump leads going into the contest with 736 pledged delegates, followed by Cruz with 463 and Ohio Gov. John Kasich with 143 -- with 1,237 needed to secure the nomination.

Cruz told Fox that hes so far beaten Trump in 11 states, which would include primaries, caucuses and state conventions.

And Im confident after Wisconsin votes, it will be 12, said Cruz, who like Trump continues to call for the last-place Kasich to quit the race.

Someone is not electable if they can't get elected, he said about Kasich, who has won only his home state of Ohio. If you lose 49 states, you aint gonna be the Republican nominee.

Earlier Monday in an "On The Record" town hall hosted by Fox News' Greta Van Susteren, Kasich said, "Both of them say I ought to get out of the race because I'm winning their votes. I agree with them."

He said that nobody will reach the requisite delegates for the nomination going into the convention, and that an open convention will decide the nominee."There's gonna be an open convention and it's gonna be cool...and the delegates are going to decide who can win in the fall," he said.

During audience questions at the town hall, Cruz also faced the politically charged subject of abortion.

Cruz said he wouldnt make abortion illegal, if elected president, though he is pro-life.

If you're going to change a major issue of public policy the way to do so is at ballot box, he said.

Cruz also said one of the worst things about the Supreme Courts 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling was that it took the decision about whether to have an abortion out of the control of the people.

I believe we have democratic society, Cruz continued. If somebody wants to pass legislation limiting or expanding abortion  its a much better system to have important policy decisions decided at ballot box.

However, he also said high court decision was the result of activism and suggested it was not settled law.

He also brought up Trump's statements over the past week on abortion.

"He's willing to say whatever he can to win votes," Cruz said.

"The statement Donald Trump made this week...was a bizarre statement...it's showed he's not considered seriously this issue," he added.

Cruz also vowed Monday night he would "repeal every word" of ObamaCare when responding to a question in the town hall.

When asked how he would replace ObamaCare, Cruz said he would expand competition in the healthcare marketplace, empower patients to make decisions with their doctors, and discourage the government from getting involved.

"Everyone agrees we need health care reform," he said.

In a town hall appearance on "Hannity" with Fox News' Sean Hannity, Trump defended his campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, who was charged last week for allegedly assaulting a female reporter.

"Corey is a fine person...[but] I would've fired him on the spot if [an assault]actually took place," he said.

Maybe I should file charges against her for grabbing me or touching me," Trump said, referring to the reporter Michelle Fields.

Earlier Monday evening, Trump's wife Melania made a rare speaking appearance at a rally for her husband in Milwaukee. In a short speech, she defended her husband against charges that he is alienating female voters.

"No matter who you are, a man or a woman, he treats everyone equal," she said.

Melania Trump also described her husband as strong, tough and a great leader, adding, "When you attack him, he will punch back 10 times harder."
Senators Ted Cruz and Bernie Sanders will hope that their underdog campaigns get a boost from Wisconsin voters in the state's primary Tuesday.

Most polls show Cruz leading Republican front-runner Donald Trump in the Badger State. The Democratic race appears to be much closer, but recent polls have shown Sanders, the self-described democratic socialist, holding a slight lead over Hillary Clinton.

While Sanders remains a force in the Democratic primary, a win in Wisconsin would do little to significantly cut into Clinton's lead in delegates that will decide the party's nomination. The stakes are higher for Cruz, who trails Donald Trump in the GOP delegate race and sees Wisconsin as a crucial state in his effort to push the party toward a convention fight.

"We are seeing victory after victory after victory in the grassroots," Cruz said during a campaign stop Monday. "What we are seeing in Wisconsin is the unity of the Republican Party manifesting."

Losses for Trump and Clinton in Wisconsin could be problematic with the next big contest on the primary calendar, in delegate-rich New York, not until April 19. Trump still has a comfortable lead in the Empire State, but Sanders has threatened to close the gap against Clinton on the Democratic side.

For Trump, the long lead-up to Wisconsin's contest has included one of the worst stretches of his candidacy. He was embroiled in a spat involving Cruz's wife, which he now says he regrets, was sidetracked by his campaign manager's legal problems after an altercation with a female reporter, and stumbled awkwardly in comments about abortion.



While Trump is the only Republican with a realistic path to clinching the nomination ahead of the Republican convention, a big loss in Wisconsin would greatly reduce his chances of reaching the 1,237 delegates needed to do so before the GOP gathers in Cleveland.



Cruz headed into Tuesday's contest with the backing of much of the state's Republican leaders, including Gov. Scott Walker, but Trump made a spirited final push in the state and predicted a "really, really big victory."



"If we do well here, it's over," he said. "If we don't win here, it's not over."



Complicating the primary landscape for both Cruz and Trump is the continuing candidacy of John Kasich. The Ohio governor's only victory has come in his home state, but he's still picking up delegates that would otherwise help Trump inch closer to the nomination or help Cruz catch up.



Trump has grown increasingly frustrated with the governor and has joined Cruz in calling for Kasich to end his campaign. Kasich cast Trump's focus on him as a sign that he's best positioned to win over the businessman's supporters.



"They're not really his people," Kasich said. "They're Americans who are worried about, they're really most worried about their kids, are their kids going to have a good life?"



If Cruz wins all of Wisconsin's 42 delegates, Trump would need to win 57 percent of those remaining to clinch the GOP nomination before the convention. So far, Trump has won 48 percent of the delegates awarded.



To win a prolonged convention fight, a candidate would need support from the individuals selected as delegates. The prolonged process of selecting those delegates would test the mettle of Trump's slim campaign operation.



Cruz prevailed in an early organizational test in North Dakota, scooping up endorsements from delegates who were selected at the party's state convention over the weekend. While all 28 of the state's delegates go to the national convention as free agents, 10 said in interviews that they were committed to Cruz. None has so far endorsed Trump.



Among Democrats, Clinton has 1,243 delegates to Sanders' 980 based on primaries and caucuses. When including superdelegates, or party officials who can back any candidate, Clinton holds an even wider lead -- 1,712 to Sanders' 1,011. It takes 2,383 delegates to win the Democratic nomination.



Sanders would need to win 67 percent of the remaining delegates and uncommitted superdelegates to catch up to Clinton. So far, he's only winning 37 percent.



Even if Sanders wins in Wisconsin, he's unlikely to gain much ground. Because Democrats award delegates proportionally, a narrow victory by either candidate on Tuesday would mean that both Sanders and Clinton would get a similar number of delegates.



The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Republican Sen. Ted Cruz and Democratic Sen. Bernie Sanders scored big victories in Wisconsin's presidential primaries Tuesday, dampening Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton's hopes of wrapping up the race any time soon -- and putting heavy pressure on the front-runners to recapture the momentum in contests later this month.

Both Cruz and Sanders charged out of Wisconsin claiming momentum was turning in their favor. Sanders, who notched his sixth victory in the last seven state contests, won all but three of the Badger State's 72 counties.

And we have won almost all of them with overwhelming, landslide numbers, Sanders told an ebullient crowd of supporters Tuesday night.

Sanders was speaking in Wyoming, which holds a caucus contest this weekend. But the next big primary will be in New York on April 19, and Sanders has vowed to take on Clinton in her adopted home state.

Cruz also pointed to his win Tuesday as a sign the tides are turning against Republican front-runner Trump, who faced one of the roughest weeks of his campaign going into the primary.

"Tonight is a turning point," Cruz declared at a rally in Milwaukee. "It is a rallying cry. It is a call from the hard-working men and women of Wisconsin to the people of America: we have a choice. A real choice."

Yet Cruz, despite winning in Wisconsin and outmaneuvering Trump lately in the grueling battle for delegates, still faces challenging terrain in the weeks ahead. Trump has a clear lead in New York polls, and his campaign claimed "total confidence" they would win that race.

Trump's campaign also put out a biting statement Tuesday night that said Cruz was "worse than a puppet--- he is a Trojan horse, being used by the party bosses attempting to steal the nomination from Mr. Trump."

Even if Trump holds his ground in New York, however, Cruz's Wisconsin win only increases the odds that the Republican Party will hold its first open convention in four decades this July, a scenario Trump seemed to be referring to.

Any candidate would need 1,237 delegates to clinch the nomination before then, and Cruz's Wisconsin victory makes that number very difficult for Trump to obtain.

With 99 percent of precincts reporting, Cruz led with 48 percent of the vote to Trump's 35 percent. Ohio Gov. John Kasich was trailing far behind on 14 percent of the vote.

Exit polls showed disquiet about Trump among Wisconsin Republicans. In the Fox News survey of 1,532 primary voters, 58 percent of respondents said they were either concerned or scared about the prospect of Trump being elected president. More worryingly for the Trump campaign, 37 percent said they would not vote for him if he faced Clinton in November's general election.

On the Democratic side, returns showed Sanders with 56 percent of the vote to Clinton's 43 percent with 99 percent of precincts reporting.

The victory helps fuel Sanders' argument that the Democratic primary is far from over, even as front-runner Clinton tries to turn her attention to the general election.

Exit polls in the Democratic race show Sanders won in part with the help of independent voters, 72 percent of whom broke for the Vermont senator.

While the Cruz and Sanders wins in Wisconsin won't necessarily shorten the odds on either winning their partys nomination, the losses by the front-runners keep an aura of uncertainty hanging over both races.

Cruz, enjoying the support of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, campaigned harder than anybody in the Midwestern state. Buoyed by conservative talk show hosts and others opposed to a Trump bid, the Texas senator led in most GOP polls leading up to Tuesdays primary.

For Trump, the long lead-up to Wisconsin's contest has included one of the worst stretches of his candidacy. He was embroiled in a spat involving Cruz's wife, which he now says he regrets, was sidetracked by his campaign manager's legal problems after an altercation with a female reporter, and stumbled awkwardly in comments about abortion.

Still, Trump made a spirited final push in the state. His campaign said Tuesday night he withstood an "onslaught of the establishment" in Wisconsin.

Complicating the primary landscape for both Cruz and Trump is the continuing candidacy of Kasich. The Ohio governor's only victory has come in his home state, but he's still picking up delegates that would otherwise help Trump inch closer to the nomination or help Cruz catch up.

Trump has joined Cruz in calling for Kasich to end his campaign. But Kasich cast Trump's focus on him as a sign that he's best positioned to win over the businessman's supporters.

For Republicans, 42 delegates were at stake Tuesday. According to an Associated Press count late Tuesday, Cruz won 33 of 36 allocated Wisconsin delegates, with Trump winning the other three and six delegates still outstanding. With the latest results factored in, Trump has 740 delegates to Cruz's 514. Kasich is a distant third with 143 delegates.

For Democrats, 86 delegates were on the line Tuesday in Wisconsin. With his victory, Sanders won 45 delegates to Clinton's 31, with 10 delegates outstanding, according to an Associated Press count. When including superdelegates, the party officials who can back any candidate, Clinton holds 1,743 delegates to Sanders' 1,056. It takes 2,383 delegates to win the Democratic nomination.

On the eve of voting in Wisconsin, Clinton's campaign manager argued that Sanders' only path to victory "relies on overturning the will of the voters." In a memo to supporters, Robby Mook wrote that Sanders' strategy now is "a combination of trying to flip pledged delegates at state and county conventions, while also convincing superdelegates that he deserves their support."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A Republican senator said Tuesday she is "more convinced than ever" that there should be hearings on President Obama's Supreme Court nominee after meeting with Judge Merrick Garland.

Maine Sen. Susan Collins sat down with Garland on Capitol Hill Tuesday for more than an hour. She is one of two GOP senators to call for hearings on Garland's nomination after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said there would be no hearings or votes, leaving the decision to the next president after voters have their say in November.

"He has a humility about him," Collins said immediately after the meeting. "He has clearly thought very deeply about the issues confronting the courts, there was not any question he could not handle and he has a long record of accomplishment."

Collins acknowledged that she is unlikely to change anyone's mind on the issue. McConnell and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley of Iowa have held firm that they will block Garland, a move that conservative activists have cheered. The GOP leadership has the backing of 50 other GOP senators this election year.

Garland is also meeting with Republican Sen. John Boozman of Arkansas on Tuesday, and has several meetings scheduled with Democrats.

Close to 20 GOP senators have said they are willing to meet Garland, though most oppose letting the confirmation process progress. Collins and Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois are the only two who have called for hearings. Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran had also said he thought there should be hearings, but reversed that position after conservative backlash.

Grassley's office said Monday that he invited the judge to breakfast, though reiterated that he would not change his mind on the issue. Collins noted that the Iowa senator had at least extended that courtesy.

"Let's see if after that meeting Sen. Grassley still holds to the position that there should not be hearings," she said.

Collins said Garland is well-informed and thoughtful and that her colleagues would be impressed with him. She has spoken out at caucus meetings to try to convince others to have meetings and support hearings.

"It would be ironic if the next president happens to be a Democrat, and chooses someone who is far to Judge Garland's left," she said.
An illegal immigrant -- who police said was drunk while street racing when he killed a Nebraska woman in a car crash -- wasnt detained by immigration officials because his offense did not constitute a crime of violence, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency said in a March letter to Congress.

Edwin Mejia, 19, is accused of being drunk and driving recklessly when his vehicle slammed into 21-year-old Sarah Roots car in January.

Root died at the hospital. Mejia later posted bond and fled. Hes been added to ICEs Most Wanted list.

Mr. Mejia should not need to be on this list  he should be in jail, Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., said in a March 30 statement. ICE originally said that Mr. Mejia was not an enforcement priority, but this morning he was placed on their Most Wanted list. The public still does not have a complete account of what went wrong.

Sasse has been pressing for answers since his office issued a Feb. 29 letter to ICE Director Sarah Saldana. He called Saldanas eventual response bureaucratic nonsense and wrote to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson on April 4 seeking a response that was not an embarrassment to the hardworking men and women at DHS.

Border agents first encountered Mejia in May 2013 when the 16-year-old arrived in Nogales, Ariz., from Honduras and was designated as an unaccompanied child, according to ICEs initial response letter to Sasse. As required by law, Mejia was transferred to the Office of Refugee Resettlement, which then shipped him to Omaha in 2014 to live with his brother. Its not clear if Mejias brother was legally in the U.S.

After Mejias January 2016 arrest for motor vehicle homicide, ICE officials encountered Mr. Mejia just once, but they did not file a detainer.

While Mejias actions didnt fit the requirements for issuing a mandatory detainer, DHS personnel have discretionary ability to issue a detainer if the removal of such alien would serve an important federal interest.

After further review, we believe that further enforcement action would have served an important federal interest in this case, the ICE response letter said.
Baltimore-area neighborhoods are locked in a heated battle over a new push to bring residents from poor parts of the city into the more affluent suburbs.

The controversy surrounds government-subsidized Section 8 housing.

With crime in the inner city soaring and many of Baltimores neighborhoods plagued by gang violence, there was a push to integrate those communities into neighborhoods in the surrounding county. The NAACP and others sued Baltimore County over alleged housing segregation  and the county has now settled, agreeing to spend $30 million over the next 10 years to build 1,000 homes in affluent neighborhoods.

On top of that, the Baltimore County executive is planning to put forward legislation outlawing the practice of landlords denying  or as some see it, discriminating against  Section 8 tenants.

I think it's important that we make sure that opportunities are available to everyone within the region," County Executive Kevin Kamenetz said.

Its unclear whether such a proposal would even pass.

But the plans have faced stiff resistance from some residents and lawmakers.

I think it's nonsense, said Pat McDonough, a Republican Maryland delegate. The overall policy which is coming out of the White House -- it is coming out of President Obama's philosophy of social engineering on steroids -- we're going to make everybody better if we move everyone to Kingsville.  Its a failure and is destined to fail.

The argument from the NAACP and its allies, though, is that typical Section 8 subsidized housing programs bunch poor people together, and that this only fuels more crime and other problems.

Under the new plan, residents from low-income neighborhoods would be placed all around Baltimore County, essentially integrating the poor among wealthier families.

Studies indicate doing cluster in one area is not successful, said Tony Fugett, president of the Baltimore County NAACP. The hope is that the units would be dispersed throughout the county.
The Obama administration released guidelines Monday intended to make it harder for landlords to discriminate against those with criminal records, saying that such actions can discriminate against minorities.

The Department of Housing and Urban Developments guidelines note that African-Americans and Hispanics are arrested and convicted at disproportionate rates, and claims that placing barriers to housing based on a criminal record would disproportionately hurt minorities and therefore may be in violation of the Fair Housing Act.

While having a criminal record is not a protected characteristic under the Fair Housing Act, criminal history-based restrictions on housing opportunities violate the Act if, without justification, their burden falls more often on renters or other housing market participants of one race or national origin over another, the guidelines say.

Under the new guidelines, a landlord must consider the severity of a crime, and how long ago the crime was committed before refusing a potential tenant. They will also have to see if the applicant was arrested, and if he or she was convicted. Landlords who refuse tenants will have to prove that the refusal is necessary for the safety of other tenants.

"Policies that exclude persons based on criminal history must be tailored to serve the housing providers substantial, legitimate, nondiscriminatory interest and take into consideration such factors as the type of the crime and the length of the time since conviction," the guidelines say.

Failure by landlords to follow the guidelines could lead to an investigation and civil fines if they are found to be in violation of the Fair Housing Act.

The fact that you were arrested shouldnt keep you from getting a job and it shouldnt keep you from renting a home, HUD Secretary Julian Castro said Monday at an annual meeting of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, the Daily Caller reported. The ability to find housing is an indispensable second chance in life.

Republican Sen. Tom Cotton reacted angrily to the new guidelines, saying they are part of a disturbing pattern.

While those who have served their debt to society and completed the rehabilitation process deserve a second chance, it should not be at the expense of law-abiding citizens, Cotton said.

Whether releasing violent felons early from prison, preventing employers from asking about an applicant's criminal record, or now blocking landlords from deciding whether to rent to someone who may pose a threat to their property and the surrounding community, these policies are part of a disturbing pattern
By this time of the presidential primary season, President Obama had expected to step forward to unify the Democratic Party behind Hillary Clinton and against her Republican adversary.

At least, that was the plan.

But Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders' surge in primary wins and fund raising has instead pushed the president to the sidelines -- and the self-described socialist senator couldn't be happier.

Despite pressure to call it quits, Sanders continues to be an undisputed fundraising machine. In February, he raised $43.5 million, according to filings to the Federal Election Commission  more than any other candidate in either party.

And as the money continues to flow, Sanders is showing no signs of slowing down, pledging instead to stay in the race through the July Democratic convention.

If Sanders wins Wisconsins primary on Tuesday  as polls seem to indicate  the White House will once again have to recalibrate its strategy, delaying key unity rallies the Democratic Party had banked on to bring together its base.

While Sanders remains a force in the Democratic primary, a win in Wisconsin would do little to significantly cut into Clinton's lead in delegates that will decide the party's nomination.

The stakes are higher on the Republican side.

Most polls show Texas Sen. Ted Cruz leading front-runner Donald Trump in the Badger State. Wisconsin is a crucial state in his effort to push the party toward a convention fight.

"We are seeing victory after victory after victory in the grassroots," Cruz said during a campaign stop Monday. "What we are seeing in Wisconsin is the unity of the Republican Party manifesting."

Losses for Trump and Clinton in Wisconsin could be problematic with the next big contest on the primary calendar, in delegate-rich New York, not until April 19. Trump still has a comfortable lead in the Empire State, but Sanders has threatened to close the gap against Clinton on the Democratic side.

For Trump, the long lead-up to Wisconsin's contest has included one of the worst stretches of his candidacy. He was embroiled in a spat involving Cruz's wife, which he now says he regrets, was sidetracked by his campaign manager's legal problems after an altercation with a female reporter, and stumbled awkwardly in comments about abortion.

While Trump is the only Republican with a realistic path to clinching the nomination ahead of the Republican convention, a big loss in Wisconsin would greatly reduce his chances of reaching the 1,237 delegates needed to do so before the GOP gathers in Cleveland.

Cruz headed into Tuesday's contest with the backing of much of the state's Republican leaders, including Gov. Scott Walker, but Trump made a spirited final push in the state and predicted a "really, really big victory."

"If we do well here, it's over," he said. "If we don't win here, it's not over."

Complicating the primary landscape for both Cruz and Trump is the continuing candidacy of John Kasich. The Ohio governor's only victory has come in his home state, but he's still picking up delegates that would otherwise help Trump inch closer to the nomination or help Cruz catch up.

Trump has grown increasingly frustrated with the governor and has joined Cruz in calling for Kasich to end his campaign. Kasich cast Trump's focus on him as a sign that he's best positioned to win over the businessman's supporters.

"They're not really his people," Kasich said. "They're Americans who are worried about, they're really most worried about their kids, are their kids going to have a good life?"

If Cruz wins all of Wisconsin's 42 delegates, Trump would need to win 57 percent of those remaining to clinch the GOP nomination before the convention. So far, Trump has won 48 percent of the delegates awarded.

To win a prolonged convention fight, a candidate would need support from the individuals selected as delegates. The prolonged process of selecting those delegates would test the mettle of Trump's slim campaign operation.

Cruz prevailed in an early organizational test in North Dakota, scooping up endorsements from delegates who were selected at the party's state convention over the weekend. While all 28 of the state's delegates go to the national convention as free agents, 10 said in interviews that they were committed to Cruz. None has so far endorsed Trump.

Among Democrats, Clinton has 1,243 delegates to Sanders' 980 based on primaries and caucuses. When including superdelegates, or party officials who can back any candidate, Clinton holds an even wider lead -- 1,712 to Sanders' 1,011. It takes 2,383 delegates to win the Democratic nomination.

Sanders would need to win 67 percent of the remaining delegates and uncommitted superdelegates to catch up to Clinton. So far, he's only winning 37 percent.

Even if Sanders wins in Wisconsin, he's unlikely to gain much ground. Because Democrats award delegates proportionally, a narrow victory by either candidate on Tuesday would mean that both Sanders and Clinton would get a similar number of delegates.



The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A top Democratic senator Monday called for the Justice Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to investigate a double-barreled handgun that can fold up to look like a smartphone.

Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. slammed the gun as "a disaster waiting to happen" and claimed the gun's manufacture could violate federal law by looking like an everyday item.

"Just like toys that too much look like handguns should not be sold, handguns that look too much like toys should not be sold," said Schumer.

The .380-caliber pistol, developed by Minnesota startup Ideal Conceal, has a list price of $395. The company's website explains that "Smartphones are everywhere, so your new pistol will easily blend in with todays environment.

"In its locked position it will be virtually undetectable because it hides in plain sight," the site's description continues.

Ideal Conceal CEO Kirk Kjellberg told the Associated Press the gun would likely be ready for sale later in the year. He pushed back against the outrage, pointing out that there are already small, easily concealed guns with more firepower than two shots on the market, as well as a wide range of holsters for practically every part of the body.

"The idea that this is going to cause some new big threat is just not true," he said, calling it a defensive weapon only. Kjellberg, who has a concealed carry license, said he came up with the idea for the gun after a young child in a restaurant caught a glimpse of his weapon and pointed it out.

Schumer, who spoke out last year against a phone case that made a phone look like a gun, said the weapon posed a threat to law enforcement if it was allowed to be sold, because officers could find themselves in a situation where they wouldn't know if a suspect was pulling out a phone or a gun.

Echoing Schumer's concerns, the head of the National Association of Police Organizations told CNNMoney last week that "any kind of weapon thats disguised, so that its not apparent that its a weapon, would be cause for concern."

There was no immediate comment from either the Justice Department or the ATF.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker said Tuesday that hes ready to support the candidate who wins the Republican presidential nomination, but is confident Texas Sen. Ted Cruz  and not front-runner Donald Trump  will be running against Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in November as voting was set to begin in his states primary contests.

Walker, who has been vigorously campaigning in Wisconsin for Cruz, said the Badger States primary could be a turning point in the election, while predicting nearly record turnout.

Still, Walker expressed his support for whoever wins the GOP nomination.

Im gonna support the Republican running against Hillary Clinton because Hillary Clinton would be an awful, awful president for the United States, Walker said Tuesday on Fox & Friends

Contrasting Cruzs lawyerly, measured approach with Donald Trumps brash, passionate rhetoric, Walker said the Wisconsin voters would look past platitudes and toward substance.

I think the real reason hes ahead [in Wis. polls] is because, like I said, voters are informed, Walker said of the Texas senator.

Walker, who bowed out of his own nascent White House run in September, endorsed Cruz last week. While endorsements have appeared to matter little this election cycle, Walkers vote of confidence could prove to be different. A Marquette Law School poll found likely Republican voters in the state gave Walker an 80 percent approval rating, and former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani mused on Fox & Friends that Walkers nod could add 5 or 10 percentage points to Cruzs Wisconsin total.

Yet, despite the governors popularity among his states right-leaning electorate, Walker has been a frequent recent target of Trump, something Walker said he did not take to heart.

Its not personal in terms of candidates; I could care less what other candidates say, Walker said.

While Walker said he still believes his decision to suspend his presidential run early on was the right thing to do at the time, he also plainly sees himself as a party leader going forward, particularly if a Republican wins the White House.

For me, well see what the future holds, Walker said. I can run for re-election [as governor] in 2018. Id love to join a Republican president, not in his Cabinet, but as a leader of Republican governors across the country.
040416 Tambolema exports first copra shipment to the Philippines

By Joe Elijah

Tambolema Holdings the mother company of two other subsidiary companies including New Dawn FM saw the shipment of its first copra exported to an overseas buyer in the Philippines over the weekend.

The copra which was shipped out from Kieta main wharf, brought in many smiles and happy faces to the communities of Wakunai, Numanuma, Aropa and Kieta, because copra exporter Tambolema, was buying their produce twice the price other exporters were buying their copra during the Easter period.

Tambolema Copra Exporter is the second exporter company based in the Central Region, it is understood, as soon as Tambolema secures copra shed in Buka, they will move to Buka.

With the shipment of Copra leaving the shores of Bougainville this week, ABG internal revenue is likely to increase its internal revenue through its tax income, ABG is calling and encouraging more companies to go into exporting our produce to bring in foreign currencies to boost the economy of Bougainville.

Ends





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The Trump campaign is mighty ticked off at the media.

So mad, in fact, that an internal memo laying out the case against the disgusting media was conveniently leaked to that same disgusting media.

The source of the anger is that many journalists reported that Donald Trump had a bad week last week. Which he did.

Was some of the criticism over the top? Sure. Are some of the prognosticators predicting a Trump implosion, as they have so many times before? Yep. But that doesnt reflect the majority of the coverage.

Its no accident that the memo by Barry Bennett, a Trump adviser who had managed Ben Carsons campaign, surfaced on the eve of the Wisconsin primary. The note had a rally-the-troops tone that is unusual only because virtually nothing leaks from the tightly knit Trump operation.

Trump is going through a rough stretch fueled in part by his own missteps. Hes admitted he made a mistake in retweeting an unflattering picture of Ted Cruzs wife Heidi. He mocked Michelle Fields while defending his campaign manager Corey Lewandowski in that manhandling incident. He gave two answers on abortionone to Chris Matthews, the other to John Dickersonthat prompted clarifying statements from the campaign.

But with Ted Cruz leading in todays Wisconsin contest, according to most but not all polls, there is a sense of frustration in Trumpland.

The Bennett memo, leaked to the Washington Posts Robert Costa, was addressed to Corey and Team.

So this week the Media and the Washington Establishment bashed the campaign with energy yet ever seen against a Republican candidate. You name the medium and it was dominated with Trump Attacks. The media themselves couldnt wait to label the week, THE WORST WEEK EVER.

There were plenty of Trump Attacksbut much of it was a critique of Trumps own recent words and actions, which certainly seems fair game.

DC Pundits scurried to the networks to proclaim the end was at hand for Donald Trump. Yet another pathetic display by the so called experts who line their pockets at the expense of our candidates and causes.

Its true that some pundits proclaimed doom and gloom for the billionaire. Trump is the rare GOP candidate who draws vitriol from some conservative commentators as well as liberal pundits. Others are supportive of Trump. But even many mainstream journalists once fell into the trap of declaring that this or that Trumpian comment would sink his candidacy, and have since become more cautious.

And then Bennett took this roundhouse swing at the pundits:

America is sick of them. Their idiotic attacks just remind voters why they hate the Washington Establishment.

The media are indeed quite unpopular, especially among Trump supporters.

Bennett went on to write that Trump expanded his lead over Cruz in a Reuters national tracking poll, to 14 points, during this supposedly bad week.

Of course, all these media criticisms of Trump are going to intensify if he loses Wisconsin. That would be the first primary won by Cruz in the industrial heartland, and he will deserve some credit.

While Trump and his lieutenants may be fuming over the recent coverage, the candidate hasnt exactly gone into the bunker. In the past 10 days, hes done a lengthy sitdown with the Washington Post editorial board, a 100-minute foreign policy interview with two New York Times reporters, and a long session with the Posts Bob Woodward and Costa. (He also did Fox News Sunday, Face the Nation and a town hall with Greta Van Susteren on Sunday, plus Sean Hannity yesterday.)

During the print interviews, Trump has said the U.S. role in NATO should be reevaluated; that perhaps Japan and South Korea should be allowed to build nuclear weapons; that America is headed for a massive recession; and that he can wipe out the countrys $19 trillion debt in eight years.

These and other statements have been challenged and criticized. But you have to give Trump credit for engaging in a serious way with serious journalists.

Trump has always had a fraught relationship with the media, constantly giving interviews while denouncing his coverage as largely dishonest. Whatever the frustrations of the moment, its a formula that has mostly worked extraordinarily well.
Scientists may have unlocked one of the great puzzles of the ancient world, analyzing microbes from horse manure to discover where Hannibal and his army crossed the Alps.

The Carthaginian general famously led an army of 30,000 men, 37 elephants and more than 15,000 horses and mules to invade Italy. The audacious trek across the Alps occurred during the second Punic War, which lasted from 218 B.C. to 201 B.C.

However, Hannibals exact route across the Alps has been hotly debated by historians. Now, an international team of scientists have unearthed fascinating evidence from the remote Col de Traversette pass on the border between France and Italy.

Related: New Viking site in North America? Experts eye satellite data for potential discovery

Harnessing radiocarbon dating, microbial metagenome analysis, environmental chemistry and pollen analysis, the experts have shown that a mass animal deposition event occurred near the Col de Traversette in 218 B.C.

Youre looking at a lot of horses -- as anybody that knows anything about horses will tell you, when horses drink, they have to defecate, Chris Allen, senior lecturer in environmental microbiology at Queens University, Belfast, told FoxNews.com, explaining that scientists studied 3 feet of sediment beneath a large mire, or pond, for evidence of the horses manure.

More than 70 percent of the microbes in horse manure are from a group known as Clostridia that can survive in soil for thousands of years. Allen told FoxNews.com that scientists found a remarkable increase in the number and relative abundance of the bacteria in the sediment, suggesting that Hannibals army crossed the Alps at that specific point.

Related: Emperor Hadrian's villa yields posh, arty apartment

Normally, we see these bacteria at quite low levels within soil, but, in this particular case, we found very high relative numbers, he said. Scientists also noticed an increase in the number of bile salts that come from the gut, as well as a sharp change in the sediments pollen record. The pollen analysis showed us that there was definitely a significant change in the deposition characteristics at the point Hannibal crossed the Alps, explained Allen.

The microbiologist acknowledges that researchers were fortunate to find the mire, which dated back 8,000 years. Other mires in the area were less than 2,000 years old, so were unable to yield any information on Hannibals army.

At this stage, scientists are not sure how much Hannibals elephants have contributed to the evidence. Basically we are looking at there likely being a lot more horse manure than elephant, Allen explained. But we dont know yet.

Related: 2,500-year old slab unearthed, offers glimpse into the ancient Etruscan world

The project was a collaboration between Queens University, Torontos York University, Irelands Dublin City University, Estonias Tartu University and researchers in Canada, Portugal, France and the U.S. Professor Bill Mahaney of York University led the expedition to the Col de Traversette, with University of Toronto Associate Professor Sarah Finkelstein providing pollen analysis. Arizona-based radio carbon dating expert Alan West also participated.

The scientists findings, which are published in the journal Archaeometry, may even boost our understanding of modern bacteria, according to Allen. Theres not a lot that we know about Clostridia over the last 2,000 years, he said. We hope that some of the information that we get from this may tell us about how these organisms have changed in the last 2,000 years and help us with medical discoveries.

Follow James Rogers on Twitter @jamesjrogers
A rare Sumatran rhino has died just weeks after its discovery in the Indonesian part of Borneo was hailed as a milestone by conservationists.

Indonesias Environment Ministry told AFP that the female rhino, known as Najaq, died after contracting a leg infection. The animals health had deteriorated in recent days, according to the Ministry, which said that a post-mortem examination is being carried out to find the official cause of death.

The rhino was captured in a pit trap in Kutai Barat in East Kalimantan on March 12, marking humans' first physical contact with the species in the area for over 40 years.

Related: Rare Sumatran rhino sighted in Indonesian Borneo

The sighting in an area where the rhinos were thought to be extinct was welcomed by conservationists.

A World Wildlife Fund survey team first found evidence that the species was not extinct in Kalimantan after they identified footprints and captured a photo of a rhino in the same forest. Some 15 Sumatran rhinos were subsequently identified in three populations in Kutai Barat.

There are only an estimated 100 Sumatran rhinos still in the wild, mainly on the island of Sumatra.

Related: Cute zoo babies

Threats to the rhinos include poaching and habitat loss due to mining, plantations and logging. Experts note that the wild population of Sumatran rhinos in the Malaysian part of Borneo was declared extinct last year.

Indonesia recently announced an increase in the population of another type of rhino, the Javan rhino, which only survives in Ujung Kulon National Park in the Banten province of Indonesia. Three new calves brought the number of Javan rhinos up to 63, the WWF reports.
Ultra-elite Special Operations teams took part in the first-ever U.S. Army Special Operations Command International Urban Assault Challenge last week.

So when the U.S. needs an assault team to tackle a target in an urban setting  who is the best Special Operations Urban Assaulter weve got? This competition put the best to the test.

The ultra-intense challenge played out over four days at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The U.S. Army Special Forces Advanced Reconnaissance Target Analysis Exploitation Techniques Cadre devised and conducted the extremely tough competition.

The challenge was designed to give operators the chance to test their experience and weapons proficiency.

Related: Top special operations snipers go head to head

And of course, it provided the chance to see how the best of the best truly stack up. It was a unique opportunity to see how an operators tactical decision-making ability measures up against other assault experts from Special Operations.

Six teams from United States Army Special Operations Command participated. Each team comprised of four operators. Throughout the week, the battle-hardened commandos showcased their elite capabilities.

Why are urban assault skills important?

The U.S. Special Forces ceaselessly refine their urban assault performance. Its a key skill set for effectively and efficiently conducting surgical strike operations against our nations enemies. It also plays a vital role safeguarding U.S. soldiers.

The competition events were designed to accurately depict the real-world challenges assaulters can face on the battlefield.

Related: 6 top picks in elite sniper tech

Urban assault is extremely complicated and difficult to conduct. Success relies on a series of life-or-death decisions. The environment, your team-mates, and the enemy's actions are all factors in making ultra-high stakes split-second judgment calls.

By carefully replicating the challenges assault teams face, the competition tested each operators ability to make instantaneous decisions.

What sort of events?

Teams competed in 20 combat-oriented events, which tested their elite skills and experience, as well as the effectiveness of their training.

How are the events created? The event designers start with a specific learning objective in mind. The event is then designed to test an assaulters ability to execute that objective. Events also require operators to persevere through the unknown, event after event.

Related: New tech gives US helicopter pilots 'Superman-style' vision

One event was the traditional shooting drill with an AK-47. Competitors had to recover an enemy weapon system from the battlefield. They then had to use it to accurately engage targets as quickly as possible. The event tested their ability to adapt, be field expedient, effective and accurate.

The night "scrambler" was another test of elite skills that competitors tackled. Using their units night vision equipment, competitors had to accurately engage targets at varying distances, from 5 meters to 150 meters. This event tested, refined, and challenged each competitor's ability to operate at night  a very common requirement downrange.

So who was the best of the best?

The 1st Special Forces Group team took first place in the inaugural competition. The winners were announced at a small ceremony at Range 37, Fort Bragg, North Carolina on March 31.
A 42-year-old man in Hong Kong spent $50,000 to realize a childhood dream: making a robot modeled on a Hollywood star, Reuters reports. Ricky Ma wouldn't say which Hollywood star his fembot was modeled on, butas Engadget puts it"that's obviously Scarlett Johansson." Jezebel concurs, writing, "It does look just enough like Johansson for her to maybe want to consider taking out a restraining order." Stillafter a year and a half of work, including teaching himself programming and electromechanicsMa isn't letting anyone bring him down.

"If I realize my dream, I will have no regrets in life," he tells Reuters, which has photos and video of his creation. Ma built the Mark 1 on the balcony of his apartment.

It was a largely lonely experience. "During this process, a lot of people would say things like, 'Are you stupid?'" Ma tells Reuters. Well, he doesn't have to be lonely anymore.

His personal robot can change its facial expressions, move its limbs, and bow. It even responds to verbal commands. For example, if you tell it it's beautiful, it will smile and respond with, "Hehe, thank you." And while that might be a little creepy, Engadget notes it's also "really impressive considering that Ma is completely self-taught." Ma hopes some company will buy his robo-Johansson, allowing him to make more.

(This robot farm will churn out 30,000 heads of lettuce a day.)

This article originally appeared on Newser: Man's Homemade Robot Looks Suspiciously Like Scarlett Johansson

More From Newser
A body has been found in a creek at the University of Texas in Austin in what authorities describe as a possible homicide.

UT President Greg Fenves says the body was discovered Tuesday in Waller Creek behind the Etter-Harbin Alumni Center. Fenves didn't release the name of the victim, the gender of the person or say who located the body.

No cause of death was immediately released.

A statement from Fenves describes the incident as a "tragedy on campus" and says UT officials are working with Austin police to identify possible suspects. Fenves also did not say whether the victim was believed to be a student.

The UT president says everything is being done to ensure safety on campus and that all classes and events remain on schedule.

Click for more from Fox 7.
Authorities in California are searching for the owner of a Chihuahua temporarily named Ponch who led highway patrol on a slow-speed chase Sunday over the Bay Bridge.

The California Highway Patrol tweeted the small black dog "led us on quite a chase" Sunday and posted a video of it running furiously on the upper level of the bridge while being trailed by a motorcycle officer. It is believed that the dog was released by a car that stopped near the bridge. It is not believed that the dog was thrown.

After it was captured, the Chihuahua was taken to a San Francisco animal shelter where staff members named it Ponch, after the CHP Officer Frank Poncherello played by Erik Estrada in the TV series "CHiPs."

A spokeswoman for the city's Department of Animal Care and Control said the dog wore a tag decorated with a human skull, but it had no identification. Deb Campbell said the dog was recovering from its misadventure.

The Associated Press contributed to this report
Police say a Pennsylvania woman whose toddler son was found crying outside in the snow after midnight was groggy when they arrived and had various drugs in her possession, including crack cocaine.

Jeannette police say neighbors found Trisha Sperry's 22-month-old son on the porch outside Sperry's home at 1:30 a.m. Sunday and called 911.

When police arrived, they found the 23-year-old mother curled up on the floor and groggy, with marijuana, crack cocaine, heroin and various other drugs in the house.

Sperry remained in the Westmoreland County jail on Tuesday on charges including endangering the welfare of a child and drug possession.
A heroic U.S. Marine Corps German shepherd that lost a leg sniffing out a roadside bomb in Afghanistan was awarded the world's highest honor for service dogs during a special ceremony Tuesday.

Lucca, who served U.S. troops during more than 400 missions in Iraq and Afghanistan over a six-year span, received the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA) Dickin Medal at the Wellington Barracks in London. She is the first Marine Corps dog to receive the medal, considered the top honor for war animals around the world.

Her handler, Gunnery Sgt. Christopher Willingham, told Sky News that it was an "incredible honor" to receive the award from the veterinary charity.

"It is very humbling to be part of this entire process, he said. I think more importantly is that Lucca's accomplishments are going to help bring awareness and recognition to all our military working dogs and their handlers.

"Through all of her treatment, and despite the pain she was in, her temperament never changed."  Cpl. Juan Rodriguez

There were no human casualties during Luccas bomb-sniffing patrols. Her career ended in March 2012 when she lost her leg and suffered chest burns from a bombing in Afghanistans Helmand Province.

Cpl. Juan Rodriguez, who was her handler at the time, stayed by her side throughout each step of Luccas recovery.

"The explosion was huge and I immediately feared the worst for Lucca, he told The Telegraph. I ran to her and saw her struggling to get up. I picked her up and ran to the shelter of a nearby tree line, applied a tourniquet to her injured leg and called the medics to collect us.

Ten days later, after an operation, Lucca was up and walking again.

"Through all of her treatment, and despite the pain she was in, her temperament never changed, Rodriguez said. Her fighting spirit was plain to see and I was so proud of how quickly she recovered."

Hero Dog Lucca's Story After six years of active service with the US Marine Corps, search and rescue dog Lucca now enjoys a well-earned retirement with her handler and his family in California. Today we awarded Lucca the highest animal honour  the PDSA Dickin Medal: http://ow.ly/10iQK2 Posted by PDSA  Help a vet help a pet on Tuesday, April 5, 2016

Willingham, who now takes care of Lucca in California, told Sky News that he tries his best to keep her spoiled in her well-deserved retirement. He traveled to London to accept the medal Tuesday.

"Lucca's conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty makes her a hugely deserving recipient of the PDSA Dickin Medal, said Jan McLoughlin, director general of the PDSA. Her ability and determination to seek out arms and explosives preserved human life amid some of the world's fiercest military conflicts."

Since the medal was introduced in 1943, it has been awarded to dozens of dogs and World War II messenger pigeons, as well as three horses and a cat.

Diesel, a French police dog who was killed in the raid to capture terrorists behind the deadly Nov. 13 Paris attacks, will also posthumously receive the medal this year.
An Illinois couple who refused to host a gay civil union ceremony at their idyllic bed and breakfast five years ago was defiant Tuesday after being ordered to pay an $80,000 fine and hold a celebration for the pair.

Jim and Beth Walder, owners of the Timber Creek Bed &

Breakfast in Paxton, rejected Mark and Todd Wathen's rental inquiry in 2011, telling them they "believe homosexuality is wrong and refusing their patronage.

The state had recently passed a law allowing civil unions, and the pair filed a complaint with the state Human Rights Commission, which argued their case before an administrative law judge. That judge ruled against the Walders last September, and this month imposed the fine, which included $30,000 in damages and another $50,000 for legal fees.

We may be out of step with an increasingly anti-Christian culture, but we are in compliance with Gods design..."  Jim Walder

Evidently religious freedom does not exist within the

Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act or the Illinois Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act, Jim Walder said in a statement provided to FoxNews.com. In our opinion, neither the State of Illinois nor the U. S. Supreme Court has the authority to tamper with the definition of marriage."

According to the American Civil Liberties Union, which filed a brief in support of the gay couple, Jim Walder also told the pair homosexuality is immoral and unnatural and that its not too late to change your behavior.

In the last five years, gay marriage has become much more widely accepted, culiminating in last June's U.S. Supreme Court ruling that the Constitution guarantees same-sex couples the right to marry.

We may be out of step with an increasingly anti-Christian

culture, but we are in compliance with Gods design and that is what ultimately matters, Walder said.

The Walders were also ordered in the recent court ruling to

cease discrimination of same-sex couples, a violation under the Illinois Human Rights Act. Walder said he cannot comply with the order and plans to appeal the fine.

Attorneys for Todd and Mark Wathen did not immediately

return requests for comment, although Todd Wathen recently released a statement regarding the ruling.

"We are very happy that no other couple will have to

experience what we experienced by being turned away and belittled and criticized for who we are," Todd Wathen said in the statement.
Christians must push themselves to pray the "dangerous prayer" of availability, Pastor James Brown of Crossroads Church said in a recent sermon, telling his congregation that when "God calls you, he equips you."

Brown, who serves as the executive pastor of discipleship at the Minnesota-based evangelical church, said in a March sermon that Christians need to be more like children in their service to God, pushing themselves to "fearlessly" invite God's presence into their lives.

While Christians may come up with several excuses as to why they should not allow themselves to be available to God, they must remember that when "God calls you, he also equips you."

"God is less concerned with your ability than he is with your availability," the pastor says.

The pastor calls on members of Crossroads Church to have a "childlike faith in action" by having excitement, fearlessness and courage about their faith.

Fearlessly following God's plan allows Him to use you as an instrument for His will, Brown explains, saying that all Christians, especially those who are feeling "bored" in their faith, need to embrace the "bold, courageous [and] fearless [] prayer of availability."

This prayer is a "powerfully dangerous" prayer of adventure, the evangelical pastor continues, because it may result in God calling you to do different things, like move to a different state, break up with a significant other, or allow another big change in your life so His plan for you may better be achieved.

"God may call you to do something that you never imagined that you would do," Brown tells the audience.

The pastor adds that Christians will frequently have three typical responses when God calls them to change direction in their life, with two of them being negative and one being positive.

Click Here to Read the Full Story at ChristianPost.com
The only protective gear Paul Laird wore when the U.S. Army sent him to help scrub a remote South Pacific atoll of nuclear waste was a T-shirt he wrapped around his head.

Laird was 20, and one of thousands of soldiers sent in the late 1970s to help remediate damage to the Marshall Islands property from nuclear testing a generation earlier. Now he, and hundreds of others, have cancer that they trace to their non-wartime service.

"I begged the first two weeks I was there for a dust mask," Laird, 59, of Otisfield, Maine, told FoxNews.com. "I took my T-shirt off and wrapped it around my head to get a little bit of protection."

"I begged the first two weeks I was there for a dust mask."  Paul Laird

Laird, a three-time cancer survivor, is among a growing number of veterans fighting for a bill that would create a special "atomic veteran" designation for the service members who worked to clean up the Enewetak Atoll.

The Marshall Islands were the site of 43 nuclear weapons tests conducted by the U.S. government from 1948 to 1958 -- and Laird was one of 6,000 American soldiers responsible for cleaning up radioactive debris from the Enewetak Atoll years later, before it could be returned to the native inhabitants.

Laird and the surviving "Enewetak Atomic Cleanup Veterans" -- many of whom have cancer and other ailments -- want to be compensated for medical expenses due to ionized radiation exposure they say caused their conditions. But they are not included in the federal governments definition of atomic veteran, which covers people in the U.S. and abroad who were directly exposed to nuclear testing and provides a higher level of service and care by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

"Theyre trying to say we were well protected," said Laird, who has surivived three different types of cancer since his six-month stint on the Marshall Islands in 1977, moving radioactive soil that was "like baby powder" and showering in contaminated water.

Federal law must be changed before the veterans can get the recognition and care they claim is service-related.

"The VA is only doing what theyre allowed to do," Laird said. "When they deny us, they are legal in doing so."

"Until Congress changes that law and includes us in that status, we will not be covered," he said.

In November, U.S. Rep. Mark Takai, D-Hawaii, introduced The Atomic Veterans Health Care Parity Act, or H.R. 3870 that, if passed, would include the group as "atomic veterans." The bill was referred to the House subcommittee on health on Nov. 6 and has since stalled, according to Laird and others.

"This is a one-sentence bill," said Gary Pulis, who arrived on the island of Lojwa in the Enewetak Atoll of the Marshall Islands in 1979 as a 19-year-old volunteer member of the U.S. Army.

"It says it will add the Enewetak Atoll cleanup veterans to the definition of 'atomic veteran,'" he told FoxNews.com.

"That will untie the VAs hands and allow them to treat us as atomic veterans. Right now, if we put in a claim, we have to prove to the VA the level of radiation we were exposed to," said Pulis, a 56-year-old bus driver from Auburn, Ind., who claims he inexplicably lost 43 percent of his lung function and suffers from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease as a result of his time spent in the Marshall Islands.

To Pulis -- who also has lesions covering his body -- the U.S. government's "lack of recognition" has left him bitter.

"We were guinea pigs," he said.

A spokeswoman from the VA was not immediately available when contacted Monday. In a statement provided to the AP last year, the VA said the agency wants to ensure that all veterans, including those who served in the Armed Forces during the 1970s and 1980s, have access to quality care. This includes a small group of veterans who served on the Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands.

The statement adds that "(T)he data accumulated over the three years of the project do not indicate any area or instance of concern over radiological safety. All doses, internal and external, were minimal.

The nuclear detonations in the Marshall Islands included early tests on Bikini Atoll; the detonation of Ivy Mike, the worlds first hydrogen bomb, on Enewetak Atoll in 1954 and 1956s Bikini Atoll explosion of Castle Bravo, the worlds largest thermonuclear device and about 1,000 times stronger than the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, according to The Associated Press. In 1958, the Cactus device was exploded, leaving a 350-foot wide blast crater on Runit Island.

Laird and his group of about 300 affected veterans say they are waiting for Takai to push the bill farther along its legislative path.

Takai said in an email Tuesday that an approximated 35 percent of those who handled nuclear waste at the Enewetak Atoll now suffer from some form of cancer.

"These brave service members answered the call to serve their country, and many are now suffering from illness or injury fromexposure to toxic waste," he told FoxNews.com. "I have been fighting for the recognition and well-being of these veterans since my time in the state legislature, and was happy to bring the fight here to Congress."

Speaking of Takai, Pulis said, "Hes a clear-thinking gentleman who has seen that this is not going to be a large expense -- who has seen that this is a moral and ethical thing for the government to do."

"Its pretty blatant at this point that weve all been contaminated," added veteran Jeffrey Dean, who battled stage 4 testicular cancer at age 43.

"It was a dirty job and we did it," said 59-year-old Dean, of Belfast, Maine, who worked as a watercraft operator for the Army in Enewetak in 1978.

"We didnt hesitate or blink an eye. We did our job," Dean told FoxNews.com. "Now its time they back us up. They need to step up to the plate and help us out because were dying one right after another."

Cristina Corbin is a reporter for FoxNews.com. Follow her on Twitter @CristinaCorbin.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Wisconsin voters head to the polls today in primaries for Democrats and Republicans.

Its a tight race on the Democratic side, with Bernie Sanders leading most polling there. On the Republican side, polls show Ted Cruz leading Donald Trump by double digits with John Kasich pulling up the rear.

Heres how the Washington Post reporters Jose A. DelReal, John Wagner, and Anne Gearan put it today:

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, the front-runners in their parties' presidential nominating contests, have found themselves on the defensive in Wisconsin, where Tuesday's primaries could deliver embarrassing setbacks and further unsettle both races.

A loss for Trump in particular could reset a Republican contest that has been dominated by his outsider candidacy and outsize media presence. Amid scrutiny following several high-profile stumbles, state polls show Trump in a tight race with Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, prompting speculation about whether Wisconsin could mark the beginning of the high-flying candidate's downfall.

Those polls show Clinton in a similarly tight race with Sen. Bernie Sanders, the self-described democratic socialist from Vermont whose populist, anti-Wall Street message has transformed what was expected to be an easy nomination race for Clinton into a long and arduous slog.

Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have agreed to a debate ahead of the key New York primary. The debate will take place on April 14th in Brooklyn. New Yorks primary is April 19th.

Politico today is reporting that Sanders is making President Obama keep his role in 2016 on hold for another three and a half months, per anonymous officials. The argument is that Sanders is performing too well to be pushed aside.

Hillary Clinton will be on The View this morning. Bernie Sanders has a TBD event scheduled for this morning.

No events on the GOP side scheduled for our hours so far.

On the GOP side, If Cruz wins tonight, he gets all 42 Wisconsin delegates and makes Mister Trumps path much tougher. If Cruz wins tonight, Trump needs 57% of the remaining delegates to secure the nomination before the convention.

(Sanders would need to win 67% of remaining delegates to catch Clinton).

Cruz has been pressuring John Kasich to drop out of the race. Kasich dismissed the suggestions and says Cruzs path to the nomination is actually even more treacherous than his.

The Washington Post reporting today on a possible Trump strategy against Hillary Clinton suggesting shes weak and frail. The Clinton campaign is apparently very prepared to deal with the charge.

Abby Phillip and Anne Gearan write in the Washington Post today:

Hillary Clinton's campaign and her allies are planning an aggressive, sober defense of their candidate in response to businessman Donald Trump's trademark personal attacks, which he has already aimed her way. As he did with other candidates, "lyin' " Ted Cruz, "low-energy" Jeb Bush and "little" Marco Rubio, Trump has slapped labels on Clinton that he hopes will stick: weak and incompetent. Clinton's allies believe that Trump is intentionally zeroing in on a character trait that they see as her key strength - her work ethic. They think the Republican front-runner is trying to neutralize that strength and turn it into a weakness, with insinuations about Clinton's health, fatigue level and even her appearance. To stop Trump, the campaign and Clinton's network of supporters have begun planning a swift and aggressive response, they say.

A sightseeing chopper crashed in Tennessee killing all five onboard.

The Feds are cracking down on so-called inversions where U.S. companies buy foreign companies and then move the headquarters overseas to avoid U.S. taxes. The U.S. government is cutting off routes to allow it. It puts the Pfizer-Allergen deal at risk.

Were continuing to follow the fallout from the Panama Papers scandal. The records for a Latin American law firm that helps foreigners stash cash in offshore accounts were leaked. Several major world leaders are implicated. Thousands gathered in Iceland to demand the resignation of the Prime Minister there. Many dictators have been implicated. No criminal charges so far, but it doesnt look good for leaders from the UK to Syria.

Stocks were lower overnight around the world.. as concerns are growing over slowing growth.

For more news, follow me on Twitter: @ClintPHenderson
Egyptian authorities say a delegation is to travel to Italy to present the results of Egypt's investigation into the torture and death of an Italian researcher in Cairo, amid mounting pressures on authorities to bring culprits to justice.

Prosecutor General Nabil Sadek said on Tuesday the delegation will depart on Wednesday. It's led by judge Mustafa Suleiman, Sadek's assistant. Italian news agency ANSA said on Monday the delegation will also include another prosecutor and three security officers.

The visit comes amid mounting pressure on Egypt to reveal the circumstances that led to the brutal death of Guilio Regeni, a 28-year-old researcher who was abducted on a Cairo street on Jan. 25. His body surfaced nine days later dumped by a highway, bearing signs of torture.
The prime minister of Iceland resigned Tuesday amid reports that he and his wife set up an offshore company with the help of a Panamanian law firm at the center of a massive tax evasion leak, representing the first world leader to step down in the Panama Papers scandal, a government official told local media.

Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson had denied doing anything illegal and said he paid all taxes. Opponents argue his company, set up in the British Virgin Islands, represents a severe conflict of interest because it held investments in failed Icelandic banks that his government was responsible for overseeing.

Agriculture Minister Sigurdur Ingi Johannsson told Icelandic broadcaster RUV that Gunnlaugsson would step down as leader of the country's coalition government. Iceland's president Olafur Ragnar Grimsson has not yet confirmed he has accepted the resignation.

Reports drawn from 11.5 million leaked documents and released over the weekend detailed how and where politicians, businesses and celebrities hide their wealth. The reports by an international coalition of media outlets working with the Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists are based on documents from the Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca, one of the world's biggest creators of shell companies.

A wide array of opposition groups planned protests in Iceland Tuesday evening seeking new elections. Parliament was not in session but deliberations on the crisis were expected to resume later this week.

The Panama Papers also implicate Russian President Vladimir Putin's inner circle, as well as the presidents of Argentina and Ukraine, among others.

The leaked documents allege that Gunnlaugsson and his wife set up a company called Wintris in the British Virgin Islands with the help of the Panamanian law firm.

Earlier Tuesday, Gunnlaugsson sought to dissolve parliament and call an early election, but the president said he wanted to consult with other party leaders before agreeing to end the coalition government between Gunnlaugsson's center-right Progressive Party and the Independence Party.

"I need to determine if there is support for dissolving (parliament) within the ruling coalition and others. The prime minister could not confirm this for me, and therefore I am not prepared at this time to dissolve parliament," Grimsson said. The president planned to meet with Independence Party lawmakers later Tuesday to discuss the crisis.

Gudlaugur Thor Thordarson, chairman of the Independence Party, criticized the prime minister for unilaterally seeking to dissolve parliament.

"It was a total surprise for us to see that. I don't think it was the rational thing to do. I've never seen it done before in Icelandic politics and I hope that I will not see it again," he said.

"I think it's obvious that we cannot tolerate a leadership that is linked to offshore holdings," Arni Pall Arnason, leader of the opposition Social Democratic Alliance, responded. "Iceland cannot be the only western European democratic country with a political leadership in that position."

Iceland, a volcanic island nation with a population of 330,000, was rocked by a prolonged financial crisis when its main commercial banks collapsed within a week of one another in 2008.

Since then Icelanders have weathered a recession and been subjected to tough capital controls -- another reason the prime minister's offshore holdings rankle many.

Wide protests helped bring down the government at that time, and opposition leaders believe similar tactics will topple Gunnlaugsson now and lead to a new election.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Cameroon says multinational forces fighting Boko Haram have arrested over 300 Islamic extremists and freed at least 2,000 people from their strongholds along Cameroon, Nigeria and Chad borders.

Cameroon's commander of the joint forces, Bouba Dobekreo, said Tuesday that during the three-day operation, forces also destroyed a Boko Haram training and logistic base about 22 miles north of the Nigerian town of Kumshe.

The governor of Cameroon's Far North province, Midjiyawa Bakari, has asked that all displaced people be directed by the military to the Minawao refugee camp in northern Cameroon to be better tracked.

Cameroon, Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Benin have contributed about 9,000 troops to fight the six-year insurgency launched by the Nigeria-based militants. More than 1,000 humanitarian workers have also been deployed.
Investigators say a Russian woman stabbed her German husband at their home last week, killing him, before feeding pieces of his corpse to the family dog.



The killing unfolded on the Spanish island of Mallorca in the Mediterranean Sea, The Local reports. Police arrested the wife, 46-year-old Svetlana Batukova.

Her husband, identified as Horst Hans Henkels, bled to death after she stabbed him with a kitchen knife, according to investigators. Local media report the dog, an American Staffordshire terrier, had eaten parts of the man's arms.

The wife appeared to be under the influence of drugs and alcohol when police arrested her, The Local adds.

Police said they'd previously gone to the home several times to break up the couple's fighting.
A Syrian pilot shot down south of Aleppo has been captured by the Al Qaeda-linked Al Nusra Front, a monitoring group has said.

Syria's military said the plane, which had been on a reconnaissance mission, was brought down by a surface-to-air missile fired by Islamist rebels.

It said the pilot had ejected and a rescue mission was underway.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said fighters from the Al Nusra Front had taken him to one of their bases in the area.

A plume of smoke was seen as the plane caught fire, the Observatory said, before it fell into an area of highland known as Talat al-Iss.

Syrian and Russian planes have been bombarding the area since it was captured by rebels this week.

Videos posted on social media showed rebels surrounding the plane's burnt-out wreckage.

Click for more from Sky News.
A Taliban faction who claimed responsibility for a deadly Easter bombing in Pakistan reportedly is vowing to continue targeting Christians and other religious minorities.

In an interview with NBC News, a spokesman for the Jamaat-ul-Ahrar group -- an offshoot of the Taliban -- said more devastating attacks are in the works.

The attack on Easter Sunday in a crowded park in Lahore left 73 dead and more than 320 injured.

Ehsanullah Ehsan, the spokesman, told NBC News that the groups operatives trained in Afghanistan and then brought the suicide bomber across the border to blow himself up in a park filled with Christians.

The group also said a photo of the suspected attacker  posted on their Facebook page  is legitimate. The photo matches a police sketch based on eyewitness accounts, according to NBC News.

Click for more from NBC News.
A UN-funded Palestinian charity planted more than 200 olive trees in the West Bank over the weekend, each to honor a terrorist who killed or attacked Israeli citizens in the ongoing knife intifada.

The Union of Agricultural Work Committees planted the trees to honor men and women who have died while committing numerous stabbings, shootings and vehicular attacks that have killed 34 and wounded more than 400 Israelis since they began in September. The event marked the 40th anniversary of Land Day, a Palestinian holiday marking protests of Israels decision to take land in Galilee for settlements.

Through this event, we want to convey the message that we will hold on to the land, and that we will not forget the martyrs who sacrificed [their lives], said a spokesman for the committee, Aghsan Barghouti, according to a translation provided by Palestinian Media Watch.

Their funding of the UAWC implicates all these institutions and organizations in the act of honoring murderers of Israelis.  Palestinian Media Watch

Honorees of the event, held near the Israeli settlement of Psagot, north of Jerusalem, included:

- Muhannad Halabi, a 19-year-old Palestinian who killed 2 Israelis and injured a woman and her 2-year-old son in Jerusalem on Oct. 3, 2015. He was shot and killed by Israeli security forces.

- Fadi Alloun, a 19-year-old Palestinian who stabbed a 15-year-old boy on the same day before being shot by Israeli police.

The Palestinian government has honored terrorists in the past, and has named streets in the West Bank for the so-called martyrs of the current uprising. In addition, Palestinians have raised more than $60,000 to rebuild the home of Halabi's family, according to the Times of Israel. The home was demolished by Israel after the attack, as part of the Jewish State's deterrance police.

The UN sponsors the Palestinian group through its United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East and United Nations Development Program. In addition, the committee receives funding from the governments of Australia, Spain, Netherlands and Japan.

Palestinian Media Watch, a nonprofit that exposes how the Palestinian government and media supports terrorism, charged that funding a group that pays tribute to terrorists is wrong.

Their funding of the UAWC implicates all these institutions and organizations in the act of honoring murderers of Israelis, PMW said in a statement.

Palestinian leaders say the uprising was sparked by frustration over nearly 50 years of Israeli rule over the West Bank and east Jerusalem. Israeli leaders say the Palestinian Authority is fueling violence with lies and by glorifying violence against innocent civilians.

A report in the official Palestinian Authority daily newspaper, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, said the men and women who have died committing acts of terrorism in Jerusalem during the uprising did so to stop Israel from taking more land for settlements.

"A number of families of martyrs of the popular uprising planted olive trees bearing the names of their sons and the dates of their martyrdom in lands in danger of expropriation next to the settlement of Psagot, which is located on lands of the city of El-Bireh, the report stated.

It quoted the mother of Eyad Sajadiyeh, 22, who was killed March 1 in a confrontation with Israeli soldiers who had entered a Palestinian refugee camp by mistake when their GPS app apparently malfunctioned. The soldiers were pelted with rocks and firebombs before returning fire as they fled. Sajadiyeh was shot in the head.

My son loved the land and died as a martyr in order to protect it, she said. I see Eyad in this tree, and I will nurture it as I nurtured Eyad.
Ukraine's decision to cave in to Russia by giving up its nuclear weapons in 1994 was a mistake, president Petro Poroshenko told Fox News in an interview that aired Monday.

Ukraine inherited its nuclear arsenal, the third-largest in the world, after it broke away from the Soviet Union in 1991. Three years later, Ukraine agreed to give up the material in a deal with the U.S., Russia and the United Kingdom. Under that agreement, each nation involved was supposed to respect the others' boundaries and sovereignty.

Speaking to "Special Report" anchor Bret Baier on Friday, Poroshenko admitted other nations could see Ukraine as an example of what not to follow. Russia and Ukraine are locked in a tug-of-war after Moscow took over Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014. Activists say Moscow has demonstrated a long-standing support for a separatist insurgency in eastern Ukraine.

"If you do not develop [a] new effective mechanism to stop [Russian aggression], we should forget about the non-proliferation process," Poroshenko said.

Analysts say Ukraine's arsenal in the early-1990s included nearly 2,000 Soviet strategic nuclear warheads.

Poroshenko says 6,000 Russian troops occupy eastern Ukraine, with an additional 50,000-plus troops in Crimea and 40,000 militia forces headed by Russian commanders.

"The global security system, which was built... post-World War II, is not working at all," he added.

Poroshenko also said nobody could predict Russian president Vladimir Putin's next global moves. "I don't trust him."

Over the weekend, Poroshenko responded to the series of "Panama Papers" leaks indicating that he set up an offshore holding company to move his candy business to the British Virgin Islands, possibly depriving Ukraine of millions of dollars tax revenue. Poroshenko insists he has done nothing wrong and hasn't managed his assets since being elected.

Fox News' Lucas Tomlinson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Indiana Governor Mike Pence is the latest to sign a state bill clarifying that a franchisor is not the employer of a franchisee or of a franchisee's employees under Indiana's employment laws. He signed House Bill 1218 in late March.

Specifically, the legislation establishes that an employee of a franchisee is not an employee of the franchisor. Furthermore, the measure outlines that it is the franchisee that is responsible for the employment relationship including hiring, firing, discipline, supervision and direction of the employee. The franchisee and franchisor are considered separate entities and therefore not joint employers.

Indiana joins nearly a dozen other states that have already passed similar legislation or are considering actions to protect local franchises against federal government overreach.

"These state bills are a line in the sand and make clear that the current franchise model works and provides tremendous economic benefits for the citizens in these states," said IFA President & CEO Robert Cresanti. "More states are moving forward with clarifying the independent status of franchisees."

"I am proud to be a business owner in Indiana," said Michael Kile, owner of AlphaGraphics in Carmel. "The franchise model has allowed me to be able to do what I love and help many people improve their business communications along the way. I appreciate that Governor Pence and the Indiana legislature understand the importance of franchising and support a bill which allows locally owned businesses like ours to continue to make a difference in our community."
Anago Cleaning Systems Recognizes Outstanding Franchise Owners

Industry-Leading Commercial Cleaning Company Celebrates Growth at Annual Master Franchise Seminar

April 05, 2016 // Franchising.com // Fort Lauderdale, Fla.  Anago Cleaning Systems (Anago), a leading commercial cleaning franchise with more than 2,400 locations throughout the U.S. and internationally, announced the winners of several awards given to Franchisees across its extensive international network during the companys 2016 Annual Seminar for the Master Franchisees. The highest honor of the year, Master City of the Year Award, was given to Master Franchisees Omar Fernandez and Raul Gonzalez, of Tampa, Florida.

New and existing Master Franchisees alike attended the two-day conference that was held on March 31 and April 1, 2016 in Tampa, Florida. Other awards presented included Highest Percent Growth, Highest Individual Sales, and Highest Franchise Sales.

"Not only were we excited about getting the Anago family together at our annual conference, but the opportunity to recognize our outstanding Master Franchisees with these awards was truly special," said Adam Povlitz, President of Anago. "The men and women honored with these awards are what continue to make Anago the strong, successful business that it is today. They will also continue to be the leaders of our brand's excellence into the future."

Award winners included:

Master City of the Year: Omar Fernandez and Raul Gonzalez, Anago of Tampa

Highest Percent Growth: Ad Hanna, Anago of Vancouver

Highest Individual Sales: Curt Albertson, Anago of Greater Cincinnati

Highest Franchise Sales: Curt Albertson, Anago of Greater Cincinnati

"Along with the award winners, we applaud the entire Anago system for making 2015 one of the most successful years to date," continued Povlitz.

Anago has grown year over year due largely to its unique tiered system of Master Franchisees and Unit Franchisees. Master Franchise Owners, many of whom come from prior executive and leadership positions, have the potential to create many small businesses within their community through the Unit Franchise concept. The Unit focuses his business on cleaning office buildings, retail stores, and just about any other commercial property. The Master Franchisees handle the administrative tasks, including everything from finding clients and coordinating cleaning contracts to billing and collections.

Anago added over 200 new Unit Franchisees at the close of 2015 and is poised for more expansion in 2016, proving Anago is an ideal investment for entrepreneurs and prospective Franchisees.

To learn more about franchise opportunities with Anago Cleaning Systems, contact Judy Walker, Vice President of Marketing for Anago, at 800-213-5857 or judy@anagocleaning.com or visit www.AnagoMasters.com.

About Anago Cleaning Systems

Anago Cleaning Systems is a commercial cleaning franchise system supporting over 35 Master Franchises and 2,400 Unit Franchisees in the U.S. and internationally. After years of refining procedures and creating duplicable systems created in his large commercial cleaning service, David Povlitz founded Anago in 1989 to help other entrepreneurs open their cleaning businesses. Today, its program sets the standard worldwide in commercial cleaning. Anago was ranked the 10th fastest-growing franchise in 2013 and #39 on the Franchise 500 by Entrepreneur magazine in 2016 and 2013, and ranked by Franchise Business Review as one of the best franchises in franchisee satisfaction. Inc. Magazine has also listed Anago as one of the top privately-held companies in the U.S. For further information, visit its website or www.AnagoMasters.com.

SOURCE Anago Cleaning Systems

Media Contact:

Erin Baker

Director of Public Relations

Nymbus Public Relations

(954) 732-6053

erin@nymbuspr.com

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Brooklyn Business Owner Wayne Herman Joins Minuteman Press Presidents Club for Top Performers

Located in the heart of Brooklyn at 305 Atlantic Avenue, Wayne Hermans Minuteman Press franchise is surrounded by competition. His digital print, design and marketing center still manages to stand out and reel in customers, and as a result, Wayne has earned his way into the Minuteman Press International Presidents Club for top performers.

April 05, 2016 // Franchising.com // BROOKLYN, N.Y. - Wayne Hermans Minuteman Press franchise is located in the heart of Brooklyn at 305 Atlantic Avenue. With competition all around him  there are five printers within walking distance of my center, Wayne says  his digital print, design and marketing center still manages to stand out and reel in customers. Taking all of that into account, Waynes latest accomplishment is even more impressive. He has just earned his way into the Minuteman Press International Presidents Club for top-performing franchises not just in Brooklyn or New York, but around the world.

Leaving Corporate America Behind for the American Dream in Brooklyn

Before owning his own business in Brooklyn, Wayne Herman worked in the finance industry. I worked for Citibank until 2007, just before the big financial crisis, he says. As luck would have it, Wayne was passed over for a key promotion on several occasions, and so he explored other options before the Great Recession took hold and forced him out of corporate America anyway.

One of those options turned out to be Minuteman Press. Franchising made sense for Wayne because he knew he wanted to start his own business but didnt want to do it alone. Wayne flirted with the food industry at first, but he came to find that he did not have the money or experience required to get involved there and that the food services industry just wasnt a good fit for me.

As for why he chose Minuteman Press out of all of the other franchise opportunities that were available to him, Wayne states, When I saw the reasonable startup costs for Minuteman Press and the help and ongoing support that the franchise offered to new owners, I thought this was a good idea. Also, the fact that there were no centers in Brooklyn at that time made me really want to start one in that area.

Competing in Brooklyn

There is definitely a lot of competition in Brooklyn and Manhattan, Wayne says. What I have learned is that you have to develop your own niche and provide the highest level of quality and service along with fast turnaround. When it comes to pricing, Wayne says his Minuteman Press center is somewhere in the middle, and that its important to not compete solely on pricing. Ive found that sometimes you just have to let certain potential clients walk out the door when all they care about is the cheapest price, he adds.

Wayne also cites the high brand recognition of the Minuteman Press name as a huge reason he is able to acquire new customers in Brooklyn and Manhattan. He then is able to retain a high percentage of clients by producing quality work and making deliveries on time all across the five boroughs. He elaborates, Ive found doing deliveries to your clients is a must. This can be time consuming because of the traffic in Brooklyn and Manhattan, as well as some of the logistics that come along with making deliveries to office buildings. However, I have found that most clients appreciate that you delivered their job to them, and if you dont offer timely deliveries they will simply find someone else who will.

Attracting Potential Customers Online and Converting Them into Clients

Minuteman Press International offers a search engine marketing program to all franchise owners. Wayne Herman was an early adopter of this program as soon as it was made available because he sees the value in getting potential customers attention online and converting them into clients. I would say the Minuteman Press search engine marketing program has helped me double my business since its introduction. As I had mentioned earlier, I do 50 percent of by business in Manhattan, so the SEM program helps me advertise in those areas where door to door marketing isnt practical for numerous reasons.

We strive to put programs in place to help our owners succeed, notes Brian Sisti, Minuteman Press International Area Manager for Brooklyn and Long Island. He adds, We are thrilled that Wayne has taken full advantage of our search engine marketing program as well as the many other resources and support we are happy to provide on an ongoing basis.

As for customer retention, Wayne offers the following advice to any entrepreneur or business owner, saying, The best way to retain a customer is go deliver jobs on time and with the best possible quality. If there is an issue, do your best to resolve the problem right away. I find that this keeps clients coming back, and Ive also found that getting jobs done quickly is important as well. I work with a lot of nonprofit organizations that have tight deadlines and they might not be able to get the final approved materials and orders into me until the last minute. With them and all of my clients, I find that if you put in that extra effort to get the job done as quickly as possible, it goes a long way in keeping them happy and generating repeat business.

Joining the Minuteman Press Presidents Club

Wayne Hermans Minuteman Press franchise opened its doors in March 2008. Despite the recession that affected so much of the corporate world especially in New York City, Wayne was able to start his business in Brooklyn and thrive in the face of it all. Eight years later, he now has one of the top-earning Minuteman Press franchises throughout the entire Minuteman system. As a result, Wayne is the newest member of the Minuteman Press International Presidents Club, which celebrates top-performing franchises and recognizes them for their efforts.

Waynes addition to the Presidents Club for top performers is purely the result of his hard work, his ability to follow the program, and his desire to be there for his customers in any way he can, says Jim Hill, Vice President, Minuteman Press International. He adds, We are proud to support Wayne and look forward to many more great years ahead.

Wayne Herman is also the first person to stand up and say he could not have done it alone. He credits all of the resources and tools that Minuteman Press has made available to us as a crucial part of his success. On this point, he adds, This includes being able to take advantage of the vendors that help us meet the unique needs of our customers, as well as the amazing support that can be found both on the corporate side and with other Minuteman Press franchise owners.

To contact Wayne Hermans Minuteman Press franchise in Brooklyn, call 718-858-0313 or visit their website: www.brooklyn.minutemanpress.com.

Learn more about Minuteman Press franchise opportunities at www.minutemanpressfranchise.com.

About Minuteman Press

Serving the business community for over 40 years, Minuteman Press customer service driven business model provides digital print, design and promotional products and services to businesses from concept review through to completion. Today we are much more than just print; we can provide anything you can put a name, image or logo on! Our new slogan  We Design, Print & Promote YOU!  indicates the wide variety of products and services we offer that go beyond printing.

For more information about our products and services or to find your local Minuteman Press, visit www.minutemanpress.com.

About Minuteman Press International

Repeatedly ranked #1 in category by Entrepreneur Magazine, Minuteman Press International is a top rated business service franchise that offers world class training and unparalleled ongoing local support. Minuteman Press opened in 1973 and began franchising in 1975. Today, there are more than 900 locations worldwide including the U.S., Australia, Canada, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. Minuteman Press aims to grow to more than 1,000 franchises within the next three years. Prior experience is not necessary to own and operate a successful Minuteman Press franchise.

Learn more about Minuteman Press franchise opportunities at www.minutemanpressfranchise.com.

Like Us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/MinutemanPressFranchise

Follow Us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/MinutemanIntl

Join Us on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/minuteman-press

SOURCE Minuteman Press International

Contact:

Al Sanders

Minuteman Press Franchise Opportunities

1-800-645-3006

Chris Biscuiti

Media Relations

cbiscuiti@mpihq.com

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Expedia CruiseShipCenters Recognized as Leading Travel Marketing Partner

Cruise Industry Leader Receives Prestigious Honors from MSC Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean International

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - April 5, 2016 // PRNewswire // - Expedia CruiseShipCenters  part of the Expedia group, one of the largest travel companies in the world  announced it has been recognized as the Marketing Partner of the Year by Norwegian Cruise Line, in addition to being named Canadian Consortium Account of the Year by MSC Cruises and Canada Partner of the Year by Royal Caribbean International for 2015.

Norwegian Cruise Line acknowledged Expedia CruiseShipCenters for its overall revenue, continued growth and loyalty to Norwegian's brand, while Royal Caribbean International's awards recognize top performing travel agent partners who display extraordinary loyalty and commitment to its cruise line. MSC Cruises, the world's largest privately owned cruise company with offices in 45 countries, presented the award in recognition of its top performing North American travel partners for 2015, based on overall business growth in revenue, continuous partnership support and innovative marketing efforts to drive increased consumer awareness.

"We are thrilled to have been recognized for these prestigious awards by Norwegian Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean International and MSC Cruises," said Matthew Eichhorst, President of the Expedia CruiseShipCenters Brand. "We see this as a testament to our commitment to maintaining the highest level of respect for our relationships with our partners and customers alike, and look forward to continued long-lasting relationships for years to come."

In addition to recognition for a successful 2015, Expedia CruiseShipCenters' aggressive growth led to the company's relocation to a new Expedia office in Vancouver, nearly triple the size of the previous location, allowing the company to continue growing its network and its support team, which now includes more than 100 employees.

Propelling the exceptional growth of Expedia CruiseShipCenters is the overall growth of the cruise industry. According to Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), 24 million guests are expected to cruise in 2016, a dramatic increase from 15 million just 10 years prior in 2006. CLIA notes member cruise lines are scheduled to debut 27 new ocean, river and specialty ships in 2016 alone for a total investment of more than $6.5 billion. In addition, travel agents are experiencing a higher demand for cruise travel, with eight out of 10 CLIA member travel agents expecting an increase in sales in 2016 over last year.

As a result of its ongoing success, the brand has earned a spot in Franchise Business Review's Top 50 Franchise Opportunities in 2016 for large franchise brands, which is based entirely on franchisee satisfaction. The brand was also recently named to Entrepreneur Magazine's 2015 Franchise 500. With a current network of 219 independently owned franchise locations that support over 4,100 Vacation Consultants across North America, the brand will continue to flourish as a global leader in cruise and vacation sales and plans to award 45 new franchises in 2016.

For more information on Expedia CruiseShipCenters visit www.cruiseshipcenters.com orwww.expediafranchise.com.

About Expedia CruiseShipCenters

Expedia CruiseShipCenters provides exceptional value and expert advice for travelers booking cruises and vacations through its network of 219 retail travel agency franchises. As part of the Expedia, Inc. family of brands, the company's 4,100 Vacation Consultants sell a wide range of vacation products including cruises, flights, hotels, vacation packages, tours, excursions and more. The company has been navigating spectacular vacation experiences for customers across North America for more than 29 years. For more information on Expedia CruiseShipCenters, visit www.expediafranchise.com.

Expedia is either a registered trademark or trademark of Expedia, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. Other logos or product and company names mentioned herein may be the property of their respective owners.  2016 Expedia, Inc. All rights reserved. CST # 2029030-50 and CST # 20893-43

SOURCE Expedia, Inc.

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Hot Dog On A Stick To Host Celebrity Lemonade Stomp-a-Thon For The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

Iconic pop culture brand aims to "Stomp Out Cancer" in honor of its 70th anniversary by raising $70,000 for LLS through a lemonade Stomp-A-Thon on April 21 at Hot Dog on a Stick's Muscle Beach location in Santa Monica. Mario Lopez to appear.

April 05, 2016 // Franchising.com // ATLANTA - Hot Dog on a Stick is turning the big 7-0, and to celebrate its platinum anniversary, the beloved brand is on a mission to help "Stomp Out Cancer" by raising $70,000 for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). On Thursday, April 21, Hot Dog on a Stick will host a Celebrity Stomp-A-Thon from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at its original Muscle Beach location in Santa Monica. Current and former Hotdoggers (employees), celebrities (including Mario Lopez of Extra and Saved by the Bell fame), VIPs, LLS honored heroes and the general public are invited to help raise funds and awareness for LLS by continuously hand-stomping the brand's famous fresh lemonade for seven hours.

The Stomp-A-Thon will feature appearances from special guests, a DJ, lemonade samples, and giveaways of one free stick item per customer. All information including donation and registration can be found athttp://events.lls.org/pages/home/stompathon. You can register to stomp at the event, raise money to help fund lifesaving cancer research, or virtually stomp your support by making a onetime donation. Supporters are also encouraged to share information about the Stomp-A-Thon via their social media channels. An easy way to do this is by sharing and RSVPing to the Stomp-A-Thon Facebook event.

"This year marks a milestone anniversary for Hot Dog on a Stick and we wanted to celebrate our 70 years in business by raising awareness and funds for an inspiring organization like LLS - in a way only Hot Dog on a Stick can," said Lisa Merrell, Vice President of Hot Dog on a Stick. "We hope our fans will join in the fun by participating in our Stomp-A-Thon and if they can't make it, generously contribute an online donation to virtually show their support for a great cause."

Hot Dog on a Stick was established in 1946 in Southern California and is operated by Global Franchise Group, LLC (GFG). Since 2012, GFG brands, which also include Great American Cookies, Marble Slab Creamery, MaggieMoo's Ice Cream & Treatery, and Pretzelmaker, have proudly raised more than $1.4 million for LLS.

To find a Hot Dog on a Stick near you, visit www.hotdogonastick.com, or engage with Hot Dog on a Stick onFacebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Notes to Editors:

Media drops to your newsroom featuring Hot Dog on a Stick's fresh hand-stomped lemonade can be arranged, as well as live in-studio lemonade stomping demonstrations. To request visuals, or to arrange an interview with Hot Dog on Stick representatives, please contact Kristi Betz at (410) 902-5053 orkbetz@mghus.com.

About Hot Dog on a Stick

www.hotdogonastick.com

Established in 1946 in Southern California, Hot Dog on a Stick is known for its fresh, made-to-order hot dog on a stick and cheese on a stick products, hand-stomped natural lemonade, smiling customer service and its iconic bright striped uniforms. Hot Dog on a Stick provides customers with a fun all-American quick service restaurant experience, catering services for events, party packs, and fundraisers. Hot Dog on a Stick has close to 100 locations in the U.S. and internationally including Korea. Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. For franchising opportunities, visit www.hotdogonastickfranchise.com.

About Global Franchise Group, LLC

www.globalfranchise.com

Global Franchise Group, LLC is a strategic brand management company with a mission of championing franchise brands and the people who build them. The company owns a portfolio of franchise brands that includes five primary quick service restaurant (QSR) franchise concepts: Great American Cookies, Hot Dog on a Stick, Marble Slab Creamery, MaggieMoo's Ice Cream & Treatery, and Pretzelmaker. The brands are managed by GFG Management, LLC, a subsidiary of Global Franchise Group, LLC. Global Franchise Group, LLC is a portfolio company of Levine Leichtman Capital Partners, an independent investment firm, with approximately $7 billion of capital under management and substantial franchise management experience.

About Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

www.LLS.org

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society  (LLS) is the world's largest voluntary health agency dedicated to blood cancer. The LLS mission: Cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. LLS funds lifesaving blood cancer research around the world, provides free information and support services, and is the voice for all blood cancer patients seeking access to quality, affordable, coordinated care. Founded in 1949 and headquartered in White Plains, NY, LLS has chapters throughout the United States and Canada. To learn more, visit www.LLS.org. Patients should contact the Information Resource Center at (800) 955-4572, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. ET.

SOURCE Hot Dog on a Stick

Media Contact:

Kristi Betz

kbetz@mghus.com

(410) 902-5053

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Molly Maid Looks to Enter Lubbock

Nations Leading Residential Cleaning Franchise Seeks Partners to Fulfill Demand for Home Cleaning Services

April 05, 2016 // Franchising.com // LUBBOCK, Texas - Molly Maid hopes to sweep into Lubbock, Texas by the end of this year. To fulfill demand for its services, the nations leading residential cleaning company announces it is currently seeking franchisees to develop the Lubbock market.

The local expansion into the hometown of Texas Tech University is part of the 450-unit brands overall growth strategy to open 12 units throughout the U.S. in 2016. Molly Maid, which was originally founded in a college town, is targeting Lubbock due to the areas lack of competition and overall demand for home cleaning services.

Over the past two years, weve seen a steady increase in online searches for our services specifically generated from Lubbock. This is significant since the nearest Molly Maid location is more than 100 miles away, said Molly Maid President Meg Roberts. For potential franchisees, those searches translate into a healthy customer base of people who are waiting for Molly Maid to clean their homes.

For entrepreneurs interested in owning a cleaning franchise, the industry has a bright outlook. Molly Maid saw system-wide consumer sales increase of $12 million last year. Overall, household cleaning and maintenance is an $18 billion industry and is poised for renewed growth as a result of the aging U.S. population, surge of double income households and an increase in the average disposable income, according to research firm IBISWorld.

Molly Maid has received numerous awards for entrepreneurship, software innovation and humanitarian support. The investment to open a Molly Maid franchise is $150,000 to $175,000. Molly Maid is part of Dwyer Group, a holding company of 11 service-based franchise businesses that also include Aire Serv, Glass Doctor, The Grounds Guys, Five Star Painting, Mr. Appliance, Mr. Electric, Mr. Rooter (Drain Doctor in the UK and Portugal), ProTect Painters, and Rainbow International.. To learn more about Molly Maids franchise opportunities, visit www.leadingtheserviceindustry.com.

About Molly Maid

Molly Maid is a residential cleaning franchise that cleans more than 1.7 million homes annually. Founded in 1979 and franchising since 1984, Molly Maid established the Ms. Molly Foundation to raise awareness and support for victims of domestic violence in 1996. Currently, more than 450 Molly Maid units are operating in the United States alone, with an additional 200 operating throughout Puerto Rico, Canada, Japan, England and Portugal. Molly Maid has consistently ranked high inEntrepreneur magazines Franchise 500 listing and has been the recipient of numerous awards for entrepreneurialism, software innovation and humanitarian causes. Molly Maid is part of Dwyer Group, a holding company of 11 service-based franchise businesses operating under the following service marks: Aire Serv, Glass Doctor, The Grounds Guys, Five Star Painting, Mr. Appliance, Mr. Electric, Mr. Rooter (Drain Doctor in the UK and Portugal), ProTect Painters, and Rainbow International. For more information, visit the Molly Maid website at www.mollymaid.com and visitwww.leadingtheserviceindustry.com to find out more about franchising opportunities with the Dwyer Group brands.

SOURCE Molly Maid

Contact:

Bre Whalen

Fishman PR

847-945-1300

bwhalen@fishmanpr.com

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Total Woman Gym + Spa Opens First Franchised Location

New Baldwin Hills Club Represents New Direction for 50-Year-Old Industry Leader

April 05, 2016 // Franchising.com // SAN DIEGO, Calif.  To further the companys vision of making its female-focused fitness, personal training and spa services available to more women nationwide, Total Woman Gym + Spa has opened its first franchised location. The new, state-of-the-art Baldwin Hills facility joins Total Womans 14 other clubs throughout Northern and Southern California.

After more than 50 years of exclusively operating company-owned clubs, franchising was a natural evolution for the San Diego-based organization.

The timing was really ideal for us to start franchising our clubs, said Jennifer Evans, Director of Franchise for Total Woman Gym + Spa. By listening to our members over the years and keeping abreast of the latest industry developments, we offer what women want in a one-stop fitness and spa destination. Now were ready to make those services available to a broader audience, and franchising allows us to do so.

Well-equipped to helm the new Total Woman club is franchisee Shauna Robinson, former manager of the Total Woman Gym + Spa in Westlake Village for nearly six years. A savvy businesswoman, motivational leader and exceptional communicator, Robinson and her team of NCCA-Accredited trainers, fitness professionals and skilled aestheticians are looking forward to helping Baldwin Hills residents live healthier and more balanced lives  one client at a time.

The new 10,000-square-foot facility is located on the 1st floor of Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza, a vibrant retail destination in this diverse, affluent community in South Los Angeles. Spacious, light and airy, the boutique club features high ceilings, contemporary architectural nuances and Total Womans signature coral and gray color palette. The warm, welcoming ambiance of the fitness center enables women to work out at their own pace and comfort level, whether theyre exercising on their own, with a personal trainer or as part of a group class. Following a workout, or simply as a way to treat themselves with a facial or massage, the spa provides a much-needed refuge from the stressors of the outside world.

As an established enterprise with a proven business model, Total Woman Gym + Spa is well positioned for future expansion. For more information on franchise opportunities, visit their website.

About Total Woman Gym + Spa

Founded in 1965, Total Woman Gym + Spa is the largest full-service gym and day spa in California. Their female-focused staff and NCCA-Accredited trainers are dedicated to empowering their members and encouraging them to take well-deserved time for themselves  a commitment underscored by their CARE philosophy of communication, accountability, results and excellence. Their 15 conveniently located clubs in Alameda, Baldwin Hills, Encinitas, Glendale, Irvine, Laguna Hills, Northridge, Placentia, San Jose, Studio City, Sunnyvale, Torrance, Valencia, Westlake Village and Woodland Hills offer state-of-the-art strength and cardio equipment, dynamic group fitness classes, one-on-one personal training, a private Pilates studio, Kids Club, well-appointed locker rooms, sauna and steam room, and a relaxing day spa with a full menu of rejuvenating treatments.

To learn more about Total Woman, visit one of their 15 clubs at http://www.totalwomanspa.com/all-locations.

Contact:

Gail Manginelli

GM & Associates

480/563-3414

gail@gmandassociatespr.com

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A state historical marker will tell the story of Richard and Mildred Loving, the Caroline County couple whose relationship dismantled laws against interracial marriage, Virginia officials announced Monday.

The Virginia Department of Historic Resources hopes to dedicate the silver-and-black metal marker by mid-June, spokesman Randy Jones said.

The Lovings case, is one of 13 historical subjects that will be heralded by new historical markers recently approved by the department. Others include a wealthy Northern Neck planters 1791 decision to free more than 500 of his slaves, and an early 20th-century rural community settled by Scandinavian immigrants.

The Caroline couples civil rights case led the U.S. Supreme Court to rule in 1967 that a Virginia law prohibiting interracial marriage was unconstitutional, and thrust them into one of the most pivotal times in American history.

Richard Loving, a white man, and his wife, Mildred, a black woman, were arrested in the dark of the night at their home in Caroline and jailed in 1958 for unlawful cohabitation a few weeks after getting married in Washington, D.C.

They avoided a one-year jail sentence only by leaving the state.

Though they never aspired to become political lightning rods, they wanted to come home.

After the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals ruled against the Lovings in 1966, they fought all the way to the high court, which struck down laws then in effect in about a third of the states.

The American Civil Liberties Union challenged their conviction.

Officials in Bowling Green are working with their counterparts in Caroline to help determine a location for the new marker, Jones said.

Titled Loving v. Virginia, the sign will commemorate their trailblazing lawsuit.

The couples legal battle received widespread coverage at the time, including in LIFE magazine.

In 2012, it was the subject of an HBO documentary, The Loving Story.

Now, filmmakers are working on a feature-length movie, Loving, telling the story of the childhood friends who both grown up in Central Point and fell in love as teens.

The movie project comes on the heels of last years Supreme Court victory for same-sex marriage advocates, who invoked the story of the Lovings during their fight for legalization.

The state marker slated for Northumberland County will highlight the decision of Robert Councillor Carter III, one of the wealthiest men in the United States in the 1790s, to free more than 500 of his slaves in several Virginia counties, including Westmoreland. Carter lived at Nomini Hall in Westmoreland.

His deed of manumission, filed at Northumberland courthouse on Sept. 5, 1791, was the largest manumission of slaves by a single person before the American Civil War.

To retain them in Slavery, Carter wrote, is contrary to the true principles of Religion and Justice, the state marker will note.

The plantation owner is the subject of Andrew Levys 2007 book, The First Emancipator: Slavery, Religion, and the Quiet Revolution of Robert Carter.

Five of the other approved markers will discuss 19th- and 20th-century religious and educational topics from Virginias African-American history, the department said.
John Rhodes Juggernaut Wake Up Book Launched

Author of seven mind-mapping, inspirational self-help ebooks, John S Rhodes, has launched his eighth Kindle ebook, Juggernaut Wake Up, an easy-to-read, 22-page time management, self-help book ideal for business folk and busy people.

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Author John S Rhodes has launched his eighth Kindle ebook, Juggernaut Wake Up, a 22-page time management, self-help book ideal for business folk and busy people on Amazon. For more information, visit the following website: http://www.amazon.com/Juggernaut-Wake-Up-John-Rhodes-ebook/dp/B01DOZEO54/.

Rhodes, author of seven previous business and self-help ebooks, promises Juggernaut Wake Up will give readers the superhuman ability to wake up every day "like it's your birthday!". Filled with useful tips, advice and action plans, the easy to read ebook, only 22 pages long, is set to help make readers' have a "great" day every day.

The new ebook by Rhodes shows readers how to get up every morning with energy, power and excitement, be so motivated that they'll "jump out of bed happy and own the day", taking control of their lives.

The author, who says he used to be "slow and sluggish in a foggy and gray world", has managed to turn this aspect of his life around, saying that he can now be creative and productive for hours and hours, get everything done in a day that he sets out to do, and still has plenty of energy left afterwards. He shares his methods of achieving this with Juggernaut Wake Up; the result of research into several studies and habits of successful people.

In the new book Rhodes talks about starting off his day in the right way and waking up productive. He's structured his life that way, forming a habitual pattern through scheduling free time, working hard and enjoying what he does whilst waking up with energy and a good perspective. He explains structure and having a specific, methodical morning routine.

To help form this pattern for his new book the author looked at scientific research, studied successful people and mentors he knows over time, noting all have good and healthy, communicative relationships with their families and friends, but also notes that the research psychology works differently from person to person. He also credits author Hal Elrod's book The Not So Obvious Secret - Guaranteed To Change Your Life Before 8am as inspiration for Juggernaut.

Specifically for achieving his own daily routine, Rhodes talks about creating a monthly matrix; with an X axis for each month, divided into days, and a Y axis for listing personal daily habits, including items such as brushing teeth, stretching, drink a glass of water, meditation, reading personal affirmations, and so on. On his to-do list he also includes handwritten notes to someone each day expressing positivity, gratitude or motivation.

He says following an automatic, habitual routine gathers momentum, and the time he spends meditating, followed by allocated time for affirmations, he finds very powerful; it's repetitive and builds habitual purpose whilst programming the mind. He visualizes how he wants his day to play out and says his mind is energized because of it. He even wakes up without an alarm clock.

Juggernaut Wake Up Kindle edition from Amazon comes with a free bonus instant download and free international wireless delivery via Amazon Whispernet. Rhodes has also uploaded a video on his Google+ page discussing the new book.

For more information about us, please visit http://www.amazon.com/Juggernaut-Wake-Up-John-Rhodes-ebook/dp/B01DOZEO54/

Contact Info:

Name: John S Rhodes

Organization: John Rhodes



Release ID: 109441

For more information visit r



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Dallas Pitbulls for 22 Launches Veterans T Shirt Line

Dallas Pitbulls for 22 is a Veterans T Shirt Line that donates a portion of the profits to placing abused bully breeds with veterans to reduce suicides and save pits.

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DALLAS TX: This Veteran T Shirt Line arises from the desire of ex- marine, Rob Genet, wanting to help his fellow veterans by showing them how he found his way after his military duties ended. Dallas Pitbulls for 22 is that fresh breath of support so desperately needed for veterans concerning suicide, an issue that is longstanding but it never seems to get the attention it needs. Raising awareness through media and events along with the linking of veterans with pitbulls are the key elements that drive the passion of this company. Pitbulls for 22 founder Rob Genet understands the negative effects of war on the mind and the body. "From personal experience, I know how hard it can be adjusting to civilian life after being at war. With my marine brothers help and through the adoption of Sasha my pitbull, I learned how not only to love her, but love myself as well." Thus the company based out of Dallas Pitbulls for 22 was born, a Veteran T Shirt Line featuring the beloved pitbull breed. A collection of black and white graphic T Shirts featuring various precious pitbulls with goofy faces intermingled with the American flag symbol and paw prints; These shirts have true to brand designs that are accessible for everyone to wear as a casual shirt, whether on the weekend or whenever they feel. With phrases like "too cute" under images of pitbulls arrested by the police department, Pitbulls for 22 has a fun feeling interwoven whilst also communicating through another design that both the pitbulls and the brand is "Here For You".

Perhaps the most pervasive feeling is the passion for abused pitbulls and bully breeds, and the project of finding a real solution to move forward in life for these veterans. Pitbulls for 22 partners with 22Kill, whose mission statement is "...a global movement bridging the gap between veterans and civilians to build a community of support. 22KILL works to raise awareness to the suicide epidemic that is plaguing our country, and educate the public on mental health issues such as PTS. " This is the focus of Pitbulls for 22 as well, propelled by the love of America and the sacrifice of those who have served.

For more information about Pitbulls for 22, visit the webpage at

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Pitbulls-for-22-126570125.../ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/pitbullsfor22/

For more information about us, please visit http://www.pitbullsfor22.com

Contact Info:

Name: Jon Oneill Jr

Organization: Pitbulls for 22

Address: 1301 Melrose

Phone: 2148014873

Release ID: 109425

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Premier Allergy Appoints Dr. Arnaldo Perez as New Medical Director

Central Ohio's leading allergy clinic announces new medical director to lead day-to-day medical operations

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Premier Allergy, Central Ohio's leading allergy clinic, has recently named Dr. Arnaldo Perez as the new medical director of the practice. Dr. Perez's role will involve providing overall leadership to the clinic's providers.

As the new Medical Director, Dr. Perez will focus on representing providers on the practice's Leadership Team, participating in recruiting, credentialing, and on-boarding, maintaining clinical guidelines, policies and procedures and monitoring the quality and appropriateness of medical care.

"We are pleased to have Dr. Perez in a leadership role," said Dr. Summit Shah, owner of the Premier Allergy clinics. "His experience as a board certified allergist will help carry the practice forward through future expansions."

Dr. Perez has been seeing clinic's patients at three out of ten Premier Allergy's locations throughout Central Ohio. With the rapid growth, the practice showed a need for a person skilled and experienced enough to manage and lead the flawless maintenance of the premier medical care provided to the clinics' patients. Dr. Perez was identified as the best candidate to fulfill this role within the practice.

Dr. Perez joined Premier Allergy in April 2015, and within a year has earned the respect of the staff and has proven to be a thoughtful, forward-thinking member of the team. These qualities proved to be instrumental to the clinic, as it prides itself on providing top-notch allergy treatments and needle-free testing.

"Dr. Perez's leadership will be invaluable as we continually explore ways to enhance patient care and bring innovative allergy treatments to Central Ohio," said Chris Lowe, Vice President at Premier Allergy.

To learn more about Dr. Perez and Premier Allergy, please visit www.premierallergyohio.com.

For more information about us, please visit http://www.premierallergyohio.com/

Contact Info:

Name: Chris Lowe

Organization: Premier Allergy

Address: 6565 Perimeter Dr Dublin, OH 43016

Phone: 614-328-9927

Source: http://marketersmedia.com/premier-allergy-appoints-dr-arnaldo-perez-as-new-medical-director/109433

Release ID: 109433

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Home Health San Diego, Homecare Agency Participates in National Optimism Month

Home Care and Home Health Nursing Agency in San Diego, Firstat Nursing Services Publishes "Optimism Guide for Seniors."

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Firstat Nursing Services, a San Diego home health and home care agency shares "How a Home Care Provider can Improve Optimism for Seniors and Their Families".

"As people reach their senior years, they lose the feeling that "there's always tomorrow" and what they feel today is an all-encompassing emotion," said Linnea Goodrich, president of Firstat Nursing Services in San Diego, CA. "It is vital that caregivers understand the impact of pessimism and depression on seniors, and that they get the help they need to provide the best quality of life for aging loved ones. Home health care services can provide critical assistance in helping seniors develop and maintain an optimistic point of view."

"As important as it is that seniors get help with depression and pessimism, caregivers themselves can become distraught and depressed with the heavy responsibilities of caring for older family members. The fatigue and sadness is often compounded by the guilt for feeling that way," continued Goodrich. "They need help too, and home care providers can make sure everyone in the family handles the transition and needs of having a senior citizen in their lives with the least amount of stress."

Here are three ways home health care services can help senior citizens and their families stay optimistic.

Home Care in the Home - One of the most common reasons for depression in seniors is the loss of individuality. As people age it is harder for them to manage on their own, and they become more dependent on loved ones, leaving them feeling vulnerable, useless and depressed.

A home health care provider can give seniors a chance to extend their independence longer, stay in their own homes so they do not feel like a burden on loved ones, and give them a sense of fulfillment so they can maintain an optimistic attitude for the future.

Health Care and Supervision - Home nursing services can include continued medical checks for vital information. A home health care provider can monitor important physical factors and report to the senior's physician when there are any changes. This is important because according to Karen Swartz, M.D. at Johns Hopkins, there is a direct correlation between how an elderly patient feels and their emotional state.

Home health providers also make sure senior citizens are getting all of their daily needs met. They supervise household duties and chores to make sure they are being completed safely, or perform the tasks for the elderly patients.

They also make sure their senior charges are maintaining proper hygiene and nutrition levels. This service provides a great peace of mind for senior citizen's families as well. Knowing that their loved ones are cared for and safe allows people to feel optimistic and get relief from feelings of guilt.

Maintaining Connections - Finally, seniors need to maintain family relationships and friendships in order to feel optimistic and happy. As people age they often become more isolated due to illness, incapacity and lower energy levels. This increases the likelihood of depression. Home health care San Diego providers make sure that seniors get out and enjoy fresh air, get together with people they love and stay connected to their communities.

People wanting to learn more are encouraged to visit the company website and pick up a copy of this free report "Critical Questions You Must Ask Before You Hire a Home Care Provider," Visit, http://firstatofsandiego.com/.

About Firstat Nursing Services

Linnea Goodrich is the owner of Firstat Nursing Services, which is the only Home Care Agency in San Diego that is both State licensed and certified by the Alzheimer's Association. Firstat Nursing Services has been providing a higher standard of home nursing, home health and home care services for elderly, disabled and injured people in the greater San Diego area since 1997. To pick up a copy of her free report "Critical Questions You Must Ask Before You Hire a Home Care Provider," Visit,

http://firstatofsandiego.com.

Contact Info:

Name: Linnea Goodrich

Email: LinneaGoodrich@FirstatOfSanDiego.com

Phone: 619-220-7600

Organization: Firstat Nursing Services

Source: http://www.prreach.com/pr/23174

Release ID: 109460

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Mainely Tubs, a Hot Tub, Swim Spa Dealer Serving ME & NH Wins Productivity Award

Maine and New Hampshire Hot Tubs, Swim Spas, Saunas Dealer, Mainely Tubs Receives Award at Hot Spring Spas National Dealer Conference.

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Mainely Tubs, a hot tub, swim spa and sauna dealer serving ME and NH announces that they received the 2015 Hot Spring Spas Single Store Productivity award. This coveted award was presented at the Hot Spring Spas 2015 National Dealer Conference held in San Diego.

"As consumer buying habits change and evolve, retailers that want to provide the best in customer service have to evolve as well," says Jim Van Fleet, President of Mainely Tubs. "Mainely Tubs decided to invest in ways to make it easier for current and future customers to experience the high quality products and services the company offers." The company opened a new store, launched a new website and focused more on digital marketing and advertising. All of this contributed to more leads and increased sales.

Mainely Tubs was selected from more than 700+ Hot Spring dealers worldwide to receive this award. Watkins Manufacturing was established in 1977 in Vista, California, and is the world's largest manufacturer of hot tubs including Hot Spring Spas.

According to Mike Dunn, Executive Vice President of Hot Spring Spas "Mainely Tubs is a leader in sales, marketing and service, and is always striving to grow and be the best. The end result of their efforts was that their overall sales were up by double-digits in 2015. The Hot Spot line lead the way in terms of year over year increase and their ACE Salt Water Sanitizer System sales also turned in an impressive rise in sales.

"At Mainely Tubs, the main focus has always been and will continue to be exceeding customer expectations," continued Van Fleet. "It's why the company which has been serving the Maine and New Hampshire area since 1978 has continued to grow year after year.

To help celebrate winning this award, Mainely Tubs will be providing free hot tub wet tests for the entire month. They do recommend however that people wanting to schedule their free 30-minute wet test call them ahead of time to reserve their spot.

To learn moe about the Mainely Tubs and the benefits of hot tub hydrotherapy, visit the company website. While there, pick up a copy of this free hot tub buyer's guide "5 Hot Tub Buying Mistakes and How to Avoid Them". Just call 207-883-6357 or go to http://MainelyTubs.com.

About Mainely Tubs

Mainely Tubs has been serving Maine and New Hampshire as the leader in hot tub sales and service since 1978. They currently support 16,000+ customers and have been ranked the world's largest Hot Spring Store for 11 years.

Mainely Tubs is dedicated to supporting their customers' un-interrupted enjoyment of the highest quality relaxation products including HotSpring Spas, Finnleo Saunas, Big Green Egg as well as many water care products and services. Their commitment to high quality products and to their customers' satisfaction has never wavered, and as a result, most of their business comes to them as referrals from happy customers.

To learn more, pick up a copy of this free guide "5 Hot Tub Buying Mistakes and How to Avoid Them". Just call 207-883-6357 or go to http://MainelyTubs.com.

Contact Info:

Name: Jim Van Fleet

Email: scottbell@mainelytubs.com

Phone: 207-883-6357

Organization: Mainely Tubs

Source: http://www.prreach.com/pr/23143

Release ID: 109467

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Announcing New Home for Kitchen Tools and Utensils at LifeQuintessentials.com

Life Quintessentials announces launch of new e-commerce store for customers, providing kitchen tools and utensils as part of the product lineup.

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Life Quintessentials recently launched a new e-commerce store at https://lifequintessentials.com where customers can purchase kitchen tools and utensils. The company has been selling the products on Amazon.com and they are continuing to utilize that site to increase awareness of their products. The e-commerce store will offer additional discounts and special promotions, including a VIP club for customers.

The e-commerce store carries all the products that are found on Amazon. One of the best-selling products for the company is the Sili Mitts silicone oven mitts, which are longer than standard mitts. These mitts feature a silicone outer layer which is FDA approved and designed to protect the person's hands from burns. Because they are waterproof, they even help prevent water and steam burns. The inner layer is quilted for comfort.

Customers can receive free standard shipping on all orders over $49 in the USA when they purchase on the new e-commerce site. They can sign up to be part of the VIP club where they will receive discounts on purchases, along with recipes and cooking tips. They may even have the chance to win free products.

The new e-commerce site features several pages, including an About page, which lets customers have the chance to get to know Life Quintessentials. There's an FAQ page, which helps answer some of the most commonly asked questions about the products. The company also has a blog, which provides further information about products or other related topics.

Life Quintessentials is a family-owned business, and the new site helps customer get to know the company behind the products. There's even a page that allows customers to determine what makes the company different from the competition.

Customers will still be able to purchase products from Life Quintessentials on Amazon, but they now also have the option to make purchases through the website.

Contact Info:

Name: Rose

Email: media@lifequintessentials.com

Phone: 1 (616) 228-7533

Organization: Life Quintessentials

Source: http://www.prreach.com/pr/23114

Release ID: 109476

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Learn To Build An Online Business Faster And Easier With Rich Dad's Newest eBook

Rich Dad company announces the release of the free eBook How to Build an Entrepreneur.

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The Rich Dad Company announced today the release of its new eBook, How to Build an Entrepreneur. Based on the lessons from the digital publishing guru, Anik Singal, this new eBook teaches how to build an online business around ones passion in life.

According to Forrester Research, it is estimated that this year, the Internet will directly influence more than 50% of all U.S. retail business. For many who wanted to start a business prior to the Internet, there were real barriers to entry. The ease of managing a digital business is much more appealing to a new type of entrepreneur because of automation and the availability of information. Now, starting an online business is the solution to the very barriers that once existed.

Robert Kiyosaki, best known as the author of, Rich Dad Poor Dad, and Anik Singal met a year ago and quickly realized they have a lot in common. Both learned a lot from their early successes and even more so from their early mistakes. But both are passionate about teaching people and that is why they teamed up for this eBook.

"People genuinely want to change their own future. They just can't figure out how to do it, but starting their own business doesn't have to be as complicated as it once was," says Robert Kiyosaki, explaining the purpose behind the book.

How to Build an Entrepreneur is the first step to taking advantage of this particular business model, which is the best opportunity to kick-start an online business. There are hundreds of ways to start making money online, but determining where to start is hard for most people. In this eBook, the steps to starting an online business are clear, and actionable.

Readers will:

o Determine their profitable passion

o Learn the four cornerstones of discipline

o Turn their passion into an online business in seven steps

o Understand what it takes to be a successful digital entrepreneur

"Everyone is passionate about something. Turning it into a business will help them stick to it when times get tough," says Kiyosaki.

The Rich Dad Company will be offering the eBook for free, now through April 1 2016 on its website.

About Rich Dad Operating Company

Best known as the author of Rich Dad Poor Dad - the #1 personal finance book of all time - Robert Kiyosaki has changed and challenged the way the tens of millions of people around the world think about money. His book title holds four of the top ten spots on Nielsen Bookscan List's Lift-to-Date Sales from 2001-2008 alone. In addition, Robert has been featured on shows such as Larry King Live, Oprah, The Doctors, Bloomberg International Television and CNN. Visit www.richdad.com for more information.

Contact Info:

Name: Ryan Nalepinski

Email: r.nalepinski@richdad.com

Phone: 4805535969

Organization: The Rich Dad Company

Source: http://www.prreach.com/pr/23182

Release ID: 109451

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China Bus Industry To Grow Substantially At 9% CAGR From 2014 To 2017 : Radiant Insights,Inc

The China bus industry is projected to surpass 690,000 units by 2017

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The China bus industry is projected to surpass 690,000 units by 2017. The sales volume is estimated to grow at a 9% CAGR over the forecast period (2014-2017). The bus market in China has seen an annual growth rate of 5%, considering the sales decline of the commercial vehicle market.

Browse Full Research Report With TOC on http://www.radiantinsights.com/research/china-bus-industry-report-2014-2017

Products of the China bus industry are divided by size, which include light, medium-sized, and large buses. Large and light buses together registered sales of 477,000 units in 2012. This has seen a 12.1% rise in sales in the same year. In the first quarter of 2014, the bus market sold almost 112,980 units. This was a 13.6% rise in sales as compared to 2013. Almost 79,067 large buses were sold in 2013, showing a steady annual growth of 5.2%.

Light buses performed better than its counterparts, registering a sales volume of 329,315 units in 2013. This was a 17% rise in growth as compared to 2012. Light buses grew at a 17.7% CAGR during the periods of 2008 to 2013. School buses faced a mediocre growth due to lack of financial support or government policies supporting its growth. But a policy highlighting the importance of school bus safety is expected to trigger high sales by 2017.

Demand for energy buses and buses for long-distance transportation have contributed to the market growth. But demand for long-distance buses has reduced by 5% on account of energy buses. Medium-sized buses have reportedly sold almost 69,000 units in 2013. Downsizing school buses and passenger transport buses in rural areas will lead to decreased sales for medium-sized buses over the forecast period.

See More Reports of This Category by Radiant Insights: www.radiantinsights.com/catalog/automotive

Major enterprises operating in the China bus industry include Yutong Bus, Anhui Ankai Automobile, Dongfeng Motor Corporation, Zhongtong Bus, Kinglong Motor Group, Foton, SG Automotive Group, Asiastar, BYD, Sinotruk, JMC, Brilliance Jinbei Automobile, JAC, and Jinhua Youngman Automobile-Manufacturing Co., Ltd.

Brilliance Jinbei has sold 104,000 units in 2013. It held a 22% share of the China bus industry, leading the regional market. Kinglong Motor Group, Yutong Bus, Nanjing Automobile, and JMC followed Brillinace, in terms of sales. Golden Dragon, Zhongtong Bus, and King Long reported a sales slump from 2011-2012. The macroeconomic conditions of the country were considered to be the biggest contributor to the decline in market volume.

Browse Ongoing Reports @

o Architectural Paints Markets -

http://www.radiantinsights.com/research/architectural-paints-markets-in-china

About Radiant Insights,Inc

Radiant Insights is a platform for companies looking to meet their market research and business intelligence requirements. We assist and facilitate organizations and individuals procure market research reports, helping them in the decision making process. We have a comprehensive collection of reports, covering over 40 key industries and a host of micro markets. In addition to over extensive database of reports, our experienced research coordinators also offer a host of ancillary services such as, research partnerships/ tie-ups and customized research solutions.

For more information about us, please visit http://www.radiantinsights.com/research/china-bus-industry-report-2014-2017

Contact Info:

Name: Michelle Thoras

Organization: Radiant Insights, Inc.

Address: 28 2nd Street

Phone: 14153490054

Source: http://marketersmedia.com/china-bus-industry-to-grow-substantially-at-9-cagr-from-2014-to-2017-radiant-insightsinc/109564

Release ID: 109564

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2016 Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) Pipeline Market with 22 Companies

Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) Pipeline Review, H1 2016, provides an overview of the Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) pipeline landscape.

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ReportsnReports adds Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) Market research to its database.

Companies discussed in this research are Arisaph Pharmaceuticals, Inc., AstraZeneca Plc, Betagenon AB, Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd., Conatus Pharmaceuticals Inc., Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated, Daewoong Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Dimerix Bioscience Pty Ltd, Dr. Falk Pharma GmbH, DURECT Corporation, Galmed Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Gilead Sciences, Inc., Huons Co., Ltd., Kyorin Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Novartis AG, Sancilio & Company, Inc., TaiwanJ Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd., TCM Biotech International Corp, Tobira Therapeutics, Inc., Verva Pharmaceuticals Limited, Zafgen Inc. and Zydus Cadila Healthcare Limited.

Get discount on this research at http://www.reportsnreports.com/contacts/Discount.aspx?name=520863 .

The report provides comprehensive information on the therapeutics under development for Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD), complete with analysis by stage of development, drug target, mechanism of action (MoA), route of administration (RoA) and molecule type. The report also covers the descriptive pharmacological action of the therapeutics, its complete research and development history and latest news and press releases. Additionally, the report provides an overview of key players involved in therapeutic development for Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) and features dormant and discontinued projects.

The report helps in identifying and tracking emerging players in the market and their portfolios, enhances decision making capabilities and helps to create effective counter strategies to gain competitive advantage.

Note*: Certain sections in the report may be removed or altered based on the availability and relevance of data.

Complete research report of 134 pages with TOC is available at http://www.reportsnreports.com/reports/520863-non-alcoholic-fatty-liver-disease-nafld-pipeline-review-h1-2016.html .

Scope

o The report provides a snapshot of the global therapeutic landscape of Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD)

o The report reviews pipeline therapeutics for Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) by companies and universities/research institutes based on information derived from company and industry-specific sources

o The report covers pipeline products based on various stages of development ranging from pre-registration till discovery and undisclosed stages

o The report features descriptive drug profiles for the pipeline products which includes, product description, descriptive MoA, R&D brief, licensing and collaboration details & other developmental activities

o The report reviews key players involved Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) therapeutics and enlists all their major and minor projects

o The report assesses Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) therapeutics based on drug target, mechanism of action (MoA), route of administration (RoA) and molecule type

o The report summarizes all the dormant and discontinued pipeline projects

o The report reviews latest news related to pipeline therapeutics for Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD)

Reasons to buy

o Gain strategically significant competitor information, analysis, and insights to formulate effective R&D strategies

o Identify emerging players with potentially strong product portfolio and create effective counter-strategies to gain competitive advantage

o Identify and understand important and diverse types of therapeutics under development for Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD)

o Identify potential new clients or partners in the target demographic

o Develop strategic initiatives by understanding the focus areas of leading companies

o Plan mergers and acquisitions effectively by identifying key players and it's most promising pipeline therapeutics

o Devise corrective measures for pipeline projects by understanding Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) pipeline depth and focus of Indication therapeutics

o Develop and design in-licensing and out-licensing strategies by identifying prospective partners with the most attractive projects to enhance and expand business potential and scope

o Modify the therapeutic portfolio by identifying discontinued projects and understanding the factors that drove them from pipeline

For more information about us, please visit http://www.reportsnreports.com/

Contact Info:

Name: Ritesh Tiwari

Organization: ReportsandReports

Address: UNIT no 802, Tower no. 7, SEZ Magarpatta city, Hadapsar Pune, Maharashtra 411013, India

Phone: +1888 391 54 41

Source: http://marketersmedia.com/2016-non-alcoholic-fatty-liver-disease-nafld-pipeline-market-with-22-companies/109362

Release ID: 109362

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Refund Management Services Reacts to U.S. Gaming Revenue Reaching Record $71.1 Billion in 2015

Refund Management Services weighs in on the record $71.1 billion in revenue generated by the U.S. gaming industry in 2015.

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Refund Management Services (www.RefundManagement.com), the number one choice for Canada's biggest winners for U.S. gaming and casino tax refunds, comments on the record $71.1 billion generated by the U.S. gaming industry. Refund Management Services also reveals what non-U.S. residents can do to reclaim a portion or all of their gaming winnings withheld by the Internal Revenue Service.

According to a recent report, in 2015, the U.S. gaming industry, which includes, commercial, tribal, iGaming, and limited stakes gaming, generated a record $71.1 billion, growing at an annual rate of 3.1%. This represents the sixth consecutive year of growth and the first time the gaming industry has exceeded $70.0 billion in annual gaming revenue. (Source: "Gaming Statistics '16," rubinbrown.com study, March 3, 2016; http://www.rubinbrown.com/Gaming_Stats.pdf.)

Specifically, Nevada is the country's biggest gambling destination, taking in $11.1 billion, or 15.6% of all gaming revenue. At $3.17 billion, Pennsylvania is the second largest state for gaming, followed by Louisiana ($2.65 billion), and New Jersey ($2.4 billion). Indiana rounds out the five biggest states for gambling in 2015 at $2.15 billion.

"Perhaps most importantly, the record revenue generated in 2015 was mainly the result of organic growth from existing casinos. Since 2007, the U.S. gaming industry has grown at an annualized growth rate of 0.9%. But in 2015, it advanced at an annual rate of 3.1%," says Brooke Sacks, vice president of marketing & business development, at Refund Management Services. "That momentum is expected to continue in 2016. On top of organic growth, in 2016, the U.S. gaming industry will also benefit from new casino developments along the Las Vegas Strip, in New York State, Massachusetts and Maryland."

Sacks goes on to explain that non-U.S. residents that visit the United States and win a substantial amount of money (typically over $1,200) at a casino, horse track, sportsbook, bingo hall, playing the lottery or even winning on a game show, should understand that their winnings could be subject to a 30% withholding tax by the IRS. If, however, they reside in a country like Canada, which has signed a U.S. tax treaty, they may be eligible for a refund.

People who reside in the following countries that currently do not have a U.S. tax treaty may still be eligible for a refund as well: Australia, Bahrain, Barbados, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Israel, Kuwait, Mexico, Malaysia, Monaco, New Zealand, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates.

"Founded by a chartered accountant in 1998, Refund Management Services has successfully completed the most U.S. gaming tax refunds for Canadians and other non-U.S. residents," Sacks concludes. "Over the last two decades, RMS has helped thousands of people from around the world recover taxes on their U.S. gaming wins. We've never been refused an eligible refund."

To find out how Refund Management Services can help with your U.S. gambling tax recovery, visit www.RefundManagement.com.

Founded and owned by a Canadian Chartered Accountant, Refund Management Services is the most reputable casino and gaming tax recovery service in the industry. As registered agents of the IRS, Refund Management Services (RMS) helps Canadians and other non-U.S. residents recover all or a portion of their taxes up to 3 years after their winnings have been withheld. With the expertise in gaming-related tax laws, RMS understands all the IRS requirements to ensure that any entitled refund is successfully recovered. RMS only gets paid for successful gambling tax refunds. RMS is a member of the Better Business Bureau and the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce.

Contact Refund Management Services toll free from the United States and Canada at 1-888-272-5559. Or email RMS: info@refundmanagement.com.

For more information about us, please visit http://www.refundmanagement.com/

Contact Info:

Name: Brooke Sacks

Organization: Refund Management Services

Address: Yonge Norton Centre 5255 Yonge St., Suite 1300 Toronto, ON

Phone: 416-443-3360

Source: http://marketersmedia.com/refund-management-services-reacts-to-u-s-gaming-revenue-reaching-record-71-1-billion-in-2015/109569

Release ID: 109569

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New Military Veterans Book, Nonfiction Humor Memoir, Amazon Launches 3/12/16

SmartyPants Media and Best Selling Author Sonja Landis announce new book, Military Nonfiction Comedy on Amazon/Kindle "The Anti-Officer" found at http://www.amazon.com/Anti-Officer-True-Story-Sonja-Landis/dp/1495901114/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1456341816&sr=8-1&keywords=the+anti+officer

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Available Now Amazon and Kindle Customers looking for the latest book, Military Nonfiction Humor Memoir, Amazon/Kindle can now find The Anti-Officer by Sonja Landis of Indie Publisher SmartyPants Media. Today Sonja Landis, Best-Selling Author, Storyteller, and Professionally Unprofessional Comedian at SmartyPants Media releases details of The Anti-Officer's development.

The Anti-Officer, Rated-R for excessive language and sexual references, is designed to appeal specifically to Military/Veterans/Military Spouses/Military Wives with a sense of humor and adventure, not easily offended or conservative (and not Landis' ex-husband) and includes:

Military True Story, Nonfiction - Providing a behind the scenes look at war, aviation, military life, overseas deployments, military spies, and airborne recon, giving the audience, consumers, media and world an explosive, controversial, intriguing, and also entertainingly fresh perspective of the cockpit and the military life few seldom see. It's a secret sneak peak look as readers step right into the inappropriate thoughts and weird inner monologue of a non-military-type, blonde chick, plucked from her life at Arizona State University and thrust into an epic and unexpected eight year journey around the world.

Comedy, Humor, Comedian, Women Comedian - The point of view one would seldom see in any kind of war or military or spy story, Landis delivers adventures, misadventures, and sexual innuendos, without apology or concern for filter. It's a completely different perspective, a woman's perspective, engulfed in the most manly of a man's world. Customers who buy The Anti-Officer should enjoy this feature because it's freshly entertaining, inspiring, truthful, engaging, unique, and funny. Customers should also not be easily offended by raw, unfiltered, honest comedy. Cannot stress this enough. Material not suitable for all audiences.

Inspirational - Landis made sure to make this part of her Book, a Military Nonfiction Humor Memoir, available on Amazon/Kindle's development as entertaining, motivating, and part of the human connection. Customers will likely appreciate this because people figure things out by making mistakes, lots of them, and, using comedy and humor, Landis offers her mistakes and missteps up to the world with the idea that others will gain something from it, connect in some way. It's a dose of self-help, transparent, entertaining, and sometimes emotional, with the main goal to entertain, uplift, inspire, and build a community of mistake-riddled people. Square pegs, trying to fit into round holes.

Sonja Landis, when asked about The Anti-Officer said:

"I'm inviting you to come on an adventure, sometimes controversial and explosive, sometimes emotional, often times funny and completely unguarded. I have a special talent for doing the wrong thing at the wrong time, and I'm sure you can understand how that isn't a benefit to one's military career. My book takes people on a journey around the world, in peacetime and wartime missions, where I discuss some topics that happen quietly, behind closed doors in military life. I'm inside the cockpit, behind enemy lines, risking my life with friends. And enemies. Enemies turned friends, vice versa, and everything in between. And I'm telling it all with my own humorous style, because that's what feels right to me. I'm a storyteller, and I realized the most revolutionary and rock star thing I could ever do was to step into my own true life story, unapologetic, unashamed, unarmed, and give it to the world to see, trusting that it will mean something to someone. Because that's what life is really about. Our stories. And how they connect us all, how they can bring us together. I try to do it with some laughs, because that's simply my most favorite thing, and in the end you'll either love me like your new best friend or hate me for one reason or another. I'm always hoping for the former, not the latter, just so we're clear."

This is Best Selling Author, Sonja Landis' 3rd book, but by far the most personal and vulnerable story she's told so far. Landis is particularly excited about this new release because she says: "Comedy writing is a creative art form for me, always in motion, changing, evolving and getting better. It's a series of mistakes, my mistakes, and being personally vulnerable for the sake of the work, with a way of storytelling that influences our thoughts, feelings and behavior, making us as humans more connected, more self-aware. And sometimes the more creative you are, the harder it is to put your work, your art, yourself out there for all the world to see and judge. It's never good enough. It's never perfect enough. You never catch every typo, and later you wish you said things differently. You'd say it differently now, but it's too late. And you'd never release a piece of your work, your baby, to the public if you stayed in that mindset of not being good enough... But when I get emails and messages and words from people around the world telling me that part of what I went through inspired them, or rang true, or made a difference in their life in some way, I realize how my purpose, my storytelling, can serve others on some level. That's powerful! And it's a connection all people have the ability to tap into in some unique way. Mine just happens to be by being naughty, telling inappropriate jokes, and looking for laughs... sometimes in all the wrong places. But it's fun, and I love it, and I'm going to keep doing it for as long as I'm able."

Those interested in learning more about Sonja Landis, SmartyPants Media, and her business can do so on the business website at http://www.sonjalandis.com

Those interested in purchasing can go directly to the product listing, here: http://www.amazon.com/Anti-Officer-True-Story-Sonja-Landis/dp/1495901114/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1456341816&sr=8-1&keywords=the+anti+officer

For more information about us, please visit http://www.sonjalandis.com

Contact Info:

Name: Sonja Landis

Email: sonja@sonjalandis.com

Organization: SmartyPants Media

Address: Carlsbad, CA

Phone: +1 269 615 5612

Release ID: 106911

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Tamarindo Costa Rica Vacation Rentals Beachfront Safe For Family Report Released

Villa Thoga announced the release of a new report providing detailed information on the overall safety of Costa Rica as a holiday destination and extensive advice for tourists and families travelling to Tamarindo.

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The popular Tamarindo, Costa Rica vacation villa rentals complex Villa Thoga announced the release of a new report providing extensive information on the safety of Costa Rica and Tamarindo as family holiday destinations.

More information is available at http://villathoga.com/is-costa-rica-safe/.

Villa Thoga provides a prominent Tamarindo, Costa Rica vacation booking service with safe and affordable full-service holiday villa rentals near the beach, extensive advice on safety, food or popular activities in Costa Rica and a selection of the most affordable flights, car rentals, tours, and more, for Tamarindo travelers and family vacations.

The firm has announced the release of a new report featuring extensive information on the overall safety of Costa Rica and Tamarindo as holiday destinations, including valuable advice for Costa Rica travelers on the safety of the drinking water, car rental, driving, currency exchange, nightlife, the Tamarindo beach, and more.

To ensure a safe and enjoyable Costa Rica experience for tourists, additional information and advice on the popular activities and safest providers of fishing, Palo Verde river tours, sunset cruises, ATV tours, beach horseback riding, volcano tours, sunset sailing & snorkeling, zip line tours or diving adventure packages are also available on the Villa Thoga website.

More information on the safety of the Villa Thoga wall fenced vacation villas with full amenities, including private splash pools, terraces, stoves, ovens, coffee makers, cable TV, wireless internet, BBQ, and more, along with secure airport shuttle transfer service can be requested at 506 8565-2227 or 506-8303-1853.

Online booking forms and rates for the villas and multiple tours or car rental services along with a free 'Travel to Costa Rica' e-book available for download and several special discount offers or extensive customer and tourist reviews are also provided at http://villathoga.com.

The Villa Thoga team explains that "we want to make it crystal clear that Costa Rica, and especially Tamarindo, are 100% safe if tourists act responsibility. Since we own the villa complex, no robbery or other similar incident has been reported"

The firm adds that "our mission is to meet your needs and our discounts are available for booking throughout the year, in low or high season, even during holidays like Christmas, New Year or Easter. If you're looking for premier private villas 5 minutes walking from all the Tamarindo amenities and 250m from the beach, we invite you to be a part of our Villa Thoga family".

For more information about us, please visit http://villathoga.com

Contact Info:

Name: Thomas Gabriele Traegner

Organization: Villa Thoga Relax In The Heart Of Tamarindo

Address: 100 metros este del Luna Llena

Phone: +506 8565 2227

Release ID: 109419

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Bee Cave Dentist Announces Affordable Plan to Uninsured Patients

Dr. Sarah Behmanesh discusses Affordable, Alternative Plan for Bee Cave TX dental patients without insurance. Further information can be found at http://www.bcsofttouchdental.com/

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Bee Cave Soft Touch Dental in Bee Cave, Texas, is excited to announce their latest benefit for patients without Insurance. It is an affordable plan specifically designed to assist these patients in maintaining a regular schedule for preventative care as well as discounted restorative treatment if or when required. The caring, competent dental team at Bee Cave believes that individual patient needs should be their top priority. Their desire is to set all patients on a positive path to beautiful, healthy smiles, and to make that dream affordable to all. They provide the highest quality dental care in a friendly, comforting environment.

Their 5-star patient reviews concur: "...such an amazing doctor and staff..." In discussing this innovative program, Sarah Behmanesh, DDS, owner, stated: "Preventative care is the cornerstone to long term overall health and Bee Cave Soft Touch Dental strives to achieve optimal oral health for our patients."

Studies have shown that approximately 114 million Americans are without dental insurance. These individuals generally have more extractions than restorative or preventive care and are more prone to gum disease. Because dental health also affects overall health, they are also more likely to suffer from illnesses such as diabetes, heart disease or osteoporosis. This has become a real concern to Bee Cave dentist Dr. Behmanesh, prompting her to develop this simple solution for those without dental insurance. With this innovative plan, she and her staff are confident that it will truly be a lifesaving answer to this group of people.

About Dr. Behmanesh

Dr. Sarah Behmanesh grew up in Canada where she got an Honors Bachelor of Science in Biology and French.She obtained her Doctorate in dental surgery at New York University. She visited the Austin, Texas area in 2010 and fell in love, and Bee Cave Soft Dental was born. She has stated: "I believe in creating long term relationships and maintaining the highest level of trust and comfort."

Interested parties who would like to learn more about the Affordable Soft Touch Plan at the Bee Cave dental office are encouraged to visit the website at http://www.bcsofttouchdental.com/ for full details and to get started today on the path to a beautiful, healthy smile.

For more information about us, please visit http://www.bcsofttouchdental.com

Contact Info:

Name: Sarah Behmanesh

Organization: Bee Cave Soft Touch Dental

Address: 12400 TX-71 #320 Bee Cave, TX 78738

Phone: (512) 271-6600

Release ID: 109074

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Advisers have reacted to the Financial Conduct Authoritys latest Plan and Budget with a few suggestions of their own about what the regulator should focus on in the coming year.

Coming in at a total of over half a billion pounds, advisers are set to pay a greater share towards the FCAs costs than lenders, insurers and fund managers.

Roughly 133m will fall on investment advisers and mortgage brokers. Banks and mortgage lenders are set to pay around 128m, while insurers are expected to cough up just 60m.

In its plans for the year, published alongside its budget, the FCA reveals the hefty figures are needed as the regulator looks to tackle some of the industrys big beasts.

The FCA outlined various new reviews for the pensions industry, including into the impact of the pension reforms on competition and switching, a review of the effectiveness of Independent Governance Committees and a look at firms disclosures to existing customers about enhanced annuities through non-advised sales processes.

But advisers shouldering the biggest slice of the regulatory bill had some suggestions of their own about where the FCA should train its spolight - a big closer to home.

Alan Solomons, director of Alpha Investments and Financial Planning, called for the FCAs upcoming review of FSCS funding to also look at the effectiveness of the regulator.

I fear that is where the cause and control of spiralling costs for endemic failures can be ameliorated, he said.

It would be nice to see IFA fees adjusted to be in line with a fair share of costs related to IFAs, he added.

Graeme Mitchell, managing director at Lowland Financial, said he accepted the FCA has a vital job to do in protecting consumers, but added reviews of the retirement market and a focus on advice invariably arrive at the same conclusions.

In reality, what did RDR achieve that polarisation (if implemented properly) could not have done? Yet another waste of money which has actually removed many advisers from the front line and marginalised so many customers who think they cannot afford advice  when in reality they probably cannot afford not to take advice  to ensure they are making the best of all the options available.

But Hargreaves Lansdowns head of retirement policy Tom McPhail defended the FCAs dogged pursuit of the issue of investors not being given adequate opportunity to take advantage of enhanced annuities.

Behind the scenes, they have been methodically stripping away the layers of paperwork and uncovering evidence of how the sales were made.

It appears likely that some providers are going to be called to account for the way they have treated their customers, which could in turn pave the way for compensation for mis-sold annuity investors.

peter.walker@ft.com
Asset management trade body the Investment Association (IA) has appointed TheCityUK founder Chris Cummings as its chief executive.

Mr Cummings, the director general of financial adviser trade body Aifa between 2003 and 2010, is to join the IA in the third quarter of 2016.

The trade body said the decision to appoint Mr Cummings was made unanimously by its board, which includes representatives of 18 fund houses.

The hire follows the acrimonious departure of former chief executive Daniel Godfrey in October 2015. IA director of risk, compliance and legal Guy Sears has served as interim chief executive during the search for Mr Godfreys successor.

Helena Morrissey, chair of the trade body, said: Chris has years of experience helping businesses to deliver the best outcomes for their customers.

Under Chriss leadership the IA will continue to work with all our stakeholders to serve our members and shape the investment industry to meet the needs of savers.

The board would like to thank Guy Sears for his work and achievements as interim chief executive, including the launch of the productivity action plan to boost the British economy and a major pledge to develop a new generation of disclosure codes.

Mr Cummings said: I am very excited to be taking over as chief executive of the Investment Association, which plays a crucial part in securing the best outcomes for savers, investment managers and the broader economy.

I believe the UKs asset management industry has the opportunity to adopt a greater role in society, generating wealth and lifelong financial well-being for millions of people and providing stable long-term financing to help British businesses to grow.

Back in October, the IA announced Mr Godfrey had stepped down from his role with immediate effect.

His departure followed reports big names like Schroders and M&G had decided to quit the trade body amid criticism from the industry that its reform agenda had been too aggressive. The fund houses later extended their memberships for an interim six-month period.

Mr Cummings set up financial services lobbying group TheCityUK in 2010, and currently serves as its chief executive.
Almost one in three working over 60-year-olds are oblivious to historic reforms enacted a year ago, giving them total freedom with their pension pots, according to research.

Tomorrow (6 April) marks the first anniversary of government changes to the pension rules for over-55s, which has seen them gain immediate access to 6bn of their retirement savings in the last 12 months, according to ABI figures out in March .

But research by financial services group Sanlam has pointed to widespread ignorance of the rules, despite high-profile media coverage.

In a poll of 1,000 non-retired UK over-60s, the firm found almost 29 per cent of them were unaware of the reforms, with three quarters saying they havent affected their retirement plan at all.

Over half said they have yet to start considering their financial plan for retirement, while 39 per cent admitted they do not know value of their pension pot  a figure which increased to 50 per cent for women.

The findings raise questions about how the changes have been communicated to the public, with 15 per cent of those polled by Sanlam stating retirement plans are too confusing for them to know where to start.

Last month, select committee MPs criticised the government over its communication of changes to the state pension, saying neither the winners nor the losers know who they are.

Nick Parry, director at Sanlam UK, said far from being enlightened, the research pointed to a significant disengaged proportion of the non-retired population.

Its clear that more education and guidance is needed urgently to ensure that people feel confident about their retirement, he said. The freedoms will only work for this and future generations if as much time, energy and funding is put into education and engagement as it is to freeing up the at retirement choices.

Mr Parry called on the government to speed up the implementation of recommendations in the Financial Advice Market Review that would make advice more accessible.

laura.miller@ft.com
A row has blown up over Defras announcement of a 2.57p/litre farmgate milk price increase in February.

The rise to 25.57p/litre came about mainly because Defra chose to load the whole of Arlas 2015 annual bonus, worth 0.78p for every litre produced by its members, on to the February 2016 price calculation.

In fact most producers saw a price drop for the milk they delivered in February, leading milk producer and industry figures to call on Defra to revise its calculation, which is seen as unrepresentative, unfair and unhelpful.

Independent dairy analyst Chris Walkland branded the figures absurd. The figures cannot be allowed to stand  they dont reflect reality and they are giving the wrong message to consumers.

See also: Muller farmers could lose 1.75p/litre in Scottish dairy closure

At 25.5p per litre, this industry does not have a problem. Yes, farmers would be losing money but it would not be in the crisis it is in.

NFU chief dairy adviser Sian Davies said that the figure was completely misleading, even though statistically it might be right as Arla members received that money with Februarys milk payment in mid-March.

There was no price increase announced by any UK milk buyer, she said. What they need to caveat it with is the huge range of prices from 15p/litre to over 30p/litre  the variance has never been greater  thats what Defra needs to look at.

If thats the figure going to the EU, its not representative of the UK.

Milk production had slowed but buyers were still using the threat of the spring flush to pressure farmgate prices.

Defra says that its price surveys cover 90% of milk bought by dairies. It is required to collect UK farmgate milk prices and report these to the EU Commission.

The UK price is a weighted average, collected from price information from all dairies buying more than 2m litres of milk a year in England and Wales. Devolved bodies report pricing on the same basis for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

In publishing the February farmgate price report, Defra commented that it was inflated by bonus payments made on annual production.

AHDB Dairy calculated that had it not been for the inclusion of the Arla 13th payment, the February calculation would have brought a drop on Januarys price.

Arlas 13th payment was one of the main bonuses attributed to Februarys milk payments in Defras calculation, although it actually applied to all volumes delivered in 2015, said the levy body.

AHDB estimates this has inflated Defras figure for February by between 2.50 to 2.75p/litre. This would put the price, excluding retrospective bonuses, slightly below Januarys figure of 23.09p/litre, which is in line with how monthly prices have moved on the AHDB Dairy League Table.
Story Highlights 72% oppose restrictions on expression of offensive political views

Students favor restrictions on slurs, stereotypical costumes

Most say students should not be able to block press access to protests

PRINCETON, N.J. -- U.S. college students mostly reject the idea that colleges should be able to establish policies restricting the expression of political views that upset or offend certain groups. At the same time, students support restricting language or expression that intentionally hurts or offends others, such as using racial or ethnic slurs or wearing costumes that stereotype certain groups.

College Students' Views of Acceptable Restrictions on Speech Do you think colleges should or should not be able to establish policies that restrict each of the following types of speech or expression on campus? Should be able to restrict % Should not be able to restrict % Using slurs and other language on campus that is intentionally offensive to certain groups 69 31 Wearing costumes that stereotype certain racial or ethnic groups 63 37 Expressing political views that are upsetting or offensive to certain groups 27 72 February-March 2016 Knight Foundation "Free Expression on Campus" Study

First Amendment freedoms on college campuses have been a major flashpoint this academic year, following a wave of protests about racial matters that swept across the country. In March, students at Emory University in Atlanta gathered to protest chalk messages supporting Donald Trump's presidential candidacy. Last week, anti-Muslim "#StopIslam" markings accompanied similar pro-Trump writings that appeared across the University of Michigan campus. And Yale University's attempts to discourage the wearing of stereotypical Halloween costumes last fall led to a rebuttal by a faculty member that sparked considerable controversy.

On Monday, Knight Foundation and the Newseum Institute released the Free Expression on Campus study. Gallup surveyed a nationally representative sample of more than 3,000 U.S. college students for the study.

College students' views on First Amendment freedoms on campus are complex, reflecting the sometimes-competing tensions in allowing a wide range of viewpoints to be heard while still respecting student diversity and the desire to make students feel safe on campus.

Nearly eight in 10 college students (78%) believe colleges should strive to create open learning environments that expose students to all types of viewpoints, even if it means allowing speech that is offensive toward certain groups of people. On the other hand, 22% believe colleges should create positive learning environments for all students by prohibiting speech or the expression of views that are offensive to certain groups.

But students' preference for an open campus environment has limits, with roughly two-thirds saying colleges should be allowed to establish policies restricting the use of slurs and other language that is intentionally offensive to certain groups, as well as the wearing of costumes that stereotype racial or ethnic groups.

At the same time, 72% of students regard the expression of offensive political views as beyond what college officials should regulate, while 27% think colleges should be able to prohibit the expression of such views.

Majorities of all key student subgroups oppose college policies restricting offensive political speech -- but majorities also believe colleges should be able to restrict slurs and stereotypical costumes.

Students Say Press Has Right to Cover Campus Protests

Perhaps the greatest test of First Amendment freedoms on campus occurred last fall, when some protesters exercising their rights of free speech and free assembly attempted to deny members of the press their right to report on those events. This occurred at the University of Missouri and at Smith College in Massachusetts during protests about matters of racial inclusion.

College students generally do not support denying reporters access to campus protests: 70% believe student protesters should not be able to prevent the press from covering protests, while 28% believe they should.

However, as with free speech, college students' commitment to a free press appears stronger in the abstract than it does when they are asked to evaluate reasons protesters might give for denying the press access. Roughly half of students say it would be acceptable to resist reporters if protesters believe the press will be unfair in its reporting (49%) or if the protesters assert a right to be left alone (48%). Slightly less, 44%, believe protesters can bar reporters from their event if the protesters want to tell their own story on the Internet or on social media.

College Students' Views of Reasons to Deny Press Access to Protests Do you believe each of the following is -- or is not -- a legitimate reason for people attending a protest or other public gathering to deny the press access to an event? A legitimate reason % Not a legitimate reason % The people at the protest believe the press will be unfair to them in its reporting. 49 50 The people at the protest or public gathering say they have a right to be left alone. 48 51 The people at the protest or public gathering want to tell their own story on the Internet and social media. 44 56 February-March 2016 Knight Foundation "Free Expression on Campus" Study

Majorities of female college students and black college students believe all three reasons are legitimate for denying the press access to campus protests.

Implications

College students' complex views of First Amendment freedoms and the recent actions of some students raise questions as to how committed students are to those rights. Students themselves, much more so than U.S. adults more generally, largely believe these rights are secure in the U.S. today. And college students believe free speech rights are stronger today than in the past.

Recent events touching on free expression issues on campus suggest new controversies will continue to emerge, even though college students largely show consensus on what types of expression they think are and are not permissible. As in the case of the recent "Trump 2016" and "#StopIslam" messages, the controversies may arise out of the ambiguity of whether such messages are permissible expressions of controversial political viewpoints or impermissible expressions designed to hurt or threaten members of certain groups.

Survey Methods

Results are based on telephone interviews conducted Feb. 29-March 15, 2016, with a random sample of 3,072 U.S. college students, aged 18 to 24, who are currently enrolled full time at four-year institutions. The college sample consists of a random subset of full-time students at 32 randomly selected U.S. four-year colleges that were stratified based on region, enrollment size and private versus public control. For results based on the total sample of college students, the margin of sampling error is 3 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.
Syria/Iraq border crossing : Bonn woman detained in Iraq

Bonn A Bonn woman was apparently detained by Kurdish authorities and put in a womens prison in northern Iraq.

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Bonn resident Beriwan Al Zin was apparently detained by Kurdish authorities in the local autonomous region and put in a womens prison in northern Iraq. She is accused of crossing the border from Syria into Iraq illegally. The German Foreign Ministry has confirmed the incident to General Anzeiger. According to her employer, Hamburg politician Martin Dolzer, she was travelling in the crisis region to contact with humanitarian organizations. She is employed as his assistant on scientific projects and lives in Bonn.

Dolzer said his colleague had already been arrested on March 22 but she was only allowed to call her family after six days. That goes against all diplomatic agreements, said Dolzer. Having spoken to her, her family said she is not doing well and she wants to come home. Of course, they are very concerned about her. Dolzer himself has also been in Syria and Iraq and said he hopes the arrest is just harassment and that my colleague will be free to go in the coming days.

He now believes that the federal government has the responsibility to help the 32-year-old and obtain her immediate release. The Foreign Ministry told General Anzeiger it is in contact with a representative of the German consulate in Erbil and they are in touch with local authorities. Over the next two days, an embassy employee wanted to visit Al Zin in the prison. A concrete reason for her arrest could not be confirmed by the Foreign Ministry.
Iraq prison : Bonn woman is freed

Beriwan Al Zin. Foto: privat

Bonn A Bonn woman is freed after having been detained in a prison in northern Iraq on March 22.

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Beriwan Al Zin, a Bonn resident who was detained in a womens prison in northern Iraq has been freed. The Foreign Ministry made the announcement on Tuesday. Al Zin was allowed to leave the prison with employees of the Consulate General in Erbil. Officials in Berlin say the consulate is now looking after the woman.

Al Zin had been arrested March 22 in the Kurdish autonomous region in northern Iraq. The local government accused her of crossing illegally from Syria into Iraq. According to her employer, Hamburg politician Martin Dolzer, she had been in the region working for him to make contact with humanitarian organizations and do research. He said he was able to briefly talk with her after she was freed, She is happy to be in freedom again, and her family is grateful that the Foreign Ministry and some private persos were able to intervene successfully on her behalf.

Prison conditions were apparently harsh and Dolzen criticized that she was not allowed to make a phone call to her family until she had already been imprisoned for six days. The 32-year-old is expected to travel back to Germany in the next couple days.
Muffendorf refugee center : Stabbing suspect known to police

Bad Godesberg Two men faced a court hearing for a fatal stabbing at the Muffendorf refugee shelter. One of them was known to police.

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More information has been released about a deadly knife attack at the asylum seeker shelter on Deutschherrenstrae in Muffendorf. A 26-year-old man from Kosovo is alleged to have killed a 32-year-old Albanian man in the stabbing Sunday evening. He was brought to a court hearing on Monday afternoon and faces charges of manslaughter as does his alleged accomplice, a 30-year-old Albanian man. It is not yet known to what extent the 30-year-old man was involved in the attack. Officials cannot yet shed light on what caused the conflict but according to police spokesperson Robert Scholten, The two have already clashed once.

The 26-year-old Kosovar was known to police for previous incidents including assault. According to information from General Anzeiger, the man had already been accommodated at the Muffendorf shelter, went back to Kosovo for some time and then returned to Germany, going back again to the same shelter. As reported, there was a conflict involving several persons at the shelter and it escalated. The 26-year-old man is alleged to have pulled out a knife and stabbed the 32-year-old Albanian man, who died an hour later from his injuries.

Police praised the security workers at the shelter for their handling of the situation. They detained the two suspects in separate rooms until police came, and calmed the situation. The shelter is run by the German Red Cross and houses 259 persons. This is not the only such attack in a refugee center in Bonn. In February, a 29-year-old Somalian man attacked a 29-year-old Moroccan man with a knife, injuring him. In December of 2015, one man attacked another with a knife at a refugee center in Auerberg, injuring him. In the summer of 2015, in an Endenich shelter, a 24-year-old West African man stabbed a 27-year-old who lived there.
City administration and police : Tone harshens towards public sector workers

Bonn The Interior Ministry holds a press conference addressing the increasingly aggressive and harsh tone against public sector workers.

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Those who work in public service jobs are accustomed to hearing quite an earful from the people they serve. And it isnt all pleasant. They have expressed their concerns about the increasingly aggressive tones to their unions. German Interior Minister Thomas de Maziere has called for a press conference on Thuesday in Berlin to address the issue: Violence against public service workers.

The nationwide phenomenon is also present in Bonn. Christoph Busch, chairman of the local civil servants union Komba said We have observed that the threshold (of civility) has continued to fall in recent years. His union colleague, Ninja Kernig who previously worked in the urban social security office, is aware of colleagues who have experienced serious incidents.

In 2015, there were nine cases where persons had to be banned from different areas of administrative services due to aggressive or threatening behavior. The Komba union believes it would make sense to create a position for a contact person who public employees could go to with their concerns. Kernig compared it to the fire department having a chaplain to counsel workers in difficult situations.

At the Employment Office in Bonn, the number of people having to be banned from the premises has also risen. In 2015 it was 17 persons, the year before it was 13 persons and before that 15 persons  all due to threats and harassment. A job center worker in Neuss was killed in 2012 by a client she was serving; he pulled out a knife and stabbed her.

Udo Schott, chair of Bonn police union comments on disrespect towards police, spitting, hitting and kicking have grown. As well, people take out their cell phones and film conversations and then post them in the internet, this is an infringement on our privacy. Unions are hoping for stronger support from the justice system, Too many cases are not even pursued or are quickly ended. They are hoping for a more consistent law enforcement. Schott said he would be for the use of tasers, which could help ward off attackers without having to resort to firearms.
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U.S. Airstrike Targets Meeting of Senior al-Qaida Leaders in Syria

By Terri Moon Cronk DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, April 4, 2016  A U.S. military airstrike on a senior al-Qaida operational meeting in northwestern Syria resulted in "several enemy killed," possibly including the terrorist organization's leader, Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook told reporters today.

"We assess that al-Qaida's senior leader, Abu Firas al-Suri, was in that meeting, and we are working to confirm his death," Cook said.

Suri, a Syrian national, worked with Osama bin Laden and other founding al-Qaida members to train terrorists and conduct attacks on a global scale, Cook said, adding that he was a "legacy" al-Qaida member who fought in Afghanistan in the 1980s and 1990s.

Al-Shabab Leader Killed in Somalia

In addition, Cook said, the Defense Department has confirmed that al-Shabab senior leader Hassan Ali Dhoore was killed in a March 31 U.S. military airstrike in Somalia. As one of the top leaders of al-Qaida's Somalian affiliate, the press secretary said, Dhoore was a member of al-Shabaab's security and intelligence wing and was heavily involved in high-profile attack planning in Mogadishu, Cook said.

"He has planned and overseen attacks resulting in the death of at least three U.S. citizens," the press secretary said, adding that the United States continues to work with the international community to mitigate conflict in Somalia and to provide a safe and secure environment for the people of Somalia.

DoD's assessment of al-Shabab activity is ongoing, Cook said, and the department is working with the African Union Mission in Somalia, or Amisom, and U.S. partners in Africa "to determine the best way forward to defeat al-Shabab wherever they are. Amisom is a regional peacekeeping mission operated by the African Union with the approval of the United Nations in Somalia.

ISIL Fighter Connected to Marine's Death Killed

Cook also confirmed the death of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant battlefield commander thought to be responsible for the March 19 death of Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Louis F. Cardin of Temecula, California.

"The person we've identified is Jasim Khadijah," he said. "He was an ISIL member and a former Iraqi officer that we believe was directly connected" to the enemy rocket attack on Cardin's base, he said.

Cardin was part of a Marine Corps detachment near Makhmur, Iraq, and was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, when he was killed.

"Because of [Khadijah's] particular knowledge and his involvement with that part of ISIL's operations,  we feel he played a role in the rocket attacks that [claimed] the life of Staff Sergeant Cardin," Cook said.

Two Detainees Transferred from Guantanamo

Pentagon officials also announced today the transfer of two Libyan nationals from the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba to Senegal.

The transfer of Salam Abdu Salam Ghereby and Omar Khalif Mohammed Abu Baker Mahjour brings the number of Guantanamo detainees to 89, Cook said, adding that U.S. officials are grateful to Senegal's government for its "significant humanitarian gesture and  assistance" as the United States works to responsibly close the Guantanamo Bay facility.

"As always in making these transfer decisions, [Defense Secretary Ash Carter] carefully reviewed the cases and the security assurances provided by the Senegalese government," the press secretary said. "[The] safety and the security of the American people remains the secretary's top priority in making these decisions."

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Austin Reflects on Centcom's Achievements During 'Tumultuous Times'

By Jim Garamone DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, April 4, 2016  U.S. Central Command has responsibility for American military interests in the most volatile area of the world: the Middle East and Central and South Asia.

On the eve of his retirement, Austin looked at the area and the way ahead for U.S. Central Command. Last week, Austin passed the U.S. Central Command flag to Army Gen. Joseph L. Votel during a ceremony at the command's MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, headquarters.

Region's Importance

That the region is important to America is undisputed. "[The region] holds over half of the world's proven oil reserves and plentiful natural gas reserves," Austin said in an interview. "There also are three strategic maritime choke points -- the Strait of Hormuz, the Suez Canal and Bab el Mandeb Strait." If freedom of movement within these waterways is obstructed it can have a significant impact on the global economy, he added.

The region has a deep history and culture, and three of the five major religions -- Christianity, Islam Judaism -- sprang from its soil. "The Central Region is also the most volatile, dynamic and chaotic region of the world, and this is the result of poor governance, political instability, poor economic development, large amounts of ungoverned space and a host of other factors," the general said.

The United States has core national interests in the Centcom area of operations, and they cannot be ignored, Austin said. These interests include the protection of the U.S. homeland, the prevention of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and the free flow of commerce.

Cooperation, Stability

Stability in the region is the goal, he said, and the command stands with international partners to promote cooperation among nations, to respond to crises, to deter or defeat state and nonstate aggression, and to support development.

The command pushes three simultaneous efforts. "First, you have to manage the crises at hand," the general said. "Equally important are our efforts to prevent other confrontations and situations from becoming crises. Finally, what you really want to do is to shape outcomes and help to steer things in that strategically important region in the direction of increased stability and security."

Centcom works closely with interagency partners -- the State Department, U.S. Agency for International Development, the intelligence community and law enforcement agencies -- and with international partners. Austin also has been tireless in interacting with his military counterparts throughout the region, hosting numerous chiefs of defense conferences that bring the region's senior military leaders together to discuss important issues. "Needless to say, [Centcom] is viewed as a very influential and an important partner throughout the Central Region," he said.

Arab Spring

Since the Arab Spring revolutions in 2011, the region has been in turmoil. "We are currently supporting the efforts of the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen," Austin said. "We maintain pressure on extremist networks and actively pursue terrorists wherever they are in the region on a daily basis."

The command continues to support coalition operations in Afghanistan, "where we are helping our Afghan partners to build additional needed capability, while at the same time preventing that country from once again becoming a safe haven for al-Qaida and other extremist groups," the general said. "We continue to keep a close eye on Iran."

Finally, he said, the command is fully engaged in the ongoing operations in Syria and Iraq against the terrorist organization operating there, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL.

Austin said the campaign against the terrorist group is making significant progress. "Indeed, we are now pressuring ISIL on more fronts than at any other point in the campaign," he said. "And, we are going about it the right way and that is by using indigenous forces and supporting and enabling their efforts on the ground."

The campaign has helped to create opportunities for Iraqi and Syrian forces to take back territory. The support the 66-nation coalition provides has hit ISIL where it hurts, killing dozens of the terror group's senior leaders, smashing the group's financial infrastructure and slowing the flow of foreign fighters joining the group. Austin is quite proud of the counter-ISIL coalition, calling it "the largest coalition since World War II united against a common enemy."

ISIL Demoralized

ISIL is becoming less capable and increasingly demoralized, paranoid and prone to defections, the general said. Setbacks in Iraq and Syria are also causing them to revert to terrorist attacks like the ones launched in Paris; Ankara, Turkey; San Bernardino, California; and most recently, Brussels.

"While the fight against ISIL remains incredibly complex, and while the defeat of this enemy will take time and it will not be easy, we will get it done," he said.

Austin said the command has dealt with these challenges and more -- as Centcom confronted the tumult of the Middle East, there were budget challenges at home.

"In addition to managing a significant number of challenges throughout the region, we also have made great strides in our efforts to help our regional partners to build much-needed capacity, and our efforts are paying off," he said. "Our regional partners are assuming a greater share of the security responsibilities in the region."

Austin noted that five Sunni Arab-led nations took part in the first airstrikes against ISIL inside of Syria on Sept. 23, 2014. "It was remarkable to witness, and it was no small feat," he said. "But they did a remarkable job, and that was, in large part, a reflection of the increased interoperability and trust between nations that is achieved through our building-partner-capacity efforts."

These partner-building efforts will continue into the future, he said.

"Much of what we have set in motion throughout the Central Region through our various efforts will continue to bear fruit in the coming months and years," Austin said. "The fact is that at a strategic-level command, you necessarily manage sometimes numerous conflicts or crises on a daily basis. But, beyond that, much of what you're doing -- the levers that you're pulling, the seeds that you're planting, with the goal of shaping outcomes for the future -- you won't likely see the effects of those efforts for months, or even years."

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Iran defense minister, Azeri counterpart discuss Karabakh issue

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, April 4, IRNA -- Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan and his Azeri counterpart Zakir Hasanov on Monday discussed latest developments in the Karabakh region in a telephone conversation.

Recent tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia in the Karabakh region killed at least 30 in one of the bloodiest days in the smouldering conflict since a 1994 ceasefire in the region.

Dehqan stressed importance of solving the conflict through peaceful solutions.

He also urged Baku and Yerevan to exercise self-restraint.

Tehran will spare no efforts to help ease the tension, Dehqan stressed.

Touching upon the escalation of tensions between Baku and Yerevan over Karabakh region and military conflict in their border lines on Sunday that led to exchange of fire and killing of a number of Azeri and Armenian soldiers, Dehqan has made separate phone calls with his counterparts in both countries urging them to make a halt to the conflict and solve the crisis through dialogue.

Meanwhile, the Iranian minister had made separate phone calls on Sunday to his Azeri and Armenian counterparts calling them to stop military conflict as soon as possible and exercise self-restraint.

On April 3, Azerbaijan has declared a unilateral ceasefire with Armenia in the disputed enclave however he Azeri Defense Ministry said thst three of its troopers were killed as the Armenians fired mortar shells at Azeri positions and attacked them using grenade launchers on Monday.

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Iraqi, Coalition forces turning tide in fight to defeat ISIL

US Marine Corps News

By Sgt. Ricardo Hurtado | April 4, 2016

U.S. Marines and Sailors with II Marine Expeditionary Force packed up their bags and headed home after a nine-month deployment to Iraq's al Anbar province at the end of March 2016.

The troops manned the command element for Task Force Al Taqaddum, at Al Taqaddum Air Base, Iraq, with the mission to advise and assist members of the Iraqi Security Forces conducting operations in the province, primarily in the Ramadi area.

The team of advisors arrived in Al Taqaddum to form the task force shortly after President Barack Obama's June 10, 2015, announcement on the augmentation of U.S. troops to provide assistance to Iraqi forces in their fight to defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

In addition to the II MEF Marines, the U.S.-led coalition force is composed of augments from the Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force Crisis Response Central Command, as well and U.S. Soldiers, Airmen and components of the Australian and Italian armed forces. The task force currently operates out of Camp Manion aboard the air base.

During their tour, the team advised the leadership of the 8th Iraqi Army Division, which ultimately led to the recapture of Ramadi, early this year.

U.S. Marine Col. Christopher J. Douglas, the task force commander said that members of the task force advised and assisted the ISF "regarding the planning and coordination for operations in the form of surveillance and reconnaissance for key areas where [the Iraqis] were going to conduct operations" in addition to fire support planning and monitoring of the attacks.

"Nine months ago, there was a much smaller footprint [in the area]. Many capabilities had been added as a need developed within the ISF and right now we would consider Ramadi secured," said Douglas. "The local governance and the ISF are now enabled to focus on the stability [of the area] and security operations."

Douglas also said the recapture of Ramadi is the result of the hard work put in by the ISF, and the task force simply served as advisors throughout the process.

"As far as the role that was played in the securing of Ramadi, really who all the credit goes to is the ISF," said Douglas. "[Ours] was a limited role in the planning and coordination of operations."

Through the conduct of operations, members of the task force drew from their offensive mindset to better assist their Iraqi counterparts in the planning and execution of tactics, techniques and procedures.

"[As] the Ramadi counter attacks were going on, the members of the task force, specifically the advisors, were providing training to members of the 8th Division, the Anbar Operation Command and the 10th Division, in small number because primarily the forces were committed to the fight," said Douglas.

The task force conducted train-the-trainer training on communications and radio operations, artillery, explosive ordnance disposal, breaching, and medical techniques.

TFTQ trained nearly 60 Iraqi soldiers on communications and radio operations and more than 40 on artillery. They also trained eight EOD teams, and approximately 40 Iraqis were trained on medical and life-saving procedures.

With their newly gained education, the Iraqis were now able to go back to their units and hold sessions to teach what they learned to other soldiers.

"We saw a real-time effect with the training that was conducted," said Douglas. "Specific to the medical training, [Iraqi] medics that we worked with came back with casualties and the task force's medical advisors saw the actual practical applications of some of the techniques that [our U.S. medical personnel] had shown them in training."

In addition to the planning and coordination for operations and training, the task force also assisted in the care of wounded Iraqi Soldiers who were injured in combat.

Douglas said that this was a significant element as it gave Iraqi Soldiers the will to continue to fight.

If a wounded Iraqi soldier is brought to the gates of Camp Manion, they are first treated by U.S. Navy corpsmen, who assess the patient's injuries, stabilize them and perform emergency procedures on the spot, if necessary. Based on the corpsman's assessment, a patient could be admitted for further care by the U.S. Army medical teams. The assessment must meet the medical rules of eligibility to determine if the corpsmen are able to provide care. Iraqi Soldiers who are in danger of losing their life are seen immediately, where more routine injuries may be referred to local hospitals.

According to a medical advisor, the task force admitted 360 casualties for surgery in addition to over 100 who were treated at the gate for minor injuries during TFTQ's nine-month deployment.

The expansion of Camp Manion, which houses the task force, is another noticeable accomplishment for the task force.

"[The camp] has grown a lot and many capabilities have been added and enhanced," said Douglas. "I can say that all the credit goes to all of the members of the task force for their diligence, their hard work ethic and their ability to work together  regardless of service  towards the achievement of the shared and common goal, which is providing the best spot available to provide advice, assistance and training for the ISF during the Ramadi counter attacks."

The new team of advisors arrived at Camp Manion mid-March to begin taking over the task force's A&A mission. The team is led by U.S. Marine Col. Sam Cook from II MEF. This is Cook's third deployment to Iraq, and he hopes to be as successful as Douglas' team was.

"The previous team under Col. Douglas had an outstanding success with the recapture of Ramadi; I hope to continue that success," said Cook. "And I look forward to the challenge of helping the Iraqi Security Forces retake their country."

Cook is also excited to work with other branches of services and is confident in his team.

"I'm looking forward to working in a joint environment with Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and the Marines we brought out here from across the [II Marine Expeditionary Force]," said Cook. "Every Marine in II MEF, which is the core of the command element here at the task force, comes from across the [2nd Marine Aircraft Wing], the [2nd Marine Division], and the [2nd Marine Logistics Group]. They were all hand selected and approved by their commanding generals, so the core command element is top notch."

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NATO Secretary General thanks President Obama for US commitment to NATO

NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

04 Apr. 2016 - 07 Apr. 2016

Last updated: 04 Apr. 2016 23:14

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and US President Barack Obama discussed the Alliance's response to key security challenges at the White House in Washington D.C. and preparations for the Warsaw Summit in July. Their meeting on Monday (4 April 2016) had special symbolism, as it took place 67 years since the signing of the Washington Treaty, on which the Alliance is founded.

The Secretary General stressed that "NATO is as important as ever, because NATO has been able to adapt to a more dangerous world." He thanked President Obama for his personal leadership and his commitment to transatlantic security.

The two leaders discussed the common fight against terrorism. "Terrorism affects us all, from Brussels to San Bernardino," Mr Stoltenberg said, noting that all NATO Allies contribute to the US-led effort to degrade and destroy ISIL and that NATO has just started training Iraqi officers. They also discussed how NATO can increase its support to other countries in the region, including Libya. 

Afghanistan was also high on the agenda. Mr Stoltenberg underlined that NATO's biggest operation, a response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks against the US, shows the importance of Europe and North America standing together.

The Secretary General outlined NATO's strengthening of its collective defence in response to a more assertive Russia, and thanked President Obama for the important US contribution through the European Reassurance Initiative.

The two leaders also stressed the importance of increased investments in defence at a time of greater security challenges.

On Tuesday (5 April 2016), the Secretary General will meet with senior US defence officials and observe a military training exercise at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. On Wednesday, Mr. Stoltenberg will also meet with members of the Armed Services Committee and Foreign Relations Committee on Capitol Hill, and deliver a keynote speech at an event organised by the Atlantic Council in Washington D.C.

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Azerbaijan appeals to international community on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 09:38, April 04, 2016

BAKU, April 3 -- Azerbaijan has appealed to the international community to demand withdrawal of Armenian troops from the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

Azerbaijan has also urged the international community to engage constructively in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement process in accordance with the requirements of relevant resolutions of the UNSC and the norms and principles of international law, the statement said.

At night of April 2, 2016, Armenian armed forces had launched a massive attack on civilians residing in the territories adjacent to the frontline area and opened intensive heavy weapons fire at the positions of Azerbaijan's armed forces along the line of contact, said the statement.

"The attack resulted in deaths and injuries of the Azeri civilians. Substantial damages were also inflicted upon the private and public properties," it said.

The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry on Sunday declared to unilaterally suspend all military operations and response measures in the high-strung disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region with Armenia.

However, the Nagorno-Karabakh defense authorities said that heavy battles were still going on in the northeastern and southeastern directions, denying that the Azerbaijani side had implemented a real ceasefire along the contact line in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan on the contact line of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region have reportedly flared up overnight Saturday with the two countries' defense ministries blaming each other for triggering the escalation.

The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said 12 Azerbaijani soldiers have been killed in the fighting while the Armenian side confirmed that 18 soldiers died in the conflict.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked in a bitter dispute over the mountainous region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh first broke out in 1988, when the region claimed independence from Azerbaijan to join Armenia.

Peace talks have been held since 1994 when a ceasefire was reached, but there have been occasional minor clashes in the past along the borders and across the volatile frontline of the Karabakh area. The clashes obviously escalated last month.

On Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin urged the parties in the conflict to "observe an immediate ceasefire and exercise restraint in order to prevent further casualties," according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

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US kicks off largest maritime exercise in Mideast

Iran Press TV

Mon Apr 4, 2016 8:17PM

The United States has kicked off the world's largest maritime exercise in the Middle East, with more than 30 countries participating in the event.

The International Mine Countermeasures Exercise (IMCMEX), which is organized by US Naval Forces Central Command, began Monday in Bahrain, home to the US 5th Fleet.

"These participating nations are united by a common thread  the need to protect the free flow of commerce from a range of maritime threats including piracy, terrorism and mines," said Vice Admiral Kevin Donegan, the commander of US Naval Forces Central Command in a statement.

"This region provides a strong training opportunity for nations worldwide as three of the six major maritime choke points in the world are here: the Suez Canal, the Strait of Bab Al Mandeb and the Strait of Hormuz," Donegan said.

The IMCMEX, which ends on April 26, focuses on operations such as mine countermeasures, infrastructure protection, and maritime security operations to protect civilian shipping.

In addition, new technologies such as unmanned underwater vehicles and the expeditionary fast transport ship USNS Choctaw County will be demonstrated.

At the same time, the United States launched another drill Monday in waters near the South China Sea, areas of which are the subject of a territorial dispute among regional states including China.

The 12-day annual drills, dubbed Balikatan (Shoulder-to-Shoulder), began on Monday with the participation of some 5,000 US troops, 4,000 Filipino soldiers, and 80 Australian forces.

The US has recently increased its presence in the Middle East as well as in the Asia-Pacific region.

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Four Armenian troops killed in fresh clashes with Azerbaijan over Karabakh

Iran Press TV

Mon Apr 4, 2016 5:25PM

At least four Armenian military personnel have been killed in a series of clashes between Armenian-backed and Azerbaijani forces in the disputed Caucasus region of Karabakh.

"Four more military victims were announced today on the Karabakh side," in fresh clashes with Azerbaijan forces on Monday, said Hovhannes Guevorkian, Karabakh representative in France.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Guevorkia blamed Azeri forces for continued bombing of towns across the volatile region, saying the violence-wracked region would use fixed-wing combat aircraft if there was a new large-scale attack by Azerbaijan forces.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Armenia-backed authorities in Karabakh have accused Azeri forces of killing three civilians, including a 92-year-old woman, in the village of Talysh.

Armenian Defense Ministry spokesman Artsrun Hovhannisyan also claimed that the Yerevan-backed forces had "seriously advanced at certain sectors of the front line and took up new positions." The remarks were quickly dismissed as "untrue" by senior Azerbaijan authorities in Baku.

On the third day of the heaviest clashes in 20 years in the disputed border region, the Azeri Defense Ministry said on Monday that three of its troopers were killed as the Armenians fired mortar shells at Azeri positions and attacked them using grenade launchers overnight.

Ministry spokesman Vagif Dargahly warned that his country "will launch a full-scale operation along the entire front-line, using all kinds of weapons," if Armenia continued its "provocations."

The fighting between the two countries erupted last Friday, leaving nearly 40 people dead so far.

Meanwhile, Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian has suggested that a "ceasefire would only be possible if the militaries of both sides return to the positions" they held prior to the outbreak of hostilities.

The proposal comes a day after Azerbaijan announced a "unilateral" ceasefire as a gesture of goodwill, warning, however, that it would strike back if its forces came under attack. Bouts of fighting were reported soon afterwards.

The Karabakh region, which is located in the Azerbaijan Republic but is populated by Armenians, has been under the control of local ethnic Armenian militia and the Armenian troops since a three-year war, which claimed over 30,000 lives, ended between the two republics in 1994 through Russian mediation.

Last December, the Armenian Defense Ministry said the ceasefire deal reached in 1994 was no longer in place, saying the current situation amounted to "war."

Although the two countries are divided by a buffer zone, both sides frequently accuse each other of violating the ceasefire.

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Saudis attack civilians in Hajjah, Sa'ada; casualties reported

Iran Press TV

Mon Apr 4, 2016 3:23PM

Airstrikes by Saudi warplanes have killed one and injured a number of other civilians in neighboring Yemen as the kingdom continues to target residential areas across the impoverished nation.

Reports by local media on Monday said some Saudi air raids targeted a camp belonging to the internally-displaced Yemenis in the northwestern Hajjah Province, leaving at least six children and one woman injured.

The attack took place in the Lamrour district of al-Shahel, a city in Hajjah.

Yemen's al-Masirah TV said Saudis also carried out an attack earlier on Monday on civilian houses in the city of Sa'ada, north of the country, killing one civilian.

Security sources said air strikes also targeted a telecommunications center in the city of Saqayn and a post office in the city Haydan, both in the Sa'ada Province, which is a stronghold of Ansarullah. Reports said a number of houses were also destroyed in the attacks.

Yemen has been the target of incessant Saudi airstrikes for more than a year. Nearly 9,400 Yemenis have lost their lives since last March.

A report by the United Nations Children's Fund indicates that the war has killed at least 934 children and injured nearly 1,400 more so far. This means, on average, six children have been directly affected by the violence every day.

The Saudi attacks on Monday came as Ansarullah fighters and allied army units continued to launch reprisal attacks on Saudi and pro-Saudi military positions inside and outside Yemen. Al-Masirah said Yemenis managed to kill scores of Saudi forces in one such attack on troops in Rabuah region, southern Saudi Arabia.

The allied forces also launched missile attacks on Saudi-led forces in al-Naser military base, located between Yemen's Jawf and Ma'rib provinces, with no immediate reports available on potential casualties.

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US, Philippines begin military drills amid tensions over S. China Sea

Iran Press TV

Mon Apr 4, 2016 12:26PM

About 9,000 troops from United States, Australia and the Philippines started a joint military exercise on Monday amid ongoing tensions in the Asia-Pacific region over the South China Sea.

Some 5,000 American troops are taking part in the 11-day exercises, along with nearly 4,000 Filipino soldiers and 80 Australian special forces.

The drills are part of the annual Balikatan military exercises between the US and Philippines. Australian troops have participated in the drills since 2014.

China has repeatedly criticized US military presence in the region and suspects the military drills are part of efforts to contain Beijing.

Washington and Manila say that the drills are not directed against China, and that they also focus on preparing for natural disasters and humanitarian crises.

The Philippines is also preparing to host US troops at five bases under a defense pact born out of US President Barack Obama's policy of a "pivot" to the Asia-Pacific, a plan to reassert American influence in the region.

US Marine Lieutenant-General John Toolan, commander of the US Marine Corps in the Pacific, told reporters in Manila the exercises would help the allies improve maritime security and maintain regional stability.

"Our alliance is strong. The United States is committed to this relationship, and these are not empty words. . . . Peace in Southeast Asia depends on our cooperation," Toolan added.

US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter will be the first Pentagon chief to observe the exercises when he arrives next week, underscoring the significance of the war games for both countries.

China claims nearly all of the South China Sea, despite partial counterclaims by Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam and the Philippines. China is also locked in disputes with Japan and South Korea over the East China Sea.

In recent years, China has built major structures including radar systems and air strips over reclaimed reefs and outcrops.

Washington has sent bombers and warships on patrol close to the Chinese construction activity in recent months, infuriating Beijing.

China's Xinhua news agency warned "outsiders" against interfering in tense South China Sea territorial disputes as the drills began on Monday.

"The... exercises caps Manila's recent attempts to involve outsiders in (a) regional row," Xinhua said in a commentary. "However, a provocation so fear-mongering and untimely as such is likely to boomerang on the initiators," it added.

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Police clash with assailants in Congo capital

Iran Press TV

Mon Apr 4, 2016 12:23PM

Clashes have erupted in Congo's capital, Brazzaville, between police and armed assailants in the first outbreak of violence in the African country weeks after the re-election of President Denis Sassou Nguesso.

The gunfire broke out at 3 a.m. local time on Monday in the capital's southern neighborhoods of Makelekele and Bacongo, which are opposition's strongholds, and continued for three hours. The firing resumed again at 8 a.m., witnesses said.

Assailants torched police station and a government building. Several explosions were also heard during the clashes.

Supporters of opposition group shouted "Sassou, leave!" and erected barricades near the main roundabout in Makelekele.

Clashes came as the African country's Constitutional Court was studying the validity of results from the recent presidential election.

Sassou Nguesso won 60 percent of the votes cast in the March 20 election, which was dismissed as fraudulent by the opposition who called for a campaign of civil disobedience.

The 72-year-old former paratrooper colonel served as president from 1979 to 1992 and returned to power in 1997 following a civil war. He further won two successive terms in 2002 and 2009.

The oil- and timber-rich African country has been on edge since last October, when a controversial constitutional referendum ended a two-term limit on presidential mandates and allowed Nguesso to run for a third term.

Over the past few months, people have held demonstrations and staged general strikes to express their outrage at the contentious move.

Critics have accused the Congolese president of nepotism and corruption.

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Nigeria captures leader of terrorist group, Ansaru

Iran Press TV

Mon Apr 4, 2016 10:23AM

The Nigerian army says it has arrested the leader of an al-Qaeda linked militant group, Ansaru, known for kidnapping and murdering Westerners.

Khalid al-Barnawi was captured in Lokoja, capital of the central state of Kogi on Friday, military spokesman Brigadier General Rabe Abubakar said on Sunday.

"He is among those on top of the list of our wanted terrorists," he added.

Al-Barnawi has been one of the three Nigerians listed by the US in 2012 as "specially designated global terrorists." The US had placed a $5 million bounty on his head.

A-Barnawi has "ties to Boko Haram" and "close links to al-Qaeda," according to the US State Department.

A Nigerian army officer said his arrest was "a huge success and will have a profound effect on counter-terrorism operations in Nigeria and beyond."

Ansaru is a splinter group of Boko Haram which claimed responsibility for the December 26, 2012 attack on a facility in Abuja, where the army held captured militants. They killed two policemen and freed 40 detainees.

The group also said it was responsible for another attack in 2013 on a convoy of Mali-bound Nigerian troops in Kogi state. The terrorists killed two soldiers and seriously wounded five others.

Boko Haram has so far claimed the lives of over 17,000 people since the start of its insurgency in Nigeria in 2009. The violence has also forced over 2.6 million others to flee their homes since then. The terror group has pledged allegiance to the Daesh Takfiri group.

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Three Azeri troops killed in clashes with Armenia over Karabakh: Azerbaijan

Iran Press TV

Mon Apr 4, 2016 10:4AM

Azerbaijan has accused Armenia of killing three of its servicemen in the border region of Nagorno Karabakh, as the two sides continue to clash for the control of the region.

The Azeri Defense Ministry said the three troopers were killed as the Armenians fired mortar shells at Azeri positions and attacked them using grenade launchers on Monday.

Ministry spokesman Vagif Dargahly warned that his country "will launch a full-scale operation along the entire front-line, using all kinds of weapons," if Armenia continued its "provocations."

Meanwhile, in a statement from their unrecognized capital, Stepanakert, in the disputed region, rebels accused Azeri troops of intensifying the "shelling of the Karabakh army positions on Monday morning, using 152-millimeter mortars, rocket-propelled artillery and tanks."

Armenian Defense Ministry spokesman Artsrun Hovhannisyan said the rebels made major advances "at certain sectors of the front-line and took up new positions."

But Azerbaijan dismissed the report as "untrue," with the Azeri Defense Ministry saying that several key heights in Karabakh that had been seized by Azeri troopers on Saturday were still under their control.

The fighting between the two countries erupted last Friday, leaving at least 33 troops and two civilians dead.

On Sunday, Azerbaijan announced a "unilateral" ceasefire as a gesture of goodwill, warning, however, that it would strike back if its forces came under attack.

Bouts of fighting were reported soon afterwards.

The Karabakh region, which is located in the Azerbaijan Republic but is populated by Armenians, has been under the control of local ethnic Armenian militia and the Armenian troops since a three-year war, which claimed over 30,000 lives, ended between the two republics in 1994 through Russian mediation.

Last December, the Armenian Defense Ministry said the ceasefire deal reached in 1994 was no longer in place, saying the current situation amounted to "war."

Although the two countries are divided by a buffer zone, both sides frequently accused one another of violating the ceasefire.

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World Leaders Scramble After Massive Leak On Offshore Intrigues

April 04, 2016

by RFE/RL

World leaders have scrambled to react to the leak of a trove of documents linking many of them to secretive offshore companies that enabled vast sums of money to move around the world hidden from law enforcement and regulators.

A massive report called The Panama Papers, published simultaneously by multiple news organizations in multiple languages on April 3, divulged details about the offshore holdings of 12 current or former heads of states, including Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

The leaked documents from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca also revealed that relatives or associates of 17 other current or former leaders held offshore accounts, including Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Several world leaders on April 4 confronted the report head-on, saying the report did not reveal anything implicating them in wrongdoing.

Poroshenko took to Facebook to defend himself after the leaked documents reportedly showed that he moved his confectionary business, Roshen, to the British Virgin Islands in August 2014 amid some of the heaviest fighting between Kyiv's forces and Russia-backed separatists.

"Having become president, I recused myself from the management of my assets and delegated this to the respective consulting and law firms," Poroshenko wrote. "I expect that they will provide all necessary details to the Ukrainian and international media."

He added that he took the issues of income declaration, paying taxes, and conflicts of interest "very seriously" and was in "in full compliance with the Ukrainian and international private law."

Earlier in the day, the head of Ukraine's populist Radical party called for an impeachment investigation of Poroshenko over allegations he used the offshore account to avoid taxes. Ukraine's Prosecutor-General's Office said it had seen no evidence that Poroshenko committed a crime based on the leaked documents.

In Moscow, meanwhile, the Kremlin slammed the leak of the tax documents as an attack aimed primarily at Putin.

Putin is not named in the leaked documents. But the report claims to have documented a vast network of shady money transfers, several of which it details, used by close associates of Putin to funnel as much as $2 billion into offshore shell companies.

"Putin, Russia, our country, our stability and the upcoming [parliamentary] elections are the main target, specifically to destabilize the situation," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on April 4.

He added that there was "nothing new or concrete" about the Russian leader in the leaks and suggested that U.S. intelligence was behind the revelations.

"We know this so-called journalist community," Peskov said. "There are a lot of journalists whose main profession is unlikely to be journalism: a lot of former officials from the [U.S.] State Department, the CIA, and other special services."

The information stems from millions of e-mails, spreadsheets, corporate records, and others materials leaked from Mossack Fonseca, a Panama-based law firm with representatives in dozens of countries that specializes in setting up shell companies, the report says.

The leaked data was initially provided to the German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung. It was then shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), based in Washington, which collaborated with media outlets around the world over the course of a year to organize, analyze, and publish the materials.

There was no immediate response from Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, whose wife was reportedly named in the leaked documents as one of two managers of a Panamanian offshore firm in 2005, a firm that in turn has control of the Azerbaijani conglomerate AtaHolding.

Among the assertions in the report is that Aliyev's daughters controlled a Panamanian firm that held a significant stake in a group of companies developing Azerbaijani gold fields.

Iceland's prime minister, meanwhile, insisted that he would not resign after the investigation revealed tax documents suggesting that he and his wife used an offshore company to hide million-dollar investments.

"I have not considered quitting because of this matter nor am I going to quit because of this matter," Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson told Icelandic television Channel 2.

He denied any wrongdoing and denounced the leak of the documents as a witch-hunt against him and his wife.

"She has been adamant about paying taxes on [the offshore firm] to Icelandic society rather than saving money by paying taxes abroad," he said.

The British government has requested a copy of the leaked data, which could prove embarrassing for Prime Minister David Cameron, who has been a vocal critic of tax evasion.

His late father, Ian Cameron, is mentioned in the documents, as are members of the prime minister's Conservative Party in the upper house of parliament, former Conservative lawmakers, and party donors, according to British media reports.

"We will closely examine this data and will act on it swiftly and appropriately," said Jennie Granger, director-general of enforcement and compliance at the British Revenue and Customs.

Cameron's spokeswoman declined to comment on whether the prime minister's family had invested in offshore entities set up by his father, calling it a "private matter."

With reporting by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, Reuters, UNIAN, AFP, and AP

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/panama-papers-world- leaders-scramble-offshore-leak/27654169.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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Trump Slams NATO Allies, Calls for Breakup of Military Alliance

Sputnik News

18:38 04.04.2016

Billionaire businessman and Republican frontrunner for the US presidency Donald Trump has blasted NATO allies for being over-reliant on the US, failing to make their way and suggesting the military alliance could break up.

Trump told a campaign rally in Racine, Wisconsin that allies in NATO "are not paying their fair share" and called the 28-nation alliance "obsolete."

"We are protecting them and they are getting all sorts of military protection and other things and they're ripping off the United States and they're ripping you off. I don't care. I don't want to do that. Either they pay up including for past deficiencies or they have to get out. And if it breaks up NATO it breaks up NATO," Trump said.

The NATO partners made a commitment to maintain the goal of spending two percent of their GDP on defense at a meeting in Wales in 2014. However, austerity measures throughout Europe have put a strain on government spending on defense.

The US has pushed for an increase in resources in Eastern Europe as the US-dominated organization continues to put pressure on Russia over Ukraine.

Military Build-Up

NATO has been gradually building up its forces in Europe for over a decade, but has recently undertaken a huge increase in its presence in the Baltic region and Eastern Europe. The NATO Response Force (NRF) was originally set up following the Prague summit in 2002 as a multinational force made up of land, air, maritime and Special Operations Forces (SOF) that could deploy quickly.

Since then, there has been a steady build-up of forces, particularly around Russia. NATO Allies decided to enhance the NRF in 2014 by creating a "Spearhead Force" within it, known as the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF).

In June 2015, the alliance held a huge exercise in the Baltic, with 49 ships, 61 aircraft, one submarine, and a combined amphibious landing force of 700 US Finnish and Swedish troops alongside NATO partners Finland, Georgia and Sweden. Overall, 5,600 troops took part.

In November 2015, the leaders of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Poland and Slovakia have called for an increased NATO presence in Eastern Europe and the Baltic. The defense ministers meeting in Brussels Wednesday are due to confirm plans for a massive presence in the Baltic and Eastern Europe region.

British media reported ahead of the meeting that five UK warships and about 530 Royal Navy personnel will be sent as part of what sources described as "NATO's largest military build-up in eastern Europe since the Cold War."

At a press conference before the meeting, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said NATO was: "increasing our presence in the eastern part of the alliance with more assurance measures meaning planes, air policing, naval presence in the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea, increased naval presence and also more boots on the ground with more exercises and troops."

 Sputnik

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US Navy Says It Seized Alleged Iranian Ship Carrying Weapons in Arabian Sea

Sputnik News

17:58 04.04.2016(updated 18:01 04.04.2016)

A US ship intercepted and seized a shipment of weapons that was reportedly being transported on an Iranian vessel in the Arabian Sea, US Department of Navy said Monday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The cargo included 1,500 AK-47s, 200 RPG grenade launchers and 21.50-caliber machine guns, the Navy Department said.

"International naval forces operating in the waters of the Arabian Sea seized a shipment of illicit arms March 28, which the United States assessed originated in Iran and was likely bound for Houthi insurgents in Yemen <> The US Navy Coastal Patrol ship USS Sirocco, operating as part of US Naval Forces Central Command, intercepted and seized the shipment of weapons hidden aboard a small, stateless dhow," the statement reads.

According to the statement, this is the third interception of a vessel carrying illicit weapons in the region since February. The two previous vessels carrying weapons and other associated equipment were intercepted on February 27 and March 20, respectively.

Yemen has been engulfed in a military conflict between the government of Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and Shiite Houthi rebels, who have been backed by army units loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Since March 2015, a Saudi-led coalition of Sunni nations has been carrying out airstrikes against the Houthis at Hadi's request.

 Sputnik

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Baku Claims Some 170 Armenian Soldiers Killed in Karabakh in Past Hours

Sputnik News

17:09 04.04.2016(updated 17:11 04.04.2016)

Some 170 Armenian soldiers were killed and at least 12 armored vehicles were destroyed in clashes along the separation line in the self-proclaimed region of Nagorny-Karabakh in the past few hours, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said Monday.

BAKU (Sputnik)  On Saturday, Armenia and Azerbaijan noted a sharp escalation of the situation in the mountainous Nagorno-Karabakh area, with both sides accusing each other of violating the ceasefire that has been in place since 1994.

"We have been taking responsive measures to Armenian provocations the past few hours. As a result, some 170 [Armenian] servicemen have been killed, and 12 armored vehicles destroyed," ministry's spokesman Vagif Dyargahly said.

The conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh began in 1988, when the Armenian-dominated autonomous region sought to secede from the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, before proclaiming independence after the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991. In September 2015, the conflict escalated, with the sides blaming each other for violating the truce.

 Sputnik

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Vikings Striking: Norway to Double Its Warships to Track Russian Fleet

Sputnik News

16:52 04.04.2016

The new FS Marjata IV military intelligence collection ship has become a new addition to the Norwegian Navy and will join NATO reconnaissance missions in the Barents and Norwegian Seas this spring, the Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet reported.

The new FS Marjata IV will be one of the two ships which Norway and NATO will send into the high Arctic seas in an attempt to find lurking Russian submarines which have been terrifying the imagination of Scandinavians for the last couple of years.

The new Marjata IV is the significantly improved and bigger version of its predecessors which have been operated by the Norwegian Intelligence Service since the days of the Cold War. The fourth model of the reconnaissance ship is 126 meters (413 feet) long and 23.5 meters (77 feet) wide. The ship's equipment was developed by experts at the Chatham naval base in the United States. The Marjata project ended up being one of the most expensive ones in the history of the Norwegian military  approximately 149 million euros ($170 million), according to the Swedish newspaper.

Furthermore, in addition to the new Marjata IV, the Norwegian Navy plans to re-equip its older, third-generation Marjata and send it back to keep an eye out for potential Russian submarines. For the first time in history there will be two Marjata ships sent by the Norwegian Navy.

Amid NATO's eastward expansion, Norway, as a loyal member of the Western military alliance, is preoccupied with its mission to make sure that it leaves no stone unturned on the bottom of the Norwegian and Barents Seas, in search of imaginary Russian submarines.

Swedish military analyst Lars Gyllenhaal explained to Svenska Dagbladet that such escalating modernization of the Norwegian Navy shows that Oslo sees Russia as a potential enemy. Norway's decision to increase the number of its reconnaissance vehicles is a classic example that security issues between the two countries have reached a low point.

Norway has been regularly involved in military drills near Russian borders, including Cold Response, Joint Viking, Dynamic Mongoose and others.

Last year, the Norwegian daily Dagsavisen criticized the Norwegian Armed Forces, accusing it of inventing Russophobia and using it to justify its increasing military spending to counter an imaginary Russian threat.

The newspaper said that Norway doesn't need any more weapons, because Russia isn't a threat to Norway.

Norway's neighbor Sweden is moving toward the same direction, pouring millions into its military. Just last month, Sweden's defense command announced the country was amending the Military Strategy Doctrine (MSD), under which the Swedish Armed Forces (SAF) deal with threats against the country's sovereignty. The change calls for a more aggressive posture and a transition from the country's post-Cold War-era strategy of containment. The reason for that? Growing Russian "aggression" of course.

Swedish Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist aimed to justify the new, aggressive posture by citing a fear of Russian hostility. "This deeper form of Nordic defense cooperation will provide for a direct response to aggressive Russian behavior."

In the past, Sweden was extremely paranoid about a Russian submarine lurking in the waters near Stockholm, accusing Moscow of sending its underwater vessels to spy on their country. Despite a series of search operations using all kinds of modern equipment, no traces of a Russian submarine in the Swedish waters was found.

 Sputnik

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Turkish Statements on Nagorno-Karabakh Could Aggravate Situation - Yerevan

Sputnik News

16:22 04.04.2016(updated 17:49 04.04.2016)

The Armenian president slammed Ankara for making Nagorno-Karabakh statements which can further aggravate the crisis.

YEREVAN (Sputnik)  Turkey's statements on the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh could further increase tensions in the region, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said Monday.

"While the international community is condemning the use of force in Nagorno-Karabakh, Turkey is the only party supporting Azerbaijan's actions. Statements made by Ankara before and after the current situation, anti-Armenian approaches in which this country competes with Azerbaijan, can create new tensions in the region. Turkey already has such experience in the Middle East," Sargsyan was quoted as saying by his press service.

On Saturday, Azerbaijan and Armenia reported about fighting in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), at least 33 people were killed and more than 200 injured as a result of violence escalation.

The conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh began in 1988, when the Armenian-dominated autonomous region sought to secede from the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, before proclaiming independence after the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991. The rival sides agreed on cessation of hostilities in 1994. In September 2015, the conflict escalated, with the sides blaming each other for violating the truce.

 Sputnik

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Armenia to Recognize Nagorno-Karabakh Independence if Hostilities Increase

Sputnik News

15:54 04.04.2016(updated 15:57 04.04.2016)

Yerevan will recognize the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic as an independent state if violence escalates, the Armenian president said.

YEREVAN (Sputnik)  Armenia will recognize the sovereignty of the de facto independent Nagorno-Karabakh Republic if military actions increase, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said Monday.

"The Republic of Armenia as one of the parties of the 1994 ceasefire agreement will continue to completely fulfill its obligations for providing safety for the population of Nagorno-Karabakh. Here I need to note, and I've said this several times, that if the military operations continue and grow in intensity, the Republic of Armenia will recognize the independence of the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh," Sargsyan's press service quoted him as saying.

He said that Armenia was ready to compromise on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

"Speaking of a so-called new unilateral ceasefire is futile since the 1994 agreement signed by Azerbaijan on the ceasefire is still in force and Azerbaijan must follow this document to the tee and not as at its own will, but as an international obligation," Sargsyan said.

On April 2, Azerbaijan and Armenia reported intensified fighting in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. The sides accused each other of violating the ceasefire agreement which had been in place since 1994.

The conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh began in 1988, when the Armenian-dominated autonomous region sought to secede from the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, before proclaiming independence after the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991. In September 2015, the conflict escalated, with the sides blaming each other for breaching the truce.

 Sputnik

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Senior al-Qaida Leader Target of US Strike in Syria

by Jeff Seldin April 04, 2016

The United States targeted a senior al-Qaida leader in an airstrike Sunday in northwestern Syria, the latest in a series of so-called "decapitation" strikes aimed at terrorist organizations.

Abu Firas al-Suri was described by Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook as a "Syrian national and a legacy al-Qaida member" who fought in Afghanistan and worked with al-Qaida founder Osama bin Laden.

Al-Suri was also said to be a senior member of al-Qaida's Syria affiliate, Jabhat al Nusra, serving as the group's spokesman.

Cook said al-Suri was attending a high-level meeting at the time of the strike. He said several enemy combatants were killed but that defense officials were still trying to determine if al-Suri was one of them.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has been tracking the fighting in Syria, said earlier that al-Suri, along with his son, were killed in an airstrike in a village northwest of the city Idlib.

Other leaders targeted

The U.S. has previously targeted Jabhat al Nusra and other al Qaida-linked groups in Syria, though most strikes have concentrated on the Islamic State terror group.

"We've been targeting al-Qaida leaders for some time, as you know and that has always been a legitimate target," Cook told reporters at the Pentagon.

"Al Nusra has its ties to al-Qaida, and that is something that we've been very up front about for years and continues to be an ongoing active part of our efforts," he said.

The Pentagon also confirmed Monday the death of another senior leader of an al-Qaida-linked group.

As first reported by VOA, al Shabab's Hassan Ali Dhoore was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Somalia late Thursday.

Dhoore had led al Shabab's Amniyat, the terror group's elite assassination force.

U.S. defense officials said Dhoore had been behind attacks that led to the deaths of three , and that his death "would be a significant blow to al Shabab's operational planning."

Defending 'decapitation' strikes

So-called "decapitation" strikes  strikes targeting key leaders of terror groups  have at times been criticized for failing to stem the tide of violence and for sometimes making such groups even more radical. But the Pentagon defended the tactic Monday.

"We have seen success on the battlefield on the part of the local forces we're supporting, both Iraqi and Syrian," according to Cook.

"I don't know how much you want to attribute to the fact that ISIL leadership has been undermined by our airstrikes but we certainly feel like that is making a difference," he said.

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Son, Brother of Late Afghan Taliban Leader Get Top Posts

by Ayaz Gul April 04, 2016

Afghanistan's Taliban announced Monday its deceased leader Mullah Omar's elder son has assumed command of the insurgency in 15 out of the country's 34 provinces.

A Taliban statement said Omar's son, Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, also has been inducted into the powerful decision making leadership council that the group calls "Rehbari Shura."

Reports of a power struggle within the Taliban had been circulating since the announcement last July that Omar was dead. The longtime Taliban leader actually died in 2013, but the secretive group concealed his demise during months and years of fighting with Afghan forces and the U.S.-led coalition supporting them.

The Taliban also inducted Omar's brother Mullah Abdul Manan Omeri in the leadership council, according to the statement.

Both the son and brother of the deceased leader had refused to pledge allegiance to his successor, Mullah Akthar Mansoor, splintering the Taliban into competing factions.

However, Yaqoob and Omeri were later persuaded by key Taliban and religious leaders to end differences in return for the key posts they now occupy.

Monday's announcement is likely to further consolidate Mansor's leadership and his control over the Taliban as it prepares to launch its annual spring offensive later this month.

Omar had been the supreme commander and spiritual leader of the Taliban since 1996. Afghan officials asserted he fled to Pakistan and dropped out of sight after the 2001 U.S. invasion that ousted the Islamist group from power.

Afghanistan and Pakistan, with the support of the United States and China, have been trying to arrange direct peace talks between the Kabul government and the Taliban, and an initial meeting was expected to take place earlier in Islamabad.

But the insurgent group refused to attend and Mansour, has instead recently asked Taliban fighters to prepare for a "decisive battle" this summer to take advantage of battlefield victories over the past year.

Mullah Omar's family was accommodated just days after a senior leader, Mullah Abdul Qayyum Zakir, declared allegiance to Mansoor.

Zakir also was among influential leaders who earlier refused to accept Mansoor as Omar's successor.

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US Intercepts Iranian Weapons Shipment to Houthi Fighters in Yemen

by Ken Bredemeier, Jeff Seldin April 04, 2016

The U.S. military says it seized a cache of weapons it believes was being transported from Iran to Shi'ite Houthi rebels fighting for control of Yemen.

The USS Sirocco, a coastal patrol ship, confiscated the weapons in the Arabian Sea on March 28 from a small craft known as a dhow. The seized weapons included 1,500 Kalashnikov rifles, 200 rocket-propelled grenade launchers and 21 .50-caliber machine guns.

The U.S. Navy said the dhow and its crew were allowed to depart after the weapons were seized.

The weapons seizure marked the third time in two months a shipment to Houthi fighters has been blocked, with earlier seizures by Australian and French sailors.

"We obviously are concerned about this development," White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters Monday about the latest weapons seizure.

Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook added the weapons seizure by the U.S. Navy is "an indication of the kind of vigilance that the U.S. military will maintain in that part of the world."

But Cook added there is no indication Iran is ramping up its engagement in "potentially destabilizing activities."

"That's always been a concern of ours, he said, adding "I don't think our picture of Iran has changed all that much."

A Saudi-led, U.S.-supported coalition is fighting in Yemen against Shi'ite rebels and their allies. The rebels have denied receiving support from Iran.

White House Correspondent Aru Pande contributed to this story.

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Obama: US, NATO United in IS Militant Group Fight

by Aru Pande April 04, 2016

Two weeks after the terrorist attacks in Brussels, U.S. President Barack Obama and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg marked the tragedy while reinforcing the importance of staying focused on the fight against the so-called Islamic State militant group.

"This is obviously a tumultuous time in the world. Europe is a focal point of a lot of these stresses and strains in the global security system," said Obama, sitting alongside the secretary general in the Oval Office Monday.

In remarks to reporters following talks with Stoltenberg, the U.S. president praised NATO's contributions in countering Islamic State, particularly the alliance's efforts to train and assist local forces in Iraq and Jordan.

Stoltenberg reaffirmed NATO's support for other countries in the region to stabilize and fight IS. He said "different ways of building local capacity is high on our agenda in NATO."

The two leaders also discussed Afghanistan, with Obama calling NATO an extraordinary partner in bringing stability to the South Asian country.

"The coalition there continues to focus on assisting the government and the Afghan National Security Forces, building up capacity, pushing back against the Taliban and helping Afghans to provide security for their own country and hopefully being able to arrive at some sort of political settlement that will end decades of conflict and violence there," Obama said.

Afghanistan will be one of the focal points of the July NATO summit in Warsaw, Poland. Obama noted, "We expect to be able to follow through on the pledges we made to continue to support the Afghan people."

Ukraine conflict

Monday's talks also centered on the Ukrainian conflict. President Obama said the United States stands by its commitment to NATO allies.

"We continue to be united in supporting Ukraine, in the wake of Russian incursions into Ukrainian territory. We continue to work in the training and assist fashion in helping support Ukraine develop its military capabilities, defensively," he said.

The president said the United States continues to provide reassurance to frontline NATO allies that "Article 5 means something," while working with Russia to try to find a resolution to the Ukrainian conflict and "reduce tensions and the dangers of potential escalation."

On the 67th anniversary of the creation of NATO, the American leader took time to praise the alliance, calling it a "linchpin" and a "cornerstone of our collective defense and U.S. security policy."

The visit comes as Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump continues to question continued U.S. involvement in NATO. Last week, the billionaire businessman called the organization "obsolete" and said he would be fine if it broke up.

During Monday's White House press briefing, Press Secretary Josh Earnest called Trump's comments "ill-advised."

When asked whether Obama felt the need to reassure Stoltenberg following Trump's remarks, Earnest said, "I am not sure that was necessary, quite frankly. President Obama has spoken at length about how important the U.S.-NATO relationship is."

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was formed in 1949, partly as a response to the military threat posed by what was then the Soviet Union.

VOA's Bill Gallo contributed to this report

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U.S., Coalition Continue Counter-ISIL Strikes in Syria, Iraq

From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release

SOUTHWEST ASIA, April 5, 2016  U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Syria and Iraq yesterday, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

Officials reported details of yesterday's strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.

Strikes in Syria

Attack, fighter, and remotely piloted aircraft conducted [six strikes in Syria:

-- Near Raqqah, a strike disabled two ISIL pump jacks.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, a strike destroyed an ISIL vehicle.

-- Near Manbij, two strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL fighting position, an ISIL vehicle, two ISIL rocket systems and an ISIL heavy machine gun.

-- Near Mara, two strikes struck two separate ISIL tactical units.

Strikes in Iraq

Rocket artillery and attack, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 19 strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of the Iraqi government:

-- Near Baghdadi, three strikes struck two separate ISIL tactical units, destroying three ISIL vehicles, an ISIL front-end loader, seven ISIL vehicle bombs and an ISIL mortar position and suppressing two ISIL rocket positions.

-- Near Huwayjah, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL vehicle.

-- Near Fallujah, a strike struck a large ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL vehicle and five ISIL defensive fighting positions.

-- Near Hit, two strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL vehicle, an ISIL heavy machine gun, an ISIL supply cache, an ISIL fighting position and seven ISIL boats.

-- Near Kisik, four strikes struck three ISIL tactical units and destroyed an ISIL staging area, an ISIL bunker, an ISIL supply cache and an ISIL fighting position.

-- Near Mosul, one strike struck an ISIL headquarters.

-- Near Sultan Abdallah, six strikes struck two separate ISIL tactical units, destroying an ISIL vehicle bomb, five ISIL fighting positions, an ISIL assembly area, an ISIL vehicle, an ISIL rocket system and an ISIL trench, suppressing an ISIL sniper position and denying ISIL access to terrain.

-- Near Tal Afar, a strike suppressed an ISIL tactical unit.

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, the region, and the wider international community. The destruction of ISIL targets in Syria and Iraq further limits the terrorist group's ability to project terror and conduct operations, officials said.

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, United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.

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President, NATO Secretary General Discuss Alliance Issues

By Jim Garamone DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, April 5, 2016  President Barack Obama and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg met yesterday to discuss alliance and U.S. efforts to defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, NATO support to Afghanistan and issues related to Russia.

The White House meeting also marked the 67th anniversary of the founding of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Defeating ISIL was at the top of the agenda. "We agreed that one of the most important functions that NATO is performing and can continue to perform is to help in the training and assisting process for troops in Iraq, in Jordan, in many of the areas in the region," Obama said during a joint news conference with Stoltenberg.

The president also said the alliance is looking at potential operations in areas such as Libya where ISIL has gained a foothold, but where the "beginnings of a government" would mean allies on the ground. "We can, I think, provide enormous help in helping to stabilize those countries," Obama said.

Afghanistan, Russia

The men also spoke about Afghanistan, where NATO has been manning the Resolute Support Mission. "The coalition there continues to focus on assisting the government and the Afghan national security forces, building up capacity, pushing back against the Taliban and helping Afghans to provide security for their own country and, hopefully, being able to arrive at some sort of political settlement that would end decades of conflict and violence there," the president said.

Russia's continued aggression on NATO's eastern flank also was a topic. Russia must stop its continued operations in eastern Ukraine and respect the sovereignty of all countries, the president said.

NATO allies must know the United States will stand by them and that America has deployed "concrete assets that let them know that Article 5 means something, and that we stand by our commitments to our allies," he said. Article 5 of the Washington Treaty, which established NATO, states that an attack against one alliance member is considered an attack on all.

"And I have in my budget put forward a quadrupling of the resources that we spend, and allocated a portion of that money to make sure that we've got ground brigades that send a clear message about our commitments to our NATO allies to the east," Obama added.

Stoltenberg said the alliance has adapted to changes in the world and will adapt in the future as NATO grapples with countering terrorism. "Terrorism affects us all, from Brussels to San Bernardino, and all NATO allies contribute to the U.S.-led efforts to degrade and destroy ISIL," the secretary general said. "Just last week, we started training Iraqi officers, and we will continue to support the efforts of the United States and other countries to fight ISIL."

Stoltenberg welcomed the new government in Libya and said the alliance stands ready to provide support.

Importance of Unity

NATO's effort in Afghanistan is the alliance's biggest military operation ever, the secretary general said. "It shows the importance of unity in North America and Europe, because our military operation in Afghanistan is a direct response to the terrorist attack against the United States on 9/11," he said. "And European [and] Canadian soldiers have fought together with the American soldiers in Afghanistan for many, many years."

The Resolute Support Mission includes around 13,000 troops and 42 nations contributing to the effort to help Afghanistan. Of those, 6,800 Americans are part of the NATO-led force.

The secretary general said he will work with allies to make good on the pledge they made in the NATO's 2014 summit in Wales to increase defense spending.

"We will meet again [in July] in Warsaw at our summit," Stoltenberg said. "We have a lot to do, but I'm certain that we will deliver, because we have seen time and again that North America and Europe [are] able to deliver when we stand together in a strong NATO alliance."

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Azerbaijan, Armenian Forces Announce Karabakh Cease-Fire

April 05, 2016

by RFE/RL

Azerbaijan and Armenian-backed separatists in its breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh said on April 5 that a cease-fire was in place to halt the deadliest flare-up over that mountainous South Caucasus enclave in decades.

The apparent breakthrough comes with increasingly strident international calls for restraint between forces loyal to regional archenemies Azerbaijan and Armenia, which have been locked in conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh since the waning years of the Soviet Union.

A spokesman for the Armenian-backed Nagorno-Karabakh separatist forces, Senor Hasratyan, told RFE/RL's Armenian Service on April 5 that the mutual agreement called for an end to fighting from 12 p.m. local time.

The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry then confirmed that military operations had been stopped along the "line of contact" that effectively serves as a front line separating the combatant sides.

Armenia's Defense Ministry later said that "[o]perations along the line of contact between the Azerbaijani and Armenian forces have been suspended...upon the agreement of the parties."

The latest outbreak of violence -- the worst since the mid-1990s -- began early on April 2 and involved tanks, helicopters, and artillery.

In a statement, representatives of the so-called Minsk Group of mediators in the conflict -- France, Russia, and the United States -- urged the sides to stop fighting, saying there is no military solution to the conflict. They also called for "an immediate negotiation" on a comprehensive settlement.

"The negotiations have brought no results, but we are still prepared for the negotiating process," Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said.

In Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly called on the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia "to immediately ensure the cessation of hostilities and the observance of the cease-fire."

Putin made the appeal in separate telephone conversations with Azerbaijani President Aliyev and Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian, the Kremlin said in a statement.

"It was pointed out that Russia had been taking and would continue to take the necessary mediating steps aimed at normalizing the situation," the statement said.

Moscow "will continue making all necessary intermediary steps to normalize the situation in connection with the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," it added.

Earlier in Paris, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said the co-chairs of the Minsk Group would send envoys to Azerbaijan, Armenia, and to Nagorno-Karabakh in a bid to resolve the crisis.

The announcement came with representatives of the so-called Minsk Group of mediators in the conflict -- France, Russia, and the United States -- expected to meet in Vienna on April 5 for crisis talks.

Ayrault was speaking after talks with his German counterpart, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who said the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) would send a fact-finding mission to Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Nagorno-Karabakh.

After speaking with the Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers -- Elmar Mammadyarov and Edward Nalbandian respectively -- EU foreign-policy chief Federica Mogherini urged a strict observance of the cease-fire by all parties and an end to any targeting of civilians.

"All parties must take the necessary steps to create an environment conducive to successful negotiations, including avoiding actions and statements which could further complicate the already complex environment," Mogherini's statement said.

Populated mainly by ethnic Armenians and with many ethnic Azerbaijanis having already fled, the territory declared independence from Azerbaijan in a 1988-94 war that claimed an estimated 30,000 lives and displaced hundreds of thousands of people.

Each side reported new casualties on April 5 as the death toll from four days of fighting rose above 40, with one estimate as high as 64 killed.

Azerbaijan has reported 16 combat deaths, while the Karabakh military said 20 of its servicemen had died.

The Armenian Defense Ministry later announced that seven people were killed in an Azerbaijani drone attack on a bus carrying volunteers to the disputed region.

Azerbaijan also reported civilian deaths, including at least four overnight.

The destruction of heavy military equipment has been claimed by both sides.

Each side accused the other of escalating the violence as the West, Russia, and neighbor Iran appealed to all sides for restraint.

On April 4, Azerbaijani Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov warned that Baku's forces would begin an artillery barrage on Stepanakert, which has around 50,000 residents, if Armenian forces did "not stop shelling our settlements."

The defense forces of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh republic promised a "very painful" response.

They also said Azerbaijan "had been increasing the caliber of its weapons day by day," and had used Smerch multiple-launch rocket systems to shell civilian settlements and military targets.

Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry on April 5 denied having targeted civilians and a spokesman said that while Baku's forces had Smerches, they hadn't used them "so far."

Baku also said the Armenians were using large-caliber machine guns and 120-millimeter mortars overnight.

Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian warned on April 4 that a further escalation of the fighting would be fraught with "unpredictable and irreversible consequences, including a full-scale war."

Armenian foe and NATO member Turkey waded in on April 5 to say it was "standing side-by-side with our brothers in Azerbaijan."

"This persecution will not continue forever," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said. "Karabakh will one day return to its original owner. It will be Azerbaijan's."

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu condemned what he described as Armenian attacks in the Nagorno-Karabakh region and vowed Ankara would stand by Azerbaijan.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov expressed serious concern over an escalation in the standoff and called for a swift cessation in fighting.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said via Twitter he had told Sarkisian and the president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, that "a comprehensive settlement in Nagorno-Karabakh is critical for their stability, security, prosperity."

With reporting by RFE/RL's Armenian and Azerbaijani services, AFP, AP, Interfax, and Reuters

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/azerbaijan-armenia- nagorno-karabakh-fighting-continues/27655354.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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Explainer: Why The Nagorno-Karabakh Crisis Matters

April 05, 2016

by Charles Recknagel

This week's Nagorno-Karabakh crisis might strike most people as nothing more than another minor conflict in a remote, faraway place.

But the role of the Caucasus in the global energy trade and the potential for full-scale hostilities between Azerbaijan and archrival Armenia or its clients drawing in major regional powers are reason enough to keep a close eye on whether the April 5 cease-fire holds.

Two pipelines carry oil and gas from Azerbaijan westward through the Caucasus, and both pass near the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh enclave. Any widening conflict could endanger both them and Europe's hopes of tapping the Caspian region to reduce its dependence upon Russian energy sources.

At the same time, any escalating conflict could draw in neighboring powers, thanks to Armenia's military pact with Russia and Azerbaijan's pact with Turkey. That could lead to a showdown between Moscow and Ankara, which are already at odds over Russia's intervention in Syria and Turkey's shooting down of a Russian warplane in November.

Here are some points to consider.

Pipelines

The Caspian region has rich oil and gas reserves that regional countries want to export to Europe. However, there are only two export routes. One is northwest through Russia; the other southwest across the Caucasus.

However, northern routes through Russia do not satisfy Europe's long-term hopes of one day freeing itself from its dependence upon Moscow for energy supplies. The European Union's unhappiness with that reliance has grown for years as it has watched Russia use energy as a foreign-policy tool to apply pressure to states like Georgia and Ukraine. In some cases, cutoffs of gas to Ukraine over price disputes have caused shortfalls downstream in eastern EU states.

That's why Europe values the pair of oil and gas pipelines that currently bring Caspian energy out through the Caucasus, and why it hopes to see more such pipelines in the future. But those hopes are limited so long as the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh remains unsettled.

"A potential conflagration over Nagorno Karabakh is quite likely to affect both of these pipelines," says Theodoras Tsakiris, assistant professor for energy, geopolitics, and economics at the University of Nicosia in Cyprus. "They are of critical significance primarily for Azerbaijan, then Turkey and, to a lesser extent, Europe and the global economy."

He notes that, in the case of a sustained conflict, Azerbaijan would likely shut down the pipelines for safety reasons to avoid oil spills and gas leaks if they were damaged.

The most immediate impact upon Europe would be oil supplies. The pipeline link from Baku to Ceyhan, on Turkey's eastern Mediterranean coast, carries some 1 billion barrels of oil per day, with most of it going to Europe plus some to Israel.

Tsakiris notes that any cutoff would be a setback for the EU's hopes of progressively reducing its current reliance on Russia for 35 percent of its crude oil supplies. It would not likely affect oil prices, however, due to oversupplies of oil on the world market.

Of less immediate worry to Europe would be any cutoff of Caspian natural gas. Currently all of the 9 billion cubic meters of gas moving westward from Azerbaijan goes to the Turkish market. However, just as with oil, Brussels hopes one day to use Caspian gas to lower its current dependence on Russia for nearly one-third of its natural gas supply.

Under its Southern Gas Corridor strategy, the EU hopes to see an additional 10 billion cubic meters of Caspian gas moving through new pipelines onward to southern and Central Europe by the early 2020s. That would be the first step toward even larger possible volumes in the future.

"The important thing is to open up the corridor and have the possibility to build more pipelines through southeastern Europe which over the next 10 to 15 years could seriously open up the Caspian Sea generally for future supplies," says Tsakiris.

But so long as there is conflict in the Caucasus, any new pipeline projects remain risky financial propositions.

Military Pacts

The other threat a growing Nagorno-Karabakh conflict presents is the possibility of drawing in neighboring states.

Azerbaijan and NATO member Turkey signed an Agreement on Strategic Partnership and Mutual support in 2010 under which both agree to support each other "using all possibilities" in the case of military aggression against either.

The two countries have sought to add teeth to their agreement by conducting annual joint military exercises. Worrisome for Yerevan was a military exercise last year in Azerbaijan's exclave of Naxcivan, along Armenia's southwestern border. That raised the possibility that, in any major military conflict, Yerevan could face a two-front war with Baku in which Turkey might intervene.

Equally dangerous is the possibility that Russia might intervene on Armenia's side under the two countries' 1992 Tashkent Collective Security Treaty. Any such showdown would further ramp up the tensions that exist between Russia and Turkey, both of which view themselves as major regional powers.

Ankara, with its military pact with Baku, has shown that it considers its fellow Turkic nation part of its sphere of influence.

Russia, through its support of Armenia -- where it has 5,000 troops permanently stationed -- has long made it clear it considers the Caucasus very much its continuing sphere of influence.

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/azerbaijan-armenia- nagorno-karabakh-fighting-continues/27655354.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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Man Charged For Selling Parts To Iran Used In Deadly Explosives In Iraq

April 05, 2016

by RFE/RL

A man accused of illegally selling to Iran U.S.-made parts found in deadly explosives in Iraq faced charges in a federal court in Washington, the Justice Department has said.

Lim Yong Nam, 42, also known as Steven Lim, entered a not guilty plea and was ordered held without bond on April 4 for sending radio-frequency modules from the U.S. state of Minnesota to Iran between 2007 and 2008, violating a U.S. trade embargo.

The parts were later found in unexploded improvised explosive devices in Iraq by U.S. coalition forces.

The devices caused the majority of the casualties against Americans fighting in Iraq between 2003 and 2011, according to the U.S. indictment, which was originally filed in 2010.

The department said Lim and several co-conspirators had routed 6,000 radio-frequency modules to Iran through Singapore, 16 of which were discovered in Iraq.

U.S. officials have blamed Iran for supplying Shi'ite militias with lethal explosives directed against U.S. service members in Iraq. Iran has said the claims are baseless.

"The illegal export of restricted U.S. technology is extremely harmful to our national security," said Michael Steinbach, the executive assistant director of the FBI's national security branch.

"In this case the technology had lethal applications and was used in improvised explosive devices in Iraq, which endangered U.S. and coalition forces."

Lim, originally from Singapore, had been detained in Indonesia since October 2014. After a long investigative process, he was extradited to the United States to face charges, the department said.

With reporting by Reuters and AP

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/man-charged-selling-parts- iran-used-deadly-explosive-iraq-killed-american-servicemen/27654871.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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AU Forces in Somalia Kill al-Shabab Leaders

by VOA News April 05, 2016

The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and Somali government forces have killed several al-Shabab commanders in the lower Shabelle region.

Six leaders of the al-Qaida linked Islamist militant group were killed Tuesday.

Reuters reported the head of al-Shabab's intelligence arm in the region, the Amniyat, Hassan Ali Dhoore, was killed. A militant spokesman said Dhoore was killed, but did not confirm the other deaths.

According to an AMISOM statement the mission aims to intensify its war against al-Shabab.

"Al-Shabab are more frequently resorting to hit and run tactics to avoid direct contact with AMISOM and remain relevant," AMISOM Brigadier General Sam Okiding said.

The African Union force said among the al-Shabab leaders killed are Aden Bale, Janaale area second in command Sheik Mohamed Ali, al-Shabab judge Mohamed Abribao, regional intelligence chief Hassan Ali Dole, a Yemeni improvised explosive device expert known as "Abu Islam," and Kenyan Sheikh Mansur.

AMISOM said officials are working to "open the main supply route" and clear improvised explosive devices in the city of Janale.

"The clearance activities are meant to ease the movement of the population and goods," the statement said.

In 2011, AMISOM and the Somali National Army forced the Islamist group out of areas south of Mogadishu. But the militants still control some rural areas and carry out attacks in the capital and other areas.

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ICC Terminates Case Against Kenyan Deputy President

by Dan Joseph April 05, 2016

The International Criminal Court has dropped charges of crimes against humanity against Kenyan Deputy President William Ruto.

The ICC said Tuesday that judges voted 2-1 to vacate the charges against Ruto and co-defendant Joshua Arap Sang.

Judges Chile Eboe-Osuji and Robert Fremr said prosecutors did not present sufficient evidence to warrant a trial, but added their decision "does not preclude further prosecution in the future, either at the ICC or in a national jurisdiction."

Not enough evidence

Eboe-Osuji declared a mistrial in the case, saying the lack of evidence might be explained by "witness interference and political meddling."

Ruto was charged with being criminally responsible for acts of murder, forcible transfer of population and persecution during the 2007 and 2008 post-election violence in Kenya.

Sang, a Kenyan radio executive, was accused of playing a role in the same crimes.

An estimated 1,100 Kenyans were killed during weeks of ethnic violence that followed the disputed polls, with more than a half million others forced from their homes.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta was accused of helping to orchestrate the violence and charged with five counts of crimes against humanity. The ICC terminated proceedings against Kenyatta in March 2015, after court prosecutors withdrew the charges, saying they could not obtain sufficient evidence to take the president to trial.

Rights activists have accused the Kenyan government of not cooperating with the ICC's investigations and intimidating potential witnesses.

Kenyatta and Ruto were elected in March 2013 while facing charges.

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DPRK FM Spokesman Slams "Nuclear Security Summit"

Korean Central News Agency of DPRK via Korea News Service (KNS)

Pyongyang, April 4 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for the Foreign Ministry of the DPRK gave the following answer to the question put by KCNA on Monday accusing the U.S. of vociferating about "nuclear threat" from the DPRK at the 4th "Nuclear Security Summit":

The 4th "Nuclear Security Summit" took place in Washington recently to discuss the issues of nuclear terrorism, prevention of nuclear proliferation and reduction of strategic nuclear weapons.

During the summit the U.S. worked hard to stir up the atmosphere of sanctions and pressure upon the DPRK by prodding Japan, south Korea and other followers into creating impressions that the "nuclear threat" from the DPRK is the biggest problem facing the international community.

This is nothing but a crafty artifice to cover up the U.S. true colors as the world's biggest nuclear criminal and evade the blame for the nuclear issue on the Korean peninsula.

Obama received the Nobel Peace Prize for advocating "a world without nuclear weapons" from the beginning of his office but became a swindler who has done nothing till now close to its end as he has been engrossed in modernizing nuclear weapons and posing a nuclear threat to the world.

The above-said summit has taken place four times but the prospect of denuclearization of the world is becoming gloomier. On the contrary, nuclear weapons are posing a greater threat to global peace and security. It is by no means fortuitous that the international community is claiming Obama is chiefly to blame for this.

Upset by this, the Obama group is trying hard to evade the accusations by taking issue with the DPRK, a trite method. But this is a foolish act.

The atrocities the U.S. perpetrated by dropping A-bombs on mankind are the thrice-cursed monstrous crimes.

The U.S. is the world's nuclear criminal who has worked hard to maintain its hegemonic position by recklessly wielding a nuclear stick, regarding nuclear threat and blackmail as the tenet of its foreign policy.

This is an undeniable historical fact hard to hide and a stark reality.

It is well known that the Bush administration had posed a nuclear threat to the DPRK since it designated the anti-U.S. independent states including the DPRK as "axis of evil" and targets of preemptive nuclear attack.

The Obama administration has squandered a fabulous amount of funds for modernizing nuclear weapons, far from doing anything for denuclearization quite contrary to its advocacy of building "a world without nuclear weapons." After adopting a preemptive nuclear attack on the DPRK as its policy, it is staging madcap drills under the simulated conditions of a nuclear war by introducing all type strategic nuclear strike means into the Korean peninsula

Since the Obama administration took office, the U.S. strategic nuclear strike means introduced into south Korea have increased several times, far from decreasing in their scope and number, and its nuclear war drills have become more provocative in their nature.

The U.S. is, at the same time, escalating the hostile moves against the DPRK to the maximum, openly revealing its intention to screw up the political and economic pressure on the DPRK by setting in motion its followers and allies for the implementation of the UN "resolution on sanctions" cooked up against the DPRK's inevitable choice for self-defense.

This is the truth about the nuclear issue on the Korean peninsula and the cause of escalating tension.

Confrontation and danger of a war are escalating in Northeast Asia as the U.S. is seeking to tighten the U.S.-Japan-south Korea triangular military cooperation and, furthermore, form a new military bloc for aggression under the pretext of "threat" from the DPRK.

The prevailing situation more urgently requires than ever before the DPRK to bolster the nuclear deterrent for self-defence as it serves as a treasured sword to ensure the sovereignty and prosperity of the country and protect the global peace and security.

The DPRK's bolstering up of its nuclear deterrent in every way is an inevitable choice and a legitimate exercise of the right to self-defence to cope up with the U.S. extreme nuclear threat and blackmail and nuclear war moves.

As already clarified, the DPRK will take decisive toughest countermeasures against the U.S. ever-escalating nuclear war threat and pressure in the future, too. -0-

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Missile power, Iran's redline: Armed Forces spokesman

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, April 4, IRNA -- Defensive capabilities and its missile power are Iran's redlines, Armed Forces Spokesman Brigadier-General Masoud Jazayeri said on Monday.

The US non-adherence to its obligations is a realty that should not be forgotten, he added.

The US does not stick to its obligations and it is trying to connect removal of sanctions to halt of Iran's missile program, the commander noted.

He underlined that US official calculations about Iran are mistake and Iranians are intelligent enough to prevent realization of American wishes.

White House should know that Iran's defensive capabilities and missile power are its redline in this risky and challenging era, Jazayeri underscored.

He urged the government to rely on domestic capacities based on the outlines of 'Economy of Resistance'.

Armed Forces are ready to help government implement the 'Economy of Resistance', the commander added.

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NATO training for Iraqi officers starts in Jordan

NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

04 Apr. 2016 15:28

The first group of officers from Iraq's national security forces started their NATO training course at the King Abdullah Special Operations Training Centre in Amman, Jordan, on 2 April 2016. Their training is part of NATO's effort to help Iraq build up its defence capacities, reform its security sector and increase its ability to contribute to regional stability. In the next six months, 350 Iraqi officers will be trained in the NATO course. Training will begin with a focus on military medicine, civil military planning and on countering improvised explosive devices.

The initiative is part of NATO's Defence Capacity Building programme for Iraq, launched in response to a request by the Iraqi government. The programme is tailored to Iraq's needs and will provide specialised assistance in the areas where NATO can add the most value. It will include advice on security sector reform, military training, explosive ordnance disposal, de-mining, cyber defence, civil emergency planning, civil-military planning, countering improvised explosive devices, military medicine and medical assistance.

Building the capacities of inclusive Iraqi defense and security forces is one of the ways in which NATO can help project stability to partner countries. The programme has been designed to complement efforts by individual NATO Allies, by the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL, by the European Union and by the United Nations.

NATO defence capacity building cooperation is also ongoing with Jordan and Tunisia, and the Alliance is ready to step up this work with other interested partners as well.

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Iraqi forces enter Hit in major anti-Daesh operation

Iran Press TV

Mon Apr 4, 2016 6:2PM

Iraqi elite forces have entered the western city of Hit in a major push to retake it from the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group.

Commanders from Iraq's counterterrorism forces said on Monday that troops entered Hit earlier in the day and began clearing its northern neighborhoods.

They said advances have been made against Daesh toward the central parts of Hit, located in Anbar Province along a Daesh supply line to Syria.

The advance comes just one week after Iraqi forces recaptured the nearby city of Kusaybah and began preparations for retaking Hit.

Daesh, which has lost a significant portion of the territories it used to control in Anbar Province, has reportedly trapped thousands of civilians inside Hit. Local media had earlier reported the release of hundreds of civilians and security forces from an underground prison near Hit.

Iraqi forces have managed to liberate key areas across Anbar and other provinces from the occupation of Daesh over the past months with the most notable being Anbar's provincial capital of Ramadi, which was retaken two months ago. Preparations are underway for the recapture of Fallujah, which is the second largest city in the sprawling province. Daesh has controlled Hit for the last 18 months

The militants blitzed vast areas in western Iraq in summer of 2014 months after they captured territories in the north. Iraqi officials have vowed that they would purge Daesh from Iraqi soil in 2016.

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Bombs, bullets, shells claim 23 lives across Iraq

Iran Press TV

Mon Apr 4, 2016 10:16AM

Medical and security officials in Iraq say at least 23 people were killed and more than two dozen others injured in a series of bomb explosions, a shooting attack and shelling across Iraq.

A security source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said five people lost their lives and nine others sustained injuries when bomber detonated his explosive-laden vest near a psychiatric hospital in Sadr City, the mainly Shia district of eastern Baghdad, on Monday, Arabic-language al-Baghdadia satellite television network reported.

Security forces immediately cordoned off the site of the attack, and ambulance workers ferried the wounded to a nearby hospital.

Unidentified armed men also sprayed a Muslim cleric with bullets in the capital's southwestern neighborhood of Hayy al-A'amel, killing him on the spot.

Elsewhere in al-Nasr Wal Salam city, which is also known as al-Hasuah and lies in the Abu Ghraib district of western Baghdad, mortar shells fired by Takfiri militants claimed two civilian lives and left eight others wounded.

A soldier was also killed and two others injured on Monday, when a roadside bomb went off in Baghdad's southeastern neighborhood of Arab Jabour.

Separately, five members of the Popular Mobilization Units lost their lives and seven others sustained injuries when a car bomb attack struck the town of Tarmiyah, situated about 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of Baghdad.

A car bomb went off in the center of Iraq's second largest city of Basra, killing five people.

Additionally, a man wearing an explosive belt blew himself up in the middle of a crowd of Popular Mobilization Fighters outside a restaurant in the southern city of Nassiriya, located 320 kilometers southeast of Baghdad, killing four.

The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq says a total of 1,119 Iraqis were killed and another 1,561 wounded in acts of terrorism, violence and armed conflict in March.

According to the UN mission, the number of civilian fatalities stood at 575. Violence also claimed the lives of 544 members of the Iraqi security forces. A great portion of the fatalities was recorded in Baghdad, where 259 civilians were killed.

The northern and western parts of Iraq have been plagued by violence ever since Daesh Takfiri militants began their march through the Iraqi territory in June 2014.

Army soldiers and Popular Mobilization Units have joined forces and are seeking to take back militant-held regions in joint operations.

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Kurdish Military Leader Supports Sunnis in Quest to Oust Islamic State

by Sebastian Meyer April 04, 2016

Kurdish counterterrorism forces, or Diji Terror, are some of the best trained and equipped in the fight against the Islamic State. They were set up by the U.S. military in 2002 to battle extremists in the mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan.

Today, they battle IS  or ISIL, as it is also known in broad daylight and in daring nighttime raids.

Lahor Talabani, who leads this force, believes in the importance of knowing your enemy well.

"There's a difference between the locals and the foreign fighters," he said. "Some of the locals actually picked up weapons and joined ISIL because they had no choice. Their territory was taken over by ISIL by force. Some of them ended up joining ISIL.  The locals are not willing to die. They are in the ranks of ISIL and they give up easily, and we have a lot detainees who are locals. When they know that this is the end, they give up. They don't go all the way."

Understanding the needs and psychology of the local population is one of Talabani's strategies.

Though he's a Kurd, Talabani understands the importance of working with Iraq's Sunni population.

"Side by side of the military actions that we're taking, there needs to be some sort of political process," he said. "There needs to be some sort of reassurance for the Sunnis, also, that they will be involved in the future of Iraq."

When the Iraqi military launched Operation Conquest on March 24 to retake Mosul, many  including Talabani  said they doubted the army's readiness to retake the city. It's not just about military capacity, he warned, it's also about sectarianism.

"Whatever force is going to take Mosul should be a Sunni-blessed force," he said. "Don't forget that defeating ISIL cannot only be done by pushing in this front in Mosul. We need to take away this grass-roots support that's already there in Mosul, from the tribal leaders to ISIL."

The operation to liberate the city of Mosul is expected to take up to a year, but it could take much longer to push the extremists out of the entire country.

Elite forces like Diji Terror, backed by coalition airstrikes, have made significant headway against the militants. But Iraqis themselves know that it will take more than military might to defeat Islamic State.

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Family Of Pakistan's Sharif Says Offshore Wealth Holdings Not Illegal

April 05, 2016

by RFE/RL

Pakistan has denied any wrongdoing by the family of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif after it was linked to offshore wealth holdings in the massive "Panama Papers" scandal.

Among those named in the leaked documents are three of Sharif's four children: daughter Maryam, who has been named as a possible political successor to Sharif, and sons Hasan and Hussain. The documents show they owned London real estate through offshore companies administered by the Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca.

Some 11.5 million records from that law firm were leaked over the weekend by investigative journalists in one of the biggest such leaks in history, showing how some of the world's most powerful people have secreted their money offshore.

The allegations are particularly sensitive in Pakistan, where millions live in poverty and the rich pay very little in taxes.

As prime minister, Sharif has invited outside investors to put their money in Pakistan. The revelations could raise uncomfortable questions about why his family chose to invest their wealth abroad.

"Nawaz Sharif does not own any company, but having companies in the name of his children also raises questions," Umar Cheema of the Center for Investigative Reporting in Pakistan told AFP.

The Pakistani journalism center has scoured the leaked documents looking for mentions of Pakistani citizens. It is a partner of the Investigative Consortium of Independent Journalists (ICIJ), which spent months poring over the documents before releasing them online on April 3.

"There are more than 200 Pakistanis which our report has identified, and they include lawyers, lawmakers, and some people from the judiciary," Cheema said.

Pakistani opposition leader Imran Khan called for action against Sharif.

"Our stance vindicated again as Sharif's wealth stashed abroad exposed," he tweeted, adding the country's accountability watchdog, tax authorities, and election commission all should investigate the matter.

But Sharif's son Hussain told Geo, the country's largest private broadcaster, that his family had done "nothing wrong."

"Those apartments are ours and those offshore companies are also ours," he said. "There is nothing wrong with it and I have never concealed them, nor do I need to do that. It is according to British law and laws of other countries that it is a legal way to avoid unnecessary tax via offshore companies."

Hussain said he left Pakistan in 1992 and therefore is not a resident. Pakistani tax law "says that if you are not staying in Pakistan for more than 138 days, then you are not required to declare your assets," he said.

When asked about Khan's call for an investigation by the National Accountability Bureau, he said, "we voluntarily present ourselves before it or any other judicial and investigative institution in Pakistan."

A spokesman for the Sharif family said late on April 4 that the "Panama leaks and ICIJ have made no allegations of wrongdoing against the Sharif family.... None of the corporations mentioned are owned or run by Mr Nawaz Sharif, the prime minister of Pakistan."

The spokesman said Maryam Nawaz "is merely a trustee of one of the corporations owned by Mr Hussain Nawaz, which would only entitle her to distribute the assets to Mr Hussain Nawaz's family if required."

With reporting by AFP, Reuters, dpa, and Geo

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/family-pakistani-premier- sharif-says-offshore-wealth-holdings-not-illegal/27654874.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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Iranian commandos deployed to Syria

Iran Press TV

Mon Apr 4, 2016 8:13AM

An Iranian military official says commandos from an Iranian army unit have been deployed to Syria on an advisory mission.

Brigadier General Ali Arasteh, the deputy for coordination in the Iranian Army's Ground Forces, told Tasnim news agency on Monday that the Iranian commandos, from Brigade 65 of the Forces, had took on a mission of advising Syrian forces.

Iran maintains military advisers in Syria, where the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is fighting an array of foreign-backed militant forces, including, but not limited to, those of the Daesh terrorist group. Al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, the so-called al-Nusra Front, is another one of the groups engaged in brutal activities against the Syrian people and government.

The Iranian advisory presence comes as part of defense agreements reached between the governments of Iran and Syria. Iran does not have boots on the ground in the Arab country.

Russia, another Syrian ally, has been conducting an aerial campaign against terrorist groups in Syria since September 2015. The bombing campaign had been requested by the Syrian government.

With allied help, the Syrian government has been able to take back militant-held areas, including recently the ancient city of Palmyra, which had been run over by Daesh back in May 2015.

Militancy began in Syria in March 2011, and has, according to the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, killed at least 270,000 people. Some reports, however, put the death toll at as high as 470,000.

The United Nations (UN) has appointed several special envoys for Syria over the course of the conflict in the country. Italian-Swedish diplomat Staffan de Mistura is the latest person to serve in the post.

Amid the increasing victories of the Syrian army in degrading militants, Russia announced in mid-March that it would be pulling out its forces from Syria, and thus provide a stimulus for the peace talks that have been held under the aegis of the UN for the Arab country.

Speaking back then, Russian President Vladimir Putin said, however, that Russia's two forward military bases in Syria, the airbase in Hmeimim in the coastal province of Latakia and the naval facility in the port of Tartus, will remain operational.

The United States has been leading an international bombing campaign in Syria - without an authorization from Damascus - since September 2014. That campaign, declared to be against Daesh, has fallen short of dislodging the terrorist group, however.

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Al-Nusra spokesman killed in airstrike: Observatory

Iran Press TV

Mon Apr 4, 2016 1:35AM

A high-ranking al-Nusra Front terrorist group leader has been killed in an air strike in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib, says a UK-based monitoring group.

A founding member and spokesman for the al-Qaeda-affiliated Takfiri group, Abu Firas al-Suri, was killed during a Syrian or Russian strike on a village located in the province's northwestern regions, said the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Sunday.

The pro-opposition monitoring group noted that Firas's son and 20 other foreign militants were also killed in the assault.

Firas was a well known figure in terrorist circles who gave commentaries released by the Takfiri group on sensitive subjects such as governance and religious matters.

According to Takfiri media, Firas was one of terrorist group's founding members who was also active in Afghanistan in the 1980s and reportedly collaborated directly with Osama bin Laden.

Al-Nusra is considered the second largest terror group operating in war-ravaged Syria where over 470,000 people have been killed and 1.9 million more injured since 2011.

A Russia and US brokered "cessation of hostilities" which excludes the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group and al-Nusra has been in place in Syria for over a month.

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Iran Deploys Army Commandos to Syria

by Mehdi Jedinia April 04, 2016

Iran is bolstering its military presence in Syria, deploying a top army unit to the country in what commanders call an advisory mission, according to state-run media.

Iranian Brigadier General Ali Arasteh, deputy chief liaison of the army's ground force, said the unit comprises "commandos" in a force from the 65th NOHAD  a Persian abbreviation for Airborne Special Forces Brigade.

"We are sending commandos from army's Brigade 65 and other units to Syria as advisers," Arasteh told the Tasnim news agency.

The first unit of 35 elite members, also known as Green Beret Forces, are stationed near Aleppo in northern Syria. They are offering training to Syrian regime rapid reaction units, sources in Iran and Syria told VOA.

The move bolsters an already robust Iranian military presence in Syria, analysts say.

The commandos will supplement an elite Iranian military fighting unit that has been supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces in the civil war against Syrian rebels and Islamic State.

Previous support

In the last two years, Iran has sent thousands of its Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to fight ground battles for the Syrian regime, joining with Iranian-backed Hezbollah fighters from Lebanon.

Tehran reportedly increased the number of IRGC personnel in Syria in the final months of 2015, sending as many as 3,500 militia fighters to the frontlines to defend Zeinab Shrine, a holy site for Shi'ite Muslims in the southern suburbs of Damascus.

In the Iranian military structure, the IRGC and the army are separate units and are sometimes seen as rivals, analysts say.

The IRGC is a paramilitary force formed after the Iranian Revolution in 1979 and is designed to protect the Islamic system. The army is considered less elite and focuses on internal and border controls, analysts say.

"IRGC is the trustworthy military wing of the regime after Iran's 1979 revolution, and [the] Iranian army has always [been] considered second to IRGC as it was inherited from the Shah regime," said Daryoush Babak, a former member of the Iranian special forces.

"Despite its extraordinary strength and proven military capabilities, this unit has always been ignored by high-ranking military officials," he told VOA.

In recent weeks, though, Iran's army has looked to broaden its reach.

Countering IS

The army announced that it launched a rapid reaction force to counter IS, even though IS has not been a threat inside Iran.

Ahmad Reza Pourdastan, commanding officer of the ground forces of the Iranian army, said the unit will be permanently on high alert.

"This force is very agile and monitors all kind of threats as far as 40 kilometers of Iranian borders," Pourdastan told reporters last month. "This would be a very reliable force, able to deploy on a very short notice."

The addition of Iran's army into Syria signals that Tehran is attempting to expand its sphere of influence in Syria as Russian forces in recent weeks have withdrawn.

"The army has long desired to enter Syria, but was prevented by the IRGC, which jealously guards its monopoly over 'export' of the revolution," said Ali Alfoneh, a Washington-based IRGC analyst. "Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei, however, authorized the army to deploy advisers in Syria."

VOA's Sirwan Kajjo contributed to this report.

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Islamic State Suffers More Reversals in Syria

by Jamie Dettmer April 04, 2016

Islamic State militants have suffered a series of reversals in northern Syria, both at the hands of rebel fighters and forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, that saw the terror group lose control of strategic territory bordering Turkey and withdraw from a town southeast of Homs, according to rebel fighters and political activists.

The clashes coincided with renewed targeting by U.S.-led coalition warplanes of IS positions in the northern Aleppo countryside and airstrikes from Russian warplanes in eastern Syria that reportedly left at least 40 militants dead.

Coming just days after Russian-backed regime forces recaptured the town of Palmyra from the militants, the accumulating battlefield losses for the terror army represent a serious setback for an organization that once boasted it would "remain and expand."

Palmyra, known as the City of Palms, was an important way station along with its modern concrete neighbor of Tadmur on the IS supply line from Iraq's Anbar province to Homs province in Syria through the city of Deir al-Zor.

IS has failed to pull-off a successful large-scale ground offensive in Syria since May 2015 when it captured Palmyra after a lightning offensive across the desert and has lost more than a fifth of the territory it once controlled in the war-savaged country, U.S. officials and independent analysts calculate.

Earlier this month analysts at IHS Jane's 360, a British defense consultancy, concluded the tide has turned decisively against the extremist organization in Syria.

IS offensive repelled

The latest IS losses saw anti-Assad rebel fighters from rival opposition alliances repel a jihadist offensive in the northern Aleppo countryside and then seize several key areas from the jihadists including the town of al-Kamaliya on the Syrian-Turkish border.

"More than 15 militants were killed" in the clashes with militiamen from the Sultan Murad Squad, al-Mutasam Brigade and the Levant Corps, said rebel spokesman Saleh Zein.

IS positions in the towns of Tel Shaeer, Soran and al-Ahmadiya also came under rebel shelling and were targeted in U.S.-led airstrikes, rebel commanders say.

And according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based pro-rebel monitoring group that relies on its information from a network of activists, IS fighters withdrew from their last remaining redoubts in the eastern districts of the city of al-Qaryatayn in Homs province following fierce clashes with regime forces.

The Observatory said Assad regime troops had not entered yet the relinquished districts, fearing the militants had planted mines and explosive devices. After regime forces took Palmyra on March 27 Russian engineers deployed first to search for booby-traps.

The regime offensive on the mainly Christian town of Al-Qaryatayn was started by regime forces on March 3. Its location is strategic and was once used by anti-Assad rebels as a transshipment point to smuggle arms from northern Syria to militias fighting around Damascus. The recapturing of Al-Qaryatayn was overseen by Russian special forces advisers redeployed from the assault on Palmyra, pro-regime media outlets reported.

According to analyst Chris Kozak of the Washington-based think tank the Institute for the Study of War, more than 5,000 regime reinforcements have been deployed in the eastern part of Homs province, hundreds of them Shi'ite fighters from Lebanon and Iraq and Iranian-trained irregular Syrian militiamen.

"These redeployments were enabled in part by the ongoing 'cessation of hostilities' which allowed the regime and its allies to withdraw troops from its front-lines with opposition groups," he said.

Signs of lawlessness

With military pressure mounting on IS and battlefield setbacks accumulating briskly there are signs of increasing lawlessness in the group's stronghold of Raqqa, where activists from the anti-IS network Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently say there has been a sharp rise in robbery and thefts  an indication that the tight control IS has on the city may be slipping amid a manpower shortage. It has been press-ganging local youngsters into joining, say activists.

The terror group has reacted to dissent and robbery with a spate of gruesome executions. Since Wednesday, when coalition warplanes killed a top IS commander Abu al-Haija, one of a string of high-ranking jihadist leaders in recent weeks targeted by the U.S.-led coalition, 15 of the group's lower-ranking commanders have been executed. They were accused of revealing Abu al-Haija's position to the coalition.

"This is the highest number of executions of security officials by IS," according to Abdel Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Activists also report another person was executed Sunday in Raqqa on charges of "espionage."

IS militants also reportedly executed eight young men in the Mansoura district west of Raqqa. Rights activist Nadeem Mahmoud told local news outlet ARA News that the men were shot dead and hung on electricity poles. They had been detained for more than a year by the terror group.

Some were former IS members who had tried to flee; others were accused of corruption and theft.



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Islamic State Keeps Christians Under Siege in Raqqa

by Sirwan Kajjo April 05, 2016

Islamic State militants are cracking down on the few remaining Christians and preventing them from leaving Raqqa, Syria, local activists tell VOA.

"Christians are the most vulnerable group... in the country," said Hussam Issa, an activist with " Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently," a group that monitors IS activities in the city.

"They don't have protection," said Issa, who fled to Turkey. "They don't have any armed militias that can defend them."

Christians, who have lived in Raqqa for centuries, made up nearly five percent of the 400,000 prewar population, local activists said. That percentage has dramatically dropped after Raqqa fell to anti-government rebels and was later taken over by IS militants in 2014, becoming their de-facto capital.

IS Persecution

Activists report that 43 Christian families remain in the city. They couldn't afford to flee the city as other Christians did when the militants took over Raqqa, they said. When IS militants seized Raqqa in January 2014, they gave Christians three options; convert to Islam, leave the city, or face death.

Many Christian families left to avoid persecution.

"My family and I had to flee Raqqa," said Jimmy Shahinian, a Syrian Christian activist who is now in Germany.

Shahinian said his family and other Christians were attached to their homes and lands in Raqqa, but IS treatment became so unbearable that they had to escape and leave everything behind. Last December "my mother was the last one from my immediate family to flee," he told VOA.

IS imposed a set of strict rules on Christians, forcing them to adhere to Muslim dress codes and to pay jizya, an Islamic form of taxation designed for non-Muslims.

Activist Issa said when he was living in Raqqa militants kidnapped and murdered a young Christian man for having a cross tattoo on his arm. They were hundreds of incidents of which IS targeted the Christian population in the city, he said.

Christian properties have been confiscated by IS commanders and Christians who remain are prohibited by IS laws to buy properties, he said.

Last week, as Christians throughout the Middle East celebrated the ancient Babylonian New Year, Akitu, those in Raqqa were forbidden from holding the Christian ritual.

"Prohibiting Christians from practicing their religion is normal for a group like Daesh [IS]," said U.S-based Syrian journalist Hadeel Oueis who often writes about the plight of Christians in Syria. She is a Syriac Christian from the northeastern province of Hasaka.

Genocide

Oueis said when IS fighters entered Raqqa, they demolished a revered Armenian memorial and shuttered and burned the two churches that belonged Christians. She said IS considers Christians as allies of Western powers.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said last month that atrocities committed by IS militants against Christians, Yazidis and other religious minorities in Iraq and Syria constitute genocide.

The genocide declaration means the United States would prosecute any Islamic State member in the United States, but it does not obligate any specific American action against the terror group in Syria or Iraq, where U.S. warplanes have been striking IS targets for months.

But activists say they hope the designation leads to U.S. action to provide protection to ill-treated Christians throughout the Middle East.

The United States should do "something similar to what the Americans did for the Yazidis [it] is urgent to protect the Christians in Raqqa," journalist Oueis told VOA, referring to a 2014 U.S. operation that rescued many Yazidis on Mount Sinjar after IS fighters swept into their city.

Since its takeover in Syria, IS has kidnapped hundreds of Christians from Raqqa and Hasaka provinces. Some of them have recently been released after huge ransoms were paid to the militant group, news reports said.

Locals say IS fighters in Raqqa are now using Christian families as human shields to deter coalition and Syrian warplanes from hitting its positions.

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Turkish president says time for peace talks with PKK over

Iran Press TV

Mon Apr 4, 2016 4:44PM

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has pledged to continue operations against Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants, saying there remains no room for peace talks with the militant group.

Erdogan said in a speech in the capital, Ankara, on Monday that PKK militants should either surrender or they will be "neutralized" by Turkish security forces.

The PKK abandoned a ceasefire with Ankara in July 2015, about two years after it was clinched between both sides to end a conflict that has killed 40,000 people since 1984.

Turkey has been involved in a large-scale campaign against the PKK since last July in the country's southern border region. It has also been conducting offensives against the positions of the group in northern Iraq.

According to government figures, some 400 Turkish soldiers and police officers were killed in the operations. Opposition political parties say between 500 and 1,000 civilians were also killed.

Erdogan condemns West

Erdogan also condemned the West for teaching Ankara "lessons in democracy" after the United States and the European Union criticized the country's crackdown on freedom of expression.

"Those who attempt to give us lessons in democracy and human rights must first contemplate their own shame," the president said.

This came after US President Barack Obama said during a news conference at the end of a nuclear security summit in Washington on April 1 that the approach Turkish authorities have been taking toward the press could lead the country down a troubling path.

Obama also said he had openly spoken with Erdogan about "very troubling" developments in Turkey, especially in regard to freedom of the press, religion and democracy.

On Sunday, President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz also said the bloc should hold discussions with Ankara over freedom of expression and human rights issues.

Last month, Turkey summoned Germany's ambassador over a satirical music video broadcast by a German channel that lampooned Erdogan.

Karabakh Clashes

Erdogan further predicted that Turkey's ally Azerbaijan would one day regain control of the border region of Karabakh, as clashes continue between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed area.

"We are today standing side-by-side with our brothers in Azerbaijan. But this persecution will not continue forever. Karabakh will one day return to its original owner. It will be Azerbaijan's," Erdogan said.

The president had earlier pledged to support Baku in the fighting "to the end," saying, "We pray our Azerbaijani brothers will prevail in these clashes."

The Karabakh region, which is located in the Azerbaijan Republic but is mainly populated by Armenians, has been under the control of local ethnic Armenian militia and the Armenian troops since a three-year war, which claimed over 30,000 lives, ended between the two republics in 1994 through Russian mediation.

Armenia and Turkey have no diplomatic relations over alleged mass killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire which Yerevan regards as genocide. Turkey rejects the claim.

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Turkish army kills 27 militants in restive southeast

Iran Press TV

Mon Apr 4, 2016 4:34AM

The Turkish military says at least 27 members of a militant group have been killed during military operations in the troubled southeastern part of Turkey.

The Turkish General Staff announced in a statement on Sunday that militants from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) had been killed in separate operations in the provinces of Hakkari, Mardin and Sirnak the previous day.

Seventeen PKK militants, the Turkish military said, died during heavy clashes in the Kurdish-populated city of Yuksekova in Hakkari Province, located 1,026 kilometers (638 miles) east of the capital, Ankara.

Elsewhere, in the southeastern city of Nusaybin, situated 792 kilometers (492 miles) east of Ankara, Turkish soldiers killed six PKK militants, according to the Turkish military, which said four other PKK members were also killed during military operations in various districts of Sirnak Province.

Turkish military forces also seized 92 rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) rounds, 5,500 Dragunov sniper rifle bullets and 137 grenades during a search operation in the Cukurca district of Hakkari Province.

A ceasefire between the PKK and the Turkish government collapsed last July, and militant attacks on Turkish security forces have soared ever since.

Turkey 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 and Syria.

The 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 supposed reprisal attacks against Turkish police and security forces, in turn prompting the Turkish military operations.

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Crystallex awarded US$1.386 billion by ICSID for expropriation of Las Cristinas mining project by Venezuela

Business Wire (TSX.V: KRY) welcomes the Award released yesterday by the Additional Facility of the World Banks International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) in relation to its claims against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (Venezuela). The Tribunal awarded the company damages of US$1.202 Billion plus pre- and post-award interest due to Venezuelas unfair and inequitable treatment, and unlawful expropriation of Crystallexs investment in the Las Cristinas mining project.



Crystallex filed its Request for Arbitration before ICSIDs Additional Facility on February 16, 2011 pursuant to the Agreement between the Government of Canada and the Government of the Republic of Venezuela for the Promotion and Protection of Investments (the Treaty).



The Award, which was rendered on April 4, 2016, upheld Crystallexs claims that Venezuela breached Articles II(2) and VII(1) of the Treaty by failing to accord Crystallexs investments in Venezuela fair and equitable treatment and by unlawfully expropriating those investments.



As a result of these breaches, the Tribunal has ordered Venezuela to pay damages currently amounting to US$1.386 billion, based on a value for Crystallexs investment in the Las Cristinas mine of US$1.202 billion on 13 April 2008  the date when an environmental permit was denied by Venezuela  together with pre- and post-award interest from that date.



Among other things, the Tribunal criticized Venezuelas Ministry of the Environment for its arbitrary and non-transparent and inconsistent conduct in connection with its denial of an environmental permit. The Tribunal stated that it cannot but conclude that the Permit denial letter and the Romero Report on which the first appears to be based are so fundamentally deficient that, to the eyes of a reasonable third person, they surprise a sense of juridical propriety. Venezuela, the Tribunal concluded, frustrated Crystallexs legitimate expectations , engaged in arbitrary conduct in denying the Permit and rescinding the [Contract it had signed with Crystallex], and committed several acts lacking transparency and consistency. The Tribunal therefore found that Venezuelas overall conduct vis-a-vis Crystallex, thus violated the [Treaty] standard  and caused all of the investments made by Crystallex to become worthless.



Robert Fung, Crystallex CEO commented: On behalf of Crystallexs board of directors, management, employees and all of its stakeholders, we are pleased that the Tribunal has recognized Venezuelas unlawful expropriation of the Companys investment in the Las Cristinas mining project. The company looks forward to collecting on the Award on behalf of all of its stakeholders. We thank our stakeholders for their deep understanding and support throughout this difficult and prolonged process, and our legal team, led by Freshfields partner Nigel Blackaby.





About Crystallex



is a Canadian based mining company, with a history of acquiring, exploring, developing and operating mining projects. Crystallex has successfully operated an open pit mine in Uruguay and developed and operated three gold mines in Venezuela. The Company's principal asset is its international claim in relation to its investment in the Las Cristinas gold project located in Bolivar State, Venezuela



For more information on the Companys ICSID case visit:

https://icsid.worldbank.org/apps/icsidweb/cases/Pages/casedetail.aspx?CaseNo=ARB%28AF%29/11/2



For more information on the Companys CCAA Proceedings visit:

www.ey.com/ca/crystallex





CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: Certain statements included in this press release, constitute forward-looking statements. The words "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "contemplate," "target," "plan," "intends," "continue," "budget," "estimate," "may," and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, financial and political uncertainties and contingencies. Many factors could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements made by, or on behalf of, the Company. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and, accordingly, investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements due to the inherent uncertainty therein. For more information on the risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause the Company's actual results to differ from current expectations, please refer to the Company's public filings available under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and the documents relating to the CCAA proceedings available on the Monitor's website. Forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release and the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly such forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.







Contact



BARETZ+BRUNELLE

Jessica Klein

646-780-8828

Crystallex International Corp. (TSX.V: KRY) welcomes the Award released yesterday by the Additional Facility of the World Banks International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) in relation to its claims against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (Venezuela). The Tribunal awarded the company damages of US$1.202 Billion plus pre- and post-award interest due to Venezuelas unfair and inequitable treatment, and unlawful expropriation of Crystallexs investment in the Las Cristinas mining project.Crystallex filed its Request for Arbitration before ICSIDs Additional Facility on February 16, 2011 pursuant to the Agreement between the Government of Canada and the Government of the Republic of Venezuela for the Promotion and Protection of Investments (the Treaty).The Award, which was rendered on April 4, 2016, upheld Crystallexs claims that Venezuela breached Articles II(2) and VII(1) of the Treaty by failing to accord Crystallexs investments in Venezuela fair and equitable treatment and by unlawfully expropriating those investments.As a result of these breaches, the Tribunal has ordered Venezuela to pay damages currently amounting to US$1.386 billion, based on a value for Crystallexs investment in the Las Cristinas mine of US$1.202 billion on 13 April 2008  the date when an environmental permit was denied by Venezuela  together with pre- and post-award interest from that date.Among other things, the Tribunal criticized Venezuelas Ministry of the Environment for its arbitrary and non-transparent and inconsistent conduct in connection with its denial of an environmental permit. The Tribunal stated that it cannot but conclude that the Permit denial letter and the Romero Report on which the first appears to be based are so fundamentally deficient that, to the eyes of a reasonable third person, they surprise a sense of juridical propriety. Venezuela, the Tribunal concluded, frustrated Crystallexs legitimate expectations , engaged in arbitrary conduct in denying the Permit and rescinding the [Contract it had signed with Crystallex], and committed several acts lacking transparency and consistency. The Tribunal therefore found that Venezuelas overall conduct vis-a-vis Crystallex, thus violated the [Treaty] standard  and caused all of the investments made by Crystallex to become worthless.Robert Fung, Crystallex CEO commented: On behalf of Crystallexs board of directors, management, employees and all of its stakeholders, we are pleased that the Tribunal has recognized Venezuelas unlawful expropriation of the Companys investment in the Las Cristinas mining project. The company looks forward to collecting on the Award on behalf of all of its stakeholders. We thank our stakeholders for their deep understanding and support throughout this difficult and prolonged process, and our legal team, led by Freshfields partner Nigel Blackaby. Crystallex International Corp. is a Canadian based mining company, with a history of acquiring, exploring, developing and operating mining projects. Crystallex has successfully operated an open pit mine in Uruguay and developed and operated three gold mines in Venezuela. The Company's principal asset is its international claim in relation to its investment in the Las Cristinas gold project located in Bolivar State, VenezuelaFor more information on the Companys ICSID case visit:https://icsid.worldbank.org/apps/icsidweb/cases/Pages/casedetail.aspx?CaseNo=ARB%28AF%29/11/2For more information on the Companys CCAA Proceedings visit:www.ey.com/ca/crystallexCAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: Certain statements included in this press release, constitute forward-looking statements. The words "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "contemplate," "target," "plan," "intends," "continue," "budget," "estimate," "may," and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, financial and political uncertainties and contingencies. Many factors could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements made by, or on behalf of, the Company. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and, accordingly, investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements due to the inherent uncertainty therein. For more information on the risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause the Company's actual results to differ from current expectations, please refer to the Company's public filings available under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and the documents relating to the CCAA proceedings available on the Monitor's website. Forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release and the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly such forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.BARETZ+BRUNELLEJessica Klein646-780-8828
LA PRAIRIE, QUEBEC--(Marketwired - Apr 5, 2016) - The management of Vanstar Mining Resources Inc. ("Vanstar") (TSX VENTURE:VSR) announces an update on the drilling campaign on the Nelligan project, located in the Chibougamau-Chapais area, in Northwest Quebec, Canada. The initial assay results from holes NE-16-35, 36 and 37 identify the presence of new mineralized gold-bearing zones North of the Liam and Dan zones. The mineralization is hosted in strongly silicified and carbonated fine sediments bearing between 5% up to 30% of disseminated and semi-massive pyrite bands.

Highlighted drill intersections include:

Drillhole NE-16-36: 35.84 metres grading 1.90 g/t gold from 138.00 metres depth Includes: 17.97 metres grading 3.20 g/t gold from 149.00 metres depth Includes: 1.99 metres grading 9.44 g/t gold from 156.00 metres depth and Includes: 4.20 metres grading 6.78 g/t gold from 162.50 metres depth

Drillhole NE-16-37: 23.02 metres grading 1.23 g/t gold from 229.00 metres depth Includes: 10.34 metres grading 2.02 g/t gold from 238.50 metres depth

Drillhole NE-16-37: 7.39 metres grading 2.13 g/t gold from 283.50 metres depth Includes: 2.95 metres grading 3.69 g/t gold from 285.00 metres depth



Results from drill holes NE-16-33 and 34 targeting the Liam zone intersected only weak mineralization.

This first campaign of 2016 is designed to complete between 2,500 to 4,500 metres of drilling, under the management and supervision of its partner IAMGold Corp. ("IAMGOLD"). The drilling program is targeting selected structural and geophysical (IP) anomalies as well as evaluating lateral and depth extensions of the previously drilled Liam and Dan zones. A total of 4,546 meters in 13 holes have just been completed and ended this phase of drilling.

Assay results have been received and validated for the first five (5) holes and are reported herein. Assay results from drill holes NE-16-38 to NE-16-45 are pending and will be released as soon as they become available. The table below summarizes the assay results received to date and a surface plan can be found on the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1049461_Map.pdf.

In addition to the drilling program, a further 10 km of Induced Polarization ("IP") survey was completed to the west of the Liam zone. Results from this survey will be used to guide future drilling as merited.

 We are very happy with the progress of the exploration program implemented by our partner IAMGOLD and this drilling program has identified a new mineralized area with very encouraging initial results points out the president of Vanstar Mr. Guy Morissette.

Nelligan Project Drilling Results - 2016 Winter Drilling program

Hole No. UTM NAD83 Zone18 AZ DIP EOH from To Interval True Width

(1) Au

(2) NOTE Easting Northing Elevation () () (m) (m) (m) (m) (m) (g/t) NE-16-33 523066 5473446 380 330 50 242.40 181.50 183.00 1.50 1.45 1.25 LIAM ZONE NE-16-34 523156 5473660 373 330 45 309.00 28.40 33.18 4.78 4.49 1.12 LIAM ZONE 46.60 49.60 3.00 2.82 1.49 LIAM ZONE NE-16-35 523019 5473904 380 330 50 114.00 61.50 99.00 37.50 36.22 0.42 NORTH SECTOR Including(3) 70.50 72.00 1.50 1.45 1.62 NE-16-36 523438 5473750 380 330 45 306.00 138.00 181.75 43.75 35.84 1.90 NORTH SECTOR Including(3) 149.00 169.75 20.75 17.97 3.20 Including(3) 156.00 158.30 2.30 1.99 9.44 Including(3) 162.50 167.35 4.85 4.20 6.78 Including(3) 173.00 175.00 2.00 1.73 1.27 NE-16-37 523087 5473802 380 330 50 417.00 229.00 253.50 24.50 23.02 1.23 NORTH SECTOR Including(3) 238.50 249.00 10.50 10.34 2.02 283.50 291.00 7.50 7.39 2.13 Including(3) 285.00 288.00 3.00 2.95 3.69 298.50 309.00 10.50 9.09 1.06 313.50 315.00 1.50 1.23 2.80 334.50 336.00 1.50 1.23 2.46 354.00 357.00 3.00 2.46 1.69 366.00 369.00 3.00 2.30 1.64 373.50 376.50 3.00 2.30 2.72 390.00 391.50 1.50 1.15 5.85 TOTAL 1388.40 m

Notes: 1. True widths are estimated at 82 to 98% of the core interval. 2. Drill hole intercepts are calculated with a lower cut of 0.50 g/t Au. 3. Assays are reported uncut but high grade sub-intervals are highlighted.

About the IAMGOLD Agreement

The Nelligan property is owned 100% by Vanstar. The project totalizes 84 designated cells for a total surface area of 4,705.4 hectares (or 47.1 km).

Pursuant to an earn-in option agreement signed on November 12th 2014, IAMGOLD may acquire up to an 80% interest in the Nelligan project. Terms include a first option to earn a 50% undivided interest in consideration for staged cash payments totalling $550,000, and the completion of $4,000,000 in exploration expenditures over a period of four and a half (4 1/2) years ending on May 12, 2019.

Following the exercise of the first option, IAMGOLD can elect a second option to earn an additional 25% interest, in consideration for the delivery of a pre-feasibility study and making further annual cash payments totalling $225,000, over a period of three and half (3 1/2) years. IAMGOLD can elect a third option to earn an additional 5% interest in consideration for the delivery of a feasibility study and a cash payment of $275,000.

The technical data presented in this press release has been released to the Company by IAMGOLD. Gilles Laverdiere, geologist and Qualified Person under NI 43-101 has reviewed IAMGOLD's data files and approved the reported technical data reported in this press release.

About the Nelligan Project

This project is located 45 km to the south of Chapais. Access to the property is easy by the paved highway 113 N that links Chapais to Chibougamau and by forestry gravel roads reaching directly to the center of the property.

The Property is located in the northeastern part of the Abitibi Greenstone Belt of the Superior Province. It contains several interesting gold showings including Liam, Dan (discovered by drilling in 2013 and 2014) and Lake Eu. These new gold structures were intersected to date over a length of 400 meters at a depth of over 200 vertical meters. The presence of gold is constant throughout the drilling. These zones remain open along strike and at depth.

Management also announces the resignation for personal reasons, of Mr. Pierre Lefebvre as director of Vanstar. We wish to thank Mr. Lefebvre for his contribution to the development of the company.

Cautions Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements regarding our intentions and plans. The forward-looking statements that are contained in this news release are based on various assumptions and estimates by the Company and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. As a consequence, actual results may differ materially from results forecasted or suggested in these forward-looking statements and readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. We caution you that such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, as discussed in the Company's filings with Canadian securities agencies. Various factors may prevent or delay our plans, including but not limited to, contractor availability and performance, weather, access, mineral prices, success and failure of the exploration and development carried out at various stages of the program, and general business, economic, competitive, political and social conditions. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation to update any forward- looking statements, except as required by applicable securities laws.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Bistrot Gavroche is a faithful rendition of the traditional bistro. Photo: Dominic Lorrimer

Address Level 1, 2-10 Kensington Street Chippendale, New South Wales 2008 View map Book online Opening hours Mon-Tue 5:3010pm ; Wed-Fri 11:30am2:30pm, 5:3010pm ; Sat 10:30am3pm, 5:3010pm ; Sun 10:30am3pm, 5:309:30pm Features Accepts bookings, Licensed, Vegetarian friendly, Wheelchair access, Gluten-free options, Romance-first date, Breakfast-brunch Prices Expensive (mains over $40) Chef Frederic Colin Payments eftpos, AMEX, Cash, Visa, Mastercard Phone 02 9281 6668

The French are great travellers, and great survivors. Wherever they land, be it Dubai or Dubbo, they remain resolutely French; and so does their cuisine. It's this stubbornness that built the enduring charm of the bistro.

So now we have a couple of Frenchmen who have travelled the world as chef and sommelier since their apprenticeships with the great chefs of Paris. Chef Frederic Colin's grandfather Henri, who once ran a bistro in Les Halles, was the inspiration behind Colin's Brasserie Gavroche in Singapore, and now Bistrot Gavroche in Sydney.

With co-owner and sommelier Lionel Richard, he has left no bistro reference unturned in its creation.

Grandpa Henri's baked pork terrine en croute is the go-to dish. Photo: Dominic Lorrimer

With its imposing oakwood entrance from Lyon's venerable Brasserie Georges, brass-railed banquette seating, oversized carved wooden bar, hand-painted tiled walls, four-metre antique French silk weaver's table, and 1950 Parisian VeloSoleX motorised bicycle suspended overhead, it is an homage to the great age of bistrodom, inserted into the first floor of an old Kensington Street rum warehouse.

It's a film-set pastiche, but then, every bistro is a film-set pastiche of every other bistro. And the menu? Even I'm too old to remember Quenelles de Brochet Sauce Nantua, Crabe Royale facon Thermidor and Crepe Suzettes flambees. Tellingly, the menu is encased in glass, like the museum relic it is.

But this is Bistroland, The Happiest Kingdom Of Them All. And while it may not be the best French food in the world, here's the thing. It does actually taste French.

Sole meuniere pommes vapeur with potatoes. Photo: Dominic Lorrimer

Take the big slab of pate en croute ($18) with its fresh, sweet, upfront flavour. The marbled, herb-flecked pork terrine is just the right sort of chunky, ringed with a glistening savoury jelly and fringed with shortcrust. It's bistro heartland stuff, and it's laughing its head off about your inventive modern scraps of hydrocolloid foams and gels.

A charcuterie platter of perfectly acceptable saucisson sec, jambon cru and terrific, shreddy, fatty pork rillettes, comes with pots of help-yourself cornichons and tiny pickled onions ($18); hearty and generous.

Sole meuniere ($42) sees snowy-white-fleshed New Zealand flounder, beheaded and be-tailed, fried with meticulous timing until sunny and golden; its lemony, buttery, parsley-strewn sauce to one side in a jug. And that heart and soul of bistro cookery, the steak, a richly flavoured O'Connor grass-fed entrecote ($45), has that satisfyingly, ferociously charry crust that comes from being cooked in a heavy cast-iron pan. To finish, tarte tatin ($15) leaves me cold with its slow-cooked, almost-jellied apples on a too-dark, too-brittle pastry base.

Entrecote frites, sauce bearnaise and steak. Photo: Dominic Lorrimer

But oh, the French and their condiments. At one point, my very small round table holds a jug of lemony butter sauce for the fish, half a lemon, a separate bowl of steamed potatoes for the fish, a bowl of thin, crisp frites for the steak, a pot of mayonnaise for the frites, a jug of decent bearnaise for the steak, a pot of seeded mustard, a pot of dijon mustard, bread, and butter. Bless.

Lionel Richard has that smooth French service thing down pat, although the young floor team has yet to learn the tricks. The wine list is a work in progress, a highlight being the full page of Peter Graham's wines from Beechworth, where you'll find an earthy, ripe, steak-frites-friendly 2013 Domenica Shiraz ($13/$95), and an intriguing trolley of premium rums from French territories.

Gavroche is a little surreal, it must be said. The surroundings  so familiar. The cooking  so loyal. Whether you're up for such a faithful rendition of the bistro or not, such stubbornness has to be admired.

THE LOWDOWN

Best bit: The rum trolley

Worst bit: Awkward framed menus

Go-to dish: Grandpa Henri's pate en croute, $18

Terry Durack is chief restaurant critic for The Sydney Morning Herald and senior reviewer for the Good Food Guide. This rating is based on the Good Food Guide scoring system.
La Luna Bistro's Adrian Richardson at his evolving venue, Bar Bouvier. Photo: Nola James

Owner-chef Adrian Richardson opened La Luna Bistro in Carlton North 18 years ago, so he's had a bit of time to plan his next venture, Bouvier Bar, due to open in Brunswick East in early June. "I think I've really nailed the concept," he says.

That concept is "New York-style" bar: a service-focused watering hole that's "a little funky looking, a little bit swish".

The ground floor of the two-storey converted clothing factory will be a bar with about 60 seats: stools for at least 25, plus wall-to-wall banquettes and good sturdy tables; upstairs there's room for around 110 revellers, a long-awaited solution to an overflow of La Luna function inquiries.

With the venue named after socialite (and father of Jackie Onassis) John Vernou Bouvier III  a raconteur with a taste for the good life  old-school cocktails will be a focus: a 3am licence has just been approved and there are plans to keep the kitchen open until late, too. Key staff will be appointed soon, including a sommelier and head chef.

Richardson says we should expect a bar menu with a La Luna influence that's "a lot more fun, meat-focused, user-friendly  perhaps charcuterie or a little bowl of pasta if you're feeling peckish".

At the moment Richardson's still picking out tiles; they're setting up shop at 159 Lygon Street, Brunswick East.
The Apollo has just opened in Tokyo. Will Longrain join it? Photo: Supplied

The new Tokyo offshoot from Potts Point restaurant, The Apollo, has only just served its first dish of taramasalata and there are already strong rumours that Longrain restaurant will follow the trail to the Japanese capital.

The Apollo co-owner Sam Christie, who is also a co-founder at Longrain in Surry Hills, didn't extinguish the pilot light on the story.

"I can't confirm anything on that," he told Good Food. Word is Longrain will occupy a building alongside other incoming Australian restaurants, buoyed by Tokyo expat pioneers such as Bill Granger and Luke Mangan.

Christie was more forthcoming on The Apollo's Ginza updates, where they're championing Australian meat and getting strong positive feedback on the food.

Eight members of the Japanese team trained at the Potts Point restaurant before the opening, and Christie says there are even a few improvements on the original.

"We're able to get our hands on fresh roe over here for the taramasalata. The locals love it, and we've even had some people in from the Greek embassy," he says.

How many Greek restaurant competitors does Christie have in Tokyo? "We're not sure. We haven't found another one," he says.
St James Crabhouse & Kitchen at Kangaroo Point, Brisbane. Photo: Glenn Hunt

Get ready to get messy  a Brisbane lawyer has opened the city's first American-style crab house. Bibs, gloves and crab-picking implements are on offer at St James Crabhouse & Kitchen, which opened on Monday just a stone's throw from Story Bridge.

Owner Gideon James, who professes to be "a passionate lover of crustacea", says he saw a need in Brisbane for a casual seafood restaurant.

"I looked at the market and thought there wasn't really anything like this here. I couldn't really understand with our great weather in Queensland why there weren't more seafood places. So I decided to do it myself and put together a menu of crustacea and the sauces that I really enjoy."

Singapore-style chilli crab and a selection of sides at St James Crabhouse & Kitchen. Photo: Glenn Hunt

James, who went to school in America, has looked to that country for inspiration, with crabs served in a bag and the option to leave your shells on the table as they do in the US.

The menu includes king crab and snow crab from Alaska as well as local options such as blue swimmer crab, Moreton Bay bug, redclaw, Queensland prawns, and mussels from South Australia. Each comes with a choice of sauce such as marinara, New Orleans cajun and a traditional "Baltimore old bay". With chef Anton Agnal from the Fullerton Hotel in Singapore heading up the kitchen, James is backing the Singapore chilli sauce as a big seller.

There are also ribs and burgers for those who prefer their protein meatier. Pork spare ribs are cooked sous vide for eight hours, then char-grilled and served with St James' own barbecue sauce. Burgers come old-school American style, with pickles, American cheese and mustard.

St James' owner Gideon James with a bag of Singapore chilli crab. Photo: Glenn Hunt

The casual eatery seats 42 and doesn't take bookings. Drinks include Stone and Wood Pacific Ale and lager on tap as well as a small selection of wine.

Plans include opening for American breakfasts, and James is already scheming up a second crabhouse.

Open Mon-Wed noon-10pm; Thu-Sun noon-11pm.

Shop 5, 22 Baildon Street, Kangaroo Point, Brisbane, facebook.com/stjamescrabhouse
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Specialist stresses diabetes control

Just about 8.1 million people in the U.S. with diabetes are unaware that they have the disease, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

With a steadily growing population in the Concho Valley, the need for available medical care to treat diabetes is also increasing.

In December, Shannon Medical Center hired the area's first endocrinologist  Chadi Richeh, who specializes in endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism.

Statistically, there are more than 10,000 diabetic people in San Angelo. For sure, one-third of all diabetics know they are diabetic, but two-thirds have no idea that they are diabetic, he said.

"And I am assuming that if we know that there are 10,000, more than likely in this city we have 30,000 diabetic(s)," Richeh said. A number he thinks is growing by the day, but not only locally  on a larger scale.

"In about 2002, there were about 18 million diabetics in the United States," he estimated. "In 2012, we have 33 million. In 2030, we're going to have 100 million."

Most recent numbers by the CDC show that in 2014, 29.1 million people or 9.3 percent of the U.S. population are diabetic. That is one out of 11 people.

"That's what motivated me in the first place to move here," he said about making a change to Texas from Indiana. "I know that when we compare between states, that one of the most epidemic states that have diabetes, we are talking about the Bible Belt  Texas, Tennessee, Louisiana, Alabama. Even Indiana and Ohio we have a big, big epidemic with diabetes."

Originally from Damascus, Syria, Richeh followed in his family's footsteps and became a doctor. His twin brother Wael Richeh is a neurologist at Shannon.

Born to a Greek family in Damascus, Richeh graduated from a Catholic school and went on to medical school in Syria before traveling to Paris where he became a board certified cardiologist.

"I started coming to conferences in the United States and that's when I started to notice there is a big gap of knowledge between Europe and the U.S.," he said. "So I said I want to be the best, I don't want to be second, and that's what drove me to come over here."

Making the switch from cardiology to endocrinology was easy for Richeh, who completed his endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism fellowship and internal medicine residency at the Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science in Chicago.

"I enjoyed cardiology a lot," he said. "It was always my dream since I was in medical school (but) when I started training; I noticed a lot of problems and a lot of interaction between diabetes and heart disease."

With research and firsthand experience dealing with his patients in his practice, Richeh said he noticed his sickest patients were diabetic.

"And that's where it started, all the clicks in my mind  I need to know more about what's happening here, why all my heart disease patients are dying much sooner when they are diabetic," he said. "Endocrinology is the field of research  and knowledge, and that's where I wanted to intensify my knowledge and where I might be able to help more patients preventing them (from) getting heart disease  if we can bring their diabetes under control."

As new father to a two month-old son named Thomas, Richeh is concerned about the sedentary lifestyle that children are being exposed to and its risks.

"Childhood obesity is a big, big problem in our society and the main issue is we have a problem with the activity of the kids," he said.

"At (that) age we used to go run outside" and now children spend too much time indoors on their iPads and computers and are exposed to the advertisement of unhealthy snacks and foods on TV, he said.

"We need to raise the awareness of the families, the kids are kids  they don't know,"Richeh said. 'We need to be aware, make sure we push kids to enjoy outside and need to limit time on computer and TV to two hours."

As the numbers continue to grow both locally and nationally, the struggle to prevent and control diabetes for doctors like Richeh is upsetting.

"It really frustrates me," Richeh. "We're trying to do our best. I try to battle diabetes every single day of my life. I have two parents that are diabetic. They are winning thankfully; they started listening. But a lot of our patients they are not listening and the problem is multifactorial."

"I am very hopeful," Richeh said about changing the outcome of the disease. "I don't think it's going to be in my time, unfortunately, but I think the newer generation will be able to invent more (treatments.)"

"How realistic, how far are we? I think we are far away, but I think we're getting much better," he said.

So far, during his short time in San Angelo, Richeh said he is seeing improvement.

"The patients are very nice, the people are welcoming and they have open hearts and open ears to treatment and that makes me happy," he said. "The people are listening to me and I think I am making a change, making an improvement here and that's what makes me so happy."
Yfat Yossifor/Standard-Times Firefighters fold the flag from atop Dwight Clark's casket Monday at Lawnhaven Cemetery.

SHARE Mourners hold hands during a bell ringing ceremony for Clark, retired fire chief of the Forsyth Fire Department in Georgia. Clark was a veteran San Angelo firefighter. Yfat Yossifor / Standard-Times Firefighter Matt Clark sings during funeral service for his father, Dwight Clark, Monday, April 4, at Lawnhaven Cemetery. Yfat Yossifor/Standard-Times Firefighters pray during a funeral service for San Angelo native Dwight Clark, retired Fire Chief of the Forsyth Fire Dept. in Georgia, Monday, April 4, at Lawnhaven Cemetery.

By Staff Report

Underneath a West Texas sky, a veteran San Angelo firefighter was returned home to be laid to rest.

Dwight Wilson Clark became a firefighter with the San Angelo Fire Department on July 1, 1959, at age 21.

Two hours into his first shift, he responded to a kitchen fire and since then he responded to countless fires, wrecks and several tragedies.

Clark, after 54 years of service with fire departments, died after battling cancer on March 29, at age 79.

Clark's funeral procession began in Forsyth County, Georgia, Saturday, where law enforcement and fire department vehicles escorted his casket to Hartsfield  Jackson Atlanta International Airport for transport to San Angelo.

About 100 people mourned his passing Monday at Lawnhaven Memorial.

Many mourners passed under two outstretched fire engine ladders suspending an American flag across the 400 block of South Chadbourne Street, to honor Clark's memory.

Three firetrucks were parked at the entrance of the cemetery, and about 10 firefighters lined up at the entrance to greet people as they arrived for the service.

"He set the standard for integrity in my life," said Matt Clark, 36, a firefighter for the Forsyth County Fire Department, and son of Clark. "The definition of integrity is always doing the right thing, even when no one is looking."

Matt said his father had a personality that was "Texas sized."

Matt said they spent a lot of time riding down the road in his father's big pickup talking about life, jobs, family and "just about everything."

"That was our therapy counseling time," he said. "We just spilled our guts and solved each other's problems."

Clark rose through the ranks over the years and eventually became SAFD assistant chief in the early '90s.

He then retired and moved to Austin, where he worked as fire chief for one year before transferring to Georgia to work for the Forsyth County Fire Department.

Clark worked at Forsyth County FD for 12 years before retiring in 2013.

"I'm honored to have followed in his footsteps," said Jason Shivers, Division Chief for Forsyth County FD, adding that Clark taught him throughout his career.

"Over the years he was a pillar of our fire department," he said.

Shivers and three other firefighters from Forsyth County drove from Georgia to San Angelo to attend the funeral. Shivers said it is their duty to not only properly deliver Clark to his resting site, but also to be there for Clark's family.

"His touch on the department transcended just day-to-day training," Shivers said. "His motivation that he brought to the troops, his attitude, very professional, positive, always pushing us to be better and to push a little bit harder and a little stronger and last a little bit deeper into our operations."

Matt said his father was diagnosed with liver cancer about 10 months ago and that Clark remained strong till the very last breath.

"I feel very at peace, and I'm glad that he is restored now," Matt said, describing his final communication with his father this way.

"I reached down and hugged him. I said I love you dad, and he said I love you too, dude."
The Philadelphia School Reform Commission has come up empty in its bid to undo a recent, devastating state Supreme Court ruling that curtailed powers it thought it had.The state's top court Monday turned down the SRC's request to reconsider a ruling it handed down in February that said the commission had no power to suspend parts of the state school code. The court said that a provision about special powers in the law that led to the state takeover of the city schools in 2001 was unconstitutional.The commission had relied on those special powers in the last few years to close schools, bypass seniority in teacher assignments, and limit charter school growth.In a petition filed last month asking the court to reconsider, the SRC warned that the ruling could have potentially "catastrophic" consequences for the district, especially if it was required to fund unrestricted growth at the 83 charter schools in the city.Fernando Gallard, a district spokesman, declined to comment Monday because officials still were reviewing the court's denial."This matter can now be considered closed finally," said Robert W. O'Donnell, the lead attorney for West Philadelphia Achievement Charter Elementary School, which brought the suit against the SRC.He said the charter school "remains willing to negotiate its agreement with the district, as we have been since this all started."West Philadelphia Achievement filed the suit in February 2014 after the SRC tried to impose a cap on enrollment.The case was brought in the state Supreme Court because the school had contended that part of the takeover law the SRC used in 2013 to force charters to agree to imposed enrollment caps was unconstitutional.In documents asking the Supreme Court to reconsider its ruling, the SRC said the court had overlooked or misunderstood part of the state takeover law."In view of the very high stakes at issue here and the court's apparent oversight of some critical facts and legal principles that are applicable, the district and the SRC respectfully request that the court give this case another look," the SRC said.In its one-sentence order, the high court replied that the SRC's application for reargument was "hereby denied."The 83 charters in the city enroll nearly 70,000 students. The school district, meanwhile, has 134,538 students enrolled.The district's $2.8 billion proposed budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1 includes nearly $875 million for charters, including transportation.
Virginia high school is going to look different for the freshmen who enroll in 2018.Even the idea of high school will be different, according to architects of a plan that the State Board of Education will flesh out over the next two years.The four-year quest for class credits, verified by standardized tests, that students and parents now know will morph into a pair of two-year sections with multiple paths to graduation.Many core classes will be taught in those first two years. Then students will have a choice: A path to a four-year college degree, preparations for a two-year community college degree or the chance to leave high school with a certification that says they're ready to go to work in one of several industries, with the options based partly on what local businesses say they need from the workforce.Internships and apprenticeships will be worth credit toward high school graduation. The push to emphasize job skills in high school, already well underway on the Peninsula and around the state, will accelerate."This is a game changer," said state Sen. John Miller, who carried legislation this session laying out the basics of what he called a "very substantial redesign.""When you and I went to high school ... seat time was a big deal," said Miller, D-Newport News. "And that is going to be gone. And in its place we're now going to have the flexibility to award credits to students who get internships or apprenticeships or go and earn industry certifications."The state board has to finalize dozens of details, and the legislation that laid this path out requires two public hearings in each of eight regions around the state between now and December 2017, when final regulations should be ready. They go into effect starting with the 2018 school year, but only for freshmen.Students who start high school before then would graduate under the old system, according to Senate Bill 336 and its identical companion, House Bill 895.The basics have widespread, bipartisan support from state leaders. Both bills passed nearly unanimously this past session, and Gov. Terry McAuliffe has backed the plan enthusiastically."Ten years from now we will come back and look at high school, and students will be more engaged," McAuliffe's secretary of education, Anne Holton, said. "And I think you will see, over time, a breaking down of walls between the classroom and the community."There will be more room to learn through failure and experience, Holton said. Perhaps community college assessment tests could be taken in lieu of current high schools tests, she said. Maybe that could happen in the 10th grade, she said, so remedial classes could come before college enrollment.This is not an entirely new philosophy, but a shift in state regulations to catch up to what some schools already are doing. The plan also expands this existing philosophy into a core expectation statewide.The state now encourages schools to build partnerships with local businesses to train students, and systems can get permission to substitute industry certification and state licensure exams for Standards of Learning tests.The state also sets annual goals for every school division when it comes to industry certifications and licensures. In the 2013-14 school year, Virginia students earned more than 103,000 of these credentials.Del. Tag Greason, R-Ashburn, an influential House Republican on education issues, said the state has dealt with this issue piecemeal, now it's time to do so holistically.The "Profile of a Virginia Graduate" the state board will develop to lay out what knowledge and skills students should acquire in high school is something Fairfax County Public Schools did for itself several years back, but Peninsula examples of high school job training programs abound.Students at Denbigh High School can learn how to fly and maintain planes at the school's Aviation Academy. Canon has an apprentice program tied to schools in Newport News and Hampton.Peninsula systems have thrown in together with the New Horizons Regional Education Center. The program began in the 1965 and now offers a range of programs to more than 1,500 high school students, in addition to adult education and training.In January, Hampton schools announced a new partnership with Ford Next Generation Learning to put career academies in its high schools.These sorts of programs are "exactly the kind of thing we're trying to encourage," Holton said."Obviously not every school is going to be teaching aviation," she said. "All kinds of resources are necessary for that. I really think we're going to see a lot of variations that are differing by locality."Holton, as well as Miller, said schools will still teach classic subjects, such as literature. It may look different, though, with more focus on teaching students to communicate."We might teach more poetry because we're going to be teaching kids communication skills," Holton said.This shift is one of several changes that state leaders have made to the Virginia's education system in recent years. Miller has pushed quite a few measures, including a decrease in the number of Standards of Learning tests. Greason and the House Republican majority developed a number reforms, and an innovation study committee created by the legislature is continuing to meet.Greason said he hopes to turn attention next to the duties assigned Virginia teachers, and to the paperwork they face. He said current licensure regulations require expertise in anywhere between half a dozen and two dozen areas."I think the next couple years is about asking, 'What is the role of the teacher?'" Greason said. "That's where my head is. Others will have different views."Greason noted that Virginia schools rank consistently in the top five nationally."That's great, but I'll tell you, if we stand still, we will not be in the top five 10 years from now," he said. "So what is it that we need to do?"
Republican state Rep. Dan Carter of Bethel announced that he is running for U.S. Senate on Monday, five weeks before the party is scheduled to pick a nominee.Carter, 48, is an Air Force veteran and father of two who has served six years in the legislature. He acknowledged that his late entry into the contest may pose some challenges. "I know this will not be an easy race," he said, standing on the north steps of the state Capitol. "Nothing in life worth doing ever is."Carter portrayed the Democratic incumbent, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, as a ineffective advocate who is focused on small-ball consumer issues such as the labeling genetically modified salmon while the U.S. faces significant issues, including the threat of terrorism and the lingering effects of a faltering economy."Sen. Dick Blumenthal has had close to 40 years to prove himself including six in the United States Senate," Carter said. "While Islamic killers terrorize western allies, Dick talks about the perils of AstroTurf. While real estate prices continue to crater, Dick talks about genetically altered salmon."At his mid-day announcement on a snowy day outside the capitol, Carter expressed confidence that he will win the nomination. In recent days he has lined up support of the state's top Republicans, including Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano and House Republican Leader Themis Klarides.A conservative Republican, Carter has voted against many of Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's initiatives, including a sweeping package of new gun control laws passed in the aftermath of the Newtown school shootings. Carter, whose district includes Newtown, drew criticism for his stance but he said he opposed the legislation because it failed to adequately address important issues such as gun tracking.Delegates to the state Republican convention will gather at the Hartford Convention Center on May 9 to chose candidates for the fall election. August Wolf, a former Olympic shot putter from Fairfield County, has been running for the Republican nomination since last year. But the Wolf campaign has been mired in turmoil: More than 10 key employees and volunteers have been dismissed or quit, including one who says he endured a hostile work environment because he is gay.Last week Wolf announced yet another campaign team and on Monday, he disclosed that he is pouring $100,000 of his own money into his bid.Following Carter's announcement, Wolf tweeted: "Welcome to the race, @DanCarterCT. You're a good guy but another politician won't beat @DickBlumenthal."Two other candidates are considering entering the Republican race: fashion industry executive Jack Orchulli of Westport and former West Hartford Republican council member Joe Visconti who has launched an exploratory committee.Fasano called Carter "a great guy" who would provide a sharp contrast to Blumenthal. "I think Dick Blumenthal has made mistakes along the way and hasn't pushed the issues that are dear to the people of Connecticut," Fasano said.Blumenthal, who served as state Attorney General for two decades prior to his election to the Senate in 2010, has strong name recognition and a campaign war chest of close to $4 million. . Carter said he will have "an aggressive fundraising plan" to challenge Blumenthal."Now I'm not going to raise $4 million but I'll tell you what, this campaign is going to be about a good ground game and it's going to be about character," he added.Carter recalled his run for the General Assembly in 2010, when he beat the favored incumbent, Democrat Jason Bartlett. "I know what a longshot race is like and I'm willing to put the work in," he said.
Last August, President Barack Obama hand delivered a letter to Alaska Gov. Bill Walker from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Sylvia Burwell. In the letter, Burwell agreed to something that Walker and other tribal health advocates had been asking for for years: full federal funding for low-income Native Americans'health care.The policy change, which went into effect in March, is significant for states with large Native American populations that were spending millions of dollars on their care. Native Americans have a higher risk of contracting and dying from certain conditions such as liver disease, diabetes and chronic lower respiratory diseases.Members of federally recognized tribes automatically qualify for health care through the Indian Health Service (IHS), a federally funded branch of HHS. There are more than 140 IHS hospitals and health clinics across the country, but patients often need care outside the IHS system. When that happens, states were covering half the cost for Native Americans who are also enrolled in Medicaid.Out of the more than 5 million American Indians and Alaska Nativesin the United States, about 1 million of them are Medicaid recipients.But as of last month, IHS/Medicaid patients can get care anywhere that accepts Medicaid, and the federal government will completely cover the costs -- something it doesn't do for state Medicaid programs.The new policy will not only be a financial relief for states likeAlaska,Oklahoma andSouth Dakota, it could also allow them to revisit health issues that have been neglected or rejected because of money concerns.In South Dakota, which spent $139 million of Medicaid funding on Native Americans' care in one year, Kim Malsam-Rysdon, the state's health secretary, said the extra money has put Medicaid expansion back on the table.South Dakotas Republican governor, Dennis Daugaard, said he wont ask state legislators to take up the issue this legislative session but is considering a special session to discuss it. Daugaard has been open to Medicaid expansion since 2013 but has had to contend with an unwilling state legislature. State officials think the freed-up funds could be enough to sway them.The policy change also means medically necessary travel is now fully covered, which is huge for people living on or near reservations that don't always have the practitioners that patients need.In Alaska, if you dont have your medical travel expenses covered, then you often simply dont have care, said Valerie Davidson, Alaskas health commissioner.The state is currently staring down a $3.8 billion deficit, so Davidson said Alaska will mostly be using the extra money to preserve existing health services. But she still has a wish list.Long-term care within the IHS has rarely been funded, often because we simply didnt live long enough, said Davidson, an Alaska Native herself. In Anchorage, our largest city, there are no tribally operated long-term care facilities. Im hoping there will be some interest in funding the construction of more [of] these facilities as well as more behavioral health clinics.Since the IHS is a branch of the federal government, state health departments often feel like they dont have freedom to properly coordinate care when patients are sent outside the IHS system. But some are hopeful that dynamic is changing.This policy change recognizes the partnership that exists between states and their tribal nations," said Dana Miller, director for tribal relations at the Oklahoma Healthcare Authority. "Now that the funds are there, we are going to see states and tribal groups working together more in a really positive way."
Combing through federal data has typically been a daunting affair. Even with tools and know-how, it requires patience and a penchant for understanding minutiae. Yet a partnership between the MIT Media Lab and tech companies Deloitte and Datawheel are vying to change this.On Monday, April 4, the trio released Data USA , an open source platform promoted as the most comprehensive website and visualization engine ever created for U.S. government data. The lofty claim is delivered about a site that aggregates federal open data from multiple sources and displays it in interactive visuals  colorful charts, maps, profiles and even a few pieces of data-based journalism.Unlike scores of citizen analytics sites before it, Data USA embraces the role of data curator and  with minimal nudges  guides its visitors to create actionable data insights. The approach is fairly novel compared to older open data portals. In the past, data portals in both government and the private sector have assumed their users had a high level of technical expertise. Now with Data USA, data scientists are reaching out to citizens and community groups, listening to feedback, and enticing interaction with a user-friendly experience and a guiding taxonomy of graphics and menus.Our team, comprised of economists, data scientists, designers, researchers and business executives, worked for over a year [beginning in 2014] with input from policymakers, government officials and everyday citizens to develop Data USA ..., the group said on its site. It allows millions of people to conduct their own analyses and create their own stories about America  its people, places, industries, skill sets and educational institutions.The group said site uses are many, with potential pathways for analytics numbering in the millions. Executives could visit Data USA to find the right place to find customers and a skilled workforce for a company relocation, while college graduates could identify where their skills are demanded and health-care providers could harness the site to discover patterns and behaviors of diseases. The intent, the group said, is to lay a foundation for an inclusive set of storytelling tools that benefit citizens in nearly every industry.Data USA puts public U.S. government data in your hands, the group said. Instead of searching through multiple data sources that are often incomplete and difficult to access, you can simply point to Data USA to answer your questions."
(TNS)  It was a small Internet firm with big ambitions.From a storefront in Inglewood, Manchester Community Technologies Inc. went to work and last year declared the firm had created corridors of free public Wi-Fi access for Internet-starved communities from Long Beach to Pasadena. In a report to the California Public Utilities Commission in March of 2015 documenting what it did with nearly $500,000 in ratepayer fees, the company said it had deployed free Wi-Fi hot spots at eight parks and 16 community Wi-Fi networks, "enabling over 100,000 community based unique end-users the opportunity to connect to the Internet."But today, most of those networks and hot spots don't link to the Internet.In an initial survey late last year,checked seven parks and 11 network locations, finding no Wi-Fi at any of them. A follow-up survey in March found network signals at three of the eight parks and 16 community locations but could not obtain a connection on any of them. The best results were on a section of Crenshaw Boulevard in Leimert Park where several businesses were broadcasting free Wi-Fi on a community network.In response to inquiries from the Public Utilities Commission visited the sites in January and determined that service was available at only two of the locations where Manchester Community Technologies was paid to provide free Wi-Fi, commission spokeswoman Terrie Prosper said.Revlyn Williams, Manchester Community Technologies' founder and executive director, said the networks had all functioned at one time. Maintaining them has proved difficult, she said, because businesses that form the backbone of the networks sometimes shut down their routers at night, lose equipment to theft or don't rely on the Internet enough to keep it running.With the three-year grant now expired, her company will persist in its efforts with "God's help," Williams said.Manchester Community Technologies' struggles to fulfill its promise underscore the challenge of providing universal Internet access in communities where commercial access points such as Starbucks coffee shops are rare and home-based broadband is unaffordable for many families. Free community networks represent one strategy being explored by government agencies in an effort to break the so-called digital divide.was tipped off to the Wi-Fi problems by Cal State Long Beach journalism professor Gwen Shaffer, who became suspicious while conducting research on community broadband access, which she characterizes as a social justice issue."No one can argue that Internet access is a luxury  not when you need to be online to apply for jobs, to access healthcare, to communicate with elected officials  to complete basic daily tasks," Shaffer said. "Anyone without Internet access is incredibly marginalized."Shaffer, who teaches communications law and policy, contends that the case exposes poor oversight by the utilities commission, which failed to see obvious flaws in the firm's application and made no attempt to verify the claims in the company's 2015 progress report.Shaffer criticized the PUC for not doing a more thorough investigation into whether the sites were improving Wi-Fi service. Instead, regulators "simply reprint the reports and tout accomplishments."The PUC said the entire program will be audited this year.Manchester Community Technologies' grant was from the California Advanced Services Fund that directs $315 million in ratepayer surcharges to promote "deployment of high-quality advanced communications services to all Californians." Most of the money goes to capital projects to expand Internet to areas of the state that don't have it.A small portion of that was given to regional groups primarily to promote use of the Internet in areas such as South Los Angeles. According to a recent survey by the Pew Research Center, about a third of U.S. adults do not subscribe to broadband service at home, primarily because of the cost.Of the funds the PUC set aside for "underserved" areas in Los Angeles County, the bulk of that money was aimed at education and outreach. Manchester Community Technologies was responsible for the portion of the grant for direct services.James E. Prieger, a Pepperdine University economist who specializes in the Internet, questioned the goal of deploying free Wi-Fi where large service providers offer Internet access.It would be more productive, Prieger said, to give subsidies to poor households."If you just subsidize an area, you are going to be subsidizing a lot of people who don't need it," Prieger said.On Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission endorsed Prieger's approach, voting to make all low-income families eligible for subsidies from a ratepayer fund to pay for broadband.But Prosper, the PUC spokeswoman, defended the expenditure on free Wi-Fi, as a complementary strategy for providing access to those who otherwise couldn't afford it.Williams said her firm attempted to create free Wi-Fi networks by enlisting business owners and government agencies to share a portion of their Internet bandwidth with the public. The signals from individual businesses, she said, were woven together into Wi-Fi zones up to 11/2 miles square.Williams demonstrated what the firm called its flagship network during an interview withat her office on Manchester Boulevard. A laptop computer connected automatically to a network called "CommunityWiFi."A page appeared on the screen with local advertisements and listings, and a "browse" button linked to the Internet.Returning a week later, however,could find no signal for the network outside the company's office.Williams also said the hot spots at eight parks were functioning, but not necessarily reaching the buildings where children used computers.Because the group had not received approval from L.A.'s Department of Recreation and Parks to tap into the city's Internet feed, the routers were instead set up at nearby buildings and broadcast into the park, Williams said.A spokesman for Mayor Eric Garcetti said the city supports the deployment of Wi-Fi in parks, but because of security concerns does not allow its Internet to be broadcast to the public.At one of the parks, Fred Roberts Recreation Center in Central Alameda, children in after-school programs sit at computers in several rooms. But they have no Internet connection.Manchester Community Technologies worked with a nonprofit called LAURA to deploy a Wi-Fi hot spot there.But Adela Bajaras, LAURA's founder, said she never received approval from the parks department to install the Wi-Fi equipment.Instead, she carries the router in her trunk and brings it on Thursdays for a youth group meeting she leads.At nearby Ross Snyder Recreation Center, director Javier Soto said he would like Internet access for the youths who use the facility, but he doesn't have it.Williams said the park does have a hot spot. It is provided by the Concerned Citizens of South Los Angeles from a nearby building, she said.could find no signal at the recreation center.
Playing by rules

Flying dangerously

By the numbers:

North Dakota: 2

Minnesota: 10

California: 299

Florida: 160

New York: 139

Number of unique incidents reported in latest round of sightings data released by Federal Aviation Administration (August 21, 2015 to January 31, 2016): 519

60 percent of incidents occurred within five miles of an airport

90 percent of incidents occurred above an altitude of 400 feet.

36 percent of incidents involved close encounter, meaning a level of hazard was present.

5 percent of incidents resulted in the notification of the FBI.

(TNS)  The latest round of data released by the Federal Aviation Administration detailing sightings of unmanned aircraft by pilots and air traffic controllers shows no new reports in North Dakota.Despite earning a reputation of being an up and coming hub for unmanned aircraft systems technology, sightings in the state have been rare since the FAA began tracking such reports in December 2013, logging only two reports  one each in Grand Forks and Fargo  in the timeframe.As the unmanned industry continues to grow, so do the number of conversations taking place in North Dakota and across the United States that center around the potential safety hazard of their presence in commercial airspace."You are seeing state legislatures increasingly discussing and debating what to do about drones in the national airspace," said Arthur Holland Michel, a researcher with Bard College's Center of the Study of the Drone. "You are recently seeing discussions happening in the law enforcement community about how to best deal with these types of incidents, how to follow up upon them, how to identify drone use that is potentially interfering with manned air traffic."The Center of the Study of the Drone published a preliminary analysis of the FAA's latest dataset and found 36 percent of the 519 unique incidents reported from August 21, 2015, to January 31, 2016, were considered close encounters by researchers.These encounters are defined as a drone passing within 500 feet of an airplane or language in a report indicating a "near-midair collision," the manned aircraft changed course to avoid potential contact or that a drone passed dangerously close.Some in the unmanned aircraft industry have accepted a drone hitting a airplane as inevitable, but place their bets on the offending aircraft being operated by a hobbyist rather than a commercial user. No matter who is at the controls, many predict a severe collision would have detrimental effects on the industry."No one wants to see a major incident occur," Holland Michel said. "There is a broad consensus around that this would result in a severe regulatory whiplash, it will have a profound response in terms of public opinion and there's no doubt a major incident would really harm an industry that is already facing a number of obstacles to its growth."Incidents of drones being spotted by aviation personnel  including some close enough to prompt evasive action by pilots  and other examples such as operators flying in prohibited areas or losing control and crashing has already fueled regulatory debates in numerous legislatures.Since 2013, nearly 30 states have enacted laws tackling some concerns, such as limiting the use of unmanned aircraft by law enforcement and criminalizing their use in harassing wildlife, interfering with manned aircraft putting out wildfires or photographing private property without permission.Another 35 states have considered legislation in 2016 as of last month, according to an analysis from the National Conference of State Legislatures.In addition to state regulation, the FAA released guidelines over the last few years for commercial and recreational users, but its staff is still working on finalizing rules for operating small unmanned aircraft, defined as weighing between 0.55 and 55 pounds.Among guidelines for hobbyists are flying at an altitude of 400 feet and lower and flying at least five miles outside of an airport unless permission is received from personnel.Commercial users receive permission to fly from the FAA, which also dictates how high and where they can fly. Most users receive authorization to fly up to 200 feet nationwide save for some restricted areas, but the agency doubled that to 400 feet this past week.The analysis by Bard College found that nine out of 10 UAS sighting reports submitted to the FAA in which an altitude was available occurred above 400 feet.Holland Michels said that doesn't mean most unmanned aircraft are flown at that height."What the datapoint really demonstrates is that these incidents tend to only occur when drones fly beyond FAA guidelines," he said. "There are very few incidents that result from drone users operating drones in a way that falls within the guidelines."Few manned aircraft fly under 400 feet and five miles outside of an airport, save for emergency medical service aircraft or crop sprayers. As a drone flies higher, it's more apt to cross into the flight path of a manned aircraft.The analysis conducted by Holland Michels and Dan Gettinger found the median altitude of the incidents was 2,000 feet  far beyond the guidelines set for a majority of commercial and recreational users.While data exists documenting sightings of unmanned aircraft, insight into why operators may fly them irresponsibility or in prohibited areas isn't as concrete.The FAA has launched an educational campaign and app, both promoted under the name Know Before You Fly, but there is no mandatory certification or test for hobbyists to prove knowledge of flying.Holland Michel surmises some may be looking to test the capabilities of their technology and push it to its limit, including flying as high as possible."If you fly an off-the-shelf quadcopter directly above your head, you can hit some pretty impressive altitude and that's pretty enticing," he said. "That is interesting, that is exciting, that is something people haven't been able to do before without experience and practice and possibly building their own drone or remote controlled aircraft."That capability has become problematic in the eyes of commercial operators, who worry about the reflection of irresponsible operation on their industry. In addition to near-midair collisions reflected in FAA data, incidents such as a drone crashing on the White House lawn have made national headlines in the past year."They're flying where they're not supposed to," said Tom Kenville, founder of Unmanned Applications Institute International in Grand Forks. "I don't know how we address that, but I think it's a national problem."Kenville discussed the problem briefly at a roundtable of aviation stakeholders gathered in Grand Forks last week.Joining him in his concern was Cynthia Schreiber Beck, a Republican state representative and former executive of the North Dakota Agricultural Aviation Association, which among other businesses represents crop sprayers. Both she and Kenville said more efforts to educate unmanned aircraft operators could be made, starting with manufacturers and retailers."We in the aerial spraying business are probably the worst off as far as sharing airspace, with the (potential of an) unintended incident or accident," Schreiber Beck said. "It's a high concern of ours."At that meeting U.S. Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., noted the FAA is behind on its regulation and integration of the technology into national airspace, a commonly held stance by many in the unmanned industry. Efforts by the agency and other partners are being explored to keep the industry advancing, but the pace has been slower than many have hoped."There are a number of interesting and intriguing solutions that are being floated around but they're all very complex," Holland Michel said. "They're going to require collaboration of a number of stakeholders in order to come up with something that makes sense or works for everybody. And that's going to be a real challenge too."Number of reported sightings of unmanned aircraft by pilots or air traffic controllers since 2013:
Social media strategy

Convoluted messages

'Story of the election'

(TNS) -- In 12 months, the country has collectively spent more than 1,284 years reading about Donald Trump on social media.The Republican presidential candidate's reach is unprecedented, according to the latest data from SocialFlow, a social media management company whose software handles news dissemination for many of the country's top media organizations, including the New York Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal.If he sought similar attention by buying ads, Trump's social reach would cost $380 million. Instead, he's getting it for free in tweets, likes and shares -- although not all of it is positive.Social media's influence in this presidential election is stronger than it has ever been, experts said, and the information cycle it has created will shape campaigns for years to come.There are many reasons social media has become such a powerful influence.More people than ever get their news mainly from social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat. Candidates have discovered the quickest way to make news is to put out a statement or comment in a social media post."It's really opened the floodgates of candidates being able to tap into this ecosystem of voters and news consumers who are getting information about these candidates 24/7," said Patrick Ruffini, Republican political strategist and founder of Engage, a digital media firm. "This election cycle is the first I've seen (where) candidates realize social media is their direct pipeline into mainstream media coverage and to voters."This creates what Ruffini calls a "feedback loop," wherein candidates' posts on social media make news, and then those news stories get circulated through social media, building momentum and generating even more chatter."This is the first true social media election," said Frank Speiser, SocialFlow's co-founder and chief product officer. "Before it was an auxiliary method of communication. But now (candidates) can put messages out there and get folks on social media to act on your behalf by just sharing it around. You don't have to buy access to reach millions of people anymore."Facebook now boasts nearly 1.6 billion monthly active users, up 60 percent from 2012, the year of the last election, when it crossed the 1 billion mark. Twitter today has 385 million monthly active users, up from 185 million in 2012.The way politicians use social media is also markedly different.In 2012, they tended to favor short, calculated statements -- maybe once a day -- that were highly controlled and sanitized, Ruffini said. They would retweet followers or thank supporters. But it was hardly the first place they went to espouse an opinion or issue a policy proposal."Four years ago," Ruffini said, "social media politics was really boring."Today, social media has evolved from afterthought to strategy, he said, thanks largely to Trump's habitual social-media-first proclamations. Candidates have begun using sites like Twitter and Facebook as a direct line to voters.It seems to be paying off, particularly among younger voters.Among 18- to 29-year-olds, nearly two-thirds said social media is the most helpful means of learning new things about politics, according to a study released last year by the Pew Research Center. By contrast, only half of Gen-Xers and 40 percent of Baby Boomers agreed with that statement.Overall, Pew found, 44 percent of American adults said they had learned something new in the past week about the election from social media."That's a pretty large share," said Jesse Holcomb, the associate director of research at Pew. "Our data suggest that social media is a critical gateway to information about the campaign -- particularly for younger adults."Other candidates, like Democratic hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, have ramped up their social media presence to compete for time and eyeballs. But research shows they are falling far short of the reach Trump has amassed.Clinton has garnered just shy of $100 million in free exposure via social media by SocialFlow's estimate. The only area where she trumps the Republican front-runner is in her rate of engagement -- how many people like, share or click through to stories about the former secretary of state, where she runs marginally ahead.Since the beginning of the election, SocialFlow said, the nation has spent roughly 874 years on social media reading about Sanders and Clinton combined -- a third less than the time people have devoted to Trump on the same networks.The reason for this, Speiser said, likely lies in Trump's bombast and convoluted messaging."One thing that Trump does is he will combine two or three issues in a single statement or proposal. Now, he may be muddling them, but it doesn't matter because it activates groups that are interested in all of the above," Speiser said. "Like how he'll conflate crime and gun violence with immigration. It may not be true, but the fact that he says it excites groups whose top issues are crime or guns or immigration."In December, when Trump announced his proposal to ban all Muslims from entering the United States, the news generated more social media engagement than any other news about the election since the race began, SocialFlow said. (While Trump made the remarks in a speech in South Carolina, not on social media, they nonetheless immediately found a home online.) Trump's comments remain the single most-responded-to news event since then with roughly 230,000 likes -- more than 788 times the average number Trump-related stories tend to receive.By January, SocialFlow said, Trump had become the most talked-about person on the planet."Trump, by himself, has eclipsed all the conversation around (the Islamic State), terrorism, the economy and other important issues," Speiser said. "The conversation around him is greater than the top 10 other election issues combined."The data SocialFlow collects don't indicate whether the comments being made are positive or negative -- or whether people "favorite" or "like" a story because they actually like it, or if they're simply noting it. Some people even ironically "hate-like" social media posts.SocialFlow's analysis also doesn't take into account posts by citizens that do not link to a news story or the candidates' own posts -- unless those posts generate press coverage.If researchers took those elements into account, Ruffini and Speiser said they would expect that Trump's recorded reach would grow."It's just going to get bigger in the main election," Ruffini said. "The amount of free media exposure given to Trump -- whether that's on social media or more traditional news media -- I think is absolutely the story of the election. We've just never seen anything like it before."
Christian Horner has moved to lift the pressure from the shoulders of Red Bull driver Daniil Kvyat.

There is speculation the energy drink company may need to promote the meteoric teenager Max Verstappen from Toro Rosso or risk losing him to a major rival like Mercedes or Ferrari for 2017.

It could be Kvyat who needs to switch back to the junior camp to make room, and amid those rumours the 21-year-old suffered an awful and mysterious qualifying performance in Bahrain.

The Russian also struggled in Australia, but Horner says Kvyat's recovery to seventh place in Bahrain last Sunday showed he is back on track.

"It was a good performance from him," the Red Bull team boss said.

"I think this race will completely restore his confidence, if there was something not right with that. He was strong in every area. I think everything will be fine," Horner is quoted by Russia's Sportbox.

"We still need to fully understand what happened in qualifying, but it's 90 per cent that it had something to do with the tyre temperature."

(GMM)
The roadmap outlines four main service fields that will help develop smarter, more intelligent cars that can receive and utilize data faster than before. The mid- to long- term development focus includes a range of key features, including: smart remote maintenance services; autonomous driving; Smart Traffic; and a connected Mobility Hub that provides security and data management for all elements of the connected car.

Hyundai Motor Group has outlined its roadmap for connected car development. The Group will collaborate with leading global IT and networking companies to develop its Hyper-connected and Intelligent Car concept.

Smart remote maintenance service will remotely diagnose and fix vehicle issues before they become apparent.

Autonomous driving provides safety by connecting a vehicle to city and road infrastructure.

Smart Traffic reduces congestion, speeds-up journeys and minimizes social costs by considering traffic and road conditions.

The connected Mobility Hub will feature a mobile hub with strong computing power to make daily life and interaction with the car and its surroundings smarter.

In the short- to mid-term, Hyundai Motor Group will concentrate on technologies related to smartphone connectivity and Smart Home Services, while establishing the core infrastructure that will provide the foundation for future developments. In order to incorporate increasingly complex features in its roadmap, Hyundai will prioritize early investment in these selected areas.

The main areas of R&D focus include in-vehicle networks for high-speed transfer of large amounts of data, and cloud technology to collect vehicle data and provide computing power. Hyundai will also research big data analytics that will allow large data sets to be used effectively, and it will invest in connected car security, essential for protecting the integrity of a complicated platform hosting varying technologies.

Hyundai Motor Group will co-develop connected car technologies through collaborations with global companies.

With previous experience in this field, Hyundai Motor Group has already established the Cloud system, which puts the core infrastructure of connected cars into place. Meanwhile, a group of data scientists have helped Hyundai Motor Group to specialize in data analytics since 2013. The company is utilizing big data in various areas to enhancing R&D and products, and also gathering customers opinions.

Along with the roadmap, Hyundai Motor Group plans to embark on a new era of connecting the Car to Life, striving to put cars increasingly at the center of lifestyles. This initiative will provide users with a knowledge hub of knowledge, plus the ability to analyze and utilize information. Hyundais vision is that the Hyper-connected and Intelligent Car goes beyond converging communications technology and the vehicle to become a high-performing computer on wheels.
Vayon Holdings Limited has closed its UK subsidiary Clean Air Power Limited (CAP UK). The acquisition of CAP UK in September 2015, a specialist in the development of compression-ignited natural gas systems and software, by Hardstaff Dual Fuel Technology Limited, a subsidiary of Vayon, resulted in the formation of the UKs largest supplier of dual fuel systems.

The closure of CAP UK will reduce Vayons global dual fuel operations to two locations based at their test and validation facilities in the East Midlands and on the West Coast of the US in San Diego.
Fairfield Countys loss in Bostons gain.

General Electric, which is moving to Massachusetts largest city after 42 years in Connecticut, this week announced $50 million in philanthropic commitments to be donated over the next five years to the Boston community. It includes $25 million to Boston Public Schools, $10 million for workforce development and $15 million for increasing training for specialty health care. The donation is from the GE Foundation, the companys philanthropic arm.

Together, GE and Boston will lead the digital transformation of industry, said GE Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt in a statement. To build a global digital company and community, we must invest to further educate our children in science and math and improve health care in underserved communities. GEs investments will create thousands of new jobs and support Bostons regional and economic activities.

In Fairfield County, its a different story. With GE responsible for about 30 percent of its funding, the local chapter of the United Way in January was bracing for the companys departure. But word that at least some GE employees will remain in the area has softened the blow.

David Kennedy, chief operating officer of the United Way of Coastal Fairfield County, said GE will still have workers in the region and will still be involved in philanthropic efforts.

The challenge is that we dont know what the degree of that will be, he said. GE is said to be moving some of its 800 Fairfield-based workers to Norwalk, but specific numbers have not been disclosed.

In addition to its corporate giving, GE matche 50 percent of employees donations.

On May 16, United Way will present an Award of Distinction to GE and the GE Foundation, both as a way of giving thanks for years of giving and as a way of looking to the future.

We want to say that GE has been such a special presence in the county, and we know that they will continue to be here, and we need to say thanks, Kennedy said.

In Fairfield, the town is looking to blunt other harms that could come from GEs departure, with plans under discussion for the companys sprawling campus off the Merritt Parkway.

Fairfield University last week announced it has entered into an exclusive agreement with Kleban Properties, a locally based real-estate investment and development company that has expressed interest in buying the GE land.

Al Kleban, chairman of Kleban Properties, said the potential hit to the town prompted his company to act.

GE for the past 40 years has been great citizen of our area, contributing to many causes, in addition to all the ancillary contributions that have made the company a vital part of Fairfield, Kleban said. When this happened, I realized how devastating it was going to be.

He said his company has received interest from financial backers looking to help make the transaction happen, adding that a long-standing partnership with Fairfield University made it a natural component.

It would seem to me that it would be a fantastic matchup, Kleban said. Fairfield University could develop a section of that property for higher education and related activities, and that would be the seed for what I envisioned, which was bringing in tech companies to the site.

Discussions on a sale of GEs property are said to be in the early stages.

hbailey@ctpost.com; 203-330-6233; @hughsbailey
Entrepreneurs, as Georg Kell puts it, are the custodians of tomorrow. Whether we accept it or not, we entrepreneurs have the responsibility to create lasting change in business and society. In my own case, my son opened my eyes to that reality.

Related: Spotlighting Your Social Responsibility

Earlier in my career, I had served as CFO of Ralcorp Holdings, a multibillion-dollar public consumer products company. But when my son was born with disabilities, I longed to do more to give back. I learned that 1 in 5 Americans live with a disability, and that the labor force participation rate for people living with disabilities (PLWD) is just 31 percent. Of all Americans in long-term poverty, two-thirds are living with disabilities.

With those sad statistics in mind, I leveraged the most powerful tool I knew to combat inequality: entrepreneurship. I started 100 Percent Wine, with a pledge to donate its profits to nonprofits working to create employment opportunities for PLWD. My goal was, and is, to challenge stereotypes around what the disabled can accomplish if they are only given the chance.

Related Book: The Business of Good

Today, although my company is still young, Ive seen an incredible outpouring of support for its mission. So, all you entrepreneurs out there: If you want to harness the power of corporate social responsibility (CSR), heres how to create and cultivate support for your own companys calling:

1. Make the business case for giving.

To convince company stakeholders, show them that economic value and social value arent mutually exclusive. Share the numbers on how social responsibility intersects with profitability. For instance, in the past decade, socially conscious companies have outperformed the market by a factor of nine.

This is, in part, because 55 percent of consumers are willing to spend more with companies that demonstrate they care. Globally, 84 percent of consumers say they seek out socially responsible products. As Michael Porter and Mark Kramer wrote in the Harvard Business Review, Shared value is not social responsibility, philanthropy or even sustainability, but a new way to achieve economic success."

Share the numbers on how social responsibility intersects with profitability. For instance, in the past decade, socially conscious companies have outperformed the market by a factor of nine. This is, in part, because 55 percent of consumers are willing to spend more with companies that demonstrate they care. Globally, 84 percent of consumers say they seek out socially responsible products.

As Michael Porter and Mark Kramer wrote in Harvard Business Review, Shared value is not social responsibility, philanthropy, or even sustainability, but a new way to achieve economic success.

Related: The Power of Giving Back: How Community Involvement Can Boost Your Bottom Line

2. Democratize the process.

No social initiative can succeed if only a company's leaders are on board. But dont force charitable priorities down team members throats: Theyll see right through that, and engagement will plummet.

Draft a list of preapproved charities, and allow employees to vote on which charity the company should contribute to. Match employees contributions and consider designating a day for companywide volunteering. Employees who contribute directly (financially or in-kind) will feel most connected to the cause.

3. Align charitable and business objectives.

A corporate philanthropy that supports your business will strengthen your brand. But the cause must align with your business -- an automaker supporting criminal rehabilitation, for instance, would confuse customers and muddle its brand identity.

A good fit makes sense with your business objectives. Financial giant Citigroup assists people who dont have access to formal financial services; life insurer New York Life supports a foundation focusing on child bereavement. And beverage company PepsiCo is committed to improving water quality. No cause is wrong to support, but customers must see the connection.

4. Calculate the return on investment.

Think of charitable giving as an investment, and demand the same results and transparency you would from any other investment.

Employ a process of continual accountability. Obtain a quarterly report from the charity on how your dollars are spent. Publicize the good that comes from your companys commitment.

Dont forget to look at the effort from an internal perspective, too. Are volunteers happier than other employees? Are they earning more promotions and staying longer? Determine whether the initiative is a good value by considering both the companys impact on the cause and the causes impact on the company.

5. Manage your CSR program either internally or externally.

Embed social change into your business model to create a virtuous cycle. You might form committees, for instance, or hold monthly town halls or implement quarterly days of service.

Dont want to deal with managing your program? Organizations such as Good360 match corporate donors with prescreened charities and help manage the exchange. JPMorgan and Nike use Good360 for that very reason.

The business of giving back doesnt have to be complicated. Set a mission and goals for your giving program. Narrow your focus to maximize your program's impact.

Related: 7 Steps to Up Your Corporate Social Responsibility Game

Finally, align your business and charitable goals. Measure and communicate results. Its that simple.

Related:

What's the Best Way for Your Business to Give Back?

Go CSR Way to Foster Entrepreneurship

Why We Don't Want to See a Total Solar-Panel Eclipse Over Nevada



Copyright 2016 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
Probably not worth it. Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

The cheap pies at Dominos come at a steep price for its workers, according to yet another lawsuit against the pizza-delivery industry. Riad Kucher, who worked at five Dominos locations between 2014 and 2016, is suing the pizza chain for what he asserts are systemic wage violations. His lawsuit, filed by the employment-litigation firm Wigdor, alleges he and hundreds of fellow employees werent paid proper wages, and were forced to work more than 20 hours per week off the clock, bringing their hourly pay to sub-minimum wage. He adds that when he started asking questions about all these unpaid wages, his boss simply fired him.

What makes the situation worse, Kucher says, is that New York State has fined Dominos for wage violations multiple times already. A 2014 investigation resulted in a $450,000 penalty against 23 locations. Attorney General Eric Schneiderman described it as a pattern of illegally chiseling at the pay of minimum-wage workers. One year later, another 29 New York locations paid a $970,000 settlement for the exact same thing. Schneiderman appealed directly to Dominos executives this time, saying, My message for Dominos CEO Patrick Doyle is this: To protect the Dominos brand, protect the basic rights of the people who wear the Dominos uniform, who make and deliver your pizzas.

New Yorks Papa Johns franchisees have also been repeatedly sued for labor violations, suggesting an industry-wide problem. Kuchers lawsuit lists another half-dozen cases where Dominos franchisees have run afoul of the law since 2013, like illegally canning workers who complained about underpayment. The suit argues that Dominos corporate office knows exactly whats up by now, and that these fines arent proving a sufficient deterrent to prevent continued wage violations. It goes on to say, The time has come for Dominos  on a corporate level  to take full ownership and responsibility for the repetitive and blatant unlawful conduct of its franchisees. The company didnt respond to a request for comment.
The HP Spectre 13.3 is a 10.4mm razor-sharp laptop that you can actually get with a diamond finish

It is not particularly easy to shine at an event like the New York Times International Luxury Conference, but this year HP managed to turn some heads with what it claims to be the thinnest laptop in the world.

At this year's event, hel in Versailles, France, HP showcased the Spectre 13.3, which measures the razor-thin 10.4mm! If you can't put that into perspective, imagine the girth of an AAA battery, or better yet, a stack of eight Pennys.

By comparison, the new MacBook is about 13.1mm thick and the 14-inch LG gram is about 12.7 mm. Speaking of the latter, the HP Spectre 13.3 is just as incredibly light, tipping the scale at just 1.1 kg thanks to a carbon fiber chassis.

What seems to be eve more impressive, however, is that HP managed to cram a lot of computing power into the ultra-portable. It is offered with a 13.3-inch 1080p edge-to-edge display, an Intel Core i5 or i7 processor and up to 512GB of flash storage.

RAM is capped at 8GB and there was enough room left over for some Bang & Olufsen sound and a battery that promises up to 9.5 hours of use on a single charge. Thankfully, HP didn't go down the Apple road and included a total of three USB Type-C connectors, two of which even supporting Thunderbolt.

Last, but not least, if you were wondering why HP decided to unveil the geeky PC at a luxury conference, there is a pretty good reason. For one, the Spectre looks quite futuristic design-wise with a new piston hinge. In HP's own words:

high gloss copper accents reflect a hand-polished, jewelry-like finish and an innovative hidden piston hinge creates the illusion of a hinge-less design to offer an unmatched premium look-and-feel

Then there is also the fact that the laptop has two limited premium editions. One is the HP Spectre by Tord Boontje that incorporates floral details, a peacock, and a butterfly. Oh, and 18K gold with embedded Swarovski crystals. The second one is the HP Spectre by J. Hannah, which again has 18K gold, only a lot more of it- all around, to be exact. To finish things off, the logo and power button are encrusted in diamonds.

Both of these exquisite models will be produced in limited numbers, auctioned off at the Cannes Film Festival in May and all proceeds will be donated to the Nelson Mandela Foundation. As for the basic HP Spectre 13.3, pre-orders will be live on April 25 in the US, starting at $1,170. Best Buy has also promised to offer the laptop starting May 22 for $1250.

Source 1 | Source 2 | Source 3




Haiti - FLASH : Important fire in Petion-ville, considerable damage





Monday morning a serious fire occurred in Petion-ville, the Civil Protection informed that "the fire broke out at the corner of streets and Lamarre and Vilatte just before 9:00 a.m. Two buildings were destroyed and a small market of construction materials has been ravaged by fire."



Damages are considerable, the fire had spread rapidly mainly because of the nature of goods (paints and flammable products) that were in the warehouses of the market, despite the intervention of the firemen, whose trucks were not in optimum operating condition... the water was insufficient and private water trucks had to intervene as reinforcements to isolate the sinister.



The origin of the fire is unknown for now, but it could be related to a short circuit, indicated Castel Moise, the Director of Civil Protection of the municipality of Petion-ville.



Among the buildings destroyed was the hotel restaurant the Cubano, renamed The Perroquet in 2012, patrimony of 70s, one of the oldest hotels in Petionville, where he remains today only smoldering ruins after this fire that caused the disappearance in less than 30 minutes of an institution older than 30 years. This 12-room, held regular concerts and parties for the promotion of traditional Haitian culture, it was part of the nightlife of Petion-ville. No injuries is to deplore among the ten people who were present in the building when the fire broke out.



Bianca Stecker, the owner's daughter pointed out "It's been years that we complains about the uncontrolled building next to the hotel: we have seen the danger coming but could do nothing."



The Minister of Justice and Public Security of Haiti, Me Camille Junior Edouard went to the site a few hours after the fire. After his visit, the Minister who sympathize with all the victims of this tragedy, reiterated his commitment to strengthening the response capacity of the National Police of Haiti in this situation. "The fire brigade should be well equipped reminded the Minister of Justice," appalled by the tragedy, welcoming the efforts of youth of Petion-ville that helped firefighters contain the blaze.



Jerry Tardieu, the Deputy of Petion-ville who also visited the site lamented the lack of urban planning and the absence of a fire brigade service in the city. A situation he says will help remedy.



SL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - Justice : Prison overcrowding in the country, the situation is critical





Monday, Me Camille Junior Edouard, the new Minister of Justice and Public Security met in his office the Ambassador of Canada accredited to Haiti, Paula Caldwell St Onge.



The Minister and the Canadian diplomat have discussed the need to address the problem of overcrowding in the civil prisons of Haiti, a situation caused by prolonged pretrial detention.



The Minister Edouard said he was very concerned about this critical situation for which he intends to take all adequate and appropriate measures to, in the short term, relieve the prison facilities...



According to the Report of the Independent Expert on Haiti Gustavo Gallon, published last March "in 2015, the average rate of preventive detention remained above 70% of the prison population. This situation is particularly serious in the rehabilitation center for minors in conflict with the law (CERMICOL), with a rate of 90%, in the civil prison of women in Petion-ville, with 88%, and at the National Penitentiary, with a rate of 87%."



According to the National Police of Haiti, there was, in September 2015, 11,319 prisoners incarcerated in prisons in Haiti of insufficient capacity, resulting in an occupancy rate of 804% in the whole country and a space per prisoner who fell from 0.59 m2 in June 2014 to 0.54 m2 in November 2015.



According to the correction of the Minustah unit on the whole United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, the international standard of space per detainee is 4.5 m2 stressing that in extreme cases, 2.5 m2 per inmate can be tolerated for short periods of time...



SL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - Education : Launch of the first educational online platform Made in Haiti





Wednesday at the Hotel Montana, will take place the official launch of the first online teaching platform THESS (Hybrid Technology for Education, Science and Knowledge) "Made in Haiti" in the presence of the Ambassador of France, Elisabeth Beton Delegue.



Supported by the Embassy of France in Haiti and by the AUF, THESS is a platform that integrates multiple services: online education, university governance, educational management, collaborative tools (forum, chat) https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-16710-icihaiti-education-first-haitian-online-education-platform.html



Developed by the "Ecole Superieure d'Infotronique d'Haiti" (ESIH), the platform is open to all member universities of the Conference of Rectors and Presidents of Universities of Haiti (CORPUHA). Its objective is to increase youth employment capacity by facilitating access to university education.



Learners, whether students or professionals, can follow their education online through a "student kit" that includes a tablet computer, an internet connection and a subscription to the digital library Cyberlibris.



Establish and renew a critical mass of expertise in Haiti is critical, that is why, THESS has implemented a face-evaluation system decentralized to guarantee the validation and certification of these formations. In the reentry 2016, in partnership with the Network of French Alliances in Haiti, two centers will be proposed one at Port-au-Prince and one in Cap Haitien.



See also :

https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-16710-icihaiti-education-first-haitian-online-education-platform.html



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - News : Zapping politics...





Privert wants to launch a national dialogue...

Jocelerme Privert, wants to launch a real inclusive dialogue with all sectors of national life in order to find a solution to the lasting crisis, according to him for 30 years... "I want to have meetings with all sectors [. ..] the differences of opinion need to be discussed around a table," noting that with his experience, "I can transcend dividing lines."



Words of former President Martelly

Monday, former President Michel Martelly declared "Getting any time at the service of his country is both a duty but also an act of faith in the common fatherland."



The Government Commissioner at the National Penitentiary

Monday, Me Jean Santon Leger, the new Government Commissioner at the Court of First Instance of Port au Prince https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-17062-icihaiti-justice-new-government-commissioner-to-pap.html paid a visit to inmates of the National Penitentiary. Through this approach, the new Director of Public Prosecutions intended inquiring about the detention conditions in the largest prison center of the country https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-17078-haiti-justice-prison-overcrowding-in-the-country-the-situation-is-critical.html



The MOPOD demand for justice to act promptly

The political platform of the opposition MOPOD, urged the Prosecutor of Port-au-Prince, seized of denunciations and complaints of corruption against former members of the CEPof Pierre-Louis Opont, to exercise diligence in the processing of files for the truth to be established about the many cases of reported offenses.



Minister of Education develop a 3-months action plan

Jean Beauvois Dorsonne, the new Minister of National Education held a working meeting on the Universal Schooling Program Free and Compulsory (PSUGO) to better understand the various issues and see possible solutions. Renold Telfort, the Director General of the Ministry, the team of PSUGO and members of the cabinet of the Minister, attended the meeting. On request of the Minister, an action plan of 3 months is being developed that take into account the sector emergency in addition to PSUGO: the renovated secondary, the regularization and integration of educational personnel "I working to make some changes in the Haitian education system, "said Minister Dorsonne.



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-17021-haiti-politic-who-is-jean-beauvois-dorsonne-the-new-minister-of-education.html



The deputies again in retreat

Deputies leave once again in retreat to discuss a legislative agenda according to Abel Descollines the first secretary of the office of the Lower House.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















By Vasia Orion | Published on 2016/04/04

The power of Byeon Ji-sik's words may have hit Deul-ho and Eun-jo hard, but it is surprisingly the latter, supposedly the more naive and oblivious of the two who understands what she feels and what this means to her first. Episode 3 continues with the trial, but we also get more backstory on some of our characters, including our guest father and son.

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"Neighborhood Lawyer Jo Deul-ho" catches me by surprise in many pleasant ways. I was expecting the comedy to have died down by now, but the creators know when to insert it in a way that maintains the gravity of the story while giving viewers a much needed breather. If you are anything like me, you will need said breather, because I became teary-eyed quite a few times in this episode. The drama portrays its characters, situations, and emotions with great sensitivity and honest warmth.

The creators seem to understand that constantly bringing in new suspects just to prove them innocent would make the plot repetitive, since our culprit in the main story is already known. Byeon Ji-sik (Kim Ki-cheon) remains our man of the hour. Guest characters in many dramas go wrong and so it is really appreciated that he gets development and focus, rather than just being a plot device and decorative presence for our leads.

Speaking of our leads, I mentioned earlier that it is in fact Eun-jo who has a revelation about her work ethics due to Ji-sik's words. Deul-ho on the other hand drowns himself in alcohol, memories and regrets, but his masculine pride over his honor-fueled revenge make him resist what he already knows and feels. I found this a nice way to balance our two characters, as Eun-jo has been appearing as the less mature and less aware one. She really steps up her game in this episode and her potential is becoming clearer.

"Neighborhood Lawyer Jo Deul-ho" does not offer mystery with its main story and so it chooses to make its characters and their trajectory one of the elements for us to look forward to. Sin Ji-wook (Ryu Soo-young) is an antagonist, but he is also not fully aware of his role in the conspiracy. He works for our baddies, but their scheme is a secret even to him. He has curiosity and is not a villainous person, so he may very well become an ally in the future.The same applies to Jang Hae-kyeong (Park Sol-mi), who has made her grand re-entry in this episode.

My one complaint is Deul-ho's convenient stupidity in leaving important evidence unattended. It is a writer's job to make things happen without sudden brain loss being a requirement. As a reviewer, I always consider the possibility of failure down the road. As a fan of this show, I refuse to consider it for now. Excuse me while I enjoy and pray to the Dramagods.

"Neighborhood Lawyer Jo Deul-ho" is directed by Lee Jung-seob, written by Lee Hyang-hee and features Park Shin-yang, Kang So-ra, Ryu Soo-young and Park Sol-mi.

Written by: Orion from 'Orion's Ramblings'

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Published on 2011/02/23 | Source

Actor Jin Goo emphasized that he is a born Catholic and that he believes in The Sabbath but isn't a cult.

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When he was asked the question about religion in an interview about his new movie "The Showdown" on the 21st, he answered, "I am a Sabbath. It is called the Seventh-day Adventist Church but it is sometimes caught in the cult dispute and it was upsetting. However, many people's views have been improved and I've been honorably revealing my religion since then".

The Seventh-day Adventist Church was established in America and is also known as The Second-day Adventist Church, or the Sabbath Church. The Thirty-six Foundation is well known in Korea. They go along the principles different from that of the average Christian foundations like keeping the Saturday as the Lord's Day and more.

Jin Goo laughed and explained, "Those who don't know have prejudiced opinions but it's known to many, hitting someone on the back and shouting 'Hallelujah' is ridiculous. The reason they don't believe in Sunday as the Lord's Day is because that was made by people".

He also said as much it is sensitive, for people to be able to wisely tell the difference between 'different' and 'wrong'. Not to draw a line because something is different.

He said, "As much as religion is an important value, I hope to marry someone with similar beliefs. A member in a idol group said he was one too and I was glad. Our family has the religion coming down from my grandmother and my mom is a devotee. Even now if I come home drunk she scolds me terribly".

Following "Mother - 2009" and "Le Grand Chef - Kimchi War", in his new movie "The Showdown", Jin Goo is Do-young. He tries to avenge his father's death by heading to the battle zone where his friend who caused it, is.
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.

09:00, 23 OCT 2022
ncil general managers across Sydney and NSW have been told to reapply for their jobs if they want to work for the new mega-councils that will be formed in an amalgamation of the states 43 local councils.The directive from the NSW government requesting general managers to reapply for their roles has been met with uncertainty and anger, in part because general managers are employed by councils and not the state government.Last week the NSW government requested expressions of interest from existing council general managers for "interim" roles in new merged entities, Fairfax Media reported.This request builds on Premier Mike Bairds December announcement to merge 43 councils in Sydney into 25.The directive asked general managers to respond to three questions about leading organisations during periods of change, and asked for a resume.The local government sector has hit back, questioning the state governments authority in this process."Most of us have been pretty well gobsmacked when the government made this decision," Keith Rhoades, the president of Local Government NSW, told Fairfax Media."I can't think of another place where it has happened where someone who doesn't employ you tells you can reapply for your job but that you might not get it," Rhoades says."That's like the general manager of News [Corp] coming over to you and saying you've got to apply for your job, even though you work for Fairfax," he says.Despite stating plans to reduce the number of councils, the government has been compelled to undergo a "Boundaries Commission" inquiry into reducing numbers, which is still ongoing.A spokeswoman for NSW Local Government Minister Paul Toole says: "No decision has been made on any merger proposal, but it's appropriate for the government to seek a pool of qualified people to ensure a seamless transition to new councils that proceed."The government is aiming to make a decision on proposals currently under consideration by midyear," the spokeswoman says.Other councillors from local government areas facing possible mergers were told to apply for their positions in the 25 new entities last month.
Watauga County Habitat for Humanitys second annual Big Kahuna contest is underway in the High Country. Ten individuals have taken the challenge and joined the competition. Each competitor is reaching out to their friends, family, co-workers, and neighbors to see who can help them raise the most money on behalf of Watauga County Habitat for Humanity. All of the money raised by the Big Kahuna participants will go towards helping Watauga Habitats next partner family have a decent, safe, energy efficient, affordable place to live. Last years Big Kahuna campaign, the first held by Watauga County Habitat for Humanity, raised a whopping $42,000.

Its no small task what they have agreed to do so hats off to them and all of their supporters for helping make our community a better place to live,  said Alex Hooker, Executive Director of Watauga Habitat for Humanity.

The individual that raises the most money will be crowned the Big Kahuna in Watauga County at the Don Ho-Down on Saturday, April 23, 2016. As of today, Habitats crew of Big Kahuna contestants includes:

Patrick Morgan, Keller Williams High Country

Megan Carmody, Black Cat Burrito

Ricky Pedroni, Casa Rustica

Adam Julian, ASU

Jen Teague, The Senior Center

Scott Eggers, Quality Steel Corporation

Rob Dyer, The Best Cellar and Inn at Ragged Gardens

Pete Herbert, Boone Saloon

Justin Davis, The Town Tavern (Blowing Rock)

John Welch, ASU

Each Big Kahuna contestant is organizing and hosting various events now through April 23, 2016. For more information about the participants, events or campaigns, and to show your support, visit www.wataugahabitat.org/?p=375.

Watauga Habitat for Humanity strives is to provide decent, affordable housing to Watauga County residents. We do this by building modest homes with volunteer labor, land and materials that are donated or purchased at reduced cost. Habitat offers zero interest mortgages to the home owners. Homes are sold at no profit. For more information, to donate, or volunteer go to wataugahabitat.org.

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In 1945, the United States was poised to take part in an intensive program to shuttle aid to war-ravaged Europe. Around the world, people struggled to move forward despite the wars shocking horrors and overwhelming toll. The majority of The Greatest Generation were boarding ships home or winding down war-time jobs after years of service and sacrifice.



But a small group of others, the conscientious objectors and peace-makers, were about to do the opposite.

In the months immediately following Victory in Europe Day, men and women volunteered to accompany shipments of livestock  cattle, horses and mules  across land, sea and air to deliver them to desperately hungry families in Europe and Asia, even behind the Iron Curtain and into Japan. These were truly a peace-making missions.

The livestock distribution program was a joint effort of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) and the Brethren Service Committee of the Church of the Brethren. The Church of the Brethren had risen to the call after the war, as they had been in the livestock distribution business since July of 1944 at the urging of church member Dan West, the founder of Heifer International.



Howard Lord, who you will meet in the video, was on the SS Rock Springs Victory trip to Ethiopia in March 1947. This was a United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration trip that took UNRRA heifers and a few other animals to Greece and 248 Heifer project animals to Ethiopia. Howard, now 89, is a retired pastor.





Howard Lord's story, in his own words.

Keep an eye on the World Ark blog every Tuesday this month for more stories of this unique piece of history.
All of the patients have now been invited to a follow-up examination and offered the possibility to receive a hepatitis B vaccination by today. [...] We will cover all of the costs incurred by the patients, Piia Aarnisalo, the chief executive of HUSLAB, stated in a press release on 1 April .

The Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa (HUS) has confirmed that it has made contact with all of the 19 patients who may have been exposed to infectious diseases following an error at HUSLAB Kamppi in Helsinki on 30 March.

HUS communicated one day earlier that contaminated needles were used to draw blood from a total of 19 patients in the medical laboratory on 30 March, possibly exposing the patients to a variety of infectious diseases including HIV and hepatitis B.

The risk of transmission, however, is extremely low because the viruses  especially HIV and hepatitis C  lose their ability to transmit outside the body relatively quickly, emphasised Asko Jarvinen, a chief physician at the division of infectious diseases of HUS.

The probability of the previous [patient] having an infectious disease is already quite low, added Aarnisalo.

HUS has also said it will launch an independent inquiry to prevent similar errors from occurring in the future. The group will be appointed from outside HUSLAB to establish an absolutely neutral understanding of what really took place in the incident, how it was possible for such an incident to occur and what must be done to prevent similar incidents from occurring, said Aarnisalo.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT

Photo: Vesa Moilanen  Lehtikuva
Timo Soini (PS), the Minister for Foreign Affairs, states on his blog that funnelling funds to a tax haven is a sign of moral decay and will gnaw away at the credibility of the financial services provider in protecting the interest of its mortgage customers.

Nordea has come under severe criticism following reports that it is implicated in a trove of documents leaked from Mossack Fonseca, a major law firm based in Panama, the so-called Panama Papers.

Damn, how greedy people are, he wrote on Tuesday.

The Social Democratic Party, meanwhile, announced yesterday that it is mulling over switching banks in protest of the alleged ties of the financial services provider to tax havens.

It is difficult to understand that Nordea, a Nordic bank, has had a key role in the tax avoidance activities. Nordic countries have for decades fought for the welfare state and against tax avoidance, Antti Rinne, the chairperson of the opposition party, wrote on Facebook on Monday.

The SDP cannot be a customer of a bank such as this, he added.

Casper von Koskull, the chief executive of Nordea, assured in an interview with SVT, the national broadcasting company of Sweden, yesterday evening that he disapproves of tax evasion and that Nordea will end its co-operation with Mossack Fonseca.

YLE reported on Sunday that the Luxembourg-based division of the financial services provider, Nordea International Private Banking, set up nearly 400 shell companies in Panama and the Virgin Islands for its customers in 20042014. The national broadcaster is expected to report on the hundreds of Finns implicated in the documents in more detail in its investigative programme MOT next Monday.

The Panama Papers consist of a total of 11.5 million confidential documents and 260 gigabytes of information, making it the largest data leak in history. Hundreds of journalists from several countries have pored over the documents obtained from an anonymous source by Suddeutsche Zeitung, a newspaper published in Munich.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT

Photo: Markku Ulander  Lehtikuva

Source: Uusi Suomi
Members of an organised crime gang have been jailed after plotting to steal up to 57m (71m) in rhino horn and Chinese artefacts in a series of museum raids.

The group, dubbed the Rathkeale Rovers because of their links to the Limerick town, targeted high-value objects in a string of break-ins across the globe.

They first struck in South Africa in April 2009 when they stole two 19th century white rhino horns from the Iziko Museum in Cape Town.

From there they moved on to carry out raids in Germany, Portugal, Italy, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France and Sweden.

In England they targeted Cambridge's Fitzwilliam Museum and Durham's Oriental Museum in 2012.

Judge Murray Creed, at Birmingham Crown Court, heard that although the items stolen in Durham and Cambridge were valued at around 17m (22m), detectives believe they might have fetched more than three times that on the booming Chinese auction market.

Members of the same gang also masterminded an offence at Gorringes Auction House in Lewes, East Sussex, and organised the disposal of stolen artefacts.

Sentencing seven of the 14-strong gang, Judge Creed said the criminal enterprise "involved high-value goods with significant harm caused to victims, both museums and members of the public who would otherwise have viewed the material stolen".

"It is a sophisticated, skilled and persistent conspiracy that involved significant cultural loss to the UK," he added.

Thirteen men are being sentenced after three trials that concluded with the gang and its associates being convicted of criminal conspiracy to steal, which uncovered connections to Ireland, Europe and China.

The judge began by jailing Richard 'Kerry' O'Brien Jnr (31), of Cambridgeshire and Rathkeale, for five-and-a-half years.

His uncle, John 'Cash' O'Brien (68), of Fifth Avenue, Wolverhampton, was jailed for five years and three months.

Daniel 'Turkey' O'Brien (45) and Daniel Flynn (45), both of Cottenham, Cambridgeshire, were jailed for six years and eight months and four years respectively.

The judge said he found Flynn played "a leading role", but reduced his sentence based on "the fragility of his mental health".

Sentenced

Alongside the men in the dock was 56-year-old Donald Wong, of Lambeth, London, described by the judge as "a buyer, seller and valuer". He was jailed for five-and-a-half years.

Paul Pammen (49), of Southend-on-Sea, and Alan Clarke (37), of Newham, London, who was said to have headed the gang's "disposal team", were also jailed for five-and-a-half years each. Six other men will be sentenced today.

A 14th man had already been convicted and sentenced last year for his part in the crime.

The judge said the operation to "plunder" rhino horn, carved horn and carved jade items started off "small-scale" in January 2012, but after initial failures and botched thefts - in one case they forgot where they had hidden their haul - "planning paid off".

In their most successful theft, 18 pieces of Chinese jade were stolen from the Fitzwilliam Museum. Experts provided various valuations up to almost 18m (22.5m), but Judge Creed said they were "priceless".

"The conspiracy spanned England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic, references were made to France - the Cherbourg visit, Hong Kong and the United States and Germany, also featured in the evidence the court heard over the three trials," said the judge.

He said the gang had either stolen or tried to steal "museum-quality" items, often with historic imperial Chinese dynastic connections, with the exception of an attempted theft at an auction house in March 2012 in which the bungling thieves took the wrong item.

On two occasions the Oriental Museum in Durham was targeted, but also the Castle Museum in Norwich, Gorringes Auction House in Lewes and the Fitzwilliam Museum.

The men carried out reconnaissance of these and other sites, including three museums in Glasgow.

Judge Creed said there had been "no expression of regret or remorse" from the men, and acknowledged there was "no prospect of recovery".

The remaining gang members will be sentenced at the city's crown court today.
Gardai outside the Regency Hotel in Drumcondra after David Byrne was shot dead

A dangerous new gang that held a crime summit at the Regency Hotel were spooked by a garda surveillance team monitoring the meeting.

The criminals met for talks in the car park of the same Drumcondra hotel where gangster David Byrne was shot dead, but a senior member of the mob spotted the undercover garda SUV.

He then looked in the vehicles back window and saw two undercover officers.

Sources have revealed that after the late-night incident on Saturday, the criminals and some of their female associates fled the scene for Dublin city centre in three vehicles.

Last week, the Herald revealed that up to 20 criminals are now members of the mob  nicknamed the New INLA  which has set up base in Ballymun.

Disguised

They clearly do not like the attention that they are getting from gardai and they moved out of there as quickly as they could. They went out socialising in an upmarket city centre club, a source said.

The Regency Hotel was the scene of the most high-profile gangland attack in the history of the State.

On February 5, five gunmen stormed the place. They included three men armed with AK-47s and disguised as gardai, a young criminal dressed as a woman and an undisguised dissident republican.

Senior Kinahan gangster David Byrne was murdered and two of his pals injured in the shooting spree. That led to the tit-for-tat murders of two of the closest associates of Gerry The Monk Hutch  his older brother Eddie and good friend Noel Kingsize Duggan.

However, the New INLA group that met in the hotel are not yet involved in the feud. They are understood to be staying out of it because it is not financially worthwhile.

The gang is closely connected to feared crime figure Gerard Mackin, who was convicted and then cleared of a dissident feud-related murder in the North in 2007.

It is understood that Mackin was at last Saturdays meeting along with a 30-year-old gangland criminal from Ballymun who has more than 80 convictions.

His rap sheet includes convictions for drugs, criminal damage, road traffic and possession of firearms. He has been causing mayhem since he was released from jail over a year ago.

It emerged last month in the High Court that the Regency Hotel has been suffering heavy financial losses since Byrnes murder.

Damage

James McGettigan  a director of Regan Development, which trades as the Regency Hotel Group  said in a sworn statement that the hotel had suffered immense reputational damage and loss of business in the weeks following the shooting.

Micheal P OHiggins SC, counsel for Regan Development, said the hotel had been closed for several days after the bloodshed.

There had been extensive media coverage of the incident, and many events that had been booked were cancelled.

The hotel is seeking indemnity from its insurer, Aviva, but Mr Justice Robert Haughton said that the matter was not urgent and put the application back to the new law term this month.

Meanwhile, the Herald previously revealed that the New INLA is the focus of increasing garda pressure.

It can also be disclosed that some of its members have been linked to the murder of dissident Republican Vinny Ryan, who was gunned down in February.

Extortion

They are involved in extortion, criminal debt collection and drug-dealing, but they are also involved in legitimate businesses  they are making tens of thousands of euro each month, a source said.

This gang has huge back-up from the North and they are going around like they own the place  and everyone is terrified of them.

They are also linked to a serious criminal from Finglas. He is the chief suspect behind a number of gangland murders and assaults, and was previously arrested in relation to those issues.

Investigations into the mob were stepped up after a bomb and a Glock pistol were seized and a Polish man was arrested when armed gardai searched a vehicle near Mountrath in Co Laois on February 25.

That incident led to the M7 motorway being closed for several hours. Sources said the bust had led to lives being saved.

The gangs main base is in Ballymun, but they have been operating throughout the country and especially in the capital.
Independent Alliance TD Shane Ross has hit out at Fine Gael, saying his group will not negotiate with it under threat of another general election.

The Dublin-Rathdown TD was criticising Health Minister Leo Varadkar after he posted a picture of his campaign posters on Twitter, writing they were cleaned, counted, stored and ready to be deployed again following Februarys election.

Mr Ross said his group of Independents would not take this threat of a second election seriously.

Were not going to take that sort of nonsense from Varadkar or anybody else, he said. We wont regard that as something well respond to positively.

Mr Ross denied it was inevitable there would be another election as TDs prepare to vote for a Taoiseach again tomorrow, with another unsuccessful result expected. Both his group and other Independents are set to abstain as neither Fine Gaels Enda Kenny nor Fianna Fails Micheal Martin appear to have enough support.

Tomorrows Dail session is just the third day it has sat since it was dissolved on February 3.

Mr Ross criticised the two biggest parties for not speaking to one another. He and other Independent TDs said they shared the publics frustration as government-forming negotiations continue more than a month after polling day.

Shy

Youd need the patience of Saint Job to put up with whats going on (with Fine Gael and Fianna Fail) and their refusal to meet until next Wednesday, he added.

Mr Rosss colleague and Waterford TD John Halligan said the Independent Alliance would not shy away from another general election this year if it came about.

Were not afraid of another election, he said. The people have already spoken. It is unfair to go back to the people and say, We dont like how you voted, but if we have to face the electorate were prepared to face them.

Meanwhile, Independent TD Mattie McGrath also hit out at Mr Varadkar before talks yesterday, saying his tweet was an attempt to frighten other politicians.

Of all the people in the talks  and Im not breaking confidence here  he was the most disinterested. Perhaps preparing his tweets. Its pathetic, he said. Behaviour like that from a senior minister. It would be better for him to sort out the trolley crisis or do something with the HSE, rather than pitching his posters. He must have a lonely life.

Maybe the poll (showing public support for Micheal Martin) might have had something to do with it. He might have fancied himself as Taoiseach, Mr McGrath added.

Kerry Independent Michael Healy-Rae added the posters already got their airing this year.
RTE has defended the interview, which was heavily criticised by the public for its 'soft' questioning

RTE has been blitzed with negative comments from viewers in relation to the controversial interview with drug mule Michaella McCollum.

The 23-year-old Tyrone woman's first interview since leaving jail in Peru has created a storm, with many criticising the state broadcaster's "soft" approach and "poor" line of questioning.

Last night RTE confirmed, after persistent questioning from the Herald, that the 83 calls and emails received so far were "largely negative feedback".

In relation to official complaints, RTE said: "We won't be in a position to confirm the number of official complaints until later in the week."

It also stated neither McCollum nor any member of her family was paid by RTE.

Sensitive

However, when asked whether expenses to Michaella or her family were paid, RTE declined to comment, describing the issue as "commercially sensitive".

Sunday night's interview was watched by an average of 550,000 people.

"RTE can confirm that neither Michaella McCollum nor any member of her family was paid for the interview," they said in a statement.

"Nor did RTE make any contribution to any fund relating to Michaella McCollum."

The station also admitted that McCollum's story was both "controversial and divisive", but defended the programme.

"This was McCollum's first media interview since her original arrest in 2013 and during the course of the interview she made many frank admissions about the damage her actions may have caused," said an RTE spokesman.

"RTE has a strong track record in highlighting the harm caused to individuals and society by illegal drugs and we welcome the public discussion generated by this programme."

Leading

Meanwhile, the country's leading addiction activists, including Fr Peter McVerry and Gemma Collins, consider the programme irrelevant.

Fr McVerry, who heads Dublin's busiest addiction service, said the interview benefited nobody.

"A programme like that won't have an influence on anybody," Fr McVerry told the Herald.

"Anybody who is thinking that way already knows they can make a lot of money from smuggling.

"Anybody who isn't thinking that way already knows it is a dead road."

Gemma Collins, who works with children addicted to drugs in Dublin's north-inner city, believes the interview "glamorised" drug smuggling.

The manager of the Crinan Youth Project has warned the programme may encourage people to commit smuggling offences.

"I was left thinking if I was a young person watching that, and she is after getting out after two-and-a-half years, I might be thinking it's worth the risk," said Ms Collins.
The armed raider enters the Centra and pulls his gun out - just minutes after the local garda station closed

This is the terrifying moment a serial armed raider held up a third shop in south Dublin.

In the most recent incident, the man, disguising himself with a balaclava, stormed a south-Dublin shop at the weekend and threatened staff with a handgun before fleeing with a small amount of cash.

The armed robbery took place at around 9.20pm on Sunday at the Centra store at Johnstown Road in Cabinteely.

The robbery happened just 20 minutes after the local garda station - which is located less than a two-minute drive from the shop - closed for the night.

However, store owner Bobby O'Reilly told the Herald he was "delighted" with the extremely quick response from officers, with a number of units rushing to the scene immediately after they were alerted.

Gardai are investigating whether two cars were used in the armed robbery, one as a getaway vehicle and the other as a "spotter" by the thug.

Gardai suspect this is the third occasion he has struck this year in shops on the southside of the city.

The criminal, who is believed to be aged in his mid-20s, pulled a handgun from a shopping bag when he entered the south-Dublin store and walked "calmly to the till area" where two young male staff members were working.

"He was waving his gun in the air and he started shouting 'give me the f**king money, give me the tills' when he entered the shop," owner Mr O'Reilly explained.

The criminal made off with the takings after the incident, which lasted for around 40 seconds and it is understood a small sum of cash was stolen.

While he was wearing a balaclava, the suspect did not wear gloves and gardai are hopeful of getting key forensic evidence from this.

Mr O'Reilly told the Herald he was "very proud" of how his two staff members handled the horrific situation.

"I would like to praise how the lads handled it.

"We have never had anything like this in the shop before and they were very calm.

"I would also like to praise how gardai responded to the situation, they were very prompt and very professional," he added.

It has also emerged that the same criminal is the chief suspect for two other similar raids in south Dublin over recent weeks.

The most recent of these was at the Centra in the Rathsallagh area of Shankill last month, when a raider used the same modus operandi as during Sunday night's raid.

Firearm

The Texaco garage at Rochestown Avenue in Dun Laoghaire was also targeted on February 18 in a raid linked to the same criminal.

Gardai in Dun Laoghaire are investigating all three crimes.

Last week, figures from the Central Statistics Office revealed there were 2,613 robberies of an establishment or institution involving a gun in the 10 years from 2005 to 2015.

The data also showed that there were 458 robberies by a person with firearm for the period. There were 510 aggravated burglaries where raiders were carrying a firearm.
A Dublin mum has said the birth of her daughters inspired an invention that could save the lives of thousands of babies.

Entrepreneur Christine Carolan, from Tyrrelstown, West Dublin, has been tipped for major commercial success thanks to her creation, the Cosynest baby wrap.

The safety device allows babies to be better secured into their car seat by doing away with the need to put straps over bulky clothes.

High-speed crash testing has shown that the product came out as the safest, compared with a conventional snow-suit-style restraint.

Overheating

Speaking to the Herald, Ms Carolan credited the birth of her daughters, Eve in 2008 and Sophie in 2009, with inspiring the idea.

"It was really bringing the baby back from the hospital," she said. "I put my daughter in the car, and it was cold so I put a snow suit on her, but she would be overheating.

"As a mother you do a lot of driving with the baby in the car."

Ms Carolan said she also noticed the problem of restraints that could come loose.

In 2012 she got the opportunity to pursue the idea as a business, and received help from the local enterprise office, LEO Fingal.

"They were very good. I did a course where I learnt about running the business and they gave me a 5,000 innovation grant," she said.

Ms Carolan continued her work with the help of Trinity College Dublin, and the prod-uct will be formally launched today.

She said that safety was at the forefront of her mind when developing the Cosynest.

"A jacket on a baby is bulky material," she said.

"The car seat strap may seem snug on the baby, but in an accident this material compresses, making the gap between the baby and the car seat strap greater.

"Our Cosynest allows the car seat straps to be as snug and safe as possible, while keeping the child warm and cosy."

A crash test funded by Enterprise Ireland was undertaken in February by the UK's Transport Research Laboratory.

In the case of the traditional snow suit, one of the child restraints partly came off during the test, which greatly increases the risk of ejection and injury.

Both restraints remained in place with the Cosynest as the design ensures they fit closer to the body as there is less fabric in between.

Ciaran Simms, an associate professor of biomechanical engineering at Trinity, said that retaining the child in its car seat is crucial to the its safety.

"The Cosynest showed a better capacity to retain the child in the seat than a conventional snow suit," he said.

Employment

Last year, Ms Carolan completed the first production run of the product and she sold more than 1,200 Cosynests throughout Ireland.

At the moment, the product is being made in China, but Ms Carolan said that she hoped to grow the business and create more employment in Ireland.

Cosynest was launched on to the international market through Kickstarter.com, where it can be bought at the early-bird price of 26.
I am appalled at how Americans are treating their own people and specifically Donald Trump. He is running to be the GOP nominee and he has his right to freedom of speech, like all Americans. However, what happened recently in Chicago was ugly. Donald Trump was concerned and cancelled the event because he didn't want to see lives hurt or even killed.

I am outraged that people are paid to protest, and I am outraged that a lot of people who protest do not even know what they are protesting; and I wonder how many are felons who cannot even vote are disrupting these rallies. Bernie Sanders supporters should be ashamed at the immaturity and ignorance demonstrated by those who protested Trump. Every American should protest Hillary Clinton over the Benghazi situation. How can anyone support her after the deaths of those four men? The families of these murdered people should have lawsuits against Hillary Clinton. She is a disgrace to our country.

Our country is in big trouble based on our overwhelming debt and we have a meek military that is not prepared for what North Korea could do to us at any moment, evidenced by news published in this paper on how often North Korea is testing nuclear missiles.

We finally have a strong candidate who is blunt and straight to the point about the serious trouble our country is in, such as our drowning economy, weak defense and unaffordable health care. Trump has proven to be successful based on his wealth and he appears to be sincerely concerned about the disaster our country is in. He is mad and I am mad too! I am a strong supporter of making our country great again! Go TRUMP!!!

Rachel Kinder Liberto | Marion, Virginia
Kind of a drag if you miss The Buckinghams concert Wednesday

The Buckinghams, a Chicago-based pop rock band that exploded onto the charts in 1967 with Kind of a Drag, are coming to the Maryland Theatre.
This domain has expired. If you owned this domain, contact your domain registration service provider for further assistance. If you need help identifying your provider, visit https://www.tucowsdomains.com/
Prime Minister Narendra Modis central contribution to the conduct of the nations external relations has been the imagination of India as a leading power in the international system. Since the end of the Cold War, New Delhi has deliberately taken a low profile in the international arena. The limited focus on narrowly defined self-interest meant India punched way below its weight in key regions and on global issues over the last quarter of a century.

Over the last two years, Modi has sought to move away from this approach by taking a more active approach on global issues. He has often talked of India moving away from being a reactive power to one that shapes regional and international outcomes. We have seen some of that in Indias efforts to facilitate a practical outcome in the climate change summit at Paris in December and promote regional cooperation in the subcontinent.

Read | India, Canada made for each other: PM Modi tells Justin Trudeau in US

There is no denying that India has a long way to go before fulfilling the promise of becoming a leading power. If Modi had thought New Delhis leadership could evolve slowly over a period of time, the latest turn of events around the world is adding to the urgency of Indias leadership imperative.

Indias caution on global issues since the early 1990s seemed sensible given the compulsion to reconstitute Indias foreign policy after the demise of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War. The shambolic state of the Indian economy at the turn of the 1990s reinforced that proposition.

While no one in India put it in those terms, New Delhi was following the advice that Deng Xiaoping gave China as it entered the era of reform and opening up at the end of the 1970s. Deng told the new generation of communist leaders in Beijing to keep a cool head, maintain a low profile and avoid taking the lead.

Read | Modi looks for stronger ties with friend-in-need Russia

But large nations like China and India cannot forever keep their head down in the world. While pragmatism must necessarily temper the ideological posturing and a balance must be maintained between ends and means, large civilisational states like China and India must necessarily revert to more ambitious foreign policy principles.

A quarter century after Dengs launch of reforms, China no longer maintains a low profile. It is taking the lead in building new regional institutions and pressing for a reform of the global power structure. Modis idea of India as a leading power is probably the beginning of a similar phase in Indias international evolution.

But unlike Chinas assertiveness that has made Asia and the world nervous, the rise of a democratic India, with internal checks and balances, is viewed as a benign development. The problem in fact has been New Delhis tentativeness on the international stage despite a number of factors that demand a stronger Indian role in the world.

Read | Close India-US ties are crucial for shaping global order

The first is the improvement of Indias relative weight in the international system. A quarter century of reforms, however, hesitant and reluctant, have resulted in high economic growth rates and the elevation of India as one the worlds leading economies.

India is today the seventh-largest economy in nominal terms and the third in PPP terms. This increased weight has been coupled with Indias growing economic interdependence with the world. In the era of self-reliance and inward economic orientation, the world did not really matter much to the socialist India.

Now nearly 40% of Indias GDP is linked to global trade. Managing this interdependence becomes critical for sustaining economic development at home. New Delhi no longer has the luxury of thumbing its nose at the world. It must necessarily shape the world around it. Getting this new imperative understood in the policy and political classes has not been easy.

Read | India-Saudi Arabia join hands to fight terror as Modi wraps up visit

Second, there is growing demand that India make more contributions to the maintenance of the regional order in Asia. A quarter century ago, New Delhis aim was to win membership of major regional organisations in Asia. It now faces the challenge of overcoming its image as a laggard in Asias regional integration, and the perception of India as a reluctant regional power.

Third, as India becomes the worlds fastest-growing economy, the expectation is that Delhi will take larger responsibilities to facilitate global economic revival and strengthen regional economic integration. Here again, there is a deep sense of disappointment with Delhis approach to global trade issues and its continuing defensiveness on economic globalisation.

Fourth, the old order is breaking down at the global level as well as different regions. The world is yet to recover from the effects of the global economic crisis of 2008. Uncertainty hangs over the internal political evolution of all the major powers, America, China, Europe, Russia and Japan.

Read | An India-Iran-Israel alliance could be Modis legacy

Meanwhile, the traditional balance of power in the Eurasian land mass is being shaken by the assertiveness of Russia, the rise of China, the emerging American temptation for retrenchment, the chaos in Europe and the turmoil in West Asia. India can no longer afford or stay aloof from these developments.

Finally, international leadership is a vital necessity for India to accelerate its internal economic development and improve its national security environment. At the same time, Indias ability to lead in the region and the world will depend critically on how effectively it modernises its internal political and economic structures. Responding to the interconnected policy imperatives at home and abroad is at once a historic challenge and an extraordinary opportunity for the current generation of policy community in New Delhi.

C Raja Mohan is director, Carnegie India, Delhi

This article is published as part of an association between HT and Carnegie India

The views expressed are personal
With assembly elections round the corner, big money will illegally change hands to fund the entire run-up to the polls by political parties and their candidates. A lions share of this shady transaction comes from the syndicate raj that is thriving in the state.

During polls, syndicate members or local toughs are also used as muscle power by their political bosses for not only terrorising voters but also opposition workers.

It is now an open secret in Kolkata, or for that matter in the entire state of West Bengal.

Syndicate is an extortion racket that runs in areas where real estate is witnessing a boom. Unemployed men backed by the ruling party use the clout and the threat of violence to force contractors into buying inferior building materials from them at a premium.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has been repeatedly cautioning her party men to stay away from syndicates but to no avail.

While Banerjee has a clean image and is trying to steer her party out of the murky waters, her trusted lieutenants are being exposed one after the other for their association with one of the biggest menaces of the state  syndicate raj.

Funding elections

In 2014, the Election Commission of India increased the ceiling on poll expenditure by raising the cap for contesting election for the Lok Sabha to Rs 70 lakh and that for contesting an assembly seat was fixed at Rs 28 lakh.

But that is just official. Ask any politician and he would tell you this is just a part of what they actually spend before the elections.

A few days back state urban development minister Firhad Hakim was allegedly caught on spy camera revealing it takes nearly Rs 1 crore to fight an election to the Lok Sabha. On Monday, another sting operation exposed Bidhannagar mayor Sabyasachi Dutta saying that it takes nearly Rs 5060 lakh to fight the assembly elections and that most of the money come from syndicates.

Every Trinamool Congress leader seems to be involved in syndicates and extortion. What is new in it? The sting is just showing them taking bribes and cash on camera. See every neighborhood and you will find them easily. They are the ruling party toughs, senior Congress leader Abdul Mannan said.

Dutta went further to reveal how his party backs syndicates so that the funds could be siphoned back the party before the elections.

There are four pillars on which Trinamool Congress is standing, bribes, extortion, syndicates and chit funds. Using these they came in power, using the same they want to stay in power. So many murders took place in Rajarhat-Newtown surrounding syndicates. Sabyasachis statement only proves it, Robin Deb, CPI-M state secretariat member and a candidate from Singur, said.

The syndicate menace has plagued the city and its outskirts - from the fledgling township of Rajarhat-Newtown in the north, areas off the EM Bypass in the east, Sonarpur and Baruipur in south or Joka and Behala in the west. Syndicates owing allegiance to the ruling party get the job of supplying labour and construction materials for bridges and flyovers.

Big names from the ruling party such as Sabyasachi Dutta and Barasat MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar are often associated with these syndicates.

Dirty works

Violence, shootouts, murders, gang rivalry, kidnapping, extortion  are the some of the most common crimes that revolve around this syndicate raj.

In the 2015 municipal polls, most of the violence that rocked the city took place in areas where these syndicates are active and flex their muscles. It is because they control the real estate market which involves big black money.

The nexus between goons, politicians and even a section of police has reached such extent that even the courts have not been spared.

Workers and labourers at the construction site of the proposed West Bengal Judicial Academy in New Town, Rajarhat were attacked and building material was stolen because the contractors didnt purchase materials from syndicates.

Recently the Calcutta high court directed the Bidhannagar Police to crack down on these syndicates after a promoter whose construction site was blocked filed a petition.

But nothing significant has happened so far.
Seems like Hema Malini is a bit annoyed with Pratyusha Banerjees sensational suicide and the controversy blanketing the entire episode. The actress took to her Twitter handle to slam the attitude of taking lives and chose some harsh words to express her feelings.

TV actor Pratyusha Banerjee committed suicide on Friday.

All these senseless suicides which achieve nothg! Life is Gods gift for us to live not for us to take at will. We have no right to do that, she tweeted.

All these senseless suicides which achieve nothg! Life is God's gift for us to live not for us to take at will. We have no right to do that.  Hema Malini (@dreamgirlhema) April 4, 2016

The Dreamgirl of Bollywood, in another tweet spoke about fighting such a situation with strength and bravery. One must learn to overcome all odds & emerge successful,not succumb under pressure & give up easily.The world admires a fighter not a loser, read her tweet about Pratyushas suicide.

One must learn to overcome all odds & emerge successful,not succumb under pressure & give up easily.The world admires a fighter not a loser  Hema Malini (@dreamgirlhema) April 4, 2016

Just becomes food for the hungry media who chew on news like celebrity suicides until the next sensational news happens.Thn it is forgotten, she added. Balika Vadhu star Pratyusha Banerjee committed suicide on Friday. The police is yet to ascertain the reason behind her death.

Pratyushas boyfriend Rahul Raj Singh, a TV actor, was admitted to hospital after complaining of chest pain. The police is questioning him in the case.

Read:Medicines, alcohol found during Pratyushas house search
Title: Hillary  A Biography of Hillary Rodham Clinton

Author: Karen Blumenthal

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Price: Rs.499

Pages: 449

In 1969, the Wellesley College for women, near Boston, agreed to have a student speaker at its graduation ceremony  and the very first one abandoned most of her prepared text for an impromptu, impassioned rebuttal of the chief guests (a Massachusetts senator) address, and to outline her generations divergent goals and vision of politics.

The speech of (then) Hillary Rodham not only had different impact on different sections of the 2,000-strong audience  leaving stunned the older members, drawing some applause from younger ones, and a spirited, standing ovation from recent and current graduates  but also in media and the wider world with some complimenting her for upstaging the senator or commending her for emerging as a new voice, while others berated her for being rude and being too sure of herself.

Read: Trump is terrifying and I hate what he stands for: Hillary Clinton

As this biography by Karen Blumenthal brings out, this has long been the pattern of Hillary Clintons life  much admiration and respect but also much derision and hostility. This may be true for all politicians in a way, but for her, it began right from when she became a public figure as wife of the new governor of Arkansas in 1978. And it persists till date, when she is two contests away from becoming the first woman to hold the worlds most powerful job.

This state of affairs is well reflected in books on her, which swing from flattering encomiums to vicious diatribes, but very few objective accounts. A Woman in Charge: The Life of Hillary Rodham Clinton by the legendary Carl Bernstein, of the Watergate investigation, is one of them but is now nearly over a decade old and in the period since then, she has served as US chief diplomat in some very turbulent years and has prepared for and mounted another bid for the White House.

And while Hillary Clinton can be idolised or reviled, her contribution praised or disparaged, she cannot be ignored, and there is no doubt that her story is extraordinary, as for most her life she has been defying conventional wisdom, breaking barriers, and baffling even closest friends with a bundle of personal contradictions.

US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton at a rally in New York City on Monday. (AFP)

After more than forty years in politics and public life, one question still remained: Who is she? asks Blumenthal, who has earlier penned biographies of Steve Jobs and of Walmart founder Sam Walton, and tries to answer it by presenting Hillary Clintons story in 36 vivid and insightful chapters, spanning her journey from her birth (and being given a name then used for boys) and childhood in suburban Chicago in the late 1940s to taking the centrestage nationally and globally since the 1990s.

Blumenthal says she was unable to question Hillary herself, even over email, but has extensively plumbed through her books and statements, papers and memoirs from the Clinton archives  and also sources critical of her.

We learn about the influences in her life  from exacting father Hugh and supportive mother Dorothy, teachers, pastors, friends, colleagues, mentors and finally Bill Clinton, and her experiences of the eventful 1960s that help to shape her thoughts and beliefs, and how these guided her and impinged on decisions about education, work, marriage and family life, and political career (from a committed Republican to committed Democrat).

Read: Rejuvenated Hillary Clinton wows crowd on home turf

Some were impetuous  her decision to choose Yale over Harvard to study law followed one leading, unnamed Harvard professors snide dismissal of women, while some  marrying Bill Clinton  were planned carefully though their earliest meetings were nothing short of comic  at one, he was loudly extolling how the largest watermelons were found in his state  and nearly melodramatic, with both mothers not very enthusiastic over their childs choice.

While acknowledging Hillarys calibre and achievements, Blumenthal is not shy of citing the many controversies and scandals that have been a part of her life, or of Hillarys own missteps and contradictions but not judgemental. Supplementing the story are a multitude of small photos, and reproductions of negative and positive editorial cartoons that indicate public perceptions of her.

Whether Hillary becomes president or not, her life is most fascinating  and this is a detailed and accessible account of it.

(Vikas Datta for IANS)

Follow @htlifeandstyle for more.
The year was 2012-13. Jnaneswar Sen, head of sales and marketing at Honda Cars (India) was struggling to meet sales targets. There had been a sudden rise in demand in diesel cars, and Honda didnt have any in its portfolio. The companys market-share dropped below 4%. It was a tough period for us, he said. As much as 58% of all passenger vehicles sold that year were diesel-driven, up from 48% the previous year. And the price difference between the two fuels was at an all time high -- Rs 30!

Bowing to market demands, Honda launched its sub-four metre Amaze sedan with a diesel engine in April 2013. The turnound was dramatic. The car got a rousing reception, and its diesel engine even more so: 80% the Amaze units sold had diesel engines. Soon, every single car in the Honda portfolio got a diesel variant. And the companys market-share leapfrogged to 7%.

You would have thought Sen would be content today. Far from it.

The problem is different, though. Since 2012-13, soon after Honda took to diesel, the demand for diesel cars started dropping. Reason? The price of diesel had been decontrolled, and the advantage vis-a-vis petrol came down rapidly. From April 2015 to February 2016, the diesel vehicle sales came down to 44%, and is expected to dip further. With the Amaze itself, diesel contributes just 30% to overall sales.

We had made a lot of investments in our diesel capacity, we are utilising the capacity as we introduced diesel in more models We are exporting as well, said Sen.

Honda is just once example. Other carmarkers too are struggling with this transition in the market. In 2012-13, 97% of all utility vehicles (UV) sold had diesel engines. That has come down to 88%. Mahindra & Mahindra, predominantly a diesel UV maker, is in talks with engine component manufacturers for petrol cars. M&Ms executive director Pawan Goenka confirmed that the company is working on petrol vehicles.

For Maruti Suzuki, which sells one out of every two cars in the country, has seen its diesel mix go down to 30% from 38% during the peak. Its 800cc small diesel engine for the Celerio hasnt done well so far, and sells one-fourth of capacity.

The bigger problem is that products are built over years. Marutis new compact SUV Brezza was conceptualised in 2012-13, so a petrol variant was not in the scheme of things. That time diesel was an in thing, said Randhir Singh Kalsi, head of sales and marketing at Maruti Suzuki. So, is there a petrol engine coming? There are a number of projects in the pipeline, but not in the near future But we have seen a significant shift towards petrol in hatchbacks, Kalsi said.

The new additional cess of 2% on diesel vehicles and ban on diesel vehicles above 2000cc is making things worse. Toyota is one company which is feeling the heat. Its highest selling vehicle, Innova, can no longer be sold in Delhi, which accounts for around 12% of Innovas sales. We will not be making petrol Innovas, or even reduce the engine capacity of the vehicle. That will be compromising with the quality, said Shekar Viswanathan, vice-chairman of Toyota Kirloskar Motor. Result: No new Innovas in Delhi.

Since the Supreme Court order came on December 16, according to Hondas Sen , there has been a 5% shift towards petrol cars. Thats sudden, and unwelcome.

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To facilitate the process of land reforms across India, the NITI Aayog has formulated a model land leasing law that allows transfer of leased land directly from the tenant, said Arvind Panagariya, vice-chairman of Indias policy thinktank that has replaced the planning commission.

Panagariya said that the model law is part of a report formulated by a NITI Aayog committee chaired by Tajamul Haque and will be made public in two days. The model can be adopted by states to reform their land laws.

The purpose of the model act is to offer a way by which you can introduce tenancy legally, thereby securing the rights of the tenant and security of ownership of land with the owner, Panagariya said at the annual session of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here on Monday.

In many states, the governments have undertaken land reforms assuming tenant as the owner. This has made official leasing of land difficult. Many states officially allowed only limited tenancy. So a lot of tenancy went underground, he said, But today many even marginal farmers want to lease out their land.

During a session on Delivering on the Promise that is Indian Economy, he said non-performing assets (NPAs) of banks and job creation are the two biggest challenges that the economy faces.

Panagariya said that in the banking sector problems are more challenging as banks require capital infusion on the one hand, while needing proper fiscal management on the other. 73% of the workers are engaged in small industries that contribute to only 12% of the output, which needs to change, he said.

Panagariya cited the slowdown and rising wages in China, coupled with its aging population, as an opportunity for India to attract capital and managerial skill that can create quality jobs and better Indian firms. We have got a great opportunity here. But we need to create the right ecosystem, he said.
In a two-pronged strategy to promote the Make in India initiative and curb dependence of the pharmaceutical industry on Chinese imports, commerce and industry minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said the government is considering setting up of specified pharmaceutical zones.

The zones, aimed at easing manufacturing, and research and development of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API), will also help boost exports. They will have an additional advantage of reducing Indias trade deficit with China.

Ironically, while India manufactures over 30% of global generic drugs consumption, more than 80% of APIs required to produce these medicines come from China. In the April-September period of 2015-16, India imported API worth around Rs 6,500 crore from China.

Now there is an interest to set up specified pharmaceutical zones where API manufacturers will be invited to set up units, the commerce minister said.

Sitharaman said she will meet environment minister Prakash Javadekar and chemicals minister Anant to sort issues such as delayed environmental clearances, which manufacturers claim are plaguing the sector.

Meanwhile, Sitharaman said the government will not open up those sectors to FDI where it can put jobs of self-employed Indians at peril.

We are being careful in sectors where people are already self-employed, already there with investments made from their family inheritances, and in sectors where it wont be the business of the investor to create back-end infrastructure, she told reporters here.

Although the government has eased norms for FDI in many sectors,for us to open up and then to put at peril jobs of self-employed individuals will also not be good, she added. So we are taking a calibrated position as regards FDI right to that extent.
India-born entrepreneur Sanjeev Gupta was seen as the saviour after he declared on Tuesday that there would be no redundancies if his offer to buy Tata Steels assets in Britain were accepted, as advanced talks are scheduled in Mumbai on Wednesday.

Business secretary Sajid Javid, who is at the centre of David Cameron governments efforts to deal with the Tatas sell-off plans, arrived in Mumbai on Tuesday evening to meet Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry.

A series of meetings on the sell-off plans were held during the day in London, including discussions with Koushik Chatterjee, CFO of Tata Steel.

Founder of commodities firm Liberty House, Gupta said: Many (parts of the business) are loss-making at the moment but we believe they can be turned around. The biggest problem we see is the blast furnaces because they are importing all their raw material to smelt steel.

He told BBC that his groups alternative suggestion would be to still make hot metal, but to make it from local raw scrap material rather than imported raw material: Making new steel doubles our carbon footprint. There is a way of making steel in the UK which has a much lower carbon footprint that what we currently do.

At the moment we export our scrap and bring back steel - we import 6 million tonnes of steel. I would like to see more of that being made here. So our commitment would be not just to produce what is currently produced but actually to expand production eventually in due course.

Read: Brexit camp exploits Tata Steel sell-off plan

Before leaving for Mumbai, Javid said he had productive talks with Tata executives in London. He also met union officials keen to ensure that thousands of jobs are saved as part of the impending change of ownership of Tata Steel in Britain. There is also interest from Germany to buy parts of the business .

The series of meetings in London included one between Wales first minister Carwyn Jones and Cameron, who was urged to offer substantial support to potential buyers of Tata Steel plants. The Port Talbot plant is based in Wales.

After a crisis meeting in Downing Street, Jones said it was heartening to hear that nothing was off the table, and favoured temporary public ownership to make time to find a buyer.

Discussions have taken place with buyers - these are early days yet, but we do have something to build on even at this early stage. If the UK government needs to take over Tatas assets in the short term to enable a sale process to take place then thats something the UK government should consider, he said.

Whats important now is we carry on working to make sure the jobs we have in steel in Wales, and indeed the jobs in England, can be preserved for the future.

Read: Sanjeev Gupta may be potential buyer of Tata Steels UK business

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Senior Congress leaders in Uttarakhand are in a quandary on whether to kick out the nine rebel legislators, a popular demand of party workers.

Their removal, in essence, will give the rebels immunity from disqualification, which the Congress leadership doesnt want. But inaction is making the mass contact programme to revitalise disgruntled party workers a challenge.

State Congress president Kishore Upadhyay was in Narendranagar on Monday and in Rudraprayag and Kedarnath a day earlier to connect with party workers.

Narendranagar assembly constituency is represented by Congress rebel Subodh Uniyal, and Harak Singh Rawat and Shaila Rani Rawat represent Rudraprayag and Kedarnath constituencies respectively.

The outreach effort, however, did not go as Congress would have liked. The grassroots reportedly fired a volley of questions over the partys inaction on the rebel leaders.

Read: Rawat accuses BJP of foiling his campaigns

The state Congress is in turmoil since the nine legislators, including former chief minister Vijay Bahuguna, supported the Bharatiya Janata Party on March 18 during discussion on the crucial Finance Bill in the state assembly.

Within hours of the rebellion, Indias grand-old party ejected Saket Bahuguna, one of the rebels and son of Vijay Bahuguna, for six years, but has since gone mum.

We will definitely take action against rebels as soon as we receive a communication for action from the leader of Congress legislative party [read Harish Rawat], Upadhyay told HT.

Vice-president Jot Singh suggested the party was looking at the matter holistically and would decide its next step accordingly. Emotions are one side and political strategy is on another, he said.

The Congress leadership is aware that any action now would allow the rebels to join another party without fear of violating the anti-defection law.

The rebels are fighting in high court against their disqualification from the assembly by former speaker Govid Kunjwal. But, they too are mindful of the risk of being poached by rival parties.

Other rebels, such as Kunwar Pranab Singh Champion, are much more vocal. He returned to his constituency in Haridwar district to a rousing welcome.

Champion, who has strong Gujjar support, said he was forced to raise his voice because the party was not giving due attention to their problems.

Read: Failure of constitutional machinery led to Prez rule, Centre tells court
A Dalit student of Delhi University has alleged that a group of students of Hansraj College attacked him and passed casteist remarks when he was pasting posters of a protest in the institutions premises.

The student has also claimed that he had approached Maurice Nagar police station for filing a complaint against the group but his plea was not heard by police.

I went to paste posters of a student protest, which was to be held outside Bikaner House (near India gate), against the rape and murder of a Dalit girl in Bikaner district of Rajasthan. The group attacked me and passed casteist remarks. I went to the principal and police but nobody entertained my plea, the student said.

The student, a member of the Krantikari Yuva Sangathan (KYS), also said that he will approach the National Commission for Scheduled Castes demanding action against the college authorities.

KYS members also staged a protest outside the college premises.

Hansraj Principal Rama Sharma maintained that the student had met her on Monday and when she asked for his ID card he said he wasnt a student of the same college.

He told me that he wasnt a student of our college but another DU college and was here to paste posters for which he had not sought any information. I had informed police as well about the student barging in the college and alleging an altercation with a group, she told PTI.

Since the student did not identify anybody who had passed the remarks against him, there wasnt any scope for intervention, she added.

Police officials maintained that they have received both the complaints and the matter is being looked into.
A few days after they were relieved from their duties, many contractual school teachers protested outside Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwals residence on Tuesday.

The services of 1,920 such teachers, all employed under the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) scheme, were terminated from March 31 reportedly due to the non-continuation of the post by the ministry of human resource development. The government told them that they would be employed as guest teachers instead.

How will we be accommodated when government schools already have a large number of guest teachers? We will be cast out on the streets, said Neeraj Kumar, a contractual teacher.

While the contracts of these teachers used to be extended from March 31 to May 10 every year, it was not done this time. Teachers are appointed under the SSA scheme to meet the required teacher student ratio of 1:40, as mandated by the Right to Education Act 2009.

Read: Education dept plans to upgrade primary schools to high schools

The contracts were not extended because the Delhi government itself sanctioned 9,500 posts to fulfil the teacher-student ratio. The file for the sanctioned posts has been lying with the lieutenant governor Najeeb Jung. It was sent for his approval a few months ago, said Atishi Marlena, advisor to education minister Manish Sisodia.

She, however, clarified that the government will retain the affected employees as guest teachers. We have also said that weightage will be given to these teachers as per their experience and qualification, said Marlena.

Apart from permanent teachers, Delhi government schools have guest teachers who fill sanctioned posts that are still lying vacant. The government is also said to be working on regularising the services of around 16,000 guest teachers.

Employment as a guest teacher would mean that we get paid on a daily basis, unlike under the SSA. As there are already so many guest teachers in Delhi government schools, we do not stand a chance, said Anuj, another contractual teacher.

Contractual teachers are paid around Rs 25,000 a month, whereas a guest teacher gets around Rs15,000.

After protesting at Kejriwals residence, around 300 teachers also met Jung. However, the lieutenant governor told us that he cannot do anything because the final decision lies with the Delhi government, said Kumar.

Guest teachers had taken out a protest on Sunday to demand regularisation of jobs.
The Delhi government will build a memorial for former president APJ Abdul Kalam at Dilli Haat, INA.

The memorial, which will have the notes, books, clothes and other personal items of the former president, will be opened to the public on July 27  Kalams death anniversary.

I am going to Rameshwaram on Tuesday to collect the former presidents belongings from his family members. When the Aam Aadmi Party and I had raised a voice against the central governments decision to allot his house to a minister, we had said that the memorial should be made in Delhi instead of Rameshwaram. The family supported us and was glad to hand over the things to us. The memorial will be set up at Dilli Haat. Till that is done, the articles will be displayed in the Delhi Vidhan Sabha, culture minister Kapil Mishra said.

In November, the Delhi Assembly passed a resolution to set up a knowledge centre in the city to honour Kalam.

The AAP had severely criticised the central government for allotting Kalams official bungalow  10 Rajaji Marg - to Union Tourism and Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma.

Kalams grand nephew, APJ Sheikh Salim, had quit the Bharatiya Janata Party after the residence was not converted into a memorial.

The Delhi government had constituted a team to safely bring Kalams belongings back from Rameswaram. They were sent to his family members in Rameshwaram when the bungalow was allotted to Sharma.
Astronomers tell us that the Rings of Saturn consist of countless small particles of varying sizes orbiting around the planet. We could extend its complex logic to the controversy surrounding the entry of women into the inner sanctum of a temple to the Hindu planetary deity of astrological significance in the town of Shani Shingnapur in Maharashtra.

The state administration is in no hurry to comply with an order of the Bombay High Court that ordered that women be allowed to worship alongside men in the temple, ending a 400-year-old tradition. Activist Trupti Desai accuses the BJP-led government of contempt of court after alleging violence with local villagers.

In another temple at Trimbakeshwar in the state, authorities have barred both men and women from the inner sanctum, in an apparent attempt to avoid charges of gender discrimination. In a secular democracy, religion is a private matter, but then, India is also committed to social justice and equality, which implies gender rights. In a nation that sees questionable practices in all religions, intervention by courts in the affairs of one religion can stir unrest over others as well. We would advise all authorities to be cautious on such issues as they can tie us down in tricky knots.

Read | Now, men too cant enter core area of Nashiks Trimbakeshwar temple

There is little doubt that Hinduism has been going through a big churn through the centuries. Sages of the Bhakti Movement have led spiritual uprisings to erase boundaries of caste, language or gender. But it is equally true that some matters pertaining to faith have their roots in occult practices not amenable to the simple logic of human rights. Eighty years ago, the then Maharaja of Travancore lifted a ban on lower castes entering temples in Kerala after a long-drawn social movement backed by Mahatma Gandhi, triggering a revolution that seems to be moving in slow motion.

Habits that have their roots in social discrimination must end, but others need to be considered keeping in mind both sentiments and matters of faith. While faith may be a private matter, religions follow well-documented principles that must also be brought into the picture by organs of the state. Local priests and temple administrators cannot be allowed to have ad-hoc control without being challenged.

Read | CM faces heat over Bharat Mata Ki Jai statement, clarifies stand

Be it the ban on sati, in which widows were forced to die on the funeral pyres of their husbands, or in women taking part in cremation ceremonies or lower castes taking part in rituals, Hinduism has steadily moved forward with reformist intent. That spirit should stay, while allowing room for esoteric practices. Saturn is a planet of justice and caution in astrological parlance, and its significance needs to be upheld in the worship of its deity.
Panjab University (PU) has been ranked 12th in the first National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) released by the ministry of human resource development on Monday.

In the rankings for the higher educational institutions, University Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (UIPS), PU, has secured second place among countrys pharmacy institutes and the University Institute of Chemical Engineering and Technology (UICET) has been placed at Number 100.

If the science institutes are excluded from the rankings, including Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai, Panjab University (PU) stands at number 8.

Vice-chancellor Prof Arun Kumar Grover congratulated the staff and students for universitys consistent good performance in various national and international rankings. The university is consistently trying to improve its performance in education and research,he said.

President of the Panjab University Teachers Association (PUTA) Prof Akshaya Kumar said, The fact which needs to be noted here in these rankings is that all public-funded institutes have a place in the list, showing that state funding is necessary for institutes of higher education.

He, however, said the ministrys role didnt end at ranking the universities, it had the role to nurture them by catering to their needs. The ministry need not do this as private agencies are there for the job,he said.

Parameters for the ranking

PU spokesperson said that rankings were finalised on different parameters, such as perception of the institute by stakeholders; representation of women and physically challenged individuals; outreach activities; effectiveness of the core teaching/learning activities, higher studies and placements; research; and infrastructure.

Varsitys other feats

In the Times Higher Education rankings for 2015-16, PU was ranked after Jadavpur University in the 501-600 group of world rankings. PU was ranked Number 1 in India (ranked 363 overall) in the Thomson Reuters-powered Best Global Universities Rankings 2016 by US News and Global Report. In February 2016, Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India had adjudged PU as the Best University Campus.
He has twice played god on screen, and now, Morgan Freeman is taking part in a TV documentary titled The Story of God for which he paid a maiden visit to India last year.

One of American cinemas most recognisable figures, Morgan Freeman says hes fascinated with the differences that the country has to offer and that hed love to return to film a movie.

I would primarily like to go to India and make a movie. Id like to be there for a while. Some time ago I had a great idea, a great movie idea. It wasnt mine, it was someone elses. It wasnt well thought out, but it was such a great idea and I would really like to do something like that in India, Freeman told IANS in an interview during a conference call with select Indian media.

During his tryst with India for National Geographic Channels The Story of God, he visited Bodh Gaya and Varanasi -- cities which are of religious significance -- to bring forth the nation as a melting pot of myriad religions, faiths beliefs and traditions.

Read: Honorary God Morgan Freeman in Varanasi to shoot The Story of God

India is an endlessly fascinating place when you go from place to place to place to place and you see the differences. For instance, all the places we were in, Bodh Gaya and Varanasi, had fascinating differences. I think you would probably find that all over India, added the 78-year-old in his distinct baritone.

Freeman, who has left a lasting impression with his persona in movies like The Shawshank Redemption, Seven, Bruce Almighty and Million Dollar Baby, visited seven countries for the series in a quest to find out how religion has evolved through the course of civilisation, and how it has shaped the evolution of society.

Watch a clip from Morgan Freemans visit to India here

He visited iconic places like Jerusalems Wailing Wall, Mayan temples in Guatemala and the pyramids of Egypt. In India, though, Freeman said he could not put his mind around the traffic in Varanasi, one of the oldest cities in the country which he found extraordinary.

For me, I was a little surprised by India... I was trying to understand how people associate with one god to another. It was completely interesting and new.

Watch a quick interview with Morgan Freeman here

Those sentiments also describe his journey into some of the worlds key religious sites, ruins of ancient civilizations, and in cutting-edge science laboratories for the six-part series which will go on air on April 15. Freeman, Lori McCreary and James Younger are the executive producers of the series. While religion is often seen as something that divides, the series illuminates the similarities among different faiths.

Did The Story of God affect Freemans personal beliefs about the Almighty?

I have been asked if my beliefs changed. Id say no. But affected personally? Absolutely! Learning these different cultures around the idea of god was very fascinating, said the Academy Award winning star, who found himself in a spiritual limbo dealing with Hinduism because for one thing, it seems to be a tough religion.

Watch a clip from the series here

Asked if he a god-fearing person, the actor said, No, no. The god I believe in doesnt scare me, so Im not god-fearing at all, adding that if the job comes along, the script is right, and the moneys good, he will will play god again on the big screen.

And every once in a while amid his busy schedule, Freeman finds time to do documentaries such as this as he feels theres an obligation to make positive changes in the world.

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Cinema-goers have a chance to be the hero in new action movie Hardcore Henry, with audiences seeing the film through the protagonists eyes.

Shot entirely in the first person, viewers look through Henrys perspective as he wakes up in a laboratory run by his wife Estelle remembering nothing about who he is.

When the laboratory is broken into and Estelle is kidnapped, Henry and the audience go on a frenzied 90 minutes of first-person action, stunts and gore to get her back.

Read: The completely insane Hardcore Henry is coming to India on April 8

It was immensely difficult, everything, Russian director Ilya Naishuller told Reuters.

Watch the trailer here

I think the most fun was the script because I got to write from the first person perspective which was pretty fresh.

The first person perspective is most prevalent in computer games but Naishuller, who made music videos for his band Biting Elbows with the same filmic perspective, is insistent the movie is not a game adaptation.

It was made for the cinema-goer in mind, it was a theatrical experience that if you happen to play games youre going to enjoy it a little bit more, he said.

Everything Henry does in the film is done for real.

Hardcore Henry, which has been praised for its technical style, first screened at Septembers Toronto film festival and begins its cinema roll out worldwide from April 6.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
It is just the beginning of the summer season but a heat wave has gripped most parts of India with the searing sun worsening the farm crisis in drought-hit Bundelkhand and Vidarbha, and forcing municipalities to ration water in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.

A girl washes her face in order to cool off on a hot Monday in New Delhi.

The usual temperature during the start of April averages around 35-36 Celsius but it has breached the 40 Celsius mark in many places. The temperature was as high as 44 in Nagpur.

The good news is that the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) predicted a fall in temperature in the next few days. But the respite will be temporary as temperatures are expected to soar for the rest of the month.

In Maharashtra, where temperature touched 44 Celsius in several places  five degrees above average  civic bodies have imposed water cuts in Pune, Nashik, Aurangabad and Nagpur.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has slashed water supply by 15% after imposing 20% water cut for residential societies and 50% cut for commercial establishments last August.

In Madhya Pradesh, municipal bodies have started water rationing in Damoh, Tikamgarh in Bundelkhand region, Mahidpur in Ujjan and parts of Malwa, where drinking water is being supplied once in three days.

Private weather forecasting agency Skymet said northwest India may witness a marginal drop in maximum temperature.

During the next 48 hours, heat wave conditions are likely to abate from Delhi-NCR and Rajasthan due to a change in wind direction.

Similarly, a wind discontinuity from Marathwada to Comorin across Karnataka can lead to scattered light rain over parts of north Maharashtra adjoining Madhya Pradesh.

However, the relief will be short lived. Temperatures are likely to witness a rise after three to four days. Significant relief from hot weather conditions is highly unlikely in the coming days, Skymet said.

The IMD concurred, saying heat wave conditions were primarily due to poor westerly disturbances that provide rainfall to northwestern India during this period. This is also an after effect of the weather event El-Nino that caused the poor monsoon last year.

In Punjabs Amritsar, where summer temperature touches 50 Celsius, the taps are running dry in many localities. Many cities in UP such as Allahabad, Agra, Jhansi and Noida recorded temperature of more than 40 Celsius.

In Jharkhand, the temperature hovered around 41 Celsius, and people in cities like Ranchi blocked traffic to protest over no supply of drinking water for past week.

Authorities were supplying water once in three days in parts of Ranchi since October due to deficient rainfall but the situation has turned worse, claim residents. Ranchi-based India Meteorological Department (IMD) officials said the summer could turn harsher in the next 48 hours.
Scientists at Bengalurus National Research Development Forum (NDRF) are developing an aerostat  a hot air balloon or craft  to help farmers in agriculture, including scaring away pests and birds.

The small craft, a floating balloon measuring three or four metres in length, will be deployed about 100 meters from the ground and fitted with acoustic devices and lasers to scare away birds.

Birds and rodents can be scared or chased away using lasers that will emit short lights. Similarly the noise emanating from acoustic devices can scare them, said Dr K Ramachandra, director, NDRF.

During our interaction with the agriculture researchers and the farming community, we got to know that birds carrying viruses contaminate fresh water bodies while they come to quench their thirst. This can have a devastating impact on aquaculture farms that rely on freshwater for breeding of fishes and prawns.

The NDRF team has been working with the farming community in the Bhimavaram region of Andhra Pradesh along with horticulture and fisheries departments, and students of a private engineering college to execute the project.

The aerostat can be deployed for a week or two before it is anchored for refuelling. The team of researchers are yet to decide on the whether to use hydrogen or helium to keep the balloon afloat.

The cost of the aerostat is still being worked on but NDRF said there is a conscious effort to keep it affordable for the farming community.

The project is part of a broader push by the NDRF  the research and development wing of the Institution of Engineers (India)  to use technology for conservation of soil, monitoring crops and preventing contamination of water.

The NDRF is also developing mini-autonomous underwater vehicles that will monitor the quality of water in fish-breeding farms.

The surface board of these mini vehicles will be fitted with sensor suite to monitor the quality of the water at aqua farms. They will rely back data about the pH level etc, said Ramachandra, also the CEO of the National Programme for MAVs (NP-MICAV).

The NP-MICAV is a Rs 90 crore programme sponsored by the central government to build mini-autonomous flying objects.

Government R&D institutes such as the Defence Research and Development Organisation, National Aerospace Laboratories, Indian Institute of Science, IITs and universities are part of the programme.

We are currently working on it so it can be deployed soon, said Ramachandra.

The role of aerostats in India has been largely confined for surveillance purposes till now. An imported aerostat was put on display during the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi to create special effects during the opening and closing ceremonies.

The NDRF was established in 1969 and has been mandated to innovate and carry R&D, design, production in various fields of engineering. Development of Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs) is one of its core activities. These MAVs can be used for defence surveillance, disaster management, search and rescue etc. These comprise fixed, rotary and flapping wing MAVs. Fitted with cameras and sensors, they can carry surveillance and search and rescue operations.
Bihar became a completely dry state on Tuesday, banning sale and consumption of all kinds of liquor in a move seen as fulfillment of a poll promise to women by chief minister Nitish Kumar.

The ban includes Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL), left out of the partial prohibition clamped on April 1.

Kumars passionate pitch for prohibition citing the adverse affects of domestic violence and broken families besides economic and health costs had earned overwhelming support from women for the ruling Janata Dal (United) in last years assembly polls.

He reiterated his commitment while announcing the ban.

The decision on total prohibition has been driven by opposition of women to liquor and this measure is dedicated to them and their concerns, the chief minister said.

Bihar joined only three other Indian states -- Nagaland, Mizoram and Gujarat  to enforce a total ban on sale of liquor.

Read More | No words to thank: Poor women celebrate Bihar liquor ban

Kumar, who described the decision as historic, said the government will lose more than Rs 4,000 crore revenue annually but added it is not a revenue-driven decision.

People will now use the money invested in liquor to add nutrition to their plates, avoid disease and economic ruination. That offsets all revenue concerns, the chief minister added.

He said no hotel, bar or club would be allowed to serve drinks though army personnel have been exempt for the time being.

Sources said even a ban on toddy -- the poor mans drink -- looked possible but for the opposition of Lalu Prasad, who is believed to have said that the Pasis, the toddy-tappers community, was aligned to his party RJD and the move could hurt the ruling alliance politically.

Read More | Bihar: Now, police, govt officials to take no booze pledge

Kumar said the state will implement guidelines that allow consumption of neera, the drink derived from palm trees before sunrise. The same juice from palm trees acquires alcoholic properties after sunrise and is sold as toddy. Though consumption of toddy was not banned, it will no longer be sold openly in places like rural market places.

The state had earlier tried prohibition in 1977-78 during Karpoori Thakurs time but failed to implement it effectively.

Anti-liquor activists said the state will face a challenge in checking flow of liquor from illegal units and neigbouring states and nations like Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan.

Chief secretary Anjani Kumar Singh said consumption of liquor is now a punitive offence with a minimum punishment of a five-year jail term. The amended act stipulates up to seven year imprisonments for trade in liquor.

Observers feel that the decision could have been taken both for growing unrest among women against the partial ban and also due to its wide political ramifications as the rural populace were not happy with the concessions given on sale of IMFL in urban limits.

There was also stiff opposition in urban areas with residents resenting the opening of government liquor shops in their localities.
As a son of a retired police officer, I remember the day of our arrest and police brutality as a serious human rights violation.

I was one among the 25 arrested and jailed students.

On that day, police were dragging and beating peacefully protesting students without any provocation. They threatened girl students with rape. I was taken to the police van when I questioned why they were dragging our professor Dr KY Ratnam.

I was made to sit in the first row of the seat and one policeman came to me slapped on my face saying Oh , are you a Muslim?, by seeing my beard without a moustache.

I was shocked for a moment because it all happened in a minute. I did not respond to his question; he started hitting my neck and back with fists and elbow.

They started the van after 5 minutes and I was shifted to the second row of two seats. When the van reached Gobs (a shopping complex inside University of Hyderabad) the van suddenly stopped.

One policeman standing near the door caught a student taking a video of the police van; he was also dragged and pushed into the police van, his phone was snatched and he was slapped mercilessly.

If youre so intent on taking a video, why dont you strip your mother and sister and take a video, shouted a policeman in Hindi.

I thought they might detain us for some hours.The van was moving towards Lingampally then three policemen started hitting us, spewing abuses.

I was surprised when one of them came to me and attacked me, saying You eat beef and you conduct beef festival.

For a moment, I thought of my grandmother who told me when I was studying in the seventh standard that, We parayas dont eat buffalo meat , we only eat cow meat.

The policeman also hit a Muslim friend of mine and said, You conduct candle vigil for Afzal Guru.

Read | Tales from Hyd varsity: King Lear, Malayali Romeo, Manipuri boy

One policeman slapped professor Ratnam and abused him when the professor asked them to refrain from hitting his students. What are you teaching these people, you a**h***?, one policeman barked.

You are anti-national, you all should be killed mercilessly, you people are wasting public money, soldiers in borders are dying for you and you people are doing anti-national activities in the campuses, you all should be killed in encounter, were some of the choicest abuses hurled at us.

Why are you doing this when you are getting many sexy girls in the university? You should enjoy and study and go, you should not do protests.

They asked for our mobile phones, we gave it without protest.

When the van reached Lingampally railway station, they stopped and bought some water for us and told us drink.

While we drinking water, one policeman asked me, Where are you coming from?

I answered him I am from Kerala, and got another round of thrashing. Why you a**h***s are coming from there are doing all these things? You should come and study and go, the man told me. A friend was punched in his face and stamped on by boots.

When another friend said he is disabled, he was thrashed brutally.

They beat all of us until the van reached Miyapur Police Station around 7pm. There were three sub-inspectors and six policemen inside the van and werent wearing any nameplates.

In Miyapur police station, we were made to sit in chairs in a room and they started searching the bags.

In one bag from a Muslim student, they got a book named Secularising Islamists written by Humeira Iqtidar. This angered the policeman and he slapped the Muslim student, shouting Oh, you are reading these types of Books!

Until the next noon, we were kept from informing our family, friends and lawyers.

Read | Rohith Vemula : An unfinished portrait

They shifted us to Balanagar police station because by morning, some faculty members came to Miyapur police station to meet us.

In Balanagar police station, our details were taken, including caste name.

Your human rights have been suspended from now and whenever any problem happens in the university, you 18 will be arrested, the sub-inspector told us.

In the 25th hour of custody, we were taken to Kondapur Area Hospital for getting medical certificate to produce before the magistrate.

In the hospital when we complained that we were beaten badly he just smiled and told ok.

There, we met the other nine who were detained by police from the university.

Most of their clothes were torn and they looked very tired.

When we said that we have to read the arrest card and other documents while being forced to sign documents around 10 pm in front of general public and hospital staff, the circle inspector said, This is not a question answer session. You have to obey what we will say, if you are not signing you will not get bail.
Foreign-funded consultants working with the central government for more than three years have to quit by December 2016, a move seen as an effort to reduce the influence of international agencies and NGOs on public policy.

The clampdown on professionals who draw salaries from foreign agencies but employed by government departments was part of a push to plug data leaks in various ministries, which was flagged by the cabinet secretariat last May. The secretariat asked the finance ministry to compile a list of such consultants.

Besides, there are fears of global agencies using consultants on their rolls to influence Indian policy.

India hires professionals because of a shortage of experts to run signature programmes, especially in the health ministry where more than 200 experienced consultants risk losing their jobs after the new rules were issued.

In the health ministry, such consultants are spread across programmes. Since there is a directive now, we will abide by it, said CK Mishra, additional secretary (health) and mission director, National Health Mission.

The ministry oversees the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) and programmes such as tuberculosis and malaria control, immunisation, and family planning.

Almost half of the 90 health ministry consultants have been around for three years or more and will leave at the end of June. Of the 215 consultants in the health ministry drawing salaries from foreign aid groups, roughly 125 work with NACO, a source said.

Many of these professionals are funded by the World Bank, UKs Department for International Development (DFID), USAID, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and UN agencies such as the WHO.

WHO Country Office for India has not been approached by the government on this subject, but we are aware of the matter. It is too early for us to comment on how it may impact our work, said Dr Henk Bekedam, WHO Representative to India, in reaction to the governments clampdown.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which works with the Centre and states in health, education, financial services and agriculture, viewed the directive as a sign of the governments commitment to ensure critical functions and skills required for the planning and delivery of key health and development initiatives are retained within the government system.

The government came up with a stringent and streamlined procedure for such hiring consultants, saying they should be employed for a limited period and for specific purposes. But extensions will be allowed after approval from a government committee before the three-year term ends.

Any consultant will have to sign a confidentiality clause on the contract and they are barred from sharing information and data with agencies or person outside the government.

The fresh guidelines say consultants will have a limited role involving only presentations and analysis of possible options with supporting data and best practices and should not be engaged for policy formulation.

The rules will effectively block any possibility of interaction with and access to policy-makers and classified information.

The directive does not apply to consultants working directly with and for global agencies operating in India.

The environment ministry has consultants from World Wide Fund of India while experts from Britains DFID worked for the housing and urban poverty alleviation ministry until their contract ended last December.

A dozen representatives from USAIDS and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation are working with the urban development ministry to oversee the Swachh Bharat Mission.
As Prime Minister Narendra Modi goes to Noida on Tuesday evening to distribute e-rickshaws and disburse cheap loans, he will try to woo Dalits and women ahead of next years assembly election in Uttar Pradesh.

BJP sources said Modi has asked the partys 18 Dalit MPs to be present at the Noida event. Since the BJP came to power at the centre in 2014, the PM was frequently seen reaching out to the scheduled castes and tribes, a vulnerable yet key vote-bank for political parties.

This will also be Modis second visit to Noida in four months, an area the political class considers jinxed. It is a common belief that if a ruling leader visits Noida his party would lose power.

The PM will also distribute free radios, each worth Rs 500 to 5,100 E-rickshaw beneficiaries so that they can listen to his monthly radio programme Man Ki Baat.

The PMs latest event to reach out to the Dalits comes a fortnight after he laid the foundation stone for a memorial for Babasaheb Ambedkar in Delhi, where he had hailed the Dalit icon as a champion for women and labour rights.

The programme to launch Stand-Up India will also see the ruling NDAs focus on women welfare as most of the loans under the new scheme would be earmarked for women and Dalits.

Uttar Pradesh, which faces assembly elections in 9 months, has a 21% Dalit population, the highest among all states.

Modis efforts to distribute cheap loans to women also have a political significance. The Congress, especially, vice president Rahul Gandhi had been promoting the Self-help group movements among the states women. Now, its Modis turn to reach out to that section.

Under Stand up India Modi will provide Rs 10 lakh to 1 crore easy loans to Dalit youth, particularly women, to set-up small scale industries.

Our government wants to empower scheduled cast (SC) and scheduled tribe (ST) youths, who want to do business but are unable to start due to financial crisis. BJP has invited all Dalit MPs for this event. I guess 18 will be present at the event, said Dr Bhola Singh, BJP MP from Bulandshahr.

On December 31, 2015, Modi had inaugurated Delhi-Meerut Expressway project from the same venue in Noida sector 62. However, in 100 days National highway authority of India (NHAI) has not hired an agency that is supposed to build 75 km Delhi-Meerut Expressway.

BJP leaders said that with E-rickshaw distribution Modi wants to reply to opposition that is saying center has done nothing in last 2 years rule.

Women will get 101 E-rickshaws. E-rickshaws for women are designed differently so that they can comfortably drive and earn livelihood, said Vimla Batham BJP MLA from Noida.

With E-rickshaw distribution, BJP wants to make inroads Dalit vote bank that voted for former UP chief minister Mayawatis Bahujan Samaj party (BSP) in assembly elections took place between 2000 and 2007.

BJP organized this event in Noida to ensure UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav cannot attend it. Akhilesh in last 4 years have not visited Noida due to jinx that a CM loses power if he visits Noida.

Earlier this event was scheduled in Ghaziabad, where UP CM was also supposed to attend the same. But BJP kept in Noida to keep Akhilesh away so that he cannot claim credit for it, said a BJP leader in Ghaziabad.

Modi is also launching projects for Dalits because in Gautam Budh Nagar district (Noida) two out of 3 seats- Jewar and Dadri are occupied by Mayawatis party. Only Noida urban seat is with BJP.

In Ghaziabad district, Suresh Kumar Bansal, Amarpal Sharma, Wahab Chaudhary, Zakir Ali (all from BSP) and Sudesh Sharma (from SP) emerged as winners from Ghaziabad, Sahibabad, Murad Nagar, Loni and Modi Nagar Assembly seats, respectively.

We want to make our reach in rural areas because our party is strong in urban areas. But we need to improve our connect with rural belts in two districts- Gautam Budh Nagar and Ghaziabad. But I would say that BJP does not believe in cast politics as we work for all communities. PM event is to empower Dalits, said Batham, who said thie event is biftting reply to those, who asks what Modi has done.

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Several countries have launched tax evasion probes after a massive leak of confidential documents lifted the lid on the murky offshore financial dealings of a slew of politicians and celebrities.

Read more: All you need to know about the Panama papers leaks

The scandal erupted on Sunday when media groups began revealing the results of a year-long investigation into a trove of 11.5 million documents from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, which specialises in creating offshore shell companies.

Among those named in the Panama Papers are close associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin, relatives of Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Icelands Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, as well as Barcelona striker Lionel Messi.

Read more: Panama papers: Cong says PMs credibility at stake as govt promises probe

In Icelands capital Reykjavik, thousands took to the streets late Monday to demand the premier resign over allegations that he and his wife used an offshore firm to hide millions of dollars of investments.

Australia has already launched a probe into 800 wealthy Mossack Fonseca clients. France and the Netherlands also announced investigations, while a judicial source said Spain had opened a money-laundering investigation into the law firm.

Panama also pledged to launch an investigation to identify if any crimes have been committed and any financial damages should be awarded.

President Juan Carlos Varela said Panama would cooperate with the international probes but also vowed to defend the image of our country, which has a reputation as a hub for under-the-table dealings.

Messis family was swift to dismiss any suggestion he had been involved in shady dealings, saying accusations he created a... tax evasion plot, including a network of money-laundering, are false and insulting.

Messi has been charged with tax fraud in a separate case that is due to go to trial in May.

- Kremlin denials -

The trove of documents was anonymously leaked to German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung and shared with more than 100 media groups by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). More information is expected over the coming weeks.

The first revelations elicited a chorus of denials, including from the Kremlin, which suggested a US plot after the leaks put a close friend of Putins at the top of an offshore empire worth more than $2 billion.

Putin, Russia, our country, our stability and the upcoming elections are the main target, specifically to destabilise the situation, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, claiming the journalists were former officers from the US state department, the CIA and special services.

Offshore financial dealings are not illegal in themselves but may be used to hide assets from tax authorities, launder the proceeds of criminal activities or conceal misappropriated or politically inconvenient wealth.

Among other key findings of the probe, which named about 140 political figures, including 12 current or former heads of state:

-- The families of some of Chinas top brass -- including President Xi -- used offshore tax havens to conceal their fortunes, including at least eight current or former members of the ruling Communist Partys most powerful body.

-- Icelands prime minister secretly owned millions of dollars in bank bonds at a time when his countrys banking system was collapsing in 2008. He has so far steadfastly refused to step down.

-- A member of FIFAs ethics committee, Juan Pedro Damiani, had business ties with three men indicted in a corruption scandal.

-- A Panamanian shell company may have helped hide millions of dollars from a $40 million British gold bullion robbery at London-Heathrow Airport in 1983 that is etched in criminal folklore, according to the ICIJ.

-- Oscar-winning Spanish film director Pedro Almodovar and actor Jackie Chan were among celebrities named in the papers.

- An attack on Panama -

The papers, from around 214,000 offshore entities covering almost 40 years, also name the president of Ukraine and the king of Saudi Arabia, as well as sporting and movie stars.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko denied any wrongdoing, but he may face an attempt to impeach him.

French newspaper Le Monde cited documents showing that Syria used Mossack Fonseca to create shell companies to help it break international sanctions and fund its war effort.

Pascal Saint-Amans, head of tax policy at the OECD, said the leaks showed that Panama was among the worlds shadiest tax havens.

Among the countries that refuse to automatically exchange information, there are Bahrain, Nauru, Vanuatu and Lebanon, he told AFP. Switzerland is really making progress, so there is a concentration of problems in Panama.

One of the Panama law firms founders, Ramon Fonseca, told AFP the leaks were a crime, a felony and an attack on Panama.

More than 500 banks, their subsidiaries and branches have worked with Mossack Fonseca since the 1970s to help clients manage offshore companies. UBS set up more than 1,100 and HSBC and its affiliates created more than 2,300.

The documents show banks, law firms and other offshore players often fail to follow legal requirements to make sure clients are not involved in criminal enterprises, tax dodging or political corruption, the ICIJ said.

Mossack Fonseca is already subject to investigations in Germany and Brazil, where it is part of a huge money laundering probe that has threatened to topple the current government.
With a controversy raging over the chanting of Bharat mata ki jai slogans, Union minister Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday said the views expressed by various individuals on the issue are not authorised by the government.

Asked about the recent statements made by Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis and yoga crusader Ramdev, Naidu told reporters at an event in Indian Womens Press Corps: Did the chief minister pass any legislation on it? In a democracy, people will say so many things. At the end, what the government decides is binding on all. The government has not come out with any circular making the chanting of Bharat mata ki jai mandatory, but it is an emotive issue and sensibilities of all should be taken care.

On Monday, Fadnavis had said even when he does not remain the CM, he will keep chanting the slogan and blamed the media that focussed on just a part of his speech made at Nashik where he had said that those who refuse to chant the slogan have no right to stay in India.

Ramdev had recently said he would have beheaded those who refuse to chant the slogan were it not for the law of the land.
In the besieged University of Hyderabad campus, jesters and storytellers are in demand these days. There is a great variety of them to choose from at the shopping complex (Shop-Com) of the North block, the centre of the protests that erupted after the suicide of Dalit PhD student Rohith Vemula.

There is the Malayali Dalit boy whose attempts at finding an upper-caste girlfriend always end in a hilarious disaster. He calls the comic retelling of his heartbreaking stories Dalit love.

There is the Telugu boy who finds something funny to say about everything, including the March 22 police lathicharge on campus that he says left him badly injured.

He points to a body part and says, Ek mar, char Tukda (One shot, four pieces). Theres a Manipuri boy who specializes in telling extremely detailed stories about nothing. If you are smart, it will take you an hour to realize that its a prank and his stories are designed never to end.

Their stories and jokes help fill the stony silence after each round of slogan shouting and every protest. They are the jesters of a war against caste-based discrimination on campuses that claimed Vemulas life and sparked a nationwide debate, students say.

Students at welcome march on the campus with torches. (Special arrangement )

One of the favourites is a Telugu Dalit boy who deliberately wears a clownish expression all day long. He is short, bald and overweight; a body type that has always appealed to those with a low sense of humor. His style is more gesture, less dialogue. He is also the saddest of the clowns on campus. You can call me King Lear in your story, he says, invoking a Shakespearian metaphor and refusing to be identified.

He looks older than 35 but is only 22. The hair loss started four years ago when he had just turned 18. A few days before his 18th birthday, he was arrested by the police following a complaint that his Facebook post had hurt religious sentiments. By the time, he was released a month and half later, there was nothing boyish left in his appearance.

On the day the agitating students and teachers were beaten by the police and arrested, he was acquitted of all charges by a lower court.

In the four years that the case ran, his appetite became unpredictable, his body weight fluctuated wildly and his sleep pattern went haywire.

King Lear has recently been diagnosed with clinical depression and has been prescribed sleeping pills. The acquittal has come as a great relief. And I am more calm now. I still need the pills, he says in a rare moment of seriousness.

As he is speaking, a student leader cries out at the Shop Com, Tum kitne Rohith maroge? (How many Rohiths will you kill?) Our man joins the roaring chorus, Har ghar se Rohith niklega (A Rohith will take birth in every house).

It feels eerie to hear him say those words. Has the King ever felt suicidal? How many more martyrs do you want, Anna? He asks me striking, one of his classic goofy expressions.

One cant tell if hes serious or joking. His is one of the few depression cases that have been diagnosed. His political fight is largely over and although he is a firm supporter of the struggle, he stays on the fringes of it.

But there are dozens of others who have been with the agitation for months and are beginning to show tell-tale signs of mental illness. Most of them have been part of the struggle from January 17 when Vemula died. Some have been there longer.



Most refuse to seek help or accept that they have a problem. One Ambedkar Students Association (ASA) leader is down to 47 kilos and is around 20 kilos underweight. He sleeps barely for three hours every day and eats only one good meal on most. He is irritated by the suggestion that he might be suffering from depression and says that hes always eaten little, slept less and been underweight. He has no answer for why he has become even more skinny, sleep deprived and malnourished since the death of Vemula. He doesnt explain why hes started snapping so often.

There are those who look like they will burst into tears if asked too many questions like the female professor whose dark circles have acquired an even deeper color since this reporter met her last in January.

She often burst into tears in public during the days when students and teachers of the university were in jail. Then there are those who have a permanent scowl on their face and look like theyll yell if asked too many questions. Everything about this place, including the 40 degree heat, feels like a pressure cooker.

An OBC girl, who has been with the agitation since the death of Vemula, is one of the few who readily accepts that her mind is playing tricks on her. She is in a better mood when the interview starts because shes just attended an impromptu performance of Pehel - a campus-based musical troupe that supports the ongoing agitation through their songs.

Its around 2 am, most people have left but she doesnt want to go back to her room. When I go back to my room, I can still hear the slogans in my head. I cant sleep. Are you sure you have time because I can go on talking till morning? She talks about her politics, her time on campus, her family in Kerala. By 3 am, she is talking almost from her stream of consciousness. Maybe I am very good at getting people to open up or maybe she just wants somebody to talk to.

She is interrupted by loud honking and shouts of Bharat Mata ki Jai. The ABVP students are taking out a motorbike rally. See, just 50 of them. They dont have much support on campus. All of it is from outside, she says when suddenly a man screams loudly from very close by. We cant see him but it sounds like he is running. She doesnt look as frightened as me and coolly continues with her stories.

Her story stops again when one of the alumni activists calls and says he wants to meet urgently. He turns up in five minutes but is unable to find words to describe what is troubling him for the next hour and a half. He smokes seven cigarettes and leaves with a half formed list of complaints with the world.

Many of the leaders here are wary of accepting that the agitating students may be suffering from depression and extreme anxiety. It is because we are afraid that some journalist will pass off our entire existence as mental problem. There are issues over here which have put a big question mark on our future. We are getting more and more isolated. If another one of us dies, we dont want you to come and say that it was because of depression. If another student commits suicide it will be because of the pressure that is being put on us, says a leader who was was forced to go underground after the police crackdown.

If the depression and anxiety is coming from the state of affairs, then there is lot for the Joint Action Committee (JAC) and its supporters to be unhappy about.

Students being welcomed by their friends as they reach campus after getting released from jail. (Special arrangement )

Vice Chancellor Appa Rao, who has been accused by the students of pushing Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula to suicide, is back. The campus has been surrounded by private security guards and plainclothes policemen. The administration is considering calling in paramilitary forces.

Reinforcements from the nearby Osmania University cant enter, neither can the media. Even Members of Parliament are not being allowed inside. Exams start in three weeks and then the summer vacation. Except the PhD students, everybody will be sent back home. The PhD students are worried that the university administration will take their revenge once the vacations start. Only the first year Masters students will return next academic year. There is no saying which side the new batch of students will take.

The leaders of the movement here dont speak Hindi like JNUs Kanhaiyya Kumar. Their speeches are not going viral on YouTube. They are still gathering by the hundreds inside the campus, shouting slogans, holding talks and picketing the shopping complex at the North block of the campus. But what good is a demonstration without an audience?

In three weeks or perhaps sooner, the JAC will have to find a way to clinch their main demand: the sacking of Appa Rao. There is talk of seeking help from like minded organizations in breaking the siege. But right now, the students are fenced in and on their own.

The siege breaks emphatically on Tuesday night when around 2,500 students and supporters from outside gather to welcome the 27 students and teachers who have been released from jail. The gates are flung open as they enter the campus with flaming torches and flags of all 14 student unions belonging to the JAC. Each Union shouts its favourite slogans and hails their heroes: Ambedkar, Phule, Marx, Lenin, Malcom X, Bhagat Singh.

The procession winds its way around the facility and ends at the South campus which is the ABVP stronghold. Passionate speeches are being made and vows taken to continue the fight. The main leaders are back on campus. The tension has eased considerably.

King Lear is feeling sleepy for a change and wants to go back. Before he leaves, he says that bail is not a great reason to rejoice. The case will drag on for years. Look at what happened to me, he says.

The rally has dispersed and only the main leaders and the core group remains at Shop Com. The jesters are hard at work. When the Telugu boy starts to talk about the brutality of the police, everybody bursts out laughing because of the way hes saying it. The Malayali Romeo talks about how happy he is to see women again. The Manipuri boy says, You want to listen to a story about Mahadev?
Indian authorities on Tuesday dismissed reports from Pakistan that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) didnt have a solid case linking Jaish-e-Mohammed or its chief Masood Azhar to the January 2 attack on Pathankot airbase.

Officials said India possessed evidence that would withstand scrutiny even in a Pakistani court. Media reports describing the attack as a drama following a five-day visit by a Pakistani Joint Investigation Team (JIT) pointed to the doublespeak of the Pakistani military establishment, sources in the government said.

We have evidence that can stand any international judicial scrutiny, including of Pakistan. We told the visiting JIT from Pakistan that Masood Azhar should be arrested in the case, a senior NIA official said on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the media.

Read: Pak probe team says India staged Pathankot attack: Pak media

A source in the government said: While in India, the JIT took on board detailed evidence which was shared by NIA. Since the JIT collected evidence in accordance with a Pakistani law which applies to Pakistani citizens committing an offence abroad, the involvement of Pakistanis in the Pathankot attack is self-evident.

A report in Pakistan Today newspaper, citing sources and an unnamed member of the JIT, had said the team had concluded in its report that Indian authorities had prior information about the attackers, and that New Delhi is using the assault to expand its vicious propaganda against Islamabad.

Sources described the media report as a total concoction, and the NIA official said there is an element in Pakistan which wants to create confusion but India will not fall into such a trap. The official also dismissed the Pakistani JITs reported claim that it did not get cooperation from Indian authorities.

We fully cooperated with the JIT, the official said. Indian investigators submitted enough evidence to the JIT to prove the charge that the attack originated from Pakistan, the official added.

During the JITs five-day visit, the NIA provided its members the names of the attackers and their handlers, the possible location of the handlers, intercepts of calls made by attackers to their handlers in Pakistan, call details of phone numbers used by the attackers, details of Pakistani food packets brought by them and DNA samples taken from the bodies of four attackers to match with their relatives in Pakistan.

Read: BJP betrayed Mother India by inviting ISI to probe Pathankot: Kejriwal

The JIT was given access to 16 witnesses, including Punjab Police official Salwinder Singh, who was kidnapped by the attackers.

We gave enough time to the JIT members in Pathankot airbase. In fact, they told us that they wanted to leave, the official said.

The NIA also sought from the JIT voice samples of Masood Azhar, his brother Rauf and Kashif Jaan, one of the handlers of the attackers.

Indian investigators offered to show the JIT the bodies of the attackers but the Pakistani sleuths turned it down.

The Pakistan Today report claimed Indian authorities made efforts to hinder the probe by the JIT. The JIT concluded that the standoff between Indian forces and the terrorists ended within hours of the attack and this showed the assault was a drama staged to malign Pakistan and persuade the world community that Pakistan is involved in terrorism, it cited sources as saying.

Indian authorities also failed to establish the attackers entered from Pakistan, and told the JIT the attackers could have breached the electrified fence on the border because of an electricity problem, the report said.

Read: Pak militants attacked Pathankot airbase, Jaish operative tells HT
The Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) receives scores of e-mails each day from its alumni in India and abroad, asking the institution not to compromise on the minority character that the union government purportedly plans to change.

Both former and present students believe the BJP-led NDA governments stand is in line with the Hindutva agenda. They say the AMU is being targeted because Muslims established a Muslim institution of repute.

Arshad Jafri, a former student settled in Aligarh, says the AMU is the counter-narrative to the educational and cultural constructs about the Muslims. The AMU has been fighting this war of perceptions; it changed the way the Muslims were viewed with its educational advancement, not only for the community but other communities too, he adds.

Since attorney-general Mukul Rohtagi told the Supreme Court that the AMU was not a minority institution, the mood is sharply anti-BJP on the campus which has seen Muslim politics taking shape from the days of the freedom struggle.

Vice-chancellor Lt General Zameer Shah agrees: There are anti-BJP elements on the campus. They feel the BJP is anti-AMU. Of course, the students are agitated.

AMU students hold a protest rally over the JNU row at Aligarh Muslim University in Aligarh. (PTI file photo)

In our case, the U-turn by government in court is deeply worrying. People in general and students are deeply attached to minority character of the AMU. It is a matter of life and death. Consequences will be serious if that is changed.

History and arguments are on the side of the AMU as it fights the legal battle.

The BJP has brought up this sensitive issue in a calculated way. It can have a polarising effect in 2017 Uttar Pradesh elections, said a senior professor.

Other political parties are looking for ways to play it to their advantage. One thing is for sure, what is being done is being done from a communal perspective, he added.

The AMU had started off as Madarsatul Uloom, a seminary, in 1875 and evolved into the Mohammadan Anglo Oriental College with progressive roots.

In 1920, the Indian Legislative Council set up the university, and all the assets of Mohammadan Anglo Oriental College were transferred to it. Muslims then collected Rs 30 lakh (the current value is 1 lakh crore) and handed it over to the authorities.

In court, the government has taken the stand that the university was set up by the British legislature and not the Muslims.

The universitys stand is that the British ran the government of the day and the AMU needed their ratification for the sake of degrees. In 1981, the Parliament passed AMU amendment act, which accepted that Muslims set up the AMU.

In the run-up to the deliberations on the issue, the act had the support of then Bharatiya Jan Sangh, out of which BJP was born, and Subramanian Swamy who was with the Janata Party at the time. The act was passed after the Supreme Court ruled the AMU wasnt a minority institution in the Azeez Basha vs Union of India case in which the AMU was not a party.

Read | Aligarh Muslim University not a minority institution: Govt tells Supreme Court

In 1981, the Parliament passed AMU amendment act, which accepted that Muslims set up the AMU. (HT File Photo)

When some aspects of admission policy were challenged, the Allahabad high court also ruled the AMU was not a minority institution in 2005. The Supreme Court stayed the single-bench order allowing the AMU such a status.

The status allows the AMU a degree of autonomy in its functioning and doesnt allow it to follow the principles of reservation as a central institution.

The AMU, at present, doesnt have religion or caste-based policy, but it does have preferences and reservations for local candidates, irrespective of faith. The BJP has pushed for Dalit reservation at the university vigorously of late.

Shah said the Dalits were persecuted for thousands of years and needed reservation and protection. Muslims are even lower in every sphere, be it education, poverty and so on, he said.

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati came out in strong support of the AMU in January this year. She said the centres plan of depriving the university of its minority status was like making Muslims an orphan in field of education.

The SP, Congress and the Left, which was once a strong force to reckon with in AMU, too have become quite active in the district on this issue.

Also read | 140 years on, alienation abounds in Aligarh Muslim University
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Tuesday launch the Stand Up India initiative at Noida.

The initiative will promote entrepreneurship among the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and women, by facilitating loans in the range of Rs 10 lakh to Rs 100 lakh, an official statement said.

As per the scheme, each branch of a scheduled commercial bank shall facilitate at least two such loans. A web portal will also be launched for the initiative, to enable online registration and support services.

Modi will also flag-off 5,100 e-rickshaws and also interact with the beneficiaries, besides inaugurating a Kaushal Vikas Kendra (skilling centre).

Elaborate security arrangements have been made by the police ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to neighbouring Noida to distribute e-rickshaw and inaugurate a micro credit programme, a senior police official said.

Apart from keeping an extra vigil in the bordering area and entry points, Ghaziabad police has enforced Operation Green under which no vehicle will be permitted to ply in the area, he said.

District borders touching Delhi and Noida will be sealed completely till the PMs programme concludes, said Superintendent of Police (City) Salman Taj Patil. Apart from it, police personnel will be deployed on PCR vans and Leopard motorcycle to keep a vigil in the area.

Four Deputy Superintendents of Police, seven inspectors, 30 sub-inspectors, 40 HCP (head constable promoted) and 300 constables have been sent to Noida from Ghaziabad for PM Visit duty, he added.

He said Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik, who will also attend the function, will arrive here by helicopter which will land at CISF ground in Indira Puram. Following which, he will travel by car to Noida, the officer added.
In a heartwarming story of cross-border goodwill, a US-based Pakistani businessman played Good Samaritan to a group of Indian students stranded at a US airport with an oversized baggage and no money to pay.

The incident occurred on March 16 at the Dallas airport when the group of aero-designers from the National Institute of Technology-Jamshedpur (NIT-J) was returning home after participating in a competition at Texas, the leader of the team said on Tuesday.

Team captain Aditya Barnwal said the Pakistani businessman, who identified himself only as Amaad, paid $260 (around Rs 17,000) asked by airport officials as fine.

Officials at the immigration counter had objected to the size of a package that contained an aircraft model showcased by the team in the competition.

Read: Students take to the skies with their aircraft models

Though relationship between the two neighbours have remained bitter over the years, individual stories of bonhomie and friendship often emerge, breaking the narrative of India-Pakistan enmity.

When we asked for his account details for refunding the money once we return home, Amaad said theres no need for that, said Aditya adding that who added that at first they had mistaken the Pakistani businessman for a fellow-Indian.

Aditya said that they were allowed to take the same box on their journey to the US.

We had just $70 with us. We tried asking the officials to let us check in because we were students, but our efforts went in vain. It was then that Amaad came forward and helped us, Aditya added.

The NIT-J team ranked eleventh among 75 teams that participated in the competition organised by the Society of Automotive Engineers Aero Design at Fort Worth, Texas, between March 11 and 13. It was also adjudged first among the 12 Indian teams that competed in the show.

A team of 23 NIT-J students built the plane in six months at a cost of Rs 1.50 lakh.

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Most of the 500 Indians featured in the Panama Papers for alleged tax evasion could get away with a simple fine instead of facing stricter action and jail time due to legalities governing the recovery of information.

Read more | From Nawaz to Putin: The politicians implicated in the Panama Papers

Read more | Stars in Panama Papers leak: Big B, Jackie Chan, Aishwarya Rai

The secret list of the Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca, as exposed by International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), includes names of politicians, businessmen and filmstars suspected of having stashed foreign exchange abroad and laundering it. However, records on these offshore entities will be supplied to the Indian Income Tax (IT) department by foreign government authorities under the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) framework meant exclusively for taxation purposes and not prosecution.

This means defaulters will get immunity from being prosecuted under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) law or forex violations under Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), administered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Read more | From Spain to Australia, Panama Papers leak trigger global probes

Information and records shared with the IT Department by foreign countries within the DTAA framework is only for taxation and bars their sharing with any agency, ED for instance, which may use it for prosecution purposes, said an ED source. So, the IT department cannot share documents with ED in the Panama Papers case or else the country supplying the information will raise objections.

India has DTAA treaties with 88-odd countries. The IT department typically seeks to tax concealed wealth and takes action including imposing a penalty, sending prosecution notices and prosecuting defaulters.

Read more | Panama Papers a glimpse into the shadowy world of rich and wealthy

Under PMLA, a criminal law, a convict faces rigorous imprisonment between three to seven years while the jail-term could be of 10 years in the case of certain heinous crimes like narcotics-trafficking. Under FEMA, a civil law, the accused could be asked to pay a punitive fine up to three times the worth of the violation.

The EDs Delhi-based headquarters on Monday sought records pertaining to the 500 individuals from 16 of its zonal units in the country for their examination and staying in the loop, said a government source. For taking any further step, the agency will have to wait for case-related information coming via official channels.

Incidentally, among the alleged defaulters is late Iqbal Mirchi, an alleged aide of fugitive Mumbai don Dawood Ibrahim who died in the UK in 2013. The ED is currently probing dozens of assets that were allegedly linked to Mirchi and his associates in Europe and Asia under FEMA.

It was only in August 2013 that Indians were allowed to set up subsidiaries or invest in joint ventures under the Overseas Direct Investment option.

Read more | Govt welcomes Panama leaks, says agencies will probe Indians in the list

Following the ICIJ expose, the government announced a multi-agency group  including officers from the Central Board of Direct Taxes Financial Intelligence Unit, its Tax Research Unit and also Reserve Bank of India officials  to monitor information flow on wealth hoarded by Indians in tax havens on Monday. The ED will not be a part of this group though. Details of assets worth Rs.6, 500 crore have already been found.

The ED had last year sent notices to around 18 Indians who were also under the IT departments scanner for allegedly holding accounts irregularly in HSBC Geneva. Questions had then been raised as to how ED could procure the data on the individuals even though its notices had not mentioned anything about HSBC Geneva. The ED had relied upon the IT departments prosecutions in the case. According to a finance ministry official, Switzerland had raised queries on the details allegedly shared by the Indian government, leading to the HSBC Geneva accounts.

After a similar ICIJ expose last year, in which 1,195 Indians were accused of having unaccounted money in the HSBC Geneva bank list, the IT department slapped 121 cases for prosecution of those entities whose names had appeared. Hundred and twenty eight individuals were assessed while undisclosed income to the tune of Rs 4,800 crore was brought under the tax net by March 2015.
Cab aggregator Ola has now ventured to improve last mile connectivity, with the launch of e-rickshaws on its mobile app. The first of the e-rickshaws will be booked on the Ola app by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will arrive at Noida for the launch of Stand up India initiative at 4pm on Tuesday.

A total of 5100 e-rickshaws are slated to be distributed to promote the migration of pedal rickshaw operators to the new e-rickshaws. Out of 5100, Delhi, Gurgaon and Noida will receive 1000 each while neighbouring Ghaziabad will get 2000 e-rickshaws at the event.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will book the first e-rickshaw through the Ola app at the event and will pay online. He will also conduct a Chai pe charcha at the event. He will discuss issues with 27 persons including e-rickshaw beneficiaries, labourers and e-rickshaw charging centre employees at the venue, said Vijay Pandey, managing director of Bhartiya Micro Credit (BMC), the company which is facilitating the e-rickshaw distribution event.

The BMC has also planned to open e-rickshaw charging centres across NCR to enable the e-rickshaw operators charge their rickshaws while on the move.

An Ola spokesperson said that the vehicles will be deployed across Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, Ghaziabad and Faridabad under a tie up with BMC.

This will be further scaled up in the coming months to smaller towns and tier 3 cities across the country. Each of the e-rickshaw operators will get a smartphone to connect to the Ola app and the customer and the base fare will start at Rs 8, the Ola spokesperson said.

Residents across the NCR cities and towns suffer the issue of last mile connectivity. E-rickshaws will provide an affordable and greener alternative that can serve mobility needs.

The transportation needs of users in smaller towns and sustainable alternatives for cycle rickshaw peddlers, will be solved for with the introduction of e-rickshaws on the Ola app, which are affordable, environment friendly and convenient to hail, said Pranay Jivrajka, chief operating officer Ola said.

Apart from employment generation, Ola and BMC will also set up and run skill development centers in NCR towns to enable continuous skill and training for thousands of rickshaw driver-entrepreneurs. Out of 5100 beneficiaries, the BMC has also arranged e-rickshaw distribution to 151 women from the NCR region.

The Government is committed to enabling better livelihoods through high impact skill initiatives and opportunity creation. E-rickshaws are not only sustainable, but also a simple, yet very effective solution to an otherwise physically taxing pedal rickshaw riding, said Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State for tourism and civil aviation.
An application accusing former CBI director Ranjit Sinha of demanding money from a person facing charges of illegal export of iron ore was filed before the Supreme Court.

Prem Chand Garg, managing director of Shri Lal Mahal Ltd  manufacturer of Shri Lal Mahal Rice  has alleged Sinha had asked him to pay Rs 25 crore to dilute the cheating case registered at Bangalore. The demand was made on three different occasions and Garg claims he refused to pay.

Gargs application will be heard Wednesday. A special bench headed by Justice MB Lokur  hearing coal scam cases - will take up his plea in which he has sought SCs permission to give a statement before the special probe team investigating misconduct charges against Sinha.

The panel  appointed by SC  is to submit a report on whether Sinhas alleged meetings with the accused in the 2G case and coal scam amounted to interference with the investigation. A visitors diary maintained at Sinhas official residence was given to the court by Common Cause  on whose petition the SC had ordered a CBI inquiry into the coal scam. Sinha has denied the charges.

In his application Garg has detailed how Sinha allegedly forced him to pay-up immediately after CBI registered the case. The businessman denied the allegations and said he first met the former CBI boss after the FIR was registered in September 2013. His meeting took place at Sinhas official residence in Delhi where, the application read, the ex-CBI director asked for Rs 12.5 crore.

When Garg refused to pay, CBI allegedly issued him a notice and arrested his company director. After letting him be in jail for two months, the agency filed a report in the court that no case was made out against the director. While the director was languishing in jail, Sinha allegedly asked for Rs 15 crore the second time to let off Garg.

As per the application the CBI got an open-ended non-bailable warrant issued against Garg, which the Karnataka high court dismissed on January 28, 2014. By then a chargesheet was filed against him. Yet, Sinha allegedly called Gargs wife and demanded Rs 25 crore.
Six men were arrested on Tuesday for allegedly stripping and thrashing three Dalit teens who were accused of stealing a motorcycle in Chittorgarhs Laxmipura village.

The teenagers, aged 15 to 18, were tied to a tree and beaten before being stripped and paraded in the village on Saturday.

On receiving information of the incident, police rushed to the village, about 400 km southwest of Jaipur, and rescued the three from the mob.

Superintendent of police Prasanna Khamesara said six culprits were identified and arrested on Tuesday morning. We have identified seven more, he added.

Three of those arrested belong to scheduled tribes and the others are from other backward classes. Of the seven yet to be apprehended, four are said to be Dalits.

The teenagers are Kanjars, a nomadic tribe, from Dudi Talai, 30 km from Laxmipura. Police said the three were charge sheeted in two cases of theft earlier as well, and two of them had two theft cases each and the third had one.

We recovered the motorcycle from them and found that it was lifted from Bhilwara. We will produce the three before a juvenile justice court (on Tuesday), Khamesara said.

A video of the mob thrashing the teenagers was widely circulated on social media after the incident.

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GN Saibabas family is happy and worried. They are relived that the long judicial battle is over but say the biggest challenge now is his health as his left hand is paralysed and his spine needs treatment.

My dad was arrested when I was writing my Class 12 exams. Now I am in the third year. When I decided to study English, I thought my father would be there to guide me but he was locked in jail, said Saibabas daughter Manjira after he was granted bail by the Supreme Court on Monday.

Delhi University English professor Saibaba was arrested for alleged Maoist links in 2014.

Saibaba, who is wheelchair-bound, was lodged in Nagpur Central jail and was charged under five sections of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).

In June 2015 he was granted bail when his health deteriorated but in December, the Nagpur bench struck it down.

The most important three years of our life were spent without my father. But I am excited as this bail does not have any conditions. This was unexpected, she said.

Manjira describes how her first year of college passed under depression.

From the very beginning injustice has been done to my father and us I am glad he stood up against injustice, she said.

The family is going through financial trouble since the college is only paying half the salary to Saibaba who was suspended.

Loans have to be paid with the little salary. Day-to-day cost is being covered with the money that people are contributing. We had to leave the university accommodation but thankfully someone gave us this house to live, said AS Vasantha Kumari, Saibabas wife. She was supported by the Committee for the Defence and Release of GN Saibaba.

She said the court order has reinforced her faith in democracy.

My husband tried to let the world know about the injustice against the tribals that is why he was punished. Government wants to repress dissent but today court asked them to stop harassing Saibaba. It also asked  Do you want to extract a pound of flesh? Despite the scolding, the prosecution kept on saying that if released, Saibaba would indulge in anti-national activities, Kumari said.

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A suspected recruit of the Islamic State group was detained at the Pune airport on Tuesday while he was trying to leave the country.

Officials identified him as Raoof Ahmed, a resident of Bhatkal in north Karnataka. He had allegedly planned to travel to Syria via Dubai.

Officials said the Union home ministry had issued a Look Out Circular against Ahmed.

Security agencies had been monitoring him after his name cropped up during internet chats with members of the West Asian terror group, which controls large swathes of Syria and Iraq.

At least 14 men have been arrested this year by the counter-terrorism National Investigation Agency (NIA) as part of its probe on indoctrination of youths by the banned group.

The Indian security establishment suggests that around 20-odd Indians are currently fighting for the banned outfit in Iraq and Syria.

In 2014, a youth from Kalyan in Maharashtra had returned home after spending about six-months with IS. He was arrested upon arrival in Mumbai.
A militant has been killed in one of the two ongoing gun battles between government forces and militants in Kashmir on Tuesday.

A militant identified as Bilal Ahmad of Karimabad Pulwama has been killed. The encounter has not yet finished, said superintendent of police Pulwama, Rais Mohammad.

Two gun battles between government forces and militants were going-on at two separate places in Kashmir on Tuesday.

While one encounter raged between security forces and militants in south Kashmirs Pulwama district, another was going on in north Kashmirs Kupwara.

Army personnel taking position at the site where militants were hiding during an encounter at Lolaab area of Kupwara district of north Kashmir on Tuesday. (PTI)

A police official said the forces received inputs about the presence of militants in Gudoora village of Pulwama.

Following the information, a joint party of armys 55 Rashtriya Rifles and polices special operations group cordoned the village.

The militants opened fire on the security forces. The cordon is in place and cross-firing is going on, said the official.

Even as the encounter was underway, hundreds of youth around the encounter sight started pelting stones on the forces.

Police had to use tear gas shells to disperse the youth.

The stone pelting clashes were going on till late evening.

Meanwhile, searches continued in the forests of Kashmirs frontier district of Kupwara after suspected militants opened fire on a patrolling party of security forces.

Police officials said that a joint party of 28 Rashtriya Rifles and polices special operations group were patrolling the districts Darpora area when they were fired upon by suspected militants.

There is intermittent firing between the forces and the militants. It is a huge forest area and the searches are going on, said superintendent of police, Kupwara, Aijaz Ahmad.
The mother of actor Pratyusha Banerjee, who committed suicide on April 1, has told the Bangur Nagar police in her statement that she had helped resolve several fights between Pratyusha and her boyfriend Rahul Raj Singh, which often ended with the two living separately for a brief period. Pratyushas parents are currently in Ambernath.

In her statement to the police, Pratyushas mother Soma said, I used to live with Pratyusha at her Kandivli flat. When [she and Rahul] would have fights, they would live separately. I counselled them to not fight so much and concentrate on their careers.

Rahul Raj Singh at Sidharth Hospital in Mumbai.

Read: Medicines, alcohol found during search of Pratyushas house

She told the police she didnt know why Pratyusha had committed suicide and asked them to investigate the case thoroughly. A source said Pratyushas mother also told the police that her daughters behaviour had changed because of constant fights with Rahul.

Meanwhile, the police said they were looking at the joint bank accounts of Pratyusha and Rahul for clues.

Lawyer Falguni Bramhabhatt, who on Sunday said she will approach the crime branch on the familys behalf if the police dont investigate the case properly, submitted a list of six to eight witnesses to investigators. The police on Monday got in touch with a few more of the couples friends.

We want to put certain facts of the case on the record. Pratyushas friends and other witnesses are willing to record their statements, said Bramhabhatt.

Read: Pratyusha Banerjee wanted to file a case against boyfriend Rahul, say friends

The police are also studying Pratyushas and Rahuls call records to establish a sequence of events. They have not found anything suspicious in them yet.

Bramhabhatt also dismissed rumours that Pratyusha was pregnant when she killed herself, saying, So far, none of the reports have anything to suggest that she was pregnant. We are awaiting the final post-mortem reports.

When asked about the statement of Rahuls father Harshvardhan, who said that Pratyusha had taken a loan for her parents, Bramhabhatt said, The police should investigate if any loan was taken. Even if she had taken a loan, it is unlikely she would commit suicide over that.

Meanwhile, Rahul has been shifted from the ICU of Shree Sai Hospital to the general ward as his health as improved, according to advocate Neeraj Gupta.

Gupta added, however, that Rahul remained under observation as he is suffering from hypertension and severe stress. He is unlikely to be discharged soon, Gupta said on Monday evening. A team comprising psychiatrists and a counsellor was called in by the hospital around 3.30pm on Monday to tend to Rahul. His father remained by his side during his second day in hospital.Rahul has not been given a clean chit yet, and the police may summon him for another round of questioning once his health improves.

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A 65-year-old man was killed by his friend, who is a property dealer, for not clearing his dues of Rs 1,000, in the intervening night of Sunday and Monday in the crematorium at Basti Guzan, here.

The victim, Krishan Kumar (65) of Basti Sheikh, was in good terms with the accused before the incident.

Meanwhile, accused Surinder Shinda of New Dilbagh Nagar fled the spot by jumping over the 10-feet gate of cremation ground and was absconding since then.

As per the CCTV footages installed at the crematorium, both were seen smoking together at 12.24 am and at 12.32 am, the accused hit on Krishans head after exchanging heated arguments with him. The accused again smoked before the arrival of the crematorium caretakers, Mahant Govardhan Dass and Amandeep, who were sleeping in a room and woke up after hearing the victims screams.

Dass called up the police at 12.38 after which the cops from Basti Bawa Khel arrived at the spot and took the victim to the civil hospital, where he was declared brought dead. The police have also recovered a wooden stick used in the crime from the spot.

ACP (west) Ravinder Pal Singh Sandhu arrived at the spot with fingerprint experts on Monday morning and started the probe. The police officials also procured the CCTV footages.

Sandhu said a murder case has been registered against Shinda and teams have been dispatched to arrest him.

The eyewitnesses said the property dealer had arranged a rented accommodation for the deceased and had charged some fees, but there was some dispute over an amount of Rs 1,000.

The house of the victim, who was a quack, was sold out two years ago by his wife Sushma Rani, who had left for USA to earn money. She was also sending him Rs 10,000 every month. Five days ago, Sushma had returned from USA and had also met the deceased on Sunday morning. He had four children, including one son and three daughters.

The deceased was living in the cremation ground for the last 10 days.
While rubbishing any threat from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the upcoming assembly elections, the Congress is preparing to woo non-resident Indians (NRIs), taking a leaf out of the AAPs book.

AAP is not a threat to us, as the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) remains our nearest rival. But at the same time, it is necessary to check AAP, as there is no time for experimentation at a time when Punjab is in the doldrums, said Congress state president Captain Amarinder Singh, who is planning a month-long foreign trip to expose AAP.

Captain was in SAS Nagar on Tuesday to furnish bail bonds of `5 lakh and a surety at the district courts for visiting Canada and the US from April 15 to May 15.

In the upcoming elections in Punjab, NRIs will play an important role, said Captain, adding that his trip would focus on garnering support for the Congress among NRIs and show the real face of AAP to them.

AAP has already emerged as a popular party among NRIs and has been receiving funds from them by promising to be an alternative to the SAD-BJP and Congress.

Pointing towards AAPs lack of experience and need for stability in state, Captain said: Their (AAPs) state convener, Sucha Singh Chhotepur, was a minister of state for just three months back in 1985-86. In the past 10 years of SAD-BJP misrule, people of Punjab have had enough. This is the last chance to save Punjab, and the Congress is the only party that can provide it stability and growth while checking the depleting state finances.

Preference to youngsters in party tickets

Amarinder Singh said the first list of candidates for the assembly elections would be out by June. Youngsters will be given preference while allotting the tickets, as majority of population in Punjab is below 40, he said.

Calling the youths preference for AAP a myth, Captain said: We are getting a lot of support from youngsters, who are turning in huge numbers at our rallies.

SYL issue a pre-election ploy

Accusing chief minister Parkash Singh Badal of raking up controversies to gain support before elections, Captain said this time it was the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) Canal link issue. The Congress chief said the Badal government had complicated the matter by delay of four days in sending the bill for the governors approval, giving time to the apex court to take cognisance of the legislation.

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Deputy commissioner (DC) Basant Garg constituted a seven-member special committee on Monday to resolve the ongoing conflict between private schools and parents of schoolchildren.

Parents have been protesting against the alleged violation of rules in levying fee and sale of books and other materials by private schools. Earlier, the administration had called a meeting with parents and representatives of private schools at the DCs office.

In the meeting, representatives from almost all private schools including those affiliated to Punjab School Education Board (PSEB), Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) came to present their take on the issues involved. Notably, only a few from the parents side were allowed to enter the meeting hall.

Legal advisers of parents association, Sukhdeep Singh Dhillon and Sushil Khurana, presented major demands and complaints of parents while president of Mahavir Sanatan Dharm Sabha-managing educational institutes in the region, Rajan Garg, presented the view of the schools during the meeting.

In the meeting, some heated exchange of words was witnessed between school representatives and parents on issues including annual development charges, SMS charges, exorbitantly priced books being sold inside schools and school uniform.

Parents blamed some schools that they alleged were fleecing parents as compared to other schools for the same facilities. Representative from Delhi Public school said they were prescribing three books of National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) for Class 8, but others were prescribing only one NCERT book.

At the end of the meeting, the DC constituted a seven-member committee to check whether the schools were violating the guidelines laid down by the government and the CBSE or not. The committee comprises Bathinda sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Anmol Singh Dhaliwal as chairman and district education officers (elementary and secondary education) Rajinder Singh and Amarjit Kaur, two members from parents association and two representatives of private schools. Parents also submitted around 800 written complaints against the private schools to the DC.

After the meeting, when president of parents association, Gurwinder Sharma, revealed that their secretary Rohit Sharma was on a fast unto death, the DC enquired about the venue of the fast and went to Shaheed Bhagat Singh Park at Arya Samaj Chowk. He gave a glass of fruit juice to Rohit Sharma to break his fast.
The crisis at the Gian Sagar Medical College and Hospital has escalated as hundreds of parents joined disgruntled faculty members in demanding the college management be shunted out.

The parents also demanded that their children be shifted to some other college by the government, a clamour similar to that of students of the Chintpurni Medical College and Hospital (CMCH).

The authorities recently ordered 141 CMCH students to be adjusted in eight other medical colleges until CMCH secured a stay against it in the Supreme Court.

Academic activities at Gian Sagar have been suspended for the last 40 days due to a protest by staff members over non-payment of salary.

Govt tells Gian Sagar medical college to pay staff by April 30

A major worry for parents is that the deadlock could affect the final exam of the first-year MBBS students which is scheduled to be held anytime in May or June.

Raj Bahadur, vice-chancellor of Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, Faridkot, which conducts the medical exams, said students will be allowed to sit for the exam only if they had the mandatory 75% attendance corum.

For Gian Sagar, that would be a distant possibility if students continue to miss classes. Nothing can be said before the college submits its attendance register to the university, Bahadur said.

UP Singh, who is leading the worried parents, told HT that the protesting faculty members and parents will meet on Wednesday to seek a permanent solution to the problem.

He said the crisis had spilled beyond clearing of salaries and there was consensus now that the state government should either shift children out of Gian Sagar or take over the college management.

This is not the first time that classes have been suspended in the college: last September, academic activities were suspended for 10 days.

And the government has also in the past taken over the Gian Sagar Educational and Charitable Trust, which governs the college, for public good.

Students gherao CMs aide

Meanwhile, more than 200 students of the college surrounded chief minister Parkash Singh Badals aide Harcharan Bains on Tuesday when he visited the campus to enquire about the health of actor Satish Kaul. The students were demanding the CMs intervention to resume classes.

The students are also learnt to have sent a letter to the Union human resource ministry and the Medical Council of India to apprise them of the situation.

November salary paid, faculty still adamant

Under pressure, the college management paid the staff on Tuesday the salary for November salary. However, staff members said they will not resume classes until all dues till March were cleared. We have also been assured by the government that the management will run the college effectively, a staff member said.

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Over 1,200 people, including top politicians, gathered at the Bhaini Sahib Gurdwara on Tuesday to pay their last respects to Chand Kaur, wife of former head of the Namdhari sect late Satguru Jagjit Singh, who was shot dead by two bike-borne assailants on Monday.

Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, irrigation minister Sharanjit Singh, Congress leaders Charanjit Singh Channi and Ravneet Singh Bittu, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Ludhiana president Parveen Bansal and former Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president HS Hanspal attended the cremation along with a huge number of Namdhari followers.

Followers paying tributes to Chand Kaur on Tuesday. (Sikander Singh Chopra/HT Photo)

Some followers also flew in from abroad to pay tributes to the deceased. UK-based Tejinder Kaur, who has been Chand Kaurs physiotherapist, reached the venue after taking first flight available from London. Followers from Tanzania, Thailand and other countries also reached Bhaini Sahib.

Thakur Dalip Singh, chief of the rival faction, who has been banned from entering Bhaini Sahib, was not present at the cremation. Also, sensing resentment among Namdhari followers, most other senior SAD leaders remained absent.

Read: Murder of Namdhari ex-heads wife: Arrest feuding nephew Dalip Singh

A peaceful affair

Earlier, some followers formed a human chain outside the gurdwara, wearing We Want Justice bands on their arms. As Satguru Uday Singh, the present Namdhari chief, urged people to maintain peace, they soon dispersed. With heavy police deployment in place, the cremation remained peaceful.

Chand Kaur being cremated on Tuesday (Sikander Singh Chopra/HT Photo)

The pyre was lit jointly by Satguru Uday Singhs son Uttam Singh and Jai Singh, son of Chand Kaurs daughter. Remembering the selfless service rendered by Chand Kaur throughout her life, Satguru Uday Singh said: Even at this age (88), she used to clean utensils, serve langar and helped everyone who came to her. Maybe, it was because she was so approachable that the assailants managed to kill her. Stating that it was not a day to make allegations, the sect chief told mediapersons that he wanted the ceremony to be peaceful in Chand Kaurs memory.

Chief minister Parkash Singh Badal said Chand Kaur was a very religious person and her untimely and sudden demise had pained him personally. He said the Punjab government was there for the aggrieved family as well as the entire Namdhari sect in this hour of grief. Badal said the assassins would be brought to book soon and the government was keeping a close tab on the progress of the probe being conducted by the special investigating team (SIT).

Read: Dugri car bombing linked to Namdhari feud: Police yet to find motive

Cong demands Sukhbirs resignation

The cremation turned into a political slugfest with the opposition leaders condemning the government for increasing lawlessness in the state. SAD leaders, meanwhile, slammed the opposition for politicising the issue.

Talking to mediapersons, Congress leaders, including leader of the opposition in state Vidhan Sabha Charanjit Singh Channi, Lok Sabha member from Ludhiana Ravneet Singh Bittu and former PPCC chief HS Hanspal, blamed the Punjab government for Chand Kaurs gruesome murder. They even demanded deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badals resignation, as he is holding the home portfolio in the state cabinet.

Demanding a time-bound SIT probe, Hanspal said the incident pointed towards police inaction despite the fact that the victim faced threat. Alleging complete breakdown of law and order in the state, Bittu went on to demand dissolution of the state assembly.

The chief minister maintained it was not a platform to level allegations. The opposition is politicising everything, and adopts a negative approach towards every issue, said Parkash Singh Badal, on being questioned about demand for his deputys resignation.

Read: Namdhari sect matriarch shot dead at Bhaini Sahib

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Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) chief Avtar Singh Makkar has expressed serious concern over birs (copy of the Guru Granth Sahib) being damaged in accidental fires due to short-circuit in gurdwaras in villages.

In this context, he referred to recent cases of scriptures catching fire in Ganghor village in Barnala district and Kalakh village in Ludhiana district.

We have time and again appealed to gurdwara managements to use superior quality electrical wires and other such equipment. It has come to light that inferior quality electrical equipment was being used in shrines, Makkar said in a statement in Amritsar.

Makkar also raised concern over incident of sacrilege at Bhittewad village in Amritsar district recently and asked police to identify and arrest the accused immediately.
Seven policemen were suspended on Tuesday for negligence during the Jat quota stir, which witnessed unprecedented violence and arson in the city.

An official police spokesperson told HT that four among the seven suspended were posted at Haryana finance minister Captain Abhimanyus house, which was burnt twice by the mob on February 19 and 20.

The others suspended included ASI Ashok, incharge of police chowki in Sector 14 where Capts house is located, SI Balkishan, who was SHO of Urban Estate police station, and ASI Surender, the spokesperson said.

A police spokesperson said an internal inquiry against 48 policemen was on and a total of 16 policemen had been suspended, including the seven suspended on Tuesday. A preliminary inquiry had suggested negligence on their part, so they were suspended. A regular inquiry will be conducted against them and further action may be taken, he said.
The gunman who murdered Chand Kaur (85), widow of former Namdhari sect leader Satguru Jagjit Singh, on Monday near here had approached her smiling.

When the man looking to be in mid-thirties walked up to Chand Kaur smiling, her driver, Kartar Singh, took him to be one of the usual blessing seekers at public meetings. He was in a pair of trousers and shirt, and had turban on. I thought he was bending over to touch her feet when, to my horror, he took put a pistol and shot her in the stomach from close range, said the eyewitness.

Read more: Who are the Namdharis? 5 things you should know

He recalled that the man had fired another bullet while running back to the getaway motorcycle that his accomplice had kept on. This shot hit her below the ear. Horrified to see her blood, I rang up police, said Kartar Singh, now complainant in the murder case. Police have recovered the two bullets from the spot and confirmed that these were fired from a pistol.

Kartar Singh is also hazoor sewak of present sect head Satguru Uday Singh, and in service of the sect for the past four years. Gatekeeper Nahar Singh and a woman helper of Chand Kaur are the other eyewitnesses.

Life gone from sect

The devotees who thronged the sect after the murder were sad that the life of the sect is gone.

Namdhari follower Kulwant Kaur (5) could not stop her tears as she got down from her car and walked into Bhaini Sahib on Monday afternoon. I have rushed in from Ludhiana. I used to seek her blessings and listen to her sermons. She encouraged women to fight female foeticide, loved children, and devoted her life to serving people. Even at 85, she was so active in organising langars. I cannot imagine this gurdwara without her, she said.

Chand Kaur, from Sirsa originally, had come to Gurdwara Bhaini Sahib more than five decades ago after being wedded to the previous sect chief. Five of my generations have come to this gurdwara and taken inspiration from her. She defined our lives, said another follower, Opinder Singh.

What are police doing?

Fourth firing incident in three months, cops clueless in all

January 19, 2016: Firing at RSS shakha outside a Ludhiana park before the start of its drill.

February 3: Two bikers shoot at Punjab Shiv Sena youth wing president Amit Arora in Ludhiana.

February 16: Deepak Jalandhari, son of Shiv Sena (North India) president Vinay Jalandhari, shot at by two men o motorcycle outside a school at Ludhianas Deen Dyal Upadhaya Nagar.

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Redemption and justice came 25 years late for two Gurdaspur families, but the burden of their slain kin being called terrorists is finally off their chests.

After a special Central Bureau of Investigation (SBI) court on Monday sentenced 47 policemen to life imprisonment for killing 11 Sikh pilgrims in a fake encounter in Pilibhit district of Uttar Pradesh (UP) on July 12, 1991, two families who lost their kin in the incident opened up to Hindustan Times on Tuesday.

Four months into her marriage, Swaranjeet Kaur of Satkoha village was left widowed after her husband Harminder Singh, aka Minta, was rounded up and killed along with 10 others while on way to Gurdwara Nanakmatta Sahib by the UP Police.

Cops took away 11 youths, including my husband, from our bus. Later, they took our bus from one place to another. Finally, we were kept besieged overnight in a gurdwara at Pilibhit. In the morning, police left, abandoning us there, she said.

Also read: Pilibhit fake encounter: Will seek death penalty for guilty cops

Swaranjeet was kept in the dark about her husbands murder for three months. My in-laws told me that police had lodged him in jail on charge of having links with terrorists. After some months, my parents visited my in-laws and were told that Harminder was murdered by the police, said Swaranjeet, who was pregnant when her in-laws broke this traumatic news.

I was shocked and lost the will to live. The child in my womb kept me alive, and I made up my mind to fight till the tag of terrorist is removed from my deceased husbands name, she said.

The family did not give up the fight all these years, and even now some of her kin are at Pilibhit. Only partially satisfied by the verdict, Swaranjeet said: Although it took 25 years to punish the cops who murdered my husband, I am happy that finally they have been punished for their wrongdoing.

Fake encounter beginning of an ordeal for her

The fake encounter that claimed the life of her two brother-in-laws was just a beginning of an ordeal for Surinder Kaur of Arjunpur village.

After getting news about the death of Baljeet Singh, aka Pappu, and Jaswant Singh, aka Jassa, Surinder and her husband, Nishan Singh, an employee of the Punjab State Electricity Board, went to Pilibhit to claim their bodies.

The UP cops, however, arrested the couple, accusing them of having links with terrorists too. With a case under Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act slapped on her, Surinder Kaur remained in detention for three years, not allowed to meet her kin.

It was only after I got bail after three years, I came to know that my husband had been killed by the cops, alleged Surinder. Unable to bear the agony, her father-in-law died as well, she said.

It took Surinder Kaur 16 years to get an acquittal in 2007. Now, with the Monday sentencing of 47 cops, she says justice has been served to some extent.

However, the fight for her deceased husband still remains. Feeling encouraged with the judgment, I am going to seek justice for my husband in the court and seek death penalty for the accused, she said.
In July 1991, Balwinderjit Kaur, 21, was two months pregnant when she undertook the pilgrimage to Hazur Sahib in Nanded, Maharashtra, with her family.

Married into a family of devout Sikhs in Gurdaspur, Balwinderjit was very excited about the journey. But little did she realise that the trip would leave her scarred for life.

Read more: Pilibhit fake encounter: SGPC chief welcomes conviction of 47 policemen

We had left Gurdaspur on June 29 and were on our way back after visiting the shrine when on July 12 morning our bus was stopped by some policemen. All men, including my husband Baljit Singh,23, brother-in-law Jaswant Singh, were asked to get off from the bus and taken away in police vehicles. I was left inside the bus with my mother and mother-in-law. The bus was taken to the police station where we were told to wait, Balwinderjit told HT over phone from Lucknow.

A day later, older men were sent back. We were told that the other men would join us once their verification is done. We were sent to a gurdwara for a night stay. We were trying to get in touch with the local people to find out what was happening. A day later, news came that 11 Sikh men have been killed in an encounter, recounts Balwinderjit , who is in her 40s now.

My husband and brother-in-law were among those killed in cold-blood. We did not know what to do. We came back to our villages and started meeting members of the Sikh Pratinidhi Board in Uttar Pradesh. It was only due to their efforts that the case went to the CBI and finally today justice was meted out to us, she said.

Balwinderjit was in Lucknow along with five victim families to hear the verdict of a special CBI court that sentenced 47 policemen to life imprisonment for killing 10 Sikh pilgrims in a fake encounter at Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh 25 years ago.

Real justice will, however, come on the day when these policemen are hanged to death. We will approach the high court seeking death penalty for these guilty cops she says.

We have been fighting for justice for 25 years. My mother-in-law Surjit Kaur, who was on the bus with her two sons that fateful day, died waiting to see guilty being brought to the book, she adds.

Her son, born six months after the encounter, is now an engineer who is looking for a job. I managed to educate my son. But no one has ever tried to help us. The Punjab government could have helped us monetarily or at least given a job to my son.

Accompanying her to the court is 75-year old Ajit Singh whose son Harminder Singh was also killed in the encounter. We (seven families of Punjab and three from UP) have fought this arduous battle on our own. We would make sure that at least one of us was present in every hearing that has taken place in the case since. My son has a daughter who has done BSc nursing and I wish that at least she along with the other children of these unfortunate 11 men who were killed by police, are given jobs, he says.

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Citys top eateries were among the eight business establishments to be challaned on Monday for selling products in plastic carry bags, which were banned by the state government from April 1 through a special ordinance.

With this, the authorities have issued 17 challans from April 1 to date (nine being challaned on the first day of the ban on Friday).

Among those who were challaned on Monday included include Gopal Sweets, Bengali Restaurant, Sheetal Dhaba and Easy Day.

Besides, the MC team issued two challans at Omaxe Mall to owners of Killer Jeans showroom and Buns N Bunnies outlet. Warnings were issued to several other retailers who had had polythene stocks in their shops but were not using them, said MC officials.

Even as a group of traders again met MC commissioner PS Gill to seek leniency in challaning, Gill told HT that he would not relax the enforcement till the time city shuns the use of plastic bags.

People should understand that the enforcement is for their good only. We incur huge cost in cleaning sewerage blockage every year just because plastic chokes in main pipes leading to public inconvenience and government expenditure. This all can be stopped if we make city polythene-free, he added.

No check on all markets

Even as the MC has been issuing challans to traders and manufactures of plastic bags, the use of polybags bags is going on unabated in citys prime fruit and vegetable market in Ragho Majra. All the commission agents and shopkeepers were found using polythene bags. Even small vegetables retailers were using these bags. The situation is same in apni mandis which are held around the week.

Besides, polybags are being used in citys other markets, including Adalat Bazaar, Queela Chowk Bazaar and other areas.

Our team will check all markets in a phased manner and no violator will be will spared. It may take some time but we are already on our job to implement new rules, added the MC commissioner.

President of the Vyopar Bachao Sangarsh Committee Rakesh Gupta said: We have no problem with MCs regular checks, but shopkeepers should be given at least initial one week or 10 days to exhaust their polythene stock. We have already assured the MC that shopkeepers will not buy new stock and ultimately, the polythene bags will phase out from the markets within next two-three weeks.

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Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, Faridkot, has warned students sitting for the pre-medical entrance test not to share the question paper with friends or on social media after taking the exam.

It has threatened students that doing so will have them penalised heavily or their candidature will be cancelled at the bare threshold.

Vice-chancellor Dr Raj Bahadur said the order was meant to target unscrupulous publishers who fool students by reproducing the previous questions papers in the form of a book before the PMET every year.

Last year, a book on PMET question papers was sold in the market just before the entrance exam, and I saw students cramming it up as if the paper would have come from that set of questions only, Bahadur said. The instructions were issued just to save students from such traps.

But the order has angered students who said it was unacceptable and only meant to harass them.

Now, will I be penalised for sharing the question paper with my classmates, or my teacher, or my parents? That is terrible, a student sitting for exam on May 15 asked.

The PMET is being conducted online this year. The university, which uploaded the prospectus for the test on its website on Tuesday, said it will upload the question paper and also the answer key a day after the exam, as had been directed by the high court.

But a non-disclosure agreement said:  (the university) explicitly prohibits the candidate from publishing, reproducing or transmitting any or some contents of this test, in whole or in part, in any form or by any means verbal or written, electronic or mechanical or for any purpose.

It further added: No content of this examination must be shared with friends, acquaintances or third parties including sharing through online means or via social media, not limiting to SMS but to Whatsapp, Facebook, Twitter, Hangouts, blogs, etc, using either ones own account or proxy account(s).

Chandigarh-based PMET trainer Arvind Goyal said he found no problem with preventing private publishers from reproducing the question papers.

But he said penalising students for sharing the papers online and making it an offence was something unheard of that needed to be rolled back.

University official Satpal Singh the non-disclosure agreement would be taken up for amendment after a discussion with the vice-chancellor on Wednesday.

Confusion over last date of correction in registration form

Students are confused after the prospectus has two sets of dates for correction in the online registration form. The instructions state that candidates wishing to correct their forms need to physically request the university before May 13, but it also mentions that no request for changes in the online form will be entertained after April 30, the last date of submission of the forms. Varsity officials said the confusion will be cleared soon.

Know your dates

PMET: May 15

Last date of online registration: April 30 (with late fee, May 3)

Late date of submitting application fee: May 4

Downloading admit card: May 6 onwards (time and venue of exam will be printed on them)

Uploading of question paper and answer keys: May 16-17

Inviting objections: May 18

Declaration of result: May 21

Read: No Punjab medical entrance test for NRI quota: Its official

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In view of the next assembly elections in the state, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Monday slammed the SAD-BJP coalition, but chose to remain quiet about the Congress.

Our aim is to defeat communal forces like the SAD-BJP alliance, he told mediapersons here, remaining quiet over the possibility of an electoral alliance with the Congress in Punjab. On Punjab Congress chief Capt Amarinder Singhs keenness for a tie-up with the Left, he said there is no such development at this juncture. We will first discuss electoral tactics in our party committee, he added.

Yechury was talking to the media after unveiling the statue of late Harkishen Singh Surjeet at Bhakna Bhawan here.

The CPM is part of the larger Left Democratic Front having a seat-sharing arrangement for the ensuing assembly polls in West Bengal.

Yechury said the SAD-BJP alliance had ruined Punjab in its nine years of rule. He said the Lefts priority is to restore normal governance in Punjab and the policies that will bring prosperity back in the state.

Yechury slammed the Centre for imposing Presidents rule in Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh, saying the BJP-led NDA government had subverted the Constitution. He said the BJP adopted this strategy in these two states after they failed to get the peoples mandate there.

He said the BJPs defeat in Kerala, West Bengal and other states going to the polls is a writing on the wall.
The Tamil romantic action film Enai Nokki Payyum Thota starring Dhanush and Rana Daggubati will move to Turkey to shoot few important scenes. The shooting is expected to begin this Saturday.

The team plans to shoot a few scenes and a song across exotic locations in Turkey. While the team has already reached Turkey, Dhanush is expected to join later this week to shoot through the weekend, said a source from the films unit.

The film is directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon and also stars Megha Akash. Double Oscar-winning composer AR Rahman was rumoured to be the composer; however, the source denied it.

Read: Dhanush-Gautham Menon new films called Enmel Payyum Thota

As of now, we havent finalised on any composer. Talks are going on with a few music directors and a final decision will be taken soon, he said. Jointly produced by Gautham Menon and P Madan, the film is slated for release later in 2016.

Read: Dhanush to play lead in a big Hollywood film with Uma Thurman

Meanwhile, Lyca Productions who made a splash with Vijay-starrer Tamil blockbuster Kaththi in 2014, has denied it has got the theatrical rights of Dhanush-starrer Tamil political drama Kodi. Lyca are the makers of superstar Rajinikanths Tamil sci-fi action drama 2.o.

Read: Dhanushs Amma Kannaku wrapped up in 50 days

We are not associated with Kodi. Contrary to reports, we havent bagged its theatrical rights. Any news regarding the collaboration is just a rumour, said a representative from Lyca.

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Director Fracis Markus said his upcoming Tamil romantic family drama Oyee was written with actor Sivakarthikeyan in mind. However, the actor could not be part of the film due to lack of dates.

I had approached Sivakarthikeyan with the story, but he was already committed to a project so he couldnt be a part of this project. We had approached another leading hero, but we were faced with a similar fate, said Markus.

The film, which is slated for release on Friday, stars Geethan Britto and Eesha in the lead roles.

Its a story along the lines of Thevar Megan, with focus on the bond between a father and son. Set against a rural backdrop, the film has a very strong role for the heroine, and this could be even called a heroine-centric film, he said.

Read: Rajini Murugan review | Sivakarthikeyan-starrer a comedy in ruins

The story also has a Silambam (a weapon-based Indian martial arts form) connect.

Read: Sivakarthikeyan to play a nurse in his next Tamil film

Geethan underwent training in Silambam for nearly a month before we went on the floors, said Markus, assuring that the film will appeal to the audiences across all sections.

The film, which has music by maestro Ilayaraja, was shot non-stop for 40 days in Pollachi.

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Mumbai police on Tuesday booked TV actor Pratyusha Banerjees boyfriend Rahul Raj Singh for abetting her suicide. The FIR was filed after Banerjees mother Soma arrived at the Bangur Nagar police station and gave a fresh statement to the police.

The case was registered under sections 306 (abetment of suicide), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) and 506 (criminal intimidation).

Many arguments and counter-arguments were made since Pratyushas death on Friday. In her statement to the police, the TV actors mother Soma said, I used to live with Pratyusha at her Kandivali flat. When (she and Rahul) would have fights, they would live separately. I counselled them to not fight so much and concentrate on their careers.

In a joint press conference on Monday, her friends Kamya Punjabi and Vikas Gupta claimed Rahul was cheating on her and that the couple was in a messy relationship. Some days ago she called me and said Rahul is cheating on her. Three-four days ago, when I got a call in Delhi, I told her Ill come and sort out everything. She said she cant live like this anymore and wanted to get out of this relationship. She said she needed help and wanted to file a case against Rahul, Kamya claimed.

Television actor Pratyusha Banerjees boyfriend Rahul Raj Singh visits hospital in Mumbai on Saturday. (PTI)

Rahul was admitted at Shree Sai Hospital in Kandivali on Sunday morning after he complained of heavy chest pains and is still admitted there. His lawyer Neeraj Gupta said Rahul is under severe stress.

He is likely to be arrested after his discharge from hospital in a day or so.

Currently, Banerjees co-stars have gathered at a Gurudwara in Andheri for a condolence prayer meeting.

Read: Pratyusha Banerjees post mortem report says she died of asphyxiation

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In the Pratyusha Banerjee suicide case, the police will reportedly question Saloni Sharma, former girlfriend of Rahul Raj Singh who was dating the Balika Vadhu actor at the time of her death. Pratyusha, a known face on TV, was found hanging in her apartment in Mumbai on April 1.

According to a report in The Hindu, TV actor Saloni Sharma will be questioned with regards to Pratyushas suicide. It also quoted a cop as saying, We will see what they have to say and verify their statements to check if they have any bearing on Pratyushas death.

Read: Pratyusha suicide senseless, world doesnt admire a loser, says Hema Malini

In a press conference held after Pratyushas death, producer Vikas Gupta claimed that Saloni used to assault Pratyusha in Rahuls absence. Saloni Sharma used to visit her and assault her. She used to threaten Pratyusha because of which she was disturbed. When Pratyusha used to tell Rahul about this, he used to switch off his phone and not visit her, he said at a press conference on Sunday evening. TV actors Kamya Punjabi, Shashank Vyas were also present at the press conference.

Officials from the Bangur Nagar police station will reportedly question the friends regarding their claims.

Leena Dias, a common friend of Pratyusha and Rahul who claims to be a rakhi sister of Rahul, alleged that Pratyusha called her a day before her death, and said Saloni was torturing her and that she wanted to get out of the mess. Around 3 am, a day before her (Pratyushas) death, she (Pratyusha) called me and was crying. She said I want to get out of these things. Whatever is happening with me is wrong. I asked her what exactly it was. She told me I want to fight back, I cant stay like this, I want to sort out these things and come out of this, Leena said.

Pratyusha was declared dead at Kokilaben Ambani Hospital, where she was taken after being found dead at her Goregaon apartment. Rahul Raj Singh, currently in hospital himself being treated for chest pain and low blood pressure, has been questioned by cops.

Read: Medicines, alcohol found during Pratyushas house search

Singhs lawyer Neeraj Gupta said the actor has been moved from the intensive care unit to the general ward, but will remain there for a couple of days. He is better physically but is still under a lot of mental trauma. Some psychiatrists and counsellors are now treating him, he said.

Police on Monday started obtaining information about Pratyushas finances, contacting the banks where she held accounts. Initial inquiries have indicated that she was facing serious financial problems as she had fallen behind on loan repayments and was not getting enough roles. Rahuls family has alleged that Pratyusha was facing severe financial issues and had even taken money from them on many occasions.
Credit Suisse and HSBC, two of the worlds largest wealth managers, dismissed on Tuesday suggestions they were actively using offshore structures to help clients cheat on their taxes.

Their comments came a day after a leak of four decades of documents from a Panamanian law firm that specialises in setting up offshore companies showed widespread use of those instruments by global banks on behalf of their clients and triggered a raft of government investigations across the world.

The so-called Panama Papers, revealed through an investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), exposed financial arrangements of politicians and public figures including friends of Russian President Vladimir Putin, relatives of the prime ministers of Britain, Iceland and Pakistan, and the president of Ukraine.

Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam, who is aggressively targeting Asias wealthiest for growth, said his bank was only after lawful assets.

We as a company, as a bank only encourage the use of structures when there is a legitimate economic purpose, Thiam, who took the helm at Switzerlands second-largest bank last year, told a media briefing.

Separately, HSBC said the documents pre-dated a thorough reform of its business model.

The allegations are historical, in some cases dating back 20 years, predating our significant, well-publicized reforms implemented over the last few years, said Gareth Hewett, a Hong Kong-based spokesman for HSBC.

Thiam, in Hong Kong to attend Credit Suisses annual Asian Investment Conference, acknowledged the Swiss wealth manager does use offshore financial structures, but only for very wealthy customers with assets in multiple jurisdictions, and it did not support their use for tax avoidance or allow them without knowing the identities of all those concerned.

We do not condone structures for tax avoidance, he said. Whenever there is a structure with a third party beneficiary we insist to know the identity of that beneficiary.

Credit Suisse agreed in May 2014 to pay a $2.5 billion fine in the United States for helping rich Americans evade taxes. Several Swiss-based wealth managers, including cross town rival UBS Group AG, also had to pay large fines in the United States for the same reason.

HSBC, which also had wealth management operations in Switzerland, agreed in 2012 to pay $1.92 billion in U.S. fines, mainly for allowing itself to be used to launder drug money flowing out of Mexico.

The tax spat with the United States critically undermined traditional Swiss banking privacy laws and resulted in a radical overhaul of Swiss private banking, a tightening of global tax compliance standards as well as massive outflows from Swiss bank accounts.
The Afghan Taliban have accommodated their late leader Mullah Omars son and brother in key positions to avert the widening of a rift within the organisation, according to media reports on Tuesday.

Omars elder son Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob was given a senior military position and will now be in-charge of the groups military commission in 15 of Afghanistans 34 provinces, said a statement from the Taliban. He was also been included the Rehbari Shura, the Talibans top decision-making council.

Mullah Abdul Manan, Omars brother and Yaqoobs uncle, was included in the Talibans leadership council, according to the statement.

Yaqoob and Manan formally assumed their offices at a meeting of Taliban leaders, members of the leadership council and senior commanders, it added. The

The military commission is responsible for overseeing all military affairs of the Taliban and is led by Mullah Ibrahim Sadr.

Mullah Akhtar Mansoor was named the head of the Afghan Taliban after the group admitted last year that Mullah Omar had died in 2013. Yaqoob had refused to accept the leadership of Mansoor.

The announcement about Yaqoob and Manan was part of an understanding between the Taliban leadership and Mullah Omars family, The Express Tribune reported.

Earlier, Yaqoob and Manan were unwilling to accept top positions in the group when Mansoors fighters launched operations against those who refused to pledge their allegiance to Omars successor.

Omars kin were upset when fighters loyal to the new leader killed top commander Mullah Mansoor Dadullah, his brother and dozens of his fighters in Zabul a few months ago.

Dadullah too had rejected Mansoor as the new leader of the Afghan Taliban. He believed Omars sons should lead the Taliban.

Religious scholars close to the Taliban brokered a ceasefire between Mansoor and a rival faction under Mullah Mohammad Rasool, the Tribune reported.

This is the first time the Taliban leadership has given senior positions to members of Omars family and the move is likely to strengthen Mansoors growing control over the group, the report added.

The announcement came days after senior leader Mullah Abdul Qayyum Zakir declared allegiance to Mansoor. Zakir, who once headed the Talibans military commission, was among several influential leaders who had earlier refused to accept Mansoors leadership.

The latest appointments were made against the backdrop of growing tensions among the Taliban leadership following the confirmation of Mullah Omars death, the Khaama Press reported.
Myanmars former president Thein Sein has shed his formal attire and his hair to join the Buddhist monkhood.

Thein Seins ordination as a monk took place on Monday, officials said, four days after he presided over a historic transition of power to the former opposition party headed by Aung San Suu Kyi.

Photographs circulating on social media show the former president, with his head shaved and dressed in a saffron robe, beside a fellow monk.

The ministry of information released a statement on its Facebook page on Monday saying Thein Sein will spend five days at the Dhamma Dipati Monastery outside Pyin Oo Lwin, a scenic hill town near Mandalay in central Myanmar.

A temporary stint at a monastery is common in the predominantly Buddhist country, where boys are expected to ordain as novice monks at some point in their childhood and then return later in adulthood.

Thein Sein himself has not spoken publicly about his choice to temporarily become a monk but the official statement indicated he has been considering it at least since January, when he attended a Buddhist conference in Myanmar.

Recently, the countrys most respected monk, Sitagu, urged ex-President Thein Sein to enter into the Buddhist monkhood when he attended the World Buddhist Conference, the statement from the ministry of information said.

Thein Sein told Sitagu that he was busy with the duties of a president and promised that he would be ordained as soon as he finished his term as president.

Thein Sein, a former general, was installed as president for a five-year term in 2011 to head a nominally civilian government after the military ended a half century of military rule.

In November, the country held its first free election in decades which Suu Kyis National League for Democracy party won by a landslide.

Thein Sein presided over the transfer of power to new President Htin Kyaw, who was handpicked by Suu Kyi, in a ceremony last Thursday.
The Panama Papers leaks claimed their first victim on Tuesday as Iceland Prime Minister Sigmunder David Gunlaugsson resigned following protests while Pakistani Premier Nawaz Sharif announced a judicial commission will probe allegations of offshore dealings against his family.

Icelands agriculture minister, Sigurur Ingi Johannsson, said he would be the next prime minister, confirming reports of Gunnlaugssons resignation. Gunnlaugsson will remain as leader of his Progressive Party, Johannsson said.

Local media said the move needed the agreement of the rightwing Independence party  Gunnlaugssons coalition partner  and President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson before it was official.

Read: This Australian software firm helped join the dots on Panama Papers

Gunnlaugsson stepped down ahead of a planned vote of no-confidence, hours after asking Grimsson to dissolve parliament.

On Monday, the opposition filed a motion of no-confidence and thousands of Icelanders gathered in front of parliament, hurling eggs and bananas and demanding the departure of the leader of the centre-right coalition government, in power since 2013.

Gunnlaugsson is the first casualty of the Panama Papers: millions of leaked documents revealing financial arrangements of politicians and public figures from around the world from a Panama law firm that specialises in setting up offshore companies.

A protest was planned in Reykjavik later on Tuesday as public anger at the prime minister continued to escalate.

It was revealed in the leaked Panama Papers that Gunnlaugssons wife owned a secret offshore investment company with multimillion claims in Icelands failed banks.

Gunnlaugsson had earlier threatened to call fresh elections if his junior coalition partner did not support his bid to stay in office.

Benediktsson, whose name also appeared in the leaked documents in connection with a Seychelles-based company of which he once owned a third, returned from holiday in Florida on Tuesday.

In Pakistan, Sharif announced the formation of a judicial commission to investigate the allegations of owning offshore companies and concealing assets against his two sons and a daughter.

In a nationally televised address, Sharif said: I hereby announce to form a judicial commission which will be led by a former judge of the Supreme Court.

This commission will weigh the allegations being leveled and will give its verdict after due investigation.

Sharif said he was compelled to respond to the politically motivated allegations against his family.

I want the nation to decide for themselves the reality behind these allegations which are being levelled for the last 25 years.

The premier gave details of the businesses controlled by his family that he said were established many years before Pakistan was founded.

The opposition has rejected the move. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan said Sharif should reply to the charges.

Read: Panama papers in numbers: Countries implicated, companies involved

Read: Panama Paper leaks: Amitabh Bachchan denies link with offshore companies
Pressure mounted on Prime Minister David Cameron on Tuesday to impose direct rule on British overseas territories after several of them figured as tax havens in the leaked Panama Papers that have caused ripples around the world.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn called for an independent inquiry into the tax affairs of British nationals figuring in the papers  including Camerons family  and said the government should consider imposing direct rule to stop the overseas territories acting as tax havens.

Corbyn said the government should tell administrations in places such as the Cayman Islands and British Virgin Islands: Hang on, you are a government of a British dependent territory, a crown territory, you must obey UK tax law, you must not become a harbour for tax avoidance and tax evasion.

An overseas territory is a territory belonging to Britain by settlement, conquest or annexation.

There are 14 British overseas territories: British Indian Ocean Territory, Gibraltar, Bermuda, Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory, St Helena and its dependencies (Ascension and Tristan da Cunha), Montserrat, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands, Anguilla, Pitcairn Group of Islands, and the Sovereign Base Areas on Cyprus.

Queen Elizabeth is represented in these territories by governors, or in some cases by commissioners, administrators or residents who are responsible to the British government.

The government is responsible for the security of overseas territories and for their foreign affairs and defence-related matters, but most have their own elected government.

According to Corbyn, the territories, including the Cayman Islands and British Virgin Islands, were encouraging tax avoidance on an industrial scale.

Corbyn told BBC: If the local government is simply going to condone this level of... tax avoidance and tax evasion of money that has been made in Britain...then thats something that has to be considered.

He added, Theyre not independent territories. They are self-governing, yes, but theyre British Crown dependent territories. Therefore surely there has to be an observance of UK tax law in those places.

If theyve become a place for systemic evasion and short-changing of the public in this country then something has to be done about it. Either those governments comply or a next step has to be taken.

Former business secretary Vince Cable, a Liberal Democrat, said: We cant send gunboats these days but we can take the small territories under direct rule.

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Icelands president on Tuesday refused a request from the prime minister to dissolve parliament and call a new election amid a dispute over the premiers offshore tax affairs.

Embattled Prime Minister Sigmunder David Gunlaugsson is facing growing calls for him to step down because of reported offshore financial dealings by him and his wife that opposition lawmakers say show a massive conflict of interest with his job.

Thousands of Icelanders protested outside parliament on Monday, demanding that Gunlaugsson resign, and a similar protest is planned for Tuesday evening. The prime minister will meet with parliament in a session Wednesday that is sure to be dominated by the topic.

President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, however, said he wants to consult with other party leaders first before agreeing to end the coalition government between Gunlaugssons centre-right Progressive Party and the Independence Party.

I need to determine if there is support for dissolving (parliament) within the ruling coalition and others. The prime minister could not confirm this for me, and therefore I am not prepared at this time to dissolve parliament, Grimsson said.

He said he plans to meet with the governments coalition partner in a few hours to discuss the crisis.

Leaked financial documents allege that the prime minister and his wife set up a company in the British Virgin Islands with the help of a Panamanian law firm. Gunlaugsson is accused of a conflict of interest for failing to disclose his involvement in the company, which held interests in failed Icelandic banks that his government was responsible for overseeing.

He has denied any wrongdoing.
A North Korean front company used to help fund the countrys nuclear weapons programme was among the clients of the Panamanian law firm at the centre of a massive data leak, reports said on Tuesday.

With a Pyongyang-based address, DCB Finance Ltd was registered in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) in 2006, and leaked papers show that the Panama firm, Mossack Fonseca, legally incorporated the company, the Guardian newspaper and BBC reported.

The same year saw North Korea conduct its first nuclear test, triggering the first of numerous US Security Council resolutions imposing sanctions on Pyongyang.

DCB Finance Ltd was registered by North Korean official Kim Chol-Sam and Nigel Cowie, a British banker who had moved to North Korea in 1995 and went on to head its first foreign bank, Daedong Credit Bank  of which DCB Finance was an offshoot.

Leaked papers suggest that, despite the Pyongyang address, Mossack Fonseca failed to notice DCBs link with North Korea until the BVIs Financial Investigation Agency sent it a letter in 2010 asking for details of the company.

It was only then that the law firm resigned as DCBs agent.

Read More | Prosecutors open probe as worlds rich and powerful deny Panama Papers links

The following year Cowie, who says he was unaware of any unlawful transactions, sold the share he had brought in Daedong Credit Bank to a Chinese consortium.

Both the bank and DCB  as well as official Kim Chol-Sam  were targeted by US sanctions in June, 2013 on the grounds that they had, since 2006, provided financial services to two North Korean entities with a central role in developing the Norths nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.

The US Treasury said DCB Finance had been used to carry out international financial transactions as a means to avoid scrutiny by financial institutions avoiding business with North Korea.

A leaked e-mail from Mossack Fonsecas compliance department in August 2013 appeared to acknowledge a lack of due diligence on the part of the law firm.

Read more | From Spain to Australia, Panama Papers leak triggers global probes

We have not yet addressed the reason we maintained a relationship with DCB Finance when we knew or ought to have known from incorporation in 2006, that the country, North Korea was on the black list, the e-mail said.

We should have identified from the onset that this was a high risk company, it added.

The scandal erupted on Sunday when media groups began revealing the results of a year-long investigation into a trove of 11.5 million documents from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, which specialises in creating offshore shell companies. The expose was spearheaded by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) which received the documents from German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung, who in turn received them from an anonymous source.

Read more | Panama Papers ruffle world: Russia to Pak, leaders face the heat
Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko defended his commitment to transparency on Monday after lawmakers called for an investigation into allegations contained in the Panama Papers that he had used an offshore firm to avoid tax.

According to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), Poroshenko set up an offshore company to move his confectionery business, Roshen, to the British Virgin Islands in August 2014 during a peak in fighting between Ukraine and pro-Russian separatists.

Read more | From Nawaz to Putin: The politicians implicated in the Panama Papers

In response, Poroshenko said he had handed over the management of his assets to consulting and law firms on taking office.

I believe I might be the first top official in Ukraine who treats declaring of assets, paying taxes, conflict of interest issues seriously, he tweeted.

The law firm tasked with managing the sale of Roshen said the offshore firm was set up in accordance with Ukrainian law.

The creation of a foreign structure does not affect the tax liabilities of the Roshen group in Ukraine, which continues to pay taxes, Avellum said in an emailed statement.

Any allegations of tax evasion are groundless.

Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenkos advisers have insisted that the offshore business was part of corporate restructuring intended to facilitate the eventual sale of Roshen assets. (Efrem Lukatsky/AP Photo)

Poroshenkos financial adviser, Makar Paseniuk, said the offshore firm was created to avoid a conflict of interests by allowing his assets to be controlled by third parties while he remained president.

A senior official in the General Prosecutors office said the leaked documents did not show that Poroshenko had committed any crime.

Lawmakers, including from within Poroshenkos own faction, called for the creation of a parliamentary committee to investigate the allegations, which surfaced after a global leak of documents from a Panama-based law firm over the weekend.

The Panama Papers are 11.5 million in all, provided by an unnamed source to a German newspaper, Suddeutsche Zeitung, more than one year ago. They were taken from the files of the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, described as the fourth-largest offshore law firm in the world. Suddeutsche Zeitung then shared the data with ICIJ that in turn shared it with over 100 media organisations across the world.

Read More | Prosecutors open probe as worlds rich and powerful deny Panama Papers links

Under Ukrainian legislation, only parliament can initiate an investigation into a sitting president.

It is the height of cynicism to open offshore companies at a time when hundreds of our soldiers are dying, leader of the populist Radical Party Oleh Lyashko said on Facebook, adding any investigation could lead to Poroshenkos impeachment.

The support of the Radical Party may be crucial in Poroshenkos efforts to cobble together a new government and avoid a snap election.

The president has made several attempts to oust prime minister Arseny Yatseniuks government, saying it has lost the trust of the people, but he will likely need the support of smaller parties to assemble a parliamentary majority.

Read more | Panama Papers show Syria regime funded war efforts through shell firms

The IMF, the United States and the European Union are becoming frustrated with Ukraines patchy performance in tackling graft, and the Fund has threatened to halt aid until matters improve.

The revelations of Poroshenkos offshore accounts will further destabilise the Ukrainian government, which has been in a state of crisis for over a month, said Daragh McDowell of the risk consultancy Verisk Maplecroft.

Poroshenkos credibility in the eyes of Ukraines Western allies will take a massive hit at a time when political infighting has already delayed the release of IMF loans.

Poroshenko, who came to power after protests in 2014, has already faced criticism for not selling Roshen despite promising to do so.

Paseniuk said there had been no credible offers for the company so far, prompting those managing the sale to consider selling it off in parts. Talks to sell Roshens Russia-based Lipetsk factory were continuing, he said.
Assailants shot dead a senior Saudi security officer west of the capital Riyadh on Tuesday, the interior ministry said in a statement carried by state media. The attack was claimed by the Islamic State (IS).

The Western-allied kingdom, the worlds top oil exporter, has been hit by a spate of deadly shootings and bombings targeting security forces or its Shiite Muslim minority since last year, many of them claimed by the IS.

Saudi state news agency SPA quoted an interior ministry spokesperson as saying that the officer, Colonel Kitab Majed al-Hammadi, was shot dead in the al-Arja area of al-Dawadimi province. The spokesman said security authorities were investigating the killing.

Islamic States Amaq news website said the groups Saudi branch, known as the Nejd Province, carried out the attack and identified Hammadi as the director of internal security in the al-Quwayiyah region.

The IS views Shiites as heretics but is also bitterly opposed to Sunni Muslim Gulf Arab rulers and is seen to be trying to stir up sectarian strife on the Arabian Peninsula to bring about the overthrow of its ruling dynasties. The Nejd Province group claimed responsibility on Sunday for an explosion next to a police station south of Riyadh that killed one person and damaged police vehicles.
Icelands prime minister is in the hot seat after the leaked Panama Papers sparked allegations that he and his wife used an offshore firm to hide million dollar investments, with thousands taking to the streets demanding he quit.

Huge crowds poured into the square outside parliament in Reykjavik late on Monday, calling for Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson to step down over financial records showing he and his wife bought a company in the British Virgin Islands in 2007.

He sold his 50% share to his wife Anna Sigurlaug Palsdottir for a symbolic sum of one dollar at the end of 2009.

But when he was elected to parliament for the first time in April 2009, as a member of the centre-right Progressive Party, he neglected to mention his stake in his declaration of shareholdings.

As the crowds gathered outside parliament, he told public broadcaster RUV he regretted not revealing this sooner.

The issue is particularly sensitive in Iceland, a country marked by the excesses of the 2000s when senior bankers used shell companies in tax havens to conceal their dealings in risky financial products.

Police said the crowds that turned out in Reykjavik on Monday night outnumbered the thousands who in 2009 brought down the right-wing government over its responsibility in Icelands 2008 banking collapse.

Icelands big banks collapsed in October 2008 after borrowing beyond their means to fund ambitious investments abroad. Before their collapse, their liabilities were worth more than ten times Icelands total GDP.

The crash led to an unprecedented financial crisis, a deep recession and a bailout from the International Monetary Fund.

Gunnlaugsson, a former journalist, insists that despite the financial turbulence he was never tempted to move his money offshore and that his wife paid all her taxes in Iceland.

She has neither utilised tax havens nor can you say that her company is an offshore company, Gunnlaugsson said on his website.

In an interview with Swedish public television SVT recorded last month, excerpts of which were aired in Iceland on Sunday, he became visibly upset after being repeatedly asked about his wifes company, eventually storming out of the room.

Its like you are accusing me of something, he declared.

Lack of faith in Iceland

Elected prime minister in 2013, 41-year-old Gunnlaugsson was seen as a refreshing change from the political old guard, which was accused of having turned a blind eye to the banks reckless investments.

His wife, also 41, is the daughter of a businessman who made a fortune from having Icelands only Toyota dealership.

On March 15, before the Panama Papers leaks in the international media, she took to Facebook to acknowledge the existence of Wintris, the company that she and Gunnlaugsson acquired in 2007 to manage her inheritance from her father.

She said with the help of international consultancy KPMG, she had made sure to pay all her taxes in Iceland.

But the pressure on Gunnlaugsson continues to mount, with the left-wing opposition expected to table a motion of no confidence in parliament this week.

The prime minister should immediately resign, former Social Democratic prime minister Johanna Sigurdardottir said in a message posted on Facebook.

Gunnlaugsson had displayed his lack of faith in the Icelandic currency and economy by placing his money in a tax haven, she wrote.

While the opposition would likely back the call for his resignation, Gunnlaugssons Progressive Party would probably oppose it, leaving the junior member of his governing coalition, the right-wing Independence Party, holding the balance of power.

Prime Minister says he wont quit

Gunnlaugsson insisted Monday he would not resign.

I have not considered quitting because of this matter, nor am I going to quit because of this matter, he told Channel 2 television.

A source of particular embarrassment for Gunnlaugsson, who led a public revolt against the drastic repayment conditions initially imposed by countries whose citizens lost money in the banking collapse, is the fact that Wintris is listed among the banks creditors, with millions of dollars in claims.

It is sad that those who... say they will lead by example (and) say that the big plan is to believe in Iceland then decide that their money is better kept elsewhere, prominent Icelandic historian and intellectual Gudni Johannesson told RUV.
The US has announced it will supply nine AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters worth more than $170 million to Pakistan, weeks after the sale of eight F-16 combat jets despite stiff opposition to the deal from India and American lawmakers.

The US defence department on Monday announced the award of a contract to Bell Helicopter for the nine helicopters to be supplied under the Foreign Military Sales programme. The delivery of the helicopters is expected to be completed by September 2018.

The AH-1Z Viper is a twin-engine combat helicopter based on the earlier SuperCobra developed for the US Marine Corps. It has a top speed of 420 km an hour and a range of 610 km.

Earlier this year, the US approved a $700-million deal for selling eight F-16 jets to Pakistan to enhance the countrys capability to carry out precision strikes against militants.

The deal was cleared despite strong objections from the Indian government, which questioned whether the F-16s would be used for counter-terror operations, and American lawmakers, who expressed doubts about Pakistans role in the war on terror against the backdrop of links between militant groups and the security establishment.

In April last year, the US state department had approved the sale of AH-1Z Viper helicopters, engines Hellfire II missiles and associated equipment worth a total of $952 million to Pakistan.

This proposed sale of helicopters and weapon systems will provide Pakistan with military capabilities in support of its counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency operations in South Asia, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency had said at the time.
The US has clarified that President Barack Obamas remarks expressing concerns about a nuclear South Asia were in particular about the presence of tactical nuclear weapons for use in the battlefield.

That would clearly be Pakistan, which has made no secret of its tactical nuclear bombs that it has said are meant to offset Indias massive superiority in conventional weapons.

Obamas remarks were motivated by concerns over nuclear and missile developments in South Asia, and White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters at the daily briefing on Monday, In particular, were concerned by the increased security challenges that accompany growing stockpiles, particularly tactical nuclear weapons that are designed for use on the battlefield.

He did not name Pakistan, but the reference was abundantly clear, as Islamabad has long been known to have tactical nuclear weapons, and one of its senior officials boasted about them during Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifs visit to Washington to meet Obama last October.

India was angered by Obamas remarks at a news conference at the conclusion of the two-day Nuclear Security Summit last week, which was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Speaking about the need for a reduction in nuclear arsenals around the world, led by the US and Russia, he had said, The other area where I think we need to see progress is Pakistan and India, that subcontinent, making sure that as they develop military doctrines, that they are not continually moving in the wrong direction.

India said on Monday Obamas remarks reflected a lack of understanding about Indias defence posture. Conventionally, India has never initiated military action against any neighbour, external affairs ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup said. We also have a no-first use nuclear weapons policy.

Asked specifically about Indias posture that China was its main defence challenge, White house spokesman Earnest said that were certainly aware of the unique region of the world in which India is located. And we certainly appreciate the need India has to take the necessary steps to defend themselves.
If Donald Trump loses the Republican primary in Wisconsin on Tuesday he runs the risk of losing his perch as frontrunner, and eventually the nomination.

He is trailing Ted Cruz, who is placed second in the Republican race, and a defeat could swing the contest away from him, changing its course inalterably.

The race on the Democratic side, experts said, could get longer if Wisconsin chooses Bernie Sanders over frontrunner Hillary Clinton.

Clinton is leading the delegate count 1,243 to Sanderss 980  with the nomination requiring 2,382  though she trails him 45.3% to 47.9% in the average of polls in the state.

Its the Republican race, however, which is attracting more attention because of Trump, and the implications: Can he be stopped? Will the race change here on?

Trump is way ahead in the count of delegates needed to secure the nomination with 737 to Cruzs 475 and Kasichs 130, but he is still way short of the threshold of 1,237 to clinch it.

A defeat in Wisconsin, which has 42 delegates, could make it extremely difficult for him to reach the threshold, leaving him short for the nomination.

Crag Gilbert, the Washington correspondent of a Wisconsin daily, said a defeat in the state will not only slow down his progress but will also embolden the stop-Trump movement.

Almost the entire Republican party leadership is deeply troubled by the prospect of Trump winning the nomination, and is determined to stop him. Wisconsin is its new battlefront.

And Cruz is its candidate. He is ahead of Trump 39.2% to 34.5% in the RealClearPolitics average of polls, and is widely expected to win.

Talk of a contested convention, therefore, has grown more intense in recent days, with the possibility dimming of any one candidate reaching the threshold mark.

Both Republican and Democrats will have their respective conventions in July, where, typically, the presidential nominee is chosen or crowned depending on the circumstances.
The world's largest primate, Grauer's gorilla, is greatly endangered by warfare, illegal hunting and mining. The latest study from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute revealed that endemic populations have plummeted by a staggering 77 percent within the last 20 years alone.

Formerly known as the eastern lowland gorilla, these iconic primates are found only in the conflict-plagued Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). They are closely related to the mountain gorilla, G. beringei beringei, a native of montane forests in the Albertine Rift.

Compared to 1998 population counts totaling some 17,000 individuals, the recent study estimates fewer than 3,800 Grauer's gorillas (Gorilla beringei graueri) remain in the wild.

"The crash in the gorilla population is a consequence of the human tragedy that has played out in eastern DRC," explained Jefferson Hall, staff scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. "Armed factions terrorize innocent people and divide up the spoils of war with absolutely no concern for the victims or the environment."

Weighing upwards of 400 pounds, Grauer's gorillas are the largest primates in the world. The collapse of this subspecies is believed to stem from the Rwandan genocide of 1994, which drove hundreds of thousands of refugees into the eastern DRC. This, in turn, triggered a civil war that lasted from 1996 to 2003.

Years of civil unrest also led to an expansion of mining in remote forests and protected areas. Far from towns and villages, miners frequently resort to hunting for food. And even though Grauer's gorillas are legally protected, they are easily tracked and prized targets for their large size.

Using a novel method to incorporate data collected by local communities and forest rangers, researchers were able to more accurately calculate populations of Grauer's gorillas.

Their findings suggest the animals are at an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. Therefore, researchers recommend the gorillas be listed as critically endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species - a listing that warrants greater protection.

However, researchers warn that reversing the gorilla's perilous situation will take a great deal of effort and more funds than are currently available. Not only will it require disarming the militias in the eastern DRC, but also the control of illegal mining and poaching that accompanies it.

Among other proposed recommendations is the addition of new protected areas and enhanced support for existing ones.

"Human dignity and welfare are inextricably linked to the dignity and survival of wild animals like Grauer's gorilla and the ecosystems that sustain them," said Andrew J. Plumptre, lead author of the study. "The outcomes of regional armed conflict have global impact on our survival. The activity of armed militias controlling mining camps in the Grauer's gorilla heartland is likely to eliminate the Grauer's gorilla entirely. Conservationists are pushing for the establishment of the Reserve des Gorilles de Punia and the Itombwe Reserve, which has strong community support, along with the reinforcement of the Kahuzi-Biega National Park, arguing that this would make a huge difference for the gorillas."

Their findings were recently published by the Wildlife Conservation Society, the Flora and Fauna International and the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature.

"The bright spot in all this is that we have seen, over and over again, dedicated Congolese conservationists risk their lives to make a difference," Hall added. "Thanks to these individuals, there is still hope and the opportunity to save these animals and the ecosystems they represent."

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Whether it be to appease the gods for a plentiful harvest, mark important events like the death of a leader or the construction of a house or boat, or promise success in the upcoming war, human sacrifice has played a vital role in the emergence of inherited class systems.

A new study from the University of Auckland's School of Psychology, the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Germany and Victoria University has found that the priests and rulers who sanctioned such ritual killings had another motive: to control, terrorize and impress lower ranking subjects.

"Religion has traditionally been seen as a key driver of morality and cooperation, but our study finds religious rituals also had a more sinister role in the evolution of modern societies," explained Joseph Watts, lead author of the study.

To learn more about how human sacrifice was facilitated by social stratification - or how unequal or hierarchical ancient cultures were, researchers examined historical data from a total of 93 traditional Austronesian societies. Overall, researchers found 40 out of the 93 cultures included in the study practiced some form of ritualistic human killing.

Austronesians are believed to have originated in Taiwan, before moving across the Indian and Pacific oceans, from Madagascar to Easter Island and as far south as New Zealand. Among the many methods of sacrificial killing used in these cultures were burning, drowning, strangulation, bludgeoning, burial, being cut to pieces, crushed beneath a newly-built canoe or being rolled off the roof of a house and decapitated. Generally, victims were of low status, such as slaves.

"By using human sacrifice to punish taboo violations, demoralize the underclass and instill fear of social elites, power elites were able to maintain and build social control," Watts added.

Each of the 93 cultures studied were classified as one of three main groups: egalitarian, meaning rank and power was not passed down through generations; moderately stratified, meaning societies allowed for inherited status, but without pronounced social classes; and highly stratified, meaning there were strict class differences, social mobility was restricted and stature was mainly inherited.

This, researchers said, revealed 67 percent of the 27 highly stratified cultures were likely to practice human sacrifice, while only 25 percent of the 20 egalitarian societies examined were likely to do so. And of the 46 moderately stratified societies, only 37 percent exhibited practices of human sacrifice.

"Human sacrifice provided a particularly effective means of social control because it provided a supernatural justification for punishment," explained Professor Russell Gray, co-author of the study. "Rulers, such as priests and chiefs, were often believed to be descended from gods and ritual human sacrifice was the ultimate demonstration of their power."

What's more is researchers were able to test whether sacrifice preceded or followed changes in social status.

"What we found was that sacrifice was the driving force, making societies more likely to adopt high social status and less likely to revert to egalitarian social structure," co-author Quentin Atkinson concluded.

Their findings were recently published in the journal Nature.

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After NASA used its Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) detectors to confirm the existence of gravitational waves and confirm Einstein's theory of general relativity, many people in the scientific community hailed it as a breakthrough that will change the way we explore the universe. Now, China plans to launch its own gravitational wave detection project, which will be spearheaded by the pre-research team of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The team is aiming to submit their plan, also known as the Taji project, to the science and technology authorities as soon as possible for assessment and currently involves two different options: one involving a 20 percent stake in the eLISA project of ESA and the other the launch of China's own satellite in 2033 in support of ESA's eLISA project.

"Gravitational waves provide us with a new tool to understand the universe, so China has to actively participate in the research," said Hu Wenrui, a Chinese physicist from the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

"If we launch our own satellites, we will have a chance to be a world leader in gravitational wave research in the future," he added. "If we just participate in the eLISA project, it will also greatly boost China's research capacity in space science and technology. In either case, it depends on the decision-makers' resolution and the country's investment."

With India's recent deal with the U.S. for LIGO gravitational waves research, it's no surprise that China is looking to get its foot in the door.

"Today is an exciting day because it offers the promise of deepening our understanding and opening an even wider window to our universe," said France Cordova, director of the National Science Foundation. "We look forward to working closely with our Indian colleagues in this endeavor to further our knowledge of the most energetic phenomena in the cosmos."

The team involved in the Taji project claims that China's involvement in the novel discovery is important in order to continue gaining insights into the world.

The project will likely gain the support of funding in the range of $160 million yuan to $15 billion yuan, which is approximately $24.3 million to $1.5 billion U.S. dollars. In addition, China believes that if it decides to launch its own satellite, it will have the chance to become a leader in the field of gravitational wave detection.

Just like India, scientists are hopeful that the project will act as a motivator for young students and new scientists and push people to get involved in the discovery in order to expand human understanding of the universe.

The next step in the field of gravitational waves detection research is to observe the ripples simultaneously with multiple interferometers and catch them in the optical or X-ray bands, something that China's research team will no doubt have a role in achieving.

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The Henn-na Hotel in Japan is one of the great hotels of the world  and it just got a lot more futuristic. When you walk up to the front desk, a Japanese hostess bows and says "welcome." The catch: She's a robot. What's fitting is that in Japanese, Hen-na means either "flower" or "it's weird," depending on your interpretation.

I remember being on a long business trip about 10 years ago, and there was a layover in Tokyo. I was amazed at the display of robotics and automation on items even like the beverage vending machine at the airport. A chilled glass slid down a conveyer belt and a robotic arm holding a soft drink spout poured Pepsi into the glass. Then a voice in English (why it knew to speak English instead of Japanese, I'll never know!) asked me for the money and thanked me. That was a decade ago. Now, a walking Honda robot recently shook hands with the American president during his trip to Japan.

Not to be outdone, the hospitality sector in Japan is going head-over heels for robotics. Not only do they make guests smile, but over the long run, hotels like Hen-na reckon they might be able to save money on labor costs. That's why they are starting with 10 robots in their hotel. Their goal is that someday in the near future, 90 percent of all tasks in the hotel will be performed robotically.

Therein lies the promise of automation. Some customers are going to come away from their first interaction with that robot and believe that a new technology is blossoming and that we are on the cusp of an exciting new age. Others will think a robot greeter is downright weird. The secret in making consumers receptive to automation is in an enterprise's strategy to save cost and labor in the long run. Let's face it: Automation is here to stay. From henceforth it's what we do with automation that counts. That includes leveraging the technology to give consumers more bang for their buck.

To be sure, automation has existed for more than three decades. With increasing competition and the need to provide rich, personalized guest experiences, hoteliers want technologies that develop customized, personalized experiences. Yes, we said it: the customer experience. Not only are robots a marketing wonder; studies have shown that customers enjoy them and in turn become more loyal to the brand. Automation that uses Artificial intelligence is one such new technology. In fact, innovations like machine learning, A.I., autonomous agents, and virtual reality are deeply changing the workforce and rapidly transforming jobs once considered impervious to change.

To the hotel guest, there's a big difference in a robot programmed to say hello and a robot that learns your needs during the course of your stay. The latter is A.I., and it's a lot more than just a cute marketing ploy. Here are just a few examples of how A.I. is radically improving the customer experience:

Smart mirrors: The next time you're brushing your teeth, you might encounter a smart mirror that lets you read the news and check the weather. I read that a Google engineer was unsatisfied with other smart mirrors. So he developed a mirror that could tell him what to wear in the morning and even when it's his friends' birthdays.

Smart floors: A German company, Future Shape, is developing this technology with the hopes that it will soon be within the reach of average consumers. Future Shape is focusing on many applications, not the least of which is what it calls Sensfloor to monitor elderly people who live alone and run the risk of falling down.

IoT comes to hotels: A plan I've seen floated is also to allow mobile phones to set the temperature and light controls and even brew coffee. So why all the robotic fuss? Some economists say labor costs. The Online Travel Reservation and Management System (better known as OTRAMS) estimates that the money global hotel chains spend on labor accounts for more than half of all operational costs in the hospitality sector. The need for efficient labor controls is essential for companies in this challenging sector to keep costs down and maintain consistent service. Automation on a mass scale might be an answer to this issue.

But automation, even on a mass scale, won't get the job done. That's why Artificial Intelligence combined with automation/robotics is key. I came across research that suggests nearly half of all industries  well beyond just hospitality  will feel the effects of automation in the next 20 years. With A.I. added to the mix, we are going to see a seismic shift in not only the labor market, but what the minimal threshold of quality is for consumers.

A.I.-enabled automation can reduce manual errors significantly  that's an intangible cost for tremendous value nonetheless. The industry has started applying Artificial Intelligence to robots in the role of receptionists and guides. More than simply automated robotics, the knowledge-based "expert analytics" that works close to human thinking can provide more guest-aligned services and offers greater brand loyalty and ancillary revenue.

The hospitality industry is taking a big leap by adopting Artificial intelligence and virtual reality' Consumers will experience overwhelming and mesmerizing experiences going forward, which can't come at a better time: There's a dire need for hoteliers to create unique and memorable customer experiences.

Although this need involves major investments, long-term decisions, and time, doing so will certainly give them an edge over the competition and create easy word-of-mouth marketing. The result is that A.I. investments will directly impact daily occupancy and average daily rates  and nothing cuts to the core of the hospitality industry than daily occupancy.

Neeraj Upadhyay

Infosys

+91 7022042136

Infosys Limited
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Scandic Continental Hotel in Stockholm

The new Scandic Continental will be the third hotel with the same name. The very first hotel on the same spot opened already in 1878 under the name W6, and was later renamed to Continental by the year 1899. The second and previous Continental was built in 1963 in connection to the construction of the subway system.

On April 1st Scandic Continental opened its doors  the landmark across from Stockholm Central station, which will become the natural meeting point for business and form an oasis in Stockholms new business district. The opening of Scandic Continental also means 150 new employees with 30 nationalities represented.

Last year nearly 13 million commercial guest nights were registered in the Stockholm county, an increase with 10 percent compared to previous year*. According to estimates from the Stockholm Business Region, another 5 000 nights are needed in 2020 only in the town of Stockholm. In line with this, Scandic Continental is now opening up 392 rooms and 25 conference rooms and the interest has been great. The hotel will welcome 400 guests on the first night of the opening, to be followed by a great congress week in Stockholm with full occupancy.

We need more hotels. Stockholm is a hotspot and attracts more and more visitors, business travelers as wells as leisure guests. We have seen an overwhelming interest in reservations and even though we felt we aimed high entering this project, we have exceeded our targets for the first year, says Peter Storckenfeldt, General Manager, Scandic Continental.

Employees from over 30 countries

At the time of opening, Scandic Continental will have close to 150 employees and among these over 30 nationalities are represented. Most were hired through the Scandic Continental recruiting day in November, when over a thousand applicants were speed interviewed in one day.

The new Scandic Continental will be the third hotel with the same name. The very first hotel on the same spot opened already in 1878 under the name W6, and was later renamed to Continental by the year 1899. The second and previous Continental was built in 1963 in connection to the construction of the subway system.

Its great to be the third generation Continental on this very spot. The hotel will not only be a meeting place for our hotel guests, but also for people in the business world, lunch guests, people buying their morning coffee on their way to work and anyone who would like to enjoy a nice cocktail and admire the Stockholm skyline in the rooftop bar Capital, continues Peter Storckenfeldt.

The business traveler in focus

Scandic Continental is custom made for the modern business traveler. The lobby offers a place for spontaneous meetings or just a seat enabling work on-the-go. The digital service Scandic Continental Residents has been developed to let guests check in and see which companies and people in their business network who are present. This allows business guests to engage with contacts they might not have had the chance to meet otherwise.

Scandic Continental has 392 hotel rooms and 25 conference rooms tailored for everything from conferences and board meetings, to creative meetings around the ping-pong table and meetings one-to-one.

*http://www.stockholmbusinessregion.se/Global/About%20Us/Publikationer/Statistics_december_en.pdf

**http://www.stockholmbusinessregion.se/Global/Stockholm%20Hotel%20Report%202014%20ENG.pdf
The Florida hotel is located off of S Orange Avenue near the main entrance of the Orlando Health campus. This location is conveniently near downtown Orlando. The property has 126 rooms and suites with custom interior decor.

The Naples Hotel Group announced the opening of the Hampton Inn & Suites Orlando/Downtown South - Medical Center. Naples Hotel Group was awarded the contract to oversee development and management with owners CJP Columbia Properties Hotel LLC.

The Florida hotel is located off of S Orange Avenue near the main entrance of the Orlando Health campus. This location is conveniently near downtown Orlando. The property has 126 rooms and suites with custom interior decor. Some featured amenities of the hotel include an outdoor pool, fitness area, and expanded meeting room space. Shuttles for transportation are also available to nearby hospitals and select locations downtown.

"We are excited to open this new hotel in the downtown Orlando market. We're confident about this Hampton Inn & Suites' ability to serve the downtown and hospital markets," says Mike Bou-Sliman, Managing Partner of Naples Hotel Group. "The custom interiors of the hotel set a contemporary and unique ambiance for our guests," he also commented.

Naples Hotel Group is a hotel development and management company founded in 1999. NHG has achieved superior results and has a proven ability to enhance the performance of hotels through the use of their experience, responsiveness and extensive resources. NHG, based in Naples and Orlando, prides itself on building long-term relationships with quality people and organizations.
Anantara Jebel Dhanna and AVANI Jebel Dhanna

Minor Hotel Group (MHG) has announced the addition of two new properties to its pipeline in the United Arab Emirates. Anantara Jebel Dhanna and AVANI Jebel Dhanna in Abu Dhabi will soon begin development and both are scheduled to open in 2018.

The Owner and Developer of these two new properties is Dhabi Contracting LLC and Aecom has been appointed as the lead architecture and interior design consultant for the project.

Jebel Dhanna is located along the coastal area of the Al Gharbia region in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, close to the ferry departure point for Sir Bani Yas Island, 240 km from Abu Dhabi city, 360 km from Doha, and 125 km from the border of Saudi Arabia. The Jebel Dhanna peninsula is relatively under-developed, with a royal palace bordering the new hotel developments and an industrial area close by. To the south east is Ruwais Industrial Zone and a neighbouring residential area, which will provide substantial demand for the two new properties.

Anantara Jebel Dhanna Villas will have a total of 60 keys across three villa types: 20 One-Bedroom Villas, 38 Two-Bedroom Villas and two impressive Three-Bedroom Villas. The new Anantara will offer two restaurants and a pool bar, a gym, a swimming pool and an Anantara Spa.

The neighbouring AVANI Jebel Dhanna Hotel will have 230 keys across two different room types: 170 Deluxe Rooms and 60 Superior Rooms including a kitchenette. Facilities at the AVANI will include multiple dining options, a gym and a swimming pool. Shared facilities will include flexible meeting and banqueting space, a kid's club and outdoor recreation areas.

Anantara is a luxury hospitality brand for modern travellers, connecting them to genuine places, people and stories through personal experiences, and providing heartfelt hospitality in some of the world's most exciting destinations. Currently with 35 hotels and resorts in 11 countries, Anantara has just celebrated its 15th birthday in March this year. Launched in 2011, AVANI is a vibrant upscale brand offering relaxed comfort and contemporary style in city and resort destinations to guests who value the details that matter.

These new properties in Abu Dhabi will join the growing Anantara and AVANI portfolio in the UAE. There are currently six Anantara properties in operation in the country  five in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and Anantara The Palm Dubai. In addition a new Anantara resort is under development in Ras Al Khaimah and a second Anantara resort will open in Dubai in 2018. The first AVANI announcement for the country was made in September last year for the development of a resort in Dubai to open in 2018.

Dillip Rajakarier, CEO Minor Hotel Group, commented, "Minor Hotel Group is already well established in Abu Dhabi through our existing Anantara portfolio in the city, desert and on Sir Bani Yas Island and we are excited to today announce the first AVANI in Abu Dhabi, to be developed alongside what will be our sixth Anantara. We are looking forward to partnering with Dhabi Contracting in this exciting new project."
Domhnall Gleeson isn't riding or relying on the success of the 4 Oscar nominated films he starred in last year. Instead he's diving head-first into a whole new batch of projects, including Netflix's A Futile And Stupid Gesture.

The network giant Netflix are the latest to get their hands on the in-demand red-head Gleeson for their upcoming production about the men behind the renowned 'National Lampoon' series.

For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the 'National Lampoon' series, it was a ground-breaking humour magazine founded in 1970 which spawned off into creating some of the most beloved American comedy films, radio and live theater. Gleeson is set to play Henry Beard, a creative genius behind the magazine's success. It's a far cry from enduring treacherous Siberian-like weather conditions in search of pelts or delegating ruthless missions to the First Order as General Hux.

The film is an adaptation of John Karp's 2006 book, A Futile And Stupid Gesture: How Doug Kenney And National Lampoon Changed Comedy Forever. Gleeson will be joined onscreen by Will Forte and David Wain will occupy the director's chair. There is no release date in sight but for those who may be suffering from Gleeson-withdrawal symptoms, you can see him alongside Tom Cruise in Mena (due for early release January 2017) and returning as the villainous General Hux in Star Wars: Episode VIII.
If you're around the Rebel county and see Tom Vaughan-Lawlor and Barry Ward running rampant, do not be alarmed!

The two actors are starring in the Irish-Swedish production Maze and will be roaming around the chosen location of Cork for the 4 week shoot.

The recently decommissioned Cork Prison and its surroundings offered the ideal location shooting for the prison film Maze. The film will recount the true events of the notorious 1983 prison break of 38 IRA prisoners from HMP. This was monumental in its nature, eventually becoming the largest prison break in Europe since World War II.

Love/Hate's Tom Vaughan-Lawlor and IFTA Rising Star nominee Barry Ward are leading the cast with the script and direction courtesy of Stephen Burke. Maze has received funding from the IFB and RTE along with Cork City and County Council providing regional support. It's hoped that the film will bring wide-spread coverage to the potential Cork has as a shooting location.

We see Film In Cork playing a key role in helping position Cork on the national and international stage as a prime location for all types of production - film and television - and we are delighted that working closely with the producers it has been possible to bring MAZE to Cork," Rossa Mullin of Film in Cork boasted "[it] is a tremendous opportunity for us to showcase what Cork has to offer to an international audience, which can only be a great thing for the region.

No date has yet been given on the release date of Maze but we will keep you updated as always.
WASHINGTON - The Navy disclosed Monday that it recently confiscated a weapons cache from a small fishing craft in the Arabian Sea, seizing about 1,500 Kalashnikov rifles, 200 rocket-propelled grenade launchers and 21 .50-caliber machine guns. It marks the fourth seizure by a U.S.-led maritime task force in the region since September -- and underscores the difficulties the United States faces in stopping weapons smuggling to nations like Yemen, where Houthi rebels continue to rely on Iranian arms.

The weapons commonly move on a small craft known as a dhow, a traditional sailing vessel in the Middle East. Foreign policy and military experts said the smuggling has occurred for years, but it comes now at a sensitive time in which the Obama administration is trying to manage the nuclear agreement it reached last year with Iran. International economic sanctions against Tehran were lifted this year as part of the deal in exchange for Iran sending the bulk of its enriched uranium out of the country, disabling one nuclear reactor and shelving the majority of its centrifuges.

Iran has continued a variety of other actions in the Middle East that the United States considers destabilizing. While the U.S.-led coalition has confiscated several shipments of weapons, there's no way of knowing how many boats have made it through to Yemen, said Michael Knights, a fellow with the Washington Institute, a think tank focused on Middle Eastern issues. The U.S. military is "stuck in the middle" as the United States does "this kind of dance between two extremes" inside Iran.

"We're trying to help the more moderate elements of the [President Hassan] Rouhani government in Iran to justify Iran's involvement in the nuclear deal by bringing more tangible economic fruits as sanctions end," Knights said. "But we're also trying to signal to hard-line Revolutionary Guard elements that they need to cease their destabilizing actions, such as firing missiles in Gulf shipping lanes and providing weapons to U.N.-embargoed Yemen."

Retired Navy Adm. Jim Stavridis, who led a carrier strike group in the Persian Gulf in the early phases of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, said the Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz and northern Arabian Sea have been hotbeds of smuggling for many years. But their use to supply arms to Yemen is relatively new, and stopping the flow is a "difficult tactical proposition," he said. There are thousands of dhows at sea every day, and many are used for legitimate shipping and fishing purposes.

Stavridis said the United States must rely on intelligence from the international coalition that has been built over the last two decades to identify and capture dhows that are carrying weapons.

"A very key element in all of this of course is surveillance of cell phone technology," the retired admiral said. "But overall, the key is international inter-agency and private-public cooperation."

A Navy spokesman in the region, Cmdr. Kevin Stephens, declined to discuss trends in the confiscation of weapons, saying only it "speaks to the intelligence that led us to these recent successes." But he said the United States and its partners will continue to carry out maritime operations in the region to disrupt the flow of illicit arms to the Houthis in Yemen.

"These weapons only serve to exacerbate the situation there and prolong the conflict," Stephens said.

A U.S. Navy officer, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the interdiction missions, said the most recent boarding of a dhow carrying arms was "likely straightforward." The crew had no incentive to resist the U.S. troops from the USS Sirocco, a coastal patrol ship, and were likely just trying to make money, said the officer, who has served in Special Operations forces and led boarding teams against smugglers in the past.

But the officer said the rules of engagement are challenging when facing Iranians.

"You'll notice the vessel and crew were released. This was likely to avoid perturbing the Iranians, especially given the recent detainment of our own sailors," the officer speculated. "This vessel and crew will likely be back to smuggling shortly."

A general rule of thumb, he said, is that about 10 to 15 percent of all illicit cargoes are interdicted. They include not only weapons, but drugs and migrants who are smuggled from countries like Syria.

The interdictions are known as VBSS missions, short for visit, board, search and seizure. Specific training for VBSS was created by the Navy in the 1990s following the Gulf War as a way of standardizing maritime interception operations that were introduced in the Persian Gulf as part of U.N. resolutions, according to the Navy.

The first level -- likely used in the seizure last week -- focuses on ships that comply with the instructions of an inspection team, while the second focuses on crews that do not. The third level of VBSS calls for U.S. troops to board a non-compliant vessel that is 25 feet or more away, and the fourth calls for Special Operations troops to raid a vessel that is underway and at least 25 feet away, sometimes through the use of helicopters.

Navy SEALs often carry out high-end VBSS missions. But they also can be taken on by elite Marine Corps units, including Raider and Force Reconnaissance teams.
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Announcing "Workplace America: Employee Engagement and Retention Trends," our 12th Annual Report on Talent Management Practices Workplace America report from TalentKeepers shows employee engagement is a priority for 82% of US companies, yet a downturn in

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Winter Park, Florida (PRWEB) April 04, 2016TalentKeepers today announced the release of Workplace America, its 12th annual report of employee engagement and retention trends, now the longest continuously running study of engagement and retention in the US. Over 880 organizations participated for 2016, with 27% employing over 5,000 and 30% with 1,000-5,000 employees.Employee engagement is gaining respect as a key strategy for many organizations. For four years running, over 80% of US employers rank employee engagement as a strategic priority. And even though the number of organizations rating themselves as very effective in engaging employees nearly doubled from 14% in 2015 to 26% in 2016, this is a surprisingly large gap given the consequences of poor engagement.Another dramatic increase was "Morale and Culture" as the top thing impacted by poor engagement and turnover among employees. This number grew from 50% in 2014 to 72% in 2016 beating out things like productivity and t...

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City of Spartanburg, SC Taps Executive Search & Consulting Firm, Webber Kerr Associates

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Retained Search Firm Provides Regional Assessment and Talent Intelligence in Support of City Wide Growth. Greenville, South Carolina - April 5, 2016 - Webber Kerr Associates, Executive Recruiting Firm and Consultancy, announced that the City of Spartanburg, SC engaged their services to attract corporate organizations through their talent and market research services. Spartanburg has been drawing global attention and businesses alike to its growing downtown and nearby surroundings given its history in manufacturing and cost friendly environment. "We concluded that Spartanburg is a favorable relocation destination for organizations, when you think of access to talent, quality of life, travel conveniences and relative competition," said Adam Lloyd, President of Webber Kerr Associates."I anticipate the growth trend to continue." The City of Spartanburg plans on using market intelligence and talent mapping reports from the leadership consulting firm to demonstra...

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Athens News Agency: Daily News Bulletin in English, 16-04-04 Athens News Agency: Daily News Bulletin in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/> Weekend News Bulletin Monday April 4, 2016 CONTENTS [01] ESM should take IMF's place a long time ago, says President Pavlopoulos [02] PM Tsipras sends letter to IMF chief Christine Lagarde [03] Gov't spokeswoman: Greece requests official explanations from the IMF [04] Greece is a safe country, says Alt. Defence Minister Vitsas [05] Wikileaks: IMF to threaten Greece with bankruptcy [06] Europarliament VP Papadimoulis sends letter to Schulz and Gualtieri on IMF and Greek review [07] Alt. Tourism Minister Kountoura meets with tour operators from Saudi Arabia [08] IMF: We do not comment on leaks and supposed reports [09] Refugees and migrants continue to arrive on the Greek islands [10] Curator of Athens Festival Jan Fabre resigns [11] Nadia Murad visits refugees in Idomeni [12] Frontex officers arrive on Lesvos to assist migrants' readmission to Turkey [13] Patras-Athens march for the unemployed [14] Weather Forecast [15] Athens Headlines at a glance Politics [01] ESM should take IMF's place a long time ago, says President Pavlopoulos President of Republic Prokopis Pavlopoulos had a phone contact on Saturday with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. According to government sources, Pavlopoulos noted that he as he has stated he believes that "from the moment the European Union and the eurozone have formed the ESM, it should have assumed IMF's mission and responsibilities (in the Greek programme) a long time ago. ESM's officials know-how is much better that the IMF's officials" he said. On his part, Tsipras underlined that "Greece meets its commitments and will ask for explanations from the IMF. I will brief the country leaders and institutions on our positions. We must not allow to anyone to play with fire and we will not leave the country and Europe unprotected. Some want to bring a new crisis in Greece and to affect the British referendum and to wound Europe". [02] PM Tsipras sends letter to IMF chief Christine Lagarde Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras sent a letter to IMF chief Christine Lagarde on Saturday. According to government sources, in his letter Tsipras expresses his concern over Wikileaks revelations and underlines that the negotiations should be carried out with conditions of credibility and confidence which is currently undermined by Wikileaks revelations. Moreover, the same sources said that Tsipras requests from the Fund to state clearly if these revelations are IMF's official positions. [03] Gov't spokeswoman: Greece requests official explanations from the IMF The Greek government asks for explanations from the IMF if the creation of bankruptcy conditions in Greece before the referendum in Britain is the Fund's official position, stated on Saturday government spokeswoman Olga Gerovassili referring to Wikileaks revelations and IMF's director in Europe Poul Thomsen phone conversation with IMF's Delia Vesculescu. [04] Greece is a safe country, says Alt. Defence Minister Vitsas "Greece is a safe country, however, whatever happens in other European countries is like it is happening in our country and for this reason we need to be constantly vigilant" said Alternate Defence Minister Dimitris Vitsas in an interview with the Sunday newspaper Free Sunday. He also expressed fears that "extreme voices in Europe that do not want Europe or democracy or the human rights may take advantage of these kind of (terror) attacks" he underlined and stressed the need to "react with more democracy and with better management of the safety issues as well as with the upgrading of the protection of the human rights". [05] Wikileaks: IMF to threaten Greece with bankruptcy IMF's intention to put pressure on Greece threatening it with bankruptcy in order to pass its harsh measures, reveals Wikileaks in a phone conversation between IMF director in Europe Poul Thomsen and IMF's mission chief in Greece Delia Velculescu. Poul Thomsen is allegedly trying the IMF to not return to Greece and the review of the Greek programme to be delayed until July; therefore, Athens will run out of cash and will be forced to accept IMF's demands for additional harsh measures not foreseen in the agreement. IMF's director in Europe also said that the IMF will not agree with the review and that it will not accept a small package of measures. He proposes Greece to be found with the back against the wall with no cash and on the brink of bankruptcy in order to be forced to impose the measures the IMF wants. So, the deliberations on the review will be delayed until July in order to coincide with the referendum for the Brexit and the Europeans to have additional time because they do not want to take decisions before the British referendum. He also reveals that he is planning to blackmail German Chancellor Angela Merkel with IMF's withdrawal from the programme which will raise a series of difficult questions in German parliament. On her part, Vesculescu said that July's agreement was a mistake because it offered to the Greek government a very strong argument to not accept the additional measures requested by the IMF, claiming that they are committed to implement only those agreed and nothing more. [06] Europarliament VP Papadimoulis sends letter to Schulz and Gualtieri on IMF and Greek review Europarliament Vice President and head of SYRIZA MEPs Dimitris Papadimoulis in agreement with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras sent a letter to Europarliament president Martin Schulz and to all the europarliament political party leaders (except Marine Le Pen) as well as to the head of the Financial Assistance Working Group for Greece Roberto Gualtieri. In his letter, Papadimoulis stresses that Wikileaks' recent revelations regarding Greece's programme and IMF's intention to put pressure on Greece, on the state-members and the European institutions gives rise to serious concerns because they "put in jeopardy the economic and political stability in a period that Europe is facing huge challenges as the financial and the refugees crisis, issues of safety and the British referendum". He also underlines that it is "important the IMF to state clearly its position and to clarify to what point the revelations express the Fund's policy and intentions". He also asks the recipients' contribution for a rapid and successful completion of the Greek review noting that the "successful completion of the review will give new incentives and a breath to the Greek economy and will create new perspectives for the Greek society". [07] Alt. Tourism Minister Kountoura meets with tour operators from Saudi Arabia Alternate Tourism Minister Elena Kountoura had a series of important meetings with representatives of tour operators and agencies of Saudi Arabia with aim the promotion of the Greek tourism and the attraction of tourists. Sixteen representatives of tour operators activating in Riyadh visited Greece within the framework of fam trips included in the broader planning for the opening of Greek tourism to dynamic markets of the Middle East. The minister thanked them for their visit and referred to the targeted programme of actions with aim the promotion of Greece in Saudi Arabia. She also referred to the imminent 2nd GreekTourism Workshop that will take place next week in Riyadh. [08] IMF: We do not comment on leaks and supposed reports "We do not comment on leaks and supposed reports of internal discussions" said IMF in an announcement referring to Wikileaks revelations. In its announcement the International Monetary Fund reaffirms its stable position which is the need for a durable solution for the financial challenges Greece is facing. A solution which puts Greece on the path of sustainable growth supported by a set of credible reforms matched by a debt relief from its European partners. The necessary reforms and targets (of the Greek programme) must be based on credible assumptions. As the IMF has already reiterated, says the Fund's announcement, there is a trade-off on what is feasible on reforms and the amount of debt relief needed. [09] Refugees and migrants continue to arrive on the Greek islands 888 migrants and refugees arrived on the island of Lesvos, 463 persons reached the coasts of Chios island and 31 migrants and refugees arrived on Samos in the last 48 hours. A few hours before the first readmission of migrants to Turkey and the implementation of EU-Turkey's agreement a large number of refugees and migrants continue to arrive on the Greek islands. General News [10] Curator of Athens Festival Jan Fabre resigns Newly appointed Curator of the Athens and Epidauros International Festival Belgian Jan Fabre resigned on Saturday following a series of reactions caused by his decision the first year of his tenure to "consist of a tribute to Belgium". [11] Nadia Murad visits refugees in Idomeni Nadia Murad Basee Taha, visited on Sunday the refugees' camp in Idomeni. The 21 year-old woman Nadia Murad Basee Taha was abducted by ISIS from her village last August, she was used as a sex slave and raped until she managed to escape and go to Germany. More than 3,000 Yazidi women and children remain prisoners of jihadists, according to estimates. Murad held talks with her compatriots that are in Idomeni and other refugees and met with representatives of non-governmental organisations. In statements to ANA-MPA, she said that the condition in Idomeni and Piraeus port is unacceptable and noted that what we are before a 'humanitarian crisis". She said that all the refugees told her that they are waiting the borders to open and she told them that the borders will not open and it would be for their own interest to be transferred to temporary hosting centers. Nadia Murad underlined that the transfer procedures must be accelerated and that additional hosting centers should be created. [12] Frontex officers arrive on Lesvos to assist migrants' readmission to Turkey Approximately 350 Frontex officers from Germany, France, Portugal, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania arrived on Saturday and Sunday on Lesvos to assist in the refugees and migrants readmission process to Turkey. EU-Turkey agreement on the readmission of migrants from Lesvos is scheduled to start on Monday and 250 migrants will be sent back to Turkey accompanied by a Frontex officer. The procedure will be carried out with two, leased by Frontex, Turkish-owned vessels. According to information, the first readmissions do not refer to families but to individuals from north African countries, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Congo. [13] Patras-Athens march for the unemployed A march from Patras to Athens organised by Patras municipality with aim the implementation of measures against unemployment started on Sunday at 09:30 from the port city of Patras. Patras mayor Costas Peletidis who is leading the protest march stated "we demand from the government to take immediate measures for the relief of the jobless and with our participation in the march we are sending a message of hope that the policy that was us passive spectators, sheep ready to be slaughtered without a word, will not pass. We protest demanding work for all as well as measures for the protection of the jobless". The protest will finish in Athens on Sunday 10 April. [14] Weather Forecast Mostly fair weather and north-northeasterly winds are forecast for Monday. Wind velocity will reach 7 on the Beaufort scale. Partly cloudy in the afternoon in the northern and western parts of the country with temperatures ranging from 06C-22C. Mostly fair in the eastern parts with temperatures between 07C-22C. Scattered clouds over the Aegean islands and Crete, 11C-21C. Fair in Athens, 08C-21C; the same for Thessaloniki, 10C-20C. [15] Athens Headlines at a glance AVGHI: The agreement on the taxes. ETHNOS: (Prime Minister Alexis) Tsipras' answer to IMF's conspiracy: We will not leave Thomsen dissolve Europe. KATHIMERINI: What Brussels and IMF ask for the completion of the Greek review. PROTO THEMA: Germans represent Greece on labour issues. REAL NEWS: Shame...Disgrace! RIZOSPASTIS: Escalation of the popular action before the antipopular developments. TO VIMA: Mr. Schulz, the matchmaker. 36, TSOCHA ST. ATHENS 115 21 GREECE - TEL: 64.00.560-63 - FAX: 64.00.581-2 INTERNET ADDRESS: http://www.ana.gr - E-MAIL: anabul@ana gr - GENERAL DIRECTOR: Michalis Psilos Athens News Agency: Daily News Bulletin in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article
Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-04-05 Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/> CONTENTS [01] Pope Francis to visit island of Lesvos next week [02] Greek debt's sustainability issue must close with the completion of the review, says Econ Minister Stathakis [03] Refugees apply for asylum to avoid readmission to Turkey [01] Pope Francis to visit island of Lesvos next week Pope Francis intends to visit the eastern Aegean island of Lesvos on April 15, in order to draw attention to the plight of refugees and sensitise European and international public opinion to the issue. The Church of Greece on Tuesday confirmed that it had accepted the Pontiff's proposal to visit and had also extended an invitation to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the 'spiritual leader' of the Orthodox Church, to also pay a visit to the island at the same time. According to the ANA-MPA correspondent in Rome, news of the intended visit was leaked by sources in the Vatican, who also indicated that Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew may travel to Lesvos and pointed to the very close, fraternal ties between the two primates. The Pope has repeatedly brought attention to the refugee issue in recent weeks, appealing to all relevant institutions to assume due responsibility. He also visited the Italian island of Lampedusa, south of Sicily, and called for an end to the loss of human lives as people tried to reach Europe in order to escape war and extreme poverty. According to the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece, the visit also hopes to mobilise the international community's efforts for an immediate ceasefire in the Mediterranean and Middle East. Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece briefed the Synod regarding the Pope's request and the Synod accepted the proposed visit, suggesting that it take place on Lesvos. The last visit by a Pope to Greece was that by Pope John-Paul II in the year 2000. [02] Greek debt's sustainability issue must close with the completion of the review, says Econ Minister Stathakis Economy Minister George Stathakis called "out of place" and "misleading" reports on an alleged "reversal of the Greek government's position on the debt". According to reports, Stathakis speaking on Tuesday at the Greek-German Business Forum organised by the Economist in Berlin has allegedly said that the Greek debt is sustainable until 2022 and the issue is its long-term sustainability. Stathakis also said that the issue of the sustainability of the Greek debt must close with the successful completion of the program review, otherwise the attraction of long term investments will be very difficult. The same reports claimed that Stathakis said that the negotiation will be completed around April 27 and estimated that that the reforms in the taxation and the pension system will 'pass' without problems in the Greek parliament. Moreover, Stathakis stressed that currently he 'sees' strong circular growth and estimated that the business climate in Greece gets better day after day adding that economic growth will be recorded in the second half of 2016. The Greek minister also said that the Greek privatisations will probably bring up to 7-8 billion euros profit. [03] Refugees apply for asylum to avoid readmission to Turkey The number of asylum applications has risen significantly lately causing concern to the authorities. More and more refugees at the hot spots of Lesvos and Chios have applied for asylum to avoid their readmission to Turkey provided that in this way the readmission process freezes. The refugees that have submitted the relevant application will remain at the hotspots. According to the schedule, a total of 1,000 refugees were supposed to be send back to Turkey from April 4 to April 6. However, only 136 persons from Lesvos and 66 persons from Chios were send back on Monday while has not yet been specified when the next readmission of refugees and migrants will take place. 2,800 of the 3,021 persons hosted at Lesvos' hotspot have submitted an application while approximately 600 refugees and migrants of the 1,766 that are on Chios have also applied for asylum. Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article
Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-04-05 Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/> CONTENTS [01] IMF no longer necessary for Greece's stabilization, says ECB official [02] Archaic Kore from Acropolis Museum to be exhibited in Hermitage Museum [01] IMF no longer necessary for Greece's stabilization, says ECB official VIENNA (ANA-MPA/D. Dimitrakoudis) - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is no longer necessary for Greece's stabilization, from an economic point of view, a European Central Bank official said in a newspaper interview published on Tuesday. "That's a problem that the Europeans can solve alone," ECB Governing Council member Ewald Nowotny told Austrian newspaper Die Presse. Commenting on the possibility a debt relief for the country, he said "an explicit haircut is unlikely", adding that "Greece has already made great progress". Asked about the recent wiretapping of telephone conversations of top IMF officials, he declined to comment, adding he doesn't know anything about their authenticity. He noted however they constitute a blow to positive developments in Greece. [02] Archaic Kore from Acropolis Museum to be exhibited in Hermitage Museum One of the Athens Acropolis' finest and best-preserved votive korai - the archaic statues depicting young women - will be presented outside Greece for the first time on Friday, when it is put on display in the Roman Courtyard of the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. The statue, which leaves Greece for the first time, is travelling to Russia as one of the cultural exchanges organised for the Year of Greece and Russia 2016. The exhibition will be inaugurated on the Greek side by Greece's Culture Minister Aristidis Baltas and on the Russian side by St. Petersburg Governor Georgy Poltavchenko and Russian Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky. A culture ministry announcement said that the two countries are planning a series of such initiatives throughout the year, in order to further cement the bonds of friendship between the two countries. Such initiatives will also include the organisation of exhibitions, including archaeological exhibitions, that will give the Greek and Russian people an opportunity to become acquainted with important aspects of each other's culture. These exhibitions will begin with two separate "advance" presentations, the first of which was the loan of Greco-Scythian gold objects from the State Hermitage Museum to the Acropolis Museum on March 11, where they will remain until October 2, and the second being the Kore statue. The kore loaned to the Hermitage Museum was discovered in 1886 northwest of the Erechtheion. It is dressed in richly coloured clothing and jewellery and is lifting her long chiton as she walks. The hair, eyes, clothes and jewellery all retain traces of the original coloured pigments decorating the marble statue. Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article
Andersen Ross via Getty Images 'Pregnant woman lying on hospital bed, elevated view'

The emotional distress caused by a miscarriage constitutes a disability.

So says an interim decision by the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal in the case of Winnie Mou.

In 2013, Mou suffered a series of unfortunate events including an injury from a bad fall, the death of her mother-in-law and then a miscarriage. In February 2014, she was fired from her job at MHPM Project Leaders for performance issues.

Adjudicator Jennifer Scott ruled in her favour on March 14, defining miscarriage as a disability and thus allowing Mou to move forward with a wrongful termination suit against her former employer.

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"I also find the applicants miscarriage is a disability," Scott wrote in her decision. "It also is not a common ailment, and it is certainly not transitory. It is clear from the applicants testimony that she continues to experience significant emotional distress from the miscarriage even today."

Decision sets precedent, lawyer says

Scott's decision may have far-reaching effects, Mou's lawyer Morgan Rowe told CBC News.

"It should make it easier for the next woman who comes along who feels like an employer has relied on her miscarriage to penalize her in some way," the lawyer said.

The ruling is also in line with the Canadian Human Rights Code, which says women are entitled to workplace accommodation amid a series of "pregnancy-related conditions," such as miscarriages, stillbirths and abortions, and conditions that result from these losses.

Mental health after miscarriages

One such condition is emotional trauma.

"By labeling it as a traumatic loss, we validate the experience."

A 2012 study by the American Psychological Association found that women who suffer from pregnancy loss experience mental trauma for years, often even after the birth of a healthy child.

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"By labeling it as a traumatic loss, we validate the experience," said Martha Diamond, an expert cited in the study.

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What's next, poutine gravy?

Canadians are once again revolting against a major food company after Billy Bee honey was accused of abandoning the country's bee industry and importing its products from elsewhere.

A petition, which had 70,000 supporters as of Tuesday, calls on Billy Bee and its parent company, McCormick Canada, to "buy Canadian honey first and help ensure that the Canadian bee industry can remain a healthy one."

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"Canada's largest honey packer, Billy Bee, and their international corporate parent McCormick have all but stopped buying Canadian honey," the Change.org petition reads.

"Instead they choose to import cheaper honey from countries like China and Argentina and blend them with just enough Canadian honey so that they can still say Canadian on the bottle simply to improve their bottom line.

"There is definitely no shortage of Canadian honey!"

The petition was started by Allan Campbell, a beekeeper from Dauphin, Man., after Billy Bee told him the company wouldn't buy his product this year, Global News reported.

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"I have sold two or three loads of honey to Billy Bee for years and years," he said. "But this year, we're being told flat-out, 'No, we're not interested, we have everything we need.' That's all the explanation that a producer gets."

Campbell told CTV News that major honey companies have blended Canadian product with imports from other countries for some time.

The beekeeper said they do that because they claim there isn't enough honey available from the Great White North.

McCormick Canada spokesman Andrew Foust confirmed that Billy Bee, which has been called "Canada's favourite," makes its product using a "small portion of Argentinian honey," while its Natural Honey Farms brand uses Chinese honey.

But he also said that 85 per cent of the honey McCormick Canada uses comes from Canada.

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Kevin Nixon of the Canadian Honey Council said Canadian shoppers should be careful when they seek out honey.

Jars will have labels such as "Canada No. 1 White," but this is just a grading system, he told Global News. A shopper has to check the back to see whether the honey is made from Canadian, or Argentine or Chinese product.

"I find that misleading," Nixon said.

This isn't the first time that Canadians have taken on a food giant for not supporting Canadian produce.

Last month, Loblaws reversed a decision to yank French's ketchup from its shelves after public uproar.

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The backlash was prompted, in part, by a social media post in which an Ontario resident touted French's ketchup because it's made in Canada using Canadian tomatoes.

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Brandon University president Gervan Fearon addresses a crowd on March 10, 2016. (Photo: Twitter)

After piercing public backlash, a Canadian university has admitted its practice of using contracts to ensure silence by sex assault survivors is "not helpful."

"Categorically, we acknowledge it was not appropriate and is not appropriate in this case or in cases of sexual violence and sexual harassment," Brandon University president Gervan Fearon said during a press conference Tuesday.

Behavioural contracts have been used in two incidents in the schools recent history, according to acting vice-president Steve Robinson.

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Fearon said the contracts, which are "rarely" used, will be discontinued. A new sexual harassment policy will be adopted by September, he pledged.

Brandon University students are seen during an orientation event in 2012. (Photo: Facebook)

The small Manitoba university was forced to explain its controversial policy after it was revealed that administrators forcibly asked a survivor of sexual violence to sign a non-disclosure agreement about an on-campus incident.

"Theyre given this contract saying the only way the university can guarantee your safety and confidentiality is if you sign this agreement," Brandon University student Stefon Irvine told The Huffington Post Canada in an interview. "In their mind, its the only option they have."

Certain conduct expected of complainants

The two-page behavioural contract, made public by Irvine this week, outlines a code of conduct expected of students who file reports of rape and sexual violence on-campus.

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A student was asked to sign a behavioural contract after she came forward to school administrators with an allegation of on-campus sex assault. (Photo: Stefon Irvine)

One of the clauses in the document asks the student to "cease and desist any and all contact, both direct and indirect, with the male student with whom you had the incident."

It specifically mentions no email, phone calls, texting, or any form of social media. Direct face-to-face communication is also listed as prohibited.

Another stipulation asks students to "not discuss" the incident "with anyone other than a counsellor." Consequences, including possible suspension and expulsion, are hinted at if the rules are not followed.

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Abiding the contract is framed as "pivotal" to the students "future well-being and success."

I wasnt exactly shocked, because I know through the research that these contracts do exist and are silencing victims.  Stefon Irvine, Brandon University student

To Irvine, the language used in the contract is insensitive and treads on emotional manipulation.

The contract was forwarded to the on-campus group, We Believe Survivors, to collect Brandon University students accounts of sexual assaults. The group was set up after ex-CBC broadcaster Jian Ghomeshi's acquittal last month on charges of sex assault.

Irvine, a pre-psychiatric nursing student and lead organizer with the group, says six people have so far come forward with their stories; only one made explicit mention of the behavioural contract.

Seeing evidence of its existence at the school was disappointing, but not surprising, he said.

I wasnt exactly shocked, because I know through the research that these contracts do exist and are silencing victims. Just knowing that it was so close to home, it was definitely a little bit more alarming.

Slow response from university officials

Police confirmed to CBC News that officers looked into a sex assault claim at Brandon University last year. No charges were laid after interviews with both parties and consultation with the Crown.

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It shows the university is continually trying to sweep this issue under the rug.  Stefon Irvine, Brandon U student

Irvine criticized the universitys slow response to the controversy.

It shows the university is continually trying to sweep this issue under the rug, he said of the schools silence. Why arent they saying, Yes this is happening.

Students have organized an event for Wednesday to draw attention to on-campus sexual assaults and inadequate actions by school administrators.

Cross-Canada campus problem

Last year, a survey conducted by CBC News found 16 post-secondary schools reported zero incidents of sex assaults in the past six years.

Critics said the worrisome data signals that some schools arent doing enough to encourage survivors of rape and sexual violence to come forward for help.

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A University of Ottawa criminology professor told the broadcaster the zero-incidents count isnt linked to reality.

It's not counting what is the true experience of students, because there is no campus in which this doesn't exist, said Holly Johnson.

File photo of Brock University. (Photo: Facebook)

Canadian post-secondary schools have frequently faced criticism over how students reports of rape and sexual violence are handled.

Brock University in Ontario was forced to apologize after it was revealed that a former student was warned to be silent about a history professor who gave her alcohol, and forced himself onto her in his office.

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The university sincerely regrets the emotional trauma this incident has caused to the complainant, the school said in a statement on March 11.

Brock has a reputation, affirmed by its students, for providing a safe and welcoming environment, and is committed to living up to that reputation.

The professor no longer teaches on campus.

Human rights complaint launched

In Western Canada, staff at the University of British Columbia issued an open letter to students earlier this year apologizing for not acting on their behalf to demand better sexual assault policies.

Former University of British Columbia students Glynnis Kirchmeier and Caitlin Cunningham, back, listen during a news conference at the university in Vancouver in November 2015. (Photo: Darryl Dyck/CP)

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An investigation revealed it took a year and a half for the school to follow up on multiple sex assault complaints against a former student.

Former UBC student Glynnis Kirchmeier filed a complaint with the provinces human rights tribunal last week, alleging the school failed to act on complaints as far back as 2012 about a male PhD student, which allowed him to sexually assault more women.

None of the claims have been proven. The male student was expelled in November.

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The release of the Panama Papers, linking numerous world leaders and high-profile figures to offshore accounts, may be a good time to remind readers that Canada has a free trade deal with Panama.

Critics of the agreement have said it could make it harder for the government to investigate and prosecute tax evasion involving offshore accounts held in the country.

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The Harper government reached the deal with its Panamanian counterparts in 2009, agreeing to eliminate tariffs on 99 per cent of trade between Canada and Panama eventually, including trade in financial services.

Despite raising concerns about Panamas reputation as a tax haven, the Liberal Party voted to ratify the deal in parliament in 2012. The NDP, then the official opposition, voted against it. It has been in force since April 1, 2013.

Liberal MP Scott Brison, then the partys trade critic, said in 2009 that Panamas tax policies are an area where we have a concern.

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But he later argued in favour of the deal in parliament, saying it and other agreements in Latin America create opportunities for construction and infrastructure companies, opportunity for the financial services sector, for the agricultural sector. Brison asserted Canadian companies would help set the standard in terms of socially progressive and environmentally sustainable behaviours" in Latin America.

The leak of the Panama Papers brought one Canadian companys name into focus: Royal Bank, which was identified as having created 370 offshore companies in Panama through Mossack Fonseca, the law firm whose trove of account data was leaked.

According to the Toronto Star, some 350 Canadian individuals with offshore tax haven investments have been identified in the leaked documents.

"Having a trade agreement without first tackling Panama's financial secrecy would incentivize even more offshore tax dodging."

Setting up offshore corporations and accounts is not in and of itself illegal, and many businesses and wealthy individuals use them for legitimate purposes. But offshore accounts are notorious for being used to evade taxes.

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Activists argued the Panama trade deal could worsen the tax evasion phenomenon.

"The pact would give new rights to the government of Panama and the hundreds of thousands of offshore corporations to challenge Canadian anti-tax haven measures outside of the Canadian judicial system," Todd Tucker, research director at Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch, told parliament in 2010.

"The Canada-Panama trade deal would worsen the tax haven problem  As the OECD has noted, having a trade agreement without first tackling Panama's financial secrecy would incentivize even more offshore tax dodging."

The OECD reiterated its warning about Panama last month, telling G20 finance ministers the country was back-tracking on a promise to implement automatic sharing of financial account information.

"The consequences of Panamas failure to meet the international tax transparency standards are now out there in full public view. Panama must put its house in order, by immediately implementing these standards," OECD secretary general Angel Gurria said in a statement.

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Critics often accused the Harper government of dragging its feet on the issue of tax evasion. On that front, the new Liberal government has taken more concrete steps.

Their first budget, released last month, allocated $444 million to Canada Revenue Agency to help combat tax avoidance and evasion. The money is expected to have a big windfall, with the Liberals estimating it will help bring in $2.6 billion in additional revenue over five years.

For years, Canada was among the few developed countries that did not estimate its tax gap  the money the government loses to tax cheats every year.

Liberal Sen. Percy Downe said this week, following the Panama Papers release, that he has been assured Canada Revenue will now work to estimate this number.

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Canadian Corporations' Favourite Tax Havens See Gallery
Tails Of The Misunderstood

Two pups are fighting for recovery after being shot with with arrows and left for dead.

The pair, who are both just under one year old, were surrendered to a small, Calgary rescue shelter, after they were spotted wandering around Kananaskis Country "frightened and in severe pain," according to CBC News.

Kelly Cerato, president of the Tails Of The Misunderstood Canine Rescue Society wrote in a Facebook post the circumstances were "so inhumane, that it rips our stomachs and knots our throats."

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"They were hurt and almost killed by humans yet, when they see our faces, they wag their tails and gave me kisses," she wrote.

Cheveyo, left, and Kitchi, right, both required surgery after being shot with arrows. (Photo: Tails Of The Misunderstood Canine Rescue Society)

The canines were shot with large, fixed-blade arrows.

Kitchi had a leg amputated at Calgary's McKnight 24 Hour Veterinary Hospital and Cheveyo was operated on by a specialist, as the arrow was precariously close to vital organs, according to a Facebook post.

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Cerato posted on social media that the RCMP currently has an open investigation into the incident.

The archer, if found, could potentially face charges under both Alberta's Animal Protection Act and the Criminal Code of Canada.

The Huffington Post Alberta has reached out to the RCMP for comment.

Kitchi is learning how to walk with three legs. Article continues below.

Kitchi is breaking out tomorrow and will be on CBC in the am for the breakfast show.Who will be watching? Posted by Tails of The Misunderstood Canine Rescue Society on Monday, 4 April 2016

The bill for the dogs' surgeries came to between $5,000 to $6,000  much less than it should have been  thanks to the veterinary hospital's generosity, the National Post reported.

The group is looking for donations to cover the cost of the dogs' care until they can be put up for adoption.

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After being diagnosed with breast cancer in March, Mary Glasure desperately wanted to see her son in person.

For the past two years her son Cpl. Corey Hoffmaster was serving at the Marine Corps Air Station Yuma in Arizona.

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"I needed him home because he's my strength. Being in the Marines, he's the matter-of-fact, you've-got-to-do-this type," Glasure told Today.com about her son.

Much to her surprise, Hoffmaster not only got a 10-day leave to visit her, he also coordinated an elaborate surprise during her first chemotherapy treatment on March 16.

Dressed as a doctor, complete with a surgical mask, Hoffmaster harshly commented "I have a lunch appointment I need to get to so let's hurry up," upon entering the room.

Taken aback, Glasure simply stares back at the doctor saying "OK" before bursting into a fit of giggles. That's when Hoffmaster pulls off the mask giving his mother the surprise of a lifetime.

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Watch the video above for the whole emotional reveal.

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A criminal investigation is underway after an on-duty RCMP officer was killed in a crash near Victoria, B.C.

Const. Sarah Beckett, 32, was on general duty in a marked police car when it collided with a pickup truck in Langford at about 3:30 a.m. Tuesday. Paramedics who rushed to the scene were not able to revive her, said the RCMP.

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She leaves her husband and two sons under five years old, as well as her mother, sister and extended family.

'Absolute tragedy'

"Her family must now start to deal with this absolute tragedy," said Chief Supt. Ray Bernoties, district commander of the RCMP on Vancouver Island. "They ask for privacy as they grieve."

Beckett spent her entire 11-year career with the RCMP on Vancouver Island in general duty, media relations and as an investigator with the Integrated Major Crime Unit there. Her Facebook page indicates that she went to high school in Victoria.

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Const. Sarah Beckett began her career with the RCMP in 2005. (Photo: RCMP)

"It became clear very early this morning that Const. Beckett was a very popular member of the RCMP," said Bernoties.

RCMP Asst. Comm. Sharon Woodburn, the acting commanding officer, added: "She was a great police officer, truly dedicated to serving others."

The crash happened early Tuesday at Goldstream Avenue and Peatt Road in Langford, B.C. (Photo: Chad Hipolito/Canadian Press)

"The driver of the other vehicle was taken to hospital for a medical assessment, but his injuries are not considered serious. He is now in police custody," said Bernoties.

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Both the RCMP and the Saanich Police Department are investigating the incident.

Bernoties wouldn't say if the driver of the pickup truck was being pursued by police at the time of the accident.

"At this point I can't go into any details of the investigation whatsoever,'' he said.

Investigators examine the scene of the crash on Tuesday. (Photo: Chad Hipolito/Canadian Press)

Witness Jordan Coon told CHEK News he noticed the truck speed by his home and then heard the crash. He said it looked like Beckett may have been trying to cut off the other vehicle.

"At the speed he was going, there was no way he was going to stop, and he hit her directly on the door," he told the station. "His truck was right on top of her. His bumper was right inside her window."

'Their mother was a hero'

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted his condolences on Tuesday afternoon.

On behalf of the government, I offer my condolences to the family of RCMP Const. Sarah Beckett, who was killed today in the line of duty.  Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) April 5, 2016

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B.C. Premier Christy Clark issued a statement offering her condolences to Beckett's family.

"Nothing anyone can say will ease their pain during such a dark time. In the years to come, I hope they will take comfort in the knowledge that their mother was a hero,'' she said.

"Each and every day, police officers put themselves in harm's way to keep the rest of us safe. We should all take the opportunity to thank them more often.''

A page has been set up on the RCMP's website for people to post their condolences online.

Dark day for all of us, but your caring and support is truly heart-felt and we thank you so very much. #RCMPpic.twitter.com/zmc59sW8Id  West Shore RCMP (@WestshoreRCMP) April 5, 2016

Clarification: A previous version of this story said that Sarah Beckett had "just" returned to work from maternity leave. In fact, she had been back on the job for a year, clarified the RCMP.

With files from The Canadian Press

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In just two decades, Saudi Arabia could be a post-oil economy.

It makes a person wonder: How can Canada plan for a future beyond oil?

Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman plans on selling shares of the parent company of Saudi Aramco, the state-owned oil firm, and transfer its shares to the Public Investment Fund (PIF), a sovereign wealth fund controlled by the kingdom, Bloomberg reported last week.

A sovereign wealth fund is a pool of money that a country sets aside for investing. Alberta set one up in the 1970s, but didn't feed it, and it's tiny compared to the wealth funds of other oil exporters like Norway.

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Saudi Arabia's PIF, whose holdings include telecommunications, energy and aerospace, could one day control over $2 trillion in assets and "technically make investments the source of Saudi government revenue, not oil," Salman said.

The fund would be enough money to buy all of Apple, Berkshire Hathaway, Microsoft and Alphabet, Google's parent company, and have money left over, Bloomberg noted.

Moving off oil

Saudi Arabia signaled its plans to move away from oil as early as January, when officials with the kingdom said they were looking into sectors such as tourism, information technology and health care to help combat a budget deficit of up to $100 billion, Reuters reported.

"It's going to switch from simple quantitative growth based on commodity exports to qualitative growth that is evenly distributed," Saudi Aramco chairman Khalid al-Falih said.

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One Saudi minister said the kingdom had become infected with "Dutch disease," the idea that oil had pushed out other industries, but that it was looking to diversify.

But Saudi Arabia isn't the only country that has been dealt that label.

NDP leader Thomas Mulcair used the term to describe Canada in 2012, well before oil prices started plummeting.

Oil came to make up half of Canada's exports after the price jumped to $100 per barrel. And the economy has yet to recover from the shock of prices dropping below $30, before slightly recovering to around the US$35 mark.

When it does, the resource is likely to make up only 40 per cent of the country's exports, Bank of Canada deputy governor Lynn Patterson said last month.

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The trend has some wondering how Canada will adapt to a future with a reduced dependence on oil.

But there are signs of hope, as certain industries see uptick from a low Canadian dollar.

Other industries

Tourism is seeing increased activity as more Canadians take vacations at home, and American, Chinese, British and German visitors pour into the country, Maclean's reported in January.

Total international visits last year hit levels that hadn't been seen since before the 2008 financial meltdown.

But many observers say exporting services is Canada's economic future -- and the shift is already happening. As of November, 2015, the goods-producing sector of Canada's economy had shrunk by 2.5 per cent in a year, while the service sector expanded by 1.4 per cent.

Canada's long-term future "lies in selling services to people in other countries," Macleans recently argued. It noted a Conference Board of Canada report showing that exports were being driven by services such as tech advice and management consultation.

It probably won't be enough to buy Google. But it's a start.

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Truffle mac and cheese, bacon-wrapped dates and artisanal flatbreads  you'd expect to find these dishes at restaurants, but you can now find them at some Starbucks locations in Toronto.

As of 2 p.m. on Tuesday, the coffee giant will be serving up a series of small plates and alcoholic beverages at three Toronto cafes.

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Surprisingly, none of the locations are located in the city's downtown core, instead, eager fans will have to venture north to enjoy the new menu at either 3079 Bloor St. W., 446 Spadina Rd. or 1740 Avenue Rd.

Priced between $2.95 and $7.95, the small plates menu are pre-prepared and served warm upon ordering just like the chain's La Boulange bakery items.

Starbucks first launched their evening menu in Seattle back in 2010, and has expanded to over 300 stores across the U.S. According to a press release for the company, more Canadian locations are on their way.

Check out the complete small plate menu below.
OTTAWA  A federal NDP government should push to make the islands of Turks and Caicos Canada's 11th province, suggests a proposal that will be put forward at the party's national convention in Edmonton this weekend.

Resolution 1-92-16, supported by a group of Ontario riding associations, notes Canada could develop the islands into an "affordable tourism industry for all Canadians."

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It calls on party members to engage with lawmakers and citizens of Turks and Caicos Islands, and the British government  the archipelago of 40 small islands is a British overseas territory  to join Canada.

A beach on Turks and Caicos Islands is shown on June 15, 2015. (Photo: Dea/A. Vergani/Getty Images)

This resolution is one of dozens released Tuesday which will be prioritized Friday morning before a fuller discussion takes place on the convention floor.

Ex-Conservative MP advocated idea

Former Conservative MP Peter Goldring has long pushed to have the Islands become Canada's 11th province. In 2013, Turks and Caicos premier Rufus Ewing poured cold water on the idea after a meeting with Goldring and others in Toronto.

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Ewing said at the time he wasn't eager "to jump from one mother's nest to another mother's nest."

But when he visited Ottawa in 2014 to meet with then prime minister Stephen Harper, Ewing told reporters he wasn't "closing the door completely" on the idea.

Rufus Ewing, premier of the Turks and Caicos, leaves after speaking to media in the foyer of the House of Commons in Ottawa on May 26, 2014. (Photo: Sean Kilpatrick/CP)

Before retiring from federal politics last June, Goldring called Turks and Caicos "a work in progress" during his final speech in the Commons.

It's actually an idea that has been kicked around for nearly 100 years.

In 1917, former prime minister Robert Borden was given the brush-off when he tried to persuade Great Britain to let Canada annex the tropical paradise.

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In 1974, an NDP MPs private members bill proposing annexation also failed. Thirty years later, all three parties in Nova Scotia voted unanimously to invite Turks and Caicos to join the province, should the Caribbean islands ever want to become part of Canada.

According to The Globe and Mail, the Turks and Caicos Islands sent a "serious offer" to discuss joining Canada in the 1980s, but it was "politely ignored" as politicians focused on the Canada-U.S. free trade agreement instead.

The full resolution:

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UPDATE: United Airlines said Wednesday it has fired the flight attendant, but declined to release her name or details of her employment history with the company, according to The Associated Press. But Click2Houston.com reports her name is Julia Price.

Most people have never even seen the inflatable slide that deploys in aircraft emergencies  so the sight of one flight attendant using after a routine landing stunned onlookers.

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Click2Houston reports the incident happened around noon local time Monday after a United Airlines flight landed at Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston.

Just as the plane stopped at its gate, the flight attendant opened a door, inflated the slide and dropped her bag onto the ground before sliding down herself.

People watching from inside the airport were flabbergasted.

"That's insane. Why?" Sharon Lovedahl told the outlet. "Why would she do that?"

In a statement, United said an investigation is underway and the employee had been suspended.

ABC13 reports 159 passengers were on the flight from Sacramento. Six crew members, including the attendant in question, were also on board.

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The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration is looking into the incident, according to Chron.com.

No one was injured. The plane was put back into service after an inspection and a new slide installed.

This is not the first time a flight attendant has used the slide.

In 2010, a JetBlue employee named Steven Slater made his creative exit after announcing over the plane's intercom that a passenger had abused him and he was leaving his job. Before sliding off, he took two beers.

While United believes their employee intentionally exited the plane this way, accidental slide deployments are apparently common  and expensive.

In an internal November 2015 memo obtained by travel journalist Brian Sumers, United said there had been seven unintentional deployments that year.

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It warned attendants to make sure a lever on the plane's main door reads "disarmed" before opening it. If the lever is "armed," the slide will pop out automatically.

In 2014, the International Air Transport Association said accidental slide deployments cost the industry over US$20 million a year.

#IATA_CabinSafety: Inadvertent slide deployment costs industry over $20M/year says one of our cabin safety experts pic.twitter.com/OtBeFZE2Ml  IATA (@IATA) May 21, 2014

One has to wonder about the bill for this flight attendant's five-second joy-slide.
By Fransi Weinstein

I'll be very honest with you. When I was asked to write this article my immediate gut reaction was to run and hide. Which is exactly the response predators count on. That fear or revulsion or disbelief will keep us quiet, and they'll get away with their heinous acts. An unfortunate truth Jerry Sandusky's young victims, and countless others, know all too well.

Not one to turn my back on injustice it took about a nanosecond for me to agree. This Martin Luther King Jr. quote sums it up far more eloquently than I ever could: "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."

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Well, animal sexual abuse matters. All sexual abuse matters, but animals really are the most helpless of the helpless.

Let's keep this conversation going on behalf of all the four-legged victims who cannot speak for themselves -- that's one way of making sure attention remains focused on this issue.

There's a name for this kind of deviant behaviour

Bestiality. I knew that.

But what I would never have guessed is that those who are sexually attracted to animals generally start by the time they're 13. And they only stop when they're no longer sexually competent.

Equally unsettling is the fact that it's been going on for thousands of years, on foreign soil and right in our own backyards. It's rare that cases are reported, but they do occur, in just about every state of the U.S. and in Canada, as well.

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On Pet-Abuse.com, I found 77 reported cases (which sadly means there could be many more) between 2009 and 2013, in 32 U.S. states, involving dogs, puppies, cats, horses, foals, miniature horses, goats, pigs, show hogs, lambs, cows and mice. Yes, mice, your eyes are not playing tricks on you.

In some cases children and even a baby were involved. And that is something else I didn't know.

Nearly 40 per cent of animal sexual abuse-related cases also involve child sexual assault, abuse or exploitation. Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse. It reminds me of a line in the Wizard of Oz when Dorothy is talking to Toto and says: "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore." My eyes sure have been opened.

The news, however, is not all bad

Chandler Edwards, the only organization of its kind, trains enforcement officers, prosecutors, veterinarians and social workers on, among other things, how to spot signs of sexual abuse in animals.

I learned, on their website, that in the past 10 years in the U.S. the number of arrests has increased dramatically. And that enforcement agencies across the country are now beginning to report these arrests right alongside rapes, murders and other crimes.

In Canada, Animal Justice, a federally incorporated not-for-profit dedicated to advocating for the humane treatment of animals, recently participated in a ground breaking legal case that will decide if some forms of sexual abuse of animals are acceptable under Canadian law.

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As if that isn't remarkable enough, for the first time in Canadian history animal advocates were granted intervenor status and were allowed to make oral arguments before the Supreme Court.

Let's talk about the actual case: In Her Majesty the Queen v. D.L.W. (docket #36450), the accused was convicted of 13 out of 14 acts of sexual abuse -- the 14th being the only one that also involved a dog. He was acquitted because Canada's criminal code has a very narrow definition of bestiality: Anal intercourse with an animal. And horrific as this particular crime still was, anal intercourse did not take place.

It wasn't over yet, though. The Crown had an automatic right of appeal but, by a two to one majority, the B.C. Court of Appeal ruled in favor of the traditional definition "because that's what Parliament intended." The case was appealed again and, as I mentioned earlier, was heard by the Supreme Court of Canada last November.

Essentially what they are appealing is the definition of bestiality and whether or not it can be broadened to include any sexual contact.

This is the first time the interest of an animal has been considered in a criminal code provision. It's the first time the animal's perspective has been heard. And that's what makes this such a monumental case and so historically significant.

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Obviously I was interested in the outcome, who wouldn't be. So I contacted Peter Sankoff, the University of Alberta Faculty of Law professor who appeared as lead counsel for Animal Justice. He told me "the Supreme Court have not yet ruled, it was impossible to say when they would," but added that he believes "before June is a reasonable guess."

When I asked him what we, the animal-loving public, can do, he quite rightly said it would depend on the court decision, "because if they reject our view of bestiality Animal Justice will be front and centre pushing for an amendment to the Criminal Code."

He went on to suggest that we can look for updates on the Animal Justice website or by following him on Twitter.

To that I'd like to offer a couple of suggestions of my own:

Let's keep this conversation going on behalf of all the four-legged victims who cannot speak for themselves -- that's one way of making sure attention remains focused on this issue.

Another is to consider contributing to the organizations referenced in this article, including the ASPCA and the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies (CFHS). If not for them I would not have found any of this information.

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The commitment, compassion, talent and selflessness all these experts and volunteers bring to their jobs each and every day is truly inspiring. They need, and deserve, our deepest gratitude, encouragement and support.

And now I really need to go hug my two cats.

1 chandleredwards.org

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Awakening via Getty Images CROTONE, ITALY - MARCH 11: A gas platform operates in the sea in front of the city, from a distance less than 12 miles on March 11, 2016 in Crotone, Italy. A national referendum on oil drilling, brought about by regional governments concerned about the environmental impact, will be held in Italy on April 17, 2016. (Photo by Awakening/Getty Images)

On April 17 we Italians will vote on a referendum which aims to hinder oil drilling near our coasts. The Italian government instead forces new domestic drilling for reducing oil imports. Simply opposing oil rigs before our door is short-sighted if we keep on burning more and more oil, provided that it comes from distant countries.

This is why a group of environmental, economic, and religious association calls to protest against the large international conference of oil companies for developing ocean drilling, which will take place in the southwest of France, in Pau, April 5 to 7 (MCEE - Marine, Construction and Engineering Deepwater Development).

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According to the major world's organizations for the climate and for energy, 80 per cent of the known reserves of fossil fuels (coal, oil, gas) should be left in the ground if we want to reduce the chance that the average global temperature rises more than two degrees Celsius, well knowing that just the 0.8-degree increase in the last century probably did much damage).

Yet hundred billions dollars flow into investments -- which The Economist called "non-sense" (May 4, 2013), -- for developing and multiplying ocean drills, betting on the inefficacy of public policy climate.

Offshore rigs and drilling ships are a marvel of engineering. The most impressive reaches the seabed 3,000 metres deep.

Its cost is a few billion dollars, its revenue is predicted in the tens of billions -- or it could be the value of its local damage, in the event of an accident. This is called "venture capital," particularly attractive when revenues are private, and damage public.

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This already happened in 2010 with the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Indeed, no one knows how to prevent an oil catastrophe 3,000 metres underwater.

Oil accidents are only one of the four damages caused by the fossil fuel business. However serious, this damage is local, relatively rare and often remediable. The three other damages instead are global and almost certain.

Damage number two, the worst, is the acceleration of global warming, with catastrophic consequences for the environment, billions of people and the economy itself. Damage number three is the threat to the global economy.

According to some analysts, the world economy is threatened by a huge carbon bubble. If this eventually bursts, fossil fuel industries could rapidly lose value or risk bankruptcy, with dramatic consequences for investors who have entrusted to them trillions of dollars.

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Carbon Tracker, a London financial think-tank, studies precisely the risk of this "carbon bubble" and advises institutional, ethical and other investors on how to divest from fossil fuels, before it's too late.

The withdrawal from the fossil business of investors such as the Rockefeller Foundation (former oil barons) and the Gates Foundation indicates that the fossil fuel divestment movement is taken seriously.

This is what climatologists call carbon budget, the amount of CO2 that we can still spend while avoiding the worst climatic consequences.

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If all the fossil fuel in the of fields of the mining companies (that is what determines their financial value) would be burned, they would emit about 2800 Gt of CO2.

More than three-quarters of these hydrocarbons are therefore "unburnable carbon," to be considered as stranded assets.

Finally the fourth damage related to the use of fossil fuels is societal: corruption and crime emerging in these days from certain Italian oil affairs are slight if compared to corruption, wars, coups, dictatorships, massacres, targeted assassinations (think of Enrico Mattei, founder of the state-owned oil company ENI) and other crimes related to part of the fossil business.

Yes, winning the Italian referendum on April 17 could hinder coastal drills around Italy. But we Italians should be aware that giving up our domestic fossil fuels means consuming more oil to move the ships that bring it from other continents.

Furthermore, some of this distant oil triggers wars and coups, such as in the Middle East and elsewhere, and causes environmental disaster and human devastation, as in Nigeria, Ecuador and elsewhere.

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The best way to prevent these disasters is drastically reducing the consumption of fossil fuels, accelerating the transition to renewable energy, boosting energy efficiency and reducing (those who can) the material level of our lifestyles.

About 80 per cent of our commercial energy comes in fact from fossil fuels. Virtually every product and service we use (and some more intensely than others) depends on the direct or indirect use and waste of coal, oil and gas. Yes, we Italians cherish our beaches. But defending them from the oil drills definitely is not enough.

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Stuart Dee via Getty Images Canadian dollar bills spread out.

Improving political fundraising regulations in Ontario, British Columbia and other provinces with outdated or overly opaque regulations doesn't have to be difficult or time consuming. Here are five easy fixes that would have immediate benefits.

1. Only voters should be able to donate

It seems obvious, but it's not currently the law in Ontario: If you're not eligible to vote in an election, you shouldn't be able to influence that election with your cash. Ban all donations from: corporations, trade unions and trustees for deceased person's estate, and from any anonymous sources.

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You should be eligible to donate money, goods or services to a political party, candidate or constituency association, to support the election of a candidate to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario if you are a resident of Ontario currently eligible to vote in a provincial election.

2. Contribution limits should reflect voting rights

You can only vote in one location during an election, so you should only be able to donate in one electoral district. Currently you can donate to multiple candidates and multiple constituency associations in multiple electoral districts.

Politics is an expensive business and eliminating corporate/union donations will put financial stress on the political system until it adapts. Contribution limits are currently generous, but not ridiculous if the changes above are made. Most donors will donate to only one candidate, party or constituency association, unless they are very wealthy and donating to competing candidates, parties, etc. in order to "support the democratic process."

In Ontario, for example, you should be able to donate: Up to a total of $9,975 to the central fund(s) of one or more registered political parties, in any year.

An additional amount up to a total of $9,975 to the central fund(s) of one or more registered political parties, for each campaign (writ) period.

Up to a total of $6,650 annually to registered constituency associations, but not more than $1,330 to a single constituency association, in the electoral district in which you are eligible to vote.

Up to a total of $6,650 to registered candidates, but not more than $1,330 to a single candidate, in the electoral district in which you are eligible to vote, during a campaign (writ) period.

3. Elections are for parties, candidates & voters to decide

Third Party advertising and communication campaigns are common tactics used to "work-around" legal limits on political spending during election campaigns. All Third Party issue-based/political paid communication during the writ period should be banned. This would clear the field for candidates and their parties to communicate with voters directly and within lawful limits.

Attempting to impose spending limits on Third Party communication during writ periods has proven ineffective; Special interest campaigns simply share costs among allies and subsidiary/related organizations. This limit on a Third Party's freedom of speech, however, should not extend beyond the campaign period.

Third Parties should be allowed to spend whatever they want on issue-based/political communication outside a campaign (writ) period. But, all issues-based/political communication/spending by Third Parties during a campaign (writ) period should be banned.

4. Be proud of funding democracy

If you donated $250 to the Rhino Party or $8,000 to the Liberals, there's nothing to be ashamed of.

All donations, from every donor, should be reported to the respective provincial/federal elections authority -- on a regular and frequent basis (not less than quarterly.) These reports should be publicly accessible on the Internet.

5. More Canadians should be encouraged to donate

Currently, only the very wealthy and those people actively involved in political parties are likely to maximize their political contributions, despite a relatively generous tax credit for political donations (of up to 75 per cent) from both the federal and provincial government. Ontario's tax credit is refundable, though the federal credit is not. My proposed changes would likely reduce the maximum political contribution made by a partisan donor in Ontario (i.e. one who supports one party/candidate only) by up to $10,640.

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To encourage broader participation in political donations, governments should consider making tax credits for political donations more generous, though this would come at a cost to the taxpayer.

How hard is that?

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Jason Lugo via Getty Images A little toddler girl shoving cheerios in her mouth.

The gluten-free food industry is booming with sales in this category alone as of 2015 at $11.6 billion.

With this kind of growth, pretty much every food company under the sun wants in on this lucrative market. With new companies popping up all over the place, how can you know what and who to trust to provide you with 100 per cent SAFE gluten-free food?

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Because gluten can be a matter of life and death for some celiacs, it is imperative that they can trust that the companies they buy from are in fact safe and completely free of gluten.

If you are not affected by cross-contamination or celiac disease, you might not care, but if gluten is something that you cannot consume -- even in small amounts -- vigilance matters.

You can be sure if a product has a GF certification logo on it, it will be safe. But if a product box is marked gluten-free without any certification, do your due diligence: call and ask these questions:

Is the product made in a dedicated gluten-free facility or do you have gluten items in the same manufacturer with shared equipment?

What steps do you take to prevent cross-contamination, and can you guarantee that there is no cross-contamination?

Do you look at allergen statements when you purchase your raw materials?

Do you test the final product for gluten? If so, does the product consistently fall below 20 ppm?

Is your staff trained in understanding gluten-free?

I can't even count how many times I've been told, "Really! It's gluten-free!"

I always let people know that I have two kids with Celiac; I do this because knowing that makes people feel they can trust me. I created a gluten-free company because our family needs to eat this way. And I dedicate much of my life to educating myself, developing gluten-free food that is delicious to eat and to making life a little easier for other families.

You can be sure I have talked with doctors and gastroenterologists about what is safe and what is not.

How many times have you chucked all critical thinking aside just because you read something and immediately hoped that if it says so, then it must be true? It says gluten-free, so it must be, right?

But how can you be sure? What do you really know? Has everyone in that bakery looked at the allergen statements of every listed ingredient? Do they have policies and procedures in place to ensure safety? Do they test their products? How do you know?

A box marked "gluten-free" is no guarantee that it is, especially if the bakers are not aware or trained to know.

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My company, DeliciousWithout.com, is in the final stages of getting our gluten-free certification. This process has been an arduous labour of love, especially since our company is still in its infant stages.

All ingredients in the facility have undergone extensive research to ensure safety. Allergen forms, audit certifications and gluten-free letters have been collected for every single one of them.

Every allergen has been identified to avoid cross contamination and every lot number of every ingredient of every recipe is recorded to ensure traceability.

We are testing for gluten and other allergens in ingredients and in final products. We train each of our staff members to use the best practices in food preparation and also in understanding gluten and allergen contamination and safe practices.

We never buy ingredients that are on sale or convenient -- we receive ONLY what is researched and approved ahead of time.

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The gluten-free food industry is populated by companies who make everything in the same facility, some that change their ingredient statements to fit a gluten-free profile and those that never planned to produce gluten-free products but badge their products "gluten-free" because there's money to be made in this market.

There is nothing in this world more important than the safety, health and well-being of our children and us. We have every right to expect to feel safe, to be able to trust the totality of the ingredients and markings on a box of food we bring home to serve.

We shouldn't have to think twice about it.

When you see the Gluten Free Certification Logo on your favourite products you should know that much work goes into getting this stamp of approval. Even though the people who buy these gluten-free products that are more accessible and easy to find than ever have their own reasons for consuming them, they still need to be certifiably 100 per cent safe for celiacs.

To drive the point home, note that even a big guy like General Mills can get messed up, as in the case with Cheerios, having to recall almost two million boxes labeled "gluten-free."

I look forward to the day when there's accountability behind every claim, but meanwhile I will live up to my commitment as a provider of 100 per cent safe, certified and hope that we continue to please you and keep your trust.

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Marcy Maloy via Getty Images Young female nurse and senior woman embracing.

The first Tuesday of April is National Caregiver Day in Canada. It is a day designated to recognize and honour the countless hours of support that 8.1 million Canadian caregivers are providing to their family and friends with health issues.

More than six million Canadians -- 35 per cent of the workforce -- are also juggling the demands of caregiving and paid work. And more than one in four of these caregivers (28 per cent) are raising their children.

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It's more than just balancing family and work. Caregivers want to provide the best care possible to the person in their care, they want to make meaningful contributions at work, and they want to raise engaged and well-adapted children.

It's a lot to take on, and it's a difficult workload to maintain. Ultimately the caregiver has to make sacrifices in some area of their life, and it's usually their own emotional, physical or mental well-being that suffers the consequences. Sound familiar? Probably.

You may not be able to fix anything or offer the perfect advice, and that's completely fine. Sometimes just being there as a sounding board is exactly what a caregiver needs.

It's also important to recognize the positive and rewarding aspects of caregiving. As a caregiver you make an incredibly meaningful difference in someone's life, each day. You are there when they need you most, and there are many beautiful moments together with the person you are caring for.

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You become part of something that is bigger than yourself -- many caregivers describe how the experience forever changes their perspective on life. You are more kind, more grateful, and you realize what is truly important in life.

If you are not a family caregiver already, you will more than likely be one at some point in the future. Caregiving is a role that is very rewarding, yes, but one that is also physically, emotionally and financially stressful.

National Caregiver Day is an important opportunity to bring these issues to the forefront. We need to have conversations about how we can collectively address and reduce the pressures on our caregivers. We need to honour and support Canada's caregivers each and every day.

I've answered calls from, and spoken to, thousands of Canadians facing challenges associated with providing care, whether or not they realized they were "caregivers."

When you suddenly find yourself in the role of caregiver -- for an older parent who has developed health issues, a spouse who has an accident or a new diagnosis, a child with special needs or a friend who has cancer -- you are also still carrying all the responsibilities of your normal life.

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You can feel overwhelmed by decisions and questions, such as "What treatment options do we choose?" "Does someone need to move?" "Can I keep working?" "Can we afford to hire private care?"

Even just finding the support to make informed choices can be tough.

What can you do to help? Three ways to support caregivers:

Offer help

Friends and family have the best of intentions when they say "let me know if there is anything I can do to help." Caregivers are often juggling so many things that it's more helpful to offer specific support. For example, we know that 73 per cent of Canada's caregivers spend time providing transportation.

Can you offer a drive to and from appointments sometimes? Or, say "I'm heading to the grocery store tomorrow morning. What can I pick up and drop off for you?" or "I know a massage therapist who does home visits, and I know you are interested in some alternative pain relief treatments for your mom. Can I look into setting up an appointment?"

Arrange professional support

Caregivers may be focused on multiple day to day decisions and unaware of the range of professional services available to support them. Elizz offers a range of support services for caregivers, including:

Caregiver coaches who provide support by phone and email that is tailored to each caregiver's situation

Group support to connect with other caregivers and learn skills from experts

Online professional counselling to deal with issues such as family dynamics, stress and grief

Nurse advisors to act as go-to consultants, and help caregivers prepare for appointments and understand medical information

Include caregivers

Often caregivers who spend the majority of their time providing care experience more social isolation over time. Of course a friend may need to decline a dinner invitation because her husband needs her, but don't stop inviting her. Better yet, bring dinner over one night so that she doesn't have to cook. Caregivers need their own support network now more than ever.

Spend time together, and really listen to them. In caregiving each day is ripe with discoveries in caregiving, parenthood, work and yourself. Fears. Joys. Failures. Frustrations. Hopes and many almost-just-right successes. You may not be able to fix anything or offer the perfect advice, and that's completely fine. Sometimes just being there as a sounding board is exactly what a caregiver needs.

To learn more about caregiving and how to find support, visit Elizz.com

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Getty Images Canada Day in Ottawa, Canada.

An open letter to Mayor Jim Watson and Ottawa City Councillors:

I've been encouraged to write an advocacy letter supporting Uber's continued operation in Ottawa. I've been encouraged by friends, drivers and Uber itself. But I can't do that.

I use Uber several times a week, but I am not sufficiently informed to advocate a credible position that navigates complexities of insurance law or reconciles what to do when disruptive technologies erode the value of a retirement asset such as a hardworking taxi driver's medallion.

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And so I'd like to tell my story of how I use Uber. I want to tell my story because there is nothing exceptional in it: this is a "uniquely common" story. Once I've crossed this threshold, I'll let you decide whether the following three things are enough to balance the trade-offs:

Uber has encouraged me to see more of Ottawa than I ever would have Uber has made owning a car unnecessary for now Uber has allowed me to meet some inspirational people

1. The City

Like many people living in Ottawa, I wasn't born here. I experienced how easily years can go by without visiting the museums and cultural attractions this city has to offer. In contrast, since riding with Uber, it has become easy to go to a museum on a Thursday evening or Rockcliffe Park on a Saturday afternoon.

Similarly, my fiancee and I used Uber to criss-cross the city looking at wedding venues. We were also able to go to the Clarkson Cup -- buses don't run from the Canadian Tire Centre after non-major events on Sunday evenings, but Uber does.

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(Note: I'll never take an Uber to a REDBLACKS game -- the only way to get in the spirit is to squeeze into a bus with 75 other fans.)

Because I don't need a car, I can rent out a parking space in the Byward Market and donate the money to a local women's shelter.

2. The Savings

You may ask, couldn't I have done all of this with taxis? That's a valid question. In contrast to this letter, a polished advocacy letter would be able to provide rational reasons. Perhaps Uber's lowered cost, ease and speed, or customer service. All I can say is that I lived in this city for years before riding with Uber and I did none of that. Since riding with Uber I've done all of that.

I am frequently tempted to get a car -- I know myself well enough that I would take it everywhere. That's what I did when I lived in Edmonton. But now, I walk virtually everywhere because I can use Uber when I need.

Because I don't need a car, I can rent out a parking space in the Byward Market and donate the money to a local women's shelter. As well, my fiancee who is more environmentally conscious than I am reminds me that lowering emissions from vehicles just might be a good thing, too.

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... he wants to serve the country he chose. I am hard-pressed to think of a time I felt as proud to be a Canadian.

3. The People

This city is filled with incredible people. I am inspired by so many of the Uber drivers who describe that their reason for driving is that it's a way to better their lives.

One of my first Uber drivers overcame incredible odds to become the manager at a Boston Pizza; now he supplements this income with Uber, working a combined 70-hour week to achieve his dream of owning a Boston Pizza franchise.

Just the other day I climbed into Uber dressed in my military uniform. The driver asks for my advice: he recently became a Canadian citizen and wants to serve in our Canadian Armed Forces. He is finding the recruitment process complicated and is looking for helpful suggestions, because he wants to serve the country he chose. I am hard-pressed to think of a time I felt as proud to be a Canadian.

I am pleased to add my voice to other Uber passengers who experience substantial benefits riding with Uber. I recognize we live in a two worlds simultaneously -- one of traditional taxis and one of Uber ridesharing -- and we are relying on you, Mayor Watson and Ottawa City Councillors, to execute the challenging task of balancing these two worlds.

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This decision is about more than just rates, fares, discounts, surges and other financial questions. The decision is about what we can do together to promote the things we think are the best about our city. And I believe that Uber has a role in helping us promote those.

For your consideration.

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When I tell people about picking up my life and moving abroad permanently I am often greeted with a similar response: something along the lines of "you're so brave" or "I could never do that." While leaving Canada, where I was born and raised, and moving to England on my own was certainly a daunting prospect, I don't consider myself brave. The truth is that it's not as hard as people make it out to be.

To be fair I didn't have to deal with many of the challenges other people weigh when considering an international move. I'm not yet tied down to a family or a mortgage, and leaving to go to university seemed like the perfect opportunity. Coming to an English-speaking country I didn't have to worry about a language-barrier either.

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The one word of warning I'm prepared to give is that moving to a city is nothing like being a tourist there.

However I've heard a lot of other young people say they would like to move somewhere else, but they don't think they could go through with it. My advice is that if you are serious, the best thing you can do is to just go for it. I'm not saying buy a plane ticket without a plan, but if you are prepared and willing, I have found that most things have a way of working themselves out.

All of this is not to say there will not be challenges. It is important to prepare for a settling in period, and to understand that period will undoubtedly be uncomfortable. During my first week in London I got lost every single day. I remember coming back to my room at night and crying, genuinely considering the possibility that I'd made a huge mistake leaving Vancouver. However I've found that very quickly you learn to navigate the city, both literally and figuratively, and the experience becomes far more exciting than overwhelming.

I would also say it's important to seriously consider if you actually want to live somewhere else, or just travel. The one word of warning I'm prepared to give is that moving to a city is nothing like being a tourist there. You may love a city as a visitor, but your love will be tested when you are running late trying to find somewhere in a part of town you're not familiar with when it starts to pour rain and your phone dies.

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While the tourist oriented parts of the city are still there to indulge in when you can, my life is full of a lot less iconic London black cabs and a lot more being crammed on the tube during rush hour. While I'd been to London before on vacation and liked it a lot, I've learned to love and appreciate London in a completely different way as a resident.

If you are sure you want to move abroad, I can't recommend it highly enough. I do miss my family dearly, but other than that I have found most of the hang-ups people have about moving are not that big a deal. If you immerse yourself in your new city you will quickly figure out how things work. You will develop a routine. You will find your favourite neighbourhoods. Someone will ask you for directions and you will know where to send them. Before you know it you will make friends that feel like family. And then one day, without even noticing it, in casual conversation you will refer to your new city as "home."

There will certainly be difficulties that come with moving abroad, but if you embrace those difficulties they will rarely be insurmountable. So go forth and find home wherever your heart is.

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Death and devastation of the poor and defenseless has become a cultural norm in Kerala. And even as people and elephants are dying in stampedes at an alarming rate, the masses continue to cling on to their misguided myths.

Four elephants and six people have died in almost 220 incidents of stampedes over the past three months this year. The most recent casualty was a 55-year-old bull elephant, Keshavankutty owned by the infamous Guruvayur temple, a popular rental that fetched a significant amount of money for parading in cultural festivals. He was loaded on a truck and driven to another temple, 120 kilometers away from his jail cell at Punnathoor Kotta, the so called "Captive Elephant Sanctuary." The bull was forced to parade on the 24th 25th and 26th of March. But unable to cope with his deteriorating health he collapsed a couple of days later, dying a miserable death on the temple grounds.

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Tragic Death of a Gentle Giant; Photo: Heritage Animal Task Force (HAFT)

To be sure, it wasn't a sudden death. The Heritage Animal Task Force (HATF) Secretary Mr. Venkitachalm decries, the bull was allegedly suffering from pulmonary disease and severe indigestion. Indeed the elephant was struggling to stand all along, but his symptoms were ignored by the festival organizers. Mr. Venkitachalam says the poor animal was so hungry that he began to eat sand from the ground, which could have exacerbated his digestive condition, causing his sudden death.

"Both the Guruvayoor Devaswom and Malabar Devaswom Board officials failed to give proper diagnosis and medical care for that ailing Elephant."

Another tragedy on March 28th involved an elephant named Vedakkumnathan Ganapathy, aka Lucky Prasad. Sick and tired of torture and abuse, he unleashed his wrath after he was brought to a temple in Palakkad district. He killed his mahout and ran amok, leaving a trail of devastation along the way, uprooting trees, and destroying vehicles and properties. In fact he became so furious that he picked up a car from the temple premises and rolled it 80 meters away.

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Vedakkumnathan Ganapathy Unleashes his Wrath; Still Shot Cell Phone Video: HATF

Vedakkumnathan Ganapathy toppled vehicles; Photo: HATF

This being his first "murder", he was soon labelled "killer elephant," but nobody seem to recognize his pain and suffering that pushed him to act this way in the first place. They used illegal weapons to capture and torture the defenseless animal, as thousands of people watched the "spectacular chase" while the poor animal was in agony. He was then transported to Trissur city, where preparations are underway for the Trissur Pooram festival.

The elephant was captured and tortured, as the crowd looks on; Photo: HATF

Mr. Venkitachalam claims the elephant's owner has no valid certificate as required by the Declaration of Wild Life Stock Rule, 2003, and Vedakkumnathan Ganapathy is kept illegally by a bankrupt realtor who doesn't have the resources to care for the elephant. He will also be paraded unlawfully at the world renowned festival in Trissur that begins early morning April 16th and continues non-stop for 36 hours.

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Defenseless Vedakkumnathan Ganapathy after his capture; Photo: HATF

Here's some perspective on the nexus of illegal trade covering up criminal trails. This elephant has changed three owners. His original name was Lucky Prasad, first kept by a Christian family in Kottayam district that sold him to a Trissur resident. The elephant's name was conveniently changed to Pananchery Neelakandan as the paperwork was missing. Two years back he was illegally sold for the third time to the real estate businessman who gave his current name, Vedakkunathan Ganapathy.

The sad reality is, each time these elephants change owners they have to undergo a process called "crushing of spirit". It entails groups of drunken men beating the living daylights out of these defenseless docile animals that are chained to ensure that they become familiar with the commands of their new mahouts. We've gathered undercover footage of the atrocious treatment of bull elephants featured in our multiple award winning and United Nations nominated film Gods in Shackles.

Venkitachalam says, "Lucky Prasad is a living example of an elephant which is being tortured by ever changing owners and mahouts. The state govt. of Kerala is favoring the parading of elephant having no ownership certificates in violation of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972."

Meantime, the Kerala forest department has registered criminal charges against Bharathan Menon, for parading his elephant Vedakkumnathan Ganapathy illegally and defying the August 2015 Supreme Court order that prohibits use of elephants without valid ownership certificate. He faces two more criminal charges, for property loss of more than one crore Rupees ($166,500 Plus USD), and another, for issuing fraudulent checks.

According to Venkitachalam, Bharathan Menon has a history of violations. In 2013 the Kerala Forest Department seized an elephant named Hariprasad from his custody, after he was convicted by the Kerala High Court for transferring the elephant illegally from Assam to Kerala. And sadly, this story rings true for many elephants in Kerala.

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The issues surrounding the elephants of Kerala are spiraling out of control. It seems the state authorities are standing helplessly on the sidelines watching these tragedies unfold. Meanwhile, much of the world is unaware of the harsh realities that are cleverly masked by the glitz and glamour. Tourists will soon converge for the world renowned Trissur Pooram festival oblivious to the suffering of the elephants, as the vicious cycle of torture and abuse continue behind the curtain of cultural festivals.

Gods in Shackles lifts off the cultural veil and exposes the truth. Please continue to donate to help us bring into the world Gods in Shackles by Clicking HERE and end elephant slavery.
Joe Raedle via Getty Images CHARLOTTETOWN, CANADA - MARCH 24: Harp seal pups lie on an ice floe in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence March 24, 2008 in Charlottetown, Canada. Canada's seal hunt is expected to start later this week while the government has said this year 275,000 harp seals can be harvested. The Humane Society International/Canada and The Humane Society of the United States have condemned the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans following its announcement of the 2008 commercial seal hunt quota. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

With sadness I read the news this week: the non-aboriginal seal hunt is set to open off the East Coast of Canada on April 10th. While the quota has yet to be announced, it is expected to remain at 400,000 harp seals, 60,000 grey seals and 8,200 hooded seals -- although it seems likely that only a fraction of that will be reached.

Media reports suggest that processors may be willing to buy up to 60,000 seal skins this year, but with processors acknowledging they already have stockpiles of unwanted skins, it is unclear what will be done with them.

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There is no question that commercial sealing is an industry in decline. Despite tens of millions of dollars in government support, the hunt is at one of its lowest points in history. Processors have relied heavily on government loans in recent years in order to purchase sealskins, but with 35 countries now banning the import of seal products few commercial markets remain.

As a public policy, the seal hunt has been a failure.

So why does it continue?

Were it not for politicians' eagerness to capitalize on this fear, the sealing industry would have disappeared long ago.

In Atlantic Canada, the seal hunt is an issue protected by intimidation and politics, and driven by fear. The seal hunt is an important part of the region's culture and history, and is symbolic of a way of life in rural Newfoundland and Labrador. The fact that the seal hunt was -- and continues to be -- a story of human tragedy, worker exploitation, and tragic loss of life at sea is lost in a sepia-toned haze of nostalgia.

The seal hunt is alive and well in the hearts and minds of those who band together to defend what is perceived to be an attack on their culture, traditions, and way of life -- while in reality, the hunt has all but disappeared. Fewer than a thousand sealers have participated in the hunt in recent years, with government memos acknowledging the hunt costs five times more to administer than its export value.

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Were it not for politicians' eagerness to capitalize on this fear, the sealing industry would have disappeared long ago. But defending the seal hunt, combined with spending millions of dollars to create the illusion of a non-existent market for seal products, has been a political win since the Liberal government set out to revive the industry in 1996.

And although Prime Minister Justin Trudeau campaigned on a promise of "real change," it is now clear that when it comes to the non-aboriginal seal hunt, his government intends to defend the status quo.

The Canadian government's unwillingness to adapt to changing circumstance threatens not only harp seals, who are facing increased mortality from climate change as it reduces the ice floes they need to give birth to their pups. It also threatens sealers and puts them at unnecessary risk. It has been eight years since the tragic sinking of the sealing vessel Acadien II. Like most sealing vessels, the boat was not designed, constructed, or adequately modified for navigation in ice.

It's time to admit our failures, to stop romanticizing the past, and to start talking about the future of the non-aboriginal seal hunt.

Shockingly, the government has continuously refused to act on the Transportation Safety Board recommendation that all fishing vessels operating in ice -including those participating in the seal hunt -- are structurally suited for their operating environment, neglecting to include this in the most recent updates to the Fishing Vessel Safety Regulations proposed by the Transportation Safety Board.

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It's 2016. Times have changed. The sealing industry has changed. And the Canadian government has changed in name -- but so far, not in action. Newfoundlanders and Labradorians deserve better than empty promises and a dependence on an industry that is cruel, incredibly dangerous, brings in very little income for the sealers involved, and relies on government subsidies to exist.

It's time to admit our failures, to stop romanticizing the past, and to start talking about the future of the non-aboriginal seal hunt. Please take action, and ask Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to stop propping up the commercial sealing industry. It's time to bring real change to Atlantic Canada.

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Dolphin watching has grown to be one of the most successful types of tourism in the world, offering economic returns as well as educational, research, and conservation benefits. It has shown a growth rate 3 to 4 times higher than other forms of tourism and has transformed many communities. It does however beg the question: Can this industry remain sustainable and continue to have the benefits, economic and ecological, for the communities?

In addition to the obvious direct economic benefits to the local communities that come hand-in-hand with increased tourism, dolphin watching can help provide indirect benefits such as an alternative source of income and a diversification in business for competing local stakeholders. A solid example of such stakeholders are local fisheries. Fisheries are known to be impacted by dolphin populations not only through competition for fish stocks but also through the inadvertent destruction of fishing equipment by the animals. In many cases dolphin populations have even been known to be actively culled because of it. A dolphin watching industry in which people who would otherwise be competitors are employed, instantly transforms them into allies with a vested interest in protecting cetaceans.

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The goal however of high quality, sustainable dolphin watching is not just for it to be commercially successful and sustainable. Dolphin watching has as a main mission to educate people about the sea and the need for its conservation. The appeal of dolphins can in a way be "used" as a flagship species to promote a more general biophilic sense in urban humans and inspire them to preserve and protect

the marine environment.

Reducing ones "footprint" is a key concept in the provision of high quality dolphin watching. This would include (among others) limitations such as reducing the time and area in which whale watching boats can be active which can massively help with reducing the ecological impact the industry may have, limitations in the distance that must be maintained when approaching the animals, the number of boats that can approach a group of animals at any given time, the time they can remain in their vicinity and the times a particular group can be repeatedly visited.

To judge the success of the industry, one has to weigh the benefits of the industry against its disadvantages. The key elements in achieving the desired outcome, as defined by Erich Hoyt in "A Blueprint for Dolphin and Whale Watching Development, are the following:

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Good long-term management

Strict and regular scientific input

Attention to the values of conservation

Investment in people, both local and visiting, good customer care and community relations

Educational input and output

For such strategies to work there is however a need for a strong legal component with regulations, enforcement, and education as well as close cooperation between dolphin-watching operations, government agencies, NGOs and researchers.

As a conclusion, dolphin-watching can be massively beneficial both economically and with respect to conservation and education, however considering the growth rate of the industry, the success or failure in this endeavor currently balances on the tip on the knife and depends on highly controlled ethical and responsible management and practice informed by scientific research.

By Kimon - Assistant Research Officer

Frontier runs conservation, development, teaching and adventure travel projects in over 50 countries worldwide - so join us and explore the world!
The adorable Giovanni Pernice of Strictly Come Dancing fame (yes, he is every bit as handsome and charming in real life as he appears in photos and on screen) gave a Master Class in Latin dancing last Friday night, very well attended, and so much fun, in the beautiful setting of Karen Hardy Studios... and I was there! Not to excel in dancing so much as for the experience. Afterwards, every person present got a personal meet and greet, a photo and a hug from the talented Italian Champion (2012). I'm keeping and savouring my photo in my private collection because, basically, it's hard to look good posing with picture-perfect genes.

Photo: Alex Ratcliffe

For my part, I was hoping it would be the Cha-Cha or "Char -less-ton" (his famous pronunciation), dances I love and can manage, but instead it was the Samba, which was not beyond all the experts in the room but quite beyond me (Giovanni and Georgia May Foote performed this to 'Volare'in Strictly's previous season). The Samba, from Brazil, is a dance that seems to require the top of your body entirely disconnecting, or "isolating" as he said, from what the lower half is doing.

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Giovanni is a master at this we saw close up: hips, pelvis, thighs, ankles and chest; everything moves with precision. Can you project, forward, the left side of your chest without moving the right side? I couldn't, but Giovanni and the experts did all this with ease. He seems to have all his joints and muscles connected by string, enabling them to move in opposite and multiple directions all at once, and so fast, that you can't even register how he did that, and with such fluidity and ease.

My peak dancing days are passed, but not my love of watching the gorgeousness of it, the "conversation between body and soul", the beauty and skill, all of which Giovanni so excels in whilst adding his brand of Latin passion and flavour. So authentic, grounded, calm, he just exudes warmth and kindness. He said he loves English people and England so much that he has upped and moved here. A person who genuinely really seems to like people, he just exudes this warmth even in his dancing.

These lithe and feather-like dancer physiques are iron-clad underneath (test: hug one.) Hence their ability to project such passion and power with such control, all the while evoking the precise amount of emotion required so you too go on that journey and experience that story.

I wanted to tell him of my Italian ancestry, why I so connect with his dancing. He asked if I'd like to see his famous tattoo, Nato Per Vincere, meaning "Born to Win". I said," Please no! (faint), I already know every single one of your tattoos". Well, you do if you are a real fan. But I like that he once explained it as meaning, in fact, that every day when you wake up positive, that is winning. Winning smile, winning dancer. This man is nothing if not positive. We could use more of this.

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Such a warm and welcome addition to the already stellar cast of Strictly Come Dancing, I hope we see his star on the rise and rise here in the UK. As I wrote in a tweet once: Favourite dancers before now: Nureyev, Flatley, Keegan.
A video emerged earlier this week of a man in a supermarket insulting a Muslim woman by calling her 'Batman' and then telling her how he knew a 'white girl who married a Muslim man and she had a poster of an ISIS flag on the back wall'. Just one day prior to this, an innocent Muslim woman was involved in a hit-and-run accident at an anti-Islam rally. This is just a number of recent Islamophobic incidents since Islamic State's attacks on Paris in 2015 and Brussels earlier this year. As tensions mount, the life of the regular Muslim becomes harder and the scapegoating of the media becomes more prominent.

Thanks to the power of media, they have been able to take innocent victims and turn them into the perpetrators. Regular Muslims are struggling to coexist in modern society without someone giving them suspicious looks or comments. In a BBC documentary entitled Is Britain Racist? a young Muslim girl dressed in a full burqa is faced with abuse from passers-by within 10 minutes just because of the stigma attached to what she is wearing. It's just not fair that everyday people have to be punished for the crimes of those who use the Muslim religion as a means for their hate.

Time and time again, the news makes it perfectly clear how terrorists are Muslim or non-white. Where's the news that white Americans are actually the biggest terror threat in the US? I want to hear about the Ted Kaczynskis and the Timothy McVeighs because they DO exist and in just as equal measure. While the blame is not solely on the media but individuals too, the media don't seem to do anything to help the already negative view on ethnic minorities.

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It's not just the west affected by terrorism. In the tragic attack aimed at Christians this Easter in Lahore, only 14 of the 75 dead were Christians; the rest were Muslim. Yet where is the Pray for Pakistan profile picture? Where is the extensive news coverage? In what many people are calling 'selective sympathy', the event was treated as a fleeting moment for the major news stations as it didn't receive nearly as much coverage as the Brussels attack. Of course, not one catastrophe is more important than the other but just because it is further away does not make it less significant. I heard little about the only positive aspect of this story, how people from all over Pakistan were donating blood to the victims, be they Christian or Muslim.

Image: latuff2 / deviantart

We are convinced by the media that the terrorists are the majority but not only are they the exact opposite, more is being done day by day to combat terrorism. While the media's intention is to inform the public of the events around them, by giving such terrorist groups the fear-mongering publicity they need to gain momentum, the coverage on terrorism ends up being counter-intuitive.

In light of the 2015 attacks in the French capital, we saw the benefits of social media in particular, with Facebook allowing locals to mark that they were safe to their friends and family. We need to see more of this, and less promoting Islamophobia, especially with ridiculous amounts of Donald Trump coverage, a man who wants to supposedly ban all Muslims from entering America.

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The media has so much influence and power among society and tools such as social media can be used positively as it has done for movements like feminism. The No More Page 3 campaign gained significant following through Facebook and other social media sites, and thanks to their message, their petition gained over 200,000 signatures and topless models on page 3 of The Sun were quietly axed as of 2015.

This is exactly the kind of thing we need to hear more about. Instead of worrying about the spread of ISIS, we need more uplifting spirits. We must remember that we are the majority. Individually we may not be able to do a lot, but collectively we have the power to make a difference. It is up to us to filter through the sea of fear-mongering and ignorance and make a stand for the oppressed, regardless of race or gender.
Imagine being too scared to ask for a bathroom break at work. Or working in 38 degree heat without safe drinking water. Or being locked in, forced to live in fear of fires or other accidents.

On a recent trip to Myanmar, I spoke to Su Su Hlaing, a young woman for whom this was a daily reality. Su Su Hlaing told me that when she was young, she dreamt of being a teacher. But when the recent economic problems started, she had to find a job in the garment factories to support her family. I met her in their dormitory room where she lives and sleeps in what can only be described as slum-like conditions. She shares the room with three friends. The room was spotless, with pictures of Myanmar pop stars and a black-and-white photo of their parents on the wall. But there was no escaping the smell from the open sewer outside.

The young women, just four of the 300,000 garment workers in Myanmar, work up to 11 hours a day, six days a week. The clothes they make for some of the high street's biggest brands are almost certainly in your wardrobe, although the women themselves can't afford to buy them.

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While the brands make enormous profits, the workers who produce the clothes are paid as little as $2.80 a day. As Su Su Hlaing and her roommates told me, half their salaries were spent on their accommodation and what was left over was not enough for their families to live on.

Their story, remarkable in its ordinariness, is just one of billions of examples of how our global economy works to further the interests of those who already have at the expense of those who do not.

The young women I met don't live in 'extreme' poverty. They earn more than $1.90-a-day, the official global line for who is in extreme poverty. But they are living, breathing, human proof that hardship does not end when people move above an income level chosen in the World Bank offices in Washington DC.

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Earlier this year, Oxfam hit the headlines with its staggering finding that 62 people own as much as the poorest half of the world's population.

My visit, in my role as an ambassador for the organisation, was to bear witness to the struggles of some of those 3.6billion people in the bottom half.

Take a look at how the fashion industry works and you can begin to see how this staggering reality has come about. It is a global industry that has pioneered driving down costs, putting huge pressure on suppliers and workers, whilst driving huge profits for those at the top. Many high street brands won't even reveal which factories in Myanmar produce their clothes. Why would a company want to keep its factories secret, unless it had something to hide? It is surely not beyond the realms of human wit to come up with a better system, one in which people could still get rich but we could wear our clothes with a clean conscience. One in which workers would be valued, paid enough to lead healthy lives and treated as human beings.

Not that the women I met sitting there feeling sorry for themselves - far from it. They and their colleagues have come together as part of a worker's rights organisation to campaign for better work conditions, learning from counterparts in Thailand, Cambodia and elsewhere. Their humour, resolve, optimism and dignity were humbling.

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Today's inequality can seem overwhelming but it simply isn't. There is no need for such obscene levels of both poverty and wealth in the world. Indeed, in the long-run extreme inequality is counterproductive even for those on the wealthy side of the divide.

Paying workers a decent wage is a huge part of tackling inequality. Poverty wages, coupled with huge rewards for those at the top, are one of the big causes of today's inequality crisis. Poverty wages are not just unfair, they are economically self-defeating. It was Henry Ford who famously put up the wages of his workers so they could afford to buy his cars because he saw that this was what would make the economy grow.

Living wages are important but just part of the solution - we also need public investment in the schools, clinics and infrastructure that help people escape poverty and help poor countries grow. I have campaigned for a number of years for a Robin Hood Tax on the financial transactions of banks and other financial institutions that would raise hundreds of billions of dollars to help tackle poverty and climate change.

The appeal of such a tax lies in its popularity with the public, the fact it targets a sector that both contributes towards inequality and is currently under-taxed and the neatness of asking those who caused the economic crisis to help repair the damage it inflicted on ordinary people from Yangon to Yeovil. That's why 10 European countries are pressing ahead and why the idea is gaining increasing traction in the US.

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Similar arguments support the urgent need to tackle tax avoidance by multi-national corporations and rich individuals - an activity that deprives governments in countries like Myanmar of billions.

According to Adam Smith, the rich "should contribute to the public expense, not only in proportion to their revenue, but something more than in that proportion." Too often today the reverse is true. It is time to change this.
There is an irony at the heart of current British immigration policy- just where you would think intelligence should be most likely to dwell, higher education, is actually where we are being the most short-sighted and foolish. Julia Goodfellow, President of Universities UK, in her inaugural speech to her organisation decried 'unnecessary administrative hurdles' that she believes are deterring international students, and stated last year that "their belief that they are not welcome is not perception but a reality." This assertion is backed up by research that has shown that international students have felt less than welcome due to negative rhetoric around immigration in the UK and subsequent government reform.

This is hardly a surprising response to successive waves of abusive policy eroding the rights of international students. Over the past few years government policy, spearheaded by Theresa May, has made it so that international students have had to start paying to use the NHS (we quite literally no longer have a health service free at the point of use), can only stay in the country for four months after completing their degree (instead of the original two years) and have to jump through more demeaning and unnecessary administrative hoops and visa check-ups. Not to be seen to be half-hearted, however, the Home Secretary went a step further.

Last week the courts ruled that Theresa May's detaining and deporting of students and recent graduates, without a fair trial, for what she claimed was fraudulently obtaining visas with an English test administered by a company her own office had recommended was 'wrongful' and based on poor evidence. This stemmed from the revelation by a 2014 BBC Panorama investigation that found that the ETS firm was fraudulently passing students in one local area- yet the show's investigators themselves said that this didn't prove the practice was widespread. Instead of investigating further, the Home Office, whom had previously recommended the firm to potential visa recipients, decided to start rounding up students and graduates that had used results from the test company as part of evidence for their visa. This led to at times dozens of immigration officers conducting raids, imprisoning the foreign nationals and eventually deporting them without them having a chance to see the evidence against them or present their case.

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In light of the court ruling it is now looking like the Home Secretary's actions have led to somewhere in the region of 50,000 students being unlawfully deported from these shores. Her response to the ruling was depressingly similar to many Cabinet ministers' when they are told they have acted illegally (something that has happened surprisingly often in the past few years)- refuse to admit fault, spend taxpayers money on lengthy appeals processes and carry on disregarding the human rights of people they are supposed to serve.

Yet it is not just government policy unfairly treating international students- our universities have been keen to get in on the act too. They charge international students many times more what domestic students pay (with little to no justification), and are quite happy to raise tuition fees mid-year, with little or no prior warning, whilst simultaneously failing to provide adequate support services for international students, despite owing much of their financial stability to them. It should come as no surprise to learn then, that foreign student places in 2014 declined for the first time in 30 years.

All of this becomes all the more illogical when we realise just how important diversity is to the vibrancy of the higher education sector. Those that focus purely on the financial contribution that international students (and, it must be said, immigration in general) provide miss the more important things that are gained by a diverse and eclectic range of experiences and views being represented on our campuses. Academia works best when it is done by a wide range of individuals who have a variety of ways of approaching an issue and a different range of backgrounds, cultures and histories to bring to the debate - debate and progress quite literally feed off the sort of discourse and energy that diversity of opinion provides. International students, in my experience at least, are usually some of the most engaged in campus life, creating fantastic societies that bring their culture alive on our campuses and contributing to student life in a myriad of ways. My own course is undoubtedly the better for its international makeup too - there is nothing more humbling (and more rewarding) then having traditional Anglo-centric opinions challenged by the Lebanese, South African or German student in the class. These are benefits to campus life and academia we risk losing if we continue down our discriminatory path.

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Perceptions and symbols matter. The UK's ability to hold itself out as the world's leading soft power is undermined when we do not take a public stand in support of our values. Those who are suffering from, or perpetrating, human rights abuses must hear us voicing our values clearly.

So when one of the most senior civil servants tells a parliamentary committee that human rights is "not one of our top priorities", alarm bells go off.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Permanent Under-Secretary, Sir Simon McDonald, was talking to the Foreign Affairs Committee in September ahead of the 2015 Spending Review.

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It was a surprisingly candid comment which generated concern amongst many who work in the human rights field. It gave helpful focus to our inquiry into the FCO's administration and funding of its human rights work - the resulting report is published today.

The FCO's role in supporting human rights overseas is of great value. One of the keys to long term global stability and prosperity is a world where the inviolable rights of all individuals are protected. In January 2016, the FCO gave a reassuring indication of its commitment to human rights by doubling the annual funding for its dedicated human rights programme, the Magna Carta Fund for Human Rights and Democracy, to 10.6million.

However, evidence taken from a range of human rights organisations during the inquiry indicated a clear perception that the FCO has, in fact, deprioritised its human rights work. The FCO strongly denied that this is the case, but the Committee found that its actions since the change of Government have created this perception.

Current FCO Ministers have scored some unnecessary own goals. This has undermined the some of the excellent human rights work carried out by the Department, and needs to be remedied.

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For example, the Foreign Secretary's apparent personal instruction to the FCO and British embassies not to fly the Rainbow Flag for London Pride in 2015. Whilst the FCO said at the time that "the union flag always takes priority and is flown from the FCO's main flagpole at all times", the Rainbow Flag was flown at the FCO when William Hague was Foreign Secretary. The FCO's new approach was at odds with the numerous other Government departments which did fly the Rainbow Flag for London Pride.

British embassies are one of the few safe spaces for some international LGBTI communities. The FCO should rightly be proud of this. It is nonsensical, however, that the FCO cannot bring itself to demonstrate support for such inclusive environments in its own offices in Whitehall and on our sovereign territory overseas where symbolic support is possible, important and appreciated.

Whilst the FCO often speaks of the importance of quiet diplomacy, there is a time and place for more forceful overt diplomacy. The FCO maintains a list of Human Rights Priority Countries (formerly called Countries of Concern) on which it reports regularly. Designation of a country on this list sends an important message to countries with poor human rights records. However, Bahrain and Egypt, two countries with weak human rights records, were not included on last year's list.

The FCO needs to take positive steps to counter the perception that its' Ministers have deprioritised human rights. Giving strong overt support to the Italians seeking justice for the Cambridge doctoral student, Giulio Regeni, almost certainly tortured and killed in the hands of Egyptian security forces, would be an excellent place to start.
As the UK prepares to enter the later preparation stages of what would arguably be the most important referendum of its modern history, it seems that the EU is doing its best to turn most of the European population against it.

Let me make myself clear; this is not an article against UK's continuation of EU membership. On the contrary, my beliefs retain that the UK should remain an active member. But while at the westernmost part of this so called "Union" people are trying to decide whether to stay in it or not, at the easternmost part of it, some other country is experiencing the effects of a totalistic failure of the very idea of Unity. Welcome to Greece!

When I first moved to the UK in 2000 I answered proudly to the question "where do you come from"? Greece used to represent holidays, beautiful scenery, beaches and weather, ancient civilization, democracy, friendly people, good food and so much more. Good times! Sixteen years later, things have unfortunately changed. During the last 6 years Greece has made world headlines for all the wrong reasons. At first it represented the epicentre of the world economic crisis, then came the global acknowledgement of the lazy Greek that does nothing but drink ouzo, smash plates and evade taxes. This was followed by the talks of a Grexit that was apparently going to bring down the foundations of Europe's (hell, why not the whole universe's) economy. The latest episode to this Greek tragedy (how cliche) is the endless flow of hundreds of thousands refugees who -through Greece- are populating the whole continent. A continent who is responding to this crisis by doing... well... nothing! This is what I want to write about today.

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In January 2015 the people of Greece ended a 40 year reign of alternate government of two political parties, electing a leftist party with young people at its helm, expecting fresh ideas and alternative approaches to the country's problems. To put it into UK terms, it is the equivalent of the Lib-Dems winning the next election! Instead they got served the same dish once again, albeit on a differently coloured plate; austerity, larger taxes, smaller wages, non-existent pensions and a collapsing benefits system. All this, underlined by a continued monitoring -to put it lightly- from the larger EU counterparts, mainly Germany. Today, unemployment is close to 30% while unemployment for under 25's is almost 50% !!! I wonder if you who reads this can grasp these numbers. One out of two young people in Greece don't have ANY income, AT ALL! Oh, and those who do have an income it is mostly in the region of 300 - 500 euros a month, that's a staggering 250-380 pounds a month. And as if all these problems where not hard enough to tackle, the past few years another huge one was added; the uncontrollable flow of hundreds of thousands of refugees.

But what is really this "refugee crisis"? I will try to explain this from the Greek perspective as simply as I can. I have read many articles in the European press blaming Greece for the latest refugee wave in Europe for not controlling its borders. The fact that our borders are made of water is irrelevant, we apparently should be guarding all of our coastline, a mere 15,000 km ( c. 9,300 miles). That would of course cost tons of money that Greece simply doesn't have, but that is a detail that the so called journalists have failed to consider. The uncontrollable waters are producing more and more refuges to the Greek islands every day. The island of Lesbos (yes that actually is its real name) has more than 15.000 refugees at any given day since the summer of 2015 while its population is only 90000. In total it has seen almost half a million refugees at its coasts since last summer!!! And that's only one island! Of course Greece is not their final destination. It is simply a passage to Europe's developed countries like Germany and France. But to go there, they have to pass through the Slavic countries of former Yugoslavia, Hungary and Austria. The EU had tried at first to tackle the problem by agreeing to an equal relocation of refugees to all its member countries. But since the number of people grows larger every day, a lot of countries have decided to close their borders. The far right governed Hungary built a wall along its borders, FYR Macedonia, Slovenia, Croatia, Albania and the forward thinkers the Austrians closed their borders deciding that they can't receive any more refugees. Little does it matter that hordes of people keep entering Greece but they can't anymore exit it. And now we have this crisis in Idomeni where refugees are piling up along the Greek side of the borders, without water, food or toilet facilities, simply living in tents waiting for the white-skinned-saviours to deliver salvation.

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A chunk of the blame goes without saying to the Greek government. In an attempt to look as "left" as possible, they have openly invited all refugees to come to Greece, saying that there are no borders in this world and everyone is welcome! That is a very romantic -almost hippy- approach, only they seem to have forgotten that Greece has no money to feed the Greeks themselves, never mind another few hundred thousand people, of which a considerable amount are not war refugees but simply illegal immigrants who saw an open door and entered! Simple as that! No control of who comes in, where they go, who stays, who leaves, absolutely nothing! The Greek government of Syriza party has failed in its 14 months of government to gain any respect from their European counterparts, and that is exactly how they EU treats Greece today; with absolutely no respect at all.

A larger piece of the "blame-pie" goes to the so called Union of Europe, who have isolated Greece and seem to be happy just by keeping the problem as far away as possible from their own front doors. They keep ignoring the fact that the Greek borders are also the EU's borders. During the recent "Refugee Crisis Conference" between the EU members and Turkey, the EU took the monumental decision to fund Turkey with an extra 3 billion Euros (6 billion in total) to tackle the refugee crisis. Turkey, who is openly supporting ISIS by buying their low priced petrol. Turkey who turns a blind eye to the modern day human trafficking that takes place along its coast, doing nothing about the traffickers who illegally transport the refugees from Turkey to Greece. Good job! There's 6 billion for your efforts...

The bigger chunk of the blame goes in my opinion to western civilization in general. To the USA and the UK who openly supported Al Qaida and ISIS during their first steps, by selling them arms and vehicles in order to oppose Sadam and Ashad, turning a small group of fanatics to a terrorist superpower. To all the countries who are bombing innocent civilians who get in the way of strategic targets, to all the people of the west who find it acceptable that in 2016 we still kill each other over money and beliefs.

In the midst of all this, the real war stricken refugees who are waiting for a solution, a second chance to start a life for their families. But also the people of Greece, who have seen themselves once more divided into two camps: those who offer solidarity and those who want the refugees/ immigrants out. People who have rescued drowning children in Lesbos only to see their property destroyed during immigrant riots. People who gathered food and clothes from the communities near the camps only to see themselves get lynched by a hungry mob when they went to distribute them. People who have endured immense financial and social pressure the past few years, only to see more and more darkness at a tunnel with no end.

But you will never hear this in the news. You will not read it in any website. Instead you will hear about those lazy annoying Greeks who drink ouzo, smash plates and evade taxes. And lately, are turning a bit racist too.

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/greece/youth-unemployment-rate

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/greece/unemployment-rate

http://www.wri.org/
With more than a quarter of the UK workforce now self-employed, and new evidence showing this is set to grow this year, the rise of freelancing signals a fundamental shift in the nature of work.

Some, driven by the lure of freedom, are choosing to go self-employed; others are going freelance out of necessity. Changes to the labour market mean that zero hours contracts, part time work and 'portfolio' careers are becoming more and more the norm.

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Our new report, Not Alone, looks at recent trends in self-employment, both here in the UK and across the world. What we are seeing is more and more freelancers coming together and forming co-operatives in order to create security for themselves. The co-ops are allowing people to work for themselves whilst sharing costs with others - whether that's the cost of marketing products, workspace or back office services.

There are countless examples of how co-ops benefit their freelance members.

Swindon Music Co-operative, for example, was formed in 1998 with the support from Musicians' Union when the local authority disbanded its music service for schools. 20 music teachers, no longer employed by the council, formed the co-op to market their services. The co-op now has 50 teachers in membership, providing lessons to more 1,400 pupils and 70 schools.

Helen Godfrey, a self-employed violin teacher, sums it up, saying "I joined when the music co-op was set up. I wanted to be self-employed, but with some security as to finding pupils on a regular basis - as well as being part of a group for training needs."

And Janet Hodgson, who chairs the business, reflects that "one of the reasons for the success of the music co-operative here in Swindon is that it is a very cost-effective way of delivering instrumental and vocal tuition."

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Co-operative Wealth is a very different kind of business, made up of nine independent financial advisers. Having worked for a range of employers and as freelancers, they set up the co-op in order to market their services and cut costs on back office services.

Stuart Mann, one of the members of Co-operative Wealth, encapsulates the independence and collaboration of the co-operative approach. "I love being my own boss. You live and die by you own decisions and work ethic." But, he adds, in a co-operative "we are able to challenge each other and we all bring something to the party by way of knowledge or enthusiasm - or just support."

Co-ops like these are providing self-employed people with practical support and solidarity right across the UK - for care workers, taxi drivers, interpreters, cleaners, designers, IT consultants, plumbers ... you name it.

But this is just the start of what is possible.

Overseas we see the Freelancers Union in the USA providing its 280,000 members with advice and insurance, SMart in Belgium offering invoicing and payments for 60,000 freelancer members and new legislation in France allowing self-employed workers to access the sickness pay and benefits of conventional employees through co-operatives.

As freelancing grows in the UK, we need a more systematic approach to supporting them. We need trade unions and co-ops to work together to support self-employed workers and, importantly, we need representation and legislation for self-employed people in government.

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With self-employment expected to outstrip public sectors employees by 2018, now is the time to start to help freelancers work together.
In January of this year, employers were urged by the likes of Simon Walker, the Director General of the Institute of Directors, not to read their employees' private messages. To this proclamation, he added a caveat, 'except in the most exceptional circumstances'.

In our age of constant connection, where both private and work-related emails and messages are pinged to and from individuals in an instant and read at the swipe of a button, the workplace is inevitably going to be the site of constant communication that is unrelated to the official job description of employees.

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Given that young people are the most 'well-connected' in our society, It is surely they who will be most at risk of having their privacy infringed by not only their employers, but the state.

Indeed, with the Government's so-called 'Snoopers Charter' close to becoming legislation, there seems little hope of any form of privacy beyond the frontiers of an imagined and unrealistic disconnected living room.

The upcoming legislation will force mobile phone companies and internet service providers to retain and store email correspondence, voice calls, internet gaming history and mobile phone messages for 12 months.

This information can then be accessed by the authorities when necessary for law enforcement purposes, with the Home Secretary Teresa May arguing that thousands of lives have so far been saved as a result of agencies having access to similar information under current legislation.

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Yet this updated and expanded set of powers, if made law, is a quite terrifying imposition on our privacy and goes some way to dispelling our delusions of having achieved 'progress' in terms of ethics and morality.

After all, personal privacy was only one facet of a multitude of freedoms that we assumed were protected from imposition by the state, but this legislation shows, like with modern torture techniques employed by the US government on terror suspects, that this so-called 'progress' is as easily lost as it is gained, and all in the name of 'necessity'.

Despite the near-ubiquity of modern communication devices, it is older generations who are inevitably going to be more guarded about what information they choose to infuse their phones, tablets, and other IT devices with.

As a result, they might be less affected than the young by 'snooping' by both employers and the state. Though even this mild relief will diminish as the years advance, because those in our modern age who are relative 'luddites' will only continue to diminish in number.

By contrast, young people such as myself have effectively transferred their lives over to our phones, there is almost no corner of our personal world that is not accessible to those who seek to know more about us.

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Orwell's nightmare of telescreens in our homes doesn't seem so far-off now does it? Think of 'Smart TVs' - which many people own - being surreptitiously turned on at the other end by those with an interest in listening, and it really isn't that preposterous.
"Last year, Vice-President Biden said that with a new moonshot, America can cure cancer. Tonight, I'm announcing a new national effort to get it done. And because he's gone to the mat for all of us, on so many issues over the past forty years, I'm putting Joe in charge of Mission Control. For the loved ones we've all lost, for the family we can still save; let's make America the country that cures cancer once and for all." - President Barack Obama, 12 January 2016

In January this year, President Barack Obama handed Vice President Joe Biden the task of speeding up progress on curing cancer, backed by a budget of $1bn. Some people have pointed out that $1bn won't even pay for developing one new cancer drug, but that misses the point - Project Moonshot, as it is named, won't simply be pouring money into producing more of the same, it aims to make fundamental changes to the way cancer drugs are developed, by breaking down the barriers to progress.

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Joe Biden writes on his blog "We're not trying to make incremental change here, we're trying to get to a quantum leap on the path to a cure."

Curing cancer will take this kind of bold leadership, with vision, courage and determination. Leadership that doesn't shy away from difficult and contentious issues. Leadership that is prepared to aim high rather than play safe. And leadership that puts its money where its mouth is.

What is also interesting here, is that President Obama hasn't put a scientist or cancer researcher in charge of this project, he's put a politician in charge; perhaps because he's come to realise that it is not medical science that is holding back cancer cures, but political and commercial obstacles.

The UK needs to follow the example set by the US and demonstrate its own commitment to breaking down barriers to progress - to speed up the delivery of genuine, affordable cures that cancer patients can access.

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So, what are we doing in the UK. What about our bold leadership?

Well, we have Jeremy Hunt (when he's not spending his time alienating doctors and nurses) and a cancer strategy that aims to do little better than the rest of Europe (who we currently lag behind) and which has not even received a funding commitment from the Government, despite its supposed ambitions to put the next generation first.

That isn't bold leadership.

One person dies from cancer somewhere in the world every four seconds, so this isn't the time for lily-livered leadership. We need to be bold - we need to set a goal and a deadline to cure the majority of cancers. And we need to work with other countries to make this goal a reality by resolving issues like conflicts of interest, lack of incentives and barriers to collaboration. The sort of issues that Joe Biden is already looking at. We all hope this will happen but hope is just a wish - a deadline is a commitment.

Dying for a Cure Campaign

In October 2015, I lost my wife to ovarian cancer. Inspired by her incredible courage and strength, I wanted to find a way to use my own experience to change things for the better. So, I decided to take the initiative and launch this campaign to press for much needed market reforms in cancer drug development.

It is well known that the commercial objectives of the pharmaceutical industry are often at odds with the needs of patients and this tug of war between profits and public health acts like a handbrake on progress. Society has put the responsibility for developing cures into the hands of organisations motivated primarily by profits, so it's no surprise that what we've ended up with is very profitable drugs rather than very effective ones.

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Lives are being needlessly lost due to:

profiteering - a lack of regulations to curb excessive profit margins on drug prices, leading to drugs being priced out of reach of patients;

- a lack of regulations to curb excessive profit margins on drug prices, leading to drugs being priced out of reach of patients; missed opportunities - a failure to attract investment in promising discoveries with limited commercial potential, or to provide alternative public funding;

- a failure to attract investment in promising discoveries with limited commercial potential, or to provide alternative public funding; ineffective drugs - a failure to reward development of drugs with greater therapeutic benefit, in order to speed up progress.

These are the symptoms of a failing system that desperately needs to be reformed to better protect the interests of patients. Cure the system and we stand a much better chance of curing cancer sooner.

The US has led the way and we now have a rare opportunity to campaign for market reforms in the UK to speed up cancer cures and bring forward the day when we no longer live in fear of cancer.

It's our chance at a moonshot for cancer and our opportunity to demand the bold leadership that we desperately need. It may be a generation away before we get there, but it's a chance to save the lives of our sons and daughters and generations to follow.

When we look back on this time in history, we will not be proud that we made record profit margins from cancer drugs while one person died of cancer every four seconds, but we can be proud by making a stand to change this.

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In this referendum both sides have drawn their battle lines. The IN vote is taking the progressive stance, arguing that the EU will bring greater interconnectedness and prosperity; that we can be part of a greater partnership of nations in a modern, globalised world. While I commend and agree with this, we are allowing the Leave campaign to claim the nationalistic high ground, and have allowed them to wave the Union Flag and pretend that a vote to leave the EU is the only patriotic choice. This is a chimera. Believers in the greatness of Great Britain should vote to take a leading place in Europe as we have always done and not shrink back into a corner of the Atlantic.

Leave campaigners will be quick to point out that it was us that stood alone against Nazi imperialism in WWII. They fail to mention that we stood against fascism with allies in Europe and that Polish refugees fought in the Battle of Britain. We worked with the French resistance and the government of Free France to defeat the Wehrmacht. Then, after the war, the people of Europe, who saw their children die because of a divided continent, realised that it is only through working together that we can achieve peace. This is the root of the EU, that working collectively makes us all better and that division leads to suffering.

They also fail to remember the Napoleonic war, where the Duke of Wellington was the spearhead of a coalition of sovereign European countries which defeated Napoleon and brought peace to Europe. We pooled our resources and, in a sense, our sovereignty to overcome a problem too big for any one nation to tackle. Surely the same logic applies to the migrant crisis, or international terrorism. Throughout history Britain is at its best when it is leading Europe, and for all their flag waving, this is a lesson from history that the Leave campaign have not learned.

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The other argument bandied about by the Leave campaign is that by leaving the EU we can trade with the world again, that we can be a great trading power. They somehow think that the best way to do this is by leaving the largest free market area in the world. The fact is that leaving the EU is anti-trade, anti-business, and anti-British. Trade with the EU provides three million jobs for the UK. Putting those jobs at huge risk makes us weaker as a nation and the idea that it makes us stronger is irresponsible fabrication.

EU funding makes our universities among the best in the world. In 2013 alone we got 1billion in funding for universities. Professor Janet Beer, Vice-Chancellor of Liverpool University has said "EU membership helps our universities...enhancing the student experience, enhancing research, contributing to the economy and generating jobs." By cooperating with Europe, Britain maintains a world-class standard of higher education.
The refugee crisis has never been quite as prominent in our shared consciousness as it is today. The recent 3billion deal between Turkey and the EU allowing the return of refugees illegally entering Greece to Turkey however shows our continued unwillingness to face the problem. This is not a solution and the terms used by the press such as 'rounding up' and the controlled 'safe zone' for refugees on the Turkish border is all too reminiscent of an ugly past.

However this is not a new problem. The Syrian refugee crisis began years ago, the only difference now is that it has reached our borders. In Jordan the refugee community makes up between 10 to 20% of the overall population, that's around 1.4million refugees from neighbouring countries such as Syria and Iraq living in the country. To put that into context, the UK promised to take 20,000 Syrian refugees last September, the current estimate of refugees residing in the UK is 126,000 according to the British Red Cross. This sounds like a lot of people, this is until you remember that the UK is nearly three times larger than Jordan.

Let's go one step further and look at the crisis in Lebanon. There are approximately 1.2million refugees living in Lebanon, the overall population of Lebanon is about six million and the country itself is nearly three times smaller than Belgium, that's 23 times smaller than Great Britain. This is about the equivalent of the UK taking in 20 million refugees. You can argue that we're overpopulated, you can say we're doing our bit but it's just not true and it's just not enough. When I say we, I'm obviously not just talking about the UK here, no European country is matching Jordan and Lebanon's intake.

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Unfortunately, but unsurprisingly, both Lebanon and Jordan are being crushed by the pressure of this humanitarian crisis. Unemployment is rife, resources are scarce and funds from the West have drastically dropped since the arrival of the crisis in Europe. It's estimated that there are 4.5 million refugees from Syria alone displaced across the world, with Lebanon and Jordan taking so many there will come a point when their economies and infrastructures can no longer cope.

Why then is Western Europe so intent on turning away those in need? So much so we have promised 6 billion to Turkey from now to 2018 and visa free travel in the Schengen zone just to stop the flow of refugees into countries with relatively stable financial and political situations. Are we that desperate to keep this crisis of our shores? A recent survey amongst refugees in Jordan showed that 50% would consider making the treacherous journey to Europe if employment and living conditions didn't change. These families are so desperate they would leave another country, risking death, to find somewhere they could live and work with dignity.
It's encouraging that we're having more public conversations about gender inequality. But we're not yet talking enough about women who are at the sharpest end of this inequality, whose needs are the most complex: those who face the most disadvantage.

Agenda exists to campaign for women who face profound inequality and have extensive experiences of abuse and trauma, often starting in childhood and continuing on-and-off throughout their adult lives. Our research revealed that 1.2million women in England had experienced serious abuse as both a child and an adult.

Many have low self-esteem, and feelings of worthlessness. Unsurprisingly they suffer very high rates of mental ill health -in the form of depression, anxiety, PTSD, psychosis, ADHD, eating disorders, phobias, and other problems. Many turn to drugs and alcohol to cope. Many are disabled or have poor physical health.

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These women generally don't have the resources to build better lives. Many live in the poorest households. A high proportion are or have been homeless: our research found 20% of women who had the most extensive experiences of abuse had been homeless at some point. They may be involved in prostitution, at risk of significant further violence. Others end up in contact with the criminal justice system, or in prison.

These women are invisible: we don't think about them when we're thinking about the issues that affect them. Too often we don't even see them. Homeless women will often hide themselves away to reduce the risk of violence. Most people misusing drugs are men so, perhaps naturally, interventions tend to focus on their needs. The Government doesn't collect national statistics on the proportion of women receiving mental health treatment who have experienced abuse, even though we know abuse is often a significant trigger for mental health problems.

We have to start paying attention to these women. As well as creating and supporting the kind of services which meet the needs of the most excluded women, we need to start making their needs explicit in other contexts. Mental health services should be asking about and crucially properly responding to histories of abuse. Policies to address homelessness need to think about the particular needs of women who might not feel safe in a male dominated hostel. Our drug strategies must make the links between abuse, mental ill-health, and addiction for women.

There are some encouraging signs. It was great to see women with complex needs recognised in the recent Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy, which came out last month. But we're nowhere near to getting it right for these women, and too many aren't getting the help they need.

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There's certainly a magic that emanates from the southern region of Germany. And no, I'm not talking about the wonder of Octoberfest. Bavaria is surely home to some of the most awe-inspiring scenery that Europe has to offer, complete with resplendent castles; not to mention the smiling locals and the clean, crisp mountain air. If you're looking to make a break from city life for a long weekend escape, this region has it all and I've got the perfect three-day itinerary for you.

Day 1 - Tegernsee

Grab a morning flight to Munich, then pick up a car and head south. Tegernsee is a storybook little town about an hour's drive from the airport complete with chaps in Tyrolean hats and the best Bavarian architecture the region has to offer. Nestled by the lake and overlooked by sleepy mountains, it doesn't come much more picturesque than this. The way of life here has a slower pace, so make time to relax and unwind. Take a drive around the water and explore each of the little villages, and if it's a clear day then a trip up Wallberg Mountain is a must for breath-taking views. Don't forget to gulp in lungfuls of that clean, crisp air.

Stay:Das Tegernsee (rooms from 229/night), with panoramic views this hotel offers a truly luxurious experience. Stay, play and dine here, and be sure to check out the spa.

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Eat:Aran, this lakeside cafe is not to be missed. Order a toasted sandwich, pull up a chair and watch the world [and swans] go by.

Day 2 - Neuschwanstein Castle

The very castle that inspired Walt Disney himself, while you're in the region you'd be crazy to miss the iconic Neuschwanstein Castle. Up close, it is truly a sight to behold yet despite its grand romanticist exterior, the castle is only a third complete on the inside. Constructed over 17 years, it was King Ludwig's castle, a man fascinated with the fantastical and dream-like. Yet his untimely death aged just 42 caused all construction to cease in 1886. The interior of the castle would never be finished. Pay a visit by car but be sure to arrive early and beat the crowds. Come prepped with good walking shoes and a panoramic camera, trust me, the outlook is spectacular. Adults - 12, under 18s - FREE.

Day 3 - Munich

Time to journey on back from the south, but before you fly be sure to spend a day in the heart of Bavaria's capital and check out the majestic Fruenkirche and Marienplatz's famous glockenspiel. Then in the afternoon if time permits, take the underground train a few stops out of the city centre to Nymphenburg Palace, it's a beautiful property steeped in history. Of course, no visit to Bavaria would be complete without a stein or two, so you can take your pick from the many beer halls on offer. Prost!

Stay:Aloft Munich (rooms from 119/night), located right by the central train station this modern hotel provides a convenient base.

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Rumours about Vladimir Putin's wealth have been circulating for a long time. He's been called the richest man on earth, with the estimated fortune of 40 billion dollars. Or pounds. Or roubles. Nobody really knows. The new leaked documents show a mere 2 billion offshore trail leading to him. It's almost a figure too small for the leader of the biggest country in the world, rich in oil, gas and other natural resources, who often tops the lists of the most powerful men in the world and is unaccountable to anyone. But then it's only one company's leak, in only one tax haven.

People in Russia are not going to start a revolution over Putin's alleged wealth. They are too used to their leaders being corrupt. He is not the first one, and he is not the last one. Why is the West so bothered about him stealing money from the Russian people anyway? It didn't seem too bothered about it when Yeltsin and "The Family" were doing it... The now dead Berezovsky, one of Russia's most corrupt people, even got a political asylum in the UK alongside other corrupt individuals from all over the world. Forgive me but indignation with Putin when your own system allows stolen money settle on your shores seems a bit hypocritical.

But perhaps the focus on Putin's alleged offshore-structured wealth will make the world realise that something has to be done about the rogue industry that hides the cash for the rich and powerful. A staggering number of 72 current or former heads of state, including Iceland's PM and David Cameron's father, are on the leaked list.

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The availability of such structures to hide funds in anonymous companies makes looting of the budgets, especially common in developing countries, very easy. It's a whole dark side of the moon economy out there. The examples are numerous. The son of Equatorial Guinea's President used a California shell company to purchase a $30 million mansion in Malibu and a British Virgin Islands shell company to purchase a $37.5 million Gulfstream jet, despite his modest official salary.

In Congo state mining assets were sold off to a series of BVI companies whose full list of owners are secret, but which are associated with an Israeli diamond billionaire, a close friend of the Congolese president at that time. The mines were then sold onto the world market at much higher prices. The natural question is who pocketed the difference? By some estimates the loss was around $1.3 billion from these sales, twice the Congolese health and education budget combined.

Shell companies, secrecy jurisdictions, like Delaware in the US and the British Virgin Islands, where people can set up companies without naming who benefits as owners of these companies, and opaque corporate ownership structures represent the primary methods used by corrupt individuals to hide their cash. Why is it allowed to go on?

The common factor between money laundering and terrorist financing is that they both try to disguise the money. Money laundering disguises it at the front end, where it originates, while terrorist financing disguises it at the back end, at its destination. Both use offshore schemes to do that.

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The Tax Justice Network argues in its widely cited report "The Price of Offshore Revisited" that $21 trillion to $32 trillion in "financial" wealth was "hidden" in OFCs and so is "virtually tax free". Similarly Raymon Baker claimed that in the early 2000s around $1 trillion in "dirty money" crosses borders every year, and that there was $5 trillion in accumulated hidden assets (as of the early 2000s).

Advocates of the "innocent until proven guilty" approach forget that it's near impossible to check out all the names on the planet who might or might not have offshore accounts. But the system of public register will make it easier by default.

Not everyone who uses offshore structures is dodgy. Sometimes the reasons are perfectly fair and understandable. Some people simply feel uncomfortable with others knowing how rich they are. A list of beneficial owners can be used by gangsters looking for a big ransom, thus increasing the risk of kidnapping. Wealth-control could be used to fight political opponents back in some of their home countries. Concerned parties also object to the introduction of the register citing the right to financial privacy. In all fairness, how many of us would like to have to effectively post the copies of our bank statements on a board outside our houses for everyone to see?

The answer could be a private list that can be accessed by investigating law enforcement authorities within 24 hours on request. The UK has led the way on the issue. In 2013 David Cameron made transparency the key theme of G8 summit in Northern Ireland. The UK government has told its overseas territories, the BVI and the Cayman islands, to prepare timetables when they will be implementing a central register or a similar system. Bermuda has already got a central register but the government wants it to be more accessible for the law enforcement agencies. However, the UK initiatives were criticised for the lack of the systematic verification because they solely rely on self-reporting.

Like with the global warming, this issue requires a global agreement. Lack of universal application will cause mass migration of business from the Crown Dependencies and British Overseas Territories to Delaware in the US, Hong Kong, Singapore, Seychelles, Panama, Bahamas, Dubai, Mauritius etc. The UK risks losing a decent degree of influence over well-regulated offshore business, if it is the only country that goes ahead with it. It might result in the UK having zero influence over companies which relocate to poorly-regulated or unregulated jurisdictions.

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The 2015 General Election was the most disproportionate general election in British history. The Conservatives won a majority of 12 with only 37% of the vote. UKIP got four million votes and the Green Party got over one million votes, but only won one seat each. After the election there was a surge in support for electoral reform and petitions calling for a new, proportional, voting system received 477,000 signatures. The newly elected Conservative government, high on their unexpected electoral victory, gave this feeble response to the petitions:

There are a number of issues with this response. In an attempt to keep the debate and discussion about our democracy going, we set these out in a letter to John Penrose. This was co-signed by 1,280 of Make Votes Matter's active supporters and sent on 2nd March.

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Dear Mr Penrose,

On 18 May 2015, petitions calling for the UK voting system to be changed to one of proportional representation were delivered to No.10 Downing Street by representatives of five political parties and on behalf of 477,000 signatories.

In June, you replied to one of our copetitioners (Unlock Democracy) in your capacity as Parliamentary Secretary at the Cabinet Office with responsibility for electoral policy. Your response, a full copy of which is attached, was this:

"I appreciate your point, but the difficulty would be that we had a referendum on it in 2011. The result was a fairly resounding rejection of the idea, with 67% voting against. As you'll appreciate, it would be pretty difficult to argue we should ignore the democratic verdict in the referendum and go ahead anyway!"

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We wish to draw your attention to a fundamental error in this reply. Namely, it is not the case that we had a referendum on whether to change to a proportional voting system in 2011 as you claim. The system put forward in the 2011 referendum was the Alternative Vote, which is not a proportional system. David Cameron was emphatic about this at the time, stating on one occasion: "I'm here today to explain as clearly as I can why AV is completely the wrong reform...let me take on this myth that AV is more fair and more proportional than the system we have currently".

When MPs say that the public rejected proportional representation in the AV referendum... #AVisnotPRpic.twitter.com/OMPpCHwnTx  Make Votes Matter (@MakeVotesMatter) March 9, 2016

This being the case, it is very clear that the outcome of the 2011 referendum did not signify a rejection of, or indeed any comment upon, proportional electoral systems. Indeed polls of the British public consistently show overwhelming support for the principle of proportionality.

The 477,000 petitioners were in fact attempting to draw your attention to problems which afflict the Alternative Vote every bit as much as they do First Past the Post, and which broad proportionality would solve. The undemocratic effects of First Past the Post are more visible than ever, following the most disproportionate General Election in British history last May:

 It severely suppresses political participation and diversity. One quarter of voters voted for either the Green Party, the Liberal Democrats, or UKIP. These parties now share a negligible 1.5% of seats between them  effectively excluding the voices of their seven and a half million voters from our Parliament.

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 It makes votes unequal in value. In last year's election one party needed just over 23,000 votes to win a single seat while another needed almost four million. This means that some people's votes had more than one hundred and sixty eight times greater value than others.

 It distorts the electorate's express wishes. 64% of those who voted did not vote for the present government, and yet it now has a majority of parliamentary seats and total executive control. The election demonstrated that most people in our country did not want the present majority government, yet this is the result that our electoral system has delivered.

We hope you will consider these problems and their implications for democracy in this country very carefully. They seem to us to be indefensible  though if you should wish to defend them we would welcome a genuine discussion of the matter.

Something else that David Cameron said in 2011 was this: "Two centuries ago, voting was limited to the privileged few. Generations of campaigners fought and died to change that. Their struggle gave us the principle that sits at the heart of our democracy today: we are all equal, therefore we all have an equal say at the polls."

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Image courtesy of Klina Jordan

The struggle he speaks of continues. Every OECD nation that still uses First Past the Post has a major popular campaign to abolish it. There are good reasons why countries with proportional systems do not have popular campaigns to adopt First Past the Post  it would make no more sense than campaigning for the withdrawal of universal suffrage, the abolition of secret ballots, or the return of property qualifications for MPs.

Our country is a gentler place than it was in the eras of the Chartists and the Suffragettes that Mr Cameron alludes to. In these more enlightened times, it is our greatest hope that the improvements our democracy requires can be not evaded or suppressed as in the past, but considered willingly and openly, by an amicable collaboration between the government and the campaigners for democracy, whom the Prime Minister so admires.

For this reason, we ask that you agree to meet, at a time and place of your convenience, with representatives of the 477,000 petitioners and the wider movement for a fair democracy, to discuss how we may, together, find a way forward.

Yours faithfully,

Make Votes Matter

Unfortunately, more than a month later, we have had no response of any kind from Mr Penrose or his office.

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In democratic societies, it is the responsibility of citizens to defend their rights to representation, participation and self-determination when these are threatened or suppressed.

But it is also the responsibility of those in public office to protect democratic principles; to steward and, when necessary, change the processes by which we choose our representatives and leaders - not to retain political power, but to make sure everyone has fair representation in the Parliament whose decisions have a profound effect on us all.

At the very least, a Minister responsible for electoral policy has a responsibility to respond (with at least some factual accuracy) to hundreds of thousands of people when they legitimately complain that their democratic rights, and the democratic rights of millions of others, are being suppressed by our failing electoral system.

Make Votes Matter is part of a broad movement for fair democracy in the UK - encompassing seven political parties and organisations like the Fabian Society, Unlock Democracy, Compass, and the Electoral Reform Society. Some of this campaign focuses on building alliances to enable reform of our broken voting system under a future government (for example, you can sign our letter to Jeremy Corbyn, which will seek his commitment to the principles set out in the Declaration for Voting Reform)

But it is the present government that decides whether or not we all have a fair say in the next General Election - and we cannot allow complaints about such an unfair democratic process to be ignored or diverted by officials who owe their power to the unfairness of that process. For this reason, we hope Mr Penrose - the Minister responsible for these issues - will resume this discussion with us very soon.

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A quick "where in the world am I?" quiz. Looking at the photo above, perhaps you're thinking Grand, Copper or Fish River Canyon, maybe Kenya's Rift Valley or somewhere remote in South America ? Not, I imagine a two hour drive away from the busy, bustle, bling of Dubai. However, the mountains in The Musandam Peninsula in neighbouring Oman offer some remote and spectacular treks far removed from the pink tissue paper trails you find in other parts of the world, toilet paper festooning the paths marking the passage of previous walkers. Rather than maxing out my credit card in the malls of Dubai, I am instead climbing Jebel Qiwi, at 1792 metres above sea level, one of the highest points in the Musandam peninsula

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The challenging trek starts from the Ru'us Al Jbel plateau and follows donkey paths and along an exposed ridge towards the summit.

Worryingly, the climb through Absolute Adventure was billed as Grade 5/ extreme an "adventure requiring technical skills and excellent physical conditioning" . In terms of walking and climbing skills, I was punching way above my weight but I'd seen our packed lunch in advance, neatly lined up and hoped that this would sustain me. What looks like a pack of butter was in fact a welcome pack of cookies and you can never go wrong with a banana for energy. My other current top tip to get to the top is to download various episodes of "Desert Island Discs" on to an ipod. The 43 minute programmes are a perfect length with the music and soothing chatter keeping you going. I was half way through Hugh Bonneville, before I became remotely exhausted.

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To reach the summit, you must enter a crack in the rocks and clamber up a chimney before emerging on the top. All exciting stuff. From the summit there are spectacular views to the Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman beyond. One of my fellow trekkers had some kind of gizmo on his phone (if I wasn't such a luddite, I would know what it was) but it gave up some impressive stats, our trek had covered 12.40 km, a total ascent of 1076 m, descent of 996 and a maximum elevation of 1791 metres.

If the Jebel Qihqi Climb is a little too challenging then an alternative day trek, the Aqaba to Lima Trek is equally breathtaking. The highlight being an exciting coastal walk just above a coral reef, described by our guide as the "mushkila" in arabic meaning "the problem" but it's a fun problem as you inch your way around a headland on the tiniest of paths, grabbing rocks and hoping not to fall.

Then it's a steep climb to the abandoned town of Aqaba, as you sit and admire the views, the guide regales you with stories of the area, pointing out a mosque, graveyard and fort. I never thought what essentially is a bunch of old stones could be quite so interesting and even if history is not your thing, then the views out to sea really are fabulous.

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The trek ends in the town of Lima where roads are a recent phenomenon, precipitous footpaths being the only link between the mountains and the flat open plains. Even now it would appear that cars get from A to B by boat as opposed to being driven.

My base for two days trekking was Dibba, the entry point to Eastern Musandam and unique in that its territory is shared by two emirates and the Sultanate of Oman. It's a classic border town, all rusty bicycles and rather run down. However, it does have an excellent fish market and a sense of culture, history and a flavour of the real Arabia, far removed from the Gotham City like skyscrapers of nearby Dubai.

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David Cameron is man on a mission. Ever since his pledge last year to "end the gender pay gap in a generation", he has sought to present himself not only as the face of compassionate conservatism and family values, but also of female emancipation. For this valiant champion of women, there is "no true opportunity without equality" and women of all ages must be helped to reach their full potential.

Except, that is, when it doesn't suit him. Then, for David Cameron, women are indeed the same as men - but just that little bit cheaper.

Last week, the insincerity of the Prime Minister's commitment to gender equality was laid bare when the government belatedly published their equality assessment of the new junior doctor contract. Incredibly, it didn't even try to hide the ways in which the contract discriminates against women, single mothers, carers and disabled doctors. Instead, every discriminatory aspect was brushed off as 'a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate end". No, that's not a phrase from Donald Trump, it really is our twenty-first century UK government speaking. Women's salaries, apparently, are mere collateral damage, to be sacrificed whenever David Cameron's realpolitik demands it.

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To the government's embarrassment, the outcry provoked by this casual acceptance of gender discrimination has spread far beyond the UK. One of the directors of the World Health Organisation, Jim Campbell, stated this weekend that the new contract contravenes the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. Its "regressive policies", he explained on Twitter, mean "gender equity for junior doctors is at risk" and "female doctors will face widening pay gaps with male colleagues and may be forced to quit medicine".

That's quite an indictment. When a prime minister's policies are so retrograde, so sexist, they fall foul of the United Nations and the WHO, you would hope he might pause and reconsider them.

The essence of the furore is the ways in which the junior doctor contract will introduce a new gender pay gap into the NHS, the world's biggest employer. Until now, female doctors' salaries have kept apace of men's because small annual pay awards prevent part-time doctors - of whom the vast majority are women - earning less over time than their full-time colleagues. But the new contract knowingly strips these safeguards away, meaning that as doctors progress through their training, we will see ever-widening gender pay gaps.

Furthermore, according to the government's own analysis, the increased anti-social working hours in the contract, with no extra renumeration,"will disproportionately disadvantage those who need to arrange childcare", the bulk of whom are women. Their solution is to invite carers to find "informal unpaid childcare arrangements in the evenings and weekend" - because, of course, the UK is littered with people clamouring to do ad hoc nannying at 3am on a Sunday night.

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As a woman, a mother and a part-time doctor, I have never felt so betrayed by my government. What do I now say to my five-year old daughter when she tells me, eyes shining, that she wants to be a doctor when she grows up? "That's wonderful, darling, try your hardest, do you best, and at the end of all that hard work, watch a man get paid more than you, for doing the same job as you."

Britain has the sixth largest gender pay gap in the European Union, meaning that for every pound a man in Britain earns, a woman on average receives only 80 pence. That equates to us working 'for free' for 57 days of the year. To me, this is simply unacceptable.

The government is banking on this contract being legal, but what really matters to me is, is it right? Slashing disability allowances in the Budget was legal - yet the government rowed back the moment they realised they'd catastrophically misjudged the mood of the nation.
Over the last week, there's been a lot of talk about whether my university, UCL, should have threatened me for publication of a story I still consider to be unquestionably in the public interest. Documents obtained from UCL due to management's security blunders gave answers to students' questions on accommodation, theatre closures, and overcrowded teaching spaces, and directly contradicted some of the College's public statements. However I was not allowed to publish them, despite having legally acquired the information, because UCL objected to the breach of confidentiality (which, frankly, was theirs).

UCL is not the first university to come down hard on its student press, and there's more to this story than the questionable ethics of threatening a student journalist who acted in the public interest. More widely, this is about universities becoming increasingly undemocratic, and unaccountable to their students. Frankly, I worry that my university, like many others, is seeking profit and reputation at the expense of its students, and at the expense of the outstanding academia that made it great. I find this particularly frustrating when students have virtually no say in how the university conducts itself, and cannot represent their interests in any meaningful way.

Last Thursday's Cut The Rent demonstration was the culmination of a lot of frustration with UCL management. While not everyone will agree with the means of protest - setting fire to an effigy of UCL Vice Provost Operations, Rex Knight, on the Euston Road viaduct reportedly led to fire services being called to the scene - strong anger towards the way management have handled the rent strike, theatre closures, and my case, is justified.

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At the beginning of February, Director of UCL Estates, Andrew Grainger, told UCL, Cut The Rent activists that the College does not consider students from low-income backgrounds when setting rents in arguably UCL's biggest media cock-up in recent months. Around the same time, management announced the closure of UCL's only on-campus theatre until 2018, initially proposing no replacement venues in the interim and providing no explanation for the closure until very recently. The latter issue has been resolved, with management promising a theatre will be reopened on the same site in 2018, but both show an amazing lack of consideration for the student body that should not be part of a major university. Of course people are angry.

When Pi Media accessed UCL's confidential information, I thought we had a valuable chance to hold the university to account and make positive change, making management answerable to any issues raised, and to their mistakes. But actually, we shouldn't have to. Student media shouldn't have to uncover the bad things a university does and hold it to account on behalf of the student body. The university should disclose information to its students irrespective of external involvement, it should consider their views and needs; in short, it should be accountable.

Within the last 2 years, Exeter's student paper has been threatened with legal action after exposing staff expenses, while Bristol has used all-student mailing lists to make unfounded claims that their student paper had printed a story with "significant inaccuracies" (it hadn't). However, Bristol never threatened to sanction journalists, and rebuilt a positive relationship with the student paper and its editor, later agreeing to set up a task force to address issues raised in its article. While UCL cannot undo its threats and cannot un-force me to delete all my copies of the documents, they can release the most important bits of information to students and allow them to respond, and they can make efforts to rebuild their relationship with a student body feeling utterly let down by College management's massive lack of transparency.

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You know what I hate? I hate it when people ask if all comedians have depression? My response is always "Read my lips - it's one in four. There aren't that many people who are funny." It's like asking if all weather girls have shingles? My insides aren't aware what my outside does for a living. It's such a reminder of how stuck in the primordial swamps we are when it comes to knowledge of mental illness. No one knows how you actually get depression; it's a crapshoot between nature and nurture. However you get it it's a disease like other diseases, not something you can catch like a cold.

I used to make things worse for myself when I felt I was about to be hit by the black dogs of mental illness. Just before it hit me I would go into overdrive to convince myself and the world that I'm completely normal busy doing things - people to go to places to meet. Any other illness you have, like a flu, they tell you tell you to stay in bed. If you have a mental problem god forbid we lie down when we find ourselves burning out.

So, in fear of being busted I'd show up at everything I was invited to. I was fine...

I remember once, years ago, I showed up at charity event that was there to 'Save The Puffin'. Imagine my horror. A large, moustachioed woman who happens to be the spokesperson for the charity gives us a moving speech, in that 'wee' Scottish brogue, about how difficult it is for puffins to land on the rocks in the Orkneys because of the strong winds, and that once they have managed to land and lay their (one) egg, they have big problems stopping it blowing away. No mention of global warming, just that the birds can't land there any more.

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The world is melting and I'm listening to someone talking about how hard puffins have it. I have to restrain myself from shouting, "Why don't you just shoot the fuckers. End of problem."

Another time, shortly after the puffin event that November, I found myself about to do a scuba dive under Brighton Pier as part of my diver's licence. I had to do it right then in December for some reason I do not know. I was clutching onto a pier, frozen blue, my teeth were clanging. The instructor said this was one of the most beautiful dives in Europe. She had had the bends, not once, but twice (it's where you dive so deep your a bubble explodes in your brain so she wasn't all there). She added some weights to my belt to ensure I'd sink and then I dropped in a straight line to thirty feet below and found myself looking at a shopping trolley and a flip-flop. Where were the reefs? The parrotfish? All I got was a trolley and a flip-flop. In retrospect, this was not a valuable use of my time.

No matter how busy you make yourself, if you're heading toward burn out or depression it will get you. Even if you ignore it will still be there and it will detonate at some point. It's like you're carrying a live grenade. I grabbed onto mindfulness so I'd never ever have to find myself at an event about puffins.

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Ruby will be travelling across the UK with her new Frazzled tour April - June 2016. Tickets are still available for most venues.

Ruby's latest best-selling book - A Mindfulness Guide For The Frazzled - is out now and available in all good bookshops, as well as online.
The winners of the 2016 Wellcome Image Awards were announced on 15 March at a ceremony at the Science Museum in London. The Wellcome Image Awards showcase the best in science image making and recognise the creators of the most informative, striking and technically excellent images that communicate significant aspects of biomedical science. For the first time in the Awards' 19 year history, an illustration claimed the top prize. Meet this year's 20 winning images...

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Ebola virus. David S Goodsell, RCSB Protein Data Bank/Wellcome Images.

A meticulously hand-painted watercolour and ink illustration by David Goodsell showing the molecular landscape inside an Ebola virus particle was chosen as the overall winner. Fergus Walsh, BBC Medical Correspondent and host for the evening said "This is a stunning illustration of a deadly pathogen - a cross-section through an Ebola virus particle. The judges felt that this watercolour and ink image elegantly displayed the biological structure of a virus which has caused such devastation in West Africa."

Hear more from David about how he creates these intricate paintings in this short film:

Illustrating Ebola | David S Goodsell. Filmed by Chadwick Trentham, edited by Gary Tobyn and produced by Chris Chapman.

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Premature baby receiving light therapy. David Bishop, Royal Free Hospital, London/Wellcome Images.

This year also saw the launch of the new Julie Dorrington Award for outstanding photography in a clinical environment. David Bishop's sensitive photograph of a premature baby receiving ultraviolet light therapy to treat jaundice was selected as the first recipient of this new Award. The Award honours one of the founders of Wellcome Images clinical collection and celebrates her contribution to Wellcome and to the clinical photography profession. Fergus explained "Cocooned in an incubator, a tiny premature baby sleeps while receiving ultraviolet phototherapy to combat the threat of jaundice. The whole image is cast in a beautiful blue light - the judges felt it perfectly captured the vulnerability of a newborn, whilst keeping a respectful and discreet distance from the subject."

The overall winner and Julie Dorrington winner fought off stiff competition from 1500 other images submitted to Wellcome Images in the past year. 18 other images were chosen by the judges, a panel of experts from medical science and science communication:

Wiring the human brain. Alfred Anwander, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences/Wellcome Images.

Alfred Anwander's mesmerising image used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) based tractography to reveal pathways of nerve fibres inside a living person's brain.

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Cow heart. Michael Frank, Royal Veterinary College/Wellcome Images.

Last year's overall winner Michael Frank returned this year to collect an Award for his photograph which shows the structure of a preserved heart from an adult cow making it appear almost sculptural.

Black henna allergy. Nicola Kelley, Cardiff and Vale University Hospital NHS Trust/Wellcome Images.

Have you ever considered that using 'black henna' could put your health at risk? Nicola Kelley's clinical photograph documents the early stage of a young girl's allergic reaction to the black chemical dye (PPD) used in a henna tattoo.

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Inside the human eye. Peter Maloca, University of Basel/Wellcome Images.

Peter Maloca's 3D image inside blood vessels in the back of the eye looks like a maze of tunnels underground. It was created using information from a 3D optical coherence tomography scan which works in a similar way to ultrasound but uses laser light instead of sound waves to produce cross-sectional images.

Blood vessels in the eye. Kim Baxter, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust/Wellcome Images.

What do you see when you look at this image? A cityscape at night, a network of rivers or a distant view into space perhaps? Kim Baxter's clinical photograph shows a different view of blood vessels in the eye.

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Swallowtail butterfly. Daniel Saftner, Macroscopic Solutions/Wellcome Images.

From the human eye to an insect eye, Daniel Saftner's close-up view of the head of a swallowtail butterfly shows in sharp detail its compound eyes and curled up feeding tube which it unrolls to drink nectar from flowers.

Moth scales. Mark R Smith, Macroscopic Solutions/Wellcome Images.

The bright colours in Mark Smith's photomacrograph of scales on a Madagascan sunset moth are in fact more of an optical illusion as they hardly contain any colour pigment. The apparent colours in this moth come from light bouncing off the curved scales at different angles.

Human stem cell. Silvia A Ferreira, Cristina Lopo and Eileen Gentleman, King's College London/Wellcome Images.

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This cryogenic scanning electron micrograph by Silvia Ferreira, Cristina Lopo and Eileen Gentleman, shows a single stem cell taken from bone marrow inside the hip bone of a person.

Dividing stem cell in the brain. Paula Alexandre, University College London/Wellcome Images.

This circular pattern is a series of images taken by Paula Alexandre over 9 hours, showing a stem cell dividing into two in the brain of a zebrafish embryo before it hatches.

Raynaud's disease. Matthew Clavey, Thermal Vision Research/Wellcome Images.

Thermal imaging accurately measures changing patterns of heat. Here in Matthew Clavey's image, it shows how a healthy hand (left) warms faster after exposure to cold than the hand from a person with Raynaud's disease (right).

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Engineering human liver tissue. Chelsea Fortin, Kelly Stevens and Sangeeta Bhatia, Koch Institute,  MIT/Wellcome Images.

The liver is one of the few tissues in the body that has the ability to regenerate itself. Chelsea Fortin, Kelly Stevens and Sangeeta Bhatia are trying to harness that ability in the hope that one day small implants could be used to repair livers damaged by liver disease, cirrhosis or cancer.

Infectious disease containment unit. David Bishop, Royal Free Hospital, London/Wellcome Images.

The high-level containment unit at the Royal Free hospital in London is something we all hope never to experience. Glimpse inside it here with David Bishop's haunting photograph of this restricted area.

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Detecting stroke. Nicholas Evans, University of Cambridge/Wellcome Images.

Can you detect a stroke before it strikes? Nicholas Evans is investigating exactly that, by combining two types of medical scan to identify potential danger zones in blood vessels before they burst in order to treat them.

Clathrin cage. Maria Voigt, RCSB Protein Data Bank/Wellcome Images.

The second illustration to win an Award this year is this digital artwork by Maria Voigt. Created from experimentally obtained scientific data, this image reveals the 3D structure of a transport molecule found inside cells.

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Bacteria on graphene oxide. Izzat Suffian, Kuo-Ching Mei, Houmam Kafa and Khuloud T Al-Jamal, King's College London/Wellcome Images.

King's College London picked up their second Award for the night with this transmission electron micrograph by Izzat Suffian, Kuo-Ching Mei, Houmam Kafa and Khuloud Al-Jamal. Two rod-shaped bacteria sit on a sheet of graphene which is only one carbon atom thick.

Toxoplasmosis-causing parasites. Leandro Lemgruber, University of Glasgow/Wellcome Images.

This super-resolution micrograph reveals 3 parasites which cause the disease Toxoplasmosis. Taken by Leandro Lemgruber, the level of detail visible inside these parasites was achieved using light microscopy down to a level that was thought impossible for many years.

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Fernan Federici, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile and University of Cambridge/Wellcome Images.

Looking inside a cluster of plant leaves uncovers a complex, intricate structure, captured so beautifully here by Fernan Federici.

Bone development. Frank Acquaah/Wellcome Images.

Our bone structure changes as we develop in the womb and even as we grow in the first few years of life. Using micro-computed tomography, Frank Acquaah was able to virtually cut out sections of bone from the skeletal remains of children from the 19th century, without damaging the precious remains.

Get up close to these images for yourself and visit one of the 15 exhibitions now open across the UK, Europe and Africa. See the Awards website for a full list of venues or for more information about the images and the stories behind them.

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Do you agree with the judges? Vote for your favourite for your chance to win a photographic print.

Hear more from the judges as they discuss the winning images in this short film:

The Judges Discuss The Winning Images. Filmed and produced by Simon Moore.

Wellcome Images is one of the world's richest and most distinctive image collections, covering themes ranging from medical and social history to contemporary healthcare and biomedical science. It is part of the Wellcome Trust, a global charitable foundation dedicated to improving health.
"The diversity of cultural expressions not only shows the identity of a nation, but also allows creative people to contribute towards their country by expressing themselves and sometimes they become instrumental in promoting change in societies," Irawan Karseno, from the Jakarta Art Council, said when he learned more about the 2005 Convention in a recent high level UNESCO workshop in Jakarta, Indonesia (1-3 March, 2016). Read the full story:http://bit.ly/1pMSnhj

While assessing and revisiting the country's cultural policy during the 3-day workshop creative professionals shared personal perspectives on the importance of creative industries: ''Working in the arts allows me to understand the importance of thinking of the cultural community as an ecosystem which supports each other. And in this ecosystem, everyone plays a different role and we complete one another,'' Felencia Hutabarat, member of the Indonesian Art Coalition said.

Among the high level officials participating in the workshop, made possible under the Swedish funded project:'Enhancing Fundamental Freedoms through the Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions,' were His Excellency Mr Anies Baswedan, Minister of Education and Culture, His Excellency Mr Triawan Munaf, Head of Indonesia's Creative Economy Agency, Her Excellency Johanna Brismar Skoog, Ambassador of Sweden to Indonesia, and Mr Bernard Alens Zako, Head of Culture Unit of UNESCO Office in Jakarta.

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As a Party to the 2005 Convention, Indonesia has to submit a periodic report every four years on the achievements and challenges encountered in implementing the 2005 Convention. Local expert, Professor Aman Wirakartakusumah, who has been assisting the Government of Indonesia in the preparation of the report, noted that the Convention had become a an important strategic instrument for developing overall cultural policies and measures. Professor Wirakartakusumah said that the 12 elements covered in the Convention were driving the development of the creative economy - leading towards the sustainable development of Indonesia. The process of preparing the first periodic report is realised as "a wakeup call' to many stakeholders on the importance of culture for national development and international relation, he noted.

With the first report due in 2016, workshop participants noted the invaluable access they had to key players through this participatory reporting exercise - giving them a voice in informed cultural policy making processes. Thus, more than 100 participants engaged in lively debates on revamping cultural policies, the current state of affairs of Indonesia's culture sector, and the future vision for enhancing creativity in the country.

Indonesia is known for its thriving film, music, fashion and arts scene in cities like Yogyakarta, Bandung and Jakarta. The country has one of the most vibrant visual arts scene in South East Asia with biennales held in Yogyakarta and in Jakarta as well as the Bandung Creative City Forum. More recently, the nation's publishing industry has been growing, following Indonesia's role as Guest of Honor at the Frankfurt book fair in 2015.

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In 2013, Indonesia exported cultural goods worth more than US$ 900 million, as evidenced in UNESCO's recent Report on The Globalisation of Cultural Trade

Recognizing that some 10 percent of Indonesia's GDP comes from the creative industries - the country forged ahead with the creation of a new body which deals with the business of creative industries.

The training resulted in the development of a draft outline, table of contents and a broad inventory of cultural policies. Concluding the workshop, Indonesia's Director General of Culture, Hilmar Farid, highlighted the formation of the core drafting team for the periodic report, stating it was the first step of a long commitment for policy dialogue between civil society and the Government and the starting point for developing the country's national culture policy.

Made up of 27 people, the periodic report drafting team includes officials from various government institutions (Education and Culture, Tourism, Youth and Sport, Information, Foreign Affairs, Law and Human Rights, Creative Economy Agency, and the Central Bureau of Statistics) and representatives of public institutions, civil society members and media professional associations.

''Since ratification of the 2005 Convention in 2012, Indonesia has taken a leading role in expanding on creative industries through, among others, the organization of the World Culture Forum (Bali 2013) as well as the creation of a national Creative Economy Agency (Bekraf). These are among many 'good practices' that could be shared in the country's first Quadrennial Periodic Report due this year,'' reports Anupama Sekhar, Director of the Culture Department of Europe-Asia Foundation (ASEF) and one of the two international experts leading the training, along with Charles Vallerand, Executive Director of the Canadian Coalition for Cultural Diversity and General Secretary of the International Federation of Coalitions for Cultural Diversity.

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The data and information collected the periodic report will inform the next 2017 edition of the Global Report published every two years in order to share information on how innovative policies for the diversity of cultural expressions are being pursued around the world.

This latest workshop, organized by UNESCO Jakarta and the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture, is part of a series, running in 12 countries between from 2015 to 2017: Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cuba, Colombia, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Morocco, Rwanda, Senegal, Tunisia, Viet Nam and Zimbabwe.

Read the full story:http://bit.ly/1pMSnhj
In 2015, over 3,000 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children came to the UKBureau of Investigative Journalism/Shutterstock

As many as 1,000 Afghan asylum seekers, many of whom entered the UK as unaccompanied children, are in danger of being deported from the UK back to Afghanistan, according to law firm Duncan Lewis Solicitors. Cases will now be considered, after Home Secretary Theresa May won the right to resume deportations to Afghanistan in early March. The decision, made by the Court of Appeal, overturned an injunction imposed in May 2015, which prohibited all removals to Afghanistan due to fears over security. The Home Office told Duncan Lewis Solicitors seven months ago that the ban had prevented approximately 400 people from being deported. A spokesperson at the firm now estimates that this figure could be close to 1,000.

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I spoke to a young Afghan, who came to the UK aged 13 and is now at risk of being deported. He told me that, "I've been here ten years - I've never committed a crime, never caused any trouble, and they want to deport me back to one of the worst countries in the world. There's a war going on there. I feel scared."

Whilst officials can now begin to process the claims, a major UK charity is expected to challenge the government for its treatment of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children from Afghanistan. In their After Return report, to be released this evening, Refugee Support Network will say that young people who are returned to Afghanistan are confronted with bleak future prospects. These individuals struggle to make contact with their families, are often unable to continue their education or find work, and are known to have been targeted by terrorist groups. Excerpts of the report, exclusively released to me by RSN, show that 76% of young people monitored are experiencing desperate employment circumstances, to the extent that they are considering leaving Afghanistan again.

The report - conducted over an 18-month period - reveals that just under 50% of those monitored have been caught-up in security incidents since their return, such as bomb blasts or suicide attacks. Three individuals have been threatened or targeted as a result of unresolved issues that originally caused them to seek refuge in the UK, and seven young people have been targeted due to their association with the West. Discussing the report, Catherine Gladwell, Director of Refugee Support Network, said that "we have been shocked by the findings of our own research, and deeply saddened that the lives of boys we knew and supported here in the UK have been reduced to a daily battle for survival in Afghanistan."

The report concludes by suggesting that decision-makers should review the prevailing assumption that young people should be deported back to Afghanistan, and that 'due consideration [should be given] to the impact of the deteriorating security situation on the safety of former unaccompanied asylum-seeking children as a particular social group who are made more vulnerable by their lack of essential support networks.' Speaking to RSN, a former UK asylum seeker who was deported back to Afghanistan said that "the government in the UK don't care whether I live or whether I die."

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It is evident that the conflict in Afghanistan has escalated over the past year - fuelled by a myriad of factors, including the rise of Islamic State and the withdrawal of foreign forces. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) noted that 2015 was the deadliest year in terms of civilian casualties. There were 11,002 civilian casualties in Afghanistan during 2015 - 3,545 of which were fatalities. The Taliban currently controls 30% of Afghanistan - more territory than it has controlled at any other time since 2001.

In June 2015, the Taliban attacked the Afghan parliament, killing two and injuring 40. Reuters

Taliban advances have catalysed opposition forces, including rival jihadi groups. The U.S. military has initiated a series of bombing raids against Islamic State extremists in recent months, and it is estimated that as many as 3,000 fighters have entered Afghanistan - mainly concentrated in the Nangarhar province. In order to solicit obedience from local villagers in Dih Bala, a district controlled by Islamic State, the Washington Post reports that terrorists arbitrarily selected five local men, who they accused of co-operating with U.S. forces. These men were publically beheaded in the central market, and their heads and torsos placed on the ground. Fellow villagers - previously the friends and neighbours of the murdered men - were then ordered to drive over the body parts. It is therefore hardly surprising that, in January 2016, the U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) stated that the nation is worse off today than it was before the 2001 invasion.

Patricia Gossman, a senior researcher for Human Rights Watch, upheld this pessimistic interpretation. She expressed to me that: "The most important immediate concern is security. In the past year, it's safe to say that the war has intensified in Afghanistan, meaning that areas of the country that had been relatively stable a year ago are now very unsafe. According to the UN, half of the country's districts are considered to be at a high or extreme threat level from the Taliban and other insurgents. A huge number are fleeing conflict and insecurity. Whether it's safe for someone to return depends on their individual circumstances, but there really is not such a thing as totally "safe" areas where all Afghans can somehow be returned."

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UNHCR figures suggest that the number of internally displaced people in Afghanistan rose by 18% in 2015 to nearly 1,000,000. And Charles Davy, Managing Director of Afghan Aid, told me that security in the country is only likely to deteriorate further. "I would say that every year for the past three or four years it has been worse still. I'm expecting it to be worse again this year" he said, via Skype from his office in Kabul. "As things progress, I think everyone anticipates that the government will continue to hold major urban areas - provincial capitals - but the Taliban and other forces including Islamic State will increasingly hold rural areas. I think this sort of fluid arrangement will carry on. It looks bad. It's not been this bad for a long, long time."
There are many differing arguments for remaining in the EU or leaving it, but here's why I firmly believe we should stay in the EU for the benefit of our education.

Exchange Programmes

Many university courses offer the opportunity for students to spend a year or a semester abroad, most commonly in a country that is part of the EU. Specifically the EU set up the Erasmus programme which allows universities to be a partner institution. This allows UK students to be spend time in another institution in return for hosting EU students to study in the UK. Around 14,500 UK students every year take part in this funded scheme. It's a fantastic opportunity for so many to spend time abroad, get involved in another culture, practice their language skills and have an incredible experience they wouldn't have had otherwise. Yes, it is possible to do a semester/year abroad without being in the EU, in fact it does happen already. BUT, this comes with little funding so much of the cost is left to the student to pay. The opportunities that the university provides shouldn't be limited to just those who can afford to fork out to spend time across the world; everyone should have the opportunity to get these amazing experiences.

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Research and Teaching

Many of the research grants that allow for cutting edge, ground-breaking research to happen in the UK comes from the EU. The UK funding opportunities are limited and from speaking to lecturers at my university, the EU is much more likely to fund something a little bit more unknown with the potential of discovering something brand new. Arguably, we don't need research to be done in this country to be able to learn about it - we live in the modern world where communication is nigh on instant. The research grants, however, give us so much more than a few people in a room trying to find the next big thing.

With more grants for the 'new' more 'exciting' pieces of research, our universities attract more people from across the world. If we want to look at the financial gain, yes that means more coming into the country and a bit of a boost to the economy. But, it's so much more than that. With ground-breaking research in our country, more people come, it means that we can educate and inspire the next generation of researchers.

The Russell Group universities attract people based on the research happening at them, these grants mean there are great facilities available for students to use. Not only this, but it gives our students the PhD opportunities that they would otherwise go abroad for. We will lose some of our best academics, researchers and professionals if, as a nation, we don't have enough to attract them to stay here. Being out of the EU means that opportunities will be more restricted as many EU institutions will look for a home or EU student - the same as here - so opportunities in or out the country will be reduced for those in the UK.

Talking about more than just Russell Group universities, the quality of our education at all universities is likely to drop because we have many leading experts in a diverse range of subject areas who lecture in the UK, but are from an EU country originally. One of the great benefits of coming to university is to interact with people; the benefit of debating, discussing and learning from those who are experts in their field.

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Michel Chapoutier is one of the best producers of the Rhone Valley in France, but he has also produced wines here in the deep south of France, close to the Spanish border, for almost two decades. This terrific blend of Grenache, Syrah and Carignan is aged only in big, old barrels. Its name - Occultum Lapidem - is Latin for 'secret stones' or 'hidden stones', because this wine is all about terroir - expressing the slate and granite soils of this region, as well as the garrigue - the wild flowers and herbs - that typify the best vineyards of the Roussillon. It is plummy and rich in fruit, but there's a wonderful spice and earthiness too, a real bittersweet grip and authority, ending with freshness and backbone. Watch the video for more information and food-matching ideas. Normally 15.95 but currently on offer at 13.50 - not bad for a wine graced with 93-95 points by eRobertParker.
Sudan has one of the highest malnutrition rates in the Middle East and North Africa region. For the last forty years, one third of the population has suffered from irreversible chronic malnutrition - a life-long growth condition that has consistently plagued Sudanese children since 1987.

Now, more than two million children are already stunted and unlikely to ever reach their full growth potential. 17% of Sudanese children are acutely malnourished and over half a million will suffer from life-threatening severe acute malnutrition during one year (UNICEF S3M 2013).

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Ibrahim (left) and Amna (right) are the same age. Amna stopped breastfeeding at 11 months due to her mother's next pregnancy and is visibly more stunted than Ibrahim, who is also malnourished.

Despite these harrowing figures, there has been a substantial shift in approaches towards combating the issue. As recently as a few years ago, malnutrition was a taboo topic - stigmatised and unacknowledged by policy-makers. Today, the government is working hand-in-hand with NGOs to treat and prevent malnutrition at local council level, all over the country.

"From a country point of view, looking back three or four years, malnutrition was not well- positioned in the national developmental agenda. It was a very sensitive issue and its existence was somehow denied. Over the last few years, we have managed to make a big strategical shift in the policy environment through advocacy work and mobilisation to alert the government that malnutrition is a real problem, not something we have to hide, rather it is a problem we have to tackle," says Talal.

A presidential decree was passed in 2015, assigning board of various ministries and government bodies to combat malnutrition on a national scale. Sudan has now qualified to join the global movement SUN as the 56th country and are eligible for technical, financial and structural support from the international community, despite isolating US sanctions.

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In a country where nearly half of the population live under the poverty line, a lack of financial stability has a knock-on effect on both food insecurity and the availability of health care. Cultural frameworks also play a big role in the high rates of malnutrition, where small practices have a big impact.

Karr Sheikhf, 12 months of age, rests on his mother's lap after being breastfed during his admission at the clinic for malnourished children in Kassala.

Family practices, such as hygiene and breastfeeding habits, are directly influenced by poverty and the dire state of girls' education in Sudan. Female literacy rate for girls in rural areas is as low as 39% (UNICEF 2014) meaning that mothers can rely heavily on misleading cultural knowledge.

"There are many causes for malnutrition such as social norms and beliefs, for instance, there is a belief in east Sudan, that if a child or pregnant woman eats eggs the infant will go deaf. When a child is born, one of the foods that are crucial for growth are eggs which are rich in protein. So, they are denied protein at the most fundamental stage of development, " says Talal.

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In the west of Sudan, particularly Darfur, one prevalent tribal practice is the removal of a child's frenulum - the muscle under the tongue. This creates problems for food intake and even breastfeeding. These deeply-rooted belief systems can contradict basic infant nutritional needs.

"A UNICEF and Ministry of Health Knowledge, Attitude and Practice study, conducted in four states in 2012, showed that there is a widespread belief that introducing water during the first six months of a child's life is important because of the hot weather, This practice affecting negatively the exclusive breast feeding for six months. We design messages to address this issue and promote the understanding that a mother's breast milk is initially 87% water then the child gets protein and then fats at the end of one breast feeding episode," says Talal.

Weaning children off of breast milk too early can severely stunt growth and compromise immunity. Women are often pressured to do so on the advice of their mother, aunts and peers - making malnutrition a community awareness issue.

Haleema Ibrahim feeds Plumpy Nut, a ready-to-eat therapeutic food provided by UNICEF, to her 2 year old daughter Asha Ibrahim at the Wad Sharifa health centre.

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"We found that addressing many people with one message was not working. So now we are moving towards one-to-one counselling all over the country, talking to the specific mother about her specific problem. This sequence of counselling is designed according to the lifecycle approach, starts from pregnancy and ends with the first two years of the child's life through a huge networks around the country and functions within existing community structures, where trained local counsellors attend a natural community gatherings such as coffee gathering and mother meeting groups," says Talal

UNICEF trains leaders from the Women's Union who have the power to mobilise the community. They act as regional facilitators for a six-day course on infant and child feeding counselling, after which the trained local counsellors set up mother support groups where they are each responsible for ten homes. The counsellor will monitor new mothers from pregnancy through to the first two years - a period known as the 'window of opportunity', ensuring proper feeding practices such as exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months and regular check-ups and weight monitoring.

"We currently have records of 6,600 groups all over the country and contact information for 6,600 mother support group leaders, " says Talal.

UNICEF treatment rates are currently over 80% and the death rate is below 5%.

"We are moving towards a strategic change in Sudan in terms of economical investment, where we are not just focusing on petrol and oil, we are investing in people as the most important resource Sudan has," says Talal.

"I don't just feel the change, I see it. "
No, you dont understand, Im the Bob Woodward of Iceland, some 600 journalists boasted today. Donald Trump's campaign is in disarray, meaning he might have to retool the way he discusses his penis. And Wisconsin or not, Bernie Sanders is unlikely to pull off a Villanova-like upset in the Democratic primary; nor will he succeed in the NIT of the vice presidency, but he could still win his office bracket by landing the convention keynote. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Tuesday, April 5th, 2016:

ALABAMA DOES VERY ALABAMA THING - Namely pull a 1990s and impeach someone over an affair. Corky Siemszko: "Alabama lawmakers moved Tuesday to impeach their governor nearly two weeks after his squeaky clean reputation was wrecked by allegations that he and a top aide had an adulterous affair. 'We're looking at this governor who has essentially betrayed the trust of the people of Alabama,' State Rep. Ed Henry said. 'This is about the actions and lies that have caused us some doubts about his leadership.'  The bid to remove Bentley came a day after the governor, a conservative Republican, apologized again for the scandal engulfing his administration -- and after the governor said he asked God to forgive him...Henry, who is also a Republican, said the lawmakers are accusing Bentley of obstruction of justice by telling Alabama's former top cop to not cooperate with an attorney general's office problem. He said they have never before tried to impeach a sitting governor." [NBC News]

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BOW DOWN BEFORE UNTANNED DONALD TRUMP, GOD OF MAYONNAISE AND MOTION SICKNESS (via BuzzFeed

ELSEWHERE IN THE SOUTH - [Mississippi Goddamn comment here] Letitia Stein: "Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant on Tuesday signed into law a measure affording wide protections for actions considered discriminatory by gay rights activists. The far-reaching law allows people with religious objections to deny wedding services to same-sex couples. It also clears the way for employers to cite religion in determining workplace policies on dress code, grooming and bathroom and locker access. Bryant, a Republican, said in a statement that he signed the law 'to protect sincerely held religious beliefs and moral convictions of individuals, organizations and private associations from discriminatory action by state government.' His decision comes amid national protests over a new law barring transgender people in North Carolina from choosing bathrooms consistent with their gender identity. Meanwhile, the governors of Georgia and Virginia vetoed similar religious liberty bills last week." [HuffPost]

D.C. Council members voted to ban public pot smoking.

DELANEY DOWNER - In the wake of the Flint water crisis, local governments nationwide have had to assure residents worried about brain damage and miscarriages that their drinking water meets or exceeds all federal standards. Philadelphia officials tried to quell concerns about lead poisoning after activists, in a series of news stories and a public hearing, questioned the citys strategy for protecting the water. The Philadelphia Water Department is in compliance with the federal Lead and Copper Rule, John Quigley, director of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, said in an interview. Period. Full stop. Another city in compliance with the Lead and Copper Rule, the nations core regulation for lead in water: Flint, Michigan. Complying with federal water regulation, it turns out, doesnt necessarily mean a citys water is lead-free. All it means is that the amount of lead coming through faucets is beneath an arbitrary level. The rule essentially says that using lead pipes for drinking water is fine, even though childhood exposure to lead can cause permanently diminished intelligence and behavioral problems  serious ones. Widespread poisoning from leaded gasoline has emerged as a plausible explanation for rising and falling crime rates in the second half of the 20th century. [w/ HuffPost's Tyler Tynes and Robert Baldwin III]

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NO-NECKED GUYS NAMED PERCY FOR TRUMP - Ken Vogel and Brianna Gurciullo: "A POLITICO investigation revealed that Trump has assembled a privately funded security and intelligence force with a far wider reach than other campaigns private security operations: tracking and rooting out protesters, patrolling campaign events and supplementing the Secret Service protection of the billionaire real estate showman during his nontraditional campaign for the GOP presidential nomination. The investigation -- which utilized Federal Election Commission reports, state licensing records, court filings and interview accounts or testimony from more than a dozen people whove crossed paths with Trumps security -- found that the tactics of Trumps team at times inflamed the already high tensions around his divisive campaign, rather than defusing them...The Trump campaign could be forced to publicly justify its security tactics in June when a New York state court is set to evaluate the evidence-collection process in a little-noticed case brought by a handful of protesters who allege they were assaulted by five Trump security officials during a raucous protest outside the campaigns Manhattan headquarters in September. The protesters lawyers have asked the Trump campaign to release its contracts for security, its guidelines for use of force, its security teams personnel records, and complaints against its members  including for excessive force, assault, battery or 'violation of any federal or state constitutional right.'" [Politico]

Politico also reports that Trump's campaign is in disarray.

This is not the sort of thing you say until *after* the nomination is over: "Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday that she believes women can be both feminists and pro-life. When asked on 'The View' whether it is possible to be both, the Democratic presidential candidate said 'absolutely' and explained why she doesn't think the two terms are mutually exclusive. 'I respect the opinions and beliefs of every woman,' Clinton said. 'The reason why being pro-choice is the right way to go is because it is a choice, and hopefully a choice that is rooted in the thoughtfulness and the care that women bring to this decision. So of course you can be a feminist and be pro-life.' Clinton, who has long been pro-choice and has called for protecting Roe v. Wade, on Sunday drew criticism from both sides of the abortion debate after she said an 'unborn person' doesnt have constitutional rights.'" [HuffPost's Sam Levine]

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Bernie Sanders had a tough interview with the Daily News.

SUSAN COLLINS HAS VERY NICE WORDS FOR MERRICK GARLAND - Jen Bendery: "One of the few Republican senators who has agreed to meet with President Barack Obamas Supreme Court nominee expressed her admiration for appeals court judge Merrick Garland after talking with him Tuesday, and called for her colleagues to sit down with him as well. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) met with the long-serving jurist from the District of Columbia Circuit for more than an hour, and told reporters afterward that it only reinforced her belief that the Senate should do its job by holding hearings on the nominee to the nations highest court. Obama nominated Garland after Justice Antonin Scalias death in February. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) declared almost immediately after Scalias death that Obama should not bother with a nominee because Senate Republicans would refuse to hold hearings and a vote, regardless of who it was. Collins disagreed with her colleagues, and offered high praise after actually meeting the well-regarded Garland. 'I found Judge Garland to be well-informed, thoughtful, impressive, extraordinarily bright and with a sensitivity that I look for [regarding the] appropriate roles that the Constitution assigns to the three branches,' she said." [HuffPost]

Sadly George Mason has reconsidered the Antonin Scalia School of Law.

GRAYSON STILL UNDER INVESTIGATION - Karoun Demirjian: "The House Ethics Committee is extending its review of Rep. Alan Grayson as it probes the Florida Democrats management of a hedge fund, with activity in the Cayman islands, at the same time he was a lawmaker. The committee said it would continue to review the matter in order to gather additional information necessary to complete its review. It also published a report from the Office of Congressional Ethics  a nonpartisan, independent body charged with making referrals to the Ethics panel  with several findings and Graysons written rebuttals. The panels decision to continue the probe increases the likelihood that the hedge fund issue will linger over the spring and summer, almost assuring that it will be a high-profile issue in Graysons campaign to become the Democratic nominee for the Senate seat being vacated by erstwhile presidential candidate Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) Graysons primary against Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Fla.) is on Aug.30." [WaPo]

Shady adviser shadily removed from thing: "MSNBC purposely edited out an interview that Bloomberg's Mark Halperin and John Heilemann held with former Donald Trump adviser Roger Stone on Monday...When asked if MSNBC has also banned Stone from their network and whether they had purposely edited out his interview from the "With All Due Respect" broadcast, an MSNBC spokeswoman said "Yes" but declined to comment further." [Politico's Hadas Gold]

BECAUSE YOU'VE READ THIS FAR - Here's a child talking to turkeys.

OH, RAHM - We all know how much Rahm loves his private life publicized. Jordan Sargent "Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel has a long list of enemies. Near the top is the Chicago Teachers Union, with which hes feuded for his entire tenure as mayor. This past Friday, the union staged a one-day strike, closing schools across the city in order to draw attention to their latest round of negotiations with the city, which wants the teachers to accept cuts to pay, staffing, and budgets...But the many pressing issues facing the Windy City didnt stop Emanuel from immediately jetting off to take in the best the Big Apple has to offer: 'Hamilton,' the smash-hit Broadway musical." [Gawker]

COMFORT FOOD

- The trailer for Steven Spielberg's "BFG."

- Guy creates program in ten minutes that the government paid over $300,000 to program.

- Basketball fan fails miserably.

TWITTERAMA

@jbendery: "Congressman Pomp-ee-oh, or however you say his name. Pomp-ee-oh." -- Josh Earnest on Rep. Pompeo

@pourmecoffee: Ignore if some guy named Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson is trying to connect with you on LinkedIn.

@delrayser: Prime Minister of Iceland to Resign Over Krona Capitalism



Got something to add? Send tips/quotes/stories/photos/events/fundraisers/job movement/juicy miscellanea to Eliot Nelson (eliot@huffingtonpost.com) or Arthur Delaney (arthur@huffingtonpost.com). Follow us on Twitter @HuffPostHill (twitter.com/HuffPostHill).
horizontal shot of exploration, adventure and traveling concept with pin marking Munchen on map.

So I'm in the midst of planning a trip. Budgeting, nailing down a location, possible friends to come along, etc but with all this comes research. I've come across numbers of best places to travel in 2016 lists and have been comparing the cost with my budget (some of those best places may have to wait for 2018). And as I get closer to picking a place there's something lingering in my mind -- the worry about how amazing I hope the trip will be.

I realize this is quite silly. "Get over yourself and stop stressing about what hasn't even happened" is the mantra I repeat. But sometimes, you can't help it. You see photos of other people's travels and blog posts about how amazing it was and all you can think is, I WANT that. I want my experience to look as good as it looks on my favorite influencer's Instagram. I say LAME!

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People always say you shouldn't compare where you are in your career, your personal life, your physical belongings, etc to others. It's harmful and can do more damage than good (in the sense that comparison can help breed healthy competition). If you don't want your everyday life bogged down with this stress, why put it into a VACATION (isn't vacation implying stress free fun/a break from reality)?

Your vacation is YOUR vacation. The things you find interesting and fun (give you life) are the things you should do. Too many times I hear people talk about vacations they see in the movies or on TV. The standard: a girl goes on a trip to discover herself and then runs into the man of her dreams as well as the key to her success for her career. She has a few funny hiccups along the way but in the end, she ends up with the love of her life, a new job, a world full of possibilities and great stories. If you think you are getting all four of these things, well then you must also think that at the end of every rainbow, there's a pot of gold. For those of us grounded in reality, your trip isn't going to be like that however, it will be and can be fun and amazing in it's own ways.

When planning a trip there's nothing wrong with drawing upon inspiration on things to do, places to eat, etc but don't try and recreate someone else's memories. Or as a matter of fact, don't go trying to recreate your previous memories of a trip with someone else. To me, what makes a vacation fun is the fact that anything can happen. It's a break from the mundane and as much as I like stability and control, there's so much more when you get a taste of the joyful unexpected.

A couple of years ago when I studied abroad in Paris, I went to Bruges with a few friends. I had no idea what was going to happen and in fact, I had no real inclination to go to Bruges (I tagged along last minute after my friend filled me in). However when I got there, I realized that was the best way to go into that trip. I had no bar to compare it to, no preconceived notions. I was just there to have fun and I did. We stumbled into a city wide parade (confetti = happy me) and I ate mussels for the first time and LOVED it. These memories will always remain with me and if I ever go back to Bruges, I'd be doing myself and those memories a disservice to try and recreate them.

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Remember when SnapChat used to be known for people sending naked photos that would delete after five seconds? That was cute. But now there's way better uses for the social media app, especially when put in the hands of world travelers.

Imagine having your own personal travel shows and tours of far away places, in the palm of your hands for you to view whenever you're feeling a little wanderlust. That's what will happen when you follow these full-time travelers, who Snap to literally put the world in your hands!

I'm a full-time solo traveler (MyLifesAMovie) and I use SnapChat to show what's really going on behind the scenes when I travel and am taking those seemingly perfect-looking Instagram shots. There's a lot of sarcasm involved and my facial expressions don't hide anything. I also do a lot of tutorials for travel tips and tricks, like how to use the flexible option to get hundreds of dollars off flights, how to pack a carry-on, and even how to use a GoPro to get photos like mine! I'll be all over Southeast Asia in May, and up to no good in the mean time!

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Matt (Expert Vagabond) has been a full-time traveler for the past 5 years now, and shares his crazy travel adventures from around the world in real time. Recently he was snapping the Northern lights in Norway, and the Mayan ruins in Mexico, and right now you can catch him snapping things like classic cars in Cuba!

Anna (AnnaEverywhere) is another full-time traveler whose Snapchat ranges from a variety of entertaining things. She's really good at capturing the behind-the-scenes life of travel bloggers, for instance; she snapped me while I was attempting to take a GoPro selfie over the edge of a cliff, and also snapped Matt (ExpertVagabond) after he accidentally broke the shifter in a beach buggy in Cozumel. She also manages to always find cute animals to snap, and shows her skills when practicing aerial! Right now she's snapping from Havana, Cuba!

Drew Binsky (TheHungryPartier) is a full-time traveler and Snapchatter, sharing his fun adventures around the world. Follow his entertaining Snapchat to get a behind-the-scenes look at the world's best cities, festivals and activities. Drew frequently plays games with his followers, giving out free prizes like postcards to people who snap him back! Drew is currently Snapping his adventures in Indonesia, and then he'll be taking you around New Zealand, Fiji, Vanuatu, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam until June!

Hannah and Adam are the dynamic duo behind the blog and Snapchat Getting Stamped, and are an awesome full-time traveling couple! #relationshipgoals. They've been on 22 flights this year already, and just spent two weeks in Israel. Now they're exploring Cuba for the next few days before heading back to Playa del Carmen, Mexico!

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Alicia (AliciaExplores) has quite the entertaining Snapchat account with her lovely travels and witty presentation. Recently I just watched her do a full on conversation as a face-morphed tiger, and I'm pretty sure she was Snapping it from her seat on the plane! She also likes to include the people in her life who are close to her, which, I'm sure get a kick out of being her Snapchat victims! See what shenanigans she's currently up to in the UK right now!

Tom (TravelTomTom) is a full-time traveler who uses his Snapchat to show what's really going on during his travels instead of just looking at his beautiful Instagram pictures (I've seen them, they're pretty great). See how he goes from slumming it in 0 star hostels to the most exclusive 5 star hotels, and how he sips cocktails on rooftop bars then will go have a beer with locals and try the local food. He cliff jumps, snorkels, and climbs mountains for a shot of an amazing sunset. Right now you'll be able to see him snapping from Southeast Asia!

Edna is a serial expat and the blogger behind Expat Edna. She left home at 18 to see the world, and after eight years of bouncing around Asia and Europe she now travels from a home base in Paris. Her snaps will introduce you to delicious eats from around the world, from the best cichetti in Venice and cocktails in Paris, to craft beer in Japan and night markets in Taipei. Don't watch when hungry: you've been warned!

Janet (JournalistontheRun) is a quirky full-time travel blogger from Ireland who is literally always on the run! She recently did a two week trip on the Kerala Express in India, and is now hopping around Thailand and Southeast Asia!

Lee has technically been to every country in the world (LeeAbbamonte.com), and says that he loves Snapchat because it's an unfiltered look into his daily life; both traveling and at home. You can expect to see some awesome scenery and lots of commentary from all corners of the globe, with a sense of humor and sarcasm. Plus he tends to throw in some pizza, sports, music, and emojis! Lee will actually be traveling to Longyearbyen, the Northernmost town in the world, where I just was last month, where he'll be departing for an expedition to the North Pole.

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Anna Kate (The Legendary Adventures of Anna) has a vibrant Snapchat packed with her exciting solo travels around the world. Her snapchat features gorgeous photos, nature, tasty local food, fashion, silly selfies, epic scenery, on the ground amusing cultural insights, travel tips and quite a few videos of her getting hopelessly lost on the trains. She's currently Snapping from Japan!

@Gl0 (with a zero)



Gloria (TheBlogAbroad) lives on the road and uses her SnapChat to share a range of things; from what she sees and experiences while out and about exploring, or simply doing her day-t0-day rants and musings about life. She says that it's true that being a full-time travel blogger is complex, but with SnapChat's non-edited medium, it allows us to show others that we are JUST like them. She says it's that unfiltered connection in real-time that will only make Snapchat continue to grow.

Will (TheBrokeBackpacker) is currently on a four year backpacking adventure which he's doing without the use of flights. He has recently been Snapchatting his journey as he criss-crosses Iran by hitchhiking and tackles trekking in the Pakistani mountains. Right now, he is driving a psychedelic tuk tuk across India, and snapping the whole way!

Steph Be (TravelBreak.net) likes to show the behind the scenes from her travel experiences which consist of adventure, lifestyle, and culture. She says to not be surprised if you see her dancing on a cliff on Snapchat, where you'll later see it on her travel blog or Instagram as a an actual pic!
The seventh annual Restaurant Week In Talbot County on Maryland's Eastern Shore will take place beginning April 4 and running through April 9. People from around the Mid-Atlantic -- and as far away as New York -- flock to area restaurants each year to take advantage of the promotional prices during this special event with two-course lunches going for $20.16 and three-course dinners for $35.16.

Talbot County has become an East Coast foodie mecca thanks to the abundance of well-regarded restaurants and talented chefs who have flourished in the area over the past decade or so. Located near the Chesapeake Bay, Talbot County is known for its impeccable seafood, like blue crabs, oysters and rockfish. But there's more to this region that simply seafood. It has a reputation for being culinarily innovative. This year, more than 25 restaurants in the historic towns of St. Michaels, Easton, Oxford and Tilghman Island will participate in Restaurant Week. Here are a few:

In the historic town of Easton:

Bartlett Pear: Chef Jordan Lloyd, formerly of Per Se in NY, helms the kitchen, which delivers un-self-conscious farm-to-table-driven menu with dishes like locally raised duck breast paired with celery root and pine nut brittle and a plate of inn-cured prosciutto and local cheese.

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Out of The Fire: The wood-burning oven here makes even the simplest pizza sing. Plus, owner Amy Haines is committed to local organic produce, serving up twists on classics like kale Caesar salad and farro spiked with butternut squash and topped with pumpkins seeds and pomegranate.

Peacock Lounge: The elegant restaurant housed in an historic mansion that Michelin Travel guide called "exquisite" upholds the tradition of fine dining with dishes like seared salmon on artichoke barigole and lobster risotto and a beef filet with caramelized shallot butter.

In the waterfront town of Oxford:

Oxford Inn: Set within a charming historic building in the heart of the small waterfront town of Oxford, this restaurant, is consistently rated in Zagat as one of the region's best. Chef Lisa MacDougal serves stylish comfort food like an elevated steak frites and flounder with crab imperial.

Robert Morris Inn: A local favorite, this kitchen is presided over by Mark Salter, formerly of the Inn At Perry Cabin. Dine on spring pea and mint soup, salmon with spring vegetables and (local) oyster Rockefeller on the outdoor patio or inside the charming 18th century dining room.

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The buzzy town of St. Michaels:

Stars Restaurant: This waterfront dining haven housed within the hotel Perry Cabin by Belmond is one of the treasures of the East Coast. Fresh dishes like crab crakes topped with aioli and salmon lightly dressed in soy make dining here a treat.

Awful Arthur's Seafood Company: Downtown St. Michaels, this restaurant is a magnet for locals with a downright perfect fish 'n chips and addictive blackened tuna bites. Take a seat on the front porch or back patio for freshly shucked oysters.

Tilghman Island:
WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 6: Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) speaks as Senate Republican leadership hold a press conference after their weekly policy luncheon in the U.S. Capitol building March 6, 2012 in Washington, DC. McConnell advocated military force against Iran if the country were to develop nuclear weapons. (Photo by Allison Shelley/Getty Images)

How the United States Became a Prisoner of War and Congress Went MIA

Lets face it: in times of war, the Constitution tends to take a beating. With the safety or survival of the nation said to be at risk, the basic law of the land -- otherwise considered sacrosanct -- becomes nonbinding, subject to being waived at the whim of government authorities who are impatient, scared, panicky, or just plain pissed off.

The examples are legion. During the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln arbitrarily suspended the writ of habeas corpus and ignored court orders that took issue with his authority to do so. After U.S. entry into World War I, the administration of Woodrow Wilson mounted a comprehensive effort to crush dissent, shutting down anti-war publications in complete disregard of the First Amendment. Amid the hysteria triggered by Pearl Harbor, Franklin Roosevelt issued an executive order consigning to concentration camps more than 100,000 Japanese-Americans, many of them native-born citizens. Asked in 1944 to review this gross violation of due process, the Supreme Court endorsed the governments action by a 6-3 vote.

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More often than not, the passing of the emergency induces second thoughts and even remorse. The further into the past a particular war recedes, the more dubious the wartime arguments for violating the Constitution appear. Americans thereby take comfort in the lessons learned that will presumably prohibit any future recurrence of such folly.

Even so, the onset of the next war finds the Constitution once more being ill-treated. We dont repeat past transgressions, of course. Instead, we devise new ones. So it has been during the ongoing post-9/11 period of protracted war.

During the presidency of George W. Bush, the United States embraced torture as an instrument of policy in clear violation of the Eighth Amendment prohibiting cruel and unusual punishment. Bushs successor, Barack Obama, ordered the extrajudicial killing of an American citizen, a death by drone that was visibly in disregard of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments. Both administrations -- Bushs with gusto, Obamas with evident regret -- imprisoned individuals for years on end without charge and without anything remotely approximating the speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment. Should the present state of hostilities ever end, we can no doubt expect Guantanamo to become yet another source of lessons learned for future generations of rueful Americans.

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Congress on the Sidelines

Yet one particular check-and-balance constitutional proviso now appears exempt from this recurring phenomenon of disregard followed by professions of dismay, embarrassment, and never again-ism once the military emergency passes. I mean, of course, Article I, section 8 of the Constitution, which assigns to Congress the authority to declare war and still stands as testimony to the genius of those who drafted it. There can be no question that the responsibility for deciding when and whether the United States should fight resides with the legislative branch, not the executive, and that this was manifestly the intent of the Framers.

On parchment at least, the division of labor appears straightforward. The presidents designation as commander-in-chief of the armed forces in no way implies a blanket authorization to employ those forces however he sees fit or anything faintly like it. Quite the contrary: legitimizing presidential command requires explicit congressional sanction.

Actual practice has evolved into something altogether different. The portion of Article I, Section 8, cited above has become a dead letter, about as operative as blue laws still on the books in some American cities and towns that purport to regulate Sabbath day activities. Superseding the written text is an unwritten counterpart that goes something like this: with legislators largely consigned to the status of observers, presidents pretty much wage war whenever, wherever, and however they see fit. Whether the result qualifies as usurpation or forfeiture is one of those chicken-and-egg questions thats interesting but practically speaking beside the point.

This is by no means a recent development. It has a history. In the summer of 1950, when President Harry Truman decided that a U.N. Security Council resolution provided sufficient warrant for him to order U.S. forces to fight in Korea, congressional war powers took a hit from which they would never recover.

Congress soon thereafter bought into the notion, fashionable during the Cold War, that formal declarations of hostilities had become passe. Waging the long twilight struggle ostensibly required deference to the commander-in-chief on all matters related to national security. To sustain the pretense that it still retained some relevance, Congress took to issuing what were essentially permission slips, granting presidents maximum freedom of action to do whatever they might decide needed to be done in response to the latest perceived crisis.

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The Tonkin Gulf Resolution of 1964 offers a notable example. With near unanimity, legislators urged President Lyndon Johnson to take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression across the length and breadth of Southeast Asia. Through the magic of presidential interpretation, a mandate to prevent aggression provided legal cover for an astonishingly brutal and aggressive war in Vietnam, as well as Cambodia and Laos. Under the guise of repelling attacks on U.S. forces, Johnson and his successor, Richard Nixon, thrust millions of American troops into a war they could not win, even if more than 58,000 died trying.

To leap almost four decades ahead, think of the Authorization to Use Military Force (AUMF) that was passed by Congress in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 as the grandchild of the Tonkin Gulf Resolution. This document required (directed, called upon, requested, invited, urged) President George W. Bush to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons, in order to prevent any future acts of international terrorism against the United States by such nations, organizations, or persons. In plain language: heres a blank check; feel free to fill it in any way you like.

Forever War

As a practical matter, one specific individual -- Osama bin Laden -- had hatched the 9/11 plot. A single organization -- al-Qaeda -- had conspired to pull it off. And just one nation -- backward, Taliban-controlled Afghanistan -- had provided assistance, offering sanctuary to bin Laden and his henchmen. Yet nearly 15 years later, the AUMF remains operative and has become the basis for military actions against innumerable individuals, organizations, and nations with no involvement whatsoever in the murderous events of September 11, 2001.

Consider the following less than comprehensive list of four developments, all of which occurred just within the last month and a half:

*In Yemen, a U.S. airstrike killed at least 50 individuals, said to be members of an Islamist organization that did not exist on 9/11.

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*In Somalia, another U.S. airstrike killed a reported 150 militants, reputedly members of al-Shabab, a very nasty outfit, even if one with no real agenda beyond Somalia itself.

*In Syria, pursuant to the campaign of assassination that is the latest spin-off of the Iraq War, U.S. special operations forces bumped off the reputed finance minister of the Islamic State, another terror group that didnt even exist in September 2001.

*In Libya, according to press reports, the Pentagon is again gearing up for decisive military action -- that is, a new round of air strikes and special operations attacks to quell the disorder resulting from the U.S.-orchestrated air campaign that in 2011 destabilized that country. An airstrike conducted in late February gave a hint of what is to come: it killed approximately 50 Islamic State militants (and possibly two Serbian diplomatic captives).

Yemen, Somalia, Syria, and Libya share at least this in common: none of them, nor any of the groups targeted, had a hand in the 9/11 attacks.

Imagine if, within a matter of weeks, China were to launch raids into Vietnam, Thailand, and Taiwan, with punitive action against the Philippines in the offing. Or if Russia, having given a swift kick to Ukraine, Georgia, and Azerbaijan, leaked its plans to teach Poland a lesson for mismanaging its internal affairs. Were Chinese President Xi Jinping or Russian President Vladimir Putin to order such actions, the halls of Congress would ring with fierce denunciations. Members of both houses would jostle for places in front of the TV cameras to condemn the perpetrators for recklessly violating international law and undermining the prospects for world peace. Having no jurisdiction over the actions of other sovereign states, senators and representatives would break down the doors to seize the opportunity to get in their two cents worth. No one would be able to stop them. Who does Xi think he is! How dare Putin!

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Yet when an American president undertakes analogous actions over which the legislative branch does have jurisdiction, members of Congress either yawn or avert their eyes.

In this regard, Republicans are especially egregious offenders. On matters where President Obama is clearly acting in accordance with the Constitution -- for example, in nominating someone to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court -- they spare no effort to thwart him, concocting bizarre arguments nowhere found in the Constitution to justify their obstructionism. Yet when this same president cites the 2001 AUMF as the basis for initiating hostilities hither and yon, something that is on the face of it not legal but ludicrous, they passively assent.

Indeed, when Obama in 2015 went so far as to ask Congress to pass a new AUMF addressing the specific threat posed by the Islamic State -- that is, essentially rubberstamping the war he had already launched on his own in Syria and Iraq -- the Republican leadership took no action. Looking forward to the day when Obama departs office, Senator Mitch McConnell with his trademark hypocrisy worried aloud that a new AUMF might constrain his successor. The next president will have to clean up this mess, created by all of this passivity over the last eight years, the majority leader remarked. In that regard, an authorization to use military force that ties the president's hands behind his back is not something I would want to do. The proper role of Congress was to get out of the way and give this commander-in-chief carte blanche so that the next one would enjoy comparably unlimited prerogatives.

Collaborating with a president they roundly despise -- implicitly concurring in Obamas questionable claim that existing statutes [already] provide me with the authority I need to make war on ISIS -- the GOP-controlled Congress thereby transformed the post-9/11 AUMF into what has now become, in effect, a writ of permanent and limitless armed conflict. In Iraq and Syria, for instance, what began as a limited but open-ended campaign of air strikes authorized by President Obama in August 2014 has expanded to include an ever-larger contingent of U.S. trainers and advisers for the Iraqi military, special operations forces conducting raids in both Iraq and Syria, the first new all-U.S. forward fire base in Iraq, and at least 5,000 U.S. military personnel now on the ground, a number that continues to grow incrementally.

Remember Barack Obama campaigning back in 2008 and solemnly pledging to end the Iraq War? What he neglected to mention at the time was that he was retaining the prerogative to plunge the country into another Iraq War on his own ticket. So has he now done, with members of Congress passively assenting and the country essentially a prisoner of war.

By now, through its inaction, the legislative branch has, in fact, surrendered the final remnant of authority it retained on matters relating to whether, when, against whom, and for what purpose the United States should go to war. Nothing now remains but to pay the bills, which Congress routinely does, citing a solemn obligation to support the troops. In this way does the performance of lesser duties provide an excuse for shirking far greater ones.

In military circles, there is a term to describe this type of behavior. Its called cowardice.

Andrew Bacevich, a TomDispatch regular, is the author of Americas War for the Greater Middle East: A Military History, which has just been published by Random House.
(PHOTO 2016 Anna Wilding, Carpe Diem Films, LLC., and Herald de Paris) - See more at: http://www.heralddeparis.com/obama-celebrates-ties-with-nato-head-as-trump-calls-nato-obsolete/#sthash.uoOUXl3K.dpuf

WASHINGTON, DC (Herald de Paris) -- The Secretary General of NATO, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, met with President Obama at the White House today. This follows several weeks in which GOP nominee front-runner, businessman, and entertainer Donald Trump has been calling NATO, "Weak, obsolete," and that he, "Doesn't mind if it breaks up." Mr. Trump's comments had little to no impact on the strength of the meeting between Obama and Stoltenberg.

The President said, "We are marking the 67th anniversary of the NATO alliance, and NATO continues to be the linchpin, the cornerstone of our collective defense and U.S. security policy."

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General Stoltenberg, speaking directly to reporters at the White House said, "Hundreds of countries have served alongside Americans overseas. It's an important alliance."

The meeting marked the tragedy that had taken place in Brussels. Mr. Obama said it reinforced, "The importance of us staying focused on ISIL and countering the terrorism that has seeped up into Europe and around the world. " NATO is training and assisting process for troops in Iraq, in Jordan, in many of the areas in the region.

The President made the point that NATO has been an extraordinary partner in Afghanistan. "The coalition there continues to focus on assisting the government and the Afghan national security forces, building up capacity, pushing back against the Taliban, and helping Afghans to provide security for their own country and, hopefully, being able to arrive at some sort of political settlement that would end decades of conflict and violence there. And we are grateful for the sacrifices that NATO countries have made -- their men and women fought alongside U.S. troops. They have fought together and they have died together. " Mr. Obama believes that, "NATO is as important as ever."

Mr. Obama cited General Stoltenberg's personal commitment and personal leadership, as being a part of that. "Terrorism affects us all, from Brussels to San Bernardino, and all NATO allies contribute to the US-led efforts to degrade and destroy ISIL." -

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By Edward Mabaya

Recently, I watched the Apple's launch event at which CEO Tim Cook and his colleagues introduced the company's new products to the world. With much fanfare and hype, Apple unveiled a small new iPhone, a new iPad Pro tablet for business use, and a $50 price reduction for the Apple Watch.

So basically updates of existing products. Nothing was announced that will change people's lives in any meaningful way. Yet, millions of people like me were interested enough to watch the entire event.

Getting people excited about marginal gains in technology has become an art form at Apple. As an African economist focused on how to get better seeds to Africa's family farmers (and also someone who clearly loves Apple products) I am trying to learn from Apple.

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Over the past two decades, I have seen amazing agricultural innovations, many of them involving seed for new varieties of maize, wheat, cassava and other food crops that have the potential to transform millions of lives. In many parts of Africa, these seeds--bred by scientists to tolerate drought or withstand a certain crop diseases--could actually mean the difference between hunger and plenty. And yet, most of these technologies never even reach farmer's ears, let alone their fields.

There is of course a vast difference between cell phones and seed. But from Apple's launch events I have learned five key marketing lessons that could drastically improve awareness and adoption of better seed varieties by farmers across Africa.



1. Launch multiple products at the same time

Most agricultural research centers--the institutions responsible for coming up with new seed varieties--release new seeds throughout the year as soon as they clear the requisite science and bureaucratic processes. This 'salami slice' approach to product launch does not attract much media or farmer interest. By contrast, Apple only has two launch events every year and several new products are featured in each. By rolling out multiple products at once, Apple generates a synergistic WOW. It also showcases how all the new products are related. Imagine how much attention would be generated if every country dedicated one annual event to introducing array of new products developed for farmers.



2. It's about the product, not the process

We can all agree that the science that goes into the research and development of Apple products is cutting-edge stuff. Yet, Apple events focus on the products, not the behind-the-scenes look of how they where developed. In contrast, during the launch of agricultural products, the innovation is often obscured by the technical 'how stuff is made' talk. This is what happens when you rely on plant breeders and scientists to do your marketing - they showcase the science. Next time, leave this technical stuff to the peer-reviewed journals and focus on the products--the seeds.. Take for example, a popular maize variety grown in Western Kenya that was bred by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center to offer high yields, tolerance of low nitrogen soils, and resistance to breakage of the stalk below the cob. Its official name: WH502, which is probably based on some scientific nomenclature. It could be a much more memorable crop variety, and perhaps more widely adopted, if it carried a market-friendly name such as "Hunger Buster" or its equivalent in local languages. We need to do a better job of presenting our seed products with language farmers understand because it immediately connects with the challenges they face.

3. Talk to the final consumer

Apple has only one audience in mind at their launch events - the final consumer who will buy their product. Everything that is said and done at their launch is addressed to me, the consumer. By contrast, agricultural research institutions seem primarily to be talking to their funders, be they local governments or external donors. Their launch events feature photo ops for politicians, bureaucrats, and program officers from funding agencies. Rarely do I see any farmers featured on the stage. It is time to stop preaching to the choir; take this gospel to farmers' fields.



4. Match the problem to a solution

I did not know that my iPhone 5 was too thick until Apple showed me the 0.6 mm thinner iPhone 6, which would save me precious pocket space. While this is a laughable marketing gimmick, it illustrates a clever concept: always present the problem before the solution. In launching new agricultural innovations, more time and effort should be spent reminding farmers of the problem. A new bean variety that is resistant to root rot looks more impressive when it is juxtaposed to its diseased cousin.

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5. When and where can I get it?

No launch event for Apple is complete until they tell consumers when, where, and at what cost the new products will become available. This is more impressive than it appears at face value. It tells you that Apple has already figured out the entire supply chain before launch time. They are not just discussing a prototype. If you ever dare to ask "where can I get this?" at a launch event for agricultural innovations, you will be answered by blank stares. In most cases, no one even knows if these technologies will ever be commercially available, let alone when, where, and for how much. Consequently, whatever little excitement might be generated about new seed varieties quickly vanishes. Farmers are not dreamers. They want seeds that are available at their local farmer supply store at an affordable price and before the first rains.

Awareness is the first and most critical step in generating demand. This is as true for cool gizmos as it is for farm inputs. No one will buy a product unless they are aware of it. Apple realizes this simple fact, which is why they invest millions of dollars in launch events and advertising.

I know that the seed world is much more complicated, with multiple research, production, and distribution partners. However, most agricultural innovations, especially those targeting smallholder farmers, are only planned as far the release phase. So much hard work and brain-power devoted to developing the seed, but then little consideration for how they will reach the farmers. Instead of flying off the retail shelves, most seed varieties today remain on laboratory shelves. Instead of sales figures, they only generate progress reports and journal publications.

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We need to start thinking like Apple and develop launch events as key marketing strategies, where agricultural research organizations can partner with distributors to generate excitement and demand for their products. Imagine a world in which smallholder farmers share photos of the latest new maize or bean variety. Maybe they won't be camping out overnight in front of the agro-dealer to be first in line for the seeds. But a fresh, new approach to product launches could go a long way toward making agricultural innovations as common for farmers in Africa as, well, the mobile phone.
Journalists breathlessly report every new hateful, racist, xenophobic, misogynist, or simply stupid statement made by Donald Trump. That is not surprising. As Les Moonves, Chairman of CBS, said recently, "It may not be good for America, but it's damn good for CBS...Sorry. It's a terrible thing to say. But, bring it on, Donald. Keep going."

While it is sadly true that hate and provocation are attractive to many in the media and their markets, we need to stop treating each new Trump pronouncement as if it were an isolated revelation regarding Trump's character.

We have more than sufficient evidence about Donald Trump's nature and character from even a quick review of his greatest hits. Speaking about John McCain at a "Family Leadership Summit" in Iowa in July 2015, Trump said, "He's not a war hero. He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren't captured." In other words, Donald Trump, who got four military deferments because of student status and some injury to his foot that he now cannot even remember, said that he likes better veterans who were not captured. Presumably, he also likes better veterans who were not killed. In short, Trump disrespects veterans who made the ultimate sacrifices, but he aspires to be Commander-in-Chief.

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As if that were not enough, Trump has expressly encouraged illegal, violent assaults against protesters at his events. Trump told a Cedar Rapids crowd to "... knock the crap out of 'em, would you? Seriously. Okay? Just knock the hell -- I promise you, I will pay for the legal fees. I promise. I promise." After a Trump supporter punched and choked a protester at a rally in Birmingham, Trump said: "maybe he deserved to get roughed up." In Las Vegas, Trump noticed a protester being escorted away peacefully and said: "The guards are being very gentle with him," Trump said. "I'd like to punch him in the face, I'll tell you that." Trump continued his tirade: "I love the old days. You know what they used to do to guys like that in a place like this? They'd be carried out on a stretcher, folks." This is a United States presidential candidate who has repeatedly encouraged vigilantism.

When Donald Trump was asked by Jake Tapper on State of the Union to disavow David Duke, the KKK and white supremacists, he said, "I don't know anything about what you're even talking about with white supremacy or white supremacists. So I don't know. I don't know -- did he endorse me, or what's going on? Because I know nothing about David Duke; I know nothing about white supremacists." We cannot have a president who, at best, knows "nothing" about "white supremacy" or "white supremacists" and at worst, embraces them as supporters. There are many other examples, including about Mexicans and Muslims, but who needs to look further? Trump does not feel comfortable disavowing "white supremacists."

With respect to women, in August 2015, speaking about Megyn Kelly, a widely respected journalist who had the temerity to ask a tough question in a Republican debate about how Trump relates to women, Tump said "[y]ou could see there was blood coming out of her eyes. Blood coming out of her... wherever." There's a Super PAC ad out (from Our Principles PAC) that collects Trump's many similar comments about women.

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Finally, in the opening moments of a recent Republican presidential debate, Trump said "And, [Marco Rubio] referred to my hands -- 'if they're small, something else must be small.' I guarantee you there's no problem. I guarantee." Yes, indeed, in the presidential debate, Trump assured America that his penis was not small. Of course, he already made this known. Trump called in to TMZ in 2012 after Gloria Allred questioned the size of his penis and said "I think Gloria would be very very impressed with me [referring to his penis]."

It should be noted that except for the comments about his penis size, Donald Trump has attempted to disavow his own comments noted above. Despite the unequivocal recorded quotes, he has: a) denied he said them; b) alleged that he was misinterpreted or didn't hear the question; or c) simply said the opposite the next day ("captured or not, all our soldiers are heroes"). Like PT Barnum, Donald Trump relies on there being a sucker born every minute.

Sadly, despite this great weight of cumulative evidence about Trump's nature, we will continue to be "shocked" and "stunned" in the moment about each new story. But they will yield no further insight about his character. We have more than enough evidence that Trump is a carnival barker, an extreme narcissist, a demagogue, and a hothead. We need no further proof that he has continually made profoundly racist and misogynist comments, as well as many other crude, stupid, and offensive statements. But we live in the moment, comment to comment. Many of us pursue that elusive state of "mindfulness" as a spiritual path. Yet, we are all masters at living only in the present moment with respect to the news cycle.

We already know plenty about Trump. But what about these questions: Why does Donald Trump have a substantial lead in virtually every Republican primary? How has the Republican Party created and fostered the conditions that give rise to Donald Trump's candidacy and success? What and who are responsible for the anti-government sentiment that drives a significant part of Trump's support? Why are messages of racism and misogyny resonating to a large portion of Republican primary voters? What explains the timing of the late-breaking criticisms of Trump and why, only weeks ago, did all of the remaining Republican candidates say that would support Trump in the general election if he were their candidate?

And perhaps most importantly, how do journalists keep their independence and pursue these important questions when people at the top, like Les Moonves of CBS, make clear that they value ratings over "what is good for America"?
Statue of Alexander Hamilton, Great Falls, Paterson, New Jersey, USA. Alexander Hamilton envisioned the potential power of the Passaic Falls for industrial development.

The Republican leadership of the United States Senate has made clear that they will exercise their majority power to ensure that the Senate will not take up the nomination of Judge Merrick Garland, or any other nominee, to the United States Supreme Court until a new President is elected. This position is directly at odds with the Constitution because it intentionally undermines the authority and obligation of the President to appoint Supreme Court justices.

Article II, Section II, Clause II of the United States Constitution states that the President "shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint...Judges of the Supreme Court..." The view of the Republican leaders that they can simply block any nomination without hearing is contrary to these plain words. The president has the right and the obligation not only to nominate, but to appoint. Refusing to advise and/or consent to any Obama nomination eviscerates the President's constitutional right and obligation to appoint Supreme Court judges and, accordingly, intentionally prevents a President from fulfilling his Constitutional duties.

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There is no doubt that the Senate has an important Constitutional role in the process of appointing Supreme Court judges. Their advice and consent ensures a robust process to evaluate the nominee and operates as a check on the executive branch to ensure that nominees for such a critical position are not subject to the sole judgment of a particular President. Indeed, founding father Alexander Hamilton spoke at length about the rationale for this provision of the Constitution in Federalist Paper #76.

Hamilton was well aware that vesting the power of nomination and appointment in the president, and power to advise and consent in the Senate, would result in some vigorous debate and might result in failed nominations. However, Hamilton's faith in the process was supported by three assumptions. He believed: a) that there would always be enough people [men] of integrity and "independence" in the Senate, guided by their sense of "public-spirit," to prevent misuse of the advise and consent power; b) that the power was "checked" by the ability of the President to just send forth another nominee; and c) that in light of these things there would likely be only "special and strong reasons" to reject a nominee.

Unfortunately, Hamilton's assumptions were all incorrect. There are not enough people in the Senate of integrity and independence, the power is not "checked" by sending another nominee when the Senate won't consider any nominee, and there will not be only "special and strong reasons" to reject a nominee when all nominees are categorically rejected. Indeed, it would be a nice fantasy to conjure Hamilton in the present. I am confident that he would be appalled at this perversion of the advice and consent clause. (He might also enjoy taking in the show Hamilton on Broadway).

The argument that there is somehow an exception where the president has one year remaining in their term is specious. The Constitution does not apply to only seventy-five percent of a president's term of office. If there were some exception, it would be found in the Constitution. The Republican efforts to found their actions on a so-called "Biden Rule" are similarly misplaced. While Joe Biden gave a speech in 1992 questioning whether a Supreme Court nomination should be delayed close to an election, neither he, nor anyone else, has caused the Senate to refuse outright to consider any nominee. In addition, this argument, taken to its logical extreme, yields absurd outcomes. Should senators only be able to vote in their first five years? Can the Senate refuse to advise and consent and prevent a president from fulfilling their constitutional obligations for any number of reasons that fulfill their particular political whims? What's next: the Senate won't provide advice and consent because the president was born in....Hawaii?

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US Secretary of State John Kerry(R) and Bahrain's Foreign Affairs Minister Sheik Khaled bin Ahmed al-Khalifa shake hands after delivering remarks to the media on November 19, 2015 at the State Department in Washington, DC. AFP PHOTO/PAUL J. RICHARDS (Photo credit should read PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images)

This week secretary of State John Kerry visits one of Washington's repressive Gulf allies, Bahrain, three weeks before President Obama meets Gulf monarchs at a summit in Saudi Arabia. Bahrain is a long-term Washington military ally and hosts the U.S. Fifth Fleet but violently suppresses peaceful political dissent. Its leading human rights activists are targeted, forced into exile, or jailed.

Since the regime crushed mass protests for democracy in early 2011, the country has become dangerously polarized and threatened by sectarianism and an economic crisis. Wholesale political reform is the best way to ensure future stability in the country. Here are six things Secretary Kerry should do during this week's visit to Bahrain:

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Image source: PhotoDune

Is that chicken local?

Call it farm-to-table, farm-to-face or heritage-to-hipster, the organic and natural consumer product goods marketplace is hotter than ever. It's been parodied by sketch comedy show Portlandia, turned into a cult diet (the "locavore diet" that restricts food to a 100-mile radius), and given birth to a whole slew of products that are labeled "artisanal", "handcrafted" or "heritage."

And despite cries from industry observers that we've reached peak "farm-to-table", consumers are still eagerly putting their money where their values are. Seventy percent of shoppers are willing to pay more for locally sourced food, reports global management firm, A.T. Kearney. One in three consumers says they would switch stores if local food options were not available. Consumer preference for products labeled "locally-sourced", "sustainable", "natural" and/or "organic" is at an all-time high, despite concerns that these labels are virtually meaningless.

Beware the Backlash: Restaurants & Brands Losing Consumer Trust

The farm-to-table backlash is driven by accusations of fraudulent labels and deceitful advertising. Critics say that skeptical consumers are right to assume restaurants and brands may be misrepresenting themselves in order to ride the organic wave to stronger brand loyalty and higher profits.

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"Restaurants have learned that aligning themselves with local, organic, sustainable farms makes them seem to be all those things by association. It's the old practice of greenwashing -- co-opting an eco-friendly brand in order to 'wash' your own not-so-friendly brand," argues writer Troy Johnson in his "Farm to Fable" expose published last summer in San Diego Magazine. Johnson investigated claims that local restaurants had lied about buying food from local farmers.

The backlash is not limited to restaurants and ingredient sourcing. Honest Company, the eco-friendly household and skin care products company that was co-founded by actress Jessica Alba, has been a recent target of multiple lawsuits alleging fraudulent labeling and price jacking. The latest lawsuit, filed by a Manhattan couple, alleges the company labels its products as "natural," "all-natural," "naturally derived," "plant-based" and "no harsh chemicals (ever!)," when in reality the products are a "chemical soup" green-washed by deceptive labeling and marketing. Yikes!

It gets worse. Earlier this year, Consumer Reports published a scathing report investigating the ingredients in so-called "natural" foods. While nearly nine out of 10 shoppers expect "natural foods" to have no chemicals, artificial ingredients, toxic pesticides or GMOs, Consumer Reports found that many common products with the "natural" label fail to meet these consumer assumptions, leading to confusion that hurts brand trust with consumers.

How to Market "Natural" Products: Building Consumer Trust Online

Today's small businesses face a double-edged sword when it comes to marketing their products. The very labels that make these products attractive to consumers - "natural", "organic" and/or "sustainably-sourced" - are also fraught with controversy. Here's the good news: digital marketing channels are making it easier for businesses to get the word out about their products and overcome this confusion through authentic dialogue and honesty with consumers. Here's how:

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1. Get out in front the controversy. If you don't respond to media coverage on controversial topics - like the true nature of "natural" ingredient lists - you risk associating your company in the consumer's mind with other businesses that are deceiving customers. Let consumers know where you stand on these issues and that your business doesn't tolerate these practices.

Case in point: Vitamins2You, a natural supplement e-retailer that's well aware of the controversy surrounding multi-vitamin supplements. The company recently published a fantastic blog post addressing recent claims about the safety and efficacy of multivitamin supplements.

Cite reputable sources and be up-front with consumers. An "open letter" released on social media is another option for letting your consumers know where you stand on an issue.

2. Let your customers do the talking. Customer testimonials are a powerful platform for communicating brand values without any marketing hype. However, unlike local businesses that can benefit from Yelp and Google reviews, e-Commerce companies many not have a wealth of positive reviews to fall back on. Your solution: offering a customer feedback form on your website and incentivizing customers to provide their honest opinion about your products/services. Ask permission to post excerpts from positive reviews.

Case in point: Java Planet Coffee, a family owned business that has been providing 100 percent certified organic and Fair Trade Coffee to families and businesses throughout the Tampa Bay area since 2009. Java Company is especially passionate about educating consumers about the importance of buying and consuming organic products. They also understand that the best way to do this is to let their satisfied customers do the talking. Java Company's testimonials page includes glowing reviews from customers, retailers, and wholesale partners, and the local community organization Java Company supports.

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Bottom line:
Once again, we have witnessed horrible acts of cowardice. Dozens have been killed in a terrorist attack in Brussels, the latest episode in a continuous cycle of senseless violence perpetrated by ISIS. This is truly heartbreaking and our thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their families, and the people of Belgium.

If the past has been any indication of what will transpire over the next several weeks, we know that some people, like Donald Trump, will be quick to point to the teachings of Islam as the motivating factor behind the violence carried out by the terrorists.

As a public servant, and someone who has worked with Muslims in my time in Washington and here in the district where I am running for Congress, this is not what I believe Islam to be, nor is it the Islam that is practiced by nearly a quarter of the world's population. ISIS is a terrorist group, and one that continues to adulterate an entire religion in order to advance its own political agenda -- conflating the teachings of Islam and the values of a billion people with this group of terrorists is simply incorrect.

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As my Muslim friends have explained to me with evidence, Islam, at its core, is a faith that promotes unity and a singular brotherhood across all cultures and races. This is the message that extremists, who have perverted the message of Islam, fail to understand. They seek to divide people, rather than unite. They divide through rhetoric, through threats, and through violence.

They have killed and destroyed the lives of thousands, including hundreds of thousands of Muslims, and have hijacked a religion in the process of furthering their own violent agenda.

Many Muslims in my community have expressed their disgust for these acts of violence. They are disgusted that so many innocent lives have been taken, that so many families have been broken, and that so many promising futures have been destroyed. They are disgusted that this has been carried out under the guise of a faith that teaches compassion, inclusiveness, and the respect for life.
The early beginnings

A family office, also known as a single family office, is a private organization that manages investments and trust for a single family. The organization's capital comes from the family's own wealth which is usually accumulated across several family generations.

The concept of the family office started back in the 6th century. Back then, a majordomo was the person who would speak on behalf of the family, make arrangements and take charge of their financial affairs. Later in the 6th century, the upper nobility started to use these services of the majordomo as well. Hence, the concept of administratorship was invented, and has prevailed until today. The modern concept and understanding of family offices was developed in the 19th century. In 1838, the family of J.P. Morgan founded the House of Morgan, which managed the family's' assets , and the Rockefellers founded their family office in 1882, which prevails until today.

Many businesses are family-owned

Today, nearly half of all businesses in the United States are family-owned. In case of publicly listed companies, the number just tips over half of the people. They also contribute nearly 63 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) of the country. The dominance of family offices in the corporate world is not limited to the US. Throughout the world, economies are dominated by family offices. In Europe family offices contribute nearly 1 trillion Euros in annual turnover according to a KPMG survey in 2013. The same survey reported that nearly 50 percent of jobs are created by family enterprises in the European Union.

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This is not just a phenomenon limited to the western world. In India, nearly 90 percent of the gross industry output in the private sector comes from family offices. The share of employment by family offices is also substantially high at 79 percent of all organized private sector businesses. According to the 2013 KPMG survey, over two thirds of the Indian GDP comes from family offices. China, the world's fastest growing economy also banks upon family owned business with 85.4 percent of all private enterprises are family owned. Most wealthy business barons of the Communist nation have expressed their desire to limit succession within the family. In the oil rich nations of the Middle East, over 80 percent of all non-oil businesses are family offices.



World economy affected by family offices' performance

It is quite clear that the world economy depends substantially on the performance of family offices. Is this a good thing? Data compiled by Tharawat Magazine , in Issue 22 published 2014, threw up quite a few startling facts. It was seen that profits were higher in family offices. They are also less likely to lay off employees and are instead, likely to hire more than their corporate counterparts. They are also seen to be more generous in their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) division, and their goals are more long-term with an aim to create family legacy rather than short term profits. Chances of fraud and insider trading are much less in family businesses as the reputation of the entire family is at stake. The clients of family offices are likely to have personal relations with the family, and a sense of value builds up in every business. So, family business inculcates the importance of business ethics in an individual, rather than blindly going after money.

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During the global meltdown, while other firms were downing shutters and handing out pink slips indiscriminately to employees, family owned business managed to stay in the green and some even managed to grow. The number stood at 65 percent in 2011 according to a survey done by the multinational professional services known as PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), an increase from less than half the previous year.

When it comes to support from the government, family offices feel left out. In spite of contributing substantially to the economy, only firms in Turkey, Switzerland, Mexico, India, Malta and Singapore generally agree that their governments value their sector. Elsewhere, like in Greece, 97 percent feel their government does not do enough to provide the necessary support. Such sentiments are echoed throughout the world stretching from South Africa to Italy to the United States.

As family businesses last longer, they gradually grow into large corporate behemoths. The largest family owned business in the US is Wal-mart Inc. It has over $440 billion in net sales worldwide and employing nearly 1.4 million people. In a survey of 222 mid-sized family offices, 70 percent of the respondents had revenues in excess of 200 million dollars and nearly 25 percent had over 500 million dollars.

What the future has in store

It is true that the succession in family business is a bit tricky, and may lead to squabbles and power struggles within the family. However, family offices have been successful over the past century, and are expected to remain successful in the future. The advantages of keeping a business within a family far outweigh the disadvantages and complications that may arise from a corporate board or trust based structure. Family offices have stood the test of time and will continue to be the engines that drive world economy for years to come.

Family offices are regularly looking for ways to modernize their businesses. Likewise, they are also seeking ways to make wise investments that yield profits and make a difference in people's lives. Dominoes, for instance, is a family owned business that is constantly innovating and upgrading its products. Now, it can be found in a number of countries around the world. Its success comes from its unique way of carrying out a business, unlike others who do so within a rigid structure.

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The flexibility that family offices have in conducting businesses, as well as their sustained learning are a plus of them. Towards this end, The Soho Loft Media Group is organizing exclusive one-on-one meetings with family offices and investors over lunch, tea or dinner, check these 2-hour events at The Soho Loft II penthouse on 65th street from Monday through Friday until May:

http://thesoholoft.com/spring-2016-investor-luncheon-tea-dinner-events/
If you think the cross-currents of the U.S. presidential election constitute societal madness and national decline, revelations about actual fighting between the CIA and the Pentagon through their proxies in war-torn Syria raise more concern about U.S. foreign policy, enough at least to rate comparison with Donald Trump's suggestions that the NATO alliance is obsolete or nuclear proliferation should be considered by allies such as the Japanese and South Koreans.

Want to talk crazy? Both the Pentagon and CIA support separate militias. Problem: These well-armed, well-financed militias are fighting each other on the desolate plains between the besieged city of Aleppo and the Turkish border. All this highlights a lack of vision and leadership over implementation of the proper foreign-policy strategy regarding Syria.

The fighting accents how little control U.S. intelligence has over various groups financed through taxpayer money and armed through our government, at least in this stretch of the Middle East. And you thought the Russians introduced chaos to this region?

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The CIA-armed militia, dubbed Fursan al Haq, which translates as Knights of Righteousness, operates out of the town of Marea, about 20 miles north of Aleppo. The Pentagon, on the other hand, backs the Syrian Democratic Forces moving in from Kurdish-controlled areas to the east. And one wonders why American foreign policy is seen as stagnant, stubborn and reactionary.

Add to this volatile mix Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey's ongoing funding and arming of different rebel groups with wildly different agendas. Yet fighting between two groups armed and financed by the United States -- the CIA and Pentagon -- is a new phenomenon and our own bid for international insanity. It's sure evidence of the need for a major overhaul of U.S. foreign-policy strategy -- and not only involving Syria but the region at large.

This disturbing news comes in the wake of the Obama administration's recent effort to restart and re-authorize the Pentagon to train rebel fighters following the United States' disastrous, short-lived, multimillion-dollar training program last October. The program's failure saw recruits ultimately handing over their U.S.-issued weapons and other materials to members of the terrorist group al-Nusra, an al-Qaida offshoot. Some of our recruits even turned out to be members of al-Nusra. So much for a systematic vetting process.

Let us now review the scorecard and players: As stated earlier, the CIA supports the Knights of Righteousness group (one can almost imagine a group so-named right here in America, though involved in different sorts of mischief); the Pentagon supports the Syrian Democratic Forces. The latter group is problematic because a majority of its members are Kurdish; thus, they're viewed by some as an invading force. This could not come at a worse time for Turkey, given already simmering tensions over U.S. backing of Kurdish armed forces. The last thing Turkey wants is any armed Kurdish elements near or in control of its southern border.

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Such dynamics also threaten to put the CIA in the limelight -- not really a preferred prospect for an intelligence agency that favors the shadows. The agency is arming its rebel groups with sophisticated weapons including TOW anti-tank missiles stored by our increasingly mercurial ally, the Saudis. And thus history threatens to come full circle: Didn't the agency arm the Taliban back in the 1980s in similar fashion? We saw how all that worked out.

In the past, struggles for dominance and strategy between U.S. intelligence and the Pentagon played out within the confines of the Beltway, in cocktail parties and congressional hearings and high-level, closed-door meetings. Not anymore. The ideological collision once limited to brainy ideas, arguments and different opinions is exploding in an arena with combustible and deadly consequences through guns and proxies, setting a dangerous precedent at a time when some of our presidential candidates all too readily reflect the American public's tragic ignorance of foreign affairs.

But then our foreign policy is a mess. The United States is supporting Shia Muslims in Iraq while backing their arch-enemy, Sunni Muslims, in neighboring Syria. No wonder so many are confused. It's hard enough for Americans to understand how sects of the same basic faith can be bitter enemies. By its actions, our government only makes a deeper muddle of any simple understanding of the problems.
Young woman pressing snooze button on early morning digital alarm clock radio

Lev turned 16 months today. He woke up at 6:00 a.m. interrupting a dream in which I was about to take a bite of some homemade bruschetta with goat cheese, lemon and olive oil. Not as bad as the other day when Lev woke Michelle up just before she was about to meet Oprah. But still. That was some good bruschetta and it was inches from my mouth.

I understand why a popular podcast calls this phase of parenthood the longest shortest hour. Time flies by in a mix of delirious joy and excruciating exhaustion.

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Time flies whether you're having fun or not. There are very few antidotes to the way time races by. One is a traditional martial arts training method called the horse stance. Basically, you are sitting in a chair but without the chair. If you hold that squat position for half an hour, time does not fly. It barely crawls. Like having a baby, it's tiring and painful but the rewards are considerable.

I never used to hit the snooze button much because I never used an alarm clock but nowadays, when we get Lev his bottle of milk it's like hitting a snooze button. He has learned to drink while laying in bed, by resting the bottle on his his chest at just the right angle, like Keith Richards. And that allows us about 10 minutes of additional rest during which time speeds up such that 10 minutes goes by in about two seconds.

Lev slept in his crib the entire night which was a minor victory. I let him sleep with his shoes and a down jacket on, like Chris Farley after a bender. So first I had to undress him, change his diaper and dress him again. Got him his milk and for about 10 minutes I had the equivalent of hitting that glorious snooze button while he slurped softly in a daze.

The problem with hitting a snooze button is the kind of sleep you get is like the kind of life you have after you're told you have 10 days to live. You count every second. You know the shoe's about to drop. It's not really sleep. It's waiting.

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I open my eyes and peek at how much milk is left in his bottle. Like sand through an hourglass, the part of the bottle with milk in it steadily decreases. And with each slurp I know we're getting closer to the end of sleep. Because once he's done with that last sip, his day is starting and he is ready.

Lev is a bit of an amateur beat boxer and the minute he wakes up he likes to start practicing all the sounds he can make: gurgle, shout, whisper, glottals, diphthongs, quick tongue movements, clicking sounds. He just lays there and runs through all the vocal noises he can make and even though I am bone-achingly tired I start to join him and we go back and forth in a volley of strange gurgles and shouts until Michelle opens one eye and looks at us with that singular look that means both "I love you and I am going to kill you," and then it's breakfast.

I look at the microwave to see what time it is. 6:04am. A time of day when I like to be dreaming about breakfast, not making it. Lev is shouting a nonstop series of guttural phlegmatic incantations; it sounds like Jackie Mason just swallowed helium and is trying to clear his throat. I limp across the living room like a wounded ape, while he clings to me, shouting and whooping with excitement that's beyond making sense. It's the nonsensical thrill of trying to make sense of an unknown world, a brain in the act of evolving.
A few weeks ago, I blogged about how, in this day and age, it's nearly impossible for a storefront in the middle of a city block to secure a tenant. The population density usually just isn't great enough. If the storefront is on a corner, it could work, and if it's in the middle of block filled with other storefronts -- a commercial main street -- it just might succeed. But on its own? No such luck, indicated by the example in Albany that I featured in my blog, where an aged dry cleaning operation sits vacant in an otherwise healthy but exclusively residential streetscape -- a visual blight amidst an immaculate assembly of late nineteenth century row homes.

And, no matter how much Albany's oldest neighborhoods gentrify, I don't see the condition changing for this sad little building (and there are others like it nearby). Today's cities just don't enjoy the level of density that will animate the block to give that storefront the life it needs. If a small business owner seeks a space, he or she can always go to a corner or a more prominent main street. Why choose the middle of a block in Albany?

Compare that, though, to another city: one that has a fully commercialized main street, busy corners, and a lot more density -- and the possibilities are endless. Take the burg of Manhattan, for instance.

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The portrait orientation of this photograph really does capture the entire storefront, and, if that's insufficient to show the scale, let's zoom out a bit.

Gas Bijoux, a French jeweler, leases space in what appears to be a modular unit wedged between two larger buildings on Columbus Avenue in the Upper West Side. The population and the income density -- coupled with the high visibility along a very prominent street -- help transcend what might otherwise be mid-block malaise. The wonderfully grainy photo below captures the activity on a bright cold mid-January day, without requiring me to blot out any faces:

In this neighborhood, every square foot is valuable. Literally. And this specialty retailer, with locations reserved to a few other high-fashion hubs (Paris, Milan, Tokyo), has decided microretail is all it needs in Manhattan. Perhaps it's the only space the company can afford in an area where real estate comes at such a premium. But it's also a testament to how high land costs can galvanize creativity, with a worm's-eye-view example of why, at a global scale, alpha world cities tend to assert themselves most powerfully when they're also densely populated. I have no idea how the owner of the land underneath Gas Bijoux achieved a title on this space. Wouldn't it appear that this little unit is occupying space that should serve as a fire escape for the buildings that straddle it? Since a business couldn't operate informally for long or outside the reach of building codes in a place like Manhattan, the means of egress for the larger adjacent buildings must somehow remain accessible.

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Needless to say, this efficient use of space -- unimaginable in most American cities -- isn't resigned to Gas Bijoux. Like Easter eggs, they're all over Upper West side, if you look hard enough.

Shoe repair outlets seem to love 'em. Apparently it doesn't take a lot of room for the tools needed to replace some soles. And since shoe repair is a service, the proprietor doesn't need any space for merchandise.

My suspicion is that these operations wouldn't meet the minimum legal requirement for a viable enterprise in many parts of the country, and it doesn't matter: no one is demanding such a small space in Tulsa. They don't need to. Land is fairly cheap. But the now-widespread food truck scene, as popular in Manhattan, Kansas as Manhattan, New York (perhaps more so in Kansas since it's a more car-friendly landscape) only validates the notion that small spaces serve as the best crucible for entrepreneurship. Maybe one day, modulars will crop up throughout America's delta and epsilon cities; however, if it happens, it could owe far more to emulating what's chic on the costly coasts than the price of that patch of land. Small cities will always have that going for them. They'll remain the cheap alternative... a foil to megalopolitan solipsism.
Donald Trump is inarguably the single most hotheaded human being to ever run for president of the United States of America. He is a misogynist. He is a racist. He is a xenophobe. His campaign is the perfect recipe for a political disaster. Through a number of highly controversial derogatory remarks, he has already alienated women, immigrants, black people and Muslims, a considerably large chunk of the voters if you ask me. Despite all of this, he somehow manages to bludgeon his way through the election primaries, spreading terror and frustration throughout the country. But how?

After Trump announced his candidacy for president, he dropped what would be the first in a series of political bombs upon the country. Republican nominee John McCain was gunned down, captured and beaten into shreds during the Vietnam War. How does that make him a war hero? A real war hero would have never gotten himself captured in the first place. As for Carly Fiorina, she was the ugliest candidate he had ever seen. How could people like this run for the country's president? Only Donald Trump has the right to run for president.

His strange obsession with Megyn Kelly is no news either. Shortly after being grilled by the moderator for his sexism at the Fox News Presidential Debate, Trump made some really untoward remarks about Kelly's cycle. Things I'd rather not repeat here. His exploits didn't end just here. He will build a wall between US and Mexico and have Mexico pay for it! He will summarily ban all Muslims from entering the United States of America! He will put an end to Obamacare! Okay, the last one wasn't that bad, but god knows what other plans he has got in mind for when he becomes president. Really scary.

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But how did such a morally detestable man find his way through so far in the elections? The question has given many Americans many a sleepless night. You see, the secret to Trump's rise lies in two things: the strange psychology of his supporters and his disturbing expertise in exploiting that psychology as a demagogue. We will take them both up one by one.

Political analysts have had a real rough time figuring out this year's elections. For some incomprehensible reason that still remains a complete mystery, this year's elections are no longer governed by the usual determinants of polling. However, as pollsters tear at their hair in utter frustration, psychologists have been having a field day explaining this strange phenomenon that has overtaken the country. According to them, Trump supporters display a personality trait commonly known as authoritative personality, a trait shared by people who follow a somewhat fascist culture. To these people, honor and discipline are the greatest moral code. In a country fast decaying into inexistence, these people will lend their dictator every bit of support he needs to make the country rise again.

His supporters are mostly white people in their middle ages. Upended by the liberal policies of Barack Obama, these people are convinced that the fate of their beloved country stands on the edge of a knife. Under the effect of fear and helplessness, these people choose to lend support to someone of authority. Someone who is fearless and straightforward. Someone strong, someone unafraid to say things even if they are politically incorrect. Someone like Trump.

As an efficient demagogue, Donald Trump knows fully well how to manipulate a crowd like this using a circle of humor and fear, a tactic that will entangle their puny minds and make them obey his every command. First, through carefully designed mockeries hurled at his opponents, he makes the crowd laugh. That's how he draws them in. Once they are set, that's when the real fun begins. Through drama and theatrics, he introduces these gullible people to his fearsome version of the real world. A world where Mexicans rape children. A world where Muslims terrorize the streets. And once the crowd is scared to death, he offers them the only viable solution. A man so strong that he is capable of redeeming them of their disastrous future. Suddenly, everything seems to make sense. They are the people and he is their leader. That's how it was always meant to be. After all, Donald Trump will make America great again.

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As much as the media has grown to deride and ridicule him for his comments, Donald Trump is a real threat and we must take him as such. True, perhaps he will never make it to the White House. But the growing trend of fascistic personality in a democratic nation in itself is no laughing matter. He may be a comedian and a fool. But he is a dangerous one.
Since the legalization of same-sex marriage by the US Supreme Court, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (henceforth LGBT) issues have also attracted attention within Indonesian society. The recent discriminatory statements from some Indonesian public officials and politicians show that the national debate on this subject has reached an unprecedented level. In addition to categorizing LGBT persons with child molesters or pedophiles, the opponents of LGBT persons also allege that granting the community such rights will potentially convert heterosexual persons to become homosexuals, and hence, demand the legalization of same-sex marriage. On the other hand, the proponents of LGBT issues argue that LGBT issues are part of human rights discourse that should be protected by the State. By using a more secular approach, they urge the government to address the basic rights of LGBT persons, despite the religious values strongly embedded in Indonesian society.

Both arguments, unfortunately, neglect the Indonesian socio-cultural complexities, as well as the particularity of the Indonesian LGBT movement(s). The anti-LGBT groups assume that the LGBT movements across the world share a similar objective to recognize sexual identity and thus subsequently legalize same-sex marriage, while the proponents tend to neglect religious and cultural values of the Indonesian society in influencing the country's decisions in this area. I have written a piece of article on the history of the Indonesian LGBT movement to show that legalizing same-sex marriage has never become the primary objective of the Indonesian LGBT organizations. On the other hand, when I observed the strategy and arguments that the proponents of LGBT persons, I suddenly find myself in the Catch-22.

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We believe in the universality of human rights; it is non-negotiable. However, in the current situation, that using LGBT rights discourse to defend our position potentially incite greater backfire from the politicians, public officials, and even general public who still has inadequate knowledge on sexuality. Religious norms are still strong attached in the society. Therefore, I wrote this short essay as a short reflection and proposal of how we, the LGBT Indonesians, should move forward with our initiatives to improve the welfare of LGBT persons here.

In Indonesia, as a predominantly Muslim country, human rights issues are oftentimes deemed as 'secular Western values'. In fact, Jeremy Menchik from The Boston University characterized Indonesia's democracy as Godly, in which religious values and authorities play an important role in determining policies. For example, homosexuality is considered as unnatural and un-Indonesian because it conflicts with mainstream Muslim teachings. Promoting 'gay rights' discourse will likely trigger a backlash from the opponents that would attack the movement from religious perspectives. Therefore, as I am going to elaborate briefly my argument here, exploiting existing cultural norms and focusing more on practical level are two major strategies that might be helpful to sustain the LGBT movements in Indonesia, as I have read different examples of LGBT movements in different countries, which do not always employ a liberal model. Indeed, this short essay is far from perfect, but I do hope that it can give an alternative discourse in mitigating the current anti-LGBT hysteria.

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The first key strategy here is to 'exploit' the unspoken tolerance towards differences in Indonesian society. In the Far Eastern Economic Review, Bates, for instance, gives an example of a spokesman from a small mosque in central Jakarta who argued that although homosexuality is forbidden by the Koran, "they are usually tolerated by the community in which they live" as long as there is no problem with the people around them. A journalist friend of mine told me a story of a male-to-female transgender [waria] who lived in her village. She is accepted by the villagers because they find her contributing positively to the village by involving actively in collective work [kerja bakti] of the villagers to develop the village. To analyze this story, I suddenly recall the work of Professor Tom Boellstroff on the notion and importance of achievement [prestasi] in Indonesian society.

Since Indonesian society respects collectivism instead of individualism, the notion of achievement or prestasi would also increase the level of acceptance from the general society. Contribution to the larger society remains a valuable asset to influence people's perceptions of an individual. prestasi, which can come in the form of personal achievement that reflect favorably on one's community, could help Indonesian society to change its negative prejudice against LGBT persons. By succeeding in one's career or contributing positively to people in his surrounding residential area, would help to loosen the association between being gay and the myth of gay sexual voraciousness. Exploitation of prestasi potentially serves as an entry point for gradually obtaining social acceptance. Significantly different from the Western gay discourse overemphasizes identity, this Indonesian model places a greater significance of the achievements and contributions to society, rather than 'coming out as LGBT'.

Same-sex marriage is not politically-feasible either at this stage. However, the Indonesian Penal Code does not criminalize sex between consenting adults above 18 years old. The existing cultural norms that regulate social interaction between men and women can be exploited by the LGBT community to sustain their relationships. For instance, men staying in the same hotel room or house would not usually attract disapproval, compared to the unmarried heterosexual couples.

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Legal recognition of LGBT persons in Indonesia will be very challenging to obtain. Some might argue that without the legal recognition of sexual identities, this would restrict LGBT Indonesians from accessing their basic rights, such as having access to basic and public services. In Indonesia's 1945 Constitution [Undang-Undang Dasar 1945], the rights of all citizens to education and to develop themselves through the fulfillment of their basic needs are already guaranteed by the State, regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity. The similar tone also can be found in the National Education Law and the Public Service Law stipulating that both should be conducted democratically, equally and non-discriminatively.

For male-to-female transgender [waria] who are more 'visible' than their gay and lesbian counterparts, the issue bears more complexities. They are prone to be discriminated against in accessing public services. The 2012 regulation of the Ministry of Social Affairs (No.8/ 2012) actually already acknowledges the existence of waria although it classifies them as "people with social welfare problems". Based on this policy, the Ministry vaguely mentions about "rehabilitation" as a solution to reintegrate them into society (UNDP 2014). In A Coincidence of Desires, Boellstorff reports that for many waria selfhood manifested at an early age when they felt completely different from normal boys. They also believe they have 'the soul of a woman since birth'. In short, feminine mannerisms are innately embedded inside themselves. 'Rehabilitation' to convert them to normative gender identity would not address the real problems. The real problems here, the social welfare problems are actually the result of marginalization of waria in accessing the education and employment sectors. Therefore, the focus of the movements can shift from obtaining recognition (which is politically challenging and takes a long time to obtain), to a more practical level that the State needs to provide access and address violence against its citizens, regardless of their sexuality and gender.
I published a piece last year with a deliberately provocative title, "Why I No Longer Support Israel," which elicited hundreds of negative, online comments. I wrote that article partly because of America's unwavering support for Israel. Republicans and Democrats rarely agree on anything, but they all claim to love America and Israel. We hear no such love pronouncements or unconditional support for actions of England, Canada, or our other allies. I understand the need for a democratic ally in the Middle East, and Israel's principles are closer to our principles than are those of its neighbors, but Israel's human rights violations should also be criticized.

What most upset me was Israel's failure to live up to its own 1948 Declaration of Independence that "ensures complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants, irrespective of religion, race, or sex." In particular, the Israeli cabinet had approved an anti-democratic bill that defined Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people; reserved national rights only for Jews; and officially relegated the 20 percent of non-Jews living in Israel to second-class status.

It's not especially difficult for a country to be either democratic or theocratic, but Israel has struggled with trying to be both a Jewish and democratic country. The problem is complicated by the variety of Jewish citizens, ranging from the ultra-orthodox who believe God gave Israel exclusively to the Jews, to the humanistic and secular Jews who support social and political equality for all Israeli citizens. Unfortunately, Israel's current government seems unwilling to rise above sectarian concern or live up to the values in its 1948 Declaration.

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Israel became America's favorite Middle East country in part because of common interests and shared democratic ideals, but I'm disturbed that Saudi Arabia is our second-favorite. My introduction to deplorable Saudi Arabia behavior occurred in 1988. A mathematician from India with whom I had published several research papers asked me for a letter of recommendation to teach at a university in Saudi Arabia, which he said paid extremely well. Their math department recommended him highly for the position, but the administration rejected him. A friend of his in their math department subsequently told him that the higher-ups had vetoed his candidacy because of my letter, but not due to anything I said. It was because of my surname, which revealed that I was a Jew. My math colleague had no idea I was Jewish, and neither of us could have imagined its relevance to my evaluation of his complex variables research.

The year 1948, when Israel put the human rights platform in its Declaration of Independence, was also significant for something Saudi Arabia refused to do. That year, 48 countries supported the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations General Assembly. Signers included Middle East Muslim countries Afghanistan, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Pakistan, and Syria, along with Turkey (secular, but overwhelmingly Muslim). However, Saudi Arabia didn't sign because it claimed that the provisions violated Sharia law. Other Muslim countries criticized Saudi Arabia's strict views of Sharia law.

A partial list of Saudi interpretations of sharia include: not allowing Muslims to change religion; no right to change the government peacefully; not allowing access to legal council during interrogation and trial; denial of fair and public trials; restrictions on civil liberties such as freedoms of speech, assembly, association and movement; legal domestic violence against women and no equal rights for women; legality of torture and physical abuse. These problems and more are carefully documented in a 2010 Human Rights Report from the U.S. Department of State.

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We rarely hear about human rights violations by our Saudi ally, one notable exception being the 2002 fire in in a girls' school in Mecca that claimed the lives of 15 girls. The "Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice" (CPVPV) prevented these 13-year olds from escaping to safety because they were not wearing hijabs. Nadin Al-Badir, a brave Saudi journalist, exposed this tragedy. Saudi authorities then apologized for the overzealous reaction, and said they had plans to limit the power of their religious police. But only one person was threatened with arrest for the incident. A Saudi judge called for the arrest of Nadin Al-Badir--for publicly criticizing the CPVPV.

It would be bad enough if Wahhabism, the strict brand of Islam practiced by Saudis, stayed within its borders. It shouldn't be surprising that 15 of the 19 hijackers on 9/11 were Saudi citizens. Not one was from Iraq, which our administration held responsible. Saudi Arabia funds Wahhabi mosques and ideology globally. A study conducted by the NGO Freedom House found that Wahhabi publications in U.S. mosques called for Muslims to oppose "infidels" in every way and hate them for their religion. It claimed that democracy is responsible for all horrible wars. In response, the Saudi government said it was trying to overhaul its education system, but that the task is a "massive undertaking."

We rightly view ISIS as our greatest threat at the moment, but we should recognize similarities between ISIS and Saudi Arabia, including Wahhabi theology. Both behead people, enslave women, kill people for apostasy and blasphemy, and consider their version of Sharia law as binding. However, America focuses almost exclusively on benefits from Saudis. We get their oil, they are of some help in promoting regional stability, and they provide air space for us.
In a recent tweet, presidential candidate Donald Trump threatened, ominously, to "spill the beans" about Ted Cruz's wife, Heidi Cruz; Trump's Twitter followers ended up doing the dirty work for him, "spilling the beans" that Heidi Cruz has had a history of depression. It's certainly not the first time Trump has said something inexcusable about people with mental health histories. In a campaign season rife with discriminatory remarks towards everyone and anyone, though, this public shaming of a mental health condition marks a new low -- and should serve as a reminder that other presidential candidates have propagated offensive language and attitudes towards mental health, too.

One surprising example of this, which flew under the radar and contains an important lesson for us all -- came from Senator Bernie Sanders earlier this month at one of the Democratic presidential debates. Senator Sanders quipped, "When you watch these Republican debates, you know why we need to invest in mental health." The audience burst out in laughter and cheers; Hillary Clinton chuckled. It was supposed to be a clever means of highlighting the ways GOP candidates have conducted their election-season politics.

I understand the humor; as a person with a history of mental health challenges, this doesn't offend me because I have a strong sense of self and can take a joke. But as an advocate who is trying to transform our collective behavior and language regarding mental health, I was horrified. How can an intelligent man running for the highest office in our country -- on a platform of social justice -- not understand that saying something like this makes it seem like mental illness is not a physical or "real" illness?

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This comment says, "If you're a Republican who holds these contentious political views, you must have a mental illness, and you're the reason we should put more money into mental health care." While this remark was, of course, meant to disparage the Republican presidential candidates, it is the kind of rhetoric that does more than that: It erodes sensitivity and understanding for the many millions of Americans who do have brain disorders and continue to be denied proper health care.

Mental illness is not a choice, it is not a political persuasion, it is not a wild belief, it is a health condition -- it is a disorder of the brain. Bernie Sanders meant his statement as an insult: He implied that GOP candidates were mentally ill and to be mentally ill, well, is to be "crazy," "nuts," not a "normal" member of society.

I understand we are living in an era in which political rhetoric has extended beyond what ought to be acceptable -- including the insulting ways Donald Trump refers to people's ethnicity, religion, and gender. But mental health status is an easy target, an easy stereotype, a type of discrimination that keeps mental health research and care in the dark ages. Can you imagine if we used other health conditions, like cancer, as insults?

The thing is, we all laughed when the joke was about mental illness -- and that shows how deeply ingrained this bias is and how unflinchingly we accept discriminatory statements like this. I use Bernie Sanders as merely an example. Aside from his most recent provocation, Donald Trump has repeatedly used disrespectful words like "wackos," "nut jobs," and "basket cases". Even Hillary Clinton, who has long been a strong supporter of mental health, laughed along with the audience at Bernie Sanders's remark. We are all complicit.

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When it comes to statements like those of Senator Sanders, it's important to understand that one can mean well and also say the wrong thing -- one can be a proponent of mental health rights without realizing that you're simultaneously propagating negative and harmful stereotypes. Good intentions do not give us permission to use discriminatory language. We must do better and train ourselves to think about brain health correctly. We must speak out and call these issues to attention.
To be sure, the traditional four-year college curriculum remains the goal of choice for the more academically inclined young people, but not everyone is ready for college and many teenagers have talents and skills that could be more productively employed in other fields -- such as manufacturing where the shortage of skilled workers is a major headache for industry.



"As I travelled the country the last two years talking to employers of all sizes and in all sectors of the economy, what I heard most is the worry they have about filling so-called middle-skills positions in advanced manufacturing, health care and information technology," Selingo says. "Employers told me they have a healthy supply of talent for their white-collar office jobs that usually require a bachelor's degree and sometimes a masters or Ph.D. But that if manufacturing has any hope of making a rebound in the U.S., there is a desperate need for younger workers with technical hands-on skills that require training after high school"



Selingto describes the Apprentice School in Newport News, Virginia, where students choose from one of more than 20 occupational areas. They are paid an annual salary of $54,000 by the final year of the program -- $10,000 above that of the average college grad -- and afterward are guaranteed a job with the military contractor that operates Newport News Shipbuilding.



The school is just as selective as Harvard and receives 4,000 applications a year for only 230 spots. The students graduate debt free, which must sound like heaven to young people looking at the massive debt load that often attends four-year colleges. I have written about other similar programs out there. We need more bright young workers with real world skills. Apprenticeship programs are one answer, and I believe probably the best answer.



Jerry Jasinowski, an economist and author, served as President of the National Association of Manufacturers for 14 years and later The Manufacturing Institute. Jerry is available for speaking engagements. April 2016
"I worried that the man I was starting to like would be disappointed or repulsed ... I needed to warn him so he wouldnt be surprised at what he saw or touched."
Vanessa Williams originally became famous as the first African American Miss America (1984).

Almost 20 years prior to Vanessa Williams being named Miss America, the civil rights movement was making it abundantly clear that the Miss America pageant was unfairly restricted to white women. In 1950 the pageant had abolished a rule that excluded black contestants, but the lily-white pageant hadn't changed.

In 1967, J. Morris Anderson, a Philadelphia businessman, found this bias additionally troubling. He had two daughters, both of whom expressed interest in growing up to "be Miss America."

What does a dad do when he knows his daughters are dreaming an impossible dream? He gathers his resources and starts a pageant of his own, Miss Black America.

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Bayer Mack and the producers of Oscar Micheaux: The Czar of Black Hollywood have created a documentary short to tell the story of the creation of the Miss Black America pageant.

The Pageant Begins

Anderson pulled in the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) as well as other experts who had run local pageants for black women. This group made a series of decisions: If the next Miss America pageant was to be held in Atlantic City on September 7, 1968, then the Miss Black America pageant would also be held there at that time. Anderson booked the ballroom of the Ritz Carlton.

"We want to be in Atlantic City at the same time that the hypocritical Miss America contest is being held," said Phillip H. Savage of the NAACP to a reporter from The New York Times in 1968 (8-29-1968).

The Miss Black America pageant, however, timed their show differently. They established that the Miss Black America contest would begin at midnight. They hoped that when newsmen finished covering the Miss America pageant at the convention center, they might walk the four blocks to the Ritz Carlton afterward. Many did.

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In addition to the competing pageants, representatives from the civil rights and feminist movements were in full force in Atlantic City. Two hundred feminists protested the very existence of a beauty pageant for women, likening it to a county fair where livestock is judged.

Florynce Kennedy's Media Workshop group was also on the scene. Kennedy had founded the organization in 1966 to protest the media's representation of African Americans.

Miss Black America Pageant Begins

The pageant got underway at midnight, and at 2:45 a.m. Saundra Williams, a college student at Maryland State College, was crowned Miss Black America. When asked about the significance of the new pageant, the dry-eyed Williams said, "Miss America does not represent us because there has never been a black girl in the pageant. With my title, I can show black women that they too are beautiful."

When interviewed afterward about her life, Williams said that growing up in Philadelphia, she had never encountered discrimination. Then she went away to Maryland State College, a college that is described by The New York Times as being "predominantly Negro," (9-9-1968) located in Princess Anne, Maryland. Williams didn't find the town welcoming. She and her friends were barred from eating in a local restaurant. She helped organize a group of students called The Black Awareness Movement. They staged a silent protest against the white business community.

"That restaurant is integrated now," Williams told the reporter.

During the Competition

The audience loved Williams's performance of an African dance, and they loved it even more when, during the question-and-answer segment, she said that husbands and wives should do the same amount of housework. Williams also may have gained respect from the judges for having made the long white beaded gown she wore for the pageant's finale.

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That year Miss Black America received a one-week vacation to Puerto Rico, a trophy, and a modeling contract.

Saundra Williams is now an actress, known for having appeared in The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) and Alpha House (2013).

Pageant Progress

Though it took until 1984 and Vanessa Williams for an African American to be crowned Miss America, the color lines loosened very quickly following the creation of the competing pageant and the protests. In 1971, Iowa was represented by Cheryl Brown, making her the first African American competitor in Miss America pageant history. That same year, a young Oprah Winfrey represented Tennessee in Miss Black America. Hear her comments many years later.

Miss Black America Continues

While the Miss America pageant now includes people of color, the Miss Black America pageant continues on. The organization writes that providing a woman with a stage for her talents, a platform for her views, and a pedestal where she can achieve dignity is still of value.

On their website, they note that a reporter from a black newspaper once asked, "Why should there be a Miss Black America pageant since the Miss America pageant now accepts black women?"

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The response from pageant representatives was this: "You wouldn't suggest closing your black newspaper simply because a major white daily published a story about a black would you?"

For the story of local black beauty pageants and the growth of Miss Black America, watch this report from Bayer Mack and the producers of Oscar Micheaux: The Czar of Black Hollywood: Miss Black America.
NYPD pulled over in New York City during light snow storm. Cinematic tones add to scene.

Behind The "I Stutter Card"

A few weeks ago, I shared my story pertaining to me being detained because of my stutter, in an international Atlanta airport when returning from a Costa Rica study abroad program. During this difficult time, I had the opportunity to receive support from multiple stuttering and non-stuttering communities throughout the world. In addition to spreading stutter awareness through multiple media platforms, I had been in contact with Stuttering Foundation of America, where we had collaborated together in order to create a travel card for stutterers that includes more information about stuttering. The stutter ID card is called "I Stutter Card."

There is a misconception that when someone stutters, it can be mistaken for dishonesty or suspicion. In addition to the card being used to educate and spread stutter awareness, it can also be useful when interacting with police officials and people in authority. As a result of the release of the stutter ID card, many people who stutter have downloaded and used the card. I had the pleasure of speaking with a few people about how the card has benefited them in difficult situations. I specifically spoke to one couple about their personal experience with the use of the "I Stutter Card."

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Using The Stutter ID Card With A Police Officer

I had the pleasure of speaking to Erika and Mark, a New Jersey couple who are currently engaged. Erika, a person who does not stutter, explained to me the challenges Mark faces as a person who stutters and how it has impacted their family, "I cannot stress the pain our family has gained watching him go through so many struggles." Erika explained to me a particular incident in which the card was used with a police officer, when Mark was pulled over while driving. While driving in New Jersey, Mark and his his family were stopped and pulled over by a police officer. Mark was then asked to show his license, registration, and insurance. When being asked about his car, Erika explained that Mark had began to stutter when speaking to the police officer. Erika explained that when her fiance began to stutter while answering questions, the police officer immediately told Mark to step out of his vehicle and preceded to search him. In addition, Mark was asked if he was drinking or on drugs. During this process, Erika explained the frustration her sixteen year old daughter experienced when watching Mark get searched, "She herself was tired of watching what he goes through with officers when pulled over." In addition to Mark being asked several questions, he was "hassled" about his stutter. In response, Mark had proposed to the officer to show the "I Stutter Card" to further explain his speech impediment. Mark had came across the stutter ID card on the Stuttering Foundation of America website after hearing about my story pertaining to me being detained.

After reviewing the stutter ID card, which contained more information about stuttering and it's symptoms, Erika explained that the police officer apologized. The police officer went on to explain that he was just doing his job. In addition, the officer expressed that he believed that the "I Stutter Card" was an awesome idea and had explained that people who stutter should consider carrying around the ID stutter card.

As an ally and finance of a person who stutters, Erika hopes to see better understanding and equal treatment for those who stutter, "This is what I'd like to see in near future. We owe it to our loved ones to take a stand and stand beside them," Erika concluded.

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I am excited to have heard about these stories relating to the use of the "I Stutter Card." It feels great to know that a negative experience has turned into such a positive outcome! I never want others to go through what I have gone through pertaining to me being detained because of my stutter. My goal is to let others know that they have a voice. I hope that the stutter ID card helps not only people who stutter to find their voices, but I also hope that the card helps those who do not stutter to have the opportunity to be enlightened and listen to what we have to say.


42 North Weddings

Francie Dorman and Britt Cole met, almost serendipitously, after years working in the wedding industry for other companies and elite venues in New England. Bonding over having both grown up in the North Shore of Massachusetts and a shared passion for flawless event execution, 42 North Weddings was born. The ladies were confident that their deep industry know-how, unique approach to business and commitment to creating unforgettable experiences was something special. They quickly moved from colleagues to friends and business partners.

How has your life experience made you the leader(s) you are today?

Britt: I had the urge to start working at a very young age (my first real job was at age 13 at a tea house!). I was always the one in my group of friends that worked the longest hours at my summer job, and took on odd jobs on the side, too. There was just something about working and earning my own money that got me really excited. I quickly realized you can control your own destiny through hard work.

I grew up surrounded by small business owners; my dad, husband, and father-in-law are all entrepreneurs. The idea of "you can do anything" has been implanted in my brain, so I always knew I would branch off on my own at some point. It goes back to the idea of creating your own destiny, I wanted to be in control and make my work into something that was a passion, and worked for me.

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Francie: I have always loved to work. I started babysitting when I was 11 years old (scary to think about now that I'm a mom myself!) When I was in high school, I would go into the little cafe I worked at and open the restaurant at 5:30am before heading off to school for the day - and I was usually back there as soon as school got out. I loved the idea that I could control what was available to me in life, when I was working, and working hard, I was able to make the money I needed to do all the things (read: shopping) I wanted to.

Since those first jobs, I have had a lot of jobs. Honestly, I had a hard time finding my perfect place. Some jobs gave me the financial freedom I craved, but I was bored to tears. In others I loved the work, but found myself too sucked in and giving up too many other things that I loved. I honestly never thought I would end up where I am today, but I think having so many different experiences in my working-life has brought me to the sweet spot. Every step, every boss and coworker I have encountered, has taught me either something I knew I wanted to emulate or something I learned I never wanted to carry forward in my career. Every lesson has led me to be the leader I am today.

How has your previous employment experience aided your journey starting 42 North Weddings?

Britt: My first job in the event industry just sort of happened to me, to be honest. I had spent my first few years out of college travelling (cliche, I know, but I really did! All over! For many years!), and so when I finally settled back into my home town I wasn't sure of my next steps. I ended up meeting my boss, Tim Hopkins (owner of Timothy Hopkins Catering) at a party, and he was looking for someone to help build his business, and I was looking for a job, so we both kind of took a leap of faith and it worked! I spent five years working with Tim and his team to expand and market his catering business, and it was the best experience I could have asked for to prepare me for my career in the wedding industry. My experience with Tim ranged from sales, menu writing, floor plan development, event logistics, planning and management.

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Francie: By far, my most inspiring experience was working for a young restaurateur in Boston. She is the very definition of a girlboss. She is the hardest working person I have ever met, and pushes her team to make sure all of their projects are executed perfectly. While working for her, I was also working as a wedding planner for another firm. At the time I never thought my wedding planning career could be as inspiring to me as I felt when I was at the restaurant, even though I was really good at planning weddings and I loved doing it! I think the best thing I did was actually to leave both of those jobs (even though it seemed like a mess at the time!). In order to get clarity on my own project and to figure out my own path. I needed a little distance between me and who I was trying to be so I could sort of reassess and do my own thing in a way that made sense. Most importantly, it was during that mini hiatus that I met and worked alongside Britt who was clearly an inspiration to me and instrumental to getting both of us to where we are now.

What have the highlights and challenges been thus far?

Britt & Francie: Our biggest highlight happened during one of our weddings this past season - when we shared our first, and most unanimous 'wow' moment together. We had seven weddings together our first season as the 42 North partnership, and they were all beautiful and amazing, but there was one in particular (at a private home in the Berkshires) that was our biggest production. We assembled a killer team, and spent countless hours planning through ups and downs, and the result was absolutely amazing. Right around the moment our Bride + Groom were having their first dance, we both felt so proud - something we won't ever forget!

I think one of our biggest challenges has been getting our name out there! It's been a challenge to position ourselves as not necessarily new to the industry, but rather just a new partnership.

What advice can you offer to women who want a career in your industry?

Britt: I think looking back at my experience and how I started in the industry, my retrospective advice would be to just start somewhere. You probably won't get your dream job right off the bat, but just like in any industry, you need to get your foot in the door. Once you're in, my bigger advice would be to be nice to everyone. Make an effort to create relationships with vendors and industry partners, because those are the people that will be there to help you when you see an opportunity to move up in your career. Plus, you can learn a lot from them!

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Francie: I would take Britt's advice one step further and say start at the bottom! Seriously! I think wedding planning as an industry, like a lot of women-run industries, has the illusion of seeming glamorous. I'm here to tell you it's hard work, and usually not even a little bit glamorous. I absolutely love it, obviously, but if you go into this industry thinking that you're above hefting racks of glasses up stairs, working a 15 hour day, or answering a client's call on a Sunday morning, this is not the industry for you. So, my advice is to start off as an intern, or work for a business in another wedding-related field (catering company, florist, etc) as a side job or hobby to see the real inner workings of a wedding day. By the time you launch your own brand, or land your dream job, you'll really know what you're doing, you'll already have your place in the industry, and you'll appreciate how far you've come.

What is the most important lesson you've learned in your career to date?

Britt: Know the value of your work. It's easy for new businesses (and especially women) to undervalue the job they do. Francie and I continue to teach each other this daily as our partnership grows.

Francie: In any job, in any industry, you will always have greater success if you consider yourself a part of the team - whatever that might mean for you. For us, we are part of a team of vendors for each wedding. Our success comes from truly being a part of the team, not positioned as the people ordering the rest of the team around.

How do you maintain a work/life balance?

Britt: For us, everything is still so new and exciting! We are building our brand and honing in on our business philosophies every day, and it just seems like we both have endless amounts of energy to put towards this job. However, projects do come in waves, so we have learned how to ride them as they come. If it's a slow day/week, we remind each other to just chill out and take some time to do things for ourselves. When it's a busy week or month, we keep each other's energy up and remind each other there's always a light at the end of the tunnel!

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Francie: This is something I personally struggle with every day. I have two tiny girls, so I constantly feel like I need to be in more than one place, especially right now when we are in the throes of starting this new business. Honestly though, for me, there are two key things that help me to succeed at maintaining some kind of balance: 1. I chose a career where we work a lot of time when other people aren't working. It's not weird to be emailing with a bride late at night or early in the morning (whenever I can squeeze it in!) because that's when our clients have time to focus on their wedding plans. 2. Most importantly is, I have Britt! We both constantly say we could not be doing this alone, for so many reasons, and that is so, so true.

What do you think is the biggest issue for women in the workplace?

Britt: Our industry is one of the few that is dominated by women, so the landscape of challenges for us, in this industry, is a bit different. The challenge of staying true to who you are, and not trying to be something you are not is an everyday reminder to be as authentic as possible. With what we do, the line can sometimes be blurred between what your life is, and what your brand is. So, there can be a lot of pressure to have a great instagram account, know the right people, hang out at the right spots, and run with a certain crowd.

How has mentorship made a difference in your professional and personal life?

Francie: I think the definition of mentorship has changed a bit now that Millennials are such a large force in the workplace. I think we tend to surround ourselves with little pockets of people who we turn to for different things. It's more like we have a board of advisors helping us through our careers, rather than the traditional mentor who imparts wisdom on a 1-1 basis. For sure, 42 North would not be the business it is right now, or that it will be in the future without mine and Britt's "board", both personal and professional. We try to really push the envelope in everything we do. We try to make every move just a bit different than what we see in the wedding planning market - from our branding to our language to the way we present ourselves, it's all very calculated. And sometimes we need a little push, or push back, from our board of advisors to get to where we need to be with every facet of our company.
Ballet X will be celebrating 10 years of groundbreaking choreography on April 7 with The Premier Party. The highlight of the night will be one night only performances by the dancers. David Haas, whose family is considered one of the Philadelphia region's greatest benefactors, will be honored. The gala serves as a prelude to the Spring Series running from April 20 thru April 24 at the Wilma Theater. The program will include 10 year respective and a world premiere choreographed by Kevin O'Day to the music of John King.

I caught up with Matthew Neenan, who co-founded BalletX with executive and artistic director Christine Cox, to reflect on what the company has achieved in the past decade. He called me from New York City between a visit to the prestigious Juilliard School, where he is choreographing a ballet for the senior class, and that night's Pennsylvania Ballet performance at the Joyce Theater of "Keep" which he choreographed for the company. Neenan, who also serves as resident choreographer of the Pennsylvania Ballet, has recently stepped back from the administrative duties at BalletX to concentrate on his award winning choreography. The New York Times has hailed him as having "one of the most appealing and singular choreographic voices in ballet today."

The ballet impresario proudly boasted about the accomplishments of the company that he founded. The highlight was their 4 appearances at the Vail International Dance Festival during the past decade. He said, "Our Philly audience has blossomed. I feel like we get new audience members every year. The audience is extremely diverse even with age. There are now 7 shows in a series up from the original six due to our popularity. In the summer, we are doing a 2 week run which will consist of 12 to 13 shows. We now sell out every show whereas in the beginning we didn't."

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Neenan, who was the first recipient of the Jerome Robbins New Program Fellowship, credits the compelling dancers for BalletX's popularity. When the company was looking for dancers for the company, they sought dancers that were all different, possessing physical attributes that distinguished them. He wanted dancers that had their own "flavor". He preferred those that were artists before they were dancers.

Somehow, he and Cox were able to make a cohesive dance company from a group of artists that were physically dissimilar. He recalled," They dance beautifully together, yet they are very individual. It's kind of everything we strive for. You have to look like a company, be a company, dance like you are a strong company yet you have to your own thing that makes you different from the rest."

In a surprise, Neenan suggested BalletX could expand from 10 to 12 dancers in the future. While the company has already toured South America, he expects that they will tour Europe next.
TRANSPOSITION: Over Many Miles, an immersive, site-specific installation by artist Paula Crown, debuted in the Miami Design District in December 2014 and has evolved to include numerous on-site activations. Inspired by the value of public interaction and engagement, Crown wanted to create a space that other people could create in. "The magic has been that this has provided a platform for other artists," she said. "Art provides these moments of pause, lets you recalibrate your thoughts and have a discussion with each other."

In March, the Alma Dance Theater paid homage to Crown's artistic journey with an original piece choreographed by Marissa Alma-Nick and a Spring Solstice performance by The New World Symphony. Last fall, the artist worked with local students to install thousands of oak leaves, native to the Midwest, throughout her installation for her Have a Fall event.

The installation references Robert Smithson's earthworks and Rosalind Krauss' essay on sculpture and its relationship to the environment in which it is created. TRANSPOSITION: Over Many Miles is based on the torn edges of a sketchbook, and consists of reclaimed wood, tempered glass, synthetic grass, metal, local plantings, and sand.

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In a sense, Donald Trump is correct that women who have abortions if the procedure is banned should face "some sort of punishment."

Before you misconstrue my opinion, please note that I have always been an advocate of pro-choice. In fact, on July 7, 2014, the Huffington Post published my article in response to the Supreme Court's Hobby Lobby decision titled "Republicans Are Stripping Away Rights that Others Fought So Hard to Attain."

The following is an excerpt from that article:

For decades, I have been warning people that one of the most powerful things a President does is nominate Judges to the Supreme Court....

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Since the Supreme Court issued its decision, many people have suggested boycotting Hobby Lobby and other such businesses. While I support such a decision, it misses the bigger issue. Although Hobby Lobby and other closely held corporations may have filed the lawsuit, it was the Republican appointed Justices who made this ruling. What do you think will happen if any of the Democratic appointed Justices or even the 'swing vote' is replaced by yet another Conservative Justice? I've been saying this for over a decade and women make up a majority of the population. In other words, ladies, you did this to yourselves every time you voted for a Republican President, as did those men who support women. Human rights are worth far more to me than money.

In my opinion, women, members of the LGBT community, and racial minorities who cast votes for Republican candidates believe that money is worth more than their human rights. As for those of you who claim to vote their 'faith,' it is your right to do so. However, don't complain when you lose rights you currently hold that others before you fought so hard to obtain....

Abigail Adams once said, 'Remember, all men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies we are determined to forment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice, or representation.' Abigail Adams died on October 28, 1818, more than 100 years before the United States Federal Government granted women the right to vote. When President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act on August 6, 1965, he said, 'the vote is the most powerful instrument ever devised by man for breaking down injustice and destroying the terrible walls which imprison men because they are different from other men.' If you want to break down this injustice that has been building for quite some time, you must do so by exercising your voting rights and doing so in a more thoughtful manner. Anyone and everyone eligible to vote in the United States of America and who values human rights must stop voting for Republican candidates unless and until they start respecting human rights above the rights of corporate entities and an elite group of Christian Caucasian heterosexual males."

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It bears mentioning that this article was written before the death of extremely conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. With the passing of Justice Scalia, the Christian Conservatives lost control of the Supreme Court and they are fighting tooth and nail to prevent his seat from being filled by President Obama.

Allow me to repeat myself: "One of the most powerful things a President does is nominate Judges to the Supreme Court."

In fact, allow me to repeat myself yet again: In a sense, Donald Trump is correct that women who have abortions if the procedure is banned should face "some sort of punishment." They sort of do, since they are the majority of the population and thus accountable for this situation. We get the elected officials we vote into office and the government we deserve. It's about time that people start taking responsibility for their actions and inactions, both of which are choices.

As a majority of the population, women essentially elect people or cause people to be elected who hold such beliefs.

If feminists of days gone by voted for modern day Republicans, they wouldn't have any of the rights they are now losing.

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They don't realize that the antigay rhetoric that's causing them to vote Republican is creating this result.

You can't selectively numb, as Brene' Brown, Ph.D., LMSW says. By numbing, Dr. Brown is referring to one of the six most common strategies used to offload hurt. By numbing, Dr. Brown is referring to "taking the edge off." However, according to Dr. Brown, "We need the edge. The edge is where joy, love, intimacy and trust live. To dull the edge of hurt, you dull the edge of everything."

By the same token, you can't selectively decide that the government should be involved in a person's personal life and then get upset that doing so involves more than just the LGBT community. It's amazing how that works.

You can't have it both ways. If you want to deny the LGBT community their civil rights and right to equal dignity under the law, doing so requires electing politicians who are Christian Conservatives.

Interestingly enough, those individuals also happen to strip women of rights their predecessors fought so hard to obtain.

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The choice is and has been entirely in the hands of women and they opted for discrimination against the LGBT community, without any thought of the consequences. I've been predicting this result for quite some time.

As Frank Bruni said in the closing of his article titled "The Republicans' Gay Freakout," if you want to make America great again, you can't waste time worrying about who's cutting the wedding cake." According to Mr. Bruni, "Republican efforts to push through so-called religious liberty laws and other legislation -- most egregiously in North Carolina -- that excuse and legitimize anti-gay discrimination are cynical distractions. Politically opportunistic sideshows."

Mr. Bruni is absolutely correct. In fact, the LGBT community long ago assessed what demographic caused Proposition 8 to pass in California, thereby stripping gays and lesbians of the right to marry. That demographic was "parents with children under 18 living at home -- many of them white Democrats." 687,000 people who voted in favor of Proposition 8 "supported same-sex marriage before the opposition peeled them away. Yes, they turned out to be susceptible to an appeal based on anti-gay prejudice. But they were frightened by misinformation...The lesson: It's not enough to make the case for same-sex marriage. It's also important to arm voters -- particularly parents -- against an inevitable propaganda attack. And it's crucial to rebut lies so parents don't panic."

Since we now have marriage equality in the United States, as do a great many other countries around the world, the misinformation currently spewed by Christian Conservatives involves transgender people and "the Big Bathroom Lie."

"As Bryan Cranston, who played Dalton Trumbo in the film 'Trumbo' said, 'fear is an enemy of freedom.'

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While the politics of Ronald Reagan and Al Gore were very different, they both agreed that 'the intentional creation of false fears for political purposes is harmful to our democracy.'"
After two years of legal back and forth, on March 25th, a Japanese court finally convicted the Taiji Whale Museum of discrimination against Westerners seeking entry to check up on the health of dolphins captured in the Taiji drive hunts, as featured in The Cove movie.

The lawsuit was filed by Sarah Lucas of Australia for Dolphins (AFD) and her late father, Alastair Lucas. Like many others, they were confronted and refused entry to the Taiji Whale Museum at the main gate, where staff in the ticket booth held up a sign stating in English that "anti-whalers" were not allowed into the Museum.

The same thing happened to a dozen International Marine Mammal Project (IMMP) activists and myself who came to Taiji on September 1st a few years ago to protest the annual dolphin hunts. We had no plans to take any action in the Museum; we were simply interested in seeing the dolphins that had been obtained by the Museum from the dolphin slaughter that occurs annually just around the corner in the notorious Cove. Even the local police who came could not talk the Museum staff into letting us go inside.

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IMMP helped AFD with the lawsuit, providing testimony from our volunteers who had been denied entry. We further providing funding to pay their law firm and put out publicity about the lawsuit in the US.

The three-judge panel in the case ruled that indeed the Taiji Whale Museum was wrong to refuse entry to anti-whaling activists simply because they were Westerners and against whaling. The Museum was in violation of the Japanese constitution. At the final denouement, the Taiji attorneys did not even attend the hearing, knowing they were going to lose. AFD was awarded 110,000 yen (about $972US).

There has been much debate about the meaning of the lawsuit and its importance on social media. Here is why I think it was very important for the future of the Taiji dolphin hunts.

So why was this lawsuit victory important for the dolphins?

This was the first ever lawsuit brought involved in the Taiji dolphin slaughter to attack the culprits. And it was successful.

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The government of Taiji owns the Taiji Whale Museum, which is heavily involved in the international trade in captive dolphins and whales caught in the Cove in conjunction with the dolphin drive hunts. The sale of captive dolphins subsidizes the sales of dolphin meat from the slaughter. Taiji is now the foremost supplier of captive dolphins to world aquariums, providing animals for aquariums in Japan, China, Russia and Dubai.

A court victory like this is very embarrassing in Japan for the culprits. Indeed, it is a major embarrassment in Japan for someone just to be arrested, even if not convicted of any crime. And the Japanese media spread the news widely throughout Japan. Stories appeared on Kyodo News and Associated Press in Japan. Worldwide, the story spread too, although the most important impact is in Japan. Not only the Taiji Whale Museum is now open to activists, but all aquariums in Japan will take heed and cannot now deny entry to activists. This is an important point for activists who can now enter the Museum and other Japan aquariums to check up on dolphins caught for a life of captivity while all their relatives were butchered for meat.

And now, through the efforts of AFD, we also have identified a good law firm in Japan willing to take the government on for this issue of dolphin hunts. Before this case and the documentary The Cove, most law firms would consider a lawsuit against the government as a complete loser. Now, with victory, the way is open to work with lawyers on other more demanding lawsuits. It is becoming more acceptable to oppose the dolphin hunts in Japan. More on that later.

For now, we hope you will join AFD and us in celebrating this victory for dolphins in Taiji. The Taiji government is now on notice that the legal state of dolphin hunts is shifting and that they cannot expect to be backed up by the judiciary when they blatantly ignore the laws of Japan.

This is only the start, and it is a very good start.
According to an article in Salon.com with the lengthy title "Who are these idiot Donald Trump supporters? Trump loves the poorly educated -- and they love him right back," an analysis in the New York Times broke down where Trump supporters are most congregated.

Journalists found that in the counties where Trump is most dominant, there are large numbers of white high school dropouts, and unemployed people no longer looking for work. An alliance with the incoherent personality cult of Donald Trump's candidacy correlates strongly with failure to obtain a high school diploma, and withdrawal from the labor force. The counties also have a consistent history of voting for segregationists, and have an above average percentage of its residents living in mobile homes.

The article subtitled "Urban poor are parasites who need personal responsibility. Trump fans are victims of economic forces. Yeah, sure," explains the disparities of how the right wing defines the mostly-black urban underclass juxtaposed with how those who participate in the "personality cult" surrounding Donald Trump are perceived by the media, by Trump himself, and by the public at large.

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Of course, Trump's demagoguery appeals to the poorly educated, the intellectually unformed, those with incoherent rage at something, at anything which is seen as some macroeconomic economic forces largely beyond their control which keeps them from being upwardly mobile and taking their rightful place among the middle class. The Chinese are blamed for currency manipulation and the transfer of low-wage manufacturing jobs abroad, and the Mexicans are blamed for criminality and the taking of low-wage jobs domestically.

Someone, anyone is to blame for their despondency and precarious financial existence, but themselves. Of course, they are the first to point fingers at the black underclass as being irresponsible, lazy, and angry. It is an anger they share, although largely directed in different directions - not wanting constructive social change, but rather social stagnation and the return of an idealized past that never was. It is the anger of the entitled.

Trump himself has said: "I love the poorly educated." Who loves the "poorly educated" more than a demagogue? Who else can direct their incoherent rage at "the other" and use their lack of knowledge and sophistication to define the world in very simplistic terms, largely shaped around a figure like himself, with no coherent policy prescriptions? Who else defines his skill at "dealmaking" as the answer to all domestic and international dilemmas? And if you don't believe it, Trump will be the first to offer to sell you a copy of his tome The Art of the Deal. If not that, how about some Trump steak knives?

Interestingly, these government-hating, overwhelmingly white individuals, populating the counties that support Trump "have made a cottage industry for lawyers in Social Security fraud or the seeking of disability payments for minor injuries or conditions." Well, the hypocrisy speaks for itself!

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In another interesting, if sad, wrinkle, this marginalized demographic is the only one in the country experiencing declining longevity and the reasons are bleak. Drugs and alcohol, and suicide are clearly the proximate reasons, according to a study. It is the despair of a group who once had social prominence and hegemony and now see little, but declining fortunes after being bypassed by those they considered their inferiors.

Trump speaks to them and makes their rage real. Of course, he has little to offer, but this same rage and resentment -- and therefore, his ascension -- may signal the shattering of the Republican party, a once great party which now has little to offer as well, but disillusionment and juvenile boasts about the shutdown of government.
If Republicans have a butt-clinching choice between Frankenstein and Dracula, Democrats face a less existential dilemma: Which version of idealism do we vote for? The one of a woman in the oval office or the one of how we think society should operate? Tortured by the choice I've arrived at a compromise: I'm rooting for Bernie and hoping for Hillary. I'm giving money to one but voting for the other. Why? Because the best thing that could happen to progressives is a contested convention. As the Republicans lurch toward their zombie apocalypse, a brokered Democratic convention would be a battle of ideas not personalities. Well, mostly. And it would plant the seeds of a certain Bernie-centric idealism that would take root in Democratic soil and eventually branch out across the country, whether he wins or not. Bernie's Hat Trick Bernie Sanders has pulled off the linguistic trick of the century: He's turned what were once political obscenities into acceptable language. Free tuition? "Medicare For All"? Higher taxes for a higher standard of living? Speaking these heresies would have ruined liberal politicians even just a couple of years ago, and now, thanks to Bernie, much of the mainstream is debating their merits.

A plan of "free tuition" is as bold as social security, Medicare and universal health insurance. And each of those programs took between 30 and 100 years from initial public utterance to a passage-friendly tipping point.



Movements rarely manifest through any one political figure but with a groundswell of grassroots support. It starts with the articulation of a "heretical idea" and then absorbed into the mainstream as a logical solution. We are not going to get "Medicare for all" and free tuition in the next 4 to 8 years and that's why it doesn't matter whether Bernie wins the nomination.



What matters is that mainstream America adopts his vision. What matters is that we move closer and closer to that vision until the moment when it's possible for a future President Roosevelt, Johnson or Obama to sign and more importantly PASS the legislation manifesting the vision.



We can move closer and closer with or without feeling the Bern or climbing the Hillz. In the end, they are both important but not critical figures in building a shared vision of the country. What's critical is that the message be heard, adopted and seen as a viable solution. And for that to happen, we need the kind of public spectacle that comes from contested conventions, not runaway candidates.



If Hillary pulls away too quickly the conversation will fade. If Bernie catches up it'll soar. What we need is a horse race and it doesn't matter who crosses the finish line first. What matters is what the horserace illuminates.



Hillary? Bernie? Let's hope it's a tie.
Supporters try to get the attention of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump after he spoke Monday, April 4, 2016, during a campaign rally in a hangar at the Bong Airport in Superior, Wis. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

I have long believed that progressive economic policies are far better for most businesses than the policies of the modern Republican party. Oh, sure, Republicans will do a good job of taking care of their biggest contributors and closest special interest cronies -- the Koch brothers won't have to worry much about pollution laws or anti-trust enforcement if the people they support control the government. But for most businesses, progressive policies are going to help them a lot more than they hurt them. As I have written in the past:

Higher wages mean more disposable income for customers. Paid sick leave and decent health care benefits mean more stability in the workforce for most companies. Breaking up the biggest banks and fair rules for the financial industry would mean far more investment and better terms on loans for most small businesses. Better schools mean more productive workers. Converting to a green economy and making adequate investments in infrastructure and R&D would mean the creation of thousands of new businesses and millions of new jobs, a lot of them high wage. Vigorous enforcement of anti-trust laws and prosecuting businesses that manipulate markets mean that honest businesses can better compete with big corporations who have an unfair advantage.



And there is a ton of data that show the economy consistently does better under Democratic governance than under the Republicans:

Now, though, in the post-apocalyptic moonscape that is the Republican party of 2016, it has become clear that the modern Republicanism of Trump and Cruz is even worse for the business community than the numbers suggest they historically have been. If, as the saying goes, the corporate world craves stability, the Republican party of today threatens instability on a mass scale. It's bad enough for the business community if the man who has offended almost every demographic group in America outside of non-college educated white men is the Republican nominee. If the convention becomes a mess, the fight is between Trump and Cruz and some yet to be named establishment savior, then you have the specter of the riots Trump promised if he doesn't get the nomination- and riots are rarely good for business. The potential of this going from ugly to violent is all too real, and that doesn't exactly bode well for consumer confidence. We are already seeing this remarkable dynamic play out, as corporate America is in a state trying to figure out what the hell to do about the Republican convention this summer. Check out this rather remarkable article by Jonathan Martin and Maggie Haberman in the NYT the other day.

In it, they say:

Some of the country's best-known corporations are nervously grappling with what role they should play at the Republican National Convention, given the likely nomination of Donald J. Trump, whose divisive candidacy has alienated many women, blacks and Hispanics.

And they go on to discuss the organizing work being done by some of the leading progressive organizations in the country, including Color of Change, Ultraviolet, and other major groups representing Latinos, Muslims, and the array of other constituencies deeply offended by Trump and Cruz's rhetoric.

The fundamental problem is this: the U.S.A. is becoming more and more diverse in its racial and ethnic background, its religion, its lifestyle choices and its thinking. Businesses of all stripes want to appeal to those consumers (not to mention markets in the rest of the world) and hire the best people they can from those constituencies. Meanwhile, the Republican party has become the party of reaction against what America has become. The Trump/Cruz party openly embraces racism, nativism, misogyny and lack of toleration. They want to ban Muslims from entering the country and turn their neighborhoods into cordoned off war zones. They want to build walls to keep the rest of the world out. They are enthusiastic and unrepentant about insulting everyone not like them. And this is not good for business.

This conflict for business keeps coming up in different battles. The fights we have seen in Indiana, North Carolina, and Georgia over LGBT rights are not going away, and we will see this play out in all kinds of other ways as well.

What is good for business is customers with money in their pockets, young people able to enter the workforce with a good education backing them up, more federal dollars for R&D, 21st century roads and bridges and airports, and a financial system that invested in entrepreneurial start-ups rather than being focused on financial speculation. A good business climate requires communities that welcome every kind of person that wants to work hard and play by the rules, which is why the most diverse and welcoming cities in America tend to be the healthiest economically. Most businesses don't need lobbyist-crafted special tax loopholes or sweetheart deals, they just want to be able to compete on a level playing field. And this kind of America is what progressives and Democrats are offering them.

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I have been in business for most of the last two decades. My partners and I at Democracy Partners have built our business around the idea of embracing, working with, and supporting progressive constituencies. I would suggest that most businesses in America would be well served to do the same.
If your neighbor lost his job a year after his wife died, and he had three small kids, would you "help" him by taking away his kids?

If a family in your church or congregation's house burnt down and they had no family to stay with, would you help them by adopting their infant child?

Recently, Ronnie Stewart a Florida minister of the Refuge Church of New Port Richey, and his wife, Krystal, discovered a homeless family out in the rain. They offered to take their two young sons home for a bath and a warm bed, leaving the parents out in the rain. They are now in the process of adopting the one- and two-year-old boys.

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While many commended the Stewart's for their good-hearted gesture, Kerri Sackville takes exception and many commenters agree with her. "Rescuing children" while leaving their family behind is not the most humane response to a tragedy.

What is Family Preservation

Quite simply it describes efforts to keep families together and prevent unnecessary out-of-home placement of children.

Family Preservation recognizes that children need protecting and society's goal should always be to provide and ensure their safety.

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Family Preservation seeks to have these goals met while respecting and honoring the inalienable right of every child born to remain safely with the mother and/or father who conceived and/or bore him/her whenever possible.

Family Preservation recognizes that the parent/child relationship is a sacred connection that should not be severed without due cause, for the protection and safety of the child, and only after all means of addressing the problems of the family unit have been exhausted.

Family Preservation seeks to uphold the constitutional rights of parents as well as expectant mothers and fathers to protect, care for and maintain a bond with their offspring. Family Preservation thus advocates that we treat every mother and father equally without judgment based on age, marital status, physical or cognitive ability, or financial status. It rejects exploiting parental weaknesses in order to commodify their child to meet a demand. It is about providing affordable health and day care to level the playing field.

Family Preservation is about helping families overcome crisis and remain intact by providing necessary opportunities, resources, options, and help to do so. Mothers and fathers in crisis need to receive objective family-centered option counseling and all the resources, referrals, and support needed to remain as an intact family and to be protected from fraud, coercion and exploitation which separates them from their child.

Mothers and fathers of a child requiring substitute care should be provided legal counsel to be fully aware of their rights and recourse. Such counsel should be paid for by a tax or fee paid into a general fund and not directly by anyone with an interest in obtaining custody of their child.

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Family Preservation calls for extended family to be the first resource for children whose parents are not able or willing to care for them and for stranger placements to be a last resort that allow so that the child to may know all of their genetic/DNA contributors.





The History of Family Preservation

Family Preservation services and initiatives were developed and are promoted in response to an over-reliance on transient and often unsafe out-of-home foster care.

Use of the term Family Preservation can be traced back to 1890s and the negative reaction to the 'orphan train movement.' In the 1909 White House Conference on Children it was the top ranked issue.

By 1966 the Casey Family Programs operated to provide and improve -- and ultimately prevent the need for--foster care.

The following two organizations are devoted to preserving families in crisis, offering short-term services designed to assist families in crisis by improving parenting and family functioning while keeping children safe:

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The National Family Preservation Network was founded in 1992 to serve as the primary national voice for Intensive Family Preservation and Reunification Services (IFPS & IFRS) and a myriad of state programs, many affiliated with schools of social work.

Lumos works to help the world's orphans regain their right to their own family, in the face of high demand for children to adopt. Lumos finds that supporting children to remain in their own communities is more cost effective - in addition to being more humane - than funding institutions. They work with governments, professionals, communities and families to provide resources needed to prevent unnecessary, permanent family separations, such as medical care and education.

National Institute for Permanent Family Connectedness (NIPFC) operates from the position that "every child has a family, and family members can be found when we try." We owe our children in need, they say, no less than employing every effort to locate and contact any possible family resource for them, and to do so as quickly as possible. In addition to permanency, children in litigated custody also need and deserve expediency.

Family Finding "identifies relatives and other supportive adults, estranged from or unknown to the child, especially those who are willing to become permanent connections for him/her." Working primarily with young adults "aging out" of care the non-profit has successfully located no fewer than 40 relatives or other meaningful connections for each youth.

Why wait, however, to find resources for children in need of extra-familial care? Every state should be mandated to find all extended family resources for every child in their care at the onset of every placement, not when children are leaving care. Not only is it in the best interest and safety of these unmoored children, but will also save taxpayers money to have the children placed with family rather than paying strangers.

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The Basis of Family Preservation

These important rights and protections are echoed by UNICEF which stated in a 2007 press release:

"Adoption should always be the last resort for the child. The CRC, which guides UNICEF's work, states very clearly that every child has to the right to know and to be cared for by his or her own parents, whenever possible. UNCIICEF believes that families needing support to care for their children should receive it, and that alternative means of caring for a child should only be considered when, despite this assistance, a child's family is unavailable, unable or unwilling to care for her or him."

"Children have rights. These rights are laid down essentially in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child [UNCRC] and in the Hague Convention on the Protection of Children. Children and their biological parents have a right to respect for their family life."

"Adoption at what cost?" 2007 Terre des hommes - child relief, Lausanne, Switzerland

The rights of children in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) are as follows:

Article 7:

"The child shall be registered immediately after birth and shall have the right from birth to a name, the right to acquire a nationality and, as far as possible, the right to know and be cared for by his or her parents."

Article 8:

"Where a child is illegally deprived of some or all of the elements of his or her identity, States Parties shall provide appropriate assistance and protection, with a view to re-establishing speedily his or her identity."

Article 9:

"States Parties shall respect the right of the child who is separated from one or both parents to maintain personal relations and direct contact with both parents on a regular basis, except if it is contrary to the child's best interests."

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Further, America's Uniform Adoption Act of 1994 calls for the protection of "minor children against unnecessary separation from their birth parents."

Additionally, the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights articles 12 and 16(3) address interference with family, stating that "the family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State."

Article 25(2) states:

"Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection."

How it Plays out - or Doesn't - in Practice

"Regrettably, in many cases, the emphasis has changed from the desire to provide a needy child with a home, to that of providing a needy parent with a child. As a result, a whole industry has grown, generating millions of dollars of revenues each year . . ." The Special Rapporteur, United Nations, Commission on Human Rights, 2003.

Demand for children remains high.

Child protective services are poorly funded and understaffed. As with our legal system, the indigent, the marginalized, disenfranchised and working poor are at higher risk, unequally targeted, and far less able to defend themselves. Their children too often become commodities for more affluent foster and adoptive parents who are viewed as being able to provide a "better" home.



The privatization of American infant adoption has turned what once was a social institution for providing care for children in need - into a multi-billion-dollar unregulated industry run by untrained, unlicensed, unregulated practitioner/baby brokers and intermediaries.

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While children need protection, there has never been evidence that the severing of all ties to one's original family or falsifying one's vital records is in their best interest. Such state-committed fraud that changes a child name, lists adopters as parents of birth and often changes the child's place or even date of birth, benefits only gray and black market baby brokers and child traffickers, not adopted persons. Transparency - not secrets and lies - is sorely needed in every aspect of child protection. However, policies are made to protect paying clients and the attorneys and adoption agencies whose livelihood is dependent on the redistribution of children with non-related strangers.

Father Symeon,, BPS Orthodox Christian Conciliation Services Existential Life Coaching, Counseling, Consultancy Services Hermitage of St John the Divine Syracuse NY writes that he is not against adoption in principal but in practice:



"There is so much wrong with Child Adoption worldwide.

"I support its abolition being replaced with a three tier approach 1) Family Preservation: a healthy attempt to keep the child with the parents. 2) Kinship Guardians: a type of adoption by extended family. 3) Guardian Stewardship: a type of adoption by non-familial persons."

Annette Baran, MSW, and Reuben Pannor, MSW, co-authors and highly regarded adoption experts also favor guardianship over adoption, as it is practiced in the U.S.:

"Relinquishment of children to a new set of parents, as a final, irrevocable act, severing all rights of the birthparents, must be discontinued.... "Instead, we propose a form of guardianship adoption that we believe would be in the best interests of all concerned, with special benefits for the adoptee for it would decrease the abandonment/rejection issue and permit the child to know the birthparents as real people who cared about him but could not raise him."

Adoption as a humanitarian effort - domestically and internationally - falls pitifully short. There are more humane ways to help families in crisis, than removing children.

Many current American adoption practices are in direct opposition to these child- and family-centered goals. These include:

Pre birth matching with expectant expenses paid directly from prospective adopters to expectant mothers, which engenders feelings of obligation indebtedness and creates false expectations for adopters.

Worse still are pre-birth consents. Lawful in two states, they are banned elsewhere for violating the intent of baby selling.

Presenting open adoption as giving moms-to-be control, inasmuch as promises of ongoing contact are unenforceable in most states.

Putative father registries which exist to speed up adoptions in violation of the constitutional rights of fathers

"Safe Havens" - aka legalized abandonment - deny mothers in crisis the opportunity of counseling and denies children any hope of finding the truth of their genetic heredity

Denying adopted persons access to their authentic original birth certifictes.

Placing a child in the care of adults to whom the child is not related must always be a last resort option to be used only when there are no extended family members able and willing to provide care for the child related to them.

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Over six million people. Bengal tigers. Ganges and Irrawaddy Dolphins. What do all three of these have in common? The Sundarbans, a UNESCO World Heritage-listed mangrove forest, a recognized Ramsar wetland, and the world's largest delta, stretching across parts of Bangladesh and India. Its name, Sundarbans, means "beautiful forest" in Bengali.

This international treasure hosts an important Biosphere Reserve and a national park (providing highest level of protection) on its Indian side, and on its Bangladeshi side, it hosts three protected forests. The Sundarbans are home to a myriad of wildlife, including the Ganges and Irrawaddy Dolphins and is the largest habitat of the majestic Bengal Tiger. Over two million people's livelihoods depend directly on access to the Sundarbans' natural resources, while many more millions live in and depend on the Sundarbans indirectly. Stretching over 6,200 miles, the forest protects over 70 million people and the eighth most populous country from increasing climate disruption-driven extreme weather events like stronger tropical cyclones, on both sides of the Bangladesh-India border.

And the Sundarbans are in trouble.

This global treasure and the water bodies surrounding it have played witness to several disasters over the past few years. On March 19, a cargo vessel carrying 1,235 tons of coal capsized in the Shela River at the Chandpai Range of the Sundarbans. In October 2015, another coal vessel carrying 510 tons of coal capsized in the Passur River. In May 2015, a vessel with 500 tons of toxic fertilizer sank in the Bhola River in the Sundarbans. An oil spill from a sinking tanker in December 2014 spilled 357,665 liters of furnace oil into the Shela River. Despite these disasters, this is just the beginning for what is possibly to come to the Sundarbans -- a destructive coal development. Two coal-fired power projects -- the Rampal and the adjacent Orion-Khulna projects -- are proposed to be built less than nine miles away from the Sundarbans, and one of these plants will potentially be financed by the U.S. Export-Import Bank.

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A joint venture between Bangladesh's Power Development Board (PDB) and India's state-owned National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) is already constructing the 1,320 megawatt Rampal power project, also known as the Maitree Super Thermal Power Project, that now threatens to devastate the Sundarbans and the communities whose livelihoods depend on it.

The Rampal coal project, if completed, will consume about 13,000 tons of imported coal daily, result in over six miles of river dredging each year, create a 25-acre coal ash pond filled with toxic sludge, and release over eight million tons of carbon dioxide annually, or the equivalent of cutting down 340 million trees each year. The 4.7 million tons of coal needed to supply this plant every year will be shipped close to the coast in the Bay of Bengal at Akram Point and carried in barges through the fragile river in the mangrove forests, day in and day out, spilling huge amounts of coal dust into the fragile ecosystem. The Orion-Khulna power project, a 660 megawatt coal-fired power project privately owned by Orion Group, will add half as much of these toxic discharges to the water, air, and land. And taking advantage of the projected power availability, cement plants, shipyards, and many other polluting industries are already making a beeline for this endangered forests.

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Orion Group has also sponsored the Orion-Dhaka a plant in the Mushiganj District, around 150 miles south of Dhaka, Bangladesh's densely populated capital city. According to Orion Group, this Orion-Dhaka Plant may be financed by the U.S. Export-Import Bank.

India is playing a massive role in the Rampal project with its state-owned NTPC holding 15 percent equity, the Indian Ex-Im Bank's financing the $1.82 billion project, Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) winning the bid as a supplier, and PricewaterhouseCoopers (India) contracted to source coal for the project. The project would actually be illegal on the Indian side of the Sundarbans, as India's Wildlife Protection Act calls for a 15-kilometer exclusion zone around national parks, wildlife sanctuaries, and reserve forests, and the Rampal power plant is only 14 kilometers away from the Sundarbans.

NTPC is both the largest power producer and the largest polluter in India, and in tandem with Coal India Ltd, is the world's largest coal producer. Together, these two companies have displaced and devastated the tribal, indigenous, and farming populations in many forested regions in central and eastern India, poisoned many rivers, and caused massive health issues for the millions who live near their projects. And in Bangladesh where the environmental and social laws are even less stringent than in India, the consequences of the Rampal power project would be devastating.

In fact, in April 2015, the group South Asians for Human Rights conducted a fact-finding mission and later last year released a report that highlights several human rights concerns as well as flaws in the Rampal coal project's environmental impact assessment (EIA) and resettlement process.



Site preparation in Rampal progressing fast. Photo Credit: Soumya Dutta



Fertile farmland & aquaculture ponds sit next to Rampal project site. Photo Credit: Soumya Dutta

Local Resistance from Bangladesh To India



Long March on its way. Photo Credit: Soumya Dutta

But these destructive coal projects have faced massive public resistance for years. The people of Bangladesh have been tirelessly fighting to protect their homes, livelihoods, and the Sundarbans. And as a result, the development of the Rampal power project has been delayed several years. Since 2001, communities in Bangladesh have been protesting to save the Sundarbans. Faced with these devastating prospects, people of Bangladesh started organizing protest marches and rallies across the country. Over 20,000 people participated in the first Long March in 2013, marching nearly 250 miles from Dhaka to Rampal in protest of the proposed coal-fired power project. The protest was organized under the leadership of the "National Committee for Protection of Oil, Gas, Minerals, Electricity, and Ports."

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The second Long March was held from March 10-13, 2016, and nearly a thousand people from all walks of life in Bangladesh marched again for over 100 miles in protest of both the Rampal coal project and the adjacent Orion Khulna power station. There were over a dozen large public meetings in as many towns on way from the capital Dhaka to the small town Katakhali during these four days, and throughout the march there was strong participation from youth, student unions, worker's unions, left parties, and other people dependent on the Sundarbans.

Looking at the massive role the Indian government is playing in Rampal coal project, an 11-member-strong contingent of Indian civil society activists took active part in the Long March to express solidarity and share actions. Throughout the route, activists heard many chants -- "There are alternatives to power, BUT none for the Sundarbans," "Sundarbans is our mother, we will not let it get destroyed," "We will give our blood and our lives, but not the Sundarbans," "Coal plants kill and damage. We won't let it happen here."

The march ended the afternoon of March 13 with a large public meeting, giving a warning to Bangladeshi government to scrap the plan for the Rampal coal project or face even larger public actions.



Public meeting in Khulna town, gateway for the Sundarbans. Photo Credit: Soumya Dutta

A Strong International Movement

Internationally, many organizations and activists are standing in solidarity to save the Sundarbans. Seven U.S.-based groups have already coalesced to urge the U.S. Export-Import Bank to publicly commit to rejecting any proposal for the financing of harmful coal projects near the Sundarbans and any other harmful fossil fuel projects in Bangladesh.

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Today, there are economically competitive alternatives to massively damaging coal. Bangladesh, in particular, has one of the fastest growing solar home system projects in the world. As it is already one of the most vulnerable countries to climate disruption, Bangladesh should not commit to disastrous projects like Rampal and Orion. Already facing massive land erosion, farm-land salinity, and submergence due to climate change effects, the rights of communities in Bangladesh need to be supported now more than ever.



Local people at Rampal site. Photo Credit: Soumya Dutta

There is no excuse for destroying one of the world's greatest treasures, and the home for so many, in the name of fossil fuels. It is time for U.S. financial institutions to join the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund and major French banks and say no to financing coal projects in Bangladesh and near the Sundarbans.
I was recently in Italy, far away from the Brussels bombings, yet I received many many emails and texts from people worried about my safety. In actual fact, I had been closer to the San Bernadino events than anything in Europe (though mighty close in London for the subway bombings in 2005.)

I'm here to affirm that Italy, at least northern Italy, is in absolutely fantastic shape, in fact I've never felt more secure despite the fact that Italy's economy is in disarray. The streets in Milan and every other city I visited were immaculate -- new highways under construction, the people helpful, the food as wonderful as ever, the cultural sites mostly in splendid condition. The Duomo in Milan, like Notre Dame, is so clean as to be unrecognizable. Easter was approaching so there were elaborate chocolate confections and cakes in many shop windows, but it was not high season for tourists. It seems migrants are bypassing Italy and heading north, because there is no work for them so this hot potato political issue is not as present. A terrorist was arrested in southern Italy just after -- obviously I have no inside information about what is happening in that regard.

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I can only say that Milan is having a renaissance which began with the Venice Biennale last year, then went on to Expo and now the Design Fair. People skip Milan because they haven't heard much about things to do there if they are not in the fashion business, but it is one of my favorite places.

If you are lucky, you can stay at the Four Seasons, which is really one of their most beautiful spots in the heart of things in a converted convent/monastery.

But even without those resources, you can now eat dinner in an medium security prison In Galera, where the chef and servers are inmates and the food very good. The woman who began this effort did it as a way to help the prisoners re-integrate into society but now society is coming to them.

In Galera server and chef

Exterior view of In Galera restaurant, in the medium security prison

You can visit the elegant Villa Necchi by the architect Piero Portaluppi which looks exactly the same as it does in the film I Am Love, it's within walking distance of the fashion district and has a cafe where you can imagine yourself to be every bit as elegant as Tilda Swinton.

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Villa Nechhi exterior

Villa Necchi interior

You can eat at the tiny La Latteria family run restaurant that is worth the wait (no reservations).

You can visit the Prada Foundation, Rem Koolhaas's latest collaboration with Miucca Prada which is filled with interesting mid century Italian paintings from her collection, temporary exhibits that fit in the vast glass walled pavilion or in the subterranean vaults below.

Prada Foundation Collection

Rem Koolhaas at his Prada Foundation

Thomas Demand Grotto installation at Prada Foundation

You can drive just north to the nondescript town of San Vito di Altivole which unexpectedly houses one of the most beautiful, elegant monuments to death, the Brion Cemetery designed by Carlo Scarpa with its Frank Lloyd Wright and Japanese influences. If only we could all envision ourselves at rest in a sacred space like this one. Unlike the Duomo, it is not supremely well-tended, but this only adds to its character.

Carlo Scarpa's Brion Cemetery

Scarpa died after a terrible fall down a set of stairs in Japan, but is buried here.

I wrote last year about Scarpa's Olivetti showroom in Venice, and his Querini Stampalia museum as well as the garden at the Biennale main pavilion so I was on the hunt for Scarpa this visit with passion. His Canova museum was alas closed, but a short distance away in the tiny hill town of Asolo the Villa di Maser by Palladio, is a faded yellow pile of a place, which was opened by dedicated owners who live there with their many tiny dogs and horses grazing in the front yard overlooking the vineyard across the road, a bit of locavore domesticity mixed in with the Unesco-heritage columns and architraves.

Villa di Maser garden and interior

Just a little over an hour away is the Romeo and Juliet city of Verona, the site of two other Scarpa sites: the elegant Castelvecchio fortress redone by Scarpa from 1958-64.

Castelvecchio staircase by Scarpa

Banco Popolare exterior by Scarpa

Banco Popolare interior window view

The recently refurbished also marvelous Banco Popolare di Verona of Scarpa, with its echoes of Louis Kahn can now be visited on special days -- you need to check with them in advance.

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The Italians are gradually revisiting and restoring much of Scarpa's work in the region he loved so well. The lovely catalog you can get at the Banco says Scarpa "worked best when subjected to strong constraints because he possessed the uncommon ability to transform weaknesses into strengths."

(You can also visit the deserted 19th century Verona synagogue which is very well-maintained for the only 60 remaining parishioners just by ringing the bell.)

Veronese synagogue

Once I had my bellyful of Scarpa, I stole away to see the expansive Maria Callas exhibition in the Arena Museum. Callas is newly vibrant and original in this vast exhibition of photographs, clippings, clothing and history, and only looks more glamorous with the passage of decades.

I didn't know that she had been born in Queens, was chubby in her early career and then starved herself to become the woman she she felt her onstage heroines deserved. Her wild ups and downs as the most famous opera diva in the world are duly recorded as well as her most public and humiliating rejection by Ari Onassis after their two-year affair which ended in Onassis abandoning her for Jackie Kennedy. She had many elegant dresses and costumes custom made, but also wore this black leather jacket which made me feel she may have had a street side that she never entirely forgot.

Maria Callas in her early career, then later, and her black leather jacket.

Callas, like Juliet, had a tragic ending. She died in Paris at 53 where she was living a cloistered life after a bumpy retirement. (Some say Onassis continued to see her.) She should have requested to be buried at Brion (she is interred at Pere Lachaise) where she could have kept company with Scarpa who is buried mummy like. I don't think Zaha Hadid designed a cemetery, but she might also like this resting place next to another architect with singular vision.

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Polls and primaries have shown presidential candidate Bernie Sanders to be popular with millennials. It would be easy to write this off as an immature response from over idealistic young people being choked up by pipedream promises. Yet the message Sen. Sanders presents is being lived heavily by the millennial generation. They are a generation that earns less than their parents did at the same age, a generation that volunteered to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan, and a generation that is sacked with a mountain of college debt amid a slow recovery.

Again it would be easy to say that millennials are just wanting a participation trophy. The reality though is that American society has become unjust and a responsible citizen would see that action needs to be taken now. Income inequality is not simply a reaction by some who think money is unfairly shared in society. Inequality leads to a lack of opportunity. Correcting income inequality allows people to do for themselves. It is not a state sponsored charity program, but providing access to employment that supports healthy individuals and families.

Income inequality is the recognition of childhood poverty in America, the recognition that full time employment does not guarantee healthy food for families, the recognition that overtime is really required to make ends meet, or the recognition that there are more backdoor subsidies and tax loopholes than the average person can count. Solving income inequality is not a manifesto where a pile of money is divided up the same for everyone. It is a push for what is opportunistically fair. For example, many millennials did work hard for a post-secondary education where many worked to pay for or took on a stack of debt. They are looking for work that is strenuous to find and sometimes not there.

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It moves beyond income inequality though. There is inequality in the way veterans are being treated by the VA. There is inequality when a state government poisons Flint with lead. It is unequal for police forces to be so stressed financially that it limits the community mission they seek to fulfill. No matter who someone is, where they come from, or how they fill out their census form people should be treated fairly. The sign of a great society is how it treats all people. Fairness is only subjective to those who are taking advantage of inequality and refuse to do something about it.
Supreme Court of the United StatesUnited States Supreme Court in Washington DC with Blue Sky background

(This essay was initially published by Washington Monthly.)

It would probably delight the late Justice Antonin Scalia to know that the fight over his successor was generating constitutional controversy. Indeed, like many controversies that Justice Scalia fueled, this one concerns not only the implications of particular clauses, but the very nature of constitutional law.

In nominating Judge Merrick B. Garland to succeed Justice Scalia, President Obama declared: "As President, it is . . . my constitutional duty to nominate a Justice. . . . I hope that our Senators will do their jobs, and move quickly to consider my nominee. That is what the Constitution dictates. . . ."

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The President's rhetoric of duty and obligation, however, quickly elicited dissents. Noah Feldman writes: "[I]f Obama didn't want to nominate a replacement for Justice Antonin Scalia at all, it would be within his constitutional discretion not to do so." As to the Senate, Jonathan Adler argues: "The Senate may withhold its consent by voting down a nominee, but it may also withhold its consent by refusing to act, or otherwise failing to confirm a nominee." These two esteemed legal scholars with very different politics are hardly alone in their views.

The arguments for the "not-a-duty" position are typically based on the sorts of textual and historical arguments Justice Scalia advocated. Article II declares that the President "by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint . . . judges of the Supreme Court." But "shall" in legal instruments does not always mean "must." As for the Senate, "Each House [of Congress] may determine the Rules of its proceedings." Such blanket language on its face supports the idea that the Senate has the discretion to proceed with nominees quickly or slowly, with much or little debate, or, indeed, not at all.

Lost in the fog, however, is an idea of the Constitution that Justice Scalia no doubt regarded as "argle-bargle," but which is both historically and in principle a stronger and more appealing concept than his own. It is the view that Chief Justice John Marshall elaborated in the famous 1819 case upholding the constitutionality of the National Bank of the United States, McCulloch v. Maryland.

The Constitution, Marshall argued, should be interpreted in light of its peculiar nature and overarching purposes. The "nature" of the Constitution, according to Marshall, "requires that only its great outlines should be marked, its important objects designated, and the minor ingredients which compose those objects be deduced from the nature of the objects themselves." The Constitution was "intended to endure for ages to come, and consequently to be adapted to the various crises of human affairs." The propriety of congressional action, he said, must "consist with the letter and spirit of the Constitution." This is "living Constitution" language. "Spirit of the Constitution" is not a phrase one would associate with Justice Scalia. It would have been more congenial to Chief Justice Charles Evan Hughes, who expressed a similar thought thusly: "Behind the words of the constitutional provisions are postulates which limit and control."

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With regard to Supreme Court appointments, the spirit of the Constitution emanates conspicuously from three sources. One is the design of government itself. Having three co-equal federal branches is one of the Constitution's two foundational design features, the other being federalism. The Supreme Court is the one constitutionally mandated judicial institution. Constitutionally, there must be a Supreme Court, and it should be a Supreme Court able to effectively and efficiently accomplish its constitutionally imperative tasks - pursuing uniformity in the interpretation of federal law and enforcing the Constitution's limitations on government action. Thus, the spirit of the Constitution casts a shadow of potential illegitimacy over any branch's initiative that would foreseeably weaken the Supreme Court.

A second consideration, closely related to the first, is the importance in a separation of powers system of forbearance in the exercise of power. James Madison wrote in The Federalist that "none of [the three branches] ought to possess, directly or indirectly, an overruling influence over the others in the administration of their respective powers." Yet each branch, if it exercises its discretionary powers to the fullest, could bring the others to a halt. Only a norm of at least minimal mutual accommodation stands in the way. In refusing even to consider a Supreme Court nominee, the Senate, effectively overruling the President's power of appointment, is breaching that norm.

Finally, the Senate, in categorically hamstringing the President on entirely political grounds, is assuming a role in the appointments process that was never intended. The Constitution explicitly provides that the President take the leading role in staffing the judiciary and executive branch. The anxiety that produced the Senate's role in the appointments process was not policy, but potential corruption. As Alexander Hamilton elaborated, the confirmation requirement was intended as "an excellent check upon a spirit of favoritism in the President, [which] would tend greatly to prevent the appointment of unfit characters from State prejudice, from family connection, from personal attachment, or from a view to popularity." History has approved the Senate's weighing of a wider range of factors in judging a specific nominee's merits. But the central point still holds - the Senate is to judge the worthiness of nominees as individuals, not to shut down deliberations altogether.

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Of course, none of these considerations establishes a "duty," if, by "duty," one means an obligation enforceable at law. No court will ever enjoin a recalcitrant President to make a nomination or an obstructionist Senate to meet with, deliberate over, or vote on a presidential nominee to the Supreme Court or anything else.

But the Constitution implies a broader view of governmental duty. Article V of the Constitution requires all government officers, both state and federal - including Members of the Senate - to "be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support [the] Constitution." The President, yet more emphatically, is required to swear or affirm to "faithfully execute" the presidential office and to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution." Promises to "preserve, protect and defend" - even to "support" - the Constitution plainly commit officeholders to do something more than merely "observe" or "formally comply with" the Constitution. To "support" is to "enable to function," or, as James Madison wrote, to help "in giving effect to the federal Constitution." Should presidents or legislators work to undermine each other's constitutionally assigned functions or to undermine the efficacy of the Supreme Court, it is hard to see how they are not violating their respective oaths. A promise is not much of a promise unless one is obliged, at least as a matter of honor, to keep it.

For this reason, I dissent from a view Benjamin Wittes and Miguel Estrada have expressed pithily and with obvious regret: "Whatever elevated rhetoric anyone invokes to suit his or her convenience, the fact is that our real judicial nominations system is now one of raw power and nothing else." The fact that so few historical precedents exist for refusing consideration and that none is more recent than 1866 suggests that generations of Senators have internalized their constitutional job description even as political and legal contexts have shifted from decade to decade. As long as the rhetoric of honor is still in play, we can still hope that the rawness of power will be tamed by the sense of obligation.

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Seung-il Byun is a traditional Korean painter, noted for using circular canvas and depicting pastoral landscapes of the Joseon Dynasty. He is even more famous, however, as the president of the Korea Association of the Deaf, where he is a fierce advocate for deaf people across the peninsula. "My goal is to promote artistic and cultural exchanges between the Northern and Southern communities of Deaf Koreans," he said at an interview in central Seoul, using his preferred Korean Sign Language. "It is critically important. Non-hearing people in North Korea have very little contact with the outside world."

Mr. Byun has made it his life's work to advance the rights of deaf people in his home country. "Non-hearing people from across the peninsula need to support each other," he explained, running a hand over a brochure from his latest solo exhibition of paintings. "Historically, we are a marginalized group with many shared experiences, and that's why I write the word with a capital letter in English. Deaf Koreans will face unique challenges upon national unification. Academic, artistic, and cultural exchanges help us prepare for that day."

With the help of Pyongyang-based NGOs, Mr. Byun has attempted to travel to North Korea three times in order to conduct such work. So far, he has been unsuccessful. "I tried to visit Pyongyang through the embassy in Germany," he explained, "but because of the recent hydrogen bomb test, my January 2016 trip was cancelled. I have permission from the South Korean Ministry of Unification to travel in the North. Unfortunately, things aren't working out as planned."

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Nonetheless, he has been an inspiration to those working on the ground in the North Korea, including Robert Grund, a German national who runs a handicapped education center called Together Hamhung. Over e-mail, Mr. Grund commented: "Byun Seung-Il is my role model...he is our hope for the 'inclusive' reunification of the Korean Peninsula. He is probably the first Deaf [person] from South Korea to clarify that the Deaf issue should not be excluded from the inner Korean dialogue for the peaceful reunification."

Like Grund, Mr. Byun prioritizes the needs of those living in rural provinces, such as Wonsan and Hamhung. "It's extremely difficult for people from these areas to communicate with people from the capital," he explained. "Resources are not evenly distributed. The World Federation of the Deaf visited one school in the North, and 98% of the students were illiterate."

High illiteracy rates have made escape from the Kim regime virtually impossible for Deaf individuals. Inability to read renders even pencil-and-paper communication - already an inefficient way of expressing urgent, immediate needs - as useless. Even registered NGOs designed to help North Koreans are poorly equipped to meet the needs of handicapped refugees, who often have no understanding of Korean or International Sign Language.

Mr. Byun is deeply frustrated by the compounded human rights issues this subset of the North Korean populace faces. "They aren't even able to represent themselves," he said, pointing to a logo on his padded yellow coat. "There was a world sporting event held in South Africa called The Deaflympics. North Korea did send representatives, but those people were hearing. How does that give us a voice?"

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There have been some hysterical claims in the media that people who are handicapped in any way are automatically murdered in North Korea. Mr. Byun has firmly established as false. "I have heard of these rumors, but they are not true. Still, life is very isolated for Deaf North Koreans. It is nearly impossible for them to communicate with hearing people. This struggle exists even in the South. As a child, I struggled to express myself with classmates, and that was very isolating. We have a lot of work ahead of us."
Sometimes it seems like every single person is starting a company today. But do most of the founders really care about the companies they're building? Are the founders seriously motivated by the prospect of building a HR recruiting system? Or are they just building the business for the sake of building a business, hoping to strike gold one day?

There's no doubt that entrepreneurial ambition is one of the defining characteristics of millennials. But was Peter Thiel right when he said "we wanted flying cars, instead we got flying cars"? Is it true that while startups could be revolutionizing the world (and solving real problems), they're not, simply because too many founders aren't working on problems they're actually interested in solving?

Or is it just that too many founders are young college students who actually haven't found out who they are, what interests them, and how they want to leave their mark on this planet?

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Regardless, one thing is for sure: one of the best ways to find yourself, your passions, and what you want to work on is through travel.

Think about it. You're in a completely new country. You meet people who you didn't even know existed and that are completely different than you; you realize how small you really are and how massive and beautiful the world is. You are surrounded by dense mountains and luscious trees and massive waves and a blaring red sun. You realize the power of nature over humankind. You enjoy time alone taking everything in and realize that all the things that you were worried about really don't matter. You think about what you want your life to look like in five years, what went well, and you want to improve on. You focus on what you need to and should be focusing on: yourself.

You come hope optimistic about life and the present moment.

That's precisely the experience I had after being part of the Startup Island trip to Costa Rica this last March. Co-founded by recent college grads Brian Helfman and Josh Gershon, Startup Island is a startup that brings entrepreneurial students from American universities to exotic cities in countries like Costa Rica and then allows them ideate business ideas and find themselves (Brian tells me that future places might occur in countries like Puerto Rico, India, and Portugal).

The company plans events like talks by successful founders and entrepreneurs, workshops on different topics like starting up during school and writing a business plan, group dinners/breakfasts, and housing in unique places like eco-lodges in small towns where you sleep to the sound of monkeys as opposed to traditional hotels in major cities; but ultimately the students more or less have control over what they want to do with their time--whether that's going zip-lining, surfing, horseback riding or anything in between.

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During my experience, I saw my peer students form a deep bond and all hold each other accountable for goals they're going to fulfill upon returning to school. Amazingly, inspiration from the trip motivated multiple students to start their own businesses (or not go into traditional fields) after returning home.

But the real magic happened when we were alone. See when you have a massive sunset above the ocean with a tropical tree-line in front of you, you don't feel naturally compelled to check Facebook, Snapchat, or Instagram ten times within ten minutes. You really are forced to ask yourself the big questions in life: why am I doing what I'm doing, what's my role, what do I see myself doing in the next twenty years, and how do I think I'm going to get there. And even though you may not be able to answer those questions in seven days, you do really make a lot of headway.

Now, back at home, I along with my peers were more focused on doing what we wanted to do because we had discovered something about ourselves that we didn't know before. Now, rather than doing something that society deems useful or necessary, we had a better of idea of what would make us happy.

That's something that school doesn't teach you.

The opportunity to ask those major questions and find out who you really are is what Startup Island is providing to college students. They're not selling a trip to Costa Rica. They're not selling an experience of a lifetime. They're not even selling time to meet entrepreneurs. They're selling an opportunity to find yourself.

And that's something that you can never get in New York or Boston or San Francisco.

Students, invest in yourself and skip the traditional college spring break trip to Florida or summer trip to Cancun, and sign up to be a part of the next Startup Island trip at JoinStartupIsland.com.

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MIAMI BEACH, FL - DECEMBER 01: Ivana Trump attends DuJour Magazine's Jason Binn Celebrates Annual Art Basel Miami Beach Kick-Off Party at Delano Beach Club on December 1, 2015 in Miami Beach, Florida. (Photo by Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images for DuJour)

But what does Ivana think? In response to that question, likely asked by no one, the former wife of Donald Trump has weighed in on her ex-husband, why he will be good for the country, and how she advises him on his 2016 campaign. In an interview with the New York Post on Sunday, Ivana Trump revealed that she has mended fences with Trump and that she is on board with his candidacy -- including his proposed immigration policies.

Ivana Trump, who was born in Czechoslovakia, has a fairly narrow view of her fellow immigrants. "As long as you come here legally and get a proper job... we need immigrants," she said. "Who's going to vacuum our living rooms and clean up after us? Americans don't like to do that." Allowing that the idea of vacuuming her own living room or cleaning up after herself does not seem to have entered into her mind, Ms. Trump's comments reveal a fundamental ignorance about the lives of immigrants as well as American workers. In most states, housekeeper is not actually the most common profession for immigrants. According to an analysis of U.S. Census data by Business Insider, a majority of housekeepers and maids are American-born. The most common job held by immigrants in Donald Trump's home state of New York, for example, is home health care aide.

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How sad that a woman who describes herself as the "perfect example of professionalism, motherhood, and ambition" can only see immigrants as low-wage, menial workers. Immigrants, both legal and undocumented, perform critical tasks throughout society, from nurturing our children to starting small businesses to caring for our seniors. Forty percent of Fortune 500 countries were started by immigrants or their children. So not all immigrants are consigned to vacuuming Mrs. Trump's living room.

Ivana Trump is also wrong to assume that American workers do not want to work as housekeepers or in domestic positions. For proof, she need look no further than Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, where her former husband has repeatedly hired foreign workers over hundred of Americans. Since 2010, nearly 300 United States residents have applied or been referred for jobs as waiters, waitresses, cooks and housekeepers at Mar-a-Lago, reported the New York Times. But federal records show that only 17 have been hired; the rest of the jobs went to workers from Romania and other countries.



Ms. Trump seems to believe that undocumented immigrants are a drag on the economy. "I have nothing against Mexicans," she stated, before unloading a trove of inaccurate information about an imaginary pregnant, undocumented immigrant. "She gives the birth in American hospital, which is for free. The child becomes American automatically," Trump said. "She brings the whole family, she doesn't pay the taxes, she doesn't have a job, she gets the housing, she gets the food stamps. Who's paying? You and me."

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Not exactly. Having a child in the U.S. is no protection from deportation for an undocumented immigrant. In 2013, Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported over 72,000 undocumented parents of U.S.-born children. Contrary to what Ms. Trump believes, undocumented immigrants are not eligible for food stamps, "Obamacare," or other social service programs. Undocumented workers, in fact, do pay taxes at the federal, state, and local level. Undocumented workers pay an estimated net $12 billion annually into the Social Security Fund (money they will not benefit from later in life). According to the nonpartisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, undocumented workers have collectively paid $11.64 billion annually in state and local taxes.

Ivana Trump's website states that she is the "ultimate symbol of strength, glamour, and worldliness." Though these claims may be debatable, it is safe to say that Ms. Trump is no immigration expert. She is a private person who is thankfully not running for office. Yet if she expects to avoid public criticism, then she should not be giving "exclusive" interviews to newspaper tabloids on issues whose nuances clearly escape her. If she truly cares about our illegal immigration problem, she might consider that Trump Tower -- where she once lived -- was allegedly built in part by undocumented Polish workers. Or that the Washington Post has reported that undocumented workers are currently building a Trump hotel in D.C. These would be more productive endeavors than scapegoating immigrants and promoting offensive, xenophobic falsehoods.
Part 1 of this article covered the unanticipated, stupid or maybe just amusing consequences of Donald Trump's proposed ban on letting Muslims enter the US. Some of these problems can perhaps be corrected, at least over time. But now we move on the really difficult part of administering this "Muslim ban."

A little history of religious persecution is in order. There is quite a large amount of it to survey, it is sad to report, but let us take only in this small portion. In the 400 years beginning in about 1470 the Spanish indulged in an unappetizing process called the Inquisition. In this case it was the Catholics in Spain deciding to get rid of everyone else, especially Jews. They had finally driven out the Muslims who ruled most of Spain for about five hundred years - 711 to 1492 to be precise - and now they were going for ISO 9000 quality religious purity.

If you were Jewish and got swept up in this, you had three bad choices: (1) say you were Jewish and get burned at the stake; (2) move to somewhere else before they caught you, but Israel didn't exist at the time and there weren't any airplanes so this was not so easy; or (3) convert to Catholicism. Sure, choose Option 3, but not so fast there. How did the clerics know that your conversion was real?

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The fear of sham conversions bedeviled the religious hierarchy for some time. Sure, you could go to mass and eat pork and take communion and have your kids baptized, but what if when you got home you still in secret celebrated Passover and other important Jewish holidays / rituals. I guess you didn't invite your neighbors to the Seder, but otherwise how was anyone to know?

The converts from Judaism were known as "conversos" and were the continuing target of the ebb and flow of the Inquisition. Some managed to be convincing, and probably a fair number decided, "what the heck, this religion is just as good as any other," but it was a problem never really solved. And how could it have been? Measuring the degree of authenticity of a religious conversion is not a scientific matter.

Here is another historical example of how easy it is to determine empirically or from the outside just what an individual's religious faith is. Northern Ireland is a part of the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland," not a province or colony of the UK. It was not joined to the Republic of Ireland when that country gained its independence, largely because the south was Catholic and the north was Protestant. There was real concern that a religious bloodbath could be the result if the entire island were to become independent. Instead what resulted was a smaller bloodbath confined to the north.

Since nothing is ever perfect, it turned out that once the split was effected in 1922 there were, astonishingly, some Catholics found in Northern Ireland as well as a bunch of Protestants. They were not entirely pleased to be left in place but unlike the migration of the Catholics from North Vietnam in 1954, they stayed put. And eventually "the Troubles" ensued.

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This was sporadic trouble with flare-ups of more or less difficulty that began in the late 1960's, ending finally in 1998. Over time casualties mounted to around 3500. The existing NI government did whatever it could to assure that the Protestant majority did not discriminate against the Catholic minority. My company learned about all this in 1989 when the UK auctioned off some power assets in Northern Ireland, and we ended up as the proud owners of two coal fired plants, Kilroot and Belfast West, both in the Belfast area.

One important government rule that had evolved required that an employer maintain a fairly rigid proportional balance between Catholic and Protestant employees. "OK with us," we said brightly, "we're Americans and we're used to not discriminating." Then we had the next obvious thought: how do we tell?

The solution in Northern Ireland was simple: Where a person went to grade school, verifiable from school records, determined whether he or she counted as "Protestant" or "Catholic." The neighborhoods were so rigidly separated by religion that this allegedly was a fair and equitable way to make this determination. It didn't matter if you had subsequently moved, if you had shaved your head and gone off with George Harrison to an Ashram in India to become a Sikh. We knew where you came from and that was that. No provision for religious conversion, loss of faith, being overcome by an ecstatic vision, sudden manifestation of the ability to perform miracles, rolling on the floor and speaking in tongues, none of it mattered. Two choices, and you're stuck with one of them forever.

And so the unavoidable question. The new visa application form as revised by Mr. Trump will have a yes/no question: Are you a Muslim?

And then, how will you prove that you aren't, even if you answer "no?" What if some narrow minded person asks why your name is Mohammed bin Mohammed? And why you have listed your address as downtown Mecca. If called in for a personal interview at the US Embassy in Riyadh, I recommend not falling to your knees and praying right there in the office of the consul, and you might want to ditch the beard and have your wife forget the head scarf. If you're a member of the Saudi royal family, content yourself with visiting London and Paris and forget New York. It's a lovely city but the world is full of places where you'll be welcome, just not Donald Trump's US.

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Claiming not to be a Muslim is easy, sort of the opposite of "Don't ask, don't tell." It's just impossible in any reasonable way, in any way that could stand up to even the smallest legal test or the shakiest determination of a reasonable person, to tell who is telling the truth.

But there is a second part of the Trump policy, the "figure out what is going on" part. This too has never been well articulated, so we can only speculate on what it means. Better reference checks, better background checks, better intelligence on who is and who is not a terrorist? Perhaps. It takes 18 to 24 months for a Syrian refugee to be admitted into the US, and as of January of this year only 2647 had made it out of an estimated 4.5 million created by the Syrian conflict. We do not know if they are all Muslims or not, but this number does not imply a flood. Maybe "what is going on" is that nobody, relatively speaking, is getting in. Certainly not anybody from Syria, Muslim or not. If you're an ISIS sleeper agent, it's way easier to change your name, get a false passport and walk across the border as Joe Smith from Cleveland.
The United States Supreme Court in Washington D C USA

Whether you support Bernie or Hillary, how many of you want Republicans to abolish freedom of reproductive choice?

I thought so. But here's the kicker -- in much of the country, the GOP already has.

For millions of American women, freedom of choice is writ on water. And if you abandon your party's nominee, whoever that may be, millions more may suffer.

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By musing aloud about punishing women once the GOP completes its relentless drive to stamp out abortion rights, Donald Trump has reminded us yet again of the stakes in this election. On the issue of choice, as with so much else, our national reckoning is now at hand and cannot be wished away.

Put simply, the president who selects Antonin Scalia's successor will determine the future of reproductive rights. That is not hyperbole -- it is already graven on the American landscape.

Start with access to a safe and legal abortion. For the less privileged women in most American states, this right is close to extinction.

Across the country abortion clinics are closing at a record pace. A little over 700 remain -- 43 years after Roe v. Wade, 90 percent of American counties have no clinics at all. In a large swath of red states, 400,000 women of reproductive age live more than 150 miles from the nearest clinic. Five states -- Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming -- have just one.

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So how did this happen?

A principal cause is GOP-sponsored state laws which shut down clinics by imposing unnecessary and onerous requirements. Some mandate prohibitively expensive renovations so that clinics resemble hospitals for no good reason -- broader hallways, for example. Others demand that doctors performing abortions have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital -- difficult at best, and impossible in areas where the hospital refuses.



"One does not have to be a keen observer to fear for women when Republicans start protecting them."



If these laws are upheld by the Supreme Court, the impact will not simply be to cement them, but to encourage the GOP to expand their reach into yet more states. And the obliteration of choice will proceed apace.

The transparently bogus rationale for such laws is the tender concern of Republican legislators for women's' health. Yet abortion is one of the safest of all medical procedures, with a complication rate below 1/10 of 1 percent. By comparison, a routine colonoscopy is riskier. Oddly enough, there is no crusade within the GOP to stem the nightmare of colonoscopy.

The real agenda, of course, is finding a palatable rationale for gutting Roe v. Wade. After the passage of one such law, the Lieutenant Governor of Texas tweeted a map of all the clinics which would have to close, capped with an exultant message: "We fought to pass S.B. 5 thru the Senate last night, & this is why!"

Less exultant were the poor or rural women denied access to a safe abortion. In the name of womens' health, Republicans give these women three choices -- bear unwanted children, travel sometimes prohibitive distances, or run the risk of an illegal abortion. One does not have to be a keen observer to fear for women when Republicans start protecting them.

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One very keen observer -- a distinguished Republican federal judge -- has sliced through the hypocrisy.

Judge Richard Posner is a renowned conservative legal scholar. As a judge on the United States Court of Appeals, he was faced with a similar law from Wisconsin, requiring doctors at abortion clinics to obtain admitting privileges at hospitals within a 30-mile radius -- and to do so in three days. In an opinion striking down the law, Posner shredded the pretense that the Republican legislature was protecting women's health:

"Wisconsin," Posner writes, "appears to be indifferent to complications of any other outpatient procedures, even when they are far more likely to produce complications than abortions are." The alleged health concerns, he finds, are in fact "nonexistent." In contrast the impediments to abortion are very real: "[M]ore than 50% of Wisconsin women seeking abortions have incomes below the federal poverty line... For them a round trip to Chicago... may be prohibitively expensive. The state of Wisconsin is not offering to pick up the tab, or any part of it."

He then cuts to the quick. "A great many Americans are passionately opposed to abortion - as they are entitled to be... Some of them proceed indirectly, seeking to discourage abortion by making it more difficult for women to obtain. They may do this in the name of protecting the health of women who have abortions, yet... the specific measures they support may do little or nothing for health but rather strew impediments to abortion."

Finally, Posner eviscerates the cynical pretense behind requiring admitting privileges -- the usual method used to shut down clinics. This requirement, he writes, "cannot be taken seriously as a measure to improve women's health because the transfer agreements that abortion clinics make with hospitals, plus the ability to summon an ambulance by phone call, assure the access of such women to a nearby hospital in the event of a medical emergency."

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As a particularly egregious example of this legislative masquerade, Posner cites the Texas law praised by its lieutenant governor for its effectiveness in shutting down clinics. Which brings us back to the judicial stakes in this election -- the constitutionality of that very law is now before the United States Supreme Court.

The law reduced the number of clinics in Texas from 40 to 10, all clustered in four metropolitan areas. No clinics are located west or south of San Antonio, an area larger than California. Yet despite -- or perhaps because of -- the fact that it places abortion out of reach for women in most of Texas, a conservative panel of federal appeals judges upheld the law. After all, the court said, women in West Texas could always travel to New Mexico.

But the context for this law makes its impact even worse. Other Texas laws require most women to get a sonogram at least 24 hours prior to an abortion, from the same doctor, and require all abortions past 16 weeks to be done in surgical centers -- the nearest of which is in San Antonio. Ironically, the inevitable overcrowding of those clinics which remain has caused delays which, in some cases, mean that women seeking an abortion pass the 16-week deadline -- a nasty Republican Catch-22.

The legal test for such laws is clear: whether they impose an "undue burden" on a woman's right to an abortion under Roe v Wade. Obviously, they do -- as the Texas law exemplifies, their impact is not simply "undue," but draconian.

Yet at the hearing before the Supreme Court, the justices appeared to be divided 4-4, with the four Republican justices -- Roberts, Alito, Thomas and Kennedy -- in favor of upholding the law. Such a tie will leave Texas' anti-choice scheme in place. And had Scalia lived, there is no doubt that the court's ruling would have protected such laws in every state which has passed them -- including the Wisconsin law struck down by Judge Posner. As matters stand, freedom of choice for millions of American women hangs in the balance, awaiting the selection of the court's ninth justice.

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There could be no better illustration of how critical it is that a Democrat appoint Scalia's successor. Yet this same term provides another example -- a case which threatens to limit access to contraception under the Affordable Care Act.

Under a prior ruling of the Roberts court, an employer can claim a religious exemption to the ACA's mandate to provide contraception as part of an employee's health insurance plan. To opt out, all the employer need do is notify the Department of Health and Human Services that it will not subsidize a plan that offers contraception. At that point, the government can require the insurer to offer contraception using funds not derived from the employer who objects.



"A Republican president can not only narrow a woman's access to abortion, but to contraception, simply by restoring the court's conservative majority."



One would think this would satisfy employers who object to contraception. Not so. Seven religiously affiliated employers brought suit challenging this compromise, claiming that being required to opt out of providing contraception in itself violates their religious freedom. Or, more starkly, that their concept of religious freedom entitles them to block the government and their insurance company from providing contraception to their employees.

Remarkably, the Supreme Court hearing made it clear that the same four Republican justices agree. Their sole concern was Orwellian: that by requiring the employers to opt out of providing contraception, the ACA was making them complicit in the provision of contraception by others.

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This narrowness of view was truly striking. Instead of focusing on a woman's right to contraception, both Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Kennedy accused the government of "hijacking" the objectors' insurance plans. In the name of "religious freedom," the four justices would empower the objectors to impose their religious beliefs on others -- a dangerously elastic concept with implications well beyond the present case.

Again, Scalia would have been the fifth. And, again, the resolution of this issue may well depend on who appoints his successor -- though a subsequent order suggests that the court is searching for an alternative to let itself, and the religious objectors, off the hook of a tie vote which would effectively uphold the opt out. Whatever the case, it is clear that a Republican president can not only narrow a woman's access to abortion, but to contraception, simply by restoring the court's conservative majority.

But the long-term impact could be even more severe. For both Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, repealing Roe is an explicit litmus test for appointing the next justice. Indeed, Trump's recent lapsus linguae about punishing women obscures the fact that Cruz is even worse. Piously, Cruz responded that, far from prosecuting women, he would "affirm their dignity and the incredible gift they have to bring life into the world." Care for a translation? Here it is -- Ted Cruz wants to impose this "gift" on the adolescent victims of rape or incest.

As if all this were not enough, the election of a Republican president would diminish reproductive rights more broadly yet, threatening women's health in the bargain. In the most obvious example, Republicans in Congress and state legislatures are attempting to hamstring Planned Parenthood by cutting off public funds to organizations that provide abortions -- even though abortion is a small portion of services which include contraception, sex education, and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases.

Without Planned Parenthood, these essential services could become scarce to unavailable. The proponents' list of supposed alternatives available to women smacks of dark comedy: for example, Florida helpfully specified elementary and middle schools, dental practices and, believe it or not, an eye doctor -- leaving one to wonder whether Republican legislators require not only sex education, but anatomical instruction.

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One struggles to locate any benefit to women. But that, of course, is not the point. The real point is this: the Republican Party is carrying out a fundamentalist religious agenda in which it is the father who knows best.

Thus the election of a Republican president in 2016 would erode reproductive rights and threaten Roe itself. The next president could appoint up to four new justices, transforming the law for generations to come. So it is time for us to ask again those fundamental questions which informed the battle for choice from its beginnings:

Should concern for fetal life cause us to order women to have children because their birth control has failed -- the predicate for the majority of abortions?

Should religious opposition to contraception strip women of protection from unwanted pregnancies?

Should we force families to have more children when they can't support the ones they have?

Should the law require women traumatized by rape or incest to become mothers against their will?

Should we compel pregnant women in desperate circumstances to seek illegal abortions which endanger their life and health?

Should pregnant teenagers forfeit their future to an accidental pregnancy, thus becoming, as they often do, depressed and undereducated mothers with minimal parenting skills?

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Should we consider a woman's life or health a fair exchange for imposing compulsory motherhood in high-risk pregnancies?

Should we take our moral cues from a movement which -- far too often -- seems to love our children most before they're born?

Should we, in short, treat pregnant women as losers in God's -- or nature's -- lottery?

And, finally, should we tacitly support the GOP's war on reproductive rights because our preferred candidate did not win the Democratic nomination?
Every town should have one.

In Los Angeles, a city of neighborhoods, we lived on Mar Vista's Beethoven Street. The Beethoven Market was the place to go. Whenever our then 5-year-old son wanted candy, chips or simply got bored, we would stroll down the hill. It was the place to go for coffee, smokes if you smoked, milk, half-and-half and everything else you would need in a pinch.

A terrifying moment came when I was teaching Sam to ride a bike. Lesson learned: never teach a kid to ride a bike going downhill. At breakneck speed I tackled him and the bike onto the grass before heading into traffic on Las Palmas. But we went to that grocery every day and never came away empty-handed.

Thus I can understand the poignancy of the closing of the Gearhart Grocery. Gearhart residents received the news their beloved market would be giving way to another barrel-and-oak establishment, a brew pub and smoked-meat deli, a sudsy version of the venerable Oregon jerky shop.

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Although we've been here a little less than a year, we go to the Gearhart Grocery every day. I love getting Buoy Beer Czech Pilsner in the big bottles and the fact that they have Lange pinot noir. Along with turkey sandwiches, egg salad and more, all on your choice of breads. My favorite is "Dave's Killer." Their desserts never disappoint, with a small but delicious selection of pies and cakes.

The grocery store, owned by Molly and Terry Lowenberg of Sum Properties, has been for sale for over two years, struggling unsuccessfully to compete with Safeway, Costco and Fred Meyer.

If their plans move forward, the grocery would close and the interior remodeled. Meats will be smoked and beers brewed on-site. Families will be served at the nine tables, separated from a brewing area visible through a glassed area.

"It's really more deli than beer," engineer Mark Mead of Mead Engineering Resources, representing the owners, told Gearhart planning commissioners at a March meeting.

The owners have "been trying to figure out what to put in place of the store, and this is what they came up with," Mead said.

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Mead said the owner felt the brew pub was needed "because there wasn't one in Gearhart itself."

"I would love to have some place to get dinner," Planning Commissioner Virginia Dideum said. "This would be good for the community." Dideum was joined by Richard Owsley, Russ Taggard and Carl Anderson in supporting the plan.

Commissioners David Smith, Terry Graff and Jeremy Davis voted against the brew pub, citing the comprehensive plan's dictum: "The city will prevent the city from becoming a tourist destination."

Opinions were divided: Baby Ruth and Snickers bars versus a growler refill. Bottom line was, opponents couldn't find a compelling enough reason to stop it, at least not according to the report submitted by Planner Carole Connell.

In weeks and days to come, the market became topic No. 1 in Gearhart, supplanting the Neacoxie Barn and even the short-term rental debate. It was clear: You were either for us, or against us.

A postcard questionnaire was mailed to homeowners and asked:

"Do you want Gearhart Store to be a Beer Pub? NO. Yes."

"Reverse the comprehensive plan so Gearhart becomes more like Seaside? NO. Yes.

"Do you want overnight vacation rentals in our R-1 residential zones? NO. Yes."

It's pretty clear where that one is headed.

Passions run so high grocery employee Alyssa Logan delivered an impassioned Facebook plea Monday:

"All of us at Gearhart Grocery love our community members, whether they frequent our store or not," Logan wrote. "While we know that a brew pub will not replace grocery needs, we do believe it would be a great asset to the community. The fact of the matter is, that although people love us, they do not shop here nearly enough for us to be a successful, profitable business. This is what community members need to keep in mind when weighing the idea of a new business. As a store, we provide beer, wine and hard sodas -- exactly what a brew pub would offer.

"While Gearhart is notorious for its tight restrictions, I do not believe that the potential brew pub violates any of these," Logan continued. "Every complaint we have heard, whether it be negative or positive, has been emotionally charged and inconsiderate of the business owners and buyers. By appealing or being unsupportive of this transition, you are also being unsupportive of your fellow community members.

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"While we appreciate the community's concern, we hope that this open letter will give community members a fresh perspective and enough additional information to allow supportive attitudes and decrease the negativity while we move forward."

Maybe the little corner store is the part of us that has never changed since we first stretched out our arms to put a nickel on the counter. It's the same argument playing out with short-term rentals. It is the world slipping away.

We love Ken's Market in Seaside. We go there when we don't even need anything and always buy something.

Cannon Beach Hardware, aka Screw & Brew, is one of my top five destinations in midtown Cannon Beach. You've got your brew, but you've also got your hardware and supplies.
Arabian Business Magazine has released the 2016 list of 100 Most Influential Young Arabs in the World. The list contained names of inspiring and powerful Arabs under the age of 40 in various fields. Canadian-Palestinian author and journalist Chaker Khazaal came first ahead of 22-year-old Shamma Al Mazrouei, the youngest ever member of the United Arab Emirates cabinet.

Chaker Khazaal, who was awarded Esquire Man of the Year in November 2015, is a former Palestinian refugee who moved to Canada to pursue an education. He was awarded the Global Leader of Tomorrow Award by York University where he graduated in 2009 in International Development Studies. He then began speaking on refugee issues and starred as a presenter in the web reality show Faces of Transformation. Khazaal then wrote his first novel, Confessions of a War Child, that was released in March 2013. The second and third sequel of the novel were released in 2014 and 2015 respectively. This trilogy was inspired by Khazaal's upbringing in a refugee camp, and stories he had collected from trips to conflict zones.

Khazaal also writes articles in the Huffington Post, mainly about refugees and world events.

Arabian Business Magazine states that "The annual ranking reveals the 100 Arabs aged under 40 who are making a significant difference in the world, within their respective fields including science, arts, sport, business and government."

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In the top 10 came Hassan Al Thawadi (38), Noura Al Kaabi (37), Bader Al Kharafi (38), Fahad Al Rasheed (38), Saif Abou Zaid (33), Ahmad Belhoul (38) and Sultan Al Qassemi (38).

Khazaal was recently seen photographed with the King of Bahrain, King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa, gifting him a copy of his novel. He was also photographed with Prince Nasser Bin Hamad Al Khalifa being awarded by the Kingdom of Bahrain. Following his social media, one can see Khazaal active in conferences, and visits around the world. He was recently a speaker at the International Youth Conference in Bahrain, also interviewing refugees across the Middle East.

Giving a copy of Confessions of a War Child books to His Majesty King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain.              . Posted by Chaker Khazaal on Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Khazaal is featured on the cover of Arabian Business Magazine for this week. Click here to view the top 100 Arabs aged under 40.


Scientists, students, consumers, and citizens, beware: last month, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the introduction of legislation that would require the National Science Foundation to award grants only for research projects that the agency can certify as being "in the national interest. " HR 3293 - introduced by Lamar Smith, of Texas, on Feb 10 of this year -- -- or the "Scientific Research in the National Interest Act" - is a very big deal. Fred Basken sounded the alarm to the research community, on the new proposed "national interest" certification for NSF funding, in the Chronicle of Higher Education recently.



The notion of applying a "national interest" criterion in funding decisions decapitates the scientific process and undermines public trust. Such legislation threatens to weaken a program that is a model for the rest of the world.



The mission of NSF as envisioned in its authorizing legislation is "to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense..." Congressional founders of NSF recognized that the progress of science, pursued independently of outside pressures, is inherently in the national interest.



Why fix what's not broken? The transparency of the current, independent funding model is a triumph: it is viewed by funding agencies around the world as the gold standard for choosing the best science. All proposals submitted to NSF are reviewed externally by experts from the scientific community. They are asked to score proposals based on two criteria: the potential for transformative advancements in knowledge and the broader impacts of the research. But the new legislation endangers NSF's well-developed process for scientific review by far more narrowly defining what types of research are in the "national interest."



One obvious reason this is a bad idea, is that history shows how poorly and awkwardly "national interest" and science are welded together at any given time. Research in human genetics, for instance, has been seen by some as a moral quandary and by others as a potential scientific revolution. If early detractors had derailed its funding, we would have missed out on or delayed some of the greatest advances in medicine today. The field of alcohol and addiction research offers another example of how only history shows, in hindsight, what outcomes emerged from study; the conventional wisdom of the 1950s identified alcoholism and drug addiction as moral failings, not medical issues. The cultural assumptions of the 1950s would not have supported funding of the study of these dependencies. Today, though, thanks to more research, we know much more about the neuroscience behind addiction. Political leaders make decisions based in part on public opinion but funding science based on popular beliefs or conventional wisdom would prevent us from pursuing curiosity-driven and/or counterintuitive avenues of research today that could become scientific breakthroughs or innovations of great national interest tomorrow.



The new legislation is even more troubling when you consider that, for the first time ever, the 2016 House budget bill dictates funding levels for each of the scientific disciplines that the NSF funds. Funding for the social sciences was cut dramatically because of a misguided perception that research on people is "soft" science compared to the "hard" disciplines such physics or chemistry. But "soft" sciences often yield hard facts and solid advances. Advances in drug discoveries are being made by collaborations between biologists and computational linguists who are using some of the same tools for their work. Social science ethnographers who want to know about what it means to be the 'other' in a majority society, are producing important insights about the timely issues of immigration and terrorism.



Even more serious is the impact of political pressure on funding, which sets a dangerous precedent by putting politicians in charge of determining the future direction of scientific inquiry. NSF funding for the geosciences, for instance, was disproportionately cut; that is also the discipline in which climate change research is embedded. Climate scientists and their data have recently been subjected to direct political pressures, such as subpoenas, from other elected officials, as US News has reported. Such pressures have a chilling effect on research.



The House legislation fails to recognize that it is the progress of science itself, pursued objectively, that is truly "in the national interest. "That is because of the fortuitous nature of how scientific discovery works: many positive products and processes that we enjoy today resulted from a search for something else altogether and were not the original goals of the investigation that led to their discovery. The discoveries that made possible the world wide web, for instance, arose out of particle physics research about the origins of the cosmic Big Bang. By definition, cutting-edge research turns conventional thinking upside down. That is precisely why new discoveries are inhibited by attempting to impose an agenda from the outside. Indeed, had this new requirement been in place previously, it would have stifled some of the most important research of the last half-century.



Scientists at research institutions across the nation are committed to finding the truth wherever the facts may lead them. Wouldn't our policies be better informed by facts garnered through research? Rather than attack each other about whom to blame for climate change, isn't our true "national interest" served by more basic research about its magnitude and its origins? Rather than vilifying entire races, religions, or global regions, wouldn't our true "national interest" benefit from access to solid research on religious and cultural norms, and political dynamics, in parts of the world which could become partners, or that are emerging as possible threats? Public policy can only be strengthened by knowledge gained objectivity through free scientific inquiry. Let's not politicize independent research and close down the spirit of free inquiry that is the hallmark of the open society we live in.
I wonder if you could help me with some mommy guilt issues please. Some background: I work as a doctor during the day, and I'm away from around 7:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Monday to Friday, and 8:30 to 12:30 every second Saturday, as well as once or twice a month in the evenings for lectures. My husband stays at home with our 2.5 year old daughter. His 20-year-old daughter who stays with us is home for most of the day, before she works in the evenings.

My daughter is not in preschool. Although she has stable attachment figures, I wonder if I am maybe "not there" enough for her, especially as some of the time when I am at home, I am distracted by housework. I know that she watches movies with her dad and sister during the day on their laptops, and I have no idea how much. And my favorite parenting philosophy is Playful Parenting, with the idea that play is essential to bonding. My husband's, and my, predominant love language is touch, and I suspect my child's might be too, although I suppose tiny children want all the love languages all the time. She still sleeps with us, and still breastfeeds.

When I come home in the afternoon, it has always been our ritual to have "booby in the bed," and reconnect. I am worried as for a few months now, she wants to spend hours in bed with me, watching some non-educational crap for the millionth time, snuggled in my arms and with a nipple in or near her mouth, not necessarily doing anything with it. This is sometimes combined with sharing a bar of chocolate or Easter eggs.

My problem: Sugar! Screen time! Every single day, for several hours, sometimes! Do you think maybe my daughter wants to make up snuggle time, and watching something on my tablet is partly just something to do? (She does NOT want to watch anything by herself!) Is it unhealthy to indulge in movies and chocolate in bed together every day? I feel like I should be putting down boundaries, taking her to the park, doing sensory play, kicking a ball around, reading to her etc (but truth is, I often get home tired and I'm glad to have a nap after work while we are in bed together.)

I have to work because we are a single income household. But is zoning out, doing housework while she is awake and generally not giving her my full attention while I can, bad for our relationship? You advised me once regarding my borderline mother. I put distance between us, after you "gave me permission." I am really scared that my relationship with my daughter will resemble my relationship with my mom, who I cannot respect or even happily have contact with for more than a few minutes every few weeks. How can I keep the bond between me and my daughter strong?
COHOES, NY - APRIL 4: Democratic presidential candidate Hillary R. Clinton pauses while addressing her supporters during the Capital Region Organizing Event at Cohoes High School on April 4, 2016 in Cohoes, NY. (Photo by Ricky Carioti/ The Washington Post via Getty Images)

"I never met a newspaperman who didn't have a glass jaw," my first boss in television news told me way back in 1958. His own jaw was made of steel. He was Ted Yates, a brilliant, fearless ex-Marine combat correspondent in the Korean War, a conservative cowboy from Wyoming who teamed up as producer, to help Mike Wallace revolutionize the TV news interview, and, later, with David Brinkley, to expand television documentary storytelling. Ted Yates was killed covering the 1967 Six Day War between Israel and the Arabs.

I was reminded of his views on the sensitivity of newspaper people to criticism now by the Washington Post's coverup of a serious mistake that could affect many voters' views of Hillary Clinton, because of the former Secretary of State's email problems. The coverup came in the aftermath of a long Post story on Monday, March 28, by Robert O'Harrow, headlined "How Clinton's email scandal took root." Those of us sympathetic to ex-Secretary Clinton would quarrel with the word "scandal," seeing as nothing scandalous has yet emerged from those thousands of emails. But I digress.

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It is, frankly, difficult to accuse the Post of a lack of courage in standing up to criticism when its top editor, Marty Barron, showed such enormous courage in his previous job at the Boston Globe in thoroughly outing the Catholic church's pedophile scandal. See Spotlight, which won the best picture Oscar. Nevertheless, I see the Post covering up this time to avoid criticism. The serious mistake it later tried to minimize or even hide from its readers came after O'Harrow reported that:

One hundred forty-seven FBI agents have been deployed to run down leads, according to a lawmaker briefed by FBI Director James B. Comey.

That single anonymously-sourced number, 147, was, of course, widely reported throughout the country. Post columnist Chris Cillizza reacted by writing "W-H-A-T?"and calling that number "eye-popping." The right-wing National Review referred to it as "a staggering deployment of manpower."

An acquaintance told me he was convinced by the assignment of such a large number of agents that there was a strong possibility Clinton would be indicted. Doubtless, hundreds of thousands of Americans shared that belief. Who could blame them? Doubtless also, many voters -- in upcoming primaries and the general election -- saw it as a perfectly good reason not to vote for the ex-secretary.

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And too many may never have learned otherwise, even though that figure of 147 agents was flat wrong, as the website Politico reported the next day. Politico's own anonymous source called the number "greatly exaggerated," but failed to provide any further details. The day after that, March 29, the Post weighed in with its own anonymous correction. It cited "two U.S. law enforcement officials" as saying "the number of FBI personnel involved is fewer than 50."

O'Harrow's original article about the origins of Hillary's email problem was as prominently displayed as a story can be in the Post. It began with five paragraphs at the very top of Page One, and then took up almost two full pages inside the paper.

By contrast, the Post appears to have done its best to cover up its mistake. The correction was only mentioned once, in one place, in the March 30 print edition of the Post, hidden away in the rarely-read Corrections column on Page 2. Even there, the Post further buried it, placing it after a much less important correction about Clinton's email address. The whole thing reads as follows:

CORRECTIONS: An earlier version of this article incorrectly said that Clinton used two different email addresses, sometimes interchangeably, as secretary of state. She used only hdr22@clintonemail.com as secretary of state. Also, an earlier version of this article reported that 147 FBI agents had been detailed to the investigation, according to a lawmaker briefed by FBI Director James B. Comey. Two U.S. law enforcement officials have since told The Washington Post that figure is too high. The FBI will not provide an exact figure, but the officials say the number of FBI personnel involved is fewer than 50.

Later that day, NBC News quoted still another anonymous source, "a former federal law enforcement official with direct knowledge of the Clinton investigation," as further reducing the number of FBI agents involved to "about 12." Terming the Post's original 147 figure "ridiculous," the source said the mention of 50 was also unrealistic. "You need an act of terrorism to get 50 agents working on something," said this former FBI official.

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I have not seen the Post deal with NBC's figure of only about a dozen FBI agents. It seems to have stopped reporting on the case. I find appalling its failure to limit its reporting of a serious mistake to a single, buried correction that most readers of the original article could well not see. I contacted the Post Friday morning for comment by phone and email but got no response by the end of the day.

By contrast, last July the New York Times made a series of journalistically disastrous factual mistakes on a story that falsely claimed that two government inspectors general had asked the Justice Department for a "criminal investigation" into whether Clinton "mishandled sensitive government information" in her private email account.

The Times's own ombudsman described the story, mistakenly headlined: "Criminal Inquiry Sought in Hillary Clinton's Use of Email," as "fraught with inaccuracies" and "to put it mildly, a mess." One former veteran Times reporter charged much more seriously that "almost every paragraph at the top of the story is wrong, misleading or fundamentally deceptive," and called it a "display of incompetence or malice" that was "despicable."

After issuing several "corrections," the Times finally published a 368-word "Editors' Note." Talk about a glass jaw, that note mostly blamed its sources for the story's inaccuracies. And, as the pro-Clinton Media Matters fact-checking website accurately complained, it "largely expresses regret that the paper was not swift enough to offer public corrections... without apologizing for the failures in reporting that made those corrections necessary." But at least the editors' note alerted readers that there was something very wrong with the original article.

The Post has issued no such editors' note to make its readers aware of its phony 147 FBI agents. Nor has it published a single letter to the editor on the subject. Nor has its so-called "readers representative" had anything to say on the subject. Up to to and including Friday's Post, April 1, the hidden correction that further buried its mistake is the only information readers ever got, apart from what they may have learned from other news outlets, and apart from what online readers got if they happened to go back online and see the update on the original story.

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The old saw that the truth never catches up to a lie is not appropriate in this story. The Post certainly didn't lie; it simply made a big mistake. But corrections never do catch up with mistakes. And combined with a widespread and generally unwarranted mistrust of Clinton by the American people, those mistakes will certainly make her life and candidacy even more difficult.
20 - 30 year old female worker pulls box off of warehouse shelf

While being the curator of the Museum of Sex got me a lot of attention at bars, the best part of the job was being the person saving the history of sex from the trash.

The calls and emails came in regularly.

Grandpa or Grandma, or your favorite uncle had passed away and in the process of going through their belongings "porn" was found. Magazines, photographs, erotic art, love letters from secret affairs and even a time or two, some antique sex toys. Found in the backs of closets, at the bottom of drawers and in some cases, hidden away inside walls and squirreled away in secret panels. These discoveries were of treasured items that belonged to generations who owned tangible artifacts of sex, rather than just a browser history.

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In most cases, these were the family heirlooms many just didn't feel comfortable keeping. While they personally didn't want them, thankfully these callers understood these were in fact artifacts that deserved to be preserved. The artifacts that get to the heart of our human intimate experience.

And with great pride, as the long time curator at the Museum of Sex, I was the person on the other end of those calls for more than a decade.

They whispered at first, embarrassed to be brokering the topic over the phone with a stranger convinced they were alone in this kind of discovery. In each encounter I would reassure them, console them in their grief and explain how through their bravery a part of the narrative of sex was being saved. With these artifacts, my work as a "curator of sex" was made possible.

These are the artifacts that give us insight into the past. They highlight personal narratives and journeys. They showcase our negotiations with the taboos and prohibitions of a particular moment in history. They present truths that have so long been marginalized, and left out of many of our history books.

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In this vein, I was a part of the preservation of collections as diverse as those of Arpad Miklos (a well-known pornographic actor and escort who lost his life to suicide in 2013), Ralph Whittington (a former librarian at the Library of Congress who over 30 years collected and filled more than 900 boxes of erotic content), and most recently Rentboy's institutional archive.

But the most rewarding moments, were the ones where I was able to help save the collections of the unknown, the everyday person, and in some instances, the person who had no family to make that preservation call to me. In some of these moments, ones sexual identity had been a part of this familial ostracization and shunning, an all too common experience for members of the LGBTQ community. And it was one collection in particular that taught me how important it was to be an advocate and ally in the saving of the history of sex.

Excerpt from Sex in the Museum: My Unlikely Career at New York's Most Provocative Museum (St. Martins Press, April 2016):

A few years back I got a call from a landlord on the Upper West Side of Manhattan describing a tenant who had passed away with no family to claim his belongings. In a thick accent, the landlord made it very clear that the "pile of porn" was going to end up in the dumpster at the end of the week if we didn't come to review it. The landlord made clear his disapproval for the subject matter -- and also his own homophobia.

A pile of porn. And just a subway ride away.

We arrived at a nicely appointed brownstone where we were met by the gruff landlord. He opened the door to a small studio with furniture thrown into a growing mountain in the middle of the room. Framed art, books, and magazines were carelessly thrown into the mix, with no thought given to these items that once held great value to the owner. As we crossed the threshold, the landlord pointed us to the "pile of porn," a humble stack of tattered magazine clippings and maybe 50 VHS porn tapes, his very reason for summoning us to the apartment. I had incorrectly assumed we would encounter boxes and boxes of items (mass consumption was the typical MO of a large scale collector). I was a little disappointed.

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The recently deceased, it appeared, had for many years ripped out images from gay porn magazines, probably those he found sexually compelling. While an interesting look into one man's sexuality, this two-foot stack of actively-handled pages from magazines and commercially-available films was not the treasure I had hoped for.

But as we looked a little closer, the deceased occupant came to life -- and so did his collection.

It soon became apparent that our anonymous collector had a great love affair with books, and over the years had amassed thousands of volumes on topics ranging from art history to travel. But his primary interest seemed to be gay history and politics, a movement he had likely seen take life in New York. Hundreds of rare books, many now out of print, filled floor-to-ceiling bookcases along every wall.

We climbed over the discarded furniture, caked in dust, to get a closer look at this incredible library.

"Forget about those!" the landlord shouted as we made our way up the rickety library-style ladder. "The porn is over there." He pointed in the opposite corner.

"We might be more interested in these," I said, barely turning away from the books, so excited to see such a large and well-preserved collection. He shrugged, waved us off and returned to dragging boxes out to the dumpster.

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"We have to save these," I said quietly as I handed a few examples to Lizzie.

We only had a few hours before the apartment needed to be completely cleared. Climbing up and down the ladder and on the tops of tables covered with discarded contents, we methodically placed the books into boxes. Our excitement grew along with our pile, and the landlord became visibly worried that he was missing out on a financial opportunity. When he asked us how much we wanted to pay, we simply reminded him that he had already asked us to take away "all the disgusting gay stuff"

A victory in the battle of sexual preservation.
Shot of planet earth showing north america - ALL design on this image is created from scratch by Yuri Arcurs' team of professionals for this particular photo shoothttp://195.154.178.81/DATA/i_collage/pi/shoots/783432.jpg

I believe Richard Feynman was one of our greatest scientific minds. He had a very particular way of looking at the world thanks to his father, and it was to look at the world around him as if he were a Martian. Like a fish born into water, it's hard to actually see water as being water, because it's all a fish ever knows. And so as humans, it's a good idea to try and step outside of our usual frame of mind, to see what it is we as humans think and do, from the perspective of a mind totally alien to our everyday environment. With that in mind, here's what humans are doing right now, from the perspective of someone from far, far away...

What an interesting place and an interesting time it is for a visit. Earth's most intelligent primates are busy creating technologies that allow them all to do less work, freeing themselves from millennia of senseless toil and drudgery. Strangely, however, they are using such technologies to force each other to work longer and harder. In one area called the United States, responsible for so much of the world's technological innovation, at a time when productivity has never been higher, the number of hours spent working for others in exchange for the means to live is now just shy of 50 hours per week, where it was once 40 and soon supposed to be 20 on its way to eventually approaching zero.

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Humans are even performing work that doesn't actually need to be done at all, even by a machine. One of the craziest examples of such completely unnecessary work is in Europe where an entire fake economic universe has been created under the label of "Potemkin companies" like Candelia.

Candelia was doing well. Its revenue that week was outpacing expenses, even counting taxes and salaries... but in this case the entire business is fake. So are Candelia's customers and suppliers, from the companies ordering the furniture to the trucking operators that make deliveries. Even the bank where Candelia gets its loans is not real. More than 100 Potemkin companies like Candelia are operating today in France, and there are thousands more across Europe... All these companies' wares are imaginary.

Incredibly, human beings are waking up early in the mornings to drive to offices to perform imaginary business in imaginary markets involving imaginary customers using imaginary money to buy imaginary goods and services instead of simply enjoying their non-imaginary and most definitely real lives with each other.

Another example of humans coming up with excuses for more work, which may come as a surprise, is actually firefighting, which thanks to technology has been fighting fewer and fewer fires:

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On highways, vehicle fires declined 64 percent from 1980 to 2013. Building fires fell 54 percent during that time. When they break out, sprinkler systems almost always extinguish the flames before firefighters can turn on a hose. But oddly, as the number of fires has dropped, the ranks of firefighters have continued to grow -- significantly. There are half as many fires as there were 30 years ago, but about 50 percent more people are paid to fight them.

How can this be? If there are far fewer fires, why are there far more firefighters? The short answer is because of something called labor unions, who at some point just up and stopped fighting to reduce hours worked. But why? The reason labor unions now fight so hard to keep humans laboring is because humans require each other to work in order to obtain the resources required to live happy lives, or even to live at all for that matter.

Here lies the greatest obstacle to human progress -- the longstanding connection between work and income. As long as everything is owned and the only way to obtain access to that which is owned is through money, and the only way to obtain money is to be born with it or through doing the bidding of someone who owns enough to do the ordering around -- what humans call a "job" -- then jobs can't be eliminated. As a worker, any attempt to eliminate jobs must be fought and as a business owner, the elimination of jobs must involve walking a fine line between greater efficiency and public outcry. The elimination of vast swathes of jobs must be avoided unless seen as absolutely necessary so as to avoid angering too many people who may also be customers.



Here lies the greatest obstacle to human progress -- the longstanding connection between work and income.



Nowhere is the above more clear than in two recent pieces of news: Google's announcement that Boston Dynamics is up for sale, and Johnson & Johnson's announcement that the Sedasys machine would be discontinued.

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Atlas Shrugged Off by Google

You probably already saw it, as over ten million others did within days of it being posted to YouTube, but the demonstration video of the new version of Atlas from the robotics team at Boston Dynamics was a stunning display of engineering that shocked the world. Similar to the victory of the AI AlphaGo over world champion human Go player Lee Sedol just weeks later, it dumbfounded people with the realization of how quickly technology is advancing.

People naturally saw with their own eyes how close they are to having robots fully capable of doing physical tasks previously thought to be decades down the road, and the result was a discussion sprinkled with more than a bit of human panic based in entirely legitimate fears of income insecurity. This ended up being a discussion Google had no interest in, and so Boston Dynamics is now up for sale. To be fair, Google already wanted to sell BD, but leaked emails do show the concerns of negative PR as a direct result of advanced robotics:

In yet more emails wrongly published to wider Google employees, Courtney Hohne, a spokeswoman for Google X, wrote: "There's excitement from the tech press, but we're also starting to see some negative threads about it being terrifying, ready to take humans' jobs ... We're not going to comment on this video because there's really not a lot we can add, and we don't want to answer most of the questions it triggers."

Google wants to advance technology but at the same time, it doesn't want to answer the questions those advancements will raise. This appears to be a clear example of a major obstacle for human progress. It's the same likely reason companies like McDonald's haven't dived in with both feet to greatly automate their operations and vastly reduce their labor forces. The technology exists, but they aren't doing it. Why?

Perhaps it's because as long as people need jobs as their sole source of income, companies have the potential of stepping onto a public relations landmine by automating their jobs out of existence, or being seen as responsible for others doing so. Eliminating jobs also means not only cutting employees, but demand itself.

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Putting humans out of work should be a public relations win, not a loss...



Putting humans out of work should be a public relations win, not a loss, and so mankind needs to make sure no one left without a job, for any amount of time, is ever unable to meet their most basic needs. Everyone needs a non-negotiable guarantee of income security, so that the elimination of jobs breeds not fear, but excitement. The loss of a job should be seen as an opportunity for new real choices. And so some amount of basic income should be guaranteed to everyone -- universally -- as a starting point upon which all can earn additional income.

However, negative PR is just one obstacle along the road to full automation. Another obstacle is something originally devised to make sure employed humans had some amount of bargaining power, so as to not be walked all over by those who employed them, and that's the forces of organized labor. In an unfortunate turn of events, that which once helped drive prosperity is beginning to hold it back. Organized labor is organizing to perpetuate the employment that tech labor is working to eliminate.

Organized labor in the form of taxi driver unions have set cars on fire in France in protest of the labor disruptions created by Uber. Fast food workers in the US are busy organizing new unions, the goal of which is not to make sure fast food restaurants heavily invest in automation to free them from such work. None of this however compares to what an organized group of anesthesiologists just did.

Doctors Pulling Plugs

The American Society of Anesthesiologists just killed the first machine to come along capable of eliminating a great deal of need for anesthesiologists -- the Sedasys. It was a machine not only capable of performing the same work, but at one-tenth the cost. It was a machine that some innovative humans invented to make becoming healthier far less costly for all humans, over 90% less costly in fact. And another group of humans saw that as competition so they pressed the abort button.

No longer did you need a trained anesthesiologist. And sedation with the Sedasys machine cost $150 to $200 for each procedure, compared to $2,000 for an anesthesiologist, one of healthcare's best-paid specialties. The machine was seen as the leading lip of an automation wave transforming hospitals. But Johnson & Johnson recently announced it was pulling the plug on Sedasys because of poor sales.

So what caused the poor sales if the device could do so much more for so much less?

Sedasys was never welcomed by human anesthesiologists. Before it even hit the market, the American Society of Anesthesiologists campaigned against it, backing down only once the machine's potential uses were limited to routine procedures such as colonoscopies. The Post's story back in May provoked an outpouring of messages from anesthesiologists and nurse anesthetist who claimed a machine could never replicate a human's care or diligence. Many sounded offended at the notion that a machine could do their job.

The proverbial plug was pulled on a life-saving new technology because a well-paid group of humans saw it in their own best interests to fight against its use to do their work for them.

Pretend for a moment what was invented was a tractor, and the makers of the tractor had to stop making them because of the power of a bunch of oxen who were offended by the claim that tractors could ever replicate an oxen's care or diligence.



As humans drive forward into the future, they may just have their foot on the brakes and the accelerator at the same time.



Imagine it was an elevator, and the American Society of Elevator Attendants was offended by the idea of everyone simply pushing buttons to operate elevators without the paid help of any attendant. Would all of human society be better off right now with every elevator being operated by a paid attendant?

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Or imagine that back in the day, trains were upgraded from coal-based steam engines to today's diesel engines, and railroad unions fought and won to keep the position of coal-shovelers so that there'd be a job for people on trains doing absolutely nothing for the next 60 years. Believe it or not, that one actually happened.

Such thinking is not progress. It's regress. Humans have the ideas of work and income so tied up in their minds, that even though they've now successfully reached the point where toil is no longer necessary to survive on Earth, they are demanding their toil not be lifted off their shoulders.

Humans are actually demanding that machines not do their work for them. Humans are creating work that does not need to be done, and perhaps worst of all, they are continuing extinction-endangering work like coal mining that should have been stopped decades ago for the good of the species.

Cutting the Cord

To put an end to all this nonsense, it seems in humanity's best interests to finally sever the self-imposed connection between work and access to the common planetary resources required for life. For as long as humans must toil to live, they will toil for life.

Unemployment is not a disease. It's the opposite. Employment is the malady and automation is the cure. It is the job of machines to handle as much work for humans as possible, so as to free them to pursue that which each and every individual human being most wishes to pursue. That pursuit may be work or it may be leisure. That pursuit may be knowledge or it may be play. That pursuit may be companionship or it may be solitude. Whatever it may be, the goal is happiness and the pursuit itself self-motivated, the journey its own reward.

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So when those like Robert Reich say "There are still a lot of jobs" before suggesting mankind may not yet be ready for universal basic income, but soon most definitely will be, perhaps humans should ask if not having a basic income is actually part of the reason there are any jobs still left for humans. Perhaps it's the insistence on the existence of jobs that creates jobs, whether they need to exist or not.

As humans drive forward into the future, they may just have their foot on the brakes and the accelerator at the same time. If so, is this in the best interests of humanity? Why not instead stop pressing the brakes by adopting basic income immediately, so as to fully accelerate into an increasingly automated future of increasing abundance and victory over scarcity? That seems to make a lot more sense than perpetuating -- and even artificially creating -- scarcity.

But then again, these are simply the thoughts of a tourist, in observance of life on the third planet from an average yellow star in a somewhat ordinary spiral galaxy. Pay me little mind if you choose. I'm just passing through on the suggestion this place is incredibly entertaining in all its grand backwardness.

---

Scott Santens writes about basic income on his blog and is crowdfunding basic incomes on Patreon. You can follow him on Medium, on Twitter, on Facebook or on Reddit where he is a moderator for the /r/BasicIncome community of over 30,000 subscribers.
When I got the notification that HuffPost was doing a video series called #talktome, I couldn't resist raising my hand. I recognize the importance of generational sharing. In the span of 5 to 7 minutes, we get to join the past and present generations (there's a 41-year difference) and make something beautiful out of our temporary union for the world to see.

My family is a three-hour drive from Houston, but I felt it was very important for me to create a video with one of my children or grandchildren. I let my social media phobic son decide who was going to be the interviewer. For days, I thought it would be him. But as I watched the miles click away on my speedometer, I questioned if that was a reasonable assumption. I know he loves me, but he usually doesn't compromise his boundaries for anyone. Well to my pleasant surprise, he rehearsed the questions with my youngest granddaughter and she was it! We were scheduled to start at 5:00 pm (CST) and he conveniently disappeared and she asked me when we were going to get started.

I set up the camera and we actually did my FIRST Facebook Live video. Her biggest takeaway from the interview was that we were both "teacher's pets." My biggest takeaway was the overflowing love she has for humankind and a grandmother who would ask her to be brave and interview me in front of the world. She did a great job and if any of the networks is looking for an eight-year-old anchor, check her out.

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Thank you HuffPost for the opportunity to be a video griot. I will remember this experience forever.
It's Easter weekend on Vashon Island, Washington. Easter is the Christian holy day celebrating life after death, and the pagan holiday symbolizing renewal. It's celebrated on the first lunar moon after the vernal equinox, the half way point of the sun's timeless journey across the sky that neatly divides the day into dark and light. There is nothing more essential in nature than sunlight, and from ancient times we've celebrated its growing presence in our lives, and the renewal that springs from it.



This was my first winter in Seattle. One of the rainiest cities in America had its rainiest winter on record. I eagerly await springtime and sunlight to pierce my flat mood and the numbing grey Seattle sky. But nature has its own schedule. So a few of my friends and I came up with a list of 131 ideas we could use to get a head-start on spring. While designed for single women, most of these activities work if you're male or married, too. Which 5 activities should I try? No judging! Maybe some of them will work for you, too. When all else fails, combine them -- just like that party game -- with a lover. Happy Spring.



1. Make someone's day. Give an authentic compliment to three strangers you see, every day for a month.

2. Volunteer at a homeless shelter, hospice, food bank, women's shelter, refugee service, or ER room. Join a relief effort.

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3. Volunteer to: be entertained at a film festival or wine-tasting; learn at a conference; connect with kids at a children's hospital or an orphanage; connect with the elderly at a retirement home.

4. Sign up for a new online or speed dating service.

5. Invite someone you don't know well to lunch.

6. Have a fling, take a lover, or get a friend with benefits.

7. Be a host and hold a dinner party.

8. Spend an entire day asking questions and listening to others without once talking about yourself.

9. Commit 1 random act of kindness to a friend every day for a month.

10. Commit 1 random act of kindness to a stranger every day for a month.

11. Be curious about people -- strike up a conversation with 5 strangers every day for a month.

12. Dump your boring boyfriend (or girlfriend).

13. Kiss a stranger.

14. Look up someone from your past and reach out to them to express your gratitude for something they did.

15. Go on Tinder and invite the most unique person you find for coffee at Starbucks.

16. Bury the hatchet. Reach out to someone with whom you've had a falling out, and apologize -- even if you're not to blame.

17. Take a homeless person to dinner.

18. Smile, make eye contact, and say hello to every person you see for 1 month. Write about what you learned from it.

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19. Adopt a pet.

20. Spice up your sex life -- find a new location, read a book on sex tips and apply them, have sex every day for a month.

21. Form a cooking club with 6 friends. Make dinner for all of them 1 day. Get a dinner from each of them for the next 6 days.

22. Volunteer with an animal shelter.

23. Join an alumni group or book club.

24. Ask someone out.

25. Organize a rally for a cause you care about.

26. Consciously spend less time with people who don't bring you joy -- people who criticize, hijack your conversation, never ask you questions, or complain.

27. Borrow a friend's dog and walk it.

28. Get a part-time job as a barista.

29. Text, call, email, or phone everyone you love and tell them you love them.

30. Every day for a month, pray for someone actively in your life who you dislike. See how it changes your interactions with them.

31. Start a Meetup.

32. Each day tell someone you know you appreciate them. Be specific. Tell 10 people in 10 days.

33. Make a friend with someone who has a different socioeconomic, ethnic, political belief, religion, or nationality than you.

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34. Plan a trip to another country or an exotic location.

35. Watch childbirth.

36. Jump out of an airplane.

37. Go on a trek -- Walk the Camino de Santiago.

38. Sing karaoke.

39. Sneak in somewhere.

40. Splurge. Buy something expensive that you've always wanted.

41. Play a prank on someone.

42. Shoot a gun.

43. Ride a motorcycle.

44. Go skinny dipping.

45. Break a tradition.

46. Find your favorite musical group's tour schedule, and buy tickets to see them in another city.

47. Get arrested for something worthy.

48. Swim with sharks.

49. Test drive a sports car.

50. Go dancing 1/week for a month.

51. Stay at an ashram or spend a week at a meditation camp.

52. Go on a safari.

53. Get thrown out of a bar, Starbucks, restaurant, or men's club, preferably a men's club.

54. Go to Burning Man, a TED, or SXSW.

55. Find the best cocktail in your city.

56. Take scuba diving lessons, then plan a trip to a tropical island for your open water dive.

57. Create your very own Eat, Pray, Love journey.

58. Create a bucket list of the things you want to do in life. Think about what you'll be sorry you haven't done if you were to die in 10 minutes, 10 weeks, or 10 years from now. Then do them.

59. Audition for something.

60. Sign up and train for a marathon/triathlon.

61. Sign up for an Outward Bound.

62. Sign up and train for a Tough Mudder or a Spartan Race.

63. Climb one of the world's seven highest summits.

64. Replace a bad habit with a good one. Read Charles Duhigg's, The Power of Habit, if you need help.

65. Join a gym and lose x lbs.

66. Read all of the Pulitzer Prize Winning Fiction books for the last 50 years.

67. Enter a photography contest.

68. Go back to school and get another degree.

69. Volunteer for an opposing political campaign and try to understand their point of view.

70. Make a playlist of 20 motivating songs and play them each morning.

71. Do ordinary tasks with your other hand for a day.

72. Go to therapy and solve a problem that's plagued you for years.

73. Ask your friends and family to list your best qualities.

74. Get hypnotized.

75. Go to confession.

76. Conquer a fear. Or conquer multiple fears by doing what you're afraid of. Touch a snake, give a presentation, or take trapeze lessons.

77. Keep a gratitude journal and write what you're grateful for every night. Include the 3 best things that happened that day. Then read it first thing in the morning. You'll be programming your day for happiness.

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78. Buy a self help book and commit to following its principles for 30 days.

79. Pray at a new church, temple, or mosque. Join a church if you don't belong to one.

80. Read a spiritual book every night before you go to bed.

81. Take a Landmark Forum class or a seminar to help actualize a goal.

82. Read 20 life changing books.

83. Listen to 16 motivating videos.

84. Clear out the clutter, and organize a room in your house or rearrange furniture.

85. Take tomorrow off and go on a day trip.

86. Swap homes with a friend you trust.

87. Paint your walls.

88. Walk to work.

89. Move someplace else, even for a few months.

90. Redecorate your bedroom. You'll go to bed happier and wake up happier.

91. Plan a girl's getaway or a family reunion.

92. Go on a spontaneous out of town trip this weekend.

93. Change your morning routine for 1 week -- go to a different Starbucks, don't read the

paper, eat something different, meditate or workout in the morning.

94. Turn down the volume on your digital life by un-subscribing to every email newsletter,

avoiding social media for 1 week, checking your email once/day instead of every hour.

95. Make your home smell like a spa.

96. Shadow someone for a day.

97. Get a new job.

98. Sign up for a Meetup for a new hobby.

99. Get a library card and check out 5 books.

100. Every month attend an author event at a bookstore; sign up for a lecture series.

101. Learn a foreign language and plan a trip to practice it.

102. Take a class -- painting, knitting, sculpting, crocheting, art history, photography, wine-

tasting, cooking, social media, sports, dancing.

103. Take a class that celebrates your ethnicity. e.g. If you're Irish, take bagpiping lessons.

104. Volunteer -- to help the 10 most interesting people in the US, and see if they'll let you

volunteer an hour of your time for them.

105. Watch every Oscar winning "Best Picture" in reverse chronological order.

106. Create an online "degree" for yourself by piecing together free online classes.

107. Get a dramatically different hairstyle.

108. Get highlights.

109. Buy Latisse and an eyebrow pencil and give your face a virtual facelift.

110. Whiten your teeth. You'll instantly look healthier.

111. Commit to smiling at everyone you meet or speak to for 1 week, even when you're on the

phone. You'll not only look happier, you'll FEEL happier, too.

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112. Hire a stylist and change your wardrobe.

113. Wear something new that you've never worn before.

114. Commit to having excellent posture. You'll look and feel more confident.

115. Change your eyeglasses, get contacts, or get laser eye surgery.

116. Get a tattoo symbolizing something/someone important to you. Crowdsource the design.

117. Buy a wig and wear it out at night.

118. Make a joy journal to capture moments that bring you joy. This is my friend Susan's secret

mood booster. Then go back and look at it whenever you need a mood boost.

119. Make a dream book. Ask people on the street what their dream is, take their photo, and

make a Blurb book from it. (Kind of like Humans of NY)

120. Once a week try a new recipe.

121. Compose a song. Try "Compose Yourself" cards if you need some help.

122. Paint a piece of artwork for your home.

123. Create a dream journal for yourself. Paste pictures in it to help you visualize your dream.

124. Make a quilt from your old t-shirts.

125. Think of 10 new business ideas every day for a month. Pick one, then think of 10 names for

it every day for the next month. In the 3rd month, buy a domain name and start the business.

126. Write a non-fiction book. Start with an outline, then begin the research.

127. Create a blog and post every other day for a month.

128. Make a photo book from your pictures.

129. Write a poem about something for which you have a strong emotional reaction. Then enter

it in a contest.

130. Create a new aerobics or a Tabata routine for yourself.

131. Plan and/or build a dream home.
The National Flag of Thailand

BANGKOK--In the summer of 1818, as then-United States Army General Andrew Jackson led troops south into Spanish Florida and the U.S. pressed westward with the admission of Illinois as the 21st state, America's horizons broadened invisibly but indelibly halfway around the world. On a hot and hazy June day of that year, after a stomach-churning 190-day ocean voyage from U.S. shores to Southeast Asia, the first American set foot in Thailand, then known as Siam.

Captain Stephen Williams, a veteran of the War of 1812 between the U.S. and Britain, was not an official envoy. Instead, he was a Massachusetts spice merchant who had come to Siam seeking sugar. Journeying up the Chao Phraya River, he was received in the city of Siam by the minister of trade and foreign affairs, who brought him to the palace for an audience with the Crown Prince, who would soon succeed his father to become Rama III, King of Siam. In a letter to U.S. President James Monroe, discovered among Monroe's papers years after he died, Siamese nobleman and court reporter Dit Bunnag recounted the royal meeting and exhorted the U.S. commander-in-chief that if another American merchant should find his way to Siam, "he should bring as many good rifles as can be carried" to offer as trade. Despite the largely productive relationship enjoyed by the U.S. and Thailand over the next two centuries, his words have now become darkly prophetic. Even as the American embassy here begins planning a grand celebration in 2018 of our 200-year relationship, it does so in a nation ruled not by commerce, but guns. Thailand today is governed by a military junta that overthrew the country's democratically-elected government in 2014--the country's 19th coup, to go along with 20 constitutions, since the establishment of Thailand's democracy in 1932. As a result, this one-time jewel of Southeast Asia now endures a stagnant economy, an historic drought, growing social unrest, and military leaders recently described as "increasingly erratic, incompetent, and repressive."

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While it has long been understood here, as a prominent Thai journalist tells me, that the army is the "circuit breaker" for this country's problems, something feels different this time. The divisions in society that led to this latest coup feel more entrenched and less inclined toward compromise than ever before. The military, long accustomed to playing a caretaker role until the next election, is becoming, in the words of a respected long-time British writer friend here, more "crass, reactionary, and petty" by the day, making uncharacteristic grabs for power that will endure long after the next civilian government takes office. For the first time in the more than 25 years that I've made annual trips here, this city has a palpable sense of unease, unsure of what will come next. I hate to admit it, but if Thailand were a stock, I would short it: I would get out now and buy again at a future date, after the country works through its issues.

Despite a population long known as "hard to keep down," as a local observer here puts it, the political unrest and accompanying economic downturn have finally worn on the country formerly known as "Teflon Thailand." Thanks to the open hostility between Thailand's main interest groups--namely, the military, the monarchy, the urban elite (along with southerners and wealthy rubber farmers), and the rural poor in the north--the gridlock in Bangkok today makes it increasingly difficult to envision a prosperous, united country emerging, as each faction plays a zero-sum game for control.

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The rural farmers in the north, derided as uneducated "buffaloes" by the urban elite, were content for most of the past 80 years to be voiceless. But that changed with the election of Thaksin Shinawatra, the polarizing, populist business tycoon who won a sweeping victory in 2001. As Prime Minister, he united what had previously been a series of regional interest groups into a broad coalition of "red shirts"--low-income and rural voters who make up about two-thirds of the total population. His fulfillment of campaign promises to make health care more accessible for the poor and to send money to struggling villages won Thaksin the undying loyalty of a large swath of the electorate.

But while northern farmers celebrated their electoral empowerment, the urban elite "yellow shirts" in Bangkok saw their influence diluted by a man whose policies ran directly counter to their interests. As money flowed out of the capitol to Thaksin's new social programs in the north, they saw not democratic representation but corruption and abuse of power. They marched in the streets for his resignation, and in 2006, the army "restored order" with a coup, charging Thaksin with crimes against the state and forcing him into exile.

Five years later, in 2011, Thaksin's Pheu Thai party dominated elections again, electing the former Prime Minister's younger sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, to his old office. But a rice subsidy scandal, along with an ill-conceived effort to force an amnesty bill through parliament allowing her brother to return home, led to her overthrow at the hands of the military two years ago.

Hence, today's Catch-22. The elites say they support democracy but realize that any free and fair election in a country where rural farmers significantly outnumber urban elites will never go in their favor--meaning not simply a permanent loss of power, but the inconceivable idea, as one journalist puts it, that "these uneducated barbarians will take over our country." Pro-democracy populists, meanwhile, counter that the elite yellow shirts still refuse to put forth any proposals beyond maintaining the status quo while robbing the majority of the population of its rightful say. Neither side has demonstrated a willingness to compromise.

Looming over this conflict is Thailand's revered but ailing King Bhumibol, who has played the role of peacemaker in the past, famously summoning the leaders of two opposing factions to the palace after a chaotic 1992 election. But the 88-year-old monarch is now hospitalized and has faded from public view, leading a local leader to suggest that the country may already be experiencing what a "post-king era" might feel like.

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That leaves the army, which quickly sought after the 2014 coup to "burnish a reputation as crime-busters," as a local paper here recently described it, with "crackdowns on everything from gambling rings to drunk drivers" but has also "suppressed free speech, detained scores of political dissidents, and sidelined allies of the government they toppled." Their recent interventions have aligned them more closely with the elites--when the junta rules, it means the red shirts do not--and with the monarchy, as they enforce harsh lese-majeste laws that criminalize criticizing the King.

In recent months, as one long-time local writer friend tells me, "the situation is deteriorating rapidly, with the government not just being autocratic, but repressive." He adds, "A regular feature of life here now is seeing citizens who voice dissent--including politicians, activists, and journalists--being picked up by the army and detained in military camps for what they call 'attitude adjustment.'" Indeed, early last month, the junta announced the fresh purge of what it called 6,000 corrupt "influential people."

But even that didn't prepare the country for the unprecedented step military leaders took last week, when they announced they were expanding the powers of the military to include policing crime. Incredibly, under the new law, any member of the armed forces above the rank of second lieutenant is now empowered, as my writer friend puts it, "to arrest anyone they suspect of alleged criminal activity, without a warrant, and detain them secretly and without charge for up to seven days. The military has also been given the freedom to freeze bank accounts and seize property. And they have been granted automatic immunity, with no recourse available--while whitewashing the very obvious military corruption." It's little wonder that human rights groups, journalists, free speech advocates, and even some high-profile western ambassadors have warned that the zealous application of these restrictions could quickly become a catch-all to silence political dissidents, bolstering the military's power.

The final product of all of this is that Thailand is stuck. Red shirts lack power, and yellow shirts lack ideas. Each is afraid of what they perceive as the other's all-or-nothing approach. The King is unable to intercede, and the military is unwilling to let the messy, necessary process of political discourse unfold.

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It is always possible that one side could budge with international prodding. But breakthroughs look as rare in Thailand these days as Americans were here 197 years ago. The impasse won't last forever. But we might have to wait until the 210th anniversary of the U.S.-Thai friendship to find happy faces again in the land of smiles.
Policemen in berlin, germany, during a public manifestation.

I stepped off the plane with my carry on for the weekend in tow, and started the walk to the train station. My eyes were on the ground as I walked, when I abruptly came to a stop at a pair of heavy black boots. Looking up, I saw a pair of strong legs adorned in camouflage and a young chiseled face. In his arms he cradled a large, intimidating, assault rifle, with his hand resting near the trigger. I sidestepped carefully, giving him some distance. Which I knew was silly, but it was almost a reflexive action.

On my journey through the Paris metro, I met many a similar figure. Some accompanied by large dogs that looked as if they could have my throat out before the command was completed to do so. I wondered if it really was safe to be here, as their presence was a reminder that something tragic and scary recently happened.

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When I first sat down to write this post on how travel in Europe had changed, I had just returned from visiting Paris a few months after the November 2015 attack. Before it was finished, another string of terrifying attacks in Brussels and Turkey occurred. Articles began to surface discussing whether or not it was safe to travel in Europe, and governments began issuing travel advisory warnings. Travel in Europe seemed chaotic and scary. I, like many travelers have found myself questioning the safety of travel in Europe in the current climate. I chose to continue traveling, despite everything, and want to share my findings on the current state of traveling in Europe.



Noticeably enhanced security presence

Seeing heavily armed military and police personnel is much more common in recent months, especially at transport hubs and popular tourist destinations. Their presence provides some comfort but is also a reminder of the potential threat. There were times throughout my recent travels to France, Germany, Austria and Spain that they would catch me off guard. On a sleepy Sunday morning walk to Parisian cafe for breakfast, I came across a heavily guarded building in an obscure part of Paris. My mind naturally raced, thinking of all the possible threats in that building. While jarring at first, I've now grown accustom to the presence of looming military personnel and remind myself they are around for my safety. That they are a testament to the importance of the safety of citizens and tourists.

Shorter lines, but longer wait times.

The number of tourists visiting Europe declined after the Paris attacks, and are dropping again with the events in Brussels and Turkey. As I entered some of the world's most popular tourist attractions, I found the crowds in the area surprisingly smaller than I expected. On a normal Saturday afternoon, the line for the Louvre should wrap around the courtyard, but while the barriers were in place to deal with a crowd, the line itself was barely out of the glass pyramid.

On the other hand, a deceptively small line for the Arc De Triomphe ended up taking an exceedingly long time to clear. It wasn't until I was put through a metal detector, a bag search and a thorough ID check did I realize why. Most major tourist destinations have security in place, but since the attacks this practice has increased. The security guards were pleasant, but very thorough in their checks, leading to the long waits. While the numbers of people traveling Europe are smaller, the enhanced security may make your wait time longer. Do yourself and everyone else a favor and carry your ID on you during trips to the tourist attractions, don't carry an oversize bag, as you may not be allowed to enter with it, and be accommodating of the security guards' requests.

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Re-introduced Border Control.

With the migrant crisis and terrorist attacks affecting Europe, some countries have re-implemented border controls, including areas around Belgium, Germany, Austria, Denmark and Sweden. Some are speculating that if these controls continue to be approved it will eventually lead to overall closure of borders throughout Europe. I think those speculations are far fetched, but with some of these tighter border controls in effect until middle of April and May, it is good to research your route and what is happening at the border.

I have had several incidents recently where my passport was checked, at random, during border crossings within the Schengen area. Most of these checks have occurred at random, on trains or busses between Germany and Austria. I also witnessed several individuals escorted off at borders by Austrian or German police officers for not having the proper identification. Most travelers carry their passport on them, but for someone like me, living in Europe, I don't always think to take it on the bus or train when I travel to a nearby country. Lately, I have been making a point to take it everywhere. Be prepared when crossing bordering in Europe, especially if your plans include some of the border with temporary control in effect..

Cheerful Locals.

Europe is currently experiencing some turbulent and scary times. While many of us can simply choose not to travel to these countries, the people living there still get up every morning, get on the metro and carry on with their daily lives. The overall attitude of the locals appears to be friendly and open. When walking through the streets of Barcelona, just days after the Brussels attacks, there were signs everywhere saying, "Refugees Welcome." During my weekend in Paris, I was greeted with smiles and big welcomes everywhere I went. Europeans are thankful to have us visiting, and I felt that many locals went out of their way to prove that to me.
This piece originally began as a response via email to a fellow Los Angeles constituent who is opposed to the in play plan(s) to make the issue of ending homelessness in Los Angeles County and state of California, a priority. As a fellow Los Angeleno, my hope is to provide this data so we can all get on the same page.

Here are some facts to share about why addressing the issue of homelessness in California is a sound and fiscally responsible course of action, not to mention humane effort and priority that I am incredibly proud of as resident living in the state of California and the County of Los Angeles.

It is true, that I'm a huge advocate of our homeless, that I know that I am a rather super liberal person, HOWEVER I do think it would be incredibly ignorant to not state the obvious: California carries an unfair share of our homeless. So, California homelessness, and the state of Utah homelessness, for example, are simply not the same. Do I think it's AWESOME that the state of Utah just solved chronic homelessness? Yes I do. Do I think California could achieve something similar? ABSOLUTELY. But we have to get real too about the number of people entering this state at the same time too which I will talk about at the end of this piece.

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So back to homelessness in the state of California; homelessness here is not going to be solved overnight because our numbers are among the highest in the nation. It's simply not a tangible possibility but neither is more of the same. We know past plans have not worked and at the same time, the current situation is atrocious and inhumane and we should figure out the number of people- we as a State and as a County -can successfully LIFT people out of homelessness.

Why? Because homelessness actually costs us WAY MORE long term than not un-clogging our hospitals which have become inundated with repeat cases that costs us way more long term even with the success of the Affordable Care Act. In fact, this fact, was affirmed in a 2014 University of North Carolina study. See the study here.

Taking care of our homeless in a hospital setting is unnecessary if we create alternatives and a sound plan. That's what the State and County plans are about - mitigating costs so that when people ask for their streets to be sealed for example, the answer will one day hopefully soon, be YES. There will be more money$ if we do the work now regarding homelessness.

Cailfornia also needs to come up with a humane public relations campaign of sorts specific to Los Angeles County. To review the data: Los Angeles County in 2015 had 44,359 homeless people. See page 12 of the 2015 Los Angeles County Homeless Services Authority Report. http://documents.lahsa.org/Planning/homelesscount/2015/HC2015CommissionPresentation.pdf

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That means Los Angeles County ALONE carries almost 8% of the nation's homeless. Los Angeles County ALONE has 44,859 out of those 578,424 people.

It's a terrible situation because first and foremost - it's visually PAINFUL & not representative of who we are as Los Angelenos. It is so HARD to see people living in such pain - I believe this level of homelessness can actually traumatize people who witness how degrading and inhumane it can be to see a homeless man for example, defecate on the street or pass out or be bleeding in public for example. Is that really who we are as Americans AND Californians? At the same time, we of course cannot criminalize homelessness. Who grows up and says this is how I want to live?

Second, it is also unfair that California, as a state, is forced to carry this high a number of homeless. In Los Angeles County for example, we simply do not have the space and that's even more true in small cities like Santa Monica which also gets inundated and has been incredibly pro-active in planning and finding humane ways to help as many people as the City can carry for years. At some point, cities satiate. Why is that considered unkind?

So that said, we start with the fact that we are not talking about numbers; these are human beings with the largest % of our impoverished, in fact are CHILDREN. We also have a ton of seniors suffering living in HORRENDOUS conditions and that are simply unacceptable and heartbreaking all at once.

To give you a national snap shot: In the United States, in 2014, we as a country had approximately 578,424 homeless people. Please see page 6 of The 2014 Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR)

to Congress here: http://www.endhomelessness.org/page/-/files/State_of_Homelessness_2015_FINAL_online.pdf

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Together, let's take deep guttural breaths and agree that solving homelessness in the state of California and County of Los Angeles will take some patience to resolve. And I do think it is unfair that California as a state - of the 587,424 people that are homeless in the United States, we carry 113,952 please see page 15 of the 2015 State of Homelessness report provided by the National Alliance to End Homelessness: http://www.endhomelessness.org/page/-/files/State_of_Homelessness_2015_FINAL_online.pdf

That's a little over 19%. Last time I looked there are 50 states in this country, five territories and the District of Columbia - which BTW if you look closer at the AHAR report you will see that DC is the region of the country where homelessness is growing at the fastest rate - higher than California. My point is this California should be receiving a lot more $ to solve this inhumane standard of living too. And I'm very sorry to share that President Reagan when he said that we would no longer house our folks that have mental health challenges, is absolutely responsible for part of this dilemma too. The data doesn't lie.

It is also reasonable for the State of California to set State CAPS on the number of homeless we can financially and tangibly lift out of homelessness in California while simultaneously and actively preventing gentrification. Why can't we have a Public Relations campaign that is transparent and explains this? What is wrong with being honest about how our state can best serve people? We also need to figure out ways to get more landlords to embrace Section 8 housing vouchers and commit to X% of affordable housing and then gentrification is resolved and addressed.

Another thought is to look at Cities like Vernon that must have jobs with all that industrialization not to mention the corruption of the Republican leadership there that was being paid exorbitant amount of money. It seems that with industry in place, could we not employ AND house people in Vernon that cannot find housing in Los Angeles County? Please see this LA Weekly Article for details: http://www.laweekly.com/news/the-corrupt-town-in-true-detective-is-based-on-vernon-and-vernon-couldnt-be-happier-5709057

And finally, ALL Veterans should largely be subsidized by our government. Let's have leadership agree to buy one or two less drones/military equipment and house every single homeless Veteran in housing that works for them. These costs should not fall so heavily on the shoulders of nonprofits. The costs should be built into our astronomical military budgets which is the largest percentage of the United States budget plan. It's just not enough money. WE KNOW THIS. If we can track our Veterans overseas, we sure should be able to do right by them once they are back in our country.

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These affirmed numbers help demonstrate the vital importance of why homelessness in the State of California and in Los Angeles County must absolutely be front and center of our economic plans. Perhaps with sound investments, the savings we have with a strong plan to end homelessness can generate the funding we also need for streets and infrastructure. We also need to look at wage. If people are working 40 hours a week and cannot afford their rent in any City? That's a system flaw not a people flaw. Poverty is a lack of money not character. And turning a blind eye to the fact that wage has not kept up with cost of living is equally irresponsible and just pushing one's food around on a plate.

Overall - California should come up with a humane and thoughtful PR campaign that talks about the fact that we love to have you in California however, if you come here and you don't do the research and you don't have a job, there is chance you are going end up on the streets and have a pretty miserable and dangerous existence. I myself am thinking of ways to possibly leave the state if I don't obtain a job that covers my basic needs. It's just part of my reality and I have to figure it out. I don't know why that's a bad thing to talk about? Let's all embrace this data and the folks that are suffering and move this state and County forward. It can be done.

This piece is dedicated to Los Angeles County member Bill Rosendahl who passed away last week but saw early on the importance of helping our homeless and took individuals into his own home as he could. His efforts will be forever missed.
The whole world is looking to one presidential election at the moment: the United States of America. The policies of one of the most powerful nations, largely driven by the president, will affect us all.

US engagement in Africa has been focused on the security and political fronts, as well as on foreign aid. To a lesser extent, the country has also been engaged in promoting trade, such as through the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act. The African region probably remains secondary in terms of US interests relative to other regions in the world such as Asia or South America, but it has grown in importance over the past decade. One of the primary reasons for this is rising security challenges such as piracy along the Horn of Africa, terrorism through organisations like Al-Shabaab and Boko Haram, and conflicts like the civil war in South Sudan.

Another reason for growing US interest has been the emergence and rapid intensification of China-Africa relations.

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It is important for policymakers in Africa to begin assessing what the outcome of the US election could mean for Africa. While there are five candidates in the running, each party has a frontrunner: Donald Trump for the Republicans and Hillary Clinton for the Democrats. Both have very different backgrounds and foreign policy credentials. To date, neither has paid significant attention to Africa as part of their campaigns. But by looking at their current official positions it's possible to get some insights into what this could mean for foreign policy towards the continent.

The big ticket items

In the military sphere the US trains many African armies such as the army of Niger. It also maintains a permanent base on the Horn of Africa in Djibouti.

There is also an increasing focus on fighting terrorism on the continent, with ongoing atrocities committed by Boko Haram in Nigeria and recent attacks by al-Qaeda. Many of these attacks have resulted in the deaths of foreigners, including Americans, such as in Mali and Burkina Faso.

The US has also been involved in negotiating peace deals such as supporting deliberations to end the South Sudanese civil war. Due to its powerful position as one of the five veto members on the United Nations Security Council, it has the ability to drive policy at an international level. Through this, it has even been able to push for sanctions against individuals around the continent.

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From an economic perspective, aid and trade are important US policies for Africa. Both have been central policy features of President Barack Obama's administration, with varying levels of success. On trade, Obama has been very supportive of fostering increased coordination and regional integration between countries in Africa. This can be seen with the Trade Africa project launched in July 2013 to support East African integration.

US aid flows to Africa totalled more than US$9.5 billion in 2013/14. This makes it one of the continent's largest donors. US aid comes in different forms and is dispersed through varying agencies such as the United States Agency for International Development and the State Department. As with trade, Obama has also focused efforts on a variety of projects such as increased funding for HIV/AIDS programmes.

Donald Trump on trade

Trump has been particularly vague on many policy positions throughout the campaign and, when pressed, has often evaded providing clarification. One particular issue he has been clear about, however, is US-China trade relations. Extrapolating from his policy statement on this, we can perhaps learn what this could mean for his overall trade policy.

The foundation of his position is to reinvigorate America's leadership at the negotiation table and ensure that every deal brokered is favourable to Americans. This may not be new. However, his particular references to bolster US military presence to show

America is back in the global leadership business

suggests that his policies may be less likely to focus on seeking and building coalitions within the international community. Additionally, he notes that

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The Trump administration will not wait for an international body to tell us what we already know.

This suggests that the US may remain part of the international bodies under a Trump presidency, but would probably increasingly ignore international treaties and decisions, including those agreed under the world trade regime.

Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni recently alluded to this fact:

The US could limit our exports there, especially under Mr Trump ...

In 2013 Uganda exported an estimated $47 million of goods to the US. While this is not a large amount, Museveni is probably correct in noting that under a Trump administration export expansion is unlikely to occur.

Another notable part of Trump's statement on trade is that he is going to adopt a zero-tolerance policy on intellectual property theft. In the context of China, he is clearly emphasising this with respect to technology. But it may also have effects on pharmaceutical patents. There have already been a number of disagreements and law suits between countries producing generic and affordable medicines, particularly for the African market, that are still under patent in the US.

Hilary Clinton on aid

Clinton would enter the White House with strong foreign policy credentials, having served as Obama's secretary of state from 2009 to 2013. Although this could make it easier to discern what a Clinton administration would look like for Africa, her official policy statements focus primarily on domestic legislation. Like Trump, she has made brief mentions of trade and China, tied to her efforts to expand the US manufacturing sector. Her principal focus in this area seems to be increasing enforcement, exemplified by the fact that she is looking to hire a chief trade prosecutor under her presidency.

Clinton refers to foreign aid as one of the key pillars of American power. It is also interesting to note that one of the achievements she outlines on her website from her time as secretary of state is having brought increasing accountability to the aid business, ensuring "most bang for the buck" for the American tax payer.

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This suggests that under a Clinton administration foreign aid will continue to be a key tool of the American presidency, including for the African continent. But accountability for this aid will continue to be strengthened.

At this stage, the US presidential candidates are focusing on domestic legislation as this is understandably what matters more to the American voter. But it will be interesting to see, once the Republican and Democratic nominations take place in July and the final candidates are determined, how their stance on foreign policy issues evolves.

Astrid R.N. Haas, Country Economist for South Sudan and Uganda, International Growth Centre
A friend of ours is making his first trip to Southeast Asia this year. He will be visiting Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. He's lived in Mexico for several years, so he's a seasoned expat, but he has never ventured beyond the Western Hemisphere. We want his trip to be successful in every way, so we wrote a list of tips that might help him. We thought they might help you, too...

#1: Don't underestimate the jet lag. When you arrive in Southeast Asia, you'll have flipped about 180 degrees on time, a good 50 degrees Fahrenheit in temperature, and about 50% (or more) in humidity. It takes about one day to recover from each hour of time change, so you'll feel a bit foggy for several days. The first two or three days will be the hardest. Don't expect to accomplish a great deal on your first day.

#2: Try to pick up a little local yogurt soon after you arrive. You'll probably get sick within a week of arriving. It's normal, and it will pass. It's just your body getting used to being exposed to a lot of unfamiliar stuff.

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#3: Eat at busy places. The locals know the best restaurants.



#4: If you are served a beverage with ice in a restaurant, it is generally fine to drink it. It's been purified. If it wasn't, they wouldn't serve it to you. Enjoy discovering new foods without worry, as the quality is usually quite good.

#5: Watch out for "copies." Genuine Rolex watches and North Face backpacks never cost US$20. If a vendor says that an English-language DVD, book or an inexpensive iPhone is not a copy but is "made in Vietnam" (or Thailand or Malaysia, etc.), it is probably a copy. If the photos and maps in the guidebook at the bookstore are in faded black and white, it's a copy.

#6: Refunds are rarely given for anything. Once the money leaves your hands, even if just for a moment, it's gone.

#7: If you buy something from a cute little old lady vendor, give her exact change. They have a habit of pocketing whatever money you give them and walking away, suddenly deaf to your shouts of "Hey!" Who wants to get into it with a cute little old lady?

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#8: Never get into a tuk-tuk, taxi, or songthaew without agreeing on a price (or the meter in the case of a taxi). When possible, ask a local first how much the fare should be, so you know if you're being overcharged. When we were in Chiang Mai last month, we negotiated the fare from the train station into the city with a songthaew driver. The price quickly went from 200 to 40 baht because we knew that it wasn't far and the driver realized we knew the city.

#9: Never agree to purchase anything without knowing the price beforehand.

#10: Use humor and smiles to defuse disagreements. Arguing will get you nowhere.

#11: Make sure that you carry DEET-based mosquito repellant. You don't want to bring back a case of dengue fever for a souvenir.

#12: Strangers don't want to be your best friend unless they want something from you. This holds true throughout Southeast Asia. If a local person seems overly friendly or helpful, be polite but don't accept the help. A friend of mine was in a pharmacy in Hanoi recently, and a helpful stranger insisted on translating for her, which was a tip-off right away, as the pharmacist spoke English and she spoke enough Vietnamese to complete the transaction. She was quoted a high price for the medication, so she went to a different pharmacy with no "helpful strangers" nearby and ended up paying less than half of the originally quoted price.

#13: Never trust a woman who tells you that she loves you before she learns your name. (This might be good advice anywhere in the world.)

#14: Carry toilet paper or tissue paper wherever you go. Besides being necessary in public bathrooms, it can also substitute for a napkin, something that is often not supplied in restaurants.

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#15: In Thailand, meals are served with a fork and tablespoon. The spoon holds the food and goes into your mouth. The fork is used only to push food onto the spoon. It's considered rude to put a fork in your mouth. When in doubt, mimic what other diners are doing and you'll be fine.

#16: In Vietnam, food is eaten with chopsticks. Soup comes with chopsticks and a spoon. Coffee is often served accompanied by a small glass of tea (the tea is free). However, if you are given a wet wipe in a sealed package or a dish of peanuts, this is usually added to your bill, even though you didn't request it. These items are generally very inexpensive, but, if you don't want any extras, just hand them back to the server and make sure that they aren't added to your check.

#17: Beef means red meat, and chicken means bird. Fish can be anything from anchovies or carp to grouper or cod. Pork means pig meat. If you really want to know what you're being served, order pork. Otherwise, you may end up with some kind of red meat that definitely doesn't taste like cow or be served chicken legs that came from a "chicken" of monstrous proportions ("That chicken!" they will assure you.)

Coming to this part of the world, you'll have to make adjustments initially, but it's amazing how quickly everything that at first appears foreign will come to seem normal.
A migrant prays beside a freeway north of Rodby as a large group of migrants, mainly from Syria, walk on the highway towards the north September 7, 2015. Many migrants, mainly from Syria and Iraq, have arrived in Denmark over the last few days. The migrants want to reach Sweden to seek asylum there. Some of the migrants arriving in central Europe have continued on to other countries, as local authorities across the continent try to accommodate the rising tide of refugees. Picture taken September 7, 2015. REUTERS/Jens Norgaard Larsen/Scanpix ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS PICTURE IS DISTRIBUTED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS. DENMARK OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN DENMARK. NO COMMERCIAL SALES.

COPENHAGEN -- "I love Denmark!," Hillary Clinton exclaimed during a debate with Bernie Sanders in October.

Denmark -- a tiny welfare state known for its liberal values -- was, according to Sanders, a model to be emulated or at least applauded.

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In the months since that debate, Denmark's reputation abroad has started to tarnish. Danish lawmakers have adopted a series of controversial measures in order to deter refugees from applying for asylum. In September, the government ran an anti-refugee ad campaign in Arabic newspapers warning them against going to Denmark. In December, Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen suggested that the 1951 Refugee Convention -- a treaty that Denmark was instrumental in formulating and the first country to ratify -- should be revised. And just last month, Denmark passed a bill restricting access to family reunification for Syrian refugees up to three years and allowing the police to search refugees and seize their assets.

The harsh measures have caused an international outcry but also genuine surprise: why has Denmark -- supposedly a brand name when it comes to human rights and development -- adopted such austere policies? Why is Denmark suddenly leading a race to the bottom in Europe when it comes to deterring refugees?

In fact, this should have come as no big surprise. Over the last 15-20 years, Denmark's understanding of its role in global affairs has radically transformed, just as its immigration policies and national debate on Muslim immigration have.

People participate in a demonstration to show support for refugees in Copenhagen on Oct. 6, 2015. (REUTERS/Soeren Bidstrup/Scanpix Denmark)

Danish foreign policy since World War II has been defined by a firm belief in the virtue of international rule of law, multilateralism and peaceful conflict resolution. For a small state, with just over 5.5 million inhabitants, Denmark always considered strong international institutions in its own best interest in order to soften the effects of great power politics.

At the same time, successive Danish governments also worked to promote Denmark as a model country by leading the way on issues like refugee protection, human rights and development aid. Since the 1970s, Denmark has met the United Nations target of devoting at least 0.7 percent of gross national product to development aid; by the 1990s, Danish aid amounted to more than 1 percent of its GNP. Denmark also touted the importance of diplomacy and peaceful conflict resolution and generally preferred to send hospital ships and humanitarian aid rather than soldiers to conflict zones around the world. And when Denmark adopted its famously liberal asylum and immigration act in 1983, it was repeatedly held forward by the U.N. as an example to follow.

However, with the end of the Cold War, this foreign policy posture started to change. Denmark participated in the Kosovo intervention, seeking to prevent another genocide in the Balkans, using force without a U.N. mandate for the first time. This new willingness to use military force was dubbed active internationalism and has been used to legitimize Danish military adventurism in the Middle East ever since.

Since 2002, Denmark has engaged in all wars and interventions in the Middle East alongside the United States: from Afghanistan and Iraq to Libya and now in Iraq and Syria. Denmark today is a warrior nation. In Afghanistan, Denmark fought in the most unruly region, Helmand, and has the sad record among coalition countries of having lost the most men in relative terms. At the same time, Denmark has made continuous cuts on development aid, which is now back to 0.7 percent of the GNP. While Denmark still belongs to the world league on development aid, it is no longer leading the pack.

Refugee children play outside a passenger terminal in Piraeus, Greece. (Mary Turner/Getty Images)

A more modest approach is also echoed in the official foreign policy discourse. According to the prime minister, Denmark should, as a small state, no longer aim to "change the world" or focus on lofty ideals of democracy and human rights; rather Denmark should prioritize its "national interest" and make the country a secure and safe place for the Danes.

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That applies to immigration policy as well. As European solidarity has faltered in the wake of the refugee crisis, Denmark is among the countries that has most openly justified more restrictive policies. While the welfare state still offers better conditions for asylum-seekers than many other European countries, Denmark's most recent restrictions are the result of a slow but persistent U-turn.

Since 1983, the Danish Aliens Act has been amended more than 100 times, from 2001 onwards nearly once every second month. While some of these amendments reflect administrative matters and international cooperation, there is a clear pattern of restrictive measures from the 1990s onwards. Denmark, moreover, never ceded sovereignty to the European Union in regard to asylum and immigration matters. Several of Denmark's policies on asylum and family reunification, for example, would not have been possible if it had to comply with EU law in this area.

Danish policies have further served as inspiration for other countries in Europe. Denmark was among the first countries to reject asylum claims on the basis that the claimant had travelled through a safe third country. This concept, which is the underlying premise for EU's current efforts to strike a deal with Turkey, came to be known simply as "the Danish clause" in the 1990s. Today, Danish asylum and immigration policy presents a shopping list for other states wishing to adopt deterrence measures; because of Denmark's liberal heritage it, these policies are a precedent that's easier to follow than if they came from notorious hardliner states.

A large group of migrants, mainly from Syria, walk towards Denmark on Sept. 7, 2015. (REUTERS/Bax Lindhardt/Scanpix Denmark)

Denmark's deterrence policies are designed to make its asylum system appear as unattractive as possible and thereby achieve a beggar-thy-neighbor-effect, pushing asylum-seekers towards other countries instead. Data for 2015 shows that Denmark has managed to maintain a surprisingly low number of asylum-seekers, especially compared to its neighbors, Sweden and Germany.

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And yet, Denmark is entering a high-stakes game. Europe has been here before, and experiences from the 1990s show that neighboring states will always hedge against these sorts of policies by preemptively adopting their own restrictions. Indeed, this is what is happening now across Europe. Germany, for example, has replaced financial benefits to refugees with coupons to claim food and clothing items. Sweden, for a while the last liberal bastion in Europe on asylum policy, has implemented several restrictions and reintroduced border control towards Denmark.

These measures are currently driving a downward spiral, with European governments fiercely competing to push asylum caseloads to a neighboring country. Like Denmark, most other European countries have shifted towards more insular policies, looking to serve the national interest over any commitment toward common European solutions.

In that sense, the refugee crisis is perhaps symptomatic of a deeper change across Europe -- away from internationalism and back towards the nation-state.

Earlier on WorldPost:
It was a large banner and its message was clear. It read: "Mission Accomplished," and no, I don't mean the classic " mission accomplished " banner on the USS Abraham Lincoln under which, on May 1, 2003, President George W. Bush proudly proclaimed (to the derision of critics ever since) that "major combat operations in Iraq have ended." I'm actually referring to a September 1982 banner with those same two words (and an added "farewell" below them) displayed on a landing craft picking up the last Marines sent ashore in Beirut, Lebanon, to be, as President Ronald Reagan put it when they arrived the previous August, "what Marines have been for more than 200 years -- peace-makers." Of course, when Bush co-piloted an S-3B Viking sub reconnaissance Naval jet onto the deck of the Abraham Lincoln and made his now-classic statement, major combat had barely begun in Iraq (and it has yet to end) -- nor was it peace that came to Beirut in September 1982: infamously, the following year 241 Marines would die there in a single day, thanks to a suicide bomber.

"Not for the last time," writes Andrew Bacevich in his monumental new work, America's War for the Greater Middle East: A Military History, "the claim proved to be illusory." Indeed, one of the grim and eerie wonders of his book is the way in which just about every wrongheaded thing Washington did in that region in the 14-plus years since 9/11 had its surprising precursor in the two decades of American war there before the World Trade Center towers came down. U.S. military trainers and advisers, for example, failed (as they later would in Iraq and Afghanistan) to successfully build armies, starting with the Lebanese one; Bush's "preventive war" had its predecessor in a Reagan directive called (ominously enough given what was to come) "combating terrorism"; Washington's obsessive belief of recent years that problems in the region could be solved by what Andrew Cockburn has called the "kingpin strategy" -- the urge to dismantle terror organizations by taking out their leadership via drones or special operations raids -- had its precursor in "decapitation" operations against Muammar Gaddafi, Saddam Hussein, and Somali warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid with similar resulting mayhem. The belief that "an additional increment of combat power might turn around a failing endeavor" -- call it a "surge," if you will -- had its Iraq and Afghan pretrial run in Somalia in 1993. And above all, of course, there was Washington's unquenchable post-1980 urge to intervene, military first, in a decisive way throughout the region, which, as Bacevich writes, only "produced conditions conducive to further violence and further disorder," and if that isn't the repetitive history of America's failed post-2001 wars in a nutshell, what is?
It doesn't help much to criticize Donald Trump. The best way to counteract him would be to ignore him, but he is frustratingly un-ignorable.

Trump, who blurs the line between reality TV and reality, will continue not to be ignored by media on both sides of the border at least until the Republican nomination convention in July and most likely until the presidential election in November. And if Jeb Bush was wrong when he told Trump, "You're not gonna be able to insult your way to the presidency," the orangish billionaire will be in our faces for much longer.

And let's be honest; many of us in this land of political sunshine look upon the American low pressure system now centred over Trump Towers with a mix of open horror and secret satisfaction. Self-satisfaction.

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A part of our otherwise polite Canadian hearts loves to hate Donald Trump, the loud, self-obsessed and infuriatingly successful embodiment of much of what irks us about our big brother to the south. As Trump gives his supporters permission to express their darker sentiments, he lures us with the same opportunity.

While some Canadians support Trump, a larger number of us would either like to see him get miraculously uprooted by Republican contender John Kasich ("I will not take the low road to the highest office.") or trounced by Hillary Clinton ("When we hear [Trump] call for rounding up 12 million immigrants . . . that doesn't make him strong, it makes him wrong"). Or perhaps we would like to see Trump replace Kevin Spacey, I mean Barack Obama, in the White House and then watch Trump Nation fail. It would be good for the Canadian psyche. We could incredulously question why Americans fall for him.

But if we ask that question non-rhetorically and open-mindedly, as we should, we might find the answer disturbingly close to home.

Trump's game is polarization. He draws simplistic lines and lobs enmity over them. He and his supporters look down on his ever-expanding list of losers, weaklings and haters. We in turn look down on Trump and his people. We look with disdain upon their disdain. We insult their insulting ways. In so doing we do not counteract the Trump phenomenon, we play along.

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Trump builds himself up by putting others down. His detractors tend to do the same.

I'm not saying that a slightly smug news item about prospective "Trump refugees" pining for Canada is as polarizing as a presidential candidate declaring that "a lot" of the 1.6 billion Muslims in the world are enemies of the U.S. I'm not equating the two. I am however saying that you can't fight polarization with polarization. You can't fight it at all. Blindly lobbing criticism back at him only increases the net amount of animosity.

Polarization in various forms corrodes our world. Tensions naturally exist between ethnic groups, nations, religions, "classes," and subsets of American Republicans. The temptation is to fuel the tensions rather than work through them. Many political figures seek to exploit fear of the other--whether Muslims or Trump supporters--to serve their ends. They harness people's varied resentments against a common scapegoat.

The only way to counter such polarization is to adopt an open posture toward those we would rather decry. To adapt a line Justin Trudeau used on election night in relation to Conservatives, Trump supporters are not our enemies, they're our neighbours.

To adapt a line from Stephen Harper on that same night, "the voters are never wrong." Though a collection of "x"s is an imperfect means of communication, there is something essential that voters express.

Trump supporters are frustrated with scripted, calculated, spirit-less politics. That's legitimate. Many value that Trump is not beholden to big donors. There is something legitimate in that. They feel left out, by the media and the "establishment." Undoubtedly there is something legitimate in that in many cases. They want to identify with something great, which is not all bad.

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Perhaps it is these factors that make Trump legitimately un-ignorable. He is tapping something that deserves attention.

This is not to excuse the race-based animosity and dangerously simplistic narratives. But perhaps we do better to look past those expressions to the underlying sentiments than to simply slam them.

The reality is that we're all on this planet together. We can't vote off everyone we dislike. So let's hold off on the self-righteousness, take a deeper look and recognize that there is a wee bit of Trump in the darker corners of our otherwise polite Canadian hearts.
He's fought in a war. He's been nominated for an Academy Award. He met his wife when he was 13. He's mentored by the director of Star Wars. Director Henry "Hank" Hughes' life may sound like a movie, but it's all real.

Growing up as an army brat, Hughes spent his childhood both in the United States and Europe. Wanting to study film in Boston, he attended Boston University on an ROTC scholarship and received his Bachelor of Science in Communications in 2006. He spent the following five years as a paratrooper in the 173rd Airborne, conducting two combat tours in Afghanistan. His unit was featured in Jake Tapper's bestselling novel, The Outpost, and Henry was featured in ABC News' documentary program Standing Up For Heroes where he was paired up with a notable mentor. And not just any mentor. George Lucas mentored Hughes as part of American Corporate Partner's National Mentoring Program. http://abcnews.go.com/US/video/standing-up-for-heroes-16643038

Henry Hughes (Courtesy of AFI):

Soon after returning from service in Afghanistan, Hughes began studying filmmaking at the American Film Institute where he earned an MFA in Directing, and for his thesis project, created his first dramatic short film Day One, a riveting look at an Afghan-American woman who joins the U.S. military as an interpreter and is sent to Afghanistan. The film won a Student Academy Award, a College Emmy Award, and earlier this year was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film.

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One year ago, Day One also collected the alumni prize at Boston University's Redstone Film Festival, which showcases the finest student made short films. Now, at age 31, life has come full circle for Hughes as he returns to the Redstone Film Festival this Thursday, April 7 where he is hosting the annual event. The festival is named for Sumner Redstone (Hon '94) who sponsors the events, which takes place at The Directors Guild of America in Los Angeles. http://www.bu.edu/com/academics/what-we-do/film-television/the-redstones/

I had the pleasure of chatting with Hughes about his life and career...

Xaque Gruber: What films influenced you in the writing and directing of Day One?

Hank Hughes: I am interested in films that explore the meaning of life as it hangs in the balance. Danny Boyle and Paul Greengrass come to mind. And I am a big fan of Asghar Farhadi's A Separation.

XG: How did working with George Lucas help shape Day One? Was he hands on with you through the process?

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HH: George mentored me through a veterans organization and has been an immense help in developing my craft. Over the years he'd watch some of my work, and ask the bigger questions about filmmaking as opposed to the mechanics of the film itself. He'd ask 'who was I making movies for?' It's an important question and one that speaks to his own relationship with a larger audience. XG: Tell me some of the lessons you learned in the trenches of directing and writing Day One that you'll do differently with the next film.

HH: After the initial edit, I wrote and shot a new beginning and ending of Day One. If I can build in some room for reshoots in my next projects I will. The ability to look at a rough cut and realize that you need a particular scene is invaluable. Perhaps I can get to a point of anticipating problems, but at this stage I find the ability to shoot additional scenes tremendously helpful.

XG: What was it like to be at the Oscars with your first endeavor?

HH: I was certainly surprised. I had hoped the film would reach as many people as possible, but I didn't think the film would go that far. It was a treat to have such an eye opening experience so early in my career.

XG: Have you already started your next film?

HH: I am juggling a number of projects: a feature, a web series, and developing a television series. It's difficult for me to multi task at this point as a young craftsmen, but it seems to be the nature of the beast.

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XG: What five features released in the past year most impressed you?

HH: The Look of Silence, About Elly, Mad Max: Fury Road, Carol and Creed

XG: Tell me about your experience at the Redstones last year. In one year, you went from showing your film to hosting the event. Bravo!
2016 marks the fifth anniversary of the January 25th Egyptian revolution, when millions of Egyptians from vast socio-economic classes called for "bread, freedom, and social equality." Ever since that time, when we were hopeful and optimistic about a drastic change, the country has undergone several government overhauls and endured political and economic unrest. Fast forward five years later, the average Egyptian is still suffering.

When companies started going out of business and NGOs came to face more and more restrictions, it became necessary to search for an alternative. Between enterprises that do business with sole profit motives, and charities that receive donations and endowments to help the underprivileged, there was no middle option to combine business with social good. Talk about "social entrepreneurship" (SE) was mainly conceptual, and we needed a way to make the abstract concrete, which is critical to bring about greater understanding, acceptance and a disruptive change in the country's socio-economic conditions. In fact, it wasn't until Hult Prize that SE found its ways to the land of the pharaohs, and more specifically to the youth.

The major shift happened a couple of years ago when Hult Prize was introduced in the American University in Cairo (AUC), which I will touch base on soon. In essence, Hult Prize is the world's largest student competition and accelerator for social impact. The Hult Prize Foundation, in partnership with Clinton Global Initiative, awards a $1 million prize to a team of students who offer a game-changing solution to an annually selected global challenge. By doing so, the Hult Prize goes beyond the generic business competition targets, and engages more young minds in the innovation process.

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Before Hult Prize spread to Egypt, students didn't know they could have a profitable business and enhance social welfare simultaneously. The typical conversation separated for-profit organizations and charities, not allowing for an alternative way of doing business. Nevertheless, the challenges announced by Hult Prize over the past couple of years showed the extent by which social enterprises can be disruptive and have the potential to alleviate problems like poverty, illiteracy and chronic diseases for millions of people. As a university student, I wanted to be part of this inspiring call to action, spread it across my community and engage as many students as possible, as I am a firm believer that social enterprises will surely contributes to our prayers for prosperity.

Let me get back to AUC, where the SE spark ignited. With over 7,000 students, 50% Egyptians and 50% foreigners, you could easily tell that AUC is a melting pot of nationalities and views in Egypt, with students coming from all walks of life, and from all over the world. What's really interesting is that no matter what major students select, they can always pursue different courses, following AUC's liberal arts doctrine. These factors were to our advantage when we introduced the principles of social entrepreneurship, and helped cultivate a great spirit that encouraged students to be part of the change.

Running the local competition this year in partnership with the student organization, The International Conference on Global Economy (ICGE), The AUC School of Business, The Venture Lab, and the incredible Hana Sanad who co-managed the AUC qualifier, we saw an amazing surge in the number of applicants, exploding from 40 to 125 teams in only one year. This validated our hypothesis that as students came to understand the value of creating what we marketed as the "best of both worlds," more and more got the confidence to leave their comfort zones and start creating SEs. They had the ideas. What they needed was a spark, and most importantly, the optimism and drive to embark upon this new path.

What does this 125 number mean? Quite literally, it means that in AUC alone, there were 125 ideas for new businesses, created specifically to solve a global problem. This year's challenge is to build sustainable social enterprises that double the income of 10 million people living in crowded urban spaces by 2022. While not every idea will result in a successful new enterprise, the odds are good with such large numbers. Two ideas that ended up advancing to the regionals finals were NEXU, a company that started an online platform to connect skilled service providers to with consumers, and SandaaS Co., which provides new water and power supply technologies through human waste.

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This is only one campus in Egypt, which is showing that youth is Egypt's key to alleviate the conditions and address the unanswered demands of the revolution. If we do the math, with around 25,000 student applications for this year's case only, imagine how many slums, cities and people will benefit from the solutions that are creating social impact and generating money. Astonishing, right?


Egyptian Foreign Minister, Sameh Shoukry addressing the UN Security Council on Libya (Source: Daily News Egypt)

On October 13th 1957, Nasser of Egypt -allegedly backed by the Soviets- sent troops to the Syrian coastal city Latakia in an attempt to deter the Turkish forces from aggression against its Northern ally. The America-Syria crazy summer of 1957 ended by a political agreement between the two global poles at the time. As a result, General Afif al-Bizri, the Syrian Army's Chief of staff arrived in Cairo in early 1958 urging Nasser to establish the United Arab Republic (UAR) to safeguard Syria from external threats. Sixty years passed, and we still hear similar pan-Arab discourses on the need for an Egyptian interventionist approach in the fragmented Middle East. Nevertheless, Egypt's National Grand Strategy and interests in post-2011 triumphs political non-interventionist approach to end both the Syrian and Libyan crises. Still, Egypt's role is prominent and no solution will be in display without an Egyptian consent and engagement.

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If you would go anywhere in the Levant; the most prominent family's name is "al-Masri" The Egyptian. These are the remnants of Muhamad Ali's (1769-1849) troops that remained in many parts of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine till the moment after his war against the Ottoman Empire. Besides, the Egyptian dialect of Arabic is the only comprehendible one across the region and it's been the wedge of the Middle East. Egyptians -both on local and state levels- see no end to the Syrian and Libyan crises but a political roadmap that includes everyone except for extremists who will never accept the basic conception of a nation-state and seek no desire for international peace. Egypt's National Security in terms of geopolitics starts from its historic Northern Arab ally "Syria," and to the West from "Algeria," thus Syria and Libya are indispensable for Egypt's stability, as a nation-state, regardless of the political regime ruling Cairo.

Since the first Gulf war, Egypt has remained attentive to the developments taking place in its region and sphere of interest; the fall of Iraq, the Iranian nuclear program, and the developments on the African continent with specific reference to the Nile Basin countries and stability in the African Horn. However, the unpredicted events of the Arab uprisings topped these episodes in shaping Egypt's stable foreign policy. The 25th of January brought Egypt and its people back to life; a life that is -normally like transitory periods- packed with infinite domestic challenges, unsettled regional conflicts, and a domino-like dropping neighbors. These have been exacerbated by rising sectarian conflicts beclouding the region. However, Egypt was demanded, by its own people and the regional partners, to assume its irreplaceable historic responsibilities as the pivotal anchor for prudence and stability at time unrest was slipping into its own soil. Not only that, but Egypt has undergone the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) experience that deemed a sectarian break down inevitable and has largely influenced Egypt's politics on the regional arena. By the end of 2013, Egypt was fortunately able to hold itself back on track and to expedite a delicate development-induced stability formula. Since then, Egypt's foreign policy has been at an all-new liveliness.

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In February 2016, as the Egypt 2030 strategy was being presented, Egypt's new political leadership outlined the country's National Grand Strategy for the next 14-years in two main lines; Survival and Development. This is projected on Egypt's vision of its own dynamics and to the region as a whole. On different occasions, Mr. Sameh Shoukry, Egypt's foreign minister, has outlined the determinants of Egypt's foreign policy; to succor the domestic development strategy; to open to prominent experiences; to steer efforts to combat terrorism and to labor to entrench Egypt's role in settling the region's ongoing crisis. Egypt shall be an enemy of no one, seeking cooperation with all its neighbors, regional and international players. It is in our best interest to be open to everyone, not slip with any amateurish/confrontational acts from anyone and remain rational in outlining our vision for the third Republic of Egypt.

In its efforts to combat terrorism and in its own experience, Egypt has held the MB and its affiliate groups' ideology responsible for all sort of extremism thinking in the region. In this regard, Egypt has waged a bold-costly war against Jihadists in Sinai. Egypt's army proved to be efficient in doing so and to be the only Middle Eastern army that can endure a long-lasting conformation with non-state militia. Other state experiences' back such deduction. It also continues to carry out deliberate efforts in safeguarding its Libyan western borders. On a regional and international level, Egypt has steadily condemned supporting Jihadists in Syria, Libya, or Iraq for attaining narrow self-interests by some regional and world powers. Egypt always warns against this idealistic-naive view of including Salafi-Jihadi fighters in any future political deal. History gives us clear lessons on that. From an Egyptian point of view, Syrians has to scratch their backs. No one will bear the consequences of their problems or deal with the issue of suffering millions of refugees but Syrians. They have to reach a political consensus on their own with the help of their Arab neighbors. In fact the Middle East has not changed much in 100 years, only Arabs have solutions for their own difficulties. Additionally, Egypt was elected to the UN Security Council non-permanent seat for Africa and it pledged to gear its efforts in combating terrorism on a multilateral level. Above all, the terrorism security-pillar wasn't isolated, but came in through a comprehensive approach by which economic, religious and social reasons were also tackled.

In solidifying its role in the region, Egypt's defining principles were denouncing support for any type of Jihadists, preserving unity of the states as in Syria and Libya, abiding with international law and committing to multilateral efforts for political resolutions, and developing a region-based security approach translated into the Joint Arab Forces (JAF). However, JAF is not an offensive force in Egypt's vision; it's for deterrence against potential threats that may face Egypt and its regional allies. These principles weren't born overnight but through a long experience with the region and deep understanding for its complexity that was convoluted by Jihad. First, supporting Salafi-Jihadists has always backfired and it has only furthered the sectarian divisions. Add to this, with augmented capacities, their operations extended to far-reaching regions and Europe was just a witness. Second, Egypt gives a due care to the preservation of states' institutions of the Arab neighbors, as in Syria and Libya, while ensuring their reform. Otherwise it would represent an imminent threat to disintegration of these states, hence, further instability in the region and impairment of its states. Building institutions from the scratch will never work in the Middle East. The world, should perhaps focus on the preservation of current state structures rather on who will run what? Third, respect for international law and multilateral efforts have been permanent features in Egypt's foreign diplomacy, for it otherwise threatens the stability of the international order. Thus, Egypt commits an unconditional support for multilateral efforts, whether regional through the Arab League or international through the United Nations, to conclude on peaceful political settlements. Moreover, on the painful accident of beheading 21 Egyptians in Sirte, Egypt had to commit itself to the UN charter in retaining its inherent right of self-defense to launch its attack on ISIL's offshoot in Libya.

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YouTube/University Of Hyderabad

Appa Rao Podile, the vice-chancellor of the University of Hyderabad, has been in the eye of the storm for a while now. Students have been protesting against the resumption of duty by Rao who has been blamed for the institutional killing of Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula. The students have even written to President Pranab Mukherjee, seeking his immediate intervention.

Rao is again in the news, not for any good reason.

According to this report in The Wire, there are evidences to show Rao has done a 'cut and paste' job in multiple scientific articles that now raises questions about his academic credentials.

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The report indicates that the article 'Root Colonisation and Quorum Sensing are the Driving Forces of Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR) for Growth Promotion' has at least six plagiarised sentences.

The Hyderabad University vice chancellor is the lead as well as corresponding author of the mentioned article, which was published in 2014 in the journal, Proceedings of the Indian National Science Academy.

And not just once instance, the report shows that three of Rao's papers published in 2007 and 2014 have parts that have been completely lifted from elsewhere without any citations.

When Rao was asked for comments, this is what he said: If we have plagiarised others data, we will retract the paper with regrets. If we have missed citing references of the original source for a part of the text, we will apologise for the mistakes.

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Rao says that he will use appropriate software from now on to check for plagiarism.

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Vivek Prakash / Reuters A bottling plant worker affixes a Courrier Napoleon brandy label to a bottle at a Tilaknagar Industries distillery and bottling unit in Srirampur, about 300 km (186 miles) northwest of Mumbai, January 28, 2013. The biggest global alcohol companies are sizing up buyout and tie-up opportunities in China, India, South Korea and Vietnam, keen to profit from a $258 billion Asian market that is growing twice as fast as the rest of the world. REUTERS/Vivek Prakash (INDIA - Tags: BUSINESS EMPLOYMENT)

NEW DELHI -- Following the prohibition on country made liquor in the state, the Bihar government on Tuesday banned liquor completely, making it the fourth dry state in the country.

Bihar is now the fourth dry state after Gujarat, Kerala and Nagaland.

#WATCH: Nitish Kumar announces complete imposition of alcohol ban in Bihar, turns dry state from todayhttps://t.co/vUtBFa0LGS  ANI (@ANI_news) April 5, 2016

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has said that hotels and bars will not serve alcohol anymore and no license will be given, while adding that Army canteens will continue to sell alcohol.

During Assembly elections, Nitish had promised that he will start a people's movement against liquor in the state and ensure that the ban on liquor is effectively implemented.

In the 2014-15 the excise collection from the liquor in the state was Rs. 3,700 crore while the target for the 2015-16 was set at Rs. 4,000 crore.

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ASSOCIATED PRESS Bollywood actor Hrithik Roshan speaks during the press conference for the 17A Edition of IIFA Weekend & Awards in Madrid, Spain. Monday. March 14, 2016. (AP Photo/Abraham Caro Marin)

This is not a great time to be Hrithik Roshan. Or his PR representative, for that matter.

The 42-year-old actor, who has recently been left red-faced after his public battle with rumoured ex-girlfriend Kangana Ranaut resulted in some negative press and a public apology, allegedly attempted to bully a news photographer for taking his pictures. He then proceeded to illegally confiscate his camera for nearly 24 hours.

On Tuesday, Mumbai Mirror reported the ordeal that their staff photographer Raju Shelar was put through last Sunday after he attempted to click candid pictures of the star during an outdoor shoot in China Creek, Thane. Roshan was shooting for the climax of Ashutosh Gowariker's upcoming period film Mohenjo Daro when one of his security guards spotted Shelar, who was attempting to take exclusive pictures of the star in character.

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According to the report, Shelar's camera was confiscated and handed over to Roshan, who snidely remarked that Shelar "should be given a glass of water" for his efforts. He then disappeared into his vanity van with the camera, emerging several hours later while the photographer was told to wait until the end of the shoot.

Roshan, having showered and changed, reprimanded Shelar for 'outing' his look from the film  even though pictures of the same have been published before by several outlets. Despite Shelar protesting that he was merely doing his job as a professional news photographer  with a decade of work experience under his belt  the star refused to give him back his camera, asking him instead to pick it up from his Juhu residence the next morning.

On Monday, Shelar turned up at the given time, 11 am, but Roshan was asleep then. He only emerged around 4 pm  explaining that he'd been busy in "back-to-back meetings"  and demanded an apology from the tabloid in return for the camera. MM responded by saying that the paper would file a police complaint if the camera wasn't returned immediately. Roshan responded by saying that he'll "think about it".

However, this act of bravado didn't last too long. Moments later, after the newspaper placed a call to Thane's police commissioner and Shelar left, Roshan backed down and returned his camera. He'd seized one of its memory cards, which had a few pictures, but neglected to confiscate the other, which had many more. In its report, MM gleefully published one of Shelar's pictures from that day, saying: "Next time, he should perhaps wear the Krrish mask!"

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Mahesh Girri Twitter

NEW DELHI -- The Bharatiya Janata Party is not amused.

Raghav Chopra, a journalist with CNN-IBN, invited the wrath of the BJP after he tweeted a morphed image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi touching the feet of Saudi Arabias King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.

"Will someone tell me what's Modi ji doing in Saudi? Can't be what it looks like surely," Chopra said in the tweet, which he has now deleted.

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The original photo has Modi touching the feet of the BJP's veteran leader L.K. Advani.

On Monday, the BJP filed a complaint against Chopra with the Delhi Police.

Modi recently traveled to Saudi Arabia as part of his three-nation trip during which he also attended the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, D.C.

Earlier this week, Mahesh Girri, National Secretary of the BJP, urged "strict action" against Chopra.

"Outside India, PM represents the nation. By showing PM @narendramodi as bowing to the Saudi King, @AarSee has insulted India." Girri said on Twitter.

"Hatred overriding ethics," he tweeted.

Rajyavardhan Rathore, Minister Of State for Information & Broadcasting, tweeted back: "Dear Shri @MaheishGirri Ji, I have instructed @MIB_India to review the violations."

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Over the course of the past few years, BJP supporters and even the Modi government's IT cell has shared morphed images of Modi.

A black-and-white photo of Modi holding a broom was fake.

Modi's photo posted by Press Information Bureau, which showed him in a helicopter during an aerial survey of flood-hit Chennai, was also photoshopped.

When attacked by right-wing trolls, Chopra initially defended his post. But as the situation became increasingly grave, Chopra tweeted out an apology.

"I sincerely regret posting a morphed picture of the PM on my Facebook page. I should have also verified its authenticity before tweeting it," he said. "I apologise to everyone concerned for this unfortunate error on my part."

Since my TL has exploded here's a clarification: that pic was posted saying its NOT a genuine pic. Expected to get the original which I did  Raghav Chopra (@AarSee) April 3, 2016

Priya bhakto "can't be what it looks like" means there's something fishy in the image. Unsurprisingly you lot can't understand basic English  Raghav Chopra (@AarSee) April 3, 2016

CNN-IBN also tweeted out an apology following the backlash against Chopra's tweet.

The organisation was not aware of this unfortunate lapse of judgement. We apologise to everyone for this confusion & deeply regret the error  CNN-IBN News (@ibnlive) April 4, 2016

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Have you found yourself wondering why people kill themselves or try to? Oh, let me rephrase. If you are among the fortunate few who haven't had to struggle with any kind of mental illness or agony, have you, in the past week, found yourself asking what makes people take their own lives?

If you have, most of you have wanted answers for the following 'whys': Why did he/she have to take his/her life? Why couldn't he/she find someone to confide in? Why did he/she not find another way around the trouble, there is indeed another way, we've had problems in life too. Why don't people who kill themselves think about family, friends, the people they leave behind in great misery?

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All the wrong whys.

"What a waste these youngsters," you have probably declared, shaking your head for heightened effect, before moving on to other headlines in the newspaper.

But here's the thing, citing someone's suicide as an example to urge others to look around themselves, among their own, for signs of distress is one thing. And issuing value judgments on victims of suicide is entirely another. The former encourages empathy, the latter is just plain vile.

Hema Malini

On Monday, BJP MP and actor Hema Malini decided to show the world, how to NOT discuss suicide or mental illness.

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Without naming anyone, she posted the following tweets.

All these senseless suicides which achieve nothg! Life is God's gift for us to live not for us to take at will. We have no right to do that.  Hema Malini (@dreamgirlhema) April 4, 2016

One must learn to overcome all odds & emerge successful,not succumb under pressure & give up easily.The world admires a fighter not a loser  Hema Malini (@dreamgirlhema) April 4, 2016

Just becomes food for the hungry media who chew on news like celebrity suicides until the next sensational news happens.Thn it is forgotten  Hema Malini (@dreamgirlhema) April 4, 2016

Clearly, the 'world' was not giving her the right lessons on admiration.

The anti-thesis to suicidal people that these social media messages created was a superhuman - courageous, concerned about friends and family, successful and happy.

The unfortunate bit here is, Hema Malini has company. Several pundits on the 'god's gift' that life is, took to social media to admonish people who have committed suicide. Television actor Pratyusha Banerjee's suicide and the unverified claims of Priyanka Chopra's manager that she was suicidal in the past, clearly prompted a rush of opinions on social media on suicide. First came the advice - keep your girls away from showbiz, they may just kill themselves.

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Then came the sympathisers - do they not think about their parents when they kill themselves on a whim? Finally came the angry anti-suicide crusaders a la Hema Malini - cowards commit suicide, so choose if you want to be a coward.

And if you were not this fascinating human being straight out of a Rajnigandha commercial, you were many things - a failure, selfish, coward and in Hema Malini's words, a loser.

The intent behind this social media outpouring was fairly clear - to discourage people from considering suicide as an option to end their problems. But the language and reasoning that was offered to ask people to not consider suicide, unfortunately, exemplified the reasons people are pushed to take such extreme steps.

The anti-thesis to suicidal people that these social media messages created was a superhuman - courageous, concerned about friends and family, successful and happy. The social media narrative also wholeheartedly endorsed the idea that the only kind of people who were desirable, admired and appreciated are these fantastic specimens of humanity unblemished by fear, selfishness, self doubt and pain. We should only strive to be that person because nothing else cuts in this world.

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Rakhi Sawant jumped in to milk the tragedy.

And if you were not this fascinating human being straight out of a Rajnigandha commercial, you were many things - a failure, selfish, coward and in Hema Malini's words, a loser. You'd rather not be that person. And in the heads of some people, it doesn't take time for that knowledge to escalate to, 'you'd rather not be'.

We are, at the end of the day, as much about our fears, as we are about our small victories.

The answer to stop suicides can't be holding up an ideal, unachievable by many. After all, disappointment and depression often follows an individual's failure to live up to many ideals - their own, their families', the society's. This hard-hitting series on the Refinery, where 15 suicide survivors talk about their lives, indicates many of them fell short of arbitrary ideals. Someone feared rotting in hell because of her sexual orientation, someone feared turning into a bad mother, someone feared not living up to a body image, someone feared failing to be the perfect partner.

Their stories are not entirely unfamiliar. We are, at the end of the day, as much about our fears, as we are about our small victories. Some of us fight them alone, some of us have a battery of people rallying around us to fight them, some of us try, fail and complain loudly about it, some of us fail and suffer in silence. Melody Moezzi, a survivor, documented in the Refinery series, says, "Its not some tiny minority of people, but theyre so fucking quiet about it, and that was the thing that really pissed me off when I went into the hospital and realized that."

If you cannot empathise, please spare everyone the knowledge of what life looks like from atop the moral high horse.

In a country like India, where mental illness or even distress is a taboo that comes with a fear of ostracism, it's not very practical to hurl accusations of cowardice at people who may be struggling with such disorders. Instead of letting Priyanka Chopra decide whether or not she wants to talk about her alleged travails, we quickly bought her former manager's claims and splashed them across newspapers and websites, almost gawking, 'Oh my god, would you believe Priyanka Chopra f***** up?". In our eagerness to find a chink in a 'perfect' armour, we completely forgot what message we were giving out: that a struggle with a mental disorder could also be a circus, meant for public consumption.

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We need to understand that preaching on mental illness, minus empathy, cannot be a part of anyone's social media project to look accomplished and smarter-than-the-average. If you cannot empathise, please spare everyone the knowledge of what life looks like from atop the moral high horse.

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Rakhi Sawant has taken the media and celebrity circus that we have all been witness to following Balika Vadhu actress Pratyusha Banerjee's tragic alleged suicide to a whole new level.

In a bizarre press conference held at a banquet hall in Mumbai's Oshiwara area, Sawant made two claims: one, that she was in possession of a video that would reveal that Banerjee's death wasn't a suicide, and two, that ceiling fans were indirectly responsible for the lives of thousands of young, fragile women across the country. "If a father and mother love their daughter, they should get rid of ceiling fans," said Sawant, dressed in a black velvet top, with a flex banner behind her that read 'Lautkar aa jao Pratyusha (come back, Pratyusha)'. "Use AC, use table fans," she added, brandishing a small white ceiling fan that she had brought along to the presser for added impact.

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On being asked how the poor would cope with the heat, she said, "Table fans are not expensive. We are planning to go to slums and donate 5,000 fans to the poor ourselves. At least we're doing this. What are others doing for the country? What is the government doing?"

However, it must be said that Sawant's idea of getting rid of ceiling fans to prevent suicides, as crazy as it may sound, isn't new.

A number of journalists present there, including this writer, could barely resist from smirking. One reporter asked, "20 years ago, [actress] Divya Bharti had committed suicide by jumping off a building. Should we also ban buildings?"

Sawant replied: "Please don't make fun of this issue. Now if Smriti Irani said this, you would applaud her. Why? Because she's the education minister, that's why?"

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At this point, a few irate journalists asked her to share details of the supposedly explosive video she had, which she claims was sent by Banerjee's producer boyfriend Rahul Raj Singh's ex-wife Saloni Sharma. "We have proof that it was not a suicide, but we've been told that we have to give it to the Crime Branch first," she said. "Some people from the Crime Branch were supposed to attend this press conference, but they backed out at the last minute."

However, it must be said that Sawant's idea of getting rid of ceiling fans to prevent suicides, as crazy as it may sound, isn't new. In 2010, a four-member team probing the suicide of a student at IIT Kanpur, one of India's premier engineering colleges, had recommended that the ceiling fans be replaced by pedestal fans.

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Years ago, at a conference in Istanbul, Ramesh Agarwal was listening to a presentation on transport when suddenly he heard the speaker say, "India is world's number one." Agarwal, the chairman and managing director of India's leading packing and moving service, was thrilledthough his grasp of English was weak, he understood that India was top in something. Acknowledging the compliment, Agarwal began to applaud loudly. But when the rest of the audience only gazed at him in shocked silence, he stopped clapping.

"I looked around, and immediately realised I had done something wrong," he told HuffPost India, speaking in Hindi. "I asked around, and that's when I realised the presenter had said India was leading the number of road deaths in the world."

Agarwal returned to India and began researching. He found that thousands of people die in road deaths each yearin 2014, the number was over 140,000and one of the factors resulting in the accidents was lack of sleep. Drivers, particularly those who drive commercial vehicles and travel long distances for days at a stretch, just don't get adequate rest, causing them to crash.

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"I felt like I got an electric shock. I felt so guilty."

Though there are no official data to establish the number of deaths caused by sleep deprived drivers, anecdotal evidence suggests that deaths due to 'sleep debt', or drowsy driving, are common enough to warrant alarm.

According to a study done by All India Transport Welfare Association (AITWA), an industry body of transporters, an estimated 26,650 people died (out of a total of 139,091 deaths) as a result of drowsy driving in 2012. In 2013, this figure was 24,081 (out of a total of 137,423).

The next few years, Agarwal said he made his case to several government representatives, urging them to address the problem. In the meantime, he met drivers in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, and Rajasthan, asking them why they didn't get enough sleep.

"All of them laughed at my question and asked me where did I think they could sleep," he said. "Even though now trucks manufactured by good companies are more comfortable, they can't sleep in them for extended periods of time because of security problems."

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It is rare for them to have uninterrupted sleep for more than two or three hours a day. Most of them use "kali goli (black pills)" to stay awake, they told Agarwal.

"These are basically opium-based pills," he explained. "I felt like I got an electric shock. I felt so guilty."

The Nindra Daan Kendra in Jaipur.

The constant lack of sleep shortens their normal life span, and many of these drivers are unable to have regular married lives  over a fifth of them remain unmarried. Perhaps this is why there is a huge shortage of truck drivers in IndiaAITWA estimates that every day, some 23 lakh vehicles can't be used because no one is available to drive them.

When he got no response from the government, Agarwal said he approached his younger brother Rajinder, who is involved in labour rights. The brothers decided that the best way to help the drivers was to build a space for them to sleep between long drives. In 2012, Agarwal built a 500-bed 'Nindra Daan Kendra' or dharamshala (rest house), which has bathrooms, barber shops, a laundry room, ambulances, parking, and security guards. It is situated on the national highway (NH-8) between Jaipur and Ajmer. As many as 30,000 trucks pass through in a given day, Agarwal said.

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A free barber shop at the Nindra Daan Kendra in Jaipur.

A second facility with 250 beds is scheduled to be opened near NH-6 in Malkhapur, on the route between Surat and Kolkata, later this month. Both are open for drivers round the clock and completely free of charge  all they have to do is sign a statement that says they will use the facility for six hours to catch up on sleep.

Agarwal's team estimates that around 41 lives are saved every month on the Jaipur stretch alone, thanks to the initiative.

"I want to change the mindset against these drivers, who are the backbone of this industry," said Agarwal. "They are neglected and need to be given their dignity and lives back."

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Kansas football heads toward a bye week it needs

A number of Kansas football players were either out Saturday due to injury or at least limited. The bye week should help them.
With the strategy, the Council of Europe endeavours to help the 47 Council of Europe member states to effectively protect and respect human rights and the rule of law online, and to empower people to explore the Internets potential for education and democratic participation.

The Council of Europe Committee of Ministers today adopted its Internet Governance Strategy for 2016-2019 , which aims to tackle the challenges to human rights, democracy and the rule of law in the rapidly evolving online environment.

The strategy spells out the Council of Europes priority lines of work in the next four years in different fields. It addresses, for example, issues such as the Internet of things  a growing trend which allows users to be connected to household devices -, mass surveillance, violent radicalisation, hate speech, and online abuse.

One of the priorities will be to further explore and promote the public service value of the Internet as an enabler for participation in public life and for the enjoyment of digital culture. An innovative aspect is that the strategy underlines the importance of users developing a balanced relationship with the Internet, based on the freedom to connect but also to disconnect.

The following are some of the actions planned:

- Establish a platform between governments and major Internet companies to promote their respect for human rights online;

- Propose concrete measures to address the concerns about mass surveillance and the bulk interception of data;

- Develop standards on the role of Internet intermediaries with regard to freedom of expression, taking into account best practices on blocking, filtering and takedown of Internet content;

- Launch a consultation on European education with a view to preparing a white paper on media and information literacy

- Promote the setting up of a network of national institutions to guide Internet users to seek redress when their human rights have been breached online;

- Conduct a triennial reporting on the state of data protection on the Internet in Europe;

- Assess and review the governance of mobile health and electronic health.

To implement the strategy, the Council of Europe will work together with partners from other international organisations, the private sector, civil society, researchers, academics, and Internet governance networks and bodies, such as the Internet Governance Forum or the European Dialogue on Internet Governance (EuroDIG).

Special thematic file: The Council of Europe and the Internet
In 2015 the insurance telematics market was worth $857.2 million; by 2020 it is expected to surge to $2.21 billion. The growth will be driven by increased usage of smartphones and in-car connectivity together with increased regulatory pressures for insurers.The research from Reportlinker.com shows that large enterprises are investing heavily in telematics technologies in order to simplify their insurance processes.Although North America will have the largest market share during the forecast period, it will be Asia-Pacific and Latin America that see the sharpest rises in market growth.Insurance firms are concerned about the effect on the market if the UK votes to leave the European Union. A survey conducted by Haggie Partners found that more than two thirds of insurers, brokers and service providers in Londons insurance market believe a Brexit would be bad for business.More than 68 per cent say that Lloyds would be negatively impacted by a break with the EU, around a quarter feel it would have no impact and 6 per cent say it could benefit the market.Almost 70 per cent of respondents sell directly to the EU with another 58 per cent selling indirectly to the region.On another matter, survey respondents believe the replacement for Lloyds current chairman, who steps down next year, should be an insurance industry veteran. 58.1 per cent believe the next chairman should be either a Lloyds insider (24.1 per cent) or an insurance professional from outside Lloyds (34.0 per cent). 41.9 per cent would prefer a professional from another area of business.Marsh & McLennan Agency has acquired the New York based insurance brokerage and HR consultancy Corporate Consulting Services. CCS provides services including employee benefits and retirement planning and was founded in 1989.It generates $6 million in annual revenues and has 20 employees who will join MMAs Northeast region. CCS president and CEO Grant Dougherty will continue to lead the team from its New York office but the business will begin using the Marsh & McLennan Agency name immediately.
IND vs PAK: 'Where Did That Come From?'-Ravi Shastri Taken Aback With Shaheen Shah Afridi Six
The WISeID Kaspersky Lab Security app

Kaspersky Lab and WISeKey, a Swiss based cyber-security company, recently announced the release of a special edition of the cyber-resilience app, WISeID Kaspersky Lab Security. This new edition integrates the best technologies from both cyber-security companies to offer mobile users safer and more reliable mobile communications and transactions.

The WISeID Kaspersky Lab Security cyber-resilience edition locks personal data such as account usernames and passwords, credit card numbers and access PINs into a secure personal data organizer, creating accountable identities for online activity while the data itself remains protected in a secure cloud vault.

Mobile security threats are increasing in number and sophistication, with hackers looking for ways to hijack mobiles for Bitcoin mining, or to trick mobile users into giving up their personal identity and bank account information.

Even though mobile operating systems provide app developers with significant security features, hackers have still been able to exploit the massive installed base of Android and iOS devices, using many different infection vectors to place malware.

Without mobile security software, users are vulnerable to all these threats and more.

We have detected nearly 17 million mobile malware attacks in 2015 alone and this rapid growth of cyberthreats against smartphones, regardless of their operating systems, should be a wakeup call for consumers, including more than 38 million users from the Philippines. The threat against our devices is now a highly concerning reality which involves our identity, our privacy, our money and everything our phone has inside it. We encourage users to take advantage of this app, which can at least be the first line of defense of our devices against hackers, warns Anthony Chua, Territory Channel Manager for the Philippines and Singapore at Kaspersky Lab Southeast Asia.

The WISeID Kaspersky Lab Security includes Kaspersky Mobile Security SDK a robust and proven solution for protecting mobile phones against security threats.

The SDKs inclusion in the app delivers advanced security features like web & network protection, device protection and risk detection to smartphones, offering users an effective layer of self-defense.

Among other things, WISeID keeps passwords in an encrypted vault, generates hard-to-crack passwords, and safely synchronizes data between computers and devices on multiple platforms, using secure cloud storage.

The vault can be unlocked only with the users Master Password and/or defined pattern, with additional protection provided through facial recognition authentication. WISeID can be accessed online through a single click.

The free WISeID Kaspersky Lab Security with built-in Kaspersky Mobile Security SDK is available for iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac OSX, Windows and Kindle, http://www.wiseid.com.

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Press Release: AFRITAC South Strengthens Member States Macroeconomic and Financial Sector Management

Press Release No. 15/153

April 5, 2016

The Steering Committee of the International Monetary Funds Regional Technical Assistance Center for Southern Africa (AFRITAC South1) met in Ebene, Mauritius, in March 30-April 1, 2016.

Mr. Vidianand Lutchmeeparsad, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development of Mauritius, welcomed the progress made in the centers technical assistance (TA) delivery despite challenges facing the region and he noted that support from the center had been instrumental in improving growth prospects.

At the conclusion of the meeting, Mr. Mukuli Chikuba, Chairman of the Steering Committee meeting and Director of the Economic Management Department at the Ministry of Finance of Zambia, and Ms. Effie Psalida, AFRITAC South Coordinator, issued the following joint statement:

Members of the Steering Committee noted good progress towards the execution of the FY162 work plan. While TA delivery across countries varied to some extent due to unforeseen developments at the level of member countries, the volume of TA is expected to increase by about 25 percent in FY16 relative to FY15  partly reflecting a sustained increase in demand from the region, to which AFRITAC South responded positively. The execution rate for FY16 is expected to reach slightly above 94 percent.

The Steering Committee also took note that the bulk of the recommendations of the mid-term external evaluations had been implemented during FY16 and those which needed a longer-term horizon for implementation would be executed in the early years of the centers second program phase which will start as from May 1, 2017.

Members also welcomed the increasing focus by AFRITAC South on regional initiatives which complements direct TA delivery, in particular the professional attachment program and new seminars planned ahead. The Steering Committee strongly supported the improvement in

coordination and collaboration with regional partners on the centers work plan and thanked donor partners and regional institutions for their feedbacks on TA priorities. Members also called for stronger inter-agency coordination at country level.

The Committee endorsed the work plan for FY17. It also endorsed greater flexibility on reallocation of resources during the implementation phase with a view to improving execution. The work program for FY17 will complement IMF HQ-led TA and development partner initiatives in member countries. A third of the resources will support fragile and low income countries.

Members took note of the emerging strategic priorities for the next phase in the light of an increasingly challenging global environment facing the AFRITAC South region. The need for increasing support towards the financing for development agenda will be critical for achieving sustained and inclusive growth ahead. In this context, the Steering Committee invited members and donors to support the IMF initiatives for financing the phase 2.

The AFRITAC South Steering Committee is currently chaired by Zambia. This seventh meeting was attended by officials from eight AFRITAC South member countries: Lesotho, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe; and the following donor representatives: the European Union; the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO); Germany (represented by German International Cooperation (GIZ), the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the African Development Bank. The Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) attended as observer.

AFRITAC South is one of nine regional IMF technical assistance (TA) centers around the world (of which five are in Africa) and offers capacity building services to member countries in its core areas of expertise, namely public financial management, revenue administration, financial sector supervision, monetary policy framework operations, financial market infrastructure and payments, and real sector statistics.

Useful links:

IMF Technical Assistance

Factsheet: IMF Technical Assistance Centers

1 The center serves Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

2 Financial Year (FY) 2016 covers the period May 1, 2015April 30, 2016.
Imperial Valley News Center

ICE removes 2 men wanted by El Salvadoran authorities for violent crimes

Washington, DC - Two subjects of Interpol Red Notices for violent crimes in their home country of El Salvador were removed from the United States Friday by officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcements (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO).

Wilber Antonio Hernandez-Hernandez, 32, an alleged MS-13 gang member, was the subject of an Interpol Red Notice for sexual assault charges. Carlos Ulises Mendoza-Mendoza, 23, was the subject of an Interpol Red Notice for aggravated homicide. Both departed Alexandria International Airport in Louisiana on an ICE Air Operations charter flight and arrived at San Salvador International Airport in El Salvador where they were transferred to the custody of the Policia Nacional Civil (PNC).

Hernandez illegally entered the United States at an unknown location and date. ERO officers arrested him in October in Herndon, Virginia, and issued him a notice to appear in immigration court. In March, an immigration judge ordered Hernandez removed from the United States to El Salvador.

Mendoza illegally entered the United States in March 2013 near Penitas, Texas. ERO officers took custody of Mendoza and issued him a notice to appear in immigration court after he was arrested by the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Department in August. In February, an immigration judge ordered Mendoza removed from the United States to El Salvador.

Our officers dutifully uphold U.S. immigration laws, ensuring that individuals who serve as public safety threats to our communities cannot remain in our country, said Yvonne Evans, field office director for ERO Washington, D.C.

This removal was part of EROs Security Alliance for Fugitive Enforcement (SAFE) Initiative. The SAFE Initiative is geared toward the identification of foreign fugitives who are wanted abroad and removable under U.S. immigration law.

In just three years, through the SAFE Initiative, ERO has removed more than 600 criminal fugitives to El Salvador. Those removed as part of the SAFE Initiative have been deemed ineligible to remain in the United States and were all wanted by the PNC.

SAFE aligns with EROs public safety priorities and eliminates the need for formal extradition requests.
Imperial Valley News Center

Workshop on Software Identification (SWID) Tag Implementation

Rockville, Maryland - NIST and DHS are pleased to host a workshop on Software Identification (SWID) Tag Implementation and Use on April 26, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and on April 27, 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., with a Tag Signing Working Group Open Meeting from 1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

This event will be held at the National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCoE), 9700 Great Seneca Highway, Rockville, MD. As the venue/location host, the NCCoE is excited to support NIST and DHS in this effort.

Strengthening the security and resilience of United States Government (USG) civilian and military networks and critical infrastructure is a top national priority. If broadly implemented by software providers, SWID tags promise to significantly enhance the ability of USG departments and agencies to rapidly and accurately characterize the software assets discovered to be present within their enterprise networks. In turn, this will facilitate efforts to reduce vulnerabilities in our information technology systems and prevent future attacks. In addition to their value for cybersecurity, SWID tags will also help USG departments and agencies improve their ability to track and manage software licenses, thereby reducing cost and increasing efficiency.

The SWID tag effort aligns with the Presidents 2016 Federal Cybersecurity Research and Development Strategic Plan, which was released on February 5, 2016. The plan challenges the cybersecurity research and development (R&D) community to provide methods and tools for deterring, protecting, detecting, and adapting to malicious cyber activities. Use of SWID tags in this context helps to provide the information necessary for tools to ensure that software is updated, resulting in fewer exploitable vulnerabilities, and that software integrity can be measured to detect and prevent software tampering.

The goal of the workshop is to assemble a broad audience of SWID tag creators, users, and stakeholders to actively participate in engineering-level discussions on various topics relative to SWID tags, including implementation challenges. The agenda will be comprised of detailed technical topics culled from the guidelines within the NIST Interagency Report (IR) 8060, Guidelines for the Creation of Interoperable Software Identification (SWID) Tags. We plan to cover the following topics:

SWID tag 101 (general overview of SWID tags)

Provision of payload and evidence elements of SWID tags

Distribution mechanisms for SWID tags

Implementation of patch tags

Internationalization of SWID tags

Digital signing of SWID tags

Registration and attendance is free of charge, but advance registration is required. Please register online.

It is recommended that participants attending the workshop be familiar with NIST IR 8060. The fourth public draft can be found online.

If you have questions about this workshop, or would like to contact someone for more information, please email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Czech Republic Signs California-Led Under 2 MOU Climate Agreement

San Francisco, California - Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today met with Prime Minister of the Czech Republic Bohuslav Sobotka in San Francisco, where the Czech Republic became the latest signatory to the Under 2 MOU climate agreement - a global pact among cities, states and countries to limit the increase in global average temperature to below 2 degrees Celsius.

A total of 128 jurisdictions representing 28 countries and six continents have now signed or endorsed the Under 2 MOU. Together, they represent more than 740 million people and $20.7 trillion in GDP, equivalent to more than a quarter of the global economy. Signatories commit to either reducing greenhouse gas emissions 80 to 95 percent below 1990 levels by 2050 or achieving a per capita annual emission target of less than 2 metric tons by 2050.

While the majority of signatories represent cities, states and regions, with today's announcement, a total of 9 countries have now endorsed the Under 2 MOU. In addition to the Czech Republic, Costa Rica, Panama, Peru, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom have all endorsed the agreement.

Governor Brown meets with Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka

California's Leadership on Climate Change



While California emits around 1 percent of the world's greenhouse gases, the state is playing a leading role in broadening collaboration among subnational leaders.

Last year, the Governor traveled to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris, the Vatican in Italy, the United Nations in New York and the Climate Summit of the Americas in Toronto, Canada to call on other leaders to join California in the fight against climate change.

Governor Brown also joined an unprecedented alliance of heads of state, city and state leaders  convened by the World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund  to urge countries and companies around the globe to put a price on carbon.



These efforts build on a number of other international climate change agreements with leaders from the Netherlands, Mexico, China, North America, Japan, Israel, Peru and Chile and Governor Brown's efforts to convene hundreds of world-renowned researchers and scientists around a groundbreaking call to action  called the consensus statement  which translates key scientific climate findings from disparate fields into one unified document.



Last October, Governor Brown signed landmark legislation  SB 350  to double the rate of energy efficiency savings in California buildings and generate half of the state's electricity from renewable sources by 2030. Governor Brown also committed to reduce today's petroleum use in cars and trucks by up to 50 percent within the next 15 years; make heating fuels cleaner; reduce the release of methane, black carbon and other potent pollutants across industries; and manage farm and rangelands, forests and wetlands so they can store carbon.



Additionally, the Governor issued an executive order last year to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in California 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030  the most ambitious target in North America and consistent with California's existing commitment to reduce emissions 80 percent under 1990 levels by 2050.



The impacts of climate change are already being felt in California and will disproportionately impact the state's most vulnerable populations.

Photo Credit: John Larimore, Governors Office of Emergency Services.
UC Davis Computer Science For All Now Available for Schools Nationwide

Davis, California - School districts now have an easier route to add computer science education with a full first-grade-to-high-school curriculum, integrated with mathematics, from the Center for Integrated Computing and STEM Education at the University of California, Davis.

Building on the C-STEM Centers proven educational computing and robotics technologies, including C-STEM Studio and RoboBlockly, the C-STEM Information and Communication Technologies Pathway, or ICT-Pathway, curriculum will allow school districts to meet President Obamas goals of Computer Science For All, offering every student hands-on computer science and math classes, said center Director Harry Cheng, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at UC Davis. Because C-STEM classes integrate computer programming into math with an emphasis on algebra, they dont have to displace other vital classes.

We integrate computing into math, and use it as a tool for hands-on integrated learning in math and computer science, Cheng said.

As a result, students on the C-STEM ICT Pathway are exposed to coding in Blockly and C/C++ for 12 years, woven together with math, science, engineering and even artistic projects such as video production.

You dont learn English once in one year of school, so why should we teach the language of computers that way? Cheng said. Students can revisit it several times.

Training for teachers included

A significant hurdle for adopting computer science in schools is a lack of trained teachers. The C-STEM Center can provide two-day training academies and weeklong institutes in using the curriculum in the classroom for teachers who have no prior computer programming and robotics experience. The center can also tailor on-site training sessions to the needs of individual schools and districts.

In addition, the C-STEM Train-the-Trainer Affiliate Program allows district and county office of education staff, experienced teachers, and college and university faculty to become certified C-STEM trainers who can hold C-STEM professional development for teachers in their district, county, or geographic area.

C-STEM classes and curricula are already in use in over 200 elementary, middle and high schools in California, and the center has provided professional development for more than 500 K-12 teachers.

Closing the achievement gap

The programs are particularly effective in engaging students who are underperforming in math and science and closing the achievement gap for students from underrepresented groups, Cheng said.

For example, when Hillcrest High School in Riverside, California, adopted C-STEM Integrated Math II in 2014, 94 percent of students earned a passing grade, compared to 61 percent of students in the conventional Integrated Math II.

Key to Chengs approach is giving students who may have struggled in math a sense of achievement.

We want students, regardless of their social-economic status and background, to have an opportunity to win, he said. The center organizes an annual C-STEM Day with a level-playing field RoboPlay Competition, held simultaneously in Davis and in Orange County, where students from surrounding schools gather to showcase their skills in math, programming and creative thinking. This years event will be held on May 21.

The center also runs the Girls In Robotics Leadership, or GIRL, summer camps at multiple locations in collaboration with school districts and other partners through the GIRL Camp Affiliate Program. Through peer mentoring and hands-on robotics, the GIRL camp builds the confidence for girls in middle school to pursue computing related STEM careers. The camp is free to participants.

As a UC Approved Educational Preparation Program for undergraduate admission for all UC campuses, the C-STEM program aims to prepare all students for post-secondary studies and careers in STEM fields. The C-STEM Center also has A-G Program Status from the University of California, meaning that its courses fulfill admission requirements for the UC and California State University systems.

The centers activities are partly supported by grants from the National Science Foundation and California Department of Education.
Californians Optimistic about the Economy but Worry about Trade Deals

Los Angeles, California - The California economy is heavily dependent on international trade, but voters statewide have concerns about its impact, according to the latest USC Dornsife/LA Times Poll.

When asked their thoughts about the benefits or drawbacks of it, most voters  67 percent  said they believe trade with other countries leads to lower consumer prices.

At the same time, voters expressed skepticism about trade. Fifty-nine percent said trade with other countries means that American jobs are sent overseas. In addition, 58 percent disagreed that trade leads to higher wages for Americans.

Its one thing for Rust Belt states like Ohio and Michigan to be less than enthusiastic about expanded trade, but seeing the ambivalence of Californians on this issue is striking, said Dan Schnur, director of the USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times Poll and director of the Unruh Institute of Politics of USC. Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders are not driving public opinion on this issue, but the same fears among working class voters that are fueling their campaigns are making California voters much more wary of expanded foreign trade.

Sixty-two percent of Trump supporters likely to vote in the Republican primary said trade sends jobs overseas. Also, slightly more Trump supporters  67 percent  said they think trade hurts American wages. Meanwhile, 50 percent of Hillary Clinton supporters likely to vote in the primary said they believe trade sends jobs overseas and 51 percent said it hurts U.S. wages.

Sanders supporters were more pessimistic: 66 percent believed trade ends up sending jobs abroad, and nearly as many  65 percent  said they think trade hurts American wages.

Voters were more supportive of imposing tariffs on Chinese goods than Mexican goods  both of which have been proposed by Trump. Forty-four percent of voters like the idea of a tariff on Chinese goods. Meanwhile, 53 percent oppose such tariffs on Mexican goods.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement with a dozen countries  the United States, Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, Brunei, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Mexico, Chile and Peru  has been the focus of several news stories in recent months. Most voters  71 percent  said they dont know enough to say whether they support or oppose the deal.

After reading some information about the deal  both pro and con statements  46 percent of the voters said they oppose the deal versus 25 percent who supported it.

Economy

California voters are optimistic about the economy, with most believing that the best years for jobs in this country are yet to come.

When asked about job prospects, 50 percent of all California voters thought our best years are ahead of us while 39 percent thought those years are behind us. Latinos appeared more hopeful than whites. Fifty-five percent of Latinos believed the best years are ahead, compared with 47 percent of whites.

The viewpoints on jobs also differ along party lines and preferred candidate. Fifty-seven percent of registered Democrats were hopeful for better jobs in the future, but 48 percent of Republicans believed the best years have come and gone.

Among voters likely to vote in the primary, 52 percent of Trump supporters believed the best years were behind us while 56 percent of Clinton supporters believed better times are ahead.

The latest USC/Dornsife Los Angeles Times Poll, the largest statewide survey of registered voters, was conducted March 16-23, and includes a significant oversample of Latino voters as well as one of the most robust cell phone samples in the state. The full sample of 1,500 voters has a margin of error of +/- 2.8 percentage points. Additional poll results and methodology are available here.

WEBSITE: http://dornsife.usc.edu/unruh/poll/

About the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences/Los Angeles Times Poll: The USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times Poll is a series of statewide public opinion polls in California, designed to survey voter attitudes on a wide range of political, policy, social and cultural issues. Conducted at regular intervals throughout the year, the USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times Poll is the largest statewide poll of registered voters and has been widely cited, helping to inform the public and to encourage discourse on key political and policy issues.

About the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics: The Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics is dedicated to bridging the academic study of politics with practical experience in the field. The Unruh Institute channels its efforts by offering courses in applied politics, a variety of speaker series, and an extensive political internship program. Its goals are to engage public officials with the USC community and to facilitate the discussion of relevant issues across campus.

About USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences: USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences is the heart of the university. The largest, oldest and most diverse of USCs 19 schools, USC Dornsife is composed of more than 30 academic departments and dozens of research centers and institutes. USC Dornsife is home to approximately 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students and more than 750 faculty members with expertise across the humanities, social sciences and sciences.

About the Los Angeles Times: The Los Angeles Times is the largest metropolitan daily newspaper in the country, with a daily readership of 2 million and 3 million on Sunday, and a combined print and interactive local weekly audience of 4.5 million. The fast-growing latimes.com draws over 10 million unique visitors monthly.
Growing ranks of women farmers finding common ground

Sacramento, California - Aubrey Fletcher knew she wanted to work on a dairy farm ever since she was a little girl.

I do remember my mom asking, Are you sure thats what you want to do? Fletcher recalls.

Fletcher knew the work was tough, she grew up milking cows every day. After college she and her husband wanted to return to his family farm, but it wasnt making financial sense.

The farm couldnt necessarily provide both of us with salaries, says Fletcher. So we thought, Why not take our premium milk and take that a little further?

The Fletchers started Edgewood Creamery outside of Springfield, Missouri, last August. They recently opened a storefront on the farm selling their milk and cheese.

Between the new business, milkings, feedings, and fixing things that need to get fixed, there is a lot to do.

Theres always something to be done on the farm. And very rarely my house gets clean, Fletcher says laughing.

Aubrey Fletcher is one of thousands of women stepping out of the shadows of the male-dominated farm world to take more leadership roles on the farm. In the past 15 years the fraction of women who are taking the lead has nearly tripled to about 15 percent of all U.S. farms. Nearly one-third of farms in this country are run by couples working together.

Despite the busy workload, Fletcher has been meeting regularly with a new group of women dairy farmers in her area. She says having a space to come together with other women has been huge.

Because they can relate to you, Fletcher says. They understand that, Oh, you had three calves this morning and you didnt get your kids to school on time. They understand the struggles of being a dairy-farm-wife-slash-mom, and its easy to just talk to them about the struggles, and the good times.

Women-Focused Extension Groups

Groups designed for farm women are not just about the social and emotional support. They serve an educational role as well.

Reagan Bluel, a dairy specialist for the University of Missouri Extension who runs the group of women dairy farmers in Southern Missouri, says she started it out of a growing need she was hearing from women in her area.

This is another forum to gather information both from extension but also from their peers to see what is successful on those farms, says Bluel.

The daily grind of agricultural work can make it hard for farmers to get off the farm, Bluel says.

It can be very isolating, Bluel says. And so sometimes it takes scheduling yourself to leave the farm.

In the next few months shell program sessions about everything from calf-raising to stress management.

Many women are used to standing out at big farm shows or meetings, and thats why Rebecca Connelly started a group for women in dairy in Pennsylvania.

The role of women on farms has always been there its just now women are looking for more information off the farm.

Connelly says women want more training, theyre seeking out more entrepreneurial opportunities like starting a creamery, and theyre trying to bring a competitive edge to their farm. They also see the value of networking on social media and through these groups. Connelly and her colleagues are organizing a national conference for women dairy workers this year so they can come together to learn from experts and each other.

Women want to meet other women in agriculture, Connelly says. Sometimes they dont necessarily get out there to see their neighbors or across counties. So this is a great way to meet other women in their area, as well as finding out more resources that are available to them.

Link to article
What Climate Change Means for Your Health and Family

Washington, DC - Obama Administration Releases Scientific Assessment on Impact of Climate Change to Human Health in the United States:

Today, delivering on another commitment in the Presidents Climate Action Plan, the Obama Administration released a new final report called The Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health in the United States: A Scientific Assessment, which significantly advances what we know about the impacts of climate change on public health, and the confidence with which we know it.

Developed over three years by approximately one hundred experts in climate-change science and public health  including representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Department of Agriculture (USDA), and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the Department of Defense (DOD), and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)  the Climate and Health Assessment reinforces that climate change is a significant threat to the health of the American people not just in the future but right now. As the climate continues to change, the risks to human health will grow, exacerbating existing health threats and creating new public health challenges, and impacting more people in more places. From children to the elderly, every American is vulnerable to the health impacts associated with climate change, now and in the future. A few examples of the increased health risks found in the assessment include:

Air pollution and airborne allergens will likely increase, worsening allergy and asthma conditions. Future ozone-related human health impacts attributable to climate change are projected to lead to hundreds to thousands of premature deaths, hospital admissions, and cases of acute respiratory illnesses each year in the United States by 2030, including increases in asthma episodes and other adverse respiratory effects in children. Ragweed pollen season is longer now in central North America, having increased by as much as 11 to 27 days between 1995 and 2011, which impacts some of the nearly 6.8 million children in the United States affected by asthma and susceptible to allergens due to their immature respiratory and immune systems.

Extreme heat can be expected to cause an increase in the number of premature deaths, from thousands to tens of thousands, each summer, which will outpace projected decreases in deaths from extreme cold. One model projected an increase, from a 1990 baseline for more than 200 American cities, of more than an additional 11,000 deaths during the summer in 2030 and more than an additional 27,000 deaths during the summer in 2100.

Warmer winter and spring temperatures are projected to lead to earlier annual onset of Lyme disease cases in the eastern United States and a generally northward expansion of ticks capable of carrying the bacteria that cause Lyme disease. Between 2001 and 2014, both the distribution and the number of reported cases of Lyme disease increased in the Northeast and Upper Midwest.

Increase the risks of water-related illnesses. Runoff from more frequent and intense extreme precipitation events, and increased water temperatures, will increasingly compromise recreational waters, shellfish harvesting waters, and sources of drinking water, increasing risks of waterborne illness.

Climate change, including rising temperatures and changes in weather extremes, is expected to increase the exposure of food to certain pathogens and toxins. Rising temperature and increases in flooding, runoff events, and drought will likely lead to increases in the occurrence and transport of pathogens in agricultural environments, which will increase the risk of food contamination and human exposure to pathogens and toxins. This will increase health risks and require greater vigilance in food safety practices and regulation.

Climate change will have the largest health impact on vulnerable populations including those with low incomes, some communities of color, limited English proficiency and immigrant groups, Indigenous peoples, children, pregnant women, older adults, vulnerable occupational groups, persons with disabilities, and persons with preexisting or chronic medical conditions.

Extreme weather and other events related to climate change will impact health by exacerbating underlying medical conditions, increasing exposure to foodborne and waterborne illness risks, and disrupting infrastructure, including power, water, transportation, and communication systems, that are essential to maintaining access to health care and emergency response services and safeguarding human health.

In addition, today, the Administration is announcing a number of actions to respond to the critical challenges and vulnerabilities outlined in the Climate and Health Assessment. These include:

Expanding the scope of the Presidents Task Force on Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks to Children to focus on the impacts of climate change on childrens health.

Developing K-12 educational materials on climate change and health.

A Climate-Ready Tribes and Territories Initiative, which will provide awards for tribal and territorial health departments to investigate, prepare for, and adapt to the health effects of climate change.

An update to the Sustainable and Climate Resilient Health Care Facilities Toolkit, issued by the Department of Health and Human Services.

Designating May 23-27, 2016, as Extreme Heat Week, during which Federal agencies will take a number of actions to work with community planners and public-health officials to enhance community preparedness for extreme heat events.

The findings of the Climate and Health Assessment strengthen and broaden the scientific foundation for future decision making, allowing individuals, communities, organizations, and governments to proactively manage the health risks of climate change. A better understanding of how climate change affects our health, and the health of our children and grandchildren, underscores the need for urgent action to combat the threats climate change poses on American citizens and communities.

Already, under President Obamas leadership, the United States has done more to combat climate change and protect the health of communities than ever before. For example, the Clean Power Plan will deliver better air quality, improved public health, clean energy investment and jobs across the country. Since the historic global climate agreement was reached at COP21 in Paris last year, the United States has announced plans to not only implement the agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but has also committed to adopting an amendment to the Montreal Protocol that would phase down HFCs, a potent greenhouse gas. The Administration has forged a global agreement to cut aviation emissions, and most recently taken a series of actions to reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas sector, while also helping to spur a historic increase in wind and solar energy while doubling the fuel efficiency in our cars.

HOW CLIMATE CHANGE AFFECTS HEALTH:

KEY FINDINGS AND MESSAGES FROM THE ASSESSMENT

Changes in Extreme Heat and Extreme Cold. A warmer future is projected to lead to on the order of thousands to tens of thousands of additional premature deaths per year across the United States by the end of this century from heat. Any reduction in cold-related deaths is projected to be smaller than the increase in heat-related deaths in most regions. High temperatures can also lead to a wide range of illnesses. Examples of illnesses associated with extreme heat include cardiovascular, respiratory, and renal illnesses; diabetes; hyperthermia; mental health issues; and preterm births. Even small differences from seasonal average temperatures result in illness and death. An increased risk for respiratory and cardiovascular death is observed in older adults during temperature extremes.

Impacts on Air Quality. Changes in the climate affect the levels and location of outdoor air pollutants such as ground-level ozone and fine particulate matter. These changes in ozone are projected to lead to hundreds to thousands of premature deaths, hospital admissions, and cases of acute respiratory illnesses per year in the United States in 2030. In addition, the area burned by wildfires in North America is expected to increase dramatically over the 21st century due to climate change. Air pollution from wildfires can affect people far downwind from the fire location, increasing the risk of premature death and hospital and emergency department visits. Higher temperatures and increasing carbon dioxide levels also promote the growth of plants that release airborne allergens.

More Frequent and Intense Extreme Events. Climate change will expose more people to increases in the frequency and/or intensity of drought, wildfires, and flooding related to extreme precipitation and hurricanes. Many types of extreme events related to climate change cause disruption of critical infrastructure, including power, water, transportation, and communication systems, that are essential to maintaining access to health care and emergency response services and safeguarding human health. Health risks may also arise long after the event, or in places outside the area where the event took place, particularly if multiple events occur simultaneously or in succession in a given location  this could be the result of damage to property, destruction of assets, loss of infrastructure and public services, social and economic disruption, and environmental degradation. Poverty also is a key risk factor, and the poor are disproportionately affected by extreme events.

Altered Timing and Location of Vector-Borne Disease. Climate change is expected to alter the geographic and seasonal distributions of existing vectors and vector-borne diseases, such as Lyme disease, West Nile virus infections, and other diseases spread by vectors like mosquitoes. Rising temperatures, changing precipitation patterns, and a higher frequency of some extreme weather events associated with climate change will influence the distribution, abundance, and prevalence of infection in the mosquitoes that transmit West Nile virus, the leading cause of mosquito-borne disease in the United States. Outdoor workers are at a greater risk for contracting Lyme disease and, if working in areas where there are infected mosquitoes, occupational exposures can also occur for West Nile virus.

Increased Risks of Water-Related Illnesses. Runoff from more frequent and intense extreme precipitation events will increasingly compromise recreational waters, shellfish harvesting waters, and sources of drinking water, increasing the risk that infrastructure for drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater will fail due to either damage or exceeding system capacity. Although the United States has one of the safest municipal drinking water supplies in the world, water-related outbreaks still occurbetween 1948 and 1994, 68 percent of waterborne disease outbreaks in the United States were preceded by extreme precipitation events. Inequities in exposure to contaminated water disproportionately affects tribes and Alaska Natives, residents of low-income rural subdivisions along the U.S.Mexico border, migrant farm workers, the homeless, and low-income communities not served by public water utilitiessome of which are predominately Hispanic or Latino and African-American communities.

Increased Threats to Food Safety and Nutrition. As climate change drives changes in environmental variables, such as ambient temperature, precipitation, and weather extremes (particularly flooding and drought), increases in foodborne illnesses are expected. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that there are 48 million cases of foodborne illnesses per year, with approximately 3,000 deaths. Rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere can actually lower the nutritional value of most food crops. Climate-change impacts on food production, food processing and utilization, food prices, and agricultural trade were recently addressed in a separate assessment report on Climate Change, Global Food Security, and the U.S. Food System.

Adverse Impacts on Mental Health. The cumulative and interactive effects of climate change, as well as the threat and perception of climate change, adversely impact individual and societal physical and mental health and well-being. Mental health consequences of climate change range from minimal stress and distress symptoms to clinical disorders, such as anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress, and suicidal thoughts and behaviors. The mental health impacts of extreme events, such as hurricanes, floods, and drought, can be expected to increase as more people experience the stressand often traumaof these disasters. People with mental illness and those using medications to treat a variety of mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, and other mood disorders are particularly vulnerable to extreme weather events and extreme heat.

Disproportionate Effects on Vulnerable Populations. Every American is vulnerable to the health impacts associated with climate change. People at every life stage have varying sensitivity to climate change impacts. The most vulnerable populations include individuals with low income, some communities of color, individuals with limited English proficiency and immigrant groups, Indigenous peoples, children, pregnant women, older adults, vulnerable occupational groups, persons with disabilities, and persons with preexisting or chronic medical conditions.

Communities of Color, Low Income, Immigrants, and Limited-English-Proficiency Groups. Vulnerable populations are at increased risk of exposure given their higher likelihood of living in risk-prone areas (such as urban heat islands, isolated rural areas, or coastal and other flood-prone areas), areas with older or poorly maintained infrastructure, or areas with an increased burden of air pollution. Communities of color, low income, immigrant and limited-English-proficiency groups also experience relatively greater incidence of chronic medical conditions, such as cardiovascular and kidney disease, diabetes, asthma, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which can be exacerbated by climate-related health impacts.

Indigenous Peoples in the United States. Because of existing vulnerabilities, Indigenous people, especially those who are dependent on the environment for sustenance or who live in geographically isolated or impoverished communities, are likely to experience greater exposure and lower resilience to climate-related health effects.

Pregnant Women. Climate-related exposures may lead to adverse pregnancy and newborn health outcomes, including low birth weight, preterm birth, dehydration and associated renal failure, diarrhea, and respiratory disease. Estimates indicated that there were more than 56,000 pregnant women and nearly 75,000 infants directly affected by Hurricane Katrina and that pregnant women with high hurricane exposure and severe hurricane experiences were at a significantly increased risk for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression.

Children. Climate changeinteracting with factors such as economic status, diet, living situation, and stage of developmentwill increase childrens exposure to health threats. Children are vulnerable to adverse health effects associated with environmental exposures due to factors related to their immature physiology and metabolism, their unique exposure pathways, their biological sensitivities, and limits to their adaptive capacity. Children have a proportionately higher intake of air, food, and water relative to their body weight compared to adults. They also share unique behaviors and interactions with their environment that may increase their exposure to environmental contaminants.

Older Adults. The nations older adult population (ages 65 and older) will nearly double in size from 2015 through 2050. Between 1979 and 2004, deaths from heat exposure were reported most commonly among adults aged 65 and older. The need to evacuate an area during or after extreme events can pose increased health and safety risks for older adults, especially those who are poor or reside in nursing or assisted-living facilities. Air pollution can also exacerbate asthma and COPD and can increase the risk of heart attack in older adults, especially those who are also diabetic or obese.

Occupational Groups. Outdoor workers are often among the first to be exposed to the effects of climate change. Climate change is expected to affect the health of outdoor workers through increases in ambient temperature, degraded air quality, extreme weather, vector-borne diseases, industrial exposures, and changes in the built environment. An increased need for complex emergency responses will expose rescue and recovery workers to physical and psychological hazards. The incidence of heat illness among active duty U.S. military personnel is several-fold higher than the summertime incidence in the general U.S. population (147 per 100,000 among the military versus 21.5 per 100,000 in the general population per year).

Persons with Disabilities. An increase in extreme weather can be expected to disproportionately affect populations with disabilities, who experience higher rates of social risk factorssuch as poverty and lower educational attainmentthat contribute to poorer health outcomes during extreme events or climate-related emergencies. Persons with disabilities often rely on medical equipment (such as portable oxygen) that requires an uninterrupted source of electricity.

Persons with Chronic Medical Conditions. Preexisting medical conditions present risk factors for increased illness and death associated with climate-related stressors, especially exposure to extreme heat. Hospital admissions and emergency room visits increase during heat waves for people with diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases, and psychiatric illnesses. Medical conditions like Alzheimers disease or mental illnesses can impair judgment and behavioral responses in crisis situations, which can place people with those conditions at greater risk.

NEW ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS RESPONDING TO THE

CLIMATE AND HEATH ASSESSMENT

President Obama has already taken action to combat the health impacts of climate change and protect the health of future generations. Just last year, the Administration:

Brought together health and medical professionals, academics, and other interested stakeholders to discuss the challenges of climate change for public health through a series of convenings, workshops, and a formal White House Climate Change and Health Summit;

Expanded access to climate and health data, involving more than 100 health-relevant datasets, to spur innovation so that communities and businesses could act to reduce the health impacts of climate change;

Started integrating climate considerations into agency health and safety policies; and

Created initiatives at EPA, USGS, CDC, and the Department of Defense to improve, consolidate, and better visualize data connecting climate change effects to human health.

Today, the Administration is announcing a series of additional actions to keep us on track to better understand, communicate, and reduce the health impacts of climate change on our communities, including:
Justice Department Sues ValueAct for Violating Premerger Notification Requirements

San Francisco, California - The Department of Justice today filed a civil antitrust lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against certain ValueAct Capital entities for violating the reporting and waiting period requirements of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 (the HSR Act). The Antitrust Divisions lawsuit seeks civil penalties and an injunction against further HSR Act violations.

On Nov. 17, 2014, Baker Hughes and Halliburton  two of the three largest providers of oilfield products and services in the world  announced their plan to merge in a deal valued at $35 billion. Thereafter, ValueAct, an activist investment firm, purchased over $2.5 billion of Halliburton and Baker Hughes voting shares without complying with the HSR Acts notification requirements. According to the complaint, ValueAct purchased these shares with the intent to influence the companies business decisions as the merger unfolded and therefore could not rely on the limited investment-only exemption to HSR notification requirements. The complaint details how ValueAct used its access to senior executives of both Halliburton and Baker Hughes to formulate merger and other business strategies with the companies.

ValueActs substantial stock purchases made it one of the largest shareholders of two competitors in the midst of our antitrust review of the companies proposed merger, and ValueAct used its position to influence decision-making at both companies, said Assistant Attorney General Bill Baer of the Justice Departments Antitrust Division. ValueAct was not entitled to avoid HSR requirements by claiming to be a passive investor. Given the seriousness of the violation and ValueActs prior HSR violations, we will be seeking significant civil penalties and an injunction against further violations.

The HSR Act imposes notification and waiting period requirements for transactions meeting certain size thresholds so that such transactions can undergo premerger antitrust review by the department and the Federal Trade Commission. The HSR Act has a narrow exemption for acquisitions of less than 10 percent of a companys outstanding voting securities if that acquisition is made solely for the purposes of investment with no intention of participating in the companys business decisions.

Federal courts can assess civil penalties for premerger notification violations under the HSR Act in lawsuits brought by the department. The maximum civil penalty for an HSR violation is $16,000 per day.

ValueAct is an investment firm headquartered in San Francisco that advertises a strategy of active, constructive involvement in the management of the companies in which it invests. According to ValueActs website, ValueActs business model focuses on acquiring significant ownership stakes in a limited number of companies, and [t]he goal in each investment is to work constructively with management and/or the companys board to implement a strategy or strategies that maximize returns for all shareholders. ValueAct manages over $16 billion on behalf of investors.
Wanted female forger found by CBP in the Virgin Islands

St. Croix, Virgin Islands - U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Field Operations Officers at the Henry E. Rohlsen Airport identified and arrested a female with an outstanding arrest warrant in Wisconsin for violating probation on forgery charges.

Leah Marie Peters, 42, a citizen of the United States and place of abode in Illinois, was identified after she presented herself for CBP inspection before boarding a flight to OHare International Airport in Chicago.

Law enforcement databases alerted to a warrant issued by the Wisconsin Department of Corrections, which was later confirmed.

Customs and Border Protection is an agency committed to securing our borders while at the same time cooperating with other law enforcement agencies in the enforcement of U.S. laws, stated Area Port Director for the United States Virgin Islands Louis Harrigan. CBP officers will ensure that individuals that have transgressed the criminal justice system and are encountered at our borders are identified.

Virgin Islands Police assumed custody for extradition proceedings.

CBP officers detect many individuals wanted by authorities in the continental U.S., upon their arrival to the USVI, or upon their return to the mainland from the USVI.
UC Davis Included in National Partnership to Accelerate Innovation in Fibers and Textiles

The University of California, Davis, is a partner in a new federally funded Manufacturing Innovation Institute, Advanced Functional Fibers of America, designed to accelerate innovation in high-tech, U.S.-based manufacturing involving fibers and textiles.

The proposal for the institute was led by Professor Yoel Fink, director of the Research Laboratory of Electronics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The partnership includes 31 universities, 16 industry members, 72 manufacturing entities, and 26 startup incubators, spread across 28 states.

This is the eighth Manufacturing Innovation Institute established to date. The headquarters will be established in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in proximity to the MIT campus and the U.S. Army-funded Institute for Soldier Nanotechnology. UC Davis is also a partner in another national new manufacturing institute, the American Institute for Manufacturing Integrated Photonics.

UC Davis is the only California-based university to be included in the partnership. Led by faculty in the Division of Textiles and Clothing including professors You-Lo Hsieh, Ning Pan and Gang Sun, the UC Davis team will provide expertise in areas such as functional fibers, nanomaterials, sustainable materials systems and wearable technologies. The interdisciplinary effort additionally includes faculty from the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, College of Engineering, College of Letters and Science, and School of Medicine.

Promoting leadership in manufacturing

This unique partnership, Fink said, has the potential to create a whole new industry, based on breakthroughs in fiber materials and manufacturing. These new fibers and the fabrics made from them will have the ability to see, hear and sense their surroundings; communicate; store and convert energy; monitor health; control temperature; and change their color.

The new initiative will receive $75 million in federal funding out of a total of $317 million though cost sharing among the Department of Defense, industrial partners, venture capitalists, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The funding will cover a five-year period and will be administered through a new, independent, nonprofit organization set up for the purpose. The partnership, which will focus on both developing new technologies and training the workforce needed to operate and maintain these production systems, also includes a network of community colleges and professional development institutes.

The federal selection process for the new institute was administered by the Department of Defense through the U.S. Armys ManTech Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center, and the Army Contracting Command in New Jersey. Retired Gen. Paul J. Kern will serve as chairman of the institute.
Art of the Austronesians: The Legacy of Indo-Pacific Voyaging

Los Angeles, California - The Fowler Museum at UCLA will present the first major exhibition in the United States to examine the visual arts of Austronesian-speaking peoples comparatively in a single project  from their prehistoric origins in what is now Taiwan through their successive seafaring migrations over millennia to the Philippines, Indonesia, the Pacific and beyond.

The 200 rare and diverse objects on view in Art of the Austronesians: The Legacy of Indo-Pacific Voyaging are the products of the descendants of these migrants and the cultures they created in their new homelands. While most of these artworks were produced within the last two centuries and reflect a variety of accumulated influences, recurring themes evidenced in the works serve to highlight common features of the Austronesian heritage. The exhibition will open April 24 and conclude August 28.

The Austronesian (Austro=southern, nesia=islands) language family includes more than 1,200 languages. Using sailing vessels in prehistoric times, the ancestors of the speakers of these languages spread throughout a region spanning more than halfway around the globe. Who were they and where did they come from?

The prevailing theory, based on evidence from archaeology and linguistics, is that an identifiable culture belonging to proto-Austronesian peoples first developed in Taiwan about 5,000 years ago. By 3,300 years ago, successive generations gradually occupied new homelands throughout the Philippines and Indonesia and sailed eastward into the Pacific as far as the Solomon Islands. Subsequent migrations carried them to Madagascar, Hawaii, New Zealand, and Easter Island more than 800 years ago.

Notable for the spectacular range of works, the exhibition includes everything from ancient ceramics to architectural features, carved ancestor figures, textiles, ritual objects, and contemporary expressions of spiritual practices.

When Austronesian migrants established new communities in distant lands, their claim to authority was based on their heritage  thus a concern for ancestors is a recurring theme throughout the exhibition as exemplified in a magnificent pair of architectural panels from a chiefly house from the Paiwan peoples, indigenous inhabitants of Taiwan. Related to this concern with ancestors, a malagan ritual mask from the island of New Ireland in Papua New Guinea demonstrates the highly developed funerary practices in many Austronesian societies.

Imagery involving boats is another common theme for the descendants of seafaring migrants, spectacularly depicted in a huge ceremonial textile from the Lampung region of Sumatra. A protective figure from the prow of a Solomon Islands canoe captures the power of the spirits or deities that accompanied migrants on their dangerous voyages into unknown waters.

Art of the Austronesians explores additional themes, such as the common pairing of bird and reptile images and the development of highly specialized trading systems that fostered the exchange of valuables among trading partners sometimes separated by vast distances. The works on view represent a broad sampling of the cultures of Austronesian-speaking peoples, ranging from indigenous Taiwan to the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Micronesia, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, the Austral Islands, Hawaii, Rapa Nui (Easter Island), Aotearoa (New Zealand) and Madagascar. Organized geographically, the exhibition design highlights cultural connections across these regions by including logos that identify shared themes and images in works throughout the installation.

The exhibition draws heavily on works from the Fowler Museums renowned Sir Henry Wellcome Collection, including many pieces on view to the public for the first time. Additional works borrowed from private collections in California contribute to the breadth of the installation with objects not normally accessible to the public. Together, these works offer visitors a rare glimpse into the cultures of the descendants of the Austronesian voyagers through their visual arts.

Art of the Austronesians is organized by the Fowler Museum at UCLA and curated by Roy W. Hamilton, Senior Curator of Asian & Pacific Collections. Major funding for the exhibition is provided by the Shirley and Ralph Shapiro Fund and the Ethnic Arts Council of Los Angeles. Additional support is provided by Ned and Mina Smith, Martha and Avrum Bluming, Edmond Chin, and Thomas Murray. The symposium has been funded in part by Thomas Murray who has generously matched individual gifts made by Edmond Chin, the Ethnic Arts Council of Los Angeles, Don Bierlich, the Fowler Textile Council, Marc Franklin, Greg and Mechas Grinnell, Michael Hamson, Mark A. Johnson Tribal Art, Carolyn and Charles Knobler, Textile Museum Associates of Southern California, Chuck Thurow, Janis and Bill Wetsman, and Insulinde Indonesian Arts - Frank R. Wiggers .

The Fowler Museum at UCLA is one of the countrys most respected institutions devoted to exploring the arts and cultures of Africa, Asia and the Pacific, and the Americas. The Fowler is open Wednesdays through Sundays from noon to 5 p.m. and on Thursdays from noon until 8 p.m. The museum is closed Mondays and Tuesdays. The Fowler Museum, part of UCLA Arts, is located in the north part of the UCLA campus. Admission is free. Parking is available for a maximum of $12 in Lot 4. For more information, the public may call (310) 825-4361 or visit fowler.ucla.edu.
First Lady Michelle Obama to Address 2016 Graduating Seniors

Washington, DC - As part of her Reach Higher initiative, Mrs. Obama will deliver the commencement addresses at Jackson State University in Jackson, MS ; Santa Fe Indian School in Santa Fe, NM and City College of New York in New York, NY. These mark the final commencement addresses Mrs. Obama will deliver as First Lady.

Saturday, April 23rd

Jackson, Mississippi  The First Lady will deliver the address at Jackson State Universitys 139th Spring Commencement Ceremony. Mrs. Obama will address more than 1,000 graduates as well as their friends, family and members of the university community.

Jackson State University was founded in 1877 as a four-year public university; it is one of the largest institutions of higher learning in Mississippi and a Historically Black University originally established to educate newly freed African Americans to become ministers and teachers. Mrs. Obama has delivered remarks on an HBCU campus each year she has served as First Lady.

Echoing the call of the First Ladys Reach Higher initiative, Jackson State University and the Jackson Public School District collaborated to form the first laboratory school in the Jackson area. Since 2013, Blackburn Laboratory Middle School has partnered with JSU in an effort to transform Blackburn into a highly successful middle school for replication and study of successful practices in the district, state, and nation.

Thursday, May 26th

Santa Fe, New Mexico  As part of the White House Generation Indigenous (Gen-I) Initiative, the First Lady will deliver the high school commencement address to the Class of 2016 at Santa Fe Indian School. Gen-I works to improve the lives of Native youth by promoting a national dialogue and programs to cultivate the next generation of Native leaders. Last year, the First Lady addressed the White House Tribal Youth Gathering in Washington, DC.

Originally founded in 1890, as a Federal off-reservation boarding school, the Santa Fe Indian School is currently owned and operated by the 19 Pueblos of New Mexico. Recently honored as a National Association Secondary School Breaking the Ranks Showcase School, SFIS is a leader in Native American education and proud of its history to educate the next generation of tribal leadership. Graduates of SFIS participate in the culture of their communities and will have the skills to pursue the education and careers that will benefit them, their families, and their people. For the past five years, SFIS has had an average graduation rate of 98%, and over 90% of this year's graduating class plan to pursue a post-secondary degree.

Friday, June 3rd

New York, New York  The First Lady will deliver the commencement address during the 170th Commencement Ceremony at The City College of New York on the CCNY campus in historic Harlem, where more than 3,000 students make up the Class of 2016.

The City College of New York was the first public higher education institution in New York City and has one of the most diverse student bodies in the nation with over 40% first-generation college students, almost 40% non-native English speakers, and half from low-income households. Established as a free institution dedicated to overcoming barriers to advancement, CCNY continues its mission of access to excellence and keeping tuition affordable.

Additional information on Commencement Addresses by First Lady Michelle Obama:

In 2009, Mrs. Obama addressed the first full graduating class at the University of California, Merced and spoke at the Washington Math and Science Tech Public Charter High School Graduation in Washington, DC. In 2010, Mrs. Obama addressed graduates of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, the George Washington University, and the Anacostia Senior High School. In 2011, Mrs. Obama addressed graduates of the University of Northern Iowa, Spelman College, and Quantico Middle High School. In 2012, Mrs. Obama addressed graduates of Virginia Tech, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, and Oregon State University. In 2013, Mrs. Obama addressed graduates of Eastern Kentucky State University, Bowie State University, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Academic Magnet High School. In 2014, Mrs. Obama addressed graduates of Dillard University, the District of Columbia College Access Program, and an assembly of high schools in the Topeka, Kansas Public School District. In 2015, Mrs. Obama Addressed the graduates of Oberlin College, Tuskegee University, and Martin Luther King Jr. Preparatory High School.
Education Department Releases Proposals for Consideration by ESSA Negotiated Rulemaking Committee

Washington, DC - The U.S. Department of Education sent proposals to the committee working on proposed regulations for the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The proposals focus on the issues being negotiated: Title I, Part A assessments, and the requirement that federal Title I-A funds supplement, not supplant, state and local resources.

The proposals are in response to input from negotiators given during the committee's first three-day session in March. The committee meets again this week from April 6-8.

"These proposals are part of the important work this committee is doing to ensure the law is implemented smoothly and with a focus on the most vulnerable students, consistent with the law's purpose," said Ann Whalen, senior advisor to the Secretary, delegated the duties of the assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education. "We look forward to continuing to work with the committee to promote equity and excellence for all students by providing states and school districts with timely regulations so that they can plan ahead to support students and educators."

Assessments

The Department sent the committee proposals that would support states and districts in fairly measuring the progress of all students by ensuring annual statewide assessments are valid, reliable, fair, and of high technical quality so that schools can provide good information on student performance for parents and educators. In particular, reflecting feedback from the committee, the Department's proposals address the need for inclusive and accessible assessments for students with disabilities and English learners. Specifically, the Department proposes language, consistent with the law, that:

Supports the new statutory language explicitly allowing states to use computer-adaptive assessments while still making sure that students with disabilities receive all appropriate accommodations to which they are entitled under the law and that parents, and educators receive a valid and reliable determination of a student's grade level achievement and growth toward grade-level standards;

Adopts safeguards to ensure that states meaningfully assess students with disabilities and to ensure only students with the most significant cognitive disabilities are assessed against alternate academic achievement standards;

Ensures that states are using a statewide English language proficiency assessment to provide consistent determinations of each English learner's progress toward learning English;

Increases meaningful access to statewide assessments in reading/language arts and mathematics if there is a high concentration of a particular population of English learners in a state, consistent with the practices of a majority of states in offering native language assessments;

Ensures that students taking higher-level math coursework in eighth-grade are not subjected to double testing, while clarifying that all students must have the opportunity to be prepared for and to take advanced mathematics coursework in middle school; and

Supports states in offering flexibility for a district to administer a nationally recognized high school assessment in place of the statewide assessment, by providing criteria and parameters for ensuring that any selected assessment will be offered to all students within the district and that such assessments are of high quality and will generate results comparable to the statewide assessment for all students, including students with disabilities and English learners.

Supplement, not supplant

Federal resources provided under Title I to high-poverty schools are intended to provide additional educational resources and supports that at-risk students need to succeed, instead of being used to make up for shortfalls in state and local funding. But in some places around the country, Title I schools receive fewer state and local dollars than the non-Title I schools within the same district. This prevents high-poverty schools from being able to provide supplemental supports to the children who need them the most.

The Department's proposalbased on feedback from the committee  clarifies how districts can meet the new compliance provision in the law and ensure that Title I schools receive at least as much in state and local funding as the average non-Title I school in that district. This clarification will help districts ensure that Title I funds provide truly supplemental supports for students, while also maintaining districts' authority to choose their own methodology to allocate state and local funds. The proposal also reflects the committee's input with respect to providing additional flexibility to accommodate unique circumstances.

ESSA

ESSA replaces the outdated No Child Left Behind law, and expands on the good work this Administration, states, districts and schools across the country have already started. The new law will help build on key progress that the country has made in education over recent yearsincluding a record high school graduation rate of 82 percent, significant expansion of high-quality preschool, and a million more African American and Hispanic students enrolled in college than in 2008.

ESSA promotes equitable access to educational opportunities in critical ways, such as asking states to hold all students to high academic standards to prepare them for college and careers and ensuring action in the lowest-performing schools, high schools with low graduation rates, and in schools that are consistently failing subgroups of students. Maintaining effective, time-limited, high-quality assessments and ensuring that all states and districts know how to meet the updated "supplement not supplant" requirement are crucial to achieving these objectives.

The Department hosted numerous public forums, held more than 100 meetings with stakeholders and received hundreds of written comments on how to best support states, districts and schools in the transition to the new law, which informed the negotiated rulemaking process that is now underway. The negotiators represent the constituencies that are significantly affected by the topics proposed for negotiation, including state and local education administrators and board members, tribal leadership, parents and students, teachers, principals, other school leaders, and the civil rights and business communities.
New data has supported the case for some patients taking abiraterone for long periods of time, Britains National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has said. NICE has issued final guidance recommending abiraterone for some prostate cancer patients.

This is a change from the appraisal committees previous draft guidance decision. New evidence focused on a large group of patients treated with abiraterone in the USA.

The data showed that 14 per cent of the patients were still taking abiraterone after 4.4 years. As such the committee concluded that abiraterone is a cost-effective treatment option.

Prof Carole Longson, Director of the Centre for Health Technology Evaluation at NICE said: There are few treatments available for patients at this stage of prostate cancer so this is very good news.

When certain requirements are met, abiraterone in combination with prednisone or prednisolone is recommended, within its marketing authorisation, as an option for treating metastatic hormone-relapsed prostate cancer in people who have no or mild symptoms after androgen deprivation therapy has failed, and before chemotherapy is indicated.

The manufacturer agreed a patient access scheme (PAS) with Britains Department of Health. The committee heard from clinical specialists that, when chemotherapy is indicated, most people would have docetaxel. But, when people have no or mild symptoms, clinicians may instead offer best supportive care including corticosteroids such as prednisolone to delay chemotherapy and its adverse effects.

The committee concluded that abiraterone compared with placebo extended the time to progression and survival times, but how much it extended life was uncertain.

The committee agreed that abiraterone was innovative, and recognized that there were benefits to patients in delaying chemotherapy.

The NICE committee noted that abiraterone, which is taken with prednisolone, has a marketing authorisation for use before chemotherapy.
With PSA testing, there is an increased tendency to detect prostate cancer but with time, that advantage diminishes, Gary Culliton reports in his latest Clinical Update. The need for testing in the low-risk group, is very much reduced.

Less therapy is needed when cancers are detected early, a meeting in Dublin has heard. Time has proven that where early intervention is possible, there can be a significant impact in terms of overall survival. Between 600 and 1,000 patients need to be screened, in order to prevent one death from bowel cancer, for instance.

Bowel cancer screening can reduce mortality by 18 per cent. On average, 540 patients need to be screened in order to prevent one death from breast cancer (breast cancer screening can reduce mortality by 23 per cent). 1,200 patients need to be screened with Pap smears (which are very sensitive), in order to prevent one death from cervical cancer. Cervical cancer screening can reduce mortality by 80 per cent.

More and more studies support the use of PSA testing for prostate cancer, Mr David Galvin, consultant urologist, told the recent St Vincents University Hospitals Annual GP Study Day. The latest results for prostate cancer show that 139 men need to be screened to prevent one death. Prostate cancer screening reduces mortality by 44 per cent.

A randomised controlled trial  comparing surgery and watchful waiting  showed a 44 per cent relative reduction in prostate cancer mortality after 18 years follow-up in the group that had a radical prostatectomy (SPCG-4 Investigators).

The European Randomised Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer (ERSPC) considered the effectiveness of PSA testing. Some 182,000 men aged between 55 and 69 years were randomised throughout Europe. PSA was tested every four years in one arm but not in the other.

Twice as much prostate cancer was detected in the men who had PSA testing at nine years, as was detected among men who were not PSA tested. Four years later just 50 per cent more prostate cancer was detected in the PSA-tested arm. With PSA testing, there was an increased tendency to detect prostate cancer but with time, that advantage diminished, Mr Galvin said.

Mortality rate

The mortality rate declined. At nine years, there was a 15 per cent improved odds ratio (in terms of dying from prostate cancer). At 11 years, it was 22 per cent improved. At 13 years, there was 27 per cent improved survival where PSA was checked every four years.

The ERSPC (2012) concluded that one life could be saved for every 27 men diagnosed with prostate cancer (780 men needed to be screened). In the men who remained alive, the bone metastases rate was reduced: there was less burdensome disease.

It was concluded that the decision to test PSA should be a shared decision between the doctor and the patient. National screening was not then recommended.

A separate study in Sweden evaluated 20,000 patients PSA every two years (Goteborg Randomised Population-Based Prostate-Cancer Screening Trial, 2012). These men have now been followed for 14 years. Among those who had PSA checked every two years, much earlier stage disease was diagnosed. Among those diagnosed, many patients could be placed on active surveillance and avoid treatment.

Due to the earlier diagnoses, more patents could avail of surgery. There was less advanced disease and less metastases.

Patients thus used hormonal therapy and radiotherapy less. In the Goteborg study, there was a 44 per cent reduction in mortality among patients who had their PSA checked every two years. A total of 293 men had to be screened and 12 men treated, in order to save one life.

In prostate cancer, it takes a long time to establish overall mortality and survival figures. The Swedish Prostate Cancer Group, trial (SPCG-4) on the basis of 18 years of follow-up data, concluded that eight men needed to be treated to prevent one prostate cancer death.

The Malmo preventative project considered serum samples from men in their mid-40s. PSA levels for 30 years earlier  when the men were between the ages of 27 and 52  were reviewed. So too was subsequent risk of death from prostate cancer among these men.

A linear correlation was found. Risk of developing prostate cancer over the ensuing 30 years was directly related to levels of PSA. Men with a PSA level below 1.0 ng/mL were at low risk of developing prostate cancer. Almost all of those who went on to develop prostate cancer over the following 30 years had PSA levels above 1.0 ng/mL at age 45. The need for testing in the low-risk group is thus very much reduced.

Current recommendations say men aged 45 years with PSA levels under 1.0 ng/mL should be screened much less often (at five-yearly intervals). Mid-40s males, with a PSA is above 1.0 ng/mL, are at high risk of developing prostate cancer and should have their PSAs tested more regularly  perhaps every two or three years.

Five recommendations emerged from the Melbourne Consensus Statement on PSA Screening, Mr Galvin said. There is Level 1 evidence that PSA testing reduces the incidence of metastatic prostate cancer and mortality in men between the ages of 50 and 69.

Prostate cancer diagnosis should be uncoupled from intervention: in the US, 50 per cent of men are suitable for active surveillance and might not need treatment. PSA testing should be considered as part of a multivariable approach to early prostate cancer detection, the recommendations state.

Baseline PSA testing for men in their 40s is useful for predicting their risk of subsequent prostate cancer. Older men in good health, with a 10-year life expectancy, should not be denied PSA testing, the recommendations concluded.

The Goteborg data show that good-quality, properly organised prostate cancer screening programmes will yield significant improvements and save lives. Opportunistic testing, such as is done in Ireland, increases the diagnosis rate but has no survival advantage.

The ICGP Prostate Cancer Guideline is being updated. European Association of Urology (EAU, 2012) guidelines say testing should be considered for men in their mid-40s. This will inform a decision on whether more or less regular PSA testing should be done. There is now no prostate cancer screening programme in Ireland. Currently, shared decision-making is the preferred approach.

The NCCP PSA referral guidelines are key. A change in the PSA referral cutoffs (of 3.5, 4.5 and 6.5ug/L) for Rapid Access Clinics is under consideration. These may reduce to 3, 4 and 5ug/L. The PSA level in a man under the age of 60 years should not be above 3 ug/L. In a man under 70 years, the level should not be above 4 ug/L. In a man over the age of 70, the upper cut-off is 5 ug/L. A digital rectal exam is of particular value in older patients. A PSA level of 6 or 7 ug/L, in a man aged 75, might not always disturb.

However, it might be particularly concerning, in combination with a hard mass on the prostate.

Every prostate cancer patient in Ireland was due to be registered in the National Prostate Cancer Registry, said Mr Galvin.

Movember fundraising will enable this. Patients will be contacted and asked to fill in follow-up forms. Data on quality of life, urinary and sexual functions will be collected. Irelands experience will then be benchmarked with similar projects in Australia, the US, the UK and other countries.
The maximum limit has been reached in terms of the number of intern posts that is possible, while retaining the required standards and quality of the intern experience, the HSE National Doctors Training and Planning unit has indicated.

The Medical Council has flagged quality issues associated with last Julys intern training posts and the intern training capacity required to provide intern posts that meet the range of minimum standards has been exhausted, the HSE said.

Additional posts would be reliant on rotations in peripheral units  as opposed to main university teaching hospitals  only.

The number of intern posts now exceeds projections in the Fottrell report on Undergraduate Medical Education and Training, with implications for projected postgraduate trainee numbers and workforce planning at medical specialist level.

There is also a significant cost implication associated with each post, the HSEs National Doctors Training and Planning unit has told the Department of Health.

Last July, despite there being 727 posts available, there were 11 Irish CAO graduates who did not gain a post in the first round of the intern match.

The Higher Education Authority appeared to approve CAO student intakes over and above the original agreed Fotrell figures, said the HSE, and last years projected additional intake of 60 (765 versus 705 approved) looked set to continue this year.

A wider pool of graduates is now available  for example, EEA graduates from EU medical schools outside of Ireland are still applying in small but significant numbers. Some 22 applied last year and nine were appointed to intern posts. The previous year, 23 applied and four were appointed.

The HSE said graduates who entered medical school through the CAO system should be prioritised in the first round of the intern match so each CAO graduate may become registered with the Council.

The Fottrell report suggested that where 684 doctors graduate each year, 640 intern posts would be required, to ensure that every EEA-IMS graduate was assured of an intern post. Post numbers have risen from 488 posts in 2004 to 684 posts in 2014. A subsequent unexpected increase in the number of EEA Irish Medical Schools graduates in 2015 led to a further increase to a total of 727 posts in 2015.

gary.culliton@imt.ie
Irish nationals who study medicine in countries not exempted from language proficiency requirements, even if their studies are through English, may be required to sit for the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) academic test under new regulations, the HSE has indicated.

Incoming IMO President and Chairman of its NCHD Committee Dr John Duddy immediately derided the move as an example of yet further bureaucracy that was doing nothing to help attract Irish doctors back home.

Following a recent article in IMT (HSE brings in new English language requirements for foreign-trained medics, March 25, 2016), a specific query was received from an Irish citizen and holder of an Irish passport currently studying medicine in an Eastern European country through English, who is due to graduate in June, questioning their status under the new regulations.

When IMT forwarded the query to the HSE, a spokesperson replied: The circular states that this test is a requirement for all NCHDs. They also advised that the student contact the HSE-National Doctors Training and Planning Unit in relation to their individual query.

Under HSE HR Circular 006/2016, the HSE has introduced stiffer English anguage proficiency obligations requiring the application of the IELTS academic test, effective from March 9, for all Interns and NCHDs, without exception  even for candidates from other EU countries  with exemptions limited to only those who qualify in Ireland and five other countries (the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, or the US).

I would say I was quite surprised reading it, said Dr Duddy, incredulously. This makes absolutely no sense. Surely, if this is somebody who has sat for their Leaving Cert in Ireland that, in and of itself, is a demonstration of their fluency in English. I really do not understand the logic of that, and given the environment that we have got where we are trying to encourage people to come and work in Ireland, to make Irish nationals pass an English fluency test is pretty ridiculous, I would think.

Unless it was an extension of the scheme where the Irish health service is prioritising applicants who have gone through the CAO/ university system in Ireland over those who have not for intern posts. But to discriminate against them based on a language, that has no basis in logic; it seems pretty ridiculous to me, added Dr Duddy.

lloyd.mudiwa@imt.ie
Plans to establish an islet cell transplantation service for diabetes patients in Ireland were delayed by the transfer of pancreatic transplantation from Beaumont to St Vincents University Hospital (SVUH), IMT has learned.

Funding issues are also thought to have delayed the availability of the service for type 1 diabetes patients, despite efforts by UK and Irish clinicians to set up such a service several years ago. Talks have now restarted on its feasibility.

Prof Paul Johnson of Oxford University told IMT that he travelled to Ireland several years ago to discuss moves to establish the agreement, but plans fell by the wayside for a number of reasons. We are currently engaged in dialogue on how to continue what we began a few years back, he said.

According to Prof Johnson, the islet cell transplantation service is fully funded by the NHS in the UK and treats approximately 50-60 patients each year for hypoglycaemic unawareness. Patients have to have failed conventional treatments such as insulin pumps, he explained.

A framework whereby patients in Ireland would receive islet cells harvested from pancreases in the UK is envisioned, he added. The technology required for the transplant is already available in Dublin and it would be carried out by transplant surgeons. The professor said this would not be particularly costly.

Prof Johnson was in Dublin recently to present at the RCSIs MyHealth public meeting on The Rise and Rise of Diabetes. He told IMT that his visit would also incorporate a meeting with the pancreatic transplantation team at SVUH.

Dr Diarmuid Smith, Consultant Endocrinologist at Beaumont Hospital and former Clinical Lead for type 1 diabetes, said the elements existed to allow the service to take place, but there were various infrastructural and legislative requirements, as well as resource issues.

You need legislation to fly tissue between the UK and Ireland and you need resources, because if you set up the service for islet transplants you could get referrals from all around the country saying they need it too.

While there would be costs involved, Dr Smith echoed Prof Johnsons comments that these would not be too onerous. It can be easily done; you just need the will to make it happen.

 Read more here.

By Danielle Barron
The IMO is to meet with the Department of Health again in coming weeks on the issue of chronic disease management  set to be the cornerstone of a new overall contract for GPs, Irish Medical Times has learned.

According to IMO GP Committee Chair Dr Padraig McGarry, preliminary discussions have already taken place and work has continued on reaching a deal  despite the political hiatus, and a new overall GMS contract for GPs is still expected this year. I hope that the promises made will result in action. Aspirations are no good any longer, Dr McGarry said.

IMO research is actively considering this area and health economist Dr Brendan McElroy has been employed to draw up metrics that will enable the weighting of patients.

Surveys on workloads within practices are being conducted, so that the union can arrive at an accurate assessment of requirements.

There must be a proper commitment to adequate annual resources, insisted Dr McGarry, who added: It cannot be a pilot study and then dropped.

While free GP care for all under-12s this year has been pledged by the outgoing Government, the IMO is stating that it is equally prepared to negotiate a deal. A new contract makes medical and financial sense, Dr McGarry said, adding that negotiations on further Special Items of Service by GPs were also planned.

As medical card eligibility is extended, the proportion of GPs State-funded practice time rises. The funding of infrastructure was thus an issue that must be recognised and dealt with, said Dr McGarry.

As part of the IMOs round of negotiations with the State, a recompense mechanism will be sought for GPs who invest in their own premises (which are up to 80 per cent used by medical card holders). This might be achieved via tax breaks or another mechanism, the union believes.

Other issues such as out-of-hours care will be also be tackled in future talks.

gary.culliton@imt.ie
Internet's Most Adorable Pet Duo Has Left the Netizens in Complete Awe
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Young adult author Meg Rosoff has won the worlds most lucrative childrens writing prize for her stylistic masterpieces that the jury said left no reader unmoved.

Rosoff, who was born in Boston and lives in London, will receive the 5m Swedish krona (430,000) Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award for her body of work at a ceremony at the Stockholm Concert Hall at the end of next month.

She was picked from more than 200 candidates this year with 21 from the UK including Jaqueline Wilson and Neil Gaiman. The jury said Rosoffs novels speak to the emotions as well as the intellect, adding: In sparkling prose, she writes about the search for meaning and identity in a peculiar and bizarre world.

The author published her first novel in 2004 with the dystopian young adult novel How I Live Now, which made the Whitbread Awards shortlist. She has written a further six young adult novels including Just in Case and What I Was. She has also written a novel for adults and several picture books.

Rosoff, who has lived and worked in the UK since 1989, has won a string of prizes including the Carnegie Medal and Deutsche Jugendliteraturpreis and became Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2014. Her books have been translated into 20 languages.

Rosoffs novels cover the hinterland between childhood and adult life in which, the citation said, at times they are pushed to the brink of the unbearable and beyond. Her protagonists battle questions of identity and sexuality and are thrown involuntarily into chaotic situations.

The author empathizes completely with young people and is utterly loyal to them, the jury said, adding: She uses concrete, vibrant language, whether she is describing a landscape, a piece of clothing, or the groceries in the pantry. She infuses darkness with humour to produce stylistic masterpieces.

The prize was set up by the Swedish government in 2002 in memory of Astrid Lindgren, one of Swedens most important authors, and to promote interest in childrens and young adult literature around the world.

Her works, which renewed childrens literature, have been translated into more than 90 languages. She died at the age of 94 in 2002.

It is presented every year with nominees from around the world eligible. Laureates include Where the Wild Things Are author Maurice Sendak and British author Philip Pullman, who wrote the His Dark Materials trilogy.


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William Shakespeare will be honoured with a new set of stamps to mark the 400th anniversary of his death.

Royal Mail is publishing ten first class stamps featuring famous phrases from the playwrights repertoire to mark the impact his writing still makes today.

Lines from Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest, Julius Caesar, Much Ado About Nothing and Hamlet are included in the new collection, while a special postmark showing the dates of Shakespeares life will appear on letters as part of the commemoration this week.

William Shakespeare's 400th anniversary stamps Show all 10 1 /10 William Shakespeare's 400th anniversary stamps William Shakespeare's 400th anniversary stamps Royal Mail/PA Wire William Shakespeare's 400th anniversary stamps Royal Mail/PA Wire William Shakespeare's 400th anniversary stamps Royal Mail/PA Wire William Shakespeare's 400th anniversary stamps Royal Mail/PA Wire William Shakespeare's 400th anniversary stamps Royal Mail/PA Wire William Shakespeare's 400th anniversary stamps Royal Mail/PA Wire William Shakespeare's 400th anniversary stamps Royal Mail/PA Wire William Shakespeare's 400th anniversary stamps Royal Mail/PA Wire William Shakespeare's 400th anniversary stamps Royal Mail/PA Wire William Shakespeare's 400th anniversary stamps Royal Mail/PA Wire

It is fitting that Shakespeare is being honoured with a set of stamps to mark the 400th anniversary of his death, said Philip Parker from Royal Mail. The stamps celebrate the power of his language which continues to influence us every day.

Shakespeare is believed to have died on his birthday, 23 April, in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1616. Cultural institutions across Britain are planning an exciting array of productions, events to pay tribute to the Bard, including a huge performance of A Midsummer Nights Dream from the Royal Shakespeare Company with a cast of nearly 700.

The BFI is launching its largest Shakespeare on film programme to date and the Queen will display treasures relating to the royal familys admiration for Shakespeare at Windsor Castle.
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If theres a single word to describe the women who populate the films of Zack Snyder, its strength. Valkyries of the battlefield; etherealism sharpened to a knifes edge, fearsome and unforgiving in their glory. The offer to take on the great Amazonian herself, Diana Prince (AKA Wonder Woman), must have made Snyders week.

Yet theres disappointingly common ground that binds these warrior women together, Diana Princes fixed origins excluded; one which undermines Snyders claims of a gender-balanced viewpoint and further elucidates Hollywoods failure of its female heroines.

Power isnt native to these women; not in the way its so naturally accorded to its male heroes. The strength of these women is almost entirely defined by an act that exists to render its victim powerless. The characters of Sucker Punch, Queen Gorgo, Sally Jupiter, and Artemisia are all rape survivors.

Cynically, its easy merely to decry it all as B-movie shocks or at worst, grotesque titillation. Yet its clear from the structure of Snyders narratives that he intends sexual assault to be the evil that leads to empowerment. In Snyders cinematic world, women are victims who seek to overcome their own victimhood through acts of vengeance.

Snyders only original property, Sucker Punch, acts like a manifesto to those ideas. The fantastical action sequences that litter its run-time are Snyders purest form of spiritual empowerment; but its empowerment that services these women entirely in the overcoming of the brutal, daily sexual assault and humiliation they face in their own realities. Their strength and heroism isnt innate with themselves, but is awoken entirely in the vengeful rage against those who have forced them into powerlessness.

In Frank Millers original 300 comic series, Queen Gorgo exists as little more than a phantom; the white-clad vision of Sparta for which King Leonidas and his men fight so bravely on. Snyder sought to bring Gorgo (Lena Headley) towards the narratives centre for his adaptation, allowing her to take on an active role in which she must persuade the Spartan Council to send aid to her husband, trapped at Thermopylae.

However, Gorgos final victory at the council is attained only after her power is stripped at the hands of politician Theron (Dominic West), who rapes her as a deluded kind of payment for his support in the council. She attains final vengeance when she kills him in a moment of rage and unveils his deceit to the council. Snyders narrative manipulation of power here becomes startlingly clear when Therons words during her assault, This will not be over quickly. You will not enjoy this; are echoed by Gorgo as she stabs him.

Though directed by Noam Murro, Snyder still penned sequel film 300: Rise of an Empire, and handed the historical military commander Artemisia (Eva Green) a similar backstory. Though Greek-born, her alliance with the Persians isnt driven from the same desire for power that corrupts 300s villainous Ephialtes, but derives from her enslavement into sex work by Greek hoplites and her eventual rescue by a Persian emissary.

The accuracy of Snyders Watchmen adaptation sees the filmmaker merely take his cues from comics writer Alan Moore; yet, here, its female characters are once more defined by the act of sexual assault. Silk Spectre II (Malin Akerman) must overcome the disturbing realisation she is the product of a consensual union between her mother (Carla Gugino) and her attempted rapist (Jeffrey Dean Morgan).

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Indeed, Silk Spectres most active participation in the films narrative is arguably how her own coming to terms with such news sparks Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup)s renewed investment in humanitys future, which eventually proves the key factor in preventing the races complete annihilation.

Thankfully, Lois Lane and Wonder Woman are far too entrenched in the DC cinematic universe to undergo Snyders narrative manipulations. Nor did he pen the script for either Man of Steel or Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Yet, still, a small touch of the auteurs influence remains on the films focus on its women; with both Lane and Wonder Woman sourcing their power conversely to the men around them.

The terrorist leader (Sammi Rotibi) in Batman v Superman who attempts to utilise Lois Lane (Amy Adams)s gender as a disarming tactic, to leave her powerless in this fraught situation, is met with a quick, chastising reply: Im not a lady, Im a journalist. This begs the question as to why those two things are mutually exclusive but nevertheless, Lanes reclaim of her hold on the situation is apparent.

The problem with Snyders female characters doesnt lie with his intentions; the idea of utilising his baroque, larger-than-life female heroes to carve a narrative in which victimhood gives way to empowerment has the potential to be a force for good, even of hope and inspiration. The issue, moreover, lies with its repeated use; driving an implication that a womans power isnt native or naturally born like so many of his male characters, but can only be driven out of total disempowerment and suffering.

Zack Snyders rather misguided treatment of female characters confirms one thing: the dire need for more female voices in mainstream cinema to offer a diversity of female empowerment that matches up to the real diversity of female experience.
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An unlikely sequel to one of 2015's most nail-biting thrillers has been given the go-ahead.

Sicario centred on idealistic FBI agent Kate Mercer (Emily Blunt) who is signed up by a shady task force made up of Josh Brolin's government official and the mysterious Alejandro (Benicio del Toro) for an assignment affiliated with the war on drugs.

A sequel has been rumoured since its release last year but according to Aceshowbiz, producers have officially greenlit the project that will see Blunt, Brolin and del Toro reprise their roles for a film focused on the latter's character.

Co-producer Molly Smith said: "We're in full development with the studio. I just got a draft and we're really excited."



Sicario 2 will see the original's screenwriter Taylor Sheridan (Sons of Anarchy's Deputy Chief David Hale) return to pen to follow-up although Canadian director Denis Villeneuve (Prisoners, Enemy) is not yet attached to return.

"We would love it if Denis could [direct]," said Smith's fellow producer Thad Luckinbill. "He's a busy man, but he's certainly part of the process with us right now."

Luckinbill did confirm the return of the core cast, however, honing in on del Toro's character.

"You have such a great character with Benicio, who was as dark as he was and still so loved. That character resonates so well with audiences. People want to know what happened to him, so it's a perfect foray for us to explore."

Sicario was released in the UK back in October 2015 and earned three Oscar nominations for Cinematography, Original Score and Sound Editing.
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Steven Spielberg's fast proving he's lost none of his magic as one of Hollywood's most iconic directors. Having already proven his continued mastery of awards-friendly dramas with last year's Cold War thriller, Bridge of Spies; Spielberg turns now to another favoured territory, the world of sweeping family blockbusters.

He's adapted one of Roald Dahl's most iconic and beloved works, 1982's The BFG; a mammoth task, but this brand new trailer promises the filmmaker has condensed his every sense of wonder and grandeur as a filmmaker into this special effects-laden blockbuster.

Academy Award winner Mark Rylance voices the titular Big Friendly Giant; who ten-year-old Sophie (Ruby Barnhill) befriends upon the discovery he's a quite kind and gentle being, in opposition to his child-eating compatriots. The pair must eventually travel together to London to convince Queen Victoria herself to rid the land of its evil giants.

The BFG hits UK cinemas 22 July.
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During production on Disney's 1967 animated adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, filmmakers came up with a rather ingenious cameo suited to the world's biggest band; the one, and only, The Beatles.

John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr would voice a quartet of vultures fitted with mop top hairstyles, crooning the charming number, "That's What Friends Are For". Except, those plans appear not to have come to fruition; due either to clashing schedules or, as rumours have it, Lennon's own refusal to partake in the gag.

Supposedly, Lennon vetoed the appearance and retorted to band manager Brian Epstein that he should tell Disney they'd be better off hiring Elvis Presley instead. The final film instead features the vultures in mock-Liverpudlian accents, voiced by J. Pat O'Malley, Digby Wolfe, Lord Tim Hudson, and Chat Stuart; with the more Beatles-influenced number reshaped into a timeless barbershop quartet.



Now, it looks as if Jon Favreau attempted to reclaim such a missed opportunity; and was once more met with a closed door. The director of the newest version of The Jungle Book claims he tried to get McCartney and Starr to cameo as the vultures, but wasn't able to secure the iconic musicians.

"We don't have the Beatle-vultures," he told The Radio Times. "I did talk about trying to get Paul and Ringo into the film, because they wanted the Beatles for the original, but I couldn't get them. We came to the idea too late. Maybe if there's a sequel..."

One memorable voice Favreau was able to secure was Scarlett Johansson, who provides her vocal cords to the hypnotic and villainous python Kaa; which the director explains was part of his aim to update the male-dominated book for modern sensibilities, alongside the casting of Lupita Nyong'o's wolf Raksha.

 The Jungle Book Featurette - Legacy

"Times are different now. It seems odd to have all-male characters. In the '67 film, it was an all-male cast," Favreau told The Press Association. "In Kipling's (book), there was a prominent character we really played up called Raksha. She really is the heart and soul of the central relationship with Mowgli.

"And then we changed Kaa the snake to be Scarlett Johansson who has an incredibly warm, wonderful, compelling, dramatic voice, and I think it helped balance it out and feel more of our time."

The Jungle Book hits UK cinemas 15 April.
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Musicians booked to play the UK's first ever anti-European Union musical festival have pulled out, after learning the event is organised by pro-Brexit campaign group, Leave.EU.

A press release for Bpoplive announced the event will feature "some of Britain's hottest artists as well as speeches from leading personalities and politicians who support leaving the EU", making the event "the first of its kind in the UK". Yet, when Buzzfeed News reached out to several of the artists billed, they claimed they were entirely unaware the event was backed by Leave.EU., which in turn is founded by UKIP's biggest donor, Arron Banks.

A spokesperson for the event's headliners, drum'n'bass act Sigma, stated they "are in no way supporting the event"; with the band shortly pulling out of the festival. The event's other headliners, Electric Swing Circus, also replied to requests for comment; member Tom Hyland underlined that the band "are not pro-Brexit" and that, though they're not unanimous in their stance, "as a group we are generally pro-EU".

Garage duo DJ Luck and MC Neat appear not to have been informed of the event's political backing, with their spokesperson commenting; "I didn't even know it was about that to be honest". He furthered that he would be discussing the issue with the act, though they are still on the event's bill as of now.



The only other confirmed act, Phats & Small, is yet to comment on the situation; rumours that Pixie Lott would be added to the bill are, according to her publicist, unfounded.

Bpoplive is set to take place on 8 May at the 15,000-capacity Genting Arena in Birmingham, with tickets set at 20. Leave.EU has yet to respond to a request for comment; though a spokesperson told Buzzfeed the event was not anti-EU in nature but was being staged to encourage younger people to register to vote, regardless of their political affliliation.

In regards to the anti-EU promotional material included; "That was misbriefed. There was a miscommunication between us and the people putting it on. Youve got the wrong end of the stick. The idea came from a thing in the states organised by MTV called Rock the Vote, with the message in between the acts, in the same way the BBC does Children in Need."
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Edward Snowden has drawn attention to David Camerons apparently new interest in privacy, in the wake of questions about his familys tax affairs.

The Prime Minister has looked to avoid questions about his tax situation, following mentions of his father Ian Cameron in the Panama papers. Mr Cameron has looked to argue that his tax affairs are not public and so shouldnt be discussed.

Sharing a tweet about Mr Camerons spokespersons comment that his tax affairs are a private matter, Mr Snowden suggested that the focus on privacy was a new interest. Oh, now hes interested in privacy, the whistleblower wrote in a tweet that was shared over 18,000 times.

World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Show all 15 1 /15 World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Petro Poroshenko President of Ukraine World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Ayad Allawi Allawi Iraqs Vice-President between 2014 and 2015, and the countrys interim prime minister from 2004 to 2005 World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Salman bin Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al Saud King of Saudi Arabia World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan President of the United Arab Emirates, Emir of Abu Dhabi World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Sigmundur Davi Gunnlaugsson Prime Minister of Iceland World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Sergey Roldugin Close friend of Vladimir Putin World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani Emir of Qatar 1995-2013 World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Li Xiaolin Daughter of Li Peng, the former Premier of China (The current vice-president of state-owned power company China Datang Gorporation and former CEO of China Power International Development, she has been nicknamed Chinas Power Queen World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Rami Makhlouf Cousin of Bashar Assad, the President of Syria World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Hafez Makhlouf Cousin of Bashar Assad, the President of Syria World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Clive Khulubuse Zuma Nephew of Jacob Zuma, President of South Africa World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Maryam Nawaz Sharif Safdar Daughter of Nawaz Sharif, prime minister of Pakistan World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Hasan Nawaz Sharif Son of Nawaz Sharif, prime minister of Pakistan World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Hussain Nawaz Sharif Son of Nawaz Sharif, prime minister of Pakistan World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Alaa Mubarak The eldest son of ousted former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak Read more here

David Camerons government has received sustained criticism from privacy campaigners, including those within his own party. One of its most high-profile pieces of legislation has been the Investigatory Powers Bill, or Snoopers Charter  an attempt to revive an earlier version of a similar law that was stopped when the Liberal Democrats were in government.

That law gives spies, police forces and a range of other authorities the apparent power to break into phones and force their manufacturers to help them do it. It also appears to weaken much of the security powers that are already in phones and computers, including encryption  the technology that powers WhatsApp and iMessage.

 PM Reacts To Panama Papers

David Cameron introduced that effort to weaken security in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo shootings at the beginning of 2014. In our country, do we want to allow a means of communication between people which [] we cannot read? he asked in the wake of those attacks, in remarks that were the beginning of a fight between the Government and privacy campaigners that is still going on.
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The Taliban's mobile app has been removed from the Google Play Store, just a day after it launched.

The Pashto-language app was titled 'Pashto Afghan news - alemarah,' and allowed users to access official statements, videos and other propaganda from the fundamentalist group.

As Bloomberg reports, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed said the app was part of the group's "advanced technological efforts to make a more global audience."

American jihadist-monitoring organisation Site Intelligence Group spotted the app had been launched on Friday 1 April. It was removed the next day, which Mujahed put down to "technical issues."

However, the BBC reports it was taken down by Google, since it violated the Play Store's rules on violence, illegal activities and hate speech.

The Taliban banned the internet when they controlled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, declaring it to be un-Islamic. They have since reversed their policy, using multi-lingual websites, digital publications and social media to spread their message internationally.

A Google spokesperson said: "While we dont comment on specific apps, we can confirm that we remove apps from Google Play that violate our policies.

Our policies are designed to provide a great experience for users and developers. That's why we remove apps from Google Play that violate those policies.
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European aircraft manufacturer Airbus has sent a letter to its British employees outlining the company's fears about the prospect of the UK leaving the European Union.

Airbus bosses told staff that they "firmly believe that it makes good economic sense to stay inside the EU".

However the company stressed it was "committed" to its UK operations regardless of the referendum outcome, saying their success was built on a "highly competitive, integrated European business model".

The multi-national corporation employs 15,000 people in the UK and 132,000 globally.

This letter, which was signed by six top Airbus Group executives, including the president of Airbus Group UK, Paul Kahn, echoed a prominent Remain campaign slogan that leaving the EU would be a "leap in the dark".

"We simply don't know what 'out' looks like," the letter said.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA UK news in pictures 21 September 2022 A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2022 Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2022 The ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II travels down the long walk as it arrives at Windsor Castle for the committal service at St Georges Chapel AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 18 September 2022 A man stands among campers on The Mall ahead of the Queens funeral Reuters UK news in pictures 17 September 2022 Wolverhampton Wanderers Nathan Collins fouls Manchester Citys Jack Grealish leading to a red card. 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It continued: "However, our business model is entirely based on our ability to move products, people and ideas around Europe without any restriction and we do not believe leaving will increase the competitiveness of our British-based operations.

"We all need to keep in the back of our minds that future investments depend very much on the economic environment in which the company operates."

German car mufacturer BMW has also sent a letter to its employees ahead of the vote on 23 June outlining the risks of Brexit.
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Credit Suisse and HSBC have both dismissed suggestions they were actively using offshore structures to help clients avoid tax.

Tidjane Thiam, Credit Suisse CEO, said the bank doesnt condone the use of offshore wealth-management structures for tax avoidance or any type of nontransparent activities.

We as a company, as a bank only encourage the use of structures when there is a legitimate economic purpose, said Thiam, who took the helm at Switzerland's second-largest bank last year.

HSBC separately said the documents pre-dated a thorough reform of its business model.

The allegations are historical, in some cases dating back 20 years, predating our significant, well-publicised reforms implemented over the last few years, said Gareth Hewett, a Hong Kong-based spokesman for HSBC.

 BBC Panorama: Panama Papers trailer

HSBC and Credit Suisse, two of the worlds largest wealth managers were named among the banks that helped set up complex structures that make it hard for tax collectors and investigators to track the flow of money from one place to another, according to ICIJ, which based its reports on the leaked documents from the Mossack Fonseca, a Panamanian law firm.

The documents, which came from an unidentified source, outline the way in which powerful and wealthy individuals have created and used offshore accounts based in places like the British Virgin Islands, Liechtenstein and the Bahamas.

World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Show all 15 1 /15 World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Petro Poroshenko President of Ukraine World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Ayad Allawi Allawi Iraqs Vice-President between 2014 and 2015, and the countrys interim prime minister from 2004 to 2005 World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Salman bin Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al Saud King of Saudi Arabia World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan President of the United Arab Emirates, Emir of Abu Dhabi World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Sigmundur Davi Gunnlaugsson Prime Minister of Iceland World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Sergey Roldugin Close friend of Vladimir Putin World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani Emir of Qatar 1995-2013 World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Li Xiaolin Daughter of Li Peng, the former Premier of China (The current vice-president of state-owned power company China Datang Gorporation and former CEO of China Power International Development, she has been nicknamed Chinas Power Queen World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Rami Makhlouf Cousin of Bashar Assad, the President of Syria World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Hafez Makhlouf Cousin of Bashar Assad, the President of Syria World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Clive Khulubuse Zuma Nephew of Jacob Zuma, President of South Africa World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Maryam Nawaz Sharif Safdar Daughter of Nawaz Sharif, prime minister of Pakistan World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Hasan Nawaz Sharif Son of Nawaz Sharif, prime minister of Pakistan World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Hussain Nawaz Sharif Son of Nawaz Sharif, prime minister of Pakistan World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Alaa Mubarak The eldest son of ousted former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak Read more here

More than 500 banks, their subsidiaries and branches registered nearly 15,600 shell companies with Mossack Fonseca, according to the ICIJ.

Mossack Fonseca has denied any wrongdoing and said it has operated beyond reproach in our home country and in other jurisdictions where we have operations.

David Cameron is now facing calls for urgent action against tax havens in UK overseas territories and Crown Dependencies, as Britain was revealed to be at the heart of a shadowy global network of companies used by the super-rich to hide their wealth.

Additional reporting by Reuters
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Saudi Arabia has outlined plans to ramp up its austerity programme and avert the threat of national bankruptcy amid a sliding oil price and growing tensions with its regional oil-exporting rival Iran.

In an interview with Bloomberg, deputy crown prince Mohammed bin Salman said the countrys economic reform programme would raise an extra $100bn (70bn) in revenues a year by 2020, tripling income from non-oil sources and balancing the budget.

This would be on top of the austerity programme unveiled late last year. The extra revenue, according to officials, would come from measures such as a value-added tax, a tax on expats and a tax on sugary drinks. Incomes, however, would remain untaxed.

The news coincided with reports that the Saudis have been banning ships transporting Iranian oil from entering their waters, in what is seen to be an attempt to stifle Tehrans ability to return to the global energy markets. According to the Financial Times, only around eight tankers have left Iran and reached Europe since sanctions were removed in January.

The obstruction represents the latest sign that the Saudi proposal of an Opec production freeze is dead in the water. Oil prices fell yesterday, with a barrel of Brent dipping 1.53 per cent to $38.08, as traders belief in the likelihood of a freeze evaporated.

In February, Saudi and Russia agreed to support prices by freezing production at Januarys levels, but only if other major producers did the same. However, Iran is insisting on its right to hike production back to pre-sanctions levels. Irans exports last year fell to 1.1 million barrels a day  half of its pre-sanctions output levels.

Saudis budget deficit in 2015 ballooned to 15 per cent of the countrys GDP as oil revenues collapsed by 23 per cent. In response, Riyadh unveiled an austerity package in December, which included a reduction in subsidies for water, energy and electricity. It also slashed capital expenditure.

Oil revenues make up around three quarters of the Saudi governments tax revenues. The International Monetary Fund estimated last year that Saudi needed a global oil price of around $106 a barrel to balance its then level of spending with its revenues.

 What is a barrel of oil cheaper than?

Oil prices are up about 40 per cent since Januarys lows of $27 a barrel, easing the fiscal pressure somewhat. But prices remain massively down on the $115 a barrel of June 2014. Many analysts think oil prices could have further to fall thanks to a global oversupply and waning demand.
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The Panama Papers is being described as the biggest leak in history, larger than the US diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks in 2010 and the secret intelligence documents revealed by Edward Snowden in 2013.

Over 11 million of confidential documents have been leaked from Mossack Fonseca, a law firm based in Panama showing how the company helped its clients launder money and evade tax.

Mossack Fonseca has denied any wrongdoing and said it had operated beyond reproach in our home country and in other jurisdictions where we have operations.

But the documents reveal links to 72 current or former heads of state and accuse some of them of having vested interests in their own banks and looting their own countries.

The Panama Papers were obtained by an anonymous source who contacted the German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung, which worked with other papers and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalist (ICIJ( to go through the data.

Here are the five most important charts from the Panama Papers leak:

The leak exposed the banks requesting the most offshore companies for clients with Experta Corporate & Trust Services leading the list for the number of requests. HSBC and Credit Suisse have denied suggestions they were actively using offshore structures to help clients cheat on their taxes on Tuesday.

The British Virgins Islands topped the list of the most popular tax havens, followed by Panama and the Bahamas.



Hong Kong topped the list of countries where intermediariesbanks, law firms, accountants, and related firmsoperate with over 2,200 listed.



The most active clients by number of offshore company incorporations were from Hong Kong, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.



Beyond the data's revelations, the analysis process itself also exposed the shifty modes of operation utilized by offshore companies.

This internal database didnt have a date for the closing of the companies. In the offshore world entities are hardly closed: theyre either inactivated or they stop paying fees and their status changes to whats called struck off in the offshore lingo. The ICIJ team explained in the data methodology.
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Tributes from the adult film world are pouring in for Amber Rayne after the retired actress died in her apartment on Saturday.

Rayne, real name Meghan Wren, collapsed while a friend was at her home in Los Angeles and was later pronounced dead by paramedics who arrived on scene. She was 31-years-old.

Raynes death was reported as a possible overdose or accident, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner told The Los Angeles Times. An autopsy and toxicology report is due to take place by the end of the week.

Recommended Read more Porn star who accused adult actor James Deen of rape is found dead

Rayne was one of five women to claim the porn actor James Deen sexually assaulted them while on set. Fellow adult actress Stoya, who was the first to come forward to make an allegation of assault at the hands of Deen, led tributes to her on Twitter.

Rayne was born in Detroit and worked in the adult film industry for 10 years before retiring in 2015. A keen dressage rider and music fan, she often shared pictures of her horses on her social media accounts. Aside from my career I'm still what could be considered the average everyday girl, she said in a 2007 interview. Music is a rather large passion of mine and consumes a considerable amount of my time; whether it be dancing to it, playing my Les Paul, or hanging out listening to local bands music is usually involved.

In an interview with The Daily Beast, Rayne claimed Deen punched her in the face twice and had intercourse with her so forcefully she bled while on the set of a porn film. She said the pair stayed friends after the incident, but claimed she felt obliged to speak out after Stoyas allegations.

Deen categorically denied all of the allegations made against him.
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The actor who voiced the fan favourite Star Wars character Admiral Ackbar, Erik Bauersfeld, has died aged 93.

Bauersfeld spoke one of the most famous lines from the seven-film series so far, "It's a trap!", in the third instalment Return of the Jedi.

He died on Sunday at his home in Berkeley, California, after a respected career as a radio dramatist spanning more than 50 years.

Raised in New York, Bauersfeld was made director of drama and literature at Berkeley radio station KPFA in 1963, and oversaw dozens of acclaimed productions during 31 years in the role.

But it was his unexpected turn as a squid-headed alien that elevated the actor to international fame.

Bauersfeld said he was working on a radio project at Lucasfilm in 1983 when he was asked to read for the part of Admiral Ackbar.

He also voiced one of Jabba the Hutt's henchmen, Bib Fortuna, yet did not receive a closing credit for either role.

Every lightsaber in Star Wars history (films) Show all 12 1 /12 Every lightsaber in Star Wars history (films) Every lightsaber in Star Wars history (films) General Grievous The general played a big part in the Clone Wars, collecting dead Jedi's lightsaber's along the way and using them to do a crazy spin-attack. Unfortunately, they all get cut off by Obi-Wan just a little too quickly. Every lightsaber in Star Wars history (films) Qui-Gon Jinn Obi-Wan's master really didn't have too much time on screen, but his battles with Darth Maul will go down as some of the best in Star Wars history. Every lightsaber in Star Wars history (films) The Emperor It was a little weird seeing The Emperor, at this stage Palpatine, getting out a lightsaber and battling Jedi. Much better when just using Force lightning! Every lightsaber in Star Wars history (films) Anakin Skywalker/Luke Skywalker/Finn Now, this one really does have some history, travelling down the generations of Skywalkers, and briefly using by Finn in The Force Awakens. Of course, **Spoiler** someone else also uses the saber after it calls to them, could they be a Skywalker to? Every lightsaber in Star Wars history (films) Darth Vader The first red-lightsaber we ever saw on screen: the definition of evil and an iconic weapon. Every lightsaber in Star Wars history (films) Yoda Again, a little odd seeing a character from the Original Trilogy using a saber, especially when he was jumping around after putting down his walking cane. Ah well, doesn't stop Yoda being a brilliant mentor to Luke. Every lightsaber in Star Wars history (films) Mace Windu Samuel L. Jackson managed to someone get George Lucas to give him a purple lightsaber, just to stand out from the rest of the crowd. That's one bad*ss motherlightsaber. Every lightsaber in Star Wars history (films) Obi-Wan Sure, Obi-Wan managed to lose his saber on countless occasions throughout the prequels, but at least he had it in A New Hope when going against Vader. Because that went well... Every lightsaber in Star Wars history (films) Darth Maul Maul's double ended lightsaber may have been the best thing about Phantom Menace. Scratch that, he was the best thing about that film! The last battle between Maul, Jinn and Obi-Wan was phenomenal, just a shame Maul didn't last until the next film (of course, he came back in The Clone Wars TV show, but that will take a little too long to explain here) Every lightsaber in Star Wars history (films) Kylo Ren At first, the cross lightsaber was mocked by the Internet for being impractical. Yet, when seen in the movie, it's ferocious, spitting out light due to be unstable, much like it's master. Every lightsaber in Star Wars history (films) Count Dooku Now, Dooku's character wasn't in the films for very long, feeling hugely underutilised, especially considering it was the great Christopher Lee, who took on the role as he was a trained fencer. It was still hugely impressive for an 80-year-old to be the best sword fighter in the galaxy. Every lightsaber in Star Wars history (films) Luke Skywalker Luke's second saber, after the one he inherited from his father, was originally going to be blue as well. Yet, due to not standing out against the Tatooine landscape, it was changed to green - which is why in early posters his saber is blue.

The line "It's a trap!" would go on to become a popular internet meme, and Bauersfeld and Admiral Ackbar, with original puppeteer Tim Rose, were handed a cameo in Episode VII: The Force Awakens.

Speaking to the San Francisco Chronicle in 2011, Bauersfeld revealed that the work which would end up bizarrely defining his career took just an hour, plus an extra 30 minutes voicing Fortuna.

"I went over, he showed me the picture of Admiral Ackbar, and I did it," Bauersfeld said. "I saw the face, and I knew what he must sound like."
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Dozens of people were evacuated from their homes after police discovered a suspected bomb in Birkenhead.

The suspicious device was found in an empty property in the town at around 5.30pm on Monday, but officials later said it had been a hoax.

Residents in Park Road East and Patterson Street, which backs onto the road, were moved to temporary accommodation after Merseyside Police installed a 100-metre cordon.

Bomb disposal experts from the Royal Logistical Corps were called to dispose of the suspected explosive.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA UK news in pictures 21 September 2022 A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2022 Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2022 The ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II travels down the long walk as it arrives at Windsor Castle for the committal service at St Georges Chapel AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 18 September 2022 A man stands among campers on The Mall ahead of the Queens funeral Reuters UK news in pictures 17 September 2022 Wolverhampton Wanderers Nathan Collins fouls Manchester Citys Jack Grealish leading to a red card. City went on to win the match at Molineux Stadium three goals to nil. Action Images/Reuters UK news in pictures 16 September 2022 Members of the public stand in the queue near Tower Bridge, and opposite the Tower of London, as they wait in line to pay their respects to the late Queen Elizabeth II, in London AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 15 September 2022 Members of the public in the queue on in Potters Fields Park, central London, as they wait to view Queen Elizabeth II lying in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA UK news in pictures 14 September 2022 The first members of the public pay their respects as the vigil begins around the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II in Westminster Hall, London, where it will lie in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA UK news in pictures 13 September 2022 Crowds cheer as King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort arrive for a visit to Hillsborough Castle Getty UK news in pictures 12 September 2022 Crowds line the Royal Mile, Edinburgh, as King Charles III joins a procession from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to St Giles Cathedral following the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II Katielee Arrowsmith/SWNS UK news in pictures 11 September 2022 Members of the Public pay their respects as the hearse carrying the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, draped in the Royal Standard of Scotland, is driven through Ballater AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 10 September 2022 Britain's Prince William, Prince of Wales, Britain's Catherine, Princess of Wales, Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Britain's Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, wave at well-wishers on the Long walk at Windsor Castle AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 9 September 2022 King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort wave after viewing floral tributes to the late Queen Elizabeth II outside Buckingham Palace Getty UK news in pictures 8 September 2022 A screen commemorating Britain's Queen Elizabeth II in Piccadilly Circus, London Britain EPA UK news in pictures 7 September 2022 Police officers stand guard after Animal Rebellion activists threw paint on the walls and road outside the Houses of Parliament in protest, in London, Britain Reuters UK news in pictures 6 September 2022 Queen Elizabeth II welcomes Liz Truss during an audience at Balmoral, Scotland, where she invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 5 September 2022 Visitors at the PoliNations garden in Victoria Square, Birmingham, which is made up of five 40ft high tree installations and over 6,000 plants. 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A police spokesman said: The Royal Logistical Corps have examined the device in the house in Park Road East and established that it is an imitation or hoax.

The all-clear was announced at around 10.20pm and people returned to their homes shortly afterwards.

A police spokesman had earlier said the device was discovered by the landlord of a recently-vacated property that he had gone to check on at around 5.30pm.

The man reported his suspicions to the police and local officers closed the roads and evacuated homes within a 100-metre safety cordon.

PA
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David Cameron is facing growing pressure to reveal whether or not his familys wealth is still held in tax havens after the leaked Panama Papers reportedly revealed his fathers involvement in an offshore fund that allegedly paid no tax in the UK for 30 years.

After the leak of papers from Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca, Downing Street repeatedly insisted that the question of whether the Cameron family still held money in Blairmore Holdings Inc was a private matter.

But Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is due to renew the attack, with an intervention in which he is expected to say there cannot be "one set of rules for the wealthy elite and another for the rest of us".

Recommended Read more Staunch allies of the West among world leaders implicated

Launching Labours local government campaign in Harlow, Mr Corbyn will say: The publication of the Panama Papers this week drives home what more and more people feel: that there is one rule for the rich, and another for everyone else.

"Tax havens are sucking tax revenues out of our own country and many others, fuelling inequality and short-changing our public services and our people. This unfairness and abuse must stop. No more lip service. The richest must pay their way.

The Government needs to stop pussyfooting around on tax dodging.

And speaking to the BBC, Dominic Grieve, the Conservative MP and former Attorney General, said: "With public figures we do have a need for transparency."

The row is likely to prove doubly embarrassing for Mr Cameron because he has frequently made calls for greater transparency to expose offshore tax avoidance and is due to host an international anti-corruption summit in London next month.

In June 2013, ahead of a G8 Summit in Northern Ireland, he had promised: Im going to push for international agreements to fight the scourge of tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance. That means automatic exchange of information between our tax authorities  so those who to evade tax have nowhere to hide.

World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Show all 15 1 /15 World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Petro Poroshenko President of Ukraine World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Ayad Allawi Allawi Iraqs Vice-President between 2014 and 2015, and the countrys interim prime minister from 2004 to 2005 World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Salman bin Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al Saud King of Saudi Arabia World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan President of the United Arab Emirates, Emir of Abu Dhabi World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Sigmundur Davi Gunnlaugsson Prime Minister of Iceland World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Sergey Roldugin Close friend of Vladimir Putin World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani Emir of Qatar 1995-2013 World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Li Xiaolin Daughter of Li Peng, the former Premier of China (The current vice-president of state-owned power company China Datang Gorporation and former CEO of China Power International Development, she has been nicknamed Chinas Power Queen World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Rami Makhlouf Cousin of Bashar Assad, the President of Syria World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Hafez Makhlouf Cousin of Bashar Assad, the President of Syria World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Clive Khulubuse Zuma Nephew of Jacob Zuma, President of South Africa World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Maryam Nawaz Sharif Safdar Daughter of Nawaz Sharif, prime minister of Pakistan World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Hasan Nawaz Sharif Son of Nawaz Sharif, prime minister of Pakistan World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Hussain Nawaz Sharif Son of Nawaz Sharif, prime minister of Pakistan World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Alaa Mubarak The eldest son of ousted former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak Read more here

But UK tax justice campaigners have now reacted with dismay as the Panama Papers leak reportedly suggested that Britain appeared to be at the heart of a shadowy global network of companies used by the super-rich to hide their wealth.

Half of the companies mentioned in the leaked Panama Papers were incorporated in the British Virgin Islands.

The UK was also second only to Hong Kong in a list of international jurisdictions where the banks, law firms and other middlemen associated with the Panama Papers operate. Six Conservative peers, three ex-MPs and several Tory donors also had links to tax haven networks, the papers allegedly show.

In further evidence of the UKs centrality to the global networks uncovered in the papers, three British and Channel Island banks  HSBC, Coutts and Rothschild  were named among the 10 banks that most frequently request offshore companies for their clients.

Toby Quantrill, an expert in international tax avoidance at the Christian Aid charity said the leaks exposed to the extent to which UK-based middlemen and UK-administered tax havens are at the very heart of this rotten system.

And the question of offshore funds was made very personal to the Prime Minister when it was reported that his father had been a director of Blairmore.

 Iceland: thousands protest, call for PM to resign over Panama Papers leaks

The offshore fund was alleged to have hired what was called a small army of Bahamas residents  including a part-time bishop  to sign paperwork in what may have been an effort to avoid paying UK tax.

Blairmores 2006 investment prospectus also stated: "The directors intend that the affairs of the fund should be managed and conducted so that it does not become resident in the UK for UK taxation purposes. Accordingly... the fund will not be subject to UK corporation tax or income tax on its profits."

There is no suggestion that retaining Bahamas residents in the way Blairmore allegedly did was illegal. Other offshore funds also made similar arrangements, and Mossack Fonseca has strongly denied any involvement in or knowledge of tax evasion.

Clients of Blairmore may also have been using the fund simply to preserve their privacy, and HMRC has told The Independent it could not confirm whether or not the affairs of Blairmore Holdings would be investigated.

However, Jennie Granger HMRCs director-general of enforcement and compliance has said that tax inspectors have asked the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists to share the leaked data with HMRC, and pledged to closely examine this data.

This means there is a possibility that Blairmore Holdings tax affairs could come under scrutiny.

Mr Cameron has already faced criticism for failing to secure reforms in all but two of the UKs overseas territories and Crown Dependencies, which see would see major beneficiaries of offshore companies named in public registers.

The Prime Minister wrote to leaders of countries that operate as tax havens as far back as 2014 urging action. He is now facing pressure to take a harder line, and legislate for greater tax transparency in UK territories and dependencies.

Mr Quantrill said Mr Cameron had one month to take action ahead of Mays anti-corruption conference in London.

The Prime Minister has the power to clean up a major chunk of the global financial system and in the light of the Panama papers, he should use it, he said. The UK must take immediate steps to reveal the real owners of business in the territories that we control so the public can know the truth.

The Prime Ministers spokesperson said yesterday that the Government was working with UK overseas territories and Crown Dependencies on implementation of public registers of companies beneficiaries.

The government has taken a range of action to tackle tax evasion, avoidance and aggressive tax planningThrough the HMRC we have already been carrying out an intensive investigation of off-shore companies including in Panama. Clearly this data may be able to assist with that. Thats why HMRC asked the ICIJ for the information and they will act on it swiftly.

We have been taking action to crack down on offshore evasion. It was the PM that put this front and centre of our G8 presidency and led global efforts to improve action on tax and transparency," they said

HMRC insisted that all Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories had made "significant progress" on tax transparency.

In other global repercussions from the expose, which names 12 current or former heads of state and at least 60 individuals linked to current or former world leaders:

Tax authorities in countries around the world, including France, Australia, Holland and Austria and the UK, launched investigations into hundreds of individuals and banks implicated in the documents.

Icelands Prime Minister Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson rejected calls to resign after being accused of hiding millions of dollars in an offshore company in which he did not declare an interest upon entering Parliament.

The Kremlin dismissed claims that a secret network of loans and offshore deals worth $2bn (1.4bn) had enriched members of President Vladimir Putins inner circle as politically-motivated Putinophobia.
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Jeremy Corbyn has called for an independent investigation to be conducted into the tax affairs of all Britons linked to the leaked Panama Papers  including David Camerons family.

Mr Corbyn said the leak of millions of documents from Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca had exposed tax avoidance on an industrial scale.

Mr Camerons father Ian was allegedly involved in an offshore fund that paid zero tax in the UK for 30 years. The Prime Minister has been facing mounting pressure to address questions over whether his familys wealth is still held in offshore investments.

Downing Street has insisted Mr Camerons late fathers business affairs are a private matter.

Mr Corbyn told reporters at a local election launch event in Harlow: Its a private matter in so far as its a privately held interest, but its not a private matter if tax has not been paid.

So an investigation must take place. An independent investigation, he said, adding: I think the Prime Minister, in his own interest, should tell us exactly whats been going on.

Mr Corbyn has already called for Mr Cameron to bring British overseas territories acting as tax havens in line with UK tax laws, but added that HM Revenue and Customs should investigate the amount of money of all people that have invested in these shell companies or put money into tax havens and to calculate what tax they should have paid over the years.

When pressed on his own tax affairs and if he would publish his tax return, the Labour leader said: There is no problem with my tax affairs, they are very, very limited indeed. I have got an income as an MP, sadly I have got no family trusts of any sort.

Mr Corbyn avoided answering questions about whether Mr Cameron should resign if he is found to have benefitted, and said matters should be taken one thing at a time.

He added: We need openness, we need an examination, we need a decision after that."

Additional reporting by PA
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The Government should not stop British overseas territories acting as tax havens because it would destroy their livelihoods, a senior Conservative MP has argued.

Dominic Grieve, the former attorney general and chair of an influential parliamentary committee, conceded the British Government could choose to enact legislation to stop some activities that drained tax from the UK.

He however said places like the British Virgin Islands  which is under UK sovereignty  were entitled to run their financial services sectors as they pleased.

The British Virgin Islands are a noted tax haven, despite being under UK sovereignty (Creative Commons)

If were going to destroy the economy of the British Virgin Islands because we prevent them from providing banking services at all then were going to destroy the livelihood of its inhabitants, he told BBC Radio 4s Today programme.

For those reasons I think the Government has a responsibility towards encouraging overseas territories to find legitimate ways of economic development and the financial sector is undoubtedly such a legitimate method  just as it has been for Switzerland or any others.

We need to consider carefully the consequences of [doing that]. If we were to follow the suggestion that we should effectively remove the autonomy of overseas territories to run their lawful financial services I dont think we are acting properly towards them. They are entitled to make their own decisions in this.

He also argued that it was inevitable in human society that the wealthy would attempt to move their profits to low-tax jurisdictions.

Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has however said that the Government should stop pussyfooting around" on tax dodging.

Last month a report by the charity Oxfam estimated that the UK Treasury loses 5 billion a year to tax havens.

The row comes after massive data leak from Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca which shows it registered more than 100,000 secret firms to the British Virgin Islands.

5 tax avoiding companies in the UK Show all 5 1 /5 5 tax avoiding companies in the UK 5 tax avoiding companies in the UK Facebook Facebook paid 4327 in corporation tax in 2014, after it made a pre-tax loss of 28.5 million, according to filings at Companies House. That's less tax that new average UK employee pays on their salary. 5 tax avoiding companies in the UK Amazon Amazons UK business paid just 11.9m in corporation tax last year, even though the online retail giant took 5.3bn in sales from British shoppers. 5 tax avoiding companies in the UK Google So well known for avoiding tax that it had the 'Google tax' on multinationals that move profits to low-tax countries named after it. Alarm bells started ringing in 2012, when Google revealed it payed only 11.6 million to the Treasury, despite taking 3.4 billion in the UK. 5 tax avoiding companies in the UK Uber Uber paid 22,134 in UK corporation tax last year despite making an 866,000 profit. 5 tax avoiding companies in the UK Starbucks In October, the European Commission ruled that Starbucks' tax deal in the EU was illegal, ordering it to pay pay between 20-30 million to the Netherlands.

Britain provides defense and foreign affairs support for British Overseas Territories, which not independent, retain the Queen as head of state, but are governed autonomously.

The territories, which include the Cayman Islands, the British Virgin Islands, Anguilla, and Bermuda, are governed by the British Overseas Territories Act 2002.

Britain also provides development aid to some overseas territories classed as tax haven by the EU  with assistance including training in financial services.
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Britains beleaguered steel industry requires up to three years of state support to persuade a buyer to acquire Tatas UK operations, union leaders warned last night.

They also urged the Government not to allow investors to cherry-pick Tatas assets as that would jeopardise the future of steelmaking in this country.

Ministers have faced charges of mishandling efforts to save the industry following Tatas decision to put up for sale all its British operations, including its giant Port Talbot steelworks in South Wales.

David Cameron will today become personally involved in the search for a buyer when he meets Carwyn Jones, the Welsh First Minister, for talks in Downing Street. The session will also be attended by Chancellor George Osborne and the Business Secretary, Sajid Javid, who is flying to Mumbai later today to meet the Tata chairman Cyrus Mistry.

Addressing an emergency session of the Welsh Assembly, Mr Jones said the Government should nationalise Tatas steel plants if attempts to negotiate a takeover fail.

Ministers are resisting the move and instead are attempting to sweeten any deal with the offer of shouldering some of Tatas 2bn pension liabilities and cutting energy costs for its plants. However, they need to find a way of offering financial support without breaching European Union rules on state aid.

Following a meeting in London, shop stewards from the steel plants agreed demands which will be presented to ministers today.

They argued that Tatas plants need two to three years of state support to enable them to return to self-sustainability, with immediate government intervention required to maintain production so that customers are not lost.

Roy Rickhuss, general secretary of the Community union, said: There needs to be a step-change in the level of government involvement with Tata, its customers and the unions.

Frances OGrady, the TUCs general secretary, said: Ministers need to show British steelworkers that they are on their side. Other EU governments have acted to support their steel industries, ours must do the same.
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David Cameron has no shares in an offshore investment fund set up by his late father, he has said.

The Prime Minister was asked specifically whether he or his family had derived any benefit from the fund, but did not directly answer that question.

The offshore company came to light as part of a leak from Panama-based Mossack Fonseca show it registered over 100,000 secret companies in the British Virgin Islands.

Mr Cameron's father Ian Cameron was a director of a firm which held its meetings in the Bahamas so that it did not have to pay British tax.

Downing Street said the fund was a private matter and had also said he has no shares in the fund.

On a visit to Birmingham, Mr Cameron was asked by Sky News: Can you clarify for the record that you and your family have not derived any benefit in the past and will not in the future from the offshore Blairmore holdings fund mentioned in the Panama papers?

He replied: In terms of my own financial affairs, I own no shares, I have a salary as Prime Minister, and I have some savings, which I get some interest from, and I have a house, which we used to live in which we now let out while were living in Downing Street.

Thats all I have: I have no shares, no offshore trusts, no offshore funds, nothing like that. That is, I think, a very clear description.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has called for an independent inquiry into all British people linked to the so-called Panama Paper leak, including Mr Cameron.

World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Show all 15 1 /15 World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Petro Poroshenko President of Ukraine World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Ayad Allawi Allawi Iraqs Vice-President between 2014 and 2015, and the countrys interim prime minister from 2004 to 2005 World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Salman bin Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al Saud King of Saudi Arabia World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan President of the United Arab Emirates, Emir of Abu Dhabi World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Sigmundur Davi Gunnlaugsson Prime Minister of Iceland World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Sergey Roldugin Close friend of Vladimir Putin World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani Emir of Qatar 1995-2013 World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Li Xiaolin Daughter of Li Peng, the former Premier of China (The current vice-president of state-owned power company China Datang Gorporation and former CEO of China Power International Development, she has been nicknamed Chinas Power Queen World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Rami Makhlouf Cousin of Bashar Assad, the President of Syria World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Hafez Makhlouf Cousin of Bashar Assad, the President of Syria World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Clive Khulubuse Zuma Nephew of Jacob Zuma, President of South Africa World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Maryam Nawaz Sharif Safdar Daughter of Nawaz Sharif, prime minister of Pakistan World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Hasan Nawaz Sharif Son of Nawaz Sharif, prime minister of Pakistan World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Hussain Nawaz Sharif Son of Nawaz Sharif, prime minister of Pakistan World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Alaa Mubarak The eldest son of ousted former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak Read more here

He said the PM had to set the record straight.

Mr Cameron was in the Midlands taking questions from the press and members of the financial services firm PWC.

Last month a report by the charity Oxfam estimated that the UK Treasury loses 5 billion a year to tax havens.
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MPs have commissioned an investigation into the legislation which has delayed publication of the Chilcot Inquiry for over half a decade.

The Iraq Inquiry, as it is officially known, was announced in June 2009, with public hearings beginning that November. The hearings concluded in February 2011, but five years later the report is still to be released.

The investigation set up by MPs is expected to scrutinise the principle of 'Maxwellisation', under which anyone criticised in an official report can read the passage that relates to them before publication so they can contest the findings if they wish.

Financial barrister Andrew Green QC will head up the inquiry, which is charged with "assessing the value" of Maxwellisation. The Chilcot enquiry is the most high-profile instance of Maxwellisation slowing down an inquiry, though the new investigation is intended to focus 'particularly on... public reports covering financial matters'.

 Blair sorry over Iraq War

As the report on Britain's involvement in the Iraq war now runs to two million words, four times the length of War and Peace, Maxwellisation has taken many years to complete.

Sir John Chilcot, the head of the Iraq Inquiry, last year suggested that the report would be complete by mid-April this year. However in March, it was announced that publication would be delayed until after the EU referendum on 23 June.

Last year, the public had been told that publication was being delayed so as not to interfere with the outcome of the May general election. And even once finalised, the report will still need to be checked by security officials. Sir John has said this is in order to ensure it does not compromise national security or put anyone's life at risk.

Photographer Chris Hondros: How I captured Iraq Show all 9 1 /9 Photographer Chris Hondros: How I captured Iraq Photographer Chris Hondros: How I captured Iraq 18273.bin 2003 Getty Images Photographer Chris Hondros: How I captured Iraq 18276.bin 2003 Getty Images Photographer Chris Hondros: How I captured Iraq 18277.bin 2003 Getty Images Photographer Chris Hondros: How I captured Iraq 18274.bin 2004 Getty Images Photographer Chris Hondros: How I captured Iraq 18275.bin 2004 Getty Images Photographer Chris Hondros: How I captured Iraq 18278.bin 2005 Getty Images Photographer Chris Hondros: How I captured Iraq 18279.bin 2006 Getty Images Photographer Chris Hondros: How I captured Iraq 18280.bin 2006 Getty Images Photographer Chris Hondros: How I captured Iraq 18281.bin 2007 Getty Images

There is widespread expectation that the report will criticise Tony Blair, who was Prime Minister when Britain decided to join the US in the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Last year Mr Blair gave a qualified apology for "mistakes in the planning" of the war, shortly after it was announced the report would be published in mid-April, in comments decried as a "spin operation" by Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

"The delay to [the] Chilcot report is a scandal," she added.

The repeated delays have also drawn criticism from the families of soldiers killed in the conflict.

The Inquiry is not legally binding and cannot identify criminal failures on behalf of the British government. However, the Iraq Inquiry website states: if the Committee finds that mistakes were made, that there were issues which could have been dealt with better, it will say so.

A deadline for the inquiry into Maxwellisation yet to be announced.
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Jeremy Corbyn has called for an investigation in the tax affairs of the Cameron family and urged him to impose direct rule over British overseas territories and Crown Dependencies that act as tax havens

Mr Corbyn said that revelations about Mr Camerons fathers tax arrangements should be part of a wider UK investigation into the Panama Papers.

He said he had no problem with publishing his tax return and indicated that Mr Cameron should do the same.

I think we need to know where somebodys income comes from, he said. The public need to have confidence that their representatives and ministers are getting their income from honest and open sources as members of Parliament.

to ensure they comply with UK tax law, Jeremy Corbyn has said.

The Labour leader also said that the governments of overseas territories needed to understand the anger in Britain about the hidden wealth exposed by the leak of millions of documents from the Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca.

He also pledged to publish his tax return and urged ministers to do the same. The call comes as Downing Street declined to confirm whether David Camerons family still had money invested in an offshore fund, following revelations that his late father ran an investment fund in the Bahamas which never paid UK tax.

His comments will increase pressure on the Government to take firmer action to clean up the tax affairs of the UK-administered territories which are at the heart of the shadowy tax avoidance networks revealed by the Panama Papers.

More than half the 300,000 companies assisted by Mossack Fonseca were incorporated in UK-administered tax havens, with the British Virgin Islands the most popular jurisdiction. British law firms, middlemen and banks were also implicated in the leaked documents.

The point is, they are not independent territories, Mr Corbyn told the BBC. They are self-governing, yes, but they are British crown dependent territories, therefore surely there has to be an observance of UK tax law in those places.

If they become a place for systematic evasion and short changing of the public in this country then something has to be done about it. Either those governments comply or a next step has to be taken.

He said direct rule could be implemented very quickly if thats what the government decides to do.

Downing Street has said the Government is already taking action to ensure greater transparency around the tax affairs of companies incorporated in overseas territories and dependencies. Mr Cameron has written to leaders of overseas territories calling for public registers of companies beneficiaries, but only two have so far taken action.

Dominic Grieve, the former Conservative Attorney General, said that legislating to impose tax rules on overseas territories and dependencies would be a nuclear option for the Government which would fundamentally change the Westminster governments relationship with the territories.

However, former Business Secretary Vince Cable said direct rule was an option.

"We can't send gunboats these days but we can take the small territories under direct rule, he said.

Meanwhile the Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell said the Prime Minister should take action over reports that Conservative Party donors were among the individuals revealed to have links to tax haven networks.

"We need to know the truth behind reports that the Conservative Party has received substantial donations from those linked to this scandal. The Tories should come clean and set out exactly what the situation is  is the Prime Minister happy to receive money from big donors who are accused of tax avoidance? he said.
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Sajid Javid, the Business Secretary, is set to urge Tata chiefs to begin detailed plans for the sale of their beleaguered British steel business as hopes grow that a takeover can be agreed without mass job losses.

A potential buyer, Sanjeev Gupta, said he believed it could be possible to avert the risk of thousands of redundancies, including at Tatas giant Port Talbot steelworks in south Wales.

Mr Javid, who has come under fire for his handling of the steel crisis, was set to hold discussions with Tatas chief executive at its Mumbai headquarters on Wednesday.

He was expected to urge the Indian conglomerate to begin negotiations with interested companies, including Mr Guptas Liberty House, as soon as possible.

The minister will also reassure Tata that the government is ready to offer help over the stumbling blocks to a deal, including the size of its pensions fund liabilities in Britain and the high cost of energy faced by steel producers.

Mr Gupta said it was early days in the sale process but said he believed that Tatas UK business could be turned around. Asked if redundancies could be avoided, he told BBC Radio 4: That would definitely be my objective.

He said the biggest problem over Port Talbots viability was the plants giant blast furnace, but suggested it could be converted into a smaller arc furnace which recycles scrap steel rather than relying on more expensive imported raw materials.

Recommended Read more Liberty House owner emerges as frontrunner to buy Port Talbot

The tycoon, who met Mr Javid before he flew to Mumbai, said the Government was highly supportive and proactively engaged in finding a long-term solution.

Two other potential buyers  ThyssenKrupp, a German conglomerate, and the investment company Greybull  are also understood to have expressed an interest in acquiring parts of Tatas UK operations.

David Cameron said the Government was determined to help in every way that we can. He said: We now want to make sure that Tata is looking seriously at a potential buyer for this business - and all of the business.

Leaders of Community, Unite and the GMB spent an hour with Mr Javid before he left for Mumbai, stressing they wanted the Tata business sold together rather than buyers being allowed to cherry-pick different parts.

Unites leader, Len McCluskey, said: At the moment we are on the same page. The Government needs to put a protective arm around the industry to show they are serious. Talk is cheap - we now need to see a practical application.
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The UK is increasingly giving the impression that it cares more about trade and security than human rights with the Government apparently overlooking abuses in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Bahrain, MPs have warned.

The Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee said the omission of Egypt and Bahrain from the Foreign Offices list of countries requiring special attention on human rights helped foster the idea it "has become more hesitant in promoting and defending international human rights openly and robustly".

Last year, the Foreign Office's most senior civil servant admitted to MPs that human rights was "not one of our top priorities" and that the "prosperity agenda is further up the list".

Recommended Read more Saudi Arabia executions reach record high as beheadings set to double this year

Ministers have denied that human rights are no longer a top priority but campaign groups such as Amnesty International have attacked the UK for allowing the sale of British-made arms to Saudi Arabia which have then been used in the Yemen conflict. United Nations officials have said Saudi air strikes could be targeting civilians at hospitals, markets, schools and even at weddings in the country in a direct violation of international law.

Britain has been critcised for selling its arms which Saudi Arabia is using in the Yemen conflict (MOHAMMED HUWAIS/AFP/Getty Images)

The Foreign Affairs committee criticised Middle East Minister Tobias Ellwood in particular for telling Parliament he couldn't recall whether he raised human rights while leading a business delegation to Egypt and saying that relations between London and Cairo were "in a very positive place".

"We are disappointed by his choice of language on this occasion and others, which raises questions about how energetically the Government is raising human rights issues", the committee concluded.

According to human rights groups, Egypts government - which took power after a coup against elected President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 - is behind the disappearance of 1,840 people in just 12 months.

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

Last month, a four-year-old was sentenced to life in prison for four murders, attempting another eight, vandalising property and threatening police officers after his name was accidentally included on a list of 115 defendants convicted in a mass trial.

The Foreign Office, the committee's report concluded, should be "more mindful of the perceptions it creates at ministerial level, especially when other interests are engaged such as prosperity and security, as is the case with China, Egypt and Saudi Arabia".

Defendants in court during their trial over violence in Alexandria in 2013 following the ousting of Mohamed Morsi (AFP)

The committee welcomed the Government's decision to increase the amount of dedicated human rights funding to 10.6m but criticised its restriction to countries receiving overseas aid.

It also called for a relaxation of rules blocking funding for groups which were not registered in their own countries, saying it "acts against an intelligent deployment of resources".

While there were concerns about the consequences of funding for unregistered groups, grants should be considered for those "which have been suitably vetted but face genuine restrictions".

Additional reporting by PA
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A couple from New Zealand have caused an outcry after they described Mexico as a "hell hole".

David and Nicky Beard travelled to Mexico to have triplings - three babies born from one set of sperm and one egg, but carried by different surrogate mothers.

After running into financial difficulties, they publicly appealed for money, making claims to media about the "cockroach-infested hospital" in a "dangerous country" they described as "third world".

"We have spent every cent we have left to bring these three beautiful Kiwi babies into the world. We now need to get ourselves and the three babies out of this dangerous country and back to the safety of New Zealand," the couple told the Gay NZ website.

Their friend set up a Give A Little online donations page to help them return to New Zealand, which has raised over NZ$28,000.

David and Nicky Beard's triplings - three babies born from one set of sperm and one egg, but carried by different surrogate mothers (Give A Little)

However, a fellow surrogacy father said the couple spoke in glowing terms about the country and the people when he met them. He told The Guardian he found it offensive they were now "telling a totally different story".

Its very nice to hear people from outside [the country] talk well of Mexico," he said.

"Im kind of shocked because I was surfing the web and found this news about these guys from New Zealand telling a totally different story."

The couple's Mexican lawyer also disputed their claims, telling The Guardian: "There are no problems. They need to sign some affidavits and some consents for the adoption, but they are not stuck here.

"I didn't understand why in the interview he said that at the place where the babies were born there were cockroaches.

"It's a private clinic. You can get everything here. He wrote something that this was a 'hell hole'. I thought, 'What's wrong with you?'"

Mexico recently banned international surrogacy for homosexual couples, but the surrogates were already pregnant before the law passed.
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Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant has signed a religious freedom bill into law, which opponents say will allow discrimination against LGBT people.

The legislation, House Bill 1523, says that the state government will not punish those who refuse to provide services to same-sex couples or transgender people.

Governor Bryant made his announcement on Tuesday afternoon saying that the law does not limit any constitutionally protected rights or actions and that it does not challenge federal laws.

"The legislation is designed in the most targeted manner possible to prevent government interference in the lives of the people from which all power to the state is derived," Bryant said.

The new law protects only three religious beliefs: marriage is only recognized between a man and a woman, sexual relations are reserved to such a marriage, and that "male" and "female" are determined by anatomy at birth.

Jennifer Riley-Collins, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Mississippi, released a statement shortly after the governors announcement.

This is a sad day for the state of Mississippi and for the thousands of Mississippians who can now be turned away from businesses, refused marriage licenses, or denied housing, essential services and needed care based on who they are, Riley-Collins said.

This bill flies in the face of the basic American principles of fairness, justice and equality and will not protect anyones religious liberty. Far from protecting anyone from government discrimination as the bill claims, it is an attack on the citizens of our state, and it will serve as the Magnolia States badge of shame.

The Southern Poverty Law Center also issued a statement on Mississippi's new law.

Gov. Phil Bryants decision to sign HB 1523 into law is unconscionable. This newly enacted law - like the draconian anti-LGBT laws in other states - uses the guise of religious freedom to justify discrimination, mistreatment and bigotry," the statement read. "Its the same sort of rationale used by white supremacists in earlier eras to justify slavery and Jim Crow. The estimated 60,000 LGBT people in Mississippi deserve better. We need to stand up for the rights of all people.
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The Panamanian law firm at the centre of an international controversy following the leak of millions of documents has defended its "high standards".

Mossack Fonseca issued a statement attacking what it said were inaccurate media reports about data that revealed how it handles the financial dealings of a range of prominent figures across the world.

This is the company's full statement:

"Recent media reports have portrayed an inaccurate view of the services that we provide and, despite our efforts to correct the record, misrepresented the nature of our work and its role in global financial markets.

These reports rely on supposition and stereotypes, and play on the publics lack of familiarity with the work of firms like ours. The unfortunate irony is that the materials on which these reports are based

actually show the high standards we operate under, specifically that:

:: we conduct due diligence on clients at the outset of a potential engagement and on an ongoing basis

:: we routinely deny services to individuals who are compromised or who fail to provide information

:: we need in order to comply with know your client obligations or when we identify other red flags through our due diligence;

:: we routinely resign from client engagements when ongoing due diligence and/or updates to sanctions lists reveals that a party to a company for which we provide services been either convicted or listed by a sanctioning body;

:: we routinely comply with requests from authorities investigating companies or individuals for whom we are providing services; and we work with established intermediaries, such as investment banks, accountancies and law firms, as part of the regulated global financial system.

We would like to take this opportunity to address some specific misconceptions about our work and clarify the inaccuracies that are rife in the recent media reports.

We provide company incorporation and related administrative services that are widely available and commonly used worldwide.

Incorporating companies is the normal activity of lawyers and agents around the world. Services such as company formations, registered agent, and others are frequently used and provided in many worldwide jurisdictions, including the United States and the United Kingdom.

Moreover, it is legal and common for companies to establish commercial entities in different jurisdictions for a variety of legitimate reasons, including conducting cross-border mergers and acquisitions, bankruptcies, estate planning, personal safety, and restructurings and pooling of investment capital from investors residing in different jurisdictions who want a neutral legal and tax regime that does not benefit or disadvantage any one investor.

Our registered agent and corporate secretarial services are limited to a narrow set of administrative services.

These services are related to facilitating document filings before the authorities and registry of a companys jurisdiction, and helping a company register for taxes and file for licenses, manage patents and trademarks, file tax returns and other documentation.

The resident agent is not involved in managing the business in any way. We do not open or manage accounts, take custody of money or assets (aside from fees paid to us for our services), monitor transactions, perform audits, advise on transactions or have discretionary authority to make decisions on behalf of the companies for which we serve as registered agents or for which we perform corporate secretarial services.

Our services are regulated on multiple levels, often by overlapping agencies, and we have a strong compliance record.

Our business is regulated by several different oversight and enforcement agencies, including the Banking Superintendence of Panama and the Intendancy of Non-financial Regulated Services Providers.

We are also subject to regulatory oversight and enforcement in all of the other jurisdictions where we incorporate companies.

In addition, we have always complied with international protocols such as the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and, more recently, the U.S. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) to assure

as is reasonably possible, that the companies we incorporate are not being used for tax evasion, money laundering, terrorist finance or other illicit purposes.

The FATF, in particular, praised Panama in its February 2016 plenary session, saying specifically that Panama has made significant progress in improving its AML/CFT (anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism) regime.

The FATF, subsequent to the plenary session, removed Panama from its gray list of uncooperative jurisdictions.

We are responsible members of the global financial and business community.

We conduct thorough due diligence on all new and prospective clients that often exceeds in stringency the existing rules and standards to which we and others are bound. Many of our clients come through

established and reputable law firms and financial institutions across the world, including the major correspondent banks, which are also bound by international know your client (KYC) protocols and their

own domestic regulations and laws.

If a new client/entity is not willing and/or able to provide to us the appropriate documentation indicating who they are, and (when applicable) from where their funds are derived, we will not work with that client/entity.

Indeed, the documents cited in the media reports show that we routinely deny services to individuals who are compromised or who fail to provide information we need in order to comply with our

KYC and other obligations.

Our due diligence procedures require us to update the information that we have on clients and to periodically verify that no negative results exist in regards to the companies we incorporate and the

individuals behind them. Again, the documents cited in the media reports show that we routinely resign from client engagements when ongoing due diligence and updates to sanctions lists reveal that a

beneficial owner of a company for which we provide services is compromised.

For 40 years Mossack Fonseca has operated beyond reproach in our home country and other jurisdictions where we have operations.

Our firm has never been accused or charged in connection with criminal wrongdoing.

However, we are legally and practically limited in our ability to regulate the use of companies we incorporate or to which we provide other services.

We are not involved in managing our clients companies. Excluding the professional fees we earn, we do not take possession or custody of clients money, or have anything to do with any of the direct financial aspects related to operating their businesses.

We operate in jurisdictions with increasingly stringent financial and legal controls. All of the jurisdictions where we have operations have made significant strides in their efforts to comply with global protocols to prevent abuse of their financial and corporate systems.

This includes preventing money laundering, combatting terrorist financing and preventing tax evasion.

Most of the jurisdictions have formal tax information exchange agreements with several countries that are approved by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Panama has nine formal OECD-approved tax information exchange agreements, including with the United States and Canada, and 16 double taxation agreements (which include provisions for information sharing between authorities).

The OECD has recognized Panama for improving the governments access to information about beneficial ownership of entities incorporated in its jurisdiction as well as for improving the sharing of

such information with authorities in other jurisdictions.

To quote from the OECDs most recent peer review of Panama: The 2014 Supplementary Agreement noted the significant progress made by Panama in expanding its exchange of information network since

the 2010 Phase 1 Report, which bought the number of signed EOI (exchange of information agreements) agreements from one to 25.

In addition, Panama, the British Virgin Islands (BVI), and the United States have agreed to terms for financial institutions in their jurisdictions to comply with the US Treasurys Foreign Account Tax

Compliance Act (FATCA).

This act ensures that American citizens with accounts in these territories declare and pay any taxes on income or investments earned in them that are due to the US Internal Revenue Service.

To date, over 1,000 financial institutions in Panama, including local banks, foreign bank branches and investment funds, have complied with FATCA.

We regret any misuse of our services and actively take steps to prevent it.

We regret any misuse of companies that we incorporate or the services we provide and take steps wherever possible to uncover and stop such use. If we detect suspicious activity or misconduct, we are

quick to report it to the authorities.

Similarly, when authorities approach us with evidence of possible misconduct, we always cooperate fully with them.

With regards to specific allegations in the media reports, we would like to comment as follows:

(a) Tax Evasion and Avoidance: Our company does not advise clients on the structuring of corporate vehicles and the use they may make of them We likewise do not offer solutions whose purpose

is to hide unlawful acts such as tax evasion. Our clients request our services after being duly advised by qualified professionals in their places of business. Moreover, it should be made clear that tax avoidance and evasion are not the same thing. For example, a client can use the structures provided by us for tax optimization of his/her estate, such as taking advantage of provisions in treaties for avoiding international double taxation. Such behavior is perfectly legal.

(b) Due Diligence on Clients: To begin with, approximately 90% of our clientele is comprised of professional clients, such as international financial institutions as well as trust companies and prominent law and accounting firms, who act as intermediaries and are regulated in the jurisdiction of their business. These clients are obliged to perform due diligence on their clients in accordance with the KYC and AML regulations to which they are subject.

(c) Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs): We have duly established policies and procedures to identify and handle cases where individuals either qualify as PEPs or are related to them. As per our Risk Based Approach, PEPs are considered to be high risk individuals. Hence, enhanced due diligence procedures apply in these cases. Also, periodic follow-up is conducted to assure that no negative results are found. Lastly, according to international KYC policies, PEPs do not have to be rejected just for being so; it is just a matter of proper risk analysis and administration to perform enhanced due diligence on them.

(d) Sanctions Lists and Convicted Criminals: The Service Provision Agreements signed with our clients impose on them the obligation to notify us as soon as they have knowledge of a client of theirs having been either convicted or listed by a sanctioning body. Likewise, we have our own procedures in place to identify such individuals, to the extent it is reasonably possible.

Indeed, the documents cited in the media reports show specific instances demonstrating that once these types of situations are identified, we routinely discontinue the provision of our services. We have an obligation to follow an orderly administrative process when resigning from client engagements, which can vary depending on the regulations of the respective jurisdiction. Also, authorities sometime require the registered agent not to file any resignation in order to prevent obstructing their investigation.

(e) Provision of Company Secretarial Services: Company Secretarial Services are legal services that allow a professional company provider to act on behalf of a company that is owned by third parties. Company Secretarial Services are not used to hide the identity of the real owners of the company as for instance, a director is not in its nature the owner of the company.

These services often include directorships and facilitate document filings before the authorities and registry of a companys jurisdiction.

For example, a secretary might help a company register for taxes and file for licenses, manage patents and trademarks, tax returns and other documentation to be handled and filed. Company Secretarial

Services are provided by many firms to professional clients and investors all over the world. The same director or company secretary can act on behalf of many different companies in different jurisdictions.

That is widely accepted and perfectly legal, especially in cases where the purpose of a company is to be a holding company or own immovable or movable property.

The fact that many companies have the same directors and/or address does not mean that such companies are connected in any way, as is commonly assumed.

Usually a director or company/corporate secretary has no economic interest or commercial link to the companys activity and he/she does not endorse, participate or assist in the commercial or passive roles of a company in any way.

Following pre-established guidelines, the secretary appoints agents and attorneys that carry out the administration of the company.

(f) Shareholders and Beneficial Owners: Closely related to the point above, as part of the services our trust company provides, we often constitute trusts for shares.

As a result, allegations that we provide shareholders with structures supposedly designed to hide the identity of the real owners, are completely unsupported and false.

These types of services are always supported by the existence of legally recognized vehicles utilized for such purposes by all service providers in this industry. Even though we do provide shareholdership services through the legal structures already explained, we do not provide beneficiary services to deceive banks. Banks currently carry out their due diligence procedures just as we do. It is difficult, not to say impossible, not to provide banks with the identity of final beneficiaries and the origin of funds.

(h) Backdated Documents: The issuance of documents with a retroactive date is a well-founded and accepted practice when the decisions made with regard to the particular document are recorded in resolutions approved before or when the transaction in particular has taken place and the formalization is still pending. Such practice is common in our industry and its aim is not to cover up or hide unlawful acts."
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The company at the centre of global controversy following the leak of more than 11m confidential documents reportedly kept clients who were subject to international sanctions - including one with links to North Koreas nuclear weapons programme.

Panama-based Mossack Fonseca worked with 33 individuals or companies who have been placed under sanctions by the US Treasury, including companies based in Iran, Zimbabwe and North Korea, according to the leaked documents, the BBC reported.

Mossack Fonseca insisted it had done nothing wrong and had been beyond reproach for more than 40 years. It said it had often declined to work with clients who were listed on sanctions documents and that its work routinely underwent oversight.

(Mossack Fonseca (Mossack Fonseca)

But the BBC said documents indicated Mossack Fonseca registered companies as offshore entities operated under its own name. This meant the identities of the real owners were hard to trace because they were kept out of public documents.

Some of the businesses were registered before international sanctions were imposed. But in several cases Mossack Fonseca continued to act as a proxy for them after they were blacklisted, it said.

DCB Finance was established in 2006, with its owners and directors based in North Korea's capital Pyongyang. It was later put under sanctions by the US Treasury for raising funds for the North Korean regime and being linked to a bank helping to fund the regimes nuclear weapons programme.

The leaked files reveal the owners of DCB Finance were a North Korean official, Kim Chol Sam and Nigel Cowie, a British banker who was also CEO of the sanctioned Daedong Credit Bank.

Mossack Fonseca resigned as agents for DCB Finance in September 2010.

Mr Cowie was not placed under sanctions.

Mr Cowie could not be contacted on Monday night. He has said that DCB Finance was established for legitimate business purposes and that he was unaware, whether directly or indirectly, of any transactions being made with any sanctioned organisation or for any sanctioned purpose, during my entire tenure.

The law firm claimed it had been unfairly represented in the media (Mossack Fonseca)

Mossack Fonseca on Monday night claimed its work has been unfairly represented.

In a second response after more details emerged of the individuals sheltering money as a result of its services, the firm claimed it actually sought to follow high standards of financial and legal due diligence.

Recent media reports have portrayed an inaccurate view of the services that we provide and, despite our efforts to correct the record, misrepresented the nature of our work and its role in global financial markets, it said in a statement.

These reports rely on supposition and stereotypes, and play on the publics lack of familiarity with the work of firms like ours. The unfortunate irony is that the materials on which these reports are based actually show the high standards we operate under.

It added: We routinely resign from client engagements when ongoing due diligence and/or updates to sanctions lists reveals that a party to a company for which we provide services been either convicted or listed by a sanctioning body.

Documents obtained and analysed by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), and involving media organizations around the world, have provided an unprecedented insight into the workings of how the wealthy and powerful protect their money.

The publication of the so-called Panama Papers has led to dictators and other heads of state have been accused of laundering money, avoiding sanctions and evading tax. The documents reveal links to 72 current or former heads of state and accuse some of them of having vested interests in their own banks and looting their own countries.

The company was formed in 1977 by Jurgen Mossack and Ramon Fonseca, and specialises in commercial law, trust services, investor advisory and international structures. Its website says it can help reduce costs, incorporate and manage Private Interest Foundations, conduct business in any country and carry out transactions in any chosen currency.

The ICIJ said that Mr Mossack was a German immigrant whose father sought a new life in Panama for his family after serving in Hitlers Waffen-SS during the Second World War. The elder Mossack also offered to spy for the US government on former Nazis turned Communist or unconverted Nazis cloaking themselves as Communists, after the war, according to US intelligence files obtained by the ICIJ.
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Barack Obama has addressed the international scandal caused by the Panama Papers, around 11 million documents which have exposed massive tax avoidance by former and current heads of state.

Speaking to reporters, the President revealed that the US Treasury and Internal Revenue Service have stepped up their efforts to limit corporate inversions - whereby large companies locate their headquarters abroad to save tax, a common measure among Fortune 500 companies.

Another reminder is in the big dump of data coming out of Panama, that tax avoidance is a big global problem, he said.

Recommended Read more Iceland Prime Minister quits over Panama Papers tax haven scandal

No leader in the US was mentioned in the Panama expose, but Mr Obama admitted that many wealthy Americans and companies benefit from the same loopholes.

Frankly, folks in America are taking advantage of the same stuff," he said.

World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Show all 15 1 /15 World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Petro Poroshenko President of Ukraine World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Ayad Allawi Allawi Iraqs Vice-President between 2014 and 2015, and the countrys interim prime minister from 2004 to 2005 World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Salman bin Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al Saud King of Saudi Arabia World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan President of the United Arab Emirates, Emir of Abu Dhabi World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Sigmundur Davi Gunnlaugsson Prime Minister of Iceland World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Sergey Roldugin Close friend of Vladimir Putin World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani Emir of Qatar 1995-2013 World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Li Xiaolin Daughter of Li Peng, the former Premier of China (The current vice-president of state-owned power company China Datang Gorporation and former CEO of China Power International Development, she has been nicknamed Chinas Power Queen World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Rami Makhlouf Cousin of Bashar Assad, the President of Syria World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Hafez Makhlouf Cousin of Bashar Assad, the President of Syria World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Clive Khulubuse Zuma Nephew of Jacob Zuma, President of South Africa World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Maryam Nawaz Sharif Safdar Daughter of Nawaz Sharif, prime minister of Pakistan World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Hasan Nawaz Sharif Son of Nawaz Sharif, prime minister of Pakistan World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Hussain Nawaz Sharif Son of Nawaz Sharif, prime minister of Pakistan World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Alaa Mubarak The eldest son of ousted former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak Read more here

The Panama leak, which led to the resignation of Icelands Prime Minister, shows that elected officials, dictators and their associates around the world have used offshore trusts and established other offshore companies in order to pay less tax.

A lot of it is legal. But thats part of the problem, said Mr Obama.

These corporations have enough lawyers and enough accountants to wiggle out of rules that normal citizens abide by, he added.

Mr Obama accused large companies of gaming the system and taking advantage, which results in potentially trillions of dollars worldwide being diverted from important causes.

A lot of the loopholes come at the expense of middle class families as that lost revenue has to be made up somewhere, he explained, adding the US consequentially cannot invest as much as they should in schools, roads, bridges, infrastructure and creating opportunities for children.

This is all net outflows of money that could be spent on pressing needs here in the US, he added.

He said legal tax avoidance loopholes can only be fully closed by Congress, which is controlled by Republicans.

Unless the US leads by example in closing some of these loopholes and provisions then in many cases you can trace what's taking place but you cant stop it, said Mr Obama. There will always be some illicit moving of funds around but the world but we shouldn't make it easy."

Josh Earnest, the President's Press Secretary, added that "too many Republicans are looking out for their wealthy donors.
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Donald Trump finally revealed how he plans to force Mexico to pay for the wall he proposes to build on the southern border of the United States.

In a statement released on his official campaign website, Mr Trump explained that he would finance the controversial wall along the 1,100 mile (1,770km) border shared by the two countries by seizing the billions of dollars in remittance funds sent by immigrants to their families.

Mr Trumps threatened Mexico in the memo, first released to the Washington Post, stating that he would not siphon the $24b from the countrys annual economy if they made a one time payment of $5-10b to fund the wall.

There are several ways to compel Mexico to pay for the wall, the memo reads.

Among those ways includes forcing money transfer companies to require immigrants to provide identity documents proving lawful status in the US in order to wire funds to their home country  which Mr Trump justifies citing the know your customer provision from the US Patriot Act.

The Trump Administration would also proceed to add tariffs to Mexican imports, cancelling visas, and increasing visa fees for the Latin American country.

Immigration is a privilege, not a right. Mexico is totally dependent on the United States as a release valve for its own poverty  our approvals of hundreds of thousands of visas to their nationals every year is one of our greatest leverage points.

Mr Trump adds that even a slight increase to visa fees would cover the cost of the proposed wall.

The Post points out that the $24b figure is derived from remittances sent to Mexico from around the globe, not exclusively the US. But the economy of the country still relies on such payments.

The Associated Press reported that the Mexican economy earned more from remittance payments than it did from its petroleum industry  the first time since the country began tracking the transfers in 1995.
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Donald Trump has said acting too presidential would be boring as hell.

The New York businessman, the frontrunner in the race to become the Republican presidential candidate in the US election, has often been criticised for his tone on the campaign trail.

But at a rally in Superior, Wisconsin, the 69-year-old said his unorthodox style was more entertaining.

I can be presidential, but if I was presidential I would only have  about 20 per cent of you would be here because it would be boring as hell, I will say, he told voters at an open airplane hangar, according to Politico.

Mr Trump has come under scrutiny for his language and the insults used as he campaigns to become one of the most powerful leaders in the world.

Marco Rubio, who recently dropped out of the campaign, said: You have a candidate in Donald Trump who clearly uses language that appeals to anger."

Time reported that he said: "I do think Donald needs to [realise] and take responsibility for the fact that some of the rhetoric he has used could potentially be contributing to this environment that is growing increasingly disturbing for a growing number of Americans.

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

Even Mr Trumps wife, Melania, has urged him to watch his language.

In an interview with CNNs Anderson Cooper in March, Mrs Trump said her husband would change his tone if he made it to the White House.

But in Wisconsin, Mr Trump asked voters to allow him to be un-presidential just a little while longer, while he tries to beat his rivals Ted Cruz and John Kasich to become the Republican nominee.

We started off with 17 people and now got two left. I call them the leftovers, right? I now have two left and were way up on both of them, he said, Politico reported.

Let me be un-presidential just for a little while longer, he added.

The Republican candidate needs 1,237 delegates to win the nominee. So far Mr Trump is miles ahead of his rivals with 737 delegates, according to the latest count by AP. Mr Cruz has 475 delegates, followed by Mr Kasich at 143.

Mr Cruz used Mr Trumps highly-criticised campaign manner to bolster his own campaign. He told voters in Madison, Wisconsin: Lets show the country that this race is not about yelling and screaming and insults.

The rallies in Wisconsin took place ahead of the presidential primary on Tuesday.

Additional reporting by agencies
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China has announced a series of sanctions against North Korea.

The country has restricted imports of North Korean coal and sales of jet fuel under UN sanctions.

Read more of The Independent's North Korea coverage

The Security Council passed a resolution in March, which expanded UN sanctions aimed at withholding funds for the North's nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. It came after Pyongyang conducted four tests in recent months.

Among the North Korean materials to be banned, some of which are fundamental to the country's revenue, are coal, iron, iron ore, gold, titanium and rare earths.

Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone Show all 30 1 /30 Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone Farmer works in a field Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone Women soldier walk on the street Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone A female soldier guards railway Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone A general view of platform of Pyongyang Railway Station Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone Students stage a protest against South Korea and the US in Pyongyang Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone Students rehearsal for celebrating the 70th birthday of Workers' Party of Korea Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone People enjoy the cool at the carriage door Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone A general view of countryside Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone Korean People's Army soldier rest on the rail 2015 Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone A little boy begs food on the platform in Hamhung Railway Station in Hamhung 2015 Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone Children swim in a river in noon Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone People cross a railway crossing 2015 Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone A boy collects corn cob beside a railway Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone A customs officer is seen on the train No.100 from Moscow to Pyongyang at Tumangang railway station in Tumangang Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone A customs officer checks a passenger's mobile device on the train to Pyongyang Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone A railway station in Tumangang Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone A general view of the railway station in Tumangang Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone Kids pass by Tumanggang railway station in Tumanggang 2015 Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone A general view of Tumangang Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone A general view of Tumangang - a small town located at North Korea and Russia border Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone A train carriage on it's way to Pyongyang is delayed for a day and half due to military transportation in Tumangang Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone A customs officers talks to a passenger at Tumanggang railway station in Tumanggang Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone A little girl walks on the street in Tumanggang 2015 Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone An elderly man is seen in Tumangang Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone Kids go to school in morning in Tumangang 2015 Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone

While China's restrictions allow some North Korean materials to be imported for civilian use, any trade connected to the North's missile or nuclear programmes has been prohibited. For the UN sanctions to succeed, the cooperation of China - an ally of North Korea - has been viewed as essential.

The move by China comes after the global Nuclear Security Summit held in Washington last week. There, at a meeting between Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping, the US President said both countries were committed to the [denuclearisation] of the Korean Peninsula.

 N. Korea propaganda video depicts imagined attack on Washington

Mr Xi said: China and the US have a responsibility to work together.

After the vote on the resolution, drafted by the US and China, US Ambassador Samantha Power said the sanctions were the toughest yet, Reuters reported.

"Virtually all of the DPRK's (North Korea) resources are channelled into its reckless and relentless pursuit of weapons of mass destruction," she said.

UN sanctions have been imposed on North Korea since 2006 because of the country's nuclear tests and rocket launches.

Additional reporting by AP
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A report has revealed the horrific extent of violence against women in Pakistan as religious groups continue to fight an un-Islamic law against domestic abuse.

More than a thousand victims of honour crimes were recorded last year, including a woman who was strangled and cut up by her brothers and two sisters shot for their bad character.

The annual report by the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) recorded gang rapes, kidnapping, acid attacks, amputations, burnings and said almost 800 women killed themselves or attempted suicide.

 Muslim figures in Pakistan reject bill criminalising domestic abuse

The report warned that despite a series of landmarks in 2015, which saw the first Pakistani female firefighter and rickshaw driver start work, exploitation and abuse remains rife with little judicial recourse.

Pakistans largest state passed a landmark law in February criminalising domestic violence, stalking, cybercrime and other forms of abuse but a coalition of more than 30 groups have demanded its withdrawal.

Mainstream Islamic political parties are among those opposing the Punjab Protection of Women Against Violence Act 2015 and threatening to launch nationwide protests.

The Council of Islamic Ideology, a constitutional body that advises the Pakistani government, declared the protections and punishments stipulated un-Islamic.

The council has previously supported a law requiring women alleging rape to get four male witnesses to testify in court before a case is heard and blocked harsher penalties for child marriages.

Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Show all 19 1 /19 Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Afghanistan Recommendation: I urge the Government of Afghanistan to adopt legislative reforms to ensure that sexual violence offences are not conflated with adultery or morality crimes and to establish infrastructure for the delivery of protection, health and le gal services to survivors. I call on the Ministry of the Interior to accelerate efforts to integrate women into the Afghan National Police, thereby enhancing its outreach and its capacity to address sexual and gender-based violence Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Central African Republic Recommendation: I urge the authorities of the Central African Republic to ensure that efforts to restore security and the rule of law take into account the prevention of sexual violence and that monitoring of the ceasefire and peace agreement explicitly reflects this consideration, in line with the joint communique of the Government and the United Nations on the prevention of and response to conflict-related sexual violence signed in December 2012. I further encourage the authorities to make the rapid response unit to combat sexual violence operational and to establish a special criminal court Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Colombia Recommendation: I commend the Government of Colombia for the progress made to date and its collaboration with the United Nations, including through the visit of my Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict in March 2015. I encourage the authorities to implement Law 1719 and continue to prosecute cases of sexual violence committed during the conflict to ensure that survivors receive justice and receive reparations. Conflict-related sexual violence should continue to be addressed in the Havana peace talks, as well as in the resulting accords and transitional justice mechanisms. Particular attention should be paid to groups that face additional barriers to justice such as ethnic minorities, women in rural areas, children, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex individuals and women abused within the ranks of armed groups. I encourage the Government to scale up its protection measures and share its good practices with other conflict-affected countries Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Congo Recommendation: I urge the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to ensure full implementation of the armed forces action plan against sexual violence, to systematically bring perpetrators to justice and to deliver reparations to victims, including payment of outstanding compensation awards. I call on donors and the United Nations system to support the Government in its efforts and to pay increased attention to neglected areas, including unregulated mining regions Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Iraq Recommendation: I commend the Government of Iraq for its national action plan for the implementation of Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) and urge its swift implementation, including by training its security forces to ensur e respect for womens rights. Programmes to support the social reintegration of women and girls released from captivity by ISIL are urgently needed, as is community-based medical and psychological care. The capacity of the United Nations system should be enhanced through the deployment of Womens Protection Advisers or equivalent specialists Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Libya Recommendation: I urge the national authorities in Libya to implement Decree No. 119 and Resolution 904 of 2014 to ensure redress for all victims, including those affected by the current conflict, through the establishment of multisectoral services and the adoption of legislation to categorically prohibit sexual violence Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Mali Recommendation: I urge the Government of Mali, with support from United Nations Action against Sexual Violence in Conflict, to develop a comprehensive national strategy to combat sexual and gender-based violence and to ensure the safety of humanitarian workers so that services can reach remote areas. I further call on all parties to ensure that conflict-related sexual violence is addressed in the inter-Malian dialogue and that perpetrators of sexual violence do not benefit from amnesty or early release Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Myanmar Recommendation: I urge the Government of Myanmar to continue with its reform agenda and, in the process, take practical and timely actions to protect and support survivors of conflict-related sexual violence and to ensure that security personnel accused of such crimes are prosecuted. Sexual violence should be an element in all ceasefire and peace negotiations, excluded from the scope of amnesty provisions and addressed in transitional justice processes. It is critical that women be able to participate consistently in and influence these processes Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Somalia Recommendation: I reiterate my call to the Federal Government of Somalia to implement the commitments made under the joint communique of 7 May 2013 and its national action plan to combat sexual violence in conflict, including specific plans for the army and the police. I encourage the adoption of a sexual offences bill as a matter of priority Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life South Sudan Recommendation: I urge the parties to the conflict in South Sudan to adopt action plans to implement the commitments made under their respective communiques. I call upon the Government of South Sudan to address the negative impact of customary law on womens rights and to reflect international human rights standards in national law. I also encourage the African Union to make public and act upon the report of its Commission of Inquiry on South Sudan Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Sudan (Darfur) Recommendation: I call upon the Government of the Sudan to grant the United Nations and its humanitarian partners unfettered access for monitoring and the provision of assistance to people in need in Darfur. Given that there has been grave concern over sexual violence in Darfur for more than a decade, I encourage the Government to engage with my Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict to develop a framework of cooperation to address the issue comprehensively Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Syria Recommendation: I acknowledge the Governments invitation to my Special Representative to visit the Syrian Arab Republic and call upon the authorities, in the context of such a visit, to agree on specific measures to prevent sexual violence, including by members of the security forces. I condemn the use of sexual violence by ISIL and all other parties listed in the annex to the present report and call on them to cease such violations immediately and allow unfettered access for the delivery of humanitarian assistance Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Yemen Recommendation: I urge the authorities in Yemen to undertake legislative reform as a basis for addressing impunity for sexual violence, ensuring the provision of services for survivors and aligning the minimum legal age of marriage with international standards. I further call on the authorities to engage with local community and faithbased leaders to address sexual and gender-based violence and discriminatory social norms Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Bosnia and Herzegovina Recommendation: I urge the relevant authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina to harmonize legislation and policies so that the rights of survivors of conflict-related sexual violence to reparations are consistently recognized and to allocate a specific budget for this purpose. I further call upon the authorities to protect and support survivors participating in judicial proceedings through, inter alia, referrals to free legal aid, psychosocial and health services, as well as economic empowerment programmes Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Ivory Coast Recommendation: I urge the Government of Cote dIvoire to ensure the effective implementation of its national strategy to combat gender-based violence and the action plan for FRCI, and call on the international community to support these efforts. It is critical to accelerate disarmament, demobilization and reintegration and strengthen law enforcement to ensure that ex-combatants who have been reintegrated into the transport sector do not pose a risk to women and girls who are reliant on those services. The Government and the international community must provide monitoring and awareness-raising to mitigate the possibility of a recurrence of sexual violence in the context of the presidential elections to be held in October 2015 Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Liberia Recommendation: I call on the Government of Liberia to continue its critical efforts to combat sexual and gender-based violence including through the United Nations-Government of Liberia Joint Programme, and in the context of recovery from the Ebola virus epidemic Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Nepal Recommendation: I encourage the Government to ensure that survivors of conflict-related sexual violence are recognized under the law as conflict victims, which will enable them to access services, judicial remedies and reparations. I further call on all parties involved in the transitional justice process to ensure that the rights and needs o f survivors of sexual violence are addressed in institutional reforms and that these crimes are excluded from amnesties and statutes of limitations Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Sri Lanka Recommendation: I call upon the newly elected Government of Sri Lanka to investigate allegations of sexual violence, including against national armed and security forces, and to provide multisectoral services for survivors, including reparations and economic empowerment programmes for women at risk, including war widows and female heads of household Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Nigeria Recommendation: I encourage the Government to implement its national action plan on the implementation of Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) to ensure that womens protection concerns are mainstreamed throughout its security operations. I also call upon the authorities to guarantee security in and around internally displaced persons camps and to extend medical and psychosocial services to high-risk areas

Fazlur Rehman, the chief of one of Pakistan's largest religious parties, the Jamiat-i-Ulema Islam, said the law was in conflict with both Islam and the constitution of Pakistan.

This law makes a man insecure, he told journalists. This law is an attempt to make Pakistan a Western colony again.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan report said prosecution rates for domestic violence and sexual offences were low, with women frequently too afraid to report the crimes or being intimidated into withdrawing complaints.

It recorded more than 900 rapes and sexual assaults in 2015, 279 instances of domestic violence, 143 of burning, 833 kidnappings and 777 suicides and attempted suicides.

The figures are believed to be far below the real figures as violence against women remains rampant.

Pakistani women pose with candles to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women in Lahore (Getty)

The HRCP reported 987 honour crimes in 2015, with 1,096 female victims and 88 male victims, including an unknown number of children.

The predominant causes of these killings in 2015 were domestic disputes, alleged illicit relations and exercising the right of choice in marriage, the report said.

Guns were the most commonly used weapons and current and former spouses of the victims were the killers in most cases.

Reports included a woman who was strangled to death and cut up by her brothers in Sahianwala over allegations she was having an affair with a neighbour in May, and a man who shot his two sisters on suspicion of having bad character in Sargodha in September.

Numerous acid attacks were also reported, including one allegedly carried out by a police constable in Karachi, causing his 19-year-old victim to lose an eye.

Pakistani acid attack victims Naziran Bibi and Naila Farhat (Getty Images)

The HRCP is calling on increased economic opportunities for women and roles in government, media and law enforcement to increase their influence in society.

All pending laws on women protection must be passed on a priority, it added. The prosecution rate for violence against women must be increased to create a safer environment.

But prominent Pakistani author Mohammed Hanif said it would be hard to shift the mindset of men who believe it is their God-given right to give a woman a little thrashing.

Im sure the nice folks campaigning against the bill dont want to beat up their wives or murder their sisters, but they are fighting for their fellow mens right to do just that, he wrote in the New York Times.

They are giving voice to Pakistani mens collective misery over the fact that their women are out of control.

Additional reporting by Reuters
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Female soldiers are routinely raped in the North Korean army, a defector has claimed.

Lee So-yeon, a former soldier who has since left North Korea and become a Womens Union representative, said such violence was common during her time in the armyas she addressed a conference in Seoul about womens rights in the neighbouring dictatorship.

She said senior officers would abuse their power to rape lower-ranking women, The Korea Herald reports.

Ms Lee told the conference: Out of 120 soldiers in my unit, there were only 20 men, but they were all high-ranking officers. I was in the 1st squad, but a couple of squad leaders in the 2nd squad raped every single one of the low-ranking female soldiers.

She added there was "no concept of dignity for women in the North Korean army.

Ms Lee also alleged that the army failed to acknowledge womens menstruation and that she and other female colleagues were forced to reuse sanitary pads that were already solidified with blood".

Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone Show all 30 1 /30 Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone Farmer works in a field Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone Women soldier walk on the street Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone A female soldier guards railway Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone A general view of platform of Pyongyang Railway Station Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone Students stage a protest against South Korea and the US in Pyongyang Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone Students rehearsal for celebrating the 70th birthday of Workers' Party of Korea Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone People enjoy the cool at the carriage door Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone A general view of countryside Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone Korean People's Army soldier rest on the rail 2015 Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone A little boy begs food on the platform in Hamhung Railway Station in Hamhung 2015 Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone Children swim in a river in noon Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone People cross a railway crossing 2015 Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone A boy collects corn cob beside a railway Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone A customs officer is seen on the train No.100 from Moscow to Pyongyang at Tumangang railway station in Tumangang Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone A customs officer checks a passenger's mobile device on the train to Pyongyang Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone A railway station in Tumangang Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone A general view of the railway station in Tumangang Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone Kids pass by Tumanggang railway station in Tumanggang 2015 Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone A general view of Tumangang Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone A general view of Tumangang - a small town located at North Korea and Russia border Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone A train carriage on it's way to Pyongyang is delayed for a day and half due to military transportation in Tumangang Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone A customs officers talks to a passenger at Tumanggang railway station in Tumanggang Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone A little girl walks on the street in Tumanggang 2015 Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone An elderly man is seen in Tumangang Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone Kids go to school in morning in Tumangang 2015 Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone

In January 2015, it was reported that the North Korean government was making military service mandatory for young women aged 17-20, requiring them to serve until they are 23. Previously service was only mandatory for men with women able to choose if they wanted to volunteer. It is believed that dwindling resources and personnel levels in the impoverished state prompted the change.

While it is difficult to discern accurate information about life inside North Korea, given the secretive nature of the state and the governments propensity for making unreliable claims, sources estimate that around a million people are currently serving in the countrys army.
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People in Germany have been warned to stay away from their windows and to refrain from waving during Barack Obamas visit later this month.

Along with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the US President will be in Germany to open Hannover Messe, the worlds largest trade show for industrial technology, at a ceremony on the evening of 24 April at the Hannover Congress Centrum (HCC).

But according to the Hannoversche Allegemeine (Haz) local newspaper, residents in the Zoo area of Hannover, have been warned against waving from their home windows as the two heads of state enter and leave the venue because it could put them at risk of a police check, according to The Local.

The US has teamed up with Hannover Messe, open to the public from 25 to 29 April, as a partner country for 2016.

Local residents will face a number of limitations on the weekend of 23 and 24 April as the area around the HCC will be set up as a security zone. Those who wish to pass through the two access roads may have to undergo vehicle checks and carry a passport with them.

And any guests who decide to turn up unexpectedly that weekend could be turned away as residents have been asked to register visitors at the police station by 17 April, according to the Haz newspaper.

According to The Local, flyers issued by local police read: Please understand that security forces operate under special alert during the visit of the US president.

 Obama, Castro Do 'the Wave' at Baseball Game.mp4

Mr Obamas visit to Germany will be his fifth, but his attendance to the trade show will be the first for a sitting president.

The White House said the visit presents [a] unique opportunity to showcase American innovation and ingenuity and to highlight the United States as a prime investment destination.

Dr Jochen Kockler, one of the events organisers, said: President Obamas participation sends a special signal about Hannover Messes international appeal. And the timing is perfect: in the midst of its [reindustrialisation] the US has become a very attractive business partner for industry.

During his visit, Mr Obama will also discuss the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. But before landing in Germany, the President will visit Saudi Arabia and the UK.
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Icelands Prime Minster has asked the country's President to call snap elections amid mounting anger over his links to offshore banking - and had his request refused.

Olafur Ragnar Grimsson declined to dissolve Reykjavik's parliament, despite days of demonstrations demanding a new government, saying he would consult other party leaders first.

I need to determine if there is support for dissolving (parliament) within the ruling coalition and others," he added.

"The Prime Minister could not confirm this for me, and therefore I am not prepared at this time to dissolve parliament."

 Iceland: thousands protest, call for PM to resign over Panama Papers leaks

Sigmundur Davi Gunnlaugsson had pledged to break apart his ruling coalition if he lost the trust of his partners after being named in the Panama Papers  a huge cache of leaked files naming individuals linked with a law firm specialising in shell companies.

He denied any wrongdoing following the revelations and defied calls to resign as thousands of people protested outside the countrys parliament building.

But in a statement on Tuesday, Mr Gunnlaugsson said he would dissolve parliament and call elections as soon as possible if his coalition partners can no longer support him.

I am proud of my work in politics and not afraid to put it to the verdict of the electorate, whether thats now or later, he added. I am also proud of my wife and the integrity and self-sacrifice that she has always shown.

People gather during a protest on Austurvollur Square in front of the Icelandic Parliament in Reykjavic, Iceland, calling for the resignation of prime minister Sigmundur Davi Gunnlaugsson on 04 April, 2016, (EPA)

The Prime Minister said he had discussed the matter with the leader of the Independence Party, the senior coalition party to his Progressives.

He said he would happily answer for his deeds and decisions, in public and private, and hoped to continue pursuing the vision for Iceland that drove him to enter politics.

The Panama Papers revealed that Mr Gunnlaugsson and his wife bought an offshore company, Wintris Inc, in 2007 but the politician allegedly did not declare his interest when elected to the Icelandic Parliament two years later.

Opposition parties had called for a vote of no confidence later his week as anger mounted over Mr Gunnlaugssons financial dealings during Icelands devastating financial crisis.

World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Show all 15 1 /15 World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Petro Poroshenko President of Ukraine World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Ayad Allawi Allawi Iraqs Vice-President between 2014 and 2015, and the countrys interim prime minister from 2004 to 2005 World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Salman bin Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al Saud King of Saudi Arabia World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan President of the United Arab Emirates, Emir of Abu Dhabi World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Sigmundur Davi Gunnlaugsson Prime Minister of Iceland World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Sergey Roldugin Close friend of Vladimir Putin World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani Emir of Qatar 1995-2013 World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Li Xiaolin Daughter of Li Peng, the former Premier of China (The current vice-president of state-owned power company China Datang Gorporation and former CEO of China Power International Development, she has been nicknamed Chinas Power Queen World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Rami Makhlouf Cousin of Bashar Assad, the President of Syria World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Hafez Makhlouf Cousin of Bashar Assad, the President of Syria World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Clive Khulubuse Zuma Nephew of Jacob Zuma, President of South Africa World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Maryam Nawaz Sharif Safdar Daughter of Nawaz Sharif, prime minister of Pakistan World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Hasan Nawaz Sharif Son of Nawaz Sharif, prime minister of Pakistan World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Hussain Nawaz Sharif Son of Nawaz Sharif, prime minister of Pakistan World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Alaa Mubarak The eldest son of ousted former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak Read more here

There is no evidence that the Prime Minister, who sold his shares in Wintris in 2009, his wife or the company were involved in any tax avoidance, evasion or dishonest financial gain.

He is one of dozens of leaders and former leaders around the world named in a huge leak of more than 11 million documents from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca.

Icelands President cut short a visit to the US to attend to the very serious situation at home and has responsibility for forming coalitions and emergency governments as head of state.

If parliament is dissolved, all parties will have 45 days to prepare for elections.

Additional reporting by AP
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The Prime Minister of Iceland has resigned after the Panama Papers revealed that he has been using an offshore firm to allegedly hide investments worth millions of pounds.

Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson's resignation follows intense pressure in Iceland after he was named in the leaked documents which apparently reveal tax evasion attempts. Yesterday, thousands of locals surrounded the Icelandic parliament to demand that Mr Gunnlaugsson resign as head of the coalition government. Opposition parties had called for a vote of no confidence against the politician, saying he had lost all public trust following the scandal. He initially denied any wrong doing but reportedly resigned this afternoon amid mounting pressure.

The Panama Papers are a huge cache of leaked files which name individuals allegedly linked with a law firm which specialises in shell companies for the purposes of avoiding tax payments.

Mr Gunnlaugsson is one of dozens of leaders of former leaders around the world to be named in the documents and is the first major figure to resign following the revelations. Leading officials in Russia, Ukraine, China, Argentina and other major countries have also been named.

He is accused of setting up a shell company along with his wife in the British Virgin Islands with the help of a Panamanian law firm. The company, which was based in the British Virgin Islands, is worth millions of pounds.

World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Show all 15 1 /15 World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Petro Poroshenko President of Ukraine World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Ayad Allawi Allawi Iraqs Vice-President between 2014 and 2015, and the countrys interim prime minister from 2004 to 2005 World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Salman bin Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al Saud King of Saudi Arabia World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan President of the United Arab Emirates, Emir of Abu Dhabi World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Sigmundur Davi Gunnlaugsson Prime Minister of Iceland World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Sergey Roldugin Close friend of Vladimir Putin World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani Emir of Qatar 1995-2013 World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Li Xiaolin Daughter of Li Peng, the former Premier of China (The current vice-president of state-owned power company China Datang Gorporation and former CEO of China Power International Development, she has been nicknamed Chinas Power Queen World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Rami Makhlouf Cousin of Bashar Assad, the President of Syria World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Hafez Makhlouf Cousin of Bashar Assad, the President of Syria World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Clive Khulubuse Zuma Nephew of Jacob Zuma, President of South Africa World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Maryam Nawaz Sharif Safdar Daughter of Nawaz Sharif, prime minister of Pakistan World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Hasan Nawaz Sharif Son of Nawaz Sharif, prime minister of Pakistan World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Hussain Nawaz Sharif Son of Nawaz Sharif, prime minister of Pakistan World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Alaa Mubarak The eldest son of ousted former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak Read more here

There is no suggestion that he has acted illegally by his involvement in the scheme. However, critics have suggested that it amounts to a conflict of interest. The documents suggest that while Mr Gunnlaugsson was overseeing negotiations with the creditors of Icelandic banks, his company was owed considerable sums from their bankruptcies.

Gunnlaugsson has denied any wrongdoing and insists that he and his wife have paid all appropriate taxes. He insists his financial holdings didn't affect his negotiations with Iceland's creditors during the country's acute financial crisis.

Iceland, which has a population of just 330,000, suffered under prolonged austerity following the economic crash and as a result there is considerable anti-establishment feeling and frustration towards people perceived as not paying their fair share of tax.

A replacement Prime Minister has not yet been named.
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Thousands of protesters are calling for Iceland's prime minister to step down after the Panama Papers revealed his wife owned an offshore company with a significant investment in the country's collapsed banks.

Sigmundur Davi Gunnlaugsson is facing a vote of no confidence after the leaked documents showed he and his wife had bought Wintris from Mossack Fonseca in 2007.

Protesters gathered in front of the Icelandic Parliament in the capital of Reykjavik to call for Mr Gunnlaugsson to stand down, with many beating drums and blowing whistles. At least one threw several tubs of Icelandic sour yoghurt at the walls and windows of the parliament building.

Organisers said more than 10,000 had gathered. An online petition calling for his resignation received 29,000 signatures. Iceland has a population of approximately 330,000.

When asked about his investments in the offshore company Wintris Inc. the prime minister walked out of the interview, saying: "What are you trying to make up here? This is totally inappropriate."

Court records seen by the BBC show Wintris has millions of pounds in claims in the bankruptcies of three major Icelandic banks which collapsed during the 2008 financial crisis.

Mr Gunnlaugsson did not declare an interest in the company when entering parliament in 2009 and sold his 50 per cent share to his wife for $1 (70p) eight months later.

World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Show all 15 1 /15 World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Petro Poroshenko President of Ukraine World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Ayad Allawi Allawi Iraqs Vice-President between 2014 and 2015, and the countrys interim prime minister from 2004 to 2005 World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Salman bin Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al Saud King of Saudi Arabia World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan President of the United Arab Emirates, Emir of Abu Dhabi World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Sigmundur Davi Gunnlaugsson Prime Minister of Iceland World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Sergey Roldugin Close friend of Vladimir Putin World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani Emir of Qatar 1995-2013 World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Li Xiaolin Daughter of Li Peng, the former Premier of China (The current vice-president of state-owned power company China Datang Gorporation and former CEO of China Power International Development, she has been nicknamed Chinas Power Queen World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Rami Makhlouf Cousin of Bashar Assad, the President of Syria World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Hafez Makhlouf Cousin of Bashar Assad, the President of Syria World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Clive Khulubuse Zuma Nephew of Jacob Zuma, President of South Africa World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Maryam Nawaz Sharif Safdar Daughter of Nawaz Sharif, prime minister of Pakistan World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Hasan Nawaz Sharif Son of Nawaz Sharif, prime minister of Pakistan World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Hussain Nawaz Sharif Son of Nawaz Sharif, prime minister of Pakistan World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Alaa Mubarak The eldest son of ousted former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak Read more here

He told Reuters TV: "I certainly won't [resign] because what we've seen is the fact that, well, my wife has always paid her taxes.

We've also seen that she has avoided any conflict of interest by investing in Icelandic companies at the same time that I'm in politics.

"And finally, we've seen that I've been willing to put the interests of the people of Iceland first even when it's at a disadvantage to my own family."

In the biggest data leak so far, more than 11.5 million documents were passed to the German newspaper Seddeutsche Zeitung, which shared them with 107 media organisations around the world.

 Iceland's prime minister walks out of interview over tax questions

The prime minister's office says his shareholding was an error and "it had always been clear to both of them that the prime minister's wife owned the assets".

His spokesman said joint share certificates had been issued because the prime minister and his wife had a joint bank account.

The Icelandic Pirate Party has said it is ready to form a government in the event of a snap election.

The group is now Iceland's most popular political party with over 36 per cent of voters backing it, a recent poll found.

"What would be the most natural and the right thing to do is that [he] resign as prime minister," Birgitta Jonsdottir, the head of the Pirate Party, told Reuters.

"There is a great and strong demand for that in society and he has totally lost all his trust and believability."
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As the first wave of refugees is deported from Greece to Turkey, human rights advocates have raised concerns about the country's suitability as a destination for asylum-seekers.

Turkey is home to over 2.5 million Syrian refugees, but its refugee camps can only house around 200,000.

Images of the shelter provided to refugees upon their immediate return from Greece appear to show hundreds of people sleeping under one roof in cramped conditions.

Other pictures taken across Turkey over the last three years show many refugees from the Syrian civil war living in derelict accomodation, or on the streets of major cities such as Istanbul and Ankara.

Turkey's two million Syrian refugees Show all 11 1 /11 Turkey's two million Syrian refugees Turkey's two million Syrian refugees There are already over 2.5 million Syrian refugees in Turkey, but their current camps can only hold 200,000 people ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images Turkey's two million Syrian refugees Turkish citizens protest a new deal, also criticised by human rights activists, which will see refugees who arrived in Greece after March 20 be sent back to Turkey AP Photo/Emre Tazegu Turkey's two million Syrian refugees An estimated 80% of Syrian refugee children already in Turkey are unable to attend school BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images Turkey's two million Syrian refugees Refugee children beg for water near the Turkey-Syria border. Turkey has been accused of illegally deporting asylum-seekers back to Syria BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images Turkey's two million Syrian refugees In Turkey, no-one from outside Europe is legally recognised as a refugee, meaning the 2016 deportations may not meet international legal standards for protecting vulnerable people BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images Turkey's two million Syrian refugees A refugee child cries as she is searched by police at the Syria-Turkey border, where 16 refugees (including three children) have been shot dead in the last four months BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images Turkey's two million Syrian refugees Many refugees are living rough on the streets of cities such as Istanbul or Ankara (pictured) ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images Turkey's two million Syrian refugees Turkish soldiers use water cannon on Syrian refugees BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images Turkey's two million Syrian refugees Syrian refugees shelter from rain in the streets of Istanbul BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images Turkey's two million Syrian refugees A derelict building housing Syrian refugees in Istanbul Carl Court/Getty Images Turkey's two million Syrian refugees Turkey houses around half of all the refugees who have currently fled Syria Carl Court/Getty Images

In addition to dangerous and unsanitary conditions within Turkey, it is alleged that Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government is illegally deporting thousands of refugees back to Syria without hearing their applications for asylum.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights further alleges that 16 people seeking asylum in Turkey have been shot dead in the past four months, with three children among the victims.

And those refugees who remain in Turkey face a poor quality of life. Under Turkish law, no-one from outside of Europe can legally be considered a refugee, opening the door to potential human rights abuses.

Many refugees are living rough on the streets of cities such as Istanbul or Ankara (BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images)

Turkey is allegedly blocking refugees in southern regions from registering with the government, meaning they cannot access basic amenities or support. An estimated 80 per cent of Syrian refugee children in Turkey do not attend school.

Despite these concerns, Turkey has been declared a safe country by the EU. In return for taking back refugees, the Erdogan government will receive 4.6bn in aid from the European Union, and its citizens will win the right to free movement through the Schengen area.

Speaking to The Independent, Human Rights Watch refugee advocate Gerry Simpson said the deportation of Syrian refugees to Turkey marked a historic day of shame for the European community.

He continued: Like a thief in the night, the EU kicked off its shameful refugee dumping deal under cover of dawn.

"We have a number of concerns right now, but number one is the concern that the EU is breaching European law by returning people who need protection to an unsafe country."
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Polish women are trolling their Prime Minister Beata Szydlo with updates on their menstrual cycle, after the politician came out in support of a full ban on abortion.

The EU member state country currently has some of the strictest abortion laws, with terminations allowed in cases of rape or incest, or if a child would have been born with severe health issues.

But last week it was revealed the country is considering a complete ban, which Prime Minister Szydlo openly supported, leading to mass protests outside the main Polish government building in Warsaw.

And now women in Poland, taking inspiration from campaigners in the US, have started trolling Ms Szydlo online, using the hashtag #TrudnyOkres [tough period], by updating the Prime Minister with information about their periods, Quartz reports.

A dedicated Facebook page has been set up with information about how to call, email, or contact the Prime Minister on social media. The Polish government want to control our uterus, ovaries and pregnancies. Isnt it nice that they care so much?" it says.

The countries with anti-women laws Show all 5 1 /5 The countries with anti-women laws The countries with anti-women laws The countries with anti-women laws The countries with anti-women laws The countries with anti-women laws The countries with anti-women laws

As the American ladies did in Indiana, lets besiege our Prime Minister with information, questions or doubts regarding our monthly cycle, periods, ovulations, vaginal secretions. Lets give her full insight on whats going on with us, make her focus on us. Maybe she will remind herself that she is a woman too.

One woman wrote: Dear Madame Prime Minister, today I felt a prickling in my left ovary. I think I am undergoing ovulation, while another explained that she was expecting her period as at the moment, my boobs are aching, my legs and lower abdomen are swollen, and I have already eaten my chocolate Easter egg, as well as half of my husbands, Quartz reported.

The novel form of protest began when women in Indiana began calling the office of state governor Mike Pence to relay similar information, after he approved one of the countrys strictest abortion bills.
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Britain has so far firmly committed to send just eight people to Greece to help get the controversial European Union scheme to send refugees back to Turkey off the ground, The Independent can reveal.

The EU has asked member states to supply around 2,500 interpreters, asylum experts, judicial officers and escort officers to support the Greek government in the massive programme.

Under the scheme, which began on Monday and has been condemned by human rights groups, failed asylum-seekers are deported in return for Syrians still in Turkish camps being given refuge in the EU.

According to the European Commission, member states have committed to send around 1,200 people to back up the major logistical exercise, with France promising 323 and Germany 222.

By contrast, the UK has so far only pledged to send eight judicial officers, and no interpreters, asylum specialists or escort officers. Even Luxembourg, with a population one hundredth of the UK, has committed itself to supply seven people.

 Deportations of refugees and migrants from Greece to Turkey begin calmly

Ministers were challenged by the Liberal Democrats, who uncovered the figures, to recruit interpreters to help asylum-seekers submit their claims. The EU has only had offers of 36 interpreters towards the 400 it believes it needs.

Turkey's two million Syrian refugees Show all 11 1 /11 Turkey's two million Syrian refugees Turkey's two million Syrian refugees There are already over 2.5 million Syrian refugees in Turkey, but their current camps can only hold 200,000 people ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images Turkey's two million Syrian refugees Turkish citizens protest a new deal, also criticised by human rights activists, which will see refugees who arrived in Greece after March 20 be sent back to Turkey AP Photo/Emre Tazegu Turkey's two million Syrian refugees An estimated 80% of Syrian refugee children already in Turkey are unable to attend school BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images Turkey's two million Syrian refugees Refugee children beg for water near the Turkey-Syria border. Turkey has been accused of illegally deporting asylum-seekers back to Syria BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images Turkey's two million Syrian refugees In Turkey, no-one from outside Europe is legally recognised as a refugee, meaning the 2016 deportations may not meet international legal standards for protecting vulnerable people BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images Turkey's two million Syrian refugees A refugee child cries as she is searched by police at the Syria-Turkey border, where 16 refugees (including three children) have been shot dead in the last four months BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images Turkey's two million Syrian refugees Many refugees are living rough on the streets of cities such as Istanbul or Ankara (pictured) ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images Turkey's two million Syrian refugees Turkish soldiers use water cannon on Syrian refugees BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images Turkey's two million Syrian refugees Syrian refugees shelter from rain in the streets of Istanbul BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images Turkey's two million Syrian refugees A derelict building housing Syrian refugees in Istanbul Carl Court/Getty Images Turkey's two million Syrian refugees Turkey houses around half of all the refugees who have currently fled Syria Carl Court/Getty Images

Alistair Carmichael, the Lib Dem Home Affairs spokesman, described the figures as an embarrassing reflection of our own Governments inability to engage with this crisis.

He said: The Government should be ashamed of itself for standing by while refugees suffer under this ill-thought, under-resourced programme.

According to critics, the returns deal, which was championed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and agreed last month, breaches human rights legislation. However, the first boatloads of migrants deported from Greece arrived in Turkey two days ago.

In a call to the Greek Prime Minister, Alex Tsipras, David Cameron said more British personnel would be offered to Greece in coming weeks to support the operation.
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A woman in Majorca has been arrested on suspicion of murder after she was reportedly found next to the body of her dead husband whose flesh had apparently eaten by a pet dog.

Svetlana Batukova, 46, from Russia, is due to stand trial over her husbands death after she was found at the couples holiday home in Cala Millor on the Spanish island, The Local reports.

Her husband, named locally as a German national Horst Hans Henkels, 66, had been stabbed and parts of his arms reportedly appeared to have been stripped to the bone.

The flesh from his arms had been eaten by Ms Batukovas dog, an American Staffordshire bull terrier, according to Periodistadigital.com.

A post mortem revealed Mr Henkels bled to death after being stabbed a number of times with a kitchen knife.

It is understood he had recently undergone surgery on his trachea and would have been unable to speak properly, while local media reported Mr Henkels had allegedly been drugged before he was attacked.

Ms Batukova was reportedly under the influence of alcohol and drugs when she was taken into custody by police.

Local police had reportedly been called out to the home a number of times to deal with domestic issues.

The couple are understood to have been together for two years before marrying in January. Since Ms Batukovas arrest reports have emerged she had previously attempted to arrange her husbands death by offering someone money to kill Mr Henkels, according to Majorca Daily Bulletin.
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Isis has reportedly used mustard gas against Bashar al-Assads forces in battles at a key airport in eastern Syria.

Militants were attempting to recapture Deir ez-Zor military airport when they deployed the chemical weapon on Monday, state media said.

Syrian television did not disclose how many casualties were sustained in the latest drive by the so-called Islamic State in the city, which is mainly under the groups control, as is the surrounding countryside.

A map showing reported battles in Deir Ezzor on 5 April 2016. The red area denotes Syrian government control, while the grey is Isis. (Liveuamap)

The terrorists fired rockets carrying mustard gas, said a statement said on the state-owned Ikhbariyah television station.

Deir ez-Zors airport has been a key flashpoint of battles between Isis, rival rebel groups and regime forces throughout the Syrian civil war.

The strategic city lies on vital routes linking the so-called Islamic States territories in western and northern Syria, including Raqqa, with Iraq.

Reports of mustard gas could not be independently verified but Kurdish and Turkmen groups have reported its use before.

Turkmen rebels reported mustard gas shelling in northern Iraq last month and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) confirmed that the weapon killed a baby as Isis battled rebels in the Syrian town of Marea in August.

A man breathes with aid of an oxygen mask following a mustard gas attack in Idlib, Syria (AFP)

The head of an Isis unit attempting to develop chemical weapons was reportedly captured by American special forces earlier this year and was being questioned in Iraq.

The US has confirmed the group's use of mustard gas, which is believed to have been weaponised in a powdered form carried by artillery shells at strengths capable of maiming victims rather than killing them outright.

Amaq News Agency, which publishes Isis propaganda, released footage of the latest battles at Deir ez-Zor airport on Monday.

The videos have since been removed but supporters hailed the deaths of hypocrites and apostates.

A statement said militants launched an attack on al-Juffrah village, next to the airfield, in which it said two of its suicide bombers rammed their vehicles into army defences causing tens of dead.

 ISIL fighters may have used chemical weapons in Iraq, says US

The battles continue on more than front and posts and we pray to Allah victory for his Mujahdeen (holy warriors), Isis said.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said jihadists had advanced under heavy bombardment aimed at repelling their offensive, reporting casualties on both sides.

An Isis media officer for the area, which the group calls Wilayat al-Khayr, was said to be among those killed by air strikes.

The state-controlled Syrian Arab News Agency said operations continued in Deir ez-Zor near al-Juffrah and anther village called al-Bogheiliyeh on Tuesday.

It hailed foiled Isis attacks on the airport, reporting claims that the groups vehicles and weaponry were destroyed and several militants killed.

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

With the backing of Russian air strikes, forces loyal to President Assad were able to drive back militants from several villages near the airport last January but have so far failed to dislodge them.

Battles also continue near Palmyra, which was recaptured by Syrian forces last week, and in Aleppo province.

A fragile cessation of hostilities truce has held in Syria for over a month as the various parties to the conflict try to negotiate an end to the countrys five-year long civil war.

But the truce excludes Isis, the al-Qaeda-affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra and other designated terrorist groups, allowing offensives by regime forces, Russia and the US-led coalition to continue.

Additional reporting by Reuters
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The firm at the centre of an international tax-avoidance scandal continued to work with a wealthy financier of Bashar al-Assad even as the Syrian army used lethal force against unarmed civilians.

Rami Makhlouf, a first cousin of the Syrian president, became an emblem of crony capitalism in Syria and was described in a US diplomatic cable as the poster boy for corruption in the country.

Worth an estimated $5bn before the Syrian conflict, his business empire included the countrys largest mobile phone network along with interests in banking, retail and duty free outlets. It has been suggested that he previously controlled as much as 60 per cent of the Syrian economy.

In May 2011, two months after the start of the uprising against the Syrian government, he was made the subject of European Union sanctions for providing funding to the regime allowing violence against demonstrators". He and his brother had already been on the US sanctions list for years.

However, the law firm at the centre of a massive leak, dubbed the Panama Papers, waited until September 2011 to sever ties with Mr Makhloufs companies  almost six months after the start of the uprising against the Syrian President and the heavy crackdown that ensued.

According to documents obtained by a group of global news outlets, Mossack Fonseca, the worlds fourth largest offshore law firm, rejected the advice of its own compliance monitors to end its dealings with him in January 2011, as protests were sweeping the Arab world.

One compliance officer wrote: I believe if an individual is found on a sanction list, then this is a serious red flag and we should make every effort to disassociate ourselves from them.

Although the company was not legally bound to adhere to US sanctions, it was obliged to respond to EU measures that were extended in July 2011 to the British Virgin Islands, where Mr Makhloufs firms were based. It was not until 6 September, by which point an estimated 2,000 people had been killed in Syria, that the company finally decided to cut ties with Mr Makhloufs companies.

The documents also appeared to show that the British bank HSBC was reluctant to end its relationship with the businessman before the eruption of the conflict in Syria. An email from the Geneva office of Mossack Fonseca said that the bank was comfortable with having him as a customer despite US sanctions.

HSBC told The Guardian that the allegations were historical and said that the bank had implanted reforms to ensure that it worked closely with authorities to fight financial crime and implement sanctions. Mossack Fonseca said that it never knowingly allowed the use of our companies by individuals having any relationship with North Korea, Zimbabwe, Syria or other countries that had been sanctioned.

The leaked files lift the lid on the tactics deployed by one of Syrias most powerful men to hide and protect his wealth in offshore tax havens. They also turned the spotlight back on Soulieman Marouf, a Syrian businessman who lives in north-west London and has acted as a fixer for President Assad.

Mr Marouf was an investor in a Syrian TV channel accused of inciting violence against the civilian population and has assisted Mr Assad's wife Asma, arranging for designer homeware to be shipped to her from the London department store Harrods. In 2011, at a time when he held $48m (34m) in Swiss accounts, his bank voiced concerns that he may be involved in money-laundering  although it is not known whether or not Swiss authorities found any evidence of this suspicion.

In 2012, he was added to the EU sanctions list, but he was later removed after launching a legal challenge.

The Panama Papers show that, following that decision, he continued to expand his property empire, using an offshore company to buy a flat in St Johns Wood, north London, for 500,000.

His lawyer said that there were a number of reasons for utilising offshore companies, including the desire for privacy, adding that UK tax authorities were aware of his financial arrangements.
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The pilot of a Syrian warplane shot down by rebels south of Aleppo has been captured, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has said.

The plane was hit by a surface-to-air missile and caught fire before falling in the Talat al-Iss highland, according to the group. The aircraft, reportedly a Su-22, had been on a reconnaissance mission, Syria's military confirmed.

It was not immediately clear which group was responsible for shooting down the plane.

In video footage that purports to show what happened after the plane crash, the pilot uses a parachute to land on the ground.

He was then captured by Jabhat al-Nusra, which has links to militant group al-Qaeda. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, fighters took the pilot to their headquarters nearby.

Sputnik News reported that a source said: Militants have downed a warplane, which had been on a combat duty in the province of Aleppo.

Other footage, that also purports to show the plane, has captured the aircraft in a plume of smoke before it crashes to the ground in flames.

None of the videos, circulating on social media, have been independently verified.

It was initially unclear whether the plane was Russian or Syrian. But the Russian Defense Ministry said its military aviation had not been near the area of the crash on Tuesday, according to TASS news agency.

Spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov told reporters: "'Russian Aerospace Forces' aviation did not perform any military tasks in the city of Aleppo or around it."

The Syrian army has used warplanes in their battle against rebels trying to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad. However, several government-backed planes have been shot down since civil war erupted in Syria five years ago.

Rebels and Jabhat al-Nusra took control of Talat al-Iss hill, near where the plane is believed to have crashed, on Friday. Although a "cessation of hostilities" truce has been in place in Syria for more than one month, it does not include Jabhat al-Nusra.

Additional reporting by agencies
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Amid the millions of confidential documents leaked from Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca are reference to some of the most powerful world leaders of the last 40 years and their relatives.

According to the ICIJ, notable figures mentioned in the leak range from cousins of the Syrian President Bashar Assad to the deomcratically elected prime minister of Iceland.

All those named in the Panama Papers have denied any wrongdoing and there is no evidence many named as clients of the firm were involved in anything illegal or improper. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists has published what it claims is files revealing the offshore holdings of 140 politicians and public officials from around the world.

Current and former world leaders in the data include prime ministers of Iceland and Pakistan, the president of Ukraine, and the king of Saudi Arabia

Below is a list of serving or former world leaders or their relatives mentioned in the "Panama Papers" - and what is said about them:

President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko

On Sunday, in response to a New York Times editorial criticising Ukraine's "unyielding corruption," Mr Poroshenko posted on Facebook: I agree that in Ukraine we still have much to deliver, including on eroding corruption.

However I will keep defending Ukraine at every possible stand."

The Panama Papers allege that: In August 2014, as Russian troops rolled into Eastern Ukraine, Poroshenko became the sole shareholder of Prime Asset Partners Limited, which Mossack Fonseca set up in the British Virgin Islands.

A Cyprus law firm representing the newly acquired company described it as a holding company of Cyprus and Ukrainian companies of the Roshen Group, one of the largest European manufacturers of confectionery products. The firm wrote that, though Prime Assets Partners was for a person involved in politics, it had nothing to do with his political activities. During his 2015 presidential campaign, Poroshenko had pledged to sell most of his assets, all of which were transferred to Prime Assets Capital, according to a news account.

Alaa Mubarak, son of ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak

Alaa Mubarak, his brother Gamal and father were detained in April 2011, two months after Hosni Mubarak resigned the presidency in the face of a popular uprising were sentenced in May 2015 to three years in jail for embezzling millions of dollars in state funds intended for the renovation of palaces. A Cairo criminal court released Alaa and his brother in October 2015, acknowledging the time they served in jail since their arrests. The brothers still face trial on charges of insider trading. Their father remains in custody in a military hospital.

The Panama Papers say: "Alaa Mubarak owned the British Virgin Islands firm Pan World Investments Inc. In 2011, the year in which his father resigned the Egyptian presidency and was arrested along with Alaa and another son, BVI authorities told Mossack Fonseca to freeze Pan World's assets, an order prompted by a European Union law. In 2013, Mossack Fonseca was fined $37,500 for failing to properly check into Alaa Mubarak, "a high risk customer." Internally, Mossack Fonseca admitted its procedures were "seriously flawed" as Mubarak hadn't been identified early enough.

"Noting they had "very little control" over Mubarak's company, they resigned as its agent in April 2015."

Ex-Vice-President of Iraq, Ayad Allawi

Mr Allawi was Iraqs Vice-President between 2014 and 2015, and the countrys interim prime minister from 2004 to 2005. During 30 years in exile from Iraq, he headed the Iraqi National Accord (INA). In the run-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the INA was involved in passing intelligence to Britains MI6.

Appointed interim prime minister of Iraq in June 2004, Mr Allawis time in the post was reported to have been marked by allegations of widespread corruption in the country, as well as collaboration with the US and a hardline security stance that led some Iraqis to label him Saddam without a moustache.

The Panama Papers allege: Mossack Fonseca supplied his 1985 Panama-registered company I.M.F. Holdings Inc. with people who stood in for Allawi as directors. He was listed as the sole shareholder in 2000. Until its dissolution in 2013, I.M.F. owned a house in Kingston upon Thames, [Surrey]. As of April 2013 the property appeared under the name of Allawi and had an estimated value of about $1.5 million . Allawis other offshore company, Moonlight Estates Limited, also held a property in London on his behalf . Documents for this British Virgin Islands-registered entity identify the source of funds as personal savings.

 What are The Panama Papers?

King of Saudi Arabia, Salman bin Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al Saud

Became king in January 2015 after the death of his brother Abdullah bin Abdulaziz. Britain marked the death by flying flags at half-mast over the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace and Downing Street.

The Panama Papers say: King Salman held an unspecific role in Luxembourg company Safason Corporation SPF S.A., which was the shareholder of Verse Development Corporation, incorporated in the British Virgin Islands in 1999, and Inrow Corporation, incorporated in 2002. Inrow took out a mortgage in 2009 worth up to $26 million and Verse took out a second mortgage worth more than $8 million both of which were for luxury homes in central London. While King Salman's precise role is not specified, both mortgages are mentioned "in relation to" him and his assets. King Salman was also described as "the principal user" of a motor yacht, Erga, named after the Kings palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and registered in London by the BVI company Crassus Limited, incorporated in 2004.

President of the United Arab Emirates, Emir of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan,

Succeeded to the posts of president and emir upon the death of his father in 2004.

The Panama Papers say: Sheikh Khalifa was the beneficial owner of at least 30 companies established in the British Virgin Islands by Mossack Fonseca, through which he held commercial and residential properties in pricey areas of London such as Kensington and Mayfair, worth at least $1.7 billion. By December 2015, nearly all the shares in those companies were held by Mossack Fonseca through trust structures, but the true beneficiary remained the Sheikh, as well as his wife, son and daughter. In 2011 Mossack Fonseca wrote that the law firm handling Sheikh Al Nahyan's affairs was usually hesitant in providing information about his identity.

Prime minister of Iceland Sigmundur Davio Gunnlaugsson

Mr Gunnlaugsson came to prominence campaigning against the demands of foreign creditors in the wake of the 2008 financial crash. His wife, Anna Sigurlaug Palsdottir, is the daughter of a wealthy Toyota dealer in Iceland.

The Panama Pape rs claim: Gunnlaugsson and Palsdottir owned a British Virgin Islands shell company called Wintris Inc., which held nearly $4 million in bonds in the three major Icelandic banks. It is unclear whether Gunnlaugssons political positions benefited or hurt the value of the bonds held by Wintris. In 2009, Gunnlaugsson entered parliament but failed to declare his ownership of Wintris. On the last day of 2009, he sold his 50 percent share in Wintris to Palsdottir for a dollar. Mossack Fonseca noted in April 2013 that Palsdottir was a so-called politically exposed person, but internal records suggest the firm did nothing about it.

Close friend of Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, Sergey Roldugin

Mr Roldugin, a world class professional cellist, is godfather to Mr Putins eldest daughter. In September 2014 he told the New York Times: Ive got an apartment, a car and a dacha. I dont have millions.

The Panama Papers allege: Sergey Roldugin was an owner of three offshore companies: Sonnette Overseas, International Media Overseas and Raytar Limited. St. Petersburg-based Bank Rossiya, which the U.S government described as Russias personal bank for senior officials, created the first two. The Rossiya executive in charge of setting up Sonnette described Roldugin as being assigned to the company. In March 2008, Sonnette Overseas and four other offshore-companies gained major influence over Kamaz , Russia's largest truckmaker, for almost a year. International Media Overseas owned Med Media Network, which in turn controlled 12.5% of Vi, Russias largest television advertising buyer, formerly known as Video International. Another Bank Rossiya-created company assigned International Media Overseas the rights to a $200 million loan for $1.

Former Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani

Ruled Qatar from 1995 to 2013 before handing over power to his son.

The Panama Papers say: In March 2014, less than a year after Al Thani resigned as Qatars ruler, a Luxembourg lawyer contacted Mossack Fonseca to convey Al Thani's interest in buying an off-the-shelf company registered in the British Virgin Islands. The company the former emir acquired, Afrodille S.A., would hold a bank account in Luxembourg and shares in two South African companies, according to the lawyer. From September 2013, Al Thani was also the majority shareholder of Rienne S.A. and of Yalis S.A., which held a term deposit with the Bank of China in Luxembourg, according to the files. While Al Thani held majority ownership in both companies, a 25 percent stake in each was held by another family member, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani, Qatars former prime minister and foreign minister.

Li Xiaolin, d aughter of Li Peng, the former Premier of China

The current vice-president of state-owned power company China Datang Gorporation and former CEO of China Power International Development, she has been nicknamed Chinas Power Queen.

The Panama Papers say: Li Xiaolin and her husband Liu Zhiyuan were the beneficial owners of Fondation Silo, a Lichtenstein foundation that was the sole shareholder of Cofic Investments Ltd., a company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands when her father Li Peng was prime minister of China. The couples Swiss lawyer told Mossack Fonseca that Cofics source of funds was business profits from helping other clients of his law firm export heavy machinery from Europe to China.

Rami and Hafez Makhlouf, c ousins of Bashar Assad, the President of Syria

Rami Makhlouf

The two brothers were both targeted by international sanctions following Assads violent repression of pro-democracy demonstrators. The ICIJ says that for years, any foreign company seeking to do business in Syria had to be cleared by Rami, and that Hafez was a general in charge of Syrias intelligence and security apparatus. It is possible that the brothers may have fallen out of favour with Assad in the past two years.

The Panama Papers say: In 2002, Rami Makhlouf co-founded Syriatel, a Syrian mobile telecom company. He held 10 percent of the shares personally and another 63 percent through his British Virgin Island company Drex Technologies S.A. He had also opened an account for Drex in Switzerland.

The papers say that the Swiss bank also handled Seadale International Corporation, which Rami owned with his brothers and Eagle Trading & Contracting Limited owned by Hafez.

The papers add that In February 2011, employees at Mossack Fonseca discussed via email allegations of bribery and corruption made against members of the Makhlouf family and sanctions that had previously been imposed by the US. In June 2011, the BVI Financial Services Commission wrote to Mossack Fonseca regarding an investigation under anti-money laundering laws into Drex Technologies S.A., prompting Mossack Fonseca to cut ties with the Makhlouf family's companies.

Clive Khulubuse Zuma, n ephew of Jacob Zuma, President of South Africa

As well as allegedly buying his fiancee a Maserati for her birthday, Mr Khulubuse Zuma is reported by the South African press to enjoy a lifestyle of cigars, cocktails and up to 19 collectible cars.

The Panama Papers say that the South African Presidents nephew was authorized to represent Caprikat Limited, one of two offshore companies that controversially acquired oil fields in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In late summer 2010, as published reports raised questions about the acquisition, British Virgin Islands authorities ordered Mossack Fonseca to provide background information on Zuma, which the law firm had not previously obtained. That same year, Mossack Fonseca decided to end its relationship with the companies. Zuma and representatives of the companies have rejected allegations of wrongdoing and claimed the oil deals are "quite attractive" to the DRC government.

Mariam Safdar, Hasan Nawaz Sharif and Hussain Nawaz Sharif, c hildren of Nawaz Sharif, prime minister of Pakistan

The wealth of the Sharifs, reported to be the fourth wealthiest family in Pakistan has often created controversy in the country, although when allegations of corruption and tax avoidance first surfaced in 2000, a family spokesperson called them completely wrong, adding This is a very religious family.

Hasan, who moved to London over 16 years ago, and Hussain have been running family businesses from abroad, while Mariam is reportedly being groomed to take over leadership of her fathers political party.

The Panama Papers say: Mariam Safdar was the owner of British Virgin Islands-based firms Nielsen Enterprises Limited and Nescoll Limited, incorporated in 1994 and 1993. Sharif's first term as prime minister ended in 1993. The companies owned a UK property each for use by the family of the companies' owners. Hussain and Mariam signed a document dated June 2007 that was part of a series of transactions in which Deutsche Bank Geneva lent up to $13.8 million to Nescoll, Nielsen and another company, with their London properties as collateral.In July 2014, the two companies were transferred to another agent. Mossack Fonseca knew that Mariam Safdar was Nawaz Sharif's daughter, a Politically Exposed Person, and committed to checking her activities twice a year beginning in July 2012. Hasan Nawaz Sharif was the sole director of Hangon Property Holdings Limited incorporated in the British Virgin Islands in February 2007, which acquired Liberia-based firm Cascon Holdings Establishment Limited for about $11.2 million in August 2007. Mossack Fonseca resigned as agent for Hangon because Hasan Nawaz Sharif was a Politically Exposed Person.
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The world's elite move their wealth through secretive tax havens to dodge billions in tax, according to 11 million documents leaked from Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca by an unknown individual.

Panama itself is just one of scores of tax havens worldwide, from Barbados to Bahrain. But, according to one campaign group, the biggest tax haven in the world is right here in the United Kingdom.

A tax haven is a state or territory where taxes are levied at a low or non-existent rate. Benefiting from secretive financial regimens, companies and wealthy individuals can use these nations to store money and move it across borders without paying any tax.

10 of the biggest tax havens in the world Show all 10 1 /10 10 of the biggest tax havens in the world 10 of the biggest tax havens in the world Luxembourg There are an estimated 2.5 trillion shares of mutual funds registered in the Grand Duchy, 1 trillion of which cannot be traced to an owner 10 of the biggest tax havens in the world Cayman Islands The Cayman Islands contain 6% of the world's total banking assets, but just 0.000008% of its population 10 of the biggest tax havens in the world Isle of Man David Cameron has said the Isle of Man, where there is no corporation, capital gains or inheritance tax, should not be considered a tax haven 10 of the biggest tax havens in the world Jersey There are over 3.5 billion assets per square mile on the self-governing Channel Island 10 of the biggest tax havens in the world Ireland Ireland made headlines last year when it emerged Apple was registered in the country in order to dodge over 40bn in taxes 10 of the biggest tax havens in the world Mauritius The Mauritian government notionally charges corporation tax, but companies can easily make this back through generous tax credits for foreign businesses 10 of the biggest tax havens in the world Bermuda Google holds more than 30bn in offshore cash reserves, primarily via Bermuda 10 of the biggest tax havens in the world Monaco A popular domicile for super-rich private individuals, Monaco has the most expensive property in the world. 1 million will buy just 225 square feet 10 of the biggest tax havens in the world Switzerland Switzerland has such secretive banking laws that it took until the 1990s to secure the release of Nazi cash reserves 10 of the biggest tax havens in the world Bahamas David Cameron's father ran an offshore fund which hired Bahamas residents to complete paperwork, thus dodging British tax bills

For example, there are more registered businesses than people in the Cayman Islands, where companies pay no direct tax. The tiny islands have a population of just 60,000, but play host to around $2 trillion in banking assets, or one-fifteenth of the global total.

Many tax havens also appeal to private individuals. In the mid-20th century, inheritance tax in the UK on amounts over 1 million was 80 per cent. In Jersey, it was a rather more modest zero per cent, and drove of rich Britons began to move their wealth to the island.

To this day, there is no inheritance, capital gains or standard corporate tax in Jersey. The island dependency now contains $5bn worth of assets per square mile of land.

Rather than physically relocating, businesses and wealthy individuals tend to use an offshore trust or company, becoming 'tax resident' in a country with lax tax laws and generous international tax treaties.

 Cameron dodges Panama question

Dodging tax can involve legally questionable activity, and many companies and super-rich individuals prioritise secrecy. Top tax havens such as Bermuda and Switzerland make it extremely difficult, if not illegal, for foreign investigators to examine financial affairs within the haven.

In Switzerland, for example, it took until the 1990s for bankers to release gold stashed by the Nazi government. A 2014 Channel 4 documentary further alleged that hundreds of millions of pounds of Hitler's private wealth vanished into the Swiss banking system without a trace.

Panama is a typical haven, combining restrictive financial secrecy laws with a total lack of corporation tax. As well as providing a notional home for 350,000 "International Business Companies", it acts as a conduit for 'dirty' drug money flowing out of South America.

World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Show all 15 1 /15 World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Petro Poroshenko President of Ukraine World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Ayad Allawi Allawi Iraqs Vice-President between 2014 and 2015, and the countrys interim prime minister from 2004 to 2005 World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Salman bin Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al Saud King of Saudi Arabia World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan President of the United Arab Emirates, Emir of Abu Dhabi World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Sigmundur Davi Gunnlaugsson Prime Minister of Iceland World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Sergey Roldugin Close friend of Vladimir Putin World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani Emir of Qatar 1995-2013 World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Li Xiaolin Daughter of Li Peng, the former Premier of China (The current vice-president of state-owned power company China Datang Gorporation and former CEO of China Power International Development, she has been nicknamed Chinas Power Queen World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Rami Makhlouf Cousin of Bashar Assad, the President of Syria World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Hafez Makhlouf Cousin of Bashar Assad, the President of Syria World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Clive Khulubuse Zuma Nephew of Jacob Zuma, President of South Africa World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Maryam Nawaz Sharif Safdar Daughter of Nawaz Sharif, prime minister of Pakistan World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Hasan Nawaz Sharif Son of Nawaz Sharif, prime minister of Pakistan World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Hussain Nawaz Sharif Son of Nawaz Sharif, prime minister of Pakistan World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Alaa Mubarak The eldest son of ousted former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak Read more here

The Tax Justice Network (TJN) publishes an annual "Financial Secrecy Index", listing 80 or so tax havens "according to their secrecy and the scale of their offshore financial activities". According to their rankings, in 2015 the three worst offenders were Switzerland, Hong Kong and the USA.

The United Kingdom itself is 15th on the TJN rankings. While there are more secretive nations, the City of London provides ample opportunity for companies to dodge tax, and the scale of capital flow through London means the UK ranks highly as a global centre for financial secrecy.

But TJN says the UK would be ranked as the worst offender in the world if considered along with the three Crown Dependencies (Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man) and the 14 Overseas Territories (including notorious tax havens such as Bermuda, the Cayman and Virgin islands).

In their 2015 Index, TJN state: "Overall, the City of London and these offshore satellites constitute by far the most important part of the global offshore world of secrecy jurisdictions."
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From palm-fringed beaches to tropical rainforests and wildlife-rich national parks, Costa Rica is home to all creatures great and small. And admiring the strikingly coloured quetzal or the gravelly roar of the howler monkey is becoming easier; on 27 April, British Airways reintroduces non-stop flights from Gatwick to Costa Ricas capital, San Jose, on the heels of Thomson Airways, which resumed flights from Gatwick to Liberia, on the north-west coast.

Slow and steady

Emblazoned on the countrys currency, sloths are synonymous with this Central American nation. For a close-up look at these languorous creatures, head to the Sloth Sanctuary of Costa Rica (00 506 2750 0775; slothsanctuary.com) on the Caribbean coast. It houses injured, orphaned and abandoned sloths and runs guided canoe trips through their natural habitat. Tours from US$30 (21).

Expedia (expedia.co.uk) has packages that include flights and accommodation at the Coral Hills Bungalows in Cahuita  a short drive from the sanctuary  from 799pp in May.

In a flap

Keen birders can head to the remote Cano Negro Wildlife Refuge. Skirting the Nicaraguan border, the forested wetland hosts migratory birds, including the glossy ibis, black-necked stilt, northern shoveller and wood stork, as well as hummingbirds. The best vantage point is from a cruise along the refuges dark olive waters  a trip that features on Hayes and Jarvis (01293 762404; hayesandjarvis.co.uk) four-day Arenal Volcano and Monteverde Cloud Forest itinerary. It costs from 1,179pp, with accommodation, flights, local transport, some meals and tours.

Hummingbird (Hugo King-Fretts)

Night watch

Surveying the forest canopy by the light of the moon is likely to be a highlight of a holiday to Costa Rica. Since 80 per cent of the animals that inhabit Monteverdes Cloud Forest Reserve are nocturnal, a night walk allows you to observe everything from tarantulas and red-eyed tree frogs to armadillos and porcupines.

Audley Travel (01993 838 665; audleytravel.com) includes a night tour of Monteverde on its Simply Costa Rica tour, which costs from 1,870pp for 10 days, with accommodation, flights, local transport and some excursions.

Monteverde Cloud Forest

Whale of a time

The waters off the southerly Osa Peninsula, on the Pacific coast, are said to harbour the countrys highest numbers of whales. Sightings of pilot whales, humpbacks, orcas and dolphins are common for most of the year, apart from April to June  so if spotting cetaceans is your aim, save your trip for later in the year.

An excursion to the Osa crops up on Journey Latin Americas Costa Rica Wildlife Discovery itinerary (020 3582 1758; journeylatin america.co.uk). The 15-day trip starts at 3,315pp, and includes local transport, accommodation, some meals and excursions, but not international flights.

Smoking hot

Costa Rica is peppered with smoking and mist-cloaked volcanoes, whose fertile slopes bristle with flora and fauna. Rincon de la Vieja, in the north-west, is one of the most active, home to coatis, tapirs, monkeys and even pumas and jaguars.

A hike through the lush vegetation is the best way to get to grips with the four-legged residents  an activity that features on KE Adventures (01768 773966; keadventure.com) 15-day Costa Rica Walks and Wildlife tour. From 2,445pp, including flights, accommodation, local transport, most meals and excursions.
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Every day, our travel correspondent Simon Calder tackles readers' questions. Just email yours to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder

Q I travel from Gatwick to Cologne regularly to see my grandchildren. I have now discovered they have just ended this service. The flights when I travel are always full, so why would they do this? Ive had no response from easyJet to my enquiry. Can you help, Simon?

Ann Kinsella

A. On the face of it, Gatwick to Cologne looks a prime route for easyJet. It is a short hop connecting Londoners with the heart of the Rhineland. The route carries a mix of business travellers and leisure passengers - either visiting friends and family as you do, or enjoying the fine city of Cologne and its surroundings. The rail alternative (Eurostar from St Pancras, with a change in Brussels) takes a lot longer. You add that passenger loads on the easyJet flight were good. So whats not to like?

Well, filling nine out of 10 seats on each plane, which is what easyJet generally achieves, is only half the story. Equally important is the average fare paid. With strong competition from other London airports to both Cologne and Dusseldorf (only 20 minutes away) the yield is unlikely to have been too impressive.

Every airline is constantly evaluating existing and potential routes, trying to predict the most profitable links to fly with its expensive planes and precious slots. With summer starting, easyJet knows it can command handsome fares on services from Gatwick to the Mediterranean. So the Cologne route has been ditched, along with two other services from Gatwick in the same general direction: to Brussels and Strasbourg.

Could another airline step in? Never say never, but if easyJet does not regard Gatwick-Cologne as viable then its hard to see anyone else making good returns from the route.
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What will Jeremy Corbyn do next, eh? Corbyn accused of ignoring EU referendum in favour of Glastonbury trip, ran a Telegraph headline today, as if the leader of the opposition had stamped his foot, pulled on a beanie and slammed the door on his glamping yurt after loudly declaring that no, he isnt going to do any more speeches on Europe because he didnt ask to be born.

In truth, the leader of the opposition isnt abandoning his post so he can savour the delights of Coldplay (because who would?) Hes accepted an invitation to speak at the Left Field stage during the weekend, an hour-long engagement that presumably wont descend into an acid-sodden four day bender but nevertheless has prompted a backbench MP quoted in the same Telegraph article to rather entertainingly state: This is a make or break weekend for the next election and Jeremy is donning his sandals to dance around in a muddy field with his peacenik Islington chums. Clement Attlee would be turning in his grave.

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The hyperbole is hilarious, but the sentiment is genuinely concerning. Corbyn is consistently attacked for what enamoured him to so many in the first place: prioritising grassroots engagements over political parlour games. When he doesnt come back with a polished retort manufactured by a shiny PR exec at PMQs, instead choosing to relay the stories and concerns of his constituents, hes letting Cameron get away with it. When he wears a Heart Unions badge as a visual sign of his opposition to the governments anti-trade union laws, hes childish. And when hed rather engage with young people at a festival over spending the referendum weekend pulling political strings behind closed doors, hes letting the country down.

Its hard to know what everybodys problem with Corbyn really is. First of all, even though he won his election for Labour leadership by a landslide, we saw many claim that a new core of slightly unhinged new Labour members had ushered him in.

Then, when quite a lot of Labour members seemed happy about the victory, the story ran that he was a dangerous hard-left radical who only appealed to the sorts of people who join Labour anyway, not the wider population.

Finally, of course, thousands turned out in their droves to see him in town halls and city squares around the country  in predominantly working class areas that the media dont really care about, like Middlesbrough and rural Welsh mining towns  and everyone had to admit that OK, he does have big support in numbers, but theyre not the numbers that matter.

The numbers that matter live in the Home Counties, after all, and politics is a game, and if were not in power then we cant change anything, and why try and change the power structure when you can just vote in another slick comms professional wholl slime his way into Downing Street in no time? Then  believe us  everything will change.

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Well-meaning but not tough enough for politics was the line we ended up with, the final back-handed compliment that stuck. Theres Corbyn, hes like your granddad, no ones saying he doesnt mean well but hes not going to win an election, is he? Those ban the bomb tendencies, those pictures of him protesting against South African apartheid  theyre all very well for a history book, but nowadays we turn a blind eye to women lacking human rights in Saudi Arabia because thats the way the world works.

So forgive me if I still cant hate on Jezza, even as he dons his sandals and plans his wild weekend at Glasto. Forgive me if I think banging on about tax avoidance and then staying studiously silent on questions about your fathers dealings with a certain Panamanian law firm isnt the height of political inspiration. Forgive me if I read this week about the chronic underachievement of white working class kids and wanted something more than the circular questions about why their parents dont push them harder into high-flying careers when, in reality, most of those careers start with a conversation on the floor of your dorm room at Eton. Forgive me if Im still not done believing in a new type of politics.

Perhaps we shouldnt be shaking our heads and wondering why the leader of the Labour Party might speak at Glastonbury Festival during the EU referendum weekend. Perhaps, instead, we should be asking why a senior politician taking time out of Westminster to speak to members of the public in a muddy field is a headline-grabbing event, rather than a normal part of UK politics.
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I am a French woman of colour, a child of the banlieue. But Britain has been home for the past 15 years. Frances overt style of racism and what I call her cultural tyranny was a key driver for my departure.

Too much of my Africanness had to be given away to be accepted as French. So to me, there is something both deeply saddening and almost ludicrously absurd in recurrently seeing Charlie Hebdo exploit and exacerbate the very exclusion related to tensions that feed terror in France.

Whether Charlie Hebdo likes it or not, alienation, marginalisation, racism and Islamophobia are central to many French people of colour turning to extremism. Those experiences have, for many, made France the enemy.

So for the publication to claim the attacks in Brussels were merely the visible part of a very large iceberg, to lazily reproduce the all Muslims are terrorists trope and to denigrate Islamic beliefs, does not only amount to dangerous fear-mongering  or even to hate speech. In my opinion, such articles actively feed terrorism.

Much has been written about the infamous French banlieues. Their high rates of youth unemployment, their dilapidated infrastructures, the stigma they attract in France and invariably, their higher rates of criminality and social exclusion.

They have been a sore spot on Frances ideals of Liberte, egalite, fraternite that simply will not heal. A sore that now seems to be festering so much that it threatens the very values which lie at the core of Frances identity.

Despite this, many cannot simply see that it is within this socio-political and economic context that terror arises in France. The obvious link between social alienation and the so-called Islamic radicalisation escape them. That so many of Paris and indeed Brussels attackers were from the banlieues - as is a large proportion of French recruits to Isis - is not hint enough. So they blissfully run campaigns of alienation and exclusion, all the while loudly wondering: how did we end up here?

France has a long history of enforcing assimilation to an outdated and exclusive idea of Frenchness. This French ideal seems, for many of us citizens of colour, to be based on a sense of paranoia which is disguised by incessant and uncritical discourses of secularism. It has resulted in many Muslims having to choose between their religion and their education. Between their ancestry and their Frenchness. Between assimilating or resisting.

And, quelle surprise...In this context, many are making the choice to resist this powerfully imposed Frenchness. Youngsters are purposefully manufacturing foreign accents, the accents of their parents. I have met French people of colour whove left France and now point blank refuse to speak French. Conversions to Islam are reported to be on the up. One might expect that in the country that gave birth to Foucault, these acts of resistance would be better understood  but Charlie Hebdo merely asks how we got here, as if its a mystery nobody could ever work out.

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Personally, je ne suis pas Charlie. I will not support any freedom of speech exercise which prioritises sensationalism over ethics, or profits over social impact. To me this shows no courage and certainly deserves no award.

Je ne suis pas Charlie because I have experienced first-hand being vilified and denigrated for allegedly not being French enough, because I am a Black and from the banlieues. I will never support this being done to others, whatever the pretext.

Je ne suis pas Charlie because I cannot stomach the benevolent, self-serving anti-racism of neo-liberals who fancy themselves beyond bigotry and intolerance and yet cannot fathom criticism from the people they claim to speak for.

And most importantly, je ne suis pas Charlie because I believe the publication is needlessly increasing racial tensions by perpetuating the exclusion of French citizens who are Muslim  and pushing the extremely dangerous notion that Frenchness and Islam are mutually exclusive.
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It is almost unfathomable that, in 2016, a woman who chose to exercise a fundamental right over her own body could find herself criminalised for doing so. But that is the terrible reality, following the conviction and sentencing of a 21-year-old woman, who this week received a three-month jail sentence, suspended for two years, for aborting a pregnancy two years earlier.

Aged 19 at the time, the unnamed woman from Northern Ireland could not find sufficient funds to make the journey to England to terminate her unwanted pregnancy safely. Finding herself in a desperate situation, she put her own health at risk by buying pills from a website which prompted her to miscarry. Despite all she had been through, her housemates reported her for breaking the law and a conviction followed. Appearing at Belfast Crown Court, the woman pleaded guilty to procuring her own abortion and must now accept a criminal record.

That procuring an abortion is still considered an illegal act in any part of the UK is a damning reflection on our unequal justice system. The very fact that one UK citizen can receive a termination  safely, at her own will, free of charge, and with access to counselling and other support  while another woman situated elsewhere can be cast adrift to risk her own safety to achieve the same ends, and then be criminalised as a result, is a shameful aberration.

The discrepancy between the law governing abortion in Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK must be tackled. After the global abuse scandals that have rocked the clergy, the Catholic Church has less sway over public opinion and the shared moral and ethical values of Northern Ireland than ever before. Its outdated views about a womans right to freedom of choice over her fertility must be aggressively challenged.

In the US, attitudes towards abortion are becoming polarised, with threats of violence against abortion providers soaring during 2015. It is incumbent upon progressive voices across the whole of the UK to ensure that, in the wake of this conviction, the same does not happen on home soil.

Across the world, more than 20 million unsafe, illegal abortions are performed every year. Citizens of Northern Ireland who lack the personal wealth to travel to England for a procedure should not be adding to that troubling figure. It is time for an overhaul of Northern Irish legislation, not only to bring it into line with the rest of the UK but to match the common values of the majority of its own citizens, too.
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Shady people are hiding money and financial assets in sunny tax havens. Weve known this for a long time. The leaked Panama Papers simply ram it home.

But just how much money is squirrelled away, often out of sight of the tax authorities? Whats the scale of this? We cant possibly know that because these tax havens are utterly opaque. Right? Up to a point. Its true these regimes are intensely secretive about their clients. But, in fact, we can have a rather decent guess.

National accounts are powerful tools for economic detectives. Statisticians in almost every country in the world have been trained to measure, on a regular basis, the financial assets and liabilities of the three sectors of any economy: government, companies and households. This enables us to see the balance sheet of an entire national economy.

 Cameron dodges Panama question

Yet look at these balance sheets side by side and there are discrepancies. The aggregate financial assets of the world seem to be smaller than the worlds aggregate financial liabilities. This doesnt make sense. Assets, logically, have to match liabilities; no one can have a financial asset without someone else also having a corresponding financial liability. If I lend my friend money she has a personal liability. And her loan is my asset.

So whats going on? The answer is that the national accounts have a significant blind spot. Lets imagine a rich person living in the UK has money in a secret bank account in the Bahamas. The money in the Bahamas account is used to buy shares in a mutual investment fund based in the British Virgin Islands. And lets imagine this fund invests in European company shares. The shares rise in value and the dividends are paid into the Bahamas bank account.

The mutual fund shares are picked up by local statisticians as financial liabilities for a company registered in the British Virgin Islands. But the assets are not owned by a British Virgin Islands resident, so they are ignored. These shares ought, logically, to be recorded as an asset for the UK household sector since they are owned by a rich person in Britain. But UK statisticians have no way of picking up the assets existence. And the British Virgin Islands and the Bahamas dont, of course, inform our own tax authorities or the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The London School of Economics researcher Gabriel Zucman, author of The Hidden Wealth of Nations has carefully measured discrepancies between global financial assets and liabilities  and he argues that the discrepancy is a rough proxy for the value of all the funds held in offshore tax havens.

So whats the answer? Zucman estimates that around 8 per cent of global wealth is held offshore, roughly $7.6 trillion. That is a serious amount of money, equivalent to around 10 per cent of the entire value of goods and services produced each year in the global economy.

These sums are large enough to have a profound impact on the picture of national balance sheets and data on cross-border flows of money. One of the mysteries of modern global economics is that it appears the poorer countries of the world are effectively lending money to richer states such as the United States and Europe. This seems to defy common sense since it ought to be the other way around. But adjust the raw figures for the hidden wealth identified by Zucman and this paradox of water running uphill largely disappears.

World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Show all 15 1 /15 World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Petro Poroshenko President of Ukraine World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Ayad Allawi Allawi Iraqs Vice-President between 2014 and 2015, and the countrys interim prime minister from 2004 to 2005 World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Salman bin Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al Saud King of Saudi Arabia World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan President of the United Arab Emirates, Emir of Abu Dhabi World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Sigmundur Davi Gunnlaugsson Prime Minister of Iceland World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Sergey Roldugin Close friend of Vladimir Putin World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani Emir of Qatar 1995-2013 World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Li Xiaolin Daughter of Li Peng, the former Premier of China (The current vice-president of state-owned power company China Datang Gorporation and former CEO of China Power International Development, she has been nicknamed Chinas Power Queen World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Rami Makhlouf Cousin of Bashar Assad, the President of Syria World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Hafez Makhlouf Cousin of Bashar Assad, the President of Syria World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Clive Khulubuse Zuma Nephew of Jacob Zuma, President of South Africa World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Maryam Nawaz Sharif Safdar Daughter of Nawaz Sharif, prime minister of Pakistan World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Hasan Nawaz Sharif Son of Nawaz Sharif, prime minister of Pakistan World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Hussain Nawaz Sharif Son of Nawaz Sharif, prime minister of Pakistan World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Alaa Mubarak The eldest son of ousted former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak Read more here

Yet thats one for the economists. The significance of tax havens for most of us lies in the issue of fairness. The hidden flows quantified by Zucman also have a serious impact on global and national wealth inequality measures. Most measures of the assets of the very wealthy by national statisticians are unreliable because the very rich dont tend to disclose all their assets when asked to do so in confidential statistical questionnaires. The ONS has reported a largely flat trend for UK wealth inequality over the past decade  a trend which has prompted some to argue that the rich are not, in fact, getting richer.

Yet the picture is very different if one factors in off-shore wealth. The flat trend in rich countries such as the UK will, in a likelihood, turn out to be an illusion. Zucman estimates that value of offshore wealth has shot up by 25 per cent in the past five years alone. Given that it is the wealthy who predominantly use tax havens that will be the wealth of the very rich which has grown so sharply. And a proportion of those very rich will be British. The elites share of wealth relative to those in the middle (already very high) will almost certainly be even higher. Zucman estimates that the share of total wealth held by the top 0.1 per cent of Americans (those with 20m in net wealth) rises from 21.5 per cent to 23.5 per cent once offshore assets are factored in. He thinks something very similar would be true for the UK and rich European countries.

And fairness? Consider foregone tax revenues. Not all the money held offshore is there to avoid or evade tax. But its fair to assume that a very large chunk of it is. There are no obvious advantages for most people to hold assets in different countries. For those who want to minimise their tax bills or keep dirty money hidden from the authorities the advantages are large. Estimates of foregone tax are inevitably speculative, but for what it is worth Zucman thinks tax havens are responsible for around $200bn of unpaid tax to national exchequers around the world  money that is sorely missed at a time of austerity in many countries.

When it comes to debates about inequality we tend to focus on policies of fiscal redistribution and benefits. Should the top rate of income tax go back to 50p? Should tax credits be cut? These are important questions. But perhaps a more important question when it comes to addressing the gap between the super wealthy and the rest of us is: what are we doing about assets and incomes that are hidden off-shore? If you are concerned about inequalities of wealth and power, you really must be concerned about the existence of tax havens. Be in no doubt: the sums involved are big enough to matter.
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If youd heard of Mossack Fonseca before this week, youre probably either a client, someone whos confused the secretive Panamanian law firm with one of Tottenhams latest signings, or a journalist.

I am a journalist and I first encountered Mossack Fonseca in 2013 as part of an investigation into BSGR, a company which had managed to get hold of mining rights to an enormous - and very lucrative - iron ore deposit in Guinea from the countrys dictator just days before his death.

Word on the ground was that BSGR had showered millions in diamonds and dollars on the dictators wife to get access to the land. BSGR denied the claims, and clearly it would be difficult to prove anything to the contrary without any documents.

Which is where hush-hush law firm Mossack Fonseca came in. It was connected to a separate company which, according to documents obtained by the FBI and campaign group Global Witness, allegedly made payments to the dictators wife. BSGR said the company was an independent concern and denied any links to it.

Recommended Read more The Panama Papers show how powerless our government is

Revelations leading from just a handful of documents related to Mossack Fonseca saw the concession stripped from BSGR and one of the companys associates land in jail in the US for obstructing a criminal inquiry. BSGR continues to deny any wrongdoing and launched an arbitration claim against Guinea.

It was one of biggest and most interesting stories Ive ever worked on. So when I heard on Sunday night that over 40 years worth of Mossack Fonsecas documents had been leaked to German paper Suddeutsche Zietung, I almost fell off the sofa.

But whats so interesting about 11.5 million bits of information documenting tax affairs of a bunch of politicians and celebrities? Maybe it wont come as a shock if we find out that a huge number of influential political figures from countries across the globe have been dodging tax, anyway.

But having a hunch that something is going on isnt the same as having proof. And if you want to write a story accusing some of the worlds most powerful people of having avoided tax or done anything which has the faintest whiff of unscrupulous behaviour, then your information better be watertight. Why? Because rich and powerful people like to maintain very clean reputations - and if you threaten that, then they have the funds and the connections to sue you to oblivion.

Which is where investigative journalism becomes very expensive and difficult for one person working on their own.

If you are investigating a company registered in a tax haven, you can apply for documents which will tell you who registered the company and when.

This could, or could not - depending on whether the company was actually registered by its beneficial owner or by a front person - be of some use.

 Iceland: thousands protest, call for PM to resign over Panama Papers leaks

Every one of these requests will cost money; not a significant amount, but it can add up. Youre never going to find out whats really going on from just one document. And as a solo freelancer, unless you are very rich or have loads of funding behind you, its very difficult to sustain such research. Which is why organisations like the ICIJ (International Consortium of Investigative Journalists) in Washington DC, and the Centre for Investigative Journalism here in the UK, are so important.

When the Panama Papers source contacted the Suddeutsche Zietung early last year and said they had a something they might be interested in, what emerged was the biggest leak in the history of modern journalism.

In terms of sheer volume, the Panama Papers have outstripped the NSA Snowdon files, the Pentagon Papers and the Wikileaks Cables several times over. In what is an incredible feat in itself, more than 370 journalists in 76 countries have worked on the documents in secret for close to a year. All this at a time when newspapers across the world are closing or slashing staff numbers and Pulitzer prize-winning journalists are turning to careers in PR.

As more and more journalists with specialist knowledge see the documents and recognise names - which will not, for the foreseeable future, be released to the public - more and more stories will emerge.

World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Show all 15 1 /15 World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Petro Poroshenko President of Ukraine World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Ayad Allawi Allawi Iraqs Vice-President between 2014 and 2015, and the countrys interim prime minister from 2004 to 2005 World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Salman bin Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al Saud King of Saudi Arabia World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan President of the United Arab Emirates, Emir of Abu Dhabi World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Sigmundur Davi Gunnlaugsson Prime Minister of Iceland World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Sergey Roldugin Close friend of Vladimir Putin World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani Emir of Qatar 1995-2013 World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Li Xiaolin Daughter of Li Peng, the former Premier of China (The current vice-president of state-owned power company China Datang Gorporation and former CEO of China Power International Development, she has been nicknamed Chinas Power Queen World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Rami Makhlouf Cousin of Bashar Assad, the President of Syria World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Hafez Makhlouf Cousin of Bashar Assad, the President of Syria World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Clive Khulubuse Zuma Nephew of Jacob Zuma, President of South Africa World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Maryam Nawaz Sharif Safdar Daughter of Nawaz Sharif, prime minister of Pakistan World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Hasan Nawaz Sharif Son of Nawaz Sharif, prime minister of Pakistan World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Hussain Nawaz Sharif Son of Nawaz Sharif, prime minister of Pakistan World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Alaa Mubarak The eldest son of ousted former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak Read more here

What are the implications? Its not just individuals who are being exposed here. These documents provide a snapshot into the real workings of money and power, how major international banks and law firms work alongside those in power to keep private money, well, private.

And many of the very same politicians who are calling for the little people to keep tightening their belts and cutting back have now been exposed as having links to questionable, if not outright illegal, financial activities.

In Iceland, huge crowds have gathered to call for Prime Minister Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson and his government to quit after the leak revealed that he held assets which had not been declared to Icelands parliament. Across the globe, people are waking up and calling for change.

Time Magazine has said that the leak could lead to capitalisms greatest crisis. Now more than ever, we need investigative journalists to make sense of this huge mine of data and draw out the stories which expose the misdeeds of the rich and powerful, creating a seismic shift for the better to the way that the global financial and political systems work. The journalists collaborating together on the Panama Papers investigation prove that the fourth estate remains key to this change.

Mossack Fonseca may be the worlds fourth largest offshore law firm, but its the tip of the iceberg. Its just one law firm, in one tax haven. Just think what the others are hiding.
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People in Iceland are shocked, they are mad and they want the Icelandic government to resign.

On Monday, the largest protest in the history of Iceland took place to protest against the total collapse of ethics among the 1 per cent in Iceland in the wake of the Panama papers scandal. The Prime Minister, Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson, is among those alleged to have misled voters and the nation, by failing to disclose a shell company owned by himself and his wife, and which gave him a seat at both ends of the table in the negotiations over the collapse of the Icelandic banks.

The opposition parties in the Icelandic parliament have put forward a resolution to demand of vote of no confidence towards in the Prime Minister and his cabinet, triggering early elections. This resolution will go into the Parliaments daily agenda no later than Thursday this week. It is, however, increasingly likely that the Prime Minister will be forced to resign by his cabinet before the motion of no confidence is debated and then voted on.

The President of Iceland, Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, has cut short a trip abroad short and arrived in Iceland this morning. Despite being the godfather of the Prime Minister, he has nevertheless called the two leaders of our coalition government to an emergency meeting to discuss the crisis. Snap elections are expected be around the corner, because both coalition leaders are among the handful of world leaders exposed in the Panama-papers. Icelanders felt humiliated.

 Iceland: thousands protest, call for PM to resign over Panama Papers leaks

I want to stress that not everyone in Iceland is like the Prime Minister. Lets hope that his party will stop behaving like a cult and take on some responsibility, by demanding that he will resign. Every minute this man is in power, our reputation as a nation is at stake.

We as a nation need to strengthen the foundations on which our society rests. The good news is that Iceland has already made a new crowd-sourced constitution, which was put to a national referendum in 2012  and then ignored by parliament instead of being ratified. This new constitution will help us force through much-needed democratic reform that Icelanders demanded and wanted to build upon in the wake of the economic crisis in 2008, for it was designed deal with the exact type of ethical breaches that we are faced with again today.

As someone has fought hard to create a legal safe haven for investigative journalists, whistleblowers, sources and platforms who host leaks, I am incredibly pleased by the reporting of the Panama papers and I hope it will encourage others to reveal criminal conduct of similar nature. The whistleblowers who revealed the Panama-papers were courageous; their actions are changing the world.

Birgitta Jonsdottir is an Icelandic MP and chair of the Pirate Party parliamentary group in the Icelandic parliament
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Ex-Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith has made the news for crying. Yes, really.

Smith shed a few tears as he recalled a conversation hed had with a 19-year-old single mother who had written off her life, he said.

Speaking to Private Eye editor Ian Hislop as part of an upcoming BBC series, Mr Duncan Smith said the woman was a product of a system.

Ironically enough, that system was created by the very government Iain Duncan Smith himself has been an integral part of. He resigned as the Work and Pensions Secretary last month, saying benefit changes to disabled people were a compromise too far. But during his six years in the role, he presided over a barrage of cuts to the welfare budget.

Hes the very man who presided over a series of decisions directly affecting the life chances of the Torys favourite victims: low income families, young people, and the disabled.

While were desperate for our politicians to act more like humans, political action matters to voters, too. Its going to take more than a few tears to make us think IDS is capable of empathy. We've seen Chancellor George Osborne cry at Margaret Thatcher's funeral, after all, and most of us still think he's evil.

In an interview published last week by journalist Owen Jones, Tory MEP Daniel Hannan described Smith as one of the most misunderstood men in politics.

Unfortunately, personal accounts and tears wont change public perception of his cruel and unjustified attacks on those who need support the most, including welfare cuts that have hit disabled people nine times harder than the rest of the population.

This is the man who introduced personal independent payments (PIP) that would have left thousands of disabled people with less support.

He also introduced Universal Credit, which under current plans will see single mothers working full-time and at the national minimum wage have their work allowances fall by 3,000.

He has been a leading figure in a government whose mission has been to reform welfare to save money, and whose message has been that this is necessary to eradicate benefit cheats, who are a massive drain to the deficit. In reality, benefit fraud is only six percent the level of tax fraud.

Director of the think tank Institute for Fiscal Studies Paul Johnson concluded recently that Universal Credit will be a much less generous system.

Duncan Smith has taken part in a concerted effort by the government to demonise the vulnerable, including people in situations much like the woman he spoke to, while they make half-hearted attempts to clamp down on the real economic drain that is tax avoidance.

Osbornes Budget last month confirmed that unemployed, disabled recipients of the Employment Support Allowance will lose 30 per week.

Recommended Read more Cameron refused to provide a straight answer about tax avoidance

And as IDS blubbed away over the struggles of a teenage single mother, the government will impose a benefits freeze on tax credits and jobseekers allowance, and a two-child limit on universal credit payments.

Lets not pretend Smith is a friend of the young either, when his department got rid of EMA support for students from low-income backgrounds, and cut housing support for under-25s.

And then theres the bedroom tax, which has hit low-income families and disabled people the hardest, and left 78 per cent of those affected without money at the end of the month.

So, if he really is the most misunderstood man in politics, then perhaps Iain Duncan Smith can forgive us  because weve definitely misunderstood his intentions surrounding the most vulnerable people in society.
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It is too late now for David Cameron to do very much about the damage to his reputation from the so-called Panama papers. The charge is a simple one: hypocrisy. And while no-one expects any politician to be entirely free of cant, the chasm between what the prime minister has been saying about tax avoidance in public on the one hand and his familys private financial affairs on the other is an awesome one - even by the debased standards of political life.

No-one, it is fair to say, is accusing the prime minster of doing anything illegal. The offshore vehicle his father created, the romantically named Blairmore Trust, was indeed an example of tax avoidance rather than evasion, though of course Mr Cameron and George Osborne have condemned tax avoidance in recent times.

The answers that Mr Cameron gave to Sky News about his financial affairs were, though, opaque and more than a little confusing. If neither Mr Cameron nor any of his family would benefit from an offshore trust, then what might the point of it be? Is it the sort of interest that should be declared to the Parliament and public? How much taxation has the exchequer been deprived of by the existence of the trust?

Certainly much more needs to be known about the Blairmore trust and, as the most prominent figure in public life, Mr Cameron should set an example by disclosing full details of it and its history. Nothing less will answer the many questions that remain tantalisingly unanswered.

Maximum transparency is the only way for the prime minister if he is to prevent this damaging episode growing ever more lethal to his position. It makes him, and his party, resemble the sort of Eton, Oxford and Bullingdon caricature toffs club that his enemies like to portray it as. One of the most prominent weaknesses of the modern Conservative Party is the perception, and, to a degree, visible reality, that its leadership has little in common with the people they govern, and little sympathy for them either. The contrast with a Damascene Iain Duncan Smith, who, we learn, wept over the plight of a single mother this week, is striking.

So Mr Cameron should stop dodging the questions and publish details of his entire financial assets, including those which are now under scrutiny. After that, parliament should look once again at the disclosure of its members interests, extending the ambit of the rules to include tax avoidance vehicles which are connected with the MPs and their families.

After the expenses scandals of a few years ago, after the cash for questions affair a little further back, and various more routine examples of financial arrangements that the public find unacceptable, our elected representatives have to demonstrate that they are paying their fair share of tax while they ask that the rest of us do the same.

Our MPs should also publish their tax returns, some of which would make for interesting reading. Of course this is an intrusion into their privacy  but in this case thoroughly justified one in the wider public interest.

We need to know, and have a right to know, what beneficial interests they enjoy; and that includes their interest in maintaining tax secrecy and the way British overseas territories run their affairs  many of these tax havens are indeed still, in effect, self-governing British colonies.

It will be one small step in the long road to ending the global tax dodging that deprives every government of the funds it needs to care for its population, shifting the burden of tax form the very rich to the middle classes. Werent the Conservatives supposed to look after them?
Dairy farmers are examining ways to slash AI costs this spring, with some looking to maximise cashflow early next year by opting for more beef bull semen.

However, farmers have been urged to ensure they do not impact long-term on herd replacements to deliver short-term cashflow gain.

Don Crowley, a Teagasc dairy advisor in Clonakilty, said it appears from discussions amongst dairy farmers that Friesian AI use may be reduced this year.

He pointed out farmers were discussing cutting their AI costs this spring by cutting their AI usage to three to four weeks, rather than six weeks and then mopping up with stock bulls.

"You would want your bull fertility tested in that case as it is a gamble," said Mr Crowley.

He said farmers were discussing moving towards more beef AI to "top up their income", with the mart calf prices for beef crosses proving tempting.

"In terms of longer-term gain, in high EBI herds it is false economy going beef as February and March born Friesian heifer calves off AI sires sell at a significant premium. If deciding to cut back on AI, bull power is required which will mean purchasing extra bulls in a tight year," the Teagasc advisor said.

Farmers have also been considering using more test bulls from the ICBF's Gene Ireland catalogues to access discounted rates. "The straws sell for around 8.50 compared with 18-25 for the usual commercial straws," he said.

Doreen Corridan from Munster AI cautioned farmers to ensure they avoid any long-term impact for short-term gain. She said that even if a herd is not expanding it still needs around 18pc of replacements each year.

Beef sires

"If you look nationally there isn't a major surplus of replacement heifers out there. There is only about 50 to 60pc of those replacement heifers out of high EBI AI sires," she said. "Each farmer needs to make sure they have adequate amounts of replacements."

She said farmers that opted for easier calving and shorter gestation beef sires in AI were seeing the "value" of the calves in the mart, with Hereford inseminations trebling in Munster in recent years.

"It is getting to the time of the year when the cashflow is short, but you don't want short-term gain either if it is costing long-term. It is a balance between adequate replacements and making sure you have enough bull power to get high fertility." She said a farmer can then opt to maximise the remainder of the calves from the dairy herd, such as using Beef AI.

She pointed out the message from a recent Teagasc/Kerry Agribusiness farm walk was 50pc of the heifers used as replacements are bred from stock bulls. However, a 60 difference in EBI exists between calves of stock bulls and AI, which translated into 120 a cow.

John Lynch, beef programme manager with Dovea Genetics, said that as some dairy farms move towards capacity they will concentrate on dairy AI for replacements. However, he said beef AI "will become a massive market" and they have recorded a year on year growth in beef AI over the last five years.

He said farmers were firstly opting for easy calving, gestation length was their second consideration and calf value was the third.
Farmers are calling for more clarity as stark differences continue to emerge in insurances charges between meat factories across the country.

The ICSA said the processors should provide figures as a group on the amount collected under the insurance charge and the monies paid out as a result of "unacceptable carcases".

Edmond Phelan, the ICSA's beef chairman, said farmers have been contacting them looking for more transparency on the benefits to farmers.

The body estimates charges may be costing farmers as much as 3.7m a year based on an average price of 2.25 a head. However, it points out that charges vary from 1.50 to 5 per head in some plants. "If the amount of money collected is broadly similar to the amount paid out, then ICSA will accept the assertion that this is in the farmers' interests," he said. "It would also help restore trust if the meat industry could explain why some factories charge up to 5 for prime animals, while others only charge 1.50."

Meat Industry Ireland (MII) points out that the insurance or post-mortem contingency decision is made at the point of slaughter as a protection in the loss of value if the carcase is condemned by officials.

"The deduction is part of the terms of trade of the individual processing companies and the amount is decided at that level and can vary from plant to plant, probably due to kill profile, such as prime verses cow kill, level of condemnations experienced and so on," it stated.

MII stated it does not have national figures on the levels of condemnations at plants.

"It is important to point out however, that condemnation can occur for the live animal at ante-mortem stage, for the carcase, carcase side, quarter and offal at post-mortem stage or subsequently at boning hall stage in cuts due to muscle abcesses or darker cutters."
Former Fine Gael strategist Frank Flannery borrowed 625,000 to buy a house in London back in 1996. It sold in 2010 for 2.5m

Ex-Fine Gael strategist Frank Flannery's former London property sold for 2.8m, more than four times what he paid for it in the mid-1990s.

The property is at the centre of claims that a loan on the house could have been linked with offshore company guarantees.

Mr Flannery has insisted he has "no knowledge whatever" on the matter. He said he could not understand how his name could be linked with a partial loan guarantee tied with Stg250,000 in a company "domiciled in Jersey".

The reports are part of a forest of 11.5 million documents dubbed the "Panama Papers".

Mr Flannery told the Irish Independent that in his role as boss of Rehab he had worked extensively in London for the 20 years 1990-2010.

"In or about 1996 I got an opportunity to buy a property there. I had a life-long association with Bank of Ireland and their branch in Berkeley Square, London, advanced me a full loan," he said.

The former Rehab boss said the 615,000 loan fully covered purchase, legal and other expenses. He said the house was "part investment and part somewhere to live" and it all worked well. The house was eventually sold in 2012 for 2.8m according to the UK property register.

Mr Flannery said through personal contacts a short time after the purchase, he switched his business to Allied Irish Banks, who gave him a loan to fully pay off the Bank of Ireland loan. He emphatically stated that he had "utterly no knowledge" of any links to offshore companies. Asked if he believed there were any implications for the Revenue Commissioners in Ireland, Mr Flannery said there were not. "There are no tax implications at all here," he said.

Mr Flannery said he was now seeking the full suite of documents in relation to the transaction and would then potentially re-assess matters.

"I cannot tell you any more about it. At the time I was very happy to get a very good property at a good price, and equally happy to get a full loan to buy it, and eventually pay it all off. I know absolutely nothing about off-shore companies or any other links," he said.

The Panama Papers showed two separate letters relating to the Bank of Ireland Private Banking loan in April 1996. The first detailed loan terms, the second referred to a partial guarantee based on a company "domiciled in Jersey", and Mr Flannery has insisted that he never saw that second letter.

Mr Flannery quit his role as a Fine Gael adviser in 2014 after controversies about his role with Rehab. He had formally retired as the organisation's boss but remained on as a lobbyist and consultant receiving money for these roles. He refused to appear before the Public Accounts Committee whom he accused of "acting politically".
Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan has appealed to the 430,000 Irish people in Britain - and the 120,000 British voters living in Ireland - to back the campaign to keep the United Kingdom in the EU.

Mr Flanagan is in London today for talks with his British counterpart, Philip Hammond, on the British vote in the "in/out" referendum which takes place in little over 12 weeks on June 23. He will also meet with 35 Irish organisations and networks in Britain and talk about the influence they can to bring to bear on the pro-EU campaign.

The minister said he believed that Irish people, with a real stake in British affairs, will find a welcome for their input into the referendum campaign.

"As already stated the Irish Government comes to this issue as 'a good neighbour' whose affairs are in many ways interlinked with those of Britain. We accept that this is a democratic decision for British voters but we also believe we have an important contribution to make to the debate," Mr Flanagan told the Irish Independent.

The Foreign Affairs Minister said it was time to ensure that all Irish-born people entitled to vote were registered to do so. He said many organisations and networks for Irish people in Britain can play a role in the EU referendum debate.

"I am asking all Irish people in Britain to use whatever influence they may have in their neighbourhoods, communities and in business and social affairs, to advance the pro-EU arguments. I also believe that the 120,000 British citizens resident here in Ireland, and entitled to vote in this referendum, can have a big influence," Mr Flanagan added.

The acting minister said Britain was Ireland's biggest trading partner, accounting for 62bn worth of business each year.

He said the position of Northern Ireland meant Irish and British interests were totally enmeshed and that the EU had helped underpin peace and prosperity in the North for more than 20 years.

Mr Flanagan accepted that many Irish welfare and other organisations cannot actively campaign in the referendum or take an overtly political stance. But he said they could actively promote debate on the issue and also support the independent "Irish4Europe" group which has been set up to support Britain staying in the EU.

He also welcomed the recent appeal by British Ambassador to Ireland, Dominick Chilcott, to British voters in Ireland to back Britain staying in the European Union. He again argued that the EU needs the continued membership of Britain.

Mr Flanagan said he had worked closely with British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond on a range of issues since he joined Enda Kenny's Cabinet in July 2014. The pair have had regular monthly discussions in the margins of EU meetings in Brussels and also met in Dublin and London in recent times.

The ministers' talks today will also deal with other foreign policy issues. These included Syria, the European migration crisis, Latin America and the recent terrorist attacks in Europe.

Irish officials are increasingly of the view that Irish voters in Britain and British voters in Ireland could play a key role. This is more likely in case of low turnout and a close margin between the two sides.

Opinion polls have shown for several months but recently a distinct advantage for remaining has emerged. The UK parliament accepted the Electoral Commission's wording, which reads: "Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union?" Voters can choose "Remain a member of the European Union" or 'Leave the European Union'.
The matter is before Mr Justice Brian McGovern in the Commercial Court. Photo: Ronan Quinlan / Collins

SERIOUS misconduct by a UK supplier of nutritional supplement products has been uncovered by an Irish rival which is being sued for alleged trade mark infringement, the Commercial Court heard yesterday.

London-based Aymes International's principal Richard Wertheim Aymes instructed one of his senior employees to impersonate a UK National Health Service (NHS) representative to obtain information over the phone from Limerick-based rival Nualtra Ltd and which was later used in an attempt to undermine Nualtra's business, it is claimed.

As a result of the information Aymes obtained, a number of NHS employees were sent a forged email letter in November 2014 purporting to be on behalf of the NHS, Nualtra says.

The letter, described by Nualtra's counsel Bernard Dunleavy as a "poison pen letter", made serious allegations about Nualtra which the Irish firm says were unfounded.

Nualtra obtained a court order in the UK in which it discovered the forged letter was sent by the senior Aymes director who had been instructed by Mr Aymes to make the original phone call in which that employee posed as a person called "Chris Baker" in order to obtain the information. It later transpired there was no such person in the relevant NHS division, Nualtra says.

A second anonymous letter, also authored by Aymes, was sent to 848 GP practices in July 2015 again making what Nualtra says were damaging and unfounded allegations.

Arising from this second letter, Nualtra sued Aymes International and Richard Wertheim Aymes for defamation and the case was settled in the English High Court last November with an apology from the defendants, along with damages.

In the meantime, a case brought by a Dutch nutritional supplement product supplier, Nutrimedical, against Nualtra, for alleged infringement of the "Nutriplen" trade mark, had come before the Commercial Court.

Aymes International was later joined as a co-plaintiff with Nutrimedical.

Nualtra fully denied any trade mark infringement.

It counter-claimed, saying Aymes had been involved in concerted efforts to undermine its business since Nualtra's refusal to licence its products bearing the "Nutriplen" name to Aymes.

When the matter was mentioned before Mr Justice Brian McGovern yesterday, Paul Coughlan BL said issues relating to discovery have now changed and the Nualtra side were also seeking what is known as a "wasted costs order" requiring Aymes to pay Nualtra's legal costs so far.

Bernard Dunleavy SC, for Nualtra, said while the solicitors for Aymes could have no blame attached to them for their client's instructions, what had happened in this case had to be regarded as being "on the outer spectrum of serious misconduct".

The application for a wasted costs order would have to be considered in the context of the gravity of this misconduct and his side believed it would take half a day to hear, he said.

Mr Justice McGovern adjourned the matter.
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Photo: Reuters

Irish shares were little changed yesterday, as traders eased themselves into their first full week after the Easter break.

By the close in Dublin the ISEQ Overall Index had added 0.04pc, or 2.66 points, to close at 6,287.09.

The market spiked early in the day but tapered off in the afternoon after US markets opened weaker.

Dalata climbed 3.4pc to close at 4.60. The hotels giant is seen as the top pick for the Irish hospitality sector at present.

Green Reit gained 2.5pc to 1.44. The property firm was boosted by the strong interest in the Blanchardstown Centre, which sister company Green Property has up for sale. While the reit is not involved in Blanchardstown, the strong interest suggests that appetite for Irish commercial property remains strong.

On the other side of the board, speciality baker Aryzta dipped 1.4pc to 35.01 as it continues its recent struggles.

Elsewhere, European stocks rose for the first time in three days on confidence that the strength in the US economy will help global growth.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.4pc. In London, the FTSE 100 Index gained 0.3pc while in Frankfurt the DAX Index added 0.3pc. The CAC 40 rose 0.5pc.

In Europe most companies are doing okay, said Benno Galliker, a trader at Luzerner Kantonalbank in Lucerne, Switzerland.

Its not a perfect world, but business is not as bad as we hear all the time. The US economy is stronger than many expect and that could help the rest of the world.

Orange lost 6.2pc and Bouygues plunged 13pc after a deal between the two collapsed.

Peers Altice, Iliad and Numericable-SFR SAS tumbled more than 11pc.
The investment fund at the centre of controversy surrounding oil and gas explorer Petroceltic has sold more than half its debt in the Irish firm.

Sunny Hill, which owned 69pc of Petroceltic's debt, last night said it had sold 32pc of the company's debt to an "independent third party investor".

Sunny Hill is controlled by the hedge fund Worldview. The surprise move is believed to have come as part of a technical issue around voting rights for major shareholders.

A Petroceltic spokesman declined to comment. The move came as the High Court said it will hear later this week an application over whether it should confirm Examinership for troubled exploration company Petroceltic and two related companies.

Mr Justice Brian McGovern last month appointed Michael McAteer, of Grant Thornton, as interim examiner on the application of the company itself and of a minority shareholder, Worldview. The move followed discussions between Petroceltic and Worldview after the latter decided to bring, without notice to Petroceltic, a petition for court protection and Examinership. Worldview EHS International Master Fund, with registered offices in the Cayman Islands, sought protection for Petroceltic International plc and related companies, Petroceltic Investments Ltd and Petroceltic Ain Tsila.

Petroceltic employs 13 staff at its headquarters at Grand Canal Street Upper, Dublin, and 128 others in offices in several countries. The petition was due to be heard yesterday but was adjourned on consent to allow the sides address matters in sworn documents. James Doherty BL, for the syndicate of banks providing funding to Petroceltic, said his clients had concerns about a number of issues.

Mr Doherty previously said the syndicate was owed some $230m and, while not opposing Examinership, was reserving its position while it considered information on the financial position of the companies.

Mr Justice McGovern fixed Friday to hear the petition and continued court protection for the companies in the interim.

Based on an independent expert's report, the court heard it is believed the companies have a viable future as a going concern subject to certain conditions including approval of a scheme of arrangement.
The former headquarters of Anglo Irish Bank on St Stephens Green  the banks Austrian branch features in the documents

The taxman is expected to seek access to documents leaked from a Panamanian law firm, detailing schemes used by the rich and powerful to shield their wealth.

The Revenue Commissioners said there was "a serious tax risk" to the Exchequer from the use of offshore accounts.

The comments came after documents contained in the so-called Panama Papers revealed elaborate and complex schemes used by political and business figures around the world to reduce tax bills and conceal their wealth.

Documentation amidst the 11.5 million records leaked from the Mossack Fonseca law firm includes information related to around 360 companies with links to Ireland. There is no suggestion of wrongdoing by any of these companies.

However, the Revenue appears set to follow the response of the UK's Revenue and Customs, which has formally requested access to the documents from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

A spokeswoman said that for confidentiality reasons the Revenue could not confirm what tax-related information it requests access to.

But she added: "In line with the proactive approach adopted over the years in tackling the use of offshore accounts and structures to evade tax, Revenue will avail of all sources of information that could assist it in this work."

Jobs Minister Richard Bruton pledged that anyone found to have evaded tax would be prosecuted.

He said the revelations had clearly raised concerns, but cautioned that as yet there was no evidence of wrongdoing in Ireland.

"Obviously, if there are offences of Irish law discovered in this, you can be absolutely sure they will be vigorously prosecuted. But at this point we don't know that," he said.

Pegasus Trust, a Dublin firm representing around a third of the Irish-linked companies named in the papers, declined to comment yesterday.

Another company registered at the same address as Pegasus in Drumcondra, Intertrade Projects Consultants Ltd, also featured in the papers.

It acted as a sales agent for customers, including Italian aerospace and defence conglomerate Finmeccanica, in deals relating to equipment for military aircraft, torpedoes and electronic warfare.

There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by Pegasus, Intertrade or any of their clients.

Separately, the papers reveal that Mossack Fonseca repeatedly recommended Anglo Irish Bank's branch in Austria to clients.

The bank's Austrian branch is said to have appeared on a seven-bank list of recommended private banks.

Anglo bought the bank from Royal Bank of Canada in 1995 but sold it in 2008.

The papers reportedly showed that some customers were preoccupied with confidentiality and the issue of relaxed conditions when it came to opening accounts.

The Anglo branch was itself a customer of the law firm, which it used to set up offshore companies for the use of its customers.

The documents, which date back as far at the 1970s, were leaked last year to German newspaper 'Suddeutsche Zeitung' by an anonymous source.

The newspaper shared them with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, a part of the Centre for Public Integrity in Washington DC.

The consortium co-ordinated the investigation of the material by international news organisations.

Mossack Fonseca has denied that the records show any illegal practices.

One of its founders, Ramon Fonseca, said the firm was the victim of a crime as the records had been taken from a supposedly secure data centre.

He said it had been operating for almost 40 years, during which time it had created more than 240,000 companies and had never been "convicted or accused or any wrongdoing".
Northern software provider First Derivatives expects to beat analysts' expectations with revenue of 109.5m (136.7m) in its financial year ending February 29.

In a trading update issued to shareholders this morning the Newry-based firm - the North's biggest listed company - expects earnings before interest tax depreciation (EBITDA) and amortisation of 22.1m for the financial year.

The firm said it continued strong trading into the second half of the year with both increased demand in its consulting and software businesses.

First Derivatives said consulting revenue grew strongly in the second half of the year with a high level of contracted revenue as well as sizeable new customer wins.

Chief executive Brian Conlon said the firm made "strong progress" during the year. "In consulting, our increasing scale and breadth of expertise is enabling us to get involved earlier in the change life cycle within our clients, leading to deeper and more strategic relationships."

The company said its traditional financial services market experienced strong demand after it signed a record number of contract wins in the second half of the year.

"In software, our market-leading capability in analysing large volumes of data in real time is increasingly understood and as a result we have experienced an acceleration of contract wins during the past year.

"We look forward to updating shareholders further when we announce our full year results," Mr Conlon said.

Goodbody Stockbrokers analyst Gerry Hennigan said the firm's positive momentum is likely to continue into 2017.

"The statement from First Derivatives clearly indicates a continuation of positive upward momentum reflected in year-on-year revenue growth in excess of around 40pc and EBITDA growth of around 50pc."

First Derivatives acquired big data consultancy firm QuantumKDB for 2.9m in January, however the firm believes its earnings potential won't be realised until next year.

In the first half of its financial year the firm also bought Affinity Systems and ActivateClients for a combined initial consideration of 7.1m.

Brian Conlon set up the company in 1996 in a spare bedroom in his mother's house in the Co Down town.

In 2014, it created 484 new jobs at its Newry base, after it received 3.9m from Invest NI, bringing the global total of its workforce to almost 1,500.

In January this year the firm revealed it paid 2.2m for English consultancy firm QuantumKDB. The firm was founded in 2011 by chief executive Kieran Lucid and provides consulting in the UK, US and Hong Kong.
Here are the main stories from this morning's papers:

Irish Independent

* Corporation tax continues to pour into the State's coffers at higher rates than expected, but other taxes have dipped since the start of the year.

However, while overall spending is running on target, the Department of Health is already over budget for the year, according to the figures.

* Serious misconduct by a UK supplier of nutritional supplement products has been uncovered by an Irish rival which is being sued for alleged trade mark infringement, the Commercial Court heard yesterday.

London-based Aymes International's principal Roger Wertheim Aymes instructed one of his senior employees to impersonate a UK National Health Service (NHS) representative to obtain information over the phone from Limerick-based rival Nualtra Ltd and which was later used in an attempt to undermine Nualtra's business, it is claimed.

* Northern software provider First Derivatives expects to beat analysts' expectations with revenue of 109.5m (136.7m) in its financial year ending February 29.

In a trading update issued to shareholders this morning the Newry-based firm - the North's biggest listed company - expects earnings before interest tax depreciation (EBITDA) and amortisation of 22.1m for the financial year.

The Irish Times

* Newly merged betting giant Paddy Power Betfair is to cut up to 300 jobs from its Irish operations as well as a further 350 from areas outside of Ireland.

According to a report in The Irish Times the cuts, which will be in areas such as legal, finance and HR, are being implemented as part of a plan to save around 50m (62m) a year.

* Income tax and VAT collections fell below their target in March however, an excess in corporation tax mean the overall monthly tax return for the month was ahead of target.

New figures from the Exchequer also show an overspend of 38m by the State on health.

* US in-bound marketing firm HubSpot is to create 320 new jobs over the course of the next three years after opening its new headquarters in Dublin.

The new jobs, which will be across the areas of sales, marketing, services, support and engineering, will be in addition to the existing 180 people the firm employs here.

Irish Examiner

* One of the best known hotels in the country, Langton's in Kilkenny city, reported earnings of over half a million euro in 2014. Hurling legend Henry Shefflin last year chose the four-star hotel as the venue to announce his retirement from inter county hurling.

Figures lodged with the Companies Office show that the Langton Hotel Ltd recorded earnings before depreciation interest, tax and amortisation (EBITDA) of 553,738 in 2014.

* Irish marine and renewable energy research centre MaRei has received a 750,000 investment to explore economic opportunities in renewable energy.

The investment comes from independent philanthropic organisation the NTR Foundation and will help the instute look at commercial opportunities for SMEs.

* PwC has appointed Pat Moran as partner to head up the company's cyber-security practice.

The firm says that cyber attacks are becoming more common and that Mr Moran will lead its practice in what is an area of significant growth for the company.
Responses to the country's housing crisis are laying the foundations for another economic crash, according to Senator Sean Barrett, a leading member of the Banking Inquiry.

He warned that an inability to respond to a financial meltdown still existed in Irish politics and the public service.

Senator Barrett, an economist, said that unless cultures in the banking and construction sectors were revised, we would see another economic collapse.

We were, he said, building over-inflated houses because the profit margins for developers building appropriately sized family homes were simply too small.

"We need to get some producers to start off as small as Ryanair did in its beginning," he said.

"That can give us targets of producing houses on a small scale, maybe at four times the price of average earnings.

"Why are we looking at houses for 1.7m, when we should be looking at houses that cost 160,000 - which is four time the average earnings?"

He added that a number of steps needed to be taken to prevent a future economic collapse.

In a working paper he wrote on the wake of the Banking Inquiry, Mr Barrett highlighted a need for action to be taken against senior bankers when shortfalls are detected or government intervention is required.

"In addition to changes in leadership, there arguably should have been penalties enacted against senior bank leadership that deliberately ignored sound data and information," he said.
American startup Zipline is to provide drones to western Rwanda, which will deliver essential medical supplies to 21 hospitals and clinics on demand.

Drones are to start delivering essential medical supplies to 21 hospitals and clinics in western Rwanda from July.

The drones are capable of carrying up to 1.5kg of medicine and blood, flying at up to 290km/h, and can make 50 to 150 deliveries a day. They follow a pre-determined flight path stored in a SIM card, fly to their destination and drop supplies attached to a paper parachute from a low altitude, and then return home.

American startup Zipline makes the drones and signed a contract with the countrys government in February. These drones could be an invaluable resource in the country, as a clinic could send a text to request supplies and have them dropped off within 30 minutes if within 150km of the UAVs hub.

Zipline has plans for expansion and says that it will deploy drones in other developing nations this year.
Apple chief executive Tim Cook was locked in a stand-off with the FBI over access to the iPhone operating system. Last week the FBI announced that it had managed to work around the issue

Apple's iPhones can be unlocked using a 120 (150) code breaker, in the wake of an FBI lawsuit demanding the Californian company create a backdoor into its phones to aid an investigation.

The device, called an IP Box, can be easily purchased online and from a shop, and managed to crack the passcode on an iPhone 5c within six hours, the Mail on Sunday found.

The IP Box bypassed the iPhone 5c's inbuilt mechanism to self-lock after five failed passcode attempts, and worked its way through thousands of combinations before correctly settling upon the four-digit 3298 code, out of a possible 10,000 combinations. Each code takes around six seconds to check, meaning any iPhone running iOS 7 could theoretically be unlocked in no more than 16 and a half hours.

The tool plugs into the phone through the iPhone's lightning connector, which is connected to a small circuit board displaying the input code. Once the correct code has been entered, it flashes on the small screen and unlocks the phone, giving the owner access to the iPhone's photos, messages and other personal information.

While the device currently only works with devices running iOS 7, the iPhone software first released in 2013, supplier Fone Fun Shop is planning to stock a version which works with the most recent version, iOS 9.

After months of legal battles, the FBI dropped its case against Apple last month after reportedly gaining access to the iPhone 5c belonging to the San Bernardino gunman without the company's assistance. It has refused to disclose exactly how it managed to access the data.

The Bureau had previously filed a court order demanding Apple create a back door into the device to access its data which Apple refused, saying such action would create a "dangerous precedent" that could have widespread implications for law-abiding citizens and the security of their information.

It has now agreed to help prosecutors in a murder case hack into a teenage suspect's iPhone in Arkansas. The device belongs to Hunter Drexler, 18, who - along with three other teens - stands accused of murdering Robert and Patricia Cogdell at the couple's home.

Prosecutors would also like help unlocking the iPod of Justin Staton, 15, the Cogdell's grandson and another suspect in their murder. Cody Hiland, the prosecuting attorney, said the requests were made shortly after the FBI revealed it had hacked into Farook's phone.

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Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022]
Global market spillovers from China's economic shocks will only increase in coming years as the country's financial influence grows and the yuan's use as a funding currency broadens, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said yesterday.

Global market spillovers from China's economic shocks will only increase in coming years as the country's financial influence grows and the yuan's use as a funding currency broadens, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said yesterday.

Global markets have been badly shaken twice in the past year by stock market falls in China last summer and in the first weeks of 2016.

In both cases, fears of slowdowns in China's economic growth and industrial output reverberated through the global financial markets, causing prices of equities and commodities like oil to plunge in both emerging markets and advanced economies.

Investors can expect more of the same, the IMF said.

In its latest Global Financial Stability Report, the IMF said developments in emerging markets now account for one-third to 40pc of the variation between stock market returns and exchange rate fluctuations worldwide.

In a point aimed at Chinese officials, whose response to falling markets has been at time ham-fisted, the IMF said markets have become extremely sensitive to the economic signals coming from China and that policymakers there must not send mixed messages. "As China's role in the global financial system grows, clear and timely communication of its policy decisions, transparency about its policy goals, and strategies consistent with achieving them will be increasingly important to avoid volatile market reactions with wider reverberations," the report said.

Markets will be increasingly influenced by the sheer size of China's economy, more financial linkages, such as the listing of Chinese companies on international stock markets and the growth of the yuan's use in international transactions.

Shock impacts from China turned statistically significant shortly after the 2007-2009 financial crisis, the IMF noted in the statement.

Growth surprises from other major market economies did not share the significant nature of China's impact on global equity prices.

"Beyond the continued growth in importance of the Chinese economy, the size of financial market spillovers is also likely to grow because of the transition to a more market-based financial system and a decline in market segmentation," the IMF said.

In the meantime, financial markets will be more sensitive to changes in China's economic policies. (Reuters)
The biggest economic shake-up since the founding of Saudi Arabia would accelerate subsidy cuts and impose more levies, a plan to spread the burden of lower crude prices among a population more accustomed to government largess.

Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said the measures would raise at least an extra 87bn a year by 2020, more than tripling non-oil income and balancing the budget.

"It's a large package of programmes that aims to restructure some revenue-generating sectors," the prince said at the royal compound in Riyadh. Non-oil income rose 35pc last year to 163.5 billion riyals (38.5bn), according to preliminary budget data.

It's a radical shift for a country built on petrodollars since the first Saudi oil was discovered almost eight decades ago. Prince Mohammed (30) and his top aides said the administration navigated plunging oil prices last year through a series of "quick fixes". While there are no plans to tax incomes, his policies would bring the kingdom closer to the rest of the world, where governments rely on charges to fund spending.

The prince said authorities are weighing measures that include more steps to restructure subsidies, imposing VAT and a levy on energy and sugary drinks as well as luxury items. Another revenue-raising plan under discussion is a programme similar to the US Green Card that targets expats in the kingdom.

The strategy would complement a plan to sell a stake in Saudi Aramco on the stock exchange and create the world's largest sovereign wealth fund, steps meant to make the kingdom more reliant on investment income than oil within 20 years. The $2 trillion fund would be big enough to buy the four largest publicly traded companies on the planet.

The government also plans to increase its debt in the meantime to help finance spending and test the market with a dollar bond later this year.

The VAT will bring in about $10bn a year by 2020, while the "restructuring of subsidies" will generate more than $30bn a year, said Prince Mohammed, who appeared at ease discussing technical details and figures of his various plans.

The Green Card-like programme and a plan to allow employers to hire more foreign workers above their official quotas for a fee could generate $10 billion a year each, he said.

Past rulers had avoided radical measures to diversify sources of revenue for fears of triggering a backlash from one of the world's most conservative societies, where government spending, jobs and subsidies kept the economy moving.

Youth unemployment is among the highest in the world and economic growth is set to slow to 1.5pc this year, the worst since at least 2009.

There are currently no income taxes in Saudi Arabia. The government started raising the prices of fuel and utilities at the end of last year, including a move to raise those for petrol by a minimum of 50pc. That brought the price to the equivalent of 22 cents a litre at the end of March, the second-cheapest in the world after Kuwait, according to globalpetrolprices.com, which provides data and analysis on transport fuels.

Prince Mohammed has consolidated more authority than anyone in his position since the kingdom was established in 1932. As defence minister, he leads the military effort. He also oversees ministries including finance, oil and the economy through the Council for Economic and Development Affairs. The council, which was established after his father became king, also controls the Public Investment Fund.

The prince said measures taken by the council last year succeeded in lowering the budget deficit "which could have reached $250bn to less than $100bn."

He said that a decision to delay payments to contractors last year was aimed at "trying to avoid a bigger danger" after discovering that ministries and government bodies could authorize spending of more than $1 trillion based on "decrees over the last few years."

The government has paid about 70pc of all arrears and expects "that all or 95 to 98pc of all arrears will be paid" over the next two weeks, Minister of State Mohammad bin Abdulmalik Al-Sheikh said.

"During the boom years, there were no solid fiscal controls so the bureaucracy could spend without a limit and the government would always pay," he said. "Now, we've put the fiscal controls in place." (Bloomberg)
A potential saviour of the UK's steel industry said it expects to make progress in talks with the government this week.

"It's the beginning of the dialogue, how the dialogue progresses will become clear this week," Liberty House Executive chairman Sanjeev Gupta said in a Bloomberg TV interview yesterday.

"What is clear is that government is committed to finding a solution to this problem, what that means entirely is not clear."

The British government is seeking to combat a crisis in its domestic steel industry after India's Tata Steel said last week it's considering the sale of its loss-making UK division, jeopardizing 40,000 jobs, including 6,500 at the huge Port Talbot plant in South Wales.

India's Tata Group bought the former Corus Steel, an Anglo-Dutch group, in 2007, but the business is lossmaking.

A flood of cheap Chinese exports has thrown the global steel industry into turmoil, eroding profits for producers around the world as prices for the alloy have plunged to the lowest in a decade.

Liberty House, a private company, has already reached an agreement to buy the Clydebridge and Dalzell plants in Scotland from Tata.

Gupta said the company's downstream assets, which include rolling mills, will be "more easy" to sell then Tata's blast furnaces in Scunthorpe and Port Talbot that compete more directly with cheaper production in places like Russia and Brazil.

Gupta said he saw no need for the business to be nationalised by the UK government and that there was enough time to do a deal. UK Business Secretary Sajid Javid yesterday declined to rule out a temporary nationalisation of Tata Steel's UK operations, while reiterating the government would prefer not to do so. The potential loss of much of Britain's remaining steel industry is seen as a blow not only to the jobs affected but to the heavy and light industrial sectors. (Bloomberg)
Pat Kinevane (left) and Jim Culleton pose with the award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre for 'Silent'. Photo: Getty

Denise Gough with the award for Best Actress for People, Places and Things. Photo: PA

Denise Gough poses on the red carpet on her arrival at the Laurence Olivier Awards in London. Photo: Getty

Last year she was applying for work as a cleaner, now Irish actress Denise Gough is the toast of the London stage.

She scooped the Best Actress gong at the glitzy 40th Annual Olivier Awards on a night that the red carpet was turned green with a string of Irish winners.

"I'm having the time of my life," the 36-year-old Wexford woman told the audience at London's Royal Opera House as she accepted the honour.

She took the award for her powerful performance as an alcoholic actress in rehab in the West End play 'People, Places and Things'. Denise triumphed over such stellar performers as Gemma Arterton and Nicole Kidman.

During her speech, she also took the opportunity to remark that she was "disappointed" at the all-white shortlist in her category, highlighting the work of Noma Dumezweni, Marianne Jean-Baptiste and Sharon D Clarke, who missed out on nominations.

Afterwards the Irish woman said of her precarious profession: "I had a year out of work before this job... I applied to be a cleaner this time last year. That's not joking.

"That's the truth for many jobbing actors and actresses."

Meanwhile, renowned London Irish playwright Martin McDonagh won Best New Play for his black comedy 'Hangman'.

It also took the Best Set Design Award.

McDonagh was born in London to Irish parents, and his previous plays and films include 'The Beauty Queen of Leenane','In Bruges' and 'Seven Psychopaths'.

Irish actor and writer Pat Kinevane and Fishamble Theatre won an Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre award for his performance in 'Silent', a play about homelessness, at London's Soho Theatre.

Kinevane has written and performed for many years in Ireland, including on stage, and in TV and films, including 'King Arthur', 'Ballykissangel' and 'I Keano'.

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Actess Imelda Staunton, who was born in England to first-generation emigrants from Co Mayo, won Best Actress in a Musical for her performance in 'Gypsy'.

The Olivier Awards, given out by the Society of London Theatre, are regarded as the Oscars of the city's stage scene.

Dame Judi Dench made history when she took the best actress in a supporting role award for her part in 'The Winter's Tale'.

She has now won more Oliviers for acting than any other performer.

President Michael D Higgins said the Irish success in the awards was a "great recognition" of the industry here.

Arts Minister Heather Humphreys described Gough as a "rising star of stage and screen" and McDonagh as "one of our finest screen writers".
Emergency call workers are to stage a second day strike this coming Thursday.

The 12-hour work stoppage at the BT/Conduit Global call centre in Navan is in a bid to claim the 'living wage'.

This would mean an increase in staff wages of 50c per hour to a total of 11.50.

The Communications Workers' Union (CWU) has branded the refusal to increase the 999 call workers' wages as one of the worst examples of "blatant corporate greed".

The 12-hour work stoppage by workers in the union on Thursday will be followed by a month of industrial action which will see operators across all three 999 centres at Dublin, Navan and Ballyshannon withdraw from extra duties outside of their employment contracts.

In a statement released this afternoon, the CWU said they understand that the Workplace Relations Commission has written to Conduit Global inviting them to talks.

Last year British Telecom made a 44 million profit in Ireland  an increase of 42pc on the previous year," CWU General Secretary Steve Fitzpatrick said.

"In 2014, Conduit Globals profit in Ireland was more than 6 million.

"These are hugely profitable companies. Their refusal to pay their 999 workers, who deliver a vital public service, an extra 50c per hour is pathetic and miserly in the extreme.

"It can only be seen as one of the worst examples of blatant corporate greed," he

As we have constantly stated, the CWU remains open to dialogue with the company, either directly or under the auspices of the WRC. Up to now they have refused to engage.

"It is doubly galling that Conduit Global, which enjoys the financial benefits of delivering a state-awarded contract, should display such contempt for the industrial relations machinery of the State by ignoring or declining the invitation to talks extended by the WRC.

Conduit Global has issued a statement this evening saying that it "strongly regrets" that the CWU plans to press ahead with its proposed industrial action.

"We would like to assure members of the public that contingency plans have been put in place to ensure the safe delivery of the service from all three Emergency Call Answering Service (ECAS) centres across the country.

"Conduit Global has consulted repeatedly with its employees on any concerns that they have, including on pay, and significant progress has been made.

"No operator is on less than the Living Wage and as well as the 10pc pay increase announced in November 2015, a further on-call payment has been agreed directly with staff in the last week."
TWO people have died in a head-on collision which has forced the closure of the Cork-Limerick road.

The accident occurred shortly after 5pm on the N20 between Buttevant and Mallow.

Initial reports indicated that one vehicle suddenly appeared to veer across the busy road into the path of an oncoming car.

Gardai and paramedics were at the scene within minutes.

However, a man and a woman, both understood to be in their 70s, suffered multiple injuries.

Both were pronounced dead before they could be rushed to Cork University Hospital (CUH).

It is understood they are husband and wife.

A woman driving a second car was hurt in the collision.

However, her injuries are not understood to be life-threatening.

The road was closed to facilitate the work of the emergency services.

Gardai warned the road will remain closed for some time while accident scene investigators examine the stretch of roadway involved.

Diversions are in place and motorists have been urged to avoid the area if possible as lengthy delays are expected.

Gardai have also appealed for witnesses to contact them.
At least 40,000 (50,000) has been wasted on a failed prosecution against a man accused of the Omagh bombing. Photo: PA Wire

At least 40,000 (50,000) has been wasted on a failed prosecution against a man accused of the Omagh bombing.

Seamus Daly walked free from court last month after the Public Prosecution Service withdrew the case. Daly had been charged with murdering 29 people in the single biggest atrocity of the Troubles.

However, the case collapsed before it even reached trial amid concerns over the reliability of the prosecution's star witness.

It is understood the costs incurred by the PPS have topped 40,000. It does not include Daly's legal costs, which are likely to run to tens of thousands of pounds.

TUV leader Jim Allister said the public had been left to foot the bill for a case which delivered nothing: "What concerns me most is that there was no return whatsoever on this expenditure. It's hard to see that it was well spent when it resulted in no product whatsoever."
A cocaine charge against Irish actor Martin McCann has been dropped, but a separate charge remains in force.

The 32-year-old star of Killing Bono, '71 and Clash Of The Titans was charged with possessing the class A drug in north Down on July 3 last year.

He pleaded not guilty, and a defence solicitor told Newtownards Magistrates Court on February 2 that his father had admitted the offence.

The court papers also claimed the actor allowed a man to drive an Audi A5 on the Bangor to Belfast carriageway without insurance on the same day.

George Watters was alleged to have been driving over the alcohol limit, and police claimed that Mr McCann had assisted him in the offence, which took place close to the actor's home on Farmhill Road.

On March 3 the drug charges were officially dropped, but the charge of assisting Mr Watters to drive remains.

A defence solicitor said the charge against Mr McCann's father had been dealt with by a 250 fine.

The charge against George Watters for drink-driving is also proceeding.

So far Mr McCann has avoided a criminal conviction, which could have seen him barred from working in the US.

The most severe penalty for possessing class A drugs is an unlimited fine and seven years in prison.

Any conviction for drugs could have put the actor's career prospects in America in serious jeopardy.

McCann currently lives in Holywood, Co Down, but he grew up in the Divis area of west Belfast.

Most recently he appeared in critically acclaimed The Survivalist, which was released in February.

The Northern Ireland-filmed post-apocalyptic thriller saw him in the lead role playing a recluse living off the land.

He has also had a successful stage career and appeared in numerous short films and television series.
A number of personal injury awards by the High Court have been halved by the Court of Appeal, with some criticism of the approach adopted by the original judges.

There have been a run of these reductions lately, experts said, in a sign that judges may be changing their approach to injuries awards, whose size had been leading to a rise in 'compo culture'

Elevated court awards are a factor in the 30pc rise in motor insurance premiums, according to experts.

Jobs Minister Richard Bruton has pressed judges to tackle the problem of hugely inflated insurance premiums by sticking to new guidelines on compensation claims. Mr Bruton held a meeting with the President of the High Court, Mr Justice Peter Kelly, in a bid to get judicial support for guidelines due to be published this summer.

The meeting came after senior executives at Axa Insurance complained to Mr Bruton about cases where courts awarded significantly more damages than the insurance companies involved had expected.

Now it has emerged that the appeal court has radically reduced a number of awards in personal injuries case lately.

In a judgement delivered on March 18 last, Ms Justice Mary Irvine of the Court of Appeal halved damages awarded to Rita Shannon and Anthony Shannon.

The pair had told Ms Justice Aileen Donnelly in the High Court in Kilkenny that they had extensive injuries after a motor accident when the car they were in was hit by Debbie O'Sullivan, who was insured by Axa.

Mrs Shannon had been awarded a total of 131,463, and Mr Shannon was awarded 91,463 in total.

But the Court of Appeal "took issue with the conclusions of the learned High Court judge", according to Ms Justice Irvine's appeal judgment.

The injuries suffered by the pair were modest. They had not missed work and had not attended a doctor for 14 months after the accident.

Mrs Shannon's total award was reduced to 65,000, with Mr Shannon's reduced to 40,000 by the appeal court.

It comes after other cases where awards were reduced on appeal. In Nolan v Wirenski, the Appeal Court reduced a total award of 125,650 in a personal injuries action to 65,000.

The injuries to Ms Nolan, in a car that was rear-ended, were described by Ms Justice Irvine in her appeal judgment as "relatively minor".

Insurance expert Dorothea Dowling said the lowering of the awards was a recognition by the Court of Appeal of public policy issues. Ms Dowling was chairwoman of the Injuries Board for 10 years. She is also a former head of claims for the CIE group. "Proportionality and consistency are essential requirements of justice."

She said the Shannon decision was the latest in a line of reductions in High Court awards of recent years by 50pc.
An actor who played the role of an Irish student in the Harry Potter film series is being sued by his former agent for 286,000 in commission fees.

Devon Murray (27), who played "Seamus Finnigan", is being sued by Neil Brooks, trading as Neil Brooks Management, Cape Town, South Africa.

His parents, Michael and Fidelma Murray, of The Lawn, Oldtown Mill, Celbridge, Co Kildare, are also being sued as their son was a minor when he entered the contract with Brooks in 1998.

In a counter-claim, the Murrays seek the return of around 98,000 they say they paid Brooks.

The case was before the High Court Tuesday (April 5) when the Murrays' solicitor applied and was granted permission to cease representing them. The law firm said they had not received proper instructions or funds for junior and senior counsel since taking on the case.

The Murrays said they did not object to the law firm coming "off record" and did not have any other representation but would deal with the case themselves.

Mr Justice Seamus Noonan adjourned the case to Wednesday and said it would hopefully go on ahead then. While the time was short, they still had until then to see if they could get new representation, he said.

In his action, Mr Brooks says he was appointed sole agent for Devon in October 1998 under an agreement in which he became entitled to commissions of 12.5 per cent for his film and TV earnings, 15 per cent from TV commercials and seven per cent from theatre work.

Mr Brooks says he successfully negotiated for Devon's role in Harry Potter 1 and 2.

In January 2003, he said the Murrays agreed that, in consideration for successful negotiation for an increase in fees for his work in Harry Potter 3 and 4, that Brooks would be entitled to an increase in commission payments of 15 per cent for the two films and 20 per cent of all residual fees due from all Harry Potter films up to and beyond the fourth.

It is claimed that in breach of that agreement, the defendants have since in and around August 2005 failed, neglected and refused to make payments falling due.

As of March this year, the total sum due, including interest, is 286,375, it is claimed.

Gary McCarthy SC, for Brooks, said his side was anxious that the case should go on and were claiming that Devon Murray earned some 1.2m from his roles in the Harry Potter films.

In the defence filed by their former solicitors, the Murrays say the increase in fees was agreed in January 2003 but, it is claimed, the increase negotiated with the film makers Warner Brothers was done independently of any negotiation carried out by Brooks.

It is denied therefore Brooks are entitled to a 15 per cent commission of Harry Potter 3 and 4 because of the non-performance of the condition in the agreement that the increase would be based on successful negotiation by Brooks.

In the counter-claim, they say they are entitled to the recovery of 98,955 paid to Brooks and, without prejudice to their denial, they will seek to set off that money against any liability they may have.
The Irish Times and Littlewoods Ireland have been given chances to avoid criminal convictions for breaking e-privacy regulations by sending customers unsolicited emails

'The Irish Times' and Littlewoods Ireland have been given chances to avoid criminal convictions for breaking e-privacy regulations by sending customers unsolicited emails.

Following separate investigations by the office of the Data Protection Commissioner, they pleaded guilty to the offences at Dublin District Court yesterday.

Judge John O'Neill said the cases would be struck out if the Irish Times Ltd gave 3,000 to suicide-prevention charity Pieta House, while Littlewoods must donate 5,000 to the same cause.

Tony Delaney, Assistant Data Protection Commissioner, told Judge O'Neill that the important message for companies involved in electronic marketing was that there had to be "robust testing of technology behind their databases".

The offence, which is under the European Communities (Electronic Communications Networks and Services) (Privacy and Electronic Communications) Regulations 2011, can result in a criminal conviction and a fine of up to 5,000 per incident.

In relation to The Irish Times Ltd, the Assistant Data Protection Commissioner told Judge O'Neill that a man had subscribed to their "Get Swimming" weekly newsletter but after three or four issues had opted out last year and received a confirmation email.

But he received the next issue and then made several further attempts to unsubscribe.

After a number of weeks still receiving the newsletter he contacted their customer care team.

Later he received an email with a promotional offer and another newsletter.

Mr Delaney said the man found it distressing and had concerns over the protection of his data.

Mr Delaney said that 64 other users were also affected but the fault had been corrected, "after two horses have bolted".
A young Irish woman who faces drug charges while on holiday in Malta attempted to flee from a court room after being refused bail.

Imelda O'Brien (22), who is originally from Terenure in Dublin, was one of four people who appeared before a sitting of Malta Magistrates Court on a drug offences charge.

Ms O'Brien was arraigned on Friday morning along with three British nationals on drug charges after they were arrested at a party in the Qawra area of the country.

A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed they are providing consular assistance to the family.

Ms O'Brien pleaded not guilty to possession of 19 ecstasy tablets, a small quantity of ketamine as well as four packets of mephedrone.

Due to her not-guilty plea Ms O'Brien is due to appear before the court at a future date, but Magistrate Frendo Dimench refused to release the defendant from arrest as she does not have a fixed address in the jurisdiction.

However, as the presiding judge ordered her to be returned to custody, the young Irish woman attempted to escape from the court room and had to be restrained by officials. She was returned to a district police station following the court hearing, where she continues to be held.

A spokesperson for Ms O'Brien's family said they were "waiting for news" on her predicament, adding that they did not wish to comment any further.

Her court appearance came the day after convicted Irish drug-trafficker Michaella McCollum was released from a Peruvian prison on parole after serving over two years.

Imelda O'Brien is the sister of Lynsey O'Brien (15), who tragically fell to her death from the Costa Magica cruise ship sailing out of Fort Lauderdale in Florida in January 2006 during a family holiday to the Caribbean.

Their father, Paul O'Brien (49), passed away in tragic circumstances in 2013.
A man is to be sentenced in June for committing three failed burglaries in south Dublin in one night.

Gavin Fitzhenry (32) of Russell Lane,Tallaght, Dublin pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to three burglaries in south Dublin in the early hours of June 27, 2014.

Garda Vincent Carroll told the court that in the first incident, the female occupant of a home in Palmerston Road, Rathmines, was lying awake at 1am when she saw the light come on in her house.

Her bedroom door opened and a man entered the room, apparently unaware that she was lying there. The woman froze, the court heard, before the man spotted her and said, I'm sorry. She started screaming and he fled the scene.

Shortly afterwards, at 2.45am, a man was listening to music in his house on Kilmacud Road, Dundrum, when his dog growled and he saw a dark silhouette in his dining room.

The man ran at the intruder and pushed him outside the house. The intruder said, Don't hit me, don't hit me, before fleeing. The man's wife and three young daughters were asleep upstairs.

At 4.10am, another resident of Kilmacud Road was woken by a banging noise coming from his bathroom.

He looked out the window and saw a man on the roof of his extension, clinging to the windowsill. The resident shouted and the intruder jumped off the roof and fled. The man's wife and two sons were asleep in the house at the time.

Fitzhenry was spotted near the scene by gardai a short time later. He fled and hid in some bushes before he was caught.

Fitzhenry told gardai he broke into the houses because he owed 7000 in drugs money.

In victim impact reports handed in to court, Fitzhenry's victims said they were fearful of their safety and felt vulnerable in the wake of the intrusions. The children were all light sleepers now, constantly waking their parents and scared when they heard any noise, the court heard.

Fitzhenry's counsel Luigi Rea BL said his client suffered from drug abuse and depression and had been in custody since March. He was expecting his first child later this year and was anxious to prove he was drug-free, the court heard.

Judge Elma Sheahan remanded Fitzhenry in custody until June 7, when he will be sentenced.
Independent TD Michael Lowry will have to foot the legal bill for the four days of a High Court hearing in which he failed to stop his trial on mainly tax related charges.

Last February, Mr Justice Seamus Noonan rejected his judicial review challenge to his trial saying it was based on many ingenious and even superficially attractive" arguments which were "in truth, devoid of any substance and ultimately built on a foundation of sand

Mr Lowry, he found, had conspicuously declined to engage with the 372,000 transaction of 2002 at the heart of the case.

He also disagreed with Mr Lowrys argument a 2015 Appeal Commissioners determination of his tax appeal was a vindication of him in light of which continuation of the tax prosecution was oppressive.

The Appeal Commissioners found "clear evidence" Mr Lowry "misappropriated" monies of his company Garuda, the judge said.

The case returned before Mr Justice Noonan Tuesday to deal with the issue of the legal costs of the hearing.

Expand Close Michael Lowry celebrates after winning the first seat at the Tipperary count centre. Photo: Frank McGrath / Facebook

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Whatsapp Michael Lowry celebrates after winning the first seat at the Tipperary count centre. Photo: Frank McGrath

Patrick Treacy SC, for Mr Lowry, asked there be no order as to costs.

Alternatively, counsel asked the judge too put a permanent stay on on any costs order in the event he does not appeal the High Court decision to the Court of Appeal. Mr Lowry has said previously he intended appealing.

Remy Farrell SC, for the DPP, sought costs.

Awarding costs, Mr Justice Noonan said it was argued by Mr Treacy there should be no order on grounds including that Mr Lowry was not legally aided.

It was argued, the judge said, he faces a criminal trial in the Circuit Court on the tax charges which is expected to last at least a couple of weeks and for which there would be significant other costs.

However, the judge said, the DPP had said that if Mr Lowry was acquitted on the tax charges, he could make an application for his costs then. Therefore the issue of hardship as a result of having to pay costs did not arise, he said.

The judge also rejected arguments on behalf of Mr Lowry his position had been vindicated by a Appeals Commissioner who found the TD had no personal tax liability although his company did.

The argument that he might have got his costs before the Appeal Commissioner was not relevant because the legislature had decided the Commissioner had no power to order costs.

The judge further rejected arguments relating to the time factor surrounding the judicial review challenge.

Mr Lowry had a duty to engage with the facts of his complaint and the judge had found he had not done so. That also had a bearing on the costs issue, the judge said.

In all the circumtances, he would not depart from the normal rule that the loser pays the costs.

He also refused to grant a permanent stay on his costs order. Although this was a somewhat unusual application, it was not unusual for cases to be settled between parties on the basis of no costs being sought provided there was no appeal.

However, this was not something the court could embark on because that would mean engaging in the quesiton of whether or not an applicant should appeal.

The effect of such an order would also be to deprive the DPP of her costs and negative the order the court already made, he said.

Mr Lowry's trial before the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court is pending.

He faces five charges arising from a 2002 transaction involving a 372,000 payment due to Garuda being diverted to an Isle of Man trust account.

He is charged with filing incorrect income tax returns for the year 2002 and conniving in alleged delivery by Garuda of incorrect corporation tax returns for the years ending 2002 and 2006.

He is also charged, under the Companies Acts, with wilfully causing a company to fail to keep proper books of account between August 28, 2002, and August 3, 2007.
An 18th-century Chinese jade bowl was one of two items stolen from the robbery at Durham Universitys Oriental Museum. Durham Police/PA Wire

The scene of the robbery at Durham University's Oriental Museum. Durham Police/PA Wire

Sentenced: Richard Kerry OBrien, Michael Hegarty and Daniel Turkey OBrien were all sent to jail yesterday. Far left: John Kerry OBrien Jr will be sentenced today

Seven members of a notorious Irish crime gang have been jailed in Britain after plotting to steal up to 70m in rhino horn and Chinese artefacts in a series of museum raids.

The group, dubbed the Rathkeale Rovers because of their links to the Limerick town, targeted high-value objects in a string of break-ins, including at Cambridges Fitzwilliam Museum and Durhams Oriental Museum in 2012.

Judge Murray Creed heard that although the items stolen in Durham and Cambridge were valued at 20m, detectives believe that they might have fetched more than three times that figure on the booming Chinese auction market.

Members of the same gang also masterminded an offence at Gorringes Auction House in Lewes, East Sussex and organised the disposal of stolen artefacts in what the judge said was an extremely sophisticated conspiracy.

Sentencing seven of the 14-strong gang, the judge said the criminal enterprise involved very high-value goods with significant harm caused to victims, both museums and members of the public, who would otherwise have viewed the material stolen.

He added: It was a conspiracy sophisticated, skilled and persistent that involved significant cultural loss to the UK of museum-quality artefacts and items from international collections.

In all, 13 men are being sentenced following three trials which concluded with the gang and its associates being convicted of wide-ranging criminal conspiracy to steal, which uncovered connections to Ireland, Europe and China.

The judge began by jailing Richard Kerry OBrien Jr (31), of Cambridgeshire  and also of Rathkeale  for five-and-a-half years. His uncle, John Cash OBrien (68), of Fifth Avenue in Wolverhampton, was jailed for five years and three months.

Also in the dock was Daniel Turkey OBrien (45), and Daniel Flynn (also 45), both of Orchard Drive, Smithy Fen, Cottenham, Cambridgeshire, who were jailed for six years and eight months and four years respectively.

The judge said Flynn had played a leading role but he reduced the mans sentence based on the fragility of his mental health.

Alongside the men in the dock was 56-year-old Donald Wong, of Clapham Common South Side in Lambeth, London, who was described by the judge as a buyer, seller and valuer. He was jailed for five and-a-half years.

Paul Pammen (49), of Southend-on-Sea and Alan Clarke (37), of Newham, London, who was said to have headed the gangs disposal team, were also both jailed for five and-a-half years each.

Six other men will be sentenced today.

A 14th man had already been convicted and sentenced last year for his part in the crime.

The judge said the operation to plunder rhino horn, carved horn and carved jade items started off small-scale in January 2012, but that after initial failures and botched thefts  in one case, the burglars forgot where they had hidden their haul  planning paid off.

It was serious organised crime, he added.

In their most successful theft, 18 pieces of Chinese jade were stolen from the Fitzwilliam Museum and although experts provided various valuations up to almost 22m, the judge described them as priceless.

He added: They were part of a national collection that was split between the museum in Cambridge and the British Museum in London.

Afterwards, that haul was stored in a safe house, being taken by taxi to Purfleet in Essex, where the individual items were spirited away.

The judge continued: The conspiracy spanned England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic, references were made to France  the Cherbourg visit  Hong Kong and also the United States and Germany featured in the evidence the court heard over the three trials.

He said the gang had either stolen or tried to steal highly prized museum-quality items, often with historic Imperial Chinese dynastic connections, with the exception of an attempted theft on an auction house in March 2012, in which the bungling thieves took the wrong item.

On two occasions, the Oriental Museum in Durham was targeted, but also the Castle Museum in Norwich, Gorringes Auction House in Lewes East Sussex and the Fitzwilliam Museum.

The men carried out reconnaissance of these and other sites, including three museums in Glasgow and another auction house in Yorkshire.

Mr Creed said there had been no expression of regret or remorse from the men and acknowledged that there was no prospect of recovery.

The remaining members of the gang, including John Kerry OBrien Jr, will be sentenced at the citys crown court later today.
More members of the notorious Rathkeale Rovers crime gang have been jailed over a 71 million plot to "plunder" British museums of rhino horn and other priceless Chinese artefacts.

The group, named because of their links to the Co Limerick town, targeted high-value objects in a string of break-ins, including Cambridge's Fitzwilliam Museum and twice at Durham's Oriental Museum in 2012.

Judge Murray Creed heard that although the items stolen in Durham and Cambridge were valued at up to 18 million, detectives believe they might have fetched more than three times that figure on the booming Chinese auction market.

Members of the same gang also masterminded a bungled attempted theft at Gorringes Auction House in Lewes, East Sussex, and organised the disposal of stolen artefacts in what the judge said was "an extremely sophisticated conspiracy".

Sentencing members of the 14-strong gang, Judge Creed said on Monday: "It is a conspiracy both sophisticated, skilled and persistent, and involved significant cultural loss to the UK of museum quality artefacts and items from international collections."

In all, 13 men have been sentenced over two days, after three trials which concluded with the gang and its associates convicted of wide-ranging criminal conspiracy to steal, with connections to Ireland, Europe and China.

John "Kerry" O'Brien, aged 26, of Orchard Drive, Smithy Fen, Cottenham, Cambridgeshire - but also of Rathkeale, Co Limerick - was said by the judge to have had a central role in the conspiracy. He was jailed for six-and-a-half years.

Terrence McNamara, of Marquis Street in Belfast, was told he would be jailed for four years.

Expand Close The scene of the robbery at Durham University's Oriental Museum. Durham Police/PA Wire / Facebook

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Addressing 43-year-old Michael Hegarty, also of Orchard Drive in Cottenham, and Rathkeale, he said: "I believe you were controlling him (McNamara) in relation to events at Durham Museum in the first instance."

Hegarty was jailed for six-and-a-half years.

He sentenced 47-year-old Richard Sheridan, of Water Lane in Smithy Fen, and Patrick Clarke, aged 34, of Melbourne Road, Newham, London, to five-and-a-half years apiece for their part.

Ashley Dad, aged 35, of Crowther Road in Wolverhampton, who did not appear at court, was jailed for five years and three months.

On Monday the judge sentenced seven other men to between four years and six years and eight months behind bars, including "fence" Donald Wong, while another man had already been jailed for his part.

Sheridan is a former spokesman for the Dale Farm travellers site in Essex and was seen in Wong's company, shortly before 50,000 (62,200) in cash was found in Chinese businessman's car.

The judge said the operation to "plunder" rhino horn, carved horn and jade items started off "small-scale" in January 2012, but that after initial failures and botched thefts - in one case the burglars forgot where they had hidden their haul - "planning paid off".

"It was serious organised crime," he added.

In their most successful theft 18 pieces of Chinese jade were stolen from the Fitzwilliam Museum and although experts provided various valuations up to almost 22 million the judge described them as "priceless".

He added: "They were part of a national collection split between the museum in Cambridge and the British Museum in London."

Afterwards, that haul was stored in a safe-house before being taken by taxi to Purfleet in Essex where the goods were spirited away.

The judge continued: "The conspiracy spanned England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic, references were made to France - the Cherbourg visit, Hong Kong and also the United States and Germany, also featured in the evidence the court heard over the three trials."

He said the gang had either stolen or tried to steal "highly prized museum-quality" items, often with historic Imperial Chinese dynastic connections, with the exception of an attempted theft on an auction house in March 2012 in which the bungling thieves took the wrong item.

On two occasions the Oriental Museum in Durham was targeted, but also the Castle Museum in Norwich, Gorringes Auction House in Lewes, East Sussex, and the Fitzwilliam Museum.

The men carried out reconnaissance of these and other sites, including three museums in Glasgow, and another auction house in Yorkshire.

The judge said the conspiracy had been centred on the family seat in Rathkeale, telling the defendants: "At the heart of this enterprise was a family - a number of you are members of the O'Brien family."

He added: "Of 14 original conspirators, seven were connected with that home, seven were associates, like Terrence McNamara, while others were recruited in to find thieves prepared to carry out burglaries, particularly in carrying out the second attack on Durham museum.

"No doubt others were involved too."

Robert Gilbert Smith, formerly of Hockenden Lane in Kent was jailed for his part in the crime last year.
Former Anglo Irish Bank chairman Sean FitzPatrick has launched a High Court challenge aimed at preventing Judge Patrick McCartan from presiding over his trial on charges of breaching the Companies Act.

Mr FitzPatrick (66) of Whitshed Road, Greystones, Co Wicklow is due to go on trial before Dublin Circuit Criminal Court at the end of May. He has pleaded not guilty to 27 offences under the 1990 Companies Act, including 21 charges of making a misleading, false or deceptive statement to auditors and six charges of furnishing false information in the years 2002 to 2007.

In judicial review proceedings against the DPP, Mr FitzPatrick seeks various orders and declarations including one prohibiting Judge McCartan, who presided over another trial involving alleged wrongdoings committed by others at Anglo Irish Bank, from presiding over the forthcoming trial.

Bernard Condon SC, for the retired banker, said Judge McCartan had declined to recuse himself from presiding over the criminal trial. There was no need for Judge McCartan to hear the case, counsel said, adding the application was being brought to ensure his client received a fair trial.

Lawyers for the DPP said they were taking a neutral position in regards to Mr FitzPatrick's application for leave.

The matter came before Mr Justice Richard Humphreys who granted Mr FitzPatrick's lawyers permission to bring the application.

The matter was made returnable to next week.
The 21-year old bought two types of drugs online, took them and then miscarried in July 2014. Stock Picture

A young woman who bought drugs on the internet to induce a miscarriage and then dumped the foetus in a bin has been handed a suspended sentence.

A barrister for the woman, who could not raise enough money to travel to England for a termination, told Belfast Crown Court that had his client lived in any other part of the UK, she would "not have found herself before the courts".

The 21-year old, who cannot be named because of a court order, bought two types of drugs online, took them and then miscarried in July 2014.

The male foetus, which was between 10 and 12 weeks, was later found in the bin of a house she shared with two people.

The woman appeared in court yesterday and pleaded guilty to procuring her own abortion by using a poison and to supplying a poison with intent to procure a miscarriage.

She was given a three-month sentence, suspended for two years. Prior to sentencing, Crown prosecutor Kate McKay said on July 20, 2014, police were contacted by the woman's housemates and made aware that she had bought drugs online which induced a miscarriage on July 12.

When officers arrived at the rented accommodation in south Belfast, they conducted a search and located various items - including a foetus in a black bag in the household bin.

A post-mortem confirmed that the male foetus was of 10-12 weeks gestation and was the woman's biological son.

Ms McKay said that when the woman moved into the house in May 2014, she told her two housemates that she was pregnant but was trying to raise the money to travel to England for a termination.

After she was unable to raise enough money, she contacted an English abortion clinic for advice. She claims that she was told by the clinic about two drugs available on the internet that would induce a miscarriage.

She miscarried on July 12. The following day, her housemates found bloodstained items and the foetus in the bin, with one describing it as a "wee baby" around four inches long.

Ms McKay said the housemates were "taken aback by the seemingly blase attitude" adopted by the woman. A week later, they contacted the PSNI.

When arrested, the then 19-year-old made no comment.

Defence barrister Paul Bacon said his client's prosecution highlighted the difference in legislation between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

He told the court "had she lived in any other jurisdiction, she would not have found herself before the court", adding that she felt "victimised by the system".

Mr Bacon said the drugs she took were normally administered under medical supervision, meaning that she put her own health at risk. He branded her actions those of "a 19-year old who felt trapped" and turned to "desperate measures".

The woman is now 21, has a new baby with her partner and is "trying to put her life back together again".
Leaving Certificate students with bonus points in maths continue to have the edge in securing a place on the most sought-after college courses.

Having the 25 extra CAO points virtually guarantees school-leavers an offer for an "honours" degree - Level 8 - programme.

The bonus points are awarded to students who achieve a minimum grade D in higher-level maths in the Leaving Cert. They were introduced in 2012 to encourage candidates to raise their sights.

The impact of the bonus points on the race for college entry is underlined in figures supplied to the Irish Independent by the CAO.

Last year, 26pc of all Level 8 offers to Leaving Certificate candidates went to those who used the bonus for points purposes - in other words, higher maths was one of their six best subjects. That was up from 22pc in 2012.

Crucially, among the 12,290 CAO applicants who had the extra points, 96pc (12,461) were offered a place on a Level 8 course - compared with 70pc for school-leavers generally.

The impact of the bonus varies depends on the areas of study the CAO applicant is pursuing.

At the top end of the scale, 64pc of students who received an offer for pharmacy had the extra points, followed by 58pc of physiotherapy applicants.

But among arts and social science applicants, 13pc of those receiving an offer had higher-level maths as one of their best six subjects, while it was 8pc for art and design students.

Applicants for construction-related courses were least likely to have had the bonus, with only 6pc having higher-level maths as one of the six best subjects. However, in a reflection of the growing demand for study in that area, that figure has doubled from 3pc in 2012.

The pulling power of the bonus is evident in the dramatic increase, since 2011, in the number of maths candidates who sat the "honours paper" - up from 16pc in 2011 to 27pc in 2014 and 2015.

This year could see a further rise in uptake, latest figures from the State Examinations Commission (SEC) suggest.

A total of 19,323 students are entered for the "honours" paper. At 35pc of all maths candidates entered for the June exams, it is a record number showing an interest at this time, and a further increase on 18,407 (34pc) this time last year.

There is always a fall-off between predicted entries, and the number who actually sit the "honours" paper on the day, but any drop will be from a record high base.

Education Minister Jan O'Sullivan said it was clear that students' confidence in their ability to take higher-level maths was rising, which was a very welcome development in view of the importance of science, technology, engineering and maths subjects. "The target participation rate is 30pc by 2020. I believe that this is achievable," she said.
Independent TDs (left to right) Sean Canney, John Halligan, Shane Ross, and Finian McGrath enter Government Buildings to continue talks over the formation of a new government. Photo: Photocall

Politicians must end the "choreography" and begin real talks on forming a government, a Mass for peace and reconciliation has heard.

Capuchin Provincial Br Adrian Curran expressed exasperation at the political vacuum, with no government in place nearly six weeks after the General Election.

He told the country's politicians that it was time for their "choreography, more akin to the old Irish dance halls, to cease" and urged them "to move beyond political ambitions, strategising and party interests to a serious and honest engagement in order to form a Government for the people in the national interest".

The Capuchin friar warned that the volunteerism of charities "temporarily bandaging the wounds of homelessness and poverty" could only go so far and said that only a Government could effect real change for the homeless and the 117,000 mortgage holders in arrears, and address the problems in healthcare, industrial relations, education and transport.
Shane Ross said the Independent Alliance would not negotiate with Fine Gael "under threat" of another General Election.

The Dublin-Rathdown TD was criticising Health Minister Leo Varadkar for posting a picture of his campaign posters on Twitter, writing they were "cleaned, counted, stored and ready to be deployed" again after February's vote.

Mr Ross said his group of Independents "would certainly not take that threat" of a second election "seriously" before talking with Fine Gael yesterday.

"We're not going to take that sort of nonsense that there's a General Election threatened to us from Varadkar or anybody else," he said.

"We won't regard that as something we'll respond to positively."

Mr Ross denied that it was "inevitable" there would be another election as TDs prepare to vote for a Taoiseach again tomorrow, when a clear result is not expected.

He and other Independent TDs said they shared the "public's frustration" as government-forming negotiations continue more than a month after the election.

"You'd need the patience of Saint Job to put up with what's going on (with Fine Gael and Fianna Fail) and their refusal to meet until next Wednesday," he added.

Waterford TD John Halligan said the Independent Alliance would not shy away from another General Election this year if it came about.

"We're not afraid of another election," he said. "The people have already spoken. It is unfair to go back to the people and say, 'we don't like how you voted.'"

Meanwhile, Mattie McGrath said Mr Varadkar's tweet was "an attempt to frighten" TDs adding: "Maybe the poll (showing public support for Micheal Martin) might have had something to do with. He might have fancied himself as Taoiseach."
Worrying new figures reveal that the number of people diagnosed with HIV in Ireland last year jumped up almost 25pc.

Independent.ie can reveal that 498 people were diagnosed with HIV in Ireland last year.

This is nearly a 25 per cent jump on 2014 years figure of 377, with the highest prior figure being 404 in 2008. Almost half of those affected are gay or bisexual men, while the others are heterosexuals and a small number of intravenous drugs users.

There is no breakdown yet of how the 498 people who were confirmed HIV positive in 2015 attained the disease.

But the previous year showed that 377 were diagnosed HIV positive.

These consisted of 183 (49pc) of men who had sex with men, 183 (33pc heterosexual), 27 (17pc) from needle injecting by drug use, 2 (0.5pc) mother to child transmission while 40 (11pc) were unknown.

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Some 73pc were male and 27pc female, while 36pc were Irish born, 53pc from abroad and nearly 10pc unknown. The average age was 33.

Nearly 8,000 people are now living with HIV in Ireland and one of those is Dubliner Robbie Lawlor (25).

Brave Robbie  who is a former winner of Mr Gay Ireland  spoke today to the Sunday World for the first time about his shock in finding out he had the disease, his traumatic struggle and how no one with HIV has anything to fear.

Ever since he was aged 12 Robbie had hoped to one day work with animals in Australia.

He underwent a four-year course in Zoology in UCD and saved up money from a part-time job to fund his trip Down Under.

But four years ago, at the age of 21, his life changed dramatically when he went for his first STI screening.

I was sexually active since I was 18, he explains. So that was three and a half years without being checked. I went with my friend and initially everything was fine.

I got a call back three weeks later and they said Robbie will you come back in, your gonorrhoea tests came back inconclusive and in my naivety I went in not thinking anything about it, but I was mortified about going in.

He made a couple of light-hearted comments to try and ease the situation but his doctor was quite serious and told him to sit down.

So she said Robbie, last time you came here you did a HIV test and I said yeah. She said it came back positive.

Its kind of hard for me to convey how anyone would feel about getting that diagnosis, but for me I can literally put my hands up and say that I was probably the most ignorant person in Ireland, because I actually didnt know HIV even existed in Ireland, he reflects.

I didnt know anyone living with HIV, I just never heard about it. It was sensationalised in the media, or outside Ireland, he said.

So the very first thing I asked her without even thinking was can I go to Australia? and she told me that although I could go for a year or two, legally I couldnt get a residency for Australia because of my HIV status.

As you can imagine, those two seconds of that diagnosis, everything I had worked for and wanted all my life, was literally just taken away from me and ripped apart. It was the same for Canada and New Zealand, all the places I wanted to go to.

I cried for about five minutes. When I composed myself, I asked the consultant was I going to survive. I had heard AIDS could kill people. Even during my diagnosis I didnt know the difference between HIV and AIDS.

So the consultant said to me that although my immune system was quite low, if I started taking medication my immune system would build back up and I would live a long healthy life. 

The virus made Robbie tired all the time and he lost weight.

A social worker helped Robbie cope with his diagnosis, and his mother also attended clinics and meetings with him.

He was put on his first drug and was told there may be side effects. But nothing prepared him for what happened when he took his first pill one night at 10pm.

By 11 oclock I was high. I was dancing, singing, my senses exploded, my vision just went crazy, he remembers. The next morning I was in bits and I wasnt co-ordinated. I had a density over my brain (I like to call brain fog) and my life was in slow motion. So it was terrible.

His mother, who has four other children (including a gay daughter and three sons), persuaded him to go back to the clinic.

They put him on a new course of tablets which are now working perfectly, he is in perfect physique and his mental health is great.

Robbie, from Clondalkin, became involved in a group called MeetUp Plus Friends, which organises events for people with HIV, such as yoga, cinema outings or nights out. He is also a nominated person for newly diagnosed people with HIV to go to share a coffee or drink with.

When youre living with HIV, you live in this deafening silence. No one can come out. And thats even with the stigma within the Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community as well. No one ever talks about it.

He is now doing a Masters degree in Sexual Studies in DCU and is also involved in Youth Stop AIDS, which is a youth-led movement campaigning for a world without AIDS.

HIV no longer has to be death sentence. However, the medication simply isnt available worldwide because pharmaceutical companies have the prices too high.

Our vision is to have zero HIV infections, zero stigma/discrimination and zero AIDS related deaths by 2030. Every government made a pact to aspire to this vision and its up to governments accountable to uphold these, which theyre not doing in Ireland.

Health Minister Leo Varadkar has commissioned Irelands first sexual health strategy to be launched shortly and a World Health Organisation meeting next month will address the issue.

You can sign the petition here
A fire at a primary school in Derry is being treated as a suspected arson attack.

The NIFRS were called to Holy Child Primary School at 9.20pm on Monday night.

The roof of the building in Central Drive Creggan was alight when crews arrived.

Six appliances attended the blaze.

A NIFRS spokesman said: "Firefighters using a thermal imaging camera, two jets and a short extension ladder dealt with a roof on fire of a single storey school building in the area.

Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service finished at the scene at 10:30pm and the fire is being treated as deliberate.

School principal Orla McDonnell told the BBC said: "We very nearly didn't have a school by the end of last night, but thankfully the fire service were here quickly."

"It was an horrific experience last night getting that phone call, driving up to the school, and wondering what you were going to be met with."

In a statement on the school's Facebook page it said the damage was limited and that the school would be open today as usual.

It said: "Many of you will know by now there has been a fire at the school this evening. I would just like to let everyone know that damage is limited and despite this terrible incident, Holy Child Primary School will be open tomorrow as usual. Should anything change there will be a text sent to parents.

"Holy Child stands by its motto: "Every Child, Every Chance, Every Day" so we will continue to do what we do so well!! The support of our parents is always a joy."

Foyle MLA Mark H Durkan attended the scene and said residents were angry.
MOTORISTS are to be hit by penalty points and fixed charges for driving with faulty tyres within months.

But it has yet to be decided how many points will be imposed.

Transport Minister Paschal Donohoe revealed that points and charges are in the pipeline and would be introduced "from later in the year".

He made his promise to introduce them as he launched a major new report which found faulty tyres contribute to far more accidents than previously realised.

The results of detailed new analysis of Garda forensic evidence investigations into fatalities estimate tyres are a factor in as many as 14 deaths a year.

The figures show that 'vehicle factors' - especially tyres - contribute far more to deaths and injuries than was believed.

Arising from the research, the Road Safety Authority (RSA) plans a campaign to highlight the dangers posed by tyres that are worn, damaged or under-inflated.

The results, the first of their kind, are based on a five-year analysis of Garda Forensic Collisions Investigations rather than the on-scene preliminary reports. They show tyres were a significant factor in 66 vehicles involved in collisions between 2008 and 2012.

Mr Donohoe denied he was dragging his feet on bringing in penalty points. He insisted that evidence such as the new report and making the public more aware of the dangers had to be taken into account before deciding.

He said he had been "struck by just how big a factor tyres have been in accidents" and he urged motorists to regularly check their vehicles to make sure they are roadworthy.

Based on the study into 858 collisions, the blunt verdict is that no other component in your car is as likely to contribute to a crash as your tyres.

Road Safety Authority chief executive Moyagh Murdock said: "This report shows that tyres are the parts of your car that are most likely to put you at risk of a fatal collision if they're not roadworthy."

Chief Supt Aidan Reid said: "Our advice to road users is to get your tyres checked regularly and ensure they are properly maintained or they could fail you when you need them most."

Of the collisions studied - between 2008 and 2012 - tyres emerged as contributing to an accident in 8pc of cases.
A 10-year-old boy has appeared in court charged with assaulting his mother and police, as well as possessing an offensive weapon - a saw.

The child's appearance in Londonderry Magistrates' Court has prompted calls for the age of criminal responsibility to be raised.

District judge Barney McElholm said it was not for him to "stray into the realms of policy" but he also voiced his discomfort at seeing such a young child in court.

There has been much political debate around the minimum age for criminal responsibility, which is currently 10.

The court in Derry was cleared of anyone unconnected with yesterday's hearing while the boy was dealt with.

Journalists were allowed to remain, but the child cannot be named because of his age.

The boy is charged with common assault on his mother, criminal damage and assault on police. He is further charged with possessing an offensive weapon, namely a saw.

The charges relate to an incident on April 2.

Defence solicitor Paddy MacDermott said that social services were attempting to secure a residential place for the boy. He applied for the 10-year-old to be released on bail subject to an approved address.

Judge McElholm released the boy on his own bail of 50 and said: "I should not stray into the realms of policy, but the idea of criminal responsibility being 10 does not sit well with me".

The judge's views were supported by others, including People Before Profit candidate for Foyle Eamonn McCann and the Children's Law Centre based in Belfast.

Mr McCann said: "This child was brought before an adult court, which is shocking in itself, but to ascribe responsibility to a 10-year-old would contradict all modern thinking of how a child should be treated.

"In the Republic, the age of criminal responsibility has been set at 12 - which many still argue is too low - but that is still two years higher than this.

"It is time for politicians to look again at how acceptable it is to hold a 10-year-old child accountable and get this age changed."

Liam Mackle, of the Children's Law Centre, suggested 16 years of age was more appropriate.

"It is completely unacceptable that in any modern Western society a 10-year-old could be criminalised," he said. "We think the lower limit should be 16 or at the very least 14, and certainly most people would be abhorred that the age here is actually 10."

A spokesman for the Department of Justice said the political will to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 did not exist.

He explained: "The minister would support an increase in the minimum age of criminal responsibility from the current minimum of 10 in line with the recommendations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. However, any such change would require cross-party support, and there is currently an absence of sufficient political support to implement such an increase."

The case was adjourned until April 19 and the boy was excused from appearing.
Anti-drug campaigners have criticised the controversial RTE interview with cocaine smuggler Michaella McCollum saying it "glamorised" drug trafficking.

And the State broadcaster is refusing to answer questions about whether it paid expenses to either the criminal or her family.

However, RTE has defended the programme and said it did not pay Ms McCollum for her "frank admissions". Montrose officials refused to answer questions on whether expenses had been paid for either the convicted criminal or her family, citing "commercial sensitivity".

Gemma Collins, who works with children addicted to drugs in Dublin's north-inner city, said she believed the interview "glamorised" drug smuggling.

The manager of the Crinan Youth Project warned the programme may encourage people to commit smuggling offences, saying: "I was left thinking that if I was a young person watching that - and she is after getting out after two-and-a-half years - a young person might be thinking that it's worth the risk.

"The whole thing felt staged and false, like a box that needed to be ticked. I think there would have been people that would have been better interviewing her. She could have been pressed on lots of other things."

RTE maintains neither Mr McCollum nor her family were paid for the interview, which was watched by an average of 550,000 viewers. However, it failed to reveal whether any expenses had been paid to either the drug mule or her family, saying: "Production costs are commercially sensitive."

The station also confirmed it had received 83 calls and emails on the programme. RTE admitted the programme was "controversial and divisive" but defended the broadcast.

"RTE has a strong track record in highlighting the harm caused to individuals and society by illegal drugs and its trade and we welcome the public discussion generated by this programme," it said.

Meanwhile, the Department of Foreign Affairs has confirmed it is still providing assistance to McCollum and her family. A spokeswoman said the Irish Embassy in Mexico and the Honorary Consul in Lima "continues to provide consular assistance to Ms McCollum and her family, as we have done since 2013".

Ms McCollum needs to be "brutally honest" and shun celebrity to deserve a second chance, a former senior PSNI officer said.

Jim Gamble, an online safety expert who used to head the Northern Ireland Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, dismissed the interview as "choreographed" saying she was not properly challenged.

"If she wants to get into the talk show circuit then my advice would be don't because you are going to antagonise as many people as you will get sympathy from," he argued.

"I really mean this for her family and for her, she'd be far better if she genuinely feels the remorse that she says she does by allowing the public, and people who are cynical like me, to judge her on the basis of what she does not what she says."
Police at the Scene in Victoria Street in Lurgan Credit: Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker Press

A young woman who was murdered in Lurgan has been described as "bubbly, fun-loving and full of life" by her shocked friends.

Laura Marshall, a 31-year-old dental nurse, was found dead in a block of flats in Lurgan on Sunday night.

After a post-mortem examination yesterday, the PSNI announced that it had launched a murder investigation.

Ms Marshall's 36-year-old boyfriend Gary O'Dowd was arrested for questioning over her sudden death. He remained in police custody last night.

Ms Marshall was from a well-known republican family in the town. Her uncle was former republican prisoner Sam Marshall, who was murdered by the UVF in 1990 as he left Lurgan police station with his brother-in-law Tony McCaughey and republican Colin Duffy. The Police Ombudsman is investigating allegations from his family of state collusion.

Yesterday there was a heavy police presence outside the block of flats in Victoria Street where Ms Marshall's body is understood to have been found by a maintenance man.

Due to the close proximity of the flats to the Kilwilkie estate, a dissident republican stronghold, officers guarding the scene were heavily armed with rifles.

An aunt of Ms Marshall stopped momentarily outside the flats yesterday morning, but said she was too upset to discuss the tragedy.

A friend paused to bless himself as he walked past.

"I knew Laura for a while. She was a nice girl. She was with Gary a couple of years. She'd never pass you without saying hello," he said.

Ms Marshall was a keen traveller. She travelled around Australia for 13 months in 2008/09, which she described on social media as "the best time of her life".

She also lived in the US and England for a few years and had intended to travel again. However, after meeting Mr O'Dowd in August 2013 she decided to stay with him in Lurgan. At the time she told her friends on Facebook that Mr O'Dowd "was good" to her.

Several friends took to social media to pay tribute to her.

Dean Oxby wrote on Facebook that Laura "was a very popular and outgoing inspirational woman who can always put a smile on your face ... you made many friends around the world where you have travelled on your journeys and they are sadly touched by the news of your death."

Another wrote: "I'm devastated ... I cannot believe this has happened to a happy young beautiful woman who was a huge part of my life." One friend described Ms Marshall as "so bubbly fun-loving and full of life".

Sinn Fein councillor for the area Catherine Seeley said the "tragic event has sent a wave of shock throughout the community in north Lurgan and beyond".

She said: "It is very early for any details to be released and the PSNI should be allowed space to carry out their investigations. I would call on anyone with any information to contact the PSNI immediately."

Ulster Unionist Lurgan councillor Colin McCusker said: "The news of this young woman's death has come as a complete shock to the Lurgan community."
SINN Fein leader Gerry Adams has admitted the party's proposed independent commission would be blocked from making certain recommendations.

Gerry Adams says that if in Government, his party will establish a commission that will bring forward the best model for public ownership of water supply.

But in an extraordinary admission, Mr Adams said the commission will be prevented from making particular proposals - such as the retention of Irish Water and water charges.

It cant if its given terms of reference , which I have just outlined. All these commissions, all of these bodies which are set up to do certain jobs of work are given terms of reference. So the terms of reference are whats the best public model for ownership of water and for water as a human right, Mr Adams said.

Asked what Sinn Fein do in the event that the commission deems a public utility as the best model, Mr Adams replied:

Ive already said to you, they cannot do that.

And in a bizarre bid to explain his position, Mr Adams cited the example of renovating a kitchen.

I dont know what you guys dont understand. If you ask me to do a job of work, whatever it is, you want to convert my kitchen, right. You give me the terms of reference, you tell me the type of kitchen you want. You tell me the price you want and so forth. And Im obliged to go and honour that, I dont go and make your kitchen into a dining room.

Mr Adams made the remarks during a media doorstep on the Dail plinth. His parliamentary party will today decide whether to propose him as Taoiseach during tomorrow's vote.

The Louth TD also came under pressure over his partys position on government formation.

Sinn Fein has ruled itself out of doing business with Fine Gael and Fianna Fail - but has accused the two parties of engaging in a charade.

"There has been no serious effort, in my view, between these two parties who are compatible in terms of policy, Mr Adams said.

It comes down to numbers. We are being very straight with people on this issue. If Fianna Fail are not going to support a Fine Gael-led government, then let them say that," he added.
We take a look at the main stories from overnight and what it says in todays papers.

Abroad:

China's internet censors and state media outlets have suppressed reports on hidden wealth drawn from leaked documents which name relatives of current and retired Chinese politicians - including president Xi Jinping. Searches for articles on websites and social media postings featuring the words "Panama documents" could not be opened to view their content.

Read More

A federal judge in New Orleans has granted final approval to an estimated $US20bn (17.58bn) settlement over the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The settlement, first announced in July, resolves years of litigation over the worst offshore spill in US history. It includes US$5.5 (4.83) in civil Clean Water Act penalties and billions more to cover environmental damage and other claims by the five Gulf states and local governments.

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The Papers

Efforts to speak to representatives of an Irish company at the centre of the Panama Papers controversy have been firmly rebuffed, the Irish Independent reports. The Pegasus Trust, a firm which has used the services of Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, is located in the unlikely setting of a residential address in Drumcondra, Dublin. When a representative was asked to comment, a man who opened the door at no. 30 Botanic Avenue said: We gave a comment already. Well be making no further comment.

Read More

The IFA is at the centre of another controversy on its pay and pensions - after a whistleblower made detailed claims about the remuneration for former general secretary Michael Berkery, the Irish Independent reports. The revelations come in the middle of the IFA election for a new president where transparency is a key campaign issue. Mr Berkery was general secretary of the IFA for 25 years until late in 2008, when he announced his retirement.

Read More:

Irish woman Lillian Allen has told convicted drug smuggler Michaella McCollum to flee Peru. Ms Allen fled the country while on parole last year, and she warned that Ms McCollum faces a long wait to get back home. If I could say one thing to Michaella it would be, get out, Ms Allen told the Irish Daily Star.

Comedian David McSavage is set to appear before court after refusing to pay his television licence fee in protest at what he calls the awful 1916 skit shows, The Irish Sun reports. I refuse to fund such mediocre comedy. I will go to prison if I have to, he said.
Whoever said school was the happiest time of our lives was an awful liar.

If you agree with that statement, you have my sympathies.

School days are just a mere blip on our life map (if we're lucky), and if they are the best 14 years of your existence, well life is pretty much a downhill spiral once you leave. Now that is a depressing thought!

Last week, I had lunch with comedian Deirdre O'Kane (she'd probably prefer me to call her actress, but it's a blurred line and she's doing a stand-up tour at the moment, so feck it). Anyhow, she has only just returned to Dublin after about nine years in London and her kids (her English kids) were due to start school here yesterday. Which got me thinking; if your child needed to change schools, how would you help them cope?

Let's face it, it's probably one of the most life-changing things that could happen to a child, after say, their parents splitting up or a close relative dying. School takes up the majority of their day, so if they're miserable there, it's going to result in an exhausted, stressed-out kid. Which is not what anyone wants.

Establishing new friends and leaving behind old ones can be heartbreaking. If you've a different accent that can be immeasurably more difficult, but you only need one child out of a whole class to bond with yours to make the move easier. And, during the primary school years anyway, kids change best friends like they do sweatshirts. It can be dizzying at times, so your new kid could be lucky and step straight into welcome arms and a handful of news besties instantly.

There a few key tips that can help with kids changing schools. Firstly, don't be overly sensitive yourself about the transition and get them all stressed out about it. If you're calm and cool about it, that'll help tame their anxieties - in theory! Like those parents who cry on their child's first day at school; seriously folks, you're not helping matters!

Obviously, you need to thoroughly discuss their worries with them and boost their confidence with plenty of compliments and reassurances of what a great kid they are. But do not make unreasonable promises. Telling them every kid in the school will want to be their friend is just setting your kid up for a fall. Sure, we often have to tell them a few white lies to get them in the door, but don't set them up for disappointment. It's not fair.

As with most parenting issues, be it correct or not, I don't care - I find bribery always a great trick with kids. And if I'm honest, with adults too!

Anyway, sending your kid off to a new school with a rucksack full of fairy cakes for the class (and teacher) can't hurt. An early invite for a play date to the kid that gives them half a smile is another charm offensive that could work to their advantage.

Or sending your son or daughter into school with the coolest trainers, jacket or hairstyle (fill in your own suggestions here) is another crafty way of getting them noticed and kids interested in them.

Remember, a change in school is a huge deal for your kid so support, support, support!
Heart failure occurs when the heart can no longer pump enough oxygenated blood around the body at the correct pressure, usually because the muscle has become too weak or stiff to work properly.

Stem cells can repair a damaged heart and potentially halve the number of people dying from heart failure, scientists have shown, in a major breakthrough for regenerative medicine.

For more than a decade scientists have been convinced that stem cells were the future of organ repair because they can become any cell in the body, reversing damage which was thought to be permanent. Finding new ways to treat organ failure is critical because there is a growing shortage of donor organs in the UK.

Now, in the largest trial ever conducted, doctors in the US have proven that even the most serious cases of heart failure can be repaired using stem cells harvested from a patients own bone marrow.

End-stage patients, whose only hope was a heart transplant, were treated with stem cells in a single operation. Doctors found the group were 37 per cent less likely to have been admitted to hospital in the 12 months following the operation and half as likely to have died than those on placebo.

The procedure takes just two hours and most patients were discharged a day after surgery.

"For the last 15 years everyone has been talking about cell therapy and what it can do. These results suggest that it really works," says lead author and cardiac surgeon Dr Amit Pate, director of Cardiovascular Regenerative Medicine at the University of Utah.

"This is the first trial of cell therapy showing that it can have a meaningful impact on the lives of patients with heart failure.

Heart failure occurs when the heart can no longer pump enough oxygenated blood around the body at the correct pressure, usually because the muscle has become too weak or stiff to work properly.

In the short term it leads to breathlessness, fatigue and swollen ankles but in the long run the major organs will shut down without enough oxygen, eventually leading to death.

Around 900,000 people in the UK have been diagnosed with the condition and up to 40 per cent die within a year.

Drugs to help keep the blood vessels open and lower blood pressure are often prescribed to help manage the condition, but for many patients a heart transplant is the only option. Many die waiting for an organ to become available.

But the researchers say stem cell therapy could one day offer an alternative to a transplant.

The trials involved 126 patients from 31 hospitals across the US. Each was assigned stem cell therapy or placebo and the doctors did not know which they would be getting.

A small amount of bone marrow was drawn from each patients from which two types of stem cell were extracted, and their number increased in the lab.

After scanning the patients heart to see where the damage was greatest, the stem cells were then delivered to those areas using a catheter.

The group were then followed for 12 months with doctors monitoring deaths, hospitilsations and unplanned clinic visits. During that period eight patients died who had been given a placebo, compared with four who were on the stem cell treatment.

82 per cent of patients who did not have the therapy needed hospital treatment during that time, compared with 51 per cent of the stem cell patients.

Although the study found there was only very small improvements in overall heart function including performance in an exercise tolerance test, scientists think a larger sample size may show larger benefits and are hoping to move to phase 3 trials with a greater number of patients.

Professor Jeremy Pearson, Associate Medical Director at the British Heart Foundation, said:There are over half a million people in the UK, and millions around the world living with debilitating heart failure.

"Treatments are limited and the only cure is a heart transplant. Regenerative treatments that repair the damage caused by a heart attack, which often leads to heart failure, are urgently needed.

Over the last decade there has been a series of trials involving injecting a patients own bone marrow-derived cells to help repair the failing heart. Most studies have been small and overall shown the procedure is safe but the clinical benefit, if any, has been marginal.

"Bone marrow stem cell therapy appears to be safe but using it to improve heart function and the quality of life for patients depends on further research.

The results of the trial were presented at the American College of Cardiology annual meeting and published in The Lancet.
From unspoiled coastlines to roaming wild donkeys, Thomas Breathnach finds an off-radar gem in North Cyprus.

Set the mood

I'm on the edge. Of Europe.

Parked up on Cape Saint Andrew with the continent's first sun rays beaming down, I abandon my trusty Ford Fiesta to absorb the vistas.

Waves crash against a cliff-face capped by a lonesome monastery; shepherds coral a flock of ewes down the parched hillsides, while across the olive brushed horizon, early light is shimmering the landscape to life.

The pastoral air feels almost biblical, but the distant echoes of the Call to Prayer and the warm local greetings of Merhaba reveal a land less orthodox.

I'm in Northern Cyprus; the Turkish strands of this divided, eastern Mediterranean island. I'm exploring the treasures of a forgotten country.

Guilty pleasure

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With its official currency, the Turkish Lira, on the rocks, luxuries are blissfully bountiful in North Cyprus. For some urban pampering, head to the divided capital of Lefkosa (AKA Nicosia) where the historic Buyuk Hamam offers traditional spa treatments from 50TL/15 (grandturkishhamam.com).

Fancy more of an eco-indulgence? Scuba-diving with sea turtles should hit the bucket list bonanza. The elusive green turtle finds its European home on the coasts of Northern Cyprus, with a number of local outfitters getting you up close and personal on boating trips (mephisto-diving.com; 70). Just call it the new swimming with dolphins.

Cheap kick

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For the quintessential calendar image of Northern Cyprus, look for the country's unlikely billboard attraction: wild donkeys.

The animals, originally abandoned by Greek farmers fleeing the Turkish invasion, act as an unlikely legacy of the conflict and a magnet for Instagramming road-trippers. On the remote Karpass Peninsula, over 2,000 donkeys boldly block roadways and pillage farmland amid glorious legal protection. In fact, their conservation is said to be one of the few things the Greeks and Turks can agree on!

Top tip

Smile, you're on camera! Speed traps are in astounding abundance in North Cyprus, so avoid hefty fines and heed warning signs and limits while driving. Also, save your koftas for your picnic: eating behind the wheel here could cost you 85!

Insider intel

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With fears that Cyprus would annex to its Hellenic motherland, Turkey invaded in 1974, occupying almost half the island. Today, the region has a safe and laid-back, Kusadasi-meets-Mykonos vibe.

The white-washed fishing port of Kyrenia is a dream base, while the mountainside hamlet of Catalkoy offers more rustic appeal. Come check-in, the four-star Olive Tree is a real bargain find (olivetreehotel.com; 24pps).

Glitches

North Cyprus is home to some of the most unspoiled coastlines in the Med - it's just a shame what gets washed up on them. Marine trash is an obvious malaise, with castaway rubbish often marring perfect panoramas.

Get me there

North Cyprus and its international airport are not recognised by IATA, so visitors must hopscotch via its only global ally, Turkey, to get there.

The good news is that connections from Dublin via Istanbul allow for minimal layover times, with return rates starting from around 276 (turkishairlines.com).

On the ground, excellent road networks plus drive-on-the-left appeal make Northern Cyprus ideal for car touring. For more info, see welcometonorthcyprus.co.uk.
High flying: Ettore Bilottas new uniform for Etihad Airways cabin crew, pictured by Vogue and Vanity Fair photographer Norman Jean Roy in Abu Dhabis Liwa desert

What exactly does it take to become a flight attendant? Soo Kim looks at the requirements, past and present.

The cabin crew industry has undergone a raft of changes in its history, from a dizzying array of uniforms to an evolution of the exact specifications applicants must meet.

While traditionally considered a role for women, the first flight attendants were all male before the first "stewardess" was hired by Americas United Airlines in 1930. Soon after, female flight attendants, or "air hostesses", became the norm.

A 1936 New York Times article described the ideal air hostess as "petite; weight 100 to 118 pounds; height 5 feet to 5 feet 4 inches; age 20 to 26 years. Add to that the rigid physical examination each must undergo four times every year, and you are assured of the bloom that goes with perfect health."

While height, weight and age restrictions have remained today, stricter physical attributes - varying from teeth and hair to arm reach and ability to swim - as well as mental health and specific additional training, have joined the industrys evolving list of cabin crew requisites.

Here we highlight some of the more unusual requirements...

Height and arm reach

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Most airlines require flight attendants to be between 52 and 62 in height (without shoes), and sometimes slightly taller for male flight attendants.

Some require a specific arm reach height - such as Etihad, which says cabin crew must be able to reach 210cm without shoes, while Emirates flight attendants must have an arm reach of 212cm while standing on tiptoes.

"We also need our crew to be able to stretch to reach six feet, three inches (6'3") or higher," stipulates Aer Lingus.

British Airways' (BA) detailed functionality requirement says its flight attendants must have a vertical functional reach of at least 2.01 meters (6 feet 7 inches), i.e. when you are standing with your feet flat against the floor, the fist on your dominant armwhen fully extended is at least 6 feet 7 inches above the ground

Air New Zealand says all of its cabin crew applicants must be able to lift a 10kg weight to a height of 170cm without shoes and with both feet flat on the floor.

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Weight and body mass index (BMI)

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Airlines generally require flight attendants to be in proportion to your height. What might be considered a healthy weight may be determined by your body mass index, as seems to be the case with Czech Airlines.

BMI is used to calculate weight  ones body weight in kilograms is divided by the square of ones body height in metres. BMI = body weight (kg) divided by square of height (m). A BMI = 19-24.9 is considered satisfactory, the airline states.

Last year, Air India warned 600 of its 3,500 crew to lose weight within six months or risk being taken off flights. The airline announced plans to remove nearly 130 workers from cabin crew duty because their BMI levels remain above the prescribed limit.

The airline said that the normal BMI for an air hostess is between 18 and 22, overweight between 22 and 27, and obese for a value above 27.

For male attendants the brackets were 18 to 25, 25 to 30, and above. The NHS says a healthy BMI is between 18.5 and 24.9.

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Nostril hairs, teeth and other features

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Several airlines are reported to have specific guidelines for the physical appearance of their cabin crew, such as American Airlines which is said to advise that: "Noticeable hair in nostrils and in/on ears or underarms must be cut or otherwise removed.

Good teeth and oral hygiene also make the list of requirements for American Airlines, which says: "Teeth should present a clean, natural appearance. Employees must have a full frontal complement of teeth. Dental retainers must be gum toned or clear. Braces should be clear or silver."

Las Vegas-based Allegiant Air says:

Good oral hygiene should be practiced to ensure that the teeth present a clean, natural appearance. Breath sprays and mints are encouraged.

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Hawaiian Airlines is reported to advise that: Hands and nails should be kept well groomed at all times, with nail length not exceeding an eighth of an inch beyond the finger tip," while United Airlines outlines that finger nails may be no longer than  inch measured from the fingertip and should be even in length and shape".

United Airlines also takes a strong stance on facial hair on men, saying  trendy facial hair styles are not permitted (e.g., small patch of hair growing below lower lip)" for men and "mustaches may not extend more than  inch below the sides of the mouth".

Meanwhile, Jet Airways is said to require a clear complexion (scars, pimples and blemishes not acceptable)".

Tattoos and piercings

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A Pan-Am crew in 1970. No tattoos, please!

Most airlines do not allow any tattoos or piercings visible when the cabin crew are wearing their uniforms and most, such as BA, Emirates and Etihad, do not allow any visible tattoos to be covered with cosmetics, plasters or even jewellery, as cabin crew are expected to have excellent personal presentation, style and image, according to Etihads requirements.

As all our uniform shirts are white, you will be required to wear an appropriate white undergarment if you have a tattoo on your upper body in the blue area so that your tattoo is in no way visible through the uniform shirt, BA states.

Tattoos on the feet are not permitted, as they cannot be concealed. All shoes must be of the classic court style, which leaves the top and side of the foot exposed. The maximum permitted hosiery density is 15 denier and does not cover up tattoos.

You will be required to remove any items from your tongue for training and duty. Tattoos are not permitted on wrists. Watches must be of a discreet design with either a small silver or gold metal bracelet, or brown/black leather strap the airline said.

Hair and makeup

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Etihad crew in their new Ettore Bilotta uniforms

Airlines generally require flight attendants to have a groomed look that meets conventional standard, as BA describes.

For women, you will need to have a styled look with hair and makeup that would be appropriate in a professional environment and complements our uniform. For men, your hair must meet a conventional style which is appropriate for a professional environment, shaven or sculptured styles and long hair are not permitted. Dyed hair must be of a natural colour for both men and women.

American Airlines believes "hairstyles may not be more than three inches in fullness and may not wave or curl outward to extreme volume" while Hawaiian Airlines believes unacceptable hairstyles include, but are not limited to, extreme or unnatural colors (e.g., pink, purple), top-knots, dreadlocks, cornrows and Mohawks."

As for makeup, "male flight attendants may not wear make-up on United Airlines flights, while "Lipstick or gloss are required and should complement the facial features. Lip liner should be used in moderation" by Allegiant Air flight attendants.

Makeup should be freshened as necessary, but never in view of the customer" American Airlines believes.

Uniforms

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Ryanair's new uniforms.

Guidelines around airline uniforms, which have a varied history, are also provided with specific details by some airlines such as United Airlines, which says the "length [of skirt] may not exceed 1 inch above or 1 inch below the crease of the back of the knee.

US budget carrier JetBlue tells cabin crew not to tie your sweater around your waist; it can be worn around your shoulders and "don't wear accessories that clash with your uniform".

"Hoop earrings are permitted and may be no larger than 1 inches in diameter and/or  inch wide on the surface" for Hawaiian Airlines cabin crew and United Airlines is reported to allow "a total of four rings to be worn, with "no more than two on each hand by each flight attendant.

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Physical strength and health

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Flight attendants with Canada's WestJet "must successfully pass a functional assessment and must be able to lift 50 pounds from floor to waist and 22 pounds overhead".

Air New Zealand believes good health is essential and if you progress through the selection process, you will be required to undertake a medical examination while Etihad warns all flight attendants must be "willing to comply with UAE and GCAA visa, medical and health screening requirements.

Alaska Airlines is also said to  require applicants to be free of all nicotine use for at least 6 months prior to submitting an application."

Swimming skills

Flight attendants for different airlines must be able to swim at least around 20 metres (i.e. Ryanair). EasyJets cabin crew must be able to swim 25 metres without any assistance and tread water for at least a minute. Etihad says applicants must be "confident in water and be able to swim with the aid of a flotation device".

Mental health tests and jungle training

Most airlines require a minimum of high school level education or the equivalent from their cabin crew, but some airlines require additional training and aptitude testing, such as with Czech Airlines, which states: At first, your identity and education are verified then there is a written and oral assessment of your language skills.

If you pass through these stages successfully, you undergo a psychological testing at the Institute of Aviation Medicine assessing the aptitude of the applicant for the position of cabin attendant."

Following a final medical check at the Institute of Aviation Medicine and you are deemed fit to fly, you will be enrolled in an intensive six-week daily training course, the airline states.

The Brazilian carrier TAM Airlines puts its cabin crew through their paces in a maze-like space set up inside a totally dark building filled with smoke, according to Airlinereporter.com.

Teams of flight attendants must go in and communicate with each other to try and work through the maze, find the [dummy] passenger, and get him to safety, writes David Parker Brown.

The airline is also said to have a designated area where their flight attendants are made to complete jungle survival training to learn how to survive in the jungle in case a plane goes down.

It is actually required by the Brazilian government that any airline based in Brazil needs to offer this sort of training. I have never seen this sort of training with any other airline, so it was quite interesting.

The area is used to train flight attendants how to gather bits and parts of the crashed plane to build shelter and, hopefully, be rescued in a timely manner.

Alaska Airlines is reported to require their cabin crew to have "at least two years of customer or community service experience.

Marital status

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Jet Airways is reported to require an unmarried status as only a standard for "inexperienced" crew; people applying as "experienced" cabin crew are said to be allowed to be married.

Last September, Qatar Airways relaxed its controversial policies which saw cabin crew sacked if they became pregnant or got married within the first five years of employment.

The restrictions, which had been condemned by UN agency the International Labour Organization (ILO), had been phased out "over the past six months", a spokeswoman for the company told AFP at the time.

"Our policies have evolved with the airline's growth," the spokeswoman added.

Under the new regulations, women who become pregnant are now offered temporary ground jobs and staff can also get married after notifying the company.

Other regulations which had drawn complaints from staff - such as women crew members can only be picked up from work by their father, brother or husband - are thought to remain in place.

Age

While all UK-based airlines are not allowed to set age restrictions on their employees following the age discrimination act of 2006, all international airlines tend to have a minimum age requirement between 18-21 years for their flight attendants.

The majority of international airlines are to welcome applications for flight attendants up to around 56 years of age.

Last year, a 59-year-old grandmother of 11 who took up her dream job as a flight attendant just shy of her 60th birthday was among the stars of a documentary about Virgin Atlantic. Katrine Haynes from Eastbourne was one of more than 2,000 people who applied for the role in just 48 hours.

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April is the sweet spot for travel bargains in 2016, says our Travel Editor. Here, he outlines why.

If I had a cent for every survey 'revealing' the cheapest time to book a flight, I'd be a business class regular by now.

Most recently, search site Skyscanner.ie concluded that booking seven weeks ahead was the optimum time to bag a bargain.

It also found November to be the cheapest month in which to travel.

Finding the best time to book a flight is far from simple, however. Airlines keep their cards close to their chests, and prices can be influenced by everything from demand to fuel costs, exchange rates and terrorist attacks (the cost of holidaying in the Canaries has risen considerably since events in Egypt and Tunisia, for instance).

There is one sweet spot, however - and we're in it.

April is a month that comes after 2.5 weeks of school holidays, and at the start of the airlines' summer schedules. That means more capacity is opening up just as fewer families are travelling... for a limited time.

Travel now, particularly midweek, and you could save a fortune.

April sees new Ryanair summer services from Dublin to Amsterdam, Athens and Vigo (from 19.99 as we print). Aer Lingus is now flying from Dublin to Murcia, and new services to Pisa, Montpellier, LA, Newark and Connecticut will follow.

WOW air is flying four times weekly from Dublin to Reykjavik, with lead-in fares from 69 each way. Don't forget the baggage fees, though - they can vary hugely across airlines and routes.

If April isn't an option, take a look at May. Package prices rise with the weather, but sun holidays and city breaks are still a lot cheaper than in high summer.

Sun holiday deals

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The Canaries have shot up this year, but savvy travellers can still find spring deals in the Algarve. Granted, the temperatures are a bit lower in April (11-22 degrees, versus 18-22 for the Canaries), but it still feels like a nice Irish summer.

Going to press, GoHop.ie had week-long, 3-star packages from 158 departing April 24. ClickandGo.com had a seven-night, 4-star package in Praia do Vau from 246pp departing the same day.

Falcon (falconholidays.ie) is also offering up to 250 off April holidays.

City break specials

Fancy a city break? The mercury hasn't quite risen high enough for lazy dips in the Med or Atlantic, but April does offer ideal temperatures (not to mention off-peak crowds) in Europe's cities.

Going to press, Budget Travel (budgettravel.ie) had a three-night, 3-star break in Lisbon from 299pp, Lowcostholidays.ie had a two-night, 4-star break in Rome from 215pp, and Cassidy Travel (cassidytravel.ie) had three nights in Prague from 135pp.

Another site worth bookmarking is the Irish Travel Agents' Association's itaa.ie/offers - it's regularly updates with members' latest deals.

NB: Prices subject to availability.
Premium

Colette Browne Opinion Every effort must be made to retrieve oral histories of mother and baby home survivors

With three days to go until the Mother and Baby Homes Commission ceases to exist as a legal entity, we are being told that audio recordings of hundreds of witnesses which were deleted may not actually be gone forever. It is another usual twist in a most emotional saga. For decades, survivors of mother and baby homes have been denied a voice and denied autonomy. When they fell pregnant, many through rape and abuse, they were marched to the doors of religious institutions.
'Why are students so eager to self-infantilise? I blame the generation of parents who raised these children to be fragile snowflakes who are simply unable to cope with the slings and arrows life throws at us. I blame social media most of all.' Photo: PA

A few days ago the president of America's Emory University met with student demonstrators who said they were concerned and frightened after someone wrote "Trump 2016" in chalk on campus buildings. Sounds scary. "Trump 2016" written in chalk, imagine.

This display must mean that we've now reached peak victimhood. You see we've created a cult of victimhood where the excessively sensitive are able to find gripes everywhere, in any micro-aggression, handclap or unsafe space. It's been going on for a long time on America's university campuses and has created a potent robust censorship movement there, where lecturers and guests are frequently accused of racism, sexism, homophobia or ethnocentric thinking. Campuses eagerly ban speakers whose ideas might distress students.

The moral panic about speech and sexual activity in universities has reached Britain and Ireland too. Last year feminist author Germaine Greer was due to give a talk at Cardiff University. She was demonised after a number of activists protested her repeated derogatory comments about trans women. Yes, Greer has spoken out against "man's delusion that he is female", claiming trans women are "some kind of ghastly parody" but will never be women because they do not know what it's like to have a vagina.

Wading into the row, evolutionary biologist and atheist author Richard Dawkins very rightly lashed out at people who tried to get Greer blocked from speaking simply because they disagreed with her opinion. "Those who think it's nonsense are entitled to stay away. Or come and argue. They should not censor views they think are nonsense," he said. "A university is not a 'safe space'. If you need a safe space, leave, go home, hug your teddy and suck your thumb until ready for university."

A campaign also started last year at Oxford called Rhodes Must Fall. It wanted to remove what the protesters saw as an offensive symbol of colonialism: a statue of Cecil Rhodes. Rhodes, after all, was a white supremacist who was involved in the exploitation of southern Africa. Looking at his statue was far too triggering for our Generation Snowflake.

It's happening here too, just look to the outrage and histrionics at the entirely fictional 'UCD 200' last month, something that didn't even happen.

I read an interview where one female student spoke about her "terror" when walking around the campus after the incident that never actually happened. We are living in a generation of internet wars, over-used counselling centres, and hand-holding coddling - and this only accentuates the sexual paranoia pervading campus life. But it's disappointing to see students clamour for a kind of intrusive supervision that would have outraged their predecessors a few generations ago. What happened to free love, that it now needs to be policed by a small army of counsellors, consent classes and the like?

Why are students so eager to self-infantilise? I blame the generation of parents who raised these children to be fragile snowflakes who are simply unable to cope with the slings and arrows life throws at us. I blame social media most of all.

Despite all the talk of "trolls", social media is an exceptionally safe space, where you can censor anything that you disagree with. Our current generation of students has grown up fully in cyberspace, and now they want to make the real world as unchallenging as they can make their Twitter and Facebook feeds, by reporting, blocking and muting anyone who has different ideas to theirs.

These are the kind of people who wouldn't have applied to university if they knew it might put them at risk of meeting a Renua supporter, a Zionist or a meat-loving culchie.

Students, you're not a unique and precious snowflake and there is no such thing as safety. That is asking too much of life. That is asking too much of people. Life gives you possibilities for freedom, love, all sorts of wonderful things, but it never promised that you would be "safe".

Teaching young adults that they have this kind of right is incredibly harmful. No matter who you are - white, black, male, female, trans, queer, straight - you will be offended loads of times throughout your life. People will be insensitive towards you. Life isn't an ideologically safe space.

People will say and do things that are wrong, stupid; things that are meant to hurt you. They'll bring up topics you find upsetting. You will be uncomfortable. But that's the price we pay for freedom and especially for that glorious right that I will defend forever: freedom of speech.
People demonstrate against Iceland's Prime Minister Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson in Reykjavik after a leak of documents stoked anger over his wife owning a tax haven-based company with large claims on the country's collapsed banks. REUTERS/Stigtryggur Johannsson

The late US hotelier and real estate investor Leona Helmsley was once overheard uttering the immortal line that paying taxes was "only for the little people".

Of course, this bluster came back to haunt the billionaire 'Queen of the Mean' when she was jailed for filing incorrect tax returns back in the 1980s.

While Helmsley's crime was relatively unsophisticated, systems for minimising, avoiding or illegally evading tax have evolved significantly since then.

The use of offshore accounts in tax havens with deliberately poor disclosure and transparency laws has long been a way for the rich and powerful to hide their wealth.

But the disclosures made in the Panama Papers - over 11 million files leaked from the law firm Mossack Fonseca - reveal how the practice of concealing wealth is now being conducted on a truly industrial scale.

And while systems adopted by Western governments to combat tax dodgers have greatly improved, Helmsley's infamous statement still has more than a ring of truth to it.

The Panama Papers reveal how secretive offshore tax packages were created for world leaders, their associates, politicians and celebrities.

Billions of euro have been shielded from the view of tax authorities in this way.

Russia's premier Vladimir Putin; China's president Xi Jinping; Ukraine's president Petro Poroshenko; Pakistan's prime minister Nawaz Sharif and Iceland's prime minister Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson have all been linked in one way or another with schemes involving the Panamanian law firm.

British prime minister David Cameron - a critic of 'tax secrecy' - is also coming under pressure following revelations that his late father used a Panamanian fund and other offshore arrangements to help shield investments from UK taxes.

Of course, there is nothing illegal about holding an offshore account or using offshore companies and Mossack Fonseca insists that it is acting within the law.

But there are huge ethical questions about the practices outlined in the records, which were sent anonymously to the German newspaper 'Suddeutsche Zeitung' and shared with news organisations via the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).

The law firm specialises in setting up hard-to-trace offshore companies for clients around the world, ensuring confidentiality and secrecy.

However, the systems are open to abuse and the motives of those involved are open to question.

Paying one's fair share of tax rarely comes into the equation in the morally dubious world that these international tax experts inhabit.

An example of the sharp practice engaged in by the law firm can be seen in its use of bearer shares to create a veil of secrecy surrounding the ownership of companies and assets.

These are share certificates, which give ownership of a company to whoever physically possesses them, while ensuring that their name does not appear on any share register.

The OECD has been actively seeking an end to the use of such certificates.

When the British Virgin Islands cracked down on bearer shares in 2005, Mossack Fonseca simply moved its bearer share clients to Panama.

The legality of many schemes concocted or facilitated by the firm is likely to be tested when tax authorities in various countries get their hands on the Panama Papers documents.

Some have already launched investigations or sought access to the data.

The caretaker Government, in the form of Jobs Minister Richard Bruton, was quick to pledge that if there is any evidence of wrongdoing, it will be dealt with.

We can expect the Revenue Commissioners to be all over the Panama Papers, given that around 360 companies with recorded links to Ireland are mentioned in the documents.

Since 1998, special investigations by the taxman here have netted 2.7bn, with the bulk of this coming from taxes and penalties related to bogus non-resident accounts (874m) and offshore assets probes (993m). Indeed, so successful has the Revenue been in tracking down illegally diverted funds that its approach to tackling offshore tax evasion has been adopted by the OECD as best practice.

A key message of the ICIJ investigation is that there are often far-reaching consequences for 'the little people' as a result of the rich shielding their wealth.

One of the most powerful examples cited was in Uganda, where a company wanted to sell an oil field and paid Mossack Fonseca to help it avoid paying $400m in taxes. The method used by the law firm to achieve this was simple. It moved the company's address from one tax haven to another.

The $400m that should have been paid would have been more than Uganda's annual health budget. Instead of having the money to invest in much-needed services, the Ugandan government was led a merry dance in court as it tried unsuccessfully to have the tax paid.

In the meantime, hospitals near the oil field lack equipment. Infant mortality is high.

Mossack Fonseca does not appear to care too much about the morals of its clients, some 23 of whom have had sanctions imposed on them for supporting regimes in North Korea, Zimbabwe, Russia, Iran and Syria.

The law firm has denied allegations that it knowingly helped companies accused of supplying fuel to the Syrian airforce to continue operating after they had been blacklisted.

If the claims are true, who knows how many innocents have been slaughtered by barrel bombs as a result of shady financial dealings?
Irish comedian and now viral media star Clisare, alias Clare Cullen, has had a massive video hit in the US with her 'Donald Trump Bad Boyfriend' meme on YouTube, which has attracted five million views in a very short time.

Clisare, as Ireland, begins with an imaginary talk with her best female buddy, discussing Donald Trump as America's newest sweetheart.

"I've just been chatting with all of the other countries and we just really think that Donald is not right for you. We'd hoped that you'd come to this conclusion by yourself, but it's looking like it needs to be said."

She tells America that if "you are going to make it official with Donald, you can't hang around with Britain any more".

It looks like the real Donald can't hang around with anyone any more after the disastrous two weeks he has just had. 'The New York Times' reported in its Sunday lead story that he now "trails in every key state and Clinton leads him by double digits in most of them".

It also reported an incredible scenario. A recent poll in Utah, the rock-ribbed conservative Mormon state, which had not voted Democrat in over 50 years, shows Hillary Clinton leading the Republican frontrunner by three points.

Trump could be heading for a massive defeat if he is chosen, the worst since Walter Mondale lost 49 of the 50 states to Ronald Reagan in 1984.

It has all happened with astonishing speed. The Trump has gone from wildcard to joker to the supposed death card, the Ace of Spades for the GOP. He will get walloped in Wisconsin this week and may even finish behind the perennial Paddy last John Kasich.

Now that the pace of key primaries has slowed down, Trump is no longer able to whip up the huge crowds and compelling sense of urgency and anger that he was once able to call up on cue.

Once, the crowds and the anger were the story and the bandwagon galloped on in a cloud of dust and obfuscation. It was almost impossible to catch up. So with the race settled down, it is the policies the Donald has proposed that are suddenly centre stage.

His interviews have become sharper and more probing after massive criticism of the media for his ability to deflect stories. His lack of depth is starting to show.

His insane answers to several questions are revealing that there may actually be wisdom in the long nomination process. The hare that bolts from the box does not always stay the course, and the hounds often catch up.

His call to punish women who had abortions, his rallying cry to destroy NATO and remove the Geneva Convention, his decision to post an unflattering picture of Heidi Cruz, the wife of his chief opponent, Ted Cruz, and send it out on Twitter, all beggar belief.

He wants to allow any country that wants them to have nuclear weapons (Pakistan anyone?) and will withdraw troops from any country not paying its fair share of the upkeep.

What is now clear is that Trump has a businessman's reaction to everything; cut, slash, save, destroy, and the nuances of diplomacy and government are far beyond him.

Politics ain't beanbag, Peter Finley Dunne once wrote, and Trump and the GOP are discovering that putting Trump at the head of the GOP charge is like lining up in a circle for the firing squad.

Too late they have seen the light and are trying to prevent Trump winning. But the hard core in the Republican primaries will still support him in the leading states left on the ballot, like New York, his home state, and California.

Winning those two monster states will leave Trump very close to the 1,237 delegates he needs to be elected on the first count in Cleveland at the convention in July, and a horrific nightmare for the GOP as the race unfolds.

But no matter where the GOP looks, there will be dragons. If they try to prevent Trump getting his majority, they have alienated the core voters they need in November. Trump (below) would still have time to file as an Independent candidate, meaning mayhem for the GOP.

The only alternative that many see is to throw the election to Senator Ted Cruz somehow - but the hard right-winger with the Bible belt fastened round his waist would be beaten handily by Clinton too.

Cruz is hated and reviled within the GOP, yet the orthodoxy now is that he will do far less damage than Trump to the party's foundations.

A third possibility, that they pick neither man and then new names emerge as the balloting fails to pick a winner with enough delegates, is also fraught with danger.

The millions of Americans who voted for one of the GOP contenders who faced the electorate will feel that they are functioning under a dictatorship in the party and may well refuse to come out and vote when November comes around.

Meanwhile, the Democrats are looking on with ill-disguised glee. An article on Politico.com on Sunday last stated that the jockeying for positions in a Clinton administration was already under way.

But it has been such a strange time that counting chickens just yet may be very premature in the zaniest election year anyone can remember - and there are still seven months to go.
Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Anika Noni Rose attend "Roots" Photocall as part of MIPTV 2016 on April 4, 2016 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Tony Barson/FilmMagic)

Jonathan Rhys Meyers attends "Roots" Photocall as part of MIPTV 2016 on April 4, 2016 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Tony Barson/FilmMagic)

Jonathan Rhys Meyers attends "Roots" Photocall as part of MIPTV 2016 on April 4, 2016 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Tony Barson/FilmMagic)

Jonathan Rhys Meyers looked back to his best while promoting his latest film in the South of France.

Nearly one year ago, the troubled actor (38) who caused concern when pictures of him drinking vodka in the street were published, but after a low-key year of focusing on his work and fiancee - actress Mara Lane - he appears to be back on track.

The Cork native was in Cannes at a photocall for Roots, co-starring Anika Noni Rose and Anna Paquin, and Lane was happy to play the supporting other half as she took photos of her own on her iPhone.

Roots is a tv mini-series chronicling the history of an African slave sold to America and his descendants and marks his most high profile role since wrapping NBC series Dracula, opposite Irish actress Victoria Smurfit, in 2014.

Expand Close Jonathan Rhys Meyers attends "Roots" Photocall as part of MIPTV 2016 on April 4, 2016 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Tony Barson/FilmMagic) / Facebook

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He beamed as he posed for photographers during the photocall and looked effortlessly stylish in a grey leather jacket and a new pair of eyeglasses. He was joined by his other half of two years and she's said to be incredibly supportive on his road to sobriety. The former model stunned in an olive green shift dress, accessorising with a Gucci hobo tote.

Mara and I are thankful for your support and kindness during this time," he wrote via her Instagam account last May, weeks after those controversial pictures were published.

I apologise for having a minor relapse and hope that people dont think too badly of me."

I am on the mend and thank well wishers and sorry for my dishevelled appearance as I was on my home from a friends and had not changed. I feel I made a mistake and feel quite embarrassed but this was a little blip in my recovery, otherwise Im living a healthy life. Love and blessing #Rebel #Angel.

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She's made no secret of the hard work involved in her dramatic weight loss and super-toned figure.

And Nadia Forde is more than happy to show off the fruits of her labour as she flaunts her bikini body during a sun holiday to Dubai.

The model-turned-actress jetted out to the millionaires playground on Sunday with her other-half  Welsh rugby player Dominic Day  and wasted no time in topping up her tan.

The 26-year-old, who is a devout gym goer showed off her slimmed-down figure and toned stomach in a series of revealing bikinis on Snapchat.

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Nadia and Dom, who last week marked their one-year anniversary, are staying at the exclusive five-star Rixos at The Palm resort. Their digs for the week aren't half bad - the loved-up couple splashed out on a hotel suite with a walk-in wardrobe.

As well as lounging in the sun and enjoying dinner dates, the couple have also been staying active with a paddle board session in the calm Dubai waters.

Nadia and Dom, who has just finished a busy Six Nations campaign with his native Wales, will spend the rest of the week soaking up the sun in their lavish surroundings.

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The striking brunette, who has lost more than two stone since appearing on Im A Celebrity at the end of 2014, turned heads in a blue Seafolly bikini. As well as working out, Nadia told the Diary that she watches what she eats, but its not all about her weight.

Its not necessarily a weight thing  yes, thats a by-product, but certain foods dont agree with me and I feel quite lethargic afterward. I do need to watch what I eat. Its not a situation where I can eat pizza every night. But I am a girl, and crave things like chocolate, she added.

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A haven for the wealthy and glamorous, Dubai has been a destination of choice for a string of Irish models, including former Miss Ireland Aoife Walsh, who is just back from a trip to the UAE.

Nadias former BFF Georgia Salpa is another regular to the hotspot, and spends a lot of her time in Dubai with husband Joe Penna and their sons.

I wish there was a coconut emoji A photo posted by nadiaforde (@nadiaforde) on Apr 4, 2016 at 6:50am PDT

Once home from Dubai, Nadia and Dom will be gearing up for their move to Japan after he signed a deal with a club in Nagoya.

Howerver, Nadia fully intends to divide her time between Dublin, where her family live, and LA for work.
The 'biggest Irish box office star of all time' has been revealed

The UK film industry is letting down the next generation of female film-making talent, according to a new report from Met Film School.

The "entrenched problem" of a lack of women behind the camera is part of "the huge lack of diversity" across the industry, the film school states in its report, Met Spotlight on: Women and the Big Picture.

A race row dominated this year's Oscars after a virtually all-white shortlist was announced for the top honours. It prompted some stars to boycott the ceremony.

The report, which looks at the gender imbalances in the film and media production, said: "There has been a lot bubbling in the background but last year was the first year it got more airtime. It is not enough, but a start.

"Our hope is also that the lack of diversity widely publicised through the Oscars, is partly down to the generational factor.

"As an example, Oscars technical award winners are generally white and male because the head of departments tend to win awards; a generation that had less diversity influence than the new generation coming through.

"These changes take time to roll out."

The report notes that only men were in the running in several behind-the-scenes categories at the Oscars, including best director, cinematographer and music.

It also states that while there were a few female-centric films nominated at this year's Baftas, this was "overshadowed" because no female director was among the high-profile categories.

This included Best Film, Outstanding British Film, Film Not In The English Language or Animated Film.

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Only 22.6% of the crew members on the 2,000 highest grossing films between 1994 and 2013 were female, according to the report.

An industry mentoring scheme supporting women and other under-represented groups, along with formal links between film companies and film schools, could help to bring balance to the industry, according to the report.

It also suggests that film and media school masterclasses fronted by experienced female creative talent and technicians would help to increase the visible representation of women in the industry while also inspiring students.

The Met Film School is based at the Ealing Studios in west London, where British classics such as The Lavender Hill Mob through to modern-day television hits like Downton Abbey were shot.

Met Film School director Lisa Neeley said: "We are pleased that 45% of our student population is female - but this should not be exceptional.

"We have an obligation along with other media education providers to actively seek a diverse student body and train the next generation of multi-skilled, diverse screen storytellers.

"This has to go hand in hand with promoting greater access into the creative industries - removing the de facto barriers that limit participation - key industry and political decision makers across the sector need to facilitate greater representation, which involves moving from dialogue to action.

"The creative industries offer exciting and rewarding career opportunities, and we need to ensure that the next generation is equipped to take advantage of these wide ranging opportunities".

Met Film School chief executive Jonny Persey said: "Education is only the first step into a career behind the camera; industry itself needs to work harder to open doors for the new wave of graduates coming through."

Read the full report here
Actors Caitriona Balfe (L) and Sam Heughan attend the "Outlander" Season 2 Premiere on April 4, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Craig Barritt/Getty Images for STARZ)

Actress Caitriona Balfe attends the "Outlander" Season 2 Premiere on April 4, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Craig Barritt/Getty Images for STARZ)

Actress Caitriona Balfe attends the "Outlander" Season Two World Premiere at American Museum of Natural History on April 4, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Robin Marchant/Getty Images)

Actress Caitriona Balfe attends the "Outlander" Season 2 Premiere on April 4, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Craig Barritt/Getty Images for STARZ)

She's undoubtedly the most famous Irish actress on television right now.

Monaghan native Caitriona Balfe, who started off as one of Ireland's most successful international modelling exports, is currently starring in hit fantasy series Outlander and dressed the part of a tv star for the show's season premiere.

The former Victoria's Secret model stunned in a strapless white embellished dress from Delpozo's Spring/Summer collection and showcased her natural beauty with her trademark lob haircut and minimal makeup.

Fresh from her Golden Globe nomination for her turn as WWII nurse Claire Beaucham in the Starz drama, the popular actress said she still finds it strange when fans recognise her - especially at home.

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Last May, I was at home in Monaghan for my nephews communion and afterwards this woman says to me, Oh, what are you doing here? I was like, What do you mean?  and then I realised she must know me from Outlander.

Balfe said she's accustomed to travelling the world for her work, having walked for Roberto Cavalli, Dolce & Gabbana and is the only Irish woman to ever have a pair of Victoria's Secret wings, but wouldn't have been ready for such an intense role at that stage in her career.

There are certain things about my life that I have drawn upon to play Claire. I have lived in many countries and been in situations where I dont know the language or felt lost and had to adapt," she told the RTE Guide.

That helped me a lot with playing Claire in the beginning. But Im glad this show happened to me when it did  when I had all that life experience.

Expand Close Actress Caitriona Balfe attends the "Outlander" Season 2 Premiere on April 4, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Craig Barritt/Getty Images for STARZ) / Facebook

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Do I think I would have been ready for that in my twenties? Probably not, but then things happen for a reason.
President Barack Obama has called NATO "the linchpin" of US security policy and a critical ally in the fight against terrorism, indirectly countering Republican Donald Trump's recent claims that the 67-year-old alliance is obsolete.

Speaking after an Oval Office meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Obama praised the alliance's contributions to the fight against the Islamic State group, its partnership in Afghanistan and assistance in the refugee crisis in Europe.

"NATO continues to be the linchpin, the cornerstone of our collective defense and US security policy," Obama said.

Obama did not name Trump and ignored a reporter's question about the Republican presidential candidate's recent statements.

Still, his comments struck a strong contrast to Trump's assertion that NATO is irrelevant and ill-suited to fight terrorism. As president, Trump has said he would force member nations to increase their contributions, even if that risked breaking up the alliance.

Both the president and the secretary general aimed to dispute that characterisation. In remarks after the meeting, Obama described Europe as especially burdened by instability and reliant on Trans-Atlantic alliance. "This is obviously a tumultuous time in the world. Europe is a focal point of a lot of these stresses and strains in the global security system," he said.

Choppy

"It is because of the strength of NATO ... that I'm confident that despite these choppy waters we will be able to continue to underscore and underwrite the peace and security and prosperity that has been a hallmark of the trans-Atlantic relationship."

Stoltenberg described the alliance "as important as ever."

"NATO has been able to adapt to a more dangerous world," he said, noting the NATO had begun training Iraqi soldiers last week.

Obama said he and Stoltenberg discussed NATO's plans to assist the European Union with the migrant crisis.
Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin introduces Republican US presidential candidate Donald Trump during a town hall meeting in Racine, Wisconsin, ahead of the states primary. Photo: Reuters

Donald Trump tried to put a difficult week behind him yesterday as he neared today's Republican presidential contest in Wisconsin, where he is campaigning from the unfamiliar position of clearly being the underdog.

The Republican front-runner is at risk of losing the Midwestern state to US Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, an outcome that would dent the New York billionaire's aura of invincibility and make it harder for him to win the vital 1,237 delegates needed for the party's nomination for the November 8 election.

On the Democratic side, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont is trying to protect his lead over front-runner Hillary Clinton in opinion polls in Wisconsin and to eke out another victory over the former secretary of state.

Trailing Mr Cruz in the polls in Wisconsin, Mr Trump spent the entire weekend campaigning in the state and planned to draw in his wife, Melania, yesterday. He stayed on message, telling supporters in West Allis, Wisconsin, that Mr Cruz was a liar and a "dirty rotten cheater" who is weak on immigration and would cut Social Security benefits.

"Wisconsin is going to be such a big surprise. We are doing so well," Mr Trump said.

The New York real estate tycoon has won 20 presidential nominating contests and leads in the delegate count that will determine the Republican Party's nominee. But he trails Mr Cruz by 10 percentage points in some Wisconsin polls.

A loss would add to Mr Trump's woes after his campaign was rocked last week by the fallout from his suggestion, which he later dialled back, that women be punished for getting abortions if the procedure is banned. Uncharacteristically, Mr Trump also acknowledged that he made a mistake retweeting an attack on Mr Cruz's wife, according to 'The New York Times'. He also drew fire last week for saying he would not rule out using nuclear weapons in Europe and that Japan and South Korea might need their own nuclear arsenals to ease the US financial commitment to their security.

"Was this my best week? I guess not," Mr Trump told 'Fox News Sunday.' But, he added,"I think I'm doing OK."

Mr Cruz was eager to capitalise on Mr Trump's gaffes.

More Republicans are recognising that "nominating Donald Trump would be a train wreck," Mr Cruz said in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Mr Cruz faces difficulty in winning the delegates needed to secure the nomination, given that the next states to vote, including New York on April 19, are Trump-friendly territory.

Ms Clinton is already eyeing New York, holding campaign stops there yesterday even as other candidates make their final pitches in Wisconsin.

"I'm absolutely confident I will be the nominee," Ms Clinton told ABC in an interview that aired yesterday as she and Mr Sanders continued to spar over scheduling more debates.

Sanders adviser Tad Devine said the senator wanted another prime-time debate with Clinton.

"If we can continue to win, if he has a good day tomorrow, we're going to make his case through New York all the way to California," Mr Devine said.

Irritant

Republicans Mr Cruz and Ohio Governor John Kasich, who is third in the race, want to deny Mr Trump enough delegates so that the nominee is determined at the Republican National Convention in July.

Over the weekend, Mr Trump complained that Mr Kasich was an irritant gobbling up some of the delegates Mr Trump needs.

"The problem is he's in the way of me, not Cruz," Mr Trump said.

Mr Kasich, who has vowed to stay in the race, tweeted: "That's not how our republic works, Donald. We'll keep fighting until someone reaches a majority of delegates."

Yesterday, Republican National Committee strategist Sean Spicer said on CNN that the party would "never tell any candidate to get in or out of the race".
More than a thousand migrants from Afghanistan and other nations have died while attempting the dangerous passage by sea to Australia from Indonesia, a transit country

The Australian government has been criticised for its lavish budget to fund a feature-length film aimed at persuading potential migrants to stay at home, including more than 1.1million paid to a company run by an Afghan who was himself a refugee to Australia.

The 90-minute fictional film, The Journey, was commissioned by the federal immigration department and depicts a group of Afghan migrants who encounter people smugglers and treacherous waters as they try to make their way be sea to Australia.

It made its debut on television in Afghanistan last week and has also been broadcast in Iran, Iraq and Pakistan.

The total cost of the film is said to have exceeded six million Australian dollars (3.75m).

But the film has come under heavy criticism, particularly after it emerged that it has cost more than some of Australia's top-grossing films of all time, including Strictly Ballroom, directed by Baz Luhrmann, and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, which featured Guy Pearce and Terence Stamp.

Some analysts questioned whether the expense was necessary, noting that Australia's harsh migration policies in recent years have already brought the inflow to an effective halt.

Adding to the controversy, it has emerged that a company paid about 113,000 to promote the film was owned by Saad Mohseni, who fled to Australia from Afghanistan as a youth.

Mogul

Sometimes labelled the "Rupert Murdoch of Afghanistan", Mr Mohseni went to school in Melbourne and worked in finance before moving back to Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban and becoming a media mogul.

Mr Mohseni''s media empire includes Lapis Communications, which was paid to promote the Australian anti-immigration film, and Tolo TV, the Afghan channel which broadcast the film.

A spokeswoman for Lapis defended Mr Mohseni's involvement in the film, saying it would help to raise the awareness of the risks of people smuggling.

More than a thousand migrants from Afghanistan and other nations have died while attempting the dangerous passage by sea to Australia from Indonesia, a transit country.

"The ideas and values around the film are grounded in addressing a very serious and tragic issue - with the ultimate objective of saving lives," the Lapis spokeswoman told Fairfax Media.

"This film is close to our hearts, and in Afghanistan we have seen the bodies of Afghans who have attempted such journeys arriving back in the country - this has even included members of our team and their families. ( Daily Telegraph London)

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022]
NORTH Korea has accused the United States of subjecting it to a siege similar to the encirclement of Leningrad in World War Two.

A statement issued by the country's National Defence Commission described the sanctions imposed on Pyongyang after it conducted a fourth underground nuclear test in January and launched a rocket the following month as "anachronistic and suicidal".

In the statement, a spokesman for the commission said the sanctions were the product of a plot by the US and "other hostile forces" and were reminiscent of Washington's machinations against Cuba during the Cold War missile crisis.

"The Leningrad blockade, which struck terror into the hearts of people, and the Caribbean crisis in the Cold War era can hardly stand comparison with the situation", it added.

Well over a million civilians died in the 872-day Nazi siege of Leningrad, either of starvation or illness or during attempts to evacuate the city.

The latest sanctions have targeted Pyongyang's insurance company, which has its European headquarters in London and is charged with "generating substantial foreign exchange revenue which could contribute to the DPRK's nuclear-related ballistic missile-related or other weapons of mass destruction programmes", the European Union said in a statement.

The regime of Kim Jong-un appears to be resisting the growing international pressure, however, and has threatened to strike back.

It has stepped up propaganda attacks in recent weeks, in spite of Washington's suggestion that it would be helpful if Pyongyang toned the rhetoric down.

The North has gone so far as to warn that Washington's "aggression" has "created the worst crisis, in which (North Korea) may make a retaliatory nuclear strike at the US mainland at any moment".

The latest threats come just days after an article in DPRK Today claimed that North Korea's assault on the US would be far more devastating than the September 11 terrorist attacks by al-Qa'ida.
The outcome of Tuesday's presidential primaries in Wisconsin will be pivotal for Republican Ted Cruz and Democrat Bernie Sanders as they fight to overcome the front-runners for their parties' nominations for the White House.

Mr Cruz, the ultraconservative first-term Texas senator who holds a polling lead in the Midwestern state, is battling to deny Donald Trump a victory on the first ballot at the Republican convention this summer.

That scenario looks increasingly likely in the tumultuous Republican race that has produced a near civil war in the party.

Mr Sanders, a democratic socialist senator from Vermont, has taken his dark-horse candidacy from a mere annoyance to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to a serious challenge for the former first lady, who had largely been expected to take the Democrat nomination easily when the contest began last year.

While Mr Sanders remains a force in the Democratic primary, a victory over Mrs Clinton would not significantly cut into her delegate lead at the party's nominating convention.

The stakes are even higher for Mr Cruz.

"We are seeing victory after victory after victory in the grassroots," Mr Cruz said during a campaign stop on Monday. "What we are seeing in Wisconsin is the unity of the Republican Party manifesting."

Mr Trump has won some of his strength among Americans who believe Hispanic immigrants are taking away their jobs. He has vowed to build a way along the border with Mexico and bragged he would make the Mexican government pay for it.

In a published report, Mr Trump is now saying he would cut off billions of dollars in remittances by immigrants living in the US and use that to pay for construction of the 1,000-mile (1,600 kilometre) wall.

The report, in Tuesday's Washington Post, cites a two-page memo sent by the Republican presidential front-runner threatening to change a rule under the Patriot Act anti-terrorism law to cut off money transfers sent to Mexico.

Mr Trump added that he would withdraw the threat if Mexico makes "a one-time payment of $5 to $10 billion" to finance the wall.

With the White House and control of Congress at stake in November, leaders of both parties are eager to turn their attention toward the general election.

Mrs Clinton would enter the general election campaign saddled with persistent questions about her honesty and trustworthiness, but also with a significant demographic advantage.

It is an edge Democrats believe would be magnified in a race against Mr Trump, who has made controversial comments about Hispanic immigrants, Muslims and women.

While Mr Trump is the only Republican with a realistic path to clinching the party nomination before the convention, a big loss in Wisconsin would greatly reduce his chances of reaching the 1,237-delegate mark.

Heading into Wisconsin, Mr Trump has 737 delegates to Mr Cruz's 475, with Ohio Govenpr John Kasich trailing with 143.

Among Democrats, Mrs Clinton has 1,243 delegates to Mr Sanders' 980 based on primaries and caucuses. When including superdelegates, or party officials who can back any candidate, Mrs Clinton holds an even wider lead - 1,712 to Mr Sanders' 1,011. It takes 2,383 delegates to win the Democratic nomination.

Mr Sanders would need to win 67 percent of the remaining delegates and uncommitted superdelegates to catch up to Mrs Clinton. So far, he's only winning 37 percent.
A woman disembarks from a small Turkish ferry carrying migrants who were deported to Turkey yesterday. Photo: AFP/Getty Images

A woman who was blocked in her car by migrants is helped by Greek police after she collapsed near the Macedonian border. Photo: Reuters

The first batch of migrants was expelled from Greece and taken by boat to Turkey early yesterday in a modest but smooth start to a controversial deal designed to tackle Europe's refugee crisis.

A group of 131 Pakistanis and Bangladeshis, who were judged to be economic migrants, rather than asylum seekers, was taken from the Moria refugee camp on the island of Lesbos before dawn and loaded onto two passenger ferries.

The ferries took them to the small Turkish port of Dikili, across the Aegean.

In an early indication of the expense and logistical challenge of the whole operation, each migrant was accompanied by a police officer from Frontex, the European border agency.

Frontex has 300 officers on Lesbos and more officers on other islands where refugees are being held, close to the Turkish border.

Resistance

Expand Close A woman disembarks from a small Turkish ferry carrying migrants who were deported to Turkey yesterday. Photo: AFP/Getty Images / Facebook

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There were no protests or scuffles from the South Asian migrants. None of them had made applications for asylum in Europe, authorities said. There were no children or women among the group.

Some 66 migrants from Pakistan, India and Afghanistan were also sent from Chios to Dikili.

Refugees from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq, who are due to be expelled under the plan in the coming weeks, are expected to put up more resistance.

A group of activists in two dinghies unfurled a banner which read: "Ferries for safe passage, not for deportation."

However, other than that, there were no protests.

"This is the first operation of this type," said Ewa Moncure, Frontex's spokesman.

"The procedure was calm, everything was orderly. We're doing everything we can to help implement the agreement between the EU and Turkey."

The 1:1 ratio of police to migrants was for "safety", she said, adding: "In our experience, that is how it is done in order to ensure everybody's safety. I don't know if it will be done on every boat."

Two hours after their departure from Lesbos, the ferries arrived in Dikili, where the district authority had set up tents to process the arrivals.

As the first ship docked, a small group of protesters briefly unfurled a banner reading: "Stop deportations."

Led out one by one, the deported migrants disembarked, each accompanied by a police officer as Turkish and European officials looked on.

They were fingerprinted and given a health check upon arrival at Dikili port, before boarding buses waiting inside the port area.

Hundreds of Dikili residents had protested and signed a petition against the migrants returning to their town.

Turkish media had reported that a camp was being built near the town to accommodate the deportees.

"We don't want them here," said 81-year-old Metin Taslak, who was watching the buses leave the port. He added: "They will bring theft and disturbance to our town."

A district official at the port said the returning migrants would be transported to a detention centre in Kirklareli, a town near the Bulgarian border, west of Istanbul. A bus driver confirmed Kirklareli as his destination.

More migrants are expected to be sent to Turkey later this week.

"It will all depend on the return decisions," said Ms Moncure. "You can't return someone (to Turkey) if the process has not been completed."

Controversial

The European Union signed the controversial accord with Turkey in March in a bid to address what has become the continent's worst migration crisis since the end of the Second World War.

More than a million refugees and migrants arrived by boat last year, most of them in Greece.

Under the agreement, all "irregular migrants" who have arrived since March 20 face being sent back, although the deal calls for each case to be examined individually.

The operation to resettle Syrians in the EU under the one-for-one arrangement also starts today.

Germany expects to take in a first group of about 35 Syrians from Turkey on Monday, the German interior ministry has said.

Several dozen others are expected to arrive in France, Finland and Portugal. ( Daily Telegraph, London)

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022]
Serial killer Robert Black is to appeal against his conviction for kidnapping and murdering schoolgirl Jennifer Cardy in August 1981 (PSNI/PA)

A file of evidence linking serial child killer Robert Black to the murder of Genette Tate has been submitted to prosecutors in England.

The Scottish-born sex attacker, 68, died in non-suspicious circumstances in Maghaberry high security jail in Northern Ireland.

He was serving multiple life sentences for the murders of four schoolgirls in the 1980s and a number of other crimes.

Black, a delivery driver who stalked the roads of the UK searching for victims, has long been suspected of murdering 13-year-old Genette.

Genette, a newspaper delivery girl, vanished from a rural lane in Aylesbeare, Devon, in August 1978. Her body has never been found.

A spokesman for Devon and Cornwall Police confirmed the evidence file had been submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

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"The major part of a file concerning this matter has now been sent to the CPS for a charging decision," the force spokesman said.

"This has been a long and complex enquiry and we have kept the family of Genette Tate informed throughout.

"We now await further direction from the CPS on how this may progress in the coming weeks."

Earlier this year, police said Black was likely to have been charged with Genette's abduction and murder.

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Black first became a suspect in Genette's murder in 1994 and was interviewed by Devon and Cornwall Police in 1996.

A reinvestigation into Genette's murder began in 2014 following a court of appeal ruling against Black in 2013.

Devon and Cornwall Police have had a team of 10 working on the case extensively for the past two years.

The team is understood to have identified new potential witnesses in the case.

Detective Superintendent Paul Burgan, of Devon and Cornwall Police, previously said the CPS were "weeks" away from charging Black when he died.

He confirmed the file would still be submitted for a charging decision for Genette's family, describing Black's death as "a complete shock".

"Robert Black was ultimately an aggressive, predatory paedophile," Mr Burgan added.

"He was every parent's worse nightmare. He was a danger to children.

Read more: Child killer Black's voice returns to haunt as police tapes aired

"Robert Black did kill on a number of occasions around the country and we would attest that Genette was one victim in that reign of terror he committed from 1978 until his arrest in 1990."

Black's offending ended in 1990 when he was caught red-handed by police with a barely alive six-year-old girl hooded, bound, gagged and stuffed in a sleeping bag in the back of his van in the Scottish village of Stow. He had sexually assaulted her moments earlier.

Once in custody, detectives were able to link the predator to a series of unsolved crimes in the previous decade.

In 1994, Black was found guilty of three child murders in the 1980s - those of 11-year-old Susan Maxwell, from the Scottish Borders, five-year-old Caroline Hogg, from Edinburgh, and Sarah Harper, 10, from Morley, near Leeds - as well as a failed abduction bid in Nottingham in 1988.

In 2011, he was found guilty of the 1981 murder of nine-year-old Jennifer Cardy, from Ballinderry, Co Antrim.
Undated handout file photo issued by Cleveland Police of Angela Wrightson, taken some years before her death, Cleveland Police/PA Wire

Undated handout file photo from Cleveland Police of a photograph taken by one of two girls when they were getting a lift in the back of a police van only hours after the murder of Angela Wrightson. Cleveland Police/PA Wire

Undated handout photo released by Leeds Crown Court of a drawing done by one of the defendants found by police after her arrest, as one of teenage girls found guilty of murdering Angela Wrightson in her home. Leeds Crown Court/PA Wire

Undated handout photo issued by Cleveland Police of a photograph of Angela Wrightson, taken by one of two girls found guilty of her murder. Cleveland Police/PA Wire

Two teenage girls have been found guilty of murdering a 39-year-old woman in her own home.

The pair, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were convicted of the murder of alcoholic Angela Wrightson by a jury at Leeds Crown Court.

Miss Wrightson was found dead in her blood-spattered living room in Hartlepool, County Durham, with more than 100 injuries.

Both girls were in tears after the verdicts and were led from the dock immediately.

Expand Close Undated handout file photo from Cleveland Police of a photograph taken by one of two girls when they were getting a lift in the back of a police van only hours after the murder of Angela Wrightson. Cleveland Police/PA Wire / Facebook

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Whatsapp Undated handout file photo from Cleveland Police of a photograph taken by one of two girls when they were getting a lift in the back of a police van only hours after the murder of Angela Wrightson. Cleveland Police/PA Wire

The seven-week trial has heard that the girls, who were aged 13 and 14 at the time of the attack in December 2014, used a variety of weapons, including a coffee table and a computer printer, to carry out the "sustained and brutal" attack over a prolonged period.

The jury of eight women and four men deliberated for just over three hours before returning the guilty verdicts.

They had been told that shards of glass and small pieces of gravel or grit were strewn over and around Miss Wrightson's genitals and ash from burnt paper had been put into her ear.

The girls will be sentenced on Thursday.

Expand Close Undated handout photo released by Leeds Crown Court of a drawing done by one of the defendants found by police after her arrest, as one of teenage girls found guilty of murdering Angela Wrightson in her home. Leeds Crown Court/PA Wire / Facebook

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Whatsapp Undated handout photo released by Leeds Crown Court of a drawing done by one of the defendants found by police after her arrest, as one of teenage girls found guilty of murdering Angela Wrightson in her home. Leeds Crown Court/PA Wire

The trial heard that the girls, who are now both 15, had visited Miss Wrightson, an alcoholic known as "Alco Ange", on a number of occasions as she would buy them alcohol and cigarettes.

On the evening of the murder, they let themselves into her home and asked Miss Wrightson to go to the shop for them.

Expand Close Undated handout file photo issued by Cleveland Police of Angela Wrightson, taken some years before her death, Cleveland Police/PA Wire / Facebook

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Both had been drinking before they arrived and the older girl told the court she had taken prescription drugs earlier in the day.

Their accounts to the court of what happened next differed but the jury heard that Miss Wrightson, who was 5ft 4ins and weighed six-and-a-half stone, was assaulted in 12 separate locations around the room in an attack that took place over five hours.

Other weapons used included a wooden stick laced with screws, a television set, a shovel, ornaments, a picture frame and a kettle, and the court heard that Miss Wrightson was forcibly restrained while the pair battered and tortured her.

When she was found by her landlord the following morning, on December 9 2014, the victim had in excess of 103 injuries, including 80 to her face.

Her living room was described as "akin to a bomb site".

While at the house, the younger girl made a phone call over Facebook to a friend who heard her say: "Go on (older girl). Smash her head in. Bray her. F****** kill her," as another laughed in the background.

The court heard that the defendants left the house for "time out" at around 11pm, during which time they went to see a friend, who asked them why they were covered in blood.

They told him they had both fallen over and began listening to rap and high energy music.

The pair then returned to the scene at around 2am and stayed for a further two hours before calling the police to take them home.

The court heard they left Miss Wrightson in an "undignified manner", naked from the waist down on her sofa.

Officers who collected the girls described them as laughing and joking and in "high spirits".

While in the van, they took a picture, which was posted to the social media site Snapchat with the message: "Me and (older girl) in the back, on the bizzie van again."

An earlier selfie posted to Snapchat showed the defendants smiling with Ms Wrightson pictured in the background shortly before her death, with further selfies showing the girls drinking cider from a bottle.

Both defendants admitted being present at the time the injuries were inflicted on Miss Wrightson.

The older girl accepted that she struck the victim but said she did not intend her serious harm. She told the court that her younger friend told her to carry out the attack, telling her to "knock her out".

The younger girl said she played no part in the assault and did not encourage her co-accused in any way. She told police and the jury that her friend became angry and launched the attack after Miss Wrightson made a comment about her family.

She said her older friend had "whacked" the victim with a table and "booted" her in the head and face.

Gerry Wareham, of the Crown Prosecution Service, spoke of the lack of remorse shown by the girls after the murder and said he hoped Miss Wrightson's family could now move on.

He said: "In our society it is hard to imagine that two girls of such a young age could be capable of such violence.

"The attack that the girls committed against Angela Wrightson was brutal and sustained. One can only imagine the fear and distress that she must have felt in the final hours of her life.

"Given the severity of their assault on Miss Wrightson, one would expect the girls to have shown a degree of remorse in the wake of her death.

"Instead, they laughed and smiled while posing for a 'selfie', with each continuing to deny that they had murdered her throughout the investigation and prosecution of this case."
A British man has been stabbed to death in a village in the Algarve.

Portugal's Policia Judiciaria said the man, 58, who died in Alcoutim, was stabbed in the abdomen.

The 20-year-old suspected killer reportedly murdered him with a spear.

A police spokesman said: "The victim was 58 years old. He was killed with a stab blow to the abdominal area. A man suspected of the crime of murder was arrested."

The Briton has been named in reports as Simon Carley-Pocock, an accountant from Hertfordshire.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We are in contact with local authorities following the death of a British national in the Algarve and are ready to provide consular assistance."
A woman in Majorca has been arrested on suspicion of murder after she was reportedly found next to the body of her dead husband whose flesh had apparently eaten by a pet dog.

Svetlana Batukova, 46, from Russia, is due to stand trial over her husbands death after she was found at the couples holiday home in Cala Millor on the Spanish island, The Local reports.

Her husband, named locally as a German national Horst Hans Henkels, 66, had been stabbed and parts of his arms reportedly appeared to have been stripped to the bone.

The flesh from his arms had been eaten by Ms Batukovas dog, an American Staffordshire bull terrier, according to Periodistadigital.com.

A post mortem revealed Mr Henkels bled to death after being stabbed a number of times with a kitchen knife.

It is understood he had recently undergone surgery on his trachea and would have been unable to speak properly, while local media reported Mr Henkels had allegedly been drugged before he was attacked.

Ms Batukova was reportedly under the influence of alcohol and drugs when she was taken into custody by police.

Local police had reportedly been called out to the home a number of times to deal with domestic issues.

The couple are understood to have been together for two years before marrying in January. Since Ms Batukovas arrest reports have emerged she had previously attempted to arrange her husbands death by offering someone money to kill Mr Henkels, according to Majorca Daily Bulletin.
As the Zika outbreak takes hold in Latin America, researchers thousands of miles away in Hawaii are using data to figure out where it might spread next.

In the last three months, researchers from the University of Hawaii at the Pacific Disaster Center have focused on combatting the mosquito-spread virus.

So far, the Maui-based centre has worked to map the spread of Zika, which can help health officials and local governments figure out where to target mosquito eradication efforts or increase access to health services.

Gwen Tobert, a foreign affairs officer with the State Department, said they are using the centre's products to follow how the Zika outbreak is developing and to better understand how it affects communities in Latin American countries. She said their maps help officials to decide where and how to respond to the outbreak.

The World Health Organization recently declared Zika virus a "public health emergency of international concern," which is linked to birth defects and has infected thousands of people in Latin America.

Pacific Disaster Center Executive Director Ray Shirkhodai said his organisation is using data that is publicly available - for instance, the number of Zika cases - as well as data on rainfall, the location of roads and airports to show where Zika could spread.

They have also worked directly with governments in Latin American countries to gather information such as locations of hospitals and health care policies to figure out which countries could respond better to an outbreak. For instance, a map that charts data involving ambulance response as well as the number of available hospital beds and physicians shows Brazil could recover faster from a potential health crisis like Zika than Paraguay or Bolivia.

"The impact has been on the ground and pretty real," Mr Shirkhodai said, adding that the centre is working with government officials to figure out what other kinds of products might be useful.

In recent years, the Pacific Disaster Center has worked with agencies ranging from the US Department of Homeland Security to the Department of Defence to create apps to map disasters. Their work has been used to direct international rescue efforts during disasters ranging from a 2015 earthquake in Nepal to Tropical Cyclone Winston in Fiji last month.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency works closely with the Pacific Disaster Center to map storms and other hazards in the Pacific, said Susan Hendrick, an agency spokeswoman. FEMA also worked with the center to understand disasters' impact on local residents and infrastructure.

During Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines in 2014, Brian Steckler, who recently retired as director of the Naval Postgraduate School's Hastily Formed Networks programme, said the school teamed up with the Pacific Disaster Center to help set up Internet service for emergency responders. The groups also helped to map out areas where the storm had damaged internet infrastructure and phone lines.

That information was then charted on the Pacific Disaster Center's mobile app, Disaster Aware, so emergency responders could know where potentially dangerous areas were.

"We also let the public use laptops to be able to reach out to loved ones and tell them they're OK, or insurance companies to tell them they have a claim," Steckler said.

The University of Hawaii has been managing the Pacific Disaster Center since 2006, and was recently awarded a contract up to $75 million (52 million) with the US Department of Defense to run the centre for the next five years.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has terminated the case against Kenya's deputy president and ended his trial, saying there was insufficient evidence he was involved in violence that erupted after his country's 2007 presidential election.

The presiding judge wrote in the majority decision that the reason for the lack of evidence was possibly "witness interference and political meddling".

The announcement marks the second time the court has had to admit defeat in its attempts to prosecute the alleged ringleaders of the violence that left more than 1,000 people dead and forced 600,000 from their homes in Kenya.

Kenyan deputy president William Ruto had been charged alongside broadcaster Joshua Sang with murder, deportation and persecution for their alleged leading roles in the violence. The case against Mr Sang was also closed.

Supporters of the men cheered the decision, while human rights activists lamented that the victims of the violence had been denied justice.

Local TV in Kenya showed both men waving their arms in the air in celebration and being hugged by Mr Ruto's staff.

In Mr Ruto's home town of Eldoret, thousands of people took to the streets carrying placards, saying "Free at last" and "Ruto welcome home, you have suffered enough, you were innocent all the time".

A case against President Uhuru Kenyatta on similar charges collapsed in December 2014 amid prosecution claims of interference with witnesses and non-cooperation by authorities in Nairobi.

Three Kenyans have been charged with interfering with witnesses.

Abdrew Songa of the Kenya Human Rights Commission said "systematic witness tampering and intimidation experienced in the Kenya cases has denied thousands of victims of the post-election violence the justice they rightfully deserve".

Mr Kenyatta criticised the court for what he branded a decision to "blindly pursue (an) ill-conceived, defective agenda at the expense of accountability" for the violence and said the court had "given Kenyans false hope, and as a result, occasioned much disappointment".

He called in a tweet for Kenyans to attend a thanksgiving service at the Afraha Stadium in the Rift Valley town of Nakuru on April 16. Following the post-election violence, the stadium was used to house people forced from their homes.

Elizabeth Evenson, senior international justice counsel at Human Rights Watch, said Kenya's failure to prosecute perpetrators "leaves victims bereft of justice and the help they need". She said the Ruto trial "will likely be remembered for the reported efforts to corrupt witnesses".

In the decision, two members of the three-judge panel ordered the charges against Mr Ruto and Mr Sang to be dropped, although they said charges could be brought again if there is sufficient evidence.

According to a court statement, presiding judge Chile Eboe-Osuji said: "It cannot be discounted that the weaknesses in the prosecution case might be explained by the demonstrated incidence of tainting of the trial process by way of witness interference and political meddling."

Appeals judges ruled in February that statements made by five witnesses who later changed their stories or refused to testify against Mr Ruto and Mr Sang could not be used as evidence, a decision that likely sped up the case's collapse.

ICC prosecutors originally charged six Kenyans with crimes linked to the post-election violence. Charges have now been dropped against all six.
South Africa's parliament has voted against an opposition motion to remove President Jacob Zuma, who has apologised after the country's top court ruled that he violated the constitution in a spending scandal.

The parliament rejected the motion by a vote of 233 to 143 in a raucous session in which some ruling party and opposition politicians jeered at each other and traded insults.

The motion required a two-thirds majority for approval. The ruling African National Congress, which has supported Mr Zuma, has a comfortable majority.

Mr Zuma apologised after the Constitutional Court ruled that he failed to uphold the constitution in a scandal over millions of dollars in state spending on his private home. The court also said the National Assembly failed in its obligations to hold the president to account.
Mr Williams said much of the content on his website is based on announcements made by the North and South Korean governments as well as reports in the media

A British journalist who has documented the development of North Korea's technology issues has said he will appeal a decision by South Korean authorities to block his website for violating national security law.

Martyn Williams, who runs the northkoreatech.org website, said he believed it did not violate the law, which bans praising or promoting the North Korean regime.

Mr Williams said the website "doesn't seek to glorify or support North Korea".

He said many of its readers are researchers, journalists, diplomats, academics and others interested in North Korea. Since it was launched in 2010, the website has been frequently cited by both Korean and international media, including South Korea's own Yonhap News Agency. It receives about 20,000 monthly visits.

In his website, Mr Williams has written about issues ranging from mobile phone usage in North Korea and its satellite technology to a little-known computer operating system developed by North Koreans.

He said much of the content on his website is based on announcements made by the North and South Korean governments as well as reports in the media.

Since late March, users accessing the website from South Korea were redirected to a warning page saying it was "legally" blocked due to "illegal or harmful information".

The Korea Communications Standards Commission confirmed that the commission decided on March 24 to block the website because it violated security law. South Korean police officials then alerted authorities.

The censorship body also blocks websites deemed illegal or harmful to society, such as pornography, gambling or North Korea's official outlets.
President Bashar al-Assad of Syria is facing a new challenge as a group of religious leaders from his powerful Alawite sect has circulated a document, demanding a change in its relationship to the regime and "dissociating" itself from his leadership.

The document, which its authors claim has been circulated to a significant number of Alawite sheikhs - or religious leaders - in Syria, was smuggled out of the country amid extreme secrecy and shown to a handful of European journalists.

Some of its authors have also briefed European governments on its contents. However, it is unclear how much support it is likely to have on the ground.

The authors, acting anonymously out of fear for their security once back in the country, said they had been forced to act because of the extreme danger the sect was now facing.

Its young men have been the vanguard of President Assad's fighting forces, both in the army and in local militias, but have suffered enormous losses - amounting to a quarter of all the sect's men of fighting age, by some counts.

Many Alawites also fear genocidal vengeance being wrought if Mr Assad is ultimately forced out by militant jihadists, who regard the Alawites as heretical, as well as intrinsically tied to the regime and its massacres.

The sheikhs who spoke to reporters said they wanted to forge a new relationship with Syria's Sunni majority and had reached out to its religious representatives - though they would not say whom.

The document attempts to redefine the core faith of the Alawites, which is often regarded as a mysterious hybrid of Shia Islam. It claims to be a branch of Islam that is separate from both Shia and Sunni.

That is significant because the regime's support from Iran is partly explained by the historic links between their beliefs.

The document says the group should abandon its longstanding persecution complex - the Alawites have often been marginalised and oppressed, a historical trend that has been used to explain its aggression against the Sunni majority under the Alawite Assad regime, particularly in the civil war. Its members have been accused of repeated massacres of Sunni civilians.

The sheikhs said that the document was not calling on President Assad to step down; they said they were not advocating any particular solution to the crisis and some authors favoured him staying on.

However, the document refers implicitly to the regime as "totalitarian", describes the uprising against the regime as "an initiative of noble anger" and says that the only future for Syria is as a secular, pluralist and democratic state.

"The ruling political power, whoever embodies it, does not represent us nor does it shape our identity," it says.

Leon Goldsmith, an expert on the sect and author of 'Cycle of Fear: Syria's Alawites in War and Peace', said: "I see this document as extremely significant. It could pose a mortal blow to Assad."

He said the growing reliance of the regime on Iran and Russia could have provoked some sect leaders who had long been aware that the regime had endangered it by playing the sectarian card.

However, one western diplomat who has been seen the document urged caution. "It's a very credible attempt to redefine the Alawite identity," the diplomat said. "However, there's no 'big bang' effect."

Joshua Landis, an expert on Syria at the University of Oklahoma who has close ties to the Alawite community, said there had been previous efforts by dissident individuals from 'sheikh' families to establish themselves, but they had lacked authority.

He added: "All the same, many Alawites are fearful about the future and are trying to think of some alternative option." ( Daily Telegraph, London)

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022]
Syrian soldiers patrol in the town of al-Qaryatain, in the province of Homs in central Syria. Photo: AFP/Getty Images

Syrian soldiers patrol in the town of al-Qaryatain, in the province of Homs in central Syria. Photo: AFP/Getty Images

Syrian pro-government forces celebrate in al-Qaryatain, a town in the province of Homs in central Syria, after Syrian troops regained control of the town from jihadists of the Islamic State (IS). Photo: AFP/Getty Images

Syrian troops and allied militiamen pressed on with an offensive against Islamic State (Isil) militants in central Syria last night, clashing with the extremists around the town of Qaryatain a day after it was captured by pro-government forces.

The push into Qaryatain took place under the cover of Russian airstrikes and dealt another setback to Isil in Syria a week after the army retook the historic town of Palmyra from the group. Syria's state news agency, SANA, said the army was fighting Isil militants in areas around Qaryatain yesterday, as well as in farms east and north of Palmyra.

The capture of Qaryatain deprives Isil of a main base in central Syria and it could be used by the regime of Bashar al-Assad in the future to launch attacks on Isil-held areas near the Iraqi border. Qaryatain used to be home to a sizable Christian population and lies midway between Palmyra and the capital, Damascus. Activists said last summer that Qaryatain had a mixed population of around 40,000 Sunni Muslims and Christians, as well as thousands of internally displaced people who had fled from the nearby city of Homs. Many of the Christians fled the town after it came under attack by Isil.

Dozens of Qaryatain's Christians and other residents have been abducted by Isil. While the town was under Isil control, some were released while others were made to sign pledges to pay a tax imposed on non-Muslims.

Also yesterday, a senior US official said it was a US airstrike that killed a senior al-Qaida official on Sunday night. The strike killed at least 21 other militants in Idlib province, a jihadist stronghold in northern Syria.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorised to discuss the operation.

Airstrikes

The SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadi websites, said Abu Firas al-Souri died in US strikes while the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the jets were thought to belong to the Syrian or Russian air forces. It said they targeted the headquarters of Jund al-Aqsa, an extremist group that fights alongside al-Qa'ida's Syrian affiliate, the Nusra Front.

Al-Souri was the former official spokesman for the Nusra Front, the group reported on social media yesterday.

A 2014 biographical video about al-Souri, obtained by SITE, says he used to represent Osama bin Laden in Pakistan after he met the al-Qa'ida founder in Afghanistan during the jihad against the Soviet Union in the 1980s.

A media outlet belonging to the Lebanese militia Hezbollah said al-Souri's son was also killed in the airstrikes.
The leak of 11.5 million documents from a Panama-based law firm offers a glimpse into the shadowy world where the rich and powerful hide their money, raising sharp questions about the use of shell companies that obscure the identities of their true owners.

News organisations working with the Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) have been processing legal records from the Mossack Fonseca law firm that were first leaked to the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper based in Munich, Germany.

The document dump that they dubbed the "Panama Papers" shows the hidden offshore assets of politicians, businesses and celebrities, including 12 current or former heads of state.

Among the countries with past or present political figures named in the reports are Iceland, Ukraine, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Argentina.

The law firm said it had observed all laws and international standards covering corporate registrations.

Ramon Fonseca, a co-founder of Mossack Fonseca - one of the world's largest creators of shell companies - confirmed to Panama's Channel 2 that documents investigated by the ICIJ were authentic and had been obtained illegally by hackers.

But he said most people identified in the reports were not his firm's direct clients but were accounts set up by intermediaries.

One of the most prominent subjects of the report is Russian president Vladimir Putin, although his name does not appear in the documents. ICIJ said on its website that the documents show how complex offshore financial deals channelled as much as two billion dollars (1.4 billion) to a network of people linked to Mr Putin.

One focus was Sergei Roldugin, a professional cellist and childhood friend of Mr Putin. Mr Roldugen was listed as the owner of companies that obtained payments from other companies worth tens of millions of dollars, and of a stake in Bank Rossiya, described by the US Treasury as "designated for providing material support to government officials".

"The evidence in the files suggests Roldugin is acting as a front man for a network of Putin loyalists - and perhaps for Putin himself," the consortium said.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov claimed Mr Putin was the "main target" of the investigation, which he suggested was the result of "Putinophobia" and aimed at smearing Russia in a parliamentary election year.

Mr Peskov, who had warned last week of an upcoming "information attack" on the Russian president, said he expected more reports to follow.

The US justice department is reviewing the leak for evidence of possible criminal wrongdoing that might have a link to the States or to its financial system, but could not comment on specific documents, said spokesman Peter Carr. It is not clear how many Americans have been identified in the documents, but thousands of Europeans have been named.

Australia's tax office said it is investigating more than 800 wealthy people for possible tax evasion linked to their alleged dealings with Mossack Fonseca. The agency said it had linked more than 120 of those people to an offshore services provider in Hong Kong, but did not identify the company.

Anti-corruption advocates say legal standards on shell companies have improved in some countries but are not tough enough. The G20 leaders adopted 14 principles in November 2014 at a summit in Brisbane, Australia. The essence of these was that companies should be able to identify to authorities who their real owners are.

Otherwise, that opens the way for money laundering and tax evasion.

Casey Kelso, advocacy director at anti-corruption organisation Transparency International in Berlin, said the reports "should light a fire under governments to take action".

He added: "We hope that it will galvanise political leadership to actually walk the talk... You can now see the names of the people."

The ICIJ said the documents involve 214,488 companies and 14,153 clients of Mossack Fonseca. The non-profit group said it would release the full list of companies and people linked to them next month.

Sueddeutsche Zeitung said it was offered the data more than a year ago through an encrypted channel by an anonymous source. The source sought unspecified security measures but no compensation, said Bastian Obermayer, a reporter for the paper.

The data reaches from 1977 through to 2015, the paper said. The newspaper and its partners verified the data's authenticity by comparing it to public registers, witness testimony and court rulings.

Panama "is the last major holdout that continues to allow funds to be hidden offshore from tax and law enforcement authorities," said Angel Gurria, secretary-general of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, an organisation representing mostly rich countries. It has been working with the G20 to restrict the use of shell companies.

Panamanian president Juan Carlos Varela said his government had "zero tolerance" for illicit financial activities and would cooperate "vigorously" with any investigation.

Reports based on the leak said Iceland's prime minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson set up a company called Wintris in the British Virgin Islands in 2007 with his partner at the time, Anna Sigurlaug Palsdottir, who is now his wife.

He reportedly sold his half of the company to Ms Palsdottir for one dollar on December 31 2009, the day before a new Icelandic law took effect that would have required him to declare the ownership of Wintris as a conflict of interest.

Wintris lost money as a result of the 2008 financial crash that crippled Iceland, and is claiming a total of 515 million Icelandic kronur (2.9 million) from the three failed Icelandic banks: Landsbanki, Glitnir, and Kaupthing.

Mr Gunnlaugsson stands accused by opposition leaders of a serious conflict of interest, because as prime minister he was involved in reaching a deal for the banks' claimants.

He told the Icelandic parliament: "I have not considered quitting because of this matter nor am I going to quit because of this matter."

An estimated 8,000 protesters gathered outside in Reykjavik, demanding that he step down and call new elections.

Meanwhile, the office of Argentine president Mauricio Macri confirmed a report by the newspaper La Nacion that a business group owned by Mr Macri's family had set up Fleg Trading in the Bahamas. But it said Mr Macri himself had no shares in Fleg and had never received income from it.

Sueddeutsche Zeitung said its Tuesday edition will report that 28 German banks had used Mossack Fonseca's services to set up 1,200 shell companies.
International leaders moved last night to distance themselves from links to a law firm that specialises in helping to hide assets in offshore funds.

Russia's premier Vladimir Putin; China's president Xi Jinping; Ukraine's president Petro Poroshenko; Pakistan's prime minister Nawaz Sharif and Iceland's prime minister Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson have all been implicated in schemes revealed in the so-called Panama Papers.

British prime minister David Cameron was rocked by revelations that his late father used the services of Mossack Fonseca, the law firm at the centre of the leak, to set up offshore arrangements to help shield investments from the tax authorities.

However, Mr Cameron is refusing to say whether any of his family's money is still held offshore in a Caribbean tax haven. His late father Ian ran an offshore fund which avoided paying tax in Britain by hiring Bahamanian residents, including a bishop, to sign paperwork.

Ironically, Mr Cameron's family links to an offshore tax shelter re-emerged just as the British prime minister prepares to host and chair an anti-corruption summit of charities, non-governmental bodies and world leaders to encourage more tax transparency in London next month.

Ian Cameron's name was included in the more than 11 million leaked documents from the Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca.

Mr Putin's spokesman has dismissed suggestions that the Russian president is involved in an offshore account scheme as a smear likely motivated by "Putinophobia".

The documents alleged Mr Putin's friends, including a leading cellist, were engaged in an offshore scheme involving a law firm in Panama.

The president's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there was nothing to implicate Mr Putin.

"I don't consider it possible to go into the details," he said, "mainly because there is nothing concrete and nothing new about Putin, and a lack of details."

Friends

Mr Peskov added that Sergei Rodulgin, a St Petersburg-based cellist allegedly involved in the offshore schemes, was a friend of Putin's but that the president "has very many friends".

Instead, Mr Peskov suggested, the publication was a smear campaign with Putin as its "main target," with the aim of overshadowing Russian military intervention in Syria and influencing the Russian political scene ahead of parliamentary elections in September and presidential elections in 2018.

A climate of "Putinophobia" means good news about Russia is suppressed, he added.

But in Russia, where the investigation was published by independent newspaper 'Novaya Gazeta', the scandal faced an effective coverage ban. Russian television on Monday morning made no mention of it.

Chinese President Xi Jinping's family also features in the revelations. Xi's brother-in-law Deng Jiagui and family members of at least eight current and former members of China's powerful Politburo Standing Committee have set up offshore companies.

Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko defended his commitment to transparency after calls for an investigation into allegations he set up an offshore company to move his confectionery business, Roshen, to the British Virgin Islands in August 2014 during a peak in fighting between Ukraine and pro-Russian separatists.

In response, Poroshenko said he had handed over the management of his assets to consulting and law firms on taking office.

"I believe I might be the first top official in Ukraine who treats declaring of assets, paying taxes, conflict of interest issues seriously," he tweeted.

Iceland's prime minister is also facing calls for his resignation after documents linked him to an offshore company.

"I have not considered quitting because of this matter nor am I going to quit because of this matter," Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson told parliament. "The government has had good results. Progress has been strong and it is important that the government can finish its work."

As he left the building, large protests were developing in the capital, Reykjavik, outside the parliament.

Mr Gunnlaugsson and his wife allegedly set up a company in the British Virgin Islands. He said he and his wife have paid all their taxes in full. Mr Gunnlaugsson also said there was nothing new in the information.

Investigations

Tax authorities worldwide - including in Australia, France, India, New Zealand and Austria - have begun investigations into the information.

The Australian Tax Office said it was investigating more than 800 wealthy clients.

French president Francois Hollande said: "As the information emerges, investigations will be carried out, cases will be opened and trials will be held. These revelations are good news because they will increase tax revenues from those who commit fraud."

New Zealand's tax agency said it was working to obtain full details of any of its tax residents who may have been involved. And in Sweden, the authorities contacted its counterparts in Luxembourg requesting information relating to allegations that one of Scandinavia's biggest banks, helped some clients to set up accounts in offshore tax havens.

The Norwegian Tax Administration wants details on how one of its banks helped around 40 customers set up accounts in the Seychelles.
BP's total costs are estimated at more than 37 billion

A federal judge in New Orleans has granted final approval to an estimated 20 billion US dollar (14 billion) settlement over the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The settlement, first announced in July, resolves years of litigation over the worst offshore spill in US history.

It includes 5.5 billion dollars (3.85 billion) in civil Clean Water Act penalties and billions more to cover environmental damage and other claims by the five Gulf states and local governments.

The money is to be paid out over roughly 16 years. The US justice department has estimated that the settlement will cost the oil giant as much as 20.8 billion dollars, the largest environmental settlement in US history as well as the largest-ever civil settlement with a single entity.

US district judge Carl Barbier, who approved the settlement, had set the stage with an earlier ruling that BP had been "grossly negligent" in the offshore rig explosion that killed 11 workers and caused a 134-million-gallon spill.

In 2012, BP reached a similar settlement agreement with private attorneys for businesses and residents who claim the spill cost them money.

That deal, which was not capped, led to a protracted court battle over subsequent payouts to businesses. A court-supervised claims administrator is still processing many of these claims.

BP has estimated its costs related to the spill, including its initial clean-up work and the various settlements and criminal and civil penalties, will exceed 53 billion dollars (37 billion).

BP spokesman Geoff Morrell said: "We are pleased that the Court has entered the Consent Decree, finalising the historic settlement announced last July."

US attorney general Loretta Lynch praised the settlement, saying: " Today's action holds BP accountable with the largest environmental penalty of all time while launching one of the most extensive environmental restoration efforts ever undertaken."

In Louisiana, where delicate coastal marshes were damaged by the oil, Governor John Bel Edwards said the decision clears the way for the state to receive critical coastal restoration funding.

Alabama attorney general Luther Strange, who acted as a coordinating lawyer for the five Gulf states, also was among those welcoming the settlement.

David Uhlmann, a University of Michigan law professor and former chief of the justice department's environmental crimes section, said Judge Barbier's ruling "ends a long sad chapter in American environmental history".

"The question that remains is whether we have learned enough from this tragedy to prevent similar environmental disasters in the future," he said.

While overall reaction to the settlement has been positive, there were lingering complaints that some of the BP payments may be tax-deductible for the oil giant. Court documents state that the civil penalties will not be tax deductible, although other settlement costs could be.

Lukas Ross, of Friends of the Earth, said: "We are saddened to learn that the gross negligence of BP continues to enjoy taxpayer subsidies."
BMW announces $1.7 billion investment to build all-electric vehicles

The $1.7 billion investment includes $700 million to build a high-voltage battery assembly plant with 300 new jobs in Woodruff.
SHARE CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Nikita Harrison

By Kirk Brown of the Independent Mail

Nikita Harrison was named Monday as director of the South Carolina Department of Social Services office in Anderson County.

Harrison has served as director of the agency's Pickens County office since 2012. She will start work April 18 in Anderson, and an interim director will be named for the office in Pickens County later this week, said Karen Wingo, director of communications and legislative affairs for the Social Services Department.

Harrison will take over for Crystal Sanders, who served as interim head of the Anderson County office since former director Glenn Farrow retired in September. Sanders applied for the county director's post but was not selected for the job.

In her new position, Harrison will lead an office where caseworkers have been burdened with the highest caseloads in the state.

Keith Frazier, the agency's Upstate regional director, told a legislative panel that met in Easley last week that a series of steps are being taken to provide relief to employees in the Anderson County office. He said nine employees have been hired recently and three new workers are in the "pipeline." Frazier also said cases involving 16 Anderson County children have been temporarily transferred to employees in other counties.

Frazier said uncertainty about the next director had contributed to a stressful environment at the Anderson County office.

In an interview after the meeting last week, Frazier said the new director of the Anderson County office will focus on correcting deficiencies identified during a child welfare quality assurance review last year. The review found problems with the assessment of needs of children, their parents and foster parents, the involvement of children and their families in case planning and also with caseworker visits with parents.

A native of Greenville, Harrison has been an advocate for children and families in South Carolina for more than 20 years. Before joining the Social Services Department, she worked with emotionally disturbed children and their families, as well as victims of domestic abuse.

Follow Kirk Brown on Twitter @KirkBrown_AIM
SHARE Haley

By Kirk Brown of the Independent Mail

The South Carolina Senate is slated to begin debating a bill this week that would change how ethics complaints against legislators are investigated and also strengthen income-disclosure requirements.

This is the fourth consecutive year that members of the General Assembly have discussed overhauling the state's ethics laws. So far their efforts have failed to result in approval of any significant legislation.

The latest push began when the state House of Representatives passed an ethics reform bill in January 2015  three months after former House Speaker Bobby Harrell resigned and pleaded guilty to six counts of misusing campaign money. Senators refused to adopt the House measure last year, but Gov. Nikki Haley is urging them to act now on one of her top legislative priorities.

"We'll continue to hear about ethics issues until we pass a real ethics bill," said Haley in a post on her Facebook page last week. She told her followers that "we will be showing you the vote and attempts to kill the bill."

The bill before the Senate would give a revamped State Ethics Commission the authority to investigate complaints filed against legislators. Those complaints are currently handled by legislative ethics panels.

Once the commission completes its investigation of a complaint, the legislative ethics panels would decide what action to take. In most cases, a complaint would become public after a probable cause finding is reached or the complaint is dismissed.

The Senate bill also would require legislators and other government officials to disclose most public and private sources of income, but not the amounts earned. Under current state law, these officials are only required to disclose public income and income received from lobbyists.

Sen. Kevin Bryant, a Republican from Anderson, said he is leaning toward voting for the ethics bill. He said the measure is better than previous reform bills because it does not require noncandidate political committees to report their contributions, which he considers an infringement of their 1st Amendment rights.

John Crangle, executive director of Common Cause South Carolina, also expressed support for the bill.

"It has some good features to it," Crangle said. "I hope it passes."

The South Carolina Policy Council has criticized the Senate bill for being too weak, specifically citing its failure to prevent legislators from spending "campaign funds for almost any expense conceivable."

The policy council's president, Ashley Landess, filed the complaint against Harrell in 2013 that ultimately led to his prosecution.

This week's debate will unfold amid controversy over an ongoing legislative corruption probe stemming from the Harrell case. Alan Wilson, the Republican state attorney general, fired special prosecutor David Pascoe last week for trying to convene a statewide grand jury. Pascoe, the Democratic 1st Judicial Circuit solicitor, has asked the South Carolina Supreme Court to overturn his dismissal.

Follow Kirk Brown on Twitter @KirkBrown_AIM
Government Defines Rules for e-Commerce Companies

The Indian government has established new rules for e-commerce enterprises in the country, with immediate effect. These rules bring relief to traditional retailers who have been unable to compete with the deep discounts and wide reach of e-commerce giants like US based Amazon and India based Flipkart.

In its press note released on March 29, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) defined the online marketplace as an information technology platform on a digital and electronic network that facilitates transactions between buyers and sellers.

New sourcing norms now state that a single vendor or group company cannot be responsible for more than 25 percent of total sales of the online firm or platform. A 100 percent foreign direct investment (FDI) is allowed in the online marketplace model, i.e. the business to business (B2B) segment but not in the inventory based model or firms that directly sell goods and services to consumers using online platforms, i.e. business to consumer (B2C) segment. While firms can offer support services to businesses selling on their platform (warehousing, logistics, order processing, call center support, and payment collection), they are prohibited from making pricing interventions such as offering direct discounts, cash-back schemes, or promotional funding by indirectly funding the discounts provided by sellers.

The regulatory development comes at a time when online retail is expected to jump from two percent in 2014 to 11 percent in 2019. E-commerce firms have so far benefited immensely from massive foreign investments  previous regulatory ambiguity provided loopholes that seemed to conflate the inventory and marketplace models. The governments move, therefore, levels the playing field between online and offline retailers. Existing and new online commerce platforms will need to restructure their businesses accordingly.

Job Growth Drops to Six Year Low

Job growth in eight labor intensive industries reached a six year low in the first nine months of 2015, according to the latest quarterly survey by the Labor Bureau, Ministry of Labor and Employment. Only 155,000 new jobs were created from January to September 2015, compared to over 300,000 jobs over the same period in 2013 and 2014. Hiring of contract labor also declined by 21,000 from January to September 2015; it had seen an increase of 120,000 over the same period in 2014. Also, direct employment rose by 176,000 in 2015 as opposed to an increase of 184,000 in 2014. Nevertheless, the Indian Staffing Federation points to the 18-20 percent growth in the staffing industry.

The decline in job numbers is troubling as the July-September quarter is when new jobs get a boost as companies conduct their recruitment drives. Analysts point to the slowdown in industrial growth and production levels, and the slow pace of hiring in both the corporate and government sectors.

The Labor Bureau began its quarterly survey after the global financial crisis of 2008-2009 to measure the impact of global economic headwinds on employment in eight sectors, namely, textiles, leather, metal, automobiles, gems and jewelry, transport, information technology (IT), and handloom. In order to better capture the competing trends in the jobs landscape, the labor ministry will increase the sample for the report by fivefold to about 10,000 respondents, and will include 18 sectors of activity from the next survey onwards. However, despite this broadening of scope, India still lacks real-time employment data, which would be the most reliable tool of assessing the countrys economic growth, for economists and policymakers alike.

Indias Medical Devices Startups Show Strong Growth

The medical devices market in India is projected to grow to US $42 billion by 2025 at a cumulative annual growth rate of over 17 percent. It was US $6.3 billion in 2013. More positively, several of the new startups launched focus solely on scalable solutions for the masses. This is why the segment has attracted widespread attention from private equity investors and seed funds. About 31 investments were made by private equity investors in the Indian medical devices industry from 2005 to 2013, equaling an amount of US $265 million. A majority of that deal value, about US $226 million, came in between 2012 and 2013.

Indias innovation ecosystem for the medical devices industry has grown to encompass manufacturing programs such as GE healthcares in country/for country, which designs and produces products using local components at one-third the cost of imported equivalents. The Dutch technology company, Philips, even has an innovation campus in Bengaluru. Individual innovators like Sattvas CEO Vibhav Joshi  who invented Fetal Lite, a device that tracks the movement of a fetus and its heartbeat  have also led the way.

A number of conditions have been conducive to the growth of digital health startups. This includes a liberal regulatory framework that allows companies to invest upwards of US $300 million in startups, high smartphone penetration, half a billion citizens under the age of 25, and a high GDP. While the newly launched Startup India program is sure to encourage new innovators, policy changes like the recent hike in medical devices import duty from five percent to 7.5 percent is a challenge for entrepreneurs.



About Us Asia Briefing Ltd. is a subsidiary of Dezan Shira & Associates. Dezan Shira is a specialist foreign direct investment practice, providing corporate establishment, business advisory, tax advisory and compliance, accounting, payroll, due diligence and financial review services to multinationals investing in China, Hong Kong, India, Vietnam, Singapore and the rest of ASEAN. For further information, please email india@dezshira.com or visit www.dezshira.com. Stay up to date with the latest business and investment trends in Asia by subscribing to our complimentary update service featuring news, commentary and regulatory insight.





Managing Your Accounting and Bookkeeping in India

In this issue of India Briefing Magazine, we spotlight three issues that financial management teams for India should monitor. Firstly, we examine the new Indian Accounting Standards (Ind-AS) system, which is expected to be a boon for foreign companies in India. We then highlight common filing dates for most companies with operations in India, and lastly examine procedures and regulations for remitting profits from India.

Taking Advantage of Indias FDI Reforms

In this edition of India Briefing Magazine, we explore important amendments to Indias foreign investment policy and outline various options for business establishment, including the creation of wholly owned subsidiaries in sectors that permit 100 percent foreign direct investment. We additionally explore several taxes that apply to wholly owned subsidiary companies, and provide an outlook for what investors can expect to see in India this year.

An Introduction to Doing Business in India 2015 (Second Edition)

Doing Business in India 2015 is designed to introduce the fundamentals of investing in India. As such, this comprehensive guide is ideal not only for businesses looking to enter the Indian market, but also for companies who already have a presence here and want to keep up-to-date with the most recent and relevant policy changes. We discuss a range of pertinent issues for foreign businesses, including Indias most recent FDI caps and restrictions, the key taxes applicable to foreign companies, how to conduct a successful audit, and the procedures for obtaining an employment visa.
How and when the idea about SpiderG came to your mind?

Can you elaborate the pain point and how SpiderG helps address it?

SpiderG has recently launched an e-invoicing app for SMEs. Tell us more about it?

How is SpiderG different from other tech start-ups in the country?

What do you feel about the current start-up ecosystem in India? Where is it headed?

What are your immediate growth plans?

The idea of, an e-invoicing technology provider for SMEs, was born in early 2015 out of a need to solve invoicing problems of SMEs. This start-up was founded by a team of 3 youngsters Ashwani Rathore, Prakash Nair and Harshal Ingale with a common aim of bringing about a change in the way big or small organizations conduct business with each other. Pune-based SpiderG, owned by Gladiris Technologies, is an enterprise SaaS product launched in early 2015 providing real time actionable insights to users about their business, and their transactions with buyers and suppliers. The company has secured an angel investment round of $ 40 K in April 2015 and is looking to raise venture capital of around $ 5 million in the current year.is responsible for Finance, Marketing and Hiring processes. An ardent finance and marketing professional, Ashwani is well versed with the finance and marketing segments related to SMEs. A B.Tech from National Institute of Technology (NIT)- Allahabad and an MBA (Finance) from Asian Institute of Management, Manila, he started his career in 2005 with IT major Cognizant, and then worked for a product company Talentica Software. In 2007, Ashwani incepted Moms Kitchen, a food e-commerce and aggregator and ran it for 3 years. After this venture, he worked for Venture Capital firm IndiaCo Ventures Ltd where his role was deal evaluation for investments. He also holds prior experience as a Business Consultant for Goldman Sachs and ISB-Hyderabad 10k women entrepreneurship program before starting the venture SpiderG. Ashwini in conversation with Anil Mascarenhas of IIFL.SpiderG is a platform for businesses to electronically transact and communicate with their vendors/suppliers and customers, and get actionable information about business and their supply chain.Our parent company Gladiris Technology was started in December 2013 and started selling open source Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software to Small and Medium Businesses. The company was successful in ERP implementation in over a dozen companies but working with these companies and interaction with entrepreneurs revealed that certain problems were left unaddressed. We realized that key issues faced by SMEs cannot be solved only through ERP software alone and after deep research of 6 months; we came up with SpiderG in early 2015.According to a study, Indian companies deal with approximately 11 billion invoices in a year. The receiving, approval, and reconciliation processes create a paper trail of invoices that are passed from one department to the other for approvals and clearances. Owing to the massive number of invoices and manual processes, businesses constantly face issues with lost bills, double payments, missing credits, miscalculations of overall expenditure, storage of thousands of invoices and the uncertainty of whether an invoice has been paid or not. SpiderG streamlines external and internal communication, helps better track and manage receivable and payables.SpiderG App is a one stop solution for businesses to electronically transact and communicate with their vendors/suppliers, get information about receivables, payables, and other business activities within the organization, while seamlessly integrating with the existing ERP or accounting software. Users can share all transaction data with their owners, general managers, accountants, purchase and finance teams, ensuring clean reconciliation of all transactions. E-Transactions, Doc-Chat, Cash-Cal, Activity stream, Expense Recorder, Dashboard are the key features of the app that a user can access.Most companies in India are hassled with processing paper invoices that led us to develop SpiderG, an app to simplify invoicing for SMEs. As mobile devices become more and more integral in our users everyday lives, our app enables them to exchange invoices, purchase orders and other documents with vendors and relevant stakeholders. Our aim is to provide SMEs with a seamless network to help them in improving cash visibility and management. Our product is unique and user friendly, integrating the technology used with existing systems like Tally.Keeping in mind the sensitivity of the issues faced in monitoring accounts, the app brings to its users a transparent medium of managing their transactions and allocating resources accordingly.The USP of the SpiderG is pretty evident. It offers Cash visibility via CashCal, compatibility with existing systems like Tally and SAP, allows user to chat over transacting documents like invoice and provides visibility on the go through Activity stream. One user per company is exempt from all charges.We are delighted with the announcements made by our Government towards the start-up India, Stand-up India initiative. It will give much-needed thrust to the Indian start-up ecosystem and will add to the ease of doing business in India. Liberal and friendly economic policies pertaining to taxes, registration and foreign investment proposal will help businesses.Media played a vital role by covering start-ups which caught the attention of people outside the start-up system. 2016 is expected to witness a good number of entrepreneurs entering the enterprise space. Introduction of GST could see many start-ups entering the enterprise space since taxation rules would be a lot easier to understand and incorporate in the application. We would see more start-ups coming up with easy to use ERP, CRM & accounting software.We hope to raise venture capital of around $ 5 million. On the tech front, we will have plug-ins in place for Oracle and SAP four months down the line. Most small American companies use QuickBooks as an accounting software. We are planning to roll out a plug-in for that by August. On the promotion front, we are planning 20 road shows in India with an aim to get close to 10000 SME customers on-board by the end of this year.
Ivan Da Costa, President, Global Ocean Group

A graduate in Arts from Mumbai University, Ivan Da Costa has played a key role in shaping long-term growth strategies for Global Ocean in the Indian market. Prior to this, he was GM, India for Jet Freight Logistics Pvt. Ltd. where he set up the entire General Cargo Division and developed a network of agents both locally and abroad for the company. He began his career in the Indian Customs where he worked in prestigious sections of the department such as Rummaging and Intelligence Wing, Special Investigation and Intelligence Branch, Air Intelligence Unit and Air Preventive Unit. He has patrolled high seas in speed boats/country crafts (incognito) as well as by road and air in helicopters and been instrumental in making large number of cases involving seizures of banned items like drugs, gold, silver and foreign currencies.

Global Ocean Group

is into logistics and engaged in door to door delivery solutions in all modes of transport from international freight to local transportation facility including custom clearance, warehousing and transportation. The company has registered with WCA & MTO and aims to reach around the world. The focus is on developing a speedy and reliable service on the strength of high quality standards. Headquartered in Mumbai, the company has branches in Chennai, Mundra, Kandla, Tuticorin, Bangalore, Coimbatore, Karur, Vizag and Cochin.

Logistics industry has undergone a major transformation especially with the advent of ecommerce companies in India. How do you view this development?

With clients becoming more demanding, how geared are you for this challenge?

What is the future outlook for the Indian Logistic industry and what would be the triggers for growth?

How do you rate the governments effort to improve the ease of doing business in logistics sector?

Government is planning to cut down the time for clearing export and import consignments by half. Do you see this happening?

How has the business model of Global Ocean Group evolved over the years?

How do you ensure speedy and reliable service while maintaining high quality standards?

The e-commerce boom transformed the Logistics industry in India and the renewed focus on manufacturing will help it scale to the next level. -Ivan Da Costa spoke toofon a host of micro and macro issues in an exclusive interaction. Excerpts...The Indian Logistics industry is undergoing a major transformation, with business and infrastructure growth in the same breath. This is a tremendous opportunity for us to learn and grow, while diversifying our base to achieve excellence in delivery.There are many examples which support this sharp theory. The startup sector for one has been growing at a high pace, which in turn means that customers are being accessed at different locations, as well as by all means of a rapid supply chain eco-system. This obviously pushes the logistics mechanism to the edge, with each online retail company relying heavy on their supply chain management.Secondly, the manufacturing industry has gained a lot of focus in India in recent times. The big push is obviously from the government. This has also led to a favorable growth in infrastructure, with tier 2 and tier 3 cities also gaining momentum. Many new cities and towns are part of the manufacturing, industrial, and retail landscape now. This translates into many more opportunities to make our system more efficient and innovative.The scenario is even more optimistic if we consider the statistics. According to the India Logistics Expo 2016 report, the Indian logistics market recorded US $104.10 billion revenue in 2014, and is likely to reach revenues of US $150-$160 billion by 2020.Transportation accounts for about 60 per cent of the market revenues.The rise in the clients demand-coming from different set of companies has helped us build our core. I think building up a strong network of clients, our team, and the technological capabilities-required us to be on our toes all the time. We are confident about our set up today and up for any challenge which the industry throws at us.According to the India Logistics Expo 2016 report, the Indian logistics market recorded US $104.10 billion revenue in 2014, and is likely to reach revenues of US $150-$160 billion by 2020.Transportation accounts for about 60 per cent of the market revenues.Logistics industry has indeed transformed with ecommerce companies mushrooming in India. Startup companies hugely rely on their supply chain management, which presents a great opportunity for us going forward. Since we are present in every segment of the logistics business, I feel that the time has never been better, with Indian business economy creating more opportunities for the customers.Even Tier II and Tier III cities are gearing up to the idea of buying the latest in fashion and brands. As the retail sector steps up its presence in the key markets, there will continue to be a huge dependence on logistics to get innovative and more reliable. It only means more players and, more competition in the logistics service business as well.The current scenario indicates good times ahead for the logistics industry at large. The governments focus on the Make in India policy, which is also supported by an infrastructural growth creates a positive picture for us. Then, there is also a startup push from the government, with an objective to create more jobs. Logistics, which forms the backbone of any e-commerce company, exactly fits the requirement. By which I mean that it requires a huge workforce investment and management, so we have reasons to feel more optimistic. Also, Indian exports and imports industry is going places, and there have been deliberated efforts by the government to do an image makeover. This broadly means brining down clearance time at the port, and therefore, creating a more favorable business climate in the country.Any kind of support from the government is always a big encouragement for us. By reducing the time for clearance of duties, we are only moving towards a more comprehensive and directed approach to boost foreign exchange. Also, this is in line with the governments view to highlight India as a manufacturing superpower. Ease of doing business is the first step towards making things more favorable.Global Ocean Group is now a business service providing complete logistics management. In other words, it takes care of A to Z requirement of a clients logistics demand- starting from pick up of material from ex-factory anywhere from the world and provides logistic services along with custom clearance, transportation and warehousing for importers and exporters.We have grown from a custom clearance company to a complete set up providing 360 degree solution in the logistics sector. We believe we are witnessing an exciting phase in the industry, and hope to be a part of this growth story by contributing more and more. We have just started operations in Pune, Nagpur, and Aurangabad, and are in addition, planning to expand our presence internationally as well.We have been stepping up our presence in India, to reach more places now visible on the retail map. We are also expanding our presence overseas, which gives us an added exposure to what is happening in the logistics sector. We believe, we still have a lot to learn in terms of providing innovative solutions, in tune with the changing landscape of the logistics industry. Factors such as quick turn-around times, more investment in IT-driven solutions, and reliability on a robust infrastructure will continue to drive growth for us.We have been part of the industry for the last two decades. Our recent expansion (new branches) is a testimony to the fact that significant contribution from different cities is here to stay. In addition, we are also looking to be a part of the growing retail growth story in India, including ecommerce and SME sector.Time has never been more exciting for the logistics sector. We will continue to gain momentum, with India continuing to witness impressive sector growth, prominently in the manufacturing and start-up sectors.
, the premium global smartphone brand launched its new V series smartphones-V3 and V3Max. The company also announced roping in actor Ranveer Singh as its brand ambassador. With this dual grand announcement, Vivo has set the tone of its power in the India smartphones market. The Vivo V3 and V3 Max will be available at Rs. 17,980 and Rs. 23,980 respectively. The new phones offer Faster than Faster unbeatable speed packed with premium features with a technological breakthrough faster fingerprint unlocking.



Vivo V3 Max - Specifications At a high voltage event held in Mumbai, Vivothe premium global smartphone brand launched its new V series smartphones-V3 and V3Max. The company also announced roping in actor Ranveer Singh as its brand ambassador. With this dual grand announcement, Vivo has set the tone of its power in the India smartphones market. The Vivo V3 and V3 Max will be available at Rs. 17,980 and Rs. 23,980 respectively. The new phones offer Faster than Faster unbeatable speed packed with premium features with a technological breakthrough faster fingerprint unlocking.

4G LTE Network

13.97 cm (5.5) FHD Display

Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 (Octa-core)

4GB RAM/32GB ROM

(Expandable up to 128GB)

13MP Rear Camera & 8MP Front Camera

Battery 3000 mAh

Vivo V3 - Specifications

4G LTE Network

12.7 cm (5) HD Display

Snapdragon 616 (Octa-core)

3GB RAM/16GB ROM

(Expandable up to 128GB)

13MP Rear Camera & 8MP Front Camera

Battery 2550 mAh

Ranveer Singh, the current heartthrob will feature in the brands new TVC in early April. He will also be a part of various customer engagement activities that the brand has planned for the year.



Commenting on the launch, Alex Feng, CEO of Vivo India said, It gives me immense pleasure to announce the launch of our innovation, the V3 and V3 Max for the Indian market. The V series designed with creativity and equipped with state of art technology will be a landmark for Vivo India. India remains our prime focus and the launch of these models is a testimony of our commitment to cater to the ever growing demand of meticulous customers in India and worldwide. The V3 and V3 Max offer an unbeatable proposition of cutting edge technology, impressive looks and Hi-Fi music quality in the industry.



He further added, We are truly delighted to have Ranveer Singh as the face of Vivo in India. Ranveer enjoys a huge fan following amongst the young Indian audience and Vivo being the brand for the youth, this lethal combination is all set to create magic in the Indian market. We are expanding our operations in India with enhanced branding to reach out to a larger customer base. Currently we are present in over 10,000 outlets. With the help of Ranveer and 8,000 colleagues, Im confident that we are going to make great progress in the coming IPL season and 2016.



V Series - V3 and V3 Max

The marvelously designed metallic body along with the powerful configuration make V series phones a perfect combination of performance and looks. The V3Max is armed with dual fast charging engines adopted by Qualcomm QC 2.0 international standard thereby making the device extremely compatible.



The fingerprint unlocking allows the user to unlock the phone as fast as 0.2 seconds from and 0.5 seconds in sleep mode. The newly incorporated screen-split feature allows users to do multitasking without having to switch back and forth. Users can chat and watch videos simultaneously at the same time on one screen.



V3 Max, the high-end phone features a 13.97cm (5.5) full HD display with the resolution of 19201080 pixels. It comes with 2.5D Corning Gorilla glass and a metal body which gives it both elegant and strong appearance and protects it from accidental falls.



The phone is equipped with a powerful Octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 processor and paired with 4GB RAM and 32GB ROM which is expandable up to 128 GB. The device runs on Funtouch OS 2.5 based on Android 5.1 which stabilizes the whole system and makes it run fast.



V3 on the other hand flaunts the same design but comes with a slightly smaller screen. It measures 12.7 (5) HD display with the resolution of 1280720 pixels and powered by Octa-core Snapdragon 616 processor. The Vivo V3 is coupled with 3GB RAM and 16GB ROM.



Both V3 and V3 Max house the same camera hardware. They feature a 13MP primary camera and 8MP front camera. The supremely advanced camera features result in a delightful photo capturing experience.
Like previous years, government is once again getting ready to reduce its stakes in PSUs and shore up its revenues. The target for this year has been set at Rs 56,500 crores. A major part of this will come from stake sales while remaining, would be through strategic sale in both profitable and loss-making government companies.Experts feel that there is no guarantee that government will be able to achieve its target this year. Since markets are expected to be volatile in near term, any share sale is dependent on how are the prevailing market sentiments. Also, the Department of Disinvestment (DoD) had made it clear that completion of this exercise will be driven by market conditions. This clearly means that share sales would happen as and when government feels that markets are giving a good price to the shares.From governments perspective, it seems correct to wait to get a better price for its stake sale. After all, the money raised for the exercise will be used to reduce fiscal deficit. And with oil prices expected to increase soon, the savings on import of oil are also expected to reduce substantially. This means that government will all the more depend on other alternatives of reducing fiscal deficit.Experts also feel that government might push cash-rich PSUs to go for share buybacks. Generally, buybacks are applicable to all shareholders except promoters. But in this case, government might tweak rules and ask companies to use their cash reserves to buyback promoter's (government) stake only. This might seem like a controversial move. Some minority investors feel that it would have been better to utilize companys cash reserves for growth instead od helping the government with its deficits. But there is nothing that can be done here as the promoter entity is the government of India itself.
Kiri Industries hit 20% upper circuit to Rs.152.10 on BSE. The company said that it has executed agreements to settle all of its debt. The total borrowings have been reduced to Rs 410.6 crore from 853.1 crore last year and the company plans to further reduce its borrowings by Rs 250 crore in FY17, Manish Kiri, MD of Kiri Industries said. As per settlement agreement executed, the company is committed to settle and repay majority of the balance debt during the current financial year 2016-17, it added.The scrip opened at Rs. 138 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 152.1 and Rs. 136.1 respectively. So far 2130153(NSE+BSE) shares were traded on the counter. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 336.65 crore.The BSE group 'B' stock of face value Rs. 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 143 on 08-Apr-2015 and a 52 week low of Rs. 72.1 on 11-Feb-2016. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 128.8 and Rs. 79.3 respectively.The promoters holding in the company stood at 34.64 % while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 27 % and 38.36 % respectively.The stock is currently trading above its 200 DMA.
The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty slipped after the central bank at its monetary policy review reduced the policy rate by 25 basis points to 6.5%.The BSE Sensex ended with a loss of 516 points at 24,883. The BSE Sensex opened at 25,372 touched an intra-day high of 25,372 and low of 24,837.The NSE Nifty closed with a loss of 156 points at 7,603. The NSE Nifty opened at 7,736 hitting a high of 7,736 and low of 7,603.The India VIX (Volatility) index was up 2.17% to 17.8300.The Indian Rupee was trading down by 30 paise at 66.50 per US dollar.On the global front, China's Shanghai Composite index closed up by1.4% and Hang Seng closed down 1.60%.In Europe, the FTSE 100 slipped 1.6%. On the other hand, DAX gained 0.96% and the CAC 40 trading lower by 2% each.BPCL, HCL Tech, PowerGrid, Lupin, HDFC, Dr.Reddy's, Hero MotoCorp and Aurobindo Pharma were among the gainers on NSE, whereas Adani Ports, ICICI Bank, SBI, Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors DVR and Bank of Baroda were among the losers today.The BSE Sensex slipped over 250 points after the Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan slashed the repo rate by 25 basis points. RBI decided to reduce the minimum daily maintenance of the cash reserve ratio (CRR) from 95 per cent of the requirement to 90 per cent with effect from the fortnight beginning April 16, 2016, while CRR remains unchanged at 4.0 per cent of net demand and time liabilities (NDTL).At 3:09 PM, the S&P BSE Sensex is trading at 24,900 down 499 points, while NSE Nifty is trading at 7,612 down 147 points.The BSE Mid-cap Index is trading down 1.42% at 10,530, whereas BSE Small-cap Index is trading down 1.38% at 10,548.Lupin, L&T Finance, Biocon, Rallis India, Sanofi, Berger Paints and Jet Airways are among the gainers, whereas Adani Ports, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, SBI, Tata Motors and BHEL are losing sheen on BSE.Some buying activity is seen in consumer durables sector, while telecom, banking,metal, industrial, IT and realty are showing weakness on BSE.The INDIA VIX is down 0.54% at 17.3550. Out of 1,800 stocks traded on the NSE, 921 declined, 529 advanced and 350 remained unchanged today.A total of 23 stocks registered a fresh 52-week high in trades today, while 16 stocks touched a new 52-week low on the NSE.The Indian Rupee hit 4-month high and gained by 13 paise at 66.07/$ ahead of the Reserve Bank of Indias bi-monthly policy meeting. The Indian rupee had opened lower by 5 paise amid persistent dollar selling by banks and exporters.Snowman Logistics Ltd has informed BSE that the construction of the Jaipur warehouse has been completed and the warehouse is now ready for operations with a capacity of 4,200 pallets, thereby taking the total capacity of the company to 98,500 pallets. Snowman Logistics Ltd is currently trading at Rs. 53.35, down by Rs. 1.4 or 2.56% from its previous closing of Rs. 54.75 on the BSE.Footwear stocks rallied for the second consectutive session on BSE. The Delhi government has decided to roll back the hike of 5% in VAT on low-cost footwear, which was proposed in its Budget 2016-17. Relaxo Footwears Ltd jumped 12.3% to Rs.496.70. According to NSE Bulk deal data, Jwalamukhi Investment Holdings bought 1.89 million shares of the company at an average price of Rs.424.89 a shares. VLS Finance Ltd has sold 1.77 million shares of the company at an average price of Rs.425 a share. Lehareshwar Polymers soared 6.3% to Rs.46.70. Liberty Shoes zoomed 6% to Rs.178.40 on BSE.The Indian Rupee hit 4-month high and gained by 13 paise at 66.07/$ ahead of the Reserve Bank of India s bi-monthly policy meeting. The Indian rupee had opened lower by 5 paise amid persistent dollar selling by banks and exporters.Kiri Industries jumped 10.4% to Rs.140.70 on BSE. The company said that it has executed agreements to settle all of its debt. The total borrowings have been reduced to Rs 410.6 crore from 853.1 crore last year and the company plans to further reduce its borrowings by Rs 250 crore in FY17, Manish Kiri, MD of Kiri Industries said. As per settlement agreement executed, the company is committed to settle and repay majority of the balance debt during the current financial year 2016-17, it added.Shares of Bank of Baroda was trading at Rs. 147.55, down by Rs. 3.7 or 2.45% from its previous closing of Rs. 151.25 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 150.05 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 152.35 and Rs. 147.25 respectively. So far 5828013(NSE+BSE) shares were traded on the counter.Shares of State Bank of India was trading at Rs. 190.5, down by Rs. 4.5 or 2.31% from its previous closing of Rs. 195 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 193 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 194.65 and Rs. 190.45 respectively. So far 12070312(NSE+BSE) shares were traded on the counter.Punjab National Bank was trading at Rs. 85.05, down by Rs. 1.8 or 2.07% from its previous closing of Rs. 86.85 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 86.95 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 87.45 and Rs. 85 respectively. So far 3842341(NSE+BSE) shares were traded on the counter.There was not much excitement either from the private bank stocks. Shares of ICICI Bank Ltd is currently trading at Rs. 233.9, down by Rs. 4.6 or 1.93% from its previous closing of Rs. 238.5 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 236.95 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 237.4 and Rs. 230.3 respectively. So far 9874047(NSE+BSE) shares were traded on the counter.HDFC Bank Ltd was trading at Rs. 1066.7, down by Rs. 2.6 or 0.24% from its previous closing of Rs. 1069.3 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 1068 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 1076.65 and Rs. 1061.8 respectively. So far 683459(NSE+BSE) shares were traded on the counter.Axis Bank Ltd was trading at Rs. 437.95, down by Rs. 7.15 or 1.61% from its previous closing of Rs. 445.1 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 443.7 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 449.5 and Rs. 437 respectively. So far 5471531(NSE+BSE) shares were traded on the counter.Shares of IndusInd Bank Ltd was trading at Rs. 953.3, down by Rs. 7.55 or 0.79% from its previous closing of Rs. 960.85 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 959 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 963 and Rs. 945.65 respectively. So far 466464(NSE+BSE) shares were traded on the counter.Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd was trading at Rs. 672.7, down by Rs. 13.75 or 2% from its previous closing of Rs. 686.45 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 682 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 685 and Rs. 670.6 respectively. So far 956012(NSE+BSE) shares were traded on the counter.Yes Bank Ltd trading at Rs. 846.25, down by Rs. 21.6 or 2.49% from its previous closing of Rs. 867.85 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 858.1 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 865 and Rs. 842.5 respectively. So far 1754977(NSE+BSE) shares were traded on the counter.
The troubles of one sector can be an invitation to make large profits for others. Not everyone is unhappy with the sudden rise in bad loans in the Indian banking system. If the total stressed asset figures are allowed to include loans that have been restructured or rolled over, then stressed assets have a staggering 11% share in the total loans of the banking system. This is something that has brought the banking sector on its knees.But these bad loans are the exact things that many distressed asset investors look for. As of now, many large global investors are assessing individual stressed asset cases in India. According to these investors, the Indian government and RBI seem do be doing a good job of increasing transparency for these loans. This is something that helps increase chances of resolution for these loans. Most investors are betting on revival of assets by capital infusion or change in management. But unlike investors who are in it for profit, banks are looking at this as an opportunity to contain their losses. This difference of stance is what is attracting investors to the stressed asset space. Since banks are willing to take large haircuts on these loans, the investors have a shot at making multibagger returns from the troubled assets space.The government is also making the life easier for banks to sell these assets. Till now, only ARCs were allowed to purchase bad loans from the banks. But since ARCs were almost always short of capital, banks found it tough to sell their loans to them. Now the government has allowed foreign investors to fully own ARCs without having to seek prior regulatory permission. This is expected to be a big positive for the ARCs and indirectly, will help banks find more buyers for their stressed asset portfolios.
The oil marketing companies have increased the price of petrol by Rs.2.19 per litre while it hiked the price of diesel by Rs.0.98 per litre.Maruti Suzuki India expects to clock double-digit growth in sales in FY17 as well, Executive Director (ED) Randhir Singh Kalsi has been quoted as saying.: Strides Shasun has closed the deal with Moberg Pharma, wherein the Indian pharma major has acquired 3 brands from Moberg for US$ 10 million.: The company informed BSE that Mr Manoj Kumar has resigned from the Board of Directors of the Company with effect from April 02, 2016. He had been asked to go on leave on the March 29, 2016 by the decision of the Board of Directors.: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan will announce its monetary policy today.Private equity firm Blackstone said it struck a deal with Hewlett-Packard Enterprises to buy a majority stake in Mphasis, putting an end to the buyout battle for the Indian IT firm.: Aurionpro has announced the completion of sale of its IT Services business in USA to Saicon Consultants Inc., a leading professional services company effective immediately.:The company said its board has given approval to investment proposals worth Rs. 3,324 crore, including Rs. 845 crore generation projects in Odisha and Rs 810 crore solar park in Karnataka.Mahindra and Mahindra launched the Nuvo Sport compact sport utility vehicle. With prices starting at Rs.7.35 lakh (ex-showroom,Thane), Nuvo will be powered by a 1.5 litre mHawk engine, and replace the Quanto, the companys first sub-four meter SUV offering launched in 2012. Mahindra has pitted the model against the Ford Ecosport.FMCG major Hindustan Unilever has completed sale of its bread and bakery business under 'Modern' brand to Everstone Group's Nimman Foods Pvt Ltd.Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said that it had affirmed its 'B' foreign currency long-term corporate credit rating on Vedanta Resources PLC.Kitex Garments Ltd posted Q4 net profit for the quarter stands at Rs.45 croreHyderabad-based specialty injectable drugmaker Gland Pharma has attracted bids from top drugmakers, including Torrent Pharma and US-based Baxter, says a business daily.Lupin Ltd is looking for acquisitions in Japan to maintain its lead in a bid to counter the threat from the entry of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries in that market, reports a business daily.: Fitch Ratings downgraded Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Steel one notch to 'BB' from 'BB+', citing a decline in profitability and rise in leverage caused due to a prolonged period of weak international steel prices and debt-funded capacity expansion.Construction firm MBL Infrastructures has bagged road development projects worth Rs 2,126 crore from NHAI in Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.MBL Infrastructures Ltd has been awarded the following projects on DBFOT (Design-Build-Finance-Operate-Transfer) Hybrid Annuity basis by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) worth Rs 2,126 crore, the company said.Cox and Kings Ltd, one of the oldest travel agents in India, has sold a majority stake in its subsidiarieshotel booking website LateRooms UK Ltd and short break specialist firm Superbreak, the company informed the exchanges on Monday.State-run power producer NTPC said water scarcity has forced temporary closure of its power plant at Farakka, West Bengal, but it will not affect power supply to the state. The Board of Directors of the Company at its meeting held on March 30, 2016 as accorded investment approval for:- Mand saur Solar PV Project (5x50 MW) in the state of Madhya Pradesh at an appraised estimated cost of Rs. 1,502.77 Crore; and (ii) Bhadla Solar PV Project (4x65 MW) in the state of Rajasthan at an appraised estimated cost of Rs. 1,601.27 Crore.The auto company reported a 26 per cent increase in motorcycle sales at 2,64,249 units in March.
Liquor stocks cracks on BSE after Bihar Goverment imposes complete ban on alcohol (foreign and local) across the state. The ban comes after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar imposed partial ban across the state last Friday.G M Breweries Ltd is currently trading at Rs. 1022.75, down by Rs. 61 or 5.63% from its previous closing of Rs. 1083.75 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 1079.75 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 1106 and Rs. 982 respectively. So far 286048(NSE+BSE) shares were traded on the counter. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 1267.73 crore.United Breweries Ltd is currently trading at Rs. 825.9, up by Rs. 1.95 or 0.24% from its previous closing of Rs. 823.95 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 835 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 835 and Rs. 817 respectively. So far 153637(NSE+BSE) shares were traded on the counter. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 21785.24 crore.Globus Spirits Ltd is currently trading at Rs. 66.55, down by Rs. 3.45 or 4.93% from its previous closing of Rs. 70 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 69.85 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 71.45 and Rs. 66.1 respectively. So far 131871(NSE+BSE) shares were traded on the counter. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 201.59 crore.Radico Khaitan Ltd is currently trading at Rs. 94.5, down by Rs. 2.85 or 2.93% from its previous closing of Rs. 97.35 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 97.05 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 97.05 and Rs. 94.5 respectively. So far 60902(NSE+BSE) shares were traded on the counter. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 1295.24 crore.Footwear stocks rallied for the second consectutive session on BSE. The Delhi government has decided to roll back the hike of 5% in VAT on low-cost footwear, which was proposed in its Budget 2016-17. Relaxo Footwears Ltd jumped 12.3% to Rs.496.70. According to NSE Bulk deal data, Jwalamukhi Investment Holdings bought 1.89 million shares of the company at an average price of Rs.424.89 a shares. VLS Finance Ltd has sold 1.77 million shares of the company at an average price of Rs.425 a share. Lehareshwar Polymers soared 6.3% to Rs.46.70. Liberty Shoes zoomed 6% to Rs.178.40RBI decided to reduce the minimum daily maintenance of the cash reserve ratio (CRR) from 95 per cent of the requirement to 90 per cent with effect from the fortnight beginning April 16, 2016, while CRR remains unchanged at 4.0 per cent of net demand and time liabilities (NDTL). Despite of RBI providing the banks anticipation of 25 bps rate cut, all banking stocks were trading in red on D-Street. PSB shares cracked down at the index.Shares of Bank of Baroda was trading at Rs. 147.55, down by Rs. 3.7 or 2.45% from its previous closing of Rs. 151.25 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 150.05 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 152.35 and Rs. 147.25 respectively. So far 5828013(NSE+BSE) shares were traded on the counter.Shares of State Bank of India was trading at Rs. 190.5, down by Rs. 4.5 or 2.31% from its previous closing of Rs. 195 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 193 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 194.65 and Rs. 190.45 respectively. So far 12070312(NSE+BSE) shares were traded on the counter.Punjab National Bank was trading at Rs. 85.05, down by Rs. 1.8 or 2.07% from its previous closing of Rs. 86.85 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 86.95 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 87.45 and Rs. 85 respectively. So far 3842341(NSE+BSE) shares were traded on the counter.There was not much excitement either from the private bank stocks. Shares of ICICI Bank Ltd is currently trading at Rs. 233.9, down by Rs. 4.6 or 1.93% from its previous closing of Rs. 238.5 on the BSE.Axis Bank Ltd was trading at Rs. 437.95, down by Rs. 7.15 or 1.61% from its previous closing of Rs. 445.1 on the BSE.Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd was trading at Rs. 672.7, down by Rs. 13.75 or 2% from its previous closing of Rs. 686.45 on the BSE. Yes Bank Ltd trading at Rs. 846.25, down by Rs. 21.6 or 2.49% from its previous closing of Rs. 867.85 on the BSE.jumped 10.4% to Rs.140.70 on BSE. The company said that it has executed agreements to settle all of its debt. The total borrowings have been reduced to Rs 410.6 crore from 853.1 crore last year and the company plans to further reduce its borrowings by Rs 250 crore in FY17, Manish Kiri, MD of Kiri Industries said. As per settlement agreement executed, the company is committed to settle and repay majority of the balance debt during the current financial year 2016-17, it added.Shares ofandwere up in the range of 1% to 2%.The oil marketing companies have increased the price of petrol by Rs.2.19 per litre while it hiked the price of diesel by Rs.0.98 per litre.The S&P BSE Oil and Gas is trading marginally down 0.02% at 9,049 as against the previous close of 9,056.The S&P BSE Oil and Gas opened at 9,071 and hits a high of 9,133 and a low of 9,048.stock was lower by 3% at Rs. 236. The company has won approval from the Tamil Nadu government to acquire Kattupalli port located at Ennore near Chennai from L&T Shipbuilding Ltd, according to reports.has announced that it has bagged orders worth Rs.2,125 crore. Larsen & Toubro Ltd is currently trading at Rs. 1229, down by Rs. 6.75 or 0.55% from its previous closing of Rs. 1235.75 on the BSE.stock was lower by 3.9% at Rs.1,365. The company announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Strength of Nature LLC (SON), a leading company of hair care products for women of African descent. This acquisition is a further step to accelerate GCPLs global 3 by 3 strategy and scale up its presence in Africa by being at the forefront of serving the hair care needs of women of African descent. The acquisition is expected to be EPS accretive for GCPL from year one itself.Limited has announced that In continuation to Company's letter dated 2nd March, 2016 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 M/s Pandawa Sakti (Sabah) Sdn. Bhd., Malaysia (Purchaser) pursuant to the Share Sale Agreement, Company wish to update on the transaction as under. Ballarpur Industries Ltd is currently trading at Rs. 15.27, down by Rs. 0.4 or 2.55% from its previous closing of Rs. 15.67 on the BSE.stock was up by 2% at Rs. 69. The airline has reinforced its frequency on the Udaipur  Mumbai route by announcing the launch of a new flight effective from 16th April 2016.
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We all know about the legal notice Hrithik Roshan sent to Kangana Ranaut which sparked off a public face-off between the duo. More recently, the actor named his Krrish 3 co-star as the person interacting with his imposter on a fake email id in his complaint to the Cyber Cell and Kangana and her sister-manager, Rangoli, were summoned by the Cyber Crime Cell branch. The summons was met with a sharp rebuttal from her lawyer, Rizwan Siddiquee who demanded that the cops be taken to task.

Now, Siddiquee has stated that withdrawal of the notice is the best and only option while deviations and an attempted trial by media as a face-saving tactic may worsen the case as it would eventually create interference in the process of delivery of justice and constrain his client to retaliate unnecessarily.

"My reply-cum-counter notice received by Mr Hrithik Roshan on March 1, 2016 has not been acted upon by him within seven days, and Mr Hrithik Roshan has still not withdrawn his allegations and claims, despite the same having been sufficiently proved to be either lies or absolutely baseless and untenable," he stated. He also added that his client has been on the defensive, considering that Hrithik is responsible as a father of two young kids, and not initiated any action against him despite her emails being hacked and that he has criminally intimidated her and made imputation against her chastity, besides issuing unwarranted threats.

He pointed out that selective response to media reports or deviations can never be a solution. "The only solution is that Mr Hrithik Roshan withdraws his notice and my client shall accordingly then withdraw her reply-cum-counter notice."
We know the legal mess with Kangana Ranaut is already testing the patience of Hrithik Roshan. Blame it on this controversy or his hectic shooting schedule of Mohenjo Daro, the actor lost his cool. And who was at the receiving end? Well, a photographer!

A popular tabloid's photographer Raju Shelar irked Hrithik during the shooting for the film's climax, by clicking some exclusive pictures from the location. Considering the actor was shooting for a hand-to-hand combat sequence with the villain, since early morning, it seems Hrithik was too much into the character, and his defensive attitude spilled even on the photographer. When despite warnings from Hrithik's bodyguard, Raju continued clicking, his camera was taken away and handed over to Hrithik. The pissed actor took the camera and went into his vanity van asking the photographer to wait till the shoot was over. Post the pack up he thrashed Raju for clicking without permission and told him to collect the camera the next day. While Raju protested saying he was doing his job, Hrithik gave it back to him that it would reveal his look from the period drama.

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If you thought it ended there, well no! The next day, Hrithik even asked the media person to make him speak to his boss and sought an apology from the tabloid. On its part, the tabloid threatened to file a police complaint if Hrithik didn't return the camera. But looks like Hrithik was too furious to budge. All he said was "I will think about it."

Though the photographer got back his camera soon after, it did brought out a completely different side of Hrithik, who otherwise comes across as a calm and jovial person. When will bad luck leave Hrithik alone?

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Fasting should not always be associated with religious beliefs. And it shouldnt be observed to lose weight. Fasting is a great way to flush out unwanted toxins from your body. Here are 11 benefits of how fasting can add a decade to your life

1. Fasting compels your body to stop using glucose as a fuel to burn fat

Image Credit: janariess.religionnews.com

Glucose is not considered as a good fuel to burn fat. When you stop providing glucose to your body, the cells in your body become more swift and the fat burning process starts at a faster pace.

2. Fasting normalises insulin and leptin sensitivity

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Leptin is a hormone that is secreted by fat cells. Consuming less calories on a regular basis can lower sensitivity to leptin, which leads to fat loss.

3. Eating right after fasting is equally important

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Your fast goes for a complete toss, if you dont combine proper food with it. For instance, breaking your fast with a meal filled with fats is not going to trigger weight loss, but it will increase your kilos.

4. It regenerates your immune system

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Fasting helps regeneration of new immune system cells. The scientists at University of Southern California suggested that fasting can be beneficial for cancer patients who are undergoing chemotherapy.

5. You can fast without giving a religious angle to it

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Fasting is mostly associated with religious beliefs. However, fasting can be done just to detoxify your digestive system by observing an intermittent fast.

6. It increases your metabolic rate

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Studies suggest that short term fasting increases the metabolic rate by 3.6-14%. This results in quick digestion and quick calorie burn.

7. It lowers the risk of Type 2 diabetes

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Fasting is beneficial for insulin resistance which leads to a great cut on blood sugar levels.

8. It improves brain health

Image Credit: Getty

Not consuming calories triggers addition in the levels of a brain hormone called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a deficiency of which causes depression and other brain problems.

9. It extends your life span

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Prahlad Jani, a sadhu, claims to have lived without food and water since 1940! He was kept under observation for 10 days, where he was perfectly fine without food and water.

10. It helps you realise your wrong eating patterns

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We keep hogging on food even when we arent hungry. But when you fast, you realise that you can survive without that intake of 1000 calories a day.

11. It reduces oxidative stress and inflammation

Image Credit: shutterstock

Oxidative stress is one of the reasons you look older than you actually are. Fasting reduces puffiness and inflammation of the body, making it more resistant to stress.
Transportation app Ola has launched e-rickshaw category on the app, allowing people to book rides in Delhi-NCR region.

The service will be launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi later in the day as part of Stand-Up India initiative, which aimed at promoting entrepreneurship.

A total of 5,100 Ola e-rickshaws will be launched in partnership with Bhartiya Micro Credit (BMC) at the event and will be deployed across Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, Faridabad and Ghaziabad. This will be further scaled up in the coming months to more small towns and Tier III cities, Ola Chief Operating Officer Pranay Jivrajka said.

The company will charge a 10 per cent commission from the rickshaw pedallers

It will, however, not charge any convenience fee from users as is the case with auto-rickshaws.

While the fare will differ city to city, users will have to pay Rs 25 for two km and Rs 8 per km for the following distance. They can pay cash or using Ola Money, the companys wallet service. We will soon launch ride sharing options, which will bring down the cost, he said without disclosing a timeline.

Estimates suggest there are five million rickshaw pedallers in the country. With over 60 per cent of the Indias population residing in small towns, Ola aims to strengthen mobility in these towns with the e-rickshaw initiative, he added.

Citizens in these cities and towns currently suffer from lack of convenient and reliable mobility options, especially for short distances. E-rickshaws are an affordable and greener alternative in these cities that can serve mobility needs unique to these small towns and cities in India, he said.

More Skill Development Centres Will Be Started

Apart from financial support for procuring e-rickshaws, Ola and BMC will also set up and run skill development centres in these towns to enable continuous skilling and training for thousands of rickshaw driver-entrepreneurs. Ola already has about 80,000 auto-rickshaws and 3.5 lakh cabs on its platform.

Besides, digital payments company FreeCharge has also come on board as a partner. It will enable customers to connect and pay via chat with e-Rickshaw drivers as part of its chat-n-pay service.

The drivers can register as a merchant at zero investment, on the Chat-n-Pay platform by simply adding their banking details. For consumers and drivers, Chat-n-Pay will help eliminate the hassle of managing and arranging change and will further offer convenience to pay on-the-go in a seamless and secure manner, Govind Rajan, Chief Operating Officer, FreeCharge said.
A Spanish couple was intercepted and manhandled by local goons at a tourist spot in Ajmer on Monday evening.

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The couple, who also has American citizenship, came to Pushkar and took a bike on rent for Ajaypal, a tourist spot. The woman was molested with her clothes torn off while the male tourist's head was injured with a stone. The victims were so terrified that even after long counselling and assurance, they did not agree to file a complaint with the police.

Police are trying to identify the miscreants. Superintendent of police Nitin Deep Bulgam, ASP Avinash Kumar and other officials were in JLN Hospital to take stock of the situation. According to sources, two couples, aged between 35 to 40 years, came to Pushkar two days ago and checked in a hotel. On Monday afternoon, they took two bikes on rent at Pushkar to explore the Aravalli hills and other tourist places.

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They went to Ajaypal, situated on the back side of the Taragarh hills where they found five youths on other motorcycles. One of the couples left the place for other destination while other remained on the spot, sources said.

"At about 5 pm, all five youths abused and intimidated them," said the victim to police. Two of the youths also tried to molest the woman and tried to snatch her bag and tore her clothes. The remaining tried to snatch the bag which she was holding. "There were two cameras and other things with changed currency in the bag," said the victim to police.

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A male companion tried to fight against these goons and they threw a stone towards him which landed on his head and he started bleeding.

The youths ran away and she called her hotel owner Mukesh on her mobile phone. Mukesh came to the spot and took the couple to a private hospital at Pushkar road. A blanket was offered to the woman and local people came forward to help them.

Injured went under CT scan to know about the head injuries. "The woman was so terrified that she was shaking in presence of police officials.

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Superintendent of police Nitin Deep Bulgam said that they tried to assure the couple first to make them normal and counsel to register the report. "We are still trying to get the complaint," said SP.

Meanwhile, attempts are also underway to get the FIR registered through a third party. According to police, it is necessary to have an FIR to frame charges which could even be attempt to rape against the accused.
While the US ambassador to India praised the growing U.S.-India cooperation in space, another 'space race', reminiscent of the US-Russia contest to reach the moon first, seems likely.

ISRO managed to launch 4 American satellites at once, Ambassador Richard Verma said in prepared remarks to a space policy forum in New Delhi on India's "trusted workhorse  the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, which has launched satellites for 20 different countries."

India To Launch Six Singapore-Made Satellites Onboard ISRO's PSLV-C29 In December

However, a day later, U.S. Department of Transportations Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) endorsed an advisory committees recommendation to ban American launch companies from from using the PSLV, as per a Space News report. Further, the FAA said it agreed with the Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee (COMSTAC) Indian launch services can distort the conditions of competition in the launch-services market.

Considering these are two opposing views, it is confusing what the American rocket industry thinks of Indian satellites

There is a real dysfunction on the government side, one U.S. industry official said. On the one hand, you have the policy, which no agency wants to take responsibility for but which remains the policy. On the other, government agencies are practically falling over themselves to grant waivers. COMSTAC speaking at a Jan 27 conference call of its International Space Policy Working Group said it that working with ISRO, an Indian government launch provider "runs counter to many national policies and undermines the work that has been done by government and industry to ensure the health of the U.S. space launch industrial bases."

New York Times Cartoonist Takes Prejudiced Potshot At Our Mars Mission
In the world we live in, there is no dearth of pious men who believe that most of the world's problems can be fixed by giving their women a little thrashing.

And this business of a man's God-given right to give a woman a little thrashing has brought together all of Pakistan's pious men.

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A few weeks ago, Pakistan's largest province passed a law called the Punjab Protection of Women Against Violence Act. The law institutes radical measures that say a husband can't beat his wife, and if he does, he will face criminal charges and possibly even eviction from his home. It proposes setting up a hotline women can call to report abuse. In some cases, offenders will be required to wear a bracelet with a GPS monitor and will not be allowed to buy guns.

A coalition of more than 30 religious and political parties has declared the law un-Islamic, an attempt to secularize Pakistan and a clear and present threat to our most sacred institution: the family. They have threatened countrywide street protests if the government doesn't back down.

Their logic goes like this: If you beat up a person on the street, it's a criminal assault. If you bash someone in your bedroom, you're protected by the sanctity of your home. If you kill a stranger, it's murder. If you shoot your own sister, you're defending your honour. I'm sure the nice folks campaigning against the bill don't want to beat up their wives or murder their sisters, but they are fighting for their fellow men's right to do just that.

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It's not only opposition parties that are against the bill: The government-appointed Council of Islamic Ideology has also declared it repugnant to our religion and culture. The council's main task is to ensure that all the laws in the country comply with Shariah. But basically it's a bunch of old men who go to sleep worrying that there are all these women out there trying to trick them into bed. Maybe that's why there are no pious old women on the council, even though there's no shortage of them in Pakistan.

The council's past proclamations have defended a man's right to marry a minor, dispensed him from asking for permission from his first wife before taking a second or a third, and made it impossible for women to prove rape. It's probably the most privileged dirty old men's club in the country.

Some of us routinely condemn these pious old men, but it seems they are not just a bunch of pampered religious nuts. In fact, they are giving voice to Pakistani men's collective misery over the fact that their women are out of control. Look at university exam results; women are hogging all the top positions. Go to a bank; there is a woman counting your money with her fancy nails. Turn on your TV; there is a female journalist questioning powerful men about politics and sports.

One of these journalists recently was grilling a famous mufti opposed to the bill. Bewildered, the mufti said: Are you a woman, or are you a TV journalist? She was professional enough not to retort: Are you a mufti, or just another old fart? It wasn't supposed to be like this. Three decades ago, most Pakistani women who had paid jobs worked at menial tasks, and the others were confined to traditional professions like medicine or teaching or, occasionally, law. There was a small and brave women's movement. Women were writing novels and making movies, but they were few in number. Now they are flying planes, heading companies, policing the streets, climbing mountains and winning Oscars and Nobel Prizes. There are millions of women across the country running little beauty parlors from their homes, employing other women and gaining a measure of independence.

But for every bank teller, there are still millions of women who are farmhands or house help. For every TV journalist, there are many more women who live in half-slavery, scrubbing and cleaning, and shouldering the heavy burden of protecting and raising their kids.

Let's not just blame the mullahs and muftis. Misogyny is way older than any religion. Even people who have never seen the inside of a mosque or the Sufis who want to become one with the universe wouldn't think twice before treating a woman as something between a pest and a pet goat.

Some members of Parliament stayed away when this bill was being passed in the Punjab assembly. They probably represent a majority. Some of us even call ourselves feminist. "See, I have never stopped my sister from going to school, never given my girlfriend a black eye. That makes me a feminist, right? But we must protect our families. You don't want a family-loving feminist man going around with a GPS tracker, do you?"

What really scares the so-called feminist men is that a lot of women are actually quite bored with talking about being a woman. They talk about their work. A film director talks about bad actors. A development worker talks about idiotic funding patterns. A maid talks about her cellphone and the quality of detergents.

There's a woman in my neighbourhood who walks fast. She is always carrying two kids in her arms. Not infants but 3 and 4-year-old sturdy kids, heavy weights. She walks fast. Probably you have to walk fast when you are carrying two kids. She doesn't expect a lift from the many cars passing by. She can't afford a cab. She is walking toward her bus. Always with the two kids in her arms and a bag around her shoulder. She gives Quran lessons at people's homes.

I don't think all those pious men, or anyone else, can tell that woman with the two kids how to walk her daily walk. If someone asks her how it feels to be a woman in this society, she'd probably answer, "Can't you see I'm working?"
Rich Indians love to park their wealth offshore, away from the public glare and the scrutiny of Income Tax Department.

The Panama Papers Leak is testimony to this fact

Now the world knows how Panama was used by some very influential names across the globe to stash unknown millions. Well, Panama isn't the only tax havens the rich use to hide assets.

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Before the leaks, an estimated $1 trillion of Indian "black" money was believed to be stashed abroad, according to government's estimates.

It was more than India's annual GDP. Moreover, only 3% of the population, World Bank estimates show, was actually paying taxes in our country.

Every successive government promises to bring back this black money.

The Modi government is hoping to choke India's black-money culture with mandatory tax number declarations for people shopping with large sums, linking biometric identities to every bank account, opening new payment gateways and promoting credit card use, but India's rich still find their ways out, just like they have been for years now.



We give you the names of 15 of the world's most popular tax havens where the rich store their millions, sometimes legally and sometimes not so legally!

1. DUBAI

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Hundreds of high net worth, resident Indians have floated companies in Dubai's free trade zone to evade tax or stash away piles of unaccounted cash.

2. SINGAPORE

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Personal income tax rates in Singapore are one of the lowest globally, GST tax is applicable only when annual turnover exceeds S$1 million, Capital gains aren't taxed, and there is no inheritance tax.

Setting up a business in Singapore is also fairly easy since one just needs single shareholder, one resident director with a local address, and a minimum paid up capital of S$1 within a day or two.

3. MAURITIUS

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For years, foreign companies and investors have routed foreign investment into India through Mauritius-based-holding companies to take advantage of its corporate tax regime and lack of withholding and capital gains taxes.

4. NETHERLANDS

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Indian companies take advantage of a number of Dutch tax rules to reduce their tax burdens.

5. BAHAMAS

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6. CYPRUS

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7. CHANNEL ISLANDS

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8. BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS

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The British Virgin Islands has no corporate tax either. Theres no real estate tax, inheritance tax, gift tax or sales tax, and it has an effective income tax rate of zero. From 2012 through 2014, overseas investment by Indians grew by an astonishing 700 per cent here. There are several others like British Virgin Islands with either lower income tax rates, sometimes as low as 2%, or virtually no taxes like..

9.CAYMAN ISLANDS

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Unlike most countries, the Cayman Islands does not have a corporate tax, making it an ideal place for multinational corporations to base subsidiary entities to shield some or all of their incomes from taxation.

10.HONG KONG

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11.SWITZERLAND

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This does not need introduction. We have all heard of the Swiss banks, havent we?

12.US

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The US has become one of the few places left where advisers are actively promoting accounts that will remain secret from overseas authorities. Its creating a hot new market and becoming the go-to place to stash foreign wealth.

13. SEYCHELLES

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Seychelles has long been perceived as one of the preferred offshore havens for routing funds. However, India only last year signed an official info exchange pact with Seychelles, and others like Cayman and British Virgin Islands, to stop illegal activities.
Giving a rest to the headscarf controversy, Air France has announced that it will allow its female crew to opt out of flying from Paris to Tehran. The controversy was sparked by the Iranian law that dictated women attendants to wear headscarves in Tehran upon landing.

Following two days of uproar and displeasure over the diktat, Air France met with the airline unions on Monday afternoon and directed all female attendants to use their freedom to opt out of flying to the Islamic city.

Air France

According to Air France, even if a pilot or a cabin attendant is flying from Paris to Tehran, they will be allowed to switch flights before landing in Tehran.

Iranian law requires all women to cover their hair when venturing out in public spaces. Since the law is observed "by all international airlines serving the Republic of Iran", according to Air France, it does not apply during the flight.

But while headscarves are a tradition in Iran, the same along with hijabs and veils are banned in France.

Reuters

The airline said in a statement, "Tolerance and respect for the cultures and customs in the countries served by the airline are part of the fundamental values of Air France and its staff."

Air France has made all its Paris to Tehran flights voluntary for women crew to respect "the personal values of each Air France female crew member."

Paris to Tehran flights will resume after an eight-year hiatus on 17th April and will operate thrice a week.
The government on Monday set up a multi agency team to investigate alleged offshore holdings of about 500 Indians named by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). Finance minister Arun Jaitley promised strict action against any "unlawful" accounts. The probe was ordered after PM Narendra Modi discussed the issue with the FM.

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"The multi-agency group will comprise various government agencies - the CBDT, FIU (Financial Intelligence Unit), FT&TR (Foreign Tax and Tax Research) and RBI. They will continuously monitor these (accounts) and whichever accounts are found to be unlawful, and strict action as per existing laws will be taken," Jaitley said.

As part of the ICIJ joint investigation, the Indian Express on Monday published a number of reports on the alleged offshore holdings of such prominent names as Amitabh Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai, DLF chairman K P Singh and several members of his family, Indiabulls owner Sameer Gehlaut, Onkar Singh Kanwar of Apollo Tyres and Gautam Adani's elder brother Vinod.

These were based on leaked documents from Mossack Fonseca, a Panama-based law firm. Several of those named in the reports said they had complied with prevailing rules. Asked as to the categories of people who would be liable for prosecution, government officials indicated that NRIs were in the clear.

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But resident Indians could be in trouble if they had violated RBI rules on overseas remittances or not declared overseas assets or income from them in their tax returns or under the compliance scheme last year, these officials added.

The ICIJ has also detailed the hidden financial dealings of 128 politicians and public officials around the world. It said the files expose offshore companies controlled by the Prime Ministers of Iceland and Pakistan, the King of Saudi Arabia, and friends and associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Governments across the world launched investigations - Australia, Austria, France, Sweden and the Netherlands were among those which said they had begun probing the allegations, based on more than 11.5 million documents.

The finance ministry said the government would seek "maximum information from all sources, including foreign governments to help in the investigation process".
If you are rich and unscrupulous, how do you hide your ill-gotten billions, evade taxes and steer clear of the law at home?

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A vast leak of 11,500 confidential documents from a Panama-based legal firm, Mossack Fonseca, gives a rare glimpse into how some of the wealthiest people in the world use offshore financial bolt holes to conceal billions of dollars in assets.

At the heart of any strategy is the shell company, created to give the appearance of being a legitimate business when its only purpose is in fact to stash away assets while keeping the real owner's identity hidden. Adding a further cloak of anonymity, many schemes rely on trusts. You hand over the legal title of your wealth to a trustee, who then manages it on your behalf. To complete the package, place it all offshore where your home country's laws do not apply and the authorities will find it hard to track down your wealth.

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"There are hundreds of thousands of trusts in the world," said Transparency International France president Daniel Lebegue, based not only in Panama but also in Guernsey, the Bahamas or the British Virgin Islands, Foundations, which can be set up to manage huge riches with opaque structures, also are often used for the same purpose, including in states such as Liechtenstein, Lebegue said.

To shift your riches around, one of the favoured tools that crops up in the Panama Papers is the 'bearer share'. Unlike ordinary shares, a bearer share has no name written on it and requires no identification to cash in. The use of offshore entities is not illegal in itself. But to remain legal, assets kept offshore usually must be declared to the tax authorities in your country of residence. Not everyone follows that rule.

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"Behind these opaque structures there is a lot of black money that has come from criminal activities," such as drug trafficking, organised crime or terrorism, Lebegue said. Other sources for the assets include corruption and "grey money" derived from tax evasion, he said. "But these accounts may also include money from legitimate activities such as financing for aircraft or shipping, for reason of administrative simplicity," Lebegue added.

Bearer shares are not illegal, either. "If a country's legislation allows bearer shares then by definition it is not illegal," said Pascal Saint-Amans, who leads the fight against tax havens at the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. "On the other hand, it goes against international norms. Not the bearer share itself, but not knowing who is behind it."

The Group of 20 advanced economies has backed a series of tax crackdowns in 2009. That has led to a weakening of international banking secrecy, with 19 countries committing to automatically exchange clients' financial information by 2018. The OECD has also launched a programme to close loopholes that allow multinationals to shift their declared assets around the world and minimise tax payments.

"The G20 has agreed on the goal and the principle," said Lebegue. But not everyone has taken the measures to enact them, he added.

TOI

Internationally, countries struggle to eradicate opaque financial structures, partly due to a lack of cooperation by certain jurisdictions and partly due to the complexity of the techniques used.

"Fraudsters adapt," said Antoine Bozio, head of the Paris-based Institut des Politiques Publiques, a public policy institute.

"The fight against tax fraud depends on financial techniques," he added.

According to a European Commission list published in June, some 30 jurisdictions are judged to be insufficiently cooperative in the fight against tax evasion. Among them are the Caribbean islands such as Anguilla; Antigua-and -Barbuda; the Seychelles; and Liechtenstein. The OECD lists 38 jurisdictions that should do better

One country is the focus of broad criticism: Panama, considered a black sheep in the anti-corruption fight because it hosts some 100,000 offshore companies and because of its reticence in revealing the true owners of bearer shares.

"Black money is concentrated in those jurisdictions that are the most opaque," said the OECD's Saint-Amans. "And the most of opaque of all of them is Panama."
American rapper, Everlast took to social media to indicate his displeasure over Republican presidential frontrunner, Donald Trumps use of his song, Jump Around at rallies.

Everlast, whose real name is Erik Schrody, took to Trumps favorite medium, Twitter, to lash out at the candidates defenders.

In a series of social media posts late Monday, Everlast said that his lawyers had informed Trump that he does not have the right to play the 1992 hit by the rappers former band House of Pain.

He wrote on Instagram in one of his less profane statements, I would love to meet you and smack that comb-over right off your scalp.

Also, British superstar, Adele has asked Trump not to use her music, although she made a more polite request, saying that she has not given permission to any candidate.
A Gudu Upper Area Court in the Federal Capital Territory on Monday sentenced two men to six weeks each in prison for stealing fish from a pond.

The convicts, Samuel Mamman, 22 and Jaffaru Bashir, 23, both of Berger Yard junction, Games Village, Abuja, pleaded guilty to the charges of criminal conspiracy and theft.

The offences contravened sections 97 and 287 of the Penal Code.

Presiding Officer of the court, Umar Kagarko, who sentenced the men after they both pleaded guilty and begged for leniency, however, gave them a fine option of N4, 000 each.

Mr. Kagarko also advised the convicts to desist from engaging in criminal activities and engage in honest paid job.activities and Mr. Kagarko also advised the convicts to desist from engaging.

He said the parties could appeal to the High Court within 30 days if they were dissatisfied with the verdict.

Earlier, the prosecutor, Rebecca Odunjide, told the court that Patrick Okoh of Plot 112 AMAC Layout, Lugbe, reported the matter at the Wuye Police Station on March 27.

Ms. Odunjide said the convicts were caught using a fishing net to steal fish from the pond.

(NAN)
The Minister of State for Agriculture, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, has declared that no amount of blackmail would distract him from performing his duties in the cabinet of President Muhammadu Buhari.

He spoke against the backdrop of allegations by a faction of the Bayelsa State Executive Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) led by the partys Chairman, Chief Tiwe Oruminighe, that he paid a former governor of the state, Chief Timipre Sylva, to fill the Bayelsa slot in the Federal Executive Council.

Mr. Lokpobiri, who said he was unperturbed by the allegations, described same as laughable and baseless.

In a statement signed by his Media Assistant, Mr. Donald Ojogo, the minister said his appointment was based on merit.

He, however, vowed to sue for libel, anyone who is bent on damaging his hard-earned reputation.

The statement reads: In the last few days, the Bayelsa state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has contended with some unsavoury moments.

Undoubtedly, these are orchestrated by an insignificant few within the party and oiled by some external forces who feel threatened about their political future, especially as the APC challenges the outcome of the last governorship election at the Election Petition Tribunal.

From the outset, the attitude of the Honourable Minister of State for Agriculture, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri has been to ignore and avoid responding to all such untoward moves and circumstances around the APC. To him, such do not represent the much required cohesion, sincerity of purpose and political maturity.

Nonetheless, in the view of the deliberate fabrication of lies and misrepresentation of facts on the part of those who have allowed themselves to be used in this blackmail venture, it has become very compelling to state the following:

The Hon Minister of State for Agriculture, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri never got his appointment on the platter of financial negotiations as expressly insinuated by the suspended State chairman of the APC in Bayelsa State, Chief Tiwei Oruminigha and his cohorts.

Like other appointees of Mr President, Senator Lokpobiri was duly considered worthy to be so appointed in his position.

It is a clear case of misrepresentation of facts to insinuate that former governor of Bayelsa who is the leader of the APC in Bayelsa State, Chief Timipre Sylva collected money from the Hon minister before his appointment as minister. This is an outright fabrication.

The statement added: The reference by Tiwei Orunimigha to statements purportedly made by Hon minister in the build up to the 2015 elections that he (Lokpobiri) never believed in the ability of the APC and its then presidential candidate (now president), Muhammadu Buhari to win election is nothing but an exhibition of either some form of delusion or incurable amnesia.

For the records, the Hon Ministers political affinity with President Muhammadu Buhari dates back to 2003 when he was the senatorial candidate of the defunct All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP) from Bayelsa West Senatorial District.

He had vigorously campaigned for him to be president then. The assertion by Orunimigha can only be a fictionalised sermon heightened by defeated expectations. It is therefore a blackmail that cannot stand the test of time. It is neither capable of distracting the Hon minister.

Lastly, as a law abiding citizen, the Hon Minister wishes to state that while an unsuspecting section of the media has the liberty to publish unsubstantiated stories, he reserves the right to seek redress in the law courts.
Ndigbo in the 19 northern states and the Federal Capital Territory have told the Presidency that the Igbos did not declare war on Nigeria in 1967.

They were reacting to the assertion by the Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina that the old eastern region declared war against the Nigerian state in 1967, which led to the civil war.

Mr. Adesina had on Friday, April 1, 2016 on an Africa Independent Television (AIT) programme, while responding to questions on why Mr. Buhari refused to negotiate with pro-Biafra agitators, said Ndigbo in 1967, in the name of Biafra, declared war against the Nigerian nation seeking for secession and over two million people died.

In the same programme, the presidential spokesman had faulted those criticizing President Buhari for not visiting Agatu in Benue State to sympathize with victims of the alleged Fulani herdsmen massacre, saying his principals position on the tragic incident had been made known, hence, he did not have to undertake an on-the-spot assessment of the crisis area.

Reacting to Adesinas defence of Buhari on the two issues, Ndigbo in the 19 northern states and FCT under the aegis of Igbo Delegates Assembly (IDA), described the presidential spokesmans comments as careless, irresponsible and lacked the touch of intelligence.

The IDA General Secretary, Comrade Austin Ofokansi Ifedinezi, made this known in a statement yesterday.

Ifedinezi said: The truth that must be told is that Ndigbo never declared war against Nigeria. Ndigbo never asked for secession. Ndigbo were summarily invaded, killed, maimed, their lives, property destroyed and desecrated by the then Nigerian troops. Where did the war take place outside Igboland? Somebody should be gracious and honest to tell me.

The continued conspiracy, propaganda, neglect, hatred and marginalisation of Ndigbo by the likes of Femi Adesina is at the perils of the growth of Nigeria and can never dampen the highly spirited Ndigbo but rather encourage them the more against the intentions and negative plots of their haters. Ndigbo are blessings wherever you find them and are very much available to do the exploits for the economic and social growth of the environment.

Ndigbo never asked for secession, rather we were on self-defence of our dear lives and property in the Eastern Region from 1967 to 1970, as the only alternative/option left. As students of history, we know those who met in Kaduna shortly before the July 29, 1967 coup and unanimously decided to secede.

Gen. Yakubu Gowon was heading to the media to declare the secession of the North but for the intervention and counsel of the British government that that option was not viable and would be suicidal. This was why it took three days, to adjust (29/07/67 to 01/08/67) for Gowon to assume office as the Head of State of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, he said.
The Islamic Movement of Nigeria, IMN, has condemned the Nigerian Armys alleged intelligence report linking the Shia sect with insurgent group, Boko Haram.

A statement on Monday by the IMNs spokesman, Ibrahim Musa, said the movement had no alliance with any militant group and had no intension to form a coalition with Boko Haram to attack the military.

The Shia sect was recently accused of being behind the abduction and subsequent killing of a serving colonel of the Nigerian Army, Samaila Inusa, over a week ago in Kaduna State.

But the groups spokesman said that the only weapon the IMN bears is positive reasoning, truth and good conduct,

In the past few days we have received some intelligence reports dished out by the security agents insinuating that the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, IMN, is planning a coalition with the terrorist organization Boko Haram, Mr. Musa said.

The intelligence report further indicated that due to the said strategic alliance with Boko Haram, attacks will be carried out on military formations and other government buildings.

Ordinarily we wouldnt have even reacted to this latest intelligence report had it not been due to the frequency with which the report is being peddled across the intelligence community, since we have in the past reiterated our stance vis-a-vis terrorism and terrorist groups.

However we distance the IMN from any attempt to associate it with violence and other militant activities. Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky, our revered leader has said it many times without number that our weapon is positive reasoning, truth and good conduct.

Guns are for the reckless and foolhardy ones. We have been conducting our affairs peacefully, calling people to the truth for the last 36 years. So you cannot come overnight and attribute violence to us that we now resort to killing people. This is impossible. We save lives not kill them.

The group further said it would not derail from its pacifist ideology even in the face of many provocations by the authorities.

We hereby state categorically that there are no connections or any links whatsoever between the Islamic Movement in Nigeria and Boko Haram.

IMN in the first place is not the creation of any foreign security agencies, which is common with all the various terrorist groups globally. It was borne out of the desire of Muslims to live according to the teachings of Islam.

IMN has been around at least in Nigeria for almost four decades now, with its various educational programs now commonly known in many Nigerian villages, towns and cities and with all its activities peacefully and transparently conducted.

Hence, there is no basis for any comparison with the Boko Haram that is a terrorist organization and a creation of global imperialism with the intention of tarnishing the image of Islam.

Moreover, it is the same so called Boko Haram that bombed our brothers and sisters during an Ashura procession in Potiskum, Yobe state in 2014 and also sent suicide bombers to the Arbaeen trek along Kano-Zaria highway, killing many innocent people including women and children. It beats any sane imagination that IMN will now turn to the same group in what the intelligence agents term strategic alliance.

The IMN will like to reiterate its stance once again; we reject any violence or militant attack on anybody or any place in our name. We are not and will never become, act or relate with any terrorist group.

We make bold this statement because the history of security agencies the world over is known for false flag operations, Nigeria inclusive; where a violent attack will be carried out somewhere and innocent people will be accused of the crime. Islam is a religion of peace and is not associated with violence; therefore it is illogical to associate killings and violence to true followers of Islam.

In a related development, the Inspector General of Police, Director General of DSS and other bigwigs of the security agencies held a meeting wherein they deliberated on the need to crush the IMN once and for all before the month of Ramadan. According to them all efforts carried out to exterminate the movement so far will come to naught if the annual Quds day rally is staged anywhere in Nigeria again.

In preparation for the grand onslaught on the IMN some Muslim clerics have been commissioned to add momentum to their hate campaigns against Shia in all their preaching sessions.

This treacherous act has already started in earnest in various mosques across the country. One of such Sheikhs on the payroll of the government was even heard saying to those around him, leave them (Shiites) they will be finished off in the next two weeks.

We will like to inform the public that, the Islamic Movement in Nigeria is at the receiving end of the evil machinations of the government. By now those who are opposed to any peaceful resolution of Zaria massacre by the military are seen clearly in their true colors.

Notwithstanding we will keep on pressing for our demands that punishment be meted out on the military that unjustly and without due process killed innocent Nigerians who are followers of Sheikh Zakzaky from 12-14 December, 2015 in Zaria.

We still demand that our leader, Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky, be released unconditionally, since after over four months the authorities have failed to accuse him of committing any crime, the statement added.
Seven Palestinian homes have been demolished in the past 24 hours across the Occupied West Bank  a move dubbed as collective punishment by Palestinian leaders. The list of demolished structures includes three houses in Qabatiya town south of Jenin belonging to families of a trio gunned down in February after they killed an Israeli soldier.

Overnight on Monday, Israeli forces destroyed the family homes of Ahmad Zakarneh, Mohammad Kmeel and Ahmad Abu el-Rub, who fatally shot an Israeli Border Policewoman near Jerusalems Damascus Gate. Four other homes were also razed in the Occupied East Jerusalem and villages of Surif and Duma in West Bank.

Clashes erupted in Qabatiya following the demolitions, with five Palestinians rushed to hospital in Jenin after they were shot with rubber-coated steel bullets. The family of a fourth man  incarcerated by Israel following accusations of aiding the three young men  was also handed a demolition order. Qabatiya, home to 20,000 Palestinians, has been completely sealed off by the Israeli army twice in recent months, and many of its inhabitants have had their work permits revoked.

At least 10 Palestinians from the town have also been killed by Israeli forces since October last year. In a wave of attacks since October last year  carried mostly by young, disgruntled Palestinian youth  at least 33 Israelis and foreign nationals have died. Nearly 200 Palestinians, including civilians, assailants and others whom Israeli officials claim were armed with knives, have been killed. Since September last year, 57 houses belonging to Palestinians have been levelled, according to the Palestine Liberation Organisations Negotiations Affairs Department.

Aljazeera.
As Nigerians groan under the hardship imposed by fuel scarcity, the Kaduna State Security Council Tuesday agreed to ban the sale of petroleum products in jerry cans throughout the 23 Local Government Areas of the State.

The council unanimously agreed to the ban in view of the legal and security implications as well as environmental hazards posed by petroleum products in jerry cans.

A statement issued by Samuel Aruwan, media aide to Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, said council noted the difficulties imposed by the current fuel scarcity and appealed to citizens to remain patient.

It assured the public that the state government is working with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, and other agencies to reduce the hardship associated with the shortages of petroleum products.

Council also observed that the unsafe handling of petroleum products during periods like this has been associated with fires, destruction and fatal consequences for innocent victims.

The council further warned those engaged in sabotage and illegal sale of petroleum products in the state to desist with immediate effect.

The Security Council also directed the arrest and prosecution of any one found violating the ban, and the outright confiscation of any petroleum products found in their possession, Mr. Aruwan said.

The council, therefore, urged residents of the state to help uphold and enforce the Kaduna State Petroleum Products (Anti-Hoarding and Adulteration) Law of 1992, which empowers a task force to ensure that petrol is sold in a safe manner, and imposes a financial penalty on violators.

The State Security Council meeting, which was chaired by Governor El-Rufai, had in attendance, the Deputy Governor, Arc. Barnabas Yusuf Bala; representatives of the Army, Air Force, Navy, Police, SSS, Civil Defence, Customs, Immigration, NDLEA, FRSC, chairman Kaduna State Council of Emirs and Chiefs, HRH Alhaji Shehu Idris, Emir of Zazzau; HRH Alhaji Zubairu Jibril Maigwari II, Ameer of Birnin Gwari and HRH Paul Zakka Wyom, Kpop Gwong.
Punch

The scarcity of petrol got worse in many parts of the country on Monday despite assurances by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation that the situation would improve.

Vanguard

Four persons including the All Progressives Congress, APC, youth leader, were feared killed in another bloody clash between Fulani herdsmen and farmers at Tse Tia, in Tarka Local Government area of Benue State.

Thisday

President Muhammadu Buhari monday held the Peoples Democratic Partys 16-year reign responsible for the nations prevailing economic woes and said the party failed to save for the rainy day.

The Sun

For those who care to know, former governor of Imo State, Chief Ikedi Ohakim hopes to return to Imo Douglas House in 2019. In this interview with a select group of Journalists, he spoke on various issues including the crisis in the Imo PDP and the alleged plot of governor Okorocha to replace himself with an Orlu Man

Daily Times

Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, Monday said he has fully complied with the provisions of the law on declaration of assets by public officers.

Guardian

Nasarawa State Governor, Umaru Al-Makura, has approved the appointment of sole administrators in 11 out of the 13 local councils in the state.

Daily Trust

It was free for all fight at the Nasarawa State House of Assembly yesterday, over the appointment of 11 local government council sole administrators by Governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura.

The fracas happened during plenary that saw the honourable members exchanging blows and destroying seats and other valuables in the chambers.

Leadership

President Muhammadu Buhari has stressed the urgent need to ensure that the potentials of Nigeria are harnessed and used for the good of the country.

The Nation

Activities in the Ministry of Interior were yesterday morning disrupted by protesting dispersed recruits of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS).

Tribune

THE Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), otherwise known as the Shiite, has insisted that those propagating that the sect is another Boko Haram in the making or are collaborating with the terrorist group should drop the ideas, as their weapon is good reasoning and truth.
The Kaduna State government in a bid to maintain standard says it will sanitize the operations of the state`s private schools to ensure the delivery of quality and effective education to students.

The states Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Dr Shehu Usman Adamu, stated this while briefing education correspondents in Kaduna Monday.

We have just concluded a survey of all private schools in the state and what we discovered is that quite a number of them are not operating within the minimum standard, he said.

Some of the schools are operating in areas where a school is not supposed to operate; some are operating in rented apartments and others in just a single room.

This is not acceptable. We are going to take strict measures on all private schools operating below minimum standard, Adamu said.

While admitting that private schools are part of the programme of any education sector, Adamu emphasised the need for the schools to be up to standard.

The commissioner warned that any school that failed to meet the government`s minimum standard would be shut down.

He also explained that the ministry would station officials in schools to monitor WAEC and NECO examinations with a view to checking against examination malpractices, particularly schools suspected to be operating as miracle centres.

Our findings revealed that some private schools may have only 20 students in SS III, but will end up registering over 300 students for WAEC or NECO.

Such schools could be operating as miracle centres, where the students pay huge amount of money for answers to be written on the black boards for them to copy during examinations.

We will keep an eye on them and ensure that all schools and students write WAEC and NECO examinations with strict compliance to laid down rules and regulations.

I assure you that in the next one or two years, miracle centres will fold up in Kaduna State, the commissioner said.
Acclaimed orator and elder statesman, Alhaji Maitama Sule, is alive, hale and hearty, his aide, Ashir Sheriff, has said.

An online medium on Monday published a story, saying the former Nigerias Permanent Representative to the United Nations has passed on.

But Sheriff debunked the death rumor, insisting that Alhaji Sule, who holds the traditional title of Dan Masanin Kano, is alive and has not even shown any sign of ill-health.

We just arrived Abuja today for a function in Nasarawa State tomorrow. The rumour is malicious and unfounded, he told PREMIUM TIMES.

As I speak to you now, he is observing his Asr prayer in his hotel room. He has not even shown sign of any sickness, he added.

Mr. Sheriff called on the media to verify their information before publishing.

Our correspondent recalls that the last time any news of Alhaji Maitama Sules rumored death was carried, was in 2013.
Jomo Kenyatta, the supposed Mau Mau leader, was convicted and sentenced to seven years in jail (through the use of false testimony) in Kenya

Kenyatta and five others were detained at Lodwar, a particularly remote desert army post. Kenyattas arrest came shortly after the Lari massacre that happened on 26 March 1953 where close to 100 people were killed and scores of others injured. This happened at Lari in Kiambu region, Kenya when Mau Mau freedom fighters attacked the area. Among the casualties was chief Luka from Lari, who was known for ill treating his own people as an indication of his loyalty to the British government.

The Mau-Mau Rebellion, with which Jomo Kenyatta was frequently associated with, served to inspire protest action in many parts of the African continent, including South Africa. This is because at the time of the rebellion, the Malan administration had began to implement its repressive laws.
At least 62 people have been killed and about 83 wounded in a wave of suspected Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) attacks on military posts and civilian neighbourhoods across Iraq, officials said. In the worst of Mondays attacks, at least 26 troops were killed when a car bomb went off in the city of al Baghdadi, which is west of the strategically vital Anbar province and near Ain al-Asad airbase.

A police source from Salahuddin province, north of Baghdad, told Al Jazeera that at least six pro-government militia fighters were killed and 18 others injured in two separate ISIL attacks there. Thirteen other members of the security forces were killed in an attack on a military barracks east of Fallujah. In a suicide blast that targeted the Iraqi prime ministers convoy as it travelled through the Meshahda area of Baghdad, at least three pro-government militia fighters were killed and 10 wounded.

Three people were killed and 12 wounded when a suicide bomber blew himself up at a security checkpoint north of Baghdad. The incident happened near Al-Muthana bridge, which links the capital with northern towns and cities such as Samara and Tikrit. In the southern city of Nassiriyah, police sources said at least five civilians were killed and 23 wounded in a bombing at a local restaurant in Tel Al-Laham town.

In the centre of Basra city, at least five civilians were killed and 11 wounded after a parked car exploded at an intersection. Two civilians were killed and seven injured when two mortar shells hit the residential area of Al-Nassar neighbourhood  part of Abu Ghraib town  west of Baghdad. The series of bombings came as Iraqi forces continued a campaign to wrest back control of parts of Anbar province and Mosul city  which was seized by ISIL in 2014.

Aljazeera.
The Senate President, Bukola Saraki, yesterday denied a fresh assets declaration allegation as exposed in a recent investigative report by an online medium.

Mr. Saraki is currently standing trial before the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) on a 13-count charge bordering on false assets declaration while he was governor of Kwara State.

In the report titled #PanamaPapers: Hidden family assets of Nigerias Senate President, Saraki, uncovered in tax havens, it was alleged that four assets belonging to the wife of the embattled number 3 citizen were tucked away in secret offshore territories.

The report said a hidden London property in the name of Mrs. Toyin Saraki was left out among the assets declared by the Senate president in his assets declaration form.

The hidden property is located at #8 Whuttaker Street, Belgravia, London SW1W 8JQ and has title number NGL802235.

Apart from the undeclared London property, three additional overseas assets in the name of Mrs. Saraki were hidden from the authorities and are missing from the assets declaration form.

In his reaction, the Senate president said he had fully complied with the provisions of the law on declaration of assets by public officers.

In a statement by his media aide, Yusuph Olaniyonu, Saraki said he had in his different asset declarations included property owned individually by himself and his wife.

The property in question forms part of Dr. Sarakis wifes family asset. It is public knowledge that Mrs. Saraki comes from a family of independent means and wealth with numerous and varied assets acquired over decades in family estates and investments.

Furthermore, the law only requires a public officer to declare both his own assets and those held by his spouse and his children under 18 years of age. The law does not require a public officer to declare assets held by the spouses family.

It is not expected by the law that a public officer should declare such assets held in the spouses family estate. Indeed, the Code of Conduct form does not make provision for declaration of spouses family assets, he stated.
With fixes for 39 vulnerabilities in Android, the April Nexus Security Bulletin is the largest security update from Google since the company began the monthly update process eight months ago.

Google fixed 15 vulnerabilities rated as critical, 16 rated as high, and eight as moderate in the latest monthly bulletin, across 26 different components, including DHCPCD, Mediaserver, Bluetooth, Exchange ActiveSync, Wi-Fi, Telephony, media codec, video kernel driver, and Debuggerd. The update also covers the March 18 out-of-band emergency patch fixing a local privilege escalation flaw in the Android kernel.

[ Android is now ready for real usage in the enterprise. Read InfoWorld's in-depth guide on how to make Android a serious part of your business. | Get the best office apps for your Android device. ]

There have been no reports of active customer exploitation or abuse of the other newly reported issues, Google said in the latest advisory.

The privilege escalation flaw was originally patched in 2014 in the Linux kernel, and researchers reported the same bug (CVE-2015-1805) affected Android devices earlier this year. Zimperium researchers reported that an app capable of exploiting the vulnerability to root Nexus 5 devices was available in the wild in March, prompting Google to release the emergency patch. At the time, Google said attackers could abuse the flaw to gain root privileges on Android devices on kernel versions 3.4, 3.10, and 3.14. Nexus 5 and 6 devices are vulnerable too, Google said.

The Verify Apps feature in Android also blocks installation of apps from outside of Google Play that attempt to exploit the vulnerability, making it harder for attackers to abuse.

Devices with Security Patch Levels of April 2, 2016, or later have both the emergency patch and the latest monthly update. Supported Nexus devices will receive the updates over the air directly from Google, but other Android devices will have to wait for carriers and handset makers to release the updates.

Mediaserver still the biggest headache

As expected, Google again patched critical Mediaserver and libstagefright -- seven critical vulnerabilities and five high-severity bugs in the process itself, as well as one critical flaw in the library. Issues in Mediaserver and libstagefright first came to light last summer with Stagefright, and since then, security researchers in and out of Google have focused on the two components to find and squash other bugs. These security issues are tangential to the original Stagefright vulnerability, as they exist in the same component but are distinct concerns, Christopher Budd, a global threat communications manager at Trend Micro said earlier this year.

Mediaserver is a particularly attractive target because it can be attacked via multiple methods, including remote content such as MMS files and browser playback of media files. The service can access audio and video streams, as well as privileges that third-party apps cannot normally touch. If the attack is successful, the attacker could cause memory corruption and remotely execute code with the privileges available to the Mediaserver process.

The most severe of these issues is a critical security vulnerability that could enable remote code execution on an affected device through multiple methods such as email, Web browsing, and MMS when processing media files, Google said in its advisory.

Google also patched a critical remote code execution vulnerability in the media codec.

Bugs in core operating system

Along with Mediaserver and related components, Google fixed a critical remote code execution vulnerability in the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) service and a critical elevation of privilege vulnerability in the kernel. The DHCP flaw would let an attacker cause memory corruption and remotely execute code as the DHCP client. Like Mediaserver, the DHCP service has access to privileges not typically available to third-party apps. As for the kernel bug, a local malicious app could execute arbitrary code and permanently compromise the device. The only way to restore the device would be to reflash the operating system.

The final critical vulnerabilities were in two Qualcomm components: the Qualcomm Performance Module and Qualcomm RF driver. Both escalation-of-privilege vulnerabilities would let malicious apps exploit the Qualcomm components to execute arbitrary code within the kernel, leading to a permanent device compromise.

An elevation-of-privilege vulnerability in a Texas Instrument haptic kernel driver could let a malicious app execute arbitrary code within the context of the kernel. Normally, this kind of a bug would be rated as critical, but Google noted that attackers would first have to compromise a service that can call the driver.

The majority of the issues rated as high severity were elevation-of-privilege flaws, and most of them could be abused to gain special permissions, such as Signature or SignatureOrSystem, which are not typically available to third-party apps. These flaws in IMemory Native Interface, Telecom component, Download Manager, the Recovery Procedure, and System Server could be abused as part of a multistep process.

Fragmented Android

While the ideal situation would be able to update all Android devices with the latest security fixes as soon as they are released, the patchwork of dependencies between Google, the wireless carriers, the device manufacturers, and maintainers of Android-based distributions means a significant number of devices dont receive the updates on a regular basis. But maybe that can be considered a security advantage, not a security weakness.

At the recent Black Hat Asia conference in Singapore, Dino Dai Zovi, security lead at mobile payments company Square, said the fragmented ecosystem is safer for Android users with unpatched devices because attackers have to customize their attacks for each device model and operating system version. Security programs like Verify Apps and the background scans performed by Google Play, as well as new features in Android Lollipop and Marshmallow, make it harder for users to mistakenly load malicious apps.

The number of actually infected devices is exceeding low, Dai Zovi said.

Security flaws need to be patched, and there must be a better way to let Android devices receive regular updates. But so long as the cost of developing exploits for each Android permutation remains high, new vulnerabilities will not result in the sky falling for the unpatched masses.
Microsoft stirred up a storm of complaints when it announced earlier this year that effective July 2017 it will no longer support Windows 7 or 8.1 on the newest Skylake Intel processors. Reasons for the decision ranged all over the place, but came down to this:

For Windows 7 to run on any modern silicon, device drivers and firmware need to emulate Windows 7's expectations for interrupt processing, bus support, and power states -- which is challenging for WiFi, graphics, security, and more.

A similar situation -- but in reverse -- is now playing out with older Intel processors and support for basic Windows 10 features. In particular, it appears Intel will not issue Miracast (WiDi) drivers for its second-generation Sandy Bridge systems. The second-generation HD 3000 graphics card has limited OpenCL support, and other Win10 drivers for earlier-generation systems are questionable.

This means if you bought a new Intel-based computer four or five years ago -- even an expensive, high-end PC -- you probably won't be able to use it for Intel's Miracast technology in Win10, and video may not work right on Win10. I'm not talking about dated Pentium or Celeron processors; I'm talking about relatively recent i3, i5, and i7 systems.

Intel's support forums are ablaze with irate customers demanding to know why their four-year-old Sandy Bridge top-of-the-line PCs won't support Miracast in Win10. The answer, simply, is that Intel won't write the drivers. As Intel employee Bryce@Intel put it thusly:

It has always been [Intel's] plan to fully support Windows 10 beginning from 4th Gen (limited SKU's) and newer products

Intel's fourth-generation processors started shipping three years ago. If you have an older system, the existence of Win10 drivers is hit-and-miss.

Details are complex, with specific combinations of processors, onboard graphics cards, and network adapters supported and other combinations not supported. Some drivers work fine under Windows 10, others require tweaking. And in several cases Win10 drivers don't -- and won't -- exist.

On page 23 of the complaint thread, poster palmiris suggests that everyone concerned lodge a formal complaint with the Intel Corporate Responsibility team by following this link.
Cattle bulls are back in force Sidwell Strategies - Sat Oct 22, 7:12PM CDT Cattle-on-Feed; Rebound in Equities & Energy

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%)
Charles Koch and his brother David are among the leading funders of conservative causes and organizations. The Kochs also have a long history of supporting George Mason University (GMU). Based in Fairfax, Virginia, outside Washington, GMU has been among the largest recipients of funds from the Charles Koch Foundation. One analysis found that nearly $80 million in Koch money flowed to GMU and affiliated centers between 2005 and 2014.

If you're familiar with the scale of higher ed giving, that's hardly an extraordinary sum. But it has helped turn GMU into a leader in conservative scholarship and explains why some have referred to it as "Koch U." One other tidbit: A former economist at the school, Richard Fink, is a director and former president of the foundation bearing Charles Kochs name.

Now, even more Koch money is on its way to GMU, this time to honor the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

The February death of Scalia was a heavy blow to the nations conservative moment, which regarded the justice and former law professor as one of its greatest intellectuals. But Scalias legacy will live on at GMU, which is renaming a law school and endowing a scholarship in his name.

George Mason recently announced $30 million worth of pledges to the universitys law school. A large chunk of those funds$10 million to be exactwill come from the Charles Koch Foundation, while the remaining $20 million came from an anonymous commitment. Taken together, the gifts comprise the largest donation in the schools history.

The $30 million donation will rename the law school at GMU the Antonin Scalia School of Law. Scholarships supported by the funds will include the Antonin Scalia Scholarship, which will be awarded to law students with outstanding academic credentials. Scalia was a frequent guest lecturer at the university.

Scalia was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1986 by President Reagan. During his time on the bench, Scalia became known for prolific opinion writing, including stinging dissents, as well as for aggressive questioning of attorneys who argued before the court. He was regarded as one of the courts most conservative justices and was admired by conservative activists and scholars.

Scalia, however, occasionally displayed a libertarian streak that left his admirers scratching their heads. Many conservatives were dismayed, for example, when he voted with a majority on the court in 1990 to strike down a federal law that banned desecration of the American flag. The law had been championed by many conservatives, including then-President George H.W. Bush.

Other scholarships funded by the $30 million donation include the Linwood Holton Jr. Leadership Scholarship and the F.A. Hayek Law, Legislation, and Liberty Scholarship. Holton was a former governor of Virginia, while Hayek was an Austrian-born Nobel laureate in economics whose work is revered by conservative and libertarian scholars. His best-known works include The Road to Serfdom and The Constitution of Liberty.

Scalias death in February has left a 4-4 split between the Supreme Courts conservative and liberal wings. President Obama has nominated federal appeals court Judge Merrick Garland as a successor, but the Republican majority in the Senate has refused to consider the nomination, claiming that filling the vacancy should wait until after the November presidential election. One wonders: What would Scalia have thought of that argument?
Stephen Guido of Guido Self Storage in Natchez, Miss., has an unusual side job. Not only does he volunteer as a helicopter pilot with the Adams County, Miss., Sheriffs Office (ACSO), Guido has just become certified as a drone pilot by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The ACSO received a certificate of authority from the FAA last week, making it the second law-enforcement jurisdiction in Mississippi to be licensed to operate drones for official business, according to the source. Guido will serve as drone pilot.

The sheriffs office intends to use the unmanned aircraft, equipped with cameras, for search-and-rescue purposes or during instances when it wants to refrain from placing a deputy in danger, such as a scene with an active shooter, sheriff Travis Pattern told the source. It also plans to use drones over large crowds to get a better view of potential dangers.

Recent regulations issued by the FAA concerning drone operation made the certification necessary. If youre a hobbyist, you can fly a drone for your personal enjoyment, period, Guido told the source. Under the new rules, you cannot fly it to take pictures, you cannot use it in your business, and you cannot use it and charge for your services, unless you have what they call a certificate of authority from the FAA. We are operating under what they consider special use or public use.

As part of the certification process, Guido will have to demonstrate his flying proficiency for the FAA. We are going to set up a scenario of an active shooter. He [will be] in a car we cant approach, he said. We will fly the drone in and look in the car [to] see if the subject has been neutralized.

Under certification, the ACSO will be permitted to fly its DJI Phantom 3 Professional drone up to 400 feet high through April 3, 2018. After buying its first drone from Guido for $1, the ACSO is working to have a second aircraft donated, according to the source.

Guido Self Storage operates two facilities in Natchez. Its locations offer gated entry, perimeter fencing, onsite management, video cameras and wide aisles. Both facilities also carry moving and packing supplies.
The Monolith Group LLC, a commercial real estate acquisition and development firm specializing in self-storage, intends to acquire or build up to 50 self-storage facilities during the next five years. The Scottsdale, Ariz.-based company has completed two of nine projects in its pipeline, with a third expected to be sold this week to self-storage real estate investment trust (REIT) Extra Space Storage Inc., according to the source.

The Extra Space project is a certificate-of-occupancy contract expected to close on April 5. The facility at 448 N. Greenfield Road in Mesa, Ariz., comprises 84,118 square feet in 614 units. Construction is on pace to be finished in less than five months, the source reported.

The companys six remaining projects comprise 621,217 gross square feet in 4,675 units. They include three facilities in Arizona, two in Colorado and one in Nevada. Projects in Mesa and Scottsdale, Ariz., are expected to be complete this year, while the remaining five are on schedule to be complete no later than April 2017, according to the source. Once operational, those assets will be managed by a self-storage REIT.

Although Monolith is vertically integrated with brokerage, construction and development arms under one roof, owner Tony Ardizzone prefers to leave the day-to-day management to established operators. We can bring our self-storage development to the market at approximately 12 to 18 percent below what market conditions present. The only thing Monolith doesnt do is manage its facilities, he told the source. We knew we couldnt compete with the big boys; they spend $23 million a year on Google. They are successful at what they are doing. Why reinvent that portion of the wheel?

As its current projects near completion, Monolith is looking to acquire self-storage properties or enter joint-venture deals in top U.S. Metropolitan Statistical Areas. Ardizzone believes the industry has a five- to seven-year development window in which construction of new facilities will increase. The industry is experiencing a major deficit in self-storage product coming on the market and lagging behind in class-A product since 2010 to now, he told the source.

Founded in 2001, Monolith also has dedicated teams working on entitlements and an in-house accountant who monitors asset management and construction, the source reported.
Community tipoffs are helping the insurance industry and state government of New South Wales in their fight against insurance fraud linked to the CTP Fraud Taskforce.The Taskforce, launched last month , is already yielding results as members of the public have tipped off the insurance industry to suspicious claims.The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA), which has a seat on the Taskforce, has made the Insurance fraud Bureau of Australia (IFBA) Fraud Hotline available to the State Regulatory Insurance Authority (SIRA) to support the initative.Laurie Ratz, spokesperson for the IFBA, said public cooperation with insurers is vital in the combat against fraud.Since the launch of the Taskforce in March, the fraud hotline has received tipoffs from concerned citizens who have identified suspicious CTP claims, Ratz said.Several of these tipoffs have been steered to insurance companies for thorough review and investigation. Its too early to say whether these tips will lead to charges being laid by police, but these cases are the tip of a very large iceberg.Ratz said that the entire community is affected by fraudulent CTP claims with SIRA figures showing that New South Wales has experienced a 29% surge in CTP insurance claim numbers since 2014, despite a fallin the number of road accident victims presenting at hospital.Insurance fraud costs the entire community - the NSW Government estimates it adds $75 to each CTP premium, Ratz continued.IFBA estimates 8 to 9 per cent of all insurance claims may be fraudulent, costing Australians more than $2 billion every year.Ratz noted that those in touch with the hotline can remain anonymous, if they wish, as all information is vetted and passed onto insurers for further assessment.Cases of suspected insurance fraud can be reported to the IFBA Hotline on 1800 600 444 or via http://www.ifbaintelligence.com/ .
Young Insurance Professionals (YIPs) has announced its latest sponsor as ExpertsDirect has signed on with the industry body.ExpertsDirect provides expert witnesses for court cases and Sampath Soysa , Australasian president of YIPS, told Insurance Business that the sponsorship deal will help the organisation in a number of ways.The sponsorship deal will involve the same exposure that the other Australasian sponsors have, exposure at all YIPs events around our eight branches, Soysa said.Given ExpertsDirect and the services that they provide, that will actually enhance and expand our ability to locate and identify potential speakers on pretty much any topic of interest to the insurance industry.ExpertsDirect hold a very large database of very, very specialised and unique experts ranging from engineers and risk assessors to experts in terrorism and fire and things like that, so there are a lot of topics there that will be of interest to our members which we can now have their support to find speakers which is a pretty hard thing for us to do at the best of times.The other issue is that we will be able to enhance, through some of the support that ExpertsDirect will be providing, our ability to market and upgrade our website and visual marketing things we already do.We are pretty hopeful well be able to take that to the next level which has been one of the reasons weve been very successful is how we have designed and marketed our events to our members.Min Yang, director of ExpertsDirect and New South Wales president of YIPs, told Insurance Business that the sponsorship move will help both organisations.I really enjoy the fact that we directly want to help young professionals improve their career and get them to network and understand how the industry works and what we can offer them so I can clearly see that we do that, Yang said.Members who attend our events really benefit from that directly and thats why we decided to become a sponsor.ExpertsDirect joins AIMS, Chubb UAA and others as sponsors of YIPs in Australia and New Zealand.YIPs, which will celebrate its fifth birthday with a host of events at the beginning of the new financial year in early July, will also host its Trail Blazer Leaders event in New South Wales on 4 May with more details available at the YIPs website
A Utah judge in late-March tossed out part of a lawsuit filed by a family who says they were beaten by drunken revelers at a ski resorts Oktoberfest celebration because the event has turned into a booze-fueled Rocky Mountain spring break.

Snowbird ski resort officials who have also been under scrutiny from the state liquor board say they have never been cited for breaking alcohol rules at the German-themed festival, and the 2014 incident was the only one of its kind in more than 40 years.

The family initially sued for unlimited damages, arguing that Snowbird let the men get too drunk and didnt do enough to protect the family from the attack that happened after they took a tram to a relatively isolated stop on the mountain.

Judge Heather Brereton ruled that the family can only sue under a Utah law that makes bars liable for up to $1 million a person and $2 million per incident if patrons get too drunk and hurt someone. She dismissed claims that the resort didnt have enough security to protect people.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs  Brent Anderson, his wife, Laura, and their stepson Thadius Grzeskiewicz  say the lawsuit will still move forward. They say they were on the tram when a group of drunken men started singing explicit versions of a Mormon childrens song. When asked to quiet down, the men attacked, punching Anderson several times and threatening Grzeskiewicz along with his wife and baby, according to the lawsuit.

Three of the men were arrested and later pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges.

The Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control considered denying Snowbird a permit in 2014 for the event, but authorities changed their minds after critics said it would put the states staunchly sober image in an unflattering light.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Lawsuits Legislation
A medical marijuana dispensary in New Mexico has been fined for safety violations after an explosion badly burned two workers.

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration spent about eight months investigating the July 23 explosion and found 12 serious health and safety violations.

OSHA has ordered New MexiCann Natural Medicine to pay fines totaling $13,500. Online records show that inspectors verified in January that there were no continuing hazards.

The explosion occurred while the two workers were making hash oil, which involves soaking marijuana in butane to extract THC, the active ingredient in pot. A report from the Santa Fe Fire Department said the blast was caused when a butane leak met with an ignition source. A report from the Santa Fe Fire Department said a butane leak from one of the lines met with an ignition source to cause the blast.

Fire inspectors couldnt pinpoint what caused the ignition, but noted that the extraction equipment is moved often and could have caused a leak in one of the butane lines.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Workers' Compensation Mexico New Mexico
Massachusetts top court ruled in March that a workers compensation insurer that has paid benefits has a right to pursue equitable contribution from a second insurer that also provided coverage to the same policyholder.

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court said the doctrine of equitable contribution is applicable even though the injured workers employer did not give notice of injury to the second insurer.

The case involves Progression Inc., a Massachusetts-based industrial supplies company. In 2010, a Progression employee was severely injured in an auto accident while on a business trip abroad.

Progression had purchased two policies from two different insurers  one providing compulsory workers comp coverage from the Insurance Co. of the State of Pennsylvania (ISOP), and a second providing workers comp coverage for employees traveling overseas from Great Northern Insurance. Both policies provided primary coverage.

Following the accident, the employee gave timely notice of his injury to his employer who gave notice of the claim only to ISOP.

ISOP paid the claim but later learned that Progression also had coverage under a Great Northern policy. In 2011, ISOP sent a letter to Great Northern and requested contribution. But Great Northern declined to contribute and told ISOP that it had learned from Progression that Progression intended to tender the claim only to ISOP.

In 2013, ISOP sued Great Northern in U.S. District Court, arguing that the doctrine of equitable contribution required Great Northern to pay half of the claim. But the judge ruled that Great Northern is not obligated to contribute since the policyholder did not tender a claim. ISOP appealed, and the U.S. Court of Appeals asked the Supreme Judicial Court to examine the question of whether an insured can choose which of its workers comp insurers is to indemnify the claim.

In its March 7 ruling, the Supreme Judicial Court answered no to that question, concluding that ISOP has a right to pursue equitable contribution.

The high court said Great Northern was seeking the selective tender exception, which provides that where an insured has not tendered a claim to an insurer, that insurer is excused from its duty to contribute. But the court said this would not align with the Massachusetts comp law.

In Massachusetts, an insurer is directly liable to an injured employee, and the employee only needs to give notice to the employer. The employer is then required to notify the insurer within seven days, but the failure to do so does not bar the employee from obtaining benefits. Great Northerns obligation was triggered by the notice given to Progression by its injured employee, regardless of whether Progression gave notice to Great Northern, the court ruled.

Topics Carriers Legislation Workers' Compensation Massachusetts
A federal appeals court in Louisiana, in an opinion published March 22, upheld a lower courts ruling in favor of an insurance company in a breach of contract suit brought by a Houston-based oil and gas exploration and production company.

The dispute in Saratoga Resources Inc. v. Lexington Insurance Company concerns the calculation of a deductible in a Lexington-issued insurance policy held by Saratoga, according to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.

The case was first heard in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. In it, Saratoga alleges the deductible calculated by Lexington on damage claims for several Saratoga properties was too high.

The appeals court explained:

Under Texas law, when there is only one reasonable interpretation of an insurance policy, the court must construe it as a matter of law.

Lexington issued an insurance policy to Saratoga covering the period from May 18, 2012 through May 18, 2013. This policy insured several oil and gas properties owned by Saratoga. Under the policy, each of the properties had a different insured value.

After several of Saratogas insured Louisiana properties were damaged by Hurricane Isaac in August 2012, Saratoga filed a claim for $3,085,047.39. An adjuster inspected the properties and Lexington paid $2,001,191.28 on the claim.

This amount reflected Lexingtons calculation of the applicable deductible as $912,500. Saratoga disagreed with this calculation of the deductible, arguing that it should be $400,000, not $912,500, the court said.

Unable reach agreement with Lexington, Saratoga sought declaratory judgment and damages for breach of contract in the Texas court. Lexington argued that its policy language was unambiguous and filed for summary judgment, which was granted by the Texas district court.

Saratoga appealed.

The Fifth Circuit Court identified the primary language at issue in Lexingtons policy as:

Earth Movement/Flood/Named Windstorm:

5% of Total Insurable Values at the time and place of the loss, subject to a minimum of $250,000 any one occurrence.

If two or more deductible amounts apply to a single occurrence, the total to be deducted shall not exceed the largest deductible applicable unless otherwise stated in the policy.

Differing interpretations of the Named Windstorm paragraph lie at the heart of the dispute between the two companies.

In Lexingtons view, the plain language of 5% of Total Insurable Values sets the deductible at 5% of the aggregate sum of the insured value of each damaged property, or $912,500, the Fifth Circuit stated.

Therefore, according to Lexington, there should be only one deductible amount for Saratogas claims and the two or more deductible amounts language is not applicable.

Saratoga had an alternate theory, however.

The company maintained that the term, Total Insurable Values, does not refer to the Total of the Insurable Values of the damaged properties, but instead is the plural form of a term referring to the individual insured value of each property.

The insured alleged that the language in the Named Windstorm paragraph requires the calculation of mini-deductibles that represent 5% of the insured value of each damaged property. Once the $250,000 minimum is reached, so the argument goes, the two or more deductible amounts paragraph applies and the total deductible may not exceed the highest mini-deductible,' or $400,000, the Fifth Circuit explained.

The appeals court concluded, however, that the Texas district court had relied on the ordinary meaning of the term Total Insurable Values' and was correct to do so.

Saratoga sought to depart from this ordinary meaning' but the insured is unable to establish that a technical or different meaning is warranted, the appeals court said,

The Fifth Circuit found Saratogas interpretation of the policy to be unreasonable.

Under Texas law, when there is only one reasonable interpretation of an insurance policy, the court must construe it as a matter of law. We agree with the district court that this is the case here and adopt Lexingtons interpretation of the deductible provision, the Fifth Circuit stated.

Boston-based Lexington is an AIG member company.

Topics Texas
The operator of Hugos water treatment plant will pay nearly $1 million to help small Oklahoma communities upgrade water treatment facilities as part of a settlement of drinking water violations that left thousands of residents with unsafe water for months, state officials announced.

The Oklahoma Department of Environ-mental Quality said it reached the largest water-quality related settlement in the agencys 25-year history with London-based Severn Trent Environmental Services Inc.

Under the agreement, the company was fined $25,000 and will make available another $930,000 to help communities improve water and wastewater treatment facilities.

A DEQ investigation into the Hugo Municipal Authority Water Supply treatment facility found numerous violations, including improper monitoring and low chlorination.

The company contested an initial proposed fine of $3.17 million.

The settlement reflects our desire to find a resolution that would support the efforts of the agency to address critical infrastructure maintenance challenges being faced by many underfunded rural water systems across Oklahoma, said Severn Trents Senior Vice President of Operations and Service Delivery William Mertes.

The plant manager was fired after it was determined he misreported chlorine data.

Hugo City Manager David Rawls declined to comment on the agreement, saying he needed more time to review it. Rawls said the city still has a contract with Severn Trent to oversee operations of its water and wastewater treatment facilities and lift stations.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Oklahoma
Chesapeake Employers Insurance Company, Marylands largest writer of workers compensation insurance, announced its plan to phase in the National Council on Compensation Insurances (NCCI) rating methodology and other changes as required by state legislation enacted in 2015.

Chesapeake Employers President and CEO Tom Phelan said S.B.465 will make several changes to Chesapeake Employers, which will occur over the next several years. Phelan announced the plan in a March 28 customer update letter.

Phelan said that when all steps as outlined in the legislation are completed, Chesapeake Employers will be just like any other mono-line insurance carrier, with two exceptions: it will continue to be the workers compensation guaranteed market writer in Maryland; and two of the nine Board members will be appointed by the governor.

The legislation mandates that Chesapeake Employers must join the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) and adopt their rating methodology, their experience modification calculation, scheduled rating and file rates with the Maryland Insurance Administration, effective Jan. 1 2023. Chesapeake Employers plans to begin the phase-in process in 2020.

Phelan said this will be a controlled phase-in from the current Chesapeake Employers rates and individual experience modifications or e-mods to the new NCCI-based rates and their e-mod calculations. We plan a very orderly transition with minimal changes occurring each year, he said.

Please be assured that our goal in this process is to minimize any negative impact on our policyholders, Phelan added. Internally we are meeting regularly with key operations departments to analyze, plan and test the phase-in to NCCI rates. I am personally leading this planning process and the six-year transition to NCCI.

The law also requires Chesapeake Employers to begin paying federal taxes in 2022. In addition, Chesapeake Employers will be able to write workers compensation in other states starting in 2022.

Initially we will explore the possibility of writing business in Virginia and the District of Columbia, Phelan said. Writing coverage in additional nearby states is a possibility in the future.

Over the next few years we will continue to keep you up-to-date once definitive decisions have been determined and approved by our Board of Directors, Phelan said.

Chesapeake Employers, formerly known as Injured Workers Insurance Fund (IWIF), transitioned from a state-run workers compensation insurance carrier to a private, nonprofit company in 2013. It has served as a continuous, guaranteed source for workers compensation insurance in Maryland since 1914.

Topics Legislation Workers' Compensation Commercial Lines Business Insurance Maryland
A Massachusetts man has pleaded not guilty to charges that he set his Rhode Island restaurant on fire to collect the insurance money.

The U.S. Attorneys office in Providence says 50-year-old Daniel Saad, of Spencer, Massachusetts, set fire to Snows Clam Box Restaurant and Pub in Glocester, Rhode Island, in November 2014. Prosecutors say Saad was facing significant debt at the time of the fire.

Saad was indicted by a federal grand jury on March 29 and faces arson and wire fraud charges.

His lawyer, William Dimitri, says Saad denies any involvement and has every intention of fighting the charges. He pleaded not guilty on March 31.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Ageas has completed the purchase of AXAs Portuguese operations, which has a non-life business, a direct/internet non-life business and a life business.

AXA said the sale was completed for a total cash consideration of 189 million ($215.2 million).

This transaction, originally announced on Aug. 7, 2015, positions Ageas in Portugal as the second largest insurer by premiums, the third non-life insurer (with a 14 percent market share) and the third largest life insurer (with a 19 percent market share), Ageas said in a statement.

The acquisitions include AXA Portugal Companhia de Seguros SA (P&C business), AXA Portugal Companhia de Seguros de Vida SA (life & savings) as well as AXA Global Direct Seguros y Reaseguros (direct/internet platform).

AXA said it will record an exceptional positive impact of 100 million ($113.9 million)  the book value of the company  in its first half net income.

Source: Ageas and AXA

Topics Mergers & Acquisitions AXA XL
Repairing a lighting-damaged sculpture that is a fixture of the downtown Kansas City skyline will cost more than $1 million, officials say.

The citys insurance is expected to cover the cost of fixing the futuristic sculpture, The Kansas City Star reports. Its the biggest four sitting atop the 300-foot tall pylons that suspend the Bartle Hall Convention Center above Interstate 670.

Designed by New York artist R.M. Fischer, their official name is the Sky Station sculptures, although locals call them the hair curlers.

City Manager Troy Schulte said workers first noticed the damage last fall while setting up blue lights on them to celebrate the Kansas City Royals winning season.

A City Council committee is expected to consider a $1.3 million repair contract with A. Zahner Co., the Kansas City-based fabricator that built the sculptures, which originally cost $1.1 million. Schulte said the repair work will involve removing the sculpture with a helicopter, which is expected to happen May 8. The reinstallation should occur in late summer or early fall.

The damage, which inspectors determined was caused by lightning and water seepage, is the first to the sculptures since they were installed in 1994.

City Architect Eric Bosch said all four sculptures have built-in lightning rods, so they can accept lightning strikes and ground them. But in this case, the lightning split one of the tubes on the sculpture, and the damage is too severe to fix while its perched on top of a convention center pylon.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Kansas
The Obama administration will release a long-awaited proposal on retirement advice on Wednesday, according to a person familiar with the matter.

At an event at the Center for American Progress think tank, the U.S. government will unveil its proposed rule requiring brokers who provide retirement advice to follow a fiduciary standard of putting clients interests before their own.

The proposal aims to end potential conflicts of interest by brokers who advise on individual retirement accounts and to protect consumers from buying unnecessary investment products.

Required by the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law, the rule has followed a tortuous path toward fruition.

Financial companies and lawmakers have worried that the rules requirements could drive up costs and keep middle- and low-income people from being able to afford retirement services.

The Labor Department, which regulates retirement plan advice, withdrew its initial proposal in 2011 after criticism from the financial services and insurance industries and leaders in both political parties.

A new version was proposed a year ago after a nudge from President Barack Obama and discussions with the industry and lawmakers, who considered blocking funds needed for a standard.

In January, the Labor Department finished work on the rule and sent it to the White Houses Office of Management and Budget for review.

Even though the text was not released, both Washington and Wall Street have been preparing for a possible fight over the latest version. Last month, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said it is prepared to sue the federal government if it finds the rule unworkable.

The DOL has been very prudent about how theyve gone about this in trying to make their rule litigation-proof, but opponents will sue in court, said Scott Puritz, managing director of retirement services firm Rebalance IRA.

Despite publicly opposing the rule, many money managers have privately been preparing for its release for several months. Firms including LPL Financial Holdings have been cutting fees and reducing the amounts clients can hold in their brokerage accounts, all in preparation for the rule.

The advice Ive been giving broker-dealers and advisers is to get in front of the rule and explain it to clients now because after the rule is out, theyll sound defensive, said John Anderson who works with financial advisers at SEI Advisor Network, part of at SEI Investments Co..

The Labor Department and Center for American Progress did not respond to requests for comment.

(Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
QBE North America announced two executive appointments to support growth in personal insurance and expansion into the high net worth market.

Eric Shanks has been appointed senior vice president, High Net Worth. In this newly created position, Shanks will have national responsibility for QBE North Americas personal insurance growth strategy focused on the high net worth (HNW) segment.

Shanks, based in San Francisco, has 25 years of insurance industry experience. He started his career at Chubb before moving to AIG Private Client Group, where he advanced to senior vice president of the Central Zone. Shanks then moved to Firemans Fund Insurance Co. as senior vice president, Personal Insurance Chief Underwriting Officer. In that role, he was responsible for product management and underwriting for all HNW accounts. Shanks was most recently vice president, Worldwide Signature Segment Manager at Chubb, overseeing a HNW customer segment with over $1 billlion in annual premium.

In April 2015, Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS) completed the sale of the U.S. personal lines business of Firemans Fund Insurance Co. to ACE Ltd. for $365 million. Most of the business was high-net-worth.

Guy Huntley has also joined QBE North America as senior vice president, Personal Insurance Underwriting, based in Chicago. In this new role, Huntley, who has global insurance and HNW experience, will lead underwriting operations for QBEs Personal Insurance business.

Huntley joins QBE from ACE Private Risk Services where he served as vice president, Regional Underwriting Executive, for the Chicago Underwriting Center. Prior to ACE, Huntley was a senior underwriting director at Firemans Fund; and European Regional Manager and Regional Underwriting Manager at AIG Private Client Group.

Both Shanks and Huntley will report to Eric Pruss, senior vice president, Personal Insurance, who joined QBE North America last July after stints at Firemans Fund and Chubb.

Related:

Topics Underwriting Chubb
Some Monroe, La., homeowners dropped flood insurance when they got the choice, and are now regretting it.

Some homeowners in the area got notices from their mortgage company saying they were no longer required to buy flood insurance, and some were among the 23 houses that flooded in March, Frenchmans Bend Homeowners Association President Jonathan Oglesbee said.

The requirement was dropped after the Federal Emergency Management Agency accepted revisions to the areas flood plain map, based in part on a developers work to add fill dirt to raise a subdivision.

We wanted to provide that flood map so that those folks wouldnt have to have high-dollar flood insurance, Police Juror Walt Caldwell told The News-Star.

In another matter, FEMA said households that already had storm damage but suffered additional damage during storms Wednesday and Thursday should file a supplemental report.

Spokesman William L. Rukeyser said the report can require an additional visit from an inspector. Applicants should specify they are reporting additional damage and not starting a new registration, he said.

Statewide, the storms did $20 million damage to roads and bridges statewide, the American Press reported.

The state Department of Transportation and Development said more than 450 roads and bridges were closed during the worst of the flooding and that thousands of structures were damaged across Louisiana.

The Federal Highway Administration has said it will release $1 million in emergency relief funds to help repair the damage.

Topics Louisiana Flood
The Florida Department of Financial Services Division of Insurance Fraud (DIF) announced 10 arrests following a multi-agency undercover workers compensation sting in Manatee County.

According to a statement from DIF, the 10 individuals allegedly advertised their ability to perform wide-ranging plumbing and electrical work without proper licenses or training, and without having workers compensation coverage to protect their employees in the event of an accident or injury.

During the two-day operation, DIF detectives, accompanied by logistical and tactical support from multiple agencies, established an undercover sting in an effort to stop the illegal practice. Detectives responded to public advertisements created by the defendants, requesting that they perform services at a specified location in Manatee County.

This partnered operation serves as a reminder to all Floridians that if an offer sounds too good to be true, it probably is, said CFO Jeff Atwater. Consumers should ask questions, get all offers in writing and verify the credentials of every individual who may provide goods or services before any work begins.

Those who were arrested include:

 Carmelo Montalvo

 Joseph V. Richard

 Mark W. Colvin

 Ernest J. LeBrecque

 Mitchell M. Torres

 John Goodman

 Rocki Fair II

 Scott H. Zimpel

 Brandon A. Jorquera

 Vadim Davydov

DIF said when individuals knowingly neglect the law, they create a liability risk for property owners and leave property owners responsible to cover medical costs if an uncovered worker is hurt on their property.

Multiple agencies contributed to the arrests of the individuals in the sting, including the Manatee County Sheriffs Office, Palmetto Police Department, Bureau of Workers Compensation Compliance, the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, the Manatee County State Attorneys Office and Manatee County Code Enforcement.

The 10 individuals arrested were booked into Manatee County Jail on charges of workers compensation fraud and unlicensed contracting, and if convicted, they can face up to 5 years in prison, more if found to be a repeat offender. These cases will be prosecuted by the Office of Manatee County State Attorney Ed Brodsky.

Source: Florida Department of Insurance Fraud

Topics Florida Workers' Compensation
The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) has issued a Consent Order (see below) approving, with additional requirements, Anthem, Inc.s (Anthem) application to acquire 100 percent of the issued and outstanding voting securities of HealthSpring of Florida (d/b/a Leon Medical Centers Health Plans), Cigna Dental Health of Florida, Inc., and Cigna Healthcare of Florida, Inc. The proposed acquisition of Cignas Florida companies is part of Anthems proposal to acquire the Cigna Corporation.

According to a statement from OIR, a public hearing was held on Dec. 8, 2015, where OIR received testimony from Anthem and public comments regarding the acquisition. Additionally, OIR said it conducted a survey of the various market segments impacted by the proposed acquisition.

An OIR economist reviewed this market data and analyzed the materials submitted in support of the application, specifically focusing on whether the proposed acquisition would reduce competition. The economic analysis found that both companies, either individually or in combination, are not a dominant factor in the Florida market and would not increase market concentration on a statewide basis, OIR said.

It also revealed that Anthem and Cigna compete only in the Medicare Advantage product market and the combined entity would have a nonmaterial impact on competition.

The only area of potential competitive concern with the acquisition, according to OIR, was whether restrictions included in Anthems license agreement with the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA), would reduce competition in Florida. Under its license, Anthem is required to have at least two-thirds of its national business branded as Blue. If the Blue business drops below this required limit, the concern is that this could limit growth of the Cigna companies.

While at the time of the acquisition, Anthem would not meet this requirement, the market analysis revealed that as a result of the time allowed by BCBSA for Anthem to come back into compliance and the number of options open to Anthem, this issue would not have a substantial impact on the companies ability to grow in Florida.

Overall, the analysis finds that there does not appear to be a meaningful adverse competitive effect as a result of the proposed acquisition, even under the most conservative estimation.

Key aspects of the Consent Order include:

An agreement by Anthem to continually monitor and enhance its information security program in order to mitigate data security breaches and notify OIR within five business days should a breach occur.

A requirement that Cignas Florida-based HMOs stay in compliance with capital and surplus requirements and Risk-Based Capital standards.

The proposed acquisition of Cigna is still subject to review by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Florida Attorney General, under standards that may be materially different than those utilized by the OIR. Anthem and Cigna shareholders approved the proposed acquisition in December 2015.

Complete materials and information are available on OIRs Anthem, Inc. Public Hearing webpage and from the company website of Anthem, Inc.

The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation has primary responsibility for regulation, compliance and enforcement of statutes related to the business of insurance and the monitoring of industry markets.

Related:

Topics Mergers & Acquisitions Florida Legislation
Two individuals in North Carolina have been arrested in connection with an alleged staged auto accident, according to a statement from North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin. Investigators are also currently seeking three other suspects in association with the case. Investigators accuse the group of five of staging a car accident on Oct. 27, 2015, and filing fraudulent insurance claims with Repwest Insurance Co.

Terrell Bruce Allen, 54, of Wendell, was arrested on March 30 and charged with one count each of attempting to obtain property by false pretense and insurance fraud in Durham County. He was placed under a $2,500 bond.

Alan Lindsey Lea, of Durham, was arrested on March 30 and charged with one count each of attempting to obtain property by false pretense and insurance fraud in Durham County. He was placed under a $5,000 bond.

Bryant Emanual Burton, 32, of Greensboro; Kenneth Clevester Burton, 37, of Durham; and Jeremy Lee Burton, of Durham, are wanted in association with the case.

The Department of Insurance employs 20 sworn state law enforcement officers dedicated to investigating and prosecuting claims of insurance and bail bonding fraud.

Source: North Carolina Department of Insurance

Topics Auto Fraud North Carolina
The family of a 19-year-old man who was fatally shot by a South Carolina police officer last year has settled its wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Seneca for $2.15 million.

The settlement, nearly 10 times higher than a figure approved a week earlier by city leaders, comes as a federal investigation continues into the officers actions. State prosecutors have said they wont pursue charges of their own.

At a news conference March 30, the parents of Zachary Hammond said no amount of money will bring back their son but that the settlement will help them move on, particularly when it comes to refocusing attention on their other teenage son.

No parent should ever have to investigate their childs death, said Angie Hammond, Zacharys mother. Our grief doesnt end here. We still have a long and hard journey ahead of us.

Attorneys representing the city didnt immediately return a message seeking comment.

The settlement doesnt admit fault on the part of the city, the police chief or the officer who shot and killed the unarmed teenager during an attempted undercover drug arrest on July 26. The officer said he fired because he was afraid of being run over by Hammonds fleeing car. Hammond was white, as is the officer.

According to the familys wrongful death lawsuit, filed last year, Lt. Mark Tiller threatened to blow Hammonds head off before shooting him and another officer gave the dead teens body a high-five.

Dashcam video of the shooting shows Tiller yelling at Hammond to put up his hands and stop his car, but Hammond instead drives away before being fatally shot. In the video, the officer grabs the left front fender of the gray sedan as the car keeps moving away in the parking lot of a fast food restaurant. The officer shoots as the car drives by.

The car then moves out of view of the camera, but the audio picks up the sounds of crying, and an officer telling someone to again put their hands up.

Tiller has previously said through his attorney that he thought Hammond was threatening to run him over and fired to protect himself. Local prosecutors have said that Tillers actions didnt meet the standard for criminal prosecution on the state level, nothing that the officer was forced to decide in less than three seconds whether to fire his gun and that evidence supports his position.

If an officer does tell you to stop, stop, Angie Hammond said, adding her son should have heeded Tillers command. That was wrong. But it wasnt worth him losing his life for.

The city last week approved paying out $250,000 toward a settlement, and the remaining $1.9 million will come from an insurance policy that covers municipalities within the state, said family attorney Eric Bland. All of the settlement details still must be approved by a federal judge before it is final.

Federal authorities are continuing to investigate the case. Bland said that a federal grand jury has been discussing the matter since last summer.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Lawsuits Auto South Carolina
Ben Bernanke was the chair of the board of governors of the U.S. Federal Reserve from 2006 to 2014. Bernanke took over the helm from Alan Greenspan on Feb. 1, 2006, ending Greenspan's 18-year leadership at the Fed.

A former Fed governor, Bernanke was chair of the U.S. President's Council of Economic Advisors prior to being nominated as Greenspan's successor in late 2005.

Key Takeaways Ben Bernanke is a former Federal Reserve chair, serving from 2006 to 2014.

As Fed chair, Bernanke oversaw the central bank's response to the 2008 financial crisis and the Great Recession.

Bernanke succeeded Alan Greenspan and was replaced by Janet Yellen.

Bernake introduced several strategies, including quantitative easing, to boost the U.S. economy during the 2008 recession.

Critics argue that Bernake flooded the economy with too much money, contributing to inflation and increased debt.

Investopedia / Alison Czinkota

Early Life and Education

Born Benjamin Shalom Bernanke on Dec. 13, 1953, he is the son of a pharmacist and a schoolteacher and was raised in South Carolina. A high-achieving student, Bernanke completed his undergraduate degree summa cum laude at Harvard University and then completed his Ph.D. at MIT in 1979.

He taught economics at Stanford and then at Princeton University, where he chaired the department until 2002 when he left his academic work for public service. He officially left his post at Princeton in 2005.

Notable Accomplishments

Bernanke was first nominated as chair of the Fed by President George W. Bush in 2005. He had been appointed to President Bush's Council of Economic Advisors earlier the same year, which was widely seen as a test run for succeeding Greenspan as chair.

In 2009, President Barack Obama nominated him for a second term as chair. He was succeeded by Janet Yellen as chair in 2014. Before serving his two terms as chair of the Federal Reserve, Bernanke was a member of the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors from 2002 to 2005.

Economic Contributions

Ben Bernanke was instrumental in stimulating the U.S. economy after the 2008 banking crisis that sent the economy into a downward spiral. He took an aggressive and experimental approach to restore confidence in the financial system.

One of the multiple strategies that the Fed applied to curb the global crisis was enacting a low-rate policy to stabilize the economy. Under the tutelage of Bernanke, the Fed slashed the benchmark interest rates near to zero. By reducing the federal funds rate, banks lend each other money at a lower cost, and in turn, can offer low-interest rates on loans to consumers and businesses.

$16.2 trillion The total net worth American households lost between 2007 and 2009 of the Great Recession.

As conditions worsened, Bernanke proposed a quantitative easing program. The quantitative easing scheme involved the unconventional purchase of Treasury bond securities and mortgage-backed securities (MBS) to increase the money supply in the economy. By purchasing these securities on a large scale, the Fed increased the demand for them, which led to an increase in the prices. Since bond prices and interest rates are inversely related, interest rates fell in response to the higher prices. The lower interest rates reduced the financing costs for business investments, hence improving a business financial position. By bolstering operations and activities, businesses were able to create more jobs, which contributed to a reduction in the unemployment rate.

Bernake's Bail Outs

Ben Bernanke also helped to curb the effects of the rapidly deteriorating economic conditions by bailing out several troubled big financial institutions. While the Fed underwrote the decision to let Lehman Brothers fail, they bailed out companies, such as AIG Insurance, due to the higher risk that the bailed-out companies posed if they went bankrupt.

In the case of AIG, Bernanke believed that the companys huge liability was solely isolated in its financial products which involved hundreds of billions of dollars in derivatives speculation. If the company lost out on its speculative position on these derivatives, it would not have sufficient funds to pay out or cover its losses. For companies like Merrill Lynch and Bear Stearns, the Federal Reserve incentivized Bank of America and JPMorgan to purchase and take over both companies by guaranteeing the bad loans of the troubled banks.

Published Works

In 2013, Bernake released The Federal Reserve and the Financial Crisis, a compilation of his lectures about the history of the Federal Reserve and the financial crisis of 2008. It features his insights on the Fed's activities, decisions, and responses to events.

Two years later, he published The Courage to Act: A Memoir of a Crisis and Its Aftermath, chronicling his experiences as the chairman of the Federal Reserve Board and exposed how close the global economy came to collapsing in 2008, stating that it would have done so had the Federal Reserve and other agencies not taken extreme measures. President Barack Obama has also stated that Bernanke's actions prevented the financial crisis from becoming as bad as it could have been. However, Bernanke has also been the subject of critics who claim he didn't do enough to foresee the financial crisis.

Legacy

Although Bernankes actions were indelible to the recovery of the global economy, he faced criticism for the approaches that he took to achieve this recovery. Economists criticized his pumping hundreds of billions of dollars into the economy through the bond-purchase program which potentially increased individual and corporate debt, and led to inflation. In addition to these economists, legislators also criticized his extreme measures and opposed his re-appointment as Federal Reserve Chair in 2010. President Barack Obama, however, reappointed him for a second term.

As of August 2022, Ben Bernanke is currently serving as an economist at the Brookings Institution, a nonprofit public organization based in Washington, DC, where he provides advice on fiscal and monetary policies. He also serves as a senior advisor to Citadel.

What Boards Did Ben Bernake Serve on? After stepping down as the chair of the board of governors of the U.S. Federal Reserve, Ben Bernake served as a member of the Montgomery Township Board of Education in New Jersey for two years and is now an economist for the Brookings Institution and advisor for financial services firm Citadel.

What Did Ben Bernake Do During the Financial Crisis? To counter the effects of the financial crisis of 2008, Bernake employed a low-rate policywhereby rates were reduced to practically nothingand a quantitative easing plan to increase the money supply. Bernake also bailed out many large, failing financial institutions.

To What Economic School of Thought Does Ben Bernake Belong? Ben Bernake belongs to the Milton Friedman and Anna Schwartz school of thought. Bernake subscribed to the principle that the Federal Reserve Board could reduce inflation and revitalize the economy by increasing the money supply at the same rate as the gross national product (GNP).

The Bottom Line

Ben Bernake, the former two-term chair of the Federal Reserve, is largely regarded for implementing strategies that saved the U.S. economy. His methods, albeit somewhat controversial, led to an increase in U.S. jobs, the bailout of well-known, established financial institutions, and a robust economy. His actions were not exempt from scrutiny, however, as there were a host of critics who believed his actions were more detrimental than good. Despite varying opinions, Bernake remains in high demand as an economist and advisor and is esteemed as one of the most influential Fed chairs in history.


Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have come a long way since the first U.S. fund, Standard & Poor's Depositary Receipts, better known as spiders (SPDRs), was launched back in 1993.

This first ETF tracks the S&P 500 and its popularity with investors led to the introduction of ETFs based on other benchmark U.S. equity indexes, such as the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq 100.

From their early beginnings as equity-index trackers, ETFs have grown to encompass a huge array of investment choices, but they aren't all equal in quality.

In fact, the flip side to the phenomenal growth in ETFs is that it increases the risk that some of them will be liquidated, primarily due to a lack of investor interest.

And that makes it all the more important to choose wisely.

Key Takeaways As an investor, buying ETFs can be a smart and low-cost strategy to build an optimal portfolio.

But, with so many ETFs out there, it can feel overwhelming to select just those that fit your strategy and goals.

Luckily, there are several tools out there to help you narrow down the right ETFs and to find the lowest cost, most efficient one for each asset class or index you want to own.

2:19 Click Play to Learn More About ETFs

Narrowing a Wide Selection of ETFs

The choices in the ETFs space include traditional index ETFs based on U.S. and international equity indexes and subindexes, and others that track benchmark indices in bonds, commodities, and futures.

There are ETFs based on investing style (value, growth, or a combination of both) and that focus on market capitalization.

You will also find leveraged ETFs that provide multiples in returns (or losses) based on the underlying index's movements, as well as inverse ETFs that rise when the market falls and vice-versa.

There are currently more than 2,000 ETFs listed on U.S. exchanges with combined assets exceeding $5.8 trillion.

As an investor, the first thing you need to do is narrow down this enormous universe of ETFs and focus on just those that will suit your portfolio and long-term investment strategy. There are many ways to do this, but you can start with an asset screener that will filter out anything you don't wantlike those riskier leveraged or inverse ETFs, perhaps.

Even after you've settled on the types of ETFs you want and the general asset classes or indexes that you want to track, you still have some work to do.

Competition Among Similar ETFs

The ETF market has become intensely competitive. This has generally been positive for investors, as it has driven the fees associated with ETFs down toward zero, making them extremely low-cost and efficient securities.

But that can also leave investors confused. If you want an ETF that tracks the S&P 500 index, you can go for the original SPDR (SPY). But there is also a Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, a Schwab S&P 500 ETF, and an iShares S&P 500 ETF. In fact, there are at least a dozen S&P 500 ETFs listed on major U.S. stock exchanges.

In a bid to differentiate themselves, some ETF issuers have developed products that are either very specific in focus or are based on an investment trend that may be short lived. An example is the Loncar Cancer Immunotherapy ETF (CNCR). This esoteric ETF tracks the Loncar Cancer Immunotherapy Index and invests in 30 stocks that focus on the research and development of drugs and technology to fight cancer using immunotherapy.

As for ETFs that are based on hot investment trends, examples include the recently launched Robotics & Artificial Intelligence ETF (BOTZ) or the Drone Economy Strategy ETF (IFLY).

There's even one called the Obesity ETF (SLIM) that invests in companies in the business of fighting obesity and related diseases.

Picking the Right ETF

Given the bewildering number of ETF choices that investors now have to contend with, it's important to consider the following factors:

Level of Assets : To be considered a viable investment choice, an ETF should have a minimum level of assets, a common threshold being at least $10 million. An ETF with assets below this threshold is likely to have a limited degree of investor interest. As with a stock, limited investor interest translates into poor liquidity and wide spreads.

: To be considered a viable investment choice, an ETF should have a minimum level of assets, a common threshold being at least $10 million. An ETF with assets below this threshold is likely to have a limited degree of investor interest. As with a stock, limited investor interest translates into poor liquidity and wide spreads. Trading Activity : An investor needs to check if the ETF that is being considered trades in sufficient volume on a daily basis. Trading volume in the most popular ETFs runs into millions of shares daily. Some ETFs barely trade at all. Trading volume is an excellent indicator of liquidity, regardless of the asset class. Generally speaking, the higher the trading volume for an ETF, the more liquid it is likely to be and the tighter the bid-ask spread. These are especially important considerations when it is time to exit the ETF.

: An investor needs to check if the ETF that is being considered trades in sufficient volume on a daily basis. Trading volume in the most popular ETFs runs into millions of shares daily. Some ETFs barely trade at all. Trading volume is an excellent indicator of liquidity, regardless of the asset class. Generally speaking, the higher the trading volume for an ETF, the more liquid it is likely to be and the tighter the bid-ask spread. These are especially important considerations when it is time to exit the ETF. Underlying Index or Asset : Consider the underlying index or asset class on which the ETF is based. From the point of view of diversification, it may be preferable to invest in an ETF that is based on a broad, widely followed index rather than an obscure index that has a narrow industry or geographic focus.

: Consider the underlying index or asset class on which the ETF is based. From the point of view of diversification, it may be preferable to invest in an ETF that is based on a broad, widely followed index rather than an obscure index that has a narrow industry or geographic focus. Tracking Error : While most ETFs track their underlying indexes closely, some do not track them as closely as they should. All else being equal, an ETF with minimal tracking error is preferable to one with a greater degree of error.

: While most ETFs track their underlying indexes closely, some do not track them as closely as they should. All else being equal, an ETF with minimal tracking error is preferable to one with a greater degree of error. Market Position: The first ETF issuer for a particular sector has a decent probability of garnering the lion's share of assets before others jump on the bandwagon. It is prudent to avoid ETFs that are mere imitations of an original idea, because they may not differentiate themselves from their rivals and attract investors' assets.

In Case of ETF Liquidations

The closing, or liquidation, of an ETF is usually an orderly process. The ETF issuer will notify investors, generally three to four weeks in advance, about the date when the ETF will stop trading. That said, an investor with a position in an ETF that is being liquidated still has to decide on the best course of action in order to protect the investment. Essentially, the investor has to make one of the following choices:

Sell the ETF shares before the "stop trading" date : This is a proactive approach that may be suitable when the investor believes that there is a significant risk of a substantial near-term decline in the fund's price. In such cases, the investor may be willing to overlook the wide bid-ask spreads that are likely to be prevalent for the ETF, due to its limited liquidity.

: This is a proactive approach that may be suitable when the investor believes that there is a significant risk of a substantial near-term decline in the fund's price. In such cases, the investor may be willing to overlook the wide bid-ask spreads that are likely to be prevalent for the ETF, due to its limited liquidity. Hold on to the ETF shares until liquidation: This alternative may be suitable if the ETF is invested in a sector that is not volatile and the downside risk is minimal. The investor may have to wait a couple of weeks for the issuer to complete the process of selling the securities held within the ETF and distributing the net proceeds after expenses. Holding on for the liquidated value eliminates the issue of the bid-ask spread.

In any case, the investor will have to contend with the tax issue. If the ETF was held in a taxable account, the investor will owe taxes on any capital gains.

The Bottom Line

When selecting an ETF, investors should consider factors such as its level of assets, trading volume and underlying index. In the event that an ETF is to be liquidated, an investor has to decide whether to sell the ETF shares before it stops trading or wait until the liquidation process is completed, with due consideration given to the tax aspects of the ETF sale.

Investopedia does not provide tax, investment, or financial services and advice. The information is presented without consideration of the investment objectives, risk tolerance, or financial circumstances of any specific investor and might not be suitable for all investors. Past performance is not indicative of future performance. Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal.
During and after the 2008-2009 financial crisis, the media constantly wrote headlines about corruption and scandal on Wall Street. We became familiar with terms such as overleveraged, mortgage-backed securities (MBS), recession, and liquidity crises. We also are reminded of the more recent scandals when we hear names such as Bernie Madoff. Madoff scammed billions from innocent investors by using fictitious financial transactions structured like a Ponzi scheme.

There was, without a doubt, a strong dislike toward Wall Street during those daysespecially from Main Street. Many would-be first-time investors in the stock market do not believe it is a fair playing field. Likewise, many market veterans have been burned once too many by the greedy few at the expense of the general population.

So investors rightfully wonder whether the stock market is rigged. Technically, the answer is of course, no, the stock market is not rigged but there are some real disadvantages that you will need to overcome to be successful small investors. Let's examine some of them here which in turn may help you navigate thru future market turmoil.

Key Takeaways Stock markets are meant to provide the public with access to efficient and fair financial markets.

There are some structural issues that tilt trading profits in favor of larger institutional investors, at the expense of less-skilled, less-resourced retail traders.

Several scandals have also shaken the faith of ordinary investors.

Despite this, stock markets remain a trustworthy place to invest, especially if you utilize reliable, well-founded strategies such as indexing.

Information Asymmetry

Despite the seemingly endless financial and stock data found online, as an individual investor, you do not have access to in-house technical experts or research analysts. Most investors also do not have sophisticated automated trading systems to provide trading suggestions. Nor are most average investors skilled in technical analysis.

Asymmetric information, also known as "information failure," occurs in a market when one party to a transaction has greater material knowledge than the other party. In markets, insider information can be used to one's advantage, although insider trading is illegal and unethical. Still, professional traders and institutional investors often have an information advantage.

Perhaps an overlooked nuance in this information imbalance is the actual timing or dissemination of information that is crucial. Yes, the internet is somewhat of an equalizing factor, but the reality is that many institutional clients know the outcome of information before the investing public does. Brokerage firms typically have a research department as well as a team of traders.

Access to Capital

Perhaps the biggest disadvantage small investors face is capital. If you aren't familiar with the inner workings of the stock market, imagine you own a small convenience store and want to buy a large order of cigarette lighters for resale. You call up your distributor and ask for a price. On the other hand, Walmart calls this same distributor and says they want cigarette lighters for thousands of stores worldwide. At the end of the day, Walmart has more pricing power than the local store and will get a better price.

Perhaps to a lesser extent, the same is true when buying or selling stock. At the transaction level, similar to Walmart, a larger client will be able to negotiate lower prices on commissions and fees compared to the average investor. In addition, the average investor does not get the same opportunity to subscribe for an IPO that an institution does.

The hot IPOs are generally reserved for the preferred clients: hedge funds and pension funds, and extremely high net worth individuals. Only when all the preferred clients have been offered to subscribe to the IPO would the average investor get a chance to invest. But at this point, you would have to question an investment in an IPO that all the major clients have rejected.

Political Influence

How many individual investors have direct access to elected government officials or have paid lobbyists to look after their interests? Despite the apparent vitriol for financial institutions by the government during the financial crisis, these financial companies still exercise tremendous influence over our political process.

Of course, drug, tobacco, and technology companies also exert political prowess in Washington. Many former government officials end up landing big corporate jobs and vice versa. Most of us do not have a seat at the table when new laws are being considered or written. We rely on our elected officials to do this for us who are the very same people that are influenced by big investors.

Mitigation Strategies

Don't fret, there are ways to work the system or at least raise your awareness of it, but it requires effort. Information, although not always timely enough to matter, is at your disposal. The internet has become an equalizer for the small investor. Financial-based websites can help small investors make heads or tails out of the financial markets. Set aside an hour a week to review business news and trends and read the readily available research reports and profiles.

Furthermore, it is important to keep a watchful eye over your investments and set a stop loss regardless of how much you like the company you own. Many people get wiped out of the stock market because they do not set stop losses on their investments. Of course, many investors use diversified index funds as an investment strategy and are considered to be more "passive" investors. Regardless of your style, monitoring your investments is good risk management.

Some things are not going to be overcome no matter how much homework you do or discipline you display. Huge investment capital and political influence are examples. But one can review publications and align or at least be aware of where institutional money is going. Many publications such as Investor's Business Daily designate institutional sponsorship as a critical investing indicator. Chances are in your favor if you are buying a stock that has a rising institutional presence.

It is also important to realize that markets go up and down and experience what economists refer to as exogenous shocks. These are events that no one, including the privileged few, could have predicted.

The Bottom Line

The stock market is technically not rigged against the average investor. Laws and governing bodies exist to level the playing field for everyday investors. The role of the Securities and Exchange Commission is to protect investors and maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets.

However, there are undeniable advantages Wall Street money managers have over us, such as timely access to privileged information, huge amounts of capital, political influence, and greater experience. Nevertheless, these apparent disadvantages should not dissuade you from reaching your investment goals.

By carefully monitoring your investments and taking risk mitigation steps such as setting stop losses, as well as keeping informed of general investment themes or trends, you can overcome these imbalances and still be successful in your investing.

Investopedia does not provide tax, investment, or financial services and advice. The information is presented without consideration of the investment objectives, risk tolerance, or financial circumstances of any specific investor and might not be suitable for all investors. Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal.
Buying a used car can be a smart investment when you need a replacement vehicle. While new car purchases tend to increase with a rising economy, used cars can provide a great alternative as long as you know how to shop for one.

You can get the most bang for your buck with a used car. While this provides an opportunity to live more economically, a used car, by definition, has issues from regular wear and tear. Therefore, it's important to avoid making these costly mistakes when you're in the market for a second-hand car.

Key Takeaways Buying a used car can often be one of the smartest buying decisions.

Line up financing before you shop for your car.

Remember to test drive the car before you take it home.

Having the car checked by a certified mechanic is a step that should never be skipped.

If you don't like the deal, there is nothing wrong with walking away.

Failing to Line up Financing Before Shopping

Before you purchase your used car, whether that's through a dealer or from a private owner on a website such as Craigslist, you'll have to figure out how you're going to pay for it. Not everyone is able to lay down the cash for a car in fulleven for a used one. Those who can't have to consider financing.

Financing allows you to understand the upper limit of your price range. Knowing your budget makes negotiating prices easier. If you're buying a car from a dealership, you can certainly take their offer. But remember, dealer financing is built like a wholesale insurance offer, often adding in additional interest rates.

Can you avoid this? Sure you can. The way you can do this is to shop around because different lenders offer different rates. Make sure you have your approval in hand even before you shop for your carit'll help keep you in line and within your budget. An auto loan calculator can also help you determine what kind of loan term and interest rate will fit your budget.

One thing to remember is that used car financing rates are generally higher than those for new cars. That's because lenders want borrowers to buy new vehicles. The reason? It's simple. If you default on your loan and the lender has to repossess the car, it can get a better resale value on a new car than it ever could on a used one.

Shopping Based on Monthly Payments Alone

You can save a lot over the long term if you have enough money to buy your used car outright. If you don't fall into this category, you'll have to make up a budget and determine how much you can afford.

When people look for a new car, they often think about the monthly payments they'll have to make. While a lower monthly payment is good for your monthly budget, a longer payment period means you end up paying back more money in the long run. Due to compounding interest, it could make more sense for you to take on a higher monthly payment since it's possible to pay back the principle in a shorter period.

A cheaper way to get yourself into a used car is to lease one. And yes, you can lease a used car. But not all dealerships offer used car leases and there are certain conditions. According to Edmunds, it must be certified pre-owned, the mileage must be under 48,000 miles and the vehicle must be less than four years old.

But remember, while your monthly lease payments can be lower than your monthly loan payments, you may have to return a leased car at the end of your lease. If you bought your used car, you can sell it or trade it in at your discretion. One bonus is that the residual value at the end of the lease for your used car will be much more affordable than a new car, making it more attractive to purchase at the end.

Foregoing the Test Drive

As many as 18% of buyers of used cars don't test drive the car before making the purchase. On the other hand, first-time buyers of new cars test drive as many as seven new cars, on average, before making a purchase.

This disparity in statistics might be why there are many third- and fourth-owner used cars on the streets. When you don't test the asset you're purchasing, you run the risk of experiencing a bout of buyer's remorse. In the case of used cars, it's imperative to test drive a few before making a purchase decision. This protects against buyer's remorse and also ensures that the car is running properly.

Not Having the Car Checked by a Mechanic

While many people test drive cars before purchasing, few have used cars checked out by mechanics before finalizing the deal. Even if you have to pay for the inspection yourself, it could save you a lot of money in the long run. However, it's possible to have the seller pay for the inspection. If the seller is a car dealer, chances are it's already an offer, but make sure it is. If it's a private seller, they probably won't offer, so it's important to ask.

Making Initial Negotiations in Person

If you are purchasing a used car from a dealership, it's going to be the salesman's main goal to get you down to the dealership. Once you're on the dealership property, you are much more likely to leave with the car you're interested init's an easier sell for the salesman.

To combat this, ensure you've done all of your research and comparisons at home, and try to negotiate over the phone or by email. It's much easier to walk away when the car isn't there, which gives you the upper hand in negotiations.

If you're purchasing a used car from a private seller, chances are the seller isn't a professional salesman. By mentioning a few used car statistics over the phone, it's possible to gain the upper hand before seeing the car in person.

Buying Based on Looks

Before you even begin looking for a car, whether online or face-to-face, it's important to assess exactly what you need from your car. If you're looking for a commuter car, don't waste your time looking at trucks. If you're looking for a vehicle that can tow a trailer, don't bother to look at sports cars.

By understanding what your needs are first, you mitigate the risk of making an impulse purchase based on what you want instead of what you need.

Not Running a Vehicle History Report

In addition to performing a test drive and having the car inspected by a mechanic, it's important to run a vehicle history report. With a vehicle history report, it's possible to check for any prior accidents, problems with the car, and the number of previous owners.

Dealers usually pay for this third-party service. But if the sale is through a private seller, the purchaser will most likely have to foot the bill. Whether you use CARFAX, AutoCheck, or another service, it's always important to check the history of the car and the stories of its owners.
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Irish man William Burke survived the Titanic after heroically saving a woman from drowning or freezing to death in the perishing waters.

Editor's note: On April 15, 1912, the Belfast built RMS Titanic sank after colliding with an iceberg, killing over 1,500 passengers and crew on board. This was one of the deadliest commercial peacetime maritime disasters in modern history and among those on board were many Irish.

In the run-up to the anniversary of the disaster, IrishCentral will take a look at the Irish on board  the lucky, unlucky and heroic.

This is an extract from the book The Irish Aboard the Titanic by Senan Molony which tells the tales of the people who were on board the night the ship went down. This book gives those people a voice. In it are stories of agony, luck, self-sacrifice, dramatic escapes, and heroes left behind.

Read More: On this Day: Titanic arrives in Southampton for her maiden voyage

William Burke

Dining-room steward.

From: Queenstown, County Cork.

Residence: 57 Bridge Street, Southampton.

William Burke (30) saved a woman from drowning when she jumped from the Titanic but missed the lifeboat. He caught her by the ankle and held fast in one of the most-terrifying individual incidents of the whole drama. The woman was then taken back aboard the ship at the deck below.

A dining-room steward in First Class, Burke was assigned to Isidor and Ida Blun Strauss, the elderly owner of Macys Department Store in New York and his wife, who chose to die together when the supreme test came. In his testimony to the American inquiry, Burke told Senator William Alden Smith how he was in his bunk, awake, in a dormitory of dining room stewards, when the ship struck:

"When I first felt the impact I did not know exactly what to make of it. I thought probably she had dropped her propeller or something. I did not get up right away. I waited for probably a quarter of an hour. About a quarter of an hour or 20 minutes later the order came to get out lifebelts and get up on deck and take our overcoats.

"Mention was made of the fact that it was very cold. I immediately got up with everybody else. Everybody was taking a lifebelt. I did not at that time bother about a lifebelt. I put on my coat and dressed in the ordinary way. As we were going out one of the last men said, There is a lifebelt near my bunk if you want one. I went back and got this lifebelt, and carried it out and took it up on deck. I went to the boat deck on the starboard side.

Read More: The RMS Titanic by numbers  facts and figures on the tragic Belfast-built ship

"I went to my station from there and found my boat (No. 1) had gone. I thought the next best thing to do was to assist with some other boat  As I got to No. 10 boat, the Chief Officer was there [Henry Wilde].

"I just heard him say, 'How many seamen are in that boat?' The answer came back, 'Two, sir.' He turned to some man standing there and said, 'Is there any man here can pull an oar?' Nobody answered, but a man who seemed to me like a foreigner got close to him, and I didnt hear what he said, but he simply pushed him aside, and said, 'You are of no use to me.' I went to him and told him I could pull an oar but was not anxious to go unless he wanted me to go. He said, 'Get right in there', and he pushed me toward the boat, and I simply stepped in the boat and got in 

"When there were no more women to be had around the deck the Chief Officer gave the order for the boat to be lowered. I might say that about the last woman that was about to be passed in slipped and was about to fall between the ship and the boat when I caught her. I just saved her from falling. Her head passed toward the next deck below. A passenger caught her by the shoulders and forced me to leave go. It was my intention to pull her back in the boat. He would not let go of the woman but pulled her right on the ship.

"Senator Smith: Do you know who the woman was?

" 'No sir; I did not know her.'

"Senator Fletcher: Do you know whether she succeeded in getting into another boat or not?

" I couldnt say. I supposed she got into another boat."

(US Inquiry, pp. 821826)

Read More: Luck of the Irish: Louth man survived two major shipwrecks including The Titanic

Able seaman Frank Evans said that the woman wore a black dress, and suggested that perhaps her heel had caught in the Titanics rail as she jumped. He testified that after her rescue she came back up to the boat deck, jumped, and this time landed safely in lifeboat No. 10.

Burke later returned to England on the Red Star Lines SS Lapland. He stayed working on the sea and in related trades, and retired to Liverpool, originally White Stars home port.

"The late William Burke, from Albert Edward Road in Wavertree, was a ship steward. He was woken by a fellow crewmember, who came up to his bunk bed brandishing a piece of ice which had sheered off the iceberg as it hit the ship.

"In an interview with the Echo, he recalled: I was sent to lifeboat station number ten and when a woman passenger leapt to board it, she slipped and was about to fall into the sea when I grabbed her.

"I hung on to her, but it was a terrific strain. Then, just as I thought I must let go, we reached the level of the next deck and two sailors clasped her by the head and shoulders and hauled her to safety.

"Our boat was so full that everyone had to stand. At first, we could not believe the

Titanic would sink  but sink she did, and the hours from when I was roused from my bunk to the time we got picked up by the Carpathia are not ones which I am anxious to recall."

(Liverpool Echo, 1956)

Read More: Sonar images show Titanic in its ocean grave on anniversary of tragic sinking

The Irish Aboard the Titanic by Senan Molony is available online.

* Originally published in 2012.
A global coalition of Irish emigrant groups in Britain, Australia, Germany, the US and Latin America has proposed a comprehensive set of measures to advance emigrant voting rights and enhance democracy in the upcoming program for government. The coalition, led by www.VotingRights.ie has sent the proposal to Acting Taoiseach Enda Kenny as well as to the Fianna Fail negotiating team.

We are very pleased that RTE chose to include emigrants in the Centenary events by having emigrants from around the world read the Proclamation said Billy Lawless, a longtime emigration advocate from Chicago. Its really quite an extraordinary video and close to a million Irish people have already seen it. But wouldnt it be grand if we got the vote as well and were treated as equal citizens."

With Ireland celebrating the Centenary of 1916, its time for Ireland to live up to the inclusive vision laid out by the Proclamation, of a republic representative of the whole people of Ireland and elected by the suffrages of all her men and women said Noreen Bowden, one of the founders of www.VotingRights.ie which organized the letter.

Its extraordinary, Bowden went on that even as Ireland celebrates the Rising it accepts the disenfranchisement of one-in-six Irish-born citizens simply because of their status as emigrants, which really amounts to a two-tier system of citizenship. This is not the democratic vision of the seven signers of the Proclamation in 1916. Our proposal for the program of government seeks to fulfill the promise of the Rising: our initiative is comprehensive, democratic, and long overdue.

Among the groups signing on to the letter are Votes for Irish Citizens Abroad (VICA) in Great Britain, the Irish Technology Leadership Group (ITLG) in Silicon Valley, the Irish Australian Chamber of Commerce, Were Coming Back, the Irish German Business Network and the newly formed Irish Association of Latin America. Get the Boat to Vote is also supporting this initiative.

The letter notes that while Ireland now defines itself as a "Global Island" the nation ranks at the very bottom globally when it comes to meeting modern democratic norms for emigrant voting rights. Over 125 nations in the world have already created an absentee ballot process and other electoral options to ensure that their emigrants have the opportunity to vote.

According to Mary Hickman the head of the Votes for Irish Citizens Abroad (VICA) in Great Britain, "Ireland is really quite out-of-step with the rest of her E.U. neighbors when it comes to voting rights. It's really quite astonishing. The Republic has one of the most restrictive voting laws in the E.U. Ireland drops you from the electoral registrar 18 months after you leave Ireland, while the majority of EU nations have no limits at all."

The letter credits the Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Foreign Minister Charles Flanagan for creating Irelands first Diaspora policy, for appointing the first Minister of the Diaspora and holding the first Global Civic Forum. The letter notes, however, that the government did not take up the recommendation of the recent Constitutional Convention to give all Irish citizens, including emigrants and citizens in Northern Ireland, the right to vote in Presidential elections and has done little to advance the issue of voting rights, which goes to the core of what it means to be a citizen.

According to Larry Donnelly a law lecturer at NUIG, We are proposing something similar to what is already being done in several EU nations  the creation of a special 5 seat constituency just for emigrant representation in the Dail. France, Portugal and Italy have similar systems."

The ten point proposal for a new program of government for emigrants asks the government to:

 Maintain a Minister for Diaspora Affairs position within the Cabinet.

 Act on the recommendation of the Constitutional Convention, and allow a referendum in 2017 giving emigrants and Irish citizens in Northern Ireland the right to vote in the 2019 Presidential election.

 Allow all Irish citizens including emigrants and Irish citizens residing in Northern Ireland the right to vote on all future Constitutional elections.

 Accept the recommendations of the Seanad Reform Working Group by extending the vote to citizens abroad to ensure Diaspora representation in the chamber.

 Grant the right to vote in elections to the Dail to all Irish citizens including emigrants by the creation of a system of reserved constituencies.

 Create an independent Electoral Commission to modernize Ireland electoral process.

 Review current voting regulations to expand the time that emigrants can remain on their home electoral registrar.

 Increase Consular Representation to main centers of recent emigration including Australia, Canada, United States, the Gulf States in the Middle East and Asia.

 Continue the work of the Global Irish Economic Forum and the Global Irish Civic Forum.

 Complete a study by the Dept. of Environment and the DFA on policies, laws and administrative issues that must be addressed to secure voting rights for emigrants by the end of 2016. This study was announced in March of 2015.
If ninja sounds to you like the career aspiration youd only hear from a 5-year-old being asked what he or she wants to be as a grown up, think again.

Chis ONeill, 29, an American based in Japan, has just become that countrys first-ever salaried foreign born ninja.

ONeill responded to an ad from the central Aichi prefectures tourism body for a team of six ninjas to participate in a tourism boosting initiative.

The job requirements included a range of ninja skills, from acrobatics to shuriken (ninja star) throwing to ease with public speaking, and offered a salary of 180,000 yen ($1,600) per month plus bonuses.

The job posting went viral in March (turns out lots of people dream of being ninjas!) and 235 applications flooded in, an unprecedented 85% of them from foreigners.

Satoshi Adachi, a representative from Aichi's tourism unit, told the Agence France-Presse Tokyo that they were so impressed by ONeill that they actually created a special seventh position for him.

[ONeill] was really amazing. He has great acrobatic skill and the ability to speak in front of the public. He's also passionate about promoting tourism, he said.

The other six ninja job openings were filled by five Japanese men and one Japanese woman.

H/T Atlas Obscura
A 21-year-old woman in Northern Ireland has been given a suspended prison sentence for purchasing the abortion pill online and undergoing a self-induced abortion in 2014.

Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK where abortion is still illegal, though it also remains illegal in the Republic of Ireland.

The case was heard yesterday before Belfasts Crown Court. According to her defense attorney, the woman, 19-years-old at the time, had told her housemates, whom she did not know well, that she had looked into traveling to England for an a abortion but could not afford to do so.

She had then spoken over the phone with a clinic about mifepristone and misoprostol, the pills that can be used to induce a miscarriage, and ordered the pills online.

The Guardian reports that prosecutor Kate McKay told the Belfast court that the womans housemates contacted the Police Service of Northern Ireland on July 20, 2014 and informed them that the woman had induced a miscarriage eight days earlier with pills purchased online.

The court also heard that when PSNI sent officers to investigate the rental house in South Belfast, they discovered the remains of a fetus in bag in a garbage bin inside the home.

The womans defense attorney argued that his client felt isolated and trapped  with no one to turn to and resorted to desperate measures.

He said that the woman was trying to put her life back together again and has since had a baby with her partner.

He also noted that had the woman been in any other part of the UK except for Northern Ireland, she would not have found herself before the courts.

Per the Offences Against the Person Act of 1861 and the Abortion Act of 1967, anyone found guilty of carrying out an abortion in Northern Ireland is technically eligible for life in prison.

The woman pleaded guilty and received a suspended sentence of three months, placing her on a probationary period of two years.

The judge who heard the case, Justice McFarland, noted that the woman had received advice about the abortion pills without knowledge of her background, and details were perhaps inappropriate.

The British Pregnancy Advisory Service called the woman a victim of Northern Irelands draconian abortion laws and the refusal of politicians to act to protect the health of their constituents.

They also called upon all politicians to repeal these antiquated, Victorian laws and create an abortion framework fit for women in 2016.

In the US, Donald Trump recently faced a barrage of criticism when, in an interview with Chris Matthews of MSNBC, he suggested that women who seek abortions should be punished.
I was visiting my first cousin Jerry Bartley in Dublin in June 1975 when he suggested that I might want to attend a gathering of the John McCormack Society at the Gresham Hotel in OConnell Street. Ive never been a fan of the great tenor (he can be seen sometimes on Turner Classic Movies in "Song o My Heart"), so I gently declined. Too bad, said Jerry, I thought you might want to meet the President.

Back then, the only President that registered in Ireland was the Long Fellow, Eamon de Valera, who had either been Taoiseach or President of Ireland, it seemed, ever since there had been an Irish state. Jerry knew my keen interest in Irish revolutionary history and he was rightthis was an opportunity I couldnt pass up. I got to the auditorium in the Gresham and wisely took a seat on the aisle.

At the intermission, de Valeras aide announced that the President wasnt feeling well and that he was going to leave. What happened next has stuck in my brain ever since. As he walked down the aisle he extended both of his hands to the sidenot unlike the Virgin Mary atop the globe with serpent underfootand allowed people to touch him. As he came to me I took his hand and said, How are you, Mr. President? He mutely nodded to me and moved on. Even at 92, he had an imposing physical presencehe towered over mewhich must have made him an outsized figure to friend and foe alike. Just two months after our brief meeting he was dead.

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What remains with me to this day is de Valeras exit. It was the exit of a master politician, a man who knew his constituency and understood his place in history. Basically, he understood that he was a living symbol of Irelands struggle for independence.

Read more How Eamon de Valera got involved with Michael Collins' tombstone

At this time Michael Collins had been dead for 53 years and was only beginning to reemerge as a national hero. Margery Foresters biography "Michael Collins: The Lost Leader" had just been published and slowly Collinswho had been almost airbrushed out of Irish history by de Valera and his party in much the same way the Kremlin politburo under Stalin removed undesirables from official photoswas coming back to life, perhaps even bigger and more colorful than he ever was.

But de Valeras handshake reminded me that what he really wasa politician. In comparison Collins was an elite revolutionary first, then a politician. Conversely, de Valera was a politician first, then a revolutionary who, after 1916, only had a distant relationship with what the salaciousness of urban guerrilla warfareas designed by Michael Collins in his absencewas really like.

De Valera and The Emergency

As someone who has written two novels about Collins"The 13th Apostle" and "Terrible Angel"I wanted to know what made de Valera tick. Unlike other Collins loyalists, I do not find fault with everything Dev did while in office. I think some of the things he did in separating the Irish Free State from British hegemony were called for, including the revamping of the government in 1937.

Many find his neutrality during Irelands Emergency (everywhere else known as World War II) hard to fathom. I dont. The British had been lining up Irish revolutionaries for centuries and shooting them. De Valera had been condemned to death in 1916 and was only reprieved by his natural born American citizenship. He had every right to hold a grudge against the Britisha very Irish trait! Although neutral during the war, de Valera did come to the aid of Belfast when it was bombed (by sending the Dublin Fire Brigade) and he did remind Nazi Germany that Northern Ireland, under the Irish constitution, was a de facto part of the Irish Free State, thus stopping the bombing.

He returned Allied fliers downed in Ireland while interning German ones. He also kept a close eye on the German diplomatic delegation to make sure they were not plotting espionage from Ireland. The one giant stain on this neutral policy in favor of the Allies was an odd onehe traveled to the German legation on Northumberland Road to express his condolences on the death of Adolf Hitler. Oddly enough, he did not extend the same courtesy for President Roosevelt, who had died three weeks earlier.

His biggest political fault may have been his narcissismhe would not leave. After the war he remained on as either Taoiseach or leader of his party until 1959, blocking younger members, including Sean Lemass, who, finally, became Taoiseach in 1959 at the age of 60 (they had to pack de Valera off to Aras an Uachtarain as the new president to get him out of the Fianna Fail leadership).

The Irish Machiavelli

But as a student of Collins, the three things that disturb me most about de Valera are his dealings with Collins between 1919 and 1922. The first Dail met at the Mansion House in Dublin on January 21, 1919. At that meeting de Valera was recorded as fe ghlas ag Gallaibhimprisoned by the foreign enemy. Michael Collins was not there that day either. He was in England planning de Valeras escape from Lincoln Gaol, which he pulled off on February 4, 1919. Back in Dublin (the embarrassed British did not pursue him at this time) Dev was elected Priomh Aire (First Minister or Prime Minister) of the Dail.

De Valera spent an inordinate amount of time in prison during the War of Independence (in 1918 he ignored Collins warning and allowed himself to be arrested by the British thus landing in Lincoln Gaol). While in prison he apparently came under the influence of Niccolo Machiavellis "The Prince," which might be called a handbook for the ruthless passive-aggressive politician.

The Random House College Dictionary defines Machiavellian as being or acting in accordance with the principles of government analyzed in Machiavellis treatise, 'The Prince' (1513), in which political expediency is placed above morality; characterized by unscrupulous cunning, deception or dishonesty. The only thing missing in this dictionary definition is a picture of Richard Nixon, Machiavellis bastard love child.

Read more 100 years ago De Valera arrives in US as a hero but splits Irish America

According to de Valeras highly-prejudiced (in favor of Collins) biographer Tim Pat Coogan, Dev once said to Richard Mulcahy, Chief of Staff of the IRA, who was very close to Collins, You are a young man going in for politics. I will give you two pieces of advicestudy economics and read 'The Prince.' Mulcahy subsequently did read the book but found it a handbook for teddy-boys. A way for exerting gangsterism on a part of Italy.

The First AbdicationThe Star-Spangled Retreat

I often refer to de Valeras Abdications. The first occurred on May 1919 when he left Ireland for America, not to return for 20 months. At this point, the war was beginning to heat up as the IRA began to confront the British and Collins Squad (The Twelve Apostles) was on the verge of putting the heat on the G-Men, the intelligence agents of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC). I cannot think of similar situations where a revolutionary leader left his country voluntarily during wartime. Its as if George Washington had said in 1776: Ill see you guys in a couple of years.

Other revolutionaries may have been deported or forced to flee, but de Valera did this on his own, supposedly to bring Irelands message to the world and raise money for the cause. While abroad, de Valeras vacuum would be more than ably filled by the Minister for Finance, Michael Collins.

During this period (May 1919-December 1920) the war was essentially won by Collins and his men. Collins once famously said Whoever controls Dublin controls Ireland and he proved this true by terrorizing the British so much that they introduced the Black and Tans and Auxiliaries to control the Irish population. The final blow was on Bloody Sunday, November 21, 1920, when the Squad assassinated 14 British intelligence officers, terminating much of the British control of Dublin, and thus Ireland.

While in America de Valeras deviousness manifested itself in the chasms he caused among the American Fenians. John Devoy, leader of Clan na Gael, came to despise him and his Machiavellian ways. Terry Golway in his biography of Devoy wrote: Devoy would later write that had it been up to him, hed have had de Valera shot rather than waste the governments time and money with a mere prison sentence.

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De Valera Returns from America

On December 23, 1920one month and two days after Bloody Sundayde Valera arrived back in Dublin. He was greeted by Tom Cullen and Batt OConnor, two of Collins closest friends, at the boat. De Valera asked how things were going. Great, gushed Cullen. The Big Fellow is leading us and everything is going marvelous.

Big Fellow, de Valera huffed, Well see whos the Big Fellow! It was apparent that Eamon de Valera did not return to Ireland to play second fiddle to Michael Collins.

It was during this period (December 1920-July 1921) that the Irish and English tried to figure out how to get out of the quagmire that had become Ireland. De Valera quickly downsized Collins with the help of Cathal Brugha and Austin Stack. Collins stark tongue and brutal efficiency had been felt by both of them during de Valeras absence. Collins had shamelessly poached Brughas portfolio as the Minister for Defence and had mocked Stacks work at Home Affairs. Now it was payback time.

Collins and de Valera also differed on how the war was to proceed. Soon after he returned from America de Valera told Mulcahy You are going too fast. This odd shooting of a policeman here and there is having a very bad effect, from the propaganda point of view, on us in America. What we want is, one good battle about once a month with about 500 men on each side.

Collins was incensed. While he and his men had put their lives on the line every day, sleeping in a different bed every night, this is the thanks he got from someone who had been living it up at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City for the past two years.

Subsequently, De Valera finally got his one good battle. Dev decided to burn down the Customs House in May 1921. Collins was against it and tried to protect his men and his Squad from participating in it as much as he could. It was obvious that de Valera didnt understand guerrilla warfare. The Customs House burned, but over 100 volunteers were apprehended. Collins knew his army was close to elimination.

Ironically, the British misjudged their victory. They did not know that they had delivered a near fatal death blow to the Dublin IRA and now had them on the ropes. They wrongly concluded that this audacious act proved that the IRA was strong and far from defeated. Both de Valera and the British got it wrongand in the fog of war, King George V brokered a truce within two months. This is one of the few times in history where two wrongs made a right!

The Second Abdication, the Treaty: We Must Have Scapegoats

In July de Valera went to London to meet British Prime Minister David Lloyd George. It became apparent fairly quickly how the whole scenario would play out. Two words were thrown about: Saorstat (Free State) and Phoblacht (Republic). Lloyd George liked Saorstat. He hated Phoblacht. De Valera knew exactly where he stood as he headed back to Dublin.

Back in Dublin, the Machiavellian maneuverings began in the late summer. De Valera had no intention of getting himself stuck in this no-win situation. He hemmed-and-hawed trying to get himself out of the mess he found himself in. He knew he could not get a Republic from Lloyd George. If he went to London he knew the best he could hope for was a Free State with dominion status, such as Canada. He knew the hardcore Republicans would be outraged and would fry him.

Some of Devs excuses are classic. One was that as the President of Irelanda country that did not exist in realityhe was head-of-state and could not negotiate with Lloyd George, who was the mere Prime Minister of Great Britain, and not the head-of-state (the King was).

All his maneuvering finally saw Michael Collins, against his will, being sent in de Valeras stead to work with the leader of the delegation, Arthur Griffith. To me, the task is a loathsome one, Collins wrote. I go in the spirit of a soldier who acts against his best judgment at the orders of his superior. According to Coogans biography, de Valera was heard commenting about the plenipotentiaries: We must have scapegoats.

Collins was suspicious from the start. He did not stay with the Irish delegationhe figured that Erskine Childers, the secretary of the delegation, was Devs in-house spyso he set up his own household with the help of many of his intelligence agents at #3 Crow Street. De Valera expected Collins to failand must have been shocked when he brought an Irish Free State back with him from London.

Collins knew that he was in an impossible situation and commented on the morning of December 6, 1921, the day that the Treaty was signed, that he had signed his actual death warrant. The best way I can describe de Valera-Collins-Treaty triangle is crude, yet true: The second mouse gets the cheese. Collins found himself stuck in de Valeras excellent Machiavellian mousetrap while the Long Hooras Collins now referred to Devnibbled at the cheese.

The Third AbdicationCivil War

In early 1922 the Dail began the debate on the Treaty. De Valera proved himself to be an excellent parliamentarianmuch to the chagrin and frustration of Collins who declared to the Dail: We will have no Tammany Hall methods here. Whether you are for the Treaty or whether you are against it, fight without Tammany Hall methods. We will not have them.

It was at this point that de Valera introduced what Alfred Hitchcock called in his films a MacGuffin: something that seems essential to the plot, but, in reality, has nothing important to do with the final outcome. De Valeras MacGuffin was the Oath of Allegiance to the King.

Because of the Oath he and his followers could never, ever, vote for the Treaty. In "Michael Collins Own Story" by Hayden Talbotwhich was supposed to be Collins autobiography but he died before it was publishedCollins says of the controversy surrounding the Oath: No one but a factionist, looking for means of making mischief, would have thought it worthwhile to have risked wrecking the Treaty for.

Everyone knew, including de Valera, that if the Treaty was not approved the British would rush troops into Ireland as never before and there would be a war that the IRA could never win. I am against this Treaty, said de Valera, not because I am a man of war but because I am a man of peace.

Not getting their way, de Valera and cohorts like Cathal Brugha and the Countess Markievicz left the Dail in a huff. The Dail approved the Treaty, as did the Irish people in an election on June 16, 1922. De Valera was out of the picture; Arthur Griffith was now the new President of the Dail and Michael Collins ran the new National Army as the anti-Treaty forces began their offensive. The man of peace had facilitated the Irish Civil War.

If de Valera had remained in the government as the leader of the loyal opposition much of the angst and violence on both sides may have been avoided and this filthy war might have never happened. But he didnt and the split in the country lasted for the rest of the 20th century. In fact, de Valeras biographer Tim Pat Coogan wrote: His [De Valeras] behavior after the Treaty was signed was irresponsible and caused lasting damage to his colleagues and to Ireland.

How De Valeras Abdications Made Irelandand his Political Career

The irony of de Valeras three abdications is that they led to the establishment of what today is the Republic of Ireland:

- When he left Ireland in May 1919 he delegated the war to Collins who, through his intelligence system and intimidation, beat the British

- By not going to London to lead the negotiations for the Treatyand by sending Collinshe got the nation he tried to disown in the Dail debates

- By abdicating his responsibility as the loyal opposition and leaving the Dail he guaranteed the passage of the Treaty not only in the Dail but also at the ballot box. If the Treaty had been defeated, de Valera would not have had a country to eventually lead and his political career would have been altered tremendously or terminated

- Looking back at Devs maneuverings it brings to mind one of the great lines of Irish politics. Oliver St. John Gogarty, a great friend of Collins and Griffith and a long-time foe of de Valera, once said of the Long Fellow: Every time he contradicts himselfhes right!

- De Valera left the government in 1922, but he would return again as a TD in 1926 and in one of the great political hypocrisies of the 20th century took the Oath of Allegiance to the King in order to take his seat in the Dail. (In 1933, as President, he abolished the Oath.) Perhaps de Valera was following one of the principals of his hero Machiavelli: A prince never lacks legitimate reasons to break his promise.

I think it can be safely stated that with Collins in the political picture de Valera may not have had the political career he did. De Valera most certainly would have been challenged by Collins at every turn and if there was ever a man who could cut de Valera down to political-size, it was the quick-thinking and resourceful Collins.

You can just imagine Dev in the Dail trying to defend his failing policies under blistering questions from Collins. It would have been great political theater, but it was not to be. Once again you can see the hand of Niccolo Machiavelli in de Valeras maneuverings around Collins: Men ought either to be indulged or utterly destroyed, for if you merely offend them they take vengeance, but if you injure them greatly they are unable to retaliate, so that the injury done to a man ought to be such that vengeance cannot be feared.

In the End, de Valera Comes Clean

There were many petty things done to the memory of Michael Collins by de Valera. He even gave the Collins family a hard time when they wanted to erect a headstone at his grave in Glasnevin Cemetery in 1939. De Valera personally supervised the circumstances surrounding the placing of the Celtic cross marker and would allow neither family (except for Collins brother, Johnny) nor press to attend. With a final Machiavellian touch, Coogan wrote, to cover himself against a charge of pettiness at having the Prime Minister of the country interest himself in such a matter on the eve of a new world war, he describes himself as acting Minister for Finance. 

It seems that it wasnt until the advanced old age that de Valera came to acknowledge that Collins had contributed greatly to the creation of the Republic. In 1966 President de Valera was asked to contribute to an educational foundation named for Collins that would grant scholarships to deserving young men and women. De Valera declined to donate, but went on to state: It is my considered opinion that in the fullness of time history will record the greatness of Michael Collins and it will be recorded at my expense.

* Dermot McEvoy is the author of the The 13th Apostle: A Novel of a Dublin Family, Michael Collins, and the Irish Uprising and Irish Miscellany (Skyhorse Publishing). He may be reached at dermotmcevoy50@gmail.com. Follow him at www.dermotmcevoy.com. Follow The 13th Apostle on Facebook at www.facebook.com/13thApostleMcEvoy.
The issue of Irish Water is being seen as a stumbling block to the formation of a new Government.

The country's two largest parties - who have yet to talk - appear to be growing further apart on the issue.

Reports today claim Fianna Fail are working on a Bill to scrap the utility, while Fine Gael have insisted they will not wind down Irish Water.

Independent Kerry TD Michael Healy Rae, who has been taking part in negotiations with both parties, said that people are losing their patience with politicians over their failure to form a coalition.

"Yes, Irish Water was discussed and Fine Gael weren't budging from anything," he said.

"In fairness to them, they dealt with all the matters that we had to deal with and they didn't back from anything, and they gave us their views.

"You can talk about all the problems, but at the end of the day, this comes down to numbers - who's going to vote for and who's going to support who for Taoiseach?

"People's patience with this whole process is running very thin."

Sean Canney, an Independent Alliance TD for Galway East, blamed his Leinster House colleagues for the stalemate.

Theres a hell of a lot of TDs, including Sinn Fein and Anti Austerity [Alliance] people, who have policies, and they want to do this, that and the other, and they have not engaged on minute with anybody to try and help form a Government, he said.

We need to put focus on them and say: What were you elected to do?.
Acting Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan will meet with his UK counterpart to discuss a possible UK exit from the EU today.

Charlie Flanagan is meeting Philip Hammond in London to discuss the British vote on EU membership in June.
Prices, which have swung between highs of about $42 a barrel and lows of about $27 this year, will continue to be volatile in the short term, Al Jaber said in an interview with Abu Dhabi dailies The National and Al Ittihad.

Al Jaber, named the companys chief executive officer last month, expects to see a slow but upwards improvement in prices in the medium term, according to a transcript of his comments published in The National.

2016 and 2017 will be the years during which markets will start to rebalance the gap between demand and supply, he said.

Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, holds about 6% of the worlds oil reserves.

The UAE, a member of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, is among at least a dozen states that said theyll meet in Doha, Qatar, on April 17 to discuss a potential freeze in oil output to stabilise prices.

Adnoc, as the state company is known, is taking into consideration prevailing market conditions as it works toward a target to boost production capacity to 3.5m barrels a day, Al Jaber said, without specifying the date when that level would be reached.

The company is maintaining its current production level and aims to remain a reliable supplier.

The UAE. pumped about 2.89m barrels a day last month.

Abu Dhabi had been seeking to boost capacity to 3.5 million barrels daily by the end of 2017, while company officials have said the target may not be achieved until 2019.

Meanwhile, Brent crude extended declines from a four-week low after Saudi Arabias deputy crown prince said the worlds biggest oil exporter will freeze output only if Iran follows suit, putting in doubt the success of a proposed deal between major producers.

Brent for June settlement dropped as much as 55 cents to $38.12 a barrel.

Saudi Arabias Mohammed bin Salman signalled in an interview with Bloomberg if any country raises output, his nation will also increase sales.

The Saudi comments halted a more than 40% rally in oil since mid-January.

Investors have this year speculated that waning production in the US would ease a glut.
The European Commission accused Ireland in 2014 of dodging international tax rules by letting Apple shelter profits worth tens of billions of dollars from tax collectors in return for maintaining jobs.

European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said she had asked Ireland for more details, which in turn raised new questions that required a response from the authorities and occasionally from Apple as well.

The first priority is the quality of the case work, Ms Vestager told a European Parliament hearing.

And therefore it is very difficult to make predictions as to when the case will be ready for a decision.

Both Ireland and Apple have denied that there is any special tax deal.

If the EU rules against Ireland, analysts have estimated the potential bill in back tax at 150m and as much as $8bn (7bn).

Ms Vestager also said she had asked British tax authorities for details on their back tax deal with Google following a complaint from the Scottish National Party  the SNP.

We are in contact with the Uk authorities on the Google tax case. It is still early days, she said.

The British government hailed the 130m (162.2m) settlement, announced in January, as a major success but the opposition Labour Party dismissed it as derisory and other parties also criticised it.

Google has said it paid all due taxes.
A range of existing legislation currently governs crowdfunding  which allows businesses raise money from online contributors  but the Irish environment lacks bespoke legislation which may leave gaps in consumer protections.

A Europe-wide report on the state of crowdfunding across the continent carried out by the Amsterdam-based Crowdfunding Hub found regulatory issues to be at fault in almost all countries where the volume of crowdfunding was low.

It adds, however, that the prevalence of crowdfunding will continue to increase following the recent introduction of specific legislation in a number of countries that will help remove barriers for SMEs.

An Oireachtas Jobs, Enterprise, and Innovation committee report published also encouraged the Government to legislate for crowdfunding in order to set the conditions for SMEs in the creative economy to thrive.

The report recommended that the Government should examine how to regulate the crowdfunding sector to afford better protection to both lenders and businesses.

The Irish scenario whereby legislators appear to have been comparatively slow to account for the increasing popularity of crowdfunding is in contrast to the UK environment which is lauded by the reports authors.

The UK is identified as the best example of a positive stance from government enabling progressive regulation and tax reliefs which in turn correlates with high volumes in the industry.

The outlook for the Irish crowdfunding sector which includes indigenous players such as www.FundIt.ie and www.iCrowdFund.ie along with global players such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo is somewhat less positive than that outlined by the latters European director for technology and design, Anastasia Emmanuel.

Speaking to the Irish Examiner in November 2015, Ms Emmanuel said Ireland had every element to be one of the strongest crowdfunding markets in Europe.
Yet the economic case for forgiving that countrys debt is straightforward: Without relief within a comprehensive reform programme, Greece will struggle to grow, unemployment will remain high, and the turmoil will continue to periodically challenge the functioning of the eurozone.

The political calculus is a lot harder, however.

Even the window opened by Europes refugee crisis is failing to provide a sufficient catalyst for change.

If that continues, Greece could end up an element of a much larger threat to the integrity and the performance of both the eurozone and the EU.

Debt forgiveness is never granted easily, and with good reason. Even when it is a financially viable solution, the concept raises fundamental issues of fairness and incentive-compatibility.

Why should a deadbeat debtor be granted relief when others have laboured to pay off their debt?

What about the creditors who worked hard to earn the money that they lent; why should they be punished? These are legitimate economic questions.

Here is the economic argument: Beyond a certain point, high indebtedness does more than crush directly the recovery efforts of the debtor.

It also inhibits new capital from coming in, as fresh providers rightly worry about being contaminated by what is already an excessive existing liability.

Historical examples include the hard lessons of Latin Americas lost decade of the 1980s.

The comprehensive debt relief that finally came at the end of the decade and in the early 1990s was too late to avoid misery, especially for the poorest citizens.

There also is the example of poor countries in Africa, which benefited from a co-operative global Debt Initiative for Heavily Indebted Poor Countries in the mid-1990s that allowed a notable pickup in their growth, investment and poverty alleviation.

Primarily because of decisions made in the earlier bailout programmes for Greece, the bulk of the countrys debt is now owed to other European countries and their official institutions.

Many had thought that the refugee crisis would make easier the political approval of this economically necessary, though difficult decision.

After all, Greece has been in the forefront of the crisis, hosting  under extremely difficult conditions  hundreds of thousands of refugees who are looking to settle elsewhere on the continent.

But this window has proven hard to exploit given the deep divisions within the EU that have been exposed by the crisis.
Mr Murphy, aged 32, with an address at The Copse, Woodpark, Ballinteer, Co Dublin, appeared at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court along with 18 others, some facing charges of false imprisonment and violent disorder.

His defence team requested adjournment for mention to allow recent correspondence from the State to be considered. They said they had replied to the DPP on Friday and were awaiting a response.
Patrick Marrinan, prosecuting, was opening the trial of two men accused of murder for their alleged involvement in the killing of Christy Daly, aged 47, at Bog Lane, Kilbride, Clara, Co Offaly, on a date between December 29, 2013 and January 7, 2014.

Matthew Gralton, aged 22, with an address at Mt Prospect in Co Roscommon, and Ross Allen, aged 25, with addresses in Carrickmines, Co Dublin and Clara in Offaly, have pleaded not guilty to the murder.

Mr Marrinan told the jury the prosecutions case is that both men admitted to being involved in the killing during interviews with gardai in February 2014.

He said the jury would hear that neither admitted to being the actual gunman, but that Ross Allen and Matthew Gralton had a role to play in the killing.

He said the prosecution would show Mr Allen hid drugs worth 30,000 on the laneway where Mr Daly lived, but when he returned to pick them up on December 29, 2013, they were missing.

He said this was reported to a Mr X, who owned the drugs, who sent for two members of a criminal gang in Dublin.

He described the men as assassins who carried out the killing of Mr Daly.

Mr Marrinan said the jury would hear from State pathologist Marie Cassidy that Mr Daly suffered multiple gunshot wounds and blunt force trauma that would indicate a beating.

He said eight 9mm Luger bullets were discovered near where Mr Daly lived. Two similar bullets were found in a Volvo car that was parked by the quarry where Mr Dalys body was found.

He said Mr Daly was estranged from his wife and was released from prison in 2013. After his release he went to live in a caravan at Bog Lane, an isolated country lane, where he dealt in motor cars.

Mr Marrinan said that, early on December 29, Mr Daly was with another man and that they both noticed two people on the laneway. Mr Marrinan said one of those men was Mr Allen.

Mr Daly then left with his son to go socialising in Navan, Co Meath, with his brother. His son left him home again at 8pm.

That was the last that was heard of Christy Daly, said Mr Marrinan.

His body was discovered by gardai in a drain on January 7, 2014.

The trial continues today in front of Justice Patrick McCarthy and the jury of six men and six women.
Thomas Plunkett, aged 44, of Markievicz House in the south inner city, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to burglary at St Patricks Credit Union, Herbert Place, attempted burglary at Merrion Square and assault of Garda Paul Carroll at Pearse St Garda Station on Easter Monday, April 21, 2014.

He has 64 previous convictions including 18 burglaries, one robbery, and three assaults all dealt with at district court level.

Plunkett was caught with a laptop and overhead projector belonging to the credit union a short distance from where he had tried to break into a Merrion Square home.

Garda Barry Moran said Plunkett, who had cuts and blood on his face, neck, and hands, first said he did not know what was in the bags he had been trying to hide.

He then co-operated and showed gardai the credit unions smashed window, but turned aggressive when officers took his phone.

Judge Sarah Berkeley imposed a four-year sentence and suspended the final year on strict conditions.

Oisin Clarke, defending, submitted that his client offered no excuses for his aggression, but could not recall the day as he had taken so many tablets.

Counsel said Plunkett got involved with heroin as a teenager due to a tragic bereavement and then relapsed when his wife died in 2012.

Mr Clarke submitted that his client had a good work history and used to deliver medication to infirm elderly people for a pharmacy.
Launched yesterday, the RSAs Pre-Crash Report on Vehicle Factors in Fatal Collisions report found vehicle factors played a role in 101 fatal collisions that occurred from 2008 to 2012, and that of these almost two thirds were defective tyres.

RSA chief executive Moyagh Murdock said that the report shows that tyres are the parts of your car that are most likely to put you at risk of a fatal collision if theyre not roadworthy.

Dont assume you can tell if theres a problem just by looking at them. You cant. I would strongly recommend that you check your tyres at least once a month, she said. The easiest way to do this is to call into your local garage and get your tyres checked by an expert. Most will probably do this free of charge.

A total of 983 fatal crashes claimed 1,077 lives on roads between 2008 and 2012, and the reports authors analysed the gardais forensic collision investigation reports from 867 of these incidents.

Vehicle factors, such as defective tyres, brakes, steering or suspension, were found to have contributed to 101 of these accidents, in combination with other factors such as speeding, alcohol or drug use.

Young drivers aged 17 to 24 accounted for (47%) of fatal collisions involving defective, worn, over or under- inflated tyres, and the report also found defective brakes contributed to 18 deaths and six serious injuries in over the period analysed.

The highest proportion of drivers with defective tyres was in Donegal (18.2%), and Cork, Kerry, and Wexford (9.1% each). More than half (51.5%) of the tyres on the 66 vehicles with defective tyres were excessively or dangerously worn and 10.6% were under-inflated.

A combination of excessively worn tyres, under- inflated, the wrong size or fitted in the wrong direction were found in 6% of cases. Garda Chief Supt Aidan Reid said tyres are the only part of the vehicle that keep motorists in contact with the road.

Your safety, along with the safety of your passengers and other road users, could depend directly on the condition of your vehicles tyres, he said.

If your tyres are worn, under or over-inflated, the wrong size, or damaged in any way, they wont respond properly in an emergency, or poor weather conditions.

Our advice to road-users is to get your tyres checked regularly and ensure they are properly maintained or they could fail you when you need them most.

Transport Minister Paschal Donohoe said the Government is working to include the offence of defective and non-roadworthy tyres in the penalty point system.

Transport Minister Paschal Donohoe

An RSA survey conducted by Behaviour & Attitudes, published last January, found 53% of the 1,073 drivers surveyed had experienced problems with their tyres in the past five years.

One third of drivers had experienced such problems while driving, a finding that was more pronounced among motorists who drive on major roads, drive for work or are aged 34 or younger.

More than 80% of drivers said they know how to check the air pressure and 73% said they know how to check the tread depth.

The RSA has launched a new TV, radio, cinema and online advertising campaign entitled Grip to coincide with the launch of the report.
Iggy O Muircheartaigh, President of NUI Galway from August 2000 until March 2008, has in recent days sent out an email to members of the NUI electorate, strongly endorsing Mr O Ceidighs nomination saying he is a man of integrity and energy.

I recommend him for your consideration without reservation, Iggy O Muircheartaigh, President Emeritus, NUI Galway, he added.

Concern has been raised as Mr O Ceidigh was appointed an adjunct professor in the Cairnes School of Business at NUI Galway while Mr O Muircheartaigh was appointed a director of Aer Arann by Mr O Ceidigh.

Another Seanad candidate and member of NUI Galways governing authority, Cllr Pearse Flannery has objected to his intervention, saying it aims to have undue influence on the election.

Speaking to the Irish Examiner, Cllr Pearce Flannery said: O Muircheartaigh should immediately clarify his relationship with Padraic O Ceidigh.

For a former president of a NUI college to use his official title to attempt to influence the outcome of a national election by endorsing a friend or colleague when there are other NUIG graduates in the election, would appear to me to be absolutely inappropriate.

Speaking as a member of the NUIG governing authority (Udaras na hOllscoile Gaillimhe), for a past president to drag the college into the political arena in a partisan manner would also be also a cause for concern. 

Mr Flannery has criticised Mr O Muircheartaighs use of his title as President Emeritus, NUI Galway for political purposes.

Aer Arann boss Padraig O Ceidigh

An issue was also raised about the fact that he sent his email out to a list of email addresses which were visible to every recipient, with critics citing potential data protection issues.

When contacted by the Irish Examiner and told of the objections to his recent email, Mr O Muircheartaigh replied with no comment.

Attempts to contact Mr O Ceidigh were unsuccessful.

A spokeswoman for NUI Galway said they were unable to comment.

Thirty candidates have been nominated to contest three NUI seats. They include sitting Senators Ronan Mullen and Aideen Hayden, former Tanaiste Michael McDowell, former ICTU boss David Begg and developer and land league campaigner Jerry Beades.
The Central Bank yesterday released gold and silver proof coins to mark the centenary of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic on April 24, 1916. A proof coin is a coin manufactured by using a special, high-quality minting process which is made especially for collectors.

It comes with a numbered certificate of authenticity testifying to the issue limit.

The coins, designed by Michael Guilfoyle, depict the statue of Hibernia. The obverse of the coin bears the traditional representation of the Irish harp and the year of issue date, 2016.

The new coins include a silver proof 15 coin, costing 45, a quarter-ounce gold 50 coin, costing 375, a half- ounce gold 100 coin, costing 730, and a double set of coins which has both a silver proof coin and quarter-ounce gold coin for a total of 420.

Struck in .925 sterling silver, the large size of the 15 coin shows off the detail of the elegant Hibernia figure to best effect. The issue limit for this 15 silver proof coin is 18,000. The 375 gold proof coin contains a quarter ounce of fine gold and is struck to the highest proof quality. The issue limit for this coin is 5,500.

The 100 gold proof coin contains a half ounce of fine gold and is also of large size. Designer Michael Guilfoyle, said:

Behind the figure of Hibernia, standing proudly holding her spear and harp, is an arrangement of key words and phrases from the Proclamation of the Irish Republic. The issue limit for this 100 gold coin is 1,000. Orders for this coin are strictly limited to one per customer.

Paul Molumby, director of currency and facilities management at the Central Bank, said the coins commemorate an important event in Irish history.

The design of the coins reflects back to the GPO and its association with the Easter Rising and the reading of the Proclamation, which was read by Patrick Pearse outside the GPO in 1916.

Other commemorative coins also commemorate the Rising and were put into general circulation. Last January, 4.5m

2 commemorative coins were issued by the Central Bank as part of the Ireland 2016 Centenary Programme. They are also available in a proof set.

To order any collection, go online to www.centralbank.ie
Independent TDs in negotiations with both Fianna Fail and Fine Gael reacted angrily to the comments and said they would not be threatened by childish play-acting.

Acting Health Minister Leo Varadkar prompted fury after he tweeted a picture of his election posters on Sunday night with the caption: My posters cleaned, counted, stored and ready to be deployed.

Last week, Mr Varadkar was criticised by a number of Independent TDs, including Michael Healy-Rae for appearing disengaged in the round-table discussions on government formation.

My posters cleaned, counted, stored and ready to be deployed pic.twitter.com/TPiAU1ZMcM  Leo Varadkar (@LeoVaradkar) April 3, 2016

Yesterday, acting Transport Minister Paschal Donohoe also agreed that an election is still possible given the current political situation.

Acting Junior Finance Minister Simon Harris tweeted that listening to the morning news would dispel the myth that the government formation impasse can go on and on. He added that serious issues are piling up and hoped that this would focus all involved.

The Independent Alliance met with Fine Gael yesterday morning to discuss finance and transport.

But the talks started off on a tense note as members of the Independent Alliance hit out at the comments posted on twitter.

Shane Ross of the Independent Alliance said: We wont negotiate under threat and we wont take that threat seriously.

Shane Ross of the Independent Alliance

While Michael Fitzmaurice said there is no public appetite for another election.

He might get a fierce shock if he went out to the people, the Roscommon Galway TD said of Mr Varadkars comments.

Mattie McGrath who is one of the five rural Independent TDs said Mr Varadkars post begs the question, what are we really about with respect to this process?

Mr McGrath said: Putting the idea out there that you are ready and prepared for another general election, and in some sense even welcoming that idea, is in my view a political misjudgement that can only damage the entire process.

It also removes any sense that there is any authentic credible engagement by the acting minister and it should be immediately withdrawn unless he wants to maintain the impression he is overtly trying to force us into another election scenario, Mr McGrath said.

Mattie McGrath

Fine Gael met with the six members of the Independent Alliance yesterday morning with Transport Minister Paschal Donohoe hosting a discussion on the rural road network and other transport issues with Michael Fitzmaurice, Sean Canney and Kevin boxer Moran.

While a parallel discussion with other members of the Independent Alliance centred on political reform.

A Fine Gael round-table briefing was due to be held with the Department of Finance on Nama last night. However, the five rural Independent TDs and the two Healy-Rae brothers were still in negotiations last night when the briefing began.

Fine Gaels negotiating team is today due to present all 15 Independents with a re-worked paper on the issues discussed last week.

Housing and rural affairs, which were the source of protracted deliberations last week, will be among the policies included in the worked up document.
Following separate investigations by the office of the Data Protection Commissioner, they pleaded guilty at Dublin District Court yesterday. Judge John ONeill said the cases would be struck out if The Irish Times Ltd gave 3,000 to suicide prevention charity Pieta House while Littlewoods must donate 5,000 to the same cause.

Tony Delaney, assistant Data Protection Commissioner, told Judge ONeill the message for companies involved in electronic marketing is that there has to be robust testing of technology behind their databases.

He agreed with Shelley Horan, for Littlewoods, that the error was an inadvertent accident and the company had co-operated with the investigation and also entered a guilty plea at the first opportunity. He also agreed Littlewoods had addressed the issue and had agreed to pay 1,078 prosecution costs.

In relation to The Irish Times Ltd, Mr Delaney said told the court a man had subscribed to its Get Swimming weekly newsletter but after three or four issues he opted out last year and received a confirmation email. However, he received the next issue and then made several further attempts to unsubscribe. After a number of weeks still receiving the newsletter he contacted the customer care team. Later, he received an email with a promotional offer and another newsletter.

Mr Delaney said the man found it distressing that it was so difficult to find a solution and had concerns over the protection of his data. Mr Delaney said 64 other users were also affected but the fault had been corrected.

Defence counsel Eoghan Cole said The Irish Times accepted it had fallen short of the required standard. He also asked the judge to note that costs would be paid and had they had co-operated fully. Steps have been taken to remedy the problem which was caused by human error.

Judge ONeill adjourned the cases until May 23 to confirm the donations have been made which would result in them being struck out.
Last night, three senior members of Fianna Fail have confirmed that the party is working on a bill to scrap Irish Water and suspend water charges, describing it as a red-line issue.

However, three leading Fine Gael ministers and key government formation talks negotiators responded sharply and insisted their party will not scrap water charges, regardless of any pressure from Fianna Fail.

Keeping Irish Water is and always was a red-line issue for us. There is simply no getting away from that, one senior minister told the Irish Examiner.

After the planned bill emerged, the Fine Gael minister said our view remains Irish Water will stay, although it may not be called Irish Water, and water charges will stay.

The Fine Gael minister, who declined to be named accepted there are some options on the table in terms of reducing costs for vulnerable sections of the public like pensioners  an issue he said may benefit both parties but which the Nevin Institute has recently warned will lead to price hikes for other bill payers.

The minister said that, despite the likely difficulties in resolving the Irish Water stand-off, there is a deal to be done with Fianna Fail.

However, he said it would be a very poor negotiating position for Fine Gael to accept they would be willing to admit defeat on water charges before the real talks begin later this week.

It is understood Fianna Fail told the Rural Five TDs (Mattie McGrath, Denis Naughten, Noel Grealish, Michael Collins, and Michael Harty) and the Healy-Rae brothers that they want up to 18 months to abolish Irish Water. They are seeking to park water charges for up to five years, as they had pledged during the general election campaign.

The party said they want to create a slimmed-down agency with local services to be handed back to democratically elected local authorities with on-the-ground knowledge.

The Fine Gael leadership expects to present its 110-page document for agreement to the 15 Independents at 4pm today before presenting it to a meeting of the party at 6pm.

The document, which stretches to 16 chapters, is said not to include specific costings of agreed policies, a fact which has caused much annoyance among the Independent TDs, who look set to abstain from the vote for Taoiseach in the Dail on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Leo Varadkar caused anger among the Independents by tweeting that his election posters are cleaned, counted, stored, and ready to be deployed.

My posters cleaned, counted, stored and ready to be deployed pic.twitter.com/TPiAU1ZMcM  Leo Varadkar (@LeoVaradkar) April 3, 2016

Independent TD Shane Ross slammed the tweet as an attempt to threaten the Independents into supporting Enda Kennys nomination for taoiseach.

Independent Tipperary TD Mattie McGrath, also criticised Mr Varadkar.

While most of us have made some comment on the challenges surrounding the process that is currently under way, said the Tipperary TD, this tweet actively reveals that a key leading member of the Fine Gael negotiating team is far from committed to making to making that process work.

Meanwhile, it was confirmed that an anticipated 500m overrun in health this year will have to be met from existing budgets or lead to deep cuts elsewhere.

According to the first quarter Exchequer returns, the Department of Health recorded a 38m.

Officials from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform confirmed there will be no end-of-year bailout or supplementary estimate as they are called because of EU rules. This is because Ireland has moved out of the corrective arm and into the preventative arm of the Stability and Growth Pact.
Members of the gang known as the Rathkeale Rovers raided museums and an auction house, seizing 22.5m in Chinese jade in one swoop alone.

Given the scarcity of the reserves, it is not surprising that yesterday the judge who sentenced seven of the 14 men behind the series of robberies expressed sadness that there was no prospect of recovery of many of the items.

It was a conspiracy, the judge said, that spanned England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Ireland, with references made in the trial to France, Hong Kong, the US, and Germany. This highly-organised Irish criminal network had been under surveillance for many years by law enforcement agencies in the US and Europe and had amassed incredible wealth from the banned trade. In Europe they have been behind over 60 documented thefts, valued at more than 40m.

Based around an extensive network of Traveller families, the Rathkeale Rovers have been a top targets of customs, wildlife, and organised crime agencies in Europe and the US. European agencies have hit members of the network with a total of 9m in tax demands. This was part of a massive operation, codenamed Oakleaf, which spread across more than 16 European countries in addition to the US.

Named after the town in Co Limerick, the Rathkeale Rovers were behind the theft of eight rhino horns, valued at 500,000, from the National History Museum warehouse in Swords, north Dublin, in April 2013.

Rhinos have been hunted to the brink of extinction and traffic in rhino products is regulated by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species . The rhino horns are mainly sold in China, where they are used for traditional medicine, as an aphrodisiac, and a decoration in luxury products. Rhino horns can sell for, on average, 60,000, but often fetch a lot more.

In 2013, the Criminal Assets Bureau led six searches in Limerick and Cork targeting members of the Rathkeale Rovers.

The searches of five homes and one office, located in the Rathkeale and Raheen areas of Limerick and Newmarket in north Cork, were conducted to establish if properties and other assets can be confiscated under Proceeds of Crime laws.

There have been more than 50 arrests across Europe under Operation Oakleaf since it began in November 2010. The operation was established by Europol, the EU police agency, at the request of gardai. Europol has described the network as a mobile organised crime group, which has set up companies all over Europe to legitimise their illegal activities and has laundered their income through properties and luxury cars.

Gardai said the Rathkeale Rovers are involved in extensive criminality, which also includes labour exploitation, counterfeiting fraud, tarmac scams, and tobacco smuggling.

Yesterday, Judge Murray Creed made clear his disgust at the scam that involved significant cultural loss of museum-quality artefacts and items from international collections.
Money to fund support for representation in former Labour strongholds and to prepare the party for the local elections in three years is instead paying for a deluxe penthouse office, emptied of staff.

Party leader Joan Burton was confronted about the dilemma at a post-election meeting of candidates last week in Dublin, amid concerns that the office lease  understood to run until the end of 2017  is gobbling up the reduced resources left after the disastrous election outcome.

Labour sold its Georgian House headquarters on Ely Place, besides St Stephens Green, last year at a knock down price of 800,000 compared to the 3m it cost several years earlier. The party then moved to the penthouse in the lavish eight-storey Bloodstone building, one of the finest in Dublin 2s so-called Silicon Docks.

Labour agreed a three-year lease, paying rent of 212,000 a year. Most of the other space in the Bloodstone building is occupied by high-tech American firms.

While the party hosted media events regularly at the penthouse overlooking the Liffey during the election, Labour sources point out that, with significantly reduced parliamentarians returned, much fewer staff will now be using the office.

One irate parliamentarian told the Irish Examiner: We brought this up last week, but it was hushed up, slapped down at the meeting. The overall view is that it was sold below value originally. Then, with the new place, it was clear half the parliamentary party would be gone, so less space would be required for offices. Whats the point now having a panoramic place, a state of the art building, when we have only seven TDs left?

Party leader Joan Burton

The concern is [the money] could be used elsewhere. There are whole swathes of the country now without Labour representation that need resources. There was no proper discussion among the membership about the original sale, it was all done cloak and dagger.

Labour officially has confirmed that, before the election, it was receiving around 2.8m annually in state funding. However, following the election, with just seven TDs, it now gets about 900,000 a year from the state, a spokesman said. A quarter of this remaining funding will now be spent on the new offices.

We are now having to rely on the goodwill of volunteers, while paying for this flashy, white, top-floor penthouse, which we now call Labours Taj Mahal, added a frustrated party source.
The warning comes weeks before Mr Justice John Murray is due to report to government on his independent review of the legislation.

In an assessment of the same legislation, Shane Kilcommins and Eimear Spain of the School of Law at University of Limerick said the way that the law  specifically a 2011 Act  has been interpreted as giving powers to GSOC to access phone records raises a number of concerns.

They also said years went by without any oversight of GSOCs use of those powers.

Under the 2011 act, a judge must be appointed each year to review the use of the powers by all State agencies so empowered.

The act says the judge should ascertain whether the Garda Siochana, the Permanent Defence Forces, and the Revenue Commissioners are complying with the law but does not mention GSOC.

In 2011, 2012, and 2013, the designated judges referenced only the gardai, Revenue Commissioners, and the Defence Forces in their reports and made no mention of carrying out the same scrutiny in relation to GSOC.

It is only in the 2014 report that the designated judge mentions for the first time that he attended the Office of An Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission,said Prof Kilcommins and Dr Spain.

The legitimate question this begs is whether GSOC was using its perceived powers under the 2011 Act prior to 2014 and, if so, what independent oversight was in place in that period.

If it was using its powers under the act between 2011 and 2014, but was not subject to oversight, does this have consequences for information gathered by GSOC during that period?

Prof Kilcommins and Dr Spain published their assessment on the Human Rights in Ireland blog. They began work on it following the controversy that erupted in January over the revelation that GSOC was trawling journalists phone records as part of investigations into complaints about Garda leaks to the media.

Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald has said GSOCs powers come from a combination of the Data Retention Act of 2011 which gives such powers to the gardai, and an earlier 2005 act that established GSOC and provided that GSOC officers would have most of the same powers of investigation as gardai.

Prof Kilcommins and Dr Spain concluded that such catch-all provisions were contrary to the principle that the legislature should expressly provide the agency with the power and suggested it would not survive a challenge in the European Court of Human Rights.
The initial plan for the 12.5km road from the Bloomfield interchange to Ringaskiddy proposed to close a slip-road connection into Mount Oval and an exit from Maryborough Hill.

Bob OShea, project manager with the National Roads Office, said it had been decided to maintain the Mount Oval connection and provide a new junction connecting to Maryborough Hill, which will be just a few hundred yards from the existing one.

Plans to run a connection road through the residential Maryborough Ridge area have also been axed.

We tried to listen to all the submissions we received and to make it [the plan] more acceptable, while fulfilling the objections of the scheme, said Mr OShea.

He said, however, that it remained unlikely that An Bord Pleanala would choose to hold an oral hearing on the project.

The earliest date for the start of construction, depending on funding, is probably going to be 2021, said the senior engineer. It will take two years to complete.

Mr OShea was speaking yesterday in the Maryborough House Hotel, Douglas, at the start of a two-day public exhibition on the project.

It will go on display at the Carrigaline Court Hotel today from 2pm to 8pm.

The plan is to construct 10.9km of motorway-standard dual carriageway from Bloomfield to Barnahely and 1.6km of single carriageway from Barnahely to east of Ringaskiddy, which will connect with the Port of Cork container terminal.

The proposed scheme also includes junctions at Bloomfield/Rochestown Road, Carrs Hill, Shannonpark, and Shanbally, along with new roundabouts at Barnahely, Loughbeg, and Ringaskiddy.

It is also being proposed to locate a motorway services area close to the port in Ringaskiddy.

Mr OShea said the current N28 is over capacity, particularly between Bloomfield Interchange and Shannonpark roundabout, leading to considerable delays and queuing at peak times.

He said the new layout will increase overall safety and the capacity of the road to cater for existing and projected future traffic.

Local councillors Mary Rose Desmond and Seamus McGrath, who both attended the exhibition, said they had received positive feedback from residents who were concerned about the initial plan.

Mr OShea said he believed that the new proposals represent the best balance of road safety, [and] social, environmental, and economic issues.

He said all feedback received as part of the latest public consultation will be reviewed by the project team and the issues raised will be published in a consultation report.

The final design for the motorway scheme will then be further developed to finalise the route alignment and scheme details. It is expected that the final scheme will be put on public display this autumn.

People unable to go to the exhibition can see details of it at n28cork info@corkrdo.ie
An Irish-Swedish co-production, MAZE stars Love/Hates Tom Vaughan-Lawlor and Rebellions Barry Ward.

The film will be shot in the old Cork prison and around the city over the next four weeks.

The 38 inmates escape in September 1983 was the largest ever breakout from a British prison.

James Hickey, chief executive of the Irish Film Board, described the film as an exciting prison break story.

One of the benefits of Irish film production is that it can take place all over the country from Cork to Donegal, creating employment opportunities and providing investment in local business and services, he said.

Steven Davenport, line producer on MAZE, said the production has benefited from the assistance of both the Prison Service and Film In Cork, an initiative from Cork City and County Councils that aims to market the county to media producers.

With the assistance of the Irish Prison Services and helped by Film In Cork, offering on the ground support on both locations and skilled local crew in the Cork area, the prison itself is a perfect stand-in for the notorious Maze prison, which offers unrivalled production value, said Mr Davenport.

The old Cork prison on the Rathmore Road dates from the early 19th century and was in use until last February, when its 150 inmates were moved to a new 42m facility nearby.

The old prison was the source of constant criticism, particularly given the need for prisoners to slop out due to the lack of in-cell sanitation. It will act as the on-screen double of HM Prison Maze, which is partly demolished having closed in 2000.
Angel Gurria, secretary-general of the Organisation for Co-operation and Development (OECD), said that Panama had broken pledges to lift the cloak of secrecy on companies based there that makes the central American country such a popular choice for tax evaders.

He also hinted world governments would be forced into new measures to lead a new crackdown on all tax havens.
Fine Gael and Fianna Fail both confirmed they will set up the investigation if they gain power, after the inquiry was promised days before the election began.

After a year of reports by the Irish Examiner, the outgoing Fine Gael-Labour government agreed days before the general election was called in early February to set up a state commission of inquiry into alleged abuse at a foster home in Waterford.

The alleged abuse related to a woman who is mute and has severe intellectual disabilities, given the pseudonym Grace, who had been placed in the home from 1989 until 2009.

Concerns had been raised about the family, who also housed 46 other vulnerable children and adults, as early as 1992, with a review in 1995 leading to all placements being cancelled due to fears about the safety of those involved.

However, for still unknown reasons, Grace was left at the home for another 14 years  allegedly suffering sexual, physical, and mental abuse which has left her with life-limiting internal organ injuries.

In response to revelations in late January that a second woman, Ann, was also left at the home based on legal advice until 2013 and ongoing claims of a cover-up by certain health officials, Taoiseach Enda Kenny said in early February he would set up a state commission of inquiry into the scandal.

The matter was strongly supported by Labour  in particular then minister of state for people with disabilities Kathleen Lynch  which said an investigation is needed to uncover exactly what happened, and was supported by all parties in the Dail.

Speaking to the Irish Examiner last night, spokespeople for both Fine Gael and Fianna Fail confirmed the parties most likely to form a part or all of the next government remain committed to setting up an inquiry into the case.

A Fine Gael spokesperson said while the exact timing of the inquiry  which has not been implemented two months after it was announced  still depends on when the next government is formed, Mr Kennys party is in favour of the inquiry.

A Fianna Fail spokesperson said Micheal Martins party believes an inquiry is needed to uncover exactly what happened and answer ongoing questions .
Campaigners at Conradh na Gaeilge said they were taking the Northern Ireland Executive to court after it failed to put a 20-year strategy to protect the use of the language on a legal footing.

They want to see the devolved government enshrine proposals to allow for bilingual Assembly and court business as well as official recognition of Gaeltacht areas and the right to Irish medium education.

Ciaran Mac Giolla Bhein, Conradhs advocacy manager, said a lawsuit was needed to force action.

The Irish-language community here is hugely disappointed and frustrated that the Executive hasnt adapted the Irish language strategy to promote and to protect our language, he said.

An Irish Language Act has been planned but it is opposed by the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).

It includes provisions for place names to be identified in Irish and English, as well as the appointment of an Irish language commissioner and for Irish to be used by public bodies.

Caral Ni Chuilin, Stormonts Minister for Culture, Arts, and Leisure, has promoted the planned laws and launched the 20-year plan to enhance and protect the Irish language in January last year. However, she has faced criticism from some DUP quarters for not putting the same emphasis on the use of Ulster-Scots.

Caral Ni Chuilin, Stormonts Minister for Culture, Arts, and Leisure,

Conradh president Coilin O Cearbhaill said Irish speakers must be given the support they deserve.

He said there is a commitment for the legally binding strategy from the British Government in the 2006 St Andrews Agreement, as well as efforts by Ms Ni Chuilins department to promote the language.

Conradh na Gaeilge therefore finds it unsatisfactory that the strategy has not yet been accepted by the Executive, despite the progressive steps as outlined above having been taken, Mr O Cearbhaill said.

The legal action against the Stormont Executive will seek a judicial review of the failure to introduce new laws on the Irish language.

Conradh said the legal papers were lodged with the High Court in Belfast last week.
There were 1,690 public health nurses in 2009 and today there are 1,490 struggling to cope with earlier acute care discharges and more complex cases.

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation yesterday launched a report that points to the lack of much-needed reform in community nursing.

Over half of the public health nurses interviewed for the study admitted there were areas of care they had missed in the previous week.

Most missed care is in health promotion, particularly concerning older people and chronic disease management.

The report recommends the establishment of an independent commission that would report within a year on the role of the community nursing workforce in primary care.

Ms Rotte-Murray, who is chairwoman of the INMOs public health section, said community nursing was largely invisible.

Most people do not know what public health nurses do until they need us. A lot of my friends would not have a clue about what my role entails.

The report found care of older people on the risk register is a particular challenge  over 70% of public health nurses said they were unable to address this issue in the previous week.

Of course, I am worried about the missed care. It is frustrating, and it impacts on job satisfaction, said Ms Rotte-Murray, a public health nurse since 2003.

She previously worked as a general practise nurse for five years after spending 20 years in development aid.

I love being at the frontline caring for people, seeing them recover and giving them the tools to stay at home.

But because public health nurses prioritise direct patient care, administration gets pushed sideways.

Ours is the only service in the community that does not have a waiting list  we are expected to respond to referrals almost immediately, she said.

Mary Leahy, a public health nurse in Galway and a member of the INMOs executive council, said that almost 80% of public nurses were unable to complete their administrative work.

It is very scary for a lone worker like me to realise that every day I go to work, my license is at risk because I have not completed my documentation.

She pointed out that just 5% of the countrys nurses were delivering primary care in the community, compared to 15% in Britain and 14.6% in Canada.

INMO general secretary, Liam Doran, said the number of public health nurses appointed in recent years was nowhere near enough to meet future needs.

It cant be a coincidence that the number of emergency department attendances has gone up by 9% this year when the volume of missed care in the community is so high.
At Ennis Circuit Court yesterday, Dermot McGuane escaped a jail term for the attempted robbery at Carmels Health Store on Enniss Francis St on March 18, 2015, when Judge Gerald Keys imposed a two-year suspended jail term on the man.

The court heard how a nervy McGuane, aged 32, of Dromard, Lahinch Rd, Ennis, Co Clare, walked around the streets of Ennis a number of times and drank alcohol to build up Dutch courage to carry out a daylight robbery of Carmels Health Store.

In court yesterday, Detective Garda Stephen Hession said that when McGuane eventually entered Carmels Health Store at 4.05pm on March 18, 2015, brandishing a broken bottle, he threatened Carmel Downes behind the counter.

Det Hession said that McGuane  who had no prior history of criminal behaviour  then demanded from Ms Downes the contents from her cash till.

Det Hession described Ms Downes as a tough character and the quick-thinking shop owner told a made- up story to the amateur would-be robber that he was caught on CCTV.

On hearing Ms Downess statement, McGuane said sorry and turned on his heels and fled from the shop empty-handed.

Det Hession said Ms Downes told gardai that she had the broken glass bottle pointed at her face and felt frightened by the incident.

McGuane was wearing a grey hoodie for the attempted robbery but he did nothing to hid his face during the badly planned and poorly executed crime.

Det Hession said that Garda street CCTV quickly identified McGuane, helped by the very good description Ms Downes gave of the offender. He said that Mr McGuane was quickly arrested and faced with the volume of evidence against him admitted his guilt to the attempted robbery offence.

Yvonne Quinn, defending, said her client was a gambling addict and that any money he had he spent it on gambling.

She said that, unusually in this case, Mr McGuane walked around the streets of Ennis and took some alcohol to build up some Dutch courage before embarking on the attempted robbery.

Det Hession agreed that, in an interview with gardai, McGuane was very contrite and apologetic.

In sentencing McGuane to a two-year suspended jail term, Judge Gerald Keys said: This was a man at the end of his tether because of problems he had but that doesnt justify to the court what he did.

Judge Keys said McGuane deciding not to carry out the robbery after the words uttered by Ms Downes and the apology to her at the shop doesnt paint a picture of a criminal in the pure sense of the word.
As TDs prepare for a fresh vote for Taoiseach tomorrow, both the big parties are trying to nail down support for a moral victory of sorts.

Ongoing negotiations with Independent TDs though are expected to come to a head today, before tomorrows vote, and more importantly, before real talks get underway between party leaders Enda Kenny and Micheal Martin.

Senior Fine Gael and Fianna Fail figures agree that these fresh talks, will set the real agenda and that all that has gone before with the hours and hours of negotiations with Independents and non-aligned rural TDs will become secondary.

One action though that ignited ill-feelings and tensions around Leinster House yesterday was a curious tweet from acting health minister Leo Varadkar.

The candid politician uploaded a picture of his stacked election posters and quite cheekily declared:

My posters cleaned, counted, stored and ready to be deployed.

My posters cleaned, counted, stored and ready to be deployed pic.twitter.com/TPiAU1ZMcM  Leo Varadkar (@LeoVaradkar) April 3, 2016

Clearly using playful language, Mr Varadkar was said to be putting a fire under the Independents, after he had a reported fall out with at least one TD in talks last week.

Another minister though followed Mr Varadkars lead when quizzed about whether Fine Gael are ready for any snap election. Acting transport minister Paschal Donohoe told reporters in Dublin yesterday: My posters are safe, clean and well stored.

The comments were added to by Simon Harris, the acting junior finance minister, who also suggested the government formation impasse could not go on and on.

Serious issues piling up. Hope it focuses all, he tweeted.

The comments angered TDs entering Government Buildings for the latest talks. Tipperarys Mattie McGrath, working with the Independent Alliance, took great umbrage to the suggestion that senior Fine Gael figures were ready for an election, rather than focused on negotiations.

There is more than an element of childish play-acting about this tweet which goes contrary to the seriousness of the approach that many of us have adopted.

Mattie McGrath

Mr McGrath suggested the health minister had acted on the back of weekend polls, which suggest that support for Enda Kenny as a leader is at an all-time low. The TD added: It certainly gives the impression that Minister Varadkar, clearly buoyed up by the latest polling data with respect to the Fine Gael leadership, is now trying to use that momentum to destabilise the process for his own political gain.

Independent Alliance putative leader Shane Ross said the remarks were a threat and meant to intimidate alliance members in their negotiations on a minority government.

Fianna Fails Charlie McConalogue, involved in talks for his own party, also said that Fine Gael were trying to apply pressure on TDs and say it was their way or the high way.

Elsewhere, Irish Water and the explosive issue of charges has now come back into the frame in the current impasse on forming a government.

Fianna Fails Charlie McConalogue

It emerged last night that Fianna Fail are drafting a Bill for the new Dail to scrap Irish Water and suspend charges. While Mr Martins partys stance on this is already known, the fact that Fianna Fail are taking this line just days before sitting down with political opponents Fine Gael adds to the tension in the talks.

Moreover, senior Fine Gael figures also made it known last night that the retention of water charges is now a red line issue. If this is the case, the position for both may become an impassable stumbling block.

Clearly, both Fine Gael and Fianna Fail are muscling up before Mr Kenny and Mr Martin meet face-to-face. Every advantage, argument and angle is being scrutinised. Fianna Fail sources have also confirmed that Fine Gaels stance on everything during the election, including what was in their manifesto, is being trawled through.

Realistically though, the tweets, stances on sensitive political matters and verbal threats  while fueling reaction inside Leinster House  are just ways of chief negotiators and party figures in both Fine Gael and Fianna Fail laying the groundwork before Mr Kenny and Mr Martin finally sit down in a room together.

It is widely accepted in both parties, that these negotiations will be the defining ones as opposed to the plethora of hours spent with Independent TDs.

Talks will enter a new phase. They will take time, given the traditional enmity between both factions.

But the Kenny-Martin talks will decide any chance of a minority government. If not, another election is on the cards.
AS NEWS filtered through late last month of the attacks in Brussels, our thoughts instinctively turned to the families and friends of those who had been murdered, and to those living in the latest EU capital to feel the sharp end of terrorism.

It also struck me how the horror stories of injury and death in Brussels have the same terrible tragedy and vocabulary as the stories I have too often heard from inside Syria. I returned recently from the Turkey-Syria border where I met, as I regularly do, Syrian people whose loved ones and compatriots have fallen victim to similar attacks over the past five years of the conflict in Syria.

Indeed, as perhaps many in Europe dont realise, it is this same violence that has been driving and continues to drive ordinary civilians from Syria. It is these same atrocities that they too are running from.

Despite the cessation of hostilities, urban areas right across Syria are still being bombed on a daily basis. This is especially true of Idleb in the north-west, the area where GOAL delivers humanitarian aid to 1m people.

One of the most heinous aspects of the Brussels Airport attack was the detonation of the second bomb in the path of people fleeing the initial explosion. It was a tactic that is all too familiar to those with any knowledge of the conflict in Syria.

There was a hospital in a town called Maarrat an-Numan in the Idleb countryside of northern Syria that was hit by an airstrike a few weeks ago. About 15 minutes later, as first responders were attending to medical personnel and patients, a second airstrike hit. This strategy is known as double tap bombing and is a specific tactic of the Russian and Syrian forces in northern Syria.

Over the next hour, two further airstrikes struck the same hospital. The survivors of the carnage were taken across town to another medical facility, which itself was the target of a double-tap airstrike that afternoon.

Nine hospital staff were killed, as well as 16 patients, one of whom was a child. Survivors were still being pulled out of the rubble of the first hospital by the White Helmets two days later.

Whatever your argument is about politics, or your position on Russias intervention in Syria, double-tap bombing as a strategy is profoundly evil and deeply sickening.

There is no hierarchy of evil, what is wrong in Brussels is also wrong in Syria and would be wrong anywhere else.

I struggle to understand why more people are not outraged about this strategy. And why it is not being shouted from the highest rafters in the UN, the EU, or other international fora. That it is not is simply unacceptable.

Instead, not only has the EU failed to put forward any worthwhile solutions for ending the conflict in Syria, they have signed off on a deal that sees them abdicate their responsibilities for people who have been fleeing this war.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, receives a picture taken in Syria from Col Gen Alexander Dvornikov during an awarding ceremony in Moscows Kremlin, Russia. Dvornikov, commanded the Russian military in Syria

The EU-Turkey deal, which will see migrants arriving in Greece  including Syrian refugees  sent back to Turkey, is abhorrent. The idea of paying Turkey to keep people fleeing a war zone at bay, while at the same time telling them that, in keeping the refugees in Turkey we are offering them an easier entry into the EU, is entirely contradictory.

The argument that the EU would be unable to accept the numbers of refugees and migrants that are being talked about does not stand up to scrutiny.

There are 500m people living in Europe. One million refugees and migrants arrived in Europe in 2015. That equates to 0.2% of the population of the EU. There is no question about Europes ability to deal with this refugee crisis.

The Syria crisis and refugee issue is deeply misunderstood in Europe. Building walls and razor-wire fences will not solve this issue. Nor will they stop those who are determined to bring terrorism to the streets of Europe.

We need to focus all our energies on ending the conflict in Syria, not on solving whats happening in Greece, or on the Hungarian border.

The parties to the conflict, or most of them, are finally gathering around a peace table in Geneva, with the talks set to resume this Sunday. Within that room there exists the capability to bring this war to an end. We must ensure that that capability is matched by determination. If we stop whats happening in Syria, we stop the refugee crisis.

The actions of those who brought terror to Brussels last month were designed to divide people, to put up barriers and to increase fear. We must not forget this.

Most of all, we must not forget that at the heart of this crisis are ordinary people. People, once like you and I, but who are now terrified for themselves, their families, and their children. They flee from a horror we can scarcely imagine. Ultimately, what they want is an end to the violence so they can return home. For now, they just ask for refuge.

Ireland is a country will a long history of migration, both forced and voluntary. Most of us can recall from history, or from our own experience, times when Irish communities have been unfairly scapegoated for the actions of a tiny minority.

All the more reason then for Ireland to take a lead on this issue now.

The Irish people should be ashamed of the Governments support for the EU-Turkey deal.

Rather than assist our fellow member states in running away from our obligations, Ireland should be taking a lead on the issue of refugees and demanding that they be treated with dignity and humanity.

Conor Elliott has recently returned from a visit to the Turkey-Syria border. He is the Director of Programmes for GOAL. www.goalglobal.org
ONE thing alone was certain, what happened last week was going to be unlike anything we had previously experienced in our collective political lives.

Dubbed with various titles, the Rural Alliance, the Rural Five (consisting of Noel Grealish, Denis Naughten, Dr Michael Harty, and Michael Collins and I) we had been drawn together by a shared determination to articulate and if possible resolve the problems besetting those parts of the country which exist past the Red Cow Inn.

So on the morning of Monday, March 21, we regrouped in the Dail canteen to gather our thoughts and outline our approach to the impending meeting in Government Buildings.

Most of our group were veterans of the to-ing and fro-ing that occurs at all levels of political life, but this was something entirely different. Each of us was acutely aware that what was about to happen constituted a significant political risk.

But since we had each surveyed with increasing alarm the stalemate and downright paralysis of the fortnight since the general election, something had to be done. A move had to be made to force the agenda forward.

Timidity and questionable abstentions by a raft of perpetual protest colleagues was going to do nothing to address the challenges that existed.

Independent TD Mattie McGrath

The initial meeting with the Fine Gael negotiating team which consisted of acting Taoiseach Kenny, acting ministers Frances Fitzgerald, Simon Coveney, Simon Harris and Deputy Sean Coyne was, for all its importance, understated and even a little muted.

There was certainly frankness and even bluntness on both sides of the table; yet overall it was marked by what seemed like a genuine openness to our vision of political partnership.

Business as usual it most certainly was not.

We returned later in the week to Government Buildings along with a significant cohort of our fellow Independents and the Green Party deputies.

As we each took our seats around the table, I think most of us were struck by a sense of how bizarre this was. Irish political life had seen nothing like this since the foundation of the State in terms of the fragmentation of the major political Parties.

The castigated and derided parish pump Independent TDs were attempting to give a lesson in political maturity to a system that was cracked asunder by the sovereign vote of the people.

What became increasingly apparent as the main and breakout meetings progressed was the scale of the gulf to be crossed if we were to emerge out of this process with anything like a feasible road map forward.

At every turn, despite the genuine goodwill and good faith of the participants involved, the central unavoidable fact of basic voting arithmetic hung over the process.

Even with unanimous support from the participants involved would anything really change with respect to securing a Dail majority?

The absence of Fianna Fail and the inability of most of us to comprehend why the leaders of the two main parties had not talked stalked the room and even led to whispered concerns about whether we were being used as fodder in some as yet unrevealed larger backroom strategy.

At the human level each of us had to make on the spot calculations, weighing and balancing if we could at the end of it all accept and sign off on something akin to a programme for government.

Whatever the reality inside the room, the reality outside of it (homelessness-the A&E crisis-distressed mortgages the decimation of rural Ireland) continued to shape the agenda and focus our minds. Many of us were being phoned and emailed daily by angry and frustrated constituents who on the one hand felt betrayed by our participation and on the other hand frustrated at the slowness of the process.

But what was the alternative  to endorse political paralysis and set the scene for a return to the self-same people in another wasteful general election?

As the hours, days, and oftentimes tedious parsing of documents have moved on, I am very unsure about whether anything concrete will result in terms of a document we can all sign off on and agree to support.

The outcome of this weeks talks between Fine Gael and Fianna Fail has yet to be revealed. While the fact that they have only begun may be politically understandable it is also an indictment of the immaturity of our system.

It signals a gnawing fear that the entrenched party first view still is alive and well amid the rarefied air of a supposedly reformed Oireachtas.

I attended the talks because I want to put the people first. It really is that uncomplicated.

Holding my nose and pretending I can make a virtue out of endless protest simply will not cut it when I meet a constituent on the verge of suicide or yet another elderly person on a hospital trolley. This is not a game. It is time to move beyond the zero sum politics that brought us to this impasse.

It is time we acted in the national interest and not just talked it up as the default position of no real merit or advantage when things get tough.

It is time to move on. It is time to get the work done.
The richer you are, it seems, the greedier you are. The more money you have, the more lengths youll go to to hide it from the tax man.

Maybe theres nothing surprising in that  maybe its something weve always known. But when its exposed in its nakedness, its still deeply shocking. World leaders for years have been telling us about the need to for tax transparency  what David Cameron referred to as the need to shine a spotlight on who owns what and where the money is really flowing. And then we start to discover the world leaders who are stashing their money in hidden bank accounts.

You can add hypocrisy to greed. The Prime Minister of Iceland is famous in his own country for his regular attacks on the vultures  his word  who have undermined the countrys banking system. Bit of a hero to the left, he is, because of his outspokenness. You can watch him today on YouTube walking out of an interview when hes asked about his secret ownership of a company that has claims on some of Icelands failed banks.

At one level, its very hard to take in what the breaking news stories about the Panama Papers are telling us. At another level, why would we be surprised?

We can be absolutely certain theres more to come. It has been described as the biggest leak in history  more or less, it seems, the entire database of a company described as the fourth largest off-shore law firm in the world. 95% of their business, according to one of their principals, consists of selling vehicles to enable rich people to avoid taxes. These rich people include 12 current or former leaders of countries.

The Irish revelations are so far thin on the ground, but Im guessing that as this story unfolds there will be more of them. All sorts of people are going to be puzzled or surprised by what the papers reveal about their activities. All sorts of denials are going to be made, all sorts of injured innocence is going to be put on display.

And of course, no laws have been broken, as far as we know so far. Thats the great thing about having lots of assets  you get to have a lot of influence over how public policy is made, and public policy throughout the civilised world has always had a two-faced approach to hidden wealth. Policy huffs and puffs about the need for transparency, but it keeps discovering new legal loopholes it has created for the wealthy. Cue more injured innocence.

Bear in mind a couple of things. Most of us have never heard of this Panamanian company d1 Mossack Fonseca. It has a beautifully bland website advertising its wares, and it has offices all over the world. Theyll assist clients with everything, from registering their yachts in Panama to protecting their estates.

As they say themselves, and dont you just love the innocuous language, through organisations such as Corporations, Private Foundations and Trusts, we assist our clients in their estate planning and asset protection needs. Trust operations can protect assets from diverse threats, including political unrest, reckless heirs and more. Each client has specific and definite requirements, and our solutions are always designed to meet the needs of one of them. I love that  political unrest, reckless heirs and more. That must have been what attracted Vladimir Putin and his friends to become clients of the company.

But heres the thing. Mossack Fonseca arent the biggest company in the world providing these kinds of services to wealthy clients. If you have lots of money, and youre greedy for more, there are dozens of highly reputable companies with branches in Liechtenstein, the Seychelles, and all over the world willing to protect you from political unrest and more. You need never worry about committing a crime and breaking the law. And if your activities become public and youre forced into some embarrassing disclosure, sure what price a little embarrassment?

A marquee of the Arango Orillac Building lists the Mossack Fonseca law firm in Panama City. Pic: AP

Do you remember Ansbacher? It was a great scandal in the early 2000s when a report was published by the Director of Corporate Enforcement. Ansbacher was a tax evasion scam in which people pretended to invest money offshore, but it was actually held in the safe of an accountant called Des Traynor. His, and the banks, most high profile client was the late Mr CJ Haughey.

But who remembers the names of the other 200 clients? How many of them were prosecuted for tax evasion? Ill give you one guess. They all had to endure a weekend or so of media trying to take photographs of them and their houses, and then it went away.

Mary Harney, who was Tanaiste at the time, used tough language. She described the Ansbacher Report as a watershed in Irish life . a damning insight into a world of conspiracy, fraud and tax evasion over a long number of years  a charade, a sham and a legal fiction.

But that went away too. Instead of the fairness and justice that Ms Harney demanded in the wake of the Ansbacher scandal, the government of which she was a key part embraced light touch regulation. That philosophy ushered in an era of reckless and improvident lending, and ultimately led to the collapse of our baking system. So much for the lessons of Ansbacher.

We dont learn lessons, do we? Every time we discover the need for more effective regulation, something else gets in the way. Every time were shocked at the greed of the wealthy, something else pops up to distract us.

Mary Harney

Right now theres a simmering debate about greed in Ireland, sure enough. But the muttering is all about the greed of the LUAS drivers, the teachers and the nurses, who are gearing up to lead the charge for a pay increase.

These are people who, in the main, have seen their pay frozen and cut as a direct consequence of austerity. Right across the public sector, and indeed throughout the community and voluntary sector, there are thousands of people who struggle to make ends meet. And while theyre struggling, theyre asked every day to work harder and longer than they used to, often in conditions of stress and anxiety.

If teachers or nurses go on strike, theyll be pilloried for their failure to understand how fragile the recovery is, and how much damage their actions can do to the public finances. Everyone will forget how large a contribution their pay cuts have already made to restoring the public finances from a catastrophe they didnt cause.

Teachers and nurses dont have offshore accounts. Theyre never likely to be able to use the services of nice lawyers from Panama to hide their assets. Thats a privilege reserved for the wealthy.

But its also a demonstration, as if we needed another one, that parasitic behaviour at the top of the wealth chain, while those in the middle or the bottom struggle to earn a decent living, is one of the worst things wrong with the world.

Millions starve. Millions more struggle. Massive amounts of wealth are concentrated, and hidden, by a few. When are we ever going to learn?
The ANC backed Mr Zuma, 73, after the Constitutional Court rebuked him for ignoring public protector Thuli Madonselas order that he pay back some of the $16m (14m) spent on upgrading his private Nkandla home.

However, the scandal, one of several which have dogged Zuma over the past decade, could strain relations between the ANC and its allies the South African Communist Party (SACP) and labour federation Cosatu.

ANC officials declined to give details of yesterdays meeting by the partys national working committee, which follows that of the ANCs top six leaders on Friday.

Analysts say the Constitutional Court ruling is a blow to Zumas credibility and could harm the ANC ahead of municipal elections due between May and August.

National Assembly speaker Baleka Mbete, who is also the ruling partys chairwoman, said on Sunday that parliament would today debate a motion by the opposition to impeach Zuma.

The motion is, however, likely to fail in the house where the ANC still enjoys a comfortable majority, with 62% of the 400-seat assembly.

Zuma remains in control of his party and with a significant degree of electoral popularity, especially in rural areas and KwaZulu-Natal, BNP Paribus Securities South Africa political analyst Nic Borain said.

In a televised address to the nation on Friday evening, Zuma apologised and said he would pay back some of the money spent on the updgrades at Nkandla, but denied acting dishonestly.

On Sunday, a jocular Mr Zuma told a cheering crowd in his home province of KwaZulu-Natal that he was still youthful and remained South Africas leader, making no specific mention of the Nkandla issue.

Support for Mr Zuma from ANC allies has been restrained.

In a statement, the SACP applauded Mr Zuma for publicly apologising on Friday.

However, it warned the Constitutional Court ruling was a signal to the alliance that decisive action is now imperative, otherwise the continuing loss of moral authority, political paralysis, and fragmentation of our movement will continue.
Declaring themselves homeless they began a sit-in.

It ended three days later after West Sussex County Council offered the islanders B&B accommodation for six months in the nearby town of Crawley.

Today, Crawley hosts around 1,500 Chagossians and their dependents.

They live in the boroughs poorer wards, such as Bewbush, Broadfield, and Ifield.

However, the largest population of Chagossians, perhaps 2,500 (or more depending on who is included through ties of kinship) live in or near Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius.

Another 300 or so people live in the Seychelles.

The story of the Chagossians is not very well known.

However, with well-known supporters such as British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, broadcaster Ben Fogle, novelist Philippa Gregory, and poet Benjamin Zephaniah, this is beginning to change.

The Chagossians are, in fact, the descendants of African slaves who, for several centuries, worked on the coconut plantations in the Chagos Archipelago, a group of 55 islands which lie halfway between Tanzania and Indonesia. By all accounts they lived contented lives.

However, between 1968 and 1973, at the height of the Cold War, around 1,500 islanders were forcibly removed from their homeland in the British Indian Ocean Territory by the UK authorities, and most were dumped at the quayside in Port Louis to make way for the strategically important US base on Diego Garcia, the largest and southernmost island in the Archipelago.

The results of this deportation of mainly illiterate, small island people to the urban slums of a larger, but still relatively impoverished Indian Ocean island, were predictable  unemployment, malnutrition, mental health problems, and serious alcohol and drug habits.

Some of the younger women became sex workers.

Not surprisingly, the exile of the islanders in Mauritius has been challenged.

Since 2000, Mauritius-based electrician Olivier Bancoult, who left the islands aged five and is now leader of the Chagos Refugees Group, won a series of spectacular victories establishing the right of return in the UKs lower courts but lost his case in the House of Lords in 2008 by a 3-2 majority.

However, Bancoult and his formidable team of lawyers, which includes Lebanese-British human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, have made an appeal to the UK Supreme Court to overturn the Law Lords ruling.

The judgement is due any day now.

Political pressure in the UK has also been growing for some time.

Concern amongst parliamentarians from all parties about the failure to put right what had happened to the islanders almost half a century ago, as well as disquiet about the Law Lords judgement, led to the formation of the Chagos All Party Parliamentary Group in 2008.

The feelings of the group were neatly summed up in a debate at the end of last year in Westminster Hall by the Scottish National Partys Paul Monaghan, who drew a direct parallel between what happened in Chagos and the Highland clearances in his constituency of Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross.

He said: To the utter shame of every UK government and 17 foreign secretaries, this ethnic cleansing of an entire people has been variously ignored, glossed over or actively misrepresented. It is a chronicle of abuse, naked greed, and bullying.

Meanwhile, the need for the UK and US to agree a 20-year extension to the previous 50-year agreement, which expires on December 30, for the continued use of the Diego Garcia base is top of the agenda.

Although formal discussions have yet to start, there is no doubt that an extension will be nodded through not only because Diego Garcia is such an important element in the US-UK special relationship but also because the US wants to keep an eye on the oil-rich Persian Gulf and the new rivalry between China and India as the two emerging superpowers fight for supremacy in controlling the sea lanes carrying commodities and goods between Africa and Asia.

However, to be able to look other governments (and human rights organisations) in the eye, in 2012 former UK foreign secretary William Hague commissioned KPMG to conduct a feasibility study on resettlement in Chagos.

The report, published over a year ago, concluded there were no fundamental legal obstacles that would prevent resettlement and suggested a variety of differently costed scenarios.

The minimum was 63m over three years, the maximum 414m over six years.

However, the concern of Chagossians is that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office consultation exercise was simply a device to allow the UK and the US to agree terms on the continued use of Diego Garcia, while those who make up the Chagossian diaspora will remain in exile forever.

However, David Snoxell, former British High Commissioner to Mauritius and co-ordinator of the All Party Parliamentary Group, thinks the Hague initiative may yet bear fruit, irrespective of the forthcoming decision of the Supreme Court.

After nearly 15 years of resistance the Foreign and Commonwealth Office seems at last to be in favour of trying out some sort of resettlement although it is not easy convincing some penny-pinching, short-sighted ministers, he says.

In fact, the decision on the islanders future will probably be made by British prime minister David Cameron, who appears to be in favour of resettlement, before the summer.

Further-more, a positive resolution of one of the most shameful episodes in recent British colonial history can also benefit the US.

Resettlement of the Chagossians would also be seen as part of President Obamas legacy, says Snoxell.

Its a unique opportunity to rectify this relic from the Cold War and put right the wrongs of the past.

Dr Sean Carey is honorary senior research fellow in the School of Social Sciences, University of Manchester
Activists from a coalition of groups said they will continue to press for the festival to be banned as well as legislation outlawing the slaughtering of dogs and cats and the consumption of their meat.

While an estimated 10m-20m dogs are killed for their meat each year in China, the June 20 event in the city of Yulin has come to symbolise the cruelty and lack of hygiene associated with the largely unregulated industry.
Described as the most comprehensive insight into the group, and opening at Chelseas Saatchi Gallery today, Exhibitionism is an interactive Rolling Stones experience.

The musical heritage which took the group from a blues band in the early 1960s to the influential pop culture giants they remain forms the heart of the exhibition.

Many of the bands personal artefacts, including costumes and original instruments, are on display and there is even a reproduction of the first flat they shared in Chelsea.

Exhibitionism features art and design, film, video, fashion, performance, and rare sound archives from the group, which formed in London more than five decades ago.

The brainchild of Australian promoters Tony and Thea Cochrane, the ambitious show had to be as colossal as their body of work, Mr Cochrane told News Corp Australia.

Three years in the making, it has had the full co-operation of Mick Jagger, 72, Keith Richards, 72, Charlie Watts, 74, and Ronnie Wood, 68.

Lifelong fan Mr Cochrane hailed the members of the group for their input.

Charlie, for example, is enormously gifted in the area of art and design, he said.

Mick is very detailed, very exacting. He wants to think about things and he comes back with really clever solutions from left field.

On the subject of the flat in Chelseas Edith Grove, where Jagger and Richards lived with founding member Brian Jones, Mr Cochrane said Jagger wanted the display to be just like the revolting digs they had lived in before finding fame and fortune.

No detail was spared and that included evoking the smell of tandoori chicken, the frontmans dish of choice, and the other band members preference for fish and chips.

The exhibition will be spread across two floors of the Kings Road gallery, which is a stones throw away from Edith Grove.

Exhibitionism features nine different rooms spanning over 1,750 sq m, each with its own distinctly designed environment, will be used to show how the band has changed the way rock music is experienced.

It will also include original stage designs, a 3D simulation of what it is like to be backstage, and then on the stage, with The Stones in addition to their collaborations with various big-name artists and designers such as Andy Warhol, Alexander McQueen, and Martin Scorsese.

Speaking about the exhibition last year, Jagger said: I think its kind of an interesting time to do it. Weve got enough stuff, in fact too much stuff.

Continuing to set the pace well into their 70s, The Rolling Stones have just performed a historic free concert in Cuba in front of half a million fans.

Exhibitionism runs at the Saatchi Gallery to September 4: www.stonesexhibitionism.com
Mr Camerons late father was reported to be among names, including those of six British peers, three ex-Tory MPs and political party donors, named in relation to investments set up by Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca.

Downing St said it was a private matter whether the Cameron family still had funds in offshore investments and insisted Mr Cameron was in the vanguard of efforts to increase the transparency of tax deals.

But he was accused by opposition parties of failing to follow through with promises to force reform in UK crown dependencies and overseas territories which act as tax havens and faced calls for a full independent investigation.

HM Revenue and Customs has approached the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists for access to the data and said it would act on it swiftly and appropriately if there was any wrongdoing.

While there is nothing illegal about using offshore companies, the disclosures have intensified calls for international reform of the way tax havens are able to operate and claims of large-scale money laundering.

Mr Cameron has been a vocal advocate of reform and legislation forcing British companies to disclose who owns and benefits from their activities which comes into force in June.

British shadow chancellor John McDonnell

Despite several years of pressure however, few UK crown dependencies and overseas territories, which are said to make up a large part of the tax havens referred to in the papers, have taken concrete action to open up the books.

He faces pressure to secure progress at an international summit on tackling corruption which he will chair in London in May and where the use of offshore tax havens to escape scrutiny will be high on the agenda.

Asked if Mr Cameron was prepared to legislate if there was continued inaction, the PMs official spokeswoman said: He rules nothing out. The work with them continues.

British foreign secretary Philip Hammond, who recently met the Panamanian vice-president to discuss the issue, insisted significant progress was being made.

Its always interesting when information like this leaks because it reminds people who are up to no good how fragile and how vulnerable they make themselves by indulging in this kind of activity, he told the BBC.

This is a key agenda for the prime minister.

British shadow chancellor John McDonnell said not enough had been achieved.

Cameron promised and has failed to end tax secrecy and crack down on morally unacceptable offshore schemes, he said. Real action is now needed.

Ian Camerons use of the firm to help shield investments from UK tax as he built up a significant legacy, part of which was inherited by Mr Cameron, had been previously disclosed but further adds to the pressure on the PM.
Under the pact, criticised by refugee agencies and human rights campaigners, Ankara will take back all migrants and refugees who enter Greece illegally, including Syrians.

In return, the EU will take in thousands of Syrian refugees directly from Turkey and reward it with more money, early visa-free travel and progress in its EU membership negotiations.

Two Turkish-flagged passenger boats carrying 131 mostly Pakistani migrants arrived from the island of Lesbos in the Turkish town of Dikili early yesterday, accompanied by two Turkish coastguard vessels with a police helicopter buzzing overhead, a Reuters witness said. A third ship carrying 66 people, mainly Afghans, arrived there later from the island of Chios.

The EU-Turkey deal aims to discourage migrants from perilous crossings, often in small boats and dinghies, and to break the business model of human smugglers who have fuelled Europes biggest influx since World War Two.

EU authorities said none of those deported yesterday had requested asylum in Greece and all had left voluntarily.

We didnt see this morning unrest or riots. The operation was organised properly with the sufficient Frontex presence and with enough, very well organised security guarantees, European Commission spokesman Margaritas Schinas told a news briefing in Brussels.

He was referring to the EU border management agency Frontex, which has been reinforced by national police and migration experts.

Mr Schinas said the first returns were legal although Turkey has not yet changed its regulations to extend protection to rejected asylum-seekers being sent back.

The EU said at the time of the deal that both Athens and Ankara would need to change their asylum laws  Greece to declare Turkey a safe third country to which rejected asylum- seekers could be sent, and Turkey to give international protection to Syrians who enter from countries other than Syria, and to non- Syrian asylum-seekers returned from Greece. Greece has done its part, but Turkey has yet to change its regulations.

Hours after the first boat of returnees set sail from Lesbos, Greek coastguard vessels rescued at least two dinghies carrying more than 50 migrants and refugees, including children and a woman in a wheelchair, trying to reach the island.

Altogether, more people arrived on the Greek islands in the 24 hours to Monday morning than were transported to Turkey, Greek authorities said, putting arrivals at 339, including 173 on Lesbos and 73 on Chios.
The Republican front-runner is at risk of losing the Midwestern state to Texas senator Ted Cruz, an outcome that would dent the New York billionaires aura of inevitability and make it harder for him to win the 1,237 delegates needed for the partys nomination for the November 8 election.

On the Democratic side, Vermont senator Bernie Sanders is trying to protect his lead over front-runner Hillary Clinton in opinion polls in Wisconsin and eke out another victory over the former secretary of state.

Trailing Mr Cruz in the polls in Wisconsin, Mr Trump spent the weekend campaigning and planned to draw in his wife, Melania, later last night.

He stayed on message, telling fans in West Allis, Wisconsin, on Sunday that Mr Cruz was a liar and a dirty rotten cheater who is weak on immigration and would cut social security benefits.

Wisconsin is going to be such a big surprise on Tuesday. We are doing so well, Mr Trump said.

The property tycoon has won 20 presidential nominating contests and leads in the delegate count that will determine the Republican Partys nominee.

He trails Mr Cruz by 10 percentage points in some Wisconsin polls.

A loss would add to Mr Trumps woes after his campaign was rocked last week by the fallout from his suggestion, which he later rolled back on, that women be punished for getting abortions if the procedure is banned.

Uncharacteristically, Mr Trump also acknowledged that he made a mistake retweeting an attack on Mr Cruzs wife, according to the New York Times.

He also drew fire last week for saying he would not rule out using nuclear weapons in Europe and that Japan and South Korea might need their own nuclear arsenals to ease the US financial commitment to their security.

Was this my best week? I guess not, Mr Trump told Fox News.

But, he added, I think Im doing OK.

Mr Cruz was eager to capitalise on Mr Trumps missteps. More Republicans are recognising that nominating Donald Trump would be a train wreck, he said.

Mr Cruz faces difficulty in winning the delegates needed to secure the nomination, given that the next states to vote, including New York on April 19, are Trump-friendly territory.

Ms Clinton is already eyeing New York, holding campaign stops there even as other candidates made their final pitches in Wisconsin.

Im absolutely confident I will be the nominee,she told ABC as she and Mr Sanders continued to spar over scheduling more debates.

Sanders adviser Tad Devine said the senator wanted another prime-time debate with Ms Clinton.

If we can continue to win, if he has a good day [today] were going to make his case through New York all the way to California, he said.
In a front-page column, Al-Ahrams editor-in-chief Mohammed Abdel-Hadi Allam suggested that Cambridge student Giulio Regenis killing might have the same impact in Egypt as the 2010 beating to death by police of an Egyptian youth in the coastal city of Alexandria.

The brutal death of Khaled Said helped ignite a popular 18-day uprising that began on January 25 2011 and toppled the 29-year regime of autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

The Khaled Said case, despite its circumstances, did not go away like some thought at the time, he warned.

The naive stories about Regenis death have hurt Egypt at home and abroad and offered some a justification to judge what is going on in the country now to be no different from what went on before the January 25 revolution.

Last month, Egyptian authorities implied that Mr Regeni had been killed by a criminal gang specialising in kidnapping foreigners. Authorities said all members of the gang had been killed in a shoot-out .

The announcement was immediately rejected by Italian media and by Mr Regenis family, who have publicly stated a belief that Mr Regeni was killed by Egyptian security forces.

Premier Matteo Renzi has insisted Italy will settle for nothing less than the truth.

Mr Allam, in his column, said a moment of truth between Egypt and Italy over what happened to Mr Regeni may be fast approaching, he said, adding that futile dealings and gross exaggerations may not be useful.
Boys and girls as young as 10 are being sold for just 6,600 by black market gangs operating in the Punjab in India, an investigation by The Sun has claimed.

They are preying on the children of Nepalese refugees and destitute Indian families, according to the newspaper.

British home secretary Theresa May said child trafficking is a truly abhorrent crime and urged the UKs National Crime Agency to investigate the findings.

She told the newspaper: No child, anywhere in the world, should be taken away from their home and forced to work in slavery.

That is why we introduced the landmark Modern Slavery Act last year, which included enhanced protections for potential child victims of slavery and sentences up to life imprisonment for those found guilty.

We encourage The Sun to share its disturbing findings with the Police and National Crime Agency so that appropriate action can be taken against the vile criminals who profit from this trade.

The Sun reported that the desperate children are being sold to wealthy British families to be used as unpaid domestic servants.

According to the newspaper, a trader named Makkhan Singh lined up youngsters for an undercover reporter to pick from and said: We have supplied lads who have gone on to the UK.

"Most of the ones who are taken to England are Nepalese.

For the supply of a boy, minimum 500,000 rupees [around 6,600]. Then you will have other costs associated with taking him to the UK, but thats your responsibility extra to what you pay us.

Take a Nepalese to England. They are good people. They are good at doing all the housework and theyre very good cooks. No-one is going to come after you.

A 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Nepal on April 25 last year, killing almost 9,000 people and leaving millions in need of aid.

It is estimated that millions of people across the world are victims of modern day slavery, trafficked across borders and forced to work in servitude.

In October 2015 the Modern Slavery Act was brought in to crack down on modern day slavery and protect victims of trafficking.
The leak of reams of confidential information about the use of offshore tax havens hasnt resulted in specific accusations of wrongdoing at any of the big banks, so far.

But a quick look through the accounts of some of the largest financial institutions shows just how integral tax havens have become to the global banking system.

Take HSBC. Its Monaco-based and Swiss units asked Mossack Fonseca, the law firm at the heart of the affair, to set up offshore companies for clients, according to the journalists consortium. According to HSBCs annual report, the bank has more than 100 entities operating in countries deemed by the OECD as offshore tax havens.

Units of Credit Suisse, UBS, Societe Generale, and Royal Bank of Scotland also get a mention in the documents. A quick cross-reference to the banks accounts shows dozens of subsidiaries, joint ventures and associates operating across a handful of havens.

To be sure, there is nothing illegal about operating in offshore jurisdictions and there can be legitimate reasons for having subsidiaries in low-tax countries.

The banks also say they exercise proper due diligence when taking on new clients. (Mossack Fonseca told the ICIJ it too conducts due diligence of its clients.)

The worry for the banks is that the Panama Papers raise the prospect of yet more scrutiny, additional regulation and compliance and the risk of more fines.

Unwinding the financial industrys network of offshore corporate entities would surely be traumatic and expensive. It might also hinder the banks efforts to repair damaged reputations.

The banks can argue they didnt engage in setting up the shell companies  that was the role of the law firm. But in a post-crisis world where governments are strapped for cash and keen to close as many tax loopholes as possible, scrutiny is unlikely to go away.

EU economic affairs commissioner Pierre Moscovici

Theres some evidence the banks are already overhauling their tangled corporate structures. HSBC sold its Panama bank in 2013, for instance. Credit Suisse also recently sold its Gibraltar and Monaco private-banking operations.

The tax havens too may be moving in the direction of greater transparency: the OECDs original blacklist of about three dozen uncooperative tax havens in 2000 dwindled to zero in the space of a decade as more countries agreed to share information.

But Panama, Liechtenstein, and Barbados were still included in a European Union list of uncooperative tax havens last year. Analysts warned that providers of corporate and legal services could come under pressure. But the broader stock market reaction has been muted so far.

Thats understandable given it is far too early to gauge what the actual fallout from the leaks will be.

Even so, big banks need to brace for more pressure.

EU economic affairs commissioner Pierre Moscovici said yesterday the leaks are good news and add momentum to calls for financial transparency.

He wont be the last.
The deadliest attack took place in the southern province of Dhi Qar (also known as Nasiriyah), when a suicide bomber blew himself up inside a restaurant that is frequented by Shiite paramilitary militia fighters, killing at least 14 people.

Another 27 people were wounded in the attack on the well-known restaurant, which is located on the main highway that links the capital, Baghdad, with the southern provinces, a police officer said.
Burma Myitsone Not on Agenda as Suu Kyi, Chinese FM Meet

The fate of the controversial Chinese-funded Myitsone dam isnt discussed at the first meeting between Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi and her Chinese counterpart.

NAYPYIDAW  Those hoping for clarity on the fate of the Chinese-funded Myitsone dam were left disappointed on Tuesday, as the first meeting between Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi and her Chinese counterpart did not address the controversy.

Suu Kyi told reporters at a press conference following the meeting that she didnt discuss any controversial investments, including the mega-dam in Kachin State, with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday.

The Chinese foreign minister here today was just about congratulating the new Burmese government and trying to build greater friendship between the two countries. We didnt discuss anything else in detail, Suu Kyi told the media in Naypyidaw.

Asked when the NLD government would publicly disclose the contentious Myitsone dam contract between China and Burma, inked by the former military regime, Suu Kyi replied: I havent read it yet, so its difficult to disclose to the public right now.

Wang is in Burma on a two-day visit that will wrap up on Wednesday.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei was quoted by Chinese media as saying Wangs visit came at the invitation of Burmas new minister of foreign affairs, Suu Kyi, who was sworn into her cabinet position last week. Wang became the first foreign minister received by Suu Kyi following her appointment.

The fate of Myitsone is likely to loom large over the bilateral relationship in the months to come. Suu Kyi has repeatedly said she could not take a position on whether or not it should go ahead as planned until she was made aware of the details of the contract.

Former President Thein Sein suspended the multi-billion dollar project in 2011 amid widespread public opposition to it. Among other unpopular provisions of the deal, some 90 percent of the hydropower generated by the dam was to be sent across the border to China.
Burma New Religion Minister Visits Firebrand Monk Wirathu

Aung Ko, Burmas new religious affairs minister, again stirs controversy, with the latest involving his visit to nationalist Buddhist monks including the firebrand U Wirathu.

RANGOON  Aung Ko, Burmas new religious affairs minister, has twice in less than a week stirred controversy, with the latest involving his visit to nationalist Buddhist monks from the Association for the Protection of Race and Religion on Monday in Rangoon, including the firebrand U Wirathu.

Ashin Nya Neinda, a spokesperson from the organization better known by its acronym Ma Ba Tha, told The Irrawaddy that Aung Ko met eight senior monks from the Buddhist nationalist group on Monday before later meeting Wirathu. The spokesman did not provide details on what was discussed at the meetings.

Our countrys majority are Buddhists. Eighty-five percent of the population in the country is Buddhist. Therefore, he came to visit our senior monks, said Ashin Nya Neinda.

Our senior monks told him to work for justice, and better treatment of other religions as our country has other religions, he said.

A Facebook account linked to Ma Ba Tha posted photos from Aung Kos visit to a monastery in Rangoons Insein Township, where he appeared to offer a cash donation to the monks. One photo posted to the Ma Ba Tha Facebook shows Aung Ko bowing before the monk Wirathu in a traditional gesture of deference.

Some Facebook users criticized the ministers visit to members of Ma Ba Tha, a group that was blacklisted in a 2015 US budget bill. The spending legislation states that US funding to Burma may not be made available to any organization or individual the Secretary of State determines and reports to the appropriate congressional committees advocates violence against ethnic or religious groups and individuals in Burma, including such organizations as Ma Ba Tha.

Tun Nyunt, who is a director of the Religious Affairs and Culture Ministry and joined the minister on his trip, said the visit was routine.

[It was] just to pay a visit to them, and there was nothing special about the visit. He became a new minister, and he went for introductions, said Tun Nyunt.

Aung Ko was a member of Burmas junta regime and later served as a senior member of the formerly ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). He was one of two USDP members appointed to the National League for Democracy (NLD) governments cabinet.

Aung Kos visit to the Ma Ba Tha monks came just two days after he suggested that Muslims in the country were not full Burmese citizens, drawing criticism from Islamic organizations both overseas and within Burma.

The former USDP government was accused by local rights groups and the international community of suppressing non-Buddhist religions including Christians and Muslims, the latter group also being a target of Ma Ba Tha.

Wirathu has been at the fore of anti-Islamic rhetoric in Burma in recent years and the Buddhist nationalist group last year all but endorsed the incumbent USDP over the NLD, viewing the latter as weak on the matter of protecting Burmas majority Buddhist character.

Ma Ba Tha was a leading sponsor of legislation passed last year that was widely viewed as discriminating against Burmas Muslims, including legislative measures to reduce the reproductive rights of the religious minority and restrict interfaith marriage.

Ma Ba Tha members have also been vocal critics of the international medias coverage of the Rohingya crisis in western Arakan State, rallying demonstrators to protest against the United Nations and international news networks, which they accused of mischaracterizing inter-communal violence and discrimination. Ma Ba Tha, like the former USDP government, denies that Rohingya Muslims constitute a legitimate ethnic group.

Asked if the new minister on Monday discussed interreligious dynamics in Burma, Ashin Nya Neinda said they had not, but might bring up the issue at a later date.
Burma Parliament OKs New Legal Affairs Commission Members

The Union Parliament appoints four new members to the Legal Affairs and Special Cases Assessment Commission, which supports lawmakers and makes recommendations directly to Parliament.

RANGOON  The Union Parliament appointed four new members to its Legal Affairs and Special Cases Assessment Commission, which is led by the former Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) chairman, Shwe Mann.

The new appointees to the powerful legislative commission include National League for Democracy (NLD) senior member Win Htein; NLD Upper House lawmaker from Mandalay Division Dr. Than Win, who was appointed vice chairman of the commission; retired civil servant Nyi Tun; and retired director general of the Ministry of Information Bo Win.

Upper House Speaker Mahn Win Khaing Than announced the new members during a parliamentary session on Tuesday, and the MPs approved them.

The new members replaced Dr. Win Myat Aye [vice chairman], Dr. Myint Htwe, Aung Myint, and Soe Yal, who resigned from the commission after they were assigned other Union-level positions.

Commission members support lawmakers, liaise between legislative committees and make recommendations directly to Parliament.

Shwe Mann, the former general who is viewed as an ally of Aung San Suu Kyi, presented the commissions first assessment to the newly sworn in NLD government on March 31. In a review of existing legislation on the books in Burma, the commission recommended that 142 laws be scrapped, amended or rewritten.

The assessment focused on the state budget, taxation, tendering, farmers rights and government office expenditures.
Business Businessmen Want $250,000 Back for Tollgate Bids

Local businessmen in Irrawaddy Division want more than $250,000 reimbursed to them, money that was spent on bids for tollgates recently shuttered by the government.

PATHEIN, Irrawaddy Division  Irrawaddy Division businessmen have asked for the return of more than US$250,000, which they paid to bid for tollgate operating licenses, after the Ministry of Construction closed 22 tollgates in the division earlier this month.

The Construction Ministry closed 161 of its 302 official tollgates across Burma as of April 1.

We welcome the governments plan not to charge tolls anymore, as it saves people money, said Win Lin Htet, who won a government tender to operate one of these recently closed tollgates. But, we want the money back that we paid to bid for toll collection.

In the past, the Ministry of Construction set a base price for tollgates and then let private businessmen bid for the tender. Later, as this attracted large numbers of businessmen, the ministry changed its system, issuing the one-year tollgate licenses through a lottery system.

To enter the lottery, applicants had to pay 10 percent of the base price of the tollgate as a deposit, plus about $80 for tollgates that had base prices below $25,000; $160 for those with base prices between $25,000-50,000; and $240 for those with base prices above $50,000; as an expression of interest.

There were 22 tollgates in the Irrawaddy Division with base prices below US$25,000, and five tollgates with base prices above that amount. Businessmen hired dozens of people to enter the lottery on their behalf, to increase their chances of winning. Each tollgate had between 150-300 bidders.

All 22 tollgates with base prices below US$25,000 in the Irrawaddy Division were closed on April 1. Almost 3,000 people bid for these tollgates, and paid over US$270,000 to the government through the Construction and Housing Development Bank.

We spent [almost US$30,000] to win the tender for three bridges, said businessman Soe Soe from Myaungmya.

But with those tolls now closed, he said he wants that money to be returned.

Irrawaddy Division Ministry of Construction officer Aung Myo Htut said 75 percent of the payments had been put into the divisions development fund, and the remaining 25 percent went into the Union-level budget. He added that the Union-level construction minister would decide whether to return the money or not.

Construction Minister Win Khaing was scheduled to meet the recently appointed state and divisional construction ministers in Naypyidaw on Tuesday.
Business Central Bank Looks to Mobile Banking to Ramp Up Financial Inclusion

In a move to reach more customers, the Central Bank of Myanmar has revealed rules to create an efficient climate of regulated mobile financial services.

RANGOON  The Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM) revealed on its website on Monday the official rules and regulations for mobile financial service providers (MFSPs), seen by observers as a way to reach more rural customers throughout Burma.

The regulations detail the application requirements, such as how to acquire a registration certificate and pay relevant fees and charges. They also outline MFSP duties, including permitted mobile financial transactions and measures to ensure customer protection.

Proponents of mobile banking trumpet it as a way to dramatically expand financial services in Burma by assisting mobile operatorspartnered with banksto reach those in rural areas with limited access to physical bank branches and who might have irregular income, which not uncommon in a country relying heavily on agriculture.

This could also spur Burmas burgeoning telecommunications industry.

Its good that telecoms companies will now be able to do mobile financial work legally, Zaw Lin Htut, chief executive officer of the Myanmar Payment Union, told the Irrawaddy.

Its also good for financial inclusion. However, they [MFSPs and banks] will need interoperability, he said, referring to the capacity of one organization or system to work simultaneously and efficiently with another. This could involve determining that telecoms providers can provide mobile money, remittance and payment services but not other bank services, he added.

According to the CBM announcement, MFSPs can permit customers to open and maintain mobile accounts, deposit money into and withdraw from mobile accounts, and also transfer between their own mobile accounts. People-to-people, people-to-government, people-to-business and business-to-business money givingamong other services occasionally allowed by the CBMwill also be permitted under the regulations.

The CBM said that mobile financial service applicants will know whether they have been approved for a registration certificate within 90 days of the receipt of their application.

Soe Thein, executive director of the Asian Green Development Bank, sees the announcement as an auspicious sign for financial growth in Burma.

The mobile money sector in this country will develop very rapidly because almost all private banks are attempting to expand their mobile banking services as much as possible. I hope this will help Burmas development in the year ahead, Soe Thein said.

Zaw Lin Htut echoed these sentiments, saying that there will be more competition between bank and non-bank services soon, leading to swift changes in the sector.

Recently, 22 private lenders were awarded bank licenses. Four telecoms operators currently run in Burma: Norways Telenor, Qatars Ooredoo, the state-owned Myanma Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) and three shareholders in a joint venture among local and foreign firms.
Tuesday, April 5th, 2016 (10:05 am) - Score 1,361

UK ISP Gigaclear, which is rolling out an ultrafast 5Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network to rural communities across the United Kingdom, has today announced yet another equity investment boost of 24m that will be used to help further expand their coverage.

So far Gigaclear, which owns and operates 60 rural fibre networks with 25 more under construction, claims to have delivered its network to a total of over 20,000 properties in Berkshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Gloucestershire, Kent, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire and Rutland.

The above coverage includes several Government (state aid) supported Broadband Delivery UK contracts (e.g. Gloucestershire [here], Essex [here] and Berkshire [here]) and they hope to reach approximately 40,000 premises by the end of 2016 (at this point they should have built around 130 small networks, each covering one or two villages).

Beyond all that Gigaclear also have commercial plans to reach another 30-40K premises (around 80,000 total out of a theoretical addressable market of 1.5 million UK premises), which will require more investment. The ISP has already managed to attract 48.6m and this was recently boosted by a 25m (18m) loan from the European Investment Bank.

The good news is that the ISP has today announced a further investment boost of 24m, which is coming from investors such as Neil Woodford, Infracapital and other shareholders. Overall Gigaclears total valuation is now said to stand at about 115m.

Ed Clarke, Co-Founder and Director of Infracapital, said: We are delighted to continue our support for Gigaclear as it accelerates its growth rate and strengthens its presence in the market. Having successfully secured several BDUK contracts and completed this round of fund raising the business is well placed to deliver its 2016 roll out plans.

Matthew Hare, CEO of Gigaclear, said: We are building to tens of thousands of potential new customers this year. The strong financial support of our shareholders lets us get on with the job of delivering Britains best future-proof broadband without delay.

At present Gigaclear are taking a similar approach to Cityfibre and Hyperoptic, which means that theyre spending big on infrastructure development now, albeit in recognition of that fact that it could take a long time to recoup that investment. Gigaclear investors are not expecting to see a return until 2018, but it will take even longer to fully recoup everything.

However investors often seem able to see the long-term potential of fibre optic connectivity and Ofcoms preliminary decision not to split Openreach from BTs control means that there should continue to be a gap in the market for alternative network providers and this will grow.
Major: Communication

Hometown: Brazil, IN

Student Media Involvement: Syc Creations

Favorite Food: Burgers with everything but mustard

Fun Fact: He really loves superhero movies, and wants to make his own someday
Software-Defined Networking and the Enterprise

Now that hyperconverged systems that unify compute and storage have established themselves as the hottest trend in the data center, the only real question is what path most organizations will take to get there. While the most widely used path is to acquire new systems from a hardware vendor, SimpliVity has been making a case for a software approach that doesnt lock IT organizations into a specific hardware platform.

To further that contention, SimpliVity today announced it is adding support for Microsoft Hyper-V virtual machines alongside VMware. In addition, SimpliVity announced today that it is adding support for REST application programming interfaces and tools that automatically balance workloads across a hyperconverged system in version 3.5 of its OmniStack software.

Finally, SimpliVity announced that it is adding support for multi-node stretched clusters to provide IT organizations with an active-active approach to maintaining system availability, while at the same time making available a new predictive insights capability to select high-end customers to help them increase operational efficiency.

Andrew Haire, senior product marketing manager at SimpliVity, says eventually SimpliVity will make that predictive insights capability more broadly available. In the meantime, Haire says its clear that in addition to reducing the cost of acquisition for hardware and improving the performance of applications, IT organizations expect investments in hyperconverged systems to improve their overall operational efficiency. In fact, Haire says a report from IDC commissioned by SimpliVity shows that its customers reduced the percentage of their IT budgets allocated to maintaining system from 57 to 43 percent.

As a software stack for managing IT, one of the advantages that SimpliVity provides is that it can be deployed in either a local data center or in the cloud. Of course, its still early days when it comes to hyperconvergence in the data center. While there is clearly a tremendous amount of interest, hyperconvergence fundamentally changes how IT is managed in the data center. For many IT organizations, that means that making the shift to hyperconverged systems represents more a cultural than a technical challenge. At this juncture, there appears to be little doubt that most IT organizations will be embracing hyperconverged systems to one degree or another. Less clear is exactly who will be managing what inside those data centers once that transition is made.
Last Sunday, the German publication received an anonymous leak of approximately 11.5 million documents, totalling 2.6 terabytes of data, and detailing the activities of Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, which helped clients set up anonymous offshore companies.



While these offshore entities are generally legal in the jurisdictions in which they are registered, the investigation revealed that some were allegedly used for unlawful purposes including sovereign and individual fraud, drug trafficking, and tax evasion.



Gerard Ryle, Director of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists said Nix technology was an indispensable part of our work on the Panama Papers investigation, as it has been with Offshore Leaks and many of our other in-depth investigative stories.





Suddeutsche Zeitung and ICIJ used Nuix software to process, index, and analyse the data, with investigators using Nuixs optical character recognition to make millions of scanned documents text-searchable.Eddie Sheehy, CEO of Nuix said Suddeutsche Zeitung and ICIJ used Nuixs named entity extraction and other analytical tools to identify and cross-reference the names of Mossack Fonseca clients throughout millions of documents. More than 400 journalists in 80 countries around the world then investigated the data before publishing the first set of results on 4 April.Nuix donated the software to Suddeutsche Zeitung and ICIJ for the purposes of the investigation, while a Nuix consultant also advised the investigators on hardware configurations and workflows. Nuix employees never saw or handled any of the leaked data  that task was undertaken by the journalists involved in the investigation. Sheehy saidThis is a huge trove of data by investigative journalism standardsaround 10 times the data volume and five times the number of documents of ICIJs Offshore Leaks investigation in 2013, Sheehy said.
Under the terms of the agreement, Ruckus stockholders will receive US$6.45 in cash and 0.75 shares of Brocade common stock for each share of Ruckus common stock. Based on the closing price of Brocade's stock on 1 April, 2016, the transaction values Ruckus at a price of US$14.43 per common share, or approximately US$1.5 billion.



Brocade says the cash portion of the purchase price will be funded through a combination of cash on hand and new bank term loan financing.



"This strategic combination will position us to expand our addressable market and technology leadership with Ruckus' fast-growing wireless LAN products, and supports our vision to deliver market-leading New IP solutions that enable the network to become a platform for innovation," said Lloyd Carney, chief executive officer of Brocade.





"History shows that focused, pure-play companies often innovate faster, are more agile, and deliver better value to their customers. With the rapidly evolving requirements of the digital transformation era, we are positioning ourselves to lead where technology is headed. We believe that combining our portfolios will provide significant benefits to our customers and will enable us to accelerate our growth and value creation."According to Brocade, the combined company is expected to be #1 in storage area networking, #1 in service provider Wi-Fi, #2 in data centre networking, #3 in enterprise wireless LAN, and #3 in enterprise edge networking in the US and the EMEA region.Carney said as companies move to digitise their business, they need an underlying network architecture that supports business agility.This New IP architecture enables the network to become a platform for innovation and for developing, delivering, and securing new applications. Wireless is a critical access technology and the combination of Brocade and Ruckus creates a new type of pure-play networking company, with solutions spanning from the heart of the data centre to the wireless network edge.In addition, after close, the acquisition is expected to accelerate cross-selling activities into the respective companies' partner and customer bases, opening up new revenue opportunities for the combined company across a variety of verticals, including large enterprises, K-12 and higher education, government, hospitality, and service providers.Carney also said the acquisition will strengthen Brocade's ability to pursue emerging market opportunities around 5G mobile services, Internet of Things (IoT), Smart Cities, OpenG technology for in-building wireless, and LTE/Wi-Fi convergence.Ruckus president and CEO, Selina Lo said the combination of the two companies will create an exciting new thought leader in networking and significant opportunities for our stakeholders to participate in the combined company's future growth potential."We operate in adjacent segments of the larger networking market with a number of common customers for our complementary products, and have a successful track record of working together. We are excited for the opportunity to join the Brocade team and to jointly deliver innovative, value-added solutions to our enterprise and service provider customers."Brocade also announced that its board of directors has increased the authorisation to repurchase its common stock under its existing stock repurchase program by US$800 million, bringing the total remaining amount authorised under the program to approximately US$1.7 billion. The company said the increase is intended to facilitate the repurchase of all shares issued in conjunction with the Ruckus acquisition.
Vodafone has released the full rollout schedule for its 70 base stations to be built in regional areas of New South Wales, Tasmania, Queensland, Western Australia and Victoria under the first round of the Mobile Black Spot Programme.

Vodafones Chief Strategy Officer, Dan Lloyd, said Vodafones rollout of mobile black spot sites is progressing well, with the first location at White Rock Mountain, west of Glenn Innes, in New South Wales switched on in December 2015.



A further 28 sites in New South Wales, Queensland and Tasmania will follow this year, with all 70 sites to be completed by the end of 2017.



Lloyd said Vodafone is investing heavily in regional communities which are seeing expanded and improved coverage, the opening of new stores and the launch of strategic partnerships such as that with the National Farmers Federation.





He said Vodafone has also been working with local communities, councils and MPs to investigate opportunities under round two of the Mobile Black Spot Programme and is participating in the selection process which is currently underway.Lloyd also said Vodafone has made no secret of the fact that it supports the Federal Governments Mobile Black Spot Programme.We believe the Mobile Black Spot Programme is a great way to encourage competition and choice of mobile provider, which is something many people living in regional and rural areas have never experienced.We look forward to having a presence in these communities and offering more customers in regional Australia the great service and value we provide on our network, which now covers 97% of Australias population.

Base station Name Base station Identifier State Estimated completion by White Rock Mountain MBSP-NSW-118 NSW Completed  Q4 2015 Elsmore MBSP-NSW-052 NSW 2016 - Q2 Invergowrie MBSP-NSW-065 NSW 2016 - Q2 Manildra MBSP-NSW-079 NSW 2016 - Q2 Cargo MBSP-NSW-029 NSW 2016 - Q2 Woodstock MBSP-NSW-141 NSW 2016 - Q2 Cooyar MBSP-QLD-019 QLD 2016 - Q2 Walcha MBSP-NSW-130 NSW 2016 - Q3 Kumbia MBSP-QLD-042 QLD 2016 - Q3 Capricorn Highway MBSP-QLD-014 QLD 2016 - Q3 Bothwell MBSP-TAS-003 TAS 2016 - Q3 Hamilton MBSP-TAS-011 TAS 2016 - Q3 Fossickers Way MBSP-NSW-056 NSW 2016 - Q4 Manilla MBSP-NSW-080 NSW 2016 - Q4 Westdale MBSP-NSW-137 NSW 2016 - Q4 Castlereagh Highway (Ben Bullen) MBSP-NSW-030 NSW 2016 - Q4 Cumnock MBSP-NSW-042 NSW 2016 - Q4 Jemalong MBSP-NSW-066 NSW 2016 - Q4 Ungarie MBSP-NSW-128 NSW 2016 - Q4 Weethalle MBSP-NSW-135 NSW 2016 - Q4 Tabbita MBSP-NSW-120 NSW 2016 - Q4 Mid Western Hwy (Gunbar) MBSP-NSW-085 NSW 2016 - Q4 Lowesdale (Riverina Hwy) MBSP-NSW-112 NSW 2016 - Q4 Savernake MBSP-NSW-116 NSW 2016 - Q4 Boyneside MBSP-QLD-010 QLD 2016 - Q4 Crowea MBSP-WA-023 WA 2016 - Q4 Steppes MBSP-TAS-012 TAS 2016 - Q4 Little Swanport MBSP-TAS-029 TAS 2016 - Q4 Piora MBSP-NSW-109 NSW 2017 - Q1 Tabulam MBSP-NSW-022 NSW 2017 - Q1 Barraba MBSP-NSW-008 NSW 2017 - Q1 Attunga MBSP-NSW-004 NSW 2017 - Q1 Hallsville MBSP-NSW-061 NSW 2017 - Q1 Oxley Vale MBSP-NSW-105 NSW 2017 - Q1 Piallamore MBSP-NSW-107 NSW 2017 - Q1 Pilliga Forrest (Newell Hwy) MBSP-NSW-100 NSW 2017 - Q1 Oakdene MBSP-NSW-104 NSW 2017 - Q1 Molong MBSP-NSW-088 NSW 2017 - Q1 Eugowra MBSP-NSW-054 NSW 2017 - Q1 Gooloogong MBSP-NSW-059 NSW 2017 - Q1 Cultowa MBSP-NSW-041 NSW 2017 - Q1 Noonbinna MBSP-NSW-101 NSW 2017 - Q1 Mid Western Hwy (Gunbar South) MBSP-NSW-086 NSW 2017 - Q1 Duri MBSP-NSW-050 NSW 2017 - Q1 Dingo MBSP-QLD-025 QLD 2017 - Q1 Yelvertoft MBSP-QLD-003 QLD 2017 - Q1 Bodallin MBSP-WA-046 WA 2017 - Q1 Miena MBSP-TAS-017 TAS 2017 - Q1 Tarraleah MBSP-TAS-028 TAS 2017 - Q1 Pyengana MBSP-TAS-021 TAS 2017 - Q1 Bicheno MBSP-TAS-002 TAS 2017 - Q1 Swansea MBSP-TAS-025 TAS 2017 - Q1 Buckland MBSP-TAS-005 TAS 2017 - Q1 Culmaran Creek MBSP-NSW-040 NSW 2017 - Q2 Mount Carrington MBSP-NSW-090 NSW 2017 - Q2 Sandy Hills MBSP-NSW-021 NSW 2017 - Q2 Warral MBSP-NSW-121 NSW 2017 - Q2 Moonbi MBSP-NSW-089 NSW 2017 - Q2 Billimaria MBSP-NSW-012 NSW 2017 - Q2 Koorawatha MBSP-NSW-071 NSW 2017 - Q2 Manna Mountain MBSP-NSW-081 NSW 2017 - Q2 Lake Corella MBSP-QLD-005 QLD 2017 - Q2 Brandum MBSP-TAS-004 TAS 2017 - Q2 Wayatinah MBSP-TAS-015 TAS 2017 - Q2 Takone MBSP-TAS-026 TAS 2017 - Q2 Goshen MBSP-TAS-010 TAS 2017 - Q2 Apslawn MBSP-TAS-001 TAS 2017 - Q2 Okehampton Beach MBSP-TAS-020 TAS 2017  Q2 Verona Sands MBSP-TAS-030 TAS 2017 - Q2 Glen Valley MBSP-VIC-042 VIC 2017 - Q3



*Note: The locations on the rollout schedule are subject to change. Timeframes for the rollout of new base stations may vary due to a range of factors, including local government development approval processes and community consultation periods.
The new platform bundles the attributes of Reffinds Employ, Engage and Educate products into one application, and includes the whole range of the companys product capabilities, including job referrals, mobile surveys, video training, internal communications, as well as the emergency beacon, which it recently added to its portfolio.



Jamie Pride, co-founder and managing director, Reffind, said the company has released the single platform in response to feedback from customers, with many clients using multiple Reffind products together, rather than individually.



Pride said the new platform is designed to better fit customer use habits, and comes with a simpler pricing structure to reflect the added value customers will get from the new product bundle. Instead of paying for multiple products, customers will pay for the one platform.





Were excited to offer a single platform that allows employees to consume information from their employers, anywhere anytime on their mobile device. Whether it be for onboarding, training, internal communications, engagement surveys or job referrals the unified platform will make it easier for organisations to deliver and receive relevant employee communications, Pride said.Employee experience is intrinsically linked to customer experience, and good customer experience is essential for companies to maintain a sustainable competitive advantage. The new Reffind platform offers businesses the full spectrum of tools with which to provide great employee experience and, as a result, great customer experience.Reffinds mobile platform lets organisations better engage their workforce by opening direct communications to their employees, facilitating training and onboarding, boosting employee recognition and reward programs, and enabling employee feedback.The platform is now far more comprehensive and will better position Reffind in the market. We are leading the way in terms of changing the way employees communicate with their employees and how employees consume company information.Reffind says it is adopting a quarterly product release schedule to allow for feedback and to enhance the offering to fit with client needs.
NEC says Barber, a respected veteran of South Australias IT industry, will head up its Australian business under the new title of chief operating officer, and will lead NEC Australias operations nationally, responsible for steering the company toward its mission to be a top tier ICT provider in Australia.



Barber takes up the new role with NEC Australias Managing Director, Tetsuro Akagi, promoted to Chief Executive Officer of NEC Asia Pacific, covering Australia and other countries in the Asia Pacific region.



Akagi, who has also been appointed Senior Vice President of NEC Corporation, will continue to live in Melbourne, working closely with Barber to build relationships and networks within the APAC region.





Akagi said as executive director of the IT Solutions and Services business, Barber was pivotal to NEC Australia delivering on its goal to transform itself into a top tier ICT company, with NEC Australia today one of a few enterprise IT service and solutions providers that is experiencing growth.Mike brings valuable knowledge and expertise in Australias technology and services sector and I am confident that he will be an asset to the management team, said Akagi.With this transition to Mike as chief operating officer, I expect that NEC Australia will become stronger in the market.Commenting on his appointment, Barber said, I am very honoured to say I work for NEC and to be part of a great company, one that is developing a reputation for innovation and technical excellence in Australia and around the world.This is a very exciting time in our industry and NEC Australia, along with our industry partners, is at the crest of this hi-tech wave.As part of the leadership changes, NEC Australia has also announced the appointment of Dwayne Mitchell to the role of Director of IT Solutions.In this role, Mitchell will be responsible for the delivery of NEC Australia's infrastructure and applications operational services, National Shared Services, the Project Management Office, as well as Consulting & Business Solutions and Professional Services.Also joining NEC Australias new leadership team is Andy Hurt, who has been promoted to Director of Communication Solutions, responsible for communications products and services, the specialist communications solutions business and NECs extensive channel business.Hurt, who brings 25 years industry experience to NEC, was promoted to the leadership team from his previous role as the Executive General Manager of Channel, where he directed NEC Australia's partner strategy across the country, responsible for strengthening channel partnerships and creating new ones to increase the company's footprint in the market.Prior to NEC, Hurt worked at Honeywell, 3Com and Avaya holding senior management roles in operations, sales and marketing.
Last week the Wall Street Journal poured cold water over one of the most popular rags to riches pathways in the world: the idea that talented programmers could get hired for great jobs as software developers at top tech companieswithout necessarily having a college degree to prove their competence.

According to the Journal and Burning Glass Technologies, it turns out that tech companies are more likely than other employers to require college degrees when hiring software developers. The story noted that Seventy-five percent of job ads for those roles at technology companies specify an educational requirement, compared with 58% of openings posted by the full universe of employers that are hiring software developers.

For all I know, those numbers are probably true, but they dont tell the whole story. Not even close.

Silicon Valley  and the clubby world of top tier software developers  famously runs on connections as much as it does on pure coding smarts. Developers gain reputations in the developer community based on the open source code they contribute to high profile projects, the talks they give at key events and conventions, and most critically, the programs they create.

The best programming jobs in Silicon Valley  from the plum internships to the regular hires with the big signing bonuses  go to the coders who are active in the software development community, not to people who submit resumes over the transom. Well known coders get recommendations and referrals that circumvent the requirements on the job ads, which are mostly written to reject as many unqualified applicants as quickly as possible, not to find the best ones.

If youre hoping to get a job with an online application based only on your resume, then sure, that sheepskin can make a big difference. But if your programming accomplishments include more than just schoolwork, if youve created software that is known and admired in the community, then that degree requirement simply isnt relevant for you.

Who you know and what you made

In fact, good grades in your computer science class most likely wont even get you in the door. Recruiters at the top companies want to see initiative, and demonstrated ability to create programs that achieve and perform at scale. If you can show that, and/or have a referral from someone in the company or known to them, no one is going to care whether or not you graduated from college. In fact, recruiters for the top companies spend their time combing the software community looking for those people, and when the find one theyre not going to let lack of a degree get in the way.

Rather than look at the requirements listed on job ads, Id like to see statistics on who actually gets hired at these companies, and the makeup of their current engineering teams. I suspect those figures would tell a far different tale than the one laid out in the journal.
Nintendo launched its first ever app called Miitomo on March 31st and just a few days later, around 3 million downloads were reported by the Japanese company.

The app has been made available in its country of origin, Japan, for a few weeks before its debut in the United States. And with the number of downloads it has steadily gathered since then, pretty soon additional millions will download this app in the coming weeks.

This app is a funny combination of Animal Crossing and Tomodachi Life and enables the user to create a Mii and use it to socialize with friends through a series of questions asked by the Mii.

A player can choose from the many varying outfits and accessories to dress up the Mii. There are also Pachinko styled mini games that players can use that will give them the chance to win clothing items to dress up their Miis.

The app was given high approval ratings by Google Play, with 3.8 stars out of 5, and Apple App store, with 4 stars out of 5.

Nintendo is well-known for the creation of portable video-games such as Game Boy which it launched in 1989. Some have criticized the company for being slow in adapting its games to mobile devices.

But starting in 2015, the Japanese video game company produced three mobile games. Now, its first app Mii is something that users can expect to see on their 3 DS consoles or Wii U.

In 2006, Nintendo launched the Wii, wherein it also introduced the concept of the Mii - three dimensional avatars that players could create and use in the company's games and apps. This latest Miitomo app is practically just a continuation of that concept.

Since the launch of Miitomo last week, shares of Nintendo have risen 8 percent, according to a CNBC report. This app has suddenly become popular and several memes of it as well as their MiiFoto editor have started littering the internet.
In today's health industry, millions of Americans are silently struggling to care for their loved ones. Most of them hiring a nursing aide or a caregiver. Previously, JobsNHire reported that caregivers are leading a difficult life in order to take care of patients diagnosed with dementia.

What most don't know is that the lives of immigrant women who became caregivers have sacrificed so much in order to tend to the needs of others, according to the New Yorker.

The New Yorker reports on a woman named Emma. She had a humble background, living on a farm. She struggled to provide for her family and for herself - while studying. She worked in the library during the day and took classes at night. She was a corporate worker in the Philippines but she soon realized that her white-collar desk job won't be enough to send her kids to college. She flew to New York and became a nanny. She soon landed a job as a nanny in Chappaqua. She was paid $375 every week to take care of two little girls.

In 2001, a headline in the Philippine Daily Inquirer read, "OFWS Told: Stay Abroad." The article quoted President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo saying, "We are depending on the people outside the country. If you can find work there, and send money to your relatives here, then perhaps you should stay there."

That article reminded her the life she has left in the Philippines in order to provide for her children. Times were rough and she eventually found herself having to work part-time at night to make up for the needs back home. She sometimes slept for two hours a night. The whole day and night, she worked as a health aide and taking care of other people's children. The New Yorker has it that the salary is meagre: home health aides make an average of less than eleven dollars an hour. They receive little or no training.

But still Emma persevered. She continued to wake up at 5:00 AM to take care of other people's kids. Although Emma is desperate to see her children, she doesn't want them to follow her example. She doesn't like the idea that they'd be caring for other people's children and parents. "I think they will not be able to handle it," she says.

Are you also a caregiver or nursing aide? If you're experiencing stress, check out this JobsNHire article to learn how to cope with stress.
Land and Space Journal Sentinel business reporter Tom Daykin talks about commercial real estate and development. SHARE

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An affiliate of Green Bay-based Associated Bank paid $60.5 million in its recently announced purchase of downtown's Milwaukee Center office tower.

Milwaukee Center Management LLC bought the 28-story, 373,000-square-foot building, 111 E. Kilbourn Ave., from Chicago-based Hub Milwaukee Center Properties LLC, according to state real estate records posted Tuesday.

Associated, which is the biggest bank headquartered in Wisconsin, says the purchase of the building allows for future expansion of the company as it grows in the Milwaukee metropolitan market.

Also, the former Laacke & Joys Co. building that will redeveloped into offices and other commercial space has been sold for $3.7 million.

Riverwater Partners LLC, led by Laura Peck, sold the building, at 1433-1475 N. Water St., to SW Platteville LLC, Heptaica Hill Holdings Ltd., and Cherry Water LLC, investment groups organized by developer Stewart Wangard, according to state real estate records.

Wangard Partners Inc. is converting the vacant building into offices, with part of the complex to be razed for a future hotel site. Bader Rutter & Associates Inc. announced Monday it will be that project's anchor tenant, moving there in May 2017 from Brookfield.

Finally, the former headquarters of C. Coakley Relocation Systems LLC moving and storage company, located near downtown's Park East strip, has been sold for a previously announced conversion into apartments.

The four-story building, 1300 N. 4th St., was sold by Roadster LLC, led by Christopher Coakley, to Haymarket Lofts LP, an affiliate of Indianapolis-based Herman & Kittle Properties Inc., for $3.45 million, according to state real estate records.

The 72-unit Haymarket Lofts development in April 2015 received federal affordable housing tax credits from the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority.
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Tyco International plc was clearly the suitor in the merger negotiations with Wisconsin's largest company, and it initially inquired about Johnson Controls Inc.'s building equipment and controls business only, merger documents made public Tuesday show.

A filing with securities regulators that details the background of the merger indicates that Johnson Controls would agree to a combination only if the entire corporation merged with Tyco.

The filing, which runs more than 550 pages, spells out a variety of aspects of the deal, including the matters that will be put to votes by shareholders of both companies.

The document isn't complete, as it doesn't yet say when the shareholder votes will take place. And it leaves blank, for now, the value of severance packages that Johnson Controls and Tyco executives would be eligible for, if the merger is completed.

What the filing does detail is the back-and-forth of negotiations between the companies since last year, when Johnson Controls, the document says, was evaluating a variety of strategic alternatives for all three of its businesses  buildings, car seats and batteries for cars and buildings.

The merger, announced in January, is slated to be completed this fall, if all regulatory and shareholder approvals are gained by then. The deal is also facing scrutiny because of its headquarters move to Ireland, which the companies have said would produce $150 million in tax savings.

Direct negotiations between the two companies began with a phone call from Tyco Chief Executive George Oliver to Johnson Controls CEO Alex Molinaroli on Oct. 7.

While Oliver at the time proposed a combination of Tyco and Johnson's building business only, Johnson said it was only willing to discuss a combination involving the entire company.

Under Johnson Controls' proposal, shareholders of both Johnson Controls and Tyco would receive proceeds from the previously announced spinoff of the Johnson Controls car seating business.

More than three months of negotiations followed, focusing on key issues including how much value Tyco shareholders would receive from the business combination and how long Molinaroli would remain in charge as CEO of the combined company.

The companies eventually agreed that Molinaroli would be chairman and chief executive for 18 months, with Oliver then succeeding him as CEO. Molinaroli would remain executive chairman for another year.

During the negotiations, Johnson Controls also proposed that the combined company be given the name "Johnson Controls" and that it "would retain Tyco's global headquarters in Ireland but maintain its U.S. operational headquarters in Milwaukee."

The initial proposal called for Tyco shareholders to receive a premium of 15% to 17.5% above the price at which Johnson Controls shares had been trading. When the deal was finalized in January, the premium was set at about 14%, but Johnson Controls shareholders were also given the option to accept a combination of cash and Tyco stock. The cash payment from Tyco to Johnson shareholders was capped at $3.9 billion.
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As they prepare to merge, Johnson Controls Inc. and Tyco International are reviewing new federal rules designed to clamp down on corporate inversions that enable companies to relocate overseas to save on their taxes, the companies said Tuesday.

The new rules aim to deter corporations from making tax-saving shifts under a loophole that President Barack Obama said Congress should close "for good."

Obama called it "one of the most insidious tax loopholes out there" because it shortchanges the country. He said less tax revenue means the government can't spend fully on schools, transportation networks and other things to keep the economy strong. He said the practice also hurts middle-class Americans because "that lost revenue has to be made up somewhere."

He commented one day after the Treasury Department announced a series of steps to make inversions less financially appealing.

In a regulatory filing, Tyco and Johnson Controls said they "are conducting a review" of the steps announced by the Treasury Department "and are not making any statements regarding the possible impact of these announced actions prior to their completion of this review."

Tyco International shares fell 3% Tuesday. Johnson Controls shares fell more than 2%. The company, Wisconsin's largest, announced in January that it would merge with Tyco International, which is based in Ireland.

Tyco and Johnson have said they expected tax savings of $150 million from the merger, which would combine the building heating and cooling equipment and controls business of Johnson Controls with Tyco's business that sells fire suppression and security equipment and controls for buildings.

The new company's global headquarters would be the Tyco home office in Ireland, but the North American operating headquarters would be in the Milwaukee area.

David Whiston, an analyst with Morningstar Inc. in Chicago, said he doubted the new rules would scuttle the deal, though there's the potential that the combined company's tax rate would be higher than initially forecast.

The bigger impact would appear to be on the proposed combination of Pfizer Inc. and Allergan plc of Ireland, as tax savings were a primary reason for that merger, Whiston said. Allergan's shares fell nearly 15% Tuesday.

But for Johnson Controls, tax savings from merging with Tyco were more akin to "icing on the cake," he said.

Inversions happen when U.S. companies relocate their business interests on paper to take advantage of lower tax rates. Their use has sparked a political outcry.

Obama said steps the Treasury Department announced build on what the administration has already done to make the tax system fairer. The new regulations, the third round from Treasury on the issue of inversions, seek to limit internal corporate borrowing that shifts profits out of the United States.

Obama said the regulations will make it more difficult and less lucrative for companies to exploit the tax code in this manner.

In a speech last month, Johnson Controls Chairman and CEO Alex Molinaroli said tax savings weren't the reason for the deal but said it would be "irresponsible for us as a company to not take advantage of the opportunities that come along."

The Associated Press contributed to this report
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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PayPal Holdings Inc. is scrapping plans to build an operations center in Charlotte, N.C., extending the fallout from legislation passed last month that bars transgender people from bathrooms and locker rooms that don't match the gender on their birth certificates.

PayPal Chief Executive Officer Dan Schulman said the law undercuts the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. The company is canceling plans to invest $3.6 million in the state and hire more than 400 people to work in a planned global operations center.

"In our country, there's no room for discrimination against any of our communities," Schulman said Tuesday in a telephone interview. "This law is against a core value of our company, which is inclusion. We felt it was important to back our words with actions."

PayPal's reaction is the most concrete example of the financial consequences to North Carolina brought about by passage of the law. Last week, more than 80 CEOs and business leaders sent a letter to Governor Pat McCrory and the state's general assembly urging them to repeal the law, saying it was bad for business. Schulman was among the CEOs who signed the letter. Other companies also have said they may cancel expansion plans in North Carolina as a result of the law.

McCrory, through a spokesman, declined to comment.

The legislation passed in North Carolina is no anomaly. There are about 200 proposed bills in 34 states this year that are considered potentially hostile to LGBT people, according to the Human Rights Campaign, which tracks such legislation and is among groups leading opposition to the North Carolina law known as HB2.

Governors in South Dakota and Georgia this year both vetoed legislation that attracted oppositions from corporate leaders. The South Dakota bill was similar to the North Carolina law in restricting accommodation for transgender people. The Georgia law was aimed at giving religious groups additional rights to deny services and jobs to LGBT people.

Mississippi, with a proposed law similar to the legislation in Georgia, may be the next battleground state on LGBT issues, according to Human Rights Campaign data. Mississippi's governor signed a law Tuesday allowing businesses to deny services to gay couples based on the employers' religious beliefs.

MGM Resorts International, which has two casinos in Mississippi, objected to the law, saying it will reduce tourism and harm the state's economy. Nissan Motor Co., a large employer in the state, also objected to the law. International Business Machines Corp. and Levi Strauss & Co. are among national companies to use Twitter to voice objections to the Mississippi legislation.

There are 28 states in the U.S., including North Carolina, Georgia and Mississippi, where LGBT residents are not specifically protected from discrimination in the workplace or society. Those states represent about 54% of U.S. workers, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

The North Carolina law passed last month also prohibits cities from creating their own anti-discrimination policies. PayPal had announced plans in March to open a new global operations center in Charlotte and employ more than 400 people in skilled jobs, with its investment totaling more than $3.6 million by the end of 2017.

Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin issued an invitation Tuesday on Twitter for PayPal to invest in his state, referring to its history of tolerance. Numerous states have approached PayPal about the investment and company CEO Schulman said he will review those proposals as his PayPal waits to see if North Carolina moves to repeal the law.

"If they repeal the law and do so in the near future, we would still be happy to locate global operations center in Charlotte," he said.

Red Ventures, a data marketing and technology company based in Fort Mill, S.C., is reconsidering an expansion of 500 jobs planned this year at its Charlotte location because of the passage of the law, CEO Ric Elias said in a letter to McCrory posted Tuesday on Twitter.

"We're hopeful HB2 is repealed because it's the right thing to do. And if not, our long-term plans for aggressive expansion in North Carolina will change," Elias said in an e-mail.

Braeburn Pharmaceuticals is re-evaluating its options to build a manufacturing and research facility in North Carolina because of the transgender law, the closely held company said in a statement. Braeburn had announced plans for a $20 million investment that would create about 52 jobs over the next five years.

PepsiCo Inc.'s Chief Executive Officer Indra Nooyi also sent a strongly worded letter to McCrory last week, disparaging the North Carolina bill and citing the company's long history with the state. The Purchase, N.Y.York-based soft-drink giant was founded in North Carolina in the 1890s.

"Making sure this great state remains a place where businesses and individuals feel welcomed, valued and empowered to thrive is surely an area of common ground," Nooyi wrote. "However, I fear this law is undermining our collective efforts to advance North Carolina's long-term interests and I hope you will consider calling for its repeal in the next legislative session."

The bill moved so fast that individual companies were just beginning to voice their objections when it passed,said Chris Fitzsimon, director of NC Policy Watch, a Raleigh group opposed to the law.

"This is a watershed moment in North Carolina politics," Fitzsimon said.
The 44-story Couture apartment tower is proposed for downtown Milwaukee's lakefront. Credit: Rinka Chung Architecture Inc.

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A federal agency has approved Milwaukee County's planned Downtown Transit Center sale, clearing the way for development of the $122 million Couture apartment high-rise.

The Federal Transit Administration on Monday agreed the county can avoid paying the difference between the property's appraised value of $8.9 million and its discounted sale price of $500,000, County Executive Chris Abele announced. That agreement is tied to a 1988 federal grant that helped finance the transit center.

Barrett Lo Visionary Development LLC is scheduled to buy the underused transit center, 909 E. Michigan St., on April 29.

The firm will likely wait until August to begin demolishing the building, said co-owner Rick Barrett. That's to avoid disrupting traffic to Summerfest and other events at nearby Maier Festival Park.

It could take up to six months to complete the demolition, he said, noting that the transit center "is a big brick and concrete building."

Once construction starts, the Couture will take 30 to 32 months to build, Barrett said. The 44-story tower will include 302 high-end apartments, along with restaurant and retail space.

Barrett launched the project four years ago. The Couture's delays included claims by Preserve Our Parks that part of the project site was on filled lake bed, barring it from private development.

A judge's ruling in June helped set the stage for the transit center sale to Barrett's firm. But the county then needed to obtain Federal Transit Administration approval.

The federal agency in 2012 said Milwaukee County could apply the transit center sale proceeds to another capital project.

City officials in 2014 expanded the planned downtown streetcar service to include a link to the Couture's transit concourse, saying that would help the county obtain FTA approval for the discounted sale price.

County officials said the discounted price is needed to help make the Couture feasible.

"The development at the Couture has the potential to be one of the most complex and transformative projects in Milwaukee's history," Abele said in a statement. "I'm thrilled to announce we are one step closer to putting thousands of people to work in good-paying jobs and generating millions of dollars in new economic development."

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A former Milwaukee detective who was fired for striking a handcuffed homicide suspect was indicted in federal court Tuesday.

Rodolfo Gomez Jr., 49, was acquitted after a trial in state court last summer on charges related to the same incident, which was captured on video camera.

In federal court, Gomez faces a count of "willfully depriving an arrested subject of his civil right not to be subjected to excessive force," according to the U.S. attorney's office.

Deron Love, a suspect in the death of his infant son, was handcuffed to a wall when he was struck by Gomez in August 2013. After the verdict, a juror said a defense expert's frame-by-frame examination of the incident's key moments put things in a different light and convinced jurors that Gomez reasonably believed he was in danger and used only the force necessary to establish control over Love.

The federal investigation revealed, "Gomez repeatedly punched the suspect in the face and head and kneed him in the torso, all while one of the suspect's hands was handcuffed to a wall in the room. The punching and kneeing stopped when a police lieutenant who heard yelling entered the room. The indictment alleges that the force used was unreasonable and that the victim suffered bodily injury," according to the U.S. attorney's office.

Gomez was fired in December 2013. The Fire and Police Commission upheld his firing last July.

As the district attorney investigated him, Gomez applied for duty disability retirement, saying stress had left him unable to do his job. His claim was denied. Gomez did not appeal that decision.

The new case was investigated by the FBI, building upon an earlier investigation done by the Milwaukee Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by U.S. Attorney Gregory Haanstad and Assistant U.S. Attorney Mel Johnson.

Gomez is charged with violating Love's rights "under the color of law," meaning as a police officer. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison.

Ashley Luthern and Bruce Vielmetti of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.
Students Yilbelisse Gigi Rivera (from left) and Ranita Wicker, Right Parth Program Administrator Marty Ordinans and Pat Kappel, an MATC retiree who helped helped develop Right Path, tour the state Capitol in Madison before heading to a tour of University of Wisconsin-Madison. Credit: Michael Sears

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Nineteen-year-old Bree Anna Wallace attended three different high schools before she finished her junior year. Then she dropped out.

Her father has been in and out of prison her whole life. Her mother died last year.

"I was trying to be on my own, but no one can do anything by themselves," said Wallace, who has found a second family through the Right Path program at Milwaukee Area Technical College.

The program aims to help young adults whose parents have spent time in prison or on probation to break the cycle of poverty and criminality. The program covers tuition and course materials for students in GED prep classes or adult high school, as well as providing stipends to help them cover daily living expenses. (Full-time students get about $200 per month.) Right Path is funded by the MATC Foundation and the Creative Corrections Education Foundation, which was created three years ago by a retired federal Bureau of Prisons employee from Wisconsin.

Before coming to MATC, Program Administrator Marty Ordinans spent more than 30 years working for the Wisconsin Department of Corrections.

"I love to watch students succeed and hopefully do well for themselves as they move on in life," he said. "If we can plant those seeds so that they do well and don't fall back into the systems that their parents may have been involved in, then we've succeeded."

Ordinans  whose office is filled with snacks, school supplies, necessities such as toothpaste and even books for his students' young children  serves as a mentor to the program's participants, who range in age from 18 to 25. He once spent five hours driving a student around the city to gather all the documents needed to obtain a photo ID. A couple of weeks ago, he assisted three others with opening checking accounts.

Ordinans helped Wallace get access to free bus passes, making it possible for her to get to school without needing to rely on relatives or friends. He's apartment-hunting with 24-year-old William Parchman. And every day after class, 25-year old Yilbelisse "Gigi" Rivera stops by Ordinans' office on the way to day care pickup to grab a cookie for her 8-year-old daughter.

For Ordinans, progress is measured in small steps: A student who calls to tell a teacher he will be missing class. A student who gets his first part-time job. A student who earns her first "A."

"I cannot have a bad day when I think about what these students go through every day to come to school: Transportation, food, where they live, family issues," he said. "I have a great deal of admiration for the students that show up every day and come to school."

The idea for Right Path was sparked in late 2013, when retired Bureau of Prisons employee and Wisconsin native Percy H. Pitzer came across a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee study about Wisconsin's mass incarceration of African-American men.

Pitzer, founder and president of the Creative Corrections Education Foundation, already was providing college scholarships to children of incarcerated parents. During meetings with Ordinans, researchers at UWM and officials at the House of Correction, among others, Pitzer decided to expand his mission to include helping young adults finish high school.

Pitzer's organization pays Ordinans' salary.

The MATC Foundation provided an initial grant of $10,000 and has since raised an additional $10,000 for Right Path, according to Christine McGee, executive director. The foundation covers tuition (which is minimal for high school classes, a bit more for vocational classes such as auto repair or culinary arts) as well as books and stipends.

Organizers originally planned for 25 students per quarter, but in practice, Right Path has ended up serving between 12 and 20 young adults at any given time.

"They see the college as almost a safe haven. It's something that provides the structure. It provides a place where people care about them and there are resources for them and it's a constant," McGee said. "It's getting to school and dealing with all the issues they face in their lives that can be overwhelming. The challenge for us in offering any type of program is that we're realistic in what we can expect and accomplish."

Right Path recruits students through partnerships with social service and criminal justice agencies. Rivera heard about it through Next Door, a social service agency where she was taking classes to prepare for the GED high school equivalency test.

She has been trying to finish high school since 2009, when she dropped out of 12th grade at Pulaski High School because she was pregnant with the first of her three children. She tried going back to traditional high schools twice, but didn't graduate.

The classes at Next Door were Rivera's third attempt at completing a GED program. Right Path appealed to her because she liked the idea of taking courses with a group of like-minded young adults rather than the more solitary process of studying for the GED.

"I have a lot of supporters here," she said of MATC's School of Pre-College Education. "They push me into coming to school every day."

Right Path boasted its first two graduates in December. One of them, Steven Young Jr., was serving time for robbery at the House of Correction when he started his adult high school classes last summer. Officials there transported him to class.

"If you don't finish school, you can't really get a job because you've got no high school diploma, so you're going to go out there and try to get some money the illegal way," he said. "If you finish high school you can get a job and do it the legal way."

Now out of jail and with his diploma, Young, 18, is working full time at Alro Steel. He plans to enroll in MATC's welding technology associate degree program in August.

Wallace is on track to graduate in December, becoming the first person in her family to finish high school. After that, she wants to continue studying at MATC, taking criminal justice courses in preparation for becoming a police officer.

Rivera hopes to receive her diploma in December, too, coming one step closer to her goal of becoming a nurse.

"I want a better future for my kids and not have them struggle like I struggled," she said. "I'm excited. I can't wait to cross that stage."

To donate to the Right Path program, contact MATC Foundation Executive Director Christine McGee at (414) 297-7997 or mcgeecm@matc.edu.
Some Milwaukee police officers can been seen in this photo with their lapel name tags covered while others left them uncovered outside of a protest Sunday at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Students and others were protesting the rental of a UWM facility to the Donald Trump presidential campaign. Credit: ACLU of Wisconsin

By of the

The Milwaukee Police Department has launched an investigation into officers who covered up their name tags in apparent violation of department policy during a protest outside the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee over the weekend.

Photos provided Monday by the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin show some officers covering their name tags entirely. In response, a police spokesman said Chief Edward Flynn has issued a directive for "immediate corrective action" to prevent future violations and initiated an investigation.

Officers are permitted to replace their name tag with a unique identifying number when policing in a protest, demonstration or rally type of deployment.

That policy was developed several years ago after occurrences of identity theft and personal threats to officers and their families after major demonstrations nationwide, according to a police spokesman.

Chris Ahmuty, ACLU of Wisconsin executive director, said officers' actions on Sunday were a "flagrant violation of an MPD policy that is already weak and rarely enforced."

"By covering up their name tags, the officers communicated an implicit threat that they may engage in practices for which they do not want to be held accountable," Ahmuty said.

Demonstrators gathered on campus Sunday afternoon to protest UWM renting the Mainstage Theatre to Fox News for a Donald Trump town hall event.

Several faculty members also publicly opposed the university's decision to rent the space. UWM English professor Richard Grusin said in an open letter to UWM Chancellor Mark Mone that "all UWM community members who oppose Trump's poisonous values have a right to protest him if he comes to campus."

"The racist, misogynistic, xenophobic, and fascist ideas and policies that Trump has expressed during his campaign are antithetical to the cultural and political values on which the University of Wisconsin in general and UW-Milwaukee in particular are founded," Grusin said.
Columnist James E. Causey (center) helps to lead a conversation about guns and violence on Sunday following the play American Song at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater. Credit: Damia Towns

The play "American Song" at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater will take you through a roller coaster of emotions because it hits on two hot-button issues: mental illness and guns.

The play does not give you solutions but, in smaller groups after the play on Sunday, people were allowed to express their feelings and even share their own experiences as it related to the play.

In my group of a dozen people, my girlfriend talked about how she was robbed at gunpoint while she was a teller at Brewery Credit Union. She said since that day, when a semiautomatic gun with a full banana clip was pointed at her chest, she has been fearful of thin, young black men wearing hoodies.

Another woman said she lost two cousins to suicide. The weapon of choice: a gun.

Another woman said she lost a loved one to suicide but the family doesn't talk about it, and that hurts. Before he took his life, she said, her loved one self-medicated to deal with his mental health issues.

A retired professor questioned why anyone would even need a gun. He said guns have crippled our society and argued they do far more harm than good.

"I've never understood them and never had any use for them," the man said.

The small-group discussions were lively and intended to be nonjudgmental. All of the stories crossed racial and economic lines.

The play is the story of Andy, a white man in his 40s, who lived what many would call an upper middle-class life. He marries his high school sweetheart. They have a child and move to New York City. While jogging in the park with their son Robbie, Andy's wife is attacked by a mugger. She fights the mugger off but Andy believes buying a gun will protect his family. Actor James DeVita offers a passionate portrayal of Andy.

Years go by before Andy becomes a victim of violence. He's shot in the arm at work during a domestic dispute. It would not be the last time that a gun has an impact on his life.

His son, Robbie, and his best friend walk into their high school gym and randomly open fire. Robbie then shoots his friend before turning the gun on himself. In the aftermath, nine are dead and 27 are injured.

Like most of us, Andy wants to know who is to blame. He questions everything from the proliferation of guns to violence on TV.

Robbie was loved. He was college bound, and both his parents had successful careers and yet, Robbie turned into a monster.

I was asked by the Milwaukee Rep to give a five-minute response as the guest celebrity on how this play relates to Milwaukee.

I mentioned the story of Markus Evans, who, by the time he was 18, had a violent record that started when he was in kindergarten when he stabbed a teacher in the hand with a pencil and ended when he shot and killed Bay View student Jonoshia Alexander, 17, a girl he didn't even know on Dec. 15, 2010. Evans was sentenced to life in prison in 2012.

Both Jonoshia and Markus were loved by their parents.

I talked about the missed steps to help Markus when he had obvious signs of mental illness. We like to tackle issues on the surface but real change requires addressing deeply rooted problems.

For example, why can't we close the gun show loophole? And why don't we pass laws to make it harder for felons to get guns in the first place? We never go that deep, and that's why since 2006, there have been more than 200 mass killings in the United States.

The small groups gave people a chance to talk about some of the bloodshed caused by guns.

Judging by some of the pain expressed on Sunday, we need to keep giving people a place to express themselves  and we need our lawmakers to hear them.

James E. Causey is a Journal Sentinel columnist and blogger. Email james.causey@jrn.com. Facebook: fb.me/jamescausey.12 Twitter: jecausey "American Song" runs Wednesday-Sunday. To get tickets call (414) 224-9490.
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All eyes on Wisconsin

Our fascinating presidential campaign of 2016 seems to be reaching a new crescendo. Now, on Tuesday, all eyes will be on Wisconsin, since we are the only state holding a primary within this critical period.

To me, one thing explains all the craziness. This is that ordinary Americans know our country is in big trouble, and they're looking for leaders who acknowledge this and are willing to propose some solutions.

But our traditional political leaders seem clueless. They're stuck back in a place where they still think they can win our votes by doing no more than appealing to tribal rivalries and lecturing us that we must vote for them only because they're the alternative to those awful other guys.

Except this no longer works, and this explains the rise of not only Donald Trump but also Bernie Sanders.

I hope there is still a way for each of the parties to assemble a ticket of candidates who can bust out of this and start talking about what we as a country need to do to thrive in the future. On Tuesday, maybe we can somehow send a message that will prod both parties down the right road.

Jerry Schulz

Milwaukee



A pox on them all

I cannot recall, in my nearly 70 years on this planet, being so disgusted, depressed, angry and just plain "P'd off" by one word in the English language. That word is "opponent." In Craig Gilbert's article on the front page of the March 27 Journal Sentinel, Reince Priebus was quoted as saying "What is everyone going to say when we steamroll our opponents on the other side of the aisle?" ("RNC chair pushes back on negative predictions").

According to The New Merriam-Webster Dictionary, opponent is defined as "one who opposes : adversary."

Apparently, Priebus can see no reason to discuss, civilly, with any Democrat, regardless of the possible benefit to the county, state or nation, a subject of mutual interest, because he sees them as adversaries. His one and only loyalty is to his party. The United States of America be damned!

In Great Britain, the party on the outs is referred to as the "Loyal Opposition," because regardless of their differing opinions, they are first and foremost loyal to the crown and country.

In World War II, the Allies and the Axis powers were true adversaries. We fought over the future of the world. Today, I am ashamed of all parties. I despair for our country. I wish a pox on all their houses.

Eric Severin Helland

Milwaukee



Shame on CNN

I was appalled at the story in Wednesday's Journal Sentinel headlined, "CNN blocks father's questions." And the Republican party complains the news media is controlled by liberals? This is the first instance I have ever heard of, where a major news network has a prerequisite of asking who you are going to vote for, before your question, at a town-hall meeting, is considered into the equation.

As far as I can tell, John Witmer's question was from the heart, and in no way meant to stir up political mayhem. I can sympathize with the Witmer family and totally understand the reasoning for their question. War can be brutal as we all know. Shame on CNN.

Bart Bartholomew

West Bend



Courage of McAdams

I would like to commend the moral courage of Marquette University associate professor John McAdams in defending a student who was bullied academically for upholding man-woman marriage ("Suspended Marquette professor McAdams says he won't apologize," March 29). I am sorry that he and others are facing persecution for fostering true academic freedom.

Traditional marriage has been the cornerstone of civilization and education for centuries across a vast diversity of cultures and countries. How ironic that this should happen at a Catholic university that has a Joan of Arc Chapel.

I hope that Marquette will consider withdrawing any threats and punitive actions against McAdams and against students who dare to speak up for family values.

Cynthia L. Hallen

Springville, Utah
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It's showtime.

Wisconsin voters head to the polls Tuesday for the presidential primary, with one critical state race  Supreme Court justice  and numerous local races on the line.

The election gives poll-leading Sen. Ted Cruz the opportunity to shift momentum away from real estate baron Donald Trump, who hopes to have Wisconsin cement his front-runner status and put him on a path to win enough delegates for the nomination outright. Ohio Gov. John Kasich is hoping to pick up some delegates as well.

On the Democratic side, Sen. Bernie Sanders has led Wisconsin polls over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. He's looking for a chance to further boost his campaign, even though a win in Wisconsin may not give him many more delegates from the Badger State than Clinton.

Tuesday's contest will also be the highest turnout election so far under the state's voter ID law. All voters will have to show a driver's license, state-issued ID or certain other types of photo identification to cast a ballot.

Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Voters are allowed to cast ballots as long as they're in line by the time polls close.

Presidential primary. Wisconsin has an open primary system, so anyone can vote in either presidential primary  but not both. Ballots in most parts of the state are scanned electronically and will immediately be rejected for those who voted in both primaries. Voters would have a chance to immediately fix the mistake.

In addition to the presidential primary, the ballot will include nonpartisan races. All voters can vote in those contests, regardless of which primary they vote in.

Supreme Court. Justice Rebecca Bradley is seeking to hang onto the seat on the court she was appointed to in October by GOP Gov. Scott Walker. Challenging her is District 4 Court of Appeals Judge JoAnne Kloppenburg, who made an unsuccessful run for the high court in 2011 against conservative Justice David Prosser.

The winner will get a 10-year term on the court.

Milwaukee County. Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele is seeking re-election to a second four-year term against the challenge of state Sen. Chris Larson. Abele has spent $4 million of his own money on the campaign while Larson expects to spend a little more than $210,000. Abele pledged to complete the term if re-elected, but Larson has not made that commitment and political observers believe he could use this election as a springboard to run for governor in 2018.

Nine of 18 County Board supervisory seats are up for grabs Tuesday, and there will be at least five new faces on the board when it meets April 18. Supervisors' pay will be cut in half beginning this month.

Milwaukee mayor. Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and his challenger, Ald. Bob Donovan, disagree on the need for a streetcar downtown and differ on what to do about crime and public safety, economic development and job training, and just about every issue facing the city. The third-term mayor is asking voters to send him back for a fourth term. He outspent the longtime south side alderman by six to one in recent weeks: $488,000 for Barrett and $80,000 for Donovan.

Voter ID. To get a ballot, voters must provide one of the following types of IDs: Wisconsin driver's license, state-issued ID, military ID, passport, tribal ID, Veterans Health Administration ID, naturalization certificate or certain types of student IDs from accredited colleges and universities in Wisconsin.

The student IDs must include a photo, signature and an expiration date no later than two years after the date of issuance. Also, the voter must provide separate documentation proving enrollment at the school.

Driving receipts and identification receipts issued by the Wisconsin Division of Motor Vehicles can also be used to vote. Those receipts are issued at DMV centers while people wait for their licenses and ID cards to be mailed to them.

Voters can also use citations or notices of an intent to revoke or suspend a Wisconsin driver's license that were issued within the last 60 days.

The addresses on the IDs do not have to be current, and the names do not have to be exactly the same as they are in poll books. (For instance, someone could use his ID if he is listed as Bob on his driver's license but Robert on voter rolls.)

Some types of IDs, such as driver's licenses and state IDs, can be used for voting even if they have expired, provided they were valid as of the Nov. 4, 2014, election. But some other types of IDs, such as veterans cards and naturalization certificates, must be valid.

Details about what types of IDs are acceptable are available on the state's "bring it to the ballot" website: http://bringit.wi.gov/.

The voter ID law was passed in 2011 but quickly was blocked by court orders after legal challenges were filed. State and federal courts eventually upheld the law, and the February primary was the first statewide election since those rulings to have the voter ID requirement in place.

Tuesday's election is projected to have a much higher turnout  an estimated 40% of eligible voters, compared with about 12% in February.

People who are not registered to vote can register at the polls. They need proof of residency to sign up to vote.

Early voting. As of 5 p.m. Friday, the state had issued at least 214,500 ballots and received about 190,000 of them back. Of those, more than 126,500 were cast in person in clerk's offices.

The numbers are incomplete because not all clerks track their absentee ballots through a state computer system in real time.

But the figures show an uptick in early voting compared with four years ago. Then, 94,900 absentee ballots were issued.

There's an increase this year in part because both sides have competitive races. In 2012, President Barack Obama was running for re-election, so only the Republicans had a primary.

Don Behm of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks to voters and supporters outside a polling place at the Waukesha Fire Department on Tuesday. Credit: Getty Images

By of the

Donald Trump's election day campaigning outside a Waukesha fire station didn't violate any state rules, a state official clarified Tuesday.

Wisconsin law prohibits election activities such as holding campaign signs or distributing leaflets within 100 feet of a polling place, leading to initial claims that Trump had gone too close to the actual voting, according to Michael Haas, elections administrator for the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board.

But it turns out those claims weren't true, Haas said.

"The Waukesha city clerk checked with the election inspectors who told her that Mr. Trump did not enter the polling place and remained outside the 100 foot zone where electioneering is prohibited," Haas said. "There was apparently a miscommunication with our office earlier in the day when we talked to the city clerk. A voter claimed that (Trump) was inside, but the city clerk did not state that."

A supporter of Donald Trump posted a video of the candidate greeting voters outside Waukesha Fire Station 5, a polling place, shortly before noon Tuesday.

A Trump supporter who goes by @queeneliza0907 on Twitter was present for the candidate's Waukesha visit and tweeted videos showing him mingling with other supporters outside the fire station.
Voters mark their ballots at John Long Middle School in the Village of Grafton. Credit: Michael Sears

By of the

Election turnout Tuesday appeared to soar to some of the highest levels in a spring election in decades, leading to one to two hour lines at some college campus polls.

"The turnout was pretty remarkable for a spring presidential primary, and I would not be surprised if we surpass some recent records," said Neil Albrecht, executive director of the Milwaukee Election Commission.

In general, voting went smoothly in Milwaukee and statewide, but there were long lines in some locations statewide, especially near college campuses such as Marquette University and the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, said Albrecht and Michael Haas, elections administrator for the state Government Accountability Board.

Students faced difficulties in registering to vote at the polls and in meeting the state's new requirement that voters show a valid photo ID.

"There were just a lot of challenges for students to meet the proof of residency requirement (for registration) and meeting the photo ID requirement," Albrecht said.

By 7 p.m. at Marquette University's Alumni Memorial Union, 1,030 voters in three wards had cast ballots.

There was no line to vote. But the 200-person line to register or to change an address looped around the inside of the union with a roughly two-hour wait.

The Rev. Tom Manahan, director of campus ministry at Marquette University High School, was one of those waiting to register because he had changed his address.

"I think voting is an important witness. You feel like you're part of the larger whole and you take your responsibility seriously," he said.

Students had laptops open or were highlighting reading material as they stood in line. Others ordered pizza and shared it with friends.

"I debated leaving, but I decided not to because it's important to vote," said Cara LaBelle of Naperville, Ill.

The university issued about 500 voter ID cards for nonresidents who needed a photo ID from Wisconsin. The university had issued about 200 IDs per day in the last several days leading up to the primary.

Last week, the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board predicted that nearly 1.8 million Wisconsinites  or 40% of eligible voters  would cast a ballot, which would amount to the largest turnout since 1980 for a spring election.

"If anything, it sounds like our projections were low, but there's no way to know until counties post the results tonight," Haas said.

Early voting, which wrapped up for in-person absentee ballots last week, has also been running at more than twice the levels of the 2012 presidential primary.

This election was the largest yet in which voters had to show a Wisconsin driver's license, state ID card, passport or one of a few other alternatives.

UW-Green Bay spokeswoman Janet Bonkowski said that throughout most of the day about 100 students were waiting to vote on campus, with the line surging to as many as 250 students around 4 p.m., once most classes had wrapped up. She attributed the long wait to a large turnout, rather than delays because of the photo ID law.

UW-Green Bay and UW-Madison had sent information to students beforehand and also made computer terminals available for students to gather information such as proof of enrollment, which is needed if students vote with a campus ID rather than a state driver's license.

There was some confusion at UW-Milwaukee, even among poll workers, about whether students living in residence halls had to go to the registrar's office to get an enrollment verification letter as proof of address in order to register.

They actually could obtain one online and print it out themselves. Some students found that out after being sent to the registrar's office by poll workers.

To vote, students also needed a photo ID, either a voter ID issued by the campus for nonresident students or one of the other state-approved IDs.

Patrick Marley of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.
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Madison A former Wisconsin governor criticized presidential candidate and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders Monday for voting to ban human cloning, saying that the stance could have endangered vital stem cell research here.

Former Gov. Jim Doyle, a supporter of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, said that in 2003 Sanders had voted for federal legislation similar to a cloning ban that Doyle vetoed in 2005. As a then member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Sanders co-sponsored similar legislation in 2005.

"Had Senator Sanders won the day with his refusal to support and invest in stem cell research, Americans would have lost access to a new frontier of medicine that could one day cure Alzheimer's, ALS, and other fatal diseases," Doyle said in a statement from the Clinton campaign. "When medical progress needed support from Sanders, he not only was absent, but was among those leading the effort against it."

A spokesman for the Sanders campaign had no immediate comment about the anti-cloning bills, which were first reported by The Associated Press.

But in a statement to the AP, Sanders' campaign policy director, Warren Gunnels, said Sanders had backed legislation in 2006 to lift federal funding limits on embryonic stem cell research.

Sanders "strongly supports stem cell research, including research on embryonic stem cells. He understands that stem cell research holds the possibility of remarkable discoveries, even cures, for many illnesses  from Parkinson's and diabetes to Alzheimer's and arthritis," Gunnels said.

Critics of the cloning bills opposed them for blocking so-called therapeutic uses, or creating embryos that could be used for medical research or treatment. Those goals contrast with reproductive cloning, which in theory could be used to create genetic copies of an individual.

Therapeutic cloning has been seen as a way to study genetic diseases and potentially develop tissues to help treat people suffering from disease.
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump, Former U.S. President Bill Clinton and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders campaigned in Wisconsin Monday before the April 5 primary. Credit: Mike De Sisti, Michael Sears, Associated Press, Getty Images

By of the

Wisconsin's presidential primary dash ended Monday night with a pileup of candidates in the Milwaukee area.

Ted Cruz reveled in the warm embrace of the state's Republican establishment at a rally in Waukesha, while the man they all aim to derail, GOP front-runner Donald Trump, raced from La Crosse to Superior to the Milwaukee Theatre in a last-ditch bid to overcome one of the worst stretches of his political career.

Across the street from Trump, at the Wisconsin Center, Democrat Bernie Sanders tried to stoke supporters for a victory over Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton.

Clinton, campaigning in New York ahead of the delegate-rich state's April 19 primary, sent former President Bill Clinton to speak at Turner Hall Ballroom.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a thorn in the side of Cruz and Trump, was also in New York. But his presence in Wisconsin was still felt, with the Cruz campaign chastising him in a campaign ad and mailers. Trump and Cruz have called for Kasich to leave the race, a suggestion that Kasich immediately rejected.

An array of polls show Cruz, a U.S. senator from Texas, leading among Republicans, and Sanders, an independent U.S. senator from Vermont, leading among Democrats. Republicans are battling for 42 delegates, while 86 elected delegates and 10 superdelegates are at stake for Democrats.

At the Waukesha County Exposition Center, Cruz was introduced by Gov. Scott Walker, who told the crowd the Wisconsin primary would "turn the tide for a Cruz presidency."

Cruz drew standing ovations as he sought to distinguish himself from Trump and Clinton. He took aim at Trump, saying he would compromise on the Constitution, and Clinton, suggesting she was headed for a jail cell for her handling of classified material while U.S. secretary of state.

"A victory here tomorrow will resonate across this country," said Cruz, who warned that nominating Trump would be "a disaster."

If Trump secures the nomination, "Hillary wins by double digits. And it will be like tying up a giant present and giving it to the Democrats," Cruz told the crowd.

Earlier in Madison, Cruz said that the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark 1973 abortion decision should be overturned, and that states should be able to ban abortion even in cases of rape and incest.

In a town hall meeting moderated by Fox News host Megyn Kelly, Cruz said the high court's decision in Roe vs. Wade should not be considered settled law. "I think it was a classic example of (judicial) activism," Cruz said.

States should be free to prohibit abortion in all cases, including rape and incest, said Cruz, who noted that he had been involved on such issues while serving as solicitor general under the Texas attorney general.

"Rape is a horrific crime against the humanity of a person...but at the same time as horrible as that crime is, I don't think it's the child's fault," Cruz said.

Trump came to the Milwaukee Theatre trying to steady his campaign after a tough time in Wisconsin.

Over eight days, the billionaire businessman from New York ran into a wall of opposition on local talk radio, criticized Walker at a Janesville rally and sparked a storm of criticism for remarks on abortion during an MSNBC town hall event in Green Bay. Polls showed his favorability ratings tanked, especially among women voters.

Trump's wife, Melania, made a rare campaign appearance Monday. She told the audience that filled the theater's lower orchestra section that her husband is a "hard worker, he's kind, he has a great heart, he's tough, he's smart, he's a great communicator, he's a great negotiator, he's telling the truth, he's a great leader, he's fair."

In her biggest applause line, she said: "As you know by now, when you attack him, he will punch back 10 times harder.

"No matter who you are, a man or a woman, he treats everyone equal," she added. "He's a fighter and if you elect him to be your president, he will fight for you and for our country."

Trump said the country is being "decimated by stupidity, bad deals, horrible trades." He lit into Cruz for supporting the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. And he again criticized Kasich for staying in the race, despite winning only one primary, in his home state of Ohio.

"I think we close it out before the convention," Trump said of the nomination. Like a prizefighter who goes into unfriendly territory, Trump said "when you knock 'em out, there's no unfriendly decisions. If we get the delegates, we pull (off) the knockout."

Trump, who has campaigned steadily in Wisconsin, indicated he would be in Milwaukee on Tuesday and said, "We are making so much progress, and it is so inspiring to see the people."

At the Wisconsin Center, Sanders implored his supporters to get to the polls to give him a win over Clinton.

"If we win here tomorrow, it will be a major step forward in this campaign," Sanders said at the conclusion of a 57-minute speech at a rally that was his last in the state.

His voice hoarse and worsening as the night wore on, Sanders delivered his message of economic populism.

Supporters chanted "Bernie, Bernie, Bernie" as Sanders decried a "rigged economy" that he said has produced an ever-growing divide between the middle class and the top 1%.

He fired shots at Wall Street and the oil industry, a "corrupt" campaign system and the Republican Party's efforts to change voting laws, which he said amounted to voter suppression.

As he has in other stops, Sanders capitalized on anti-Walker sentiment among Democrats and lambasted the governor for attacking unions and lowering the taxes of corporations.

"And when you have governors like Governor Walker who are working overtime trying to figure out ways to keep people from voting because those people might vote against them, that is cowardice, that is un-American," Sanders said, drawing a large cheer.

Sanders spent little time taking on Clinton or Trump. But instead he addressed the aspirations of African-Americans, Hispanics, the elderly and especially, young people. He called for a $15 an hour minimum wage, free tuition at public universities and reforming marijuana laws.

"Young people are the future of this nation and they want to help change the future of the nation," Sanders said.

At Turner Hall, Bill Clinton asked supporters to carry Hillary Clinton to the White House as the only candidate with a realistic vision for helping all Americans "rise together."

"She'd be the best president. She's always been a change-maker. And she's always been a leader," he said.

"This is not about new vs. old or establishment vs. reform," he added, ticking off a long list of individuals and organizations that have supported the former New York senator and secretary of state. "They're in the change business, and they know she's always been there."

Former Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle, a Clinton supporter, entered the political fray Monday when he criticized Sanders for voting to ban human cloning, saying that the stance could have endangered vital stem cell research here.

Doyle said that in 2003, Sanders had voted for federal legislation similar to a cloning ban that Doyle vetoed in 2005. As a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Sanders co-sponsored similar legislation in 2005.

"Had Senator Sanders won the day with his refusal to support and invest in stem cell research, Americans would have lost access to a new frontier of medicine that could one day cure Alzheimer's, ALS, and other fatal diseases," Doyle said in a statement from the Clinton campaign.

Sanders' campaign policy director Warren Gunnels said Sanders backed legislation in 2006 to lift federal funding limits on embryonic stem cell research.

Gunnels said: "This outrageous smear on Sen. Sanders' record shows just how nervous the Clinton campaign is becoming. The fact is Bernie strongly supports stem cell research, including research on embryonic stem cells."

Journal Sentinel staffer Patrick Marley reported from Madison and Lee Bergquist and Karen Herzog reported from Milwaukee.
The Supreme Court affirmed the principle of one person, one vote Monday with a unanimous decision supporting drawing legislative district lines based on total population. Credit: Associated Press

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Washington  The Supreme Court dealt a stunning affirmation of the principle of "one person, one vote" Monday with a unanimous decision supporting drawing legislative district lines based on total population, not just eligible voters.

The decision is a landmark victory for minority groups and civil liberties organizations, which have been fighting voting rights cases they warned would hurt minority representation. A decision to exclude noncitizens and people under 18 would have had a huge impact on districts with large Latino and black populations.

The Texas case, Evenwel vs. Abbott, was brought by two individuals who challenged state Senate lines they said overrepresented nonvoters and diluted the value of their votes.

The Obama administration joined the State of Texas in the case opposing the use of voters instead of population in drawing districts. Greg Abbott was the state's attorney general and is now the governor.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement: "We are pleased with the unanimous decision of the court. My office is committed to defending the Constitution and ensuring the state legislature, representing the citizens, continues to have the freedom to ensure voting rights consistent with the Constitution."

Edward Blum, president of The Project on Fair Representation, which provided counsel to the plaintiffs, said in a statement that he was disappointed the court did not accept what he considered the original intent of the writers of the 14th Amendment, to measure districts by voters. "We are disappointed that the justices were unwilling to re-establish the original principle of one person, one vote for the citizens of Texas and elsewhere," said Blum, who added that the issue "was not going to go away."

The Supreme Court's 8-0 ruling supports the total population standard that is used by virtually all state and local jurisdictions. (The court has only eight members because of the death in February of Justice Antonin Scalia.) In oral arguments in December, judges were skeptical about changing the standard.

The court decision, written by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, says: "Settled practice confirms what constitutional history and prior decisions strongly suggest. Adopting voter-eligible apportionment as constitutional command would upset a well-functioning approach to districting that all 50 states and countless local jurisdictions have long followed."

"As the Framers of the Constitution and the Fourteenth Amendment comprehended, representatives serve all residents, not just those eligible to vote. Nonvoters have an important stake in many policy debates and in receiving constituent services," the court concluded. "By ensuring that each representative is subject to requests and suggestions from the same number of constituents, total-population apportionment promotes equitable and effective representation."

"It's a slam-dunk win for the State of Texas and the Justice Department," said Alan Clayton, a redistricting expert in California. "It's a massive win for people who support the use of population in redistricting and a massive loss for people who want to use eligible voters."

Rep. Marc Veasey (D-Texas) who is African-American and represents portions of Fort Worth in a North Texas district, said, "Today, the Supreme Court rejected the political argument that children and thousands of other hardworking, tax-paying adults don't count and don't deserve representation. Everyone must be counted in our democracy, and as elected officials we have a responsibility to represent everyone in our districts."

Minority activist organizations, such as the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, welcomed the decision. The fund's president and general counsel, Thomas A. Saenz, said in a statement, "In a tremendous victory for democratic representation that recognizes that all constituents count, the Supreme Court unanimously rejected the plaintiffs' fatally flawed argument that states should count only voters in drawing districts."

In Texas, Latinos are 36% of the population but only 26% of registered voters.

ACLU Legal Director Steven R. Shapiro said in a statement, "This decision is a victory for the principle of representative democracy. There is a reason that every state has chosen to apportion its state legislative districts based on total population. Government actions affect everyone, not just eligible voters."

Wendy Weiser, director of New York University's Brennan Center for Justice's Democracy Program, said, "Today's ruling affirms the long-standing state practice of counting everyone in redistricting. It affirms the principle that the government represents all the people, and helps ensure that efforts to manipulate voting rules won't impact representation."
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Attorney General Brad Schimel's request for a gag order in a securities fraud case against two Vilas County brothers is overbroad, unconstitutional and is not needed to ensure a fair trial, attorneys for nine media organizations said in a court filing Tuesday.

Schimel last month asked the court to ban all parties involved in the prosecution or defense of David Eliason, 40, and Brian Eliason, 38, from "talking to the media or the public regarding the case."

"The court should deny the (proposed gag order) because it seeks an unconstitutional prior restraint on freedom of speech and freedom of the press under the First Amendment," Steven Mandell, attorney for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and the eight other media organizations, wrote in a motion to oppose the gag order.

The Eliason brothers were each charged in February with 10 felony counts of securities fraud for failing to fully disclose the risks involved in buying an investment they were pitching. Northwoods investors lost about $3 million on the 2009 investments in commercial and residential real estate that they sold through Eliason Inc.

The state sought the gag order after Stephen Kravit, who represented both brothers at the time, released a four-page news release arguing the Eliasons were innocent of the criminal charges.

"This case is unusual in that the defendants are willing speakers," Mandell wrote in the motion filed in Vilas County Court Tuesday morning. "In fact, defendants are vigorously challenging the State's proposed gag orders as violating their constitutional rights."

The Eliason name is well known in Vilas County. Family members are involved in several businesses, including real estate and lumber. Those companies and other members of the family are not involved in the criminal case, although Don Eliason, the brothers' father, lost more than $1 million on the investment. He does not consider himself a victim, Kravit said.

The brothers also run a Wausau insurance agency whose business has been hurt by the "intense negative publicity in Wausau, Rhinelander, Minocqua, and Eagle River," David Eliason wrote in an affidavit filed with the court this week.

The affidavit was filed with a brief by Kravit that also opposed the gag order.

The Eliason case has been covered by various media including the Journal Sentinel, the Minocqua-based Lakeland Times and WAOW in Wausau.

"We believe this is an important issue not only for the coalition of media organizations we represent but also for the public," Mandell said in a statement. "That's why we are asking the court to deny the state's attempt to gag the parties and shut off the flow of information to the public."

In addition to the Journal Sentinel, other organizations that joined in the motion are: the Wisconsin Newspaper Association; the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association; USA Today Network-Wisconsin, which owns the Wausau Daily Herald; Madison Newspapers Inc., which owns the Wisconsin State Journal; Lakeland Printing Inc.; Quincy Media Inc., owner of WAOW in Wausau; Gray Television Corp., owner of WSAW and WZAW in Wausau; and Rockfleet Broadcasting/Northland Television Inc., which owns WJFW in Rhinelander.

"This matter is of intense local concern and, because of the prominence of the defendants, has also drawn state-wide interest," wrote Mandell, who noted that Schimel's request for a gag order also helped boost interest by the media.

Schimel's motion argues that publicity about the case "could have a substantial effect on the ability to impanel a fair and impartial jury" in the county that had a 2010 population of 21,430.

Mandell, however, countered that any prejudicial publicity could be countered through questioning of potential jurors and other legal methods.

"The state proposed only the most extreme measure  a gag order (and a particularly overbroad gag order at that)  at the outset of the case instead of considering measures that do not impede (the media's) right to gather the news," Mandell wrote.

A spokesman for Schimel declined to comment Tuesday.
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Maan News Agency |  

HEBRON (Maan)  The family of Abd al-Fattah al-Sharif said they would file legal procedures against the Israeli army in front of an Israeli court, after an autopsy of the 21-year-old Palestinians body confirmed that he was still alive when an Israeli soldier fired a bullet at his head at point-blank range, killing him.

A graphic video released by BTselem captured the moment the soldier stepped forward and shot al-Sharif in the head on March 24 in Hebron, after he had been gunned down and left lying on the ground severely wounded for several minutes after allegedly stabbing an Israeli soldier.

In a press conference at Hebron governors office, the al-Sharifs uncle Fathi al-Sharif also urged the Palestinian Authority to file legal procedures against Israel at the International Criminal Court.

He also urged the PA and human rights organizations to push for the release his nephews body, which is still being withheld by Israel.

Hebron Governor Kamil Hmeid said at the news conference that the PA would document the crime and refer it to international courts in order to expose the crimes Israel has been committing since the beginning of the popular rising in October 2015.

Palestinian doctor Rayan al-Ali, who attended al-Sharifs autopsy on Sunday, reiterated that the last bullet which an Israeli soldier fired at al-Sharifs head at point-blank range was the direct cause of death.

Al-Ali added that he had prepared an in-depth report about the autopsy, which also revealed that al-Sharif was hit by seven or eight bullets which caused 17 wounds in his body.

The soldier who killed al-Sharif has claimed he acted in self defense and is facing charges of manslaughter rather than murder as had been widely expected.

He was released into open detention on Friday in an Israeli military camp, after an appeal by the prosecution was denied to extend his remand for another five days.

The international community has reacted in the wake of al-Sharifs killing, expressing worries that it might be part of a broader Israeli shoot to kill policy against Palestinian suspected attackers.

We are concerned this killing may not be a lone incident, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Rupert Colville said in a recent statement, adding that all incidents where security forces have caused death or injury should be fully investigated, and those responsible brought to account.

Rights groups have also repeatedly criticized Israel for offering impunity to Israelis who harm Palestinians.

Al-Sharif was among the more than 200 Palestinians who have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers since a wave of unrest spread across the occupied Palestinian territory in October.

The unrest has been marked by a surge of small-scale attacks carried out by Palestinian individuals  predominantly on Israeli military targets  which have left nearly 30 Israelis dead, with the majority of suspected Palestinian attackers shot dead on site.

Via Maan News Agency



Related video added by Juan Cole (WARNING: GRAPHIC)

ITV News: My son was executed by an Israeli soldier
Cenk Uygur | (The Young Turks Video Report) |  

Weve got a new bunch of leaked papers on some of the most prominent politicians and leaders worldwide. They are laundering money from out of their own countries into private bank accounts in offshore tax havens. Cenk Uygur, host of The Young Turks, breaks it down. . .

The Panama Papers are an unprecedented leak of 11.5m files from the database of the worlds fourth biggest offshore law firm, Mossack Fonseca. The records were obtained from an anonymous source by the German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung, which shared them with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). The ICIJ then shared them with a large network of international partners, including the Guardian and the BBC.

What do they reveal?

The documents show the myriad ways in which the rich can exploit secretive offshore tax regimes. Twelve national leaders are among 143 politicians, their families and close associates from around the world known to have been using offshore tax havens.

A $2bn trail leads all the way to Vladimir Putin. The Russian presidents best friend  a cellist called Sergei Roldugin  is at the centre of a scheme in which money from Russian state banks is hidden offshore. Some of it ends up in a ski resort where in 2013 Putins daughter Katerina got married.
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By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) |  

The Israeli military and security forces have a problem. They are fairly obviously being ordered to commit summary executions of prisoners. The problem: This behavior is one of the more heinous of war crimes as defined in international law. At the very least it is a crime. Amnesty International began documenting the practice last fall, as Palestinian youth reacted to what they saw as the Israeli undermining of Sec. of State John Kerrys peace talks by launching a series of violent attacks.

The issue was pitched powerfully last week when an Israeli soldier shot a wounded and immobilized Palestinian assailant at point-blank range in the head. The Palestinian, Abd al-Fattah al-Sharif, was suspected of having been involved in a knife attack on Israeli personnel at a checkpoint. Had the soldier killed al-Sharif in self-defense or while defending his colleague, the action would have been justified. But once al-Sharif had been wounded and immobilized and disarmed, shooting him in the head and killing him was simple murder. The soldier, whose identity is being shielded by Israeli authorities, maintains that he feared the Palestinian might have a bomb, but the victim had already been checked for munitions, and the video taken by another Palestinian of the event does not bear out this interpretation. An Israeli court has only charged the soldier, who appears to have harbored a profound hatred of Palestinians, with manslaughter.

And Israel itself has a problem: the vast majority of Israelis approved of the summary killing, with only 5% seeing it as murder and only 19% even disapproving.

If the al-Sharif killing were the only one, that would be different. As noted, human rights organizations are alleging a pattern here, which implies that Israeli officers are setting rules of engagement premised on the commission of war crimes.

After Japanese officers ordered the killing of 300 p.o.w.s on the Indonesian island of Ambon during World War II, they were put on trial in Australia and 4 were hanged and many others given prison sentences.

It is not necessary to argue that the Palestinian resistance fighters fighters who attacked Israeli security forces were technically prisoners of war (though international law has been leaning in the direction of seeing resisters to foreign military occupation in that light). They can just be detainees suspected of crimes. You still cant just shoot them in the head once they are subdued.

It is worth noting that the incident occurred in Hebron, Palestine, not in Israel. Israelis had no business being in Hebron in the first place.



h/t Human Rights Watch

The way these Palestinian assailants do resemble prisoners of war is that they attacked soldiers. That is, the argument that it is all right to kill them because they had launched assaults does not hold water. The Japanese at Ambon killed those p.o.w.s in revenge for the sinking of a Japanese ship by a Dutch mine, resulting in the deaths of all hands aboard. If international law requires that p.o.w.s be treated humanely when by definition they had attacked the forces of another country, it is recognizing the illegitimacy of summary revenge, which is the activity in which the Israeli army is indulging.

Swedish foreign minister Margot Wallstrom was among the first to speak out against the systematic summary executions by Israeli forces, last January.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in his typical propagandistic way greeted Walstroms complaint with feigned incredulity. He complained that Israeli troops were being condemned for defending themselves against knife-wielding attackers. But they werent. Self-defense is always permitted in the law, assuming proportionate force is deployed.

The police and soldiers were being criticized for declining to try take attackers into custody, routinely shooting them in the head instead. That is, disproportionate force is being applied. And in other instances the attacker was no longer an immediate threat but was killed anyway. Once an assailant has been disarmed and immobilized, he is not an assailant anymore, he is a prisoner. And youre not allowed just casually to murder prisoners.

When Sen. Patrick Leahy took up Wallstroms complaint and announced that the US Congress will investigate this pattern of killings of p.o.w.s by Israeli forces, Netanyahu again blustered that Israel was being held to a standard that other forces in the Middle East are not.

It is certainly the case, as Amnesty International has argued, that Hamas summarily executes prisoners.

Sen. Leahy replied, however, that the United States government does not give those other forces (e.g. Hamas in Gaza) $3 billion a year in foreign and military aid. He might have added that the European Union does not consider Hamas to be an honorary member of the union or give it tariff breaks or facilitate science and technology transfers for it.

It is Israel that gets those billions (not to mention billions more in US tariff easements and tax-deductible donations) and which is treated as almost-a-member by the EU. The Israeli army is in fact treated very differently by the West than are most military forces in the Middle East, precisely because Israel is considered a member of the Western club. Remember all that talk about Israel being the only democracy in the Middle East (actually that title belongs to Tunisia now) and a member of the civilized world? Well those titles arent bestowed on a country that routinely flouts the Geneva Conventions and the UN charter and the Statute of Rome, which are the framework of law accepted by civilized countries.

A letter by Leahy and other members of Congress to Sec. of State John Kerry, according to Maan News Agency, It suggested the US State Department and Department of Defense may be in breach of the Leahy Law  a law named after the Vermont senator that prohibits the provision of military assistance to foreign military units that violate human rights with impunity.

If the policy of summary executions of prisoners goes on, Israeli officials could be held accountable at some point, as Commander Kunito Hatakeyama was held accountable by being hung in the wake of the Ambon trial.

But the ugly results of the opinion polls of Israelis concerning this policy of systematic murder of detainees is already an indictment of sorts.



Related video:

France 24: Israel soldier trial: Soldier filmed shooting Palestinian appears in court
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - April 5, 2016) -

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES

New Dimension Resources Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:NDR) (the "Company" or "New Dimension") is pleased to report that it has executed an option agreement (the "Agreement") to acquire a 100% interest in the 8,352 hectare Savant Lake gold property (the "Property") located approximately 240 kilometres northwest of Thunder Bay, Ontario in the Savant Lake Greenstone Belt.

"The Savant Lake gold project covers a classic iron formation hosted system of gold occurrences within a very prospective mineral district in Ontario," said Fred Hewett, President & CEO of New Dimension. "The Property, which has not been significantly explored since the early 1980's, has seven known gold occurrences that have yielded high grade gold values up to 138.87 g/t from surface prospecting. New Dimension was attracted to the Savant Lake Property for its gold in iron formation characteristics that it believes are analogous to Goldcorp's neighbouring Musselwhite gold mine and Agnico Eagle's newly discovered Amaruq deposit in Nunavut. The Company's initial exploration program will include an airborne geophysical survey designed to rapidly delineate targets for future drilling."

Please click the following link to view a location map of the Savant Lake gold property:

http://www.newdimensionresources.com/i/pdf/2016-04-04_SavantLakeLocation.pdf

The Savant Lake Gold Project

The property is situated within the Archean age Savant Lake Greenstone Belt and is underlain primarily by greywacke, interbedded with cherty magnetite iron formation and minor mafic volcanics. These rocks have been metamorphosed and complexly folded such that the iron formation horizons have been repeated (as shown by magnetic surveys). There is an interpreted cumulative strike length of 60 kilometres of prospective iron formation.

There are seven historical gold showings on the property and all but one are spatially related to oxide facies iron formation. The setting of the gold showings is quite similar being hosted in mixed iron formation and adjacent pyritic metasediments with or without quartz veins and carbonate alteration. Two of the gold showings were tested by shallow drilling in the 1980's and returned values of 0.3 to 0.5 oz/t gold (8.5 g/t to 14.17 g/t) over narrow widths of 1.0 to 1.4 feet (0.3 metres to 0.43 metres). Trenches over the western drilled area exposed mixed oxide facies iron formation and clastic metasediments, which are host to pyrite and arsenopyrite mineralization as well as quartz veining and ankeritic alteration. During a recent program, a total of 57 samples were taken by the Property vendors over these showings with values ranging from 138.87 g/t gold to 0.005 g/t gold. In total, 35 samples reported grades exceeding 1.0 g/t gold including 11 samples exceeding 20 g/t gold.

The known showings are locally covered by shallow overburden, but more than 90% of the interpreted, iron formation horizons do not outcrop. Available magnetic data indicates that strong folding of the iron formations has occurred with the development of multiple steeply plunging fold hinges. Examples of fold hinges hosting important mineralization include the past producing Lupin and Homestake mines. In addition the setting of the Savant Lake gold occurrences shows many similarities to a number of other significant iron formation hosted gold deposits including Goldcorp's Mussewhite Mine, Agnico Eagle's Meadowbank Mine and its recently discovered Amaruq deposit. A priority objective of the Company's program will be to identify gold bearing sulfide bodies contained within favourable depositional environments developed in iron formation stratigraphy. These sulfide rich targets lend themselves to a modern VTEM survey, which has never been completed and could help delineate and prioritize targets for drilling within this largely unexplored greenstone belt.

The Savant Project consists of 40 contiguous staked claims (522 units) covering 8,352 hectares and is situated approximately 240 kilometres northwest of Thunder Bay in northwestern Ontario. The Property is accessible by an all-weather road (provincial highways 17 and 599) and is within 25 kilometres of the Canadian National Railway's main line. Physiography is typical of the Canadian Shield with almost flat, tree-covered terrain interspersed with muskeg and lakes.

The Agreement:

New Dimension can earn a 100% interest in the Savant Lake Property by paying the vendors C$100,000 and issuing 600,000 shares of New Dimension over a four year period. These payments can be accelerated at the option of the Company, with no cash payments due in the first year. The Property is subject to a 2% NSR, of which one percent (1%) can be purchased for C$1,000,000.

Financing

The Company also announces a non-brokered private placement of up to 4 million Units at a price of $0.09 per Unit. Each Unit shall be comprised of one common share and a one half warrant. Each full warrant will entitle the holder to acquire one common share of New Dimension at a price of $0.20 for a period of 24 months immediately following the closing date. The warrants will be subjected to an accelerated exercise provision if the share price of New Dimension trades at or above $0.45 for 10 or more consecutive trading days.

Net proceeds of this private placement will be used to further the Company's exploration projects, fund possible new acquisitions and for general working capital.

About New Dimension Resources Ltd.:

New Dimension is engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of quality mineral resource properties throughout the Americas with a focus on potential bulk tonnage gold and silver deposits. The Company is currently focused on mineral projects in Canada with a priority directed toward the Savant Lake gold property. New Dimension also holds a 30% interest in a joint venture with Yamana Gold Inc. on the Domain Gold property in northern Manitoba as well as an option to earn a 70% interest in the Midas gold property, located in north central Ontario.

The technical information in this news release has been prepared in accordance with Canadian regulatory requirements set out in National Instrument 43-101 and reviewed by Fred Hewett the Company's President & CEO, a director and a Qualified Person under NI 43-101.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

NEW DIMENSION RESOURCES LTD.

Fred G. Hewett, P.Eng., President & CEO

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

This news release may contain forward looking statements which are not historical facts, such as statements of belief of similarity of geological characteristics or features, statements of unverified drilling and sampling results and expectations of receipt of permits and plans for future work. Forward looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, unexpected geological factors, exploration results, results of verification work and unanticipated regulatory obstacles. See New Dimension's filings for a more detailed discussion of factors that may impact expected results.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to sell any securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - April 4, 2016) - Royal Road Minerals Limited (TSXV: RYR) ("Royal Road Minerals" or the "Company"), a gold focused mineral exploration and development company, is pleased to announce that it has entered into an option agreement (the "Option Agreement") effective as of March 31, 2016, with Mesias Oliver Acosta Benavides, Euberto Ernesto Calderon and Jesus Yerobi Santander (collectively, the "Optionors") to acquire 100% of the La Redencion gold project, which is located approximately 450 meters north of the license boundary of the Companys La Golondrina gold project in the Narino Province of southern Colombia.

The La Redencion gold project is a locally owned and operated vein-hosted gold mine held under a 25 hectare mining license. The project has not yet been drill-tested but exposure in underground development reveals that the mineralized system has the same geological characteristics to the Companys neighboring La Golondrina gold project. Where exposed, gold mineralization at La Redencion is most similar to the "vein-zone" style of gold mineralization at La Golondrina and comprises three or more shallow-dipping parallel veins with subsidiary linking vein structures extending over widths that exceed one meter and in some cases dip off into the floor or roof of underground development (see Figure 1). Mineralized bodies at Mina La Redencion occur some 700 meters vertically below and just 450 meters along strike to the north from veins and vein-zones at La Golondrina, suggesting that they are part of the same gold mineralizing system.



To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/4008/19917_royalroad1enhanced.jpg

"We are excited about this new partnership and about the potential at Mina La Redencion" said Tim Coughlin, Royal Roads President and CEO. He added "It is our view that gold mineralization at La Redencion is an exposed extension of the same high-grade gold system at La Golondrina, testifying to the lateral and vertical extent of vein and hornfels-hosted gold mineralization in this area and thus to its plus million ounce potential. This agreement is another step in our strategy of working with local gold producers and communities in the La Llanada region to expand resources, modernize operations and ensure inclusive, sustainable and low-impact exploration and gold mining".

Option Agreement

The following is a summary of principal terms of the Option Agreement:

The Company has the option to acquire a 100% undivided interest in the La Redencion project

In order to exercise the Option, the Company must: Assist the Optionors to a maximum cost of US $20,000 to complete all ongoing regulatory work to a high level and acquire the additional required approvals for exploration activities on the license area On acquisition of regulatory approvals, pay to the Optionors the aggregate sum of US $20,000 Pay to the Optionors the aggregate sum of US $25,000 on or before the date that the Company first commences drilling on the La Redencion project Pay to the Optionors the aggregate sum of US $30,000, payable in three equal installments of US $10,000 on the first, second and third anniversary dates of regulatory approval Complete a minimum of 750 meters of drilling at La Redencion on or before the third anniversary of the effective date of regulatory approvals



After making these payments and completing this exploration work, the Company may, prior to the third anniversary of the date of regulatory approvals, give a notice to the Optionors of its intention to complete a feasibility study. If, after completing the feasibility study, the Company determines that the development of a mine is justified at such time, the Company may exercise the option and, thereupon, it will acquire a 100% interest in the La Redencion project (subject to the royalty described below). In the alternative, the Company may, at such time, elect to defer making a production decision and exercising its option for a period of up to five years, and instead pay to the Optionors the aggregate sum of US $10,000 per annum during such deferral period

Upon any exercise by the Company of the option, the Optionors will have the right to receive a 20% net profit royalty to be paid once payback of all capital invested to explore, develop and construct the operation has been made

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary statement:

This news release may contain certain information that constitutes forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "plan," "expect," "project," "intend," "believe," "anticipate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur and include statements regarding the Option Agreement. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. These factors include the inherent risks involved in the hiring and retention of directors and officers, exploration and development of mineral properties, mine site planning and development, the uncertainties involved in interpreting drilling results and other geological data, fluctuating metal prices, permitting and licensing and other factors described above and in the Company's most recent annual information form under the heading "Risk Factors", which has been filed electronically by means of the Canadian Securities Administrators' website located at www.sedar.com. The Company disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

For further information please contact:

Dr. Tim Coughlin

President and Chief Executive Officer

USA-Canada toll free 1800 6389205

+44 (0)1534 887166

+44 (0)7797 742800

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 5, 2016) - CanAlaska Uranium Ltd. (TSXV: CVV) (OTCQB: CVVUF) (FSE: DH7N) "the Company" is pleased to report that the exploration team from Denison Mines Corp. ("Denison") has reported intersecting 2200 cps radioactivity at the unconformity in the first drill hole on the Moon South property. The elevated radioactivity corresponds to a 0.5 metre section of 0.102% U 3 O 8 assayed in core recovered from the drill hole at that location. Additional drilling is now being planned.



Moon South Project

To view an enhanced version of this image, please visit:

http://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/2864/19946_image1en.jpg

This first drill hole was designed to test a conductive trend mapped by a DC resistivity survey. The drill site is located within a prominent magnetic low, which is thought to represent the location of major cross structures. There is elevated uranium mineralization averaging over 1ppm U 3 O 8 for 30 metres above the intersection, with further elevated uranium mineralization up to 1.2ppm for 200 metres above the unconformity. Moderately graphitic pelites were intersected in the basement. A graphitic fault and a clay altered breccia were observed in this unit.

The drill intersection confirms basement fluid flow containing elevated base metals and uranium mineralization.

President Peter Dasler commented, "Denison's exploration team have found a very interesting new target, in an area of the Athabasca Basin known to have excellent potential for uranium mineralization in the past. This initial drill success now gives a robust target for further exploration."



Moon South Project Drill Hole Location

To view an enhanced version of this image, please visit:

http://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/2864/19946_image2en.jpg

The qualified technical person for this news release is Dr Karl Schimann, P. Geo, VP Exploration, for CanAlaska.

About CanAlaska Uranium

CanAlaska Uranium Ltd. (TSXV: CVV) (OTCQB: CVVUF) (FSE: DH7N) holds interests in approximately 700,000 hectares (1.7 million acres), one of the largest land positions in Canada's Athabasca Basin region - the "Saudi Arabia of Uranium". CanAlaska's strategic holdings has attracted major international mining companies Cameco, KORES and KEPCO as partners at its core projects. CanAlaska is a Project Generator and is positioned for discovery success in the world's richest uranium district. For further information, visit www.canalaska.com.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

"Peter Dasler"

Peter Dasler, M.Sc., P.Geo., President & CEO,

CanAlaska Uranium Ltd.

Contact:

Peter Dasler, President and CEO.

Tel: +1.604.688.3211 x 138

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The TSX-V has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release: CUSIP# 13708P 10 2.
[JURIST] The US Department of Defense (DOD) [official website] on Monday announced the transfer [press release] of two Guantanamo detainees to Senegal. Libyan nationals Salem Abdu Salam Ghereby, 55, and Omar Khalif Mohammed Abu Baker Mahjour, about 44, were released [AP report] after being held nearly 14 years without charges. Last week a US government official said that the DOD has told Congress that it plans to transfer [JURIST report] as many as 12 prisoners from Guantanamo in the coming weeks. With Mondays transfers, 89 detainees remain at the facility.

In February US President Obama delivered a plan to Congress to close Guantanamo Bay [JURIST report]. In November the US Senate passed [JURIST report] the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 (NDAA), which prohibits Guantanamo detainees from being transferred into the US. Obama signed the bill into law, despite the fact that it could delay his plan to close the prison. The DOD said [JURIST report] in October they were sending teams to review three Colorado prisons as part of Obamas efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay prison in October. The Guantanamo Review Task Force was created in response to a 2009 presidential executive order to review the status of all detainees.
[JURIST] South Carolinas summary courts, which try and convict defendants for low-level offenses, are failing to provide legal representation and other constitutional safeguards, according to a study [text, PDF] released Monday by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [advocacy website]. According to the study, summary court judges are not required to have law degrees, and police officers may serve as prosecutors. The state needs at least $10 million to properly fund its public defenders, and since last year municipalities can not use their judicial circuits public defenders unless they contribute more funds. Due to the lack of proper funding, the state has instructed judges to inform defendants of available free representation only when they go to trial. Most poor defendants in summary court proceedings have no legal representation, and they often serve the maximum jail sentence of 30 days because they cannot afford to pay even low bail amounts. The ACLU stressed that poor defendants are effectively being victimized for their inability to receive legal representation and pay bail fines, thereby having a detrimental affect on their jobs and families. The ACLU plans [Post and Courier report] to release a new study later this year that provides more data regarding this statewide issue. The study was gathered by collecting observations from the states 400 summary courts from late 2014 to July 2015.

Reform in state courts and prisons had been a matter of ongoing concern in the US. Last month the US Department of Justice (DOJ) sent [JURIST report] letters to states urging them to stop using procedural routines and hefty fines to profit off poor defendants and victimize them for their inability to pay. In February the Supreme Court of California ruled [JURIST report] that Governor Jerry Brown can put his plan to ease prison overcrowding on the ballot this November. In January the US Supreme Court ruled that a landmark decision banning mandatory sentences of life without parole for juveniles should apply retroactively [JURIST report]. In August the Department of Justice reached a settlement [JURIST report] with Los Angeles prisons on mentally ill inmate care. Last May Human Rights Watch released [JURIST report] a report stating that mentally disabled prisoners experience unnecessary, excessive, and even malicious force at the hands of prison staff across the US.
Chiles justice system allows for police brutality [press release] by requiring such cases to be heard in military courts, where similar personnel manage the judicial process, Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] said in a report [text] Tuesday. According to the report:

Under the Chilean Code of Military Justice, common crimes committed by members of the military#8212;including the Carabineros de Chile (National Police)in the exercise of their duties or in connection with them, must be investigated and tried by military courts. This means that crimes, including excessive use of force by police and other possible human rights violations, committed by members of the security forces while carrying out their duties are dealt with by the military courts rather than the ordinary courts.

AI argues that this is problematic because it removes the independence and impartiality that define basic courts. The report notes that international law requires that military courts only have jurisdiction to over cases directly related to military discipline  and should not extend to common crimes, human rights violations or crimes under international law, among others. AI detailed multiple cases to show the violations that go unchecked, even when death is the result. The organization listed recommendations as well, with the overarching conclusion being to require cases with civilian victims to be heard in ordinary courts.

In October Chilean President Michelle Bachelet [official profile, in Spanish] announced the government has begun the process of drafting a new constitution [JURIST report], with the new draft being presented to Congress in the second half of 2017. The current version of Chiles Constitution [Princeton backgrounder] was drafted in 1980 and went into effect in 1981 after a vote that was criticized as fraudulent. Last April Bachelet signed a law recognizing civil unions between same-sex couples, a move hailed by advocates as a step toward full marriage rights [JURIST report].
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] has notified [letter] Maricopa County [official website] officials that it will investigate the issues voters in Arizonas most populous county faced during the March 22 primary election. After the county decided to cut 60 polling locations, lines at the remaining locations were extremely long, with some voters reporting standing in line more than five hours. Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton [official website] requested the DOJ investigation and said the county distributed fewer polling locations to parts of the county with higher minority populations. Arizona Governor Doug Ducey [official website] also wanted an investigation into the long lines. Maricopa County officials stated that they plan to cooperate fully with the DOJ and provide them with all information they are seeking.

Voting issues remain a controversial topic, particularly with the presidential election approaching. On Monday the US Supreme Court [official website] ruled unanimously [opinion, PDF] in Evenwel v. Abott [SCOTUSblog materials] that states may use total population to appropriate state legislative districts, and there is no constitutional requirement that states use voter population in order to divide up legislative districts [JURIST report]. Last month the League of United Latin American Citizens and Congressman Marc Veasy [official websites], along with other plaintiffs, filed an application [text, PDF] with the Supreme Court, asking the court to vacate a stay [JURIST report] that allowed a Texas voter ID law, said to have racially discriminatory effects, to remain in place. Also in March Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy [official profile] ordered [text] Montana to respond to the Montana Republican Partys [party website] application for injunctive relief [application, PDF] requesting the right to a closed primary in the state [JURIST report]. A judge for Ohios Franklin County Court of Common Pleas [official website] in March granted an emergency order [text, PDF] allowing 17-year-olds who will turn 18 by the November election to vote in the Ohio primary [JURIST report].
[JURIST] Bela Biszku, a high-ranking Communist official convicted of war crimes committed during the aftermath of the Hungarian revolution [BBC backgrounder], died on Thursday at the age of 94. When Soviet forces shut down [AP report] the Hungarian uprising in 1956, more than 224 civilians were executed and 10,000 civilians imprisoned. At the time, Biszku was operating as a Hungarys interior minister. Though he denied any involvement, historians claim that Biszku was a member of the Communist Partys executive committee and played a key role in implementing repression.

In 2014, Biszku was sentenced to over 5 years imprisonment and was connected to approximately 50 deaths. During retrial [JURIST report] last December, Biszkus sentence was reduced and he was absolved of communist party-related crimes. When Biszku passed away in Budapest, his conviction was still pending further appeal.
Police and military raids in low-income communities in Venezuela are leading to allegations of widespread abuse, the Venezuelan Human Rights Education-Action Program (PROVEA) and Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy websites] said in a joint report [text] issued Monday. Titled Unchecked Power: Police and Military Raids in Low-Income and Immigrant Communities in Venezuela, this report outlines allegations [press release] including extrajudicial killings, mass arbitrary detentions, maltreatment of detainees, forced evictions, the destruction of homes and the arbitrary deportation of Colombian nationals. The abuses are connected to Operation to Liberate and Protect the People (OLP), the Venezuelan governments anti-crime initiative which began in July 2015 to combat the presence of criminal gangs and has since resulted in the deaths of 250 people.

Unemployment is rampant in Venezuela, and an economic boom in 1970 led to a recession that crushed the middle class and lowered the living standards of poor, who constitute approximately 60 percent of the population. The Venezuelan High Court and General Assembly have been at odds recently, as the court is heavily influenced by the government [JURIST reports]. An anti-government party is prominent in the assembly, contributing to the climate of unrest. In 2014 the UN Human Rights Chief called for an end to violence in Venezuela [JURIST report] and urged all parties [official statement] involved to move towards meaningful dialogue in hopes of resolving the situation.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] on Tuesday threw out charges [decision, PDF] against Kenyan Deputy President William Ruto [BBC profile]. Ruto and Joshua Sang were accused [Reuters report] of supporting murderous inter-ethnic violence in Kenya after the 2007 election, leading to more than 1,200 deaths. Ruto and Sang have denied [BBC report] the murder, deportation and persecution charges. Judges from the ICC halted the trial [press release], ruling that prosecutors failed to provide enough incriminating evidence. The judges ultimately were split [dissent, PDF] on whether to acquit, declare a mistrial or continue with the case. The case faced constant setbacks. In February the ICC barred the use of recanted testimony [BBC report] after several key witnesses changed their statements. The prosecution alleged that these changes were due to intimidation and bribery on behalf of Ruto. The absence of an acquittal opens up Ruto and Sang for new charges from the ICC in the future.

The ICCs investigation and prosecution of the Kenya Situation [ICC backgrounder] has been ongoing since 2010. Last year the ICC withdrew charges [JURIST report] against Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, who was accused of crimes against humanity for post-election violence, but indicated it would renew the charges if presented with enough evidence. African leaders had urged [JURIST report] the ICC to drop cases against Ruto or suspend the charges until African concerns are considered by the court. In response to the charges against Kenyatta and Ruto, the African Union unanimously resolved [JURIST report] in 2013 that African heads of state should be immune from prosecution by the ICC. Also in 2013 Kenyas National Assembly approved a motion [JURIST report] to leave the ICC.
The US Supreme Court [official website] denied certiorari [order list, PDF] on Monday in two cases regarding Wal-Mart Stores [corporate website]. The petition raised the issue [petition, PDF] of whether the Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Clause [text] prohibits a state court from certifying a class action and entering judgment in favor of the class, where the court relieves individual plaintiffs of their burden to prove class-wide common evidence on key elements of their claims. The courts decision leaves intact a ruling [opinion, PDF] by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in 2014, which upheld a lower court decision awarding $187 million to the plaintiffs.

This is the most recent lawsuit of those filed against Wal-Mart in past years. In August 2013 a judge for the US District Court for the Northern District of California rejected [JURIST report] a potential gender discrimination class action lawsuit against Wal-Mart. In June 2012 New York City filed a derivative suit [JURIST report] in Delaware Chancery Court against Wal-Mart, alleging that both officers and board members of the company breached their fiduciary duties to shareholders by improperly handling reports of bribery that occurred in Mexico. In June 2011 a judge for the US District Court for the Northern District of California ruled [JURIST report] that a group of women seeking to recover damages from Wal-Mart could file lawsuits until October of that year. This ruling came after the US Supreme Court rejected the 2001 class action, and applied to the women who had received the required permission to sue from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) [official website]. In February 2011 Wal-Mart also escaped liability after a judge for the US District Court for the Western District of Michigan ruled [JURIST report] that Wal-Mart did not wrongly fire an employee who had been using medical marijuana to treat a brain tumor.
[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website] on Monday ruled unanimously [opinion, PDF] in Nichols v. US [SCOTUSblog materials] that the Sex Offender Notification and Registration Act (SONRA) [DOJ backgrounder] did not require an individual to update his registration in Kansas once he departed the state and moved to a foreign country, overruling the Tenth Circuit. In 2003 Lester Nichols was charged [SCOTUSblog op-ed] with traveling in interstate commerce with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor. Under SORNA, Nichols was required to register as a sex offender in Kansas, which he did after he elected to reside there in 2011. In 2012 Nichols abruptly moved to the Philippines and did not update his residency information with Kansas authorities. He was arrested in the Philippines for not registering, and the US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit [official website] affirmed his conviction. In Mondays ruling, the court focused its decision on a straightforward reading of 42 USC  16913(a) [text], which states, in relevant part: A sex offender shall register, and keep the registration current, in each jurisdiction where the offender resides. The court emphasized the use of the present tense limits the application of the statute. The government argued that Kansas qualified as a jurisdiction that Nichols was required to notify within three days of his departure, because under section (c) of the relevant statute, a sex offender must notify at least one jurisdiction involved of any modification to ones name, residence, employment, or student status. The court rejected the governments attempt to work-around the language in section (a), and the court stated: We are thus reassured that our holding today is not likely to create loopholes and deficiencies in SORNAs nationwide sex-offender registration scheme. The declaration is timely as a new law was enacted in February by US President Barack Obama [official website] called the International Megans Law to Prevent Child Exploitation and Other Sexual Crimes Through Advanced Notification of Traveling Sex Offenders [Congressional bill summary] that will require sex offenders to notify the US government when they leave the US or intend to travel in foreign commerce.

The court heard oral argument [JURIST report] in US v. Nichols in March.
[JURIST] Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] and several other rights groups on Tuesday urged [press release] Thailand to repeal an order granting sweeping police powers to the military, expressing concern that it will worsen human rights conditions. The law [JURIST report] grants broad powers to prevent and suppress 27 categories of crimes including against public peace, liberty and reputation, immigration, human trafficking, narcotics, and weapons. The law allows those acting under it to escape prosecution and grants broad discretionary power to officers who may possess low levels of training. The president of the International Federation for Human Rights (FDIH) [advocacy website], Karim Lahidji, cautioned that although the law purports to suppress criminal activities it is likely to result in the commission of very serious crimes that are prohibited under human rights instruments that Thailand has either signed or ratified.

Human rights groups worldwide have expressed growing concern over Thailands governmental impunity since it became a military junta in May 2014. In January the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad Al Hussein called on the Thai government to fully investigate [JURIST report] the whereabouts of at least 82 people listed as disappeared and to criminalize forced disappearance through legislation. That same month, Thailand unveiled a new draft constitution [JURIST report], which human rights groups stated was aimed at increasing the power of the military under the guise of clauses intended to promote national security, permitting the government to commit human rights abuses without fear of punishment in violation of international treaties. In December Amnesty International called for [JURIST report] a thorough investigation into torture allegations levied against the police responsible for the arrests of two men in relation to the Koh Tao murders. The men, Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Tun, were found guilty of the murder of two British tourists in the vacation island of Koh Tao. The defense team for the Myanmar nationals claims that their confessions were coerced, and that DNA evidence linking the men to the crime was severely mishandled and unreliable. In November the UN Human Rights Office for South-East Asia urged Thailand to immediately close [JURIST report] a military detention center in Bangkok where two high-profile inmates died in October.
UN Special Rapporteur on the right to education, Kishore Singh, on Monday called [press release] on Chilean authorities to implement a sustainable model to education. He explained [statement] that Chile is going through an historic period of transformation to recognize education as a right and not as a commodity through its implementation of its Inclusive Education Act of June 2015 that progressively and completely eradicated for-profit education before 2018. Singh applauded Chile for adopting an unprecedented stance toward reforms and that combat high levels of school segregation and stratification. The Special Rapporteur also urged the government of Chile to enact legislation on financing education because of its essential nature to ensure that education is not reduced to a commodity or tainted by corruption and fraud. He said that the State remains the guardian of the right to education in all circumstances and focused on the change in Chile from education being driven by neoliberal economic policies and education restored as a public service through legislation.

Chile has also begun the process of drafting a new constitution in order to reflect the ideals of democracy and not its dictatorship when the current draft was written. The process began [JURIST report] in October and the new constitution will be presented to Congress in the second half of 2017. In March 2015 the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights warned [JURIST report] that poverty in Chile remained under the radar for many policy-makers in the country. He noted that although Chile serves as a model for much of Latin America in regards to human rights and social policy innovations- it continued to tolerate high levels of inequality and poverty.
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BROKEN BOW  Michelle Rahm, founder of the non-profit organization GemsOfMadagascar.org, will talk about her experiences in Madagascar at 7 p.m. April 11 in the Broken Bow BD Common Room and at 11 a.m. April 12 at the Mid-Plains Community College Broken Bow Extended Campus.

According to a city of Broken Bow press release, Rahm of Mead, Colo., is a graduate gemologist who in June 2014 visited Madagascar to learn about its mineralogy and tour some mining areas where the children, not the gems, caught her eye.

The children are the true gems of Madagascar, Rahm said in the press release. I have been to poor countries in the past, but Ive never seen poverty like this before. The great majority of children live in filth with no running water, clean water to drink, electricity or even toilets.

Since then, Rahm has been back to Madagascar three times to deliver temporary clean water solutions and troubleshoot permanent clean water projects. She will be returning to Madagascar with a team in June to fix a clean water system feeding into eight villages, teach proper hygiene practices, provide basic first aid training and more.

The event is sponsored by the Broken Bow Area Rotary Club and was inspired by Rotary District 5630s April Clean Water Month.
TIME is running out for a local school choir which has secured an audition for TV talent show Britains Got Talent, but lacks the cash to travel to it.

TIME is running out for a local school choir which has secured an audition for TV talent show Britains Got Talent, but lacks the cash to travel to it.

The senior choir from Presentation Secondary School were informed last week that they had landed the coveted audition on the popular UK programme  but that it would take place in Glasgow. The 70-member choir will not be going unless they can secure a sum of around E7,000 for travel in the next week.

We need a very generous benefactor if its to happen now, said choir director Veronica McCarron.

There would be very few entries from the Republic of Ireland, so it would be worldwide publicity for Kilkenny, and for the youth of Kilkenny and local education.

There are 85 girls in the choir, but the group going would be 70 in total  as the newer members are not yet familiar with the songs and routines.

We reckon it would be between E100 and E150 per student, so thats basically E7,000, said Ms McCarron

The flights would have to be booked by the end of this week. At this stage, we arent terribly optimistic. We are disappointed, the girls are very disappointed.

The group had sent a video and a profile of the choir off to the competition last year as an application. They have been left with little time to organise a journey over to Scotland, however.

We applied last year, and didnt hear anything more about it, so we didnt think about it again, said Ms McCarron.

Then last week we got an email to say we were through to the audition stages.

The school does not have the money to fund the trip at present. Parents have contributed to events recently, and it is felt that this one is simply a bridge too far. There is no mechanism within the Britains Got Talent competition to provide financial assistance in this sort of scenario.

The choir have had great success in recent years with wins at virtually every choral festival in the country, including Cork and Wesley. They are also currently preparing for the Sligo Choral Festival, which takes place in November.
ONE of the countys most idlylic period homes houses was the subject of a Supreme Court case last week. Magnificent Brownsbarn House, close to the River Nore between Thomastown and Inistioge next to the bridge of the same name has been the subject of litigation for the last number of years.

ONE of the countys most idlylic period homes houses was the subject of a Supreme Court case last week. Magnificent Brownsbarn House, close to the River Nore between Thomastown and Inistioge next to the bridge of the same name has been the subject of litigation for the last number of years.

The Supreme Court has ruled in favour of businessman James Stanley in a dispute with his former partner over the ownership of the property. It ruled that Brownsbarn House is held by a company in trust for Mr Stanley, the former chairman of Bula Resources (Holdings Ltd).

Mr Stanley, with an address in Moscow, Russia, had brought High Court proceedings against his ex-partner Mary Kieran (aka Mary Crawley), with an address at Brownsbarn House, and against River Properties Ltd, with registered offices in the British Virgin Islands.

He sought a declaration he is the beneficial owner of the lands and premises at Brownsbarn House or, alternatively, a declaration that Ms Kieran held the issued share capital in the company in trust for him.

In 2007, Ms Justice Mary Laffoy dismissed his claim. She ruled he had adduced no documentary evidence of the legal or beneficial ownership of the shares in the company and the amount of control given by him to Ms Kieran over the property was not consistent with his claim to be beneficial owner.

She found there was a 10-year delay in registering the lands. She noted the case proceeded in the absence of the company and said the failure of Mr Stanley to adduce any evidence of the companys current incorporated status, its membership and directors, was difficult to comprehend.

Mr Stanley appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court on grounds including Ms Justice Laffoy had made inferences and findings against him that, he argued, she was not entitled to make. He argued there was insufficient evidence to rebut the presumption the property was held by Ms Kieran and the company by way of a trust in favour of her.

The court heard Ms Kieran and Mr Stanley cohabited between 1983 and 1994. He claimed the property was purchased in 1989 for 235,000 and conveyed to the company, the share capital of which was registered in her name, and held in trust for him.

In 2000, he asked her to join with him in mortgaging the property but she refused, he claimed. Ms Kieran intended to dispose of the property without reference to him, he also claimed.

In her defence, Ms Kieran, representing herself, denied that Mr Stanley bought the house in either her name or the companys name in trust for him. She argued he was prevented from asserting any claim on the property because she had lived with him as a common- law wife, acted as his personal assistant in business affairs and was entitled to the sole and beneficial interest in the property.

The Supreme Court found Ms Kieran held the shares of the company in trust for Mr Stanley and also held the property in trust for Mr Stanley. Ms Justice Susan Denham said the High Court had erred in setting aside the express evidence of Mr Stanley.

The detached two-bay two-storey over basement double gable-fronted High Victorian Gothic-style country house was built 1856-63, incorporating the fabric of earlier house, pre-1749, on site which was part refenestrated.

It was built as a shooting lodge for William McDougall JP (c.1810-1875) in the unmistakable style of Sir Thomas Newenham Deane (1828-99) in conjunction with Benjamin Woodward (1816-61) recalling a contemporary (1865) scheme by the partnership at Turlough Park (House), Turlough, County Mayo.

Making a dramatic visual impact the construction in bands of granite and sandstone exhibits expert stone masonry while refined embellishments including dressings in locally-sourced limestone enrich the robust Ruskinian Gothic-style architectural design theme of the composition. It historic connections with the Roth (Rothe), the Nixon, the Lambert, the Holden, the Blackburne, and the Teighmouth families.
The town of Callan mourned the passing of a well liked and respected businesswoman during the week. Mrs Maura Hennessy of West Street, Callan, went to her eternal reward after a fulfilling life of 91 years.

The town of Callan mourned the passing of a well liked and respected businesswoman during the week. Mrs Maura Hennessy of West Street, Callan, went to her eternal reward after a fulfilling life of 91 years.

Maura was born into a well known farming Family, the ONeills of Ballintee, Dunamaggin. She started National School at Newmarket, where her mother, Hannah Alyward had taught some years previously. She then went to the Convent in Ferrybank and furthered her education with a domestic science degree at Ramsgrange College, Wexford.

Every holiday time she spent working with her uncle James Alyward, who had a thriving business on the Quays in Waterford. This experience was to stand to her as she would spend most of the rest of her life in business.

At the young age of 22, she married Bridge Street native, Paddy Hennessy, a well known and popular Butcher, who received his training at Mahoneys of Bridge Street. Together they bought Pollards buildings on West Street and opened a butchers stall where they worked extremely hard from 1944 right up until 1995.

Paddy and Maura were blessed with a talented family of eight children Joan, Beatrice, Mary, Angela, Ursula, Tommy, Oliver and John. After Paddys death, hardly a week went by that some of her family were there with her. They were extremely good to her. Whilst she loved her home, she travelled twice only outside the country, to San Sebastian in Spain to attend her grandson Conors wedding and to Rome on the occasion of the Beatification of Edmund Rice.

Maura was the Florence Nightingale of West Street. When Avondale Nursing Home opened next door to her, she was the unofficial matron as she visited the residents many times daily, collecting items from Nolans Shop nearby and prescriptions from the Chemist. She loved helping people and was raised in a family with a gra for helping others.

Just less than a year ago, a party was held in honour of Mauras 90th birthday at Kilkenny. She was in jovial form as she met up with old friends, relations and a wide Family circle. In recent weeks her health deteriorated and when the news spread of Mauras death on Wednesday night many people were saddened as Callan and West Street lost one of its great characters.

Many words were used to describe her - hard working, kind, regimental, brilliant neighbour, straight talking and many more. She was a tough taskmaster, she rarely asked anyone to do anything she could not do herself. She was admired and respected.

The Funeral removal and Requiem Mass was attended by great numbers of people, many travelling long distances. It was poignant to see her family carry the coffin to the waiting hearse, right outside the house where she made her home for 69 years.

The Palm Sunday Mass was celebrated by her cousin Fr Willie Dalton PP, assisted by Fr Finucane, Dublin and Fr Fergus Farrell. In his Homily, Fr Dalton spoke of Mauras life, her family, and recalled times past of the homestead at Ballintee. Her grandchildren delivered the prayers of the Faithful, one of them recited by Tadhg, as gaeilge. One of the gifts brought to the Altar was a framed photograph of Mrs Hennessy taking a loaf of bread from her cooker in her kitchen at West Street. She loved nothing more than to feed everyone that entered her kitchen.

The Eulogy was delivered by Tommy Hennessy on behalf of the family. It had everything, family history, humour, and many stories recalling his mothers active and long life. He thanked many people, Fr Willie Dalton for his frequent visits, the staff at Strathmore Lodge Nursing Home where Maura resided for the final year of her life and recieved excellent care, Molloys Undertakers for their professional service, all her good neighbours, Callan Parish Choir and Altar Servers.

Tommy said his mother would have been an ideal candidate for the Garda Reserve Force! She was always at her door keeping an eye on things and wasnt shy in giving her opinion on different matters! He paid tribute to a woman who will be greatly missed by her family, grandchildren, greatgrandchildren, brothers and sisters, neighbours and friends.

In the brilliant March sunshine and bitter cold winds, the cortege left the Parish Churchyard making its way to the Family burial plot where Maura Hennessy was laid to rest beside her beloved Husband, Paddy. May the sod of Kilbride lay lightly on her noble soul. Ar Dheis De go raibh a h-Anam.
Wall Street, the alleged culprit of the financial meltdown that started eight years ago, has become the whipping boy for the 2016 presidential race. Does the intense animosity of Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump explain the dive in the share prices of investment banks, private-equity firms and managers of hedge funds?

Its hard to escape the correlation. On May 26, 2015, Sanders, the socialist senator from Vermont, announced that he would seek the Democratic presidential nomination. Three weeks later, Trump, the wealthy New York businessman, announced his quest for the Republican nod. A week after that, shares of Goldman Sachs Group (symbol GS (opens in new tab), $155), the very symbol of Wall Street power and wealth, peaked at $219 a share. Within eight months, Goldman shares had fallen by nearly one-third. Morgan Stanley (MS (opens in new tab)) dropped even more. (All prices and returns are as of March 1; investments in boldface are those I recommend.)

Sanders has made reforming Wall Street the focus of his campaign. Clinton, despite large contributions from the financial sector, has echoed Sanders. The surprise is that attacks by Republicans have been nearly as strident. Trump said of hedge funds: Theyre paying nothing [in taxes]. And its ridiculous ... the hedge fund guys didnt build this country. These are guys that shift paper around and they get lucky.

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Clinton, like Sanders and Trump, wants to end the carried interest loophole, which taxes what many consider a private-equity firms incentive income at the capital-gains rate rather than the much steeper ordinary income tax rate. Like the investment-banking stocks, shares of private-equity firms have tanked. Blackstone Group (BX (opens in new tab)) has sunk 39% since May 2015; Carlyle Group (CG (opens in new tab)) has fallen by half and traded at an all-time low in February; KKR (KKR (opens in new tab)) has slid from $24 in June to $13.

Antagonistic candidates, however, arent the only problem. Private-equity firmswhose traditional business is buying companies, then trying to improve their performance and selling them at a profitare having a tough time finding bargains, which are their lifeblood. Prospective acquisitions have been picked over, and the days of easy money are over. The gems, such as Beats, the headphone maker, are getting scarcer as intense competition among the firms doing the buying pushes up purchase costs. Apple purchased Beats from Carlyle in 2014, allowing Carlyle to pocket an 80% profit in less than a year.

Sagging profits. As a result, the prices of some private-equity stocks started to fall well before the presidential candidates began giving the firms heat. Apollo Global Management (APO (opens in new tab)), founded in 1990, peaked in January 2014 at $36 and now trades at $16, a decline that makes perfect sense given that earnings per share skidded from $4.80 in 2013 to just 96 cents last year. Earnings at Blackstone, whose holdings include fashion designer Versace and camera maker Leica, dropped by nearly half in 2015 compared with a year earlier. KKR, the firm that pulled off the $24 billion RJR Nabisco deal in 1988, at the time the biggest buyout in history, hasnt come close to matching the earnings per unit it generated in 2010, the year it went public (publicly traded private-equity firms are set up as limited partnerships).

The firms are moving further afield, into loans to businesses, a territory dominated by commercial banks, and investments in distressed assets abroad, generally the province of hedge funds. Meanwhile, lenders to the private-equity firms are getting skittish themselves, especially after big losses in energy as oil prices have collapsed.

As troubles have mounted, share prices have come down, as have price-earnings ratios. Based on the average of analyst profit forecasts for 2016, Apollo, Blackstone and Carlyle all trade at P/Es of 11 to 12 (the overall stock markets P/E is 16). Its hard to resist private-equity stocks at these prices. And although the dividends these firms pay bounce up and down as they sell their holdings from year to year, the current yields look mouthwatering: Blackstones is 9.0%; Carlyles, 7.3%; Apollos, 7.1%.

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The tax advantage of carried interest will almost certainly disappear under the next president, but that prospect is already baked into stock prices, as are increased competition and harder-to-find deals. Still, analysts believe all of these firms will report sharply higher earnings next year.

Hedge funds and investment banks are also closely identified with Wall Street. Hedge funds raise money mainly from pension funds, university endowments, sovereign wealth funds (created by rich countries such as Kuwait and Norway) and well-heeled individuals, then invest in a wide variety of assets, from foreign currencies to small-cap stocks. Nearly all of the largest hedge funds, such as Bridgewater, Pershing Square and Caxton, are privately held partnerships, though some big ones are divisions of commercial banks and asset management companies, such as JPMorgan Chase (JPM (opens in new tab)) and BlackRock (BLK (opens in new tab)). One of the few hedge funds whose shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange is Fortress Investment Group (FIG (opens in new tab)). Fortress has suffered a number of setbacks, and its stock has plunged 84% since hitting a record-high price in early 2007. The stock, which yields 6.7%, is risky but worth a look.

Investment banks focus on raising capital for corporations and governments through such activities as bringing companies public, advising on mergers and underwriting bond issues. The repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act in 1999 tore down the barriers between commercial and investment banking. In investment-banking activities, commonly thought of as the province of Wall Street, Goldman is the standoutand a prime target of critics. Its ties to government are cozy and controversial. Two of the past seven Treasury secretaries, Robert Rubin and Henry Paulson, were top Goldman executives.

Goldmans shares, trading at a P/E of 9 based on profit estimates for 2016, appear supercheap. The stock price is lower today than it was 10 years agoand so are revenues and earnings. The Dodd-Frank law and other regulatory constraints that followed the Great Recession have clearly harmed profits, and so has weakness in the market for initial public offerings and high-yield bonds. The merger business, strong for much of 2015, has also been slipping. In truth, the anemic pace of economic growth is hurting Goldman more than the assaults of Sanders, Clinton and Trump.

When politicians talk about Wall Street, they often include money-center banks with huge consumer bases, such as Bank of America (BAC (opens in new tab)), Citigroup (C (opens in new tab)) and JPMorgan Chase. Although their stock prices are also down since last summer, I find them less attractive than private-equity firms and near-pure investment banks such as Goldman, which tend to be more efficient and are magnets for top talent. The latter are magnets for political attacks as well, but they have also shown that they can navigate around obstacles that governments put in their paths.

No matter the rhetoric, whoever becomes president will have a hard time throttling back firms that raise capital and deploy it. Now appears to be a good time to take advantage of negative perceptions that have driven their share prices into fertile territory.

James K. Glassman, a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, is the author, most recently, of Safety Net: The Strategy for De-Risking Your Investments in a Time of Turbulence. He owns none of the stocks mentioned.
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By Chris Henry, chenry@kitsapsun.com

BREMERTON  Shelter, food and health care.

Despite the best efforts of schools, social service agencies and community groups, these needs remain unquenched among Bremerton School District's homeless students, according to Linda Sullivan-Dudzic, the district's special programs director.

Bremerton's homeless student population is the highest of all of Kitsap and North Mason districts, according to a report from the state's Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. There were 423 students who lacked stable housing in the 2014-15 school year, up from 271 the year before. The portion of homeless students in Bremerton schools  8.4 percent of roughly 5,000 enrolled  is more than twice the state's 3.3 percent.

The district would seem a prime candidate for new state money allocated to aid homeless youth. But Sullivan-Dudzic, who oversees services to homeless students, isn't counting on the funding, because the need, compared to limited resources, is so great throughout state.

The number of homeless students in the state is up 9.1 percent over the 2013-14 school year, OSPI reports. Lack of affordable housing is likely a contributing factor, according to state schools chief Randy Dorn. In Kitsap County, a recovering housing market is working against people of low and modest incomes, as rents inch up.

"I'm not blaming people who have houses to rent. It's supply and demand," Sullivan-Dudzic said.

But for many families in her district  where nearly 63 percent of students qualify for free or reduced cost lunch  even a small increase in rent can put them over the edge.

The Legislature, through HB 1682, authorized a competitive grant to better meet the needs of homeless children and youth. Lawmakers allocated $2 million in the supplemental budget. Gov. Jay Inslee signed the bill Friday.

Bremerton will apply for the grant, Sullivan-Dudzic said, but she expects awards will be given to larger districts. The number of districts that can receive awards is limited to 15 per school year of the state's 295 districts total. Awards are limited to $100,000 per school, $500,000 per district per year.

Washington schools receive about $950,000 each year from the federal government under the McKinney-Vento Education of Homeless Children and Youth Assistance Act. But only 24 districts get McKinney-Vento money, and Bremerton's not among them.

McKinney-Vento requires all districts to provide homeless student liaisons at schools and to transport students to the school where they started the year, even if it's outside the district or county. That hits school budgets hard, even though it's unquestionably the right thing to do, said Christina Wyatt, director of student services for Central Kitsap School District.

CK spends nearly $16,000 per month to transport homeless students, who numbered 335 last school year. South Kitsap School District last year spent nearly $200,000 to transport 122 students to their "home" schools, according to Annette Stewart, school and staff support specialist.

Like other local districts Bremerton absorbs the cost of busing homeless students in its transportation budget. Bremerton and other districts use federal Title I dollars for disadvantaged youth for before- and after-school tutoring and a host of other services. Districts rely on food banks, service organizations, PTAs and other groups to provide school supplies, food, clothing and coordination to outside services.

In Kitsap County, go-to organizations that aid schools with homeless services include Kitsap Community Resources, Coffee Oasis and StandUp for Kids, a national organization whose local arm has distributed food and supplies to at-risk youth for more than two decades.

StandUp for Kids is planning to open a 15-bed shelter at the former Frances Haddon Morgan Center, a portion of which Bremerton School District leases.

Coffee Oasis offers support and job training to homeless youth, and has a limited number of state licensed shelter beds for youth ages 16 to 20. Kitsap Community Resources contracts with Coffee Oasis to provide youth services for KCR's Housing Solutions, a "one stop" center for struggling families and individuals. The idea is to give people skills and services needed to become stable for the long haul, said Monica Bernhard, KCR's director of housing and community support services.

Q Youth Resources in East Bremerton indirectly provides services to homeless students. The organization hosts weekly Friday drop-in nights for LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning) youth and supportive friends. Volunteer staff connect homeless youth with services as needed, said Eli Oldfield, a Q Youth board member.

Oldfield cited studies that show LGBTQ youth are disproportionately represented among their homeless peers. The National Coalition for the Homeless reports that 40 percent of homeless youth identify as LGBTQ, although they make up a far smaller portion of the youth population.

Rejection at home is a common cause for homelessness among LGBTQ youth, according to Oldfield, who gave high marks to school districts.

Schools are changing policies to accommodate a growing number of students who openly identify as transgender. "I would say the schools with a really fast learning curve are doing the best they can at being open and affirming and trying to provide the best environment for their youth," Oldfield said.

Oldfield applauds the work of faith-based organizations like Coffee Oasis but says some Q Youth clients have the perception they might not be welcome.

"I have nothing against faith-based organizations," Oldfield said. "A lot of people do great things out of their commitment to faith, but it shouldn't be the only option."

About 25 percent of the young people Coffee Oasis serves are LGBTQ, said Daniel Frederick, director of community development. True, the organization asks its employees to abide by biblical tenets, including confining sexual relationships to marriage between a man and a woman. But Coffee Oasis has an open-door policy the proof of which can be found by a visit to one of its locations in Bremerton, Port Orchard or Poulsbo.

"Everyone is treated equally, no matter where they come from or where they're going," Frederick said. "Personally, it hurts how often I hear this from people. All they have to do is come down and talk to the gay and lesbian youth and hear how well they've been accepted and loved. I think it would be enlightening."
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Harry Alfred Marenbach

Seabeck, WA

Jan. 21, 1936 to March 16, 2016

Harry Alfred Marenbach, 80 of Seabeck passed away March 16 at his home. He was born January 21st 1936 in Philadelphia Pa. to Alfred and Nedra (Sale) Marenbach.

He is survived by his wife Jean of 57 years. Daughters Dawn Allen (Mike) of Sequim and Karen Olsen (Loren) of Port Orchard. Grandchildren Sarah Sims of Alaska, Laura Moore and Derek Moore of Bremerton and 5 great grandchildren.

Mr. Marenbach graduated from Germantown High School in 1954 and Olympic College in 1983. He served in the Navy from 1954 to 1974, retiring as a Lieutenant. He was a crewmember of the USS Triton when it made the first submerged circumnavigation of the world and the USS Seadragon when it made the first visit of nuclear submarine to Japan. After retiring from the Navy, he worked for the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, Data Design Laboratories at the Bangor Submarine Base and Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.

Mr. Marenbach was a member of Afifi Shrine of Tacoma, the Bremerton Valley of Scottish Rite Masons, The Royal Order of Scotland (Thistle Clan) and William H. Upton Masonic Lodge #206, US. Submarine Veterans and Bremerton Elks and Peninsula Wits RV Club, and a member of Crosby Chapel.

After retiring in 1998 he was an avid traveler and him and his wife traveled for 17 years. He also loved gardening and fishing.

At Mr. Marenbachs request there will be no service. Memorials can be made to Crosby Chapel in Seabeck.

Sailor, rest your oar.
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The spectacular strangeness of this presidential election may require a new display in Ripley's Odditorium of believe-it-or-nots.

Among the exhibits, curators might place the History of Conventional Wisdom, wherein the page titled "Populists Never Win in America" has a large, red X drawn through the word "never."

Like all things status quo, this bit of wisdom seems aimed for retirement. Indeed, no one wins this year by promising to keep things just the way they are. From the candidacies of Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump to the many thousands of fans who stand in line to catch a glimpse of these two, the letters in "unbelievable" are being worn off the keyboards of political commentators these days.

Then again, when have news folks been more delighted by the horror before them? Sad but true: What's bad for the Republic is good for cartoonists and columnists.

Further evidence of the uniqueness of this season is the power of small purses against the Big Money that Americans now find so offensive. You want to end income inequality? How better to send a message to Wall Street than to out-fund the nominee of the conventionally wise?

For the past three months, Sanders has outraised Hillary Clinton with mostly small, grass-roots donations, while Clinton, whose greatest deficit may be her membership in the pantheon of power politics, relies on big-donor fundraisers.

It is still Clinton's nomination to lose, again according to conventional wisdom, but in a sense both Sanders and Trump would win by losing. Both have forced their respective parties further to the fringes and neither, one suspects, really wants to be president. Who would? Only a fool  or the truly duty-bound.

Into this camp I would place Clinton, who may feel it her duty to become president, and not only to satisfy what is necessarily a personal goal as an example to women the world over. I'd also put John Kasich next to her. In addition to seeming decent and sincere (and sometimes annoyingly cheerful), he conveys that he mostly wants to do the work.

And then there's this other guy named Paul Ryan. Over on Capitol Hill, far from the madding crowd of rallies and racehorses, the newest Speaker of the House of Representatives has been quietly reinventing the Republican Party by creating a new governing template.

Ryan recently spoke of his philosophy to Hill interns in terms of subsidiarity as an organizing principle in both his Catholic faith and his politics.

Politically, subsidiarity is the idea that matters should be handled by the smallest or least centralized competent authority. Similarly, in Catholic social thought, it means that nothing should be done by a larger centralized organization that can be done as well by a smaller organization.

Structurally, this is the argument behind federalism and the conservative case for limited government. Practically, subsidiarity means that Ryan is taking a bottom-up approach to leadership. This means that debating and promulgating policy proposals take place at the committee level, where a more diverse cross-section of voices and ideas can be aired.

Not all Catholics favor certain applications of subsidiarity, especially when it comes to welfare reform and other poverty programs. The schism within the church, in other words, reflects the divide between the two political parties. But both Republicans and Democrats may find common ground in Ryan's application of subsidiarity to the conduct of the House, which is fundamentally aimed at inviting the American people to the table.

With a jaundiced eye, one notes that Ryan's pro-people template seems rather well-timed for a contested convention and perhaps for unifying the party given the divisiveness and repulsion posed by Trump and, almost equally, Ted Cruz. Plainly, it would be dicey for party leaders to bypass Cruz or Kasich, but Cruz will lose in a general election and Kasich may lack sufficient support to justify promoting him from last to first.

Thus, an argument could be made for a fresher face, a former vice-presidential pick, who has a record of working with Democrats, a man of faith and family values whose only real baggage is the suitcase he carries home each weekend to Wisconsin.

Finally and surely  surely  Ryan had something more in mind when he agreed to take the speaker's job against the advice of so many. They feared, ironically, that he would be damaged by infighting and lose any shot at the presidency some day. Alas, he has done the opposite. We live and learn. And while President Paul Ryan may not fit today's conventional wisdom, his nomination would barely register on Ripley's odd-o-meter.
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By Leonard Pitts

It was 15 minutes after midnight when the bombs began to fall.

The people on the ground never had a chance. Before it was over, 334 Superfortress B-29s had dropped 2,000 tons of incendiaries on the wooden frame houses below. Fanned by high winds, the resultant conflagration became what some historians have dubbed the worst firestorm of all time.

Sixteen square miles in and around Tokyo were incinerated. A million men, women and children were injured. The low end estimate of the death toll puts it at 80,000. This was in March of 1945. Five months later, the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima.

All that carnage came in the context of a morally unambiguous conflict often described as "the good war." But the hell that fell on Tokyo is a reminder that, while it is sometimes necessary, war is never good.

No, war is often little more than a choice between terrible things. In countries like ours that pride themselves on their moral authority, we sometimes allow ourselves to forget that, binding war with legalities and rules designed to leave conscience clean and allow us to do what is repulsive, but required.

But the taut and compelling new movie "Eye in the Sky," refuses to allow us to forget.

In it, Helen Mirren is a British colonel directing a drone strike by Aaron Paul, a Nevada-based pilot, against terrorists in Kenya, in consultation with a facial recognition team in Hawaii, and with the advice and consent of government and military officials in London, Washington and elsewhere.

Mirren's colonel and Paul's pilot have electronic eyes on a house where terrorists are gearing up for a suicide bombing likely to consume dozens of lives. They can put a missile through the roof and end the threat immediately. But there's a little girl selling bread just outside and the blast that ends the threat will likely end her as well. What to do?

Once upon a time, one man had his hand on the trigger and had to decide in a split-second. But now, with drones able to rain remote control death, a dozen hands in a dozen places are all on that same trigger, and in the movie, the split second swells to encompass a debate among military and government officials over whether law and morality can countenance killing this child.

Maybe the answer is obvious to you. Maybe, with icy Spock logic, you note that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. But this is not a math problem. No, this is you, choosing death for a little girl. It is in the name of a greater good, to be sure. But still, death for a little girl.

How difficult do you imagine it was for the men commanding those B-29s to drop fire on Tokyo? Yes, they were professionals punishing an aggressor nation. But they were also human beings, so is it fanciful to suppose that maybe some of them felt some tug of conscience as the bomb bay doors opened?

And if so, how much more difficult would it have been to look right at the innocent and yet push the button anyway?

Last year, The New York Times reported that this country had carried out more than 400 drone strikes since 2004. Some bad people died in these attacks. But so did an American aid worker in Pakistan, wedding-goers in Yemen and hospital patients in Afghanistan. In fact, according to multiple reports, the vast majority of those killed have been innocents unconnected to terrorism.

If you are outraged, fine. But don't miss the bigger outrage: namely, that this is what war is and always has been. It's just that in the drone era, it's harder to fool ourselves than it once was; we are forced to see the child standing there about to die and we have time to debate the morality of it. But that's all that's new.

Because she has always been standing there. And she always will be.

Leonard Pitts Jr., winner of the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for commentary, is a columnist for the Miami Herald, 3511 N.W. 91 Avenue, Doral, Fla. 33172. Readers may write to him via email at lpitts@miamiherald.com.
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By John Clauson, executive director, Kitsap Transit

We live in an era where speed matters. We are anxious when our loved ones don't quickly answer a call, text or tweet. We expect merchandise, information and services to be a click away. We value speed because the faster we can get things done, the more time we have for life.

In Seattle you can now board a train and zip underground from downtown to the UW in minutes. Rapid transit could have arrived decades earlier: In 1970, King County voters rejected a rapid-transit rail system whose startup costs would have been funded largely by the federal government; as a result, the money went to Atlanta to build its MARTA system, which is credited with sparking about $2.6 billion in annual economic activity and supporting about 24,000 jobs.

We know that faster transit creates new possibilities, and that's why for over a decade, Kitsap Transit has explored the feasibility of a fast-ferry connection between Kitsap County and downtown Seattle. Kitsap County voters may be asked in November to approve a new local sales tax to fund a fast-ferry service  yet only four in 10 county residents have heard of the proposal.

The proposed passenger-only ferry service would offer a fast, direct connection between three Kitsap County cities and downtown Seattle. If voters approve a sales-tax measure this year, all three routes would be in service by 2020. The service would reach downtown Seattle in about 30 minutes, cutting at least by half the time it now takes using existing mass-transit options.

From October to April, the proposed service would support six daily roundtrips. From May to September, more frequent and evening sailings would be added, including service on Saturdays.

Here are some misconceptions and facts about the proposal:

Claim: Isn't running a ferry service the job of Washington State Ferries?

Fact: Under our proposal, a new sales tax of 3 cents per $10, plus passenger fares, would cover the cost of operating three foot-ferry routes from Kitsap County to downtown Seattle. In 2003 WSF shut down a passenger-only ferry service between Bremerton and Seattle. WSF later used a federal grant to study a low-wake, high-speed foot ferry and handed the project off to Kitsap Transit.

Claim: It would be more fiscally prudent to use sales-tax proceeds for needs such as better bus service and road improvements.

Fact: The Legislature authorized the additional sales tax to be used for the passenger-only ferry service, not other purposes. However, the ferry sales tax would also support the existing Port Orchard-Bremerton foot ferry, allowing Kitsap Transit to repurpose current funds for expanded bus service.

Claim: I don't commute to Seattle. This benefits a few at everyone's expense.

Fact: There are many "public goods" we all pay for that not all use. Residents support buses, 911 and other government services through a sales tax. Is a ferry that different? The ferry service would give commuters about an hour back of their daily travel time to work  time to spend with their families, communities and local businesses.

Commuters aren't the only ones who benefit from the proposed fast ferry. Kitsap County's retirees would have quicker access to specialized medical services, sporting events and cultural attractions. Students could attend classes at the UW or intern at one of Seattle's many Fortune 500 companies while living at home. At peak hours, Highways 3 and 305 could see less congestion if commuters bound for Bremerton and Bainbridge ferries choose to depart from Kingston or Southworth instead.

By offering faster transit between Kitsap and Seattle, economic development is expected to follow. That means higher property values near ferry terminals, more capital investment in Kitsap County and new job opportunities.

Claim: Passenger-only ferry service in Kitsap County has been tried before. What's different this time?

Fact: We now have a vessel that can operate at high speeds in Rich Passage without harming the shoreline, as evidenced by scientific data collected over more than a decade. Moreover, we have a financially sustainable business plan now that envisions a level and frequency of service sufficient to attract not just commuters, but noncommuters in the evenings and on Saturdays. Significantly, the community has told us that the proposed $12 round-trip full fare is reasonable.

Claim: This fast-ferry service is going to bring more King County residents here. We don't need growth.

Fact: The growth is here already. In the Puget Sound region, the population grew last year by an average of more than seven people per hour. Ruston, Gig Harbor and Port Orchard made the Puget Sound Regional Council's list of the region's five fastest-growing cities. While transit can't solve every problem, our proposed ferry service can play a role in mitigating the impact of growth by giving residents across Kitsap County a convenient, faster way to reach the region's largest employment center without a car.

We encourage you to learn more at KitsapTransit.com or by calling 800-501-RIDE.
Stuff reports:

A secret drug-testing operation has allowed more than 60 people to test their recreational drugs at a recent festival, despite it being illegal for organisers to knowingly allow drugs on site.

The covert drug testers, operating with the festivals knowledge, found more than half the drugs punters brought in werent what they thought they were.

Now more festivals  including Wellingtons Homegrown  are considering drug testing tents, but face bucking up against the law.

Over the course of the festival, Allisons teams tested 63 samples. Of those, 57 percent were not what the festival-goers thought they had.

A lot of people who said I know this is MDMA, I tried it  I showed them the charts and they were astounded.

Just under half of the people who had samples that werent what they thought told us they werent going to take it.

Of 22 samples taken of LSD, only six were real. A further six tested positive for N-Bom, a drug implicated in a number of deaths overseas.

Emergency medicine specialist and clinical toxicologist Dr Paul Quigley said allowing drug testing at festivals would make hospitals jobs easier.

He argued legalising drug testing could both reduce hospital transfers, and provide more information for police about what dangerous drugs were being sold on the streets.

You have to quite frankly be an idiot if you think that people arent going to take drugs at these festivals Instead of prohibition at least acknowledge its happening and lets make it safer.
Wellington Deputy Mayor Justin Lester has launched his campaign with some promises. Lets look at them:

Under Lester, any Kiwi citizen or permanent resident who builds their first home in Wellington will have the first $5000 of city council rates on that property rebated. Regional rates would still apply. It would need to be the first home you have owned in this country. People who have owned property overseas will be able to claim the rebate, provided their residency status checks out. Lester estimated the plan would cost the council about 500,000 per annum. Money already set aside to market Wellington would be re-prioritised to cover the rebate, meaning no new costs would be lumped on ratepayers, he said. Its about making Wellington a place where people want to live and want to succeed. So $500,000 off-set with money for economic development  is an easy win.

So this is taking $500,000 a year from ratepayers and giving it to 100 lucky ratepayers?

Rather than have a policy to benefit just 100 ratepayers a year, why not have a policy that will benefit all aspiring home owners? Such as freeing up more land for new homes?

Allowing children under the age of five and their guardians free entry into council pools would only cost a paltry $55,000 per year and would also be funded from within existing budgets.

Im okay with this one. Teaching kids to swim is important and the cost is minimal.

Charging Wellingtons bars, cafes and restaurants to have chairs and tables outdoors was only adding $75,000 per year to the councils $450m budget, so it made sense to wave the fee and make it easier for those businesses to thrive, Lester said.

I quite like this policy also.

Lester also promised to scrap the fees businesses pay to have outdoor dining on public land, and to tackle the councils ingrained sexism by having more senior female employees, if elected mayor in October.  He promised not to interfere in the hiring process of chief executive Kevin Lavery as mayor, but said there would be expectations of more diversity and balance among the councils five or six top leadership positions, which currently only features one woman.

He is interfering. Hes saying the next time there is a vacancy Lavery must hire a woman.

Good to have a candidate with some specific policies. I look forward to others.

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BOB FOWLER/NEWS SENTINEL A proposal to build a Marriott Hotel in the planned Oak Ridge Main Street project has been shelved. The sign announcing redevelopment of the former Oak Ridge Mall is in front of the Belk department store; one of two stores still operating in the mall.

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By Bob Fowler of the Knoxville News Sentinel

OAK RIDGE  A key element in the plan to convert Oak Ridge Mall into Main Street Oak Ridge has hit a snag, but courthouse documents seem to indicate the developer intends to move forward with the overall project.

A proposal to locate a Marriott Hotel on the reconverted mall property has unraveled because Marriott has rejected available sites within the development blueprint, according to a recent letter from City Manager Mark Watson to hotel franchisee Chander Bhateja.

Watson says in the letter that tax abatements that had been offered for a hotel within the Main Street Oak Ridge development area won't be available at the alternate location under consideration on East Tulsa Road behind Kmart.

"Such an incentive would be contrary to be best interest of the community, until such time as the occupancy rate for the city's existing hotels increases beyond its present occupancy rate, which averaged 55 percent during 2015," Watson's letter states.

A Rutgers Avenue address in the Main Street Oak Ridge project had been sought by Bhateja, but the only three approved sites available within the project design are along Wilson Street.

"The centerpiece hotel project has been and continues to be an essential element of the new center of the city," Watson said in his letter. "We are disappointed and confused by Marriott's position" on the issue, it continues.

There are other hotel options for the Main Street Oak Ridge site, according to city economic development consultant Ray Evans. "There has been and continues to be several potential developers in the mix," Evans said in an email Tuesday.

The years-long saga to find a developer to rejuvenate Oak Ridge Mall, a 58-acre property in the heart of the city, has been highlighted by twists and turns.

Development firm Crosland Southeast of Charlotte, N.C., reportedly spent two years and more than $1 million on redevelopment plans before it was replaced last September by RealtyLink of Greenville, S.C. Current mall owner Steve Arnsdorff, a principal in Oak Ridge City Center, didn't comment on that change.

RealtyLink executive Neil Wilson in November said the mall property would be sold in mid-December, and the initial phase of Main Street Oak Ridge would open by Christmas season 2016.

The mall has yet to be sold, and Evans recently said opening of the first stores in the project likely won't be until early 2017.

"The property will close when all the requirements for closing have been met," Evans said in an email Tuesday.

A document on file in the Anderson County Register of Deeds office indicates the sale may be imminent. The fourth modification of a loan agreement from First Tennessee Bank to Oak Ridge City Center LLC states that the $481,292.64 that's owed will be paid in full on or before May 1. That loan payoff would likely occur before the sale.
Improvements to Horizon Center Business Park in Oak Ridge by the city's Industrial Development Board are on hold until the Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee decides if it wants to buy the land back. BOB FOWLER/NEWS SENTINEL

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By Bob Fowler of the Knoxville News Sentinel

OAK RIDGE  Improvements to infrastructure in a large business and industrial park in west Oak Ridge have been put on hold as the future ownership of the property has been placed in question.

Horizon Center Business Park, former Department of Energy property developed in the late 1990s with more than $10 million in DOE and state funds, is now owned by the Oak Ridge Industrial Development Board.

The land was transferred to the board in 2010 by the Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee, an economic-development entity with the task of finding new uses for under-utilized or surplus DOE properties on its Oak Ridge Reservation.

But under that transfer agreement, the board was to have sold or leased at least 78 acres by now, with CROET receiving either $9,500 an acre of sale proceeds or 30 percent of the sales price, whichever was greater.

Only 59 acres have been sold thus far, and the 2010 agreement calls for CROET now to have the option to take back the remaining acreage, pay $1 for it, and repay the board for any land improvements it has made since the transfer.

That prompted board Chairman David Wilson during the latest meeting Monday to call for a halt to further improvements. "We should not spend anything we don't have to spend," he said.

While a letter to CROET President Lawrence Young states that the board has spent more than $21,000 on land improvements, Wilson estimated that more than $800,000 has been expended on other park work since the board assumed ownership.

Clearcutting of a large tract of Horizon Center was on the drawing board, but board members agreed the project should be put on hold during the six-month period  which went into effect this week  when CROET has the option to take back the land.

Young said on Tuesday that it's likely he'll recommend to the board of CROET's subsidiary, Horizon Center LLC, that the city's industrial board keep ownership of the land.

"My opinion is they (the industrial board) have performed reasonably well," he said "The situation would be quite different if no property had been sold."
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By News Sentinel Staff

A Sevier County Sheriff's Office deputy who shot and killed a man outside a Sevierville restaurant in January has been cleared in the incident.

According to 4th District Attorney General Jimmy Dunn, Levi Morton was "reasonable and justified under Tennessee law" in the shooting of 29-year-old Brandon David Bearden outside a Texas Roadhouse restaurant.

"I have reviewed all the available evidence, including body camera video, photographs and citizen and law enforcement statements and other documents contained in the file complied by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation regarding the unfortunate events that occurred Jan. 13, 2016," Dunn said in a news release. "The available evidence supports that Deputy Morton was faced with a reasonable belief that there was imminent danger of death or serious bodily injuries to (himself), the bond agents at the scene as well as bystanders and other civilians present, and/or to Bearden himself. As such, Deputy Morton's actions were in full compliance with Tennessee (laws) regarding the use of self-defense and defense of their persons."

Bearden was shot Jan. 13 while deputies were trying to arrest him on outstanding criminal charges when his vehicle collided with Morton's.

Dunn noted that Bearden was armed and brandished a handgun, which he pointed in Morton's direction during a foot pursuit after he exited the vehicle.

Morton identified himself as an officer and warned Bearden that deadly force might be used unless he stopped.

"In response to Bearden's actions, Deputy Morton shot (him) several times fatally wounding him," Dunn said.
By News Sentinel Staff

Firefighters have contained the scene of a a wildfire on English Mountain in Sevier County that has consumed roughly 300 acres and forced the evacuation of 30-40 homes, according to Nathan Waters, assistant district forester with the East Tennessee District of the Tennessee Division of Forestry Administration.

He said the fire is being investigated as a possible arson.

"It's suspected," Waters said. "If anybody has any information about any suspicious activity, we encourage them to call the (Sevier County) sheriff's department."

The fire was reported about 9 p.m. Monday in the 1200 block of Sourwood Honey Drive, according to English Mountain Volunteer Fire Department Chief Peter Kleiman.

"It started as about a half-acre brush fire," Kleiman said. "We don't know the cause.

"The wind kicked in and the fire blossomed."

The Sevier County and Caton's Chapel volunteer fire departments were already helping with the blaze on the east side of the mountain, and Kleiman said about 10 p.m. he called for all of the county's fire departments.

The Tennessee Division of Forestry brought in bulldozers and is cut a line around the fire, Kleiman said.

Kleiman estimated as many as 50 to 75 firefighters were on the mountain at one point. No injuries have been reported.

The American Red Cross has set up a shelter for displaced residents at the Pigeon Forge Community Center.

Waters said that English Mountain fire crews are monitoring the scene throughout the day Tuesday for any flare ups. He added that, with wind kicking up in East Tennessee, the Tennessee Division of Forestry Administration is not issuing burn permits.

More details as they develop online and in Wednesday's News Sentinel.
Rajiv Soni, left, and Amara Perez, right, clap and shout as a car driving by honks during a protest against House Bill 2 Thursday, March 24, 2016 outside of the Governor's Mansion on North Blount Street in downtown Raleigh, N.C. (Jill Knight/The News & Observer via AP)

By Michael Collins of the Knoxville News Sentinel

WASHINGTON  A national civil-rights group warned Tuesday that Tennessee could see the same kind of backlash North Carolina is facing if the state enacts legislation requiring transgender students to use bathrooms that match their sex at birth.

"It's clear that when states have discriminatory laws or come close to passing discriminatory laws, there is an outpouring of opposition from the business community," said Chase Strangio, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union's LGBT and HIV Project.

A bill under consideration by the Tennessee General Assembly would require students in public schools to use restrooms and locker rooms "that are assigned to persons of the same sex as that shown on the students' birth certificates."

The proposed law is similar to one that South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard vetoed in March and is one of dozens of bills introduced in legislatures across the country that target gays in the aftermath of last summer's U.S. Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage.

On Tuesday, Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant signed a law that allows public and private businesses to refuse service to gay couples based on the employers' religious beliefs, despite opposition from gay-rights groups and some businesses who say it enables discrimination.

North Carolina also is under fire over a new law that bars local governments from extending civil-rights protections to gay and transgender people.

More than 100 corporate leaders have denounced the North Carolina law. The online payment company PayPal announced Tuesday it is scrapping plans to open a $3.6 million global operations center in Charlotte to protest the law, which the company said "perpetuates discrimination" and violates the values and principles at the core of its mission. The decision will cost the state 400 jobs.

In Tennessee, bills requiring students to use restrooms and locker rooms that match their sex at birth are pending in both the House and the Senate. Religious conservatives are pushing the legislation, which is sponsored by Rep. Susan Lynn, R-Mt. Juliet, and Mike Bell, R-Riceville.

A House committee killed the legislation in March, but religious conservatives are trying to keep it alive. The House Education, Administration and Planning Committee is scheduled to consider the bill on Wednesday.

Opponents argue the proposed law unfairly treats one group of students differently than others and could put the state at risk of losing federal funds because it would violate a federal education law that bars discrimination on the basis of sex.

The proposal is broader than the bill that South Dakota's governor vetoed, Strangio said. The Tennessee legislation would apply to students in public elementary and high schools, as well as the state's public colleges and universities. The South Dakota legislation was limited to elementary and high school students.

"Like the bill in South Dakota, it's a bill that targets a vulnerable group of people," Strangio said of the Tennessee legislation. "It is responding to no actual problem and creating a statewide rule where local school districts have been managing these situations without incident."

Businesses have raised objections to the Tennessee bill, raising the possibility that companies could move jobs out of the state or refuse to bring in new job opportunities, Strangio said.

Hollywood production companies have threatened to stop filming in North Carolina because of that state's new law, so it's possible Tennessee also would lose film projects if it passes the transgender bathroom law, Strangio said.
9:08 p.m. April 4, 2016

Al-Qaidas senior leader believed killed in U.S. airstrike

By Terri Moon Cronk, DOD









Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook answers questions from reporters during a briefing at the Pentagon, April 4. DoD photo by Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Tim D. Godbee.





WASHINGTON, Apr. 4, 2016  A U.S. military airstrike on a senior al-Qaida operational meeting in northwestern Syria resulted in several enemy killed, possibly including the terrorist organizations leader, Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook told reporters today.



We assess that al-Qaida's senior leader, Abu Firas al-Suri, was in that meeting, and we are working to confirm his death, Cook said.



Suri, a Syrian national, worked with Osama bin Laden and other founding al-Qaida members to train terrorists and conduct attacks on a global scale, Cook said, adding that he was a legacy al-Qaida member who fought in Afghanistan in the 1980s and 1990s.





Al-Shabab Leader Killed in Somalia



In addition, Cook said, the Defense Department has confirmed that al-Shabab senior leader Hassan Ali Dhoore was killed in a March 31 U.S. military airstrike in Somalia. As one of the top leaders of al-Qaida's Somalian affiliate, the press secretary said, Dhoore was a member of al-Shabaab's security and intelligence wing and was heavily involved in high-profile attack planning in Mogadishu, Cook said.



He has planned and overseen attacks resulting in the death of at least three U.S. citizens, the press secretary said, adding that the United States continues to work with the international community to mitigate conflict in Somalia and to provide a safe and secure environment for the people of Somalia.



DoDs assessment of al-Shabab activity is ongoing, Cook said, and the department is working with the African Union Mission in Somalia, or Amisom, and U.S. partners in Africa to determine the best way forward to defeat al-Shabab wherever they are. Amisom is a regional peacekeeping mission operated by the African Union with the approval of the United Nations in Somalia.





ISIL Fighter Connected to Marines Death Killed



Cook also confirmed the death of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant battlefield commander thought to be responsible for the March 19 death of Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Louis F. Cardin of Temecula, California.



The person we've identified is Jasim Khadijah, he said. He was an ISIL member and a former Iraqi officer that we believe was directly connected to the enemy rocket attack on Cardins base, he said.



Cardin was part of a Marine Corps detachment near Makhmur, Iraq, and was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, when he was killed.



Because of [Khadijahs] particular knowledge and his involvement with that part of ISIL's operations,  we feel he played a role in the rocket attacks that [claimed] the life of Staff Sergeant Cardin, Cook said.

Published April 4, 2016














By Lee Hyo-sik





Chong Il-woo

PMI Korea CEO

Philip Morris International (PMI) Korea, headed by CEO Chong Il-woo, has filed a lawsuit against the government, demanding it nullify its decision last year to only allow the sale of KT&G brand cigarettes to soldiers.

The unprecedented move comes days before the Ministry of National Defense is set to select a cigarette supplier for the nation's armed forces this year.

It reflects PMI's attempt to press the ministry to make its cigarettes available for soldiers on bases.

KT&G, the country's largest cigarette maker, has been the sole supplier to the military since 2007 when the defense ministry held a bid, opening the door to foreign cigarette makers for the first time.

However, PMI Korea, which accounts for about 21 percent of the country's cigarette market, and the other two non-Korean tobacco firms  British American Tobacco (BAT) Korea and Japan Tobacco International (JTI) Korea  have not been able to break KT&G's monopoly.

This year would be no different from previous years as KT&G, which controls over 60 percent of Korea's cigarette market, will likely be the only supplier for the military.

Besides the military, foreign cigarette makers have also been complaining about Korea Expressway Corp.'s exclusive deal with KT&G, which makes only KT&G products available at the nation's highway service areas.

"On March 28, we filed a lawsuit against the government with the Seoul Central District Court, calling for the annulment of the defense ministry's 2015 decision," a PMI spokeswoman said. "We lodged the suit because we don't understand why the ministry has only allowed the sale of KT&G cigarettes at shops on military bases. We would like to know exactly what their selection criteria are."

PMI Korea submitted a bid to the defense ministry Monday to try once again to sell cigarettes inside military barracks, she said. BAT Korea and JTI Korea also took part in the bid, but the chances are said to be very slim for the three foreign tobacco makers.

The ministry plans to announce its cigarette supplier for this year, April 14.

"Given young smokers' preference for foreign tobacco brands, we just don't understand why the defense ministry has been blocking us from serving young soldiers," the spokeswoman said, raising the question over the fairness of the military's tobacco supply selection process.

"KT&G's monopoly has hurt soldiers' rights to choose. The ministry should overhaul its selection standards to make a variety of products available for servicemen and women," she said.

According to a Hankook Research survey last year, the preference for foreign tobacco brands was highest among people aged between 19 and 29. About 40.7 percent of the age group preferred Marlboro and other Philip Morris brands.

On April 18, 2015, the ministry chose four cigarette brands all manufactured by KT&G to be sold at post exchanges, a military version of a convenience store inside the base. The company is estimated to have earned about 80 billion won ($70 million), or 1 percent of its total sales, from selling four cigarette brands to soldiers.
By Yoon Sung-won





Alfred Koh, Microsoft Korea CEO

Microsoft (MS) Korea is expected to speed up collaboration with local partners under the leadership of its new head, Alfred Koh.

The regional subsidiary of MS has signed a memorandum of understanding with Korea's third-largest telecom operator, LG Uplus, for a co-location service, according to industry sources, Tuesday.

Under the deal, MS Korea will install its network equipment, such as computer servers and storage devices, at the telecom company's Internet data center (IDC) in Pyeongchon, Gyeonggi Province.

But MS Korea's new head is likely to face criticism that the global IT giant is trying to expand in the rapidly growing domestic cloud service market without making substantial investment in building a data center of its own here.

Earlier last year, MS Korea signed an agreement with LG CNS, a system integration service-providing affiliate of LG Group, to set up its data center at the latter's cloud data center in Busan.

Central and regional government authorities have worked to attract global IT companies like MS Korea to build data centers here, seeking massive foreign direct investment while preparing for explosive growth in data traffic and data center demand amid an expansion of mobile services and the Internet of Things (IoT).

But they have concentrated on co-location services through partnerships with local data center operators and shunned building their own centers, complaining about a lack of tax benefits and possible search and seizure raids by investigative agencies.

"Many foreign IT companies are stacking up their server and storage infrastructure to boost their presence here," a source said. "They may further dominate the domestic cloud market by simply leasing more space from local data center operators."

MS has pushed for data center facilities here since 2011, aiming to accelerate its cloud service business, including Windows Azure and Office cloud, not only in Korea but also in neighboring countries such as China and Japan.

As of last year, the company's Azure service held 9 percent of the global cloud service market, following Amazon Web Service (AWS) with 31 percent, according to data by global market researcher Synergy Research. MS recorded the biggest growth in this sector last year at 124 percent year-on-year, the data showed.

Besides MS, the world's leading cloud computing service providers such as AWS and IBM have also sought co-location deals with Korean data center operators.

AWS has been using space at KT's data center in Mok-dong, western Seoul, and SK Broadband's in Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province, since early this year. IBM has rented Kyobo's data center space in Songdo, Incheon, and plans to start operating another at SK Corp.'s in Pangyo, Gyeonggi Province.

As the global IT companies set up their network infrastructure on Korean soil, they have become a greater threat to smaller domestic cloud service businesses because they will be able to lure more clients from the public and private sectors with safer and faster services.

The Korean government is planning an aggressive drive to foster the domestic cloud service industry to the global level.

On March 29, the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning said it would offer financial and political support aimed at boosting the use of cloud services to 13 percent from 6.4 percent and expand cloud market sales to 1.1 trillion won from 766.4 billion won this year. The ministry also pledged to increase public agencies' cloud computing adoption to 3 percent from scratch this year.
Chevrolet's flagship Impala sedan



By Jhoo Dong-chan

GM Korea, the nation's third-largest automobile manufacturer and a subsidiary of U.S.-based General Motors, has decided to continue to import the Chevy Impala, rather than producing the premium sedan here.

GM Korea announced its decision to continue importing the Impala, which has been well received by Korean customers.

"The company carried out thorough and comprehensive research on the feasibility of assembling the Impala in Korea," said a GM official.

"And it decided that it is more feasible to continue to import the sedan than building it here in order not only to satisfy the customer demand for the Impala, but also to actively and flexibly meet environmental regulations in terms of product portfolio."

The Impala has sold well in the domestic luxury car market, surpassing sales of 10,000 autos just six months after its debut.

Offering various options and comfortable interior space, the Impala once surpassed sales of Kia Motors' K7 last year with its value and price competitiveness benefiting by the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, which brought down tariffs on vehicles imported from the U. S.

During its introduction last year, GM Korea CEO Sergio Rocha promised that if the Impala reaches at a certain level in sales, the company will consider manufacturing the car domestically.

Although the Impala is reportedly selling 1,000 cars a month, the company has decided not to carry out domestic operations but to continue importing them.

"The company needs to consider the profitability for domestic production. We believe it is more appropriate to continue to import the sedan in order to satisfy the customers' demand for the premium values of Impala," said an official.

"The company has discussed the issue with its union members and we hope the workers would agreed with the company's decision."

Instead of carrying out domestic production of the Impala, the official said the company's other top sedan, Malibu, will be manufactured at its factory in Incheon.

GM Korea continued its sales momentum this year with domestic sales in March up 48 percent from the previous month. Sales were driven by continued positive response to the Chevrolet Spark. Sales of the Spark rose 87.7 percent to 9,175 cars in March compared to the same month last year, giving the model its best-ever monthly sales since the company introduced it.
Foreign firms rush into Korea for share in reinsurance pie



By Nam Hyun-woo



Pacific Life Re has received approval from Korea's top financial regulator to commence its business in Seoul, the reinsurer said Tuesday. Given this, the firm has become the latest in a string of foreign firms advancing into the country's reinsurance market, now dominated by homegrown player Korean Re.



Pacific Life Re said it has recently received approval from the Financial Services Commission, enabling its Korean office to begin writing onshore reinsurance for Korean life insurers. The company has been working with its Korean clients since 2009, operating out of its regional hub in Singapore.



Pacific Life Re Korea is part of Pacific Life Re, the reinsurance division of the Pacific Life group, and its ultimate parent is U.S.-based Pacific Mutual Holding Company with assets of $137 billion. It has offices in Asia, Europe, Australia and North America and manages its clients' mortality, longevity and morbidity risks.



"The current regulations are not friendly to foreign reinsurance firms having no license in Korea and we also have written offshore reinsurance," said Simon Chong, Pacific Life Re head of Korea. "With the approval, Pacific Life Re provides a better environment to reinsure life insurers in Korea."



The Korean branch is the second in Asia for Pacific Life Re, following its regional headquarters in Singapore, marking its commitment to further deepen the company's footprint in the region, Chong said. He said the Korea branch will increase its capital in the next five years. The company has a liaison office in Tokyo, but it is not a fully operational branch yet.



Pacific Life Re Korea is the latest among foreign companies which received approval from the government to start operations. In February, Asia Capital Reinsurance received preliminary approval for its office in Seoul to commence business.



The Singapore-based reinsurer underwrites aviation, casualty, energy and engineering risks and is ranked among the world's top 50 insurers.



Should Asia Capital Reinsurance be granted to start business here as early as next month, it, along with Pacific Life Re, will join other foreign players that have been operating here for about a decade, such as Munich Re, Swiss Re, Hannover Re, SCOR Korea and Reinsurance Group of America, to vie for a share in the Korean market.



Currently, Korea's homegrown titan Korean Re has a dominant 60 percent share in the domestic market and foreign firms are competing against each other for the remainder in the already saturated market.



"We don't believe that (the entrance of another foreign reinsurer) will be a game changer," a Korean Re official said. "Given the market is already saturated and there is always a limit, we don't believe that bears extra significance." The world's top 10 reinsurer said it is also seeking to open a branch in China.



Reinsurance is insurance that is purchased by an insurance company from one or more other insurers as a means of risk management.




Gov't debt hits record W1,285 tril.; budget deficit highest in 6 years

By Yoon Ja-young





Government debt has grown rapidly on increased spending on welfare and stimulus measures, stoking worries about its fiscal soundness.

The broader definition of government debt including pensions to be paid to civil servants and soldiers rose to a record 1,285 trillion won last year, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance said Tuesday.

A narrower government debt comprising that of the central and provincial governments, recorded 590.5 trillion won, up 57.3 trillion won from 2014.

This is equal to 37.9 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). The debt to GDP ratio is expected to continue rising as social welfare spending will snowball given the aging of the Korean population.

Data also showed the increasing deficit followed the administration's expansionary fiscal policy.

The country recorded a 38 trillion won shortfall in the operational budget balance, which is calculated by deducting aggregate spending and the surplus in social welfare funding from aggregate revenue.

It is the biggest deficit in six years since 2009 when the economy was suffering the aftermath of the global financial crisis.

The issuance of bonds to make up for the deficit also led to increasing debt.

The government collected 2.2 trillion won more in taxes than expected, but the 11.6 trillion won supplementary budget to prop up the economy increased the deficit.

The government says that the country's fiscal health is still sound compared with other Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member countries.

Its ratio of debt to GDP is less than half the OECD average.

However, economists expect the fiscal health to deteriorate, citing the fast growth in state debt and the aging of society.

Currently, welfare spending takes up around one third of the annual budget.

"Korea's social welfare system hasn't matured yet. The expenditure will naturally rise with the aging of society, which will lead to a rapid deterioration of fiscal health," said Park Jong-kyu, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute of Finance.

Economists warn that the government should be cautious in expanding social welfare, as taxpayers will decrease while spending will snowball with the increasing number of senior citizens.

The government is aware of the concern. "National debt increased slower than expected, but the ratio of the debt to GDP is continuing the rise," said Cho Yong-man, head of the fiscal management bureau at the finance ministry.

The government is planning to cut discretionary spending by 10 percent next year, on top of tightening control over regional and educational fiscal spending as well as reforming social insurance.
The government said Monday it will clamp down on foreigners staying in South Korea without proper visas and reduce the rate of illegal aliens in the country below 10 percent by 2018.

The government will selectively allow entry to foreigners with low possibility of violating the immigration control law and beef up screening of visa issuance, it said during a planning committee meeting on foreigners policy held in Seoul.

The government's move is in response to a recent series of airport-related security problems that caused alarm bells to go off.

In January, two Chinese nationals snuck into the country without being noticed by immigration officials or picked up by the airport's security systems. Later in the same month, a Vietnamese transfer passenger forced his way through the gate of an unmanned automatic immigration checkpoint without being checked.

All the people that entered South Korea illegally were later apprehended.

Last year, 11.3 percent of foreigners in South Korea were believed to be staying here illegally, according to the Ministry of Justice.

The government also plans to help immigrants better settle down in South Korea by expanding diverse community adjustment programs to prevent possible discrimination against them.

"Over the last decade, the number of foreigners in the country dramatically increased from some 750,000 in 2005 to 1.9 million last year, accounting for 3.7 percent of the whole population," said Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, who presided over the meeting. "A sound foreigners policy is needed now more than at any other time to induce social integration, secure national security and boost economic growth."

The government has allocated some 676 billion won ($588 million) to carry out projects targeting foreigners in South Korea this year. (Yonhap)
A large-scale Muslim tour group is set to arrive in South Korea next week following the recent visit by the largest-ever tour group from China, mirroring Muslims' growing interest in the country, industry sources said Tuesday.

According to the sources, some 200 employees of Malaysian firm Zhulian Group are planning to visit South Korea on an employee reward trip. They will stay here for five days from April 16.

Their corporate reward trip comes after some 4,500 workers from Chinese cosmetics firm Aolan International Beauty Group toured the country for seven days last week.

The Muslim tour group will sightsee around downtown Seoul and visit other attractions such as an amusement park on the outskirts of Seoul, according to Jane & Tour DMC which organized the large-scale tour program.

During their stay here, they will be served halal food and beverages that are prepared in accordance with Islamic Sharia law, and can be consumed by Muslims.

"It is first time that such a large-scale Muslim tour group has visited South Korea," said a company official. "More Muslim visitors are expected to arrive here down the road." (Yonhap)
Children stand on a "yellow carpet" waiting for a crossing sign at a crosswalk. Experts believe this will help children avoid car accidents at or near crosswalks in school zones. / Courtesy of the International Child Rights Center



By Lee Han-soo, Park Si-soo

Can a "yellow carpet" help to save children?

The International Child Rights Center (InCRC), a civic group, has continued the work of painting walls and pavements leading to crosswalks in school zones in yellow since April last year, believing these yellow areas will help children avoid car accidents.

People in yellow-painted areas are more visible to drivers. They were also proven to create a "nudge effect," motivating children to stay inside the yellow zone while waiting for a crossing sign and consequently reducing the chances of a risky crossing outside the crosswalks. At night, a solar-powered lamp above turns on automatically when people approach, making the areas equally safe day and night. As of the end of March, 28 yellow carpets have been rolled out, with two more planned this month.

"This project began as part of efforts to make a safer town for children," Lee Je-bok, an InCRC team leader, told The Korea Times. "We discussed many possibilities with parents and children and issues such as traffic safety, school violence and hazardous material. However, after thorough discussion and research, we decided traffic safety was a priority."

Sixty-five children were killed in car accidents last year, up 25 percent from a year earlier. Nearly 80 percent of the deadly accidents were reported in or near crosswalks in school zones, according to police data. Children's lack of attention to approaching vehicles can be considered one reason. Another is speedy or careless driving in school zones.

Lee was confident that the "yellow carpet" will help reduce the number significantly.

"The yellow area creates a nudge effect that makes the place feel like a safe haven for children to stay in and a visual aid for drives to be more careful," said Lee. "The solar lamp turns on automatically when people approach the yellow carpet zone, making it safe even at night."

Seoul City recently benchmarked the campaign. The municipal government plans to install more than 100 extra areas this year and up to 300 by 2018. Each costs about 5 million won ($4,300).

The campaign won best design prize in the Design for Asia awards in Hong Kong last year. The campaign has since drawn attention from Australia and many other countries trying to come up with measures to boost children's safety in school zones.

There are yet no statistics proving the campaign's effectiveness in reducing child accidents in school zones. But many studies, including one by 3M Korea's traffic safety industry division and the Korea National University of Transportation, suggest people in yellow areas are up to 51 percent more visible to drivers than in other areas.
South Korea said Tuesday it plans to check the state of surviving families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War starting mid-April to better prepare for possible family reunions.

South Korea's Unification Ministry said that it will conduct a survey on 65,000 members of separated families by September, asking whether they are willing to meet their relatives living in North Korea.

There are about 130,000 people currently on a waiting list for family reunions. About half of them have since passed away.

This will mark the first time since 2011 that the government has carried out a survey on separated families.

Under relevant laws, the government is required to conduct a survey of separated families every five years to check whether they are alive and want to meet their kin in the North.

The two Koreas held reunions for about 100 separated family members from each side at Mount Kumgang in the North in late October, the first such event since February 2014.

Seoul has been pushing to hold such family reunions on a regular basis, but the North has generally not been responsive.

North Korea's Red Cross on Friday blamed President Park Geun-hye for the suspension of the family reunions, announcing that it will cut off inter-Korean humanitarian exchanges. (Yonhap)
Korean companies exporting medicine and medical supplies to Mexico will not have to undergo on-site inspections by the Mexican health authorities, following an agreement between the two nations, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said, Tuesday.

The agreement is expected to increase exports of medical products and medicines by $8 million annually, it said.

The ministry and its Mexican counterpart, the Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risk (COFEPRIS), signed memorandums of understanding (MOUs) on cooperation in the health industry during President Park Geun-hye's visit to Mexico.

According to the MOUs, the two nations will recognize each other's evaluation results of good manufacturing practice (GMP), a certificate on production and quality management of medicine, which is a must for a drug manufacturer before selling its products in local or international markets.

"When a company exports its products to a country, the country's health authorities visit it to make a GMP inspection. But for exports to Mexico, Korean firms do not need the inspection now," a ministry official said.

The two nations also agreed to share information on telemedicine and the trade of medicine and medical supplies.

"Mexico is the second largest market in Latin America after Brazil in terms of the health industry. We'll seek to expand cooperation," the official said.
Kim Moon-soo, left, a ruling Saenuri Party candidate running in Suseong A district in Daegu for the April 13 general election, waves alongside Roh Soh-yeong, the wife of SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, during a campaign event, Sunday. / Courtesy of Kim's campaign office



By Jun Ji-hye

Roh Soh-yeong, the wife of SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, is participating in the campaign of former Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Moon-soo, who is running for the Suseong A district seat in Daegu in the April 13 general election.

Roh, 55, also the daughter of former President Roh Tae-woo, visited Kim's campaign office in Daegu, Sunday, and joined his stumping tour to a shopping mall despite the rain, at which she appealed for support for Kim.

"Your choice in the upcoming election will be very important for the future of Daegu," Roh told voters. "Let's entrust the future of this city to Kim Moon-soo."

Ahead of the stumping, the two also attended a church service together.

Kim, a ruling Saenuri Party candidate, has been falling behind his main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea rival Kim Boo-kyum in recent opinion polls, although Daegu is the traditional home turf for the ruling party.

Roh, who was born in Daegu, tried to capture the hearts and minds of voters there by emphasizing that she is proud of being a Daegu native. She told voters that she believes Daegu citizens hold their ground despite encountering difficulties.

"My family members worked in politics but I have stayed away from it. I have never helped anybody running in elections before," she told reporters. "Kim Moon-soo is the most upright politician I have ever met. He has quality and vision."

Roh noted that she first met Kim when the latter was serving as governor from 2006 to 2014.

She also spoke about her father, saying, "He has some mobility problems, but is in relatively good health."

One of Kim's aides told reporters that a mutual friend asked her to support the former governor's campaign, and Roh unhesitatingly complied with the request.

An SK Group official said her support for Kim has nothing to do with the conglomerate.

Roh drew keen attention at the end of last year after her husband revealed that he has had a child with another woman and planned to divorce his wife.

At the time, Roh said she did not agree with the divorce, saying she wanted to keep her family together.





Follow Jun Ji-hye on Twitter @TheKopJihye
Eugene Kim, sixth from left, chairman of Huneed Technologies, delivers the first Korean-built Missile Warning Receiver (MWR) module to Andreas Hulle, fourth from right, vice president at Airbus DS Electronics and Border Security, during a rollout ceremony at Huneed headquarters in Songdo, Incheon, Monday. / Courtesy of Huneed Technologies



By Jun Ji-hye

Local defense manufacturer Huneed Technologies said Tuesday that it has started producing missile warning systems for the Surion utility helicopter.

The firm held a rollout ceremony at its headquarters in Songdo, Incheon, Monday, attended by Chairman Eugene Kim and Andreas Hulle, an executive of Airbus, which helped localize the Missile Warning Receiver (MWR) system.

The MWR is one of the critical electronic warfare systems that will be mounted on four sections of the ROK Surion helicopter.

Huneed also plans to export core modules for the MWR, worth $1.6 million, to Airbus this year.

The system is used to detect the ultra-violet signals from enemy missiles, enabling pilots to avoid them and deploy countermeasures promptly.

The company signed a contract with Airbus Defense and Space last year for the MWR module production and export as an offset program.

Huneed said in a release that it was able to successfully set up a dedicated production line with the support of the European firm.

"This project is the first business case and partnership between Huneed and Airbus Group, one of the world's largest aerospace companies," said Kim. "We are very pleased to be able to efficiently set up the MWR production line. Huneed will expand its cooperation with Airbus and strive to position itself as a global avionics supplier."
Members of an anti-Islam alliance in Gangwon Province protest against the provincial government's plan to host the World Islamic Economic Forum next year, in front of the provincial government office, Friday.

/ Courtesy of Jung Hyung-man



Christian residents against Gangwon's drive to attract Muslim investors



By Kim Se-jeong

The Gangwon Provincial Government is at odds with some Christian residents over its attempt to host the World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) next year.

Gangwon Province has made efforts for years to host the annual gathering of businesses from Islamic countries. It is optimistic that PyeongChang will be the host city in September 2017, especially following Governor Choi Moon-soon's meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, garnering his support. The WIEF headquarters are located in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia.

The 2017 host city will be decided during this year's forum this August in Jakarta, Indonesia.

"This is the biggest Islamic economic forum, equivalent to the Davos Forum," a provincial government official, who wished to be identified only by the surname Kim, told The Korea Times. "It invites heads of states, global company CEOs and other influential figures."

However, the campaign has met strong opposition from a local anti-Muslim alliance of conservative christian groups.

Members of the alliance say the province's Muslim-friendly policies will enable a large number of Muslims to enter Korea and expose the country to terrorism, thus endangering national security.

"The forum will mean opening the door for Islamic money to enter the Korean market," said Jung Hyung-man, leader of the alliance. "Along with the money and businesses, their religious and political ideologies will come."

He and 30 other protesters rallied in front of the provincial government office in Chuncheon earlier this month. "In the Islamic world, religion heavily influences businesses, and they invest in places where there's potential for Islam to grow. We believe this is dangerous to Korea."

This was not the first anti-Islam protest in Gangwon. In March, the government announced that it would withdraw its push to create a halal food zone, for which halal-certified meat producers and restaurants were planned, giving in to the strong opposition from the anti-Muslim groups.

Given that Namiseom, an island in the province, receives 200,000 Muslim tourists a year on average, the government intended to lay out infrastructure to accommodate their needs.

The provincial government has not decided what to do with the WIEF plan. The forum is too good an opportunity for the province to miss, according to Kim, because events of that level bring in a lot of people to the region, boosting the local economy.

"This is a great opportunity not only for Gangwon but for the entire country," he said.

Asked what to do if the protest continues, Kim only said, "If the opponents' concerns are reasonable, we will listen. But for now, they oppose the forum with some claims irrelevant to the issue. The most important thing is that the two parties need to understand each other and seek compromise."
By Kim Bo-eun



Park Sang-soo, an office worker, has become increasingly annoyed with the messages and calls he has been getting lately from the staff of candidates for the April 13 general election.



Last month, he received a message from a campaigner, which prompted him to call up the candidate's office to ask where and how it had got his number.



"The staff member said she needed to check with her boss. So, I requested her to make sure that I get an answer," Park said. "But I never heard back from her, so I called back several times, asking again, only to have my calls ignored after a couple times."



Park received another call this week, from a Saenuri Party candidate office, asking for his support.



"When I asked how the office got my number, the caller said he didn't know because he was a volunteer, and he just hung up," Park said.



"I guess the staffers there were trained to hang up when they are asked questions that they find difficult to answer."



As such, voters are not only angry with the messages and calls they constantly receive from election candidates' volunteers, but also want to know how the election camps obtained their telephone numbers.



The Q&A board on the National Election Commission's (NEC) website is currently flooded with complaints from voters demanding to know where candidates got their numbers.



The NEC said candidates' staff are allowed to send messages during the campaign period, and added that, "there are no clauses on collecting voters' personal information in the Election Law."



The commission only gets involved when such messages include false or slanderous information about opposition candidates.



An official added that information collection  such as telephone numbers  can be governed by the Personal Information Protection Act, according to which personal information of individuals cannot be exchanged, collected or used without their consent.



In some cases, candidates obtain the numbers from supporters, who voluntarily provide the numbers of their acquaintances, such as a list of alumni association members. Candidates' staff are also suspected of buying personal data from information thieves, although they deny this. According to Park Jung-sup, personal information policy team manager at the Korea Internet and Security Agency, the staff members are in violation of the act because there was no consent from the voters.



"In addition, election offices are required to provide a clear answer on how they obtained voters' numbers when they are asked about it," Park said. "They can be subject to punishment if they fail to do so. Voters should be aware of this and report it when necessary," he added.




President Park Geun-hye, left, speaks during a joint press conference with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto after the summit meeting in Mexico City, Monday (local time). / Yonhap News Agency



South Korea and Mexico agreed Monday to hold working-level talks later this year on a free trade deal between the two sides, a move that underscored their commitment to further boosting their economic ties.

The agreement was reached at the summit meeting between South Korean President Park Geun-hye and her Mexican counterpart, Enrique Pena Nieto.

"I expect both sides to produce good fruits by coming up with creative ways at the working-level talks for a win-win," situation, Park said in a joint news conference with Pena Nieto. Park called the agreement to hold the working-level talks "meaningful."

The working-level talks are scheduled to take place between October and December, according to both sides.

The two sides agreed to discuss Mexico's support for South Korea in case Seoul joins the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a U.S.-led regional free trade agreement.

South Korea has expressed interest in joining the 12-nation free trade deal, which would create the world's largest trading bloc, accounting for about 40 percent of global gross domestic product. Mexico is one of the members.

South Korea and Mexico launched free trade talks in 2007, but the negotiations have been stalled since 2008 due to strong opposition from the Mexican automobile industry.

Park has said a free trade deal, if signed, could create a win-win situation, as it could open a new gateway in Northeast Asia for Mexico, while South Korea can expand its access to North, Central and South America.

Mexico has become South Korea's largest trading partner in Central and South America.












Members of Seoul Shakespeare Company (SSC) rehearse for "Much Ado About Nothing."

/ Courtesy of SSC

By John Redmond

The Seoul Shakespeare Company (SSC) will on Sunday end a 33-day fundraising campaign to raise a targeted sum of $4,000 for its May production of the comedy "Much Ado About Nothing."

The total budget for the show is 16 million won ($13,900), about three-quarters of which is theater rental. The Indiegogo campaign is to cover part of theater rental.

"Please contribute if you can and support English-language Shakespeare performances in Seoul," the company says on its website. "We've got some nice rewards for contributors. Any amount helps. Thank you for supporting the arts."

Since 2011, the English-language theater company uses volunteers to produce high-quality performances of Shakespeare's works.

A performance leading up to "Ado" entitled "Shakespeare in Seoul: A Celebration of Shakespeare 400" will be staged at Camarata Music Company (CMC) Studio in Haebangchon, Seoul, April 23.

The evening will feature monologues and scenes honoring the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death as part of the international Shakespeare Theatre Association's "400 Dreams: Shakespeare Around the Globe" program.

Doors open at 7:30 p.m. and curtains rise at 8 p.m.

The performance is free, but donations are encouraged.

To get to Camarata Studio, leave Noksapyeong Station exit 2 and walk 100 meters. Bear left at the kimchi pots to Haebangchon. CMC Studio is 400 meters up the street on the left opposite Jacoby Burger.

"Much Ado About Nothing," directed by Michael Downey, will be staged at Theater Egg and Nucleus from May 21 to June 5.

All performances will be in English, with Korean subtitles.

Performances are scheduled for 7 p.m. May 21, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. on May 28 and June 4 and 4 p.m. on May 22 and 29 and June 4.

Tickets cost 20,000 won.

For reservations, visit www.seoulshakespearecompany.org and select "Ticket Reservation Form" on the menu bar.

There is no assigned seating, so arrive early for the best seats.

"There will be a talk-back with the audience after the performance on May 22 and May 29," states the invitation. "If you are bringing a student group to the show, we highly recommend attending on one of these days and participating in the talk-back."

This show is appropriate for all ages and block bookings are available for school groups.

Please e-mail info@seoulshakespeare.com for group reservations. Large groups may arrange to pay in advance if they wish.

To get to Theater Egg, take exit 2 at Hyehwa Station. Turn left at the first road (at the Dunkin Donuts) and walk for about a block. The theater will be on your left.

Visit facebook.com/seoulshakespeare for more information.
Volunteers from online community "OinK  Only in Korea" prepare food at Itaewon restaurant Mi Cook Oppa to give to the homeless at Seoul Station last December. / Courtesy of Todd Wolf

By Jon Dunbar

Members of online community "OinK  Only in Korea" will turn off their screens and make the world a better place by handing out food to the homeless at Seoul Station, Saturday.

"This is our second feed-the-homeless event," head organizer De'ja Simpson Motley told The Korea Times. "We raised over 2 million won the first time and we still have a little over 1 million won left. We would like to keep the spirit of giving going."

Motley is one of seven administrators of the 7,700-strong group, composed of expats, migrant workers, Korean-Americans, adoptees, Koreans interested in expat perceptions and trolls.

"Incredibly the group has grown by the thousands," said Motley. "When I became admin, I felt with such a diverse group there is so much we can do."

OinK creator Travis Hull said: "The reason we decided to do the initial feed-the-homeless event was because we were tired of just meeting up for drinks. We decided that since it was easy enough to get together, it would also be easy to do some good."

On Dec. 19, OinKers handed out gimbap, snacks and about 300 sandwiches to around 200 homeless people. They also distributed over 200 winter clothes. But there was still money left over.

"This allowed us to finance and organize a second event, which we will host this Saturday," said Motley "We plan to organize several events this year in order to give back to the community."

Hull, an American expat, created OinK almost two years ago as a centralized place to discuss all things Korea.

"I originally started OinK because I saw a gap between the media that was being produced on Korea and what was being shared and discussed by the expat community," he said.

OinK has a reputation for personality clashes, but it is also a rallying point during national crises. OinKers experienced the MERS outbreak together and shared information during times of civil unrest and North Korean provocations.

"As a platform, OinK allows our members to have a conversation on these events, often while they are unfolding," said Hull. "If a story is important to Korea, you can be sure that it is being discussed on OinK."

For more information, visit OinK at facebook.com/groups/OnlyInKorea, but beware  it is not for the faint-hearted.
North Korea released a propaganda video Tuesday depicting a mock artillery attack on South Korea's main government buildings including the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae.

The video was published on the North's propaganda website "DPRK Today" under the title "Unless South Korea complies with our ultimatum."

DPRK is the acronym of the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

North Korea has threatened to take "merciless" action against South Korea unless Seoul offers an apology for its alleged move to strike out at the North Korean leadership.

The 1.28-minute video starts with the North's ultimatum announced on March 26, proceeded by the image of the North Korean army's long-range artillery exercises conducted on March 24.

Then the visual shows the artillery shelling downtown Seoul between Sungnyemun (South Gate) and the National Theater near Namsan Mountain.

A computer graphic shows three shells hitting Cheong Wa Dae, then destroying the government complex in Seoul, U.S. Forces Korea headquarters and the National Intelligence Service.

In a final scene, the video ends with the phrase "Everything will turn into ashes."

Tensions between the two Koreas have been on the rise since Pyongyang carried out its fourth nuclear test in January, and a satellite rocket launch a month later. The rocket launch is viewed by outsiders as a disguised long-range ballistic missile test.

Pyongyang has upped the rhetorical ante in recent weeks, with near daily threats of nuclear and conventional strikes against the South and the U.S. mainland in response to large-scale annual Seoul-Washington military exercises. (Yonhap)
South Korea on Tuesday dismissed North Korea's thinly veiled call for dialogue, reiterating that the communist state must immediately stop its provocative acts and rhetoric, and take "sincere" efforts toward denuclearization.



On Sunday, Pyongyang mentioned the need for "negotiations" for the first time since the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) adopted a new sanctions resolution early last month to punish the unruly regime for its nuclear test in January and long-range rocket launch in February.



"We urge North Korea to stop its provocations and threats immediately and take a path toward denuclearization with sincerity based on the realization that denuclearization is the only choice (it should make)," an official at Seoul's Foreign Ministry told Yonhap News Agency on condition of anonymity.



"As long as the North refuses to show its willingness to denuclearize and shuns any change, pressure by us and the rest of the world will continue," he added, pointing out that the international community, "with a united voice," is calling on the North to make good on its past denuclearization commitments.



A unification ministry official also issued a similar statement, stressing that the international community will continue to put pressure on the North to give up its nuke arsenal.



The North's powerful National Defense Commission said Sunday that stability should be prioritized rather than the enforcement of "unilateral sanctions," and that the "fundamental solution" can be formulated through negotiations rather than "reckless military pressure."



Observers said that the North's statement reflects its growing fears about the impact of the international or standalone sanctions that the UNSC and other countries, such as the United States and South Korea, have imposed.



The latest package of the UNSC sanctions includes the mandatory inspection of all cargo going in and out of the impoverished state and a ban on iron and coal, a crucial source of hard currency for the regime. The sanctions resolution also bans jet oil supplies to the North, which observers say will impede the North's aerial training and operations.



In addition to the international sanctions, individual sanctions imposed by the South, the U.S. and other nations, have added to the growing pressure on the North to renounce its nuclear ambitions. Pyongyang's apparent overture for talks also came as Beijing, its major ally and patron, continues to demand that Seoul and Washington consider a "dual-track" approach under which talks on denuclearization and a peace treaty proceed simultaneously.



Seoul and Washington have shown reluctance over the approach, stressing that their top priority remains denuclearizing the North. Seoul, in particular, claims that talk of a peace treaty would divert attention away from the denuclearization issue, and that it is not the time for talks but pressure to deter Pyongyang's further provocations. (Yonhap)




By Yi Whan-woo



The Kim Jong-un regime has been forcing waitresses employed at Pyongyang-owned restaurants overseas to secretly gather information on South Korea from their customers, according to one former waitress who defected here.



In a written interview released by the Korean-language website of the Voice of America (VOA), Tuesday, the defector, only identified as J, said that she and her former colleagues were asked to eavesdrop on conversations among South Korean guests.



They then had to report to their bosses, who were security agents, what they heard and also from whom they had illegally acquired information.



"About 60 to 80 percent of the customers have been from South Korea, including politicians and entrepreneurs," she said. "We were responsible for collecting and reporting what we heard and saw under surveillance of the agents."



There are an estimated 130 Pyongyang-owned restaurants in 12 countries, including former communist nations such as China, Russia, Cambodia as well as the Netherlands.



They usually serve as waitresses but also sing, play instruments and dance to entertain guests.



For security reasons, the VOA did not disclose in which country the interviewee worked.



The waitresses usually work four years abroad before returning to North Korea, according to J. Each of them is obligated to earn over $200,000 every year and turn all their earnings over to their bosses.



Meanwhile, they receive a monthly salary of $10 or $15. They get bonuses of up to $2,500 in cash when they return home, in addition to home appliances, such as televisions, refrigerators, and washing machines.



The report came after the Park Geun-hye government asked its citizens to refrain from eating at North Korean restaurants abroad as part of its independent sanctions issued against the Kim Jong-un regime.



The sanctions were imposed on March 8 in addition to the latest U.N. Security Council's resolution aimed at cutting the flow of hard currency into the cash-strapped regime and prevent it from pursuing nuclear and ballistic missile programs.



The North Korean restaurants are operated by Office 39, a secretive branch of the repressive regime that reports to Kim Jong-un concerning its use of money.



Concern has also been increasing over North Korea's "slave workers" who are forced to work abroad in order to prop up their impoverished regime.




By Yi Whan-woo



Activities detected at North Korea's main nuclear complex in Yongbyon are increasing speculation that Pyongyang is preparing to conduct a fifth nuclear test.



Citing satellite images showing exhaust plumes that were uploaded Monday by 38 North  a U.S. website on North Korea issues  analysts here said Tuesday that Pyongyang may be taking preparatory steps for another nuclear test.



The analysts predict that the fifth test could be conducted on the occasion of the seventh Workers' Party Congress, a rare congressional meeting scheduled to take place in May for the first time since 1980.



"North Korean leader Kim Jong-un apparently wants to run a big event to publicize his leadership at the Workers' Party Congress," said An Chan-il, head of the World Institute for North Korea Studies. "And it's possible North Korea could test a nuclear bomb using one of the three materials  plutonium, uranium or hydrogen."



During the past five weeks, exhaust plumes have been seen two or three times at a radiochemical laboratory complex in Yongbyon, according to 38 North. The website is operated by the U.S.-Korea Institute at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.



The complex is where North Korea is believed to separate weapons-grade plutonium from nuclear reactor waste. Such plumes "have rarely been seen there and none have been observed on any examined imagery this past winter," the website stated.



It did not specify whether the exhaust plumes indicate that reprocessing of additional plutonium is underway or will be in the near future.



Yang Uk, a senior research fellow at the Korea Defense and Security Forum, added that the "Possibility of a fifth nuclear test should never be ruled out."



He cited a series of incidents in the past weeks following North Korea's fourth nuclear test conducted on Jan. 6, and a subsequent rocket-launch using ballistic missile technology on Feb. 7.



In testimony given before the Senate on Feb. 9, U.S. National Intelligence Director John Clapper said North Korea "could begin to recover plutonium from the reactor's spent fuel within a matter of weeks to months."



The Ministry of Unification, which manages inter-Korean affairs, warned on March 21 that North Korea is capable of conducting an additional nuclear test at any time.



Pyongyang has also threatened to conduct another test of nuclear warheads and ballistic missiles.



Some analysts have speculated that the Kim Jong-un regime may have deliberately emitted exhaust plumes from its radiochemical laboratory complex for detection by a U.S. reconnaissance satellite.



They added the emissions should be regarded as "part of a protest against the U.N. Security Council (UNSC)'s latest sanctions on North Korea and also a sign of Pyongyang's pursuance of nuclear ambitions regardless of international pressure."



The UNSC adopted Resolution 2270 on March 2 in response to the military state's fourth nuclear test and a long-range rocket launch between January and February.



"It may be too early to relate any suspicious activities in Yongbyon to a nuclear test," said Kim Yong-hyun, a professor of North Korean studies at Dongguk University.



He pointed out that all past four nuclear tests occurred in Punggye-ri, North Hamgyong Province, located approximately 70 kilometers away from Yongbyon in North Pyongan Province.



"It would make sense to say that the internationally-isolated North is making a gesture for talks while showing its anger toward the adoption of the U.N. resolution," he added.




North Korea's continuing attempts to jam South Korea' Global Positioning System (GPS) may be aimed at disrupting the navigation systems of aircraft, government officials said as the communist country continued to send jamming signals on Tuesday.

In a provocative operation that started in late March, North Korea has been sending GPS-jamming signals across the border. The signals began last Thursday and continued on and off into Tuesday, according to military and information and communication technology (ICT) sector officials.

"An assessment showed that North Korea's near daily GPS-jamming activity seems to be targeting aircraft's navigation equipment," an intelligence source said, asking not to be named.

But the North Korean operation has not yet resulted in any trouble with South Korea's aircraft because they use both GPS and an inertial navigation system that is immune to jamming attacks, the official said.

In the GPS disruption campaign so far, the North has sent jamming signals on a total of 100 occasions and their maximum output reached more than 45 decibels, the official said.

The strength of the signals are constantly lessening or increasing in what appears to be a new type of assault operation, according to the official.

The country's ICT ministry said the jamming attack has not led to any major GPS disruption locally as of Tuesday, although a total of 962 airplanes have been exposed to the malicious signals.

Nearly 700 fishing ships have been subject to the signals as well, while a total of 1,786 mobile telecommunication base stations have been exposed.

Officials said North Korea had previously launched similar jamming assaults three times between 2010 and 2012, which partly disrupted the GPS-guided navigation of some 1,000 passenger jets as well as of the military's unmanned aerial vehicles. (Yonhap)
While the U.N. Security Council adopted tightened sanctions on North Korea about a month ago, the new sanctions have so far left no specific impact on bilateral trade between North Korea and China, South Korea's ambassador to China said Tuesday.

North Korea was slapped with tougher U.N. sanctions earlier last month for conducting its fourth nuclear test in January and launching a long-range rocket in February. Winning China's cooperation is the key to ensure the effectiveness of the new sanctions because nearly 90 percent of the North's trade relies on China.

"No specific figures, including changes in North Korea-China trade volumes and (China's) imports volume of (North Korean) coal, have been reported yet," Kim Jang-soo, the South Korean Ambassador to China, told a group of South Korean correspondents in Beijing.

China, North Korea's diplomatic and economic lifeline, has vowed to fully implement new U.N. sanctions against North Korea, but stressed that sanctions should not affect normal trade with its traditional ally.

Kim said China will submit its report about its implementation of the new sanctions on North Korea within 90 days after the sanctions were adopted.

The Chinese report to the U.N. will become the "standard" in assessing whether China is sincerely enforcing the new sanctions on North Korea, Kim said.

The envoy said the South Korean diplomatic missions in Beijing are closely monitoring China's efforts in enforcing the new U.N. sanctions on North Korea.

Many analysts believe that China is unlikely to put crippling sanctions on North Korea because a sudden collapse of the regime could spark a refugee crisis at its border and lead to a pro-U.S. and democratic Korea on its doorstep. (Yonhap)
South Korea and the International Atomic Energy Agency will hold high-level talks this week to coordinate their response to North Korea's nuclear threats and help improve nuclear safety, Seoul's Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.

The two sides will meet in Seoul on Thursday for their fourth round of high-level consultations aimed at strengthening cooperation on nuclear issues, such as nonproliferation, safety measures and the peaceful use of nuclear energy, the ministry said in a press release.

The meeting also comes ahead of Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se's planned assumption of the chairmanship of the IAEA ministerial meeting on nuclear security in December.

The talks will be led by Choi Jong-moon, South Korea's deputy foreign minister for multilateral and global affairs, and Tero Varjoranta, head of the IAEA's department of safeguards. (Yonhap)
South Korea's ICT ministry said Monday it will allocate 100 billion won ($87.2 million) to develop supercomputers, amid the rising awareness of the segment after Google Inc.'s AlphaGo posted a historical win against mankind in a board game last month.

The Ministry of Science, ICT, and Future Planning said it will invest 10 billion won annually for the next 10 years to foster the development of artificial intelligence, big data, the Internet-of-Things technologies and other emerging industries through supercomputers.

South Korean policymakers have been working to expedite projects that foster the domestic supercomputer industry, especially after AI technology made an impact in March.

Last month, Google's AlphaGo program defeated Lee Se-dol, a ninth-dan Go player with 18 international titles, in four out of five matches in the historic man-versus-computer showdown.

The event was seen by many as the start of the full-fledged development of AI, which will also speed up the growth of the supercomputer industry.

"The latest development of artificial intelligence was made possible through supercomputers boasting high-speed data processes," the ministry said.

As the first phase of the project, the ministry plans to develop a supercomputer with a data-processing speed of 1 petaflop (PF) in five years, eventually reaching 30 PF by 2025.

A petaflop is the speed in which a figure of a quadrillion digits can be processed in a second. The term is used to assess the capabilities of supercomputers.

The ministry said a 1-petaflop computer can be utilized for predicting maritime and landslide-related disasters.

The ministry added a state-level project for supercomputers has become vital as more than 95 percent of South Korea's market for high-performance computers is dominated by overseas firms.

The South Korean market for high-performance computers is estimated at 260 billion won for 2015, accounting for only 2.5 percent of the global total. (Yonhap)
By Nam Sang-so

A Nimitz-class nuclear-powered super carrier, the USS Ronald Reagan, is currently the flagship of the U.S. 7th Fleet home-ported at Yokosuka, Japan.



On March 11, 2011, the Reagan was in the Pacific Ocean in joint naval operation exercises with a South Korean fleet when the massive Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami disaster hit the northeast coast of Japan. The carrier was quickly redirected to the disaster zone to assist Japan's rescue efforts in the Tomodachi (friendly) Operation. On land the access roads to the disaster area were blocked by debris.

The U.S. Navy quickly air transported relief goods from its bases in Japan to the flight deck of the Reagan and then on to the disaster areas employing its helicopters. The total rescue items transported were over 100 tons of water, food, clothing, blankets and medical supplies according to a Japanese tally. The aircraft carrier served as the main relief center for the huge combined earthquake and tsunami disaster in Fukushima.

Two days later the carrier, however, measured 0.6mR/hr direct gamma nuclear dust discharged by the disabled Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant. The ship was forced to relocate to avoid further radioactive plumes from the meltdown of the nuclear power plant. The Reagan's crew scrubbed down all surfaces that could have been exposed to nuclear dust  the flight deck, planes and helicopters parked on the deck to remove any potential radiation hazards. The carrier has a displacement of 101,400 tons and a length: 332.8 meters; it has a speed of 30 knots (56 km/h) with an unlimited range; and carries 90 fixed wing aircraft and helicopters.

Before the Reagan, the USS Princeton had been the flag ship of the 7th Fleet when I served on the bridge of a PF-61 frigate of the Korean Navy right after graduating from navigation school during the Korean War. The Korean ships augmented to the U.S. fleet were frigates. There were two dozen U.S. Navy destroyers, mine sweepers and submarines in the formation escorting the carrier. The Princeton displaced 27,100 tons, and carried 100 aircraft and a complement of 3,500 officers and sailors.

It was known that the cost of running the Princeton exceeded the yearly budget of Seoul City. It had a hospital, dentist clinic, mess halls, convenience stores, a post office, chapel, gymnasium, library and a bank  covering everything a person needed and anything that could happen on board. It was said among American sailors that the bank of the carrier was burglarized while deployed in the East Sea. An in-house investigation failed to catch the perpetrators and the captain didn't allow the crew liberty when the ship berthed back at San Diego. A crowd of family members on the pier waiting for their husbands and sons protested and the captain opened the gangways. The robbery disappeared into the mists of time, so the story went.

All the communications among Korean ships were made in English. When one of our sister ships was to return to Busan after a month's sea duty, PF-61 sent the Morse-alphabet signal to her; "and bring back some denjang and ganjang." Monitoring our communication, the flag ship immediately signaled us;"What are denjang and ganjang?"

People on the soil don't have the chance to see the U.S. 7thfleet in a tactical formation cruising on the seas around the peninsula. It's a magnificent sight that all we Korean officers and sailors on board ships under the Korean flag flying high on the main mast are so proudly inspired by to be the members of the most powerful fire power on the blue waters of the world.
The misbehavior of chaebol owners is contributing to the widespread negative perception that many Koreans have of them.



The latest case of alleged chaebol misconduct is what is known as the "Mr. Pizza assault case." It involves Jung Woo-hyun, chairman of MPK Group, which runs the nation's leading pizza franchise. Jung is facing a police probe for allegedly assaulting a security guard. Jung reportedly struck the guard for closing the building he was dining in before he left. Through a statement Tuesday, Jung said he was deeply sorry for causing a stir, and that he was in contact with the security guard to make a personal apology.



Another chaebol-related scandal involves Daelim, which is among the top 20 conglomerates and is one of the nation's oldest construction firms. Daelim Industrial Vice Chairman Lee Hae-wook's habitual verbal and physical mistreatment of his chauffeurs came to public attention in March after media reports that he had let go of almost 40 of them for a variety of trivial reasons after abusing them either physically or verbally. Faced with heavy public criticism, Lee, the third-generation heir of the Daelim Group, had to apologize at a meeting of the firm's shareholders for his abusive conduct. This kind of incident raises questions about hereditary leadership within the chaebol and their lack of judgment and character when leading such companies.



In Korea, where there is growing public rage over social and economic inequality, the misbehavior of the super-rich is being severely judged. A civic group has filed a petition with the prosecution demanding an investigation of the above cases involving the leaders of the MPK Group and Daelim. The civic group said that the chaebol owners had deceived and humiliated ordinary people through their haughty behavior.



The immediate problem with the misconduct of the heads of large conglomerates is that they dent their companies' public image and hamper their business. After Jung's incident spread through social networking services, some Internet users said they will discontinue ordering from Mr. Pizza.



The larger problem is that the two cases highlight the backward mindset of the chaebol. They reflect some chaebol owners' disregard for employees and people who do not share their status and wealth.



The first quality of an effective leader in any sector is respect for others. Korea's potential to become a global business leader will continue to be unfulfilled as long as corporate heads think they are entitled to exercise unchallenged supremacy.










Korean pop singer IU promotes Sony's new "h.ear" brand audio device during a press conference at the Westin Chosun Hotel in central Seoul, Tuesday. / Courtesy of Sony Korea



By Yoon Sung-won



Sony introduced new wireless audio products in Korea, Tuesday, aiming at boosting its dominance in the audio device market here.



"Consumer demand is diversified from portability to high sound quality and design follows the expansion of the Bluetooth audio devices market," Sony Korea Managing Director Morimoto Osamu said. "By introducing the three wireless devices, Sony Korea will elevate customer satisfaction and strengthen leadership in the audio device market."



On Tuesday, the Japanese electronics maker rolled out its portable Bluetooth speaker "h.ear on the go," its wireless noise-cancelling headphones "h.ear on Wireless NC" and its wireless neckband-type earphones "h.ear in Wireless."



Sony said its h.ear on the go is the world's smallest portable Bluetooth speaker that supports the high-resolution audio (HRA) technology. Though it weighs only 790 grams, the device supports the latest sound technologies such as S-Master HX, Digital Sound Enhancement Engine (DSEE) HX, ClearAudio+ as well as wireless connections including Wi-Fi, LDAC Bluetooth 4.2, NFC and DLNA, which used to be available only on its flagship SRS-X99 model, the company said.



HRA technology supports sound sources with quality that is 6.5 times greater than that of ordinary compact disks and 28 times better than MP3 files. The DSEE HX technology upgrade compresses sound sources such as MP3 maintaining compact disk quality while Sony's exclusive LDAC technology prevents sound quality degradation even when it is transmitted wirelessly.



The "h.ear" brand audio devices were introduced last year as a casual lineup with diverse color options and design. With the debut of the three new wireless models, the h.ear brand will include both wired and wireless consumer audio devices from earphones, hearphones and speakers.
By Lee Min-hyung



The nation's media regulation watchdog pledged Tuesday to launch an intensive investigation into an ongoing legal battle between Google and six activists who have urged the Internet giant to disclose the details of a suspected data leak.



"We are continuing to contact Google headquarters to get deeper into the high-profile case, and will take administrative measures against those responsible for the controversy," said an official at the Korea Communications Commission (KCC).



The legal showdown started in 2014 when the activists filed a lawsuit against Google and Google Korea, calling for them to unveil their suspected involvement in leaking users' private information to third parties including the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA).



This is the first time the KCC hinted that it will directly get involved in the years-long legal fight.



Google Korea is in an awkward position unable to access the personal data, as it is only involved in domestic marketing, and the U.S. head office holds the right to control private user information, according to the KCC.



The court dispute is expected to continue for a while, given the case needs assistance from the head office which complies with the U.S. legal system.



"Civic groups want to know details over whether the company leaked data to third parties in the U.S., but their request can only be accepted in accordance with U.S. law," said the official.



Google Korea said it will fully cooperate with the watchdog's investigation.



The company statement said, "We respect and comply fully with Korean law, and we've done (and continue to do) our best to respond in full to the questions raised in this suit through the proper legal channels."



But the company did not specify more by saying, "We just can't discuss further the details of this ongoing legal matter."



Last October, the Seoul Central District Court ruled Google should provide the plaintiffs with the data that the company has shared with third parties. But the court rejected their claim of 3 million won in damages, citing no property or psychological damage inflicted due to the case.



Both parties appealed to the court decision, and the second trial has yet to be finalized.



The KCC said in a recent statement, "We are in a fact-checking process over the case and will continue to review legal details over the first trial."



At the moment, the regulation body said it won't take another independent legal measure over the same case, but pledged to conduct a detailed investigation after taking into careful account the ongoing second trial.



It remains to be seen whether the KCC will impose any legal punishment over the case, due to the complexity of jurisdiction between the two countries.



But in 2014, the watchdog fined the Internet company 212.3 million won ($183,900) over collecting user information to launch its Street View navigation service. Google was accused of illegally compiling private Wi-Fi network data between 2009 and 2011.




Seen is Samsung Electronics' DRAM computer memory chip with 8 gigabit storage capacity using the finer 18-nanometer class technology. / Courtesy of Samsung Electronics



By Kim Yoo-chul



Samsung Electronics said it has begun supplying advanced memory chips using very fine 18-nanometer class tech, which the market leader claims is the world's first.



"Since February this year, Samsung has been selling DRAM chips with 8 Gb storage capacity with a double data date 4 (DDR4) feature using 18-nanometer processing technology," Samsung Electronics said in a statement.



The statement highlighted that the development is the industry's first, as its chief rivals in the global memory chip industry  SK hynix and Micron Technology of the U.S.  still sharpen DRAM chips with 20-nanometer technology.



The new Samsung memory chips are being produced at its fabrication lines in Hwaseong, south of Seoul.



"This new technology will clearly help Samsung and our top clients cut their costs even further and expand the profit margin at Samsung's memory chip division," said a Samsung official.



In chip-making, thinner is better in terms of efficiency and costs. Samsung said the latest DRAM chips have improved power efficiency, response speed and productivity by up to 30 percent compared to its products using 20-nanometer tech.



Samsung said its chips are installed in servers for major technology companies, though its spokesman Kim Ki-hun declined to specify the clients with which the Korean technology giant is cooperating.



But sources told The Korea Times that Hewlett-Packard of the United States signed a contract with Samsung to put the latest DRAMs in the PC maker's corporate servers.



Samsung was in talks with several others to promote its latest developments.



DRAM is a type of memory chip with NAND flash, used to write and store data in all digital devices



Officials say Samsung will "never stop enhancing" its chip-fabrication technology in the race for thinner technology, as a new order has prevailed in the global memory chip market with three main players after exits and bankruptcies.



"The new Samsung chip technology will meet with the best interests of our clients," Jeon Young-hyun, president at Samsung's memory chip division, said in the statement. "We are confident the latest DRAM chips will provide the best investment solutions in corporate systems with high efficiency."



The executive said the company plans to have a full lineup of chips for corporate servers and expand the portion of DRAMs with 10-nanometer class technology out of the total to differentiate itself from chief competitors.



Samsung had earlier been expected to start the sale of 10-nanometer DRAM chips in the latter half of this year. Its global DRAM share was a record 45.3 percent last year, said DRAMeXchange, a market research firm.



"Taking a broad perspective, we think capital spending by leading chipmakers is driven by technology migration roadmaps, increasing capital intensity, end-unit demand and content growth expectations by chip firms," a recent RBC Capital Markets report suggested.



The announcements come after its semiconductor business is forecast to report about 2.5 trillion won operating profit during the first quarter of this year, which is far above market expectations.



"Samsung is ideally positioned to steadily provide premium DRAM chips with thinner technology to clients. In NAND flash chips, our 3D V-NAND technology is cost-competitive with advanced features," the company said, adding such advancements are helping Samsung beat the industry's cyclical patterns.
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Lawmakers in Tennessee gave their approval to a bill that would designate the Bible as the states official book, the Tennessean newspaper reports.

The bill, which had previously passed the state House of Representatives, was approved by the state Senate by a 19-8 vote on Monday. It now goes to Republican Gov. Bill Haslam to be signed or vetoed.

The bills sponsor, Republican state Sen. Steve Southerland, said he doesnt believe it runs afoul of the federal and state constitutions, which call for separation of church and state.

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The Holy Bible is a history book, Southerland said, noting hed been told that by a Jewish friend.

The legislation has been condemned by the American Civil Liberties Union. Hedy Weinberg, the executive director of ACLU Tennessee, said in a statement, We are disappointed that Tennessee lawmakers have voted to use their official positions to promote their personal religious beliefs.

But some Tennessee opposition came from the right. Republican state Sen. Ferrell Haile opposed the measure because he thought the bill would cheapen the Bible. The Bible is a book of history, but it is not a history book to be placed on the shelf, he said.

The 19 senators who voted to pass the bill included 17 Republicans and two Democrats. Six Republicans and 2 Democrats voted against the measure, with four Republicans and one Democrat abstaining.

Its unclear whether Haslam will sign the bill or veto it. When the measure was proposed last year, critics noted that it appeared to violate the Tennessee Constitution, which states that no preference shall ever be given, by law, to any religious establishment or mode of worship.

Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, a Republican who voted against the bill, said he wasnt sure whether enough senators would be willing to overturn a possible veto by Haslam.

Tennessee isnt the first state to consider naming the Bible an official state book. A similar bill was proposed in Louisiana in 2014, but ended up being pulled by its sponsor.

Last year, two Democratic lawmakers in Mississippi proposed a similar bill, but it hasnt gone anywhere yet.

Its rare for any state to designate an official state book. Massachusetts boasts an official state childrens book, Make Way for Ducklings, and state childrens author, Dr. Seuss. There was a brief attempt to make Moby-Dick the Bay States official book, but it failed.

If Haslam signs the legislation, the Bible would join other Tennessee state symbols including the passion flower (state wildflower), the tomato (state fruit), the raccoon (state wild animal) and the Barrett M82/M107 (state rifle).

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Ford Motor Co. plans to build a $1.6-billion auto assembly plant in Mexico, creating about 2,800 jobs there and shifting small-car production away from the United States at a time when moving jobs south of the border has become a major issue in the U.S. presidential campaign.

The company announced that it would open the plant in San Luis Potosi state Tuesday without saying specifically what cars it would build there.

But the United Auto Workers union has said Ford plans to shift production of the Focus compact and C-Max small gas-electric hybrid from suburban Detroit to Mexico, where the cars can be made at lower cost and more profitably.

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The UAWs new four-year contract with Ford, signed last year, guarantees new vehicles for the Wayne, Mich., assembly plant in 2018 and 2020 and a $700-million investment that preserves the plants 3,924 jobs. Union members have said they expect the factory to get a new version of the Ranger small pickup and a new small SUV called the Bronco.

Ford announced the Mexican plant the day of the key Wisconsin primary. Republican front-runner Donald Trump has railed about corporate America moving jobs to Mexico to take advantage of what he calls a lopsided trade agreement. He has vowed to rewrite the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement, tax imports and punish U.S. companies, including Ford.

The U.S. has long been an open economy, and specific trade deals such as NAFTA have not had a major effect on jobs, economists say. The huge wage gap between the U.S. and developing countries and the increasing use of machines to replace workers have had a far bigger effect.

The automaker has responded to Trump by highlighting its investments in the U.S. At the New York International Auto Show in March, Ford Chief Executive Mark Fields said the company spends more than 80% of its capital in the U.S. and has committed to spending an additional $8 billion to $9 billion in the next four years.

Since 2011 weve invested over $10 billion in our facilities. Weve hired over 25,000 people in the U.S., Fields said.

Auto and other manufacturing jobs having been moving south for years. Mexican auto production more than doubled in the past decade, and the consulting firm IHS Automotive expects it to rise an additional 50% to just under 5 million vehicles by 2022. U.S. production is expected to increase only 3%, to 12.2 million vehicles, in the next seven years.

Joe Hinrichs, Fords president of the Americas, said the company is a global automotive company that builds cars where it makes the most financial sense. He confirmed that new plant would build small cars starting in 2018. Weve talked about improving our small-car profitability and this is an important part of that, he said.

See the most-read stories this hour >>

Under the new UAW contract, Ford factory workers earn about $60 an hour in wages and benefits, while auto workers in Mexico average about $8 an hour, according to the Center for Automotive Research, a Michigan industry think tank.

Trump began criticizing Ford last summer after the company said it planned to invest $2.5 billion in engine and transmission plants in Mexico. Hinrichs said the timing of Tuesdays announcement had nothing to do with the presidential race, but instead with the timing of construction of the new plant, due to start this summer.

Most of the cars built at Fords new Mexican plant would be sold in North America, with the bulk being exported to the U.S., the regions largest market.

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Late last month, after North Carolina's political leaders enacted a flagrantly discriminatory law aimed at LGBT people and lots of respectable businesses expressed their discontent, we asked when these companies would translate talk into action.

The bill was signed March 23 by Republican Gov. Pat McCrory. The first raindrops are now falling on the state's parade. PayPal, the San Jose-based payment processing company, announced Tuesday that it's cancelling a planned expansion in Charlotte, the state's largest city. That means the loss of a $3.6-million investment this year alone and 400 jobs paying an average of $50,000.

Becoming an employer in North Carolina, where members of our teams will not have equal rights under the law, is simply untenable.  PayPal CEO Dan Schulman

"As a company that is committed to the principle that everyone deserves to live without fear of discrimination simply for being who they are, becoming an employer in North Carolina, where members of our teams will not have equal rights under the law, is simply untenable," company CEO Dan Schulman said in the company's announcement.

the North Carolina law is one of a series of state-level proposals ostensibly aimed at protecting individual privacy by allowing people to use only restrooms or locker rooms corresponding to the gender on their birth certificates. It was designed in part to overturn a city ordinance in Charlotte allowing people to use restrooms according to the gender they identify with. In signing the bill, McCrory called the Charlotte ordinance a "radical breach of trust and security under the false argument of equal access."

RELATED STORY: Business and N.C.'s anti-LGBT law: talk is cheap, but what are you actually doing about it?

PayPal's announcement came on the very day that Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant thumbed his nose at anti-discrimination forces by signing a "religious freedom" bill that allows private faciities to deny services to gay or lesbian weddings based on the service provider's "sincerely held religious belief." Only eight days ago, Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal, responding to pressure from business interests, vetoed a similar bill in his state.

PayPal's action is notable for two reasons. The first is that until Tuesday, PayPal had simply been one among several corporations that had expressed unhappiness with the law rhetorically but hadn't taken any concrete action, stating only that it was "disappointed by the bill."

The second is that this is a major blow to the state's economy: Charlotte had competed vigorously for the PayPal project, beating out sites in Arizona and Florida in part by offering a $3.7-million tax incentive. The firm's action may well open the floodgates to other concrete corporate responses.

See the most-read stories this hour >>

A+E Networks and 21st Century Fox, for example, have threatened not to film any more projects in the state unless the law is repealed, but stopped short of canceling projects already under way. Among other signs of potential losses, Government entities that have banned travel to North Carolina on official business include San Francisco, Seattle, New York City and State, and Connecticut. A more than century-old furniture industry exposition that brings 70,000 visitors and $5 billion in annual spending to the state says it has experienced a wave of exhibitor cancellations since the bill's enactment.

State Attorney General Roy Cooper, a Democrat running against McCrory in November, has refused to defend the law in court, calling it a "national embarrassment."

Thus far, McCrory has portrayed himself and his state as victims of "political threats and economic retaliation," which seems accurate enough. Thus far he has refused to relent, insisting through a spokesman that he would resist a well-coordinated, national campaign to smear our states reputation after we passed a common-sense law to ensure no government can take away our basic expectations of privacy in bathrooms, locker rooms and showers.

Keep up to date with Michael Hiltzik. Follow @hiltzikm on Twitter, see his Facebook page, or email michael.hiltzik@latimes.com.

Return to Michael Hiltzik's blog.

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Yorba Linda business owner Jeffrey Barman has vowed that the states endless drought wont mark the end of his company, California Waters.

Barman, co-owner Mark Pitman and some 45 employees design, install and repair decorative fountains and other water features, including a $3-million interactive fountain built for the Anaheim Convention Center in 2012. Despite a name that seems to court disaster in a dry region, California Waters managed to boost sales to about $6 million in the year that ended June 30, up 35% from two years earlier.

Still, four years of drought have made it significantly harder to sell now, Barman said. What we dont know about is the business we dont get from people who would have called us before.

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The historic lack of rain has been rough on the states waterscape businesses  the people who create fountains, ponds and other aquatic landscape features. Such ornamental projects are easy targets when water is scarce, a scapegoating that fountain builders say is inaccurate and unfair.

My fountain is still running, said Denne Goldstein, publisher of Irrigation and Green Industry magazine, a Reseda-based trade publication for landscape and irrigation contractors.

Goldstein and others in the industry contend that modern fountains are getting a bum rap: They use efficient, energy-saving equipment; they are designed to minimize spraying or leaking into the ground; they recirculate water and in some cases rely on used water or captured rainfall.

The states drought action campaign could have been handled much more intelligently to keep owners from turning off fountains and going to other extremes that dont save much water but hurt landscape companies and their employees, Goldstein said. It makes me cringe.

Although the waterscape niche is difficult to quantify, the overall landscape industry accounts for about $180 billion in sales a year, counting professionals and do-it-yourselfers, Goldstein said. Californians are among the biggest spenders on outdoor plants and landscape features, even those involving water, he said.

Public perception that water features are wasteful remains a big hurdle, waterscapers say.

When designed and maintained correctly, Barman said, fountains require less water than any turf or grass. And the amount of water required to keep them going is minimal. They are better than any hardscape alternative, like concrete that eventually has to be hosed down with water.

Rick Baeza, owner of California Fountain Scapes in Castaic, tells customers that his recirculating fountains will lose less water from weeks of evaporation than the amount of water used flushing the toilet at a restaurant.

Another selling point, Baeza said, are calmer fountains that splash less, resulting in less evaporation.

Baeza is pinning his hopes on a few more storms before the El Nino weather system is done.

I hope we get a good, long rain. Business has been slow. This has been affecting sales big time, for sure.

Although Californias conservation rules allow fountains that use recirculating water, some officials remain unconvinced that fountains should flow freely. Some towns and water districts that allow fountains have used confusing language in setting their policies or have flip-flopped on whether fountains are allowed, manufacturers and installers say, which has befuddled potential customers.

Last year, Southern Californias Desert Water Agency, Rancho California Water District and Palm Springs City Council lifted bans on the use of decorative fountains, saying they didnt represent a significant waste of water if they recirculate water.

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But the debate may not be done, particularly if the drought persists.

Some board members of the Desert Water Agency, which serves Palm Springs, Desert Hot Springs and parts of Cathedral City, said repealing the ban sends the wrong message to Californians.

Craig Ewing, Desert Water Agency president, said at the time that the ban was an important symbol that we are in a drought.

Barman said that potential customers usually dont even know what water district they are in, much less what the drought rules are.

Victor Hurtado, manager of Reseda Discount Fountains & Pottery, said he has long-term worries about the states increasingly dry climate.

There are going to be problems because of this drought, and there seem to be no real answers or solutions for that, he said.

California Waters has increased sales by adding construction services so that the company can handle all aspects from design through maintenance. The company also has won some high-profile commercial projects, including last years updating of the pumps, plumbing and filtration for Beverly Hills historic fountain at the corner of Santa Monica and Wilshire boulevards.

Still, the drought has taken a toll. The biggest impact has been in our service division, where we have seen an unprecedented 15% drop in sales, Barman said.

If El Nino ultimately doesnt come through, Barman and co-owner Pitman have another plan: explore more sales in Utah and Arizona.

They, Barman said, just dont have all of the regulations we have.

ronald.white@latimes.com

Twitter: @RonWLATimes

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Eric Handler, the top public-health official in Orange County, recalls the day a few years ago he was chatting with Mark Lowry, head of the Orange County Food Bank.

Handler wondered whether it would be possible to end hunger in the county if, somehow, all the food that gets thrown away each year could be channeled to people in need.

Lowry thought about it a moment and offered a simple response: Yes, that would end hunger for thousands of local residents.

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Everything thats happened since then grew out of that one conversation, Handler told me.

Last week, I wrote about Starbucks committing to donate 100% of leftover food to charity. I concluded that more businesses would follow suit if they understood it wasnt as hard  or legally perilous  as they might think.

That prompted a call from Handler. He said I needed to check out a program called Waste Not OC.

He was right. Orange County has come up with a public-private partnership for reducing food waste that can serve as a model for other counties, the state and even the nation.

Handler said he has already received interest from Los Angeles, San Diego, San Bernardino and other California counties about establishing their own Waste Not programs.

Waste Not OC also was recently honored as a model practices program by the National Assn. of County and City Health Officials. Orange Countys approach, the group said, demonstrates exemplary and replicable qualities in response to a local public health need.

So what are these guys doing? Its pretty simple  and smart.

Theyre actively teaching restaurants and other food businesses that its possible to donate leftover food. Theyre also putting procedures in place to better identify people and families in need. Finally, theyre making it easier for leftovers to get to those who can use them.

All it takes, Handler said, is dedicated, passionate people who want to see it happen.

The hardest part was getting restaurants and other food businesses on board.

Most of us live by the credo When in doubt, throw it out, said Mike Learakos, owner of Katella Grill in Orange. Theres a big fear of liability if you donate leftover food.

He told me that he and most other restaurant owners he knows had no idea that a federal law is on the books that safeguards food donors from being sued. Its called the Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act.

But what got Learakos involved with Waste Not OC was the participation of Orange Countys health department. He said it makes a huge difference knowing that health officials have set standards for, and signed off on, donations of prepared food.

One of the genius aspects of Waste Not OC is the way it enlists county restaurant inspectors in the effort to reduce food waste. Since theyre already interacting with restaurant owners, theyre in the best position to educate potential donors.

Handler said inspectors now routinely inform restaurants and other food businesses about Waste Not OC and provide information about the Good Samaritan Act. Its a great way to spread the word from a trusted source.

The next step is to facilitate pickups and delivery of leftovers to food pantries, shelters and other locations.

Lowry, the director of the Orange County Food Bank, said many charities have their own pickup vehicles or work with nonprofits such as Food Finders and Second Harvest to collect contributions.

The trick with perishable foods is to avoid storage. During transit, cold food is kept cold, hot food is kept hot, and its taken straight to a local food pantry or shelter that can serve it to those who need it.

Charities that receive food donations arent protected by the Good Samaritan Act  they have to meet local health regulations when serving food to the needy.

Having the health department involved in Waste Not OC really alleviates a lot of those concerns, Lowry said.

Handler said food deliveries also are being handled by Yellow Cab, which is contributing its vehicles and drivers during idle hours.

If theres a late-night pickup, theyll do it, he said.

The final part of the equation is identifying those in need and helping them find food. Handler said questions about hunger are now being asked when people check into hospitals and family resource centers. This has provided a more accurate picture of the countys food needs.

Meanwhile, Waste Not OC has tweaked Google Maps to show people where they can find their nearest food pantry. Its a simple way of connecting the hungry with local places where food is available.

To date, Waste Not OC has recovered 236 tons of perfectly good food  nearly 392,000 meals  that otherwise would have gone into the trash since the program started in 2012.

Theres no reason why the same sort of partnership couldnt exist in any other community, Lowry said.

No reason at all.

David Lazarus column runs Tuesdays and Fridays. He also can be seen daily on KTLA-TV Channel 5 and followed on Twitter @Davidlaz. Send your tips or feedback to david.lazarus@latimes.com.
The $150-billion proposed merger of Pfizer Inc. and Ireland-based Allergan has been scrapped, becoming the first casualty of an Obama administration crackdown on companies that avoid U.S. taxes by moving their headquarters overseas.

In issuing two new broad rules late Monday to deter so-called corporate inversions  the strongest such action to date  the Treasury Department seemed to be targeting the Pfizer-Allergan deal and others like it.

One of the regulations makes tax inversions harder and potentially much less profitable for foreign companies that have been involved in multiple deals with U.S. companies over a three-year period, what Treasury officials called serial inverters. Allergan was bought in March of last year by Actavis, a formerly New Jersey-based firm that itself had merged in 2013 with an Ireland company.

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Allergan, which was born out of a Los Angeles drugstore more than 65 years ago and became best known as the maker of Botox, was expected to complete its merger with New York-based Pfizer in the second half of this year.

But Wall Street signaled that the new rules put the deal in peril. Allergans stock plunged 15.6% to $234.35 a share in afternoon trading Tuesday in New York. Pfizers stock rose 84 cents to $31.56 a share.

On Wednesday morning, Pfizer announced the deal had been called off by the two companies by mutual agreement.

The decision was driven by the actions announced by the U.S. Department of Treasury on April 4, 2016, which the companies concluded qualified as an Adverse Tax Law Change under the merger agreement, Pfizer said in a written statement.

Pfizer said it agreed to reimburse Allergan $150 million for expenses related to the deal, as required in the merger agreement.

While we were surprised that the Treasury issued the rules and proposed regulations on Monday we were prepared for that contingency, Allergan Chief Executive Brent Saunders told analysts on a conference call Wednesday.

Allergans future remains incredibly exciting, with a promising pipeline of new drugs along with a strong balance sheet and growth opportunities, he said.

We are recharged, excited and ready to go, Saunders said.

Allergans stock bounced back Wednesday, rising about 3% in early trading. Pfizer shares also were up about 3%.

But Saunders also complained that Treasury had targeted the Pfizer-Allergan deal with its new rules.

It really looked like they did a very fine job of constructing a rule here  a temporary rule  to stop this deal, and obviously it was successful, he told CNBC-TV.

For the rules to be changed after the game has started to be played is a bit un-American, but thats the situation were in, Saunders said.

The new federal rules on inversions, which would apply to deals not yet closed, are the third round of efforts by the Obama White House to deter companies from leaving for tax advantages abroad. The prior actions, however, were seen as largely ineffective and drew criticisms on the political campaign trail, where the issue has been a hot topic.

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President Obama, who two years ago promised to crack down on tax inversions, said Tuesday that the new regulations build on steps that weve already taken to make the system fairer. Obama has previously chastised corporations that exploit the tax system by generally buying small companies and then changing their address to another country to reduce their U.S. tax burden. While saying that the new rules would help curb the practice, the president called on Congress to close the loophole for good by reforming the tax system.

Lets stop rewarding companies that are shipping jobs overseas and profit overseas, he said, and start rewarding companies that create jobs right here at home and are good corporate citizens.

The Treasury Departments new rules surprised analysts in their breadth and potential for wide impact. The second of the two main regulations focuses on blocking a tactic known as earnings stripping, a practice that is not limited to corporate inversions. It involves a company lending money between a U.S. and foreign affiliate so that interest payments can be deducted from U.S. tax bills.

Analysts said the new rulings are substantial expansions to the Treasury Departments administrative actions to clamp down on a practice that has been condemned by candidates of both parties and by many members of Congress. Still, Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew said in a statement that although the new rules should help slow the pace of such deals, we know companies will continue to seek new and creative ways to relocate their tax residence to avoid paying taxes here at home.

Companies and business groups have blamed the rise in tax inversions on the high U.S. corporate tax rates that they say give foreign companies a competitive edge. But also fundamental to the debate, analysts say, are questions about what constitutes an American company at a time when business and capital is global, said Adam Rosenzweig, a law professor and expert in international taxes at Washington University School of Law in St. Louis.

Is corporate domicile determined by where the company is legally incorporated, where most of the employees are located, or where principal research or operations take place, he asked.

These are positive rules, and they may stem the flow for a very short period of time, said Kenneth Serwin, an economist and consultant with the Berkeley Research Group in Emeryville. But, he added, this is really a big ugly Band-Aid on the problem.

With the latest rules, analysts said the fate of the Allergan-Pfizer deal hinged on the expected nontax benefits of the merger. As of late last year, Allergan had more than 2,000 employees in Irvine, where it was long based, as well as 300 in Corona.

For one critic of the merger, David Balto, an antitrust lawyer and former policy director at the Federal Trade Commission, the inversion rules only provided more reason to oppose the transaction.

This is a headache thats well deserved, said Balto, who contends the deal would have helped drive up consumers drug prices as competition declined. The tax-inversion situation just made things fundamentally worse because it meant the American taxpayers are subsidizing the pharmaceutical industry throughout the world, he said.

Staff writers James F. Peltz in Los Angeles and Jim Puzzanghera in Washington contributed to this report.

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In more than seven years since it opened to great fanfare, the Eli and Edythe Broad Stage in Santa Monica has presented theatrical, dance and musical artists of the highest international caliber, but the most prominent tune emanating from the hall Monday was the sound of musical chairs in its executive offices.

The Broad Stage confirmed that artistic and executive director Wiley Hausam departed the company last week, after less than a year on the job.

Jane Deknatel, who has been with the Broad Stage for six years, most recently as director of development, has been appointed interim executive director. The venues former top boss, Dale Franzen, is coming back to oversee a new series of programming starting next season. The content of the new series remains undetermined.

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My decision to leave the Broad Stage was for personal reasons, Hausam said by email. While I love Santa Monica and am very stimulated by Los Angeles cultural community, my husband and I have decided to return to our home in New York City sometime in May.

Hausam added that he has not joined another organization. He will take the title of senior artistic advisor to the Broad Stage.

Hausam joined the Broad Stage in October after having served as executive director at Stanford Live and the Bing Concert Hall at Stanford University. He also has held leadership roles at the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts at New York University and the Performing Arts Center at Purchase College in upstate New York.

Its a personal decision of Wileys, said Richard Kendall, board chairman of the Broad Stage. The appropriate thing for us is to respect that.

One person who works closely with the Broad Stage but who wasnt authorized to speak to the press said problems between Hausam and the company became apparent fairly quickly.

The board of directors has maintained a hands-on approach in artistic programming, according to others who have worked with the Broad Stage but who arent part of the organization. Sources said it was sometimes unclear who was making artistic decisions, and communication with outside groups was sometimes inconsistent and vague.

The Broad Stage shares the building with Santa Monica College, whose students and staff also use the main 500-seat theater and a smaller space called the Edye. That can make it difficult to entice performing arts groups looking to book a venue for longer than a few days. Short engagements can make breaking even difficult.

After Franzen stepped down as the Broad Stages original director, Mitchell Heskel was named interim director. Heskel left the organization after Hausam was appointed, but said he still assists the company in artistic programming.

I kind of really never left, said Heskel, now interim dean of education enterprise at Santa Monica College.

He said he remains involved with programming opera at the Broad Stage because of his experience in the field, having held executive roles at Los Angeles Opera.

The search for a full-time replacement for Hausam will start soon, board Chairman Kendall said. It remains unclear if the Broad Stage will seek one person to fill both the artistic and executive director roles, as Hausam had done.

Since she first left the Broad Stage, Franzen has pursued a career producing. She is working on the new musical Hadestown, based on the Anais Mitchell album, that will open later this year at New York Theatre Workshop.

Franzen said that her new program at the Broad Stage, the Founding Directors Series, is still being planned and the idea came from Broad leaders.

In 2008, Eli Broad announced a gift of $10 million to the company for its endowment, the final installment of which was made during the fiscal year ending 2013. The company spends about $6.5 million annually on artistic programming. For the fiscal year ending in 2014, donations and grants fell by nearly 50% from the year before to slightly more than $2 million.

Eli Broad said in a statement that the board is looking to expand its membership. He said he supports Deknatel in her role as interim director, and that he is enthusiastic about the upcoming season and believes Dale Franzen will curate an exciting Founding Directors Series.

Broad isnt a member of the companys board of directors. Dustin Hoffman serves as chairman of the Broads artistic advisory board, a group of 15 prominent artists that includes Placido Domingo and conductor Kent Nagano.

Among the notable groups to perform at the Broad Stage in the past are Shakespeares Globe from London, Theatre for a New Audience from New York, the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields and L.A.'s Diavolo contemporary dance group.

The upcoming 2016-17 season will feature Anna Deavere Smith in Notes From the Field: Doing Time in Education, the Calder Quartet and the L.A. dance group Bodytraffic.

david.ng@latimes.com
The 2016 LA Film Festival will open with Ricardo de Montreuils Lowriders. Produced by Brian Grazer and Jason Blum, the film stars Eva Longoria, Demian Bichir, Melissa Benoist, Theo Rossi, Tony Revolori and Gabriel Chavarria in a story set against the car culture and street art scene of East L.A.

The 22nd edition of the festival will take place June 1 to June 9 at ArcLight Cinemas.

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FOR THE RECORD

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11:47 a.m.: An earlier version of this article misspelled the name of Demian Bichir as Demian Bechir.

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We are thrilled to open with Lowriders, a culturally vibrant film that explores familial relationships within a second-generation Mexican family in East L.A. Made by filmmakers of color, Lowriders embodies our mission of shining the light on unique voices, said festival director Stephanie Allain in a statement.

Even before issues of representation and diversity in Hollywood were brought to the forefront by the recent controversy over this years Academy Awards, the LA Film Festival had been addressing those concerns. Last year nearly 30% of the festivals program was directed by people of color and nearly 40% of the films in the festival were directed by women.

The festival also announced that Creed filmmaker Ryan Coogler would be the 2016 guest director. His debut feature, Fruitvale Station, played at the festival in 2013.

Filmmaker Ava DuVernay and her distribution company Array Releasing will receive the festivals Spirit of Independence award. Last year the prize was given to Lily Tomlin and previous recipients include Don Cheadle, George Clooney and Charlize Theron.

We cant imagine a more fitting recipient of the Spirit of Independence award than Ava DuVernay and her distribution company Array Releasing, said Film Independent President Josh Welsh. In addition to being a brilliant filmmaker, Ava is a passionate, forward-thinking distributor, helping unique and diverse voices find their audiences.

SIGN UP for the free Indie Focus movies newsletter >>

Over the last few years the festival has featured posters created by L.A. artists. This years poster is being done by native Angeleno Carolyn Castano. Her work has been exhibited in Venice, Italy, and Mexico City and her site-specific installation at the Los Angeles International Airport will be unveiled in June 2016.

Festival passes are on sale to Film Independent members starting Tuesday, April 5. Passes for the general public go on sale April 12. The festivals full program will be announced on April 26.

Follow on Twitter: @IndieFocus
For months, FXs American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson has captivated viewers as it revisited and occasionally fictionalized the events surrounding the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman and the subsequent investigation and trial.

The crime was a Los Angeles tragedy through and through, with the trial taking place just a couple of blocks away from the Los Angeles Times building in downtown L.A. As evidenced by recurring mentions throughout the run of the series, The Times covered the events surrounding the Simpson circus from the first. It seemed only appropriate then to dig into our archives and see if we could answer some burning questions from the first season of American Crime Story.

Was Robert Kardashian conflicted about O.J. Simpsons innocence?

Robert Kardashian stood by his friend, O.J. Simpson, throughout Simpsons murder trial. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

Though American Crime Story may exaggerate the extent of Kardashians doubts about his friends innocence, it wasnt all fiction. It seems like Kardashian himself wasn't quite sure how he felt about Simpson's potential guilt.

"O.J. Simpson never lied to me. He has told me that he did not commit these horrible crimes and I have no reason not to believe him. It was from that perspective that I came to stand by his side during his trial," wrote Kardashian in a piece for the Los Angeles Times in October 1995.

Yet when speaking to Barbara Walters in an October 1996 interview, Kardashian told her, "I have doubts, going on to add, The blood evidence is the biggest thorn in my side; that causes me the greatest problems. So I  I struggle with the blood evidence."

Read the story from our archives: "Robert Kardashian, 59; Served on O.J. Simpson's Defense Team"

Did the jurors really stage a revolt?

Judge Lance Ito received complaints from jurors after several deputies were dismissed for alleged misconduct. (AFP)

Indeed.

Thirteen jurors donned black garb in protest of the dismissal of several deputies responsible for overseeing the jury after complaints accusing the guards of favoring white jurors. The protesting jurors  black, white and Latino  also gave Judge Ito a hand-signed letter registering their displeasure.

"I just think that [the deputies] got a raw deal. I really do," a 37-year-old black female juror told the judge in his chambers on April 21, according to transcripts from the trial, with another juror, a 52-year-old black woman, telling Ito she was upset about the dismissals because two of the deputies had been with her when her sister died: "They were there with me through a lot of crying times."

Read the story from our archives: "THE O.J. SIMPSON MURDER TRIAL: Transcripts give details of 'juror revolt'"

Why did Dennis Fung, LAPD criminalist and witness for the prosecution, shake hands with the lawyers after his testimony?

LAPD criminalist and prosecution witness Dennis Fung speaks to Simpsons defense team after spending nine days on the witness stand. (Myung J. Chun / AP)

Out of relief from finally being off the witness stand.

"I was so happy to get off the stand. I was high," Fung told The Times in October 1995. Fung spent a grueling nine days on the stand as Simpsons defense picked apart his professionalism and the alleged incompetence of the LAPD crime lab.

Read the story from our archives: "How the case changed the lives of those it touched: Dennis Fung"

Did Marcia Clark and Chris Darden have a romantic relationship?

(l-r) Christopher Darden and Marcia Clark consult during the O.J. Simpson trial. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Sadly, no.

When Clark was on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in March she assured the host that while the pair did dance and did go on a trip to the Bay Area, as shown in the series, the relationship was not a romance but a partnership.

We were really partners, Clark assured DeGeneres, adding, We were trench mates. He wasn't my second chair ... we were co-counsel and he was my partner and I can't tell you how important it was to have him there."

Read the story from latimes.com: "Marcia Clark talks Chris Darden romance rumors with Ellen DeGeneres"

Did Johnnie Cochran really shame Clark in the courtroom about needing child care?

(l-r) Johnnie Cochran and Marcia Clark exchange words during the O.J. Simpson trial. (Kevork Djansezian / AP)

He did.

Cochran suggested that perhaps Clark had begged off on a proposed evening session because she was attempting to delay the testimony of Rosa Lopez, a witness for the defense. Clark was incensed by the accusation and asserted that she was offended as a woman, as a single parent, as a prosecutor and as an officer of the court."

Read the story from our archives: "Marcia Clark's husband cites trial in custody fight"

Who is the woman behind the Mark Fuhrman tapes?

Mark Fuhrman testifies for the prosecution during the O.J. Simpson trial. Fuhrman will later be convicted of perjury for his testimony. (Ken Lubas / Los Angeles Times)

Laura Hart McKinny, wannabe screenwriter, interviewed Mark Fuhrman for over 13 hours between 1985 and 1994 as research for a screenplay she was writing about women police officers. During the interviews, Fuhrman used the N-word more than 40 times and described incidents of police brutality against African American suspects.

McKinnys tapes were admitted into evidence by Judge Ito, but the defense was allowed to use only two small portions.

McKinny's husband, Daniel, told The Times, "She has done a lot of journalism to reveal [racism and sexism] at the LAPD, and she thinks it's important for the public to hear about it, but she wants to be the one to tell them," speaking of his wife's as-of-yet unproduced screenplay "Men Against Women" (the novelization of which is available for purchase on Amazon).

Read the story from our archives: "Sudden fame is frustrating for writer behind tapes"

Did the Los Angeles Times really write an expose that revealed Cochrans alleged domestic abuse past?

Johnnie Cochran deals with a mass of reporters. (Los Angeles Times)

Yes.

Barbara Jean Berry and Johnnie Cochran were married in 1959 and divorced in 1977. When first filing for divorce in 1967 (the couple eventually reconciled) and again in 1977, Berry alleged that Cochran had been physically abusive on a number of occasions throughout their marriage.

Cochran denied the allegations and Berry, when interviewed by The Times, declined to comment, saying, I will not discuss it. I never said I wanted to be interviewed.

Cochran, in his inimitable style, told The Times, That's a terrible comment. Looks like somebody wrote that out for her. She probably called her lawyers. They said don't say anything; they'll get you for perjury. Nobody is going to try her for perjury.

Read the story from our archives: "Johnnie Cochran's whole career has been a prelude to what is happening in courtroom 103"

Did Cochran show up at closing arguments with bodyguards from the Nation of Islam?

Johnnie Cochran is escorted to the courthouse by bodyguards from the Nation of Islam. (Clarence Williams / Los Angeles Times)

He did.

Though Cochran had eschewed protection for the majority of the trial, death threats spurred the head of Simpsons dream team to enlist muscle from Louis Farrakhan's religious organization.

Apparently, two guards even followed Cochran into the men's room for his protection.

Read the story from our archives: "Tales of bodyguards, ribbons and Krazy Glue"

How long did the jury deliberate before rendering the verdict?

(l-r) F. Lee Bailey, O.J. Simpson and Johnnie Cochran listen to the verdict as it is delivered in Simpsons double murder trial. (Myung J. Chun / AP)

Three hours. After spending 266 days in sequestration, the jury in the Simpson trial wasted no time in coming to a decision.

Read the story from our archives: "Simpson not guilty: Drama ends 474 days after arrest"

Did President Clinton talk about the verdict in the aftermath?

(l-r) Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo and US President Bill Clinton on October 11, 1995 in Washington. Clinton would publicly comment that day on the Simpson verdict rendered eight days prior. (Joyce Naltchayan / AFP)

Clinton addressed the verdict at a news conference with Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo and registered his shock at the countrys polarized reactions to the trials outcome.

"I must say that, even though I thought I knew a lot about how people of different races viewed things in America, I have been surprised by the depth of the divergence in so many areas," Clinton said.

When the verdict was officially released, Clinton also released a statement insisting that Americans respect the verdict, as stipulated by the nations justice system.

Read the story from our archives: "President says he's 'very concerned' about apparent racial gulf"

Follow me @midwestspitfire

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THE SIMPSON VERDICTS : Outcome Sets Off Sparks on Internet
Food marketplaces are having a moment on a national -- and international -- scale. Just look to whats been happening over the last couple of years at Grand Central Market in downtown Los Angeles.

But marketplaces dont need to be new or revitalized with artfully branded tenants to be worthy of adulation (i.e. Pike Place Market in Seattle or Chelsea Market in New York City). Los Angeles is home to several decades-old Mexican and Latin American marketplaces and food courts, including El Faro Plaza.

The bustling swap meet in the industrial neighborhood of Vernon is far from the most high-profile of the citys marketplaces, but it has some great food vendors and it could be the most fun.

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Wandering aimlessly through the maze-like halls of the market, you may stop to watch a masseuse step up onto a stool and then onto a customers back; then get a little lost among all the plastic-wrapped Adidas sneakers for sale before stumbling on a food stall or the outdoor food court.

Many of the food vendors serve regional specialties or interesting twists on familiar Mexican dishes, but it helps to go in with at least a shell of a plan. To that end, here are a few of my favorite vendors at El Faro Plaza.

Tacos Guadalajara

A plate full of tacos de canasta at Tacos Guadalajara. (Ben Mesirow / For The Times)

Tacos Guadalajara is the most prominent food stall at El Faro Plaza. Thats mostly because it has a large banner on the outside fence, facing the herds of 18-wheelers that chug down Alameda Street.

The stated specialty is the al pastor (pork cooked on the trompo), but youll want to try the tacos de canasta, or basket tacos. They are folded in half around your choice of filling, then steamed.

The tacos come six to an order and arrive on your plate in a mushy brown heap. They arent the most beautiful tacos, but you may find yourself wolfing them down, using them almost like Ethiopian injera to scoop up salsa and onions.

Tacos Jaliscience and Bionicos Jaliscience

Birria tacos from Tacos Jaliscience. (Ben Mesirow / For The Times)

Just across the courtyard from Tacos Guadalajara is Tacos Jaliscience. The main menu is mostly straightforward tacos and quesadillas, available with the standard array of meats. But upon closer inspection, there is, taped in the window, a handwritten sign on white paper advertising the availability of birria.

The birria tacos are bigger than average and strikingly gamy. The tortillas are a particular highlight, crisped perfectly with just a hint of char but still pliable and sturdy enough to support the tender meat and a healthy dash of salsa and lime.

When youve finished your tacos, walk next door to Bionicos Jaliscience to complete the experience with a bright, peppery chamango or diablito drink for dessert.

Villa Moreliana

Costilla taco at Villa Moreliana (Ben Mesirow / For The Times)

Villa Moreliana is something of a food court legend, with an outpost at El Faro and a long-running and recently upgraded stall at Grand Central Market.

Its specialty is carnitas, and it does them incredibly well, cooking many different cuts of pork in a giant bubbling cazo in the kitchen. Its board lists the cuts offered, and you choose the format in which youd like to eat them.

If you choose to have your carnitas delivered in a taco, expect so much meat that the taco comes with two extra tortillas on the side for the bits that will inevitably tumble out of both ends as you eat it.

Costilla -- rib meat -- is a good, safe choice, but there are plenty of unusual cuts available, from snout to feet and every part of the pig in between.

Churros El Guero

Churros for the road from El Guero. (Ben Mesirow / For The Times)

Once youve had your fill of tacos, theres one essential stop on the way out of the market: the Churros El Guero cart, set up in the food court near Tacos Jaliscience.

This is where twists of dough are fried then coated in cinnamon sugar. They come in a white bag, piping hot and about a dozen or so to an order.

The churros are thicker and a little chewier than the cinnamon-flecked puffs of air you may find elsewhere. By the time you get to the car, that white bag will be speckled with spreading translucent spots of grease, and by the time you make it home, there will be mild burns on your tongue, cinnamon sugar on your cheek and an empty bag crumpled on the passenger seat.

4433 S. Alameda St., Los Angeles, (323) 234-2838.

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Donald Trumps hyperbolic rhetoric about Mexico apparently has claimed a victim.

Mexico abruptly replaced its low-profile ambassador to Washington with an experienced, well-traveled diplomat and put a public relations expert into its Foreign Ministrys top spot for American affairs.

The move comes after many Mexicans have complained about their governments anemic response to what they consider outrageous comments by the Republican presidential candidate.

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Mexican Ambassador Miguel Basanez Ebergenyi, an academic, served only seven months in Washington, an unusually short stint for the countrys most important diplomatic post.

Named to replace him is Carlos Manuel Sada Solana, who has been consul general in Los Angeles for three years and previously served at Mexican consulates in New York, Chicago, Toronto and San Antonio.

A Mexican Foreign Ministry statement announcing the changes emphasized Sadas broad experience  protecting the rights of Mexicans in North America, as well as defending the interests of Mexico abroad.

A building in the Mexican Senate complex displays a hashtag against U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in Mexico City last month. (Yuri Cortez / AFP/Getty Images)

Basanez last summer had famously counseled publicly that Mexicans should not worry about a Trump candidacy. He said the real estate tycoon would certainly apologize to Mexico for calling its people rapists and criminals, an apology Trump has yet to offer.

In addition to naming a new ambassador in Washington, who still must be confirmed by the Mexican Senate, the government of President Enrique Pena Nieto named Paulo Carreno to the post of undersecretary for North America in the Foreign Ministry.

He had been serving as the presidents czar for improving the image of Mexico and its government abroad and is expected to put those lobbying skills to new use.

Until recently, many in Mexico bemoaned their governments failure to challenge Trumps more xenophobic statements.

On Tuesday, for example, Trump said he would make Mexico pay for a huge wall along the entire Southwest border by blocking the estimated $25 billion in remittances that Mexicans working in the United States send to relatives back home each year.

Most experts agree such a move, even if possible, would be disastrous for economies on both sides of the Rio Grande.

President Obama dismissed the idea as unworkable.

The notion that were going to track every Western Union bit of money thats being sent to Mexico, you know, good luck with that, Obama told reporters on Tuesday.

For more news about global affairs, follow @TracyKWilkinson

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Im Davan Maharaj, editor-in-chief of the Los Angeles Times. Here are some story lines I dont want you to miss today.

TOP STORIES

One Person, One Vote, One Court

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We dont see too many unanimous rulings from the U.S. Supreme Court, but all eight justices rejected a constitutional claim that only eligible voters, rather than all people, be counted when drawing election districts. The lawsuit brought by a conservative activist would have overturned the one person, one vote principle, in effect shifting power away from cities with lots of immigrants, like L.A. Read on to see why the ruling wont be the last we hear of this issue.

Go Ahead, Take a Load Off. Its the Law.

Tired of standing all day at your job? The California Supreme Court made its own unanimous ruling Monday that workers dont have to do so, as long as the totality of the circumstances allows them to get the work done while seated. Heres what it could mean for cashiers, bank tellers and others who arent clamoring to trade in their chairs for a standing desk.

The New UC: Now With More Californians!

Just last week, a state audit slammed the University of California, saying it was favoring out-of-state students over residents. This just in: Preliminary UC data show a 15% increase in admission offers to Californians -- the largest jump since the university began tracking this kind of information in 1994 -- while admissions to nonresidents grew 8.9%. Teresa Watanabe breaks down the numbers and talks with a few high school seniors who are very excited.

Mouse House Drama

He was seen as the favorite to be the next leader of Walt Disney Co. in 2018, but Chief Operating Officer Thomas Staggs announced hell be leaving next month, in a move that shocked Hollywood and Wall Street. Who will succeed Robert Iger now? Heres why names like Sheryl Sandberg of Facebook, Steve Burke of NBCUniversal and Peter Chernin, formerly of Fox, are already being bandied about.

Hearrrtt-break! (For the Tar Heels)

Michael Jordan, the king of the buzzer beater, was in the crowd last night to cheer on his Tar Heels against the Villanova Wildcats. On a memorable three-point shot by Marcus Paige with 4.7 seconds left, the Tar Heels tied the game. Then the Wildcats Kris Jenkins borrowed a signature MJ move, drilling his own three-pointer at the buzzer. As Chick Hearn would have said: Hearrrtt-break!

Yo, Dawg. Last Call for American Idol

The singers. The voting. The judges Simon, Paula and Randy. American Idol seemingly came out of nowhere in 2002 to become a hit show that changed TV, influenced the music industry and even inspired a blog on The Times website. This week, Idol will crown its final winner and go off the air. Heres how it became a powerhouse and ended up, well, a little pitchy at the end.

CALIFORNIA

-- State senators share their doubts about bullet train financing with rail officials.

-- Former L.A. County Undersheriff Paul Tanaka was grilled by a prosecutor in his trial on conspiracy and obstruction-of-justice charges.

-- Two former bag handlers were arrested in connection with a cocaine-smuggling plot at LAX.

-- Michael Hiltzik: No, Californias drought isnt over. Heres why easing the drought rules would be a big mistake.

NATION-WORLD

-- After the massive Panama Papers document leak, the rich and powerful around the world deny wrongdoing.

-- Will Wisconsin halt Donald Trumps march to the nomination? Here are five things to watch in todays primary.

-- On a big day for minimum-wage laws, Hillary Clinton, not Bernie Sanders, grabs the spotlight.

-- Little respite: Syrias cease-fire appears to be collapsing.

-- This Kite Runner arthropod kept its young tethered to its body with strings.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

-- Marcia Clark on how her new book is different from the old Marcia, Marcia, Marcia.

-- Perspective: The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story makes fact fiction and finds something profound in the process.

-- New Powerpuff Girls packs a bigger character punch than the original.

-- Review: Spoiler alert! The Borrowed Time magic show, held at a secret location, will leave you astonished.

-- Kesha says she was offered her freedom if she took back her Dr. Luke rape claims.

-- Video: Here are 10 of the most memorable American Idol performances of all time.

BUSINESS

-- Tesla misses its delivery target for some vehicles, citing the companys hubris.

-- Alaska Air will buy Virgin America, stripping California of its only major airline.

-- Amazon takes on PayPal with its expanded payment-processing service.

-- The drought has made fountains a hard sell, but waterscape builders blame public misperception.

SPORTS

-- Scenes from the Dodgers and Angels season openers. Especially useful if the Dodgers game was blacked out for you.

-- Tell us: After 20 years in L.A., what does Kobe Bryant mean to you?

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING

-- How the Panama Papers leak was coordinated. (Wired)

-- Inside Donald Trumps presidential campaign. (The New Yorker)

-- Ballet dancers talk about what its like to deal with bad reviews. (Dance Magazine)

ONLY IN CALIFORNIA

You never know what youll find in a tide pool: Sea urchins. Anemones. Shark egg cases. Father Junipero Serras head. Thats what happened during low tide in Monterey, when a girl found the missing head of a granite statue that was defaced in October in the wake of Serras canonization. The plan is to reattach the head in a manner that it cannot be so easily vandalized in the future.

Please send comments and ideas to Davan Maharaj.
Uriah Courtney, convicted of a rape he didnt commit, walked out of prison an innocent man after eight years behind bars.

Twenty-one years after a jury found Kenneth Marsh guilty of beating to death his 2-year-old son, he was told the case against him was dismissed.

The men are two of the most notable examples in recent history of wrongful convictions in San Diego County, and Dist. Atty. Bonnie Dumanis believes there could be more.

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Thats why, she says, she is formalizing the offices efforts to review troublesome convictions, creating a team of two full-time prosecutors to investigate claims of innocence where verifiable, credible evidence exists or where there is new technology or evidence to run DNA tests.

Named the George Woody Clarke Conviction Review Unit, the effort honors the former local prosecutor and judge who pioneered such post-conviction work.

Although these kinds of efforts have been embraced by the office for several years, the move to a formalized unit offers the public a direct line of communication to prosecutors.

Convicts, their families and tipsters can now submit an application to have a case reviewed via the district attorneys website, www.sdcda.org. Applications will be accepted only in writing.

We recognize that despite our goal of pursuing justice and truth, in a few instances new evidence is discovered and in some cases, mistakes are found, Dumanis said in a news conference Wednesday. As prosecutors, our legal, moral and ethical obligation is to ensure the right person is convicted for the crime charged.

The unit is already looking at about 10 cases.

The work will be done in coordination with the public defenders office and the California Innocence Project at California Western School of Law. Both applauded the district attorney for her willingness to give convictions a second look.

As good as our system is, as much checks and balances as we have, people do slip through the cracks, said Public Defender Henry Coker. Things look like what theyre not, and lives are lost in that process.

Justin Brooks, director and co-founder of the California Innocence Project, said the district attorneys office has been at the forefront of a nationwide sea change recognizing it is possible to put innocent people in prison.

Its all of our job together to right these wrongs, Brooks said. It should be done in a way thats not about pointing fingers but getting the right result.

Claims of innocence must meet a certain threshold for review: The conviction must have occurred in the San Diego County Superior Court, the convict must still be serving the sentence, the crime must have been a serious or violent felony, there must be credible and verifiable evidence of innocence, and the convict must be willing to cooperate with the process.

Prosecutors said they realize they would likely be inundated with requests that dont fit the criteria, but they promised to look through each application for cases that should be reviewed. If the circumstances dont fall into their jurisdiction, they said they would pass the request along to the appropriate person.

The unit will be led by Deputy Dist. Attys. Bryn Kirvin, who has served as the offices ethics coordinator, and Brent Neck, who for the last five years has worked as the offices liaison to the Innocence Project.

The emergence of DNA technology has been the biggest game changer when it comes to reopening old cases.

Since 1989, DNA has led to the exonerations of 337 people in the U.S., according to the Innocence Project. Twenty of those people had served time on death row.

Prosecutors and police in San Diego didnt really start working with DNA in their cases until 1992, and even then it was a new science.

When DNA exonerations began to really make headlines around the country in 2000, then-Dist. Atty Paul Pfingst wondered whether the same thing could happen in San Diego.

Led by Clarke, a DNA expert who was part of the O.J. Simpson prosecution team, and prosecutor Lisa Weinreb, a team identified about 750 prison inmates who were convicted before 1993 and who maintained their innocence.

But the team discovered DNA testing wouldnt help shed light on many of the cases, and DNA evidence was just not available for many others. In the end, offers were made to seven inmates to have DNA tested. Two refused, one of them being former California Highway Patrol Officer Craig Peyer, who was convicted of murdering a female motorist. Testing on the other five cases did not end in exonerations.

The district attorneys office has come a long way since then by getting real-time updates on DNA hits. It is one of the first in the nation to link its case management system with the states DNA database. For instance, if someone is arrested on a robbery charge, and his DNA matches DNA collected from an old rape case in which someone else was convicted, that could potentially exonerate the person who is actually doing time for the crime.

DNA set Courtney free in 2013. He was accused in 2004 of grabbing a 16-year-old girl from behind and raping her in Lemon Grove, about eight miles east of San Diego. She told investigators that shortly before the attack, she saw a man staring at her from a light-colored truck with a camper shell. She and a witness helped create a sketch of the man.

That led investigators to Courtney, who already had a checkered past.

The victim identified Courtney as her attacker, and a jury convicted him. DNA testing was done at the time without conclusive results.

Years later, Courtneys family pushed to have the victims shirt retested for DNA, recalling testimony that the attacker had laid his head on her shoulder during the assault. The results came back  to a different man who bears a striking resemblance to Courtney.

Marshs case was different. When his son died from head trauma, Marsh said the boy fell from the sofa. Medical experts believed the injury was too severe to have come from that short of a fall, and suspicion fell on Marsh.

He was convicted largely on medical testimony.

In 2002, his attorneys filed a writ saying he was wrongly convicted, and Dumanis, upon reviewing the case, decided the case was no longer provable beyond a reasonable doubt and asked a judge to dismiss it.

Dumanis said that although the two cases are the most notable examples, dozens more cases have been dismissed before conviction, as new evidence surfaces pointing to innocence.

kristina.davis@sduniontribune.com

Davis writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune.
The San Diego County Civil Service Commission has upheld the firing of a sheriffs deputy who slapped a woman in a wheelchair at least twice without provocation, then pulled out his badge and threatened a family of tourists from Arizona who tried to intervene.

When the unnamed and inebriated deputy was taken away by responding San Diego police, he resisted arrest, kicked at the patrol cars doors and windows and demanded professional courtesy from officers, presumably an attempt to be released without charges.

He told the San Diego city police officers that they were lucky he did not have his gun, a commission report states.

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The incident apparently occurred sometime last year, and was not made public until the civil-service proceeding was completed.

According to the report, The causes of discipline were: four charges of failure of good behavior, intemperance, discourteous treatment of the public and acts that are incompatible with and/or inimical to the public service. Employee knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily stipulated that all of the charges were true.

The deputy appealed the ruling nonetheless, arguing the punishment was disproportionate to the offense.

Employee argued that this has been his only instance of bad behavior in 23 years of military service and police work, the report said. He attributed the conduct to family stress. Conversely, he argued that the outrageous nature of the conduct shows that it should be discounted from any estimate of his real character.

Civil-service commissioners disagreed, unanimously adopting the recommendation from a hearing officer that the termination be upheld.

Employee discredited the department and law enforcement to the public and to another local police agency, the civil service report states. Department is now forewarned and cannot responsibly continue to place employee in a position of power.

Commissioners reached their decision Feb. 3. Under county policy, proceeding records do not become available for public inspection until one day after the meeting has concluded. U-T Watchdog requested records from the February meeting last week and received them Monday.

jeff.mcdonald@utsandiego.com

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The argument that a vehicle malfunction, and not excessive speed, led to the 2013 crash that claimed the life of The Fast and the Furious star Paul Walker was dealt a blow when a judge dismissed one of three wrongful-death suits filed against Porsche, court records show.

The suit was brought by Kristine Rodas, whose husband, Roger, was driving a Porsche Carrera GT when it crashed and caught fire in Santa Clarita three years ago. In a ruling handed down Monday, U.S. District Judge Philip Gutierrez found that Rodas had not presented sufficient evidence to prove that alleged design flaws with the Carrera GT caused her husbands death.

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For the Record

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April 5, 9:12 p.m.: A previous version of this article erroneously referred to a lawsuit filed by Walkers widow. Walker was not married. Rodas widow filed a lawsuit.



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Rodas had argued that mechanical issues, including the vehicles lack of a crash cage or a racing fuel cell, were at fault. But the judge found that neither would have prevented Rodas from succumbing to the blunt force injuries he suffered in the wreck.

Claims that the vehicles suspension was faulty were also dismissed after the judge disqualified expert witness testimony presented by Rodas attorney. The expert based his analysis on tire marks he examined weeks after the crash and then changed his explanation of why they were significant after the deadline to present expert testimony, Gutierrez ruled.

The suit was one of three brought against Porsche after the Nov. 30, 2013, crash. Walkers teenage daughter Meadow filed a similar suit last year that alleged different mechanical shortcomings, and Walkers father, executor of his estate, was reported to have filed suit last fall.

Experts said Mondays decision was unlikely to affect the other suits.

Its going to be a different inquiry as to whether or not those other alleged design flaws result in other liability to Porsche, said Christian Scali, whose law firm regularly defends automakers in civil suits.

Calls seeking comment from Porsche and Rodas attorney were not immediately returned.

Walker was on break from filming the seventh installment of the Fast and the Furious franchise on the day of the crash. He had attended a charity event at a Valencia motor sport company owned by Rodas, and the two drove off in a 2005 Porsche Carrera GT that Rodas had purchased recently. Walker was in the passenger seat.

The car was traveling along Hercules Street when it smashed into several trees and a concrete light pole. Rodas died on impact, according to coroners officials, and Walker died within seconds of the wreck from a combination of traumatic injuries and burns.

The Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department and the California Highway Patrol said that the vehicle was going at least 90 miles per hour. Investigators determined that unsafe speed, rather than any mechanical flaw, caused the fatal wreck.

Kristine Rodas argued in her lawsuit that Rodas was observing the speed limit. Walkers daughter contends in her suit that the car was traveling 63 to 71 miles per hour.

Determining whether speed was a larger factor in the wreck than any alleged design flaws would be critical at trial, Scali said.

Meadow Walker argued that the German car manufacturer ignored safety regulations when loading Rodas Carrera GT with an engine capable of speeds up to 205 mph. Her suit also argues that a seat-belt flaw caused Walker to suffer fatal injuries.

Attorneys representing Meadow Walker said Tuesday that the ruling would have no bearing on their case.

Meadow will continue the fight to hold Porsche accountable for selling a defective product that kills, the statement said.

Times Staff Writer Veronica Rocha contributed to this report.

Follow @JamesQueallyLAT for crime and police news in Southern California.

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Joseph Medicine Crow, an acclaimed Native American historian and last surviving war chief of Montanas Crow Tribe, has died. He was 102.

Medicine Crow died Sunday, said Terry Bullis, director of Bullis Mortuary in Hardin, Mont.

A member of the Crow Tribes Whistling Water clan, Medicine Crow was raised by his grandparents in a log house in a rural area of the Crow Reservation near Lodge Grass, Mont.

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His Crow name was High Bird, and he recalled listening as a child to stories about the Battle of the Little Bighorn from those who were there, including his grandmothers brother, White Man Runs Him, a scout for Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer.

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His grandfather, Yellowtail, raised Medicine Crow to be a warrior. The training began when Medicine Crow was just 6 or 7, with a punishing physical regimen that included running barefoot in the snow to toughen the boys feet and spirit.

Medicine Crow in 1939 became the first of his tribe to receive a masters degree, in anthropology. He served for decades as a Crow historian, cataloging his peoples nomadic history by collecting firsthand accounts of pre-reservation life from fellow tribal members.

I always told people, when you meet Joe Medicine Crow, youre shaking hands with the 19th century, said Herman Viola, curator emeritus at the Smithsonian Institutions National Museum of the American Indian.

During World War II, Medicine Crow earned the title of war chief after performing a series of daring deeds, including stealing horses from an enemy encampment and hand-to-hand combat with a German soldier whose life Medicine Crow ultimately spared.

Warfare was our highest art, but Plains Indian warfare was not about killing. It was about intelligence, leadership, and honor, Medicine Crow wrote in his 2006 book Counting Coup.

Soon after returning from the European front, Medicine Crow was designated tribal historian by the Crow Tribal Council.

With his prodigious memory, Medicine Crow could accurately recall decades later the names, dates and exploits from the oral history he was exposed to as a child, Viola said. Those included tales told by four of the six Crow scouts who were at Custers side at Little Bighorn and who Medicine Crow knew personally.

Yet Medicine Crow also embraced the changes that came with the settling of the West, and he worked to bridge his peoples cultural traditions with the opportunities of modern society. His voice became familiar to many outside the region as the narrator for American Indian exhibits in museums across the country.

He really wanted to walk in both worlds, the white world and Indian world, and he knew education was a key to success, said Viola, who first met Medicine Crow in 1972 and collaborated with him on several books.

President Obama awarded Medicine Crow the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009.

During the White House ceremony, Obama referred to Medicine Crow as a good man, a bacheitche in Crow.

His life reflects not only the warrior spirit of the Crow people, but Americas highest ideals, Obama said.

He was nominated for the Congressional Gold Medal and was awarded honorary doctoral degrees from USC and Montanas Rocky Mountain College.

In the years leading to his death, Medicine Crow continued to live with his family in Lodge Grass. His wife died in 2009. Even after his hearing and eyesight faded, Medicine Crow continued to lecture into his 90s on the Battle of the Little Bighorn and other major events in Crow history.

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The Republican blockade of President Obamas Supreme Court nominee shows no signs of cracking, even as senators who have met with Judge Merrick Garland find little not to like in the seasoned jurist.

On Tuesday, Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine heaped praise on Garland after an hourlong private session in which they discussed the 2nd Amendment, executive reach and the role of the court.

The meeting left me more convinced than ever the process should proceed, Collins said outside her office. I think if more of my colleagues sit down with Judge Garland, theyre going to be impressed with him.

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But neither confirmation hearings nor a Senate vote are expected. Its a strategy engineered by Republican leaders to deny Obamas influence on the court, but that also risks dragging the confrontation battle into the election year, when voters will decide which party controls the Senate.

Republican senators are under enormous pressure from conservative activists to prevent the courts balance, now split 4-4, from tilting toward a Democratic nominee following the sudden death of Justice Antonin Scalia.

But polls show most Americans disapprove of the blockade, which will probably keep the court short-handed well into 2017.

As lawmakers returned to Washington on Tuesday following their spring break, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) noted that all but two GOP senators -- referring to Collins and Mark Kirk of Illinois -- are backing his strategy to leave the vacancy for the next president to fill.

It is safe to say there will be no hearings or votes, McConnell said.

The political strains of the Senates inaction, though, have begun to show on some senators.

One other Republican, Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas, had joined Collins and Kirk in calling for consideration of Garlands nomination, only to scale back his position in the face of political pushback that could include a primary challenge.

Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has faced repeated questions about his refusal to convene hearings. This week, he announced that he has invited Garland to a breakfast meeting.

The White House has always envisioned a long-game strategy that nudges senators first to take meetings, then to hold hearings and, eventually, to cast a confirmation vote.

But Democrats acknowledged Tuesday the tough road ahead as most Republican senators have been willing to stick with McConnells no-vote approach.

Sadly, so far, it seems to be working, said Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.).

They pointed to the situation in Kansas, home base for the powerful Koch brother, whose network funds many conservative causes, as influencing senators.

Theyre being reeled in, one by one, and thats too bad, said Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), the minority leader.

So far 14 senators have met with Garland, including three Republicans -- Collins, Kirk and, on Tuesday, John Boozman of Arkansas, who is up for reelection in the fall.

We can disagree without being disagreeable, Boozman said in a statement after the meeting. My position is firm... I will not advocate for hearings or a vote, nor will I support filling the vacancy with President Obamas pick after the election.

Collins acknowledged the difficulty of swaying her colleagues; but she also gave nod to both the quality of the nominee -- whom she called extraordinarily bright -- and the fluctuating nature of the political season that could leave Republicans in an even tougher position if a Democrat wins the White House and picks a more liberal nominee.

We really dont know whats going to happen in this very strange political year, she said, so I think what we should do is follow the normal process with the nominee that has been sent up by the president, and that to me is the best way to proceed.
An Alabama lawmaker said Tuesday he is filing an impeachment resolution against Gov. Robert J. Bentley in the wake of a scandal involving the Republican governor and one of his top aides, who has since resigned.

The resolution by state Rep. Ed Henry, a Republican from Hartselle, will likely be sent to the House rules committee for consideration, and its not clear if it will have enough support to move forward. Some lawmakers have said impeachment discussions are premature until investigations into Bentleys conduct have been done.

Henry said Tuesday that Bentley has betrayed the trust of the people of Alabama. Henry and Bentley have clashed in the past over Bentleys push to raise taxes in the face of a budget shortfall.

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It will be a difficult process, Henry said. The process starts today.

He added later: If he truly loves the people of this state, hell step down.

The Alabama Constitution lays out a loose procedure for impeachment for offenses including moral turpitude, willful neglect of duty and corruption, among other things. Henry said his filing accuses Bentley of all of those things, as well as incompetence.

Bentley last month admitted making inappropriate remarks to his former senior political advisor, Rebekah Caldwell Mason, 44, but denied accusations of an affair.

The admission came after Bentleys former law enforcement secretary, Spencer Collier, accused the governor of having an inappropriate relationship with Mason. Collier said he heard a recording of an overtly sexual conversation between the governor and a woman he presumed was Mason.

Dianne Bentley, the governors ex-wife, filed for divorce in 2015 saying their 50-year marriage had suffered an irreparable breakdown.

Recordings obtained by the Associated Press purportedly show the governor  before his divorce  professing love to someone named Rebecca or Rebekah and telling her how much he enjoyed kissing and touching her breasts.

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I love you so much; I worry about loving you so much, Bentley says on the call.

The governor in a news conference last month said that he did not have a physical affair with Mason and that there was no sexual activity.

The scandal has engulfed Bentley, a mild-mannered dermatologist and former Baptist deacon whose political ascendancy was based partly on his morally upright, honest reputation.

Mason played a key role in Bentleys administration but was not on the state payroll. She was paid with the governors leftover campaign funds and also did work for a nonprofit organization formed to promote Bentleys agenda.

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Ted Cruz romped to victory Tuesday in the Wisconsin primary, dealing a setback to Donald Trump and complicating the front-runners efforts to win the delegates he needs to secure the GOP nomination without a fight at this summers Republican convention.

The primary contest offered just 42 of the 1,237 delegates needed to clinch the nomination before the party convenes in July.

But with the count expected to be very close, every delegate has come to matter and Tuesdays win helped Cruz slice Trumps delegate lead, albeit narrowly.

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Speaking to cheering supporters in Milwaukee, Cruz declared his primary win a turning point.

It is a rallying cry, the Texas senator said. It is a call from the hard-working men and women from Wisconsin to the people of America. We have a choice. We have a real choice.

Trump, who put on lavish displays to celebrate his earlier victories, made no public appearance.

Instead, he spoke through a scathing statement issued by his campaign, saying he was the victim of an onslaught by Wisconsins Republican establishment and countless millions of dollars in false advertising. He described Cruz as a Trojan horse, being used by the party bosses attempting to steal the nomination and predicted he alone would secure the delegates to win.

In fact, the math still works to Trumps advantage. He entered the night with a lead of more than 250 delegates, and Cruz seemed likely to shave that by only 30 or so.

Cruz won far ahead of Trump statewide, 48% to 35%. Ohio Gov. John Kasich was a distant third with 14%.

Depending on the final outcome, Trump will need to capture close to 60% of the remaining delegates to clinch the nomination without a convention fight, said David Wasserman, who is tracking the GOP race for the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. Right now, Wasserman said, it looks like a 50-50 chance he gets there.

Heading into the Wisconsin primary Trump suffered one of the rockiest stretches of his campaign, and that raised the hopes of opponents  including many rallying behind Cruz grudgingly as part of a stop-Trump effort  that the New York businessmans controversies may have finally caught up with him.

Exit polls found a strong aversion to the GOP front-runner, who heads to much friendlier territory Wednesday, starting with a rally on New Yorks Long Island.

Nearly 4 in 10 of the Republican voters interviewed Tuesday said they would be scared of what Trump would do if elected president, much higher than the levels of concern expressed about Cruz or Kasich.

About 6 in 10 said they were excited or optimistic about a Cruz presidency, and about half said that about Kasich, compared with just over 4 in 10 for Trump.

Additionally, the level of discontent with Washington and the percentage of voters favoring a political outsider for president, while considerable, was much lower than in states where Trump ran strongly.

Wisconsin at first seemed tailored to Trumps advantage. The state has a large population of working-class white voters and allows independents to cast ballots in the GOP primary; both groups have undergirded Trumps political success across the country.

Wisconsin is also more secular and less ideological than states where Cruz, running as a staunch social conservative, has performed well.

But almost immediately Trump ran into difficulties, owing to a series of tactical miscues.

He criticized the states two most popular Republicans, Gov. Scott Walker, a onetime presidential rival, and House Speaker Paul D. Ryan, and turned off many by insulting the looks of Cruzs wife, Heidi, in a posting on social media.

That stung him badly, said Rep. Reid Ribble, who represents Appleton and Green Bay in Congress and endorsed Cruz days ahead of the primary. Theres a real strong sense of family. The idea that somebody would attack anybodys wife, based on just physical appearance, was just so insulting to the typical father, to the typical husband and to the typical woman.

Trump also faced a relentless battering from Wisconsins conservative talk radio hosts, a key ally in Walkers pitched battles against organized labor and the political left.

Walker endorsed Cruz and, in effect, turned the primary into a referendum on his performance, telling Republicans to support the senator over Trump if you liked what weve done in Wisconsin.

Trumps difficulties were compounded by a series of controversies, including the arrest of his campaign manager on allegations of manhandling a reporter in Florida, and a statement  which Trump quickly revised  that the candidate would support punishing women who have an abortion if the procedure were banned.

Some voters, like Pam Gruettner, said they had backed Trump at first, only to be turned off by his behavior and outlandish statements, especially in the raucous GOP debates.

I wanted someone to kick butt and get stuff done in the White House, said Gruettner, a retired saleswoman, pausing after she cast her ballot for Cruz in Waukesha, a conservative stronghold. I think his ego got the best of him.

For some, though, Trumps penchant for unpredictability and blithe disregard for most social and political niceties were precisely the reason to support him.

Trump is the right person to put in here, because we need somebody who everyone thinks is nuts, said Tom Podziemski, 67, who cast his ballot in Greenfield, a Milwaukee suburb. Cruz is just saying what the establishment wants him to say. Hes a puppet.

Cruz ran harder in Wisconsin than any state since Iowa, where he won the first 2016 contest. He faced a two-front battle, against Trump as well as Kasich, who tried to pick off a handful of delegates in friendly pockets of the state, including the university town of Madison.

For Trump, the good news is the balloting now moves to less hostile political terrain, starting in two weeks with a primary in his home state of New York, where he is an overwhelming favorite to capture a substantial chunk of its 95 delegates.

A string of contests follows on April 26 in Pennsylvania and several Northeastern and mid-Atlantic states, where GOP voters tend to be less religious and conservative, which could also play to Trumps advantage.

In all likelihood, the race will come down to California, which votes June 7 and offers 172 delegates  the nations largest cache.

We should be careful not to overstate the significance of the Wisconsin results, said Rob Stutzman, a Sacramento GOP consultant running a political action committee opposing Trump in California. He noted the difficult road Cruz faces, particularly in the contests just ahead.

But, he suggested, Trump may have really hurt himself this past week.... This could be the beginning of a downward trend.

mark.barabak @latimes.com

Twitter: @markzbarabak

michael.finnegan @latimes.com

Twitter: @finneganLAT

Barabak reported from San Francisco and Finnegan from Milwaukee. Times staff writer Chris Megerian in Waukesha contributed to this report.

Follow @markzbarabak for national & California politics

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When California legislators voted to raise the statewide minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2022, labor activists cheered. Discounting fears that a $15 minimum might cost some low-wage workers their jobs, activists and their political allies celebrated a victory for fairness and economic justice.

Progressive labor activists took a very different view 100 years ago, when 15 states established Americas first minimum wages. Labor reformers then believed that a legal minimum would hand a raise to deserving white Anglo-Saxon men, and a pink slip to their undeserving competitors: racially undesirable immigrants, the mentally and physically disabled, and women. The original progressives hailed minimum-wage-caused job losses among these groups as a positive benefit to the U.S. economy and to Anglo-Saxon racial integrity.

In 1910, 22% of the U.S. workforce was foreign-born. A Whos Who of American economic reform warned that immigration was leading to race suicide, what President Theodore Roosevelt in 1907 called the greatest problem of civilization. This race suicide theory claimed that because non-Anglo-Saxon immigrants had low living standards, their competition in the labor market undercut the wages of the American workingman. The key assumption was that Anglo-Saxon natives were more productive, but that immigrants worked cheap. As Stanford sociologist and avowed nativist Edward A. Ross put it, the coolie, though he cannot outdo the American, can underlive him. Woodrow Wilson, echoing many others, said that Chinese immigrants could live upon a handful of rice for a pittance. Similar charges were made against Jews and Catholics arriving from southern and eastern Europe.

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The American-born worker, who refused to lower his familys living standard to the immigrants level, opted instead to have fewer children. Thus, concluded the theory, the inferior races would outbreed and displace their white Anglo-Saxon betters.

Progressive economists proposed a minimum wage as the ideal remedy. It lifted up the deserving while excluding the unworthy and did both in the name of progress. Journalist and progressive social reformer Paul Kellogg in 1913 advocated a minimum wage of $3 per day for all immigrants, double the $1.50 per day ordinary laborers were then paid. Kellogg knew that no firm would hire an unskilled immigrant for $3 per day. That was the purpose of his high minimum wage, as he wrote, to exclude Angelo Lucca and Alexis Spivak from American shores, thus protecting American jobs for John Smith and Michael Murphy and Carl Sneider.

Kellogg targeted racially undesirable immigrants, but a high minimum wage would also protect the American workingman from unworthy economic competition already in the American workforce. The developmentally disabled, then called feeble minded or defective, also were treated by many labor reformers as low-wage threats. Unable to command a minimum wage, they too would be pushed into unemployment and then could be removed to institutions or to labor colonies.

According to British reformers Beatrice and Sidney Webb, when a minimum wage cost a disabled person his job, this was not a mark of social disease, but actually of social health.

In the case of women, the minimum wage argument was subtler than the eugenic hysteria directed at immigrants and the disabled. Rather, it was couched in the paternalism of protecting womens health and virtue. In reality, labor reformers wanted to protect employment from women as much as they wanted to protect women from employment. Women made up 21% of the U.S. workforce in 1910 and reformers like Florence Kelley, who led the campaign for minimum wages, accused them of undercutting male breadwinners entitled to a family wage.

Labor reformers have far more inclusive views these days. Unlike their namesakes, 21st century progressives consider job losses a social cost, not a putative social benefit. Much of the economic debate about raising the minimum wage in California and New York has in fact centered on how best to avoid causing unemployment.

Todays progressives would say their namesakes were wrong on race and gender  and wrong on the effects of the minimum wage on employment. We know better today, they say.

The original progressives were indeed wrong  reprehensibly so  on race and gender (even if the 2016 presidential campaign demonstrates that part of the electorate thinks otherwise). But were they wrong that a minimum wage set high enough will cost low-wage workers their jobs? If they were right, and a $15 per hour minimum by 2022 proves to be too high too fast, the workers who will lose their jobs will disproportionately be people of color, immigrants, the disabled and women  the very people labor reformers vilified as low wage threats a century ago.

Thomas C. Leonard teaches economics and history at Princeton. He is the author of Illiberal Reformers: Race, Eugenics and American Economics in the Progressive Era.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook
The official line of the Senate Republican leadership is that Judge Merrick Garland, President Obamas Supreme Court nominee, isnt entitled to a hearing or a confirmation vote not because of his qualifications (or lack of them) but because there is a presidential election this year.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) put it this way: The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president.

As the Los Angeles Times editorial board has pointed out, this is self-serving sophistry. The American people do have a voice in any nomination Obama makes. They spoke when they elected him to a second term that doesnt expire until next January.

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Suppose McConnell really believed what he said. It would follow that he would have to remain silent about the qualifications or judicial record of anyone Obama nominated. But in fact McConnell is assailing Garlands qualifications.

Barack Obama calling this judge a moderate doesnt make him a moderate, McConnell said on Fox News Sunday. He went on to suggest that the Senate would refuse to confirm Garland because of objections to the nominees view of the 2nd Amendment.

I cant imagine that a Republican majority in the United States Senate would want to confirm in a lame-duck session a nominee opposed by the National Rifle Assn. (McConnell also cited the opposition of the National Federation of Independent Business.)

Indeed, the NRA has opposed Garlands confirmation. Chris Cox, the executive director of the groups Institute for Legislative Action, released a statement saying that a basic analysis of Merrick Garlands judicial record shows that he does not respect our fundamental, individual right to keep and bear arms for self-defense.

Garlands defenders argue that that is a grossly unfair characterization of his votes in two cases dealing with gun regulation. But what does Garland say?

The obvious way to find out would be to invite the judge to testify publicly before the Senate Judiciary Committee, a courtesy extended to all recent nominees to the court. But McConnell and committee chairman Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) refuse to hold any hearings.

So McConnell wants to have it both ways: denying Garland a hearing on the grounds that his record is irrelevant, even as he trashes that record without giving Garland a meaningful opportunity to respond.

Thats not just illogical; its unjust.

Follow Michael McGough on Twitter @MichaelMcGough3.

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To the editor: Natural gas has been the golden child of energy production in the last decade because it cuts greenhouse gas emissions. But it was never meant to replace coal and oil production. Its a fossil fuel, and using it will never cut greenhouse gas emissions enough to offset global carbon dioxide levels. (Ignoring its promises, SoCal Gas intends to offset Porter Ranch leak on its own terms, editorial, April 3)

Natural gas is the methadone of the oil industry, a way to transition away from fossil fuel addiction, replete with the ensuing relapses that plague any addictive cycle. Truly, industry leaders recognize the need to shift to cleaner energy choices, but its just too easy to fall back on old, existing technology.

Sadly, the health and welfare of the ordinary citizen isnt motivation enough. Company leaders only respond to market forces when making investment decisions, thus it is imperative to price carbon. The shift to clean technology will only happen when the external costs of fossil fuels affect the bottom line.

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Pam Brennan, Newport Beach

..

To the editor: I sincerely hope that Los Angeles City Atty. Mike Feuers lawsuit against Southern California Gas Co. can force the utility to do the right thing for California by having it mitigate the impacts of its massive methane leak on the states terms.

There were lots of big promises about mitigation made while the methane was spewing, but like BP in the Gulf of Mexico, too much is left to the offender to decide how it will mitigate now that the event is no longer front-page news. Thanks for keeping an eye on the company in the aftermath.

Its unfortunate that only catastrophe can generate laws that actually try to protect the public. And maybe only journalists can hold corporate feet to the fire of public opinion to make sure those laws get passed.

Suvan Geer, Santa Ana

..

To the editor: So SoCal Gas now wants to skirt its stated commitment to offset the impact of the worst methane leak in U.S. history, and were all shocked, shocked that the case will likely end up in the hands of lawyers. Is there any better sign that we need the competitive pressures of the marketplace as well as the courts to safeguard our climate?

If were going to seriously mitigate the huge risks of global warming, we need to put organizations bottom-line economic decisions to work for us and our collective future. We need Congress to put a price on carbon emissions from sources like natural gas and return the money directly to U.S. households.

This free-market plan would correct the current imbalance and incentivize the swift transition to renewables that our crisis requires.

In short, we need to create our own economic offsets to update a system that favors the status quo.

Dennis Arp, Brea

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook
For years, its been an article of faith for Sen. Bernie Sanders that the media paid too much attention to trivial distractions and not enough to the issues he considers important.

Now, as the race for the Democratic presidential nomination moves into its final phase, with Sanders trailing Hillary Clinton, his backers have enthusiastically embraced a similar critique of the media.

Complaints about a Bernie blackout by news organizations have become a rallying cry for the campaign.

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Do news organizations cover Sanders less than they should? The answer depends, of course, on what a person thinks the right amount should be.

Sanders and Clinton have received about the same level of coverage since the start of 2016. Both, however, receive much less media attention than Donald Trump, according to data on coverage by television and by media websites.

Sanders backers point to specific events in the campaign that they believe merited more attention. The Vermont senators victories in three western-state caucuses in late March, for example, received much less coverage than many Sanders backers thought they deserved.

Those sorts of slights, the critics say, stem from a premature judgment by media organizations that the Democratic race is, effectively, over and that Sanders has lost.

In the race for a majority of delegates to the Democratic convention in Philadelphia in July, Sanders has won 264 delegates fewer than Clinton in primaries or caucuses, according to the latest count by the Associated Press.

That does not include the roughly 470 party leaders and elected officials who automatically get to vote at the convention and who have indicated they will back the former secretary of State.

Sanders would have to win about 58% of the vote starting today in Wisconsin and extending through California on June 7 to overtake Clintons lead.

The belief that the media unfairly ignores Sanders has a lot of adherents in his camp. A poll in late March by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center found that 58% of Sanders supporters felt the media had given their candidate too little coverage.

By contrast, only 14% of Clinton supporters felt she was undercovered, with almost three-quarters feeling the volume of coverage was about right.

Of the five major candidates remaining in both parties, Ohio Gov. John Kasich was the only other one whose supporters felt the candidate wasnt getting enough coverage.

John Paval, a 53-year-old communications consultant, was one of several Sanders supporters who recently wrote to The Times objecting to too little coverage of Sanders victories.

Sanders wins by a much larger margin in Washington, the tenth most diverse state in the country, than Hillary did in Ohio, the tenth least diverse state in the country, and journalists draw the conclusion that Hillary has proven her strength in diverse states but Sanders hasnt, he wrote.

The charges of under-coverage date back to at least December. In a statement early that month headlined Why the Bernie Blackout on corporate network news?, Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver said that the corporately-owned media may not like Bernies anti-establishment views, but news organizations must allow for a fair debate in this presidential campaign.

Weavers language points to one of the ways that accusations of under-coverage can help the Sanders campaign.

As a self-styled insurgent, Sanders has defined himself as a a truth-telling critic of the corporate establishment. The accusations about coverage bolster that central campaign narrative.

Since December, however, three things have happened: Sanders has begun winning primaries and caucuses, hes gotten more coverage and many of his supporters have shifted from complaints about too much focus on Trump to the charge that the media gives Sanders less attention than Clinton.

Over the weekend, a group of Sanders supporters picketed the CNN building in Hollywood to highlight their complaint about the volume of coverage. Some carried signs calling the cable news station the Clinton News Network.

Sanders did receive less coverage than Clinton in 2015. At the time, he had not yet won anything, and she was receiving intense media scrutiny over her use of a private server to handle email while she was secretary of State and over Republican accusations that she acted wrongly in connection with the deaths of four Americans in the attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, in 2012.

Since the start of this year, the two have received very similar amounts of coverage, according to data from the Internet Archives presidential tracker project, which logs all candidate mentions on news shows and a variety of other programs. Each currently accounts for about 15% of all mentions of a candidate on TV, the tracking data indicate.

Another study, by researchers at the USC Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership and Policy, also found rough parity between the two.

Ev Boyle, the associate director of the center, and a group of researchers spent a week counting every mention of a candidate on 14 major news websites, including latimes.com.

The Bernie Blackout isnt really a thing, Boyle concluded, noting that Sanders had close to the same level of coverage as Clinton, although both were far behind Trump.

All the attention to the volume of attention implies, of course, that more coverage is always good for a campaign. Thats seldom actually true, as the scrutiny of Clintons email demonstrates.

Trumps coverage provides another object lesson. Since he entered the presidential race last July, the New York businessman has dominated news coverage, as well as Google searches, social media and virtually every other measure of attention.

Since early February, he has accounted for roughly half of all candidate mentions on television, the Internet tracking project found.

The disproportionate coverage almost certainly helped propel Trump to the front of the GOP field early on. He has gotten publicity for his statements that would have cost hundreds of millions of dollars to buy through advertising.

All that attention may have caught up to Trump, however. The coverage has also highlighted his often-insulting comments about women, minorities and his rivals, and the violence that has surrounded some Trump rallies. That has helped push his public image to a low point not seen in a major political candidate in three decades.

For more on Campaign 2016, follow @DavidLauter

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Sen. Bernie Sanders showed once again he remains a powerful force in the Democratic presidential race with a decisive win in Wisconsin on Tuesday, setting the stage for a lively political brawl in the coming days, during which he hopes to reshape the race with a defiant surge in New York.

Speaking to supporters in Laramie, Wyo., Sanders said the win would give him momentum to carry on toward larger contests later this month. Wyoming holds its caucuses Saturday.

With our victory tonight in Wisconsin, we have now won seven out of eight of the last caucuses and primaries, Sanders said. And we have won almost all of them with overwhelming landslide numbers.

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Sanders, however, will find significantly more resistance in the Eastern states coming up than he did in Wisconsin, a state from which Hillary Clinton largely retreated as polls showed her trailing. Wisconsins Democratic primary electorate was more than 80% white and included large numbers of independent voters, who heavily favored the Vermont senator, as they have elsewhere during the primary season.

1 / 7 Ted Cruz, joined by his wife, Heidi, and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, celebrates his win in the Wisconsin Republican primary. (Paul Sancya / Associated Press) 2 / 7 Bernie Sanders, with wife Jane, greets supporters in Laramie, Wyo., as he marks his triumph in the Wisconsin Democratic primary. (Brennan Linsley / Associated Press) 3 / 7 Hillary Clinton, who suffered a double-digit loss in Wisconsin, speaks to supporters in New York. (Julie Jacobson / Associated Press) 4 / 7 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump leaves a polling place at the Waukesha Fire Department, where he met with voters and supporters. (Scott Olson / Getty Images) 5 / 7 Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders greets guests at Blues Egg in Milwaukee. (Darren Hauck / Getty Images) 6 / 7 Voters wait to cast their ballots in Wauwatosa. (Darren Hauck / Getty Images) 7 / 7 Donald Trump chats with patrons and workers at a George Webb diner in Wauwatosa. (Scott Olson / Getty Images)

Clinton spent much of the week in New York, Sanders native state and the one she represented in the Senate, shoring up her operation and preparing for a fight her campaign hopes will put to rest lingering concerns about her candidacy.

But a tough battle lies ahead for the front-runner, even though she maintains such a large lead in delegates to the partys nominating convention that nothing short of landslide wins from here out would put Sanders ahead of her. The Wisconsin results were a reminder that many Democrats disagree with her call to, as she says, vote not just with their hearts but with their heads.

A majority of voters in the Wisconsin primary said Clinton had a better chance of beating potential Republican nominee Donald Trump than Sanders does, according to an exit poll conducted for the Associated Press and the major television networks. But about a quarter of voters who took that position went for Sanders anyway. Almost none of the voters who thought Sanders would be the stronger candidate in November voted for Clinton.

Clintons weak showing with independents in Wisconsin also raised fresh questions about her vulnerabilities in November.

But Sanders strength among independents cuts both ways: In New York, only registered Democrats can participate in the primary on April 19. Independents are also locked out of Democratic primary voting in four of the five states that vote the week after New York, including delegate-rich Pennsylvania. In most states that have voted so far, Clinton has won heavily among Democrats.

The states coming up are also considerably more diverse than Wisconsin, which again is an advantage for Clinton. Blacks and Latinos have propelled the front-runner to her lead nationally, and the exit poll indicated that she carried non-white voters in Wisconsin as well.

The Wisconsin results are likely to increase the tension between the Democratic campaigns at a time when the race already had been growing more combative. Clinton, who has wavered throughout the campaign between engaging Sanders and looking past him toward the general election, has taken a particularly confrontational approach lately.

In recent days, she has accused the Sanders campaign of lying about her support from fossil-fuel interests and scolded Sanders protesters who disrupted a rally near her hometown of Chappaqua, N.Y.

She also accused Sanders of being cavalier about Trumps suggestion that women should be punished if they undergo an abortion. Sanders, who supports abortion rights, had complained in a television interview that the news media was paying too much attention to Trumps comments on the subject.

Her sharpened tone reflects annoyance within the Clinton campaign at the Sanders operation. Clintons advisors resent attacks the Vermont senator continues to make on the front-runners ties to Wall Street and other industries. They argue that the attacks are misleading and that Sanders is so far behind in the race that his criticisms serve only to help the eventual Republican nominee.

Yet Sanders continues to run as if the nomination were in striking distance.

Some Sanders voters said Tuesday that whether or not he could win the nomination was irrelevant to them: They would be voting for him anyway.

Its a message to Hillary, said Sue Peterson of Milwaukee, a 64-year-old retired factory worker. Instead of her being angry with Bernie supporters, she needs to listen to what were saying.

Other Sanders supporters expressed optimism that Sanders would perform an electoral miracle.

I know they keep saying he doesnt have a chance, but I think he still has a chance, said Kate Mau, 38, the owner of a yarn store interviewed outside a polling station in a middle-class neighborhood south of downtown Milwaukee.

Like several other voters, Mau expressed skepticism about Clinton.

With Clinton, youre never quite sure if shes being forthright, she said.

Plenty of Sanders supporters in Wisconsin also said they would be just fine voting for Clinton if she wins the nomination  a sentiment that polls indicate is shared by a large majority of Sanders backers nationally. Some even saw good in the Clinton establishment roots that Sanders constantly rails against.

She knows how to pull all the levers in Washington, and thats useful, said Adam Cohen, a 34-year-old engineer who voted for Sanders.

Because the Democrats award delegates in proportion to each candidates vote, Sanders victory in Wisconsin might net him a dozen more delegates than Clinton. That would eat only a little bit into her large delegate lead  currently more than 260.

The advantage he gained Tuesday could easily be washed away if Clinton wins in New York and Pennsylvania, where many more delegates are at stake.

Sanders, though, will be a force to contend with in each of those states as well as the others that vote on April 26: Delaware, Maryland, Connecticut and Rhode Island. He had a huge fundraising month in March. His $44-million haul, which far exceeded that of the Clinton campaign and came from almost entirely small donors, provides him with the money needed to be a constant presence in the costly New York media market.

I know a little bit about New York because I spent the first 18 years of my life in Brooklyn, Sanders said Tuesday night. Now, please keep this a secret. Do not tell Secretary Clinton. She is getting a little nervous, and I dont want her to get more nervous. But I believe we have an excellent chance to win New York.

In both the Tuesday night speech and one the day before in Milwaukee, Sanders largely avoided mention of Clinton, suggesting he may be looking to move his campaign away from a constant volley of barbs between him and the front-runner. That sort of restraint, however, could prove difficult to maintain in New York, where Sanders will be under constant attack from Clinton, her surrogates and even the states famously feisty news media.

Even as Sanders was basking in his Wisconsin victory, he was receiving a taste of how rough a New York campaign can be. He was pummeled by the New York Daily News for comments he made in an interview with the papers editorial board. A transcript of the interview showed Sanders struggling to explain how he could realistically implement his policy vision once in the White House.

More damaging, perhaps, was his unfamiliarity with the New York subway system, which the senator did not seem to realize had stopped accepting tokens many years ago.

Sanders also had difficulty with questions about whether gun manufacturers should have immunity from lawsuits, which led to outraged statements from supporters of a lawsuit filed by the families of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre. Those responses led to Sanders being skewered on the cover of the tabloid.

The Clinton campaign happily sent reporters a full transcript of the Sanders meeting with the paper.

Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook also sought to put Wisconsins results in a broader context, offering supporters a facts on where the race stands posting on Medium. It noted that to catch Clinton, Sanders would have to win primaries by a landslide  20-percentage-point victories  in New York, California, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, all places where he trails.

We know the misleading spin will continue, Mook wrote. But we want you to know the facts about the real state of the Democratic primary.

evan.halper@latimes.com

chris.megerian@latimes.com

Halper reported from Washington and Megerian from Milwaukee. Times staff writer Michael Finnegan contributed to this report from Milwaukee.

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This is about economic justice, its about people, its about creating a little, tiny balance in a system that every day becomes more unbalanced.

That was how Gov. Jerry Brown summed up his thinking on the necessity of a $15 an hour statewide minimum wage, which is now on the way through the law he signed less than 24 hours ago.

Good morning from the the state capital. Im Sacramento Bureau Chief John Myers, and the sweeping law to boost the wages of low-income California marks a fascinating turn in Browns legacy.

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MINIMUM WAGE MAKES HISTORY

Since returning to the governors office in 2011, Brown has made fiscal caution and economic practicality his calling card. But on Monday, he didnt deny criticisms that the economics of a statewide $15 an hour wage might not pan out.

Instead, he argued there were more important factors at hand.

Economically, minimum wages may not make sense, said Brown, flanked by labor union members and a phalanx of Democratic legislators. But morally, and socially and politically, they make every sense.

And the politics of the day were visible everywhere at the Los Angeles bill signing, writes Christine Mai-Duc. That includes the rivalry with New York, where Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed his $15 wage law less than a hour before Brown.

We covered the signing live on our Essential Politics news feed. See video and photos from the scene.

In a special edition of my California Politics Podcast, we discuss how the minimum wage deal may affect Browns legacy as a progressive Democrat. We also analyze what it says about the working relationship between the governor and business groups -- an alliance thats been pretty reliable these past few years.

DEMOCRATS WAGE WAR OVER THE WAGE

And lest we forget, the political posturing of minimum wage has found its way into the presidential campaign too. Hillary Clinton was with Cuomo as he signed New Yorks law. As Michael Memoli reports, the seat onstage allowed Clinton to possibly upstage Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Supporters of the two Democrats have been angrily debating for weeks which of the candidates is the real advocate for efforts to boost the minimum wage.

WATCHING WISCONSIN

The two Democrats, along with the three Republicans left in the race for the White House, are locked in another make-or-break Election Day. This time its Wisconsin, with 42 delegates at stake for Republicans by days end and 86 for Democrats.

The three Republicans -- Sen. Ted Cruz, Donald Trump, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich -- made their final laps around the Badger State on Monday.

Meantime, Trumps foreign policy proposal to nix NATO received some new criticism on Monday from President Obama, as Christi Parsons reports.

As always, well have live results and analysis tonight on Trail Guide and via @latimespolitics.

ONE PERSON, ONE VOTE

With all of the presidential and state political news out there, it was easy to miss a huge ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court for California: The long-standing one person, one vote way of drawing political districts will remain on the books.

The case, if the justices had ruled the other way, would have restricted political map drawing to the numbers of actual voters and not all persons.

Even so, writes David Savage, the ruling didnt close the door on other ways to tinker with redistricting efforts by the states. (California, as youll remember, handed over the map drawing for legislative and congressional districts to an independent citizens commission in 2011.)

TODAYS ESSENTIALS

-- Regulations for surge pricing on Uber? As Liam Dillon reports, a San Diego legislator with family ties to the tax industry is proposing new ridesharing rules when it comes to prices.

-- The California Supreme Court ruled that businesses should be giving workers chairs while on the job.

-- Donald Trumps star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame continues to take a fair amount of abuse, from a swastika to a mute icon.

-- What do you think of Trump? Readers can weigh in with our quick survey.

-- The Festival of Books is coming up. Here are details on the program, which will include panels featuring Team Politics.

LOGISTICS

Miss yesterdays newsletter? Here you go. Did someone forward you this? Sign up here to get Essential Politics in your inbox daily. And keep an eye on our politics page throughout the day for the latest and greatest. And are you following us on Twitter at @latimespolitics? Please send thoughts, concerns and news tips to politics@latimes.com.

john.myers@latimes.com

Follow @johnmyers on Twitter, sign up for our daily Essential Politics newsletter and listen to the weekly California Politics Podcast
In hero-quest terms, the recovery of the Sorcerers Stone was Harry Potters first big win, even though he didnt get to keep it. By the time Harry woke up after his first battle with You Know Who, the stone, with all its life-extending and gold-producing properties, had, in fact, been destroyed.

Not that it matters. As it turns out, he didnt actually need Nicolas Flamels famous bit of alchemy. No one has a more golden touch or a better shot at immortality than J.K. Rowlings young wizard.

Just watch the faces of those entering Universal Studios new Wizarding World of Harry Potter Hollywood on a preview day, ahead of the official April 7 opening. Although Hogwarts Castle is now technically a part of the L.A. skyline, the Wizarding World is not immediately visible from the park entrance. Which makes the first sight of its gorgeously gothic arches, just past and set back a bit from Shrek 4-D, even more arresting.

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As in aresto momentum visitors. Hogwarts Castle, home to Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, which is possibly the best dark ride ever, beckons from the far end of the new land and quaint butterbeer carts tempt, as do the windows of the sweets shop Honeydukes and the chance to huddle, as Harry, Hermione and Ron did, over shepherds pie at the Three Broomsticks.

But no one is hurrying.

Even those so eager to attend Hogwarts that they are wearing heavy robes under a ruthless Southern California sun slow to a stop just outside the arched entrance to the re-created village of Hogsmeade. Smartphones at the ready, some take selfies, but others just stand for long minutes at a time, gazing at the fictional villages swinging sign, the snow-capped peaked roofs, the tilted chimneys, cobbled streets and vaguely Dickensian shop windows.

Taking in the steaming locomotive of the Hogwarts Express, the carts and stores and ambient wizards, witches and villagers strolling by (some of them Wizarding World staff, others just serious Potter fans), people of every age and sort peer, as if through a magical doorway into a dream.

1 / 28 Lights shine behind Hogwarts castle on April 5, 2016, as Universal Studios Hollywood debuts the Wizarding World of Harry Potter for celebrities, VIPs and members of the media. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 2 / 28 Composer John Williams, right, at the VIP opening with Harry Potter actors Evanna Lynch, Warwick Davis, Tom Felton and Oliver Phelps, from right, and Universal Studios Hollywood President Larry Kurzweil, left. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 3 / 28 Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti with a special wand for the debut of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Hollywood. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 4 / 28 Tom Felton, who played Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter films, arrives for the VIP debut of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Hollywood. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 5 / 28 Chris Hardwick, comedian and host of Talking Dead, and his fiancee, actress and heiress Lydia Hearst, arrive at the debut of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 6 / 28 Actor Warwick Davis, who plays Professor Flitwick in the Harry Potter films, at the VIP debut of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 7 / 28 Actor Ed ONeill arrives with family in tow for the debut of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Hollywood. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 8 / 28 Actor and singer Vanessa Hudgens arrives at the debut of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 9 / 28 Actors Oliver, left, and James Phelps, who played the Weasley brothers in the Harry Potter films, at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter debut at Universal Studios Hollywood. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 10 / 28 Evanna Lynch, who played Luna Lovegood in the Harry Potter films, at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter debut. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 11 / 28 A choir sings as Universal Studios Hollywood debuts the Wizarding World of Harry Potter for celebrities, VIPS and members of the media. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 12 / 28 Fireworks go off over Hogwarts castle as composer John Williams conducts the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter VIP debut. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 13 / 28 Visitors walk through the Wizarding World of Harry Potter during a media preview. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 14 / 28 Aidan Jasanis, 14, left, and Katie Aiani, 28, were first and second in line before sunrise April 7, 2016, for the public opening of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Hollywood. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 15 / 28 Harry Potter enthusiasts take smartphone photos before walking through the front gate to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Thousands were on hand for opening day. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 16 / 28 An early-morning crowd enters the Wizarding World of Harry Potter attraction for the first day. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 17 / 28 Diana Li, Bebe Lee and Katie Mitchell, from left, were among the first patrons to enter the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Hollywood. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 18 / 28 Visitors ride the Flight of the Hippogriff roller coaster on opening day. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 19 / 28 Dylan Loughlin, 6, and father Mike Loughlin of Colorado made it to the park for opening day. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 20 / 28 Enthusiasts explore the attraction first thing in the morning on opening day. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 21 / 28 William Blumberg, Aidan Jasanis and Katie Aiani, from left, get in the spirit of the attraction on opening day. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 22 / 28 Pacey McWilliams, 10, of Edmonton, Canada, looks the part as he enters the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Hollywood. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 23 / 28 Crowds grow as the public is allowed to enter the Wizarding World of Harry Potter attraction for the first time. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 24 / 28 Joyce McMaster of Santa Ana was among the first allowed to enter the attraction on opening day. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 25 / 28 Taytum Dinh, 5, visiting from Riverside County, shows off her new magic wand on opening day. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 26 / 28 Jessica Morga serves butterbeer to some of the thousands visiting the attraction on opening day. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 27 / 28 Sereena Worino tries the attractions butterbeer on opening day. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 28 / 28 A word of caution at the front gate to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Which is exactly where they are. J.K. Rowlings dream, shared first by millions of readers and then, filtered through the enormous talent of those who produced the eight-movie franchise, millions more.

Hogsmeade and Hogwarts are now iconic aspirational destinations, like Paris or Harvard. Indeed, any college with the slightest medieval flair will inevitably invoke the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in its promotional material, along with the promise of quidditch matches.

Frankly, youd think wed be sick of it by now, all the spells and magical creatures, the recipes for Golden Snitch cake pops on Pinterest, the Gryffindor scarves and earthworm-flavored jelly beans. The children who came of age waiting overnight at bookstores for the next installment are adults now, some with children of their own, and all manner of fictional teen heroes and heroines  The Hunger Games, the Divergent series, now SyFys The Magicians  have sprung up to compete for the next generations devotion.

But Harry, Hermione and Ron continue to prove irresistible, endlessly enlisting young recruits while retaining the originals. I visited in the company of a 9-year-old, a 10-year-old, a 13-year-old and a 16-year-old as well as several adults, all of whom entered and left in the same state of wide-eyed wonder.

Here it is, magic come to life, or as close as it gets, conjured into obsessively detailed, interactive splendor by many of the same designers who worked on the films. Only this time, instead of partial sets, fleshed out with camera work and green screen, they got to build real streets, actual shops and taverns, even, in the queue leading to the Forbidden Journey, the Gryffindor common room. Theres Hagrids hut and his famous motorbike, alongside the line for the small but zippy roller coaster, Flight of the Hippogriff.

With two rides instead of three, the Hollywood version may occupy less landscape than the original Wizarding World in Orlando, Fla., but the landscape is a better fit.

Universals hilltop perch makes this Hogsmeade seem even more rural and isolated, angled between the Simpsons Springfield and the Studio Tour. Even its most noticeable park neighbor  Water World  is tonally appropriate. The faux-rickety tower visible over the back wall, and the flames the show sends into the air could easily exist in the world of Harry Potter.

A world that remains as tantalizing as it was almost 20 years ago, when the first book was published.

Here are the chocolate frogs, the Owl Post, the bottles of Gilly Water. Theres Mr. Weasleys car and Gladrags Wizard Wear. Myrtle playfully moans in the restrooms, the Frog Choir shows up at regular intervals, as do dancing Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students, preparing for the Triwizard Tournament.

In Hollywood, Ollivanders Wand Shop  where every few minutes a wand chooses a lucky wizard  has twice as much space as the one in Orlando. But even on a pre-official opening day, the line is just as long, and the gift shop into which you are guided is just as cramped. Like every store in the land, however, its something to see, with its stacks of wands for every character, many in regular and interactive varieties.

Those interactive wands, which go for $50, come with a map to certain windows at which actual spells (explained via brass plates in the cobblestones) can be used to perform magic. Adding to the verisimilitude, but also, potentially, child/parent frustration, many are quite difficult to do. (Fortunately, helpful staff members are on hand to help.)

The Three Broomsticks restaurant manages to seem both cozy and spacious, its high vaulted ceilings groomed to look like the two-story inn (watch for the dancing broomstick and shadow Dobby), its stone floors and huge fireplaces giving way to the Hogsmeade Pub next door, where beer of all varieties, including butter, is available. Much of the food is pub-heavy (which should make this a killer winter holiday destination), but there are fruit plates and salads, which are large enough to feed two, and the kids meals are a bargain, with big portions and lots of grapes.

Of course, all roads lead to Hogwarts Castle, home to possibly the most immersive, amazing and utterly convincing dark-ride/queue ever invented.

Winding through all parts of the Castle, the path to the Forbidden Journey passes all manner of narrative touchstones, beginning with the Mirror of Erised. As Harry and other main characters propel you along with the promise of seeing a quidditch match, you move through Professor Sprouts greenhouse, past the enormous golden griffin into Dumbledores office, through the hall of moving portraits and into the defense against the dark arts classroom.

Then, having greeted the chatty Fat Lady and read the iconic animated newspapers (the ultimate example of digital media), you enter the Gryffindor common room before climbing into the ride that sends you sailing alongside Harry, Ron and Hermione as they fly through various adventures.

The detail at every turn is exquisite, the revelations seemingly endless  there are the earmuffs that you need to cope with mandrakes, the pensieve, the sad stained glass window, the sword of Gryffindor, all looking exactly like they did in the films (in some cases because they are actual props from the films). While the length of the queue itself can be daunting  though there was no line during an early soft open, two hours will not be unusual after the official opening  it is so evocative and fascinating that even those not forced to should take their time.

Or go on the ride multiple times, as we did (though folks prone to motion sickness should probably space things out). Not only is this as close as any of us will get to actually flying on a broomstick, its a chance to spend a little more time with your favorite young wizards, whom you didnt realize you would miss until the books and the movies stopped appearing with reassuring regularity.

For fans like my youngest daughter, who discovered Harry and company only after the Potter universe was complete, the Forbidden Journey and the Wizarding World itself offer the same sense of boundless discovery that fueled all the late-night bookstore parties and midnight premieres.

The story isnt over, not really, and maybe it never will be, what with the new play, and the upcoming prequel movie and the expansion of the Orlando park.

Even after all this time, even for someone who has been to the park in Florida, who has read the books with three children, sat through the films a dozen times each, and recently made 30 floating candles, three dozen chocolate frogs and a forest of Golden Snitch cake pops for her youngest Potter fans birthday, even for me, Rowlings wizarding world is just as magical as it ever was.

mary.mcnamara@latimes.com

Twitter: @marymacTV

------------

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Where: Universal Studios, 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City

When: Grand opening Thursday

Info: universalstudioshollywood.com

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On Monday morning, when news spread that a trove of leaked documents had revealed the offshore holdings of the global elite, Chinese media joined their international counterparts in reporting the biggest leak in history.

The Chinese reports were cautious  they did not mention that the leak, dubbed the Panama Papers, named several top Chinese officials, including President Xi Jinping. But that didnt stop the censors. That afternoon, Chinese authorities issued a circular demanding that the articles be taken down. By Tuesday, it was as if theyd never existed.

Find and delete reprinted reports on the Panama Papers, demanded one provincial propaganda department, according to a circular leaked on Tuesday by the California-based news website China Digital Times. Do not follow up on related content, no exceptions. If material from foreign media attacking China is found on any website, it will be dealt with severely.

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The Panama Papers comprise the biggest leak in history, involving 11.5 million documents from Panama-based Mossack Fonseca, the worlds fourth biggest offshore law firm. The documents implicate a dozen current or former heads of state, as well as scores of other politicians, celebrities and businesspeople, in owning offshore accounts that could help them conceal their wealth or avoid taxes.

Reporting on the leak involved more than 370 journalists in 76 countries, and was coordinated by the Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).

According to several media outlets that reported on the documents, the family members of eight current or former top-level Chinese officials have held offshore companies, including Xis brother-in-law Deng Jiagui.

Chinas Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei brushed off questions about the Panama Papers at a regularly-scheduled press briefing on Tuesday. For such groundless accusations I have no comment, he said.

See more of our top stories on Facebook >>

China, a nominally Communist country racked by some of the worlds worst income inequality, keeps the financial affairs of its top leaders a closely-guarded secret. In 2012, censors blocked the websites of Bloomberg and the New York Times after they published investigations into the fortunes accumulated by family members of the countrys political elite.

Since Xi became the countrys top leader in late 2012, he has overseen the most intensive anti-corruption campaign in recent history, ensnaring tens of thousands of officials from every level of the Communist Party hierarchy.

The Panama Papers are evidence that the anti-corruption campaign, on which [Xis] reputation stands, is actually less thoroughgoing than he has claimed, said Willy Lam, an expert on elite Chinese politics at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Lam added that although the financial dealings of Xis brother-in-law come as no surprise  the New York Times documented them in 2014  the leak could still effect Xis standing. In recent weeks, a spate of open letters and domestic media articles criticizing Xi have suggested growing resistance to his authoritarian leadership style.

The timing of this is significant, in that Xis enemies, who are still lurking beneath the airwaves  and who we cannot exactly identify  can use this, Lam added. This seems to be a god-sent opportunity to use against Xi Jinping.

By Tuesday afternoon, only one Chinese media article about the scandal remained easily searchable online: an editorial by the English-language version of the Global Times, a nationalistic state-run tabloid, which framed the leaks as an ideologically-motivated attack by the West. The editorial focused on allegations against Russian President Vladimir Putin, and did not mention that Chinese officials were implicated.

The Western media has taken control of the interpretation each time there has been such a document dump, and Washington has demonstrated particular influence in it, it said. Information that is negative to the U.S. can always be minimized, while exposure of non-Western leaders, such as Putin, can get extra spin.

A Chinese version of the editorial has been taken offline.

Elsewhere on the Chinese internet, discussion of the leaks was strictly censored. On Tuesday, searches for Deng Jiagui on Weibo, a popular Twitter-like microblog, yielded no results. On Zhihu, Chinas Quora-like forum, a thread titled Who are the people of interest in the Panama Papers leaks? was deleted in its entirety.

Searches for Panama Papers on Baidu, Chinas leading search engine, produced the response: the search results do not conform with relevant rules and policies, so they are not displayed. Please try other key words.

Yingzhi Yang and Nicole Liu in the Times Beijing bureau contributed to this report.

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The colorful skyscrapers and massive luxury shops glistening along both sides of Hong Kongs harbor offer architectural proof of the economic boom that hit this city after Britain handed the former colony back to China in 1997.

To many of the pro-democracy demonstrators now clogging Hong Kongs streets, however, its been a financial deal with the devil.

Whats my daughters future going to look like? asked 55-year-old Gary Ng, sitting with his wife amid a sea of protesters in the citys financial district. Shes graduating soon, and its not like when we were young. Who knows what kind of job she can get?

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Housing prices have gone crazy, and no one running this city seems to have solutions. We need our own politicians in charge.

The demonstrations that have paralyzed parts of the city since Sunday were touched off by new ballot regulations that allow Beijing to control who is selected as Hong Kongs chief executive. But the real debate is about economics as well as elections  and a profound shift that has transformed the nature of the relationship between Beijing and the former British colony.

Along with a deep sense of righting a historical humiliation, economics were a large part of why Beijing pushed so hard in the 1980s and 1990s to recover Hong Kong. Back then, Hong Kong had everything China wanted: wealth, international connections, membership in global trade organizations. Those assets, Beijing realized, could help pull China out of decades of communist isolation and serve as a model for industrializing and modernizing the mainlands backward, agrarian economy.

Now, 17 years after Hong Kong was handed back to China under a noninterference policy known as one country, two systems, much of what mainland leaders envisioned has come true. With assistance from Hong Kong, China became the worlds factory floor, and its economy has grown from seventh-largest in 1997 to No. 2 today, behind the United States.

Hong Kong has flourished too as a result of the economic interdependence, and it still provides China a unique bridge to the global economy. But its relative strength vis-a-vis Beijing has eroded substantially as the mainland economy has soared even faster and other Chinese cities, such as Shanghai, have started to offer many of the financial services once available only in Hong Kong.

Meanwhile, Hong Kongs position as the stock exchange of choice for Chinese firms with global aspirations has also eroded; this year alone, Alibaba, Weibo and JD.com have launched large initial public offerings in New York.

That dynamic, analysts say, has emboldened mainland leaders to take a more assertive stance on Hong Kong affairs, including Beijings decision last month to announce detailed rules for the 2017 elections. A screening committee, Beijing ruled, has to approve all candidates for the citys top leadership post; the protesters now taking to the streets say that violates Chinas 1997 promise to allow free elections in 2017.

Many Hong Kongers feel Beijing is playing a game; theyre trying to exercise their political muscle by tightening the economic relationship and making Hong Kong more dependent on Chinas economy, said Dixon Ming Sing, an associate professor of social science at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

Many people now think that those promises of one country, two systems were just an ad hoc solution to fool Hong Kongers and buy time, that Beijing just didnt want to kill the golden chicken that was laying a golden egg for China at that time.

Hong Kong has become so intertwined with mainland China in the last 17 years that some observers say Beijing doesnt need to think about putting down the demonstrations with military force; there are other levers that could quickly be pulled to bring the agitators to their knees.

Beijing could simply shut off its taps, depriving Hong Kong of most of its water supply, at least one official has noted. It could close the land borders, cutting off food sources. It could shut Chinese airspace, in effect closing Hong Kongs airport, and seal off Chinese waters, thereby shutting the port.

They could do all this, and within a week, Hong Kong people would be thirsty and hungry and jobless, said Michael DeGolyer, professor of government at Hong Kong Baptist University. In economic terms, the fundamental dynamic is that China holds all the cards.

Migrants and tourists from the mainland, many with deep pockets, have poured into Hong Kong, a city of 7 million. They come to shop and study; some find ways to stay. In 2010, 20 million mainlanders visited Hong Kong; last year, the figure rose to 41 million. And the government has projected 100 million could come annually by 2020.

The benefits of interdependence have accrued disproportionately to the citys upper crust. Hong Kongs GDP has risen by 50% in the last decade, but median household incomes have risen by only about 10%. And the average income of people younger than 40 actually dropped by more than 11% between 2000 and 2010, census data showed.

The tide of mainland migrants and tourists has driven up the prices of everything from baby formula to housing. Storefronts once occupied by mom-and-pop shops have been taken over by retailers catering to the swarm of mainlanders, whom some Hong Kongers have derided as locusts.

At the same time, the territory has been struggling with a rapidly aging population. Quirks in Hong Kongs pension system mean many people are forced to retire at 60 but cant draw benefits until they are 65. In a survey conducted by the Hong Kong Transition Project, a long-term study of the territorys move from British to Chinese sovereignty, about half of the younger people said they were giving some portion of their salaries to parents and grandparents to help them get by.

Beijing-appointed government officials have been slow to address such bread-and-butter issues. So many people are upset with the state of affairs that in a survey conducted two weeks ago by the Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1 in 5 people said they would consider leaving the territory for a life overseas.

The emigration sentiment was strongest among young people with higher educations, the exact group that is driving this weeks massive demonstrations. This generation, DeGolyer said, feels strongly that the current crop of administrators isnt looking out for the peoples interests, and that only a truly democratic system can change that.

This economic dynamic is whats driving frustration, he said.

Hong Kongers, said Sing, feel their dignity and autonomy have been chipped away at an increasing rate in the last few years.

Those feelings of alienation were reinforced last week when Hong Kong university students launched a class boycott over the election issue.

As the students sweltered in the heat, Chinese President Xi Jinping was schmoozing with a delegation of 70 friendly Hong Kong tycoons in Beijing. His message to the billionaires: A wide-open vote for the citys next leader was out of the question; all candidates would have to be screened to ensure they are friendly toward mainland China.

Meanwhile, Carrie Lam, the top Hong Kong official in charge of managing the process of finalizing rules for the 2017 vote, announced she was going on a five-day holiday.

Literally, the local government said, Were not listening, were on vacation. And the national government said, The people who really count are the rich ones, said DeGolyer. Thats why you now have such furiousness, anger and alienation on the streets.

With street-clogging demonstrations in their third day Tuesday, Hong Kong authorities showed no signs of willingness to compromise, but also no indication that they intended to deploy riot police, as they had Sunday. Officers use of tear gas against demonstrators shocked many Hong Kongers and prompted bigger crowds to pour into main thoroughfares Monday.

Beijing-appointed Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying called on protesters to stop blocking major streets and go home.

At the same time, he warned that the rallies will last for a relatively long time  and the cost to Hong Kongs international image will grow bigger and bigger. I hope everyone can consider these issues.

Leung stopped short of issuing a deadline for protesters to leave the streets and said he would not deploy the mainland Chinese military, the Peoples Liberation Army, to quash the demonstrations. He also rejected calls to resign.

On Wednesday, China will mark National Day, which this year celebrates the 65th anniversary of the founding of communist China. Most Hong Kongers have the day off, which could add substantially to the crowds in the streets. However, thunderstorms threaten to damp turnout.

The apparent willingness of Beijing to take a wait-and-see approach, analysts say, reflects the fact that Hong Kong is not the essential economic link it once was.

At the same time, though, the lack of a swift and strong crackdown shows Beijing still regards Hong Kong as important enough to tread carefully.

Yes, Hong Kongs GDP as a proportion of Chinas GDP has declined dramatically, but Hong Kong is still making a significant economic contribution, said Sing. I think thats why the leaders of the protest movement havent been arrested, and why one country, two systems has not entirely crumbled, though its suffered a lot of erosion.
The countries most vulnerable to climate change are among the poorest and least able to respond. How to resolve that dilemma and help these places adapt to a warming world remains among the knottiest problems facing climate financing.

The good news is that identifying those most in need  step one  is now a good deal easier thanks to a global league table developed by the University of Notre Dame.

The Notre Dame Global Adaptation Index (ND-GAIN) measures a countrys vulnerability in relation to its ability to cope with climate change.

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It calculates exposure to climate stress (for example a reliance on agriculture); sensitivity to the impact of climate shocks; and adaptive capacity. It then scores a countrys readiness  defining that in terms of a willingness to leverage its economic, governance and social resources to reduce climate risk.

According to the index, the worlds five worst performers are Eritrea, Chad, Central African Republic, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. By comparison, the overachievers  and youd guess at least a couple of them  are New Zealand, Norway, Denmark, Britain and Germany, in that order.

One of the important outcomes of the Paris climate summit in December was the recognition that reducing greenhouse gasses is not enough. Adaptation  how to live with a warming world  is now also accepted as key, and there is a greater realization that poorer countries will need support to help achieve that.

Paris affirmed the financing target of $100 billion a year from public and private sources by 2020. A game-changer could also be the Green Climate Fund, which will devote 50% of all its funding to adaptation, which has historically been overshadowed by spending on mitigation projects like renewable energy.

Paris was wonderful, but whats really important now is what happens on the ground, said Koko Warner of the United Nations Universitys Institute for Environment and Human Security. The true yardstick of success is in these highly vulnerable countries.

Money alone will not be enough to build climate security. The question of access [to financing] is not a simple answer as it concerns multiple challenges including technical capacity to develop bankable proposals, [tackle the] knowledge and capacity gaps, and provide access to resources needed to do the necessary feasibility studies, Barbara Buchner of the Climate Policy Initiative said in an emailed response.

We need to find ways to increase the absorptive capacity of countries that need the funding the most, and harmonize investment standards, transparency and governance issues, Warner said. We need more nuance on how to deliver financing to really help the poor, to unravel the knots around climate impact and livelihoods.

That needs to happen quickly, because the estimates are that the true climate bill will be in the trillions rather than billions of dollars  especially if the world cannot keep below 2 degrees Celsius of global warming agreed in Paris.

We know that public resources in all countries are stretched, and that $100 billion will not satisfy the needs on the ground, said Buchner. It is therefore essential that the $100 billion be spent wisely. If we can do this, much more private investment will flow.

The ND-GAIN index is more than a ranking system. Its purpose is to help businesses and the public sector better prioritize investments for a more efficient response to the immediate global challenges ahead, explained Joyce Coffee, ND-GAIN managing director.

The private sector is looking for projects where it can make money, she added. They wont be investing in countries with poor governance records, or social structures that are completely confusing to them. That, she suggested, will be left to multinational funding mechanisms like the Green Climate Fund.

There is no reliable data on the scale of private investment flowing to adaptation projects. But, said Buchner, private investment will be key and therefore domestic policy signals are critically important because all investors want to see impact, and value for money.

Improving the bankability of projects involves quantifying and enumerating risk, and allowing the market to track progress, said Coffee. The private sector wont suddenly pivot to adaptation, but we should make it more tempting.

A business case is easily made for the mega alternative energy initiatives  from solar to wind  sprouting across the globe. But adaptation tends to be more granular and local rather than immediately transformational.

Warner acknowledges there is tons to learn  but if public policy managers can set the incentives, the private sector will respond.

While corporates may well hesitate to invest in the most vulnerable countries, it is important to remember that households and families [in these countries] are also private investors, said Buchner.

Developing projects that help them access affordable, clean energy and expand sustainable agriculture can support economic development and poverty alleviation as well as climate change, she added.

There is a gulf between genuine, community-appropriate adaptation projects and private sector green-washing  good old-fashioned PR spin. Coffee cited a Coca-Cola initiative in an unnamed country to improve the water sources where it bottles as a positive example that had a benefit beyond its fence line.

She also pointed to a mining firm investing in Mali that built a hospital as part of its adaptation efforts. Yes, improving healthcare is a form of adaptation, but she acknowledged a sense of queasiness over that particular deal  with its hint of contract sweetening.

But we cant turn our back on investments. We just need to demand more from the corporates, she insisted.

Warner agreed, saying the magnitude of investment and the scale-up required to respond to climate change means there is a significant role for the public and private sector  we just need to get the mix right.

Obi Anyadike is editor-at-large for the IRIN News Agency. Read this story on their website here.


With Chinas backing, U.S. diplomats unveiled what they described as a plan for the toughest international sanctions in two decades against North Korea in response to its recent nuclear and ballistic missile tests.

The sanctions are part of a resolution submitted Thursday to the United Nations Security Council. Without a Chinese veto, the resolution is all but certain to pass in coming days.

Under the resolution, North Korea could not import aviation fuel and limits would be placed on its exports of coal, iron, gold and titanium, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power said at a news conference.

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The resolution also would impose inspections of all cargo going in or out of North Korea, tighten restrictions on North Korean banking, ban acquisition of dual-use nuclear material and blacklist additional individuals and companies.

Power said the resolution would impose the strongest set of sanctions in more than two decades and would break new ground.

The sanctions will deliver an unambiguous message  [that] the world will not accept your actions [and] we will work relentlessly and collectively to stop your nuclear program, Power said.

North Koreas state media typically issues apocalyptic threats when the country believes it is under threat. At a minimum, the sanctions are likely to increase tension in the region.

Chinas support for the crackdown was the biggest surprise. It came as Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi wound up intense negotiations in Washington with Secretary of State John F. Kerry and other Obama administration officials.

Speaking Thursday to a Washington think tank, Wang said the resolution would limit the development of nuclear missile technologies by North Korea.

Wang told the nonpartisan Center for Strategic and International Studies that China and the U.S. agreed to attempt to avoid sanctions that harm the North Korean people.

He said the goal was to uphold the international nuclear nonproliferation regime.

Kerry traveled to Beijing last month to implore China to act to curtail the Kim Jong Un government in Pyongyang, which conducted an underground nuclear test on Jan. 6 that it said was a hydrogen bomb.

U.S. officials say initial measurements indicated a much lower-yield device, but the test -- North Koreas fourth so far -- violated Security Council resolutions.

A month later, North Korea launched a rocket that put a small satellite into orbit. The U.S., Japan and South Korea described the launch as a ballistic missile test.

China is North Koreas chief trading partner and is wary of taking punitive actions that might cause its neighbors beleaguered economy to collapse, or that could spark a war on its border.

China also agreed to sanction North Korea in 2013 after Pyongyangs belligerent threats of additional nuclear tests.

Its not easy, but it certainly is an indication that the United States and China, when our interests are aligned, can cooperate quite effectively to advance the interest of citizens in both our countries, White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters.

For more news about global affairs, follow @TracyKWilkinson.
Egypt expanded its crackdown on human rights organizations Tuesday, raiding a center that treats victims of violence and attempting to shut it down.

This time, however, the government backed down, retreating from the El Nadeem Center for Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence after staff members refused to comply with orders to leave. It was a rare, and perhaps fleeting, victory by a nongovernmental organization in a standoff with the government of President Abdel Fattah Sisi.

According to Magda Adly, a cofounder of El Nadeem, Health Ministry officials said they intended to close the center because it was conducting activities beyond its mandate without obtaining the required licensing.

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El Nadeem runs a clinic that treats victims of abuse, especially those who were tortured or otherwise mistreated in police custody. The raid was the second in less than two months, after a police delegation stormed the center with the same aim on Feb. 17.

These investigations have no legal basis whatsoever .... We are facing a case of targeting of independent rights institutions.  Gamal Eid, director of the Arab Network for Human Rights Information

The center is only carrying out medical duties, which El Nadeem is licensed to practice by the Ministry of Health .... There is a clear intention to shut up any voice of dissent, Adly said in an interview with The Times.

Its not only us, but there is a considerable number of journalists who are being arrested, as well as rights activists and independent trade unionists, she added.

With thousands of people jailed on politically based charges and accusations since the overthrow of former President Mohamed Morsi in 2013, Egyptian and international rights advocates are bemoaning the countrys human rights record under Sisi.

A report issued by El Nadeem in January said that 474 people had died in police custody in 2015. Another report issued by the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms documented 340 cases of enforced disappearances between August and November.

While acknowledging cases of disappearances, Egypts Interior Ministry disputed that figure.

A joint statement issued by 17 Egyptian rights organizations on March 21 condemned what it called the orchestrated and escalating assault against Egyptian civil society.

The statement highlighted an investigation against a number of human rights organizations and their staff members, who are facing accusations of illegal foreign funding.

Hossam Bahgat, cofounder of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, shown in 2011, has been barred from traveling and had his personal assets frozen as part of a crackdown by Egypt on human rights organizations. (Sarah Rafea / Associated Press)

Hossam Bahgat, founder of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, and Gamal Eid, director of the Arab Network for Human Rights Information, have both been questioned, barred from traveling and had their personal assets frozen.

These investigations have no legal basis whatsoever.... They are held upon the orders of security [authorities] and not upon existing laws, Eid said in an interview.

We are facing a case of targeting of independent rights institutions, he added.

If indicted, Eid, Bahgat and other advocates could face life sentences under an amendment to the foreign funding law, instituted by Sisi in September 2014.

Investigating judges say that their probe is fully independent from political authorities.

Hassan is a special correspondent.

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Syrian rebels have long wanted anti-aircraft missiles. Their wish may have been granted

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Syrian rebels operating in the countrys northern region shot down a government warplane Tuesday, suggesting that they have been supplied with anti-aircraft weapons.

Government and rebel sources confirmed the strike, and social media accounts associated with the hard-line Islamist group Ahrar al Sham linked to a video depicting a flaming aircraft hurtling toward the orchards of Al Eis village and jubilant onlookers cheering and taking pictures of the planes wreckage.

Other videos on social media showed a man who appeared to be one of the planes pilots  identified as Col. Khaled Said by the pro-opposition broadcaster Orient Net  surrounded by rebels grabbing and insulting him.

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A pro-opposition activist, Majed Abdul Nour, said that the pilot was taken by militants affiliated with Al Qaedas branch in Syria, Al Nusra Front.

Another pro-opposition journalist, Moussa Omar, tweeted a picture of what he said was the bloodied corpse of the other pilot.

Earlier in the war, rebel groups managed to obtain some shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles from Syrian Army depots and from the government of Qatar. They have long argued that they need a reliable supply of the missiles, known as man-portable air-defense systems.

The United States, Saudi Arabia and other backers have rejected their pleas amid concern that the missiles could fall into the hands of Islamist militants and be used against Western targets.

The rebels need intensified after last September, when Russian war planes entered the conflict and became instrumental in helping pro-government forces take back territory. Russia recently announced it was scaling back its air missions there.

The Russian state news agency Tass reported that the downed plane was a Sukhoi 22 jet from the Syrian Air Force.

It was not immediately clear how the plane was shot down.

The Syrian state news agency SANA reported that a warplane was struck by a surface-to-air missile launched by the terrorist organizations while it was on a reconnaissance mission.

That was consistent with social media images posted by opposition activists showing rebels carrying what military experts identified as an SA-7 Strela anti-aircraft missile.

But Abdul Nour and other opposition activists said the plane had been shot down by heavy machine guns.

All eye-witnesses in the area said it was shot down by machine gun, and they were cheering the gunner who brought it down, he said.

Syrian warplanes, lacking the smart bombs of their Russian counterparts, are often forced to fly at lower altitudes for their sorties, putting them at risk from ground fire.

Al Eis has been the site of violent clashes since last week, when rebel groups working together wrested control of the strategic village from pro-government troops.

The attack comes at a delicate time in the Syrian civil war, which began six years ago and has killed an estimated 250,000 people and turned a third of the Syrian population into refugees.

See the most-read stories this hour >>

Recent fighting has frayed a fragile cease-fire that took effect in February, as the government and opposition groups prepare to meet at the end of the week in Geneva for a second round of talks aimed at ending the crisis.

Among the most contentious issues is the fate of Syrian President Bashar Assad. The opposition and its foreign backers insist he can have no role in a future Syria.

But in a news conference last month, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem said opposition groups should not bother showing up to peace talks if that is their bottom line.

They must abandon these delusions, he said.

Bulos is a special correspondent.

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Registered voters in Wisconsin need little more than a government-issued identification to cast ballots in Democratic and Republican primaries on Tuesday.

Presenting valid ID may seem like a mundane request to anyone with a driver's license or passport, but it's a burden for hundreds of thousands of people who can't meet the prerequisite, either because they don't drive or don't have means or funds for an ID.

The biggest problem with Wisconsin's stricter voter law isn't how it disproportionately affected minorities and the impoverished, or how they jump deterrent hoops for rights guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution. The experience leaves potential voters disenfranchised.

"Our community doesn't have the information. There hasn't been a lot of information provided on how easy this is," said Ben Monterroso, executive director of Mi Familia Vota. "A lot of people don't know where to go."

Some aren't aware that they already had an acceptable ID, others give up on the process altogether.

Voter ID Restrictions on Minorities

Dozens of states have passed some form of a voter ID law over the last five years, and 33 will have such laws in effect for the 2016 presidential election. Arkansas and Texas are still tangling over what they consider constitutional; Texas' case is headed to the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals later this years after state officials requested all 15 circuit judges be involved.

"Texas is not going to make it easy on our community anytime soon," Monterroso said. "We have to take advantage of laws that are helpful."

Monterroso believes politicians need to be more responsive to voter ID issues, given how hard it is for some minorities to be part of the democratic process.

But Arkansas and Texas at least allocate funds to educate voters about any impending changes. In Wisconsin, the Republican-controlled legislature never approved any measures, even one that requires a public-service campaign ahead of Tuesday's primary.

"We had already let the legislature know on multiple occasions that money was needed," said Reid Magney, a public information officer with the Wisconsin General Accountability Board, in speaking with ProPublica. "We've been making our best efforts with public service announcements and media to get the word out."

Up to 300,000 Wisconsin voters did not possess a valid ID for the 2012 presidential election, according to a study executed by University of Georgia professor M.V. Hood III. A second report found the number closer to 350,000 residents. Nearly one-third of voters live in Milwaukee County, which houses about 113,000 Latinos, or 39.5 percent of the state's Hispanic population.

Reaching Out To Latinos

Latinos are the fastest-growing voter base in the country, yet voting restrictions appear to affect them and African-Americans more than other ethnic groups. Two years ago, the Government Accountability Office released a report saying as much, highlighting how states with extensive voter laws had detrimental effects on the overall turnout.

For that reason, advocacy groups and organizations like Mi Familia Vota and the United Food and Commercial Workers (UCFW) have ramped up efforts over the last few years. Educating voters is pivotal to encourage more minorities, especially Latinos, to have a say in the fall.

UCFW Secretary-Treasurer Esther Lopez told Latin Post that outreach efforts stretch to its union members nationwide, some whose primary motivation may be getting naturalized before a pathway to citizenship narrows. The organization's goal in the next few months is to give millions of U.S. citizens and undocumented immigrants alike all the tools they need for an informed decision.

"If you live and work in America, if you're contributing to the prosperity of this nation, you should have the opportunity to become an American," Lopez said. "That's a fundamental principal of our participatory democracy."

UFCW and Mi Familia Vota are part of the "Stand Up to Hate" campaign, which holds naturalization workshops and clinics around the country. A lot of focus goes into visiting Latino-centric neighborhoods, where they arrive equipped with all the information and tools needed to vote. Here, campaign volunteers explain the voter registration process to naturalized citizens and U.S. children of immigrants.

Monterroso said Mi Familia Vota counts 10,000 additional registered voters so far, but they expect somewhere around 100,000 in time for November's general election.

Affecting the 2016 Presidential Election

Lopez said one of the reasons UFCW endorses Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton is because she has a rapport with Latinos and understands their needs, ranging from immigration reform to improved working conditions to earning better pay.

Advocacy groups hesitate to endorse candidates outside of Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. Real estate mogul Donald Trump may be the alternative option if he garners 1,237 electoral delegates ahead of July's Republican Convention, though Trump's favorability rating among Latinos hovers around his standing with women; a Washington Post/ Univision poll released in February found 80 percent of Hispanics view the GOP front-runner unfavorably.

Trump wants to fortify the wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz wants to go a step further, vowing to deport all undocumented immigrants, though he hasn't clarified how the deportation process would go about. Some of Cruz's more extreme proposals include monitoring Muslim neighborhoods; Trump's includes banning all Muslims from entering the country.

In Wisconsin, Gov. Scott Walker recently signed a bill that dissolves the non-partisan Government Accountability Board, which informs state residents about how, when, and where they can vote. In lieu would be an Elections and Ethics board made up of three Democratic and three Republican lawmakers, those all members would be appointed by Walker.

Voter ID laws in the Badger State resonate around the country. Latinos are becoming aware of disparaging restrictions. Groups like UFCW, Mi Familia Vota and the League of United Latin American citizens make sure they know, just in time to select the next commander in chief.

"I hope that this year we're not only going to be voting for who the president of this country is, but for the kind of country we want to live in," Monterroso said. "Do we want to live in a country that has hatred, violence, and fear, or do we want to live in a country where we can feel like the future is in our hands."
A coalition of U.S. Republican senators filed a U.S. Supreme Court brief challenging the legality of President Barack Obama's immigration executive actions.

'An Explicit Effort To Circumvent The Legislative Process'

Signed by 43 GOP senators, including and led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the amicus brief to the Supreme Court supports fellow Republicans, namely governors and attorneys general, who are seeking to block Obama's November 2014 executive actions, which introduced the Deferred Action for Parental Accountability (DAPA) and expanded the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).

"Given that the Executive has asserted that the acts challenged here are not even subject to judicial review, what is at stake in this matter is nothing less than an effort to supplant Congress's constitutional power to 'establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization,'" wrote the 43 GOP senators. "Such an action stands in stark contravention to federal law and to the constitutional principle of the separation of powers."

According to the brief, which received support from Latino Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida, Obama reportedly introduced DAPA as an "explicit effort" to go around congressional action. Obama has said on numerous occasions the DAPA and DACA programs were introduced as a result of congressional gridlock and would withdraw the programs once comprehensive immigration reform passes.

The amicus brief acknowledges Congress has never given the Obama or the executive branch the discretion to rewrite federal immigration policy or code. The brief continues to say that the Obama administration is seeking to grant "lawful presence," governmental benefits that come with legal status and work authorization to more than four million "aliens who are illegally present in the United States and who are otherwise barred from working here or receiving federal benefits under the statutes that Congress has enacted.

The Republican senators, also including Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, John McCain of Arizona and Jeff Sessions of Iowa, believe if Obama grants lawful presence to four million undocumented immigrants, then he could extend his "prosecutorial discretion" to grant legal status to the remaining millions of unauthorized immigrants in the U.S.

Challenging DAPA and DACA+ in the House of Representatives

Back on March 16, over in the House of Representatives, Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., and Republicans passed a resolution granting him the right to also file an amicus brief opposing Obama's immigration executive actions. According to Ryan, who introduced the resolution, the amicus brief would represent the entire House of Representatives in an effort to defend the U.S. Constitution, specifically Article I.

"In recent years, the executive branch has been blurring these boundaries, to the point of absolutely overstepping them altogether. As a result, bureaucrats responsible for executing the laws as written are now writing the laws at their whim," said Ryan in defending H.Res.639 and Article I of the Constitution.

H.Res.639 passed, 234 in favor and 186 against. All House Democrats who were present voted against the resolution, along with five Republicans, including Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart and Illeana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida.

The actions by House and Senate Republicans come ahead of the Supreme Court hearing arguments about the executive actions on April 18. The Supreme Court will not announce its decision, whether to block or grant DAPA and DACA's expansion, until an unknown date in June.

Former Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, who now serves as the Lone Star State's governor, initiated the lawsuit against Obama's executive actions in late 2014. Abbott claimed Obama breached his executive authority and didn't consider financial impacts affecting U.S. states. After appeals, the Obama administration encountered setbacks in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which provided the temporary injunction preventing the federal government from implementing DACA's expanded guidelines and DAPA. The U.S. Department of Justice has since requested the Supreme Court review the case, and the court agreed.

Abbott's lawsuit has the support from other Republican governors and attorneys general from Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

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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.
James Bond actor Daniel Craig released a statement on Monday calling for more funding for the United Nations anti-mine agency. The agency defuses mines and other unexploded weaponry.

In a report by Inquirer, Craig said the work that the agency does increases the chances of survival for people as well as aid workers in conflict zones all over the world. Craig has been appointed as the Global Advocate for the Elimination of Mines and Explosive Hazards last year by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

The call for more funding comes when he spoke at the International Day for Mine Awareness, Herald Courier reported. He noted that the turmoil around the world created by the fighting in war-torn countries such as Iraq, Libya, Somalia, and Syria further proves that there should be more and continuous funding for the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS).

He also said that he is in awe of the people he works with at UNMAs saying the "energy and courage of the men and women in this organization is astounding," ABC News reported.

UNMAS recently released their annual report, which noted that nearly 3,680 people have been killed or injured by mines, cluster munitions, and other explosive devices like the ones that are improvised. It comes from the 2014 data, which is the most recent year that has data available about the matter. The 3,680 people shows a 12 percent increase from 2013.

However, despite the increase from 2013 to 2014, there was a $23 million decrease in the funding. Only $417 million was released by international funding for mine action in 2014.

UNMAS director Agnes Marcaillou said in a statement that the UN agency not only defuses bombs but also trains people about unexploded ordnance to minimize injury. They also provide victims with prosthetics and counseling.

UN's Secretary General said more than two million Syrians and half a million South Sudanese citizens have received training on reducing their exposure to unexploded ordnance in 2015.
Former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark has joined the list of nominees to succeed Ban Ki-moon as secretary-general of the United Nations, in a bid to become the first woman in the role of world's top diplomat. She said she would bring her almost three decades of leadership skills to the job of secretary-general in an ever more challenging and crisis-filled world.

On Tuesday, current New Zealand Premier John Key expressed his support to Clark, saying the former prime minister has the right mix of skills and experience for the job. According to Daily Mail, Helen Clark is the eighth candidate and the first from outside Europe to throw a hat in the ring for the world's top diplomatic post. Several members of the UN are pressing for a woman to take the secretary-general role for the first time and some, including Russia, argues that Eastern Europe has never had a secretary-general and that it should be their time.

Helen Clark was New Zealand's prime minister from 1999 to 2009. Her high-profile entry into the race is certain to increase pressure among the power brokers of the UN to appoint a woman as the leading face of diplomacy on the international stage. The Guardian reported that her announcement immediately places her as a serious contender to become the secretary-general in the UN's 70-year history. Clark endured rough politics in New Zealand, and many members of the UN see this as an evidence that she would be able to withstand the pressure of the becoming the UN's prime leader.

The UN Security Council, which includes the stable five members of France, Russia, UK, US, and China, will start discussions over the candidates in July, reports Bloomberg. New Zealand is currently a non-permanent member of the council.

As the head of the UN Development Program or UNDP, which she has led for the past seven years, she has proven herself to be a tough and firm administrator who has cut budgets in her area. This may earn her valuable support from the United States, which begrudgingly pays the lion's share of the UN's running costs.
The impeachment case that was filed against President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil was criticized by the country's attorney general who sees the case as unconstitutional and politically motivated.

Jose Eduardo Cardozo said in front of the house of congress that the law only allows impeachment under a very limited circumstance. He added that the president hadn't committed any serious crime for her to be under the clause of impeachment. She is only facing a violation of fiscal laws which is related to the budget gap as per ABC News.

Brazil is going through a lot right now. For one, the country is experiencing the worst recession in more than a decade while the senate court is investigating the corruption case related to the Petrobras oil company. On the other hand, their is also a widespread outbreak of Zika virus and not to mention, the upcoming Olympic Games that will be held in Rio de Janeiro.

Cardozo is keen in saying that the impeachment against the president is just a retaliation from her former political foes which is particularly headed by lower house speaker Eduardo Cunha. According to The Wall Street Journal, Cunha also has a case against him. He was charged with money laundering and corruption which is related to the Petrobras investigation and alleged of getting millions in bribe money from the contractors of the oil firm.

Cardozo also reiterated that Speaker Cunha used his power to start the impeachment campaign against Rousseff because the latter didn't support the former's left-leaning Worker's Party in the ethics committee proceedings. Cardozo also believed that the impeachment proceedings will break the constitution apart in which he believes is unfounded from the very beginning.

As reported by Reuters, if the impeachment will pass the lower house, President Rousseff will be suspended for up to six months while the trial is ongoing. Her suspension will make way for Vice President Michel Temer to be the acting president.

Rousseff, on the other hand, needs to secure 172 votes out of the 513 in order to stop the impeachment process; but if she fails to get the number, then all the odds might be against her since Brazil's largest party had pulled out its coalition against her government.
On Monday, Israel protested at the decision made by the United Nation to ban panels on Jerusalem and Arab Israelis from an exhibition at the UN on various aspects of the nation and the heritage of the Jewish people.

According to Fox News, Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon initially complained that the three panels with text and photos had been barred from the exhibition which opened on a corridor at the UN headquarters. However, the UN decided at the last minute to allow a panel on Zionism to be included, which Ambassador Danon commended. Danon then demanded that the organization should allow panels on Jerusalem and Arab Israelis to be shown as well.

Stephane Dujarric, a UN spokesman for the UN secretary-general, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that a miscommunication led the UN to prevent a display about Zionism from an Israeli exhibition at its main center in New York. The said exhibition is sponsored by the Israeli ambassador and with the assistance of a non-profit organization StandWithUS, which is dedicated to informing the public about the nation of Israel.

Danon also called the allowance of the panel a clear win for Israeli diplomacy, as well as a victory for the truth about Israel. Dujarric said in a press release that he could not explain the reasoning behind the ban of the other two panels in detail. The spokesman said the fact that the UN considers eastern Jerusalem occupied territory probably affected the decision of the Jerusalem panel. Moreover, Dujarric vowed to dig down deeper regarding the matter.

In October 2012, the UN General Assembly recognized a state of Palestine in the Gaza, West Bank and east Jerusalem, lands which Israel captured back in 1967 after WWII. ABC News reported that the Palestinians want east Jerusalem as their capital, but negotiations with Israel failed and have not been rejuvenated since then.

The panel on Israeli Arabs claims that they are equal citizens under the law in Israel, the only proven democracy in the Middle East. Israel Arabs make up almost 20 percent of the population in Israel, with more than 8 million people.
Cambodia lawmakers passed a proposed law, setting rules for trade unions. The legislation was said to be designed with a purpose of limiting the workers' right and ability to conduct strikes.

According to CNBC, the Cambodian lawmakers approved the new law which has been fiercely contested for years by factory workers. The workers are battling for higher pay while they are supported by rights groups saying that the garment industry is full of abuse but the law does little help to the workers. It should be known that the more than 700 clothing and shoes factories in the country provides work to 700,000 people including those biggest names in the West such as Nike, Adidas, Gap and H&M. The government of Prime Minister Hun Sen defended the law saying it is intended for a better regulation of the unions.

Salon wrote that the lower house of Parliament on Monday evening voted for the passage of the law with 67 votes while the opposition received only 31 votes. This indicates that the law might be applied and the senate's voting is only considered a formality. President of the Free Trade Union of Workers in the Kingdom of Cambodia, Chea Mony, spoke regarding the issue, stating it doesn't reflect the interest of the workers and strictly lessens their ability for strikes.

The new law proposed that workers who are and have been facing abuse or mistreatment and want to stage a protest must ask the permission of the factory owners or else, be arrested for blocking the production. New York Times reported that Mony believes the law is designed to obstruct workers from forming unions. He said "This law is total nonsense. It does not serve the benefit of workers or the Cambodian people."

Phil Robertson of the Human Rights Watch said the law is an indicator of downward slide for the labor rights in Cambodia. The law was in hiatus and proposal stage for eight years and was even said to have gone to revisions. However, activists claim none of their demands were granted in the final version.
Legal Grounds, a homegrown organization that promotes and defends Israel's legal rights to owning territorial land, has challenged European Union Ambasador Lars Faaborg-Andersen to a debate, following his statements casting doubts on the legality of Israel's settlements. The envoy to Israel had remarked in a conference that the settlements lacked international sanction and were a block to the peace process.

In a report covered by Israel National News, Legal Grounds contested Andersen's expressed opinion as unfounded and uninformed. The organization then laid out a strong invitation for him to engage in public debate Northwestern University professor Eugene Kontorovich, a respected consultant in an Israeli think tank who has also gained prominence for his expertise in international law.

Legal Grounds also took the position that the EU official position on the Israeli settlements that Andersen was espousing contradicted agreements established at the United Nations which recognized Israel's legal rights. It released the following statement: "These rights were recognized unequivocally by the League of Nations, and reaffirmed in Chapter 80 of the UN Charter. Moreover, the EU stance runs contrary to its previous commitment implicit in its having witnessed and signed Oslo II, an agreement based on stipulations by UN resolutions 242 and 338 that Israel is entitled to 'secure and recognized' borders."

In a related report by Israel Today, Harel Amon, another expert on international law, gave the background of Israel's occuption of the Judea and Samaria lands before the Knesset. He said that when Israel occupied these disputed areas in the 1960s, they were "a territory without a sovereign." Under international law and as approved by the Geneva Convention, the Great Britain's turning over of its rights to the United Nations in 1948 was prompted by one motive: to facilitate the rebirth of the Israel homeland. This apparently made the occupation of the Palestinians in the concerned areas illegitimate.

This issue is far from resolved, even if the debate happens. One breaking news reported by the Middle East Monitor has the United Nations Commission on Human Rights' recent investtagiion into the violations committed against Palestinians by Israelis in their supposedly illegal settlements.
Apr 5, 2016, 11:34am ET

Mexico, Kia renegotiate 'excessive' factory incentives

Incoming politicians have disputed the incentive package offered by the previous state administration.

Mexico government officials and Kia are reportedly close to signing a revised incentive agreement for the automaker's new factory outside Monterrey.

The company faces a dispute with the new government administration in Nuevo Leon. The northern state is the first to be led by an independent candidate, Jaime Rodriguez. The new governor, known by his nickname 'El Bronco,' has claimed the incentive package negotiated by the previous administration is illegal.

The existing terms allowed Kia to dodge state income taxes for two decades. The government even agreed to foot the bill for an inauguration party at the plant.

"Our government is being completely open, but we can't waive their (taxes) for 20 years if they're going to put me in prison for allowing it," said Rodriguez, as quoted by Reuters.

South Korea President Park Geun-hye was reportedly in Mexico this week with a delegation to help push for a new deal. Nuevo Leon officials suggest a new agreement is expected to be reached within a few days, though specific details have not been publicly disclosed.

Kia finished building the $3 billion factory late last year without much fanfare. The project was completed in just 13 months, setting a new record for any manufacturing facility in Kia's history. The plant will eventually be capable of producing 300,000 vehicles annually, most of which will be headed to the US market.
Apr 5, 2016, 4:06pm ET

VW might miss deadline for diesel fix

Things are not looking good for VW.

Volkswagen might miss a court ordered April 21 deadline to come up with a fix for its dirty diesels, an EPA official has revealed.

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer ordered VW to come up with a solution for its emissions-cheating diesel models by April 21, but EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy told Reuters on Tuesday that it's possible Europe's largest auto might miss that deadline. VW already whiffed on a March 24 deadline set by Breyer.

At this point it remains unknown if VW will be able to come up with a remedy for the 580,000 vehicles that were rigged to pass EPA testing but then spew up to 40 times the legal limit of greenhouse gasses during normal driving. Officials in California have already indicated they might be willing to accept a partial fix, but the federal government hasn't echoed that sentiment. If no agreement is reached, the case could go to trial this summer.

"I wouldn't take any single signal as the direction of those negotiations or where any final agreement - if we reach one - will end up," McCarthy said.

VW is already facing a suit from the U.S. Justice Department seeking up to $46 billion for rules violations. The FTC is also suing VW for false advertising of its "clean diesel models.
911 dispatcher lehigh county

Allentown, Bethlehem and Northampton and Lehigh counties should share 911 dispatch services, according to a new study. This is a file photo of a Lehigh County dispatcher. (lehighvalleylive.com file photo)

The Lehigh Valley should have a regional 911 center but it's unlikely a full consolidation could happen ahead of when state funding runs out in 2019, according to a study.

Bethlehem and Allentown have the only two municipal 911 dispatching systems in a state that favors regionalization. Lawmakers in June 2015 enacted a new 911 funding formula that gave the two cities four years to explore consolidating with Lehigh and Northampton counties.

Tuesday at 5:30 p.m., Bethlehem City Council will review the results of a study that explores whether the two cities and counties should share 911 dispatch services.

Allentown, Bethlehem, Lehigh and Northampton counties hired MCM Consulting Group Inc. in September to study a regional system and the consultants produced a 55-page report.

The study finds a regional 911 system could result in major savings for local taxpayers. The four centers collectively cost $16.59 million to operate annually while Bucks and Montgomery counties run $14.8 million and $15.8 million, respectively.

Given the savings a regional system brings, the study estimates that state funding could cover the majority, if not all, of the annual costs. The study projects it would get about $14.2 million in state aid.

The study recommends a regional 911 center but acknowledges it would be difficult to have the center operating by June 30, 2019, when the funding for Bethlehem and Allentown's dispatch centers runs out.

The regional system should eventually be created by expanding the existing Northampton County 911 center in Upper Nazareth Township, the study recommends.

In the interim, Bethlehem should merge with Northampton County and Allentown with Lehigh County's center, the study reports.

Bethlehem and Allentown have wanted to keep their own 911 systems because officials say their dispatchers work hand-in-hand with police. But it would be difficult to self-fund the systems without state support.

Then an oversight board, with representatives from the four municipalities, should be created to guide the transition to a regional 911 center. The report outlines a timeline for the process.

Bethlehem Mayor Bob Donchez said he wanted to reserve his comments on the report until after his presentation to council Tuesday. But he did say he met last week with Northampton County Executive John Brown to discuss it.

In 2015, Bethlehem taxpayers paid $2.1 million a year for 911 service, with another $1.4 million coming from state surcharges on telephone lines for an annual total of $3.5 million.

While regionalization would save money in the long term, it is complex and carries upfront consolidation costs, the study found. The consultants recommend applying for state funding to cover the expense.

Consolidating down to two 911 centers could save $501,558 in personnel costs over two years. Over five years, a regional system could save over $1.6 million in staffing costs, the study reports.

Combining the centers could theoretically lead to faster response times by cutting down on the number of calls that need to be transferred to the right center, which can get lost in the process.

All those interviewed for the study emphasized that there cannot be a loss of services to the citizens or city departments the centers support. And 911 system staff feared job losses through consolidation or regionalization.

The study outlines how many calls each system handled in 2016. (Courtesy image | For lehighvalleylive.com)

A regional center would need a minimum of 125 full-time dispatchers. A consolidated Northampton dispatch center would need at least 63 full-time dispatchers, and Lehigh would need 62 full-time dispatchers.

Currently, the four centers employ 112 full-time dispatchers, 12 part-time and 20 supervisors.

The study looked at where to locate a consolidated and regional 911 system.

While Lehigh County officials think the current space, the 10th floor of 640 W. Hamilton St. in Allentown, could handle the center, staff members raises concerns about safety, security and space. The study found it would be tight but the existing center could house city and county 911 operations. More bathrooms, lockers, office and storage space is needed.

Northampton County believes it has room for additional staff and it could expand to house a center in its facility at 100 Gracedale Ave. in Upper Nazareth Township. The study agrees it could house a consolidated Bethlehem and county center.

And the Northampton center could be easily expanded for a regional space. Expansion plans floated in 2013 came with a $2.6 million price tag, the study notes, but did not look at a regional facility.

The Bethlehem-owned Wilson Kramer facility, a 30,000-square foot former U.S. Army Reserve facility at the intersection of Airport Road and Avenue A, was suggested as a regional location. The site was floated due to its central location and easy access to area highways.

But the study finds the space has extensive environmental and other issues that make a renovation just as costly as building new. A new building at the site is estimated at $6.5 million to $7 million.

The study recommends not considering the Wilson Kramer site unless expansion of the Northampton County facility is ruled out.

Sara K. Satullo may be reached at ssatullo@lehighvalleylive.com.com. Follow her on Twitter @sarasatullo. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Presidential Candidate Donald Trump Campaigns In Wisconsin Ahead Of State's Primary

Front-running Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks to supporters at a campaign stop on April 4, 2016, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Pennsylvania Department of State on Monday said it erred when announced that more than 100,000 switched to the Republican Party since the beginning of the year. (Darren Hauck | For Getty Images)

The assumed "Trump effect" of Democrats, independents and third-party voters switching to the Republican Party ahead of Pennsylvania's April 26 primary was attributed to a clerical error and corrected, Pennsylvania's Department of State said Monday, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

A week ago, the state said 128,000 such party switches happened between Jan. 1 and March 28, the newspaper said. The thought was Donald Trump's presence on the ballot was fueling the changes.

Once the error was found in a database that had been manually updated, the number dropped to 63,000, the newspaper said.

On the other side of the ballot, Republicans and others becoming Democrats dropped from 86,500 to 41,000, the newspaper said.

And about 8,300 gave up on the major parties to align as independents or third-party voters, the newspaper said.

Franklin & Marshall College professor G. Terry Madonna told the newspaper the figures still reveal "a large number of people are switching. But it's not as significant as we once thought."

In 2014, only 28,000 registered voters made a switch during the off-year election, the newspaper said.

Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyRhodin. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
A Lower Mount Bethel Township woman is accused of helping two others sell methamphetamine to a police informant.

Tiffany Strunk (Courtesy photo)

Tiffany M. Strunk, 29, of the 9800 block of Upper Little Creek, at 11:30 p.m. Feb. 26 allegedly drove a drug dealer to meet the informant in the 100 block of Mountain Avenue in Pen Argyl.

The informant arranged the controlled buy with the dealer over multiple cellphone discussions, Slate Belt Regional police said.

Strunk drove the dealer, her son and another person in a Nissan to the location. The dealer seated in the backseat with her son, made an exchange of drugs for cash through a back window of the Nissan, according to police.

Police then stopped the Nissan and arrested Strunk, the drug dealer and the teenager.

Strunk during an interview with investigators allegedly admitted to driving the dealer and her son to a Pen Argyl location to obtain meth for the controlled buy, according to court records. Strunk is charged with possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and criminal conspiracy delivery of a controlled substance.

Slate Belt Regional police Chief David Mettin said more charges are pending.

In a separate incident, Strunk around 2 p.m. March 30 stole a Dodge Ram pickup truck with William Eugene Ruiz, 35, of the 1500 block of Pen Argyl Road in Plainfield Township, according to police. The pair worked at the Greggo Farm and stole the truck following the work day, police said.

The pair fled to Philadelphia in the Dodge with Strunk having an outstanding warrant on the drug charges. Philadelphia police found Strunk and Ruiz on Saturday and recovered the stolen vehicle, owned by farmer Vince Greggo, records say.

Ruiz is charged with theft and Strunk is charged with conspiracy theft in that case.

Strunk was arraigned Saturday before District Judge James Narlesky, who set bail at $10,000 for the drug case and $10,000 for the theft case. She was arraigned Tuesday before District Judge Sherwood Grigg, who set bail an additional $5,000 bail in the theft case.

Ruiz also was arraigned before District Judge Narlesky, who set bail at $10,000. In lieu of bail, both Ruiz and Strunk were both sent to Northampton County Prison.

Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @pamholzmann. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Residents of Ballybrittas and surrounding areas are being urged to make individual cases to An Post to prevent the closure of the village's Post Office.

Following the meeting in Rath Community Centre last week it was decided that as many submissions as possible must be sent into An Post by the local people making the argument to retain Ballybrittas Post Office.

The organisers of the campaign say it is a vital service for the local community including areas such as Killenard, The Heath, Vicarstown, New Inn, Killenure as well as many more surrounding areas which avail of the services offered by An Post.

These services include Bill paying facilities, AIB banking, post office savings, as well as all postal services offered by An Post.

Submissions are easy to make and will take the form of a letter- typed or handwritten - which outlines why the resident feels the post office should be retained.

This letter can go into as much or as little detail as is wished. The organisers say that it is vital that as many people as possible send in submissions to give the best chance for saving the Post Office. Submissions should be sent to Pat Cremin, Retail Operations Manager, An Post Coote St, Portlaoise to arrive no later than April 3.

The public meeting follows on from a notice on the door of the the post office advising that it could close as a result of the retirement of postmistress Ann Murphy.

There is also a fear that if it goes the village would also lose its local shop as the couple also operate a shop from the same building.

An Post make clear that there is a doubt over the future.

An Post is considering the future post office provision at Ballybrittas which could include the permanent closure of the office, said the notice.

Before taking the decision, the State-owned company says interested parties are invited to submit their views on the matter.

In reaching its decision An Post said it would take into account network coverage, business at the office, customer access to service elsewhere and the capacity of neighbouring offices to handle the business if the office closes.

A spokesperson for the company said the notice is placed as standard practice as is the consultation that follows such a move.

He said a final decision will not be taken until after the consultation period is over. He said it is 'only fair' to warn people of that closure is possible outcome for the Post Office ahead of the final decision being made.

The spokesperson declined to comment on the level of business in the branch but said that Ireland has one of the highest levels of post offices in Euope for its populaiton. He added that the basis for the current network is based on a era in the country's history which is much different that what applies today when people tend to shop and do their business in bigger towns. He claimed that the decision on the future would not simply come down to money.
A Rathdowney woman is hoping to overturn a 35-year hiatus since the National University of Ireland (NUI) elected a woman to the Seanad.

After ten years as Chief Executive of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC) Ellen O'Malley Dunlop hopes to attempt to right this unequal representation by running for one of the three NUI seats in the upcoming Seanad elections.

Ellen OMalley Dunlop grew up in Rathdowney, and has lived in Dublin for nearly 30 years.

Her Rathdowney and Laois connections are well honed and need no introduction.

OMalleys Corner House Pub in Rathdowney has been in the family since 1911 and was run, up to recently, by her brother John.

Ellen is also a member of the Laois Association in Dublin.

For her Seanad bid, she is asking for registered NUI graduates to give her their number 1 vote.

If elected, she says she is committed to implementing the necessary reforms for a more representative and effective Seanad.

After ten years, as CEO of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre she says she has demonstrated her ability to influence positive change on the complex issues surrounding sexual and gender-based violence and the rights of victims of crime.

I had the privilege of working with an amazingly dedicated staff and trained volunteers of 100 women in the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, who worked tirelessly in their responses to preventing and healing the trauma of rape and childhood sexual abuse in Irish society.

Throughout my career I have a strong record in leading and effecting change and I want to bring my experience to representing the graduates of NUI to Seanad Eireann.

I have lobbied for reform in legislation for victims rights and childrens rights and was appointed Adjunct Professor to the School of Law in UL in December 2015.

Prior to my time in the DRCC, I worked as a psychotherapist, and was a founding member of the MSc in Psychotherapy in Trinity College.

In my early career, having trained as a primary school teacher in Mary Immaculate in Limerick, I worked with children with special needs.

Ellens priorities for the Seanad will include equality, education and mental health, equal access to education for all children regardless of social background or religious status from eary years to third level, the production of a second SAVI (Sexual Abuse and Violence in Ireland) report to measure the true prevalence of sexual violence in Ireland so as to appropriately support progress in combating these crimes.

She will support the repeal of the eighth amendment and for its replacement with legislation to allow women to make their own decisions in some very difficult situations.

Furthermore, she will be seeking the expansion of counselling and psychotherapy services, particularly for suicide prevention and better mental health services for both men and women.

Ellen OMalley Dunlop is also calling on the next government to focus on education investment.

Government investment in 3rd level education alone dropped from circa 1.6bn in 2005 to 939m in 2014.

We will all reap the benefits of educational investmenl. We need to challenge the way the state looks at education and think of it a asset instead of an expense.
Laois County Council has granted permission to Bord na Mona to increase the intake of waste at the Kyletalesha processing facility by over 50 percent more than the current levels.

The State body will increase the waste acceptance at the existing waste transfer and processing facility at Kyletalesha and Kyleclonhobert, Portlaoise, from the current permitted 40,000 tonnes a year to 65,000 tonnes a year.

It also said that it may seek permission to extend the facility past its current expiry date of 2020.

Included in the new plans is a proposal to install an integrated constructed wetland comprising two wetland cells of 70m2 each.

The council has said that, subject to compliance with a number of conditions, the proposed development would not injure the amenities of the area.

Among these is conditions is that the maximum tonnes per annum is to be 65,000, and no additional waste type shall be accepted.

Use of the site shall cease on or before December 31, 2020, unless permission for continuance beyond that date is granted.

The facility can open 7am to 7pm Monday to Friday, and 7am to 2pm Saturday, with no activity on Sundays or public holidays.

A decommissioning management plan is to be submitted, and the disposal of waste is to be in accordance with legislation.

There must be proper storage of materials, a waste licence from the EPA, and proper noise levels must be adhered to.

There must be sufficient parking, the operators must maintain the roadway in a neat, tidy fashion, and all HGVS must use the N80 and L2117 only.

A contribution of 4,500 must be made to the council under the Development Contribution Scheme 2013-2017.

The facility is used for the sorting, bulking, separation, segregation, bailing and temporary storage of non-hazardous municipal and commercial and domestic wastes, prior to their movement off-site for further treatment.

In their application, Bord na Mona estimated that the increase from 40,000 tonnes per year to 65,000 tonnes will see the average intake go up from three or four weighed loads per hour, to approximately six loads per hour, which it is claimed will not significantly increase traffic flow.

However, mitigation measures are proposed regarding parking and queueing outside the facility, including signs, line markings, suitable bollards and site management.

An Environmental Impact Statement was included in the application, and Inland Fisheries Ireland stated it has no objection, subject to conditions.

Conditions are that no discharges of environmental significance shall be made from the development to surface waters or to groundwater, and advance notice is to be given of any construction works in or adjacent to the tributary of the Triogue River, including the installation of the integrated constructed wetland.

The EPA is also satisfied with the new plans for the facility.
Judge Catherine Staines has praised the bravery of a Clonaslee mother and daughter who challenged a thief on their property, in the case of a Dublin man with 57 previous convictions who was last week sentenced to eight months in prison.

Judge Catherine Staines has praised the bravery of a Clonaslee mother and daughter who challenged a thief on their property, in the case of a Dublin man with 57 previous convictions who was last week sentenced to eight months in prison.

Felix Moorehouse, formerly of 5 St Aubyns Court, Shankill, Dublin, but now residing in Newbridge, was charged with theft and entering a building with intent to commit a crime, at Tinnahinch, Rosenallis, Clonaslee, on October 3 last year; and driving while disqualified, without insurance or a driving licence, at Derrybeg, Killeigh, Tullamore, on the same date.

Garda Ciaran McCormack gave evidence that Ms Ann Egan noticed a silver car at the front of her house in Clonaslee at 12.40pm on October 3, and she saw Moorehouse enter her front yard. Moorehouse got down on his hands and knees and opened the unlocked car belonging to Ms Egans daughter, which was parked in the driveway. He removed two handbags containing approximately 262, and when Ms Egan accosted him he made good his escape. Ms Egans daughter followed him in her car and during the chase she saw a handbag being thrown out of the window.

Garda McCormack said he subsequently came across the silver car in Derrybeg and arrested Moorehouse, who admitted to having no insurance. The stolen 262 was later recovered at the garda station.

Five of Moorehouses 57 previous convictions are for theft.

Defence barrister said that Moorehouse had been incarcerated in 2008 and sustained a serious injury to his left hand, for which he was awaiting a six-figure pay-out from the State. Moorehouse turned to heroin, but is now off even methadone and only takes prescription drugs.

His record is bad, admitted defence.

Judge Staines noted that Moorehouse was recently convicted of driving while disqualified and was now again up on a charge of driving without insurance.

On top of that he committed a trespass, said the judge. The two ladies were extremely brave to confront the people who were stealing from them.

Judge Staines imposed an eight-month prison sentence, with recognisance fixed in the event of an appeal. Moorehouse was also disqualified from driving for 25 years.
They say from little acorns, grow mighty Oak trees, and that is certainly the case for the Newbridge Kildare Lions Club.



Founded by the late Joe OLoughlin of Hotel Keadeen, the late Dr. Tom Healy and Sean Keegan in 1976, little did they realise how the club would grow over the years. Current founder members still active in the club include John McLoughlin of McLoughlin Oil and Donal Shannon.



This year the club celebrated 40 years of service to the community by planting three Oak trees.



The three Oak trees, which are Irish red oaks, were selected by tree expert Paddy Gleeson, who informed the group that the Oak trees will grow for 300 years, mature for 300 hundred years, live a further 300 years and make a great contribution to the reduction of carbon emissions.



The tree planting ceremony was held in the Linear Park in Newbridge on Saturday March 12 and was completed with the assistance of Newbridge Tidy Towns Association.



Lions President Paula Keegan said; There were several reasons for planting the trees, amongst them that all Lions clubs internationally had to complete an environmental project for the Centenary of Lions Club International which takes place in 2017.



So it was considered a great opportunity to do something tangible for the community and honour our founder members.

A spokesperson added; The year 2016 has been a good year for the Lions club so far ,as since last Christmas we have distributed over 12,000 worth of hampers and vouchers to families in need community.



We will also be doing a hamper and voucher distribution for Easter. The Lions Club would like to thank everyone who has supported collections over the last 40 years, it is very much appreciated.



Since club was founded, over 1.2m has been collected and distributed. A unique feature about the Lions Club and its charitable work, is that every penny collected is redistributed amongst the community, all club expenses are paid by the members themselves.
Lib Dem Voice reported before on the trial at Southwark Crown Court of Peter Skinner (Labour MEP 1994-2014). He has been found guilty by the jury of around 480,000 of fraud.

The essence of the fraud was misusing funds assigned to him as am MEP for the employment of staff to assist him in his duties as an MEP. There was clear evidence before the jury that a large part of these funds were diverted for personal expenditure or paid to people who were his family members (and cannot be employed) or did not work for him. It appears that the matter came to light because a researcher who did work for him blew the whistle. The misuse of funds was not detected by checks with the Parliament. The court heard evidence from an official that the Parliament does not conduct pro-active checks and generally relies on the trustworthiness of MEPs.

This case is similar to the UKIP MEP Ashley Mote who abused a similar amount of expenses. The judge has warned Skinner that he should expect to receive a custodial sentence as Mote received and almost every MP convicted of expenses fraud also received.

Many of us have control of public funds and are used to a high level of scrutiny and accountability for the decisions we make.

The current system in the European Parliament must not continue.

The European Parliament should aim to be no less than the leading example to the world of good practise. Funds made available to MEPs should be reviewed. No claim should be made that is not supported by documentation and receipts. There should be pro-active inspections to confirm that documents are true records (as every business is used to being inspected by HMRC). All the claims and supporting documentation should be published online.

Time and time again, MEPs from Eurosceptic parties in the UK who have been amongst those against maximum transparency. Liberal Democrats like Chris Davies pushed for reform. The time for change is now long overdue.

This is a moral issue that Liberal Democrats should lead on.

* Antony Hook was #2 on the South East European list in 2014, is the English Party's representative on the Federal Executive and produces this sites EU Referendum Roundup.
STUDENTS across Limerick are to be asked to examine how society will live, work, play, shop learn and travel in 50 years time, at a special event in Shannon Airport next week.

The second Irish Technology Leadership Group (ITLG) Young Innovators award is back in the region next Wednesday, with 700 students from 20 counties across Ireland set to take over the check-in area of the local airport.

There, they will be set a task: to imagine the world in 2066 and how it will differ from today across a wide range of strands of our daily lives.

Corbally man John Hartnett, who heads the ITLG and is based in the Silicon Valley said getting the students  mainly from Transition Year  to look so far in the future will push them to think more creatively.

He said: If you think about today or tomorrow or the next day, you are going to use the same stuff that is happening today. If you stretch the imagination and look out 50 years from now, you really have to think outside the box.

The event is being sponsored by Enterprise Ireland and Aer Lingus, and offers the winning team and its teachers a trip to Silicon Valley.

Castletroy College will return to Shannon Airport to defend a title won at the last staging of Young Innovators in 2014 by a Transition year team.

While the competition will form the centrepiece of the day, there will also be opportunities for students to learn from mentors, who will attend from a variety of companies.

Dell is bringing 60 of its staff to Shannon Airport, while Intel will also send some employees, and business lecturers from the Limerick Institute of Technology and the University of Limerick will also share their thoughts with students.

Kids are in a classroom all year around. Now we are bringing them out to an airport. Its their opportunity to interface and meet with people who are in industry, doing a particular job.

Analog Devices, a firm which is marking its 40th year in Limerick is also taking part in the event.

Over the last three years, the stated mission of the ITLG  which exists to provide a link between the Silicon Valley and Ireland  has been to help young entrepreneurs, and separately, students involved in science and maths.

When I was growing up here in Limerick, I wasnt aware of how important these subjects were. I wish I was. I wish someone came in from Shannon Airport to tell me how important it is, John said.

He added that he is expecting the atmosphere at the event in the airport  which will also feature areas where youngsters can try out new high-tech technologies  to be as electric as that in Thomond Park.

The energy and excitement which happens at an event like this is indescribable. Its like going to a Munster Rugby game. Thats going to be there on the day in Shannon.
THE mother of a 15-year-old girl has been warned she will go to jail for a week if her daughter misses another school day this year.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has been prosecuted by TUSLA over the teenagers poor attendance at school since September.

Solicitor Kevin Sherry, representing TUSLA, said the 3rd year student has missed 60% of days during the current academic year and that the rate of absenteeism since the legal proceedings began was 53%.

He said both the school, which was named in court, and his clients were anxious to see an improvement in the the girls rate of attendance.

It is a very serious matter and the situation has not improved, said Mr Sherry, who added that there has been significant intervention by a number of State agencies with the teenager and her family in recent months.

Solicitor John Herbert said he had spoken in detail to the young girl and her mother about the proceedings and that both had agreed the teenager will attend school in future.

The situation will not continue, she needs to pull up her socks, he said.

In her evidence, the childs mother said while there have been difficulties in the past getting her daughter to attend school she will ensure that she is at school every day for the remainder of the school year.

Noting the sworn undertaking of the defendant, Judge Aingeal Ni Chonduin commented that the 15-year-old deserves a future and cannot get it if she does not attend school.

She said any problems need to be sorted and commented: Where there is a will, there is a way.

She said the non-attendance of children at school really makes me cross and she warned the defendant if her child misses a single day, she will jail her for seven days.

You need to do it, Im dead serious, she said adding that she would hate to have to carry out her threat.

Noting that the 15-year-old is due to return to school today following the Easter holidays, the judge adjourned the matter to the end of next week for review.

Im going to keep a tight rein on things, she said.
DORAS Luimni, the local support group for all migrants, is bringing its concerns over the contents of an article in the Limerick Post to the gardai and the Department of Justice to investigate.

The group has said it is appalled and outraged by recent comments made by an unnamed employee at a direct provision centre in Limerick, who asserted unfounded and damaging claims about asylum seekers.

The article  which has been the subject of widespread criticism online  centred on claims that staff in an unnamed direct provision centre have been subjected to physical attacks and mental abuse by individuals and gangs of radical Muslim men living in the centre.

The article alleged that management at this centre are frightened to take any action because there are no security officers on the premises, and they are afraid that the radicals will be backed up by other asylum seekers who have cheated the direct provision system.

There has also been criticism that the piece online was accompanied by a picture of a crowded boat carrying refugees in the Mediterranean to European shores.

Leonie Kerins, director of Doras Luimni, said it was deeply concerned by the publication of this article, which is entirely unfounded and absent of fact or evidence.

This has already caused irreparable damage on an individual and societal level and we are shocked that the Limerick Post has published these comments with no context, fact or thought given to the implications of doing so. We believe that this article amounts to incitement to hatred and we are liaising with the relevant authorities with regard to an investigation.

Doras Luimni have received numerous complaints about racist attitudes of staff members in direct provision centres over the years. We are bringing our concerns to the gardai and the Department of Justice with regard to an investigation into this matter.

She said that residents of direct provision are subjected to negative attitudes and racist comments such as those made in the article on a daily basis and the impact that this has on an individual throughout the duration of their stay is colossal.

In a statement issued yesterday, the Limerick Post said that it stood over the report. It said: We interviewed the immigrant worker on two separate occasions. We secured video and documentary evidence that the assaults occurred as he stated and that they were reported to gardai at the time.

We also have statements from asylum seekers in Limerick direct provision centres testifying to incidents of intimidation and expressing concern over increasing radicalisation among recent arrivals to the centres.

The statement added: We abhor efforts by Doras Luimni to try to silence the dissenting voice of a vulnerable immigrant worker.
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A SENIOR official with the Revenue Commissioners in Limerick is warning people not to be duped by scam emails.

Principal officer Pat OShea is reiterating that the Revenue Commissioners has a policy of never seeking the disclosure of personal details from customers via email.

He issued the warning after details of a number of scam emails offering a tax refund were sent to Revenue customers across Limerick in recent weeks.

In one case, which has been reported to gardai, well-known sporting figure Turlough McNamara received an email which he said appeared to be legitimate.

As scams go this was a scam with a capital S. It really looked the works and was very authentic with the Revenue logo, said Turlough who was informed by Revenue staff it was a scam email when he made further enquiries.

The email indicated that Mr McNamara, who works for Limerick City and County Council, was owed a tax refund of 285.13 and he believes that had he replied, he he would then have been asked to supply his bank details.

Mr OShea says emails such as the one sent to Mr McNamara are not unusual.

Its one of a number which we would have come across in recent times. They are all quite similar, they look believable. Generally if you look closely enough in them you will find some errors in terms of spelling and often the grammar might not be 100%, he said adding that anybody who receives such emails should be ultra careful.

While the Revenue Commissioners is embracing digital technology, Mr OShea says safeguards have been put in place.

Online is obviously the way we are going but the way the Revenue deals with people is through its own direct access system where you need a pin to get into it. In other words, we will never communicate with you just over the open internet, you have to go into a system, he stressed adding that the Revenue operates secure portals for both business and PAYE customers who wish to conduct their business online.

You can register, you get your PIN number and you can communicate with us in a secure environment and you know each time that you go into that secure environment its totally safe, he said, adding that Revenue has very high internationally-recognised standards in place.

Gardai are also warning people to be vigilant and to report any suspicious emails to them.
BISHOP of Limerick, Brendan Leahy, has acknowledged that the Catholic Church must find a way for women to play a role at an executive level in the organisations hierarchy.

The Church leader was speaking at a press briefing to launch the Limerick Diocesan Synod, an effective three day think-tank, taking place in Limerick city this weekend.

Asked about the role of women in the Church, he pointed out that generally speaking, women are the backbone of most activities in the life of the Church.

Nevertheless, I accept and agree that there are issues here that we have to explore further regarding the actual decision making, executive and administrative side of the Church, where women have to emerge more clearly. And I would see and agree with that, he said.

The event is the first Synod to take place in Limerick in over 70 years  and the first in Ireland in half a century  and has been officially blessed by Pope Francis. 400 delegates will discuss 100 topics at the church council, which is taking place following an extensive and exhaustive 18 month process.

The six themes to be discussed  plus a number of extra universal issues including celibacy, married priests and women priests  were established following a lengthy and detailed engagement with over 5,000 people.

A majority of the delegates for the MIC-held think tank hail from the lay community, the Bishop and Synod director Fr Eamon Fitzgibbon noted, with the event to help map out the future of the Church and how it serves in Limerick, they said.

Bishop Leahy stressed that, save for Pope John Paul IIs visit to Limerick in 1979, this is probably the most important moment for the Church in this Diocese since the last Synod, all of 80 years ago.

He explained that he mentioned the Synod to Pope Francis during a brief audience with the Pope in Rome two weeks ago and said that the Papal blessing was a "wonderfully encouraging acknowledgement of the importance of the work that will take place during the Synod".



There could not have been a better start for us to Synod Week than to receive this Papal Blessing. I took the opportunity when I met Pope Francis two weeks ago to tell him of the Synod and, as in the previous occasions when I referenced Limerick to him, his eyes lit up. Its clear that he has an affinity for Limerick," Bishop Leahy said.



Its an honour to have the Papal Nuncio with us in Limerick again this week but that he has come bearing such a gift as an Apostolic Blessing from His Holiness ahead of our Synod will really imbue a greater sense of purpose and vigour in all of us as we approach this hugely important gathering."

Looking ahead to the three day event at the weekend, he framed it in the context of the Church being at a "really important juncture" in its lifetime.

"There continues to be incredible work done but we have also come through turbulent times. There are challenges ahead but we will embrace them as opportunities. We have to confront the decline in vocations, for example, but this issue also makes us see the Church as a people, with clergy and laity working side by side to ensure the Church delivers spiritually, pastorally and, indeed, socially in the way it can.



This is exactly why I convoked the Synod in late 2014. Since then we have been through an incredibly detailed engagement with the public," he added.

The 100 proposals will be debated over the weekend, with a detailed report to be prepared afterward and subsequently sent to Rome.
IN a world where horrible, hope-destroying things are happening every day to individuals, communities and even to whole nations, you might be forgiven for thinking that stories dont matter.

But writer Colum McCann says otherwise. Stories are a mighty weapon, he argues. And by exchanging our stories we can change the world.

It is all in the telling, and in the listening. Through telling our story, others learn to walk in our shoes. Through hearing others stories, we learn to walk in theirs.

And if you walk in anothers shoes, it is hard to harm that person.

That very simple but radical idea is at the heart of Narrative 4, an international not-for-profit organisation founded four years ago by a group of writers including Colum McCann and other artists who wanted to try and make a difference in the world.

Their aim is to foster a new generation of leaders who have learned empathy through stories, through stepping into anothers shoes.

We believe that by understanding the stories of others we can create empathy even in the face of cultural or geographical barriers, Colum McCann says.

Narrative 4 is like a United Nations for young storytellers, The whole idea behind it is that the one true democracy we have is storytelling. It goes across borders, boundaries, genders, rich, poor  everybody has a story to tell, he adds, explaining also that the 4 of Narrative 4 stands for story, voice, life, action.

To date, Narrative 4 has conducted its programme in various cities and states in the US as well as in Ireland, South Africa, Rwanda, Mexico, Israel and the West Bank.

And for the past several weeks, two groups of students at Scoil Mhuire agus Ide in Newcastle West have been having a taste of this approach, taking part in a series of Narrative 4 workshops under the guiding hand of Sheila Quealey.

But as Sheila explains it:To tell your story, you have to know yourself.

So part of the workshop time involves just that, helping the students to look at identity and all the elements that go to make up a persons identity, elements as wide-ranging as place, accent, appearance, hobbies, religion, orientation and many, many more. At the end of the day, however, the aim is for each participant to find and write their story and tell it.

It is one story from your life that you feel explains who you are, says Sheila.

Later, at a story exchange, each student is paired off with one of his or her peers and tells that partner his or her story. That partner must then step into their shoes and tell that story to the wider gathering in the first person.

It is, some of Sheilas workshop students agree, a bit scary. And, despite social media, with all its seeming tell all characteristics, many of them are slow about revealing themselves to people other than their close friends, they tell the Limerick Leader. Moreover, not all are convinced about taking part in the story exchange.

But there is no pressure on anyone to do so, Sheila Quealey is quick to point out. The students who want to take part in the story exchange must choose to do so.

However, says James Lawlor from Carrigkerry, who is the public face of Narrative 4 in Limerick, there are huge positive outcomes from getting involved.

'I have witnessed first-hand the incredible positive changes that Narrative 4 brings to young people, he says.

It increases their self-confidence, improves their critical thinking skills and helps them deal with peer pressure. The most important skill I have seen students develop is the skill to truly listen. After taking part in a number of storytelling workshops, students exchange stories to one of their peers and then later retell their peers story. It is amazing to see the bonds that are formed through this simple act of listening and retelling of stories; stereotypes and barriers are broken down.

Colum McCann is emphatic in backing this approach.

We have a wonderful system in place to help young people through this process its intimate and literary and personal all at once. And we have a way in which we go about it, quietly and with great respect.

Our goal is to bring people from across the globe to re-story one another, to create a network of young leaders who understand each other and empower them to make positive social changes in their communities, Colum continues.

Our tagline is fearless hope through radical empathy. Its about sweeping education reform and global leadership. It is about youth-led changes that affect every nook and cranny of our world.

Its a big aim, Colum McCann acknowledged, in an interview some time ago with the American literary magazine, Bodega.

People could roll their eyes at Narrative 4 and say Oh God, another nonprofit that wants to change the world. Here we go again, he said in that interview.

But we know we have something special here and its becoming a movement, not just another organisation. I suppose I should throw the question right backwhats wrong with trying to stand out when the world is saturated with this that and the other? Clearly the world is ready for a better this that and the other.. And if I tell you that Narrative 4 is necessary, that will only go so far. Its up to us to prove the necessity of what we do. To make it part of the fabric. To show that it all unravels without us.

Limerick has been a trendsetter for Narrative 4, even in the short few years it has been in existence, Sheila Quealey points out.

The first Irish Narrative 4 story exchange took place in Limerick city in 2014, she goes on.

This involved two schools, Presentation and CBS, Sexton Street, exchanging stories virtually with Latin School, Chicago, USA. This was Narrative 4s first international exchange. Then last year, the first intergenerational story exchange took between between sixth class pupils at Our Lady Queen of Peace NS in Limerick and the Queen of Peace adult creative writing group.

And, as revealed in last weeks Limerick Leader, Narrative 4 has big plans for Limerick and will be opening its first global office here later this year, with James Lawlor at the helm.

We are at the very beginning but over the next five years we want to bring Narrative 4 programmes to schools and communities across the 32 counties of Ireland, says James.

Up to now our student leaders in Limerick have been flying the flag as ambassadors for Narrative 4 Ireland. We have some incredible young people on board and some of them have travelled to the United States the last two summers to meet young leaders from all across the world at the annual Narrative 4 Global Summit.

It is empowering to see young people so engaged with each other and making changes to their community. It gives me hope for the future, James adds.

And he, along with Lisa Consiglio, executive director of Narrative 4 has welcomed the invitation from the Eigse Michael Hartnett festival committee to host a programme in Newcastle West as part of the 2016 festival.

The Newcastle West Story Exchange will take place during Eigse Michael Hartnett which runs this year from Thursday, April 14 to Saturday, April 16. The session is open to participants only. However, Colum McCann will be giving a public reading as part of Eigse on Saturday, April 16 in Newcastle West.

See www.eigsemichaelhartnett.ie for full details or book online at www.limetreetheatre.ie or on 061-774774.
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An extraordinary vesselpart ship and part drilling rig  is being equipped in the port of Progreso, Mexico, to drill into Earth's past. This spring and summer it will attempt to recover a thin cylinder of rock, 3  inches wide by 3,300 feet long, starting in the Eocene world about 50 million years ago, drilling all the way back into rocks created and contorted by an asteroid impact, 66 million years ago, when the dinosaurs disappeared.

Among its many scientific goals, ithe projectmeasure new dates for the Chicxulub impact widely blamed for wiping out the dinosaurs since that theory was first proposed in 1980.

The new dates, using the latest generation of high-precision rock dating techniques, are needed because a quiet revolution in Earth Science has transformed our understanding of mass extinctions Earths past, including the end-Cretaceous mass extinction.

EARTHTIME

At the center of this revolution is EARTHTIME, an international collaborative project that has made root-and-branch improvements to the precision and accuracy of radiometric rock dating, spearheaded by Professor Sam Bowring of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Radioactive elements (such as uranium) decay into other elements (such lead). The rate they do that is called the "decay constant" and is known very precisely. If you know how much of the parent element has changed into the daughter element, you can use the decay constant to calculate the date when that rock formed.

To find out more, I talked geochronologist Seth Burgess, a former student of Bowring's, now with the United States Geological Survey. "In the last 10 years or 15 years there have been significant advances in accuracy and precision of geochronology," Burgess told me. The distinction between accuracy and precision is important. Think about archry. If an archer fires several arrows and they miss the target but all hit the same spot in a tree, then he was precise, but not accurate. If the archer peppers his arrows a l over the target, he is accurate but not precise. If he gets all the arrows in the bullseye, then he is both accurate and precise.

In geochronology, you need both, and, a lot of the improvements in these crucial parameters, Burgess says, "has fallen out of the EARTHTIME initiative, so there's better agreement between labs. It has been this big inflection in data quality."

Coincidence and pace

In order to understand what happened during the big changes in Earth's distant past there are two basic time problems to solve: coincidence and pace.

Scientists must establish a coincidence between a proposed cause and its effect. There is a vast amount of time in the geological timescale, so it's no good blaming, say, a volcanic eruption if it occurred after a mass extinction event, or if it occurred so long before the extinction that there is no plausible mechanism to link the two.

Scientists must also establish how fast the change was.

How fast is "fast?"

Simply put, there are two timeframes to consider: 1,000 and 10,000 years.

When it comes to mass extinctions of ocean life, ocean acidification has been implicated as one of the kill mechanisms (the spread of oxygen-starved dead zones called "anoxia" is another, which itself is triggered by a cascade of biological consequences from ocean acidification and global warming).

Changes that take place over timescales longer than 10,000 years tend to be neutralized by compensating chemical responses in the oceans and on land, so a plausible driver of ocean acidification has to overload the oceans in under about 10,000 years.

1,000 years is roughly the time it takes for the world's oceans to mix completely today, but in warming climates it could take longer. Large CO 2 emissions over centuries (like human emissions) are mainly absorbed by the surface layer of oceans before it has a chance to be mixed and diluted into the far larger reservoir of the deep ocean, leading to life-challenging global warming and surface ocean acidification. These geologically "fast" changes tend to be dangerous to life.

Better dates

Until recently rock date uncertainties were typically several million years for rocks more than about 100 million years old. That's more than 100 times worse than needed to answer these questions of coincidence and pace in mass extinctions.

But scientists have now drastically reduced those uncertainties, achieving date precisions that are plus or minus about 13,000 years for dates in the Cretaceous, or about 50,000 years for dates in the Permian period.

As a result, over the last three years or so, a series of landmark papers has used these new high-resolution dates to nail the link between several mass extinction events and an epic class of volcanic eruption called "Large Igneous Provinces" or "LIPs," whose effects were frighteningly evocative of modern climate change. This is the case for the end-Triassic mass extinction 201 million years ago, the end-Permian mass extinction 251.9 million years ago, as well as for the Toarcian extinction in the Jurassic, the Capitanian extinction in the Permian, The Early-Middle Cambrian Extinction, and the more minor Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maxiumum (PETM).

Burgess used the new technique to establish that the end-Permian mass extinction  Earth's most severe extinction  unfolded in less than 61,000 years, starting at 251.9 million years ago, coinciding with a massive shift in the carbon cycle recorded by carbon isotopes measured in contemporary sediments. He was then able to compare those dates with dates he measured from the Siberian Traps volcanic rocks. They were a precise match.

"Over half of the entire volume of Siberian Traps lavas erupted prior to [251.9 million years ago], within uncertainty of the onset of the mass extinction, and the cessation of the mass extinction for that matter. So it is a really, really quick situation."

That's enough to cover the entire Unites States in lava 900 feet deep, all erupted at precisely the right time, and fast enough, to declare this a "smoking gun," settling the link between the eruptions and the mass extinction.

Dating the dinosaurs' demise

For years, the end-Cretaceous extinction was thought to have been set up by volcanic eruptions in India, then finished off by the Chicxulub asteroid impact in Mexico (the "Press-Pulse hypothesis"). The Indian Deccan Traps eruptions were considered too slow, and their effects too mild, to cause global species death on their own. But as the new dates for the end-Permian, end-Triassic and other extinctions have now shown, LIP eruptions can indeed cause extinctions without the help of an asteroid. In fact, no asteroid impact has been linked with any other mass extinction since complex animals evolved, despite the fact that there have been several other impacts almost as big as Chicxulub in that time.

In January 2015, geochronologist Blair Schoene of Princeton University and colleagues measured dates for the Deccan eruptions that showed they were at precisely the right time and duration to have triggered the end-Cretaceous extinction, in a pattern remarkably similar to that observed for the end-Permian and end-Triassic.

But the eruptions also appeared to coincide with the date for the Chicxulub impact.

Comparing Apples and Oranges

Blair's study used uranium-lead dating on a mineral called zircon, but the accepted date for the Chicxulub impact uses a different technique: argon-argon dating.

Argon-argon dating is a more common technique for dating volcanic rocks because it can be measured from feldspar minerals that are common in LIP lavas and volcanic ash deposits, whereas zircons are rare in LIP rocks. Argon-argon dating has undergone its own precision revolution, now achieving precisions almost as good as the new uranium-lead dating using zircon.

But argon-argon dating is a very different technique from uranium-lead. It requires calibration to a reference material, and it involves irradiating samples in a nuclear reactor "There is a difference between argon-argon and uranium-lead [techniques]," says Burgess, :In some cases, it's 0.1-0.2 percent difference  we're talking about 60,000 years at the end of the Cretaceous. A 60,000-year inaccuracy on one of those dates means a hell of a lot for the biosphere. "In order to compare uranium-lead and argon-argon dates, and do it in a robust way, you've got to layer-on uncertainty to account for potential inaccuracy. This allows us to compare apples to oranges, in effect."

To underline the point, in 2010 and 2011 the date for a widely-used reference material, the "Fish Canyon sanidine," was revised from 28.02 million years old to 28.3 million years old, which had the effect of changing dates in the Cretaceous by about half a million years (which is why the end-Cretaceous event was revised from 65 to 66 million years ago).

This difference adds fuel to the debate surrounding the principal cause and order of events surrounding thismass extinction.

Gerta Keller of Princeton University has long argued that the Chicxulub impact occurred 100,000 years or more before the mass extinction, so therefore can't have caused the mass extinction itself, which she and others attribute the Deccan LIP. In favor of that idea, scientists have recorded a number of tracers of volcanic activity straddling the end-cretaceous extinction in sediments around the world, including osmium isotopes, a mineral called "akaganeite," iron oxide loss, and a spike in mercury levels (mercury spikes seem to be a consistent signature of several LIPs).

To make matters worse, correlating end-Cretaceous rocks around the world involves the measurement of ancient magnetic field reversals frozen into rock, but there is considerable disagreement between different dating techniques on the duration of these reversals near the end of the Cretaceous (about 740,000 years vs about 400,000 years).

Geochronologists from UC Berkeley: Paul Renne, Courtney Sprain, and colleagues, recently used argon-argon dates for the Deccan lavas to establish that the most voluminous Deccan eruptions occurred within about 50,000 years of the asteroid impact. These dates are the first firmly to locate the asteroid impact date measured in Wyoming within the Indian Deccan Traps eruption time period using the same argon-argon technique. In other words, it's an apples-to-apples comparison.

So there's now a 3-way coincidence between the Impact, the Deccan Traps eruptions, and the mass extinction. Even the high mercury levels linked to the Deccan eruptions straddle the traces of the asteroid impact indicated by a spike in iridium levels, strengthening the idea that the impact and eruptions happened very close together in time.

These new dates have transformed the impact extinction hypothesis first proposed in 1980 by father and son Luis and Water Alvarez. Walter is a coauthor on a recent paper led by Professor Mark Richards of UC Berkeley, which suggests that the Deccan eruptions were made more severe by the seismic shaking that reverberated through the planet after the Chicxulub impact, putting the "press" and the "pulse" of the Press-Pulse extinction hypothesis at exactly the same time (as far as date precision allows).

But there's a wrinkle. For some years now the date of the extinction has been assumed to be the same as the date for the impact  an assumption criticized as "circular reasoning" by Professor Keller. Within the wide date uncertainties of a few years ago, that assumption seemed reasonable and practical to many scientists. But now, as geochronologists allow us to zoom-in to the end-Cretaceous mass extinction in unprecedented detail, they can begin to tease that assumption apart.

Clearly, being able to compare precise dates for the impact itself (rather than distant traces of it), the extinction itself (rather than the impact as its assumed proxy), and the eruptions, is going to be critical.

Drilling the impact

That's where the new Chicxulub drilling project, led jointly by the University of Texas and Imperial College London, comes in.

Among other scientific goals, scientists plan to date the rocks melted by the Chicxulub impact as well as rocks from a smaller Cretaceous asteroid impact in Ukraine, and rocks from the Deccan Traps. Project scientists have confirmed they intend to use both high-precision argon-argon and uranium-lead dating, using EARTHTIME calibrated tracers.

Provided they recover suitable samples, this Chicxulub drilling project could have an impact all of its own by resolving a scientific controversy that has persisted since the 1980s.

The views expressed are those of the author(s) and are not necessarily those of Scientific American.

This article was first published at ScientificAmerican.com.  ScientificAmerican.com. All rights reserved.

Follow Scientific American on Twitter @SciAm and @SciamBlogs. Visit ScientificAmerican.comfor the latest in science, health and technology news.
To sleep, perchance to dream  and to keep your brain working: Scientists have long known about the importance of getting a good night's sleep to improve memory, learning and mental health.

But the underlying cause of primary insomnia  a chronic inability to sleep soundly that's not associated with the use of stimulants, or medical disorders such as depression  has eluded researchers.

Now, a small study comparing healthy participants to patients who have primary insomnia has found that the people with insomnia have weakened neural connections to and from the thalamus, the region of the brain that regulates consciousness, sleep and alertness.

The researchers could not determine whether these weaker connections were the cause of the insomnia or the result of a chronic lack of sleep. But the work may offer important clues to the origin and treatment of the sleeping disorder, according to experts in the field who were not associated with the study.

The results of the study were published online today (April 5) in the journal Radiology. [7 Strange Facts About Insomnia]

More than one-quarter of the U.S. population reports an occasional inability to sleep well, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This type of insomnia can be caused by a host of factors interfering with sleep, such as drug use, stress, pain, allergies, Parkinson's disease and depression.

But about 3 to 5 percent of adults have primary insomnia, according to a 2002 study by researchers at Stanford University. The diagnosis is based largely on ruling out known causes for the insomnia. Treatments include behavioral therapy, such as relaxation techniques. Doctors sometimes prescribe sedatives, but such drugs can become addictive or lose their effectiveness over time.

In the new study, researchers in China examined 23 patients with primary insomnia and 30 healthy volunteers. All of the participants completed standardized questionnaires concerning their mental health and sleeping patterns. Each participant also underwent brain MRI with a specialized technique called diffusion tensor imaging, a sensitive tool that can probe deeper than the basic brain structure revealed by MRI to see how well neurons are connecting.

The researchers' goal was to assess the connectivity of the brain's white matter tracts, which are "bundles of axons, or long fibers of nerve cells, that connect one part of the brain to another," said Shumei Li, a researcher at Guangdong No. 2 Provincial People's Hospital in Guangzhou, China, and the lead author of the study. "If white matter tracts are impaired, communication between brain regions is disrupted."

And that is what the researchers may have found among the patients with primary insomnia. Compared to the healthy participants, the insomnia patients had significantly less white matter integrity in several right-brain regions and the thalamus, which houses "important constituents of the body's biological clock," Li said.

The extent of these abnormalities in the thalamus and connected regions was associated with the duration of the patients' insomnia and their self-rated scores on the depression scale, Li said. The worse the neural connections, the worse the sleep and depression.

Dr. Max Wintermark, a professor of radiology at Stanford School of Medicine in Stanford, California, who was not part of the study, said the research was important for understanding the cause of primary insomnia but that "it must be taken with a grain of salt."

The MRI-based diffusion tensor imaging technique can be affected by numerous factors, such as the age of the patient and the type of MRI machine, Wintermark told Live Science. "We don't fully understand normal variation in the scanning," he said, adding that the technique is still only used as a research tool, not for diagnostics in the clinic.

Wintermark said he would be interested in seeing a larger study based on these results, particularly to see whether the white matter tracts improve with treatment for insomnia.

Li said that one of the limitations of her team's study was that it was too small to determine cause and effect or whether abnormalities in white matter tracts can be reversed. She, too, would like to follow a larger group of patients before and after treatment to see if the white matter tracts improve as the insomnia improves, she said. [5 Things You Must Know About Sleep]

Li sees her group's work  overseen by Dr. Guihua Jiang, a researcher at the same hospital  as promising but in the early stages. The study results hint that the underlying cause of white matter abnormalities may be a loss of myelin, the protective coating around nerve fibers.

"The mechanism underlying insomnia [and] sleep is quite complicated," Li told Live Science. "The exact neural circuit of sleep control still needs to be further investigated by other techniques in terms of function and neurophysiology."

Follow Christopher Wanjek @wanjek for daily tweets on health and science with a humorous edge. Wanjek is the author of "Food at Work" and "Bad Medicine." His column, Bad Medicine, appears regularly on Live Science.
A vengeful whale rising up from the ocean's depths to wreck a boat with its massive head is a terrifying and enduring image from Herman Melville's classic novel "Moby-Dick" and, more recently, from the 2015 film "In the Heart of the Sea."

Based on an incident described in 1820 involving the Nantucket whaling vessel the Essex, the film relays the terrifying tale of an enraged sperm whale turning the tables on its tormenters, using its enormous head as a battering ram to smash a whaling ship to splinters. (The event also inspired "Moby-Dick" and the book "In the Heart of the Sea," published in 2000, from which the film was adapted.)

But was such a feat really possible? Were sperm whales truly the destructive powerhouses that whalers described? Recently, a team of engineers took a look at whether the unusual and oversize head of the sperm whale would be able to sustain the force required to demolish a whaling boat by ramming it. [Whale Album: Giants of the Deep]

Historical accounts

Sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) are the largest of the toothed whales. Males can grow to be up to 52 feet (16 meters) long, and the head alone can make up about one-third of that length. They can weigh as much as 45 tons (41 metric tons).

The New Bedford Whaling Museum in Massachusetts describes four "famous" incidents of sperm whales allegedly attacking whaling ships. During these confrontations, all of which were said to have occurred between 1820 and 1902, the whalers reported that the whales repeatedly rammed the ships with their heads until the vessels were destroyed. The first mate of the Essex, Owen Chase, fancifully described a whale bearing down upon the ship "with vengeance in his aspect."

But while there's no question that sperm-whale heads are big and heavy, could they have generated enough force in a ramming attack to utterly destroy a structure like a whaling boat that weighed up to 238 tons (216 metric tons), or four to five times the whale's weight?

Given that sperm whales' heads house sensitive acoustic structures that could be damaged by ramming, the researchers knew that they would need to test the resilience of those organs as well. [Incredible Video: Curious Whale Inspects Underwater Robot]

Schematic representation of sperm whale head structure. (Image credit: Ali Nabavizadeh)

Junk science

Using computer simulations and working from published data on sperm-whale tissue and skeletal structure, the scientists modeled impacts of varying types, and from a range of directions. Then, they evaluated how force was absorbed and dispersed by the two large, oil-filled sacs stacked on top of each other inside a sperm whale's head: the sound-generating spermaceti organ on top, and the "junk"  mostly connective tissue, which also plays a part in echolocation  on the bottom.

The whale's junk proved to play a vital role, the scientists found, with tissue partitions distributing much of the stress from ramming impacts and thereby preventing the skull from fracturing.

While ramming behavior is common in some animal species, used as a form of competition between males, it has been observed only once in sperm whales, the researchers reported. But their findings suggest that this behavior could be more common in sperm whales than was previously suspected, and that whalers' accounts of the devastation wrought by living, battering rams may not be such tall tales after all.

The findings were published online today (April 5) in the journal PeerJ.

Follow Mindy Weisberger on Twitter and Google+. Follow us @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on Live Science.
After a California condor pair's egg went mysteriously missing in the middle of the night, the duo is back on track, raising a foster chick that biologists surreptitiously slipped into the birds' mountain nest.

The family affair began with condors #111, a 22-year-old female hatched at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, and #509, a 7-year-old wild male. The two began courting in 2014, and nested together near the Hopper Mountain National Wildlife Refuge in southern California, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Before long, #111 laid an egg. A team of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) biologists snuck into the nest on March 2 to set up a bird cam and check the egg's viability with a candle test, in which a bright light is used to check the growing fetus inside. They reported that everything looked good, and estimated that the egg would hatch between April 4 and April 6. [10 Species You Can Kiss Goodbye]

But then, the egg went missing.

On the night between March 20 and March 21, it disappeared. In order to save battery power, the bird cam does not record during the night, so there's no proof of what happened to the egg. But, in all likelihood, a predator made off with it, leaving only a few eggshell fragments behind, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, which runs the cam.

This development was worrisome to scientists, as the California condor (Gymnogyps californianus) is critically endangered, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). In 2010, there were only 104 adult California condors of breeding age in the wild, and just 44 had produced surviving offspring, the IUCN said.

After the egg vanished, USFWS biologists devised an action plan: On March 21, they rappelled into the nest and replaced the missing egg with a dummy egg. Condor #111 entered the nest cavity just as they left, and  to everyone's relief  began incubating the fake egg.

Her partner, #509, incubated the dummy egg, too. In the meantime, the recovery team called the Los Angeles Zoo, which was raising eggs that condors had laid in captivity. The zoo gave one of its eggs to the USFWS scientists, who furtively rappelled into the nest again and swapped the dummy egg for the new foster egg on April 3.

The swap worked. The adults  which look a bit like hunchbacked, black umbrellas  incubated the egg, and it hatched on April 4, making it the first time that a condor chick had hatched live on a bird cam, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

It's unclear whether the 9-ounce (255 grams) chick is a male or female, but a blood test within its first year of life will clear that up. Once the chick turns 4 months old, biologists will tag it so that they can track it when it starts flying, at about 6 months of age.

For now, both #111 and #509 are taking turns keeping the chick warm and feeding it. Bird enthusiasts can watch the chick grow up on the California condor bird cam, and follow it on Twitter: @CornellCondors.

The biologists hope that the mystery thief responsible for the first egg's disappearance will leave the new chick alone.

"Sometimes, condors select nest cavities that are accessible to terrestrial predators that are skilled climbers, such as bobcats, black bears and mountain lions," the Cornell Lab of Ornithology said. "We will continue to closely monitor the condor nestling via the live streaming camera and newly placed motion activated Bushnell game camera that is capable of taking nighttime images."

Condor chicks remain dependent on their parents for more than a year, so birdwatchers will have plenty of time to watch the little chick grow up, the lab said.

Follow Laura Geggel on Twitter @LauraGeggel. Follow Live Science @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on Live Science.
Congress wants to know the names of researchers who study fetal tissue, and what exactly they are doing: A House committee has subpoenaed a number of medical organizations for a list of people involved in this research.

The committee says it wants "to find out what is going on?" at organizations that procure and use fetal tissue for research purposes. Use of the tissue is controversial because it usually comes from aborted human fetuses. (This tissue would otherwise be discarded.)

But others who support the research have called the investigation an act of intimidation, and likened it to a witch hunt.

"This is an invasion of academic freedom, a serious government overreach, and an effort to intimidate scientists who have devoted their careers to helping patients and improving lives," Dr. Mark DeFrancesco, president of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said in a statement on March 30.

Experts say that fetal tissue is important for many areas of research, including studies of brain diseases and human development, and treatments for spinal cord injuries. They say fetal tissue cells have properties such as an ability to divide and grow rapidly that make them particularly useful for certain lines of research.

And fetal tissue allows scientists to investigate questions that can't be studied in any other way, for instance, what goes on in the early stages of human development, or what goes wrong in cases of miscarriage.

Advocates for the research also say that discovering treatments and cures for diseases requires scientists to explore many avenues of research, including fetal tissue research. "We close the door in the research, we won't ever know what advances we might have attained," said Heather Pierce, senior director of science policy and regulatory counsel at the Association of American Medical Colleges, in a statement supporting fetal tissue research.

"It's really only when we look back that we know what was effective," in yielding medical breakthroughs, Pierce told Live Science. [5 Discoveries in Stem Cell Science]

Here are five ways that scientists are using fetal tissue in medical research.

Alzheimer's disease

In testimony before the congressional committee, Larry Goldstein, a professor of cellular and molecular medicine at the University of California, San Diego, described how he uses fetal tissue in his research on Alzheimer's disease. To make a model of the brain disease in a lab dish, researchers need a type of brain cell called an astrocyte, which helps support other brain cells, he explained. Astrocytes release growth factors and other substances that keep nerve cells healthy and allow brain cells to make connections, Goldstein said.

Fetal astrocytes are the "gold standard" for this type of research, Goldstein said. Although scientists can "make" astrocytes from stem cells, these astrocytes don't have all the properties of fetal astrocytes, so for now, fetal astrocytes are irreplaceable, he said.

"The fetal astrocytes are vital to these investigations, which I think will help conquer the terrible scourge of Alzheimer's disease," Goldstein said.

Organ development

Fetal tissue is also being used in research on how organs develop, with the ultimate goal of "growing" organs to replaced damaged ones. For example, some researchers are studying whether it's possible to "build" a human kidney from stem cells. They need to examine fetal tissue in order to determine "the earliest biochemical signals" that trigger cells to make kidneys," Goldstein said.

"Fetal tissue is a window into the early stages of human development," he said.

Fetal diseases

Understanding conditions that start in the womb, or lead to miscarriage or stillbirth, is another avenue for fetal tissue research. For example, through fetal tissue studies, scientists investigating the Zika virus are learning more about the disease and its link to the congenital condition microcephaly.

"The current Zika virus outbreak shows that we must use the full potential of science, including fetal tissue research, if we hope to develop a vaccine or a medicine that will allow us to prevent serious birth defects and even deaths in the future," DeFrancesco said.

Vaccine research

Fetal tissue research also played a role in the development of a number of vaccines we have today. Vaccines for chicken pox, hepatitis A, polio, rabies and rubella are all grown in human cells lines that were initially derived from fetal tissue in the 1960s, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. (Once a cell line is established, researchers can grow the cells in labs for decades without needing new tissue.)

But researchers cannot always use old cell lines for vaccine research, and so new fetal tissue is sometimes needed. Researchers are currently using fetal cells to help develop vaccines against Ebola and HIV, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit organization that advocates for reproductive health issues.

Spinal cord injury treatments

Finally, fetal tissue is used in human studies of treatments for spinal cord injuries, stroke and ALS. Fetal cells are particularly suitable for this type of treatment because they grow faster than mature cells. They also evoke less of an immune response, so they have a lower risk of rejection, according to the Guttmacher Institute.

In one study of a treatment for spinal cord injury, fetal cells were implanted at the site of the injury in four people. Animal studies have suggested that fetal cells can develop into new neurons, and can "relay" information across the site of a nerve injury, allowing the animal to function better, Goldstein said.

The new study in humans will follow the patients over the next few years to see if the treatment improves their paralysis, Goldstein said.

Follow Rachael Rettner @RachaelRettner. Follow Live Science @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on Live Science.
The hunt is on to find "Planet Nine"  a large undiscovered world, perhaps 10 times as massive as Earth and four times its size  that scientists think could be lurking in the outer solar system. After Konstantin Batygin and Mike Brown, two planetary scientists from the California Institute of Technology, presented evidence for its existence this January, other teams have searched for further proof by analyzing archived images and proposing new observations to find it with the world's largest telescopes.

Just this month, evidence from the Cassini spacecraft orbiting Saturn helped close in on the missing planet. Many experts suspect that within as little as a year someone will spot the unseen world, which would be a monumental discovery that changes the way we view our solar system and our place in the cosmos. "Evidence is mounting that something unusual is out there  there's a story that's hard to explain with just the standard picture," says David Gerdes, a cosmologist at the University of Michigan who never expected to find himself working on Planet Nine. He is just one of many scientists who leapt at the chance to prove  or disprove  the team's careful calculations.

Batygin and Brown made the case for Planet Nine's existence based on its gravitational effect on several Kuiper Belt objects  icy bodies that circle the sun beyond Neptune's orbit. Theoretically, though, its gravity should also tug slightly on the planets, moons and even any orbiting spacecraft. With this in mind, Agnes Fienga at the Cote d'Azur Observatory in France and her colleagues checked whether a theoretical model (one that they have been perfecting for over a decade) with the new addition of Planet Nine could better explain slight perturbations seen in Cassini's orbit. Without it, the eight planets in the solar system, 200 asteroids and five of the most massive Kuiper Belt objects cannot perfectly account for it. The missing puzzle piece might just be a ninth planet.

So Fienga and her colleagues compared the updated model, which placed Planet Nine at various points in its hypothetical orbit, with the data. They found a sweet spotwith Planet Nine 600 astronomical units (about 90 billion kilometers) away toward the constellation Cetus  that can explain Cassini's orbit quite well. Although Fienga is not yet convinced that she has found the culprit for the probe's odd movements, most outside experts are blown away. "It's a brilliant analysis," says Greg Laughlin, an astronomer at Lick Observatory, who was not involved in the study. "It's completely amazing that they were able to do that so quickly." Gerdes agrees: "That's a beautiful paper."

The good news does not end there. If Planet Nine is located toward the constellation Cetus, then it could be picked up by the Dark Energy Survey, a Southern Hemisphere observation project designed to probe the acceleration of the universe. "It turns out fortuitously that the favored region from Cassini is smack dab in the middle of our survey footprint," says Gerdes, who is working on the cosmology survey. "We could not have designed our survey any better." Although the survey was not planned to search for solar system objects, Gerdes has discovered some (including one of the icy objects that led Batygin and Brown to conclude Planet Nine exists in the first place).

Laughlin thinks this survey has the best immediate chance of success. He is also excited by the fact that Planet Nine could be so close. Although 600 AUsroughly 15 times the average distance to Plutodoes sound far, Planet Nine could theoretically hide as far away as 1,200 AUs. "That makes it twice as easy to get to, twice as soon," Laughlin says. "And not just twice as bright but 16 times as bright."

And the Dark Energy Survey is not the only chance to catch the faint world. It should be possible to look for the millimeter-wavelength light the planet radiates from its own internal heat. Such a search was proposed by Nicolas Cowan, an exoplanet astronomer at McGill University in Montreal, who thinks that Planet Nine might show up in surveys of the cosmic microwave background (CMB), the pervasive afterglow of the big bang. "CMB experiments have historically used solar system giant planets to calibrate their instruments, so we know that current and planned CMB experiments are sensitive enough to measure the flux from Planet Nine if it is as bright as we think it is," Cowan says.

Already, cosmologists have started to comb through data from existing experiments, and astronomers with many different specialties have also joined in on the search. "I love that we can take this four-meter telescope and find a rock 100 kilometers in diameter that is a billion kilometers past Neptune with the same instrument that we are using to do extragalactic stuff and understand the acceleration of the universe," Gerdes says.

In the meantime Batygin and Brown are proposing a dedicated survey of their own. In a recent study they searched through various sky maps to determine where Planet Nine cannot be. "We dumpster-dived into the existing observational data to search for Planet Nine, and because we didn't find it we were able to rule out parts of the orbit," Batygin says. The zone where the planet makes its farthest swing from the sun as well as the small slice of sky where Fienga thinks the planet could be now, for example, have not been canvassed by previous observations. To search the unmapped zones, Batygin and Brown have asked for roughly 20 observing nights on the Subaru Telescope on Mauna Kea in Hawaii. "It's a pretty big request compared to what other people generally get on the telescope," Brown says. "We'll see if they bite." If they do, Brown is convinced he will have his planet within a year.

"I really want to see what it looks like," says Batygin, who adds that his aspiration drives him to search for the unseen world. But Laughlin takes it a step further: "I think [the discovery] would provide amazing inspiration for the next stage of planetary exploration," he says. We now have another opportunity to see one of the worlds of our own solar system for the first time. "If Planet Nine isn't out there, we won't have that experience again."

This article was first published at ScientificAmerican.com.  ScientificAmerican.com. All rights reserved.

Follow Scientific American on Twitter @SciAm and @SciamBlogs. Visit ScientificAmerican.com for the latest in science, health and technology news.
The question of precisely where the historically acclaimed general Hannibal and his army crossed the Alps into Italy to defeat the Romans  during the Second Punic War, around 218 to 201 B.C.  has perplexed historians for nearly 2,000 years.

Thanks to a new study, the first evidence pointing to an answer has finally been unearthed. Clues to Hannibal's secret military route were recently discovered  not in maps or letters, but in the geologic record.

But it wasn't exactly rocks that revealed the full story. Scientists dug up signs of Hannibal's passage in preserved poop deposits, from a churned-up stretch of boggy terrain that likely served as a watering hole and toilet for the army's resting animals. [In Photos: Ancient Roman Fort Discovered]

Even the ancient Romans couldn't agree on where Hannibal's crossing took place, and scholars around the world have debated the topic over the thousands of years since. Some proposed that the general traced a route through a narrow mountain pass called Col de la Traversette, to the southwest of Turin, Italy, but they couldn't produce any archaeological proof.

Researchers investigate a site that was likely used as a watering hole (and toilet) by Hannibal's army and their animals. (Image credit: Queen's University Belfast)

Solid evidence

Chris Allen, of Queen's University Belfast, and William Mahaney, of York University in Toronto, were conducting research near Col de la Traversette that was unrelated to Hannibal. That's when the 2,000-year-old question about the general's Alps route confronted them in the shape of a mire, a waterlogged area along the mountain passage, Allen told Live Science.

It occurred to them that Hannibal's army  which included 30,000 troops, 37 elephants and an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 horses  would have needed to stop for water during their travels.

And then, another colleague mentioned to Allen that when animals drink, they typically defecate.

"We realized if we were lucky enough in this mire to find a layer of sediment that was old enough and hadn't been disturbed, we might actually be able to find evidence of horse manure that would have been left by his army when they passed through," said Allen, an associate professor of environmental microbiology.

"A mass animal deposition"

The researchers excavated a cylindrical sample of soil called a core. They used carbon dating to establish that its layers dated back 8,000 years and examined changes  physical, chemical and microbial  that appeared in the dirt layers over time.

As they came close to the point in time when Hannibal was known to have crossed the Alps, unusual indicators appeared in the soil. The dirt was physically churned up, as though a number of animals had plodded through. Chemical analysis identified organic materials that typically inhabit a human's or a horse's gut, while DNA analysis revealed the presence of microbes associated with horse manure.

"By combining all these methods, we were able to point strongly to the fact that there was an accumulation of fecal materials at the correct date, about 2,200 years ago," Allen said. The quantity of dung appearing at that point in time hints at an animal presence that was unusual for the region, but was also likely to be associated with Hannibal, who was already known to be on the move across the Alps during that time, the authors suggested.

Mystery solved  not with a smoking gun, but with a once-steaming pile.

The findings were published online March 8 in the journal Archaeometry.

Follow Mindy Weisberger on Twitter and Google+. Follow us @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on Live Science.
A man who appeared at last weeks sitting of Longford District Court charged with having a false passport had his case adjourned to allow the court time to monitor his legal status in this country.

Muhammad Meybodi (40), 7 Castle Court, Newtownforbes, Co Longford appeared before Judge Seamus Hughes charged with using a false Portuguese National Identity Card in the name of Diego Antonio Rodrigues at Castle Court, Newtownforbes on December 15, 2012.

He was also further charged with producing a false Portuguese Driving Licence in the name of Diego Antonio Rodrigues with the intention of securing an Irish passport at the Department of Justice, St Stephens Green on December 15, 2012.

Outlining the evidence to the court, Detective Garda Enda Daly said that on the date in question the defendant produced documentation for the passport in the name of Mr Rodrigues.

During the provision of that documentation, staff became aware of an irregularity with the defendants papers and the Gardai in Longford were subsequently contacted about the matter.

Mr Meybodi said he was Portuguese and from the Albufeira region of the country, however investigations into the matter proved this to be untrue, confirmed Garda Daly.

The court then heard how long the defendant was in Ireland and how his first visit here was made as far back as 2002.

He initially arrived in this country on an American Student Visa in 2002 which entitled him to stay for nine months, but he did not leave the country until early 2004 and returned again in late 2004, Garda Daly continued.

He applied for asylum but that was refused.

The court then heard how Mr Meybodi was an Iranian National who had no family left in his native land and was afraid to return there for fear of persecution.

He is well educated [has a masters in biochemistry] and is a very nice decent man who is just trying to make his way in the world, Garda Daly continued.

He is afraid to return to Iran because he fears he will be persecuted; his fears are well founded as he is a christian and in Iran that would be problematic for him.

The court then heard how the defendant had been working in human rights in Iran before he came to Ireland and that under his assumed name here, he worked as a pharmacist in Dublin for seven years and was also granted citizenship.

The Green family in Edgeworthstown have taken great care of him for the past seven years and he regards them as his family, the Garda added.

Meanwhile, the defendants solicitor Frank Gearty said in mitigation, that, his client had been in Ireland for 14 years and had used his biochemistry skills to become a pharmacist from 2006-2012.

Throughout that period in Ireland he paid his taxes all the while contributing under the false name of Diego Rodrigues, said Mr Gearty, before pointing out that strong recommendations in support of his client, had now been submitted by the defendants friends, in support of his endeavours to secure legal status in Ireland.

He applied for citizenship and was granted it under the false name and he also applied for the passport under the false name as well.

Taking on board Garda Brownes evidence and Mr Geartys mitigating factors, Judge Hughes said the case before him appeared to be exceptional.

He said the matter required attention and he would be happy to adjourn proceedings so that the defendants legal status could be monitored.

The defendant was subsequently ordered to appear back before Longford District Court on September 27 next.
Press Releases

By Phil Andrews Published: April 05 2016

Black business matters, and so does viable business organizations such as local chambers of commerce.

New York, NY - April 4th, 2016 - Black Businesses are growing nationally in the Black Community, and African American Chambers Commerce across the nation are at the forefront of building Americas next movement.



Black Business organizations have their roots in the National Black Business League founded in 1900 founded by Dr. Booker T. Washington. The National Black Business League founded by Dr. Booker T. Washington predates the U.S. Chamber of Commerce by twelve years.

In 2010, the Long Island African American Chamber of Commerce, Inc. a regional Chamber of Commerce in New York was founded by its Founder, John L. Scott. The Island African American Commerce is currently rebuilding the social fabric in its region to strengthen trade, provide access to capital, advocate on behalf of small business owner, and provide resources to Black Business Owners.

U.S. Black Chambers, Inc. is doing a marvelous job supporting African American Chambers throughout America by providing top notch training at its USBC School of Chamber & Business Management.

The above chambers models needs to be duplicated throughout Black America.

Many of the social ills in society can be solved by raising the level of economic parity in society. It is said that economics affect every area of a persons life.

Black business matters, and so does viable business organizations such as local chambers of commerce. It is a well-known fact that chambers of commerce in local communities are comprised of some of the most connected individuals in their regions across the nation.

The civil rights movement has certainly impacted and created change across a wide segment of the American Population. Economic parity remains a lofty goal across America and local chambers of commerce are gearing up to help small business owners in their respective communities become viable increased capacity building, access to capital, advocacy, technical assistance and providing a network of support.

As evidence of this pattern recent statistics show that African American women business owners are leading the pack as one of the fastest growing business segments in America.

For more information about the Long Island African American Chamber of Commerce, Inc. please visit their website, "Like" their Facebook Page, or Follow Along on Google+ & Twitter.
Sports & Recreation, Local News, Business & Finance, Arts & Culture, Hot Spots & Night Life, Seasonal & Current Events

By Chelsea Triola Published: April 05 2016

Long Islanders, prepare yourselves for the upcoming Trumpocalypse taking place this Memorial Day Weekend at NYZ Apocalypse in Deer Park!

Long Islanders, prepare yourselves for the upcoming Trumpocalypse taking place this Memorial Day Weekend at NYZ Apocalypse in Deer Park! Visitors will have the chance to take part in this interactive survival experience where you will be forced to take out the 2016 presidential candidates that have been cloned and turned into zombies!



Thats right, these arent just any zombies  they are this years undead presidential candidates, who will be infesting the place in search of their next victims, thirsty for human brains.



Because of each candidates ever decreasing popularity, The Secret Service came up with a plan to assure their safety  cloning. It is unknown whether this was an intentional side effect or if the medical staff in charge of the cloning experiment made an innocent mistake, but these zombie clones were created and need to be utterly annihilated.



Mr. Trump got wind of the frightening news and immediately wanted to bomb the zombie clones to assure they all get taken out at once. Since his decision, he has reconsidered his position, which he often does. Now, Mr. Trump has decided to lend a helping hand by using his leadership skills and expert negotiation tactics to assist in bringing this devastating outbreak to an end.



Mr. Trump, his staff, and The Secret Service have taken over The Apollo Prison and it is up to you to visit this top secret facility to destroy each of these zombie presidential candidate clones and preserve the sanctity of the 2016 presidential primaries.



NYZ Apocalypse will be opening their doors on Thursday, April 14th at 8 PM for a media-only event. The public will have time to prepare themselves for this Trumpocalypse the best they can before the Memorial Day Weekend event. Although not a requirement, NYZ Apocalypse has recommended this event for those 16 and older.



Click here to stay up to date with everything happening over at NYZ, and to purchase your tickets in advance!
Looking to stay up to date about all of the news stories and local headlines that are important to Long Islanders? We've rounded up the top coverage for all of the important topics from multiple sources around Long Island, so you can be sure you've got the most recent update on the top stories for Long Island. Have an idea for a news story? Email us at news@longisland.com

Columnists Press Releases
Note: This article has been updated with references to Al Nusrah Fronts video of the captured pilot and other information.

A Syrian fighter jet was downed in the Aleppo province earlier today. A warplane was exposed to [a] surface-to-air missile during its reconnaissance mission over the countryside of Aleppo which led to its downfall, the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported. SANA, which is the Syrian governments propaganda arm, blamed terrorist organizations and said work is underway to rescue the pilot, who parachuted from the plane before it crashed.

Al Nusrah Front, al Qaedas official branch in Syria, has released a video of the planes wreckage. The video also shows the pilot being questioned about his mission. A screen shot of the pilot can be seen above.

Ahrar al Sham, an al Qaeda-linked group, has claimed responsibility on its official Twitter feed for bringing down the warplane. There are conflicting reports concerning how the plane was hit.

A self-declared al Qaeda operative known as Abu Saeed al Hollandi tweeted earlier today that Ahrar al Sham had claimed credit even before the group released any official statements. According to al Hollandi, Al Nusrah Front took custody of the jets pilot shortly after he parachuted from the burning plane.

Al Hollandi said that Al Nusrah was investigating which party was responsible for downing the SU-22, but this may not in fact be true. Al Nusrah works closely with Ahrar al Sham, which is itself linked to al Qaeda, on the battlefield. It is likely that Al Nusrah already knew that Ahrar was responsible. In fact, it is possible that the organizations worked together on the attack.

Screen shots of Abu Saeed al Hollandis tweets, including a photo of the pilot, can be seen below.

Ahrar al Sham has also posted photos of the planes wreckage and a video that appears to show the jet moments after being hit. Ahrars tweets and photos can also be seen below.

Some jihadist Twitter feeds have even posted photos of people taking selfies with the hero who allegedly fired the missile.

The plane crashed near Talat al-Iss in southern Aleppo. Al Nusrah and its allies overran the hill and a nearby village just days ago in a newly-launched offensive. [See LWJ report, Al Nusrah Front, allies launch offensive south of Aleppo.]

Al Nusrah and other rebels are attempting to regain the initiative from the Assad regime and its battlefield partners, who have advanced under the cover of Russian air power since last fall.

Abu Saeed al Hollandis tweets:

Ahrar al Shams photos and tweets:

A selfie with the jihadist who allegedly brought down the SU-22:

Thomas Joscelyn is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Senior Editor for FDD's Long War Journal.

Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here.
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, the official name of the Taliban, appointed Mullah Omars brother and eldest son to key leadership positions in the jihadist groups executive council. Mullah Omars kin had previously opposed the appointment of Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour as emir of the Taliban after Omars death was disclosed in the summer of 2015, but quickly changed their mind and swore allegiance to Mansour.

The Taliban announced yesterday that Mullah Abdul Manan Akhund, a brother of Mullah Omar, was named the head of Dawat wal Irshad, or the Preaching and Guidance Commission. Mullah Mohammad Yaqoub, Omars eldest son, was given a seat on the executive council, which is better known as the Quetta Shura, as well as the military chief of 15 provinces within the structure of the Talibans Military Commission.

The Taliban made the announcement in an English-language statement on Voice of Jihad, its official website.

Both of the new officials of Islamic Emirate were given advise [sic] by the Amir ul Mumineen [the Commander of the Faithful, the title for Mullah Mansour] who later prayed to Allah Almighty for their success in their current duties, the statement concluded.

According to the Taliban, Manan and Yacoub received their new positions at a special meeting that was convened by the Islamic Emirate in which the leader, council members, high ranking officials and military heads participated.

While the statement did not indicate where the meeting was held, it likely took place in Quetta, the Pakistani city where the Talibans top leaders are known to be based.

Both Manan and Yacoub accepted senior level positions within the Taliban. The Preaching and Guidance Commission is considered by the Taliban to be one of its most important committees, as it is tasked with spreading the goals of Islamic Emirate and illegality and aims of the invaders and their stooges, or the Afghan government. The Military Commission is the Talibans largest and most influential structure, and Yacoub now assumes control of military operations in 15 of Afghanistans 34 provinces.

The appointment of Manan and Yacoub to high level positions within the Talibans leadership hierarchy may indicate that they are in line to succeed Mansour. However, they would face stiff competition from Sirajuddin Haqqani, one of Mansours two deputies. Siraj is the Talibans overall military commander and also leads the Haqqani Network, which is closely linked to al Qaeda and Pakistans Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate and military.

Manan and Yacoub initially opposed Mansours appointment as Amir ul Mumineen after Mullah Omars death was announced on July 31, 2015. Omar died at a hospital in Karachi in April 2013, and the Taliban and Omars family concealed his death as they feared it would cause divisions at a crucial time, when US forces began to withdraw from Afghanistan.

Reports from the region indicated that Manan and Yacoub initially did not approve of the way that Mansour was chosen to lead the Taliban. Yacoub is rumored to have sought to replace his father as the emir of the group.

But by mid-September 2015, Manan and Yacoub reconciled with Mansour and swore allegiance to him. This closed a major rift that existed within the Talibans ranks, but others still exist.

Mansour still faces a challenge from Mullah Rasul, who leads a breakaway Taliban faction. Clashes between supporters of the two groups break out occasionally, but there are some indications that the factions wish to reconcile. The Islamic State also has a small presence in Afghanistan, however it does not pose a direct threat to Mansours leadership.

Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal.

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The Department of Defense and State Department announced today that two Libyans have been transferred from Guantanamo to the Republic of Senegal in West Africa.

Omar Khalifa Mohammed Abu Bakr Mahjour Umar and Salem Abdul Salem Ghereby allegedly belonged to the al Qaeda-linked Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), worked with senior al Qaeda leaders and had advanced explosives training in Afghanistan prior to their detention in Cuba.

President Obamas Guantanamo Review Task Force, which reviewed the detainees cases between Jan. 2009 and Jan. 2010, deemed Umar too dangerous to free. But a Periodic Review Board subsequently approved Umars transfer last year.

Joint Task Force Guantanamo (JTF-GTMO), which oversees the detention facility, assessed both of the men to be high risks who are likely to pose a threat to the US, its interests, and allies.

Omar Khalifa Mohammed Abu Bakr Mahjour Umar (Internment Serial Number 695)

JTF-GTMO was especially concerned about Umar. In an Aug. 22, 2008 threat assessment, which was later leaked online, JTF-GTMO recommended that the Defense Department continue to hold him.

JTF-GTMOs analysts also issued a warning: If released without rehabilitation, close supervision, and means to successfully reintegrate into his society as a law abiding citizen, it is assessed detainee [Umar] would immediately seek out prior associates and reengage in hostilities and extremist support activities.

US officials found that Umar was a high-level member of the LIFGs military committee and worked with a Whos Who list of al Qaeda leaders and operatives.

Umar was allegedly a long-time associate of Osama bin Laden, worked for one of the al Qaeda founders companies, and flew on one of bin Ladens planes from Sudan to Afghanistan.

Umar also reportedly had affiliations with: Ayman al Zawahiri (the current head of al Qaeda), Saif al Adl (a senior al Qaeda official wanted for his role in the August 1998 US Embassy bombings), Abd al Rahim al Nashiri (a current Guantanamo detainee and suspected ringleader of the USS Cole bombing in October 2000), Abu Musab al Zarqawi (who founded al Qaeda in Iraq before his demise in June 2006), Abu Laith al Libi (an al Qaeda leader who was killed in 2008), Hamza al Qaiti (who served as an al Qaeda commander in Afghanistan and Chechnya), as well as others.

Still other al Qaeda leaders, some of whom were held in the CIAs controversial detention and interrogation program, are cited as sources of intelligence on Umar throughout the leaked JTF-GTMO threat assessment. One of them is Ahmed Ghailani, who was tried and convicted for his role in the 1998 US Embassy bombings. Ghailani identified Umar as a trainer at al Qaedas Al Farouq training camp and told authorities that Umar taught anti-aircraft systems and basic explosives.

According to the intelligence included in the leaked threat assessment, Umar moved seamlessly between LIFG and al Qaeda facilities in Sudan and Afghanistan during the 1990s. He allegedly worked as an explosives and weapons trainer at LIFG and al Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan. JTF-GTMO found that he also helped rebuild al Qaedas camps after airstrikes were launched in retaliation for the attacks on US Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in August 1998.

On Mar. 28, 2002, Umar was captured during raids on two suspected al Qaeda safe houses in Faisalabad, Pakistan. The counterterrorism operations targeted Abu Zubaydahs Martyrs Brigade, which planned to launch improvised explosive device (IED) attacks against US and Coalition forces in Afghanistan. JTF-GTMOs analysts assessed that Umar was a a participant in [Zubaydahs] cell, or Martyrs Brigade. Zubaydah, a senior al Qaeda facilitator, is still detained at Guantanamo.

President Obamas Guantanamo Review Task Force, which filed its final report in January 2010, shared JTF-GTMOs security concerns about Umar.

The task force determined that Umar should be held under the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) because he was one of 48 detainees determined to be too dangerous to transfer but not feasible for prosecution.

However, a Periodic Review Board (PRB) determined in August 2015 that Umars detention was no longer necessary to protect against a continuing significant threat to the security of the United States.

The PRB acknowledged Umars past terrorist-related activities and connections, but found that the risk he presents could be mitigated by his significantly compromised health condition, his record of compliance within Guantanamo, and his recent engagement with his family illustrating his intent to move forward in a positive manner.

Even so, the PRB couldnt rule out the possibility that Umar would return to the jihad.

The August 2015 decision reads: The PRB also recommends appropriate security assurances as determined by the Guantanamo Detainee Transfer Working Group, with special attention to those that would mitigate the threat the detainee [Umar] may pose with respect to propaganda, recruitment, and training of others.

According to data compiled by The Long War Journal, Umar is the fifth detainee since September of last year to be transferred after being deemed too dangerous to transfer by Obamas task force. A sixth detainee was also transferred despite being recommended for prosecution by the task force. In all six cases, President Obamas interagency body concluded that the detainees should be held. But they were granted transfers from Guantanamo by the PRB system, which is increasingly willing to transfer higher risk detainees.

Salem Abdul Salem Ghereby (ISN 189)

Unlike Umar, Salem Abdul Salem Ghereby was approved for transfer by President Obamas task force more than six years ago. This doesnt mean the task force believed he was an innocent who could be freed without any security precautions. The task force recommended Ghereby for transfer to a country outside the United States that will implement appropriate security measures.

JTF-GTMO concluded that Ghereby was a former explosives trainer and a veteran jihad fighter in the LIFG. He was also allegedly associated with senior al Qaeda members, including Abdul Hadi al Iraqi (Bin Ladens primary paramilitary commander prior to 9/11) and Ibn Shaykh al Libi. Bin Laden named al Libi as the leader of al Qaedas forces during the Battle of Tora Bora in late 2001. (Al Iraqi is held at Guantanamo. Al Libi died in a Libyan prison in 2009.)

JTF-GTMOs analysts found that Ghereby attended multiple training camps and received explosives training from a senior al Qaeda explosives expert known as Abu Khabab al Masri. According to the leaked JTF-GTMO threat assessment for Ghereby, Masris diary describes the explosives accident that cost Ghereby his fingers and vision in one eye.

JTF-GTMOs analysts also assessed that Ghereby participated in the Battle of Tora Bora and fled the mountain range with Ibn Shaykh al Libi and other jihadists.

LIFG and al Qaeda in North Africa

The LIFG, which Umar and Ghereby served, found new life in North Africa during the uprising against Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 and afterwards. In fact, Osama bin Laden and his top lieutenant believed in early 2011 that an active Jihadist Islamic renaissance was underway. Al Qaeda was encouraged by the fact that many LIFG members, some of whom also served al Qaeda, had been freed from jail. One of them was another ex-Guantanamo detainee who was a member of both al Qaeda and the LIFG: Sufian Ben Qumu. Today, Ben Qumu is best known for his putative role in the Sept. 11, 2012 attacks in Benghazi.

According to the terms of their transfer, it is likely that the Republic of Senegal is responsible for ensuring, at least in the short-term, that Umar and Ghereby do not rejoin their LIFG brethren elsewhere in Africa. Of course, it is possible that one or both of them will choose a different path.

Thomas Joscelyn is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Senior Editor for FDD's Long War Journal.

Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here.
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explora Valle Sagrado Inspires Travelers to Reflect on the Beauty and History of Peru's Sacred Valley

explora Valle Sagrado, set to welcome travelers to the Sacred Valley in Peru beginning July 1, is no exception. In keeping with explora's guiding principles of luxury of the essential and sustainable development, the adventure travel company's first hotel in Peru is designed to celebrate and protect the natural beauty and cultural history of its remarkable setting.Jose Cruz Ovalle, winner of Chile's 2012 National Architecture Award, drew inspiration from the Sacred Valley for his design of explora Valle Sagrado. Cruz, who has been part of every explora hotel, notes that, countless works and vestiges found throughout the region reveal how nature was exalted by the hand of man over many centuries. All work on the new explora destination was made jointly with the Peruvian Institute of Archeology in order to preserve the ancestral and cultural heritage of the region.Formed by the Urubamba River, the Sacred Valley of the Incas stretches some 37 miles from the ancient Inca capital Cusco and Machu Picchu. Located at 9,500 feet just an hour from Cusco, explora Valle Sagrado is arranged in four bays on the terraced cornfields of a 27-hectare patch of Urquillos, one of the most remote haciendas in one of the largest Inca farming areas. Each of 50 guest rooms has views of Urubamba Valley cornfields and the impressive Andes range that once sheltered the most important Pre-Columbian civilization. Walls recovered during construction open a window onto life more than 500 years ago and the extraordinary talent of Inca masons who seamlessly fit together blocks of rock with less than the breadth of knife blade between them.Worn-down Inca platforms and other pieces of history discovered during the construction of the hotel were similarly preserved with utmost care, while the hotel's interior and exterior walls were coated in traditional adobe and Jahuacollay hawthorn.Pumacahua Bath House, which will open in October just steps from the main building, is another example of the historical legacy of the hotel's location. Built in the 17th century, the large colonial house once belonged to the Inca Mateo Pumacahua, a Peruvian revolutionary who led the Cusco Rebellion of 1814 in Peru's War of Independence. Notes designer Cruz: Here you find something specific to America: a hybridization of Inca and Spanish architecture where the conquerors built their work on top of the Inca platform wall. We see that in Cusco, as well.explora Valle Sagrado will be a journey in itself, encouraging travelers to experience the natural wonders, rich culture and history of the region through more than 20 excursions on foot, bicycle or van led by the company's specially trained exploration team.The hotel will offer three exploration programs including Pisac (3 nights) starting at $2,160/double; Vilcabamba (4 nights) starting at $2,628/double; and Moray (5 nights) starting at $3,020. These rates are valid from November 1, 2016 to April 30, 2017, and include 10% service.For more information or to make reservations, please contact explora toll free at (866) 750-6699, email reserve@explora.com, or visit the website at
Green Travel with Asia Transpacific Journeys

For the ecologically minded, the countries we choose to explore and the ways in which we do so globe are paramount. Asia Transpacific Journeys recognizes that their love of travel and cultural discovery must be intertwined with a commitment to preserving the world's beauty and resources. Without lush landscapes, a variety of wildlife and unique geography, there would be nothing to discover.Sri Lanka is one of Asia's hidden gems and one of the world's most bio-diverse locales. For lovers of wildlife, Sri Lanka offers some of the best encounters in Asia. Asia Transpacific Journeys can help you gain a deeper appreciation for all things fauna with private, naturalist-run, wildlife safaris in one of the island's many national parks. Observe wild leopards on the prowl at Yala National Park, watch vibrantly colorful birds at Sinharaja Forest Reserve and, most unexpectedly, watch elephants swim between islands at Gal Oya National Park.Your eco-experience doesn't end with a trek into the wild, but continues throughout your stay with the inclusion of luxurious, eco-conscious accommodations. Asia Transpacific Journeys favors properties like the Jetwing Vil Uyana, recognized as one of the world's best eco-hotels. Set in a private, manmade nature reserve of wetland lakes and reed beds, guestrooms are set within these paddy fields to provide a truly immerse wilderness experience. Transportation between the resort's thatched-roof bungalows is provided by zero-emission electric buggies.For those drawn to a tropical eco-adventure, look no further than Indonesia. Bali is overflowing with unique experience to offer eco-friendly travelers. Walk through stunning rice fields outside of Ubud to chat with friendly farmers about the impact of traditional, organic rice versus government-subsidized hybrid rice cultivation on Bali. Stop for a breakfast picnic of rice porridge served from a banana-leaf cone and eaten with a bio-degradable spoon fashioned from a palm frond.Visit the bamboo-built campus of The Green School, a super-progressive private, K-12 focused on holistic, eco-conscious education. (The entire school is virtually zero wastebanana leaves are used to wrap snacks instead of Tupperware, old truck windshields are upcycled into white boards and students learn aquaponic agriculture and composting techniques alongside their academic subjects).Then hop a short flight to the nearby island of Borneo, home to wild orangutans and a profusion of other endemic wildlife. Sadly, recent fires (to clear land for palm oil plantations) have devastated large swathes of land, further imperiling the endangered orangutans and other wildlife that call the island home. For this reason, now is the time to see these creatures for yourself and invest your tourism dollars in eco-conscious initiatives that support these animals' protection. One option is a visit to Camp Leakey, located in Tanjung Puting National Park and accessible only by river. This renowned orangutan research station reintroduces formerly captive orangutans to the wild and provides the rare opportunity to observe these intelligent creatures up close in their natural habitat.Asia Transpacific Journeys has been crafting private Custom Journeys and Small Group Trips to Asia and the Pacific since 1987. Our highly decorated staff is committed to providing exceptional service and deeply insightful cultural interpretation based on firsthand experience. Asia Transpacific Journeys has been honored with the designation of World's Best Tour Operator by Travel + Leisure, received a Travel + Leisure's Global Vision Award and was highlighted in National Geographic Traveler's Best Trips feature.For more information about a Custom Journey to Asia or the Pacific, please visitor call (toll-free) 800-642-2742.
Qantas and Tesla Go Head-to-Head in Jet vs. Car Race

It was a duel that pitted two examples of engineering achievement against one another A Qantas Boeing 737-800 aircraft and a Tesla Model S P90D electric car.With its two CFM International jet engines, the 737 can generate more than 50,000 pounds of thrust and fly through the sky at a cruising speed of 850 km/h. Flat out in the air, it can approach the speed of sound.The five seater Model S can go from 0 to 100 kilometres an hour in three seconds  it can't fly but if you're are going to be on the ground, you may as well be in the quickest four door car ever built.The Tesla took off from the start at a cracking pace with its two electric motors, while the two engines of the 737 roared to life. Plane versus car, pilot against driver.The Tesla was hard to catch off the start. But the 737 narrowed the gap as it barrelled down the runway. Both travelled neck and neck as the 737 reached its take-off speed of 140 knots and the Tesla reached its max at around 250 kilometres an hour.The Tesla was in the shadow of the aircraft as it pulled up at the end of the runway  the clear early winner on the ground, just overtaken when the aircraft did what it was designed to do: fly.Qantas, Australia's national carrier, and Tesla, the California based and world's leading maker of premium electric cars, are collaborating to drive innovation for their customers and sustainability in the transport industry.During the coming months Qantas and Tesla will introduce the following services and benefits for customers: Exclusive events for Qantas frequent flyers, enabling them to experience new Tesla vehicles and technology; Qantas Club membership for Tesla Model S owners; Tesla High Power Wall Connectors at Qantas Valet facilities in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide allowing Model S owners to charge whilst they travel.Additionally Qantas will become Tesla's airline of choice in Australia and offset all the car maker's domestic corporate travel emissions as part of Qantas' Future Planet Program.Regular meetings will occur between both companies to investigate future opportunities around sustainable transport.Alan Milne, Qantas' Head of Environment and Fuel, said the collaboration was a meeting of nminds. Both our companies are passionate about continuing to push the boundaries of customer service, innovation and sustainability in the transport industry.We're huge admirers of the way Tesla has transformed the electric car sector as a premium brand and we look forward to sharing our understanding and advance the work we started in 2012 on biofuels as an alternative to jet fuel.What better way to celebrate working together than having a unique race - car versus plane.While continuing to work on long-term sustainable transport solutions, all carbon emissions from this race were offset, under Qantas' Future Planet Program.*Ludicrous Mode  Ludicrous speed decreases the 0-100 km/h time for Model S 10% to 3.0 seconds with a quarter mile time of 10.9 seconds. Time to 250 km per hour is now 20% faster than a standard Model S Performance.*TO/GA (Take-Off/Go-Around)  maximum thrust available from the engines.Visit websites:
Like it or not, email is a part of our lives. What started as an exciting declaration of Youve got mail! has become a nonstop nuisance of beeps, buzzes and dings. All day long were inundated with a barrage of messages, and its all we can do to keep up. Important emails can get lost under the weight of so many extraneous ones, as our inboxes bulge at the virtual seams.

Apples own Mail app has gone from just respectable to pretty great, at least since iOS 6. For many users, theres no need to go searching for another email app. Its standout feature is still simplicity, but it also benefits from superb Maps and Calendar integration, VIP filtering, and support for large attachments. And if theres a third-party email client that can match Mails annotation capabilities, I havent found it.

But while Mail may be one of the few stock iOS apps users dont immediately banish to a deep, dark folder, many habitual emailers will still seek out a third-party alternative. And thats where my quest to find the best iOS email app began.

A year ago, Orchestra Incs Mailbox was the clear leader, but even if it hadnt shut down last month, retaining its top spot would have been difficult. Todays great email clients go beyond simply separating the messages that need your immediate attention from the ones that dont. Before you can attack your inbox, you need a client that makes you want to spend time with it, and developers have elevated their mobile email clients beyond what desktop apps can offer, with rich, gesture-heavy interfaces perfect for Multi-Touch screens.

Winner: Spark

iPhone users of a certain generation can remember the day Sparrow landed in the App Store. Following in the footsteps of its stellar desktop app, Sparrow was sadly shut down before it had a chance to truly spread its wings. But you need look no further than Spark (free in the App Store) to see what it could have become.

Sparks inbox is smarter than the average bear.

Its not that Spark is derivative of Sparrow, more that its just as ambitious. Developed by Readdle, Spark understands productivity in a way few other email apps do, giving a sense of clarity to your inbox even before you start jettisoning emails to the future or the trash. It starts with the smart inbox, an option in the sidebar that automatically filters your unread emails into a separate space. Similarly, newsletters and promotions are separated from personal messages so you can instantly see whats important.

Sparks smart inbox isnt just about organization. By utilizing a card system, you can act on bunches of emails at once, deleting, snoozing, or pinning blocks of messages with a single swipe. You can navigate between individual messages by swiping left or right, a small time-saver that makes a big difference when churning through a crowded inbox. Spark even lets you dial down notifications to just the emails it thinks are important, kind of like how Mail separates VIPs from the rest of pack, only you dont have to manually flag the worthy contacts.

If you miss Mailboxs scheduling and snoozing, Spark will get you back on the path to Inbox Zero.

But Sparks smarts dont stop there. The app connects to all of the major cloud services (Dropbox, iCloud Drive, OneDrive, Evernote, etc.), so you can attach and save files with ease, while slick Pocket compatibility lets you save links for later reading. A Fantastical-like natural search engine even amplifies your searches, helping you find messages and attachments more accurately, and you can save frequent searches. The composing process is just as pleasant, with clear buttons to add attachments and photos, and after you send a message, an undo button gives you five seconds to change your mind and prevent it from being delivered.

Spark isnt lacking in the looks department, either. A slide-out sidebar set against a sky-colored gradient keeps your accounts, folders, and cards organized, and you can access your smart inbox and attachments here as well. Above your inbox, Sparks family of tiny widgets can give you quick access to your appointments on the built-in calendar, or provide a shortcut to one of your favorite folders.

Sparks interface is extremely customizable, from the widgets to the cards to the swipes. Things can be tweaked, shifted, or removed altogether, making Spark one of the fastest and most adaptable clients Ive used. It can operate under the common Inbox Zero rules of snoozing and archiving, but what makes Spark superior is how it doesnt force you into any one method. It simply gives you the control you need to properly manage your messages.

Runner-Up: AirMail

Most modern email apps allow a certain level of customization, letting you adjust the behavior of gestures and swipes, set alert sounds for each mail account, even tweak accent colors and avatars. But even if you were to combine every option in every email client mentioned here into some kind of super settings, it likely still wouldnt be able to measure up to the amazing personalization of Airmail ($5 in the App Store).

Everything about Airmails interface can be tweaked, from the swipes to the filters.

On the surface, Airmail is little more than a good-looking mobile client that relies on common organization methods to manage your inbox. Buttons at the bottom of the screen provide one-touch filtering, letting you dial down your messages to just the ones containing attachments or only those that are part of a conversation thread. But nothing about them is particularly innovative. In fact, it wasnt until I looked for a way to hide those buttons when I discovered Airmails true power.

Tapping on the settings button in Airmails sidebar is like opening a whole new app. Where other apps more or less force you to learn their way of doing things, Airmails default interface is merely a suggestion. You can customize everything from the appearance to the swipes, snoozes, and services, and itll probably take days, if not weeks, before you settle on the perfect combination.

There are so many actions and options to choose from, it looks more like an automation app than an email client. Many of the apps here use iCloud sync to keep versions in sync, but what Airmail offers is significantly more powerful than an on-off switch. Not only can you choose specific accounts to sync, you can get downright forensic with what gets sent to the cloud. Every single setting has its own toggle, so if you want to sync your right-swipe setting but not your left one, Airmail can accommodate that.

Airmail has more options for its notifications than some email clients have for their whole app.

Speaking of swipes, theres no shortage of ways to customize them, with more than a dozen individual actions, from archiving a message to shipping it off to another app. The same goes for interactive notifications, which feature an array of options that go far beyond the usual mark as read and send to trash choices.

For power users, Airmail connects to some 30 apps and services, letting you hook up with your Dropbox, Google, and Box, while also saving links to Pocket or sending snippets of text to Evernote and Editorial. For serial organizers, it offers tremendous control over folder mapping, and you can assign labels for just about everything. Additionally, it lets you set limits on automatic downloading for attachments, change the counter shown on the badge, and set aliases. And if you want to just turn off the filters, you can do that, too.

Airmail might not have a have-to-try feature that will lure people to download it, but its distinction isnt in what it does, its in what it allows you to do. As an email client, it wont introduce anything that changes your routine, but it will give you the tools you need to set up your dream inbox, no matter how many messages you want to keep in it.

Best for minimalists: CloudMagic

Mailboxs popularity wasnt just about clean inboxes. Along with its scheduling prowess came a beautiful design that was minimal yet functional. If youve been searching for something similar, CloudMagic (free in the App Store) is every bit as light and airy as its name suggests.

If youre looking for a clean, minimal inbox, CloudMagic wont disappoint.

CloudMagic understands that minimalism is about more than sparsity, and its interface doesnt make you hunt to find any of its features. The elegant typography and layout give the app a natural, logical feel that works well at a glance. For example, when youre in the unified inbox, strips of color delineate your accounts, a subtle way to separate messages without adding distraction.

Even with limited customization and the vaguest sense of Inbox Zero, CloudMagic manages to provide order to your email. It dispenses of things like snoozing and scheduling in favor of smart integration with the other productivity apps and services you already use. With just a tap or two, you can set a due date in Todoist or add to a Trello list without having to bounce back and forth between the two apps.

But the real magic comes from its smart interface. By putting a premium on simplicity, CloudMagic helps you navigate your inbox without crowding the screen with unnecessary buttonsonly whats essential.

Best for professionals: Outlook

Microsofts Outlook desktop app has always been the first name in enterprise email. Even more than professional features like calendar and Office integration, seamless syncing, and top-notch organization, Outlook has always brought the privacy and security that businesses crave.

Outlooks People tab is more than an address bookits like a file cabinet for your contacts.

And the mobile Outlook app (free in the App Store) continues in that vein. While some users questioned its commitment to security when it merged Accompli and Sunrise into Outlook mobile, Microsoft hasnt fallen asleep at the wheel. A series of steady upgrades have brought important features like multi-factor authentication and OAuth for Office 365 accounts, as well as mobile device and application management capabilities. And the most recent update added Touch ID support for an extra level of on-device privacy.

And Outlook on iOS isnt lacking in professional features either. A clean, focused inbox puts important messages front and center, while a dedicated tab lets you easily browse attachments as well as files stored in cloud drives. A full calendar lets you see your schedule, add events and RSVP to invites without even opening the message, while a handy in-app address book filters messages, events, and files by sender.

Best for Gmail: Inbox

Lets face it, the majority of people arent actively working to achieve Inbox Zero. Most of us never see the bottom of our inboxes, drowning in the mostly unread promos, newsletters, and announcements that flood our accounts each day. While other clients here attempt to solve this by shielding them from view, Google has taken a more organizational approach to the problem with Inbox (free in the App Store).

Googles Inbox takes some getting used to, but its the best way to keep your Gmail account organized.

Instead of having you sift through a massive container of emails, Inbox sorts your messages into bundles. Things like promos, purchases, and trips are all automatically sorted as they arrive, and even personal messages are arranged by time. You can also create your own groups based on a variety of criteria, and since Inbox doesnt hide these messages from view, youll be more likely to see and act on them.

Inbox also supports snoozing and scheduling, as well as a smart toggle that collects any messages youve pinned, but its most effective when you let it do the heavy lifting for you. After all, since Google is to blame for much of the targeted advertising we receive anyway, its only natural that Google would find the best way to deal with it.

Best for Getting Things Done: Dispatch

Even if you dutifully empty your inbox every day, eventually youre going to have to act on all those snoozed and scheduled messages. Many of the apps here will let you schedule events and reminders, even set to-dos, but if you have serious work to do in your inbox, Dispatch ($7 in the App Store) is the only one you can count on to make sure every last thing gets done.

Dispatch will help you clean your inbox with a purpose.

Dispatch is about actions. The usual ones are here via swipes and buttons, but it goes much further than simple replies. The app acts like more of a hub than an email client, connecting to dozens of popular apps ready to do your bidding. Every message has the potential to be transformed into something more specific, whether thats a task for Clear, a note in Drafts, or a reminder for Fantastical. The precise wording can be edited within the app and shipped off in seconds, letting you quickly get to work on the next message.

And if all you need to do is reply, Dispatch even does than with efficiency, storing snippets of text that can be accessed and pasted into messages to cut down on repetition. Dispatch might not get you to Inbox Zero quicker than the other clients here, but itll be much more satisfying than merely filing away your messages until a later date.

Others of note

While the email apps here run the gamut of what can be done with an inbox, there are many more excellent options available in the App Store.

Along with customizable swipes, likes, and SaneBox integration, Boxer ($5 in the App Store, or try the free lite version) puts your calendar and contacts right in the app for quick and easy scheduling. Also useful is a set of quick responses that gives your email the immediacy of a casual text message.

MyMail (free in the App Store) has a nice interface with big gravatars and an excellent sidebar that lets you see attachments and empty the trash with just a tap. Speedy animations throughout give it a playful feel, but deep control over notifications and traffic encryption add a level of professionalism.

Its OK to feel a little like James Bond when you send a message with ProtonMail.

Inky (free in the App Store) is another attractive client that is more than a pretty face. Aside from its adorable icon, the app boasts advanced searching and custom tagging, as well as a series of smart mailboxes that makes navigation a breeze. Gmail, iCloud, Hotmail, MSN, Live, and Outlook.com accounts are free, but adding Exchange, Google Apps, or custom IMAP accounts requires a $5/month Pro account.

Theres also BlueMail (free in the App Store), which isnt nearly as bleak as its name suggests. With an inbox built for speed and productivity, the task-minded app is less about Inbox Zero as it is about Inbox To-do. When scheduling or snoozing messages, Blue Mail collects them in a separate task tab, where they can be dealt with in due time.

If encryption is your thing, you can check out ProtonMail (free in the App Store). Youll need to sign up for a new address, but its a small hurdle for access to the most secure client on the planet. It looks like a normal client on the surface, but behind the scenes your messages are protected with 2048-bit end-to-end encryption, and you can even have your emails self-destruct after a certain time. Plus, youll have the same email client that Elliot uses on Mr. Robot.
Terex Port Solutions (TPS) achieves another success in South America. The Argentinian power plant operator AES Argentina Generacion S.A. (AES) has ordered a Terex Gottwald Model 2 portal harbour crane in the G HSK 2224 variant from TPS.



From the end of 2016, AES will use the cargo handling machine in its 1,540 MW power plant in San Nicolas de los Arroyos to unload coal imported from Colombia and South Africa. The G HSK 2224 crane will be the first Model 2 in the world designed as a portal harbour crane. It will replace the ageing cargo handling equipment in the river terminal located approximately 200 km to

the north west of the Atlantic estuary of the Rio Parana.



Efficient coal handling with portal-mounted mobile harbour crane technology.



The versatile portal harbour crane based on Terex Gottwald mobile harbour crane technology features a 32-t grab curve and a maximum lifting capacity of 80 t. It offers an outreach up to 40 m and maximum lifting speeds of 85 m/min and will be used at the terminal of the AES power plant for efficient coal handling on vessels of the Panamax class. The machine will be driven particularly cost-effectively by external power from the terminals own supply. TPS will adapt the crane portal with 10 m track gauge and 6 m clearance height to individual local conditions. This includes rail-bound travel units that comprise a total of 24 wheels  six in each corner  in order to comply with maximum permissible rail loading. Guillermo Paponi, Operations Director for Argentina: With the G HSK 2224 we have opted for a state-of-the-art solution that specifically meets our requirements for cargo handling rates and design of the crane portal and is also based on proven Terex Gottwald mobile harbour crane technology.



Increased demand for adaptable machines in South America Terex Gottwald portal harbour cranes can be ideally incorporated into both existing and new terminal infrastructures and particularly allow for operation of conveyor belts, trains and road trucks

below the portals. There is currently increased demand in South America for mobile harbour crane technology on rail-mounted portals.



Daniel Vanegas Torres, Regional Sales Manager TPS: In Brazil, two Model 6 and two Model 4 portal harbour cranes are already working in the demanding area of fertilizer handling. The four machines are each tailored to very specific individual terminal requirements. We are delighted that a customer in the neighboring country of Argentina has now opted for one of these adaptable cranes  a success to which Schoss S.A., our TPS distributor from Argentina, has also contributed.


Sea IT informs it has signed a long term strategic ICT contract with Maersk Tankers covering all vessels operated within its fleet. The four-year-long ICT contract includes a unique modification of BlueCORE which has been customized to fit Maersk Tankers' global business operations and security standards.

Under the contract, Sea IT will install a customized solution of its flagship product BlueCORE, a complete IT system including Wi-Fi, on the Maersk Tankers fleet, which includes approximately 100 vessels around the globe. With the solution onboard, Maersk Tankers will be able to regard its fleet as a remote office location.

The customized solution is built to optimize business processes, reduce operational costs and to ensure maximum efficiency by utilizing all available IT resources onboard. It enables a seamless integration between the crew onboard and the office.

With our version of BlueCORE onboard, we can regard our fleet as remote office locations with real-time, online access to our internal applications. It is a cost efficient, modular platform which supports Maersk Tankers business objectives, said Thomas Landwehr, IT Governance and Project Portfolio Manager at Maersk Tankers. Now Maersk Tankers can integrate and structure all programs from various departments  from Technical and Operations; Chartering; Health Safety Environment & Quality to Human Resources and 3rd parties for fuel consumption, sea chart updates and more.

The installations will begin in 2016 and are expected to be finalized in the beginning of 2017. Besides the installations, Sea IT will serve as a second line support in close collaboration with the Maersk Tankers own support team in Manila. Sea IT carries key components for hardware and software and provides emergency support 24/7/365 to Maersk Tankers around the globe.
Teekay Shipping has ordered four sea chest blanks from Norwegian magnetic technology specialists, Miko Marine. The closures will be delivered in August for use on the former shuttle tanker Randgrid which is currently undergoing a $220 million conversion into the Gina Krog floating storage and offloading (FSO) vessel in Sembawang dockyard in Singapore. Conversion work includes the installation of an internal turret mooring system and on completion the new FSO will be operated by Teekay on Statoils Gina Krog field in the North Sea.

The precision manufacture of the blanks is being assured by Mikos 3D laser scanning of the vessels hull contours. This was carried-out in the Sembawang dry dock in early March and the measurements are now being used as the basis for the blanks construction. The Miko closures to be will be based on designs recently supplied to Odfjell Drilling for use on its Deepsea Stavanger semi-submersible platform and they will provide safe and effective seals during work on sea chests .The blanks will each be fitted with powerful permanent magnets to permit fast and efficient positioning by remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and to enable their rapid recovery and storage for reuse.

Magnetic adhesion is the key element of the blanks design and Miko expertise in this specialized technology will enable significant time and cost savings to be achieved. The most notable application is the use of four powerful Miko MAM permanent magnets to hold each of the four blanks tight against the hull. With each magnet capable of holding up to 450 kilograms it is possible to achieve an instant watertight seal for the cofferdams without the need for any other attachments or holding mechanisms being fitted to the steel hull. Each magnet is connected to the blank via a special rubber link which introduces an element of flexibility that enables it to be fitted flush onto the hull while allowing the coffer dam to be positioned precisely before it is tightened into place. When the job is finished each magnet is simply freed by having its release lever lifted by a diver or ROV so the blank can then be retrieved.
Marines and sailors with Combat Logistics Battalion 2 participated in the units final exercise for their non-lethal weapons training at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, March 25.



The final exercise was a riot control exercise that included an aggressive opposing force who would try to notionally attack, injure and steal from the Marines. Non-lethal weapons instructors, with the Expeditionary Operations Training Group, even escalated the reality of the training by forcing the Marines to operate while being misted with OC spray and under the distraction of loud siren noises in order to add an extra dimension of confusion.



Today we conducted realistic riot control training in preparation for our upcoming deployment in case we have to conduct an actual evacuation of a control center or handle a protest as riot control, said Gunnery Sgt. Shawn Fitzpatrick, the assistant team leader for the Evacuation Control Center Team.



EOTG raised the intensity and difficulty of the non-lethal training during the final exercise, months after the training initially began.



EOTG has brought new elements into our training such as OC spray, tasers, new takedown techniques, and new riot control techniques, said Fitzpatrick.



The intensity of the training proved itself challenging for the Marines.



We definitely faced a plethora of challenges, but we just kept fighting through as a team and kept in mind that mission accomplishment is the most important mission in itself, Fitzpatrick said.



The final exercise was also a qualification for the unit to be able to deploy on with the next rotation of Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force-Crisis Response-Africa.



Fitzpatrick explained the qualification requirements the Marines underwent, such as learning how to use the X26 TASER, feeling the effects of the stun-gun completing a non-lethal combatants course while under the effects of OC spray, passing three written tests, and executing a riot control weapon range.



I feel as if our team had an outstanding performance, Fitzpatrick said. We completed all the missions we were assigned to and everyone really seemed to grasp a sense of understanding for what was expected of us and I feel like not only myself but the entire team is much more prepared, confident, and ready to go forward and handle possible situations that may arise.





More Media
NYT Debate on Zionism (Jewish Fundamentalism): A Small Positive Step Short of a Giant Leap Needed

Most Times Room for Debate discussions are more one-sided advocacy than legitimate debates, establishment views drowning out alternative ones.



On April 4, it asked (i)s anti-Zionism anti-Semitism? One has nothing to do with the other. Two of five contributors correctly equated Zionism with racism.



Two others were one-sidedly pro-Israeli. One other expressed support for legitimate political expression. Most important is full and accurate reporting and analysis, truth-telling alone.

Debate has no room for deception and defending the indefensible. Legitimate journalism demands explaining Zionisms true nature.



Its ideologically racist, extremist, undemocratic, militant and harmful to Jews and non-Jews alike - incompatible and irreconcilable with Judaism, violating Torah doctrine.



Israeli scholar, critic, and life-long human rights activist Israel Shahak (1933 - 2001) explained the dangers of Jewish chauvinism, religious fanaticism, and its influence on American polity.



He wrote extensively on how Israel discriminates in favor of Jews in virtually all aspects of life, including what he called most important - residency rights, the right to work (and to have) equality before the law.



Zionist ideology demeans non-Jews, denying them equal rights. Israeli law and practices enforce discrimination against non-Jewish Israeli citizens (for their religion), mainly Arab Muslims, unimaginable in just societies.



According to Shahak, (t)he obvious intention of such discriminatory measures is to decrease the number of non-Jewish citizens of Israel (to affirm its existence as a) Jewish state - hostile to and demeaning of other religious faiths.



In his book, titled The Hidden History of Zionism, Ralph Schoenman exposed four Zionist myths:

the notion of (a) land without people for a people without a land to justify stealing land inhabited by Palestinians for centuries;



calling Israeli democracy the only real one in the Middle East - an utter fiction concealing apartheid governance worse than South Africas, enforcing police state ruthlessness against unwanted Palestinians and Israeli Arab citizens;

Civil libert(ies), due process and the most basic human rights apply only for Jews;

security (is) the motor force of Israeli foreign policy based on the myth of being surrounded by hostile Arab states; and



"Zionism (is) the moral legatee of the victims of the holocaust...the most pervasive and insidious of its myths.

Zionists, like future prime minister Yitzhak Shamir and others, openly colluded with the Nazis for their own purposes - using holocaust persecution as justification for a future Zionist state and more.



Plans since the late 19th century called for colonizing Palestine, ethnically cleansing unwanted Arabs, exploiting others as cheap labor, denying an entire people the right to their native land.



Historical records were falsified, Palestinians reinvented as semi-savage, nomadic remnants. Hardline revisionists like Zeev Jabotinsky (1880 - 1940) argued peaceful coexistence was unattainable.



Jews had to build an iron wall of (superior) military force - discouraging Arab hopes of destroying Israel, state terror the method of choice.



In 1937, David Ben-Gurion, Israels first prime minister, urged expel(ling) the Arabs and tak(ing) their placeus(ing) force to guarantee our own right to settle in what became the future Israeli state.



Zionism is racist, ruthless and destructive. Exposing, not debating, its viciousness is vital. A baby step The Times took isnt good enough.

By Stephen Lendman

http://sjlendman.blogspot.com

His new book as editor and contributor is titled Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.

http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html

He lives in Chicago and can be reached in Chicago at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.



Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to The Global Research News Hour on RepublicBroadcasting.org Monday through Friday at 10AM US Central time for cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on world and national topics. All programs are archived for easy listening.

 2016 Copyright Stephen Lendman - All Rights Reserved Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors.

 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication.




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Night 17.jpg

The MassMutual headquarters in Springfield at night.

((DAVE ROBACK / THE REPUBLICAN FILE).)

SPRINGFIELD -- MassMutual Financial Group will lay off nearly 100 employees from its information technology department.

MassMutual spokesman James Lacey confirmed the layoffs Tuesday morning, saying the employees would leave over the next 18 months. MassMutual is outsourcing the work to a company with which it has had a longtime business relationship, he said.

"MassMutual continually reviews its operations to ensure we are operating as efficiently and effectively as possible to deliver the greatest value to our policy owners and customers." Lacey said. "At times, these decisions impact our staffing levels. And when they do, we are committed to a thoughtful and respectful process. While decisions like this are never easy, such activities are necessary to meet the evolving needs of our customers and compete as effectively as possible both today and in the future."

Lacey did not give an exact number of layoffs Tuesday.

The laid-off employees will be offered the chance to apply for other jobs in the company, he said. Virtually all the laid-off employees are at the MassMutual headquarters on State Street in Springfield, he said.

These cuts to the IT department this week are in addition to and separate from a round of layoffs announced in late February. But both sets of cuts are part of the same ongoing review process, Lacey said.

In February, MassMutual announced it was cutting 360 jobs, or about 5 percent of its 7,200-person workforce in Springfield and Enfield, Connecticut.

Lacey said that despite these layoffs, the company is growing and is adding jobs in other departments.

He said the company has about 230 open jobs at the moment and in the past five years has grown its payroll by 40 percent from about 5,000 employees company-wide to the 7,200 today.

Also in February, MassMutual reported that sales of whole life insurance were $483 million in 2015, up 15 percent from 2014, which represents the 10th consecutive year of record results.

However, net income for MassMutual was down 32 percent to $546 million in 2015 from $799 million in 2014. That drop was due to a large and rare real estate transaction in 2014 where the company sold property at Fan Pier in Boston to Senior Housing Properties Trust for $1.125 billion. This resulted in a $401 million gain for MassMutual.

Also in February, MassMutual announced what it called a "milestone event in its history," the purchase of MetLife's retail adviser force of life insurance agents for $165 million.

That move included 40 local sales and advisory operations and approximately 4,000 advisers across the country. This move added to MassMutual's network of 5,800 Career Agency System advisers. These are not MassMutual employees, but independent contractors with the ability to sell MassMutual products.
HOLYOKE Irish women in 1916 laid the groundwork for women through the centuries to fight for equality in the workforce, the right to vote and to hold positions in the government.

And they did it despite the threat of execution, being detained in jail or not receiving a pension from the government because they weren't men, explained Noranne W. Duquette, Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians Massachusetts State Board historian/Holyoke Division 2 historian.

The lesson to be learned from them: "Stand up for your beliefs no matter the obstacles one faces," she said.

Duquette will be one of the speakers at a free presentation on the history of the Easter Rising at the Holyoke Public Library on Saturday, April 16, from 10 a.m. to noon sponsored by Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians Holyoke Division 2 and the library.

On Easter Monday, April 24, 1916, a group of Irish nationalists proclaimed the establishment of the Irish Republic and, along with about 1,600 followers, they rebelled against the British government in Ireland. Patrick Pearse, one of the uprising's leaders, read a proclamation declaring Ireland an independent republic and stating that a provisional government had been appointed.

During the uprising, rebels seized prominent buildings like the post office in Dublin and clashed with British troops. The violence destroyed much of the Dublin city center.

Within a week, the insurrection had been suppressed and more than 2,000 people killed or injured. The leaders of the rebellion were executed, though they later were hailed as martyrs.

Women weren't allowed to join the Irish Volunteers, but Cumann na mBan officially was founded on the April 5, 1914, as a woman's auxiliary organization to complement the Irish Volunteers. "Its focus was to advance the cause of Irish liberty and teach its members first aid, drill, signaling and rifle practice in order to aid the men of Ireland," Duquette explained.

During the 1916 Easter Rising members not only performed typical roles as nurses, secretaries and cooks; they also gathered intelligence on scouting expeditions, carried dispatches and transferred arms from dumps across the city to insurgent strongholds, acted as snipers and were doctors.

IF YOU GO

Event:

Presentation on the history of the Easter Rising

When:

Saturday, April 16, 10 a.m. to noon

Where:

Holyoke Public Library

Cost:

Free

For more information:

Call the library at (413) 420-8101

"There were about 200 women from Cumann na mBan that participated in the rebellion," she said. Some were killed, some sentenced to death for their part in the insurrection, but then later imprisoned for life or released. "Many women are unsung heroes that have never been acknowledged either in life or in death."

During the library program, Tom Moriarty from the Irish Cultural Center will give an overview of the Easter Rising; Paula Paoli, immediate past LAOH state president

And president of LAOH Division 2, Holyoke, will speak about the role of women in the Rising; Duquette will talk about the youngest casualties; and Paul Hogan, Massachusetts state AOH president, will talk about the timeline of the Easter Rising, referencing local news covered in the Holyoke Transcript Telegram at the time.

Maria Pagan will draw the winning ticket for the LAOH Irish Quilt, which commemorates the Easter Rising, and scones and Irish tea will be served.

For more information, call the library at (413) 420-8101.
With its arches, columns, courtyard and wide, open floor plan, the custom-built home at 82 Coles Meadow Road in Northampton is a meticulously-designed escape from the world.

Built in 2001 by the current owners, the sprawling, 6,158-square-foot Mediterranean-inspired contemporary house is home to five bedrooms and five bathrooms, including an attached in-law apartment. The home, which is a split-level built around a square courtyard with a pond, features handcrafted detail and surround sound speakers throughout its rooms and hallways.

82 Coles Meadow Road is on the market for $1,220,000. For more information, visit the home's real estate listing.
BOSTON - General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt defended his company when a reporter asked about the polluted Housatonic River it left behind after leaving Pittsfield.

GE, which is set to complete the moving of its headquarters to Boston from Connecticut in 2018 and focus on the "industrial internet," once had facilities in Pittsfield. The company's departure economically devastated the city and left its toxins in the Housatonic River.

At an event centered on re-locating the headquarters, Immelt said the company has already spent half a billion dollars on the first phase of the cleanup and they have "every intention" to work with Gov. Charlie Baker and the federal Environmental Protection Agency to finish the cleanup of the rest of the river.

GE has been at odds with the EPA over the details of the cleanup and how much it should cost the company.

"You know, we have a certain perspective on how we think it should be done, and we plan to stand up for what we think is right," Immelt said.

"We've done more dredging than any other company on earth, I'd have to say," he added.

Baker has previously said the company's move to Boston -- which comes with an incentives package -- and its cleanup of the Housatonic are separate issues.

U.S. Rep. Richard Neal said last week that he had met Immelt and was told a deal is imminent, the Republican newspaper reported last week.

As the press conference with Immelt, Baker and Boston Mayor Marty Walsh got underway high up in the 60 State Street tower, a group of protesters gathered below and decried the company not paying federal taxes, city budget cuts and the proposed incentives package from the city and state. The details of the package are still being worked on, and may not be finalized until mid-June.

The protesters, who were organized by groups like the Mass Alliance of HUD Tenants, New England War Tax Resistance and the Housatonic River Initiative, said the $145 million incentives package to GE was coming as the city of Boston in the midst of a school budget crisis.

"Today, before we walked into this room, we didn't have 25 million dollars re-invested in our public school system," Walsh said, when asked about the protesters. "Today we have 25 million dollars over a five-year period reinvested in our schools that wasn't there yesterday."

Walsh was referring to GE announcing earlier on Monday that its philanthropic arm would be funneling $25 million over five years to Boston Public Schools. The GE Foundation will also provide $10 million for a diverse population and $15 million for a workforce focused on "next generation" health care.

Walsh said Boston has a top ranking as city with high-income inequality, and he hopes their investment in the schools will go a long way towards changing that. Measuring the success of GE will include the question of whether they've closed the gap on that, he said.

Madison Park High School, a struggling vocational school, will be a key focus of the city's partnership with GE, Walsh said.

Immelt said the governor and the mayor are making an investment through the incentives package. "It's up to us to prove them right as time goes on," he said.

Here are some other highlights from the GE press conference:
The number of University of Montana freshmen coming from Missoula high schools has decreased over the past 13 years, according to the Universitys Office of Planning, Budgeting and Analysis.

Statistics show the combined number of University students that graduated from Hellgate, Sentinel, Big Sky and Loyola Sacred Heart high schools has dropped from 342 in 2003 to 208 in 2015.

Katie Fairbanks

Full Story: http://www.montanakaimin.com/news/missoula-high-school-students-moving-out-of-town-for-college/article_46b30b92-f838-11e5-86e4-67a41fd518f2.html
News / Africa

by Staff reporter

CAPE TOWN - The Democratic Alliance (DA)'s motion to impeach President Jacob Zuma has failed once again. The South Africa's parliament rejected an attempt by DA to impeach Zuma.The opposition motion was rejected by 233 votes to 143.After some procedural delays, South Africa's National Assembly debating whether to impeach President Jacob Zuma.The motion was brought by the opposition Democratic Alliance.ResultsNo: 233Yes: 143Abstain: 0Its leader Mmusi Maimane says that he has violated his oath of office after the Constitutional Court ruled last week that he breached the constitution by not sticking to the ruling of the Public Protector to repay some of the money spent on his private residence.South Africa's opposition leader Mmusi Maimane said that "nobody in the [governing] ANC is immune form the cancer of corruption".He criticised the ANC MPs who will vote against the motion to impeach President Jacob Zuma.The motion has little chance of passing as the ANC has a large majority in the National Assembly.Deputy Justice Minister John Jeffreys said that in order for a president to be impeached in South Africa it has to be shown that there was a "serous violation" of the constitution.He argued that the Constitutional Court said that Mr Zuma may have breached the constitution but did not rule that it was a serious violation.
News / National

by Staff reporter

Barely a month after the fatal Kwekwe accident which claimed 32 lives, victims who perished have been almost forgotten.Relatives of some of the victims have been left only with bitter memories of no compensation and graves which they constantly visit to pay homage to their loved ones.It is now just an abandoned homestead in the village of Mashava under Chief Samambwa in Zhombe.Since Siphiwe Mashavave a mother of 10 died in the fatal Kwekwe accident, the grandchildren who used to live there deserted the place.Sympathetic villagers took the cattle, chickens and the dogs under their care.Members of the Mashavave family say they will never forgive the owners of the Pfochez who never even appeared at the funeral or made any efforts to contact the family just to offer condolences.And when Lista Nyathi who used to sell wares at Kwekwe's bus terminus died on that fateful day, her sister Visitor says life has never been the same.The story, however, has not changed, the owners of the bus she perished in were never heard of.Venice Mhuka suffered a double tragedy in that accident.She was injured and remains in a bad state while she mourns her sister Mary whom she was travelling with in the Toyota Sprinter which collided with the bus.For now the graves and the scars remain a permanent feature which will be traumatising the relatives of the Kwekwe accident victims with chapter 13 of the Road Traffic Act that spells clearly that compensation must be paid seemingly not being a factor at all.'Vungu accident victims relive the horror'Victims of the road accident relive their horror which claimed 10 lives eight of them believed to be members of the same family who were going to attend a funeral in Harare.Passengers from the Toyota Hiace who are recovering at Gweru General Hospital from the terrifying ordeal of the horrific accident that occurred on Saturday near Vungu River are still in a state of shock and struggling to come to terms with the accident that claimed eight of their relatives.Mr Vhutayi of Nketa who lost his wife and has hand and leg fractures said he was too emotional to talk about the accident.While those who spoke to ZBC News said they could not recall much of what happened but they only remember that they were thrown out of the vehicle when they collided head on with the colt.The driver of the Toyota Hiace Nkosi Moyo who has since been discharged from hospital says his vehicle burst its rear tyre and swerved as he tried to control it before it collided head on with the Mitsubishi Colt that was Bulawayo-bound.Meanwhile, eight people who died and 16 others who were injured in the horrific accident are members of the same family who had hired the Toyota Hiace to attended a funeral of a female relative in Harare.
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.
News / National

by Stephen Jakes

Social commentators have challenged opposition political parties to join hands in order to rescue the country from Zanu PF misrule.Pythias Makonese said it is a noble idea to rescue Zimbabwe for the good of everyone soonest."but I would suggest that all opposition parties and all stakeholders come together and agree to form a coalition steering government which should try alleviate the current problem rocking the country while at the same time preparing for a proper viable peaceful and democratic election fir 2018," he said. "Otherwise having People First taking over by whatever means does not bring everlasting solution to current problems facing Zimbabwe. It's just like returning Zanu - PF in its worst."Josphate Mugadzaweta said the reason why Zimbabwe is in this situation is because an average Zimbabwean doesn't want the truth.He said Mugabe committed genocide in Zimbabwe mainly the Gukurahundi atrocities of the 1980s."This is the reason why he doesn't want to vacate the throne because he knows that he will be arrested. this has nothing to do with his marriage to grace is this come well after he had committed the crimes," he said. "Grace is useless and left her marriage to get married to Mugabe because of pecuniary gains."He said ZimPF leader Joice Mujuru was the main driver of corruption in Zanu as she owns a number of farms, mine and buildings around the country."She has no positive contribution to make to the country given her horrendous performance in govt for the past 35 years. She is a liar who wants us to believe that she always had differences with Mugabe yet she begged him to stay on the eve of her official cashiering," he said. "The fact that on top of her priorities is the chasing of solo's killers shows that she is in it for her own benefit and not for national benefit."He said MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai lost his wife in dodgy circumstances but never has he said that he wants to avenge that. also, Joice consistently said that she has no ambition to become president now she is lying that people requested her to be president."The day we learnt to accept and tell the truth, our country and ourselves shall be liberated" he said.Another commentator said unfortunately as Zimbabweans we claim to be literate, however that doesn't determine whether we are really intelligent or not.He said the media is busy clouding our heads with issues that really don't put food on our tables."Zanu PF is scared and have put in place a plan way before election time to split the votes in the 2018 election (e.g so called Mavambo, dawn Kusile outfit). The G40 - Lacoste saga is the most saddening issue in the papers nowadays and private media is playing into the hands of Zanu PF," he said. "Why hasn't Zanu PF cut off Ngwena and why does R.G leave the same threat as acting president when he leaves for his globetrotting wastes?"He said all the supposed fiascos in the revolutionary party are stage managed, ask Cde Moyo and he will tell you how clever he is.."Instead of acting against a rotten regime we wait and see if it will split in the middle and hope for the best. We are too gullible as a people and personally i believe we deserve the situation we are currently in," he said.Another commentator said Mujuru can be a better option regardless of your former position in Zanu PF."If you don't support her, you will never kick the current leaders out of power. One thing that is certain is that Morgan will never rule Zimbabwe, even if he wins," he said.Peace lover - 3 April 2016mujuru cannot come out and pretend to save people from misrule when she herself was working to cause this suffering that we find ourselves in please dont give her new blood.simba - 3 April 2016she has come out and she will rule this country. what counts is courage hama. she is courageous. most of the war vets, moderate politicians and the international community are on her side. if morgan is to rescue his political career, he has to align himself with her as a junior partner. come 2018, mujuru in power.zvirozviyedzwa - 3 April 2016
by Steve McClellan @mp_mcclellan, April 4, 2016





Two months ago financial services company USAA fired its ad agency Campbell Ewald after disclosures that someone at the agencys San Antonio office had circulated a racist memo making fun of African Americans.

The good news for CE parent Interpublic Group is that USAA has hired MullenLowe U.S., also part of IPG, as its new agency.

Boston-based MullenLowe declined to comment on the newly won account, referring queries to USAA.

A rep for the financial services firm issued this statement:

USAA is in the process of transitioning its advertising business to MullenLowe U.S., a unit of the Interpublic Group (IPG). Following the transition, MullenLowe will be responsible for strategic and creative leadership on USAA brand and product advertising across the companys multiple business lines.

The client noted that MullenLowe will service the USAA business from an office that it is adding in San Antonio, TX, where USAA is based, with additional support provided from the agencys offices in Boston, and Winston-Salem, NC. Mullen also has offices in New York and Los Angeles.

CE serviced the client out of its San Antonio and Detroit offices.

It was not clear how extensive the USAA search for a new agency was or whether it went beyond IPG. In February, when it fired CE, it confirmed it had begun a search for a new agency that better aligned with the companys culture and core values.

At the time it was not clear whether Interpublic could hang on to the account. But the minute CE was fired, the holding company pulled out all the stops to put together a dedicated team to service the account. All a USAA rep would say about that at the time was, we will work with IPG on a transition plan as we continue our search.
by Philip Rosenstein , Staff Writer, April 5, 2016

Will Bernie Sanders momentum carry him to a win in Wisconsin? Will the languishing fumes of a difficult week for Donald Trump give the anti-Trump movement the platform it needs to block his nomination?

Wisconsinites will help answer these questions, today, in what could be a turning point in both the Democratic and Republican nominating contests.

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders could add a fourth primary win in Wisconsin tonight, following successes in the open primary states of New Hampshire, Michigan and Vermont. Sanders has a better chance in open primaries (and he often convincingly wins in caucus states, which are largely white and rural)  and where one does not have to be a registered Democrat to vote.

Coming off a string of strong results, with no signs of his cash flow slowing down, Sanders is poised to continue to dog former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton into the latter stages of the Democratic nominating contest.

With a host of pro-Sanders variables in play, including a high number of college-aged voters, and a heavily white electorate, there is a good chance the Senator gathers the majority of the 86 Wisconsin delegates.

Recent polls show Sanders ahead or effectively tied. His chief strategist, Tad Devine, explained the importance of the state: If we can find a way to win there on Tuesday, its a big deal. Its a battleground state, its a statewide primary.

On the GOP side of the ticket, the situation looks rockier. The current speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Paul Ryan, represents the state, and former presidential candidate Scott Walker, who took an early hit from Trumps rise), is governor. Both are averse to a Trump candidacy, as is the strong conservative punditry of Wisconsin.

Trump is trailing Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in RealClearPolitics polling average, whereas the most recent poll conducted by the American Research Group, Inc., shows him ahead by 10 points. RCP has coined Wisconsin as Ground Zero in the effort to stop Trump.

Trump seemed to show some regret for the Tweets he put out in the past week and took a more subdued tone speaking with Fox News Sunday, I think Im doing OK. A loss in Wisconsin today may be the first real chink in the Trump armor.

The Wisconsin primary is also amplifying support for a Paul Ryan nomination. A Republican insider told Politico that there looks to be a 60% chance of a contested convention, with an incredible 90% chance that delegates eventually turn to Ryan, hence giving a 54% that Paul Ryan, who will serve as chairman of the convention, becomes the nominee.

Hes the most conservative, least establishment member of the establishment, the GOP source told Politico, adding, Thats what you need to be. Ryan has said he is not seeking the Republican nomination for President. That, however, is exactly what he said about the Speakership, while detailing certain requirements he expected his fellow Representatives would not accept.

Running for president is clearly a different story.

A significant Trump loss in Wisconsin could spell further disappointments for the Republican front-runner and may ultimately usher in an unanticipated Ryan nomination, which for all intents and purposes would make the Democratic nominees job much more difficult come November.
by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, April 5, 2016

In an earlier, simpler time, nobody really bothered to ask what exactly women in bikinis have to do with guitars (or cars, or guns, or skateboards). In those days, it was accepted that if you wanted to connect with young male readers, the best route was the reptilian brain stem, positively aglow in a warm bath of hormones.

Never guilt of over-estimating their audience, publishers and advertisers employed platoons of hot chicks to flog every product under the sun.

But with an ocean of free porn available online the basic rationale (unmentionable in a family newsletter) behind the more modest babes in enthusiast publications ceased to exist. Changing social mores have left bodacious humans ornaments, which are pretty much the gold standard of female objectification, on the wrong side of political correctness  never a good place to be in the media business.

Thats why the Guitar World and Guitar Player annual guides, which are merging to form a single publication both online and print, are also dropping bikini babes from their pages as part of the transition.

Previously, the lovely ladies of these publications graced its pages to show off guitars and related goods reviewed and recommended by the magazines, including the annual buyers guides.

In addition to merging the print guides, Guitar World publisher NewBay Media is also launching a new combined online version  sans babes.

NewBay music vice president and general manager Bill Amstutz explained the decision to Reverb News, which first reported the story: The main driver of this decision was economic, but bikini models were outdated, and we didnt want to associate the brand with what could easily be viewed as sexist, as a misrepresentation of women guitar players, or that women in general may find offensive.

"The number of women players is growing and we want to support them. Amstutz said the publisher also had some complaints from retailers that refused to carry the guides.

This seems to be part of a larger trend.

Last year, Lowrider magazine announced that it would no longer feature female models as part of its automotive photography, in favor of a new identity that celebrates Hispanic American culture and a greater focus on related interests and social equality.

Playboy touched off a brief flurry of conflicted nostalgia when it dropped nude photos in favor of models in bikinis.
by Tobi Elkin @tobielkin, April 5, 2016

To no ones surprise, ad blocking, fraud, viewability and transparency issues took center stage on Tuesday at the Advertising Age Digital Conference. Positioned as elephants in the room, these are threats the advertising industry is contending with in different ways.

Theres an existential threat from every corner of our business, Lou Paskalis, Bank of America's SVP, enterprise media executive, told the audience. For me, the biggest threat is that weve lost the plot of what were supposed to be doing: delighting and inspiring.

Regarding the "elephants," Paskalis thinks that ad fraud will eventually be solved, but ad blocking is a real canary in the coal mine for us. He said that getting better at storytelling is a key to this problem: No one ever said thank God, theres an ad on my mobile phone.' But weve seen people engrossed in content on their phones. Thats the business we have to get into.

Ron Amram, Heineken's VP of media, is worried about everything: The elephant in the room for me is that consumers dont feel passionate about brands and their content anymore. We have to change how we serve up our advertising and our content.

There's No Single Source of Truth

The biggest issue for David Cohen, Magna Global's president, North America? We dont have a single source of truth in this business. Pick whatever it is planning, execution and measurement. There are single-point solutions and we have to stitch them together. The platforms, players and ad tech are complicated, Cohen said.

Paskalis said breakdowns in trust and transparency issues over fees may be more of an issue for medium and smaller advertisers that dont know what questions to ask themselves: Do I trust my agency? Do I trust the operating model? Am I having the right conversations?

While Paskalis said he has a great relationship with his Publicis agencies, hes very concerned about transparency.

Heinekens Amram cited former Mediacom CEO Jon Mandels shot over the bow last year at an Association of National Advertisers (ANA) forum last year.

Mandel cited widespread agency rebates and kickbacks that Amram said has changed the conversation: Youve seen a change in the way agencies talk about themselves. But the 4As [American Association of Advertising Agencies] and the ANA cant agree on what transparency is. Were not speaking the same language. That leads to trust issues. If there wasnt an issue, why are we acting the way were acting?

The Agency/Client/Vendor Relationship: It's Personal

Cohen made the trust issue simple by suggesting that marketers and agencies need to think about their relationships just like they think about their personal relationships: You and your spouse have to trust that youre not cheating on one another and spending money without their knowledge that [thinking] needs to permeate the business.

Cohen said he feels fortunate that IPG, Magnas holding company, cleaned up its agency model a dozen years ago or so in reference to transparency around preferred provider relationships. Were one of the first to be open in our programmatic offerings. We dont take principal positions in that business. Once you have inventory on your books, you have an agenda to sell it.

With respect to potential conflicts of interests -- how increasingly, media buyers are also the sellers -- Cohen said, it is absolutely possible to run a business on both sides of the equation if you have integrity and are open with clients.

You may have an agency that has a content production offering thats part of the holding company. As long as my media planners arent co-opted and can make a fair choice about whats best for me, its okay, Paskalis said. What bothers him is if an agency says that advertisers have to buy some media from column B in a preferred relationship scenario.

Amram agreed: If you have a preferred vendor relationship and I can walk away and see all the other vendors, that works for me. The concern is if the agency or vendor isnt upfront about preferred relationships.

Viewability Is More Easily Solved Than Ad Fraud

Cohen, Amram and Paskalis perceive viewability to be a different issue than ad fraud. Viewablity is did the consumer have an opportunity to view the ad?" said Paskalis. "And it has to be adjacent to content.

To a large degree, viewablity is being solved via tools and services offered by Moat, Integral Ad Science, DoubleVerify and others, Amram noted, citing the Media Ratings Councils terms and conditions as a basic floor.

All three executives agreed that fraud isnt easily solved and its not going away. Were actually funding the success of the fraudsters, and theyre going to universities and recruiting mathematicians and promising them jobs," Paskalis said. "We have to work harder as clients and agencies to stop the fraud."

Finally, as programmatic media buying becomes de rigueur, the myth is that machines rather than people will be doing all the media planning and buying. Cohen said there will be a migration to mobile, search, content and programmatic specialists, where most of the growth is at the agency level.

He views this as a redistribution of resources rather than an all-out elimination of people. We call it programmanual, Cohen said.
by Jess Nelson , April 5, 2016

An email server hack is reportedly behind this weekend's leak of over 11 million documents from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca.

The leak, dubbed the Panama Papers, implicates hundreds of world leaders, celebrities and criminals in potential tax evasion through the funneling of money to shell companies. At 2.6 terabytes of data, the Panama Papers dwarfs Wikileaks and is the largest leak in the history of data journalism.

The leak of the Panama Papers to German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung was reportedly the result of a cyberattack on an email server.

Ramon Fonseca, director of Mossack Fonseca, revealed to Reuters that his firm had been a victim of a cyber attack and an international campaign against privacy.

An investigation by Forbesreveals that Mossack Fonseca has inadequate security practices, with numerous vulnerabilities reported on its main Web site and its customer portal. The portal, used by Mossack Fonseca customers to access sensitive data, ran a version of Drupal that was over three years old.

Sueddeutsche Zeitung journalists, in collaboration with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), spent a year analyzing the data before revealing the results to the world over the weekend.

The first casualty of the leak, Iceland's Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, announced he would step down on Tuesday amid reports that his wife owns an offshore company with claims to collapsed Icelandic banks.
News / National

by Fungai Lupande

ZANU-PF Bikita West legislator Munyaradzi Kereke yesterday accused former Reserve Bank Governor Dr Gideon Gono of maliciously fabricating rape charges against him to cover up his multimillion- dollar fraud at the bank.Kereke is accused of raping a 13-year-old girl in 2010 and indecently assaulting her sister who was 15 years at that time.Giving evidence in his defence case, Kereke said Dr Gono and an RBZ official, Mirirai Chiremba, were involved in serious criminal activities."In 2008, two external auditing companies, BDO Kudenga and KPMG, picked that a total of $8 379 900 have been taken out of RBZ," he said."I summoned Chiremba to my office and he agreed that $4,5 million was given to Dr Gono while $3,5 million was given to a senior member of the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO). KMPG auditors also discovered that in 2008 and 2009, various amounts of money in foreign currency were taken out of the bank as Dr Gono's travel expenses."In July 22, R1,8 million was siphoned from the central bank. In November 29 the same year R3,4 million was also taken out of the bank."Kereke added that in April 2010, $200 000 belonging to Homelink (Pvt) Ltd, a subsidiary of RBZ, was taken out of CBZ Bank account number 01122087470013."The money was given to the Financial Gazette, where Gono and a senior CIO boss are directors," he said."On January 18, 2012 I made a follow up to one J. Chisese, who collected the money and two days later I was blocked from the Reserve Bank."Kereke's lawyer, Erum Mutandiro, intended to produce the documents of the alleged fraud by Dr Gono, Mr Chiremba and their accomplices but the private prosecutor Mr Charles Warara, objected."We don't know if he didn't steal the documents, he surfaces in the streets with photocopies of documents which we don't know if they were officially obtained," said Mr Warara."Accused is not appearing in this court as an official, Chiremba came to testify and he did not ask him all this. He cannot defend himself by smearing others. The people he is mentioning are not in court and cannot respond to his alleg- ations."Magistrate Mr Noel Mupeiwa ruled that only public documents certified by the ministry, its head of department or office or produced in court by an authorised person can be admitted as evidence. Kereke told the court that he was a parent to girl children and believed that rapists should be punished."I am a Christian and attend Johanne Marange apostolic sect. Both counts are fiction and a creation of events that never happened. In March when it is alleged I kissed one of the girls and fondled her breast, I had travelled to United States of America via South Africa and returned in June."Kereke produced photocopies of his passport to the court but Mr Warara said he needed time to analyse it.
Many physicians are still not following safety guidelines when prescribing fentanyl patches, according to research published in the CMAJ, which found that 50% of new prescriptions are still for people without the necessary previous opioid exposure.

Share on Pinterest Fentanyl is 100 times stronger than morphine.

Fentanyl is a powerful opioid with a strength 100 times that of morphine. Previous exposure to an opioid is considered an important safety requirement for patients about to use fentanyl.

Normally, a transdermal patch delivers fentanyl continuously over 3 days. Originally available in 25-, 50-, 75- and 100-g/h patches, a 12-g/h patch was introduced in 2006, mainly for dose adjustment rather than initial use.

The 25-g/h fentanyl patch is recommended for people who have already used an opioid equivalent to 60 mg of morphine a day for a week or more.

The adverse effects of fentanyl are potentially very serious. They include central nervous system depression, dangerously low blood pressure and heart rate, difficulty breathing and death.

From 1996-2015, 284 deaths linked with fentanyl patches were reported in Canada, many of them in the early stages of use.

The rise in both fentanyl use and adverse events related to it prompted Dr. Shawn Bugden, of the University of Manitoba in Canada, and coauthors to look at safety issues surrounding the patch.

They wanted to evaluate how the various warnings and safety bulletins regarding fentanyl prescription have impacted fentanyl-related risk and to assess the level of risk in the Manitoba population.
Despite lowering low-density lipoprotein (LDL), known as "bad" cholesterol, while markedly increasing levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL), or "good" cholesterol, a large clinical trial to investigate the cholesterol drug evacetrapib was discontinued early after a preliminary analysis showed it did not reduce rates of major adverse cardiovascular events, according to research presented at the American College of Cardiology's 65th Annual Scientific Session.

The favorable effects on cholesterol did not translate into any reduction in the study's primary endpoint: the amount of time until cardiovascular death, heart attack, stroke, coronary artery bypass surgery or hospitalization for chest pain due to unstable angina, a restriction in the flow of blood through the heart's arteries.

"Here we've got an agent that more than doubles the levels of good cholesterol and lowers bad cholesterol and yet has no effect on clinical events," said Stephen Nicholls, M.B.B.S, Ph.D., a professor at Australia's University of Adelaide, cardiologist at Royal Adelaide Hospital and the study's lead author. "We were disappointed and surprised by the results."

The study was a phase 3, randomized, double-blind trial conducted in approximately 540 global health centers involving more than 12,000 patients at high risk for serious cardiovascular problems. Participants were randomized to receive either 130 milligrams of evacetrapib or a placebo daily for at least 18 months. All patients also received standard medical therapy throughout the trial, which in a vast majority of cases included treatment with statins or other cholesterol-lowering drugs.

On average, patients taking evacetrapib lowered their LDL cholesterol by 37 percent and increased their HDL cholesterol by 130 percent compared with patients taking a placebo. However, there was no difference between the two groups in terms of the study's primary endpoint.

The findings make evacetrapib the third failure in a class of drugs known as cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) inhibitors, which are designed to disrupt the natural process by which HDL cholesterol is converted into LDL cholesterol in the body. The first such drug, torcetrapib, was abandoned after a phase 3 clinical trial revealed it increased the risk of cardiovascular events and death. Development of a second CETP inhibitor, dalcetrapib, was stopped when a phase 2 clinical trial found the drug to be ineffective.

"There has been, and continues to be, a lot of confusion about what's going on with this class of drugs, since we don't yet have one that can be brought to the clinic to prevent heart attack and stroke in our patients," Nicholls said. "As we close out the trial, we're trying to understand how a drug that seems to do all the right things in terms of blood cholesterol levels doesn't then translate into reducing clinical events."

The results raised no safety concerns for evacetrapib and did not reveal any major side effects. Nicholls said the findings could offer evidence challenging conventional thinking regarding the benefits of HDL cholesterol in protecting against cardiovascular problems. Another possible explanation is that existing treatments, such as statins, are already so effective at improving cardiovascular outcomes that it has become more difficult to further improve outcomes in high-risk patients. Alternatively, the results could indicate that evacetrapib's active ingredient or the biological pathway it is designed to affect simply has no effect on cardiovascular risk.

All study participants either had an acute coronary syndrome such as a heart attack or unstable angina 30 days to one year before enrolling; had cerebrovascular atherosclerotic disease, in which the arteries that supply blood to the brain become constricted; had peripheral vascular disease, a group of disorders affecting blood vessels outside of the heart and brain; or had both diabetes and coronary artery disease.

"We tested the drug in high-risk patients because they are the patients with the greatest need for new drugs above and beyond what we already use in our clinics," Nicholls said. "Low risk patients could be another group of patients that could potentially benefit from this drug, but we didn't test that and to do so would require an extraordinarily large study that asks a different question from the one our study was designed to address."

The study was funded by Eli Lilly, a company for which Nicholls has served as a consultant. Nicholls has received research support or consulting fees from other pharmaceutical companies including AstraZeneca, Amgen, Novartis, Cerenis and others.
Small cell lung cancer is not usually detected until it is at an advanced stage, when metastases have already formed. Chemotherapy is very effective initially but, within a year, cancer recurs and this time does not respond to a course of chemotherapy. The research group headed by Gerhard Hamilton, University Department of Surgery at MedUni Vienna, has now managed to identify the reason for this chemoresistance. The group's results have recently been published in the journals Cell Adhesion and Migration and Trends in Cancer.

Lung cancer is one of the most commonly occurring types of cancer in Austria. The majority of the 4,000 people who die from it every year are long-term heavy smokers. Approximately 85% of lung cancers are of the histological type known as Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC), which responds very well to targeted treatment and immunotherapy.

The remaining 15% of patients have Small Cell Lung Cancer (SCLC), which consists of neuroendocrine cells and metastasizes very quickly. It is treated with cytotoxic chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Initially patients respond very well to platinum-based therapy in combination with the drug etoposide but, within a year, resistant tumors recur. Further treatment is with topocetan or anthracyclines but the response rate is poor and, at this stage, patients are only expected to survive for a few more months.

A peculiarity of this type of cancer is that a lot of cancer cells migrate into the blood where they circulate and form metastases elsewhere in the body. A year ago, the research group led by Gerhard Hamilton, in collaboration with Robert Zeillinger (Molecular Oncology Group, University Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics) and Maximilian Hochmair (Otto-Wagner Hospital), managed to establish permanently cultivating tissue cultures of these circulating tumor cells. It was found that individual circulating tumor cells were sensitive to chemotherapy drugs but that, in every case, they spontaneously formed large aggregations, or cancer clusters, with oxygen-deprived cores. These cancer clusters are resistant to chemotherapy, firstly because the drugs cannot penetrate sufficiently and secondly because many of the cells are dormant due to the lack of oxygen. This lack of oxygen means that radiotherapy is also ineffective, because there are no oxygen radicals available and these are necessary to destroy the cancer cells.

The researchers were able to provide ground-breaking proof that resistance to chemotherapy and radiotherapy is due to the circulating tumor cells forming clusters. As far as treatment is concerned, this means that the first cycle of chemotherapy only destroys the main tumor mass and the circulating cancer cells, which have formed clusters, subsequently lead to recurrence. Completely new therapeutic approaches must therefore be developed to prevent the formation of these cancer clusters or to break them up. Small cell lung cancer follows the model of an aggressively metastasizing cancer - so that these findings could equally well apply to other malignant diseases.
Some 2 billion X-rays are performed around the world every year. But the average radiology clinic is understaffed. Radiologists are burdened with a growing workload, allowing little time to comprehensively evaluate images - leading to misdiagnoses and more serious consequences.

Now a Tel Aviv University lab is engineering practical solutions to meet the demands of radiologists. Prof. Hayit Greenspan's Medical Image Processing Lab in the Department of Biomedical Engineering in the TAU Faculty of Engineering has developed a wide variety of tools to facilitate computer-assisted diagnosis of X-rays, CTs and MRIs, freeing radiologists to attend to complex cases that require their full attention and skills.

"There is a shortage of radiologists, and their workload continues to grow. This means that some X-rays are never read or are only read following a long, life-endangering delay," said Prof. Greenspan. "Our goal is to use computer-assisted 'Deep Learning' technologies to differentiate between healthy and non-healthy patients, and to categorize all pathologies present in a single image through an efficient and robust framework that can be adapted to a real clinical setting."

"Deep learning" for accurate diagnosis

Prof. Greenspan discussed her lab's plan to implement "Deep Learning," a new area of Machine Learning research that harnesses artificial intelligence for various scientific fields, at the Israeli Symposium on Computational Radiology held at TAU last December. Her goal is to use Deep Learning to develop diagnostic tools for the automated detection and labelling of pathologies in radiographic images.

Prof. Greenspan's lab is one of only a few labs in the world dedicated to the application of Deep Learning in medicine. She and her team have already developed the technology to support automated chest X-ray pathology identification using Deep Learning, liver lesion detection, MRI lesion analysis and other tasks.

"We have developed tools to support decision-making in radiology with computer vision and machine learning algorithms. This will help radiologists make more accurate, more quantitative and more objective decisions," said Prof. Greenspan. "This is especially crucial when it comes to initial screenings. Such systems can improve accuracy and efficiency in both basic and more advanced radiology departments around the world."

Prof. Greenspan is also exploring the use of "transfer learning" in her research on the medical applications of Deep Learning. "Crowdsourcing was essential for the application of Deep Learning on general image searches such as Google search," said Prof. Greenspan. "But when it comes to medical imaging, there are privacy issues and there's very little comprehensive data available at this point.

"In 'transfer learning,' we use networks originally trained on regular images to categorize medical images. The features and parameters that represent millions of general images provide a good signature for the analysis of medical images as well."

Prof. Greenspan's work is supported by the INTEL Collaborative Research Institute for Computational Intelligence (ICRI-CI) and the Israeli Finance Ministry, in collaboration with Sheba Medical Center. She is also head co-editor of a special issue on "Deep Learning in Medical Imaging," which will be published in the journal IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging in May.
Hispanics/Latinos have higher rates of cardiac dysfunction but are rarely aware they have the heart-pumping problem that can lead to heart failure, according to new research in the American Heart Association's journal Circulation: Heart Failure .

Researchers found that about half of the 1,818 adults in their study of middle-aged and older Hispanics/Latinos had cardiac dysfunction, yet fewer than 1 in 20 participants knew they had a problem.

Cardiac dysfunction is particularly serious because it can develop into heart failure, a chronic disease in which the heart pumps less blood than the body needs to remain healthy.

"The perception has been that Hispanics/Latinos are a low-risk group for cardiac dysfunction, but that is not true," said Carlos J. Rodriguez, M.D., M.P.H., study senior author and associate professor of medicine and epidemiology at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

He noted that the only other large study of cardiac dysfunction in the United States looked at an older, largely non-Hispanic white population and found that about a third had cardiac dysfunction.

In the Echocardiographic Study of Hispanics/Latinos (ECHO-SOL), researchers used ultrasound images of the heart to identify cardiac dysfunction in adults, age 45-74, living in the Bronx, Chicago, Miami and San Diego. Among participants who had high rates of risk factors for cardiac dysfunction:

half were obese;

half had high blood pressure;

two-thirds had diabetes;

two-thirds reported low levels of physical activity; and

one fifth were current smokers.

Researchers noted that these risk factors, along with heart attack, were the same risk factors for progression of cardiac dysfunction to heart failure.

Given the study's findings, Rodriguez said, health professionals should have "a high level of vigilance" when it comes to monitoring the health of their Hispanic/Latino patients and a "low threshold for intensifying preventative therapies to avoid the possibility of heart failure down the road."

He added that the earlier the intervention, the better, noting that some studies have suggested that cardiac dysfunction can be reversed by aggressive reduction of risk factors.

ECHO-SOL diagnosed two types of cardiac dysfunction: left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD) and left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDD). In LVSD, the left ventricle, the heart's largest chamber, does not push blood out to the body as forcefully as it should. In LVDD, the left ventricle is too stiff when relaxed between beats to gather enough blood in its chamber.

Researchers said that the prevalence of the second type, LVDD, was particularly high among Latino-Americans from Central America, whose risk was nearly double that of Mexican-Americans. Researchers said that they did not know whether ancestry or environment explained the difference.

Rodriguez said that because Hispanics/Latinos have been overlooked in previous studies, there are no reliable estimates of how many with cardiac dysfunction will develop heart failure. Researchers plan to continue following ECHO-SOL participants to begin to answer that question.

"Given that Hispanics/Latinos are the largest ethnic minority in the United States, with over 51 million people, they are likely to have a big impact on the heart failure epidemic," he said.

Co-authors are Hardik Mehta, M.D.; Anderson Armstrong, M.D., MSc.; Katrina Swett, M.S.; Sanjiv J. Shah, M.D.; Matthew A. Allison, M.D.; Barry Hurwitz, Ph.D.; Shrikant Bangdiwala, Ph.D.; Rupal Dadhania, B.S.; Dalane W. Kitzman, M.D.; William Arguelles, Ph.D.; Joao Lima, M.D.; Marston Youngblood, Ph.D.; Neil Schneiderman, Ph.D.; Martha L. Daviglus, M.D., Ph.D.; Daniel Spevack, M.D.; Greg A. Talavera, M.D.; Ajit Raisinghani, M.D. and Robert Kaplan, Ph.D. Author disclosures are on the manuscript.

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute supported the study.
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A smaller protest in the city of Makeni attracted around 100 people, who delivered a petition to local government officials.The president of the Ebola Survivors Association in Makeni, Mohamed Conteh, told AFP that planned provisions had "so far not had any impact on our lives.""We were promised scholarships for child survivors, free health care, while adults were supposed to be given livelihood skills and other benefits," one demonstrator told AFP.The group carried placards that read "our living conditions are deplorable" and "we demand to be cared for."Sierra Leone's minister in charge of social welfare was recently sacked and his replacement has yet to take office, delaying already slow work.According to Doctors Without Borders (MSF) there are more than 4,000 Ebola survivors living in Sierra Leone, while the virus killed many of country's already limited number of health workers.The economy has also suffered from being paralysed for so long, limiting the government's ability to cope, experts say.The Ebola virus can stay in semen for at least nine months after a patient has recovered, six months longer than previously thought.Scientists are working to establish how long it can persist in other bodily fluids and tissues such as the spinal column and the eye, and for how long it could remain infectious."Ebola survivors are a particularly vulnerable group, who face continuing health challenges such as joint pain, chronic fatigue, and hearing and vision problems," MSF said in a recent report."They also suffer from stigmatisation in their communities and need specific and tailored care."A resurgence of Ebola in a rural Guinean community has killed seven people in the last few weeks, and two more cases were confirmed in Liberia last week despite the epidemic being declared over.Although the outbreak -- the worst on record -- has officially claimed more than 11,300 lives since it first began in Guinea, a significant number of deathsSource: AFP
Hepatitis C is an inflammation of the liver caused by a virus. It is primarily spread through blood and blood products, infected needles and from a pregnant mother to baby. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) can result in acute and consequently long-term infection of the liver.

While some of the symptoms include fever, fatigue, nausea, loss of appetite, abdominal pain or jaundice-like condition, HCV is often asymptomatic and can go undetected. When left undiagnosed or untreated for a long time, HCV can lead to chronic liver disease (CLD) or hepatocellular carcinoma (liver cancer).

Traditionally, HCV was treated with a combination of weekly pegylated interferon injections and ribavirin tablets (twice daily) for a period of anywhere between 6 and 12 months. However, traditional interferon therapy does not work for every patient and the virus often resurfaces within 12-24 months. Besides being expensive (3-6 lakhs for the course of treatment), pegylated interferon with ribavirin combination has serious side effects often causing bone marrow depression, resulting in severe anemia and lowering of white blood cells and platelets. Patients often experience cardiac complications like palpitations and breathlessness.

Peg interferon is also used in the treatment of Hepatitis B (HBV) and HIV infection, which means it is not specific to HCV. Since it is used for multiple infections, there is a risk that the HCV virus may become resistant to the drug.

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The introduction of the new drug molecule Sofosbuvir by Gilead Pharma in early 2014 (US and EU markets) was a game changer in HCV treatment. Sofosbuvir is the drug used for all genotypes of HCV from 1 to 6. This is a targeted drug (direct acting agent  DAA) that works by blocking the polymerase enzyme, which the virus uses to reproduce. Sofosbuvir not only kills the virus effectively but also blocks its reproduction. In 2015, Gilead entered into agreement with a number of companies in India to sub-license the production of generic sofosbuvir, which was made available to the Indian markets in March 2015.

Till February 2016, sofosbuvir (400mg a day) was being used in combination with ribavirin (twice daily) for genotype 2 and 3, and with peg interferon + ribavirin combination for genotype 1 and 4. Genotype 2 and 3 are fairly easy to treat while genotype 1 and 4 are the hardest. The treatment was hard for most patients as using ribavirin again meant blood-related side effects like anemia, leukopenia (lowering of white blood cells) and thrombocytopenia (lowering of platelets). Often, patients with chronic liver disease experienced bleeding from the digestive tract. Ribavirin is also not an option for those with bleeding disorders like hemophilia.

The entry of other drugs to be used with sofosbuvir in February 2016 has proven to be another big landmark in HCV treatment and totally eliminating the need for peg interferon and ribavirin. These drugs include ledipasvir, telaprevir and daclatasvir. This marks the beginning of interferon and ribavirin-free HCV treatment regime thus improving results dramatically and avoiding side effects. Currently, the regime includes 400 mg of sofosbuvir + 60 mg of the new drug which is selected depending on the genotype. This is taken once a day usually in the morning after breakfast. In the case of combination with telaprevir, the dosage varies depending on the RNA quantitative results and liver decompensation rates.

Ledipasvir, telaprevir and daclatasvir are the first-ever approved HCV NS5A replication complex inhibitors, which implies that they dismantle and destroy the protein used by virus to replicate. Sofosbuvir + HCV NS5A replication complex inhibitors will prove to be life-saver for many Indian patients. This combo is proven to be with minimal side effects with US and EU results indicating nearly 90% SVR (sustained virological response) rates.

Sofosbuvir and its combination with ledipasvir, and another investigational drug velpatasvir have been licensed to the following companies to be produced generically:

Aurobindo Pharma

Biocon

Cadila Healthcare

Cipla

Dr. Reddys Lab

Hetero Labs

Laurus Labs

Mylan Laboratories

Natco Pharma

Ranbaxy Laboratories

Sequent Scientific

Strides Arco Labs

Torrent Pharma

Table of Sofosbuvir + HCV NS5A Replication Complex Inhibitors

Sofosbuvir + HCV NS5A Replication Complex Inhibitors Genotype Indicated Sofosbuvir + Ledipasvir 1 & 4 Sofosbuvir + Telaprevir 1 Sofosbuvir + Daclatasvir Pangenotype 1-4

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These combinations have worked significantly even in patients with other co-infections like HBV and HIV.

Sofosbuvir + HCV NS5A replication complex inhibitor is generally recommended for a minimum period of 3 months in patients without chronic liver disease and 6 months in patients with chronic liver disease. An RNA quantitative test is done after 1 month, 3 months and 6 months of treatment to detect the presence of the virus and the viral load in the blood.

The total cost of treatment for 6 months is approximately 1.2 lakhs with the drugs costing anywhere between 15,000 and 17,000 per month. Talk to your physician or gastroenterologist about starting your HCV treatment with a combination that works best for your genotype. You may need to do a genotyping first followed by other lab tests and imaging like liver function test, prothrombin or clotting time, complete blood counts and ultrasound of the abdomen. In some cases of suspected chronic liver disease, your doctor may ask to do an endoscopy.

The arrival of sofosbuvir and HCV NS5A replication complex inhibitor have given a new ray of hope for a HCV-free life with improvement of life quality for many patients in India and across the globe.
In the Kuwaiti daily Al-Qabas, liberal Kuwaiti journalist Ahmad Al-Sarraf criticized imams who, in their Friday sermons in the mosques, curse their enemies, including the Jews and Christians. Al-Sarraf wondered why Muslims should yearn for Allah to help the mujahideen behead the Jews and Christians, when the Jews and Christians are behind inventions which benefit Muslims- such as cars, trains, planes, medical equipment, pharmaceuticals, and other vital things, and called on the Muslims to leave them alone and to recognize their superiority in many fields.

It should be mentioned that in another recent article, Al-Sarraf enumerated Israel's advantages over the Arabs in many areas, and called on the latter to learn from the former.[1]

Following are excerpts from Al-Sarraf's article:[2]



Ahmad Al-Sarraf (image: Twitter.com/ahmedalsarraf1)

"'Allah, punish the Shi'ites, the communists, the Jews, and the Christians. Allah, punish the tyrants. Allah, disperse them, weaken them, and bring disasters upon their heads. Allah, facilitate our mujahideen brothers and help them behead them.'

"This is part of a prayer to Allah delivered a few days ago during Friday worship that was attended by tens of thousands of prayer-goers, and took place before dozens of TV cameras.

"This curse leveled by this 'imam' at the Shi'ites is meaningless, because they are [cursed] enough, and I do not think anyone needs to curse the communists, who are already forgotten and dispersed. However, I do agree with this imam's cursing of tyrants - may Allah disperse them - because this is necessary and desirable. No one loves them or sympathizes with them, and may Allah enable our 'mujahideen brothers' to behead them.

"However, I am intrigued by his curse beseeching Allah to also enable our 'mujahideen brothers,' or more accurately, 'ISIS and Al-Qaeda,' to behead the Jews and Christians. It is [the Jews and the Christians] who gave this preacher the prayer mat on which he stands, who invented the microphone through which his curse is heard by hundreds and thousands of people, who provided him with the [heater] that warmed him so he could [stand there] and say what he said, who made the vehicle that drove him to the mosque and will drive him back home; who created his bed and his bathroom, the doors of his home and the locks on his safe, his bath soap, his shoes, his silk clothes, and his wives' jewelry. It was they who also invented and produced the most complex medical instruments and discovered the best serums and drugs, which have healed hundreds of millions of Muslims, and without which they could have died due to lack of care.

"It is these [Jews and Christians], whom [preachers] beseech Allah to enable our 'mujahideen brothers' to behead as one would behead a sheep, who discovered our oil and extracted it from the ground, transported it, refined it, and purchased it from us, paying us hundreds of trillions of dollars, so that we can then be condescending and arrogant, deluge them with horrible curses, and beseech Allah to enable our mujahideen brothers to behead them.

"But if their heads are cut off, who will produce our cars, our trains, and our planes, and who will produce spare parts for them? Who will provide our hospitals with beds and instruments, and with equipment for our various primitive industries? Who will fill our offices with chairs and computers, and our homes with carpets and furniture? Who will treat our patients and heal our eyes, which can no longer see [their] good deeds?

"This preacher is entitled to curse whomever he wants. But leave ...the Jews and Christians... alone. No one - not even the greatest misanthrope - can deny [the Jewish and Christian] advantage and superiority [over us], [or deny] their discoveries and inventions, and, more importantly, their humanism. It is they who, in the course of one single year, have treated and provided shelter for over one million Muslim refugees in their countries - while we refused to accept even a single refugee.

"After all this, how [can] we pray to Allah to enable our 'mujahideen brothers' to behead them?"

Endnotes:

[1] See MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 6314, Kuwaiti Columnist: Israel Has Outdone Us In Everything - We Must Learn From It, February 18, 2016. For more articles and statements by Al-Sarraf, see: MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 2551, Kuwaiti Liberal: Persecution of Christians in the Middle East is Tantamount to Ethnic Cleansing, September 21, 2009; Special Dispatch No. 2373, Kuwaiti Liberal: No Hope for Reforms in Kuwait, May 27, 2009; and Special Dispatch No. 2553, Responses in Kuwait to U.S. State Department Report on Human Trafficking, September 21, 2009.
In two speeches in as many weeks - one on March 30, 2016 marking a Shi'ite religious holiday and the other on March 20, marking Norooz, the Persian New Year - Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei focused on attacking his main political rivals - Iranian President Hassan Rohani, and Expediency Council chairman Hashemi Rafsanjani, the leaders of the Iranian pragmatic camp.[1]

Khamenei's Holiday Address, March 30

In his March 30 address, Khamenei called his old foe Rafsanjani "a traitor" for his March 24 tweet stating that "the world of tomorrow is a world of talks, and not of missiles." Khamenei said that Iran cannot give up its missile capabilities, and termed this call to do so a plot by the Western enemy, headed by the U.S., which seeks to destroy Iran's Islamic regime.[2] Khamenei's statements were along the same lines as his criticism of Rafsanjani prior to the February 26, 2016 Majlis and Assembly of Experts elections, i.e. that Rafsanjani was trying to sell the U.S. to Iran.[3]

Attacking President Rohani as well, Khamenei rejected the latter's call to begin now to work towards economic agreements that he referred to as "JCPOA 2" and "JCPOA 3," as a follow-up to the JCPOA agreed with the U.S. on July 14, 2015. According to Khamenei, the nuclear agreement with the U.S. had failed, and the U.S. administration was still not allowing trade with Iran. He demanded that Rohani not merely use the term "resistance economy" - referring to Khamenei's economic plan for Iran - but also implement it. It should be noted that this economic vision, which calls for establishing Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and other domestic elements as an economic force for rehabilitating the country is the opposite of Rohani's and Rafsanjani's economic plan, which is based on foreign investment in Iran and on privatization.

Elsewhere in the speech, Khamenei attacked the U.S. for not meeting its commitments under the JCPOA, and clarified that the U.S. administration is the enemy of Iran and is even today working to bring down its Islamic regime.

A possible explanation for the increasing hostility in the top Iranian echelon is the reports in the U.S. that it is time for high-level U.S. officials to visit Tehran.[4] In its April 3, 2016 editorial, the Iranian daily Kayhan wrote harshly about a possible such visit, presumably by President Obama and similar to his Cuba visit: "The elements of [the American] infiltration are finding their place among the [Iranian political] leaders, causing some to speak about a cessation of the [Iranian] hostilities towards the arrogance [i.e. the U.S.] and about an Iranian defensive weapons disarmament. This could reach the point where President [Rohani's] advisor will say, 'If only Obama will visit Iran too and solve the issue of relations with Iran, like he did with Cuba."

MEMRI TV Clip - Khamenei Criticizes Top Political Rivals: Favoring Talks Over Missiles Constitutes Treason

Khamenei's Norooz Address, March 20

In his address to the Iranian people for Norooz, the Persian New Year, on March 20, 2016, Khamenei spoke out against the U.S. and attacked President Rohani and his vision of openness towards the West. This speech reflected the great apprehension in the regime about the West's alleged failure to meet its obligations under the JCPOA, and about Iran's distrust of it.



Khamenei delivering Norooz address, English.khamenei.ir, March 23, 2016; one of Khamenei's tweets in the series. Source: @khamenei_ir, March 20, 2016.

The same day, Khamenei tweeted, in English, a summary of his Norooz address. The main themes, as given in the tweets, were, inter alia:

 The alleged U.S. attempts to instill in Iran the mindset that Iran must either get along with the U.S. or face the consequences, and condemnation of those who adopt this mindset - i.e. the pragmatic camp, led by Rafsanjani and Rohani

 The U.S. desire for Iran to relinquish its defense capabilities, such as its missile program and the IRGC

 The U.S.'s violation of its commitments under the JCPOA

 The U.S. presidential candidates' "hostility" towards Iran and the uncertainty that the next administration would meet "even its few commitments" under the JCPOA

 The need for Iran to rely on a "resistance economy."

The following are the main points of Khamenei's March 30 speech,[5] excerpts from the tweeted summary of his March 20 Norooz address,[6] and the text of his Norooz address in English, as published on his website:[7]

Khamenei, March 30: If Rafsanjani's Words "The World Of Tomorrow Is A World Of Talks, And Not Of Missiles" Were "Said Out Of Ignorance, That's One Thing, But If They Were Said Out Of Cognizance, It Constitutes Treason"

"I am not against political negotiations, of course not with everyone... The enemy is using political negotiations, and therefore we must be wary. The enemies use talks, economic deals, economic sanctions, threats of war and weapons. Against all these, we must equip ourselves with defensive might.

"Some people say that the world of tomorrow is a world of talks, and not of missiles. If this is said out of ignorance, that's one thing, but if it is said out of cognizance, it constitutes treason.

"How can this be? If the Islamic regime advances [in the areas of] science, technology, political negotiations, and various commercial and economic activities - [yes,] all of these are essential. But if it does not have defensive might, and has no defensive capabilities, anybody at all or any insignificant government can threaten it, saying, if you do not do thus and so, we will strike you with missiles. If you have no way of defending yourself, you will have to retreat.

"If you see the world powers talking in a loud voice, arrogantly, saying unpleasant things in a forceful manner, [you should know that] for the most part they are relying on the same weapons that they have [that they are asking us to give up]. Should we be emptying our hands [of weapons] as we face them?

"The IRGC presents the progress made in its missiles, and this brings pride not only to the Iranians, but to the freedom-seeking countries around us as well. When the IRGC missiles are displayed in tests with such precision and beauty, it pleases many nations, which have suffered at the hands of the Americans and the Zionist regime. Should we depress them by saying that the era of the missiles is over? No, the era of the missiles is not over.

"When these things take place, should we say, Today the era of missiles is past?! No! The era of missiles is not yet over. The enemy is always upgrading, and preparing itself - so [must] we naively retreat, and say no? ... Today, some say, What are missiles? Why do we need missiles? The world of today is not one of missiles. If that is the case, then what is it of?

"Today's world is one of everything. It is also of talks. We must be strong in the talks and conduct negotiations in a way that will not cheat us afterwards. If we negotiate, we will write it down, and then sign it, and then they will carry out a particular thing so that everyone can see, but the sanctions will not be lifted and there will be no commerce, so obviously there is some kind of problem here. We must not allow such mistakes to happen. In this area too we should strengthen ourselves.

"Also with regard to the domestic economy - I have said that there [is a need for] action and implementation. Enough talk. Two hundred statements are not worth half a deed. When the term 'resistance economy' is reiterated again and again, it loses its value. When it becomes banal, it is wearisome. We must act.

The Main Points Of Khamenei's Address, In Tweets - March 20, 2016

One main theme in Khamenei's March 20 Norooz address, as expressed in his tweets, was the alleged U.S. attempts to instill in Iran the mindset that Iran must get along with the U.S. or face the consequences. Those who have adopted this mindset - meaning the pragmatic camp, led by Iranian President Rohani, who called for a second and third JCPOA agreement - were "yielding to the arrogance" - i.e. the U.S. - and were willing to give way on "committed principles":

 "Currently, policies of the arrogance, particularly US, demands insertion of a dilemmatic mindset among the elites and public opinion. 1/2; That dilemma is either getting along with the US or suffering US pressures and the consequent difficulties forever 2/2.

 "There are of course some inside #Iran who believe in& accept this moving discourse of arrogance system & try to convince others as well 1/2; They believe ME [Middle East] or domestic problems can be solved by JCPOA 2&3; this means giving up principles & red lines & yielding to the arrogance 2/2.

 "Yielding means Iran would ignore committed principles like supporting #Palestine & resistance in region & the oppressed in #Bahrain& #Yemen.

 "Other meaning of yielding is Iran, like some Arab states flagrantly extending friendship hand to Zionist enemy, reconciles with Zionists."

Khamenei spoke about a U.S. desire for Iran to relinquish its defensive capabilities, such as its missile program, and about the U.S.'s alleged questioning of Iran's need for the IRGC and its Qods Force and its asking why Iran's constitution requires that Iranian policies be Islam-compliant:

 "The US desire is that Iran would even give up on its defensive means as well.

 "They constantly blame Iran's missile program, but US holds joint drills 1000s of miles far from its borders where it has no responsibility.

 "Arrogance will get to question why IRGC & Quds Force ever exist? Why Constitution demands Islamic Republic's policies to comply with Islam.

 "If you surrender to the enemy while you can #resist, the enemy will step forward and will not stop.

 "Arrogance believes if Iranian nation wants to get rid of US, it must give up content of Islamic Republic & Islamic notions & its security."

He also enumerated other alleged U.S. demands:

 "Iran is strategically unique in region & has other resources besides gas & oil. Before Revolution US had full grasp on Iran & looted it. 1/2; US hostility against #Iran ends only when it gains the same rule over the country again. 2/2."

Turning to the Americans' deviousness, he said that the U.S. had violated its obligations under the JCPOA; that the sanctions on Iran are continuing even if they are said to have been lifted; and that U.S. administration officials are the enemy:

 "In #IranDeal also US didn't fulfill its pledges. As @JZarif said they did something on paper, but by detours barred Iran's objectives.#JCPOA.

 "Today, our banking deals & release of our wealth have problems in west as they fear from US, while on paper they vowed lifting of sanctions.

 "US officials keep sanctions on one hand & give #Nowruz message on other hand & set Haft-Seen table in White House; these are deceptions.

 "US hasn't known our nation yet. Iranians are aware & know enemies. Of course we have no problem with people in US. US officials are enemies."

Underlining the U.S. presidential candidates' "hostility" towards Iran, he spoke of the absence of any guarantee that the next administration would meet "even its few commitments" under the JCPOA - and of the need for Iran to resist by relying on a "resistance economy":

 "In few months US administration will change & there is no assurance next administration would implement even its few commitments in #JCPOA.

 "American presidential candidates are racing in saying bad words against Iran which is their hostility.

 "One of enemy's means of hostility is propaganda and Iranophobia, another is infiltration, and the other is sanction.

 "In facing enemy sanctions we should either tolerate difficulties of sanctions or resist through #ResistanceEconomy."

Khamenei also spoke of the triumph over the U.S. "in the region and beyond":

 "Today many countries in region & beyond say 'Death to US'. Iranian nation showed resilience is possible & others learned.

 "Those with Great Middle East slogan have now failed in Iraq, Syria, Yemen & Palestine & blame Iran. Their enmity toward Iran is fundamental."

Khamenei's Norooz Address - March 20, 2016

"...The reason why I chose an economic slogan for this year is because of a specific analysis and outlook towards the issues of the country. Perhaps some people were thinking that the slogan of this year should be a cultural or a moral slogan. However, considering all the issues of the country, we deemed it necessary, as in recent years, to choose an economic slogan for this year so that it will turn into a discourse among the people and public opinion in the country. I will present this analysis, and I [would] like our dear youth to analyze, dissect, and think about it for themselves."

"At this point in time, the policies of arrogance - specifically and in particular, the policies of America - deem it necessary to inject a specific thought into the minds of our people: first, among the outstanding personalities of society, and later on, and gradually, among public opinion in the country. They want a specific thought to be injected into public opinion. The policy that they have in mind is that they want to pretend that the people of Iran are in a dilemma and that they have no option other than choosing one out of two options. This dilemma is that they either have to get along with America or they have to tolerate the pressures exerted by America and the problems that follow it. The people of Iran have to choose one of these two options. This is what they want.

"Getting along with America is not like getting along with any other government. This is because the American government enjoys wealth, large propaganda apparatuses, dangerous weapons and many resources. So naturally, getting along with America means accepting the impositions of that government. This is the nature of reaching an agreement with America.

"This is the case everywhere in the world. When other countries reach an agreement with America over any matter, this means that they retreat from their positions to the advantage of the other side while the other side does not make any noteworthy retreat to their advantage. In the case of the recent nuclear agreement too, the same situation existed although we approved of it and although we believed in and continue to believe in those who conducted the negotiations.

"In certain cases, our honorable Minister of Foreign Affairs [Javad Zarif] said to us that they [i.e. the negotiating team] failed to keep certain red lines [in the negotiations]. This is what it means: When a government like the U.S. government has propaganda means, resources, money, active diplomacy, and different agents throughout the world, the governments that it pressures are at its disposal. Getting along with him [i.e. the U.S. government] means compromising and forgetting about some of the things that one insists on. This is a dilemma that they want to inject into the minds of our people on the basis of American policies. It is a forced dilemma and an unavoidable duality: either we have to get along with America and her demands or we have to endure her pressures, her threats, and the losses that we will suffer as a result of opposing America.

"They want to promote this thought among the outstanding personalities of society in the form of a discourse and to spread it among the people and public opinion in the country in a gradual manner. They are promoting this thought inside and outside the country and they are expanding it in global media with different forms and with different statements. They appoint some people so that they can promote this thought among our people. Of course, as I said, there are some individuals inside the country who believe in and who have accepted this thought and who are trying to make others accept it as well."

"Pay careful attention to this explanation. I will mention what the other side says and then I will say what the correct thought and opinion is, based on the truth and on reality. The other side - that is to say, that propaganda, thought-generating and orientation-breeding apparatus - says that Iran has many economic capacities and [that] the goal of the nuclear agreement was to help Iran benefit from these capacities. Well, this agreement was reached, but it is not enough. There are also other issues about which the people, the administration, and the officials of Iran should make a decision and take action.

"For example, there are many tumultuous and chaotic situations in the region of West Asia - the same region that westerners refer to as the Middle East - in the present time. This is a problem for the whole region and if you want your country to be freed from these problems, you should try to act in a way that these upheavals will be settled. What should we do to that end? [They say] we should cooperate, hold meetings and negotiate with America, we should think in the same way that the Americans do and should we choose a model according to the wishes of the Americans or according to America's agreement. This is an issue.

"Another issue is that we have many problems and differences of opinion with America. We should resolve these differences. They should come to an end. Now, if in the process of resolving these differences, the people of Iran have to abandon, for example, their principles and their red lines, they should do it. The other side will not abandon its principles and values but if it is necessary, we should abandon our principles so that we can resolve the existing problems and so that the country can consequently benefit from its capacities and turn into, for example, an outstanding economy. This is what they say.

"An agreement was made on the nuclear issue, and we called it the 'Bar-Jaam' [the Persian name for the JCPOA]. However [they say], there should be another Bar-Jaam in the case of regional events and yet another on the issue of the Constitution of the country. There should be Bar-Jaam 2, 3, 4, and other Bar-Jaams as well so that we can 'live comfortably.' This is a logic that they are trying to promote among the outstanding personalities of society and among public opinion in society through outstanding personalities.

"What is the meaning of this? It means that the Islamic Republic should forget about those fundamental issues that it is committed to based on the edict of Islam and its own outstanding guidelines: it should forget about the issue of Palestine, it should forget about supporting the Resistance in the region, and it should stop providing political assistance and support to the oppressed peoples in the region - for example, the people of Palestine, the people of Gaza, the people of Yemen and the people of Bahrain. And the Islamic Republic should get close to what the other side - that is to say, America - wants to achieve and it should do so by bringing about a balance in its own demands.

"This means that the Islamic Republic should act in the same way that some regional countries and governments are acting today. Such countries have gotten along with the Zionist regime contrary to the edict of Islam and contrary to the wishes of their own peoples. And they have allowed other issues to overshadow the issue of Palestine. This means that the Islamic Republic should get along and be reconciled with the Zionist enemy in the same way that some Arab governments have done so. They have extended the hand of friendship towards this Zionist enemy with complete shamelessness.

"Of course, things do not end here. What this political analysis of the enemy means is that if America wishes, the Islamic Republic should even forget about its own defense mechanisms. You see what uproar they have created in the world on the issue of our missiles. They say, 'Why does the Islamic Republic have missiles? Why does it have long-range missiles? Why do the Islamic Republic's missiles aim at and hit the target in a very precise manner?' They say, 'Why have you carried out a military maneuver? Why do you have military exercises and why and why and why!'

"This is while the Americans themselves carry out maneuvers from time to time in the Persian Gulf - which is several thousand kilometers away from their country - and they do so along with some regional countries. They do this while they have no responsibility in the region. However, when the Islamic Republic carries out a military maneuver in its own home, in its own territory and in its own security zone, they create uproar about why we have carried out a military operation, why we have adopted such and such measures and why our Navy and our Air Force have adopted such and such courses of action.

"This analysis of the enemy means that we should forget about all these things. The issue is even beyond this. They will gradually draw the issue towards the reason why the Quds Force and the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps have been formed and why the domestic policies of the Islamic Republic should be coordinated with Islam. The matter will come to this!"

"When you retreat in the face of the enemy while you can resist him - later on, I will enlarge on this issue - the enemy will advance. He does not stop. Gradually, he will find the courage to say that our belief that the Islamic Republic's administration, the Islamic Consultative Majlis and the judiciary branch should work on the basis of Islam and Islamic sharia is against freedom and that liberalism does not believe in this. The matter will gradually come to this.

"If we retreat, this will encourage them to question the Guardian Council's role in society. It will encourage them to question the Guardian Council's power to repeal certain laws because of their opposition to sharia. This is the main point. This is what I have said many times: this is changing the inner behavior of the Islamic Republic. The outward appearance of the Islamic Republic might survive, but it will completely be empty of its content. The enemy wants this. On the basis of this analysis of the enemy and on the basis of the analysis that is being injected into the minds of outstanding personalities and public opinion, if the Islamic Republic and the people of Iran want to get rid of America, they should abandon the Islamic Republic's content, Islam, Islamic concepts and their security.

"What is missing in this analysis and what has been ignored in it are a few issues one of which I would like to refer to: in the agreement that we have made with the Americans on the issue of 5+1 and nuclear energy, the Americans have not honored their promises and have not done what they should have. Of course, as our honorable Minister of Foreign Affairs said, they have done certain things on paper, but they have prevented the Islamic Republic from achieving its goals through many detours and short cuts.

"Notice that today, in all western countries and in all those countries that are under their influence, our banking transactions have been blocked. We have a problem bringing our wealth - which has been kept in their banks - back to the country. We have a problem conducting different financial transactions which require the assistance of banks. And when we pursue the matter, follow it up and ask about it, it becomes clear that they are afraid of the Americans. The Americans have said that they would lift sanctions and they have actually done so on paper, but through other ways and methods, they are acting in a way that the result of sanctions repeal will not be witnessed at all.

"So, those who hope that we will sit and talk to America on such and such an issue with the purpose of reaching an agreement - which means that both we and the other side make certain promises - ignore the fact that [while] we will have to fulfill all of our commitments - the other side will refuse to do so through different means and methods and that he will not fulfill the promises that he has made. This is what we are witnessing in front of our eyes! This means a complete loss!"

"But the issue is even beyond this. I deem it necessary to discuss a few points with our dear youth who have not witnessed the era of the taghuti regime and who do not know what happened in the aftermath of the victory of the Revolution in our country. Notice that in the region where we are living - West Asia -your dear country, Iran, is the flower of the region. It is a peerless country in terms of its strategic position and - as is commonly said today - its strategic location. It has a privilege over the whole region - and in one sense - over the whole world in terms of its abundant oil and gas supplies. And there are many other resources apart from oil and gas. It is a large country with a talented and resourceful population and with a rich history. Our country is the flower of the region.

"However, this flower was once wholly and completely in America's hands. They used to do whatever they wanted to. In this country they used to loot and take away its wealth and they used to do whatever a colonialist and arrogant government does to a weak country. They had the whole country in the claws of their power. But the Revolution has come and has liberated this country from their claws. This is why the grudge against the Revolution does not leave the heart of American politics. Their enmity will end only when they manage to restore the same domination over our country! This is the goal and they are after this. Of course, they are politicians and diplomats. They know politics and they know that there is a way for every goal and every purpose. They know that they should move slowly and use the right way. And they are acting in that manner. Our eyes should be open and our minds should be focused!

"Not only did the Islamic Republic free Iran from their hands, but it also encouraged other countries with the spirit of resistance and the courage that it showed - I will expand on this issue later on. Notice that today, the people in many regional and even non-regional countries chant 'Death to America' and they burn the American flag. The people of Iran have shown that they can resist. Other nations too have learned this and therefore, America does not have any control over this situation anymore. The Americans announced once that they want to create the 'Greater Middle East' - once, they spoke about a 'New Middle East' and once, they spoke about a 'Greater Middle East.' Their goal was to help the Zionist regime dominate all economic, political, and cultural affairs in West Asia and in the heart of Islamic countries. This was their goal.

"Now, take a look and see that those who chanted the slogan of the 'Greater Middle East' have become desperate on the issue of Syria, on the issue of Yemen, on the issue of Iraq and on the issue of Palestine and they pin all the blame on Iran and the Islamic Republic. Such is their enmity towards the Islamic Republic! Their problem with the Islamic Republic is not about bits and pieces - the problem is fundamental! They are moving towards this direction so that they can re-establish their old domination."

"Our dear youth have not seen the taghuti era. I will tell you dear youth that throughout the past 50, 60 years - during the time of the Pahlavi rule and a little before that - first the English and later on, the Americans had all the affairs of the country in their hands and they used to do whatever they wanted. For example, they brought the Pahlavi regime and Reza Khan to power. Later on, they became angry at him because of some reasons. So, they ousted him and replaced him with Mohammad Reza. In a country with this greatness and magnificence, the Americans and the English used to easily oust the head of our country and replace him with another, based on their own wishes and whims and contrary to the wishes of the people. This was their condition in Iran.

"Well, how had they managed to achieve this domination? They had built some trenches in the country. First the English regime and after that - years and decades after the English domination - the American regime used to use these trenches in order to continue their domination over our country. However, the Revolution appeared and destroyed and annihilated these trenches with its own youth and in place of these trenches, it built other trenches to protect the Revolution, the Islamic Republic and national interests. They want to come and repair those ruined trenches again and to destroy the trenches that have been created by the Revolution, revolutionary individuals and the youth. This is the goal.

"I will refer to some of these trenches for you. The most important trench for arrogant regimes - first England and later on, America - in our country was the installed taghuti regime itself. The installed taghuti regime was their trench. It was through this regime that they used to do whatever they wanted in this country. They used to do whatever economic, cultural, and political activity that they wanted and they used to conduct any transfer of power and adopt any position that they liked. They swayed our country and the government of our country towards any direction that they liked. So, the taghuti regime was the most important trench for America and England in our country. This was one trench.

"Well, the Revolution came and destroyed this trench. It annihilated and uprooted it. It uprooted the monarchic system in the country and it created a people-based system in place of that monarchic government and tyrannical regime. There was one day in our country when they used to say, 'The country has an owner. Who is this owner? His Royal Highness!' This was the case.

"They used to say repeatedly that the country has an owner. Who was that owner? It was the Shah - that is to say, a corrupt, incompetent, and dependent element. Most of those Shahs were empty of national zeal. It was such individuals that owned the country. Well, the Islamic Republic came and put aside this fake and usurping owner and it gave the country to its real owners who are the people! In the present time, the people show their presence, choose, prove, and reject. This was the first trench of the enemy which was destroyed by the Islamic Republic and the Islamic Revolution.

"But this was not the only trench for the enemy. There were other trenches as well: psychological and physical factors. There were certain trenches, two, three of which I will refer to for you. One was fear: the trench of fear, fear of powers. They had acted in a way in the country that fear of America was dominant over the hearts of everyone. As I said, in the last decades before the victory of the Revolution, there was fear of America and before that, there was fear of England. They used to ascribe whatever event that took place in the country to the English. In other words, they used to consider the English as the absolute power.

"This fear was not particular to the people. The leaders of the regime themselves were afraid of America as well. The memoirs that were written by the agents of the regime and that were published later on - after the Revolution - show that in certain cases, Mohammad Reza and elements close to him were angry at the Americans because of their derogatory behavior and their indifferent outlook, but they had no other option and they had to obey. They had to obey them out of fear. They were afraid of them!

"However, the Islamic Revolution came and destroyed this trench of fear. Today, you cannot find one single well-informed individual in the Islamic Republic who is reliant on religious values, but who is afraid of America. The people threw away fear! Not only did the people throw away fear of America, but they also threw away fear of the whole front of arrogance!

"During the eight-year imposed war - unfortunately, our youth did not see that golden and enlightened era - America, NATO, and the Soviet Union of those days used to help Saddam. Arab reactionaries too used to help Saddam despite all their incompetence and weaknesses. Everyone was helping Saddam. The east and the west had become one united front in favor of Saddam and against the Islamic Republic, but the Islamic Republic did not even frown and by Allah's favor, it overcame and defeated all of them! After eight years of war, they could not separate even one inch of Iran's soil!

"This was how they shattered fear. As I said, today, self-reliant and well-informed individuals and those who are attached to Islamic values are not afraid of America. Of course, it is possible that some people are afraid of America today, but this fear is an unreasonable one. If Mohammad Reza's fear of America was justifiable and reasonable, the fear of such people today is unreasonable. This is because that regime did not have supporters like the people, but today the Islamic Republic has supporters like these great people."

"One of the trenches of the enemy for dominating our country was injecting disbelief in oneself and lack of confidence about oneself and one's nation. The people used to witness the luster of western countries in front of themselves. They used to witness the scientific and technological appearance and the civilizational and material luster of westerners, but such things did not exist in their own country. Such things did not exist in the country: there was only backwardness and a feeling of disbelief and distrust in oneself. At that time - during the Pahlavi era - a government official said, 'The Iranians should go and make 'lulahangs.' You do not know what a lulahang is. Lulahang is a mud ewer [for use in bathrooms], not even a metal one. In the distant past, it was common to make mud ewers. He said, 'Iranians deserve to make lulahangs. How can Iranians even think of inventing things?' In those days, they used to say such things.

"Another outstanding personality in those days said, 'If Iranians want to progress, they should become western and European from head to toe. They should copy all aspects of westerners. If they do so, they might move forward.' This means that they did not believe in themselves. Well, the Revolution came and completely turned this lack of trust in oneself into self-confidence and national self-confidence.

"Today, the Iranian youth say that they can. In many cases, when it comes to scientific achievements - apart from the achievements that have thankfully been made in the present time and that are available to us - our youth sometimes put forward such new ideas that organizations in charge cannot deal with them. In the present time, the Iranian youth have self-confidence. When self-confidence does not exist, progress will not exist either. However, when self-confidence and the slogan of 'we can' exist, capability will follow as well and the country and the people become competent. Today, we are witnessing this.

"In the era of taghut and in the pre-revolutionary era, the country had a 50-year history of having universities. And there were committed and good professors in those universities. There were talented students as well although their number was smaller compared to the present time. Compared to today, the number of students was much smaller, but those who existed were Iranian youth in any case. So, they were talented, but no single scientific breakthrough was witnessed throughout those 50 years. Why? Because they did not believe that they had the capability to do so. They did not believe in themselves and they had injected this lack of self-confidence into the minds of the people.

"However in the present time, we have new innovations - including scientific and technological innovations - every day! When our enemies see these innovations, they become angry. Today, our country is among the first ten countries in the world in many fields of advanced sciences despite the existence of sanctions. What the people visibly see are only the military tools and weapons that are available to the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, the Army and others. The achievements that they have made in different areas - in the area of nanotechnology and in the area of nuclear energy - originate from belief in oneself. One of the trenches of the enemy in Iran was the people's lack of belief in themselves and one of the greatest trenches of the people's and the youth's victory is belief in oneself and the spirit of 'we can'. This was another trench of the enemy"

"Another trench of the enemy was the separation of religion from politics. They had injected the belief into everyone that religion should not interfere in the environment of politics, social life and social system. They had injected this belief into them. Even the pious and some ulama did not believe that Islam could be involved in political affairs, let alone those who had nothing to do with religion. This is while the essence of Islam's birth was interconnected with political outlook. The first thing that the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.) did in Medina was to form a government! However, they had injected this belief into the minds of the people and they were using this trench against the Islamic Republic, the country and the people. The Islamic Republic came, and destroyed and annihilated this trench. Today, in the universities of the country, our youth and our students are working in a diligent manner on the issues of the country from an Islamic and Koranic perspective let alone ulama, Islamic seminaries and the like.

"Well, when I speak about 'the enemy,' I mean the government of America and I have no qualms about saying this. Of course, they say that they are not our enemy and that they are our friends. They have issued a message to our people on the occasion of Norouz and they have supposedly shown sympathy for our youth. And they have spread a haft-seen table in the White House! Well these are things that one says when one wants to deceive a child! No one believes such things.

"On the one hand, they preserve sanctions and on the other hand, the U.S. Department of the Treasury acts in a way - with certain methods which have been acknowledged by the Americans themselves - that big companies, agencies and banks do not dare to approach the Islamic Republic and have business transactions with it. On the one hand, they adopt such measures - they impose sanctions and issue threats: there are clear cases of enmity - and on the other hand they spread a haft-seen table in the White House or they say in a Norouz message that they are after creating employment for the Iranian youth! Well, no one believes such things.

"They still do not know our people. They do not know the people of Iran! The people of Iran are a wise and well-informed people. They know their enemies and they know the methods of enmity. We have no problems with the people of America. We have no problems with any nation and any people. Our problem is with policies. Our problem is with politicians. They are the enemies.

"Let us summarize the discussion so that the main points are not lost. There are certain realities: one reality is the many capacities and the numerous resources that exist in our country. We have both natural and human resources, and international opportunities. Today, our country has an extraordinary capacity for progress inside itself thanks to these resources. This is one reality. Today, the Islamic Republic has turned into an influential power on a regional and - in certain cases - international level. This is a reality that exists. We should appreciate our value. We should know our own value and significance. We should know the greatness of our people.

"The second reality is that America is our enemy because of some clear reasons. As I said, by 'enemy' we mean American politicians and policies. They broke their promises on the issue of the Bar-Jaam and they threatened to impose more sanctions on us. As I said, the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury is seriously busy day and night so that they do not allow the Islamic Republic to benefit from the results of the Bar-Jaam. Well, these are acts of enmity.

"They continuously threaten to impose more sanctions. The U.S. presidential elections will take place in a few months - in seven, eight months - and in nine months, the current American administration will completely change and there will be no guarantee that the future administration will honor the few promises that the current administration has made.

"At present, when they deliver speeches, the U.S. presidential candidates compete with each other in vilifying Iran. Well, this is enmity. Enmity does not necessarily appear in a strange form so much so that we can easily distinguish it. This is another reality [audience chant referring to the current Rohani administration: 'Administration of acumen and hope! Have insight! Have insight!']."

"Please pay attention. You should not forget that we have said that the people and the administration should have harmony and unanimity. You should not forget this. Everyone should work and help the administration. If anyone has a word of advice, they can offer it to the administration. Everyone should help the administration!

"The third reality is that the instruments that this seemingly powerful enemy uses are not infinite. He has some basic instruments which constitute his active tools: one is propaganda - Iranophobia - another is infiltration and another is sanctions. I have repeatedly spoken about infiltration in the recent months and therefore, I do not want to speak about it here. As for propaganda, this has been discussed in detail. I want to speak about sanctions for a moment.

"One of the three efficient instruments that the enemy uses is sanctions. The enemy has felt that our country and our people are harmed by sanctions. Unfortunately, we ourselves have strengthened this feeling in him. In certain cases and at some points in time, we constantly magnified the effect of sanctions by saying that there are sanctions, there are sanctions and that they should lift them. We said that if sanctions exist, we will be harmed in such and such ways and other such statements. And on the other hand, we exaggerated and magnified the effect of lifting sanctions by saying that if sanctions are lifted, such and such things will happen. But the things that we expected to happen did not happen and if we move forward like this, they will not happen in the future either! However, the enemy has felt that he can pressure the people of Iran with the instrument of sanctions. The enemy has felt this. Therefore, what exists ahead of us in the present time is sanctions.

"What should we do in order to confront sanctions? In the beginning of my speech, I said that the enemy has suggested one fake dilemma to us: he says that we should either give in to America and listen to whatever he says, or pressures and sanctions will continue. This is a dilemma that we said is wrong and false. However, there is another dilemma: we should either endure the problems resulting from sanctions or we should show resistance through the economy of resistance [audience chant 'Oh liberated Leader! We are prepared! We are prepared!']. Very well, your preparedness is very good. However, mere preparedness is not enough for the economy of resistance. We have spoken about 'action and implementation.' Of course, the honorable administration has carried out certain tasks in the area of the economy of resistance. We said that they should form a command center for the economy of resistance and they did so, appointing the First Vice President as the head of that command center.

"And they adopted some measures. They also gave me a report and I explained it for the people today in the new year message. However, these are only some preliminary tasks. They have reported to me that as a result of certain activities, our balance of trade has become positive. This means that our non-oil exports are more than our imports. Well, this is very good news. Another issue is that our imports are less than the previous year. These are very good pieces of news, but they are not enough and the task will not be completed with such measures. A number of fundamental tasks should be carried out. I have written down some tasks that should be carried out in the area of 'action and implementation.'

"The first task is that the honorable executive officials should identify and focus on those economic chains of activities that have priority. Some economic tasks in the country have a priority over others in the country and they are more significant. They are like mother tasks out of which many economic and productive windows will open. They should focus on such tasks. They should identify them, determine the roadmap and make it clear what should be done about all these tasks.

"The second task that should receive attention on the issue of the 'action and implementation' that we spoke about is reviving domestic production. According to the reports that I have received, today, about 60 percent of our productive capacity is untapped and unused. Some [of our industries] work less than their capacity and some do not work at all. We should revive production. We should breathe life into it. There are certain ways for this. Many committed economists know these ways. I have repeatedly said to the honorable executive officials that they should call for these critics so that they listen to them because they sometimes have very good suggestions. It is possible to revive production and get it moving in the country.

"The third issue is that we have foreign trade and that we import. We need certain things that should be imported from abroad. We have to buy them and there is nothing wrong with this. However, we should pay attention that our purchases should not weaken our power to engage in domestic production. Imagine that we want to import and buy airplanes. It is said to me - executive officials themselves say this to me - that if we invest such and such a percentage of the price that we pay to buy airplanes in our domestic airplane industries, we will reap more benefits and the domestic production will be boosted as well. If we buy everything from abroad and if we do not pay attention to the disasters that imports will bring to domestic production, this is a mistake! Therefore, when buying products, we should act in a way that domestic production will not be weakened.

"The fourth task is that we have a certain amount of money outside the country. We have sold, for example oil, but they have not given us the money. On the issue of the Bar-Jaam, it was decided that this amount of money will return to the country. Of course, a large portion of it has not returned. A large portion of it has not returned because of certain problems. We can see the Americans' hands behind this matter. Of course, there are other motives as well, but the malevolence of some American organizations is the main factor behind failure to bring back this money.

"But it will in the end return. When these sums of money return from outside the country - no matter how many billions it is - it should not be used in areas that actually waste it. This is the money that enters the country and the country needs it. Primarily, it should be used in the area of, for example, domestic production. They should take care not to let the money that enters the country be wasted, ruined and spent on unnecessary purchases and measures. It should not be spent in an extravagant manner. This means managing the financial resources that enter the country through foreign banks and centers.

"The fifth issue is that there are certain areas in our economy that are important and fundamental such as the area of oil and gas or the area of engine production for automobiles, airplanes, trains, and ships. These sensitive and important areas should become knowledge-based. When we speak about knowledge-based economy, this is what we mean. Our youth and our scientists have shown that they can innovate and that they can help us improve our technological level. Well, is it a minor achievement to adjust long-range missiles in a way that they hit the target from a two-thousand-kilometer distance and with a two-to-five-meter margin of error? Well, the brain that can accomplish this feat can accomplish other feats as well!

Another example is that they can improve the level of car engines so that they consume less fuel or build train engines with such and such features. They can do that! Right now, there are some economic and productive agencies in our country whose works and products are either better than or equal to their foreign counterparts. At this very moment, we have such agencies. Well, these areas should be strengthened. So, making the important areas of our domestic economy knowledge-based is one of the tasks that is a prerequisite for the economy of resistance and that should definitely be accomplished."

"The sixth issue is that we have invested in some areas in the past. These areas should be utilized and benefited from. We have made good investments in the area of building power plants in the country. We have made good investments in the area of petrochemicals. Today, the country needs power plants. Other countries too need the power plants that we build at a lost cost. We should not buy and import power plants from outside the country anymore or we should not hire some individuals from outside the country so that they build power plants for us. Those areas that have been invested in and for which great efforts have been made should be revived and benefited from.

"The seventh issue is that we should set strict terms for the transfer of technology in all foreign transactions that we carry out. Of course, our brothers in the administration have said to us that they have done and continue to do so. However, I would like to stress and repeat this so that it will not be neglected. For example, if they want to buy a new product, they should not buy those that have already been produced in the country, rather they should buy and bring those products with their specific technology. They should bring technology to the country. They should pay serious attention to this matter when signing contracts.

"The eighth issue is combating corruption, economic rents and smuggling in a serious manner. These phenomena are damaging the economy of the country. It is the people who are suffering from this. If we show negligence in the face of those groups that, for example, win special concessions and have particular privileges on economic matters through collusion with others, that reap special benefits for themselves, and that engage in monetary, financial and economic corruption, the country will certainly sustain a loss. Therefore, no negligence should be shown in this regard. Of course, when it comes to talking and creating uproar - in particular, with certain political orientations and positions - beautiful things are said in newspapers, but they are of no avail! If we arrest an economic criminal and if newspapers write about him in detail and publish photos of him and the like with partisan and political motives, these courses of action are of no avail: 'Two hundred words are not like half an action' [from a poem by Ferdowsi]. They should block the way of the corruption that might occur in the present time and they should prevent it. The same is true of smuggling. They should prevent smuggling. They should combat smuggling in the real sense of the word!

"Another issue is energy optimization. Once, I said in one of my new year speeches - that was delivered a few years ago [Supreme Leader's speech delivered on March 21, 2009 at the holy shrine of Imam Ridha (a.s.)] - that it is claimed and said that if we optimize energy, improve the way it is used and economize it, a hundred billion dollars will be saved. This is not a small amount of money. It is huge. Therefore, they should take this seriously. So many different tasks are being carried out in this country some of which are unnecessary and some of which are harmful. Well, they should centralize and concentrate tasks in such areas. This is action and implementation. Action means such things. Of course, I have heard that the Majlis has passed a bill in this regard. Optimizing energy utilization is one of the bills of the Islamic Consultative Majlis. They should really follow it up. If there is such a thing, they should focus and work on it.

"And the 10th issue is that they should take a particular outlook towards medium-sized and small industries. In the present time, there are several thousand medium-sized and small workshops and factories in the country. If the figures that they have given to me - showing that sixty percent of these factories are not working - are true, this is a massive loss. It is these small and medium-sized industries that create employment in the center of society, that engender dynamism and that help lower classes of people. They should strengthen and improve them.

"Well, these are the ten tasks that can be carried out if 'action and implementation' is applied to the economy of resistance. Of course, we can carry out other tasks as well. Officials will look into and investigate this. I have suggested these ten tasks. This is a revolutionary orientation, a revolutionary movement in the country. This is the kind of economy of resistance that will save the country. If we accomplish these tasks, we will be able to stand up against America. Under such circumstances, his sanctions will not have any impact on us."

"We do not need to forget about our values, our red lines, and our principles, so that America will not be able to impose sanctions on us. By pursuing the policies on the economy of resistance in a practical and pragmatic way, we can immunize the country. We can immunize the country so that we will no longer tremble in the face of sanctions and the possibility of sanctions. Well, they can impose sanctions on us. If the economy becomes resistant, the enemy sanctions will not exert a noticeable impact.

"This means a revolutionary and religious movement. If we carry out such tasks, the honorable executive officials can deliver a report to us at the end of the year 1395 saying that they have revived these several thousand workshops, factories, farms, ranches and the like. They can come and say these things and they can report it to the people so that they both see and feel it. When the people feel this, then they will begin to trust.

"And of course, the people should help as well. I will tell you that the people - whether political and economic personalities or the masses of the people - should help the administration and the officials of the country. Of course, this task [the economy of resistance] is not only the responsibility of the administration. All the three branches should cooperate with one another so that the task moves forward. And the people should help them as well. This assistance is necessary. The seriousness of officials - particularly the officials in the executive branch - is necessary as well. If we can launch this movement, it will be accompanied by both speed and success because as I said, this is a revolutionary movement.

"Whenever we carried out a revolutionary task, we achieved these things. Notice that the task that our nuclear martyrs pioneered in the nuclear area - which is very sensitive - the task that Shahid Tehrani Moqadam pioneered and the task that Shahid Kazemi pioneered in the area of stem cells are very great feats.

"In cultural areas too, the task that Shahid Avini pioneered, which was continued by the late Salahshoor in recent years - these personalities were the pioneers of revolutionary work in our country - should be promoted. The value of these personalities should be appreciated and their names should be commemorated. This is revolutionary work. The reason why I repeatedly say that revolutionary forces should be commemorated and preserved is this. When the task is accompanied by a revolutionary spirit, it will move forward!

"I discussed the issue of the economy of resistance. Now, I want to say a few words about cultural issues as well. As you know, cultural issues are very important from my viewpoint. I attach great significance to cultural issues. What I want to say today is the same thing that I think I said last year or the year before that in the meeting that is held in the beginning of the year [Supreme Leader's speech delivered on March 21, 2014]. At that time, I said that those popular groups that do cultural work voluntarily - in the present time, there are thousands of popular groups that are doing cultural work voluntarily and that are working, thinking and making efforts on their own - should be developed on a daily basis.

"Executive organizations should help them. Executive organizations - those that are in charge of cultural work - should open their arms to religious, pious, revolutionary youth instead of opening their arms to those who do not at all believe in Islam, in the Revolution, in the Islamic Republic and in Islamic values. These revolutionary youth can work, as they are working right now. Valuable cultural tasks are being carried out in the present time. In all areas, our revolutionary youth can work hard.

"Dear youth! The country belongs to you! The future belongs to you! The present time belongs to you as well! You should know that if you are in the middle of the arena, if you move forward with faith in God and with reliance on Him and if you believe in yourselves, America and those greater than America will not be able to do a damn thing against you!..."

Endnotes:
News / National

by Stephen Jakes

The Human Rights watch ,ROHR Zimbabwe (Restoration of Human Rights) has revealed that there is growing concerns with people in the diaspora over the health and age of President Robert Mugabe considering the fact that he was captured on camera dozing during a press conference in Japan recently."There is growing concern in the diaspora about the well-being of Zimbabweans when Mugabe goes. People in the know have already accepted that one day Mugabe will leave us," said ROHR. "They have prepared themselves  made a plan as it were. But the people the Vigil worry most about are those who have been led to believe that Mugabe is semi-divine. And it is clear there are many of them. For them the loss will be cataclysmic."The organisation said Mugabe has gone to see his doctors in Singapore twice in the last few weeks so it is clear that he is about to take leave of us."We must be brave. Others have gone through similar trauma. We remember the mass hysteria in North Korea at the departure of the Great Leader Kim Jong Il, whose people had been led to believe that he could never get ill. Scenes of public grief were broadcast around the world. Zimbabweans must show we are made of sterner stuff," said ROHR."We expect Harare to come to even more of a halt when the great transition occurs. So outside help will be urgently required to minimise grief-related suicides and post-traumatic stress disorders."The organisation said to do our bit, we in the diaspora are appealing to the United Nations to prepare to send teams of bereavement counsellors who could fan out across the country."Para-psychotherapists could even be air-dropped in remote areas," said ROHR.
In recent days, tensions have risen between the U.S. and Russia over the U.S. decision to increase the budgets and activities of NATO forces in Eastern Europe. Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu has stated that Russia is ready to respond to NATO's growing potential in Europe. On March 25, 2016, he denounced the upgrade of NATO troops in Europe, in particular near Russia's borders, thus compelling Russia to react. "NATO continues to build up its military potential in Europe, including in close vicinity to the Russian borders. No doubt, this situation cannot but concern us. We are forced to respond to it," the minister said.[1]

Shoigu added that in 2016, Russia's Western Military District will be upgraded with over 1,100 pieces of military hardware, including Sukhoi Su-35 advanced fighter jets, Koalitsiya-SV and Msta-SM self-propelled howitzers, and S-400 antiaircraft missile systems. The District has set up a new 1st Tank Army headquartered in the Moscow area. During 2016, Russia will raise its alert levels and conduct 800 operative and combat training drills to boost the military's response readiness.[2]



Russian missile. (Source: AFP 2016/ ALEXANDER NEMENOV)

At the same time, according to U.S. Gen. Philip M. Breedlove, Supreme Allied Commander, Europe and Commander of U.S. European Command, the U.S. too is planning to step up its troop presence in Europe. These measures are part of the implementation of the Readiness Action Plan[3] approved by NATO in 2014; the plan sets out measures for an efficient response to threats deriving from the Russia-Ukraine crisis and from the situation in the Middle East and North Africa. In this framework, U.S. Army Europe will increase the total U.S. Army presence in Europe up to three fully manned armored brigades, with the first arriving in February 2017.

Russia's Envoy To NATO: Russia Will Respond "Totally Asymmetrically"

In a March 31, 2016 interview with Russia 24 TV, Russian envoy to NATO Aleksandr Grushko promised a "totally asymmetrical" response if NATO carries out its plan to deploy new armored units to Eastern Europe.[4] Grushko said: "We are not passive observers, we consistently take all the military measures we consider necessary in order to counterbalance this reinforced presence that is not justified by anything. Certainly, we'll respond totally asymmetrically." He added that Russia's actions would correspond to its "understanding of the extent of the military threat; not only will this not be extremely expensive, but it will also be highly effective.OC

Some hints of the form such an asymmetrical response might take came from other top Russian officials. Russian Foreign Ministry Department of European Cooperation director Andrei Kelin explained that "symmetrical steps are unlikely" taking into consideration "the huge amount of money that our American partners are presently investing" and what he called U.S. plans to spend "four times as much" in 2017. He added: "I'm sure that a symmetrical response is completely unnecessary. However, compensating measures to maintain a normal military-strategic balance are being taken and will be taken."[5]

Russia League of Military Diplomats deputy director Sergei Kalmykov said that a Russian response consisting of "building up arms on the Russian border" would only increase Russia's "vulnerability vis-a-vis NATO." Kalmykov said that Russia needed to find ways to increase its strategic forces' access to the U.S. - meaning developing its submarine fleet. He added, "The same goes for strategic aviation. And, of course, options are being considered for using 'platforms' abroad. For the moment, the latter is not actively being developed."[6]

Russian Academy of Sciences Institute of International Security Problems researcher Alexei Fenenko suggested that the main "compensating response "might be tactical nuclear forces: "Today we have superiority in tactical nuclear weapons in the European theater of operations. It seems to me that placing them in European Russia, Belarus, and the Baltic Fleet will, apparently, sufficiently compensate for the American [move to strengthen NATO]."[7]

International Centre of Geopolitical Analysis president Colonel General Leonid Ivashov told the Russian pro-Kremlin news outlet Pravda.ru that Russia is ready to respond by political and diplomatic as well as military means.[8] He added that NATO is not a "security tool for the European nations" but a tool of "aggression."

"The Current Generation Of Western Politicians Likes The Taste Of Blood"

A March 21, 2016 column by Said Gafurov in Pravda.ru, titled "Russia Must Be Armed To The Teeth To Stop NATO's Aggression," accused Western leaders of liking the "taste of blood" and of willfully pursuing a policy of dangerous confrontation with the Russian Federation. The column also noted that Russia is taking the necessary countermeasures against the U.S. move to strengthen NATO, and gave a long list of Russian military equipment that was added in 2015. Following are excerpts from the column:[9]

"Russia was deliberately destroying its defense industry during the 1990s. The Russian administration at that time believed that Russia had no enemy at all. The demilitarization of the economy cost Russia a lot. Luckily, the country woke up in time. These days, the revival of the Russian defense industry is in full swing.

"War is a terrible thing - probably the most terrible thing that could ever happen in the history of mankind. Everything possible must be done to avoid war. If war happens, everything possible must be done to end the armed part of a conflict - such as Russia did in Syria by sponsoring a peace conference between the Syrian government and opposition.

"NATO's aggressive stance is the most unpleasant thing in this situation. The current generation of Western politicians likes the taste of blood. They are like predators, like sharks in the sea, hastening to catch and kill their prey. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, we saw NATO aggression in a number of countries...

"NATO members do not understand the power of words - they understand only the power of force. The best proof of this was the insurgency in Ukraine, when a bunch of rebels - no more than 30,000 people - killed Ukrainian democracy, overthrew the legally elected president of a country with a population of 45 million, and flung the country into a bloody mess. Russia must be fully armed in order to be able to stop NATO's aggression. Russia needs to spend money on defense. Otherwise we will have to pay with blood.

"In 2015, Russian ground troops were reinforced with more than 1,000 armored vehicles, 300 units of anti-aircraft missile complexes and systems, over 3,400 automotive vehicles, about 22,000 units of communication systems, and two Iskander operational-tactical missile complex systems. Russian air and space troops received more than 230 aircraft, 158 helicopters, 191 radar stations, four S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems, more than 35,000 aircraft weapons, and nine units of spacecraft launch vehicles. In addition, seven carrier rockets were launched, and eight military satellites were put into orbit. The Russian Navy was upgraded with four warships, four submarines, 52 vessels, two Bastion coastal missile complexes, 27 naval aircraft, and 45 units of missile and artillery weapons.

"Russian airborne troops were reinforced with 114 units of armored vehicles, two complexes of the Verbaanti-aircraft missile system, and 11,000 landing complexes. Additionally, the Russian Strategic Missile Forces received 21 strategic ballistic missiles, and 386 units and components of mobile and stationary missile complexes."

The U.S. Is Trying To "Intimidate Russia - But On The Other Hand Talk[ing] About The (Imaginary) Russian Threat"

"Of course, we hope that all these weapons will never be used in combat action. Yet all these weapons act like a cold shower to cool the ardor of the hawks in the Pentagon. They behave very aggressively. On the one hand, they try to intimidate Russia - but on the other hand, they talk about the (imaginary) Russian threat. This is partly due to the fact that they are in the midst of the budget year, and the U.S. military-industrial complex wants to get as much [funding] as possible, as the outgoing president prepares to leave the White House.

"In 2015, Russia manufactured 97% of the new weapons it needed. This seems like a lot - but the 3% that is missing equals 15 aircraft, eight ships and vessels, 17 units of automatic control systems, three Rokot carrier rockets, one upper stage, 253 rockets for various purposes, and 240 armored vehicles. President Putin was concerned about the delayed and failed contracts. The reasons for this include poor planning, insufficient manpower, no manufacturing of spare parts and materials, and loss of production technologies. Indeed, Russia is now producing less than the USSR did.

"Russia is importing what it used to manufacture at home, and has launched the manufacture of many components...

"For now, China is helping Russia solve many of its problems... But the defense industry is the area in which Russia must rely solely on itself."

Endnotes:
Dear Muslim men,

I still remember the day my mother was told her life was in danger. Her right to exist on this earth was suddenly being questioned because she decided she was exhausted. Exhausted for all her sisters, mothers and daughters who are unfortunate enough to have been born with another X chromosome rather than a Y.

What were her demands? Merely a space to pray in the mosque. Despite knowing she was potentially putting herself on the line, she stood her ground to claim what has been snatched from us. This did not happen in a faraway land, but here in the UK, and the heinous crime my mother committed that warranted such a savage response was requesting her God-given rights.

She should have been smart enough to know not to ask for something that may threaten the towering, carefully constructed, religiously disguised pedestal that has cradled the male ego for centuries. The outrageous desire to pray in a mosque that has only welcomed men since its creation represented values far too Islamic for these chauvinists.

We attended a mosque meeting advertised as being 'open to the public', and were abusively shouted down as soon as my mother attempted to make a contribution. No one had yet informed us that 'the public' does not include females.

 Thinkstock Photos/Getty Images

Following police involvement, we were begrudgingly afforded a small place to pray, and saw the intimidation tactics become even more pathetic: tutting, head-shaking and sneering comments followed us round every corner. We felt unsafe.

And this isn't an isolated incident. When certain Muslim Labour councillors were accused of systematically and calculatedly blocking Muslim women from becoming MPs, I wasn't surprised. I wasn't surprised at another result of relentless animosity, the opening of a woman-led mosque in Bradford, either.

There's no religious illegitimacy here. Making room for Muslim women isn't un-Islamic. And I haven't been pushed away from my religion by sexist men in the Muslim community.

Instead, I have drawn closer to my faith. I recognise the irony of the fact that the first university in the world was established by a Muslim woman, yet today many are denied an education. That the Prophet Mohammed fought on horseback alongside a woman, and yet now, many are told to stay in their houses and denied the right to drive. That in Mecca, at God's house, I walk hand-in-hand with my husband while worshipping, but UK mosques deny me entry. That the majority of the 5,000 annual British converts to Islam are women, because they see the Quran affirming gender equality, and have realised a deeper liberation - even as a culturally asphyxiated brand of so-called Islam run by chauvinists oppresses us.

Quite simply, in being your intellectual, spiritual and social equals, we recognise the immensity of the paradox that some of you continue to propagate. Despite your fervent attempts to use mistranslations and misinterpretations of scripture and tradition to satisfy your desires, we don't believe you. We do not need strengthening, we need recognition of the different forms our strength comes in.

This is an injustice at one end of the same spectrum that groups like Isis operate on. And for those of you who do not actively enforce this injustice, by remaining complicit in the shackling of even one woman, you are shackling all of us. How can a society progress if half of it is chained?

We're desperate to pull back the paralysing grip of the lethal combination of male ego and cultural deadweight, to untangle this mess and to live how our faith truly tells us to live, relieved of our exhaustion.

Ultimately, we need you to help us reclaim Islam.

Until all of society learns to respect the half of society that bears and births them, humans will remain crippled, our social ills cannot be healed. We are hurting. Exhausted. But I have hope.

Because, as Al Ghosaibi says, 'when a wound is tired of crying, it starts to sing'.

(This post was written by Hiba Khan and originally appeared in The Times Of India)
During the Indo-Pak War of 1965, a battle took place, which the Indian army had already lost, on paper. Although, what happened on the battlefield proved yet again that the bravery and courage of the Indian army soldiers is beyond measure. This was the Battle Of Asal Uttar or The Real Answer.

 indiadefencereview

At the peak of the war of 1965, Pakistans General Ayub Khan devised a strategy to capture Amritsar and block the supplies of the Indian Armed Forces stationed in Jammu & Kashmir. The task was handed over to the 1st Armoured Division aka the Pride Of Pakistan. Pakistans motive, in a nutshell, was to defeat India in the worst way, inflicting as much collateral damage as possible.

 indiadefencereview

Backed by America, the Pakistani army back then, was armed with the worlds best Patton Tanks. The Indian army was still recovering from the loss it had suffered against China in 1962 and the military modernization was still underway. On 8th September 1965, Pakistan army launched its first arm of offensive in the Khem Karan area of Punjab with over 220 Patton tanks ready to turn everything in that came their way to dust. Lt. General Harbaksh Singh was commanding the Indian battalion that was to face this massive attack. The Pakistani offensive outnumbered the Indian defensive by the number of soldiers and tanks. It was up to Lt. Singh to either withdraw or defend his position. Instead of withdrawing, he rearranged his forces in a U-shaped formation around the town of Asal Uttar. The idea was to assault as many tanks as possible from all three sides.

 indiadefencereview

Thinking that Indian troops had withdrawn, the Pakistani tanks got lured into the U-shaped area. The Indian army had already flooded the sugarcane fields with water that led the thick armored Pakistani Patton tanks to sink and get stuck into the mushy soil. The entire Pakistani cavalry of 200 plus tanks was now immobilized. At this time, the soldiers and tanks of Indian army commenced a massive fire assault. The tall sugarcane grass allowed the Indian forces in the U-formation to remain hidden but yet, stay very close to the Paki tanks. The result was that out of 220 Patton tanks, 170 were destroyed or abandoned and 11 captured. Only 32 Indian tanks were damaged. The sight of the destroyed tanks was such that the town was named Patton Nagar aka The Graveyard of Pattons. The story of Lt. Singhs brilliant strategy is still told at military schools all over the world. This battle went down in history as the largest tank battle after World War 2.

H/t  Quora, Wikipedia
The industry was still reeling over the suicide of television actress Pratyusha Banerjee who was a mere 24 years old. Everyone had something to say. Her friends and co-stars went to great lengths to talk about her life and the many issues she was facing. From Rakhi Sawant asking the government to ban fans to Dolly Bindra recording Pratyusha's mother's emotional outburst, the mishap soon invited opinions from the whole industry.

Along came Bollywood veteran Hema Malini's tweet about suicide as a senseless act.

All these senseless suicides which achieve nothg! Life is God's gift for us to live not for us to take at will. We have no right to do that.  Hema Malini (@dreamgirlhema) April 4, 2016

She went on to say how the world admires a winner and not a loser.

One must learn to overcome all odds & emerge successful,not succumb under pressure & give up easily.The world admires a fighter not a loser  Hema Malini (@dreamgirlhema) April 4, 2016

Isnt this exactly what we are told by our ever-so-righteous society? Oh, you are in depression; snap out of it! Oh you lost your job; you are a loser! Oh, you had a breakup; don't be a cry-baby!

There is a deep lack of understanding and empathy about mental health in our country. Depression is seen as a sign of failure. Sensitivity is seen as emotional weakness. Tears make you look weak, more so if you are a man. This is exactly why we learn to curb those feelings, push them to a corner of our hearts and let no one know. Far from seeking help or a confidante to discuss our troubles with, we end up suffering in silence.

It's time to speak up. Call up a friend, go to your parents, approach your professors, or anyone you get along well with, and discuss.
Deciding how much research funding gets allocated to each disease is a perpetually contentious issue.

Every year, doctors, scientist and policymakers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH)  the health research arm of the U.S. government  must make critical decisions and evaluate which diseases pose the biggest public health threat and, therefore, which get the most money.

Though some believe mortality rate is the primary concern, the NIH considers many other factors. Morbidity, financial cost and disability worldwide, both current and projected, all play into the evaluated burden of disease.

While the NIH commits billions of dollars to fighting diseases around the world, the organization is funded by U.S. taxpayer dollars. Some point out that the organizations funding doesnt always match the need at home in the U.S.

Take malaria, for example. While this disease caused 438,000 deaths worldwide in 2015, it only killed 10 in the U.S. in 2013. But, American taxpayers paid roughly $163 million in NIH malaria research funding in 2015. Thats $16.3 million in funding per American death to malaria. In comparison, consider that the average funding per death in America  when accounting for the NIHs full $30.4 billion budget  is a mere $11,691. In the scope of the U.S., that makes malaria, at approximately 1,362 times the average funding, disproportionately overfunded.

On the flip side, many deadly diseases in the U.S. could be considered underfunded  receiving less funding per death than the average of $11,691.

Lung cancer is notorious for this. In 2008, the New York Times noted the limited funding per death, and that still holds today. This disease killed 156,252 people in 2013 and in 2015 it received $348,755,072 in funding. That shakes out to only $2,232 per death. And a few other common diseases receive even less still.

Commenting on a 2011 study he did, Clairborne Johnston, the dean of the Dell Medical School, noted that it appears we underfund things where we blame the victim. Given the connection between smoking and lung cancer, this might explain the diseases current funding, or lack thereof.

Using data from the NIH and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the experts at HealthGrove discovered the 18 deadliest, underfunded diseases in the U.S. These diseases all receive less funding per death than the $11,691 average.

It is important to note that many diseases not listed may be underfunded considering the pain and disability they cause. For example, migraines negatively affect the lives of many people, but they are not included on this list because they do not directly cause death.

#18. Prostate Cancer

Funding per Death: $10,395

Deaths in 2013: 27,682

Total Funding in 2015: $287,746,995

Average Funding Per Death for All Diseases (in the U.S.): $11,691

#17. Ovarian Cancer

Funding per Death: $8,282

Deaths in 2013: 14,276

Total Funding in 2015: $118,228,637

Average Funding Per Death for All Diseases (in the U.S.): $11,691

#16. Chronic Liver Disease and Cirrhosis

Funding per Death: $8,087

Deaths in 2013: 36,427

Total Funding in 2015: $294,592,023

Average Funding Per Death for All Diseases (in the U.S.): $11,691

#15. Alzheimers Disease

Funding per Death: $6,951

Deaths in 2013: 84,767

Total Funding in 2015: $589,204,366

Average Funding Per Death for All Diseases (in the U.S.): $11,691

#14. Colo-Rectal Cancer

Funding per Death: $5,905

Deaths in 2013: 52,252

Total Funding in 2015: $308,539,973

Average Funding Per Death for All Diseases (in the U.S.): $11,691

#13. Parkinsons Disease

Funding per Death: $5,804

Deaths in 2013: 25,196

Total Funding in 2015: $146,226,134

Average Funding Per Death for All Diseases (in the U.S.): $11,691

#12. Hypertension

Funding per Death: $5,763

Deaths in 2013: 37,144

Total Funding in 2015: $214,050,133

Average Funding Per Death for All Diseases (in the U.S.): $11,691

#11. Uterine Cancer

Funding per Death: $5,598

Deaths in 2013: 9,325

Total Funding in 2015: $52,205,435

Average Funding Per Death for All Diseases (in the U.S.): $11,691

#10. Digestive Diseases  (Peptic Ulcer)

Funding per Death: $5,191

Deaths in 2013: 2,988

Total Funding in 2015: $15,510,306

Average Funding Per Death for All Diseases (in the U.S.): $11,691

#9. Pancreatic Cancer

Funding per Death: $4,460

Deaths in 2013: 38,996

Total Funding in 2015: $173,911,461

Average Funding Per Death for All Diseases (in the U.S.): $11,691

#8. Liver Cancer

Funding per Death: $3,539

Deaths in 2013: 24,032

Total Funding in 2015: $85,058,323

Average Funding Per Death for All Diseases (in the U.S.): $11,691

#7. Septicemia

Funding per Death: $2,711

Deaths in 2013: 38,156

Total Funding in 2015: $103,427,554

Average Funding Per Death for All Diseases (in the U.S.): $11,691

#6. Digestive Diseases  (Gallbladder)

Funding per Death: $2,374

Deaths in 2013: 3,377

Total Funding in 2015: $8,015,404

Average Funding Per Death for All Diseases (in the U.S.): $11,691

#5. Stroke

Funding per Death: $2,233

Deaths in 2013: 128,978

Total Funding in 2015: $287,984,427

Average Funding Per Death for All Diseases (in the U.S.): $11,691

#4. Lung Cancer

Funding per Death: $2,232

Deaths in 2013: 156,252

Total Funding in 2015: $348,755,072

Average Funding Per Death for All Diseases (in the U.S.): $11,691

#3. Pneumonia

Funding per Death: $2,100

Deaths in 2013: 53,282

Total Funding in 2015: $111,914,006

Average Funding Per Death for All Diseases(in the U.S.): $11,691

#2. Heart Disease

Funding per Death: $2,065

Deaths in 2013: 611,105

Total Funding in 2015: $1,261,640,505

Average Funding Per Death for All Diseases (in the U.S.): $11,691

#1. Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Funding per Death: $663

Deaths in 2013: 145,575

Total Funding in 2015: $96,584,162

Average Funding Per Death for All Diseases (in the U.S.): $11,691

Research Diseases on HealthGrove
A 48-year-old Milpitas woman walked into police headquarters on Feb. 27 to report she was scammed out of $29,000 by a man purporting to be an Internal Revenue Service agent who claimed she owed taxes.

The woman told police he identified himself as Mike and directed her to send a MoneyGram to another man named Charles Smith to pay the taxes owed. She ended up sending seven MoneyGrams totaling $29,000 before deciding to make a report, according to Milpitas police.

She was one of many people targeted by a sophisticated phone scam that strikes nationwide during the income tax season and often targets seniors and recent immigrants.

Milpitas police say its difficult to trace the Voice over Internet Protocol VoIP calls, which often come from out of state or abroad.

Victims typically are told the caller is an agent for the IRS and they owe money that must be paid promptly through a preloaded debit card or wire transfer. If the victims refuse, they are threatened with arrest, deportation or suspension of a business or drivers license. In many cases the caller becomes hostile and insulting.

Callers usually use fake names, give out bogus IRS badge numbers or recite the last four digits of a victims Social Security number. They sometimes mimic the IRS toll-free number on caller ID to seem official. Some send the victim an email from the IRS to verify their phone calls. Sometimes their calls contain the background sounds of other calls being conducted to mimic a call center, according to the IRS.

Milpitas Police Lt. Henry Kwong said the first red flag should be when someone claiming to be from a government agency such as the IRS asks to be paid an outstanding balance in prepaid credit cards or through a wire transfer.

Kwong said that scammers tend to have more success in bilking elderly people and those whose first language isnt English so they dont understand the procedures.

If they ever get a call from an entity, I would independently verify, Kwong said. They provide a phone number. Dont call that number, call whatever agency they are calling from and verify that the caller is legitimate.

He said when scammers trick someone into giving them money they usually go back to that person for more, as happened to the Milpitas woman who sent seven MoneyGrams.

According to the IRS, a variation of the scam has emerged in which someone calls under the guise of verifying tax return information over the phone. The scammer tries to get victims to give up personal information such as a Social Security number or financial data such as bank numbers or credit cards.

In January, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration announced the agency received reports of roughly 896,000 phone scam contacts since October 2013 and believes more than 5,000 victims have collectively paid over $26.5 million as a result. Just this year, the IRS has seen a 400 percent increase in phishing schemes.

The IRS and other government entities will not call or email to demand immediate payment for outstanding charges without first mailing bills to a residence. And even then they would not ask to be paid with prepaid debit cards or through wire transfer.

Milpitas police Cmdr. Daryl Sequeira told the Post last year that a majority of these calls are made by people outside the country, which makes it difficult to recover the money or hold perpetrators accountable.

They do a shotgun approach, he said. They might make 100 or 1,000 phone calls and then succeed with one  but tracking one of these calls wouldnt give you information  the hard part of this is, lets say they are calling out of India, we are not going to be able to go and retrieve the money.

The IRS advises that anyone who receives a call from someone claiming to be from the IRS and thinks they might owe taxes should call the agency at (800) 829-1040. Anyone who knows they dont owe taxes or have reason to think they do should report the contact to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at (800) 366-4484. Anyone who has lost money should contact the Federal Trade Commission at FTC.gov.

The IRS also does not ask for PINs, passwords or similar confidential access information for credit card, bank or other financial accounts. Recipients should not open any attachments or click on any links contained in the message. Instead, forward the email to phishing@irs.gov.

Contact Aliyah Mohammed at amohammed@themilpitaspost.com or 408-262-2454 or follow her on twitter.com/Aliyah_JM. Visit us on our social media sites at facebook.com/MilpitasPost and twitter.com/MilpitasPost.
News / National

by Golden Sibanda

Directors of foreign owned companies have legal duty to protect the well-being of their firms and must be sued if they cause their collapse, a Cabinet minister has said. The minister said directors must preserve the jobs of their workers by complying with the indigenisation law to avoid cancellation of non compliant firms' licences.Youth Development, Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Minister Patrick Zhuwao said fiduciary duty enjoins directors to firms in their personal capacity.Minister Zhuwao said because of the legal obligation of fiduciaries to their principals, directors of foreign firms should be sued if they cause closure of their firms.This comes after Cabinet resolved that firms that fail to submit plans by end of last month on how they intended to indigenise should have their licences cancelled.Foreign owned firms valued from $500 000 ($1 for mining companies) are required to sell at least 51 percent of their share to indigenous people or State entities.Fiduciary duty is a legal duty to act solely in another party's interests. Parties owing this duty are called fiduciaries. Persons to whom they owe a duty are principals.Fiduciaries may not profit from their relationship with their principals unless such people have been able to obtain the principals' express informed consent.Examples of fiduciary relationships include those between a lawyer and their client, a guardian and their ward, and a company director and their shareholders.As such, minister Zhuwao said he will assist employees of firms that may be closed if their licence is revoked for failing to comply with the indigenisation law."I said if I was an employee and if you are an employee and if the director of the company that employs you does not comply with the law in such a manner that your job and livelihood are at risk, I would advise you to sue them," he said."I will be engaging with workers once I know that there is a company that has been affected. I will look for the workers council or committee and explain to them that the law provides for this and that. They may be paid a lot of money."He said as empowerment minister, he would assist employees with legal advice on what they should do to get a good package from directors of any closed firms and including getting directors personal assets.Indigenisation and economic empowerment of local people is a Government policy anchored by an Act of Parliament to bring previously marginalised black majority to participate in the mainstream economic activities of the country."If you become director of a company you have a fiduciary responsibility and that fiduciary responsibility enjoins you at a personal level as well," the minister said."All those directors know it fully well, but want to dilly dally," he added.Minister Zhuwao said last week that licences of non compliant foreign owned firms should be cancelled once it has been established that their failure has no "just cause".
MOFFETT FIELD  NASAs Ames Research Center is planning a cutting-edge cybersecurity facility at Moffett Field to protect space missions from potentially catastrophic hacking and to increase collaboration with Silicon Valley.

Proponents of Gryphon X envision a center connecting Ames to the brainpower of the regions tech sector, with benefits flowing both ways.

The project is in the proposal and formulation stage, and no budget has been set or funds allocated, Jerry Davis, chief information officer for Ames, said in a statement emailed to this newspaper. Davis said the program may be built jointly but did not confirm a statement from a think tank that Silicon Valley companies would help fund it.

Gryphon X focuses on the reduction of cyber-based risks to NASAs missions and their highly connected systems and high-value hardware and software in the field, Davis said.

The plan arose about a year ago from conversations between Ames officials and Silicon Valley tech executives, according to the Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology, a Washington, D.C., think tank. Some of these big companies were willing to throw money into the budget to do it, institute senior fellow James Scott said. Funding didnt seem to be an issue.

Gryphon X would help build a needed bridge between Silicon Valleys tech sector and government agencies, but only if done in a way that allowed the private sector to profit, said analyst Avivah Litan from the Gartner technology research and advisory company.

You cant just put a building out there and ask people to get together and collaborate, Litan said. You have to have some business incentive on both sides. The Silicon Valley guys have to make money out of it, and the public sector guys have to get better security out of it.

Ames officials asked the institute, which has ties to Silicon Valley security companies and the Pentagon, the National Security Agency and other federal agencies, to talk the proposal up on Capitol Hill, Scott said. In House and Senate offices, The support was instant, Scott said.

Across the federal government, cybersecurity has become an increasingly high-profile concern. This years White House report to Congress on information security noted that the number of cybersecurity incidents in federal agencies rose 10 percent to nearly 80,000 in fiscal year 2015 over the previous year.

In private industry, 90 percent of senior security executives worldwide believe their firms are vulnerable to cybersecurity breaches, according to San Jose data security firm Vormetrics 2016 Data Threat Report. Many of the most pernicious attacks weve seen in the recent past have come, not just from insiders, but from an assortment of external actors  including cybercriminals, nation-states, hacktivists and cyberterrorists, the Vormetric report states.

For the space shuttle and NASAs work in general, cybersecurity is of crucial importance, said Betsy Cooper, executive director of the UC Berkeley Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity. They have networks that can be vulnerable, Cooper said.

A profound need exists for Gryphon X, according to a report by the infrastructure institute, to collaborate with industry in the face of threats facing the space program  and ordinary citizens.

Make no mistake, America is at war, the report states. The American people are subject to exploitation by a vast and nebulous storm of adversaries. If an enemy country shut off emergency systems and power grids across California for example, and then invaded, the United States may be taken unaware.

Gartner analyst Litan said hackers could indeed shut off the power grid or hack a NASA space mission. We need to have a sense of urgency about the situation. We just dont want to wait like Brussels did or like we did with 9/11, Litan said.

The institute, which counts representatives from Bay Area information and infrastructure security firms Centrify, Exabeam, Covenant, Forcepoint and Global Risk Advisors as fellows, said Gryphon X would train government personnel and private-industry staff in cybersecurity. Current anti-hacking training and awareness initiatives in the U.S. are only 85 percent effective, so at least 15 out of every 100 employees do not retain the training necessary to not make the mistakes that put organizations at risk, the report states.

The institutes report outlines possible outcomes following a hack of NASA, ranging from the theft of intellectual property to a space shuttle crash or the steering of a drone into a federal building.

NASA is now looking at the cost/benefit analysis and value proposition of Gryphon X, Davis said.

Contact Ethan Baron at 408-920-5011, or follow him at Twitter.com/ethanbaron.
News / National

by Staff reporter

THE crunch Zanu-PF Politburo meeting pencilled for tomorrow will discuss important issues affecting the nation, the party's secretary for administration Ignatius Chombo has said.He also confirmed that a Central Committee meeting has also been scheduled for Friday. The meeting is coming at a time Zanu-PF is facing numerous disciplinary cases affecting some provinces.Said Chombo: "The Zanu-PF Politburo meets on Wednesday at 10am while the Central Committee will meet on Friday at 10am again," he said. "These are very important meetings and all members should attend on time. The routine meetings are going to discuss important issues affecting the people."Although Chombo did not reveal the agenda of the meeting, it is understood that the Politburo will receive feedback from the National Disciplinary Committee on various disciplinary cases it handled.The meeting would be seized with matters of the economy in light of the progress made in the implementation of Zim-Asset. Among the cases that were dealt with are the suspension of provincial chairpersons Kizito Chivamba (Midlands), Ezra Chadzamira (Masvingo) and Joe Biggie Matiza (Mashonaland East).The trio was accused of mobilising people to boycott a meeting organised by the Women's League to thank President Mugabe for his successful tour as African Union chairman.After his successful tenure, President Mugabe passed the AU chairmanship to Chad president Idriss Deby in January.With regards to the Central Committee meeting on Friday, President Mugabe hinted on his arrival from Japan on Saturday that the meeting would discuss several appeal cases by fired and suspended party members."Go back to your bases and discuss. We'll be having a Central Commitee meeting on the 8th. So all provinces are expected to send representatives there," said President Mugabe."As you know the Central Committee acts as the party Congress. It discusses plans and complaints. Those who would have undergone disciplinary hearings and want to appeal, their cases can be brought to the Central Committee for deliberation. So organise yourselves so that we hold a successful Central Committee meeting that shows direction for the party."The Politburo last met on March 3, where it focused on Zim-Asset and the food security situation in light of the El Nino induced drought that has seen crops wilting in most parts of the country.
News / National

by Tendai Mugabe

WAR veterans from all provinces are expected to arrive in Harare today for their crucial meeting with President Mugabe on Thursday. As of yesterday, accreditation of delegates was progressing smoothly except in Harare were there was an alignment glitch of administrative districts.At least 10 000 war veterans are expected at the meeting.Welfare Services for War Veterans, War Collaborators, Ex- Detainees and Restrictees Brigadier-General Walter Tapfumaneyi (Retired) told The Herald yesterday that they were facing financial challenges in terms of logistics but he was optimistic that the meeting would be a success.He said they had received overwhelming support from major service providers such as transporters and hoteliers. Brig-Gen Tapfumaneyi said it was their expectation to pay service providers today before the arrival of delegates. "We are proceeding on the assumption that we get funding before the arrival of delegates tomorrow (today)," he said."Out of goodwill, all our transporters, hotels and other providers of accommodation have accepted our registration on the assumption that we will be paying them."Accreditation of delegates is going on well except in Harare because it has a misalignment of districts. We are working with five administrative districts but Harare has 28 administrative districts. They need to organise themselves and give 50 members for each of the five administrative districts and then 55 members who may not be members of the association but composed of categories like High Command, General Staff, field commanders in the liberation struggle."Any war veteran who had a part in the liberation war  female combatants, wounded comrades - those are the war veterans who are being selected by the Joint Operations Command process, 55 per district."So Harare province should do the Mathematics which gives us that number of delegates. It's not all war veterans who are coming to the meeting. It's a meeting of representatives of war veterans because we have 34 093 surviving war veterans so we are selecting only a third of them to come and meet the President because a meeting of 34 000 would be logistically and administratively unmanageable. That is why we are insisting that; give us your representatives. Put your best foot forward to say the issues you want to say in this conversation with the President . . ."Select people who are organised, who can articulate issues, who can engage in a conversation in an orderly and dignified way. Get all the things that must be said."Brig-Gen Tapfumaneyi said, as war veterans, they do not want to pre-empt their meeting with President Mugabe, who is their patron, but they were optimistic of a positive outcome that addresses problems facing the freedom fighters."The President invited the war veterans to a frank discussion of issues to do with their welfare. So they need to come prepared to discuss their issues with the President. They must send their best representatives forward," he said."We expect that all issues to be discussed will be discussed and the President, in his own time, as the Commander-in-Chief and our patron, will be able to address the issues both through the party and through the Government. But we cannot, at the same time, pre-empt his actions. We don't command him. He is our patron, he is our leader and he is one of us."Brig-Gen Tapfumaneyi said tomorrow, the war veterans would meet to come up with thematic reports to be discussed at the Thursday's meeting.He said most of the sessions would be closed and it was up to the President and the committee organising the meeting to publicise the resolutions of the meeting.
News / National

by Staff reporter

FORMER Vice-President Joice Mujuru's newly-launched Zimbabwe People First (ZimPF) party has urged war veterans to take advantage of their Thursday meeting with President Robert Mugabe to remind him that he owes his political survival to their sacrifices during and after the liberation struggle.In statement yesterday, ZimPF said it respected and recognised the invaluable contributions of the war veterans during and after the independence war."They should seize this opportunity to speak against the ills of their patron's government, the plight of the generality of Zimbabweans and how this situation can be turned around, fundamentally, by democratising our politics and national governance and pursuing economic policies that put the needs of our people first," ZimPF official Rugare Gumbo said in the statement."We shall continue to encourage and promote their (war veterans) involvement in building a democratic and prosperous nation without the current inherent and pervasive vestiges of corruption."In the past few months, Mugabe, who once declared Zimbabwe would only be ruled by someone with liberation war credentials, has departed from this, instead denigrating the former freedom fighters for having a superiority complex over the country's leadership and involvement in his succession.In remarks perceived as setting the agenda for the Thursday meeting, Mugabe on Saturday declared that the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans' Association was an affiliate of Zanu-PF that could not give orders to the party.Mujuru's party said Mugabe's attacks on war veterans "cast a dark shadow on Zanu-PF as a party and government"."Who would have dreamt that 36 years after independence, our liberators would be targets of attack by the party and government they helped create?"Under normal circumstances, we expect the patron of the war veterans, who is also the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, to be fully behind the expectations of our liberators and their fight for the unhindered exercise of their fundamental democratic rights including that of congregating for the purposes of demonstrating," the opposition party said.ZimPF raised the question: "Whose side is he (Mugabe) on and why?"Zanu-PF is torn between two warring factions, one known as Generation-40 (G40), which reportedly has the backing of First Lady Grace Mugabe, and another, which is said to be backing Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa's leadership ambitions."We, therefore, urge all concerned to respect and give the war veterans the dignity they deserve from all sectors of the community, while, at the same time, urging war veterans to be the nationalists that we know they should be and fight for the total emancipation of the people," Gumbo wrote."We urge the war veterans to seize the opportunity of their meeting with President Robert Mugabe to remind him and his government of the need for a peaceful and democratic Zimbabwe, where every citizen enjoys the fundamental freedoms of association, choice, speech and the right to demonstrate and choose a government of their choice."Mugabe is set to meet the former freedom fighters on Thursday, one of his several engagements in a congested week, which starts with a Cabinet meeting today, politburo tomorrow and central committee on Friday.Meanwhile, former Zanu-PF Mashonaland West provincial chairman and Youth Advocacy for Reform and Democracy leader Temba Mliswa said war veterans should push Mugabe to name his successor to restore sanity to the economy."As youth, we challenge the war vets to take Mugabe to task to resolve the succession issue. They should not leave the meeting without being told who will succeed Mugabe," he said."We don't mind who he names as his successor, whether it will be (First Lady) Grace (Mugabe) or (Zanu-PF political commissar) Saviour Kasukuwere, we don't care, as long as there is clarity on the matter."It is only the war vets who are in a strong position to challenge Mugabe to step down. They introduced Mugabe to the people during the liberation struggle when they did not even know him, so they should challenge him to come clear on the succession issue and step down."Mliswa said war veterans should also demand that Mujuru, Gumbo, former Presidential Affairs minister Didymus Mutasa, Zapu leader Dumiso Dabengwa and former war veterans boss Jabulani Sibanda be allowed to attend the meeting."Anything short of that, it is a Zanu-PF rally than a meeting of war vets," he said."Those in Zanu-PF who did not take part in the struggle should not attend. The meeting should bring to life the spirit of fallen heroes such as Josiah Magama Tongogara, Alfred Nikita Mangena, Mbuya Nehanda, Sekuru Kaguvi and many more."
News / National

by Staff reporter

War veterans aligned to Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa have slammed the Zanu-PF youth's invasion of Retired Brigadier General Agrippah Mutambara's farm just after he joined former Vice President Joice Mujuru's Zimbabwe People First Party.Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association spokesperson Douglas Mahiya described the invasion as evil.He added that Mutambara was a respected commander during the war and youths must respect what he has done for the country. Mutambara was one of the commanders who led the military wing of Zanu led by President Robert Mugabe.Meanwhile, disgruntled Zanu-PF youths in Manicaland Province have threatened massive demonstrations against district administrators, accusing them of corruptly dishing out land to their family members and top government officials.The youths are demanding land.The threats were made by the party's provincial youth chairman, Mubuso Chinguno, on Sunday while addressing an inter-district conference that was attended by several Manicaland-based Cabinet ministers including Provincial Affairs minister Mandi Chimene."We have issues, ministers here present and other senior government officials. We met our Provincial Affairs minister (Chimene) and she assured us that as youths we were going to benefit in the land distribution programme, but we have noted that district administrators' relatives and senior government officials are the only ones getting land," Chinguno claimed."Some district administrators are giving their families multiple farms, their uncles, nephews whilst youths are suffering and this should be investigated. If this continues unabated, we are going to mobilise youths from all the seven districts and demonstrate against the district administrators at their offices. Today, we are not going to name them although we have the names."The youths also committed themselves to participating in the one million men march set to be hosted in the capital in May in solidarity with Mugabe.
News / National

by Staff reporter

HIGHFIELDS West MP Psychology Maziwisa (Zanu-PF) yesterday savaged "uneducated war veterans" for threatening a showdown with party leader President Robert Mugabe and challenged them for a physical confrontation.Maziwisa, a self-confessed G40 faction member, made the remarks after Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans' Association spokesperson Douglas Mahiya threatened to doorstep and embarrass Mugabe at their Thursday meeting in Harare."We are sick and tired of people who think the President must bow down to them all the time. Who the hell do they think they are?" Maziwisa said."Make no mistake, we respect those who fought to bring about the independence of this country, but we equally expect them to respect our party constitution and especially our President. Any insult to the President is an insult to all patriotic Zimbabweans."He added: Will they win the war? They must refuse to be used or soon we will clash with them and it is not going to be a pleasant sight at all. If they think that these are just empty words, I dare them to utter just one more word of disrespect towards President Mugabe and see if all hell will not break loose."Maziwisa is not the first one to threaten the war veterans.Zanu-PF deputy secretary for youth affairs Kudzai Chipanga in February called youths to mobilise and prepare for war with war veterans who continued to "disrespect" Mugabe and his wife First Lady Grace Mugabe.Maziwisa said: "But that is all the more reason why they should learn to shut up when the learned are talking."Mahiya yesterday refused to comment, saying Maziwisa was entitled to his views.
Leaders of the Group of 20  representing about 80 percent of the global economy  have vowed to crack down on the practice, which is blamed for helping conceal money laundering, corruption and tax evasion.

By themselves, shell companies aren't illegal. Countries have tightened rules on using them  but not enough to satisfy anti-corruption activists.

News organizations working with the Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists have been processing the legal records from the Mossack Fonseca law firm that were first leaked to the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper based in Munich, Germany.

In reports that began Sunday, they said the document dump that they dubbed the "Panama Papers" shows the hidden offshore assets of politicians, businesses and celebrities, including 12 current or former heads of state.

Among the countries with past or present political figures named in the reports are Iceland, Ukraine, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Argentina.

The law firm said in a statement it observed all laws and international standards covering corporate registrations.

Ramon Fonseca, a co-founder of Mossack Fonseca  one of the world's largest creators of shell companies  confirmed to Panama's Channel 2 that documents investigated by the ICIJ were authentic and had been obtained illegally by hackers.

But he said most people identified in the reports were not his firm's direct clients but were accounts set up by intermediaries.

One of the most prominent subjects of the report is Russian President Vladimir Putin, although his name does not appear in the documents. ICIJ said on its website that the documents show how complex offshore financial deals channeled as much as $2 billion to a network of people linked to Putin.

One focus was Sergei Roldugin, a professional cellist and childhood friend of Putin. Roldugen was listed as the owner of companies that obtained payments from other companies worth tens of millions of dollars, and of a stake in Bank Rossiya, described by the U.S. Treasury as "designated for providing material support to government officials."

"The evidence in the files suggests Roldugin is acting as a front man for a network of Putin loyalists  and perhaps for Putin himself," the consortium said. Roldugin was unavailable for comment Monday. A receptionist at the St. Petersburg House of Music, where he is artistic director, said he was not in.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov claimed Putin was the "main target" of the investigation, which he suggested was the result of "Putinophobia" and aimed at smearing Russia in a parliamentary election year.

He suggested the ICIJ had ties to the U.S. government. The ICIJ is part of the nonprofit, non-partisan Center for Public Integrity, and neither takes U.S. government funding, said Peter Bale, CPI's chief executive.

Peskov said he would not go into the details of allegations that Putin's friends ran an offshore scheme, "mainly because there is nothing concrete and nothing new about Putin, and a lack of details."

Peskov, who had warned last week of an upcoming "information attack" on Putin, said he expected more reports to follow.

In Russia, where the investigation was published by the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, the scandal initially faced an effective coverage ban. Following hours of silence, state-owned Channel One reported the story, leading with Peskov's denial and mentioning dealings involving Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. The TV report said the leak may have been a U.S.-orchestrated attempt to remove Panama as a tax haven since it is competing for tax revenue.

The U.S. Justice Department was reviewing the leak for evidence of possible criminal wrongdoing that might have a link to the United States or to its financial system but could not comment on specific documents, said spokesman Peter Carr. It's not clear how many Americans have been identified in the documents, but thousands of Europeans have been named, according to local journalists.

Australia's Tax Office said Monday it was investigating more than 800 wealthy people for possible tax evasion linked to their alleged dealings with Mossack Fonseca. The agency said it had linked more than 120 of those people to an offshore services provider in Hong Kong, but did not identify the company.

Anti-corruption advocates say legal standards on shell companies have improved in some countries but are not tough enough. The G-20 leaders adopted 14 principles in November 2014 at a summit in Brisbane, Australia. The essence was that companies should be able to identify to authorities who their real owners are. Otherwise, that opens the way for money laundering  obscuring the origins of money made from illegal activity  and tax evasion.

Yet in a follow-up report in September, the anti-corruption group Transparency International said that actual implementation of the recommendations into national law had lagged. Most member countries had at least adopted a clear definition of what real ownership means, but lagged on requiring law firms and banks servicing the rich to require  and independently confirm  the identity of the real owner.

Casey Kelso, advocacy director at anti-corruption organization Transparency International in Berlin, said the reports "should light a fire under governments to take action."

"We hope that it will galvanize political leadership to actually walk the talk... You can now see the names of the people," he said.

Development advocates say shell companies help drain tax and natural-resources revenue from poor countries that desperately need the money.

The ICIJ said the documents involve 214,488 companies and 14,153 clients of Mossack Fonseca. The nonprofit group said it would release the full list of companies and people linked to them next month.

Sueddeutsche Zeitung said it was offered the data more than a year ago through an encrypted channel by an anonymous source. The source sought unspecified security measures but no compensation, said Bastian Obermayer, a reporter for the paper.

The data was from 1977 through 2015, the paper said. The newspaper and its partners verified the data's authenticity by comparing it to public registers, witness testimony and court rulings, Obermayer added.

"It allows a never-before-seen view inside the offshore world  providing a day-to-day, decade-by-decade look at how dark money flows through the global financial system, breeding crime and stripping national treasuries of tax revenues," the ICIJ said.

Panama "is the last major holdout that continues to allow funds to be hidden offshore from tax and law enforcement authorities," said Angel Gurria, secretary-general of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, an organization representing mostly rich countries. It has been working with the G-20 to restrict the use of shell companies.

Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela said his government had "zero tolerance" for illicit financial activities and would cooperate "vigorously" with any investigation.

Reports based on the leak said Iceland's Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson set up a company called Wintris Inc., in the British Virgin Islands in 2007 with his partner at the time, Anna Sigurlaug Palsdottir, who is now his wife.

He reportedly sold his half of the company to Palsdottir for $1 on Dec. 31, 2009, the day before a new Icelandic law took effect that would have required him to declare the ownership of Wintris as a conflict of interest.

Wintris lost money as a result of the 2008 financial crash that crippled Iceland, and is claiming a total of 515 million Icelandic kronur ($4.2 million) from the three failed Icelandic banks: Landsbanki, Glitnir, and Kaupthing.

Gunnlaugsson stands accused by opposition leaders of a serious conflict of interest because as prime minister he was involved in reaching a deal for the banks' claimants.

But he told parliament Monday: "I have not considered quitting because of this matter nor am I going to quit because of this matter." An estimated 8,000 angry protesters gathered outside in Reykjavik, demanding he step down and call new elections.

The office of Argentine President Mauricio Macri confirmed a report by the newspaper La Nacion that a business group owned by Macri's family had set up Fleg Trading Ltd. in the Bahamas. But it said Macri himself had no shares in Fleg and never received income from it.

Sueddeutsche Zeitung said its Tuesday edition would report that 28 German banks had used Mossack Fonseca's services to set up 1,200 shell companies.
ATLANTA, Ga.  Former Bad Axe resident Richard A. Mason has just about seen it all in his nearly 25 years in law enforcement.

Mason has worked on patrol, as a detective, undercover, in field investigation and narcotics units  all for the Atlanta Police Department (APD) in Georgia. In that time, he climbed the ranks with his results-oriented work.

He was named sergeant, then lieutenant, and in his most recent advancement late last year  he was promoted to captain. He was officially pinned at a ceremony in late February and currently serves as assistant commander of Zone 4 in southwest Atlanta, directing 148 officers and supervisors.

Its been quite a journey for Mason, who grew up in the Bad Axe area, the son of Nancy Denbrock and the late Richard A. Mason. During his childhood, while hunting in the fall with his grandfather Ralph Nugent, Mason quickly discovered he had a knack for marksmanship.

I used to walk in the corn field as he drove along beside me, Mason said. I will never forget the grin on his face after a bird went up and I brought it down.

Those experiences outdoors also helped shape Masons career path, as he realized he was not cut out for an office job. He said he originally applied with the Department of Natural Resources, but was never able to make it through the selection process.

After that, he felt law enforcement was the next step, so he obtained a degree in criminal justice. After a year working part time with the Elkton Police Department, Mason took his shot with the APD.

Growing up in a small town, I was apprehensive, but I did apply, Mason said. A year later, I was hired and headed south.

Masons initial disappointment with the DNR proved to be the gain of the APD.

After graduating from the academy, Mason took to the streets as a fresh-faced rookie in 1994 to patrol Zone 6 of the city. From there, he was promoted to detective and assigned to a gang unit.

Over the next nine years, I was farmed out to do undercover work for the FBI, ATF, DEA and, in one case, for the Secret Service, he recalled. My hair was halfway down my back and I lived the life of someone else for seven years.

While investigating a local drug gang, Mason drafted the first warrant that would allow authorities to place a Global Positioning System (GPS) device on a suspects vehicle. The move allowed his team to gather further intelligence and eventually led to the arrest of 13 gang members  the states first such convictions under its gang statute.

Since this occurrence, GPS trackers and gang statute charges have become commonplace, he said.

In 2004, Mason was promoted to sergeant, where he ran a strike team in Zone 1 of the city, then a field investigation team, and finally a merger of the two groups that produced unparalleled arrest statistics for the city. Mason was then promoted to lieutenant in 2011, where after leading several field investigation teams in high crime areas, he was asked to take over the Narcotics Unit. In his role as narcotics commander, over a period of 10 months, Mason and his team executed 286 search warrants, seized more than $700,000 in cash, $23 million in narcotics and 138 firearms.

As a narcotics commander, I was involved from the tip to the execution of the warrant, he said. I enjoy thinking outside the box and utilizing unique technology to seek a goal.

A hands-on leader by nature, Mason said the change to captain has come with its challenges. However, hes confident he can get the job done.

As a captain, I have been advised to leave the enforcement for the officers, he said of his new position. While I cannot be on the streets as much as I would like, I still find time to back up officers and do a little proactive work on my own.

It is much more difficult to motivate 140 people rather than 24, but I will make it happen.
The U.S. Defense Department's relatively new Cyber Command has received its "first wartime assignment" in the fight against the Islamic State, the Pentagon's top civilian said.

Defense Secretary Ashton Carter made the statement during a question-and-answer session after a speech Tuesday at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a defense think tank in Washington, D.C.

"I have given the Cyber Command in the counter-ISIL fight really its first wartime assignment," Carter said, referring to another name for the group known as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS.

"What that means is to bring the fight to ISIL in Syria and Iraq," he added. "It means interrupting their ability to command and control their forces, interrupting their ability to plot including against us here and anywhere else against our friends and allies around the world, interrupting their finances, their ability to dominate the population on territory they have tried to establish this nasty ideology."

Carter said, "All that, we can approach in part through cyber."

The secretary used the occasion to unveil proposed updates to Goldwater-Nichols Act, the 1986 legislation that reorganized the structure of the Defense Department in part by empowering the Joint Chiefs of Staff and streamlining the chain of command from the president to the defense secretary to the combatant commanders.

Carter said he wants to bolster the role of Joint Chiefs chairman to include "synchronizing of resources globally" and "planning complex operations," increase authority for service chiefs to more closely oversee weapons acquisitions, further streamline some combatant command headquarters and possibly elevate "the role of Cyber Command," and expand the range of assignments that qualify for joint duty.

His remarks about Cyber Command, which was created in 2009 and is based at Fort Meade in Maryland, came in response to a question posed by John Hamre, the president and chief executive officer of the center and a former Pentagon comptroller and deputy defense secretary.

Hamre said, "Any future war we fight will probably begin in the cyber space, really. How do you see that we integrate the physical fight that's kind of led and planned and coordinated by regional combatant commanders with a Cyber Command? How is that going to work?"

Carter said that while Cyber Command is currently structured as a service within geographic combatant commands, "it's more complicated than that" because its responsibilities cross multiple regions such as Central Command, Africa Command and European Command.

The secretary noted the recent bombings in Belgium at the airport and subway system in Brussels, attacks that were carried out by ISIS militants even though the organization largely operates in the Middle East. The suicide bombers killed almost three dozen people, including four Americans, and wounded more than 300 others. Gail Minglana Martinez, 41, the wife of Air Force Lt. Col. Kato Martinez, died of injuries suffered in the airport bombing and Kato Martinez and four of the couple's children were also injured in the bombings.

Separately on Tuesday, Navy Adm. Michael Rogers, the head of Cyber Command and director of the National Security Agency, said the possibility of non-state actors like ISIS terrorists using cyberattacks to inflict pain on the U.S. and other nations was among his top three concerns.

Rogers noted that ISIS- affiliated operators had posted the personal information and photographs of more than 100 U.S. troops online last spring in an act of threat and intimidation.

"Not only did the hackers for ISIL publicize the personal details on these Americans, but ISIL also called for jihad against them, urging followers in the United 5 States to assassinate them and their family members," he said. "While there is no direct link between this ISIL posting of personal information on service members and the recent extremist attacks in the U.S. and Europe, ISIL wants its followers on the Internet to take inspiration from such attacks."

Referring to the structural challenges now facing the Pentagon, Carter said, "We're increasingly finding the problem not just of inter-regional integration, but of regional-functional integration."

The geographic lines for the combatant commands "are clean as we can make them," he added. "That's perfectly reasonable  you have to divide up the pie somehow. But once you've done that, you have to make sure the slices can work together and haven't artificially created barriers. That's what I'm looking to the chairman for."

In practice, Carter said he already receives such information from the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, but he nevertheless wants to codify the practice.

"As a practical matter, I got to have that and I depend upon his professional military advice and his being in constant contact with all the Cocoms," he said, using a term for combatant commands. "But that's the role I want to make sure I clarify and strengthen. The world has gotten more integrated and so we have to get more integrated, too."

-- Richard Sisk and Hope Hodge Seck contributed to this report.

--Brendan McGarry can be reached at brendan.mcgarry@military.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Brendan_McGarry.
Almost 100 people mostly from Haiti who were rescued from an overcrowded boat off the Florida coast had no food or water for...
A Michigan congresswoman has written a letter to Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Robert Neller, asking for a detailed timeline and more information about the circumstances surrounding the death of a recruit at the Marines' boot camp in Parris Island, South Carolina, last month. In an April 4 letter, Rep. Debbie Dingell, a Democrat, called for a "prompt and unbiased inquiry" into the March 18 death of Raheel Siddiqui, 20, of Taylor, Michigan. Officials with Naval Criminal Investigative Service told media outlets there was no apparent foul play in Siddiqui's death, which was the result of a nearly 40-foot fall in a stairwell, according to reports. Dingell appeared to suggest that Siddiqui's Muslim faith may have played a role in the events leading to his death, telling Neller that "some are concerned" that hazing may have been involved in the recruit's death. "He was a young man of the Muslim faith who loved his country and wanted to serve it and protect the freedoms for which it stands. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends during this difficult time," Dingell said. "It is our shared responsibility to ensure there is a prompt and unbiased inquiry into the circumstances surrounding his death."

She asked that Neller provide the following:

* A timeline for when NCIS is expected to complete its "thorough and comprehensive" investigation into Siddiqui's death.

* A commitment from the Marine Corps to preserve all relevant records relating to Siddiqui's death, including medical and autopsy records, and to share them with Congress and the family when appropriate.

* Information about the firing of Lt. Col. Joshua Kissoon, a recruit battalion commander at Parris Island, who "was relieved of his command one day prior to  Siddiqui's death," including information about Kissoon's interactions with Siddiqui and any concerns about his sensitivity with recruits. * Whether the Marine Corps has received any indication that hazing occurred in Siddiqui's death and whether the Marine Corps has any policies to prevent and deter hazing from happening at boot camp. Notably, Parris Island officials have said that Kissoon's relief stemmed from a February investigation into specific acts of misconduct and had nothing to do with Siddiqui's death. A Parris Island spokesman, Capt. Gregory Carroll, said the decision to relieve Kissoon came March 17, but he was not actually fired until March 31. Siddiqui's family told Detroit TV news station WDIV 4 that they had been told Siddiqui jumped to his death after passing out during a drill and being awakened by a drill instructor. A casualty report they received and discussed with the station said Siddiqui had told his senior drill instructor he wanted to quit and had threatened to commit suicide. Family members, though, expressed skepticism that Siddiqui, a motivated recruit, would take his own life. That news report was later unpublished at the request of the family and they have since declined to speak with other news outlets. Dingell asked Neller to return answers to her questions no later than April 18, suggesting she planned to follow up with a congressional investigation. "Answers to these questions will give the family comfort during these difficult times and will help Congress conduct oversight of this incident," she said. --Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @HopeSeck.
A lawmaker on a key defense committee has asked the Defense Department to launch an investigation into the Defense Commissary Agency's recently changed produce pricing structure in Asia and Guam.

Rep. Duncan Hunter, a Republican from California and a member of the House Armed Services Committee, also wants the review to determine whether shoppers are being asked to not report prices or photos of items to lawmakers or the media and whether agency officials lied to Congress.

"I write to you today to share my frustrations regarding commissary produce in Asian and Guam and to ask you for your support in ensuring that our military men and women, and their families, are able to access the commissary benefits that they were promised when they swore to defend this country," Hunter wrote to Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work in the April 1 letter.

"The Defense Commissary Agency has proven itself unwilling to uphold this benefit, and I hope that you will take appropriate actions to ensure that our promises to our troops are upheld," he added.

In an emailed response to Military.com, the agency said it doesn't "intimidate" patrons to prevent them from reporting unfavorable news.

"Quite the contrary, we engage in vibrant social media and patron 'Your Action Line' programs that encourage patrons to give us honest feedback about their commissary benefit," it said in a statement. "We always welcome patrons to inform store managers whenever they have a problem with anything in the store."

The agency acknowledged there are "certain restrictions" on photography at stores, but those are security measures designed to prevent the photographing of secure areas such as cash cages, warehouse areas and entrances. Patrons can still take photos inside the store, so long as they don't violate another's privacy, it said.

Produce prices at commissaries in Japan, Korea and Guam have been the source of debate between the agency and Congress since 2014, when a new contract called for eliminating the taxpayer shipping subsidy. Prices in those areas had been based on the cost of purchasing the goods and did not factor in the roughly $48 million cost of transporting them there.

The new contract, which took effect in late 2015, requires the contractor rather than the government to pay for that shipping, which means those costs are now passed on to patrons. The contract change brought in a major price spike late last year, which commissary officials said was the result of "sourcing challenges." Those prices were reported to have leveled out early this year.

Now Hunter says in the letter that he has received reports of "shockingly high prices, empty shelves and rotten produce available for sale."

The lawmaker also said he'd concerned that officials are lowering prices at those stores only during times of scrutiny so that it appears the situation is more stable than it actually is.

"I have also heard of oddly timed 'Manager's Specials' that reduce prices for a week, only to have prices quickly rebound to their previous heights," he wrote. "I have heard it suggested that these price reductions might happen to coincide with when DeCA is evaluating the prices of produce in the commissary versus the prices of produce available outside the base at commercial grocery stores."

Hunter added, "As I know you would agree, this behavior, if true, would be unethical and would mislead the public when evaluating whether, and to what extent, the new contract is performing."

The agency, known as DeCA, took strong exception to Hunter's criticism over the pricing and quality of produce abroad.

"The suggestion that 'manager's specials' are an 'illusion' that DeCA is not delivering the best prices on produce in Guam is also far from reality," it said. "Our manager's specials and any other promotions are designed to augment the everyday savings our patrons receive by shopping their commissary.

"In the case of fresh fruits and vegetables in Guam, the local contractor has been performing to the standards of the contract, meeting patron savings on our high volume core items in comparison to prices of similar products downtown," it added. "If anything, contractor support, product quality and pricing have vastly improved within the past several months; DeCA personnel continue to work diligently with the contractor to ensure continued and expansive success."

The lawmaker has asked the deputy defense secretary to audit the fresh fruit and vegetable contracts for Asia and the Pacific, and to launch an inspector general investigation into the "managers specials," whether officials misled or lied to lawmakers on issues surrounding the contract changes and whether the agency "has tried to intimidate patrons and others into not taking pictures and not reporting supply shortages, price increases or other unfavorable news."

A measure included in the House version of the 2016 National Defense Authorization bill blocked the commissary from passing on the produce shipping cost to patrons in Asia and Guam. That rule was ultimately removed from the legislation before it was signed into law.

-- Amy Bushatz can be reached at amy.bushatz@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @amybushatz.
News / National

by Staff Reporter

Yesterday the MDC lost one of its iconic and dedicated cadres, Kelvin Meluleki Dupute.



We are devastated as members of the MDC by the passing of Dupute fondly nicknamed Chief of Protocol.



He has left a huge void in the movement which he served with great distinction, zeal and zest.



A true son of the soil whose contribution in the fight for a free and fair Zimbabwe will forever be etched in our hearts.



Rest in Peace Qhawe lamaqhawe.

Welshman Ncube led MDC has been plunged into mourning over the sudden death of one of their fierce youthful supporters- Kelvin Meluleki Dupute.Dupute, widely known as Chief of Protocol died on Monday due to meningitis.Dupute would arouse and liven MDC rallies countrywide.Below is the MDC statement:
A decorated Army veteran who battled the VA over treatment for cancer he claimed to have gotten from working over burn pits in Iraq has died, his family said Monday.

Former Army Sgt. John Marshall, who went to his grave believing his cancer was caused by standing over burn pits where the military disposed of everything from disabled IEDs to lithium batteries, died at his home in Surprise, Ariz., March 29. He was 31, and left behind a wife and two young children.

"John was the type of guy who touched people even if he didn't know them that long," said Marshall's wife and fellow veteran, Ashley. "The amount of people that have come from all over to offer condolences has been amazing and overwhelming. I knew John was a great person, but it shouldn't have amazed me as it did that so many other people thought so, too."

In February, FoxNews.com wrote about Marshall's struggle after being diagnosed with soft tissue sarcoma two years ago. He claimed the VA ruled his illness was not related to his service, and Marshall said he was unable to appeal the ruling with evidence because he was laid up in a hospital bed in January 2015 with pneumonia.

"It's all just a big slap in the face," Marshall told FoxNews.com. "I tried to be the perfect soldier. I did everything I was told, and now they just forced my claim through and denied coverage and my benefits."

VA officials told FoxNews.com at the time that they would re-examine his case, but by then, Marshall's cancer had reached the terminal phase, according to his wife.

The family raised money for his private medical treatment through a GoFundMe.com page, where friends and strangers continued to offer support on Monday.

"As retired Army, we are saddened that the VA did not come through for you," wrote Bob and Edna Woods in a post that accompanied a donation. "You and your family are in our prayers. God bless!"

"The support for my husband is so heartwarming and beyond what I ever thought would happen when this journey started," Ashley Marshall wrote on the site.

Marshall told FoxNews.com he had no doubt that the soft tissue sarcoma he was diagnosed with 14 months ago is a result of his work on Improvised Explosive Device Disposal (IEDD) units.

"During my second tour, we were providing security for the EOD [Explosive Ordnance Disposal] guys," he said. "We didn't know what we were blowing up, so it's possible that there we were exposed to something toxic. We stood over open burn pits."

An October 2013 report from the United States Government Accountability Office identified open burn pits as the likely cause of long-term health issues for many veterans returning from service in the Middle East.

"The U.S. military returning from Iraq and Afghanistan may be suffering chronic, long-term health issues as a result of exposure to toxic fumes from open burn pits," reads the report. "Defense contractors have used burn pits at the majority of U.S. military bases in the Middle East as a method of military waste disposal. All kinds of toxic waste have been incinerated in these open burn pits, including human waste, plastics, hazardous medical waste, lithium batteries, tires, hydraulic fluids and vehicles -- often using jet fuel as an accelerant."
News / National

by Sparkleford Masiyambiri

It is heart-rending to hear that former Vice President Joice Mujuru's Zimbabwe People First (ZPF) is deliberately unwilling to wait to take part in the next 2018 national elections as this appears too far for quenching their insatiable desire for power. ZPF vows to do everything to its disposal to oust President Robert Mugabe from power. Their grand plan is like trading in dangerous waters as they risky to plunge into gross violation of the mother law.This call is synonymous with subversion which amounts to treason as ZPF is under mandatory constitutional obligation to observe relevant constitutional provisions to as a gate-way to power. The current presidential term expires mid 2018, and there are no other means which can be applied whatsoever to turn up-side-down this legal expectation.In an interview recently, ZPF spokesperson Rugare Gumbo said his party was stepping up its efforts to dethrone Mugabe and his ruling ZANU-PF party from power in the interest of all Zimbabweans. ZPF should be reminded that public interests in this country can only be satisfied by following the provisions of the law as opposed to chaotic means as advocated by this newly formed political movement.Patience is a good virtue which should guide ZPF to wait until 2018 when next polls are expected.The pessimistic views championed by the ZPF predicting a leadership crisis in the event that, President Robert Mugabe falls incapacitated, are merely prophets of doom who lack appreciation of our supreme law.Zimbabwe is a constitutional democracy in which every national decision is based on the provisions of the national constitution which is the datum peg from which all legal issues are derived.Constitutional democracy is a system of government in which political authority, that is, the power of government is defined, limited, and/or distributed by a body of fundamental law called "the Constitution", and the electorate which is the general voting populace. It has effective means of dealing with all issues according to the well defined legal framework.In a constitutional democracy, there is clear separation of powers as distinctly shown by the three pillars of the state, viz; The Legislature, The Judiciary, The ExecutiveThere are cardinal essential characteristics and principles of constitutional democracy which makes it an antithesis of arbitrary rule. It is characterized by a popular sovereignty. The people are the ultimate source of the authority of the government which derives its right to govern from their consent, particularly through elections and referendums.This aspect enables recognition of the majority rule, and the minority rights which are respected in the interest of all nationalities. And there is a limited government power due to the existence of statutes which are derived from the mother law, the constitution.The state operates under institutional and procedural limitations on powers. Some of these institutional and procedural devices limit the powers of government. These may include the separated and shared powers among different agencies or branches of government. Each agency or branch has a primary responsibility for certain functions such as the legislative, the executive, and the judicial functions. However, each branch also shares these functions with the other branches which make it a functioning system.Checks and balances are done by different agencies or branches of government which are endowed with adequate powers to check the powers of other branches. For instance, checks and balances may include the power of judicial courts to declare actions of other the branches of government to be at variants with some constitution provisions, and therefore, can be declared null and void.This is the true case obtaining in this country. This reality dispels the sensational sentiments spewed by critics who wrongly label Zimbabwe as a dictatorial regime.The individual rights to life, liberty, and property are protected by the guarantee of due process of law as enshrined in the constitution. This country is never run along dictatorial or tyrannical lines as perceived by some blunt minded critics that mislead the generality of the public.The holding of regular elections as per the provisions of the electoral laws as extrapolated from the constitution, insure that key positions in government, including the presidential post, will be contested at periodic intervals, and that the transfer of governmental authority is accomplished in a peaceful and orderly process in accordance with the laws of the country.The Zimbabwean context is governed by the concept of "constitutionalism," which relates to how political authority is defined, limited, and distributed by law. The Constitution is the basic law of the political community, which enacts, and regulates the power of government as well as determining the degree and manner of distribution of political authority among the major organs like the government ministries, parliament, cabinet and the presidium, as well as the courts of legal justice.The local modern constitutional democracy also paves way for representative democracy which relates to who holds and exercises political authority, that is, members of parliament that are voted by the constituents. The electoral laws determine how political authority is acquired, and retained either directly or indirectly as the result of victory in free and competitive elections, and the voting citizenry, through participation in free and competitive elections held periodically, can effectively control their elected representatives (members of parliament). The citizens have the capacity to hold them responsible for the consequences of their exercise of governmental power.This clarification dismisses ZPF which assertions that, "Zimbabwe will face a leadership crisis because Mugabe's incapacitation will affect the security sector, judiciary and other institutions which have been under his firm control since independence." The rule of law takes toll if ever such an unfortunate incident takes place.There is no guess work as the laws spell out clearly the procedures to be followed. The nation is assured that there is no legal vacuum to that effect, and there is no need pay hid to ZPF's sensational claims which are inflammatory in nature.Joyce Mujuru and Rugare Gumbo, who are best described as menopausal politicians, need to read through the whole new constitution and develop a proper insight into the contemporary political matrix obtaining in the country. This would enable him to have an in depth appreciation of the laws, and come up with a refreshed mind which can enhance them to critique matters accordingly without misleading the generality of the public.In the meantime, ZPF only have the legal opportunity to participate in the by-elections which are forthcoming across the nation. That is when they can subject themselves to test their support on the ground. Otherwise they are frothing saliva on their lips when they do not even have a handful of support that can allow them to enjoy even a single a seat in parliament.
Reds Rule 5 selection Jake Cave has been sent back to the Yankees, MLB.coms Matt Kardos reports on Twitter. It appears that New York is accepting his return, as Cave is said to be heading to Triple-A.

Cincinnati had designated Cave for assignment on Sunday, but hes obviously cleared waivers already. The 23-year-old hasnt shown much pop in his recent minor league results or his relatively extensive spring action with the Reds. But as MLBTRs Brad Johnson explained in previewing the Rule 5 festivities, Cave could still turn into a useful player, particularly if he can tap into some of the power and speed tools hes shown at times.
News / National

by Thobekile Zhou

Kuwadzana East MP Nelson Chamisa (MDC-T) has suggested that Interpol should be roped in to probe the disappearance of activist Itai Dzamara.Parliament resumed seating today and Chamisa introduced the debated before adjournment."We are saying if government cannot go on with the investigations, then let Interpol be invited to do finality on the matter because Dzamara's family is suffering and they need closure," Chamisa said."Last time the issue was introduced in the National Assembly, Zanu PF MPs walked out, but now they cannot avoid debate on the issue because it is now in the National Assembly Order Paper instead of it being discussed as a matter of public importance.""Since it is now on the Order Paper, those MPs who ran away from the debate cannot do that now. Even if they walk out again, the issue is going to be debated anyhow since it is now a motion," he said.Dzamara was allegedly abducted and bundled into a truck a year ago in March at a barbershop in Glen View. Since then he has not been accounted for.He was well-known for one-man demonstrations at Africa Unity Square where he demanded that President Robert Mugabe should resign.
News / National

by Staff reporter

Former Vice President Joice Mujuru's Zimbabwe People First (ZPF) yesterday piled the pressure on President Robert Mugabe in his escalating quarrel with disaffected war veterans loyal to embattled Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa.Speaking in an interview with the Daily News yesterday, in the wake of the former freedom fighters defiantly contradicting Mugabe about their position and role in Zanu-PF, ahead of their meeting with the nonagenarian in Harare onThursday, ZPF spokesperson Rugare Gumbo said the war veterans had the capacity to liberate themselves and the nation.This follows Mugabe's calculated assault on restless ex-combatants on his return from Japan at the weekend, where he made it abundantly clear that he would not be dictated to by them, adding that the once powerful Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA) was subordinate to Zanu-PF, and not the other way round as some former freedom fighters think.Gumbo also urged the war veterans to be brutally frank with Mugabe in their highly-anticipated engagement with him on Thursday - and to ensure that they pressed him on Zimbabwe's deepening political and economic rot, in a noble endeavour to reshape the country's future for the better."As a democratic, inclusive and people-centred party, whose main thrust is to BUILD our beloved country through the promotion of the values of the liberation struggle, of self-determination, self-dignity and self-pride, we urge the war veterans to seize the opportunity of their meeting with Mugabe."They must remind him and his government of the need for a peaceful and democratic Zimbabwe where every citizen enjoys the fundamental freedoms of association, choice, speech and the right to demonstrate and choose a government of their choice."We also believe that war veterans, as nationalists, should take this opportunity with their patron to register their and the nation's displeasure at the poor economic policies that are being pursued by Mugabe's administration, that are hostile to industrial growth, foreign direct investment, job creation and the reduction of poverty," Gumbo said.His sentiments came as the government's ill-advised deadline for all foreign-owned firms to transfer most of their shares to Zimbabweans passed last Thursday amid widespread condemnation that this will only serve to deepen the country's economic problems and those of long-suffering citizens."It is our firm belief that the veterans of our liberation struggle will also speak against the threat to close the few industries and banks that are soldiering on in an economic environment that is patently unfriendly to investors to the detriment of the majority of Zimbabweans."We also believe that the welfare of our war veterans is of utmost importance, and that it is against the liberation war values of self-determination and self-dignity to reduce these gallant sons and daughters of the soil to charity cases who survive on the benevolence of the State president."It is therefore, incumbent upon the war veterans to speak and act against a system that has pauperised them while enriching a few unscrupulous individuals who obscenely flaunt their corruptly-gotten wealth in the form of 50-bedroomed mansions while the generality of Zimbabweans are reeling in poverty and struggling to feed themselves."We urge war veterans to remind Mugabe that true leaders do not boast about the houses they build. They boast about the investment they make in people, how they BUILD people."We acknowledge that many lost their lives and that many were maimed for life in the liberation of this country and it is with this understanding that we urge the war veterans to remind Mugabe that he owes it to those who paid the ultimate price to make Zimbabwe a democratic, and not a pariah state," Gumbo added.Referring to when police fired teargas and water cannons to disperse hundreds of veterans who had gathered in Harare last month, the ZPF spokesperson said the unprovoked attack had "cast a dark shadow on Zanu-PF"."Who would have dreamt that 36 years after independence, our liberators would be targets of attack by the party and the government that they helped to create?"Under normal circumstances, we expect the patron of the war veterans to be fully behind the expectations of our liberators and their fight for the unhindered exercise of their fundamental democratic rights, including that of congregating for the purposes of demonstrating. Anything other than that poses a big question of whose side is he on and why?'" he asked rhetorically.Gumbo said it was little wonder that more and more war veterans - who were already an integral part of the structures and organs of ZPF - were allegedly making a beehive to join the new kid on the political block.Amid all this, Zanu-PF insiders say the stage is now delicately set for a potentially explosive encounter that could radically reshape Zimbabwe's turbulent political landscape when Mugabe meets the restless war veterans in Harare on Thursday to try and iron out their deepening differences.In a daring act of defiance on Sunday, war veterans aligned to Mnangagwa openly contradicted Mugabe, saying they were "equal partners" in Zanu-PF and that the ZNLWVA was not just an affiliate organisation of the governing party as the nonagenarian said on Saturday, on his return from Japan.Speaking in an interview with the Daily News then, the spokesperson of the Mnangagwa-aligned ZNLWVA formation that is led by former War Veterans minister Christopher Mutsvangwa, Douglas Mahiya, also said it was folly for anyone to think that former freedom fighters did not have a key role to play in Zanu-PF."Just as you cannot separate Jesus from God, and cannot separate Jesus from the Holy Spirit, you cannot separate war veterans from Zanu-PF. After all, we (war veterans) are the ones who introduced Zanu-PF to the masses during the war of liberation."If someone wants to separate us from Zanu-PF, I think it will be a betrayal of the liberation struggle," Mahiya said as he unapologetically contradicted what Mugabe had said - setting the stage for a potentially bruising battle when Mugabe meets war veterans, who for some time now have felt excluded from both national politics and the dividends of democracy.Mahiya said further that ex-combatants "are not supporters of Zanu-PF but are members of the party", and as such were not supposed to operate under the leadership of people they had taught politics."During our training as liberation fighters, we were taught how to use the gun and also taught how to handle the masses in terms of politics. So you cannot say we must go under them while we are the ones who were educating them. War veterans have a big role to play in Zanu-PF politics," he said.Prodded to comment further on the view that war veterans should play second fiddle to Zanu-PF, Mahiya said this was a misunderstanding as each party needed the other, adding that one side could not dictate to the other on issues that had to do with how the party must be run. The issue is not about direction. As war veterans, we already have direction. However, the direction must not constantly be renewed because if you do so you will lose that direction."You cannot renew the direction that we had, the direction of fighting the colonial regime. We think that as war veterans we are taking the right direction. Now, it's about how government functionality and programmes benefit the people that we fought for," he said.Mahiya added: "What we are experiencing is tantamount to total chaos in the country and total destruction of the party,... we will be left with nothing at the end of the day."Zanu-PF is being manipulated to produce a different product altogether, which is a misdirection of the liberation war . . . our former enemies have infiltrated us," he said.
News / National

by Staff reporter

Allies of embattled Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa suffered another huge blow after President Robert Mugabe directed the Midlands Zanu-PF provincial executive to haul "troublesome" elements in the province to the party's National Disciplinary Committee (NDC).There had been complaints that since many of Mnangagwa's top lieutenants were booted out of the party last month, the political climate in the province had become very tense, amid reports of heightened intimidation targeted at those perceived to be against the Midlands godfather's presidential ambitions.The Midlands godfather's key supporters, who include suspended deputy provincial chairperson Daniel Mackenzie-Ncube, spokesperson Cornelius Mupereri, Gokwe-Kana MP, Owen Muda Ncube, and Victor Matemadanda, among others, were reportedly demanding protection fees from illegal gold panners.The money, according to Zanu-PF officials, would then be used against Mnangagwa's opponents in terror campaigns by a group going by the moniker Al Shabab.Matangaidze told the Daily News that Mugabe, soon after his arrival from Japan last weekend, had directed his province to compile a report and forward it to the NDC, chaired by Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko."The miners have suffered in silence over the years," Matangaidze said."They were being forced to pay protection fees to the so-called Al Shabab."That protection fee is code-named 'mhuu' and is up to 30 percent of the gold that the miner would have extracted. This is criminal, and the Kwekwe cabal has been running with this for years. We are happy that the party is now bringing this to a stop. This explains why the cabal panicked over my appointment. We will leave no stone unturned in bringing normalcy to the province."Efforts to get comment from Mackenzie-Ncube were fruitless as he said he was in a meeting.The development comes ahead of a planned visit by Zanu-PF national political commissar Saviour Kasukuwere to Midlands this week in a move meant to douse the factional flames raging in the politically volatile province.The province has seen the suspension of dozens of Mnangagwa allies, including Zanu-PF deputy secretary for administration July Moyo.The VP's regional supporters are vowing that they will not go down without a spirited fight, with parallel structures being set up at all levels and officially splitting the party into two.
News / National

by Agencies

Thornhill high school was the venue for this year National Darts Association Easter tournament which was held from the 24-28 of March 2016.All 16 provinces in the country descended in the town of Gweru for four days of explosive darts extravaganza.The darts event coincided with the election of the National Darts Association executive members.With so much on stake as the platform also was the last when national team player were being picked to represent Zimbabwe in the Region V darts games to be held in Zambia later this year. Competition was high with darts players putting up their best to get maximum points.The best part of the tournament so team Harare going toe to toe with their opponents thereby playing in almost every final on the day.Mashonaland West emerged victorious against a determined Harare side winning the team event 20-12 out of 36 games.The Harare men players played in four of the five finals.Bulawayo province which has been a force to reckon with years gone by is now a pale shadow of itself. It is now a battle bewteen Harare and Mashonaland West.In the ladies category Midlands wrestled the trophy from Harare ladies. For their efforts Harare collected 1 gold, 4 silver medals and 2 bronze medals.The elections so the return of most of the National Darts Association executive members who were returned unopposed . The vice president and treasurer were the major changes in the executive set up. It was an emotional time for the ladies as they bid farewell to outgoing vice president whom they had learned to love so much.Mr. Menard Moyo, Secretary General and organising Secretary were returned unopposed.Speaking on the official closing of the event Chief Superintendent Mkandla who was the guest of honour applauded darts players for their discipline.Harare contributed two men in the provisional Zimbabwe team and three ladies in the women team.
News / Press Release

by Mthwakazi Research Institute

The people of Matebeleland have spoken and they want nothing less than true peace in their land. This was revealed by a random survey that was conducted by McKay Tshuma of Mthwakazi Research Institute in Victoria Falls, Hwange, Binga, Lupane, Nkayi, Gogwe, Gwelo, Tsholotsho, Plumtree, Kezi, Gwanda and Bietbridge. 20 people per town were interviewed. Political parties' representatives of, MDC-T, MDC-N, ZAPU, ZANU, MRP, MLF as well as a representative from iBhetshu LikaZulu had the same questions posed to them.Only 3 same questions were asked to each of the interviewees which are as follows.1. What do you think is a hindrance to true reconciliation and peace among the people of Zimbabwe?2. How do you think peace and reconciliation can be achieved in Zimbabwe?3. Do you see this new NPR Committee achieving its mandate and fostering peace and reconciliation in Zimbabwe?-( support your answer)There were relations in answers that were given by interviewees and where answers differed, one could realize that it was maybe because of where one had his bread buttered as well as their political beliefs.210 out of 247 of all the answers to question one, blamed President Robert Mugabe and Zanu PF of promoting hate and disunity among the people of Zimbabwe. Mugabe was blamed for the Gukurahundi massacres which killed over 20 000 people in Midlands and Matebeleland regions and further criminalising an attempt by the affected families to seek justice over the killings, deprivation of the children of Matebeleland their right to quality education and employment. The 3% who opposed that view, put their blame on the dissidents, preference of South Africa of Matebeleland better educated class, over their home land as well as the lack of confidence into Matebeleland by the investors, saying Mugabe and Zanu could not be Jesus Christ who died for the sins of other people. Such comments were said on Gwelo and Bulawayo. " Some people are hell bent on dividing our Zimbabwe on tribal grounds and these are the people who are pointing fingers on Mugabe and Zanu because Zanu had the majority of its support in Mashonaland while Zapu had its support in Matebeleland ", said the man who only identified himself as Muzondiwa. Muzondiwa challenged all who put the blame on President Mugabe to prove how the dissidents were linked with Zanu or Mugabe so as to justify their claims. The Zanu member in Victoria Falls added to Muzondiwa' sentiments, saying there was nothing other than the Republic of South Africa that rang in the minds of Matebeleland youths, and when the government deploys Shona speaking teachers in the region, everyone start pointing fingers but where is the government expected to get Ndebele, Tonga or Khalanga speaking teachers because they drop out of schools in numbers to join their relatives in South Africa." We are glad the government at last, sounds willing to address our concerns as the people of Zimbabwe", said a Kezi man, who only wanted to be identified as Gaddafi. " "We have lived for quite a long time in trauma over Gukurahundi and ee hope these hearings shall open doors not only for peace and reconciliation but for Justice for the killings, because there can never be peace and reconciliation if perpetrators still walk free.An old lady in Gogwe, pleaded with all affected people to utilise the opportunity that had arisen wisely and speak-out all the problems they had. " Here in Gogwe, our livestock was taken away from us by the people that the government resettled in our areas from Mashonaland. That has contributed to the poverty that we now live in, in this place. Large herds of cattle has disappeared without trace, ever since Mashonaland people were resettled in this place", said Gogo maMvundla (not her real name).There was similarity in the answers of MRP and MLF activists regarding question number one. Their activists, said the only stumbling block was the failure by Zanu to accept the historical background of Mashonaland and Matebeleland and the relentless efforts to force their rule over Matebeleland. On question number two, the almost 70% said the solution could only be to separate Matebeleland permanently from Zimbabwe and see each state living a life free from the other's influence. Mbedzi from Bietbridge recalled their time in Tanzania during the liberation struggle for Zimbabwe and tears rolled down his frail cheeks. He said he last saw his brother there when they were attacked by Zanu guerrillas. " We thought we had one enermy which was the whites but we were proved wrong when we got to Tanzania from Zambia for Zipa training, when we found there, Zanu guerrillas chanting and dancing to war songs that denounced Joshua Nkomo, our leader. We didn't know the worst was still to unfold and I lost my brother there and that was all because of because the hate between Shonas and Ndebeles", said Mbedzi. Almost. 12% denied it all again saying there was no hate between Shonas and Ndebele people but only a stiff competition for benefiting from very limited resources which has in many cases favoured Shonas because of their numerical advantage. 18% chose not to comment on that one.Responding to the final question, the member of iBhetshu LikaZulu said, it was only a waste of the state resources while people were starving to death. He posed a question that what strategy would would the NPR Committee would they use to their intended results are achieved, which the Ministry of Moses Mzila Ndlovu did not use and if they are going to use the same strategy, why should they succeed where Mzila failed. One Tsholotsho woman cried that the government seemed to be trying to play games to set its officials off the hook. She questioned that what could be achieved in a space of 5days, why had Tsholotsho been left out from the list of places that are going to be toured considering that the Gukurahundi started and had far reached effects there. Again a small number of interviewees in Gwelo and Bulawayo sounded content that the NPCR would achieve its mandate.
Two unsuccessful bidders for a Yangon Region government tender have claimed the government decided on the winner before the selection process, and the chair of one of the firms intends to petition the new government.





Three companies applied for a tender called by Yangon Region government in early January to build a new industrial zone on vacant land owned by farmers beside a psychiatric hospital, between No2 Yangon-Mandalay Road and No7 Road in Htaung Ta Lote village, Malit village tract, East Dagon township.

Excellent Fortune Construction Public Company, part of the Excellent Fortune Development Group, won the tender with a bid of K1.45 billion, according to U Kyaw Soe, head of the tender calling committee and Yangon Region governments minister for forestry and energy.

National Development Company Group, chaired by U Khin Shwe, submitted a K20 billion bid. U Khin Shwe, who is also chair of Zaykabar and remains on the US Treasury Departments Specially Designated Nationals List, has been accused of benefiting from a close relationship with the government and obtaining land by dubious means.

Myanmar Automobile Development Public Company, headed by local entrepreneur U Soe Tun, also entered a bid, which was excluded on the basis that it was entered after the 9am deadline on March 22. The firm had already paid the K50,000 fee for the tender application form and deposited the requisite K100 million with Myanma Economic Bank, said U Soe Tun.

He declined to say what his bid would have been.

Yangon Region government signed a contract with the victorious Excellent Fortune Construction on March 25, according to U Kyaw Soe. That firm then made a required K600 million payment to the state as part of the tender, and the first of what will be annual payments of K165 million  K300,000 per-acre  for permission to develop the land, he told The Myanmar Times.





U Kyaw Soe said these per acre payments for land development were a common part of government tenders.

Zaykabar chair U Khin Shwe held a press conference at his office at Thuwunna junction on March 28, at which he complained that the tender had been awarded to the company making the lowest bid, that Excellent Fortune Constructions winning bid had been much less than his companys bid and that the tender selection process was complicated and unclear.

U Khin Shwe said he planned to complain to the new National League for Democracy-led administration.

U Soe Tun also complained about how his company was treated. Myanmar Automobile Development Public Company arrived to make its application at 9:05am on March 22 and was denied, he said. But the companies were to make their respective tender presentations to Yangon Region government at 10am that morning, which gave Yangon Region Government ample time to accept Myanmar Automobile Development Public Companys application, U Soe Tun said.

Both U Soe Tun and U Khin Shwe said separately that Yangon Region government had already decided in advance that they would award Excellent Fortune Construction the tender.

U Kyaw Soe said there had been no such decision. The bid from U Khin Shwes National Development Company Group was rejected because that firm, as part of its application, had asked that the government transfer the 550 acres to National Development Company Group without the company having to purchase the land, said U Kyaw Soe.

Yangon Region government had explained as part of the tender that the winning company would have to purchase the land from the farmers that owned it, he said, adding that the government could not simply take land from people.

If a democratic government takes land today it will be dismissed tomorrow, he said. This land is not owned by the government, but by the farmers.

U Khin Shwe said he had assumed that the government owned the land because it was the government that was inviting bids for a tender to develop the plot.

The government cant invite a tender to develop an industrial zone on farmers land, he said, adding that local companies could never typically get the authority to build an industrial zone on 550 acres of land in exchange for a payment of only K600 million.

U Aye Min, a member of the Myanmar Lawyers Associations Central Executive Committee, said it was very unusual for the government to issue a tender to develop land that it did not own, and could not think of another case.

Farmers from Htaung Ta Lote village told The Myanmar Times that a company had already purchased the land through real estate brokers, and that the purchases began the week of March 21  before the tender was awarded on March 25. They did not know the firms name, but said it had paid K27.5 million per acre. The deposit for the sale contract was set at K2.5 million, and the remainder will be paid across two instalments within a month, the farmers said.

It has been almost a week since they came with brokers to buy the land, Ko Hla Win Naing from Htaung Ta Lote village told The Myanmar Times on March 26. But I heard noone has been sent full payment. We dont know what they want to buy it for, only that they are launching an industrial zone.

Translation by Khine Thazin Han and Emoon
Trade and finance officials are looking forward to building on the experience and achievements of the past five years of democratic and financial transition. A great deal was achieved under the previous administration, but much has yet to be done fully to integrate Myanmar into the regional and global marketplace, they said.





The lifting of some European and United States sanctions, the flood of international investment, and the opening-up of the country to tourism have all helped spur the economy. International trade has risen from about US$18.1 billion in the 2011 fiscal year to $29.2 billion in 2014, according to Ministry of Commerce data.

As of early March, the figure for the current fiscal year was $26.2 billion. The slight slowdown is likely due to the effect of severe nationwide flooding that devastated cropland across Myanmar in 2015.

Myanmar has also benefited from participation in the World Trade Organisations Enhanced Integrated Framework, a facility to assist Least Developed Countries to promote economic growth and poverty reduction.

A whole alphabet soup of international and foreign governmental organisations and NGOs have come forward to advise and assist Myanmar in integrating into the international political and commercial community. More than 30 countries have granted Myanmar special trading status.

Admission to the EU Generalised System of Preferences in 2013 allowed Myanmar to increase trade with European countries and connect to new markets, said U Win Myint, director of the commerce ministrys Trade Promotion Department.

None of this, however, can conceal the fact that Myanmar imports more than it exports, running a perennial trade deficit. The development and implementation of a national export strategy to redress the balance has to be a major focus of the incoming government. That will be the job of the Myanmar Trade Promotion team. Work has already begun, with the opening of representative offices in nine countries including, in 2015, South Korea.





At the same time, the Ministry of Commerce has simplified and speeded up its procedures for granting export and import licenses, said U Win Myint.

This is a service we offer to everyone, he said, adding that a licence can now be granted within 24 hours, down from the three weeks it used to take.

Exports will rise to the hundreds of millions of dollars where before they were in the tens, he said. Licence applications, formerly accepted only in Nay Pyi Taw, can now be made in Yangon and at border posts.

Trade liberalisation can have its disadvantages, as anyone forced to sit in Yangons traffic jams can attest. The flood of affordable vehicles into the country since 2011 has filled the streets of the former capital. And critics say the notoriously rapacious jade industry in Hpakant, Kachin State, is also using machinery imported from the United States and Japan.

The outgoing government greatly simplified importation procedures, not just for cars, but also for other products, said U Win Myint. However, many goods are still on the restricted list, including a total of 4405 items, according to U Win Myint, for which licences are required, and the system has yet to go fully online. At the same time, rice exports have boomed, and new products have emerged for export.

U Mg Aung, an adviser with the Ministry of Commerce, said increased trade had brought both successes and failures. There hasnt been much difference in our trading relationship with America, sanctions against Myanmar are still in place, and we have not been admitted to the US Generalised System of Preferences, he said.

The US resumed considering Myanmar for special trade preferences last year.

One unwanted result of trade liberalisation has been the increase in smuggling, particularly around the border trading posts  although accurate and updated figures are hard to come by. A mobile team set up to combat illegal trade was disbanded toward the end of last year after some initial success. Illegal trade has increased sharply since then, and U Mg Aung said smuggling was a major issue.

Trade and financial policy are related, he said. If the incoming government cracks down on smuggling, it will benefit the entire economy.

Translation by Khant Lin Oo, Emoon and Kyawt Darly Lin
Both Port Autonomy, and its neighbour, La Carovana, are to close down on April 10, in what is another major reshuffle of Pun + Projects ventures.





The shock news took many fans by surprise, with many remembering its previous closure and forced departure from Lanthit Jetty in February 2015.

However, Ivan Pun, the millionaire-entrepreneur founder of Pun + Projects, told The Myanmar Times, It was the original plan that it was a temporary location. The plan was we were going to stay there for one year.

He dismissed rumours that it was to make way for a condominium as untrue. The timing has been carefully planned all along to coincide with Thingyan.

The change is but a part of a bigger shift for Pun + Projects that will see the number of restaurants eventually double from two to four and spread across the city.

However Port Autonomys reincarnation is likely to take longer than many would like. Despite claiming that it will reopen by July, a suitable location has yet to be found.

My first choice would be somewhere close to the river, but it is difficult in Yangon and I am open to other options, Pun explained.





He hopes this future new location will be a more permanent arrangement.

Making light of the uncertainly Port Autonomy has experienced, Pun said, Its spirit is quite pop-up-like.

The staff will be kept on, as will Hawaiian-born chef Kevin Ching  the creator of Port Autonomys signature dishes.

We will take the opportunity to tweak the menu, Pun added.

Similarly the Italian fine dining restaurant, La Carovana, situated on the same site as Port Autonomy, will also have to move.

It will be rebranded, Pun said, But it will still be an Italian concept.

Unlike its hipster-friendly cousin, this renamed outfit has already got a secured but undisclosed new home.

The old colonial house on 22A Kabar Aye Pagoda Road previously occupied by La Carovana will undergo a lengthy interior renovation to make way for a new enterprise.

Partly because of the prospect of this construction work, but mainly because of the growing heat, La Carovanas Saturday Market has been permanently ended.

As for The New Boris  another Pun + Projects venture that at times inhabited the colonial manse  Pun was less certain and has no immediate plans for it, saying, It has never really been in existence.

To soften the blow, Pun + Projects are intending to open a new Asian brasserie on Ye Kyaw Street, in mid-May. Raul Ram, as it will be called, will sport a Vietnamese theme, and will serve a combination of foods from various Asian countries.

Nonetheless, the loss  however temporary  of Port Autonomy will surely hit Yangonites hard.

Yan Nyein Aung, a frequent patron of Port Autonomy who said he eats or drinks there regularly, said the loss of a Yangon institution would have him inconsolable for many months to come.

The Saturday free-flow brunches followed by the nights of carefree drinking with the wonderful people I meet there  and in most cases became good friends with  in addition to the wonderful staff and management have made Port Autonomy easily the highlight of any weekend Ive had in Yangon since the start of this year, he said.
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Nationalist groups have staged a protest against the appointment of a Christian as vice president, calling for his removal from office because he is not Buddhist. Henry Van Thio, an ethnic Chin, was nominated as vice president by the upper house of parliament last month.





About 30 people, including 12 monks, attended the rally at Bo Sein Hman ground in Yangon on April 2.

They also called for the removal from office of Myanmars other newly elected vice president, U Myint Swe, who was nominated by the military. They accused him of not running a clean government while serving as Yangon Region chief minister.

In a statement, the groups said Henry Van Thio should not be vice president because as a Christian he does not command the support of Myanmars Buddhist majority.

U Naung Taw Lay, of the Myanmar National Network, insisted that the protesters still support the National League for Democracy-backed government.

Some people are misinterpreting our objectives. We just want suitable state leaders to replace our current vice presidents because they are not worthy of these roles, he said.

But we support our president, U Htin Kyaw. I declare that we are not against the NLD.





U Thu Citta, secretary of the National Monks Union, said he believed the protest would start a larger movement.

There might only be a few people gathered here today, but it will wake up the sleeping people for the next step, he said, promising further demonstrations against the two vice presidents.

The protest is among the first to take place under the new NLD-backed government, sworn in on March 30.

The MNN has sent letters to the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, the Amyotha Hluttaw, the Commander-in-Chiefs Office and the NLD to explain its opposition to the vice presidents.
Passport-holding migrant workers in Thailand are furious over a new policy that will see them slide into a legal grey zone, and be levied with a barrage of fees along the way.





Over 1 million temporary passport holders will not be allowed to renew their expiring residency documents, issued between 2009 and 2013 as part of a national verification process. Instead, they are being told to forfeit their legal status, and apply for pink cards that leave them vulnerable to arrest and deportation.

Thailand began the controversial process on April 1, and will issue the pink cards for 120 days.

The temporary passport holders whose documents are set to expire are being lumped in with previously unregularised workers who applied for pink cards during a post-coup amnesty period in 2014. Pink cards issued after the amnesty expired on March 31 and need to be renewed.

The new pink cards will be valid for two years. The authorities hope that by then Myanmar and Thailand will have reached a longer-term solution that has so far eluded them.

Rights groups have criticised the process as an erosion of Thailands migration policy, effectively deregularising a large swath of the workforce and stripping them of social protections they were previously eligible for, including social security and pensions.

Without any systematic announcement or transparent guidelines on the new policy, Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand told The Myanmar Times they were confused about how to maintain their legal employment.





Ko Kyaw Zay Win, a temporary passport holder at the World Knitting dye factory in Mahachai, Samut Sakhon, said he is unsure what to do with his documents and whether he needs to register for a pink card. He has worked in Thailand for six years, and said his temporary passport and visa remain valid for over a year.

I have not applied to change to a pink card because my passport is still valid, and I dont want to waste the remaining duration, he said.

He added that if he obtained a pink card it would also come with a raft of restrictions on his movement and employment, and prevent him from visiting his home and collecting social welfare.

In Pictures: Myanmar migrants in Thailand

According to the Thai government, the pink-card holders cannot travel outside their province of registration for more than seven days, and employers must sign off on any travel stints. The workers will also not be permitted to return to their country of origin.

Ko Aung Ko Min, a worker from Plango Venily factory at Samphram township in Nakhon Pathom province, said the factory owner applied for a pink-card on his behalf, without warning him. The owner said he would only employ pink card holders, and Ko Aung Ko Min said he doesnt see any alternative to forfeiting his passport and accepting the semi-legal status.

If I try to shift to a different factory it would take at least half a month or even a whole month to find work. And that would not be a good situation for me, he said.

U Aung Kyaw, from the Migrant Workers Right Network, said the organisation has tried  to no avail  to clarify details about the new scheme, including who is supposed to be registering.

We met with Thai authorities on March 31 to ask about the latest registration scheme, but we have not gotten any response to our questions yet, he said.

The Thai government said to wait until after water festival ends on April 19, and then they will have good news for us.

Ma Mya Khoar Nyo, a worker from the TEL garment factory in Sampharm who has been in Thailand for eight years, said she is reluctant to give up her passport, even it means being undocumented after it expires.

I will continue to hold my temporary passport because I hope that the Thai policy on migration might soon change due to agreements with Myanmars new government, she said. I will wait until that time, since it is the only way for me to go back and visit my home.
Against a backdrop of growing criticism, parliamentarians will today debate President U Htin Kyaws nominations for two ministerial posts initially held by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.





The president has proposed U Pe Zin Tun as minister for energy and electric power and U Myo Thein Gyi as minister for education. When the cabinet was first announced on March 22, the posts were given to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi along with Foreign Affairs and the Presidents Office. The presidents notification to parliament was dated April 1  just two days after cabinet was sworn in  but was only made public yesterday.

Both proposed ministers are current or recently retired civil servants. U Pe Zin Tun was permanent secretary for the former Ministry of Energy, which was merged with the Ministry of Electric Power by the new government, while U Myo Thein Gyi is a former rector of the University of West Yangon who only retired in recent weeks.

The latter is unpopular with student and teacher unions for his role in last years National Education Law demonstrations. U Myo Thein Gyi was part of a government team that attempted to negotiate with student leaders during what were known as the four-party talks. The negotiations broke down, however, and shortly afterward police launched a violent police crackdown on protesters at Letpadan in Bago Region. Dozens of activists remain behind bars while on trial for their role in the movement.

Daw Thu Thu Mar, a member of the National Network for Education Reform, said yesterday the new minister took a hard line against the protests.

I was really shocked when I heard the education minister is Dr Myo Thein Gyi. He is a person who did not get mutual understanding with the national education reform groups during the meetings held under the previous government, Daw Thu Thu Mar said. We are all concerned and anxious about the future of education if he is in charge  He is also responsible for the students who have been detained in prison.

Prior to last years unrest, U Myo Thein Gyi had also extended and later rescinded an invitation to the NNER to take part in an education reform forum in Nay Pyi Taw.

U Than Lwin Oo, a member of a teachers union in Yangon who was also involved in the four-party talks, said he could not understand why the NLD-backed government had nominated U Myo Thein Gyi.





We voted NLD to escape from these types of people but we are under their hand again, he said.

U That Naing, head of the Mandalay teachers union, said that U Myo Thein Gyi might have been suggested by U Aung Thu, a former rector of Yangon University who is now minister for agriculture, livestock and irrigation.

I doubt he [U Myo Thein Gyi] can be a decisions-maker on the future of national education reform, U That Naing said.

U Aye Kying, a retired officer from the ministrys Basic Education Department 1, said he hoped Daw Aung San Suu Kyi would remain involved in the education ministry.

No one is as bright as Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Its very sad day for the education sector that she isnt taking that position, he said.

Responses to the nomination of U Pe Zin Tun, a former military officer who was last year appointed permanent secretary of the ministry, were more mixed.

U San Lwin, a retired managing director of state-run Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise, said the proposed minister did not have the technical knowledge for the post.

U Pe Zin Tun worked for MOGE as a production manager, which doesnt require much technical expertise. Later he entered the ministry office when some positions were vacant, he said.

Now the two ministries [electric power and energy] are combined but U Pe Zin Tun has no knowledge in electricity, which is more important for the countrys development. I have no idea how he will be able to handle this.

U Kyaw Kyaw Hlaing, chief executive officer of energy firm Smart Group, said he was pleased with the decision as U Pe Zin Tun was not known to be corrupt.

He doesnt have any side businesses, for example, he said. While its better to have a minister with knowledge  the minister doesnt need to know everything. He just has to manage.

I heard that many people from the industry were criticising his appointment, that most were not happy, but I am happy with it.

Neither of the proposed ministers could be reached for comment yesterday. Senior NLD officials did not respond to requests for comment.

Parliament is scheduled to discuss and vote on their appointment today, but MPs can only object to them if they can prove they do not meet the criteria in the constitution.

Nevertheless, political commentator U Yan Myo Thein said he was concerned that the party had chosen two people with controversial backgrounds.

While U Myo Thein Gyi is unpopular because of the education protests, U Pe Zin Tun has developed a bad reputation among ministry staff since being appointed permanent secretary.

I am wondering why the NLD decided to appoint them. I doubt whether the NLD can implement democratic reforms with those people, he said.

Meanwhile, the president also nominated U Tun Tun Oo for the attorney general position and U Maw Than as auditor general yesterday. Both served the former government in some capacity; U Tun Tun Oo served as deputy attorney general, while U Maw Than was patron of the National Economic and Social Advisory Council, which provided advice to President U Thein Sein.
Military-appointed MPs preparing for todays debate on a bill creating the post of state counsellor for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi have called for more time to discuss the draft law which they say they will only support if it is in accord with the constitution.





Brigadier General Maung Maung, a member of the lower house bill committee, declared the militarys stance at a session of the Pyithu hluttaw yesterday.

He said it was important for the country to have a broad discussion of the bill. However, the National League for Democracy wants to use its majority in both houses to pass it in near record time, before parliament goes into recess for Thingyan tomorrow.

Speaker U Win Myint told MPs to register by 9am today if they want to take part in the debate following the bill committees submission of its findings yesterday.

The bill intends to create a special government post for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi because she is constitutionally barred from the presidency due to her sons holding foreign nationality. The NLD denies the state counsellor position is akin to that of prime minister but the military bloc, which holds 25 percent of seats in parliament, says her new role would be unconstitutional by confusing the divisions between the executive and legislature.

Some analysts see a constitutional crisis in the making just days after the new government has taken office, while others believe Daw Aung San Suu Kyi will be able to resolve tensions with the military over the issue.

The upper house passed the bill by 137 votes to 70 with two abstentions on April 1, without amendments. If the lower house passes the same text today then it goes to President U Htin Kyaw to be signed into law.





Brig Gen Maung Maung said rushing through the legislation without adequate debate would call into question the governments stated commitment to transparency and democratic norms.

I would like to say, give enough time for discussing and submitting necessary amendments for the bill because it is very important for the country. Our military MPs will make necessary amendments that will be made in compliance with the constitution, he said.

Speaker U Win Myint of the NLD noted the comments of the military MP and said the bill committees report found the draft to be in accordance with the constitution.

The Speaker said MPs were able to make specific amendment proposals and that he intended to proceed with the debate in line with parliamentary rules.

We need more time to submit an amendment proposal with adequate facts. I have no comments to make on whether the bill is in accordance with the constitution or not. That will be seen when the time comes, Brig Gen Maung Maung told reporters after the session.

Translation by Zar Zar Soe
Former president U Thein Sein has swapped the paso and ditepone (longyi and jacket) of civilian life for the robes of a monk. State media yesterday confirmed that he had joined the Sangha and will reside in a monastery in Pyin Oo Lwin for five days, to April 8.





During his time at the Dhamma Dhipati Monastery he will be known as U Tanti Dhamma.

In January, on the sidelines of the World Buddhist Peace Conference in Sagaing, Sitagu Sayadaw urged U Thein Sein to enter the Sangha after completing his term, an associate of the sayadaw was quoted as saying in state-run Myanmar Ahlin.

U Thein Sein took his vows on April 4, just five days after handing over power to President U Htin Kyaw and his National League for Democracy-backed government. None of his former colleagues were present; he was accompanied only by his wife.

The monastery in Pyin Oo Lwin is run by U Nandamala Vivamsa, head professor at the International Theravada Buddhist Missionary University.

A police officer stationed in Pyin Oo Lwin also confirmed the news. His ordination ceremony was held  this morning at the monastery, he said.

U Ye Htut, who formerly acted as U Thein Seins spokesperson, said he was not surprised by the news.

He told us that he would take a rest as a monk after the handover, but he didnt say when he would do it, the former minister said. 'I request everyone to please not disturb him.





But his decision to enter the Sangha has drawn widespread interest, particularly after photos of his ordination ceremony began spreading online on April 4.

They elicited a mix of positive and negative comments.

One Facebook user, May Myit Zau, said that as U Tanti Dhamma he seemed at peace. The sayadaws face is so clear when hes wearing monks robes, she said.

Another, Kung Aung, said it would be a period for reflect on the events of the past five years. After entering the Sangha  he should review what he has done, he said.

Others were less charitable. Hes incurred a load of sin and a smidgen of merit, was how Ko Kyaw Ko put it.

Another, Thant Zin, said he should not be allowed to become a monk because of the governments crackdown on demonstrators at the Letpadaung copper mine, which left dozens of monks badly injured.

A former general and prime minister, U Thein Sein served a five-year term as Myanmars inaugural post-military rule president before handing over power last month. He was selected for the post after leading the Union Solidarity and Development Party to a big win in the 2010 election, which the National League for Democracy boycotted.

He remains head of the USDP, after removing his long-time rival Thura U Shwe Mann in an internal coup last year.
Newly appointed head of the Nay Pyi Taw Council U Myo Aung met with the territorys eight township heads yesterday.





Following the meeting at the Nay Pyi Taw Council Office, reporters were not allowed to ask questions or take photographers.

Todays meeting was just an introduction to other officials. The councils chair talked about neither policies nor directives, said an official from the Nay Pyi Taw Council.

U Myo Aung was appointed to the post by President U Htin Kyaw on April 1.

The former physician and political prisoner was initially tipped for a vice presidential role. He served as an army doctor for three years before joining the Ministry of Health as an assistant medical officer. He was suspended in 1991, and has twice been imprisoned for speaking against the government.

The trusted National League for Democracy veteran was part of the partys transition team, which included U Win Htein and former Yangon University rector U Aung Thu, now minister for agriculture, livestock and irrigation.

U Myo Aung will have to forfeit his East Dagon township Pyithu Hluttaw seat to assume the new appointment. He will also no longer be able to take part in party activities, according to the constitution.

The previous Nay Pyi Taw Council chair, U Thein Nyunt, was also a minister in the Presidents Office and the Nay Pyi Taw mayor.





Under the constitution, the position includes a seat on the Financial Commission, a government body that examines draft Union and regional budgets before they are submitted to parliament.

After yesterdays meeting with the township heads, the councils chair was introduced to council staff members. The council shares an office with the Ministry of Home Affairs General Administration Department.

April 1 [when U Myo Aung was appointed] was a Friday so he just came to the offices today for the first time to make his introduction, the official said.

Translation by Zar Zar Soe
Yangon's new chief minister is under attack again, this time from members of his own party who criticised his cabinet appointments.





The names of six proposed ministers, almost all of whom are retired civil servants, were submitted to the region parliament yesterday. The cabinet represents a slimmed-down version of the former administration, which had 10 ministers. According to the Speaker, Chief Minister U Phyo Min Theins nominees were confirmed unanimously, without objection.

However, those who supported the new government in the hopes of an administrative shake-up were left disappointed by the cast of familiar faces.

Hlaing Tharyar MP U Win Maung, secretary of the bill committee, told The Myanmar Times that some within the party are unhappy with the cabinet list. However, they were unable to express their disapproval because under the constitution MPs can only reject a nominee if they have proof that the person does not meet the constitutional criteria for the post.

Our partys motto is Time to Change. We worry that former civil servants cannot enact real change because they already implemented the status quo under the previous government and military regime, U Win Maung said.

The Yangon governments new ensemble includes U Myint Thaung, who worked as deputy head of the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA) from 1995 to 2011, as the new planning and finance minister. U Han Tun, a former director of Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise, has been appointed minister for agriculture, livestock, forestry and energy.

Thaketa township MP U Naing Ngan Lin, who was tipped to be the next mayor, and who suffered severe injuries in a machete attack shortly before the election, was instead appointed to head the social welfare ministry.

As The Myanmar Times reported last week, incumbent Minister for Security and Border Affairs Colonel Tin Aung Tun will continue in his military-appointed role.





Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein did bring some new names onboard, including architect Daw Nilar Kyaw, who was assigned as the minister for electricity, industry and transportation.

But in a pick that quickly become controversial on social media even before it was officially announced, U Maung Maung Soe was chosen as the new Yangon mayor. U Maung Maung Soe is a retired professor at the Yangon Institute of Economics.

Facebook posters quickly attacked his academic credentials. On his profile page he lists that he received a masters and a doctorate of Ministry from the Christian International School of Theology, which charges US$291 and $331 for those degrees, respectively.

Although he has professionally referred to himself as doctor, U Maung Maung Soe was not called by the title when parliament read the appointment yesterday.

He is not Dr Maung Maung Soe. He is U Maung Maung Soe, said U Khin Hlaing, a member of Yangon City Development Committee, who added that he will be carefully watching the new mayor. I dont want to say what my expectations of him are at this time, he said.

A letter allegedly from a Ministry of Education investigation team circulating Facebook has fuelled doubts over U Maung Maung Soes masters and doctorate from the International Institute of Social Studies in the Netherlands as well. The Myanmar Times could not independently verify the authenticity of the letter, nor U Maung Maung Soes alleged degree from ISS, yesterday.

U Maung Maung Soe was on the NLDs former economic committee, which also included bogus PhD holder U Kyaw Win, the newly appointed finance minister. U Kyaw Win admitted and apologised for listing his fake credentials on his official CV, saying he didnt know at the time that he bought his degree that it was fraudulent.

Not all were so ambivalent about the new mayors appointment.

Dagon City 2 developer U Thaung Htike Min, who chairs the Thukha Yadanar Company, welcomed the choice of his former tutor U Maung Maung Soe, and said he had confidence that traffic issues and water supply shortages in the city would soon be tackled.

He was my teacher. I studied with him and believe he deserves to be mayor because he is experienced and thinks critically, U Thaung Htike Min said, adding that he believes the fake degree allegations are superfluous rumour mongering.

U Maung Maung Soe could not be reached for comment yesterday, and his wife declined to speak with The Myanmar Times.

Yangon Chief Minister U Phyo Min Theins new cabinet is rounded off with NLD auditor Daw Khin Than Hla, who was approved as Yangon Regions chief auditor, and U Han Htoo, who worked as deputy director in the Attorney Generals Office, taking up a promotion as the new attorney general.
Dog lovers have come to the rescue of Yangons population of stray canines, who otherwise would be at risk of death. The city authorities, who still deal with strays under a 1922 law that allows the use of deadly poison, have now signed a three-year agreement with a US-based humane society.





Dr Hla May Oo, assistant head of the veterinary and slaughterhouse department of Yangon City Development Committee, told The Myanmar Times on March 31 that the agreement had been signed with Humane Society International of Washington DC and Soi Dog Foundation. The aim is to control the dog population and reduce the risk of rabies. The agreement enters into force immediately and runs through to March 2019.

We have Union government permission for this project, and are now awaiting the arrival of technical teams from HSI and Soi, said Dr Hla May Oo.

Preliminary work has already been done on surveying the stray dog population, dog bite cases and rabies infections in Mingalar Taung Nyunt and Sanchaung townships, and the project will be extended to the citys 33 townships over the next three years, says YCDC. The project entails injecting strays with the rabies vaccine and surgical castration of dogs, as well as conducting a public awareness campaign against rabies.

Under the 1922 law, we are still killing stray dogs. But now so many animal rights activists are urging alternative solutions. YCDC will also be using these methods, she said.

There are about 70,000 stray dogs in Yangon, according to a 2014 survey, and about 6000 dogs are registered by their owners every year. YCDC carries out poisoning operations every day.

Dr Hla May Oo said rabies was particularly dangerous to humans because by the time symptoms became apparent, it was already fatal. While I was writing my thesis on the subject, two people died of rabies in Kyeemyindaing township, and there were about 1000 cases of dog bites in western Yangon alone, she said, adding that the city also planned to build dog shelters next year.





The three-year agreement will supplement an apparent trend in which local residents who oppose the use of poison are already trying to save the strays by paying for rabies vaccinations and surgery and donating to dog shelters. Some residents would contact local humane associations instead of YCDC for help in dealing with strays, said Dr Htay Myar Oo, the leader of one such team.

We feel this is the way to deal with the problem of stray dogs, he said.

Another humane team leader, Ko Hsyan Toe Myint Oo, said sending dogs to shelters was not the best way to solve the problem of strays.

Every animal has the right to live and grow up where it was born. People shouldnt drive them away for no good reason. It is possible to reduce the stray population if we use appropriate control methods. Poison is not the way, he said.
So now we know: By accepting the post of minister for foreign affairs, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is entitled to sit on the 11-member National Defence and Security Council. Her decision has thrown a spotlight on this shadowy but apparently powerful body, which has operated in obscurity throughout the term of the outgoing government.





In addition to the foreign minister, the NDSC comprises the following members: the president and the two vice presidents; the two parliamentary Speakers; the commander-in-chief and his deputy; and the three ministers named by the commander-in-chief, that is, the ministers for defence, home affairs and border affairs.

This configuration gives the military or military-appointed members a thin six-to-five edge. However, it is not clear whether the council takes decisions by vote, or if there has ever been a vote.

Under the military-drafted 2008 constitution, the president leads the council. Since President U Htin Kyaw serves as her proxy, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi can therefore convene meetings through him. But if the council then takes decisions by majority vote, she will be likely to lose any issue she brings before it.

Some analysts say this situation is not truly democratic in that it grants the military commander-in-chief greater authority over decisions of state than the elected president and the ministers that he or she designates. The constitution vests too much power in unelected military officers.

Under section 342 of the constitution, the NDSC may propose to the president the appointment of the Tatmadaw commander-in-chief. However, the constitution does not stipulate the term of office for the commander-in-chief. Other Union-level appointments, including that of the president, are set at five years. The implication appears to be that the commander-in-chief serves until retirement.

Section 291 of the constitution says defence services personnel who are also civil servants occupying significant posts shall serve under military law. This appears to mean that such issues as retirement age, promotion, suspension, commendation or censure should fall under military law.





The present practice, approved by the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, is for the commander-in-chief to serve until the age of 60, an age that the current incumbent is now approaching. He gives no sign of being ready to step down, and under military law he may not have to. That appears to leave the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw with the option of changing the law to enforce retirement at 60, to ensure the succession of a new commander-in-chief appointed by the president with the approval of the NDSC.

The constitution is silent on what could be the crucial issue of whether the council should meet to discuss the appointment of a new commander-in-chief before or after the departure of the incumbent.

If it is ruled that the council should meet while the incumbent is still in office, and presumably commanding a majority of the councils membership, any proposal to replace the incumbent is likely to fail. Alternatively, the appointment could go to someone approved by the current incumbent and his appointees on the council, that is, his deputy, the first vice president and the three ministers chosen by him.

Given the constitutions silence on this matter, the way is thus open for the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw to step in by passing an explicit national defence and security law in as much detail as it wishes, thus giving the president a better opportunity to appoint the commander-in-chief of his choice.

There is another good reason why the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw should enact a national defence and security law. The Pyidaungsu Hluttaw could also act in other areas where the constitution is silent or vague, such as negotiating peace-making and even consulting on proposed amendments to the constitution, as section 201 of that document allows parliament to discharge the duties assigned by the constitution or any law.

A national defence and security law could include the following provisions,:

(a) After the retirement of the current commander-in-chief, the remaining members of the NDSC shall consult with each other and propose to the president the appointment of a suitable successor;

(b) The president may refuse to appoint as commander-in-chief a candidate who fails to secure the support of a majority in the council, that is, six votes. Since the 10-member council that will exist after the departure of the commander-in-chief will be divided evenly among military and civilian members, the achievement of a 6-4 majority will require the two sides to negotiate;

(c) If no such 6-4 majority can be achieved, the president shall have a casting vote.

None of this would breach the constitution. But it would ensure that the Tatmadaws lock on the appointment of the next commander-in-chief could be weakened or broken, if the approval of one or more civilian members of the NDSC is required to support the proposal of the five military members; or, alternatively, if the five civilian appointees must secure the agreement of at least one military member.

 Translation by Thiri Min Htun

Ye Tun is a former member of the Pyithu Hluttaw representing Hsipaw in Shan State for the Shan Nationalities Democratic Party.
After quizzing the ambassadors of the European Union, India, Japan, and the United Kingdom on the transition last week, The Myanmar Times speaks to the ambassadors for China and Singapore to get their views on U Htin Kyaw's government and the challenges it will face.





Hong Liang, Chinese ambassador

Myanmars new government has been established smoothly. This hard-won result came out of the active cooperation by all political parties and groups in the spirit of tolerance and reconciliation, symbolising Myanmars transition into the new phase.

The Myanmar people and the international society are giving their best wishes to the new government as well as their expectations for the new administration. Myanmar is now exploring the road of development which not only suits Myanmars national conditions but also goes with the world trend.

Currently, and also in the following years, Myanmar is faced with five major tasks.

The first is to promote political reconciliation. We hope all Myanmar political parties and groups will join hands together and devote to the building of a bright future.

The second is to promote ethnic reconciliation and realise peace and stability, to be committed to enhancing the mutual trust of all ethnic groups on the basis of mutual respect and equal treatment so as to jointly build a harmonious society.

The third is to improve the livelihood of people. This is Myanmar peoples most earnest expectations for the new government, hoping to see encouraging changes in the fields of education, healthcare and employment.





The fourth is to develop the economy. Economic development is the driving force for Myanmars national progress, which is central to the national strategy with priorities in the field of agriculture, infrastructures and basic industries.

The fifth is to reform and open up. Reforms will help Myanmar to strengthen the rule of law and improve governance. The opening-up will help Myanmar to draw on and make use of the achievements of world civilisation, and introduce international resources for Myanmars development.

China and Myanmar are friendly neighbours, and the two peoples share deep pauk phaw friendship. China is pushing forward the One Belt and One Road initiative to help developing countries, including Myanmar, achieve better and faster development. This brings enormous opportunities for China-Myanmar cooperation and Myanmars own development as well. China is able and willing to help Myanmar to deal with the difficulties and challenges in its development by playing a constructive role based on the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence. Myanmars peace, stability and development are in the common interest of regional countries including China. The Chinese government is looking forward to conducting effective and fruitful cooperation with Myanmars new government and stands ready to provide assistance and support for Myanmars peace, stability and development along with the rest of the international community.

Robert Chua, Singaporean ambassador and dean of the Diplomatic Corps

This is an exciting and historic time for Myanmar. The reforms of the U Thein Sein government led to the appointment of the first elected civilian president in five decades.

Many challenges await the new government. National reconciliation is a top priority and directly affects the pace and efficacy of the new governments work. The National League for Democracys inclusive approach in appointing and forming the Union parliament, its committees and commissions, and the government gives confidence to the Myanmar people and the international community in its commitment to achieve national reconciliation and national unity under a democratic federal union.

The NLDs electoral success reflects the peoples high expectations of a better life. They want more jobs, and a better education system, healthcare, and infrastructure. They expect greater transparency and accountability in a democratic system. Support from all segments of society will ensure the success of reforms and better days for the people.

Myanmar is an attractive destination for Singaporean companies and other foreign investors because of its many advantages, including a youthful population. However, there are also considerable challenges to more investments, such as its regulatory and legal framework, developing financial sector, and lack of skilled workers.

Singaporean companies, like many foreign investors in Myanmar, are helping to build capacity for their Myanmar employees with technical knowledge, management expertise and best practices. Addressing the demand for mid-level skilled workers, Singapore and Myanmar have established the Singapore-Myanmar Vocational Training Institute in Yangon for the hospitality, retail, facilities management, electronic and electrical skills, and engineering services sectors. Singapore has also been providing training courses for over 12,500 Myanmar civil servants under the Singapore Cooperation Programme. We are confident that they will be able to implement the new governments reforms and policies.

We wish the new government well. We want to see Myanmar succeed. We will continue to support its development in areas where we have the expertise.
LOS ANGELESAs he commemorates his 10th anniversary in the adult industry, actor Seth Gamble is hitting his stride, earning attention for his exceptional body of work and accolades from his co-stars.

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Some of the women who have worked with Gamble appreciate a job well done and have shared their thoughts.

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Johannesburg (AFP) - South African President Jacob Zuma looked on Tuesday to have survived an attempted ousting after days of fierce debate within the ruling ANC party as several ministers called on him to resign.

Zuma has been weakened by a series of scandals but the manoeuvre to oust him took many by surprise in the African National Congress, which has held power since 1994.

A weekend meeting of the party's executive was extended into Monday after a rebellion led by senior government figures, including at least four ministers.

Local media said the meeting, which ended late on Monday evening, was tense, with tempers flaring and some ministers threatening to resign if Zuma stayed.

But the president appeared to have headed off the most serious threat to his hold on power since he came to office in 2009.

He left South Africa early on Tuesday to attend the funeral of Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

The ANC announced it would hold a press conference at 2:00 pm (1200 GMT) on the meeting's outcome.

"The president told us that he will never step down, as it would be like handing himself over to the enemy, and that there are people who want to see him in jail," an unnamed source at the closed-door meeting told the News24 website.

It said Zuma's loyalists had rallied strongly to his defence during Monday's sessions.

The president has been hit by multiple corruption allegations and damaging court rulings this year, while the ANC suffered a serious setback in local polls in August and unemployment has hit a 13-year high.

Zuma has been under renewed pressure since a corruption probe earlier this month unearthed fresh allegations of misconduct.

The probe by the country's top watchdog uncovered evidence of possible criminal activity in his relationship with the Guptas, a business family accused of wielding undue political influence.

However Zuma, 74, retains strong loyalty among many rank-and-file ANC party members, as well as its lawmakers.

He easily survived a vote of no confidence in parliament on November 10.
Tripoli (AFP) - Authorities in Libya's capital said Tuesday they were ceding power to a UN-backed unity government in a major boost to international efforts to end deep political divisions in the strife-torn country.

The move came nearly a week after UN-backed prime minister-designate Fayez al-Sarraj arrived with members of his cabinet in the capital by sea, after the Tripoli authorities closed airspace to keep him out.

The international community has pleaded with Libya's warring sides to unite behind the unity government, which it sees as vital to tackling a jihadist expansion and rampant people smuggling in the North African state.

Libya has had rival governments since a militia alliance seized control of Tripoli in mid-2014, forcing the internationally recognised government to flee to the country's far east.

The Tripoli-based administration said Tuesday that it was stepping aside in the national interests.

"We inform you that we are ceasing the activities entrusted to us as an executive power," said a statement received by AFP and also published on the justice ministry website.

The statement, bearing the logo of the so-called National Salvation Government headed by Khalifa Ghweil, said the unrecognised Tripoli prime minister, his deputy premiers and cabinet ministers were all stepping aside.

It said the decision was taken "in light of the political developments in Tripoli" and to prevent further divisions and bloodshed.

The Tripoli authorities were "no longer responsible... for what could happen in the future," it added.

Sarraj, a businessman from Tripoli, and his unity government have not yet received the endorsement of the rival government backed by the internationally recognised parliament in the east.

On Tuesday UN envoy Martin Kobler flew into Tripoli for his first visit since Sarraj's arrival, in another sign of the unity government asserting its authority over the capital.

The UN envoy had himself been prevented from travelling to the capital last month by authorities in charge of the city.

The new government's arrival has raised hopes it will be able to restore some stability in Libya, which has been plagued by chaos since Moamer Kadhafi's 2011 overthrow.

- 'Courage and determination' -

Kobler praised the "courage and determination" of the unity government, which has since been operating out of a Tripoli naval base.

"We want to show that the UN and the international community support Prime Minister Sarraj and members of the presidency council," Kobler told AFP.

He said the UN was ready to provide "all the support needed" towards an "immediate and peaceful handover of power", speaking before the announcement by the unrecognised authorities.

The unity government was formed under a power-sharing deal agreed by some lawmakers in December.

The new administration has been broadening its support, winning the backing of the Libyan Investment Authority, the National Oil Corporation and the Central Bank.

Ten coastal cities that were under the control of the Tripoli authorities have also backed the new government.

Mattia Toaldo, a policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said Kobler's visit was a clear signal that the Government of National Accord (GNA) was putting down roots in the capital.

"Kobler's visit to Tripoli, after the many times he was refused landing and access... shows the degree of control of Tripoli by the GNA," Toaldo said.

An adviser to Kobler said the UN envoy discussed with Sarraj "ways to support the action" of the unity government.

Western governments are deeply concerned that Libya's disarray has allowed the jihadist Islamic State group to gain an important foothold in the country, but have said a foreign intervention can only take place at the request of a unity government.

Most foreign representations have long since left the capital but Tunisia on Monday said it was reopening diplomatic missions in Tripoli following the new government's arrival.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault praised Tunisia's decision on Tuesday and expressed hope for an eventual return of other embassies.

"The question of the return of our embassies is obviously a relevant one," he told reporters in Paris after talks with German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

"We hope that this situation consolidates itself. If the Libyan government asks us to help it ensure its security, we are available."
WASHINGTON, ACCRA, April 4 - (UPI/GNA) - Where has NATO gone? The world wonders.

On Sept. 12, 2001, literally hours after New York's Twin Towers and a part of the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., had been destroyed, NATO's then Secretary-General Lord George Robertson convened the North Atlantic Council in response. For the first time in its decades-long existence, NATO invoked Article 5 of the Washington Treaty that created the alliance in 1949 and which stated "an attack against one is an attack against all."

NATO's founding fathers would have been incredulous to learn that NATO was at war not against the defunct Warsaw Pact and Soviet Union but in Afghanistan, a distant region few people had ever visited let alone knew much about except in movies and against a diaphanous terrorist organization called al-Qaida.

Yet, what happened after the Islamic State launched attacks in Paris late last year and in Brussels last month? The answer is nothing. Two of NATO's 28 nations had been attacked. The likelihood is high that further attacks against NATO's members will repeat. Will NATO respond is a less important question than asking why it will not.

In an irony of ironies, the one person whose colossal absence of knowledge of many things, particularly foreign policy, may indeed force action by the alliance. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has determined that NATO has outlived its usefulness and that "poor" America can no longer be exploited by "richer" Europe in paying "hundreds of billions of dollars" for maintaining the alliance.

The argument is not new. Sen. Mike Mansfield challenged the alliance, asking why 200 million Americans had to defend 250 million Europeans against 150 million Russians? That was 50 years ago and the alliance survived the criticisms of a highly credible and respected senator. Will the alliance heed the warnings of a craven reality show host turned politician?

NATO members argue that lessons learned in Afghanistan are relevant. Who and what would NATO attack and how would it engage in a region where it may not be welcome? Is not the European Union a better way of dealing with IS? And what happens once IS is defeated and destroyed? Who will provide the forces to impose a measure of security so as not to repeat the catastrophe in Iraq and what is occurring in Afghanistan? And who will pay for all of this?

In the case of the Paris attacks, the Quay D'orsay did not request NATO help. So far neither has Belgium. And Robertson has long since retired. The result is that NATO will operate very much on the margins patrolling the Mediterranean in attempts to monitor the flow of refugees from Africa and the Middle East. A coalition of the willing will produce a handful of nations engaging IS from the air in Syria and Iraq. And NATO has a modest training mission in Iraq.

But compare and contrast NATO's actions with those of Russia in deploying forces to Syria. Sadly, Vladimir Putin is winning that public relations battle, too. So what could NATO do?

First, one of the huge gaps that IS is exploiting in Europe is the lack of shared intelligence. NATO does not have an alliance intelligence capability depending on individual members. However, NATO could easily become the means for coordinating and sharing information throughout Europe even though critics will assert that impinges on EU responsibilities.

Second, a NATO-like security structure is desperately needed in the Middle east region. Saudi Arabia's anti-terror coalition of some three dozen members could form the basis for such an arrangement. Here, NATO should aggressively take the lead in supporting this effort. As it has done through its Partnership for Peace and other linkages, NATO offers a huge amount of knowledge, experience and resources in building partnership capacity.

Third, with a biannual heads of government summit convening in Warsaw in July, NATO must alter its strategic concept to focus on the dangers and threats posed by radical and violent Islam far more centrally, outlining specific steps the alliance must take. Unfortunately, the Obama administration remains fixated on Asia and the Pacific, giving the impression that NATO and Europe are afterthoughts.

One conclusion is worrying. As a broken clock is right twice a day, Trump's diatribe against NATO may be a harbinger for the future. NATO succeeded in its mission to contain the USSR far better than anyone would have guessed in 1949. Its incursion into Afghanistan will not produce similar results. However, to ignore the danger of IS tragically may prove Mr. Trump correct.

Harlan Ullman is UPI's Arnaud de Borchgrave Distinguished Columnist; senior adviser at the Atlantic Council and at Business Executives for National Security; and chairs two private companies. His next book, due out in 2017, is "Anatomy of Failure: Why America Is Losing Every War It Starts."

GNA
WASHINGTON, ACCRA, April 4 - (UPI/GNA) - Democratic Presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton, appearing Sunday on NBC's Meet the Press, sought to tamp down what is becoming an increasingly testy race with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders for the party's nomination.

Clinton was captured scolding a Sanders supporter who questioned her on a rope line about accepting campaign donations from the fossil fuel industry. Clinton responded to the young woman by pointing a finger in her face and angrily saying "I'm so sick of the Sanders campaign lying about me."

Asked Sunday whether there were other incidents where Sanders has "lied" about Clinton's record, the former secretary of state showed her diplomatic side.

"Well, I'm not, you know, I'm not going to go into that. I think that we've tried to run a campaign on the issues. I'm going to keep talking about the issues," she said.

Additionally in the interview, Clinton said she has not been contacted by the FBI regarding their investigation into her use of a private email server while she was at the State Department. Critics have assailed her for potentially mishandling classified government documents, though Clinton has said no classified documents were ever mishandled. The State Department has identified 22 emails out of thousands over her time there that have been deemed classified during the course of the investigation. Clinton has maintained those classifications were decided after the fact, and were not in place at the time she sent or received the information.

The FBI is investigating whether Clinton or any of her top aides at the State Department broke the law in how they handled sensitive government information. That investigation is reportedly wrapping up, and is likely to conclude with in-person interviews of Clinton and several of her top aides before the Justice Department decides whether to file charges against anyone.

Clinton on Sunday reiterated her willingness to speak to the FBI, saying she would be "happy" to answer any questions.

GNA
05.04.2016 LISTEN

The company at the centre of the bus branding scandal, Smarttys Management and Production Limited, has made final payment in respect of the refund of moneys overpaid it for branding and re-spraying of 116 intra-city buses.

It has since paid a balance of GH548,608.04, representing the final payment of GH1,548,608.04.

A letter dated March 31, 2016 and addressed to the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice and the Executive Director of the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) announced the issuance of a cheque for the final payment of the refund.

Lawyers for Smarttys Management and Production Limited, Cromwell Gray Limited accordingly attached a cheque for GH548,608.04.

Kindly acknowledge receipt and accept the assurance of our highest consideration in bringing a closure to this matter, the letter, signed by Mr Kissi Agyebeng noted.

The company has, therefore, met the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice's directive to it to make the payments on or before March 31, 2016 after an overpayment of GH1.5 million was established to have been made to it.

An amount of GH700,000 was paid on February 25, 2016.

That brought the amount to GH1 million paid by Smarttys Management and Production Limited out of the figure of GH1,548,608.04 to be refunded.

The first instalment was made in January 2016.

A letter attached to the cheque paid into the account of the EOCO stated see attached a cheque (numbered 000014 Guaranty Trust Bank (Ghana) intended as the settling of the agreed second instalment in the sum of Seven Hundred Thousand cedis (GH700,000) drawn on the Clients Account of Cromwell Gray LLP.

The letter made reference to the Attorney General's letters of December 29, 2015 and January 7, 2016 on the refunds to be made, and also made reference to modes of payment reached.

The letter of January 7, 2016 by the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Ms Marietta Brew Appiah-Opong, which was addressed to Mr Agyebeng, said a figure of GH1,548,608.04 had been arrived at as the amount to be refunded by Smarttys Management and Production Limited.

In consultation with the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Finance, this amount was arrived at taking into consideration the following factors raised in your letter, revised value added tax position, revised withholding tax position and a set off of GH27,173.74 withholding tax over deductions, the letter added.

The letter indicated the acceptance of the request to pay the revised amount in full on or before March 31, 2016.

It said interest on the revised amount would be frozen subject to Smarttys Management and Production Limited making full payment of an amount between GH300,000 on or before January 29, 2016.

The remainder is to be paid in two equal instalments on or before 29 February 2016 and March 31, 2016, respectively, the letter said.

It directed that all payments should be made by cheque in the name of EOCO.

Please be advised that government reserves the right to take all relevant actions or steps to recover all moneys owed together with interest accrued calculated at the prevailing bank rate from 29th January 2016 to date of final payment if you fail to make payment within the stipulated time, the letter said.

Last year, investigations into the branding of 116 Metro Mass Transit Buses involving GH3.6million revealed that Smarttys over- billed the government to the tune of about GH1.9million.

The branding of the new Huanghai buses for the MMT with portraits of President John Mahama and past presidents caused public outcry, resulting in the resignation of the Minister of Transport, Ms Dzifa Attivor, in December.

Following the public outcry, the Chief of Staff, Mr Julius Debrah, directed the Attorney General, Marietta Brew Appiah Opong to recover GH1.9million from Smarttys.

The Attorney General presented her report on December 22, 2015 directing the refund of money found to have been overpaid to Smarttys in the contract.

-Daily Graphic


05.04.2016 LISTEN

The Ghana Police Service will be providing protection for flagbearers of the various political parties in the country ahead of the November polls, Director of Public Affairs with the Police administration, DSP Cephas Arthur has disclosed.

He said this arrangement is in line with the Service's commitment to beef up security around the various flagbearers prior to the election.

According to a Ghana Police Service statement, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), John Kudalor met the representatives of political parties to consider providing protection for their leaders.

The IGP used the opportunity to pledge to the representatives the agenda of the Service to deploy about four police personnel to each of their presidential candidates and running mates.

However, DSP Arthur has noted the leadership of the Service does not want to impose security detail on the flagbearers and their running mates arguing the political parties have the opportunity to make their choice of security officers.

It is a matter of somebody's private security and we don't want to give somebody he does not trust, he said.

He said the Police made similar arrangement for flagbearers of the political parties in the 2012 general election arguing this is nothing new.

-myjoyonline


Paris (AFP) - Several countries have launched tax evasion probes after a massive leak of confidential documents lifted the lid on the murky offshore financial dealings of a slew of politicians and celebrities.

The scandal erupted on Sunday when media groups began revealing the results of a year-long investigation into a trove of 11.5 million documents from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, which specialises in creating offshore shell companies.

Among those named in the "Panama Papers" are close associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin, relatives of Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Iceland's Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, as well as Barcelona striker Lionel Messi.

In Iceland's capital Reykjavik, thousands took to the streets late Monday to demand the premier resign over allegations that he and his wife used an offshore firm to hide millions of dollars of investments.

Australia has already launched a probe into 800 wealthy Mossack Fonseca clients. France and the Netherlands also announced investigations, while a judicial source said Spain had opened a money-laundering investigation into the law firm.

Panama also pledged to launch an investigation to identify if any crimes have been committed and any financial damages should be awarded.

President Juan Carlos Varela said Panama would cooperate with the international probes but also vowed to "defend the image of our country", which has a reputation as a hub for under-the-table dealings.

Messi's family was swift to dismiss any suggestion he had been involved in shady dealings, saying "accusations he created a... tax evasion plot, including a network of money-laundering, are false and insulting".

Messi has been charged with tax fraud in a separate case that is due to go to trial in May.

- Kremlin denials -

The trove of documents was anonymously leaked to German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung and shared with more than 100 media groups by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). More information is expected over the coming weeks.

The first revelations elicited a chorus of denials, including from the Kremlin, which suggested a US plot after the leaks put a close friend of Putin's at the top of an offshore empire worth more than $2 billion.

"Putin, Russia, our country, our stability and the upcoming elections are the main target, specifically to destabilise the situation," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, claiming the journalists were former officers from the US state department, the CIA and special services.

Offshore financial dealings are not illegal in themselves but may be used to hide assets from tax authorities, launder the proceeds of criminal activities or conceal misappropriated or politically inconvenient wealth.

Among other key findings of the probe, which named about 140 political figures, including 12 current or former heads of state:

-- The families of some of China's top brass -- including President Xi -- used offshore tax havens to conceal their fortunes, including at least eight current or former members of the ruling Communist Party's most powerful body.

-- Iceland's prime minister secretly owned millions of dollars in bank bonds at a time when his country's banking system was collapsing in 2008. He has so far steadfastly refused to step down.

-- A member of FIFA's ethics committee, Juan Pedro Damiani, had business ties with three men indicted in a corruption scandal.

-- A Panamanian shell company may have helped hide millions of dollars from a $40 million British gold bullion robbery at London-Heathrow Airport in 1983 that is etched in criminal folklore, according to the ICIJ.

-- Oscar-winning Spanish film director Pedro Almodovar and actor Jackie Chan were among celebrities named in the papers.

- 'An attack on Panama' -

The papers, from around 214,000 offshore entities covering almost 40 years, also name the president of Ukraine and the king of Saudi Arabia, as well as sporting and movie stars.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko denied any wrongdoing, but he may face an attempt to impeach him.

French newspaper Le Monde cited documents showing that Syria used Mossack Fonseca to create shell companies to help it break international sanctions and fund its war effort.

Pascal Saint-Amans, head of tax policy at the OECD, said the leaks showed that Panama was among the world's shadiest tax havens.

"Among the countries that refuse to automatically exchange information, there are Bahrain, Nauru, Vanuatu and Lebanon," he told AFP. "Switzerland is really making progress, so there is a concentration of problems in Panama."

One of the Panama law firm's founders, Ramon Fonseca, told AFP the leaks were "a crime, a felony" and "an attack on Panama".

More than 500 banks, their subsidiaries and branches have worked with Mossack Fonseca since the 1970s to help clients manage offshore companies. UBS set up more than 1,100 and HSBC and its affiliates created more than 2,300.

The documents show "banks, law firms and other offshore players often fail to follow legal requirements to make sure clients are not involved in criminal enterprises, tax dodging or political corruption," the ICIJ said.

Mossack Fonseca is already subject to investigations in Germany and Brazil, where it is part of a huge money laundering probe that has threatened to topple the current government.
Eldest son of former president John Agyekum Kufuor has been cited in the leaked document of one of the worlds major offshore secret companies, Mossack Fonseca.

The document says after the former President was sworn into office in early 2001, Mr John Addo Kufuor appointed Mossack Fonseca to manage The Excel 2000 Trust - his offshore account.

It revealed later that year, Mr Addo Kufuor controlled a bank account in Panama - a country in North America - worth $75, 000.

The document disclosed further that Theresa Kufuor, his mother, also benefited from the account operated by John Agyekum Kufuor.

An employee of Mossack Fonsecas compliance office in the British Virgin Islands suggested Mr Kufuor should be cleared out of the client list of the company because of what he described as prevalence of corruption surrounding him, the leaked document has revealed.

However, Mossack Fonseca refused to comply with the suggestion of the employee but rather continued to do business with him.

Mr Kufuor requested for the trust to be closed in the year 2012, the document says adding he is also involved in other companies such as BVI companies Fordiant Ltd and Stamford International Investments Group Limited  companies said to be registered when the former President was in office.

The document has not pointed out if the money in Mr Addo Kufuors offshore account was gotten through corrupt means.

On Kojo Annan, who was sole director of the Samoan company Sapphire Holding Ltd, originally incorporated in Niue in 2003, the files show that he had used the name of the company to buy an apartment in central London.

The apartment was purchased in a transaction completed in 2003 for more than $500,000, according to U.K. records. Sapphire Holding used unnamed shareholders until 2015 when Kojo Annan became a listed shareholder with a Ghana address.

Mossack Fonseca continued to communicate with Annan at the central London address, Argyll Mansions, into 2015. Kojo Annan was also a joint shareholder and director of two British Virgin Islands companies incorporated in 2002.

What are the Panama papers?

The Panama papers are leaked documents showing how Mossack Fonseca clients were able to launder money through the evasion of tax.

Who is in the papers?

So far there are about 12 current heads of states and former government officials cited in the document. There are also more than 60 relatives and associates of these heads of states implicated in the papers.

Some experts on foreign policy have described the documents as one of the biggest financial leaks in the world.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Austin Brako-Powers | Email: [email protected]
UK Export Finance (UKEF) has today announced that it has joined ATI, the pan-African export credit agency (ECA). The move comes as the UK government looks to encourage more UK businesses to trade with African countries as part of the nation-wide Exporting is GREAT campaign.

As an ATI member, UKEF will gain access to information about upcoming opportunities for exporters, as well as local knowledge of firms and projects. ATI will also provide a platform to raise awareness among project sponsors and buyers in African countries of the UKEF support available to importers of UK goods and services.

UKEF will be able to share risk with other ATI-member countries in strategically important markets, increasing risk capacity for projects in African countries sourcing goods and services from the UK.

Witnessing UKEF joining ATI, British High Commissioner to Kenya HE Nic Hailey said:

'The UK is a global leader in many of the sectors for which Kenya has greatest demand: infrastructure, advanced engineering, energy, ICT and defence and security. In these and other specialist areas, UK expertise can help accelerate Kenya's development and economic growth'

Louis Taylor, UKEF Chief Executive Officer, said:

'UKEF's ATI membership will help UK exporters unlock fast-growing markets in Africa. We will be able to offer even more comprehensive support to help UK companies win contracts in African countries, combining access to export finance with access to the local knowledge needed to enter new markets.'

George Otieno, Chief Executive Officer of ATI, welcomed UKEF's membership, saying:

'A close partnership between ATI and UKEF will give African buyers and UK suppliers access to each other. UKEF and ATI will be able to identify and promote real business opportunities where UK and African companies can work together, and to provide the local market knowledge needed to facilitate trade.'
Today, Dr. Gerd Muller, Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development ofthe Federal Republic of Germany handed over a Husky aircraft to Prof. Jumanne Maghembe, theTanzanian Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism. The aircraft will be deployed by FrankfurtZoological Society (FZS) in close cooperation with the Tanzanian Wildlife Management Authority(TAWA) for surveillance of wildlife in the Selous Game Reserve and to support the fight againstpoaching.

The German Minister addressed the guests of the handover ceremony at Matambwe Airstrip in theSelous: Poaching threatens biodiversity in many of Africa's remaining wilderness areas andundermines security of nations and the livelihoods of people, said Minister Muller. Handing thisaircraft over to the Tanzanian authorities and FZS is an important cornerstone of our longstandingsupport for the Selous Game Reserve and the adjacent communities.

For a large area like the Selous Game Reserve, one of the largest uninhabited protected areas ofAfrica, aerial surveillance is vital, said Minister Maghembe. He thanked the German government forthe support in countering the recent upsurge in poaching. This aircraft will also help the TanzaniaWildlife Management Authority carrying out wildlife and habitat monitoring in the Selous as one ofTanzania's biodiversity hotspots of global relevance, Maghembe added.

The group visited the Rufiji River in the Selous Game Reserve to discuss the conservation challengeson-site. They also met with representatives of the private sector to explore ways to combine wildlifeconservation and sustainable tourism.

The German Ambassador Egon Kochanke underlined that The Selous Game Reserve is not only oneof the largest protected areas in Africa but also the centrepiece of the new Tanzania WildlifeAuthority.

The area has been hit very hard by poachers: Between 2009 and 2014, the population ofapproximately 45,000 elephants at that time has been decimated to approximately 15,000. Today, allof Tanzania is estimated to have about 45,000 elephants, 60% less than in 2009.

Poaching is a severe threat to biodiversity, said Christof Schenk, CEO of Frankfurt ZoologicalSociety, not only because it can lead to local extinctions of targeted species like elephant and rhino,but because their disappearance can harm the ecosystem altogether. Frankfurt Zoological Society iscommitted to contribute to halting the deterioration of the Selous.

In 1982, the Selous was recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Today, the Selous is regardedas a World Heritage Site 'in danger'. By UNESCO standards, extraction of mineral resources and large-scale land use change are prohibited. Now is the time to enhance protection of the area to enablewildlife populations to regrow and to restore the secured status of the World Heritage Site, saysSchenck.

The German Government, through the Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, hasprovided funding for the acquisition of two Husky A-1C Aircraft to support the Tanzanian wildlifeauthorities in countering the poaching threat and monitoring wildlife and habitats.

The Selous aircraft will be operated by Frankfurt Zoological Society in close cooperation with TAWA.

With aerial support, poacher camps and illegal activities can be detected and the pilots can providecritical information to ranger forces on the ground. The Husky is well suited for monitoring and anti-poaching surveys as it operates at low heights and slow speeds. The other Husky aircraft is beingdeployed in the Tanzanian Serengeti National Park.

Since 2012 Germany has committed 100 Mio. EUR for biodiversity protection and rural developmentin Tanzania, including 18 Mio. EUR for the Selous Game Reserve. The Selous project is beingimplemented by FZS, KfW, GIZ, WWF in collaboration with MNRT and TAWA. Frankfurt ZoologicalSociety's Selous Conservation Project started in the early 1980s.

Notes for editors:

The Selous is one of Africa's largest protected areas, with photographic tourism and huntingpermitted in designated parts of the area. The Selous covers about 50,000 km2 which is an arealarger than Switzerland and it is internationally recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site indanger.

The Selous Game Reserve is a Miombo woodland area with a high density and diversity of species. Itis home to large populations of wild dog, lion, hippo and buffalo. There are also importantpopulations of ungulates including sable antelope, Lichtenstein's hartebeest, greater kudu, eland andNiassa wildebeest. In addition, there is also a large number of Nile crocodile and over 430 species ofbirds.
05.04.2016 LISTEN

The Coalition of La Youth Associations and the Board of Trustees of the Dadekotopon Development Trust have asked the Ghana Armed Forces and the Government of Ghana to return all parcels of land that are no longer intended for the purposes for which they were acquired.

According to them, lands that were given out for military purposes are currently being packaged and sold to foreign companies and private businessmen without due regard to the owners of the land.

They have also accused the Military of fomenting acts of Terror and brutalities against the local people.

Speaking in very angry terms at a press conference at La in Accra, Augustine Nii Nai, leader of the La Youth Coalition that holds a membership of more than 3000 said In 1938, the colonial government acquired 798 acres of land for the construction of an Aerodrome which later became a hospitality facility for the military during the 2nd World War and has also become the domicile of the Ghana Armed Forces.

According to him, in a display of solidarity with the government after independence and in cooperation with the call to nation building and as a kind gesture, the progressive people of La Dadekotopon sacrificed huge portions of land for the promotion of agriculture and education.

He said the La people gave land for the construction of the George Padmore Research Farm, the Amrahia Diary Project and the Animal Research Farm. In the fields of education, lands were also granted for the establishment of the University of Ghana, the University of Professional Studies, the Institute of Local Government Studies, the Accra College of Education and the Presby Boys Secondary School.

In the face of these generous contributions we have made to the development of this nation without the payment of royalties to the traditional council, our farmers, spiritual leaders and young men and women are oppressed and treated with contempt and gross insubordination he said.

Colonel Gyeke Asante, Director of Legal Services of the Ghana Armed Forces, in a response to a letter written by La Mantse, Nii Kpobi Tettey Tsuru III on the 2ndof December 2015, to the Chief of Defence Staff drawing his attention to the devastation and the environmental hazard that a division of the Ghana Army was causing by winning sand at Kpeletso-an area outside of the boundaries of the military, warned that The La Traditional Council had no natural or legal right over the said land and that the current activities carried out by the Military on the land is consistent with the purposes for which the land was acquired.

Negotiations For the Acquisition of Land for a Military Buffer

Following a request for the acquisition of land situate at East Dadekotopon by the Ghana Armed Forces for the establishment of a safety and security buffer zone for the Ghana Military on the 8th of July 2014, the Attorney General, Marrieta Brew, directed the composition of a team composed of Government officials and representatives of the East Dadekotopon Development Trust.

The government team included Dr Dominic Ayine, Deputy Attorney General, Maj. General B.G Saagbul, Cdre B.F Asante and Cdre S.W Anim amongst others. Mr E. Odoi-Yemo, Mr Ebenezer Lassey-Quaye, Mr Joseph Adjei and L.S.N Akuetteh represented the East Dadekotopon Development Trust.

In a letter dated 7th April 2015, addressed to Col. M. K Gyekye-Asante and the Directorate of Legal Services of the Ghana Armed Forces, Mr Dominic Ayine, Deputy Attorney General, stated that It was abundantly evident from the negotiations and from all the documentations made available for that purpose that the Ghana Armed Forces have not disputed the fact that the land the subject matter of the negotiations belongs to the East Dadekotopon Development Trust.

Justice Oppong in a ruling on a case brought before the High Court between the East Dadekotopon Development Trust and the Attorney General stated that although it is the duty of the state to acquire any land under the State Lands Act as provided by law, it must pay due compensation to the owners thereof.

He further stated that until the state paid the compensation, it has no business to act in a manner inconsistent with plaintiffs (East Dadekotopon Development Trust) ownership of the land.

In the circumstances, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice advised that the Ghana Armed Forces commence the formal processes if it intended to proceed with the acquisition of the 2, 456 acres of land for the creation of the security buffer zone, to pay promptly adequate compensation to the current owners of the land respecting the legitimate security and public purpose to which the land will be put.

The letter also stated that until the compensation has been paid, the Ghana Armed Forces must not engage in acts of trespass to the land or by means of the use of force seek to prevent the current land owners from developing their land.

In spite of the advice from the Attorney General, a troupe of soldiers numbering 200 blocked a bus conveying a group of journalists to the aforementioned site last Wednesday when the bus was ordered to divert course when it reached the Palmwine Junction within the La metropolis.

According to the La Youth Coalition and the Dadekotopon Development Trust, the Military has encroached upon the 2, 456 acres of land and construction works are currently ongoing in blatant violation of the ruling of the High Court and the advice of the Attorney General.

Salomey Pattison, a protesting member of La Youth Coalition expressed disgust and displeasure when she stated that:  The Military no longer operates with dignity and discipline. They are looting our lands and handing them over to private people to build expensive houses which we, the owners of the land cannot afford. The land they are seeking to take is not for any security buffer, they are taking it for the rich men, and private estate companies and we shall fight this corruption of the Military with all our might. They are taking advantage of the Military uniforms to do business and that is a crime against the people.
05.04.2016 LISTEN

Dr Abdul-Nashiru Issahaku is the new Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG).

President John Mahama made the appointment yesterday following the exit of Dr Henry Kofi Wampah last week.

Dr Issahaku, whose appointment took effect from yesterday, was a deputy governor of the apex bank until his elevation.

The ink had hardly dried on the report about Millison Narh's acting governorship when the President made the appointment.

DAILY GUIDE had reported about the likely appointment of Dr Abdul-Nashiru Issahaku, who was born on 5th October, 1961, when news about the exit of Dr Wampah was announced.

The prediction was based on the fact that Millison Narh, 60, was in the twilight of his service.

He was given an extension last year following the end of his service in public service which extended to March. He will be 61 next year.

Yesterday was doubtlessly a prediction come true for DAILY GUIDE.

Until his elevation, Dr Nashiru Issahaku was Second Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG).

Old Tamascans are pleased that an old boy of Tamale Secondary School, now Tamale Senior High School, is governor of the country's apex bank.

.

Some of them are praying for his success, owing to the fiscal state of the country during the tenure of his predecessor.

Soft-spoken, gentle and accessible Nashiru was a classmate of Dr Mahamudu Bawumia at Tamasco between 1975 and 1982.

He had a stint with politics when he vied for the Gukpegu Sabongida constituency on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in Tamale in the 2000 elections.

He is the first man from the Northern Region to ascend to the highest notch in the apex bank, moving a level higher than his pal Dr Bawumia who was Deputy Governor of the bank. Both of them are economists.

Dr Abdul-Nashiru Issahaku was the acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Export Development and Agricultural Investment Fund (EDAIF), having had earlier stints with the African Development Bank and World Bank.

President Mahama's appointment of a governor for the apex bank is at variance with the wish of Dr Mark Asibey-Yeboah, Member of Parliament (MP) for New Juaben South.

He said the appointment of a replacement for Dr Wampah should be left to the next President of Ghana.

An appointee of President Mahama for the position at this time would dance to the dictates of the appointing officer to the detriment of the economy, he maintained soon after the exit of Dr Wampah.

It has been speculated that Dr Henry Wampah's favourite for his replacement was Millison Narh and not Dr Nashiru Issahaku.

By A.R. Gomda


05.04.2016 LISTEN

Information DAILY GUIDE has gathered indicates that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) vice presidential candidate, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, was on Monday denied access to the campus of the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT) at Tarkwa in the Western Region.

Dr Bawumia was billed to address the students of the university at a students forum as part of his visit to the region.

He was, however, reportedly prevented by the authorities of the university from holding the forum on the campus.

Dr Bawumia has been touring some tertiary institutions nationwide to preach the NPP's message of change in the run-up to the November polls.

Sources from the school's Students' Representative Council (SRC) indicated that he had been given the green light to be at the event and had earlier held a series of meetings with the university authorities.

The students were only told upon Dr Bawumia's arrival that there was an error in their arrangements and therefore the former Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana could not be allowed access to the

campus.

Dr Bawumia had faced a similar experience in some parts of the country's tertiary institutions.

The NPP has accused the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government of orchestrating the rejections just to frustrate Dr Bawumias campaign.

DAILY GUIDE gathered that the Catholic Church at Tarkwa later offered its facility to Dr Bawumia to use for the forum.

From Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi


05.04.2016 LISTEN

Let My Vote Count Alliance (LMVCA), a vocal pressure group, has vowed to constantly criticize the Electoral Commission (EC) boss, Charlotte Osei, until she does the right thing to make the impending polls free and fair.

We shall not allow Charlotte Osei to have her peace of mind as suggested by President Mahama. We shall not keep mute for her to destroy the country, David Asante, convener for LMVCA, stated on Kessben FM in Kumasi.

The group's statement comes a few days after President John Dramani Mahama had admonished Ghanaians to comport themselves and allow Ms Charlotte Osei to have her peace of mind as the country gradually approaches the national elections.

In a direct response to the president's admonition, Asante stated categorically that the chairperson of the EC would only have her peace of mind when she begins to act professionally by carrying out the right processes that would make the 2016 elections free and fair.

He lambasted President Mahama for being a hypocrite by asking Ghanaians not to mount pressure on Charlotte Osei so as to make the impending polls peaceful, and asked where the president was after the 2008 polls.

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Where was President Mahama when NDC thugs marched to the EC's office with hammer and machete to put pressure on the then chairman, Dr. Afari-Gyan, to declare the NDC as winners of the 2008 national elections? he queried.

President Mahama, according to Mr David Asante, has no moral justification to question LMVCA and other pressure groups' decision to make life unbearable for the current EC chairperson through demonstrations, which are constitutionally accepted.

The NDC goons used violent means to attack the EC, but we are using civil means through demonstrations in order to make sure that the EC does the right thing, he pointed out, wondering why President Mahama was questioning their stance.

Asante disclosed that his group was ready to embark on a series of mammoth demonstrations to ensure that the EC adopts policies that would make the elections peaceful.

He stated that the 'Baamu Yadda' demonstration, slated for Kumasi on Wednesday, would set the tone for more of such protests to put pressure on the EC.

FROM I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi


05.04.2016 LISTEN

The General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia, has claimed that the justification by the Ministry of Interior that Superlock Technologies Limited (STL) helped in electronically transmitting election results in 2012 to the office of the Electoral Commission (EC) is completely misleading and unauthenticated.

He said that the ministrys position was influenced by constant peddling of falsehood by the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) that STL helped in transmitting election results.

The NDC chief scribe was responding on Top FMs morning show programme yesterday to demands by the opposition for the EC to come out with the truth about the role STL played in the conduct of the 2012 general election.

The Ministry of Interiors statement on STL is the outcome of well-orchestrated lies by the NPP, Asiedu Nketia aka General Mosquito, told the host of the programme.

According to the NDC General Secretary, the Minister for Interior is not an active player in the election process and could not have known the actual role played by STL in the 2012 polls, stressing that he (minister) was misled by the NPPs propaganda on STL.

He said as far as he was concerned and all the other political representatives on Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) were also concerned, STL was only contracted by the EC for the biometric registration process, and its role did not go beyond that.

The Acting General Secretary and National Organiser of the NPP, John Boadu, who was also on the same platform, was completely amazed at Asiedu Nketias argument that the NPP fooled the Minister for Interior to come out with that statement, pointing out that the NDCs accusation lacked merit and sense.

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So is Asiedu Nketia telling Ghanaians that it was the NPP who went into the head of the Minister for Interior, held a pen for him and wrote that statement on behalf of the government? Mr John Boadu queried.

He said that Asiedu Nketia must not be taken seriously over his childish argument, stressing that what mattered most was for the EC to come clear on the new revelation by the Ministry of Interior, which had been a long-held perception by the opposition parties, not only the NPP.

An investigative journalist, Justice Kweku Annan, who helped in breaking the news that STL was allegedly transmitting election results from a building in Dzorwulu, said that Asiedu Nketia was not being truthful to Ghanaians.

According to him, he strongly believes that STL was contracted to help transmit election results, stressing that the NDC was seriously preparing to work with STL again to manipulate results of this year's elections.

He told the host of the programme that the new $20 million head office of the ruling party has inbuilt technology for that purpose and that he and his team were monitoring the NDC 24 hours every day.

I know they are monitoring us and we want to tell them that we are also seriously monitoring them as far as the 2016 general election are concerned, Justice Annan assured.

By Thomas Fosu Jnr


The victims

05.04.2016 LISTEN

A pregnant woman and seven persons have reportedly drowned in the Oti River in the Saboba District of the Northern Region.

DAILY GUIDE's source indicated that the incident happened at Nakpaal when a group of mourners were coming back from a funeral at a nearby village close to the Ghana-Togo border.

The Saboba District Chief Executive, David Nyame, who confirmed the incident to this paper, said when the woman and the others got to the river it was late, but one of them said he could take them across the river in a boat but unfortunately, it (boat) capsized when they were on the water.

According to him, eight people were on the boat and some community members tried to rescue them but were only able to retrieve seven dead bodies, leaving one.

The bodies of the deceased persons have since been buried according to Islamic tradition.

Currently, a search is underway by the community members for the eighth person.

FROM Eric Kombat, Saboba


Cairo (AFP) - A team of Egyptian prosecutors and policemen is to fly to Rome on Wednesday to submit their findings in the brutal murder of Italian student Giulio Regeni, the prosecution service said.

On March 25, Cairo announced police had killed four members of a criminal gang specialising in abducting foreigners, and that they had found Regeni's passport in the apartment of a sister of one of the slain suspects.

Rome has cast doubt so far on Cairo's explanation for Regeni's murder, with Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni tweeting "Italy insists: we want the truth."

The Italian media and Western diplomatic sources in Cairo suspect that elements from the Egyptian security services were behind the 28-year-old PhD student's murder.

Cairo has steadfastly denied its security forces were responsible for his death.

"A delegation of members from the general prosecution office and policemen involved in the investigation of the killing of Italian citizen Giulio Regeni will leave Cairo on Wednesday, April 6," the Egyptian prosecution's office said.

The team led by deputy genera prosecutor Mostafa Suleiman "will present the results of the investigation conducted by the Egyptian general prosecution in the case so far", it said in a statement.

The delegation was initially scheduled to head to Rome on Tuesday, but the trip was delayed for undisclosed reasons.

Regeni disappeared in central Cairo on January 25, and his body was found nine days later on the side of a motorway, badly mutilated and showing signs of torture.
05.04.2016 LISTEN

ABOUT 5000 head porters, popularly known as Kayayei in the local parlance, have confirmed their participation in Wednesday's mammoth demonstration in Kumasi against the Electoral Commission (EC).

National President of the Head Porters Association of Ghana, Adiza Zongo Pioneer, has stated that her members, like other Ghanaians, are not happy about the EC's work so they will participate in the demonstration.

About 5000 of our members from Kumasi and other areas in the country are ready to join the rest of the country to demonstrate against the EC in Kumasi on Wednesday, she told DAILY GUIDE during an exclusive interview.

Dubbed 'Baamu Yadda', the demonstration is being organised by the Ashanti Regional New Patriotic Party (NPP) in conjunction with other groups such as Let My Vote Count Alliance (LMVCA) and Movement for Change (MFC).

The demonstration is aimed at putting pressure on the EC, especially Charlotte Osei, the EC boss, to ensure that minors, foreigners and dead people's names are cleared from the voter register via a validation exercise to make it credible.

Adiza insisted that the current voter register is bloated and can therefore not ensure free and fair elections; hence the need for the EC to conduct the validation exercise with immediate effect to clean the register.

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She observed that with seven months to the elections, the EC, strangely, is dragging its feet in conducting the validation exercise to help make the 2016 national elections free, fair and incident free.

Adiza commended the organisers of the 'Baamu Yadda' demonstration in Kumasi to pressurize the EC to do the right thing, reiterating that more than 5000 head porters in Kumasi and beyond are coming for the event to make it grand.

She was of the view that the EC wanted to favour the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) to retain political power at all cost, despite the fact that President Mahama had collapsed the economy with his bad policies.

Adiza warned that any attempt by the EC to make the NDC win the upcoming national polls on a silver platter might result in chaos and bloodshed, stressing, So the head porters will put pressure on the EC to behave well.

The President of the Head Porters Association, who is a former member of the NDC, lamented that Ghanaians are going through challenging moments and noted that the NDC will lose the impending polls.

Adiza indicated that the head porters had resolved to vote massively against the NDC, noting that her group would support the NPP to win the national polls and restore hope to the citizenry.

FROM I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi


The prospects for a resolution of Sudan's internal conflicts have been enhanced by the latest initiative of the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) for Sudan and South Sudan's following talks in Addis Ababa. This is an important achievement in the pursuit of peace in Sudan and in laying the foundation for an inclusive and comprehensive national consultation.

The Roadmap Agreement proposed by the AUHIP outlines steps to end the conflicts in Darfur and the Two Areas and to establish humanitarian access, while offering a framework for a parallel political dialogue that would eventually incorporate all parties in Sudan.

Progress on this initiative now requires the engagement of all parties. The 21 March signature by the Government of the Republic Sudan of the Agreement proposed by the AUHIP is a positive step forward. It encourages the Government to abide by the Road map Agreement, to consider immediate additional steps to build confidence among all the parties and to guarantee fundamental freedoms conducive to dialogue. The EU looks to the remaining participants of the Addis meeting to fully engage in this process. Good faith on the part of all parties will be the essential to progress.

In the meantime, violence continues, humanitarian needs are great and economic distress grows. Both government and armed opposition should extend their commitments made in late 2015 to unilateral cessations of hostilities. This would foster greater confidence among all the parties, give time to lay the ground rules for detailed negotiations and reinforce the efforts led by the AUHIP, supported by the European Union, to incorporate all political parties, movements and civil society into this vital political process.
The department of Human Resources, Sciences and Technology (HRST) today 4th April 2016 held the 3rd Senior Officials Meeting of the EU-Africa High Level Policy Dialogue (HLPD) on science, technology and innovationin collaboration with the European Commission at the African Union Commission (AUC), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The EU-Africa High-Level Policy Dialogue (HLPD) on science, technology and innovation (STI) is a platform established to promote dialogue on STI between the EU and Africa under the Lisbon 2007 Joint Africa-EU Strategy. The HLPD has so far held two Senior Officials meetings, in Addis Ababa in October 2011and in Brussels in November 2013.The Senior Officials in their second meeting agreed to work towards a long-term co-owned Research and Innovation Partnership (R&IP). They further agreed on the first priority namely the role of science, technology and innovation in ensuring Food security, nutrition and sustainable agriculture, (FNSSA). In the implementation of these conclusions, the Bureau of the EU-Africa HLPD worked on the development of a roadmap towards this EU-Africa R&I Partnership on FNSSA for collaborative research and innovation, taking the whole value chain into consideration. This roadmap proposes the basis for a joint research agenda, short-to medium term actions towards implementation (2014-2017) and reflections on long-term options for implementation (2018-2020 and beyond) and is based on the input of three different working groups.

The Commissioner of the Human Resource, Science and technology (HRST), H.E Dr. Martial De-Paul Ikounga in his remarks appreciated the efforts of the senior officials since the Lisbon 2007, and also expressed his gratitude to the HLPD Bureau for successfully organizing this third policy dialogue. It is now time for European and African continents, with their rich and complex history, to forge a new and stronger partnership that builds on their new identities and renewed institutions, capitalize on the past and provide a solid framework for long-term, systematic and well integrated cooperation. The Commissioner expressed.

H.E. Dr. Martial De-Paul Ikounga reiterated that the ambition of the Lagos Plan of Action was that no African country could obtain consistent results from its research system unless it commits at least 1% of its GDP. He emphasized that while simulation within the context of STISA 2024 shows that for the year 2013, 1% of the continent's GDP could amount to 23 billion U.S. dollars it is disheartening to observethat only two or three countries have so far achieved or are in the phase of achieving the goal of 1% of investment in R&D.

Furthermore, the Commissioner re-emphasized that the roadmap developed on Food and Nutrition Security and Sustainable Agriculture within the EU-Africa partnership will be instrumental in delivering on the people centered long-term Agenda 2063 and in addressing the Global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

He acknowledged the efforts of the EU in its funding strategy for the economic growth of Africa through investing in Science, technology and innovations.

Mr. Wolfgang Burtscher, Deputy Director General and Co-chair of the HLPD; DG research and Innovation European Commission in his statement appreciated the role of Science, technology and innovation, which has gained momentum with agenda 2030, and further calling for increased international cooperation. The deputy director mentioned that EU's commitment ''HORIZON 2020'' is open to international cooperation. EU has strong investment within the areas of science and technology, geared towards providing solutions for example: climate change, sustainable energy production, and food and nutrition security.

Mr. Wolfgang Burtscher expressed deep gratitude to the African Union Commission for hosting the HLPD meeting and to the bureau of the HLPD for a better implementation of the Science, Technology and Innovation at continental levels. He applauded AU's interest in investing in science, technology and Innovation and reiterated the significance of adopting the roadmap towards the jointly EU-Africa Research and Innovation partnership. Mr. Burtscher underlined that the European Commission already dedicated a 97.5 Euros budget towards implementation. He welcomed the commitments some of the European and African countries are ready to make towards this Research and Innovation partnership.

Prof. Prof. Hany El-Shemy

Dean of the faculty of Agriculture, AU Co-chair of the HLPD called upon delegates to work hard during the two days deliberations to come up with insightful recommendations and outcomes. In addition, professor El-Shemy underscored that Africa has potentials, resources but investing in science and technology is a prerequisite, by the partnership between AU and EU, Africa will move forward its Agenda 2063.
05.04.2016 LISTEN

The Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communication (GIFEC) is listed as one of the sponsors of the "goofy" Independence Day brochure, but the CEO of GIFEC, Kobby Acheampong has denied they sponsored the printing of the brochure or the event itself.

The 31-page brochure, which generated so much controversy due to the many unpardonable mistakes it contained, allegedly cost the state a whopping GHS450,000.

It listed Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyata as President of Ghana among several other grammatical and spelling errors.

When the gaffe became apparent, at least one top civil servant lost his job and presidential communications duties were placed under the Communications Minister.

But firmly listed among the four sponsors on the 30th page of the brochure was GIFEC, a state institution set up under the Communications Ministry to run a universal access fund contributed by telecom service providers to bridge the digital divide between the unserved/under-served communities and the rest of the country.

The other three sponsors listed in the brochure were all private entities, and they comprised of Nestle Ghana, MPG - a pharmaceutical company, and Gerofix - an advertising company, all of which make their own private money.

Some board members of GIFEC, who are mandated by law to approve of every expenditure GIFEC makes, expressed worry when Adom News approached them and asked about how GIFEC's name got into the brochure.

Some were simply unhappy about the "embarrassment", while others said the GIFEC management may have done so from the annual financial allocation the board approves as "Support for the Ministry of Communications" so there was no cause for alarm.

But GIFEC CEO, Kobby Acheampong told Adom News in no uncertain terms that "we did not sponsor the printing of that brochure and we did not sponsor that event."

He explained that GIFEC supplied computers for the annual presidential awards to the best students across the country, and he would imagine that the event organizers felt they should acknowledge GIFEC by including them in the list of sponsors.

Kobby Acheampong thinks including GIFEC in the list of sponsors was wrong because it creates the impression that they are misapplying the funds given to them by the telcos.

Funding

The full source of funding and legal mandate of GIFEC could be found in Sections 31 - 48 of the Electronic Communication Acts, Act 775, 2008.

The financial contributors include telecom service providers (one per cent of each of their annual profits), Parliamentary approvals, investments by the fund, donations and any other legal source identified.

But the telcos contribute an overwhelmingly huge chunk of the GIFEC money. The 2012 Auditor-General's Report, for instance, indicates that out of about GHS22.34million contributed into the fund that year, the telcos alone contributed GHS18.7million, which represents a whopping 83.7% of the total.

In the previous year, 2011, telcos contributed almost GHS16 million out of the GHS21million plus, which was 76% of the total money in the GIFEC fund. For both years, the rest of the money came from investments; none from Parliament and donations.

Indeed, Kobby Acheampong admitted that "all the money we get for our projects are from the telcos and we invest into government bonds and other financial instruments with other financial institutions to make some profits just to shore up our revenue to fulfill our mandate."

In spite of this huge contribution telcos make to GIFEC, the former Chief Executive Officer of the fund, Kofi Attor, who is still a member of the Board of Trustees, recently called for an increase in the telco's contribution from one per cent to two per cent of their profits.

Meanwhile, the telcos, who constitute a greater majority of the GIFEC Board, have been questioning how much of moneys the GIFEC management has really been using on its core mandate.

Core Mandate

Section 45 of the law, in particular, spells out categorically that the fund shall only be applied to things within its mandate, or for activities incidental to its mandate.

Kobby Acheampong stated that the scope of the mandate include any activity geared towards bridging the digital divide between "the haves and have nots".

He explained that beyond mounting telecom masts in areas where it does not make economic sense for individual telcos to mount their own masts, GIFEC is also mandated by law to provide ICT infrastructure and connectivity pro bono to communities and institutions that lack them.

So far GIFEC on its own has mounted 51 telecom masts, supplied computer labs to all 38 colleges of education, all 28 technical school, all 37 vocational schools, 24 community development schools, and over 60 integrated community employable skills institutions. All the beneficiary institution also got two years free internet connectivity.

GIFEC has also distributed over 27,000 laptops to about 700 junior high schools mainly in the deprived area, and supplied over 250 fishermen with fish finders that assist them to locate where mature fish are to make fishing easier.

They also train people for various government institutions in the use of ICT tools. Last year alone over 500 people were trained for the various ministries departments and agencies.

This year, GIFEC the target is to train 5000, and this will included mainly artisans and particularly drivers who need ICT to understand and master the processes at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA).

GIFEC also runs a universal emergency call line, 112, which allows phone users to call a central point to be redirected to the appropriate quarters to the needed assistance.

Support to Ministry of Communication

By law, the GIFEC Board of Trustees is chaired by the Minister of Communications, but no part of the law mandates GIFEC to give financial support to the Ministry of Communication annually.

A board member said the support, even though lacks legal backing, often goes to sponsor people selected by the ministry for ITU conferences and other such events every year.

Kobby Acheampong said GIFEC "cherishes" the annual and occasional support they provide for the Ministry of Communications with the full approval of the Board.

He explained that as an institution under the Communications Ministry, he did not see anything wrong with GIFEC intervening to help the ministry as and when the latter is in a difficult.

"When I was at Youth Employment Agency (YEA) the law mandated us to support the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations with five per cent of our revenues so these things are done and in the same light we cherish our support to the Ministry of Communications," he said.

But whereas the YEA support for its mother ministry was backed by law, GIFEC's support for the Communications Ministry is not and yet Board members, legally charged with ensuring that funds are used only for core and incidental activities, approve of annual support for the ministry.
Sometimes I am unable to comprehend the worrying trend very much entrenched in the Ghanaian system, especially under the unethical and clearly violent regime of President John Dramani Mahama and his uncivilised NDC party. Well, let us not be too surprised given the congenitally immoral mannerisms of the people that form the core of this violent bunch of educated illiterates.

Just observing the behaviour of the BNI and other security agencies exposes the sinister motives of this group of morons. That notwithstanding, the horrendous terrorism of NDC charlatans and their rebellious nature, starting internal wars as the unspeakable carnage that razed down much of the town of Atebubu, says it all about their partys reign of terror.

It would seem that bribery and corruption have taken over the very principles of responsibility and accountability to the good people of this country. When stomach journalists, just like their kind of stomach politicians, stoop so low for a buck or two, it clearly drives home the necessity for change.

Adakabre Frimpong Mansos inane behaviour towards the respectable and honourable Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo speaks volumes about the unethical standards that journalism in Ghana is trending. Nonetheless, for Adakabire to sell his soul to the devil with a paltry bribe of $50,000 (fifty thousand US Dollars) from President John Mahama is a painful jab to the integrity of journalism. Such unnecessary issues are marring the honesty and integrity of some journalists who cannot stomach corruption that is shredding the fabric of our society.

The heart breaking story of Adakabire needs immediate attention at Pantang mental hospital. Well, the fact that he is plagued with the compulsion to tell lies, very dangerous lies, warrants that. Some journalists take bribes to tell concealed lies, but I am yet to come to terms with Adakabires unfounded mendacities that are clearly hostile, and very well calculated. Premeditated deception, falsehood, and orchestrated shenanigans as that he is exhibiting are all too flagrant, and tell a tale of a half empty pale; the receding levels of truth and credibility.

If Nana Akufo-Addo had made life-threatening utterances as Adakabire claims he has evidence of, he should report it to the Police. Nobody is above the law in this country. To say that he has evidence that he does not want to go far with is unwarranted because if he did have, trust the NDC and their paid loudmouth journalists to trumpet it to Mars.

Adakabires blatant lies were debunked by many journalists. It so turned out that Nana had never once been alone with him. It must be quite a daring feat to make such threats to Adakabire before a grand audience of journalists and VIPs, which of course Nana will never do. He has never once been caught saying such lowly threats to the hearing of anyone. The NDC can tickle themselves as much as they want, but the truth cannot be bent or warped. Eventually, after everything has collapsed, the only pillar that remains standing is the Truth.

Many neutral people in the journalism industry and other sectors of gainful endeavour have debunked Adakabires heinous lies. They corroborated a fact that most people know about Nana Akufo-Addo, a peaceful, harmless, and pleasant character fit to be a King.

After all, Nana means king!!!

#IAmForChange #StopMolestingNanaAkufoAddo #StopHarassingNanaAkufo-Addo #YouCannotWinAgaistNPP #ShutupAkadabire
IOM Niger has inaugurated a migrant information office in the town of Agadez in the Sahara, a hub for West African migrants travelling to Libya, Algeria and Europe. The office was formally opened by IOM Council Chair Ambassador Bertrand De Crombrugghe of Belgium.

The office will provide information and counselling to potential migrants, migrants in transit and returnees to Niger. The initiative is part of IOM's Migrant Resource and Response Mechanism (MRRM) and is funded by the European Union and UK DFID.

It aims to improve migrants' understanding of the risks and dangers associated with irregular migration and how to migrate in a safer and regular way. It also points migrants towards available legal migration channels and educates them on their rights and obligations, as well as those of States. It can also provide direct assistance. This week it identified and assisted a victim of trafficking from Nigeria.

The main beneficiaries are migrants on their way to Libya and Algeria. The office is unique in that it does not just discourage people from leaving. It also plays a proactive role in reaching out to migrants coming back and sharing their information with those who want to go. It can help them to make better informed migration decisions, said IOM Niger Chief of Mission Giuseppe Loprete.

The office is linked to an IOM information campaign Supporting Informed Migration Decisions in Niger, co-funded by the European Union and the Italian Ministry of Interior.

Niger represents one of the last stops of a long journey that West African migrants undertake before leaving the region on route to North Africa and Europe.

The Nigerien authorities estimate that between 120,000 and 150,000 migrants will transit Niger in 2016, mostly coming from West Africa and heading to Libya and Algeria via the Agadez region.

Niger is well known for its stability in the region. These migrants in transit may generate new job opportunities and contribute to income generation and the national economy. But Niger still needs to meet the challenge of recording who is entering the country and their countries of origin, as many of them have no identity documents, said Ambassador De Crombrugghe.

During his three days visit to the country, Ambassador De Crombrugghe also visited IOM's Transit Centre in Agadez and met with Niger Prime Minister Brigi Rafini, the Sultan of Air and the EU Delegation.Before leaving for Mali, he also visited the border with Burkina Faso, where a frontier police post is currently being rehabilitated by IOM.
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is giving cash assistance to 21,000 vulnerable people in Lesotho's two districts worst-affected by the El Nino-related drought. This is WFP's first ever emergency cash relief operation in the Mountain Kingdom.

Under this relief programme, WFP is providing M 1,020 (US$65) each month to 2,000 families in Mohale's Hoek district and to 2,200 families in Mafeteng district. However, the programme, which began in March, will stop at the end of May unless further funding is secured. WFP needs at least US$13.6 million to continue and scale up its drought relief operation in Lesotho.

Lesotho is one of the countries worst-hit by drought in southern Africa. Assessments indicate that the 2015/16 agricultural season has largely failed. Harsh climatic conditions over recent months depleted most water sources, including rivers and dams, leading to an acute shortage of drinking water and water rationing.

The results of a multi-stakeholder Rapid Drought Assessment conducted in January revealed that 535,000 people in rural areas are experiencing food insecurity and will continue to do so beyond harvest time in June this year. The severity of the drought led to the declaration of a state of drought emergency by Lesotho's Prime Minister, Pakalitha Mosisili, in December and an appeal for humanitarian assistance in early February.

The drought crisis has yet to attract the levels of funding required to meet the needs of those affected including children, people living with HIV and large numbers of subsistence farmers who could not plant crops due to the low rainfall and high temperatures between October and December.

WFP is providing cash to support families relying solely on farming who are not expecting to harvest anything this year, said WFP Country Director Mary Njoroge after visiting a Siloe community receiving cash relief in Mohale's Hoek. Our intervention also aims to help families not receiving any social assistance and without any real sources of income or productive assets as a result of the drought.

Mafeteng and Mohale's Hoek were identified as the districts most impacted by drought. According to the recent Drought Assessment and other studies, the food security situation is likely to worsen later this year and in the early months of 2017.

Working with the Government of Lesotho, WFP conducted a Market Assessment in March which showed that markets are functioning normally despite current high food prices. In such circumstances, a system of cash-based transfers is deemed more appropriate as it allows recipients choice in their purchases of food while invigorating the local economy.

The major challenge is that the needs are overwhelming, said Ms. Njoroge. Harder times lie ahead because many farming families - who constitute 80 percent of the country's population - have consumed all the food they harvested last year. Food prices are already beyond the reach of many people including some of those in urban areas.

In rural areas, the price of maize meal has increased by between 30 and 50 percent since December. The high demand for basic food items such as maize meal, pulses, vegetable oil, and salt may trigger further price increases in Lesotho during coming months.

In responding to the drought crisis, WFP is working with partners including the Disaster Management Authority, Word Vision International, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, the Ministry of Forestry, Range and Soil Conservation, and Standard Bank through which cash payments are made.
Gender diversity is a key selling point for companies that want to attract top talent and boost their bottom line, yet a recent study shows gender advancement in South Africa has deteriorated over the past decade.

Gender diversity in business could be a key selling point for organisations looking to attract and retain the top talent in their industries, believe researchers. Yet recent research by tax and assurance company, Grant Thornton, has revealed a steady decline globally in gender diverse business leadership and South Africa is one of the poorest performers.

In South Africa, women hold less than a quarter of leadership positions  and nearly 40% of companies have no women in management positions.

This could spell trouble for the countrys competitiveness says Liz De Wet, a leadership development practitioner who runs the Women in Leadership programme at the UCT Graduate School of Business.

Globally, research has revealed that a more diverse workforce is linked to a companys financial performance, she says. In fact, according to the 2016 Grant Thornton report companies with diverse boards among the largest listed companies in the UK US and India are outperforming their male-only peers to the tune of $655 billion annually.

Studies by Gallup, Harvard, McKinsey have also shown that having a gender diverse executive and workforce is a major advantage in business because it brings different viewpoints, market insights and ideas into the boardroom and enables better problem solving.

Businesses are under increasing pressure to broaden their talent pools in an increasingly competitive market and smart companies are realising that gender diversity holds the key, says De Wet.

Theres a reason why more and more corporates, along with the global organisation of UN Women, are supporting gender diversity in business and politics. Its because, apart from being the right thing to do, its also increasingly becoming the only way to thrive, she says.

Gender diversity simply makes bottom-line business sense, writes Sangeeta Bharadwaj Badal, primary researcher for Gallups Entrepreneurship and Job Creation Initiative.

Gallups study focused on over 800 business units, and found that gender-diverse units had better financial outcomes overall than those dominated by one gender. Gender-diverse business units in the retail company studied had a 14% higher average comparable revenue than less-diverse business units (5.24% vs. 4.58%), while gender-diverse business units in the hospitality company studied showed a 19% higher average quarterly net profit ($16,296 vs. $13,702) than less-diverse business units.

The study further revealed that if the gender-diverse business units are also highly engaged, financial performance improves dramatically. Retail units that are diverse and engaged have a 46% higher increase in comparable revenue, while diverse and engaged units in the hospitality company had a 58% higher net profit than single-gender and less-engaged units.

Meantime, a recent McKinseys study found that companies in the top quartile for gender or racial/ethnic diversity were more likely to have financial returns above their national industry medians. Conversely, companies in the bottom quartile in these dimensions were statistically less likely to achieve above-average returns. Similarly, a Harvard study found that teams with an equal gender mix performed better than male-dominated teams in terms of sales and profits.

And if the profit motive is not enough, De Wet says the incentive to diversify is also coming from the workforce. The Australian Government Workplace Gender Equality Agency recently noted that employees are no longer accepting sexism in the workplace as readily. In a more competitive market, employers that want to attract and retain the top talent have to be prepared to align with potential employees moral values.

Research suggests that organisations that respect and value the diversity brought by both women and men are better able to attract and retain high performers and improve operational performance, the Agency notes.

De Wet believes this means that organisations who genuinely respect diversity and make this obvious in their ethos are more likely to build and retain a stronger, more talented workforce.

More skilled staff? Tick. Lower costs associated with training and staff turnover? Tick. More engaged workforce? Tick. Higher performance all round? Tick, she says.

This is certainly the trend observed by the Top Employers Institute, which globally certifies HR best practice in organisations. Its research shows that the top performing companies in South Africa all have gender friendly employment policies in place including childcare and flexible working conditions.

A diverse workforce provides wider industry knowledge and allows companies to serve an increasingly diverse customer base, says De Wet. It also helps companies to attract and retain talent that otherwise would have slipped under the radar.

Companies cannot afford to ignore 50% of the potential workforce and expect to be competitive in the global economy, she adds.
Honourable Ministers, distinguished guests,

The Africa I came to know in Swaziland, and later living in Cote D'Ivoire and Botswana, is a dynamic place of entrepreneurs, opportunities, an aspirant middle class and a vibrant youth culture. This is the Africa the UK Government wants to engage with.

Traditional aid programmes building health, education and sanitation services in developing countries are vital. They make a real difference to millions of people. The UK Government will continue to provide this type of support including here in Ghana. I am proud of the extraordinary work DFID do in Ghana  and the way that well over 100m the UK spends by to support Ghana's sustainable and inclusive economic growth and development.

But aid never made a country rich. Indeed, aid alone will not eliminate poverty in Africa. In any case, aid inflows are now in most parts of the continent less than other capital flows, foreign direct investment and, in many cases, remittances from overseas diasporas. What is really needed not though is to unleash the power of the free market.

The British government believes that it is the private sector that will grow Africa out of poverty. Because profitable businesses pay taxes and employ people who pay taxes. Which allows governments to invest in health, in education and in infrastructure. And it means less unemployment. Moreover, a broad tax base increases government accountability. The positive effects of a thriving economy are felt throughout society.

I believe that when we look at Africa we look at opportunity. Yes, there are risks. Yes there are difficulties. Yes there are security challenges across the continent. We are never short of people who will talk about the negatives. Or of people who treat the continent as a monolith rather than an internally diverse grouping of over 50 countries. But there are also commercial opportunities and abundant resources  not least Africa's people, and huge economic potential in the Africa that I know and love.

We understand that while some countries in Africa still need aid, many more need investment, expertise, and financial services  the World Bank estimates that the continent as a whole needs an extra $90bn capital investment a year for infrastructure alone. So we want to champion Africa as an investment and trade destination of choice. Jobs, growth, and poverty reduction are all instrumental in addressing the drivers of conflict  and therefore key parts of the 'Golden Thread', a term that our Prime Minister coined, and which we have now enshrined in the UN's new Sustainable Development Goals.

African markets are truly the markets of tomorrow. While the economic outlook might be dampened in the short-term by the slump in commodity prices, the medium to longer-term outlook is still promising. By 2019, rising consumer demand from the emerging African middle class could present additional demand of almost 720 billion pounds. Looking further ahead, this consumer market is only set to grow as Africa's population doubles to 2.5 billion people by 2050.

This is what I think about when I think of Ghana. And when I do the word that comes to mind is partnership. Partnership to achieve the potential that Ghana has  to drive and support sustainable and inclusive economic growth and development in Ghana. For Ghanaians. At the same time  and I don't want to hide this  I want to see potential benefits for UK companies who want to invest in Ghana or export to Ghana. But importantly  and this is a cornerstone of UK policy  any business won by UK companies will be won openly and transparently because corruption is not just a cancer that rots a country: for UK companies it is illegal anywhere. And far from a reason not to do business with British companies it's the reason to do business with them  because what you see is what you get and there is no murky side negotiation. This is something that His Excellency President Mahama and I discussed today. I am delighted he is attending the Prime Ministers anti-corruption summit in May and hope that it will mark a domestic and international step change in Ghana's fight against corruption.

Earlier today I witnessed the official handover of the Dodowa District Hospital, the first of six new district hospitals that NMS Infrastructure is building for the Government of Ghana to invigorate regional and district health care throughout Ghana. I am proud that it was delivered for the Ghanaian people by a British company, NMS, with British expertise, British exports and UK financing support  and that as well as delivering a world class medical facility it also transferred skills, experience and technology to more than 2000 Ghanaians. That is exactly the sort of partnership that should lie at the heart of our bilateral relationship and I will make it a key part of my role to ensure that happens. Thank you
A seven-member Jury has been selected to try Gregory Afoko for the murder of the Upper East Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Adams Mahama.

This came after Gregory Afoko objected to three of the Jurors, prompting their replacement at the Accra High Court.

An Accra District Court, on February 22, 2016, committed Afoko to stand trial at the High Court.

The court said based on the evidence presented there was a compelling case for the accused to answer at the High Court.

Gregory Afoko and Asabke Alangdi have been charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit crime and murder.

A third accomplice, Musa Issa, was granted bail after the Attorney-General had advised that there was not enough evidence to charge him.

The trial was scheduled to start on March 23, 2016 but was postponed to Tuesday, April 5 after the absence of the trial judge, Justice Lawrence L. Mensah, an appeals Court judge, with additional responsibilities as a High Court judge.

As a result of the development, the prosecutor, Mr Mathew Amponsah, a Chief State Attorney, and Afokos legal team agreed on the next adjourned date.

At the court on Tuesday, lawyer for the accused, Israel Ackah said the facts as presented by the prosecution are not conclusive and do not establish the guilt of the accused.

He asked the jury to carefully assess the facts and come to a just verdict by acquitting the accused.

Mr. Ackah said that they will soon be made aware that the case against Mr Afoko is built on unfounded speculations, half-hearted investigations, innuendos, unsubstantiated rumours which the Jury will reject.
Nii Osah Mills

05.04.2016 LISTEN

The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Nii Osah Mills has warned encroachers and landguards, who have illegally taken over official lands of Achimota School in Accra to desist from the practice.

He said his ministry was liaising with the police to arrest encroachers and prosecute them according to the laws of the land.

The minister gave the warning when he joined members of the Parliamentary Committee on Lands and Natural Resources to inspect Achimota School lands, which have been taken over by private developers on Tuesday.

Old students of the school had petitioned the Speaker of Parliament over the matter.

During the tour, they discovered that the school farms at Christian Village had all been developed while parts of the school's land extending to Abofu were being developed by the private people.

The Minister said his ministry had ordered the Lands Commission not to register any land belonging to the Achimota School.

The chairman of the Committee on Lands and Natural Resources, Amadu Seidu, after the tour, said the Speaker referred the petition of the old students to them and it was their duty to visit the site and report back to him.

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According to the chairman, before the field tour, the committee invited officials of the Lands Commission who said they had not given any land titles to any developer.

He said it was unfortunate that the school's property and for that matter state property were being destroyed by self-seeking private individuals, adding that in fact, in a country which is being governed by laws these things should not be allowed to happen.

He said the committee would present a comprehensive report with the necessary recommendations to the Speaker for action to be taken.

A member of the committee and New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Bantama, Kwabena Kokofu said the law enforcement agencies must be made to work and protect public lands and property.

The headmistress of the school, Beatrice Adom said that the school, which used to admit less than 800 students, currently has a student population of 2,800.

More students want admission to the school which means that we will need more classroom blocks, dormitories and staff bungalows, she added.

She pleaded with government to retrieve their lands for them to ensure the expansion of the school's infrastructure to accommodate all the students and staff.

By Thomas Fosu Jnr


05.04.2016 LISTEN

Torrential rains destroyed 25 households and a number of shops in the Kalaraga Electoral Area in the Tamale South Constituency on Friday.

The rainstorm destroyed properties worth thousands of Ghana cedis and rendered about 75 families homeless.

When DAILY GUIDE visited the area, some of the affected victims were seen counting their losses.

The Asemblyman Amadu Yahuza told DAILY GUIDE that the victims are currently staying with relatives, friends, and some are living in makeshift buildings that we created for them.

He indicated that he tried to inform the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Tamale South, who is also the Minister for Employment and Labour Relations, Haruna Iddrisu about the situation but was told he was out of the country.

According to him, officials of the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) visited the affected areas to assess the situation and indicated that they would forward the report to their authorities.

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He stated that the affected victims do not have confidence in the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) officials because they usually do not fulfill their promise.

He appealed to government, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and philanthropists to assist the victims.

The Tamale Coordinator of the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO), Mohammed Sahada said they were doing everything possible to assist the affected people.

From Eric Kombat, Tamale


Dr Ransford Gyampo

05.04.2016 LISTEN

A senior lecturer at the University of Ghana's Political Science Department, Dr. Ransford Gyampo has called for tolerance and accommodation in local politics.

He made the call when he delivered the keynote address during the launch of Political Science Week of the students of the department yesterday under the theme Political Tolerance: An Ideal Recipe For Democratic Consolidation In Ghana.

Political pluralism, he noted is not, however easily achieved, nor when achieved, sustained, unless people develop the habit of political tolerance and accommodation. Where there is pluralism without tolerance, the immutable result is bitter strife.

He argued that our politics ought to be characterized not by mere tolerance but also by accommodation between different parties.

Political tolerance and accommodation can be cultivated and made to develop when there is a sincere commitment by all parties to a free, fair, peaceful and transparent electoral process and cooperation among them to ensure that elections do not raise any doubt as to acceptability of their outcome, he said.

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The Political Party that wins an election, he suggested, should be mindful of the fact that electoral victory is nothing more than a mandate from the people for a term, and that this mandate is subject to revocation or renewal.

A party in government, he went on, should not do things to the opposition that it would not wish the opposition to do to it, if the roles were reversed.

The concept of enemy, he observed, is a negative and corrosive factor in multi-party politics and that political parties contesting for the mandate of the people are citizens offering their services to the nation, not enemies fighting.

There should be the institutionalization of inter-party dialogue to ensure free communication and interaction such as the platforms created by the IEA-GPPP and IPAC, he said.

The opposition, he said, must recognize that the ruling party in government is entitled to carry out its policies during its term of office and that it is not bound to accept every proposal made by the opposition. Indeed, the opposition has a duty to offer constructive criticisms, offering policy alternatives, but it should not expect the government to accept everything it proposes.

By A.R. Gomda


05.04.2016 LISTEN

THE YOUTH of Ash Town in Kumasi and Ghana in general have been sternly cautioned to stay away from illicit acts such as the smoking of Indian hemp, known as 'Ganja' since it can destroy their future.

Berndt Owusu, CEO of Berndt Luther Foundation, an NGO based at Ash Town, who sounded the warning, also urged the youth to shun alcoholic beverages, gambling and all other illegal acts in order to stay away from trouble.

He described the youth as the future leaders of the country, therefore there is the need for parents and guardians to dedicate their time to the training of their children so that they would grow to become influential people.

Mr. Owusu gave the advice when his NGO presented over hundred pairs of footwear to children in Ash Town and nearby areas to bring smile on their faces during the recent Easter festivities.

The presentation of the footwear took place at a mega party which Berndt Luther Foundation organized for over 1000 kids at Ash Town on Easter Monday. The NGO had been organizing the party for the kids every year, since 2007.

Mr. Owusu admonished the youth to take their education seriously, reminding them that education is the only tool which could help them to become respectable people when they grow.

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Oscar Osei Acheampong, Secretary of the NGO, stated that Berndt Luther Foundation has the passion to contribute to the lives of the less privileged in society to raise their standard of living.

He also appealed to parents to use their resources to cater for the education of their children to enable them become responsible adults in future, adding that the future of the country depends on them.

FROM I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi


05.04.2016 LISTEN

From right: Dr Gloria Quansah-Asare, Deputy Director General of GHS, Dr Afisa Zakariah, Chief Director of MoH, Alex Segbefia and Dr Owen Laws Kaluwa, WHO Country Representative

The Ministry of Health (MoH) has issued an alert for Lassa fever, calling on all health facilities in the country to intensify public awareness on the disease.

The ministry has also charged the leadership of the various health facilities in the regions and districts to initiate processes for public awareness creation on the disease and institute systems for enhanced surveillance.

Minister of Health Alex Segbefia together with representatives of the Ghana Health Service (GHS) and World Health Organisation (WHO), briefing the media on the outbreak of Lassa fever in West Africa, said it was imperative for Ghana to take the necessary steps and measures to prevent and protect citizens against the deadly viral haemorrhagic disease, Lassa fever.

Countries in the sub-region have already recorded cases of Lassa fever this year, with the disease sweeping westward of Benin that has reported 71 cases (six confirmed, 10 probable and 55 suspected) in seven regions.

Nieghbouring Togo is also recording Lassa fever cases, with more than 80 people reportedly showing signs and symptoms since March 15, 2016.

The Togolese health authorities reported the confirmed outbreak in a district called Oti that shares boundary with Ghana.

This is very close and Ghana as a country needs to enhance surveillance and public awareness for prevention and early detection of Lassa fever, the minister mentioned.

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Mr Segbefia further requested all health institutions and health workers to institute surveillance on Lassa fever and acute haemorrhagic fevers in general using case definitions and specific isolation conditions for the management of suspected cases of Lassa fever.

He also called on all health workers to adhere to regular infection prevention and control measures to prevent and protect against possible nosocomial transmission.

Going forward, we entreat all citizens of Ghana to desist from contact with the rodent (multi-mammate rat or mastomys) to prevent Lassa fever, he added.

The sector minister assured the public that the health ministry together with other health agencies in the country like the WHO would not renege on their efforts to protect citizens, especially health workers.

Lassa fever is an acute viral haemorrhagic febrile illness which is endemic in the West African Region. It is transmitted to humans via contact with food or household items contaminated with urine or faeces of the rodent (multi-mammate rat).

Person-to-person infection and laboratory transmission can also occur, particularly in hospital settings that lack adequate infection prevention and control measures.

Ghana recorded its first confirmed cases in 2011 in two districts in the Ashanti and Eastern regions. Since then, no more cases have been detected despite the strong surveillance system for the disease in the country.

By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri


KOSSA members marching to the KBTH administration

05.04.2016 LISTEN



The Korle-Bu Senior Staff Association (KOSSA) has issued a 48-hour ultimatum to the management of Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) to reinstate Charles Ofei-Palm, its president, who was interdicted for his comments about the hospital on an Accra-based radio station last week.

KOSSA in a statement signed by its General Secretary James Clifford Oblitey said the association would not be liable if any situation at the hospital gets out of hand after the 48-hour ultimatum without its president being reinstated.

Since we have tried to hold our workers agitations at bay, but your lack of co-operation had dealt a blow to it, count it a joy if any situation gets out of hand because the letter of interdiction is deemed an interdiction to all of us, if it is not immediately withdrawn within 48 hours, it read.

Members of KOSSA yesterday before presenting the petition to management, marched from the KOSSA secretariat clad with red cloth on their arms and necks, holding placards which read: 'Charles Ofei-Palm Is A National Hero', 'Dr Buckle Do You Believe In Freedom Of Speech', 'Charles Ofei-Palm Has Not Offended Any Media Policy' and 'We Are Tired of The Management In Korle Bu'.

Led by the association's general secretary, the members chanted various songs to register their disappointment at management for resorting to what they called a calculated attempt to put fear in the workers and cripple their freedom, indicating that they would not allow management to dictate to them what they should do as an association.

Mr Oblitey, justifying Mr Ofei-Palm's comment, said the KOSSA president granted the interview to the radio station in the capacity as the president of KOSSA and not as an employee of the hospital.

We, therefore, find it strange that the president was not queried to explain himself, but interdicted following the twists and turns that have been used to corrupt sound administration that has put staff on uneasy footing these last few years, he pointed out.

Mr Ofei-Palm who was at the hospital expressed his appreciation to his colleagues for backing him as their leader.

He also sent a strong signal to the management that the workers would do everything within their power to resist management if they choose to take any decision which would go against the interest of the hospital.

Receiving the petition letter on behalf of management, Deputy Director of Administration at KBTH, Kambarin Kombian, assured the workers that management would address their grievances as soon as possible.

He, therefore, urged the workers to go back to their posts to continue the day's activities because management will not sleep on your demands.

I cannot assure you of your ultimatum given but I know management will surely address all the issues you have raised for the betterment of the facility, he said.

It would be recalled that on March 17, 2016, Mr Ofei-Palm reacted to media reports on the Auditor-General's report which indicted the hospital for some financial mismanagement.

During the said reaction on Class FM, the KOSSA president said KBTH was almost on its knees as it was about collapsing under the watch of the CEO Dr Gilbert Buckle and Prof Anthony Mawuli Sallah, the board chairman.

This, among other things, he was purported to have said, led to management serving him an interdiction letter on March 24, 2016.

By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri
05.04.2016 LISTEN

The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) yesterday condemned the April fool pranks put up by some media houses on Friday in a news release  a boring routine that has hallmarked its operations over the years. To some of us who have never been impressed with the GJA for its failure to strike when it matters most, such condemnation, coming three days after April 1, was a waste of time.

A colleague died in a grisly highway slaughter last year and we have not heard any conclusion as to what really happened. But why are we surprised? The GJA president himself, days after that heart-wrenching incident, put the words of a politician who was not on the bus above the account of a journalist-turned-victim who was battling for survival at the hospital.

A serious association would have demanded a full scale probe  with its member represented on that committee  and updated us regularly till a logical conclusion is reached. But, shamefully, the GJA only issued a statement  a recurring decimal in its modus operandi. When the wife of the late colleague complained that she had still not heard anything about what actually caused the accident days after her husbands funeral, it dawned on me that I had taken the best decision not to have anything to do with the GJA as a Journalist.

But the riddle is not ended yet. The state funeral held for the late Journalist passed without a tribute being read by members of the presidential press corps of which he was a member. The groups tribute was in the funeral programme booklet but they were not allowed to read it although an executive of the GJA moderated the event. Last year was, doubtless, Journalism in Ghanas annus horribilis.

The President, touted as a communicator and media-friendly personality, has still not said a word about the unfortunate incident. Not even a statement to Ghanaians that a full scale investigation will be launched into the matter. That is yet another miserable insertion in the chronicles of journalism practice in Ghana. When joy fm decided to dig into the crux of the matter with a documentary in the heat of the shocking incident, some members of the presidential press corps declined to comment. When journalists in a democratic dispensation fear to speak their mind, it speaks volumes of the brand of democracy being practised.

In 2007, Samuel Enin, the Ashanti regional chair of the GJA was murdered to the shock of the fraternity. The GJA as usual only issued a statement condemning the incident without demanding justice to be served. Till today, we dont know who killed him and for what reason(s). Journalists have been assaulted by politicians, security officers and other public office holders in the line of duty, but the recurring decimal from the GJA is a news release, that is if they find it relevant.

At this years colourful independence parade which gave Ghana a new President  Uhuru Kenyatta  Photojournalists were packed into the bucket of a tipper truck like hopeless hardened criminals on their way to face the fury of a no-nonsense judge. The GJA condemned the incident, describing it as; not only most demeaning but crude. I found it interesting!

The statement continued; the rough arrangement was carried out in the full glare of our foreign guests, smacking a lack of respect for local media personnel. It also portrayed a continuous lack of concern for the safety and security of media personnel in the line of duty. The elders say, he who wears rags does not engage in rough play.

The GJA condemned organisers of the independence parade for demonstrating continuous lack of concern for the safety and security of media personnel in the line of duty, when it has become a monument of same. Journalists work in terrible conditions, abused and despised by newsmakers who see media personnel as nothing short of hungry school dropouts who feed off the cramps on their tables and the GJA loses its voice at such crucial times. What moral right does the GJA have to question the actions of an abuser when it has continuously neglected the abused that look up it? Offering yourself as a measure of righteousness when you are no saint exposes you to downright ridicule, the sages opine.

So how do we describe an association that fails to protect its members in the face of life-threatening attacks and even death? Fill in the blank space. A staff of Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) was assaulted by a staff of the Office of the President. It presented a litmus test for Affail Monney, the GJA president, who is a senior staff of GBC to demand justice on behalf of his staff to demonstrate to the fraternity that he has balls. But alas, his silence over such disturbing incidents as usual - became noisier.

The GJA, in my opinion, needs to be re-christened, Ghana News Release and Awards Association, to reflect its operational interest. But wait a minute, even with the annual awards ritual, the accusations that trail the list of winners can only be better treated under a different topic.

Journalism in Ghana is purely one of survival of the fittest, an-each-one-for -himself affair. That is why some journalists are now verbal assassins for their political paymasters and greedy moneybag business folks. Until a new association of journalists emerges to serve the overall interest of practitioners, newsmakers will continue the contemptible treatment with impunity.
One person is reported dead and at least two others sustained gunshot wounds in renewed chieftaincy clashes at Sovie near Kpando in the Volta Region.

The man is reported to have been killed at about 1:30am during exchange of gunshots between the two factions, Sunday.

An eyewitness told Joy News that the deceased is a man believed to be in his 50s. His body has since been deposited at the Anfoegah Catholic Hospital.

I understand the body will be sent to Ho tomorrow for autopsy," he told Myjoyonline.com.

According to him, one of the injured who is still on admission at the Anfoegah Catholic Hospital is being guarded by two police officers.

He said one other person who was also injured during the clashes was admitted at the Margaret Marquart Catholic Hospital in Kpando has been discharged.

Story by Ghana| Myjoyonline.com| Patricia Asiedua Akuffo| [email protected]
Rome (AFP) - Italy on Tuesday warned Egypt it would not accept a "fabricated" account of the brutal murder of student Giulio Regeni from a delegation of prosecutors and police due in Rome.

As Cairo confirmed the investigative team would fly to the Italian capital on Wednesday, Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said there would be immediate consequences if Rome's demands for greater transparency on Regeni's fate were not met.

Regeni, 28 and a PhD candidate at Cambridge University, was found dead outside Cairo on February 3, his body bearing the signs of torture which an autopsy concluded had been inflicted over several days.

On March 25, Cairo announced police had killed four members of a criminal gang specialising in abducting foreigners, and that they had found Regeni's passport in the apartment of a sister of one of the slain suspects.

That version of what happened to Regeni has been greeted with outraged scepticism in Italy, where there is a widespread suspicion that the murder was the work of elements in the security services. Cairo has rejected that theory as baseless.

"We are on the eve of important meetings which could be decisive for the progress of the investigation," Gentiloni told lawmakers.

He reiterated that Italy regarded the kidnapping gang story as a "new attempt to give credence to a convenient truth" and said he would reject any attempt to have it accepted as "a conclusion to the investigation".

- Close ties at risk -

Gentiloni said Rome was still waiting to receive Regeni's mobile phone records and CCTV images from the neighbourhood in which he was abducted. Italy was also seeking information on Regeni having "probably been placed under surveillance prior to his abduction," the minister said.

If these elements are not forthcoming, Gentiloni warned of damage to the usually close relations between the two countries.

"The government is ready to ready to react by adopting immediate and proportionate measures," he said, rejecting suggestions Italy could not afford a bust-up with a major trade and security partner.

"In the name of reasons of state, we will not accepted a fabricated truth... and we will not allow the dignity of our country to be walked all over."

Egypt's public prosecutor's office said the team headed for Rome would be led by deputy general prosecutor Mostafa Suleiman and would "present the results of the investigation conducted by the Egyptian general prosecution in the case so far".

The delegation was initially due in Rome on Tuesday, but the trip was delayed for undisclosed reasons.

- Barely recognisable -

Regeni disappeared in central Cairo on January 25, and his body was found nine days later on the side of a motorway, badly mutilated and showing signs of torture.

Regeni had been researching labour movements in Egypt, a sensitive topic, and had written articles critical of the government under a pen name.

He disappeared on a day when Cairo was almost deserted and security tight as the country marked the fifth anniversary of the uprising that ousted longtime leader Hosni Mubarak.

"I won't tell you what they had done to him," Regeni's mother Paola told the Italian parliament recently after seeing her son's battered body.

"I recognised him just by the tip of his nose. The rest of him was no longer Giulio."

Underlining the domestic pressure Renzi's government is under, she said she had taken a photograph of his mutilated body and was prepared to publish it if Cairo continued to refuse to share the findings of its probe with the Italian police.

Since the 2013 ouster of Islamist leader Mohamed Morsi, rights groups have accused Egypt's security services of carrying out illegal detentions, forced disappearances of activists and the torture of detainees.

Since Morsi's removal by then army chief and now President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, a police crackdown targeting Morsi's supporters has left hundreds dead and tens of thousands jailed.

Hundreds more have been sentenced to death, including Morsi himself.
The controversial science textbook for primary one pupils 'Natural Science for Primary Schools' was approved by the Ghana Education Service (GES) as a recommended material for teaching and learning, it has been revealed.

The book, authored and published by Professor Albert Joseph Quarm, sparked a lot of debate in the public when it came out that the author had attributed the function of the head to 'carrying load'.

The Ministry of Education Monday dissociated itself and the GES from the authorisation of the book to be used as a teaching material.

According to the Ministry, the approved textbook for primary 1 is 'Natural Science for Primary Schools: Activity-Based Pupils' Book 1' jointly authored by Peter Asiedu, Henric Atta Baa-Yeboah and Ebenezer Agyiri Domptey.

But a letter released by letter of assessment of Prof Quarm's book indicates that the GES recommended his book as a supplementary material for teaching and learning in schools.

A letter from the GES recommended that the book could be used as a supplementary material for teaching

The letter, dated November 30, 2011, said 'The above-named books which were submitted to the textbook and educational committee (TEEC) through the Curriculum Research and Development Division (CRDD) of the Ghana Education Service have been assessed. Decision: The books are recommended as supplementary materials or the teaching and learning of Natural Science at the Lower Primary and Colleges of Education.'
Founder of the Progressive Peoples Party (PPP), Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom is advising the youth not to allow themselves to be used as objects of violence during election seasons.

Speaking to a section of students from Aggrey Memorial Senior High School in the Central Region, Dr Nduom noted that the youth usually become victims of unscrupulous politicians who only use them to incite violence in the country during election seasons. He condemned the practice and urged the youth to resist such temptations.

to you young men and women, it is only in election time that politicians discover you exist, so when they need some people to go and sing and dance they call you, sometimes too when they need some people to go and insult others they call you, you must resist the temptation of being their entertainers, you must resist the temptations to be used for something negative.

Dr Nduom also bemoaned the act of preaching Peace messages over the country only during election periods but added that peace must be a part of our daily lives.

there is going to be an election in 2016, but what makes me unhappy is that we always wait until the year of election and we start talking about Peace, we start telling people about their responsibilities making all kinds of promises as if it is only in election year that we must live according to the truth, according to the wishes of the people, it is almost as if it is election year that politicians remember that there are people in this country with needs.

Dr Nduom further urged the youth to make the right choice as the elections draw near, stressing that the choice we make would go a long way to affect each and every one of us.

I want you to remember that the choices that we make in an election year is not just for one year, and is not just for two days, it is a choice that we make for four years, so we make those choices and we must be careful to choose good leaders who would take care of us every day, every week, every month until the time for election is due, not people who will wait till election year, then they will come and say, remember I am your MP, remember I am your President. All I am saying is when we make choices we must live with those choices.

Dr Nduom charged all electorates to always hold their leaders accountable since they voted them into power.
The African Union Commission Chairperson, Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, and the Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo, H.E. Augustine Mataa Ponyo, met on Monday, 4 April 2016, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

They met on the margins of the 9th Joint Annual Meetings of the African Union Specialised Technical Committee on Finance, Monetary Affairs, Economic Planning and Integration and the Economic Commission of Africa Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development.

The AU Commission Chairperson and the Congolese Prime Minister discussed the socio-economic and political situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo, especially the progress made, as well as the challenges they currently face.

The Prime Minister informed the Chairperson of the significant progress that the DRC is making, notably the 11% increase in the 2014 Human Development Index. He said this was a remarkable gain; this particular experience of the DRC was shared with other countries during the gathering.

Politically, the PM informed the Chairperson that the DRC is currently having discussions around a national dialogue that would allow stakeholders to put into perspective the ongoing socio-economic developments and a consensually agreed electoral process. He thanked the Chairperson for appointing former Prime Minister Edme Kodjo to assist in facilitating dialogue with the Congolese stakeholders.

The AU Commission Chairperson welcomed the Prime Minister for accepting the invitation to share his country's experience with other African countries. She congratulated President Joseph Kabila and the Government for their commitment in improving on the lives of the people of the DRC, encouraging them to stay the course. Dr. Dlamini Zuma pledged the sustained support of the African Union. She noted that growth and progress in any country on the continent is success for the rest of the continent.
05.04.2016 LISTEN

The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has condemned the National Security Advisor for ordering the arrest of a man on suspicion that he took pictures of his private property.

The NPP Communications Director, Nana Akomea, said the arrest of Dr. Edmund Ayo Ani, the Managing Director of a quarry company, Marble and Granite is a retrogressive move to Ghana's dark days under military rule in the 80s.

Alhaji Baba Kamara is taking Ghana back to the regime of settling civil disputes through the use of the coercive tools of the criminal justice system.

The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has condemned the National Security Advisor for ordering the arrest of a man on suspicion that he took pictures of his private property.

The NPP Communications Director, Nana Akomea, said the arrest of Dr. Edmund Ayo Ani, the Managing Director of a quarry company, Marble and Granite is a retrogressive move to Ghana's dark days under military rule in the 80s.

Alhaji Baba Kamara is taking Ghana back to the regime of settling civil disputes through the use of the coercive tools of the criminal justice system.

Dr. Ayo Ani whose office shares a wall with the yard was put into Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) custody last Friday on suspicion that he took pictures of the vehicles. The pictures were shared them on social media.

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The NPP says Baba Kamara's action is another example of abuse of office.

Now if even Mr. Kamara believes that the privacy of his property has been violated, his course of action should be a civil one, Akomea said.

The controversy-prone conduct by the BNI comes a few days after media attention was waning on another controversial arrest.

Three South Africans, although they had been granted bail by a competent court were nonetheless re-arrested by the security agency.

Government's commitment to the rule of law is seen as an easy target for the opposition NPP. For years, the NPP has been unhappy about the government's record of respect for human rights.

The party accused its main rival of trying to bring back the dark days of a police state after a former deputy Interior minister Kobby Acheampong said in 2012 on Metro TV that; President Mahama could decree a curfew and have the leadership of the NPP arbitrarily arrested.

After fierce critic and NPP MP Kennedy Agyapong was arrested in August 2012 and accused of making treasonable comments, the NPP reminded government that Ghana is long past the days when criticizing a weakness of the current government or making an irresponsible remark should amount to treason.

-Myjoyonline


Rome, ACCRA, APRIL 5 - (dpa/GNA) - More and more people are at risk of hunger in the conflict-stricken African nation of South Sudan as civil war has crippled food production, two United Nations agencies reported Tuesday.

South Sudan has been gripped by a violent power struggle between the government and rebels since December 2013. Tens of thousands have been killed and more than 2.3 million displaced, and a peace deal signed in August has not ended the conflict.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) said the country had a cereal deficit of 381,000 tonnes, more than twice last year's levels, leading to a five-fold hike in cereal prices.

"Some 5.8 million people, or nearly half of the country's population, are unsure where their next meal will come from, while the rate of severe food insecurity has now reached 12 per cent, double the rate of one year ago," the FAO and WFP said in a joint statement.

According to the WFP's top official for South Sudan, the country "is facing a deadly blend of conflict, economic hardship and poor rains. Together, they are worsening a hunger gap that we fear will force more people to go hungry and increase malnutrition."

The two Rome-based UN agencies said more than 90 per cent of South Sudan land is arable, but when the country gained independence from Sudan in 2011 only 4.5 per cent was actually cultivated. The percentage has further declined since then, due to the civil war.

The FAO said it was planning to spend 45 million dollars to develop South Sudan's agriculture this year, but needs 16.1 million dollars in donations to meet the target. The WFP appealed for 241 million dollars from the international community to distribute emergency food aid.

GNA
Agona Swedru, April 5, GNA - Mrs Rachel Adjoa Apoh, Member of Parliament (MP) for Gomoa Central, has donated food items to the inmates of the Mothercare Orphanage Home, at Jacob Village, near Agona Swedru.

The items include five bags of rice, toilet rolls, plastic buckets, bowels, trays, 20 mosquito nets, boxes of matches, plastics cups, sleeping mats and cartons of soft drinks.

She did not disclose the cost of the items.

Speaking, after presentation, Mrs Apoh asked the people in higher positions and well-to-do to donate to motherless and fatherless in the society for their up-keep.

She said the inmates through no faults of theirs have become orphans and have found themselves in the orphanage homes.

They therefore need the support of the society to live, she said.

The MP was accompanied by Mr Moses Jehu-Appiah, Gomoa East District Chief Executive and other party executives.

Mrs Apoh urged the orphans not be disturbed and discouraged with their situation, but should strive hard to succeed in life.

The MP announced the adoption of the six-week old baby girl who was abandoned in a gutter at Agona Asafo and was sent to Mother Care Orphanage Home by the Police.

Mrs Apoh said she would approach the Department of Social Welfare for the necessary procedure for the adoption of the child who has done nothing to deserve her present situation.

She called on the inmates to study hard, adding that education is the panacea to poverty reduction.

Nana Obeng-Enyan the first, Director of Mother Care Orphanage Home thanked the MP for her kind gesture and asked corporate bodies and other Ghanaians to come to the aid of the Home.

Nana Obeng-Enyan who is also Asomkwahene of Gomoa Ajumako Traditional Area attributed streets children to the broken homes.

She asked marriage couples to desist from acts that could lead to the divorce, adding that after break up it is the children that suffer.

Nana Obeng-Enyan who is also Adontenhene of Gomoa Benso asked teenage girls to concentrate on their education and avoid anything that could ruin their future.

GNA
05.04.2016 LISTEN

NEW YORK, ACCRA, April 5 - (UPI/GNA) - After days of bickering over a date and location, Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have finally agreed to debate April 14 in Brooklyn, five days before the New York primary.

Vermont Sen. Sanders agreed to the date after rescheduling a rally in New York City planned for that evening.

"The Clinton campaign disingenuously announced that it had agreed to a debate on another day when it knew very well that Sen. Sanders already had locked in a park permit for a major rally in New York City," Sanders spokesman Michael Briggs said in a statement/ "Let's get serious. Let's get on with debating the candidates' stands on serious issues affecting New York and the United States."

The debate at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, a historic producer of warships, and now a manufacturing and commercial facility, will be co-sponsored by CNN and NY1, a regional cable news outlet. Wolf Blitzer of CNN is set to moderate the 9 p.m. debate, with CNN's Dana Bash and NY1's Errol Louis questioning the candidates.

At Sanders' insistence, the New York State Democratic Party will not be involved in the proceedings, despite the April 19 primary. In general, the Sanders campaign has discouraged the participation of state parties in the numerous Sanders-Clinton debates because they typically support Clinton.

While both campaigns were publicly amenable to the debate, they argued for days over a date and venue. The impasse was evidently broken by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Clinton supporter, who in a message to Sanders said, "Let's make NY1 4/14 BKLYN debate happen. I'll help you secure any permit you need to ensure your NYC rally can happen too."

Clinton currently holds a sizeable lead in delegates over Sanders. There are 291 delegates at stake in the New York primary.

GNA
05.04.2016 LISTEN

Accra, April 5, GNA - The Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) is holding a-four-day training in export marketing fundamentals for over 30 exporters and financial actors across the country.

The aim of the workshop is to support the export community to acquire managerial, technical and trade capacity as well as understand the current global export trends to give Ghana a competitive edge.

Mr Stephen Normeshie, the Acting Chief Executive Officer of GEPA, speaking at the opening session on Monday said the Authority would scale up marketing training programmes for exporters to enhance capacity and ensure they met required standards in the global market.

He said the Ghana Export School was always ready to develop training modules to meet the needs of product associations and identified groups of persons.

Mr Normeshie said building the skills and capacities of exporters was very critical if the country's goal of increasing export returns was to be achieved.

He said exporters needed to be schooled on recent trends and changes in the export market in order to remain competitive and also help the country to grow its export base.

Among the topics being treated are Export Marketing Research, Product Planning and Product Adaptation, Legal Contracts and Negotiations, Sanitary and Photosanitary Specification and Export Procedures and Documentation.

Giving a gist of the performance of the Non Traditional Exports (NTEs) sector, Mr Normeshie said exports grew steadily at an annual average rate of about 14.79 per cent from $777.59 million in 2005 to $2.514 billion in 2014.

However, in 2012 the total earnings saw a decline in earnings to $2.364 billion from $2.423 billion in 2011.

In 2013, earnings from the sector went up by 3.05 per cent to $2.436 billion.

Mr Normeshie said the statistics showed that there was the need to ensure that the sector's growth was doubled and sustained since the sector held the best prospect for rapid economic development.

He expressed the hope that the training would provide the opportunity to contribute towards a much stronger sector.

The Ghana Export School was set up by GEPA, the National Export Trade Support Institution of the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI) responsible for the facilitation, development and promotion of Ghanaian exports in 1987, to address the training needs of the export community.

In an interview with some of the exporters, Mr Richard Odoom, Accounts and Administrative Manager of Bet Export Ghana Limited, exporters of Cashew nuts and medicinal plants, said the training was helping to understand the new trends in the export market.

He said the exposure and the new knowledge would go a long way to help grow his business.

Mrs Mildred Ahiaglo-Amuzu, a Banker, said understanding the peculiar needs of exporters would help her department to know how to deal with the exporters.

GNA
TOKYO, ACCRA, April 5 - (UPI/GNA) - The Chinese captain of a ship that docked in Japan is in custody for not declaring a previous visit to North Korea, according to local officials.

The vessel sailing under the flag of Palau had stopped over in North Korea, but the captain had said the previous port-of-call was China, Kyodo News reported.

The Lucky Star-8 had entered a North Korean port between Jan. 29 and Feb. 1. Upon entering Rumoi, Hokkaido, the captain had falsely reported a "call to China," according to Japan press.

Rumoi's maritime security said it uncovered this fact on March 28, as Japanese authorities conducted an on-site inspection of the ship and its cargo.

The ship was manned by 15 crewmembers, all of Chinese and Vietnamese nationality. There was no cargo on board, according to local authorities.

In response to Pyongyang's provocations, Japan is enforcing a strict ban against all ships that have made stopovers in North Korea.

Japan also took steps to extend sanctions against North Korea in February.

The policies include a ban on money transfers and denial of entry to North Korean passport holders.

All North Korean vessels are to be banned from docking at Japanese ports, and third-country ships that previously visited North Korea are banned from Japan.

The sanctions undo several Tokyo initiatives that began in 2014 when the Japanese government began easing anti-Pyongyang regulations in a bid to resolve the North Korean abduction issue.

Talks over the repatriation of remaining Japanese abductees collapsed in 2015 after North Korea denied it was holding the missing persons in custody.

GNA
05.04.2016 LISTEN

By Francis Ameyibor, GNA

Accra, April 5, GNA - Mr Kenneth Thompson, Chief Executive Officer, Dalex Finance and Leasing Company Limited, has called on Dr Abdul-Nashiru Issahaku, the new appointed Governor of the Bank of Ghana to resist the temptation of giving government overdraft.

'Dr Issahaku must help save the government from itself. Ensure that Government only spend within budget especially as the nation gears up for Elections later in the year,' Mr Thompson told the Ghana News Agency in an interview in Accra.

President John Dramani Mahama on Monday April 4, appointed Dr. Issahakuas the new Governor of the Central Bank to replace Dr. Kofi Wampah, who took an early retirement at a time when his performance had been largely criticized.

Dr. Issahaku, until this appointment, was a deputy Governor of the Bank.

Mr. Thompson attributed the failing of Ghana's economy over the past two decades to the inability of government to abstain from overspending and stressed the need for Dr. Issahaku to put his foot down on that front.

He urged the new governor to be firm and even bounce government cheques if government attempts to over spend. 'That's what we are looking for because it's very clear to all of us that we have to spend within our means.

'We have not secured our future because we have been unable to spend within our means for over 25 years,' he said.

The Dalex Chief Executive noted that; 'I have confidence in Dr Issahaku's capabilities to restrain the government from overspending'.

A brief profile of Dr Issahaku indicates that prior to his appointment as Second Deputy Governor in 2013, he served as the acting Chief Executive Officer of Export Development and Agricultural Investment Fund (EDAIF).

Dr. Issahaku has also worked with the African Development Bank and World Bank.

He holds Masters in Agric Economics and a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Georgia.

He worked as a Governance Expert at the State University of New York, Center for International Studies.

GNA
NEW YORK, ACCRA, April 5 - (UPI/GNA) -- The governors of New York and California on Monday approved measures that will eventually boost minimum wage in those states to $15 per hour.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed bills as part of the 2016-17 state budget that will ultimately push the minimum wage to that level.

"By moving to a $15 state wide minimum wage and enacting the strongest paid family leave policy in the nation, New York is showing the way forward on economic justice," Cuomo said. "These policies will not only lift up the current generation of low-wage workers and their families, but ensure fairness for future generations and enable them to climb the ladder of opportunity."

New York's minimum wage will gradually increase over the next decade, due to the new measures, which also include 12 weeks of paid family leave -- the longest and most comprehensive leave plan in the nation, according to Cuomo.

It is estimated that more than 2.3 million people will be affected by the increases in the minimum wage, Cuomo's office said.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, a former senator representing New York, also attended the signing event Monday.

California Gov. Jerry Brown also signed legislation Monday to boost his state's minimum wage to similar levels in the coming decade.

"This is about economic justice, it's about people," Brown said, adding that California is the first state in the nation to commit to a $15 minimum hourly wage. "This is an important day, it's not the end of the struggle but it's a very important step forward."

"Minimum wage will rise to $10.50 per hour on January 1, 2017 for businesses with 26 or more employees, and then rise each year until reaching $15 per hour in 2022," Brown's office said in a statement Monday.

Like New York's legislation, the wage increase will occur over a period of years -- and include safety measures intended to re-calibrate the plan if negative economic factors arise.

"The legislation increases the minimum wage over time, consistent with economic expansion, while providing safety valves - known as 'off-ramps' - to pause wage hikes if negative economic or budgetary conditions emerge," Brown's office said. "The Governor can act by September 1 of each year to pause the next year's wage increase for one year if there is a forecasted budget deficit or poor economic conditions."

"I commend Governor Andrew Cuomo and the state of New York for taking the historic step of creating a paid family leave program in the state and raising its minimum wage to support New York's working families," President Barack Obama said in a statement Monday. "This action means more parents won't have to choose between their job and caring for their new children. It means more workers can earn a higher wage to help make ends meet.

"Now Congress needs to act to raise the federal minimum wage and expand access to paid leave for all Americans."

Perhaps the most significant point of debate on the matter involves tipped workers -- such as those in the food service industry who work for a wage far below the minimum, but whose gratuities push them beyond the state- or federally-mandated threshold.

California's bill fully applies to tipped workers. New York's does not. As the Empire State's minimum wage increases to $15 by 2020, tipped workers will only be guaranteed $10 per hour by that time, before gratuities. In Upstate New York, it will rise to only $8.45, due largely to the lower cost of living.

The measures in both states follow a nationwide push for higher minimum wages in recent years.

Some business owners and corporate executives, though, fear that pushing the minimum so far might backfire -- as businesses may simply downsize staff to help offset the burdens from the hiked wage.

Since July 2009, the federal minimum wage has been $7.25. However, individual states and territories have the authority to set their own minimum wages, so long as it meets the federal threshold.

GNA
Accra, April 4, GNA - Passengers travelling from Kumasi to Tamale and vice versa, could now do so with Africa World Airlines' (AWA) direct flights from Kumasi International Airport and Tamale Airport.

The launch of direct flights between the two cites is the first inter-regional flight outside Accra, as all other domestic airlines operate from the Kotoka international Airport to other regional capitals.

This provides passengers with more flexibility in their travels as movement between the two cities have been made easier.

Speaking to journalists on the maiden flight, Mr Richard Kyereh, Deputy Head of Commercial for Africa World Airlines, said the launch was part of its strategic plan for the year as it had noticed there is demand for flights on the route.

He said with the service, passengers no longer need to fly to Accra before connecting to Kumasi or Tamale.

AWA would operate the flights four times weekly flights from Kumasi and Tamale on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays on its ERJ 145 aircraft.

The flight would depart the Kumasi Airport at 10:25am and arrive in Tamale at 11:15am. The return flight also departs Tamale at 11: 45am and arrives back at Kumasi at 12:35pm.

Mr Kyereh said the airline is offering an introductory fare of GHa 199 tax-inclusive on the Kumasi-Tamale route.

'We believe that this will actually help commute our students, business men and women and traders between these two cities,' he said.

He assured passengers that in line with its vision, it would deliver safe, reliable and timely flights at 'mouth-watering' fares for passengers on the route.

The new direct flights complement AWA's existing flight schedules from Accra-Kumasi (Four flight daily) and Accra to Tamale- five flights daily. The regional flight from Accra to Lagos also remains intact.

'We are always looking for new ways to raise the standards of air transport industry in Ghana and we are also committed to investing in the communities we serve, on the ground.

'This new route will act as a bridge for trade, commerce and cultural exchange with the city of Kumasi and Tamale.'

Mr Kwadwo Abrefa Sarkodie, Ashanti Regional Airport Manager, said the new flight would open up business in the two cities as connecting between them would be easier and cheaper than before.

He noted that it would also increase the airport's bottom line as passenger numbers go up.

He said as the route develops and regional airports are built in other regions, the Kumasi Airport is ready to encourage and partner with other carriers who are ready and willing to develop any of the new routes.

He also stated that management of the Ghana Airport Company Limited is in discussions with some regional operators who has expressed in interest in using the Kumasi Airport as their case for regional flights.

'It's a matter of time, pretty soon we will get airlines who will do regional operations from Kumasi to Lagos, Abuja and Abidjan.'

He said there is a market for the flights as most people in Kumasi are traders.

Mr. Michael Omane Mensah, Regional Airport Manager-Tamale also expressed joy at the launch of the flights saying it was his dream to see flights between the two cities as it would increase activity at the Tamale airport.

He also noted that the ongoing construction of the Wa airport, when completed, will also contribute to increase passenger throughput at the airport and also increase its earnings.

GNA
05.04.2016 LISTEN

Introduction

Generally, making a reapplication, a review or an appeal (depending on the type of visa refused) against a visa refusal can be stressful, slow, and ultimately expensive either for the applicant or other interests involved (being it a friend, relative, organisation, etc.). It is therefore better to avoid the hassle of the aftermath of a refusal process by ensuring that the initial application is properly made to yield a favourable decision.

The principles advanced in this article apply to all visas including UK, US, Schengen visas. It also applies whether or not the visa applied for is a short or long term visa, an immigrant or non-immigrant visa, or a temporary or settlement visa.

Be sure of the visa type you are applying for

Your application is likely to be refused for processing if you make an application for an incorrect visa type. Knowing the correct visa type will enable you complete the correct visa form and pay the applicable visa fee. It can be inconvenient and time consuming to submit an application only to be told that your application cannot be accepted because you completed the wrong visa form or paid the incorrect visa fee. This may be fatal especially when you are attending a family event or other activity with specific timelines.

Complete the visa form fully and correctly

You must complete the correct form properly and fully. All the sections on the form must be answered and the form must be signed by you. If a portion of the form does not apply to your case, you may simply enter Not Applicable or simply N/A.

You may allow a friend, relative, agent or other person either abroad or in Ghana to complete the form on your behalf for you to check and sign before you submit it. You are however responsible for your own application and will thus be liable for any error, omission, or false information entered on the form by the person. You must therefore review the completed form before to ensure that it contains full and correct information before signing.

Enclose all necessary documents and with translations, if applicable.

You must enclose all the necessary documents, and with translations if you are submitting a document in a language other than that of the visa application authority. You must submit all documents in originals or if not, an explanation why you are unable to submit the original but a copy. You must always consider submitting additional documents, even if they are not asked for, provided they add to the application. For example, as a self-employed person, you may wish to provide proof of your business activity in the form of invoices and receipts of the business, even though they may not be specifically mentioned in the applicable document guide.

If a document is not available, you must explain why this is the case. It is always better to explain why you are unable to provide a document rather than procure an alternative document which may ultimately turn out to be false. For example, an applicant who is customarily married but whose marriage has been not registered may wish to prove that he or she is married. In many cases, the applicant may wish to obtain a belated marriage document or a backdated marriage document ostensibly to reflect the date of marriage. In the former case, the recency of the document may cause the officer to raise concerns with the claimed marriage. In the latter case, the document may turn out to be false upon verification.

Rather than go through this unnecessary and costly path, you may simply explain that you were married customarily and that your marriage was not registered. You may also provide statements from any of the witnesses to the marriage to confirm that they were present at the marriage ceremony and witnessed it.

To be continued

Emmanuel Opoku Acheampong

Disclaimer: This article only provides general information and guidance on general immigration law. The specific facts that apply to your matter may make the outcome different than would be anticipated by you. The writer will not accept any liability for any claims or inconvenience as a result of the use of this information. The writer is an immigration law advisor and a practicing law attorney in Ghana. He advises on U.S., UK, and Schengen immigration law. He works part-time for Acheampong & Associates Ltd, an immigration law firm in Accra. He may be contacted on [email protected] .
Ghanas Tourism Ministry is to partner with its Czech Republic counterpart to help develop and promote both countries' cultural products to its citizens.

This was made known when Ghanas Minister of Tourism, Culture & Creative Arts Mrs. Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare paid a working visit to the Czech Republic Ministry of Culture. Ghanas Ambassador to the Czech Republic H.E Zita Sabah Okaikoi accompanied the Tourism Minister to the impressive cultural program dedicated to the sector Minister.

Welcoming the Ghanaian delegation, the Deputy Minister of Culture in charge of Legislation & International Cooperation Ms. Petra Smolikova said Ghana and the Czech Republic have enjoyed a long-standing relationship dating back to the early 60s.

She said her ministry is ready and willing to collaborate with Ghana to further deepen the cultural relations between the two countries. According to her, She believes this will be of mutual benefit in the exchange of ideas and practices, cultural re-engineering for socio-economic development in both countries.

She added that, her outfit is in constant touch with its Embassy in Ghana and made reference to the memorandum of understanding between Ghana and Czech Republic, which dates back to 1972. She hoped the visit by the Ghanaian delegation would solidify the already existing relationship between the two countries.

On her part, Mrs. Ofosu-Adjare expressed her gratitude to the Government of Czech Republic for its willingness to collaborate with Ghana in the area of Culture. She said Ghanas comparative advantage lies in her unique cultural diversity and richness and both countries could work to promote cultural exchange between them.

She added that although both countries had a long-standing relationship, they can do more to forge stronger ties in the promotion of each country's cultural domains for the benefit of their people.

This according to her will enhance greater opportunities for investments and the development of cultural products. She said, the Ministrys flagship project which is the marine drive project has a component in which Czech Republic investors can explore the opportunities in investing in it.

Mrs. Ofosu-Adjare said, Ghana is branding its tourism with culture and wants to use it as a way to develop the tourism sector.

Ghanas Ambassador to Czech Republic, H.E. Zita Okaikoi who helped facilitate the meeting called for the review of the 1972 memorandum of Understanding between the two countries.

She said her office is willing to start the process of cultural exchange through the engagement with the Ministry of Culture in Czech Republic.
05.04.2016 LISTEN

Less than a week after the infamous revelations by the Founder and presidential candidate of the United Peoples Party (UPP), Mr. Akwasi Addae Odike, confessing about the support he receives from the President and the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), fresh information has emerged about the President contracting the services of a leading member of the Peoples National Convention (PNC) to help canvass votes for the ruling party in the Zongo communities across the country.

The Chronicle is in a possession of recordings of proceedings of a meeting between a former aspirant for the national chairmanship of the PNC, Mr. Abu Saddiq, and some leading figures in the Zongo communities, during which the former revealed, amongst other things, an assignment given to him by President John Dramani Mahama to garner support for the NDC in the northern and Zongo communities.

The said meeting, held at Ayigya Yatiyati, a suburb of Kumasi, was aimed at drawing modalities as to how the assignment could be executed, in order to maximise support for the NDC in the Zongo and northern communities, which, according to the President, was gradually waning.

Abu Saddiq, during the meeting, told the audience that President Mahama was worried about the exploits of the running mate of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, who, he said, was making serious inroads in the Zongo and northern communities and could jeopardise the partys long-standing support it has been enjoying from these areas.

The PNC leading member, who is also said to have embarked on similar ventures in the past for former President John Agyekum Kufuor and Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, and also spent short stint with the NPP vice presidential candidate, has been identified by President Mahama as the right person to lead the NDC charge in the Zongos and affiliated groups.

He said it was for that reason that the President had contracted him to lead the crusade for the Zongo and northern votes, knowing his depth of experience in garnering support in these areas. The PNC lead figure, in the course of the meeting, was subjected to a barrage of questions about his credibility and integrity, after he revealed having worked for other political opponents in the past.

WHAT CAPACITY?

Mr. Abu Saddiq was first asked in what capacity he convened the meeting, to which he answered that though he is a PNC member, he was currently working for President John Dramani Mahama. I am a PNC member, but I am here in the capacity of President Mahama. I am working for the President, he stated categorically.

Mr. Saddiq further explained, Its true that I have worked for Nana Addo and Bawumia before, but now I am like a professional player, the approach that John gave me this time round was good. He told me that I am a Zongo boy, so I should work and see what I can do to help people from Zongo.

PRESIDENT MAHAMA READY TO MEET

He also told the people that in order for them to believe him, he would select two representatives each from all the Zongo communities to meet with the President, either at the Flagstaff House, or a venue of their choice.

The President is ready to meet you; if you want him to come here he will, or if you want us to go to the Flagstaff House, I can arrange that so that we all go, he stated. According to him, the President believes that when he leaves office it will take several years for the Presidency to get back to the north, and, therefore, once he is still around, his brethren must make good use of the opportunity.

The Chronicle could not reach Abu Saddiq to react to the content of the tape, but he told Ash FM, a Kumasi-based radio station which first played the tape, that he would not comment until they had told him how the tape was procured.

From Issah Alhassan, Kumasi
A deputy minister of tourism and creative arts,Gzifa Gomashie has advised players in the make up industry not to be distructed by comments and negetive perceptions that comes from people with regards to the fashion,beauty and the make up industry.

she said the make up industry can create employment and take many young people off the streets.

Hon. Gomashie entreated the Ghanaian fashion industry players not to allow other african countries to set the pace for them to follow adding that the best should come from Ghana.

The deputy minister was speaking at a two day event dubbed "make up connects"Ghana.

Make up connects Ghana is an initiative to create momentum and an ecosystem for emerging and fast growing beauty industry in Ghana.

The maiden edition of the much anticipated make up Ghana connects saw many exibitors showcasing their brands of products and in some cases giving a free make up to visitors to their stands.

Make up Ghana aims at creating a platform to bring together players from the make up profession and the make brands in the trade to generate synergy and drive traction for growth in the industry.

Make up Ghana is an initiative spearheaded by Madam Rebecca Donkor,a social entrepreneur and a keen follower of the make up industry in Ghana .Make up Ghana as a starter is to be followed by a seris of make up parties leading up to an awards event among others .The initiative is bringing together established and new brands in the beauty space in Ghana on one platform to expose the brands in the industry to the established new and trainee beauty professionals and the general public as a whole.

The programme which saw the deputy minister of tourism recieving an instant make up attracted over 50 exibitors from across the country and beyond.

Ms Gomashie praised the exibitors for quality works and remarkable products and services .She said her ministry and government will be happy to support entrepreneurs like Rebeccas make up Ghana connects.

Major celebrities who were at the event opening included musician Becca ,Ms Dentaa (founder of the Guba awards) kwasi pee,ahoufe patricia and many more industry movers.

The two-day event involved Discount sales of popular brands of Makeup, Live Demonstrations for Photo opportunities, Free Makeup sessions, Consultancy services and lots of giveaways as well as some great networking opportunity.

The Founder & coordinator of MakeUp Ghana Connects, Rebecca Donkor speaking to the press in a brief discussion stated that, there must be unity and understanding between makeup brands in Ghana.
Airtel Business, the Enterprise solutions sub brand of Airtel Ghana has celebrated top customers and business partners at its maiden Customer Dinner and Awards held at the Fiesta Royale Hotel.

The awards, instituted to celebrate and reward Enterprise customers and partners for their loyalty, exceptional performance and partnership with the Smartphone Network, saw 5 customers winning the top awards.

The awardees included Amadeus Ghana Ltd who walked away with the ultimate award of the night  Business of the Year  for demonstrating strong growth, innovative strategies and outstanding performances and Bayport Financial Services who picked the Outstanding Achievement Award for aggressively and innovatively pursuing business in untapped segments.

The other big winners for the night were MCottley Holdings who picked the award for Excellence in ongoing Achievement and Loyalty, Devtraco Plus Ltd picked up Outstanding Contribution to driving Broadband penetration under the Airtel Home Business solutions and Premium Technologies walked away with Supplier Partner of the Year.

Speaking at the event, Airtels Managing Director, Lucy Quist said As Ghanas fastest growing telecom company and industry leader in data, digital and enterprise solutions, we believe in empowering businesses through our unmatched enterprise offering. Our best in class end-to-end business solutions enable customers to focus on their core businesses as we cater to all their Communication, Connectivity and Collaborative needs.

Celebrating customers is our hallmark. Today we are celebrating and rewarding our enterprise customers for their loyalty and partnership over the years. This is our way of saying thank you for choosing Airtel.

On his part, Richard Adiase, Ag. Airtel Business Director said Airtel Business remains the preferred enterprise solutions provider for large corporates, Small and Medium enterprises in Ghana. We continue to partner our customers and as they grow, we grow. Together we will continue to shape the business environment and drive value for all stakeholders.

Today is about celebrating partnership and rewarding loyalty. We are proud to be associated with all our enterprise customers and we are celebrating them in a truly special way.

He continued the Airtel Business suite includes solutions for SMEs, Home Business solutions for clusters and residential areas, Internet Service Providers, large Corporations and Multinationals. Our superior offering backed by exceptional customer service is what is driving our growth. We remain committed to delivering the unparalleled product and services that our customers have come to know us for.

Airtel Business is the enterprise oriented sub brand of Airtel Ghana providing solutions for businesses in Ghana.

Airtel is Ghanas fastest growing telecom company providing superior voice, data and business solutions to its customers.

About Bharti Airtel

Bharti Airtel Limited is a leading global telecommunications company with operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa. Headquartered in New Delhi, India, the company ranks amongst the top 3 mobile service providers globally in terms of subscribers. In India, the company's product offerings include 2G, 3G and 4G wireless services, mobile commerce, fixed line services, high speed DSL broadband, IPTV, DTH, enterprise services including national & international long distance services to carriers. In the rest of the geographies, it offers 2G, 3G and 4G wireless services and mobile commerce. Bharti Airtel had over 335 million customers across its operations at the end of August 2015. To know more please visit, www.airtel.com

About Airtel in Africa
Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Mrs. Marietta Brew Oppong Appiah

05.04.2016 LISTEN

The Government of Ghana, through its Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Mrs. Marietta Brew Oppong Appiah has stated that it is ready to team up with other States and experts to ensure that pertinent legislation and other measures are espoused to prevent acts of torture within its jurisdiction.

She said as part of actions to prevent acts of torture, appropriate legislation would be implemented but was quick to add that such legislation should ensure inter alia, that no exceptional circumstances whatsoever or no order from a superior officer or public authority may be invoked as justification of torture, she said.

The Attorney General made this known in her keynote address at the opening ceremony of the African Regional Seminar on promoting the implementation of the United Nations Convention against Torture and Robbens Island Guidelines: the obligation to criminalise torture, held at the La Palm Royal Beach Hotel on Tuesday.

According to her, the two-day seminar would proffer a collective platform to exchange views and share best practices on how to analyze existing national laws to assess whether our respective States have already met their obligations to criminalise torture in accordance with the Convention against Torture (CAT) and African Charter.

Todays seminar focuses on the need for States to take legislative and other national measures to prevent torture in accordance with the relevant provisions of the United Nations Convention against Torture and other cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment and Punishment as well as Robben Island guidelines or the prevention of torture in Africa developed on the basis of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Right (the Banjul or African Charter), she stated.

Mrs. Marietta Brew, continued that Ghana as a country remains stanched to the objectives of CAT initiative which was launched in March 2014. The launch was to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the CAT with the aim of promoting the universal ratification and overcoming challenges to the effective implementation of the CAT and the African Charter through inter-sate cooperation and technical assistance.

She noted that, it is just one step out of many steps to have the conviction to fight torture; however such conviction must be backed by the requisite training to acquire in-depth knowledge of the provisions of the CAT and African Charter.

Although torture is prohibited under international law, the reality is that the phenomenon of torture which horrified the world leading to frantic calls and urgent action to draft and adopt a Convention against Torture continues in many countries whether in peace time or in times of violent conflicts even today as we speak.

Therefore, it is not enough and should not be enough to have the conviction to fight torture. Such conviction must be backed by the requisite training to acquire in-depth knowledge of the provisions of the CAT and the African Charter, she explained.

She added that the government of Ghana has cooperated with the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture who has, with the consent of the government, visited Ghana twice to examine the conditions in prisons and other places of detention and made his findings known in a report he submitted to the Human Rights Council in March 2014 and at the just ended 31 session of the Council last month.

She stated emphatically that the findings and recommendations of the UN Special Rapportuer including the need for Ghana to enact a legislation on criminalizing torture is receiving due attention by the government of Ghana.

However, Mrs. Marietta Brew Oppong Appiah urged countries that are part or are yet to be part of CAT to contribute towards the fulfillment of its duty to safeguard and respect the dignity of all persons of the CAT.

I also wish to commend the CTI (Convention against Torture Initiative) core group and the CTI secretariat for completing the ratification and implementation strategy or 2016 to 2017, she opined.

The seminar which commenced on Tuesday April 5, 2016 is scheduled to end on Wednesday April 6, 2016.
The Deputy Majority Leader in Parliament, Alfred Kwame Agbesi, has urged state agencies and institutions not to stand in the way of persons with initiatives that go to accelerate development of the country.

According to him, the government alone cannot shoulder all developmental agenda in the country, and for that matter, institutions mandated to co-ordinate state activities must encourage individuals and bodies who show concern towards the progress of Mother Ghana.

Speaking to the media at Tema, Alfred Agbesi expressed surprise at the way and manner some state institutions handle government business, and said such attitudes were inimical to the growth of the nation.

The law maker made particular reference to the initiative by Exercise Rescue Mission, a Tema-based Non-governmental organisation with a beautiful idea to decongest traffic at the Tema Motorway roundabout.

Alfred Agbesi said it is sad to note that Exercise Rescue Mission, comprising persons with like minds, decided to take the issue of decongesting the motorway roundabout at no cost to the government, but are meeting obstacles by way of bureaucracy with the Ghana Highways Authority (GHA).

He used the opportunity to appeal to the GHA to expedite action on whatever technical modification they are given, so as not to kill the initiative by the group, which could be emulated by other citizens across the country.

Exercise Rescue Mission, on the 12th of January this year, met at Tema and took the bull by the horns when it formed a technical committee to come out with a simple practical means to solving the traffic nuisance at the roundabout.

A few days later, the GHA, when approached by the group, requested the drawings, which is still with them, even though the initiators decided to complete the project before the rains set in. When contacted, a management source at the authority hinted that the request is receiving attention, a usual phrase associated with state bodies.

Under the project, works to be done are the opening of a slipway on the Motorway, from Accra at Community 12, in front of Tanink Limited, so that vehicles entering the port city proper can branch off the express road without necessarily using the roundabout.

Another lane would be added to the existing one from Accra, 500 metres before the roundabout, that will pass in front of Southern Fried Chicken to avoid the circle.

The area in the roundabout, where traffic from Aflao, Tema-Akosombo meet, will be widened to accommodate two extra lanes to the Oando filling station, while an additional slipway from Aflao to Ashaiman-Akosombo will emerge before the circle, through the existing lorry station.

Meanwhile, vehicles, after loading at the station, can only go and turn under the high tension and join an extra lane from Middle East and Ashaiman, before finally getting to the roundabout, or the slipway to Accra.

Funding for the project is to be borne by Exercise Rescue Mission through stakeholders, which include, state and private organisations.

By John Bediako
05.04.2016 LISTEN

Transparency in the operations of the Bureau for National Investigations (BNI) has been brought to question, with a private legal practitioner touting that the state investigative body has specialised in doing the bidding of the ruling political party and other influential private citizens in the country.

Speaking to Accra-based Joy FM yesterday, Nana Adjei Baffuor Awuah remarked: Even their mode of recruitment is not transparent, and, therefore, the politicians, just in certain instances, sneak people into the Police Service and the military succeed in sneaking people into the BNI to do their bidding.

The lawyer's comment follows the cause of the arrest of his client, Dr. Edmund Ayo Ani, by the National Security Advisor, Alhaji Baba Kamara, which was in connection with the leakage of pictures of some vehicles allegedly belonging to the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), which had been diverted for the National Democratic Congress (NDC), and were being branded in the party colours for its campaign at a secret location at Spintex in Accra.

According to Nana Baffuor Awuah, what the National Security Advisor, Baba Kamara, did by causing the arrest of the Managing Director of a quarry company, Marbles & Granites, was unlawful, unconstitutional, illegal, and the highest point of impunity. The Marbles & Granites MD was picked up by the BNI for allegedly taking pictures of some 50 Mahindra vehicles, which were embossed with NDC colours and had been parked at a mechanic shop near his office.

Dr. Ani was picked up, together with two of his security men, because the investigative body claimed that by inference, the angle from which the pictures were taken, suggested that they were captured from his company, which shares a fence wall with the security company. And as if that was a rewarding exercise, Alhaji Baba Kamara, without any sense of guilt, boastfully claimed responsibility for the arrest of a citizen without any evidence.

Alhaji Baba Kamara insisted that his action was justified, because the suspect did not have the right to enter his yard, a mechanic shop near Dr. Ani's office on the Spintex Road, to take pictures of the 44 vehicles without permission.

Over the weekend, Baba Kamara, one of the persons seriously implicated in the Mabey and Johnson bribery scandal, admitted on Accra-based Joy FM that the yard in which the Mahindra vehicles were being embellished with NDC colours belonged to him, and that it was wrong for Dr. Ani to have looked into his yard to take pictures.

But, Nana Awuah Baffour argued that where the pictures were captured from was not a security zone, and that it was completely wrong for the former High Commissioner to Nigeria to have ordered the BNI to arrest Dr. Ani, The legal practitioner expressed worry over the arbitrary use of power by the BNI, saying its undertakings only pleased the political party in power, as he compared the state investigative body to Britain's MI6 and America's CIA.

He contended that there was the need to consider whether or not the BNI was of any value, adding that People in authority have been using the BNI to intimidate people who they have got small quarrels with. To Nana Awuah Baffour: I think we need to revisit the security agencies and evaluate each of their contribution to our democracy to ascertain whether or not the BNI, as an institution, is still relevant in the scheme of things.

Analysis of security agencies around the world, in terms of those that are like the BNI  the MI6 to the British, the CIA to the American and other places, I think that the fact that these nations have got MI6 and CIA does not mean Ghana needs a BNI.

By Pascal Kafu Abotsi
UK Minister of State for International Development, Rt Hon Desmond Swayne MP, will visit Ghana this week to further bilateral relations focusing on good governance and Ghana's commitments ahead of the UK summit on anti-corruption and Ghana-UK collaboration.

During his visit the Minister will announce UK's new 4 million programme aimed at supporting both Ghana's state and non-state institutions to strengthen democratic governance and to promote free, fair, peaceful and credible general elections in November.

Minister Swayne will also visit the Western Region to see DFID-funded projects and hold meetings with key interlocutors in the oil and gas sector. He also hopes to call on HE President John Dramani Mahama and the Minister for Petroleum.

Speaking on arrival in Ghana, Desmond Swayne said:

I'm delighted to be here, on my first trip to Ghana. I am very much looking forward to discussing with Government, civil society, community leaders and business representatives how the UK and Ghana can work together to strengthen governance and promote economic development. I am particularly looking forward to spending time in Western Region to understand the opportunities that the oil and gas industry is opening up for communities there.

Notes to editors

The UK is a committed partner in Ghana contributing 300 million from 2011/12 to 2015/16. We have distributed 5.5 million bed nets, supported 140,000 children in basic education, assisted 170,000 of the poorest people through cash transfers, and supported 550,000 women with family planning. By the end of 2015-16 we will also have helped keep 80,000 girls in secondary school and 30,000 producers to access business services.

The UK has contributed to five consecutive free and fair elections in Ghana over the last two decades, investing over 6 million in 2012 to support the requirements of key Electoral Management Bodies.

Rt Hon Desmond Swayne MP is the Minister of State for International Development responsible for the UK's development partnership with Asia, Overseas Territories and Western Asia (including Eastern Europe), Middle East and North Africa Conflict, humanitarian, security, governance and anti-corruption Economic development (Private Sector, Trade and International Financial Institutions) Scotland engagement. He was appointed as Minister of State at the Department for International Development on 15 July 2014. Previously, he served as Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Prime Minister, Government Whip and a Privy Counsellor. He was elected Conservative MP for New Forest West, in Hampshire, in 1997. Further information is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/people/desmond-swayne
The Hague (AFP) - War crimes judges on Tuesday dropped charges of crimes against humanity against Kenya's Deputy President William Ruto over his alleged role in 2007-2008 post-election turmoil, but left open the possibility of a fresh trial.

In what will be a fresh blow to the prosecution, the judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) ruled the charges against Ruto and his co-accused Joshua arap Sang "are vacated."

Ruto, 49, and Sang, 40, had both denied three accusations of crimes against humanity -- namely murder, forcible deportation and persecution.

The two men were however "discharged without prejudice to their prosecution afresh in the future," the judges said, leaving open a possible new trial.

The decision was met with dismay by the victims caught up in the turmoil of the disputed December 2007 elections and their violent aftermath which left hundreds dead.

"There is no doubt that this will come as a disappointment for victims," Wilfred Nderitu, the lawyer representing the victims, told reporters in Nairobi.

"It is my hope that there will be an appeal by the prosecutor."

ICC spokesman Fadi El Abdallah said in a statement on YouTube that: "The trial chamber... has decided by majority... that the case against William Ruto and Joshua arap Sang has to be terminated."

The chamber had concluded that "the prosecution did not present sufficient evidence on which a reasonable trial chamber could convict the accused," the ICC said.

In a complex 253-page ruling, the presiding judge Chile Eboe-Osuji said in a separate statement he wanted to declare "a mistrial due to the troubling incidence of witness interference and intolerable political meddling."

Prosecutors say more than 1,300 people died and some 600,000 others were left homeless in Kenya's worst wave of violence since independence from Britain in 1963, and concluded their case in September 2015.

The case has been keenly watched in Kenya, which has led a high-profile campaign against the ICC among African nations, accusing the tribunal of bias against the continent.

- 'Free at last' -

On Ruto's home turf in Kenya's Rift Valley -- the site of some of the worst of the election violence -- there were celebrations as residents took to the streets of Eldoret in joy waving placards reading "Free At Last", "No Case To Answer" and "The Power of Prayer".

"This is a big day for us, Ruto is finally free," said Margaret Rotich.

"This is confirmation of what the power of prayers can do," said Eldoret governor and Ruto ally Jackson Mandago.

The Kenyan government has long argued the charges should be dismissed following a similar case against Ruto's erstwhile bitter rival and now Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta.

In a major setback for the ICC, chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda abandoned the case against Kenyatta in late 2014.

The ICC, based in The Hague, was set up in 2002 to try the world's worst crimes.

In an early victory for Ruto and Sang, judges barred the prosecution in February from applying amended ICC rules and using key recanted testimonies in their case.

Sixteen out of the 42 witnesses had changed their stories or refused point blank to testify, which the prosecutors alleged was due to intimidation, bribery or fear of reprisals.

Violence broke out in Kenya in late 2007 after Kenyan opposition chief Raila Odinga from the Luo ethnic group accused then president Mwai Kibaki, a Kikuyu, of rigging his way to re-election.

What began as political riots quickly turned into ethnic killings of the Kikuyu people, who in turn launched reprisal attacks.

Ruto was accused of holding meetings of his Kalenjin tribe in his Rift Valley home to allegedly plan attacks on Kenyatta's Kikuyu tribe.
The mortal remains of the late Prof. Joseph Yaw Opoku, one-time hall master of the Mensah Sarbah Hall of the University of Ghana, will be interred at his hometown, Kwawu Prasu, after a burial mass at the new Catholic Church at the University of Ghana, Legon, on Saturday, April 9, 2016 at 7 am.

According to an elaborate programme released to honour the memory of the deceased hall master, the final funeral rights, will take place immediately after the mass, at the park near the church premises at Legon while the body is taken to his hometown.

A statement from the secretariat of the Mensah Sarbah Hall Alumni Association, asked all Vikings to attend the mass and the final funeral rites. The late Prof. Opoku played a key role in restructuring the affairs of the alumni association while he was the master of the hall.

He led Vikings to the Manhyia Palace where Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, organized a dinner-dance for members of the alumni association on a glittering night at the home of the Golden Stool. Yesterday, Mr. Kofi Dua-Adonteng, one-time President of the alumni association described the death of the former hall master as a great loss to the hall and the alumni association.

Prof. Opoku was a great asset to the association and the hall in general. The alumni association was at its vibrant best during the time Prof. Opoku was the hall master. He was always ready to aid Vikings in any endeavour. He was a great Viking all the way to his death. We have a duty to honour his memory and do it well.

He said Vikings were planning a special night to celebrate the late former hall master later. In the interim, let us all come in our numbers to his funeral and bid our colleague and former hall master a grand farewell, Mr. Dua-Adeonteng pleaded.
05.04.2016 LISTEN

THE ASHANTI Regional branch of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has charged President John Dramani Mahama to call the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), Mrs. Charlotte Osei, to order rather than directing his frustrations at parties who are exercising their fundamental rights as enshrined in the Constitution.

The party says if the President has any concerns about the processes towards the upcoming elections, then he must direct them to the EC and the Chairperson he appointed to steer affairs of the electoral body.

According to the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the party, Mr. Bernard Antwi Boasiako, aka Chairman Wontumi, President Mahamas call on Ghanaians to allow the EC to work without any interference is out of place, contending that the EC is not immune to criticisms, particularly in situations where it has failed to execute its mandate in open and transparent manner.

The Ashanti Regional NPP chairman was equally apprehensive about the President and the NDCs incessant defence of the EC and its Chairperson in the face of glaring evidence of negligence and non-compliance of its own regulations.

Chairman Wontumi also wondered if the President has the moral authority to advise parties to channel their grievances through the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) when the NDC in the past had failed to respect and abide by decisions reached at the Committee level.

The President last Saturday in Kumasi called on Ghanaians, especially political parties, to desist from alleged interference in the work of the Electoral Commission. President Mahama, who addressing a gathering of the Muslim community, particularly expressed worry at the numerous demonstrations directed at the EC and appealed to parties that have concerns to channel them through the appropriate quarters such as the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC).

But the opposition party says President Mahamas call smacks off hypocrisy and suspicion, considering the fact that the NDC themselves had in a number of occasions failed to respect decisions taking at IPAC.

The Ashanti Regional NPP Chairman told The Chronicle in an interview that he sensed panic and apprehension in the voice of the President, arguing that the President is dreading the impact of the partys upcoming demonstration against the EC.

It is shocking that today the NDC and President Mahama are calling on parties that have concerns to direct them through IPAC; what happened at the Supreme Court hearing in 2013 when they challenged a decision reached at the IPAC with respect to the 'No Verification No Vote' agreement, did the NDC not challenge that in court, Chairman Wontumi questioned.

He indicated that the NPP and its alliances have no intention of backing down on their demand at ensuring that the EC does the right thing.

We will continue to demonstrate until the right thing is done, He stated emphatically, stressing that the upcoming demonstration in Kumasi, dubbed BAAMU YADA  to wit We wont agree- will be one of series of public outings that would be organized by the party until the EC did the right thing.

Chairman Wontumi, who has accused the President of appointing Mrs. Charlotte Osei to allegedly do his bidding and that of the NDC, warned that Ghanaians will never forgive the EC and the NDC as a ruling party if they fail to ensure free, fair and transparent elections.

From Issah Alhassan, Kumasi
Festivals are very important in Ghanaian culture. As such they are held in various communities annually or biennially to celebrate the rich heritage of the people. Festivals also provide the opportunity for the chiefs and elders to settle intra-communal disputes and disputes between families or loved ones.

One of such is the biennial Apomasu Yam Festival, celebrated by the people of Ntotroso, one of Newmont Ghanas Ahafo Mine host communities. It is celebrated in honour of the Apomasu deity who is believed to hold the key to the communitys wellbeing. Some oral accounts attribute the gold deposits discovered in the area to the presence of the deity.

In line with Newmonts Integrity value which enjoins the company to respect the customs, culture and laws of its host communities, the Ahafo mine through its development foundation, has supported festivals and other cultural initiatives to help sustain the heritage of the people. 12% of the companys contribution to Newmont Ahafo Development Foundation is dedicated to a cultural heritage fund for the ten host communities in Ahafo.

This year, the people of Ntotoroso celebrated the Apomasu Yam Festival under the theme; Promoting, Empowering and Sustaining the Girl-Child Education, the role of Traditional Authorities. For decades, the Apomasu Yam festival has been the rallying point for developmental initiatives for the people of Ntotoroso although it a religious festival.

The occasion was characterized by rich display of culture, indigenous to the area. It was also an opportunity for the Chiefs and people to showcase Ghanas rich and beautifully woven Kente cloth, traditional attires and handmade accessories.

Present at the durbar was the Vice President of Ghana and other government officials, Ahafo Mine and Newmont Ahafo Development Foundation (NADeF) officials, well-wishers from surrounding towns and villages and tourists from within and outside Ghana. The Ahafo mine donated cash and presented Newmont branded school bags and exercise books to support an inter-school quiz competition organized as part of activities to mark the celebration

The Vice-President of Ghana, Paa Kwasi Amissah-Authur who was the Guest of Honour, promised to support the Ntotroso College of Nursing, a flagship development project funded by NADeF, with a bus. The College, established in 2014 has a student population of over 500 and is the first and only nursing training college within the Asutifi North district of the Brong Ahafo Region.
The exit of Dr. Henry Kofi Wampah as the Governor of the Bank of Ghana should make all Ghanaians, the IMF, and the international business and investor community extremely worried because it paves the way for another wholesale pillage of the vaults of the central bank, according to Kwadwo Owusu-Afriyie, former General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party.

Sir John, as he is popularly called, sees, what he calls the forced resignation of Dr Wampah to be replaced by a crony of the President as done with only one thing in mind, to let President John Mahama and his Vice President Amissah-Arthur do what they know best, which is to rob the central bank to fund their greed and the NDC election machinery and leave the impoverished people of Ghana even poorer for the next four years until the next general elections.

Like in 2012, a few months before the general elections, Amissah-Arthur resigned from the Central Bank for Dr Wampah to replace him, and the confirmation of his tenure effectively depended on the NDC remaining in office. In what seems to Sir John as a carefully orchestrated move, the timing, and manner of Dr Wampahs exit as well as his replacement by Dr. Nashiru Issahaku, confirms three things.

First, President John Mahama intends to break the bank again, as he did in 2012, an election year, for electoral purposes, and that he will do anything to achieve that, including blackmailing public officials.

Secondly, the President prefers mediocrity above competence, and cares nothing about the health of the economy, and the impact a poorly managed economy has on the ordinary people of Ghana.

Sir John doesnt leave it there. He sees in this appointment, a reaffirmation of the fact that the President is pushing an agenda of ethnic cronyism.

The agenda to reduce the influence, and power of the Fanti, Ewe, and GaDangme factions in John Mahamas NDC is pretty obvious to me. He wants to establish a hegemony of a small, inner circle of John Mahama drawn from people he grew up with, people he played chasskele with and people he plays with.

It is not as if he is even doing it to help the people of the North because he took over $200 million in their name through SADA and that became just another victim of create, loot and share. So he does not even do things to help the people of the North. He only does gimmicks like this for them to think he is doing it for them, Sir John argues.

He goes on to explain why he thinks the exit of Dr. Wampah, and his replacement by a party loyalist like Dr. Issahaku, was engineered to create the necessary conditions, and room, for a repeat of the reckless expenditure by John Mahama leading up to the 2012 elections.

In 2012, an election year, Ghana's fiscal deficit was almost GHc9 Billion, representing about 12% of our GDP. Some $2 billion hole was blown into the budget in the last couple of months to the election. Up to date, no proper explanation has been given to the people of Ghana who have had to tighten their belts, lose their jobs, to pay for those financial sins of the President and his cronies, the NPP General Secretary during the 2012 elections maintains.

In fact, it was the largest ever fiscal deficit recorded in the history of our nation. In that year alone, government expenditure increased to about 31% of our GDP, most of these expenditures occurring in the last few months to the election.

The Bank of Ghana, under then Acting Governor, Dr. Wampah, played a central role in this irresponsible act. The domestic debt market largely financed the fiscal deficit, peaking in 2012 when it accounted for 80% of Total Deficit Financing.

John Mahama stole from us to win to win at all cost for the people to suffer and suffer. He wants to do it again and we must find a way to stop him, says Sir John.
The New Patriotic Party is accusing president John Mahama of peddling falsehood and engaging in tribal politics.

The party cited some comments made by the president during his recent visit to the Volta Region as reason for their accusation.

The president told the chiefs and people of the Volta Region that every development project executed in the region was done by the National Democratic Congress and not the New Patriotic Party.

The president took a swipe at the NPP for claiming the residents in the Volta Region have been disappointed in the performance of the governing party.

On the contrary, the president said the NDC has and continues to invest in infrastructure in the region.

"We will not be distracted," he said adding, "we have built a new campus. The Volta Region did not have a university but under NDC there is one now. There is also the school of pharmacy which is coming to Keta.

"This government stands for you and will make sure the region gets its fair share of development," he stated.

But the NPP is accusing the president of pitching the Volta Region against them.

The first to speak on the matter was the Director of Communications of the NPP Nana Akomea who suggested that the president had no business mentioning the NPP when he was addressing the concerns of the residents in the region.

According to him, the Chief in the Volta Region Togbui Sri had complained about the poverty and the harsh living conditions the people in the region were enduring but he found it rather surprising that instead of addressing the concerns of the residents, the president rather decided to speak about the supposed NPP record in the Volta Region.

The Chairman of the New Patriotic Party Peter Amewu in a reaction on Joy News said the president's claim that the NPP did not execute any development project in the Volta Region is palpably false.

He said even the road on which the president travelled to Aflao was constructed by the NPP. He also chronicled a number of projects in the region which he said were executed by the NPP.

He said the president's half truths can only be a mark of desperation.

The Communications Minister Dr Omane Boamah told Joy News' Evans Mensah the NPP is running away from its bad record in the Volta Region.

He said very soon the opposition party will run away from its record of poor infrastructural development in the other nine regions.

"Mahama will never engage in tribal politics," he said, accusing the NPP of being champions of tribal politics.
Kumasi, April 05, GNA - The Director of the Centre for Cultural and African Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Mrs. Vesta Adu-Gyamfi, has called for the government to give priority to the creative arts industry by channeling more resources into its development.

This, she said, was necessary given its huge potential to transform the economy.

She noted that 'there is enormous market and demand for cultural and creative arts-related products' adding that, Ghanaian films and songs, artefacts and literary works had now gained popularity worldwide.

'The industry has become more lucrative than most sectors of the economy and we must take advantage of this to harness its potential to create employment, wealth and lift many out of poverty.'

Mrs. Adu-Gyamfi, who was addressing a day's seminar in Kumasi, said it was important to bring professionalism to the sector through comprehensive training programmes and support for cultural and creative arts projects.

The seminar was part of a project funded by the European Union (EU) with the goal of building the capacity of policy-makers, operators of cultural enterprises, artistes and other stakeholders to effectively promote cultural and creative arts in Africa, the Carribean and Pacific Regions.

The programme brought together artistes, copyright bodies, cultural experts, civil society organizations and the business community from Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and the Gambia.

They discussed among other things 'The role of the Trade Ministry in collaborating with stakeholders to mainstream key recommendations into government trade policy' and 'Best practices in mainstreaming UNESCO Conventions in trade policies in the ACP Regions'.

Mrs. Adu-Gyamfi underlined the need to take steps to protect the works of local artistes by helping them to have better understanding of the intellectual property rights.

She also advocated dialogue between government, the private sector and civil society on the EU-EOWAS Economic Partnership Agreement and its contribution to the growth and development of the services sector, especially the cultural and the arts sector in the sub-region.

In doing so, best practices and experience would be shared amongst artists from across the region to grow the industry.

GNA
Tamale, April 05, GNA - The Christian Children's Fund of Canada (CCFC), a Child-centered International Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) with a subsidiary in Tamale, has supported the education of over 22,000 deprived children in the Northern Region, some of whom have completed various levels including tertiary education.

Mr William Anim-Dankwa, Acting Country Director of CCFC announced this in Tamale at the weekend during an annual retreat with its partner NGOs to seek the face of God through prayers and to thank God for past and present achievements as well as to reflect on challenges to carve out a way forward.

He said the support was in line with its core values of working to improve lives, create a working environment that builds self-esteem, and improve efficiency among other things assuring that CCFC would continue to make lives better for needy children and vulnerable communities.

Mr. Anim-Dankwa said CCFC had earmarked climate change as a priority area for impactful interventions to reverse the negative effects erratic rainfall patterns and rising temperatures brought on by climate change on communities.

He advised partner NGOs to strive harder than before as team players to re-energize their efforts in areas of community engagements in a bid to rededicating their work towards achieving the core values of CCFC.

The Country Director appealed to Ghanaians especially the youth to conduct themselves well before, during and after the 2016 elections to ensure that there was peace for NGOs and other development partners to continue to work for socio-economic development.

Reverend James Abdulai, Principal of the Northern Bible College, in a sermon advised the youth not to be over ambitious in life and said this could drive them to commit crimes and land them into trouble.

He counseled Ghanaian youth who were nursing the ambition to migrate to Europe for greener pastures to give up the idea since Europe is not different from Africa.

'The only difference could be their roads and high rise buildings but in terms of good living, Africa is better', he added.

He said a time would come when Europeans would throng Africa to beg recruit African labour force because their (Europe) population was not growing like Africa.

He said no one had been born useless and advised Ghanaians to use their vision and talents meaningfully to develop the country and stressed the need for Ghanaians to fight against greed, which was stalling the country's development.

'Greed is killing this country and I am appealing to all Ghanaians to be on their guard against greed to help the country to grow', he said.

He commended CCFC and its partners for working hard to improve the living conditions of vulnerable people and their communities and urged them not to relent their efforts in educating children to aspire for higher heights in their educational pursuits.

GNA
Juaso (Ash), April 05, GNA - Asante-Akim South has been rated the best performing district assembly in terms of planning and construction of capital projects.

This was the outcome of a performance audit carried out by the Ghana Audit Service (GAS) under the Ghana's Strengthening Accountability Mechanism Project (GSAM) - a United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funded project.

The five-year project seeks to improve accountability at the local government level by strengthening both government and citizens' oversight of capital development projects in 100 selected districts.

A consortium of Non-Governmental Organizations made up of CARE International, Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC) and IBIS Ghana are implementing the project in collaboration with the GAS.

The findings of the audit were presented at a stakeholders' forum held at Juaso.

Ms. Cynthia Ohene-Wiafe, an official of the GAS, said the assembly demonstrated best practices - identified, planned and awarded contracts in accordance with laid down rules and sound administrative principles.

She applauded the assembly for not only involving communities in the selection of projects but also adhering to the procurement law.

She, however, faulted the assembly for weak monitoring of projects as well as non-performance of post evaluation of project completion and benefits to communities.

Mr. Adu Sarkodie Gyekye, the Head of Monitoring and Evaluation of the GSAM Project, said the goal was to improve accountability and bridge the information gap between the assemblies and the communities in project implementation.

He made reference to a research carried by USAID in year 2011, which showed that about 40 per cent of projects executed by the various assemblies did not benefit communities and said this informed the introduction of the GSAM to promote community participation.

Mr. Hayford Kyere, the District Coordinating Director, welcomed the project and said it would inspire the assemblies to work hard to lift their performance.

GNA
Accra, April 5, GNA - Daniel Asiedu, the alleged killer of Mr Joseph Boakye Danquah-Adu, Member of Parliament for Abuakwa North has confirmed attempt to poison him in BNI cells.

According to him he was given food at 12:00 midnight to eat but he declined.

However, the accused said he could not tell how that story came out on social media.

He made the revelation when the court presided over by Mr Stephen Owusu wanted to ascertain the truth about some stories on social media over the alleged food poisoning.

When the court demanded to know how he was being treated by security operatives, Aseidu said the situation had gone from bad to worse. At the lasting sitting Aseidu complained about treatment meted out to him.

According to Asiedu: 'I am always inside the cells 24 hours each day. I am not allowed to go out of the cells.'

Asiedu said he is allergic to food made out from corn but anytime he complained nothing was done about it, so he drinks only water.

Mr Augustine Obuor who represented the accused was not present when the matter was called. Counsel had earlier come to the court to wait for his client who was yet to be brought to court.

Prosecution, Superintendent of Police Francis Baah said he was not aware of those developments and assured the court that accused would be catered for well.

Supt Baah explained that there are no spaces for inmates to walk about.

The prosecutor said investigations into the matter are underway.

The court therefore ordered the Police to allow the accused to stroll in the corridors of the cells under guard protection for the sake of his health.

The matter was adjourned to April 19.

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.

Supt Baah said the deceased, 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, at about 1140 hours, 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 and left for his residence at Kasoa.

At about 0100 hours, 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.

Supt 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 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.

Supt 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.

Supt Baah said the accused also sustained injuries on his left finger and the last finger on his right hand.

GNA

By Joyce Danso, GNA
Koforidua, April 5, GNA - The Islamic Council For Development and Humanitarian Services (ICODEHS), has donated 20 sewing machines estimated at Gha10,000.00 to needy young women in the Koforidua Zongo Community to enable them undertake apprenticeship in dressmaking.

At a short presentation ceremony in Koforidua during which the machines were handed over to the 20 beneficiaries, the leader of ICODEHS Women Wing, Hajia Azumi Ibrahim said the organization was formed to assist Muslim women to acquire different vocations and to help in developmental projects in Zongo Communities across the country.

She advised the youth to take to other vocations after completing the various levels of formal education to help reduce unemployment and poverty in the Zongo communities.

Madam Mariama Abdul Rahim, a beneficiary on behalf of the other recipients thanked ICODEHS for the gesture and urged them to expand their services to other artisan fields such as hairdressing and auto-mechanic engineering, to get more youth to acquire vocational training.

Another beneficiary, Madam Rakiatu Tijani appealed to ICODEHS to establish a facility where needy but willing youth who wants to learn a trade but cannot afford a sewing machine could rent them at a very low cost.

She appealed to the government and other philanthropists to help establish a bead-making industry in the Zongo community to train the youth in beading since it is one of the most lucrative jobs in recent times.

This, she added will create jobs for the youth and help reduce social vices in Zongo communities, the region and the country at large.

The Chief Imam of Koforidua, Alhaji Ussif Amdani Sulemana also thanked ICODEHS for the kindness and called on other Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and philanthropists to support Zongo communities with developmental projects.

GNA
Accra, April 5, GNA - Gregory Afoko, the suspect who is being held over the death of Mr Adams Mahama, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Upper East Region Chairman, has pleaded not guilty before an Accra High Court.

Afoko, a farmer, is being held on the charges of conspiracy to commit crime to wit murder and murder.

It is alleged that he carried out the act with one Alandgi Asake who is on the run.

A third accomplice, Musa Issa, was granted bail after the Attorney-General advised that there was not enough evidence to charge him.

Mr Israel Ackah, Defence Counsel, told the seven member jury not to believe the case of the prosecution as they would find out that their case was based on speculation, half -hearted investigations, innuendos, unsubstantiated and rumours.'

Afoko had earlier rejected three of the members who were empanelled.

The trail was to have commenced at the High Court on March 23, but the trial was caught up at the Court of Appeal and the matter was adjourned to today.

On February 23, this year, an Accra District Court committed Afoko to stand trial at the High Court to answer the charges leveled against him.

The State today undertook the committal proceedings before an Accra Magistrate Court and tendered over 17 exhibits in respect of the trial.

The exhibits include Afoko's caution, charge and investigation statements as well as a post mortem report of the deceased conducted on November 25, last year by Dr Lawrence Edusei; a medical report on the deceased wife who also sustained injuries in her bid to assist the deceased when the incident occurred.

Other exhibits are a gallon containing the alleged residue of acid found at the crime scene, a cup believed to have been used by the assailants in pouring the acid on to the deceased, the deceased's pair of shoes and attire and a piece of carpet in the deceased car.

The rest were various reports from the Ghana Standard Authority (GSA), a pair of blue black track suit belonging to Afoko and photographs of the crime scene.

Prosecution led by Mr Matthew Amponsah, Chief State Attorney, said the deceased was a contractor who lived at Bolgatanga SSNIT Flats in the Upper East Region and the NPP Regional Chairman of the Region.

According to Mr Amponsah, Afoko also lived in Bolgatanga and he was the younger brother of Mr Paul Afoko, the National Chairman of the NPP.

The State said the accused is also a party activist, and was close to the deceased.

On May 20, last year, the deceased left his house to his construction site with his pick-up truck with registration number NR 761-14.

The Chief State Attorney said the deceased returned to the house in the night and at his entrance, two men signaled him to roll down the window of his car.

The deceased obliged and the two men, however, poured acid on the deceased and they fled on a motorbike.

Mr Amponsah said Mr Mahama shouted for help and his wife, Hajia Zenabu Adams went to his aid.

He said Mrs Adams also sustained burns on her chest and breast in her bid to assist the victim.

According to Mr Amponsah, the deceased wife told him that it was Gregory and Asanke, who are all members of the NPP, who poured the acid on him.

The deceased also mentioned the two accused persons, in the presence of neighbours, as the people who poured the acid on him.

The Chief State Attorney said Mr Adams was rushed to the Intensive Care Unit of the Bolgatanga Hospital where he passed on.

Mr Amponsah said the Police proceeded to the crime scene and collected a gallon containing the residue of the alleged acid, a cup and clothes of the assailant.

He said the passenger and driver's seats were soaked with the acid and a pair of truck suit used by the accused was also picked up.

The items retrieved were sent to the Ghana Standard Board.

Afoko was picked up at about 0200 hours in his house and he led the Police to Asake's house.

Asake was, however, not available.

A post mortem was conducted on the deceased by Dr Edusei and the report indicates that Mr Adams died of extensive acid burns.

Afoko has been remanded into lawful custody to reappear on April 19.

Prosecution is expected to call 15 witnesses to make their case.

GNA

By Joyce Danso, GNA
05.04.2016 LISTEN

Accra, April 5, GNA - The Police say more people are lodging complaints in the case of the four Micro Finance Operators.

As a result, prosecution prayed an Accra Circuit Court to grant them time to expand their investigations into the matter.

DSP Abraham A. Annor told the court when four micro finance operators appeared before the court.

The operators are Monica Afriyie and Noel Nortey, both directors of God is Love Fun Club, Charles Asum, a director of Jastar Motors, and Martin K. Delle, a director of DKM Diamond Micro Finance.

Monica and Noel, both Directors of God is Love Fun Club, have been admitted to bail of GHa50.00 million each with five sureties, two to be justified. The two are to make security deposit of GHa5.00 million each.

Charles Asum, a Director of Jastar Motors, was admitted to bail of GHa20.00 million with three sureties, one to be justified. Asum is to pay GHa2.00 million as security deposit in court.

In the case of Martin K Delle, a Director of DKM Diamond Micro Finance, he was admitted to bail of GHa80.00 million with four sureties, two to be justified.

The court presided over by Mr Aboagye Tandoh ordered Delle to make a security deposit of GHa6.00 million.

All the accused persons are to report to the Bureau of National Investigations until directed otherwise.

Meanwhile Mr Benoni Amekudzi one of the Defence Counsel for DKM had pulled out of the case citing protection of his career and integrity.

The four operators have pleaded not guilty to the charges of conspiracy and fraudulent breach of trust.

At the last sitting Prosecuting Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Abraham A. Annor said all the suspects were operating micro finance companies.

DSP Annor said all the suspects informed various clients that when they deposit money at their companies, they would give them 50 per cent interest at the end of three months.

Prosecution said based on that information, complainants in the case made various deposits and three months later when they went for their monies, they found their offices locked and their whereabouts were unknown.

DSP Annor said a report was made to the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) and the accused persons were arrested.

Investigations according to DSP Annor revealed that Monica and Nortey had taken deposits to the tune of GHa100.00 million, Asum took GHa20.00 million, and Delle GHa80.00 million.

Prosecution said investigations are underway.

GNA

By Joyce Danso, GNA
05.04.2016 LISTEN

Accra, April 5, GNA - An Accra High Court will on April 12 gives its ruling on the extradition case of David McDermott, a British fugitive, to the United Kingdom.

The Court presided over by Mrs Justice Merley Wood fixed the date after Defence Attorney and the State had addressed it.

Mr Richard Gyambiby, a State Attorney contended that McDermott has been mentioned in a narcotic case in the UK and drug related offences are also crimes in Ghana.

He said the State was not saying that he had committed offence in Ghana but rather the offence took place in the UK hence the need to send him there to stand trial.

Mr Gyambiby posits that UK and Ghana had a treaty which supported the extradition.

Mr Victor Kojogah Adawudu, Defence Counsel, said narcotic was not an extradition crime.

Mr Adawudu said with the interpretation of sections of the law, there was no mention of narcotics being an extradition crime as the prosecution wanted the Court to believe.

He said a look at the charges preferred against the accused, showed that he could be tried here and there was no need to extradite him.

On his client's arrest, Defence Counsel noted that prosecution should have followed some laws and procedures before McDermott's arrest.

He said McDermott was arrested without any bench warrant issued by a Magistrate Court.

A look at the inventory, Counsel contended, was that no drugs were found among the items that the Police seized from the accused.

Earlier Defence Counsel had challenged Detective Sergeant Marcus Yawlui, the case investigator, that the inventory tendered in court was the original.

McDermott, 42, is wanted for his role in a conspiracy to import 71 million worth of cocaine into the United Kingdom in 2013.

Currently McDermott is being held over conspiracy to supply cocaine.

He was apprehended in Ghana on March 11, this year, based on an extradition request issued by the British High Commission to the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Ghana.

At the earlier appearance in a circuit court, McDermott's charge of engaging in prohibited business relating to narcotic drugs was withdrawn.

On May 16, 2013, McDermott and four others were said to have held a meeting at KFC in Liverpool UK and discussed the importation of the 400kg of cocaine that was intercepted in beef imported from Argentina.

GNA

By Joyce Danso, GNA
The Ministry of Gender Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP) has entered into a contractual agreement with Genkey Solutions BV for the delivery of data collection services leading up to the establishment of the Ghana National Household Registry (GNHR).

The agreement was formalized at a short ceremony at the MoGCSP in Accra.

The contract was signed on behalf of the government by Mr Dela Sowah, Deputy Minister of the MoGCSP whilst Mr. Michel Viano, Sales Director of Genkey Solutions signed on the companys behalf.

Also present at the ceremony were Mr. Kwesi Armo Himbson, Chief Director of the MoGCSP and the National Coordinator of the GSOP/GNHR, Mr. Robert Austin.

The GNHR is a registry of poor and vulnerable households in the country which will be used by MDAs and NGOs to select beneficiaries for their social protection programmes. Data from the registry will also be used for public policy planning as well as research and development in the area of social protection for the poor, vulnerable and excluded in society.

It is expected that the GNHR will eliminate the duplication and costs involved in implementing pro-poor interventions across MDAs by enhancing coordination and streamlining implementation.

The nationwide collection of data for the registry will commence in the Upper West Region in May 2016. The GNHR operates under the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection and is funded by the World Bank through a $9m facility negotiated by the Government of Ghana.
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IVA Struggling with debt? Compare your debt options and write off up to 80% of your unsecured debts  from 80 per month Get Started for free

What is an IVA? With an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) you can make affordable monthly payments towards a percentage of your debt for 5 years. At the end of the 5 year plan, your remaining debt will be completely written off.

Benefits of an IVA

Here is a list of the cost common advantages of an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA):



 Affordability  You will only be asked to pay back what you can afford, with allowances taken into account for food, bills, entertainment, travel, childcare and others. You may be sacrificing certain essential costs at the moment. With an IVA they are budgeted for so they will no longer be neglected

 No upfront costs  When you set up an IVA, there are no upfront costs whatsoever. This means that you can put a debt solution in place today without spending a penny

 You have a finishing line  Do you feel like there will be no end to your debt problems? With high interest costs and charges, the balances of your credit accounts may not reduce as you need them to. With an IVA you will become totally debt free at the completion of the IVA (usually 5 years). You can use this as an opportunity to change your financial life, for good

 Confidential  Your IVA is not advertised in the London Gazette or local newspaper. It is your decision whether you would like to disclose it to other people or not

 No more contact from creditors  When you are in an IVA, your creditors will no longer have the right to contact you or refer the debt on to debt collectors/bailiffs. This is a great benefit for most people as it will take away the stress caused by constant calls/texts/emails and home visits

 Stay in your house  Unlike some debt solutions, an IVA will allow you to stay in your current home. This is even the case if the property has a mortgage or is owned outright

 Your pension  An IVA does not have an impact on your pension. You will not have to surrender your pension or withdraw money from it to pay into your IVA

Risks of an IVA

Here is a list of the cost common disadvantages of an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA):

Equity Release  If you own your property and it has value, you may be asked to release the equity in the property

Credit Rating  If you have a perfect credit rating, this will be damaged and you will not be allowed to take out more debt whilst in an arrangement

You must keep up with repayments  If you do not keep up with your monthly repayments, there is a risk you will be made bankrupt

Who qualifies for an IVA?

There is no office guidelines to who qualifies for an IVA. It is a legally binding, Government legislation designed to help all people. Generally speaking, insolvency practitioners (IP) will look at your situation if they think the IVA proposal they submit is beneficial to both yourself (the debtor) and your creditors. This often restricts people to a certain criteria which you will have to meet:

Over 5000 worth of unsecured debt You must have 2 or more creditors of 2 or more lines of credit Must live in England, Wales or Northern Ireland Must be insolvent Must be willing to pay at least 70 per month into their IVA Must have some type or types of regular income

What debts can I include in an IVA?

You can include a wide range of unsecured debts within your IVA. These include:

Credit card debt/credit cards

Loans/loan debt

Payday loans

Council tax arrears

HMRC debt

Overpaid benefits

Catalogues

Gas and electricity arrears

Overdrafts/overdraft debt

Water arrears

Income tax arrears

Debts to friends and family

Other unsecured debts

Note: If you are a resident of Scotland, you will need to apply for a Scottish Trust Deed (legally binding). Speak to our advisors for Scottish Debt Advice.

What debts cant be included in an IVA?

Secured loans

Your mortgage (if you still live in the house)

Car finance (if you still have the car)

Rent arrears for your current property

Court fines/Police fines

Hire purchase arrears (if you still have the product)

Log book loans (if you still have the vehicle that the debts are secured on)

Student loans

Other secured debts

What does I.V.A stand for?

IVA stands for Individual Voluntary Arrangement. It is a formal way to consolidate your debts into one affordable monthly repayment, resulting in the debtor becoming debt free at the end of their payments.

Can I apply for an IVA online?

Use the IVA Calculator to check your eligibility Prepare your IVA proposal and apply for your IVA. When your IVA is accepted, your creditors can no longer contact you. Pay 60 low monthly payments. After 5 years, you are out of your IVA and completely debt free.

Will an IVA affect my employment?

In most occupations, your credit rating or credit scoring is not a factor and it may never have been checked in the past, it may also be likely that it is not checked in the future either.

There is no law to tell you that you must advise your employer that you have entered an IVA or that you owe money. They will not be notified by your insolvency practitioner. If you wanted to keep it a private matter, in most cases this would be absolutely fine. With some roles such as financial advisors, solicitors or bank workers it may make up part of your contract to advise them of changes like this. In these situations we would advise to inform your employers of your intentions before you enter into any arrangements. This way there will be no nasty surprises for you later down the line. More often than not, we find that your employer would not be concerned by your IVA and that it would not affect your employment status. An IVA is a formal solution and could affect some employments, such as if you were a solicitor or accountant for example. We would always recommend that you receive approval from your employers that your job isnt affected before you sign up for anything.

Will an IVA impact my partner?

There are certain situations where you may not want to involve your partner at all in your IVA proposal due to personal reasons. Insolvency Practitioners are very aware of these circumstances and can operate solely via telephone and email and at your convenience, so rest assured that your matters can be kept completely private.

If the debts which you are looking to place into your IVA are in joint names, then this would be different. Your IP would look to place all of your debts into an IVA, including joint debts therefore you would have to inform your partner of your plans.

If your debts are solely yours, then there would be no negative impact on your partner, their credit score would remain unaffected and they would not be entered onto any registers or be tainted in any way.

Will an IVA affect my credit score/credit file?

Whilst you are in your arrangement, you will not be able to get any credit. An IVA will stay on your credit file for 6 years, so 12 months after a typical IVA. When this time has passed and your monthly payments have ended, you will be able to rebuild your credit rating.

What proof will I need to apply for an IVA?

Proof of ID  Passport/driving license/birth certificate/utility bills/national insurance identification/credit agreement Bank statements  3 months bank statements with all transactions displayed Proof of income  3 months payslips/P60/proof of benefits

How long does it take to set up an IVA?

Your initial call will only last around 5-10 minutes. The IVA process will be explained to you and you will be told what further information you will need to provide to proceed with your IVA proposal. Once you have returned the required information, an IVA will usually take between 7-14 days to get into place. You will be protected from creditors within this time, your advisor will provide you with documentation via email.

How long does an IVA last?

Most IVAs will last for a length of five years. The i v a will remain on your credit file for a period of six years and is placed on the Insolvency Register for that period. You can work out what date it will be removed from your credit file, it will be six years from the start date of the IVA term. So if the IVA started on 1 January 2000, it should be removed from your credit file six years from that date, which would be 1 January 2006. When you apply for an individual voluntary arrangement your Insolvency Practitioner (IP) will tell you if you qualify for an IVA, how long it lasts, how much it costs and provide you with any other debt advice which you may need.

How much will debt advice cost for an Individual Voluntary Arrangement?

The advice cost for individual voluntary arrangements is free of charge. Your I.V.A company will tell you if you qualify for an IVA. They will talk to you about your different debts, provide you with free debt advice and check if your creditors are likely to approve your proposal for your IVA for debt.

How does an IVA affect your life?

By taking out an IVA you may affect your overall financial position. You will not be allowed to take out credit for 6 years. You will struggle to get a mortgage or remortgage your existing property. It also may affect any future increase in earnings or windfalls you may receive, as these will need to be paid to your insolvency practitioner. Your insolvency practitioner will take control of your debts for this period, they will deal with all of your creditors and this is legally binding. That means you will not be allowed to take out any more debts whilst in the IVA.

Once the plan is completed, any debts which you accrue will be managed by yourself. Your ability to take out further debts in the future will not be impacted once the IVA has completed.

What is the IVA protocol?

The I.V.A protocol is a voluntary set of guidelines which your Insolvency Practitioner (IP) can sign up for which improves the efficiency of Individual Voluntary Arrangements. When you apply for debt advice, it is important that you understand the steps of the debt solution, so you can decide whether or not the solution is the best one for your circumstances.

How do I know if creditors will accept my IVA?

Generally speaking, most creditors will approve voluntary arrangements for unsecured debt. But some debts can not be included within one formal debt solution. Your Insolvency Practitioner will tell you how likely it is that your creditors will be willing to accept your proposal, based on the voting creditors.

Can I pay in one lump sum?

There are occasions when you may be eligible for a debt solution which is payable in a one off lump sum as a final settlement to your creditors. This is usually when the money is being gifted from some one else, or you have received inheritance or a windfall for example. With a one-off lump sum payment, the advice is usually the same as when you normally apply for an IVA. You wouldnt have to make regular payments into the solution, your IP can provide you with more advice on one off lump sum solutions for your debts. Your IP will provide you with more advice on the debt IVA and explain what is IVA to you.

Who regulates the debt industry?

At present the debt industry is not regulated. Some Insolvency Practitioners offices choose to sign up to the Insolvency Practitioners Association (IPA) or register with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). You can contact the IPA using the contact details or email address on their website. Your creditors do not regulate the debt industry and your creditors will not be able to impact any decisions which the IPA or FCA make. In our experience, the regulators will take assertive action on any advisers or businesses which do not comply with their strict codes of practice. To check if a person is regulated by the FCA, enter their name into the search box in the FCA website.

Should I use a debt charity?

There are thousands of companies which provide debt help in the UK. You may be looking for an alternative to a private company. You should know that charities usually pass their fee charging products to sister companies which charge fees and disbursements, just like private companies. So what you initially thought was a good option, on further analysis could be different to what you originally thought. Charities do have their part to play though. They can help you if you have a problem with your bank accounts, maintenance arrears, living costs, credit reference agencies, child support arrears, bankruptcy, assets, accountancy issues, mortgages, creditor issues, insurance providers, mobiles, your bank account, rates arrears, PAYE contributions or if you want to work out your expenditure. They can make sure that you speak to an adviser or supervisor and look at proposals to offer your lender. A petition has started with the possibility of a debate in parliament about how charities represent themselves and their services.

Which charities help with debt?

You can contact Money Advice Service, National Debtline, Step Change, Shelter or a combination of the three. Charities are particular useful for a low debt level under 1,000. If the debt is high (such as a debt value of 10,000 or more) you would usually seek an assessment from a professional adviser. If you do decide to use a charity to guide you, make sure you check their charity number and the registration number on their website to make sure you are content that their team can answer your questions in the right ways. A lot of clients of charities have a minimum debt level which does not meet the basis for an IVA, so you could always chat to a charity that is happy to act on your behalf for low debt levels.

Although an I.V.A could be the answer to your debt problem, its important to understand the monthly payment so call us on our free phone number. Anyone customers can receive expert feedback on their rights from debt charities, if they cant help they will usually point you in the director of firms which help with IVAs.

We are homeowners, will lenders see my proposal differently?

In some cases yes. In the majority of cases, if you are a homeowner you will not need to remortgage or take out any additional finances that will effect your property. You will need to sign a additional restrictions which remove your ability to take out additional credit tied to your property, which is something that is restricted once you are in an i.v.a. There are exceptions to this, such as when you have a lot of equity in your property/properties. If you own half of a property and another party owns the other half, only your equity will be affected.

If you are landlord and you are in a position of equity, your IP may review your trading position or business to make sure the figures in question are in order. This is usually the case if you have two or more properties, as sometimes the equity can be used to form a repayment to your creditors. But this usually depends on the amount of value built up in your properties.

Banks and building societies will not change the terms of your mortgage as long as a contribution is still being made for the duration of your arrangement. Your mortgage payments will be added to your expenses and accounted for within your budget, as long as you can provide evidence that you can afford to continue to make payments into your mortgage for duration of the plan.

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April 05, 2016

Syria - As Rebels Break Ceasefire Army Gathers For New Campaign

The ceasefire in Syria held for some five weeks but is now about to end. During the ceasefire Russia reduced its forces in Syria and the Syrian Arab Army made significant progress against the Islamic State. But the opposition and their sponsors abused the ceasefire to rearm. They prepared and executed new attacks against the Syrian government and Syrian civilians.

The sponsors of the opposition, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the U.S. delivered new arms and munition to the "moderate" opposition. It is known that up to half of all supplies the "moderates" receive is inevitably delivered to al-Qaeda in Syria. The sponsors also broke a long-standing taboo and introduced portable anti-air missiles (MANPADs) onto the battle field. Several fighters of the U.S. and Turkey supported Al Hamza brigade posted pictures showing off their new toys. The U.S. claims that these fighters are supposed to only fight the Islamic State. But the Islamic State has no aircraft and these weapons are clearly to be used against the Syrian government and its supporters.

Today Ahrar al-Sham, a Salafist group near to al-Qaeda, downed (video) a Syrian Su-22 ground-attack plane with a MANPAD near the city of Tal Eis, south of Aleppo city. The pilot, Lt. Col Musad Zayed Hirani, was taken prisoner by al-Qaeda in Syria (Jabhat al Nusra). This incident shows that MANPADs immediately proliferate on the battle field and beyond and may soon be used against civilian planes in the Middle East and around the world.

Also today "moderate" rebels launched improvised artillery attacks on the mostly Kurdish Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood in the government held parts of Aleppo city. At least 17 civilians were killed and more than 50 were wounded.

The "moderate" opposition in Syria which is receiving official U.S. support is not willing to distance itself from al-Qaeda:

We absolutely do not agree with Jabhat Al Nusra. We do not want Jabhat Al Nusras ideology to be in Syria now or in the future. But we need fighters who will fight with us against the regime," said Zakaria Malahefji, a political officer with Fastaqim Kama Umrit, a coalition of rebel groups in the city of Aleppo.

...

Jabhat Al Nusra are our brothers," said Hajj Bakri, a rebel leader in Hama. We have no problem with them."

...

Our relationship with Jabhat Al Nusra is good and there is a collaboration with Jabhat Al Nusra in military operations and security responsibilities," said Abu Zeid, a commander with the hardline Salafi militia Ahrar Al Sham in north-western Syrias Akrad Mountains. As one of the most powerful rebel factions in the war, Ahrar Al Sham is Al Nusras most important single ally.

Al-Qaeda in Syria was, like the Islamic State, not part of the ceasefire agreement. The U.S. officially regards al-Qaeda in Syria as a terrorist entity and enemy. Al-Qaeda has zero interest in any negotiated peace and is therefore doing its best to sabotage it. During the last weeks it succeeded in convincing the "moderates" to join it in renewed fighting:

Faced by an internationally-mediated cessation of hostilities that threatened to irreversibly erode its influence, Nusra had begun in mid-March a process of talks inside Syria aimed at convincing opposition groups to resume their fight against the regime. As such, the last 48 hours of opposition advances south of Aleppo represent a victory for al-Qaeda in its efforts to undermine the political process and to put back in place conditions more amenable to its long game strategy for Syria.

On Saturday several U.S. supported "moderate" rebel groups joined al-Qaeda in an attack on the government held city of Tal Eis in the south Aleppo countryside:

Syria's partial cease-fire appeared to be unraveling Saturday as fierce fighting between government forces and opposition fighters, including members of the al-Qaida affiliated Nusra Front, erupted outside the country's second largest city of Aleppo and other parts in the country's north. At least 25 pro-government and 16 opposition fighters died in the clashes south of Aleppo, where the Nusra Front and rebel militias captured a village overlooking a major highway, a Britain-based monitoring group told The Associated Press.

...

A number of groups  including some nominally party to the truce agreement  acknowledged on social media that they were battling government forces. The Islam Army, whose political coordinator heads the opposition delegation during halting peace talks in Geneva, announced it had killed 20 government soldiers in fighting outside Damascus Friday. It announced Saturday it was also fighting in the south Aleppo countryside, though the group is not known to have a major presence there.

It is obvious now that the "moderate" rebels have broken the ceasefire and are openly in full cooperation with al-Qaeda.

Unless the opposition sponsors manage to immediately reign in their proxies, all out war in Syria will soon be back. The Syrian government and its allies are now mobilizing more forces to regain the lost areas in the southern Aleppo country side. For the first time 'advisors' of the regular Iranian army (not the Revolutionary Guard) will take part in the fighting. The Russian air force is likely to reintroduce some parts of its Syria contingent that had been withdrawn.

The Russian side had agreed with the U.S. to stop the fighting and to take the political walk through negotiations in Geneva. This decision was made against the wishes of the Syrian government and its Iranian allies. They would have preferred to at least free Aleppo city of all opposition forces before any talks.

But even if the ceasefire now breaks down the Russian move was valuable. It showed that it is able to hold its allies to a ceasefire when promised. It also demonstrated that the U.S. side is either not able, or not willing to implement and keep a ceasefire but abuses such period to rearm its proxies for new fighting.

The coming Syrian government campaign, with full support of its allies, will likely be at a more intense level than its last offensive. That attack had the rebels on the run, defeated and in parts fleeing the battle field when it was stopped by the ceasefire agreement. The coming attack will be more intense and will not stop until the opposition has taken very significant damage.

Today the Syrian army issued a statement asking all civilians to leave the areas held by the opposition within the next 48 hours. It promises that the new campaign will "give a lesson" to al-Qaeda and its followers.

Posted by b on April 5, 2016 at 14:14 UTC | Permalink

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This article is part of our Guide to Maximising Your Pension, helping investors build up the maximum possible pension pot  and turn it into the maximum possible retirement income.

Investors who have not utilised their ISA allowance better take action as soon possible: as the end of the tax year approaches, time is running out to use the 2015/16 tax years 15,240 allowance.

Under the shield of an ISA wrapper, most assets, subject to various annual allowances are tax free. This includes cash in special savings accounts, investment in stocks, bonds, open-end and closed-end funds. The ISA allowance can be divided into cash saving ISAs and investment ISAs, however only one of each can be opened in each tax year. Therefore, investors should take advantage of each years allowance to minimise tax on capital gains in any investment made.

Investors often leave their ISA investing decision to the last minute, and according to data provided by stockbroker Hargreaves Lansdown, last minute ISA stock investors are considering into commodity and banking stocks.

Laith Khalaf, senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown said while oil and mining stocks have rebounded since the start of the year, the banking sector has struggled. However investors are expecting some bounce-back-ability in resource and banking stocks according to data in March.

Below are the five most popular stocks purchased by ISA investors in March through Hargreaves Lansdown, coupled with what Morningstar analysts think about these stocks.

Glencore PLC (GLEN)

Glencore has been one of the gainers in the mining rally since the start of the year. The companys shares have increased by 57% year to date. However the stock is rated as an overvalued stock by Morningstar analysts. Adverse movements in commodity prices represent the key source of risk for Glencore's industrial and marketing activities, Morningstar analyst David Wang said. Also the companys mining portfolio is decidedly overweight higher-risk countries with relatively underdeveloped institutions and limited legal safeguards for foreign investors.

Although Glencore ranks among the most diversified of the global mega-miners, because China is the key demand driver for nearly everything Glencore digs out of the ground, diversification benefits are limited, Wang added.

Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY)

With noncore assets and government ownership now down to minimal levels, Lloyds is now one of the sturdiest banks in Europe, Morningstar analyst Erin Davis said. Lloyds 2015 dividend surprised to be the upside, and Morningstar analysts 2016 dividend projection implies a 5.8% plus forward yield. The stock is currently rated as an undervalued stock with a four-star rating by Morningstar analyst.

Barclays PLC (BARC)

Barclays spent much of 2015 at a crossroads but its path may soon be much clearer. The new chairman John McFarlane is clearly determined to improve profitability, Davis said. Barclays is consolidating and turning around its Africa operations, where concentrated market share in markets like South Africa have the potential to create high-return businesses.

Although concerns about Barclays' viability have eased, questions about write-downs and long-term profitability remain. In early March the bank reporter a 2% drop in underlying annual profits to 5.4 billion. The bank will pay a final dividend for 2015, bringing the full dividend for the year to 6.5p, the same as the year before. However, it warned investors that this will be reduced to just 3p per share for 2016 and 2017. The stock is rated as an undervalued stock by Morningstar analysts.

Royal Dutch Shell (RDSB)

Investor sentiment on Shell today remains negative after years of poor execution, Morningstar analyst Stephen Simko says. If new CEO Ben van Beurden can shake things up enough to where Shell operates in line with its peers, it could prove to be a material near-term share catalyst. Yet Europe is a terrible region for refining, and Shell is heavily exposed.

Management has been slow to restructure operations here, and this will thus remain a drag on returns, Simko adds. Also Shell's oil and gas production involves operating in politically unstable regions where leaders or members of its population can be hostile toward Western energy firms. The stock is currently rated as an overvalued stock by Morningstar analysts.

ITV PLC (ITV)

The television broadcasting company currently is not rated or commented on by Morningstar analysts.
Under current regulations, many mortgage brokers are prohibited from charging cancellation fees on deals. However, that could soon change.The opportunity to seek legislative change on the subject of permitted fees that can be charged by mortgage brokers will arise when the government proceeds with its review of the Mortgage Brokers Act, says Samantha Gale , CEO of the Mortgage Brokers Association of British Columbia. In December, we received advice that the review was likely to commence sometime in early 2016.Brokers in British Columbia are prohibited from charging advance fees, including cancellation fees. As the discussion  and debate  around cancellation fees has grown, the MBABC has renewed its effort to lobby the provincial government to update its policy on these and other advance fees.The MBABC is continuing its efforts to seek legislative change to an outdated mortgage broker licensing statute in BC [that prohibits advance fees], Gale told CMP late last year. The Mortgage Brokers Act is still on the BC legislative agenda.The association also shared with CMP a letter previously sent to the Financial and Corporate Sector Policy Branch of the Ministry of Finance, arguing in favour of reforming Section 5 of the Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act, which prohibits the use of advance fees.In it, the MBABC argues that brokers could be reluctant to take on difficult residential mortgage clients when their fee is contingent on the application actually being approved and funded.Often mortgage files require many hours of preparation, document management and negotiation, the association writes. Sometimes mortgage commitments are obtained by mortgage brokers after they have invested significant amounts of time into the file, but the client will eventually opt for alternative financing or decline the offered financing  this can happen even at the last minute, just prior to closing.Under the current legislation, the MBABC argues, brokers have no way of collecting compensation for work already done.But, of course, there are two sides to the debate. Many brokers refuse to charge cancellation fees because they believe in acting in the clients best interest, which is something many players point to the fee-free model currently in use throughout the country as evidence of  clients should be free to choose the broker or lending specialist of their choice.However, there are many who agree with the MBABC that cancellation fees are a way to ensure that brokers receive payment for work theyve already done  even if a mortgage isnt originated.Imagine a prospect who shops around and calls you on weekends and nights  because he works during the day  and you give him all the best advice in the world, says Walid Hammami, a broker with Dominion Lending Centres in Quebec. This prospect takes most of your time and detracts you from certain activities that could benefit your business and health, like business development activities, going to the gym, etc. He calls you after you got his deal approved and thanks you for your efforts but says that unfortunately, he had to go with another broker/bank because they gave him a $50 gift card with the same rate. Multiply that by another 30 to 40 prospects, and then tell me how you feel about charging a penalty.The debate around cancellation fees also has garnered mainstream coverage lately. A large Toronto-based broker was featured in a Toronto Star article for levying a hefty cancellation fee in late 2015.The article claimed a Toronto couple was charged a $10,000 fee for choosing to stay with their existing lender once they learned they would be hit with an even more sizable prepayment penalty of $43,000.However, the broker told CMP at the time that the penalty amount wasnt properly reported and that the practice of charging a cancellation fee was explained to the client.These penalties can often come as a surprise to clients who  as is shown in this example  arent afraid to turn to the media to plead their case. That could lead to negative publicity  however unfair  that could put the entire industry in a bad light. Still, many brokers argue the fees are necessary.After a few clients [flee], the broker will have a bad taste in his mouth and will not act to his best when he meets a client, because he is fearful of the outcome, Hammami says. But once he knows he is protected, he will do his best and will definitely help better his clients.
Canadas real estate market has established itself as a prime destination for overseas investors over the past few years, and the results of a recent survey continued to support this assertion, with foreign capital in the last six months of 2015 reaching a record high of $1.4 billion.



The All Signs Point North by Colliers International also cited the prominence of U.S. and Chinese nationals in the Canadian housing sector, accounting for 48 per cent and 42 per cent of foreign investment, respectively. Meanwhile, 10 per cent hailed from Europe.



Colliers said that the trend is showing no signs of stopping in the near future, especially since the World Economic Forum cited Canadas banking system as the soundest out there.



The low loonie has attracted interest from foreign investors who are looking to enter the Canadian market while there is a cost advantage, Colliers said in the study, as quoted by Business Vancouver.



Colliers noted that the commercial real estate and multi-family segments would enjoy sustained strength this year. In Vancouver alone, $588 million in foreign capital was used in the purchase of commercial real estate in the second half of 2015.



A report by commercial real estate services firm Avison Young concurred with these findings, adding that 88 per cent of commercial deals in B.C. worth greater than $5 million involved private investors, most of them foreign.



Institutional investors and REITs [real estate investment trusts] remained largely sidelined, the Avison Young report stated.
CoreLogic Estimates Large February Price Gains

It will be interesting to see if CoreLogic's estimates for monthly and annual price increases for February are the strong outliers they were in January. The company's estimates of a 1.3 percent monthly and 6.9 percent annual price growth came in 0.8 percentage points ahead of the mean for the other three major indicators on a monthly basis and 1.4 points year-over-year. CoreLogic's number however was lower than the less formal estimate of existing home prices from the National Association of Realtors which was +8.2 percent from January 2015 to January 2016.

CoreLogic's February numbers are very much in line with those they produced for January. The company said home prices nationwide, including distressed sales rose 6.8 percent compared to February 2015 and were up 1.1 percent from January.

Three states posted double digit annual increases with Washington coming in at a robust 12.4 percent gain. Colorado's HPI rose 10.5 percent and Florida was up by 10.2 percent. The other two states in the top five were Oregon (+9.3 percent) and Nevada (+8.6 percent.) The smallest annual increase was in Wyoming at 0.4 percent followed by Louisiana and West Virginia with 0.5 percent gains.

"Home prices continue to rise across the U.S. with every state posting year-over-year gains during the last 12 months," said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. "Improved economic conditions and tight inventories continue to drive exceptionally strong gains in many markets, especially for homes priced below $500,000."

CoreLogic's HPI Forecast is for a 5.2 percent increase from February 2016 to February 2017 and that prices will increase from February to March this year by 0.6 percent. CoreLogic's projections for its HPI have been running well behind the actual number. For January to February they had predicted an 0.5 percent gain.

"Fixed-rate mortgage rates dropped more than one-quarter of a percentage point in the first three months of 2016, and job creation averaged 209,000 over the same period," said Dr. Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic. "These economic forces will sustain home purchases during the spring and support the 5.2 percent home price appreciation CoreLogic has projected for the next year."

The CoreLogic HPITM is built on public record, servicing and securities real-estate databases and incorporates more than 30 years of repeat-sales transactions for analyzing home price trends.
Do you ride the bike trails out towards Yellow Springs? Perhaps this news will give you some inspiration to do so. Every Wednesday when you ride out to Youngs Jersey Dairy and let them know youre there for Wheel in Wednesday you can get a free extra dip of Youngs Homemade Ice Cream on any ice cream purchase at The Dairy Store or a free mini-dessert at The Golden Jersey Inn with the purchase of your meal.

Or you can use their parking lot to drive out to Yellow Springs with your bike on car rack, unload your bike and make Youngs your starting point. One of the nations premier bike trails less than a mile from their location and think about wahat a reward a nice homemade ice cream cone would be at the end of your ride.

Its also a great way to train for the Youngs Ice Cream Charity Bike Ride July 16 & 17. The ride starts and ends at Youngs, with 28 mile, 56 mile, 83 mile, and 100 mile options which head up to Ada, Ohio. Two-day participants stay overnight in great accommodations at Ohio Northern University. Riders of all ages and abilities raise money for charity and have a good time riding the well-marked routes. Food and ice cream is provided to all volunteers and riders. Each charity provides volunteers to staff the rest stops along the route.
Money managers lost faith in oils recent rally as doubts grew over whether major producers will be able to agree on an output freeze.

Futures in West Texas Intermediate oil retreated last week for the first time since mid-February. Prices had surged from a low of almost 13 years on a proposal by Saudi Arabia, Russia, Venezuela and Qatar to cap oil output and reduce a global surplus. Theyll meet with other countries in Doha on April 17.

While Iran said it would attend the talks, it ruled out limiting supply as it restores exports after sanctions were lifted in January. Then Saudi Arabias Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said in an interview with Bloomberg that his country will freeze its output only if Iran and other major producers do as well. That pushed WTI down another 4 percent.

Doubts were growing about the meeting before the Saudi comments, said Mike Wittner, head of oil markets at Societe Generale SA in New York. People who follow this were coming around to the position that even if an agreement could be reached to freeze output without Iran, it wouldnt amount to anything.

Short positions on West Texas Intermediate crude, or bets that prices will fall, rose the most since November in the week ended March 29, according to U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The liquidation of shorts during the prior seven weeks was the largest on record.

Iran plans to boost crude output to 4 million barrels a day, the highest level since 2008, before it will consider joining other suppliers in seeking ways to rebalance the global oil market, Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said last month. Iranian output rose by 100,000 barrels a day to 3.2 million in March, the most since May 2012, according to a Bloomberg survey.

Its not clear what they have to talk about, said Tim Evans, an energy analyst at Citi Futures Perspective in New York. I dont even know why they want to gather in a room to talk if the Saudis say they wont freeze output unless Iran does, and we know the Iranians have no intention of cooperating.

WTI oil for May delivery dropped 7.6 percent to $38.28 a barrel in the report week on the New York Mercantile Exchange and closed at $36.79 on April 1.

Bearish bets rose by 11,167 contracts, or 17 percent, to 75,598 positions in the report week, the CFTC data show. Short positions were at a nine-month low the prior week. Bullish wagers decreased by 3,647 to 296,614. The resulting net-long position slipped 6.3 percent to 221,016.

We switched to a moderate flow of selling by money managers, Evans said. It was dominated by new shorts coming into the market and not by long liquidation. The rise in shorts may reflect that they think the rally is done.

In other markets, net bearish wagers on U.S. ultra low sulfur diesel climbed by 4,073 contracts to 16,708 in the week ended March 29, CFTC data show. Diesel futures dropped 7.7 percent in the period. Net bullish bets on gasoline traded on the Nymex increased 2,547 contracts as futures declined 2.9 percent.

Technical factors may add strength to the rout in coming weeks, said Brian LaRose, technical strategist for broker United-ICAP in Jersey City, New Jersey. Falling below $36.50 would signal a further downtown using the Elliot Wave theory, LaRose said. WTI is approaching the 100-day moving average that stood at $35.82 on April 1.

A close below $36.50 in WTI would signal that some sort of top is in, LaRose said. The technical picture is very heavy here.
Guiseppe Barranco

Saudi Arabia, the world's largest crude exporter, raised pricing for all May sales to the United States, before the start of the driving season which usually perks up gasoline demand.

State-run Saudi Arabian Oil Co. increased its official selling price for May Light, Medium and Heavy sales to U.S. buyers by 40 cents a barrel, the company said in an e-mailed statement Tuesday. Extra Light crude will sell at a premium of $2.60 a barrel to the regional benchmark, 75 cents higher than the differential in April. For the U.S., the benchmark is the Argus Sour Crude Index.
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HOUSTON (AP)  Amanda Salazar watched for a year as colleagues at the Houston-based oil rig manufacturer where she worked lost jobs, victims of the latest oil downturn. She realized it was time for a change before she too got a pink slip.

So Salazar left her job as a software trainer with National Oilwell Varco for a similar position at a hospital. Even if the oil market turned around immediately, she reasoned, it might take 18 months before the industry picked up again.

And thats a long time to be sitting at work wondering if youre going to get laid off, she said.

For generations, anyone who lived in Houston long enough was sure to feel the pain of an oil downturn. But 21st century Houston isnt like its oil-dependent predecessor. The city now has a more diversified economy, plus help from a wave of construction at its petrochemical plants. Even as the price of oil has plummeted, Houston has carried on, maintaining a jobless rate of 4.7 percent in February, slightly better than the national average.

Houston in the broadest sense is going to do fine. Its the individual stories and the individual companies that are going to hurt and suffer, said Patrick Jankowski, regional economist for the Greater Houston Partnership, a local business group.

For the 38-year-old Salazar, her move proved prescient. Her old department was eliminated on March 11, the same day she started at Memorial Hermann Sugar Land Hospital. The downturn resulted in about 50,000 layoffs last year of Houston-area oil and gas workers.

Oil is still vitally important here. The most recent boom helped create 100,000 jobs annually for several years. Many of the largest energy companies, including ConocoPhillips and Shell Oil Co., are headquartered in Houston and have gleaming buildings in the Energy Corridor, a 10-mile stretch along Interstate 10 thats home to oil companies as well as energy-related engineering and industrial firms.

But the corridor is now dotted with for lease signs. Energy companies are dumping empty office space into the sublease market, which has grown to more than 8 million square feet. Another 8 million square feet of new office space is set to be built this year.

At Carmelos Italian Restaurant in the corridor, owner Carmelo Mauro has been forced to cut staff hours and make sure meal portions are exact because of falling revenue.

People are not going out or they are watching what they are spending or some dont have a job, he said.

The layoffs arent over. Another 21,000 job losses in the oil and gas sectors are projected for this year, according to the Greater Houston Partnership.

Other problems loom, including a projected city budget shortfall of at least $140 million and a slumping commercial real estate market.

Still, the areas petrochemical plants are in the midst of a $50 billion construction boom fueled by low natural gas prices. Cheap natural gas has made it much less expensive to make products such as plastics at those facilities.

At the same time, Houston has expanded well beyond oil. In the 1980s, the citys economy was 84 percent dependent on oil and energy for its gross domestic product. That figure has dropped to about 44 percent.

Health care, construction and education added more than 65,000 jobs in 2015. February home sales were up 2.2 percent compared with the same month last year. And a recent survey by the Houston West Chamber of Commerce  which includes the Energy Corridor  found most non-energy businesses were optimistic about the economy.

The Memorial Hermann Health System currently has about 3,000 openings, many created by an expansion of facilities fueled by the citys population growth. According to recent census figures, the Houston metro area had the nations biggest population gain between 2014 and 2015.

Hundreds of applicants to Memorial Hermann have come from oil and gas workers, said Tanya Cook, the health systems vice president of talent acquisition.

What a lot of people dont realize is we have many of the same positions that you would find in any other industry, for instance in oil and gas, she said. Weve got HR positions and weve got finance positions and weve got IT positions.

One of Memorial Hermanns new hires is Billy Enochs, who spent about 10 years in the oil industry, most recently as a consultant for ConocoPhillips, before getting laid off in October.

Enochs, 43, who had prior experience in health care, said the latest downturn caught some people off guard, but its a cyclical thing.

Anybody whos been in Houston any length of time understands that, he said.

Shawn Baker, 45, was laid off last year from a job building power units for offshore oil rigs. She had trouble finding a new job so she went into business for herself with an offbeat idea called Tantrums, a paid service that lets customers take out their frustrations by smashing plates, televisions and other objects in various rooms with sledgehammers, bats and pipes.

Her new business started off slow but recently picked up, and Baker said shes happy she took the plunge.

Despite the economic diversification, the oil downturn could still threaten the citys future, Bill Gilmer, director of the Institute for Regional Forecasting at the University of Houston, told a February luncheon for the Houston West Chamber of Commerce.

If oil prices dont rebound by the end of 2017, when the construction boom is expected to wind down, it will be bad news for Houston, Gilmer said.

Mauro believes his restaurant, which has endured numerous oil downturns since opening in 1981, will rebound, along with the city.

The question is, he said, what are we going to do to survive until it turns around once more?
MENLO PARK, Calif. (AP)  Facebook is training its computers to become seeing-eye guides for blind and visually impaired people as they scroll through the pictures posted on the worlds largest online social network.

The feature rolling out Tuesday on Facebooks iPhone and iPad apps interprets whats in a picture using a form of artificial intelligence that recognizes faces and objects. VoiceOver, a screen reader built into the software powering the iPhone and iPad, must be turned on for Facebooks photo descriptions to be read. For now, the feature will only be available in English.

Until now, people relying on screen readers on Facebook would only hear that a person had shared a photo without any elaboration.

The photo descriptions initially will be confined to a vocabulary of 100 words in a restriction that will prevent the computer from providing a lot of details. For instance, the automated voice may only tell a user that a photo features three people smiling outdoors without adding that the trio also has drinks in their hands. Or it may say the photo is of pizza without adding that theres pepperoni and olives on top of it.

Facebook is being careful with the technology, called automatic alternative text, in an attempt to avoid making a mistake that offends its audience. Google learned the risks of automation last year when an image recognition feature in its Photos app labeled a black couple as gorillas, prompting the company to issue an apology.

Eventually, though, Facebook hopes to refine the technology so it provides more precise descriptions and even answers questions that a user might pose about a picture.

The vocabulary of Facebooks photo-recognition program includes car, sky, dessert, baby, shoes, and, of course, selfie.

Facebook also plans to turn on the technology for its Android app and make it available through Web browsers visiting its site.

The Menlo Park, California, company is trying to ensure the worlds nearly 300 million blind and visually impaired people remain interested in its social network as a steadily increasing number of photos appear on its service. On an average day, Facebook says more than 2 billion photos are posted on its social network and other apps that it owns, a list that includes Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp.

In a Tuesday post, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg hailed the photo description tool as an important step towards making sure everyone has equal access to information and is included in the conversation.



Online:

Facebooks post: https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2016/04/using-artificial-intelligence-to-help-blind-people-see-facebook/
Plans by Cash America to relocate from 3200 N. Big Spring St. to a larger

location on Big Spring Street just south of Wadley Avenue drew concern from nearby residents at Mondays Planning and Zoning Commission meeting.

Cash America was seeking a zone change to Local Retail District, LR-3 for a new 6,000-square-foot location.

Neighbors stressed they were supportive of economic development but wondered why that couldnt mean the type seen on Midlands west side or along Loop 250 instead of pawn shops, liquor stores or shooting ranges.

Chase Gardaphe, a member of the commission, said that Mondays action was merely to approve a zone change and there could be a lot of changes between the approval and Cash Americas actual relocation. He said that letters would be sent to residents of the area, informing them of the change and what was being planned, and said he hopes these residents would read the letters and be informed.

The zone change was approved unanimously.

Commissioners also approved a specific use permit with term for the sale of alcoholic beverages at Reeds Super Bowl at Wall Street and Fasken Drive. The long-time bowling alley has been renovated and a lounge was installed, prompting the request for the permit.

Also approved was Arturo Trillos request for specific use permit with term for the sale of alcoholic beverages for consumption at a 2,831-square-foot restaurant at Interstate 20 and Johnson Street.

In other action, commissioners approved:

-- Bynum Schools request for a zone change that will allow for additional construction on its campus at Briarwood Avenue and Avalon Drive.

-- Midland Humane Coalitions request for a zone change at Elkins Road and Crownridge Drive, allowing the coalition to proceed with plans for additional kennels and walks.

-- a zone change request by Fivestone Ventures from Local Retail District LR1 to Local Retail District LR2 at Briarwood Avenue and Holiday Hill Road.

-- a zone change request to planned district for a housing development for DDC Merritt Leisure, which plans senior housing at Beal Parkway and Leisure Drive.

-- Manor Parks site plan at Sunshine Parkway and Idlewilde Drive.
On a Friday night little over a year ago, a Texas mother of three was attending a school dance when she got a text message that stopped her cold.

A state lawmaker from Dallas had filed legislation taking aim at a provision in state law that allows parents to opt their children out of school immunization requirements.

I looked at that text and I just kind of was like, Oh no he didnt, said Jackie Schlegel-Polvado, who lives near Bastrop. This is Texas. We believe in parental rights in Texas. Like, that is just a fundamental belief that most Texans have that parents make decisions for their children, not the state.

It was an issue that directly affected Schlegel-Polvado and her family. Since 2007, she has been one of a small but growing number of parents in Texas who obtain conscientious exemptions from state vaccine requirements.

What was several worried parents exchanging text messages over the next few days turned into a Facebook group that within two weeks had more than 1,300 members, and then, ultimately, a political action committee.

Texans For Vaccine Choices mission, according to Schlegel-Polvado, is to guard parents rights to opt out of vaccine requirements  whether that means targeting legislators who seek to close non-medical exemptions or pushing for policies that otherwise protect parents who choose not to vaccinate, like preventing physicians from excluding them from their practices.

In this years primary elections, that meant going after state Rep. Jason Villalba, the Dallas Republican who filed the bill.

The animus that was leveled against me for that was very surprising to me, said Villalba, who ultimately won his race. These people, they literally said it to my face  they hate me. That was troubling. Because I get it, they care about their children  but I care about my children too, and the children of the community.

When he filed the bill last session, Villalba, a father of three, said he expected it to be non-controversial. Like other lawmakers around the country who have pushed to re-examine vaccine laws  including in California and Vermont, which last year successfully limited provisions allowing non-medical exemptions  he was motivated by recent outbreaks of diseases like measles and whooping cough that medical officials attributed to growing numbers of parents choosing not to vaccinate their children.

About 38,000  or 0.75 percent of Texas students  received non-medical exemptions from at least one vaccine during the 2013-2014 school year. While that figure  which includes students at both public and accredited private schools  is still below the national average of 1.8 percent, it has soared from just under 3,000  or 0.09 percent  in 2004.

State law requires that children at all public and private schools have 10 different immunizations, including for tetanus, measles and pertussis, the bacterial disease known as whooping cough. Generally, children must receive those vaccines by the time they are in kindergarten, though they receive others, like for hepatitis B, in later grades.

If parents wish to opt out of school immunization requirements, they must file a whats known as a conscientious exemption form with their childs school at the start of the year. All but two states  West Virginia and Mississippi  grant exemptions from school immunization requirements on religious grounds. Texas is among 18 that also waive requirements because of personal beliefs, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Under Villalbas initial measure, Texas would have only allowed students to receive exemptions for medical reasons, such as an allergic reaction or in instances where a weakened immune system could cause health complications.

Pediatricians  many of whom have watched with dismay as the number of parents choosing not to vaccinate their children has climbed  widely support the elimination of non-medical exemptions to immunization requirements.

In my opinion, there are no good, valid reasons for deferring vaccinations or not vaccinating based on religion or philosophical objection, said Dr. Jason Terk, a pediatrician at Cook Childrens Hospital in Keller. It is my firm conclusion that vaccines and the benefit they provide to individuals and the rest of the public is well founded.

Terk said low immunization rates brought an undeniable risk of otherwise preventable deadly disease outbreaks.

That is not a theoretical argument; that is something that weve seen occur in the parts of U.S. where the frequency of non-vaccination is significantly higher, and those those locales are precisely the places where weve seen outbreaks, he said.

But for parents like Schlegel-Polvado, who have children they believe have been harmed by vaccines, any proposal to end exemptions is a battle call.

You come after parental rights, we are going to fight back, said Schlegel-Polvado, who discontinued vaccinating her younger two children after concluding that a childhood DTaP immunization led to brain damage in her now-15-year-old daughter, Ashlyn.

During the 2015 legislative session, Villalba said he quickly became acquainted with the passion of the anti-vaccine movements supporters, many of whom believe the undue influence of pharmaceutical companies has led to an overabundance of immunization requirements that come at the expense of childrens health.

This is a group that is very dedicated, very organized; this issue is very important to them, he said.

Texas has long been home to a small but robust community of anti-vaccine activists, including Andrew Wakefield, the author of a now-retracted 1998 study linking autism to the routine measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine that helped launch the movement.

Wakefield, who lost his medical license in 2010 and lives in Austin, most recently directed the documentary Vaxxed, which was pulled from the Tribeca Film Festival in March following outcry from the medical community.

In the political cycle, this is very much a one-issue determinant for who people sometimes choose to vote for. This something that is that strong for families. It is the health and well-being of their children, said Dawn Richardson, who founded the advocacy group Parents Requesting Open Vaccine Education in 1997 and has long been a prominent voice opposing vaccine requirements in the state.

Richardson said Texans For Vaccine Choice, which is unaffiliated with her group, represented a new generation of parents who were waking up to the ill effects of vaccines.

This has happened a lot, where bills have gotten introduced that are attempting to restrict rights and there is a lot of backlash. It almost seems to be counterproductive for those who are seeking to try and restrict this tiny percentage of the population who wants to be able to make flexible choices with vaccines, she said of the Villalba proposal. People become very concerned and very vocal, and they get involved in the legislative process and it seems like things get worse.

For now, the new organizations strength appears to lie in its mobilizing abilities. A February campaign finance report showed just over $1,000 in contributions. And while its members made their presence felt in Villalbas race, he still managed to win with 55 percent of the vote.

But Villalba said that without the engagement of the group, he would have expected his margin of victory to be larger.

It also may have accomplished a broader goal. The lawmaker said that for the 2017 legislative session, he does not plan to re-file his bill narrowing exemptions to the states vaccine requirements.

Im not interested in a suicide mission on this issue, he said. I sense  and this is unfortunate  the only way a bill like this gets any traction is an even worse large-scale outbreak, between now and session. Short of that, I just dont think there is going to be the appetite to do this bill.
First Methodist Midland senior pastor Tim Walker will lead a group of Midlanders to Israel, specifically places often read about in the Bible. The trip is open to anyone in the community who would like to be apart of the experience.

Walker believes most Christians desire to make this journey, and he simply wants to use his experience and love for spirituality to help fulfill this goal.
A Midland man was arrested Monday for allegedly sexually assaulting a child, according to court documents.

Christopher Madrid, 21, is being held on a second-degree felony charge of sexual assault of a child. Bond had not been set as of Tuesday afternoon.

A girl said she had been assaulted multiple times by Madrid over the course of two years, according to his arrest affidavit. She showed police the numerous text messages he sent during that time span, according to the affidavit.

Madrid said that he had sexual relations with her multiple times, according to the affidavit.

If convicted of the second-degree felony, Madrid could face up to 20 years in prison.
About 250 people attended the first community meeting regarding an education improvement initiative known as collective impact.

Educate Midland was introduced Monday to those gathered at Stonegate Fellowship. Discussed was how far academic performance in Midland has fallen, an explanation of Educate Midland (the backbone of the collective impact initiative) and information on the process moving forward.

Mark Palmer, an Educate Midland board member, said this community needs to be prepared for a long-term fix (at least five to 10 years). He also said that the Business and Funders Initiative has dedicated resources to the project. No taxpayer money was spent on the $450,000 contract with Educate Texas, which has worked with districts across the state. He said that funding for Educate Midland is also expected to come from the BFI, specifically the participating foundations, Abell-Hanger, Scharbauer and Henry.

There were many references during the presentation about the opportunity at hand. Stonegate Pastor Patrick Payton, another member of the BFI and the host for the event, said this was a moment to turn education around and that the community cant expect Austin and Washington to help solve the problem.

This is an opportunity, he said, to show what we can do above ground -- in peoples heads -- as well as below ground (looking for oil).

The following are more take-aways from the evening.

Educators were out in force

Educators (teachers) made up at least 40 percent of those in attendance, according to an estimate of those who identified themselves as educators. And they were there primarily to find out the role teachers would play in the collective impact process. Up to this point about 70 people had been involved in the Educate Midland process, including those representing organizations that can impact academic performance. Those educators in attendance appeared thirsty for information about the process and bombarded event officials with questions about how classroom teachers would be involved in the decision-making. One of the task forces identified had to do with teacher retention and recruitment.

While it became apparent teachers came out in force, Jenny Langford with the Midland Council of PTAs, said she wished more parents had attended.

Anytime we can get our community involved in education, you will see a positive impact, said Langford, council vice president. This was very informative and gets us motivated again. Sometimes we get comfortable and in a rut. This will help us to get re-motivated and realize our focus ... should be our students and helping them become successful adults one day.

Red letter day

Midland ISD school board member Jay Isaacs was pleased with the turnout. He called Monday a red letter day because a community was coming together to improve the performance in public education. He also said parental involvement was crucial to the process and that this was a better turnout than he experienced during other forums involving education.

Many others in the crowd were community and business leaders, who already had a stake in the education initiative or who were wanting to see what collective impact was about.

Midland ISD Board President Rick Davis brought awareness to the situation as he talked about Midlands changing demographics (61.8 percent of the 24,000-plus kids are Hispanic) and below-average academic performance.

He provided statistics about how MISD is struggling with third-grade reading (only two schools above the state average), algebra (only one high school is above the state average) and college-readiness. Those in attendance saw that the district as a whole falls short of the state average and where education officials want to be. In algebra, Midland ISD scored a 68 percent passing rate (the state average is 81 percent). In third-grade reading the districts passing rate was 65 percent, 12 points below the state average.

Also, GreatSchools.org rated MISD below average as a district and 18 of its schools below average.

This is where we are starting from, Davis said.

MISD getting feedback

Not covered in the meeting, but worth noting is that Midland ISD is taking advantage of the attention being given education by requesting input from teachers and students families. The district sent out a pair of emails Monday -- a campus climate survey for staff and a campus climate survey for parents.

The surveys address critical school issues, including academic support, student support, school leadership, family involvement and safety and behavior.

Both emails say that Engaging in an ongoing, two-way dialogue is critical to providing Midland ISD students with the best possible education.

MISD, the email says, will share the results and the specific steps it is taking as a result of the feedback.

Meeting schedule

Thursday

6-7:30 p.m.

First Presbyterian Church

800 W. Texas Ave.

April 12

(presentation will be in Spanish only)

6-7:30 p.m.

Hispanic Cultural Center of Midland

1311 E. Wadley Ave.

(Inside Hogan Park)

April 14

6-7:30 p.m.

Greater Ideal Family Life Center

301 S. Tyler St.

What is collective impact?

Collective impact is a framework to tackle deeply entrenched and complex social problems. It is an innovative and structured approach to making collaboration work across government, business, philanthropy, non-profit organizations and citizens to achieve significant and lasting social change.

Source: www.collaborationforimpact.com

What is Educate Texas?

Educate Texas, a public-private initiative of Communities Foundation of Texas, is an innovative alliance of public and private groups that share a common goal: strengthening the public education system so that every Texas student is prepared for success in school, in the workforce, and in life.

Source: www.edtx.org

What is Educate Midland?

A collaboration of Midland ISD and Educate Texas with the goal of strengthening Midlands public education system so that every student is prepared to succeed in school, in the workforce, and in life.

Source: www.educatemidland.org

Educate Midland Board members

Susan Spratlen, Pioneer Natural Resources

Laura Roman, community representative

Mark Palmer, Abell-Hanger Foundation

Ronnie Scott, Henry Foundation

Grant Billingsley, Scharbauer Foundation
Tim Fischer

The Midland Chamber of Commerces annual State of the Education luncheon is 11 a.m. April 19 at the Horseshoe complex.

This years luncheon, a Chamber fundraiser, will feature a panel discussion with Chris Coxon, chief program officer of Educate Texas; Rick Davis, president of Midland Independent School District board; Mark Palmer, special projects manager for Abell-Hanger Foundation; and moderator Laura Roman, a board member for Educate Texas.
Bonham to participate in reading program

Bonham Elementary School is among 100 elementary schools across the state that will be participating in Texas Reads One Book. The reading initiative kicks off at 9 a.m. Monday, when students simultaneously watch a recording -- via online streaming -- of Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett reading the first chapter of Charlottes Web.

Texas Reads One Book will provide a copy of Charlottes Web to each student to read at home with their family. It is a project of the Texas Association of School Administrators, the family literacy organization Read to Them and The School Superintendents Association.

For more information, visit readtothem.org.

XTO Energy donates for ag barn

The rebuilding of Iraan-Sheffield ISDs new agriculture barn is nearly complete, thanks in part to a $40,000 donation from XTO Energy.

High winds in April 2015 knocked down a power line that fell on the school districts ag barn, causing a large fire that destroyed the barn and supplies used for the districts FFA program.

XTO Energy donated $40,000 to help the district rebuild the barn -- which provides students with a place to keep and care for their animals -- and purchase supplies such as livestock scales, clippers and blades, anesthesia and sonogram machines, show equipment and feed and water troughs.

XTO, a subsidiary of ExxonMobil, holds 1.5 million net acres of production and employs nearly 400 people in the Permian Basin.

Camp Fire to provide summer day camp

Camp Fire West Texas will be providing a summer day camp at St. Marks United Methodist Church for children 5 to 12. Camp will be 7:45 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. June 6 through Aug. 12.

Cost is $75 a week per child. Financial assistance is available based on family size and income levels. Children will need to bring their lunch; snacks will be provided.

For more information, call 570-4144 or visit www.campfirewtx.org.

Harvard accepts 5.2 percent of freshman applicants

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.  Its harder than ever to get into Harvard University, which has set a record for its acceptance rate.

The Ivy League school announced Friday that it had accepted 2,037 students for next falls freshman class out of a pool of 39,041 applicants  a 5.2 percent acceptance rate. Last year, Harvard admitted 5.3 percent of applicants.

The class includes record-high percentages of black and Asian-American students. Fourteen percent of the admitted students are black and 22.1 percent are Asian-American.

William Fitzsimmons, dean of admissions, says the economic diversity of students is also increasing thanks to Harvards financial aid policy that bases tuition rates on family income. Students from families with an annual income of less than $65,000 pay nothing toward the cost of a Harvard education.

Admitted students have until May 1 to accept their offers.
Anthony Harris is the 2016 recipient of the Sylvia Krusekoph Scholarship from the Midland College English Department. He is a mechanical engineering major.

Harris completed the 50,000-word 2015 National November Novel Writing Month challenge and has won writing awards in the colleges Rebecca Watson Creative Writing Contest, according to a press release from MC.
U.S. Rep. Mike Conaway said Tuesday that he expects Republican voters can put the fights of a contentious primary behind them and rally around the partys nominee.

The Midland Republican said after a town hall meeting at Midland College that Novembers election will be a binary choice, and there will be a stark contrast between the nominees of the Republican and Democratic parties.

I hope the clarity of circumstances will move (everything) forward, Conaway said. If you stay at home, that is a vote for Hillary. There are just two choices. You are for the Republicans or against the Republicans.

Conaway told those at the town hall he would support the Republican nominee, no matter who that person is. He also said November will be crucial for the party as the GOP tries to retake the White House after eight years of President Barack Obama and tries to avoid losing the Senate. He described the risk of losing the upper chamber legitimate.

Republicans face a frustrated electorate after alleged overpromises in 2014. During the town hall Conaway addressed questions about the possibilities to balance the budget, reduce food stamps, stop the attacks on Christianity and beef up Americas military, among other topics. Many times he answered questions with comments about the process or clarifying inaccuracies in statements people have said to him. There was even a question about the number of working days members of Congress spend in Washington and in the district. At one point, Conaways wife, Suzanne, went through consecutive days of his schedule to show how much effort the congressman was spending, traveling through the 36 counties that make up District 11.

Republicans in the presidential primary and some conservatives in the media have pushed a narrative that Republicans sent to Washington havent done everything possible to stop or reverse the White House agenda, including implementation and continuous funding of parts of Obamacare.

Conaway said afterward that even when Republicans took over the Senate with a 54-46 majority, it left them short of the 60 needed to move most bills. He also said the power-of-the purse argument, made by some who see defunding the government as the answer, was not what many thought as the House does not have unilateral control of the purse. He said only tax bills must start in the House.

Conaway also said during the meeting that Republicans pushed a reconciliation bill through the House and Senate -- reconciliation bills need only 51 votes in the Senate. The reconciliation bill passed in January defunded portions of Obamacare and defunded Planned Parenthood. The president vetoed that bill.

People are frustrated; they want things done, Conaway said. They dont think all the way through the mechanics.

Some of the highlights of the town hall at Midland College

About a flat tax. Conaway said even with a flat tax, which some have proposed, there would be the need for the Internal Revenue Service, because businesses cant operate under a flat tax. He said a national sales tax would eliminate the IRS, and he has co-sponsored a bill that calls for a national sales tax.

About term limits. Conaway again said he is against term limits. He said term limits would empower unelected bureaucrats. He also reminded residents that change is possible without term limits, as voters sent 63 House Democrats home in 2010. He also said 60 percent of the current Republican delegation in the House has served three terms or less.

Elections have consequences, Conaway said.

About a balanced budget. There is no chance of a balanced budget in 2017, he said, as there are commitments to people (entitlements) that must be kept. He said a balanced budget would have to be part of a 10-year plan and that $19 trillion in debt didnt happen overnight and the nations debt issues couldnt be solved in one day or one year.
If this wasnt the Year of Trump, the Democratic primary process would be seen for what it is -- the partys establishment keeping down the most authentic political insurgency of our time.

First, lets get this out of the way. Bernie Sanders is a socialist, and we find it hard to believe that so many Americans can get behind the campaign of an acknowledged socialist, but that is happening in the party on the left.

And the only thing that can stop him is a Democratic Party system that is rigged for a candidate like Sanders. For all the bluster about how the elite and top 1 percent dominate the Republican Party, this system of superdelgates will help deliver a top-down campaign victory for Hillary Clinton even as Bernie Sanders has set a new standard for grassroots campaigning.

We feel sorry for Sanders supporters, not because we agree with the senator on the issues, but because the party has turned its back on making sure the vote of all people is equal. Democrats scream from the legislative rafters that Republican lawmakers are trying to suppress the vote. And yet, there is nothing any GOP governing body in any state has done that compares to this superdelegate system that allows Clinton a disproportional number of delegates from state after state simply because she curries the favor of public officials.

Even in Midland County, the chair of the Midland County Democratic Party personally endorsed Clinton before the Texas primary, a move we are sure quelled Sanders support locally.

At the end of the day, Sanders will keep plodding along. The Wall Street Journal reports he raised $108 million in the first three months of the year. Sanders will out-fundraise Clinton, even though she holds lavish fundraising dinners for top donors, while he gets his money from common Joe Democrats online. He will attract tens of thousands of people to his rallies and talk issues, while she speaks to party insiders and turns her attention to the general election.

He will not find favor with people in the Democratic Party -- at the local, state or national levels. He will just keep doing his thing, maybe delaying Clintons sprint back to the political middle for a couple of months. Remember, he believes in his message. She believes certain things need to be said to win in November.

Yes, Sanders and his supporters probably wonder what if this wasnt the Year of Trump. Maybe people would have taken notice of a process that shuts out the common man.
Someone should sue the President for ...
Microphone and US Flag View Photos

North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr delivered this weeks Republican address, talking about the threat of terror and what needed to be done to keep Americans safe.

Burr was Tuesdays KVML Newsmaker of the Day.

Hello, Im Senator Richard Burr from the great state of North Carolina and Im honored to chair the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

Today, Ill lay out for you the terrorist threat to the United States and our allies  a growing threat that is no longer confined to the Middle East, South Asia, or even Europe. Since the deadly attacks in Brussels just two weeks ago, there have been four additional significant terrorist attacks that left almost 150 dead  two in Iraq, one in Yemen and one in Pakistan.

Our nation and allies continue our post 9/11 efforts to dismantle and defeat al-Qaida while the Islamic State  a group whose lineage dates back to al-Qaida in Iraq  has grown in influence.

The Islamic States technical and social media savvy has inspired many to join its cause and to conduct horrific acts. The Islamic State is well financed, well organized, and fields combat units that are well trained and brutally effective. Those trained and effective fighters are now deploying beyond Iraq and Syria, and often to devastating effects, as seen in the streets, cafes, and airports of Paris and Brussels.

Simply seeking to contain ISIL should no longer be seen as an acceptable course of action.

While the President has claimed that ISIL is contained in Iraq and Syria  I think the more important metric is ISILs global footprint. ISIL has declared provinces in ten countries. It has aspiring affiliates in seven others; and has a presence in over 30 countries. And, perhaps most troubling, is the growing ISIL influence in Libya and Afghanistan. From their safe haven, the Islamic State continues its ongoing efforts to plan and carry out attacks.

I just returned from an oversight trip to Europe where I had the opportunity to speak directly with our Intelligence Community officers overseas and our European partners struggling to address an unprecedented volume of threats. Ive spent almost 15 years conducting oversight of our Intelligence Community and I am briefed almost daily on the threats and issues of concern.

I cannot remember a time where the United States and our allies faced a greater array of threats across the world. I remain concerned that there are additional threats and plots  some that we have identified and are pursuing, and some that we will likely not. I feel strongly that we cannot simply focus our efforts on how to best respond to attacks once theyve happened.

We must, collectively, be more proactive in engaging the enemy. Before 9/11, our enemies were confined to safe havens abroad  thats no longer the case.

Our Intelligence Community and Law Enforcement agencies are engaged 24/7 in identifying and thwarting threats to the U.S. interests at home and abroad. Since 2014, Federal prosecutors have charged 80 men and women inside the United States in connection with the Islamic State. Director Comey has publicly stated that the FBI has almost 1000 open investigations against suspected ISIL operatives, recruits, and individuals in all 50 states.

When the President says that we must seek to contain ISIL  I dont know where he wants to contain them: ISIL operatives are everywhere. Were beyond containment and must move decisively and with purpose to eliminate the Islamic State. Overseas we must work with our allies to target its leadership, its infrastructure, and its financial support network. Domestically, we must enable our law enforcement and give them the tools and authorities they need to keep our citizens safe at home.

The world in which we live is becoming increasingly dangerous and the number of extremists who wish to do us harm is growing. More troubling, their capabilities to do harm may soon outpace the Administrations strategy of containment. The President accurately stated last week that ISIL poses a threat to the entire civilized world. Now it is time for our strategy to match that threat.

While focusing on ISIL, however, we cannot afford to take our eyes off the persistent and ongoing threat posed by al-Qaida and its affiliates. Al-Qaida remains brutally effective and inspiring to many extremists, even with its senior leadership likely hiding out in the remote and mountainous border regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Its affiliates are also committed to attacking us  and they have the capabilities to do so.

While I agree with the Presidents senior leadership team that we must maintain relentless pressure on al-Qaida, we must ensure that our words are followed by a renewed commitment to action.

We have identified the threat, now lets act decisively to eliminate it.

Thank you for listening. God bless America.

The Newsmaker of the Day is heard every weekday morning on AM 1450 KVML at 6:45, 7:45 and 8:45 AM.
Intersection Of New Priest Grade and Old Priest Grade View Photos

Sonora, CA  The Tuolumne County Supervisors voted unanimously to send a letter to Caltrans requesting more signs to help alleviate confusion for travelers heading to and from Yosemite.

We reported last week that Tuolumne County transportation leaders have grown increasingly concerned by the high number of tourists that travel up New Priest Grade and then accidentally turn down Old Priest Grade, effectively making a circle. It was noted at todays Board of Supervisors meeting that much of the confusion stems from GPS systems that mistakenly indicate that this is the correct path of travel.

I watch this all day long, said Steve Anker, proprietor of the Priest Station Cafe. He was at the Supervisors meeting urging the county to take action. He was notably concerned about oversized vehicles going on Old Priest Grade, and the potential for serious accidents, which could in-turn cause fires.

District Four Supervisor John Gray, who represents the south county, stated, You think people would be smart enough to know that Yosemite is up the hill, and not down the hill, but they dont seem to be. This will not 100% solve it, but it will go a long way towards taking care of some of these safety concerns.

The Boards letter to Caltrans says the county is willing to purchase the signs, totaling around $2,100. The county is requesting two additional signs near the top of the grade and one near the bottom.
Eighteen people face charges after their arrests in a Polk County child-sex sting, including men who told detectives they worked at Disney World, SeaWorld and a Christian school, the Sheriff's Office said.

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said in a news conference Tuesday that the men, which range in age from 19 to 60, are facing multiple charges after being caught in Operation April's Fools, which ran from March 29 to April 4 in Lakeland. Six suspects were from Polk County; others came from Orange, Lake and Volusia counties. One was visiting from Alaska, deputies said.



During the operation, undercover detectives posted fake ads and profiles online, posing as children or child guardians. Numerous men responded to the ads and chatted online via text, email and phone with the undercover detectives, deputies said. The men solicited sex acts from people they thought were children as young as 13 years old; two suspects thought they were chatting with the father of a 10-year-old girl, deputies said.

Nine suspects brought condoms to their meeting with the "children," and some brought candy, deputies said.

Among those arrested, according to the Polk Sheriff's Office:

Arthur Joseph Nelson, 19, of Orlando, who was a janitor at SeaWorld Orlando's Discovery Cove. SeaWorld said it has "zero tolerance for potential safety threats and have taken swift and appropriate action in this case."



Jeffrey Erich Binder, 26, of Winter Garden, who works as a security guard at Walt Disney World. Deputies said his unform was found in his car. Disney said Binder was placed on unpaid leave pending the outcome of the investigation.



Robert Michael Gordon, 20, of Clermont, who told detectives he was a football coach at Central Florida Christian Academy and a produce clerk for Publix. Central Florida Christian Academy did not respond to a request for comment.



Howard Bishop III, 60, of Lake Alfred, who arranged to meet with who he thought was the father of a 10-year-old girl, deputies said. Detectives said that he went into detail during his online chats about what he wanted to do and that he'd done sexual things with a 10-year-old girl before. Detectives are currently investigating those claims. He had a bag of candy in his car that he brought for the "girl," according to deputies.

Samuel Orlin Hightower, 22, of Anchorage, Alaska, arrived at the undercover location to have sex with who he thought was a 13-year-old boy, deputies said. He told detectives that he was a customer service manager for Alaska Airlines. Detectives said they found cocaine in his wallet, and he faces drug possession charges.

Keith Hartford Ingles, 59, of Lakeland, who told deputies he was a firefighter for Polk County Fire Rescue for eight years but is currently a mechanic.



UPDATE: Brantley Ashton Thompson, 24, of Auburndale, was taken into custody without incident Tuesday afternoon in Winter Haven. Authorities said Thompson spoke online with two deputies posing as 14-year-old girls. Deputies say Thompson sent both "girls" photos of his genitalia.

The charges the men face range from attempted lewd battery, use of a computer to seduce a child, transmission of harmful material to a minor, use of a two-way communication device to commit a felony, and traveling to meet a minor.

Multiple law enforcement agencies, including the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Orlando Police and Lakeland Police, participated in the sting.


A surprising visitor to the backyard of a Brevard County familys home  a coyote.

Monday morning around 7:30 Luluk Friedland noticed the coyote in her backyard less than 15 feet from her back porch. She picked up her cell phone and started filming.

The coyote sniffed around for a bit then laid down and decided to hangout for a while  something that made Friedland nervous.

It was quite weird because this is not my first time," Friedland said. "This is not the same coyote like I saw. She says she saw a much bigger coyote in her backyard just two months ago.

She called the Florida Fish and Wild Commission, who told residents keep an eye out and protect any small pets.

A sign warning of a coyote sighting has been placed at the entrance of the subdivision, which is just feet from busy A1A and the beach.

While Coyotes are not generally a threat to people, they have been known to attack pet dogs and cats.

However, Luluks concern is more with why the coyotes are in the neighborhood and what could be happening to their natural habitat to cause them to move in.

I am kind of worried that they shouldnt be here, the more they get closer  its dangerous for them, also, said Friedland.

FWC says there is not a lot they can do regarding the trapping or possibly killing of the coyotes in Central Florida because coyotes are not a protected species.

FWC has posted tips on what to do to protect your pets from coyotes and prevent problems on the FWC website. If you are experiencing problems with coyotes, call FWC's Wildlife Alert line at 888-404-FWCC (3922).
Jason Rodriguez, who pleaded no contest to murder charges in the 2009 shooting at a downtown Orlando office building, has died in prison, the Florida Department of Corrections said Tuesday.

Rodriguez was serving 30 years at Columbia Correctional Institution east of Lake City, for six charges related to the Nov. 6, 2009 shooting at the Gateway Center.

His original conviction was overturned by an appeals court in August. In December, he withdrew his not-guilty plea and pleaded no contest to five charges of attempted first-degree murder and one charge of second-degree murder with a firearm for the death of Otis Beckford.

He was given 30 years, with a 25-year minimum, for each of the six charges, which was to be served concurrently.

In 2013, Rodriguez received six life sentences  one for the murder of Beckford, 26, and five for attempted murder  for the shooting at Reynolds, Smith & Hills, in which investigators said Rodriguez fired at least 20 shots. The shooting prompted a manhunt through the streets of downtown Orlando that shut down Interstate 4 for a period of time.

Check back for updates on this developing story.


Florida Sen. David Simmons said he didnt know that two family members had taken out his boat before it crashed Tuesday morning on a Lake Maitland dock, seriously injuring three passengers.

The three are recovering from injuries at the Orlando Regional Medical Center.

Simmons told News 13 he got a call at about 2 a.m. saying he needed to go to a hospital because his youngest daughter, Alicya, was hurt. He said she suffered a broken leg, underwent surgery and is expected to recover.

Just after midnight, the boat with eight people aboard crashed into a dock near Summerland Avenue and Columbia Drive, throwing them from the impact.

Some neighbors along Lake Maitland came out to try to help. Jordan Wilson spoke to one of the teenage boys from the boat.

Two of his friends were thrown off the boat and ended up in a fountain," Wilson said. "(He had a) head injury. He saw the stretchers take a few of the boys out.

After failing a field sobriety test, Maitland Police arrested the boat's operator, 45-year-old Krystyna Vitiello, on charges of boating under the influence with serious injury. She was booked into the Orange County Jail. Vitiello is Alicya Simmons aunt and ex-sister-in-law of the state senator.

I think we see the result of what happened last night," neighbor Glenn Hohman said. "Nobody likes to visit the hospital with serious injuries."

In the daylight, significant damage can be seen on the bow of the sport boat as it was towed out of Lake Maitland.

"The peninsula can sneak up on you if you don't know or if you've never been in swamp area or on the water at night," said Mark Winton, who lives in the area where the crash occurred. "It can be very difficult to navigate without lights."

Property records show Simmons owns a home on Lake Maitland. He said he was not there the night of the crash.

This activity shouldnt occur at nighttime," Wilson said. "It's just dangerous.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation and Maitland Police are investigating the crash. Maitland Police are investigating the DUI charge and whether alcohol was provided to minors.

FWC identified the people on the boat at the time of the crash as Vitiello; Porter McGuer; Jorge Rodriguez; Jared A. Coxey; Averina I. Singh, 18; Paul R. Smith, 18; and Alicya Simmons. McGuer, Rodriguez and Simmons were taken to ORMC with serious injuries.





Krystyna Vitiello (Orange County Jail)



At least 3 people were injured after a boat crashed into a dock early Tuesday, April 5, 2016, on Lake Maitland. (Bailey Myers, staff)
A former Cocoa Police officer testified in a murder trial Tuesday that he had sex with a 22-year-old woman just a day before she was buried alive almost 10 years ago.

Jovonnie Freeman said he met Darice Knowles on a call, then met with her off-duty after work that night. He testified they had sex and encountered her ex-boyfriend when he dropped her off. It was the second encounter in as many weeks, he said.

As it turned out, that man was involved in a drug ring led by the defendant in the trial. The next day, Knowles was dead.

Freeman teared up at times as he talked about how he met Knowles, who he encountered while responding to a disorderly person call at a Cocoa bar the night of March 16, 2006.

With his supervisor's permission, Freeman was allowed to give Knowles a ride home. He dropped her off at the Dixie Motel about a half-mile away, he said.

They exchanged numbers, and later, he picked up Knowles from the same hotel. They went out, then back to his place where they had sex, and Freeman dropped her back at the motel the next morning, he said.

"I pulled into the parking area. She looked up and she saw a gentleman, and at that point, she said, 'Don't drop me off right here, drive off.' So I drove down to the entrance," Freeman testified.

That man was Christopher Pratt, who the officer had pulled over a week or two before in a traffic stop.

Pratt was Knowles' boyfriend and also an admitted drug dealer from The Bahamas.

Earlier Tuesday, Pratt testified he feared for his own life when he bound Knowles with duct tape, then, under orders from a man named Vahtiece Kirkman, buried her in a hole while she was still alive.

"Her eyes were wide open, a terrified look," Pratt said.

Pratt said that Kirkman told him to get rid of Knowles after learning that she had been seen with a Cocoa Police officer and may have given information about their drug-dealing. He testified that Kirkman was standing behind him while he buried Knowles.

"As I was doing that, thoughts were running through my mind, 'He's going to kill me and Darice,' " Pratt said from the stand. "He just gave me that ultimatum, either her or both of us."

Pratt testified he and Knowles had been staying in a Cocoa hotel  and he was dealing drugs with a group led by Kirkman, who ordered the pair to drive to a wooded area off State Road 524. On the way, Kirkman stopped by and bought a shovel, bag of concrete and duct tape, which Pratt said he was told to and used to bound the woman, dig a hole in the woods, put her in the ground and cover her with cement and dirt.

Pratt and Knowles  both from The Bahamas  had only been in Brevard County for a few months in late 2005 and early 2006.

The prosecution presented surveillance tape and receipts from a Merritt Island Home Depot from that day.

On the way, Kirkman stopped by and bought a shovel, bag of concrete and the duct tape, which Pratt said he was told to and used to bound the woman, dig a hole in the woods, put her in the ground and cover her with cement and dirt.

Pratt accepted a plea agreement in 2010 for agreeing to testify against Kirkman and lead police to Knowles' body. Kirkman's defense argued that Pratt was never threatened or directed by Kirkman and is responsible for Knowles' death because he was angry she was sleeping with other people.

Knowles vanished in 2006. Her body was found in 2010 in a wooded area of Cocoa after a tip to law enforcement.

Kirkman could face the death penalty and is already serving life in prison for a 2006 murder. The murder trial at the Brevard County Courthouse is expected to last about two weeks.





Darice Knowles



Christopher Pratt testifies Tuesday, April 5, 2016 during a murder trial for Vahtiece Kirkman. Pratt said that he feared for his life and was ordered by Kirkman to bury alive his girlfriend, 22-year-old Darice Knowles, almost 10 years ago.
Matthew 4:1-3 (NKJV), And seeing the multitudes, He went up on the mountain and when he was seated the disciples came to him. Then he opened his mouth and taught them saying: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  This would be blessed are those who see their need.

Matthew says this sermon was set on a mountain. Thus Jesus is pictured to be like Moses as He gives his new law and grace from a mountain. Matthew is writing for a Jewish audience, thus he replicates events in Moses' life to tell the story of Jesus and better hold the Jewish readers attention. Luke 16:17 states that Jesus gave his new law on the plain after coming down from the mountain.

Matthew says, Blessed are the poor in spirit, while Luke puts it simply, Blessed are the poor. I am guessing that Luke's version would be the most accurate because Jesus' ministry was for everybody, but he strongly emphasized meeting the needs of the poor and oppressed. Matthew 6:12 says, Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. While Luke 11:4 puts it, Forgive us our sins; for we also forgive everyone that is indebted to us.

Many Christians pray, Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who have trespassed against us. And this is alright. It is a good way to pray. But I like the emphasis upon the poor and upon the debt and debtors. After all if you are willing to forgive a debtor you would be prone to forgive some other wrong.

I like it this way because the poor and destitute of Israel were turning to Jesus for hope of a better life in every way.

Matthew is thought to be written about 85 A.D. by a Jewish scribe or scribes in the Jewish Christian Church of Syria. This would be 55 years after Jesus' resurrection and perhaps the church here was more prosperous than many other places and Matthew thought the poor in spirit would make more sense or be more appealing than Blessed are the poor.

Whatever, salvation means many things. One of many things it means is realizing and rejoicing in our unity with the poor and oppressed. God has a prejudiced love for the poor and oppressed peoples. In a sense, we all are in some way poor and oppressed, which is being poor in spirit. But how we treat the down-trodden of the earth is a true reflection of the state of our soul.

The kingdom of Heaven or Rule of God is in everyone because our souls are connected to God. Jesus here teaches this blessing belongs to poor as much as anyone. But many, poor or rich, are not aware of the presence of Divine Spirit in their lives.

Conversion to Christ is becoming aware of the Kingdom of Heaven within us and choosing to consciously walk according to its guidance.

To realize the Kingdom of Heaven within is to come to our true self and begin discovering the riches God has stored in each of us, for each of us is a field of all possibilities.

Blessed are the poor for the grace of God is for them and in them. May we who are aware of this help them and everyone we meet to realize the Kingdom of Heaven in themselves. May we live in unity and peace with all people.

When you look at the poor, you are seeing yourself in a mirror, but they appear differently.

Alvin Petty, Plainview
April 6, 1946: Plainview Mayor J.N. Jordan encourages all residents to fly their flag today, which is Army Day. Inaugurated in 1928 and recognized by Congress in 1937, it marks the day the United States entered World War I.

--John D. Stoneham, son of Mr. and Mrs. J.D. Stoneham, left Monday for Dallas where he enlisted in the Navy and was sent to San Diego.

--Cpl. Edward Lee Settle has arrived home from San Diego, Calif., where he received his discharge from the U.S. Marines on April 1. He was in the service 29 months, including 24 months in the Pacific. He was in the 1st Marine Division in China prior to his return. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. C.E. Settle. His brother, Pfc. Clayton E. Settle, is stationed in Germany.

April 6, 1956: Mrs. S.R. Powell, Wayland Hotel, is looking for a wheel chair with a foot rest. Mrs. Powell returned home from the hospital yesterday, after breaking her ankle Saturday.

--Bill Eaves, representing the Medical Center Hospital and Womens Clinic, is in Dallas attending a meeting of the Texas Hospital Association.

--Plainview High pole vaulters Ray Garrison, Jay Punkin Laird and Jack Williams will be competing in the district track meet Saturday at Canyon. Other District 1-AA teams are Borger, Pampa, Amarillo and Amarillo Palo Duro.

April 6, 1966: Featured in the Know Your Carrier column is Johnny Harrison, 15, son of Mr. and Mrs. Glenn Harrison, 1606 Portland. The PHS freshman attends St. Alice Catholic Church and is a member of the PHS band. He has been a carrier for 1 1/2 years.

--Plainview voters gave M.B. Hood an unprecedented sixth term as mayor in a light turnout in Tuesdays uncontested city election. He received 229 votes for an easy victory. C.B. Cline received 14 write-in votes with one each for three other write-in nominees.

--Mrs. Rod Lagree of Scottsdale, Ariz., is visiting her mother, Mrs. Nation Johnson, 1710 W. 13th.

April 6, 1986: More than 12,000 pounds of meat has been removed from use in Plainview schools because it may contain residue from the pesticide heptachlor, reports Assistant Superintendent Johnny Peck. The meat was supplied from a Lubbock distributor.

--Matt Becton, 7, second grader at Edgemere, is one of 21 public school students in Texas selected as first place winners from Texas in the National PTA Reflections Contest. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Becton.

--Ann Richards, state treasurer, will be keynote speaker for a Democratic candidates forum on Monday at Hale County State Bank. Also scheduled to speak are Gerald McCathern, Hereford farmer, and Mary Nell Mathis, Lubbock CPA, who are 19th Congressional District candidates.

Compiled by Doug McDonough
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Shares of San Antonios iHeartMedia are now trading near $1 as the company fights a legal battle it says could trigger quick repayment of as much as $15 billion of its debt and force the company into bankruptcy, one of the companys lawyers said in court Monday.

The embattled companys stock, around $1.20 a share, has been trading near all-time lows since the radio and billboard giant reported a third-quarter loss of $221.9 million on Nov. 5 that missed investor expectations.

iHeartMedia, which peaked at $18.95 a share in 2008, is currently suing 15 of its bondholders to stop them from formally declaring some of the companys bonds to be in default, which is kind of like missing a mortgage payment. Investors say the company violated its credit agreements after iHeartMedia transferred some company stock from its billboard unit in December to another unit so it could issue new debt.

The bondholders, which are mostly hedge funds, say the transfer removed assets backing their original investments. The company is back in court Tuesday in whats expected to be a three-day trial.

A formal declaration of default would accelerate repayment on other bonds, requiring immediate repayment on about $12 billion in debt within 60 days and forcing the company into bankruptcy, iHeartMedia lawyer Kevin Huff told state District Judge Catherine Stryker in San Antonio on Monday.

That could trigger immediate repayments of as much as $15 billion, iHeartMedia Senior Vice President and Treasurer Brian Coleman said at the hearing.

Theres no way the company could pay $15 billion of debt, Coleman said. The company disclosed that it had $20.7 billion in total debt at the end of 2015.

On Dec. 3, iHeartMedia transferred 100 million privately traded shares of its billboard subsidiary, Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, to a unit called Broader Media. The company wanted to issue new debt so it could buy back existing debt that was trading at a discount, Coleman testified on Monday.

Bruce Bennett, a lawyer for Jones Day who represents the bondholders, objected to the transfer, saying it wasnt a true investment and that Broader Media was a shell company with no operations.

Bondholders began negotiating with iHeartMedia after the Dec. 3 share transfer and reached an agreement at one point, according to media reports in February. But negotiations later broke down.

Knowing the default notices were imminent, iHeartMedia filed a lawsuit in Bexar County state district court on March 7. The investor group sent the company four default notices to iHeartMedias Basse Road headquarters building later that day.

Stryker issued a temporary restraining order March 9 to halt further default notices and to temporarily rescind the March 7 default notices.

Coleman said in testimony that the Dec. 3 transfer was part of a long-term strategy to study alternatives to decrease its debt load. The strategy effort was given a code name, Project Indigo, he said. Project Indigo continues, he said, despite the company not being able to pursue debt activities under the TRO.

Coleman and Huff said that news of the default notices already have damaged the company. We are being prevented from doing beneficial transactions, Huff said. This is disrupting relationships with employees and customers.

Employees will be worried about their jobs. May we would lose employees as a result. Its common sense, Coleman added.

IHeartMedia operates about 850 U.S. radio stations, including seven in San Antonio.

In its lawsuit, iHeartMedia is seeking a temporary injunction to stop future default notices and to revoke the ones issued March 7. The lawsuit is being tried before Stryker without a jury.
The People v OJ Simpson includes many moments that seem too outrageous too be true  like Johnnie Cochran (Courtney B. Vance) saying n please to Chris Darden (Sterling K. Brown) after an argument over admitting evidence that Mark Fuhrman (Steven Pasquale) used the N-word.

But that really happened  and so did lots of other shocking things, like OJ Simpson (Cuba Gooding Jr.) yelling at Darden to get off my bench.
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People in hot water over social media posts is nothing new, but an increasing trend of affluent users flaunting their wealth online has resulted in the photos being used more and more as evidence in court, experts say.

From photos on a private jet to stacks of cash in a brand new luxury car, images showcasing the decadent lifestyle of the world's richest are becoming more common (see the gallery above for examples).

RELATED: Unapologetic rich kids share their extravagant lives on Snapchat for the rest of the world to envy

But, according to the Telegraph, cybersecurity firms are now using social media posts in nearly 75 percent of all litigation cases now. Additionally, sites like Facebook and Instagram are being used to expose families who are lying about assets when under criminal investigation, the Telegraph reported.

One high-profile example involves rapper 50 Cent, who posted a photo of himself on Instagram in October with what looked like thousands of dollars in cash spelling out the word Broke." The rapper, Curtis James Jackson III, filed for bankruptcy in July in a Connecticut court, but after the social media post, a U.S. Court began questioning whether 50 Cent was disclosing all of his assets in his case, according to CNN.

TMZ reports 50 Cent has more than $15 million in personal property, has $2.7 million in his checking account as of August 2015 and is losing lots of money on his G-Unit brand.

RELATED: Instagram photos claim ties to 'El Chapo,' show off Mexican drug cartel exploits

James Quiggle of the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud said that mining social media for clues is one of the fastest-growing areas of insurance-fraud investigation," adding that investigating peoples actions on social media is no different from video surveillance.

One lawyer told the Telegraph that metadata in social media posts can also be used to locate people or find out where proxy companies are located in fraud cases.

"You can start building up a profile of that individual: where they are; what their interests are; who are they regularly in touch with?" attorney Daniel Hall said in an interview with the British publication.

A Forbes magazine writer pointed to people's love of bragging about their interests, whether it be in person or on the internet, as a catalyst for the growing trend of flaunting online.

RELATED: Rich kids prove their life is better than yours one Instagram filter at a time

There are rules in place for attorneys and fraud investigators. Some states do not allow investigators to use deception in the course of their investigation, according to the ACFE.

twhite@mysa.com

Twitter: @tylerlwhite
A drug cartel lawyer-turned-informant was assassinated in North Texas in May 2013. But a theory put forth by attorneys for one suspect claim the victim was actually the de facto head of one of Mexicos most notorious drug cartels, according to the Dallas Morning News.



Juan Jesus Guerrero Chapa served as an attorney for Osiel Cardenas Guillen, the ex-head of the Gulf Cartel. Guerrero Chapa, 43, had been shopping with his wife when he was shot multiple times at close range by a masked gunman in Southlake. His wife was not harmed. The murder was the first to occur in the affluent Fort Worth suburb since 1999.



GULF CARTEL: Mexico senator received $500K payment from Gulf Cartel, informant says

Defense attorneys for Jesus Gerardo Ledezma-Cepeda say that Guerrero Chapa had not left his old ways behind. A court filing Sunday accuses the victim of running the cartel after his bosss arrest in 2003.
A 23-year-old Galveston man is among more than a dozen people accused of drug trafficking and firearms crimes connected with gang activity in the Gregg County area, federal officials announced Monday.

According to the three indictments in the case, officials said, the defendants are alleged to be involved in a conspiracy connected to members or associates of the Aryan Brotherhood, a prison gang and street gangs to violate federal firearms and narcotics laws.
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When he finally appeared at the opening of his murder trial Tuesday, Clarence William Hardcore Wright immediately was admonished by the judge because he had to be forcibly dressed for refusing to come to court.

Wright is accused of killing Jeremiah Gomez, 35 on Oct. 19, 2013. The trials start was delayed by 30 minutes.

Im disappointed, said state District Judge Jefferson Moore. Ive treated you with respect, and I ask that you listen to the bailiffs. ... If you continue this (behavior), or have outbursts, youre going to give the jury a bad impression.

Moore then ordered that Wright, 25, be forcibly dressed each morning and brought to court for the duration of the trial.

In her opening statements, lead prosecutor Kim Gonzalez told the jury that around 9:30 p.m., Wright and his girlfriend, Amy Garcia, went to an apartment in the 200 block of Deerwood Drive, just east of Alamo Heights, where Gomez lived with his girlfriend, Natalie Lopez, and her children.

Wright shot Gomez behind the ear almost immediately after answering the door, she said. He also shot at Lopez while inside the apartment but missed, Gonzalez said.

Wright and Garcia left and went to a home belonging to a friend of Garcias in the 100 block of Rainbow Drive near the crime scene, where they hid until a police K-9 Unit officer found them, Gonzalez said.

Amy will tell you she was there, and that he (Wright) asked her to wear all black, Gonzalez told the jury. Youll hear that Amy pleaded to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in exchange for her testimony.

Lead defense attorney Bill Hicks did not give an opening statement.

Although a motive has not been clearly established, authorities said a bag of marijuana was found on Gomezs body, a witness testified.

Wright and Garcia were found hiding underneath an abandoned vehicle that was covered at a residence on Rainbow Drive. There, they also found a black hoodie sweatshirt, a black T-shirt and a knife, the weapon prompting an objection from Hicks.

No one has said they saw either suspect with a knife, Hicks said. He was overruled.

Prosecutors showed crime scene photographs, including one of the bullet that allegedly was fired at Lopez, which ricocheted off a wall and hit a Pringles can and a baking tin before landing inside a kitchen cabinet.

Wright is facing a separate, unrelated murder charge, accused of killing Robert Rodney Moreno, in May, 2013, five months before Gomez was killed, and in the same way: knocking on the front door and shooting both in the head with a revolver after they answered, according to police reports.

If convicted of murder in the death of Gomez, Wright faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. Testimony is to continue Wednesday in 186th state District Court.

ezavala@express-news.net

Twitter: @elizabeth2863
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A former Edcouch police officer was charged in federal court Monday with drug trafficking following his arrest last Friday.

Vicente Salinas Jr., 40, now face a conspiracy to posses and distribute 500 grams of cocaine charge in connection with a March 18, 2013 bust, court documents show. He was working for the Edcouch Police Department at the time.

According to the criminal complaint, Edcouch police officers seized around 17 kilograms of suspected cocaine from a suitcase in an abandoned taxi in March 2013. The cocaine was transported to the Hidalgo County HIDTA Task Force, which found more than four kilograms had been replaced with wood blocks.

A confidential source told Homeland Security Investigations agents that Salinas, who was an Edcouch PD lieutenant, had supplied information leading to the drug seizure, the criminal complaint states.

An unnamed defendant told investigators that Salinas had been recruited and paid by a drug trafficking organization to participate in the staged seizure to create an official record, which would help disguise the subsequent theft and allow for the distribution of the stolen narcotics for profit, court documents show. The bundles of cocaine were diluted, but would test positive for narcotics if field tested.

For his efforts Salinas allegedly received $5,000, according to a separate criminal complaint, that of Dimas De Leon, a key figure in a local drug trafficking organization. The criminal complaint of De Leon, a local businessman who along with four others was arrested last month on drug charges, claims an Edcouch police officer helped stage a drug seizure on March 18, 2013.

Salinas later sought the help of an unnamed defendant to sell or swap the stolen bundles, court documents allege.

Salinas resigned from the Edcouch Police Department in September 2014. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has said the investigation remains open.

anelsen@express-news.net

Twitter: @amnelsen
The three, long-necked giraffes that are now living at the San Antonio Zoo have new names.

The father is Alan, who was named by donors Lynn and Porter Loring III. The older of the sons is named Cosmo F. Guido, named by the Guido family of construction fame. And the youngest giraffe will be known as Brayden Longneck, named by donor Travis Franzen.
A new investor in a massive water pipeline project for the San Antonio Water System would likely turn over operation of the pipeline to an unnamed entity after it is built, SAWS officials said Tuesday.

SAWS Vice President Donovan Burton explained more details of a pending deal between the new investor, Garney Construction, and Abengoa Vista Ridge, the company that signed an agreement in 2014 with SAWS to build the pipeline.
The public will have four chances in April to hear from and speak directly to officials regarding changes to a massive water pipeline deal.

The San Antonio Water Systems board of trustees will get a briefing at its meeting Tuesday on a proposal by Garney Construction to take over a controlling interest in the Vista Ridge pipeline project. The meeting is from 8:30 to 11 a.m. at SAWS headquarters on Stadium Drive near U.S. 281.
SAN ANTONIO  A North Side elementary school was placed on lockdown Tuesday as authorities searched the area for two teens who sprayed bullets into a surrounding neighborhood.

San Antonio Police Department spokesman Officer Douglas Greene said the suspects, 16 and 18- year-old males, were involved in some sort of argument with some other people on Mardell Street just after noon when they shot several rounds into the air.
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SAN ANTONIO  A 23-year-old man died Tuesday morning after a gunman opened fire on him in front of his home on the South Side.

San Antonio Police Department officers were called to the 200 block of Wellington Street around 3:45 a.m. for the shooting.

The victim, identified as Richard Jesse Sandoval, was unresponsive in the street surrounded by family members when police arrived.

According to SAPD, Sandoval had been hanging out with a few friends in front of the home before he was shot. He went inside for a moment to speak to his girlfriend, then walked back outside.

Within a minute, several gunshots were fired, police said.

Emergency medical crews tried to revive Sandoval, but he died from his injuries at the scene.

Family who ran outside of the home to check on Sandoval saw two vehicles driving away from the location.

Police said investigators are searching for suspects and working to determine what led up to the slaying.

In 2015, 106 homicides took place in the city, according to the San Antonio Express-News' homicide database, an ongoing, searchable resource that tracks every homicide in the city through a combination of news archives and public records.

Explore details including cause of death, date, location and victim's name and age from each instance in the Express-News database, which includes an interactive map.

mdwilson@express-news.net

Twitter: @MDWilsonSA
It seems strange that so few of my fellow TV binge-watchers have submitted to the fascinating Norwegian political thriller Occupied. Friends, this is eight hours of your life you wont mind not getting back.

In the story, an idealistic Norwegian prime minister stops his countrys huge oil production in the name of confronting climate change. To get oil flowing again, the European Union asks Russia to invade and reopen the taps. Russia complies and proceeds to occupy Norway.

The United States plays a central role by virtue of its absence. In this near-future tale, America has become energy-independent and left NATO. Once expected to dive headlong into any crisis, the U.S. has decided to watch from the sidelines.

Such scenarios are sounding less fantastical as populist American candidates question the long-held assumption that the U.S. military must maintain order everywhere. Theyre addressing the growing distress at seeing rich allies warmly applaud or critique our performance while happily not paying.

That the bombastic Donald Trump is condemning this setup does not strip the complaint of all merit. But it does give responsible opinion the luxury of bashing Trumps remark that NATO is obsolete without much elaboration.

These days, our allies  spooked by Russias annexation of Crimea and its advances in eastern Ukraine  are proclaiming the Atlantic alliance anything but obsolete. Norway, a preacher of peace, has rekindled its love for NATO as the Russian military swarms over the Arctic Circle (in real life, not on TV).

Russian warplanes are flying down the Norwegian coast with in-your-face impunity. And Norway, which had been cutting its defense budget, is finally raising it.

Which brings us to one of Trumps points about NATO  a point all but glossed over by those incensed by the word obsolete.

Americans pay for 75 percent of NATOs military spending. Only six of the 28 NATO members have met U.S. demands that they devote at least 2 percent of their gross domestic product to defense. We spend 3.6 percent. For the record, the combined GDP of our NATO allies is about equal to ours.

Trumps suggestion that the U.S. stop buying Saudi oil if that countrys government doesnt start contributing ground troops to the fight against ISIS was also greeted with derision. Without us, Trump said with a trademark threat, Saudi Arabia wouldnt exist for very long.

What he didnt say was that the Saudis have also refused to take in Syrian refugees. Nor did he note that they are funding the jihadis threatening the West.

And what about the West? Some of our rich European allies have become so passive and so lazy theyve barely bothered monitoring known terrorists living off their social benefits. (Belgium spends 0.9 percent of its GDP on defense.)

On the left, Bernie Sanders treads some of this territory, rightly questioning Americas seeming addiction to military intervention. He does go off course in arguing that we should spend less on the military so we can spend more on social priorities.

The No. 1 job of the federal government is national defense. We spend whatever we have to. We dont say: Oh, theres a budget surplus this year. Lets have a war.

But both Trump and Sanders are solid in asking what all this defense spending is doing for us. Are we obliged to both police the globe and pay for the service? We pick up the bills that other prosperous countries are content to leave on the table. Lets ask ourselves why.

fharrop@gmail.com
And now the heavy lifting on reimagining Alamo Plaza begins.

On Thursday, the entities collaborating on a new master plan for the plaza announced their choice for the firm to lead this process.

This firm should take to heart the mantra of the management committee that chose it  no small thoughts, no small actions. This committee and the community should expect nothing less.

The firm is Preservation Design Partnership of Philadelphia, which has design and architecture projects under its belt, including the U.S. Supreme Court and the Virginia Capitol. Two other firms that specialize in historic preservation and landscape architecture will help. They are the local Fisher Heck Architects, and Grupos De Diseno Urbano of Mexico City.

The Alamo Management Committee considered more than 250 applicants to be the thought leader in the master plan process. The committee promised a process with full participation by stakeholders and the public. This, too, is as it should be.

The committee expects a preliminary master plan by the fall  in time to prepare for funding requests for the city of San Antonios 2017 bond measure and to the Legislature when it convenes in January. A final plan, the committee said, should be complete by spring 2017.

Weve long contended  and agreed with the Alamo Plaza Advisory Committee parameters for the master plan  that the 1836 battle should be the entry point for a full and complete discussion of what occurred at the site before and after that last-stand battle that makes the site the Cradle of Texas Liberty.

Yes, a complete telling in a world-class Alamo museum, but people will come because of that battle. And the Alamo, owned by the state, and Alamo Plaza, owned by the city, should be most faithful to that in its master plan.

A restoration of the 1836 footprint as much as is practical would best accomplish this. And this will necessarily include a discussion of what should be done with the three buildings the state purchased across from the plaza. They now house businesses unsuited to the dignity that the site should convey.

The San Antonio Conservation Society says the structures must be preserved. We believe everything  including moving or razing them  should be on the table.

There will be competing interests and desires surround this Alamo project. The master planners have a task before them. But remember: No small thoughts or actions.
Re: Untolling toll roads carries costs, front page, Thursday:

No road or bridge built with any amount of public money should ever be a toll road.

Wayne Haymes, Leon Valley

Which is it, GOP?

Re: Obama disengaged, Your Turn, Thursday:

The letter writer claims President Barack Obama is fiddling while terror attacks strike in Europe. Regarding the appointment of a new Supreme Court justice, the GOP regards Obama as having one foot out the door and, therefore, a nonpresident for the next 10 months.

Under that rationale, Congress refuses to allow the president to exercise his duty by refusing to do theirs. Yet they gleefully criticize Obama for not rushing to Brussels after the attacks, crying he wasnt doing his presidential duty.

Which is it, GOP? Is Obama president only at your convenience? Biblical and constitutional hopscotch is a lousy way to govern.

Teri Frey

Government abyss

Re: Inability to lead, Your Turn, March 29:

The letter writer stated, Sen. Mitch McConnell and his followers do not understand the will of the electorate. It is the letter writer who does not understand the will of the electorate.

Voters put a Republican majority in the Senate to halt the leftist slide into the abyss of more big government and socialism. Sen. McConnell is reflecting the will of the electorate by blocking a leftist judge.

Hugh Caddess

Is this Gods path?

So Christians are demanding the right to discriminate against the LGBT community across the United States. Church leaders are supporting legislation to give Christians the right to discriminate.

Are you sure God would want you to discriminate against one of his creations?

Christians have supported slavery and segregation, but was God pleased? I believe discrimination is just a very subtle form of terrorism. Discrimination is a perversion of Christianity, which is no different from ISIS and Taliban perverting Islam. What has happened to love thy neighbor?

I am a 69-year-old white male, heterosexual who went to church twice on Sunday and once on Wednesday night. I became disillusioned with organized religion years ago because there were so many leaders who do not know God. They were leading their parishioners down Satans path, not Gods.

William J. Jordan

Last chance

Our forefathers are turning in their graves. You remember those Christians who discovered, explored, settled, established law, wrote constitutions and fought wars to defend what turned out to be the greatest republic in the history of civilization? We have let a coalition of minorities, illegal immigrants, extremists, alarmists, liberal media, two-faced politicians and, worst of all, uninformed young people destroy the America I grew up in.

This will be our last chance in November. We will never again be able to out-vote these groups.

Johnny E. Smith

U.S. evolution

It is a shame that in our great nation, the GOP has become the party of fascists while the Democrats have become the party of socialists.

The dramatic evolution of the U.S. continues on a bizarre trajectory.

Peter Stern, Driftwood

Stooping low

I am disgusted and angry. What makes Donald Trump and Ted Cruz think they can do and say anything that comes into their empty minds, and that the American people will accept them with open arms? No, we will not!

The two so-called gentlemen have stooped as low as possible in attacking each other. Now, it is the wives of these idiots who have to endure their lies. Both of these imbeciles should get on their knees and beg to be forgiven for their ignorance and arrogance. The wives did not ask for this. Shame on the two candidates.

Mary Rees

Presidents for hire

People are bemoaning the quality of political candidates. I can pretty much promise it wont get any better until we manage to get term limits.

From the beginning, politics was meant to be run by amateurs. Until there is not much money to be made, we will have people who want our money, with service the last thing on their minds. Because the government tries to do too much, it does everything badly. Wish it wasnt so.

Penelope Talley

Climate win-win

Some scientists fear out-of-control climate change, Nation & World, March 23; and the Arctic ice level reached new low, Nation & World, March 29:

I just hope we get the political will to do something beyond talk.

A carbon fee and dividend plan (like that proposed by the Citizens Climate Lobby) seems a good idea, not a carbon tax and leaving the solution to the marketplace.

Seems to me like a win-win.

Bill Hurley

Respect authority

In my business, I have frequent contact with many of our police officers and have a very high regard for their dedication to our citizens and their safety. Can circumstances present themselves where an officer feels threatened? You bet they can.

I was raised to respect authority and believe that police officers are wonderful civil servants ready to put their lives on the line for all law-abiding citizens. For that reason, I never made any split-second decision other than to do exactly what I was asked to do by an officer, whether I felt the request was reasonable or not.

Now I realize that my personal experience with police authority may be different from others, but no matter your personal opinion of police authority, it is my hope all citizens remember the importance of respecting police authority and abiding to their requests. If they wear a badge, lets remember that it is a badge of honor and all should respect it.

I give media the black eye for sensationalizing events and causing this country to have doubt in those badges. Lets consider all the circumstances before we cast a stone.

Bill Lyons
WASHINGTON  Today, the U.S. Department of Agricultures (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) announced a 30-day extension to the comment period for its proposed rule to change the requirements that retailers must meet to participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Retailers will now have until May 18 to file comments on the proposal.

This extension follows calls from House Agriculture Committee Chairman Mike Conaway (R-TX) and Representative Jackie Walorski (R-IN) to extend the comment period during the Committees two-day hearing in March. A similar request was made by Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS) during a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing in early March. It also responds to a formal request by NACS for an extension filed on March 9.

The proposal, as drafted, will implement the provisions included within the 2014 Farm Bill, which require retailers to stock more varieties of products in four staple food categories: (1) meat, poultry, or fish; (2) bread or cereal; (3) vegetables or fruits; and (4) dairy. Specifically, retailers must stock at least seven different varieties of food items in each of the four staple food categories (before the 2014 Farm Bill, retailers had to stock 3 different varieties in each staple food category). Further, retailers will be required to offer at least one perishable food item in three of those categories rather than two.

However, within the proposal, FNS also included several proposed changes that went significantly beyond the statutory requirements in the Farm Bill. Problematically, the proposal would make it so multiple ingredient items, such as lasagna or chicken pot-pie would not be counted in any staple food category and would not go towards a retailers depth of stock requirements. This is a dramatic change from current rules, which permit multiple ingredient items to be counted in one staple food category depending on the main ingredient. The proposal would also add a stocking requirement whereby retailers would always have to have six different units of any food item on display at any given time.

The proposal will make it increasingly difficult for convenience retailers to participate in the SNAP program, thereby negatively impacting the many SNAP recipients that use their benefits at convenience stores.

Be on the lookout for guidance by NACS about how to submit comments on the proposed rule in the coming days. Prior to finalizing a rule, FNS must review all comments submitted by stakeholders. Therefore, it is essential that retailers voice their concerns with the proposal so FNS understands how the proposal would impact businesses on-the-ground.
The Australian chain hopes customers will fill up on new offers ranging from prepared meals to haircuts.

SYDNEY  The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Caltex is undergoing a plan to reinvent convenience retailing, with the Australia service stations selling ready-made meals and bottles of wine, to possibly offering online purchases, dry cleaning and even haircuts.

Caltex is close to finalizing plans to become a major retail force by augmenting its store network and supply chain infrastructure with new digital platforms, acquisitions, partnerships and joint ventures.

You'll start to see different aspects of the new convenience concept over the next 12 to 18 months, writes the news source.

Julian Segal, Caltex CEO, commented that the company wants to lead the market in evolving the convenience offer and delivering the everyday needs of customers. He also said the retailer has no intention of competing directly with supermarket chains Coles or Woolworths, Caltex's fuel partner (Caltex cut ties with U.S. parent company Chevron in 2015).

"By definition we will not be competing with the big supermarkets. The size of our stores means we're going to focus on what the customer wants on the way to work or on the way home ... but there's a lot there we can provide," Segal told the news source. "It's not necessarily all about groceries. It could be many other items," he added, citing services such as haircuts, dry cleaning and delivery of online purchases.

"We are looking at what is really important to the customer; what are the most valuable things from a customer perspective, from a convenience point of view," Segal continued.

The new source notes that Caltex's ambition is encapsulated in a new corporate catchphrase, Freedom of Convenience.

"Convenience is not just in terms of what traditional convenience used to be. In our case it used to be delivering fuel and basic goods and tobacco," Segal said. "The role of convenience in customers' lives is significantly wider than that."

Caltex's network of more than 2,000 locations attracts three million customers a week and generates convenience retail sales of $1.2 billion. The company plans to create a fresh-food supply chain, either independently or in conjunction with partners, a digital platform for online ordering and a new loyalty program, writes the news source.
PURCHASE, N.Y.  MasterCard shared stats last week on how its customers and consumers are faring six months after the EMV liability shift. According to the card company, more than two-thirds (67%) of U.S.-issued MasterCard-branded consumer credit cards feature a security chip, a 51% increase in the number of consumer credit cards with chips in market since the October 1, 2015, liability shift.

MasterCard says that consumers can use their EMV chip cards in more places, as 1.2 million U.S. merchant locations (an increase of 121%) have turned on their terminals and are accepting chip card payments. In addition to national retail chains, approximately one million local and regional merchant locations are accepting chip cards.

In 2015, the Payments Security Task Force projected that 98% of cards issued in the U.S. would feature chip technology by the end of 2017. This would top adoption rates by regions and countries that began implementing chip technology decades ago. MasterCard says that merchant EMV adoption continues as projected in other Payment Security Task Force studies.
Agbekes way outlet is an online store in Nigeria where you can buy shoes, designer bags, and clothing at affordable prices. Agbekes way outlet is positioning itself as a leading online fashion store in Nigeria with quality products from leading fashion brands in the United States and around the world, plus great deals, wholesale, free shipping, timely delivery, and numerous payment options, all key elements of successful online stores in Nigeria.

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The store offers same day delivery in its home base, Ibadan. Next day delivery in Lagos and Abuja, Port Harcourt and the Western region delivery are within 48hours. The rest of the country receives their packages within 72hrs.

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Looking for good quality bags, handbags, and designer bags that makes you standout and feel good about yourself? Of course, you can buy good quality bags at local stores around you, but as a tech blog we will like to introduce you to stores where you can buy designer bags online in Nigeria from leading global fashion brands.

Where to Buy Designer Bags Jumia.com.ng from 3000.00 View Offers

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You can buy bags online in Nigeria from fashion brands like Guess, David Wej, Eternal, Rikes Place, Nine West, Tommy Hilfiger, Kathy Van Zeeland, Gucci, Chinese Laundry, Calvin Klein, Zara, Kenneth Cole, Big Buddha, Steve Madden and more. Although Female handbags are most popular online, you may also find wallets, backpacks, school bags, luggage bags, and travel bags to buy online

Here are online stores in Nigeria where you can shop for good quality and designer bags:

Jumia Online Store

Type: A General Online Store for all types of goods including shoes, designer bags, and clothing

A General Online Store for all types of goods including shoes, designer bags, and clothing Payment Methods: Debit/Credit Cards (Visa, Verve, & MasterCard), Mobile Money (Paga), Payment on Delivery

Debit/Credit Cards (Visa, Verve, & MasterCard), Mobile Money (Paga), Payment on Delivery Types of Bag: Handbags, Wallet, Tote bags, Satchels, Clutch bags

Handbags, Wallet, Tote bags, Satchels, Clutch bags Brands: LS, Rikes Place, Zara, Eternal, Bling Bling, David Wej, etc

LS, Rikes Place, Zara, Eternal, Bling Bling, David Wej, etc Average Delivery Time: 1  8 business days

1  8 business days Maximum Delivery Time: 8 business Days

8 business Days Security:

Footprint: Nationwide

Nationwide Free Shipping: No (a shipping charge depending on weight)

No (a shipping charge depending on weight) Shipping Partners: DHL

DHL Warranty: Yes

Yes Return Policy: Yes

Yes Contact: 07006000000

07006000000 Online Store Link: www.jumia.com.ng

Konga Online Store

Type: A General Online Store for all classes of products including shoes, bags, and clothing

A General Online Store for all classes of products including shoes, bags, and clothing Payment Methods: Debit/ATM card (Visa, Mastercard, Verve), Pay on Delivery, Escrow, Bank deposit

Debit/ATM card (Visa, Mastercard, Verve), Pay on Delivery, Escrow, Bank deposit Types of Bag: handbags, clutch bags, purse, tote bags, etc

handbags, clutch bags, purse, tote bags, etc Brands: David Wej, LS, Nine West, etc

David Wej, LS, Nine West, etc Average Delivery Time: 1 to 7 Business Days

1 to 7 Business Days Maximum Delivery Time: 7 Business days

7 Business days Security: 

 Footprint: Nationwide

Nationwide Free Shipping: No (N500 Lagos, N1,500 outside Lagos)

No (N500 Lagos, N1,500 outside Lagos) Shipping Partners: DHL, UPS, CourierPlus

DHL, UPS, CourierPlus Warranty: Yes

Yes Return Policy: Yes

Yes Contact: 08094605555

08094605555 Online Store Link: konga.com

Oyoyo Online Store

Type: A Fashion Online Store for shoes, bags, clothing, & jewellery

A Fashion Online Store for shoes, bags, clothing, & jewellery Payment Methods: Online Payment (Visa, Mastercard, Verve Debit cards), Bank deposit/transfer (Diamond Bank)

Online Payment (Visa, Mastercard, Verve Debit cards), Bank deposit/transfer (Diamond Bank) Types of Bag: handbags, clutch bags, purse, tote bags, etc

handbags, clutch bags, purse, tote bags, etc Average Delivery Time: 3 to 5 Business Days

3 to 5 Business Days Maximum Delivery Time: 

 Security:

Footprint: Nationwide

Nationwide Free Shipping: Not Specified

Not Specified Shipping Partners: DHL

DHL Warranty: Yes

Yes Return Policy: Yes

Yes Contact: 08181421101

08181421101 Online Store Link: www.oyoyo.com.ng

Want to Buy Designer Bags Online, Click Here

You can buy all types of bags online in Nigeria like handbags, wallets, backpacks, school bags, luggage bags, and travel bags. Some stores will sell only female handbags while others will offer all types of bags for all sexes and age groups.

To buy designer bags online in Nigeria, visit any of the listed online stores and view their offerings. Most online stores will have a search bar, which makes it easy for you to find what you are looking for. If you have a particular bag or brand in mind, enter the name in the search bar to see if it is in stock.

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You can pay for your order with debit/ATM card or you can make a bank deposit. If you have an Internet banking activated, you can transfer money into the account of the online store without visiting a branch. Some online stores also offer payment on delivery, enabling you to pay for your bags when it is delivered to your doorsteps.

Before you buy bags online in Nigeria, make sure you read the return policy and shipping procedure of the online store as well as the FAQ page. You can simply call the online store using the phone numbers provided at the online store. Happy shopping.

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Have bought shoes in any of these online stores? You can share your experience as a comment.

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Nanotubes line up to form films (Nanowerk News) A simple filtration process helped Rice University researchers create flexible, wafer-scale films of highly aligned and closely packed carbon nanotubes.

Scientists at Rice, with support from Los Alamos National Laboratory, have made inch-wide films of densely packed, chirality-enriched single-walled carbon nanotubes through a process revealed today in Nature Nanotechnology ("Wafer-scale monodomain films of spontaneously aligned single-walled carbon nanotubes").

A scanning electron microscope image shows highly aligned and closely packed carbon nanotubes gathered into a film by researchers at Rice University. (Image: Kono Lab/Rice University)

In the right solution of nanotubes and under the right conditions, the tubes assemble themselves by the millions into long rows that are aligned better than once thought possible, the researchers reported.

The thin films offer possibilities for making flexible electronic and photonic (light-manipulating) devices, said Rice physicist Junichiro Kono, whose lab led the study. Think of a bendable computer chip, rather than a brittle silicon one, and the potential becomes clear, he said.

"Once we have centimeter-sized crystals consisting of single-chirality nanotubes, that's it," Kono said. "That's the holy grail for this field. For the last 20 years, people have been looking for this."

The Rice lab is closing in, he said, but the films reported in the current paper are "chirality-enriched" rather than single-chirality. A carbon nanotube is a cylinder of graphene, with its atoms arranged in hexagons. How the hexagons are turned sets the tube's chirality, and that determines its electronic properties. Some are semiconducting like silicon, and others are metallic conductors.

A film of perfectly aligned, single-chirality nanotubes would have specific electronic properties. Controlling the chirality would allow for tunable films, Kono said, but nanotubes grow in batches of random types.

Rice University researchers discovered a method to make highly aligned nanotube films. The films may become valuable for flexible electronics and photonic devices. (Image: Jeff Fitlow/Rice University)

For now, the Rice researchers use a simple process developed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology to separate nanotubes by chirality. While not perfect, it was good enough to let the researchers make enriched films with nanotubes of different types and diameters and then make terahertz polarizers and electronic transistors.

The Rice lab discovered the filtration technique in late 2013 when graduate students and lead authors Xiaowei He and Weilu Gao inadvertently added a bit too much water to a nanotube-surfactant suspension before feeding it through a filter assisted by vacuum. (Surfactants keep nanotubes in a solution from clumping.)

The film that formed on the paper filter bore further investigation. "Weilu checked the film with a scanning electron microscope and saw something strange," He said. Rather than drop randomly onto the paper like pickup sticks, the nanotubes - millions of them - had come together in tight, aligned rows.

"That first picture gave us a clue we might have something totally different," He said. A year and more than 100 films later, the students and their colleagues had refined their technique to make nanotube wafers up to an inch wide (limited only by the size of their equipment) and of any thickness, from a few to hundreds of nanometers.

Further experiments revealed that each element mattered: the type of filter paper, the vacuum pressure and the concentration of nanotubes and surfactant. Nanotubes of any chirality and diameter worked, but each required adjustments to the other elements to optimize the alignment.

The films can be separated from the paper and washed and dried for use, the researchers said.

They suspect multiwalled carbon nanotubes and non-carbon nanotubes like boron nitride would work as well.

Co-author Wade Adams, a senior faculty fellow at Rice who specializes in polymer science, said the discovery is a step forward in a long quest for aligned structures.

"They formed what is called a monodomain in liquid crystal technology, in which all the rigid molecules line up in the same direction," Adams said. "It's astonishing. (The late Rice Nobel laureate) Rick Smalley and I worked very hard for years to make a single crystal of nanotubes, but these students have actually done it in a way neither of us ever imagined."

Why do the nanotubes line up? Kono said the team is still investigating the mechanics of nucleation -- that is, how the first few nanotubes on the paper come together. "We think the nanotubes fall randomly at first, but they can still slide around on the paper," he said. "Van der Waals force brings them together, and they naturally seek their lowest-energy state, which is in alignment." Because the nanotubes vary in length, the researchers suspect the overhangs force other tubes to line up as they join the array.

The researchers found their completed films could be patterned with standard lithography techniques. That's yet another plus for manufacturers, said Kono, who started hearing buzz about the discovery months before the paper's release.
SHARE Kent Ellert, President and CEO, Florida Community Bank

By Daily News Staff

Two Florida banks have finalized a merger, making it the fourth largest bank headquartered in the Sunshine State.

Florida Community Bank, a banking subsidiary of Bond Street Holdings Inc., announced Tuesday it has received regulatory approval to acquire Great Florida Bank. FCB expects to close on the acquisition on Jan. 31, bank officials announced.

After the merger, Florida Community Bank will have about $5 billion in assets and 67 locations along both state coasts.

Under the deal, Great Florida's stockholders would receive $3.24 in cash for every share they own in the community bank, which is headquartered in Miami Lakes, with branches in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.

Florida Community Bank in July announced plans to merge with Great Florida Bank. Florida Community Bank was founded in 1923 by Barron Collier Sr., the founder of Collier County. It's one of the oldest banks in Southwest Florida but is now headquartered in Weston.

Bond Street Holdings acquired FCB from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. in January 2010 when it failed. Since then, the bank's footprint has grown rapidly in the state. Bond Street Holdings has acquired eight troubled banks since 2010 and has put them under the Florida Community Bank umbrella.

"We are very strong in both the greater Naples and Fort Myers areas, as well as in Sarasota," FCB President and CEO Kent Ellert told the Daily News last year.

In Lee and Collier counties alone, the bank has 180 employees, nine offices and more than $600 million in deposits, he said.

Great Florida's board of directors unanimously approved the merger.

Information: www.floridacommunitybank.com and www.greatfloridabank.com
John and Veronica Meyers aboard The Far Side. The couple sailed to Cuba to be at the Rolling Stones' historic concert in Havana on March 25. Lance Shearer/Eagle Correspondent

SHARE John and Veronica Meyers at Ciudad Deportiva de la Habana. The couple sailed to Cuba to be at the Rolling Stones' historic concert in Havana on March 25. Submitted photo John and Veronica Meyers aboard The Far Side. The couple sailed to Cuba to be at the Rolling Stones' historic concert in Havana on March 25. Lance Shearer/Eagle Correspondent Veronica Meyers with the port captain in Marina Hemingway. John and Veronica Meyers sailed to Cuba to be at the Rolling Stones' historic concert in Havana on March 25. Submitted photo John and Veronica Meyers aboard The Far Side. The couple sailed to Cuba to be at the Rolling Stones' historic concert in Havana on March 25. Lance Shearer/Eagle Correspondent

By Lance Shearer

Have you ever made a spur-of-the-moment decision to take in a concert, when the opportunity arose?

That's what John and Veronica Meyers did. But for them, getting to the show required a lot of pieces to fall together, the stars to align, and the winds to blow them on their way.

The couple were already in the Florida Keys on The Far Side, their 50-ft. custom double ender sloop, when they heard that the Rolling Stones were playing a free concert in Havana. They had come at their daughters' request for a spring break trip to the Keys for some diving and relaxation, and were waiting out some unfavorable weather.

The concert was originally scheduled for March 20, but on the evening of the 21st, "we heard they had pushed it back to March 25, and we started thinking," said John. "We have a friend who has an open permit to travel to Cuba  he's the race organizer for the Conch Republic Cup. He said, 'yeah, you can use the permit. You just have to take me along."

By chance, the Meyers had asked one of their daughters to bring along some ID for them when she joined them aboard, and she had found and delivered their passports to them in the Keys. Everything was in place  except the weather.

"There was a 30-knot wind from the east, working against a three-knot current from the West"  the Gulf Stream. This opposition can produce fearsome seas, and John, the skipper, reported they encountered up to 15-foot rollers in the Florida Straits.

"He's always conservative," Veronica said of John's assessment. "The waves were like a wall of black, but it was beautiful with the full moon." They sailed all night on a broad reach under staysail and double-reefed main.

"We were doing our hull speed, about eight knots," reported John.

The three daughters had to head back to school, two to college where they have swimming scholarships, and the youngest, Tatiana, 14, to Lely High School where she is also on the swim team. They returned north to Marco Island aboard the ferryboat, while their parents headed south for a rendezvous with Mick and Keith, and the newly-opened island nation.

The concert, said John and Veronica, was "awesome  historic," as they joined more than a million Cubans for a show the likes of which had never been seen there before. "The Rolling Stones brought 71 shipping containers full of equipment," as virtually nothing was available locally. John is a veteran of Stones' concerts, catching them for the fourth time in Havana, and he said they had more energy than ever, even in their 70s. It was Veronica's first chance to see the iconic band, certainly at this point the world's most iconic rock group.

Both Meyers wore "Event Staff" T-shirts when a reporter visited to hear their story and see The Far Side, with the Stones' famous lips and tongue logo sporting the Cuban flag. "These were the only shirts they had left," said Veronica.

"They were great. They opened with 'Paint It Black,' (although news stories from the show say that song came later, and the opening number was "Jumpin' Jack Flash.")

When Mick Jagger, who was speaking to the crowd in Spanish, called out "Canta!" (Sing!) the crowd didn't know the words, probably because rock music was banned in Cuba for decades, which must have been a different experience for the Stones.

John named "Let It Bleed" and "You Can't Always Get What You Want" as additional favorites, along with just being there, and soaking up the vibe. The Meyers have been to Cuba before, having entered the Conch Republic Cup twice. They said although there was a massive police and military presence at the concert, everything was upbeat, and even the soldiers seemed to be having a great time.

The blue water crossing from Key West to Marina Hemingway was memorable, but easily taken in stride by the Meyers, veterans of thousands of sea miles of open water cruising. John and Veronica met in Truk lagoon in the Pacific in 1989, where he was sailing and she, a native of the Netherlands, was visiting on a dive trip. Since then, they have sailed to many of the islands of Polynesia, Papua New Guinnea, China and Japan. John had The Far Side commissioned in Taiwan  hence the name  and later single-handed her from Japan to Santa Barbara, California, a 6,000-mile journey.

But they've never had an experience quite like the Stones in Havana.

"When we heard about this concert, we said, 'This is huge. This is historic. We have to be part of this," said Veronica.
Courtesy of the Collier County Sheriff's Office.

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By Daily News staff

Collier County Sheriffs Office deputies are investigating a report of a man approaching a teen girl in Immokalee last week and offering her a ride.

A press release states the man was driving a white pickup truck in the morning sometime last week when he approached the 14-year-old girl who did not know him as she was walking to Immokalee Middle School. The man wanted to know if she needed a ride, but she declined and continued walking.

The girl told deputies she often saw the man in his truck on South 5th Street and by the Handy Store. Detetives describe the man as black, possibly Haitian, in his early 30s and with a small scar on the right side of his face.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Collier County Sheriffs Office at 239.252.9300, or if you wish to remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers at 1.800.780.TIPS (8477).
Jim Soliday is deaf, but the 58-year-old Naples man was able to supervise nearly a dozen 7-Eleven stores because he had a system that worked.

He read lips. He used a fax machine to transfer and review data. And he used text pagers to communicate with managers, field consultants, market managers and headquarters.

But his 26-year 7-Eleven career ended three years ago when a new boss arrived and put an end to Soliday's system.

Without texts and faxes, he couldn't do his job and was soon fired. He sued, alleging that violated the Florida Civil Rights Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Thursday night, after deliberating for over three hours, a U.S. District Court jury in Fort Myers agreed 7-Eleven unreasonably refused accommodate Soliday, as required by law, and fired him due to his disability.

They awarded him $178,000 for lost wages and benefits and $756,000 for emotional pain and suffering.

When Soliday read the clerk's lips as she announced the verdict, tears welled in his eyes.

Soliday's attorney, Darrin Phillips of Naples, said Soliday felt vindicated.

'The law does not permit an employer to take away a man's livelihood through discriminatory means,' Phillips said Friday. 'We are grateful that the jury saw through 7-Eleven's deceit and that the jury carefully weighed the evidence in concluding that 7-Eleven denied Jim Soliday's requests for reasonable accommodations and unlawfully terminated his employment on the basis of his disability.'

Soliday is now unemployed, he said, adding, 'it's an unlevel playing field for someone with a disability.'

The award will exceed $1.6 million if Judge John Steele grants Phillips' motion for roughly $675,000 in future wages. But he expects 7-Eleven to appeal.

Soliday couldn't be reached for comment, nor could the jury forewoman.

7-Eleven's attorney, Eric Welter of Herndon, Va., who was assisted by co-counsel Michael Stoker, declined comment, except to say '7-Eleven will be assessing all of its legal options.'

The verdict came after a seven-day trial, with testimony from 10 plaintiff's witnesses and five for the defense. Jurors heard closing arguments Thursday.

Soliday, who answered questions by reading lips, spent 2 days testifying about his rise through the ranks of the worldwide convenience-store chain, and how reviews show he'd met or exceeded expectations.

Pretrial statements provide this account:

Soliday suffers from a severe hearing loss and can only hear the lowest, deepest tones. The hereditary sensory nerve condition began in childhood.

By the late 1970s, he was wearing a hearing aid and could use a telephone until the late 1980s. By 1995, his hearing loss reached 95 percent and he used the Florida Telecommunication Relay or another service for phone calls.

He was hired in 1982 as a career development trainee for a Dayton, Ohio, 7-Eleven store and assisted and trained managers in the Dayton, Springfield and Cincinnati area. The next year, he was promoted to field consultant, supervising stores in cities and suburbs.

In 1986, he was transferred to Naples, where he supervised one store during a yearlong acclimation period, then oversaw about nine stores in the Naples and Fort Myers area until he was fired.

He transferred and reviewed data ? price changes, orders and shortages ? between stores, field consultants, market managers and headquarters.

In 1987, he requested a fax machine to make it easier and they became common in the Florida division. In 1999, he asked for a text pager, which became common practice.

Due to Soliday's expertise with failing stores, his boss, Market Manager Joe Sucharzewski, transferred him to East Fort Myers in 2006 to supervise inner-city stores in mostly high-crime, poorer neighborhoods with a history of turnovers.

Two years later, Terry Hutchison became his boss.

When fax machines broke, Hutchison refused to replace them and eliminated text pagers. Soliday told him that caused an 'extreme hardship' but Hutchison said he had to find a solution with equipment they used.

Market managers used Blackberrys, so Soliday asked for one, but was told he'd have to buy it and pay the monthly bills. Because store managers didn't have cellphones with QWERTY keyboards, they didn't reply to his texts.

'Soliday would gladly have paid the approximately $2,300 per year for him and his subgroup to keep the text pagers because, ultimately, it would have assisted Soliday in keeping his job,' the pretrial statement said.

Hutchison conducted frequent management meetings by conference call, often disrupting Soliday's quality visit schedule. He'd have to rush to a store with a 'trusted' manager trained in conference-call relay or find a field consultant who could tell him, face-to-face, what was said. Some occurred Saturday mornings, so he'd drive to a store, while others could call from home.

Hutchison ignored his complaints and often called other field consultants, but didn't communicate with Soliday.

Soon after a May 2008 training session on quality visits, Soliday was accused of not doing his job, although he provided proof he was doing inspections. After a final warning, he was fired that August for willful refusal to perform required jobs.

7-Eleven contended it didn't discriminate, noting it terminated a non-disabled employee that day for the same reason. It maintained it wasn't required to accommodate an employee in any manner an employee desired because they're only entitled to a ?reasonable' accommodation.'

7-Eleven noted Soliday was provided with a Blackberry, never complained and was not 'denied' a fax machine, which was not necessary for him to perform 'essential functions.'
By Jacob Carpenter of the Naples Daily News

Former patients of slain Bonita Springs doctor Teresa Sievers are puzzled by an email sent to them Friday, purportedly authored by her incarcerated husband, Mark Sievers.

In the email, obtained by the Naples Daily News from two independent sources, patients of Teresa Sievers are encouraged to continue buying a supplement, Xymogen, through a Boca Raton doctor. The email was sent through the main address for Teresa Sievers' practice, and it ends with Mark Sievers' name, though it couldn't be immediately verified whether Mark Sievers authored the message.

Document: Click here to read the email.

The timing of the email, along with its contents, have raised eyebrows among former patients.

Lee County sheriff's officials confirmed Monday that Mark Sievers, who has been in jail since late February, accused of orchestrating the murder of his wife in June 2015, has no access to email or the Internet.

In addition, the email contains a few peculiarities. At one point, the doctor's first name is misspelled "Theresa." At another point, patients are encouraged to obtain Xymogen online through the account of a colleague named "Dr. Roy" in Boca Raton, with no last name given. Near the end of the email, patients are encouraged to call "Dr. Roy" on his cellphone, but the message cuts off and no phone number is provided.

Peggy Phillips, a former patient who received the email, said she found it odd that patients would be encouraged to continue using the supplement without oversight by a doctor.

"I can tell you from being a patient of Dr. Sievers' for several years that she would not advocate patients taking supplements without direct supervision," Phillips said.

Antonio Faga, one of Mark Sievers' lawyers, said Monday his client "has no ability to transmit any electronic communications while he is incarcerated." Faga was aware of the email but had not spoken with Mark Sievers about it.

"It is my understanding that he was trying to wrap up the business after the incident, but I don't know anything more than that," Faga said.

Sara Brady, a spokeswoman for Xymogen, said the company canceled its contract with Teresa Sievers' practice immediately after her death. The company wasn't aware that patients would be contacted about their supplements and didn't "encourage or authorize anyone sharing patient information," Brady said.

Faga said he "believes it to be true" that the "Dr. Roy" mentioned in the email is Dr. Roy Heilbron, a Boca Raton-based doctor. In the email, patients are told that the name of the Xymogen account for "Dr. Roy" is "HEILR," a close match to Heilbron's last name.

On his website, Heilbron is described as a cardiologist and internist who combines "traditional and holistic treatments into an integrative approach to health." Teresa Sievers also specialized in holistic medicine.

In recent years, Heilbron has had run-ins with medical and criminal investigators.

His license is suspended in New Mexico, where state health investigators in February found that he "presents a clear and immediate danger to the public health and safety if he continues to practice." The state medical board found Heilbron ordered tests and treatments for a patient that "were not consistent with currently accepted consensus guidelines," and that he failed to maintain accurate and complete medical records for a patient.

In June 2014, Heilbron's license was suspended for three months after he failed to self-report a drunken-driving arrest and an insurance company found he engaged in "excessive, unjustified and fraudulent billing practices." Heilbron was also indicted in June 2015 on 24 counts of federal health care and wire fraud, accused of submitting false billing claims to Medicare and insurance companies and illegally transferring about $15,000.

Multiple calls and an email to Heilbron weren't returned Monday.

Brad Dalton, a spokesman for the Florida Department of Health, said no complaints related to the email would be a public record. All complaints to the agency remain confidential until a state panel determines whether a violation has occurred.

Phillips couldn't definitively say that Mark Sievers authored the email, but she noted that the signoff  "Take Care & G-d Bless you all"  matches previous emails sent by Mark Sievers before his incarceration. Phillips had never heard of Heilbron before, despite spending about three years under Teresa Sievers' care.

"I don't know who wrote the email, but it's certainly startling to receive that correspondence," Phillips said.

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<p>Parents pick up their students from New Life Charter Academy on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2014 in Hollywood, Fla. New Life is one of six charter schools that has met 0 to 25 percent of its student enrollment projections with only 53 students after projecting 550. (Max Reed/Special to the Daily News)</p>

SHARE Parents pickup their children from New Life Charter Academy on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2014 in Hollywood, Fla. New Life is one of six charter schools that has met 0 to 25 percent of its student enrollment projections with only 53 students after projecting 550. (Max Reed/Special to the Daily News) Island Park High School principal A.J. Nauss, left, and Dragica Motic talks with one of the school's students at the school in Fort Myers on Thursday, November 13, 2014. (Scott McIntyre/Staff) Island Park High School math teacher Patrick McCarthy checks in with one of his students during class in Fort Myers on Thursday, November 13, 2014. (Scott McIntyre/Staff) Island Park High School principal A.J. Nauss talks about the school's students at the school in Fort Myers on Thursday, November 13, 2014. (Scott McIntyre/Staff)

By Jacob Carpenter of the Naples Daily News

New Life Charter Academys classes end at 3 p.m., sending its roughly 50 students out the front door of a strip mall near Fort Lauderdale.

It wasnt supposed to be like this, a smattering of elementary school students filtering out of a 5,500-square-foot building shared with a chiropractors office.

When they applied to open a charter school, New Life Charter Academys founders planned to enroll 550 students, bringing in nearly $3.5 million in state tax dollars. The money would pay for 36 teachers and a building with 30 classrooms, a resource room, a kitchen and a playground.

But after the first couple months of school, less than one-tenth of the projected number of students enrolled. Unless something changes, history suggests New Life Charter Academy could join the 75-plus Florida charter schools that have closed for financial reasons since 2008.

New Life Charter Academy isnt alone in drastically missing its student enrollment projections, resulting in low revenues that threaten a schools viability. A Daily News analysis of 48 Florida charter schools that opened this year shows many came nowhere close to enrolling what they said they would in their applications, which serve as the basis of whether school districts green light them to open.

RELATED: Read "Shuttered," the Daily News' series on Florida's failed charter schools

In fact, those 48 schools enrolled about 10,000 students after projecting just under 19,000  54 percent of what they estimated. Thirteen of those schools failed to get one-third of the students they expected. Twenty-four didnt get half.

Click here to see the charter school enrollment interactive in a new window 

As a result of those missed projections, budgets submitted during the application process were often wildly off. A conservative Daily News estimate, using the states base per-student funding allocation, shows schools over-estimated revenues by at least $35 million. That figure doesnt include extra money schools would receive for special education students, English as a Second Language students and transportation costs.

The data from this year validates a concern raised by many involved in the charter school system: that charter applicants often make budget and enrollment projections with little clue about the demand for their school. Despite the recent spate of charter school closures and history of under-enrollment, the state requires no upfront funding commitment or line of credit to ensure viability in the early going.

It matters because all of those deep questions  what your curriculum is going to be, how youre going to train your teachers, what kind of programs youre going to offer  all of that is going to have to be decided on the fly, said Jeff McCullers, who oversees charter schools for the Lee County School District.

You want to do all that when youre calm and sitting in a relaxed environment and able to think all your problems through.

Big dreams, small enrollment

A handful of charters were on the money when projecting their enrollments during the application process.

In Collier County, Mason Classical Academy whizzed by its 276-student projection, enrolling about 415 children. Sarasota Military Academy Prep hit its 425-student estimate right on the nose.

But several fell woefully short. Among the most notable:

Palm Beach Maritime Academy High School missed the mark most, getting 63 students, or 8 percent of its 808-student projection.

Avant Garde Academy of Broward ended up with 85 students this year after planning for 750 children, who would be challenged intellectually, artistically and personally at its school.

East Windsor Middle Academy in St. Petersburg, which projected 600 students, enrolled only 126 students, barely above its contractual minimum requirement of 120.

Many board members responsible for running these taxpayer-funded schools declined to comment or didnt return multiple messages seeking comment.

Shirley Brunache, founder and principal of New Life Charter Academy, didnt return several calls for comment. When reached in person at her school last week, Brunache said she was too busy running the campus to return calls and declined to comment about her schools operations.

Avant Garde Academy of Browards board chairwoman, Julia Valent, said only the schools director could speak. The director, Frank Bolanos, didnt return multiple calls for comment.

History shows some of the states new schools struggling with low enrollment will shut down in the coming months and years.

Since 2008, 34 Florida charter schools have closed due to financial issues after completing two academic years or less, a Daily News analysis shows. Together, those 34 schools taught an estimated 2,650 students, the vast majority of whom were forced to relocate to new schools after closing.

Having trouble seeing spreadsheet of financially closed charter schools? Click here to see spreadsheet in new window 

As Lee County School Board member Cathleen ODaniel Morgan noted, students in closed charter schools often return to traditional public schools, where the curriculum can be dramatically different.

Its painful to watch what happens to the kids, ODaniel Morgan said.

Surviving on little

To some, missed enrollment projections are proof of the charter school market at work. If a charter offers a poorly-received curriculum or suffers from inept management, it doesnt get students and will eventually fail. If theres demand among parents and students perform well, a charter stays open.

Low enrollment numbers arent necessarily a death knell to a school, but school leaders have to make budget adjustments if they miss enrollment targets.

For a decade, Dee Wolfe-Sullivan has been the principal of an Escambia County charter school, Byrneville Elementary School with an annual enrollment between 150 and 200 students. Adhering to a strict budget  which, unlike many charter schools, doesnt include money for construction or rent  has kept the lights on at Byrneville, which has received an A or B grade in 11 out of 12 years.

Most schools have an assistant principal, a guidance counselor, a librarian. I cant afford those things. I basically depend on all my teachers to help do those things, said Wolfe-Sullivan, a board member of the Florida Consortium of Public Charter Schools. We all just pick up the slack. Were all in this to make it work.

RELATED: Few dollars, little sense doom dozens of charter schools

In some cases, charter schools have rebounded after slow starts, including those run by Accelerated Learning Solutions, a for-profit management company with nearly 20 alternative schools in Florida.

When ALS Coronado High School opened in Fort Myers in 2008, it attracted about 120 students, not even one-third of its projected 400 students. Today, its home to about 335 students.

ALS two new campuses this year, Island Park High School in south Fort Myers and Town and Country Charter High School in Tampa, find themselves in similar situations, with about 120 and 105 students, respectively. Each projected 400 students in their applications.

ALS CEO Randle Richardson said his schools can survive low enrollment numbers in the first two years because his company can prop them up until theyre profitable. But sole operators without a strong line of credit can struggle without sufficient enrollment, he said.

If you said youre going to serve 250 students and built a budget around 250, and you get 100, youre in trouble, Richardson said.

The application process

County school district staffers have dealt with unrealistic projections, and eventual closures, for years. The challenge has become how to fix the problem.

Charter applicants are required to submit projected enrollment figures and a description of how they arrived at those figures. But often, their reasoning is vague, with allusions to dropout rates and performance of nearby schools.

I do not believe that the level of detail provided in the state-required application gives the authorizer enough information to determine how the charter school came to its projections, said Chris Bernier, associate superintendent of school choice for Orange County Public Schools.

School district staff, which review and grade charter applications using a state-mandated rubric, rarely mark down an application because of far-off projections. The common explanation: whos to say whats realistic and whats not?

Its hard to get a low score in that section unless you just say things that are preposterous or dont make sense, said McCullers, the Lee County School District charter supervisor.

The charter application does, however, require a description of how the applicant will address revenue shortfalls caused by lower than expected enrollment. In some cases, school boards have approved applicants that provided little detail. Broward Countys school board, for example, gave the green light to New Life Charter Academy, even though it provided just a one-sentence response to how it would cope with low enrollment.

I think authorizers do bear responsibility for what we approve, McCullers said. Now, I dont like the state process.

Changing the system

Several suggestions for tweaks to Floridas charter system have been floated to address low early enrollments.

Requiring some proof of the communitys interest in a new campus could help weed out those with pie-in-the-sky projections. In its model laws, The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, a pro-charter organization, states that applications should include evidence of need and community support for the proposed public charter school.

I believe the applicant should be able to show something in writing, whether its a signature on a survey from parents in the community where theyre planning to open, or something else, said Osvaldo Garcia, principal of Passport School, an Orlando charter.

Others have pitched requiring multiple budgets in applications, with contingency plans for less-than-projected enrollment. Bernier said Orange County Public Schools requires three budgets: one each for if enrollment meets 100 percent, 75 percent and 50 percent of whats projected.

Another proposed fallback has been requiring a $250,000 surety bond or other line of credit, which would help struggling charters stay afloat in their early years.

That idea came before the Florida House of Representatives this year as an amendment to a charter school bill, but the proposal was shot down. Some Republican legislators expressed concern that the $250,000 amount would price out so-called mom and pop applicants, smaller groups that might struggle to get that level of credit.

For now, McCullers tells charter applicants to dream big while also staying grounded. Opening a new school requires great ambition, he said, with an eye on whats realistic.

My advice is to be cautious and conservative, McCullers said. It helps to have a good line of credit or a good financial supporter, too. Something to get you through those first few semesters.
SHARE Members of Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Lowry Park Zoo release a rehabilitated manatee near Caxambas Pass Park in Marco Island on Tuesday, April 5, 2016. Photo courtesy of Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Members of Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Lowry Park Zoo release a rehabilitated manatee near Caxambas Pass Park in Marco Island on Tuesday, April 5, 2016. Photo courtesy of Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Members of Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Lowry Park Zoo release a rehabilitated manatee near Caxambas Pass Park in Marco Island on Tuesday, April 5, 2016. Photo courtesy of Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. A rehabilitated manatee slips into the water Tuesday, April 5, 2016, at the Caxambas Pass boat ramp on Marco Island. The manatee, nicknamed Ricky Bobby for his speedy recovery and the initials of his rescue site, Roberts Bay, was struck by a boat and suffered a broken rib and punctured lung. He was nursed back to health at the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa since September. A crew with the zoo and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission released the young, 540-pound, 7-foot male manatee as curiosity-seekers looked on. (Courtesy FWC) Related Coverage Video: Manatees frolic at Delnor-Wiggins Pass State Park

By Eric Staats of the Naples Daily News

Ricky Bobby wasted no time.

A flip of his fluke, and the rescued Florida manatee slipped beneath the water Tuesday at the Caxambas Pass boat ramp on Marco Island.

It might not have been NASCAR-fast, like his movie hero namesake. But his recovery from a boat strike was remarkable for how quickly he refilled his collapsed lung without help from keepers at the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa, zookeeper Jaime Vaccaro said.

And he shares the same initials with Roberts Bay, where rescuers found him in September with a broken rib and unable to dive for food.

On Tuesday, after a seven-month stint in the zoo's rehab pool and a three-hour ride on a moist mat in the back of a climate-controlled box truck, Ricky Bobby found himself around the corner from his rescue site and on the edge of freedom.

"He was ready to go," Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission research associate Denise Boyd said.

A dozen workers from the FWC and the zoo heaved the 540-pound, 7-foot manatee out of the back of the truck. He used his flippers to help the crew scoot the last few inches to water deep enough to float.

He didn't linger, as some manatees do, as if to say thanks for the lift.

Ricky Bobby just went for it.

Rescuers implanted a microchip under his skin to identify him in case they cross paths again.

"We wish him the best," said Vaccaro, with the Tampa zoo.

She said the zoo still has 11 manatees at its marine mammal hospital, a typical number, but another one is coming back to Collier County.

An adult female manatee rescued off Little Marco Island is set to be released Thursday at the end of Shell Island Road in the Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve between Naples and Marco.

The Collier County Sheriff's Office, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Marco police and FWC found the adult female manatee in January, paralyzed and at risk of drowning after inhaling red tide toxin.

Zookeepers named her Little Red Tide-ing Hood.
SHARE Lisa Sprague shows the BrainTap device used in neuro-therapy. The SpelLIFE Women's Wellness Summit brought hundreds to hear messages about brain health Saturday morning at St. John the Evangelist in North Naples. Lance Shearer/Special to the Daily News Cary Hernandez of Cloud 9 gives a chair massage. The SpelLIFE Women's Wellness Summit brought hundreds to hear messages about brain health Saturday morning at St. John the Evangelist in North Naples. Lance Shearer/Special to the Daily News Keynote speaker, brain researcher and stroke victim JillTaylor speaks. The SpelLIFE Women's Wellness Summit brought hundreds to hear messages about brain health Saturday morning at St. John the Evangelist in North Naples. Lance Shearer/Special to the Daily News Dr. Pamela Hughes speaks on stress during one of the breakout sessions. The SpelLIFE Women's Wellness Summit brought hundreds to hear messages about brain health Saturday morning at St. John the Evangelist in North Naples. Lance Shearer/Special to the Daily News

By Lance Shearer, Daily News Correspondent

The two halves of your brain have very different personalities, said Dr. Jill Taylor in her keynote address to 350 people, mostly women, at the SpelLIFE Women's Wellness Summit on Saturday. It's almost as if you were made up of two entirely different people, who have to work together to get anything done.

This point was made dramatically by the introduction given to Taylor by the conference's organizers, sisters Gaynell Anderson and Jill Ciccarelli Rapps in the conference hall at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in North Naples. Speaking onstage as if they were the two lobes of the brain, Rapps played the left brain  "language, math, and logic, past, present and future"  while Anderson said, "I'm the right brain, imaginative, creative intuitive  the daydreamer."

Taylor took as her topic "How to Get Your Brain to Do What You Want it to Do." She is in a unique position to be able to speak on the topic, a Ph.D. brain researcher who suffered a devastating stroke at age 37. Taylor's experiences, and her eight-year struggle to regain brain function, led her to write the New York Times bestseller "My Stroke of Insight," and to develop a TED Talk which she adapted for the Naples audience. She was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

With an engaging, no-nonsense style, Taylor told her listeners that much of what we think we know about our brains is out of date, such as the idea that she would never be able to regain her mental acuity after her stroke.

"Everything in neuroscience has changed in the last 15 years. Our brains are constantly changing" through neurogenesis and neuroplasticity, she said. "The brain you walked in with this morning is not the brain you will walk out with."

Much of our brain activity is not under our conscious control, Taylor said. "The cells of our limbic system never mature. I can throw a temper tantrum at 50 just as I could at 2. How many of you are with me on that?" she asked, and was answered with applause and laughter.

"We think of ourselves as thinking creatures who feel, but really we are feeling creatures who think." And since we live in a society that values what we think more than what we feel, the result is stress.

Strokes can be fatal or irreversible, and Taylor asked her audience to join her in reciting a mnemonic device to remember the warning signs of an oncoming stroke. The acronym is, neatly, S-T-R-O-K-E, with the letters standing for "speech" or problems with language, "tingling" or numbness, "remember" or problems with thinking, "off balance" or coordination problems, "killer headache," and E for "eyes"  any problem with vision.

When you encounter these, said Taylor, get medical help immediately.

Additional speakers presented related topics in seven breakout sessions, including diagnosing Alzheimer's disease, with William Justiz, and "Everyone Has a Purpose: What's Yours?" presented by Carol Gaffney, in conjunction with the Blue Zones Project Southwest Florida. Blue Zones participated as a sponsor of the summit, which dovetailed with precept number two of the Blue Zones "Power 9"  "Purpose: Wake up each day with a purpose and add up to seven years to your life."

Pamela Hughes spoke on "Hormones and Your Brain: What's the Connection?" Along with the talks, a forum in the main hall featured dozens of related resource providers offering their take on health and wellness, including spa and massage therapy, healing oils, and BrainTap, an electronic headset devoted to "reprogramming" the brain, claimed to stimulate higher levels of serotonin and beta-endorphins, and provide the benefit of three to four hours of sleep in a 20-minute session.

The SpelLIFE Women's Wellness Summit was the third annual, put on by A Euphoric Living Foundation, dedicated to empowering the community to live physically, emotionally and financially richer lives through education and other tools. Attendees to the event paid $50.
FILE - Scenes from Child's Path Preschool in Golden Gate on Monday, Nov. 7, 2011. Tristan Spinski/Staff

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By Liz Freeman of the Naples Daily News

An early learning child care center is changing hands in Golden Gate and the new owner plans to offer scholarships to help families with program expenses.

The David Lawrence Center is selling its Child's Path Preschool located at 3144 Santa Barbara Blvd. to Collier Child Care Resources (CCCR), officials announced Monday.

The prekindergarten center is licensed for up to 122 children and currently has 72 children enrolled.

The center has 12 employees, and no personnel changes are planned, Nicole Howard, executive director of CCCR, said.

"It was just time for them to focus on their mission and it's a good opportunity for us," Howard said.

David Lawrence, a nonprofit mental health organization, opened Child's Path in the 1980s to provide employees with child care services for their children at affordable rates. It was opened to the public several years later.

Scott Burgess, chief executive officer of David Lawrence, said he is pleased CCCR will continue the legacy of Child's Path. The center serves children aged 2 to 5.

According to David Lawrence's nonprofit 990 forms filed for 2014, the most recent year available, Child's Path total annual revenue in 2013 was $365,000.

The sale price was not disclosed and the transaction should be finalized in 30 to 60 days.

"Our plan is to reinvest the proceeds from the sale into further expanding our mission critical mental health and substance abuse services that are desperately needed in Collier County as outlined in our board approved five-year strategic plan," Burgess said in a news release.

CCCR is a long-standing resource for local families needing child care services. It offers training for early learning professionals and operates three child development centers serving a total of 275 children. They are the NCEF Early Childhood Development Center on the campus of Florida SouthWestern State College, A Step Up Childhood Development Center at Golden Gate and Immokalee High Schools for teen mothers.

Howard said because of CCCR's focus on fundraising and scholarships, having Child's Path under its wing will create new scholarship opportunities for families, especially in the Golden Gate area where there are many working families who desperately needed affordable centers.

In 2012, Child's Path was named a Naples Daily News' Readers Choice Star Award for offering the best child care center and it was a finalist in 2016 to Gulfshore Life Magazine's "Best of the Gulfshore Awards."
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By Melhor Leonor of the Naples Daily News

Deputies with the Collier County Sheriffs Office are investigating a suspicious incident at Florida SouthWestern State College.

Deputies responded to a report of a suspicious Snapchat, a smartphone messaging app using pictures and videos. The man who sent it is being interviewed by police after a student at the school reported it to campus security personnel.

"A student had seen or received a Snapchat that included a visual and text, and that student was concerned," said FWS spokeswoman Teresa Morgenstern. "The student felt uncomfortable and felt threatened."

School officials contacted the sheriff's office, which quickly identified a man on campus as the source of the Snapchat, Morgensteren said. The initial call came in at 1:58 p.m. to 7505 Grand Lely Boulevard.

Neither CCSO nor Morgenstern would comment on the contents of the Snapchat.

Nearby, Lely Elementary School briefly was placed on a code yellow lockdown for law enforcement activity in the area. That meant kids who walk or bike to school were briefly held but soon after were able to walk home.

FSW spokeswoman Teresa Morgenstern said classes and other activities at the college were shut down at 4 p.m. Students and faculty were given the option to leave campus, she said, but no one was ushered out.



"Nobody is in danger and the campus is secure," she said. "We will resume all normal activities beginning at 8 o'clock tomorrow morning."



Morgenstern added that the campus was never placed on lock down because the person believe to have sent the Snapchat was quickly identified.

"It was easy to quickly figure out the origin and who had sent it. By the time that we could have done anything, we already had them in for questioning."


Former Marco Island Police Chief Don Hunter. File

SHARE Police Chief Don Hunter is stepping down after almost three years leading the department. Lance Shearer/Eagle Correspondent

By Alexi C. Cardona of the Naples Daily News

A former Collier County sheriff and Marco Island Police chief has moved on to a new job at a national private security firm.

On March 1, Don Hunter became the vice president of Cambridge Security Services, a New Jersey-based company that provides private security services to clients throughout the United States.

"It's been a slow roll," Hunter said. "I'm settling in, getting everything arranged and studying documents and policies. I'm excited to work with them."

The company employs unarmed and armed security officers for special events and to secure residential and commercial properties. It also offers private investigations, dignitary protection and background checks and seeks government contracts.

As vice president of the company, Hunter will vet and train security officers, manage field operations and a team of about 1,400 people.

Hunter was sheriff of Collier County for 20 years before moving on to work as a consultant for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and an associate of a technology company that was creating software to help find child predators on the Internet.

From 2011 to 2014, he was chief of the Marco Island Police Department before resigning to launch his own private security firm. While he plans to maintain his business licenses, Hunter said he has placed his company's activities on hold.

Hunter's firm was just launching when Cambridge's CEO approached him about the position in February.

"It happened very quickly, within about a three-week period," Hunter said.

Patrick Hurley, the company's director of business development, said the company was ecstatic to learn that Hunter was available to work with them.

"Don Hunter is a legend in law enforcement, access control and security," Hurley said. "He practically wrote the book. He has a level of expertise you can't find anywhere us and having him join our team gives us an unbeatable core of security professionals."

Cambridge has locations in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Florida and Nevada. Hunter will be working in the company's Naples office, which opened earlier this year. Hurley said they will soon outgrow the space and are looking for another location.

Hunter said the company wanted someone to help them expand their services and reach in Florida.

"Private sector security work is an interesting area of growth," Hunter said. "One of the attractive things about being in private security is that it's apolitical and there's a great deal more personal contact with clients."

Hunter said he is also looking forward to working with former law enforcement colleagues and contacts in the intelligence community. With about 35 years of experience in law enforcement, he is also glad to continue putting his expertise and experience to good use.

"It's a bigger job in a sense, but I think it's a good fit," Hunter said.
FILE- In this Oct. 14, 2015 file photo, Rep.Alan Grayson, D-Fla. speaks during a pre-legislative news conference in Tallahassee, Fla. (AP Photo/Steve Cannon, File)

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By Bartholomew Sullivan, bartholomew.sullivan@jmg.com

WASHINGTON  The House Ethics Committee announced Tuesday a continued investigation of Democratic Senate candidate Alan Grayson is warranted, releasing findings that the Office of Congressional Ethics has "substantial reason to believe" he broke federal law and House rules by operating a hedge fund, using his staff to run it and using his office for personal gain.

The committee released details of the six allegations Grayson faces, including omitting required information from his annual financial disclosure form, according to a confidential OCE report released Tuesday.

Chairman Charles Dent, R-Pennsylvania, and ranking member Linda Sanchez, D-California, released a statement saying "the mere fact of conducting a further review of a referral, and any mandatory disclosure of such further review, does not itself indicate that any violation has occurred, or reflect any judgment on behalf of the committee." Rules require they offer no further comment.

Grayson, who represents the Orlando area, said Tuesday evidence will establish the investigation is a "witch hunt" instigated by his opponent, U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Jupiter. Grayson is running against Murphy for the Democratic nomination.

In the Office of Congressional Ethics' 74-page report released Tuesday, the case that Grayson violated House rules is spelled out for the first time in detail.

Of the hedge fund, the report says that "if congressman Grayson received compensation from, or permitted the use of his name by, an entity that provides professional services involving a fiduciary relationship, during his Congressional service, then he may have violated federal law, House rules and standards of conduct."

The report says evidence obtained by the Office of Congressional Ethics indicated that from April 2011 to last September the "hedge fund used the Grayson name. In addition, the OCE found that, on at least one occasion, management fees likely were distributed to Representative Grayson and his family from the hedge fund as compensation for services."

Another allegation involves whether Grayson maintained a contingent fee interest in legal proceedings in which the United States had a direct interest while he served in Congress.

The report says Grayson's congressional office manager and business director may have used official resources to support the hedge fund.

The report says Grayson was a limited partner in three energy-sector limited partnerships that "may have held contracts with the federal government while serving in Congress.

It also says he "may have" granted interviews regarding his campaign for the Senate that were conducted in his House office which, if true, would violate federal law and House rules. It says he appeared in a 15-minute HuffPost Live interview on July 9 last year that was filmed in his congressional office.

Grayson's campaign committee released a statement saying the "politically motivated allegations against Grayson are utterly frivolous." Grayson has provided an item-by-item rebuttal of the allegations that surfaced in a complaint filed in December.

Part of that rebuttal alleged the "disturbing and illegal collusion between (Office of Congressional Ethics) staff and the official staff of U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy." The campaign said the continuing review is part of the Washington establishment's campaign in favor of Murphy's candidacy, calling it a "Murphy-instigated fishing expedition."

The campaign statement noted the Ethics Committee did not establish an investigative subcommittee, pointing out that, in every previous case resulting in a member's expulsion, censure or reprimand, such a subcommittee was set up.

Later, Grayson posted this on Twitter: "The referral does not identify any instance where the OCE actually found an ethics violation or any violation of law."

Grayson created the funds in 2011 when he was not serving in Congress. It had assets of more than $16 million in October. He has said he got rid of outside investors and has done nothing wrong.

Rules of the House prohibit members from having an outside job that pays more than $27,495 a year. Grayson has said he did not claim income from the fund.

The Harvard-educated former trial lawyer has complained that establishment Democrats, including President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, have sided with Murphy in the primary race for the seat currently held by Marco Rubio. Biden appeared at campaign stops with Murphy last week in Miami.

Without commenting on the committee's decision, Murphy's campaign put out a series of statements from the OCE report, including that there were substantial omissions in his financial disclosure statements. The confidential report says guidelines ask for a "good faith estimate" but that his most recent disclosure shows the value of some assets as "indefinite."

Directly contradicting that statement, Grayson's campaign said the referral "concedes that Rep. Grayson did fully report all of his investment activities, including those of the partnerships in which he participated."
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H. H. Hermann, Naples

Power play

I am personally acquainted with retired teachers and professors of education living here in Naples whose careers were often engaged in battles that sought to end teacher tenure; to seize control of classrooms from professional educators; to break teachers' unions; to privatize public education through charter schools; to eliminate critical thinking from schools; to generate profits for information and testing firms; and to manage the population in a fractious society divided by race and class.

Such systemic aims might serve to explain the political efforts of a group of ideologues to gain control of the Collier School Board.

Rather than seeking to address educational needs and inequalities, the answers advanced by the new political juggernaut has been to attack something as beneficial as Blue Zones to promote better health for young people.

Those opposing any efforts to improve the health of students have as their objective the educational system being given over to private and charter schools.

As they prepare to endorse reactionary candidates for School Board in Collier County, they latch on to issues like Blue Zones for Healthy eating. Part of their absurdity is that it is a conspiracy fostered by the United Nations to undermine our society by encouraging healthy eating habits.

What distorted mind can accuse a man like Roger Baldwin, who received the Medal of Freedom in 1981 from the president of the United States, of promoting communism? He was personally selected by Gen. Douglas MacArthur to integrate civil liberties in postwar Japan.

Any reader of these letters should recognize anti-Democratic power plays.

Resistance to these nefarious forces is no longer an option. It is a necessity.
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Georges Pardo, Naples

Treatment of pets

The way pets are treated does vary from one country to another. Here, I often read complaints about dogs running unleashed in public parks and beaches.

In China, dogs are a gourmet delicacy, the Muslims run away from them, and in France, they are considered nearly equal to humans. Anybody who walks on a Paris sidewalk has to learn quickly to be very careful where he steps.

Some years ago, my wife and I took a trip to France. One day we went for lunch at a "chic" restaurant in Paris' Bois de Boulogne. On a table across from us was sitting an older gentleman, with a bushy moustache, reading the newspaper. Next to him, quietly sitting on a chair, was a fairly large dog, an Irish Terrier if I remember, with bushy hairs on his face that made him look like his master. The waiter came and served lunch to both of them, and the dog ate very neatly on the table  he had great table manners.

My wife couldn't believe her eyes. When they were through, the waiter removed the empty dishes, and the dog waited patiently, with his head on the table until his master paid, and they both left. No leash of course.

On another occasion we went to a bistro for lunch. We were seated at a table in front of a settee along the wall. At the table next to us was a middle-aged lady and two small French Poodles were sitting by her feet  again no leash. My wife couldn't help looking at them, which must have made the dogs uneasy. To quiet them down the owner said to them in French: "Don't worry my darlings, they are just Americans."

Can you imagine this happening in Campiello or the Blue Provence?
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Tom Quinlan, Naples

Whose choice?

Letter writer Howard Berger says he opposed HB 1411 after first telling us that he is an American Republican WWII Marine combat veteran who married a WWII lady Marine who are both pro-choice. Thank you for your service!

I am an American Republican Vietnam combat veteran who is pro-life. You're welcome for my service! What does our combat service have to do with Planned Parenthood?

Look up the definition of zygote, which is no more religious than gravity. Don't interfere with the zygote and it becomes a human individual as surely as the falling apple from the tree will hit the ground if you don't interfere.

We agree about the privacy of a woman's body, but when it comes to choice, it is another body being destroyed, not hers. If you believe in a woman's choice, what if the zygote is a female? No choice for that woman?

Get your head out of your rhetoric and look at what else Planned Parenthood is doing with my money. Why do you "choicers" believe it is not a baby unless it can sit up on the delivery table and cry "stop, that hurts?" If you want to give them your money, that's your choice. You don't get to choose to give them mine by taxing me for what they do.
SHARE Molly K Olson is co-founder of the national/international group, Leading Women for Shared Parenting. Terry Brennan is co-founder of the national/international group, Leading Women for Shared Parenting.

By Molly K. Olson And Terry Brennan, Co-founders Leading Women for Shared Parenting

In their article "Explaining the Trump Phenomenon," Stanford Professors David Brady and Douglas Rivers consider if the anti-establishment rise is caused by Americans believing "special interests use their money to get their way most or all of the time and the government does not care about people like them."

They conclude: "Much of Donald Trump's support appears to come from Republicans who have lost faith in Washington."

While excellent, the piece excluded the "human interest" side, an example of which unfolds as Florida Gov. Rick Scott considers alimony reform/shared parenting.

This is the second time legislation passed the House and Senate, previously causing a veto. Now, a grassroots movement again passed legislation by substantial margins.

Shared parenting is supported by 43 peer reviewed papers, 110 world experts and more than 70 percent public support with no differences across gender or political lines. Studies show children denied shared parenting have higher substance abuse, behavioral issues, and physical, social and emotional problems.

Shared parenting is practiced in many states: in 2012 Arizona implemented laws encouraging judges to maximize the time children spend with both parents and in 2015, Utah implemented a law providing a minimum of 40 percent time with each parent.

Further, fatherlessness is an epidemic. Researchers from Princeton, Cornell and Berkley published "The Causal Effects of Father Absence" concluding problems experienced by children of divorce are caused by father absence with others examining the correlation between fatherlessness and school shooting perpetrators.

Recently actor and economist Ben Stein wrote "A World Without Fathers: That's Why Our Country is Falling Apart." In introducing a shared parenting bill in Missouri, Republican Sen. Wayne Wallingford said, "Most fatherlessness is not caused by abandonment; it's created by an outdated court system."

So if shared parenting is best for children and supported by 70 percent of women, men, liberals and conservatives, it should be law of the land, right? Wrong. Enter "the establishment," stage right.

In the political sphere, a divergence seems to occur which isn't reflective of the populace. Republicans seem more likely to support legislation; left-leaning genderized feminist groups (versus equity feminists) and Democrats, more likely to oppose. In addition to the "red states" mentioned above, bills furthest along this session include Iowa, Missouri and Florida.

In all, it's Republicans sponsoring and Democrats opposing. In contrast, among the citizenry across the country, this is a nonpartisan issue with bipartisan support that bridges the divide between people of differing political parties.

In 2014, an initiative was opposed by liberal, feminist groups AAUW, North Dakota Women's Network and ACLU. Currently, Florida's bill is opposed by liberal feminist group NOW, the League of Women Voters and UniteWomen.Org.

This, despite only 18 percent of Americans identifying as feminists, a number of feminists plainly stating fathers face sexist discrimination in family courts and polls showing Americans believe top groups discriminated against in our courts include the poor, African-Americans and fathers.

Behind the scenes, another special interest group holds the most political power: bar associations.

Bar associations promote policies for their attorney membership and they don't like shared parenting. Why? In voicing her support, Catherine Real, an attorney with 38 years' experience explained that it would reduce the amount of litigation because of the presumption fathers will have equal timesharing with their children.

Less litigation means less money for lawyers so bar associations will go to any length to stop shared parenting. In the last two years, both Nebraska and North Dakota's Bar Associations were sued for their actions opposing shared parenting.

In North Dakota, they actually said they were spending $50,000 to $70,000 to defeat the measure so they could be in court less and make less money.

The Florida Bar hired lobbyists who used to work directly for the governor to obtain his veto. That is the very definition of establishment politics causing a citizen revolt and substantiating how special interests use their money to get their way and government doesn't care about citizens. A veto would also embolden the anti-establishment demographic weary of conservatives siding with liberals as it would entail turning your back on House and Senate Republicans to side with Democrats, NOW and trial attorneys.

For too long, we've suffered from too many politicians and a dearth of leadership. The anti-establishment movement in both parties is an opportunity to end back-room deals benefiting the few at the expense of the many, especially when it hurts children so lawyers can profit. That's the very cause of the anti-establishment movement.

__ Olson and Brennan are co-founders of the national/international group, Leading Women for Shared Parenting. She is president of the organization: www.lw4sp.org Her parents are residents of Naples; she lives in Minnesota. Brennan lives in Massachusetts.
Nationally recognized Comedian Michael Palascak brings more fun to the stage when he returns to Fort Myers on July 23 to perform at the second annual Laughter Is the Best Medicine Comedy Night to benefit SalusCare, Inc.



Tickets are on sale for the event at Sanibel Harbour Marriott Resort & Spa and may be purchased at www.saluscarecomedynight.org or by calling 239-791-1575. Tickets include heavy hors doeuvres, beer and wine. Seats at tables are $125 each or $500 for a reserved table for four, with table signage. A limited number of seats without tables are available at $100 each. Other sponsorships are available from $1,000.



Palascak rounds out the evening that also includes stand-up comedy by eight local celebrities, competing for the title of Lee Countys Best Comic for 2016. Attendees will have the opportunity to vote for Lee Countys Best Comic by placing cash or checks in containers labeled for each comic.



Last years inaugural Laughter Is the Best Medicine Comedy Night was won by former Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney Doug Molloy. SalusCare Development Committee Chair Mark Atkins said the local celebrity comedic line-up will be announced in mid-April.



"We are delighted that Michael is willing to come to Fort Myers for a repeat performance at our second annual Comedy Night. He has family in the area and agreed to come pro-bono to support our cause of helping children with mental illness and substance use disorders, Atkins said.



Palascak delighted television audiences last season as one of five finalists on NBCs Last Comic Standing. In the last four years, he has appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. He also has performed at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas and was the winner of HBOs Lucky 21 Stand-up Contest.



He won the Chicago region of Comedy Centrals Open Mic Fight and went on to make his Comedy Central debut on Live at Gotham Season 3. He was one of 12 comedians in America to debut his half-hour special on the inaugural season of Comedy Centrals The Half Hour.



Funds raised at the event will be used to provide outpatient psychiatry and therapy to children and adolescents in our area whose families can least afford it. One in 10 children has serious mental health problems severe enough to impair how they function at home, in school, or in the community, according to the National Center for Children & Poverty at Columbia University. Left untreated, mental illnesses can lead to more difficult to treat illnesses and to the development of co-occurring disorders.



For more information about sponsorships and Laughter Is the Best Medicine Comedy Night, contact Todd Cordisco at (239) 791-1575 or visit www.saluscarecomedynight.org .



About SalusCare, Inc.



SalusCare, Inc., is the largest, most comprehensive mental health and substance abuse treatment program in Southwest Florida, serving 17,000 people per year of all ages from seven locations in Lee County. The non-profit organization offers crisis stabilization, detoxification, outpatient and residential treatment as well as an Employee Assistance Program for about 50 area companies. The majority of programs are accredited by CARF, the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities.



SalusCare services are not free. Fees are charged on a sliding scale, based on family income. In many cases, private insurance is accepted. SalusCare is a United Way partner agency.
London Bay Homes newly relaunched website at LondonBay.com enhances the browsing experience for smartphone users and elevates the custom luxury homebuilders commitment to Private Label Living. The mobile-first site accommodates the growing number of homebuyers who rely on a mobile device to search for homes by providing locational Find Your Home and Where We Build links.



The demographics of London Bays customers are clear  they like to use the power of their phones to get information, said Jimmy Diffee, partner and creative director of Bokka Group, which redesigned the site. These smart-phone users also enjoy learning information through video, which we are incorporating throughout.



As the enhanced website was being developed, the branding agency for London Bay Homes, Milesbrand, worked on creating five videos with the express purpose of explaining what Private Label Living means to potential and existing customers. The video series showcases London Bays singular commitment to custom building that ensures each new home is a personal expression of a homeowners distinctive needs, wants and desires.



Private Label Living is one of the most unique brand positionings in the country for a custom

homebuilder, but it needed to be explained in detail for customers to understand its true value, said Dave Miles, president of Milebrand. Video represents an ideal medium for explaining complex content in an engaging way. Studies have shown that consumers are at least 64 percent more likely to purchase a product or service that has video representation. This makes establishing a personal connection with potential custom homebuyers through the means of video marketing a key element in the London Bay Homes online marketing strategy.



Each video expands upon a different element of Private Label Living, including London Bays homebuilding process, focus on design and quality. The entire five-part series can also be viewed online at www.vimeo.com/londonbayhomes.



Our clients have boundless imagination, their own sense of style and define life on their own terms, said Mark Wilson, president and CEO of London Bay Homes. The most important element of Private Label Living is that every home is our clients vision  not ours. We make it an effortless and enjoyable experience. We provide every tool a client needs to express themselves and a talented team of relationship managers, architects, and interior designers working under one roof to make the process seamless.



London Bays Private Label Living process also provides quality assurances and creates an enjoyable homebuilding experience, from conception to completion.



The enhanced website also provides beautiful photography galleries offering a look inside London Bays custom estate homes, luxury villas and fully furnished model homes.



The website is a great platform to showcase the London Bay Homes brand with larger images, more photography, videos and fonts that translate better to a smartphone, Diffee said. This is a premier visual representation of what London Bay does best  building amazing homes.



LondonBay.com has experienced a 40 percent increase in mobile visitors since 2014. Nearly 50 percent of all site visits are by smartphone users  slightly higher than the industry norm  and peak during Southwest Floridas winter season.



LondonBay.coms enhanced navigation allows visitors to select a geographic location and explore specific communities and neighborhoods where the builder offers model homes, homesites, move-in ready homes and customizable floor plans.



A digital map highlighting London Bays coverage area provides visitors with the opportunity to select a community of interest and learn more about the neighborhood lifestyle, available homes, sample floor plans, and models open for viewing.



A new feature includes an inspirational photo gallery that allows users to browse by architectural style and rooms.



The design is more minimal, Diffee said. Every page is simple and clean to let the pictures speak for themselves.



The site also provides links to London Bays interactive brochure, magazine and blog. Visitors can register for email notifications to keep apprised of the newest model openings and premier building opportunities throughout Southwest Florida. Users can also swipe through a series of photos showcasing interiors, exteriors and vignettes of architectural details.



A leader in the Southwest Florida home market for 25 years, London Bay was named Americas Best Builder by Builder Magazine in 2008. The company earned a 2013 Silver Award for Best Architectural Design of a One-of-a-Kind Home during The Nationals, sponsored by the NAHB. Its affiliate, Romanza Interior Design, earned a Gold Award for Best Interior Design of a Custom Home in the same competition.



The company builds new luxury homes priced from $1 million to more than $10 million in many of the regions most exclusive neighborhoods and communities. The company also builds private residences on individual homesites in the Sarasota Keys and along the Gulf of Mexico.



For more information about London Bay Homes and its commitment to Private Label Living, call 239-592-1400 or visit www.LondonBay.com and www.vimeo.com/londonbayhomes.
Rotary Club of Fort Myers South is pleased to announce that the Third Annual Law & Order Ball will be held on Saturday, September 17 at Germain Arena in Estero. The elegant evening event recognizes our everyday heroes from all seven Lee County law enforcement agencies. Germain Arena provides an exceptional space to not only recognize the men and women who put their lives on the line every day, but to also showcase emergency vehicles and equipment. Guests will have the unique opportunity to get in the driver seat and take photos of one or all of the vehicles onsite that may include a helicopter, boat, motorcycle and SWAT vehicle. The Law & Order Ball will be the first black tie affair to be held at the arena.



With the success of the first two annual Law & Order Ball events, the original sponsors have already stepped up and committed to take part again this year, many at an even higher level than they have in the past. Additionally, several new sponsors will take part this year to show their support for all that Lee County Law Enforcement does for the community. Creighton Construction and Development and Adas Market will once again be presenting sponsors. Other sponsors include: LeeSar, Survival Armor, NBC 2, The News-Press Media Group, TOTI Media, Edison National Bank, Enterprise Holdings, Galloway Family of Dealerships, Tech-Tronics, CONRIC PR & Marketing, The Eventful Company, Mark Loren Designs, Rapid Print, Siesta Pebble, Eye Centers of Florida, Henderson Franklin Attorneys at Law, Brilliant Lens LLC, Gendron Funeral and Cremation Services, Inc., and HBKS Wealth Advisors.



The agencies to be recognized are: Cape Coral Police Department, Florida Gulf Coast University Police Department, Florida SouthWestern State College Police Department, Fort Myers Police Department, Lee County Port Authority Police, Lee County Sheriffs Office and Sanibel Police Department. Nominations from each agency for the Officer of the Year award will be accepted. One special hero will be awarded and receive a custom designed piece by Rotarian Mark Loren of Mark Loren Designs.



Proceeds from the event benefit law enforcement youth programs, as well as many of the Rotary Club of Fort Myers South Foundations community projects. For more information visit www.lawandorderball.org or contact Lori Cook North at lori@eventfulinc.com.



Rotary Club of Fort Myers South has more than 150 members who are among the 1.3 million Rotarians worldwide. Service Above Self is the motto of Rotary International, which has contributed more than $1.2 billion and tens of thousands of volunteer hours toward polio eradication in addition to projects such as water quality, world peace and literacy. Meetings are held each Monday at 12:00 PM at the Crowne Plaza, 13051 Bell Tower Drive. For more information, visit www.rotarysouth.org.
The Hot Horseshoeing event held in Channons Forge in Clonmel over the weekend was a huge success. Farriers from around Ireland and the UK battled it out in the hot fires of the forge in the 20th Clonmel Horseshoeing Competition. The judge was the international World Champion Farrier Stephen Beane from Yorkshire.

The Hot Horseshoeing event held in Channons Forge in Clonmel over the weekend was a huge success. Farriers from around Ireland and the UK battled it out in the hot fires of the forge in the 20th Clonmel Horseshoeing Competition. The judge was the international World Champion Farrier Stephen Beane from Yorkshire.

Mandy Channon said that the late Ted Channon would have been very proud of the event, which is the most popular horseshoeing event with the farriers.

The sun shone down on the Family Day on Sunday, when the competition was watched by many people from around Tipperary and as far afield as Holland and America. There was a great atmosphere and it was a very enjoyable day. It is not often that you get to see the traditional craft of the farrier at work.

There were also activities for children such as the Bee 4 Biodiversity Team, as Georgina and Susan togged out in their ladybird outfits making horse, owl and spider creations. Face painting and traditional music all contributed to an enjoyable afternoon.

Presentations for the Clonmel Horseshoeing Competition were awarded in Raheen House at a black tie event on Sunday night. This is the biggest and longest running hot horseshoeing competition in Ireland.

Mandy and Joe Channon are already planning for next years event. They would thank everyone who took part, came to watch and supported the event including the South Tipperary Heritage Office, The Heritage Council and Clonmel Borough Council.
Two appeals court judges raised constitutional questions Monday about the structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in the agency's case alleging that PHH Corp. accepted illegal kickbacks.

Judges with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia said that lawyers involved in the case should be prepared to answer several constitutional questions at the next hearing, including: "What independent agencies now or historically have been headed by a single person?"

The judges also asked: "If an independent agency headed by a single person violates Article II [of the Constitution]what would the appropriate remedy be?"

The appeals court is expected to hear oral arguments in the PHH case on April 12.

One of the issues that PHH raised in its appeal of a $109.2 million judgment by the CFPB last year is whether the structure of the bureau violates the Constitution's separation of powers doctrine.

PHH's "argument is that the president would not have the ability under the constitution to remove the director," said Richard Horn, a former senior counsel and special adviser at the CFPB who now runs his own law firm.

"There is an inherent conflict between the statute that created the CFPB, which allows its director to remove only 'for cause,' and Article II of the Constitution, in which the president can remove any executive officer without delay," Horn said.

"It looks like the court is taking a narrow view and determining whether to strike the for cause provision of the statute," Horn said.

The CFPB declined to comment. PHH could not immediately be reached for comment, and lawyers for the mortgage bank in Mount Laurel, N.J., did not return calls seeking comment.

Last June, CFPB Director Richard Cordray overruled the recommendation of an administrative law judge that said PHH should disgorge $6.4 million for its involvement in a scheme that allegedly violated the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act. Cordray expanded the scope of the allegations, ordering the firm to instead pay more than $100 million. Lawyers had expected arguments in the case to focus on the statute of limitations and Section 8 provisions of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act.

Instead, the judge's questions renew questions about the bureau's structure.

"This order makes it clear the court is giving very serious consideration to the constitutional concerns around the bureau's structure, and they are considering what to do if they in fact find it to be unconstitutional," said Joe Rodriguez, who formerly worked in the CFPB's fair lending group and is now of counsel at Morrison & Foerster.

The questions allow for a wide range of outcomes depending on what the court decides.

"The court could do something as easy and simple as removing the 'for cause' provision, which makes Cordray or any future director removable for any reason," Rodriguez said. "That would be the easiest and cleanest way to deal with this if they find it is a violation."

Alternatively, the appeals court could find all actions of the agency are unconstitutional, at which point the CFPB would presumably appeal the case to the Supreme Court.

The three judges on the panel hearing PHH's appeal were all appointed by Republicans. Many GOP lawmakers have protested the CFPB's structure, arguing it should be headed by a five-person commission rather than a single director.

The questions were asked by Brett Michael Kavanaugh, a protege of Kenneth Starr, who was nominated to the D.C. Court by President George W. Bush in 2003, and by Karen LeCraft Henderson, who was appointed to the court of appeals by President George H.W. Bush.

The third judge, Circuit Judge Arthur Raymond Randolph, was nominated to the court in 1990 by President George H.W. Bush.
Under a new fair housing policy announced Monday, landlords cannot arbitrarily deny housing to persons with an arrest record or criminal record who has served their time in prison.

"Today, I am proud to announce new guidance that makes it clear HUD will use the full force of the law to protect the fair housing rights of folks who've been arrested or who are returning to their communities after serving time in jail or prison," said Julian Castro, the secretary of Department of Housing and Urban Development.

As many as 100 million U.S. adults  or nearly one-third of the population  have a criminal record of some sort. And black and Latino Americans are arrested at a significantly higher rate than whites, according to HUD.

"The fact that you were arrested shouldn't keep you from getting a job and it shouldn't keep you from renting a home," Castro said Monday at an annual meeting of the National Low Income Housing Coalition. "When someone has been convicted of a crime and has paid their debt to society, then they ought to have an effective second chance at life. The ability to find housing is an indispensable second change in life."

HUD is also making it clear that "one strike" policies that bar anyone with a prior arrest record from renting public or private housing will no longer be acceptable.

Under the new fair housing guidance, landlords have to be "thoughtful" when using criminal background checks, according to Amy Glassman, an attorney at Ballard Spahr in Washington.

"You can't just use arrest records, you have to look at actual convictions," she said in an interview Monday.

Landlords should look for the kinds of convictions that might indicate the applicant would not be a good tenant, such as drug-related crimes or prostitution convictions.

"You can look at certain kinds of convictions that are indicative of the likelihood of destroying property, disturbing the peace or certain kinds of violent crimes," Glassman said, "but you also need to look at the severity of the crimes and how long ago they occurred."

A drunk driving violation might not be a justifiable reason for rejecting an applicant, but rejecting someone for a recent felony gun violation or a conviction for passing bad rent checks might be justified.

Glassman also pointed out that landlords have to consider when the conviction occurred and whether the applicant might be a good tenant now.

"Landlords need to look at whether an applicant can show mitigating factors that show that the behavior that led to the conviction is not likely to be repeated. Drug treatment, for example, might be a mitigating factor for drug offenses," Glassman said.
Ruth Paloma Rivera just bought her first home, battling her way through the paperwork obstacle course that is the post-crisis American banking system.

In her initial attempt at obtaining a mortgage, the bank wanted a copy of her diploma from Rutgers University, where she earned a bachelor's degree in political science. It asked for years of telephone bills and a letter from her credit unions to ensure she was in "good standing," she said. Because of a mistake on her application, the bank also requested verification of her permanent residency status. Rivera, 28, was born in Puerto Rico, which makes her a U.S. citizen.

"It has been a really long, daunting, hard process," she said.

Rivera's financial background would make many banks nervous. She had multiple jobs after graduation. She temporarily stopped paying on some of her student loans because her wages were so low. She was turned down for a credit card. And the house she wanted to buy  a three-story walk-up on the risky streets of North Philadelphia  needs major repairs. But she also spent almost two years rebuilding her credit record, including moving in with her mother to cut expenses, so she could qualify for a mortgage.

Tougher Rules

Her experience, and that of millions of other Americans, exemplifies what Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen calls a "headwind" for the economy: It's hard to get a loan. Bad mortgages were at the epicenter of the financial crisis in 2008-2009, the worst since the Great Depression. Since then, regulators have swarmed over the financial system, imposing tougher rules while levying billions in fines.

The credit constraints have big implications in an election year thats seen Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders become the protest candidates of Americans who feel excluded from economic growth. In a globalized world where companies can move some service and production jobs across borders, wages are constantly under pressure, and financial security is increasingly about asset ownership.

Housing  the traditional way Americans became stakeholders  has become more elusive. The national homeownership rate fell 5.1 percentage points, to 63.8% at the end of 2015, from the final quarter of 2006. The decline cuts hard across racial lines, dropping 3.8 percentage points for white owners and 6.3 percentage points for those who are black. The rate for Hispanics declined 2.8 percentage points.

Eight Criteria

There are multiple causes of tight credit, which has lasted far longer than economists expected. The 2010 Dodd-Frank Act directed the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to establish a minimum standard for mortgage underwriting, requiring banks to verify a borrower's ability to repay. It also established a minimum of eight criteria, including employment status, current debt obligations and credit history.

Given the risk of litigation or costly management of defaulted loans, many banks simply are stepping away from riskier borrowers. JPMorgan Chase & Co. recently told investors its total mortgage originations fell in 2015 to $106 billion, from $166 billion in 2013; only 16% had a loan-to-value ratio of 80% or higher, compared with 39%. Spokeswoman Elizabeth Seymour declined to comment on the decline.

"Banks are so scared right now, they are triple-checking every single thing," said Laurie Goodman, director of the Housing Finance Policy Center at the Urban Institute in Washington.

Deeply Scarred

Borrowers also were deeply scarred by the recession.

"While people are back to work, they are not at the income level they were seeing before the crisis," said Patricia Hasson, president of Clarifi, a nonprofit credit-counseling service in Philadelphia. Many are underemployed, "making less money and carrying more of a debt load."

Rivera accumulated $27,000 in debt to get her degree and graduated in August 2010, when the U.S. unemployment rate was 9.5%.

"You couldn't even get a job at McDonalds," she says. She found work as a substitute teacher and eventually stopped paying on her student loans because she wasn't earning enough to cover them and her other expenses. Her credit score cratered. Just how penalizing all this could be hit her hard one day when she applied for a credit card to buy a new Apple computer.

"I got denied," she said. "That summer I started my credit journey."

Building Value

Her goal was bigger than buying a new Mac: After scraping by with low-paying employment, she had a revelation while watching money move in and boost property values in Philadelphia's hipster Fishtown neighborhood. Rivera says she decided her "career" wouldn't depend on a particular job: It would be based on owning something, building its value and then owning something more.

She would start with a bet that gentrification would spread beyond Fishtown  with its craft-beer pubs, art studios and coffee shops  into Kensington, a nearby neighborhood with a reputation for heroin dealing and crime. But Kensington also has colorful street murals and corner bodegas, a testament to its Puerto Rican, black and Dominican population. And development money now is flowing into its southern borders from millennials and first-time homebuyers priced out of more expensive neighborhoods to the southeast, according to Chris Somers, an owner of a Re/Max Access real estate brokerage who also develops local properties.

Fringe Areas

"People feel more and more comfortable going into these fringe areas because they see their friends going there and development happening every week," he said.

Rivera began looking at homes and also began exploring mortgage options. Any bank assessing the risk of loaning her money would ask two basic questions: Will she pay it back, and will the property at least cover the debt if she doesn't? Two metrics would help determine the answers: an appraisal and a credit score based in part on how she'd repaid past debts.

She was already working on cleaning up her score, the benchmark ranking for borrowers that credit-reporting companies calculate. The range is from 300 to 850. Hers had been in the 500s  considered risky  and she was obsessive about raising it.

Scrimped, Saved

She scrimped, she saved, she moved in with her mom. There were no trips and no shopping sprees. She opened an account without a debit card at a credit union, making it more difficult to withdraw money.

"I sacrificed," she said.

With some tough-love urging from advisers at Clarifi, she paid off one $1,000 college loan and began making the others current.

After about 18 months, she says her credit score crossed into the 700s, a level lenders consider a good risk, and she decided to make her move.

She had already decided on the house in North Philadelphia, which she knew intuitively was "the one" when she found it, she said. But as collateral for a mortgage, it would look risky to some lenders: The property is more than seven decades old. Its stairs are dangerous and the basement is damp. The doors, floors and walls all needed fixing. So she'd have to use part of her mortgage loan for home improvements.

Income Volatility

Rivera also had a record of frequent job changes; in addition to working as a substitute teacher, shed also been a youth counselor, cashier for a ferry-boat company and a security-company dispatcher.

She started with a bank that offered grants for first-time homebuyers, then the loan officers moved to Meridian Bank in Plymouth Meeting, Pa. In addition to requests for her diploma and telephone bills, Meridian asked for the contractor doing her renovations to "add what permit costs are involved," according to an email she provided. It also wanted itemized "labor and material costs" and the information about her citizenship.

Tom Campbell, a Meridian senior vice president in charge of residential lending, said specifics on labor, materials and permit costs are required by government guidelines for the type of purchase-and-renovation loan Rivera wanted.

Application Questions

The bank also had to establish her residency status because of government guarantees on the loan, he said: Boxes in the citizenship section of her application were mis-marked, and the underwriter asked about it. Campbell added that also it's common for lenders to ask for proof of college attainment from borrowers who have held multiple jobs.

Campbell says Rivera's application ultimately was considered incomplete because the banks questions weren't sufficiently answered.

"We sit here and constantly complain that we have to put people through the wringer," he said. His bank provides loans to many low-income borrowers, and there should be a balance between too little and too much regulation, he added.

Rivera switched banks on the advice of her real estate agent. Fearing she would lose the house, she offered to pay the seller rent, even though she wouldn't be living there. The seller agreed. Rivera kept a radio playing in the kitchen and the lights on for about two months to ward off thieves who might steal copper piping and wire.

Her persistence paid off. On March 18, her odyssey ended when she finally got a loan from Quaint Oak Bancorp. based in Southampton, Pa., and closed on the house. Owning property is "empowering," Rivera said, and she's encouraged about her financial future for the first time since she left college.

"I really want it all," she said. And by all, she means all: the empty lot next door, several more empty lots one house over and, most of all, a foothold in American capitalism.
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision last week not to review a mortgage-backed securities lawsuit renewed interest in a long-brewing legal conflict over the mandate of the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. used the 1989 law, which was updated after the current financial crisis, to sue Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and the Royal Bank of Scotland over the sale of $804 million in securities to Guaranty Bank.

In the 2012 lawsuit, the companies were accused of making false statements tied to the 2004 and 2005 MBS sales to the Texas bank, which later failed and was placed under FDIC receivership.

The suit rests on an obscure legal argument that could have an impact beyond the securities industry. It involves a type of state law called the statute of repose, a more lenient version of the statute of limitation in which the clock starts ticking when the alleged act is committed, instead of when it is first brought to light.

These types of laws are "meant to give the person who conducted the allegedly wrong conduct some peace of mind," said Dan Terzian, a Duane Morris associate in Los Angeles.

The question is whether federal statutes like FIRREA are bound by statutes of repose in the states that have them, even when they explicitly address statutes of limitations.

"FIRREA preempts other statutes of limitations," said Terzian. "Most people would agree that it's clear."

But it might be a different story for the statutes of repose.

In June 2014, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of a company making the same argument with respect to an environmental law called the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act. Like FIRREA, CERCLA does not explicitly mention statutes of reposes, though it does refer to statutes of limitations.

The case was cited, Reuters reported, in a September 2014 court ruling that sided with Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and RBS in and dismissed the FDIC's lawsuit.

But in August, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals found the prospect that the U.S. Congress did not mean to include statutes of repose under FIRREAs preemption "highly unlikely," according to Reuters.

The Supreme Court's refusal to review the case might be only temporary  either because the court is short one Justice, or because it wants to see how other lawsuits pan out, said Terzian.

Other cases involving the FDIC are currently pending in appeals courts in California and New York. Lawsuits filed by the Federal Housing Finance Agency and National Credit Union Administration invoking the same legal argument are also in play.

"The Supreme Court's not hearing this doesn't mean the Fifth Circuit got it right" in this case, said Terzian. "Usually [the Supreme Court will] wait a while and give...more courts the chance to address [a case]."
Holding herbicide manufacturers accountable

Finding balance between good economy and the health of the planet

(NaturalNews) Three years ago, the European Union strictly limited the use of neonicotinoid herbicides , blocking companies such as Bayer CropScience and Syngenta from selling their chemicals. In that time, honey bee colonies have re-emerged France's National Assembly are now committed to a full ban on neonicotinoids If the new biodiversity bill passes the French Senate, the neonicotinoid ban will go into effect on Sept. 1, 2018.Prominent neonicotinoid manufacturer, Bayer CropScience believes that farmers will lose up to 40 percent of their harvests due to the ban. However, France's environmental minister is in full support of the ban, and would even like to phase out the use of glyphosate . The country's agricultural minister thinks the ban would hurt farmers in the short term, as they struggle to learn new ways to improve crop health to combat pests.France's Segolene Royal made a statement that provides hope for the future, "This decision will prepare us for the future and protect bees and the role they play. Research and development of substitute products has to accelerate." Hopefully more countries will follow France's lead and save the honey bees and the harmony between all living things in the natural world.When a widely-used agricultural product puts the health of an entire population at risk and threatens the world's most important pollinators, regulatory oversight and accountability become of utmost importance. Sadly, many of the regulations put in place by governments today, actually make it easier for corporations to exploit the environment and unleash massive amounts of agricultural chemicals, which pollute soil, water and food . This chemical damage ultimately trickles through the ecosystem, affecting the health and survival of insects, plants, wildlife and humans.As the industrial economy powers ahead, large scale mining operations leave behind heavy metal deposits that contaminate the soil and water. Pesticide and herbicide manufacturers unleash a stew of synthetic chemicals that create disharmony in the body by weakening the gastrointestinal tract and competing with nutrient uptake and absorption.It takes leaders with conviction to stand up against the chemical assault that is taking place on humanity and the natural world. France is one country making great strides toward a healthier planet. The country recently passed laws requiring restaurants and food manufacturers to donate their excess to charities so good food won't go to waste. Now France is moving toward a full ban on neonicotinoid pesticides which have been contributing to the collapse of the important honey bee pollinators.A large portion of today's world economy is based on products derived from synthetic chemistry experiments. Nearly all pharmaceuticals are developed in stark contrast to what medicine really is. The modern medical system has abandoned the real medicines that are synthesized in nature; for example, the catechins in green and white tea, the curcuminoids in turmeric , glycyrrhizin in licorice root, or the quercetin in blackberries, bilberries, olive oil, etc.The corporations that people invest in the most through stocks and 401ks are the same companies unleashing mass chemical assault on crops. Shouldn't countries and their people be making investments in new products that work with the natural environment instead of destroying it? There has to be balance between what is economically valuable and what is smart for the health of people and the planet. The repercussions of neonicotinoids, for example, can wipe out honey bee populations, ultimately affecting the future economy of fruit and vegetable crops that rely on the honey bees . Hundreds of billions of dollars can be lost if the honey bees aren't protected. If honey bees become endangered any further, many of the crops that humans need to thrive will simultaneously be put in danger.Agricultural products assault the environment in ways that can be felt throughout the entire ecosystem, decimating pollinators, changing the microbial profile of the soil and ravaging water purity. On top of that, plants and insects targeted by pesticides and herbicides develop increased resistance to the synthetic attacks.Isn't it time we recognized these chemicals for what they truly are: an assault on life? Isn't it time we defend ourselves as people and as nations from these attacks?
Technology focuses more on improving food quality issues



Food waste a growing problem; ethylene-absorbing sheets could help



(NaturalNews) Ethylene, a natural gas that's emitted by fruit and is responsible for hastening the ripening process, may have met its match, thanks to a breakthrough device.Made by It's Fresh!, a Food Freshness Technology (FFT) company, the postage stamp-sized device is a filter that absorbs ethylene from fruit. In turn, fruit lasts longer, preserving shelf life and allowing people to enjoy their foods for longer periods of time. You can view the video in thisarticle to view the time lapse which shows for example, how with the filter, strawberries can last up to five days longer than strawberries stored without the technology.The ethylene filter is an absorbent strip comprised of a clay and mineral blend which company experts maintain is safe and chemical-free. Furthermore, the strip can be thrown in a recyclable bin once it's used.According to Food Freshness Technology's website, this particular technology is beneficial because it addresses concerns that many have regarding food quality, waste and security."FFT has invested in excess of $15m in reaching its aim of bringing to market a range of simple products to reduce waste, protect and increase food quality for the benefit of all," the site states. "Extending and protecting food quality addresses a number of urgent ethical and financial challenges facing the modern food industry right now. Simple solutions for; [sic] food security in the developing world, driving reductions in supply chain waste and continuously meeting and beating consumer expectations are all paramount for the successful food business of the future. It is our aim to provide these solutions."FFT praises It's Fresh! saying that it "... is a highly specialised technical innovations company focused on delivering comprehensive solutions for food freshness . These unique technologies are delivered via State-of-the-art materials science developed in partnership with world leading research & technology organisations."FFT's site also addresses undernourishment issues, noting that 1 billion people in the world are suffering from the problem while, "lack of effective, safe and ethical technology to help resolve this matter," persists.In fact, it's noted that about 7 million tons of food get thrown away by households in the UK every year, usually because the food started to rot or because the use-by date passed. But the issue isn't just limited to the UK; people living elsewhere are also engaged in wasteful food habits.In the United States, for example, it's estimated that people are throwing away approximately 40 percent of our food supply annually. It's also estimated that the average American family of four tosses the equivalent of upwards of $2,275 in food away every year.It's FFT's hope that the It's Fresh ethylene-absorbing technology will play a role in combating this problem; by making a food last longer, people will no longer be inclined to let it go to waste as soon as they typically do.FFT chief technology officer, Lawrence Matthews, says, "It slows the development of rot and extends quality, freshness and flavour ."Currently, the absorbent strip is used prior to the food transportation process; it's commonly used by supermarkets for strawberries, plums, avocados, cherries, peaches and many other fruits. The thought that it could eventually be used in the home environment is exciting, because it has the potential to preserve food in a safe manner, unlike some of the toxic ingredients and dangerous methods currently used in the food supply , allowing us to enjoy healthy foods, for longer  and fight the problem of food waste at the same time.
Respecting the wishes of the dying



Check in, check out

(NaturalNews) Most people don't want to die; even fewer want to die in a hospital. When faced with the specter of death, most patients would prefer to die at home, but fear they might lose quality care in doing so. According to a recent study, contrary to popular belief, terminally ill cancer patients who choose to die at home not only receive good medical care, but they tend to live longer than terminally ill patients bound to a hospital facility.The authors of the Japanese study, published in the journal,, reviewed 2,069 patients who received palliative care between September 2012 and April 2014. Approximately 1,582 of the patients died at a hospital, whereas the remaining 487 died at home. Exactly 58 specialist palliative care services were included.Palliative care, otherwise known as comfort care, does not focus on treating or mitigating the underlying condition. Instead, it is intended to keep terminally ill patients as comfort as possible while respecting their dying wishes.After adjusting several factors that impact mortality rates, such as where the individual lives, the team found that patients who received end-of-life care at home often lived significantly longer than patients who received such care at a hospital.The researchers also referenced the weeks' prognosis group using the Palliative Care Study predictor model, which estimated that prognoses were on average 36 days for patients who died at home and 29 days for patients who died in hospitals."The cancer patient and family tend to be concerned that the quality of medical treatment provided at home will be inferior to that given in a hospital and that survival might be shortened," said lead author Dr. Jun Hamano of the University of Tsukuba in Japan."However, our finding - that home death does not actually have a negative influence on the survival of cancer patients at all, and rather may have a positive influence - could suggest that the patient and family can choose the place of death in terms of their preference and values," he added.The authors believe that the results of the study should encourage doctors to respect the rights of cancer patients by allowing them to die at home. Previous research has shown that more patients who do not receive chemotherapy die where they want to, in comparison to patients who receive invasive chemotherapy during the last few months of life.The problem isn't limited to Japan either. In other countries touted for having socialized medicine, like Canada for example, approximately 70 percent of deaths occur in hospitals, according to Statistics Canada. When asked about their dying preference, however, most Canadians say they would prefer to die at home Other research, such as a 2013 review, found that people who were treated at home were more likely to die there, and less likely to experience the burdens of the disease. In addition, at-home care did not make the grief of the family worse. In fact, according to a 2014 study, home-based end-of-life care was linked to lower medical expenses.Unfortunately, the choice to die at home isn't always a feasible option. Several factors, including the progression of the disease, the need to control symptoms, limited family support and availability, among other unexpected health problems, deter many terminally ill patients from dying in the comfort of their own homes."Patients, families, and clinicians should be reassured that good home hospice care does not shorten patient life, and even may achieve longer survival," Hamano concluded.
'Our work supports the theory that antibiotics may progressively alter the composition and function of the gut microbiome'

We knew that, too, about the gut microbiome

(NaturalNews) There are many reasons why antibiotics should not be over-prescribed, the most important being that doing so has led to the evolution of drug-resistant superbugs that don't respond to traditional treatment.Now, however, researchers have discovered another phenomenon related to prescription antibiotics: Their use in children under the age of two can cause obesity later in life , the UK'sreports.Just three or four courses of antibiotics is linked to obesity later on, researchers at the University of Colorado and University of Pennsylvania found."Antibiotics have been used to promote weight gain in livestock for several decades, and our research confirms that antibiotics have the same effects on humans," said study author Dr. Frank Irving Scott."Our results do not imply that antibiotics should not be used when necessary, but rather encourage both doctors and parents to think twice about antibiotic usage in infants in the absence of well-established indications," he added.Thefurther reported that a team of scientists performed a large study in the UK to gauge the reported link between antibiotic use before the age of two and obesity by age four. They discovered that children who had taken antibiotics at a 1.2 percent absolute  and 25 percent relative  had an increased risk of developing childhood obesity. The risk became more profound the more antibiotics the kids had been prescribed."Our work supports the theory that antibiotics may progressively alter the composition and function of the gut microbiome, thereby predisposing children to obesity as is seen in livestock and animal models," Scott said.In the U.S. alone, antibiotics are prescribed during an estimated 49 million outpatient pediatric visits each year. Also, more than 10 million of those prescriptions are handed out to children for no clear reason.The researchers, who published their findings in the journal, were surprised by their findings, since there has been an increased awareness regarding the risks of over-prescribing antibiotics, namely the development of antibiotic resistance.Additionally, as thereported:"Furthermore, children are known to face other tangible risks to antibiotics, including dermatologic, allergic and infectious complications, inflammatory bowel disease and autoimmune conditions."The scientists noted that further research must assess whether these findings remain into adolescence and young adulthood."They also note that researchers should examine whether specific types of antibiotics are more likely to cause the childhood obesity Currently the American Gastroenterological Association is promoting and sharing research related to antibiotics and obesity, as well as how they affect the gut microbiome, in order to better inform doctors and patients alike.In 2012,reported on how misuse of antibiotics puts your health at risk, and that one of the worst things to do is to give an infant antibiotics, since these indiscriminately kill both the good and the bad kinds of bacteria:"One round of antibiotics will permanently change the baby's immune system, and because a majority of neuro-chemicals are also made in the gut, the baby's neurology is also altered. The antibiotics that have been touted as the savior of mankind from disease are costing us in cancer and degenerative, chronic diseases."After just the first dose, vitally important gut bacteria are decimated, thus altering the body's immune system and it's ability to make appropriate immune cells. "Fungus in the gut is now unopposed and begins to proliferate unchecked by the friendly bacteria. After fungus sets up strongholds then parasites move in to share the bounty of food and minerals meant to feed the body. This is the first step for chronic disease and cancer ," we reported.
Monsanto was the sole U.S. manufacturer of PCBs

Monsanto denies all responsibility

(NaturalNews) In recent days, Portland, Oregon's city council voted unanimously to authorize city attorney Tracy Reeve to sue Monsanto for polluting two of the city's main waterways, The Columbia Slough and Willamette River, with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).PCBs are a group of highly toxic, cancer-causing chemicals that pose a serious threat to human and environmental health. They linger for many decades in the environment. According to mayor Charlie Hales, Portland has already spent over a billion dollars of public money to clean up the contamination in both rivers.Portland will be the seventh city on the West Coast to file such a federal lawsuit against Monsanto. Other cities include Seattle, Spokane, Berkeley, Oakland, San Diego and San Jose.According to Tracy Reeve, Monsanto's own documents show that the company continued its sales, even after they knew of the risks PCBs posed for human and environmental health. She claims that there is documentary evidence confirming that Monsanto knew that PCBs lead to contamination of fish, oysters and birds.Before making the switch to agriculture, Monsanto was the only manufacturer of PCBs, which brought in an estimate of $22 million in business a year. Monsanto was the only manufacturer of PCB's in the United States from 1939 until PCBs were banned in the late 70s," said Reeve. "During that time there's documentary evidence that Monsanto knew that PCBs were dangerous to the environment, that they migrated from waterways to fish, from fish to birds and also to people and they, nonetheless, continued to manufacture and distribute PCBs."In 1979, The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) took action and banned all PCBs due to their links to birth defects, skin and liver issues, and cancer. According to the EPA, 150 million pounds of PCBs are still dispersed throughout the environment, and an additional 290 million pounds can be found in landfills.Reeve notes that Monsanto needs to be held accountable for its apparent decision to favor profits over ecological and human health. For years, they poisoned the environment and made huge profits from selling PCBs, and should take full responsibility for cleaning up the mess.After being sued by seven cities, Monsanto stated that it could not be held responsible, and released the following statement:"We are reviewing the lawsuit and its allegations. However, Monsanto is not responsible for the costs alleged in this matter. Monsanto today, and for the last decade, has been focused solely on agriculture, but we share a name with a company that dates back to 1901."That company manufactured and sold PCBs that at the time were a lawful and useful product that were then incorporated by third parties into other useful products. Various municipalities built landfills on their bays and operated them for decades to deposit city waste and PCB-containing products into those waterfront landfills. Manufacturing and industrial facilities also operated in these areas, contributing to PCBs in the general area. If the third-party disposal or municipal disposal practices of the past have led four decades later to the state's development of lawful limits on future PCB discharges into various bays and rivers through storm water, then those third parties and municipal landfill operators bear responsibility for these additional costs."The seven lawsuits were filed separately, but will be represented by the same two law firms, the California-based Gomez Trial Lawyers, and Texas-based Baron & Budd. The firms plan a motion to ask that one judge handles all seven cases.Unfortunately, Monsanto's henchmen have penetrated all layers of society, and they might, once again, get away with it.reported last month that the House and Senate have inserted a new clause in the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) re-authorization bill. This would effectively exempt Monsanto from all liability for injuries caused by PCBs."If Monsanto gets its way, the American people will pay a high price for corporate greed and political corruption," Environmental attorney Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. said.
Refusing consent no longer gives state permission to remove a child from his or her home

The New Mexico law, HB 53, prohibits school personnel from forcing children to use psychotropic medications  a common occurrence in government schools across America, where close to 10 million children are on such drugs. Among other elements, the measure allows school officials to offer parents assistance for their children, but never using threats or coercion.



Now, schools must get parental consent for child psych "screening"

(NaturalNews) In one state, at least, it is no longer permissible to force parents at gunpoint to allow their children to be given dangerous psychotropic drugs As reported by(TNA), a new law in New Mexico to protect kids from coercive psychiatric screening and medication was approved last year in the state, and now advocates for the law hope it will spread to other states and provide similar protection for children, families and parental rights.As TNA reported further, Big Pharma and the Obama Administration have been pushing hard to unconstitutionally spread mandatory "mental health" screening, treatment and tracking of children nationwide. But health freedom advocates say laws like the one on the books in New Mexico "could offer much-needed protection in the years ahead. And progress is already being made," TNA noted.The legislation in New Mexico, which was supported by members of both major political parties and passed nearly unanimously in both chambers of the state legislature, is being celebrated by its advocates as the toughest forced medication protection law in the country. Formally titled the "Child Medication Safety Act," the measure sought to address what is viewed by many as an alarming trend in the U.S.  threats and coercion against families and their children when it comes to forcing psychiatric evaluation and subsequent mandatory medication with dangerous mind-altering drugs."For too long parents' rights have been subjugated by the mental health industry, and children wrongly labeled with mental disorders and drugged with dangerous mind-altering psychotropic drugs," said the Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR), a nonprofit mental-health watchdog that backed the law and hopes similar measures will spread nationwide. "It's encouraging that New Mexico is taking its place among a growing list of states taking protective actions on behalf of children and parental rights."The group noted that it was time for other states to take similar action, TNA reported.The news site noted further:"An employee or agent of a school district or governing body shall not compel or attempt to compel any specific actions by the parent or guardian or require that a student take a psychotropic medication," says the law.In addition, the statute makes it illegal to use a parent's refusal to medicate their child with psychotropic or other mind-altering drugs as a reason to remove the child from their home and place them in the care of the state's child "protective" apparatus "A child shall not be taken into protective custody solely on the grounds that the child's parent, guardian or custodian refuses to consent to the administration of a psychotropic medication to the child," the law says.That passage is notably important, given recent cases around the United States in which state bureaucrats have literally stolen children and forced them to take medications that are often dangerous or experimental, in violation of internationally agreed upon human rights (see here here and here for just a few examples of Natural News coverage).Another huge victory for advocates of traditional medical ethics in New Mexico is a section of the statute that bans mandatory "mental health" screening, as this has often been used as a phony pretext for trumped-up charges against parents.Under the law, schools have to not only request butparental consent before "screening" a child for any presumed mental issues."School personnel shall not require a student to undergo psychological screening unless the parent or guardian of that student gives prior written consent before each instance of psychological screening," the law says.
Officials have known for a year

More vaccine injury coming to America

SV40 virus has been found in certain types of cancer in humans, but it has not been determined that SV40 causes these cancers.



(NaturalNews) Americans and the Chinese people have another thing in common besides a big economy  vaccine violence.As reported by the BBC, parents in China are extremely angry after learning about a massive illegal vaccine operation in Shangdong province. The illegal ring involved hundreds of people and had spread to 24 provinces and cities, according to local media cited by the BBC.The outrage grew after news spread that a boy who had been vaccinated died, though Chinese officials claimed the death was not tied to the Shangdong scandal, a story that no thinking person would actually believe.The illegal vaccine ring  one of a plethora of health and safety scandals in China in recent years  was likely in operation since 2011, officials said. The ringleaders, said to be a mother and daughter who bought the vaccines from licensed and unlicensed sources, have been arrested, according to reports. After buying the vaccines, the pair would then sell them to illegal agents or local disease control and prevention centers for inflated prices, the BBC reported, citing the Xinhua news agency.It turns out that the 88 million dollars' worth of vaccines purchased and sold were also not properly refrigerated or transported in state-approved conditions. Xinhua notes that because the vaccines were potentially compromised there could be more deaths and disabilities.Chinese authorities have been investigation the illegal ring for a year, reports said, but only made it public in recent days after issuing a call demanding that suppliers come forward so they can trace potential victims. Chinese social media exploded with questions as to why it took the government so long to acknowledge the ring."This is such a huge case and not a single regulatory official has come out to apologise, not a single one has resigned... this system which doesn't care whether ordinary citizens live or die makes one's soul tired," said one user."24 provinces, 5 years already, and how many children!... It's been nearly a year and then they reveal this! Isn't this genocide? Words cannot express how angry I am!" another wrote.Authorities responded to the public outcry by promising to punish everyone responsible, but that wasn't likely to quell the anger anytime soon."They also released details on the affected vaccines , which included those for polio, rabies, mumps, encephalitis, hepatitis B and meningococcal diseases," the BBC reported further, adding that the four-year-old boy who died passed away after receiving meningococcal and polio vaccines.As mentioned earlier, China now shares the tragedy of vaccine injury with the United States. As Natural News reported in September 2013 , the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention "abruptly deleted a fact page on their website linking cancer with simian virus 40 (SV40) found in polio vaccines. Disturbingly, it's estimated that well over 98 million Americans are now infected with this cancer promoting virus - and the numbers are likely growing."The excised page contained additional information, such as:Sayer Ji, founder of, disagrees."SV-40 has a well-known mechanism of carcinogenicity. This virus suppresses the transcriptional properties of the tumor-suppressing p53 protein in humans, a gene product that has been described as 'the guardian of the genome' because of its critical role in preventing genome instability and cancer initiation," he said. "When p53 is disabled, programmed cell death (apoptosis) and cell cycle arrest is rendered dysfunctional, leading to uncontrolled (immortalized) cell proliferation, and tumor formation."What's more, it's likely that recent efforts to force parents to vaccinate all children could soon be directed at adults, as well. Read that story at Vaccines.news
Why poison hogs to death? Because they are multiplying more rapidly than humans

Population control through food chemicals

Sodium nitrite already called a "vertebrate pesticide"

USDA to hunters: It's safe to eat the wild hogs we've poisoned to death

Bottom line: Sodium nitrite is a deadly pesticide... so why are you eating it for breakfast?

Food Forensics: The new food science book from the Health Ranger

(NaturalNews) A preservative chemical that's routinely added to hot dogs, beef jerky, bacon and breakfast sausage is now being deployed by government researchers as a fatal bait to poison wild hogs to death. Development of the deadly hog poison is being pursued by none other than the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the same agency that legalizes the same toxic chemical to be used in processed meat products approved for human consumption.The chemical, known as, is a cancer-causing "color fixer" and meat preservative added to processed meat products to give them a pink hue that consumers mistake for being "fresh." When sodium nitrite combines with the hydrochloric acid (HCl) found in stomach acid, it forms cancer-causing. These nitrosamines go on to directly promote pancreatic cancer, colorectal cancer, leukemia, brain tumors and other cancers throughout the body -- facts that I have been warning readers about for over a decade . Sodium nitrite is the reason why processed meats drastically raise the risks of cancer, heart disease and diabetes Eating sodium nitrite, in other words, is a lot like eating a slow death in the form of cancer. But in feral pigs, the same chemical kills quite rapidly. A paper posted online by the USDA states, " The toxin, sodium nitrite, a common meat preservative that prevents botulism, had previously been shown to be a quick-acting and low-residue toxicant for feral pigs in Australia and has since been patented.""USDA is seeking to reduce the wild pig population that roams in at least 35 states," confirms Chemical & Engineering News (October 13, 2014). "In January, it launched a national initiative that will attempt to stamp out the pervasive pigs by slipping them bait laced with a fatal dose of sodium nitrite."Feral pigs are widely believed to be a costly pest across Australia and many parts of the Southern United States. They are incredible survivors with extraordinary adaptation skills. Intelligent and resourceful, they can live almost entirely off wild subsoil onion bulbs and other small roots. (Which, for the record, makes them a whole lot smarter than most humans who would die in no time if their local grocery store stopped stocking Pop-Tarts and Oreos.) Present-day eradication techniques tend to focus on trapping and shooting the wild hogs, which is why sodium nitrite bait is typically described by USDA scientists as a "humane" option for causing rapid death without all the blood, violence and screaming.(I see feral swine almost daily on my ranch in central Texas. At times, I'll see swarms of 100 or more, running across a path in front of me, with dozens of squealing babies scurrying to keep up with the adults. Their fur is black, by the way. They aren't pink like you see in commercial hogs. In their wake, you'll find "plowed" swaths of fields, where they've uprooted wild onions and other plants. Because I'm not a farmer, they've never been much of a direct nuisance to me, so I leave them to their own business and move along. They've never threatened me or my animals, so I don't mind their presence much. I feel far more threatened by the highways full of dangerous, clueless Californians driving around Austin while texting on their mobile devices... I can deal with hogs. But I can't deal with motor vehicle morons...)Over the last few decades, feral swine have "spread from 9 states 30 years ago to 44 states today (Figure 2), and unless strict confinement and eradication measures are enacted it is anticipated that they will be in every state within the next few years," says the USDA. See this map:Perhaps not coincidentally, human depopulation proponents often use similar language to describe the "population problem" of humans, decrying how humans have multiplied rapidly to over 7 billion in global numbers, purportedly causing extreme damage to the environment in the process. Not coincidentally, feral swine are being slaughtered by invoking almost identical reasoning. This explanation from the USDA sounds almost exactly like a talk from Bill Gates on why there are too many humans on the planet:... sound like anyone else you know?It is noteworthy that the method now being sought to kill off feral swine is to(i.e. bait). That same exact chemical -- sodium nitrite -- has been known to be a potent cancer-causing agent since at least the 1970s, but the USDA has insisted on keeping it legal in the human food supply in order to appease the interests of powerful food corporations.It's worth noting that if the sodium nitrite hog bait is ultimately approved by U.S. regulators for killing wild hogs, the chemical would be registered as "a pesticide with the Environmental Protection Agency for controlling wild swine," reports ACS.org . This "pesticide," by the way, is one of the primary business recruitment tools of the for-profit cancer industry.Much of today's cancer industry, it turns out, thrives on the steady supply of cancer patients produced by sodium nitrite in processed meat products. The FDA, which receives large payments of money from drug companies seeking FDA approval for cancer treatment drugs, also refuses to ban sodium nitrite from the food supply, even as a mountain of irrefutable scientific evidence links the chemical to cancers in humans. Interestingly, sodium nitrite is one of the key chemicals. Search science.naturalnews.com for "sodium nitrite" to see a selection of some of the research that's already been published. Or click here to search GoodGopher.com for sodium nitrite In the feral swine analysis published by the USDA, sodium nitrite is already labeled a "vertebrate pesticide" and its toxicological effects are described by the USDA as follows:Yummm... looks like breakfast at Denny's!The big idea in all this, of course, is to, waiting for wild pigs to eat the bait and die from chemical poisoning. (If that doesn't work, they can always try hog vaccines to reduce the population, right?)Once wild hogs are poisoned to death with sodium nitrite, they are totally safe for humans to consume, the USDA tells us. This must be very comforting to hunters to know that their federal government says it's okay to eat animals killed with a deadly poison that's been circulating through their blood and organs."To clarify, hunters or wildlife would not be at risk from consuming sub-lethally or lethally poisoned feral pigs, as confirmed by residue testing on pen and field-poisoned feral pigs," says their report.The agency does acknowledge, however, that "Nitrite is toxic to aquatic organisms." It explains, "As such, nitrite levels are currently being assessed in three water bodies of different sizes following a worst-case scenario contamination incident (40 baits)."This means that in order to attempt to eradicate feral swine from the Southern USA, the USDA might be poisoning aquatic ecosystems even more than they are already. We may be facing a future where "sodium nitrite runoff" is added to the already catastrophic levels of atrazine, glyphosate and other agricultural chemicals that are destroying amphibians and devastating aquatic ecosystems.The upshot of all this is that the USDA already admits sodium nitrite -- the same chemical added to bacon, breakfast sausage, lunchmeat and pepperoni pizza -- is a "pesticide" capable of killing certain mammals.Is it possible that some humans are genetically predisposed to being harmed by sodium nitrite in the food supply? Why are we feeding this deadly hog killing chemical to our schoolchildren in school lunches?In a world where the food supply is already toxic and dangerous for human consumption, the routine use of a cancer-causing chemical known to be fatal to other mammals seems insanely stupid. All who wish to avoid this deadly chemical in foods should look out for "NO NITRITES" labels on packages of bacon, jerky and sausage. Be sure to check ham soup products for sodium nitrite, and you'll also find the deadly pesticide in frozen pizzas and children's snack lunches that contain processed meat.Over two years in the making,publishes the heavy metals testing results from over 800 foods, supplements, spices and superfoods. Available now for pre-order on Amazon and Barnes & Noble, click here for the Food Forensics website and book preorder links " - Michael T. Murray, author of The Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine" - Ronnie Cummins, Organic Consumers Association." - Robert Scott Bell." - Ty Bollinger, The Truth About Cancer
An exoplanet with three suns was recently discovered by a group of scientists from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics using the Kilodegree Extremely Little Telescope (KELT).

KELT is a set of two small telescopes located in South Africa and Arizona.

According to the study published in the Astronomical Journal, the newly discovered planet, named KELT-4Ab, is an inflated, transiting hot Jupiter. This exoplanet orbits the brightest star of the hierarchal triple stellar system.

Christian Science Monitor reported that the host star of KELT-4Ab, dubbed KELT-A, is the largest host star in the three-star exoplanetary system.

The two other suns are smaller twin stars named KELT-4B and KELT-4C, or collectively known as KELT-4BC.

KELT-4Ab completes its orbit around KELT-4A within three days, while KELT-4BC orbits around KELT-4Ab once every 4,000 years.

On the other hand, KELT-4BC orbit each other every 30 years.

KELT-4Ab is very close to its host star making it a "hot Jupiter," which is very uncommon for a giant gas planet.

"Hot Jupiters aren't supposed to exist. None of them," said Jason Eastman, a research associate at the center and the study's lead author, in space.com.

"Gaseous planets the size of Jupiter are supposed to form much farther out [from their parent star] and stay there, like our own Jupiter did," he added.

There is no solid surface in KELT-4Ab.

KELT-4A would appear 40 times as large as our sun appears from the Earth when you are looking at it from its atmosphere. The KELT-BC would be almost as bright as a full moon.

According to Microcap Magazine, the KELT-4 system was already discovered in the past, but it was only until recently that researchers realized that it has a triple-star nature.

As of date, KELT-4Ab is the only the fourth planet discovered to have a stable orbit within a multi-star system.
The recent discovery of a terrestrial clone of Mars on our planet Earth might be the start of plenty of new research on the Red Planet, and for a lesser cost.

Scientists from the Space Applications Center in Ahmedabad, the Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur and the National Geophysical Research Institute in Hyderabad discovered a landscape quite similar to the planet Mars in Gujarat, India.

The recently discovered landscape possesses a mineral accumulation of jarosite and has a rocky landscape that is quite similar to the Martian surface. It was in 2004 that NASA's space exploration rovers discovered the rare mineral on Mars.

Jarosite is usually found after a volcanic eruption and indicates an oxidizing and acidic environment. This rare mineral is actually a hydrated iron sulfate composite which, when exposed to a wet environment, gets specific mineral properties.

Its discovery on Mars indicates that Red Planet once had large amounts of water.

Scientists said the jarosite formation on Mars is a result of near-surface acidic water and oxidizing conditions. An intense study on this rocky landscape might bring to understanding the water-based activity on Mars.

Last year, NASA scientists discovered flowing water in our neighboring planet. According to the research done by NASA, hydrated minerals on the rocky slopes of Mars were discovered. These streaks flow over the slopes over time.

Later, they were discovered to be recurring slope lineae and indicate a possibility of flowing water in Mars.

More research has to be done to recognize the water bodies discovered there.

The discovery of a similar landscape in Gujarat will help in further research and study of the Red Planet. Instead of sending robots there, research could be conducted right here in the Matanumadh Formation at a reduced cost.

The jarosite localities were also earlier found in Australia, but are not as similar as the one discovered in Gujarat.

Research to understand the geology of the Martian surface can now be conducted on this rocky surface. This is a cost-effective and safer means to research and study the planet Mars.
The sea lion pup that captured the hearts of thousands on the internet after she was found curled up in a La Jolla restaurant booth will be returned to the wild on Tuesday.

The sickened pup, Marina, has been recovering at SeaWorld since she was rescued by park workers in February. She was found at The Marine Room Restaurant after somehow getting into the dining hotspot and making her way into a booth with a scenic view of the beach below.

Tuesday morning, park workers, along with Bernard Guillas -- the chef who first found Marina and has been visiting her at SeaWorld -- will boat out several miles off the coast of San Diego to free Marina.

Park officials say the once emaciated pup is now a healthy weight, gaining more than 25 pounds, has a healed eye and has shown she can forage for food in the wild.

The SeaWorld veterinarians and rescue team members have been very pleased with her recovery, a SeaWorld news release said.

When the pup was found, Marine Room executive chef took some photos of the whiskered patron that were liked and shared on Facebook thousands of times.
A man who was severely beaten by two Alameda County sheriff's deputies last year, only to be arrested by the FBI on undisclosed charges, appeared in federal court in San Francisco Monday at a closed hearing.

The courtroom of U.S. Magistrate Sallie Kim was cleared and closed to the public before Stanislav Petrov was brought before Kim. The 29-year-old was to be arraigned Monday, but sources say it was put off until Wednesday. A spokesman for prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney's Office was not available for comment.

Stanislav Petrov's mother, Olga Petrov of San Francisco, who was also barred from the hearing, told NBC Bay Area Monday evening that her son had been moved to Marin County Jail. He called and told her that he had been beaten by deputies there as well, she alleged. However, a sheriff's sergeant denied the allegations.

Speaking outside court earlier in the day, Olga Petrov said that her son has suffered brain injuries and is struggling with post-traumatic stress since the beating.

"He started becoming absolutely unpredictable and unmanageable" after the beating, she said.

Stanislav Petrov has not received the mental health treatment he needs, according to Olga Petrov.

"In November, they destroyed him physically, they destroyed him mentally, and Im not only talking about his hands," she said. "They took his soul."

Stanislav Petrov was beaten by two deputies with more than 40 baton blows on a street in the Mission District at the end of a car chase that began in unincorporated San Leandro on Nov. 12. A video of the beating has widely circulated online.

The incident prompted an investigation and three sheriff's deputies  one of whom is accused of bribing witnesses in exchange for silence and then taking a so-called trophy shot with Stanislav Petrov's bloodied body  have been placed on administrative leave.

Petrov's mother and lawyers representing him in a complaint against Alameda County say he suffered several head injuries and permanent damage to his hands, so that he can no longer work as an auto mechanic.

An attorney representing one of the sheriff's deputies decried Olga Petrov's accusations Monday and defended the deputies' actions, saying Stanislav Petrov refused to surrender, necessitating the use of force.

On Friday, the FBI and San Francisco police raided a house in the city's Visitacion Valley neighborhood and arrested Petrov and an unidentified woman. Sources say he was slapped with a federal weapons charge, officials said.

"This horrible event that we saw on the news on Friday  its only the top of the iceberg," Olga Petrov said.

She also said, "My son was deliberately criminalized" unfairly by various law enforcement agencies leaking what she believes to be false reports of alleged offenses.

Ever since last year's brutal beating, law enforcement officials have been trying to paint her son as a monster and bury him in prison, further traumatizing him, Olga Petrov said.

Stanislav Petrov, however, has a long criminal arrest record. As a felon he could face a decade in prison, if convicted of possessing a firearm.

Meanwhile, on Saturday, 23-year-old Dana Rinta, a former girlfriend of Petrov's who had been missing for more than two weeks, walked into a police station in the city and said she and her 17-month-old daughter were safe.

Olga Petrov said she did not know anything about the house where her son was arrested.

Since the trauma of the beating, she said, Stanislav Petrov's "habit was to live in multiple places. He had multiple ladies he was calling his girlfriend."
The Delaware County Medical Examiner has identified the two workers who were killed when an Amtrak train crashed into a backhoe on the tracks near Philadelphia Sunday morning.

Joseph Carter, Jr., 61, of Wilmington, Delaware, and Peter John Adamovich, 59, of Lincoln University, Pennsylvania, both died from multiple blunt force injuries when a speeding train hit a piece of construction equipment and partially derailed in Chester, Pennsylvania. Carter was a backhoe operator while Adamovich was a worker.

The identities of the two victims were released Monday as the National Transportation Safety Board revealed new details in the crash.

NTSB official Ryan Frigo said at a news conference that the train was traveling 106 mph in a 110 mph zone and the crash occurred at milepost 15.7, just north of the Booth Street underpass in Chester. The engineer placed the train into emergency mode five seconds before impact, according to officials.

Frigo also said "no anomalies" were found after investigators examined the locomotive and passenger cars, along with their maintenance records. Video revealed construction equipment and work train equipment were on the track and immediately adjacent to the Amtrak train's track at the time of the crash. Frigo said investigators have not yet determined who was authorized to be on the track.

The Amtrak Palmetto Line train was heading from New York to Savannah, Georgia, when it hit a backhoe on the track about 8 a.m. Sunday in Chester, about 15 miles outside of Philadelphia, officials said. The impact derailed the lead engine of the train and shattered its windshield. There were 341 passengers and seven crew members on board. [[374415721, C]]

U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, of New York, said before Carter Jr. and Adamovich were identified that he was told the Amtrak employees who were killed both worked for the train system for a long time.

Two workers were killed while dozens were injured after an Amtrak train crashed into a backhoe just south of Philadelphia Sunday morning. NBC10s Randy Gyllenhaal has the latest on the investigation.

Before many of the injured Amtrak crash passengers made it to the hospital, they took refuge in a nearby church. NBC10s Cydney Long has that story.

The crash came on a weekend full of accidents, NBC News reported: A man apparently trying to cross tracks near Sacramento was fatally struck by a train, a motorist was killed when a train crashed into a car in Illinois and a pedestrian near Philadelphia lost a leg after being struck by a train.

Frigo said at a Sunday news conference the engineer of the derailed locomotive in Pennsylvania was among those taken to hospitals. He said he did not know why the equipment was on a track the train was using. Scheduling, the track structure and the work being performed at the time of the accident would be part of the investigation, he said.

The event data recorder and forward-facing and inward-facing video from the locomotive were recovered, Frigo said Monday, and the recorder was sent to the NTSB laboratory in Washington. Frigo said it determined the train was traveling 106 mph at a location with a 110 mph speed limit.



Schumer said it's unclear whether the equipment was being used for regular maintenance, which usually is scheduled on Sunday mornings because fewer trains are on the tracks then, or whether it was clearing debris from high winds in the area overnight.



But he said Amtrak has "a 20-step protocol" for having equipment on the tracks and no trains are supposed to go on a track when equipment is present.



"Clearly this seems very likely to be human error," Schumer said, calling for Amtrak to review its processes. "There is virtually no excuse for a backhoe to be on an active track."



An Amtrak spokeswoman said in an email Sunday to The Associated Press that any information about the type of equipment on the track and why the train was using that track would have to come from the NTSB.

Ari Ne'eman, a disability rights activist heading to Washington after speaking at an event in New York, said he was in the second car at the time of the crash.



"The car started shaking wildly, there was a smell of smoke, it looked like there was a small fire and then the window across from us blew out," said Ne'eman, 28, of Silver Spring, Maryland.



Some passengers started to get off after the train stopped, but the conductor quickly stopped them, he said. Officials started evacuating people to the rear of the train and then off and to a local church.



"It was a very frightening experience. I'm frankly very glad that I was not on the first car," where there were injuries," Ne'eman said. "The moment that the car stopped, I said Shema, a Jewish prayer. ... I was just so thankful that the train had come to a stop and we were OK."



Businessman Steve Forbes told C-SPAN's "Book TV" by phone that he was in the next-to-last car when the train "made sudden jerks" as if it was about to make an abrupt stop. [[374430881, C]]

Forbes, chairman and editor-in-chief of Forbes Media, said the train then made another abrupt stop and "everyone's coffee was flying through the air."

"The most disconcerting thing ... (was) not knowing what had happened," he said. [[374439401, C]]

Since the public address system was knocked out, he and other passengers were left to speculate for 20 or 25 minutes before a crew member came back to tell them what had happened, he said.

Amtrak said trains ran close to schedule Monday morning. SEPTA said its Wilmington/Newark Regional Rail Line trains, which were delayed up to a half-hour and did not make all stops in the early morning hours, were restored to full service shortly after 9 a.m. [[374460971, C]]

In travel alerts on its website, Amtrak advised that services would resume on the heavily traveled start of the workweek, although commuters would encounter delays on Acela Express, Northeast Regional and other services between Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware.

Amtrak referred all other questions about the Sunday crash of Train 89 to the National Transportation Safety Board, which is conducting the investigation. Chester officials however did reveal some further details at a Monday news conference including that the engineer was last to leave the train and suffered a leg injury and most of the injured on the train were either carried out by crews or walked to ambulances on their own.

The derailment comes almost a year after an Amtrak train originating from Washington, D.C. bound for New York City went off the tracks in Philadelphia. Eight people were killed and more than 200 were injured in the May 12 crash. The exact cause of that derailment is still under investigation, but authorities have said the train had been traveling twice the speed limit.

Nearly three decades ago, an Amtrak train struck maintenance equipment on tracks in Chester, near the site of Sunday's derailment. More than 20 people were injured in that January 1988 crash of Train 66, the Night Owl. The NTSB determined afterward that an Amtrak tower operator had failed to switch the train to an unoccupied track.
A recent poll released Monday shows Rep. Tammy Duckworth holding a slight lead over incumbent Mark Kirk in the race for his U.S. Senate seat.

The poll, which was conducted for Kirk by GS Strategy Group, surveyed 600 likely general election voters and found that nearly 43 percent of respondents chose Duckworth, while nearly 40 percent sided with Kirk. In addition to this there was a 4 percent margin of error and nearly 18 percent of voters remained undecided.

The survey also found that over 45 percent of respondents agreed that Kirk was a thoughtful, independent leader. Nearly 22 percent disagreed with the statement.

Aside from this, over 64 percent of the surveys respondents said the U.S. Senate should hold hearings and a confirmation vote for President Barack Obamas Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland. Compare this to over 31 percent of respondents who said the appointment should be left to the countrys next president

On the same subject, nearly 41 percent of respondents felt that Kirk broke with the Republican Party after he called for senate hearings and a vote on Garland. Over 12 percent of respondents felt that he didnt break with his party, while nearly 47 percent claimed they didnt know either way.

The poll results crystallize the fact that Illinois voters value and respect the independent, thoughtful leadership of Sen. Kirk," Kirk spokesman Kevin Artl told Ward Room in a statement. "Meeting with Judge Garland and requesting a vote on his nomination served as yet another proof point to Senator Kirks independence and willingness to buck the party-line to do what he thinks is best for Illinois.

The survey also showed that a substantial portion of participants in the poll are extremely fearful of an imminent terrorist attack on U.S. soil. Nearly 28 percent of of respondents said it was extremely likely that America would be the target of another terrorist attack within the next year and over 28 percent said an attack is very likely. In addition to this, over 35 percent of respondents said an attack was somewhat likely and over 7 percent said an attack was not likely.

The poll also considered a variety of other hot-button political issues.

Over 59 percent of respondents to the survey said they did not support the acceptance of Syrian refugees into the U.S. following "the bombings and shootings in Belgium, Paris and California." Kirk has held a position that Syrian refugees should not be let into the country until it can be done safely. Over 35 percent of respondents were open to allowing Syrian refugees to enter the country.

61 percent of respondents supported Kirk's Syrian refugee plan, while 25 percent supported Duckworth and 14 percent remained undecided.

The poll also found that 63 percent of respondents sided with Kirk on taxes and spending, while only 20 percent sided with Duckworth and 17 percent remained undecided.

On the subject of veteran care, Kirk received 59 percent of support, while Duckworth received 21 percent. 20 percent of respondents remained undecided.

Duckworth previously worked in the United States Department of Veterans Affairs and the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs. Duckworth currently faces a civil lawsuit stemming from workplace retaliation allegations made by former employees in the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs. The hearing for that suit was recently postponed until May 12.

Respondents to the survey also supported Kirks stance on Iran nuclear sanctions over Duckworths. 51 percent support Kirks initiative to place sanctions on the country in order to limit their ability to create nuclear arms. 30 percent of respondents sided with Duckworth in supporting the Iran nuclear deal, while 19 percent of respondents remained undecided on the matter.

While the ballot test between Mark Kirk and Tammy Duckworth remains incredibly tight, the issues voters are focused on and most passionate about provide an edge to the Kirk campaign, the memos conclusion reads. Duckworth's positions on key national security issues, such as her support for allowing 200,000 Syrian refugees into the US, put her at odds with the great majority of Illinois voters.

Nevertheless, the Duckworth team responded unfavorably to the poll conducted by Kirks campaign.

"What the Kirk campaign put out today is not a memo, it's a cry for help, Duckworth spokesman Matt McGrath told Ward Room.
Lawmakers in the State Capitol took a major step Monday toward banning sugary drinks for infants in child care centers across Connecticut.

The Education Committee approved such a ban, sending the measure to the House floor for debate. The proposal would take effect in October of this year.

The Connecticut Alliance of YMCAs has been pushing for such a ban this year, as several other states have made similar moves, and the number of obese children in the state has come into focus.

"We feel that by teaching as little as, as young as three or four years old that this will carry on with them for the rest of their life, to eat healthy and exercise, and be more physically active, said John Catellan, Executive Director of the Connecticut YMCA Alliance.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, a health care non-profit, about 29% of all Connecticut children between the ages of 10 and 17. Thats an issue Catellan says has to be addressed.

He said "This is not a problem, this is an epidemic and the state needs to play some type of role in working with organizations such as ours in dealing with the childhood obesity issue."

The bill found both Republican and Democratic support, as both reconciled with the idea that this may be a place where government could play a helpful role in regulating the beverages available to children in child care centers.

Democratic Sen. Gary Winfield, (D  New Haven), said, "I'm always a little bit lukewarm about whether we should legislate how much sugar should be consumed or not consumed but if you're asking me if I'm going to vote for the bill, the answer would be, yes."

Sen. Toni Boucher said she normally wouldnt support proposals that have the government reach into an industry or sector, but said this issue is different because of the potential for long reaching effects.

"The best predictor of really good fiscal health is really what we eat, what we drink Sen. Boucher said. Water, fresh fruits and vegetables more so than ever and too often now, like I said the quicker fix is processed food. Things later on that can lead to really bad health outcomes."
A Hartford school teacher has resigned months after his assault arrest on Cape Cod.

An attorney for Travis Marks told the NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters that Marks stepped down from his job as a teacher at the Martin Luther King School in Hartford.

Marks was charged with assault and battery, strangulation or suffocation and indecent assault in Barnstable, Massachusetts in September.

The Hartford school district placed Marks on paid administrative leave a week after his arrest, and sources within the school district confirm Marks later resigned.

Marks is awaiting a jury trial on the charges later this month, according to court officials in Massachusetts.
Parts of Southern California might face 14 days of electrical power disruptions due to unavailable natural gas after a monthslong leak at a storage facility in the San Fernando Valley, leaders from key energy agencies said Tuesday.

The blowout crippled a major energy supply for the region and required a partial shutdown. The storage field has not operated at full capacity since the leak was discovered in October, and the chairman of the California Energy Commission said Tuesday that the partial shutdown could lead to power cuts for up to 14 days as demand skyrockets during the heat of summer.

The information was presented at a meeting of staff members from the California Energy Commission, the California Independent System Operator, the California Public Utilities Commission, and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. The agencies worked together to assess how the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility would impact summer electricity supplies parts of Los Angeles and Orange counties.

They submitted a draft plan Tuesday that provided a range of recommendations to minimize the possibility of electrical disruptions during the summer. The field still has some gas in it, but officials are planning for expected shortages when gas is needed to power electric plants during peak summer demands.

Gas shortages to electrical power plants supplied by Aliso Canyon could interrupt supplies to customers, according to the agencies.

"Aliso Canyon plays an essential role in maintaining both natural gas and electric reliability in the greater Los Angeles area," according to the plan. "As a result, the facilitys limited current operations create a distinct possibility of electricity service interruptions in the coming summer months."

Possible actions include the use of 15 billion cubic feet of natural gas preserved in Aliso Canyon to be used during peak demand periods. The gas was preserved through an order by the California Public Utilities Commission.

The recommendations include "strong energy conservation programs," such as the state's Flex Alert campaign, which warns residents and businesses to reduce energy consumption on high-demand days. Customers can sign up for alerts, issued by the California Independent System Operator.

Those plans and other measures "will reduce, but not eliminate, the risk of gas shortages" that could cause outages this summer, according to the plan.

The draft action plan will be discussed at a public workshop with the energy agencies Friday in Woodland Hills. The meeting is scheduled for 1 p.m. at the Warner Center Marriott, 21850 Oxnard Street.

It is estimated the leak, active from Oct. 23 to Feb. 18, released as much as 100,000 tons of methane, the primary constituent of natural gas, and an undetermined amount of different hydrocarbons, sulfur compounds, and other contaminants.

Health officials said there was no risk of long-term health problems, although the presence of mercaptan -- an odorant added to natural gas -- could cause temporary discomfort. Many residents reported symptoms such as nausea, headaches and stomach problems, prompting them to move into temporary housing out of the area as teams worked to cap the leak.


Police were searching for a man who reportedly kidnapped his 18-month-old baby and the boy's mother, prompting authorities to issue an Amber Alert.

Luis Avalos,22, remained on the run Tuesday morning after the mother and baby were found safe after investigators asked for the publics help in finding them.

The California Highway Patrol confirmed the car in the abduction had been found in West Covina at 10:42 p.m. The LAPD said the mother and baby were found in their South Los Angeles home by 11 p.m.

Police said the abduction happened at or near 10400 South Hoover around 1:15 p.m. in Los Angeles. An Amber Alert has been issued for the 1-year-old child, Ayden Avalos. He went missing with his mother, Sabrina Sanchez, 22.

Avalos is considered to be violent and dangerous. He was believed to be driving a 2006 Silver Chevrolet Impala, with California license plate number 7LPF713. The vehicle was later recovered in West Covina on Workman Street.

Police said the Sanchez's mother heard a scream outside her home Monday afternoon. She saw her daughter get out of Avalos' car and throw her purse and cellphone on the ground.

She then ran back to the car to try and get her son. She told police she heard her daughter scream "Let me go," while Avalos punched and forced her back into the car through a window.

Officers called Avalos using Sanchez's cellphone. When someone picked up, they heard her struggling and screaming in the background. When they were finally able to speak with her on speaker phone, she said "I'm fine."

Officers said Avalos is a documented gang member with previous firearms charges, restraining orders against him for both of the victims and has been previously convicted of domestic violence.

Avalos has a bald head, brown eyes, is about 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighs about 140 pounds. He has a tattoo on his left cheek that says "Sabrina," a tattoo of red lips on his right neck and a tattoo of a rosary around his neck.

Anyone who may see him or who has information is asked to call 911.


Richard Ramirez, infamously dubbed "The Night Stalker," was known to Californians as the satanic serial killer, rapist and burglar whose crimes occurred all across the greater Los Angeles area from April 1984 to August 1985.

The newest film about the serial killer, directed and written by Megan Griffiths, is making its way back home to Southern California. Matt Brady, one of the producers, said the film had to be premiered in Southern California, where people remember the crimes of The Night Stalker the most.

"They instantly have a visceral reaction," he said. "People get goose bumps. Some shake. This was California's boogey man. They remember the hottest summer, the terror and randomness of this man's killing spree."

The film, starring Lou Diamond Phillips in the title role, is set to premiere early June at The Frida Cinema in downtown Santa Ana, about 20 miles from the neighborhood in Mission Viejo where Ramirez committed his last crime before his arrest.

Ramirez, who was convicted of 13 murders, 11 sexual assaults, alongside charges of burglary, was dubbed by the news media as "The Night Stalker" because he invaded people's homes and attacked them. He often made his victims swear to Satan and used a variety of weapons to kill them.

Everyone who lived during that time has their own Night Stalker memories, Brady said. Griffiths was 10 years old and living in Southern California during the crime spree.

On Aug. 24, 1985, Ramirez was spotted by a teenager in a Mission Viejo neighborhood, where, Ramirez hours later broke into resident Bill Carns' home. He raped Carns' girlfriend and shot Carns three times in the head.

Six days later, while attempting to steal a car, Ramirez was chased by an angry mob in East Los Angeles and was pinned down and taken into police custody. Brady said the arrest scene was filmed on the same street where Ramirez was captured, and the people who captured him were the extras.

The film, which also stars Bellamy Young of "Scandal," will portray a fictionalized story of an attorney who tries to convince a dying Ramirez to confess to an early crime to save another man from death row.

The exact date of the premiere has yet to be determined.

The film's box office receipts will be donated to the California Coalition Against Sexual Assault, Brady said.
South Florida military veterans got an emotional and unforgettable experience over the weekend. As part of Honor Flight South Florida, they were invited to our nation's capital to visit the war memorials of the battles they fought.

"It's just almost heartbreaking but so beautiful. I've enjoyed every minute of it," said Edith Vancheri, WWII Army nurse veteran.

The sound of taps set the tone for the emotional and well-deserved trip of a lifetime for South Florida veterans.

"Now I'll have the chance to see them in person," said Alfred Phillips, WWII Army veteran.

Our hometown heroes headed to Washington, D.C. this weekend for one final mission: a chance to see the war memorials of the battles in which they served.

The free trip paired 153 WWII veterans with their elite guardians: Vietnam veterans. A water canon salute sent them off at Miami International Airport followed by cheering crowds at Washington Reagan.

Their first stop was the Changing of the Guard at Arlington National Cemetery.

"This kinda reminisces for me and it's quite pleasurable that I've lived as long as I have and I'm experiencing something that I never thought I'd be able to do," said Morty Bratton, WWII Air Force veteran.

There were grateful words from strangers at the WWII Memorial, stopping along the way to honor the men and women for their service. Many veterans were filled with emotion as the memories came flooding in.

The veterans were then whisked away to the powerful Vietnam Wall. Some remembered the buddies they lost in combat.

"I know exactly where he is on the wall. This is the saddest place in the whole world," said Jeff Wander, Vietnam veteran.

"Being here is just amazing. I have on this wall 156 friends if mine," said Sgt. Thomas "Stormy" Mateo, Vietnam Marine veteran and six-time Purple Heart recipient.

"It's very touching. It's very emotional, but it's also extremely gratifying. The welcome that we've had every stop of the way by thousands of people, thanking us for our service and applauding, it just means so very much," said Glenn Saffon, Vietnam veteran, military intelligence.

After the memorable visit, it was time to head home. The veterans were even surprised with "mail call" on the plane, reminiscent of their past service when letters were their lifeline back home. This time, they received touching words from school kids and family.

Back home, the celebrations continued as the veterans were given a long-awaited heroes welcome home.

"I'm being treated like I'm really important and I'm very grateful," Phillips expressed.

"This is like a homecoming that we've never had before," Sgt. Mateo added.
The $10 ticket lottery to Lin-Manuel Mirandas Hamilton, which attracted over 700 people on its first day, will return from its digital hiatus to the Richard Rodgers Theatre  but for Wednesday matinees only.

The Wednesday lottos, which begin April 6 and have been nicknamed Ham4Ham by fans, will include live performances from Miranda and special guests. Entries will be accepted beginning at 12 pm, with the drawing occurring a half hour later.

The digital $10 Hamiton lottery will remain in place for all other performances. The digital lotto began as a temporary solution during the cold winter months, but has become immensely popular since launch. You can enter the digital lottery here.

Only 21 front-row tickets are made available for each lottery.

The new hybrid lotto experience gives Hamilton fans the best of both worlds, according to Miranda, who says the decision was made to maintain the fun of the #Ham4Ham live show while keeping the diversity & democracy of the online lotto.

Regulating the in-person lottery to once a week during working hours might also solve the problem of controlling the crowds of hopefuls  often in the hundreds  from blocking the street on 46th Street between Broadway and Eighth Avenue. We need to figure out how to safely accommodate our fans without blocking traffic, producer Jeffrey Seller said in a statement.

Last month, Hamilton producers made another step in crowd-control, limiting its standby line to just 30 people.
Bystanders didn't take long to call police last month when they spotted a couple of suspicious men skulking around a New Jersey train station taking photos of security cameras. Port Authority cops turned on lights and sirens and rushed to the scene in hour traffic.

But when they got there, the officers were shocked to find that the emergency they had rushed to was only a test. The suspicious men? Port Authority's own security analysts.

According to an incident report obtained by the I-Team, the two men said they were "testing the system." But what made this test different than the regular drills practiced is that none of the officers in the police department -- not even the supervisors -- knew it was a test. According to president of the Port Authority police union, the consequences could have been deadly.

"Its dangerous," said Paul Nunziato, president of the Port Authority Police Benevolent Association. "What would this interview be right now if my guys hit somebody? What if some woman or a little child got killed?"

Its not the only time Port Authority officials have conducted security drills that the police union says posed risks to their officers and the public. On the day of the recent terrorist attacks in Brussels, Port Authority conducted a nine-minute active shooter drill at JFK airport.

A person standing in the terminal would have seen police rush in carrying heavy weapons. A spokesman for the Port Authority said officials would have notified outside law enforcement agencies and tenants, such as the airlines, restaurants and newsstands, of the drill. But the officers would not have gotten advanced notice, he said.

I dont know what would possess anyone after the terrorist attacks in Belgium, Nunziato said. Would you scare the crap out of every person in that terminal with cops running in, lights and sirens, with heavy weapons, thinking something was going on."

"I certainly wouldnt do that. That makes no sense, said Nunziato.

The Port Authority spokesman said no one complained that they were startled or frightened by the drill. He said the agencys policy is to alert officers and the public when there is highly visible drill  for example, one involving a fire on a runway. But he said it is customary not to tell officers about active shooter drills in the terminals.

The Port Authority regularly audits its security systems, equipment and protocols. This is especially important during times of heightened security concerns. Such assessments are designed to enhance the safety and security of our traveling public and employees. The March 15th review was conducted with that purpose. The Port Authority will continue to conduct such assessments, the Port Authority spokesman said.

Still, Anthony Roman, who heads the global investigations and risk management firm Roman & Associates, said the dangers of doing surprise drills far outweigh the benefits.

This is the first time that Ive heard that a police department has not provided a public notice both to their officers and to the civilian population regarding a terror drill, Roman said.

This runs a real risk of blue on blue shootings, blue on blue injuries, and or collateral civilian casualties, he said.

Several local police agencies agreed, using choice words to describe the train station test in letters to Port Authority Executive Director Pat Foye: By intentionally perpetrating a hoax terrorist surveillance of a target, the CSO personnel inexcusably placed themselves and the greater public at risk by their deliberate provocation of a police response, wrote the executive director of the National Association of Police Organizations.

Nunziato said a drill on the same day as a terrorist attack overseas was sure to cause undue alarm.
An 18-year-old Brooklyn woman was arrested in an attack on a teenager who died after her head hit the pavement while being beaten over the weekend, police say.

Tajae Warner, 17, was found unconscious outside her building on West 24th Street in Coney Island Saturday night, according to police. She had bruising to her face, allegedly the result of the alleged attack by 18-year-old Sabrina Agard-Ford.

NBC 4 New York

Friends say Warner was walking home from the neighborhood store when she was attacked. She fell to the ground and struck her head on the sidewalk when her assailant hit her, police said.

A neighbor said she saw the attack from inside her apartment.

"I look out the window and she's getting pulled by her hair and a girl's fighting her," said Tonya Caniafandoya.

The girl was taken to NYU Medical Center, where she died Sunday, police said.

Agard-Ford, of Brooklyn, was arrested on second-degree attempted murder and second-degree assault charges in the attack, police said.

The victim and the suspect had gotten into some sort of dispute that led to the assault, police said.

Warner's friends say she had big dreams and that she loved to dance and enjoyed fashion.

"She was filled with a lot of energy, a lot of life, everybody loved her. She had a lot of friends," said family friend Lissette Pizarro.

Neighbors and friends set up a memorial for Warner inside the lobby of her apartment building.

Brooklyn community advocate Tony Herbert held a rally with Warner's family Tuesday night to call for an end to violence.

"This violence must stop and it has to stop now, this young lady is dead never to return home to her family because of this savagery," Herbert said in a statement. "We must send a clear and concise message that if you commit an adult crime you must do adult time, we don't have the luxury of making excuses for these kids who are taking innocent lives everyday."

[[374756761, C]]

Warner's organs will be donated.
After Donald Trump's toughest stretch of the campaign, he and Ted Cruz made spirited final pitches Monday to Wisconsin voters, who will cast ballots Tuesday in a Republican primary that both consider a key step in the race for president.

After Tuesday, there's a two-week lull before the next important voting, in New York.

Trump is facing pressure on multiple fronts following a difficult week marked by his controversial comments, reversals and rare moments of contrition. While his past remarks on topics like Mexican immigrants have drawn a backlash, even he appeared to recognize the damage caused by missteps in the lead-up to Wisconsin.

Those included re-tweeting an unflattering photo of Cruz's wife and a series of contradictory comments on abortion that managed to draw condemnation from both abortion rights activists and opponents.

While Trump is the only Republican with a realistic path to clinching the nomination ahead of the Republican convention, a big loss in Wisconsin would greatly reduce his chances of reaching the needed 1,237 delegates before then. A big win for Trump would give him more room for error down the stretch.

He's facing a tough challenge in Cruz, whom polls show with a lead in Wisconsin. And he has been battered by negative ads. The state's top Republican advertiser has been Our Principles PAC, which pumped almost $1.3 million into anti-Trump ads. The Club for Growth, which has endorsed Cruz, is spending $800,000 on ads that promote voting for Cruz  not John Kasich  as the best way to ensure a Trump defeat.

Also, the state's Republican establishment, including Gov. Scott Walker, and some of its most influential conservative talk radio hosts have lined up to support Cruz.

At the same time, Trump's campaign has been outmaneuvered by Cruz in some early states where the campaigns are working to ensure that the delegates who attend the convention this summer are loyal to them.

In North Dakota, Cruz's team, for instance, has been scooping up endorsements from delegates who were selected at the party's state convention over the weekend.

All 28 delegates will go to the national convention as free agents. But in interviews, 10 said they were committed to vote for Cruz. A few others said they were leaning toward him.

None has endorsed Trump so far.

And while Trump won Tennessee's March 1 primary, picking up 33 delegates, his supporters have complained that some Trump delegates selected by the state executive committee weren't actually supporters. They'll have to vote for Trump on the first two ballots at the convention, but they can vote as they wish on important procedural matters, including the party platform and the rules for the convention.

Our Principles, one of the outside groups devoted to keeping Trump from winning the GOP nomination has been putting more and more money into the battle for like-minded delegates. The group logged $9,300 worth of calls to Colorado "voters"  in this case delegates  this month and spent at least $34,000 on North Dakota outreach, according to new filings with the Federal Election Commission.

"This campaign is coming down to a ground game battle for delegates," said Brian Baker, a senior strategist for Our Principles. "We will fight for every last delegate vote all the way to Cleveland." Colorado will hold its convention Saturday.

Trump, who has repeatedly bashed the delegate selection process as "crooked" and "unfair," acknowledged his frustrations on CBS on Sunday.

"And I did look at my people. I said, 'Well, wait a minute, folks. You know, we should've maybe done better,'" he said. "Except I also said, 'I won the state.' And I think there's a real legal consequence to winning a state and not getting as many delegates."

On the campaign trail, both he and Cruz were optimistic.

I really believe tomorrow we're going to have a very, very big victory," the billionaire businessman said at a stop in La Crosse. Later, in a frigid hangar at the Richard I. Bong airport in Superior, where temperatures dipped into the high 20s, Trump joked about predictions of his demise from pundits.

"You know how many times I've been given the end? I've been given the last rights, how many times? Like 10? Every week, it's the end of Trump," he said.

Cruz's confidence was growing, too. He predicted a "terrific victory" during the taping of a town hall in Madison that was to be broadcast Monday night on Fox News. Cruz also discounted any possibility of someone other than Trump or him winning the nomination.

"This fevered pipe dream of Washington that at the convention they will parachute in some white knight who will save the Washington establishment, it is nothing less than a pipe dream," Cruz told reporters. "It ain't going to happen. If it did, the people would quite rightly revolt."

On Monday, the Democratic rivals appealed to union members and showed their next-primary hopes by their locations: Bernie Sanders in Wisconsin, where polls show him ahead, and Hillary Clinton in New York, which votes in two weeks and is a must-win state for her.

At a UAW headquarters in Janesville, Sanders criticized Gov. Walker as being anti-union and said, "In a sense what this campaign is about is building on what the union movement has done." In New York City, Clinton campaigned alongside Gov. Andrew Cuomo, praising union-led efforts that helped raise the state's minimum wage to $15 an hour and predicting that that higher level would "sweep" the nation.

Trump and Sanders ended their days with dueling rallies in Milwaukee. But both drew smaller-than-usual crowds on the frigid night, with hundreds of empty seats at the theater where Trump spoke and a less-than-capacity crowd at the Wisconsin Center where Sanders was holding his final rally nearby.
The man shot and killed in Los Angeles by his father for allegedly being gay was convicted of attacking a man in San Diego in 2011, according to court documents.

Shehada Khalil Issa, 69, was charged Friday in the shooting death of his son, Amir Issa, 29, whom he allegedly killed because he was gay, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.

Amir Issa was shot outside of his familys home in LA Tuesday. His body was discovered in the front yard. His mother was found dead inside the bathroom, investigators said. Prosecutors said Shehada Issa allegedly threatened to kill his son on prior occasions because of his sexual orientation. An investigation into the mother's death is ongoing, prosecutors said.

Click here to read more about the murder.

NBC 7 Investigates discovered while living in San Diego, a jury convicted Amir Issa of assault with a deadly weapon in 2011, after he slashed his then-boyfriend's face with a five-inch knife. The attack happened in Hillcrest.



Court records show Amir Issa was at first found mentally incompetent to stand trial but after treatment at a state hospital, doctors declared him sane. Charges were refiled and Amir served more than a year in jail followed by three years probation, according to court documents.

The court documents detail that while serving probation he moved to Los Angeles, to live with his family.

Shehada was charged with one count of willful, deliberate and premeditated murder, officials said. Prosecutors said the felony complaint includes a special allegation that Issa personally and intentionally discharged a shotgun and an allegation that he murdered his son because of his sexual orientation.
An employee at U.S. Bureau of Prisons headquarters in Washington, D.C., may be facing his own term in federal prison.

Brett Barrientos, a building management specialist for the federal prison bureau, admitted stealing from his agency, instructing contractors to move government-owned equipment to his Loudoun County home.

Barrientos pleaded guilty to a charge of theft of government property. He faces sentencing in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, in July.

According to court records reviewed by News4, Barrientos asked contractors to move to his home more than a dozen items belonging to the US Bureau of Prisons, including: Televisions, General Electric microwave ovens, table saws, a gray metal bunk bed, diesel engines, ceiling fixtures, a black leather chair and a wooden desk.

The court records said Barrientos advised contractors to leave the government property in a barn and a garage located on Barrientos land in Purcellville, Virginia.

When reached by phone at a phone number listed in court records, Barrientos said the items in question were surplus and trash. Barrientos said, I brought them home to use them. I didnt do it to embezzle. What I did is not unheard of. And I returned everything.

It happens all the time," Barrientos said. "It happens everywhere.

In the court filings, prosecutors specify some of the items were new and unused, including the microwaves and table saws.

Federal prosecutors, in filings with the federal court, said Barrientos theft cost the U.S. Bureau of Prisons at least $22,348.

In those filings, prosecutors also said Barrientos actions were done knowingly and with the specific intent of violating the law.

Barrientos worked at the U.S. Bureau of Prisons central offices on 1st Street NW in D.C. He told News4 he has been placed on administrative leave by the agency.

The U.S. Bureau of Prisons manages dozens of federal prisons and more than 196,000 inmates nationwide, including the federal correctional facilities in Cumberland, Maryland, and Lee, Virginia. The agency employs more than 41,000 workers.

The theft charge to which Barrientos pleaded guilty is a federal crime. If sentenced to prison by a judge July 1, Barrientos could serve time in one of the agencys federal prisons. The maximum sentence is 10 years.
By the time news of a domestic violence situation is reported, it is often too late and tragic for those involved. A new program in northern Virginia wants to give families a safe refuge before they become a headline.

Community Lodgings is marking 30 years of helping families in Alexandria, Virginia. In recent years, they have seen an increase in domestic violence cases, and their approach to create safe spaces for hurting families is given those in need a place to thrive.

Denise, not her real name, was a mother of two young boys who left her husband and their father after six years of masking his abuse.

There were times I thought I was giving up on myself, and I was giving myself excuses, she said. You learn to patch the walls, and you learn to hide the holes in the walls. You learn to cover up the bruises.

After a terrifying phone call from her husband, she called the Alexandria domestic violence hotline and, with her boys, moved into one of the Community Lodgings apartments.

One day he called and told me that if I was still home when he got home, he was not going to be responsible for what happened to my children or I, Denise said. And that was the first time he had openly threatened my children.

Lynn Thomas, executive director of Community Lodgings, said each family at the facility has their own apartment, and many families stay here up to two years. She said families who seek this safe place must be committed.

Its not an easy task, and as Denise said, there were times that she wanted to give up, Thomas said.

Besides providing safety, the facility also gives families the opportunity to learn or re-learn life skills, from finances to communication to parenting. The goal is to create independence for those who are trying to recover.

Thriving in the community, living in the community, becoming taxpaying citizens in the community and just giving back, Thomas said.

A big part of this program is about creating a community and a real safe space. So for some of the children who live in the transitional apartments, they offer several workshops, many of which are held just across the street.

A lot these kids come from broken families, said Gwen Spitzhoff, a Community Lodgings educator. Theyre coming from Central America, Maybe theyre living with an aunt and an uncle who theyre just meeting for the first time.

More than an after-school day care, the instructors lead an academic curriculum. It is a structure program available to every child in Alexandria.

So we try to give them a safe environment that they come to after school every afternoon, and weve really built relationships with the kids, Spitzhoff said.

Denise and her boys graduated from the program, and her sons are consistently making the honor roll. She has found success in her own career to support her family, and she said it all started with finding that safe place.

I know how hard it was for me, and I could not imagine trying to rebuild my life with two children in tow with half the resources, without half of the resources that I was offered here, Denise said.
As races for Maryland House and Senate seats heat up ahead of the April 26 primaries, here are some of the top fights to watch:

U.S. Senate: Donna Edwards (D), Chris Van Hollen (D) Top Packed Field: Donna Edwards, a congresswoman who represents Marylands 4th District, is seeking the open Senate seat along with 8th District congressman Chris Van Hollen. The two candidates faced off March 18 in the first debate of the Maryland Democratic primary to fill the seat held by Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski (D), who is retiring after 30 years in the Senate. The debate was hosted by WAMUs Kojo Nnamdi.

Edwards was elected in 2008, becoming the first African-American woman to represent Maryland in Congress. The lawyer and community activist defeated 15-year incumbent Albert Wynn in the 2008 Democratic primary, and, following his resignation, won a special election to fill the remainder of his term. Her legislative accomplishments include adding Maryland to the Afterschool Suppers Program, which provides meals to youth programs in low-income areas, according to her campaign's site.

Van Hollen was elected to Congress in 2002. Prior to his election to the House of Representatives, he served four years in the Maryland House of Delegates and eight years in the Maryland Senate. In addition to representing District 8 and serving in House leadership, Van Hollen was re-elected in 2012 to serve a second term as the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee, according to his House of Representative's page. His leadership in Congress has helped obtain funding for investments in infrastructure, biotechnology, education and anti-gang initiatives, according to the page.

Edwards and Van Hollen also have to deal with Democratic challenges from several other candidates: Freddie Donald Dickson Jr., Ralph Jaffe, Teresa C. Scaldaferri, Charles U. Smith, Violet Staley, Blaine Taylor, Ed Tinus and Lih Young.

For the Republicans, Chris Chaffee, Sean P. Connor, Richard J. Douglas, John R. Graziani, Greg Holmes, Joseph David Hooe, Chrys Kefalas, Mark McNicholas, Lynn Richardson, Anthony Seda, Richard Shawver, Kathy Szeliga, Dave Wallace and Garry Thomas Yarrington will try to swing Maryland to the Red side.

8th Congressional District: Nine Democrats, Five Republicans : District 8 is becoming one of the most expensive primary contests for a House seat in the nation. Incumbent Van Hollen will vacate the seat. The 8th Congressional District is fairly Democratic, and although there is a wealth of good candidates, it appears to be a three-way race.

Matthews worked as a reporter for WJLA before she became an executive for Marriott International. Her progressive views fit the mold of much of the district. However, some of Matthews opponents are questioning campaign donations from guests of husband Chris Matthews MSNBC talk show Hardball, The Washington Post reported.

The Maryland Senates majority whip, Raskin, is a constitutional law professor at American University and he has played key roles in legalizing same-sex marriage, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and introducing Marylands Jane Lawton Farm-to-School program and the Green Maryland Act, according to his campaign page.

Trone is the founder of Total Wine & More with a story of success after humble beginnings, having grown up working on his fathers struggling farm. The Montgomery County businessman gained attention with big spending on campaign advertising and feels his knowledge in politics from his business makes him an able candidate, according to his campaign page.

David M. Anderson, Kumar P. Barve, Dan Bolling, Ana Sol Gutierrez, William Jawando, Jamie Raskin and Joel Rubin are on the ballot on the Democratic side. On the Republican side, Dan Cox, Jeffrey W. Jones, Liz Matory, Aryeh Shudofsky and Shelly Skolnick are running for the congressional seat.

6th Congressional District: Ten Vs. One: Eight Republican candidates, one Democratic candidate and one Green Party candidate are vying to challenge incumbent Democrat John Delaney for the District 6 seat. The 6th District, which spans from Potomac and Gaithersburg to Garrett County in western Maryland, was redrawn -- gerrymandered, according to critics -- in 2011 to boost chances of electing a Democrat. About half of the districts registered voters now live in Montgomery County, Bethesda Magazine reported.

Delaney was elected in 2012 and barely beat out Republican candidate Dan Bongino in his second run, according to Ballotpedia. Prior to serving in the House, Delaney was a successful entrepreneur, having founded two New York Stock Exchange-listed companies before he turned 40, according to his campaign site.

Puca was a candidate for the Maryland House of Delegates in 2010. He was a business owner and CEO before becoming a mortgage loan officer, according to his campaign site.

Two Republican candidates are being called standouts because of their expensive campaigns. Amie Hoeber, former Deputy Under Secretary of the Army, has indicated a willingness to pump substantial personal funds into the contest, increasing pressure on opponents to intensify their fundraising and spending. Her focus is on national security and environmental cleanup programs, according to her campaign page.

Conservative State Delegate David Vogt, a veteran Marine and the 2010 Marine of the Year, is also running for the seat. As delegate, Vogt has fought to cut taxes, balance the budget and to uphold the Second Amendment. His legislative work includes the passing of a jobs bill for veterans. Additionally, his campaign has been endorsed by more than 30 conservative leaders from Maryland, according to his campaign page.

Terry Baker, Scott Cheng, Robin Ficker, Frank Howard, Christopher Mason and Harold Painter are also running for the Republican nomination for this House seat. Green Party candidate George Gluck is also seeking the nomination as well.

4th Congressional District: Six Way Race: Incumbent Donna Edwards, who has served District 4 since 2008, will not seek re-election because she is pursuing retiring Sen. Barbara A. Mikulskis seat in the Senate. This leaves the House seat open in the 4th District, which is comprised of Prince Georges and Anne Arundel counties.

The race for Edwards open seat has drawn six candidates including two Prince Georges County Democrats with strong name recognition: former lieutenant governor Anthony G. Brown and former states attorney Glenn Ivey.

Warren Christopher, Matthew Fogg, Joseline Pena-Melnyk and Terence Strait are all vying for the position with Brown and Ivey.

Brown, who was elected to lieutenant governor on a ticket with Martin OMalley in 2006, unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2014, suffering a defeat to Gov. Larry Hogan. He previously served two four-year terms in the House of Delegates and is currently a colonel in the Army Reserve, according to his campaign page.

Christopher is a retired Lt. Colonel of the U.S. Army and former chief of staff at the Department of the Interior, according to his campaign page.

Fogg was formerly with the U.S. Marshal's Service, retiring as deputy marshal with a distinguished career, according to his campaign page.

Ivey, who served as a states attorney for Prince Georges County from 2002 to 2010, previously ran for election to the District 4 House seat in 2012 but dropped out before the filing date due to insufficient funding. However, Ivey does not believe he will have trouble raising enough money for a competitive race this time around, The Washington Post reported. As a states attorney, He has focused on fighting domestic violence and reducing violent crime, issues he plans to continue giving attention to as a congressman, according to his campaign page.

Pena-Melnyk is the current state delegate representing a district consisting of Prince George's and Anne Arundel counties. She also won the endorsement of The Washington Post editorial board for her "energy, grit and determination." She worked as a lawyer representing abused and neglected kids, according to her campaign page.

Strait received a master's degree in psychology and has served in the U.S. Army, according to his campaign site.

Robert "Bro" Broadus, Rob Buck, George McDermott and David Therrien are running for the Republican nomination.
A mother of three who police say was murdered by her ex-boyfriend and the father of two of her children had a protective order against him, News4 Bureau Chief Julie Carey reports.

Christina Fisher was killed just 11 days after she won a protective order against her ex-boyfriend, Darrick Lee Lewis.

Lewis is accused of shooting Fisher multiple times at her home in Leesburg, Virginia on Saturday night. Her 15-year-old child called police. Fisher was air-lifted to the hospital, but died soon after.

A permanent protective order barred Lewis from any face-to-face contact with Fisher or the children, Carey reports.

Fisher described multiple attacks in the order's documents, saying, "Darrick has shoved me and choked me to the point I could not breath...He also slashed my seats in my car and cut all of my tires...He punched and stomped me in the face."

Fisher also got a temporary protective order last May that states, "I told him I was going to call 911. He said I wouldn't live if I do."

Police said Lewis violated the permanent protective order and carried out those previous threats.

Friends and family gathered at Brandon Park in Leesburg Monday evening to honor Fisher's life and questioned why the protective order didn't work.

"She just was so sweet, so caring..she was a great mom. She did everything she could for her kids," said Shanke Owens, Fisher's friend.

"With having a protective order, how is he able to get to her?" Fisher's friend Gia Coates said.

Owens and Coates said they helped organize the vigil to bring awareness about domestic violence.

"There is help in the community. There may not be a lot of awareness about it. That's why we are doing part of this. Go for help before it's too late," Owens said.

If you or someone you know needs help, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233.

For free counseling and therapy, visit probonocounseling.org. And for My Sister's Place, which offers shelter in a safe house, click here or call 202-749-8000.
A man who killed his ex-wife's new husband in the couple's Virginia home was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison.

Prosecutors say Minh Nguyen broke into the Ashburn home where his ex-wife, Denise Mattison, lived with her new husband, Corey Mattison, on Jan. 15, 2015. Nguyen burst into the home about 30 miles west of D.C. and shot Mattison four times. Mortally wounded, Mattison led Nguyen out the back door into the carport. Two children were home at the time of the shooting.

The victim's widow calls her husband a hero for leading Nguyen away from kids.

"Corey, he knew exactly what he was doing," Denise Mattison said after Tuesday's sentencing. "He knew he was taking the danger and he was luring it away from us. There's no question in my mind from the moment he came into my life he was continuously trying to do everything he could to protect me and protect our children."

Prosecutors told the judge Nguyen was motivated by a "desire and obsession to control his ex-wife and her new family." Testimony showed Nguyen flew into a rage when he learned Corey Mattison was caring for two of the three children Nguyen shared with Denise. She had stepped out to pick up their oldest daughter at a nearby school.

Nguyen fired the first bullet into the front door before he went in shooting.

"This was probably the most satisfying moment of his life. He had all the power," said Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Jason Faw. "This was everything he had ever fantasized about. This was his dream and he lived it."

Even as Mattison lay dying, Nguyen jumped on top of him and beat him in the head, investigators said. It was Nguyen's mother who arrived at the scene and then jumped on top of Nguyen to subdue him just as police arrived.

Nguyen's family asked the judge for mercy, pointing to his struggles with mental illness. From 2008-2011, Nguyen was a successful social media entrepreneur, but after his marriage to Denise ended, he fell into depression and became so destitute he was living in a car at one point.

In January, Nguyen pleaded no contest to murder, malicious wounding, and breaking and entering in Mattison's death -- a plea criticized by Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney for Loudoun County Joshua Steward.

"In a guilty plea, you stand up and you recognize morally, if nothing else, 'Yes, I am guilty, I did this and I deserve to be punished,'" he said. "No contest, you're essentially just saying, 'Listen, I know if I went to trial I'd lose.'"

In Tuesday's hearing, Nguyen told Judge Burke McCahill, "I place the blame for everything squarely at my feet." He soon broke down sobbing as he began to apologize to Denise Mattison, his children and Corey Mattison's family.

But Judge McCahill told Nguyen he still posed a potential danger to Mattison and her family, sentencing him to the life term, far above the recommended guideline of 25-42 years.

Denise Mattison said the stiff sentence does not give her a sense of satisfaction.

"In terms of closure, there's no such thing as closure," she said. "There' s no victory here. Am I able to not say to my children when they ask, are they going to continue to be in danger, can I now give them that promise? I can."

Mattison's murder robbed Kathy Vestal of her only child.

"There are no winners here today," she said. "We're all losers. We came here without Corey and we go home without him. I just hope there will be some healing taking place on both sides. That's all I can ask for, pray for."

The eldest of Minh Nguyen and Denise Mattison's children testified for the prosecution during the sentencing hearing. Maddy, 15, now considers the victim her father and has taken his last name.

"I did my best and I wanted to honor Corey, my dad, anyway possible, and I wanted to do anything I could to ensure my family would be safe," she said.

The youngest of Denise Mattison's children is baby Corey, named for her late father. Denise Mattison was pregnant at the time of her husband's murder and gave birth in September 2015.
A police chase that followed a carjacking in Silver Spring, Maryland, ended when the suspects crashed into a pole in Northeast Washington, police say.

The incident began just after 10:30 p.m. Monday when the armed suspects carjacked a person in a parking lot on First Avenue in Silver Spring. The victim was not injured in the carjacking.

Officers in Northeast D.C. noticed the vehicle in their area about an hour and a half later. Police say the driver of the vehicle refused to stop, and a chase ensued. The chase came to an end a short time later when the driver crashed into a pole in the area of Minnesota Avenue and Benning Road.

Both the driver and a passenger were taken into police custody.

Investigators have not said what charges they will face.
It would be premature for Massachusetts to consider a $15 minimum wage, House Speaker Robert Deleo said Monday, but Senate President Stan Rosenberg said senators are actively discussing the idea.



The Democratic legislative leaders and Republican Gov. Charlie Baker were asked about the minimum wage following a regular weekly leadership meeting at the Statehouse. The questioning was prompted by laws signed earlier in the day by the governors of California and New York that will gradually push the minimum wages in those states to $15 an hour.

Lawmakers Tuesday are expected to take up a package of economic proposals from the governor.



The Massachusetts minimum wage currently is $10 an hour, tied with California for the highest among U.S. states, and is scheduled to rise to $11 an hour on Jan. 1 in what will be the last of a three-step increase approved by the Legislature and signed by then-Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick in 2014.



DeLeo said he would prefer to wait until after the last phase of the scheduled increase kicks before having discussions about whether the wage should be raised.



"I think it's premature for us now to talk about any changes," the Winthrop Democrat said.



Rosenberg appeared more bullish on the possibility of addressing the issue sooner. He indicated Senate leaders are having private discussions about whether to advance a proposal moving Massachusetts toward a $15 an hour minimum wage and told reporters to "stay tuned."



"I support a living wage, and we need to keep moving," said Rosenberg, an Amherst Democrat. "Income inequality is rampant in this country. Massachusetts is among the most significantly unequal between the top earners and the lowest."



Baker sided with DeLeo's view that it's too early to consider an increase in the minimum wage that goes beyond what's already scheduled. But the governor also said he shares Rosenberg's concerns about income inequality in Massachusetts. He cited his support for a further increase in the state's earned income tax credit for low-income working families and an economic development bill filed by his administration that includes training workers for higher-paying jobs.



"There are a lot of elements to this discussion, and certainly the minimum wage is one," Baker said. "But I think Massachusetts is pursing what I would call a multi-faceted approach to this, and that's the right way to go."
Since a thief targeted a charity prom dress shop in Amesbury, Massachusetts, last week, donations have been pouring in. Now, the charity organizers say the goodness of the community is definitely overshadowing last week's crime.

"My heart broke, it actually broke," said Betty Vitale. "They're free, if someone needed 15 dresses, I would say come on in and take them," she said.

Amesbury Police say on Friday, someone broke in and stole more than a dozen dresses from Tammi's Closet at 140 Main St., the charity Vitale and her husband Ralph Neal started three year's ago in her honor of their daughter.

Tammi was only 19 years old when she died in a car crash.

"I was suicidal, I didn't want to be here anymore," Vitale said.

It took a long time, but Vitale and Neal finally found joy in donating Tammi's prom dress to a student in need.

"Some young lady got that dress and it made her prom," Neal said. "And that's what started Tammi's Closet after that."

Since word got out on social media about the burglary, Vitale says people from across Massachusetts have donated more than 50 dresses.

Nearby consignment shop owner Jaylene Buonodono showed us several dresses that she and her customers will be donating to Tammi's Closet.

"It's heartbreaking so everybody just wants to pull together and help in any way they can," Buonodono said Monday.

Thanks to the outpouring of support, Vitale now has more than 220 colorful ways to continue her daughter's legacy.

"When you say to somebody, 'where'd you get your dress,' and they say, 'Tammi's Closet,' they're not going to remember me, which is fine, but they're going to know Tammi," Vitale said. "She was such a great kid, she really was."

The Rock Church next door owns the building. Pastor Jon Howard says after the break in there were no signs of forced entry, so he's planning to change all the locks for Tammi's Closet as well as for the church.
On an 84 to 61 vote, the Vermont House of Representatives passed a bill that would incrementally increase the age to buy cigarettes and other tobacco products from the current age of 18, to 21, by the year 2019.

Supporters argued in the long run, delaying the start of smoking for some would save lives and health care costs.

"While passing this law will not totally eliminate underage use, it will help shine a light for how to get to a place where smoking is not cool or socially acceptable in any age group," Rep. Mike Mrowicki, D-Putney, said on the House floor before Tuesday afternoon's vote.

Regarding debate over how the change would impact military personnel, who could join the armed forces but not legally buy cigarettes in Vermont, Rep. Warren Kitzmiller, D-Montpelier, argued, "If we think they're old enough to die in service for their country, how can we deny them the right to have a cigarette?"

Lawmakers discussed estimates showing the state could forfeit $900,000 a year in tax revenues from lost sales. A new cigarette tax was floated, both to make up the difference and provide yet another deterrent to smoking.

"This is a self-imposed tax," said Rep. David Deen, D-Westminster. "If you don't want to pay the tax, don't smoke."

"This is not a health bill, but just another tax," countered Rep. Ron Hubert, R-Milton. "And an anti-business bill. This is just another money grab."

The bill is set for a final vote in the House Wednesday.

According to his deputy chief of staff, Scott Coriell, Gov. Peter Shumlin, D-Vermont, does not support raising the smoking age. Shumlin certainly thinks it's a bad idea to start smoking, Coriell told necn, but believes since 18-year-olds can already make many decisions for themselves, like voting in elections and joining the military, the proposal may run counter to those rights.
United we stand, divided we fall (Aesop) is a familiar adage. That sentiment seems particularly applicable to current world events. Whether the topic is politics, terrorism, race equality, or refuge for displaced peoples, the real villain is not each other, but the premise that we are all separate mortals with conflicting interests rather than children of one common Father, all part of an indivisible spiritual universe. When we see one another this way, unity and true brotherhood may be realized.

You might ask - how can we have unity when diverse opinions, conditions, assets, traditions, resources, and history seem to divide us?

When I turn to the Scriptures for inspiration, I find the prescription for unifying those of differing opinions. In Malachi we read, Have we not all one Father? Hath not one God created us? And, Jesus prayed for us, That they all may be one: as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us. Although Jesus had a unique relationship to God as his only begotten Son, wasnt he also speaking to the perfect unity that exists between God and each one of his children? If so, doesnt that mean that no matter the circumstance, we all have the same Father and are united in the relationship each of us has with Him?

Recently, I had a ride in a cab. I had barely sat down when the driver asked who I planned to vote for in the upcoming Tennessee primary. When I didnt give a clear response, he began to tell me about how he came to my country to have a better life for his family. He said America was the place of freedom and infinite possibilities but that lately he had been feeling hated and judged. He felt politics and other world events played a role in this.

As I listened I was suddenly overcome with such a love for this dear man who was pouring his heart out to a stranger. I told him that no matter what the world climate is, we are all Gods children  brothers and sisters  and he agreed. He spoke of Abraham and I spoke of Jesus. One thing we agreed on  that the world needs more love and that mankind has more that unites us than divides us, though it seems we focus more on the divisions. As I got out of the cab, the cabbie said, My sister, I am giving you a $5 discount, to which I replied No, my brother, I am giving you a $20 tip. We grasped each others hands and knew that in that moment we were demonstrating true brother-sister-hood in heart and action.

In her study of the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, saw God as the one infinite Mind or divine intelligence that unites all mankind in Love. She wrote in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, With one Mind and that God, or good, the brotherhood of man would consist of Love and Truth and have unity of Principle and spiritual power

I have reflected much over the past few weeks since my cab ride. I have asked myself, am I responding in a Christian manner to political posts I see in social media? Am I responding to those of different religious views with love and unity or with fear and criticism? Am I truly treating my fellow men and women like we are brothers and sisters?

I pray for the day when all mankind can give up personal opinions and seek unity in the one infinite Mind or divine Love. Then we can declare like the Psalmist, Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.

That ride in the cab that day confirmed to me that we are bound together by a common cord -- divine Love. Love binds us together in unity and brotherhood. And Love is indeed strong enough to break through any barrier that would divide us.

Debra Chew writes about the connection between thought, spirituality and wellness from a Christian Science perspective. She has been published in USA Today, chattanoogan.com, Knoxville News Sentinel, UK Health Triangle Magazine, Jackson Sun Health Magazine, and in the Memphis Commercial Appeal. She is the media and legislative liaison for Christian Science in TN.
The Department of Defense is unclear about who would take charge and work with civilian authorities during a large-scale cyber attack on the US.

There are a number of plans and directions for how the government would respond to a cyber attack on the nations electric grid or other large entity but tons of clarification and specific directions need to be ironed out to respond effectively, according to a Government Accountability Office report out this week.

+More on Network World: IRS: Top 10 2015 identity theft busts+

The GAOs report highlighted a number of deficiencies including the fact that some government directives say one part of the military  specifically the U.S. Northern Command would be in charge of coordinating federal and civilian help during a cyber attack. Others say that it would be the Air Force led U.S. Cyber Command that would be responsible for supporting civil authorities in a cyber incident.

Another issue is a fuzzy definition of who would be designated as the person know as a dual-status commander who is a leader that has authority over federal military and National Guard force in supporting civil authorities during a cyber incident (it is a common and useful position for other national emergencies such as flood response.) According to U.S. Northern Command officials, in a recent cyber exercise there was a lack of unity of effort among the DOD and National Guard forces that were responding to the emergency but were not under the control of the dual-status commander, the GAO stated.

The DOD has developed a significant body of guidance on how the department is to effectively provide support to civil authorities in a broad range of circumstances. However, the absence of clarity in roles and responsibilities to address a cyber incident represents a clear gap in guidance. The gap, and the uncertainty that results, could hinder the timeliness or effectiveness of critical DOD support to civil authorities during cyber-related emergencies that the DOD must be prepared to provide. Without clarifying guidance on DOD roles and responsibilities in a cyber incident, the DOD cannot reasonably ensure that the department will be able to most effectively employ its capabilities to support civil authorities in a cyber incident.

For its part the Pentagon agreed with the conclusions of the GAO report and it expected to respond to specific challenges in the near future.

The DOD is required by Congress to develop a comprehensive plan (due in May 2016) for U.S. Cyber Command to support civil authorities in response to a cyber attack by a foreign power.

+More on Network World: FBI grows Cyber Most Wanted list with Syrian Electronic Army members+

For its part the Pentagon agreed with the conclusions of the GAO report and it expected to respond to specific challenges in the near future.

The DOD is required by Congress to develop a comprehensive plan

(due in May 2016) for U.S. Cyber Command to support civil authorities in response to a cyber attack by a foreign power.

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The Trump Hotel Collection said on Monday it is working with the Secret Service and FBI to investigate a possible payment card breach, its second one in less than a year.

The luxury hotel group is run by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and his family.

"Like virtually every other company these days, we are routinely targeted by cyber terrorists whose only focus is to inflict harm on great American businesses," said Eric Trump, one of the candidate's sons, in an email statement. "We are committed to safeguarding all guests' personal information and will continue to do so vigilantly."

News of the breach was first reported by computer security writer Brian Krebs, citing three unnamed sources in the financial sector.

Banks often see signs of possible fraudulent activity and can quickly triangulate to find a so-called common point-of-purchase where all cards were used.

Krebs reported that the cards were used at several Trump Hotel properties over the last two or three months, including Trump International Hotel New York, Trump Hotel Waikiki in Honolulu and the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Toronto.

Last October, the Trump Hotel Collection said malware infected payment card terminals and front desk terminals for about two weeks starting in May 2015.

Merchants have been fighting cybercriminals seeking to steal payment card data from their networks. Although merchants are putting in better defenses, such as payment card readers compatible with the EMV system, upgrades have been slow, particularly for smaller companies.
Banks are neglecting to analyze the highly useful data being generated by new kinds of consumer-facing products, like apps, says an expert in the financial IT sector.

Many financial institutions are overlooking key intelligence and indicators that they could be taking advantage of to re-invent themselves and ultimately compete with future disruption, thinks Deanne Yamato-Tucker, who heads Xavient Information Systems banking and financial services practice. Banking disruption could include peer-to-peer, blockchain and services like Bitcoin, for example.

Banks need to address the threat from new entrants such as PayPal, Google, Amazon, Apple, and P2P FX, Yamato-Tucker told me in an e-mail. But theyre not managing their data properly to do so, she thinks.

Digital products and services, whether theyre mobile or not, need to be monitored, she believes. Also, by monitoring user feedback and comments on social media the banks could gain insights. Those insights can be and should be used in the creation of next generation applications and services, she says.

Xavient Information Systems specializes in IT consulting and software services. Its banking services division combines IT infrastructure with mobility, analytics and business intelligence, it explains on its website.

Creating payments, transferring funds and checking balances are offered now by pretty much all banks through their apps and online services. That was the first round of banking innovation, she says. The second will be a ubiquitous customer experience, where the customer, and their devices, as a representation of the customer, is the center of the mobile ecosystem.

What she means is that analytics and Big Data should be used to offer specific services and determine rates based on a consumers banking patterns, levels of deposits, spending patterns, web browsing history, social media information, geolocation data, and so on, she explains.

In other words, a customers experience and offerings should include more customization and segmenting. Yamato-Tucker not only uses the obvious example of customized portfolio management, but says offerings could include inventories of possessions based on purchases with bank cards, as an example. That kind of value add-on could be enough to differentiate a bank among the competition for some customers.

Biometrics, loyalty programs, savings programs and interactive money management programs can all be part of a personalized user experience, along with the aforementioned inventory, she reckons. It all becomes possible through better use of the data thats being generated anyway.

Banks are becoming aware of these new opportunities and Yamato-Tucker says shes seeing more budget being apportioned to data analytics and business intelligence this year. But they need to get a handle on the data, she believes.

In particular, metadata, which is the data about the data, or basic information about the detailed data, needs management, she thinks.

With the growing variety and increasing velocity of data, banks need to develop comprehensive metadata management and data governance processes, she says. One cannot share and understand data effectively, and in a meaningful way, without managing the metadata.

My understanding is that most banks are in a relatively early stage of exploration and strategizing with regard to bitcoin and blockchain. Some foresee the future disruption and have invested in FinTech firms in an attempt to grow their share in what could someday be a less lucrative market, Yamato-Tucker told me.
Peter Jarvis begins 15 month prison term

A FORMER Thatcham vicar and Kennet School youth counsellor was yesterday (Wednesday) jailed for child sex offences.

Rev Peter Jarvis had shown a "particular sexual interest" in his young charges and was also caught with child porn.

A trial had been due to start at Winchester Crown Court in February but following legal wrangling the disgraced vicar changed his pleas.

He went on to admit two charges of inciting a child aged under 16 years to engage in sexual activity while he was in a position of trust and to one charge of possessing indecent images of children.

All the charges relate to a five-year period from June 2008.

Jailing Jarvis for 15 months, Judge Richard Parkes QC told him: You completely forgot the boundary which must exist between an adult in a position of trust and a child. You did so out of a particular sexual interest and on doing so you betrayed their trust."

Jarvis had previously served as vicar at St Michaels Church in Spencers Wood and before that was team vicar in Thatcham.

He was also chaplain to the John Madejski Academy in Whitley.

For a full report of the sentencing, plus more of the judge's damning comments, grab a copy of the Newbury Weekly News this Thursday.
Parkridge Health System welcomed Martin Redish, MD, to Parkridge Medical Group. Dr. Redish will continue his tradition of excellence and innovation in the diagnosis and treatment of orthopedic conditions at his new practice, Parkridge Bone & Joint.

The interest of my patients is first and foremost in my mind, explains Dr. Redish. I always seek to customize my care of each individual patient by getting to know their wants and needs and planning their care accordingly. When surgery is the best choice, Parkridge Medical Center has been very supportive of me and my patients, and it will be a pleasure to be more closely aligned.

Dr.

Redish has been practicing orthopedics in Chattanooga for over 30 years and is recognized for his expertise in joint replacement and general orthopedics. He has become one of the worlds experts in minimally invasive partial knee resurfacing, helping develop new products and techniques to improve the procedures results. He also has developed surgical innovations for corrective bunion surgery and the treatment of calcaneus (heel) fractures to decrease recovery times. Parkridge Bone & Joints services will include hip, knee and shoulder replacement, hand and foot surgery, and general orthopedics.

Dr. Redish earned his medical degree at Indiana University in Indianapolis, Indiana, and completed his residency in orthopedics at Erlanger Medical Center. He will be joined by Ben Plahtinsky, PA-C, and Ryan Gilliand, PA-C. Ben completed his Bachelor of Science, Physician Assistant at Kettering College of Medical Arts in Kettering, Ohio, and has experience in emergency medicine. Ryan completed his Bachelor of Medical Science at Alderson-Broaddus College in Philippi, West Virginia, and has over 12 years of experience in orthopedic care.

Parkridge Health System has a long legacy of providing excellent care with an exceptional medical staff and facilities, said Darrell Moore, President and CEO, Parkridge Health System. The addition of Dr. Redish to Parkridge Health System is a partnership that will align patient care goals with the growing needs of the community, creating a destination for the treatment of joint replacement and other orthopedic conditions.

Dr. Redish, Ryan Gilliand, PA-C and Ben Plahtinsky, PA-C will begin seeing patients in early May at Parkridge Bone & Joint. The primary practice will be located in the Diagnostic Center on the Parkridge Medical Center Campus at 2205 McCallie Avenue, Suite 102, Chattanooga, Tennessee. For more information or to schedule an appointment, please call 423 493-5220.
State Treasurer David H. Lillard, Jr. announced on Tuesday a $15 million investment in Israel bonds. This brings all holdings of the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System portfolio of Israel securities to more than $60 million.

Our internal investments team strives to make the best possible investments for the members of TC RS and our investments in Israeli-based assets are part of our strong, diversified portfolio, said Treasurer Lillard.

This announcement was lauded by state leadership, including Governor Bill Haslam, Speaker Beth Harwell, and Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey.

Tennessee is pro-Israel, and I am pleased that we have an opportunity to make a sound investment that confirms our support. Lt. Governor Ramsey said.

Tennessee will join more than 80 public investors in Israel bonds from 22 states, including the state of Georgia, and the South Carolina State Treasury.

Senator Bill Ketron, who has sponsored several pro-Israeli resolutions during his tenure, applauded the move. Throughout my service to Tennessee I have brought legislation to solidify the relationship between our citizens and the people of Israel, Senator Ketron said. I am proud to see this financial commitment by the states retirement portfolio.
Chicago Lost More Millionaires In 2015 Than Any Other U.S. City

By Kirsten Onsgard in News on Apr 5, 2016 4:37PM



via pantagrapher/Chicagoist's Flickr Pool

Its not just average Joes leaving Chicago in droves: Millionaires are moving away from Chicago at the highest rate of any U.S. city, according to a new report.

Citing concerns of racial tension and crime, about 3,000 millionaires or 2 percent of the citys ultra-wealthyleft the city in 2015. Chicago is now home to about 134,000 millionaires, according to the report by New World Wealth. Chicago also saw the fourth-highest net outflow of cities around the world, along with Paris, Rome and Athens. Greek millionaires cited economic reasons for leaving, while Parisians moved because of religious tensions and a lack of opportunity.

A declining millionaire population can be an ominous sign. Millionaires are often the first to leave an area because they have the means to move as they wish, unlike some middle-class citizens. Between 30 to 40 percent are also business owners.

Still, the U.S. is home to the most high-worth individuals, according to the 2015 World Wealth Report published by Capgemini and RBC Wealth Management. Its also home to two cities with the highest inflow of new millionaires: Seattle and San Francisco. Chicagos wealthy emigrants tended to move to other U.S. cities, not internationally.

This comes after the Census Bureau reported that the Chicago area also saw the largest overall population decline of any metropolitan U.S. area, and failed to offset this decline with new residents for the first time since 1990. Chicago lost 6,263 in total population from July 2014 to July 2015, with many citing unemployment and the states fiscal crisis as reasons for fleeing. Illinois is now the only state without a budget.

But fears of increased racial tension and crime were unique to Chicagos fleeing millionaires. 2015 was a tense and formative year for race relations in Chicago, following the 2014 shooting of Laquan McDonald and ensuing protests.

Though the wealth study did not break down millionaires by race, Chicagos population of wealthy African-Americansthose with a household income of more than $100,000 per yearis also declining, according to Nielsen.
Video: Neglected Potholes Have Grown Into Sinkholes On This Cook County Street

By Mae Rice in News on Apr 5, 2016 3:31PM

In the YouTube clip above, Troy Corsi, 34, takes viewers on a video tour of Linder Avenue.

His home is one of the half-dozen houses along this pothole-scarred stretch of pavement, which starts near 147th Street and runs a few blocks north. Corsi's mailing address puts him in the Village of Midlothian, he told Chicagoistbut really, he and his immediate neighbors fall in unincorporated Cook County (or unincorporated Midlothian, depending whom you ask). Their few blocks of torn-up road are a municipal no-man's land; no government agency feels responsible for the repaving Linder Avenue needs.

Corsi moved into his house on Linder five years ago, and said hes tried every avenue for getting the potholes fixed. (Some of the potholes, literally, are six inches deep, he said. Thats pretty deep!) He's reached out to Midlothian for help, but doesnt fall in their jurisdiction. The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT), meanwhile, put Corsi on hold for hours," he said. Spokesperson for IDOT Gianna Urgo told Chicagoist the stretch of road does not fall in IDOT jurisdiction.

The road does fall within the Township of Bremen, but Bremen Highway Superintendent Jim Grandy told Chicagoist that segment of Linder is currently private property; legally speaking, he cant repave it. Theres liability issues. Bremen could only repave this stretch, Grandy said, if every unincorporated resident who lived along it agreed, unanimously, to be annexed by Midlothian. Grandy said he plans to send a letter to the unincorporated residents this week, gauging interest in annexation.

"It is a hazard, Grandy said. I have people call me [about it] who don't even live out there in those seven houses."

However, even if the residents are all interested in annexation, Midlothian would also have to agree to take them, Midlothian Superintendent of Public Works Joe Sparrey told Chicagoist. (The whole annexation process is not even close to happening, Sparrey added.)

Another complication: Annexation would mean higher property taxes for Corsi and the other unincorporated residents on Linder Avenue. Roughly 2.4 percent of Cook County residents live in unincorporated areas, according to a 2014 study by the Civic Federation, and that means they don't pay taxes to a municipality (like the Village of Skokie, or the City of Chicago). Around the time of the Civic Federation study's release, Crain's painted unincorporated Cook County residents as essentially freeloaders, noting that they don't pay tax to local governments but "consume local government services."

That consumption, though, hasn't been easy in Corsi's case. If anything, he said, the government has been doing the opposite of serving himtheyve been making his stretch of Linder worse. This is a main street," he said, which means it's used by public school buses and garbage trucks. But "it's a type of street that cant handle them type of big vehicles." Traffic from government vehicles exacerbate the already cavernous potholes, Corsi said.

Sparrey confirms that Midlothian garbage trucks had been using the road, but he couldnt confirm whether Midlothian school buses use it. Sparrey said that he met with Midlothian's garbage service, Republic, last week, to tell them to stop using the road.

"[It's] private property, Sparrey said, echoing Grandy.

But even if garbage trucks stop using the road now, it won't fix the already severe damage to Linder Avenue. Some of [the potholes] are even sinkholes, Corsi said. A pothole is a "minor" surface abrasion compared to a sinkhole, Corsi explained. Sinkholes break all the way through the pavement to the ground below, and "it just keeps sinking, the ground.

Corsi's video above highlights sinkholes and other problems with the street: standing water in one pothole, wood thrown haphazardly in another to raise it back to street level. Corsi noted that he filled some of the potholes out front of his house himself. They were so bad that when it would rain, it almost looked like I had a pond out in front of my yard," he said. I got a truck, and I went to a rock place"Ozinga Materialswhere he bought 50 dollars worth of rock, or eight tons of it, "with my own money." He used it to fill the potholes out front of his house.

But fixing all the potholes on Linder, Corsi said, would cost him hundreds of dollars, so he's holding out hope for government assistancein part because Cook County once repaved his stretch of Linder. Corsi heard it was more than a decade ago; Grandy puts it at simply years ago.

Some political person from the county got some guys to go out there and fix some potholes, Grandy explained. Corsi could wait forever for it to happen again, though. At least the way Grandy remembered it, the original repaving was done as a favor, not because the street was the countys official responsibility.

"Everybody keeps their yard nice around here, and tries to take their part in helping out," Corsi said. He also noted that he and his neighbors pay property taxes (just not to the extent they would in an incorporated area). "I just think its unfair.


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The French Riviera has named Chinese actor Liu Ye as it "ambassador", aiming to encourage more Chinese holidaymakers to tour the South of France.

Chinese actor Liu Ye and his wife [File photo]

Appearing along with Meryl Streep, Bruce Willis and Jackie Chan at the event, Liu Ye first shot to fame for his excellent performance in the low-budget film 'Postmen in the Mountains'.

France received more than two million Chinese visitors last year, with around 90-thousand travelling to the Riviera, a 50 percent increase.

"The Telegraph" reports local officials hope through this kind of campaign, the figure can be boosted to 200-thousand a year by 2020.

The 38-year-old actor married a Frenchwoman from Nice in 2009, which makes him a living embodiment of China's good relationship with France.

The veteran actor was honored "Chevalier" medals in the Order of Arts and Letters, an honor handed out by the French government, in 2013.
China, South Korea and Japan will hold working-level talks on the trilateral free trade agreement (FTA) in Seoul this week, South Korea's trade ministry said on Monday.

The 10th round of working-level negotiations for the free trade deal among the three Asian powerhouses will be held from Tuesday to Friday in Seoul, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

During the meeting, negotiators will focus on core issues such as modality, or basic guidelines, on how to liberalize goods trade and service industry.

Also on the agenda will be 20 issues, including country of origin, customs, trade remedy, sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures and technical barriers to trade (TBT).

Under the principle of a comprehensive, high-level, mutually beneficial FTA, the three countries have held nine rounds of negotiations since the talks began in November 2012.

During the trilateral summit in November in Seoul, leaders of the three Asian countries agreed to speed up negotiations on the three-way FTA.

Combined gross domestic product of China, Japan and South Korea accounts for about 20 percent of the world and some 70 percent of Asia's total.
Six campuses of the Mount Sinai Health System (MSHS) - The Mount Sinai Hospital, Mount Sinai Beth Israel, Mount Sinai St. Luke's, Mount Sinai West (formerly known as Mount Sinai Roosevelt), Mount Sinai Queens, and New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai - have been recognized as "Leaders in LGBT Healthcare Equality" by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation, the educational arm of the country's largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization. Mount Sinai Beth Israel was the first hospital in New York City to receive this honor, seven years ago.

The findings were part of HRC Foundation's Healthcare Equality Index 2016, a unique annual survey that promotes equal care for LGBT Americans and recognizes health care institutions doing the best work.

MSHS earned top marks in meeting best practice benchmarks that include nondiscrimination, LGBT education, training, and community engagement, and demonstrated a commitment to equitable, inclusive care for LGBT patients and their families.

"Mount Sinai has created a diverse organization that understands the unique needs of the many communities we serve," said Barbara Warren, PsyD, Director, LGBT Programs and Policies, Office of Diversity and Inclusion, MSHS. "We continue to advance equity and inclusion throughout our health system by creating a culturally and clinically competent environment, training and educating our health workforce and clinicians committed to this goal, and mainstreaming health services for the LGBT community."
A new app created at the University of California, Irvine can improve a patient's choice of a nursing home. This is important, because when rating quality measures for nursing homes, patients and experts at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) usually don't agree on what is best, leading UCI researchers to conclude that patients may benefit from a more personalized approach to choosing a nursing home.

Their study, entitled "When Patients Customize Nursing Home Ratings, Choices and Rankings Differ from the Government's Version," appears in the April issue of Health Affairs.

"Medical care is undergoing a cultural transformation, moving towards personalization and patient-centered care," said Dana B. Mukamel, professor in the Department of Medicine and research study leader. "Our work brings this philosophy to provider choice and quality reporting."

Most patients and their families rely on the five-star ranking system devised by CMS and featured on the Nursing Home Compare website. The rankings are calculated according to a fixed subset of quality measures, with each measure given a fixed importance weight. This five-star ranking, according to Mukamel, is a "one size fits all patients" measure that does not reflect individual patient needs and preferences.

"When patients and their families have the option of creating their own composite scores based on their personal medical needs and preferences, they make different choices," Mukamel said. "Our findings suggest that patients may benefit if the rating report cards are modified to also include an option for personalized ranking of quality measures."

In the study, patients used an iPad-based application, developed by Mukamel and the research team. The app, called Nursing Home Compare Plus, enabled patients to rank the importance of each performance measure according to their personal medical needs and preferences.

The application combined the performance measures published on the CMS Nursing Home Compare website with the preferences expressed by the patient and family. A list of nursing homes that combined personal preferences and the Nursing Home Compare performance measures was provided to the patient.

Researchers quantified the level of agreement between Nursing Home Compare Plus and the five-star rankings by measuring the level of agreement between the two for all nursing homes in each user's ZIP code-based choice set, on a scale of zero to one, with zero indicating random agreement and one indicating perfect agreement. The levels of agreement ranged from 0.22 - 0.38, indicating substantial disagreement between the two ranking systems, indicating that the "one size fits all patients" approach to choosing a nursing home might not be best.

"Patients' medical needs and preferences vary," Mukamel said. "Instead of looking for the 'best' provider along all measures, patients should be looking for the best provider for them. Therefore, allowing patients to personalize the composite measures has the potential to improve their choices."

The randomized controlled study involved 146 patients who were discharged from the departments of medicine and surgery at UC Irvine Medical Center to nursing homes, from February 2014 to August 2015.
Research has documented that black Americans are systematically undertreated for pain relative to white Americans, likely due to both the over-prescription and over-use of pain medications among white patients and the under-prescription of pain medications for black patients. Indeed, research has shown that black patients are undertreated for pain not only relative to white patients, but relative to World Health Organization guidelines.

New research from the University of Virginia suggests that disparities in pain management may be attributable in part to bias. In a study of medical students and residents, researchers find that a substantial number of white medical students and residents hold false beliefs about biological differences between black and white people (e.g., black people's skin is thicker; black people's blood coagulates more quickly) that could affect how they assess and treat the pain experienced by black patients.

The findings are detailed online in the April 4 edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"Many previous studies have shown that black Americans are undertreated for pain compared to white Americans, because physicians might assume black patients might abuse the medications or because they might not recognize the pain of their black patients in the first place." said Kelly Hoffman, a UVA psychology Ph.D. candidate who led the study. "Our findings show that beliefs about black-white differences in biology may contribute to this disparity."

Hoffman and her team asked white medical students and residents, 222 participants in total, to rate on a scale of zero to 10 the pain levels they would associate with two mock medical cases, a kidney stone and a leg fracture, for both a white and a black patient, and to recommend pain treatments based on the level of pain they thought the patients might be experiencing. They were also asked the extent to which various beliefs about biological differences between blacks and whites are true or untrue; for example: that blacks age more slowly than whites; their nerve endings are less sensitive than whites'; their blood coagulates more quickly than whites'; their skin is thicker than whites' (all false); and several other items, some of them true, such as: Whites are less susceptible to heart disease; whites are less likely to have a stroke than blacks.

The researchers found that half of the sample endorsed at least one of the false beliefs, and those who endorsed these beliefs were more likely to report lower pain ratings for the black vs. white patient, and were less accurate in their treatment recommendations for the black vs. white patient.

To determine treatment accuracy, the researchers provided 10 experienced physicians with the same medical cases. The majority of these physicians recommended a narcotic (e.g., opiate, oxycodone) for both cases, which also aligns with the pain treatment recommendations of the World Health Organization.

Importantly, white medical students and residents who did not endorse these false beliefs did not show the same bias.

"We've known for a long time that there are huge disparities in how blacks and whites are assessed and treated by the medical community," Hoffman said. "Our study provides some insight to what might contribute to this - false beliefs about biological differences between blacks and whites. These beliefs have been around for a long time in our history. They were once used to justify slavery and the inhumane treatment of black people in medicine.

"What's so striking is that, today, these beliefs are not necessarily related to individual prejudice. Many people who reject stereotyping and prejudice nonetheless believe in these biological differences. And these beliefs could be really harmful; this study suggests that they could be contributing to racial disparities.

"The good news is that individuals who do not endorse these false beliefs do not show any evidence of racial bias in treatment recommendations. Future work will need to test whether challenging these beliefs could lead to better treatment and outcomes for black patients."
Despite guidelines that advocate the use of weight loss medications to treat obesity, and the availability of FDA approved medications, very few patients use this treatment option, a new study suggests. The results will be presented Sunday, April 3, at ENDO 2016, the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society, in Boston.

More than a third of adults in the U.S. have obesity. Lifestyle changes produce modest weight loss and are appropriate for everyone with a weight problem. Surgery is an effective treatment but it is costly, carries risk and is only appropriate for a limited number of people. Weight loss medications can be effective, and guidelines suggest obese patients and their doctors should consider their use for selected patients.

"We looked at how commonly weight loss medications were prescribed to patients for whom guidelines suggest this treatment would be appropriate," said lead author Daniel Bessesen, MD, Professor of Medicine and Chief of Endocrinology at the University of Colorado and Denver Health Medical Center. "It seems that despite the broad realization that obesity is a problem and that there are available FDA approved medications, few patients use this treatment option."

In this study, researchers used electronic medical records from nine sites from 2009-2013. They discovered that out of more than 2 million eligible patients, only 1.02 percent received a weight loss medication. The most commonly prescribed medication was phentermine, which is generic and inexpensive, but only FDA approved for three months of use.

Researchers also found that a small number of providers write a vast majority of the prescriptions for weigh loss medications.

"In many other diseases like hypertension and diabetes, treatment with medications is common and considered standard practice," Bessesen said. "There remain many questions about why so few patients use weight loss medications."
In recognition of National Child Abuse Prevention Month, members of Court Appointed Special Advocates of Central Virginia planted 250 pinwheels at five courthouses in the area Monday, including these at the corner of Ninth and Church streets near City Hall in Lynchburg.

Today at noon, Lynchburg Vice Mayor Ceasor T. Johnson will read a statement proclaiming April Child Abuse Prevention month. On Wednesday, as part of a week of child abuse awareness events, Liberty University students will place pinwheels on the lawn outside the Jerry Falwell Library to represent each child living in the Lynchburg area who has survived child abuse this year. The pinwheels represent hope, health and happiness.

Learn more about CASA of Central Virginia and the dozens of local children now waiting for an advocate at an April 6 information session at 5:30 p.m. at CASAs office at 901 Church St. For more information call (434) 485-7262 or email bonnie@cvcasa.org.
China has become the second-largest economy in terms of GDP with the largest total trade volume. China has also become a major economic partner of African countries. Accordingly, the talk about and expectation for China to play a bigger role in regional security issues are quite reasonable  despite different points of view and even some criticism. But I would argue that China's contribution in African security issues is under-recognized while its future role is over-expected.

There are two kinds of categorizations about engagements in security areas. The West would like to narrowly categorize security contribution only as military intervention. Though military means might be necessary in some cases, security issues should be addressed by broad means. Economic and diplomatic means are actually of special significance in addressing security issues.

The last decades have seen China participate more and more in security governance in Africa. China has been a major contributor of UN peacekeeping missions in Africa. According to statistics, China by the end of 2015 had dispatched approximately 30 thousand peacekeeping troops under the UN framework. China is the very country that has dispatched the largest number of peacekeeping troops among the P5. China's financial contribution amounted to 6.64% of the total budget of UN peacekeeping missions, making the country the sixth-largest contributor. China's engineering teams have constructed and reconstructed 11,000 kilometers of roads and more than 300 bridges, removed more than 9,400 mines and other types of explosive devices, provided more than 149,000 medical treatments, and transported more than 1.1 million tons of materials and equipment.

Though more accurate statistics for China's peacekeeping mission in Africa are not available, it is known that a big proportion of the missions had actually been conducted in Africa. For instance, by the end of 2015, China had provided troops for 7 missions of all the 9 UN missions. They are MINUSMA (Mali), UNMISS (South Sudan), MONUSCO (Democratic Republic of Congo), UNAMID (Darfur), UNOCI (Cote Devoir), UNMIL (Liberia) and MINUSCA (Central Africa) respectively.

It is also Africa that has witnessed the transformation of China's peacekeeping mission. Before 2012, China's participation was mainly in providing logistic support. In 2013, China provided security forces for the first time in a peacekeeping mission, the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali. In 2014, China dispatched infantry troops as peacekeepers for the first time, for a UN mission in South Sudan.

Since 2008, China has dispatched ships to combat Somali pirates under the UN framework.

Follow China.org.cn on Twitter and Facebook to join the conversation.
After the Bedford Town Council voted to put a meals tax increase in its proposed 2016-2017 budget, news spread fast to restaurant owners around town.

The plan is to increase the tax from 5 percent to 5.5 percent. The consensus of the council is to use the additional money for the town economic development fund, which is aimed at marketing and incentives. The tax increase is expected to add about $100,000 annually. The fund currently has about $280,000.

The final vote on the budget will be April 12.

Vice Mayor Steve Rush and council member Tim Black came up with the plan to raise the tax as a way to fund incentives for developers to build or renovate in Bedford. However, Rush said he doesnt want to set parameters on the program unless it has been officially approved.

The idea is developers who put up money to build a new building or rehabilitate an existing building could qualify for grant money from the fund, which wouldnt be awarded until after a developers money had been spent.

Development also would have to be within certain enterprise zones in Bedford, such as downtown or the manufacturing area along the rail lines at the southern end of town.

Industry needs an incentive to locate here in town; thats how a lot of these places are getting industries, Rush said. We have to be competitive with other localities.

Council member Beck Stanley voted against the meals tax increase, saying restaurants are thriving and he doesnt think the government should raise the tax of the most successful businesses in town.

Customers see it and see an up-charge and it discourages them from eating out, he said. A place like Bedford that has so many great features and has so much to offer and places to eat and they see this beautiful town, why discourage them from coming by increasing the tax on meals?

Lisa Saunders, owner of Fishers Restaurant in downtown Bedford, said it is a fair tax because its being spread equally, and she thinks it has been proposed for a good reason.

I think that its great, she said. I think Bedford needs to get our name out more especially with Smith Mountain Lake, Poplar Forest and D-Day. Anything we can do to attract more business to this town would be awesome.

Saunders added the growth to the fund would give business owners like her the ability to serve more customers.

Owner of both Millstone Tea Room in Sedalia and Town Kitchen & Provisions in the town of Bedford, Jared Srsic, said if the tax is passed, he would be collecting a total meals tax of 10.8 percent at Town Kitchen & Provisions, with 5.3 percent going to the state and 5.5 percent going to the town.

At the Millstone, which is along Virginia 122 north of the town, he collects 5.3 percent for the state and 4 percent for Bedford County.

Im in support of the meals tax IF the town council and mayor will lay out a clear plan for the use of the revenue, he wrote in response to a question from The News & Advance. A town economic development coordinator would be a great use of the funds. My mixed feelings came from a conservative council honing in and raising taxes on a growth industry (restaurants) in the community. I was surprised that it came so quick after an influx of successful restaurant openings is all.

Though he supports extra funding for tourism and wants nothing more than for Bedford to grow, he worries people wont understand whats behind the prices they are paying.

I think its just a matter of educating the customers and the town, educating the customer to see what its used for, he said by phone. To the customer it just looks like another increase in their bottom line.

The tax comes with a sunset clause, which allows for council to revisit the increase in three years and determine whether it should remain the same or come back down.

If we did not use it at all, its absurd to keep it, but Im thinking we would use it, Rush said.
Dominion Resources Inc. plans to sell 10.2 million shares of common stock, in part to help fund an acquisition of a Utah-based energy company and to pay down debt.

Citigroup is underwriting the stock sale, which is expected to raise about $750 million in gross proceeds and also will be used to fund general corporate expenses, Richmond-based Dominion said Monday.

The offering is expected to close Friday.

Dominion said Citigroup plans to offer the common stock in one or more transactions on the New York Stock Exchange, in the over-the-counter market, and through negotiated transactions.

The stock will be sold at prevailing market prices or at negotiated prices, the company said.

Dominion announced in February that it plans to acquire Utah-based energy company Questar for $4.4 billion, in a deal expected to close by the end of the year. Dominion also will take on $1.6 billion in Questar debt, bringing the value of the deal to about $6 billion.

The company has received antitrust clearance for the deal and has applied for state regulatory approvals in Wyoming and Utah. Questar shareholders also must approve the deal.

Dominion stock Monday declined 81 cents, or 1 percent, to close at $74.58.

Dominions last public offering of stock was in May 2015, underwritten by Switzerland-based UBS Securities. That offering sold about 2 million shares and raised about $200 million.
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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
Lead change on disability

The call was made by Sonya Le Maitre-Jackson, human resource consultant at the National Centre for Persons With Disabilities (NCPD), as she addressed a small group of journalists on March 16 about disability etiquette.

Despite this countrys ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in June 2015, which commits it to respecting and promoting the dignity and full inclusion of PWDs in society, she said inappropriate terms such as cripple and handicapped are still appearing in headlines and stories.

She said it was not only the words that were disturbing, but the photographic images used as well.

The key message from todays session is the power the media has in restoring the dignity of persons with disabilities, Le Maitre-Jackson said. That is an invaluable power and it is something we need to tap into, hone and put in the right direction. She added: Its a culture shift [that is needed] and will take time. But once we have willing advocates it will change. Le Maitre-Jackson was speaking at the Queens Park Oval, Port-of-Spain, at a sensitisation workshop organised by the Digicel Foundation as part of its work with persons with special needs.

Leisel Douglas, communications executive at the Digicel Foundation, said the organisation had concerns about the medias output and felt it was vital to educate practitioners on the correct ways to report on and interact with PWDs.

She explained: Weve been noticing in the media that there are things that may not be politically correct and its not necessarily because the media arent interested or they are careless or sloppy.

 We actually felt it was because they just dont know the correct terminology and way they should address and speak to and report on persons with special needs and PWDs. Douglas envisaged the workshop would be the first of many such events, especially as the NCPD has indicated it would like to continue partnering with the Foundation to deliver the training.

Its a small step but it is definitely a step in the right direction and its something we want to continue, she said.

Both Douglas and Le Maitre- Jackson acknowledged that some good work had been done in the media to raise awareness of the challenges faced by and achievements of PWDs.

PWDs themselves had also made a lot of progress with many holding important positions in various organisations.

In spite of this, however, Le Maitre-Jackson said: A huge section of our population is totally disenfranchised, not heard of, invisible. The coverage of the death of Lincoln Myers, a former government minister who was a wheelchair user, has underscored Le Maitre-Jacksons concerns.

Descriptions such as confined to a wheelchair for much of his life and wheelchair-bound were used in reports, in contravention of the NCPDs guidelines which state: The way we speak to [and about] a person with a disability should emphasise the person first and the disability second. Crystal Harrypersad, a young woman who became a wheelchair user when she lost her mobility as a result of a condition called Guillain- Barre Syndrome, put it succinctly in a Guardian newspaper interview published on March 9.

She said: I want society to see ability in disability and not because you are in a wheelchair you are bound to the chair. The term PWDs includes people who have a sensory impairment such as poor vision, speech or hearing; those with a physical disability; or an intellectual (often called hidden) disability such as a mental health or learning condition.

Data from the 2011 census revealed that 52,244 persons or four per cent of the population were living with a disability in Trinidad and Tobago and lack of mobility had replaced visual impairment as the leading form of disability.

A National Policy on Persons with Disabilities and a National Action Plan have existed since 2006 with the aim of promoting accessibility, integration and full participation of PWDs in society.

Their implementation is monitored by the Disability Affairs Unit of the Ministry of Social Development and Family Services.

The unit has noted some of its successes to include the Personal Assistants Training Programme; standardisation of the TT sign language through the Sign Language Dictionary; the Chronic Disease Assistance Programme; and the establishment of a Disability Liaison Unit at the University of the West Indies to serve the needs of students with disabilities.

But poor implementation and monitoring of laws and policy have been identified by the local chapter of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) among a number of barriers which prevent PWDs from participating fully in society.

In a recent paper, it stated: Efforts at translating these policies and international commitments into tangible mechanisms that improve the well-being of PWDs, have been inconsistent. Other obstacles noted by UNDP include: lack of economic opportunities; outdated or non-existent legislation and policies; inequality in access to education; stigma and discrimination; lack of public awareness; and lack of accessible facilities and poor infrastructure.

Le Maitre-Jackson said supporting legislation was now needed to make the UN Convention effective. She said the NCPD was also heavily lobbying for PWDs to enjoy greater inclusion in education, community and national conversations and decision-making.

Our goal is to be world class in the delivery of our services for persons with disabilities, empowering them.

But key to that is inclusion, she said.

Caroline C Ravello, a communications specialist, has been advocating for the rights of people with mental health conditions in her weekly column for the past four years.

She believes that small and disparate campaigns will do nothing to advance the cause of PWDs.

We need a national intervention to get the attention of the population, she said, adding: What I would like to see is one member of Parliament, either in the House of Representatives or Senate, take up mental health as an issue because in their position they can lead and influence change.

She continued: We need to look at all health from the starting point of the mind. Theres no health without mental health.

Everyone has a mind but not everyone will have a physical health complaint.  As for the impact her column may be having on peoples speech and behaviour generally, she said: Nobody has measured [it]. But in my personal circle I can see the changes among people who read the column. I often hear them correcting themselves and they have become more comfortable with saying someone is living with depression instead of suffering with depression, for example.
Bush fire guts Carib warehouse

Newsday was told that at about 12.30 pm yesterday, a bush fire ignited on the Eastern Main Road, just outside the complex, and high winds spread the fire onto poorly discarded palettes on the compound.

Within moments, the fire spread to the building.

When a security officer from K9 Security noticed the blaze, the fire services were immediately alerted.

Fire officers from Tunapuna, Morvant and the Fire Service Headquarters in Port-of-Spain responded.

But by the time they got to the site of the fire, the building was already engulfed.

Fire officers battled the blaze for an hour and a half, but could not save the warehouse. The blaze was so intense that it bent the supporting beams of the building and caused the roof to cave in.

One witness, Darryl Martin, called the fire a monster.

I was up the hill there, fixing my Tiida, said Martin, of Bushe Street. The boss man came and asked me if I see the fire, but I said no. So when I went outside I saw this thick black smoke. I ran down by the community centre and I felt an unbearable heat in my face. The fire fighters must be working hard to out this fire, but it is like a monster. The Carib warehouse was not the only compound at risk from the fire. Near to the building is a matches factory, and right next to the building is the Mt Hope Community Centre. Fire officers contained the fire to the warehouse.

Acting Assistant Chief Fire Officer Siewnarine Rambaran yesterday advised that residents keep a fire track near their homes and to ensure that their surroundings are clean to save their homes from bush fires.

Good housekeeping is what we would advise, said Rambaran.

We would advise in areas like this, that you keep a fire track close to your house in case of a bush fire, so it would not be able to come across.

If the property next door to you is not yours you should still keep it clean, in case of fire.
Teenager held with submachine gun

According to reports, at about 2.30 am officers of the Cunupia police executed a search warrant at a house at Railway Road, Enterprise where the girl was asleep and carried out a search of the premises.

Officers allegedly found the machine gun and more than 150 rounds of ammunition under a mattress.

The suspect was taken to the Cunupia Police Station where she was being detained up until yesterday and is expected to be placed on firearm charges. Police are now in search of other people who live at the house but were not at home when the raid took place.

The exercise was spearheaded by Senior Superintendent Jayson Forde, and included officers of the Cunupia CID.
 Flash

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his U.S. counterpart John Kerry expressed serious concern over the deteriorating situation in the disputed mountainous region of Nagorno-Karabakh and urged immediate cessation of hostilities on Monday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

The statement came at a time when deadly clashes between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces in the Nagorno-Karabakh region have entered into a third day, despite international calls for a halt in the fighting over the disputed territory.

In a phone conversation, the two sides agreed to intensity the efforts of Russia, the United States and France, as co-chairs of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Minsk Group, to assist in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the ministry said in an online statement.

They also condemned attempts of some "external players" to fuel up the confrontation in the region, the ministry added.

Azerbaijan unilaterally declared a cease-fire on Sunday, but crossfire resumed later. The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said on Monday that the country's armed forces have destroyed an Armenian command and staff point.

Earlier in the day, Armenian Defense Ministry spokesman Artsrun Hovannisian said the Azerbaijani troops, unable to break the resistance of the Armenian side, attempted to use heavy military vehicles, combat aircraft, including heavy flamethrower system and unmanned aerial vehicle.

Hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan on the contact line of the Nagorno-Karabakh region erupted overnight Saturday with the two countries blaming each other for triggering the escalation.

Nagorno-Karabakh lies within Azerbaijan but has governed its own affairs with military and financial support from Armenia since a separatist war sputtered to a stop in 1994.
ArcelorMittal: We honoured pension payments

The company divulged this in a statement which it said was issued to clarify a newspaper report (not Newsday) regarding the state of its pension fund. The Company said that the last actuarial valuation placed the fund in surplus in the amount of $53.6 million.

In an emailed statement on Sunday, the company noted that it was very concerned with some of the misleading and nonfactual statements made in the public domain saying the company recognised that this could only lead to unnecessary anxiety for the employees affected by the liquidation process. According to the Companys statement on the newspaper report, One such inaccuracy was highlighted in the print media on Sunday 3 April, 2016 regarding Arcelor- Mittal Point Lisas pension fund.

The company wishes to clarify that the last actuarial valuation of the plan was done as at December 2012, adding, at the time of the actuarial valuation the pension plan was in surplus in the amount of $53.6 million. In the said actuarial valuation, the actuary confirmed that the Company could continue to contribute at the amount of six percent of employees wages until September 2015 and effective October 2015, increase its contribution at 23.7 percent. The Company said, Both the Trustee and the Actuary are informed of the current status of the Company and the termination of all employees having had both telephonic conversations and a meeting with the Company as early as on March 14, 2016. ArcelorMittal stated, adding that it continued to work with the Trustee in order to provide them with the relevant information that they have requested in order to undertake their responsibilities as trustee
Griffith: I recommended new PM car in 2012

Griffith, in a statement on Sunday, knocked critics of an apparent decision by State officials to purchase a new Mercedes Benz for the use of the Office of the Prime Minister.

The timing of this purchase, amid a economic recession, has drawn criticism on social media and elsewhere.

In total contrast to what some are saying, this purchase is not a luxury, but a security necessity that was earmarked to take place since 2012, Griffith said.

As the security adviser to the then Prime Minister, the Special Branch came to me and submitted a report stating that the official Prime Ministers vehicle was in dire need of repair, and based on the usual mandatory practice, the Special Branch recommended that this vehicle be changed immediately, as it was a security risk to the Prime Minister. Griffith further stated, I took this opportunity to get our nation to move with the times, and recommended that an armored vehicle be acquired for the Prime Minister, and to those who feel that this was an extreme measure, I ask those critics to simply recall the early 1990s when the vehicle of the wife of the President was shot at around the Queens Park Savannah. However, his recommendation was rejected.

Said Griffith, Unfortunately, the then Prime Minister, because of that exact rationale that is being seen now, directed me not to proceed with that purchase, probably because of the perception of what the Opposition would say. The former Minister of National Security said security issues should not be mixed up with other issues.

Inappropriate actions (done) to avoid political liability points put not just the life of the individual targeted to be protected, but also puts the lives of the Security personnel at risk, Griffith said.

As such, vehicles that transport the President and Prime Minister, must have the meticulous steering, braking and manouerving systems that may be required for an immediate anti-ambush drill.

This is not and should never be the call of the individual being secured, but the Security Agencies who are earmarked to protect them. Griffith said in 2000, some may recall a similar situation when a Benz for the Prime Minister needed to be changed and there was also uproar.

Princes Town MP Barry Padarath on Sunday accused Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley of condoning the purchase at a time when the population is being told to tighten its belt.
'He Had the Chance to Go in

and Save the Children'
(Newser)  In the year 1240, Leffe came into being, brewed by Belgian monks at the Abbaye Notre-Dame de Leffe. The French Revolution put an end to the brewing in the 1790s, but the reestablishment of the abbey in 1929 was followed, 23 years later, by its restart, though no longer at the abbey: Consumerist reports the recipe was entrusted to a local brewer, who shared the royalties with the abbey. Now, it's made en masse ... in an Anheuser Busch InBev factory that also churns out Stella Artois. And so in a move that's become somewhat typical of late, an American is suing. Henry Vazquez is, appropriately enough, an optometrist bothered by what he sees on the label: The beer is branded as an "Abbey Ale," and shows an image of the abbey bell tower.

Vazquez's suit states that because the beer is represented as being abbey-brewed, the drink assumes it is "thereby brewed in smaller quantities under the supervision of monks." Not quite: The aforementioned Belgian plant that now makes the beer has an annual capacity of 238 million gallons, and the suit alleges AB InBev has gone to "great lengths to conceal" the beer's mass-produced nature. Vazquez wants compensatory and punitive damages, and wants the company to set the record straight by admitting that neither monks nor an abbey play a role in Leffe's current creation. Reuters points out his proposed class action lawsuit was filed Friday in the same Miami federal court where the company ended up agreeing to pay in excess of $20 million to Beck's drinkers who were drinking beer not made in Germany, but in St. Louis. (This suit alleges Coors Light is not the taste of the Rockies.)
(Newser)  Winston Moseley has died in prison, 52 years after he was sentenced to death for a New York City murder that shocked the nation. In 1964, Moseley raped and murdered 28-year-old bar manager Kitty Genovese while neighbors ignored her cries, the New York Times reports. He had spotted his victim while driving around late at night and followed her to her building in Queens. Accounts that 38 people witnessed the murder and not a single person called police turned out to be exaggerated, but the killing prompted national soul-searching and many studies on the "bystander effect." It also led to Good Samaritan laws and hastened the adoption of the unified 911 system for reporting emergencies, the AP reports.

In the Genovese murder, Moseley stalked his victim before stabbing her at least a dozen times. He left the scene after hearing a neighbor's shout but returned to resume the attack. After his arrest, he confessed to two more murders and eight rapes. He was sentenced to the electric chair in 1964, but the sentence was cut to life imprisonment in 1967. The following year, Moseley raped a woman and took five hostages during a prison breakout. In later years, he earned a college degree and said he wanted to make amends for his crimes, but he was still denied parole 18 times, most recently in 2015. People reports that Sunday's episode of Girls was based on the Genovese murder, which creator Lena Dunham calls the "weirdest coincidence." (Read more murder stories.)
(Newser)  The Denver Post is looking for a journalist to cover the marijuana scene, including legalization battles, in the US and Canada for its website the Cannabistor as Washington Post reporter Christopher Ingraham puts it, "DREAM JOB SIREN." But don't get too excited, stoner scribes. "As with every Denver Post position, a qualified candidate must successfully pass a drug test," the ad reads, per Time. Data journalists with a clean test and experience creating maps, charts, and graphs are encouraged to apply. (Read more marijuana stories.)
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The Pentagon on Monday announced transfer of two Guantanamo Bay detainees to Senegal, bringing the population of the notorious U.S. detention facility in Cuba to under 90.

This file photo taken on March 28, 2010 shows US military guards moving a detainee to an undefined facility inside Camp Delta in the Detention Center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. [Photo/Xinhua]

The two detainees, both Libyans, are Salem Abdu Salam Ghereby and Omar Khalif Mohammed Abu Baker Mahjour Umar, and their transfers were approved by six U.S. departments and agencies comprising the review board, said a Pentagon statement.

According to files by the New York Times, Ghereby was described as a "former explosives trainer and veteran jihad fighter," while Umar was a weapon trainer and a commander of a militant camp.

After the latest transfers of two detainees, there were 89 detainees currently held in the Guantanamo Bay detention facility.

In his apparently last-ditch effort to seek cooperation from a hostile Republican-controlled Congress to close the Guantanamo detention facility, U.S. President Barack Obama in February unveiled a long-stalled closure plan.

According to the plan, some of the detainees still held in Guantanamo would be transferred to other countries, and the Obama administration would review the threat posed by detainees who were not eligible for transfers and identify those eligible for military trials.

However, the closure plan left unanswered a crucial question as to where the administration would put some detainees ineligible for transfers inside the United States.

Republicans in the Congress had already pledged to fight against bringing any Guantanamo detainees back to the United States.
(Newser)  Have $34,000 to spare? A scrap of paper that helped bring about the Falklands War could be yours. On March 18, 1982, members of the British Antarctic Survey set out for whaling stations on the island of South Georgia, 1,400 miles east of the Falklands Islands. A day later, they found the Argentine flag flying high over a BAS building in Port Leith which had been ransacked by some 50 Argentine Marines, reports the Telegraph. In a diary entry dated March 20, BAS scientist Neil Shaw recalls visiting the Argentine party to deliver a message from the Sir Rex Hunt, governor of the Falkland Islands, which Shaw had written down in green ink after "searching the building for a pen and paper." Hunt demanded the party return to their ship and report to a marine base at Grytviken.

The instructions were "read out to the ship's captain," who said "he had clearance to come ashore from the Argentine government," Shaw wrote. "I took the letter and we left." By April 2, Argentina had invaded the Falklands and only surrendered 10 weeks later after 255 British troops had been killed. It wasn't until much later that Shaw remembered the letter in his diary, now for sale from Fraser's Autographs. "We all know what happened in the conflict, but it is not something we really talk about," says a rep. "That is why this piece is so poignant." A former captain recently confessed that a ship that helped liberate the Falklands later became a "party boat full of prostitutes" for US Navy officers, per the Plymouth Herald. (Tensions over the Falklands are resurfacing.)
(Newser)  Long lines at polling sites in Arizona's March 22 primary led Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton to call the night a "fiasco"and the Justice Department to now investigate whether there were civil rights violations regarding what Stanton called "unacceptably disparate distribution of polling locations," Reuters reports. The DoJ's civil rights division penned a letter Friday asking Maricopa County, the state's most populous, to determine if federal law was violated regarding, among other things, the number and location of polling sites (the county cut them from 200 to 60 in 2012 in an apparent bid to save money). The Justice Department's reason for this request: reports of "disproportional burden in waiting times  in some areas with substantial racial or language minority populations," the letter noted.

Those waiting times were incredibly inconvenient: The AP notes that some voters waited nearly six hours, with the last vote cast at almost 1am at one site; polls had closed at 7pm, but voters already in line at that point were allowed to cast ballots. Poll workers even reportedly brought pizza to hungry voters. Maricopa County has until April 22 to respond to the DoJ's letter, which included 10 specific requests for information, including polling locations, procedures, and response to public backlash, the Arizona Republic reports. "We are going to gather the information  and we will make it public," the county elections director says. Despite these issues, Arizona's secretary of state certified the primary results on Monday, calling it for Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, per the AP. (Here's hoping Wisconsin's big night Tuesday goes more smoothly.)
(Newser)  A woman in Northern Ireland who aborted a fetus after ordering drugs off the Internet has received a three-month suspended sentence. Abortion is illegal in Northern Ireland, though it's legal everywhere else in the UK, notes the Guardian. The unidentified woman, now 21, pleaded guilty and told the court that she couldn't afford a trip to Britain for a legal abortion and ordered the drugs mifepristone and misoprostol online after hearing about them at a clinic. She then aborted the fetus, which was 10 to 12 weeks old, reports CNN. Her roommates called police when they found it in the trash.

The judge in the case said he was not aware of anyone ever being prosecuted under the 150-year-old abortion law, but an anti-abortion group thinks he went far too easy in his punishment. The 1861 law calls for a life sentence for anyone guilty, says Precious Life, and the group says it is "very shocked" at the outcome. Amnesty International is "utterly appalled" at the case, too, but for the opposite reason. "A woman who needs an abortion is not a criminal," says the group. "The law should not treat her as such." (Read more abortion stories.)
(Newser)  Most kids would probably be jealous of Claire Danes' childhood home, a loft in New York City in which there was "a trampoline, a trapeze, and a swing," she told Seth Meyers on Late Night Monday. But, as Time reports, Danes was actually "embarrassed" by her upbringing: "My cousins lived in Jersey, in this very kind of conventional setting, and every time I'd go to their house, they'd be like in a cul-de-sac, and I'd just, like, lust over their carpet," she said.

"They had stairs, and rooms, and a basement, in which they played video games," she continued. Now that she has kids of her own, they're being brought up in a normal house, but she said her husband made sure to get the family a "hammock chair" as a throwback to Danes' swing days. (Read more Claire Danes stories.)
(Newser)  On Tuesday, Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant signed HB1523, also known as the Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act, into law, the Jackson Clarion-Ledger reports. In doing so, he made it legal for businesses in the state to refuse service "because of a religious opposition to same-sex marriage, extramarital sex, or transgender people," NPR reports. Bryant says he signed the bill in order to protect citizens with "deeply held religious beliefs" and argues it's not discriminatory. Opponents of the bill, of which there were many, disagree. CNN reports the Mississippi Economic Council, the Mississippi Manufacturers Association, Nissan, Tyson Foods, Toyota, AT&T, Levi's, the ACLU, and many more all officially opposed the bill.

Bryant lauds HB1523 for its specificity, pointing out that it won't allow restaurants to refuse to serve a gay diner but will allow restaurants to refuse to host a gay wedding. It also protects state employees who refuse to issue same-sex marriage licenses. He says it renews First Amendment rights for religious people while not violating federal law. But opponents argue the bill's wording allows for a broader interpretation. To use the restaurant example, businesses could refuse to serve gay couples celebrating their wedding anniversary, they argue. And it's not just same-sex couples and transgender people who will be affected by the bill. Unwed mothers and people living together outside of wedlock could also be refused service, opponents say. HB1523 goes into effect July 1. (Read more religious freedom stories.)
(Newser)  Two former Mexican presidents have already said there's no way their country will ever pay for the "stupid" "f---ing wall" that Donald Trump insists he'll erect between the US and Mexico if he becomes presidentwhich has led to lots of head-scratching over how exactly Trump would "make" Mexico contribute a single penny. The GOP front-runner elaborated on Tuesday, releasing a campaign memo that lays out what reads more like an extortion scheme than a financial proposal. "It's an easy decision for Mexico," the memo reads, per the Washington Post. "Make a one-time payment of $5-10 billion to ensure that $24 billion continues to flow into their country year after year." The $24 billion he's referencing: what he says Mexico receives annually "in remittances from Mexican nationals working in the United States," sent home to their families in Mexico. (The Post notes that figure, give or take a billion, technically includes cash sent from Mexicans living all over the world.)

Trump's even got it sketched out almost to the hour if he takes over the White House, notes CBS News: On the first day, he'd detail what CNN calls a "broad interpretation" of the Patriot Act and the changes needed to the act to pull off his plan. (Per his new rules, money transfer companies would have to verify recipient IDs and legal statuses before sending funds.) On the second day, Mexico "will immediately protest," and on the third day, Trump will make his ultimatum to Mexico to pay up or he'll get his pen out to modify the act and make the proposed new rules official. He also tacks on the option of raising visa fees and canceling visas outright, placing strangleholds on "important people in the Mexican economy." "Mexico has taken advantage of us," the memo concludes, going on to rail against all of the criminal activity in the US that Trump believes has been perpetuated by Mexican gangs, drug cartels, and traffickers. "We have the moral high ground here, and all the leverage. It is time we use it in order to Make America Great Again." (Read more Donald Trump 2016 stories.)
(Newser)  Bernie Sanders, who currently trails Hillary Clinton by 263 pledged delegates (438 when counting super delegates), not only believes he'll end up with more delegates than his opponent, he thinks he'll come out of a contested convention with the nomination, Politico reports. "I think itll be an interesting Democratic convention," Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver tells CNN. The Sanders campaign doesn't think either candidate will get the 2,383 delegates needed to win the nomination outright and believes Sanders can swing support his way at the convention. That's especially true if he's able to convince Clinton-supporting super delegates, who are free to vote for anyone at the convention, to change sides if their states supported him in the primary.

The Clinton campaign doesn't see it the same way. The Hill quotes a memo from campaign manager Robby Mook calling Clinton's delegate lead "nearly insurmountable" and stating that the only way Sanders wins is by "overturning the will of the voters." He says Sanders would need about 60% of the vote in delegate-rich states like California, New York, and New Jersey. Obviously, the Clinton campaign doesn't think that will happen. But the Sanders camp says it doesn't have to. Weve mapped out a path to victory in our campaign in terms of delegatespledged delegatesand we dont have to win everywhere, but we do have to win most of the states coming up, Weaver acknowledges, per Politico. (Read more Bernie Sanders stories.)
(Newser)  A Philadelphia Uber driver went down for a nap Saturday only to wake up in the middle of a police chase in New York, CBS New York reports. According to the Press & Sun-Bulletin, 20-year-old Juan Carlos hired 43-year-old Uber driver Corey Robinson to take him from Philadelphia to a college in central New York. It's a 275-mile drive, and at some point Robinson asked Carlos to take over driving for a bit so he could grab some shuteye. Around 5:35am, Carlos was spotted by state troopers allegedly going 21mph over the speed limit on the interstate, New York Daily News reports. Rather than pull over, troopers say Carlos sped up and tried to elude them.

That's when Robinson finally woke up, wondering why they were driving so fast. Carlos explained to him they were being chased by police and refused to stop the car when Robinson told him to. Carlos allegedly eventually crashed Robinson's 2016 Hyundai Sonata into a guardrail, with both men sustaining minor injuries. Carlos has been charged with unlawfully fleeing a police officer, driving without a license, and several traffic violations. Robinson was released without charges. Uber has suspended the accounts of both men while it investigates the situation. (Read more weird crimes stories.)
(Newser)  An airline nearly had one of its jets, worth "tens of millions" of dollars, impounded Friday because it wouldn't pay a customer the $680 it owed her for a delayed flight, NBC News reports. The EU requires airlines to reimburse travelers for delays depending on their length. A German woman's flight from Austria to the Caribbean was delayed 22 hours for mechanical issues, earning her a $680 payout. But four years later, Thomas Cook Airlines still hadn't paid up. So the woman went to a claims company called FlightRight and took the airline to court. On Friday, an official armed with a court order warned Salzburg Airport that Thomas Cook was about to have one of its jets impounded, affecting flights, unless it ponied up the woman's money. The $680 was immediately paid by Condor, a Thomas Cook-affiliated airline.

"We are very sorry that it took this long," a Condor spokesperson says. FlightRight says airlines will sometimes drag their feet when paying out compensation in the hopes travelers will give up, but this was probably an honest mistake. "The claim probably just got lost on somebody's desk," a FlightRight spokesperson says. The regulations behind this "ultimate revenge" exacted by the customer require that passengers be compensated when flights are three hours late or more, notes News.com.au. Protections for travelers aren't as strong in the US, so don't expect this to happen here, adds a post at Conde Nast Traveler, "but we still love the visual of a woman towing a jumbo jet home with her behind her car or spray-painting 'Property of Disgruntled Customer' on the side." (This woman sued an airline after being told to switch seats for a man.)
Just a year-and-a-half ago, the United States convinced the Chinese government to stick to a deadline for reversing growth in greenhouse gas emissions. This was seen as a major victory, as China produces one-fourth of the world's emissions. Even though the deadline was set for 2030, the agreement by Beijing was seen as a significant breakthrough.

Recent energy data as well as slowing Chinese development are throwing up a key question----is carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, already reducing in China, one decade earlier?

This success could boost worldwide efforts to limit global warming to just 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, or two degrees Celsius, just above pre-industrial levels. Though this has been thought to be tough, it is critical.

This would also pressurise the United States and other nations to carve out more ambitious plans to limit emissions. It would also defeat critics who tell the US not to over-commit, as they charge China of being the main culprit.

However, there are problems with the accuracy of Chinese data. In a paper published late last month by the journal Nature Climate Change, it was observed that preliminary energy information from China was not completely reliable. "The most easily available data is often insufficient for estimating emissions."

Yet, some climate researchers argue that carbon emissions from China may be reducing after it went up since 2001, when China joined the World Trade Organization. Two British researchers, Fergus Green and Nicholas Stern, put forward this happy news published last month by the journal Climate Policy.

"It is quite possible that emissions will fall modestly from now on, implying that 2014 was the peak," they wrote.

The main reason is the fall in coal emissions, which has been dropping rapidly, mainly due to its economic slowdown. China's president, Xi Jinping, has said that slower growth is the "new normal," and has been deflecting growth from heavy industry towards consumer demand and the service sector.

At eastern population centers, they have tried to fight air pollution, promoting alternative energy, including hydropower and nuclear power.

Yang Fuqiang, a senior climate and energy adviser at the Washington-based Natural Resources Defense Council, exulted that carbon emissions from China have perhaps peaked in 2014 between 9.3 billion and 9.5 billion metric tons. Emissions from China dropped by 1 to 1.5 percent last year, Mr. Yang said.

However, these are only preliminary warnings. Chinese population growth, consumption by industry and transport cannot limit the growth immediately.

"I think the total of China's carbon dioxide emissions will rise again in coming years," said Jiang Kejun, a senior researcher at the Energy Research Institute of China's main economic planning agency.

Some scientists are sure that its emissions fluctuate for many years before it declines, following the pattern of the United States before 2007.

"If China can revise this, then I'd be very happy," Mr. Yang of the Natural Resources Defense Council said. "China would be playing a leadership role in climate change."
 Flash

China on Tuesday announced embargoes on some imports from and exports to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

In terms of imports, China banned purchases of coal, iron ore, gold, rare earths and several other raw minerals. Exports of aviation fuel to the DPRK are also no longer allowed.

The bans, with immediate effect, follow the UN Security Council's resolutions, the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement on its website.

The statement said the embargoes allow some imports of DPRK coal, iron and iron ore for civilian use, but any trade related to the DPRK's nuclear or missile programs is banned.

The UN Security Council adopted a resolution last month in response to the DPRK's nuclear and missile program following its nuclear test in January and satellite launch in February.
The English alphabet seems to have ancient cultural roots that go back to thousands of years. Scientists from the University of Cambridge are getting an insight into the social context of ancient shared writing systems.

The Contexts of and Relations between Early Writing Systems (CREWS) Project is studying how writing developed in the second and first millennia BCE in Mediterranean and Near East regions. This history of writing had significant links with modern day written culture.

"Alphabetical order" began 3,000 years ago in the ancient city of Ugaritic, written in a cuneiform script that was made of wedge-shaped signs on clay tablets.

The Ugaritic alphabet was disinterred from Ras Shamra in modern Syria. Called "abecedarian," the tablets show letters of the alphabet in an order, representing teaching or training materials for new scribes.

The Ugarit was destroyed in 1200 BCE, but the Phoenicians, who live now in Syria and Lebanon, arranged their alphabets in the same order, but used linear letters, not cuneiform wedge shapes.

The linear letters, ie Alep, Bet, Gimel and Dalet, look remarkably like the A, B, C and D of our own English language.

"The links from the ancient past to our alphabet today are no coincidence. The Greeks borrowed the Phoenician writing system and they still kept the same order of signs: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta," explained Philippa Steele, lead author from the University of Cambridge's Faculty of Classics. "They transported the alphabet to Italy, where it was passed on to the Etruscans, and also to the Romans, who still kept the same order: A, B, C, D, which is why our modern alphabet is the way it is today."

How did the simple idea survive through centuries of movement and change?

"The answer cannot be purely linguistic," Steele added. "There must have been considerable social importance attached to the idea of the alphabet having a particular order. It matters who was doing the writing and what they were using writing for."

"Globalization is not a purely modern phenomenon," Steele said. "We might have better technology to pursue it now, but essentially we are engaging in the same activities as our ancestors."

Research for the CREWS project is expected to run from April through 2021.
A patent file for the Wright brothers' "flying machine," which was missing since 1980, has been found by a team from the U.S. National Archives. The record keepers had detected that it was missing in a Washington D.C. vault only in 2000, though it had got lost in 1980. That led to the team enhancing its efforts to find the patent file. At last, they found it in a limestone cave.

Bob Beebe, a volunteer archivist, had discovered it inside a 15-foot-high stack of documents in Kansas. It was identified from a special records storage cave. Beebe had almost given up the search till he happened to search in one additional box and finally found it in patent No. 821,393.

The history of the file's movements is simple. It was stored in the National Archives building and then shifted to a federal records center in 1969. In 1979, a few parts of the file were given over to the Smithsonian during an exhibition and then it came back to the federal records center.

"We had a pull slip from our files saying that the document was returned to the National Archives in 1980," said archivist Chris Abraham. "But... that's where the trail goes cold."

Abraham had thought that the patents were in the Lenexa cave. He had initiated a search in the cave in order to find it.

The paper contains the names of the famous brothers, Orville and Wilbur Wright, as well as the significant words, "flying machine," which described the world's first successful plane.

The Wright brothers had created history with the first controlled, powered human flight on Dec. 17, 1903. Having filed the patent nine months before its first flight, it was granted in 1906.

"Be it known that we Orville Wright and Wilbur Wright, both citizens of the United States, residing in the city of Dayton and state of Ohio, have jointly invented a new and useful machine for navigating the air," it reads.

The flight took just 12 seconds to complete, and ranged over 37 meters. But it was a breakthrough flight that changed human history.

"If somebody puts something back in the wrong place, it's essentially lost," said William J. Bosanko, the National Archives' boss. "In this case, we didn't know. We had to ask ourselves: 'Is it something that could have been stolen?'"

The rediscovered Wright brothers "flying machine" patent file will be exhibited in the National Archives Museum later in April.
Women employees of Air France will now be allowed to opt out of working on scheduled flights to Iran to avoid having to wear a headscarf, a company official said today. The airline will appoint a "special unit" to replace those who do not want to fly to Tehran, he said. "Any woman assigned to the Paris-Tehran flight who for reasons of personal choice would refuse to wear the headscarf upon leaving the plane will be reassigned to another destination, and thus will not be obliged to do this flight," human resources official Gilles Gateau told Europe 1 radio.

Air France is to resume on April 17 its Paristo Tehran service which had been suspended since 2008 due to international sanctions against Iran over its nuclear ambitions. Now that most sanctions again Iran have been dropped in wake of rising economic developments and recent landmark nuclear deals with Iran from other global superpowers, Air France have now begun resuming flight operations.

Unions say company executives sent staff an internal memo regarding flights to Tehran saying that female cabin crew would be required to wear trousers on board with a loose fitting jacket and must cover their hair with a scarf when they leave the plane. The headscarf rule is already in place when flying to certain destinations such as Saudi Arabia.

Iran requires women to cover their heads with headscarves and wear pants or long skirts. Men are expected to wear long pants and long-sleeved shirts. German carrier Lufthansa has been flying to Iran for years, and said it has never had staff complain about wearing the traditional dress when exiting the plane in Tehran. Lufthansa have now plans to increase that service due to rising demand.

With the recent issue from Air France staff refusing to de-board the plane with headscarves only escalates issues and tensions that can arise as the West resumes business relations with Iran.
New Delhi:

Pakistans Joint Investigation Team (JIT) that visited India last month to investigate into the Pathankot terror attack in January has said that the incident was staged by India, according to a report in a Pakistani newspaper. The report further states that the Pakistan JIT has accused India of spreading "vicious propaganda" without any solid evidence. The Pakistan Today report has quoted a JIT member as saying that "the Indian authorities had prior information about the attackers." The JIT will submit its report to Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in next few days, according to the newspaper.

The Pakistani probe team, comprising of five members, including an officer of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), visited Pathankot on March 27. The team also met the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in Delhi and held talks with it. The JIT report, according to the newspaper, has claimed that the Indian government did not cooperate with Pakistani sleuths and "instead made efforts to hinder the probe".

"The report also raises serious questions over the veracity of Indian claims regarding the Pathankot attack. The JIT has concluded that contrary to the claims of the Indian government about the duration of the encounter, the standoff between the Indian army and alleged terrorists ended within hours of the attack... This finding has made it clear that the attack was a drama staged to malign Pakistan and persuade the world community that Pakistan is involved in terrorism," the newspaper quotes its JIT source as saying.

"Indian authorities also failed to establish that the attackers entered from Pakistan." It says that all the attackers were shot dead "within hours of the assault" but "the Indian authorities made it a three-day drama to get maximum attention from the world community in order to malign Pakistan," The JIT report, according to Pakistan Today, says.

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New Delhi:

Search engine giant Google has just introduced a couple of new features to its Chrome browser, one of it will enable parents to teach children about different noises that animals make. Now when you type for animal noises Google will display a little carousel wheel of flash cards. Each card shows a picture of an animal and the cry it makes with an audio button to play.

So far Google has included 19 animals in its list, including zebra, ape, cat, lion, moose, owl, pig, cow, duck, elephant, horse, raccoon, bowhead whale, humpback whale, wolf, rooster, sheep, tiger and a turkey. This updated feature, announced on Google's Austria Google+ page, is available on Google search in the desktop browser as well as for Android.

Well, this is undoubtedly one of the smartest features Google has released which will be helpful for kids to learn and understand better with images along with sounds of the animals.
Puducherry:

Senior Congress leader and former Union Minister V Narayanasamy alleged that Puducherrys separate status would be in jeopardy if AIADMK is voted to power in the May 16 Assembly polls and said the future of the Union Territory was safe in hands of Congress-DMK alliance.



The separate status of Puducherry will be in jeopardy if AIADMK is voted to power as there is threat of merger with neighbouring states... people must ensure they back the Congress-DMK alliance to form the government for integrated development and protection of the Union territory status, he said addressing an election rally after welcoming workers from other parties into the Congress.



He did not elaborate on the rationale behind his claim. Narayanasamy alleged that the five year AINRC rule was a monumental failure and unemployed youth were let down. The CM was providing jobs to youth from a particular constituency letting down those in other segments, he alleged.



On the fishermens issue, he alleged that neither the NDA government at the Centre nor the Tamil Nadu government had taken steps to secure the release of Tamil Nadu fishermen held in Sri Lankan prisons.



When I was Union Minister I held talks with the Embassy concerned and got fishermen from Tamil Nadu and Karaikal released within days of their arrest by Sri Lankan forces.



He said Congress-DMK would soon decide seat sharing in the UT,now that the exercise neighbouring Tamil Nadu was over. He said development of Puducherry was the top priority for the alliance.
Patna:

Four days after promulgation of partial prohibition in Bihar on April one, the Nitish Kumar government today decided to impose a total ban on alcohol in towns and cities. The decision to ban sale and consumption of India Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) in municipal and town council areas with immediate effect was taken at a cabinet meeting, the chief minister told reporters here.



The Nitish Kumar government had banned sale and consumption of country and spiced liquor in rural areas from April 1 this year, but had allowed sale of foreign liquor in towns and cities. But, the tremendous response of people particularly women and children against liquor in Patna and other towns in a short period of four days only convinced us that a conducive environment against alcohol has been created in the state and thats why we decided to go for total ban on liquor after four days only, he said.



On toddy which has created controversy in recent days following intervention of RJD President Lalu Prasad against its stoppage in view of interest of people associated with the trade, Kumar said the state cabinet decided to strictly impose the 1991 guidelines which allows consumption of Neera (drink from palm trees before sunrise) but disallows consumption of toddy (after sunrise when the palm tree liquid gets fermented and gains alcoholic properties).



The 1991 guidelines prohibits sale and consumption of Neera within 50 metre of places like hospital, education institutions, religious places among others in towns and 100 metres radius in rural areas, he added. The chief minister said Neera would be allowed, while toddy drink would be barred.

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Reykjavik:

Icelands Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson has resigned, his party said today, the first major political casualty to emerge from the leak of the so-called Panama Papers financial documents.

The prime minister told (his partys) parliamentary group meeting that he would step down as prime minister and I will take over, the Progressive partys deputy leader and Agriculture Minister Sigurdur Ingi Johannsson told a live broadcast.

Before this, Icelands prime minister had asked the president for permission to dissolve parliament as his government reeled from a political crisis over the so-called Panama Papers, but the president refused.

President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, who cut short a visit to the US to return to Reykjavik earlier today to deal with the crisis, told a televised press conference he wanted to consult the governments junior coalition member before making a decision.

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Kandahar (Afghanistan):

A senior figure in the Afghan Taliban today said that a brother and son of their late founder, the one-eyed Mullah Mohammad Omar, have been appointed to leadership positions in the insurgency.

Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, Mullah Omars son, was recently named to lead the Taliban military commission for 15 of Afghanistans 34 provinces, according to Mullah Gul Rahman Saleem, a member of the Talibans ruling council.

Mullah Omars brother, Mullah Abdul Manan, has been appointed head of religious affairs, Saleem told AP.

The move consolidates the positions of both men as the new head of the Taliban, Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, seeks loyalty from dissidents to shore up his own position.

The Taliban leadership agreed some time ago that these positions should be filled by Mullah Omars family members, and that decision has been formalized in a meeting by the leadership on Friday said Saleem. He said the appointments were made in January, but followers were not informed until Monday, after the leadership council confirmed the decision.

Yaqoob and Manan had opposed Mansoors ascension after it was revealed last summer that Mullah Omar had died more than two years earlier.

As Mullah Omars deputy, Mansoor had acted in his name after his death, and suffered a serious dip in trust from both Taliban commanders and rank and file fighters after the Kabul government made the death public.

Another prominent figure in the militant group, Abdul Qayum Zakir, who had also opposed the new leadership, last month pledged his allegiance to Mansoor.

Zakir had earlier held the post of military commissioner, as well as other positions when the Taliban ruled Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001, and after the group fled into exile in Pakistan following the 2001 US invasion.

Mansoor made a public plea last month for unity, acknowledging disaffection among fighters who have wearied of 15 years of war with little progress toward the goal of toppling the Kabul government.

Since taking over, Mansoor has escalated the war, spreading it to every corner of the country and even taking control of a major northern city, Kunduz, for a few days last year.

Mansoor is believed to control the bulk of smuggling routes in the southern provinces, notably Helmand where most of the worlds opium is produced. Fighting in Helmand has been fierce for months, as he seeks to drive out rival smugglers among Taliban commanders.

Mansoor has also refused to participate in attempts to revive a peace dialogue, dashing Kabuls hopes that a face-to-face meeting between their respective representatives would take place last month.

Afghan officials are hoping that the decision of a long-term ally of the Taliban, warlord Hekmatyar Gulbuddin, to seek an unconditional peace treaty with Kabul will influence the Taliban to join the peace process.

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It all started in a one-room schoolhouse.

Now, the Greenwich Education Group serves more than 1,000 students annually, employs 107 full-time staff members, and has received this years top honor in Connecticut from the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Earlier this month, the SBA named the Greenwich Education Groups Victoria Newman, founder and executive director, and her husband Peter Newman, chief executive officer, as its Small Business People of the Year in the state.

Victoria Newman, a former teacher in the Stamford and Greenwich school systems, grew the company from its humble beginnings after recognizing the need for more personalized educational resources in Fairfield and Westchester counties. Her husband left his investment banking career and joined the company as CEO when it needed someone full-time in a financial capacity.

People often ask me if I had you this grand vision, and I say no I cannot say that I did, Victoria Newman said. I really just wanted to start my own business, but didnt know if it would be successful.

Winning the SBA award validates the companys mission and business model, they said. Peter Newman attributes the win to the companys growth in terms of revenue, students and personnel.

I think its a validation of what we have built, he said. Weve never tried to run the company to maximize revenue. Our strategy has been to do really, really good work and provide a quality product.

Being partners in business and life has its challenges, but the two have made it work.

We complement each other very well, Victoria Newman said. We have very different skill sets, some in common, some different. We both know what were good at and what the other is better at.

Founded in 2003, the Greenwich Education Group provides students with the support they need to achieve academic success through an array of academic resources, including subject tutoring, SAT test preparation, boarding school advisory services, college counseling and social skills support. The company also helps students become independent learners through its Collaborative Center for Learning and Development as well as provides educational support for students behind in their academics through its accredited, short-term Links Academy program.

The Greenwich Education Group has also expanded to include three accredited, co-ed independent day schools in Stamford: Beacon, The Spire School and Pinnacle. Each school developed as a response to the communitys needs, said Victoria Newman. Beacon serves high-achieving students through an individualized educational curriculum focused on pursuing their passions, discovering new interests and developing talents. The Spire School provides an alternative academic setting for students struggling with depression, anxiety and other emotional challenges. The Pinnacle School works with adolescents diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorders, non-verbal learning disability, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Robyn Whittingham, the companys chief of staff, nominated the Greenwich Education Group when the U.S. SBA called for submissions last fall.

Its a very compelling story. They started off with their own business in education consulting, and its grown into so much more since then, Whittingham said. The school system cant always serve the community in a way that prepares students for the real world. What Vicky wanted to do was really individualize families options since every student learns differently.

Our business is about education and educating young people to give students their best start, and I think that appealed to the SBA, she added.

Megan.Dalton@scni.com; 203-625-4411
Contributed Photo / Contributed Photo

NEW MILFORD  New Milford Hospital is celebrating 1,000 Days of Safety Wednesday for ensuring a safe environment for patient care over nearly three years.

The hospital staff is following all safety steps and checks to avoid any patient injury, according to Andrea Rynn, Western Connecticut Health Network spokesperson. This was achieved by nurses following all checks before administering a medication to assure the patient gets the medication prescribed specially for him or her. Nurses aids follow all safety steps to reduce the chance for patient falls by assuring the call bell is in reach of the patient, making frequent rounding to check patients or offer bathroom trips.
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HARTFORD  They may not have been successful in their call for full legalization of marijuana in Connecticut, but the dozens of people who spoke at a hearing in the Capitol Tuesday had a persuasive revenue argument on their side.

Colorado took in 76 million dollars in taxes last year on a billion dollars in marijuana sales, Dan Pabon of Denver, a member of the Colorado House of Representatives, told the handful of lawmakers who attended the hearing.

Now, we were known as the Mile High City before we passed recreational marijuana in 2012, just for the record, Pabon said. And no I did not bring any samples today. He said he voted no on the 2012 statewide referendum, which won more votes in the state than President Barack Obama.

Nearby states including Vermont, Massachusetts and Rhode Island are contemplating legalizing marijuana for recreational use, but legislation is dead this year and most likely in the near future for a similar relaxation of the laws in Connecticut.

The hearing was sponsored by Rep. Toni Walker and Rep. Juan R. Candelaria, New Haven Democrats.

I think as Connecticut moves forward, we need to gather more information, we need to become more knowledgeable and we need to study as we move forward, Candelaria said.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, who signed bills decriminalizing small amounts of marijuana and approving the medical-cannabis program, is against the full legalization.

As we read information and we deal with the facts of whats being presented to us in a society that is evolving around us, said Walker, the co-chairman of the Appropriations Committee. Just for everyones information. We will not have a smoke-in.

Lynne Ann Schwarsenberg of Ansonia said that despite her elderly fathers apparent success using the the the drug to alleviate medical symptoms, she criticized the medical-marijuana program for not covering enough ailments.

The current medical program we have is broken, she said.

The Colorado program limits retail purchases to a quarter ounce of marijuana flower or the equivalent by those 21 or older. Adults may grow six plants for themselves or may share it. The program bans the consumption of marijuana in public. Pabon said that use of the drug has not increased among any age groups since legalization.

Pabon said that marijuana taxes in Colorado have generated millions of dollars for drug-education and treatment programs and that kids are not using the drug at a higher rate than in past years. But he warned that lax rules on private growing of medical-grade marijuana lacks quality control.

Colorado has a 2.5 percent sales tax and retail marijuana is subject to a 10-percent sales tax and a 15-percent excise tax levied at the transfer from wholesalers to retailers. Cities and towns also tax the drug at the local level.

Oregon, Washington, Alaska and the District of Columbia also have full legalization. Connecticuts pharmaceutical model for medical marijuana puts the state in better position for recreational use than when Colorado legalized medical cannabis in 2000, Pablon said.

Public safety was key to the programs rollout, he said, keeping away criminals, cartels and those that would be engaged in nefarious activities.

kdixon@ctpost.com;
/ Team 26

NEWTOWN - The annual four-day bicycle ride to the nations capital to honor victims of the Sandy Hook massacre and advocate for change begins Saturday.

The ride by Team 26 from Connecticut through New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland ends on Tuesday with a rally at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.
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Most Americans believe the nation has lost its identity, its values are under attack, they have less money and elected officials dont give a damn what they think, a new Quinnipiac poll has found.

The national poll released Tuesday morning reflects the troubling mood of Americans in a year they will elect a new president to lead them.

And where does Donald Trump fit in this national mood of discontent?

Many American voters, especially Republicans, are dissatisfied with their own status and the status of the country, but by far the most dissatisfied are Donald Trump's supporters, who strongly feel that they themselves and the country are under attack, Douglas Schwartz, Quinnipiac University poll director, said in a release. Trump supporters are true stand-outs. They want a leader who is very different from the leader sought by other voters, explaining the mystery many see behind Trump's support.

More News Kasich to hold town hall at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield

The poll found the Republicans surveyed were the most troubled with the direction of the country. Most Republicans agreed with such statements that its time for a leader to do anything and make a radical change to solve the nations troubles. And, 72 percent of Republicans surveyed also believe the government has gone too far assisting minorities.

Lost identity

A total of 57 percent of all voters strongly agree or "somewhat agree" with the statement, "America has lost its identity," as 43 percent "somewhat disagree" or "strongly disagree."

Among all Republicans, 79 percent agree, while only 36 percent of Democrats agree. The highest level of agreement is expressed by GOP supporters of Donald Trump, as 85 percent "agree," the independent Quinnipiac University Poll finds.

Falling behind

Among all American voters, 57 percent agree with the statement, "I'm falling further and further behind economically," with 67 percent of all Republicans and 48 percent of Democrats agreeing "strongly" or "somewhat." Trump voters stand out with 78 percent strongly agreeing.

Beliefs under attack

The pattern continues as 62 percent of all voters, including 85 percent of all Republicans and 40 percent of Democrats agree that their "beliefs and values are under attack." Ninety one percent of Trump backers agree, the highest of any candidate.

Helping minorities

There is a wide partisan division among American voters on the statement, "The government has gone too far in assisting minority groups." Agreement is 45 percent among all voters, 72 percent among all Republicans and 18 percent among Democrats. Agreement is highest among Trump backers, 80 percent.

On leaders and public officials

Agreement with the statement, "What we need is a leader who is willing to say or do anything to solve America's problems" is 53 percent among all voters, 68 percent among all Republicans and 39 percent among Democrats. Trump backers agreement is highest with 84 percent.

There is widespread agreement, 76 percent, with the statement, "Public officials don't care much what people like me think." Agreement is 84 percent among all Republicans and 68 percent among Democrats. Ninety percent of Trump supporters agree, the highest of any candidate.

There is a lower level of agreement, 64 percent, with the statement, "The old way of doing things no longer works and we need radical change." Agreement is 71 percent among all Republicans and 58 percent among Democrats. Agreement is highest among Trump supporters with 83 percent.

Among all American voters, 56 percent agree with the statement, "Leaders don't worry about what other people say; they follow their own path." Agreement is 65 percent among all Republicans, 46 percent among Democrats and 74 percent of Trump voters agree, the highest of any candidate.
The Capitol campus is in emotional lockdown.

Social-service providers, facing major budget cuts, are in a snit. Lawmakers, in a big election year, want to appear to serve their constituents without being labeled profligate spenders. Taxpayers want something, anything for their money.

Because the jobs regained from the 2008 recession have mostly been lower-wage positions, with resulting revenue decreases, the state deficit of $20 million  announced at 5 p.m. on Friday  in the budget that runs through June 30, will likely increase further.

And the various legislative committees are hard-pressed to somehow make the columns add up to a half-billion-dollars in spending reductions for the next fiscal year.

Short of cashing in on some institutional Powerball investments  for we the people  the General Assembly is facing hard decisions.

Assuming the vulnerable Democratic majorities of 87-64 in the House and 21-15 in the Senate dont raise taxes (never a safe bet), theyre going to have to come to terms with a new budget that takes effect July 1 and pull a rabbit out of their hat.

Or bags of marijuana from their desks in the historic House chamber.

Yep, its time for lawmakers to look at the potential big bucks generated by legal recreational use of Americas favorite contraband. Colorado, with 5.3 million people, realized nearly $90 million in tax revenue last year from cannabis sales.

Connecticut, with 3.5 million people, could easily cop $50 million in fresh taxes. And the sooner the better. At this point, even as Vermont discusses full legalization, Connecticut could have the regional lock on sales.

I can see the cars with New York plates, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Virginia, heck, North Carolina plates making marijuana pilgrimages to the Nutmeg State. Theyll be lining up at the cannabis dispensaries to pay 20-percent excise taxes on $400-an-ounce weed. Our still nascent marijuana growers will have to increase production and hire more people.

The concept of jobs and revenue are two of the three things the average state lawmaker understands. The third is lunch in the caucus room!

While Connecticuts pharmacy model of producers and dispensaries is the secure national standard, we can learn a lot from Colorado, where there are three levels of taxes on recreational sales. Theres a 2.9-percent tax; a 10-percent marijuana tax and a 15-percent wholesale tax on sales from producers to dispensaries that gets passed along to consumers.

Thats nearly 28 percent in taxes. Its a Democrats dream!

With a captive market, at least for a while until our surrounding neighbors get hip and, as Bob Marley would say, legalize it, we could charge any crazy taxes lawmakers want. An additional 10-percent for out-of- staters?

Marijuana tourism can come to the Constitution State.

There would be lines at the states art museums. Theyd be bumping into each other over at the Florence Griswold Museum of American Impressionism in Old Lyme, oohing and ahhing over the 100-year-old splashes of paint.

The Bruce Museums tiny parking lot in Greenwich would overflow, creating even more revenue from parking tickets.

Tarrywile, the 722-acre city park in Danbury and the Bartlett Arboretum in Stamford, would host hundreds of blissed-out nature lovers. Who wouldnt want to set up a nearby ice cream truck? In Bridgeport, the Vibe Tribe, all early adopters of the three-dimensional possibilities of cannabis, would show up at Seaside Park at the end of July out of habit just to watch the waves lap on the beach, even though the Gathering of the Vibes is taking a years sabbatical.

Alas, full legalization of cannabis is so thoroughly unlikely to be passed this year in the Connecticut General Assembly, I wont blame gentle readers for suggesting your columnist is stoned to the gills.

Its an election year and the minority Republicans are so close to regaining control of a legislative chamber that they can taste it. They last controlled one of the two houses  the Senate  during the first term of John Why Should I Resign If Ive Done Nothing Wrong? Rowland. Two years later, the Democrats regained control, after the 1996 elections, and have held on tight.

While there is a bill in the hopper this year that would call for recreational use of cannabis, it has virtually no shot. The last thing Democratic leaders want is to let GOP lawmakers ascend their high horses, pointing the finger at soft-on-crime Democrats.

In fact, I predict that this golden opportunity will slide by the boards and Connecticut wont be the first in the region to OK full legalization.

Aside from gay marriage, which was mandated by the state Supreme Court, Connecticut hasnt exactly been in the forefront of regional social change.

Lets not forget that Connecticut approved the 19th Amendment, granting women the right to vote, a full month after it was ratified by the necessary 36 states in 1920.

Ken Dixons Capitol View appears Sundays in the Hearst Connecticut Newspapers. You may reach him in the Capitol at 860-549-4670 or at kdixon@ctpost.com. Find him at twitter.com/KenDixonCT. His Facebook address is kendixonct.hearst. Dixons Connecticut Blog-o-rama can be seen at blog.ctnews.com/dixon/
While Mrs.Winners Chicken and Biscuits -- a beloved Southeastern quick-service restaurant brand known for its authentic Southern fried chicken, made-from-scratch biscuits and hot frosted cinnamon swirls -- was busy filing bankruptcy and closing 172 company-owned restaurants, one franchisee refused to shut her doors, confident the brand would make a comeback.

Related: California Restaurant Industry Vet Finds a New Persona at Cutting-Edge Pizza Place

Vickey Shelton and her husband Gary invested their life savings into one Mrs. Winners restaurant in Stockbridge, G.A. and were determined to make it a success even after the company experienced financial hardship and closed most of its franchised and corporate locations. For four years, Vickeys guests were confused on whether or not they were open or if they were even a real Mrs. Winners.

Vickey has owned Mrs. Winners for 22 years and in 2015, for the first time since the brands downfall, the Stockbridge restaurant experienced an increase in sales. Up 12 percent so far this year, shes hoping for an additional gain, especially since the brand is receiving stronger support for the corporate level and more consumer recognition with two recently signed franchise deals in the Atlanta area.

Having survived corporate turmoil and now recognized by the new executive team as a franchisee who stood the test of time, Vickey says that staying true to yourself and focusing on word-of-mouth marketing are keys to keeping the doors open in tough times.

Name: Vickey Shelton

Franchise owned: One Mrs. Winners Chicken & Biscuit franchise in Stockbridge, Georgia.

Q: How long have you owned a franchise?

Ive owned my Mrs. Winners Chicken & Biscuit franchise for 22 years, but have been in the franchising industry for more than 30. My husband, Gary and I were first franchisees with Blimpie and invested in Mrs. Winners to expand our dayparts by co-branding a restaurant. In 2001, we decided to focus solely on Mrs. Winners.

Q: Why franchising?

Initially, my husband and I chose to go into franchising 30 years ago, because it was a good opportunity for us to fully utilize the land and building we purchased. I enjoy franchising, because it provides a standard business foundation and proven model for success. I firmly believe that franchising success comes with total brand involvement an affinity for following the rules, making me a perfect candidate.

Q: What were you doing before you became a franchise owner?

I was vice president of a bank and had held the position for about eight years. I started to research franchising opportunities mainly because I was putting in many long, stressful hours and rather than devoting them to the bank, I thought Id work for myself. Franchising offered a more flexible work schedule where I could be at home with my children when they were home, and put in the hours when they were at school or sleeping at night.

Q: Why did you choose this particular franchise?

We looked into Mrs. Winners as a franchise opportunity, because we were loyal Mrs. Winners customers. The brand had a strong presence and positive awareness in our community, and we loved the food so much, we knew wed be proud to serve our neighbors.

Additionally, Mrs. Winners offered three dayparts which helped us use our land and building to its full advantage.

Related: This Franchisee Is Cooking up Some Lessons in Life for Her Young Clientele

Q: How much would you estimate you spent before you were officially open for business?

I invested my life savings to open my Mrs. Winners Chicken and Biscuit location. I purchased both the land and building resulting in an initial cost of about $430,000. I bought a $175,000 equipment package and allowed for a working capital of $50,000 to cover building permits, training, initial food and paper orders, etc.

Q: Where did you get most of your advice / do most of your research?

Before making any major business decisions, my husband and I always sought advice from the best in their fields of business -- bankers, lawyers, entrepreneurs, etc. Were avid readers of business publications and were members of the International Franchise Association too. I always respected and appreciated the advice of Bob Sitkoff, senior vice president of corporate services at Blimpie International, and would consult with him on many decisions as I first began navigating the franchise industry.

Q: What were the most unexpected challenges of opening your franchise?

The most unexpected and obvious challenges came 16 years after opening my franchise as Mrs. Winners filed for bankruptcy protection. That experience is something my husband and I never could have anticipated, as the company was thriving when we initially invested.

When corporate closed 172 restaurants in 2010, it became difficult to survive, as there was wavering brand loyalty due to extreme loss of volume. Guests would come in asking if we were the real Mrs. Winners, and it has taken a while to regain their trust.

Our guests are extremely important to us, so I made it a point to stress to each of my employees that our goal was to exceed guest expectations every time to ensure they had a positive experience and would be happy to return. Its difficult to anticipate the economys highs and lows, but I can attribute the health of our business to our overall mentality to treat every guest as if they were family.

Q: What advice do you have for individuals who want to own their own franchise?

My key piece of advice to others who want to own their own franchise is if you love your business, you can make it survive. I refused to let my business go under when corporate was in a transitional phase. The times were difficult, but this was the investment of my life savings and I was proud of what we had built so I didnt give up. I went the extra mile, persevered and am now thriving as a result.

Before investing, I recommend connecting with other franchisees. Dont limit your conversations to those who are happy -- expand to those who are disgruntled as well. Ask them questions to see if the business has problems or if the franchisee is not cut out to handle the business. Then ask yourself if you can handle that or even if you have a desire to handle those issues.

Id also like to note that although my husband and I were seasoned franchisees when we first opened Mrs. Winners, we did not expect to open with such a high volume. It became obvious early on that our staff was not trained to properly handle and maintain a high volume. Remember, its worth the investment to train your employees to maintain high volume in a restaurant business.

Related: From Anheurser-Busch Sales Rep to Restaurateur, This Man Has Made a Career of Wings and Beer

Q: Whats next for you and your business?

With recent increased sales, which I expect to continue with the resurgence of the brand, I plan to remodel and update the restaurant, replace our equipment and invest in local advertising. Under new leadership, I see Mrs. Winners attracting new franchise partners, which will ultimately result in the brand having stronger purchasing power. I look forward to what the future holds for Mrs. Winners and so do our customers.

Related:

Owner of This Georgia Fried Chicken Joint Came Out a Winner After Corporate Bankruptcy

This Franchisee Found a Business That Rocked His World

What's Old Is New Again for These Two Resale Franchisees



Copyright 2016 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
Mowgli's new avatar in The Jungle Book

hollywood, Mon, 04 Apr 2016 NI Wire

Hollywood film The Jungle Book packed with full of Adventure, Drama releasing this month on 8th April.

One of the Worlds most awaited film "The Jungle Book" is releasing on 8th of April. Story of Mowgli is not only famous in India but also around the world. It's a story of an orphan boy is raised in the jungle with the help of a pack of wolves, a bear, and a black panther. The Jungle book is an upcoming Hollywood film which is directed by Jon Faveau and produced by Walt Disney Pictures. Mowgli is a human boy who is raised in jungle by Indian wolves called Raksha and Akela from the time he was brought to them by Black Panther called Bagheera. Story revolves around his journey of self discovery. Many films including animated cartoon film were released in past few decades but this story has always attracted new generation specially when the new jungle book film contain much better animation than the previous films.

Neel sethi who played role of Mowgli in the film is an American Indian. Neel was cast for this role after taking audition of thousands of kids from the United States, The United Kingdom, New Zealand and Canada. Here's what Sarah Finn who is the casting director of this film has to say about Neel Seth "the heart, humor, and daring of the character. He's warm and accessible, yet also has intelligence well beyond his years and impressed us all with his ability to hold his own in any situation."

Not only Hollywood famous actors like Ben Kingsley and Scarlett Johansson gave their voice to the characters of this big budget film but also Priyanka Copra, Nana Patekar, Irfan Khan gave their voices for Hindi version. This film is releasing in both Hindi and English across India.

The jungle book will be releasing in India a week before US. In the States the jungle book is releasing on 15the of this month. It has been said it's a marketing strategy as the producer don't want any clash between the jungle book with any big budget film. Trailer of this film is already released in last year 2015. Just after days of trailer released on you tube the response was overwhelming and within few days millions of people viewed it.

Cast

Neel Sethi as Mowgli

Ritesh Rajan as Mowgli's father

Voice Cast

Bill Murray as Baloo

Ben Kingsley as Bagheera

Idris Elba as Shere Khan

Lupita Nyong'o as Raksha

Scarlett Johansson as Kaa

Giancarlo Esposito as Akela

Christopher Walken as King Louie

Garry Shandling as Ikki

Brighton Rose as Gray

Jon Favreau as Pygmy Hog

Sam Raimi as Giant Squirrel

Russell Peters as Rocky the Rhino

Madeleine Favreau as Raquel the Rhino

The Jungle Book Trailer #2 (2016) Scarlett Johansson

View More : 'The Jungle Book'
Environment Ministry Organising 22nd Basic Ministerial Meeting on Climate Change

New Delhi, Tue, 05 Apr 2016 NI Wire

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change is organising the 22nd meeting of Brazil, South Africa, India and China, called the BASIC Group. The meeting is being organized in New Delhi on 6th and 7th April 2016. This is the first meeting of the BASIC Group, after the Paris Agreement was adopted in December 2015. The meeting is extremely relevant, as it will help to further consolidate the positions of the countries and secure the interests of developing countries, before the 196 UNFCCC member countries meet for the first time in May 2016 after the adoption of the Paris Agreement. It aims to discuss climate change related issues, including how to take forward the decisions adopted in the Paris Agreement. The Ministers will reflect and deliberate on various provisions of the Paris Agreement and related decisions including Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC), transparency framework for action and support, matters relating to global stocktake, progress towards achieving the 20 C goal and the Pre 2020 Actions and review issues.

On the first day of the meeting, negotiators of all four countries will meet and prepare the groundwork for the Ministerial meeting. On April 7, the Ministerial meeting will be followed by a press conference. At the end of the two-day meeting, a Joint Statement will be issued by the Group of Ministers, highlighting the BASIC group position on the way forward for the implementation of the Paris Agreement and its decisions.

Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Mr. Prakash Javadekar, Special Representative for Climate Change Affairs of China, Mr. XieZhenhua, Deputy Minister of the Department of Environmental Affairs of South Africa, Ms. Thomson Barbara and Ambassador Jose Antonio Marcondes de Carvalho, Under Secretary-General for the Environment, Energy, Science and Technology of the Ministry of External Relations of Brazil will be attending the meeting, along with other officials of their country.

During the 21st meeting of the BASIC Group held in Beijing, China, in 2015, the Ministers had highlighted the importance of cooperation among developing countries. They had voiced their support for further strengthening common positions of developing countries in Paris through the Group of 77 and China.

Source: PIB
MONTREAL, April 4, 2016 /CNW Telbec/ - BCE Inc. (TSX, NYSE:BCE) will hold its first-quarter 2016 results conference call with the financial community on Thursday, April 28, 2016, at 8:00 am eastern.

Participants will include George Cope, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Glen LeBlanc, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Media are welcome to participate on a listen-only basis.

To participate, please dial toll-free 1-866-225-0198 or (416) 340-2218. A replay will be available for one week by dialing 1-800-408-3053 or (905) 694-9451 and entering pass code 7097861#.

A live audio webcast of the conference call will be available on BCE's website at:

BCE Q1-2016 conference call.

About BCE

Canada's largest communications company, BCE provides a comprehensive and innovative suite of broadband wireless, TV, Internet and business communication services from Bell Canada and Bell Aliant. Bell Media is Canada's premier multimedia company with leading assets in television, radio, out of home and digital media. To learn more, please visit BCE.ca.

The Bell Let's Talk initiative promotes Canadian mental health with national awareness and anti-stigma campaigns like Bell Let's Talk Day and significant Bell funding of community care and access, research, and workplace initiatives. To learn more, please visit Bell.ca/LetsTalk.

Media inquiries:

Jean Charles Robillard

(514) 870-4739

[email protected]

Investor inquiries:

Thane Fotopoulos

(514) 870-4619

[email protected]

SOURCE Bell Canada
TORONTO, April 5, 2016 /CNW Telbec/ - As part of its ongoing commitment to education, Bedrocan Canada Inc. (Bedrocan Canada) will host its inaugural Masterclass course for medical professionals on Saturday, May 14th, 2016. The renowned Masterclass program was developed in the Netherlands by Bedrocan BV and continues to attract participants from around the world each year. This is the first time that the in-depth seminar is being offered to Canadian physicians.

Our one-day Masterclass will explore medical cannabis from a practitioner's perspective, offering participants a number of detailed lectures, practical demonstrations, and a tour of Bedrocan Canada's facility. The Masterclass will offer a unique perspective into all facets of cannabinoid medicine, from chemistry and quality assurance, to patient care and safe consumption.

"It's important that healthcare practitioners have the opportunity to learn about cannabis from a medical and patient perspective, so they can make informed decisions," said Amanda Daley, Head of Medical Education and Outreach at Bedrocan Canada. "As more patients become interested in cannabis as a treatment for a variety of symptoms, doctors will need to be able to answer cannabis-related questions when their patients bring them up. The Masterclass is a unique opportunity for practitioners to learn from leaders in the field."

Twenty-five healthcare practitioners will participate. One major aim of the Masterclass is to bring together individuals from diverse fields and specialties. Interested candidates are invited to submit a brief motivation letter to [email protected] by April 22nd.

Bedrocan Canada is dedicated to its strong roots in the medical sector, and the Masterclass is the next step in a series of Bedrocan Canada initiatives that focus on advancing the field of cannabinoid medicine.

Presenters:

Dr. Arno Hazekamp, Head of Research and Education at Bedrocan BV, will offer his expertise in all facets of a science-based approach to medical cannabis. His first seminar will discuss the chemical properties of cannabis, providing a basis for understanding cannabinoids and terpenes as well as the body's own endocannabionids. Dr. Hazekamp will also conduct a seminar on administration forms, quality control, and product development. Dr. Hazekamp was actively involved in creating quality standards used by the Dutch Government, and was a co-founder of the non-governmental organization (NGO) NCSM, intended to inform physicians and patients of the proper use of cannabis in clinical practice.

He is the author of numerous scientific papers on cannabis chemistry, delivery mechanisms, quality control and patient surveys. As an international authority on biochemical cannabis research, he is considered one of the foremost researchers in the field.

Dr. Danial Schecter, the co-founder of the Cannabinoid Medical Clinic (CMClinic), a practicing family physician and leader in the field of cannabinoid medicine, will discuss his approach to prescribing, the patient perspective, and safe cannabis consumption in his clinical seminar. After working alongside some of Canada's leading researchers in the field of medical cannabis, Dr. Schecter developed a strong interest in the therapeutic use of cannabinoids. As a recognized medical expert in the field of prescription cannabinoids and medical cannabis, Dr. Schecter has given numerous presentations to fellow physicians and developed educational programs on this subject.

Tjalling Erkelens, the CEO and Founder of Bedrocan BV, will discuss the finer points of standardization, growing, and cannabis varieties. For the past 20 years, Mr. Erkelens has developed and standardized methods of producing cannabis to medical grade. Under his leadership, Bedrocan BV has become the only company in the world whose cannabis is exported for patient use in full compliance with international law. Bedrocan BV currently supplies cannabis to patients in Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Finland, Poland and Norway, and to researchers around the world.

About Bedrocan Canada

Bedrocan Canada is focused on medical cannabis production and research, including the EQUAL Study, which is currently enrolling patients and evaluating how cannabis is affecting the quality of life of Canadian patients. Bedrocan's standardized strains have been used by tens of thousands of patients in seven countries around the world. www.bedrocan.ca

About Bedrocan BV

Bedrocan BV has its roots in the agricultural sector of the northern Netherlands and is the only producer of medicinal cannabis for the Dutch Ministry of Health. The cannabis is produced to the highest quality standards, in compliance with national and international regulatory requirements. It has been sold in pharmacies on prescription since 2003, covered by health insurance in the Netherlands since 2011, and is the only cannabis in the world exported for medical use.

About Canopy Growth Corporation

Canopy Growth is Canada's first publicly traded medical cannabis company and the first geographically diversified producer with multiple licenses under the Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulations. Through its wholly owned subsidiaries, Tweed, Tweed Farms, and Bedrocan Canada, the Company operates three state-of-the-art production facilities in Ontario and distributes cannabis across the country to Canadian patients managing a host of medical conditions. The Company is dedicated to educating healthcare practitioners, providing consistent access to high quality medication, conducting robust clinical research, and furthering the public's understanding of how cannabis is used for medical purposes. www.canopygrowth.com.

Forward Looking Statement

This news release contains forward-looking statements. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "estimates", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company or any of its subsidiaries to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements.

Although Canopy Growth Corporation has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The factors identified above are not intended to represent a complete list of the factors that could affect the Company or any of its subsidiaries. The forward-looking statements included in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and Canopy Growth Corporation does not undertake an obligation to publicly update such forward-looking statements to reflect new information, subsequent events or otherwise unless required by applicable securities legislation.



SOURCE Canopy Growth Corporation

For further information: Media Contact: Jordan Sinclair, [email protected], 855-558-9333 ex 309; Investor Contact: Tyler Burns, Ty[email protected], 855-558-9333 ex 122; Director: Bruce Linton, [email protected]
National Energy Board orders pipeline companies to publish Emergency Procedures Manuals online

Calgary, April 5, 2016 /CNW/ - The National Energy Board (NEB) is the first North American regulator to require pipeline companies to publish their emergency procedures manuals online. The NEB has issued a Board Order that directs NEB-regulated pipeline companies to publish their emergency procedures manuals online for public viewing by September 30, 2016.

Companies are required to publish all emergency procedure manual information online, with the exception of information that would compromise infrastructure protection and personal security and safety. Although excluded from online availability, they remain in company emergency procedures manuals provided to first responders and to the NEB.

The Order reflects the NEB's continued commitment to openness and transparency regarding regulatory operations that protect public safety and the environment.

Highlights of the Board Order MO-006-2016:

This Order applies to both oil and gas pipeline systems with a few exceptions for small systems.

Companies must post the entirety of their emergency procedures manuals on their company's public internet site except companies may protect information including: personal information, such as names, medical and contact information; security information such as information where there is a risk that its disclosure will impair the security of a pipeline; and species at risk and heritage resources information such as the location of Indigenous traditional land use sites, archaeological sites or paleontological sites.

Update published emergency procedures manuals as changes are made.

Quote: "The NEB continues to set a very high bar for transparency and openness. Canadians deserve to have this important information. They also deserve to know that the NEB provides strict regulatory oversight of pipeline safety and environmental protection through the entire life of every NEB-regulated pipeline."  NEB Chair and CEO Peter Watson.

Associated Links:

NEB Board Order

Quick Facts:

The NEB received 35 submissions during the emergency management information transparency public consultation.

There was broad support for making emergency procedures manual information publicly available.

Every year, the NEB oversees and evaluates at least 12 full scale emergency response exercises that test a company's emergency response plan. Evaluations of these exercises are now available on the NEB's web site.

On February 11, 2016 , the NEB announced that all emergency response exercise evaluations will be posted publicly on the NEB web site.

The National Energy Board is an independent federal regulator of several parts of Canada's energy industry with the safety of Canadians and protection of the environment as its top priority. Its purpose is to regulate pipelines, energy development and trade in the Canadian public interest. For more information on the NEB and its mandate, please visit www.neb-one.gc.ca.

SOURCE National Energy Board

For further information: Darin Barter, Communications, National Energy Board, Tel: 1.403.837.5267, Email: [email protected]
By GMM 4 April 2016 - 12:50





Stoffel Vandoorne has left Bahrain a happy F1 debutant, even though he will probably have to hand back the keys to Fernando Alonso in China.

The highly-rated Belgian, the reigning GP2 champion, made his F1 race debut in Bahrain after the McLaren-Honda regular was sidelined with chest injuries.

Vandoorne, 24, more than impressed, outqualifying the vastly more experienced Jenson Button and scoring the teams first point of 2016.

"I am of course very happy with the weekend," he told La Derniere Heure, a Belgian daily, as he departed Bahrain.

"I could prove that I was more than capable of driving an F1 car. Everything went the want I wanted," said Vandoorne.

"I showed my speed, my fighting spirit but also my reliability even though I only discovered the car on Friday morning."

He also revealed that his debut did not go unnoticed by the F1 community at large.

"I have received many messages of congratulations," said Vandoorne. "But what is most important is that I have made a good impression to the team. They know they can count on me."

That is despite the fact that, impressive though Bahrain may have been, he will probably not re-appear in the dark grey car in China.

"I know," said Vandoorne. "Its part of my job as reserve driver and I knew that before I started.

"I dont know if I will get another chance but I hope that my work throughout the weekend will encourage the team to use my services again in the future."

Another impressive youngster in Bahrain was the Mercedes-backed Pascal Wehrlein, who aced qualifying in his Manor and featured on the TV images throughout Sundays race.

"I will definitely have to watch the replay as Ive heard that I was quite often on the screen," the German grinned.

"The fact that we were able to overtake Force India and Sauber was amazing and so much fun," Wehrlein told the German broadcaster Sky.
[April 04, 2016] Innovation is a Key Factor to Grow Profits and Reap Opportunities in Australia's $4 billion Fintech Market, says Frost & Sullivan

SYDNEY, April 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The Australian Banking sector is heavily regulated to prevent monopolies and collapses, and is guided by the Four Pillars Policy of the Australian Government which maintains the viability and separation of the "Big Four" banks: Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), Westpac Banking Corporation (WBC), National Australia Bank (NAB), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ). Following the global financial crisis, in 2008, for reasons motivated by stability rather than customer satisfaction, consumers flocked to the 'Big Four' who benefited by recovering market share previously lost to the smaller financial institutions. While the Big Four are more dominant than ever, future bank profitability is more dependent than ever on innovation. Frost & Sullivan's latest study, Fintech in Australia  Trends, Forecasts and Analysis 2015  2020 forecasts that the Australian Fintech market will reach over AUD4 billion in revenues by 2020 including AUD1 billion in completely new added value to the Australian economy. What is more arresting is that the report highlights the fact that Australian banks are set to lose out on AUD13 billion in aggregated revenues as the Australian Fintech sector is set to take AUD10 billion in aggregated revenues away from the big Australian banks and contribute AUD3 billion of new revenue to the Australian Financial Services Sector from 2015 to 2020. Audrey William, Head of Research, ICT Practice, Frost & Sullivan Australia & New Zealand says, "This disruption should be of serious concern to the Australian financial services sector. While Fintech will not end traditional financial services, Australian Fintech is in the development stage of the business cycle and already the Fintech start-up space has grown rapidly in Australia." Frost & Sullivan believes that the Big Four banks must react or face a large dent in future profit rowth. The decline in return on equity will continue with the disruption from the Fintech sector.



Fintech has decentralised financial power and provided new dynamic new solutions to old problems. The Fintech disruption is changing historical trends and offering products that offer stability in a new and innovative way and at a lower cost than the Big Four banks. "Frost & Sullivan believes that the inertia and stability of the Big Four banks is more a weakness than strength, and will be increasingly exposed as such without a clear strategy to decentralise the existing suite of banking products," added William. Saranga Sudarshan, Research Analyst, ICT Practice, Frost & Sullivan Australia & New Zealand says that out of the Big Four banks, Westpac Banking Corporation (WBC) is the most engaged with new technologies to combat Fintech disruption. "WBC opened an innovation lab in September 2014 and has already invested AUD50 million in companies throughout the Fintech sector, with blockchain trials and mobile payments through its partnership with Android Pay to begin in 2016," he said.

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) comes in second after WBC in its likelihood to succeed with its engagement with the Fintech Sector. As the bank with the highest market capitalisation, CBA has the most to lose from the disruption of the Fintech Sector. Added Saranga, "CBA already started trialling blockchain technology with its subsidiaries at the end of 2015; a revolutionary step in the transformation of the banking sector, and has set up two "Innovation Labs" designed to research Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning Systems with a third lab planned in London in 2016. The internationalisation of technological research is a key element of CBA's strategy into the future." Although WBC and CBA compete with two different innovation models; they have both committed early resources to engaging with Fintech. Whilst NAB and ANZ have developed strong engagement strategies, they have been late in committing resources compared to WBC and CBA. The future growth of the Australian Fintech sector will depend on how much the government chooses to favour the Big Four banks and keep the financial sector regulated against market volatility. Frost & Sullivan's report, Fintech in Australia  Trends, Forecasts and Analysis 2015 - 2020, forms a part of the Frost & Sullivan Australian Research program. All research services included in this subscription provide detailed market opportunities and industry trends evaluated following extensive interviews with market participants. For media queries and more information please send an e-mail with your contact details to Donna Jeremiah, Corporate Communications, at [email protected]. About Frost & Sullivan Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, works in collaboration with clients to leverage visionary innovation that addresses the global challenges and related growth opportunities that will make or break today's market participants. For more than 50 years, we have been developing growth strategies for the global 1000, emerging businesses, the public sector and the investment community. Is your organization prepared for the next profound wave of industry convergence, disruptive technologies, increasing competitive intensity, Mega Trends, breakthrough best practices, changing customer dynamics and emerging economies? Contact us: Start the discussion Contact: Donna Jeremiah

Corporate Communications  Asia Pacific

P: +61 (02) 8247 8927

F: +61 (02) 9252 8066

E: [email protected] http://www.frost.com Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160404/351429 To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/innovation-is-a-key-factor-to-grow-profits-and-reap-opportunities-in-australias-4-billion-fintech-market-says-frost--sullivan-300246092.html SOURCE Frost & Sullivan

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[April 05, 2016]

Research and Markets - Microsoft and R3 Announce Blockchain Tech Partnership

DUBLIN, April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Microsoft Inc. has partnered with R3, a consortium consisting of 43 financial institutions, to create a strategy to speed up use of blockchain technologies. The partnership is believed to be an attempt by Microsoft to best Amazon, Google and IBM, all of whom are offering their technological expertise to banks and other financial institutions looking to utilize blockchain technologies in their everyday operations. Blockchains, online ledgers used for recording digital transactions, first came to prominence with the emergence of the digital currency bitcoin. Financial Technologies including blockchains are disruptive to the incumbent financial system, as noted in a recent report available from Research and Markets, due to such technologies ability to erase the need for intermediary trust agents for payment processing, hence why many banks are now looking to explore the possibilities offered by such technology.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160330/349511LOGO )



The first commercial deployments of Microsoft's blockchain are expected to go live in about a year, but it could be between three to fiveyears before blockchain technology experiences a significant commercial adoption. Microsoft's partnership with R3 will likely give it an advantage when it comes to winning blockchain contracts from banks, as R3 member companies include Barclays, Credit Suisse Group, UBS Group and more.







Blockchains enable services and business models that are not viable using existing digital infrastructure, as highlighted in a recent industry report. These services, such as cryptocurrencies and smart contract platforms, offer consumers greater financial security and ease of use. It's essential that financial institutions adopt such technology to ensure satisfied and secure customers.

The global bitcoin technology market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 7.26% over the 2015-2020 period, according to a recent market report. However, this estimation could be higher than predicted if global financial institutions continue to partner with technology giants and implement FinTech services in their offerings.

For further information on this topic, and a full list of all related documentation, please visit the Bitcoin section at http://www.researchandmarkets.com/rm/NLRQ.

Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-04-04/microsoft-strikes-partnership-with-banks-on-blockchain-tech

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.



Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

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SOURCE Research and Markets
[April 05, 2016] New Study Unveils the "Content over Commerce" Game Changer All Publishers Need to Know

PHILADELPHIA, April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Top B2B Publisher Network, RevResponse, has released startling new findings comparing the impact of "content over commerce" monetization strategies in their latest case study with the authority in online tech education, MakeUseOf. It had become clear that digital publishers were frustrated with running endless irrelevant commerce promotions to their audiences and struggled to find methods of monetization outside the mainstream affiliate networks and paywalls demanding money from their readers; RevResponse sought to prove whether sponsored content could outperform commerce in both earnings and engagement. As the world's leading destination for educational tech content, ranked among the top 1000 sites and armed with a subscriber base of 400,000+ readers, the MakeUseOf audience made for an ideal test bed for the case study. According to the case study, "ecommerce promotions forced a constant trade-off between increasing earnings and harming the subscriber's experience. By sending constant ecommerce deals MakeUseOf was asking their readers to open their wallets and buy  everyday. The repetition of daily deal advertisements did not sit well with the MakeUseOf Team, knowing that it could begin to harm their reputation with their audience" RevResponse developed a test strategy to diversify MakeUseOf's consistent commerce promotions with highly targeted content campaigns, testing the effectiveness of content over commerce. The three month test replaced mainstream tech deals with free relevant content curated specifically for the MakeUseOf audience.



"The RevResponse content campaigns increased the revenue per email campaign by +126%, doubling the revenue per touch point with the subscriber," detailed the case study. The coveted MakeUseOf subscriber base showed a significant change in engagement as well, "by looking at the overall request volume per campaign to measure subscriber interest, the data showed that the content campaigns increased the request volume by +613% over deal campaigns." In a debrief with MakeUseOf CEO Jackson Chung, he explained, "we know that our readers come to MakeUseOf to learn new skills. So by offering the opportunity to download useful and educational tech content for free, they're motivated to stay subscribed to our newsletter. Generally, it's a win-win: our readers gain useful resources at no cost, while we generate revenue."

The RevResponse case study highlights a common misconception among digital publishers today and unveils the power of content. "It's no surprise that highly relevant targeted content could outperform commerce among audience standards; it's the ROI that makes this strategy a game changer for publishers," stated David Fortino, VP Audience Development, NetLine Corporation. By diversifying the MakeUseOf monetization strategy RevResponse was able to accelerate their monthly earnings with fewer promotions and deliver a more native experience for subscribers. Read the full case study, Content Over Commerce: A Publisher's Strategy to Increase Revenue +126%. About RevResponse: RevResponse enables digital Publishers to effectively monetize all forms of B2B traffic via native advertising and the largest inventory of professional content. Touted as the #1 B2B Publisher Network, RevResponse began in 2008 as the Partner arm of the top B2B lead generation company, NetLine Corporation. Today RevResponse has grown to 15,000+ Publishers worldwide across all major industries. About NetLine Corporation: NetLine Corporation is the number one content syndication lead generation provider aimed at driving buyer engagement, customer lead acquisition and sales pipeline performance. Its AudienceTargeting technology and global multi-channel network of more than 15,000 website properties enable B2B marketers to reach a diverse audience of more than 125 million business professionals across 300 industry sectors. NetLine's multi-channel content delivery model allows for brand customization, content adaptation and flexible market access through publisher websites, expert blogs, email, search engines, social media networks, e-newsletters and mobile. Founded in 1994, NetLine is privately held and headquartered in Los Gatos, California, with operations around the globe. For more information, visit www.netline.com. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160404/351243 To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-study-unveils-the-content-over-commerce-game-changer-all-publishers-need-to-know-300245788.html SOURCE RevResponse

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[April 05, 2016] Diamond Wireless, a Verizon Wireless Premium Retailer, Partners with truDigital Signage to Enhance In-Store Marketing

SALT LAKE CITY, April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Diamond Wireless, a premium retailer for Verizon Wireless, announced the launch of a marketing initiative with truDigital Signage media partner. The strategy involves deploying digital signage solutions in Diamond Wireless retail stores to support its marketing efforts and strengthen customer experience through convenient and current information. Diamond Wireless plans to use digital signage to display video and multimedia content specifically developed to provide valuable information to customers. Content displayed on monitors will feature products, consumer-relevant topics, advertising and event information. Diamond Wireless chose Utah-based truDigital Signage because of its digital signage expertise and national footprint. truDigital helps businesses transition to technology-based communication solutions with turn key packages. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160404/350971 A common challenge that all retailers face is making sure that printed signage is current and displayed consistently throughout their retail locations. They found it almost impossible to keep the individual stores promotions current and effective, leading them to find a better solution. Some of the hurdles they faced were tight timelines, expedited shipping costs and time spent making sure promotions were displayed accurately and timely. Digital signage has helped Diamond Wireless overcome these hurdles by making their marketing campaigns faster and more effective while reducing timeand cost. Marketing Director, Chad Cannon commented on his experience by saying, "This is easy to use software with great & speedy customer service. Also the software team updates the platform with great new features all the time."



For retail locations, digital signage can lead to tremendous sales lift because targeted content keeps customers engaged while creating a call to action. Content is customized based on customer demographics and other factors. With the truDigital platform, the transition is effortless because of the company's turnkey package and ease of use. Set up and signup for the service is simple, and digital players are plug and play ready. "Digital signage is outpacing traditional displays (banners, posters, table tents, etc.). There are always cost-efficient ways to deliver useful information to captive audiences in any retail environment. We offer a free-trial period because we are confident that clients will realize that digital signage should be integrated in their marketing initiatives," said Larry Caldwell, Vice President of Business Development.

About Diamond Wireless Diamond Wireless is one of the leading wireless retailer of mobile phones. It was founded in 1999, building on its early success to operate a network of more than 300 stores in the U.S. The company is one of the largest Verizon Wireless partners in the US and attributes its success to providing excellent products and services to customers. Diamond Wireless is part of Glentel, an international wireless retailer with stores exceeding 1,300 in Canada, the US and Australia. For more information, please visit www.diamond-wireless.com. About truDigital Signage truDigital Signage is a software company specializing in software-as-a-service for digital signage networks. The company develops affordable, innovative and high quality digital signage technology, ensuring more efficient and cost effective operation of digital communications options. They are pioneers at developing and improving state-of-art digital signage products that maximize capabilities and functionalities. For more information, please visit www.trudigital.com. Media Contact

Albeiro Cardenas

Media Relations Manager

truDigital Signage

801-852-9898

Email To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/diamond-wireless-a-verizon-wireless-premium-retailer-partners-with-trudigital-signage-to-enhance-in-store-marketing-300246050.html SOURCE truDigital Signage

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[April 05, 2016] Litman Gregory Harnesses Envestnet | Tamarac Portfolio Management Solution to Streamline & Grow RIA Practice

CHICAGO, April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Litman Gregory Asset Management, LLC has chosen to implement Envestnet | Tamarac's Advisor View portfolio management and performance reporting application. Advisor View is part of Tamarac's web-based Advisor Xi platform for independent RIAs (http://www.tamaracinc.com/Advisor.aspx), and will provide Litman Gregory advisors with a secure client portal for two-way communication and document exchanges, a wide variety of dynamic reports, integrations with third-party providers of financial planning and other services, and greater access and flexibility for the firm's entire investment management team. "Our integrated technology solutions help advisors increase overall profitability and client satisfaction across their practices," said Stuart DePina, Group President of Envestnet | Tamarac. "We look forward to continuing to work closely with Litman Gregory Asset Management to position its team to demonstrate more value to clients, and efficiently manage current and future accounts as the practice grows." Litman Gregory Asset Management (http://www.lgam.com) will utilize Advisor View to provide its advisors and other staff members with flexible, broadly permissioned access to a wide range of account reports which can be created and presented to clients at any time and from any location. Besides enabling all team members to seamlessly facilitate meaningful conversations with clients through more efficient reporting, Advisor View will make billing and composite processes shorter and easier with its rules-based technology. Advisor View's manual-security snapshot feature offers Litman Gregory improved reporting for alternative investments, incorporating valuations and other important information about these assets into account reports. In addition, Advisor View will allow the Litman Gregory team to benefit from Tamarac's integrations with strategic partners such as FactSet and MoneyGuidePro. These integrations provide Litman Gregory's advisors with access to FactSet's financial information and portfolio analytics and MoneyGuidePro's financial planning capabilities to enhance account reports and make well-informed investment decisions. Meanwhile, the Advisor View client portal will help Litman Gregory's advisors better engage with next-generation clients who expect to be able to access account details and reports in real-time. Litman Gregory uses a custom installation of Microsoft Dynamics CRM built specifically for their firm by Tamarac's integration partner, Salentica. Like Tamarac's Advisor CRM (also built on Microsoft Dynamics), this will provide Litman Gregory with access to Advisor View data and functionality directly from its CRM, driving greater firm-wide efficiency. "We chose Tamarac because it was clear early on that they not only understood our business, but were committed to working with us over the long term to help us reach our goals," said Jennifer Ceccarelli, Chief Operations Officer and a Principal at Litman Gregory Asset Management. "Tamarac empowers our team members by giving them more robust reporting capabilities to have more meaningful performance conversations with clients during a particularly volatile market environmentand also provides them with the flexibility to meet changing needs and requirements." Litman Gregory Asset Management was co-founded by Ken Gregory and Craig Litman in 1987. The firm combines its in-house investment research and global tactical asset allocation expertise to grow and protect the long-term assets of high-net-worth individuals, multigenerational families, endowments, and foundations, as well as support those clients' ongoing financial needs. Litman Gregory Asset Management is part of the Litman Gregory companies, which manage more than $8.79 billion in assets (as of December 31, 2015) and maintain four offices in the San Francisco Bay Area. About Envestnet

Envestnet, Inc. (NYSE: ENV) is a leading provider of unified wealth management technology and services to investment advisors. Our open-architecture platforms unify and fortify the wealth management process, delivering unparalleled flexibility, accuracy, performance, and value. Envestnet solutions enable the transformation of wealth management into a transparent, independent, objective, and fully-aligned standard of care, and empower advisors to deliver better outcomes. Envestnet | Tamarac's web-based platform for independent RIAs, Advisor Xi, deeply unifies portfolio management, modeling, rebalancing, trading, billing, and reporting with a client portal and enterprise-level client relationship management (CRM) system. Envestnet | Yodlee is a leading data aggregation and data analytics platform powering dynamic, cloud-based innovation for digital financial services. More than 950 companies, including 12 of the 20 largest U.S. banks and hundreds of Internet services companies, subscribe to the Envestnet | Yodlee platform to power personalized financial apps and services for millions of consumers. Envestnet | Yodlee solutions help transform the speed and delivery of financial innovation, improve digital customer experiences, and drive better outcomes for our clients and their customers. For more information about Envestnet | Tamarac's Advisor Xi, please visit www.envestnet.com/tamarac or follow @TamaracInc (https://twitter.com/TamaracInc).







Media Contact: Dana Taormina

JConnelly

(973) 850-7305

[email protected]

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130919/MM83257LOGO To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/litman-gregory-harnesses-envestnet--tamarac-portfolio-management-solution-to-streamline--grow-ria-practice-300245626.html SOURCE Envestnet | Tamarac

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[April 05, 2016] riskmethods Appoints Bill DeMartino General Manager of North America

BOSTON and MUNICH, April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- - Cross reference: Picture is available at AP Images (http://www.apimages.com) - riskmethods, the technological market leader in risk identification and risk analysis of global supply chains, announced today that Bill DeMartino has joined the company as General Manager of North American operations. Bill will play a leading role in accelerating riskmethods' international expansion, specifically in the Americas, and growing the firm into the industry's leading Supply Chain Risk Management solution. riskmethods has established its US subsidiary with a North American headquarters located in Boston. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160405/351540LOGO ) (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160405/351539 ) "We are extremely pleased for Bill DeMartino to join our team as General Manager heading our riskmethods North American operation," said Heiko Schwarz, Founder and Managing Director of rskmethods. "Bill brings deep experience guiding and growing Procurement and Supply Chain solutions in the Americas. His domain expertise and strong leadership skills will allow him to lead riskmethods' effort to serve customers in the thriving US market for riskmethods' SaaS Supply Chain Risk Management solution. I am excited to work with him to establish riskmethods as the leader in its category in the States and to continue our laser focus to help our customer reduce risk and bring resilience to their supply chains. "



Bill was most recently Senior Vice President of Strategy for Determine, Inc. where he was responsible for identifying and driving growth and market penetration initiatives. Bill brings 15 years of experience in the procurement solution space, where he built his expertise in Analytics and Supply Risk & Compliance acting across various disciplines and leadership roles in product management, sales and marketing at IBM and Emptoris. "The need for companies to secure their supply chains against all kinds of risks, and in so doing protect themselves against lost revenue, production outages, supply bottlenecks or, potentially worse, damage to their image is enormous. We see enormous need in the US market for our true SaaS offering with embedded best practices enabling our customers to go-live in a single day. " said Bill DeMartino. "I'm extremely excited to join the riskmethods family with a proven management team, and an intuitive modern technology. This is a thrilling time in riskmethods' history, and I'm delighted to have the opportunity to lead the North American operation to greater levels of success."

About riskmethods

riskmethods provides companies with a comprehensive supply chain risk management solution for proactive monitoring and assessment of risks in the supply chain. An early warning system for potential risk ensures that proactive steps can be taken to avoid supply interruption, enforce compliance and protect the corporate image. The SaaS solution "Social Supply Risk Network", which was initially developed in Germany, combines state-of-the-art technology with cutting-edge provision of risk intelligence, to establish a leading standard in supply chain risk management http://www.riskmethods.net riskmethods Inc.

50 Milk St

Boston, MA 02109



Phone +1-617-370-8133

[email protected]

http://www.riskmethods.net/en

SOURCE riskmethods

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[April 05, 2016] Red Lion's RAM 9000 Industrial Cellular RTUs Receive ATEX Zone 2, Category 3 Approval

YORK, Pa., April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Red Lion Controls, the global experts in communication, monitoring and control for industrial automation and networking, today announced its Sixnet series RAM 9000 industrial cellular RTUs have received ATEX zone 2, category 3 approval and are safe for use in potentially hazardous environments. This approval follows recent announcements that Red Lion's rugged RAM industrial cellular RTUs support high-speed 4G LTE worldwide throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific. Ideal for deployment in industrial M2M networks such as oil and gas, water/wastewater, utility and transportation applications, RAM 9000 cellular RTUs provide a seamless network extension to remote locations. With more I/O than many competitive offerings, the RAM 9000 serves as a robust control platform that enables customers to simplify remote site equipment by combining separate functions into one feature-packed cellular RTU. The secure all-in-one RAM 9000 platform combines built-in I/O, a powerful event engine and data logging capabilities to securely monitor and control remote devices via 4G LTE cellular communications. "Earning ATEX approval will allow the RAM 9000 to be deployed in even more hazardous and industrial environments," said Denis Aull, vice president of products at Red Lion Controls. "As the Industrial Internet of Things continues to grow, approvals such as ATEX coupled with global 4G LTE communications will help connect critical data from rugged applications to next-generation IIoT platforms regardless of location." Features of the RAM 9000 include: High-density on-board I/O: lowers total system cost with two digital inputs, two digital outputs, three analog inputs and one relay output

lowers total system cost with two digital inputs, two digital outputs, three analog inputs and one relay output Powerful built-in event engine: triggers actions based on real-time operational data

triggers actions based on real-time operational data Detailed data logging capabilities: record I/O registers on SD Card or internal memory

record I/O registers on SD Card or internal memory Remote connectivity: securely monitors serial devices via separate RS-232 and RS-485 ports

securely monitors serial devices via separate RS-232 and RS-485 ports Secure routing: enables reliable data exchange over 4G LTE cellular communication For more information about Red Lion's RAM 9000 industrial cellular RTUs, including a complete list of features, please visit www.redlion.net/RAM9000. About Red Lion Controls

As the global experts in communication, monitoring and control for industrial automation and networking, Red Lion has been delivering innovative solutions for over 40 years. Our automation, Ethernet and cellular M2M technology enables companies worldwide to gain real-time data visibility that drives productivity. Product brands include Red Lion, N-Tron and Sixnet. With headquarters in York, Pennsylvania, the company has offices across the Americas, Asia-Pacific and Europe. Red Lion is part of Spectris plc, the productivity-enhancing instrumentation and controls company. For more information, please visit www.redlion.net. 2016 Red Lion Controls, Inc. All rights reserved. Red Lion, the Red Lion logo and RAM are registered trademarks of Red Lion Controls, Inc. All other company and product names are trademarks of their respective owners.







Media Contacts: Drew Miale Tracy Courtemanche Lewis Red Lion Global Marketing +1 (781) 418-2438 +1 (717) 767-6961 x6915 [email protected] [email protected]









Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160404/351239 To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/red-lions-ram-9000-industrial-cellular-rtus-receive-atex-zone-2-category-3-approval-300245941.html SOURCE Red Lion Controls

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[April 05, 2016] KARL STORZ Drives Revenue and Procedure-Based Pricing with Vistex Contract Management Solution

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill., April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Vistex Inc., the global leader in Go-to-Market solutions that manage pricing, incentive, royalty and channel programs to enhance business results, announced today that KARL STORZ Endoscopy-America, Inc., the leading manufacturer and distributor of endoscopes, medical instruments, and devices, has gone live with Vistex Solutions for SAP software. KARL STORZ selected Vistex to help transform its revenue management processes. As the medical device market shifts to an outcome-based model, Vistex demonstrated its capabilities to support KARL STORZ's critical business requirements as a complete solution. "Vistex software will provide KARL STORZ with the flexibility they need to go beyond typical quantity-based pricing  enabling links between performed procedures and outcome definitions to the appropriate pricing and reimbursement amounts," said Sanjay Shah, Vistex Founder and CEO. "Our software is proven to support the industry's complex pricing management, and will allow KARL STORZ to participate effectively in this rapidly evolving healthcare delivery model." Patrick Furtaw, Vice President, Service & Operations at KARL STORZ, complemented this view. "We're excited about our recent implementation and go-live of Vistex software. The solution has exceeded our expectations, and allowed us to link our product and service offerings to performed patient procedures and outcomes." Matt Butcher, Global Executive Director, IT Planning and Solution Development at KARL STORZ added, "Not only was this a successful rollout and deployment, it was also a great example of teamwork and collaboraton between Vistex, KARL STORZ IT and business users. We have also provided our users an unprecedented level of reporting and analytics."



Furtaw further explains, "A key benefit to our customers is that KARL STORZ now has the ability to customize contracts to fit each customer's needs based on their specific history. The software also enables us to create risk-sharing agreements that allow us to take a risk as a partner, creating a closer alignment with the customer." The medical device industry is in a transformative state, and the negotiating power of group purchasing organizations and hospitals relative to manufacturers has increased. Vistex contract and revenue management software will provide KARL STORZ with better insight into contracts, the ability to better negotiate pricing, analyze product sales, as well as identify opportunities for greater market penetration.

The unique capabilities of Vistex software will further enable KARL STORZ to support their revenue programs as such innovation endures. About Vistex

Vistex provides enterprises with solutions that manage pricing, incentive, rebate, royalty and channel programs to enhance business performance while reducing labor and infrastructure costs. The software and services provided by Vistex are optimized by industry to deliver an end-to-end solution for the design, management and administration of the entire spectrum of Go-to-Market programs. Enterprises are empowered with unprecedented visibility into program performance, and gain deeper insights to better enable fact-based decisions that drive revenue, control cost, minimize leakage, and streamline processes. For more information, visit www.vistex.com. About KARL STORZ

KARL STORZ Endoscopy-America, Inc., is an affiliate of KARL STORZ GmbH & Co. KG, an international leader for more than 70 years in reusable endoscope technology, encompassing all endoscopic specialties. Based in Tuttlingen, Germany, KARL STORZ GmbH & Co. KG is a family-owned company that designs, engineers, manufactures, and markets all its products with an emphasis on visionary design, precision craftsmanship and clinical effectiveness. For more information, call (800) 421-0837 or visit the company's Web site at www.karlstorz.com. For further information contact:

Alex Dehnert: [email protected] +1 847-490-0420



Vistex and all Vistex logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vistex Inc. in the U.S. and other countries. To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/karl-storz-drives-revenue-and-procedure-based-pricing-with-vistex-contract-management-solution-300246049.html SOURCE Vistex Inc.

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A Gudu Upper Area Court in the Federal Capital Territory, yesterday, sentenced two men to six weeks each in prison for stealing fish fr...

A Gudu Upper Area Court in the Federal Capital Territory, yesterday, sentenced two men to six weeks each in prison for stealing fish from a pond. The convicts, Samuel Mamman, 22 and Jaffaru Bashir, 23, both of Berger Yard junction, Games Village, Abuja, pleaded guilty to the charges of criminal conspiracy and theft. The offences contravened sections 97 and 287 of the Penal Code. Presiding Officer of the court, Alhaji Umar Kagarko, who sentenced the men after they both pleaded guilty and begged for leniency, however, gave them a fine option of N4, 000 each. Kagarko also advised the convicts to desist from engaging in criminal activities, but rather engage in honest jobs.He said that the parties could appeal to the High Court within 30 days. Earlier, the prosecutor, Rebecca Odunjide, had told the court that Patrick Okoh reported the matter at the Wuye Police Station on March 27. Odunjide said that the convicts were caught using a fishing net to steal fish from the pond.
Senator Rowland Owie, former Senate Whip has warned President Muhammadu Buhari against tampering with the 2016 budget as passed by the Nat...

Senator Rowland Owie, former Senate Whip has warned President Muhammadu Buhari against tampering with the 2016 budget as passed by the National assembly.The senator claimed that Buhari has no right to tamper with the approved budget as submitted by the National Assembly, adding that he should go ahead and assent to it, stressing that refusal to sign it and remove any line from the already approved budget, would amount to taking the country to yet another five months of going through a fresh presentation, first reading, second reading, Committee stage, among others.He said, ''I want to advise Mr. President to go ahead and assent to the budget after that whatever he feels he wants to do, he can then send it back to the National Assembly while he is scrutinizing if and if he does not do that and he goes ahead to change a line of the budget, it will take another five months, it will start afresh from first reading to second reading to committee level.  Mr. President should note that he can never get a budget the way it was sent to NASS or state Assembly, NASS has the right to re- introduce new items into the budget, right to reduce the amount, or decrease or remove it totally, it is the function of the National Assembly, no one can do that. If the president changes anything, he has to return the budget again to NASS, it will start again from first reading to second reading to committee stage.If he tampers with it, he has to return it to NASS and start from zero point meaning that this year, we may not have a budget and in view of the above, I ask the President to assent to the budget and start implementing those areas he has no problem with, the begin to look at others and if he does not do this, he will run Nigeria into crisis.My worry is that Mr. President is not listening to advise from the Minister of Budget and National Planning and a former Senate Chief Whip, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma and his Special Assistant, Senator Ita Enang who is also very knowledgeable on National Assembly matters or is it that he may not be taking their inputs.
The Code of Conduct Tribunal has over-ruled an application for an adjournment by the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, and ordered...

The Danladi Umar-led panel of the CCT gave the order in a ruling after a stand-down which he took to prepare its ruling after entertaining argument and counter-argument on Sarakis application.Umar ruled that the defendants application for adjournment offended provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015.When proceedings started at about 10.30am on Tuesday, the prosecuting counsel, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), informed the tribunal that the matter was on March 24, adjourned till today for trial to commence.Jacobs told the tribunal that his witness was in court and was ready for trial to commence.But defence counsel, Mr. Paul Usoro (SAN), urged the tribunal to adjourn the case till a period after the hearing of his clients motion for stay of proceedings of the CCT which filed before the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal only on Monday.The defence only on Monday filed an appeal and an application for stay of the tribunals proceedings before the Court of Appeal against the CCTs ruling delivered on March 24, 2014, dismissing Sarakis application challenging the jurisdiction of the CCT to hear the case.Just this morning, the defence filed and served on the prosecution another motion for stay of proceedings before the tribunal.Usoro gave the appeal number as CA/A/172C/2016, adding that the appeal court had fixed April 26 for the hearing of his clients motion for stay of proceedings.Our prayer is for an adjournment not for stay of proceedings. We are asking for an adjournment based on our motion filed before the Court of Appeal for stay of proceedings of the trial before this tribunal, Usoro said.But Jacobs opposed the application for adjournment saying it had the same implication as a motion for stay of proceedings which he said had been prohibited by section 306 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015.He faulted the records of proceedings of the CCT compiled by the defence for the purpose of prosecuting their appeal on the grounds that it was not done in accordance with the law.Jacobs maintained that the defence only decided to file their appeal and motion for stay of proceedings on the eve of the day scheduled for commencement of trial in order to ensure that the trial was stalled.He added that section 306 of the ACJ Act having stipulated that no application for stay of proceedings should be entertained, the motion filed by Saraki asking for stay of proceedings was illegal.Nothing can be built on an illegal process. You cant build something on nothing. They will both crumble, Jacobs said.Jacobs said both motions asking for stay of proceedings filed before the tribunal and the CCT itself constituted an abuse of court process.He said under section 396 of the ACJ Act which provides a party in a criminal case was only entitled to adjournment not more than six times.According to him, since the commencement of the case in September last year, the matter had been adjourned more than five times at Sarakis instance.This has become too much. My lord should refuse this application for adjournment, Jacobs said.
Senate President Bukola Saraki says the Nigerian law does not require him to declare the assets of his wifes family.

Senate President Bukola Saraki says the Nigerian law does not require him to declare the assets of his wifes family.He was reacting to reports that he failed to declare at least four assets listed in a massive leak of documents detailing how prominent global figures are helped to stash away billions of dollars in secret offshore accounts by Panama-based law firm, Mossack Fonseca.In a statement on Monday by Yusuph Olaniyonu, his media adviser, Saraki said he fully complied with the provisions of the law on declaration of assets by public officers.He said the claim that he failed to declare the assets belonging to his wife, Toyin, is not true since he has in his different asset declarations included properties owned individually by himself and his wife.Saraki is currently undergoing trial for allegedly failing to make full disclosure of his assets to the Code of Conduct Bureau.The property in question forms part of Dr Sarakis wifes family asset. It is public knowledge that Mrs. Saraki comes from a family of independent means and wealth with numerous and varied assets acquired over decades in family estates and investments, the statement read.Furthermore, the law only requires a public officer to declare both his own assets and those held by his spouse and his children under 18 years of age. The law does not require a public officer to declare assets held by the spouses family.It is not expected by the law that a public officer should declare such assets held in the spouses family estate. Indeed, the Code of Conduct form does not make provision for declaration of spouses family assets.His wife is from the Ojora family in Lagos.
Times are hard in Nigeria. A lot of us are physically frustrated. Sadly, the only person anyone can kick in the shin right now is Presiden...

Times are hard in Nigeria. A lot of us are physically frustrated. Sadly, the only person anyone can kick in the shin right now is President Muhammadu Buhari.But kicking President Buhari comes with great damage to ones feet. President Buhari is a saint. You have to contend with fanatical Buharideens and Buharists who confidently believe that the man is Gods gift to humanity. You have to survive the onslaught of APC youths who absolutely detest free speech, freedom of expression or even rule of law. And then, most terrifyingly, you have to face your own peoplethe people to whom you preached Buhari in 2015and try to explain to them that, all the gods forbid, you are not a wailer.Or, maybe, you are just a known social critic and you want to score points for objectivity. Or, possibly, you are a generally nice person andthough heaven knows the fuel and power situation is killing you dailyyou honestly dont want to hurt the presidents fragile feelings?Well, look no further, heres how to criticise Buhari and still live to fight another day.Whether your criticism takes the form of a Facebook post, a series of tweets, an open letter, a full blown article or an inspired poem, always make like Lai Mohammed and start with PDP. Make it known from the outset that you positively hate PDP. Even if your knowledge of PDP started in the last 5 yearsyou must capture PDPs sixteen years. (16 is now a magic figure in Nigerian history.) This no-holds-barred anti-PDP stance is what will determine the objectivity of your article. In APCs Nigeria, PDP has no positives. And as far as APC people are concerned, the only objective critics of Buhari are the people who demonstrably supported Buhari. Those 12 million silly Nigerians who voted Jonathan are second-class citizens whose parents missed road in their upbringing. They have no right to criticise Buhari. Wailing wailers. Examples of how to start your criticism: Everyone knows PDP destroyed Nigeria these 16 years, When I voted Buhari in 2015, In 2015, I supported the Buhari campaign,If I had to vote again, I can never vote for PDP, Let me be clear, I can never support PDP. Of course, you may not have actually voted for APC or even voted at all on March 28, 2015, but thats between you, your deity and INEC.Commend Buharis efforts so far: Obviously, Buhari has not been lounging since he came into office. The man has been very busy. Take a look: he has enforced the TSA, routed Boko Haram, appointed excellent Ministers, prepared a Budget of Hope, solidified Nigerias foreign policy, and burnt a lot of aviation fuel. You have to acknowledge this hard work if you want to stay alive after your criticism. Look for something positive and praise it like the best thing since Olajumokes unsliced bread. I cannot help but praise your innovation in implementing the TSA. Do you even know what TSA does? Who cares? Just mention it. As we look forward to the passing of the impressive 2016 Budget , Your presidential poise in official photographs fills me with inspiration and hope for the future.You want to criticise Buhari and escape the whipping? Then make it clear that you are not one of them. By them you mean the wailing wailersthose 12 million Nigerians who voted for Jonathan and now have bellyache. You, on the other hand, are a genuine, objective, constructive Buhari-loving critic who wants nothing but the progress of the president. You do not want to be mistaken for those PDP anarchists. I know some people are happy that I am criticising Buhari, but they are mistaken if they think I am one of them, or you can be very direct: Fuck you, wailers. Dont you dare think I am wailing. You are merely advising the president. Honestly.Play the fighting corruption card: If theres anything that shows just how much you appreciate Buharis tenure, it is your stance on the war against corruption so far.Dont you dare suggest the war is not shaping up. This is the only thing you cannot criticise Buhari about. This is Buhari territory. In fact, you have to go gaga on how overwhelmingly successful the fight has been. Heres a secret: Buharis war against corruption is like the Emperors New Robes: if you cannot see it, then there must be something fundamentally wrong with your moral system. Or have you collected some of the Dasuki loot? You had better ramp up your appreciation of the amazing, glorious, and fantastic fight against corruption. The war on corruption is a huge success, I support the ongoing fight against corruption in our country..., President Buhari, the level of corruption in the country has dropped dramatically since you were sworn in!Now that you have successfully demonstrated your loyalty, ask for permission to mention your concerns. Be polite. Buhari is not your daddy. Buhari is minding his business and you people and your problems will just come and be disrespecting him anyhow.Dear Buhari, I know you are busy with more important issues like the Nuclear Summit, but allow me to mention this small issue of fuel scarcityThis is the dangerous part. Dont rush in like a wailing wailer on a suicide mission. Dont attack Buhari or blame him for whatever is worrying you. He is not the cause of your problem. He is here, like Jesus on the cross, to save you from the 16 years of your parents stupidity. So, watch your language. Keep the tone passive or pleasant. Also, make suggestions, dont just criticise. Dear Buhari, sometimes we have to say the truth, this fuel scarcity caused by the PDP is becoming serious, I wish to call the presidents attention to the recent Agatu issue, I know the judiciary/CBN/NNPC/PDP/is not helping matters but I beg Buhari to look into the issue of. Acknowledge the stumbling blocks in Buharis path and suggest their removal. There are plenty to choose from: the CBN, NNPC, PDP, judiciary, rule of law, even the damn Constitution. Buhari is king, fuck the Constitution. If you are desperate and your phone battery is about to die: Buhari, epp us, plix.Phew! That was close. If you did your work well, the Buharideens and APC youths will be in your comments at this point. They will praise your objectivity and constructive criticism. Your retweets and likes will be flowing like money into Dasukis account. You can go home at this point, but if you want to kill them totally just add another reminder of your faith in the Church of Buhari. Repeat your attack on wailers and Jonathanians and, if you really want to go nuclear, Zikists, Awoists, IBBists, Abachians. No, no. Dont ever attack Abachians. Perish the thought. One mistake like that and youre back in Wailerland. Dont go beyond the 16 year benchmark. Buhari has a past too, so just stay in the present, or in the future. I remain committed to the Change agenda, I am confident in President Buharis abilities, Under Buhari, I know Nigeria is destined for a great future.Remind everyone that youre the boss: If you are not feeling ashamed of yourself at this point, then congrats, youre a first class sycophant! For the rest of us, normal citizens, we have our conscience to deal with. Knowing how much ass we have just kissed, we have to balance things by reminding Buhari that we elected him and we are boss. We will continue to criticise him. Hard. Next time. We are watching you, sir, and we will continue to be vigilant, In 2015, I promised I will criticise you, sir, and I am going to continue keeping my promise, sir, The office of the citizen requires that we do this, sir. Please, sir. Take note, sir.
Nigeria's first openly gay pastor, Rev. Jide Macaulay, is stirring another controversy and this time, he is sure to be up in arms with...

Nigeria's first openly gay pastor, Rev. Jide Macaulay, is stirring another controversy and this time, he is sure to be up in arms with a lot of Christians who are bound to find his words very discomforting.The Founder of House of Rainbow, a church where homosexuals and lesbians worship, took to his Facebook and Twitter accounts to announce an upcoming event that the coalition is putting together tagged:'What does the Bible say about homosexuality?'But Macaulay who describes himself as an activist, author and queer theologian, went further to say that from what he has reading the Bible, the great King David was gay while another character in the bible, Ruth was a lesbian.Read what he wrote:"The Holy Bible tells me DAVID IS GAY & RUTH IS A LESBIAN. If this makes you mad, you need to wake up.Being gay is not a criteria for heaven, neither is heterosexual. Jesus said love God and your neighbour as yourself. Queering the bible is not a new thing; there is black theology associated with empowering black people who were once a subject of brutal interpretation and oppression.Slavery was a construction of religious interpretations and for Queer Theology, we must look holistically at the text that speak or remotely represents. Women were once victims of the theology of inequality and then Feminist theology was developed. We must offer liberation and inclusion in its fullness.David and Jonathan are Gays, Ruth and Naomi are lesbians; if we are to interpret using modern languages to describe the behaviours, accounts and evidences in the bible.Harriet Tubman said, "I freed a thousand slaves, I could have freed an additional thousand slaves only if they knew they were slaves".Not many LGBT people of faith will accept this queering of the bible because they don't want to believe they too had a very special place in biblical history."
A popular cleric known as Prophet Godfrey Gbujie has warned that Nigeria is in danger of being destroyed by a new terrorist group deadlier...

A popular cleric known as Prophet Godfrey Gbujie has warned that Nigeria is in danger of being destroyed by a new terrorist group deadlier than Boko Haram.Gods anger on the leaders of northern Nigeria is enormous in that another terrible rebellious group in addition to Boko Haram will spring up from the north very soon.This second rebellious group will be led by two seasoned Army Generals and soon after a more terrible and fiercer opposition group led by a younger Nigerian- trained military commander will emerge from the south.If not handled properly, this southern force will eventually cause the final disintegration and collapse of the Nigerian nation.He spoke during a press briefing at Akabo Ahiara Mbaise area of Imo state last week.
The National Association of Resident Doctors of Nigeria (NARD) says it has served the Federal Government with a 21-day notice to meet th...

The National Association of Resident Doctors of Nigeria (NARD) says it has served the Federal Government with a 21-day notice to meet their demands or face an indefinite strike.Dr Muhammad Askira, President of the association, disclosed this at a news conference on Monday in Abuja.Askira said that the ultimatum took effect from April 4.According to him, the resolution was reached by members of the association at the end of its extra ordinary executive council.He listed some of their demands to include payments of members' salaries till date, appropriate placement of members in both states and federal tertiary hospitals across the nation.Others were the reversal of sacked members in some hospitals as well as appropriate funding of residency training programme.Askira noted that some of their members in states tertiary hospitals in Osun, Imo, Ekiti, Abia and Kogi, among others, have not been paid salaries ranging from three to eight months, adding that labourers deserved their wages.He described that of Osun state government as worrisome, noting that it has remained at ease in spite of the total collapse of the healthcare delivery in the state and its attendant loss of lives.Askira, however, urged the government to adequately fund hospitals at all levels and upgrade existing facilities in public hospitals in line with internationals best practices.The president said that upgrading public health facilities would go a long way in curbing medical tourism."NARD will no longer tolerate the undue sack of resident doctors and demands immediate reversal of such, and urge government at all levels to strictly comply with pension deductions act as amended in 2014."We urged the government to ensure appropriate and adequate remuneration of our members at various hospitals,'' Askira said.Reacting to the health minister's threat that any health worker that engaged in industrial harmony would forfeit his salary, Askira noted that the first thing should be penalty work without pay before such penalty.Askira requested the minister to disclose penalties for work without pay before the penalty for no work no pay.He said resident doctors would help politicians deliver democratic dividends, describing anybody that denied them their entitlement is an enemy of Nigerians."My only concern is the situation whereby the government allows people to go on strike."Looking at our demands they are solely the responsibilities of the government; at the moment doctors in Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Irrua and FMC Owerri have not been paid their December salaries."Residents doctors work all day and night meeting the health needs of ordinary Nigerians that come to us for consultation."When a big man in Abuja is involved in an accident or whatsoever we are the first to receive him; then why this maltreatment?"The only way any democratic dividend will reach a Nigerian is through us and anybody that stops us from receiving our entitlement is an enemy of Nigerian people, and if we continue in this way then they are not ready for a change,'' he said.
The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) on Monday threatened mass action if the persistent fuel scarcity is not urgently addressed. It said i...

The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) on Monday threatened mass action if the persistent fuel scarcity is not urgently addressed.It said it could be forced to demonstrate against public officers who have not delivered on their mandate and to demand their removal for allowing increasing suffering and deprivation to become the lot of Nigerians."Electricity has become an essential commodity, public utilities have since gone to the dogs, petroleum products have grown wings and vanished, compounding an already bad transport system, reducing Nigerians in all parts of the nation to compulsory trekkers."Having observed the increasing alarm and seeming confusion within the corridors of power on possible solutions to the socio-economic quagmire, we make haste to say that Nigeria is indeed at crossroads today and the extent of suffering is such that this nation has not witnessed throughout its history."We, therefore, want the government at the centre to quickly talk to Nigerian workers and the masses on why we should continue having trust and patience with them."We urge them to tell us why we should not be in the streets calling for mass resignations of officers of this government, and to also tell us why we should not be worried when all the macro-economic indices are moving downwards," NLC said.NLC, at a briefing in Lagos by its factional president, Comrade Joe Ajaero, along with his deputy, Achese Igwe, who doubles as the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) president, urged the government to focus on getting the refineries working.It said the licenses granted local refiners should be reviewed and withdrawn from those who lack the capacity.The workers' body said with stolen funds being returned by looters, the government should deploy the monies to execution of projects."We urge the government to come clean as promised and account for what it has actually recovered from the treasury looters, giving Nigerians details of the culprits and how much each stole."We also urge the president and his cabinet to set up appropriate machinery to deploy the recovered funds to fill the resource gaps complained about because of the dip in global oil prices," NLC said.Igwe said NUPENG was willing to collaborate with the government to ensure the petroleum products are distributed seamlessly when available.He added, however, that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) was yet to reach out to NUPENG leadership on how the union can help end the fuel crisis."NNPC is yet to partner with NUPENG. They are yet to sit down with NUPENG on how to get this problem solved. But we are willing to partner with NNPC to end this fuel crisis," Igwe said.On the leadership crisis in NLC, Ajaero said his faction was still open to reconciliation, adding a seven-man committee that was set up to reconcile the factions at the state chapter level was frustrated."We are waiting for reconciliation. For now we have two NLCs, one for the government and one for the people. We are for the people," Ajaero said.
The Federal Government, Monday, said it is not going back on its decision to remove subsidy from Premium Motor Spirit, also known as pet...

The Federal Government, Monday, said it is not going back on its decision to remove subsidy from Premium Motor Spirit, also known as petrol. Specifically, the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA, in a statement signed by its Acting Executive Secretary, Mrs. Sotonye Iyoyo, explained that what currently exists is the price modulation mechanism through which price of PMS is adjusted in line with market realities. She said, Contrary to reports by a Section of the Nigerian Media, the Federal Government has not reversed its decision to remove subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), moreso when there is no appropriation for subsidy in the 2016 budget. The PPPRA wishes to state categorically that what still exists is Price Modulation Policy, through which it considers and reviews pump price of PMS quarterly.The Agency also wishes to assure Nigerians that the funds from Over-Recovery in the first quarter (Q1) shall be duly utilized for whatever noticeable imbalance in April 2016 in line with the Price Modulation Principle. While appreciating the patience of Nigerians, the PPPRA wishes to reiterate its commitment to ensuring seamless supply and distribution of petroleum products in the Country.
Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye, General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), on Monday evening, in Abuja, led thousands ...

Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye, General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), on Monday evening, in Abuja, led thousands of worshippers to pray for the final cessation of the economic monster.According to reports, in a prayer session that lasted for about seven minutes, Adeboye led the prayer session after mounting the pulpit at about 6:20 p.m. during the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) version of the monthly Divine Encounter programme held at the National Stadium, Abuja, on Monday evening.The mood of the prayer session smacked off some desperation by Nigerians to see to the end of the debacle as the congregation prayed earnestly to God for a soonest and final solution to the dilemma."Pray that the fuel scarcity be over soon and pray that this will be the last time we will ever have such occurrence in the country," Pastor Adeboye admonished the worshippers to supplicants unto God.
TEANECK - A mother who sat down to dinner with two of her three children says a wild turkey crashed through her kitchen window, sending glass, debris and mud everywhere.

"It landed on the table in front of us," Courtney Lopchinsky told NJ Advance Media on Tuesday. "We got up and literally ran for our lives."

Lopchinsky says the turkey was one of a pack of four that has been roaming her neighborhood in recent months.

"They're like gangster turkeys," she said. "They terrorize kids at bus stops and chase people to their cars."

The township of Teaneck is taking the incident seriously.

A representative from the N.J. Department of Environmental Protection (Fish & Wildlife) will attend a meeting Tuesday night to give an educational presentation and to address concerns from residents about the wild turkey issue in the township.

"The turkey issue has been around for four or five years," said Teaneck resident Peter Kelly.

"They come in flocks and they leave. But you never hear of them actually attacking," he said.

Lopchinsky said the turkey that crashed through her window thrashed around and "ransacked my kitchen," causing more than $6,000 worth of damage. She said her homeowner's insurance refuses to pay for damages caused by "birds, reptiles or vermin."

In addition to suffering minor cuts and bruises, Lopchinsky said she and her children found themselves picking glass out of their hair and clothes.

"We couldn't stay in the house that night," she said. "There was glass in my kids' Legos. I have a 2-year-old."

Police and firefighters found the bird pecking at another window trying to get out of the house, Lopchinsky said. First-responders grabbed the turkey and carried the bird out of the house, letting it go outdoors, she said.

Lopchinsky said the incident occurred near the end of January but she hasn't been able to talk about it until now.

"I was very traumatized," she said. "I needed to get my window fixed, shampoo the rugs and make repairs. That was all that was on my mind at the time."

The incident is not the first of its kind in Bergen County. In February, a mailman said he was surrounded by the birds in Hillsdale.

The Humane Society of the United States reports that turkeys may be more aggressive this time of year through May because it's mating season.

"They may respond aggressively to reflective surfaces (such as windows, automobile mirrors, or polished car doors), thinking that their reflection is an intruding male turkey," the society reports on its website.

The DEP presentation is scheduled for 8 p.m. at he beginning of the public input portion of the council meeting.

Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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Brandon Dixon, left, and Ryan Sweet, right, worked together to rob a fellow Pemberton Township man in 2013 because the man was trying to date the 16-year-old mother of Sweet's child, and wound up killing the victim, 23-year-old Charles Bauer, the Burlington County Times reports. Sweet previously pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter charges and Dixon was found guilty of felony murder by a jury, Monday, April 4, 2016. (Photos provided)

MOUNT HOLLY -- A 28-year-old Pemberton Township man was convicted of murder and related charges Monday in connection with the 2013 killing of a 23-year-old man, according to the Burlington County Times.

The newspaper reports a jury found Brandon Dixon guilty of felony murder, desecration of human remains and robbery.

Prosecutors argued Dixon worked with another Pemberton Township man, Ryan Sweet, to rob Pemberton man Charles Bauer because Bauer was communicating with the 16-year-old mother of Sweet's child. Bauer's body was discovered in January of 2013, partially clothed on top of a frozen bog in Brendan Byrne State Forest by a family.

Testimony during Dixon's two-week trial revealed the intent behind the crime was to steal Bauer's Ford Mustang and marijuana to stop him from contacting the teen, but that Bauer died after Dixon had put him in a chokehold. Dixon was also accused of burning Bauer's clothes, but was found not guilty of arson.

Sweet previously pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter and is expected to be sentenced to 17 years in prison this week, the newspaper reports.

Sweet and three other men also pleaded guilty to desecrating human remains for helping dispose of Bauer's body.

Dixon is scheduled to be sentenced on May 26 and could receive life in prison.

Michelle Caffrey may be reached at mcaffrey@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @ShellyCaffrey. Find the South Jersey Times on Facebook.
CAMDEN -- Legal challenges brought by ex-Camden City police officers who claimed discriminatory hiring practices cost them their jobs has ended with their most recent lawsuit being thrown out of state Superior Court.

Judge David M. Ragonese sided with Camden County late last week when he dismissed the suit, ruling that earlier efforts making similar claims and involving some or all of the ex-officers discounts the challenge filed in November 2015.

"Now, two years [after a 2013 lawsuit regarding Camden metro's hiring practices], plaintiffs' seek to file a new lawsuit alleging discrimination arising out of the same dispute that gave rise to the 2013 action," Ragonese said.

The ex-officers who filed the lawsuit late last year against Camden County were Tyrone McEady, Robert Babnew, Steven L. Fritz, Karen Feliciano Ruiz, Kenyatta Kelly, Orlando Segarra, Raul Beltran, Jr., Vincent J. Saunders, Mark S. Hoopes, Christopher M. Kelly, Darryl Lofland, Neil W. Long, and Henry L. McLeod, Jr.

"Camden County Police Department hired a slew of younger, Caucasian, police officers while overlooking plaintiffs, all of whom are in a protected class with respect to age, and most of whom are in the additional protected class with respect to race," the ex-cops claimed in court documents.

The group argued that they weren't hired because of their age and race, which was a violation of the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination. Philadelphia-based attorney James A. Bell, who represented the officers, could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

"The freeholder board was confident this case had no merit and would be thrown out when it got heard in court," Camden County spokesman Dan Keashen said Tuesday.

After the Camden City police force was disbanded to make way for the Camden County Police Department (CCPD), the police department's union sued Camden County and the city in 2013. They argued, in part, that the primary purpose of creating the CCPD was to avoid collective bargaining agreements.

The police union -- including six of the ex-officers in this Superior Court suit -- lodged an unfair practices charge against the county in 2013, which was dismissed by the New Jersey Public Employee Relations Commission in November 2015. The Superior Court lawsuit Ragonese ruled on last week was also filed in November.

"Based on the fact that the same old claim has been argued and dismissed in several different venues prior to this latest filing, it was clear that the complainants were trying to take more than one bite out of the apple to find a favorable ruling. The board is ecstatic to see this ongoing waste of time come to unceremonious end," Keahsen said.

Citing New Jersey's Entire Controversy Doctrine, Ragonese in his opinion wrote that the purpose of the rule is to have related litigation resolved in one court as a single filing and "at the very least present in that proceeding all of their claims and defenses that are related to the underlying controversy."

"Plaintiffs argue that the [New Jersey Law Against Discrimination] claims in this matter do not arise from related facts or a series of transactions concerning the original matter. The court finds otherwise," Ragonese continued.

Greg Adomaitis may be reached at gadomaitis@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregAdomaitis. Find the South Jersey Times on Facebook.
VINELAND -- A 59-year-old South Jersey man faces additional charges after he "bragged" to friends about providing police with false information after a motor vehicle crash, the Daily Journal reports.

Robert Allen, of Mays Landing, illegally towed a vehicle after a crash on March 18 and was cited for a traffic violation and improper hitching of a motor vehicle, according to reports.

Allen was towing a vehicle in the area of east Chestnut Avenue when he failed to stop at a red light and collided with another vehicle.

While providing police with his information, Allen reportedly gave authorities false registration and insurance information at the scene of the crash.

Allen later bragged to his friends that he gave police false information, according to the Daily Journal.

Allen was issued additional summonses for fictitious plates, driving an uninsured vehicle and unregistered vehicle, according to reports.

More criminal charges are pending additional investigation.

Brittany Wehner may be reached at bwehner@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @brittanymwehner. Find the South Jersey Times on Facebook.
MILLVILLE -- As firefighters were battling a three-alarm church fire Sunday morning, they took special care to preserve what they could from the 100-year-old church.

Millville Fire Department was even able to save the cross that topped the Mount Pleasant United Methodist Church steeple after it collapsed and a stained glass window.

"it's part of their history," said Patrick Wettstein, a firefighter that was pictured with the window. "It's terrible that they lost their church so a group of us, about four or five of us, wanted to save part of their church so they can use it again if they rebuild or just be a piece for them to have."

Millville Firefighters Patrick Wettstein and Terry Fawcett carry a salvaged stained glass window from a church fire on Sunday, April 3, 2016. (Photo submitted by Kevin Quay)

Wettstein, along with Terry Fawcett, Steve Alcorn, John Wettstein, Kevin Quay and Greg Maines were involved in saving the pieces.

Firefighters responded to a fire call at the Mount Pleasant United Methodist Church on the corner of Route 49 and Pearl Street at 5:23 a.m. Sunday.

Arriving firefighters saw a lot of smoke and flames from the church as they arrived, according to Chief Mike Lippincott.

A helmet camera belonging to Firefighter Alex Hess caught footage of the blaze.

The fire is still under investigation but authorities believe it was caused by high winds knocking down a tree, which struck power lines and caused electrical problems -- leading to the fire.

When firefighters first arrived, they had difficulty with a nearby fire hydrant but it did not impede their fighting of the fire, the chief said. The fire department used a truck carrying 1,000 gallons of water when it first arrived and ran lines to a fire hydrant across Route 49 -- cutting off traffic and closing down the road.

The city has since decided to ramp up the inspection of fire hydrants, Lippincot added.

The fire was contained to the church section of the building and did not spread to the connected social building, which received water and smoke damage but was untouched by flames.

According to The Press of Atlantic City, Pastor John Mitchell promised that the church will rebuild. The congregation is now sharing services at the Trinity United Methodist Church.

Don E. Woods may be reached at dwoods@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @donewoods1. Find the South Jersey Times on Facebook.
Local Foundation Files Brief in Immigration Case



MONTGOMERY, Ala., April 5, 2016 /



A federal judge in Texas halted the implementation of the order, saying it exceeded the President's powers under the Constitution, and a divided Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed. The Supreme Court is expected to hear oral arguments on the case in April and to decide the case before the end of June.



Foundation President Kayla Moore said of the case, "It is appalling to think that President Obama would by executive fiat allow millions of aliens to stay in this country even though they are clearly violating the law. It is manifestly unfair to place illegal aliens on a path to residency ahead of the many who have gone through the legal process to become legal immigrants. Even elementary school children know it is wrong to 'crowd' in line."



Foundation Senior Counsel John Eidsmoe added, "The President asked Congress to make these changes, and when Congress refused, he did so himself by an executive memorandum. Not only has he usurped the powers of Congress; he has abdicated his own constitutional duty to 'take Care that the laws be faithfully executed.' He has made a shambles of the separation of powers our Framers gave us in the Constitution."



In the same case, Alabama Senators Richard Shelby and Jeff Sessions announced that they are joining with 42 other Senators in filing an amicus brief supporting Texas and opposing the Obama Administration's immigration order. Also, Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange announced that Alabama has joined a coalition of 26 states in filing a brief supporting Texas and opposing the Administration's position.

Share Tweet Contact: John Eidsmoe, Foundation for Moral Law , 334-262-1245MONTGOMERY, Ala., April 5, 2016 / Christian Newswire / -- The Foundation for Moral Law, an Alabama organization dedicated to the defense of the Constitution strictly interpreted according to the intent of its Framers, has filed an amicus brief with the United States Supreme Court in a case involving President Obama's November 2014 executive memorandum stopping the deportation of an estimated 4.1 million illegal aliens.A federal judge in Texas halted the implementation of the order, saying it exceeded the President's powers under the Constitution, and a divided Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed. The Supreme Court is expected to hear oral arguments on the case in April and to decide the case before the end of June.Foundation President Kayla Moore said of the case, "It is appalling to think that President Obama would by executive fiat allow millions of aliens to stay in this country even though they are clearly violating the law. It is manifestly unfair to place illegal aliens on a path to residency ahead of the many who have gone through the legal process to become legal immigrants. Even elementary school children know it is wrong to 'crowd' in line."Foundation Senior Counsel John Eidsmoe added, "The President asked Congress to make these changes, and when Congress refused, he did so himself by an executive memorandum. Not only has he usurped the powers of Congress; he has abdicated his own constitutional duty to 'take Care that the laws be faithfully executed.' He has made a shambles of the separation of powers our Framers gave us in the Constitution."In the same case, Alabama Senators Richard Shelby and Jeff Sessions announced that they are joining with 42 other Senators in filing an amicus brief supporting Texas and opposing the Obama Administration's immigration order. Also, Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange announced that Alabama has joined a coalition of 26 states in filing a brief supporting Texas and opposing the Administration's position.
Hundreds Join Life-Affirming Prayer Luncheon Blocks Away from Planned Parenthood Heroic Media Event Featured Laura Ingraham, Raised Funds to Help Women Choose Life



Contact: Heidi McDow, A. Larry Ross Communications, 972-267-1111, heidi@alarryross.com



DALLAS, April 5, 2016 /Christian Newswire/ -- In response to the annual Planned Parenthood fundraising luncheon featuring President Cecile Richards yesterday in Dallas, more then 600 individuals joined Heroic Media, a pro-life organization that uses targeted advertisements to connect pregnant women with life-affirming pregnancy resource centers, for a luncheon April 4 to pray for grace for those working in the abortion industry and raise funds to help women learn options to choose life. Radio show host and author Laura Ingraham was the guest speaker.



"Heroic Media has answers and they come not in the form of condemnation and punishment, but in the form of a warm embrace," said Ingraham.



Abby Johnson, a former Planned Parenthood employee and author and founder of And Then There Were None, a non-profit to help get those working in the abortion industry a way to get out, served as emcee for the prayer luncheon, which took place at the Omni Hotel Dallas, just blocks away from the Planned Parenthood annual fundraising luncheon.



"We aren't just trying to save babies but create a culture where abortion isn't just illegal, but where it is unthinkable," said Johnson.



"It's what we don't know, it's what these women don't know -- it's the false advertisements, the fake compassion -- that is what leads women through the doors of the abortion clinic," Johnson continued. "Heroic is here to tell women the truth. They are the antidote to Planned Parenthood's message. Every year pregnancy clinics are showing them real options and real medical care, no matter what. It's not fake. We aren't driven by profit, we are driven by the mercy of Christ."



With the looming Supreme Court decision over Texas laws which drastically impact how abortions are performed in the Lone Star State drawing national attention, Heroic Media seeks to lessen Planned Parenthood's impact on the area and the nation, and help women who find themselves with an unwanted pregnancy find life-giving alternatives.



"We see the truth and the beauty of the pro-life movement. We do not inhabit the darkness or traffic in lies  we save lives," Ingraham said. "Because of the work done by Heroic Media, women who are fearful, hopeless, or just misguided, are presented with a beacon of light that illuminates a path of undeniable truth and hope. There is no other alternative other than victory. Think of what our Framers wrote  'life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.' You can't get to the latter two without first preserving LIFE!"



The primary focus of the Heroic Media prayer luncheon was to pray for God's mercy on those who work for Planned Parenthood. Additionally, Heroic Media raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for its advertising program in Texas.



Heroic Media was founded in April 2004 in Austin with the goal of saving lives from abortion through the use of targeted advertising programs. The organization believed that if women in crisis could learn of hopeful alternatives to abortion, they would choose life. Since 2010, Heroic Media has received over 1 million responses to its online advertisements, and has helped save over 11,000 babies' lives from abortion.



"Planned Parenthood looks at abortion as big business, and big business uses ads to get customers. Everyday Planned Parenthood uses ads to get hundreds of women into abortion clinics  all in the name of financial profit," said Brett Attebery, Vice President of Marketing for Heroic Media.



"Because of our efforts, abortion-minded women are redirected and connected to a life-affirming pregnancy resource center," Attebery continued. "Through that connection, it drives out fear and restores their hope, and they can look at the life growing inside them and see it for the gift it is. When these women are shown compassion, they can then, in turn, show compassion to that child."



About Heroic Media

Heroic Media uses targeted advertising to connect women facing unexpected pregnancies with life-affirming pregnancy resource centers. Heroic Media ads are carefully researched and designed to interrupt the abortion mindset and give a woman hope. Since 2010, Heroic Media internet advertisements have helped save over 11,000 babies from abortion. For additional information, visit heroicmedia.org.



Note to Editors: To arrange an interview with Abby Johnson or Brett Attebery or for more information about Heroic Media, please contact Heidi McDow at heidi@alarryross.com or call 972.267.1111.

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The Carnival Triumph at sea. The cruise ship is the latest to call New Orleans its homeport. (Photo courtesy Carnival Cruise Lines)
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.
Despite the partisan frenzy surrounding the U.S. Supreme Court, its eight justices united to make a strong statement in favor of the one person, one vote principle their predecessors enacted more than half a century ago.

The unanimous decision quelled an effort by some Texas voters to require representation to be based on voter registration. To do that, however, would have run counter to the idea that political districts must be of similar populations  reaffirmed in a 1964 ruling that established the one person, one vote litmus test.

This is being described as a partisan issue in many media reports. Some analyses call this as a major win for Latinos and immigrants, traditional Democratic voters, who may not be registered or eligible to vote or a loss for rural areas with older populations that may tend to vote Republican. In truth, any decision by any court favors some and inconveniences others.

But if one disregards these narratives, a simple truth appears: Elected officials serve all constituents, regardless of voting status, in their districts.

Writing the courts opinion, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said that the nations history, our decisions and settled practice in all 50 states and countless local jurisdictions point in the same direction, while adding that representatives serve all residents, not just those eligible or registered to vote because nonvoters have an important stake in many policy debates.

However, the Supreme Court did not explicitly state whether total population or if an alternate method, as the Texas group requested, would be acceptable.

Though two of the courts most conservative justices, Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, wrote separate opinions based on different concerns, all eight agreed the precedent set more than half a century ago must be followed.

Voters ability to freely elect representative leaders of, by and for the people is what made the American experiment so earth-shattering in the late 1700s. While a two-house government is often maligned by political infighting today, it was originally designed to equally represent both geographic areas and population zones.

Efforts to draw political boundaries and control election outcomes unfortunately still exist through gerrymandering and other devices.

This is less of an issue in Iowa, which has a nonpartisan redistricting commission. Nebraska is attempting institute a similar policy after its last effort was plagued with partisan complaints on both sides of the aisle.

But, regardless of location, two things must be guaranteed to all Americans: The will of the people  all people  must be allowed to be decided fairly by voters, and that will must extend to those who are not voters themselves.
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How do an incident at a Sudbury trailer park and coffee creamer tie together? We're not quite sure.

How do an incident at a Sudbury trailer park and coffee creamer tie together? We're not quite sure.But Nestle Canada is betting that strange combination, and the mystery that comes with it, will be enough to encourage more young people to try its flavoured Coffee-mate creamers.The company's Sudbury Incident advertising campaign has raised a lot of eyebrows with short vignettes on television and Instagram that put Sudbury front and centre in a mystery  that has not yet been fully explained  that seems to change people's coffee-drinking habits.In our research, we uncovered that theres a certain mystery to Coffee-mate itself, said Ryan Saunders, marketing leader for coffee and beverages at Nestle Canada, in an email to NorthernLife.ca.Its really not on the radar for most young adults who are in the process of forming their coffee habits.What we discovered was that when people experience Coffee-mate for the first time something unexpected happens  they love it! It was that aspect of mystery and unexpectedness that inspired us to take this unique creative approach.Canadian marketing firm MacLaren McCann filmed the vignettes, which have been rolled out over the last week, around Greater Sudbury in March.But why did a multinational corporation focus on Sudbury for its Canadian campaign?We needed a location to tell a story and wanted a place that was both recognizable, but a little mysterious, Saunders said. Sudbury is known for some great, unique things: The Big Nickel, The Super Stack, The Wolves, having over 300 lakes and a Stompin Tom song about it, but most Canadians have never been there. Making it a really cool and intriguing Canadian city.Saunders said it's still too early to gauge the campaign's success, but added it has generated a lot of interest and engagement so far.While Sudbury's growing film industry often transforms the city into other locations, the Coffee-mate campaign has decided not to hide those roots, and has made Sudbury a central part of the story.
Updated April 6 at 8:05 a.m. Greater Sudbury Police arrested Marc Renaud in Sudbury without incident shortly after 9 p.m. April 5. The arrest was made by the police service's Criminal Investigations Division and Patrol Operations Division.

Updated April 6 at 8:05 a.m.



Greater Sudbury Police arrested Marc Renaud in Sudbury without incident shortly after 9 p.m. April 5. The arrest was made by the police service's Criminal Investigations Division and Patrol Operations Division.



Original story:

The Ontario Provincial Police's Repeat Offender Parole Enforcement (ROPE) Squad is on the hunt for an offender who breached his parole.



A Canada-Wide Warrant has been issued for Marc Renaud. Police say Renaud is known to frequent the Greater Sudbury area.



He is described as a white male, 41 years of age, standing 6-5 (196 cm) and weighing 210 lbs (95 kg). Renaud has green eyes and short brown hair. He can also be identified by the two tattoos on his left arm, consisting of three bolts on the outer and inner forearm. (NorthernLife.ca is waiting on the OPP to clarify what they mean by "bolts".)



Renaud is serving a 2.5-year sentence for armed robbery.



Anyone having contact with this offender or information in regards to their whereabouts is asked to contact the Provincial ROPE Squad at 416-808-5900 or toll free at 1-866-870-ROPE (7673). You can also call Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or call 9-1-1.
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We've picked out some of the best locations in Nottinghamshire to walk your dog.

What better way to get out and about than enjoying a fine walk with your pooch?

With miles and miles of open countryside, we're truly blessed to have plenty of parks and open spaces for your mutt to have a good old stroll.

We've picked out five of the best dog walks across the county from West Bridgford to Edwinstowe and a few in between.

1: Attenborough Nature Reserve

A three-mile stroll around one of Nottinghamshire's most famous nature sites. The former pit was opened in 1966 by broadcaster David Attenborough.

Walkers can enjoy use of the on-site car parking, cafe and shop facilities.

2: Sherwood Pines, Edwinstowe

Those keen for a dog walk can take advantage of the 3,300 acre woodland site, and the largest forest open to the public in the East Midlands.

The site is managed by the Forestry Commission and hosts a large number of events throughout the year that are dog friendly, while the white trail is the most popular walk through the large swathes of forest.

3: Grantham Canal, Gamston

Taking in the sights and sounds of the canal, walkers can enjoy a relatively short two-mile stretch along the towpath just outside West Bridgford.

Once a vital part of the British Waterways network, the canal was a key route between Nottingham and Grantham for the transportation of coal and grain.

4: Thieves Wood, Coxmoor Road, Kirkby-in-Ashfield

One of the most popular walking spots between Nottingham and Mansfield, situated just off the A60, Thieves Wood is a rambler's paradise.

If you fancy a quick dog walk, then there is a specific loop near to the car park, which is free. There is often a refreshment van parked there too.

5: Blidworth Woods, Longdale Lane, Blidworth

This is another popular location for the dog walking community and it is situated at the southern end of Sherwood Forest with a shorter white route, plus a longer blue trail which is just over three miles.
Three former North Platte area residents were among five people killed Monday when a sightseeing helicopter crashed in Tennessee.

Peyton Rasmussen, 22, and Parker Rasmussen, 18, and their mother, Johna (Jochum) Morvant, 49, were among those killed when the Bell 206 helicopter crashed about 3:30 p.m. Monday near Sevierville, Tennessee.

Peyton and Parker, formerly of North Platte, are the children of former Cedar Bowl owner Scott Rasmussen. Morvant was originally from Sutherland.

Peytons boyfriend, Michael Genn Mastalez, 21, of Prosper, Texas, and the helicopters pilot, Jason Dahl, 38 of Sevierville, were also killed in the crash.

Butch Rasmussen, grandfather of Peyton and Parker, said the family had been living in North Carolina. Rasmussen, of North Platte, said the children were visiting their mother in Tennessee when they decided to go on the sightseeing tour.

The helicopter was ... flying over the Smoky Mountains as I understand it, Butch Rasmussen said Tuesday afternoon. It had a pretty hard crash and blew up.

Officials say the helicopter burned after the crash.

Theres not much left of the helicopter, Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, Police Chief Jack Baldwin told the Associated Press. Its pretty much gone from the fire.

Representatives from Bell Helicopter, Textron, Rolls Royce and the FAA also were going to the scene. Bell is a division of Textron, and Rolls Royce makes the engine on the Bell 206, according to Bells website.

Investigators were at the crash site on Tuesday, but had not determined what caused the crash. Luke Schiada, a a senior investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board, said there was evidence that the Bell 206 helicopter struck the top of a ridge on the side of a mountain.

The fact that the wreckage was consumed by the fire does make things more complicated, Schiada said at a news conference.

Theres a little bit of the tail fin of the helicopter, and thats about all thats left, that and the console, thats about it, Baldwin said.

Schiada said the tour route that the helicopter was on indicated that it was on a 12-minute flight, and it was the pilots second flight of the day. The NTSB said it would be reviewing how the helicopter was loaded, the aircrafts maintenance records, the pilots background and the wind conditions at the time of the crash, he said.

The crash occurred less than a mile from a large outlet mall in Sevierville near a neighborhood off the main tourist drag. The site is about three miles from Dolly Partons Dollywood theme park.

Tennessee Emergency Management Association spokesman Dean Flener said no homes were damaged and no one on the ground was injured.

The NTSB will post a preliminary report on the crash on its website by the end of next week, Schiada said. Determining the probable cause of the crash could take a year or more, he said.

Butch Rasmussen said hed seen a television news report about the accident Monday night but had no idea it involved his grandchildren. Butch said his son called Tuesday morning to tell him.

They finally found a couple of drivers licenses, Butch said.

The thought just keeps going through my mind, Butch Rasmussen said. I saw that news report on the news [Monday] night and it showed the trees and the mountains where the crash occurred, and the smoke coming up from the trees. Like you do, when you hear those kinds of reports, I thought, Gosh, thats sad. Five people lost their lives, and I went back to my business. It turned out it was my family. You dont ever think about that.

Peyton graduated from North Platte High School in 2011 and Parker, a senior, was being home schooled. Butch said Parker was the quiet type, who preferred a small tight-knit circle of friends, while Peyton was more outgoing. He said she took a lot of selfies and was everybodys friend.

Peyton always had a posse, Butch said. She didnt do anything without a gaggle of friends around.

This report includes material from the Associated Press.
A trio of Warriors, a Panthers match-winner and some TOTW regulars headline NRL.com's Team of the Week for Round 6.

1. James Tedesco (Wests Tigers)

Copped a knee to the head in the opening exchanges but returned 15 minutes later to lay on one try and score two more in a standout effort in a losing side against the Sharks.

2. Tuimoala Lolohea (Warriors) (c)

While Roger Tuivasa-Sheck stole the headlines by scoring the match-winner in the Warriors' golden point win over the Roosters, it wouldn't have been made possible without Lolohea's lead-up work  just one of three tries the winger was directly involved in.

3. Jarrod Croker (Raiders)

The Raiders skipper finished with an 18-point haul and five tackle breaks in Canberra's upset 22-8 win over the Bulldogs at Belmore.

4. Brad Takairangi (Eels)

Takairangi was one of the Eels' best attacking weapons on Sunday despite his team losing out in the final 10 seconds to the Panthers.

5. Josh Mansour (Panthers)

Mansour inched closer to a New South Wales debut thanks to his 200 metres, try and six tackle breaks in his team's late 20-18 win over rivals Parramatta.

6. Shaun Johnson (Warriors)

Johnson showed glimpses of his best form by scoring two tries in the Warriors' 32-28 win over the Roosters.

7. Johnathan Thurston (Cowboys)

Thurston laid on two try assists in his team's shutout 36-0 victory over St George Illawarra on Saturday night.

8. Jacob Lillyman (Warriors)

Lillyman sent a timely reminder to representative selectors that he wasn't over the hill by smashing out 160 metres and producing magic hands for Johnson's first try against the Roosters.

9. Cameron McInnes (Rabbitohs)

The Rabbitohs hooker had a hand in all three of his team's tries (two tries, one assist) in South Sydney's 16-12 win over the Sea Eagles.

10. Andrew Fifita (Sharks)

Fifita was a crucial component in his side's victory over his old club the Tigers by smashing out seven tackle breaks and 172 metres.

11. Bryce Cartwright (Panthers)

The Panthers' hero of the day, Cartwright scored two tries including the match-winner in his team's second win of the year.

12. Ethan Lowe (Cowboys)

Lowe continued his superb start to 2016 by making 169 metres and 33 tackles against the Dragons.

13. Corey Parker (Broncos)

The Broncos skipper was instrumental in his team's eight-point win over the Titans with 150 metres and 33 tackles in a typically busy performance.

Interchange

14. Richard Kennar (Storm)

Kennar was a constant threat on the wing for the Storm, showcased by the winger's barnstorming kick returns in Melbourne's 18-14 win over Newcastle.

15. Robbie Rochow (Knights)

Featured at prop, the back row and in the centres throughout his side's four-point loss to the Storm and still produced a tick under 100 metres and 39 tackles.

16. Chris Grevsmuhl (Rabbitohs)

Grevsmuhl has been the Rabbitohs' most improved forward in recent weeks, showing his worth against Manly with 128 metres and 25 tackles.

17. Jesse Bromwich (Storm)

Bromwich's offloading prowess kept the ball rolling for the Storm as they reversed an eight-point deficit to secure a comeback win over Newcastle.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates  Global military spending rose in 2015 to nearly $1.7 trillion, the first increase in several years, driven by conflicts including the battle against the Islamic State group, the Saudi-led war in Yemen and fears about Iran, a report released Tuesday shows.

The study by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute also noted that the Chinese expansion in the South China Sea and Russia's annexation of Crimea and support of Ukrainian separatists also accounted for nudging spending up 1 percent in real terms, compared to 2014.

For weapons manufacturers, the nonstop pace of airstrikes targeting Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria, as well as Saudi-led bombing of Yemen's Shiite rebels and their allies, means billions of dollars more in sales.

But activists question continued U.S. arms deals to Saudi Arabia as its Yemen campaign has killed civilians, while American fighter jet sales to both emerging military buyer Qatar and longtime ally Kuwait appear stalled.

The United States, with $596 billion in defense spending, and China, with an estimated $215 billion, led all countries in 2015, the annual report by SIPRI said. Saudi Arabia, however, came in third with spending of $87.2 billion  double what it spent in 2006, according to the report. That fueled the first worldwide increase in military spending since 2011.

Iraq spent $13.1 billion on its military in 2015, up well over 500 percent from 2006 as it has rebuilt its armed forces following the U.S. withdrawal and rise of the Islamic State group, SIPRI said.

While part of the U.S. coalition fighting the extremists, Saudi Arabia also launched a war in Yemen in March 2015 to support the country's internationally recognized government after Shiite rebels known as Houthis earlier overran the country's capital, Sanaa. The Sunni kingdom views the Houthis as a proxy of Shiite power Iran, long its regional rival.

The United Arab Emirates also is taking part in both conflicts and likely has spent billions of dollars to support its military in 2015 as well, though the Stockholm-based institute said it couldn't offer precise figures this year, senior research Pieter Wezeman said. Both the UAE and Saudi Arabia also sent troops into Bahrain to put down its 2011 Arab Spring-inspired protests.

"This clearly is a reason for these countries to improve their so-called security forces, both to be able to fight against internal uprisings, whether a more-peaceful nature or more violent, but also of course to intervene in neighboring countries," Wezeman, who took part in the report, told The Associated Press.

But the air campaign waged by the Saudi-led, U.S.-backed coalition in Yemen has been increasingly criticized by human rights activists over civilian deaths. Airstrikes account for 60 percent of the 3,200 civilians killed in the conflict, according to the United Nations, which has criticized coalition strikes that have hit markets, clinics and hospitals.

Yet arms deals continue, especially from the U.S. Asked about the civilian casualties, State Department spokesman David McKeeby said the United States remained "deeply concerned by the devastating toll of the crisis in Yemen."

"We have remained in regular contact with the Saudi-led coalition and have reinforced to them the need to avoid civilian casualties and the importance of precise targeting," McKeeby said in a statement. "We have encouraged them to investigate all credible accounts of civilian casualties as a result of coalition strikes  and to report publicly the results of these investigations."

But both the Yemen war and the fight against the Islamic State group likely will keep arms manufacturers busy into 2016. Companies that may see increased sales include Boeing. Co., General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin Corp. and Raytheon Co., aerospace and defense analyst Roman Schweizer at Guggenheim Securities wrote March 28.

"We have been bullish for the better part of a year that the Pentagon and its European and (Gulf) allies will have to refill their stocks of missiles and munitions due to the current campaign against ISIS in Iraq, Syria, Yemen and even Libya," Schweizer wrote, using an alternate acronym for the extremist group.

Meanwhile, President Barack Obama promised America's "ironclad commitment" to back its Gulf allies during a summit last May. In the time since, the U.S. has made $33 billion in arms sales to its Gulf allies, including an $11.25-billion deal with Saudi Arabia that includes four armed warships to modernize its navy, McKeeby said.

But the Obama administration has been criticized by U.S. Sen. John McCain, an Arizona Republican, for "failing to live to up the promises" made at the summit by allegedly stalling fighter jet sales to both Kuwait and Qatar.

"They are languishing on the shelf gathering dust," McCain said at a hearing on March 8. Tiny Qatar in the meantime has signed a deal for 6.7 billion euros ($7.6 billion) to buy 24 Dassault Rafal fighter jets from France. Kuwait on Tuesday finalized a deal to purchase 28 Eurofighter Typhoons, a deal estimated to be worth around $8 billion.

Obama will visit Saudi Arabia on April 21 for a meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council, which includes Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the UAE. The jet sales likely will be a topic of discussion, as will Iran after its recently implemented nuclear deal with world powers.

Wezeman said international sanctions against Iran had seen its weapons technology lag behind its neighbors as its military spending dropped by 30 percent between 2006 and 2015. However, he acknowledged regional suspicions likely would keep Gulf military spending strong.

"Iran is, of course, perceived as an adversary and also wants to be the main player in the region, a country which will potentially use its influence over different proxy groups in the region to destabilize countries," Wezeman said. "Both the expenditure and the armament procurement by states in the Gulf are clearly aimed at kind of keeping Iran in check."

___

Online:

Stockholm International Peace Research Institute: www.sipri.org

___

Follow Jon Gambrell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jongambrellap . His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/jon-gambrell .
After days of haggling, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton are agreeing to face off in a NY1-CNN presidential debate in Brooklyn before the April 19th presidential primary. NY1 Political Reporter Josh Robin has more details about the April 14th showdown.

NY1 political anchor Errol Louis will be among those questioning Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton.

The venue for the two-hour forum will be the Brooklyn Navy Yard's Duggal Greenhouse.

The New York Daily News is also participating.

Both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have campaigned in the city, but pinning down these two busy candidates had been trickier than hailing a rush hour cab in the rain.

Though both said they wanted to.

"I'll be there," Clinton said.

"I think we can work out a date that works for her schedule, that works for my schedule," Sanders said.

That schedule had Sanders holding a Washington Square Park rally April 14.

But Mayor Bill de Blasio said he'd arrange permits for another day  with Sanders settling on April 13.

"Having a presidential primary election that matters for the first time since 1992 certainty on the Democratic side, it's a very very important moment," the mayor said.

De Blasio backs Clinton, who appeared with Governor Cuomo on Monday, but didn't talk about debates in her speech.

Debates over debates are nothing new, but there is added urgency ahead of the April 19 primary. If Sanders loses, he would be even further back in the delegate race. But if Clinton loses, it would be a devastating loss in the state she represented for eight years.

In agreeing to the debate, both sides thawed, for a minute.

A Sanders statements says: "We hope the debate will be worth the inconvenience for thousands of New Yorkers who were planning to attend our rally on Thursday but will have to change their schedules to accommodate Secretary Clintons jam-packed, high-dollar, coast-to-coast schedule of fundraisers all over the country."

A Clinton statement adds: "We had thought the Sanders campaign would have accepted our offer for a Brooklyn debate on April 14 in a New York minute, but it ended up taking a few extra days for them to agree. We are glad they did. We are grateful to have both NY1 and the Daily News sponsoring this debate, ensuring a New York focus to the discussion."

And while the evening promises to be exciting and substantial, New Yorkers looking for Republican fare that evening don't have to stray far.

The three candidates are attending the State Republican dinner that evening. Their primary is also April 19.

WATCHING THE DEBATE

Tickets to the debate are not available to the general public, but are being distributed by the candidates' campaigns and by the Democratic party.

Viewers can watch the debate on TV on NY1 News; online at NY1.com/live and on the TWC News app.

The debate will also be carried on all TWC News channels throughout New York state. Viewers can follow along on Twitter or contribute their commentary using the hashtag #NYDebate.
She combined an eloquent voice, which could rise from a purr to a cry of passion, with a striking physical presence. On stage and off, she had an elegance that made her a natural for playing queens, which she frequently did. Her beauty was untarnished (and unvarnished), even late in her life, and she also retained her sense of style and on occasion was featured in fashion articles.

Highly literate, she was a self-educated theatrical scholar. She often appeared in literary evenings, drawn from the work of writers like Turgenev, Edith Wharton, Virginia Woolf, Edith Sitwell and George Sand, and she frequently created and performed evenings of poetry.

In fact, she did so many solo performances that it was suggested that she preferred to act alone on stage, but that was not so, as Gielgud, Guinness and so many other actors could testify. Last year she and Mr. Scofield appeared in London in Carol Rocamora's play ''I Take Your Hand in Mine,'' based on the love letters of Chekhov and his wife, Olga Knipper.

Her career, which spanned almost 60 years, was filled with honors (Tonys, Obies, Evening Standard awards as well as an honorary commander of the British Empire) and love letters from admiring critics and fellow actors. As Gielgud wrote forthrightly in one of his books, ''She is a great artist as well as one of my most devoted friends.''

In the great artistic tradition, Ms. Worth invented herself. Born Harriet Abrams in Lincoln, Neb., she moved to California at an early age. Her sister said her name was changed at the suggestion of a Hollywood producer.

After graduating from the University of California at Los Angeles, she was briefly a schoolteacher and then came to New York. In 1942 she auditioned for Elisabeth Bergner and toured with her in ''Escape Me Never.'' The next year she made her Broadway debut with Ms. Bergner in the thriller ''The Two Mrs. Carrolls.''

At Ms. Bergner's suggestion she then went to London where she studied with Elsie Fogerty, who taught her to speak ''stage English,'' as if to-the-manner -- and manor -- born. She was soon acting on the London stage in ''The Play's the Thing'' by Ferenc Molnar and then acted so frequently with the Old Vic and the Royal Shakespeare Company (and later the National Theater) that theatergoers assumed she was English rather than American.
IN a crucial early scene of Adrian Lyne's new adultery drama, ''Unfaithful,'' Richard Gere, who plays Edward Sumner, a well-off businessman, husband and father, is being visited at his Manhattan office by his wife, Connie, played by Diane Lane. By most standards, the Sumners have it all: an apparently loving marriage, a beautiful home in Westchester County, a sweet son and a cute dog. Everything, however, is about to come crashing down around them. Connie is being drawn into an affair with a younger man, a romance so intense that she will spin out of control. Nothing has happened between them yet, but she's already feeling pangs of guilt.

As the scene unfolds, the room -- they're shooting in an office in Chelsea -- is being pumped full of smoke, a technique that is sometimes used to give a film more depth and warmth, though it's undetectable to the viewer in the finished movie, which opens Friday. Mr. Lyne says ''it makes the colors less contrasty, more muted.'' He has used it in every film from ''9 1/2 Weeks'' through his last, ''Lolita.''

The smoke was killing on a set where filming often went on for 18 to 20 hours a day. ''It was brutal,'' Mr. Gere says later at his Greenwich Village office. ''Our throats were being blown out. We had a special doctor who was there almost all the time who was shooting people up with antibiotics for bronchial infections. So I said to Adrian, 'You've got to cut this down,' and then he said he'd cut it down a little bit but he wouldn't stop it.''

Ms. Lane, whose role required huge amounts of physical and emotional energy in passionate sex scenes, said she had even gotten an oxygen bottle for quick fixes of fresh air.
Those works, rare and irreplaceable, became his entire world. He played among them as a child, he told Der Spiegel, and now grieves their loss. There is nothing I have loved more in my life than my pictures, he said.

He added, with tears in his eyes, that they have to come back to me because his family had saved, not looted, the works. The German authorities are still trying to determine the rightful ownership of the collection and whether Mr. Gurlitt broke any laws.

When asked if he had ever been in love with a fellow human, he giggled and said, Oh, no.

Mr. Gurlitt told Der Spiegel that he knew a lot about the origins of the works but wanted to keep that information to himself, like a private love affair. People only see banknotes between these papers with paint, unfortunately, he said.

Christine Echter, for 29 years the caretaker of the building where Mr. Gurlitt lives, said, He wasnt just weird these last few years; hes always been that way. She never saw anyone enter Mr. Gurlitts sixth-floor apartment, she said, except for his sister, who lived near Stuttgart and stopped visiting about six years ago.

Konrad O. Bernheimer, a prominent Munich art dealer, said he had never come across Mr. Gurlitt despite decades in the business. The saddest part of this whole story is this mans life, he said. He was locked up in the dark with all these wonderful paintings. He is a man in the shadows, a ghost who never came out.

Mr. Gurlitts apartment was not the home of a collector, said Ms. Voigt, the art historian. A collector prides himself on his art and shows it off, she said. It was, rather, that of someone who wanted to hide from the world. The darkened living room had a cavelike quality, she said.
BERLIN  A collection of more than 1,000 artworks obtained by a Nazi-era art dealer and kept private for decades by his son is expected to be accepted by the Kunstmuseum Bern, a small museum in Switzerland, fulfilling the sons final wish.

The discovery of the collection sent the art world into an uproar, renewing concerns about the fate of Nazi-looted art and the rights of the owners descendants more than a half-century after the end of World War II.

The dealers son, Cornelius Gurlitt, threw the collections fate into uncertainty with his decision to bequeath it to the Kunstmuseum Bern. After more than six months of deliberation, the museum and the German government said Thursday that they would release information about the future of the estate on Monday.

Sources with knowledge of the situation, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter, said it was likely that the board members would gather in Switzerland on Saturday to decide on Mr. Gurlitts gift. Stuart E. Eizenstat, a former deputy Treasury secretary who is now special adviser on Holocaust issues to Secretary of State John Kerry, said Thursday that it was his understanding that the museum would accept the offer.
The thangka, which measures 84 by 132 inches, depicts Raktayamari, a meditational deity in Mahayana Buddhism, in an embrace with his consort, Vajravetali. Commissioned by Emperor Yongle in the early 15th century, the piece is thought to have been given as a gift in diplomatic exchanges with Tibet, according to Christies. While its early whereabouts remain unclear, it has been sold at auction several times in recent decades, most recently in 2002 when it went for about $4 million at a Christies sale in Hong Kong.

The thangka embodies our flourishing civilization and culture from 600 years ago, Mr. Liu said.

Its not a question of why I bought it, but when else would I have had the opportunity to buy it? he added. I feel like its good fortune even to just be able to see it.

Mr. Liu, a former taxi driver who built a fortune through stock trading in real estate and pharmaceuticals, and his wife, Wang Wei, are two of Chinas biggest and most active art collectors. Much of the couples collection, made up of mostly traditional and contemporary Chinese art, is on display at their privately owned Long Museum, which has two locations in Shanghai. The thangka, Mr. Liu said, will also occasionally be put on display in the museums.

In making his purchase on Wednesday, Mr. Liu broke a record he set in April when he paid $36.3 million for a tiny ancient porcelain cup, nicknamed the chicken cup, at a Sothebys sale in Hong Kong. After paying for the cup with a credit card, he stirred up controversy by being photographed taking a celebratory sip of tea from the delicate vessel.
Season 2, Episode 8, Fifi

Apparently, it was arts and crafts week on Better Call Saul. Jimmy deploys an X-acto knife, some glue and a pair of tweezers to sabotage legal documents stacked in his brothers house. Mike uses a hammer, a hose and some nails to make  actually, Im not sure what hes making, but it sure looks as if it could inflict pain. Or destroy tires. It could inflict pain, then destroy tires.

For fans of the shows violent streak  and my hand is raised here  Mikes project is promising. But Jimmys late-night snip-and-paste operation is richer fodder for discussion. Through 18 episodes of the show, a complex fraternal bond between Jimmy and Chuck has slowly emerged, with layers of mutual suspicion, anger, a bit of loathing and a faint trace of love. It is a tribute to the writers that I believe that Jimmy could simultaneously tend to Chuck, who lies in a psychosomatically induced heap of exhaustion, and cold-cock the guy by doctoring files from the Mesa Verde case. It seems just as plausible that Chuck is sincere when he says that he would comfort Jimmy were he the sick one, even though Chuck has just shanghaied Jimmy by nabbing his girlfriends only client.

People are contradictory, but that doesnt mean they are inexplicable. Rarely is this reality captured on television with anything close to the dexterity seen here.

Before we dive any deeper into plot and dialogue, lets pay tribute to what, for me, is the greatest element of this episode. I speak of the four-minute-and-20-second opening, a single and continuous tracking shot that follows a Mexican truck through a United States border station. We shadow the vehicle as it is flagged by agents and pulled over for inspection; as the contents of the truck are examined and X-rayed; as the drivers ID is checked; as the agents, who find no cause for concern, release the driver and truck; and as the driver unwraps one of the ice cream treats he is hauling.
The youth mentoring organization Black Girls Rock! celebrates women in high places. American Idol takes a walk down memory lane. And Fandor streams Summer With Monika, Ingmar Bergmans once-shocking 1953 ode to young passion.

Whats on TV

BLACK GIRLS ROCK! 2016 8 p.m. on BET. Rihanna, Shonda Rhimes and Gladys Knight, as well as founders of the Black Lives Matter movement, are honored as agents of change at this annual tribute to female empowerment and achievement. Tracee Ellis Ross hosts this special, taped at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark and featuring an address by Hillary Clinton. Chasing Destiny, a talent search for the next girl group, overseen by Kelly Rowland of Destinys Child fame, has its premiere at 10:30. (Image: Ms. Ross)

AMERICAN IDOL: AMERICAN DREAM 8 p.m. on Fox. Contestants and judges past and present, including Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson, look back at the shows 15 seasons. Ryan Seacrest hosts.
The rules would apply to that inversion and any transactions that close after Monday.

Shares in Allergan tumbled 21 percent in after-hours trading following the Treasury announcement.

We are conducting a review of the U.S. Department of Treasurys actions announced today, Pfizer and Allergan said in a joint statement on Monday. Prior to completing the review, we wont speculate on any potential impact.

The rules do not end there. The Treasury Department also took aim at another feature of these so-called corporate inversion transactions: complicated internal loans that effectively move profits of United States-based businesses overseas. This tactic, known as earnings stripping, involves the American subsidiary borrowing from the parent company and using the interest payments on the loans to offset earnings  a cost that is not reflected on financial statements but lowers the tax bill.

Mondays rules classify this intra-company transaction as if it were stock-based instead of debt, eliminating the interest deduction for the American subsidiary. This change applies not just to inversions but to any foreign company that has acquired an American entity and used this technique to achieve lower taxes.

Yet even by the Treasury Departments own admission, the latest rules will not be enough to completely halt the flow of companies seeking to renounce their American citizenship, just as the two previous rule changes did not. Such a move would be possible only with an overhaul of the tax rules by Congress, which few believe will happen soon.
A group of hedge funds asked a federal court in San Juan on Monday to freeze the assets of Puerto Ricos powerful Government Development Bank, claiming it was insolvent and appeared to be spending what cash it had left to prop up other parts of the islands troubled government.

The bank had failed to provide financial information that creditors were entitled to under federal law, the hedge funds said in a lawsuit. They asked the United States District Court in San Juan to bar further cash transfers by the bank, other than those essential to the safety and well-being of the islands residents.

Once G.D.B. spends its last remaining funds  and it is only a matter of time  many essential services in Puerto Rico may come to a halt, the hedge funds said in their complaint. By then, they said, there would be nothing left for the banks creditors, who will suffer substantial losses.

The bank plays a critical role in Puerto Ricos financial affairs, and if it stumbles, the effects would be widely felt.
Although Chinas slower economic growth, crackdown on gifting and weaker currency have ended the days of breakneck growth for the countrys luxury market, the global brands invested there are not panicking. They say China, as the worlds largest market, still looks likely to continue to make up for weaker demand elsewhere.

A younger and more sophisticated generation of shoppers with markedly different tastes, aspirations and consumption habits is reshaping the landscape of luxury in China. Educated, well-traveled and tech-savvy, they are emerging as the new target market.

A decade ago, when most Chinese only knew of two kinds of wine (red and white) and demand for luxury products was just beginning, skeptics voiced doubts that shoppers, wealthy or not, would forgo the ubiquitous counterfeit goods found in Shanghais Xiangyang Market or Silk Alley in Beijing. Others said that the Chinese would just choose the biggest brands.

They were wrong, of course. Today, Chinese shoppers account for nearly half of the global luxury market, providing invaluable demand to brands in every segment.
A virtual Karlie Kloss walks through your living room in something from the latest Givenchy collection: She takes a turn and you take a closer look at the cut of the dress, the way it falls and moves across the body. You decide you like it, you want it, and you buy it  just like that. It arrives three days later.

Could this be the next step in fashions relationship with visual imagery?

I dont think its long. Maybe its five to 10 years before were looking at totally virtual models and totally virtual ways of seeing our clothes. All that technology is there, said Nick Knight, the renowned fashion photographer and the mind behind what was arguably the first serious online platform for fashion film, SHOWstudio, introduced in 2000.

The website conducted a global search for new stars last October (the director Maxim Bashkaev won the 10,000 pounds, or $14,000, prize money, which is to be used to make a film for SHOWstudio with Mr. Knights mentoring). It also has plans for a three-day fashion film festival at the end of the year. Move over, street style.

The Internet is probably our primary source of fashion, and I think its the best way of showing it  the fashion currency of the Internet will be fashion film, Mr. Knight said.
Bypassed for decades by the luxury industry, Iran and its explosive market growth potential have recaptured the attention of global luxury heavyweights in the last 12 months.

After more than 30 years of isolation and austerity, the country re-entered the global economy when economic sanctions were lifted in January, something Morgan Stanley described as the biggest thing for the global economy since the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Now, with an educated, surging middle-income population of almost 80 million  many of whom possess a budding appetite for high-end consumer goods and mobile phones  Western brands are sizing up the opportunities, and risks, of setting up shop in Iran.

Iran as a prospect had interested us for some time, but once the sanctions went, we accelerated the process of setting up our boutique inside its borders, said Renato Semerari, chief executive of Roberto Cavalli, the first sizable luxury brand to enter the market with the opening in February of its two-story boutique in Tehrans upmarket neighborhood of Zafaraniye.
Three teenagers were in police custody on Monday night after one of them threatened another student with a handgun at a public school on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, the police said.

A staff member at Public School 169 on East 88th Street called 911 shortly before 2 p.m. to report that one student had threatened another with a handgun, the police said.

Officers arrived at the school to find three boys, ages 13, 14 and 15, sitting in an administrative office with school staff members.

The police said the 13-year-old had pulled out a handgun and menaced another student with it. The weapon was later found in the jacket pocket of the 15-year-old, and a box of ammunition was found in the jacket of the 14-year-old.
A Colombian man who had a role in what prosecutors said were efforts to transport drugs and help a terror group obtain weapons to build a dirty bomb to attack Americans was sentenced on Monday to 13 years in prison.

The man, Jhon Jairo Cruz Trejos, was sentenced in federal court in Manhattan by Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald, who said he deserved more than the mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison because the allegations were more serious than a typical international drug deal.

An assistant United States attorney, Emil J. Bove III, said Mr. Cruz Trejos, 44, was ready to assist in attacks of the greatest order. In court papers, prosecutors described him as a freelance weapons trafficker, saying he sought in 2010 and 2011 to obtain enriched uranium so a terrorism group based in South America could build a dirty bomb. The government said the group wanted to attack United States military personnel or the United States Embassy in Colombia.

Mr. Cruz Trejos said that he was not anti-American and that talk of weaponry was bluster. I would like to express to you how deeply sorry I am for having agreed to participate, he said. Your Honor, my conduct was wrong.
Updated, 12:02 p.m.

Good morning on this very chilly Tuesday.

State testing for New Yorks third- to eighth-grade students begins today, an annual ritual that lasts two weeks in the springtime.

But the testing season is no longer a straightforward affair.

Last year, 20 percent of students across the state who were eligible to take the tests sat them out.

But in New York City, the so-called opt-out movement was just a rustling: Less than 2 percent of students skipped the tests. Those who did were concentrated in a small number of schools, often in wealthy parts of Brooklyn.

The opt-out supporters say, among other things, that these tests are overly stressful and that they do not accurately assess student performance.
If prosecutors have their way, Dean G. Skelos, the former majority leader of the New York State Senate, will be sentenced to about 12 to 15 years in prison for his conviction on federal corruption charges in December.

The office of Preet Bharara, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, made its request in a sentencing memorandum filed Monday with Judge Kimba M. Wood of Federal District Court in Manhattan.

The prosecution also told Judge Wood that a sentence of about 10 to 12 years was necessary for Mr. Skeloss son, Adam, 33, who was convicted along with his father in the corruption trial.

Mr. Bhararas office said that for Dean Skelos, in particular, such a sentence would be just punishment, given that his crime involved an egregious and long-running abuse of power for financial gain by one of the highest-ranking and most powerful public officials in New York State.
DONT call me a cheesehead.

Having lived in Wisconsin for most of my life, I am accustomed to hearing the same tired jokes from non-Wisconsinites. You must like to drink beer, eat cheese and root for the Packers, eh? you might say, enunciating the last syllable with a Canadian accent (most Wisconsin jokes are just watered-down jokes about Canada). And like any good ambassador of Midwestern culture, I will smile and laugh politely while I imagine grilling you like a bratwurst at a Lambeau Field tailgate.

People who live on the coasts like to refer to Midwestern nice, as if exhibiting kindness to others is a geographical quirk. But a surge of political incivility in Wisconsin is clearly on display in advance of Tuesdays primary. Last week, at a rally for Donald J. Trump in Janesville, one of his supporters pepper-sprayed a 15-year-old girl in the face.

This year, the presidential primary in Wisconsin  which hasnt voted for a Republican president since 1984, when President Ronald Reagan carried 49 states  has drawn much more attention than previously. What sets this state apart is its voters allergy to Mr. Trumps bare-knuckled brand of politics. Anti-Trump Republicans hope Wisconsins mild-mannered electorate will shake some sense into the rest of the country.

Charlie Sykes, a conservative radio host in Milwaukee, put his face directly under the spigot of incivility last week when Mr. Trump called in to his radio program. After an anti-Trump super PAC released an ad using a nude photo of Mr. Trumps wife, Mr. Trump responded by retweeting an unflattering photo of Senator Ted Cruzs wife. Unlike some of his talk radio peers, Mr. Sykes asked Mr. Trump if it was his standard to employ such a personal attack.
Transmission lines are generally safe, but they would change the appearance of open space in the West and the Midwest. In some cases, lines can be placed underground. But underground lines are far more expensive to construct and maintain than aboveground lines, and lower costs would translate into lower electricity rates for consumers. Lower rates could also speed the nations transition from gas-powered cars to hybrid and electric vehicles, further reducing emissions.

Clean Line Energy Partners, the company behind the Grain Belt Express, plans to submit a new application to the Missouri Public Service Commission later this year. The company recently won approval from the Department of Energy for transmission lines stretching from Oklahoma to Tennessee. Clean Line will pay landowners the full market value for easements of land it builds on, plus an annual payment for each structure it builds on their property.

To bring landowners on board, companies will have to pay good prices and be sensitive to local concerns, involving communities early in the planning process. But the country wont be able to make a swift transition to renewable energy if landowners and local regulators stand in the way.
Its tempting to dismiss this as the usual politicized cop-talk, par for todays course. But its far more dangerous and fraudulent than that. The lies behind it have preoccupied the country for a generation, consuming billions of dollars for miles of walls, razor wire, drones, sensors and a surge of agents and troops.

Despite the unions apocalyptic warnings, the border is more militarized than ever, and arrests there are at historic lows. Illegal immigration has been falling for years. More Mexicans are leaving the country than entering. President Obama, far from abandoning immigration enforcement, has deported more people  more than two million  more quickly than his predecessors. A recent migrant influx in Texas consists of terrorized mothers and children fleeing Central America, trying legally to seek asylum. They deserve protection and the due process of law, not the administrations aggressive efforts to deter and deport them.

The vast proportion of the 11 million unauthorized immigrants who are already living here are not criminals, dont think or behave like criminals, and deserve a chance to stay, as immigrants have always done.

This is the truth, but truth hardly matters to politicians who prey on fear and hate. Those were the emotions Mr. Trump was summoning when he built his campaign on a cry about rapists and drug smugglers from Mexico and a promise to build a wall, deport the 11 million in two years and keep out Muslims.

Mr. Trumps immigration views are driven by defiant ignorance. That they should be embraced by a union whose taxpayer-paid members are the face of the immigration policies of the United States is appalling.
It hasnt exactly been my dream to see my work printed on a bottle of mouthwash, admits the writer Lydia Davis  but tonight, shell see just that. At its annual Spring Revel this evening, The Paris Review will honor Davis with the Hadada, its lifetime achievement award, and has partnered with Aesop to create a limited-edition bottle printed with Daviss short story Spring Spleen for the events gift bags. I wasnt even aware there was such a plan in the works, Davis said in an email. I was very surprised and amused.

Davis is known for her very, very short stories  Spring Spleen, which is reproduced exclusively below, clocks in at a lean 20 words  but their brevity doesnt preclude lots of tweaking. I actually had to go back and forth a few times with everyone to get the spacing of the story right  it makes a difference with those very short stories. They have to be read slowly, with pauses in between the lines, otherwise they go by too quickly. So I gave some revisions to the people at The Paris Review, and they went back to Aesop, and in the end we got it just right  it was tricky working in such a small space, Davis says. So, if someone had asked me what I was doing that day, I would have had to say I was working collaboratively to revise a mouthwash label.

Daviss relationship with The Paris Review stretches back over many decades, ever since the publication published her story Break It Down in 1983. Fittingly, given the nature of the award, Spring Spleen is one of her oldest stories; it was written over 35 years ago. I wrote it when I lived out in the country, in New York State. But it feels contemporary to my life now, too, she says. I still live out in the country, in New York State, just in a different place. I do still welcome the leaves because of what they hide (although, looking out my windows in another direction, I welcome the disappearance of the leaves, because I can see the hills around here).
AUSTIN, Tex.  With a long-running legal struggle raging over one of the nations strictest voter identification laws, Texas was already a prime battleground in a war between conservatives and liberals over voting rights. And on Monday, experts here and elsewhere say, the Supreme Court may have opened a second front.

The court said unanimously that the state could take into account all of its 27 million residents when it carves its territory into voting districts for the State Senate, regardless of whether they can vote in elections. It was a setback for conservatives who want to limit that redistricting population to eligible voters, and a resounding affirmation of the one-person-one-vote principle that has governed most redistricting nationwide for decades.

But it was probably not the final word because the court was silent on whether any other population formula could be used to draw new voting districts. And within hours, advocates on both sides of the issue indicated that Texas or another conservative-dominated state was bound to do just that, probably after the 2020 census triggers a new round of redistricting nationwide.

This has been an issue that has bubbled up in the courts and in the realm of social science pretty consistently, said Edward Blum, the president of the Project on Fair Representation, the conservative advocacy group that brought the lawsuit. He said the group would urge political officials to abandon the one-person-one-vote formula for a more limited guideline, something that almost certainly would lead to a second court battle. And the state of Texas, the defendant in the groups lawsuit, indicated in court filings that it would prefer to have that option.
Chicago would pay $4.9 million under a proposed settlement of a lawsuit brought by the family of a man who died in police custody after a videotaped encounter in which officers subdued him with a stun gun and dragged him from a cell, an official said Monday. Alderman Roderick Sawyer said Mayor Rahm Emanuels office was urging that City Council members approve the settlement for the family of the man, Philip Coleman, 38, who had a reaction to an anti-psychotic drug. The suit contends he would still be alive if he had been taken to a hospital.
WASHINGTON  Senator Charles E. Grassley, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, on Monday invited President Obamas Supreme Court nominee to breakfast to explain, face to face, why Republicans have no intention of holding hearings on his appointment.

Aides to Mr. Grassley, an Iowa Republican, said that no date for the breakfast with the nominee, Merrick B. Garland, the chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, had been scheduled.

Mr. Grassley had already indicated that he would be willing to meet with Judge Garland, even though many Republicans, including Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, have said they will forgo the usual courtesy calls that Supreme Court nominees make.

But Mr. Grassleys staff made clear that the invitation was not evidence that his resolve against holding hearings was weakening. Beth Levine, his communications director, said Mr. Grassley was merely being a gentleman.
Mr. Trump had previously turned to the women in his life to help counter claims that he is a misogynist. He frequently invokes Melania and his daughter, Ivanka, on the campaign trail, talking about how, behind the scenes, they are the ones urging him to behave more presidential.

Again, my wife: Darling, youre so brilliant, youre so bright. Act presidential. Its so easy for you,  Mr. Trump told a crowd Sunday night in West Allis, Wis., mimicking his wifes breathy, accented voice. I said, Darling, Ive got to win first, you know? Ive got to win. 

The decision to enlist Mrs. Trump comes as he has stumbled in recent weeks on issues that could damage him further with women, especially in a general election matchup against Hillary Clinton, who is trying to become the first female president.

Last week, in an interview with Chris Matthews of MSNBC, Mr. Trump said that should abortion become illegal, women who underwent the procedure should face some form of punishment  a view that put him at odds even with many fervent abortion opponents  before later recanting.

Candidate spouses are often deployed as character witnesses, and the Trump operation believes that Melania Trump, 45, could help her husband as he has faced a barrage of unflattering news reports. She first made an appearance on the campaign trail in February in South Carolina, at a time when Mr. Trump was in need of some image softening amid criticism of his combative rhetoric.

Shes exceptionally smart, very articulate, said Corey Lewandowski, Mr. Trumps campaign manager. Shes a great asset to the campaign.
The Supreme Court, facing the prospect of an extended stretch with an eight-member bench, is working really hard to reach consensus and avoid deadlocks, Justice Elena Kagan said on Monday.

There are almost 50 cases left to decide before the justices leave for their summer break at the end of June. Justice Kagan said she and her colleagues were committed to issuing decisions in as many of those cases as possible.

All of us are working hard to reach agreement, she told an audience at New York Universitys law school. That was true when the court had nine members, she said, but were especially concerned about that now.

The court has deadlocked twice since Justice Antonin Scalia died in February. There is a reason why courts do not typically have an even number of members, Justice Kagan said. Weve seen this already.
PHOENIX  The Justice Department has opened an investigation over the decisions that led to the chaotic presidential primaries in Arizonas most populous county, where thousands of voters waited up to five hours to cast ballots and thousands more were barred from participating because of mistakes and confusion over party registration.

In a letter dated Friday, Chris Herron, chief of the voting section of the departments Civil Rights Division, cited allegations of disproportionate burden in waiting times to vote on election days in some areas with substantial racial or language minority populations as he outlined a list of requests to the Maricopa County recorder, Helen Purcell. They include the reasons for reducing the number of polling places by 70 percent in Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix, and the procedures used to log party registration in the rolls. Ms. Purcell has said the cuts were primarily a cost-cutting measure.

The goal, Mr. Herron wrote, is to properly evaluate Maricopa Countys compliance with the federal voting rights statutes during the administration of the March 22, 2016, election, the first in the state since the Supreme Court in 2013 annulled a provision of the Voting Rights Act requiring federal approval for any changes to the electoral process. Arizona was one of 15 states that had to abide by the provision, known as Section 5.

Arizona has a long history of discrimination against minorities, preventing American Indians from voting for much of its history because they were considered wards of the nation, imposing English literacy tests on prospective voters and printing English-only election materials even as the states Spanish-speaking population grew.
MADISON, Wis.  Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, eyeing a victory here that could reshape the race for the Republican presidential nomination, has appeared most vexed by a rival he views as more of a long-term nuisance than a short-term threat: Gov. John Kasich of Ohio.

As Mr. Cruz looks beyond Wisconsin, where he is favored to defeat Donald J. Trump on Tuesday, his frustrations with Mr. Kasich have increasingly been laid bare. With activists and operatives opposed to Mr. Trump fanning out across the electoral map in a scramble to deny him the nomination, Mr. Cruzs team has argued that it is Mr. Kasichs quixotic bid for the White House that will prove the biggest boon to Mr. Trump in the states to come.

On Monday, Mr. Cruz amplified calls for Mr. Kasich to step aside and predicted that the people would quite rightly revolt if party leaders tried to elevate anyone other than Mr. Cruz or Mr. Trump at a contested convention in July.

Mr. Cruz has begun airing ads in Wisconsin accusing Mr. Kasich of cronyism as Ohios governor. He has sent mailers attacking Mr. Kasichs record on spending and his views on the Second Amendment. And his team has accused Mr. Kasich of auditioning to be Mr. Trumps vice president, with some joking that he must be receiving some sort of payment.
The parliament speaker Guillaume Soro used a 2011 civil war and its aftermath to acquire hundreds of tons of weapons, many of which remain under the control of his loyalists in the army, according to United Nations investigators. The accusation, in a report issued on Monday by experts charged with monitoring a United Nations-imposed arms embargo, highlights lingering risk in the West African nation, which has emerged from the crisis as one of the continents rising economic stars. Mr. Soro, often mentioned as a potential successor to President Alassane Ouattara, headed the New Forces rebels, who occupied the northern half of the worlds top cocoa grower for nearly a decade and backed Mr. Ouattara during the 2011 postelection conflict. The investigators said they had documented the acquisition of relevant quantities of weapons and ammunition, estimated at 300 tons. Mr. Soro, who under the Ivorian Constitution would assume the presidency were Mr. Ouattara to die or become incapacitated, denied the accusations.
The two-year-old conflict in eastern Ukraine has left about 1.5 million people hungry, including nearly 300,000 in need of immediate help, the World Food Program, the main anti-hunger humanitarian agency of the United Nations, said on Monday. As the conflict continues, we need to reach these people urgently, the agencys representative in Ukraine, Giancarlo Stopponi, said in a statement. The numbers of hungry Ukrainians have multiplied since the agency first intervened late in 2014 to help feed people upended in the conflict, distributing emergency rations and cash. Ukraine was historically known as Europes breadbasket for its rich soil and agricultural output. As of the first quarter of 2016, Ukraine is the only country in Europe to require and receive assistance from the World Food Program.
American Navy ships in the Arabian Sea intercepted and seized an arms shipment from Iran likely bound for Houthi rebels in Yemen, the military said in a statement on Monday. The weapons seized last week by the warships Sirocco and Gravely were hidden on a small dhow and included 1,500 AK-47 rifles, 200 rocket-propelled grenade launchers, and 21 .50-caliber machine guns, according to the Navy statement. The weapons were seized on March 28. The boat, which the Navy described as stateless, and its crew were released once the weapons were confiscated. The White House spokesman, Josh Earnest, said on Monday that Irans support for the Houthis in Yemens civil war was an example of its destabilizing activities in the region, and that the weapons shipment could be raised at the United Nations Security Council.
UNITED NATIONS  For the first time in the history of the United Nations, those vying to be the next secretary general have to post their resumes, subject themselves to open hearings and declare publicly why they want this plummy  and thankless  job.

Three of the eight men and women seeking the post this year are former presidents or prime ministers. Half are women, reflecting a push by civil rights groups for the organization to be led by a woman for the first time in its 70 years. Four are from countries that were once part of Yugoslavia, and two now serve as chiefs of United Nations agencies, making it incumbent on them to show that they are not exploiting agency resources to run their campaigns.

In the end, the selection will be made by the five permanent members of the Security Council, who will send that persons name to the 193-member General Assembly for approval. As in the past, the deliberations are likely to be shaped more by diplomatic jockeying between Moscow and Washington than what the candidates say or do in public hearings that start next week. The Russian ambassador, Vitaly I. Churkin, made this clear to diplomats who asked him about the new pressure for transparency.

All of this only sharpens the fundamental dilemma for the next secretary general: Will she or he be more of a secretary or a general, and how much of each role will the world powers tolerate?
Kazuko Hirabayashi, a Japanese-born modern-dance choreographer who was even more widely known as an exceptional teacher and mentor to many leading dancers, died on March 25 at her home in Harrison, N.Y. She was 82.

Her death was confirmed by Daniel Madoff, a friend and former student who had been a member of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. He said she learned she had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in 2012, the year after she retired from Juilliard, where she had taught since 1968.

As a choreographer, Ms. Hirabayashi came to early notice in the 1960s with a highly personal style that combined American modern dance and some ballet with a Japanese theatrical sensibility. Yet her own creativity in the two companies she founded and directed was eventually overshadowed by her international reputation as a teacher whose depth and dignity inspired extreme devotion from students at the Juilliard School and elsewhere.

I would not be where I am today without Kazuko, said Terese Capucilli, one of the most acclaimed dancers in Martha Grahams company after the 1970s, who studied with Ms. Hirabayashi at the Conservatory of Dance at SUNY Purchase College.
Thomas Jefferson has long been a lightning rod, but the past year has been tougher on him than usual. Protesters on college campuses have plastered Jefferson statues with Post-it notes reading racist and rapist. And on Broadway, the musical Hamilton has deliciously skewered him as a flamboyantly scheming hypocrite.

Still, on a recent afternoon, there was Americas third president, standing serenely on his pedestal in front of the Columbia School of Journalism, flanked by Annette Gordon-Reed and Peter S. Onuf, the authors of the latest book to plumb the mysteries of his character.

Mr. Onuf arrived wearing a Jefferson-themed tie, which seems appropriate for a scholar who holds the imposing title of Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation professor emeritus at the University of Virginia. But dont take his and Ms. Gordon-Reeds book, Most Blessed of the Patriarchs: Thomas Jefferson and the Empire of the Imagination, as a defense of the man  or an attack, for that matter.

Every Jefferson biography on the shelf is a polemic, one way or another, but we wanted to get beyond that, Mr. Onuf said.
BlackRock, the enormous American asset manager with over $4.6 trillion of assets under management, has waged its first significant activist campaign around the G-Resources Group, a Hong Kong company that owned a gold mine. It may be Hong Kong, and it may be only one campaign, but companies should be fearful.

That the words activism and BlackRock are mentioned together is deep with symbolism. BlackRock has historically shied away from openly challenging companies. Indeed, Laurence D. Fink, BlackRocks chairman and chief executive, has become a thought leader in the pushback against what he terms short-term activism. Only in February, Mr. Fink wrote to hundreds of chief executives to warn against what he termed short-term activism like share buybacks and dividends, calling on them instead to focus on long-term value creation.

Illustrative of BlackRocks reputation as the pro-company asset manager, one of its own shareholders is proposing a proxy resolution to force the asset manager to be more openly confrontational about the executive pay at the companies held in its funds portfolios. The shareholder contends that BlackRocks proxy voting behavior is inconsistent with long-termism. From July 2014 to June 2015, BlackRocks funds voted yes in 99 percent of shareholder say on pay votes for companies in the Standard & Poors 500-stock index, higher than the 90 percent average support for such votes at other fund companies.

So the battle over G-Resources is significant because it may be a sign of things to come.

G-Resources is a company listed in Hong Kong but organized under the laws of Bermuda. It was formed to develop the Martabe gold mine in Indonesia. The road has been bumpy for the company as the price of gold has fluctuated. But there was never any doubt that gold was its main business with perhaps a sideline in silver. Only two years ago, G-Resources raised $156 million to bolster its working capital and focus on developing the mine.
Tax lawyers at the Treasury Department have grappled in recent years with the many corporations finding ways to merge with overseas inversion partners and, as a result of the merger or acquisition, move their legal residence offshore to reduce tax payments.

The Treasurys new administrative guidance that was released on Monday tackles a wide range of tax issues related to inversions, including new approaches to multistep acquisitions and earnings-stripping. The new guidance also revises and completes rules the Treasury had previously proposed in 2014 and 2015.

The proposed regulations are more aggressive and expansive than the Treasurys earlier volleys, venturing into at least two areas where its legal authority seems likely to be challenged.

The first area relates to what the Treasury refers to as multistep acquisitions.

In Section 7874 of the tax code, Congress has set out statutory hurdles that companies must clear to achieve the tax benefits. Simplifying somewhat, if the shareholders of a foreign acquirer own less than 20 percent of the combined entity after the acquisition, then the tax code simply disregards the acquisition for purposes of determining the residency of the combined entity. The purported inversion fails.
Puerto Rico took steps on Tuesday toward a unilateral moratorium on all government debt payments, rejecting efforts in Washington to allow it to restructure only under close federal supervision.

The Puerto Rican Senate authorized a declaration of emergency and a debt moratorium at around 3 a.m., after hours of debate. The islands House of Representatives was debating such a measure late Tuesday but had not yet voted. Any bill would need to be signed by the governor, Alejandro Garcia Padilla.

The sudden moves seemed likely to complicate efforts in Washington to enact a rescue package for Puerto Rico. The House Natural Resources Committee, which has been drafting the rescue in consultation with Democrats in Congress and the Treasury Department, said it still planned to issue an updated version on Wednesday, despite Puerto Ricos action.

The rescue involves sensitive constitutional issues, and the drafters have been trying to strike a balance between Democratic and Republican Party priorities. So far, the lawmakers in Congress have called for sending a federal oversight board to Puerto Rico, auditing all major branches of government there, promoting fiscal reforms and eventually providing certain restructuring tools that are normally available only in bankruptcy.
Donald Trump, no doubt, is the most confounding candidate produced by the American political system in decades. He offers enormous tax cuts, as any bona fide Republican candidate must. But he also wants to leave Social Security as it is.

He says he hates Obamacare, but offers concepts of Medicare to care for people that cant take care of themselves. He has gutted the standard Republican position that favors freer trade.

The most surprising aspect about Mr. Trumps solid appeal among Republican primary voters, though, may be what it says about the waning place of religion in American politics and the revival of a populism centered more on economic nationalism and white working-class discontent.

It is intriguing that we have some notable challenges to the political establishment that are not coming from a traditional American religious place but from a surprisingly secular tradition, said David Voas, head of the social science department at University College London.
DETROIT  Ford Motor said on Tuesday that it would build a new assembly plant for small cars in Mexico, continuing a trend of automakers increasing production there because of lower wages and favorable trade laws.

Ford, the nations second-largest auto manufacturer, said it would invest $1.6 billion to construct a plant that will employ 2,800 workers and begin making vehicles by 2018.

Several auto companies are expanding operations in Mexico, which has become a major auto manufacturing center. Last year Mexico produced 3.4 million vehicles, of which about 80 percent were exported to the United States and elsewhere.

But Ford alone has been singled out for criticism by the Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump for its aggressive expansion in Mexico, which also includes new investments in factories that make engines and transmissions.
Youre not going to be able to say things about the party that are really critical, he said.

Already, many other Chinese media outlets just parrot the partys stilted language. (One recent sample: Chinese vice premier expects steady, healthy growth.) Then there are the examples of a tin ear, such as when the English website of the Peoples Daily newspaper reposted an article from the Onion, the satirical website, that declared Kim Jong-un of North Korea the sexiest man alive.

Mr. Wei argues that Sixth Tone will have an easier time. While all Chinese media outlets are to some degree state-controlled, it lacks a politics-saturated bureaucracy because it is a start-up, he said.

In traditional English-language Chinese media, some reports could appear because of government promotion. I dont think we have this so-called task. We just tell the stories with a more human factor, Mr. Wei said.

Still, Mr. Wei recognizes the limits. Maybe sometimes when reports are published there may be some comments from certain government departments, he said. Asked for examples at The Paper, he said, for me, its difficult to specify one case.

The Paper generally appeals to Chinas educated and its millennials, known as the post-90s generation in China.

Its one of the few news organizations here that still have some original, quality content, said Feng Jingya, 24, a financial analyst in Beijing and a reader of The Paper. I feel like many newspapers or news portals just copy each other.

Ms. Feng singled out The Papers recent coverage of the sale of improperly stored vaccines, a scandal that has called into question the ability of the Chinese authorities to regulate health care. I bet not many news organizations here are willing to spend time doing the firsthand reporting or have the guts to break this kind of news first, Ms. Feng said.
A judge in Virginia ruled Tuesday that a former University of Virginia student whose account of a gang rape on campus was the basis of a retracted Rolling Stone article must give a deposition on Thursday in a defamation lawsuit against the magazine.

Lawyers for the former student, identified in the magazine only as Jackie, argued that having to relive the ordeal could traumatize her again. But the woman is a key figure in the lawsuit by Nicole P. Eramo, an associate dean, who says she was portrayed as the chief villain in the 2014 article.

The ruling, by Chief Judge Glen Conrad of the Western District of Virginia, will require Jackie to be available for questioning by lawyers for Rolling Stone and Ms. Eramo, according to the Washington radio station WTOP. Recordings and transcripts will be made confidential.

Ms. Eramo is seeking nearly $8 million in damages from Rolling Stone, its parent company and Sabrina Rubin Erdely, the author of the article. A review of the article by the Columbia School of Journalism found a sweeping series of missteps, including a failure to verify Jackies account independently.
The move toward mixed gender fashion shows is getting a big-name boost  from Gucci. On Tuesday at The New York Times International Luxury conference in Versailles, France, Marco Bizzarri, chief executive of the brand, called for an end to separation of the sexes, or at least to their collections. From 2017, he said, the anchor brand of the Kering group will no longer hold different shows for mens and womens wear, but will rather combine the two into a single show, to be held each season.

Moving to one show each season will significantly help to simplify many aspects of our business, Mr. Bizzarri said. Maintaining two separate, disconnected calendars has been a result of tradition rather than practicality. Mens wear shows and sales to wholesalers are now held in January and July, and the womens in September/October and February/March.

The move follows similar announcements from Burberry (which will combine its mens and womens shows starting in September), Tom Ford (ditto) and the French brand Vetements (which will have a joint show in January 2017), all geared to close what brands say is a growing, and costly, gap between modern consumer expectations and the traditional fashion system. However, unlike those brands, which have said that they will also immediately sell the clothes they show  or, in Vetementss case, close to immediately  Gucci does not plan to change its production calendar: It will show clothes that will be available six months later.

Call it show-everything-now/sell-later. Its more radical than it sounds, because of Guccis size (it reported revenue of 3.9 billion euros, or $4.4 billion, in 2015, and has 525 wholly owned stores around the world) and its current position as a trend leader.
Doctors and other public health professionals may be relieved that the controversial documentary Vaxxed, about the long-discredited link between autism and vaccines, was yanked from the Tribeca Film Festival. But its expulsion has also highlighted consternation among other festival organizers, who have been feeling the burden of extra scrutiny. As documentarians multiply, pointing their cameras at ever more esoteric, provocative and sometimes contentious stories, there is increasing pressure on programmers to act not just as quality control but also perhaps as judges of fairness and accuracy. Especially since the films themselves are more picked apart.

I feel that pressure more and more each year, said Thom Powers, the documentary programmer at the Toronto International Film Festival and the artistic director of Doc NYC. Because documentaries are getting more ambitious, I think that there is a healthy anxiety for any film festival programmer to be worrying over the works that theyre presenting. If I didnt feel anxious, it would be a sign that Im really playing it safe with the films I show.

But filmmakers and programmers are also split about what their responsibilities are, and how active they should be in policing what is onscreen. Should they be fact checkers? And should there be guidelines about how much of a film must be verifiable?

These questions are not necessarily new, said Patricia Aufderheide, a professor at the Center for Media & Social Impact at American University, who has studied documentaries. But with the expansion of the field and a growing number of outlets for programming, from streaming services to small festivals, the volume is way up, she said.
The title insists, as Arendt herself always did, that thinking is a form of action. The spirit conjured  through Arendts own words, the recollections of students, disciples and friends, and carefully chosen archival images  is one of relentless and passionate mental activity. Ms. Ushpiz is determined to rescue her subject from the banality of biography. The details of Arendts childhood, education, romantic life and professional activity are not ignored, but they nearly always illuminate her ideas.

Image A photograph of Hannah Arendt in her youth, in the film Vita Activa. Credit... Zeitgeist Films

Arendt was born into an assimilated German-Jewish family in 1906. Her early association with the philosopher Martin Heidegger  she was his lover as well as his student  has been another source of controversy, given his subsequent collaboration with the Nazis and their racial policies. Arendt herself fled Germany in 1933, and much of her subsequent writing wrestles with the lethal contradictions of a homeland that seemed by turns to represent the pinnacle of civilization and the depth of barbarism.

The Origins of Totalitarianism, her 1951 tour de force, represents her most sustained attempt to understand German fascism and Soviet Communism not as metaphysical catastrophes but as political developments, as aspects of modernity rather than as horrific exceptions to its progress. Recent scholarship has challenged some of her arguments, but the analytic framework of the book remains powerful and disconcertingly topical.

Vita Activa, while it will surely satisfy and provoke students of 20th-century intellectual history, feels more urgent than most documentaries of its kind. Some of Ms. Ushpizs methods are a little questionable  I was bothered by the way she slipped artificial, ambient sound into silent footage  but she shows impressive coherence and fair-mindedness in her approach to Arendt, succumbing neither to hagiography nor to facile skepticism. Instead, she subtly draws the viewers attention from the past to the present, using judiciously chosen passages from Arendts letters and published work.

Two insights stand out in painful relief. The first is Arendts contention that the lethally dehumanizing logic of totalitarianism originated partly in the massive displacement of populations after World War I. The refugees created by that conflict were not only stateless but rightsless, regarded by the nations of Europe not as citizens in need of protection but as a problem to be solved. A century after that war, Europe is again in the midst of a refugee crisis, the political consequences of which are not yet fully known.
At P.S. 261, Ms. Greenberg said that the most recent numbers given to her by the school administration suggested that the number of students opting out would be down somewhat from last year, when 65 percent of eligible students did not take the test. She said there had been some concern early in the year that a high opt-out rate might lead to the schools not being in good standing with the state. While those concerns were largely allayed, she said, the opt-out activists got a late start in trying to persuade parents to refuse the tests.

P.S. 261 has a racially mixed student body, with white students making up a plurality, and 41 percent of students come from families receiving some form of public assistance. In 2014, 43 percent of students passed the reading tests, and 49 percent passed the math tests. Last year, with so many students opting out, the passing rates went up to 60 percent in reading and math. Citywide, last year, 30 percent of students passed the reading exam and 36 percent passed the math.

Alfred Zollinger, another parent at the school, said he and his wife opted their daughter out last year, in third grade, but had decided to let her take the tests this year. Mr. Zollinger said he was pleased by the decisions to shorten the tests and make them untimed. He said the temperature of the discussion seemed to be lower at the school this year, with parents receiving fewer fliers and emails about opting out.

Last year it was really in the air, it was everywhere, and that just kind of died down, Mr. Zollinger said.

But Eric Mihelbergel, an opt-out activist in Tonawanda, N.Y., near Buffalo, said he believed the rallies, social media messages and word-of-mouth among parents would lead to even higher refusal numbers this year.

Parents see through those minor, cosmetic changes made by the state, Mr. Mihelbergel said. I think the numbers are going to be just as big as last year, or bigger.
Lawyers for Peter Liang, the former New York City police officer convicted of manslaughter in the shooting of an unarmed man in a public-housing project stairwell, asked a judge on Tuesday to set aside the verdict after they learned, through a newspaper article, that a juror in the case might have lied during jury selection about his fathers criminal past.

On March 26, The Daily News published an article that quoted an unnamed 62-year-old juror at the trial criticizing the decision of Ken Thompson, the Brooklyn district attorney, to recommend probation, not a prison term, for Mr. Liang, who was found guilty in February in the death of Akai Gurley in November 2014. After calling Mr. Thompsons recommendation a slap on the wrist, the juror was quoted as saying that his own father had served seven years in prison for accidentally shooting a friend  an act not dissimilar to the one in which Mr. Liang was convicted.

Court papers filed by Mr. Liangs lawyers contend that the same juror, identified as Michael Vargas, told the court during jury selection that none of his close relatives had ever been accused, let alone found guilty, of a crime.

The record demonstrates that Mr. Vargas lied knowingly and for the purpose of securing a seat on the jury, the papers say, adding that the falsehood was not accidental or inconsequential but rather was a major lie.
SPRING VALLEY, N.Y.  Like characters out of Looney Tunes, the mayor of this village and his political nemesis, a fellow trustee on the Village Board, seem engaged in a constant effort to sabotage one another.

There was the time two years ago when the mayor, Demeza Delhomme, tried to have the trustee, Vilair Fonvil, whom he had appointed to fill his vacant seat after he became mayor, removed from office, apparently because he felt Mr. Fonvil was undercutting him.

The following year, Mr. Fonvil, 52, called the police on Mr. Delhomme, 68, saying he had wrongly allowed the Haitian Consulate to use a local community center.

Nothing, however, could have prepared residents of Spring Valley for the fireworks that erupted at a recent Village Board meeting, after a man stood at the microphone and said the mayor had used his power to get inside my house and destroy my family. Mr. Delhomme listened for a few minutes, then said he did not know the man.
NEWARK  On the surface, the University of Northern New Jersey seemed legitimate. It had a website, with a seal featuring the Latin words Humanus, Scientia, Integritas, a list of business-oriented degrees offered and a promise of an exceptional educational experience.

It was so exceptional it did not exist.

Instead, the university was a fake, set up by the Homeland Security Department as part of a sting operation to ensnare criminals involved in student visa fraud.

On Tuesday, that operation resulted in the arrests of 21 people, the United States attorney for New Jersey, Paul J. Fishman, and Sarah R. Saldana, the director of United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, announced at a news conference here.

The people arrested were brokers who recruited foreign students who were mainly from China and India to an institution that they knew would not have real classes. The brokers, working with people posing as university officials, then charged the students in a scheme that allowed them to maintain their student visas and stay in the country, the government said. Some brokers also arranged, illegally, for work visas and jobs, the authorities said. Some of these so-called students, according to a law enforcement official, even used the fraudulent visas to get jobs at high-profile companies.
To the Editor:

Re Gay Pride and Prejudice in Dominican Republic, by Ernesto Londono (Editorial Observer, April 4):

We are constantly told by both cynics and idealists that there is little difference between the two major political parties. However, your Editorial Observer about Wally Brewster, the openly gay United States ambassador to the Dominican Republic, demonstrates why that difference is both real and important.

Its impossible to imagine any of the potential Republican nominees for president appointing an ambassador like Mr. Brewster, or backing Mr. Brewster in his support of embattled gay activists in the Dominican Republic. For every major policy initiative on the front page of The Times, there are hundreds of these less visible ways that the Obama administration continues to advocate for tolerance, equality and justice both here and abroad.

This is why talk of Bernie Sanderss supporters not supporting Hillary Clinton in November  or vice versa  infuriates me. I dont want to imagine either Donald Trump or Ted Cruzs nominee to succeed Mr. Brewster, and Id rather not find out.

JACK LECHNER

New York

To the Editor:

Although the attacks and slurs against the American ambassador to the Dominican Republic are plainly wrong, so are the initiatives taken by Wally Brewster and the State Department to foster gay rights in that country. Why is the American Embassy helping to start an L.G.B.T. Chamber of Commerce? Why is it hosting L.G.B.T. groups and funneling money to them? Doesnt anyone understand that this will be seen as a direct intrusion into the cultural and social norms of the host country?
To the Editor:

Re ISIS Undermines Saudi State, Remaking Creed as a Weapon (front page, April 1):

We are five 9/11 widows fighting for the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, legislation that makes clear that no foreign state is entitled to immunity for its involvement in a terrorist attack on American soil, including our claims against Saudi Arabia for its role in the 9/11 attacks. Perhaps it is time for Saudi Arabia to take to heart the proverb you reap what you sow.

Saudi Arabia has spread its Wahhabi religion around the world for years. Its funding of madrassas and support of extremist clerics have paid and paved the way for the spread of deadly terrorism. We should know, since our husbands were killed by Saudi hijackers on 9/11. These men were well schooled in the Wahhabi belief of killing the infidels to further the Sunni Islamic cause.

The close of your article mentions that the Saudis have difficulty trusting one another. We only wish that members of our own government, including President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry, had these same trust issues. We struggle to understand how financing the murder of 3,000 innocent people on 9/11 equates to being closely allied with the United States.

The Saudis should not be trusted, nor should they be considered our friends.

KRISTEN BREITWEISER

PATTY CASAZZA
DHAKA, Bangladesh  In 1971, Bengali nationalists and the people of what was then called East Pakistan waged a war of independence against the Pakistani Army. The conflict culminated in the birth of a new nation, Bangladesh. The war, which lasted nine months, was a brutal one: Depending on the source, some 300,000 to three million people were killed, and millions were displaced.

There is no question that there were many atrocities, including rape, deportation and massacres of civilians, carried out by the Pakistani Army, aided at times by pro-Pakistani militias. Some of these included members of the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, an Islamist party that remains a powerful force in Bangladesh today. There is an academic consensus that this campaign of violence, particularly against the Hindu population, was a genocide.

In the decades since the war, there have been efforts to bring the perpetrators to justice. The most recent attempt started in 2010, when the current government established two International Crimes Tribunals that together have convicted 26 people on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity. International human rights organizations have criticized the tribunals as falling far short of proper due process, but the trials appear popular within Bangladesh.

So far, four men have been executed, including three leaders from Jamaat-e-Islami and one leader of the main opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. Most of the others are on death row, awaiting the outcome of appeals.
WEST ORANGE, N.J.  The facade of Thomas Edisons last factory in this town crumbles behind a chain-link fence on Main Street. The dilapidated building sits on several acres of fallow land, a sharp contrast to its state in 1914, when it was just one piece of the American inventors formidable manufacturing operation.

In the last few weeks, workers have begun restoring the 400,000-square-foot Edison Storage Battery factory, the first step in a $230 million redevelopment project. Called Edison Village, it is intended to transform 21 acres in this New York City suburb into a neighborhood with shops, parking and housing.

The start of construction brings a decade of setbacks to a close, despite lingering concerns from some residents that the project might not deliver on its promise of renewal.

West Orange, with 46,700 residents spread over 12.5 square miles, is about 20 miles from Manhattan. The first phase of the project will create about 330 rental apartments and bring 18,500 square feet of retail space, as well as parking and streetscape improvements to the complex. The site is opposite Edisons laboratory, which is now part of the Thomas Edison National Historic Park, where visitors can tour his home in nearby Llewellyn Park and learn about his inventions.
SAN FRANCISCO  WhatsApp, the messaging app owned by Facebook and used by more than one billion people, on Tuesday introduced full encryption for its service, a way to ensure that only the sender and recipient can read messages sent using the app.

Known as end-to-end encryption, it will be applied to photos, videos and group text messages sent among people in more than 50 languages across the world, including India, Brazil and Europe. Previously, only one-to-one text messages were fully encrypted.

Every day we see stories about sensitive records being improperly accessed or stolen, WhatsApp said in a blog post. And if nothing is done, more of peoples digital information and communication will be vulnerable to attack in the years to come.

Fortunately, end-to-end encryption protects us from these vulnerabilities, the company said.

The move thrusts WhatsApp further into a standoff between tech companies and law enforcement officials over access to digital data, one that pits Silicon Valleys civil libertarian ideals against the federal governments concerns over national security. Increased encryption will make it more difficult, if not impossible, for the authorities to intercept WhatsApp communications for investigations.
The war on rampant tax evasion may not be hopeless after all.

It might not look that way after an enormous leak of documents from a Panama law firm suggesting that prominent figures worldwide have used offshore companies to hide billions of dollars. The Panama Papers, as they are known, seemed to underscore how hard it is for national governments to collect the taxes they are owed.

Soon after the financial crisis of 2008, governments agreed to do more to crack down on offshore tax evaders. The eye-popping articles this week  including a report linking a musician friend of Vladimir Putins to offshore companies  imply that countries are still struggling to keep up. It is unlikely that any amount of international cooperation can stamp out tax evasion in countries where corruption is entrenched and leaders need ways to conceal their wealth. What is more, the financial industry is well practiced at finding ways around new rules.

Yet there are signs of progress. And with a tougher legal line, and the introduction next year of new international data-sharing measures from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the authorities are counting on lasting victories over the evasion industry.

Pascal Saint-Amans, director of the O.E.C.D.s Center for Tax Policy, said it was significant that the documents came from Mossack Fonseca, a law firm that helps individuals set up offshore companies and is based in Panama. According to the O.E.C.D., Panama has not met its transparency recommendations, which could make it attractive to people leaving offshore centers in countries that did choose to comply with the O.E.C.D. measures.
Throughout the 20th century, the global economy was fueled by burning coal to run factories and power plants, and burning oil to move planes, trains and automobiles. The more coal and oil countries burned  and the more planet-warming carbon dioxide they emitted  the higher the economic growth.

And so it seemed logical that any policy to reduce emissions would also push countries into economic decline.

Now there are signs that G.D.P. growth and carbon emissions need not rise in tandem, and that the era of decoupling could be starting. Last year, for the first time in the 40 years since both metrics have been recorded, a study by the International Energy Agency found that in 2014, as global G.D.P. grew, global carbon emissions leveled off. Economists got excited, but they also acknowledged that it could have been an anomalous blip.
It is hard to calculate the size of the market the testing companies are fighting over. Matthew Chingos, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute, added up what states spent to satisfy federal testing requirements in 2012 and came up with a total of $669 million. Adding how much they spent on additional tests, he estimated overall spending at $1.7 billion.

Some researchers argue that states would have saved money by sticking with the national tests, which the Obama administration paid about $350 million to develop  making them free to states in the early years.

But Delaware, for instance, was already paying to provide the SAT to high school students, so it says it will save $100,000 by dropping Smarter Balanced.

In a few states like Delaware that were already giving the SAT or ACT to all high school juniors, getting rid of the Common Core test is, in part, an attempt to address complaints about too much testing. In most states, though, it amounts to replacing one test with another. But those states are betting that high school students will see the SAT or ACT as more relevant to their lives than the Common Core tests  that they are more interested in looking ahead to college than back on whether they have mastered what they were supposed to learn in elementary and secondary school. For state politicians, the SAT and ACT are also much less politically fraught.

The Common Core has come up against parents who complain of overtesting, students opting out of the tests last spring and conservatives objecting to the standards as a federal intrusion into what they said should be a local issue. Those battles have left only about half the states using one of the national tests.

The reauthorization of the federal law regulating public schools, which President Obama signed in December, still requires states to test students annually in Grades 3 through 8, and once in high school, and to test at least 95 percent of all students. But it allowed them to use what the law termed nationally recognized assessments, such as ACT or SAT exams, for the high school tests.

Most of the students opting not to take Common Core tests are in high school, and many high school students were already taking the SAT or the ACT. So states are betting that by switching to those tests, they can have higher participation rates  and stem complaints about onerous testing.
MONTGOMERY, Ala.  As the Alabama Legislature came back into session Tuesday after a 12-day break dominated by news of a sex scandal involving the governor, a state lawmaker filed articles of impeachment against Gov. Robert Bentley, who admitted to having made racy remarks to one of his closest aides, but has been accused of much more.

Flanked at a news conference by three lawmakers representing both parties, State Representative Ed Henry, a Republican, presented the proposed articles declaring the governor, also a Republican, unfit to serve the State of Alabama.

Were looking at this governor who has essentially betrayed the trust of the people, Mr. Henry told reporters at the State House. The only course the people of Alabama have to address this issue is through the impeachment process.

It is unclear whether the resolution has the votes to move forward, but it ensures that a scandal that Mr. Bentley has tried to push aside is not going to go away easily, if at all. While the more lurid aspects of the scandal center on an alleged sexual relationship between the governor and Rebekah Caldwell Mason, who resigned last week as Mr. Bentleys senior political adviser, the particulars of the proposed resolution show just how multidimensional the scandal has become.
Four men accused of a vicious rape. A victim who is just 9 years old. And a mother who had left her alone so she could smoke methamphetamine nearby.

As the police described the case of a rape at a northeastern Utah home, its horrifying details have shaken the small city where the attack unfolded and have reverberated far beyond, with some even calling for vigilante justice.

According to the Uintah County Sheriffs Department, the girl had fallen asleep on a couch at the house of her mothers friend on March 27 in Vernal, a city of about 9,000 people about 170 miles from Salt Lake City. As the girls mother was in the garage smoking drugs, four men at the house took the girl into another room and raped her, the authorities said.

In the days that followed, Larson RonDeau, 36; Josiah RonDeau, 20; Jerry Flatlip, 29; and Randall Flatlip, 26, were arrested one by one and locked up in the county jail.
DURHAM, N.C.  The divide between social conservatives and diversity-minded corporations widened Tuesday with developments in Mississippi and North Carolina related to the rights of gay, lesbian bisexual and transgender people in both states.

Mississippis governor signed far-reaching legislation allowing individuals and institutions with religious objections to deny services to gay couples, and the online-payment company PayPal announced it was canceling a $3.6 million investment in North Carolina.

The measure signed by Gov. Phil Bryant of Mississippi allows churches, religious charities and privately held businesses to decline services to people if doing so would violate their religious beliefs on marriage and gender. Gov. Nathan Deal of Georgia, under pressure from business interests, two weeks ago vetoed a similar bill passed by the State Legislature.

PayPal said it had dropped plans to put in global operations center in Charlotte, N.C., because of the states recent passage of a law banning anti-discrimination protections based on sexual orientation and requiring transgender people in government buildings and public schools to use bathrooms that match the gender on their birth certificates. PayPal had pledged to bring 400 jobs and invest $3.6 million in the area by the end of 2017.
Like many of the other 17 Republicans who have agreed to meet with Mr. Obamas pick, Mr. Boozman emphasized that he was merely being courteous.

I strongly disagree with President Obamas contention that the Senate must rubber-stamp his nominee in the final year of his presidency, he said. However, I believe we can disagree without being disagreeable, which is why I accepted the request of the White House to meet with Judge Garland.

The meeting  the third Judge Garland has had with a Senate Republican  was the first with a lawmaker who had vowed to oppose him, highlighting the significant obstacles facing the White House as officials try to portray the nomination as gaining momentum. Republican leaders have made it clear from the outset that they do not intend to hold hearings or a vote on Judge Garlands nomination, arguing that the next president should fill the vacancy created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in February. Without a change in those Republicans position, there seems to be little that White House officials can do once Judge Garland has met with all those senators who will open their doors to him.

Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, met with Judge Garland earlier Tuesday, saying their conversation had further convinced her that the Senate should hold hearings.
For the most part, the 2016 campaign spectacle has benefited President Obama.

The Democratic incumbent, no longer the center of conflict, has seen his approval ratings edge up toward 50 percent and beyond. The unruly Republican brawl flatters Mr. Obamas temperate demeanor by comparison, while increasing the odds that his party can hold on to the White House in November and safeguard his legacy.

Yet theres an important exception. The Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, a linchpin of Mr. Obamas pivot toward Asia for American economic and foreign policy, represents his top remaining priority before Congress. And the accord has taken a serious political beating.

One by one, mainstream Republican candidates reflecting the party establishments modern pro-trade consensus have fallen. Donald J. Trump, who calls the accord a terrible deal, vanquished them in part by rallying blue-collar Republicans behind his message that international trade was to blame for economic problems.

Mr. Trumps top challenger, Ted Cruz, reversed course to oppose the trade promotion authority that let the Obama administration complete negotiations.
Wisconsins highly engaged voters routinely post some of the highest turnout numbers in presidential elections. On Tuesday, they will play an important role in both major-party nominating contests. Check out some of the things we will be watching.

Look to the north

Donald J. Trump hit a rough patch, to put it mildly, in the run-up to Wisconsin, where he trails Senator Ted Cruz of Texas in statewide polls. A victory for Mr. Cruz, who has mostly won in caucus states up till now, would demonstrate that his appeal is growing, and would be an indicator of lasting damage to Mr. Trumps candidacy.

Trump needs to regain some momentum after a disastrous week, said Brian Walsh, a Republican strategist unaffiliated with the candidates. Cruz needs to demonstrate that he can win a big-state primary besides Texas.

But even if Mr. Trump lost the statewide vote count, and the 18 delegates that go with it, he could still mitigate the damage by winning in Wisconsins Seventh and Eighth Congressional Districts, predominantly rural and heavily blue-collar districts covering much of the states northern half.
NAIROBI, Kenya  The Shabab are not having a good week.

On Tuesday, African Union forces said they had killed six commanders of the Shabab, the powerful Islamic insurgent group that has terrorized Somalia for years. Among the six killed in the Janale area, the African Union said, were a Yemeni explosives expert and a Kenyan trainer.

This followed the announcement on Monday that the Pentagon had killed Hassan Ali Dhoore, a senior member of the Shababs security and intelligence wing, in an airstrike.

And a few days before that, the African Union said that allied forces  which include the African Union troops, Somali security services and American air power  had killed more than 20 terrorists.

Still, analysts question how effective this strategy is. Just like in other battle zones, such as Afghanistan or Iraq, Somalias militants have proved resilient in the face of superior firepower.
Mr. Kenyatta denied the charges and used them to stoke Kenyan nationalism and anti-Western sentiment during the election campaign. Once in office, he mobilized diplomats to organize a campaign against the court at the African Union.

Both men denied charges of masterminding or bankrolling death squads or urging their followers to attack opposing tribes. Very few people have been held accountable, even though many of the killings and rapes happened in full view of police officers, a Kenyan commission has found.

The Kenyan cases highlight the difficulties in bringing to justice senior officials who have been charged with atrocities, and underscore what specialists call the Achilles heel of the court: its dependence on cooperation from governments. With no enforcement agency at its disposal, it cannot execute arrest warrants, get access to crime scenes or search official records without the cooperation of the national authorities.

Critics of Luis Moreno Ocampo, the previous prosecutor, have said he should have assigned experienced investigators early on, protected more witnesses and stopped the accused from running for office.

These cases had been hanging over Kenya for years, complicating Kenyas politics and its international relations in unexpected ways. The United States had taken a hard stance against Mr. Ruto, with American officials trying to avoid appearing in public with him while he stood accused of crimes against humanity.

In 2013, when Mr. Ruto and Mr. Kenyatta were running for the countrys highest offices, Johnnie Carson, the State Departments top official for Africa, warned Kenyans that choices have consequences. That thinly veiled threat seemed to backfire with the Kenyan public that rallied around Mr. Kenyatta and Mr. Ruto, who had successfully cast themselves as victims of a Western plot to derail their campaigns. During the election in 2007, the two men had been leaders on opposite sides of the political divide; many Kenyans were surprised when they joined forces in 2013.

Mr. Ruto is known as one of the wiliest politicians in Kenya, a self-made man who came from humble roots in the Rift Valley and can deliver a smooth, information-packed speech without glancing down at a single note. He has a passionate following among his Kalenjin ethnic group, one of the countrys biggest.
KABUL, Afghanistan  In a compromise bid to unite the ranks after months of infighting, the Talibans new leader has appointed the brother and son of Mullah Muhammad Omar, the movements deceased founder, to senior leadership posts, a spokesman for the insurgent group said on Tuesday.

The appointments are the latest move by the supreme Taliban leader, Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour, to publicly consolidate his authority after a leadership struggle last summer.

Facing criticism or outright rebellion from field commanders who distrusted his ties to Pakistan and his handling of the succession, Mullah Mansour brutally quashed breakaway groups and sought to buy the support of other skeptical commanders, all while maintaining a publicity campaign that has portrayed the Taliban as united under his command, according to interviews with Taliban members. They spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid angering Mullah Mansour.

Now, the announcement that he had formally brought two of the most influential skeptics back into the fold  Mullah Abdul Manan, the brother of Mullah Omar; and Mullah Muhammad Yaqoub, the founders son  was expected to help bring other dissenters into line right as the Talibans annual offensive is expected to pick up momentum in Afghanistan.
HONG KONG  Prosecutors in China have completed an investigation of the former top military officer in the country, finding that he and his relatives took huge bribes, the official state news agency Xinhua reported on Tuesday.

Military prosecutors found that the former general, Guo Boxiong, 73, who served as Chinas foremost military official for a decade until his retirement in 2012, took bribes in exchange for helping other officers win promotions or transfers, Xinhua reported. General Guo candidly confessed to taking bribes, it said in coverage of the case written in question-and-answer form.

The investigations findings paved the way for a trial and was a procedural step toward a guilty verdict for General Guo. In July, he was placed under investigation and was stripped of his Communist Party membership.

His prosecution illustrates the lengths to which President Xi Jinping, who also serves as chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party, will go to purge the Peoples Liberation Army of corruption.
NEW DELHI  Expressing concern about foreign influence on its policies, India is turning away from a decades-old practice of filling gaps within its health system with consultants hired by foreign aid agencies and nongovernmental organizations.

Under the new rules, consultants who have worked within Indias health system for foreign aid agencies for more than three years, a total of around 100 people, will be terminated, said Manoj Jhalani, joint secretary in the Ministry of Health. The roughly 100 who remain will need to be approved by a new screening committee.

Fifty employees of the National AIDS Control Organization were given notice this month, though supervisors said they hoped to retain them as government employees.

Experts warned that if vacancies went unfilled, major health initiatives, like those aimed at fighting the spread of AIDS and tuberculosis, could suffer serious setbacks.
YANGON, Myanmar  Myanmars democracy leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, foiled by military leaders in her bid to become president, would become state counselor under a measure approved on Tuesday by Parliaments lower house. The newly created role could give her authority exceeding the presidents.

Military members of Parliament denounced the measure as an unconstitutional power grab, stood up in the chamber in protest and boycotted the vote.

The measure, approved last week by Parliaments upper house, will now go to President Htin Kyaw for his signature. The president is a close ally of Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi whom she chose for the job.

While campaigning before elections in November, she pledged to be above the president if her party, the National League for Democracy, was victorious. It swept the elections and now controls both houses of Parliament with large majorities.
SEOUL, South Korea  South Korea has determined that North Korea is capable of mounting a nuclear warhead on its medium-range Rodong ballistic missile, which could reach all of South Korea and most of Japan, a senior government official said on Tuesday.

The governments assessment, shared in a background briefing with foreign news media representatives in Seoul, followed a recent claim by North Korea that it had standardized nuclear warheads small enough to be carried by ballistic missiles. South Korean officials, like their American counterparts, have said that the North has made progress in miniaturizing nuclear warheads, but have been reluctant to elaborate.

But after four recent nuclear tests by the North, the latest on Jan. 6, some nongovernmental analysts in South Korea have said that they believe the North has learned how to fit its medium-range Rodong missile with nuclear warheads. The senior government official echoed that assessment, but did not provide any evidence of how the government has made its determination.

He did not say if the North had actually built such a warhead or simply had the technology to do so, but said the government did not have any evidence that the North had actually fitted miniaturized warheads onto a missile.
Air France moved to defuse a clash with part of its work force after the airline demanded that female employees wear veils on a new service to Iran, leading a union to accuse the company of an attack on women.

The company circulated a memo on March 18 that outlined the dress standards, including a requirement that women wear a head scarf and a wide and long garment to conceal their forms on their arrival in the country, according to the National Union of Flights Attendants.

The union responded with outrage, calling the instructions an attack on freedom of conscience and demanding that Air France allow female employees to refuse to work on the route to Tehran, which is scheduled to start on April 17.

On Monday, the company relented, saying the assignment would be voluntary.

The firestorm over Air Frances memo highlighted long-running anxieties in France over the role of Islam in public life, concerns that have grown more acute in the wake of Islamic State terror attacks in Paris and in Brussels. Some accused the company of disrespecting womens rights, while others said it was surrendering to radical Islam.
But a no vote would be awkward, given that Geert Wilders, the fiercely anti-Brussels opposition politician, is again doing well in opinion polls and is neck and neck with Mr. Ruttes party. That is one reason Mr. Rutte has kept a certain distance from the referendum, only recently doing media interviews to support ratification, because he does not want to alienate the euroskeptics  even those within his own party  while also trying not to anger his European partners.

A trend toward more popular democracy is visible in Europe, with other countries, like Hungary, flirting with referendums. Such direct votes are likely to follow on other issues, meaning European Union decision-making, already complicated, could become even harder, especially if the decisions of democratically elected governments and parliaments cannot be considered binding and final.

Any further public support of euroskepticism would cause concern for Prime Minister David Camerons government in Britain, which faces its own fiercely fought referendum on June 23 on whether to stay in the European Union, which Mr. Cameron favors.

The usual problem with referendums is that voters tend to vote emotionally on what bothers them, not necessarily on the merits of the question asked. The European Union is out of favor and so is Ukraine, which remains fairly corrupt even after the Maidan revolution and democratic elections.

Nor will new revelations in the Panama Papers about offshore accounts held by the current Ukrainian president, Petro O. Poroshenko, help those who want to defeat the referendum.

But those revelations could cut both ways, since they also suggest that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, through close friends and intermediaries, has even more money stashed away offshore. Mr. Putin is hardly popular in the Netherlands, given that 193 Dutch passengers were killed in 2014 when Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down by a Russian-made missile fired by Russian-backed Ukrainian separatists. The Dutch public was strongly behind the European Unions imposing sanctions on Russia for its actions in Ukraine.
ROME  Spanning six centuries of religious and legal teachings touching on astronomy, medicine, ethics, philosophy and more, the Babylonian Talmud is so complex, it has rarely been translated.

But on Tuesday, after five years of labor by dozens of scholars, linguists, philologists and editors  as well as a crew of computer scientists and researchers  a state-funded Project Talmud presented the first volume of the first-ever Italian translation.

There is now a group of scholars of the Talmud that speak the Italian language, said Riccardo Di Segni, the chief rabbi of Rome and chairman of the translation committee, at a presentation here on Tuesday. These pages are now part of Italian history.

The presentation ceremony was hosted by the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, a renowned science academy, just across the Tiber River from the Campo de Fiori, where an untold number of Jewish texts  including the Talmud  were burned in September 1553 on the order of Pope Julius III.
You know, its just one firm in one tax haven, and there is much more going on, Mr. Zucman said, calculating that about 8 percent of the worlds financial wealth is held in tax havens. So thats about $7.6 trillion today, a huge amount of wealth.

It was not immediately clear how Mr. Gunnlaugssons decision to step aside would affect Iceland, a tiny island nation of 323,000 that is still recovering from the global financial crisis eight years ago.

In a reflection of the political turmoil and maneuvering that the Panama Papers have created, the prime ministers office issued a statement on Tuesday night saying that he had proposed stepping down in favor of his deputy for an unspecified amount of time  as a sort of indefinite leave of absence  and not a formal resignation. It was unclear whether Mr. Gunnlaugsson, who would remain leader of his party, would succeed in his effort to avoid a formal resignation in the face of significant public anger.

Mr. Gunnlaugsson had insisted on staying in office after the leaked documents revealed that he and his wealthy partner, who is now his wife, had set up the company in the British Virgin Islands in 2007 through Mossack Fonseca. The documents suggested that he sold his half of the company to her for $1 on the last day of 2009, just before a new law took effect that would have required him as a member of Parliament to declare his ownership as a conflict of interest.

Mr. Gunnlaugsson had said that the leak contained no news, adding that he and his wife, Anna Sigurlaug Palsdottir, had not hidden their assets or avoided paying taxes.

But the company, Wintris Inc., lost millions of dollars as a result of the 2008 financial crash, which crippled Iceland, and the company is claiming about $4.2 million from three failed Icelandic banks. As prime minister since 2013, Mr. Gunnlaugsson was involved in reaching a deal for the banks claimants, so he was accused of a conflict of interest.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia  Islamist rebels in Syria shot down a government fighter jet and captured its pilot in the countrys north on Tuesday, anti-government activists said.

Videos posted online showed what appeared to be a jet catching fire and smashing into the ground, as well as rebels surrounding and insulting the pilot, who had parachuted safely to the ground.

An activist in one video from the site said the pilot was now a prisoner of the Nusra Front, Al Qaedas affiliate in Syria.

Syrian state news media said that the jet had been brought down by a surface-to-air missile, but said nothing of the fate of the pilot.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabi  A police colonel was shot dead outside the Saudi capital on Tuesday, an attack claimed by jihadists of the Islamic State.

The killing was the latest in a series of attacks in the kingdom by the militants, who have dispatched suicide bombers to blow up mosques and have recruited Saudis to kill relatives who serve in the security services.

The Saudi Interior Ministry confirmed the colonels killing in a statement, but said the attacker remained unknown.

A statement by the Islamic State on its social media accounts said the group had targeted the protectors of the crusaders, a reference to the Saudi royal familys alliances with Western nations.
Bernie Sanders probably knows more about breaking up banks than his critics give him credit for.

The Daily News on Monday published an interview with him that led some commentators to say he didnt know how to break up the countrys biggest banks. Downsizing the largest financial institutions is one of Mr. Sanderss signature policies, so it would indeed raise questions about his candidacy if he had little idea of how to do it.

In the interview, with The Daily Newss editorial board, Mr. Sanders does appear to get tangled up in some details and lacks clarity. Breaking up the banks would involve arcane and complex regulatory moves that can trip up any banking policy wonk, let alone a presidential candidate. But, taken as a whole, Mr. Sanderss answers seem to make sense. Crucially, his answers mostly track with a reasonably straightforward breakup plan that he introduced to Congress last year.

Here are the most relevant parts of the exchange.

Daily News: Now, switching to the financial sector, to Wall Street. Speaking broadly, you said that within the first 100 days of your administration youd be drawing up...your Treasury Department would be drawing up a too-big-to-fail list. Would you expect that thats essentially the list that already exists under Dodd-Frank? Under the Financial Stability Oversight Council?

The Daily News may be referring here to the contents of Mr. Sanderss bill. The legislation says that, in no more than 90 days, the Financial Stability Oversight Council, a high-level regulator set up by the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010, would have to draw up a list of firms that appear to be too big to fail. Then steps would be taken to break them up.
In 2010, the screenwriter and producer Alex Gansa finished the script for a political thriller involving a deeply troubled C.I.A. agent and a soldier who had been turned by the Taliban, and began thinking about a title. He recalls that he wanted a word or phrase to conjure an atmosphere of creepy subversion  something sinister, xenophobic, un-American. Shadowland? No, not quite. Homeland? Perfect.

Ever since President George W. Bush, in the aftermath of Sept. 11, vowed to strengthen the homeland and authorized the establishment of a Department of Homeland Security, this peculiar coinage has burrowed its way into the American lexicon as if it were an earwig. In the current presidential campaign, homeland fills the air. In a December debate, both Senator Ted Cruz and Gov. John Kasich included among a presidents core obligations protecting the homeland.

Yet as Gansa intuited, a word ostensibly deployed to offer a sense of comfort instead unleashes deep undercurrents of anxiety. When the D.H.S. was first proposed in June 2002, the conservative columnist Peggy Noonan complained that the president should have found some less spine-chilling entity to secure from attack. Even Tom Ridge, the departments first director, conceded that he had heard grumblings that homeland was un-American.

What is it about homeland that feels more like a violation than an affirmation of American identity? In traditional usage, the word evokes the link between a people and the state that is theirs, or that they wish to be theirs. With the founding of Israel in 1948, Jews gained a homeland. Palestinians lost one. Homeland throbs with the primal forces of state formation. The word points to a world of solidarity forged through blood ties, through ancient ritual and legend.
Spring wedding season is here. Why register for china when you can register for a trip to China?

These days travel lovers can forgo table linens and steak knives and register instead for flights, hotels and far-flung experiences from brands including United Airlines, Hyatt and Carnival Cruise Lines.

Guests can benefit too. If they pay with a reward credit card that earns double points for travel purchases (such as Chase Sapphire Preferred), or if they buy a gift card through an airline shopping portal that doles out points for what they spend (like American Airlines AAdvantage eShopping), they can use your wedding gift to get closer to their own getaway.

Here are some of the latest possibilities.

Airfare

United Airlines is one of the few United States carriers that allow members to tie their frequent flier accounts to a registry. Couples can include a desired destination if they want to make the registry more personal, and can use Uniteds email tool to let guests know theyre registered there. Alternatively, couples can just provide guests with a link to the United gift registry. Gifts toward air travel purchases can be made online anywhere from $25 up to $10,000.

Outside the formal registry model, many airlines offer gift cards and certificates, including American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines, Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines. All you have to do is provide guests with the link to the gift card landing page, and then in most cases they can just send you a digital or physical card. If youre creating a wedding website, simply add the link to the gift card page there.
Editors Note: This is the fourth installment of a five-part monthly series that will discuss the biologic, genomic, and health system factors that contribute to the racial survival disparity in breast cancer. The series was adapted from an article that originally appeared in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, 1 a journal of the American Cancer Society. Eliminating racial disparities in cancer mortality through effective interventions has become an increasingly important imperative of federal, state, and community health care programs. This months column reviews interventions to close this survival gap.

Insurance

It has been posited that interventions aimed at providing insurance coverage to minority patients will be able to reduce racial health care disparities. 2 Studies have indicated that women without insurance present with more-advanced disease, 3,4 and are more likely to receive nonstandard treatment. 5 However, outside of cancer care, a large study of Medicaid expansion in Oregon demonstrated that Medicaid coverage alone generated no significant improvement in measured physical health outcomes in the first 2 years. 6 Thus, coverage alone does not ensure that patients will be able to navigate the health care system and that quality care will be provided.

In breast cancer, Hoffman et al. 7 evaluated the effect of race and health insurance on diagnostic time, which was defined as the number of days from suspicious finding to diagnostic resolution (either no evidence of malignancy on diagnostic mammogram or definitive diagnosis by biopsy) in a large, urban setting. The authors hypothesis was that every insured patient would receive the same timely diagnosis as any other patient with equivalent insurance, regardless of race or ethnicity. The study found that non-Hispanic whites with government insurance had significantly shorter diagnostic times than did non-Hispanic African Americans with government insurance: The average diagnostic times were 12 and 39 days, respectively. In addition, privately insured non-Hispanic whites also had significantly shorter diagnostic times than did privately insured non-Hispanic African Americans (16 vs. 27 days). In addition, Short et al. 8 demonstrated that when the health plan status was held constant in a retrospective study of 476 white patients and 99 African American patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer, African American patients had a higher mortality rate (8.1% vs. 3.6%) and were diagnosed at a later stage. Accordingly, interventions must go beyond just providing health insurance to minorities in order to have a significant impact on the mortality gap.

Patient education and physician communication

An underlying cause frequently cited for the delayed diagnosis and treatment of African American patients with breast cancer is a lack of patient education and physician communication. These elements are essential components of quality care. In a qualitative study of low-income, ethnically diverse women older than 40 years, Allen et al. 9 identified salient themes differentiating women who received timely follow-up from those who did not. For the women who delayed follow-up, prominent themes were dissatisfaction with the communication of results, disrespect on the part of providers and clinical staff, logistical barriers to accessing services, anxiety and fear about a possible cancer diagnosis, and a lack of information about breast cancer screening and symptoms.
Rough welcome for Hasegawa BASEBALL: The Angels Japanese rookie doesnt make it out of the fifth inning as he loses to the Indians in his major-league debut.





April 5, 1997



Japanese pitcher Shigetoshi Hasegawa introduced himself to major-league baseball Saturday night with a promising start and a disastrous finish.

The Angels rookie gave up four runs and five hits in the fifth inning, including a two-run home run to Sandy Alomar, and was gone before the inning was over.

Welcome to the big leagues.

The Cleveland Indians, behind solo home runs by Kevin Mitchell in the sixth and Dave Justice in the eighth, went on to defeat the Angels, 7-5.

The Angels (2-2), who let a 4-1 lead get away, threatened in the ninth inning with mostly good eyes. Luis Alicea was hit by a pitch by Paul Shuey, and Tim Salmon and Dave Hollins drew two-out walks to load the bases.

But Garret Anderson grounded to second to end the game in front of 23,913 at Anaheim Stadium.

The loss broke a two-game winning streak for the Angels and put a damper on the debut of Hasegawa, who became the fourth Japanese-born player to appear in the major leagues.

More than 75 Japanese reporters were on hand to record the event, and it started out with a positive storyline.

The first inning was a bit shaky. He fell behind 2-0 to all four batters he faced, walking one and getting the others out.

He limited the Indians (2-2) to one hit in the first three innings and gave up a walk, a hit and a run in the fourth inning before the floodgates opened.

Mitchell led off the fifth with a single, Alomar followed with his homer and an out later, Omar Visquel and Jim Thome hit back-to-back singles. Matt Williams followed with an RBI double and Hasegawa retired to the showers.

I was euphoric with the ability to pitch in the big leagues, but nobody feels good about a loss, Hasegawa said through an interpreter.

I had no feeling of fear, but I was more concerned with pitching the way I wanted to. In the fifth inning, I tried the nitpick too much on the corners.

(Additional research done by Mark Carlisle, Contributing Writer:)

Hasegawa was the fourth Japanese-born major leaguer, all previous three were pitchers. Masanori Murakami joined the Giants in 1964, Hideo Nomo joined the Dodgers in 1995 and Makato Suzuki joined the Mariners in 1996.

Today, there have been a total of 62 Japanese-born players in the MLB, 44 of which were pitchers. The only Japanese-born manager is the Dodgers new manager, Dave Roberts. Roberts was born in Okinawa, Japan to a retired, African-American Marine, Waymon Roberts, and a Japanese woman, Eiko.
A man already in prison for importing and selling counterfeit Disney pins has been charged in a 40-year-old cold case homicide in San Bernardino County.

The San Bernardino County District Attorneys Office filed a murder charge against Larry James Allred, 61, on Friday.

Allred is accused of killing 18-year-old Cynthia May Hernandez of Glendora.

On Aug. 26, 1976, she left her home to catch a movie at the Fox Twin Theaters in Covina but never returned.

The next morning her family found her car in the theater parking lot and immediately filed a missing persons report with the Glendora Police Department.

Prosecutors declined to say how Allred was linked to the homicide or whether Hernandezs remains have been found.

Allred, whose last known address was in Walnut, pleaded guilty in 2013 to one felony count of manufacturing and sale of counterfeit goods and a sentencing enhancement for property damage of more than $200,000, according to Orange County court records.

He was sentenced to eight years in state prison and ordered to pay $201,000 in restitution for illegally importing the collectible Disney pins from China and selling them over the Internet.

Allred also has a 1975 conviction for rape and a 1978 conviction for both kidnapping and rape, the Orange District Attorneys Office has said.

He is incarcerated at the California Institution for Men in Chino.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7767 sschwebke@ocregister.com Twitter: @thechalkoutline
DANA POINT  A six-year legal fight over public access through an exclusive cliffside community to the popular Strand Beach is likely heading toward closure.

On Monday, Dana Point city officials signed a settlement agreement saying they will remove restrictions to beach access at the center gate above the Strand at the Headlands gated community. The city has been battling the California Coastal Commission and the Surfrider Foundation over beach access. The commission will review the agreement on April 15.

This is a tremendous success after six years, said Rick Erkeneff, chairman of Surfrider Foundation South Orange County Chapter. It is a victory for beach access up and down the coast. Had it gone the other way, it would have set a dangerous precedent.

The city agreed in the settlement to keep the gates open 24 hours a day until gate hours are determined and to pay $300,000 for the public benefit and access.

City officials working with Coastal Commission staff came up with a timeframe of 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. to keep the gates open  comparable to other beaches up and down the coast, said City Manager Doug Chotkevys. If the commission agrees with those hours, they will be enforced. If not, the city has agreed to remove the gates by early 2017.

The City Council directed me to resolve our differences; we worked collaboratively with them and hired Steve Kaufmann as special legal counsel to arrive at the settlement agreement, Chotkevys said.

The citys dispute with the Coastal Commission and Surfrider Foundation began in 2009, when Dana Point officials approved an ordinance to limit beach-access hours through the neighborhood after requests by the developer and some homeowners. City officials said they didnt have to follow the Coastal Act of 1976.

The Coastal Commission and Surfrider Foundation fought the ordinance in court, saying it could set a precedent that might limit beach access throughout California. A court ruled in the publics favor in 2011.

In recent years, beach access to places such as the Carbon Beach section of Malibu and Martins Beach near Half Moon Bay have become contentious, often pitting landowners against public interest groups. Opponents say any gate to developments at those beaches is a violation.

Sanford Edward, who got approval for the development of 118 custom-built homes in 2004, said the beach access paths complied with coastal permits. He said the continuing disagreement between the city, himself and the Coastal Commission and Surfrider are in part a confusion over the original agreement.

Edward contends the allegations are political.

The Coastal Commission staff continues to falsely allege that Headlands Reserve undertook unpermitted development when we built the gates, Edward said Monday. We absolutely disagree, and will not pay them a single penny of fines. The commission staff is more interested in protecting the pocket mice than people.

The citys $300,000 payment will fund a collaborative program with the Ocean Institute to provide coastal programs for children at Title 1 schools. The city also has plans to expand trail access at the Headlands Reserve and install interpretive signs at the Strand.

Bike racks and benches will be added at the Strand access point and a web-based program designed to highlight public access amenities at the Headlands development.

The city has also agreed not to pursue past litigation against Surfrider and the Coastal Commission.

On Monday, Matt Matt Blaker came up through the gates at the Headlands with his wife and young son after surfing the Strand.

Blaker said he comes to the beach four to five times a week and has been shut out from the path through the exclusive community when the gates were locked. The extra trek around the community can take about 30 minutes  time he doesnt have when he fits surfing in with a busy life and work, he said.

Its unfortunate to have any restrictions, the 34-year-old said. Weve been surfing this beach our whole life and all of a sudden they put in million-dollar houses and tell people who live here when they can and cant surf.

Edward disagrees.

People fail to realize is this property was fenced off with razor wire for over 60 years when the Chandlers owned it, he said. Nobody had any form of beach access. We built six beach access trails, and it doesnt take more than 5 minutes to walk to the ungated South or North beach paths when the central path is closed.

Contact the writer: 714-796-2254 or eritchie@ocregister.com or Twitter:@lagunaini
An inmate who was arrested in Orange County escaped custody in Florida early Monday while in a van going from one jail to another, authorities said.

James Thomas Banks, 28, was being transported from Orange County where he faced a misdemeanor drug-paraphernalia charge to face other charges.

Banks, along with Michael Andrew Rotunno, 30, went missing somewhere between Walton and Leon counties, said Corey Dobridnia, a spokeswoman for the Walton County Sheriffs Office. The counties are 140 miles apart.

At about 12:20 a.m. Monday, the van stopped at the Walton County Jail in the Florida panhandle to drop off an inmate, Dobridnia said. The van, run by a private company, continued on, stopping for gas at one point.

Holmes County, which is our neighboring county, had reported a car stolen from the area, Dobridnia said.

Officials found two sets of footprints near where the car had been.

Some inmates in the van later said the two had jumped out when it was moving slowly but didnt know exactly where, the Holmes County Sheriffs Office said.

In Orange County, records show, Banks was arrested on Jan. 13 and pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of false personation, falsely representing himself to an officer and possession of controlled-substance paraphernalia.

Dobridnia said Banks faces charges elsewhere of unarmed robbery and escaping from jail.

Eventually, the pair of inmates were to be dropped off at a facility in Jackson, Minnesota. It was unclear why they had traveled to Florida first, or where Banks lives.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7865 or afausto@ocregister.com
Unique flavors filled the streets of Disney California Adventure as the Food & Wine Festival returned to the theme park after an absence of five years.

The one-month festival started April 1, and features a variety of specialy foods, wines and other beverages during the month long event.

Some of the unique foods include White Cheddar Bacon Ale soup, a Triple Cheese Mac with Smoked Chicken and a Pork Belly Bao Taco.

This years festival includes craft beers. Visitors can get a flight of four beers in smaller sample cups for $11 at the Brewhouse Kiosk. There are also several wine and lifestyle kiosks too.

Just like five years ago, the festival also brings in celebrity chefs to do cooking demonstrations such as Guy Fieri on April 9th. However, that event is sold out. Other chefs such as Andrew Sutton, the executive chef at Disneyland, Keegan Gerhardm former host of the Food Network Challenge, and Graham Elliot of MasterChef will demonstrate cooking on the backlot stage in Hollywood Land. The cost to see the chef demonstration is $99 not including the theme park entrance.

Prices for the various food items run from $4 to $8. Wine and beer are similarly priced. Some of the parks restaurants also have some specialty offerings during the one-month run of the festival.

Contact the writer: meades@ocregister.com
MOSCOW  More than two decades after a conflict killed about 30,000 people and displaced 1 million others, tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh have exploded again, with both sides engaged in artillery duels, rocket barrages and tank attacks.

A cease-fire declared Tuesday after three days of intense battles raised hopes for restoring calm to the area in the South Caucasus mountains. But fears loom of a possible escalation in fighting, with Turkey strongly backing Azerbaijan and Russia obliged to protect Armenia by a mutual security pact.

Clashes that began over the weekend marked the worst violence since a separatist war ended in 1994 and left Nagorno-Karabakh  officially a part of Azerbaijan  under the control of local ethnic Armenian forces and the Armenian military. Armenian forces also occupy several areas outside the Karabakh region.

Peace talks under the auspices of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, co-sponsored by Russia, the United States and France, have dragged on ever since without producing any visible results.

While Armenia appeared happy with the status quo, energy-rich Azerbaijan, which has lost control of about one-seventh of its territory in the conflict, has been desperate to change the situation.

Both countries blamed each other for the latest hostilities, but many observers believe that Azerbaijans military unleashed an offensive aiming to seize some ground in order to make Armenia more likely to discuss a compromise in peace talks.

Baku knows that one of its few tools of pressure on the Armenians is to violate the cease-fire and remind them that the status quo can be shaken, Thomas de Waal, an expert on the region with the Carnegie Endowment, wrote in a commentary.

Azerbaijani leaders in Baku long have promised to win back the occupied lands, and President Ilham Aliyev may have been forced to act while a reversal in the countrys oil fortunes has tested public support for his government.

The operation in Karabakh was well-received in Azerbaijan. In the village of Gapanli, one of the areas hit hardest by the current fighting, residents enthusiastically welcomed the action against the Armenian forces, hoping Azerbaijan could win back the occupied territories.

This is our land, said villager Elmar Abdullayev. We will stand up for our rights till the end.

Both Azerbaijani and Armenian forces have used artillery, tanks and other heavy weapons on a scale unseen since 1994. Enemy losses were put in the hundreds, rival claims that couldnt be independently verified and which were promptly denied by the opposing side. Each party put its own losses in the dozens.

When oil prices were high, Azerbaijan used its petrodollars to upgrade its military, with most of its new weapons, including heavy artillery, rocket launchers and tanks, provided by Russia.

That angered many in Armenia, which has hosted a Russian military base and maintained close security and economic ties with Moscow. While arming Azerbaijan, Russia also has supplied new weapons to Armenia.

The parallel arms sales to the bitter rivals have reflected Russias desire to expand its influence in the strategic South Caucasus region, which has been a key conduit for energy resources from the Caspian Sea to the West. If the Karabakh conflict escalates, it could disrupt oil and gas shipments from the region.

Amid the fighting, Karabakhs military command already has threatened to target Azerbaijans energy pipelines with short-range ballistic missiles if the countrys forces launch artillery barrage against the regions central city, Stepanakert, and other populated areas.

Azerbaijan should be aware of the price it will have to pay in case of further escalation, said Sergei Minasyan, a deputy director of the Caucasus Institute, a think tank based in Armenias capital of Yerevan. Its the destruction of oil and gas infrastructure.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had separate phone conversations Tuesday with the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia, urging them to honor the cease-fire, the Kremlin said.

If the hostilities spread, both Russia and Turkey could be pressed to protect their allies.

Armenia is a member of the Collective Security Treaty, a Russia-dominated alliance of several former Soviet nations, and the pact obliges Moscow to protect its ally if it comes under attack. That raises the threat of military confrontation with NATO member Turkey, which has a strategic partnership agreement with Azerbaijan.

Turkey shut its border with Armenia in the early 1990s, contributing to economic problems of the landlocked mostly Christian country that has been left to rely on routes to the sea via Georgia and Iran.

As the latest fighting flared up, Turkey issued strong declarations of support for Azerbaijan, a mostly Muslim country with which it shares ethnic and linguistic ties.

The whole world should know that Turkey will stand shoulder to shoulder with Azerbaijan against these Armenian attacks until the end of the world, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said. Our 78 million-strong population will continue to stand on Azerbaijans side until all of its lands under occupation have been liberated.

The escalation of fighting in Karabakh comes at a time when ties between Russia and Turkey are already strained over the downing of a Russian warplane by a Turkish fighter jet at the Syrian border in November. Putin has responded by cutting economic and tourist ties with Turkey and warning that the Russian military in Syria would destroy any target threatening Russian warplanes.

The latest hostilities began while the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia were at a nuclear security summit in Washington, meeting with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and other officials. That led some observers to allege that Azerbaijan could have launched the military action to try to force Armenia to make concessions in peace talks.

Azerbaijan is seeking to change the negotiating format in its favor by expanding it to include its ally, Turkey, Alexander Melikishvili at IHS Country Risk said in a commentary, describing Aliyevs action as calculated brinkmanship. An all-out war is unlikely, he added.

Others warned that the developments could spin out of control.

While other regional powers inching into the Caucasus, mainly Russia, Iran and Turkey, may try to curb fighting by backing a cease-fire, their own competitions could complicate matters, the U.S. global intelligence think tank Stratfor said in an analysis.
Firestone Walker Brewing Company, which operates two popular tasting rooms on Californias Central Coast, is opening a third location in Venice.

The Propagator, a restaurant, lounge and barrel cellar, will serve rustic experimental ales and sell brewing equipment and cold-stored packaged beer.

The whole point of the Propagator is not to duplicate things going on in Paso Robles or Buellton, but rather to meet a specific creative need, Brewmaster Matt Brynildson said in a statement. This rustic ale program is one such idea.

Based in Paso Robles, Firestone Walker is Californias fourth-largest craft brewery and among the top 20 nationwide in sales volume. Its barrel fermentation process uses a patented variation of the Burton Union System, developed in England in the 19th century.

The Propagator is located at 3205 Washington Boulevard. It will be open with limited evening hours starting Thursday; lunch service will begin in May.

In addition to serving Firestones beer on tap and in the bottle, The Propagator will feature beers from other central coast brewers. The on-site pilot brewhouse has been delayed pending approval of the city.

We hit many walls in the permitting process, Adam Firestone said in a statement. Some proved impenetrable so we made the decision to open before the brewhouse was fully operational.

For now, the Venice beers will be coming from the breweries in Paso Robles and the Barrelworks wild ales facility in Buellton.

Register staff writer Nancy Luna contributed to this report.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7979 or phodgins@ocregister.com
UNITED NATIONS  For the first time in the history of the United Nations, those vying for the post of secretary-general have to post their resumes, subject themselves to open hearings and declare publicly why they want this plummy  and thankless  job.

Three of the eight men and women seeking the post this year are former presidents or prime ministers. Half are women, reflecting a push by civil rights groups for the organization to be led by a woman for the first time in its 70 years. Four are from countries that were once part of Yugoslavia, and two now serve as chiefs of U.N. agencies, making it incumbent on them to show that they are not exploiting agency resources to run their campaigns.

In the end, the selection will be made by the five permanent members of the Security Council, who will send that persons name to the 193-member General Assembly for approval. As in the past, the deliberations are likely to be shaped more by diplomatic jockeying between Moscow and Washington than what the candidates say or do in public hearings that start next week. The Russian ambassador, Vitaly I. Churkin, made this clear to diplomats who asked him about the new pressure for transparency.

All of this only sharpens the fundamental dilemma for the next secretary-general: Will she or he be more of a secretary or a general, and how much of each role will the world powers tolerate?

Critics say that the secretary-general has become far too beholden to the wishes of the worlds most powerful countries, so much so that it has become customary for the most senior positions in the secretary-generals office to be divvied up among permanent members of the Security Council. The last four peacekeeping department chiefs have been French, the last three humanitarian chiefs have been British, and the United States has commandeered the top job for political affairs for nearly a decade.

As if to underscore the sensitivity of these appointments, Helen Clark, a former prime minister of New Zealand, who declared her candidacy on Monday evening, demurred. The last thing Im going to do is pronounce on appointments now, she said with nervous laughter, adding in an interview that she had been fair in the appointments she made as head of the U.N. Development Program.

Danilo Turk, a former president of Slovenia, emphasized his own impartiality, saying in an email that he would make appointments based on efficiency, competence and integrity, not what countries the candidates came from.

Vesna Pusic, a former foreign minister of Croatia, described herself as a leader who could bring people together and said the protocol could not be changed overnight.

Calls for the council to submit more than one candidates name to the General Assembly seem to have fallen on deaf ears, as have proposals for the next secretary-general to stick to one seven-year term, so as not to have to curry favor with the world powers for reappointment to a second, five-year term, as is the case now.

In other words, while the candidates will have to publicly audition for the first time, there is no indication that the veto-wielding P-5, as the permanent members are known, are about to abdicate any power over whom they choose for the job  and hence, how beholden the next secretary-general will be to the world powers.

The current secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, is to step down at the end of the year, completing two five-year terms. His successor will have to maneuver through a thicket of difficult global challenges, from mustering consensus on climate change, finding new ways to help people displaced by war and resolving conflicts fueled by powerful countries.

The selection process comes at a time when the United Nations is roiled by new crises of confidence. There are widening allegations of sexual abuse by peacekeepers, and countries have been reluctant to hold their soldiers accountable.

The organization has also struggled to repair its reputation in Haiti, where poor sanitation by its peacekeepers has been linked to a calamitous cholera epidemic that has killed more than 9,200 since 2010. The United Nations has not paid compensation, nor taken responsibility.

In interviews in recent days, the candidates were scant on details of what they would do as the worlds top civil servant.

Asked, for instance, about whether Haitian cholera victims should be compensated, Pusic initially indicated that they should be, but then said the question should be studied further by expert panels; it has been studied for years, and the United Nations has claimed immunity from prosecution.

Clark declined to take a position on what she called legal issues. Turk said that he hoped the organization would provide the victims with a fair process and an effective remedy.

How to handle refugees is an especially sensitive issue. Clark shied away from saying what she thought of the latest agreement that the European Union struck with Turkey, saying only that she was for pragmatic solutions. Pusic praised the accord, under which European countries have offered to pay Turkey for taking Syrian refugees back, and went so far as to say that perhaps the 1951 convention on the rights of refugees should be revisited. Turk said there was no need to tweak the convention, calling only for a better institutional and policy framework to cope with the refugee crisis.

The two other prominent contenders  Antonio Guterres, a former prime minister of Portugal and, until last year, head of the U.N. refugee agency, and Irina Bokova, a Bulgarian diplomat who heads UNESCO  did not respond to emails sent to their offices.

The three other candidates, all relatively unknown, are Natalia Gherman of Moldova; Srgjan Kerim of Macedonia; and Igor Luksic of Montenegro. There is a surfeit of Eastern European names on the list this year because it has become customary for different regions to nominate one of their own for the top job, though nothing in the U.N. Charter requires it.

More names could be floated in the coming months, including a second Bulgarian: Kristalina Georgieva, a former World Bank official who is now a vice president of the European Union.

Then there is Angela Merkel, the German chancellor. Her name has been circulating for months, though in recent weeks diplomats have said the prospects are slim. For the head of state of such a powerful country to lead the United Nations would be highly unusual, tipping the scale that Bans successor would be more like a general than a secretary.
Three men have been charged with pimping a 17-year-old girl in Orange County, the Orange County District Attorneys Office said.

Jovon Andrew Williams, 20, and Jahsee Elan Brewster, 33, both of Denver, Colorado, and Clifton Haralson, 33, of Long Beach, each face felony charges for human trafficking of a minor, pimping a minor, pandering by procuring, and carrying a loaded unregistered firearm in public.

All men pleaded not guilty Monday in Orange County Superior Court to the charges.

Sometime between Feb. 29 and March 30, the men brought the girl from Colorado to Orange County to commit prostitution, the DA said.

During that time, prosecutors believe the suspects kept the money she made for themselves.

On March 30, members of the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force set up a meeting with the girl at an Anaheim motel. They spotted the defendants sitting in a vehicle nearby and found a loaded and unregistered firearm in the glove box.

All are being held in Orange County jail without bail and are due back in court April 11.

Contact the writer: 714-796-2478 or lcasiano@ocregister.com
Only days after an audit accused the University of California system for admitting too many students from outside the state to the detriment of in-state students, UC officials announced that the number of admission offers to California high school seniors has jumped nearly 15 percent.

The public school systems nine undergraduate campuses offered California residents 66,123 freshmen spots for next fall, an increase of 8,488 students from the last incoming class.

The number of out-of-state students rose by 7.7 percent while international students saw a 10 percent increase in their admission offers over last year, UC officials said Monday. In all, 98,922 freshmen were offered admission.

Weve intensified our efforts to boost enrollment of Californians at the university and all indications are that these efforts are working, UC President Janet Napolitano said in a news release.

The preliminary admission offers show a growth in the number of Latinos admitted, 32 percent compared to 28.8 percent last year. The number of admitted African-American students jumped 32 percent over 2015 to 3,083 this year, UC officials reported.

The preliminary data does not include campus breakdowns.

A year ago UC Irvine fielded 71,788 applications for freshmen spots, with 27,796 admitted. Transfer applicants last year numbered 17,057, with 7,445 admitted.

The UCs have been under pressure to prioritize California residents over non-residents who pay the higher out-of-state tuition fees.

Last week, State Auditor Elaine Howle released a report criticizing the UC system for increasing resident enrollment by only 10 percent over the last decade  despite a 52 percent increase in resident applicants. Meanwhile, nonresident enrollment increased by 432 percent.

Napolitano has strongly disputed the audit, saying university policies and practices overwhelmingly favor California resident students.

This years state budget includes an extra $25 million to help the UC system register an additional 5,000 more in-state freshmen and transfer students. Of those 5,000, UC Irvine will accept 650, a UCI spokeswoman said.

At six of the nine UC campuses, including UCI, the average grade-point average for admitted freshmen was higher than 4.0.

The selected high school seniors now enter their next phase of the college search: Sifting through offers and picking a school.
State Route 128 has to be one of the most picturesque stretches of two-lane blacktop in California, especially the part that winds from Cloverdale to the mouth of the Navarro River on the Pacific coast.

Heading northwest from Highway 101, you climb quickly on hair-raising switchbacks out of the Russian River watershed into the Yorkville Highlands. A relatively flat, straight midsection takes you through apple orchards, emerald fields dotted with grazing sheep, and scattered vineyards in the Navarro River Valley around Boonville and Philo.

Then you meet the giants. The road starts to wind again when you enter Navarro River Redwoods State Park, and the atmosphere grows shady and moody even on sunny days because a forest of mighty Coast Redwood trees blocks out the light.

As you near the coast and descend, the small Navarro River grows suddenly wider and slower, its silt-y green surface dotted with islands and a few small boats.

The 128 joins Highway 1 at a bridge across the river, and its a few short miles from there to the coast  a rugged, spray-filled tussle between land and sea that tells you this is Northern California, a more raw and elemental place than our part of the state with its genteel beaches.

This postcard-perfect spot is known as the Anderson Valley, one of Californias most overlooked and undervalued wine regions.

I spent two days exploring the offerings at some of the areas more well-regarded tasting rooms, and was impressed by three wines that come from this beguiling and cool climate: beautifully balanced pinot noir, lightly oaked chardonnay, and sparklers with backbone and personality. Many are reasonably priced, although the pinots, like all California examples of that trendy varietal, are pushing toward the $50-per-bottle mark.

Because its northern California, the birthplace of the farm-to-table movement, theres no shortage of worthwhile restaurants in the area. If you stay in Mendocino, a picturesque little coastal town just a few miles north of the western terminus of highway 128, youll be within walking distance of several wonderful restaurants, all of which feature local fare, which means fantastic seafood and fresh greens.

If you want to eat in wine country, then you dont want to miss the valleys newest gastronomic attraction, The Bewildered Pig. This rustic-looking roadside diner in Philo was, until recently, a French restaurant that had seen better days. Renowned Napa chef Janelle Weaver works her magic with locally sourced food such as the Emerald Earth Rabbit Pot Pie. It was a crusty, hearty masterpiece, and like everything we tried it was prepared artfully but without pretension.

Here are some tasting notes from my tour.

Navarro Vineyards

The 2014 Gewurztraminer ($19.50), Navarros flagship wine, is balanced and pleasantly dry, with hints of rose petal, lychee and tropical fruit, and it was graced by a clean finish. The 2015 Rose ($17.50) is 80 percent granache and 20 percent carignan, with classic rose qualities of minerality and dry berry fruit. Skip the bland entry-level pinot noir ($32) for the 2013 Deep End Blend ($55), which is mushroom-y, earthy and funky  a pinot for old school fans. The 2013 Syrah ($27) is good but not exceptional, with a strong note of cherry and a bit of chocolate. 5601 Highway 128, Philo, 707-895-3686, navarrowine.com

Roederer Estate

The multi-vintage Brut ($22) was light but possessed excellent acidity; the magnum ($48) was richer: almond-y, rounded, with a tiny hint of toast. The Brut Rose ($29) has a big fruit nose  plum and raspberry  and a dry finish. The pride of their bubbly line-up, 2007 LErmitage ($48), is golden straw in color. Its yeasty, toasty and honeyed. A 2014 Chardonnay ($19), very lightly oaked, has notes of tropical citrus. The 2013 Pinot Noir ($25) is light, bright and full of tart cherry  very Burgundian. 4501 Highway 128, Philo, 707-895-2288, roedererestate.com

Scharffenberger Cellars

Best known for its sparklers, Scharffenberger makes a full range from off-dry to brut. The Brut Excellence Non Vintage ($19.99) showcases its chardonnay (60 percent) but includes pinot (40 percent) which adds to its toasty, hint-of-caramel complexity. Its counterpart, Brut Excellence Rose Non Vintage ($22.99), has a slightly higher percentage of pinot noir (51 percent) which results in a salmon-colored sparkler with a raspberry/strawberry bouquet and a longer finish. 8501 Highway 128, Philo, 707-895-2957; scharffenbergercellars.com

Toulouse Vineyards

Chatty owner-winemaker Vern Boltz knows his terroir, and it shows in a stellar line-up. The 2014 Pinot Gris ($24) starts flinty but opens up to a bold and zesty citrus finish with grapefruit, pepper, ginger and lemon. The 2014 Gewurztraminer ($24) is heavy on the lime zest, with great acidity, which gives way to Indian spices and white pepper. Boltzs three pinot noirs ($42-$50) are elegant and restrained, more like an Oregon pinot than a fruity and concentrated Santa Rita Hills style. 8001 Highway 128, Philo, 707-895-2828, toulousevineyards.com

Staff writer Anne Valdespino contributed to this story.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7979 or phodgins@ocregister.com
Vandals hit UC Riversides Department of Ethnic Studies during spring break, defacing photos of women students, tearing down an image of a Palestinian flag, and rummaging through student mailboxes.

Campus police are investigating the incidents as possible hate crimes.

The department and graduate student offices were likely vandalized during the holiday period  March 21-25, according to a March 30 Facebook post signed by Dylan Rodriguez, chairman of the Ethnic Studies Department.

Attempts to interview Rodriguez, UCR police and UCR Chancellor Kim Wilcox for more details were unsuccessful. UCR Assistant Vice Chancellor for Strategic Communications James Grant said his office was handling all media calls related to the investigation.

Grant said UC Riverside police began investigating the vandalism when it was reported March 28, after spring break.

In his post on the UC Riverside Media and Cultural Studies Department Facebook page, Rodriguez said biographies and photos of at least four female graduate students were either stolen or defaced. The post described them as women of color.

A bookcase and graduate student mailboxes were also tampered with or rummaged through. And, materials related to Palestine, including an image of the Palestinian flag, were torn from the wall, the post said.

One faculty members office in the Interdisciplinary building also was broken into and vandalized.

Women of color have been specifically targeted by these parties, and the available information makes it abundantly clear that these acts of violence are significantly motivated by anti-Muslim and Islamophobic sentiment and/or ideology, Rodriguez said in his post.

The incidents occurred near the time the University of Californias governing board adopted a statement condemning anti-Semitic behavior and a companion report urged campus leaders to confront intolerant anti-Zionism activism.

Given the surrounding political and cultural climate, it is imperative that those of us who believe in notions of collective safety, physical and emotional integrity, and social justice remain locked in arms with all who were directly and symbolically targeted by these acts, the post said.

UC Riverside Chancellor Kim A. Wilcox, sent a campus-wide e-mail Thursday, March 31, condemning the vandalism, according to Grant.

The Wilcox statement said UCR was committed to a campus environment based on equity and mutual respect.

The statement said the UC Police Department is investigating the incidents as hate crimes, with indications of possible gender and racial discrimination and religious and political intolerance.

Any time a member of our community is threatened, it is an affront to our entire campus. Our entire mission is predicated on creating a diverse and accepting campus, the Wilcox statement said. These incidents are being vigorously investigated, and we will fully prosecute those responsible.

Contact the writer: 951-368-9462 or amolina@pressenterprise.com
LONDON  The leak of millions of records on offshore accounts claimed its first high-profile political casualty Tuesday as Icelands prime minister stepped aside amid outrage over revelations he had used such a shell company to shelter large sums while Icelands economy was in crisis.

Icelandic leader Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson is the first major figure brought down by the publication of the names of rich and powerful people linked to the leaks, dubbed the Panama Papers.

China and Russia, meanwhile, took the opposite approach, suppressing the news and rejecting any allegations of impropriety by government officials named in the leak of more than 11 million financial documents from a Panamanian law firm.

Officials in Ukraine, Argentina and other countries are also facing questions about possibly dubious offshore tax-avoidance schemes.

The reports are from a global group of news organizations working with the Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. They have been processing records from the Mossack Fonseca law firm that were first leaked to Germanys Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.

The announcement that Gunnlaugsson was stepping down as leader of Icelands coalition government came from his deputy, Sigurdur Ingi Johannsson, who is also the countrys agriculture minister. It followed the refusal by Icelands president to dissolve parliament and call a new election, and after thousands of Icelanders protested outside the parliament building in Reykjavik.

No replacement has yet been named, and President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson did not immediately confirm that he had accepted the resignation. Late Tuesday, a government statement said Gunnlaugsson had suggested Johannsson take over as prime minister for an unspecified amount of time, while Gunnlauggson would stay on as leader of his center-right Progressive Party.

Gunnlaugson has denied any wrongdoing and said he and his wife have paid all their taxes. He also said his financial holdings didnt affect his negotiations with Icelands creditors during the countrys acute financial crisis.

The leaked documents allege that Gunnlaugsson and his wife set up a company called Wintris in the British Virgin Islands with the help of the Panamanian law firm. Gunnlaugsson is accused of a conflict of interest for failing to disclose his involvement in the company, which held interests in failed Icelandic banks that his government was responsible for overseeing.

Iceland, a volcanic North Atlantic island nation with a population of 330,000, was rocked by a prolonged financial crisis when its main commercial banks collapsed within a week of one another in 2008.

Since then Icelanders have weathered a deep recession and been subjected to tough capital controls  another reason the prime ministers offshore holdings rankle many.

China, on the other hand, dismissed as groundless reports that the Panamanian law firm had arranged offshore companies for relatives of at least eight present or past members of the Communist Partys Politburo Standing Committee, the apex of power in China.

Among those named in the leaked documents was the brother-in-law of President Xi Jinping. State media have ignored the reports and searches of websites and social media for the words Panama documents were blocked.

Chinas Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said he would not discuss the reports further and declined to say whether the individuals named would be investigated.

For these groundless accusations, I have no comment, Hong told reporters at a regularly scheduled news conference.

Meanwhile, Ukraines president was accused of abusing his office and of tax evasion by moving his candy business offshore, possibly depriving the country of millions of dollars in taxes.

Shell companies arent in themselves illegal. People or companies might use them to reduce their tax bill legally, by benefiting from low tax rates in countries like Panama, the Cayman Islands and Bermuda. But the practice is frowned upon, particularly when used by politicians, who then face criticism for not contributing to their own countries economies.

Because offshore accounts and companies also hide the names of the ultimate owners of investments, they can be used to illegally evade taxes or launder money.

Mossack Fonseca says it obeys all laws relating to company registrations and does not advise people how to evade taxes.

The firm said in a statement that our industry is not particularly well understood by the public, and unfortunately this series of articles will only serve to deepen that confusion.

The facts are these: While we may have been the victim of a data breach, nothing in this illegally obtained cache of documents suggests weve done anything wrong or illegal, and thats very much in keeping with the global reputation weve worked hard to build over the past 40 years of doing business the right way.

Members of the Group of 20  which includes China  have agreed on paper to tighten laws relating to shell companies and make sure authorities can find out who the real owners are. Actual legislation at the national level has lagged behind the promises, however.

The appearance of offshore accounts in political scandals is far from new. Shell companies played a role in the corruption scandal involving the Petrobras oil company in Brazil. The U.S. Justice Department said in an indictment last year that offshore accounts were used to mask the transfer of bribes to officials at FIFA, the global soccer federation.

Sueddeutsche Zeitung, working with Germanys NDR and WDR public television stations, reported Monday that 14 German banks had used Mossack Fonsecas services to set up 1,200 letterbox companies for clients.

The report said use of offshore company registrations had spiked after the European Union introduced regulations in 2005 requiring countries to exchange tax information on individual people, but not for companies. Many of the accounts, however, have since been closed.

The EU has since tightened its rules on offshore companies under its Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive, which is being phased in as national governments pass local laws to comply by June 26, 2017. The new rules tighten requirements for companies to keep accurate information on their real owners and to make that available to authorities.
Since opening two years ago at the Harry and Diane Rinker Campus in Irvine, the Chapman University School of Pharmacy has enjoyed rapid growth  with yet another big leap coming this fall.

CUSP recently was approved for a Ph.D. in pharmaceutical sciences by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior College and University Commission. With the approval taken care of, the school will accept its first students into the program for the fall 2016 semester. Two students will be recruited into the programs first year, with four more planned for each year until it reaches an expected cap of 16 students.

Currently, CUSP offers two programs: a Master of Science in pharmaceutical sciences and a three-year accelerated doctorate of pharmacy program. The addition of the Ph.D. program will bring CUSP to the trifecta  a complete lineup of degree offerings.

In the pharmaceutical sciences field, Ph.D. programs differ from doctorate of pharmacy programs in that they are geared heavily toward research. Though doctorate of pharmacy students typically strive for careers as pharmacists in hospitals or retail areas, Ph.D. students are those who want to produce original research and advance the field. To put it simply, doctorate of pharmacy recipients help people with their care and Ph.D. recipients work to make new pharmaceutical discoveries.

Ron Jordan, founding dean of CUSP, said that acquiring the complete offering of degrees so early into the schools life has given CUSP a major morale boost as it continues to move forward.

Its a very unusual move for a new school of pharmacy to have the complete offering of Pharm.D., masters and Ph.D. as quickly as weve been able to do it, Jordan said. Were really confident as a result of being able to do it that our school is on the trajectory that we want it to be  toward national notoriety and excellence, like most of Chapmans programs.

Jordan said the schools rapid development was made possible in part thanks to CUSPs dedication of attracting funded researchers from the outset, giving the school a strong scientific foundation made of quality research.

The Ph.D. in pharmaceutical sciences is a research-oriented degree. Students work on new coursework, but that is far from the focus. The program focus will be the all-important thesis, which students will work on together with one of CUSPs expert researchers.

For Ph.D. candidates, research is the alpha and the omega. Once they get a Ph.D. in pharmaceutical sciences, many research-related avenues open up. Candidates may strive to work in labs and become primary investigators in the pharmaceutical industry, become an academic research or take on clinical research in medical schools or other areas where new drug development is being tested  just to name a few paths.

Though exciting for the School of Pharmacy, the new Ph.D. program also opens up potential collaborative projects with other Chapman departments. For example, collaborations are already brewing with the Schmid College of Science and Technology for the analysis and visualization of big data related to pharmaceutical research. Further opportunities for collaboration may exist with the Argyros School of Business and Economics on the marketability of new drugs being developed, with faculty in the chemistry or biochemistry fields and many others.

Such collaborative efforts arent just a result of the new program  theyre indicative of the next big move for the School of Pharmacy. With the complete offering of degrees, the schools next goal is to look in to potential combined degrees with other schools at Chapman, Jordan said. A few examples might include Ph.D./J.D. and doctorate of pharmacy/MBA combos, as well as various other potential combinations between Schmid and CUSP.

Whether through degree offerings, research or student body, CUSP quickly has exploded outward, with the goal of becoming a destination school for aspiring pharmacists throughout the nation.

Contact the writer: jwinslow@ocregister.com
Heres a roundup of restaurant and retail news from across Orange County. Take a look at the slideshow for more details on each.

The Hatch: The restaurant anchor at Union Market Tustin food and retail center, is set to open in mid-April.

Bloomingdales Outlet: The store will open at the Outlets at Orange in November. The 24,000-square-foot store is Bloomingdales 17th outlet. The concept was introduced in 2010 and has since grown in a handful of states.

Taco Bell: Beef burrito lovers are in luck. On April 21, Irvine-based Taco Bell will bring the Beefy Crunch Burrito and the Cheesy Double Beef Burrito to menus nationwide for $1.

Seiwa Market: The Japanese grocery store opened Friday in Costa Mesa. The store sells items found in Japan such as green tea flavored Kit Kat bars, umaibo salad sticks, frozen eel, frozen sushi grade fish and sushi rice.

Albertsons: The grocers remodeled Ladera Ranch location celebrated its grand opening Wednesday. The remodel added all new decor, flooring and refrigeration cases. It is stocking more organic options, wines and craft beers. The Ladera Ranch Albertsons is at 27702 Crown Valley Parkway, Suite B.

Alta Baja Market: The specialty grocery store at 4th Street Market in Santa Ana has opened with a light assortment of goods. The grand opening is slated for June. The market is currently selling home goods such as woven bags, traditional bowls and blankets. Eventually it will carry produce, packaged foods, deli cheeses, baked items, beer, wine and more.

Paper Mart: In 95 years, Orange-based Paper Mart has grown from two employees to more than 250, with products being delivered nationwide. There are currently no events planned for the companys 95th year, but Simoni said there would be a large parking lot sale later this year.

Paper Mart is located at 2164 N. Batavia St.

Drones Plus: The store, which opened several months ago in Fountain Valley at 17850 Newhope St. near Talbert Avenue, has closed.

Working Wardrobes Outlet: The store selling clothing and shoes for women and men is open in the space formerly occupied by Surf City Consignment, at 6945 Warner Ave., near Goldenwest Street.

Staff writer Eva Kilgore contributed to this report.

Send any retail updates to hmadans@ocregister.com and any restaurant news to nluna@ocregister.com
Three south Orange County water agencies exceeded their overall state-mandated water use reduction targets during Gov. Jerry Browns original conservation period, new figures show.

The South Coast Water District has cut its potable water use by 26.8 percent from June 2015 to February compared to the same nine months in 2013, according to the latest data released Monday from the State Water Resources Control Board.

The district  which supplies water to Dana Point and parts of Laguna Beach, San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano  exceeded its 24 percent mandate and led water reduction efforts by the largest margin among South County water agencies.

The city of San Clemente and the El Toro Water District also exceeded their overall targets.

The reductions followed an executive order by Brown in April 2015 that required a 25 percent cut in statewide water use from June 2015 to February 2016, compared to the same months in 2013. (The state decided to use the water use figures from January and February 2013, instead of January and February 2014).

The state water board assigned each water agency a different cutback target based on past water use to be achieved cumulatively by the end of February, with targets ranging from 4 to 36 percent.

Heres how much water use South County agencies cut from June 2015 to February 2016 compared to 2013. Figures in parenthesis show the agencys overall reduction goal:

 Trabuco Canyon Water District  27.7 percent reduction (28 percent mandate)

 South Coast Water District  26.8 percent (24 percent)

 Santa Margarita Water District  23.7 percent (24 percent)

 City of San Clemente  25.1 percent (24 percent)

 City of San Juan Capistrano  20.6 percent (28 percent)

 El Toro Water District  24.8 percent (24 percent)

 Moulton Niguel Water District  19.4 percent (20 percent)

 Laguna Beach County Water District  20.1 percent (24 percent)

 Irvine Ranch Water District  15 percent (16 percent)

As a whole, the state fell short of the 25 percent conservation target as a year-to-year slip in February brought the states nine-month water savings to 23.9 percent.

The hot and dry conditions in February prompted Californians to irrigate their lawns more, which reduced the monthly water use cuts to 12 percent. It was the lowest savings since June, when the clock started ticking on Browns order.

In South Orange County, the city of San Juan Capistrano used 10.7 percent more water in February than the same month in 2013.

The state did, however, save about 1.9 million acre-feet of water between June 2015 and February 2016, enough to provide a years worth of water for 5.9 million Californians.

Conservation efforts in Southern California started out bullish in June of last year, with water districts across the region trimming use by 23 percent. Reductions stayed above 20 percent through October; in November, the regions conservation dropped to 14 percent. In February, Southern Californias reduction was was only 7 percent.

No Orange County water districts were fined for failing to comply with conservation order.

The Municipal Water District of Orange County added together the mandates of all O.C. districts and calculated that, as a whole, Orange County needed to collectively cut water use 21.73 percent. The county barely made it, cutting water use 22.03 percent.

That is the type of number most people in the water industry would have scoffed at as being unachievable, said Rob Hunter, the general manager at MWDOC.

The conservation program originally expired in February. Since then the rules have been extended until October, though specific targets are easing for many districts.

Officials said Monday that water supplies are in better shape than a year ago  when Sierra snowpack levels were the worst in 500 years  but warned that the drought is not over.

Were nowhere near having a drought-over party, said Felicia Marcus, the state water boards chairwoman. No champagne and confetti yet.

Contact the writer: 949-445-6397 or tshimura@ocregister.com
The U.S. Department of Energy is taking baby steps toward figuring out what to do with tons of spent nuclear fuel that have been piling up across America for decades, turning commercial reactors like the shuttered San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station into makeshift nuclear waste dumps.

In a move that he hopes will increase pressure on the federal government, U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Visa, said it must do more.

My district is home to the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS), which is in the initial stages of decommissioning which will be completed by 2031, Issa wrote in a letter to U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz dated April 5.

Positioned near an active fault line, sandwiched between the heavily-trafficked I-5 Freeway and the Pacific Ocean, and bordering the densely-populated Orange and San Diego Counties, the storage of more than 3.6 million pounds of high-level nuclear waste at the SONGS site is of great concern to the over 8 million people of this region.

After decades of false starts and paralysis on a permanent disposal site, the Department of Energy is trying a more modest approach: creating several temporary storage sites in regions eager for the business, currently in West Texas and New Mexico. Those could be up and running while the prickly issue of finding a permanent repository is hashed out.

The Department of Energy is doing a roadshow on its new consent-based approach, holding forums in a half-dozen cities nationwide to get feedback. Only one such forum is slated for California  in Sacramento on April 26  and Issa thinks thats an oversight.

Southern Californians must be able to weigh in, Issa told Moniz in his letter. A forum near San Onofre should be added to the schedule, Issa said.

Officials at the Department of Energy didnt respond by deadline as to the likelihood of adding a Southern California date, but the department is eager to move forward with consent-based disposal. In addition to the commercial reactors that currently store decades-worth of spent fuel, waste from national defense activities is kept at several Department of Energy-managed sites as well, a department spokesman said.

While this is safe in the near-term, we need a sustainable, long-term solution to avoid leaving the waste in communities that never consented to be permanent hosts, the Department of Energy said in a prepared statement.

This will take time, so its important that we get started now to design our consent-based siting process and start making progress toward that long-term solution.

Some 72,000 metric tons of highly radioactive waste has piled up at 75 commercial reactor sites over the past half-century, according to a recent review by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. That wasnt the plan.

To encourage the development of nuclear power, the federal government passed the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, promising to accept and dispose of spent fuel and high-level waste by Jan. 31, 1998. Utilities operating nuclear plants made payments into a Nuclear Waste Fund to pay for disposal. About $750 million a year was collected from ratepayers, and the fund grew to $41 billion over three decades.

But the federal government never accepted any commercial nuclear waste for permanent disposal. The nuclear industry sued, and a federal judge found that the Department of Energy couldnt continue charging for a service it not only wasnt providing, but wouldnt provide for many decades. In 2014, utilities stopped collecting the charge, about 20 cents a month on the average electric bill.

After the government spent $10 billion on a now-abandoned plan to create a permanent disposal site at Nevadas Yucca Mountain, about $30 billion remains in the fund.

Local governments, including San Clemente, Laguna Beach, Oceanside, Encinitas and San Diego County, are pressing Washington to fulfill its obligations.

Ultimately, a consent-based approach will ensure that partner communities, tribes and states are comfortable with the location of nuclear storage and disposal facilities before theyre constructed, Department of Energy officials said in Chicago last week.

Contact the writer: tsforza@ocregister.com
U.S. college students value freedom of speech, but many distrust the press and feel restrictions should be applied to certain forms of speech on campus, according to a March survey that gauged how U.S. college students interpret rights granted by the First Amendment.

The Gallup survey, sponsored by nonprofit journalism advocacy group The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, compared differences in the attitudes toward First Amendment rights between students and the U.S. population as a whole.

Overall, the survey found that students support free speech and press rights as a principle. An overwhelming majority of students polled  78 percent  believe universities should expose students to different viewpoints, a percentage greater than what was gauged in the greater U.S. adult population, where only 66 percent agreed with this.

Moreover, the survey found college students remain confident regarding the freedoms granted by the First Amendment, where 81 percent reported feeling secure about the freedom of the press today, and 73 percent reported feeling secure about the current state of freedom of speech in the U.S. Each of these categories revealed greater confidence than what was gathered in the wider U.S. adult population, whose feelings about freedom of the press and freedom of speech ranked at only 64 percent and 56 percent, respectively.

A significant minority of college students, however, were willing to entertain restrictions on the press. While nearly three-quarters  70 percent  of students said they believed students should not be able to prevent the media from covering protests on campus, a percentage lower than U.S. adults  76 percent  who believed this. More than half of students polled  54 percent  also said an intellectual climate on campus occasionally prevents some people from saying what they believe because others may find it offensive. Almost a quarter  22 percent  of students believed colleges should prohibit speech considered biased or offensive.

The survey also found a majority of students remain distrustful of the press. More than half  59 percent  of college students possess little or no trust in the media to report the news fairly or accurately, nearly half  49 percent  believe reporters will exhibit bias when covering campus protests and almost the same number  48 percent  said they have a right to be left alone while attending a protest.

The Gallup survey, which comes at a time when debates regarding limitations to freedom of speech at American colleges and universities, as well as the role and rights the press have in covering campus protests, have been frequent topics of discussion, polled 3,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 attending a four-year college or university in the U.S.

The full report, as well as its methodology, can be downloaded here.
Ten retired Long Island teachers are getting $250K+ in retirement pay and 100 get more than $157K. L.I. cops are well paid also, Newsday in 2014 listing total pay of $160,977 for Chief Edward Ecker of East Hampton down to total pay of $98,792 for officer Michael Selz, 49th on the list.

The retirement pay of teachers and administrators was reported by SeeThroughNY, seethroughny.net a public advocacy website operated by Empire Center.

James Feltman

Only the two highest-paid retired teachers in New Jersey would even make the top 50 list of the L.I. teachers, said the website.

No. 1 on L.I. is James Feltman, who retired in 2010 as superintendent of the Commack School District. His pension is $326,214. His base pay in 2010 was $363K but he received $314K for 24 years of unused sick pay for total of $657K. Feltman was profiled in a story titled Five Outrageous Supt. Salaries on teachingmonster.com.

Three others receive $300K+ and ten receive more than $250K+.

In Westhampton Beach, where we reside most of the year, Police Chief Ray Dean retired in 2014 with a package that included $403,714 for 513 unused sick, vacation and personal days. His last pay was $226,236 including extras and he is also to receive $142K annual in pension. The New York Post called the package a huge criminal payout.

Public Officials Should Be Responsive

Our interest in this is that officials of all types who are on the public pad should be responsive to the needs of citizens including the need for information.

As a resident of Westhampton Beach for most of the year, we find that school, police, village and library officials are not.

Mayor Maria Moore of WHB has refused requests for an interview for more than a year and will not even talk to us on the telephone. Attempts to address her at the monthly WHB meetings in the village hall are shut down by WHB lawyers after five minutes because we are not on the agenda. The trustees refuse to put us on the agenda.

We cant interest officials at the high school, middle school or grade school on the dangers presented by electromagnetic radiation. Theres no doubt that use of cellphones and computers, especially by children, needs to undergo numerous changes. Pressing cellphones to the ear, carrying them in a pocket, and using cordless phones instead of landlines are among practices that must be stopped.

Wi-Fi should no longer be allowed in libraries and other public places including classrooms. Attempts to document the reasons for such advice are blocked by the library, schools and WHB elected officials.

Public officials on Long Island are well paid and even over-paid and should be responsive to public health concerns.

List of top 50 L.I. recipients of the New York Teacher Retirement System as tabulated by Empire Center:
The OECD Observer online archive takes you on a journey through half a century of public policy and world progress.

Since November 1962, the OECDs experts and leading guests offer insights on the questions facing our member countries with concise and authoritative analysis, and provide our audiences with an excellent opportunity to understand policy debates and consider solutions.

Each edition of the OECD Observer reports on a core theme of the OECDs on-going work, from economics and society through governance, finance, and the environment, and articles are bolstered by tables and graphs.
The outcry against a proposed Fremont-area chicken plant hasnt killed economic developers hopes of building the plant in Nebraska, a key proponent told The World-Herald on Tuesday.

Opposition heard at a meeting in the village of Nickerson, about five miles north of Fremont, might push the company to identify itself soon and respond to the communitys concerns, said Randy Thelen, senior vice president at the Greater Omaha Economic Development Partnership.

Still, development officials say the company is taking a step back to evaluate its options after residents expressed strong opposition to the plant at the Nickerson meeting Monday; the villages board voted 5-0 against rezoning land that would be necessary for the project to move forward in the proposed location.

A regional partnership  both the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Fremont Development Council  is working to recruit a chicken processing plant that could employ 1,100 workers and generate a $1.2 billion annual economic impact, processing nearly 350,000 birds a day.

There are certainly neighborhood concerns that need to be addressed, Thelen said. The client takes those seriously and will be working to address those shortly.

Thelen wouldnt name the company.

Monday, the Nickerson Village Board voted 5-0 against rezoning some parcels of land that the plant would use. The vote followed more than two hours of testimony from a crowd of more than 100 area residents, most of whom appeared to vigorously oppose the project.

The residents cited concerns about traffic, noise, pollution and an influx of what they said could be immigrant workers.

On Tuesday night, the Fremont City Council refused to hear public comment, even though the council had given notice that it would give the public time to speak; after some 100 people gathered, the citys mayor said the public comment period was canceled because of the uncertainty of the project.

Officials have declined to name the company involved. A host of major meat processors and retailers, including Tyson and Walmart, have told The World-Herald that the project is not theirs. Adding to that list, Minnesota poultry company GNP, a firm that produces the Just Bare and Goldn Plump brands, told The World-Herald on Monday that it is not involved.

The unnamed company is listening to the concerns voiced at the Nickerson meeting and taking them into account as it decides what to do next, Cecilia Harry, executive director of the Greater Fremont Development Council, said Tuesday.

Were hopeful that theyre still interested in locating in greater Fremont or at least in eastern Nebraska, she said.

State Sen. David Schnoor, who represents the Fremont area, did not respond Tuesday to questions from The World-Herald. Last week, he said he generally favored the proposal but said the community would have to decide whether to welcome the plant.

A spokesman for Gov. Pete Ricketts wouldnt comment. A spokeswoman for Nebraska Department of Economic Development Director Courtney Dentlinger also declined to comment. Nebraska Department of Agriculture Director Greg Ibach didnt respond to a request for comment.

Thelen acknowledged that more transparency is needed, particularly the name of the company behind the proposal.

We just have to have a full conversation around it. Were not there yet, he said. We need to make sure our elected officials can make a fully informed decision.

He noted that the approval process involving land rezoning came ahead of the companys timeline for publicly revealing the project and said that contributed to the opposition.

Harry said more information could change peoples minds.

If folks are willing to have an open mind and listen to the actual components of the project, then, yes, I do believe you can see the case for how this is an immense benefit to the greater community, she said.

Randy Ruppert, a Nickerson resident and director of a plant-opposition group called Nebraska Communities United, said the group wont back down.

We just do not feel that its a good fit for Nebraska, he said Tuesday. Were not resting.

Contact the writer: 402-444-1336, barbara.soderlin@owh.com

* * *

More coverage of the proposed chicken plant near Fremont
NICKERSON, Neb.  This small town might have killed a large poultry processing plant that had been proposed nearby, just north of Fremont.

Members of the Nickerson Village Board voted 5-0 against a plan that would have rezoned the land where the plant would be built. Two board members told The World-Herald they thought the vote effectively would stop the project in its tracks.

Opponents of the plant packed the village fire hall and spilled onto the street Monday evening, railing against the facility and the elected officials considering it.

The crowd erupted into cheers in the wake of the vote. They told officials the plant would bring heavy traffic, disease, bad smells and an influx of immigrant workers and their children.

The board was considering the recommendation of the village planning commission to rezone some parcels of land from general commercial to industrial  a change that would accommodate the plant.

Erik Gahner, head of the village board, said he went into the meeting with mixed feelings. But public comments swayed him. "We do want to grow," he said of the town, but "the risk wasn't worth the reward."

The rural location just outside Fremont is a global food companys first-choice location for building the poultry processing plant, which could open in 2018 with 1,100 workers and a $1.2 billion annual economic impact. Fremont and state officials wouldnt name the company. The Greater Fremont Development Council has been working with the company.

Asked whether the vote would kill the project, Greater Fremont Development Council Executive Director Cecilia Harry said, "We are going to regroup and assess the project."

Later, in a statement, Harry said, "We will contact the company to determine if they are interested in continuing the process of locating a business in the greater Fremont area."

People at the meeting told officials in this town of about 350 that they shouldn't weigh any changes to zoning until the name of the company building the plant is publicly known.

"I don't trust somebody that wants something from me, who won't tell you who they are, and won't let you look at one of their facilities to see how they operate," said Chuck Folsom, an area farmer.

Other Nickerson-area residents spoke of perceived negatives.

Todd Taylor warned of the long-term consequences: "Once we do this, we can't go back ... listen to your community."

Kathleen Coartney said she was concerned about truck traffic: "It is just too much, too big, too fast and people will die," she said.

Jeremy Klein, superintendent of the Logan View Public Schools, said proposed tax-increment financing would hamstring his ability to educate the children of plant workers by diverting tax revenue for a period of years.

And John Wiegert, who has opposed illegal immigration in Fremont, said the plant would bring the issue to Nickerson.

"Being a Christian, I don't want Somalis in here," he said of who he expected to be plant workers. "They're of Muslim descent. I'm worried about the type of people this is going to attract."

Robert Mulliken said he once toured a chicken plant in California and was dismayed at the lack of "Caucasians." "I'm not prejudiced at all but that was the one time in my life I really got scared," he said.

As the meeting stretched into a third hour, an overflow crowd remained standing outside the hall and strained to listen through open windows.

Board members Joe and Nettie Aufenkamp, who are husband and wife and both on the board, explained why they would vote against rezoning.

Joe Aufenkamp called for a show of hands in the audience of about 100.

Many signaled opposition; just one supported it.

Nettie Aufenkamp said she opposed the plant because she didn't know how Nickerson would house the workers. After conducting online research about the chicken industry, she said, "I no longer think this is a good idea."
A worsening financial crisis for the nations biggest coal companies is sparking concerns that U.S. taxpayers could be stuck with hundreds of millions  maybe billions  of dollars in cleanup costs for shuttered mines from Appalachia to the northern Great Plains.

Worries about the huge liabilities associated with hundreds of polluted mine sites have mounted as Peabody Energy, the worlds largest publicly traded coal company, was forced to ask creditors for an extra 30 days to pay its debts.

Two of the four other biggest U.S. coal companies have declared bankruptcy in the past six months.

Under a 1977 federal law, coal companies are required to clean up mining sites when theyre shut down. But the industrys plummeting fortunes have raised questions about whether companies will be able to fulfill their obligations to rehabilitate vast strip mines in Western states  many of them on federally owned property  as well as mountaintop-removal mining sites in the East.

A number of smaller companies have defaulted or skimped on their cleanup obligations, leaving behind abandoned strip mines and denuded mountains.

Some are simply eyesores, unhealed scars on the landscape that can be seen for miles. Others are perpetual sources of water pollution, slowly leaking acidic and otherwise toxic wastes into streams and groundwater.

Now giant coal companies are facing outcomes similar to those of some smaller companies.

Several are struggling to make debt payments on ill-timed acquisitions of their rivals in recent years. On top of that they have been financially squeezed by competition from cheap natural gas and declining U.S. and Chinese demand for coal.

The biggest coal companies typically pay third parties to ensure that mine sites are cleaned up in the event of financial hardship.

But in recent years many coal companies have relied on a cheaper technique called self-bonding, pledging only their own names and financial wherewithal to guarantee their cleanup obligations.

As losses and debt loads mount, the companies do not have enough money to pay for all their obligations, making self-bonding not worth the paper its written on, said Steve Jakubowski, a bankruptcy lawyer with the firm Robbins, Salomon & Patt.

In a bankruptcy, a judge can decide which creditors are paid and how much. State and federal governments can be left holding the bag for cleanup costs.

There is a lot of liability out there and a lot of uncertainty, said Shannon Anderson, a lawyer with the Power River Basin Resource Council, a Wyoming nonprofit group that supports tougher cleanup rules for mine sites.

Peabody alone has cleanup obligations of nearly $1.4 billion guaranteed by self-bonding, according to statements the company filed last year with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Arch Coal and Alpha Natural Resources  the nations second- and fourth-largest coal companies  have self-guaranteed liabilities exceeding $485 million and $640 million, respectively, in reclamation costs.

The coal giants are in no condition now to spend those amounts. Arch and Alpha filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last year. Peabody stock prices have fallen by more than 97 percent over the past year, and the coal behemoths market value at Thursdays closing price was less than $44.3 million. Barclays Capital said the companys debt-to-capital ratio was a towering 88 percent.

Bankruptcy restructuring could provide coal companies with a way of escaping obligations to restore land.
BOELUS, Neb.  Gene Whitefoot has been in the grocery business in Boelus since Feb. 8, 1941. Seventy-five years later, he still works six days a week.

Ive never had another job, said Whitefoot, 86.

Hes also never lived anywhere but Boelus, in Howard County. He has lived his entire life in a two-block area.

Thats being in a rut, I would say, he said, smiling.

Whitefoot started working at the store when he was 11. Hes been the sole owner of the business since 1992, when it became known as Whitefoot Market.

His son, Wayne, is in charge of Whitefoot Catering, which operates out of the same building.

That business caters events over a wide area. Last fall Whitefoot Catering handled nine weddings in one day. Three other groups picked up their meals at the store.

If not for the catering business, the grocery store wouldnt be around. Small stores are going by the wayside, Whitefoot said.

Whitefoot gets to work at 7:30 a.m. and goes home at 6 p.m. He doesnt work Sundays and Wednesday afternoons.

For many years Whitefoot Market has given free candy to kids.

Last May, Whitefoots right knee was replaced. The operation was done by Dr. Scott Franssen, who was born in Boelus. Whitefoot jokes, I gave him suckers and he gave me a knee.

Whitefoot remembers when area farmers came into town every Thursday night. A free movie would be shown outside for the kids. Farmers brought in their eggs and cream and got groceries in exchange. Neighbors would visit with neighbors. On those nights, the grocery store sometimes stayed open until 1 a.m.

When Whitefoot was very young, Boelus had three grocery stores, a hardware store, a meat market, two elevators, two banks and two bars. In a town of 320 people, six places had gas pumps.

Boelus, which is now home to 185 people, is still doing all right. It has a steakhouse, filling station, bank and fertilizer plant.

His uncle Andy Jensen asked Whitefoot to work at the store when Whitefoot was a youngster. The business was started by Andy Jensens father, Pete, in 1896.

After Whitefoot got married in 1948, Andy Jensen asked him what he planned to do. He said hed probably work a few more months at the store and then move on.

Well, that was in 1948, and Im still here, Whitefoot said.

He and Kermit Ericksen bought the business in 1970. Whitefoot bought out Ericksen in 1992.

Whitefoot and his wife, Alma, had three kids. Wayne lives above the store. Mike lives in Grand Island. Daughter Velda lives in Kearney. Alma died in 1999.

Whitefoot said he doesnt want to retire, because hes already doing what he likes to do. He will continue to work as long as he feels as if hes helping and is not in the way.

Hes comfortable in the place hes worked since before Pearl Harbor.

I know what Im doing  most of the time, he said. Some of them around here dont think I do. But I do.
Karnataka to strengthen ATS and up the number of prisons

Jayalalithaa DA case- Prosecution has failed to prove disproportionate assets

Bengaluru

oi-Vicky

Bengaluru, April 5: The case was a politically motivated one and the prosecution has failed to prove that the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa was holding assets disproportionate to her known source of income, L Nageshwar Rao argued at the Supreme Court today.

Rao, who is appearing for Jayalalithaa demonstrated before the court that the assets were valued wrong. The Bench comprising Justices P C Ghose and Amitava Roy adjourned hearing on the matter to tomorrow.

No money flow:

Rao, who spent the entire day arguing the case said that Jayalalithaa cannot be made to explain the assets or acquirement of property by others while adding that this was a politically motivated case.

There has been a deliberate attempt to over-value the properties. The property in question has been acquired by legal means.

Also Read: Jayalalithaa DA case: Will the SC verdict be out before the TN polls?

In such cases, the onus is on the prosecution to prove the guilt. The defence cannot be asked to prove the innocence.

The trial court's order convicting Jayalalithaa was not right. It even slapped a fine of Rs 100 crore. It must be noted that the trial court had taken into account the clean chit given by the income tax tribunal.

However, while sentencing her the same had not been concerned, said Nageshwar Rao.

Where is the money flow between Jayalalithaa and Sasikala Natrajan? There is no money flow between Jayalalithaa, Sasikala, Ilavarasi and Sudhakaran, Nageshwar Rao tells Supreme Court.

The prosecution's allegation that there was money flow between Jayalalithaa and Sasikala is entirely wrong. They arrived at that conclusion citing that the two lived in the same house.

IT returns were filed:

The IT returns were all filed before the chargesheet in this case was filed. In fact, it was only in the case of Namathu MGR that the IT returns were not filed before the chargesheet, Nageshwar Rao informed the court.

IT evidence is admissible. The Supreme Court had said that both the manual of the Director of Vigilance Chennai and IT evidence is admissible in law.

Also Read: Jayalalithaa DA case: DMK leader told to file written arguments

The trial court however did not consider the clean chit given by the IT tribunal while sentencing Jayalalithaa, says Rao.

The disproportionate assets have been exaggerated says Nageshwar Rao appearing for Jayalalithaa. He says that the DVAC was wrong in concluding that the amount was Rs 30 crore. It just comes up to Rs 67 lakh and that too this money is part of her savings.
Droughts caused Decline of Indus Valley Civilisation say Researchers

Feature

oi-Lisa

By Lisa

Harappan Civilisation or Indus Valley Civilisation has been caught the fancy of the world for its urban planning, houses made of baked bricks, excellent drainage and water supply systems and clusters of large non-residential buildings.

How the civilisation demised is something which is still not known and various theories about its downfall keep getting prominence now and again. That the script of the civilisation has not still been deciphered adds more to the enigma of one of the world's most urban civilisation of the Bronze Age.

Recently after a study conducted by paleoclimatologists of isotope data from the sediment of civilisation's ancient lake, it has been suggested that the civilisation disappeared due to unfavourable climate change.

A paleoclimatologist Yama Dixit at the University of Cambridge UK and her colleagues examined sediments from Kotla Dahar. The ancient lake is situated near the north-eastern border of the Indus Valley Civilisation area in Haryana.

This lake still flood during certain seasons. The team after the study of sediment layers using radiocarbon dating of organic matter suggested that between 4,200 and 4,000 years ago precipitation decreased dramatically.

As per the research team the regular monsoon rains which are a must for South Asia region for people to flourish stopped for some 200 years. This could have forced Harappans to gradually abandon cities.

Another study was recently done by a team of paleoclimatologist led by Sushma Prasad from German Research Center for Geoscience in Potsdam. The research was done on a sediment core from Lonar Lake which is situated in central India. The research team found that in that area drought began around 4,600 years ago.

However, both the researches come to same conclusion that it was by about 4,200 years ago that the drought became very intense. The German research team also concluded that lack of rain spelled the end of the Indus Valley Civilisation.

One researcher David Hodell, who was a co-author of the study and a paleoclimatologist also at the University of Cambridge said that Happan Civilisation was an example like many other examples as to how the ancient societies had to face the climate changes. He further added that this can be a lesson for us as we too will have to face such anthropogenic climate change.

Anil Gupta who is the director of the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology in Dehradun said that these researches fill the gap in the geographic record of droughts faced by the ancient world. However he added that this research doesn't tell us as to what caused this climate change around 4,100 years ago. He added that no major change in the North Atlantic or in the solar activity happened at that time.

[No drinking water in India by 2040: How will Government tackle this problem?]

Such researches are very important as a recent case study done in India and three other countries (France, the United States and China) says that there will be no drinking water by 2040 if consumption of water continues at the same pace as it is now.
India has women CMs in 5 border states now: Do they make any impact on foreign policy?

Feature

oi-Shubham

By Shubham

People's Democratic Party leader Mehbooba Mufti became the first woman chief minister to take oath of the state of Jammu and Kashmir on Monday (April 4). She also became the second Muslim woman after Assam's Syed Anwara Taimur who became the chief minister of Assam to become the chief minister of a state.

With the swearing-in of Mufti, India has now four woman chief ministers in four of its corners. While Mufti now leads the northernmost state of Jammu and Kashmir, Anandiben Patel is the chief minister of the westernmost state of Gujarat, J Jayalalithaa is the CM of the southernmost state of Tamil Nadu and Mamata Banerjee is in charge of the easternmost state of West Bengal (excepting the northeast).

We may have a fifth border-state woman CM next year in Mayawati

We may have another woman captaining another border state next year if Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati goes on to become the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh next year.

Do these women leaders impact our neighbourhood policy?

Now, do these women leaders have a say on India's neighbourhood policies, given the fact that they lead a number of border states?

Will Mufti's 'soft terrorist' approach benefit or harm India's Pak policy?

Mufti, for instance, has been known to pursue a 'soft separatist' approach, something which nationalist parties like the BJP did not like. One of Mufti's big ways of reaching out to the people was by making frequent visits to homes of slain militants.

After beginning to reorganising her party a few months ago, Mufti's public speeches focussed mainly on seeing a larger resolution of the Kashmir problem and also pursuing confidence-building measures to improve relations with Pakistan. For ultra-nationalist supporters of the BJP, this is something they will not readily like but Mufti, on her part, has every opportunity to get history by her side.

Leaders like Mamata & Jaya have lost relevance in external affairs now, thanks to a majority government at the Centre

For leaders like Mamata Banerjee and Jayalalithaa, the issue of making an impact on India's relations with Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, respectivelt, have been more determined by political calculations. Banerjee had taken a strong stand on the Teesta water-sharing issue and successfully ruined former prime minister Manmohan Singh's dream of buying a permanent peace with Dhaka.

Jayalalithaa, too, had exerted similar pressure on the UPA II government on the questions of Sri Lankan Tamils. But the two women were benefited by the coalition instability that New Delhi faced till 2014.

After Narendra Modi won power with a single majority, both the unpredictable TMC and AIADMK supremos lost their relevance in deciding the government's survivality and when one adds Modi's proactive foreign policy initiatives to it, India's relations with both Bangladesh and Sri Lanka improved significantly.

For Gujarat CM Anandiben Patel, domestic challenge is much bigger ahead of 2017 polls

For Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel, she is still under the long shadow of Modi, who left Gandhinagar for New Delhi in May 2014. Pakistan is not a term as frequently heard in Gujarat politics as it is in case of Jammu Kashmir or Punjab and it is more about pro-development governance that people of that state speak.

Anandiben, who recently assured the people of her state after reports about 10 terrorists entering the state broke by saying there was nothing to worry, will face the litmus test of the Assembly elections next year. The post-Modi Gujarat has thrown up challenges for the ruling BJP, both from within (party rift) and outside (Hardik Patel phenomenon) that Patel will be busy to deal with more than any question related to the Pakistan border.

However, in 2014 end, Patel had said that school and college students living in the districts of Gujarat bordering Pakistan would be given military training to deal with security issues and the state government had drawn up plans for that. But that is about it as far as her initiatives in foreign policy are concerned.

Vasundhara Raje, the woman CM who had direct dealt with foreign policy once

Vasundhara Raje is perhaps the only CM among these women who have had a direct involvement in foreign policy. She had served as the Union Minister for External Affairs in 1998-99 and her high point came after India conducted its nuclear tests under the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. She had played a key role in articulating India's stand and interests in front of the international community.

Mehbooba Mufti Mehbooba Mufti, daughter of late PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, became the first woman CM of Jammu and Kashmir on April 4. Known for her 'soft terrorist' approach, can Mufti ensure that her party's alliance with the BJP survives the test of time? Or will her approach make an impact on India's Pakistan policy? J Jayalalithaa - AIADMK Jayalalithaa will face another test on May 16 when Tamil Nadu will go to the polls. The AIADMK supremo has been seen taking strong stand against Sri Lanka in the past but after a single-party majority was obtained in the 2014 general elections, her relevance in New Delhi's Colombo policy has been reduced. Mamata Banerjee - Trinamool Congress Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal, another border state, played a decisive role in India's Bangladesh policy in 2012 by refusing to soften stand on the Teesta water-sharing. But she lost much clout after Narendra Modi became the PM of a non-coalition government at the Centre. Banerjee has also been accused of turning a blind eye to the illegal immigration from Bangladesh. Has she really helped India's foreign policy? Anandiben Patel - BJP For Anandiben Patel, domestic politics has been a bigger challenge compared to foreign policy issues even though Gujarat borders Pakistan, India's biggest external affairs concern. With a year to go before the next Gujarat Assembly polls, Patel will be more occupied with tackling the feud in the BJP and rise of the Patel community. Mayawati - BSP Mayawati is not a CM now but has every chance to become next year when UP goes to polls. However, Mayawati is not known to be a leader who likes to cash in on external affairs even though UP has a border with Nepal. The BSP supremo has spoken on external affairs a few times --- like seeking Nepal's help to tackle floods in 2009 when she was the CM and criticising the current NDA government's Pakistan policy. Vasundhara Raje - BJP Vasundahara Raje had a direct involvement with India's foreign policy between 1998 and 1999 when she served as the Union Minister of State for External Affairs in the government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Her high point in foreign policy came after India carried out the nuclear tests in 1998 and the international community had imposed sanctions on India. She became the voice of India's foreign policy then, articulating the country's stand and interests before the international community. As the chief minister of Rajasthan, however, Raje is engaged more in dealing with the nuances of administration.
You don't talk to me: Sonia Gandhi told Smriti Irani in Parliament over 'rashtrapatni' row

DGama's family says, 'absolutely no connection' with firm linked to Irani's family

India Rankings 2016 - India Ranks Education Institutions for the First Time

Feature

oi-Lisa

By Lisa

The Union Minister of Human Resource Development, Mrs. Smriti Irani, released the India Rankings 2016 and dedicated India's first ranking to the nation in New Delhi.

While releasing the India Rankings 2016 she said that history has been made as National Institutional Ranking framework (NIRF) is the first of its kind.

Union HRD Minister Smt @smritiirani Releases 'India Rankings 2016': India's 1st Ever Rankings of Indian Institutions:https://t.co/wDO99gctNr  MIB India (@MIB_India) April 5, 2016

Challenges faced:

She said that one of the biggest challenges in the higher education sector have been that citizens who engage with these institutions feel that there is no level playing field in terms of transparency and the data that they need from these institutions with regard to the choices they, specially the students, need to make.

The Ministry of HRD she said, has been able to spearhead many a changes in the field of education sector and slowly and steadily the steps taken by the Ministry are bearing fruits.

Benefits of ranking:

The Minister said this kind of ranking would empower citizens as it would endow them with the power as to how they observe the institutions to be. Some 60000 observers gave their views about how our present institutions are.

Agreed. #IndiaRankings2016 was much needed Well done @smritiirani @HRDMinistry - steps towards getting more Indian institutes in global list  HindolSengupta (@HindolSengupta) April 4, 2016

She added that these rankings would also help in reaching benchmark of international excellence. The rankings will also help students make informed choices about the institutions they want to join.

The Minister added that to ensure a third party validation of the data that we have received and analysed, the agency like Elsevier was engaged.

About India Rankings 2016:

India Rankings 2016 is the country's first exercise to rank the higher educational institutions in the country based on objective, identifiable parameters.

This follows the launch of National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) on 29th September, 2015 by the Union Minister of Human Resource Development Mrs. Smriti Irani.

'@HRDMinistry new initiative for ranking higher educational institutions based on objective verifiable credible database #IndiaRankings2016  Sangh Parivar (@SanghParivarOrg) April 4, 2016

The rankings are arrived at after detailed analysis and validation of the data submitted by more than 3,600 higher educational institutions in the country classified in 6 categories.

These ranking follow an Indian approach, where academic institute will be assessed on parameters, including teaching-learning; research; collaborative practice and professional performance; graduate outcomes; placements; outreach and inclusive action and peer group perception.

Each of these has been further subdivided into nearly 20 sub criteria to comprehensively assess an institution.

The decision to set up a reliable, transparent and authentic ranking system for higher education institutions within the country was taken on the recommendations of heads of central universities and institutions of national importance.

The ranking is done by an independent and autonomous body and the exercise will be an annual affair. Accordingly, the National Board of Accreditation (NBA) has undertaken the task of doing the ranking exercise.

The rankings are a step towards bringing the Indian institutes on a global platform.

Core Committee:

A core committee that included National Board of Accreditation Chairman Surendra Prasad, IIT-Kharagpur Director P. P. Chakraborty, IIT-Madras Director Bhaskar Ramamurthi, besides the Higher Education Secretary and HRD Ministry officials have drafted the framework, Institutions will be ranked separately among their own verticals including engineering, management, architecture, pharmacy and universities, etc.

List of top 10 instituttions:

Premier B-schools in the country ranked at #IndiaRankings2016. Full list for Management category: https://t.co/WTAsTSgZmV  Ministry of HRD (@HRDMinistry) April 4, 2016

List of top 10 universities:

1. Indian Institute of Science Bangalore, Karnataka

2. Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai, Maharashtra

3. Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi

4. University of Hyderabad-Hyderabad, Telangana

5. Tezpur University, Tezpur, Assam

6. University of Delhi, Delhi

7. Banaras Hindu University, Uttar Pradesh

8. Indian Institute of Space Science And Technology, Kerala

9. Birla Institute of Technology & Science -Pilani, Rajasthan

10. Aligarh Muslim University, Uttar Pradesh

List of top 10 Engineering Institutions:

1. Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Tamil Nadu

2. Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, Maharashtra

3. Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, Uttar Pradesh

4. Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi

5. Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh

6. Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, Uttarakhand

7. Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad, Telangana

8. Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar, Gujarat

9. Indian Institute of Technology, Ropar-Rupnagar, Punjab

10. Indian Institute of Technology, Patna, Bihar

List of top 10 Management Institutions:

1. Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, Karnataka

2. Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, Gujarat

3. Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, West Bengal

4. Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh

5. Indian Institute of Management, Udaipur, Rajasthan

6. Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode, Kerala

7. International Management Institute-New Delhi, Delhi

8. Indian Institute of Forest Management, Indore, Madhya Pradesh

9. Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh

10. Indian Institute of Management, Indore-Indore, Madhya Pradesh

List of top 10 Pharmacy Institutions:

1. Manipal College of Pharmaceutical Sciences - Manipal, Karnataka

2. University Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences-Chandigarh

3. Jamia Hamdard, Delhi

4. Poona College of Pharmacy, Erandwane, Pune, Maharashtra

5. Institute Of Pharmacy, Nirma University, Ahmedabad, Gujarat

6. Bombay College of Pharmacy-Mumbai, Maharashtra

7. Birla Institute of Technology, Ranchi, Jharkhand

8. Amrita School of Pharmacy, Kochi, Kerala

9. Jss College of Pharmacy, Ootacamund, TamilNadu

10. Jss College of Pharmacy, Mysore
K'taka Chemistry paper leak: Why we know only the buyer and not the seller

India

oi-Vicky

Bengaluru, Apr 5: On Monday, the Criminal Investigation Department announced that it had arrested three persons in connection with the question paper leak case in Karnataka. The arrests were made after the Chemistry paper had leaked for the second time in ten days.

While the CID has acted fast in this case, the question is are any of the three persons arrested the kingpins or the masterminds? Manjunath was arrested after it had been found that he purchased the paper for Rs 10 lakh.

Bengaluru: Protests erupt after II PU Chemistry paper leaks for 2nd time

The bigger question here is who did he purchase it from in the PU board which has access to the paper?

Who sold the question paper?

In order to get to the bottom of this case, the bigger question that needs to be answered is who sold the question paper in the first place. If there is a buyer, then sure there is a seller.

The CID however is currently focusing on ensuring that the paper does not leak once again on April 12, the date for the Chemistry examination.

The other two persons who were arrested are Rudrappa who works in the PWD and Obalaraju, a PA to the medical education minister. What the CID has found is that these two persons had sourced the question paper for their children who are II PUC students.

If this is what is being ascertained, then it appears that they are not part of a racket that circulated the paper. However the CID says that there is some evidence that suggests that they may have sold the papers to others.

The CID is however for now viewing Manjunath as the prime accused. This PT teacher who doubles as an insurance agent is said to have sourced the paper for the other two. It is still unclear who in the PU board he had contacted before sourcing the paper.

It is a matter of investigation says the CID. We will get to the bottom of it as we are aware that there are many rungs in this racket which need to be unearthed. For now the focus is on ensuring that the paper does not leak once again on April 12, the date the Chemistry exam is scheduled for.

OneIndia News
Late actor Puneeth Rajkumar to be conferred with 'Karnataka Ratna' award on Nov 1

Karnataka to strengthen ATS and up the number of prisons

News flash: NIA detains suspected ISIS recruit

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

Bengaluru, Apr 5: The train Gatimaan Express was flagged off today and will run between H. Nizammuddin station and Agra Cantt. Station.

Get all the latest news updates of the day:

11.54 pm: Police has lodged a case FIR no 45 at Police Station Nigeen & investigation has begun. Situation has been brought under control, says J&K police.

11.53 pm: Srinagar: CRPF deployed inside NIT Srinagar campus after few students were lathi charged by police,earlier this morning.

10.24 pm: NIA detains suspected ISIS recruit, a resident of Karnataka from Pune airport for verification.

10.23 pm: FIR registered against Rahul Raj Singh under IPC Sections 306, 504, 506, 323: Vikram Deshmane,DCP.

10.22 pm: 1 ULFA terrorist and 1 police personnel killed in an encounter following yesterday's bomb blast in Goalpara district of Assam.

9.39 pm: 1 terrorist killed in ongoing encounter between security forces and terrorists in Pulwama (J&K), search ops underway.

9.38 pm: Icelandic PM resigns in wake of Panama Papers scandal.

9.37 pm: We have full faith in the police and the judicial system, we will get justice, Pratyusha Banerjee's father.

9.01 pm: We've released sketch of suspect, probe underway, says DH Nimbale, DCP on Namdhari community leader Chand Kaur murder

8.05 pm: He (Rahul Raj Singh)should be jailed & never released.He tortured my daughter a lot, says Soma Pratyusha Banerjee's mothher.

7.47 pm: I want all ceiling fans need to removed from all houses, this is what people use to commit suicide, says Rakhi Sawant.

7.35 pm: Govt should give Rs.5 crore compensation to Pratyusha Banerjee 's family, this was a murder, says Rakhi Sawant.

7.30 pm: Rahul used to torture her, I used to tell him not to do this, says Rakhi Sawant on Pratyusha Banerjee suicide case.

7.20 pm: Prime Minister Narendra boarded e-rickshaw in Noida.

7.01 pm: Himachal Pradesh BJP MLAs led by Prem Kumar Dhumal meet Governor Acharya Dev Vrat ,demand the dismissal of state government in Shimla.

7.00 pm: The involvement of Pakistanis in the Pathankot attack is self evident, says source.

6.34 pm: A petition has been filed in Lahore High Court seeking ban on the exhibition of Indian movies in Pakistan.

6.25 pm: Condition of NIA officer Tanzil Ahmed's wife continues to be critical, says Health Bulletin.

6.24 pm: PM Narendra Modi having "Chai pe Charcha" with families of E-Rickshaw beneficiaries in Noida.

6.15 pm: Mandate of Committee will be to study all types of gaps in fencing and other vulnerabilities in the International Border on Indo-Pak Border.

6.00 pm: 3 DMDK MLAs including their spokespersons and other functionaries expelled from the party for anti-party activities.

5.45 pm: It is possible that my name has been misused.I've paid all my taxes including on monies spent by me overseas, says Amitabh Bachchan on panama papers.

5.30 pm: PM Narendra Modi flags off e-rickshaws under 'Stand Up India' scheme.

5.15 pm: Army Chief Gen Dalbir Singh and Syed Akbaruddin, Permanent Representative of India to UN met Mr Ban Ki-Moon, UN Secy General on Tuesday, April 4

5.00 pm: PM Narendra Modi speaking at the launch of 'Stand up India' initiative in Noida.

4:34 pm: Encounter between terrorists and security forces underway in Gadura (Pulwama, J&K). Two terrorists believed be trapped inside a residential house.

4:19 pm: PM Modi, FM Arun Jaitley interacting with beneficiaries of Stand Up India over tea.

4:12 pm: PM Modi arrives at venue of launch of Standup India initiative in Noida, will also flag-off 5100 e-rickshaws.

4:09 pm: Hearing for National Herald matter in Delhi HC adjourned for Wednesday.

3:50 pm: SC questions BCCI state allocation of funds, says funds distributed like a 'mutually beneficial society' without any rationale.

3.29 pm: Delhi HC to resume hearing in Virbhadra Singh's DA case tomorrow.

3.27 pm: Jayalalithaa DA case adjourned to tomorrow.

3.15 pm: Delhi HC asks Himachal Pradesh CM Virbhadra Singh, why he does not appear before CBI himself in the DA case against him.

3.00 pm: Locals in Masurdi village of Latur wait for the water tanker to arrive.

2.55 pm: Our life is just dependent on water tanker coming and going. We have nothing else to do, says a local resident Shakuntala.

2.35 pm: Locals in Masurdi, Latur (Maharashtra) clamour for water resources.

2.28 pm: The disproportionate assets has been exaggerated says Nageshwar Rao appearing for Jayalalithaa. He says that the DVAC was wrong in concluding that the amount was Rs 30 crore. It just comes up to Rs 67 lakh and that too this money is part of her savings.

2.08 pm: Bihar will set an example for the country, says Bihar CM Nitish Kumar on complete ban on alcohol in the state.

2.05 pm: India included names of Masood Azhar,Rauf and others,though India asked Pakistan JIT about progress of letter rogatory: NIA sources

1.50 pm: Earthquake measuring 5 on the Richter scale hits Meghalaya.

1.40 pm: Encounter breakouts in Dardpora Lolab forest area in Kupwara (J&K) between security forces & terrorists.

1.25 pm: Sarfraz Ahmed appointed as Captain of Pakistan T20 team: PCB

1.15 pm: No hotels and bars will serve alcohol now, no license will be given, says Bihar CM Nitish Kumar.

1.10 pm: Complete ban on alcohol (foreign and domestic) in Bihar.

1.04 pm: The prosecution has completely failed to provide evidence that there were financial transactions between Jayalalithaa and Sasikala. There were allegations made against my client, but they are just allegations as there is nothing to prove that financial transactions were made between the two, says Nageshwar Rao.

12.55 pm: India's 1st Semi-High Speed Train 'Gatimaan Express' reached Agra, departed from Delhi this morning after flag off.

12.40 pm: BJP Chief Amit Shah addresses a rally in Nalbari district, Assam.

12.25 pm: MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan attends Simhasth Kumbh Mahaparv Mela in Ujjain.

12.23 pm: The entire case against my client is false and motivated. Nothing to suggest that she held assets disproportinate to her known source of income, says Nageshwar Rao.

12.05 pm: SC issues notice to Centre & all states on a plea seeking national plan facilitating effective steps for mitigation of agriculture disaster.

12.03 pm: IT evidence is admissible. The Supreme Court had said that both the manual of the Director of Vigilance Chennai and IT evidence is admissible in law. The trial court however did not consider the clean chit given by the IT tribunal while sentencing Jayalalithaa, says Nageshwar Rao.

12.01 pm: The IT returns were all filed before the chargesheet in this case was filed. In fact it was only in the case of Namathu MGR that the IT returns were not filed before the chargesheet- Nageshwar Rao.

11.59 am: Where is the money flow between Jayalalithaa and Sasikala Natrajan? There is no money flow between Jayalalithaa, Sasikala, Ilavarasi and Sudhakaran, Nageshwar Rao tells Supreme Court.

11.51 am: The trial court's order convicting Jayalalithaa was not right. It even slapped a fine of Rs 100 crore. It must be noted that the trial court had taken into account the clean chit given by the income tax tribunal. However while sentencing her the same had not been concerned, says Nageshwar Rao.

11.50 am: RBI's announcement of 25BPS is in line with direction in which government would like the economy to move, says Shaktikanta Das (Economic Affairs Secretary).

11.49 am: The property in question has been acquired by legal means, contends, L Nageshwar Rao appearing for Jayalalithaa. In such cases, the onus is on the prosecution to prove the guilt. The defence cannot be asked to prove the innocence.

11.35 am: This is a politically motivated case. There has been a deliberate attempt to over-value the properties, Nageshwar Rao says.

11.34 am: Jayalalithaa cannot be made to explain the assets or acquirement of property by others, L Nageshwar Rao arguing on behalf of the Tamil Nadu CM says.

The Supreme Court has adjourned a plea by a senior advocate questioning the locus standi of Karnataka in filing the appeal by six weeks.

11.18 am: RBI hints at licensing other differentiated banks, like custodian banks, those concentrating on wholesale and long-term financing.

11.07 am: Repo rate slashed by 25BPS, down from 6.75% to 6.50%.

10.35 am: North Korea video shows rocket attacks on South Korea's president and other govt buildings in Seoul (PTI).

10.05 am: Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu flags off India's first semi-high speed train Gatimaan Express.

Delhi: Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu flags off Indias First Semi-High Speed Train 'Gatimaan Express' pic.twitter.com/NE2t5RLX1v  ANI (@ANI_news) April 5, 2016

9.10 am: Four Indian fishermen alongwith one boat apprehended by Sri Lankan navy near Palk Strait.

8.35 am: Three dead as tractor ran over four people in Jagdeo path(Patna) in early morning hours, condition of one remains serious.

8.28 am: Foreign couple allegedly manhandled by drunk men at a tourist spot in Ajmer.

8.00 am: Blast outside BJP office in Goalpara, Assam, six policemen injured.

OneIndia News
Foreign tourists attacked near Ajmer

India

oi-IANS

By Ians English

Jaipur, April 5: Two foreigners, including a woman, were injured when six miscreants attacked them at a tourist spot near Ajmer late Monday evening, Rajasthan Police said on Tuesday,April 5.

According to police, two couples -- a man from Britain, another from the US and two women, one from Spain and another from Germany, -- rented two motorbikes from Pushkar to visit Ajaypal, a popular tourist spot near Ajmer.

"On reaching the spot, some goons attacked two of the four tourists. The clothes of one of the women tourists were torn off as these persons tried to molest her and one of the male tourists was also hit on the head," police said.

These tourists, all in their mid-30s, later called up one of their friends in Pushkar, who took them to a hospital in Ajmer where their medical examination was conducted.

"The FIR was filed late night. We have launched an investigation into it. We have already detained some persons and questioning is going on. We hope to arrest the miscreants soon," a police official said.

IANS
Four foreigners attacked, looted in Ajmer

India

oi-PTI

Ajmer, Apr 5: Four foreigners were attacked and looted by a group of unidentified persons who also molested one of the women in a hilly area on the outskirts of the city, police said.

Two men who are from the US and the UK, and the women from Spain and Turkey had gone to Ajaypal Dham from Pushkar on two motorcycles yesterday when five-six unidentified men attacked them, SP Ajmer Nitin Deep Blaggan said today.

"Initially they followed and tried to tease them. When one the tourists objected, the accused hit him with a stone. They dragged one of the women and tore her clothes. The tourists managed to escape from the place and informed people who were known to them," he said.

They were rushed to a local hospital where the injured tourist was given treatment. He is under observation at a private hospital on Pushkar road, the SP said.

Additional SP Avnish Kumar said handbags of the foreigners containing money were allegedly snatched by the attackers. A hunt has been launched to nab the accused, he said.

A case against the unidentified assailants was registered late last night with Ganj police station under IPC sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (unlawful assembly guilty of offence), 307 (attempt to murder) 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 395 (dacoity). Local taxi drivers and certain other people are being questioned, another policeman said.

PTI
After Masood Azhar snub in UN, India will re-think security clearance to Chinese firms

India

oi-Vicky

New Delhi, Apr 5: In a bid to up the ante against China which blocked a move by India to ban Maulana Masood Azhar, the chief of the Jaish-e-Mohammad, the Indian government is contemplating a review on the security clearance for Chinese firms.

The move is aimed at building pressure on China which is investing in India and has a lot at stake. The move to review the security clearance to Chinese firms in India is expected to pressurise China.

It may be recalled that last week, China had blocked a move by India to ban Azhar, the mastermind of both the Parliament and Pathankot attack.

Tough measures

A highly placed official in New Delhi informed OneIndia that if China and India were to have better ties, then the latter must stop supporting Pakistan's demands to shield terrorists.

On one hand Pakistan itself termed Azhar as a criminal/fugitive after his group made an assassination bid on Pervez Mushraff (former president of Pakistan) and on the other they quietly go to China to block a ban on him at the United Nations.

The Indian establishment is extremely upset with China following last week's incident at China. India felt that all the other member nations were on the same page when it came to banning Azhar, but China at the last minute instructed that the decision be put on hold.

This is much to India's disliking and officials feel that the only way to build up pressure is by giving the security clearance for Chinese firms a re-think.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Tuesday, April 5, 2016, 8:42 [IST]
ISRO-NASA to jointly launch satellite to study earthquakes

India

oi-Pallavi

Bengaluru, April 5: In a first-ever venture between the two popular space organizations-ISRO and NASA-a satellite that helps studying earthquake and its patterns will be launched.

The satellite is called NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar, or NISAR and is designed to make observations and measurements of ecosystem disturbance, ice-sheet collapse, and natural hazards such as tsunami, volcanoes and land slides.

However, there is some disagreement over the day of the lauch. While USA said that it was ready to launch the satellite on 2020-21, ISRO is contemplating pre-poning it.

NASA administrator Charles Frank Bolden said,"The US is providing L-Band. It will help us look at crustal deformation. We are looking for hints at earthquake detection. We cannot predict earthquake but we can advise people where it has occurred. We are hoping to launch it by 2020-21."

ISRO's AS Kiran Kumar, said that the project will not only help in understanding the seismic activity, but also help in monitoring agricultural activities in India.

Kumar further added,"The activity involves building a payload with L- and S- bands synthetic aperture radar. It's a new technology instrument. While NASA provides the L-Band component of the electronics plus the antenna, which is a huge one. ISRO will provide the S-Band and the payload will be integrated at NASA and then the payload comes back at Bangalore. It gets integrated on the satellite, which is being built and will be launched by ISRO."

"So, currently the activities are going on in full swing. Both the governments have cleared the basic mission. We are looking at a possible launch with 2021. We are trying to advance the launch and we are working towards it. As far as we are concerned the usage of this got many significant usage for our programme."

"We are very much excited about it because for the first time two of our agencies are working together on such a big scale," the ISRO chief said. He further added that both the space agencies have formed a working group and they would meet periodically.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Tuesday, April 5, 2016, 15:10 [IST]
Kanhaiya Kumar slams HRD ministry, calls its ranking system ridiculous

India

oi-Oneindia

By Maitreyee Boruah

The president of Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU), Kanhaiya Kumar, has once again attacked the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry, helmed by Smriti Irani.

The student leader, who was earlier arrested on sedition charges and currently on bail, took a dig at the HRD ministry after it released the list of country's best private and government educational institutions on Monday (April 4).

In the coveted list Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has been ranked as the country's third best university, followed by Hyderabad Central University (HCU), which stands at rank fourth.

Currently, both the premier universities are in the thick of controversy and fighting a fierce battle with the HRD ministry followed by the suicide of the Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula on the campus of HCU and sedition row that erupted in the JNU.

Speaking to NDTV, Kanhaiya said, "Feels ridiculous that on one hand the Ministry of Human Resource Development is attacking us over autonomy and on the other hand we are on this list."

The student leader added, "It is shocking for us."

However, the students of JNU were not surprised that their alma mater has been ranked among the top institutions in the country.

"This hasn't come as a surprise to us because JNU has always been ranked among top institutions. What is ironical is that the university has been awarded the top ranking for its autonomy by the ministry which has been trying to attack us for months.

"We are thankful to the minister for this ironical certification. It will satisfy many who are concerned about taxpayers' money being wasted by JNU students," Kanhaiya said.

JNUSU General Secretary Rama Naga said, "The rankings are not surprising, but ironical. They (government) target our autonomy and later certify us for being among the top autonomous institutions."

Students' Union vice-president Shehla Rashid Shora said, "The world knows that JNU students do not go places by rote learning or by mugging up facts, but by real-life experiences. The ranking contradicts the government's stand on the university, but we are proud of it."

OneIndia News
Pathankot u-turn- India should have expected it when JIT avoided the media

Oppn targets Modi over Pak media reports on Pathankot attack

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, Apr 5: Opposition parties today targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over Pakistan media reports that Pathankot attack was "stage-managed" by India and that its JIT was not provided with evidence of involvement of Pak-based terrorists, drawing a sharp response from the BJP.

Attacking the prime minister, the Congress tweeted, "Did Modiji invite the Pakistani JIT so that they could insult the memory of our brave martyrs?" while Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the "invitation" amounted to giving a "clean chit" to ISI for the terror attack in January.

Kejriwal also demanded that Modi tender an "apology" for the "monumental" foreign policy failure. An ISI official was part of the five-member JIT that was in India last week.

JD-U said the claim by an unnamed JIT member quoted in the media reports was a "slap" on the face the country for which the Modi government is responsible.

BJP termed as "shameful" Kejriwal's attack on Modi for "inviting" JIT to India and his cabinet colleague Kapil Mishra asking "do we have a ISI agent as PM now?".

Congress demanded an apology from BJP chief Amit Shah for "having distributed certificates of sincerity to Pakistan" in the light of the Pakistani media reports.

Congress' communication department chief Randeep Surjewala said, "it is now clear that neither has Modiji's rhetoric of 56 inches chest or showing red eyes to Pakistan and China paid off nor has his sudden visit to Pakistan and attending feasts and marriage parties with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had any effect."

Surjewala said the prime minister should "rise over theatrics" and take diplomacy seriously, which the country expects as 125 crore people of India are feeling "betrayed" by Modi.

He, however, said the reports once again exposed the "doubled-faced" policy of Pakistan in dealing with terrorism. Alleging that the development has caused "national embarrassment", senior party spokesperson Anand Sharma said Congress had "cautioned" the Prime Minister and the government about the JIT which also had a representative from ISI. "A diplomatic crime has been committed.

This has caused national embarrassment. BJP chief Amit Shah, who lacks any comprehension of the complex issue and gravitas of foreign policy, was distributing certificates of sincerity to Pakistan in the Pathankot matter.

He should apologise to the people," Sharma said. The Centre's decision to invite a Pakistani JIT to probe the Pathankot airbase attack was a "monumental failure" and a "stab" in the back of "Bharat Mata", Kejriwal told reporters.

He alleged that Modi had entered into a deal with his Pakistan counterpart Nawaz Sharif during his Lahore visit in December last year, and sought to know its details "in the country's interest".

"The Prime Minister called over ISI officials despite being aware that it was behind the Pathankot terror attack which amounted to a clean chit. Now the JIT has reportedly claimed that India had itself staged the attack. No prime minister has capitulated before Pakistan the way Modi ji has."

BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said the 125 crore people of India will never forgive Kapil Mishra for calling the Prime Minister an "ISI agent".

Such use of words for a Prime Minister for "cheap politics and lust of power" amounted to insult of Indian people, he said, asking, "What message are you sending to the international community? Whose hands are you strengthening by uttering such kind of words?".

PTI
Pakistan's u-turn on Pathankot- This nation can never be trusted

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

The visit by the Joint Investigation Team to India to probe the Pathankot attack was considered a welcome move.

The NIA and the JIT discussed various aspects regarding the probe and the former even issued a statement stating that the visit by the latter was a satisfactory one.

However, going by the statements in the Pakistan media, it becomes clear that the JIT was not convinced with the evidence shared by India.

In fact, one media outlet while quoting sources even said it was India which had staged the attack. Another media outlet even indicated that the NIA may not be allowed to visit Pakistan, leave alone question Jaish-e-Mohammad chief, Maulana Masood Azhar.

Pakistan will be Pakistan:

Pakistan has not once in the history of its existence taken any call from India to wipe out terror seriously.

The bankrupt country controlled by a bunch of army and ISI personnel have relied on Jihadi elements such as Hafiz Saeed, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and Maulana Masood Azhar to wage their proxy wars on India.

Also Read: Pathankot probe: NIA has 300 questions for Pakistan's JIT

Terrorism is an industry in Pakistan and the more trouble they cause, the more instability there is in the region. The more instability there is, the more funds they get from the Western nations. In all this, it is India that is affected the most.

Although there is no official statement by any member of the JIT regarding the Pathankot probe, the positioning by Pakistan through its media suggests that they are not convinced with what India has told them.

A visit by the NIA to Pakistan should not have been a problem. Although one does tend to agree that seeking access to Azhar was a bit of an adventurous move considering he is the blue eyed boy of Pakistan.

No Indo-Pak bonhomie, it is Pak-Azhar bonhomie:

Azhar had infiltrated into India as a journalist before he was arrested in the late 1990s. He was under arrest and his brother Azhghar Rauf plotted to have him released.

The ISI helped him with this plan and staged the Khandahar hijack. Every Indian officer who was part of this operation to secure the hostages informed that the hijackers were taking instructions from the ISI and not the terrorists.

Right from where the plan would land and what the demands would be were dictated by the ISI. Once they had Azhar with them, they floated the Jaish-e-Mohammad with an intention of battling in Kashmir.

Also Read: Pathankot attack: NIA note on JIT visit speaks of only 4 terrorists

The announcement of the Jaish-e-Mohammad came in the form of the Parliament attack. However, the Jaish spun out of control when they planned on assassinating Pervez Musharaff.

While Pakistan managed to get one of the attackers, they ensured that Masood Azhar, the man who ordered the hit was not touched.

Following this came the Pathankot attack which was clearly staged to renew their war cry in Kashmir. None of these incidents could have taken place without the blessings of the establishment in Pakistan.

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Story first published: Tuesday, April 5, 2016, 9:09 [IST]
Pratyusha Banerjee suicide: Should case be handed over to CBI?Sign online petition if you support

Pratyusha Banerjee suicide case: Now, FIR lodged against Dolly Bindra

India

oi-Mukul

New Delhi, April 5: It looks like Dolly Bindra could be in trouble soon over her comment on Pratyusha Banerjee's suicide case. Reportedly, a FIR has been filed against former Big boss contestant for leaking a telephonic conversation of her with Pratyusha's mother.

In the audio clips, actress's mother Soma was heard crying badly over her daughter's death news. Bindra also reportedly leaked a video of Pratyusha Banerjees dead body while she was at Kokilaben hospital in Mumbai.

A case was registered at Versova Police Station by an organisation which alleged Bindra of seeking cheap publicity with her obnoxious act.

It is being said that FIR has also been lodged against the staff of Kokilaben Dhirubai Ambani Hospital & Medical Institute for allowing Bindra to take pictures.

Various theories are doing rounds speculating what actually forced Pratyusha Banerjee to take that extreme step. A report said that Pratyusha was two months pregnant at the time of her death.

This was, however, scotched by the investigating officer, who said they have not received any report by the doctors which suggest that the actress was pregnant.

"She wasn't pregnant because the doctors have not informed the police verbally or in writing about it. Her viscera report which will come in a month will give a proper analysis. If there is any pregnancy indication in that report, then we will ask Rahul and her friends about it," an investigating officer told

Police said that Pratyusha and Rahul's common friends told them that the couple were planning to get married on April 14, on the auspicious occasion of Bengali New Year.

Rahul's father Harshwardhan has said that Pratyusha had money troubles and had taken a loan of Rs 50 lakh for her parents.

"Pratyusha had come to Ranchi. She told me she wanted to get married to Rahul... Pratyusha had said she wanted to file a case against her parents. She never had any bank account. It was joint account and her money was being handled by her parents," Harshwardhan told.

24-year-old Pratyusha, who shot to fame with the portrayal of Anandi in hit TV series Balika Vadhu, was found hanging from a ceiling fan at her home on April 1

OneIndia News

(With inputs from PTI)

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Story first published: Tuesday, April 5, 2016, 17:25 [IST]
Not just future of Sena but democracy at stake, says Uddhav

Diwali 2022: Major sites to be illuminated in Mumbai between Oct 22-29

Shruti Haasan to star in international film directed by Daphne Schmon

Mumbai: Gathering of 5 or more, loud speakers, illegal processions banned for a fortnight from Nov 1

Amitabh Bachchan reveals he had to get stitches after he cut a vein on his leg

Pratyusha death: Rakhi Sawant urges PM Modi to ban ceiling fans!

India

oi-Shalini

Mumbai, April 5: Controversy queen Rakhi Sawant reportedly held a press meeting outside Oshiwara Police Station in Mumbai on Tuesday, April 5, where she demanded a bizarre ban on ceiling fans to prevent suicide cases!

Rakhi was speaking in connection with the suicide case of popular television actress Pratyusha Banerjee, who was found hanging from the ceiling fan of her rented apartment in Mumbai.

During the press conference, Rakhi blamed Pratyusha's boyfriend Rahul Raj Singh's ex-wife for the main reason behind her depression.

Rakhi, who is known for making controversial statements, urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ban the ceiling fans in the country in the wake of the Pratyusha's suicide case.

According to Rakhi, ceiling fans are the reasons behind most of the suicide cases and she requested PM to support daughter of her country (Hindustan ki Beti).

A team of six police officials including a woman sub-inspector is investigating the suicide case. During investigation, police collected plenty of medicines and liquor bottles from her apartment.

Meanwhile, Pratyusha's boyfriend Rahul Raj Singh has been booked for abetment to suicide under sec 306, 504, 506, 303 of the Indian Panel Code (IPC).

OneIndia News
Sena accuses Devendra Fadnavis over slogan row

India

oi-PTI

Mumbai, April 5: Hitting out at Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, ally Shiv Sena on Tuesday, April 5 said he has "no moral right" to chant 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' so long has he failed to put AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi behind the bars for refusing to do so.

The Sena also took potshots at Fadnavis for "going soft" on the slogan issue after taking an aggressive stand at a public meeting at Nashik recently.

"After getting aggressive, the CM has now gone soft. There was no need for him to go back on his statement. He needs to make it clear why did he do so and put all the blame on media," the Sena said in an editorial in its mouthpiece 'Saamana'.

Fadnavis, while speaking in the Assembly yesterday, had said that whether or not he remains the CM, he will keep chanting 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' and blamed the media for only focusing on a part of his speech made at Nashik where he had said that those who refuse to chant the slogan have no right to stay in this country.

Referring to Owaisi who had said that he would not chant the slogan even if his throat was slit, the Sena sought to know from the Chief Minister as to where his "guts" have vanished and why he did not book the AIMIM leader for sedition.

"If you weren't able to do this, you have no right to chant a pro-India slogan and you are at fault as much as Owaisi," it said.

PTI
Why is NIA re-visiting Lashkar-e-Tayiba link in Samjautha blasts case

India

oi-Vicky

New Delhi, April 5: A team of the National Investigation Agency made a surprise visit to the United States of America in a bid to gather more information in connection with their probe into the Samjautha express blasts case.

Samjhauta Express blast: NIA back to probing Lashkar-e-Taiba link

It comes as quite a surprise that the NIA which has been probing this case since nearly 5 years.

Moreover the NIA has also filed a chargesheet in this case and the trial too has commenced against Swami Aseemanand and others.

The NIA's visit to the US is to gather more evidence regarding a person called Arif Kasmani who the US Treasury Department had termed as the funder of the blasts.

On February 18 2007 bombs planted in two carriages of the Samjautha Express exploded killing 68 persons and injuring several others. It was stated after the blast that it was the handiwork of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba. However the probe a year later took a complete different turn with investigators blaming a group called the Abhinav Bharat.

No turn, just making sure:

Sources say that the visit by the NIA to the US in a bid to seek out more information on Kasmani does not mean that the case will take a turn. The NIA is just double checking to find out if Kasmani who was also a financier for the Lashkar-e-Tayiba had any role to play in this case as well.

Sources say that the case is pretty much a closed one, but the NIA is taking one more re-look into it to be doubly sure.

A team of the NIA led by the DIG, Sharad Kumar is visiting the United States of America to seek more evidence on the role of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba.

It is not a u-turn said an NIA official to OneIndia. It may be recalled that it was the US treasury department which had suggested in June 2009 that Kasmani could have funded the operation.

The NIA team will meet with officials in the US including those from the FBI to seek out more details regarding the case and the Kasmani angle.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Tuesday, April 5, 2016, 15:06 [IST]
A passenger gets bitten by another British Airways passenger during flight

International

oi-Pallavi

London, April 5: A passenger on a London-bound British Airways flight from Dubai has been attacked and bitten on the arm as he rushed to help flight attendants who were struggling to restrain a "violent passenger".

Sharing photos on Twitter, the man Christopher McNerlin, however, took the incident lightly and thanked the stewardess and the pilot for their cooperation and hospitality.

The airline, meanwhile, said, "Our customers and crews deserve to enjoy their flights, and not to suffer any form of abuse. Appropriate action will always be taken."

It further said that the matter was being dealt with the police. A metropolitan policewoman said,"Officers attended and found a 21-year-old man who had assaulted a passenger. The man was arrested on suspicion of actual bodily harm and being drunk on board an aircraft. He was taken to a west London police station and has been bailed to a date in late May. The injured passenger received medical assistance for a minor injury at the scene."

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Tuesday, April 5, 2016, 11:51 [IST]
Arvind Kejriwal asks Modi to apologize over Pathankot probe

International

oi-IANS

By Ians English

New Delhi, April 5: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to "apologize to the nation" for allowing a Pakistani team to probe the terror attack on the Pathankot IAF base.

Amid Pakistani media reports that the Pakistani investigators had concluded that the January 2 attack was staged by India, Kejriwal insisted that there had been some "deal" between the BJP and Islamabad.

BJP, RSS chant Bharat Jai', but backstab 'Mother India' by inviting ISI, says Arvind Kejriwal

"What's the deal, we are unable to understand," the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader said at a media meet. "What was the need to invite the very people who attacked the base to investigate the attack?"

Kejriwal said there was mass anger over the Modi government's decision to allow a Pakistani Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to visit the Pathankot base and also hold talks with the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

He recalled that Modi used to thunder at election rallies during the Lok Sabha election of 2014 that one had to be stern with Pakistan and that sending "love letters" to Islamabad won't help.

"So what happened now? Why did our prime minister surrender to Pakistan? What were the compulsions that made him go to Pakistan to wish Happy Birthday to (Prime Minister) Nawaz Sharif?

Why did our prime minister surrender to Pakistan, questioned Kejriwal

"Let them (government) tell us what has been the deal... What happened when Modi went to Pakistan... Modi should apologize to the nation."

The chief minister mocked at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over its leaders' enthusiasm to make everyone say "Bharat Mata ki Jai".

"They keep telling everyone to say 'Bharat Mata ki Jai'. And they stabbed Bharat Mata in the back... This is a foreign policy failure."

Earlier, Kejriwal tweeted: "Even though BJP/RSS chant 'Bharat Mata ki Jai,' but by inviting ISI to India, they have stabbed Mother India in the back."

The Pakistan team that visited India included an officer from its premier intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

Pakistani media reports say the Pakistani JIT had concluded that the January 2 Pathankot terror attack that left seven Indian security personnel dead was staged by New Delhi to spread "vicious propaganda" against Islamabad.

Kejriwal added: "It is very shameful. It is for the first time that any prime minister has insulted the country before Pakistan."

IANS
'Coronavirus vaccine may never be found': Boris Johnson warns of 'worst-case scenario'

Farmers' protest internal issue of India, for it to resolve: British govt

How did British colonise hot countries? Netizens ask as Britain faces extreme heat

British brothers killed fighting for IS in Syria

International

oi-IANS

By Ians English

London, April 5: Two British brothers are believed to have been killed fighting for the Islamic State (IS) in Syria.

Khalif Shariff, 21, and Abdulrahman, 18, left their home in Manchester and travelled to the war-torn country in November 2014, the Daily Mail reported.

Their parents Abdullahi and Fatuma were informed of the news by IS militants.

Mohammed Shafiq, chairman of the Greater Manchester-based Ramadhan Foundation, said the terror group had confirmed Abdulrahman was killed and that his elder brother was missing and "presumed dead".

Abdulrahman attended the University of Central Lancashire before going to Syria. Khalif attended South Trafford College.

It is believed he abandoned his first year in his law degree at Lancaster University to travel to Syria with his older brother.

IANS
EU agrees to Ukraine aid, but no gas price cap

China pledges, signs climate accord but how green is its promise?

Xi Jinping to rule China for record third five-year term

China imposes restrictions on trade with North Korea

International

oi-Jagriti

Beijing, Apr 5: China on Tuesday imposed restrictions on trade with North Korea, a move in line with new United Nations sanctions on Pyongyang.

China has decided to stop import of North Korean coal, goal and sales of jet fuel under UN sanctions, reported the Independent.

The mining sector plays a pivotal role in North Korea's economy.

After the ban on sale of jet fuel to North Korea may hit Air Koryo, the state owned airline of Pyongyang.

The UN Security Council has recently unanimously adopted a resolution on tougher sanctions on North Korea to curb the country's nuclear and missile programmes.

North Korea: Unusual exhaust plumes seen at nuclear site

The sanctions were imposed after North Korea conducted a fourth nuclear test on January 6 and launched a long-range rocket on February 7.

UN sanctions have been imposed on North Korea since 2006 because of the country's nuclear tests and rocket launches.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Tuesday, April 5, 2016, 18:28 [IST]
From plotting a hijack to creating the JeM, why Pakistan guards Masood Azhar so much

In a case of bad karma Taliban outs Pakistan on what India had always said on Azhar

JeM chief Maulana Masood Azhar conducted recruitment drive in UK: BBC Report

International

oi-PTI

London, Apr 5: Maulana Masood Azhar was allowed to preach extremist ideology at several British mosques during a month-long visit to UK in 1993 on the invitation of Islamist scholars when young Muslims were asked to seek weapons training at terrorist camps in Pakistan, it emerged today.

Senior representatives of the Deobandi sect, which controls nearly half of Britain's 1,600 mosques, hosted Azhar during the visit in which hundreds of young Muslims were urged to seek weapons training at terrorist camps in Pakistan, according to a BBC investigation.

One of India's most-wanted terrorists in relation to the attack on the Pathankot Air Force base, which claimed the lives of seven Indian soldiers in January this year, Azhar was chief organiser of the Pakistani jihadist group Harkat-ul Mujahideen in early 90s.

According to the report, during his UK tour  until now kept under wraps  Azhar delivered "sermons on jihad" to large audiences in London, Birmingham, Yorkshire and Lancashire and the message was of hatred for Christians, Jews and Hindus. Witnesses said that large sums of money were donated after each talk.

Azhar, then 25, was the product of a radical Karachi seminary and shortly before his arrival in Britain in August 1993 he had helped supply Osama bin Laden, then based in Sudan, with 400 jihadist fighters to wage attacks in Somalia.

The investigation, shared with 'The Times', has uncovered the details of his tour in an archive of militant group magazines published in Urdu. The contents provide an astounding insight into the way in which hardcore jihadist ideology was promoted in some mainstream UK mosques in the early 1990s  and involved some of Britain's most senior Islamic scholars.

Azhar's tour lasted a month and consisted of over 40 speeches. Azhar, captured in India shortly after his British trip, was released from prison in 1999 in exchange for 155 passengers of a hijacked plane in Kandahar. After his release, he formed the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorist group which is blamed for several attacks in India.

The radical cleric is currently in "protective custody" in Pakistan after the Pathankot terror attack. The Deobandis trace their roots back to a Sunni Islamic seminary founded in Deoband in 19th century India.

The original seminary in India has issued a fatwa against terrorism but some Deobandi madrassas in Pakistan reportedly propagate extremist jihadist ideology. The investigation will be broadcast as a two-part documentary titled 'The Deobandis' by BBC Radio later today and April 12.

PTI
US attuned to India's security concerns: White House

International

oi-PTI

Washington, Apr 5: The US is "attuned" to the security concerns of its close partners like India, the White House has said, a day after India criticised President Barack Obama for asking it to reduce its nuclear arsenal.

At the same time, the White House said it stands by Obama's concerns over nuclear and missile developments nuclear arsenal in South Asia.

"The President's comments were motivated by the concern that we have about nuclear and missile developments in South Asia. In particular, we're concerned by the increased security challenges that accompany growing stockpiles, particularly tactical nuclear weapons that are designed for use on the battlefield," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters yesterday.

"These systems are a source of concern because they're susceptible to theft due to their size and load of employment. Essentially, by having these smaller weapons, the threshold for their use is lowered and the risk that a conventional conflict between India and Pakistan, could escalate to include the use of nuclear weapons," he said.

Earnest said the goal of the recently concluded Nuclear Security Summit was to eventually create a world without nuclear weapons.

"We are certainly going to be particularly concerned about and attuned to the national security concerns that are expressed by close partners of the US like India. And that said, we do believe that evolving in this direction is something that won't just enhance the national security United States, it will also enhance the national security of India," Earnest said.

The Obama Administration, he said, has regularly expressed concern about any sort of tactical nuclear weapon.

"Our hope is that improvements in bilateral relations between India and Pakistan could greatly enhance prospects for lasting peace, stability and prosperity in the region. It is important and the US has made this case to both countries, that there be a sustained and resilient dialogue between the two neighbours," he said.

The US has been encouraging all parties in the region to act with maximum restraint and work collaboratively toward reducing tensions in the region, he said.

"Obviously, the US benefits from the partnership that we have with both countries. We value it, and that's why we continue to make the case to our partners, both in India and Pakistan, that de-escalating the tension between these two countries is a priority," Earnest said.

On Friday, Obama had identified South Asia in particular India and Pakistan as one area where there is need to be progress in the area of nuclear security and reduction of nuclear arsenal. India has reacted strongly to Obama's comments.

PTI
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Komfie Manalo, Opalesque Asia:

A group of hedge funds have asked the United States District court in San Juan to stop Puerto Ricos Government Development Bank (GDB) from transferring cash, arguing that the bank is insolvent and is incapable of meeting its debt obligations, reported the New York Times.

The hedge funds filed the lawsuit as the GDB has a pending debt payment of nearly $422m due on May 1, with insiders claiming that the bank has insufficient cash to meet the maturing obligation. The hedge funds told the court that GDB is spending what cash it has left to prop up the ailing Puerto Rican economy.

However, the hedge funds told the court they are not against cash transfers by GDP to cover essential spending of the island for the safety and well-being of its residents.

The hedge funds said in their lawsuit, "Once GDB spends its last remaining funds  and it is only a matter of time  many essential services in Puerto Rico may come to a halt." They added that allowing GDB to spend most of its cash would result creditors to suffer substantial losses.

But GDB president Melba Acosta Febo dismissed the accusation of the hedge funds and described their lawsuit as "erroneous." Febo defended the banks actions as within the bounds of law.

She told the New York Times, "The central claim of GDBs creditors, th......................

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$37,000 in Phoenix Scholarships Awarded to Ventura College Students

Ventura, Calif.  Six military veterans were among the 21 adults who received a total of $37,000 in Phoenix Scholarships from the Ventura College Foundation at an awards ceremony held March 31 at the Wright Event Center on the Ventura College campus. The annual scholarships are awarded to Ventura College re-entry students with minimal or no financial resources to cover the costs of their education.At the 17th annual event, each student received a scholarship between $1,000 and $5,000. In previous years, all students received $1000. The larger scholarships launched this year reflect the increasing cost of education and several Foundation donors desire to relieve as many barriers to education as possible.Mark Martinez, a veteran and Ventura resident, received the $5,000 Aurora Loss Phoenix Scholarship. Martinez served in the military for eight years and after Ventura College plans to transfer to a four-year university to get a degree in political science. His long-term goals are to get his teaching credential and law degree. Six students received a $3,000 Stan Weisel Phoenix Scholarship. These students include Ana Leon and Renee Dixon, both of Ventura; April Nickerson of Port Hueneme; Jaclyn Moore of Oxnard; Julia Jones of Ojai and Maribel Aguilar of Santa Paula. (A complete list of the 2016 Phoenix recipients is below.)The event was hosted by the Foundations staff and board of directors. The event sponsor was Stan Weisel, a Ventura resident and founder of the Stan Weisel Endowed Scholarships, who last year pledged to sponsor it for the rest of his life.The program started in November 1999, when the Ventura College Foundation board of directors learned about the special needs of Ventura College re-entry students. Re-entry students are defined as people who return to school to learn new skills in order to be competitive in the marketplace or who are returning to school after an extended break.What stands out among this years cohort is their desire to go into fields that help others, to give back to our community in some way. Its inspiring to be helping these students, and all our Phoenix honorees, reach their personal and professional goals, said Richard Taylor, Ventura College Foundation board member and one of the Phoenix Scholarship program founders. Were all rooting for these students to succeed. By giving them a scholarship, were helping to remove a financial barrier so they can focus on their studies.To be eligible for a Phoenix Scholarship, students submit an application, three essays, and obtain recommendations from counselors, faculty and employers. Recipients are chosen based on their academic goals and progress, along with their financial need.2016 Phoenix Scholarship RecipientsCamarillo:Hanna CandellOjai:Julia JonesTara JorgensenOxnard:Jaclyn MooreBrittany WardMiguel VillaPort Hueneme:Donya BautistaPhillip LeApril NickersonSanta Paula:Maribel AguilarMorgan StewartVentura:Renee DixonCarrie FisherAna LeonScott LoganMark MartinezAnthony McKinneyApril Michalski-TothAlan ShattuckJason ShefferdEstablished in 1983, the Ventura College Foundation provides financial support to the students and the programs of Ventura College to facilitate student success and grow the impact and legacy of Ventura College as a vital community asset. The Foundation also hosts the Ventura College Foundation Marketplace, an outdoor shopping experience held every weekend on the Ventura College campus east parking lot. For more information, contact Norbert Tan at (805) 289-6160 or ntan@vcccd.edu. Or visit venturacollege.edu/foundation.2955 Hillcrest AveWestlake Village, CA 91362
Yissum Introduces a Novel Method for Ranking Online Reviews

www.yissum.co.il

Jerusalem, Israel, November 25, 2009Suppose you want to go to a movie, or buy a new book, or perhaps a new digital camera. What would be your first step? Certainly, most of us would consult the internet for reviews about the specific product we want to buy. This is where things usually get complicated, because we are often swamped with hundreds or thousands of reviews, some of which are useless.Now, Yissum Research Development Company Ltd., the technology transfer arm of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, presents a new technology especially suitable for ranking product reviews according to the particular needs of the person doing the search. This novel method for content analysis, invented by Professor Ari Rappoport and Mr. Oren Tsur from the Hebrew University School of Computer Science and Engineering, is specifically designed to automatically rank book and product reviews according to their estimated helpfulness."This novel method has the potential of changing the way we extract information from the internet. It already allows us to easily identify the most helpful reviews on various topics, and, in the future, will actually generate one comprehensive, optimized review from the available data. It offers a necessary tool for coping with the vast amount of data in the web world," said Yaacov Michlin, CEO of Yissum. "This is one out of dozens of breakthrough technologies developed at the Hebrew University and available for licensing in the field of computer science."The technology, RevRank, first identifies a core of dominant terms that defines a virtual optimal review, and then uses those terms to rank other reviews relative to the virtual core review. The simplicity of RevRank enables easy understanding of the output and an effortless parameter configuration to match the personal preferences of different users. RevRank was successfully tested on book and product reviews on Amazon. As a result effective reviews that had a good chance of being missed by readers were moved up to top positions.Yissum Representative in charge of CS & IT technologies - Tamir Huberman VP Business Development & IT Director of Yissum (Technology Transfer Company of the Hebrew University)About YissumYissum Research Development Company of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Ltd. was founded in 1964 to protect and commercialize the Hebrew Universitys intellectual property. Ranked among the top technology transfer companies in the world, Yissum has registered over 6,100 patents covering 1,750 inventions; has licensed out 480 technologies and has spun-off 65 companies including, BriefCam, HumanEyes, Mobileye and ReadEasy. Yissums business partners span the globe and include companies such as IBM, Intel, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Monsanto, Novartis, Phillips, Roche, Sygenta, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Vilmorin, and many more. For further information please visitTamir HubermanHi-Tech Park, Givat Ram, PO BOX 39135Jerusalem, Israel91390
Town of North Hempstead Supervisor Unveils Awareness Campaign for EAC Networks Meals on Wheels Program

www.eac-network.org

(WESTBURY, NY) Judi Bosworth, Town of North Hempstead Supervisor, hosted a press conference April 1st at the Yes We Can Community Center in an effort to raise awareness for EAC Networks Meals on Wheels program. Town Councilmembers Viviana Russell, Anna M. Kaplan, Lee R. Seeman, as well as Town Clerk Wayne H. Wink, Jr. and Nassau County Commissioner of Human Services Lisa A. Murphy were also in attendance to support the endeavor. EAC Network is the largest provider of Meals on Wheels in Nassau County to senior citizens who cannot shop or cook for themselves. Supervisor Bosworth also revealed the new Meals on Wheels marketing materials that, she hopes, will increase the town residents awareness of the service available to them.[Its] not only food for the body, but its food for the soul, Supervisor Bosworth said in regards to how imperative it is for seniors to receive nutritional meals as well as receive social interaction from the deliverers. It takes a village to care for our youth, but it takes a village to care for seniors, too.Meals on Wheels relies on volunteers from the community to deliver nutritional food to homebound seniors several days a week. To promote awareness and overall wellbeing of elderly citizens, Hofstra University students recently went door-to-door in New Cassel to reach out to seniors in the area who may qualify for Meals on Wheels.Walking around and talking to the residents of North Hempstead solidified my belief that this program is not only needed, but welcomed, said Alejandra Saladardi, a student volunteer and Hofstra Center for Civic Engagement Fellow. I believe this program will be very successful in the area, and hopefully it can help as many seniors as possible.To learn more about EAC Networks Meals on Wheels program visit us here or call 516-539-0150 x219.About EAC NetworkFounded in 1969, EAC Network is a not-for-profit human service agency serving 71,000 people annually through 70 programs across Long Island and New York City. EAC Networks mission is to respond to human needs with programs and services that protect children, promote healthy families and communities, help seniors, and empower individuals to take control of their lives. For more information about EAC Network, please call 516-539-0150 or visit, facebook.com/eacnet, and @EACNet.50 Clinton St, Suite 107Hempstead, NY 11550
GOintegro Survey Results Reveal Encouraging Picture for HR Technology Spending, Use in Latin America

GOintegro, the leading engagement platform for employees in Latin America, has released its Second Annual Latin American HR Technology Survey Report, which provides new insights on how the regions companies are buying and using HR software and applications.Research on this subject has focused mainly on the United States, Europe, Australia and Asia. Google turns up almost no general results for Latin America, while specific information on deployment models, penetration rates or which HR functions are most/least automated is virtually nonexistent, says GOintegro CEO & Co-founder German Dyzenchauz.GOintegros survey report paints a surprising and encouraging picture that points to an ongoing automation of core functions, in addition to considerable opportunities for innovating and injecting strategic value into HR programs to improve talent retention, internal communications and employee satisfaction.Key survey findings include the following:38% of participants have a formal HR technology strategy, especially for payroll administration, time & attendance control, engagement & recruiting solutions, in which penetration soars above 60%.On average, 52% of surveyed companies use some kind of software to carry out HR functions (20% employ cloud applications), while the rest do not use any automation at all.HR technology use in Latin America revolves around core functions (which carry high work loads that negatively affect strategy execution), in which the use of on-premise solutions is higher than that of cloud solutions - 32% vs 20%, respectively.The use of cloud applications to manage strategic HR programs --like internal communications, training and employee recognition-- is almost even with on-premise software - 27% vs 23%, respectively.These results represent a huge opportunity for innovation, cost reduction, outsourcing manual processes and injecting strategic value into HR with more powerful, flexible and modern tools, which are also capable of generating data and analysis reports to base decision making at boardroom level, says German Dyzenchauz.According to technology company Report Linker, Cloud computing is gaining traction in Latin America and witnessing its highest growth rate compared to other regions, at a CAGR of 26% over the 2013-2018 period. In fact, research firm MarketsandMarkets estimates the global cloud applications market will grow from $30.4 billion in 2014 to $66.4 billion by 2019.Additionally, over one third of survey participants said the availability of Cloud systems and mobile apps are key factors for purchasing HR technology (35% and 34%, respectively). While poor planning is by far the most common mistake Latin American HR departments make in technology implementations (46%), participants said the most important considerations for success are executive sponsorship (77%), project planning (72%) and end-user training (70%).The takeaway is that, in broad terms, LatAm HR VPs are decidedly embracing a more strategic, modern approach to technology, as is the case in more advanced markets like the US, Europe, Australia and Asia, says GOintegro CEO German Dyzenchauz.Hopefully this research will provide a much-needed regional benchmark and contribute a new perspective as Latin American HR VPs strive to increase employee engagement, prove ROI and cement their role as business partners of their respective organizations, he adds.About GoIntegroGOintegro is the leading HR cloud-based platform in Latin America, used daily by more than 400 corporate clients, representing over 1 million people, as their main tool for driving employee engagement.Offering a single platform with applications to manage company benefits, employee recognition programs and HR information, GOintegro is the main hub for social internal communications.Covering all of Latin America with 140 employees in 7 countries, GOintegro helps companies like CITI, Deloitte, General Motors, IBM, McDonalds and Walmart strengthen the positive impact of their corporate culture. To find out more, visit GOintegro.com.For more information please contact:Jose GuerraChief Marketing Officer, GOintegroCell Phone: +56 9 6616 8188Email: jose.guerra@gointegro.com
rfid uhf button on metal for asset tracking systems(gyrfidstore)

RFID Disc Tags are widely used for inventory tracking system or Automatic production systems. The RFID Disc Tag can also work on metal surface with anti-metal layer on it, also can be attached to goods surface by adhesive layer. There are abundant size options from 12mm to 50mm. GYRFID presents several types with different material and size to suitable customers application.DIP Series- PVC Disc Tag, PVC Laminated, thickness of 1.0-1.2mmDIT Series- Clear PVC Disc Tag, clear PVC Laminated, thickness of 1.0-1.2mmFOT Series- Foil Tag, Clear PVC Sealed, Thickness of 0.45-0.7mm.STE series  Epoxy PVC Sticker, the surface covered by epoxy, thickness 2.0mmTKA series- ABS Token, ultrasonic welding ABS type, various size options.TKPPS series  PPS Token, ultrasonic welding, mini size 12mm.Features:Model number: DIP-FMaterial: PVC lamination + Anti-metal layer+ 3M adhesiveDimension: 13/ 14/ 15/ 17/ 18/ 20/ 22 / 25/ 30/ 35/ 40/ 50mm; thickness 1.0-1.2mmColor options: WhiteWater Proof: YesNotes: can be with anti-metal layer and 3M layerPersonalization Support: Silk-screen printing logo Thermal transfer printing Serial Number or UID Barcode printing and QR code printing, Photo printing Laser UID or Number Chip encodingApplication: NFC payments Patrol Guard Systems Logistic management Parcel tracking Inventory Control Automatic production management Asset tracking Device embeddedIC options:125KHz RFID: EM4200, EM4102, EM4100, GK4001; T5577; EM4305; Hitag1, Hitag2, Hitag S256  13.56Mhz ISO14443A: NXP MIFARE Classic 1K, MIFARE Classic 4K, MIFARE Ultralight, MIFARE Ultralight EV1, MIFARE Desfire 2K, MIFARE Desfire 4K, MIFARE Desfire 8K, MIFARE Plus, Fudan FM11RF08; NTAG203, NTAG213, NTAG215, NTAG216; LEGIC MIM256, LEGIC ATC1024, LEGIC ATC2048 13.56Mhz ISO15693: ICODE SLI; ICODE SLI-X; Tag-it 256, Tag-it 2048 840-960Mhz UHF: Alien Higgs, Monza 3, Monza 4D, Monza 4QT; NXP UCODE G2iLGYRFID STORE offers a wide range of products embedded with contact chip and contact-less chip (LF, HF, UHF), and there are some competitive products like ISO CARD, KEYFOB, WRISTBAND, DISC TAG, LAUNDRY TAG. The products are widely applied in access control, payment system, inventory control, asset tracking, and industrial managements.Should any of these items be of interest to you, please let us know. We will be happy to give you a quotation upon receipt of your detailed requirements.ADDRm1516, Qiangjin Building, QiXin Rd No.1318 ,Shanghai, 201100, China
Good and evil combine in Angel & Demon: Unchained

www.proggen.nl

https://www.proggen.nl

March 2016  Available right now for Android and iOS devices, Angel & Demon: Unchained is the story of good working with evil to achieve a common goal.Designed and developed by the Dutch programming company Proggen together with Media College Amsterdam, Angel & Demon: Unchained explores the need for opposite forces to team up in a quest to be unchained. Linked together by the master of an alternate universe, you must guide Angel and Demon through the world of the Angels Paradise, Demons Underworld and the Chained City, where you must defeat the end boss to release your chains.The real world is not always good vs. evil, so together the Angel and Demon must make their way through 7 colourful levels of jumping, flying, swimming, singing and throwing, using each others skills to complete puzzles and challenges along the way.Boasting stunning graphics and an intuitive gameplay, the Angels flying and signing will send enemies to sleep, whilst the Demons strength can push heavy blocks and clear the way of obstacles. This exciting, addictive and well-made game also features super-smooth scrolling, fast loading levels and the opportunity to play as the Angel and Demon.Angel & Demon: Unchained is available right now for Android via the Play Store and iOS via the App Store for free.So what are you waiting for? As Peter Quill said in The Guardians of the Galaxy closing statement: What should we do next: Something good, something bad? Bit of both?Notes to EditorsAngel & Demon: Unchained was created by Proggen. For more information visitor email info@proggen.nlDesigned and developed by the Dutch programming company Proggen together with Media College Amsterdam, Angel & Demon: Unchained explores the need for opposite forces to team up in a quest to be unchained. Linked together by the master of an alternate universe, you must guide Angel and Demon through the world of the Angels Paradise, Demons Underworld and the Chained City, where you must defeat the end boss to release your chains.Niek AlbersProggenFerrarisstraat 121097KK Amsterdam Netherlandsinfo@proggen.nl
Global Fresh Air System Market 2016 Industry Trends, Sales, Supply, Demand, Analysis & Forecast to 2021

Fresh Air System market research

http://www.qyresearchgroup.com/market-analysis/global-fresh-air-system-market-2016-industry-trends.html

http://www.qyresearchgroup.com/report/59516#request-sample

Global Fresh Air System Industry 2015 Market Size Share Growth Forecast Research and DevelopmentThe Global Fresh Air System Industry report gives a comprehensive account of the Global Fresh Air System market. Details such as the size, key players, segmentation, SWOT analysis, most influential trends, and business environment of the market are mentioned in this report. Furthermore, this report features tables and figures that render a clear perspective of the Fresh Air System market. The report features an up-to-date data on key companies product details, revenue figures, and sales. Furthermore, the details also gives the Global Fresh Air System market revenue and its forecasts. The business model strategies of the key firms in the Fresh Air System market are also included. Key strengths, weaknesses, and threats shaping the leading players in the market have also been included in this research report.The report gives a detailed overview of the key segments in the market. The fastest and slowest growing market segments are covered in this report. The key emerging opportunities of the fastest growing Global Fresh Air System market segments are also covered in this report. Each segments and sub-segments market size, share, and forecast are available in this report. Additionally, the region-wise segmentation and the trends driving the leading geographical region and the emerging region has been presented in this report.Get Complete Report with TOC :The study on the Global Fresh Air System market also features a history of the tactical mergers, acquisitions, collaborations, and partnerships activity in the market. Valuable recommendations by senior analysts about investing strategically in research and development can help new entrants or established players penetrate the emerging sectors in the Fresh Air System market. Investors will gain a clear insight on the dominant players in this industry and their future forecasts. Furthermore, readers will get a clear perspective on the high demand and the unmet needs of consumers that will enhance the growth of this market.Table of ContentChapter One Fresh Air System Industry Overview1.1 Fresh Air System Definition1.1.1 Fresh Air System Definition1.1.2 Product Specifications1.2 Fresh Air System Classification1.3 Fresh Air System Application Field1.4 Fresh Air System Industry Chain Structure1.5 Fresh Air System Industry Regional Overview1.6 Fresh Air System Industry Policy Analysis1.7 Fresh Air System Industry Related Companies Contact InformationGet Sample Copy of Report @QYResearch Group is a single destination for all the industry, company and country reports. QYResearch Group also carries the capability to assist you with your customized market research requirements including in-depth market surveys, primary interviews, competitive landscaping, and company profiles. We feature large repository of latest industry reports, leading and niche company profiles, and market statistics. QYResearch Group is the comprehensive collection of market intelligence products and services available on air.3422 SW 15 Street, Suit #8138, Deerfield Beach, Florida 33442,
SuiteCRM Astriks Asterisk-CRM Telephony Integration

http://www.tactionsoftware.com/suitecrm/suitecrm-asterisk-telephony-integration/

Taction has recently done, Asterisk / SuiteCRM telephony integration for one of the leading US based Financial Institutions who deals in the lending business with more than 1000 offices across the US for Inbound and Outbound Calls.The client wanted Call Center Automation to manage their telephonic conversations with the leads and customers effectively having a tightly integrated platform of Telephone and the backend SuiteCRM system. They wanted to achieve a seamless automated for inbound and outbound calls along with a provision of capturing call notes, call to lead creation in CRM, Call transfer and Call recording functionality either to monitor the performance of their agents or for regulatory compliance.As the most cost-effective and integrated solution landscape for the above-mentioned requirements, we proposed to leverage the open source tools like Asterisk (an open source telephony switching and Private Branch Exchange service for Linux) and Zoiper (a free softphone to make VoIP calls through a PBX) integrated with the existing SuiteCRM instance.The implementation enabled the clients representatives to receive the incoming calls with demographic details of the existing contacts/ customers with a single click option to view all previous collaboration details directly in the SuiteCRM. It also enabled them in creating call notes associating with the contact as history items saving the link to the audio file of the recorded call. It allowed them in creating leads directly in the SuiteCRM from the call receive interface in case of a call coming in from an unregistered telephone number.The SuiteCRM-Asterisk Telephony Integration solution supports click-to-dial or click-to-call functionality, empowering the call center representatives in dialing the registered number(s) directly from the click-to-call functionality, empowering the call center representatives in dialing the registered number(s) directly from the SuiteCRM interface without going to softphone dialer interface.The solution supports other features like call transfer in case of any need for additional support from other rep or higher authority involvement, call recording as an audio file for future reference, automatic call scheduling as per availabilities of the call center reps etc.As a summary, the solution included the following features :Incoming Call integration into SuiteCRMOutgoing Call integration from SuiteCRMSoft Phone Integration with Zoiper as the Soft PhoneCall Recording saved in SuiteCRMCall Saving and auto creation of call notes as a historical record in SuiteCRMAutomatic Lead Creation into the SuiteCRMCall Association with Leads, Account and ContactsContact Center AutomationThe SuiteCRM-Asterisk Telephony Integration solution has improved the efficiency of the customer relationship management process of the client dramatically with reduced individual dependency on the representatives and helped them in having well informed and personalized call conversations with the leads and customersMaximize Your ROI with Improved Productivity and Well-Informed Strategic DecisionsWe at Taction Software understand your business challenges and can help you sort them with most appropriate IT solutions. We help our partners in process Re-engineering, Software design and Development, Upgrade and Integrate existing applications as per revised business scenario, introduce latest technology trend and ensure user adoption.1603 Capitol Ave. Suite 310 A124 Cheyenne, Wyoming 82001WebsitePhone No.+1-307-459-0850
Global Fiber Laser Market 2016 : Industry Size, Share, Analysis And Growth Forecasts 2021

Fiber Laser

http://www.intenseresearch.com/market-analysis/global-and-china-fiber-laser-market-industry-analysis.html

http://goo.gl/chwFU7

http://www.intenseresearch.com/

The 'Global and Chinese Fiber Laser Market, 2016-2021 Market Research Report' is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the global Fiber Laser industry with a focus on the Chinese market. The report provides key statistics on the market status of the Fiber Laser manufacturers and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the industry.Browse Complete Report Here:Firstly, the report provides a basic overview of the industry including its definition, applications and manufacturing technology. Then, the report explores the international and Chinese major industry players in detail. In this part, the report presents the company profile, product specifications, capacity, production value, and 2011-2016 market shares for each company. Through the statistical analysis, the report depicts the global and Chinese total market of Fiber Laser industry including capacity, production, production value, cost/profit, supply/demand and Chinese import/export. The total market is further divided by company, by country, and by application/type for the competitive landscape analysis.The report then estimates 2016-2021 market development trends of Fiber Laser industry. Analysis of upstream raw materials, downstream demand, and current market dynamics is also carried out. In the end, the report makes some important proposals for a new project of Fiber Laser Industry before evaluating its feasibility. Overall, the report provides an in-depth insight of 2016-2021 global and Chinese Fiber Laser industry covering all important parameters.Get Full Table Of Content (Index) Of Fiber Laser Market:Table Of Content Of Fiber Laser Market:Chapter One Introduction of Fiber Laser Industry1.1 Brief Introduction of Fiber Laser1.2 Development of Fiber Laser Industry1.3 Status of Fiber Laser IndustryChapter Two Manufacturing Technology of Fiber Laser2.1 Development of Fiber Laser Manufacturing Technology2.2 Analysis of Fiber Laser Manufacturing Technology2.3 Trends of Fiber Laser Manufacturing TechnologyChapter Three Analysis of Global Key Manufacturers3.1 Company A3.1.1 Company Profile3.1.2 Product Information3.1.3 2011-2016 Production Information3.1.4 Contact Information3.2 Company B3.2.1 Company Profile3.2.2 Product Information3.2.3 2011-2016 Production Information3.2.4 Contact Information3.3 Company C3.2.1 Company Profile3.3.2 Product Information3.3.3 2011-2016 Production Information3.3.4 Contact Information3.4 Company D3.4.1 Company Profile3.4.2 Product Information3.4.3 2011-2016 Production Information3.4.4 Contact Information3.5 Company E3.5.1 Company Profile3.5.2 Product Information3.5.3 2011-2016 Production Information3.5.4 Contact Information3.6 Company F3.6.1 Company Profile3.6.2 Product Information3.5.3 2011-2016 Production Information3.6.4 Contact Information3.7 Company G3.7.1 Company Profile3.7.2 Product Information3.7.3 2011-2016 Production Information3.7.4 Contact Information3.8 Company H3.8.1 Company Profile3.8.2 Product Information3.8.3 2011-2016 Production Information3.8.4 Contact InformationAbout Intense ResearchIntense Research provides a range of marketing and business research solutions designed for our clients specific needs based on our expert resources. The business scopes of Intense Research cover more than 30 industries includsing energy, new materials, transportation, daily consumer goods, chemicals, etc. We provide our clients with one-stop solution for all the research requirements.Contact Us:Joel John3422 SW 15 Street, Suit #8138,Deerfield Beach, Florida 33442,United StatesTel: +1-386-310-3803GMT Tel: +49-322 210 92714USA/Canada Toll Free No. 1-855-465-4651Email: sales@intenseresearch.comWeb:
TestingWhiz Releases Version, 5.0  Jupiter

http://www.testing-whiz.com/download

New Jersey, CA  March 30 2016  TestingWhiz, a leading test automation solution providing company released the much anticipated version of its test automation tool, TestingWhiz Version 5.0  Jupiter.TestingWhiz has been known for quite some time for providing codeless test automation solution. It has been used by several enterprises such as Honeywell, Xerox, Bank of America, Infosys, etc. in their test automation projects to find and fix critical issues in their web, database, APIs and mobile apps and deliver quality products with faster time-to-market.The new version of TestingWhiz was in the buzz for a long time as the company claimed it as the biggest and the smartest update till date. According to sources, the new version of TestingWhiz envelops couple of new features and capabilities that will add great value to test automation endeavors of testers.Some of the new features of 5.0 update include:Cross-Browser Testing via Cloud Execution: This feature will help users to execute tests on different browsers and operating systems via Sauce Labs and BrowserStack and help them expand their testing bandwidth.Automated Test Data Generator: This feature has been introduced to allow users to generate millions of test data combinations automatically in seconds for different test scenarios and maintain them right in the TestingWhiz ecosystem for effective test management.Support for Mongo DB: TestingWhiz 5.0 comes with a support for Mongo DB to help users store their execution logs in Mongo DB for historical reporting and analytics.Headless Testing: With the new version, the users will also get the facilities of headless testing which will help them fasten database and API testing without browser instantiation.Native Mobile Support: There is also a support for mobile testing via Appium for Android devices in this version.Microsoft Edge Support: Microsoft Edge browser has also been added in the version 5.0 of TestingWhiz to help users in their cross-browser testing requirements.Support for Dynamic Values: There are also enhancements in Variable & Parameter Reference in Object column to support dynamic values from the data tables and variables.Execution over Firefox Profile: TestingWhiz Jupiter also will facilitate personalized testing via execution on Firefox profile.With the new features, there have been several enhancements made in the tool such as improved reporting, performance, language support as well as look and feel. Plus, several additions also have been made in the Test Commands to optimize the test execution process.While releasing the new version, Mr. Premal Dave, the GM of Sales & Marketing at TestingWhiz said, After much anticipation and excitement, we are releasing the most powerful version of TestingWhiz which is known as Jupiter for being the biggest update till date. We hope to make test automation more productive, easy and enjoyable and look forward to help more customers with their critical testing needs with this version.Nirav Sanghavi, the GM of Technology at TestingWhiz said, To release quality software faster with zero-defects, companies need an efficient tool that enables them to perform millions of test execution without critical coding and allows testing in different environments without much investment. With TestingWhiz, we have tried to come up with features such as cloud-execution, automated test data generator, headless testing, Mongo DB support, which promise to reduce the time and effort regardless of whether testing is done by QA or development team., he added.The company has invited existing as well as new users to try its new version.Heres the link to Download TestingWhiz Version 5.0  Jupiter:TestingWhiz is a Codeless Test Automation Tool for Functional and Regression Testing of Web, Mobile Database and API. It is based on a proprietary FAST (Flexible Automation Scripting Technology) Automation Engine that uses effortless and intelligent recording techniques like Keyword-Driven Testing, Data Driven Testing, Excel Inputs, Object Recorder and Java Scripting to design and execute test cases.Premal DaveTestingWhizMack-Cali Centre III,140 East Ridgewood AvenueSuite 415 ST, Paramus,NJ 07652, USAinfo@testing-whiz.comPhone: 1-855-699-6600
Hebrew University goes global  thanks to accredited online courses with eTeacher

http://www.eteacherbiblical.com/default.asp

www.yissum.co.il

Courses in Biblical Hebrew attract students from LebanonJerusalem, August 12, 2010For the first time, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem will award academic credits to students who study its courses via the Internet  enabling students from any country in the world to study a Hebrew University program.The first session of students to recently complete an online Hebrew University course in Biblical Hebrew includes thirty students from Lebanon, Singapore, Peru, Argentina, Holland, Ireland, Denmark, France and Italy.The lessons are conducted in small groups via the online study site of the Company, eTeacher, which recently signed an agreement of cooperation with Yissum, the technology transfer company of the Hebrew University. The courses have the same academic requirements as regular courses within the university, which include attendance requirements, submitting exercises and oral exams conducted via video.The unique online course was the initiative of the dean of the faculty of humanities, Prof. Israel Bartal, who understands that there is a demand for Hebrew University's cultural assets. "Through the Internet, the university is opening its gates to teaching courses in the humanities which are a unique resource of knowledge throughout the world. The first pilot program is in Biblical and Modern Hebrew. These are fields of study in which the Hebrew University is certainly the best in the world and so it is possible to offer these courses to students in the global marketplace."Vice President and Director General of the Hebrew University, Billy Shapira, adds, "The potential of the Hebrew University to spread the knowledge of its best researchers has great implications and ranks the university in the global arena in the field of teaching."Cooperation between the Hebrew University and eTeacher will enable the university to add additional courses to the virtual system and to advance online teaching. According to the director of eTeacher in Israel, Yariv Ben-Nun, "We are happy and proud to provide our unique knowledge and experience to Hebrew University. I believe we will be able to do big things together."Yissum Representative in charge of CS & IT technologies - Tamir Huberman VP Business Development & IT Director of Yissum (Technology Transfer Company of the Hebrew University)For details of Biblical Hebrew studies on eTeacher:Yissum Research Development Company of the Hebrew University ofJerusalem Ltd. was founded in 1964 to protect and commercialize the HebrewUniversitys intellectual property. Products based on Hebrew Universitytechnologies that have been commercialized by Yissum currently generate $2Billion in annual sales. Ranked among the top technology transfer companiesin the world, Yissum has registered over 8,500 patents covering 2,400 inventions; has licensed out 750 technologies and has spun out 90 companies. Yissums business partners span the globe and include companies such as Syngenta, Monsanto, Roche, Novartis, Microsoft, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Intel, Teva and many more. For further information please visitTamir HubermanHi-Tech Park, Givat Ram, PO BOX 39135Jerusalem, Israel91390
Global Vital Signs Monitoring Market Shows Growth Potential as Convenient and Cost-effective Options Emerge

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http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com

Transparency Market Research has compiled a vast amount of data on the biotechnology industry from a global as well as regional perspective. One of the more critical reports in this field is Vital Signs Monitoring Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2013  2019, from which a user could gain core knowledge of the market in order to gain a firmer standing in it.Brochure Download:A living beings vital signs include the measurement of body temperature, blood pressure, respiratory rate, and heart rate. In some cases, the monitoring of vital signs can even include end-tidal carbon dioxide rate, shortness of breath, gait speed, urinary continence, and physical pain. The primary precursor to measuring any vital sign is age, as these measurements are always changing with reference to a patients age. Vital signs monitoring serves a dual purpose of maintaining the healing rate of a patient, while also providing an important step anticipating complications.The primary driver of the global vital signs monitoring market is the growing awareness among patients about the modern options offered in this market. A large number of vital signs monitoring devices today are not only portable, but also provide a cost-effective way to measure an individuals overall well-being. The global vital signs monitoring market is further boosted by the increasing interest shown by government bodies in the form of favorable reimbursement policies. This factor applies more to developed economies, whereas developing economies are also showing a fast growth rate due to a rapid rise in healthcare infrastructure in recent years.The global vital signs monitoring market is primarily segmented through device type into temperature monitoring devices, pulse oximeters, and blood pressure monitoring devices.A key aspect of the global vital signs monitoring market is multimodal monitoring, which allows for the measurement and display of multiple vitals simultaneously. It also allows for a constant rate of monitoring for a patient and provides a direct link between the vital signs measurements and the trained medical staff.Browse Research Report:Geographically, the global vital signs monitoring market has consistently been dominated by North America, owing to the regions relatively advanced medical industry, along with the higher percentage of the geriatric demographic. This region benefits more from the increasing demand from patients for home monitoring devices. Asia Pacific and Latin America are taking major leaps in improving their healthcare infrastructure and will therefore provide a large scope of growth for the global vital signs monitoring market in the coming years.Key players in the global vital signs monitoring market are Welch Allyn, Inc., Suntech Medical, Inc., Spacelabs Healthcare, Inc., Philips Healthcare, Omron Healthcare, Inc., Nihon Kohden, Mindray Medical International Limited, Masimo Corporation, GE Healthcare, Covidien PLC, Contec Medical Systems, and A&D Medical.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Transparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Yissum Presents a Virtual Cane for the Visually Impaired

www.yissum.co.il

Jerusalem, Israel, June 21, 2011- The device was presented for the 1st time at the Israeli Presidential Conference, which is held in collaboration with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem -Yissum Research Development Company Ltd., the technology transfer company of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, presented today at the Israeli Presidential Conference, a virtual cane that will significantly improve the orientation and mobility of sight-impaired people. This new device can assist blind people in estimating the distance and height of various obstacles. The invention wasregistered as a patent by Yissum, which is now seeking strategic partners for further development.Currently there are almost 200 million visually impaired people globally, 40 million of which are legally blind, and most face multiple difficulties in orientation and navigation. One of the main challenges facing blind people is the ability to assess the height of various obstacles as well as to identify far away objects in their surroundings. The white cane, the current solution, offers only a very partial solution to these challenges.Dr. Amir Amedi from the Institute for Medical Research Israel-Canada (IMRIC) and at Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences (ELSC) at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and his team recently developed a device to help in spatial navigation for the blind. The invention, which functions as a virtual flashlight, can replace or augment the classic white cane. The virtual cane emits a focused beam towards surrounding objects, and transmits the information to the user via a gentle vibration, similar to a cell phone vibration. The cane incorporates several sensors that estimate the distance between theuser and the object it is pointed at. This allows the blind person to assess the height and distance of various objects, reconstruct an accurate image of the surroundings and navigate safely. The virtual cane is extremely small, easy to carry, accurate, can function for up to 12 hours and is easy to charge. Using the device is highly intuitive and can be learnt within a few minutes.Researchers in Dr. Amedi's lab employ the virtual cane in various environments in order to study the brain, its flexibility and reorganization in blind people. For example, the researchers constructed a real maze that enables subjects to practice walking in changing environments and paths. To date, more than 10 subjects have already successfully navigated the maze, and after a very short practice period managed to completely avoid walls and obstacles.Yaacov Michlin, CEO of Yissum said, "Dr. Amedi's promising invention can endow visually impaired people with the freedom to freely navigate in their surroundings without unintentionally bumping into or touching other people and thus has the potential to significantly enhance their quality of life."Yissum Representative in charge of CS & IT technologies - Tamir Huberman VP Business Development & IT Director of Yissum (Technology Transfer Company of the Hebrew University)Yissum Research Development Company of the Hebrew University ofJerusalem Ltd. was founded in 1964 to protect and commercialize the HebrewUniversitys intellectual property. Products based on Hebrew Universitytechnologies that have been commercialized by Yissum currently generate $2Billion in annual sales. Ranked among the top technology transfer companiesin the world, Yissum has registered over 8,500 patents covering 2,400 inventions; has licensed out 750 technologies and has spun out 90 companies. Yissums business partners span the globe and include companies such as Syngenta, Monsanto, Roche, Novartis, Microsoft, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Intel, Teva and many more. For further information please visitTamir HubermanHi-Tech Park, Givat Ram, PO BOX 39135Jerusalem, Israel91390
DynPro India Celebrates 20 Years of Service to its Global Customers and Community- DynPro India

DynPro India Celebrates 20 Years of Service to its Global Customers and Community- DynPro India.

Research Triangle Park, North Carolina  March 18, 2016  DynPro India is honored to be celebrating twenty years of service to both its global customers and global community. Reflecting over the past twenty years, we never imagined this journey to have been so fruitful and so rewarding. We learned long ago,when we focus on the good of our clients and our community, positive things result, stated Dr. Dhruv Gupta, CEO. Right now, our hope and our plan issimply to extend this wonderful journey for another twenty years, adds Sanjay Jain, President, DynPro India.Milestones in the DynPro India journey-1. 1996 Founded in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina as SAP implementation partner to IBM2. 1997 Established UK office in support if EMEA clients3. 1999 Major project engagement for Shop IBM4. 1999 Developed and launched global enterprise solution US, UK, India, Australia5. 2000 Global eBusiness engagement with Ericsson Sweden6. 2003 Launch Bangalore operations for IBM staff augmentation program7. 2004 Accenture added to DynPro client base8. 2005 Bangalore operations expand to Pune, Delhi and Kolkata9. 2008 Global headcount exceeds 500 associates10.2010 DynPro deploys over 200 SAP consultants in one year11.2012 Moroccan operations established, adding to global footprint12.2014 SAP consultants comprise one third of global headcount of 1,00013.2015 Multi-year Business Transformation project staffing with LenovoSince 1996, DynPro India has supported people, processes and technologies with organizations in the United States, United Kingdom and India. DynPro India is a single-source solution center for business information technology challenges. With an organization of expert technology consultants and a panel of internationally accomplished business leaders, DynPro India collaborates with its clients to fulfill IT solutions to business challenges. From consulting toSmart CRM Collaboration and BI solutions from ERP to Applications Management, companies can trust DynPro India Inc to provide the highest industry standards of IT project success on-time and on-budget every time.DynPro India Pvt. Ltd.#101,1st Floor, The Estate,121, Dickenson Road,Bangalore  560 042.India.Phone: +91 80 3079 5000Email :For general queries: info@dynproindia.comFor careers : careers@dynproindia.com
Global Zinc Fluosilicate Market 2016 Industry Trends, Research, Analysis & Review Forecast 2023

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A market study based on the "Zinc Fluosilicate Market" across the globe, recently added to the repository of QY Market research, is titled Global Zinc Fluosilicate Market 2016. The research report analyzes the historical as well as present performance of the global Zinc Fluosilicate market, and makes predictions on the future status of Zinc Fluosilicate market on the basis of this analysis.The report studies the market for Zinc Fluosilicate across the globe taking the existing industry chain, the import and export statistics in Zinc Fluosilicate market & dynamics of demand and supply of Zinc Fluosilicate into consideration.Request For Report Sample Here :The 'Zinc Fluosilicate' research study covers each and every aspect of the Zinc Fluosilicate market globally, which starts from the definition of the Zinc Fluosilicate market and develops towards Zinc Fluosilicate market segmentations. Further, every segment of the Zinc Fluosilicate market is classified and analyzed on the basis of product types, application, and the end-use industries of the Zinc Fluosilicate market. The geographical segmentation of the Zinc Fluosilicate market has also been covered at length in this report.The competitive landscape of the global market for Zinc Fluosilicate is determined by evaluating the various market participants, production capacity, Zinc Fluosilicate market's production chain, and the revenue generated by each manufacturer in the Zinc Fluosilicate market worldwide.Do Enquiry Before Purchasing Here :The global Zinc Fluosilicate market 2016 is also analyzed on the basis of product pricing, Zinc Fluosilicate production volume, data regarding demand and Zinc Fluosilicate supply, and the revenue garnered by the product. Various methodical tools such as investment returns, feasibility, and market attractiveness analysis has been used in the research to present a comprehensive study of the market for Zinc Fluosilicate across the globe.About Us:Global Market Firm is a single destination for all the industry, company and country reports. We feature large repository of latest industry reports, leading and niche company profiles, and market statistics released by reputed private publishers and public organizations.Contact Us:Joel JohnDeerfield Beach, Florida 33442United StatesToll Free: +1-855-465-4651 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-386-310-3803Web: Global Market FirmEmail: sales@globalmarketfirm.com
Mobile Stroke Unit (MSTU) Market Research Report to 2022: Grand View Research, Inc.

http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/mobile-stroke-unit-market

Global mobile stroke unit market is expected to reach USD 9.4million by 2022, according to a new report by Grand View Research Inc.The demand for mobile stroke unit is expected to upsurge owing to increasing demand for specialized emergency rooms on wheel to increase the stroke survival rate.The incidence rate of stroke is high owing to the lack of awareness amongpeople related to the primary stroke signs and hence the government of developed economies such as the U.S. has established many initiatives at the national level to address this issue. Some of them are Act FAST, Stroke Training and Awareness Resources (STARS), stroke program, and cryogenic stroke awareness.Browse full research report on Global Mobile Stroke Unit Market:Growing healthcare cost burden has also increased the percentage of research funding for stroke. In April 2015, the Health Economics Research Centre at Oxford University compared the research spending for stroke from 2008 to 2012. The result established the fact that the percentage of stroke research funding had increased from 1% to 3%. In 2012, the government and charity spending for stroke in the UK was around USD 4.14 billion.Stroke primarily occurs owing to obesity, high blood pressure, cholesterol, and smoking habits. 87% of the stroke is ischemic in nature due to the artery blockage in high blood pressure patients. Obesity leads to difficulty in blood circulation as the body has high fat.Further key findings from the report suggest: The U.S. is the most potential market owing to increasedstroke research funding and programs undertaken to increase awareness and high penetration of telemedicine technology. In 2011, the U.S. government spent over USD 302 million for stroke research to prevent the primary signs of stroke such as atrial fibrillation and molecules discovery to treat them. The January 2015 report released by the American Hospital Association, surveyed that in 2013, 52% of hospitals used Telehealth, while 10% implemented it. Consumers are willing to use the Telehealth services (74%) highlighting the fact that telemedicine is highly adopted in the U.S. Germany is another potential market owing to the various research funds by the European Union to undertake cardiac research in relation to atrial fibrillation. The RETRAINER project was supported by nine partners from Germany, Italy, Austria, and Switzerland. In March 2003, German competence Network on Atrial Fibrillation (AFNET) was formed to investigate the reason of arrhythmia and improving patient care. The concept of mobilestroke unit originated from Germany, where the University of Saarland placed a portable CT scanner in ambulance along with a neurophysiologist to analyze the survival rate instroke patients. The concept was then revolutionized and the worlds first MSU named STEMO came in to existence. The UK experiences around 152,000 stroke cases and an annual healthcare cost of USD 12.73 billion. The increasing concern for the lack of stroke awareness led to the foundation of the Act FAST campaign in February 2009. In February 2015, the NHS Lewisham Clinical Commissioning Group and the Public Health England together supported the Act FAST campaign highlighting the common signs of mini-strokes and strokes. After the inception of this program, 38,600 people have additionally gone to hospitals calling 999, the emergency number. Manufacturers are also conducting collaborative exercises to study the effect of pre-hospitalization treatment against hospital stroke treatment. In July 2012, Neurologica Corporation and Meytec partnered to develop worlds first comprehensive mobile stroke ambulance. VIMED STEMO combines Meytecs telemedicine technology with Neurologicas CT scanner. The state-of-the-art CereTomallows real time imaging, thus reducing the treatment. To address increasing healthcare cost burden, the European nation funded a robotic project to speed up stroke rehabilitation. Some key players of MSTUs market includeMeytec, Nueurologica Corporation, Excellance, Frazer, and Falck.Grand View Research has segmented the global mobile stroke unitmarket on the basis of regions:Mobile Stroke UnitRegional Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2012  2022) U.S. UK Germany ArgentinaGrand View Research, Inc. is a U.S. based market research and consulting company, registered in the State of California and headquartered in San Francisco. The company provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. To help clients make informed business decisions, we offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across a range of industries, from technology to chemicals, materials and healthcare.Sherry JamesCorporate Sales Specialist, USAGrand View Research, Inc
Russia Hip Reconstruction Market 2016 Outlook, Size, Share, Analysis

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Market Research report On "Russia Hip Reconstruction Market Outlook 2020" is a professional and Deep research report in this fieldNew Report "Russia Hip Reconstruction Market Outlook to 2020", provides key market data on the Russia Hip Reconstruction market. The report provides value, in millions of US dollars, and volume (in units) and average price data (in US dollars), within market categories Primary Hip Replacement, Revision Hip Replacement, Partial Hip Replacement and Hip Resurfacing.Get Sample Copy of Report :The report also provides company shares and distribution shares data for each of these market categories, and global corporate-level profiles of the key market participants, pipeline products, and news and deals related to the Hip Reconstruction market wherever available.The data in the report is derived from dynamic market forecast models. uses epidemiology and capital equipment-based models to estimate and forecast the market size. The objective is to provide information that represents the most up-to-date data of the industry possible.The epidemiology-based forecasting model makes use of epidemiology data gathered from research publications and primary interviews with physicians to establish the target patient population and treatment flow patterns for individual diseases and therapies. Using prevalence and incidence data and diagnosed and treated population, the epidemiology-based forecasting model arrives at the final numbers.Capital equipment-based forecasting models are done based on the installed base, replacements and new sales of a specific device/equipment in healthcare facilities such as hospitals, clinics and diagnostic centers. Data for average number of units per facility is used to arrive at the installed base of the capital equipment. Sales for a particular year are arrived at by calculating the replacement units and new units (additional and first-time purchases).Extensive interviews are conducted with key opinion leaders (KOLs), physicians and industry experts to validate the market size, company share and distribution share data and analysis.Energy Market Study is a single destination for all the industry, company and country reports. We feature large repository of latest industry reports, leading and niche company profiles, and market statistics released by reputed private publishers and public organizations.Joel JohnSuite #8138, 3422 SW 15 Street,Deerfield Beach, Florida 33442United States
Xeditor announces new client: DDS

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www.xeditor.com

Munich, April 5, 2016  Xeditor announced today the signing of its newest Swiss client, DDS (Research Centre Diplomatic Documents of Switzerland). With Xeditor, DDS will equip its researchers with a tool for editing XML/TEI (Text Encoding Initiative) based documents integral to the history of Swiss foreign policy.With todays signing of DDS, Xeditor increases support for the Digital Humanities by now offering the TEI (Text Encoding Initiative) data model. Academic researchers using TEI now have a tool to create and edit XML documents.The DDS are a research project aiming to edit key documents on Swiss foreign relations. The editors provide researchers and practitioners with official sources in printed and digitized form which are necessary to reconstruct and gain an understanding of the history of Swiss foreign policy.Xeditor will enable our research center to migrate the production of our printed volumes to a XML/TEI based model, using a fully web-based toolset. The clean and familiar user interface will allow our researchers to leverage the complexity of the underlying structure while focusing on their scientific and historical work. Xeditor is also quite modular, which allowed us to integrate it easily into our existing back office infrastructure. Maurizio Rossi, CTO, DDS.We are very excited to announce our new client DDS. We welcome the opportunity to support the academic community interested in archiving structured content for research, teaching, and historical preservation. Anthony Apodaca, Business Development Executive, Xeditor.Xeditor, the web-based WYSIWYG editor, allows authors to create and edit XML documents intuitively without any technical knowledge. Xeditor effortlessly integrates into into other pre-existing systems (CMS, PIM, etc.) and is fully customizable.Target Group Publishers and Media houses Technical documentation Corporate Publishing Universities, educational institutions, mail order industry, etc.CustomersIDG, Wolters Kluwer, De Gruyter, Michael Page, Bibliomundi, publishone etcTrade FairsTCeurope (Porto, Portugal, April, 15, 2016), Publishers Forum (Berlin, April 28-29, 2016), BookExpo America (Chicago, USA, May, 11-13, 2016), LavaCon (Dublin, Ireland, June 5-7, 2016), CrossMediaForum (Munich, Germany, July 1, 2016), Frankfurt Bookfair (Frankfurt, Germany, October, 19-23, 2016), LavaCon (Las Vegas, USA, October, 26-29, 2016), tcworld conference (Stuttgart, Germany, November, 8-11, 2016), CMS/DITA Europe (Munich, Germany, November, 14-15, 2016).Website & CoFacebook/Xeditor googleplus/Xeditor twitter/XeditorAppsoft Technologies, an innovative and dynamic team in Munich, offers among other things software solutions for XML based jobs and publishing. The development of modern and open software architectures allows flexible and tailor-made customer solutions. Appsoft provides Xeditor, the web-based XML editor and Xpublisher, with the XML editing system.Appsoft Technologies GmbHMr. Anthony Apodaca111 S. Jackson St.Seattle, WA, 98104USATel.: +1-212-884-9402Email: apodaca@appsoft.de
Spain Shoulder Reconstruction Market and Small Joints market Share, Size, Analysis, Outlook

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Market Research report On "Spain Shoulder Reconstruction Market and Small Joints Outlook 2020" is a professional and Deep research report in this fieldNew Report "Spain Shoulder Reconstruction and Small Joints Market Outlook to 2020", provides key market data on the Spain Shoulder Reconstruction and Small Joints market. The report provides value, in millions of US dollars, and volume (in units) and average price data (in US dollars), within market categories Shoulder Replacement, Digits Replacement, Elbow Replacement, Ankle Replacement and Wrist Replacement.Get Sample Copy of Report :The report also provides company shares and distribution shares data for each of these market categories, and global corporate-level profiles of the key market participants, pipeline products, and news and deals related to the Shoulder Reconstruction and Small Joints market wherever available.The data in the report is derived from dynamic market forecast models. uses epidemiology and capital equipment-based models to estimate and forecast the market size. The objective is to provide information that represents the most up-to-date data of the industry possible.The epidemiology-based forecasting model makes use of epidemiology data gathered from research publications and primary interviews with physicians to establish the target patient population and treatment flow patterns for individual diseases and therapies. Using prevalence and incidence data and diagnosed and treated population, the epidemiology-based forecasting model arrives at the final numbers.Capital equipment-based forecasting models are done based on the installed base, replacements and new sales of a specific device/equipment in healthcare facilities such as hospitals, clinics and diagnostic centers. Data for average number of units per facility is used to arrive at the installed base of the capital equipment. Sales for a particular year are arrived at by calculating the replacement units and new units (additional and first-time purchases).Extensive interviews are conducted with key opinion leaders (KOLs), physicians and industry experts to validate the market size, company share and distribution share data and analysis.Global Market News is a single destination for all the industry, company and country reports. We feature large repository of latest industry reports, leading and niche company profiles, and market statistics released by reputed private publishers and public organizations.Joel JohnSuite #8138, 3422 SW 15 Street,Deerfield Beach, Florida 33442United States
Octreotide Market size and Key Trends in terms of volume and value 2016-2026

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1266

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-1266

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Future Market Insights has announced the addition of the Octreotide Market: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment 2016-2026" report to their offering.Octreotide are amino acid monomer which is attached to amide group. The octreotide acts similar to the hormone somatostatin. Octreotide basically lowers the variety of hormone such as insulin, glucagon, growth hormone and others, Octreotide reduces chemical messengers such as gastrin, vasoactive intestinal peptide that cause disease symptoms. Octreotide depending upon the severity generally severe diarrhea, acromegaly as well as for treating flushing in patients with tumors. Octreotride is also used to reduction of the side effects from cancer chemotherapy. The global Octreotide market was estimated to be around U.S $ 1.6 Bn. in 2013 .The estimated CAGR for Octreotide market from 2012 to 2013 was approximately 5%. The use of octreotide is expected to grow because of increase in number of people diagnosed with cancer, diarrhea and tumors.Octreotide Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe global demand for octreotide is driven by growing number of people under the diagnosis of cancer. In 2012, there were estimated 14.1 million cases of cancer .It is estimated that by 2035, the number of people suffering from cancer will be around 24 million. These estimate shows that the demand for treatment drugs such as octreotide will grow. It is forecasted that around 2200 children die every day due to severe diarrhea, more than Aids, malaria and measles combined. Henceforth it is important to tackle these world challenges by supplying adequate octreotide drugs for the diseased. The use of octreotide in radiolabelling will substantially increase the demand for Octreotide.The increasing popularity of generic drugs might affect the consumption of branded drugs. The availability of generic drugs is expected to grow because of cost factor and hence will affect the overall Pharmaceutical industry if not restructured according to the market and consumer needs. The important restraining factor for Octreotide Market is the lack research of Octreotide for the treatment of children, pregnant and lactating women. The use of Octreotide is based on risk factor analysis hence might affect the consumption of Octreotide.Request free sample Report:Octreotide Market: SegmentationOn the basis of Type, global Octreotide Market is segmented into:octreotide acetateoctreotideoctreotide chlorideoctreotide hydrochlorideindium In-111; octreotideOn the basis of End use, global Octreotide Market is segmented into:PharmaceuticalClinical ResearchOctreotide Market: Key market PlayersSome of the Octreotide producers are Novartis pharmaceuticals corp., App pharmaceuticals llc, Bedford laboratories div ben venue laboratories Inc., Sun pharmaceutical industries ltd., Sinopharm A-THINK Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Teva parenteral medicines Inc., Neiss Labs Pvt. Ltd., Samarth Pharma Pvt. Ltd. J.B. Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals Ltd and othersRequest 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.Mr. Sudip saha616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Global Offshore Wind Turbines Market: Growing Demand for Renewable Energy to Drive Growth

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A new market research report by Transparency Market Research on the global offshore wind turbines market presents insights into the key factors affecting the growth of the market. The report, titled Offshore Wind Turbines Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2015 - 2023, offers an overview of the global offshore wind turbines market and projects the growth and valuation of the market during the period between 2015 and 2023. The report further studies the global offshore wind turbines market on the basis of foundation types and regions. Profiles of some of the key players operating in the market have been included in the report.Browse Offshore Wind Turbines Market Report with Full TOC at :The depletion of fossil fuels, along with the negative impact of fossil fuels on environment and health has led governments and industries to look for energy alternatives. Countries such as China, India, Germany, France, the U.S., and the U.K. have invested significantly in the renewable energy market. Wind energy is an important constituent of the renewable energy mix and offshore wind turbines have emerged as the means to generate electricity from wind energy. The turbine blades are connected to a shaft, which turns a generator to produce electricity. Stronger wind speeds in offshore areas have the potential to produce a high amount of electricity. All these factors have fuelled the demand from the global offshore wind turbines market.The increasing awareness about the renewable sources of energy is expected to largely contribute towards the growth of the global offshore wind turbines market. Favorable government regulations are anticipated to further augment the growth of the market. Though there is easy availability of space for the installation of offshore wind turbines over vast water bodies, the manufacturing and design of offshore wind turbines depend on a number of factors such as wave loading, geology of the seabed, and the depth of water. High construction costs of offshore wind turbines are expected to hamper the growth of the market during the forecast horizon. The overall market will be benefitted with the exploration of new offshore sites as well as technological advancements.For further inquiries, click here :The report studies the global offshore wind turbines market across five key regions: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa. The report studies the growth of the market across each of the regions and takes into consideration the various micro- and macro-economic factors governing the growth of the regional offshore wind turbines markets.Describing the competitive landscape, the report profiles some of the key players in the global offshore wind turbines market such as Vestas, Siemens AG, Suzlon Group, Goldwind Science & Technology Co. Ltd., General Electric, Gamesa, Sinovel Wind Group Co. Ltd, and Nordex SE.About UsTransparency 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.90 Sate Street, Suite 700 Albany, NY 12207
Set Top Box (STB) Industry Trends, Analysis To 2022 by Grand View Research Inc.

http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/the-global-set-top-box-market

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The global Set Top Box (STB) market size is expected to reach USD 25.45 billion by 2022 according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. Technology proliferation and increasing demand for high-quality picture and sound is anticipated to boost global set top box market growth. Increasing demand for IPTV models in developed regions from North America and Europe has further bolstered industry growth. Additionally, abridged prices of smart TVs and growing availability of HD channels across all platforms are expected to push demand for advanced STB devices.STBs can be categorized into cable, satellite, Internet Protocol TV (IPTV), Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) and Over The Top (OTT) devices. Digital format transmissions provide better sound and picture quality, as well as an enhanced viewing experience in HD. Additionally, they provide interactive services such as Video On Demand (VoD), and the freedom to pay only for selected channels.Recent administrative regulations pertaining to digitization in countries such as India are further expected to impel industry growth as these protocols can provide monetary relief to viewers, and in some cases, funding for broadcasters to enable a digital switch over to take place by a given deadline.However, procurement costs and associated costs of pay channels are expected to pose as challenges for the industry. The inequality in demand and supply of devices across the world is expected to negatively affect the global market.Browse full research report on Global Set Top Box (STB) Market:Further key findings from the report suggest: DTT STB segment dominated the global set top box industry contributing to over 25% of the market revenue in 2014. DTT broadcasts uses terrestrial (land-based) signals and enable efficient use of spectrum providing increased capacity over analog transmission, better quality images, and lower operating costs for broadcast and transmission after an initial upgrade investment. Vendors are offering various types of STBs, ranging from basic cable to satellite to the ones that record content via IP transmission such as in IPTV. Key operators are deploying new services in response to the threat against OTT service providers. The conventional digital model is emerging into a hybrid version supporting alternative sources of premium content such as OTT video services. Asia Pacific dominated the global set top box industry contributing to over 35% of the global revenue in 2014. IP transmission recording features and higher storage specifications are expected to ensure a steady growth in North American region. Initiatives by the government and authorities have led to an overall increase in the installation of devices in the select geographies. Asia Pacific regional STB industry is expected to grow at a CAGR of nearly 2.5% from 2015 to 2022. Major manufacturers in the industry are established in countries from the Asia Pacific region, such China and Taiwan, owing to higher production capacities and cheap labor. This has led to an increased awareness and adoption of STBs in the region. Key industry participants include Samsung, Skyworth, Cisco, Echostar, Amazon, Huawei, ADB, HUMAX, Coship, and Technicolor. Vendors are progressively adopting innovative distribution strategies such as authorized e-commerce retailers apart from traditional retail stores.Read detailed report or request for sample of this research report:Grand View Research has segmented the global set top box market on the basis of product, content quality, and region:Set Top Box (STB) Product Outlook (Volume, Million Units; Revenue, USD Billion, 2012  2022) Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) Satellite Cable DTT (Digital Terrestrial) OTTSet Top Box (STB) Content Quality Outlook (Volume, Million Units; Revenue, USD Billion, 2012  2022) SD (Standard Definition) STB HD (High Definition) STB OthersSet Top Box (STB) Regional Outlook (Volume, Million Units; Revenue, USD Billion, 2012  2022) North America Europe Asia Pacific Latin America MEABrowse more reports of this category by Grand View Research:Grand View Research, Inc. is a U.S. based market research and consulting company, registered in the State of California and headquartered in San Francisco. The company provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. To help clients make informed business decisions, we offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across a range of industries, from technology to chemicals, materials and healthcare.Sherry JamesCorporate Sales Specialist, USAGrand View Research, Inc
Australia C-Arms Market Outlook to 2020 , Size, Share, Analysis

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Market Research report On "Australia C-Arms Market Outlook to 2020"Apr 5, 20161 view0 Likes0 CommentsShare on LinkedInShare on FacebookShare on TwitterMarket Research report On "Australia C-Arms Market Outlook to 2020" is a professional and Deep research report in this fieldGet Sample Copy of Report :New Report "Australia C-Arms Market Outlook to 2020", provides key market data on the Australia C-Arms market. The report provides value, in millions of US dollars, and volume (in units) and average price data (in US dollars), within market category.The report also provides company shares and distribution shares data for the market, and global corporate-level profiles of the key market participants, pipeline products, and news and deals related to the C-Arms market wherever available.The data in the report is derived from dynamic market forecast models. uses capital equipment-based models to estimate and forecast the market size. The objective is to provide information that represents the most up-to-date data of the industry possible.Capital equipment-based forecasting models are done based on the installed base, replacements and new sales of a specific device/equipment in healthcare facilities such as hospitals, clinics and diagnostic centers. Data for average number of units per facility is used to arrive at the installed base of the capital equipment. Sales for a particular year are arrived at by calculating the replacement units and new units (additional and first-time purchases).Extensive interviews are conducted with key opinion leaders (KOLs), physicians and industry experts to validate the market size, company share and distribution share data and analysis.Medical Report Store is a single destination for all the industry, company and country reports. We feature large repository of latest industry reports, leading and niche company profiles, and market statistics released by reputed private publishers and public organizations.Joel JohnSuite #8138, 3422 SW 15 Street,Deerfield Beach, Florida 33442United States
Paint Protection Film Market To 2022  Industry Analysis, Trends: Grand View Research, Inc.

http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/paint-protection-film-market

The global paint protection film market is expected to reach USD 1.49 billion by 2022, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. Growth of automotive industry coupled with rising consumer awareness regarding car protection is expected to remain key factors driving growth.Increasing application scope across key end-use industries such as electrical & electronics and aerospace & defense is expected to further contribute towards industry growth. Changing lifestyle along with shift in preference towards look of the vehicle is also anticipated to positively influence growth.Increasing per capita disposable income in emerging economies of Asia Pacific and Latin America coupled with advent of technologies such as internet connected cars is expected to fuel automotive sales and in turn compliment paint protective film market growth.Automotive emerged as the leading application segment and accounted for over three quarters of total demand in 2014. It is also expected to witness highest CAGR of 6.4% from 2015 to 2022. Increasing demand from heavy-duty vehicles owing to longer shelf life of these films is expected to drive application segment growth.Browse to access In-depth research report on Global Paint Protection Film Market with detailed charts and figures:Further key findings from the report suggest: Global paint protection film market demand was 1,103.4 thousand sq. meters in 2014 and is expected to reach 1,659.5 thousand sq. meters by 2022, growing at a CAGR of 5.3% from 2015 to 2022. Aerospace & defense accounted for over 10% of total market volume in 2014. Increasing defense sector investment in countries such as China, India and Russia is expected to drive application segment growth at a CAGR of 2.9% from 2015 to 2022 Asia Pacific was the leading regional market and accounted for over one-third of the global demand in 2014. Automotive production growth and advent of China as the leading producer in the industry shall drive growth over the forecast period. Strong demand for premium passenger cars in India and Southeast Asia alike shall also aid in the regions development. The industry is characterized by strong scope for development in electronics sector. Though a niche segment currently, electronics such as mobile phones, tablets, and display screens are being applied with protection films in order to preserve their aesthetics and design integrity There is also considerable presence of integrated companies in the industry that are involved in TPU films manufacturing along with its downstream application as paint protection. A few such companies include DuPont, Lubrizol and Eastman Chemical Co. Global paint protection film market share is moderately fragmented among multinational corporations and small domestic companies. Major industry participants with global presence include 3M Company, Avery Denison, SunTek Films, XPEL, Solar Gard, Premier Protective Films International, Agrotec, PremiumShield and Vanzetti Engineering S.R.L.Grand View Research has segmented the paint protection film market on the basis of application and region:Global Paint Protection Film Application Outlook (Volume, Thousand Square Meters; Revenue, USD Million, 2012 - 2022) Automotive Electrical & electronics Aerospace & defense OthersGlobal Paint Protection Film Regional Outlook (Volume, Thousand Square Meters; Revenue, USD Million, 2012 - 2022) North Americao U.S Europeo Germanyo Franceo UK Asia Pacifico Indiao Chinao Japan Central & South America Middle East and AfricaGrand View Research, Inc. is a U.S. based market research and consulting company, registered in the State of California and headquartered in San Francisco. The company provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. To help clients make informed business decisions, we offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across a range of industries, from technology to chemicals, materials and healthcare.Sherry JamesCorporate Sales Specialist, USAGrand View Research, Inc
Global Barium Chloride Market 2016 Industry Trends, Analysis, Forecasts and Study

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Global Barium Chloride Industry 2016 Market Overview, Size, Share, Trends, Analysis, Technology, Applications, Growth, Market Status, Demands, Insights, Development, Research and Forecast 2016-2020.The most significant constituents required in understanding the global Barium Chloride market, the major drivers and restraints that influence its growth in the near future, information about the top segments of the global Barium Chloride market from a regional perspective, and the latest trends that have been witnessed in terms of the political, economic, and industrial aspects are examined in depth before being added to the latest report in the QYResearchReports database. This report implements primary and secondary research methodologies to illuminate the functionalities of the global Barium Chloride market from 2016 to 2020, and this information is further complemented by key insights imparted by leading industry experts.Detailed data based on the geographical segments of the global Barium Chloride market will reveal the markets relative strength with the various regions in context. This can help create a birds eye view of the structure of the Barium Chloride market. The relative examination of the geographical segments of the Barium Chloride market can help the reports users understand the importance of each region and prioritize their allotment of resources to a particular region. The decision can be taken based on the recommendations of experienced analysts, who will guide the users in uncovering the regional segments that can stand to earn profit or incur loss within the given forecast period. This also delivers a conclusive overview of the future potential of the global Barium Chloride market.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The structure of the Barium Chloride market is further assessed in a granular format, which is then expanded through the study of the contributions made by various technology, application, and product segments from 2016 to 2020. This contribution is correlated to the performance levels of each segment. A cross-referenced investigation of the given segments in conjunction to the regional markets will help the global Barium Chloride markets key players in fully comprehending the relationship between the different segments. Additionally, is will aid in determining where the strongest economic interests lie.Browse Complete Report with TOC @QYResearchReports.com is the trusted source of market research reports among clients that include prestigious Chinese companies, multinational companies, SMEs, and private equity firms. Our market research reports focus on categories including but not limited to: Chemicals, Energy, Alternative and Green Energy, Machinery, Manufacturing, Glass, Pharmaceuticals and Materials.QYResearchReports1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-618-1030Web:Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com
Metalworking Fluids Market Growth, Industry Trends To 2022 by Grand View Research, Inc.

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The global metalworking fluids market is expected to reach USD 11.99 billion by 2022, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. Growing demand for metalworking fluids in automotives and heavy machinery owing to its properties of increasing efficiency is expected to drive market growth. Competitive pricing owing to large number of small suppliers in the market is expected to be a key feature of the industry over the next seven years.Synthetic fluids are expected to witness significant growth on account of their increasing use on account of their superior capabilities such as increasing tool life and providing excellent surface finish. However, customers in Asia Pacific region are still consuming mineral oil based fluids on account of their price sensitive nature.Asia Pacific has been leading the demand owing to presence of a large-scale consumer base, particularly from India and China. Price sensitivity among OEMs in Asia Pacific is a major factor influencing demand for metalworking fluids in the region.Browse full research report on Global Metalworking Fluids Market:Further key findings from the report suggest: Mineral based oil accounted for 52.1% of global volume share in 2014. Mineral oil is the conventional metalworking fluids produced in large volumes owing to their easy availability and cost effectiveness. Europe bio-based metalworking fluids market was valued at USD 277.5 million in 2014. Europe is expected to witness a strong demand for the bio-based product owing to the prevalence of strong government regulations. However, the expensive nature of these products is expected to hamper their growth over the forecast period. Asia Pacific was the largest market and is expected to witness gains at a CAGR of 4.4% from 2015 to 2022. Increasing production volumes in various sectors including automobile, defense, marine and aerospace is expected to be a major factor driving market in the region. Corrosion preventive oils demand was 514.4 kilo tons in 2014. Corrosion preventive oils are used in machining operations where possibility of damaging the tool is very high. These oils are responsible for improving the sump life which eventually leads to reduction in the overhead costs for the manufacturers. This has resulted in increasing demand from small scale manufacturers on account of their tight cost structures and low volumes. Key industry players including Chevron Corporation, Quaker Chemical Corporation, British Petroleum, ExxonMobil Corp, Royal Dutch Shell, and Houghton have wide range of supplier and distribution network. Cimcool, Blaser Swisslube, Total S.A., Fuchs, Eni S.p.A., Croda International, and Ashland, Inc are investing heavily in research and development for the product. In February 2016, the Ashland, Inc acquired Oil Can Henry, a step that would help in expanding its business presence in the Pacific Northwest quick-lube sector.Grand View Research has segmented the global Metalworking Fluids market on the basis of material, application and region:Global Metalworking Fluids Product Outlook (Volume, Kilo Tons; Revenue, USD Million, 2012 - 2022) Mineral Synthetic Bio-basedGlobal Metalworking Fluids Application Outlook (Volume, Kilo Tons; Revenue, USD Million, 2012 - 2022) Neat Cutting Oils Water Soluble Cutting Oils Corrosion Preventive Oils OthersGlobal Metalworking Fluids Regional Outlook (Volume, Kilo Tons; Revenue, USD Million, 2012 - 2022) North Americao U.S. Europeo Germanyo Russia Asia Pacifico Chinao India Latin Americao Brazil MEAGrand View Research, Inc. is a U.S. based market research and consulting company, registered in the State of California and headquartered in San Francisco. The company provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. To help clients make informed business decisions, we offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across a range of industries, from technology to chemicals, materials and healthcare.Sherry JamesCorporate Sales Specialist, USAGrand View Research, Inc
Topical Antibiotic Pharmaceuticals Market - Supply, Forecast and Demand Value Chain (2016 - 2022)

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Topical antibiotics pharmaceuticals are used to treat infections of the skin and are commonly applied as creams and ointments. Antibiotics are agents that destroy or inhibit the growth of microorganisms, which are sensitive to them. Few topical antibiotics are sold without prescription from physicians and are available in several forms such as ointments, creams, sprays and powders. Topical antibiotics prevents infection caused by bacteria which get into minor scrapes, burns, and cuts. Treating minor injuries with antibiotics allows faster healing. If the injuries are left untreated, the bacteria will multiply and create redness, itching, swelling, oozing, and causing pain. Untreated infections can ultimately spread and become more serious. Soft tissue and dermal bacterial infections are one of the most commonly occurring conditions amongst people accounting for over 25 million visits to physicians every year. Most of these infections are minor and chronic in nature causing irritation and can be treated as outpatient procedures. Topical antibiotics are a large generic group of pharmaceutical products catering to the treatment of these commonly occurring conditions. A large variety of bacteria such as Staph aureus, Streptococcus viridians, Enterococcus faecalis and Staph pyogenes are responsible for these infections.Patients with poor hygiene, weak immune system and compromised epidermis and close contact with people having epidermal diseases are prone to get affected. Developments in technology are believed to play a critical role in the growth topical antibiotics pharmaceuticals market during the forecast period. Topical antibiotic pharmaceuticals are some of the most commonly used products by the general public. Topical antibiotic pharmaceuticals used for a range of conditions from prevention of infection in cuts and grazes to the management of mild to moderate cases of acne. The market for topical antibiotics has been considerably due to increasing awareness of these OTC products among the lesser literate. Rising resistance of bacteria against drugs has led to development of several new antibiotics that are analogous to existing drugs such as nadifloxacin and triclosan in the past decade. Topical antibiotics comprise of approximately 40% of the global antibiotics market the remainder being accounted to oral antibiotics. Although they have an important role to play in skin infections, only restraint for topical antibiotic pharmaceuticals is their use generally is limited to short-term use and for the mild to moderate forms of infections.Topical antibiotic pharmaceuticals market is classified on the basis of product type, distribution channel er and geography.Based on the product type, the global topical antibiotic pharmaceuticals market is segmented into the following:OintmentCreamSuspensionPowderBased on the type end user, the global topical antibiotic pharmaceuticals market is segmented into the following:Hospitals ClinicsPrivate ClinicsRetail Pharmacies and Drug Storese-commerceThe global market for topical antibiotic pharmaceuticals market is highly fragmented in terms of market players due to high amount of active pharmaceutical generic ingredients used in the preparations. This generic nature has led to the creation of several global players in the market. The Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has particularly significant market opportunity in developing countries where hospital acquired MRSA infections occur commonly. Recent FDA regulations direct anti-septic soap and hand wash manufacturers to provide suitable clinical data for efficacy of their products against normal wash before promotion.Interested in report: Please follow the below links to meet your requirements;Request for the Report Brochure:On the basis of geography, global topical antibiotic pharmaceuticals market is segmented into five key regions: North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Middle East & Africa. North America and Europe maintains its highest contribution primarily due to a significantly high usage of pharmaceutical preparations as compared to Asia-Pacific and Rest of the World which is still deeply rooted in using unani therapies for topical disease conditions.Some notable companies manufacturing topical antibiotic pharmaceutical products include Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Perrigo Company plc, Taro Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Pfizer Inc., Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Inc., GlaxoSmithKline plc. Fera and Watson pharmaceuticals.For more info:The report covers exhaustive analysis on:Topical Antibiotic Pharmaceutical Market SegmentsTopical Antibiotic Pharmaceutical Market DynamicsHistorical Actual Market Size, 2013 - 2015Topical Antibiotic Pharmaceutical Market Size & Forecast 2016 to 2022Topical Antibiotic Pharmaceutical Current Trends/Issues/ChallengesCompetition & Companies involvedTopical Antibiotic Pharmaceutical Drivers and RestraintsRegional analysis includesNorth AmericaLatin AmericaEuropeAsia PacificMiddle East & AfricaReport Highlights:Shifting Industry dynamicsIn-depth market segmentationHistorical, current and projected industry size Recent industry trendsKey Competition landscapeStrategies of key players and product offeringsPotential and niche segments/regions exhibiting promising growthA neutral perspective towards market performanceAbout UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a full-service market intelligence firm specializing in syndicated research, custom research, and consulting services. PMR boasts market research expertise across the Healthcare, Chemicals and Materials, Technology and Media, Energy and Mining, Food and Beverages, Semiconductor and Electronics, Consumer Goods, and Shipping and Transportation industries. The company draws from its multi-disciplinary capabilities and high-pedigree team of analysts to share data that precisely corresponds to clients business needs.PMR stands committed to bringing more accuracy and speed to clients business decisions. From ready-to-purchase market research reports to customized research solutions, PMRs engagement models are highly flexible without compromising on its deep-seated research values.ContactPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United StatesUSA - Canada Toll Free: +1 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb:
Windkraftindia- For High Quality Designer Ceiling Fans With Lights

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Windkraftindia is one of the leading suppliers of designer ceiling fans with lights. The expert professionals see to it that every fan is on par with global standards, which means that every fan that a client purchases has been specifically constructed keeping in mind the design and the performance of the machine. Clients can be rest assured that every product on display on the official website of the company are fit enough to be installed in the living room or at other place without any inhibition.The company gives much importance to innovation. The company experts keep on researching for latest technology and style trends that makes the company fans stand out among the rest. The company makes sure that clients get best ceiling fans in India without any trouble. Interested parties can certainly check the official website of the company to get all the essential details regarding the specifications of the fans. The company website is a sorted web interface with all the essential details, which a client requires to make an informed decision.Every customer is given due priority and respect. The company boasts of excellent customer service to listen or to sort any of the client queries. The high quality fans and the satisfying customer service makes the company stands out among the rest. The efficient customer service executives make sure that all of client grievances are sorted without any disappointment on part of the client. The customer executives are properly trained to handle all the aspects of customer service to make sure that every bit of client query is sorted.The company experts strive to be the best and constantly work on developing new style and designs that can leave any customer speechless. The technology, which is integrated with these fans with LED lights is the difference and is what attracts the client to make the purchase. Curiosity is going to seep in once you check the official website of the company and see various fans on display long with all the specifications about the product.People looking to make purchase of these high quality stylish fans can surely get their hands on some of the finest ceiling or table fans that they desire. In case of any query or doubt, feel free to contact the company officials through the mentioned contact details on the official website of the company. The expert official will be more than happy to be of any assistance, and can help client make an informed decision. Clients are guided to get the best option for to fulfill their needs and requirements. For more details visitWindkraftindia is one company that provides clients with high quality fans that are high on style. The company believes in innovation and keeps working on new style and design that perfectly integrate with the existing technology and innovative line of fans that the company specializes in.Minty Chambers No 3,Room no- 1A 11, Dhuswadi,Dhobi Talao, Mumbai-400002Phone :- +91 22 3956 2126Toll Free Number : 9323101416Email ID: enquiry@windkraftindia.com
Pressure Sensitive Tape Market Analysis, Size, Share, Growth To 2022 by Grand View Research, Inc.

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The global Pressure Sensitive Tape Market is expected to reach USD 69.26 billion by 2022, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. Growing demand for corrugated boxes mainly in China, India and Brazil is expected to propel growth over the forecast period. Increasing demand for corrugated packaging owing to its high durability and protection will fuel market expansion.Rising concerns regarding eco-friendly packaging solutions owing to strict government and environmental regulations is further expected to boost the carton sealing Tape demand. In addition, high consumption of pressure sensitive Tape in medical sector owing to its non toxicity and compatibility with different forms of sterilization will fuel industry growth. Introduction of highly effective and environment friendly solvent recovery technology used during adhesive coating will open new avenues in the near future.Building & construction is expected to witness significant volume gains at a CAGR of 5.9% from 2015 to 2022, on account of rapid construction sector growth in India, Malaysia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Vietnam and China. MEA is expected to witness rise as a result of increasing foreign direct investments in real estate, construction and hospitality coupled with development of new residential as well as non-residential offices.Browse full research report for pressure sensitive tape market:Further key findings from the report suggest: Global Pressure Sensitive Tape Market demand was 41,442.0 million square meters in 2014 and is expected to reach 65,287.6 million square meters by 2022. Masking Tape are expected to witness significant volume gains at a CAGR of 6.1% from 2015 to 2022 on account of its growing consumption from construction and automotive sectors. Its properties including instant adhesion, good holding power, improved conformability, easy tear and high solvent & moisture resistance will drive demand over the next seven years. North America accounted for over 20% of the global revenue share and is expected to witness significant gains in light of growing reconstruction activities in the U.S. coupled with infrastructure development in Canada and Mexico. Moreover, high growth in food & beverage industry particularly in the U.S. will open new industry opportunities for corrugated box packaging, thereby driving carton sealing Tape demand. Asia Pacific pressure sensitive Tape demand was 20,360.5 million square meters in 2014 and is expected to witness fastest growth at a CAGR exceeding 7.0% from 2015 to 2022 as a result of growing construction sector in light of urbanization, population growth, and government infrastructural plan. Abundant availability of raw materials including polypropylene and PVC in China is expected to drive the market in near future. Pressure sensitive Tape industry is highly fragmented in nature with key participants including 3M, Lintec, Nitto Denko Corporation and teas SE accounting for over 20% of the global company market share in 2014. In August 2015, Shurtape introduced high performance grade flatback paper tape in order to provide strong hold, and humidity & moisture resistance. In April 2014, Saint-Gobain launched high-performance, double-sided acrylic bonding Tape, NORBOND A7200 and NORBOND A7300, to broaden its product portfolio to gain market share.Grand View Research has segmented the global Pressure Sensitive Tape Market on the basis of backing material, product, application, and region:Global Pressure Sensitive Tape Backing Material Outlook (Volume, Million Square Meters; Revenue, USD Million, 2012 - 2022) Polypropylene Paper PVC OthersGlobal Pressure Sensitive Tape Product Outlook (Volume, Million Square Meters; Revenue, USD Million, 2012 - 2022) Carton sealing Tape Masking Tape Double sided Tape Electrical Tape OthersGlobal Pressure Sensitive Tape Application Outlook (Volume, Million Square Meters; Revenue, USD Million, 2012 - 2022) Packaging Building & construction Electrical & electronics Automotive Health & hygiene OthersGlobal Pressure Sensitive Tape Regional Outlook (Volume, Million Square Meters; Revenue, USD Million, 2012 - 2022) North Americao U.S. Europeo Germany Asia Pacifico Chinao India Latin Americao Brazil MEAGrand View Research, Inc. is a U.S. based market research and consulting company, registered in the State of California and headquartered in San Francisco. The company provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. To help clients make informed business decisions, we offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across a range of industries, from technology to chemicals, materials and healthcare.Sherry JamesCorporate Sales Specialist, USAGrand View Research, Inc
Femaleadda.com, Feminine Beauty and Wellness amenities just a mouse click away

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Noida, Uttar Pradesh April 05, 2016 - Femaleadda.com is India's largest platform for Beauty, Fashion and Wellness Services dedicated to women, currently operating in Delhi and NCR region. FemaleAdda offers women an online portal to book appointments for Parlours, Salons, Spas, Boutiques, Fitness Centers and Doctors in Delhi, Noida, Gurgaon, Faridabad and Ghaziabad.Femaleadda is currently offering heavy discounts on various services, starting on customer acquisition phase. Now the females can enjoy pre confirmed appointments for wellness services at exciting discounts. Femaleadda has tie ups with nations top Spa Centers and Massage Parlours. In the sea of duties that a woman has to perform in her daily lives, waiting for a massage at a massage parlor or salon feels like an ordeal. To address the problem, femaleadda gives a real time appointment booking facility, for your favorite spas. This helps you get prompt, effective and immediate service when you reach there. No more getting your favorite masseur or masseuse by a chance. You can book your services at your desired center at your preferred time and there will be an empty seat and an attendant ready to take care of your requirements. Eliminating waiting time at these centers helps in scheduling the rest of the day. You can find, evaluate, review, rate and book appointments at centers you wish at the time you prefer.Femaleadda.com has clubbed branded and unorganized spa salons & centers to one platform. This way women of all financial factions an option to take their pick. Spa Salons and Massage Parlours fulfilling the service and hygiene criteria of femaleadda are listed on the website, along with a list of services they provide and their prices. Bellissa Home Service is another option given to the women, where they can book appointments from massage professionals to get services in the comfort and privacy of their home. By showing only the most relevant services, appointment times are accurately booked, customers time and money is well spent.Official announcement of Femaleadda stated We started this single online portal for all basic feminine amenities, so that women find everything to serve their wellness needs at one portal. Femaleadda is a trusted platform for finding quality, affordable and reliable service in any locality. Users can look through the reviews and comments of other users before deciding on a service. One can also post their opinion or give ratings after they have used a particular service. The centers and professionals delivering best services get acclamation openly, which makes it easier for them to draw new customers. It also saves service providers from overcrowding and lets them attend to their customers individually and properly. Payment can be done before or after the services are received. Appointments can be changed, cancelled or updated in real time, and users and the service providers get a conformation text message for the same. New users get a chance to register and refer their friends for the portal, which will earn them reward points. These reward points can be redeemed later .The appointments can be booked through the website, or the app. The service providers can manage their account on the website through their credentials or can ask the company staff to update it on their behalf.FemaleAdda is a total solutions provider, delivering basic feminine requirements at a single platform. This portal will be further expanding to pan India level, starting with metro cities. Services can be booked on the website as well as through mobile app.FemaleAdda, 212 3rd Floor Arcade Building Sector 18 Noida Uttar Pradesh 201301 India To Know More About -and
Growing Pool of Geriatric Population to Propel Global Blood Brain Barrier Technologies Market

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Transparency Market Research presents a research report about the global blood-brain barrier technologies market. The research report, titled Blood-Brain Barrier Technologies Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2014 - 2020, details market trends and dynamics governing the overall blood-brain barrier technologies market. It also includes SWOT analysis to highlight the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats impacting the trajectory of the market segments comprising the global blood brain-barrier technologies market.Browse Full Report:Furthermore, the researchers have also conducted Porters five forces analysis to point out the intensity of competitive rivalry, the bargaining power of suppliers, the threat of substitute products or services, the bargaining power of customers, and the threat of new entrants in the overall market. Additionally, the document has been authenticated with expert opinions from market leaders to help the readers take well-informed business decisions.The major techniques used for solving blood-brain barrier (BBB) problems are BBB disruption, lipidation, craniotomy-based drug delivery, and cationic import peptides. The application of these technologies is seen in the treatment of meningitis, Parkinsons disease, Alzheimers disease, encephalitis, and multiple sclerosis. The high prevalence of these diseases is expected to drive the global blood-brain barrier technologies market. The growing pool of the geriatric population is also expected to propel this market, as the elderly are more prone to brain diseases than younger demographics.Geographically, this market is segmented into Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, and Rest of the World. According to the report, North America held a dominant share in the overall blood-brain barrier technologies market in 2013. However, analysts predict that this share is likely to drop by 2020 due to the significant economic development in Asia Pacific and several Eastern European countries. The India and China markets for blood-brain barrier technologies will grow at a considerable pace due to stabilizing economies and increasing expenditure on healthcare.Some of the important players in the global blood brain barrier technologies market are Cypress Biosciences Inc., Allon Therapeutics, Inc., Genzyme, CeNeRx BioPharma, Inc, Bioasis Technologies Inc., Ablynx NV, Capsulution Pharma AG, International Brain Barriers Society (IBBS), AngioChem Inc., Cognition Pharmaceuticals LLC, Cephalon Inc., Cytos Biotechnology AG, Cellial Technologies, Envivo Pharmaceuticals, Inc., InSightec, Ltd., H Lundbeck A/S, Adenios, Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb, Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma (DSP) Co, Ltd., Janssen Pharmaceutica NV, BrainCells Inc, In Cerebro, Diamedica Inc., Geron Corporation, ArmaGen Technologies, Inc., Eli Lilly and Company, and Fabre-Kramer Pharmaceuticals, Inc.The research report provides an insight into the competitive landscape of the global blood-brain barrier technologies market. Furthermore, it also offers an assessment of the financial overview, research and development activities, investment outlook, product portfolio, joint ventures, business and marketing strategies, and strategic mergers and acquisitions of these top companies for the coming few years.Download Free Sample Report Brochure:Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Mr.Sudip.STransparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.com
Biosensor Analytical Devices Market Propelled by Intensive R&D Efforts

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http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/biosensor-analytical-devices.html

Transparency Market Research has been a leading market intelligence provider in the ever-expanding field of medical devices. One such report examining the field in question is titled Biosensor Analytical Devices Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2012  2018. This report could prove useful for any player across this markets value chain, as it provides valuable insights into the markets future.Get Report Sample and Customization:Biosensors are devices used for analytics in multiple biological applications. They are biomimetic devices that are developed to be able to recognize and measure any analytical parameter. Most common biomimetic sensors are enzymes or antibodies and hold potential sets of uses in multiple industries. Biosensors are therefore a combination of physiochemical detectors with biological components that are used to identify an analyte.The global biosensor analytical devices market is primarily driven by the high rate of research and development being carried out in it. This includes the studies and research conducted at multiple universities and medical institutes. Most of the top universities are conducting intensive research regarding the development of new platforms that are steadier and more accurate than their predecessors. This will allow for pain-free and high-sensitivity diagnostic platforms for biosensor analytics. Researchers are also looking at nanotechnology, the use of which could potentially open up new areas in the market.The global biosensor analytical devices market is also driven by the growing awareness among patients regarding the use of biomimetic devices for the purpose of human wellbeing. Meanwhile, the high rate of research in this market is helping create devices that are portable, accurate, and highly sensitive.A large share of the global biosensor analytical devices market is taken up by medical applications, as biosensors are widely used in whole blood analysis, drug discovery, drug analysis, and blood glucose monitoring. Medical biosensors are also highly useful in monitoring blood gases in real-time.Another factor driving the global biosensor analytical devices market is the research and development effort carried out in the home diagnostics and point-of-care segments. Researchers are attempting to create solid options in these fields in terms of analyzing multiple parameters.Complementary to the high level of research and development are the increasing investment rates. As a larger range of equipment is available in the global biosensor analytical devices market, consistent investments could help strengthen the quality standards of these devices as well as help cut down production costs.The key players in the global biosensor analytical devices market include Nova Biomedical Corp., Medtronic Diabetes, M-Biotech, Neosensors Limited, Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics Inc., AgaMatrix Inc., LifeScan Inc., Abbott Point of Care Inc., and Roche Diagnostics.Full Research Report on Global Biosensor Analytical Devices Market: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. We have an experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, who us e 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.90 State Street, Suite 700 Albany, NY 12207
What The Afterlife Is Like - Brian McLaughlin, Award Winning Author Of Book About NDE,' A Flight Without Wings', Announces Upcoming Events Schedule

Author Brian McLaughlin

http://www.brianmclaughlinbooks.com

What is the afterlife like? This question has plagued humanity since the beginning. That question has never really been answered because nobody has ever come back from death to tell us. Until recently. Due to advances in medical technology we now have a number of people who have returned after being declared dead. Author Brian McLaughlin is one of those people.Brian McLaughlin's book about his near death experience, 'A Flight Without Wings', is raw and it's real. There is no embellishment and no hidden agenda. Religion is not the same as spirituality so, while his book has a spiritual flavor, there is no preaching. There is no need to prove anything to anybody. It is instead his story, just as it happened.McLaughlin died during a trip to Mexico and experienced his own NDE. That event changed the course of his life forever. It instilled in him what we all seek - certainty about life after death. And with that a peace of mind that can never be shaken, nor can it be doubted. His near death experience brought a sense of clarity. It brought a sense of real, lasting peace. He now knows with certainty that we exist forever.Afterlife  something weve all thought about at one time or another," McLaughlin stated.. Whether for ourselves or for someone close who has passed, the questions remain the same. What happens at that moment when we cross over ? Are we alone ? Do we know where to go ? These questions along with others are scary to most. Many of us WANT to believe that there is something beyond life here on Earth. Something without pain, or fear or other 'earthly' issues. I have the uncommon advantage of having seen and felt this 'Afterlife'. I find that eyewitness accounts offer the most compelling and comforting information available.""My book: A Flight Without Wings has been called unique in a sea of others because it describes the experience without the fanciful or grandiose references. I feel that my descriptions of an all encompassing love, and peace, without fear fit very nicely into the belief systems of most people, giving way to the comfort and validation I mentioned.Should you find some measure of comfort in reading about my experience, pass it on to someone who may be struggling with those scary questions.Brian McLaughlin will be making several live appearances in the Long Island, NY area during April and May:* Saturday, April 30th - Book signing and reading at Barnes & Noble in Bay Shore NY* Saturday, May 7 - Book signing at Applebee's in Baldwin, NY* Saturday, May 21 - Book signing at Turn of the Cork Screw in Rockville Center NYBrian McLaughlin was chosen as one of '50 Great Writers You Should Be Reading' in 2015. Reviews of 'A Flight Without Wings' have been overwhelmingly positive. Jack Magnus, a reviewer with Readers Favorite, call the book a "well written and moving memoir that neither delves into the fanciful or dogmatic"..."Well worth reading, and is highly recommended." Another stated, "Being a mother who lost her only child I found it to be a great comfort to me." Another said, "I have read many accounts such as these, but this beautifully written account simply touched my heart in ways that previous ones have not."Mark Feuerstein, Actor (Royal Pains, USA Network) wrote: I have read it and I think its an inspiring tale of deep insight and so personal and yet so universal . . . such profound perspective.Brian McLaughlin is available for media interviews and can be reached using the information below or by email at bamplaya@msn.com. 'A Flight Without Wings' is available at Amazon, Payhip and other book retailers. More information is available on his website.Brian McLaughlin is the award-winning author of 'A Flight Without Wings'. In his inspirational book, Brian vividly depicts his journey into Heaven and his following return to life caused by a massive head trauma sustained while vacationing in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico twenty-one years ago.PO Box 1613Shallotte, NC 28459
Global Automobile Battery in China 2016: Market Supply, Demands, Growth Forecast Research 2021 Report

http://www.marketresearchstore.com/report/company-analysis-of-top-5-automobile-battery-producers-47486

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http://goo.gl/nZ01fN

http://www.marketresearchstore.com/

The Global and China Automobile Battery Producers in China 2016-2021 industry. Starting with a broad overview, the report narrows down to offer an overview of the Automobile Battery Producers in China 2016-2021 Industry globally as well as with a specific focus on China. By conducting a check of the current status of the Automobile Battery Producers in China 2016-2021 Industry, the report is able to then delve deeper into the various forces that directly and indirectly impact the Industry.Access Full Report With TOC:Given the ever-shifting and ever-evolving nature of the technologies that enable the products and services contributing to the growth of the Automobile Battery Producers in China 2016-2021 Industry, the report conducts a detailed analysis of the technological trends and developments. This report then moves ahead to focus on the various global and China-based players in the Automobile Battery Producers in China 2016-2021 Industry. In order to obtain specific information about the Industry participants, the report focuses on the following key aspects: Company Profiles, product/services information, contact information, as well as production/revenues.All Industry forecasts are based on an analysis of both qualitative and quantitative data. For this, specific data has been gleaned from journals, trade magazines, revenues of leading Industry participants, as well as news reports. The impact of the economic condition prevailing in China as well as in other parts of the world is assessed in the context of the Automobile Battery Producers in China 2016-2021 Industry. Both macroeconomic and microeconomic outlooks have been taken into consideration for this purpose. The report then goes on to offer countermeasures to mitigate any adverse impacts of unfavorable economic conditions. The report ends with definitive and authoritative conclusions about the Automobile Battery Producers in China 2016-2021 Industry.Request For Sample:1)The Aim of this reportTo provide readers with comprehensive & indepth understanding of China Automobile Battery Producers in China 2016-2021 industry;To disclose market size of China Automobile Battery Producers in China 2016-2021 industry;To understand position of China Automobile Battery Producers in China 2016-2021 in the world;To predict what future of China Automobile Battery Producers in China 2016-2021 industry will be;To analyze major Automobile Battery Producers in China 2016-2021 producers in China;2)Benefit from the reportObtain latest info of Automobile Battery Producers in China 2016-2021 industry, such as market size, status in the world, hotspots and so on;Evaluate the financial performance and growth strategies of top 20 Automobile Battery Producers in China 2016-2021 producers in China Automobile Battery Producers in China 2016-2021 industry;Identify key trends and opportunities in China Automobile Battery Producers in China 2016-2021 industry;Understand what are the drivers and barriers of China Automobile Battery Producers in China 2016-2021 producers.3)DeliverablesWordformat report, with around 3050 pages;Excelformat database of key Automobile Battery Producers in China 2016-2021 producers;Excelformat market data of Automobile Battery Producers in China 2016-2021 industry;Inquiry Before Buying Report Here @:Table of Content1 Global Automobile Battery Producers in China 2016-2021 Industry1.1 Overview1.2 Manufacture1.3 Market Holding1.4 Automobile Battery Producers in China 2016-2021 Market Supply1.5 Market Price2 Chinese Automobile Battery Producers in China 2016-2021 Industry2.1 Market Supply2.2 Market Demand2.3 Chinese Market Price Index2.4 Chinese Market Competition3 Chinese Automobile Battery Producers in China 2016-2021 Industry Chain3.1 Overview3.2 Upstream3.3 Downstream4 Chinese Automobile Battery Producers in China 2016-2021 Import And Export Data4.1 Import4.2 ExportMRS Research Store provides a range of marketing and business research solutions designed for our clients specific needs based on our expert resources. The business scopes of Prof Research cover more than 30 industries including energy, new materials, transportation, daily consumer goods, chemicals, etc. We provide our clients with one-stop solution for all the research requirements.Joel John3422 SW 15 Street,Suit #8138Deerfield Beach,Florida 33442United StatesToll Free: +1-855-465-4651 FREE (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-386-310-3803 FREEEmail: sales@marketresearchstore.comWebsite:
Unleash Online Learning to Address Global Inequality, says ALISON CEO

www.alison.com

In his recent talk at SXSW in Austin, Texas, Mike Feerick, CEO of ALISON, the free online learning platform with almost 7 million learners globally, challenged world governments to unleash online learning to address global inequality.Press Release, Galway, Ireland, 5th April 2016: We have been stopping people from educating themselves, and stopping those who can teach from having a wider impact, said Feerick to a large audience at SXSW.Global inequality and the skills gap is one of the biggest challenges facing governments, says the ALISON founder, and free online education is one of the most powerful modern tools that we have to address it. However, he concluded: Governments and advisors are looking in the wrong places for answers and asking the wrong people for solutions.The ALISON founder recommended three policies that governments could implement to radically propel online learning for all societies. Firstly, governments couldmandate that free online informal learning becomes an integral part of any hiring decisions across public and semi-state recruitment It would comprehensively deliver the message that free online lifelong learning is important, relevant and valued.Secondly,through economic or tax incentives, [Governments could] encourage private industry, from large corporations to small businesses, to follow suit and integrate free online learning into their hiring and employment practices across their organisations.Thirdly, Governments should encourage businesses to create basic level online courses for training purposes that willmake industry less reliant on others, including government, for its workforce training needs, and allow individuals to become more competitive, enabling them to make better choices in what they work at, and where they work.Feerick concluded: Our universities and colleges, almost without exception, provide education and training that is too expensive. ALISONs mission is to drive all of the costs of education and skills training to zero.ENDTo read a short, published version of his talk (1,137 words), visit ALISON CommunityALISON is one of the worlds largest free online learning platforms with 6 million learners and 750,000 graduates of its courses worldwide. Pioneering the MOOC (Massive Open Online Courseware) movement, ALISON provides 750 free courses at Diploma and Certificate level. It was founded by Mike Feerick in 2007 as a for-profit social enterprise. For more on ALISON, visitCaroline Duggan,ALISONLevel 1, Galway Technology ParkParkmore, Galway, Irelandcduggan@alison.com00353 87 9971570
Aequitas honchos.jpeg

Aequitas management team, shown here in happier days last summer, has been ousted. Investors filed the first of what promises to be multiple lawsuits targeting law firms and accounting firms that worked for Aequitas.

Investors burned in the flameout of Aequitas Capital Management have filed suit against Portland law firm Tonkon Torp and accounting giant Deloitte & Touche, claiming the firms enabled the massive Ponzi scheme allegedly masterminded by the Lake Oswego financial company.

"Investors trusted Aequitas and their trust was abused," said Keith Ketterling, of the Stoll Berne Lokting & Shlachter firm in Portland. "The law makes the lawyers and accountants responsible to the same extent as Aequitas, because these professionals are the gatekeepers, and their services lend credibility to the investments."

Read the complaint: Click here.

Tonkon Torp, one of the most respected corporate law firms in town, for several years represented Aequitas and helped prepare prepare financial documents for investors that were materially false, investors allege.

"The Aequitas securities could not have been sold without the legal services that Tonkon provided," investors claim in the new complaint.

Deloitte prepared the 2014 and 2015 audited financial statements for Aequitas, which painted a reassuring portrait of Aequitas' financial strength. Deloitte offered a so-called "unqualified" opinion in its 2014 audit that Aequitas' financials fairly and accurately represented the company's financial condition. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission now claims that Aequitas by 2014 was little more than a large Ponzi scheme, reliant on new investor money to cover its expenses.

The new complaint, filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Portland, is likely the first of many investor lawsuits. The commission's March 10 lawsuit accused Aequitas and three top executives of concealing the catastrophic condition of the company even as it continued to raise more than $350 million from investors.

The new complaint also names as defendants the Sidley Austin law firm and the EisnerAmper accounting firm, both of which also worked for Aequitas.

The complaint does not target Aequitas itself or any of its executives as defendants. A federal magistrate judge hearing the SEC case ordered a stay at least temporarily prohibiting investor lawsuits against Aequitas.

More than 1,500 people invested around $500 million in Aequitas. Ron Greenspan, a court appointed receiver put in charge after the SEC ousted the former executives, will attempt to liquidate Aequitas' assets and repay investors and lenders with the proceeds.

It's unclear whether those remaining Aequitas assets have much value. Greenspan urged U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul Papak to bar lawsuits against the company saying responding to litigation would take up all his time.

Twenty-five days since his appointment, Greenspan has yet to issue any sort of public report on his preliminary findings and has rejected all requests for interviews.

Investors are not waiting for the receiver. They're lining up to sue the professional firms that helped Aequitas remain in business, a common strategy in litigation like this.

"The Oregon Securities Law is a very powerful protection for investors," Ketterling said. "The auditors and lawyers are responsible for the investors' losses because they made it possible for Aequitas to sell the securities, by lending their names to the sales, allowing the audited financial statements to be used as sales materials, and preparing documents required for the sales to be completed."

Investors may also pursue their own financial advisers. The local firm paid hefty commissions and offered loans and other incentives to a national network of advisers who put their clients into Aequitas investments.

Even a member of Aequitas' own advisory board has lawyered up. Keith Barnes, a prominent local technology entrepreneur who agreed to serve on the Aequitas board, is one of several investors to hire the Miller Nash law firm to pursue legal action.

Neither Tonkon Torp nor Deloitte could immediately be reached for comment.

-- Jeff Manning

503-294-7606, jmanning@oregonian.com
A group of 15 motorists are suing the state and a contractor over a crash-prone highway ramp in Tigard that was blamed for a spate of wrecks in 2014.

The lawsuit, filed Monday in Multnomah County Circuit Court, alleges negligent design and construction of a highway ramp connecting northbound Interstate 5 to Oregon 217, and seeks $2.03 million in damages from the Oregon Department of Transportation and Nebraska-based contractor Kiewit Corp.

The ramp was the site of some 37 serious crashes between 2008 and 2012. Later, a series of crashes within a span of weeks in spring 2014 brought it into the spotlight.

The lawsuit alleges that a metal joint embedded in the ramp had come out of alignment, creating an uneven surface that was dangerous to passing vehicles. The joint is intended to allow the bridge to expand and contract in warmer and cooler temperatures.

Each of the plaintiffs describe suffering injuries while driving or riding as a passenger in a vehicle that crashed while driving on the flyover ramp in May or June of 2014.

"The Highway 217 on-ramp was putting people at risk every day," Mark McDougal, a Portland attorney whose firm is representing the motorists, said in a statement. "ODOT spends millions of dollars on safety advertising, and yet does nothing when a dangerous condition they control stares them in the face. Accident after accident occurred in exactly the same place, and ODOT did nothing."

The Oregon Department of Transportation, too, pointed to the expansion joint in May 2014. It had in 2004 attempted to even out the road surface in by grinding down parts of the joint that were out of place.

But after an inspection of the joint and other bridge structures that year, department officials told The Oregonian/OregonLive it was within safe specifications. Instead, they said drivers were likely traveling too fast to negotiate the curve. The speed limit is 35 mph.

Transportation department spokesman Don Hamilton declined to discuss the specifics of the lawsuit, but he said work crews had refinished the road in 2014 to increase traction and had seen "very few problems" since then.

"This tells us that people have become comfortable going faster than the posted speed limit on that bridge," Hamilton said. "As the road surface deteriorated ... soon that road surface wasn't able to handle those faster speeds."

The Oregonian previously reported that Kiewit had received a $560,000 bonus for finishing the ramp ahead of schedule in 2001. Kiewit officials said at the time they stood behind the project, and the company couldn't immediately be reached Monday.

-- Elliot Njus

enjus@oregonian.com

503-294-5034

@enjus
Connor James, an 18-year-old University of Oregon student, was killed early Friday morning after apparently falling from a train.

Lane County officials confirmed James' identity Monday.

The Sprague High School graduate was enrolled full-time at the UO and studied biology, according to a university spokesman.

Union Pacific Railroad employees discovered James' body at around 5 a.m. Friday on the train tracks near Northwest Expressway and North Park Avenue in Eugene.

According to The Lane County Sheriff's Office, James died after falling from the train. Deputies said someone matching James' description was last seen climbing on a Portland-bound train around that time..

It wasn't immediately known whether drugs or alcohol played a role in his death.

James' family set up a GoFundMe account to honor the UO freshman. According to the site, James was an avid lacrosse player. "We would like to establish a memorial fund that will be used to help provide much needed gear and equipment to the Sprague lacrosse team and begin a college scholarship fund to be awarded to a lacrosse player every year," the family wrote.

"Our hope is that we will be able to provide this assistance for years to come. It would be with much gratitude that you help honor our loving son and brother, Connor, by donating anything you can to his fund."

Here's a link to the account.

-- Andrew Theen

atheen@oregonian.com

503-294-4026

@andrewtheen
Later this month, Western Oregon University's Board of Trustees will vote on a 2.6 percent tuition increase for in-state undergraduate students.

As with Oregon's other seven public universities, it's expected that Western's board will approve the plan. But on Monday, President Rex Fuller revealed a plan to protect the school's neediest students from having to pay it.

WOU

is setting aside roughly $200,000 to cover the proposed tuition increase for an estimated 900 to 1,000 students who don't receive any financial assistance from their families.

Dave McDonald,

WOU'

s associate provost, said the new affordability grant will help cushion the blow for students who can least afford to pay it.

The grant will cover students whose expected family contribution on their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is zero.

"We've done a remarkable job over the years of zeroing in on our low-income students and serving them well," McDonald said Monday.

About half of the students enrolled at the Monmouth-based university receive federal Pell Grants to offset tuition costs. Half of the student body are first-generation college students, meaning neither parent graduated from a college or university.

McDonald estimated the proposed 2.6 percent tuition increase amounts to $225 per year annual tuition increase.

He said for students who are on federal support and Oregon Opportunity Grants, those assistance programs don't cover the full cost of attending school.

"It does not cover books, or living expenses," McDonald said.

The new grant, which is Fuller's brainchild, will make sure the lowest-income students don't have to pay for the tuition hike.

"This is consistent with everything we've tried to do for over a decade," McDonald said of the plan, which is paid for by the school's general scholarship fund.

In 2007 the school started its "Western Tuition Promise, which locks students into a fixed tuition over a four-year period.A For students admitted in the 2015-16 calendar year, annual tuition is roughly $7,800.

"The

WOU

Affordability Grant is further evidence of

WOU'

s strong commitment to support Oregon students by keeping

WOU

affordable and accessible so that more students can earn bachelor's degrees," said Jim Baumgartner, chair of the

WOU

Board of Trustees said in a statement.

WOU'

s board of trustees will discuss the tuition increase April 27.

-- Andrew Theen

atheen@oregonian.com

503-294-4026

@andrewtheen

A
Democratic National Convention: Day1

In this file photo, then-San Antonio, Texas Mayor Julian Castro talks to reporters at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2012. Castro now serves as the secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which ruled Monday that blanket bans on criminal convictions violate the Fair Housing Act.

(The Associated Press)

Landlords who institute blanket bans on tenants with prior arrests or criminal convictions are in violation of the Fair Housing Act, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said in a document released Monday.

The 1968 law prohibits housing discrimination on the basis of protected characteristics like race, religion, sex or national origin. Having a criminal record is not one of the protected characteristics, but blanket bans on arrests and convictions violate the act "because of widespread racial and ethnic disparities in the U.S. criminal justice system," wrote Helen R. Kanovsky, general counsel for the federal housing agency, in the document.

"Criminal history-based restrictions on access to housing are likely disproportionately to burden African Americans and Hispanics," Kanovsky wrote.

In 2013, African Americans were arrested at a rate more than double their proportion of the general population, according to figures included in the HUD document. The following year, African Americans made up about 36 percent of the United States' prison population but only about 12 percent of the country's total population. Black males are imprisoned at nearly six times the rate as white males, Kanovsky added.

"Hispanics were similarly incarcerated at a rate disproportionate to their share of the general population, with Hispanic individuals comprising approximately 22 percent of the prison population, but only about 17 percent of the total U.S. population," Kanovsky wrote. "In contrast, non-Hispanic whites comprised approximately 62 percent of the total U.S. population but only about 34 percent of the prison population in 2014."

In addition to banning intentional housing discrimination, Kanovsky wrote, the Fair Housing Act also prohibits "practices that have an unjustified discriminatory effect because of race, national origin or other protected characteristics."

The agency's decision comes amid a national re-shaping of the politics surrounding the criminal justice system. Portland and Oregon last year joined the growing number of cities and states to pass "ban the box" legislation prohibiting employers from asking about a prospective employee's criminal history on a job application. And prison reform won rare bipartisan support in the U.S. Senate last fall.

"An arrest shouldn't keep you from getting a job or renting a home," wrote HUD Secretary Julian Castro on Twitter Monday.

-- Luke Hammill

lhammill@oregonian.com

503-294-4029

@lucashammill
lightbar

Two teenagers have been accused of vandalizing the inside of three churches in Hillsboro and face felony accusations. The two boys from Hillsboro, ages 15 and 16, face multiple accusations of criminal mischief and felony second-degree burglary.

(The Oregonian/OregonLive/file)

Two teenagers have been accused of vandalizing the inside of three churches in Hillsboro and face felony accusations, police said.

The two boys from Hillsboro, ages 15 and 16, face multiple accusations of criminal mischief and felony second-degree burglary, said Lt. Mike Rouches, Hillsboro police spokesman. Two incidents happened over the weekend and another on March 25, he said.

He said the break-ins were not hate crimes.

"They just chose these churches because they thought they could get into them," Rouches said.

The boys broke into the church by breaking outer windows, police said. The first incident happened overnight March 25 at the City Gate Church on Northeast Darnielle Drive, where a guitar and speaker were stolen, he said. The stolen items were returned, he said.

Nothing was taken from two break-ins, which occurred overnight Friday at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and overnight Sunday at the Hillsboro Presbyterian Church. Both churches are on Northeast 32nd Avenue.

Investigators learned about the boys just early Tuesday morning. The two have been taken to the Donald E. Long Detention Facility in Portland, and their case has been referred to the Washington County Juvenile Department.

-- Tony Hernandez

thernandez@oregonian.com

503-294-5928

@tonyhreports
The Childrens Zoo in Saginaw is feline great about its new wild cat residents.

With tiny paws and big attitudes, the zoos newest felines may be small, but they are mighty. Meeka and Tut are two black-footed cats, a species of wild cat found in Africa. Although they average only six pounds as an adult, dont let their small size fool you. These tenacious cats are fierce predators in the wild African grasslands and deserts, often hunting over 10 prey items a night.

Meeka is an 8-year-old female and Tut is an 81/2-year-old male. They arrived late last year from the Birmingham Zoo, and have settled in at the former serval exhibit by the barnyard.

For a black-footed cat, Tut is very laid back. While he may still give animal care staff a sassy hiss once in a while, he often spends his days lounging inside a log. Meeka, on the other hand, has some attitude. Between the two of them, Meeka is definitely the boss. She is independent and highly intelligent, excelling at her training. The two enjoy snacking on mice and playing with snake sheds, as well as scratching their claws against a large log.

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the black-footed cat species is considered to be vulnerable. This means that their wild populations are on the decline heading toward becoming endangered and, if something is not done to remedy the problems they face, the species may go extinct. Black-footed cats face population pressures due to habitat destruction and degradation, threats from hunters, and poison traps set for other predators. While populations in Botswana and South Africa are protected by law making it illegal to hunt them, many factors contribute to continued population decline.

While Meeka and Tut are not currently a breeding pair, the two have been in the past, and may become one in the future.

Childrens Zoo members will get a sneak peek at all their favorite animal friends (new and old) during our Members Only weekend, happening April 16-17 from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Memberships can be purchased Monday through Friday at (989) 759-1408 or through the zoos website at any time. The zoo opens officially for season on April 23.

The Childrens Zoo is located at 1730 S. Washington Ave in Saginaw.
Community members will have an opportunity to meet with an active duty NASA astronaut when Delta College hosts Dr. Andrew Feustel for a presentation at the State Theatre in downtown Bay City on Thursday, April 21, from 7 to 9 p.m.

Feustel is a Michigan native who graduated from Lake Orion High School. He began his educational journey at Oakland Community College.

Dr. Jean Goodnow, president of Delta College said, We are proud to host Dr. Andrew Feustel. We hope his story of beginning his education at a community college as a science major will inspire students in the Great Lakes Bay Region to consider STEM careers and aim high with their educational goals, as Dr. Feustel did.

Feustel earned an associate in science degree at Oakland CC, a bachelors degree in solid earth sciences and a masters in geophysics from Purdue University. He completed his doctorate in geological sciences, specializing in seismology, at Queens University, Kingston, Ontario, in 1995.

Feustel will take attendees on a journey into space with video footage and photos of his missions to the Hubble Space Telescope and the International Space Station, followed by an opportunity for the public to ask questions.

Printed tickets are not required, but registration is, as seats are limited. Seating is general and the State Theatre will open at 6 p.m. for the 7 p.m. presentation.

A link to register for this free public event can be found on the Delta College Science Division web page at http://www.delta.edu/stem/astronaut-appearance.aspx.

Feustels appearance is sponsored by The Delta College Planetarium and Science Division, The State Theatre, The Delta College Presidents Speaker Series and the Peter and Barbra Boyse Program Endowment, The Delta College Global Awareness Program and WDCQ-TV and WUCX-FM  Delta College Broadcasting.
SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. (AP)  Five people died Monday when a sightseeing helicopter crashed near the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in eastern Tennessee, officials said.

The Bell 206 helicopter crashed about 3:30 p.m. near Sevierville, Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said in an email. Officials said the tourist helicopter was destroyed by fire after the crash.

"There's not much left of the helicopter," Pigeon Forge Police Chief Jack Baldwin said. "It's pretty much gone from the fire."

Baldwin said the helicopter appeared to have come down the side of a mountain and crashed at the foot of it.

"There's a little bit of the tail fin of the helicopter, and that's about all that's left, that and the console, that's about it," he said.

About four hours after the crash, more than a dozen emergency vehicles were at the site, which is less than a mile from a large outlet mall in Sevierville and adjacent to a neighborhood off the main tourist drag. The site is about three miles from Dolly Parton's Dollywood theme park.

Smoke billowed over the wooded area. The Pigeon Forge Fire Department said it had units at the scene.

Shawn Matern said he was inside his parents' house when he heard a loud boom. "That's when we came out and saw the second explosion right before our eyes," he said.

He said he saw the pilot roll out of the burning helicopter on the ground and a neighbor went to try to help.

Matern said the tour helicopters fly over at least three or four times a day in that area.

Tennessee Emergency Management Association spokesman Dean Flener confirmed late Monday afternoon that five people had died. Flener said no homes were damaged and no one on the ground was injured when the helicopter went down.

National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Chris O'Neil says two investigators from the agency are headed to the scene of the crash.

Representatives from Bell Helicopter, Textron Aviation, Rolls Royce and the FAA are also going to the scene.

Gary C. Robb, a Kansas City attorney who wrote a book on helicopter crash litigation, says it's far too early to determine the cause of the Sevierville crash, but some helicopter tour operators have been known to be reckless to "thrill the tourists" by flying too close to trees or waterfalls or by dangerous maneuvers.
MidMichigan Health says it knows the importance of high-quality CPR in saving more lives, and thats why it implemented the American Heart Associations Resuscitation Quality Improvement Program to help staff maintain skill competency and achieve better patient outcomes through regular, low-dose/high-frequency, high-quality CPR training.

More than 200,000 in-hospital cardiac arrests occur annually in the U.S. and the survival rate from adult in-hospital cardiac arrest is only 25 percent. CPR may seem like a basic skill for health care providers but research has shown that psychomotor skills related to resuscitation can decay within just three to six months  far before the two-year standard when basic and advanced life support skills are currently evaluated.

MidMichigan began implementing the AHA RQI Program on Friday. More than 800 health care providers and clinical staff members will be participating in the pilot of this program and performing a quarterly skills assessment that will include an online and real-time training session.

Once the pilot is complete, all 4,000 providers and clinical staff members across the health system will be using the AHA RQI Program. Participants will be able to get instant feedback and will be consistently up-to-date on basic and advanced life support skills.

MidMichigan is the first health system in Michigan to implement the AHA RQI Program.

The AHA RQI Program is just one example of MidMichigans commitment to providing top-quality patient care, said Sheri Pawlowski, life support educator at MidMichigan Health. We are using an innovative, cost-effective way to ensure that our health care providers are trained and re-trained in the life support skills they need to safely care for each of their patients.

RQI is the latest evolution of dynamic CPR training, bringing the latest technology and simulation stations directly to the provider. The subscription-based training program provides the same cognitive and skills modules as a traditional CPR training program, but delivers it quarterly rather than every two years to ensure resuscitation skills remain high.

The American Heart Association created RQI to teach health care providers high-quality CPR in a more effective, concise and convenient way that drives them to practice and retain these skills with confidence, said Russell Griffin, American Heart Association RQI program director. We are so glad MidMichigan has decided to implement RQI and make high-quality CPR a priority in order to improve patient care and help save more lives.

RQI is intended to improve basic life support and advanced cardiovascular life support skills, while making training more convenient for health care providers. Students can take the cognitive components of testing online and then test their psychomotor skills with real-time feedback by performing CPR at mobile simulation stations equipped with adult and infant manikins.

Stations can be placed on hospital floors, meaning health care providers reduce time away from their patients because they arent taking time off from work to learn the training and be tested in a classroom course. At each RQI station, a tablet connects the student to training material and provides helpful audiovisual feedback for compressions and ventilations, monitors the quality of performance and provides reinforcement or suggestions for improvement.

The 2010 American Heart Association Guidelines for CPR and ECC and the 2013 CPR Quality Consensus Statement state that high-quality CPR should be recognized as the foundation for all other resuscitative efforts because it increases patient survival. The AHA RQI Program helps provide better CPR.

Learn more about rapid skills decay and the solution that RQI offers at www.heart.org/RQI.
What seemed to be a calm day at the beach for a 36th Medical Group nurse and her family took a turn for the worse in a matter of seconds.



On March 12, Elizabeth Tullis, 36th MDG registered nurse, took a trip to Ypao Beach to spend the day with her husband and daughters when she noticed a woman carrying what looked like a lifeless body to shore.



At first, I wasnt sure what was happening, but I soon realized these people needed help, Tullis recalled. I asked my husband to call 911 right away. Someone was yelling at the lifeguard for help and he headed into the water to meet them. He started to give rescue breaths to the girl who was being carried.



The lifeguard was on his third chest compression when Tullis arrived on the scene and offered assistance to the first responder. She ensured to stabilize the girls head and cleared her airway. After a few more compressions, the girl finally started to choke, and the rescuers rolled her on her side to allow water to escape.



We checked her for a pulse and saw she was breathing, Tullis said. She was very lethargic, but I was squeezing her hand and asking her questions. Even though she couldnt do or say much, she opened her eyes when I would ask her, which was a good sign.



After what seemed like a long time of waiting and monitoring the victim, the ambulance finally arrived on scene to take the child and her mother to the hospital.



Tullis said she was concerned and followed up with local media to find out that the girl had survived and was recovering.



It was a relief because normally we hear bad news about people not making it after a drowning incident, Tullis said. More than anything, I would love to see her again before I leave Guam.



With her past experience as a lifeguard, swim instructor and nurse, Tullis was able to do all she could without an automated external defibrillator or other devices that would help her.



Sometimes it seems as if we hear about drownings every weekend and theres no reason for this, Tullis said. When I left that day I started to think about what I could have done better.



She said it is essential for anyone who enters the water to travel with a buddy and to have a first aid kit or supplies handy in the event of an emergency.



She also cautioned to take small water safety incidents seriously because of the danger of dry drowning which can happen especially in younger children. When kids swallow too much water, it can build up in their lungs leading to severe complications later on. She encourages parents and family members to always keep remain to prevent situations like this from happening.



The waters around Guam are very beautiful, but could be very hazardous due to the very strong and unforgiving currents, said Tech. Sgt. Bradly Preston, 36th Wing flight safety NCO in charge. Always use proper personal protective equipment and know the current conditions of the area prior to engaging in water activities. It is important to always have a buddy with you. They can be a rational voice of reason and identify a hazardous condition you might not be aware of."
Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, was selected as the new home for the Air Forces first operational overseas F-35A Lightning IIs.



Air Force officials chose Eielson AFB after a lengthy analysis of the locations operational considerations, installation attributes, environmental factors and cost.



Alaska combines a strategically important location with a world-class training environment. Basing the F-35s at Eielson AFB will allow the Air Force the capability of using the Joint Pacific Alaska Range Complex (JPARC) for large force exercises using a multitude of ranges and maneuver areas in Alaska, said Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James. "This, combined with the largest airspace in the Air Force, ensures realistic combat training for the (Defense Department).



Proximity to the JPARC will enable the Air Force to take advantage of approximately 65,000 square miles of available airspace for realistic, world-class training in the Air Forces most advanced fifth-generation fighter.



The decision culminates a three-year process that included an extensive environmental impact statement that examined impacts on such factors as air quality, noise, land use and socioeconomics.



"The decision to base two F-35 squadrons at Eielson AFB, Alaska, combined with the existing F-22 Raptors at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, will double our fifth-generation fighter aircraft presence in the Pacific theater," said Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh III. "Integrating that fifth-generation force with Navy, Marine, and allied F-35 forces will provide joint and coalition warfighters unprecedented survivability, lethality and battlespace awareness in contested environments. It's an exciting time for Pacific airpower."



The base is projected to receive two squadrons of F-35As, which will join the wings F-16 Fighting Falcon aggressor squadron currently assigned to Eielson AFB.



On-base construction to prepare for the aircraft is expected to start in fiscal year 2017 in order to be ready to accept the first F-35As, which are currently scheduled to begin arriving in 2020.



Preliminary estimates had the new aircraft arriving a year earlier, but officials say the 2020 arrival will provide the Air Force more time and grow its active-duty maintenance force.



The Air Force is facing a shortage of experienced, active-duty fighter aircraft maintainers as we transition from legacy aircraft to the F-35A, said Lt. Gen. John B. Cooper, the deputy chief of staff the Air Force for logistics, installations and mission support. Adjusting the initial plan and slightly accelerating F-35A arrivals at Burlington Air Guard Station, Burlington, Vermont, to fall 2019 will allow the service to stick to the overall F-35 rollout schedule, while capitalizing on the Air National Guards experienced fighter aircraft maintenance force as we put additional measures in place to increase the number of trained active-duty maintainers.



The F-35A, manufactured by Lockheed Martin, is a fifth-generation fighter aircraft intended to be the Air Forces premier strike aircraft through the first half of the 21st century. It is a multi-role fighter that is expected to eventually replace the services legacy air-to-ground fighter fleets.




ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam -- What seemed to be a calm day at the beach for a 36th Medical Group nurse and her family took a turn for the worse in a matter of seconds.

On March 12, Elizabeth Tullis, 36th MDG registered nurse, took a trip to Ypao Beach to spend the day with her husband and daughters when she noticed a woman carrying what looked like a lifeless body to shore.

At first I wasnt sure what was happening, but I soon realized these people needed help, Tullis recalled. I asked my husband to call 911 right away. Someone was yelling at the lifeguard for help and he headed into the water to meet them. He started to give rescue breaths to the girl who was being carried.

The lifeguard was on his third chest compression when Tullis arrived on the scene and offered assistance to the first responder. She ensured to stabilize the girls head and cleared her airway. After a few more compressions, the girl finally started to choke, and the rescuers rolled her on her side to allow water to escape.

We checked her for a pulse and saw she was breathing, Tullis said. She was very lethargic, but I was squeezing her hand and asking her questions. Even though she couldnt do or say much, she opened her eyes when I would ask her, which was a good sign.

After what seemed like a long time of waiting and monitoring the victim, the ambulance finally arrived on scene to take the child and her mother to the hospital.

Tullis said she was concerned and followed up with local media to find out that the girl had survived and was recovering.

It was a relief because normally we hear bad news about people not making it after a drowning incident, Tullis said. More than anything, I would love to see her again before I leave Guam.

With her past experience as a lifeguard, swim instructor and nurse, Tullis was able to do all she could without an automated external defibrillator or other devices that would help her.

Sometimes it seems as if we hear about drownings every weekend and theres no reason for this, Tullis said. When I left that day I started to think about what I could have done better.

She said it is essential for anyone who enters the water to travel with a buddy and to have a first aid kit or supplies handy in the event of an emergency.

She also cautioned to take small water safety incidents seriously because of the danger of dry drowning which can happen especially in younger children. When kids swallow too much water, it can build up in their lungs leading to severe complications later on. She encourages parents and family members to always keep remain to prevent situations like this from happening.

The waters around Guam are very beautiful, but could be very hazardous due to the very strong and unforgiving currents, said Tech. Sgt. Bradly Preston, 36th Wing flight safety NCO in charge. Always use proper personal protective equipment and know the current conditions of the area prior to engaging in water activities. It is important to always have a buddy with you. They can be a rational voice of reason and identify a hazardous condition you might not be aware of.
Commander, Fleet Activities Chinhae (CFAC) Sailors and civilians welcomed hundreds of Jinhae residents during an open base event, April 2.

The community building event, conducted annually in conjunction with the week-long Jinhae Gunhangie Cherry Blossom Festival, featured Morale Welfare and Recreation (MWR) events, food, and games for the family.

We feel privileged to live here in South Korea and to be guests in this nation, said Terry P. McNamara, commanding officer of CFAC. We dont often get to do events like this, so we love giving back to the community by opening our base and sharing its beauty along with the various MWR events for the children.

For many visitors, touring CFAC was the highlight of the festival.

I have lived in Jinhae for 14 years, said ROK Lt. Kim, Yu-Suk. This is the first time Ive experienced this [U.S.] base, and I had a great time. I think this will help further the trust and cooperation between the U.S. Navy and the community.

McNamara agreed with Kim and volunteered that one of his priorities as commanding officer is to continue strengthening the bond between CFAC and Jinhae.

A big part of our mission is fostering a strong relationship with our allies, said McNamara. Were proud of our bond with the community that shares this little slice of heaven with us.

First held in 1952 to commemorate the ROK naval hero Admiral Yi Sun-shi, the Cherry Blossom Festival has grown into one of the largest events in South Korea with 3 million people visiting during the week-long event.

Commander, Fleet Activities Chinhae is the only U.S. Navy base on the Korean peninsula and strengthens the maritime partnership and interoperability with the ROK Navy while enhancing security and cooperation.
32nd Exercise Balikatan Opens at Camp Aguinaldo By Sgt. Erik Estrada U.S. Marine Corps Forces Pacific

CAMP EMILIO AGUINALDO, Philippines  Government officials and senior military leaders of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the U.S. Armed Forces announced the opening of Exercise Balikatan 2016, April 4.



Balikatan brings our armed forces together in bilateral activity that will not only validate our procedures in joint military operations, said Vice Adm. Alexander Lopez, Armed Forces of the Philippines Western Command commander and the exercise director for the Philippine Forces. But more importantly will strengthen our long standing camaraderie and friendship.



The Philippines and U.S. have been treaty allies and longstanding defense cooperation partners, dating back to their Mutual Defense Treaty of 1951.



All of us being here today demonstrates an ironclad commitment to each other, and our respective peoples, said Lt. Gen. John Toolan, the commander of U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Pacific and the exercise director for U.S. forces. Today, we truly stand side-by-side.



Approximately 5,000 U.S., 3,500 AFP, and 80 Australian Defence Force personnel will take part in the 32nd iteration of the exercise. This years Balikatan will focus on three simultaneous events through one single scenario across the Philippine islands, Luzon, Palawan and Panay.



The single scenario that will last through all events, Toolan said. It focuses on training and enhancing the capabilities of the AFP, U.S. and Australian armed forces to provide relief and assistance in the event of natural disasters and other crises that could endanger the publics health and safety.



Joint forces will be conducting Humanitarian Civic Assistance projects to improve HCA interoperability between the participating nations and improve the local community as well as a bilateral Simulation Supported Event, force integration training and an operational event at Crow Valley, Clark Air Field, Fort Magsaysay, Puerto Princesa in Palawan, Subic Bay, and Antique Bay in Panay.



Balikatan represents our security alliance to the Philippines, said Philip S. Goldberg, U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines. The skills learned at this exercise will serve both of our countries well, whatever challenges faced in the future.
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, AK - The exercise included a mock plane crash in the North Slope Borough due to a cyber-attack. Upon request for support from the state, 36 Guardsmen from Headquarters and Headquarters Company; B Company, 1st Battalion, 143rd Infantry Regiment; and A Troop, all with the 297th BFSB, responded by providing transportation, security, shelter and medical support to the simulated plane crash carrying 61 passengers in the vicinity of Barrow.

Simultaneously, the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management's State Emergency Operation Center was stood up, housing personnel from numerous agencies in a central location to consolidate and streamline interagency coordination for the response. The National Guard also stood up a Joint Operations Center to respond to requests for and coordination of Air and Army Guard.

Reports later began filtering to participating organizations about an active shooter at a high school in Cordova. Guardsmen with Headquarters and Headquarters Co., and 1-297th Reconnaissance and Surveillance Squadron's Head Quarters and Head Quarters Troop and C Company, all with the 297th BFSB, provided communications and assisted with post shooting mortuary affairs.

The city of Palmer was notionally evacuated in response to a simulated hazmat incident of a bus carrying 13,000 gallons of fuming liquid sulfuric acid at the Palmer fairgrounds. Alaska Guardsmen with the 38th Troop Command launched into action. The 103rd Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team provided HAZMAT response to include survey, decontamination and communications. The 297th Military Police Company assisted local law enforcement by providing security at the point of distribution, the local hospital and a temporary shelter. UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters from 1st Battalion, 207th Aviation, were used to provide notional casualty evacuation support. Medical personnel from civilian and government agencies worked to help sustain simulated casualties. Approximately 20 members of the Alaska State Defense Force provided assistance with casualty evacuation and medical support.

During the exercise, members of the Mongolian Ministry of Defense and Mongolian National Emergency Management Agency observed the DMVA's participation with visits to Anchorage and the Matanuska Susitna Valley.

Several other communities throughout the state practiced a variety of emergency scenarios including Craig, Fairbanks, Kenai Peninsula Borough, Ketchikan, Kodiak, North Pole, Sitka and Valdez.
AR Packaging and Egem Ambalaj Sanayi Sign Partnership Agreement April 5, 2016 - AR Packaging Group AB, Lund Sweden, and Egem Ambalaj Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S, Izmir Turkey, have signed a strategic partnership agreement. The objective of this agreement is to establish a cooperation in the manufacture, purchasing, sale and marketing in Turkey of packaging made out of cardboard or other materials. Harald Schulz, President and CEO of AR Packaging, says: With Egem as a reliable partner on our side, we are able to strengthen the Eurasian footprint that is key to the continued positive performance of our business. Im sure that our synergies will allow both companies to enter new markets on an enduring basis. We are very pleased to strengthen our collaboration through this agreement.'' Muzaffer Bugdaycy, President and CEO of Egem Ambalaj, says: The partnership we made with AR Packaging will strengthen our current market position and carry us onto an international platform. We will be able to take advantage of AR Packaging's technology and know-how which will improve our technical knowledge. This partnership will lead both companies to serve their multinational customers better and to work with them closely. This agreement will be a milestone for our long-term cooperation. SOURCE: AR Packaging Group AB
The Banana Peel Challenge is the latest viral trend where kids test how slippery a banana skin can be. The trend is tagged with the hashtag #BananaPeelChallenge. Emulating slapstick comedy aside, experts are concerned over the possible dire health consequences of trying to trip on purpose.

It All Started On Twitter

The Banana Peel Challenge was started by teenager Jason Oakes. He posted a video of himself trying out the slippery character of banana skins. "Yall I tried to see if banana peels were rlly slipper like in cartoons & I slipped & tried 2 catch myself w/ a cup," Oakes wrote on his Twitter post.

yall I tried to see if banana peels were rlly slipper like in cartoons & I slipped & tried 2 catch myself w/ a cup.. pic.twitter.com/6dvg5BlnHB  jason oakes (@jaasonoakes) March 27, 2016

The trend started from there and teens from all over US posted videos of them trying it out. The original tweet posted on March 27 has been retweeted more than 100,000 and liked over 110,000 times. Below are some more examples of the challenge.

Incase y'all are wondering, yes banana peels are slippery pic.twitter.com/trKu7Zrfe4  Lillie Crawford (@lilliecrawford_) March 27, 2016

Intentional Tripping Can Land Teens In The Emergency Room

While teens around the country find the challenge hilarious, health experts are warning parents and all adults that this could lead to serious injuries. In some cases, it could lead to lifelong disabilities and death.

"Banana peels have the potential to become the next hoverboards," Dr. Bridget Dowd from New York Presbyterian Hospital - Weill Cornell Medical Center told CBS News. According to Dowd, banana peels can actually result in increased morbidity and mortality -- some of which are developed from "concussions, head trauma, fractures and potential long-term disability."
Thousands of boys aged 13 to 16 disappeared from the enrolled school system in East London. Their parents had sent them to illegal faith schools that belong to ultra-Orthodox Jewish faith that taught the students only religious matters. They were not taught English and other academic subjects typically taught in non-religious schools.

The Cover Up

Media roundup: 1000 boys from Orthodox Jewish families at illegal private schools in London https://t.co/RdH5qSCEBO? https://t.co/qFfFUpQnHW  Secularism UK (@NatSecSoc) April 1, 2016

The International Business Times said that the Department of Education (DoE) is charged with concealing evidence that proves more than 1,000 students were missing and had been sent to illegal schools, which have been operating for more than 40 years. The schools are also accused of inflicting sexual abuse and physical violence on the children.

The Department of Education and Hackney Learning Trust, which is a private organization within Hackney Council's Children and Young People's Service, had purportedly been aware of the said issue since 2010. On the other hand, according to Independent, there is no action done to protect the children from both parties.

"There has been an open secret in the Jewish world that ultra-Orthodox schools have been operating in Hackney are not registered with the Department of Education. In essence, they are illegal schools, but authorities appear to be turning a blind eye," said Rabbi Dr. Jonathan Romain, the chair of the Accord Coalition.

Everything Outside Is Bad And Evil

The said illegal faith schools are teaching the students a curriculum that is solely religious. They also spoke in Yiddish and had been taught that non-Jewish were terrible, according to one student.

"In order to keep such a vast number of people enclosed, they are indoctrinating from a very young age that everything outside is bad and evil," said a student. Another former pupil, who went to illegal school in Hackney's Stanford Hill, said that he was physically beaten by his teachers and his childhood was stolen from him.
A new study suggests that teachers need more efforts to deliver quality sex education in Rwanda. The study says that there's a need to integrate social and cultural aspects of sexual reproductive health in teachers' training.

In an effort to make Rwandans more responsible in their sexual and reproductive right, a new study conducted by International Medical Cooperation Committee (IMCC) and Medical Students' Association of Rwanda (MEDSAR), identified challenges in carrying out effective sex education in primary and secondary schools. The New Times reports that the new study finds teachers are more focused on the anatomy, instead of focusing on the physiology of the reproductive health.

The WISE approach supports the institutionalization of comprehensive sex education in public schools: http://t.co/ihTBpclxbT #ASH2014  VAWnet (@VAWnet) June 25, 2014

Teachers To Carry Out Sexual Education In Rwandan Schools

The study reveals that improper sex education can have adverse effects on the society. The right knowledge about family planning and reproductive health can minimize cases of sexually transmitted diseases (HIV), more common in younger generations. Proper knowledge can also control population and cases of teenage pregnancies.

According to Gerard Mbabazi, the president of MEDSAR, there's a need to train teachers to implement quality sex education in Rwanda. These will hold true to both those who are in the field and the universities. He stressed the social and cultural aspects of sexual reproductive health in the execution of effective sex education.

The Comprehensive Approach

A new curriculum has been put into place recently and will be rolled out in schools in the 2016 academic year. Under the new curriculum, a comprehensive approach to sex education is going to be adapted, a previous report from The New Times says.

According to the report, the new curriculum will focus on the development of well-being and the prevention of health problems. The deputy heads of schools across the country have already been trained in the program.

More so, the new curriculum will give more emphasis to physical education, gender-based violence, sexual and reproductive health that will tackle an array of sexually transmitted diseases. The comprehensive approach hopes to improve an individual's take on sexual awareness. To know more about the comprehensive approach, take a look at the video below:
Summer Grant, 7, died after playing in a bounce house, which was swept away by a strong gust of wind. This incident suggests that while these play structures are intended to be safe for children, exposing it to the mercy of the elements like the wind can be dangerous, and even deadly.

The inflatable bouncy castle reportedly flew for approximately a mile before it fell back down. The British girl was rushed to the hospital but died of multiple injuries within the same day.

A 24-year-old woman and 27-year-old man were arrested for suspicion of manslaughter by gross negligence. The Essex Police announced on their Facebook page that they are currently investigating the incident.

Bounce Houses Are Risky In Open Air

It is perfectly understandable when bounce houses are put outside for kids to play when birthday parties are held outdoors. However, the wind is the natural enemy of inflatables. Most accidents happen during windy or stormy days. Ted Amberg, a bounce house supplier with a company of his own told CNN that it is a good idea to get kids off the inflatable when winds are strong.

"Obviously, most parents aren't going to have a wind gauge on them, so I have an easy rule of thumb for people. ... When your pants are flapping like a flag, that is a really good, simple indicator to understand, 'Hey, the winds are picking up,' "he said.

Additionally, bounce houses should be anchored to the ground via heavy duty metal stakes and not plastic stakes as these can render the inflatables easy to be swept away. Furthermore, parents should also monitor the children using the inflatables.

UK bounce house death highlights danger of inflatable structures and wind: https://t.co/DB8v4BYCKG pic.twitter.com/ZVtZL87eEN  Capital Weather Gang (@capitalweather) March 28, 2016

Bounce House Regulations Should Be Set

Although US states have various regulations for inflatable devices like bounce houses, there should be a standard. Atmospheric science professor John Knox of the University of Georgia says that bounce house accidents have caused 10 deaths and 271 injuries worldwide. He adds that 20 to 30 mph winds can sweep bounce houses away if they are not properly staked to the ground.

"There has been very uneven regulation of inflatable amusement devices from one state to another in the U.S.," Knox told The Washington Post. "Some states [for example, North Carolina] specify policies for anchorage of bounce houses, operator requirements, owner requirements, signage, wind speed thresholds for use, a renter clause, and so on. Other states do not have policies."
Despite the many advantages of the new Smarter Balanced Assessment (SBAC), there are some who focused on the shortcomings of the new program. As proof, there were confusions when the new assessment was rolled out in Vermont and New Hampshire.

@ValVerdeUSD Families: -Curious to know more about the upcoming tests your children will be participating in? Visit https://t.co/ChT7GKdB5D  VVUSD Family (@VVUSD_Family) April 1, 2016

Advantages of Smarter Balanced Assessment

Valley News reports details on the latest standardized testing program called Smarter Balanced Assessment, which was rolled out in Vermont and New Hampshire in March. The new exam, which replaced the traditional pen and paper New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP), is a computerized comprehensive measure of students' knowledge.

This is offered in grades three through eight and 11. The new assessment was rolled out in spring last year. One of the highlights of the new assessment is the real-time evaluation of the students' answers, adjusting the questions according to the students' level of understanding.

More so, the tests can be divided so students can take them for several days, unlike the old test, which should be done all in one day. With the new technology, words can be translated or read out loud for students with difficulty in the English language, even reading.

Disadvantages of Smarter Balanced Assessment

There was confusion when the SBAC was rolled out in Vermont and New Hampshire. There were feedbacks about the format which caused the mix-up according to Mike Harris, Lyme Superintendent.

Students ended up taking the wrong tests because of mislabelling issues. As a result, the test was stopped and a second testing was scheduled. Harris said that it could affect the students' scores.

There were also concerns about the time spent familiarizing the new format of SBAC. The process was described by Harris as both arduous and time-consuming. The same sentiments were echoed by SAU 70 Superintendent Frank Bass, where SBAC was found to be redundant compared to an assessment system adapted by Hanover-Norwich schools.

Is it effective in measuring students' learning?

Education Week reports that there was a huge decrease in the rate of students who participated in SBAC year. From 46 percent last year, only 32 percent participated from the different public schools in the United States.

The report says that some of the states have exchanged and mixed in SBAC with their own set of assessments. Finding the best tool to assess students' learning is still on-going. To know more about Smarter Balanced Assessment, check out the video below:
A 5-year-old boy was confirmed to have an Ebola virus days after his 30-year-old mother died from the same disease. The health ministry said in an interview that the second flare-up hit West Africa recently.

World Health Organization said in a statement: "Guinea, Liberia and Sierra now have the detection and response capacities in place to effectively manage ongoing flare-ups of Ebola." It also confirmed days after West Africa was declared Ebola-free that a 30-year-old woman was diagnosed and died due to Ebola virus in Monrovia.

Monrovia's Health officials suspected that the epidemic originated in Guinea. The 30-year-old who died recently crossed the border with her 3 children and her sister, according to UPI.

The health officials of Monrovia stated that they are currently monitoring the people who had contact with the body of the woman who died because of Ebola virus. At least 46 people were identified by the health officials to had contact with the dead body after the investigation. These people are now being monitored for symptoms.

"A five-year-old boy, the son of the deceased, tested positive early on Sunday morning," Tolbert Nyenswah, Deputy Health Minister said.

Almost 11,300 people who already died because of Ebola epidemic for the past 2 years are in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

Although the World Health Organization announced the Ebola epidemic outbreak is no longer a threat in the international public health risk, there are still small flare-ups in some countries that are announced to be Ebola free.

Guinea declared new case of Ebola epidemic on March 17 just hours after Sierra Leone was announced free from the virus. Liberia closed their border with Guinea to protect their people from Ebola outbreak, according to Reuters.

It is not yet clear if whether the Ebola cases in Liberia were connected to the recent cases in Guinea.


Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement is a procedure for patients who won't survive an open heart surgery or at risk of complications. The procedure is seeking U.S. regulatory approval for Edwards Lifesciences Corporation.

A study by Sapien 3 shows those patients who undergo TAVR had lessened mortality rate and strokes after one year than those who undergo open heart surgery. The procedure is presented at the American College of Cardiology in Chicago, according to Reuters.

A professor and a lead investigator of the study named Dr. Vinod Thourani said in an interview: "It seems likely that TAVR will become the new benchmark for the treatment of severe aortic stenosis in intermediate-risk patients." TAVR includes using catheter by threading the valve through the blood vessels.

According to Sapien 3, the study discovered 4.6 percents of patients who received Edward's valve has a stroke and 7.4 percent died within a year during procedure. For patients who took surgery, 13 percent died and 8.2 percent suffered a stroke.

The outcome of the surgery had less leakage than TAVR procedure. A few people in both procedures experienced complications, only 1.5 percent.

Michael Musssallem said in an interview that the Edward Lifesciences Corporation that information from both studies shall be analyzed by U.S. regulators to approve the expanded proposal indication for Sapien 3. "The only option up until now has been open surgery, which is very effective, but many patients would not opt for that," he said.

According to Bloomberg, Roxana Mehran, director of Interventional Cardiovascular Research at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York said that the totality of evidence of the two trials is "very positive for the transcatheter approach."

"This has huge implications that the tide is turning toward transcatheter valve replacement as the possible new gold standard," she said. "The caveat is that we don't have very long-term data yet on these valves."


North Carolina implemented a program in their dual enrollment curriculum for high school called Career and College Promise, allowing them to take college classes during their high school years.

This program that offers a partnership with WPCC and Burke Country Public Schools allows students to enroll in their college courses while studying in high school.

An 11th grade homeschooled student, Madelyn Welch, and her mother are searching for fresh new ways to improve her academically and emotionally. After searching for local opportunities, they found the Career and College Promise program that helps Welch enroll to Western Piedmont Community College while still in high school, according to Morganton.

Career and College Promise students can receive a diploma or certificate with an associate degree. The program requires students to pay fees and books linked with the enrollment at WPCC. It can help parent save thousands of dollars of college tuition fees.

Welch has experienced both working with group in public school and working alone in home school. For her, having different kinds of educational environment doesn't bother her as long as she works at her best in both places.

"When you're mom is the instructor, you know she's always ready to do the best for you no matter what," she said. "I initially wondered about how any instructor could compare to that and about how personal the experience would actually be."

Welch realizes that she can pinpoint the similarities between one-on-one relationship during her homeschooling and interacting with both students and instructors. "I've found that all the instructors want me to succeed," she said. "You never feel different than the other kids and my instructors never acts irritated if I have to stay after class for further explanation."

An article from the Global Student Network says that there are so many benefits that can be achieved during homeschooling. A student can have a flexible schedule to do her assignments, save money from commuting physically just to attend daily classes and having a long time bonding with their parents. It only needs an internet connection to study a lesson, which also means fewer paper works.


Most schools are now preparing their students for national standardized testing or also known as the PARCC (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers). Amidst controversies, most schools encourage students to do well in the annual statewide assessment testing.

The Telegraph reports on how the different schools prepare the students for the PARCC, statewide assessment testing. For the past year, the PARCC testing is bombarded with controversies. Despite this, local school administrators have learned to accept the inevitable. Instead of going against the rule, they have learned how to make the best out of it.

How many states are throwing over PARCC or Smarter Balanced for another test this year? See our national chart: https://t.co/2vXnJiIq0I  Education Week (@educationweek) March 28, 2016

Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers

Chronicle explains that PARCC is state-mandated testing of the Common Core standards given to third and eight graders. This new standardized testing has replaced the traditional paper-based tests to an online-based test in the hopes of making it easier for students and evaluators. The Telegraph states that schools have a three-month window to complete the tests.

The Illinois State Board of Education estimated that around 85 percent of the 1 million Illinois students took the PARCC tests online. They expect the same rate this year.

PARCC will give educators a better view on what should be included in the curriculum to prepare students for college, and later on, for their career. It takes at least seven years to make a comparative study, and since it just launched last year, it is still too early to make conclusions.

Trimpe Middle School, Bethalto

School administrators in Trimpe Middle School encouraged their students to take a good night's rest and eat a good breakfast before the start of the examinations. In an unusual move from the administrators, they decided to give students a break and arranged a day of fun and games. Principal Wilks hopes that students will feel a little relaxed before the examinations begin. This is also one way of appreciating the efforts made by the students to prepare for the PARCC.

Just like the majority of the schools, Bethalto School District will take their tests online. The school has a one-on-one ratio in terms of students and individual laptops. School administrators are confident that students are equipped with the skills to manipulate the online tools.

However, other school districts like Alton will be taking it the traditional way, believing that students will do better this way. There are reports claiming that paper-based results were better than online test results. Last year, the school also opted to have paper-based exams.

Aside from PARCC, some schools have their own testing programs to gauge students' learning. To know more about PARCC, check out the video below.
The White House has warned that global warming could lead to numerous health problems which can also cause deaths. In a report, the White House said these health dangers are testaments that the climate change policies of President Barack Obama are greatly needed.

According to The New York Times, the report titled "The Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health in the United States: A Scientific Assessment" revealed that global warming causes allergies, asthma and insect-borne diseases which can be fatal to some. Health official Dr. Vivek Murthy said there is now strong evidence that climate change is linked to health risks.

The experts also claimed that some of the conclusions in the report are not anymore new. They noted that these results should not be taken lightly and should push for policies which aim to address the effects of the changing climate.

"This isn't just about glaciers and polar bears. It's about the health of our family and our kids," Environmental Protection Agency administrator Gina McCarthy told The Washington Post. "To protect ourselves and future generations, we need to understand the health impacts of climate change that are already happening, and those that we expect to see down the road."

The study, as per the same report, highlighted what people not only in the United States could be facing if greenhouse gases will continue to be emitted into the atmosphere. Global warming is feared to kill more people in the United States in the coming years because of the diseases it can cause.

Researchers have reportedly projected that the worsening environment condition could lead to "thousands to tens of thousands of additional premature deaths per year across the United States by the end of this century."

Murthy said drastic changes are now happening all around the world. "We see a more clear picture of the extent to which climate change is going to impact health, and it's not a pretty picture, The solution is not going to be simple, but it is possible," he added.
Male Muslim students are now exempted to shake hands with their female teachers in Northern Switzerland. The shaking of hands of students with their teachers is part of the culture of Switzerland as a sign of respect and good manners. But on the other hand, it is against the religious culture of Islam to do so.

the handshake makes its way around. pic.twitter.com/8mFSNd2Xrd  Rhett & Link (@rhettandlink) March 29, 2016

The Controversial Decision

English Alarabiya reported that Education authorities in Northern Switzerland, in the municipality of Therwil, made the decision after two male Muslim students carped that the shaking of hands with a female teacher is against their religious beliefs. They said that they do not allow physical contact with the opposite sex except for immediate family members.

The decision was made in favor of the Muslim students. However, it didn't fare too well with everyone, as the decision sparked an outcry across Switzerland.

"It is difficult when someone refuses to adopt our way of life," said Christine Akeret, in charge of the Therwil school system. Meanwhile, the head of the Swiss Conference of Canton and Ministers of Education, Christoph Eymann said that "such exceptions to the rules are not the solution."

The Arguments

Truth Revolt reported that the community and some people across Switzerland are not pleased with the school's decision. They thought that the male and female teachers must be treated equally in schools.

One commentator said that it depicts discrimination. "We cannot tolerate that women in the public service are treated differently from men," said Eymann.

The Swiss Justice Minister Simonetta Sommaruga said that the shaking of hands between teachers and students belongs to their culture. The teachers' union also argued, saying, "the same rules should apply to all students." They also said that shaking hands is not only part of their culture, but also preparing the students on how to properly address the women and men they are going to meet in the future.
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March brought a strong selection of rock n roll acts to our New York studios. And each of those bands interpreted their songs differently in our cozy spacesome went for stripped down, double-acoustic-guitar performances and others claimed the prize for the loudest session weve ever recorded! Check out six great Paste Studio Sessions recorded last month.



We actually premiered this song from PALMAS debut EP To The Valley back in September of last year. But when the East Coast surf band stopped into our New York offices to perform it live, the tune took on a cleaner air with frontman Kurt Cains vocals less drenched in reverb and effects. But the great mystery of this session is still drummer Pat Degan fighting with a parking meter and bringing it upstairs.



Atlanta Americana rockers Tedo Stone delivered an energetic acoustic set here at Paste Studio recently. From the age of 12, Stone fronted a band and played in motorcycle dive bars in his hometown of Covington, Ga. Fans of Nobunny, Dinosaur Jr. and Neil Young will certainly dig on Tedo Stone, as they infuse infectious southern vibes, fiery timbre and powerful wall-of-sound dynamics. Check out an acoustic version of Home to It from their September album Marshes.



Never Going Back has all the falsettos and acoustic guitar soloing that makes stripped down versions of songs so special. The lead single off the Brooklyn indie bands third record, Otero War is due out this summer.



Baltimore quintet Sun Club hung out with us in the Paste Studio recently, winning the award (by far) for loudest session weve ever recorded. The band played a few tracks from their debut full-length, The Dongo Durango. Side note: you know youre a real garage band when part of your gear includes a full-size ironing board as a stand for your keys. Everyones jumping here during Summer Feet; were glad our talented camera crew kept their shots even.



New Zealand native Marlon Williams played a few songs for us in our studio off of his brand new self-titled debut. The 25-year-old is an eclectic mix of country, bluegrass and occasionally what could have had radio play in the 60s doo-wop era. With a deep voice that could be mistaken for a young David Byrne, Williams has a timeless quality. Strange Things appears on his self-titled debut LP.



This New York City band is like a huybrid of the No BS! Brass Band and St. Paul and the Broken Bones. Anchored by a feisty horn section, the septet plays the kind of American rock and roll and rhythm n blues that has come to define a national sound. This cover of Preston Red Fosters Got My Mojo Workin (made famous by Muddy Waters, of course) shuffles and swings, and that doesnt even begin to delve into the bands originals.
Back in February, Beyonces surprise video Formation and her subsequent Super Bowl performance had the Fox & Friends crowd scratching their empty heads. Police unions even called for boycotting Beyonce over perceived anti-police sentiments.

In an interview with ELLE magazine, which was published online today, Beyonce addressed the accusations:
Nashville is experiencing a period of growth. People in the city have mixed opinions about that, but the effects of the influx of new residents brings with it some benefits. For one, theres now a higher demand for beer, so breweries are springing forth from all corners of the Tennessee metropolis to meet that thirst.

There is a caveat though. The states alcohol laws are tricky, and currently, there are two permits offered for on-premises consumption: the first is for low gravity beers of 6.25% ABV and under (which the below all have), and the second is for high gravity beers, liquors, and other spirits of 6.25% or above. The laws are evolving though, and the latter permit has become more affordable for businesses, so while some breweries on this list are still relegated to producing beers within the low gravity category, others  such as Corsair, Smith & Lentz, and Yazoo  have a bit more room for creativity, particularly when it comes to barrel aging.

As more breweries pop up, and the laws relax on crafters, this beer scene will flourish even more than it already is. See below for a few of our favorite Nashville breweries, plus one killer beer bar.

At only a couple years old, Smith & Lentz might be one of the newest brewing establishments around Nashville, but theyve already earned the respect of fellow prominent brewers about town. The East Nashville spot tends to present a lineup that skews toward a preference for crisp, dry styles  they say youll almost always find a fresh German Pilsner and an aromatic IPA on tap  but the founding duo are not afraid to experiment with lesser seen beers too, particularly utilizing classic German recipes. Currently, they have a Helles Bock and a classic Vienna lager on draft.

The business of Tennessee Brew Works had always included two major principles: great beer and community. Besides a large menu of diverse styles, Brew Works also houses a space for local live music and two stories for large groups. That theme follows through into its beer as well  many of its offerings pay homage to Nashvilles country roots. The current list, for example, includes a sweet potato stout, a Southern wit, and the Rye Basil Farmhouse Ale, which utilizes spicy Thai basil from the local Bloomsbury Farm.

Born in theory when founder Linus Hall purchased a home brew kit from the back pages of Rolling Stone in 1993, Yazoo was never a brewery to play it too safe or conventional. Yazoo was the first to make a (legal) high gravity beer in Sue, its 9.2% smoked porter, and its just the establishment to officially revive a style from the citys pre-Prohibition era Gerst Brewery, in a German-malted amber ale. Today, Yazoo also runs a sour program called Embrace the Funk  one of its most popular projects.

Most people know Corsair for their mostly-nationally-distributed (but still relatively rare) whiskey, but recently, theyve entered the world of brewing and barrel aging. Calling their Clinton Street location a brewstillery, Corsairs offerings tend to be on the high end of the ABV chart, and sometimes, pay homage to classic and historic brewing methods. Such choices have recently included a smoked rye porter, a sherry barleywine, a hickory alt, and one theyre calling the Viking Ale: a period-reverential ale brewed with juniper berries, coriander, and honey. Then its aged in their Quinoa Whiskey barrels with another hearty dose of juniper.

Born from two friends who met in the tiny Scottish village of St. Andrews, Jackalope has become one of the stalwarts of Nashvilles brewing scene. Its beers, which are often takes on classic styles, have become stalwarts in the local repertoire as well. One of brewmaster Bailey Spauldings first recipes, the Bearwalker Maple Brown ale, for example, pays homage to her home state in the northeast by adding 100% Vermont maple syrup into the recipe. Others, on the other hand, are tributes to the local soil, like the Rompo Red Rye Ale  a take on an Irish red, but using Tennessee flaked rye. It just wouldnt be right to visit the city without a trip to the taproom, which also operates as a coffeehouse in the earlier hours.

Brewing in the style of the wife of Protestant reformer Martin Luther, Katherina von Bora, Black Abbeys are Belgian to be sure, but with a delicate crispness. Its not easy to craft the classically high ABV styles under the legal low gravity threshold in Tennessee, but the brewery has proven since 2011 that it is possible to build a rich, full-bodied Belgian without an elevated alcohol content. Signature styles like Belgian blonde The Rose, and Hawaiian and Kenyan coffee bean-infused porter POTUS 44, are always on draft, but experimental makes appear periodically too, including many of which have been barrel aged or treated with wild yeasts.

Tucked away in hip East Nashville, the Hop Stop is a go-to for Nashville beer seekers with an indecisive palate, far from the bustle of tourists. Featuring an eclectic tap list of 36 beers on draft at all times, the bar also offers beer cocktails, as well as a bottle and canned selection. Picks are local  many of the above breweries are generally on rotation at the beer  but youll also see selections from across the South, and as far off as New York, California, Belgium, Germany and beyond. Hang by the dartboards and choose from a list of hot dogs, not dogs, and bar fare for a low-key evening.
I remember it being served for fiestas, birthdays, holidays and other celebrations at my hometown in the Philippines. It was cooked over a fire pit outside my grandparents backyard. It easily swirled around in a huge silver saucepan until it got thicker, and then men and women took turns laboring over it until cooked.

After it was cooled down, it was distributed in oval-shaped containers, topped off with latik, brown coconut milk curds. The containers were served along with other desserts on the table.

It stood out because of it being purple. And it only needed three ingredients: condensed milk, margarine and ube (oo-beh). Its the ube that gave the color as well as the nameUbe Halaya or Halayang Ube, which translate to purple yam jam. But there we were eating it like any other dessert.

This is how I associate ube with my childhood in the Philippines, and the process of making ube halaya was slightly different in our Midwestern kitchen. Sans the fire pit, we used already grated frozen ube product that were imported instead of fresh ube.

Ube halaya was a constant food throughout my life in two different continents as it was incorporated in many Filipino desserts and snacks, including ice cream, cake, sapin-sapin, ube ensymada, halo-halo and ube hopia to name several. So, what exactly is this three-letter word that I talk with such tasty memories?

In English, ube is Dioscorea alata or purple yam, a root vegetable with tubers and is dark purple inside. Its indigenous to parts of Asia, specifically in the Philippines. With ube halaya, the fresh root is peeled, boiled and mashed, and can be used as a topping like in halo-halo, a filling as seen in ube hopia and ube ensymada or a flavor as seen in ice cream and cake.

Ube is not to be confused by Okinawan sweet potato or taro, which either are also color purple or could turn purple if cooked. Okinawan sweet potato, which is popular in Hawaii and Japan, has a vibrant purple color and can be cooked however you like.

Taro, on the other hand, is a root vegetable like ube but from the family Araceaa. Its colored white inside but may turn into a light purple hue if steamed. Taro also can be poisonous if eaten raw.

Both ube and taro are homegrown in the Philippines. While ube is used for sweet treats, taro (gabi in Tagalog) is used in main Filipino dishes like Laing or Sinigang. Out of the three, taro is the most familiar to the general public, especially for any boba-loving drinkers.

But ube is on the come up as its riding the wave of the Filipino cuisine hype. A Yahoo article listed ube as one of the 16 food trends that we will be seeing a lot in 2016, and itll be thanks to the Filipino food establishments using ube in their menus.

On the west coast, there are Hood Famous Bakeshop and Cafe86. Hood Famous Bakeshop, an online bakeshop in Seattle, garnered buzz for its ube cheesecake after it debuted in October 2013 as an item on Food & Sh*ts pop-up menu. Cafe86, a tea and coffee place in California, stuffs their cinnamon roll with ube. Meanwhile in the East Coast, theres ube waffles at Maharlika as well as ube donuts and bread pudding in Manila Social Club. Its the latter restaurant that has pushed ube to the forefront.

Right now, Im really enjoying the fact that people are saying, Oh, well as far as Filipino food, theres adobo, lumpia, kare-kare and oh, those crazy ube donuts, said Manila Social Clubs Chef Bjorn DelaCruz, whose restaurant has been open almost a yeara baby among the growing clusters of Filipino restaurants in New York.

The Williamsburg restaurant began offering the ube donuts when DelaCruz made them as snack for his employees. Now called Ube Bae Donuts, customers could order them online for $40 a dozenfreshly made and picked up on Fridays only.

DelaCruz makes his Ube Bae Donuts with frozen grated purple yam but also has managed to find a location in New Jersey that sells fresh ube whenever they can. While DelaCruz feels silly to say that ube is enjoying a spotlight outside the Philippines because of his Ube Bae Donuts, he cant deny the numerous articles written about them mainly because he also serves the donuts in 24-karat gold, priced at $100.

Back in December, Manila Social Club posted an image of said donuts on Instagram. The gold-ube donut was adorned with icing made with Cristal champagne and filled with an ube mousse, champagne jelly, and covered with 24k Gold.

It all started when he made a black donut for the owners of Bushwicks Brazen Brewery. The donut was iced with their White IPA beer and topped with gold dust. After the popularity of that, the donut became something really about celebrationa celebratory kind of thing, said DelaCruz. And after trying to figure out how to celebrate the New Years with his staff, DelaCruz turned to Cristal champagne and his famous Ube Bae Donuts. The idea of dipping them in 24-K gold came when they simply wanted them to look shiny.

Because of restaurants like Manila Social Club, Filipinos are seeing their beloved ube made into beyond what they grew up eating. DelaCruz doesnt see this as modern take on ube but as a progression of the root vegetable. And he has a point. When ube was turned into a jam and decided to be stuffed into pastries or turned into an ice cream flavor, did Filipinos then question how ube was being made? They may have, but the fact still remains that in the Filipino culinary history, ube has had its evolution, which appears to still be evolving.

In the same Williamsburg neighborhood is the expresso bar Mountain Province with Ray Luna and his dad as the chefs, baking pastries familiar to Filipinos like the ube ensymada, cassava cake and bibingka. Despite the place making traditional Filipino pastries, there is still something endearingly fresh about Mountain Province.

Situated next to a tattoo shop, Mountain Province almost seems out of place. It gives off a mom-and-pop feel that would have fit perfectly at Queens Woodside, where many of the home-styled Filipino restaurants are located. Mountain Province feels like home, and its was exactly what Luna wanted. Serving Filipino pastries made from the recipes of Lunas grandmother, which he never veers from, in a hip neighborhood that lacks a Filipino community, does sound like a new concepa dichotomy of the old and new Filipino.

We opened up this place around two and half years ago with the intention of serving Filipino pastries knowing that neighborhood isnt Filipino and kind of introducing it to people like, No, you guys, it really isnt that weird, explained Luna.

He still appreciates that there are chefs who are translating ube to waffles or donuts, but he also thinks there has to be someone to hold down the forth and say this is also what ube tastes like, referencing his ube ensymada, which is essentially a brioche stuffed with ube halaya, buttercream icing and sugar.

But Luna also has presented ube in a non-traditional way. He once hosted Chef Yana Gilbuenas Salo Project, a pop-up dinner that aims to bring Filipino food in all 50 states, and served ube halaya as a pie with a graham cracker crust and finished off with toasted sesame seeds on top. I told my parents it has to be in some sort of vessel that people can relate too, Luna said.

Ube has the potential to become ubiquitous this yearcould it be the signature food of Filipino-American cuisine?

For DelaCruz, hes enjoying that the talk surrounding Filipino cuisine isnt focused in a singular dish, but more about what they are experiencing at a Filipino restaurant.

People are really engaging my brother, me and my sister and really wanting to talk about the food and what were actually doing, he said. And I think thats great. It opens up a conversation of what Filipino food is. But for now, Delacruz seems content to let ube be the focus of the conversation.

Photos by David Woo CC BY, T. Tseng CC BY and Mountain Province Coffee Bar
Word of South, a festival celebrating literature and music, returns to Cascades Park in Tallahassee, Florida for its second year on Friday. Founded by novelist Mark Mustian in 2015, the festival pair[s] books with musicauthors who have written about music, musicians who have written books and everything in between.

The festival is unique in that, in addition to boasting an eclectic lineup of artists hailing from diverse genres, it features joint appearances of musicians and authors. The results [in 2015] were without exception so fabulous we decided to keep going and do it again, Mustian writes in an email to Paste. I couldnt tell you exactly what any of them are going to do.

Paste favorites Lauren Groff (Fates and Furies), Dawes and Rick Moody (Hotels of North America) are scheduled to perform this year, along with dozens more artists. Word of South also includes programming for children, from a Story Fort for young kids to a Rockin Reading Arena for middle-grade attendees.

The festival is free to the public, with the exception of two ticketed events: a Dawes concert on April 8th and a Jason Isbell concert on April 9th. You can visit the Word of South website for more information.
Polands controversial proposed new abortion ban hit the news this weekend:

Thousands protested on Sunday against the Polish government after the ruling partys powerful leader and the countrys prime minister said they backed a complete ban on abortion advocated by the Catholic Church.

Abortion is already highly restricted in Poland. What would the new bill do?

The proposed move would end a status quo reached in the 1990s under which abortion is allowed in three cases  when the pregnancy is the result of a crime like rape or incest, when it puts the health of the mother at risk, and when the fetus is terminally ill or has a severe disability.

As I read about Polands bill, I was struck by how familiar much of it felt. Here in the U.S. we are already saddled with some of the consequences that of necessity accompany such blanket bans on abortionconsequences abortion opponents are rarely fully honest about. I am speaking specifically about a willingness to play fast and loose with a pregnant womans health, prioritizing a fetal heartbeat over her very survival, and about the practice of investigating miscarriages.

Neither of these things are in the best interest of any woman, regardless of her views on abortion, but both are the inevitable consequences of fetal personhood, and neither is talked about often enough.

Here in the U.S. abortion is technically legal (with some restrictions, depending on the state) if a pregnancy endangers a mothers life, but the Catholic Churchs investment in our hospital system means that this is not always true in practice. There are hospitals in the U.S. today that will let a pregnant woman bleed out rather than complete a miscarriage while a fetuss heart is still beating. Just because performing an abortion to save a womans life is legal doesnt mean hospitals controlled by the Catholic Church are going to do it.

The woman inside the ambulance was miscarrying. That was clear from the foul-smelling fluid leaving her body. As the vehicle wailed toward the hospital, a doctor waiting for her arrival phoned a specialist, who was unequivocal: the baby would die. The woman might follow. Induce labor immediately. But staff at the Mercy Health Partners hospital in Muskegon, Michigan would not induce labor for another 10 hours. Instead, they followed a set of directives written by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops that forbid terminating a pregnancy unless the mother is in grave condition. Doctors decided they would delay until the woman showed signs of sepsis  a life-threatening response to an advanced infection  or the fetal heart stopped on its own. In the end, it was sepsis.

Have we forgotten Savita Halappanavar of Ireland?

The husband of a pregnant woman who died in an Irish hospital has said he has no doubt she would be alive if she had been allowed an abortion. Savita Halappanavars family said she asked several times for her pregnancy to be terminated because she had severe back pain and was miscarrying. Her husband told the BBC that it was refused because there was a foetal heartbeat.

Remember that the Catholic Church sainted a woman who refused to have an abortion even as her pregnancy killed her, ultimately leaving her husband a widower with four young children. Remember too that only a few years ago the Catholic Church excommunicated a nun in Arizona for approving a life-saving abortion on a woman who was 11 weeks pregnant with her fifth child. What I want to emphasize is that this isnt just something that happens in Ireland, or Poland, or countries in South America which have blanket bans on abortion. Its something that happens in the U.S. today.

Whatever people say about abortions performed for other reasons, when it comes to a pregnancy that threatens a womans life, we ought to be able to reach some level of agreement. We dont prosecute people who refuse to go back into burning buildings after people who are trappedin fact, firefighters tell people not to do thatand we especially would not prosecute them for not doing so if a risk-assessment suggested that no one would be saved and the would-be rescuer would have died in the blaze along with the others. Neither of the two women referenced above had reached the point in pregnancy when a fetus can survive outside the womb, meaning that the question was not whether to save the mother or the fetus but rather whether or not to let the mother die along with her fetus.

Restrictions on abortion when the life of the mother is at risk are incredibly dangerous. Pregnancy comes with health risks. Thats how it works. Women have to be able to terminate the process if the risk to their health and very life becomes to much. Some women have health issues such that a pregnancy is guaranteed to endanger and very likely end their lives. For these women, absent legal abortion, becoming pregnant is like signing a death warrant. Prioritizing the life of the fetus over the life of the mother puts womens health in danger. Theres no way around this.

Can we talk about the fact that in some countries, miscarriages are investigated?

If this new legislation in Poland becomes law, doctors could be investigated if women under their care miscarry. After all, harming a fetus in any way, even to save a mothers life, would be a crime meriting jail time. In order to enforce the law, hospitals would have to ensure that doctors did not do anything to complete a miscarriage already in progress or induce a miscarriage in women with other life-threatening conditions. And that means treating miscarriages as suspect.

Here in the U.S., where women in many states are already prosecuted for self-induced abortions, the idea that miscarriages might be investigated is not a stretch.

Can we talk about what such investigations might look like?

When Carmen Guadalupe Vasquez was rushed to hospital after giving birth to a stillborn baby boy, the doctors first treated her life-threatening bleeding and then called the police who handcuffed her to the bed. In El Salvador, where all abortion is illegal and emergency wards are turned into crime scenes, the confused, weak and desperately ill 18-year-old maid was placed under investigation for terminating her pregnancy and driven away in a police van. After prosecutors declared that the foetus could have lived, they upgraded the charges to aggravated homicide. Despite Miss Vazquezs insistence that she had done nothing to harm her unborn child, she was sentenced to 30 years in prison after a cursory prosecution case was laid out.
Patna: A speeding school bus in Patna hit a motorcyclist near Kargil Chowk at the northeast end of the Gandhi Maidan killing him on the spot.

As reported, the 20-year old unnamed victim of the accident was on his Hero Passion Pro motorcycle, Tag Number BR01BT2881, when he was struck from behind by a school bus on Friday around 2:30 pm.

The victim, a resident of Ambedkar Chowk, was rushed to the Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) where he was declared dead on arrival.

Children on the school bus, who were shifted to a different bus, were unhurt in the incident, police said.

An angry mob tried to torch the vehicle but thanks to a quick response, authorities managed to avert the situation from escalating after dispersing the crowd and taking the bus into their custody.
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"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.
Toward a World Free of Nuclear Weapons?

04/05/16

By Peter Jenkins (source: LobeLog)





President Barack Obama claimed in The Washington Post on March 30 that the United States had made important progress under his leadership toward the vision he outlined in Prague nearly seven years ago: a world free of nuclear weapons.

In reality, disappointing is the epithet that future generations are likely to apply to the presidents achievements-or, rather, the modesty of them-in this domain, during his second administration at least.

President Obama returned to the White House in January 2013 with an opportunity to build on the 2010 New START Treaty, which can be a legitimate source of pride. As he wrote last week, the US [and Russian] massive Cold War nuclear arsenals are poorly suited to todays threats. The United States and Russia-which together hold more than 90 percent of the worlds nuclear weapons-should negotiate to reduce our stockpiles further.

Unfortunately, the president blew any chance of further US/Russian cuts in two ways.

First, he failed to call a halt to the installation of ballistic missile defense (BMD) systems close to Russias borders. For at least a decade Moscow has warned Washington that it sees these systems as a threat to the strategic stability-i.e. the rough balance of nuclear forces-that has been the bedrock of detente and successive nuclear weapon reduction pacts.

Washingtons attempts to placate Moscow by asserting that the systems are needed to protect Europe from an Iranian nuclear missile threat have evoked hollow laughter in Moscow, in the absence of any evidence of an Iranian threat of that nature. Even the conclusion last summer of an agreement to ensure the peaceful nature of Irans nuclear program has changed nothing: Washington continues to insist on the necessity of installing these systems.

Second, President Obama failed to rein in those in his administration who bear a partial responsibility for the overthrow of a democratically elected government in Russias back-yard, Ukraine, in February 2014. Imagine the impact on US readiness to discuss strategic arms reduction with Russia if the latter had been detected, in flagrante, fomenting a coup detat in Mexico City, the better to draw Mexico into Russias sphere of influence!

The bitterness caused by US and EU insensitivity to the complex nature of Ukrainian identity, and Russian attitudes toward Ukraine, will fade if the United States and Europe have learnt a lesson from the consequences of that insensitivity. But the United States should not imagine that it can engage Russia in building on the 2010 START achievement until and unless it is ready to address Russian BMD concerns.

A Baffling Paradox

Further grounds for disappointment can be found in President Obamas plans for the next generation of US nuclear forces. He writes that he has ruled out developing new nuclear warheads. Good. But his Department of Defense (DOD) is bidding for funding for a destabilizing expansion of nuclear delivery systems.

Not content with renewing the existing triad-missile launching submarines, land-based intercontinental missiles, and a long-range nuclear bomber force-when two or one system would suffice, the DOD wants to develop nuclear-tipped cruise missiles. These will threaten strategic stability because early-warning systems cannot distinguish between nuclear and conventional cruise missiles (a mirror of the threat to stability posed by Prompt Global Strike conventional vehicles, another DOD innovative system).

That a president who dreams of a world free of nuclear weapons should risk a renewal of the US/Russian nuclear arms race by threatening strategic stability is baffling.

An Allys Redundant Nuclear Force

Less baffling, but nonetheless puzzling, and certainly disappointing, is that President Obama has failed to encourage the government of the United Kingdom to lead the way toward realizing his vision.

The United Kingdoms four nuclear missile submarines will be worn out by the late 2020s and early 2030s. Replacing them will cost at least $50 billion, and maintaining them in service for 30 years at least a further $50 billion.

This nuclear force is committed to NATO. The value of that commitment, compared to the value of the US nuclear commitment to NATOs defense, is nugatory. The United Kingdom intends to deploy no more than 40 nuclear warheads at any one time, compared to the 1,500 or so strategic warheads (plus hundreds of tactical warheads) that the United States can deploy once New START limits are in full force. So it would make sense not to renew a somewhat redundant UK force and instead devote $100 billion over 40 years to boosting Britains conventional contribution to NATOs defense.

Instead of making that point, President Obamas secretary of defense told a BBC interviewer on February 13, 2016 that Britains nuclear force was an important part of the deterrent structure of NATO. Secretary Ashton Carter added that the force aided the UKs special relationship with the United States and helped Britain continue to play an outsized role on the global stage.

Surmounting High Hurdles

The six other nuclear weapon possessor-states are China, France, Israel, India, Pakistan and North Korea. Their composite holding is probably in the region of 900 warheads. None of them has been showing the slightest interest in surrendering these warheads or even in reducing their number. So President Obama cannot fairly be reproached for failure on that front.

Neglect of a modest step toward his vision, however, is another matter. The five possessor-states (P5) that are recognized under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (US, UK, France, Russia, and China) have been meeting to consult on NPT matters since the early part of President Obamas first term. An opportunity to use this grouping to identify the high hurdles of which the President rightly wrote last week, and to develop a collective understanding of how those hurdles might be surmounted, exists but has been ignored.

Some of those hurdles are formidable. How can the possessor states get to zero without jeopardizing strategic stability? On what can mutual deterrence rest in the absence of nuclear weapons? How can the four late-comers (Israel, India, Pakistan and North Korea) be induced to join a movement toward zero? The daunting nature of these hurdles is all the more reason, one might think, to put a P5 study group to work as soon as possible.

Of course, humanity should be grateful to President Obama for articulating the goal of eliminating nuclear weapons. But if the President wants to be remembered as more than an articulator of visions, he should use his remaining months to put a stop to BMD in Europe, scotch plans for nuclear cruise missiles, convince the British prime minister to make better use of the limited sums Britain can afford to spend on defense, and persuade the other members of the P5 to start studying how to get to zero, and how to stay there.





About the Author: Peter Jenkins was a British career diplomat for 33 years, following studies at the Universities of Cambridge and Harvard. He served in Vienna (twice), Washington, Paris, Brasilia and Geneva. He specialized in global economic and security issues. His last assignment (2001-06) was that of UK Ambassador to the IAEA and UN (Vienna). Since 2006 he has represented the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership, advised the Director of IIASA and set up a partnership, The Ambassador Partnership llp, with former diplomatic colleagues, to offer the corporate sector dispute resolution and solutions to cross-border problems. He was an associate fellow of the Geneva Centre for Security Policy from 2010 to 2012. He writes and speaks on nuclear and trade policy issues..
Heroic Iranian teacher killed by crumbing wall while saving students

04/05/16

Source: Radio Zamaneh





A crumbling wall at a school in a village near Khash in Sistan Baluchistan Province killed a teacher after he managed to save the lives of all the students. Hamidreza Gongozehi, an elementary school teacher in Nukjoo, was caught under the debris after he rushed to move the students to safety as the classroom wall began to crumble.







The head of the Sistan-Baluchistan Board of Education confirmed the death of Gongozehi on Monday April 4, telling the Fars News Agency that the walls had been affected by severe rains. Gongozehi reportedly noticed the impact of heavy winds on the walls and, while moving the students to safety, he was himself crushed under the debris.



Funeral of Hamidreza Gongozehi





Schools in Sistan-Baluchistan are among the most neglected across Iran, and of the 18,000 school buildings, 11,000 are in need of immediate repairs.

The head of the provincial board of education says 300 billion toumans are needed for repairs, adding that the board lacks the necessary funds.
Write Your Name in Runes

The runic alphabet, or Futhark, gets its name from its first six letters (f, u, th, a, r, k), much like the word "alphabet" derives from the first two letters of the Greek alphabet, alpha and beta. Each rune not only represents a phonetic sound but also has its own distinct meaning often connected with Norse mythology. Scholars believe that early Germanic and Scandinavian peoples used the runes originally as a means of communication and only later for magical purposes.

Fehu

Fehu can mean cattle, gold, or wealth in general.

Uruz

Uruz represents strength, speed, and good health.

Thurisaz

Thurisaz refers to the giants of Norse mythology.

Ansuz

Ansuz could refer to any deity, but it was most often associated with Odin.

Raido

Likely an important rune for the Vikings, Raido signified a long journey.

Kenaz

Kenaz represents a torch or some other source of light.

Gebo

Gebo was used to denote a sacrifice to the gods.

Wunjo

Wunjo can translate as comfort, joy, or glory.

Hagalaz

Hagalaz is the rune for hail, either in terms of the weather or hailing projectiles in battle.

Nauthiz

Nauthiz means need or necessity.

Isa

Isa means ice.

Jera

Jera translates as year or harvest.

Eithwaz

Eithwaz is the rune for yew, a sacred tree used to make rune wands.

Perth

The meaning and/or translation of Perth remains unknown.

Algiz

Algiz denoted defense, protection, or self-preservation.

Sowilo

Sowilo represented the sun, an important element in pagan worship.

Tiwaz

The rune of the war god Tyr, Tiwaz was often carved on weaponry.

Berkano

Berkano was associated with the birch tree, with Idun, goddess of spring, and with fertility.

Ehwaz

Ehwaz is the rune for horse.

Mannaz

Mannaz means man or mankind.

Laguz

Laguz is associated with water.

Ingwaz

Ingwaz can refer either to the Danish hero Ing or to the Danes in general.

Dagaz

Dagaz is the rune for day or daylight.

Othila

Othila means inheritance or the passing on of property or knowledge.
The best 2-in-1 laptop 2022: our picks of the best convertible laptops

These are the best 2-in-1 laptops you can buy right now
Sony is expanding the PlayStation 4s Remote Play feature to PC and Mac, letting users stream their console games to laptops and desktops.

The new feature is part of a PlayStation 3.50 software update thats set to launch on Wednesday. After getting the update, PS4 owners can download the Remote Play PC installer from Sonys website.

To stream games, users will need a PC running Windows 8.1 or higher, or a Mac running OS X 10.10 or higher. A DualShock 4 controller must be plugged into the computer via USB.

Why this matters: Until now, Sony has required either a PlayStation Vita handheld or PlayStation TV set-top box to remotely stream PS4 games. Neither device has been a strong seller, so expanding Remote Play to PC makes sense. While theres nothing like playing a game natively on a big TV, PC streaming can be helpful when someones using that TV for something else, or you want to hang out in a different part of the house.

PC streaming: Xbox vs. PlayStation 4

The PlayStation 4 isnt the only console to support streaming on a PC. Last year, Microsoft added a similar feature to the Xbox One, and its in some ways better and worse than Sonys version.

Unlike Microsoft, which requires a PC running Windows 10, Sony is also supporting Mac and Windows 8.1. Remote Play for PlayStation 4 works over the Internet as well, so you can stream games from outside the house. The Xbox One only supports home network streaming, unless you rely on an unofficial, complicated workaround.

However, the Xbox One currently supports a higher streaming quality than the PlayStation 4, with up to 1080p and 60 frames per second on its Very High setting. Sonys Remote Play tops out at 720p and 60 frames per second, and defaults to 540p and 30 frames per second.

In my experience, Xbox One to PC streaming has been smooth and nearly lag-free, even on Very High settings. (Valves PC-to-PC In-Home-Streaming has also worked well.) Hopefully Sony can provide a similar experience when PC Remote Play launches on Wednesday.
HP went on a tear Tuesday, unleashing a torrent of new laptops. Besides revealing the super-slim HP Spectre, which HP claims is the worlds thinnest laptop at 0.41-inch, the company rolled out three new Envy devicesone of which is the first laptop to come rocking AMDs new Bristol Ridge chip.

The story behind the story: HP Inc.s laptop introduction comes shortly after the companys CEO sat down with The New York Times to preview the Spectre. HPs latest devices reflect an ongoing trend among computer makers to reinvigorate the storied PC with cutting edge design and features at a time when PCs arent as desirable as they used to be. HP isnt just about PCs, however. The company is also moving into phones for the enterprise with the Elite x3, which runs Windows 10 and supports Continuum. The Times also got a look at new HP printers that can do laser-quality printing twice as fast and for half the cost.

Envy x360

HPs Envy x360 (2016) in tablet mode.

First up is a new Envy x360 convertible, which is 21 percent thinner than the previous generation at 0.74-inch. Even though its thinner, the overall look of the machine hasnt changed that much since the 2015 Envy x360 rolled out last April. Save for the obvious switch from the Hewlett-Packard name written out to the HP logo that now adorns the bottom of the displaylikely owing to the recent company spin-off as HP Inc.

The innards arent all that different either, but there are a few interesting twists and additions. Like last year, you get your choice of the latest Intel i5 or i7 processors. This time around its Skylake chips, while the 2015 editions were rocking Broadwell.

But the new Envy x360 also carries the option for the quad-core AMD FX 9800P, which makes the x360 the first laptop to offer an AMD Bristol Ridge chip.

The Envy x360 touchscreen offers a variety of resolution options, including 1080p and 4K. As for ports, you get a pair of USB 3.0 ports and a USB Type-C connection, along with an HDMI port and an SD Card reader. The New Envy x360 can handle up to 16GB of RAM, a 2TB hard drive, and still have room for a 256GB PCIe SSD. HP says the x360s battery will last up to 11 hours.

Envy laptops

The 15.6-inch Envy laptop from HP.

HP also introduced two standard Envy laptops with 15.6- and 17.3-inch displaysboth offering touchscreen options. The two models come with three USB 3.0 ports, a USB-C connection with support for fast charging, and Windows Hello compatibility courtesy of an integrated camera (the 17.3-inch version uses an Intel RealSense unit).

The 15.6-inch model weighs in at 4.4 pounds and has a 0.71-inch profile. This unit also supports up to a Core i7 processor with integrated graphics. RAM tops out at 16GB, and like the x360, you can get a 1TB HDD and a 256GB PCIe SSD.

The backside of the 17.3-inch HP Envy laptop.

The 17.3-inch version, meanwhile, tips the scales at a whopping 6.6 pounds and is 1-inch thick. The larger laptop doesnt have the dual storage options the two other Envy models, have settling for either a 1TB HDD or 512GB SATA SSD. But the larger laptop does offer models with an optical disk drive, as well as an optional Nvidia GeForce 940MX discrete graphics card.

Pricing and availability for all three laptops is a little complicated. The HP Envy x360 and 17.3-inch Envy laptop will hit HP.com on June 1, while BestBuy.com gets them on May 29. Those notebooks also come to Best Buy stores on June 12. Pricing at all locations starts at $680 for the x360 and $1030 for the regular laptop.

The 15.6-inch Envy comes to HP.com on May 25 and other retailers on June 12 with a starting price of $780.
At Nvidia, we have a rule. No project should ever rely on three miracles, CEO Jen-Hsun Huang said, pacing the stage during Tuesdays GTC conference in San Jose, California. The Tesla P100 has five miracles.

And indeed, Nvidias monstrous new graphics module for hyperscale datacenters seems downright heavenly, with more than twice as many transistors as the companys current-gen Maxwell GPUs. While the lack of news about consumer graphics cards at GTC was a bit disappointing, the first product packing the big-boy Pascal graphics looks so darn fantastic that the sting wore off in seconds.

The Tesla P100 packs numerous cutting-edge technologies, from 16nm FinFET transistorsafter graphics processors spent four long years stuck on the 28nm nodeto second-generation high-bandwidth memory (HBM) technology to Nvidias own Pascal GPU architecture to Nvidias blazing-fast NVLink interconnect technology. These features constitute four of the miracles, and they all serve to support the fifth: advanced AI learning algorithms.

So many new pieces of tech had to happen for this, Huang beamed.

The Pascal GPU at the heart of the Tesla P100, which Nvidias been teasing for two years now, takes advantage of the long-delayed transition to 16nm transistor technology, with a whopping 15 billion transistors crammed into a 600 millimeter square chip. If I held it up right now you could see it from the back row, Huang joked.

Thats more than twice as many transistors as the 7 billion found in Maxwell, and the Tesla P100 cranks through 5.3 teraflops of double-precision floating-point performance and 10.6 teraflops of single-precision performance. By comparison, the Titan X offers 7 TFLOPS of single-precision floating-point performance.

Update: After the keynote ended, Nvidia published full Pascal GPU architecture information, complete with speeds, feeds, and block diagrams. Check out PCWorlds Pascal GPU tech deep dive for the full scoop.

That 600mm die size (assuming thats the die size, and doesnt include other parts) likely didnt happen by accident; AMDs high-end Fiji chips measure in at 596mm squared. The Tesla P100 takes another page from the Fiji playbook with the inclusion of 16GB of lightning-fast second-gen HBM memory, after the technology made its debut in the Radeon Fury X. Whereas high-end Nvidia Maxwell GPUs connect to memory via a bus of 384 wires, Huang says that the Tesla P100s memory and GPU communicate over a whopping 4,000 wires. Overall, the module features more than 15 billion transistors in total. Thats nuts.

But the new tech doesnt stop there! The Tesla P100 features Nvidias new NVLink interconnect technology, which allows graphics modules to communicate with each other and CPUs at five times the aggregate bi-directional speed of a standard PCIe connection. Plus, it lets you bring more friends to the graphical computing party, supporting up to eight GPU connections rather than PCIes four.

Last year, Huang teased that systems packing Pascal graphics would wind up being 10 times faster than Maxwell-based systems. The reality wound up being even more lofty, he says. When you take into account NVLink, Pascal optimizations, HBM2, and the sheer number of transistors on the chip, Huang says that youll actually see a 12-fold increase in speed, citing a workload that completes in 25 hours on a Maxwell PC, but just two on a Pascal system.

Miraculous indeed. The Nvidia Tesla P100 is in volume production today and will wind up in server products in the first quarter of 2017, likely due to HBM constraints.

Expect to see all that juicy new GPU tech dribble down to consumer graphics cards sometime in the coming months, too. We may have gotten our first glimpse of it on the back of Nvidias Drive PX2 board for smart vehicles, which featured a pair of what Huang said were unannounced GPUs.

Gordon Mah Ung

Is that our first look at a more modest Pascal GPU chip that may wind up in consumer graphics cards? In any case, a quick glance at the graphics chips (you can click the image to enlarge it) show them surrounded by traditional memory chips, rather than HBM modulesso not all Pascal-powered GPUs will ditch GDDR5 RAM. Hint, hint.
ONTARIO  A high-profile attorney could serve as the general counsel for the local authority when it assumes control of LA/Ontario International Airport this year.

At Mondays special meeting, the Ontario International Airport Authority discussed in closed session hiring general counsel.

OIAA president Alan Wapner said the move to hire its general counsel, and not rely on Ontarios lawyers, was part of the authoritys plan to build a firewall between the two agencies.

We always envisioned the authority as being a separate entity, he said.

Although there was no reportable action out of Mondays meeting, in attendance was Upland-based attorney, Stephen Larson, who last month was asked by the government  in its battle against Apple  to draft a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of victims of the San Bernardino terrorist attack. Larson has also been the lead defense attorney in a public corruption case in San Bernardino County since 2011, in which he is defending a Rancho Cucamonga developer accused of bribing public officials.

Mondays meeting at the Ontario Convention Center was a change for the commission, which has been gathering at Ontario City Hall since its inception more than three years ago.

We wont be here forever, this is part of the transition process, said OIAA CEO Kelly J. Fredericks.

Fredericks said he canvassed the commissioners about the structure of future OIAA meetings.

If this forum, if youd like to see it tweaked, wed welcome your feedback, he said.

Fredericks goal is to move the meetings back to ONT. Los Angeles World Airports Board of Airport Commissioners  the airports governing body  met at least twice a year at ONT. That practice stopped at the end of 2007.

During Mondays open session, which lasted less than five minutes, the commission approved a nearly $250,000 contract for engineering services with the Los Angeles-based firm Psomas. Fredericks told the commmission the process to obtain a certificate of operation from FAA, is still expected to be completed in July and the survey, to document and obtain title of the property, is needed for transfer of ownership.

The firm will provide the OIAA with a map that will show boundary lines of the parcels, utility easements, outlines of structures, and, of course, the runway.

While the process may be typical to any other survey, the work will be very complex, said John Andrews, Ontarios economic development director.

The airport encompasses about 1,700 acres and is made up of hundreds of parcels, he said. On top of that, Andrews said, there may not be an existing engineering survey for the airport. The firm hasnt come across one during its initial research, he said.

Andrews said he didnt expect the survey will result in any major changes in the agreement. Ontario has had the title reports for the airport for some years, documents that hes handed over to the firm for review.

Psomas is expected to complete the work in the next two months.

After the transfer, the survey will be useful for the authority. The OIAA is updating its Business Strategic Plan, which will look at how under-used property can be developed into airport-related businesses such as air cargo to generate new revenue for the airport.

This isnt just something thats static once the transfer is done, Andrews said, referring to the survey. Itll be used going forward, for the development of the airport property.
Vandals hit UC Riversides Department of Ethnic Studies during spring break, defacing photos of women students, tearing down an image of a Palestinian flag, and rummaging through student mailboxes.

Campus police are investigating the incidents as hate crimes.

The department and graduate student offices were likely vandalized during the holiday period  March 21-25, according to a March 30 Facebook post signed by Dylan Rodriguez, chairman of the Ethnic Studies Department.

Attempts to reach Rodriguez and UCR police for more details were unsuccessful.

UCR Assistant Vice Chancellor for Strategic Communications James Grant said the universitys communications office was handling all media calls related to the investigation.

Grant said UC Riverside police began investigating the vandalism when it was reported March 28, after spring break.

In his post, Rodriguez said biographies and photos of at least four female graduate students were either stolen or defaced. The statement described them as women of color.

A bookcase and graduate student mailboxes were also tampered with or rummaged through. And, materials related to Palestine, including an image of the Palestinian flag, were torn from the wall, the post said.

One faculty members office in the Interdisciplinary building also was broken into and vandalized.

Women of color have been specifically targeted by these parties, and the available information makes it abundantly clear that these acts of violence are significantly motivated by anti-Muslim and Islamophobic sentiment and/or ideology, Rodriguez said in the post.

The incidents occurred near the time the University of Californias governing board adopted a statement condemning anti-Semitic behavior and a companion report urged campus leaders to confront intolerant anti-Zionism activism.

Given the surrounding political and cultural climate, it is imperative that those of us who believe in notions of collective safety, physical and emotional integrity, and social justice remain locked in arms with all who were directly and symbolically targeted by these acts, the post said.

UC Riverside Chancellor Kim A. Wilcox, sent a campus-wide e-mail Thursday, March 31, condemning the vandalism, according to Grant.

The Wilcox statement said UCR was committed to a campus environment based on equity and mutual respect.

The statement said the UC Police Department is investigating the incidents as hate crimes, with indications of possible gender and racial discrimination and religious and political intolerance.

Any time a member of our community is threatened, it is an affront to our entire campus. Our entire mission is predicated on creating a diverse and accepting campus, Wilcox said. These incidents are being vigorously investigated, and we will fully prosecute those responsible.

Contact the writer: 951-368-9462 or amolina@pressenterprise.com
Women from the Wine Town Rollers roller derby league in Temecula had heard about a plane going down Saturday, April 2, on Interstate 15 south of Fallbrook.

They were devastated after practice when they learned the plane hit a car containing roller derby skaters. They felt chills when they found out one of them, a San Diego woman, perished.

They had to know her.

They skate in a tight-knit community of rough-and-tumble amateur roller derby. They figured they would know the victim in a sport where sisterhood exists between skaters.

It did not take long to find their fears were warranted. Text messages began dinging on their phones two hours after the crash as word spread among league members that Toni Frances Isbelle, 38, of San Diego, died while sitting in the back of a Nissan Sentra stopped on the side of the freeway.

A roller derby sister was gone.

Isbelle, an member of the Starlettes roller derby team in San Diego, skated under the name Rockalishous. She last scrimmaged against the Wine Town Rollers at a Valentine-themed event in February. She competed against Wine Town Rollers on other occasions.

It was really hard, said Wine Town Rollers skater Ellianna Jameson, who is known as Foxxxy Blocksy Brown. We lost one of our sisters.

Jameson said the skaters in the car that was hit were driving to a mens roller derby bout in the LA area.

The cars driver had pulled over to synch a phone to a Bluetooth system. The plane, flown by Dennis Hogge, 62, of Jamul, made an emergency landing of his kit-built experimental aircraft on the northbound side of the freeway and skidded into the car, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Isbelle was killed. The two in the plane and three others in the car were injured but survived. Why the plane went down is being investigated.

The crash tied up Interstate 15 in both directions for much of the day. When I drove south around 7 p.m., about 10 hours after the accident, the plane was on a trailer well off the freeway. Northbound traffic still was stalled by gawking.

The Wine Town Rollers made an immediate donation to a Go Fund Me Internet campaign established to pay for Isbelles funeral expenses. The fund, Jameson said, reached its goal of $10,000 within 24 hours. Roller derby competitors and fans across the country chipped in. The goal was increased to $15,000, which was reached Monday.

Members of the Wine Town Rollers planned to attend a Monday night memorial derby event for Isbelle in San Diego.

She said an outdoor 6 p.m. Saturday, April 9 bout in Temecula will be contested in honor of Isbelle, weather permitting.

Jameson said they are considering ways to remember Isbelle, like a moment of silence and singing Amazing Grace.

We are trying to make sense of it, Jameson said.

A lot of the league was in tears the whole night.

Contact the writer: bpratte@pressenterprise.com or 951-368-9078
Riverside County prosecutors will decide whether to file charges against a Mead Valley man who was arrested this weekend on suspicion of shooting his neighbors dog, and has since been released on bail.

The Sheriffs Department completed its investigation and turned the case over to the Riverside County District Attorneys Office, Deputy Michael Vasquez said Monday, April 4.

Christopher Samuel, 54, was booked into jail Saturday on suspicion of negligent discharge of a firearm and animal cruelty, both felonies.

He posted $5,000 bail and was released Sunday, jail records show. Because he is not in custody, the DAs Office is not facing any deadline to made a decision about charges.

Neither the Sheriffs Department nor the DAs Office would answer questions about the investigation Monday. Efforts to reach Samuel and his family were unsuccessful.

Sheriffs deputies were called out to the 17500 block of Clark Street, in an unincorporated area just south of the Riverside National Cemetery, about 3:30 p.m. Friday after receiving several reports of gunshots. The deputies found a dead dog on a residential property, officials said in a news release.

The following day, investigators returned with a warrant and arrested Samuel.

While sheriffs officials would not confirm any details about what led to the dogs death, a video of the incident was posted on Facebook on Saturday morning that picks up about 30 seconds before the shooting.

The footage shows a man training a gun on a dog that is running around off-leash in a yard behind a gate. A gunshot is heard, and the dogs owner screams at the man who fired.

By 5 p.m. Monday, the video had been viewed more than 161,000 times and shared more than 7,000 times.

The video and connected media coverage inspired Richard Daniel to drive down to Samuels Mead Valley home from Big Bear to offer his support. Daniel said that he was bitten by a pit bull last year in the Big Bear area, and that he was disappointed in the response by San Bernardino County Animal Services.

Though Daniel had never met Samuel before, he said he could understand why someone would be afraid of a loose pit bull.

All you have to do is have a dog attack you one time and you get the picture, Daniel said. Its no different than if somebody takes a loaded gun and points it in your direction.

Debbie Meindl-Lemmon, stepmother of the dogs owner, Michael Lemmon, said her family continues to mourn the loss of their dog, a 2-year-old pit bull.

Its pretty sad. Ive been feeling extremely stressed over the whole thing, Meindl-Lemmon said.

She went to the Riverside County Superior Court building in Riverside on Monday to apply for a restraining order against Samuel.

Contact the writer: 951-368-9284, atadayon@pressenterprise.com, @PE_alitadayon
The signing of a bill that will gradually raise Californias minimum wage to $15 an hour was a cause for celebration among the states Democrats on Monday, April 4.

But in the race between two Democrats for an Inland Assembly seat, the new wage provided more fodder for attacks. Assemblywoman Cheryl Brown, D-San Bernardino, voted for the minimum wage legislation signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown.

Her opponent, Democrat Eloise Reyes, praised Brown for supporting the bill. Of course its a good thing she did (vote for) it, Reyes said at a gathering at the Service Employees International Union Local 721 district office in Riverside.

But we have to look at the record, Reyes said. The record does show (Brown) sides with big corporations, big oil, insurance companies (and) gun lobbyists 50 percent of the time. And so she did a good thing by signing onto this bill. But we do have to look at the history.

Reyes represents the more liberal wing of the party, and Brown, a moderate Democrat, has angered progressives with her opposition to part of a climate change bill  it was eventually revised and Brown voted for it  and her vote against a bill that would have penalized companies like Wal-Mart whose employees earn so little, they qualify for Medi-Cal health insurance.

MINIMUM WAGE HIKE: Can Inland economy keep pace?

In an emailed response, Brown said: While the entire nation watches California and New York begin the march out of poverty, Ms. Reyes throws mud on the parade. She certainly has adopted the Donald Trump campaign style.

While shes attacking, Im working to bring more good-paying jobs to our region so we can continue recovering from the Great Recession. Last year was the third in a row where we added 50,000 jobs. Thats what Im doing. Things that matter.

Brown and Reyes, who ran as a Democrat for a San Bernardino County congressional seat in 2014, are running in the 47th Assembly District, which includes part of the city of San Bernardino as well as Colton, Fontana, Grand Terrace and Rialto.

A Republican, Aissa Chanel Sanchez, also is on the ballot for the districts June 7 primary. The top two vote-getters in that race, regardless of party, will compete in the November general election.
FBI agents investigating a potential data leak at Boeing obtained a secret warrant to search the home computers of a company manager in Lake Elsinore for evidence they thought would connect him to Chinese economic espionage.

Instead, they say, they found something else entirely: graphic child pornography.

With that discovery two years ago, an investigation of sensational but ultimately unproven allegations of espionage veered into an unrelated child pornography prosecution that resulted in Keith Gartenlaubs conviction in December.

Now, the Los Angeles case is testing a defendants ability to access information about himself presented to the nations secretive intelligence court, which issued the warrant that let agents scour his computers.

At issue is how the government uses evidence derived through the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court and under what circumstances that information should be seen by defendants, particularly when its repurposed for a routine criminal prosecution that has nothing to do with national security.

Gartenlaub and his lawyers say they have a right to know the governments arguments that were used to obtain the warrant, and fight them.

You cant base a search on lies, the 47-year-old said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Hes seeking a new trial as he awaits his April 18 sentencing, saying theres no evidence he was aware of the child pornography or had ever accessed the images. If thats denied, hes likely to appeal on grounds that the warrant to inspect his computers was based on mistaken assumptions and allegations of a crime  espionage  for which hes never been charged.

It wont be easy. His request to suppress pornography evidence he said was improperly obtained was denied before the trial. Hes tried to review the sealed Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act  or FISA  court records in hopes of attacking the FBI search, but the government refused and a judge backed that up.

I dont want the FISA warrant for my own personal edification. I need to know whether they provided probable cause to a judge to search a mans computers and home, said his attorney, Mark Werksman.

The FISA court, created in 1978 to hear government surveillance requests in foreign intelligence matters, remains shrouded in secrecy. Judges can order prosecutors to share FISA information with defendants if they deem it necessary for challenging a searchs legality, but courts have consistently said disclosing the material could expose sensitive intelligence secrets. In Gartenlaubs case, then-Attorney General Eric Holder advised against disclosure.

A rare exception came in 2014, when a judge in Chicago ordered the disclosure of FISA materials in a bomb-plot case. A federal appeals court overturned the decision, and the Supreme Court declined to review it.

For defendants, access to this information is a matter of fundamental fairness, because without it they cannot meaningfully challenge whether the governments secret searches were lawful in the first place, American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Patrick Toomey said in an email. For the public, this information is crucial because it is the only way to know whether the laws basic protections for Americans have been watered down in practice, behind closed doors.

The Justice Department noted that the judge, Christina Snyder, already ruled that the FISA warrant was lawfully issued and that the evidence was gathered properly.

When law enforcement lawfully obtains evidence of a serious crime, in this case a crime against children, we will pursue further investigation of that crime, the department said in a statement.

The FBI interviewed Gartenlaub in 2013 after a Wired.com article revealed a resemblance between a new Chinese aircraft, the Xian Y-20, and the Boeing C-17, a military cargo plane, and suggested someone within Boeing may have been responsible.

An FBI affidavit described Gartenlaub as the one engineer who had access to C-17 data, intimate knowledge of Boeings computer systems and family ties to China. His wife is from China with a family described as well connected. He traveled regularly to the country and expressed frustration that Boeing sought to limit his excursions there over security concerns, the affidavit says. The FBI also focused on dozens of deposits to the couples bank account that it deemed suspicious  transactions Gartenlaub says were legitimate.

A recent court filing obliquely suggested a connection to the prosecution of Su Bin, a Chinese businessman who pleaded guilty last month for his role in a Boeing hack that led to the theft of C-17 secrets.

Gartenlaub, for his part, maintains he wasnt working on the C-17 program when the Su Bin theft is thought to have occurred and didnt have access to the data in the first place  though, he says, thousands of other Boeing employees did.

The FBI accessed his computers in 2014 after obtaining a FISA warrant. Gartenlaub acknowledges the information presented to the court likely mirrors the FBI affidavit, but says theres no way to know for sure without seeing the warrant application.

In its search, the FBI says it found videos of prepubescent girls on multiple hard drives, and evidence that Gartenlaub maintained a carefully curated and organized collection that was copied multiple times.

But Jeff Fischbach, a forensic examiner who reviewed the evidence for the defense, said the images were intermingled in extensive folders with files from other computer users, raising the possibility someone else was responsible for the pornography. Defense lawyers say there was no proof the images were ever opened or accessed in the years since theyd been downloaded to an unknown source and placed onto his computer.

Either Im this spy-slash-child pornographer, or Im one of them, or Im none of them, Gartenlaub said. Im telling you, Im none of them.

Prosecutors have recommended a 10-year prison term. Defendant, they wrote in a recent filing, continues to deny any personal responsibility for his crimes of conviction.
The lone horse pulled alive from a ravine near Palm Springs on Sunday, April 3, died later that night, officials say.

The horse, named Spirit, was badly injured and his owner chose to put him down about 11 p.m.

Spirit, two other horses and their owners were on a volunteer mission Saturday to deliver equipment to clean up a hiking trail when they fell off a steep cliff into a ravine at Snow Creek just outside of Palm Springs.

Riversides Horse Animal Rescue Team  made up of firefighters and police officers  responded with helicopters to rescue the animals. The horses fell Saturday night but their owners stayed with them until the rescue team arrived Sunday.

The second horse, Mo, suffered a head injury and was euthanized further down the ravine. He was covered by bushes and laid to rest there. The third horse escaped on its own.

But Spirit was pulled to safety Sunday and taken to a nearby animal hospital, where his kidneys began to fail because of a leg injury that became septic, officials said.

I wish we could have got to him earlier, said Capt. Tyler Reynolds in an email.

He and other H.A.R.T. members didnt learn of the horses death until Monday morning, Reynolds said.

Hair from Mos mane and tail was cut and given to the horses owner as is tradition when horses pass away, Reynolds said.
The assassination and funeral of President Abraham Lincoln will be the topic of a Friday, April 8, presentation in Hemet.

The 6 p.m. event will be at McWane Family Funeral Home. A replica of the 16th presidents casket also will be on display from 10 a.m. to noon through Friday.

Todd Van Beck, a nationally recognized funeral educator, consultant and historian from Nashville, developed a presentation on Lincolns assassination and the conspiracy surrounding it. When he became ill, McWanes Facility Manager Curt Welshon enlisted Don McCue, director of the Lincoln Memorial Shrine Museum in Redlands, to be the presenter.

McCue has been with the shrine for almost 30 years, first as curator and now as director.

Im looking forward to the reaction from the audience to the presentation, said McCue, 58. Some are familiar with the facts, but not too many know the wider story.

The presentation will touch on the background of the funeral, including embalming techniques used in 1865 and the journey of Lincolns remains.

After Lincolns assassination April 14, 1865, at Fords Theater in Washington, D.C., the Lincoln Special funeral train with the presidents remains stopped at major cities for funeral observances on its way to Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Ill., where he was laid to rest May 4.

An estimated seven million people took part in the 20 days of national mourning.

Robert Broski, a Lincoln presenter, will interact with guests Friday. Eight years ago, he made a short film about Grace Bedell, the 11-year-old girl who suggested President Lincoln grow whiskers to help him get elected.

I grew the beard, looked in the mirror and said, this is my destiny, said Broski, a 63-year-old Covina resident, who shares the same height, weight and shoe size as Lincoln. He has appeared as Lincoln on television, in films and at civic events, civil war re-enactments and at schools. He has also presented at a coffin display in Oakland.

The Batesville Casket Co. of Indiana built five replicas 10 years ago based on the only known surviving photograph of the coffin from 1865, which shows Lincoln lying in state. Four replicas are displayed throughout the nation at various events. The fifth remains part of the permanent collection at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield.

The elaborate coffin is constructed of solid walnut, lined with lead and completely covered in fine black cloth. It is 6 feet, 6 inches long and decorated with silver tacks extending the entire length of its sides. There are four handles set in silver medallions on each side of the coffin. The center of its lid showcases a shield outlined in silver tacks, with an inscribed silver plate.

McWane Family Funeral Home is always interested in inviting the community to come into our building for events other than funerals, said Welshon, who has coordinated several recent public events.

McWane is at 350 San Jacinto St., Hemet.

Information: 951-658-9497 or www.mcwanefamily.com.

Contact the writer: dianerhodes.writer@gmail.com
A Riverside County deputy district attorney pleaded no contest and was sentenced Friday, April 1, on a charge of misdemeanor driving under the influence in connection with a Feb. 5 incident in Menifee, according to Riverside County Superior Court records.

Joshua Reid Degonia, 37, of Menifee, entered the plea during an arraignment at the Southwest Justice Center.

He had been assigned to the district attorneys mid-county operations filing unit, but was on vacation from the office immediately prior to the incident, spokesman John Hall wrote in an email Monday, April 4. Hall wrote that Degonia is on a leave now but did not elaborate.

The matter was reported to us but immediately referred to Attorney Generals Office for filing review and any appropriate prosecution, due to the obvious conflict, Hall said in a written statement.

Mr. Degonia accepted responsibility at the earliest possible opportunity to quickly settle the matter and to move on with his life, Peter Scalisi, Degonias defense attorney, wrote in an email.

The state and the defense reached a negotiated disposition, according to a state Department of Justice spokesperson. A no contest plea is an admission that an offense was committed, but cannot be used against that person in a civil proceeding.

Judge Sean P. Lafferty sentenced Degonia to 46 days in Riverside County sheriffs custody, two of which had been served and the remaining 44 to be served in home confinement, according to court records. A three-year probation term also was set and conditions related to a DUI conviction.

A second misdemeanor charge of driving with blood alcohol level of 0.08 or higher, and a special allegation of having a blood alcohol concentration of 0.15 or more, were dismissed.
Corrects dates to April 9-10

Metrolinks Inland Empire  Orange County and Orange County lines will have curtailed service for coastal stops this weekend, April 9-10, for track maintenance and other work.

There will be no service south of the Laguna Niguel/Mission Viejo Station. The affected stations for both lines are San Juan Capistrano, San Clemente, San Clemente Pier and Oceanside.

For the coastal run, the train begins in San Bernardino and stops at stations in Riverside, Riverside La Sierra, North Main Corona and West Corona. The route is popular for Inland residents headed to Orange County beaches.

Metrolink said Monday, April 4 it will replace rock along the beach route to secure tracks following heavy recent rains south of San Clemente; there will also be a scheduled railroad tie replacement near Laguna Niguel.

People in San Clemente who live near the tracks will hear some daytime noise from the work.

During the same time, the North County Transit District will work on the Los Penasquitos Lagoon Bridges and the Elvira to Morena Double Track project in association with the San Diego Association of Governments.

Metrolink will not provide bus service to cover the remaining route.

Also on the weekend, Amtrak trains will not operate south of Irvine. Amtrak will provide bus service for Amtrak passengers between Irvine and San Diego.

Metrolink also said weekend work on the Antelope Valley Line near the Vincent Grade/Acton station means service from Los Angeles Union Station will end at Via Princessa Station.

Bus transportation will be provided between Lancaster and Via Princessa. Buses from Lancaster to Via Princessa will be 30 minutes ahead of the posted schedule; buses going the other direction may have delays of up to 45 minutes.

Contact the writer: rdeatley@pressenterprise.com or 951-368-9573
Republicans in Pennsylvania are fast-tracking a bill that would restrict abortion to a 20 week window. Should it pass, the legislation  HB1948  would be one of the most restrictive anti-abortion laws in the country.

Republicans introduced HB1948 last Friday (April 1, 2016) and immediately advanced the bill out of the House Health Committee on a 16-10 vote. The final committee vote followed a tie (13-13) vote where legislators tried but failed to open up the legislation to a public hearing. Its now expected to move to a full House hearing and vote by tomorrow.

While the quick pace and lack of public hearings on the bill should cause concern, the bills support should raise even more red flags. HB1948 boasts bipartisan support in the state House with two Democrats helping vote it out of committee and several more ready to support the legislation on the House floor.

HB1948 doesnt just place ridiculous timeframes on abortion; it goes so far as to label all abortions after the 20 week mark as pain capable using the popular conservative myth unsupported by medical science. Whats more, it also forces the victims of rape and incest to carry pregnancies to term as the only exceptions the legislation offers are to save the life of the mother or to prevent substantial and irreversible impairment of major bodily function of the woman.

Commenting on HB1948, Planned Parenthood of Pennsylvania said:

This bill proposes the most extreme restrictions on abortion in the country. It would ban abortions after twenty weeks except in the rarest of circumstances, leaving no exceptions for rape, incest, health or tragic fetal anomalies. It would also ban one of the safest methods of second trimester abortions, putting women at risk and taking crucial decisions about their medical care out of the hands of their trusted medical providers. Make no mistake  the proponents of this bill are hypocritical politicians who do not care about the health and safety of these women but care only about putting safe and legal abortion completely out of reach.

Similar restrictive 20 week abortion bans elsewhere across the nation have already demonstrated the terrible results such legislation can have. Its no coincidence that 20 week fetal pain abortion bans have begun cropping up across the nation, either.

Rewire (formerly RH Reality Check) tracks these bans noting:

Twenty-week bans come in different forms, with varying purported justifications. The most popular legislative model banning abortion at 20 weeks is the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, based on model legislation authored by the National Right to Life Committee. Congress and several states have introduced legislation based on this model, which is premised on the medically disproven theory that fetuses at this stage are capable of feeling pain. The National Right to Lifes argument is based on a few selected studies, but the medical consensus is that a fetus nervous system is not developed until the third trimester.

Much like ALEC (the American Legislative Exchange Council), the National Right to Life Committee churns out standard language for anti-abortion bills across the nation and has a high success rate based on the strategic use of language mixed with scientific inaccuracies made to sound like medical science.

Also similar to ALEC, the National Right to Life Committee receives funding from none other than the Koch brothers regime. Raging Chicken Press noted this in their coverage of HB1948 saying:

In 2010, the NRLC achieved its first legislative victory with the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection model legislation becoming law and in 2009, the organization received a modest $25,000 donation from the Center to Protect Patient Rights, an organization that fell within the Koch Brother web. The Center to Protect Patient Rights, which is now named American Encore, was an astrotrurf organization launched in the opposition to Obamacare that had a history of funneling money from Freedom Partners to anti-choice organizations or groups against providing women birth control. The money given to Nebraska for Life may seem small, but political and campaign cash goes further dollar-for-dollar on the state level than the national level. Since Nebraska passed its abortion ban, two Koch-connected tax-exempt organizations have reported distributing more than $200 million to other socially conservative organizations, ThinkProgress reports. Money from these Koch linked organizations has gone to groups that are pro-Dominionism and against reproductive and LGBTQ rights.

Should it pass Governor Tom Wolf has promised to veto HB1948.







Peacock Panache readers:

Tim Peacock is the Managing Editor and founder of Peacock Panache and has worked as a civil rights advocate for over twenty years. During that time hes worn several hats including leading on campus LGBTQ advocacy in the University of Missouri campus system, interning with the Colorado Civil Rights Division, and volunteering at advocacy organizations. You can learn more about him at his personal website.

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Do you have any tattoos?

And if so, are you a pagan trying to summon or ward off demonic forces? Are you sure???

Because The Australian has today published an article that wrings its hands at todays tattoo-friendly culture, linking this clear descent into Satans lair with the decline of Christianity. They are dead serious.

Tattooing the body is prohibited in the Bible precisely because this was seen a a pagan practice associated with investing inanimate objects with magical, god-like properties, writes journalist Melanie Phillips, a right-wing journo whose pieces can usually be found in Murdochs UK masthead The Times, where this article was originally published.

David Beckham, retired footballer and ink aficionado, is used as a case study throughout. She writes:

One wonders why Beckham, the manifest advantages of whose physique are given to few other men on earth, should want to mutilate himself in this way.

Good morning and hello! Its great to finally be on Instagram, been a long time coming but I cant wait to start sharing all my special moments with you. Thank you for all your birthday messages so far. Looking forward to a great day with friends and family x A photo posted by David Beckham (@davidbeckham) on May 1, 2015 at 10:04pm PDT

So mutilated. Wow.

Baby Boomers decrying tatts is nothing new  remember, this was a generation that associated them bikies and criminals, although to label an entire generation with one brush would be wildly condescending and not at all accurate  but its Phillips rampant accusations that at the heart of it, their rising popularity is down to repudiating Christian values that really seals it.

Various explanations might be offered for the appeal of the tattooists needle. The whiff of rebellion against bourgeois convention appeals to the fashionably rebellious bourgeoisie. Theres perhaps a degree of narcissism and a yearning to be unique. Maybe also, for some, inarticulacy plays a part: those with a poor command of language may find satisfaction in using their own skin as a statement. Surely, though, something rather deeper is going on. Tattooing or body alteration has been around since the earliest known societies. Heavily associated with such pagan cultures, it typically involved propitiating the gods or either summoning or warding off demonic forces.

DEMONIC. FORCES.

Unless you are literally inked with the devil incarnate (or a Southern Cross tattoo), thats a bit of a stretch by anyones standards.

Phillips then goes on to elaborate that while Beckhams tatts mainly relate to his fam, and in fact carry a number of Christian themes, it is *just* not that simple.

He appears to believe they can manufacture a desired reality, to keep his family always with him and even to become literally part of him, she writes. This fantasy erases the boundary between living beings and manufactured things. It objectifies the body. It also comes close to using the body to worship images. All this, regardless of the Christian themes pictured on his skin, is pagan.



She explains this utterly bonkers line of reasoning by pointing to the rising number of pagans vs the falling number of Christians.

From 2001 to 2011, the number of Brits identifying as Christian dropped from 72% of the population to 59%, while the number of identifying as pagans grew from 42,000 to 56,000. Just to clarify: that was a mere 0.0009% of the population.

But you know. Solid argument.

And make no mistake guys  there are probably pagans hiding among us.

Im sure David Beckham is a splendid fellow. I doubt whether he is a pagan, although his spiritual side seems to be a little vague. But when it comes to the image of himself he chooses to project, he would appear to have become a pagan god for our desacralised age.



Oh lord. What have we become.

Source / Photo: The Australian.
Both the ABC and SBS have been delivering some stunning televised round-tables of late, and following discussions on body image and lockout laws, SBS Insight has delved into the nebulous issue of Australian gun laws.

Focussing that topic were victims of the Port Arthur massacre, the politicians involved in gun control laws following the tragedy, and more recent victims of gun crime.

Amongst guests including former Prime Minister John Howard  himself responsible for 1996s mass firearm buyback  was Alpha Cheng, son of Curtis Cheng, the police accountant shot dead by a 15-year-old extremist in Parramatta last year.

Flanked by avid proponents of legal gun ownership, Cheng told host Jenny Brockie and Howard himself my dad often joked that he worked in the safest building in Sydney, so I guess theres some real dark irony there.

But then it shows it was never something something that we were concerned about and part of that is because of the policies the Howard government brought in.

His question of whether another large-scale amnesty to reduce the number of unregistered and illegal firearms in Australia would be worthwhile was also met with approval from the former PM.

Robert Brown of the Shooters And Fishers Party told Cheng the firearm that was used to kill his father was an unregistered revolver; he also said avid shooters were more adamantly against similar illegally-owned weapons than the general populace, due to the disrepute owning such weapons brings to the sport.

And that point gets close to the central tension of the issue: personal liberties versus public safety. If responsible Australian gun owners  and the vast majority are responsible  are vehemently against using their firearms for violence, why is it fair they fall under the blanket restrictions put forward by politicians like Howard?

In a thoughtful companion piece to the episode, Cheng said the pro-gun members of the audience challenged my preconceptions.

After hearing their perspective, I acknowledge the need for pragmatic gun laws for recreational users, sport shooters and people living on the land. However, this should not, and I believe it does not, contradict the need for tightening gun policy to prevent guns from being obtained illegally or for illegal means.

It was an emotionally-charged show with many valid points raised on all sides of the debate; in particular, Port Arthur victim Carolyn Loughton said Browns opposition to mandatory waiting periods to purchase a Category 3 firearm paled in comparison to the time shed spent dealing with her injuries:

Carol Loughton: Have you ever met anybody whos been shot?

Robert Brown (@sfpAustralia): No, but  #insightsbshttps://t.co/4Km15ZwSlE  Insight on SBS (@insightSBS) April 5, 2016

Again, that viewpoint shows how the concept of personal responsibility and self-reliance backs up against the case for public safety and blanket regulations to safeguard against the few who will use their firearms for violence. . Its a bloody tough one.

Weve pretty plainly seen elsewhere that restricting the responsible majority for the deeds of a minority *cough* lockouts *cough* isnt ideal, but perspectives like Chengs further prove the need for more action  with finesse  in the realm of gun laws.

Cheng wrote we hear a lot about personal freedom in this debate and I believe that the freedoms we have in Australia are precious.

The freedom to be able to walk where you want and not fear for your safety: that is our right as Australians. It is now the responsibility of decision makers to maintain and protect this.

Source and photo: Insight / SBS.
St. Mary's gets win No. 300, Felten sets 8-man kicking record

What could have been a game to overlook was a milestone night for Gaylord St. Mary's in its final home game of the regular season.
The US Department of Treasury has unveiled new measures to curb so-called tax inversion deals, which may affect Pfizers plans for its $160-billion merger with Allergan.

Tax inversion deals - under which companies move their tax residences overseas to more beneficial tax environments without making significant changes to their business operations - divert large streams of money away from government coffers and have thus become increasingly unpopular with US officials.

According to Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew, many of companies continue to take advantage of the benefits of being based in the US - including a skilled workforce, infrastructure, and R&D capabilities - while shifting a greater tax burden to other businesses and American families.

US officials have already taken action to decrease the attractiveness of such deals, and have now gone a step further by removing a significant amount of the tax benefits from serial inversions, i.e when firms acquire multiple US firms in stock-based transactions over a short period of time.

Lew noted that the Treasury is also taking action to curb the use of earnings-stripping, by focusing on transactions that generate large interest deductions by simply transferring debt between subsidiaries without financing new investment in the US, and will explore additional ways to limit tax inversions deals.

It is possible that both these new measures could throw a spanner into the works of the mega $160-billion merger of Pfizer and Allergan, under which the companies are planning to combine under Allergan, which will then be renamed Pfizer, to create the worlds leading drugmaker by sales with headquarters in Ireland instead of the US.

In a statement, the companies said: We are conducting a review of the US Department of Treasurys actions announced today. Prior to completing the review, we wont speculate on any potential impact. Nevertheless, Allergans share price dropped more than 20% after the Treasury announced its plans, reflecting investor uncertainty over the development.

"The move to limit tax inversions by the US government has wiped $20 billion off the share price of Allergan which broadly equates to the tax benefit arising from Pfizer merging with Allergan. In effect this ruling is casting doubt on the proposed merger which appeared to be based more on the $21 billion tax benefits of a Dublin head office than any other mutual benefits, said Professor John Colley, of Warwick Business School.

"Other than the tax benefits it was never clear what other benefits really existed in the deal. Pfizer does need growth prospects and Allergan did offer some better prospects than Pfizer as Pfizer is struggling for significant new drugs and has large cash piles which cannot be repatriated to the US and shareholders for tax reasons.

Its going to be a major impediment. Theyre pretty much taking all of the juice out of inversions, said Robert Willens, a New York-based tax analyst, reports the Wall Street Journal. Theyve addressed literally every benefit that one attempted to gain from an inversion and shut them all down systematically.